Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Cakes’ Category

Apr 2

47 Comments

Tiger Cake – Alice Medrich

I saw this cake yesterday on Food52, first of all I am a sucker for a marble cake always have been and then when I saw that it is made with olive oil I knew I had to make it. A cake made with oil would be incredibly moist and have a very tender crumb, both are requisites for a really good cake, IMHO. I also love recipes by Alice Medrich, she knows a thing or two about baking. With a little spare time today I undertook this cake, now I have made marble cakes before and you usually drag a butter knife around the batter to give the marble effect, well you don’t do that with this cake. You pour your batters separately, layering them and just bake it like that. I was a little skeptical. I had to force myself not to get the knife and start swirling,

Ready to bake

Ready to bake

Tiger Cake – Alice Medrich

Makes 1 cake in a 10-to-12 cup tube pan
1/2 cup (25 grams) natural cocoa powder (non-alkalized, non-Dutch processed)
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1/3 cup water
3 cups (385 grams) all-purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
5 cold eggs
1 cup cold milk
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a 10-to-12 cup tube pan with oil spray and dust it with flour.
In a medium large bowl, whisk the cocoa, sugar, and water until well blended.
In another medium large bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder thoroughly and sift onto a piece of wax paper. Set aside.
In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, and pepper until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until the mixture is thick and pale, 3 to 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and add one-third of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed just until blended. Stop the mixer and add half of the milk. Beat just until it is blended. Repeat with another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and then the remaining flour.
Add three cups of the batter to the cocoa mixture and stir until blended. Pour one-third of the plain batter into the prepared pan and top with one third of the chocolate batter. Repeat with the remaining batters. Don’t worry about marbling the batters—that happens during the baking.
Bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Slide a skewer around the tube and a thin metal spatula (or knife) around the sides of the pan. Lift the tube and slide the spatula under the cake to detach it from the pan bottom. Transfer the cake to a serving platter. The cake keeps for several days, at room temperature, under a dome or wrapped in plastic.

Just out of the oven

Just out of the oven

Came out of the pan like a dream

Came out of the pan like a dream

As you can see from the photo’s below, it swirled nicely on it’s own. I like the cake. It has good crumb, baked nicely.  I think it would be great with a chocolate glaze drizzled on top or with some ice cream.
The next time I will add more salt, like at least 1/2 tsp, and maybe some orange zest. Note: I forgot to add the white pepper.

So pretty

So pretty

Tiger Cake

Tiger Cake

 

 

Mar 12

55 Comments

Genoise With Strawberries And Whipped Cream Frosting

The cake

The cake

The Genoise I made the other day was for a special event, it was made for a very special girl who turned 9 years old today. She wanted colored icing and strawberries. I wanted to try and make the frosting pink without the use of food color. I thought the genoise lent itself to a whipped cream frosting rather than a buttercream because of the addition of fresh strawberries. I have posted here on the blog the recipe I use for a stable whipped cream frosting, it’s a recipe by James McNair from his book Cakes.

It’s an excellent recipe, and makes a very stable frosting that will not turn watery or dissolve. Here is the basic recipe:

Whipped Cream Frosting:

From James Mcnair’s Cakes

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 cups Heavy whipping cream Divided
  • 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
  1. Place metal bowl and wire whisk beater or beaters in freezer to chill.
  2. In a small saucepan combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch whisk until mixed. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup heavy cream whisk until smooth. Place on medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching at the bottom stir constantly until mixture thickens and almost comes to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside stirring occasionally until it reaches room temperature.
  3. In the chilled bowl combine the remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and the vanilla beat with the chilled whisk of your stand mixer or your hand held mixer until the cream begins to hold shape. While still beating add the powdered sugar mixture a little at a time. Beat just until the mixture forms stiff peaks when the beater is raised and is spreadable, be careful not to over beat. Use immediately.

I took the basic recipe ad changed it a bit since I wanted my frosting to be pink. First I made a strawberry syrup by simply boiling strawberries with a little sugar, strain, smash and bottle. Super easy. I did this the day before and refrigerated the syrup. It’s a beautiful red.

strawberry syrup

strawberry syrup

Here is the recipe for the pink whipped cream frosting using James McNair’s whipped cream frosting as a base:

1/2 cup strawberry syrup

2 1/2 tsp corn starch

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

In small saucepan add the strawberry syrup, cornstarch and confectioners sugar. Cook on medium heat until it thickens, immediately remove from the burner and spoon into a bowl . Let come to room temperature stirring occasionally.

To chilled mixing bowl add the heavy cream and vanilla,  with a chilled beater or whisk attachment start whipping the cream, when it begins to hold it’s shape add the cooled strawberry pudding, whip until it becomes a spreading consistency. Spread on your cake and refrigerate. This was enough to generously frost a 3 layer 8 inch cake.

Feb 26

101 Comments

The Basics- Creme Patissiere, Genoise And A Boston Cream Pie

Perfect egg whites Perfect egg whites

Pastry Cream and Genoise, the building blocks for many different cakes or desserts. These recipes are again from Julia Child and are in her book Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom. Pastry Cream when used as a filling in a cake, pie or tart needs to be just the right consistency, not too thin or it will be runny and not so thick that it is reminiscent of glue. I found this recipe to be pretty perfect. The recipe gives you the option of using flour or corn starch as the thickening agent. Use whatever you are comfortable with.

A perfect Genoise is not as difficult as you may think. Once you master the technique it is a beautiful thing. I have had my share of fails and I always know why it failed, it was technique. I found that when making Genoise I cannot be interrupted, each step must flow, believe me this is not easy with the elderly pugs so I carefully plan for when I will make this cake.

Creme Patissiere Creme Patissiere

Creme Patissiere

Makes approximately 2 cups pastry cream

Whisk 6  room temperature egg yolks in a stainless steel saucepan or mixing bowl, gradually adding 1 cup sugar and a pinch of salt. Continue until eggs are thick and pale yellow and form a ribbon. Sift on and whisk in 1/2 cup flour or cornstarch (I like to use cornstarch). Whisk in 2 cups hot milk or half and half by dribbles at first. Whisking slowly, bring to a boil, then wisk vigorously for a few seconds to smooth any lumps. Simmer, slowly stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk for 2 minutes (when it becomes thick) to cook the flour or corn starch (At this point whisk or stir constantly, it will thicken quickly and could easily scorch). If you are using a thermometer the custard should read 165, it will be very thick.  Remove from heat and blend in 1 tbs pure vanilla extract and 2 tbs unsalted butter and rum or kirsch. Strain through a fine meshed sieve into a bowl. Let cool, stirring occasionally to prevent lumps. Press a sheet of plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2-3 days. Can also be frozen.

Note: The pastry cream is very thick, I usually whip it with my mixer before using it, add 2-4 tbs of heavy cream and whip or whisk until it’s fluffy. 

9 inch genoise 9 inch genoise

Genoise

For about 6 cups of batter, to make 1 round 9 x1 1/2 inch cake, or 1  round 8×2″ cake or enough for 16 cup cakes or a 12×16 inch sponge sheet.

1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup plain unbleached cake flour sifted

1 tbs plus 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup clarified butter (I don’t always use clarified butter and it turns out just fine)

4 large eggs (soak the eggs in warm water for 5 minutes before whipping them, this will help to aerate the eggs and they will whip higher- saw this tip on a video Gourmet Magazine did)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Slide rack onto the lower middle level and prepare your pan. (I like to use a parchment round) butter and flour your pan well.

Sift the flour with the 1 tbs of sugar and salt and set aside, reserve your clarified butter. Beat the eggs with the remaining  1/2 cup sugar and vanilla in your mixer until it has formed the ribbon.  At once rapidly sift on and fold in a quarter of the flour, then fold in half of what remains, then fold in the remaining flour. In other words you will fold in the dry ingredients in 3 installments.  Fold a large plop of this batter into the clarified butter, then fold into the remaining batter. Turn batter into prepared pan filling to no more than 1/4 inch from the rim of the pan. Bang lightly on work surface to deflate bubbles and bake 30-35 minutes until light and golden brown and showing a faint line of shrinkage from the sides of the pan, let cool 20 minutes before unmolding onto a rack. Let cool completely before filling or icing.

Note:If you use an 8 inch round, the cake it is much higher than the 9 inch.

Making clarified butter:

The simple system: melt the butter and pour the clear yellow liquid off the milky residue. The professional long keeping method: Bring butter to a slow boil in a roomy saucepan and boil until its crackling and bubbling almost cease. Pour the clear yellow butter through a tea strainer into a jar where it will keep for months in the refrigerator or freezer.

Boston Cream Pie Boston Cream Pie

Boston Cream Pie

A little history from Wikipedia:

A Boston cream pie is a cake that is filled with a custard or cream filling and frosted with chocolate. Although it is called a Boston cream pie, it is in fact a cake and not a pie. Created by Armenian-French chef M. Sanzian at Boston’s Parker House Hotel in 1856, this pudding and cake combination comprises two layers of sponge cake filled with vanilla flavored custard or crème pâtissière. The cake is topped with a chocolate glaze (such as ganache) and sometimes powdered sugar and a cherry.

The Boston cream pie is the official dessert of Massachusetts, declared as such in 1996.

This is my all time favorite cake, it has been since I was a child. It was my choice for a Birthday cake. There is something about the yellow cake, creamy vanilla pudding and chocolate ganache that are just so delicious.

The Glaze or Ganache

4 oz chocolate (all dark or half dark half milk) chopped into small pieces

1/4 cup + 2 tbs heavy cream

1 tbs Kahlua or corn syrup (Optional)

Place chocolate in bowl, heat cream to scalding, pour over chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes, add the optional Kahlua or corn syrup, stir until smooth and shiny.

Assembling

Cut your cake layer in half, brush each half (cut half) with simple syrup (you can flavor with a liquor if you like) spread a thick layer of pastry cream on the bottom half, place top half on, press down gently, smooth pastry cream with flexible offset spatula, pour ganache or glaze on cake. Serve at room temperature.

Beautiful Beautiful

IMG_5578

Nov 7

107 Comments

Whipped Chocolate Caramel Ganache – Hooray, I’m A Food52 Finalist!!

Whipped Chocolate Caramel Ganache

Whipped Chocolate Caramel Ganache

I actually discovered that if you whisk or whip ganache it turns into a fluffy spreadable concoction. I like using this because it’s not too sweet, easy to spread and decorate with. The chocolate caramel gives this ganache a buttery deeply delicious flavor. This icing is light, much lighter than a standard American buttercream, closer to the consistency of a swiss meringue buttercream but without the eggs. I like to use both dark and milk chocolate but you can can use all dark or even all milk. If you use all dark it will be less sweet.

I had this recipe for over a week as a draft, but entered it in a Food52 contest for best frostings. Well, I just found out today that I am a finalist, I am so thrilled and happy that my recipe was chosen. So now I will shamelessly plug my recipe and ask you all if you don’t mind to vote for me, here is the link to food52 to vote  If you are not a member of food52 (you should be) it’s simple and totally painless to join and you will love the site, you will not be barraged with emails and the like. If you do vote for me I thank you so much!! I used Divine Fair Trade Chocolate in this recipe, the bittersweet for the caramel, dark and milk for the ganache.

Makes enough frosting to fill and frost a 9-inch cakeChocolate Caramel Sauce:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons salted butter cut into tablepoon-size pieces
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 ounces dark chocolate (I used bittersweet)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Put the heavy cream in a glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 45 seconds, add chocolate and microwave another 30 seconds Stir until its smooth, add the vanilla extract and stir to combine, set aside so that it will cool before adding to the caramel.
  2. In large saucepan add the sugar, turn heat to med/high and let sit until it starts to liquefy. Start stirring with a heat proof spatula. The sugar will crystalize but that’s alright — keep stirring until its all liquid. Stop stirring and let it cook until it turns amber in color, then add the butter and stir to combine.
  3. Remove from heat and add the chocolate cream. Stir until its incorporated. Store in a container at room temperature until ready to use. Note: If you make this ahead of time, simply place the bottle or jar in hot water to warm the caramel so it’s pourable.

Ganache :

  • 4 ounces dark chocolate broken into small pieces
  • 4 ounces milk chocolate broken into small pieces
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon liquor (I like cointreau or kahlua) or vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup chocolate caramel sauce
  1. Heat cream to scalding (not boiling). Pour over the pieces of chocolate that are in a mixing bowl. Let sit 5 minutes then stir until there are no pieces of chocolate and it’s smooth and shiny, then add the chocolate caramel sauce and stir to combine.
  2. Place bowl in an ice bath and stir or whisk until it’s cool but not cold — it will stiffen fairly quickly if it gets too cold. Remove from the ice bath and beat with a mixer or whisk until the ganache is fluffy and spreadable. Frost the cake immediately. Best served at room temperature.
Photo by James Ransom for Food52

Photo by James Ransom for Food52

Oct 11

89 Comments

“Divine” Chocolate Gingerbread, Roasted Pears And Chocolate Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Gingerbread and chocolate caramel sauce...Divine!

Chocolate Gingerbread and chocolate caramel sauce…Divine!

I love Divine Chocolate, it’s fantastic, the quality, the flavor and the company itself. Divine is Fair Trade Chocolate, the farmers are the owners, it’s a cooperative that is a huge success, with happy workers that all share the company profits. Whats not to love, honestly, a great product produced by a company that is a model for fair and ethical work standards.

I partnered with Divine to create some baked goods for “No Kid Hungry” bake sale and fell in love with their chocolate. The good people from Divine have asked me to partner with them again to create a recipe using their incredible chocolate, how can I say no!! There were several themes  suggested and I got to choose which I wanted to represent and my choice was local produce, supporting local farmers and farmers market. It should also to represent the season “Autumn” and what better fruit than the lovely and delicious pear (ok except for maybe apples).

The gingerbread is a recipe from a friend from Food52, Antonia James, I adapted the recipe slightly adding a little more chocolate than she called for, it’s moist and delicious and warm, the spicing makes me think of Autumn, my farmers market find that I incorporate with this are pears, oven roasted, gently spiced, sweet and buttery and when paired with the gingerbread it’s heavenly. Served warm and topped with some vanilla ice cream and homemade chocolate caramel sauce, this dessert is rich and totally delicious. The gingerbread itself is not very sweet, Antoniajames tops with a hard sauce, I chose a chocolate caramel sauce, this makes for the perfect amount of sweetness.

Spiced Roasted Pears

2 pears (I used bosc) peeled cored and cut in half

1/4  cup brown sugar

3 tbs butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Optional splash of Poire William

Heat oven to 350 degree’s place pear halves cut side down in baking dish, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle over the pears, dot with the butter. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until pears are just tender. Cover baking dish and set aside  I also added a splash of Poire William to the pears thats purely optional.

Chocolate Gingerbread 

  • ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick, or four ounces)
  • 2 ounces Divine Bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/3 cup regular molasses (not light, not blackstrap)
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar NOTE: recipe didn’t say packed, I did pack the sugar
  • 2/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ – 2 teaspoons ground ginger, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of cloves
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional . . . I don’t use it)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  1. Pre heat oven to 350 degree’s and generously butter an 8×8 baking dish. Melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat (or do what I do, which is to put them in a Pyrex one-cup measure and microwave at about 40% for 2 -3 minutes).
  2. Put the melted chocolate and butter into a medium bowl with the molasses and brown sugar. Stir well to combine.
  3. Combine the dry ingredients.
  4. Gently beat the eggs and stir into the wet ingredients, with the vanilla.
  5. Add the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Do not overbeat.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan. NOTE: I omitted the cloves and included the cinnamon.
Chocolate Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Caramel Sauce:

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tbs salted butter (yes salted) cut into tbs size pieces

2 oz Divine bittersweet chocolate chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the heavy cream in a glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 45 seconds, add chocolate and microwave another 30 seconds Stir until its smooth, set aside so that it will cool before adding to the caramel.

In large saucepan add the sugar, turn heat to med/high and let sit until it starts to liquify. Start stirring with a heat proof spatula, the sugar will crystalize but thats alright keep stirring until its all liquid. Stop stirring and let it cook until it turns amber in color, now add the butter, stir to combine. Remove from heat and add the chocolate cream. Stir until its incorporated in the caramel. Store in container at room temperature until ready to use. Note: If you make this ahead of time, simply place the bottle or jar in hot water to warm the caramel so it’s pourable.

Disclosure: The very nice people from Divine Chocolate provided all the chocolate used in this recipe

Oct 3

72 Comments

A “Divine” Chocolate Giveaway And A DIVINE Triple Chocolate Cake

Divine Chocolate

Divine Chocolate

I planned on two posts this was going to be the second, the first is a recipe I am developing using Divine Chocolate, well this will be first because I have had some setbacks and the recipe didn’t turn out so it’s back to the drawing board. Stay tuned for another totally DIVINE recipe. The chocolate is fantastic and so is the company, owned and operated by the farmers it is truly a cooperative venture that is a recipe for success.  A Fair Trade product of outstanding quality you don’t get better than that.

Who doesn’t love chocolate, well I am sure there are a few that don’t and then there are those poor souls that are allergic. But for the rest of us and speaking for myself there is hardly a day that goes by that I don’t at least have a bite of chocolate. Since I discovered just how wonderful Divine Chocolate is, it’s always in my pantry and is now my go to chocolate for baking and eating,  I have partnered with the very lovely people at Divine for a fantastic giveaway, I know you will love this chocolate as much as I do and you will really love this Bakers collection.  Open to US residents only I am so sorry my friends abroad!! Just leave a comment here and I will use random.org to pick 3 lucky winners on October 14, see below for directions on how to enter. Good luck everyone!!

Divine Chocolate Giveaway 3 lucky winners!!
Divine Chocolate, the premium chocolate brand and Fair Trade social enterprise co-owned by cocoa farmers in Ghana, is giving away ***THREE*** Divine Bakers’ Collection Gift Sets so you can Make Something Divine. Each gift collection contains two 70% Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bars, one 38% Milk Chocolate Baking Bar and a 4.5 tin of unsweetened Cocoa Powder.

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is:

  • Follow @bklynpuggal on Twitter and Tweet:
    • I’d love to win a Divine Chocolate Gift Set #DivineInNYC
  • Like Divine Chocolate USA on Facebook (www.facebook.com/divinechocolateUSA) and leave the comment:
    • I’d love to win a Divine Chocolate Gift Set. Sent by apuginthekitchen #DivineInNYC
  • Follow @DivineChocUSA on Twitter and Tweet:
    • I’d love to win a Divine Chocolate Gift Set. Sent by bklynpuggal#DivineInNYC

Good Luck! Winners will be selected at random and notified by [Oct. 14, 2013]. Divine Chocolate is responsible for delivery of the Gift Sets. This giveaway is open to US residents only.

Triple Chocolate cake

Triple Chocolate cake

I couldn’t resist, since I am working  with all of this fabulous Divine Chocolate I had to resurrect my favorite chocolate cake. For this cake you are using 3 types of chocolate , Divine unsweetened cocoa powder in the cake, Divine white chocolate in the Mousse and Divine Milk Chocolate for the ganache, Irresistible!!

White Chocolate Mousse
  • 2 tsp powdered gelatin
  • 6 ounces Divine white chocolate chopped
  • 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
Dissolve gelatin in 2 tbs of cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes. Place chocolate in food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
Prepare an ice bath. Place 1/2 cup heavy cream in small saucepan, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the gelatin and stir to dissolve. Pour into food processor with chocolate while the motor is running, process until smooth.
Place in ice bath until mixture is thick and falls from a spoon in ribbons.
Whip remaining heavy cream and gently fold into cooled chocolate mixture. Place in airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
  • 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cups Divine unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil (If you want to substitute melted butter for the oil its fine)
  • 1 cup whole milk at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature and lightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee (Optional but recommended)
  • soft butter and flour to prep baking pans or you can use cooking spray
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9″ round baking pans, butter the bottom add a parchment round then butter bottom and sides and flour the pan or you can use cocoa powder instead of flour.
In large mixing bowl add your dry ingredients, flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder and whisk to combine. Now add the wet ingredients milk, oil,eggs and vanilla do not add the boiling water yet. With hand held mixer beat for 2 minutes. Now add the boiling water with optional espresso powder, beat just until combined. Pour into your prepared pans (the batter is quite thin) and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cakes sit in pans for 10 minutes then invert onto cake rack to cool.
Milk Chocolate Ganache
  • 8 oz Divine milk chocolate
  • 1 cup heavy cream
Chop chocolate into very small pieces and place in medium size mixing bowl, bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate. Let sit for 3 minutes, stir until smooth and shiny. Cover and refrigerate until it’s spreadable (approximately 1 1/2-2 hours)
Assembling:
Place one cake layer on serving plate, spoon the mousse on and spread, you may not need to use all of the mousse it will be very thick I used about half, place other layer on top, pour and  spread the ganache on the cake. Refrigerate if not serving immediately. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving if it was refrigerated.

Jul 4

58 Comments

Happy 4th Of July!! Retro Recipe-Fruit Cocktail Cake A Review

Fruit Cocktail Cake

Fruit Cocktail Cake

I am not sure exactly of the origins of this cake it appeared in the 1950’s, some say it hails from the South. I found this cake while researching some recipes,I saw a cake in James McNair’s “Cakes” it’s called plantation cake and in the headnote he describes a fruit cocktail cake that is so wonderful he reworked the recipe keeping the basics of the cake very similar. So I decided I wanted to find out what a fruit cocktail cake was, I surmised that it contains fruit cocktail (duh) so I looked up some recipes and found some that were handed down from Moms and Grandma’s all basically the same, a yellow sheet cake containing fruit cocktail and a sweetened condensed milk icing poured over the cake while it’s hot. All contain shredded coconut, some pecans some macadamia nuts. This cake is moist, sweet (even though I reduced the sugar) and fruity. This would make a great cake to take to a potluck, it’s baked in a 9×13 pan and it’s so rich one small square is enough so it feeds a lot of people. I combined recipes I found on the several different sites and the plantation cake from James McNair, so this is my version of a fruit cocktail cake. I probably could have made my own fruit cocktail but why do that, nothing wrong with canned fruit every now and then, as a matter of fact I have really fond memories of eating fruit cocktail, I loved it as a kid. I even remember ambrosia, at almost any function someone brought it, I used to love picking the fruit cocktail out of the creamy stuff. This bad boy is on it’s way to an annual 4th of July BBQ. An all American dessert to celebrate Independence Day! NOTE: The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups sugar for the cake, because I used fruit cocktail which is sweet I reduced the sugar to 1 1/4 cup, I used fruit cocktail in its own juices. Next time I make this cake I think I will use pineapple as Mr. McNair suggests. It’s good, but pineapple has more flavor in my opinion than fruit cocktail. Another option would be making your own fruit cocktail in a flavorful simple syrup. This cake is easy to make, no mixer required, it comes together in a flash.

Verdict: I cut the cake into pieces to bring with me to the BBQ, tasted it and I am not in love with it. The texture bothers me and in my opinion it’s not flavorful enough, maybe it was the canned fruit which I rarely if ever use, who knows, but I think Mr. McNair was most likely on the right track when he added pineapple instead of fruit cocktail. The cake has no fat added, I guess the fruit cocktail with the juice is supposed to add moisture, well it did but the cake itself is a bit chewy and not light like a cake should be in my opinion. Question, has anyone ever tried the fruit cocktail cake before? If you did what did you think about it. I would also think about adding yogurt or sour cream to the cake.

Makes a 9×13 cake

Topping

1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter at room temperature

Cake

20 oz fruit cocktail with juice

3 cups flour

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 eggs at room temperature lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

Icing

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

2 tbs butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 rectangular baking pan and set aside.

Make your topping, combine nuts, brown sugar and butter and crumble with your hands. Set aside.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl. add the rest of the ingredients for the cake  and whisk to mix well.

Pour batter into prepared pan and crumble the topping evenly on the cake. Bake until tester comes out clean approximately 45 minutes.

Make the icing, heat a skillet over medium heat add the coconut and toast until it starts to turn a golden brown.  Set aside to cool. Alternately you can put the coconut on a sheet of foil and place in the 350 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Either in a heat proof measuring cup or small saucepan heat the condensed milk and butter until its pourable and butter is melted. Pour over the cake while it’s hot, sprinkle with the coconut. Serve warm, room temperature or cold.

Piece of Cake

Piece of Cake

Jun 20

106 Comments

Brooklyn Blackout Semifreddo Cake

Brooklyn Blackout Semifreddo Cake Brooklyn Blackout Semifreddo Cake

I entered this cake in a recipe contest at Food52, we had to create a frozen dessert. I am a real lover of chocolate so I satisfied my craving with this cake. I am honored that my recipe was tested and photographed by the editors at Food52 and the beautiful photograph below was taken by James Ransom. I received a Community Pick!!

Who doesn’t love a Brooklyn Blackout Cake, the iconic cake that became the official cake of Brooklyn, made famous by it’s creators at Ebingers Bakery. Three layers of chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding, frosted with the pudding and cake crumbs pressed on the side of the cake. This is a frozen version of this famous cake, 3 layers of chocolate sponge cake, chocolate semifreddo,chocolate ganache and cake crumbs. I made a chocolate sponge but you can use whatever type of cake you want or even cookie crumbs, this particular cake recipe freezes really well. I used my new favorite brand of chocolate for this cake, Divine (fair trade) chocolate, both the cocoa powder and the bar chocolate. It’s wonderful and I can’t say enough about the quality. Love it!

Makes 1 large loaf cake

Cake and Semifreddo:

  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 8 large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • Semifreddo
  • 7 ounces dark chocolate
  • 2 teaspoons espresso powder
  • 1 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons softened cream cheese
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Place milk and butter in glass measuring cup and microwave for 45 seconds or until butter is melted. Using stand mixer with wire whisk or electric mixer whip the eggs and sugar on med/high for approximately 8 minutes or until the mixture is pale yellow, tripled in volume and thick, with the machine running slowly add the heated milk and butter. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Fold into the egg mixture, there should be no lumps. Fold in the vanilla. Grease a 1/2 sheet pan, lay parchment sheet and grease the parchment, and sprinkle with sugar. Pour batter into the pan, spread so that it is evenly distributed and bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan run a knife around the edges to loosen then invert onto wire rack, remove parchment and let cool completely.
  2. In a bowl over a pot of simmering water (or in the microwave at high heat stirring every 30 seconds), melt chocolate and espresso powder and set aside. Keep pot of water simmering on the stove – you’ll use it again.  Whip cream and cream cheese to soft peaks and store in fridge until ready to use. Whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a metal or glass bowl. Place bowl over simmering water and whisk until it thickens and sugar is melted, remove from simmering water and whisk constantly until doubled in volume, and whisk leaves a ribbon when lifted from bowl. Whisk in melted chocolate and allow mixture to cool for about 10 minutes, you don’t want to melt the whipped cream. Meanwhile, line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture, in two additions, until evenly incorporated.

Ganache and assembling:

  • 4 ounces dark chocolate broken into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup +2 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup (optional)
  1. Heat milk until scalding, add chocolate and corn syrup to hot cream, let sit for approximately 5 minutes, stir until smooth. Let cool at room temperature.
  2. Line loaf pan with plastic wrap (I like to spray the bottom and sides with cooking spray before I lay the sheet of plastic. Take your cooled cake and cut 3 pieces that will fit in your loaf pan, lay one layer on the bottom pour half of the semifreddo on top, add another layer of cake, pour on the rest of the semifreddo, top with another layer of cake. Save the leftover cake you will need it for the crumb layer. Wrap well with plastic wrap and let freeze overnight.
  3. Crumble the leftover cake and set aside, I pulsed a couple of time in the processor. Remove cake from loaf pan, all you have to do is lift out the plastic if it won’t come out just quickly dip pan in some warm water. place on serving dish and remove plastic. Spread a thin layer of ganache on the sides of cake, press crumbs on sides, spread ganache on top of cake and freeze until ready to serve.

Here is the photo taken by James Ransom at food52. Looks so much better than mine.

Photo by James Ransom,Food52 Photo by James Ransom,Food52

May 11

40 Comments

Happy Mothers Day-Chiffon Cake With Roasted Strawberries And Rhubarb

Chiffon Cake

Chiffon Cake

I make this cake all the time, it’s light and has a velvety texture, it is similar to angel food cake, baked in an ungreased tube pan and laden with whipped egg whites, the difference here is that this cake contains oil (yes oil not butter) and egg yolks. Chiffon cake was big in the 1950’s and makes a very elegant dessert served with your choice of fruit or berries and some whipped cream it is absolutely delicious. The cake is lightly scented with lemon, rises high above the pan and is light as a feather. I have tried many recipes, but when I came upon this one from the great James McNair I found a keeper. It’s the only recipe I use and it turns out perfectly every time. Wrap what you don’t use well and keep in a cool dry place, the cake stays fresh for several days. You can also wrap well and freeze, it defrosts beautifully. Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom’s!!

Chiffon Cake

From James McNair’s Cakes

2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (divided)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup egg yolks (from 6-7 large eggs) at room temperature and lightly beaten

3/4 cup water

2 tsp lemon zest

1 tbs pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup egg whites (from approximately 10 eggs) at room temperature

1 tsp cream of tartar

Make sure your rack is in the middle of oven and pre heat to 325 degrees. Have a 10 inch angel food cake pan with removable bottom ready. You do not need to grease or flour the pan.

Place the flour, 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, baking powder and salt in strainer or sifter and sift into a large metal bowl. Add the water, egg yolks, oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until very smooth approximately 1 minute. Set aside.

In the metal bowl of a stand mixer with a wire whip  beat the egg whites on low speed until frothy, add the cream of tartar and increase speed to medium and beat until very soft billowy mounds form, with mixer running slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar a tbs at a time and beat until very stiff but not dry (about 6 minutes) It’s important that the egg whites be beaten until stiff.

Transfer about 1/4 of the beaten egg whites into the cake batter and stir gently to incorporate and lighten the batter. Add the remaining egg whites and using a large balloon whisk or rubber spatula gently fold into the batter until incorporated.

Gently scrape the batter into the cake pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched with your fingertip in the thickest part of the cake and a wooden skewer comes out clean. Baking time is about 1 hour. NOTE: You don’t want to open the oven door until the prescribed baking time is just about up, the cake could fall if you do this, so leave it for at least 55 minutes before you test the cake for doneness.

Remove pan from the oven and let it cool upside down you can use a bottle for this, the cake should be elevated. The cake rises quite high so it’s important not to let the upside down cake rest on the surface of the counter. Let cool completely at least  1 1/2 hours.

To remove cake from pan, place pan upright on work surface and using a thin blade knife carefully insert on the side of the pan careful not to cut the cake and holding the pan in place work your way around the cake, then do the same in the center around the tube. Carefully lift the bottom of the pan and with the cake sideways tap the bottom of the pan to loosen the cake, if necessary run the thin blade of the knife around the bottom to loosen. Invert onto cooling rack and transfer to serving plate.

Roasted Strawberries and Rhubarb

2 stalks rhubarb cleaned and chopped

2 cups fresh strawberries, cleaned and cut in half

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbs cointreau or your favorite fruity liquor

pinch of salt

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees, line sheet pan with parchment. Add the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar,salt and cointreau  to a bowl, toss to combine and turn out onto sheet pan.Lay berries and their juices in a single layer and bake until berries and rhubarb are soft about 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Set aside

Serve cake with the strawberries and rhubarb and a generous dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Delicious!

Chiffon cake, strawberries and rhubarb

Chiffon cake, strawberries and rhubarb

Mar 30

46 Comments

An Easter Dessert- Yellow Cake,Lemon Cream,Whipped Cream Frosting

Lemon filled yellow cake with whipped cream frosting

Lemon filled yellow cake with whipped cream frosting

Growing up one of my favorite cakes was a simple yellow cake with lemon filling and whipped cream frosting. The tender cake filled with a bright, tangy lemon filling and topped with whipped cream is delicious and makes me think of Spring. This Easter I decided to make this cake and it brings back such wonderful memories of my Mother and childhood. My Mom used lemon pie filling, you know the kind that came in a box like pudding and had that yellow hard candy type thing, I guess it was lemon flavoring. I amped this cake up a bit by using the genius recipe on Food52 from Tartine bakery’s cookbook for lemon cream. This lemon cream or curd is wonderful, and is made in your blender. I love it, it’s so creamy, easy and delicious. The whipped cream frosting is from James McNair’s Cakes, what I love about it is that the whipped cream is stabilized using a cornstarch pudding. If you have ever made whipped cream frosting you know it can break down after a short time, this will not. This recipe was a revelation and I use it all the time. The cake recipe is from my Mom, it is the best yellow cake recipe IMHO, it took her quite some time and a lot of testing to finally come up with this recipe and it’s a keeper. The cake is like a cross between a regular yellow cake and chiffon, there is no butter used in the cake only vegetable oil and to make the cake light and airy you fold in the whipped egg whites, it’s so light and the crumb is just perfect. Thanks Mom for a great recipe. Happy Easter to all of you, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lemon Cream

Lemon Cream

 Recipe for Tartine Bakery’s Lemon Cream

Makes about 2 1/2 cups (625 ml)

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (5 oz/155 ml) lemon juice (Meyer or regular)

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cup (6 oz/170 g) sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup (8 oz/225 g) unsalted butter

Pour water to a depth of about 2 inches into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer.

Combine the lemon juice, whole eggs, yolk, sugar, and salt in a stainless steel bowl that will rest securely in the rim of a saucepan over, not touching, the water. (Never let the egg yolks and sugar sit together for more than a moment without stirring; the sugar will cook the yolks and turn them granular.) Place the bowl over the saucepan and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes very thick and registers 180° F on a thermometer. This will take 10 to 12 minutes. If you don’t have or trust your thermometer, don’t worry. It should thicken to the point that your whisk leaves a trail through the curd. NOTE: I don’t use a thermometer, the lemon mixture will thicken and coat the back of the spoon, draw a line on the back of the spoon with your finger, the line will stay intact. It took about 11 minutes for mine to thicken properly.

Remove the bowl from over the water and let cool to 140° F, stirring from time to time to release the heat.

Meanwhile, cut butter into 1-tablespoon (15-ml) pieces. When the cream is ready, leave it in the bowl if using an immersion blender, or pour it into a countertop blender. With the blender running, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition until incorporated before adding the next piece. The cream will be pale yellow and opaque and quite thick.

You can use the cream immediately, or pour it into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To use after refrigeration, if necessary, gently heat in a stainless steel bowl set over simmering water until it has softened, whisking constantly.

The Best Yellow Cake Ever!

photo courtesy Food52!

Tender Yellow Cake

  • 3 large eggs separated and at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar divided
  • 2 1/4 cups cake flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup + 1 tbs vegetable oil (I use canola)
  • 1 cup whole milk (1 or 2% work also)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Line your pans with a parchment round, butter the bottom of the pan, lay the parchment then butter again on bottom and sides and then flour the pans.

Beat egg whites until frothy then add 1/2 cup of the sugar (reserving the rest) a tablespoon at a time until egg whites are stiff and glossy

Sift flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt into large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. If using a stand mixer use the paddle attachment.I actually prefer to use my hand held mixer for this recipe. Add the oil, 1/2 cup of the milk and the vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed, mixture will be quite thick.

Add the egg yolks and remaining milk and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Fold in the egg whites.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans dividing evenly, bake for 30-35 minutes. Cake will be golden brown. Be careful not to overbake start checking the cake at 25 minutes. Cake tester will come out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out onto cooling rack remove parchment and cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Frosting:

From James Mcnair’s Cakes

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 cups Heavy whipping cream Divided
  • 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
  1. Place metal bowl and wire whisk beater or beaters in freezer to chill.
  2. In a small saucepan combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch whisk until mixed. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup heavy cream whisk until smooth. Place on medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching at the bottom stir constantly until mixture thickens and almost comes to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside stirring occasionally until it reaches room temperature.
  3. In the chilled bowl combine the remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and the vanilla beat with the chilled whisk of your stand mixer or your hand held mixer until the cream begins to hold shape. While still beating add the powdered sugar mixture a little at a time. Beat just until the mixture forms stiff peaks when the beater is raised and is spreadable, be careful not to over beat. Use immediately.
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »