Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Desserts’ Category

Jul 12

93 Comments

Spiced Plum Cobbler

Plum Cobbler

Plum Cobbler

When summer rolls around and there are what seems like endless stalls of delicious fruit and vegetables to choose from at the farmers market my thoughts turn to pies in all forms. A cobbler although not considered a pie is similar in principal. Plums are one of my favorite summer fruits and I literally am like a child in a candy store when I see all the wonderful varieties at the market. I saw these gorgeous blood plums the other day and bought a lot of them, most I eat  a la naturale, but with the rest I make spiced plum jam and this simple cobbler. The crust was inspired by the galette dough with a little extra sugar and less liquid, making it biscuit like. I used the plums, skin and all, and gently spiced them. It’s wonderful served warm with vanilla ice cream or just a little thick heavy cream.

Crust

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into tbs size pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cold milk
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients, add the sour cream and milk and mix just until combined.
Fruit and Assembly
6 ripe plums (I used blood plums) cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/4-1/2  cup brown or turbinado sugar (more or less depending on your taste and sweetness of fruit
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg (1/8 tsp)
pinch of allspice (1/8th tsp)
 Combine plums, sugar and spices, stir.
Place spiced plums in 4 (8 oz size) individual ramekins. Spoon the dough over the plums, spread so it’s covering almost all of the fruit, sprinkle top with a little sugar (optional) and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until cobbler is golden brown and bubbly.
IMG_2632

Jul 8

92 Comments

2 Galettes And a Trip to Mealku

Galette

Galette #1

I was asked to visit the office of a food website called Mealku, and thrilled that they want to feature me as a cook on their site. They needed to do a photo shoot and asked me to bring a signature dish or something that is going to give people some insight into my cooking style. Well, that’s not so easy as I am all over the map and it’s very hard to figure out what screams me when it comes to food. It’s wonderful that this is happening in the summer when fresh produce is at it’s peak and there is a bounty of fresh and delicious fruit and vegetables to choose from. I thought that making something with a pastry crust really does represent me, I am well known in my neck of the woods for my pies. I decided for transport purposes it would be easy to make a free form tart or galette. I have used Julia Childs recipe for many years and love it. The recipe allows either one large tart or two smaller. So I decided to do two small tarts, blackberry nectarine. I am also bringing some homemade vanilla ice cream. I will tell you more about Mealku in another post, it’s a very exciting and innovative venture. Galette #2 is going to my Daughter today is her birthday!!
Galette Dough
From Baking With Julia written by Dorie Greenspan
1/3 cup ice water
3 tbs sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
7 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into tbs size pieces
Stir the sour cream and ice water together. Put flour, cornmeal, sugar. and salt into your mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the cold butter and toss to coat with the flour mixture. Using either your hands or a pastry cutter work the butter into the flour until it resembles large crumbs (about the size of peas) Add the sour cream/water and stir with fork to combine. Gather the dough and gently press into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. This is enough dough for 1 large or 2 smaller galette’s, if making 2, divide dough in half and wrap each individually. Dough can be frozen also for later use. Defrost in the refrigerator.
To make the galette’s generously flour your work surface, remove one of the disks and roll into a rustic looking circle, place whatever fruit or filling you like in the center and gather up the edges, leaving some of the filling exposed. Brush with egg wash or heavy cream, sprinkle with some sugar (optional). Place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before putting in the oven. Bake at 400 degree’s for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
Looks like large crumbs

Looks like large crumbs leave some pea size chunks of butter

Dough is wet but thats ok!

Dough is wet but thats ok!

Wrapped in neat packets

Wrapped in neat packets

Galette #2

Galette #2

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 30

66 Comments

Chocolate Cheesecake Ice Cream

Chocolate Cheesecake Ice Cream

Chocolate Cheesecake Ice Cream

It’s hot out and even though I am watching what I eat I still enjoy a little indulgence, this ice cream is exactly that. Creamy, rich and delicious, with a slight tang from the cream cheese and lots of chocolatey goodness. I used my go to vanilla ice cream base and made some additions, dark chocolate and cream cheese. Need I say more!!!

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

4 oz really soft cream cheese (you can also use mascarpone)

5 egg yolks at room temperature from large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

6 oz semi sweet dark chocolate  chopped into small pieces(I used Divine)

pinch of salt

1 tbs pure vanilla extract

2 tbs clear corn syrup (optional)

Separate your egg yolks and place them in your mixing bowl with the sugar and pinch of salt. Add the heavy cream and milk to medium saucepan and bring to scalding on medium heat. While your milk and cream are heating beat the egg yolks until they are light and creamy, add the softened cream cheese and continue whisking until the mixture is creamy, thick and light with no lumps of the cream cheese. Slowly whisk in a little of the hot milk to temper the eggs, add back to the pan and cook on med/low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Using heat that is too high and not stirring can cause the eggs to scramble. Continue cooking until the custard is thick and coats the back of the spoon, Swipe a line on the back of the spoon, the line should stay intact and not run together. If you choose to use a thermometer the custard should be done at about 170 degrees.

Remove from heat, add the chocolate, let sit for about 5 minutes, stir until combined, it will be smooth and silky. Add the vanilla and optional corn syrup, stir. Cover the top of the custard with plastic wrap sitting directly on top of the custard, let it sit on the counter until it cools then refrigerate in the coldest part of the fridge overnight or at least 4 hours. Alternately you can prepare an ice bath and sit the bowl of custard in it stirring frequently until it cools. The temperature of the custard should be 40 degrees or less before you make the ice cream.

Follow manufacturers instructions for your ice cream maker.

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

Jun 8

55 Comments

Cooks Spotlight:Peanut Butter-Chocolate Kiss Cookies

Photo by Susan Pridmore

Photo by Susan-The Wimpy Vegetarian

I saw this recipe on one of my favorite blogs The Wimpy Vegetarian, I have known Susan for quite some time, we first met on Food52 and I admire her delicious recipes, sound nutritional advice and beautiful writing style. Most of her recipes are vegetarian, she uses healthful ingredients and manages to whip up dishes that make you swoon, and believe me they are loaded with flavor and are truly satisfying. These cookies had me drooling, I love peanut butter and chocolate and fully planned on making them for this post but held myself back, I have been on a diet and am making headway with my weight loss and I knew if I made them I would eat them all so I am reserving this recipe (along with a few others) as a treat for when I reach my goal weight, 9 lbs to go!!  Just because I am on a diet that wont stop me from sharing what I believe is an amazing recipe. Look at these : Roasted Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich With Harissa Mayonaise or Roasted Strawberries And Honey Ricotta On Crackers. Each recipe is delicious and nutritions and beautifully written, you will feel like you are sitting at the kitchen table chatting with a good friend. Please visit Susan’s beautiful blog, i know you will love it as much as I do, there is a wealth of great recipes, sound advice and wonderful stories.

INGREDIENTS

  • 6 ounces unsalted butter, room temp
  • 3 ounces peanut butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2.8 ounces confectioners sugar, sifted, plus some for sifting over the baked cookies at the end
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons coconut sugar
  • 1.5 ounces unsweetened cacao (chocolate) powder
  • 1 egg
  • 5 ounces all-purpose flour

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Fit a pastry bag with a tip for the shape you wish to pipe. Bigger is better here, as the cookie dough can be a little stiff. If you don’t plan to pipe the cookies, they can be spooned out onto the prepared baking sheet too.

Beat the softened butter and peanut butter with a paddle attachment until lighter in color and creamy (about 2 -3 minutes). The color changes due to the air being whipped into it, which translates into a fluffy base for the cookie.

Add the vanilla extract and salt. When fully incorporated, add the sugars and beat again until fully incorporated, starting on low speed.

Add the cocoa powder and egg and mix until fully incorporated.

Sift in the flour in thirds and mix in using a rubber spatula until flour is just incorporated before adding the next 1/3. Do not overmix as this will result in a tougher cookie.

If you’re piping the cookies, spoon ½ cookie dough into the pastry bag and pipe cookies onto the parchment paper or silpat, 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart from each other. I pipe mine about 1 1/2″ in diameter at their base. They will spread a bit in the oven from the butter, and the tops will sink a bit, but the overall shape should hold fine.

Bake for 8 minutes or until just starting to set up. Do not cook until they become hard or browned.

Cool on a cooling rack. For larger cookies, you may want to let them cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to a cooking rack.

Sift with a little confectioners sugar just before serving.

May 26

65 Comments

Happy Memorial Day- Grilled Short Rib Taco’s And A Heavenly Light Dessert

American Flag

American Flag

I want to acknowledge our heroes who have fought and died so that we can enjoy freedom. Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and a day when we gather to enjoy food, family and friends but it’s important that on this day we don’t forget those that served and are serving our great country in the armed forces. Lest we forget!

Memorial Day and our thoughts turn to grilling, its an American tradition. I decided to make something a little different than burgers and hot dogs, a little south of the border flavor peppered with a NYC flair. I love taco’s, they are easy to make and eat and you can add whatever fixings you like, tailoring to your taste. For these taco’s I made some beef short ribs slathered with the most delicious BBQ sauce made by my friend Bevi, I tested her recipe for A Cup Of Coffee BBQ Sauced Steak for Food52 and believe me this sauce is amazing, Now I usually braise short ribs in the oven or on the cooktop until they are fall off the bone tender, but because I wanted to uphold the american tradition of grilling on Memorial Day I did both. First I marinated the short ribs in the BBQ sauce for 2 hours, then I braised  them covered in the sauce and some water in the oven for 2 hours at 325 degrees, they should be fork tender but not falling off the bone, slathered more BBQ sauce on and finished them off on the grill. It may sound like a lot of work but it really wasn’t, the time in the oven was great because they could be left unattended and the grilling only took about 3 minutes to get a nice char. I then shredded the meat, grilled a flour tortilla and there it is, a short rib taco made with a wonderful spicy BBQ sauce.

I wanted something a little different to top the taco’s so I made a sweet corn salad using raw sweet corn, avocado,red onion and  cilantro or parsley and dressed simply with a buttermilk lime vinaigrette. The fresh crunchy salad on top of the rich tender shredded short ribs was really good! Add whatever fixings you want, queso fresco crumbled on top would be delicious, or eat the corn salad separately and top the meat with whatever you like.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

taco

taco

A Cup Of Coffee BBQ Sauced Steak

Makes enough sauce for 2 big steaks

  • 1 cup brewed coffee
  • 1 dried ancho chile, stem and seeds removed
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice (use a regular lemon if Meyers aren’t available)
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • Dash cayenne pepper
  • Two 1 1/2-inch thick steaks, prime sirloin
  1. Place the ancho chile in the hot coffee and allow to steep for about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  2. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until the ancho chile is pulverized and the sauce is a nice, thick texture.
  3. Return the sauce to the stovetop, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  4. Place the steaks in a large ziploc bag, and add about 1/2 cup of the sauce. Squish the steaks around so they are well covered by the sauce. Place in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, or longer if possible. Bring steaks to room temperature before grilling.
  5. Slather more sauce on both sides of the steaks. Place steaks on a hot grill, and grill to your liking. We turn the steaks over after about 4 to 5 minutes, first slathering sauce on the steak, to grill for a total of 10 minutes.
  6. NOTE: I used lime instead of the meyer lemon and a strong dark roast coffee

Corn Salad With Tangy Buttermilk Dressing

2 ears sweet corn cut off the cob

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1/2 ripe avocado chopped

2 tbs chopped cilantro or parsley

1/4 cup buttermilk

juice of 1 1/2 limes

zest of one lime

1/2 tsp dried mint

pinch of salt

generous grinding of black pepper

Mix the buttermilk, lime juice, zest, mint, salt and pepper in the bowl you will be using to serve the salad, stir to combine. Add the corn, onion, avocado, chopped cilantro or parley and toss so that it’s throughly mixed with the dressing. Refrigerate covered until ready to use.

Parfait

Parfait

I can’t forget about dessert, I have been on a diet so no cake or pie for me. I found this recipe also from Bevi on Food52, Coconut Crusted Mango Slices With Pineapple Sauce And Whipped Coconut Cream it’s light and delicious, to see the recipe click on the link. I made one little addition that wasn’t on the recipe, I added lime zest to the coconut cream, I think coconut and lime are so good together and also with mango, it was delicious!

May 13

79 Comments

Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

I made this ice cream to go with the chiffon cake and roasted strawberries and rhubarb. There is nothing like home made ice cream, I love making it and love eating it even more. I wanted to try using some of the rhubarb simple syrup in an ice cream base, I was a little afraid it might turn out icy but it didn’t this was so creamy and wonderful. I adapted David Lebovitz base recipe for vanilla ice cream making some additions and subtractions. His ice cream recipes are genius and I have not been disappointed with any that I have made. I also added some of the roasted strawberries and rhubarb after the ice cream finished churning. It went perfectly with the chiffon cake. I just have to say we had a fantastic Mothers Day lunch, my lovely daughter made all the food, I brought the dessert and we had a wonderful time. I plan on posting her recipe for fried chicken, it’s the best I have had.

Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

  • 1 cup whole milk or half and half
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbs cream cheese at room temperature
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup rhubarb syrup
  • 1 cup roasted strawberry rhubarb  drained and chopped into small pieces

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan.

2. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks,  gradually pour some of the hot milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

4.Whisk the hot custard into the cream cheese, continue whisking until there are no lumps. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

5. Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. While the ice cream is churning add the rhubarb syrup through the hole on top of the ice cream maker. Place ice cream in freezer container, fold in the strawberries and rhubarb and place in freezer until it’s scoopable.

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

May 7

78 Comments

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

This is almost too simple to post but I just had to, it’s so good. I know there are a million recipes out there for flavored syrups but I wanted to share this. I love making syrups, all different flavors I use them all summer for drinks, sorbet, ice creams and in desserts. Have I mentioned how much I love making syrups. I have the blood orange syrup, now rhubarb and I think I will make grapefruit. They are so simple to make, last forever refrigerated and have so many uses. The color is gorgeous too! How about a snow cone on a hot summers day, shaved ice and fruit syrup, Delicious!!! Note: For more intense rhubarb flavor increase rhubarb to 2 stalks, increase sugar to 1 1/2 cups and water to 1 1/2 cups.

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

Makes 12 oz

1 large stalks rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

juice of half a lemon (approximately 2 tbs)

Add everything to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat to med/high and cook at a low boil for 5-7 minutes or until rhubarb is very soft. Turn off heat and let sit in the pot for 10 minutes. Strain into sterilized jar pressing on the rhubarb to get every bit of juice. Cover and refrigerate.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »