Extraordinary Cakes – Ivoirie Royale

I was immediately drawn to this cake on my first look through the book.  I am sure that it was because of the pound cake base.  My readers will already know of my fondness for pound cake.  Monica and I both decided that this was the cake for our second round of the bake through for Extraordinary Cakes.  I also thought it was a good choice as we have several new bakers who have decided to join us in our quest and this cake only has a few components and seemed an easy way to ease into the process.

My initial reading of the cake base recipe had me a bit concerned.  This is a sour cream pound cake and I was surprised to find that it didn’t use any butter but instead used grapeseed oil.  My initial though was of my favorite aunts dreaded Mazola oil chiffon cake. (You have heard me talk about this cake and my hatred of it before).   Well, I was pleased to discover that the grapeseed oil didn’t make the cake heavy and didn’t add any unpleasant taste (grapeseed oil is tasteless) but added a moistness not always found in most pound cakes.  The cake retained the traditional firm texture but remained moist and tender even through the freezing process.

The other components of the cake are vanilla soaking syrup, white chocolate sour cream mousse, sweetened whipped cream and of course a myriad of spring fruits.  Surprising none of these elements compete with each other.  The syrup offers just a slight whisper of vanilla.  The mousse which is really just a white chocolate ganache to which sour cream is added gives a slight hit of sweet white chocolate with the nice sour cream tang but never gives the cloying white chocolate sweetness.  All of this is tempered by a generous amount of sweetened whipped bream which acts as a perfect base to enhance the fruits which include strawberries, raspberries, black berries and blueberries.  The total effect is one of total bliss.  Each element can bet tasted and noted but all combine in perfect harmony and even the cake base shines through as the perfect support for all that is added to it.  Definitely a true work of art this cake.

The white chocolate curls are the only added decoration and although they look difficult they really aren’t.  Making them is just a matter of timing and patience.  I have found that it just takes the patience to wait for the chocolate to reach the perfect temperature for shaving the curls.  Once it is reached you have to work quickly as the window is very small.  I generally get about 3 curls and then I have to warm the chocolate and start the waiting period again.  It doesn’t require much actual effort and you are certainly rewarded for you patience.

Extraordinary Cakes – Lemon Praline Cake

I was talking to my friend Monica from the Gutsy Cooks Club about favorite chefs and cookbooks.  Since we were both members of the Heavenly Bakers, naturally our conversation came around to desserts and especially cakes.  Monica mentioned to me that she had gotten the book Extraordinary Cakes by Karen Krasne and was anxious to try some of the cakes.  She asked me if I knew about Karen and I think I surprised her when I said that Karen was a local pastry chef here in San Diego and that I went to her shop very often.  She asked me if I wanted to join her in baking some of these incredible cakes.  Well, I am a huge fan of Monica’s cooking style and her kitchen wizardry so naturally I jumped at the chance to join her.  We each read through the book and comprised a list of cakes we wanted to try.  When we compared notes we laughed to see that we had both chosen almost the identical list.  This Lemon Praline cake appealed to us both right off the bat and we decided it would be the first cake we attempted.

On the first read through these recipes seem really complicated. They are assembled cakes from many components and Karen certainly doesn’t skim in this area.  This cake has 6 separate components.  Once you get over the shock of the task and reread the recipe you see that it is very manageable.  Many of the components can be made the day ahead and held.  The one difference that Karen does is that she assembles the cake in a cake ring or mold and then freezes the assembled cake overnight before the final decoration.  This is something that neither Monica or myself had ever done and after comparing notes with Monica I think we both agreed that it was a technique with would both adopt in our cake baking.  It certainly makes the final decoration and serving much easier.

I started by making the genoise, which is a pretty straight forward standard genoise.  It went together in a snap and before I knew it the baked cake was cooling on my counter.  The next day I tackled the French Meringue which is used as a crunchy center layer.  It all came together in about 20 minutes and has to bake for at least an hour.  While it was in the oven I made the lemon syrup, the lemon curd and the lemon buttercream and by the time the meringue was baked and cooled I was ready to assemble the cake.

The genoise is leveled and sliced into two layers.  One layer goes into the cake ring, followed by the syrup, then a layer of  buttercream and a layer of lemon curd.  Next the meringue goes on followed by another layer of buttercream and another layer of lemon curd.  Finally the second cake layer in placed on top and drenched with the remaining lemon syrup.  The entire assembly is wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen over night.  As I told Monica, to me the hardest part of the entire process was finding the room in my overcrowded freezer to keep the cake overnight.  Karens instructions are clear and concise and her timing notes are spot on.

The following morning I made the final component which is hazelnut-almond praline.  This was just caramelized sugar to which toasted nuts are added and then the mixture is spread onto a baking sheet to harden.  Karen specifies to make this just before you need it.  Once hardened the praline is broken into pieces and ground in the food processor into a fine powder.

The assembled cake is then frosted completely with the remaining lemon buttercream and then coated with the praline powder.  The final decor is a bouquet of fresh flowers and rose petal covered ribbon.  I didn’t really like the picture that is in the book and decided to take artistic license here.  I should have followed the book.  I ended up going crazy with the flowers and ended up covering the whole top of the cake.  My other half told me it looked like a cheap centerpiece and I certainly have to agree that it was not the most attractive thing I have ever turned out in the kitchen.  No matter, the decorations came off as soon as I got some photographs and the cake is so good that it hardly matters what it looks like.  I think next time I will just frost it and pipe some borders and then use the praline in shards as decoration.  Maybe I will just skip the decoration entirely and move straight to the eating part.

All in all it was a great first cake from a really great cake book.  Can’t wait for the next installment of the Monica and Raymond Cake Club.

Cupids Strawberry Cake

I can see why Flo calls this her signature yellow cake.  I found it a snap to make and it certainly delivers on it’s promise.  It is rich and buttery without being cloying and it is moist but has a firm texture and crumb similar to a poundcake which I find especially appealing.  It lends itself easily to a variety of fillings and frostings.  It can be eaten plain or with a sprinkling of powdered sugar or it can be dressed up or down as you see fit.  The combination of the strawberries and the lemon buttercream was especially appealing to my family.

Even though I had been warned that the frosting could be a bit sweet I decided to try it as is before I made any changes to the recipe.  While I didn’t find it to be too sweet for my taste, I did find it to be a bit soft and slightly hard to work with.  My first attempt at frosting the cake found it sliding down the sides.  I put it in the refrigerator for a bit to firm up before proceeding and had no problems with it after that.  I served the cake for a collectors club meeting I hosted and it was extremely well received.  I will definitely be making this one again and the yellow cake will certainly be added to my baking repertoire.

ABC Bakers: Butterscotch Spiral Coffee Cake

I have always enjoyed working with yeast doughs.  There is something very satisfying about taking yeast and water and flour and ending up with a light, risen and almost earthy finished product.  Unfortunately, many people are put off by making yeasted baked goods.  Not so much because they feel they are difficult but because of the proofing and rising times, it sometimes seems as if there just isn’t enough time during a busy day to make a yeasted baked good.  This recipe is proof positive that a fine quality yeasted baked good is quite doable in a relatively short period of time.  That alone is enough to make you want to bake this but one taste and you will want to make it every week.  It is almost like a cinnamon roll on steroids. Not only is it of grand size but the flavors are big and bold and gutsy.  You can certainly play with your own spice combinations not only in the filling but in the dough itself.

I did take Hanna’s advice and double the quantity of spices in the dough and I can see where neglecting to do so would make for a more subtly flavored dough.  I am glad that I doubled mine.  I doubled the amount of cinnamon filling as well and I still didn’t feel like it was enough. The next time I make this I will triple it.  I also think that I would like to play around with the addition of walnuts or pecans to this recipe.  Another thought was to add a simple powdered sugar glaze on top of the butterscotch.  I may just be going for overkill here but I just can’t seem to stop myself from wanting to add more and more to this already delicious coffee cake.  I did make one other change.  I thought that I had a full bottle of dark corn syrup in the pantry and when it came time to make the butterscotch glaze it turned out that I didn’t so I substituted molasses for the dark corn syrup.  While it wasn’t a true butterscotch, it was certainly a rich and bold almost spicy glaze and I don’t think my coffee cake suffered from it in the slightest.  All in all, this is a great cake to have on hand at all times.

The risen dough

The filling

BKs Marquis Revisited: Marquis aux Deux Chocolates Sous le Dôme d’or

Last year I developed a special double chocolate marquis for my friend BKs milestone birthday (see BKs Choco-Tectural Marquis.)  Over the past year I have made it numerous times and while it is always well received I couldn’t help but think that it just needed some tweaking, so I set about playing around with it and I think I finally have it to where I want it.  Since the two under flavors were orange and hazelnut, I decided that it was these flavors that needed punching up. They just seemed to be overwhelmed by the chocolate flavor.  This time I used 5 ounces of the orange flavored Maya Gold chocolate and 5 1/2 ounces of the 60% dark chocolate.  I also added the grated zest of an orange.  To augment the hazelnut flavor, I increased the amount of hazelnuts to 1/4 cup and added 3 tablesoons of Frangelico to punch the nut flavor up.  This was for the brownie cake layer base.  The mouse layer was milk chocolate since BK had professed a liking for milk chocolate and I decided to leave the mousse layer untouched because I didn’t think the suble milk chocolate interfered with the rich brownie base. I also liked the marked contrast in the two layers. I think I acheived what I set out to do.  Just to give it that extra nudge over the top, I put the whole thing under a caramel dome.  I think the nutty flavor of the caramel enhances the hazelnut flavor in the cake base.  The cake is very rich so the cage can certainly be omitted without taking away from the overall flavors of the finished cake.  The cake is very rich so serve it in small portions with a glass of Frangelico or Nocello.  Enjoy!

Don’t be discouraged, the dome is not hard.  A few tricks are to make sure that the mold is very well buttered.  Once your caramel is to the color of your choice, remove it from the heat and keep testing it with a spoon.  You are looking for a heavy thread falling off the end of hte spoon.  This is the indication that it is ready to go on the mold.  If it is too hot it will burn the butter and it will stick to the mold.  ALlow the mold to cool for a minute or so.  The caramel should still be warm to the touch but firm enough to hold its shape.  Begin at the edge and gently push the caramel toward the top to get it to loosen.  Once it begins to loosen, turn the mold right side up and gently push from the egde to release the dome from the mold.  It is very fragile so be extremely careful once you get it released from the mold. 

Just so you know I was listening BK

Lady Baltimore Cake

Recently I have become fascinated with Southern cakes.  I kept coming across different recipes for southern cakes while I was thumbing through my various cookbooks and just sort of fell into the subject and it took over.  One of the recipes that I most wanted to try was Lady Baltimore cake.  I recently got a copy of Nancie McDermott’s wonder book “Southern Cakes” and low and behold there was another recipe for Lady Baltimore Cake and I just knew that it had to be the first cake I tried out in my foray into southern cakes. 

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the origin of this cake.  Historians agree that the first mention of the cake seems to be in 1906 when recipes for it began showing up in newspapers.  Another author sites that novelist Owen Wister mentioned the cake in one of his romance novels set in Charleston, North Carolina, which led to many believing that the cake originated there.  Still another source claims that the cake was invented by the proprietors of the Lady Baltimore Tea Room in Charleston.  Janet Clarkson of The Old Foodie blog states that the first recipe for it appeared in the Daily Gazette And Bulletin newspaper form Williamsport, PA on December 24th 1906.  And in a completely different direction, James Beard states in his book, American Cookery that the cake originated in Maryland.  So as you can see, there are many different opinions as to when and where this cake actually originated, but no matter which story you choose to believe, you will agree that it is totally delicious.

It is a white, egg foam cake which is filled with dried fruits and nuts and completely covered in swirls of billowy white boiled icing ( or what my mom used to call Sea Foam frosting, also known as Seven Minute frosting).  It makes a 3 layer cake and is perfect for a dinner party or fancy tea party.  It has also been popular as a wedding cake in many areas.  No matter how you choose to use it, you will be rewarded.  The traditional fruits for the filling are raisins, figs and dates and pecans.  I have also chosen to add apricots, dried cherries and dried cranberries.

In a medium bowl combine fruits and nuts and toss with about 2 -3 tablespoons of brandy and allow to sit for one hour.  Whip egg whites until they are stiff and glossy and set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix to combine.  Mix mild and vanilla and set aside.  Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy and then with the mixer on low slowly add the milk mixture until just combined.  Add all of the flour mixture and beat until just combined.  Add one-third of the whipped egg whites and stir in to lighten the mixture, then add the rest of the whites and gently fold until combined.  Divide the batter amongst three cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until done.  Cool on a rake for 5 minutes, then unmold and reinvert on racks so the tops are up and cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a heatproof bowl, combine sugar, corn syrup, egg whites, salt and cream of tartar.  Place the bowl over a pan of gently boiling water and with a hand-held electric mixer whip on high-speed for 7 minutes until the  frosting is tripled in volume and fluffy and holds soft peaks.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.  Beat for 2 minutes more.  Add about 1 1 /2 cups of the frosting to the fruits and combine.  Fill the cake layers with the fruit/nut filling and frost the entire cake with the remaining frosting.

Black Chocolate Party Cake

I am on the mend this week and thought I would venture back into the kitchen for a little baking.  Since this was a free choice week I decided not to push my luck and again opted for one of the quick and easy cakes.  This cake is indeed easy but I think the title is a bit of a misnomer.  This is hardy a party cake, at least I would never serve it for a party.  It is definitely an adult cake with very intense flavors. And, it definitely cries out for a cup of strong hot coffee to go along with it.  While it was certainly very easy and the flavors are intense, it was not universally well received around my house.  I took it to the neighbors for coffee and most people there found it to be way too intense and a bit on the bitter side.  I have to admit that I agree with them.  If I was going to make this one again, I would certainly leave out the nuts as I am sure they are what caused the bitterness and I would try using regular super fine sugar as opposed to the turbinado sugar for maybe a bit more sweetness.  With all that said, let’s bake.

In a medium bowl combine the cocoa, sour cream, eggs and vanilla and stir until a lumpy batter consistency is reached and set aside.

The cocoa mixture

In the bowl of a stand mixer blend together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the butter and half of the cocoa mixture and blend on low until the dry ingredients are moistened. 

Adding butter and cocoa

 Increase the speed to medium and beat for one and a half minutes to lighten the mixture.  Add the remaining cocoa mixture in two additions, beating at least 30 seconds after each addition to strengthen the structure. 

The completed batter

 Scrape the batter into a prepared bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 – 60 minutes or until done.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze.  In a small sauce pan combine cocoa, sugar and water and stir until dissolved.  Bring the mixture to a rapid boil, remove from the heat and cool a few minutes.  Add the vanilla and whatever liqueur you are using (I used Kahlua) and stir. 

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and poke holes all over the bottom with a skewer and then brush the bottom of the cake with some of the glaze.  Drape the pan with plastic wrap and invert it onto a cooling rack.  Brush the cake generously with the remaining glaze and allow to cool completely.

 

When cool, invert the cake onto a cardboard cake round and carefully remove the plastic wrap and reinvert the cake onto a serving plate.

Enjoy!

Next Up:   Genoise Tres Cafe

Cranberry Crown Cheesecake

I apologize right up front for the lack of step-by-step photos this week.  As a matter of fact there won’t really be much of a write up this week as well.  It has just been too busy and the weather here so strange that I completely forgot to photograph as I was baking.  I actually had several projects going on in the kitchen and while I don’t usually find that to be a problem, there were just too many other things going on that needed my attention so no pictures.  I wasn’t really sure I was going to get this finished this week.  I made so many cookies and cakes and desserts for friends and parties that I had my doubts about getting around to this but I managed to get it in.  We have been having alot of rain in San Diego this week.  We certainly need it as we have been in a drought for the past 5 years but it rained practically non-stop this entire week. Things were flood, roads closed, traffic lights weren’t working, businesses closed.  It was a mess.  I work about a mile and a half from home.  It usually takes me about 10 minutes to get home, depending on how many light I get. The average time for my commute this week was an hour and a half.  It was just a total calamity.  One night it took me 3 hours to go that mile and a half.  I sat at one traffic light for 18 signal changes and then still had to take a detour around a flooded zone. 

Alright, enough about all that, lets talk about this cake.  It was really very simple.  Get everything to room temperature, dump it in the ingredients, mix until smooth and bake.  It really was that easy.  As I have stated before, I generally don’t really care for sour cream in my cheesecake, I am more the dense cheesecake type but this was very smooth and silky with a light citrus taste that went perfectly with the cranberry topping.  And of course there were ladyfingers (biscuit a la cuillier).  Someone asked my why ladyfingers were called spoon cookies in french.  Well, it is really very simple, at one time they were formed on the baking sheet with the back of a spoon, so hence the name.  I have already sung the praises of Rose’s ladyfingers recipe.  Beat the egg yolks and sugar, sprinkle on the flour and set aside.  Beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff, fold into the egg yolks, pipe and bake.  Couldn’t get any simpler and do they fill your house with the most wonderful smell.  Terrific.

Well, once I finally had this cake finished, I brought it to a friends holiday buffet and it was a sensation.  Well received by all and I was quite proud when one guest, a professional baker, came up to me and told me how great he thought my cheesecake was.  It really was good.  Merry Christmas everyone.

Next Up:  Chocolate Bulls’ Eye Cake

Apple-Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake

I have to admit that I chose this cake out of pure laziness.  This weekend has been so hectic with so many unexpected events happening at the last minute that it has been nearly impossible to plan anything.  Those of you who know me know that this is absolute torture.  I have to plan everything.  I even make spreadsheets for my vacations so I know where I will be on each day.  I just hate not knowing where, when and what I will be doing at a certain time.  At any rate, I thought about just not baking this week since things were not going well and then I started feeling guilty about signing up for this challenge and then not doing it so I guilted myself into baking.  That is why I picked this recipe.  It was as easy as it could get and I had everything I needed to make it so no unnecessary trips to the grocery store for that one forgotten item or jar of impossible to fine imported moreno cherries (true story on the moreno cherries everyone, it took me three weeks to find them and the recipe used 1/4 cup of the little buggers).  Now with all the confessions out in the open, lets move on to the cake.  These crumb type coffee cakes are not really high on my list of favorites or must have on hand cakes.  I remember growing up with these from the corner bakery.  My mom bought them all the time because all of the women in the neighborhood would gather for coffee in my mom’s kitchen and she always had to have some type of sweet to go with it.  This one is very good.  The sour cream gives it a nice moist crumb as opposed to that sandy texture of most of these coffee cakes.  I think it is this sandy texture that I most object to with these cakes.  The crumb is very nubly and rich with walnuts and cinnamon and butter.  The cake has a nice light vanilla flavor, I doubled the vanilla just because I really like vanilla.  All in all I was very happy with this cake and glad that I guilted myself into making it.  I think it would be nice to experiment with some different varieties of apple.  I’d also like to try some pears, maybe add some Poire William and almonds.  If I am feeling really decadant I could always try chocolate and hazelnuts.  The point is, it is a nice cake to use as a departure point for your own experiments.  Let’s bake.  

For the crumb, Pulse the walnuts, brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon until the walnuts are coarsely chopped. (You probably already figured that I did this by hand, and you would be right.  It was easier than washing and drying that processor bowl and blade, you can thank Nigella Lawson for my laziness, I take her Express route).  Set aside 1/2 cup of this nut mixture.  Add the melted butter and toss to combine and then set in the refrigerator to firm.  On to the cake.  

Peel and slice the apples and toss them with lemon juice to keep them from browning.  Whisk together the eggs, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of the sour cream and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine.   

Add the butter and the remaining sour cream and blend until the dry ingredients are moistened.  

  

Turn the speed up to medium and beat the ingredients for about one and a half minutes.  Then add the egg mixture in two additions, beating each addition for about 30 seconds to stregthen the structure.  

  

Add about two thirds of the batter to the prepared spring form pan and smooth the top.  Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of nut topping onto the batter evenly and then add a layer of slices apples.  Top with the remaining batter and smooth the top.  Then bake the cake for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

The finished batter

The crumb layer

The apple layer

Ready for the oven

Once the cake has baked for 35 minutes, remove it from the oven and set it on a rack.  The cake is still fragile so be gentle with it.  Take the reserved crumb mixture from the refrigerator and break it up using your fingers to get some larger chunks and some smaller pieces.  Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the top of the cake and put the cake back in the oven to bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake tests done.  Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a rake in the pan for 10 minutes.  Unmold the cake and allow it to cool completely.  

The baked cake ready for it's crumb topping

  

The finished cake

  

Enjoy  

Next Up:  Cranberry Crown Cheesecake

Financier-Style Vanilla Bean Pound Cakes

Pound cake, vanilla, butter!  Are there any better or sweeter words in the English language?  And, upon hearing them, would there every be any doubt in your mind that you needed to make these?  There certainly wasn’t any doubt in my mind.  From the instant Marie announces this weeks recipe, my mouth started watering. I don’t think there is dessert recipe than can have enough vanilla, to be honest I think most of them don’t have enough.  I also don’t think that there is a more pure and unadulterated ride to heaven than a piece of plain vanilla pound cake.  We all know that age old question of , “If you were stranded on a desert island, what one food would you bring?”  Mine would without a doubt be vanilla pound cake.  There just isn’t anything better in the whole world.  Okay, let’s head into the kitchen and bake up these beauties. 

These truly are simplicity itself.  Once you have yourmis en place, they go together in less than 10 minutes.  Even the mis on these takes just a few minutes.  The most time consuming thing is waiting for the eggs and butter to reach room temperature.  I just took mine out before I did the morning errands and all was ready when I was.  As a matter of fact, once I started in, I realized that my financier molds are not really proper financier molds, they are a bit larger and deeper and I realized right away that I was going to need to double the recipe to accommodate them.  I just pulled everything out and moved right along without missing a beat.  There you have it, proof that this is by far the simplest recipe you will ever attempt. 

To start, halve a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the sugar and rub them through the sugar, then process in a food processor until completely combined. To be honest, I found that rubbing them into the sugar was sufficient and skipped the processor step.  You can decide for yourself what is enough.  

Lightly whisk together the egg whites, vanilla and milk and set aside until needed.  In the bowl of stand mixer, combine flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine.  Add the butter and half the egg mixture and mix to moisten the dry ingredients, then raise the speed to medium and blend for about a minute.  Add the remaining egg mixture in two additions, mixing between each addition.  Pipe or spoon the batter into the prepared financier molds and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  

Adding the butter

Adding the eggs

The completed batter

Ready for the oven

Baked

 There you have it.  Was I right?  Can it get any easier than this.  I think these should be called “10 minutes to Heaven”.  They are just incredible.  As a matter of fact, I am eating one with a cup of tea as I write this and I am finding it hard to concentrate on writing because these are so good.  

 

 They have a tender but firm crumb yet remain moist, not dry and the one I am eating was made yesterday and just sat out on my kitchen counter.  Still moist.  They have a nice rich vanilla flavor, and I find that the combination of vanilla bean and vanilla extract gives a stronger but mellower vanilla flavor that I particularly like, especially in these unadorned type desserts.  My only complaint, and you all, already know what that is going to be.  Individual little cakes.  Not to my liking at all.  In fact, I have dediced that the next time I make these, I am going to double the recipe again and bake them in those small loaf pans that I bought in Paris years ago and have only used once.  I am sure they will work great.  

 

 

 

Enjoy! 

Next Up:  Free Choice