SWEETENING A RAW DEAL

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

We have weekly lab meetings, in which one member presents his or her work to the group. This year, to accommodate everyone’s busy schedule, we set the meetings for (ready for this?) 7:45 am on Fridays.

Talk about a tough pill to swallow! 😉

To soften the blow I often bake something for the event, but as a result of my cake-phobia, I usually resort to cookies or breads. However, last week I baked a recipe from (gasp) The Cake Bible. Before anyone who knows me goes into shock, let me clarify that this is NOT a real cake. It’s a much safer chocolate bread. The loaf ended on a happy note, but when I was finished baking my poor kitchen looked as if a herd of elephants had blasted through. I’m not sure why I can make bread, pasta or savory pies from scratch, and my kitchen remains neat and tidy. Bake a cake, on the other hand, and it’s indoor tornado season (sigh).

CHOCOLATE BREAD
(from Rose Levy Beranbaum‘s The Cake Bible)

0.75 ounce unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed)
1.5 ounces boiling water
1 + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
5.25 ounces sifted cake flour
6 ounces sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
13 tablespoons (6.5 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

Heat the oven to 350F. Prepare a loaf pan (8 x 4x 2.5 inch) by greasing it with butter, covering the bottom with parchment paper, greasing it with butter, and covering the pan with a dusting of flour.

Whisk together the cocoa powder and the boiling water until smooth, then let it cool to room temperature. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.

Add the remaining dry ingredients to a large bowl, and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend them together. Add half of the chocolate mixture and all the butter. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed to aerate it. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and beat the other ingredients in two additions, beating for 20 seconds each time. Spoon the batter in the prepared loaf pan, smooth the surface with a spoon or spatula.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (Mine took 60 minutes). If the cake is browns too much, then protect it by covering it loosely with aluminum foil. If you want to have a nice slashed look on the loaf, make a cut with a serrated knife 20-25 minutes into baking time, when the loaf will be starting to form a central split. Make the shallow cut quickly, around 6 inches long.

Once the cake is baked, allow it to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove it to a cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you are cake-challenged, this recipe is for you. It’s simple to prepare, and even if it doesn’t look stunning like Johnny Depp, it’s still mighty tasty. The first bite may seem bland, but the cake slowly dissolves in your mouth – it’s the butter doing the talking – and a very pleasant chocolate flavor warms you up. The kind of cake that makes you go back for “just another little slice”. Surely enough, by 10am on Friday, only crumbs were left over the conference room table. 😉

receita em portugues na proxima pagina

28Jan2010

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

For someone who doesn’t much care for desserts, I’ve posted quite a few lately. Probably part of it was the holidays that just kept on coming: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, with Valentine’s Day around the corner. All of these special occasions call for a sweet closure, often with chocolate written all over it. 😉

To get in this proper dessert spirit, I’ll share my favorite recipe for flourless chocolate cake. Even someone as cake-challenged as myself can make this scrumptious dessert, as I have since I saw it on “Taste”, with David Rosengarten (back when the FoodTV Network was worth watching). I didn’t miss many of David’s shows, that I taped on my old VCR, and still have the box of those tapes. VCRs are a thing of the past, but one day I’ll digitize those shows on DVDs (…one happy day… right after I organize my recipes in beautiful, indexed folders).

David Rosengarten’s flourless chocolate cake is special. I mean, who doesn’t like a pony? Even if you’re not a chocoholic, this dessert might be for you, but if you love chocolate, then don’t let this recipe pass you by. It’s dreamy with a little whipped cream on the side, that slightly mellows its potent chocolate kick. Please, use the best chocolate that you can find, because here quality makes a difference: the chocolate is all that you will taste.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
(from David Rosengarten show Taste)

7 oz extra bittersweet chocolate
14 Tbs unsalted butter (1 + 3/4 sticks)
5 large eggs, separated
1 Tbs vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

Heat the oven to 350F. Grease a 10-inch springform pan.

Combine the chocolate and butter in a double boiler over simmering water, heating until fully melted and smooth. Transfer to a bowl, let it cool slightly for a few minutes, and whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla. Sift in the sugar, salt, and cocoa powder, while constantly stirring.

Whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently mix about one third of them into the chocolate mixture, fold the remaining whites trying to deflate them as little as possible. Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan. Place in the lower rack of the oven and bake for 25-28 minutes.

Remove the cake to a rack and immediately loosen the sides of the pan. Allow the cake to cool before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Some people, including my husband, can’t conceive of a cake without icing (irony of all ironies, he married the “Anti-Cake”). Yet, this cake won his heart (though he insists it will still improve with a thin chocolate glaze). Years ago I baked it in a heart-shaped pan for our Valentine’s dinner. OK, it was a little cheesy, but it doesn’t hurt to travel that route every once in a while… 😉

David’s original recipe instructed to press the cake down with a plate or other appropriate flat object right after removing the ring, to compress it and release a bit of the air produced by the whipped egg whites. In his opinion, the cake is all about a fudgy, dense, chocolaty texture. I’ve tried it both ways, and prefer to skip the compression, allowing it to naturally cool and deflate.

For the fans of his show, those who certainly still remember his closing line….

” Life is a matter of taste.” (David Rosengarten)

receita em portugues na pagina seguinte

14Jan2010

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, EGGS IN SNOW

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

“Eggs in snow” or “oeufs a la neige” or “ovos nevados“… conveys the same delight in any language: a classy, delicious, impressive dessert, that’s surprisingly simple to make. Besides that, you can prepare its components in advance, which is the golden rule for a relaxed host.

OEUFS A LA NEIGE
(adapted from several sources)

for the creme anglaise
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cornstarch (optional)
1 + 1/2 cup boiling milk

for the meringue
4 egg whites
6 Tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt

for the caramel glaze
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Thinly sliced almonds (optional)

Prepare the creme anglaise: beat the sugar and yolks with an electric mixer for a few minutes, until the color turns pale yellow and the texture becomes somewhat thick (ribbon stage). Beat in the cornstarch, if you decide to use it, and while still beating, slowly add the hot milk without scorching the egg yolks.
Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and warm over low heat, while constantly stirring. Don’t let it boil, but bring the temperature to 170F on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and pass it through a fine sieve to remove any bits of egg yolk that might ruin the texture of the creme anglaise. Put it in the fridge until ready to assemble the dessert.

Prepare the meringue: Starting with egg whites at room temperature, beat them with the vanilla, cream of tartar, and salt until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue beating at very high speed, until the peaks are all glossy and thick.
Heat water in a large skillet to 180F (at this point, the water will form bubbles on the edges). Using two tablespoons or an ice cream scoop, spoon mounds of meringue and gently dislodge them into the water. You can cook several at the same time, making sure that the water never boils. If it does the meringues will disintegrate. Cook them for 3-4 minutes per side, then transfer to a baking sheet lined with a soft cloth to drain any excess water. Reserve in the fridge.

When ready to assemble the dessert, add about 1/4 cup of creme anglaise to the serving dish and add 3 cooked meringues to the dish. Sprinkle on some almonds and glaze everything with streams of caramel, made as follows:

Add the sugar to a small saucepan, drizzle the water on top. Set the mixture over medium-low heat, and gently swirl the pan until the sugar dissolves. Then, increase the heat to high, cover the pan, and boil the caramel for 2 minutes. Remove the lid and continue boiling until the sugar turns amber. Place the bottom of the pan in cold water to rapidly cool it, and working quickly, dip a fork in the caramel and allow it to stream through the tines of the fork onto the cooked meringue and almonds.

Serve immediately, or keep in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

for more photos and comments, keep reading

21Dec2009

A SPECIAL HOLIDAY FRUITCAKE

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Fruitcakes have a bad reputation because many people find them dry, tasteless and chock full of artificially colored and flavored “fruit” ingredients. I was among the anti-fruitcake group, until my beloved introduced me to his recipe, that originated from Juanita Neilands, the wife of his doctoral adviser, the biochemist Joe Neilands at UC Berkeley. They’re completely natural, which is consistent with their popularity in the hippie era of the San Francisco Bay area. Each year Juanita and friends would bake a big bunch of these incredible cakes and distribute them to each of Joe’s lab members.

The remarkable man Joe Neilands passed away a little over a year ago at age 87. He was an outstanding scientist and political activist, a true free-spirit. You can read about him here. In our current lab we still continue the research that he began decades ago, and in our kitchen we still bake this favorite fruitcake, “an old Southern family recipe”.

HOLIDAY FRUIT-NUT CAKE
(from Juanita Neilands, an old Southern family recipe)

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 T vanilla
1/2 cup white grape juice
1 t baking powder
1 lb pitted, chopped dates (unsugared)
(or 1/2 lb dates + 1/2 lb mixed dried fruits of your choice)
1/2 lb dried apricots, chopped
1 lb pecans, chopped
3/4 lb walnuts, chopped (about 3 cups)
optional: Tawny Port wine

Beat the eggs and sugar together. If you can only find chopped dates that are coated with sugar, then reduce the sugar by 2 T. Mix in the flour and baking powder, then add vanilla and grape juice. Dust the dates and apricots with flour, add them to the batter, then add the chopped nuts. The batter will seem very dry, do not worry about it.

Prepare six mini-loaf pans by greasing them with butter. Line with 2 layers of parchment paper, greasing each layer. Spoon the batter into each pan, and decorate the cakes with half walnuts or pecans on top.

Bake at 350F for 50 minutes to 1 hour, and remove the loaves from pans as soon as you can touch the cake. Remove the parchment paper, and put cakes on a rack over a pan. Pour Tawny port (or brandy or bourbon), about 2 T each, over the fruitcakes and and allow them to cool. Add more Port later, if you desire, and wrap for storage. Enjoy the cake right away, or store for several months, if Port wine (or brandy) is added.

Happy Holidays!

to print the recipe, click here

This post will be my first submission to “Bread Baking Day”, this month’s theme is “Baking Under the Tree”

for step by step photos and comments, read on….

Continue reading →

2Dec2009

DUNDEE CAKE BAKE-ALONG

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

or…. “THE DAY DAN LEPARD TRICKED ME“

Maybe some cooks are fearless. They open any cookbook, pick any recipe, open their cupboards, and make it: no trauma, no drama. But, I am not such a cook. I notice some improvement over the years: in the past I wouldn’t even attempt a risotto or a souffle. But I’m still severely “cake-challenged.” Nothing infuses me with fear more than the phrase: “cream the butter and sugar“. Ever since a painful fiasco with a strawberry genoise “shoe” cake, that I regrettably served at a party back in 2003, I’ve successfully avoided recipes that instruct to beat the butter and sugar into the elusive “creamy” stage. Why would I even bother?

Fate plays strange tricks, though.

A couple of weeks ago I learned about an internet event – a Bake Along – organized by Dan Lepard (my bread baker guru). Folks from all over the world connected to “The Guardian” website at 3pm London time, and waited for Dan’s instructions to bake a traditional Dundee Cake together. He posted the ingredients the day before, and the bakers logged in for a virtual group meeting – even a lady from Australia who awakened at 2am to join the party!

Where I live, the baking started at 9:00 am. Well, to be precise it was 9:03 am…. Can you tell that I was ready for it?

I measured the ingredients, prepared the pan and waited for Dan’s first instructions, that arrived like a hydrogen bomb overhead: mix the sugar with the butter and beat until creamy. WHAAAT? I re-read it, hoping for a misunderstanding on my part. Nope.

I looked at my butter, it was not even “softened” (whatever that might be). I considered quickly logging out, explaining that a tornado was headed my way, but…. in November? Who would believe me? Then, a fellow baker, probably hyperventilating almost as much as me, related that his butter was still cold from the fridge, what was he supposed to do? “Don’t worry, Dan responded, ” heat it until about 1/3 melts, and proceed.”

Maybe that’s why his last tip before we began was…

“Stay calm and relaxed. We’re going to have the best time, ok?”

Yeah, right! Calm and relaxed I was not. Still, I took a deep breath, microwaved it slightly, added the whole pitiful blob to the bowl of my mixer, dumped the sugar on top, and…… beat it. To my amazement, IT WORKED!!!

I suddenly realized that I hadn’t done it correctly before. Maybe my butter was too cold or my sugar too coarse (this time I used superfine), but on this occasion it worked!

Thrilled, I moved on, adding the eggs, the marmalade, the dried fruits…

This cake baked in two stages: first a partial bake covered with foil to generate steam, and then after removing the foil, nuts were added on top and the baking resumed, uncovered, for the remaining time. I couldn’t find whole blanched almonds to cover the fruitcake, so I used macadamia nuts instead. My cake wasn’t as beautiful as those with the nicely distributed almonds, but it tasted great!

Beautiful cake or not, having survived the “cream the butter with sugar” battle, I was happy….

Maybe for the most part I was not calm and relaxed, but… I did have the best time that Sunday!

You can see the work of all my virtual friends by following the pictorial show organized by Dan and his crew in London, by clicking here

Verdict: A wonderful fruitcake indeed! I was planning to eat a few slices and then add Port wine to some of it, wrap and store. But there were only crumbs left next day… Next time I will make it in small loaf pans, and save a couple to taste later.

get the recipe after the jump, or by visiting Dan Lepard’s blog
jump for recipe