Lovely Lemon Cakes (Game of Thrones)

I'm a huge fan of HBO's Game of Thrones ... and an even bigger fan of the original book series by George R. R. Martin. If you've read the series, you know that food is sort of a "recurring character." Many times, GRRM's descriptions of the lavish feasts that the characters partake in have caused some near-drooling experiences. In fact, a couple of fans have gone so far as to create a food blog based on the series!



I am not quite that ambitious. But when I saw that HBO had actually released a recipe for lemon cakes (based on a recipe by Tom Colicchio), a favorite treat throughout Westeros, particularly enjoyed by Sansa Stark, well... I had to give it a try.

Guess what? They're delish. Light, sweet, and creamy. Though the recipe seems to indicate that they should be served warm, I actually preferred them once they'd chilled in the fridge over night.

I used slightly larger ramekins than was called for, so my lemon cakes look shorter and flatter. They're actually quite small. What I love about them is that after baking, they layer themselves. When you unmold, you should see that a cake layer has formed at the "bottom," with a creamy middle, topped by an almost jelly-like top. These layers are more visible when you use a small ramekin, so that they're given some height. Still, even in my shorter versions you can see that there are layers. I garnished mine for aesthetic purposes, but they don't really need it.

"Gods be true, Arya, sometimes you act like such a child," Sansa said. "I'll go by myself then. It will be ever so much nicer that way. Lady and I will eat all the lemon cakes and just have the best time without you."

The HBO recipe is extremely concise and isn't big on detail. I sort of muddled through it, hoping the right things were happening, but it wasn't until the end that I knew I'd done it correctly. I've tried to make their recipe clearer with my adaptation below.

Lovely Lemon Cakes (adapted from HBO's recipe)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar, plus more for dusting ramekins
• 2 eggs, separated
• 3 tbsp plus 1 tsp all-purpose flour
• Pinch kosher salt
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Finely chopped zest of 1 1/2 lemons
• 1 kettle hot water

Method

1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Butter and lightly sugar 6 4-ounce ramekins. Also, set a kettle of water to boil.
2. Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks, then set them aside. Make sure you've caught all the whites that may have settled to the bottom of the bowl.
3. Sift the sugar with the flour and salt.
4. In a mixer, using the whisk attachment, combine the buttermilk, lemon juice, egg yolks and lemon zest.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture, until combined.
6. Fold in the egg whites. The resulting mixture may not look fully homogeneous; that's OK.
7. Divide the batter between the prepared ramekins.
8. Pour the kettle of hot water into a large pan with raised sides (be careful!).
9. Place the ramekins into the hot water bath, making sure that the water comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the whole thing with aluminum foil and carefully place the pan into the oven.
10. Bake until the cakes rise and are almost firm, about 25 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking until the tops are lightly golden and the cakes spring back when touched, about 15 minutes more.
11. Unmold and serve immediately, or unmold and chill in the fridge until ready to eat.

Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever

Pioneer Woman calls this sheet cake "the best chocolate sheet cake, ever." While I can't confirm that with 100% certainty (there are a lot of chocolate sheet cakes out there, and I think it is my duty -- YES, DUTY -- to reserve judgment until I have tasted all of them so I can make an informed decision), I can't imagine this cake isn't at least in the running for the title.



The cake is moist and chocolatey, with a wonderful frosting that's dotted with pecans (to be honest, the pecans were so good that next time I'd double the amount used). What I can say with some certainty is that this was one of the easiest, most rewarding cakes I've ever made. It's really ridiculously easy, and if you're someone who thinks that something easy can't be all that good, I'm here to tell you you're very wrong.



First of all, this cake uses melted butter, instead of softened. I don't know about you, but softened butter is the bane of my existence when it comes to baking. Oh, I understand the importance of it -- it's just having some handy when I want it that's the problem. With softened butter, you have to plan in advance, and more often than not my baking is a spontaneous thing. Anyway, you mix your wet ingredients, you mix your dry ingredients, and you mix them together. Nothing tricky about it. Same goes for the frosting (which is a little sweet for me, but has a wonderful flavor, and as I said, the pecans really add something) -- you mix the ingredients together, let it cool a bit, then spread over your cake.



The one kind of fussy thing about this recipe is that it requires buttermilk. If you don't have buttermilk on hand (and I know very few people who have buttermilk on hand on a regular basis), I have two suggestions. One is to buy Bob's Red Mill dry buttermilk. I keep some in the freezer. It's so convenient, when I need buttermilk I just whip some up, rather than having to go out and buy a carton, only part of which gets used, so then I have to think of where else to use it. The only thing is that this is a sweet buttermilk rather than sour. Which leads me to the suggestion Pioneer Woman has, which is to fill your measuring cup almost to the required amount of buttermilk with regular milk, then add white vinegar until it reaches the right amount. I haven't tried this myself, but she says it works.



I only have photos of the whole finished sheet cake because despite the fact that immediately after it was done I wanted to cut into it -- it smelled sooooo good -- I had to resist as I'd made it for a coworker's birthday and I didn't want to ruin his cake (or at least, couldn't figure out a way to do it without the embarassment of someone noticing that there was a piece missing). Then once it got to my workplace the cake sort of evaporated.

Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever (adapted from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp (heaping) unsweetened, natural cocoa powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 14 tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) salted butter
• 4 tbsp (heaping) unsweetened, natural cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 lb (minus 1/2 cup) powdered sugar

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter, then add cocoa (don't be shy with the amount). Stir together.
3. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Pour this into the flour mixture, stirring gently just until combined.
4. In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture.
5. Pour into ungreased sheet cake pan and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.
6. While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Chop the pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add the cocoa, stir to combine, then remove from heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans once the frosting has cooled a bit (you don't want to cook the nuts), stir together, and pour over the warm cake.

Tres Leches Cake

The first time I ever had tres leches cake was a couple of months ago, when my cousin and I went to Mistral Kitchen. The piece of cake was tiny, about the size of half a candy bar, and we had to SHARE it. Obviously it wasn't enough!  It was incredibly good, served with a small scoop of strawberry sorbet (which complemented the sweet, moist cake wonderfully). Since then, I've been wanting to make this traditional Mexican cake myself.



There are a lot of tres leches cake recipes out there, but I decided to use one by Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman). As she rightly points out, there's actually FOUR kinds of milk used in the cake, so it should arguably be called cuatro leches cake. The three milks name probably comes from the fact that after the cake is made, it's then soaked in three milks (the fourth is in the batter).



What are the three milks? It's not health food, it's yummy food. Heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. What's the difference, you might ask? Heavy cream, at least in the U.S., has at least 36 percent fat, and is the stuff typically used in ice cream and to make whipped cream. Sweetened condensed milk (also sometimes known just as condensed milk) is cow milk that's had its water content removed and sugar added, which makes it a thick, creamy substance that's awesome just stirred into hot coffee or tea. When buying condensed milk, look at the label. There should be as few ingredients as possible (in fact, 2 is best: milk, sugar), with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Evaporated milk (aka dehydrated milk) is shelf-stable milk that's had about 60 percent of its water removed. Since you'll be making more of the cream mixture than you actually need for the cake, don't throw away the remainder; save to use in coffee or tea (unless, of course, you don't like milk or sugar in your hot beverages).



The cake is light and airy, due to the batter requiring meringue. There are lots of little air pockets in the cake, all the better to soak up the three milks. Right after pouring you might notice that some of the milk hasn't soaked in yet -- don't worry, the cake is a greedy sponge and the milk will eventually get absorbed while it's sitting.  TPW suggests letting the cake absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. This is not, in my opinion, nearly enough time. I served the cake after about 40 minutes of soaking and it was disappointingly dry. The next day, however, the milk had totally soaked through and it was as moist as can be. So I recommend letting it soak for several hours or overnight before frosting, to really get every bit of the cake soaked. This is actually good in terms of convenience, because it means you can make the cake the day before and the only thing you need to do day of is make whipped cream to spread on the cake.



The dry milk in the 'frosting' is optional; it's just a way to stablize the whipped cream (which I find more necessary when it's being used as a cake frosting).

Tres Leches Cake (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 12oz can evaporated milk
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

For the 'frosting'

• 1 pint heavy cream
• 2 tbsps sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp dry nonfat milk (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
4. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
5. Beat egg whites in a clean bowl on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
6. Fold the egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
8. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn the cake out onto a rimmed baking sheet or serving platter and allow to cool.
9. Combine the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream, preferably in a container that has a spout. When the cake is cool, carefully pierce the surface all over with a fork. Drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture, including the edges of the cake.
10. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for several hours or overnight in the fridge.
11. Right before serving, whip heavy cream with sugar, vanilla, and dry milk (if using) until thick (though don't overwhip or you'll have butter).  Spread over the cake.  Best served with something tart and fruity, like strawberry sorbet.

Breaking Out of My Hermit Shell for a Night

Those who know me in real life won't be surprised by the confession I'm about to make: I'm somewhat of a hermit. I like my family and I like my friends, and occasionally I even like my coworkers. But put me in a room full of strangers and acquaintences, and I'm completely ill at ease. It's not a situation I like to put myself in. But sometimes there are invitations you can't refuse.

Take Carol, a coworker of mine, and a friend. We've known each other for years, though it's only been since 6 months since we began seeing each other in person with any regularity (previously she lived in New Zealand). We go to lunch every week -- at least, we try to. She's a food enthusiast, like me. So when she said she was throwing a dinner party for a handful of people, I couldn't say no.

There were only 7 of us, so the "room full of strangers" claustrophobia didn't set in, even though I didn't know anyone well (or at all) other than Carol and her husband, David. And the best part of dinner parties is getting to take pictures of all the wonderful food, without having to do the work of making it (and worse, cleaning up afterward).

It wasn't the best timing for a barbecue (they'd just gotten a new Webber grill) -- it ended up getting extremely cold during the day and started snowing. I wasn't even sure I should go, as the roads were sure to be a mess. But I had made a pumpkin pound cake that I didn't want to eat all by myself, and I do actually try to make an effort at not being such a hermit all the time. So I went, and other than one terrible spot on the freeway, it wasn't too bad. A fun time was had by all, and though I didn't get home till well after midnight, I was glad I had gone.

Now for the pictorial, and a recipe for the pumpkin pound cake at the end...

We begin, appropriately, with the appetizers. Here is a bowl of chicken wings, marinated in Malaysian spices (which had a hint of sweetness to them), then deep fried. They were delicious; possibly my favorite of all the food served!



Here we have some fantastic salami from Whole Foods, a duck spread that has a French name that I've forgotten, and freshly sliced French bread.



Next, I helped Carol wrestle this special, extra-long pasta into a pot of boiling water. Its black color comes from -- squid ink!



Here we've got some on-the-vine tomatoes, roasted with a couple of cloves of garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.



The tomatoes, along with their sauce, were stirred into the pasta, along with sliced scallions, pine nuts, apple-flavored olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper. It was light and delicious.



Here we have a huge salad (though you can't really tell that from the photograph) of mixed greens, candied walnuts, cucumber, shaved parmesan, and thinly sliced apple and pear. It was served with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.



The lamb roast on the grill:



And off:



Unfortunately, the problem with serving meat at home is that people tend to like it cooked with some variation of rare or well done, and neither the twain shall meet. I like my lamb (and beef) cooked medium rare, as did 3 others. The other 3 liked their meat practically burnt ("cook it as much as you can cook it, and you're just about there" is how one described it). It's very difficult to prepare meat that caters to everyone's preferences without either letting some portion go cold (those of us who like it on the rare side), or making people watch others eat (those who need their meat cooked longer). Sadly, those who like meat on the rare side tend to get screwed, because while we can usually still suffer through over-done meat, those who like their meat well done absolutely cannot eat meat that has even the slightest amount of pink (at least, that was the case last night). So last night, the meat was cooked too well. There were a few slices with some hint of pink, but that was as rare as it got.

David, who prefers his meat medium rare as well, was muttering to himself as he sliced: "God! Ugh.... how can people eat their meat this way.... and this probably isn't even done enough for them! Ugh!" The meat was tender, though, so in that way it was still good. Flavor wise it was less than ideal, due to it being overdone, though since the lamb was fresh, it didn't have that gamey flavor that I don't like.



Along with the pasta and salad, the lamb was served with some beautifully roasted potatoes:



Putting it all together, it made for a very eye-catching plate:



As I mentioned, I brought a pumpkin pound cake laced with chocolate chips, which Carol served after dinner along with a cheese plate, an assortment of crackers, and slices of apple.



The cheese included an Irish cheddar, some kind of bleu that was wonderful with an apple slice, a caramel-flavored gouda, and one that looks like Brie but that I don't think was Brie (though I can't actually remember what it was):



The crackers included two types of New Zealand cracker, and one that was laced with dried fruit and nuts. My favorite was the one in the middle, which had a great taste and crunch. Naturally it was the one that Carol had actually physically brought back from New Zealand, which means I won't be able to find it here. Sigh.



My favorite thing about this pumpkin pound cake, which probably would have been more suitable in October or November, is that it actually sort of resembles a pumpkin. It's not an extremely sweet cake, and the pumpkin and spices are fairly subtle.



I laced it with chocolate chips, which you can see better here:



And a slice:



Pumpkin Pound Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups pumpkin puree (or mashed fresh roasted pumpkin)
• 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the buttermilk glaze:

• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup sugar
• 4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 tbsp pure pumpkin puree
• 1 ½ tsp. cornstarch or flour
• ¼ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 10-inch non-stick Bundt pan with cooking oil.
   In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk well.
2. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the milk and vanilla.
3. In stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Scrape down, add the pumpkin, and mix until the batter is combined. The batter will look grainy at this point; that's okay.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture. Beat until just combined. Add half of the milk mixture and beat on low speed until well blended. Add the remaining flour, followed by the remaining milk, using the same method. Beat on low until the batter is thick and smooth.
6. Scrape half the batter into the prepared pan. Scatter the chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the batter, then spoon the rest of the batter into the pan. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes (in my oven it took 70 minutes), or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly and a toothpick inserted in one of the cracks comes out clean.
7. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. If needed, run a thin knife around the edge to loosen the cake. Carefully invert it onto the rack.
8. Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a medium saucepan, combine the buttermilk, sugar, butter, pumpkin puree, cornstarch, and baking soda. Place it over medium heat, and bring it just to a gentle boil. Remove it from the heat, stir well, and set it aside to cool to room temperature. Once cool, add the vanilla and stir well.
9. Set the wire rack over a rimmed sheet pan or long piece of foil. Spoon the glaze, which may have lumpy bits of cornstarch in it, through a cheesecloth-lined strainer over the warm cake if you want the glaze to soak into the cake. If you want the glaze to sit atop the cake, don't use it until the cake has been cooled significantly. Cool completely before serving.

Raspberry Yogurt Cake

I love a cake that's yummy, fast to make, and pretty to boot. This one fits the bill nicely. Perfect to make when you're short on time but need something presentable. Or, maybe just a quick treat for yourself.



You can substitute the raspberries with practically any other berry -- use what you like best. I love fresh raspberries, but I'm not sure they're necessarily the best choice in this cake (though they're great!), mainly because the seeds are quite prominent, which may or may not bother you.

Scatter the fruit evenly, but don't worry about making it too perfect. The haphazard design they create in the cake is partly what makes it beautiful.

Make sure you use exactly the amount of yogurt specified -- more than that and the cake may not set properly.



Raspberry Yogurt Cake

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of plain unsweetened yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 or 2 tsp vanilla extract, to taste
• 300 grams of raspberries, frozen (no need to thaw them) or fresh

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together.
4. Pour half of the batter into a ten-inch cake pan (bottom lined with parchment paper, sides greased), then pour half of the raspberries on the surface. Cover the berries with the remaining batter, top with remaining half of the berries.
5. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
6. Let stand for 10 minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce. The cake is better the next day, so bake it in advance if you can.

Chocolate Valentino -- Daring Bakers Challenge February 2009

I wish I were more of a chocolate lover, as I might have appreciated this month's Daring Bakers challenge much more. It's not that I didn't enjoy it -- I did! But I'm not one of those all chocolate, all the time type people, and this month's challenge was really catered to the ultimate chocolate lover.

Info for February:

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.

We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The recipe itself could not be simpler (and I made it even more simple), which was perfect for someone coming back from a 2-month hiatus. It uses 3 -- count 'em -- 3 ingredients: chocolate, eggs, and butter. As you can imagine, the quality of your ingredients matter a lot in this flourless cake; if one things tastes off, the whole thing is off. The original challenge stated that the finished cake would taste exactly like the chocolate used, and that cannot be emphasized enough. If you're a chocolate connoisseur, you'll probably need to use the super pricey stuff -- but you'll be amply rewarded.

Rather than go through the whole double boiler scenario, I melted my chocolate and butter by microwaving. I was very careful about this, only microwaving for 30-40 seconds at a time, and mixing after each time, to make sure the chocolate wouldn't burn and to fully incorporate the butter. I found that this also made the chocolate just warm, rather than hot, just enough so that it's melted. That was very helpful when adding the egg yolk, as I didn't have to worry about them curdling.



I loved the "batter," so creamy and gorgeously brown. I even loved it after folding in the egg whites and it looked grainier. I'm normally not a fan of licking the spoon or tasting batter (I know, I'm weird right? But I can usually taste the flour in it, and that's just kind of yucky), but that wasn't the case with this cake.



It was optional to use a heart-shaped pan (though if I'd been making this for anyone than just me, I might have tried to go find and buy such a pan), so I opted to bake mine as little cakes in ramekins -- a good choice actually, as right out of the oven, they had risen like little soufflés. And in fact, they sink with time just like soufflés as well.



I probably should have eaten them right in the ramekin, but mindful that this was supposed to be a cake, I tried to remove them from their baking dish and plate them ... not my best idea. It all fell apart (though that didn't make it any less tasty).

It's so cold here right now that I really could not imagine making ice cream (plus I have one of those tiny freezers that's already packed with all the stuff I freeze and forget about), so I also opted to make the suggested alternative of whipped cream, warmed up some strawberry rhubarb jam, and topped the cake with that. The cream, the tang from the jam, and the chocolate combination was wonderful.



The cake was so rich and so chocolatey, however, that I could not eat more than two of them (hence my wish that I were more of a chocolate lover -- or at least that I had a roommate or something who could have helped me finish).

Chocolate Valentino from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan of Malaysia

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• ½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs separated

Method

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often. (Or you can do what I did; place the chocolate and butter in a microwafe-safe bowl and microwave 30-40 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until the mixture is fully melted and incorporated. If you do this correctly the chocolate will be just melted and won't be super hot, which is good for the egg step.)
2. While your chocolate-butter mixture is cooling, butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375°F/190°C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. (Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.)
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Apple Tart Cake

I've been intrigued by both of the latest recipes on Orangette, the cream of scallop soup and the apple tart cake. Of the two I thought I would be making the soup first, as I love scallops, I love soup, and I love the idea of combining the two. However, the method and the ingredients for that one were definitely more challenging than the tart cake, which only required that I buy a few apples as I had everything else.



First I have to say something about the name. There really is no better way to describe this, as it's neither a tart nor a cake, but has properties of both. Second, I'm not usually a fan of too much filling. Think of an apple pie ... toward the end of the slice I'm usually picking out some of the apples and concentrating on the crust and syrup/topping, which are the parts I like best. Also, I've made an apple cake before, and it also turned out too appley (and soggy from all the juice from the apples). So when making this cake I thought 3 apples were far too many (even despite the warning that it would seem that way), and that I would probably end up picking some off the top. Not so! It actually ended up being just right, so I'm pleased that I went ahead and used all 3 apples.



The one change I would make the next time is that more and more I'm preferring my desserts to be less sweet, so I'd change this to 3/4, maybe even 1/2, a cup of sugar. Too much sugar "numbs the palate" as Judy Rodgers says in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, and isn't good for you besides. I'd maybe also add a pinch of salt to the crust/cake. Now whenever I have a slice, I just sprinkle some salt on top, which gives it a nice depth of flavor.



Apple Tart Cake

As posted on Orangette

Ingredients

For the base:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 5 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced very thinly

For the topping:

• 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment, combine the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Pulse to mix. Add the butter, and pulse until no large lumps remain. Add the vanilla and the egg, and blend well, until it resembles cornmeal.
3. Dump it into the prepared springform pan. Nudge it around with your fingertips to distribute it evenly, and then gently press it along the bottom of the pan. You’re not trying to really tamp it down; you just want to compact it a little. At the edges, let it curve up ever so slightly, like a tart shell with a very low, subtle rim.
4. Arrange the apple slices over the base in a tight circular pattern. It may seem as though you have too many apple slices to fit, but keep going. Really squeeze them in.
5. Slide the pan into the oven, and bake for 45 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, make the topping. Combine the ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk to blend well.
7. After the cake has baked for 45 minutes, remove it from the oven, and spoon the topping evenly over it.
8. Bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the topping looks set.
9. Transfer the pan to a wire rack, and cool for 20 minutes. Then run a thin knife around the edge to release any areas that may have stuck, and remove the sides of the pan. Cool completely before serving.

Orangette's Note: This cake is even better on the second day. So if you can, make it a day ahead: just wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature until you’re ready to eat it. We ate ours plain, but I think it would be great with vanilla ice cream.

Yield: about 8 servings

Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting: Daring Bakers Challenge November 2008

I was really thrilled to be able to make my first cake as part of the Daring Bakers. (Just to clarify -- it's my first cake with the group, not my first challenge. :) ) I really liked how the consistency of the cake turned out -- the batter was smooth and wonderful -- and the frosting too came out great. Unfortunately this was one of those cakes that was far too sweet for me. I have a sweet tooth, but it has its limitations. It's a shame, too, because the cake was dense and moist, and the browned butter in the frosting gave it a sensational flavor.



Info for this month's challenge:

• Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting Recipe
• Author: Shuna Fish Lydon
• Hosts: Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex of the Blondie and Brownie duo, and Jenny of Foray into Food

Here we've got the start of the caramel syrup.

And many minutes later... I ended up, like most DBs probably, with a lot of the syrup leftover. Since I knew from just reading the recipe and from the comments other DBs had made on the forums that the cake was going to be extremely sweet, while making the frosting I opted to moisten it with heavy cream rather than more sugar. The leftover caramel syrup is now being used to sweeten my hot teas!

Here's the cake cooling -- the instructions didn't say whether it should be cooled in the pan or not, so I opted to do a bit of both.

The finished cake! It actually turned out fairly well (for me). I made it a two-layer cake because there was so much frosting. I still need much, much more practice in frosting a cake -- even using the method of "pre-frosting" it with a thin layer before putting on a thicker layer didn't quite work -- a lot of crumbs still got into the final frosting (though you can't tell so much in the picture). That could also be because I was rushing through this -- I was late to meet my cousin for dinner so the cake might not have been entirely cooled. I drizzled the whole thing with the leftover caramel syrup, since I had so much of it.

My original plan had been to decorate it with pieces of caramel candy, but I hadn't gotten around to making it yet, alas!

Saturday Dinner - Rotini Pasta with Vegetable Marinara, Banana Cake, Miniature Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (Special Edition)

Tonight was a special edition of Jade and I's Saturday night dinners, being that it's Friday. That's because tomorrow is my birthday! And I'm going to my cousin's for some fresh boiled crab. Mmm.

But back to tonight! We made a version of a dish that I used to make a lot when I was a poor legislative correspondent on Capitol Hill, making peanuts. This was a favorite meal because it was fast, cheap, filling, and had some nutritional value. But back then I only ever used pasta sauce that came in a jar, and usually made it with long pasta such as spaghetti or fettucini. Tonight, however, I made my own sauce, and as I was out of long pasta, used rotini -- which actually might have been a better choice.



We each made different desserts -- I made what was supposed to be a low-fat banana cake, except I didn't have milk, so used canned coconut milk instead, so the low-fat thing kind of went out the window, which is okay for me since I'm not restricted to having 10 grams of fat per meal, as Jade is. Predictably, the cake was soft, moist, and delicious, which means I'll probably have to continue to make it with the coconut milk! Still, I think it would still be great with the nonfat milk the recipe originally called for. Jade made miniature low-fat pineapple upside-down cakes, which looked so yummy I wish I could have had one! They were made in honor of her mother's birthday, which happened to be today.





All in all, a very simple, satisfying meal that was good and low in fat! Well, more so if you were at Jade's house instead of mine.

Rotini with Vegetable Marinara

Ingredients

• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 8oz can tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine (I used Merlot)
• 1 zucchini, cut into 1/4" rounds and then cut in half
• 1 celery rib, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 5-6 white button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked rotini
• 8oz fresh broccoli
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, divided

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan or Dutch oven.
2. Toss in the diced onion and stir to coat. Add the sugar. Cook onions until they're translucent and getting soft. If it seems there's not enough oil for the onions you have, add a little more -- you don't want them to turn brown and burn.
3. Carefully pour in the red wine, and cook for a few minutes until it's reduced a bit.
4. Add the can of tomatoes, juice and all. If you're pressed for time, mash the tomatoes a bit so they're not quite so chunky. If you plan to let this simmer for a couple of hours, you can skip that step.
5. Mix the tomato paste with the water, and add to the sauce. Bring it to a boil.
6. Toss in celery, zucchini, and mushrooms, and stir to coat. Let that cook for a couple of minutes.
7. Add the garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Let the sauce simmer for 2-3 hours on low heat, stirring once or twice. The resulting sauce should be chunky, but the vegetables should be soft and there should be plenty of sauce.
9. About half an hour before you're ready to serve, make the pasta as directed on the package.
10. In another saucepan, heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil. When it's hot, add the broccoli and stir fry until the broccoli is bright green and just about done. If you need to, add more oil as you definitely don't want the broccoli to burn.
11. Add cooked rotini and stir a bit, but don't actually cook as it'll stick to the pan.
12. Ladle in the vegetable marinara sauce and stir until all the pasta is coated. Add more if your preference is for more sauce.
13. Cook for a minute or two, then ladle into a pasta bowl and serve. We left out the cheese to keep this low fat, but you can sprinkle some parmesan on at the end.

I had to wait for the steam to dissipate to take this photo -- and even then some remained. I didn't want it to get totally cold, though, since I still had to eat it!

Banana Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (or nonfat milk for low-fat version)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Prepare a 9" square baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine bananas, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
5. Add dry ingredients and mix well.
6. Spread batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (If you use nonfat milk, it may only take 25 minutes as originally directed, so watch the cake to make sure it doesn't overbake!)
8. To prepare glaze, combine honey and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix well. Drizzle over warm cake.

If you make the low-fat version, you can check out specific nutritional information here, which is the recipe I adapted.

Miniature Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 15oz can's worth of drained pineapple juice (see topping)

For the topping:

• 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter
• 7 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1 15oz can of crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
3. Slowly stir in the eggs and milk to the dry ingredients. Add some of the crushed pineapple to the batter if desired.
4. To make the topping, melt butter in a sauce pan.
5. Slowly add brown sugar until you get a nice-looking glaze. Pour the glaze into a pan (or distribute evenly among mini pans, if making small cakes).
6. Add the crushed pineapple, spreading it evenly in the pan(s).
7. Pour the cake batter over the glaze and pineapple.
8. Bake for 35 mins if making a large cake, 15 to 20 if doing minis. You can slice and serve directly out of the pan(s), or turn over so that the pineapple glaze is on top, for upside-down cake!

Note: To make low fat, use 1% low fat milk, and substitute 4 egg whites for the eggs -- it makes the cake a little heavier than is ideal, but the fat to taste ratio remains intact.

Miniature pineapple cakes, with a cell phone to show size.