Hi guys!!!
Welcome once again. After a busy and fun weekend, it was difficult to move my bum off the bed. With droopy eyes, I managed to open the blinds, only to reveal a beautiful sunny sky. It was enough motivation to shower and get ready.
The ghostly streets on this Monday morning seem odd. Few cars running and even less people out and about. We've been experiencing rather hot temperatures and we've taken refuge inside, with cool A/C air refreshing the rooms. Despite the hot weather, I spent a great deal in my kitchen, with a hot oven running, being a busy bee, baking goodies and treats. I told you last week some of the orders pending for these last days, all of which were accomplished with raving reviews, except one, which got cancelled. Tuesday evening comprised the baking of first Lemon "Square" batch for Wednesday. I arrived home late in the evening, so it was all I could make. I had just gotten home when my mother arrived from a short trip, with new equipment for me. I was ecstatic. I finally got the pastry blender I needed (which I broke in to bake the first batch of lemon "squares"), muffin tins, cupcake liners, lollipop sticks, and a turntable which I adore. The following morning I prepared the second batch, the Lemon Cream Cheese topping, the candied lemon zest and quickly finished the small treats, delivering them shortly after. I did not have yellow lemons at hand and went ahead and used what I'm pretty sure were limes, despite the supermarket's "Persian lemon" sign.
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| "Lemon" "Squares" |
Because the baby shower cupcakes order was cancelled, I had a relaxing afternoon. Thursday morning, I quickly whipped up the dough recipe for the Lemon Delights. My aunt kindly ordered 60 cookies for a reunion and I happily obliged. It rested in the fridge until noon, and after a quick lunch, I began preparations for the baking. The filling was made, the pecans finely chopped and so I began the process of rolling and filling. When the last baking sheet left the oven, I turned my attention to a math tutoring session I was to give my cousin. While she quietly completed her assignment, I packed the cookies in 5 small boxes, each with 12 cookies arranged nicely. The delivery was made and soon after I headed to bed, not before receiving a call from my aunt, letting me know the cookies were a hit, and that I possibly had new clients. With a smile, I drifted off.
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| I laughed when I saw my "caramel" all crystallized |
Friday was a quiet day. After a few quick errands in the morning, I was back home, baking tortes for two cakes: vanilla and chocolate. I debated whether or not to prepare the fillings and frostings to finish them off, but I decided it would be best to do so in the morning. Because of my late night, I terribly regretted the decision Saturday morning, but duty called and I diligently did my job. And I surprised myself with the results. The Vanilla Caramel cake came first and so I prepared the caramel sauce, used as the filling and also in the frosting. Back in school, we learned to make a direct caramel, instead of using water and added ingredients. I prefer the method as it is easier and hardly ever fails me. I decided to follow the recipe as it was, using 4 Tbsp. of water to prepare the caramel. It resulted in the funniest crystallized sugar I had seen. Not to mention, that previous mistakes had included burning the caramel, but this was the first time it ever crystallized. I laughed and although I lost a bit of time, I quickly caught up. I prepared the caramel the way I know best and just as I expected, it was finished properly. Once it was cool, I prepared the frosting with some of the caramel and began the assembly. I cut each layer in half, leveling them and using the caramel sauce as a filling. With the help of my new turntable, I regally frosted the cake sides and piped a shell border at the bottom. I then prepared a pastry bag with a small plain tip and piped caramel sauce in a grid-like pattern. The result was nice and I headed out to deliver the cake.
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| Divine Vanilla Caramel Cake |
I came home in time for lunch and decided I needed an hour to sit down. The minutes flew by and I was back in the kitchen ready to prepare the German Chocolate Cake. The layers had been baked, so all I needed were the rum soaking syrup, the coconut-pecan filling and the chocolate "icing" which was divine. I began with the icing, preparing the ganache in 5 minutes. Into the fridge it went, for over an hour, while I prepared the coconut-pecan filling and the syrup. Time flew by. While the filling, all prepared, rested in the fridge as well, and the syrup cooling down, I toasted coconut flakes and began preparing the crust for a Coconut Mango Tart. It was our Sunday dessert. The crust dough was made and into the oven it went for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, I prepared the mango mousse filling and left it in an ice bath for an hour and a half. The crust was cooling down when I began to assemble the chocolate cake. I leveled out the layers and cut them in half, leaving me with 4 layers. I soaked the layers, topped them with the coconut-pecan filling and continued to do so with the remaining layers. Using turntable for a smoother surface, I iced the cake with some of the ganache and used the rest to pipe borders. I surprised myself with the end product.
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| Pure Chocolate Heaven |
The cake went in the fridge until delivery time, as the kitchen was boiling hot and I could not afford to have the ganache melt. By this time, the mango mousse filling was ready and I spooned it into the cooled coconut crust and into the fridge it went, where it spent the night. While we headed out for another evening of fun, I delivered the cake to the birthday dinner party and we parted ways. The reviews were off the roof and I couldn't contain the smile. Sunday morning came, with a sunny sky and hot temperatures. We had a full house by lunch time, when friends joined us for homemade hamburgers, with crispy bacon, a special sauce, spicy caramelized onions (made by yours truly), sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, fresh onions and of course, homemade fries. Not many enjoyed coffee and dessert (yummy coconut mango tart) as the hamburgers were of gigantic descent, but we did enjoy a summer beer and a game of Rummikub, which I played for the first time and absolutely loved the strategy game. By 8 o'clock in the evening, the house was quiet. I jumped into bed after a night shower and fell asleep catching up on Supernatural.
While I sip my well deserved coffee, I take my leave and hand over to you the delicious recipes used in the above creations. Enjoy!!!
Until next time.
xx
Preparation:
Vanilla Cake:
Grease two 9" springform pans and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 F.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, with whisk attachment, beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract at a high speed, until light and fluffy. Slowly, beat in the vegetable oil. Incorporate eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in 3 inclusions, ending with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. Once there are no lumps left, pour the batter equally into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
Caramel Sauce:
Prepare a direct caramel on a large saucepan, swirling the pan slowly to allow equal melting of the sugar. Do not whisk it. Brush a little water around the edges to avoid crystallization. Once the caramel has a nice amber color, add the butter and incorporate well. Remove from heat and add the cream. Mix well until no white streaks are left. Leave to cool completely.
Caramel Frosting:
Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth and of spreading consistency. Use more milk if needed. If the frosting is too thin, add more sugar.
Assembly:
Even out the layer if necessary. Using a sharpened serrated knife, carefully slice each layer in half. You will have 4 layers. Fill the layers with caramel sauce, but reserve some for drizzling decoration. Once the layers have been filled and topped, frost the cake with the caramel frosting and decorate with the caramel as desired.
Vanilla Caramel Cake
Adapted from Rock Recipes
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| Delicious Caramel drizzling over flawless vanilla layers |
Ingredients:
Caramel Sauce
2 C. sugar
2/3 C. butter, cut into small cubes
1 C. heavy or whipping cream
Vanilla Cake
1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/4 C. cake flour, sifted
1/2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
2 T. good quality vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/4 C. milk
Caramel Frosting
3 1/2 - 4 C. confectioner's sugar
1/2 C. butter
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 C. caramel sauce
a few tsp. of milk
Preparation:
Vanilla Cake:
Grease two 9" springform pans and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 F.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, with whisk attachment, beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract at a high speed, until light and fluffy. Slowly, beat in the vegetable oil. Incorporate eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in 3 inclusions, ending with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. Once there are no lumps left, pour the batter equally into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
Caramel Sauce:
Prepare a direct caramel on a large saucepan, swirling the pan slowly to allow equal melting of the sugar. Do not whisk it. Brush a little water around the edges to avoid crystallization. Once the caramel has a nice amber color, add the butter and incorporate well. Remove from heat and add the cream. Mix well until no white streaks are left. Leave to cool completely.
Caramel Frosting:
Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth and of spreading consistency. Use more milk if needed. If the frosting is too thin, add more sugar.
Assembly:
Even out the layer if necessary. Using a sharpened serrated knife, carefully slice each layer in half. You will have 4 layers. Fill the layers with caramel sauce, but reserve some for drizzling decoration. Once the layers have been filled and topped, frost the cake with the caramel frosting and decorate with the caramel as desired.
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German Chocolate Cake
Taken from Brown Eyed Baker
Adapted from David Lebovitz
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| Decadent Chocolate Perfection |
Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 T. water
1 C. unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 1/4 C. + 1/4 C. sugar, divided
4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
2 C. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 C. buttermilk or soured milk, at room temperature
1 t. vanilla extract
Filling
1 C. heavy or whipping cream
1 C. sugar
3 egg yolks
6 T. butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 t. salt
1 C. pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1 1/3 C. unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
Rum Syrup
2/3 C. water
1/2 C. water
4 t. rum
Chocolate Icing
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 T. light corn syrup
3 T. unsalted butter
1 C. heavy or whipping cream
Preparation:
Chocolate Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Melt the semisweet and unsweetened chocolates together with the 6 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Use either a double-boiler or microwave on 50% for 30 seconds to 1 minutes.
Stir until smooth, then set aside to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1¼ cup of the sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and beat in the melted chocolate until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture, beating until just combined.
Add the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, mixing until combined, and then add the remainder of the flour mixture. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the ¼ cup of sugar and beat until they form stiff, glossy peaks. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there’s no trace of egg white visible.
Divide the batter into the 2 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake layers completely (leave them in the pans). While the cakes are baking and cooling, make the filling, syrup and icing.
Filling:
Stir together the heavy cream, sugar and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the butter, salt, pecans and coconut in a large bowl and set aside. Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir) until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon (an instant-read thermometer will read 170 degrees F.). Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan-coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Cool completely to room temperature.
Rum Syrup:
In a small saucepan, heat the water and sugar, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum. Set aside until ready to use.
Chocolate Icing:
Place the chopped chocolate, corn syrup and butter in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
NOTE: Once the filling and icing are both cooled to room temperature, refrigerate for 1 hour.
Assembly:
Remove the cake layers from the pans. Level and cut both cake layers in half horizontally using a sharp serrated knife, so you have four cake layers. Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Brush the top of the cake layer with the rum syrup. Spread ¾ cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top. Repeat, brushing the top of each cake layer with the rum syrup, then spreading ¾ cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top. Ice the sides with the chocolate icing, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top, encircling the coconut topping and around the bottom if desired.
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Coconut Mango Tart
Taken from Epicurious
Adapted from Gourmet
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| The perfect summer dessert |
Ingredients:
Coconut Crust
1/2 C. sweetened coconut flakes, toasted
3/4 C. all-purpose flour
7 T. unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
1/3 C. confectioner's sugar
1/4 t. salt
Mango Filling
2 1/2 C. chopped ripe mango, plus 1 1/2 C. firm ripe mango, diced
3 T. sugar
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. unflavored gelatin, from 1 envelope
1/3 C. heavy cream, well chilled
Preparation:
Toasting Coconut:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread coconut evenly on a baking sheet, and toast in oven for 7-10 minutes, or until golden. Allow coconut to cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Leave oven on for the crust.
Coconut Crust:
Pulse together flour, butter, confectioner's sugar and salt in a food processor, until dough just begins to form a ball. Press dough onto bottom of pie plate or tart pan with removable bottom and up the sides. Freeze for 1o minutes or until firm. Bake in the middle of the oven, for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
Mango Filling:
Puree 2 1/2 C. chopped mango, sugar, lime juice and salt until smooth. Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 C. pureed mango in a heatproof bowl and allow to soften for a minute. Set bowl of a saucepan with simmering water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in remaining puree.
Beat cream in large bowl until it just holds stiff peaks, then fold in puree. Set bowl in a larger bowl, with iced water, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Assembly:
Remove crust from tart pan if used. If using a pie plate, do not remove. Spoon filling into crust smoothing the top. Chill until filling is set, about 8 hours. Before serving, scatter 1 1/2 cups firm ripe mango on top.
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