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Cakes

No Eggs – No Butter? Peanut Butter Scones And Lemon Lime Sunshine Cake From My Sweet Vegan


Baking without eggs and butter past midnight a couple of days ago…"Why would that be?" you might be wondering. Did I run out of baking supplies when a sweet craving hit? Was I cramming in homework at the last minute? None of the above…although I did in fact re-do a post just to update the pictures as Santa finally delivered my present and accessories. Looking at the old shots could not do these baked good justice anymore. So I decided to bake them again and pretended today was December 25th…any excuse to stay in my pjs on my day off is a good one in my opinion. But why out of all the things I could bake, did I decide to make vegan scones and cake?

Well, a couple of months ago, I received a copy from my dear friend Hannah’s first cookbook, aptly titled My Sweet Vegan. I got to baking her Lemon Lime Sunshine Cake that very same day and about every other weekend since then. Same with the Peanut Butter Scones, they are on B’s list of most requested breakfast items. I feel bad because I have been telling everybody about this book, promising Hannah and her publisher a review of the recipes I have tried so far and in the end I keep it all to myself. No more! The book is a perfect reflection of Hannah’s personality, warm and friendly, inviting you to try new things and be opened to the world around. When I first got to know her, I had no idea this very mature soul both in her writing and approach to food, came in such a young and cute package.

Look at that breakfast of champions! That is one awesome Peanut Butter Scone! I love to make these for brunch and take them (minus the glaze) to the gym when the 4 o’clock sugar craving hits. In that spirit, the book is written with the whole spectrum of dessert lovers in mind, vegan or not, and it reads like a novel. Hannah generously gives us her tried and true, favorite recipes as well as tips and tricks to achieve the best tasting treats. Reading through it is like spending time with a good friend over a good brownie or a cup of coffee. Did I say brownie? Yes…and many more like Strawberry Love Muffins, Butterscotch Blondies, Whoopie Pies, Mocha Devastation Cake, Ginger Dream Pie, Five Minute Coconut Fudge….and I am just scratching the surface.

Although not vegan, B. and I do respect the animals that feed us, giving them the day off once in a while. I am more into tofu, soy milk agave nectar, with a weakness of vegan "cream cheese" than he is, but he is a good sport and when I told him I was going to bake from Hannah’s book, he took it upon himself to give me the "Carnivore opinion". So far, everything has been a hit and when he asked about all these alternative items, I handed him the book where Hannah explains in detail her vegan ingredient guide at the begining. I added that if he flipped a couple more pages, she had a section entitled "Tools of the trade" where she explained everything anybody needed to know for baking. His response "I might have agreed to try vegan, but am still not ready to step into the kitchen, meat-lover or not…nice try!" Ah well, can’t blame me for dreaming!


See my midnight snack right out of the oven…? That’s the Lemon Lime Sunshine Cake baked in individual portion instead of a Bundt pan, so I feel even more virtuous stuffing my face eating dessert. I have stopped counting the number of times I have taken this to our weekend oyster roasts with the neighbors. Everytime I make it I end up skipping the glaze that is supposed to go on top because somehow the yogurt, lemon and lime juice and sugar in the batter end up forming their own curd around the edges so that just a dusting of powdered sugar suffice.

I made the big mistake a couple of weeks ago to lend it to my friend "Lucy-The Vegan"…I thought I would never see it again. It appeared she was baking her way through it with great success and that is no small testimonial to Hannah’s recipe when you know that Lucy is not much of a dessert person and a novice baker. I love baking from it because I can relax, kick back, knowing that Hannah has tried her recipes several times and gives us only her favorites. I can open the book at any category (sweet tarts, cookies and bars, cakes and cupcakes, pies and tarts, miscellaneous morsels and desserts) and just make up a treat. Some items take a little longer than others but are by no means daunting or intricate. I also really like the food allergy index at the end of the book. I have more and more clients with food allergies or dietary restrictions so I know that I can bake something without second guessing if I did not sneak in something they could not have without even paying attention.

What is next on the baking list from My Sweet Vegan? Well, I am baking the Triple Threat Chocolate "Cheese" Cake to a friend’s baby shower tomorrow and the Cookies and Creme Pound Cake for my mother in law’s garden club next week.


What? No recipes? In the spirit of supporting writers and young writers out there, I strongly encourage you to buy the book. I have already gotten a couple more for wedding and birthday presents and both recipients fell in love with the recipes, feel and gorgeous pictures taken by Hannah.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cake and Caramel Corkscrews


I call this cake "revisited" although it is not entirely exact, but I could not think of a better way to say it. I made this cake for the first time last year, posted this pretty picture and promised to write down the recipe on this blog and never did. I have received many requests for it over the past few weeks months so I finally got my act together and wrote it down. Sorry for those who emailed about it six months ago…I keep being distracted by more pastries and desserts every day! The cake is adapted from Marcel Desnaulniers, sinfully rich and absolutely decadent.

I have also received many requests to post the how-to’s of making the caramel corkscrews I used for the Espresso Chocolate Trios and the Chocolate Crepe Cake. I hope the explanations and drawing at the end of this post will unleash the caramel playing gene in you. Just take your time, be patient and the good thing is that even if you mess up, you can still it it!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cake, adapted from Marcel Desnaulniers

Cake:

2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp.salt
3-4 medium ripe banana,peeled and diced
1 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup dark rum
1 cup unsalted peanuts for the garnish (optional)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing:
1 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 oz semisweet chocolate, melted

Chocolate Ganache:
12 oz. semisweet chocolate
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
2 Tb. sugar

Preheat the oven to 325F. Lightly butter 3 9 inch round pans and line them with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the banana pieces at medium speed, until just incorporated. Add the sifted dry ingredients, mix well. Add the boiling water on low speed. Once incorporated, add the rum, also on low speed. Run a rubber spatula around the side and bottom of the mixer to make sure that all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake 25-30minutes, rotating the pans if necessary. Let them cool to room temperature. Invert the cakes and peel of the parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the peanut butter and powdered sugar together,and beat for about 4 minutes at high speed until very smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium high for about 1 minute. Leave at room temperature.

Spread 1/2 cup of the icing over one of the cake layers. Top with another cake layer ad another 1/2cup icing. Place the final cake layer on top. Spread the remaining icing on top of that last layer and down the side of the entire cake. Refrigerate for several hours or until the icing is firm to the touch.

Meanwhile,prepare the ganache: place both chocolates in a large bowl.Heat the cream with the sugar until boiling.Pour it over the chocolates,let stand for 2-5minutes, then stir with a whisk until completely smooth.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator,place the cake on a grid over a parchment paper line baking sheet. Ladle the ganache over the top of the iced cake. Use a cake spatula to spread a smooth coating of ganache over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake 20-30minutes until the ganache is firm. Scrape the ganache that has fallen on the parchment paper and fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with it.
If you wish to decorated the cake with the peanuts, save about a dozen for the top of the cake, chop the rest coarsely and press them on the sides of the cake. Use the reserved ganache to pipe swirlies on top of the cake.

Caramel Corkscrews:

Picture taken from Bo Friberg, The Professional Pastry Chef

Start with a basic 2 step dry-method caramel:
Over medium high heat, melt 1/2 cup of sugar in a heavy bottom saucepan until golden brown. Immediately add another 1/2 cup of sugar and stir untill all the sugar mixes and melt and becomes dark golden brown. In this particular method,it is ok to stir the sugar,but with a wooden spoon and very slowly. It goes from a semi-liquid golden to a dark brown caramel. It will coagulate but becomes smoother as it melts. This method is very convenient for reheating as you need when your working caramel becomes too stiff, without adding any more color. Remove from the heat and let it cool to a consistency of thick glue. Too thin and it will make pretty strands, too thick and you can play with pulled sugar.

For the corkscrews, I lightly oiled a metal skewer, held it in my left hand (I am right handed),I dipped a wooden spoon into the hot caramel with the other hand and twirled the caramel around the metal skewer, starting from part closer to my wrist and twirled my way up the skewer. Let it dry a minute and let it slide off onto a lightly oiled parchment paper lined baking sheet. Make sure the caramel is thick enough to play with. One easy cooling method is to put your pan into a larger one filled with ice as soon as your caramel has taken on the right color on the stove. If it gets too thick, simply reheat on low for a minute. Oh, and have scissors near by in case those caramel strands start taking on a life of their own!


Last but not least, I want to share with you a cool event that Kristen from Dine and Dish started about a month ago. She asked for volunteers veteran bloggers to adopt new bloggers. I remembered how strange and weird it was to start blogging. Finding your voice, your style, deciding on how much of your privacy to give, getting comfortable. I needed help with the basic styling, the basic editing, the basic everything (but now I have a computer Guru!).
I read and read "blogging 101", scratched my forehead and pulled my hair….not really but close. I really found my groove last year and I thought that Kristen’s event was a great way to help new bloggers find their skin or to simply give them a virtual high five for pursuing their dreams.

So, after this long paragraph, let me introduce you to Dana who writes Proof Of The Pudding and Evelin who is the voice behind Bounteous Bites, and I could not be happier to adopt them.
I "met" Dana in November when I stumbled upon her wonderful pear cake that I have made so many times since then, changing the fruits, extracts,…. everybody should have a base cake like this one!
I discovered Evelin through her 2007 blogging recap and started reading through her archives days before Kristen mentioned not having enough veterans for a few bloggers. I volunteered to take adopt another one (what I would do for cake?!!) and when I read it was Evelin, I was tickled pink. Karma/Fate is pretty powerful wouldn’t you say?!…or Kristen has psychic powers to have matched me with Dana and Evelin!
Tonight I am actually wondering how to dunk Dana’s bagels into Evelin pear and fennel soup

Buches De Noel – Looks Like Christmas Is Finally Here!


Buches de Noel also known as Yule Logs were the challenge given by Lisa and Ivonne, founders and co-host this month of the Daring Bakers. I think they just had the perverted idea to see us buttered, creamed and rolled in light genoise, Swiss buttercream, decorated in meringue and flavorful Marzipan. You should not that when I talk in those terms it can only be because they gave us an awesome challenge! Did I mentioned I buttercreamed my hair? Hmm, yeah…what I thought was the first gray hair was just a streak of buttercream from picking up the phone, lifting my glasses up and frosting my hair with a fork full of buttercream. See, they even raise my blood pressure…those two I tell you!!

Buche de Noel is ancient tradition in my family, and I think for most European families as well. Wasn’t too long after I figured out how to make genoise that yes, it could be filld, and yes it could be rolled and “oh my!” before you know it I was making it for our Christmas dinner. Over the years, there were the traditional stump looking one, with flavors just as traditional: chestnuts, chocolate, caramel, coffee. One year I decided to make a pink and purple one to match the table setting (not Grandma’s favorite!). We also had the genius frozen one that required 6 hands and an electric knife for proper dissection! Yeah, not an event I wish to revisit. Buche de Noel, how do I love thee….well ask me next Tuesday when I am done making them for family, church, friends and strangers. Ok, so they pay me, still…I like when Yule Log season starts, I also like when it ends.

This time our instructions were to do a light genoise, fill and frost it with preferably coffee Swiss buttercream, so as to prevent any white/red/green/blue logs (how did they find out about my childhood one is still a mystery J) although options were given for those who did not like coffee. Requirements for decorations were either meringue or marzipan mushrooms.

It turned I needed two logs within days of each other so instead of visiting the recipe twice, I went ahead and made double batches of everything. I have long ago learned that December is the most hectic month of the year in which days are 12 hour long instead of 24…yep, really and although I am a night owl I have also seen too many sunrises this month with buttercream in my eyes? Did I mention I tried it as eye shadow one night I still had someone the back of my hand and went to rub my eyes?

So, here was my game plan and you can see executed in the pictures:
Log # 1: Coffee – Burnt Orange
– burnt orange genoise: instead of mixing orange zest in the batter, I scattered it on top and put the tray in a hot oven. The zest got darker but nor bitter.
– Once cooled, I brushed the cake with a Grand Marnier simple syrup
– Coffee Swiss meringue for the frosting where I dissolved the coffee with Grand Marnier instead of the brandy called for in the recipe. (French meringue is egg whites whipped firm with sugar, Italian is hot syrup drizzled over whipped egg whites and continuing whipping until is cools, Swiss is egg whites and sugar brought to 140F over double boiler then whipped until cooled)
– Filling: Orange Confit Coffee Mousse; part coffee buttercream, part whipped cream with added coffee and bits of orange confit scattered in it. Some broken meringue mushroom pieces for a crunch
– Decorations: Meringue mushrooms called for in the recipe and then I needed to challenge my sculpting skills so I made a marzipan teddy bear (Theodore), a red hatted snowman (Albert) and green hatted snowman (Truman). Lisa challenge me to a moose which turned out looking like a donkey so I ate it…I am evil, I know!

Log #2: Chocolate – Vanilla Crème Brulee – Chocolate Sauce
That’s where I challenged myself and the log almost won: I had the crazy idea that it would be cool to have a layer of vanilla bean crème brulee inside the Yule Log. How was I going to come up with that? I made a classic brulee batter, threw in some gelatin, poured it into a sheet pan and let it set in the fridge. Rolling that thing in the cake proved to be a challenge as the set batter had only one thing in mind, escape!! But I stepped away, took a deep breath and rolled again, tighter this time,and closed the thing shut.
– genoise was left plain, with some vanilla in there for good measure
– layer of chocolate ganache, layer of chocolate buttercream, layer of vanilla crème brulee
– chocolate buttercream to cover it all
– decorations: I drew rounds on top of the log with a glass and carefully spooned out some of the cream, filled the indentation was homemade chocolate sauce. That way the log comes with its own sauce and everybody get a little extra chocolate!
The final testing for that one will be Tuesday, for now it is parked in the freezer, well wrapped, hoping I don’t crush it with a bag of cauliflower! Did I mention I also buttercreamed my dog? My spatula was overloaded, he yapped, I turned abruptly and a big dollop landed on his snout. He spent ten minutes chasing it around, on its own nose…a sight to be seen!

The cake was light and airy and the buttercream smooth and oh so good sandwiched in between chocolate shortbread cookies! I had a blast, as you can see by the pictures and should you want the recipe, check either Lisa or Ivonne for the full lowdown. I am having issues with blogger so not posting the recipe just yet. Make yourself a good cup of coffee and check out all the beautiful logs out there.

Bostini Cream Pie: The Daring Bakers Take A Classic For Spin


I can’t believe it has already been a month since our last Daring Bakers' challenge, and once again I had such a good time getting this one done. I got the greatest opportunity of all by making it in my kitchen with my mom beside me….It is quite special since we don’t get to cook or bake together much often since I left France. Mom laughed when we were done putting it together because she felt she was not doing much. Since I move rather fast and I know where all my utensils are, I get around quicker but I really appreciated the help she provided by handing me the ingredients, weighing everything, washing the dishes and most of all being there with me in the same room, chatting about nothing and everything at once. I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved the moments spent reminiscing about my grandmother or her teaching me how to make my first dough or chocolate mousse.

Mary, from my Alpineberry (one of my first blog reads) and our host for October chose a recipe that took a classic looking Boston Cream Pie and turned it into a completely 100% deliciously buttery and creamy: a Bostini Cream Pie. Eggs a plenty, heavy cream flowing like a river…everything to make your Tartelette a happy gal! Working with that many eggs, can be daunting for new cooks and bakers but remember to temper your egg yolks for the custard (adding some hot liquid to them so they get acclimated to the temperature rise) and folding in 2 or 3 times the egg whites for the sponge. Once to thin out the cake mixture thus making more susceptible to the texture change when you incorporate the rest of the whites. Eggs are fussy but when you get the basics, they really are just as sweet as the cake they make.

This Bostini Cream Pie is a soft orange chiffon sponge set on a pool of vanilla flavored custard and covered with a buttery dark chocolate glaze. I am thankful that Mary allowed us to change the cake flavor while keeping it light colored. I immediately went for coconut water. I have become addicted to this over the summer as it was the only thing I could put in my stomach before and after an outdoor run in the morning. The chiffon sponge turned out beautiful and this is by far the best recipe I have used for chiffons and believe me I have gone through many a recipe for that airy, soft not mushy texture. Beside its health benefits, it is colorless, has a nice toasty coconut flavor that get very mellow while bakes, which gave plenty of space for the custard to shine through. And what a custard! I rarely make custard sauce with that many egg yolks or rich heavy cream, and now I know why….there was barely enough for the dinner time plating!! I used vanilla paste, since all my vanilla beans are flavoring my vodka to make extract and oh my god….B. had to hide the bowl away from me and mom!! The custard was quite thick enough that I was able to plate a cake round (3 inches) on top of the custard set in a pastry ring and refrigerated it, unmolded and had a short time to photograph it before it fell apart in contact with my spoon. The part I liked the least was the chocolate glaze, equal parts chocolate and butter and that was a little too much butter for me..oh I can’t believe I just wrote that but it was. I would have preferred a light ganache, but I have had Boston Cream Pies before that featured both styles so I guess I could "push" myself t eat them anyway (ahahahaha… "push", eheheh!!)

I am also thankful to Mary for giving us creative license with the plating of the Bostini. The first night with my parents I used a cookie cutter and cut out 3-4 inches circles out of the sponge (baked in a 9×13 inch pan). The remaining servings were set in different sized and shaped glasses to be taken to a dinner party down the street. When I make the recipe again, and notice I did not say "when", I will halve it if it is for us or a small dinner party or keep it the same if I know I have more than a dozen guests (if I use 3 inches diameter cookie cutters again)


Bostini Cream Pie
(from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni and Scala’s Bistro)
Makes 8 generous servings

INGREDIENTS:

Custard

3/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 whole egg, beaten
9 egg yolks, beaten
3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean ( I used 1 tsp. vanilla bean)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)
3/4 cup fresh orange juice (I used coconut water)
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze

8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter

To prepare the custard:

Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolks, beating until smooth. Combine the cream, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and carefully bring to a boil. When the mixture just boils, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk this back into the cream mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard and pour into 8 large custard cups. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups.
Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter.
Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm.

To assemble:
Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

Or layer the custard, cake and glaze in glasses or cups.

Waiter There Is Something In My…Butterscotch Mascarpone Cream Layer Cake!

It seems like an eternity since I have participated in a WTSIM event, and that is not for lack of ideas, recipes or just plain desire to get in the kitchen and cook, but pure and simple lack of time. Oh sure, there are lots of baking going on in the house, but with all the visitors we have had lately I rely on tried and true, easy to come together desserts, most of which have already been published here…except this one Butterscotch Mascarpone Cream Cake…..And it has been a long time coming believe me!

Let’s see if I can make a long story short about that one (can I do that?!)…When I first visited Lisa last July, she had received a an issue from the magazine Wicked, a special publication from The Australian Women’s Weekly dedicated to pastries and sweets. I remember looking at every recipe and drooling over them and the pictures. Her printer had a little malfunction that time, believe me it was all my fault, I just have to stare at anything plugged or battery operated for it to break down,….anyway, life took over and we both forgot about the pages I had marked in the magazine. This time around though, I went ahead and copied them by hand. I always do that, not that I don’t trust the machine, but over the years I have developed my own recipe writing pattern, especially if I am at someone’s house or the library and have minimal space to write them on. Back home this week, I quickly flipped my notebook to the Butterscotch Cake recipe..what’s not to love in caramel, mascarpone and tender flaky cake? Nothing, trust me!!

I thought it was also a tasty cake to add to Waiter There Is Something In My ….Layered Cakes, hosted this month by Andrew from Spittoon Extra


Butterscotch Mascarpone Cream Layer Cake:

Serves 10-12

For the Cake:
250 gr. butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tb. honey
1 1/4 self rising flour (I used 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour and 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder)
1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at time. Add the honey and flour. Add the milk slowly and mi until combined. Pour into 2 8-inch cake pans and bake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool and unmold. Cut each cake in half.

For the Mascarpone Cream:
250 gr. mascarpone, at room temperature
300 ml. heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whip the heavy cream and sugar to soft peaks. Fold it into the mascarpone and spread 1/4 on one cake layer, repeat with all the cake layers, finishing with the cream on top.

For the Butterscotch Sauce:
60 gr. butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Heat the butter, sugar and milk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the powdered sugar, stir until smooth.

Tonka Bean White Chocolate And Apricot Cakes

Ever since that little magic bean popped up on French blogs, I have been intrigued to try it. I had heard about it, seen it even smelled it but sourcing tonka beans here in the US was somewhat difficult, even five years ago, at least in my town (not that we are the culinary black hole of the universe). Nowadays, it is a little easier to locate but when my mother asked me what I wanted her to bring (along with the chocolate bars, silicone molds and other baking items I asked) I jumped at the chance to finally get a big bag of tonka bean at a relatively cheap price.
As soon as I opened the bag, the scents of vanilla and almonds wafted through the air and a little note of clove tickled my nose. I am telling you…magic….

You can use to infuse liquids such as creams and milk for flans, creme brulees, sauces, etc…or you can directly grate it with a microplane (easier) and directly add it to your preparation. I kept the little knobs I could not get through the grater and put them in a jar of sugar for instant flavor. If you are really gunho about not having little specks of tonka bean, I guess you could process them fine in a coffee grinder but I like my tonka to show, much like the seeds of vanilla beans. That reminds me of a woman dining at the restaurant one night and sent her vanilla bean creme brulee back to the kitchen. I asked the waitress what was wrong with it and she replied rolling her eyes to the ceiling (at the customer) "She said there was dirt in it"….Argh!!! I guess she would not wait vanilla bean ice cream either, eh?!

We have planned to drive to Winston-Salem, NC this weekend and spend some relaxing time visiting the town, with my parents, and thanks to a local, Abby of Confabulations In The Kitchen, I think we have a pretty good list of great places to see. I wish I could meet her in person and give her a great big hug, because she has saved me hours with her guidelines and recommendations, especially local delicacies, restaurants and of course bakeries! I wanted to pack some home baked goodies for the drive and immediately thought about mini cakes with grated tonka beans. I remembered a post titled (translated from the French): "A cake to die for", where the tonka bean was paired with apricots and white chocolate….I am a not a chocolate snob and as long as it is good quality I will eat all kinds. I was once again spoiled by one of my clients when she brought me a few bars of Valrhona chocolate from a recent trip to France. Well, by now you must know my theory: if all the ingredients are getting together like that, that means I must join the party!!

The cakes are quick and easy to come together and you can make a loaf cake or a round cake, possibilities are endless, and you can’t barely taste the white chocolate if you are not a fan. I would not take it away from the recipe though as it adds a little fudge feeling to cake. However, the biggest problem is that by the time we get in the car tomorrow, en route to Winston-Salem, there won’t be any left….it is absolutely the best mini cakes I have ever had! They are out of this world warm and a little denser and flavor concentrated at room temp. What the heck! They are even to dye for straight out of the fridge at 2 in the morning!
OK, I hear you, you may not have tonka beans available where you are, but a good substitute is to combine 1/2 tsp. each good quality vanilla and pure almond essence.


Tonka Bean White Chocolate and Apricot Cakes, (original recipe here)

Makes 8

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup white chocolate, melted

3 large eggs

1/2 cup flour

2 tonka beans

15 dried apricots, cut in small dices

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, about 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and chocolate. Whisk well and add the flour. Finely grate the tonka bean and add to the batter. Add the dried apricots and mix until incorporated. Divide evenly between muffin tins coated with cooking spray and cook for 15 minutes (longer if using a larger pan, about 20-25 minutes).

P.S: no internet connection for the next 4 days, so have a great weekend ya’ll and see you back next week!

Note: One commenter made me realise that I should put this info up about tonka beans:

"The coumarin active component (and why it is not found in food products in the US) is chemically similar to the active ingredient found in a common blood thinner called warfarin or Coumadin. This medication is commonly used to "thin out" blood and prevent clot formation. Patients on this medication have to have regular blood test since too much, may pose them at risk for bleeding and too little–risk for clot formation. The dose varies so regular blood work is the only thing that we can use to adjust the dose. You can imagine that there are a lot of drug interactions when patients are on this medication. There are also food interactions."

So folks. just like everything in life (but love and chocolate) use in moderation!

Meyer Lemon Cake Roll – Coming Full Circle

Meyer Lemon Cake Roll
I have to warn you guys that you may have to wait longer than a couple of days in between my post for the next month. My parents are visiting from France and staying until the middle of October. I already employed mom tonight to help me out in the kitchen while I could work on a couple of pastry projects and dad is in charge of hopping in the car in case we need something last minute from the grocery store. They have been here so many times before (14) that within a couple of days they had found their marks. Mom even exclaimed as soon as she got in the house "it’s good to be home", which made me beam with joy, of course. I hope you will understand if I don’t post too often, we have a few things planned (dad is a General after all), but a lot will be left to the weather and the temperatures (pretty hot and muggy right now).

Where am I going with this paragraph, those pictures and that title? Well, when I received Mary’s box of Meyer lemons, I was on the phone with mom and I had to spend the next 10 minutes explaining her about that group of wonderful people I knew and how we sometimes exchange much more than comments on our blogs, as well as trying to describe to her a Meyer lemon as I was cutting one open. She made me promise to save her some cake "or something"…Well between B., the neighbors and me, there was no cake left within a couple of days but there was plenty of lemons for another batch of curd. Since my parents were visiting, I decided to make my dad one of his favorites, a jelly roll cake, but with Pierre Herme’s signature lemon cream inside instead of jam or preserves. My paternal grandmother passed away when I was 4 so I never got the chance to share baking time in the kitchen with her (unlike my "mamie Paulette"), but I have always heard about her "strawberry jelly roll cake" and the way my dad closes his eyes when he reminisces about it is a pretty good indication it had to be something!
Mary’s lemons went a long away in satisfying both my family both native and French.

Now let’s really talk business: that Herme’s lemon cream…boy oh boy! Since I last made it, it must be on regular supply at the house, and we think as highly of it as we do Nutella. We put it on everything, mix it with everything. Some people, and I was too at first, are concerned, afraid, surprised at the amount of butter that goes into it, but let me tell you that it is absolutely worth and the magic of pastry is that you forget about how much there actually is once you put that spoon to your mouth….you’re hooked…you want more… This time around though I reduced the amount of butter as I was adding gelatin for a firmer hold inside the cake roll.
For the cake itself, I used another one of Herme’s recipe, from a book my mom brought me this trip and that I am already devouring (no pun intended). Nothing fancy about it, it is a plain sponge cake but I added grapefruit zest and a dash of almond extract, as I love the two together.

Meyer Lemon Cake Roll
Meyer Lemon Cake Roll:

Serves 12

For the Cake:

50 gr. butter
3 eggs, separated
100 gr. flour (I used White Lilly all purpose, which is naturally soft, but you could use all purpose or cake)
2 Tb grapefruit zest
1 tsp pure almond extract
100 gr. powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 F.
In a microwave safe container, melt the butter. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, almond extract and the sugar until pale and thick. Add the grapefruit zest.
With an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold the whites and the flour, alternating, in the yolk/sugar mixture. Add the butter fold until incorporated.
Spread the batter onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, invert onto another sheet of parchment paper. Let cool. Fill the cake with the lemon cream and roll. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

For the Meyer Lemon Cream:

1 cup sugar
zest of 3 Meyer lemons
4 eggs
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tb gelatin, softened in 3 Tbs water
1 stick butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, softened

Make a water bath by putting a saucepan of water over heat to simmer and placing a metal bowl over, without the bottom touching the water. Rub the sugar and lemon zest with your fingers and add to the metal bowl. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.
Cook the mixture over the water bath, whisking constantly until the cream reaches 180 degrees. It can take up to 10 minutes. Once the cream reaches 180 (your whisk will leave ribbon tracks in the cream),remove the cream off the heat and put it into a blender, with the gelatin. Pulse a couple of times, until the gelatin dissolves. Let the cream cool to 140. Add in the butter and process until perfectly smooth. Pour into a container, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Ricotta Cake With Meyer Lemon Curd

Ricotta Cake With Meyer Lemon Curd

I realize it could sound cliche or a little simple but this cake should really be called "Friendship Cake". It would not have been made, eaten and shared without the giving spirit of great friend:

Over the summer, Mary wrote several posts and shared recipes with Meyer lemons, each more tempting than the next. What started on my part as an innocent "I wish I could find Meyer lemons here" became a tortured "Mary, please send me some, I’ll pay for shipping!". Believe me, I searched everywhere in town for the coveted lemon and nothing…people would even give me the odd "why is it so important?". Well, if you have been reading this blog for a while you know by now how much I love anything and everything lemon, sour, tart, tangy and if bloggers on the west coast keep waxing poetic about the fragrant Meyer lemon, then I need to know what one tastes like.

Well, the postman rang the doorbell the other day handing B. a pretty heavy box and he exclaimed "It’s for you! From California"….Oh gosh, did I make a Recchiuti purchase in my sleep? Did I sleep walk to the computer and ordered Banana Cream Pie from Tartine?…No peeps…even better: Mary had sent me a box full of Meyer lemons! My eyes grew bigger, my tastebuds all awaken by the fragrance coming out from under the newpaper padding. I am aware that we all make food discoveries throughout our life but when you are of age to really enjoy what is under your nose, the experience is quite intoxicating. I have never had a lemon that tasted like a sour clementine with a faint smell of cardamom before. I am sure others will find that funny, but yes, I smell that spice everytime I bring one of those lemons to my nose…and it makes me happy!
I received Mary’s gift on friday and I have already put them to good use, not only with this cake, but in a batch of plum jam where I used the rinds to flavor the preserve, in sauces, ice creams and other cakes…just to give you a preview of things to come.

I was craving my beloved yogurt cake sunday afternoon but I wanted to try another recipe, something of the same substance but that would allow me to use the Meyer lemons as well as other ingredients. I was thinking ricotta instead of yogurt, and before following my usual recipe I decided to browse the web. Boy am I glad I did! I think I spent over an hour on both Sigrid’s blogs, looking at her magnificient photography and pretending to speak Italian fluently (!) and stumbled upon a recipe for a lemon ricotta cake from the sardinia region of Italy. Bingo! Fate!Kismet! or whatever else you find appropriate. I did not change much but reduce the sugar a bit. I also baked the cake in a rectangular pan and cut it in 5 long pieces, cut these in 3 separate layers and layered them with a light lemon curd filling(no butter in the cake or the curd). Perfect for an afternoon tea. I have to say that this is one of the desserts that never made it to the neighbors: I cut and froze slices so I could savour my precious loot for special times. You know, when you feel like bringing a friend closer to you although they are miles away, like tonight.

Mary, thank you. I truly hope that one day our paths do cross, in the kitchen and around a homemade meal. Yes folks, I have a wonderful friend, and I have never met her.

Ricotta Cake With Meyer Lemon Curd
Ricotta and Lemon Cake, adapted from here:

300 gr flour
200 gr sugar
300 gr. ricotta
3 eggs, separated
1 lemon , zest and juice
2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, combine the ricotta and sugar. Add the egg yolks, the lemon juice and zest, then the flour and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until stiff and getly incorporate them to the egg/flour batter.
Butter and flour a 13×9 inch baking pan and pour in the batter. Bake for 40 minutes or when a toothpick inserted in the middle come out clean. Let cool completely.
Divide the cake in three lenghtwise and 5 crosswise. (you may have leftover slices…just eat them plain or with a touch of jam). In a large loaf cake pan line with plastic wrap, layer slices of cake and Meyer lemon curd. Refrigerate. Slice and eat when you are ready!

Meyer Lemon Curd Filling:

grated zest of 2 Meyer lemons
1cup strained lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 packet gelatin, dissolved in 1/3 cup of water

Combine the zest, sugar, juice in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs until light.Beat some of the lemon mixture into the eggs to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the gelatin in the microwave until dissolved, about 30 seconds. Remove the curd from the heat, stir in the gelatin and whisk until well incorporated. Let cool to room temp and use to fill the cake.
Strain and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Update: I realize I forgot to tell you what I used on top of the cake. I took about /2 cup to 3/4 of mascarpone and mixed in some honey and iced the top with this. I have done similar cakes with sour cream or cream cheese instead, worked as well.

Gateau Surprise Chocolat Pistache


Note: I apologize for the quick post you read here but I still have company for another week or so and it seems that I am fullfilling my godmother part pretty good. Sophie is quite busy having made some friends her age and discovered the joys (hmm,hmm…) of dating in America. Yes, French people have different dating rules and "games". I try to calm her nerves while waiting for the stupid "three days no call" rules that guys like to play here. In the meantime, I am making her cakes!!

You know a cake has to be good when it pops up over the years on some of the best food blogs out there. I hope I will carry the torch with honor. Clotilde presented the original and Heidi and Jen made some perfectly mouth watering renditions. The cake appealed to me so much that I made it the exact same say I read about it. The only thing that surprised me is in the lengthy steps undertook by my predecessors in mixing the two different batters. The original recipe they followed called for making the chocolate batter first, then rinsing the bowl to prepare the pistachio one. I don’t know about you, but in a 100F + weather and very little intention to mix, rinse, mix, bake, wash, I knew I had to come up with an easier way to achieve the same result.

I remembered my beloved zebra cakes, or my mom’s comforting marbled chocolate-vanilla cake and decided to go the same route: make one plain batter, divide it in half and add to each part the elements they needed to create both the chocolate and pistachio batters. I wouldn’t call this blasphemy, just practicality…especially when a mob of hungry teenagers was starting to crowd my kitchen!


Gateau Surprise Chocolat Pistachio, adapted from this blog:

Makes 12 cakes

270g plain all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g caster sugar
4 eggs
1½ cups plain yoghurt or sour cream
1½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup shelled pistachio, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 12 small paper cake cases.
In a food processor mix together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, pulsing in between each addition. Add in the yoghurt and the vanilla extract, pulse again. Add the baking powder, baking soda and all of the flour. Divide the batter in half. In one half, add the cocoa powder, in the other the pistachios and chocolate chips. Then using an ice cream scoop, place one scoop of batter into each paper case. Rinse the scoop and add the pistachio batter on top of the chocolate.use an ice scoop to place the pistachio batter on top. Smooth out the surface using a spatula. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to rest for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Dimply Plum Cake…When Sophie Read Dorie


Her eyes sparkled when she spotted Dorie's big baking book. "Have you made anything from it yet?" she asked picking it up from the shelf. After a few minutes flipping the pages she exclaimed :"Oh wait! I guess you have, some pages are already glued with sugar!"
Having my god-daughter Sophie over is a lot of fun. She marvels at everything The simplest thing that in my new American have become second nature to me are constant sources of surprises and questions….even baking. She has a keen interest in cooking and baking and is eager to tell me about the cakes she makes in the evening while the rest of the family gathers around and talk. I can tell we share the same blood just by the moments she shares in the kitchen with her mom and other relatives, and by her love of sweets!

She was leafing through the book and her hand stopped on the picture of Dorie’s Dimply Plum Cake. "Oh that looks so good…I need aspirin, let’s go get some plums and make it!"….AND she’s got my logic….any excuse to make a trip to the store if I see something I want to bake! Off we went to the grocery store which was another adventure for her: in France cashiers are seated, there is no bagger and people have to bring their own bags (recycling and minimizing trash).
We looked at all the produce that was somewhat tropical and exotic for her, filled up on loads of cherries (we are truly related!), and a big bag of ripe and juicy plums.
Once home we put some lasagna to warm up and in the meantime we made the cake. Easy, straighforward and within 30 minutes, the house smelled like a bakery again with vanilla and sugar tempting our tastebuds. We could not wait very long once it came out of oven and cut 2 big slices, put some creme fraiche on the side and enjoyed it while looking at the sunset…precious! If I could have hugged Dorie herself for such a sweet moment spent with Sophie, it would have been the icing on the cake!

Dimply Plum Cake, adapted from Dorie Greenspan:

Serves 8

1 1/2 cups all purpose four

2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

5 Tb unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

grated zest of one lemon

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums, halved and pitted

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8×8 baking dish and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and ground ginger.

In a stand mixer cream the butter with the borwn sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture.

Pour the batter in the prepared dish, smooth the top and arrang the plums on top. (Dorie did hers cut side up, I did the opposite). Bake for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes (if you can).