First Attempt at Macarons

I've been a Heavenly Cake baker for over a year now.  Many of Rose's recipes will call for just egg yolks, or just egg whites.  Every time I put egg whites in my freezer, I tell myself, I should try making macarons.  I finally did.  Inspired by a recent trip to Paris which could best be described as a macaron spree. 

From a bakery/cafe near our hotel

Ladurée - my brother's favorite

After reading several recipes online, I tried David Lebovitz's French Chocolate Macaron recipe.  My technique needs work.  I had a few turn out close to right.  They were a little too domed and a little too crisp, but it's not so intimidating now. 

The Good

The Bad and The Ugly

Spice Cake with Peanut Buttercream

Heavenly Cake Baker Submission #44

I was looking for something quick and easy for my free choice this week.  I decided on the Spice Cake with Peanut Buttercream.  It was the first cake Marie (our fearless leader) baked, and she chose it as one of the three recipes to share during this bake-through, so I have copied and pasted the recipe below for your convenience.

We took half of this cake to TGI Fridays and planned to send the other half to Ed's office.  Friday's is about half a mile from our apartment and has become our "Cheers."   The staff and other regular patrons all sampled a small slice, and it was a hit.  Remi asked if the cookbook I was using was available in Poland.  (I wasn't able to find evidence of Rose's books in Polish, but they're ready for you, Rose!)  Adam asked for the recipe and Matthew asked if I would make a small one for him.  It was so different than anything he'd ever tasted and wanted to share it with his wife.  We'll take Matthew the other half of the cake tonight.

SPICE CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTERCREAM

BATTER:

2 large eggs (100 grams) (3.5 oz.) at room temerature
2/3 cup (160 grams) (5.6 oz.) low-fat buttermilk, divided
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups (200 grams) (7 oz.) cake flour (or 1 3/4 cups bleached all-purpose flour)
1 cup (200 grams) (7 oz.) superfine sugar
1 1/2 tsp. alkalized coca powder
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
8 Tablespoons (113 grams) (4 oz.) unsalted butter (at 65-75 degrees F)

Equipment: One 9 by 2-inch round cake pan, encircled with a cake strip, bottom coated with shortening, topped with a parchment round, then coated with baking spray with flour.

Preheat the oven: 20 minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 F/175 C.
Mix the liquid ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, 3 Tbsps. of buttermilk, and vanilla until lightly combined.

Make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining buttermilk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula.

Bake the cake: Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

Cool and unmold the cake: Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. To prevent splitting, reinvert the cake so that the top side is up. Cool completely.

PEANUT BUTTERCREAM
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup (133 grams) (4.7 oz) peanut butter, preferably Jif, at room temperature
1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp. (113 grams) (4 oz.) cream cheese (65 to 70 degrees F)
4 Tbsp. (56 grams) (2 oz.) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons sour cream
1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp. (50 grams) (1.7 oz.) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Make the peanut buttercream: In a food processor, combine the peanut butter, cream cheese, butter, sour cream, powdered sugar, and vaniilla and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the buttercream is smooth and uniform in color.

Compose the cake: When the cake is completely cool, spread a little buttercream on a 9-inch cardboard round or serving plate and set the cake on top. If using the plate, slide a few wide strips of wax paper or parchment under the cake to keep the rim of the plate clean. Frost the top and sides with swirls of silky buttercream. If using the paper strips, slowly slide them out from under the cake.

Making Chicken Soup in Poland

The idea of nose-to-tail eating - consuming every bit of an animal without waste is experiencing a resurgence.  Cutting edge chefs are returning to a methods practiced by peasants for eons.  I'm living in Poland where jellied pigs feet are a delicacy.  This nation is very experienced in "everything but the squeal" cooking.

And I love this!  I can pick up two chicken carcasses at the market for less than a dollar.  I opt for convenience again and buy the soup pack in the produce section.  It contains a few carrots, parsnips, a leek, a slice of celery root, a slice of napa cabbage, and a sprig of Italian parsley.  I don't think I've ever seen anything like this stateside, but I don't know that there would be enough demand, but I might suggest it when I return.

All I need to add is salt and pepper before simmering this mix for a couple of hours.  I removed the carcasses and picked the meat off the bones.   It made  a huge pot of the best chicken soup I've ever tasted.

Mustard Roasted Root Vegetables

Normally, I just toss my root vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, but I have a some whole grain mustard that I'm really fond of.  It's milder than Dijon mustard and the seeds add an interesting texture. 

This time, I added a tablespoon of the whole grain mustard when tossing the veg with olive oil.  The vegetable mix this time included beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, and onion.  The beets and sweet potato were sliced a little thinner than the other vegetables because I expected they would need a longer cooking time.  I baked them at 375 until they edges were beginning to brown, about 45 minutes. 

Giada's Olive Oil Muffins

Another great recipe from Giada's Kitchen.  My daughter gave me this cookbook last summer, and I've loved everything that I'm made from it.  I've been curious about olive oil cakes for some time.  When my brother told me about some of the recipes he's tested, that was just the push I needed.  These were easy to whip up and they were the perfect snack for our road trip to Łódź.  I was worried that the taste of the oil would be overpowering, but the most dominate flavor and fragrance was from the citrus zest. 

Ingredients

 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cups almond slices, toasted (see note)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• This makes 12 muffins, use paper liners or grease the muffin pan.
• Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, and zests until light and fluffy.
• Add the vinegar and milk.
• Gradually, beat in oil.
• Stir in dry ingredients, just until combined.
• Crunch the almonds with your hands as you add them.  
• Stir until mixed.
• Fill the muffin cups, the batter will go almost to the top of the liner or cup.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note:  Spread the almonds on baking sheet, and bake at 350 for about 7 minutes.  I wasn't able to find sliced almonds.  I'm sure they add a wonderful crunchy texture, but I substituted whole almonds, which I toasted and ran through my mini-food processor until finely ground. 

Roasted Beet - Celery Root Salad

I've been hearing about celery root lately.  I've never used it before; I wasn't even sure what it looked like.  (It doesn't help that the signs in my produce department aren't in English.)  After looking at an ugly orb many times and wondering, I finally pulled up a google image to confirm that yes, that was indeed celery root. 

Celery root and celery are related but not the same plant.  Celery root is cultivated for its root base, not its leafy stalks.  It has a tough exterior that should be peeled before using.  You'll notice the scent of celery as you're cutting into it, but the texture is more like potato. 

This salad, which we both really enjoyed, will keep well for a day or two in the fridge; just know that the celery root will take on a hot pink color from the beets. 

Ingredients

3 to 6 beets
1 celery root
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons mustard
2 teaspoons minced shallot or onion
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
salt & pepper


Directions

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Slice the tops and bottoms off of the beet roots; wrap the beets in foil, bake for approximately 1 hour ad 15 minutes, or until tender. 
• Peel the beets once they're cool and slice into 1/8  inch slabs.
• Slice again, across the slabs, to create a 1/8 inch matchsticks of beets.
• Bake the walnuts on a baking sheet for about 7 minutes. 
• While the walnuts are baking, slice the celery root in the same manner as the beets.
• To create the vinaigrette (or you can use a bottled dressing) whisk together the mustard, shallot, and vinegar.  
• Continue whisking while gradually adding the oil.  
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Combine the beets, celery root, walnuts, and toss with the dressing.

Serves 4 to 6

Southern Coconut Cake with Silk Meringue Buttercream

Heavenly Cake Baker Submission #43

My brother loves coconut cake.  I'll have to make this for him sometime when we're together and I have all of the ingredients.  So if you're reading this, Den, and planning a visit, I need coconut extract and fresh grated coconut.  I've been unable to find coconut extract in Poland, and the only coconut on the shelf is desiccated.  Fortunately, they do have coconut milk on the Asian food aisle in the market. 

The actual cake is a cinch to make.  My pans aren't 2 inches high, so I filled my 1.5 inch pans and put a bit of batter into an additional small pan.  It prevents the overflow problem and gives us a small cake to sample at home while sharing the big cake with Ed's coworkers.

Reading about the buttercream was intimidating.  It does involve 3 separate recipes - creme anglaise, Italian meringue, and to put it all together, the completed silk meringue buttercream.   Making it wasn't as bad as I expected.  You just have to do it.   Yeah, I'm pretty cocky now that I have a 220 volt handheld mixer. 

I made a sincere effort at re-hydrating the dried coconut, but it wasn't what it should have been.  Even though it was missing some key ingredients, Ed and I still enjoyed our little cake, and I'm not worried about my reputation when the big one goes off to the air base.  

We'll be in Paris next weekend, so I'm trying to decide what to do for my "free choice" before we go. 

Unlike my other blog posts, as part of the Heavenly Cake Bakers, I don't post recipes from this book on the Internet. One of the reasons for this baking group is to encourage readers to purchase the cookbook. That strategy worked on me! After follow the group's baking adventures for a couple of months, I ordered a copy from Amazon because I wanted join in.

Miette's Tomboy with Vanilla Mousseline

Heavenly Cake Baker Submission #42

 

I have always loved Rose's photo of this cake; the presentation is awe inspiring.  The ruffled  piping that seamlessly blends to become part of the perfectly smooth frosting.  My mousseline didn't get there volume and texture-wise, but that's OK. ( I may have to breakdown and buy a mixer, but it won't be a KitchenAid; they run over $700 here.)  The flavor of the mousseline was still delicious even if it wasn't so pretty to look at, and this is without a doubt the best chocolate cake in this cookbook.  Let me tell you about it.

The batter includes both dark chocolate and cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor.  I don't know if it was the oil or buttermilk that made this cake different than the other Heavenly Cakes, but the result is a moist, fudge-y texture.  I will make it again. . . and again. 

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies in Europe

What's an American baker to do when there are no chocolate chips around?  Chop up 4 Ritter Sport (unfilled) chocolate bars (I used half milk and half dark choc) and proceed as usual. 

Chocolate Pretzel Potato Chip Cookies (Dale's Sesame Street Quickfire Recipe from Top Chef All-stars)

I caught a rerun of the Sesame Street Quickfire Challenge on Top Chef All-stars last night, and stayed up later than we intended to watch it.  The muppets were of course, very cute and funny, but what really enjoyed was watching the chefs' reactions to the characters.  It was a happy, fun side of the competitors that we don't usually see.  The all-stars are all young enough to have grown up with Sesame Street and some now have children watching the show.  I'm sure it was a very special moment for them.

Back to the food and a little TC gossip- Dale won the challenge with a cookie he made by crushing up potato chips and pretzels and covering it all with  chocolate.  It was so crazy; I had to try it.

I think my sister told me that Dale has been through anger management since his season on the show.  I haven't caught all of the episodes, but it seems like it's working for him.  He seems more effective and less distracted by the others. 

Thankfully, the recipe was available online.  His measurements for the main components are not precise, so I'll tell you what I did (European packaging) in my attempt to make half a recipe since I'm working in an apartment kitchen rather than a commercial kitchen.  It's enough for a household, even if you are feeding a cookie monster.

Ingredients

300 grams pretzel sticks
310 grams Lays potato chips
1.5 ounces flour
5 ounces sugar
1 pound butter, melted (I only had 10.5 ounces, so that's what I used, and they were too crumbly - crazy as it sounds, you really do need a pound of butter)

For ganache:
5 ounces sugar
1 quart heavy cream, (I only had a pint, so that's all I used and the ganache was still runnier than I would have liked.)
8 ounces chocolate, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)
Crush pretzels and potato chip.  Turn them into crumbs in food processor.  It works best if you have some of each in the bowl.
Combine crumbs with butter, flour, and sugar.
Press into a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

For ganache:
Melt sugar in a pan, it will become liquid and caramelized.
Stir in cream, bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and add chocolate.
Allow both the cookie and ganache to cool.  Spread cookie with ganache.
Cut into squares of use a round cookie cutter.


Note:  We found these were best the day they were made.  The crumbs still had a unique, identifiable tastes and texture that was surprising and compelling.  (As in, I need to taste that again because that was pretzel!)  The second day, everything seemed more uniform and it lost part of its charm. 

Polish Pork Goulash

I wanted to adapt my usual recipe to make it more like goulash served in Poland.  The paprika we've bought here has been darker and spicier (not smoked) so that took care of part of it.  I also used pork, the most typical Polish protein, rather than beef.  As I've started doing lately with soups, etc., I browned all of the ingredients, not just the meat.  I think it adds to the flavor.  The final difference is that I served this goulash over potato pancakes (from Ikea); in the past, I've usually used noodles. 

Ingredients

2 pounds. pork, trimmed and diced
3/4 cup flour
kosher salt
black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, cut into thin strips (I used red and yellow)
2 cloves garlic, minced
14 ounces. broth (I used veal reconstituted bullion cubes)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup dry red wine, optional
1/3 cups cold water
3 tablespoons. flour
potato pancakes, cooked according to directions

Directions

• Dredge pork in flour that has been generously seasoned with salt and pepper.  
• In a large saucepan, brown pork cubes in hot oil.  (I did 2 or 3 separate batches.)
• Remove pork and brown onions and peppers, add garlic just before they're finished.  (After multiple batches of meat and then the veggies, there was a dark brown crust on the bottom of the pan.  Don't worry, it will loosen and dissolve in the liquids you're about to add - giving you a dark, flavorful broth.)
• Return pork to the pan and add broth, tomato paste, paprika,  pepper, and wine.
• Simmer covered 60 to 90 minutes.  
• In a small bowl, blend water and 3 tablespoons flour.  Add to meat mixture.
• Simmer 15 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Serve over potato pancakes. 

Serves 6

Karmel Cake with Coffee Cream

 Heavenly Cake Baker Submission #41

This cake gets its name from the homemade caramel sauce included in the ingredient list.  The only brown sugar I had on hand was dark Muscovado, so this very basic cake was sweetened with a dark, rich caramel sauce.   The caramel added to the cake, not only flavor, but also color and a crisp crust.  When I say that it began as a basic cake, I don't mean to imply there was anything plain about the finished product.

My cake pan is not 2 inches tall, so I portioned the batter to also make two cupcakes.  This prevented the cake from overflowing the pan, and gave Ed and me cupcakes to sample for dessert yesterday while sending the pretty whole cake to the base this morning.  I'm guessing that it arrived around 7:30, and I had a text message at 8:38 saying that the cake was gone - to think that the first time Ed took a cake to work, he thought it would take days to eat it all.

I didn't have instant coffee to flavor the whipped cream, so I used espresso to dissolve the gelatin (used in stabilizing the cream) rather than water.  The result was noticeable yet subtle - very pleasing. 

Unlike my other blog posts, as part of the Heavenly Cake Bakers, I don't post recipes from this book on the Internet. One of the reasons for this baking group is to encourage readers to purchase the cookbook. That strategy worked on me! After follow the group's baking adventures for a couple of months, I ordered a copy from Amazon because I wanted join in.