cake

Banana coconut cake

maki — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:45:50 +0200

Some recipes come about from long experimentation and several tries to try to perfect them (like those darned bunnies, or my ongoing attempts to make natto at home). Others just seem to happen. We had a bunch of bananas that were rapidly turning very brown and spotty on the kitchen table. I froze some (nothing like frozen bananas as treats), and turned some into a cake.

It’s nothing fancy at all - it’s basically a pound-cake like base (but with a bit less sugar), with added cut-up bananas. The coconut part was added on a whim also. The cake doesn’t rise much, probably because of the bananas, but it’s moist, not too sweet, and very comforting. It’s perfect with a cup of tea.

So far in my life I’ve not had the opportunity to go to Hawaii (unless you count a short layover en route from LA to Tokyo) but I sort of imagine that this cake would not be too out of place there.

Banana coconut cake

Note that there are equal amounts in weight of eggs, butter, and flour. So, first weigh your cracked eggs, and then use the equal amounts of butter and flour. In my case the two large eggs I had came out to just about 120 grams.

2 large eggs (about 120g / 4 oz total weight)
120g / 4 oz unsalted butter
120g / 4 oz cake or all-purpose flour
100g / a bit less than 3 oz raw cane sugar or light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3 medium ripe bananas, cut up into smallish pieces
1 Tbs. brandy or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbs. milk or soy milk
4 Tbs. dessicated coconut
extra butter for the pan

Equipment: 8 inch / 20cm square cake or brownie pan, electric or handheld whisk, kitchen parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 355° F.

Butter the cake or brownie pan and line with parchment paper, OR butter and flour the pan.

If the butter is still hard from the refrigerator, put it in a bowl and nuke it for a minute to soften.

Mix together the flour and baking powder.

Cream together the butter and sugar with the whisk until blended and fluffy. Add the eggs and whisk some more. Add the flavoring (brandy or vanilla) and milk.

Fold in the flour and baking powder, and fold in the bananas. Don’t overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with the dessicted coconut.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer or chopstick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

If the coconut looks too brown, put a piece of foil over the pan until the cake has finished baking through.

Let Them Eat EU Cakes!

maki — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:23:31 +0200

This year is the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC), which lead to the formation of the European Union. Over the weekend they had a big party in Berlin, where among other things they sampled two traditional cakes from all EU member countries. Here is the official list of cakes.

Over on European Cuisines they are planning to feature recipes for all the cakes - quite an ambitious undertaking. Here is their list of cakes with links to the recipes. So far they have the British Eccles Cakes, Banitsa with feta and Banitsa with pumpkin from Bulgaria, and the Cake That Conquered The World in the ’70s-’80s, Schwarzwalder Torte aka Black Forest Gateau from Germany.

I do wonder how those official cakes were decided upon though. The definition of ‘cake’ seems a bit stretched - for instance the Bulgarian entries, both involving strudel, seem to be pastries, not cakes. And why Eccles cakes, which are also technically more like pastries, over so many other great British cakes that are really cakes? The other British entry is Hot Cross Buns - surely that’s bread, not cake. What about a Dundee cake? A Victoria Sponge? A classic seed cake? If we’re going the bun route, surely a teacake is more cake-like than a Hot Cross Bun? And Belgium is represented by the Doughnut of all things.

Here’s a page from the British Food Trust that lists some Great British Cakes. Amusingly, they list the Black Forest Gateau there.

The Powers That Be, whoever they are, seem as confused as Marie Antoinette.

Switzerland is not on the list since it’s not part of the EU (and won’t be for the forseeable future, given the anti-EU stance of the party in power at the moment). I’ve been talking to some people about what official Swiss cakes would be, and the current concensus is on the Zuger Kirschtorte, a cherry torte that oozes with kirsch, and the Aargauer Rüeblitorte, a dense and moist carrot cake. I have to say for my tastes both are a tad heavy….my favorite Swiss cake is a plain, elegant Mandeltorte (almond cake).

Irish stout cake for St. Patrick's Day

maki — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:56:23 +0100

If you will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this weekend, and are looking for a great dessert to serve, try this one out from the archives: Irish Stout Cake with Whiskey Sour Icing.

It’s a light yet very assertive chocolate cake with beer undertones, topped with whiskey flavored lemon icing. How can you go wrong with that? :)

Spiced chocolate cupcakes

maki — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 17:31:47 +0100

In the movie Chocolat, Juliette Binoche plays a somewhat mysterious woman who opens a chocolate shop in a small French village. She uses ancient Aztec spices in her chocolate confectioneries, which soon prove to have almost magical, often aphrodesiac, properties. While Chocolat is not in my top 5, or even 10, favorite food-theme movies (see here for that list), the idea of spiced chocolates has intrigued me ever since I saw it. One of my favorite chocolate bars is the Masala one made by Dolfin.

Making a spicy chocolate confection is a bit of a tricky affair though. You don’t want the spices to overwhelm the chocolate - it should just form a sort of interesting background, yet provide a bit of a surprising bite and a warm, ‘what is that?’ quality.

These cupcakes have a rich but not too sweet bisquit (cake) base, with the warmth of curry powder and the bite of coarsely ground pepper. They are moistened with a teaspoon per cupcake of mocca liqueur, which increases its intensity and pushes it into the realm of an adult indulgence. The chocolate ganache has a pinch of cayenne pepper in it. The marriage is quite successful (or so the Tasters emphatically agreed). I’m not sure if they work at aphrodesiacs, but if your sweetheart is a chocoholic, you never know… They make a terrific Valentine’s Day dessert or treat in any case.

Spiced chocolate cupcakes

Makes about 16 medium cupcakes

For the cake:

Spices and almonds:

40g / 1 1/2 oz. ground almonds (about 1/3 cup)
1/2 Tbs. coarsely ground black or mixed-color peppercorns
1 tsp. curry powder

Dry:

80g / about 3 oz superfine raw cane sugar (you can also whirl granulated sugar in a food processor until it’s finer)
120g / 4 1/4 oz. cake flour (about 2/3 cup)
2 Tbs. best quality cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. (a big pinch) baking powder

Moist:

200g / 7 oz. (two standard bars) dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao content
150g / 5 1/4 oz. (1 stick plus 1 1/2 Tbs.) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 eggs yolks from ‘large’ eggs
1 Tbs. instant coffee granules

Egg white:

4 egg whites from ‘large’ eggs
1 pinch salt

Booze:

about 1/2 cup mocca liqueur or rum

For the chocolate ganache:

200g / 7 oz (2 standard bars) dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao content
100g / 3 1/2 oz (1 stick less 1 Tbs.) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pinch salt
1/8th tsp. cayenne pepper (add more at your discretion, but be careful)
1 Tbs. mocca liqueur or rum

Special equipment and supplies: a standing or handheld electric mixer, sifter, cupcake cups

Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F. Put the cupcake cups in muffin tins, or line up double or triple-layered cups on a baking sheet (of your cupcake cups don’t fit your muffin tins or you don’t have muffin tins).

Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder). If you end up with some sugar grains in the sifter, just dump them back in.

Put the ground almonds in a clean, dry small frying pan over medium-high heat. Toast, stirring constantly, until a light brown in color. Add the curry powder and the pepper and stir until the whole smells like toasty curry. Remove immediately from the pan and put into another container (or it will continue cooking and may burn).

Chop or bash the 2 chocolate bars into small pieces. Put the pieces into a microwave-safe bowl, and nuke at medium-low level for 3 minutes. Take out, stir and nuke for an additional 2 minutes. By this time the chocolate should be melted; if not, nuke for additional minute or so - don’t overdo it or your chocolate will turn grainy and icky. Stir well.

Add the butter in pieces to the warm chocolate and stir very well - it should be smooth and glossy. Add the coffee granules and the almond-spice mix. Keep warm.

In a clean, totally dry bowl, mix together the egg whites and pinch of salt. Whip until it forms soft peaks (an electric mixer is a very good thing to have for this task).

Add about 1/3rrd of the whipped egg white into the chocolate-butter mixture, to lighten it. Now, add the dry mixture by the tablespoon or two to the wet mixture, folding it in - don’t overmix or your cake will be a bit tough. Fold in the rest of the egg whites gently (if the batter is a bit streaky it’s fine).

Fill the cupcake cups about 2/3-rds full with the batter, using two spoons - it’s about 1 very heaped tablespoon per cup. (Use one spoon for scooping, and the other one for sliding the batter off the first spoon.)

Put in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. The cake should rise a bit, and still look a bit moist.

While the cupcakes are still warm, drizzle each with a teaspoonful of mocca liqueur or rum. Let cool to room temperature.

In the meantime, make the ganache. Melt the chocolate as described before, and beat in the room temperature butter into the warm chocolate. Add the salt, cayenne pepper and liqeur, and beat very well. Put it in the refrigerator to firm up a bit.

When the cupcakes are cool, spoon on the ganache. Put the cupcakes in the refrigerater until the ganache is firm.

Notes

To make ahead, make the cupcakes, and spoon on the ganache about 1/2 hour before serving. Be sure to serve at room temperature or warmer (not cold straight out of the fridge).

Alternatively, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and/or liqueur to the ganache to make turn it into chocolate sauce.Pour the warm sauce over warm cupcakes (taken out of their cups, and nuked for 1 minute in a tucked in plastic bag in the microwave), and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

To make these kid-friendly, omit the liqueur.

Lets GourMets! '80s retro cooking with the New York Mets

maki — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:19:23 +0200

In the corner of the world where I live right now, the Major League Baseball playoffs are not exactly a hot topic. 99% of Swiss people do not know, or care, anything about baseball.

When I moved here several years ago, I tried to follow baseball via the internet and other means, but it wasn't the same. MLB.com started offering streaming video and radio of some games, but the time difference was just too tough. Staying up night after night for games that broadcast in the wee hours of the morning here became too much. So, I lost touch.

Until this past week. Our local cable company suddenly announced that they were switching many channels to digital only. So, reluctantly we switched over from good old analog. Lo and behold, the digital package came with NASN, the European equivalent of ESPN. And it's showing all the baseball playoffs! The games are repeated during the day too, so I don't have to prop my eyelids open with toothpicks.

Yes, I'm a masochistMets fan. I once lived in Flushing, Queens, with windows facing towards Shea Stadium, and the fact that the Mets played there was a big part of why I stayed there for a couple of years. My 18th floor apartment in a typical Queens apartment block was not exactly ideal - I had mice as roommates, and a hellish downstairs neighbor, and the commute to school took me an hour. But oh, the beautiful view when the Mets were playing at home! Shea glowed like a jewel in the darkness. Never mind that more often than not the Mets didn't sparkle on the field. I loved them anyway.

This year of course, they are a good team again. (As I write this, they have just defeated the L.A. Dodgers 3 games to 0 in the divisional playoffs.) I don't really know this team at all, and I suddenly feel old because half the team look like kids to me - except for the ageless Julio Franco, who is way older than me and everyone else in the world. Still, the uniform is right, and the stadium is right, and the fans in the stands with their witty signs look just like the Mets fans I used to know.

Back in the '80s, before the 1986 World Series winning team, when they were very bad, the Mets tried a lot of promotions and gimmicks to try to get the fans into the seats. One of them was a cookbook put together by some of the players' wives, called GourMets.

I bought my copy sometime in the early '90s at a baseball card convention (yep, I was that kind of girl) but when I flip through the pages I do remember many of the players . Several of the pages are signed by the players' wives. My copy has an updated section from 1983 - the original part is from 1982.

In format and content, GourMets is basically a community cookbook in the tradition of the ones that have been put together by church congregations and Junior Leagues all throughout America. Proceeds from sales of the book went to the March of Dimes. It's in a ring binder with a bright orange wipe-clean plastic cover. Each entry has a picture of the player, a short bio (including how he met his wife, if he's married), and the recipe, most of which are submitted by the wife or a mother. In typical '80s fashion, most of the recipes are of the kind with ingredients like cream of mushroom soup and pre-made pie crust. Sandra Lee didn't invent the "semi-homemade" way of cooking, folks - it's been around for a long time. A few are bit more sophisticated, like a salad made with a real vinegarette (from Ralph Kiner of all people), not to mention a very complicated recipe for something called Veal Zingara from Rusty Staub. (Rusty went on to open his own New Orleans style restaurants after retirement.)

It's amazing how much our food tastes have changed since the early '80s. But while I didn't exactly grow up eating such food, they are rather charmingly nostalgic. I have tried out a few of the recipes, and some are surprisingly good, while others...are not.

So, in honor of the 2006 Mets making the playoffs, and for my memories of Mets Ghosts past, here are a few recipes from GourMets. Some of them I've actually tried and can vouch for, others I present here for the sake of curiosity. Besides, the '80s are back, aren't they?

My comments are in [square brackets] below.

Mookie Wilson (wife: Rosa)

Mookie Wilson was not really a great player I guess but boy, was he exciting! Always upbeat, always hustling his butt off, he was a true shining light even when the team around him was dismal. And he is forever remembered for hitting the ground ball that went through Bill Buckner's legs in Game 6. (If that means nothing to you...never mind, it never will. People who do remember Game 6 will do so for eternity.) His son, Preston, plays for the St. Louis Cardinals.

This recipe from the South (Mookie is from South Carolina) is sticky, brown and sweet. The recipe doesn't mention salt but it's much improved with it. It's not exactly low-carb, or low-fat, or low-anything. It is presented as a side dish for pork chops. It's actually quite yummy, if you like sweet side dishes that is.

Mookie's Quick and Easy Candy Yams

6 sweet potatoes, sliced
1 cup sugar
4 Tbs. butter (or 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup of water

Place butter in a 2 quart sauce pan over medium heat. Place sliced potatoes in melted butter, add 1 cup of sugar, pour water over sugar and potatoes. (This will spread sugar through the potatoes). Cover and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour (checking pot occasionally).

Ron Gardenhire (wife: Carol)

Did you know that the manager of the Minnesota Twins used to play for the Mets? I didn't remember either.

I haven't tried this recipe, but it's typical of many of the dessert recipes in GourMets - put together some package mixes and canned or frozen fruit, with a ton of butter or margarine (also called "oleo").

Cobbler (the easy way)

1 can fruit pie filling
1 box dry Jiffy Cake mix (or one layer mix)
1/2 stick margarine
nuts or coconut

Place fruit filling in well greased baking dish. Pour cake mix, or sprinkle, over fruit filling. Melt margarine; pour over cake mix and run a fork through cake mix, punching openings over the top for the margarine to run through. [Mmm, margarine.] Do not stir or mix. To with desired nuts or coconut. Bake for 45 minutes or until brown in a 375°F [190°C]. oven.

Keith Hernandez (wife: Sue)

Ahh, Keith Hernandez. His coming signaled the resurgence of the moribund Mets, and led to their championship year of 1986. My teenage self briefly had a mad crush on him.

This recipe, however, is not quite top-class. I hate Crescent Rolls - to me they have an odd chemical taste. But if you like them it could be good. Pillsbury still makes them after all these years...maybe they've improved the formula since I last tried them sometime in the '90s. This uses one of the favorite ingredients of the Mets' wives, cream cheese.

Beef and Broccoli Pie

1 lb. ground beef
8 oz. cream cheese
10 oz. broccoli [I assume they mean frozen]
2 pkgs. Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, uncooked
1/3 cup milk
2 beaten eggs
sharp cheddar cheese, grated (as much as you want)
1 onion, chopped

Cook the broccoli in a separate pot. While the broccoli is cooking, brown the ground beef and chopped onion in a skillet. After the ground beef mixture is browned, reduce heat to a simmer. Add the milk, cream cheese, one beaten egg and mix until creamy. Add the broccoli (cooked) and mix well. Turn off heat.

Roll one package of crescent rolls on a floured surface. Lightly pinch the seams together and mold in a pie pan. Add the meat mixture. Sprinkle the grated sharp cheddar cheese over the top. Roll the second package of crescent rolls in the same manner as the first package, forming a top crust now. Brush with the second beaten egg.

Pre-heat oven to 425°F [220deg;C]. Bake at this temperature for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F [180°C]. and cover with aluminum foil if it browns quickly. Cook an additional 20 minutes and serve. Enjoy!

José Oquendo (wife: Zeneida)

The third base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals was 20 years old in 1983, and playing second base for the Mets. This classic Puerto Rican recipe is one of the few in GourMets that I have made several times because it's really good. I do however add several ancho or jalapeño peppers. It could be that Mrs. Oquendo omitted them for her audience - elsewhere in the cookbook, a "super spicy beef enchilada" dish has one jar of "enchilada sauce" in the whole thing.

Notice the unusual lack of branded packaged food.

Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Rice)

2 1/2 to 3 lbs fryer chicken parts
4 Tbs. olive oil
1 8-oz. can of tomato sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups raw long grain rice
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
1/2 tsp. sazõn (saffron)

Hint: It is preferable to blend onion, green pepper, garlic and cilantro in blender as this will truly enhance the flavor of this dish.

Wash chicken; pat dry.

Heat oil in pan over moderate heat. Add tomato sauce, onion, green pepper, garlic, 1/2 cup water and cilantro; sauté until tomato sauce thickens. Add chicken parts and cook well on all sides (about 20 minutes). Remove chicken from pan. In same pan add rice; sauté for 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water, salt and sazõn. Bring mixture to a boil. Lower heat and cover pan. After rice is cooked, add chicken parts and cook until chicken is heated up again.

Serve with salad and bread. Makes 4 servings.

Craig Swan (wife: Sandy)

Craig Swan was a pitcher for the Mets during the early '80s, one of their Dark Periods. This recipe is presented here as a curiosity and sign of its times. A molded gelatin salad, made with Lemon Jello and ginger ale, marshmallows within...and a topping of thickened pineapple juice, whipped cream and cheddar cheese. Yipes.

I'm been too scared to try this out myself so far. Please let me know if you do.

Frosted Salad

2 pkg. lemon Jello
2 cups boiling water
2 cups 7-Up or ginger ale
No. 2 can crushed pineapple, drained, save 1 cup juice [not sure what a "no. 2 can" is]
1 cup small marshmallows
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 cup nuts [doesn't specify what kind of nuts]

Prepare the Jello as directed on the package using the 7-Up or ginger ale instead of water. Allow it to partially set. Add the pineapple, marshmallows, bananas and nuts and let it set.

Topping

1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. flour
1 cup pineapple juice (from what was saved)
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Combine the egg, sugar, butter, flour and pineapple juice,. Cook until thickened and cool. Then fold in one cup of whipped cream and spread over the Jello mixture (after it has set). Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese.

Darryl Strawberry (his mom Ruby provided the recipe)

Not many long time Mets fans can think of Darryl Strawberry without mixed emotions. He was the Great Hope...for a while it seemed like he would fulfil his potential, but...he never did.

I think the 7-Up in this recipe is supposed to make it lighter, or something? In terms of ingredient proportions though, this is sort of a pound cake.

7-Up Cake

3 sticks butter [12 oz. / 340g]
2 cups sifted flour or Wondra [an instant-blend flour]
5 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 cup 7-Up soft drink

Pre-heat oven to 325°F [160°C]. Mix together softened butter and sugar. Add eggs, stirring in one egg at a time. Mix in flour until mixture is smooth. Add lemon extract. Add 7-Up. Mix well with mixer. Grease and flour tube pan. Bake at 325°F. for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Cool for one hour. Remove from pan.

Oyatsu and kasutera (castella), a Japanese sponge cake

maki — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:49:03 +0200

In my previous post about Japanese food, I talked about what makes up a typical Japanese meal, which applies to breakfast, lunch and dinner. There's a fourth meal that is very much a part of Japanese food life - oyatsu. Oyatsu is snack time, and it's usually eaten at 3 in the afternoon.

Oyatsu consists of a drink, which is usually tea for adults and milk or soft drink for kids, and a sweet or savory snack. A lot of the Japanese snack industry is geared towards oyatsu items. It's lighter than an English afternoon tea - it's more like elevenses (the snack that was traditionally consumed around 11 in the morning in England). It helps to keep hungry kids going until dinner time, and provides a good excuse for the adults to take a break.

One of my favorite oyatsu snacks growing up in Japan was kasutera or castella, and it remains a favorite even now. The origins of kasutera, a light sponge cake that is most often flavored with honey, are in either Portugal, Spain, or both. The first recorded Westerners to ever land on Japanese soil were Portuguese missionaries. They were eventually kicked out because the feudal government disliked their trying to spread Christianity, which they considered to to be subversive. But they did leave their legacy in the form of additions to the language and to the cuisine. (Wikipedia page on kasutera's history.)

Kasutera is a kind of sweet that is hardly ever baked at home in Japan. It's available in all price ranges, from mass-produced plastic wrapped kinds that you can buy in any supermarket to expensive "gourmet" labels. Perhaps because the Portuguese influence was the strongest there, the southernmost main island of Kyushuu has some of the best kasutera makers.

The best known mass-produced kasutera brand is Bunmeido. This is the one we ate all the time when I was growing up. I can still remember the jingle, which didn't make sense then and still doesn't make sense now -

kasutera ichiban, denwa wa niban,
sanji no oyatsu wa Bunmeido
(Kasutera no.1, telephone no. 2, 3 o'clock snack is Bunmeido)

This jingle was sung by a line of teddy bears doing the can-can. (Here's a YouTube video where you can hear the jingle, though those dudes are somewhat less cute than the original teddy bears.)

I used to work for a company run by a family from Nagasaki. Although my boss was very difficult to deal with in many respects, he almost redeemed himself in my eyes by always bringing a block of delicious kasutera with him whenever he flew back from Japan.

A good kasutera is moist, with a very fine texture, and is very light. It should have a dark brown and sugary top and bottom - the sides are usually cut off, exposing the yellow crumb. It is sweet yet not cloyingly sweet. It does not have a speck of oil in it - no butter, no margerine, no shortening. Yet it is very rich. The best flavoring is honey, though other sugary syrups are often used too. There are variations, like matcha (green tea) or chocolate flavored, but I prefer the traditional honey flavor.

A slice of kasutera is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of hot green tea, unsweetened of course.

If I lived in Japan, frankly I don't think I would make my own kasutera because of all the delicious brands out there. It's also not that easy to make, since it uses the classical cake making method of whisking together whole eggs and sugar in a bowl over hot water until it's thick. But it's hard to get good kasutera here, so on occasion I haul out my electric whisk and get going. The results are usually worth all the effort. The only bad thing is that the kasutera disappears so fast.

Kasutera (Castella)

Please note that my original recipe is in metric, and unlike many other of my recipes it's best to be pretty precise in your measurements for this. So I have given amounts in grams/ounces rather than cups.

8 whole "large" (55g) eggs
300g (10.5 oz) sugar, raw cane sugar preferred, or use regular granulated sugar, plus a little extra sugar for sprinkling
200g (7 oz) all-purpose or bread flour (not cake flour)
100cc (about 1/2 cup, or 3.5 fluid oz) milk
4 Tbs. honey, plus one extra Tbs. for the top

Equipment and other supplies:

Electric whisk
A rectangular cake pan, or a square 25cm / 8 inch cake pan, see notes
Parchment paper
A large mixing bowl
A pan large enough to fit the bottom of the mixing bowl
A hand whisk
A spatula
A pastry brush
A plastic ziplock bag

Preheat the oven to 170°C / 340°F, or 150°C / 300°F if you're using a convection oven.

Cut the parchment paper so that it's large enough to fit the bottom and sides of the cake pan with a little excess. Fold it in until it completely covers the bottom and sides, leaving a it hanging over. (To make it stick to the pan, smear a little butter or shortening on the pan first.) Sprinkle a little sugar over the bottom, on top of the paper.

Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.

Mix together the milk and 4 tablespoons of honey - you may need to heat up the mixture for a few seconds in the microwave.

Measure the flour and sugar. Double-sift the flour. (That means passing it through your sifter or sieve twice.)

Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk. Add the sugar. Start whisking this while holding the bowl over the pan of hot water. As soon as the mixture feels lukewarm to the touch, take it off the water and continue whisking. If it cools down again, put it back on the hot water pan to warm it up. You get the best texture if you stick to the lowest setting on your electric whisk, or whisk by hand, but you'll be at it for a long, long time. I usually turn up my electric whisk to about setting 2 or 3 until it starts to thicken, and then do the rest of the whisking at setting 1 to have small bubbles at the end. Either way though, you'll be whisking for...a long....time. (Give it at least 15 minutes with an electric whisk...and a lot longer by hand.)

When you are done the batter will be thick enough to form soft peaks when you draw up your whisk. If you write your initial on the surface with the whisk, it should stay there long enough for you to read it before it disappears.

Whisk in the milk and honey mixture. Add the flour with your hand whisk a tablespoon at a time, beating until there are no pockets of flour.

Pour the batter into the pan up to the top. (see notes about what to do with any leftover batter.) Put in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean.

In the meantime, mix together the 1 tablespoon of honey and a little hot water, to make a glaze.

As soon as the cake is out of the oven, brush the top with the honey-water mixture.

When it's cool enough to handle but still warm, lift it out of the pan, paper and all, and put into a plastic bag. Seal the bag and put into the refrigerator, for at least several hours. This step is critical to ensure the kasutera has a moist texture. If you let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the plastic bag, it will end up a bit dry.

To serve, use a very sharp knife to make clean cuts. Cut off the sides (cook's treat) and make small, neat slices - one or two per person. Serve with hot or cold unsweetened tea.

Notes:

This batter is the right amount for a rectangular cake pan about 30 cm long x 10 cm wide, but most people probably have a 25cm / 8 inch square cake pan, and the kasutera comes out fine in that. You may have some excess batter, which can be baked in lined cupcake/muffin tins alongside the main cake. Take the cupcakes out after 20-25 minutes, then continue cooking the main cake. I can get a whole square cake plus 6-12 (depending on the size) cupcakes out of this.
Green tea is great with this, or try genmai-cha (green tea with toasted rice grains in it). In the summer, a cool glass of mugicha (toasted barley tea) is perfect.

Apple crumble cake

maki — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 14:29:22 +0100

Sometimes, you just don't want to fuss, but you still want something a little sweet and homemade. At times like that, I sometimes make this simple cake. It combines two of my favorite foods, apple and crumble topping; the cake part is a simple mix-and pour affair; and it can be served warm, or at room temperature. And, the sweetness of it doesn't hit you in the face. The only mildly fiddly part is peeling and cutting up the apples. It's a perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee.

To me, it's a very American kind of cake - the crumble part of course, and the ease of making it, and the apples. The only thing you need to be careful of is to make sure that the cake part is cooked properly. The part underneath the apples cooks a bit slower than the rest of the cake, so once your toothpick comes out clean, bake it a few more minutes to ensure you don't get any doughiness. For my oven that's about 40 minutes total.

This gave me a chance to use a new discovery - organic raw cane sugar from Italy, called Panela Granulata. Here in Switzerland it's always been impossible to find the kind of soft brown sugar with added molasses that you get in the U.S., but the regular Rohzucker (raw sugar) is is a very light brown. This Italian brown sugar is already quite dark without any added molasses, and tastes delicious just out of the bag (not that I'm eating sugar out of a bag, mind you...of course not...)

You can use any kind of apple, but a slightly softer eating apple like Golden Delicious really fits best. Don't use a sour cooking apple for this.

Incidentally, how do you peel your apples? After struggling for years to peel apples with a paring knife and such, trying not to cut off too much of the flesh with the skin, it finally dawned on me recently - just use a vegetable peeler. It was one of those 'doh' moments for sure. No one sticks around to admire those one-long-piece apple peels anyway.

Apple Crumble Cake

4 to 5 medium or small apples - about 4 cups worth of cut up apple, but you can do it with a bit more or less
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 'large' egg, beaten
1/3 cup melted butter, or a combination of melted butter and neutral-tasting oil such as safflour or canola

For the crumble mixture:

3/4 cup of raw cane sugar, muscovado sugar, or regular light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180° C / 350° F.

Grease a standard square cake pan (20cm x 20cm x 5cm, or 8" x 8" x 2") with butter.

Sift the flour and baking powder together, and mix in the granulated sugar. Add the milk, beaten egg and melted butter or butter/oil combo; mix together just until there are no huge lumps. Pour into the pan.

Make the crumble mixture: melt the butter in a pan, add the flour, sugar and cinnamon, and mix well until it become crumble.

Peel, core and cut up the apples, and put on to of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with the crumble mixture.

Bake for about 40 minutes. Cut into squares. Serve warm plain or with whipped cream. You can nuke this to warm it up quite successfully. Also nice at room temperature, such as in a lunch box.

Is My Blog Burning no. 3: Irish Stout Cake with Whiskey-Sour Icing

maki — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 20:11:39 +0200

As soon as Renee announced that the theme for the third Is My Blog Burning event was to be Cakewalk, this cake came to mind. I think part of the reason is because it just looks sensational. The cake crumb is almost pure black, with hints of the red that's in cacao. The flavor is also dark, slightly bitter yet sweet, from the stout and the unsweetened pure cocoa powder. Amazingly enough though, the texture of the crumb itself is quite light.

I also knew I wanted something to contrast with that black on top. I considered buttercream frosting and cream cheese frosting, but then I thought of plain icing made with icing (powdered) sugar, flavored with lemon. Since the cake is made from Irish stout, by a natural process of association I wondered how a hint of whiskey would work in the icing. Those are the flavors in a whiskey sour after all. It works, indeed.

I originally saw Gary Rhodes making the Irish stout cake on TV. I have modified his original recipe, adding more cocoa powder to up the bitterness. The icing is my addition - he served his version with a whiskey-flavored zabaglione (warm frothy custard sauce). The cake is also nice just unadorned. And if you have leftovers, the black crumbs make a sensational garnish for ice cream sundaes and such.

Note: this is definitely a cake for adults, but you can make it kid-friendly by omitting the whiskey from the icing. The cake itself has no alcohol in it since all of the alcohol in the stout would have dissipated.

Irish Stout Cake with Whiskey-Sour Icing

For the cake:

225g / 8 oz butter
360g / 12 oz brown sugar (use the light brown kind if you are in the U.S.)
4 large eggs
150g / 5 oz pure cocoa powder
400ml / 1 2/3rd cup of stout (I used Guinness Foreign Extra Stout)
225g / 8 oz all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat the oven to 180° C / 350° F. Butter a 9 x 9 inch / 25 cm square cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and butter and flour the insides of the pan.

Cream together the sugar and butter. (The best way to do this really is with your hands.) Add the eggs and the cocoa powder, mixing well. Add the stout a little at a time (it will foam up quite a bit). Blend well.

Add the sifted flour and the baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Pour into the pan no more than 2/3rds full. (If you have a smaller pan, put the extra batter into small cake pans, and put in the oven with about 15 minutes to go in the baking.)

Bake for about an hour, until a skewer stuck in the cake about 3 cm / 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Let cool before putting on the icing.

For the icing:

225g / 8 oz icing (powdered) sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs single malt Irish whiskey (you can substitute Scotch...though that wouldn't make it as Irish I guess)
Water

Mix the lemon juice and the whiskey in the icing sugar - a small whisk is the most usefuil implement for this. If necessary, slowly add a bit of water to the icing, a drop at a time, until you have a thick, smooth paste. Spread this on top of the cake, and let set before cutting it up, into as many or few squares as you feel like.

Mushipan: steamed bread/cake

maki — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 22:45:09 +0100

For Japanese kids, oyatsu is a big part of the day. It means snack time, and is usually in mid-afternoon. It's sort of like afternoon tea or elevenses in England. My mother usually was working when we were growing up so she didn't have much time to make us homemade oyatsu, but when she did one of the things she'd make was mushipan.

Mushipan literally means steamed bread, but it is more cakelike than bread-like. It's closely related to English steamed puddings. Sweet steamed bread/cakes are sold in Chinatown bakeries, next to the char siu bao, steamed roast pork buns. (I'm also a big fan of steamed buns, and I'll blog my recipe for that sometime.) Since it is quite filling, I wouldn't really recommend it for dessert - it's better on its own, as an afternoon snack. You could even have it for breakfast.

This mushipan has brandy-soaked raisins in it, making it look quite a lot like an English spotted dick. It's rather neutral in taste since it's not that sweet, making it a wonderful vehicle for all kinds of sweet things you can put on it. The slice in the picture above has some maple syrup that Max brought back from Ottawa a few months ago. It's also delicious with honey or preserves. My favorite way to eat this is to sprinkle it quite thickly with sugar while it's still steaming hot, then to squeeze some lemon juice over it. This forms a sort of lemony syrup and is quite addictive. You can keep this for a day; heat it up in the microwave covered in plastic wrap for a minute or two.

Since the original recipe is Japanese, the measurements are in grams rather than cups. I think you can safely round up the ounce measurements (7 ounces instead of 6 1/2, etc.). The batter is steamed in a sieve or colander, that's lined with a clean kitchen cloth (linen or cotton) or cheesecloth. The resulting bread/cake is round and quite adorable.

Mushipan, steamed bread/cake

Special equipment: a metal sieve or colander, about 20cm / 8 inches in diameter; a clean linen or cotton kitchen towel or cheesecloth, big enough to line the sieve or colander and to wrap around the top.

180g / 6 1/2 oz. white cake flour or all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
4 eggs, separated
160g / 5 1/2 oz. sugar
100g / 3 1/2 oz. butter
4 Tbs. raisins
2 Tbs brandy
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Soak the raisins in the brandy for about an hour before you start making the cake.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Cream together the butter and half the sugar with a whisk, until fluffy. Slowly add the egg yolks, one by one to form a fairly smooth mixture. Add the brandy that the raisins were soaking in, and the vanilla.

In a separate, clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the rest of the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

Mix half of the egg white mixture into the yolk-butter mixture, then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites. Sift in the flour-baking powder mixture, folding in but not mixing vigorously (you don't want the batter to become completely flat) just until incorporated. Fold in the raisins.

Moisten the kitchen cloth or cheesecloth in hot water, and wring out well. Line the sieve or colander with the cloth and pour in the batter. Fold the cloth loosely over the batter. Steam in a steamer for about 25 minutes, until it springs back when you press the middle with your finger.

Serve steaming hot with honey, maple syrup, sugar and lemon, preserves, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Roulade au Chocolat Saint Valentin

maki — Sat, 14 Feb 2004 19:21:53 +0100

This is a small but quite spectacular chocolate dessert, that I made this afternoon and now is waiting for us to devour tonight. It is basically a rolled cake, with a featherlight chocolate bisquit (sponge) made without any flour and rolled with almond buttercream; this is then covered with creamy chocolate ganache, and finally dusted with cocoa. It's not that hard to make but it is a bit involved, so if you'd like to try it please follow the steps carefully.

It's a perfect St. Valentine's Day dessert of course when it's formed into a heart shape as I did here, but it can be enjoyed at any time. You can simply make one round cake, or make little bite-sized rolls (rather like the big sushi rolls), and ice each one individually with the ganache.

Now, this recipe does use rather precise weights, unlike most of the recipes I post here. But in this case it really is worth the effort to take out the kitchen scales and measure everything.

Since the recipe is given in steps, here's the whole shopping list:

2 100g / 3 1/2 oz bars of best-quality Swiss or Belgian bittersweet chocolate, minimum 49% cacao content
1 small container of heavy cream
1 unsalted butter
Pure vanilla essence (not imitation vanilla or vanillin!)
1 small bag of ground almonds
sugar
5 large eggs, pasteurized or very fresh organic
Cocoa (not drinking chocolate powder!)
Powdered sugar (optional)

Incidentally, you can tell that it was originally a recipe from a Japanese source because of the rather precise amounts listed for the ingredients - for some reason, Japanese recipes are very exact. This originally appeared in an issue of Today's Cooking magazine, the companion magazine for a long-running cooking show on NHK TV of the same name. I have about 50 of these magazines, and they are always useful - even the ones dating back to the '70s that I got from my mother.

Roulade au Chocolat Saint Valentin

I've divided this into 4 steps: the bisquit or sponge, the almond buttercream, the ganache, and finally the assembly. [Edit: I had an extra egg in the original ingredients..there is no egg in the almond buttercream. Also, the yolk is just mixed in at the very end to the chocolate ganache.]

Part 1: For the biscuit (sponge):

3 large eggs, separated
45 g / 1 1/2 oz. sugar
30 g / 1 oz of bittersweet chocolate, minimum 49% cacao

Preheat the oven to about 150°C or 300° F. Line a sponge pan (or a metal pan about 30cm x 20cm, or 12 inches x 8 inches or so, with a lip) with a teflon baking paper like Bake-o-Glide. Alternatively use greased parchment paper.

Add 30g/ 1 oz (or about rounded 2 Tbs) of sugar to the egg yolks, and beat at high speed until the mixture is a very very pale yellow (sort of the color of undyed cheddar), and it falls in ribbons from the whisk.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the rest of the sugar (15g / 1/2 oz, or about rounded 1 Tbs) and beat until it forms soft peaks. Don't overbeat or your sponge will be rather dry.

Microwave the chocolate for about 45 seconds to 1 minute until softened. Beat it with a spoon to liquify it. Add 1 Tbs of hot water drop by drop (it will seize up, or turn stiff and dull looking, at first, then loosen up) to the chocolate.

Add the chocolate to the egg yolk mix. Mix in half of the egg white into this, then fold in the rest, being careful not to over mix. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth out the top with a wide spatula or even a piece of clean cardboard.

Bake for 20 minutes. Take out and let cool. Put a damp kitchen cloth over this to prevent it from drying out.

Part 2: Almond buttercream

80g / 2 1/2 oz finely ground almonds
50g / 1 1/2 oz unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
33g / 1 oz sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Put the ground almonds in a frying pan over medium heat and toast it lightly, stirring all the time. As soon as it is toasted just enough, take it out of the pan (or it will continue cooking and may get burned and bitter tasting).

Whip the butter and sugar together until the sugar is totally incorporated into the cream. It shouldn't feel gritty when you are done. (Do this in a small food processor if you have one.) Add the vanilla.

Mix in the almonds.

Part 3: Chocolate ganache

170g / 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, minimum 49% cacao
160g / 5 1/2 oz heavy cream
100g / 3 1/2 oz unsalted butter
1 egg yolk, very fresh organic or pasteurized

Heat the cream in a low heat in a thick-bottomed pan until hot but not boiling. Add the chocolate, cut up into chunks or shredded, and mix until thoroughly melted.

Pour out the chocolate mixture into a bowl and let cool for a bit until it's just rather warm when you stick your finger in. Add the butter to this, mixing rapidly until it's totally incorporated. Mix in the egg yolk. Let it cool in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Part 4: assembly

Cut the bisquit into strips about 2 inches / 5 cm wide. You want them to be pretty even, so it's helpful to use a ruler to make sure the strips are of the same width. Spread the top with the buttercream.

Carefull peel the strips off the paper with a spatula. Don't worry if the strips tear though. Roll the strips one by one around and around until you end up with a roll about 15cm / inches in diameter.

With a knife and your hands, form the roll into a heart, by pressing the back of a knife into the top indentation, and making the end rather pointy. (Of course, you can just leave it as a circle too.) Smoosh the top a bit if necessary to make it more or less even.

Cover the sides of the heart or roll with a thin layer of the chocolate ganache. Cover the top with a thick layer of the ganache, smoothing it out so you keep the heart shape.

Dust the top with cocoa, through a fine sieve or tea strainer.

To make the heart pattern, cut out some hearts in a piece of paper about the same size as your rolled cake. Place the paper on top of the cake, and dust lightly with icing / powdered sugar.