Early strawberry season means it's time for cake

Posted on June 17, 2012 by bilrob

Early strawberry season means it’s time for cake

I headed straight to my recipe file when I heard a recent news report that Minnesota strawberries are ripening earlier this year. Growers are expecting a sensational strawberry season, with predictions in some parts of the state that picking could begin as early as, well, right now.

My thoughts turned to all of my favorite strawberry desserts. My Auntie Vera’s strawberry shortcake has always been a seasonal tradition, mounds of sweet biscuit dough crumbled into a cereal bowl, topped with slices of fresh, sweet strawberries and whole milk or cream. My taste buds revved up when I thought of the fresh strawberry pie my friend, Micky, used to treat me with when I lived in Fargo. She’d carefully arrange whole strawberries into a baked pie shell, heaping them up with the largest, most beautiful berries on top. Then she poured a sweet glaze over the berries, made of sugar and cornstarch and a couple spoonfuls of strawberry-flavored gelatin.

It seems we all have a favorite strawberry dessert that has become a seasonal tradition. This summer there should be an abundance of sweet, ripe, locally grown strawberries, allowing for all of the old favorites as well as some new ones to add to the recipe box.

Strawberries and Cream Chocolate Roll is reminiscent of the old-fashioned jellyroll desserts, pinwheels of light, airy cake rolled up with jelly. This dessert, though, is a cake roll made with a recipe I got from a family friend when I was in high school. The Ukrainian woman was a fabulous baker and cook. She taught me how to roll up the hot chocolate cake that was baked in a jelly roll pan, using a sugar-coated kitchen towel. The cake was bendable while it was hot. As it cooled in the towel, it took to its new shape, making it very easy to reroll once it was filled. My Ukrainian friend filled her chocolate roll with a coffee-flavored sweetened whipped cream mixture.

Feeling creative, I sweetened some cream cheese and spread it over the cooled cake. I made some strawberry glaze by slightly adapting the recipe used by Micky in her pie. It had been years since I used any kind of flavored gelatin. I thought it a bit strange when the mixture cooking in a pot on the stove became foamy and almost came right over the top of the pot. The cooled glaze didn’t seem thick enough on the first try. I made another batch, increasing the cornstarch by another tablespoon. As it foamed in the pot before I even put it on the heat, I realized my mistake. I had used baking powder, not cornstarch. The baking powder was in a similar container as the cornstarch in my pantry. The third batch of glaze prepared with cornstarch worked like a charm. I can tell you that one (3-ounce) box of strawberry-flavored gelatin will be just enough for three batches of Strawberry Filling.

Later that evening, I discovered the workout pants I’d been wearing all day were inside-out. It was one of those days, I guess.

Strawberries and Cream Chocolate Roll may become a new favorite, maybe even a summer tradition, at your house — no matter which way you’re wearing your pants when you make it. Just be sure to use cornstarch rather than baking powder in the Strawberry Filling.

Strawberries and Cream Chocolate Roll
For the Chocolate Roll:
4 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar plus extra for sprinkling
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Strawberry Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons strawberry-flavored gelatin
2/3 cup water
2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

For the Cream Filling:
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15- x 10- x 1-inch jellyroll pan. Line the greased pan with waxed paper. Grease and flour the waxed paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs at high speed of an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, continuing to beat for 5 minutes until mixture is thick and fluffy. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together. Add sifted ingredients to bowl and blend on low speed. Add vanilla and mix to blend.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake for about 11 minutes in preheated 350-degree oven. Cake should spring back when pressed lightly with a finger.

Sprinkle large, clean linen or cotton kitchen towel with granulated sugar in a 15- x 10-inch rectangle.

Remove cake from oven and immediately loosen from sides of pan and turn out onto sugared towel. Slowly and carefully peel off the waxed paper. Starting at a narrow end, roll up hot cake and towel together. Let cool completely on wire rack.

While cake is cooling, prepare strawberry and cream fillings.

For Strawberry Filling, stir sugar, cornstarch, gelatin and water together in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick, about 5 minutes. Cool completely, then stir in chopped strawberries.

For Cream Filling, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

Unroll cooled cake and remove from towel. Dollop Cream Filling over cake and spread to cover. Top with Strawberry Filling, spreading evenly over the cream mixture.

Reroll cake, starting with narrow end. Place seam-side down on serving platter. Cover and chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours and up to overnight before serving. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Tip from the cook

–I like to refrigerate the dessert overnight for best flavor and easy slicing. An electric knife is a good tool for creating perfect, clean slices of Strawberries and Cream Chocolate Roll.

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Bake me a cake!

Posted on June 15, 2012 by bilrob

Bake me a cake!

Look at it from our point of view. It’s the thought that counts, right? A colleague’s birthday was coming up, and we decided to surprise him with a home-made cake. Unfortunately my friend, the ‘co-chef’, suggests manicures before getting started on the sifting and stirring. After that it just seems wrong to put our gleaming fire engine red nails to work. Hence the master plan. Head to French Loaf, pick up a sponge cake and ice it ourselves. No one will be the wiser, we figure.

Just our luck: French Loaf is fresh out of cake. We trawl around Nungambakkam, getting increasingly desperate. Buying a fully frosted cake is not an option. Not after our pompous claims about being earnest home bakers. After trying every bakery in the vicinity, we end up with a wonky rock of a tea cake. Back at home, we shamelessly decide to frost it with Pillsbury chocolate icing. However, I leave the kitchen to take a phone call and when I come back, I find co-chef with the icing spoon in her mouth and a half-empty Pillsbury can. We shower the cake with Cadbury’s gems in a futile bid to brighten it up. It’s still admittedly hideous. When we unveil it at the office, people shriek in horror. One colleague says she still has nightmares about being chased down a dark alley by that cake.

All this to explain why you should check out the Baker Showcase at Crimson Chakra on June 30. Store-bought cakes are admittedly naff these days. But baking from scratch is not always an option. Fortunately, the city’s burgeoning with home bakers who are quite happy to make luxurious, personalised cakes for you. While standards vary wildly, there is plenty to choose from. The Baker’s Showcase features 14 people, and a wide range of cakes, muffins, pies and quiches. Promised highlights include Baileys Cheesecake, Tequila cupcakes and Kahlua Brownies. (I’m noticing a theme here, and wondering if Chennai’s home bakers are necessarily stationed next to their home-bars.)

K.P. Balakumar, one of the founders of the Home Bakers Guild, which is organising the event, explains how the guild was conceived as a forum to bring together bakers and baking enthusiasts on a single platform. With more than 700 members (of which about 500 are from Chennai) they use social media, primarily Facebook, very effectively to connect with the city, as well as each other. The showcase he says, is unique because it brings together the city’s top home bakers as well as “testing the waters/aspiring home bakers” under a single roof. The event is from 3.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. Its Facebook page is buzzing with activity, so Balakumar suggests you get there quickly before the goodies are all gone.

The restaurant this week is ‘Aahar Multicuisine Veg Restaurant’ which opened recently in Mylapore. We charge in at 3 p.m. desperate for lunch. The waiters are languid, like they’re extras in a Peter Andre music video. (That’s a deliberately dated reference by the way. Today’s Pitbull style videos are too charged with energy to make good metaphors.) We ask for podi idlis and are told it’s too late. Apparently they’re available only till 3 p.m. It’s currently 3.03 p.m. Somewhere in the kitchen there’s a timer that should be working for the Olympic committee.

Aahar is set in a nice large space. The décor’s irreproachable except for a proliferation of strange blue lights. Best described as Christmas tree meets ‘Law And Order’ crime scene. (Oh dear. We’re all about dated metaphors today, aren’t we?) The menu offers an astonishing variety. Beside the usual ghee roast-rava dosa-onion oothapam there are innovative twists: think pudina dosas and dry fruit rava dosas.

We try deliciously spongy kasuri paneer tikkas, served with capsicum, toasty from the tandoor. It’s served on a cloud of finely sliced onions.

The main course consists of Peshawari naan, flat and subtly spiced. An ideal foil to the kofta curry. The koftas are tasty but tiny, and there are just two in the bowl. Perhaps it’s a ‘one per head’ kind of lunch. We also order pachrangi dal, which looks identical to the kofta curry. It tastes disconcertingly similar too.

Dessert is a standard gulab jamun. Aahar has potential, but is trying to do too much too fast. We’ve been hearing good things about their podi idlis by the way. Just get there before 3.01 p.m.

Aahar is at Old No: 184, New No: 253 (Diagonally opposite Sanskrit College, Mylapore) Royapettah High Road, Mylapore. Call 4355 4747 for details. A meal for two costs Rs. 400.

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Carrot Cake to Die For

Posted on May 13, 2012 by bilrob

Carrot Cake to Die For

Ok, guys, it’s Mother’s Day: time to put on your aprons and bake. Personally, I think a man who can bake is sexy, and this recipe is about as easy as it gets. Though it may not be as easy as Paula Deen’s English Peas (the key is not using a cardboard pan), the cake tastes so much better. I swear.

This is one of those recipes my mother gave me on a hand written index card that is now ripped and stained, with changes made in the margins. I recently made the cake for a friend’s baby shower where everybody asked me for the recipe. It is one of my favorite cakes, and from the orgasmic noises coming from the other ladies around the table, I’m pretty sure they liked it, too. In fact, when I went to claim my cake plate at the end of the party all that was left was a small lump of cake that had been mauled by several forks.

For the Cake:

2 Eggs
1 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg (freshly ground if possible)
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of grated carrot (about 2.5 large carrots)
1 cup of grated and drained zucchini (about 1/2 a medium)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

For the frosting:

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened in the microwave for about 30 seconds
3 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of powdered sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. In an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until creamy and light yellow, then slowly beat in the oil. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and slowly add into wet mix. Beat on high for about 3 minutes. Add carrots, zucchini and nuts. Pour into a greased round 9? cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back when touched. Let cool and turn out onto cake plate.

For the frosting: In and electric mixer or by hand, mix together cream cheese, butter, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Frost the cake when it has cooled. I find the cake at its best when served cold.

We like to fancy it up by adding mint leaves or edible flowers such as violas, pansies, nasturtiums or rose petals to the outer rim and base of the cake.

In honor of all of the hard working moms out there tell us in comments one of the special things you remember your mother making and win a $ 150 gift certificate to Bangz Salon and Spa.

baking with Bill & Sheila

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Black Forest Cake

Posted on April 29, 2012 by bilrob

Black Forest Cake

We visited our old friend Jane this week, and naturally, the conversation found its way around to cooking and baking.

Jane spent many years in Dubai, and is quite fond of the Dubai style cuisine. It is a mixture of all the Middle Eastern countries cuisine with a bit of Indian, Chinese and American thrown in for good measure. She is particularly fond of Lebanese style cookery.

Jayne let me borrow some of her cookery books she brought back from Dubai. While reading some of her recipes, I found a very interesting version of the German Black Forest Cake. The difference with this cake and all the other recipes we have on the database, is that the cherries are dipped in chocolate before being placed on the top of the cake. Chocolate leaves are added to enhance the effect. Here is Jane’s recipe

Black Forest Cake

Few commercial versions approach the quality of a Black Forest cake made at home. Rye bread crumbs are used in the mixture, and the cake is filled with cherries and cream.

For the cake mixture
250 gm (3-4 slices) of dark rye bread
75 gm unsalted butter + extra for tin
60 gm plain flour + extra for tin
1/ 2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder;
60 gm plain chocolate
90 gm whole blanched almonds
4 eggs;
100 gm caster sugar
1 tbsp kirsch
1 tbsp water

For the filling and decoration
180 gm plain chocolate
350 gm black cherries, fresh or canned in syrup

For the kirsch syrup
60 gm granulated sugar
125 ml (8 tbsp) water
2 tbs kirsch

For the Chantilly Cream
500 ml double cream
2 tbsp caster sugar;
2 tbsp kirsch

Preparing and baking the cake

Heat the oven to 180°C (Gas 4). Butter the cake tin, line the bottom with baking parchment, butter the parchment and flour the tin. Discard the crusts from the bread. Blend the bread to fine crumbs in the food processor or in a blender. Melt the butter and leave to cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl. Cut the chocolate into large chunks. Chop them in the food processor or with the chefs knife. Add to the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Stir to mix. Finely grind the almonds in the food processor.

Separate the eggs. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with half of e sugar until the mixture is very thick and light in colour, about 5 minutes. Add the almonds, kirsch and water and stir in with the wooden spoon. Set aside. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Sprinkle in the remaining sugar and continue whisking until glossy to form a light meringue, about 20 seconds. Add about one-third to the yolk mixture and fold together lightly.

Fold the chocolate and breadcrumb mixture into the egg mixture in three batches. Fold in the remaining meringue with the rubber spatula, scooping under the contents and turning them over in a rolling motion. Pour the melted, cooled butter into the chocolate and egg mixture and fold in
gently. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake the cake in the heated oven until it shrinks slightly from the side of the tin and the top springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip, 35-40 minutes.

Run a knife round the side of the cake to loosen it, then release the side of the tin. Transfer the cake to the wire rack, placing it upside-down on a piece of baking parchment. Remove the tin base, peel off the lining paper and allow the cake to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the filling and decoration.

Preparing the filling and decoration

Make the chocolate leaves: melt 90 gm (3oz) of the chocolate in a bowl placed in a saucepan half-filled with hot water; brush the chocolate on the shiny side of each rose leaf in a thin, even layer, leaving a little of the stem exposed. Place the leaves on the plate and allow to cool, then refrigerate
until the chocolate has set. Carefully peel leaves away from chocolates.

Make the Chantilly cream: pour the cream into a bowl placed in a larger bowl of iced water and whip until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and kirsch and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Coarsely grate 60 gm of the remaining chocolate.

For the kirsch syrup, put the sugar into the small sauce and add the water and heat slowly until Ste sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer the syrup 1 minute. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then stir in the kirsch.

Reserve 8-10 cherries, with stems, for the decoration. Stone the remaining cherries. If using canned cherries, drain them.

Melt the remaining 30 gm chocolate. Dip the cherries with stems into the chocolate to coat evenly. Set the coated cherries on baking parchment and leave them to cool.

Slicing the cake horizontally into 3 layers

If necessary, trim any crusty edges from the cake. With scissors, cut 2 rounds of thin card slightly smaller than the cake; set the cake on top of one round. With the point of the chef’s knife, make a small vertical cut in the side of the cake. Using the serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into 3 even layers.

Tum the cake, not the knife, as you cut the layers with an even, broad slicing motion.

Brush the cooled kirsch syrup evenly on each of the cake layers to moisten.

Spread the bottom cake layer with one-eighth of the Chantilly cream. Top with half of the stoned cherries. Spread with another one-eighth cream. Lift the middle cake layer with the second round of card, place it on the bottom layer and press down lightly. Brush with more kirsch syrup. Fill the second layer in the same way as the first, using another one-quarter of the remaining Chantilly cream and the remaining cherries.

Set the top cake layer in place, cut-side down. Transfer the cake on the card to a bowl or cake stand. Neaten the side of the cake by smoothing any cream that has pressed out between the layers. Spread half of the remaining Chantilly cream smoothly over the top and side of the cake. Press the grated chocolate around the side, using a piece of baking parchment to help.

Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Mark a lattice on top of the cake with the edge of the palette knife. Put the remaining Chantilly cream into the piping bag with the medium star nozzle and pipe rosettes round the top edge of the cake.

To serve

Top the rosettes with the chocolate-dipped cherries and add the chocolate leaves. The cake can be baked 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container. After filling, it can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator 12-24 hours and the flavours will mellow. The chocolate leaves can be layered with baking parchment and stored in the refrigerator up to 1 week. Assemble the cake not more than 2 hours before serving.

baking cake with Bill & Sheila

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How to Bake a Fruit Cake

Posted on April 8, 2012 by bilrob

How to Bake a Fruit Cake

The size of a fruit cake is determined by the amount of butter used in the recipe, for example, a 250g cake mixture (previously known as a ½ lb mixture) contains 250g butter and will make a deep 23cm round or a deep 19cm square cake. Cake bought from cake shops are, however, sold by the weight of the cake after it has been cooked.

Before making a rich fruit cake, prepare cake pans and check that the oven shelf is in correct position.

Cake pan sizes: lf using cake pans of an unusual shape (oval, hexagonal or similar), there is a simple way to determine how much mixture each pan will require. Fill a deep 19cm square or deep 23cm round cake pan with water, pour this water into the shaped pan. Each pan full of water will represent a 250g fruit cake mixture.

Preparing the oven: As a guide, the top of the cooked cake should be in the centre of the oven; arrange the shelves accordingly. If baking more than one fruit cake at a time, check that they will fit by arranging the empty cake pans in the oven. It is important to allow even circulation of heat. The pans must not touch each other, or the sides or back of the oven, or the door when it is closed. Most ovens are not large enough to take more than one shelf of fruit cakes at a time, but if the oven is adequate and there is room for heat circulation around all the pans, the results will be good. The positions of the cakes must be changed halfway during the cooking time – move the lower cakes to the top shelf of the oven and vice versa.

When cooking more than one cake on a shelf, best results will be obtained if their positions are changed about halfway through the cooking time as many ovens brown unevenly. Opening the oven door for a short period will not affect the cakes in any way. When cooking more than one cake at a time, the total cooking time will be a little longer, due to more absorption of heat.

lt is important that the oven shelves be level, particularly if the cake is to be decorated as an uneven cake will need wasteful trimming. This can be checked with a spirit level or a shallow tray of water. Most stoves have small adjusting legs underneath to counteract uneven kitchen floors.

Lining cake pans: To ensure a well-shaped cake, cake pans must be lined correctly. Lining paper protects the cake during the long cooking time, the longer the cooking time, the heavier the lining paper needs to be. If pans are larger than 23cm in diameter, use 1 thickness of brown paper and 3 to 4 thicknesses of greaseproof or baking paper. For smaller cakes, use 3 to 4 thicknesses of greaseproof or baking paper on base and sides.

For baking times of more than 3 hours, the lining paper should stand up around the edge of the pan (by about 5cm) to protect the top of the cake. The following method of lining a round or square cake pan allows for this.

For sides, out long strips of paper, 10cm wider than the depth of the pan. Fold each strip lengthways about 2cm from edge and make diagonal cuts up to the fold, about 2cm apart. This enables the paper to fit readily around the curves or corners of the pan, with cut section in base. Use base of pan as cutting guide for paper to line base; put base paper in position.

There is another method of insulating the cake mixture from the heat during the long cooking time. Grease the cake pan evenly, dust with flour, shake out excess flour. Cover base of pan with piece of greaseproof or baking paper. Fold 3 large opened-out sheets of newspaper lengthways into 4. Wrap the paper around the outside of the cake pan, secure the paper with string. Place a thick folded piece of newspaper onto an oven tray, stand the cake on the paper before baking the cake. This is a particularly good method when an even-shaped cake is required for cake decorating.

Mixing the cake: It is important to have the eggs and butter at room temperature. Beat butter with electric mixer, wooden spoon, or by hand until it just clings to the side of the bowl, do not beat until pale in colour. Add sugar (sift sugar if it is lumpy), beat only until combined (over-creaming of butter or butter/sugar at this stage could result in a crumbly cake). Add eggs one at a time, beat only until each egg has been absorbed by the butter mixture. There is less chance of curdling the mixture if
the eggs are added fairly quickly.

Add fruit mixture to creamed mixture, mix ingredients well together with hand; a wooden spoon will not break up any clumps of fruit. Mix in sifted flour and spice. Place into prepared cake pan, drop pan from a height of about 15cm to break any large air bubbles and settle mixture in pan, bake as directed. Level top of cake mixture with spatula. If top of cake is to be decorated with cherries and almonds press gently onto top of cake mixture before baking.

Note: Most rich fruit cakes do not contain any raising agent. lf desired, a rich fruit cake mixture can be prepared ahead, placed in the prepared pan, the surface of the mixture covered with greaseproof or baking paper or plastic wrap, and the pan placed in refrigerator for up to 1 week. Allow cake to
stand 6 hours or overnight to return to room temperature before baking. If taken straight from the refrigerator to the oven, a cold cake will take about 30 minutes longer to cook than if it is allowed to return to room temperature. Refrigerator storage is a help when making several cakes, particularly for tiered cakes.

Cooking time: If in doubt about the accuracy of your oven, have the temperature checked
professionally (usually through your local council or stove’s manufacturer), or buy an oven thermometer (from a hardware store) and leave it in the oven during cooking so you can check the temperature while the cake is cooking.

To test if cake is cooked: After minimum specified cooking time, feel top of cake with fingertips. If cake feels firm, use the blade of a sharp pointed vegetable knife to test cake. Gently push the knife into the thickest part of the cake, right through to the base of the cake pan. Gently withdraw the
knife and feel the blade; if the blade is simply sticky from fruit, the cake is cooked, but if there is moist cake mixture on the blade, return the cake to the oven for a further 15 minutes before testing again.

When cake is cooked: Remove from oven, tear away lining paper from around top of pan or remove newspaper collar; leave cake still in its pan.

Brush cake evenly with about 2 tablespoons of extra whisky, rum, brandy or sherry, cover top lightly with foil. This is to trap steam and give a softer top surface to cake. Wrap cake, still in its pan, in a clean towel, and leave until cold (up to 24 hours).

lf cake is to be decorated a good flat top is required. The top becomes the bottom for decorated cakes, so turn the hot, foil-covered cake, still in its pan, upside down on a flat surface; the cake`s own weight will flatten the top surface and minimise trimming.

To store: When cake is cold, remove it from the pan, leave lining paper intact, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil or a towel; store in a cool place. Rich fruit cakes can be stored in the refrigerator for at least a year. Cakes can be frozen if desired.

FESTIVE FRUIT AND NUT CAKE

This cake will keep for up to 3 months if stored in the refrigerator.

125g glacé pineapple
125g glacé apricots
250g dates
125g red glacé cherries
125g green glacé cherries
125g whole blanched almonds
250g brazil nuts
2 eggs
½ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon rum
90g butter
1/3 cup plain flour
¼ up self-raising flour

Chop pineapple and apricots into pieces the same size as brazil nuts; leave remaining fruit and nuts whole. Combine all fruit and nuts in bowl. Beat eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy, add sugar, essence, rum and softened butter, beat until combined. Stir into fruit mixture
with sifted flours.

Spread mixture evenly and firmly into 14cm x 21cm loaf pan which has been greased and base-lined. Bake in slow oven for about 2 hours.

CELEBRATION CAKE

500g (3 ¼ cups) sultanas
250g (1 ½ cups) chopped raisins
250g (1 ½ cups) chopped dates
125g ( ¾ cup) currants
125g ( ½ cup) mixed peel
125g (2/3 cup) quartered glacé cherries
¼ cup chopped glacé pineapple
¼ cup chopped glacé apricots
½ cup rum
250g butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
5 eggs
1 ½ cups plain flour
1/3 cup self-raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice

Combine fruit in large bowl with rum. Cover, stand overnight or up to a week. Beat butter until soft, add sugar, beat only until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beat only until combined.

Add creamed mixture to fruit mixture, mix well. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Spread evenly into a deep 19cm square or a deep 23cm round prepared cake pan. Bake in a slow oven for 3 to 3 ½ hours.

baking with Bill & Sheila

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Chocolate Guinness Cake Perfect Ending to St. Paddy's Day

Posted on March 19, 2012 by bilrob

Chocolate Guinness Cake Perfect Ending to St. Paddy’s Day

Like a lot of people, I’ll be cooking up a boiled dinner at some point this weekend to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Not sure what my favorite part of that meal is. I love the salty corned beef and the boiled cabbage and I usually throw in some parsnips with the carrots. Of course we can’t forget the potatoes. I’m really looking forward to this meal!

I thought it would be fun to round out the meal with a fun
dessert with an Irish twist. After the saltiness of the corned beef and
veggies, I thought something sweet would taste great. When I came across this Chocolate Guinness Cake, I knew I had to try it. With not too many ingredients and not a lot of difficulty, this cake had the potential
of becoming a new favorite in our house.

I was so pleasantly surprised to taste the cake and realize it was one of the best homemade chocolate cakes I’d ever made, maybe even the best! Top it off with an amazingly creamy frosting and I’m telling you, everyone is going to devour it.

So if you’re heading to a St. Paddy’s Day party or making that boiled dinner, consider this cake to share with friends and family. When baked and frosted, the cake resembles a pint of Guinness with the dark rich bottom layer and the frothy white layer of the whipped and creamy topping.

Once you try it, you’ll not only be making this cake for St. Paddy’s Day, but other special occasions in-between!

Chocolate Guinness Cake
Serves 10.
Source: www.grouprecipes.com

Ingredients

Cake:

1 cup Guinness stout

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups superfine sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and line with parchment paper a 9-inch springform pan.

Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan and add thesliced butter. Heat until the butter is melted and remove from the heat. Whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla. Add the sour cream mixture to the Guinness mixture in the saucepan. Finally, beat in the flour and baking soda.

Pour the batter into the greased and lined springform pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. (I baked mine for 53-55 minutes, checking with a toothpick for doneness and it came out well. Your oven may vary.) Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

baking with Bill & Sheila
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Pillsbury Bake-off finalist's Almond-Macaroon Coffee Cake

Posted on February 15, 2012 by bilrob

Linda Bibbo Recipe.jpg PillsburyAlmond-Macaroon Coffee Cake.

Pillsbury Bake-off finalist’s Almond-Macaroon Coffee Cake

According to the Pillsbury Bake-Off website, “Buttery, flaky biscuits are the center of an indulgent macaroon coffee cake.” The recipe, by Linda Bibbo of Chagrin Falls, is a finalist in the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off, slated for March 25-27 in Orlando, Fla.

Almond-Macaroon Coffee Cake
Makes 15 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter, softened
4 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
2 cans Pillsbury Grands! Jr. Golden Layers refrigerated “butter tasting” biscuits
1½ cups flaked coconut
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk, divided use
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, divided use
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup sliced almonds
? cup Special Dark chocolate baking chips
Fresh mint leaves, if desired

Cook’s notes: As it appears on the official Pillsbury Bake-Off website, this recipe calls for Land O’Lakes butter and eggs, McCormick spices and extracts, Eagle Brand condensed milk, Fisher Chef’s Naturals nuts, and Hershey’s baking chips.

Preliminaries: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Place 3 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar in large resealable food-storage plastic bag.

Separate, season biscuits: Separate dough into 20 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Place in bag with cinnamon sugar; shake to coat. Arrange pieces in dish; sprinkle with coconut.

Linda Bibbo Headshot.jpg Special to The PDLinda Bibbo

Assemble the coffee cake: Measure ½ cup of the condensed milk in small microwavable measuring cup; set aside.

• Pour remaining condensed milk into medium bowl.

• Add eggs, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and almond extract; beat with wire whisk until well blended.

• Spoon egg mixture over biscuit pieces; sprinkle with almonds and remaining 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar.

Bake the coffee cake: Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cooling rack 20 minutes.

Make the topping: Meanwhile, add remaining 1 tablespoon butter and chocolate chips to reserved condensed milk. Microwave on high 30 to 45 seconds or until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Stir in remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla.

Presentation: Cut into 15 squares. Place on individual plates; drizzle scant tablespoon chocolate mixture over each serving. Garnish with mint. Serve warm.

Source: Adapted recipe from Linda Bibbo, Chagrin Falls.

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Eiffel Tower Takes Cake in Brookdale Contest

Posted on February 11, 2012 by bilrob

Eiffel Tower Takes Cake in Brookdale Contest

Flip on the TV lately and if Toddlers and Tiaras is not lowering the bar on reality programming, you are bound to find someone in a white chef’s coat sweating over a sheet of fondant that refuses to take the shape of a globe or a life-size replica of an Italian woman.

In the reality television world of competition, this you can count on: There will be cursing and their will be crying, but there will be only one winner.

Here, in actual reality, the bakers of tomorrow are still sweating competition, but without the cursing and the crying. At least not until the winners are announced.

That’s when Jo Skinner, of Long Branch, finally lost it. This week she and her teammate Amanda Morro, of Middletown, were contestants in the first round of a Skills USA wedding cake competition held at their school, the Culinary Education Center in Asbury Park. The pair are students of the culinary arts program at Brookdale Community College, in the Lincroft section of Middletown.

The college and the Monmouth County Vocational School (MCVS) partner at the center to offer students a smooth transition between the high school and college culinary programs.

When judge Jen LeRoy called their names, Skinner’s eyes welled up and she had to fan her face and gulp back the tears as she came forward. “I’m so happy right now,” she said with a wavering voice.

Morro and Skinner’s Eiffel Tower cake literally and figuratively towered over the competition, with delicate lattice work and rivets of sugar soaring up over its four layers, to peak with a miniature chocolate Eiffel Tower cake topper.

“We’re still shaking,” said Morro, shortly after the announcement was made. It could have been nerves, or just the lack of sleep. The bakers were up into the wee hours finishing the cake that they had to make in small batches in Skinner’s oven, which she admits slants a little.

Now the team moves on to the state competition in Somerset in March. For that contest they will have access to the school’s commercial ovens. And they’re going to need them. They team will have to go armed with extra cakes and icing, which they will have four hours to craft and assemble into their creation.

Thanks to the very un-reality tv style judging that went on at the contest here, Morro and Skinner know to work on the support for the mini Eiffel tower cake, which had started to lean, and to make their pretty little fondant flowers more delicate by rolling the icing a bit thinner.

One of the judges was Jen LeRoy, a graduate of the MCVS and the culinary arts program at Brookdale. LeRoy said to her the school was “like a second family.”

The staff’s encouragement helped her win the national Skills USA competition while she was a student and propelled her into her current career. Now the Tinton Falls resident is head baker at Wegmans in Ocean Township and operates her own cake business, Cakes By Jen.

Also judging was Shari Lepore of Westfield, a pastry chef and a home economics teacher of 34 years, now retired, and Kathy Malinowski, of Toms River, also a chef and teacher for the last three decades. She is currently a Wilton Method teacher at Michaels in Ocean Township.

Together the three gave gentle but direct constructive criticism to each of the four teams in the contest from everything from the thickness of borders and color of sugar leaves to the contestants shoes, which will be under critique in the state round.

The point, said Lepore, is to instruct. “We’re not here to tear you apart,” she told the students. But Malinowski added, “We’re hard markers, because we’ve been in the business.”

Here are the final results of the wedding cake competition.

First: Jo Skinner of Long Branch and Amanda Morro of Middletown

Second: Brittany Tanne of Union Beach and Tiffany Christensen of Atlantic Highlands

Third: Breanne Pszczola of Little Silver and Diana Helmes of Freehold

Fourth: Veronica Wright of Neptune and Robyn Olsen of Tinton Falls

High school division: Katie Hellwege of Ocean Township and Jessie Drake of Spring Lake Heights

The club’s advisors are chefs Jaime Soto and William Hahn.

The cakes will be on display for the rest of the week at the Culinary Education Center in Asbury Park where this week there are food tastings, demonstrations and dining in their Windows restaurant where students do everything, from soup to nuts. For more information, call 732-988-3299.

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Bake the cake that wowed Abe Lincoln

Posted on February 9, 2012 by bilrob

Bake the cake that wowed Abe Lincoln

I still remember cutting George Washington and Abraham Lincoln silhouettes out of black paper to decorate the windows and bulletin boards in our one-room schoolhouse. Sure, February also meant we would decorate with red hearts, but we honored the two presidents long before there was a Presidents Day. We celebrated Lincoln’s birthday Feb. 12 and Washington’s on Feb. 22. My brother would get out his Lincoln Logs and build a small cabin that we took to school. The teacher had a small plastic tree that she would decorate with candy cherries. These stayed at the front of the room all month.

In Jean Anderson’s “Recipes from Restored Villages” (Doubleday and Co., 1975), I found Mary Todd Lincoln’s white almond cake. This was among the recipes shared from New Salem State Park in Illinois. Abraham Lincoln traveled much and often ate at rooming houses. He was unconcerned about food. He ate what was prepared for him. However, he liked his meats well-done and was quite fond of a meringue-topped tart lemon custard that was served in a small hotel in Salem.

The lemon custard and the white almond cake both were favorites during Lincoln’s Illinois days and later at the White House. The almond cake recipe was from a caterer named Giron and had been shared with Mary’s family in Lexington, Ky. When Mary first prepared it, Lincoln said it was the best he had ever eaten. Reading through the recipe, you can imagine hand-grinding the nuts, one at a time, on a small grater. Creaming the butter with the sugar would have been a painstaking task, not to mention whipping the egg whites by hand in a deep bowl. Make the cake with your food processor and mixer and still enjoy a delicious treat. This would make a very special Valentine’s dessert. Make it with love.

MARY TODD LINCOLN’S WHITE ALMOND CAKE

1/4 pound blanched whole almonds (approximately)

3 cups sifted cake flour (or all-purpose flour, removing 2 tablespoons for each cup)

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

6 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

Grate enough almonds to total 1 cup exactly (do not pack the nuts to measure). Use a food processor or do a few at a time in a blender. Set the nuts aside. Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside. Sifting is preferable to stirring, as it gives more volume to the flour. Cream the butter until very light, then add 1-3/4 cups sugar gradually, creaming all the while until fluffy. Add the dry ingredients alternately with milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the grated almonds, the vanilla and almond extract.

With clean bowl and beaters, whip the egg whites with the salt and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to soft peaks, then fold gently but thoroughly into the batter. Pour into a well-buttered and floured 9-inch tube pan and bake in a 350-degree oven about 1 hour or until the cake begins to pull from sides of pan and a finger, when pressed lightly into the top of the cake, leaves an imprint that vanishes slowly. Cool cake upright in its pan on a wire rack 10 minutes, then loosen the cake around edges of the pan with a spatula and turn out on a rack. Cool thoroughly before cutting. The cake is very rich, much like a pound cake, so it needs no frosting.

Note: To blanch almonds that have the skins on, pour boiling water just to cover in a bowl. Let stand for just 1 minute. Drain. Rinse under cold water. Drain again. Pat dry and slip the skins off.

Servings: 12

Julia Helvey, a longtime Columbia resident and professional home economist, has been cooking since childhood. Reach her via email at [email protected].

Reach Julia Helvey at [email protected].

baking with Bill & Sheila

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Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Pie: A Little Slice of Heaven

Posted on January 26, 2012 by bilrob

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Pie: A Little Slice of Heaven

“When someone asks if you’d like cake or pie, why not say you want cake and pie? – the cheesecake” —Lisa Loeb

For Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me a cookbook devoted solely to pies. Now I love a freshly baked pie as much as the next gal, but I avoid actually making them due to my subpar baking skills.

A chocolate cream pie is about the best I can manage. Thumbing through the beautiful photographs in this book, though, was definitely inspiring. It inspired me to ask my husband to make one.

Luckily, he was up for it and made the most delicious-looking pie in the book. Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Pie. Just typing the name makes my mouth water.

I will say that it was a group effort, since I did the grocery shopping, my hubby and son made the pie, I cleaned up and we all ate it. Give this recipe a try. You will not be disappointed.

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
1 12 oz jar caramel ice cream topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375?
Line a 9″ pie plate with pie crust.
Trim and flute edges.
In a small bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth.
Spread into pastry shell.
Sprinkle with pecans.
In a small bowl whisk remaining eggs.
Gradually whisk in caramel topping until blended.
Pour slowly over pecans.
Bake at 375? for 35-40 mins or until lightly browned.
Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before slicing.

Enjoy!

baking with Bill & Sheila>
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