Saturday, May 31, 2008

Viennese Marble Cake

A slice of Viennese Marble Cake
My mise-en-place with my trusty KitchenAid
Right out of the oven
Cooling before decoration
I drizzled it with white chocolate ganache left over from the white opera cake
This is my official birthday cake

The weather here in Manila is getting weirder by the day...and I'm feeling every bit of it. May has been a month of mixed emotions for me, this month, I lost something that is precious to me. But enough of that, some highlights of this merry month--my sister who lives in Beijing gave me the best birthday surprise ever by spending a week here in time for my birthday. I attended Chef Nick Malgieri's Modern Baker seminar and got the chance to learn from him in person!! And last but not the least, I got accepted into the Daring Bakers and Foodie blogrolls--Yey!!!



To celebrate all the best and worst of this month..I've decided to bake a Viennese Marble Cake which was one of the recipes from the Modern Baker seminar.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

My First Daring Bakers Challenge--A Taste of Light

Side view of my white chocolate opera cake






One of my fondest wishes has come true...I'm now a daring baker--yey!! I've been nervously waiting for my first challenge and when the email came, I could scarcely wait to see what the challenge was...but when I read it, I got a little bit intimidated. The opera cake isn't an easy cake because of the many components it had, and besides I made an opera cake way back in culinary school some years ago and I've never done it since then. I've always been a chiffon cake girl, baking the joconde was not going to be easy because I couldn't find almond flour. And so I made my own by processing slivered almonds and all-purpose flour. I sifted the resulting almond meal twice to make it as fine as possible.



The joconde came out nice from the oven, I baked it the night before and made the buttercream, glaze and assembled it when I woke up the next day. I called up my sister in Beijing who was celebrating her birthday today and told her I made her a white opera cake for her birthday cake.



A Taste of Light: Opera Cake


Joconde


Ingredients:


6 large egg whites, at room temperature


2 tbsp. (30 grams) granulated sugar


2 cups (225 grams) ground blanched almonds (Note: If you do not want to use almond meal, you can use another nut meal like hazelnut. You can buy almond meal in bulk food stores or health food stores, or you can make it at home by grinding almonds in the food processor with a tablespoon or two of the flour that you would use in the cake. The reason you need the flour is to prevent the almonds from turning oily or pasty in the processor. You will need about 2 cups of blanched almonds to create enough almond meal for this cake.)


2 cups icing sugar, sifted


6 large eggs


½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour


3 tbsp. (1½ ounces; 45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled


1.Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.


2.Preheat the oven to 425◦F. (220◦C).


3.Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.


4.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.


5.If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.


6.Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to overmix here!!!).


7.Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.


8.Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.


9.Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.


10.Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.


Syrup


(Note: The syrup can be made up to 1 week in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator.)


Ingredients:


½ cup (125 grams) water


⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar


1 to 2 tbsp. of the flavouring of your choice (i.e., vanilla extract, almond extract, cognac, limoncello, coconut cream, honey etc.)


1.Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.


2.Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.


Buttercream


Ingredients:


2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar


½ cup (60 grams) waterseeds of one vanilla bean (split a vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds) or 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract (Note: If you are flavouring your buttercream and do not want to use the vanilla, you do not have to. Vanilla will often enhance other flavours but if you want an intense, one-flavoured buttercream, then by all means leave it out!)


1 large egg


1 large egg yolk


1¾ cups (7 ounces; 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature


flavouring of your choice (a tablespoon of an extract, a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate, citrus zest, etc.)


1.Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.


2.Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225◦F (124◦C) on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.


3.While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.


4.When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don’t worry about this and don’t try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden!


5.Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).


6.While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass.


7.With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.


8.At this point add in your flavouring and beat for an additional minute or so.


9.Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it’s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes).


Glaze


Ingredients:


14 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped


½ cup heavy cream (35% cream)


1.Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream. Whisk the mixture gently until smooth.


2.Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. Using a long metal cake spatula, smooth out into an even layer.


3.Place the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.


(Note: The finished cake should be served slightly chilled. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 day).


Assembling the Opera Cake


Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.Working with one sheet of cake at a time, cut and trim each sheet so that you have two pieces (from each cake so you’ll have four pieces in total): one 10-inch (25-cm) square and one 10 x 5-inch (25 x 12½-cm) rectangle.


Step A (if using buttercream only and not making the ganache/mousse):


Place one square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.Spread about one-third of the buttercream over this layer.Top with the two rectangular pieces of cake, placing them side by side to form a square. Moisten these pieces with the flavoured syrup.Spread another third of the buttercream on the cake and then top with the third square of joconde. Use the remaining syrup to wet the joconde. Spread the remaining buttercream on top of the final layer of joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).Make the glaze and after it has cooled, pour/spread it over the top of the chilled cake. Refrigerate the cake again to set the glaze.Serve the cake slightly chilled. This recipe will yield approximately 20 servings.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

NICK MALGIERI Comes to Town


Chef Nick Malgieri, Director of the Baking Program of the Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kump's Cooking School in NYC), author of several award winning books, voted as one of the best pastry chefs in America came to Manila to conduct a 2-day seminar at the Rockwell Tent last May 20-21. W and I jumped at the chance to see him demo his recipes and techniques live. We got seats on the second row and spent two whole days learning from the master himself. We weren't disappointed!!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Devil's Food Cake and French Buttercream

Tools of the trade and ingredients for buttercream

Devil's Food Cake ready for frosting

The hot, humid weather is making my cake weep :-(

To correct the damage i put the buttercream in an ice bath

The finished product

I dont know if it's the hot and humid summer weather here or the kind of butter I used etc. but my French buttercream was weeping like crazy. I tried putting the cake in the chiller and the icing in an ice bath but i wasn't that satisfied with how my cake came out. It's a good thing it tastes great :-)



DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE
Cake Flour 500 grams

Granulated Sugar 667 grams
Cocoa Powder 85 grams

Skim Milk 333 ml
Salt 10 grams
Vanilla Extract 7 grams
Baking Powder 15 grams
Skim Milk 250 ml
Baking Soda 10 grams
Eggs 6 pieces
Butter 290 grams

Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Add the butter (cut into small pieces) and mix at low speed with paddle attachment of Kitchenaid mixer for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down sides with rubber spatula and mix again. Sift cocoa powder with sugar and add part of the milk (333 ml). Add to batter and blend at low speed for 3 minutes. Combine vanilla extract, milk (250 ml) and eggs. Add mixture to batter in 3 parts. Scrape after each addition. Continue mixing 5 minutes. Mixture will be quite liquid. Transfer to a greased and lined 9" cake pan and bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Take out of oven and cool before frosting.

FRENCH BUTTERCREAM
Granulated Sugar 1 kilo
Water 250 ml
Egg Yolks 9 pieces
Butter 2.5 bars
Vanilla 7.5 ml

Combine water and sugar and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to boil until temperature on candy thermometer reaches 240 degrees F. While syrup is boiling, beat yolks in KItchenaid mixer with whip attachment until thick and light. As soon as syrup reaches 240 degrees F pour very slowly into beaten egg yolks while mixer is running at second speed. Continue to beat until mixture is completely cool and yolks are very thick and light. While mixer is running, add butter a little at a time, beat in vanilla. Refrigerate and use as desired.

Genoise Cake and Caramel Fudge Icing


A slice of genoise enrobed in my caramel fudge icing...yum!
I've always been a little bit intimidated by genoise. But today I've decided to give it a try...I got the recipe from my trusty Professional Baking book by Wayne Gisslen


My candy thermometer while making caramel fudge icing. This is also the first time I'll be making caramel fudge icing after a looooooooong time :)



Caramel fudge icing running down the sides of the genoise. Wow, I didn't think I'd be able to do it but here it is!!

GENOISE (BUTTER SPONGE CAKE)
Eggs 7 pieces
Granulated Sugar 234 grams
Cake Flour 234 grams
Butter, melted 75 grams
Vanilla 5 ml
Combine eggs, sugar in a stainless steel bowl and warm over a double boiler. Take off heat, transfer to Kitchenaid mixing bowl and beat eggs with whip attachment until light and thick, this will take about 10 minutes. Add vanilla extract in a steady stream. Fold in sifted cake flour, being careful not to deflate air bubbles. I do this with my trusty whisk. Carefully fold in melted butter, do not over mix. Transfer to a greased and lined (bottom only) 9" cake pan and bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for an hour. Cool completely before frosting.

CARAMEL FUDGE ICING
Brown Sugar 750 grams
Fresh Milk 375 ml
Butter 188 grams
Salt 1 gram
Vanilla Extract 7.5 ml

Combine sugar and milk in a saucepan, bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue boiling until candy thermometer reads 240 degrees F. Pour mixture into bowl of Kitchenaid mixer and cool to 110 degrees F. Turn on mixer and mix at low speed with paddle attachment. Add butter, salt and vanilla and continue to mix at low speed until cool. Beat icing until smooth and creamy in texture. Use as desired.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

YELLOW CHIFFON CAKE










CHIFFON CAKE:


cake flour 250 grams


granulated sugar 250 grams


salt 5 grams


baking powder 12.5 grams


vegetable oil 125 grams


egg yolks 6 pieces


water 187.5 ml


vanilla 6 ml


____________________________


egg whites 8 pieces


granulated sugar 125 grams


cream of tartar 2.5 grams




Sift cake flour in a bowl, add sugar, salt and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add vegetable oil, egg yolks, water and vanilla. Whisk until all ingredients are well-combined and no lumps remain. Set aside.


Using the whip attachment of a Kitchenaid mixer, whip egg whites on medium speed until frothy add cream of tartar continue mixing. Add sugar a little at a time and adjust speed to high. Whip until firm peaks, do not overbeat. Fold in egg whites into flour-egg mixture being careful not to deflate the foam. Transfer to 9" inch cake pan (bottom greased and waxed, leave sides --do not grease) Bake in a preheated 350 degrees Farenheit oven for 60 minutes. Do not open oven door. When done, invert pan on a cooling rack until cold. Remove from pan and decorate as desired