Golden Grand Marnier Cake

Golden Grand Marnier Cake - made August 27, 2011 from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum (book #155)

I've had this recipe in my "Still Need to Make" file for awhile, probably almost since I got the Cake Bible as a gift from my cousin Bernadette.  There are so many good recipes in that book that almost always turn out that I couldn't bake them all.  But I finally got around to this one, mostly because I wanted to use up more of the oranges from my mom's orange tree.

I did take the liberty of omitting the almonds because - you guessed it - I don't like nuts in my cake, especially not when it's supposed to be part of the batter itself.  I also left out the chocolate chips because I don't like a fruit flavor with chocolate.  I know some people like it but I don't.  Can't abide Black Forrest cake or the dark chocolate candy orange they sell and even a chocolate-covered strawberry isn't my first choice for dessert.  I like fruit by itself, preferably in its natural state or with something other than chocolate.  Chocolate is reserved for eating by itself or only paired with a complementary flavor like caramel.  Fruits like anything citrus just seems like there's "too much going on" for my taste buds.

Anyway, despite this not being how Rose Levy Berenbaum probably envisioned it's supposed to be, I think it still turned out well with my modifications.  It became more of a simple, tender-textured Bundt cake.  I didn't use all of the soaking syrup on it as I was afraid the Grand Marnier would be too overwhelming but it turns out I didn't use enough because the orange taste wasn't that strong.

½ cup chocolate mini chips or bittersweet chocolate chopped into ¼-inch pieces

¼ teaspoon Grand Marnier

1 ½ teaspoons cake flour

3 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons orange flower water or 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

2 ½ cups sifted cake flour

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon unblanched sliced almonds, toasted and finely ground

1 cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons grated orange zest

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

Grand Marnier Syrup

½ cup sugar

¼ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

1/3 cup Grand Marnier

One 9-cup fluted tube pan, greased and floured

1.     Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

2.    In a small bowl toss the chocolate chips and Grand Marnier until the chips are moistened and shiny.  Add the 1 ½ teaspoons flour and toss until evenly coated.

3.    In a medium bowl, lightly combine the eggs, ¼ cup sour cream and orange flower water or vanilla.

4.    In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and orange zest and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend.  Add the butter and the remaining ¾ cup sour cream.  Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 ½ minutes to aerate and develop the cake’s structure.  Scrape down the sides.  Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure.  Scrape down the sides.  Stir in the chocolate chips. 

5.    Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.  Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.  The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

6.    Shortly before the cake is done, prepare the syrup: Heat the sugar, orange juice, and Grand Marnier until the sugar is dissolved.  Do not boil.  As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, place the pan on a rack, poke the top all over with a wire tester and brush on ½ the syrup.  Cool in the pan on the rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a lightly greased wire rack.  Brush with remaining syrup and cool completely before glazing with chocolate or wrapping airtight.

Pineapple Upside Up Muffins

Pineapple Upside Up Muffins - made August 27, 2011 from Mad About Muffins by Dot Vartan (book #154)

This is normally the type of muffin I wouldn't make.  I don't mind the coconut and I love pineapple but I just don't like fruit in baked goods.  I love fruit but mostly in its natural state.  Fresh pineapple is terrific and if it wasn't such a pain to peel and cut, I'd have it more often.  As it is, I cheat and get the pre-cut pack from Costco when I want pineapple.  I also don't like crushed pineapple.  To me, that seems like pineapple mush and not worth the effort of (barely) chewing since they're just tidbits.  I prefer the nice, juicy pineapple chunks to really sink my teeth into.

But I am trying to broaden my baking horizons, so to speak, and thought I'd venture out with this pineapple muffin.  I'm glad I did.  Not only was this recipe super easy to make but it turned out pretty well too.  The coconut gives it a nice chewiness and I was wrong about the pineapple tidbits - they were just the right size and texture for the muffin.  Any larger and they would've been too big and would have overwhelmed the rest of the muffin.  The muffin itself was a nice, cakey texture, not too heavy and not too light.  I enjoyed the flavor from the brown sugar in the batter, complemented by both the coconut and the pineapple.  Not to mention the topping is the bomb!  It goes perfectly with the muffin with a sweet crunch to contrast with the cakey texture of the muffin itself and the chewiness from the coconut and pineapple.  This is best eaten lukewarm when the topping is cool enough to firm up and give some crunch.  I did omit the nuts but you don't really need them. This recipe's a keeper.  Next time, I may even try the base recipe but do different add-ins in place of the pineapple and coconut.

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup light brown sugar

½ cup coconut

1 egg

¼ cup corn oil

¼ cup melted butter

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup crushed pineapple, undrained

Topping

2 tablespoons butter

7 tablespoons light brown sugar

7 tablespoons chopped walnuts

1.    Heat the oven to 400˚F.

2.   In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir in the brown sugar and coconut.

3.   In another bowl, mix the egg, corn oil, butter, milk, vanilla extract and pineapple.  Stir the pineapple mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened.

4.   Fill greased muffin tins.  Make the topping by cutting the butter into the brown sugar and stirring in the walnuts.  Sprinkle the topping over the batter.  Bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are a golden brown.

Makes one dozen muffins

Orange Pudding Cake

Orange Pudding Cake - made August 27, 2011 from Quick Recipe by the Editors of Cooks' Illustrated (book #153)

You can tell it's done when the cake has pulled away from the sides

I'm going to stray from chocolate for awhile and focus on using more of summer's bounty, namely oranges and lemons from my mom's trees.  My own orange tree boasts a grand total of 1 orange that is still small and green and has been growing by infinitesimal increments for several months now.  My lemon tree has a number of teeny little blossoms that look like they're thinking about becoming lemons someday......a really long time from now.  So in the meantime, I have to partake of my mom's more established and more prolific citrus trees.

I was curious about this recipe because I was familiar with and like chocolate pudding cake but I had never tried a citrus one.  A chocolate pudding cake typically relies on mixing up a cake batter for the bottom layer and pouring a good amount of liquid on top and the cake bakes up with its own sauce.  This was similar in principle except the egg white in the batter is supposed to rise to the top while the bottom bakes into a custard.  I was a little leery about another egg-white type cake since I'm not fond of an egg-white texture.  I like chiffon cakes and angel food cakes well enough but only if they're baked properly and don't taste like warm egg whites, like some of my past failures with souffles have gone.

You can see the custard layer that formed on the bottom

However, I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe.  The top bakes into an airy, almost chiffon-textured cake while the bottom turns into a custard almost like a creme brulee.  The orange flavor was light and refreshing, perfect for summer.  If you want to dress it up, serve with berries and/or a light lemon or orange sorbet.  This is best served warm and is at its most impressive when you first take it out of the oven but you do need to let it cool enough to enjoy the texture and flavor of the orange.

A close up of the larger version of the pudding cake

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

¾ (5 ¼ ounces) cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup (1 ounce) plain cake flour

¼ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, separated, room temperature

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon grated orange zest plus ¼ cup orange juice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

1.     Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325˚F.  Lightly grease a 9 x 9-inch glass baking pan with the softened butter.

2.     Whisk together ¾ cup sugar, the flour, and salt in a medium bowl.  Beat the egg yolks, milk, orange zest, orange juice and lemon juice together in a small bowl.  Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and blend well with a whisk.

3.     In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until they are foamy, about 30 seconds.  Add the cream of tartar, raise the speed to high, and beat until the whites hold soft peaks, about 1 ½ minutes.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until the egg whites hold a 2-inch peak, about 30 seconds.  Using a whisk, fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture.

4.     Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.  Bake until the center is set and springs back when gently pressed, about 35 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.  Spoon the cake (it will be soft) into bowls and serve warm.

A little tomato sauce goes a long way

Made August 27, 2011 - Another rendition of the tomato sauce I made last weekend - this time instead of using it as a pizza sauce, I used it as a spaghetti sauce.  I browned some ground turkey breast, thawed some of the tomato sauce I had put in the freezer last weekend, added some more handfuls of chopped basil from the garden and voila - spaghetti for another week's worth of lunches.

The nice thing about using homemade tomato sauce with tomatoes and basil from my own garden is I really can taste the freshness of the ingredients.  Usually my palate is only discerning when sugar is involved but even I can taste the difference between fresh tomato sauce and the processed stuff.

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Pancakes

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Pancakes - made August 22, 2011 from Breads by Sunset (book #152)

I love breakfast food but I was never a big breakfast person when I was a kid as I never got really hungry in the morning.  It took years to train myself to fuel properly in the morning and even today, I usually have to be up for awhile and get a workout in before I feel hungry enough to eat.  Oddly, I don't have this problem later in the day when I can snack all afternoon whether I'm hungry or not :).

As a new school year approaches once more, you might find yourself a little more rushed with breakfast or trying to make sure your kids eat properly before they leave the house.  This pancake recipe can help with a busy schedule - it's pretty quick and easy to make if you plan a bit ahead to soak the oats in the buttermilk overnight.  Once the soaking period is over, this can be put together in a matter of minutes, almost in the same time it takes to heat your frying pan. 

This is also fairly nutritious and pretty filling with the oats.  You can make it more hearty by substituting whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour.  Cook it slowly over medium to low heat so the inside has time to cook enough before the outside gets too brown.  I liked the hint of cinnamon in it and found you don't have to drown this in butter or syrup to enjoy the flavor so that helps save on calories.  When you eat them warm from the frying pan, the oats at the edges have a slightly crisp texture while the rest of the pancake is warm and cakey.  What I also like about this type of pancake is you can make a batch ahead of time, freeze them and bring them out when you need them.  They're not so fragile that they'll fall apart if you do and when you're pressed for time, they'll beat packaged, frozen pancakes any day.

2 cups regular rolled oats

2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs

4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

½ cup raisins, optional

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1.    In a bowl, combine oats and buttermilk; stir until well blended.  Cover and refrigerate until next day.

2.   In a bowl, beat eggs lightly and add to oat mixture, along with butter and raisins, if using; stir just until blended.  In another bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; add to oat mixture and stir just until moistened.  If batter seems too thick, add more buttermilk (up to 3 tablespoons).

3.   Preheat a griddle or wide frying pan over medium heat; grease lightly.  Spoon batter, about 1/3 cup for each cake, onto griddle, and spread out to make circles 4 inches in diameter.  Cook until tops are bubbly and appear dry; turn and cook until other sides are browned.  Makes about 1 ½ dozen pancakes.

More homemade tomato sauce and a Canadian bacon pizza

Made August 21, 2011

My tomato plants are both loaded with ripening tomatoes and dying at the same time.  My mom says that's normal.  I'll take her word for it because I think that's weird.

But it's just as well if they're coming to end of their life cycle because I'm having a hard time keeping up with the garden, working full-time, traveling, baking, cooking, blogging and life in general.  Something's gotta give.  Okay by me if it's the tomatoes.

 

I've been harvesting the tomatoes as they ripen and putting them in the freezer until I had enough to make tomato sauce.  I must not have been paying attention because all of a sudden I had 3 gallon-size freezer bags full of tomatoes and more were ripening every minute.  Time to stop saving up the tomatoes and actually make the sauce.

I didn't use a specific recipe for this but did consult the Professional Chef tome that I bought somewhere along the way on how to make tomato sauce.  I'd already done a homemade tomato sauce from the Cooking for One recipe book but I wanted to try a different method this time.  Instead of roasting tomatoes and onions and pureeing them, I ended up browning a whole bulb of minced garlic, saute-ing a whole brown onion that I had roughly (very roughly) sliced, and throwing 7 lbs of tomatoes in with them to cook down.  I only had time to partially thaw the tomatoes before I started cooking them but that actually worked out well because the skins were easier to peel off the half-frozen tomatoes before I put them in the pot.  I let the mixture simmer and boil for several hours and added a little salt and pepper.  When the mixture had cooked down and thickened so it wasn't so watery in texture, I also added large handfuls of chopped basil.  Let it cook down some more then I pureed the whole thing in the food processor.

Overall I think it turned out pretty well and I ended up with a decent amount of homemade tomato sauce.  Some of which I then used as pizza sauce to make a pizza.  I love the Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough which you can buy in a bag for $1.29, let rest for 20 minutes, and roll out into a pizza.  I topped it with the homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, Canadian bacon and more basil.

Which baked up nicely and became my dinner plus lunches for the week.  Yum.

Intensely Bittersweet Chocolate Souffles

Intensely Bittersweet Chocolate Souffles - made August 20, 2011 from Bittersweet by Alice Medrich (book #151)

Didn't bake these long enough so texture was too soft

My sister, the lava cake fan

Whenever my sister visits and I ask her what she wants me to make for dessert, her answer is invariably "lava cake!", regardless of season, climate or occasion.  Which works for me because it lets me try out another new recipe.  I've blogged before that I haven't quite found the best lava cake recipe yet but that doesn't keep me from trying so her request gives me an excuse to keep looking for the right recipe.  Technically this is a souffle rather than a lava cake but it's chocolate, it can be served warm with ice cream and I can make it have a molten center by underbaking it.  I skipped the whipped cream topping and topped it with vanilla ice cream instead.

I can't say I was wild about this recipe but I think that's partly my fault.  I didn't have enough dark bittersweet chocolate on hand so I substituted with more of a milk chocolate.  Which subsequently didn't make the souffle with a deep dark chocolate taste which is what I would prefer in a souffle or lava cake, especially when consumed with vanilla ice cream.  I also didn't bake the first batch long enough so it was a bit more egg-white-y in texture than I would've liked so I had to make sure the second batch baked for a longer period of time.

I'm also not that wild about souffles in general - they're too light in texture to go well with a creamy-firm ice cream and you end up crushing the fluffy texture of the souffle just to spoon it up with the ice cream.  That's usually why souffles are served with whipped cream since they're more compatible, texture-wise, with an airy-textured souffle. Not to mention logistically, it's best to let a lava cake cool slightly before topping with ice cream so the ice cream doesn't melt into the cake so quickly but if you wait too long for a souffle to cool, it'll deflate and not look very impressive.  This was good for a souffle but I still prefer the more dense texture of a lava cake. So the search is back on for a good recipe for one.....for the next time my sister visits, haha.


Baked longer for better texture


About 2 tablespoons sugar for the ramekins soufflés

8 ounces bittersweet 70% chocolate, finely chopped

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

1 large egg white, at room temperature

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/3 cup sugar

For the topping

1 cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon sugar

Eight 6-ounce ramekins

1.     If you are baking the soufflés right away, position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375˚F.  Butter the ramekins and sprinkle with sugar.

2.    Place the chocolate, butter and milk in a large heatproof bowl in a large skillet of barely simmering water.  Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Remove the bowl from the water bath and whisk in the egg yolks.  Set aside.

3.    In a medium, dry bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted.  Gradually sprinkle in the 1/3 cup sugar and beat at high speed until the whites are stiff but not dry.  Fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites.

4.    Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared ramekins, filling each three-quarters full.  The soufflés can be prepared to this point, covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days.  Bake directly from the refrigerator.

5.    Place the soufflés on a cookie sheet.  Bake until they rise and crack on top and a wooden skewer plunged into the center emerges very moist and gooey (but the centers should not be completely liquid), 14 to 16 minutes, perhaps a minute or so longer if the soufflés have been refrigerated.

6.    Meanwhile, make the topping: Beat the cream with the vanilla and sugar until it holds a soft shape (or stiffer, if you like it that way).  Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

7.    When they are done, remove the soufflés from the oven, and serve immediately, with a little powdered sugar sifted over the top, if you’d like.  Pass the whipped topping separately.