Italian Love Cake

Hubs made fun of the name, but he still ate the heck out of this cake. So there. It has a rather heavy texture (the ricotta bakes into the cake portion, which is the reason for this) but that light top layer of cream and pudding evens things out nicely. It tastes a bit like tiramisu, if you're into that sort of thing. Pretty good stuff, and a heck of a lot easier than dipping all those ladyfingers in espresso and laying them out...

Italian Love Cake

(from the lovely Leslie)

Ingredients:
1 box marble cake mix

1 large container (~2 lb.) ricotta cheese

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding

1 c. milk

1 container Cool Whip

Prepare marble cake mix according to directions, and pour into a (greased and floured) 9X13 pan.

Mix eggs, cheese, sugar, vanilla and pour over cake mix. Bake 1 hour at 350 F. Cool cake-completely!

Mix pudding mix with 1 cup milk. Beat 3 minutes. Add Cool Whip and spread over cake. Refrigerate cake.

Leslie's note: "I normally make this the day before so its completely set up and cold. "

Blueberry Lime Angel Food Cake

I was cleaning out the freezer the other day, and realized I had 18 egg whites sitting around waiting to be used. Which means one thing in my household - we're making angel food cake.

Angel food cake is one of my favorites. History dates the origin of this cake back to the 1800s, well before rotary beaters even existed. Can you imagine the amount of arm strength it took to beat up a dozen egg whites for a measely cake?? Well, if nothing else that bit of information should the uninitiated that the making of angel food cake even by hand is, indeed, worth the effort.

I, of course, did not make mine by hand (thank goodness for that KitchenAid mixer, which makes whipping up this cake mind-numbingly easy). Now usually I love this cake plain - to me, regular-old angel food cake with maybe some fruit topping is just sublime. Angel food cake is like a baked version of cotton candy - sticky and sweet and light as can be. It doesn't need a lot of decoration to be fantastic. However, I had not only a great berry sauce to use up, but also some limes and blueberries that were getting near their end.

So I did dress up the cake a wee bit with the blueberries and lime, and then figured 'what the heck' and buried all of that in berry sauce. It was all very good! The blueberries didn't really weigh down the cake as I was worried they might do, and the limes gave things and extra zing that you don't get from any other flavoring (much more assertive than lemon). All in all very good! Take advantage of that lovely spring weather folks, and make this cake....

Blueberry Lime Angel Food Cake

(Adapted from CDKitchen)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. sugar, divided
1 c. sifted cake flour
12 large egg whites
1 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
2 Tbsp. sifted cake flour
1 Tbsp. lime zest

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Sift together 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup flour. In a large bowl, beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form.

Add 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Sift flour mixture over egg white mixture, 1/4 cup at a time; fold in. Fold in vanilla and blueberries. Combine 2 tablespoons flour and lime rind; toss to coat. Sprinkle over egg white mixture; fold in.

Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Break air pockets by cutting through batter with a knife.

Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan; cool completely. Loosen the cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula. Invert cake onto plate.

Hawaiian Fruitcake

Yeah, fruitcake. Now before some of you start bashing, take heart. Yes, it has quite the reputation for lasting for... well, quite awhile (thank the healthy dousing in spirits for that one, which gave it a nice long shelf life before the time of preserving). But it is such a classic holiday treat, one that originally had the token of a good-luck charm for spring harvests later, and actually can (and does!) taste rather good.

This is another goodie that I made before the holidays, and perhaps fitting that I'm posting it now, given the storied shelf-life of fruitcake. I didn't want to throw together just any old fruitcake this year, though. I wanted to make something a little bit exciting, you know? So enter this little gem, a recipe for Hawaiian fruitcake.

Chockful of shaved coconut and some new-to-fruitcake dried fruits (pineapple and cherries anyone?), this recipe gives a whole new life to the boring old fruitcake of the past. I omitted the rum when I made mine (knowing that I and another fellow pregnant chum of mine would be eating them), but feel free to let the rum flow with yours! It'll help it keep longer, ya know...

Hawaiian Fruitcake

(adapted from recipe by Audrey Langenhop, pastry arts instructor at YTI Career Institute, Lancaster, Penn.)

Ingredients:

Fruit mixture:

1½ c. golden raisins

1 c. unsweetened shaved coconut

1½ c. chopped dried pineapple

1 c. chopped dried apricots

1 c. candied lemon peel

2 c. dried tart cherries

¾ c. light or dark rum (if you prefer not to use alcohol you may substitute orange juice, as I did)

Cake Batter:

2 sticks softened butter (1 c.)

1¾ c. granulated sugar

¼ c. honey

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

5 eggs

3¾ c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole milk
2 c. chopped macadamia nuts

Combine the fruits in a large bowl. Add the rum (or juice), cover, refrigerate, and allow to steep 6-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Grease and flour two 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pans.

Beat the butter, sugar and honey until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time. Sift together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt.

Carefully add one half of the sifted dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture. Mix well. Add half the milk and continue to mix. Scrape the bowl. Repeat with the final half of the dry ingredients and milk, blending well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Stir in the undrained fruit mixture as well as the macadamia nuts.

Pour the batter into the two prepared pans, filling each ¾ full.

Place the pans into the preheated oven. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cakes from the oven and immediately brush with additional rum (if desired). Allow the cakes to cool completely before removing them from the loaf pans. Wrap air tight and store for a minimum of 24 hours prior to serving.

This fruitcake may be brushed with rum weekly and stored at room temperature for four to six weeks. If you prefer, you may wrap the fruitcake and store it in the freezer for several months.

Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

The plan was to get this post written and up first thing this morning. I had a glorious day planned, too: big coffee and blog writing, then decorate the house, watch the KU/MU game on TV, veg out, call the family. Instead I was awakened at 7am to a soft snowfall outside my bedroom window and the pitter-patter of. . . water dripping from our living room ceiling, splattering all over our beautiful dark hardwood floor. Lovely, just lovely.

Anyway, so I'm up and have done *quite a bit* already this morning but wanted to get this post done and over with, before I got wrapped up in all that other garbage I'll be dealing with all day.

I made mini cakes (from ramekins). I also thirded the recipe. I had read from other Daring Bakers that this cake was sweet sweet sweet, so I knew there was no way we would ever polish off more than a slice apiece. And yes, that is absolutely true. I won't be recreating the frosting anytime soon, that's where most of the sickeningly sweet flavor came from. The cake itself, though, was one of the best cakes I have ever made - incredibly soft crumb, like the kind you find in fancy wedding cakes and the like. With just a lightly sweet flavor of caramel. Oh, yes, the cake was very, very good.

We were also given the option to make caramels, but I've decided to tackle and blog that recipe another time. It got rave reviews from my fellow Daring Baker foodies. Thanks to Dolores, Alex (Brownie), and Jenny for hosting this month! And as always: check out those other Daring Bakers' creations this month.

Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

(from Shuna Fish Lydon)

Ingredients:

10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/3 c. Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)

2 eggs, at room temperature

Splash vanilla extract

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

Caramel Syrup

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

1 c. water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

Caramelized Butter Frosting

12 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 lb. confectioner’s sugar, sifted

4-6 Tbsp. heavy cream

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2-4 Tbsp. caramel syrup

Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

Dimply Plum Cake

I have seen the dimply plum cake being made all over the Interwebs, and just based on how adorable it is I decided to dive in and make it myself. I had a coworker's birthday to bake for anyway. Only it didn't photograph too well for me, I had a slight issue...

One giant thing to note: this recipe doesn't double especially well. At least, it doesn't look as beautiful when you double it... The cooking time is much longer, so those poor plums sank into my cake rather than sit pretty on top. No worries though - still tasted like a dream! Like a deep brown sugar coffee cake, with juicy halves of fruit inside. Mmmm. This one went over quite well at the office, ugly appearance aside :)

Dimply Plum Cake

(shocker: another one from Dorie's Baking: From My Home to Yours, 2006)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all purpose four

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3/4 c. packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 c. canola oil

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums, halved and pitted

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter an 8x8 baking dish or a glass pie plate and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and ground cardamom.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter with the brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture. Pour the batter in the prepared dish, smooth the top and arrange the plums on top, cut side up.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Cherry-Almond Upside Down Cake, and a Tag!

I've been tagged! Twice!

Not only by my girl Beth, Mommy Extraordinaire to Ethan, but also by my fellow-Eldridge-bride and pal Michelle. Yay! I'm one in a long line of Realies getting tagged for this thing ;) Here we go:

5 Joys
1. Baking and cooking (both are relaxing to me)
2. Chillin’ with the Hubs and R2D2
3. Nighttime snowfalls
4. Family: I luff you all, my lovelies
5. Christmastime – that period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is just so lovely!

5 Fears
1. Tornadoes
2. Losing an eye or a finger (seriously, big fears of mine)
3. Losing someone I love
4. Since we bought the house – something happening so we struggle financially
5. I’m what you’d call a “nervous flyer” – I do it (because honestly, in this day and age, you can’t not fly), but I do it with clammy hands. Hurtling through the air in a metal tube is just not my idea of fun, sorry.

5 Obsessions
1. Home decorating
2. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
3. Hanging out (cyber-style or in real life) with the RB gals
4. Saison
5. Baking baking baking :)

5 Surprising Facts
1. I cannot make decent pie crust to save my life.
2. I am allergic to scallops.
3. I love going to new hair stylists, just because they generally fawn all over my hair (it's boring mouse brown, but also very thick, soft, and shiny).
4. I played the french horn in junior high.
5. Remember how my work was opening a time capsule left by the Beanie Weenie factory? Well, we had this huge company unveiling of the canisters... and they were empty. Empty! It was like a giant practical joke.

Now, try this lovely grown-up cake. Super delicious, and healthy too! That sweet cherry wine reduction is just divine.

Cherry-Almond Upside Down Cake
(from Cooking Light, June 2005)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. sugar, divided
1/4 c. dry red wine
2 lbs. dark sweet cherries, pitted (I used frozen, and thawed them overnight in the fridge)
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Cooking spray
3/4 c. whole blanched almonds, toasted
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and wine in a large saucepan over low heat; stir until sugar dissolves.

Increase heat to medium-high; bring to a boil. Stir in cherries. Reduce heat to low, and cook 5 minutes or until cherries just begin to soften, stirring frequently. Remove cherries from pan with a slotted spoon, reserving liquid in pan. Place cherries in a bowl; stir in lemon juice. Arrange cherries in an even layer in bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.


Cook wine mixture over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until reduced to 1/4 cup. Remove from heat; drizzle over cherries in prepared pan.

Place almonds and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor; process until finely ground (do not process to a paste).


Place eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy; slowly add remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until thick and lemon-colored (about 2 minutes).

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt.

Gradually sift flour mixture over egg mixture; fold in. Fold in ground almond mixture. Carefully spoon batter over cherries in prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Place a plate upside down on top of cake; invert onto plate.

Mahni's Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Hi hi! I've been gone for awhile. Sorry for all the delays. I had my sister Beah, nephew Dylan, and the infamous sous chef Mahni visiting me for awhile; they just left Chez Nemmie to head back home. We took trips to the KC Zoo, downtown Lawrence, hit The Merc to get Mahni some baking essentials, did some shopping in KC, the kids braved the T-Rex restaurant for an evening...

We even got the sweet babies' pictures taken by the extremely talented Josh Solar while they were here :)

Photos courtesy of Josh Solar Photo, 2008

You can take a peek at the rest of the pictures if you click right here! Josh and Jenny are fantastic, so a quick plug: if you are in the KC area, you should absolutely give them a call when you need some family (or wedding, or graduation, or baby...) photos.

Anyhoo: while in town, Mahni made sure to teach me her famous Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe. We accidentally doubled the butter, which seeped lovingly into the cake (and would have made Paula Deen proud), but trust me: in its original form you have a sweet, pineapple-y cake with a crunchy sugary crust, and caramelized pineapples to boot on top. Mmmm.

Mahni's Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple slices, juice drained and reserved
1 pkg. Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix
3 eggs
Juice from canned pineapple + water, to equal 1 c.
1/3 c. oil

Preheat oven to 350F.

For topping, melt butter in the preheated oven in a 9X13 pan. Once butter is melted, remove from the oven. Sprinkle brown sugar in the pan over the butter.

Arrange pineapple slices in the pan, over the brown sugar. Set aside.

For cake, combine cake mix, eggs, pineapple juice/water, and oil in large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour batter evenly over fruit in pan.

Bake at 350 F for 45-55 min. or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Invert onto serving plate.

The End.

We love going to the Zoo.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

This is my sister Beah’s zucchini cake recipe, and it’s the best. She gave the recipe to me once, years ago, but of course like the moronic little sister that I am, I lost it. She was nice enough to offer me a new copy, though, so I was able to whip this up just in time for her birthday.

Beah is one year older than me. From the time I could toddle around with her, we played, ate, and schemed together. She talked me into eating green strawberries until I made myself sick. We were partners in crime, and got ourselves in trouble constantly - like the time we were little and stripped down naked, doused ourselves in baby oil, and went outside to “sun bathe”. Yeah, in the front yard. And then our mother came sprinting out to get us and spank us. And we ran around the yard, my mom grabbing at our limbs, and us slipping away like greased pigs.

We also carefully planned and then ran away from home together, to live under the neighbor’s willow tree, because it was always dry under there. Beah was the one who taught me how to write my name, and broke the news that Santa wasn't real, and hid in the bathroom with me when our new little siblings cried too loud and freaked us out.

When I had to stay in the hospital when I was 3 or 4 years old, my parents (one at the hospital with me, one at home with the other kids) put Beah and I on the phone with one another, and all we did was sob and wail out each others’ name every once in awhile. For us, it was no picnic to be away from our sister.

Of course, it wasn’t all blissful sisterly love. We did the other usual sister things: argued, called each other names, pulled each others hair. We always shared a room and found plenty of ways to constantly invade each others personal space. I especially liked to rile her up by borrowing her clothes (without asking, of course). What can I say though? The girl had good taste.

There were a few Big Fights that will go down in family history, including one incident moments before she walked out the door for her high school graduation ceremony. Little did anyone know, she sat through her graduation with head held high and gigantic holes torn in her panty hose, while I sat with my parents with a raging headache from all the hair pulling. But when it was over we sat in the family room and inspected the very sad state of her panty hose, snickering. All hard feelings forgotten. That’s how it usually went.

Once past that painful high school age, we fell right back into being friends again. In college we discussed boyfriends and cleaning techniques, favorite TV shows, complained about roommates, whatever. Got each other through our ex-boyfriends, our wedding days; I stayed with her for awhile when she had her babies. And even though I spend my time sipping cocktails with my husband at swanky restaurants while her life is all sippy cups and potty training, we are closer than ever. We have too much shared life between us to be otherwise.

So for Beah: I baked your own cake for you. Which, you know, you can obviously make yourself and in fact tastes better when you make it. But anyways. Happy Birthday, and see you soon. Love you bunches you butt face.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

(from Beah)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs at room temperature
2 c. coarsely grated zucchini (8 oz)
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter bundt pan well and dust with some flour, knocking out excess.
Sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down side of bowl occasionally, then beat until very smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes more.

Reduce speed to low and add all but 1/2 cup flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
Toss zucchini, chocolate chips, and walnuts with remaining 1/2 cup flour mixture and add to batter, then mix batter with a rubber spatula (batter will be thick).

Spoon batter into bundt pan, smoothing top. Bake in middle of oven, rotating pan halfway through baking, until side begins to pull away from pan and a tester comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes total.

Cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes, then run a thin knife around outer and inner edges. Invert rack over pan, then invert cake onto rack. Cool completely.

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream

I am in the process of reading Julie and Julia, a great book where a lovely blogger named Julie takes on a personal challenge to make and blog about every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the span of 1 year. This is a must read, by the way (thanks Sarah for the recommendation!). Anyway, yesterday I was reading the chapter where Julie finally finishes the Oeufs en Gelée (Eggs in Aspic). She has been toiling over these darn things for more than a day, and finally finishes them after getting up at 6am Thanksgiving morning to work on them some more. Even though they looked rather unappetizing and blobby, and probably wouldn't be eaten further than an obligatory bite, she writes:

"It was 8 a.m., and though I still had a whole Thanksgiving meal left to cook, roast goose and cabbage and onions and green beans and souflée, I felt giddy with relief."

Yeah, that's kinda how I felt when I finally finished this challenge. Not like it was the hardest challenge I've done, more like the most frustrating, and not working into my schedule too well.

Working on the house seems to be my main priority these days, but I am also determined to work on my baking/blogging. And I missed the last challenge, something I am not too proud of. The Daring Bakers Rule is that you cannot miss two challenges in a row. So even though I had a million house things on my To Do list as well as friend obligations and tons of work, I was NOT going to miss another challenge and get kicked off.

I was terribly excited to make this lovely cake. So pretty! So many components! But it wasn't going to be easy, or cheap. I went out to the grocery store hopeful, though, and spent my hard-earned money on lots of eggs and hazelnuts. Then set to work. I had a whole 10 days to finish this sucker, after all.

First try: everything seemed fine. I toasted and skinned my hazelnuts. I measured, poured, carefully separated eggs. I mixed and whipped and ground my hazelnut meal. I lovingly toiled in a rather-warm kitchen for over an hour, and finally finished my batter. I poured it into my round cake pan and gently placed it in my preheated oven.

Then it got kinda bad.

I started my simple syrup while the cake baked. I hear sizzling and smell burning coming from the oven, and take a peek: oh, hurrah. Batter bubbling over everywhere, all over the inside of my oven, the thick batter coating the oven rack. Ack! I threw a sheet pan in underneath in a vain attempt to curb the overflow, but that seemed to only let out most of my heat and added a new level of cleaning to my batter-coated rack. But everything else seemed okay, so I finished up my simple syrup. The cake was supposed to be finished in 30-35 minutes, but it was still pale and wiggly at that point. I let it go to 40 minutes, then 50 minutes. Finally it started to brown and pull away from the sides of the pan. Looks done! I pulled it out and let it cool. Then I went to remove it from the pan: the sides of the cake slid out like a dream, and the center poured a sticky mess all over my counters.

*Sigh*

Well, at that point I was out some dough and a good chunk of a Sunday morning. I was... well, not happy. I pouted around the house and angrily did the laundry (which I'm sure was hilariously entertaining for my Hubs to watch). That's it, I'm done. I give up. Let them kick me out, I figured. I didn't want to see another hazelnut as long as I lived.

But, by the next weekend (and a mere 3-4 days before posting the dreaded challenge), I had come around again. I love being a Daring Baker, and my blog is the best little hobby I've ever had. I wasn't giving up. But: I was not spending a ton of money on new supplies, and I wasn't making a damn round cake again. So I bought the generic bags of chopped hazelnuts, cheap eggs, and broke out my big jelly roll pan. It was just going to have to do.

On Attempt 2, I am pleased to say I had no problems. Glad, in fact, that I gave it another shot. I didn't want to do any sort of boring square cake, so I cut my thin jelly roll genoise into flower shapes with a cookie cutter, then assembled. Frosting was a bit trickier to say the least, but still I am proud of my slightly-ugly results. Oh, and of course then I read in the Daring Baker instructions that our cakes MUST remain round. Oopie. Well, my flower shapes are round-ish. Take it or leave it.

And I gotta say: when I finally finished photographing those suckers, even though I still had a weekend's worth of painting/drapery sewing/picture hanging to do, I felt giddy with relief :)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This one cake kinda took a header, leaving a lovely Rorschach-like blob on the plate.

Again: don't forget to check out the other lovely cakes put out by our ever-growing cult! And a big thanks to Chris for the fabulous, yummy cake recipe :)

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
(From Great Cakes by Carol Walter)

Cake Components:
1 Filbert Genoise
1 recipe sugar syrup, flavored with dark rum
1 recipe Praline Buttercream
½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 recipe Apricot Glaze
1 recipe Ganache Glaze, prepared just before using
3 tablespoons filberts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Filbert Genoise
Ingredients:
1 ½ c. hazelnuts, toasted/skinned
2/3 c. cake flour, unsifted
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
7 large egg yolks
1 c. sugar, divided ¼ & ¾ cups
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
5 large. egg whites
¼ c. warm, clarified butter (100 – 110 degrees)

Position rack in the lower 3rd of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Grease and flour a 10” X 2” inch round cake pan.

Using a food processor, process nuts, cake flour, and cornstarch for about 30 seconds. Then, pulse the mixture about 10 times to get a fine, powdery mixture. You’ll know the nuts are ready when they begin to gather together around the sides of the bowl. While you want to make sure there aren’t any large pieces, don’t over-process. Set aside.

Put the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, and beat until thick and light in color, about 3-4 minutes on med-high speed. Slowly, add ¾ cup of sugar. It is best to do so by adding a tablespoon at a time, taking about 3 minutes for this step. When finished, the mixture should be ribbony. Blend in the vanilla and grated lemon rind. Remove and set aside.

Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl of the electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed, until soft peaks. Increase to med-high speed and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, over 15-20 seconds or so. Continue to beat for another ½ minute. Add the yolk mixture to the whites and whisk for 1 minute. Pour the warm butter in a liquid measure cup (or a spouted container). * It must be a deep bottom bowl and work must be fast.*

Put the nut meal in a mesh strainer (or use your hand – working quickly) and sprinkle it in about 2 tablespoons at a time – folding it carefully for about 40 folds. Be sure to exclude any large chunks/pieces of nuts. Again, work quickly and carefully as to not deflate the mixture. When all but about 2 Tbsp. of nut meal remain, quickly and steadily pour the warm butter over the batter. Then, with the remaining nut meal, fold the batter to incorporate, about 13 or so folds.

With a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the spatula or back of a spoon. **If collected butter remains at the bottom of the bowl, do not add it to the batter! It will impede the cake rising while baking.Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when it is springy to the touch and it separates itself from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack sprayed with nonstick coating, removing the pan. Cool the cake completely.*

Sugar Syrup
Ingredients:
1 c. water
¼ c. sugar
2 Tbsp. dark rum or orange flavored liqueur

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the liqueur. Cool slightly before using on the cake.

Praline Buttercream
Ingredients:
1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
1/3 c. praline paste1
½ - 2 Tbsp. Jamaican rum (optional)

Blend ½ cup buttercream into the paste, then add to the remaining buttercream. Whip briefly on med-low speed to combine. Blend in rum.

Swiss Buttercream
Ingredients:
4 large egg whites
¾ c. sugar
1 ½ c. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 ½ -2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or liqueur of your choice
1 tsp. vanilla

Place the egg whites in a lg/ bowl of a elevtric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the whites are foamy and they begin to thicken (just before the soft peak stage). Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Then, whisk in the sugar by adding 1-2 tablespoon of sugar at a time over a minutes time. Continue beating 2-3 minutes or until the whites are warm (about 120 degrees) and the sugar is dissolved. The mixture should look thick and like whipped marshmallows.

Remove from pan and with either the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and sugar on med-high until its a thick, cool meringue – about 5-7 minutes. *Do not overbeat*. Set aside.

Place the butter in a separate clean mixing bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 40-60 seconds, or until smooth and creamy. *Do not overbeat or the butter will become toooooo soft.*On med-low speed, blend the meringue into the butter, about 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, over 1 minute. Add the liqueur and vanilla and mix for 30-45 seconds longer, until thick and creamy.Refrigerate 10-15 minutes before using.

Praline Paste
Ingredients:
1 c. hazelnuts, toasted/skinless
2/3 c. Sugar

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and lightly butter. Put the sugar in a heavy 10-inch skillet. Heat on low flame for about 10-20 min until the sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and caramel in color, remove from heat. Stir in the nuts with a wooden spoon and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble. **Remember – extremely hot mixture.** Then onto the parchment lined sheet and spread as evenly as possible. As it cools, it will harden into brittle.

Break the candied nuts into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.

Apricot Glaze
Ingredients:
2/3 c. thick apricot preserves
1 Tbsp. water

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add water as needed.

Remove from heat and, using a strainer, press the mixture through the mesh and discard any remnants. With a pastry brush, apply the glaze onto the cake while the cake is still warm. If the glaze is too thick, thin to a preferred consistency with drops of water.

Ganache Glaze
Ingredients:
6 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt
¾ c. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or dark Jamaican rum (optional)
¾ tsp. vanilla
½ - 1 tsp. hot water, if needed

Blend vanilla and liqueur/rum together and set aside. Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once to the gently boil, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla mixture. If the surface seems oily, add ½ - 1 tsp hot water.

Assembling Cake:

Cut a cardboard disk slightly smaller than the cake. Divide the cake into 3 layers and place the first layer top-side down on the disk. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with 3-4 Tbsp. of warm sugar syrup. Measure out 1 cup of praline buttercream and set aside.

Spread the bottom layer with a ¼-inch thickness of the remaining buttercream. Cover with ½ of the whipped cream, leaving ¼-inch border around the edge of the cake. Place the middle layer over the first, brush with sugar syrup, spreading with buttercream. Cover with the remaining whipped cream. Moisten the cut side of the third layer with additional sugar syrup and place cut side down on the cake. Gently, press the sides of the cake to align the layers.

Refrigerate to chill for at least 30 minutes. Lift the cake by sliding your palm under the cardboard. Holding a serrated or very sharp night with an 8-ich blade held parallel to the sides of the cake, trim the sides so that they are perfectly straight. Cut a slight bevel at the top to help the glaze drip over the edge. Brush the top and sides of the cake with warm apricot glaze, sealing the cut areas completely. Chill while you prepare the ganache.

Place a rack over a large shallow pan to catch the ganache drippings. Remove the gateau from the refrigerator and put it the rack. With a metal spatula in hand, and holding the saucepan about 10 inches above the cake, pour the ganache onto the cake’s center. Move the spatula over the top of the ganache about 4 times to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance. The ganache should cover the top and run down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has been poured and is coating the cake, lift one side of the rack and bang it once on the counter to help spread the ganache evenly and break any air bubbles. (Work fast before setting starts.) Patch any bare spots on the sides with a smaller spatula, but do not touch the top after the “bang”. Let the cake stand at least 15 minutes to set after glazing.

To garnish the cake, fit a 12 – 14-inch pastry bag with a #114 large leaf tip. Fill the bag with the reserved praline cream. Stating ½ inch from the outer edge of the cake, position the pastry tube at a 90 degree angle with the top almost touching the top of the cake. Apply pressure to the pastry bag, moving it slightly toward the center of the cake. As the buttercream flows on the cake, reverse the movement backward toward the edge of the cake and finish by pulling the bag again to the center. Stop applying pressure and press the bag downward, then quickly pull the tip up to break the flow of frosting. Repeat, making 12 leaves evenly spaced around the surface of the cake. Make a second row of leaves on the top of the first row, moving the pastry bag about ¾ inch closer to the center. The leaves should overlap. Make a 3rd row, moving closer and closer to the center. Add a 4th row if you have the room. But, leave a 2-inch space in the center for a chopped filbert garnish.

Refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hours to allow the cake to set. Remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before serving.Leftover cake can be covered with foil and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Milky Way® Cake

Where, oh where, has Nemmie been?? Well, I originally had this post scheduled for Thursday, but lost track of time. It's been a busy week:

• Worked myself to the bone at the office.
• Hosted (and also attended!) my very first Realies Cooking Club meeting, which was totally awesome. And forgive the picture of me in that link: when people ask me to smile for the camera I tend to dork out.
• Attempted my next Daring Bakers Challenge, which flopped worse than Tony Parker on a basketball court. Off to try try again...
• Sewed like a fiend in order to get some darn drapes on my poor naked windows. Poor poor naked windows. Only the dining room and living room left to clothe!
• Read two books that have had me totally engrossed, therefore meant no time baking/cooking/blogging. I very much recommend both books, by the way (click links to see).
• Saw the new Batman Movie, which totally rocked and then some. I want to see it again already. Me and my sis Beah LOVED the Michael Keaton one when we were little, this is the only version that is as good (well actually, it was better). So go see it if you haven't yet!

So yeah, you see. Busy. But have plenty to blog about in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! In the meantime: I made you this fabulous little Milky Way cake as a way of apologizing. Well, okay. I actually made it for a friend's birthday. But it was really good!

This cake is incredibly rich, so small slices are best! I loved it plain, although Hubs thought it could use some caramel or chocolate frosting (men; sometimes I swear he has a meaner sweet tooth than any woman I know). I loved the flavor of this - the candy bar is so subtle, almost more of an essence that hits you after you've tasted a bite. For as rich as it is, the cake is also remarkably light (I thought it would be this very heavy, dry monstrosity). A goodie with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea, I would think. Just be sure to have a wee slice, or you will regret it later when your tummy hurts!


Milky Way® Cake
(from Simply Simpático, from the Junior League of Albuquerque, 1981)


Ingredients:
8 Milky Way® candy bars
2 sticks butter, divided (one at room temperature)
2 1/3 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. pecans
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour a tube pan.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt 1 stick butter and 8 milky bars together, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool.

Cream sugar and 1 stick of butter (the one at room temperature) for about 3 minutes, until pale and fluffly. Add eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly mixed.

Add the baking soda to the milk. Add milk mixture and flour to the batter, alternating, about 3 times (you want to begin and end with the flour). Stir in MILKY WAY® bars and pecans.

Bake for 90 minutes at least, until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then gently remove and finish cooling on a cooling rack. Serve room temperature (Hubs thinks with a healthy dollop of caramel ice cream topping).