Dessert First

Chocolate Malt Memories

 

Because I didn't have enough fun making an opera cake for Daring Bakers, I went for another layered, multi-component cake last week. Sometimes I like to go for simple, breezy creations and other times I just feel like challenging my skills. Making layer cakes is always an exercise that keeps me on my pastry toes. Also, it was my sister's birthday, and she is an unabashed lover of all things chocolate. I'd had my eye on this elegant little number from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot for quite a while, and now seemed like the ideal time to break it out.

As Ong describes his creation, it's a death by chocolate cake filtered through a distinctly Asian sensibility. Unlike most Western odes to decadence, which usually involve adjectives like fudgy, gooey, or sticky, and accoutrements like nuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top, this dessert hews to a lighter, more ethereal course. But I'm happy to say the perfect balance of flavors and textures makes it no less dreamily satisfying.

Besides a tendency towards airier, more restrained composition, I've also noticed that many Asian desserts have an affinity for pairing chocolate with malt or coffee. Ong goes for the triple play by combining a chocolate genoise with a malted chocolate mousse and a Vietnamese coffee buttercream. I made all three components, but when it came to assembling them I found I preferred the way the cakes looked without the buttercream. The original recipe called for making one big square cake, which is naturally easier to frost than several small round cakes. The smoky-sweet buttercream, made with Vietnamese coffee and condensed milk, was definitely spoon-licking good though, and I'll probably find a way to use it again, whether in this dessert or another.

My aim was to make those elegant individually-sized cakes you see in those French patisseries, and to make them you need those little metal cake rings. Using them is a bit like making a cake with a blindfold, since you can't see whether your layers are even. It was even trickier with this dessert since it was designed to make a single cake, and I didn't know whether the amounts of cake and mousse were proportioned to making multiple miniature cakes. A little eyeballing, a little guestimating, and I came out with some fairly well-stacked little guys. If it's any reassurance, though, even if the cakes don't come out perfectly even (and I had a few) they're still just as delicious!

The cake is basically a cocoa-flavored genoise and bakes up like a dream: light, springy, and moist. The malted chocolate mousse is airy, creamy, and silky, like all the best mousses should be. I never knew that malted milk was so popular around the world until I went to Hong Kong when I was ten and saw ads on tv touting Horlicks as the perfect breakfast food. In the United States, Carnation and Ovaltine are the most popular brands, but elsewhere there several other choices, the most well known ones being Horlicks and Milo. The same brands can be formulated differently for different markets, so be sure to compare and find which one you like best. Many brands, like Ovaltine and Milo, have cocoa in them so they have a sweeter, more chocolatey flavor. Horlicks has the most straightforward, unsweetened malt flavor. Ong recommends Horlicks in his recipe; combined with bittersweet chocolate it makes for a lovely mousse with notes of caramel and cocoa. I'm not sure if I use quite enough gelatin in making the mousse: it was wonderfully smooth and creamy but was not as firm as I would have liked. I think I might recommend against adding more gelatin and just noting that these cakes will soften up quite quickly once you remove them from the refrigerator. 

Dusted with a little cocoa on top, this cake reminds of Maltesers, another malted delight I was introduced to in Hong Kong. I consumed these malted milk balls by the bagful whenever I went there. There is a brand of malted milk balls in the US called Whoppers but to me there is absolutely no contest: Maltesers are far and away the superior candy. When a dessert makes me think of malted milk balls, I know it's going to stay on my list of favorites. It might take a bit of time in the kitchen, the results are surely worth it: an ideal chocolate indulgence for springtime.

Malted Chocolate Mousse Cakes

adapted from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot

Makes about 8 2 1/2" round cakes

Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (45 g) cocoa powder

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

5 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup (125 g) sugar

4 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 up (50 g) vegetable or canola oil

3 tablespoons buttermilk

Malted Chocolate Mousse

3/4 cup (168 g) whole milk

1/2 cup (98 g) sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (37 g) malted milk powder

6 large egg yolks

1 1/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin, dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water

5 ounces (150 g) bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 cup (226 g) whipping cream

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 11 x 17 baking pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again. If you can find a pan with a rim at least 1" high, that's probably best - some jelly roll pans might a little too shallow.

Sift the cocoa, flour, and cornstarch into a bowl and set aside.

In stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites at medium-high speed until soft peaks star to form. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar in a slow, steady stream. Continue whisking medium-soft peaks have formed. Do not overwhip the whites. Scrape the whites into a bowl, and clean the mixer bowl and whisk.

Place all 9 egg yolks in the clean mixer bowl and whisk on medium until they are combined. Add the salt and remaining sugar in a slow, steady stream. Continue whisking until the mixture is pale yellow and very thick.

Whisk about half of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture by hand to lighten it up. Fold in the dry ingredients carefully until almost fully incorporated. Fold in the rest of the egg whites carefully.

Whisk the oil and buttermilk together in a bowl. Fold into the batter until fully incorporated.

Spread the batter into the pan and even out the surface with an offset spatula. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. The surface should be just dry and springy to the touch. Let cake cool on rack.

To make the mousse, combine the milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat on stove over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and bubbles are starting to form around the edges. Whisk in the malted milk powder and cook until fully dissolved. Remove mixture from heat.

Whisk the egg yolks together in a large bowl. Pour in about half of the malted milk mixture in a steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent the egg yolks from cooking. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stove. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove saucepan from heat and add the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Add in the chocolate and stir until fully melted and incorporated. Let mixture sit and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold gently into the chocolate mixture. The mixture may look very liquidy now but it will firm up as it cools and the gelatin sets.

When the mousse seems thick enough to spread, you can assemble the cakes. Place 8 cake rings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Use a 2 1/2" round cookie cutter to cut out circles from the cake. You want to have 3 circles of cake for each cake ring. Place a circle of cake into the bottom of a cake ring. Spoon some mousse in. Top with another circle of cake, some more mousse, and the final circle of cake. If you have room you can spoon some mousse on top, but depending on how soft your mousse is it might make it trickier for the cake to hold its shape.

Chill cakes in the refrigerator overnight.

Unmold cakes shortly before serving them. Dust a little cocoa powder on top if desired.

Tagged with: chocolate malted mousse cake + pichet ong

Bite This!

The Opera Cake Goes Lemon and Lavender

 













When the hosts of the month for Daring Bakers are none other than the intrepid founders themselves, Ivonne and Lis, you know it will be something special indeed. These two lovely ladies who have created the web's most wonderful baking community, along with Fran of Apple Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shea of Whiskful chose a beautiful and very apropos challenge for all who dare to bake: the Opera cake.

The very first time I made opera cake in pastry school, I felt like I'd scaled a baker's Everest, one made of cake and chocolate and cream and sugar. Like all the hard-core classics of French pâtisserie, opera cake offers a full-scale obstacle course to surmount: whipping egg whites, making joconde, mixing up buttercream, assembling multiple centimeter-thin layers of cake...anyone who finishes an opera cake should certainly feel the happy glow of accomplishment!

There's so much to learn from the opera cake: for example, the joconde is an almond genoise. Genoise is the French form of sponge or chiffon cake; these cakes are distinguished by the lack of leaveners in their batter. The only leavening in these cakes comes from the air whipped into the egg whites or eggs, which gives an added dimension to what's going on when you turn on your mixer. Unlike classic butter cakes, where you simply combine all the ingredients with a bit of baking powder or soda and let the chemicals do their thing in the oven, when making a genoise awareness of your actions becomes paramount. If you don't whip the eggs enough, there won't be enough air in the batter to let it rise. If you fold the ingredients together too roughly or let the batter sit out too long, you risk letting the air bubbles deflate, again losing that critical component of a genoise.

Some may prefer the robust, gloriously thick butter cake of American layer cake fame to the finicky, delicate sheets of genoise, but I find they both have their unique charms. Genoises are essential to the refined elegance of petit fours and other tea-time pastries; with the French penchant for individual-sized cakelets, you need thin, light layers for an effective presentation. The classic opera cake, which is composed of seven layers of cake, buttercream, and ganache, should be less that 1.5 inches total in height, meaning you've got to be pretty precise with all your pieces.

Then there's the buttercream: Ivonne and Lis chose a rich French buttercream for the opera cake filling. French buttercream is always a favorite because of its creamy, buttery flavor, but it can also melt faster because of its high fat content - I think I saw several DBs commenting on the softness of the buttercream. You need to work quickly with this buttercream, and don't be afraid to chill it if it's getting too soft. Myself, I tend to be more partial to the Italian meringue buttercream, because it's more stable and workable, and because it forces me to get over my fears about sugar cookery. Whichever form of buttercream you use, be sure to keep the layers of buttercream about the same thickness as the genoise layers - the genius of opera cake is the balance of textures and flavors between all the various components.














Finally, the top: classic opera cake is indelibly distinguished by its glossy smooth chocolate topping and swooping "l'Opera" writ in chocolate across the surface. But these days, all the classics are being interpreted and re-invented, and it's not surprising to find opera cake in all guises. I have to say one of my favorite versions is still Sadaharu Aoki's matcha version, which I tried to recreate. Ivonne and Lis specified a light-colored theme for the Daring Bakers challenge, and generously let us play around with flavors of our choosing. My mind immediately drifted to a lemon-lavender theme, and that's where I ended up: an opera cake brushed with lemon simple syrup, layered with lemon buttercream, and topped with lavender white chocolate mousse. Sweet, springy, and still lusciously decadent: I'd like to think French would approve of the modifications!

*By the way, for those that had trouble with making the white chocolate ganache mousse, I think the reason is that making a ganache with white chocolate and cream is quite different from making a ganache with dark chocolate. White chocolate is almost all fat, as is cream. Combining so much fat together can be almost impossible; overagitating the mixture will result in a clumpy curdled mess. The best strategy is to keep the cream and chocolate as cool as possible. Whip the cream to soft peaks, and then fold the melted chocolate in by hand. You can chill the mixture in the refrigerator to firm it up; this method is safer than trying to whip the ingredients together.

I always enjoy an opportunity to remake this pastry classic, and I especially enjoyed doing with all my fellow Daring Bakers! Thanks to Ivonne and Lis for creating the DB version of the opera cake - and for  inspiring hundreds of beautiful and scrumptious variants of this fabulous dessert!

This lemon and lavender opera cake is also dedicated to Barbara of winosandfoodies. Barbara is the founder of A Taste of Yellow, and I'm glad to have an appropriately-hued dessert to celebrate LiveStrong Day!

Tagged with: opera cake + lemon lavender + daring bakers + LiveStrong Day

Bite This!

For Love of Lychees

When I visited Amai Tea House in New York, one of their treats I sampled besides their tea cookies was a moist lychee brownie. The brownie was pleasantly thick and fudgy, but it didn't have quite enough lychee flavor for my taste - I am quite fond of the fruit, so perhaps I hoping for a bit more punch.

I carried the thought back with me to San Francisco, and last week when I picked up some of the season's first strawberries, it all came together - a light lychee butter cake with strawberries and rose cream.

Lychees are surely a fruit for the sweet-toothed - with their honeyed, floral flavor and ambrosial fragrance, they are nature's bonbons, albeit in a prickly-than-usual package. Lychees aren't quite in season yet; they are found in abundance during the summer months at Asian markets, and a frosty lychee tapioca drink is one of my favorite thirst quenchers on a hot day. However, canned lychees can be found year round; they're usually packed in sweet syrup, much like many canned peaches, which can render them even more shockingly sweet. In this cake though, I found the syrup can be used advantageously to boost the lychee flavor.

The cake is a sunshiny cloud of happiness - I was aiming for a looser, fluffier texture rather than a tight, pound cake-like crumb. Gorgeously golden, it promises rich buttery flavor and delivers, along with a dose of fruitiness from the bits of lychees sprinkled throughout and laced into the cake batter. The lightness and delicacy of the cake helps showcase the lychees instead of competing against it like a heavier, more intense cake might. I also found that using the syrup from the canned lychees really helps boost the flavor - as well as making the cake irresistibly fragrant! If you're a little uncertain as to how sweet you want your cake, you can always decrease how much syrup you add in. Also, dry off the lychees before you add them to the batter - that will also get rid of more syrup and prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.

In pondering what to serve the cake with, I first thought of some obvious tropical companions like coconut or macadamias, but I really wanted to use those strawberries - they were too tempting to ignore. So really, this dessert ended up being a minor riff on the Ispahan - raspberries would be wonderful with the cake too, as their tartness would match well with the sweetness of the lychees - but I think the strawberries, draped with a spring-pink rose-scented cream, fit the bill just fine.

The strawberries are adapted from Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert, but I added some rose syrup to the whipped cream to intensify the flavor and give it color. If you can't find it, rosewater will work just as well, but if you do get your hands on some rose syrup, it's a fun ingredient to work with; it's jewel-pink color never fails to bring a smile to my face.

It's awfully windy and blustery out here in San Francisco, but the bright skies and lengthening days tell me that spring is definitely here. And when strawberries start showing up at the market, who am I to disagree?

Lychee Butter Cake

1- 14 oz can lychees (about 1 cup lychees, reserve the liquid)

2 cups (240g) flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (160g) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (160 g) sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 baking pan.

Drain the lychees and cut into small pieces; set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for several minutes until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Mix to combine.

Add in about 4 -6 tablespoons of the reserved lychee liquid slowly. Mix between additions to fully incorporate before adding more.

Toss the lychee pieces in the flour mixture to coat (this will help keep them from sinking to the bottom of the batter).

Add flour and lychee mixture to the batter and mix to combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Strawberries with Rose Cream

adapted from Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert

makes about 6 to 8 servings

3 pints ripe strawberries

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon rose water

2 teaspoons rose syrup

Wash the strawberries. Hull and cut them if desired.

In a stand mixer, whip the cream, rose water, and rose syrup into soft peaks. Do not overwhip.

Serve over strawberries.

Tagged with: lychee butter cake + strawberries with rose cream+ Alice Medrich

Bite This!

On Being a Traveler

I've only traveled alone a few times before in my life - circumstances have usually provided me with company, whether obligatory (read: family) or chosen (i.e. friends), on my travels, and I generally enjoy having someone to share my explorations with.  However, the few occasions I've had to voyage solo have yielded some of my most interesting and memorable experiences, and this trip was no exception.

Philadelphia was a wonderful, too-short blur. I hardly got to see the city at all, which was unfortunate. I spent most of my time in the studio having my cookies photographed (No, the photo shoot was not for pictures of me, as many have asked!) I am not taking my own photos for my book, which is actually a good thing, as the writing and baking parts are already consuming way too much of my time! Instead, I'm very lucky to have a very talented photographer taking really fantastic shots of my stuff. I learned a great deal just watching him photograph in lighting conditions that would have defeated me, and he very patiently answered all my neophyte queries. I got to preview the final photos after I got home, and I can say I'm pretty excited about how they'll look in the book! Things are really starting to come together - I've been furiously working on the manuscript in the last couple of weeks, which has made blogging a little tricky, but things will be coming to an end soon. In a few months I'll be able to divulge more details about the book - I'll be really excited to share them when the time comes.

I took the train from Philadelphia to New York, which I'm really glad I did instead of taking the bus or driving (I had my taxi driver in Philadelphia offer to drive me to New York; the prospect of taking a multi-hour taxi ride across several states utterly boggling this California girl). I think there is no other mode of transportation so dreamily evocative as the train. The rhythmic clattering of the wheels on the tracks, the conductor carefully punching your ticket and sliding in into the slot on the front of your seat, the land unspooling before your eyes outside the window - only on a train are you not surrounded by the endless blue ether of the sky or the grey carpet of asphalt crowded with other vehicles. It's just the train, going onward, through the landscape itself, taking you somewhere. Traveling.

Without music or book to curl into, I sat against the high-backed vinyl seats and watched New Jersey speed by me. Bare-branched trees made hatch marks against chilly blue sky. Deep, still lakes appeared and disappeared. Neighborhoods unfolded, opened before me, rows of houses, baseball fields, stores with unfamiliar names. I watched people get off the train, into towns I'd never seen before and might not pass again for a long time. It was the weekend before Easter, and many passengers were obviously kids going home for the holiday, with suitcases full of dirty laundry to wash at home or cell phones flipped open, in search of friends and the location of that night's party. I watched the dusty gold sunlight of late afternoon slant in through the train windows, suffusing everything with that timeless, crystalline quality. I was aware, at that instant, of pulling memory out of a moment seemingly ordinary and uneventful, but a moment worth remembering nonetheless. It made me quietly happy that I was "there" to experience this - not tuned out or oblivious, but present.

I'm glad I was able to carry this frame of mind for the rest of my trip, from wandering wide-eyed through New York's multitude of neighborhoods, to eating a slice of cake in a tiny, tucked-away cafe, to chatting with friendly strangers in a restaurant, to watching pastry cooks assemble precise, perfect plates in the kitchen. The best thing about traveling, particularly when you're alone, is how it reminds you to open up all your senses to the new and unknown.

Pichet Ong's ginger date pudding cake is another experience where I was very glad to be in the moment. I called this dessert the definition of soul-satisfying in my previous post, and I still can't think of a better description. It's elegant and sophisticated without being pretentious; the many components in it blend together to a harmonious whole, weaving together seamlessly and subtly, without 20-word long descriptions or 6 different separate piles on the plate needed. It just plain tastes delicious, which to me is the biggest criteria for dessert. The first bite of the cake will be one of those indelible memories: a warm, soft, spicy cloud unfurling in my mouth, the perfume of ginger and toffee, and a lingering desire for just another bite.

I know this looks more like a fall or winter dessert - I happened to arrive in New York right when all the restaurants were switching over to their spring menus. I'm sure if I had been able to stay another week I would have gotten to try a whole new round of desserts - alas for the missed opportunity. If you're not in the mood for a warm, cozy blanket of a dessert, be sure to save it away for when autumn returns; this cake is well worth it. The texture is amazingly light, yet the flavor is delectably rich and moist, especially after the cake soaks up the rum and toffee sauce. Definitely serve this cake warm, preferably as fresh from the oven as possible - cooled, it just isn't the same.
 

A last couple of announcements: I was very surprised to find myself mentioned in Nick Malgieri's Washington Post article on food blogs. There is some truly illustrious company on Malgieri's list, so it's a big honor for me to be included!

Finally, if you live in the Bay Area, consider participating in Dining Out for Life 2008. This event aims to raise funds for the STOP AIDS project by inviting diners to eat at participating restaurants on April 24, 2008. If you dine at one of the restaurants on that day, 25% of your food bill will go to the project. Visit the site to see the list of participating restaurants. It's a great way to indulge in great food and help a worthy cause.

 

And now, the long-awaited recipe!

 

Ginger Date Pudding Cakes with Rum Walnut Toffee Sauce

adapted from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot

makes 8 servings

Cake

6 dried dates, pitted

1 1-inch piece ginger, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and reserved

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (254 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (133 g) sugar

1/3 cup (45 g) candied ginger, finely chopped

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 1/2 (223 g) cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

Sauce

1 1/2 cups (149 g) walnut halves

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (133 g) unsalted butter

1 cup (227 g) heavy cream

1 1/3 cups (254 g) dark brown sugar

1 1-inch piece ginger, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and reserved

2 tablespoons dark rum

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter eight 4-oz ramekins, or butter and sugar eight 3" high by 2 1/2" diameter ring molds.

Place dates, ginger, salt, vanilla seeds and pod, and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and add in the baking soda, and cook for another 3 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, take out ginger slices and vanilla pod from the mixture, and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, candied ginger, and orange zest until light and fluffy.

Add in the dates and the cooking liquid, and mix until the dates are broken into small pieces and the mixture is well combine. The mixture may turn a funny grey or greenish color from the dates but don't worry, the cake will turn out nice and brown!

With the mixer on low, add in the flour and baking powder. Mix until fully combined.

Add in the egg and mix until combined.

Divide batter among the prepared ramekins or ring molds. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Be careful not to open the oven too often to check the cakes as this will make them deflate.

Cool cakes on a wire rack for about 5 minutes before unmolding. Let them finish cooling as you make the sauce.

To make the sauce: Combine butter, cream, brown sugar, ginger, salt, vanilla seeds and pod, and 3 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat and let simmer until it becomes a thick sauce, about 10 minutes.

Remove ginger slices and vanilla pod. Stir in the walnut halves and return to a boil. Let simmer until it becomes thick and sticky, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the rum. Let cool slightly before using.

To serve, pour sauce around cakes. Serve immediately.

Tagged with: Pichet Ong + p*ong+ ginger date pudding cake

Bite This!

Perfection, Once Again

It looks like I came back from New York just in time for Daring Bakers! I need to do a report on my favorite dessert spots in the Big Apple, but of course how could I not participate in this month's baking extravaganza, especially when it involves Dorie and a cake dear to my heart!

I made this cake before for my blog birthday, and I'm more than pleased to have a reason to make it again. It is a wonderful recipe that turns out a gorgeous cake with snowy good looks, elegant crumb, and pert, clean flavor. I'm afraid I didn't have time to get creative with the flavors as I'm sure many other Daring Bakers did; freshly home from my trip, I was just glad there was a jar of raspberry jam in the refrigerator and flour in the cupboard!

Never mind jet-lag woes: the cake is a snap to throw together even in a zombie-like post-trip trance. The cake is luxurious; moist and flavorful and yet firm enough to hold its form and cut cleanly. I was particularly enamoured with the pairing of lemon and raspberry flavors the first time I made it, so I was happy to repeat the combination - besides, the raspberry jam does look so pretty next to the pristine white of the cake. It also gives the cake a light freshness, even with four layers.

Dorie's buttercream recipe is also a winner to me; fast, simple, and nearly foolproof. No need to muck about with cooking sugar or whipping egg whites, and I find its buttery smoothness complements the cake as well. If you're looking for tips on frosting cakes, be sure to read my post on working with buttercream.

Thanks to Morven for reminding me of how much I adore this cake. And now, I should mention why I'm also so happy that a Dorie recipe got picked for this month - because I met up with Dorie in New York! Of course, I asked her if she knew about the Daring Bakers, and her immediate response was, "They're doing that Perfect Party Cake, the one where the cake doesn't rise!" Apparently she found that many people doing the recipe were using self-rising cake flour, which paradoxically led to collapsing cake layers that ended up flatter than intended. Note to all who attempt this recipe: DON"T use self-rising cake flour, and be sure you beat the butter and sugar together thoroughly, as well as the final combined batter, to properly aerate. I've never had a problem with having the cake layers rise - then again, when the cake is four layers, you don't need to worry too much about your layers being too thin! No worries Dorie, I'm a lifelong fan of this cake!

Dorie is basically the most awesome person ever - sweet, funny, ready to take on any pastry (we ate our way through several plates at Payard), and with the best taste in accessories! AND a Daring Baker fan! She was so excited to know that so many people in the blogosphere were being inspired to bake - and here's the proof!

My present to all you Daring Bakers out there from me and Dorie: Go Daring Bakers!

I'm looking forward to next month's recipe!

Perfect Party Cake

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

makes 12 to 14 servings

Cake

9 oz cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 3/4 fl. oz. buttermilk

4 large egg whites

10 1/2 oz sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

4 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Buttercream

7 oz sugar

4 large egg whites

12 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-in pieces

2 1/4 fl. oz. fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For finishing

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or butter two 9" x 2" round cake pans. Line the bottom of each cake pan with a buttered parchment circle.

For the cake: Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

Whisk the buttermilk and egg whites together in a separate bowl.

Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a stand mixer bowl and rub together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and smells like the lemon.

Add the butter to the mixer bowl and beat together with the sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed until the mixture is fluffy and light.

Add in the vanilla extract.

Add in the flour and buttermilk mixtures in alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixtures. Be sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next.

When everything is added beat the batter for an additional 2 minutes.

Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 30 minutes in the oven or until the tops are set and springy, and a cake tester inserted into the centers come out clean.

Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for a few minutes, then flip and unmold the cakes (run a knife around the sides of the cakes if necessary). Peel the parchment off and flip the cakes back over right side up on the wire racks to finish cooling.

The fully cooled cake layers can be wrapped in plastic and kept overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

For the buttercream: Combine the sugar and egg whites in a medium heatproof bowl and place over a pan of simmering water.

Whisk the sugar mixture constantly over heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture looks smooth and shiny, about 3 minutes.

Remove mixture from heat and pour into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture has cooled.

Switch to the paddle attachment and with the speed on low, add the butter a few pieces at a time, beating until smooth.

When all the butter has been added, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed for about 6-10 minutes until it is very thick and smooth.

Add in the lemon juice and beat until combined. Add in the vanilla.

The buttercream is ready to be used. Place a piece of plastic wrap against the surface until you are ready to use it to prevent it from drying out.

To assemble the cake: Using a sharp serrated knife, slice each cake layer horizontally in half - see this post for tips on cutting cake layers.

Stir the raspberry preserves until it is loose and spreadable.

Place a layer on a cardboard cake round, cut side up. Spread about a third of the raspberry preserves on the cake layer.

Spread a layer of buttercream on top of the preserves. Top with a second cake layer. I found that if you have problems with this, you can spread the buttercream on a second cake layer and flip it over onto the preserve-covered layer - but you have to be very careful doing this or you'll break your cake layer!

Spread preserves and buttercream on the second cake layer as you did with the first. Top with a third cake layer.

Spread preserves and buttercream on the third cake layer as you did with the second. Top with the last cake layer, cut side down.

Use the rest of the buttercream to frost the sides and top of the cake.

Press the coconut over the sides and top of the cake.

The cake is best served a couple of hours after it is assembled to let the flavors develop. You can refrigerate it for up to 2 days, but be sure it is well covered or the cake will dry out. You should also let the cake come to room temperature before you serve it as it does not taste as good cold.

 

Tagged with: Dorie Greenspan + party cake + birthday cake + daring bakers

Bite This!

Sweet Sushi and Other Surprises

I've mentioned Elizabeth Falkner and her cookbook a few times already, I've even got to meet her last year, but it's not until now that I finally got to try out the recipes in Demolition Desserts. Verdict? Baking with Falkner is like being told you can play with your food, literally any way you like. The results are surprising, imaginative, and - not least of all - delicious.

I made one of the first recipes that caught my eye when flipping through the book - it perfectly exemplifies the creativity and playfulness that infuses Falkner's desserts. What looks like oddly like a set of sushi rolls you'd find in a Japanese restaurant is actually a modern, deconstructed take on tiramisu. A chocolate roulade is wrapped around a sweet marsala mascarpone filling and sliced into neat litle rolls that are arranged next to a mocha-rum dipping sauce. Where are the chopsticks? Made of a sesame-flecked vanilla biscotti, natch. Falkner even suggested grated pear "ribbons" to imitate the pile of ginger that accompanies most sushi - I didn't do that part but her cleverness and attention to detail is amazing. And the name of the dessert - Tiramisushi - almost makes you wonder why someone else didn't come up with it before.

Making this felt like a cross between baking and art project - all the familiar elements were rendered new and exciting due to their unconventional uses - I'd never sliced biscotti into slender little stems or thought about adapting a traditional roulade form to a squatter sushi shape. It was all very intriguing and eye-opening, especially making the cake rolls. Having rolled up sponge cakes for jelly rolls and bûche de Noël before, I thought would be the easiest parts, but it turned out to be one of the tricker tasks. The problem I had was that Falkner has you bake the cake in a quarter sheet pan, or a brownie pan, which is smaller than a jelly roll pan and results in a thicker cake. I believe she did this so that the thicker cake would more closely resemble the solid layer of rice in a sushi roll - you don't want to cake to roll around itself several times like for a jelly roll, but only once to just enclose the filling.

It's harder to roll a thick piece of cake up than a thin one, especially if the cake is overbaked and drying out and cracking as you attempt to wrest it into a perfectly round form. So, it's important not to overbake this cake and keep it moist and soft to ensure it rolls up nicely. I also found that spreading the filling on the cake after letting it cool for a few minutes and then rolling it up also helped things. As you can see, I managed to get a few fairly shapely rolls out of this!

With all the pieces in place, this dessert is not just visually appealing but gustatorily satisfying as well. The chocolate cake is light but intensely chocolatey, marrying well with the creamy, sweet mascarpone filling; it's almost like a luxe version of one of those Hostess snack cakes. The slight bitterness of the espresso and rum laced chocolate sauce adds another layer of flavor to the combination as well as a providing an extra indulgent touch, and the biscotti chopsticks are the perfect crisp topper. All the parts of a classic tiramisu are in here, just in a jazzy new form. It's also very easy to play around with all the flavors of the different components, making this a very versatile and lovely dessert - one that's sure to inspire comments and smiles whenever you bring it to the table.

I heartily recommend Falkner's book - it's full of imagination-sparking creations like this, and it's wonderful fun to read as well. You may be inspired to come out with some sweet surprises of your own.

I'm getting ready to make a trip to the east coast for business related to my own book, so I'll be busy packing this weekend. I do have a post all ready for next though, so do stop on by - and I can't wait to share tidbits from my trip when I return!

I

Tiramisushi

adapted from Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts

Cocoa Roulade Sponge Cake
1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz) flour
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon (1 oz) cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1/2 cup ( 3 1/2 oz) sugar
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons (1 oz ) butter, melted butter
1 Tablespoon water
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Marsala Mascarpone Filling
1 cup (8 oz) mascarpone cheese
1 Tablespoon confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 Tablespoon Marsala wine

Mocha-Rum Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon corn syrup
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into pieces
3 Tablespoons hot brewed espresso
2 Tablespoons (1 oz) butter
2 Tablespoons rum
pinch of salt

To make the cocoa roulade, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9"x13" baking pan well and line bottom with parchment paper.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.

Whisk eggs and sugar together in a metal bowl. Set over a pot of simmering water on the stove and heat for a few minutes, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thick and warm to the touch.

Pour egg mixture into bowl of a stand mixer, add the salt, and whisk with the whip attachment on high speed for a few minutes until the mixture has cooled and tripled in volume.

Remove bowl from mixture and fold in flour mixture with a rubber spatula, trying not to deflate the batter.

Combine melted butter and water and add to the batter, folding in to combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread out evenly with an offset spatula.

Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. The center of the cake should bounce back when pressed with a fingertip.

Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes on wire rack before unmolding onto a piece of parchment paper dusted with confectioner's sugar. Peel off the piece of parchment on the bottom of the cake.

Cut the cake lengthwise down the middle so you have two long skinny rectangles. Slide rectangles apart. Now, if your piece of parchment is really big, you can cut it in half so each cake rectangle is on its own piece of parchment that you will use to roll it up. If your parchment is small, prepare new sheets of parchment dusted with confectioner's sugar and place a cake rectangle on each one.

Here Falkner has you roll the cake up from the long side, using the parchment paper as a guide to help roll and keep it in place. Then you let the cakes sit overnight rolled-up before unrolling them, spreading with filling, and rolling them up again. I found that when I tried this the cake seemed to dry out and crack and not roll up very well. The easier method for me was to spread the filling onto the cake and then roll it up, and then store in the refrigerator. Make sure the cake is not still piping hot from the oven or it will melt the filling, but the sooner you fill it, the easier the cake is to roll. You can make the filling ahead of time so it's ready to go when the cake is out of the oven.

To make the filling, combine all the ingredients together in a bowl until evenly blended. Do not overmix.

Spread half the filling down the center of each cake rectangle. Using the parchment paper as a guide, roll up the cake from the long side into a cylinder. Store the parchment-wrapped rolls in the refrigerator
for at least an hour to chill and set. Be sure to set them against something so they don't unroll.

I haven't included the recipe for the biscotti chopsticks because it would make this entry too long, but you can simply use your favorite biscotti recipe. Form the dough into more of a rectangle than a long log. When you take the biscotti dough out of the oven the first time, let cool for about 10 minutes, and then cut into chopstick-size sticks instead of the regular biscotti shape.  Return to the oven and bake again for the indicated time until they are firm and golden.

To make the dipping sauce, combine the cream, corn syrup, and cocoa powder in a saucepan. Heat on stove over medium heat until mixture starts to simmer.

Place the chocolate in a metal bowl and pour hot espresso over it. Pour the hot cream mixture over it and stir until chocolate is melted and everything is combined.

Add in the butter, rum, and salt, and stir until butter is melted.

When you are ready to serve the dessert, take the rolls out of the refrigerator and cut into rounds about 2 inches long. Arrange on a plate with the dipping sauce and biscotti chopsticks.

Tagged with: Elizabeth Falkner + Citizen Cake+ Demolition Desserts + tiramisushi + chocolate

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More Chocolate, This Time of the Warm Molten Variety

I have a secret to share: you know the sexy, ubiquitous warm molten chocolate cakes that appear on many a Valentine’s Day menu? I’ve never made them before. At least, not until last weekend, when I decided this was an omission in my repertoire I needed to rectify. After going through several recipes, I decided that the version where you place a ball of ganache in the middle of the batter was the way to go. This ensures that the while the cake bakes up light and delicately souffléd, the center melts into a sensual liquid flow. Making ganache truffles also gave me the opportunity to play around with recipe and create two versions – one for each of the fabulous presents I received last week!

The wonderfully talented and thoughtful Ivonne sent me a box full of sweet surprises, which included a jar of her own vibrant blood orange syrup. I knew it would make a lovely accompaniment to a chocolate cake, and so Molten Chocolate-Chipotle Cake with Blood Orange Sauce and Cinnamon-Cardamom Crumbles was created. A bit of ground chipotle pepper added to the chocolate ganache gives it a smoky heat that leaves a pleasantly warming tingle on your tongue.  The subtle spiciness actually seems to boost the rich chocolatey-ness of the cake, giving it a lingering, smooth finish. The blood orange syrup adds a gorgeous sweet-tart note to the dessert – it’s like framing the cake in a bright, citrusy sunburst. As a final touch, the buttery cinnamon-cardamom crumbles (I actually just made a spiced cookie and pulverized it in the food processor) provide crunchy contrast. Together, all the components combine into a bold symphony of flavors.

If the first version is an effervescent modern painting, the second, Molten Chocolate Matcha Cake with Tonka Bean Crème Anglaise - is a serene Zen garden. Although matcha is often combined with white chocolate so its verdant hue may be preserved, I found that matching it with dark chocolate made for an austerely sophisticated flavor. The smooth, slightly bitter taste resonated like a stone dropped in still, dark pool.  As for the tonka beans, the uber-fabulous Helen surprised me with a packet of those suddenly trendy little seeds; I’d been eager to get some since I’d seen them on her blog. In their little wax paper bag, they gave off the most mysterious, compelling fragrance: almond, apricot, vanilla, cloves. It’s unfortunate that the potentially dangerous properties of tonka beans have made them an exotic oddity; perhaps, however, like the Japanese blowfish, the thrill of knowingly flirting with danger can add an extra frisson of enjoyment to the act of consumption. Grated into a classic crème anglaise  as a substitute for the traditional vanilla extract, the tonka bean gave the sauce a nutty, floral sweetness.  Combined with the cake, it’s a haiku of a dessert.

Two different takes on the same delectable cake; just two of the myriad of variations that can be spun out of this recipe. I like to think of it like those paper valentines you gave and received as a child; remember working with red paper and lace and glue, trying to create the perfect valentine for each of your friends? I’d like to dedicate these cakes to my lovely friends Ivonne and Helen. And to all the rest of you, I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Molten Chocolate Cake Two Ways

adapted from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot

Makes 8 cakes

Ganache

4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, 62% to 70%

2 Tablespoons (28 g) butter

3 Tablespoons (45 g) heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon salt

Either: 1 ½ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper or 3 teaspoons matcha powder

Blood Orange Sauce: I was lucky enough to receive some as a gift: if you’d like to make your own, here is a similar recipe for Blood Orange Caramel Sauce that is also delicious.

Tonka Bean Crème Anglaise

¾ cup (183 g) milk

¼ cup (60 g) heavy cream

1 tonka bean

3 egg yolks

¼ cup (50 g) sugar

Cake

5 ½ oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, 62% to 70%

5 ½ Tablespoons (84 g) butter

4 large eggs, separated

¼ teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

To make the ganache, combine the chocolate, butter, cream, and salt in a bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water on the stove. Stir occasionally to make sure it melts evenly.

Stir in the ground chipotle pepper or matcha powder. You can add more or less to your taste.

Pour the ganache into a container and place in refrigerator for about an hour until it starts to set up. You can also place it in the freezer to speed up the process.

When the ganache is firm enough to scoop, use a spoon or cookie scoop to make ¾” round balls. Place in a container and store in freezer to keep them firm while you make the cake.

To make the crème anglaise, combine milk and cream in a small heavy saucepan. Grate the tonka bean into the milk mixture.

Heat on medium until it just starts to bubble. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl.

Pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly to temper the eggs.

Return the mixture to the saucepan and place back on the stove. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Remove and strain into a bowl. You can chill in an ice bath or in the refrigerator until ready to use. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. This makes about 1 cup.

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. Take eight 2 ½” diameter metal rings and butter and sugar the insides well. Arrange rings on the baking sheets.

Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water on the stove, stirring occasionally.

When chocolate and butter are fully melted and combined remove from heat and let cool until warm.

Whisk egg yolks, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Pour about a third of the melted chocolate into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper the eggs.

Pour in the rest of the chocolate and whisk to combine.

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until medium peaks form – do not overwhip.

Carefully fold in about half of the egg whites into the chocolate batter to lighten it. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites, taking care not to deflate them too much.

Fill the rings a little less than halfway up with the batter. Place a ball of ganache in the center of the batter. Cover with more batter, filling the rings about ¾ full – the cakes will rise when baking like a soufflé so don’t fill them too high or they will spill over.

Bake cakes for 10 to 12 minutes. The cakes should be done – a tester inserted in the side should come out with a few crumbs, but the centers should have melted. You may want to test with one cake first to gauge how long the right baking time will be.

Remove cakes and let cool on racks for a couple minutes. Use a wide metal spatula to move the cakes onto serving plates, and then carefully remove the rings. Drizzle sauce around the cakes and serve immediately.

Tagged with: molten chocolate cake + blood orange sauce+ tonka bean creme anglaise + matcha chocolate + chipotle chocolate

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Another New Year to Celebrate

One thing about living so near the San Francisco Chinatown - you'll never miss Chinese New Year, because the sound of firecrackers will start resounding through the neighborhood about a week before the actual celebration.

Of course, that's exactly how the Chinese would have it - I'd love to see a week-long celebration here in the US for, say, Fourth of July, or Thanksgiving, or our own New Year. Back at my parents' home in Hong Kong, my mom has been busy cleaning every room of the house and preparing many of the traditional New Year's dishes, like whole fish, dumplings, and jai, or Buddha's Delight, a vegetarian noodle dish. My dad is undoubtedly stuffing dozens of red envelopes with lucky money for all his nieces and nephews.

There is a traditional Chinese New Year's cake, called nian gao, which means literally year cake but which can also translate to "every year higher; suggesting that if you eat this cake you'll do better every year! Nian gao is made from glutinous rice flour mixed with Chinese brown sugar and steamed to a sticky, chewy consistency, similar to Japanese mochi and other sweets made with glutinous rice flour.

Is that what I made for Chinese New Year? I have to make a confession: Nian gao really isn't one of my favorite sweets! I'll eat it, but I haven't really been tempted to make it in the kitchen. Maybe for next year I'll attempt a version that captures my tastebuds a little more. But for this year, I decided instead to use another traditional New Year food, the tangerine in my baking. The word for tangerine in Chinese sounds similar to the word for luck, and you'll see people carrying potted tangerine trees or bags of the bright orange fruit home in Chinatown.

Tangerines come in several varieties, from Clementines to tangelos, which are actually grapefruit-tangelo hybrids. The tangerines you will most often see in Chinatown, with deep green leaves still attached, are sometimes called mandarins and have a brighter, tarter flavor than oranges. They make a superb substitute for lemons, which is exactly what I decided to do - make my favorite lemon curd with tangerines.

The tangerine curd is delectably smooth, pleasingly tart, and a dollop is the perfect topper for a slice of sponge cake - in this case, a version of the Japanese castella. Sweetened with honey, its rich flavor and tight, fine crumb make it a perfect tea time cake.

I also used up my remaining Meyer lemons to make some lemon curd - I couldn't resist. Both of them are irresistible on the castella.

Thursday marks the official first day of Chinese New Year 4706, or the Year of the Rat. I'm sure by Wednesday night the occasional firecracker pop outside my window will have become a deafening cacophony - but I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy New Year, and best wishes of happiness and prosperity to you all, in your baking endeavors and everything else!

For other Chinese New Year's traditions, you can read last year's post.

Oh, and as a reminder, voting opens today (Monday) in the Death by Chocolate contest at Culinate! Please consider clicking on the image below to go to the Culinate website and vote for me! Remember, if you vote you get a chance at winning a trip to Napa as well! Thank you so much!

Tangerine Curd

adapted from Pierre Hermé's Desserts

makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups

1/2 cup sugar

zest from 3 tangerines

2 eggs

1/2 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice

3 1/2 ounces butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, softened but not melting

Create a water bath by placing a saucepan of water over heat to simmer and placing a metal bowl unto the pan so its bottom does not touch the water. Combine the sugar and tangerine zest together with your fingers and add to the metal bowl. Whisk in the eggs and tangerine juice.

Cook the mixture over the simmering water, whisking constantly, until the cream reaches 180 degrees and thickens. Keep whisking while the mixture is heating up to prevent the eggs from cooking.

Once the cream is thickened - you should be able to make tracks in the mixture with your whisk - take the cream off the heat and strain it into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Let the cream rest for a bit until it cools to about 140 degrees.

Add in the butter pieces a few at the time and combine on high speed. Once all of the butter has been added, let the mixture combine for a few minutes longer to ensure the mixture is perfectly smooth. It is the addition of butter that changes this recipe from a simple lemon curd to a rich, satiny-smooth cream.

Once the cream is finished pour it into a container and let it chill in the refrigerator for about half an hour before assembly.

Honey Castella

adapted from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot

makes 16 mini cakes

1 1/2 cups ( 7 1/2 oz) flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

7 large eggs

3 egg yolks

1 3/4 cups (11 oz) sugar

1/4 cup ( 3 1/2 oz) honey

1/4 cup oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. If you have mini cake pans (about 9"x13" with slots for eight cakes), grease the pans well. Or you can make one large 9"x13" cake.

Combine the flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and honey together in a bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the mixture is thick and smooth and the sugar dissolved, about 6 to 8 minutes. Do not let the mixture get too hot or boil.

Pour mixture into bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment for several minutes on medium speed until the mixture is pale yellow and has increased in volume, about 10 minutes. Carefully fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula.

Pour about 1 cup of the mixture into a medium bowl. Pour in the oil, whisking to incorporate. Slowly pour the oil mixture back into the rest of the batter and whisk thoroughly to combine.

Divide batter among cake pans. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 300 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes until the tops are dark brown and a tester inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean.

Let cakes cool on rack before unmolding.

Tagged with: Chinese New Year + tangerine curd+ lemon curd+ honey castella

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Two Years, Too Sweet

It came as a huge surprise when I looked at the calendar and realized that Dessert First was about to turn two years old. Has it already been so long? I still remember when I started this blog, several months out of pastry school, with no idea of what was out in either the pastry world or the blogosphere, only that I loved to bake and that I really wanted a space to share what I was baking with the rest of the world.

Well, it's been two years later and I never would have imagined all the things that could have occurred to a girl with a kitchen, a camera, and a computer. First, and most importantly, I've met some of the most wonderful people ever through Dessert First: bloggers, readers, writers, photographers, cooks, bakers -  of course all them fellow dessert lovers. I've been introduced to some truly inspiring blogs out there and also received some wonderful compliments from virtual strangers. I still remember the first time I got a comment from someone I didn't know; it was the most unexpected pleasure, like a butterfly landing on my shoulder, discovering that someone out there who didn't know me was moved to reach out. Today I'm still surprised at the e-mails I get asking me for pastry advice. It's truly amazing to me - a heartfelt thank you to all of you who've written in!

I've made desserts that I would have never dreamed of doing, especially with the Daring Bakers urging me on, I've discovered that no matter how hard I resisted the lure of food photography was too tempting, and I realized that creating a webpage was only opening the door to opportunities I'd never imagined.

I've gotten to work with professional food photographers and done my very own professional photo shoots. I've gotten to judge a baking contest. I've had articles published in magazines. I'm writing a monthly column for Baking911.

And finally, the top secret project that I've hinted at, the reason my online presence has been so sadly diminished these last few months...I'm writing a cookbook that's coming out at the end of the year!!

Yes, this is a real book being released by an established publisher; I am collaborating with another co-author and we have been hard at work on the manuscript, which is due quite soon - that's why I've been so quiet in the blogosphere! It's been an intense, exhausting, and very fun project, one that I'm very proud to be a part of and I can't wait to tell you all more about it as it unfolds! I can mention the subject of the book though, which is...cookies:)

With the book occupying the bulk of my free time, I haven't been able to devote as much time to Dessert First as I would have liked. There's so many things I'd love to do with this site: more recipes, more photos, more features. Many of you have written me with suggestions, and I've taken lots of them to heart: there are tons of ideas I'd really like to implement here, and hopefully they'll occur in the not-too-far-future!

So thank you all again for your encouragement and support! To celebrate Dessert First's 2nd birthday and all the other exciting news I've shared, here is a creation inspired again by my recent trip to Hong Kong (I'm on an Asian kick, can you tell?) It's another classic combination, green tea cake layered with red bean filling, two of my favorite flavors. The green tea cake is same one I used in my matcha opera cake, a Macbook Air-thin layer of genoise flavored with the smoky intensity of green tea. The filling is simply whipped cream with sweetened red beans folded in; red beans are a staple of the Asian dessert repertoire with their earthy, distinctive sweetness. They give the whipped cream a deep, sensual flavor without the overpowering richness of a buttercream. Elegant, light, not overly sweet: all hallmarks of Asian patisserie, and a beautiful way to celebrate.

Here's a slice of cake surrounded by several of my Flickr cards, happy little reminders of all I've done. I look forward to ordering more sets with all new images of the desserts I'll create in the year to come!

Green Tea Cake with Red Bean Filling

Green Tea Genoise

2 eggs, room temperature
2 ¼ oz confectioners' sugar
2 ¼ oz ground almonds
about 1 tsp matcha powder (to taste)
1 oz all purpose flour
2 egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 ounce sugar
½ ounce butter, melted

Red Bean Filling

1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces prepared red beans - I didn't have time to prepare my own red beans so I bought a tin of prepared red beans at the Asian grocery - they are already cooked and sweetened and ready to use in desserts. Look for the word "Azuki" on the label; they should be individual beans and not red bean paste.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan (about 12"x16") with a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat.

Combine the eggs with the confectioners' sugar and ground almonds in a mixer until cream-colored and light.

Add in the matcha powder and combine. You can add more or less depending on your taste, but donâ€'t add more than 1 ½ tsp or it might affect the cake'€™s texture.

Remove from the mixer. Sift the flour over the egg mixture.

Whip the egg whites in a clean bowl on a mixer at low speed until they start to froth. Then add the cream of tartar and increase mixer speed, whipping until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and whip for a few seconds longer to incorporate.

Scoop about 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg mixture and fold in gently with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in until uniformly mixed. Pour the melted butter over the batter and fold in to incorporate.

Pour the batter into the half sheet pan and distribute it evenly with an offset spatula, making the layer as level and smooth as possible.

Bake in the oven for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the cake is just firm and lightly brown but not completely brown – this cake should not be overbaked.

Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it. Slide the cake off the sheet pan and onto a wire rack to cool. When the cake is no longer hot but still warm, place another rack or sheet pan on top of the cake and flip it over, then carefully peel the parchment paper from the cake to prevent it from sticking to the cake. You can place the parchment paper clean side down or a clean Silpat onto the cake, then flip it back over to finish cooling.

When you are ready to assemble the cake, trim off the edges and slice the cake in half along the short side, then cut each piece in half along the long side so you get four 6"x8" pieces.

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold in the red beans gently with a rubber spatula until they are evenly distributed; the cream may take on a light reddish tint.

Place cake layer on a covered cake round and frost the top with a quarter of the whipped cream. It's ok if some of the cream goes over the sides; just try to keep the layer even.

Cover with a cake layer and frost the top with a third of the remaining whipped cream. Repeat until you have assembled all four layers of cake.

Cover the cake and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to serve, trim off the sides of the cake to make them nice and even.

Tagged with: green tea red bean cake + book writing

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