Desserts

Dessert Recipes

January 29, 2009

The Daring Bakers: Tuiles

Carrie Zinnecker Daring Bakers, Desserts 4 Comments

tuile5

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf.
They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Last night I was perusing food blogs and came across a recipe from a past Daring Bakers challenge…Oh No!! I forgot about the challenge!! What’s a girl to do? I can’t miss another challenge since I missed the Yule Log in December. I checked the site and realized that I still had another 48 hours or so to post. A sigh of relief. Also, I had all the ingredients required. So, this afternoon I began the challenge of the tuile.

The challenge required some type of tuile cookie paired with something light. There were various batters recipes given, even a savory one!

I chose to make the plain tuile and piped some chocolate flavored batter onto a few of the cookies. I didn’t make a stencil. I just traced some circles onto the back of the parchment.

tuile1

I also free-handed a few hearts, stars and ovals. I had some strawberries and bluberries on hand, so I made a quick salad with the fruit and some vanilla sugar.

tuile2

tuile4 The combination of the cookie and fruit was lovely. A little whipped cream would have made it extra special…but would have defeated the purpose of a lighter and healthier dessert.

I like these sweet, crisp cookies as a garnish or a way to deliver another sweet treat. I plan to make the savory ones next time.

Here is the recipe!

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.1/4 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

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January 17, 2009

Baking in Amarillo: Cranberry Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 1 Comment

We just moved to Amarillo! This means a new town, new people, new house, new job, and most importantly…a new kitchen! It took some time and some trial and error to get the kitchen organized. I’m sure that you can identify with the importance of placement in a kitchen. If your baking utensils, ingredients, pans, etc. are not in an easily accessible and logical place, then it makes for a very frustrating and unenjoyable time in the kitchen. I finally got a chance to bake the other day. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that we have a gas oven now. It seems to bake more evenly than my electric oven. So far I am liking the gas.

I wanted to bake something that really said “Amarillo”! So, I googled “Amarillo cookies” and didn’t really end up with anything impressive or distinctly Amarillo. Now that I’m writing this I’m thinking that Cowboy cookies would have been a good choice, or maybe something that resembles cow poo to pay tribute to the numerous stockyards in this area.

crancookies

I came across an article in the Amarillo Globe News from this past December. In the 2008 Cookie Contest, the cookie I decided to make placed 1st! The recipe for Cranberry Pistachio Cookies can be found here. Here are the changes I made.

I replaced the pistachios with an equal amount of chopped pecans.
I opted not to roll the dough into logs. I just pressed all the dough into a greased 11×7 jelly roll pan. I chilled it in the fridge for 2 hours, then cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch squares and baked them for the same amount of time.

I used almond bark to dip some of the cookies and drizzled the rest. Next time I would drizzle all of them. Dipping the cookies created a thick coating that distracted from the cookie flavor. The cookie itself is not too sweet. The texture is very similar to shortbread. The tartness of the cranberry creates a nice flavor contrast.

crancookies2

Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

First Place Winner

Submitted by Carrie Johnson of Amarillo

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries (or any dried fruit)

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachio nuts (or any nuts)

2-3 squares almond bark candy coating

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder and slat; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in fruit and nuts. Shape into 2″ logs; wrap in waxed paper then place in an air tight container. Chill for one hour or until firm.

Slice dough into 1/2″ cookies; place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake! Cool on wire racks. Melt candy coating in microwave proof cup; dip end of each cookie to evenly coat. Let harden on wire rack.

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November 29, 2008

Daring Bakers: The Rise and Fall of a Caramel Cake

Carrie Zinnecker Daring Bakers, Desserts 4 Comments

I prepared myself for this challenge, finally! Knowing that the deadline was close to Thanksgiving and my vacation to LA, I knew I would not have the opportunity to make this cake in time if I didn’t do it soon. So, I decided that I had to get it done early. As fate would have it, Ben and I had dinner plans with two of our good friends so I had a reason to make the cake and people to eat it!

I made the caramel syrup first. I read the WARNING about the caramel, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. The result was a sticky sugary mess and a smoke alarm that refused to quit with its incessant beeping! Ok, it wasn’t really that bad. I did make the smoke alarm go off though. Do I get points for that? The caramel does sputter pretty seriously when you add the water, so yes, be careful! It was a lovely amber color and made the house smell pretty great.

The cake batter came together well and smelled so great with the addition of the caramel syrup. I had all my ingredients at room temperature, which truly is an important step.

I baked the cake for 30 minutes, a quick 180 and then 15 minutes more. This may have been a little long, but not the end of the world.

I decided to cut the cake in half and make a two-layer cake. The more frosting I can get on a cake the better.

I love the flavor of brown butter, so I was very excited to try this frosting. I used all the butter and powdered sugar called for, about 5 tablespoons of cream and 4 tablespoons of the caramel and that created a pretty good consistency.

The cake was a little crumby and a few cake pieces found their way into the frosting when I started to frost the cake. Once I got a good crumb coat on the cake, it was fine.

I deicded to use more frosting (any excuse is a good one!) and pipe some dots around the bottom and top edge of the cake. Then I had to do something with the extra syrup. Do I drizzled what was left on top and on the sides of the cake. I was going for a drippy effect on the sides which wasn’t a complete success, but it looked OK.

I had to transport this cake to dinner where it would wait in the car for a few hours, then to the Hartman’s for dessert. All of this went smoothly…and then…I had the cake in one of those big cake carriers with the latching sides. The cake was on a cake stand, but I made sure that it wouldn’t slide all over the place by putter a dish towel under the stand. I was so careful! I get out of the car with the cake…the latches come undone, the cake completely inverts onto the lawn. I flip it back over and try to inspect the damage in the dark. It looked OK. The light of the house soon brought about the truth and let us see the true damage that had been done. Little pieces of grass all over, my fingers prints on the side where I’d picked it up and bugs, yes, little tiny grass bugs. Carrie helped me pick off most of the creatures and grass pieces. We cut a piece and my friends were kind enough to try the cake and let me know their opinions despite the unexpected addition of plant and animal life.

The verdict was that while being a little dry, the flavor was incredible with just the right about of subtle caramel in the cake. I really like the frosting flavor and will probably try it on a choclate cake sometime. I did end up throwing away 80% of the cake, which made me pretty sad. I did come out of this with a great story, so I guess it was worth it.

Here is the recipe!

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup 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 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup 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 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons 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.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

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November 21, 2008

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 1 Comment

It has been quite a while since my last post…and people noticed! Incredible! I have been baking and cooking, but not blogging. I have a lot of catching up to do.

I made these cookies for a friend to bring on a picnic date. Easy to transport yet still special enough to be a romantic dessert that pairs well with wine, or coffee. Lucky me, I was able to use my fancy Guittard chocolate! It was a great chocolate for these cookies; not too sweet and a great complement to the espresso.

The little flecks in the batter here is actual espresso…no instant coffee in these cookies! I think that makes a real difference in the flavor.

After adding the melted chocolate to the batter and stirring in the nuts and chips the batter is thick and sticky. It’s a little messy to drop onto the cookie sheets, but I managed.

Once baked these cookies have crisp tops and fudgy centers. The crunch of the walnuts and additional chips makes them extra delicious.

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons finely ground dark-roast coffee beans, such as Italian-roast
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 large heavy baking sheets.

In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup chocolate chips, and butter, stirring until smooth, and remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs, sugar, and ground coffee on high speed until very thick and pale and mixture forms a ribbon when beaters are lifted, about 3 minutes, and beat in chocolate mixture. Into mixture sift in flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined. Stir in remaining chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and bake in batched in middle of oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until puffed and cracked on top. Cool cookies in baking sheets 1 minute and transfer to racks to cool completely.

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October 31, 2008

Pumpkin Week III: Spider Pumpkin Cupcakes

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 0 Comments

Happy Halloween! I was super pleased with the way these turned out. Very creepy over-sized and a bit disproportioned spiders on top of purple spiderweb pumpkin cupcakes! I love them. They looked so great all together on the platter when I brought them to school this morning. No picture of that unfortunately. This picture I like because it looks like an army of chocolate spiders. Yummy.

The cupcakes are pumpkin and use a cake mix…gotta love that. The flavor was good and the cake was moist. The tops of the cupcakes were easy to frost, not too rounded and not too flat.

Here is the recipe:

1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 standard (2-1/2-inch) muffin pan cups with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Beat cake mix, pumpkin, water, eggs, oil, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended.
Spoon batter into each muffin cup. Bake about 20 minutes or until toothpicks inserted into centers come out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to wire racks; cool completely.

I frosted the cupcakes with cream cheese icing which I’d colored purple.

To make the spiderwebs:

1. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and transfer the chocolate to a piping bag.

2. Pipe a spiral of chocolate from the center of the cupcake out to the edge.

3. Use a toothpick to drag a few evenly spaced lines from the center to the edge of the cupcake. Tada!

I found a recipe that used black gumdrops to make the spiders, but I wasn’t too thrilled with that idea. I decided to use whoppers as the spider body and then make little legs from molding chocolate, like almond bark.

To make the spider legs:

1. Melt the chocolate according to the package directions.

2. Transfer to a piping bag or plastic bag with a SMALL corner cut off.

3. Pipe legs onto parchment paper and let dry.

Tip: Make more legs than you need as they will break easily.

To assemble the cupcakes:

1. Place one whopper on the top of the cupcake.

2. Arrange 8 legs, 4 on each side of the whopper pressing slightly into the icing.

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October 30, 2008

Pumpkin Week Part II: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 0 Comments

I am a fan of plain cheesecake. Just the creamy filling and buttery crumbly graham cracker crust. That is all I need. No fruit, no chocolate, no caramel and absolutley NO fake strawberry goo. What is that stuff anyway? I do happen to like pumpkin cheesecake, so when I found this recipe I was pretty excited. This recipe is a Betty Crocker prize winner for 2008 and uses a Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix in the base.

Other than that everything else is from scratch. A drizzle of caramel ice cream topping and fudge makes the bars more special and delicious. I didn’t warm up the hot fudge before drzzling, so it came out of my ziploc bag in globs instead of a nice stream. Oops!

I ate one before I chilled the bars and it was good. I ate another little bite after a few hours in the fridge, and it was much better. These would be a good alternative to pumpkin pie…or a good addition! You can’t have too many desserts this time of year, right?

I took the bars out of the oven after 30 minutes and it was definitely done. I think any longer, in my oven anyway, would have overcooked them.

The streusel topping is very good. I like the addition of pecans and gingersnaps a lot. They give a great flavor and extra crunch to the cookie base.

Cookie Base
1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1/2	cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2	cup finely chopped pecans
1/2	cup cold butter or margarine
Filling
2	packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1	cup sugar
1	cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2	tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1	tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2	tablespoons whipping cream
2	eggs
Toppings
1/3	cup chocolate topping
1/3	cup caramel topping

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, crushed cookies and pecans. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients; beat until well blended. Pour over warm cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved topping.
3.	Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.
4.	Before serving, drizzle with chocolate and caramel toppings. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

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October 27, 2008

Pumpkin Week Part I: Pumpkin Walnut Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 0 Comments

I have decided to dedicate this week to that great orange fruit we all know and love, member of the cucurbitaceae family…drumroll please…the PUMPKIN! I scoured through my cookbooks and found quite a few pumpkin bread and pumpkin cake recipes, and of course pumpkin pie recipes. I really wanted to find a good pumpkin cookie recipe. I found this recipe in my More from Magnolia cookbook. This cookbook had been good to me. It contains my absolute favorite banana bread recipe that has coconut and pecans in it. So, I figured it was a safe bet to try these cake-like cookies.

I liked this soft cookie, but would maybe add more walnuts. They have a soft texture and a mild pumpkin flavor. The spices are mild also, but that could be because I haven’t bought a new round of holiday season spices yet. Note to self…buy new spices. They are OK on their own, but they are incredible with the frosting! The frosting was simple; powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and butter. This is no ordinary butter, people. Before adding the butter you brown it in a saucepan and that makes all the difference. Browned butter adds this lovely nuttiness as well as little brown flecks to the otherwise boring white frosting. I did not have enough frosting for all the cookies, so I will double it next time. I am a frosting fan, so others may not see the need for more. Come on though, what could be wrong with left-over frosting? Keep it in the fridge and spread it on graham crackers, pretzels, or your finger.

Pumpkin Walnut Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting (Adapted from More From Magnolia)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1 t allspice
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
4 T softened butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs at room temp.
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 t vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs, vanilla and pumpkin. Mix well.
Stir in the walnuts.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 10-12 minutesm until lightly brown around the edges.
Let cool for a few minutes on the sheets, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

Brown Butter Frosting (doubled)

4 cups powdered sugar
6 T milk
2 t vanilla
6 T butter

Mix sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl.
In a small saucepan, cook butter over medium high heat until lightly browned.
Remove from heat and add to other ingredients. Mix until well combined, smooth and creamy.
Spread frosting onto each cooled cookie. Top with a walnut half if desired.

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October 23, 2008

Baklava

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 1 Comment

This is one of those things that impresses people, but in actuality is very easy. No matter how you spell it, Phyllo, filo, fillo dough is a fun thing to bake with. It is wonderfully crispy and light. It can be used in sweet and savory dishes and you can buy it frozen, so that makes life easier.

We planned a Greek dinner with friends, so I decided to bring baklava. I have made it once before with great results. I used all kinds of nuts the last time; almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts and I think I even used pecans. This time I decided to use just almonds and pistachios. I coarsely chopped them, maybe too coarsely. I would chop them into smaller pieces next time. This recipe mixes the cinnamon with the nuts.

Using phyllo dough is not hard. However, you MUST cover the dough with a damp towel while working with it. Take off the sheets you need, then cover it back up or it will dry out and break when you try to use it. Now, phyllo dough is pretty healthy. When you smother it in melted butter…well, then it becomes less healthy but significantly more delicious. Do you like my pastry brush sans handle? Nice, I know.

Cutting the baklava into diamonds before baking was hard. The dough was sticking to my knife a bit, and I kept pulling the top layer of phyllo out of place. I somehow managed to finish that step without pulling my hair out.

While the baklava bakes you are supposed to make the sugar and honey syrup. Right when the baklava is done baking you should be ready with the syrup. This helps to adhere all the layers. I was a little late in finishing the syrup. The baklava had to sit for about 10 minutes before I poured on the syrup, so I think that might have been why it wasn’t as cohesive. It still tasted delicious, so I’m not too bummed about it.

I got this recipe from allrecipes. Baklava

I made half of the recipe below since there would only be 5 dinner guests. I used an 8×8 pan and baked it for only about 40 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo

dough

1 pound chopped nuts

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×13 inch pan.
2.	Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 – 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 – 8 sheets deep.
3.	Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
4.	Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
5.	Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

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October 21, 2008

Mexican Chocolate Bundt Cake

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 0 Comments

This recipe is from my Rebecca Rather cookbook…yet again. I think that I might end up cooking my way through this book eventually! This cake was chocolatey and moist with just a hint of cinnamon. Rather suggests you use high quality cocoa (such as Scharfen Berger) but I had to settle for Hershey’s. I would like to do a side by side taste test sometime to see how much and what kind of a difference it would make.

The cake is baked and topped with a thick chocolate pecan glaze. I found my glaze to be a little too thick and overwhelming. I would probably cut back on it next time, or try to thin it out. I’d also try not mixing the pecans in the glaze, but sprinkling them on top of the glaze instead.

Here is the cake! The first one was taken right after pouring the glaze on, hence the glassy sheen! The second was taken the morning after. This dessert does look as beautiful in the morning as it did the night before. I sprinkled a few extra toasted pecans on top. It was just so monotonously brown.

I always seem to have problems with bundt cakes sticking in the pan even after greasing AND flouring. Rather recommends Baker’s Joy for this cake. I have never used Baker’s Joy, so I decided to give it a try. It was great! The cake came out clean and easy. Hardly a speck of cake in the pan afterward! Lovely. I probably won’t become a constant user of Baker’s Joy because I kind of enjoy the process of greasing and flouring some pans, especially round cakes pans.

I found this recipe on epicurious also, but the glaze is a bit different. The recipe in the cookbook calls for cocoa powder while the epicurious recipe calls for chopped bittersweet chocolate. Yet another variation I will have to try someday.

Here is the epicurious recipe. I will have to type up the one from the cookbook and post it later.

Mexican Chocolate Cake Gourmet | April 2004

Adapted from chef Rebecca Rather
Rather Sweet Bakery & Café, Fredricksburg, TX

At the bakery, Rather makes both cupcakes and bundt cake with this recipe. The hint of cinnamon in the batter is a nod toward Mexican chocolate, which often contains cinnamon and spices.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 2 hr Makes 10 to 12 servings.

ingredients

For cake
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup water
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon saltFor glaze
2 cups chopped pecans (71/2 oz)
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
5 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt

Special equipment: a 9-inch tube pan or 12-cup bundt pan

preparation

Make cake:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter cake pan well and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Melt butter (2 sticks) in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in cocoa. Add water and whisk until smooth, then remove from heat. Whisk in separately sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl, then sift again into cocoa mixture and whisk until just combined (don’t worry if there are lumps). Pour batter into cake pan and bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out with a few crumbs adhering, 45 to 55 minutes. (Leave oven on.) Cool cake in pan on a rack 20 minutes, then loosen edges with a thin knife and invert onto a plate. Make glaze:
Spread pecans in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and bake until fragrant and a shade darker, 6 to 8 minutes. Cool pecans slightly in pan on a rack, about 5 minutes. Melt butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, then stir in half-and-half and confectioners sugar. Add chocolate and cook, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and salt. Cool glaze until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon glaze over top and sides of cake (cake will still be warm) and spread with a small offset spatula or knife to cover completely. Cooks’ note:
Cake (with glaze) can be made 2 days ahead and kept at room temperature in a cake keeper or covered with an inverted bowl.

Make glaze:
Spread pecans in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and bake until fragrant and a shade darker, 6 to 8 minutes. Cool pecans slightly in pan on a rack, about 5 minutes. Melt butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, then stir in half-and-half and confectioners sugar. Add chocolate and cook, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and salt. Cool glaze until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon glaze over top and sides of cake (cake will still be warm) and spread with a small offset spatula or knife to cover completely.

Cooks’ note:
Cake (with glaze) can be made 2 days ahead and kept at room temperature in a cake keeper or covered with an inverted bowl.

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October 11, 2008

Dump Cake: As good as I remember?

Carrie Zinnecker Desserts 1 Comment

The answer is both “Yes!” and “Uh, not really.” The ingredients and process is ridiculously easy and simple. A monkey could make this. A stupid monkey could make this. Cake mix, a can of crushed pineapple, a can of cherry pie filling and a stick of butter.

Dump it all in a 9×13 pan and…bake. Crazy easy. Sorry about this picture! I was having fun with photoshop.

I took a little corner of the cake and ate it plain and it was tasty. Then I made myself a plate with a scoop of dump cake and a scoop of Bluebell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. A yummy and nostaligic dessert, but probably not something I will make very often in the future. Dump cake is a good dessert for a crowd since it is cheap, easy, quick and I can’t really think of anyone who wouldn’t like it, unless they don’t like pineapple. I thought about adding coconut and pecans to the topping, but I wanted to make the simple dump cake that I remember having when I was younger. I found a lot of variations for this recipe…different fruits, different types of cake mix, and various toppings. I may try those sometime.

The verdict on dump cake…fine. A 7 out of 10. I think my tastebuds prefer from scratch baked goods more than a dessert which uses cake mix as one of its main ingredients. I will always like cake mixes, but when given the option I will go for a homemade dessert.

Dump Cake