Monday, September 20, 2021

Pumpkin Bread - updated!

I’ve tweaked my pumpkin bread recipe a little bit - the batter doesn’t get as lumpy, the loaves come out of the pans better, and it now has a pretty (but optional) cinnamon stripe!



Pumpkin Bread 
Dry:
3 cups granulated sugar (can sub in up to 1 cup brown sugar)
3.5 cups all-purpose flour (can sub in up to 1 cup whole wheat flour)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp table salt
 
Wet:
1 15oz can pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
 
Pans:
softened butter, about 2 Tbsp
1 Tbsp cinnamon*
4 Tbsp granulated sugar*
 
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the softened butter onto the sides and bottom of 3 8"x4" loaf pans (you can use other size loaf pans, but your bake time and yield will be different). Combine the 1 Tbsp cinnamon and 4 Tbsp sugar in a small bowl and coat the buttered pans with the cinnamon-sugar. You'll use maybe half of it for this - save the rest for later!
 
2. In a LARGE bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together.
 
3. Add all the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well. A few small lumps are fine, but you don't want big ones.
 
4. Distribute half of the batter evenly between the three loaf pans. *Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar evenly over the batter. (If you have some leftover, that's fine - I see cinnamon toast in your future!) Pour the remaining batter into the pans.
 
5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, rotating pans about halfway through. They're done when a toothpick inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans on a rack for 10-15 minutes before removing the loaves from their pans to keep cooling.
 
*Note: the cinnamon-sugar stripe in the middle is completely optional. If you don't want to do it, just make a smaller quantity of the cinnamon-sugar for lining the pans, keeping the 1 part cinnamon to 4 parts sugar ratio (changing the ratio makes the loaves more likely to stick to the pans!).

Friday, June 21, 2013

Johanna & Lee's Wedding Cake, and a Wedding Cake How-To



My dear friends, Johanna and Lee, were married last month, and I had the honor of making their wedding cake!  It was a beautiful wedding, and the reception was LOTS of fun.




One of their other friends made these figurines that went on top of the cake - aren't they ADORABLE? They look like the bride & groom!




The groom figurine was a little top-heavy, though, and after the 3rd hour standing on the cake, decided to take a header - he slid all the way to the bottom! I put him back up, with extra toothpicks, but he wasn't having it. He slid a couple more times, and then the catering manager decided to take steps to ensure the "groom's" cooperation:




He got tied up there with ribbon!  We all - the bride and groom especially - thought this was HILARIOUS.

The cake turned out so well, and I managed my time better than I ever have for a wedding cake - I had time to paint my nails the day of the wedding, and I got changed and to the ceremony on time. Miraculous!  It was a white cake with raspberry curd and marzipan filling, and the whole thing was frosted with a vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. I haven't made this type of frosting very often, because it is a bit of a process, but it makes the loveliest frosting.  I'll have to use it more frequently, especially for wedding cakes, because it gets so nice and smooth.


Below are detailed notes on how to make a cake like this one, including recipes, notes, and tools you'll need. 



Process notes on making this cake:
  • Don't plan to do this all the day of the wedding! I bought the marzipan on Wednesday, made the raspberry curd on Thursday, and baked the cakes and made half the frosting on Friday. Saturday I made the other half of the frosting, assembled and frosted the cakes, cut the dowels, took them to the reception site, set them up there, and then changed and went to the 4:30pm wedding.
  • You can make the cake layers ahead of time and freeze them, unfilled and unfrosted, if you want. My freezer is way too full for this!
  • I used simple syrup (which I already had on hand; you'll want to make it no later than the day before you assemble the cakes) to make sure the cakes were moist. It might not have been necessary, but I like to hedge my bets with wedding cake.
  • This cake, with its 6-inch, 9-inch, and 12-inch tiers, will serve about 100 people, if cut according to these plans. This INCLUDES serving the top tier; if the couple wants to save it, the cake will serve about 88 people.
  • Conveniently, making three tiers of these sizes (6-inch, 9-inch, and 12-inch) uses three batches of cake batter:  batch one fills both 9-inch pans; batch two fills one 6-inch pan and one 12-inch pan, and batch three fills the 6- and 12-inch pans again.



Assembly: 
  • Start with the smallest tier; it's easiest.
  • Put the bottom cake layer on its cardboard round on cake decorating turntable. 
  • Brush the top of the cake layer with simple syrup. Unwrap the second layer and brush one side of it with simple syrup, too, then set it aside. 
  • Pipe a dam of frosting around the edge with a 1/2-inch round decorating tip. 
  • Using a small offset spatula, spread a thin layer of raspberry curd inside the dam. 
  • Roll out the marzipan between two layers of waxed paper, until it's a little bigger than your tier in all directions. Cut a circle that is 1 inch smaller in diameter than your pan out of the marzipan and hold it over your cake. Trim more away if necessary; it's better that it's a little too small than too big.  Place the marzipan on top of the cake, inside the dam. 
  • Spread a very thin layer of curd on top of the marzipan - the dam should still be taller than the rest of the filling.  (See photo below) 
  • Place the second layer on top of the filling, simple syrup facing down, making sure it's lined up evenly.  
  • Spread a verrrrry thin layer of frosting all over the cake - this is the crumb coating, which will help keep the crumbs from marring your beautiful frosting.  
  • Place the cake in the fridge or freezer for 10-20 minutes, until the frosting is firm enough that touching it won't leave a fingerprint (I worked on the next tier during this time).  
  • When it's firm, remove the cake from the fridge/freezer and frost the cake. Repeat with remaining tiers. Don't pipe the pearls on at this point; save that for when you stack them at the site.
  • When done frosting, put each cake tier into its box.
  • For support, you'll need a total of 7 dowel pieces: 4 go in the bottom tier, 3 go in the middle tier. Making sure they're all covered by the tier that will go above, mark out where the dowels will go (you'll make a square of them for the bottom tier, and a triangle for the middle - doesn't need to be perfect).  Push one long dowel into the bottom tier, and mark where the frosting ends. Pull it out, and cut the dowel about a millimeter below that mark. Cut three more of the same length.  Repeat the process for the middle tier.
  • Take the cakes wherever they need to go. Stack them once you get there, and pipe the pearls on to hide the seams.
  • Decorate with flowers, toppers, etc. 
  • VoilĂ , you have a wedding cake!

Cake layer with frosting dam, raspberry curd, and marzipan
(the marzipan is hard to see here, but it's there!).



Special tools you'll need to do this:
  • Cake pans: you'll need 2 9-inch cake pans, and at least 1 6-inch and 1 12-inch pans, with 2-inch sides. Professional-style is best: they'll have tall, straight sides. The ones you get at Target, Fred Meyer, Macy's, etc., usually have 1- or 1.5-inch tall sides, and they slant outward slightly. It's hard to get lovely straight cake layers with those pans!
  • At least 3 cake cardboards for each tier, the same size as your pans (so 3 6-inch rounds, 3 9-inch rounds, and 3 12-inch rounds).
  • A cake box for each round: one 7-inch cake box, one 10-inch cake box, and one 14-inch cake box.
  • Doweling for support. I like these or these, both of which are pretty easy to cut with kitchen tools.
  • Piping bags and tips. I used an Ateco #805 for piping the dam, and a #8 for the little pearls around the outside of each tier.
  • I used a "cake plate" from the cake decorating store - it was cardboard, covered with pretty food-safe, greaseproof silver paper. If you go this route, get one that's at least 16 inches in diameter.
  • Small offset spatula (about 3.5").
  • Small straight spatula (like offset, just not actually offset - about 4")
  • Medium straight or offset spatula, mostly for helping to move cake tiers to and from the fridge (about 6")
  • Large straight spatula, for frosting the cake (about 8")
  • Cake turntable



Recipes:


The Cake
Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake, adapted slightly from bakedbree.com

The recipe here is for ONE batch; you'll need three batches to make this into a wedding cake.  I suppose you could make all three in one big batch, if you had a commercial mixer, but I did them one at a time.

See notes above for how to divide the batches between your wedding cake pans.

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk*
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 stick (4oz, 8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 350°.

Butter two 8- or 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, and butter and flour the lined pans (you can use Baker's Joy or other flour-infused baking spray instead of the butter and flour, if you wish). Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour baking powder, and salt (note: for most recipes, I'll whisk rather than sift, but cake flour can be clumpy - so I recommend that you actually sift them this time.).  In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and egg whites.  In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixer. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture, mixing until well combined. Scrape down sides, and continue adding the flour and buttermilk alternately, ending with the flour.

Divide batter between prepared pans, smoothing the tops.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few dry crumbs on it, rotating and switching pan position in the oven halfway through.

Cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely. Frost as desired.

*I've learned the hard way: don't use powdered buttermilk for cakes. It just isn't the same, and the cake ends up dry. If you don't have buttermilk, it's better to substitute milk that's been soured with lemon juice or vinegar.



The Filling

Simple Syrup
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 cup water
1 cup sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the water and the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring constantly, until sugar has completely dissolved, then remove from the heat. Let cool. Store in the fridge for up to 2 months.


Raspberry Curd, adapted slightly from Tea and Cookies
Makes about 3 1/2 cups

12oz. raspberries (or any combination of raspberries, blackberries, tayberries, etc. You can use fresh berries or berries that have been frozen and thawed. For this I used 10oz raspberries and 2oz blackberries, both from frozen.)
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
4 Tbsp lemon juice (I usually use the bottled stuff, but feel free to use fresh.)
1/2 stick (2oz, 4 Tbsp) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt

In a medium saucepan, cook the berries, sugar, lemon juice, butter, and salt over medium heat. Stir occasionally, and cook until the fruit is soft, the butter is melted, and the sugar is dissolved.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl.

When the fruit is cooked, slowly stir ladlefuls of the fruit mixture into the eggs, whisking continuously, until about half of the fruit is in the eggs.

Slowly stir this egg-and-fruit mixture back into the saucepan, whisking continuously. Cook it over low or medium heat, stirring the whole time, until the mixture thickens slightly. Don't let it come to a boil!

Place a mesh strainer* over a large bowl (not the same one the raw eggs were in!). Pour about half of the mixture into the strainer and use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir it around and press it through the mesh, so the seeds are left behind. Discard the seeds and repeat with the rest of the curd.  Pour it into jars or other small containers and refrigerate or freeze. It will stay good in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer for a few months. (I love this on toast or English muffins or waffles, or on ice cream, especially vanilla ice cream over a brownie. YUM.)

*So, strainers. If your strainer is REALLY fine mesh, it'll take forever to push the curd through it and you will never make this again. If your mesh isn't fine enough, some of the seeds will get through. Just know that this makes a difference.


The Frosting
Swiss Meringue Buttercream, adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen
with information and advice from Beyond Buttercream (read the comments, there's lots of info there!)

Makes enough to frost a 6-inch tier, a 9-inch tier, and a 12-inch tier (all round tiers, not square), pipe the pearls you see, and have about 2 cups left over. I'm not sure this would have been enough to also do the filling for these cakes, or to have frosted them if they'd been 3 layers each instead of 2. It's nice to have some left over, anyway, for fixing problems that happen in transportation, etc.

I divided this in half and made it in two batches, because there's no way this whole batch would have fit in my 5-quart mixer - a half-batch filled it up almost entirely!  Because the vanilla beans were really different sizes, and because I am crazy and wanted to make sure the frosting all looked the same, I stirred the two half-batches together once they were made, to even out the specks of vanilla bean.

2 cups egg whites (this was 16 large egg whites, for me)
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 pounds (5 cups, 10 sticks) butter, softened - take this out of the fridge the night before!
2 vanilla beans
1 scant Tbsp vanilla extract

Put the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of your mixer. Set the bowl over a saucepan that has about an inch of simmering water in it. Whisk until the egg whites reach 140° and you can't feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Remove the mixer bowl from the saucepan, and put it in your mixer, which has been fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form AND until the mixture is no longer warm - you want it to be body temperature or cooler. Keep whipping until both of these conditions are met.

Once the mixture is stiff and cool, switch to your mixer's paddle attachment.  Add the vanilla beans and the vanilla extract and stir on low for a couple of seconds.

Add the butter, one stick at a time, stirring on LOW for a couple of seconds (or, if you're me, as long as it takes you to unwrap the next stick of butter) after each. Here's where it gets a little scary: you've made this beautiful, fluffy meringue, and it's going to look awful - like you've ruined it! - when you add the butter.  But keep beating it, on low, and it will come together. First it will look soupy, and then curdled, and you'll start freaking out - but then it will turn creamy, and you'll breathe again: you've done it!  Depending on the temperature and the size of the batch, you may have to keep beating for 15 minutes, but don't worry: it will come together. And it will be the smoothest, loveliest frosting ever.

You can keep this at room temperature for about 24 hours, or in the fridge for a few days (bring it thoroughly up to room temperature before whipping again). I'm told this freezes well, too, but I haven't had occasion to try it.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Year-End Teacher Gift: Oatmeal Scone Mix and Strawberry Jam



Ah, the end of the school year! The first year my son was in preschool, I was caught completely off-guard by teacher gifts. There was a picnic the last day of school, and many of the other parents had nifty little things for the teachers, and it hadn't even crossed my mind! It may have been because my son was going to be with them all summer, but I still wish I'd thought to express my appreciation for his teachers, who we loved.

Last year I was ready - I hit on this idea of homemade jam and homemade scone mix.  I liked it so much that I did it this year, too (for a new set of teachers)!  I wanted to give his teachers something from us, and since I bake so much (and bring baked goods to school), I liked the idea of a baked good.  I also figure the teachers don't need lots of little tchotchkes from every student every year - I like that they can use this up and repurpose or recycle the jars.

I think this would make a nice hostess gift, as well - the recipient doesn't have to do a lot of work or have special tools, ingredients, or skills to make the scones.  I made a jar of the scone mix for us, too, because it's convenient to have on hand!

I made and canned the jam last weekend (so convenient that our favorite farmer's market opened for the season last week!), so it's nice and fresh and they can keep it for a year if they want to.  I don't really use a recipe for strawberry jam; it depends on how many berries I'm using, and how fresh they are, and that sort of thing.  I generally use lime juice, sugar, honey, and Pomona's Universal Pectin in my jam, because I don't like it too firm or too sweet.  There are tons of recipes around!





The scone mix is just the wonderful Cook's Illustrated Oatmeal Scone recipe, without the wet ingredients.  I toasted the oats the night before, so they have time to cool.  I mixed the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the food processor, cut in the butter, stir in the toasted oats, and put it all in a quart-size mason jar. You'll have to bang the jar on the counter after every few scoops, in order for it all to settle and fit in the jar, but if you do that it will fit! The reserved oats for the bottom and top of the scones go in a tiny baggie just under the lid. Note the "use by" date on the butter you put into the mix: that's the use-by date for the mix, too (it does need to be refrigerated).  I typed up the instructions and other labels and printed them on a big, full-sheet-size label, and stuck it on the side of the jar. (Here's a pdf of that file, so you can use it.)

I tied a nice little ribbon around each jar, with a note for each teacher, and put the scone mix and the jam in a gift bag.  My son drew cards for his teachers, and we had a nice, personal, teacher gift!  I made four of these this year, and all of this assembly (with the oats already toasted, the jars washed, and the labels printed) took me under an hour to do (we won't talk about how long it took me to get the labels right...).  The teachers loved it!








Monday, February 18, 2013

Sockerkaka (Swedish Cardamom Cake)


This cake is a new one to me, and I'm so glad I found it - because it's both lovely to eat and simple to make.  This is a sockerkaka, which means "sugar cake" in Swedish.  The cardamom is optional, says my Swedish sister-in-law, but it's so wonderful that I don't see myself leaving it out (and I am not always a fan of cardamom!).  It's a delicate cardamom flavor here, almost more scent than flavor, and it's perfect.

This is also one of those great "dump everything in a bowl and mix it" recipes, so I can see myself using it as a jumping-off point for cakes with other flavor profiles (in which case I would leave out the cardamom, most likely).  I think it would be great with chocolate chips, or nuts, or cinnamon, or berries, or any number of things!





Sockerkaka
from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book
Serves at least 12

Note: The recipe calls for a "9-inch tube-type fancy mold," by which she probably means something like a kugelhopf pan, but I don't have one of those.  I made mine in a star Bundt pan, which is a 10-cup pan, I believe, and it worked great.  It would work in a 12-cup Bundt pan, too, but would be shorter. I'm willing to wager you could also use 2 standard loaf pans.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom (I do not crush my own. If you do, more power to you - and the cardamom flavor will be stronger in your cake!)
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
bread crumbs or vanilla wafer crumbs, for coating pan (I use store-bought bread crumbs)


Preheat your oven to 350°F.  Butter a Bundt pan (see note above), or use cooking spray (this is what I do; it gets into all the nooks and crannies better that way, I find).  Coat the pan with the bread or wafer crumbs and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom, salt, eggs, and whipping cream.  Mix at low speed for 15-30 seconds, until just blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix at medium speed for 3 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove from pan immediately; cool on a rack. Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar.



Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Hazelnut & Cocoa Nib Pound Cake




This cake was born after an afternoon spent looking through cookbooks, recipe binders, pins, and links, and not finding something that precisely matched the vague idea I had in my head.  I usually hate when that happens, but this time I'm so glad it did because it made me come up with this - this cake that was exactly what I wanted.  It's soft and dense, not overly sweet or fussy, nutty, and gently chocolatey - but with a fantastic sharp crunch from the cocoa nibs.  It was great with whipped cream, but would be outstanding with coffee ice cream, I think.  I wish I'd had time to get some before the cake was all gone!



Hazelnut & Cocoa Nib Pound Cake
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Serves 12-14

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 8oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped toasted hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups cocoa nibs

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan (I'm a big fan of the cooking spray with flour in it, like Baker's Joy, for Bundt pans.  Saves a ton of work and gets better coverage than I do with butter!)

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl, with an electric mixer), beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth.  Add both of the sugars, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and very fluffy, at least five minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after every 2-3 eggs.  Add the vanilla and almond and stir briefly.  Add the flour, salt, and nutmeg all at once.  Beat until just incorporated.  Fold in the hazelnuts and cocoa nibs.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, shaking a little to smooth out the top and get rid of big air bubbles.  Bake for 60-75 minutes, until the cake is dark golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

4. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then remove cake from the pan and let cool completely. Serve at room temperature.


  © Free Blogger Templates Spain by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP