Midweek Kitchen Confessions 31: I can't...

...keep going at this pace. I'm having fun. I'm learning a lot. I'm also battling every day to lose weight. This blog is not entirely to blame for my weight gain over the past year and a half, but it has certainly contributed. So. I'm changing my plan to baking (and blogging about it) every other week.

Between weeks, I promise I will share with you some of my favorite baking-related sites and tools, and, of course, recipes that I've found and hope to try--maybe you can try them first!

You can't know how much it saddens me to realize that I shouldn't be baking as often as I am. But my options were either this or start baking low-calorie treats...which...I just don't believe in anymore. If you're going to take the trouble/time to bake, go all out...and this is the part I have yet to master...just eat a smaller portion. We'll call that your first dose of Kitchen Wisdom from TGIP.

"Wedding" Cake

The top secret project is no longer a secret! My parents celebrated 50 years of married bliss on Thursday, March 4.


We (their 8 children and our ever-patient spouses) threw a bit of a party for them. I was in charge of the cake (naturally). We wanted to have something like a wedding cake. As I've disclaimed before, I am not a professional baker, not by a long shot. I lack the tools, the space, and the know-how to make a real wedding cake (although I'd certainly like to try my hand at that someday). So, I decided to make a 3-layer 8 inch cake, almost like the top layer of a wedding cake, as well as enough cupcakes to feed all the guests at the party.


It was an undertaking fueled by wine and kindly assisted by my sister, Yoga Girl.


The original plan was to use fondant for the 8 inch cake, stamp a diamond shape into the sides and put gold dragees in the corners where the stamped diamonds meet. I made my own fondant using this recipe, and it was much easier than I thought. Evidence:


But I got gunshy about working with fondant (which I have only a passing familiarity with) for a project/event like this one. Another project for another time. Instead, I decided to use regular buttercream. As I've also mentioned before, my piping skills are lackluster, but luckily, I had made more than enough of these chocolate hearts (in white, milk, and dark--intended to top the cupcakes) and decided to use the white ones to decorate the 8 inch cake.


The Quilter had sneakily stolen my parents' original cake topper and I did a little repair work so we could use it on this cake.


Isn't it sweet?!

I used the Whiteout Cake and Cinnamon Buttercream recipes (minus the cinnamon) from BAKED and a basic chocolate creme filling recipe from Fannie Farmer to fill the 8-inch layers.


I've used the BAKED Buttercream recipe (in various versions) at least 4 or 5 times and each time it worked out perfectly, so I was very surprised and more than a little dismayed when the batch that I was using for the 8-inch cake broke and became curdled-looking. It still tasted delicious and the texture when we ate it was perfect, it didn't feel curdled in our mouths. But, needless to say, it didn't look as lovely as I'd hoped. Perfect buttercream on the left, notsomuch on the right:

I don't know that anyone other than those of us intimately involved with the cake really noticed. But I have to admit, if I hadn't been under a time crunch I probably would have had a good sob session. A 50th Anniversary cake is not the one where you want your Buttercream to fail. I asked the BAKED boys what could have gone wrong (I love Facebook!) and they said that usually is the result of overbeating. Which I didn't feel like I had done. So, here's my theory: with the first batch, I let the butter sit out from the beginning of the process to get soft (but still cool). With subsequent batches, I waited until I was partway through the recipe to take the butter out of the fridge, out of concern that it would get too soft. I think what happened was that it was not soft enough, and so had to be beaten for longer to get it to be completely integrated.

Ultimately, I think the entire presentation turned out to be very pretty. And it tasted good, which is what honestly matters the most to me.

The happy couple now:



TGIP Rating--Whiteout Cake--The cake part is definitely a KEEPER. The best white cake I've ever tasted. Moist and delicious. I'll have to try the recipe as a whole, complete with White Chocolate Buttercream, another time.
--Buttercream--I still contend that it's the perfect buttercream. I just need to test my theory so I know what to do to make it perfect EVERY time.
--Chocolate Creme Filling--Also a KEEPER. It was surprisingly delicious.

Next up: I'm going to try to make these cupcakes into a regular 8-inch cake. Just for kicks. And because the Priestess is laid up with a brand new hip replacement. And also (obviously) for St. Patrick's Day.

French Silk Chocolate Pie AND Tiramisu

Indulge much? Why yes. We do.

I'm warning you now: you should not make either of these recipes. They are too good. You will like them too much. And you will crave them.

First up: French Silk Chocolate Pie. If you think the "French Silk" pie you pick up at Village Inn or the Sara Lee freezer version is really French Silk, you are sorely mistaken. You will be ecstatically surprised to discover how rich and delicious and EASY a homemade French Silk pie can be. And, like me, you will never go back to the fake stuff. My friend Miriam (who guinea-pigged and recommended this recipe to me) suggests multiplying the recipe times 2-1/2, because otherwise the filling will be too shallow. With my pie pan, I probably could have done just a double-up and it would have been perfect.


There was almost too much filling. Almost. However, since it was the most delicious pie filling on earth, we managed. I was concerned, as I went along, that the filling was going to turn out grainy. But, I stuck with it, following directions to the letter, beating the mixture for 5 minutes after each egg addition, and it all came together beautifully.


Creamy. Smooth. Not too fluffy, but chock-full of flavor. Yes, there are raw eggs in this pie. And yet again, nobody suffered, so I stand by the notion that average grocery store eggs are not as scary as people would like you to believe. But, if you want to use pasteurized eggs as extra insurance, that's probably not a bad idea.

Now: Tiramisu. Holy mother of god. Or the Italian version of such an exclamation. Again, I have to say, the stuff you think is Tiramisu at "Italian" restaurants? Not so much. This is rich, thick (as opposed to fluffy), creamy, oh so good.


And not difficult at all. I have heard lots of people report about their Tiramisu turning out runny or soggy, or various other problems. Not this one. I followed some of the advice I found here (specifically the part about how to dip and arrange the ladyfingers) and then just followed the recipe to the letter, and it turned out perfectly.


The children liked it, even though there is a little bit of booze in it. The adults liked it. A lot. I used Marsala wine as the recipe suggests in the mascarpone mixture, so the flavor ended up reminding me a little bit of my Aunt Dorothy's Wine Cake (which calls for Sherry). But depending on your liquor tastes, I think it would be just as delicious with spiced rum, kahlua, or brandy.

TGIP Rating--French Silk Chocolate Pie--KEEPER. Maybe a once-a-year treat? It's addictive.

--Tiramisu--KEEPER. I will try it with homemade Ladyfingers, when I take on that baking project, but frankly, I don't have high hopes about the homemade version having enough substance. Guess we'll see!

Next up: A TOP SECRET project. Hopefully not an epic fail. Some occasions really call for an epic success.

Midweek Kitchen Confessions 30: I'm taking...

...the easy way out. On the ladyfingers. When you see next week's project, I trust you'll forgive me.

I am, however, planning two projects for this weekend, instead of just one: French Silk Chocolate Pie (thanks for the link, Mir), and Tiramisu (which you already knew about, but instead of making my own ladyfingers, I'm buying real Italian Savoiardi at Caputo's--hey! at least I'm buying the real thing!). Neither of them involve baking, per se, but still. They will be delicious desserts and they will be relatively easy, which is what I chiefly need right now. I'll perfect the process of making tiramisu, and then...sometime in the not so distant future...I'll make my own ladyfingers and see how they work compared to store-bought. Promise.

New York Deli Rye Bread

epic fail

But not for the bread. For the fact that I didn't know February 20 was National Cherry Pie Day! Or I would have made at least one and blogged about the wondrousness of this (in my opinion) perfect confection.

Ah well. Next year.

Now. Rye bread. I really thought this one was going to be an epic fail. All signs pointed to yes, as I was measuring out ingredients. I know, WHAT?! I tried to use my fancy new kitchen scale like Alton Brown uses his: one bowl, zero out the scale after each ingredient is added. smitten kitchen's recipe shows all the ingredients in grams, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try this method of measurement.

I think at a certain point my scale's level of accuracy just sort of, well, got blasted by all that zeroing. By the time I finished measuring it looked like I had at least 2 times more flour than I needed and probably 2-3 times more yeast as well. But I soldiered on. And, surprise, surprise, it worked out.


There probably was more yeast than I actually should have had. The loaf did rise quickly and ended up quite large. BUT. This is delicious bread. My favorite thing about the recipe is the suggestion to grind the caraway seeds--I love the taste of them, but certain people in my family don't really like the way they feel in their mouths/teeth.


The bread is very easy to make. Yes, there's certainly lots of time involved (8-9 hours), but most of that time the dough is rising. And you are doing other things around the house. Or even leaving the house for a short errand. It has a great flavor, without the rye being overpowering. I don't know that I can really comment on the texture because of my aforementioned yeast measuring foibles. I think it ended up a lot lighter than it should have been. But the crust was wonderfully crusty, the inside deliciously soft. This is definitely a better recipe than the last one I tried.

TGIP Rating--New York Deli Rye Bread--KEEPER. I will definitely be trying this one again. Next time I have a full day free. And I think I've worked out my scale usage issues.

Next up: We're having some friends over for dinner on Sunday. I asked Voiceover Man what he wanted for dessert and he presented me with a challenge: tiramisu. !! I have never made it. I'm not sure that I've ever eaten the geniune article (Olive Garden doesn't count as "genuine" Italian). And yes, I know it's not a baked good. But the requisite Ladyfingers are. And it just so happens, your friend and mine, Julia, has a recipe in her famed book. So, that's where I'm headed this week.

Classic Diner-Style Chocolate Pie

...or as I'm calling it today "I love you enough to make this" pie. Kidding. It was super easy. Obviously, I had a change of plans this week. I had planned to bake rye bread, but then realized it was St. Valentine's Day and I had the whole day to make something the girls would really like for a treat. I asked them what they wanted. The answer went something like this, "Chocolate pie. With chocolate crust. And chocolate filling. And chocolate whipped cream. And chocolate sprinkles on top." Hm, do you think my children like chocolate a little bit?

I was happy to oblige. I've been wanting to try a different chocolate pie filling since I realized that the one I previously liked wasn't so special after all.


AND, sometimes YOU score...and get two weeks in a row of BAKED recipes that have already been published on the web, so I can share them with you. This time, Martha Stewart posted the recipe. I made a few alterations. I didn't use whiskey. Unlike me, the girls do NOT like the taste of booze in their desserts. So, I added an extra teaspoon of vanilla. I also changed the proportions of dark and milk chocolate. The recipe calls for 7 ounces total--just so happened I had 3 oz. of milk and 4 oz. of dark in my pantry. Note--I just noticed that the version in the book calls for 5 oz. dark chocolate and 2 oz. milk chocolate, the online one just shows the dark chocolate. So. And I used dark cocoa powder instead of Ovaltine, but that's an alteration suggested by THE BOYS.


I also (confession on its way) couldn't find chocolate wafer cookies, so I used Chocolate Teddy Grahams for the crust. Oh. Yes. I did. And it actually worked out perfectly delicious.

This. Is a rich, chocolatey pie. You can't miss the chocolate. It is by no means subtle. Which is exactly the way a chocolate pie should be. I actually prefer chocolate pie when it has a regular pastry crust, but this will certainly do. Especially because it's easier than making a pastry crust.


Oh, and here's my recipe for Chocolate Whipped Cream: 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 Tbls. cocoa powder, 2 Tbls. confectioners' sugar. Beat to soft peaks.

P.S. I measured the Teddy Grahams using my new kitchen scale. One of my Valentine's Day presents from mr. who is always too too good to me.


TGIP Rating--Classic Diner-Style Chocolate Pie--KEEPER. And try it the way the recipe is actually written sometime. Probably when I'm making it for adults.

Next up: This week I'll for sure be baking New York Deli Rye Bread. And hoping for a better result than last time.

Midweek Kitchen Confessions 29: I have a lot...

...to learn.

Last weekend, I attended the first cooking class of my life. At Les Madeleines. Where Romina Rasmussen makes magic. She taught me (and others) a lot. Most of it about croissants and danish. But also about baking in general. And baking resources. Here are the most important things I came away from the class with:

• If I'm ever going to successfully make croissants or danish, I need one of these:

so I can measure by weight, rather than by volume. And one of these:

so I can beat the living daylights out of the butter that gets folded into the dough.

• I need to start baking with European (83% butterfat) butter.
  

• I would probably be better off just buying croissants and danish from Romina rather than trying to do it myself because it will take me hundreds of tries before I can get my dough to have perfect layers like these:

Take a close look. There are so many beautiful layers of folded dough/butter, it's ridiculous. I didn't make this dough. Romina did. And gave it to me. Honestly, it's like a brick of gold sitting in my freezer waiting for me to shape and bake.

• I will never have a bakery. I'm not nice enough. Or motivated enough. Or enough of a food scientist. The amount of knowledge in that one woman's head is astonishing. And she just holds it in there. She hasn't written it down for posterity.

• I need to take more classes from her.

• And eat there more often.