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We made up a new recipe – PB & Jam Joconde Cake – Part 4

30 Saturday Mar 2013

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PB & J Joconde

PB & J Joconde – Almond Sponge Cake wrapped around a layer of Chocolate Almond Sponge cake under a thick layer of Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Mousse and topped with Cherry Topping.

- This is the final segment of the PB & Jam Joconde Cake post – Part 4, continued from Part 3.

After the pan was lined with the joconde strip and cake, we made a batch of Peanut Butter Mousse. I’ve made vanilla and chocolate mousses many times so I just adapted a vanilla mousse with the addition of peanut butter and cream cheese.

Peanut Butter Mousse
1 pkg + 1 tsp gelatin softened in 3 Tbsp water.
6 Tbsp boiling water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup peanut butter

Stir the boiling water into the softened gelatin. Stir till dissolved. Set aside.
Beat sugar, whipping cream and vanilla until softly mounding.
Beat the cream cheese with the peanut butter until smooth.
Beat a little whipping cream into the cream cheese peanut butter mixture. Beat in the rest of the whipping cream until almost stiff.
Gradually add the gelatin mixture to the whipped cream mixture. Do NOT overbeat or the mixture will turn grainy.
Spread the Peanut Butter Mousse in the prepared pan.

I made mousse but I didn't measure all the ingredients. It wasn't peanut buttery enough so next time I will add more peanut butter.

When I made the mousse for this, I didn’t measure the peanut butter but it was about 1/3 cup. It wasn’t peanut-buttery enough so I made a second batch with 2/3 cup peanut butter (as in the recipe in this post) and that was much better.

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I didn’t have any fresh fruit to make a jam topping so I used cherry pie filling. A fresh Crushed Blueberry Sauce would have been divine!

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The finished cake was placed in the refrigerator for several hours. Six hours would have been better and made the cake slice better.

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The cake is taken out of the springform pan.

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I used a candy mold to make the chocolate shapes from Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate.

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There were rave reviews over our first Joconde cake. PB & Jam, dressed up to the max!

I’m looking forward to making a Lemon Almond Sponge with Pineapple Cream Cheese Mousse and Pineapple Mandarin Topping. Also a Raspberry rendition. And perhaps three crisp hazelnut dacquoise layers with coffee cream filling. The joconde was good just plain so we’ll be using the mat to develop some bar cookie recipes as well. All in all, we are very satisified with our first joconde cake.

We made up a new recipe – PB & Jam Joconde Cake – Part 3

29 Friday Mar 2013

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– PB & Jam Joconde – continued from Part 2 –

The beautiful baking mat filled with dough fit our oven wall to wall, with barely room to spare when we first put it in the oven. After a mere 7 minutes baking at 450, smoke started pouring out of the oven. We threw open the oven door to see the mat had swelled up and was buckled and spreading up the sides of the oven! We were so relieved that the mat wasn’t on fire or melting. But some of the batter was burning on the sides and bottom of the oven. No time for photos, we grabbed the oven mits and wrestled the oven rack and huge mat out.

The steaming cake is placed on the counter.

The steaming cake is placed on the counter.

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We’re still trying to figure out what caused the gently rolling hills on the cake since we had spread the batter fairly evenly. Most likely it was caused when the mat started climbing the oven walls and the batter pooled.

The next time we bake a joconde in our little oven, we’ll try a lower temp, maybe 400 or even 385 degrees since the mat completely cuts off circulation, especially when it swells with the heat. In order to maintain some heat above the mat, we might try starting the oven at 425, quickly putting the rack and mat in but then immediately lowering the temp to 385.

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A greased cooling rack was placed over the cake.

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The oven rack, mat and cooling rack are lifted together and flipped.

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The mat quickly began to shrink down after being removed from the oven. But you can clearly see how it is still larger than the oven rack. The mat was still very hot here.

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The siliconed mat was easy to roll back off the cake. The mat was still so hot that I dropped it back on the cake immediately after this photo was taken. We had to use oven mitts to lift it off the cake.

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Blurry photo but Oh what a Beautiful sight! We were stoked that the joconde was a success, rolling hills, singed edges and all. I let out a whoop of joy!

We mixed any leftover chocolate and almond batters together and spread them in a 9.5" springform pan.

We mixed the leftover chocolate and almond batters together and spread them in a 9.5″ springform pan and baked it. It made a cake layer about 1″ thick.

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The first strip of jaconde is cut and placed against the edge of the cool springform pan.

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A second strip of joconde is placed in the pan to fill the gap.

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Here I cut off the excess joconde with a sharp knife.

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The pan lined with joconde.

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The cake layer is carefully lowered and pressed into the bottom of the lined pan.

—Up next, the filling of the prepared pan with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Mousse and Cherry Topping in final Part 4!

We made up a new recipe – PB & Jam Joconde – Part 2

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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— Continued from Part 1 —

Continuing our PB & Jam Joconde, we had a large baking mat, the size of the entire oven rack, filled with chocolate batter that needed chilled. If we were an actual bakery, we would waltz our carefully prepped mat into the walk-in freezer and park it between the charlottes and wedding cake layers. But we’re not a bakery, we’re just a little family kitchen with a family size fridge with shelves that barely hold a fat turkey. So we had to get creative.

We figured that the object of freezing the batter was to make it firm enough to quickly spread a second layer of batter on without disturbing the design underneath. Freezing was out so we went for a good chill.

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We placed a towel on the counter and covered it with ice cubes. Then we placed two half-sheet pans over the ice. This made a very cold surface on which to place the batter-filled mat.

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But the oven rack under the mat created too big a gap between our cold source and the baking mat.

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We didn’t want to remove the oven rack lest it disturb the surface of the chocolate batter so we placed a wet towel on top of the cookie sheets to transfer more cold up through the rack.

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The wet cold towel worked and the mat and batter became cold. It wasn’t frozen but it was cold enough to stabilize the chocolate batter before topping it with the second layer.

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A second batch of batter was made but without the addition of cocoa. (Note here how large the baking mat is. It is almost the size of our oven rack. The fit in the oven will be tight.)

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To spread the top layer of almond batter without disturbing the chocolate batter, it was critical to push the batter over the chocolate layer without spreading back and forth, which would have stirred up the chocolate batter. This step was similar to the technique used in crumb-coating a cake.

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Finally the mat was filled and ready for the oven.

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The mat still on the oven rack was slid into the oven. The batter was stiff and cold so it didn’t run out of the pan.

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A very tight fit indeed!

And then came the baking and our THIRD MAJOR Obstacle. If I recall, we figured 10 minutes at 450 should do it. But by the time we hit 7 minutes, smoke started pouring out of the oven. “The mat must be burning!” I yelled. “Maybe it’s melting!” he responded. “I told you the cake might burn.” he insisted. We threw open the oven in a panic and discovered ….

— To be continued in Part 3 —

We made up a new recipe – PB & Jam Joconde – Part 1

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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There are 43 photos with this entire post so I’ve decided to divide it up into 4 parts. I will post over the next several days so as not to slow down your connection.

A Joconde cake is a delicious, decorative almond sponge cake wrapped around layers of mousse, cake, fruit or other filling. I first discovered Joconde cakes online while surfing for baking equipment. Oh my, I did a double take at the amazing artistry of such a dessert! I didn’t know what it was called, I just knew I had to make one.

[Note about the photos: Two of my sons and I took photos of the process of making this cake. Please excuse the inconsistency in focus and style. My guys were great to kindly photograph when my hands were battered up. It's important to me that skills are passed on to the next generation. So whenever possible, the guys get to do the fun stuff! And wow, their photos are great!]

We got the silicon baking mat from Laguna Wholesale. I chose a mat with a design that had the biggest “wow” factor for me, a geometric Greek design with precise lines and sharp detail.

Even before beginning to bake, we hit our First Major Obstacle. We’re not a bakery, we’re just a regular family that likes to bake. And our oven is a regular home oven that happily obliges. The mat purchased was 23.64 x 15.76 x 1.18 inches. I should have measured my oven before buying the mat but was just too excited.

I have no pans that size to hold the mat. We considered making a custom pan since the guys can work with sheet metal. We considered cutting the mat in half and placing each half in a half-sheet pan. (Considering the expense of the mat, that was our very last and desperate option.) We considered covering a piece of cardboard with tin foil but weren’t sure if that would affect the heat under the mat too much. Finally, we decided to use just the oven rack itself. It was a risky tight fit, with barely 1/4″ clearance on the sides but we decided to go for it before trying something else.

I found various recipes online and then created one I figured would work. I’m very disappointed in myself for losing the recipe I scratched out on a piece of paper! I decided to use just egg whites instead of whole eggs and we didn’t have almonds so I used almond extract and extra flour for best batter consistency. The batter worked fairly well.

Unsalted butter and egg whites are beaten together for the first part of mixing the batter. I took this photo just because I loved how the slippery butter bits swooshed around the bowl of egg whites.

Unsalted butter and egg whites are beaten together for the first part of mixing the batter. I took this photo just because I loved how the slippery butter bits swooshed around the bowl of egg whites.

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About a third cup of Dutch processed cocoa powder was beat into the finished batter then dolloped on the mat.

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The cocoa batter was spread on the mat with a large offset spatula.

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We spread the batter carefully into the design, hoping to press out bubbles.

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After the design was filled, we carefully scraped off all excess batter, being careful to clean off the design so the second layer of batter would show cleanly.

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After spreading the batter, we hit our Second Major Obstacle. The filled mat was supposed to be frozen for 5 or 10 minutes. We’re not a bakery, we’re just a plain home kitchen with a standard side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. The mat didn’t fit in our freezer OR our refrigerator. How would we freeze a surface the size of an oven rack?

—To be continued in Part 2 —

We finished off the Valentine’s Day cookies…

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

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They were delicious! We kept it simple and made just two recipes: Shortbread Hearts and Cherry Cordial Cookies.

The Cherry Cordial Cookies recipe was from a Chocolatier magazine from years ago. I cut out the recipe and taped it into my recipe notebook. I should have written down the year but it was probably from the 80′s.

The Shortbread Hearts were made by slightly adapting our traditional Scottish Shortbread recipe. The recipe was handed down from relatives in Scotland for ages. The usual form is patted out into two rounds or pressed into a 9″ x 13″ pan and cut into squares. We always do the square thing just for simplicity.

Here is the original Shortbread Recipe, which takes just 4 ingredients.

Scottish Shortbread
1 lb butter (Note: We use 1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter and 1/2 cup of salted butter for best flavor)
1 1/4 cup fine sugar (Note: We use granulated sugar and process it in a food processor until it is less grainy. It should be half-way between granulated sugar and powdered sugar in texture when you pinch a little bit between your fingers.)
1 1/4 cup cornstarch (Note: Various Scottish relations argue over whether this should be rice flour or not. We stick with corn starch because we like the melt-in-your mouth texture of the baked shortbread.)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Note: We always use unbleached King Arthur flour for best texture and flavor.)

~ Knead ingredients by hand. (…um… we use a mixer…faster and way less messy!)
~ Press into a 9″x13″ pan.
~ Prick dough all over with a fork.
~ Bake at 325 for 50 to 60 minutes. The edges will be light golden brown but the top will still be pale. We usually break open a tiny bit in the middle of the pan to test for doneness in the middle, since these are very thick squares.
~ Cut while warm into 1″ squares.
~ Store at room temp for a couple days. Refrigerate air tight for several weeks. May be frozen, wrapped air tight, for over a month. (We’ve found shortbread in the freezer six months later and it was perfectly fine. It just has to be wrapped well in plastic wrap and then in foil to avoid picking up any off-flavor from the freezer.)

To make the heart shaped shortbread cookies, we added about 1/4 cup extra flour to the recipe to make the dough a little stiffer. The Valentines Day Conversation Heart Cookie Cutters were from Williams Sonoma.

Rolling out the shortbread. The cutters were from Williams Sonoma.

Rolling out the shortbread. The cutters were from Williams Sonoma.

One side of the cutter featured Valentine's Day sentiments, which were pressed into the shortbread. We also used a fork to press holes around the edges of the cookies.

One side of the cutter featured Valentine’s Day sentiments, which were pressed into the shortbread. We also used a fork to press holes around the edges of the cookies.

Valentine Shortbread Heart cookies

Valentine Shortbread Heart cookies. We baked them about 20 minutes at 325 but don’t remember the exact timing. They’re very hard to ruin.

A little tray of Shortbread Heart Cookies and Cherry Cordial Cookies, ready for giving away.

A little tray of Shortbread Hearts and Cherry Cordial Cookies, ready for giving away.

The last three cookies, posing sweetly beside my vanilla bean coffee. I ended up not eating them though, I gave them away.

The last three cookies, posing sweetly beside my vanilla bean coffee. I ended up not eating them though, I gave them away.

I didn’t take any photos when we made the Cherry Cordial Cookies but here is the recipe as printed in the magazine.

Cherry Cordial Cookies
1 pkg Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (NOTE: The recipe does not specify the size of bag. 1 cup of chips are used in the cookie dough and the “remaining cup chips” are used in the frosting.)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups unsifted flour (We use King Arthur unbleached flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 jar (16 oz) maraschino cherries

~ In double boiler, melt 1 cup chocolate chips over 1-inch simmering water.
~ Cream 1/2 cup butter with sugar.
~ Add egg, vanilla and melted chocolate; beat until smooth.
~ Combine flour with baking powder and salt (NOTE: salt is not listed in the ingredients so we figure this was a printing error. We use 1/4 tsp salt); add to creamed mixture, beating until smooth. Chill at least 1 hour.
~ Enclose 1 cherry in 1 tablespoon of dough.
[NOTE: Enclosing that cherry in the dough takes a lot of work! The dough is fairly dry so it has to be squished around the cherry, it can't be rolled and folded around the cherry. We drain the cherries while the dough is chilling, otherwise, the dough becomes a gooey mess when trying to squeeze it around a squishy cherry. We put a tablespoon of dough in the palm and pressed a little hole in the middle of it to start. Then the cherry was placed into the hole and the crumbly mixture was pressed up over the cherry. Then we carefully squished the whole lump in our fists to close it all up good and tight. Finally, we gently rolled around the lump to make a nice round ball.]
~ Place on greased baking sheet. (Note: we used ungreased, parchment paper-lined baking sheets.)
~ Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. (ours took exactly 15 minutes)
~ Cool on wire rack.
FROSTING:
Melt remaining cup chocolate chips with 2 Tbsp maraschino cherry syrup and 1 Tbsp unsalted butter.
(NOTE: We used 1 Tbsp kirsch and 1 Tbsp maraschino cherry syrup)
Frost tops of cookies.
YIELD: 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

It was so tedious forming the Cherry Cordial Cookies that we vowed we would never make them again. But then when we bit into the deep dark chocolate cookie and tasted the exquisite cherry buried within, we decided to make these cookies our new Valentine’s Day tradition.

Greek Yogurt with Kumquats and Cardamom

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

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This morning I wanted a simple breakfast, something that didn’t take long to make but could take a long time to savor if I was so inclined. I was in a lot of pain and didn’t want to fuss with a skillet or heavy jug of milk. So I settled on my favorite: Greek Yogurt with thinly sliced Kumquats, Macadamias, unsweetened coconut flakes and a generous sprinkling of Cardamom.
I took this photo a couple years ago but this morning’s bowl of yogurt looked every bit as sublime.

Greek Yogurt with kumquats, macadamias, unsweetened coconut and cardamom.

Greek Yogurt with kumquats, macadamias, unsweetened coconut and cardamom.


We get our cardamom from Penzeys Spices. Even though ground cardamom is very strong in flavor, I still sprinkle it over yogurt generously; it compliments the kumquats and the creaminess of Greek Yogurt beautifully.
The coconut is from King Arthur Flour. I disliked coconut until I discovered these big beautiful unsweetened flakes from King Arthur. They are delicious! I also use them to top Coconut Cupcakes (shown in the Dessert Buffet I did last year) and Coconut Cream Pies.
Macadamias add the perfect salty buttery crunch.
It’s impossible to eat a bowl with so much sunshine in it without getting cheered.

Easter Cupcakes

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in baking, candy, Easter, food, tutorial

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These cupcakes are a sweet two-bite size, baked in a mini muffin pan. Ingredients are simple: Mini homemade vanilla cupcakes, homemade frosting, pink sugar, jellybeans, mini marshmallows, candy “eyes” and a little bit of coconut.
To make the bunny ears, I cut mini marshmallows on the diagonal and then pressed the sticky cut side into pink sugar.

To make bunny ears, cut a mini marshmallow diagonally as shown. This works even better if the mini marshmallow is already a little skewed.

By cutting the mini marshmallow on the diagonal, one side will be fat, tapering to a point. Press the sticky cut side into pink sugar.

 

Mini Easter cupcakes - Bunnies, chicks and eggs in grass. The bunny eyes and nose are mini jelly beans cut in half. The orange chick beak is a mini jelly bean cut in half diagonally.

Mini Easter cupcakes - bunny, chick and eggs in grass. These tiny cupcakes disappeared fast in two sweet bites!

Gingerbread Valentine – Gold & Yellow

20 Monday Feb 2012

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I live 500 miles away from my hometown and miss my dear sister, Donna. Boo hoo. I was delighted to find a teacup in her favorite shade of yellow at the local thrift store last week. So of course I had to decorate some Gingerbread cookies in yellow and gold to go with the teacup. The water for tea is in the kettle. All that is missing is my sister. The next time she visits, she will drink from this cup.

To my sister, Donna: a pale yellow teacup and Gingerbread await you!

Ok, I’ll be honest, I almost ate my sister’s gingerbread! But I stopped in time to wrap it up well in plastic wrap and then foil and then freeze it. It will last well that way at least 6 months. In the meantime, I’ll eat one of the pink decorated hearts.

Click for recipe.
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Autumn Soup

26 Saturday Nov 2011

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With the weather turning cold, soup is especially welcome. My son Isaiah made a delicious soup to start off our Thanksgiving feast. Today I enjoyed his leftover Pumpkin Squash Soup.
To garnish, I cut bits of mini red, yellow and orange peppers to look like leaves.

Red, Orange and Yellow Bell Pepper Leaves


To make the tree, three small scoops of Creme Fraiche were picked up with the tip of the knife and placed on the surface of the soup. Then I drew a toothpick through the cream to form the tree roots and branches. The grass is a scattering of chives. The pepper leaves didn’t float as well as I hoped but they still looked lovely lying on the soup with a dusting of paprika.

Pumpkin Squash Soup