Daring Bakers Feb 2011 - Mango Panna Cotta and Florentines

Blog Checking Lines: The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

For this months challenge we had to make two things that were complete opposites. Soft, smooth and silky panna cotta with crispy, crunchy Florentines. While I have eaten panna cotta once before I had never even heard of Florentines. Whenever we have a challenge to make something I have not eaten before I feel a little lost as I have nothing to compare my results against. Though my cookies tasted good they did not spread out into thin discs. I guess I was supposed to flatten them with a spoon before putting them in the oven. I made only a quarter of the recipe and loved the cookies.

The panna cotta was very easy and straightforward to make. I replaced the honey and added mango pulp to make mango panna cotta and added a layer of mango jelly which I made using the pulp and gelatin. I reduced the recipe by a third because I didn't want to have so much of the creamy stuff to tempt me and still got 4 servings. I loved the taste of it but hubby was not a big fan. He wanted more of a mango punch and I ended up eating all four servings! (Over a few days mind you).

Recipe Source - Giada's Vanilla Panna Cotta

Ingredients - 1/3 of the Original Recipe with my changes in Red

1/3 Cup Whole Milk (80 ml)

1 Tsp (5 ml) Unflavored Powdered Gelatin

1 Cup (240 ml) Whipping Cream (30+% butterfat)

2 Tbsp (30 ml) Honey - I used 4 Tbsp Mango Pulp

1 Tsp (5 ml) Granulated Sugar - I used 2 Tsp

Pinch of Salt

1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).

3. Next, add the cream, honey (I added the mango pulp after the sugar), sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.

5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.

Nestle Florentine Cookies

2/3 Cup (160 ml) (150 gm) (5.3 oz) Unsalted Butter

2 Cups (480 ml) (160 gm) (5 2/3 oz) Quick Oats

1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (95 gm) (3⅓ oz) All Purpose Flour (Maida)
1/4 cup (60 ml) Dark Corn Syrup - I used Lyle's Golden Syrup
1/4 Cup (60 ml) Whole Milk
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
1½ Cups (360 ml) (250 gm) (9 oz) Dark or Milk Chocolate - Prefer Semi Sweet as the cookies are quite sweet

1. Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F (190°C) (gas mark 5). Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.

2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

3. To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches (75 mm) apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula. (Flatten well as mine didn't spread on their own)

4. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

5. While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).

6. Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper (to keep counters clean).

7. Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate.

Happy Eating!!

Neapolitan Layer Cake

This Feb 14th Latif and I completed three blissful years of marriage and to celebrate the day I wanted to try a new cake recipe and also try my hand at decorating. I had seen two beautiful cakes on I Am Baker and Annie's Eats and this is what I came up with. Not bad for a first try huh? Actually the frosting work on the sides was awful but it tasted great and that's all that matters right? That's what I keep saying to myself!

The various recipes are very easy to prepare and can be done one by one without too much hassle. It basically consists of three cakes of different flavours (vanilla, Chocolate and strawberry) which are torted and assembled to make one big 6 layer cake. The layers are kept together with jam and frosted with buttercream. Since I am not a big fan of the stuff I frosted mine with whipped cream. I tried my hand at making stabilized whipped cream and loved the strawberry whipped cream a lot. It was so good that I could have eaten it by the spoonful. The only thing I would change next time would be to add a little bit of whipped cream mixed with the strawberry jam between each layer to keep them moist as I thought my layers were a little hard (this was also because this cake had to be kept in the fridge at all times due to the whipped cream frosting.)
 

The strawberry cake tasted really good and is a big keeper. The chocolate cake recipe is from Ina Garten and is also one of my favourite recipes.

Recipe Source - Annie's Eats and Sweetapolita

Ingredients

For The Chocolate Cake
3/4 Cup plus 2 tbsp. All-purpose flour

6 Tbsp Dark Cocoa Powder

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Vegetable Or Canola Oil

1 Large Egg

1/2 Cup Black Coffee

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

For The White Cake

2 Large Egg Whites

1 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Sugar

8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)

3/4 Cup Very Cold Water

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp Almond Extract

For The Strawberry Cake

1 1/4 Cups Plus 2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Sugar

1 1/2 oz. (42.4 Gms) Strawberry Gelatin (Strawberry Jelly/Jell-O)

8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature

2 Large Eggs

1/2 Cup Milk

11/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 Cup Sweetened Strawberry Puree*

For The Filling

Whipped Cream mixed with Strawberry Jam or plain strawberry jam.

For The Whipped Cream and Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting

2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream (Divided)
1 Tbsp Powdered Sugar

1 Tsp Unflavored Gelatin

1 Tbsp Strawberry Gelatin

2 Tbsp Cold Water

*To make the strawberry puree, process partially thawed frozen strawberries with a bit of sugar in a blender or food processor until smooth. If using sweetened frozen strawberries, no additional sugar is necessary.

Make The Chocolate Cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F) Butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. Line the bottom with a round of parchment.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

4.With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.

5. Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Make The White Cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F) Butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. Line the bottom with a round of parchment.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer the egg whites to another bowl and set aside.

4. In the bowl of the electric mixer now fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.

5. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the water, vanilla and almond extracts. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients just until incorporated.

6. With a silicone spatula, stir in about a quarter of the egg whites to lighten the batter. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, until the batter is smooth and no streaks remain.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Make The Strawberry Cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F) Butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. Line the bottom with a round of parchment.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.

3. Combine the sugar, strawberry gelatin and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

4. Beat the eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated. Blend in the milk and vanilla extract. Add in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Blend in the strawberry puree.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Assemble The Cake

Torte each of the cake layers horizontally into two thin halves. Place one of the chocolate layers on a cake board or cake platter. Top with a very thin layer of the whipped cream or strawberry jam. Place a layer of the strawberry cake on top. Again, cover with a thin layer of cream or strawberry jam. Top with a layer of the white cake. Cover with a thin layer of the cream or strawberry jam. Repeat the process with the remaining layers of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla cake. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream (see below). Decorate with the strawberry whipped cream (see below).

Make The Whipped Cream and Strawberry Whipped Cream

Whipped Cream - Thoroughly chill the bowl of your electric mixer, the beaters and the cream. Place one cup of the heavy cream in the bowl of your stand mixer (or any steel bowl - make sure it is chilled). Whip the cream till it is thickened. Add the powdered sugar and whip till soft peaks form. Crumb coat the sides and top of cake. Place in fridge for 15 minutes. Remove and frost completely with remaining whipped cream.

Strawberry Whipped Cream - Pour the cold water in a small saucepan and sprinkle both the gelatins  over it. Keep for five minutes till the gelatin softens. Heat the pan over low heat till the gelatin is melted (do not bring to boil.) Keep aside to cool.

Whip the remaining 1 cup cream till soft peaks form. Add the cooled gelatin (make sure its not set) and whip till stiff peaks are formed. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with a 1 M tip. Pipe roses all over the top and sides. (See I Am Baker for the tutorial)

Happy Eating!!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I cannot call this cake by it's real name because there is no sour cream in it. Well, the original cake does have it but I was out of sour cream (not that I ever have it in my fridge) and I didn't want to buy a tub for this. Instead  I used plain old yogurt and still got excellent results if I may say so myself. I made this cake to take to work and it was gone in 10 minutes flat! It is a very easy cake to make and definitely a crowd pleaser. I made mine in a 9X13 Inch dish as I didn't have a tube pan and this baked in 45 minutes. Many reviewers had recommended doubling the streusel recipe and that's what I did. I have used the same streusel recipe before in my banana cake and always love it. This is one of my favorite cakes and I will be making this again and again!

Recipe Source - Barefoot Contessa Via Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients - My changes in red

12 Tablespoons (11/2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter At Room Temperature
11/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
3 Extra-Large Eggs At Room Temperature - I used 4 large Eggs
11/2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1¼ Cups Sour Cream - I used equal amount full cream yogurt
21/2 Cups Cake Flour (Not Self-Rising)
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
For The Streusel: I doubled the quantities below
1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
11/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Cold Unsalted Butter, Cut Into Pieces
3/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts, Optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. I used a 9X13 inch pan

2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, and then add the vanilla and sour cream.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

4. For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.

5. Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

6. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate.

Happy Eating!!

Celebrating a 100th Post with Marshmallow Fondant!

My 100th post! Can you believe it? It's already been a year since I started blogging and now I have reached the century mark. I started this blog on a whim, on a lazy day. I am an avid blog reader and seeing so much good food everyday I was itching to share what I made with someone other than my hubby and sisters. So, I googled "how to start a blog" and voila! There I was with my spanky new blog with nothing to write. I thought a lot about what to write as my first post and finally wrote whatever flew from the top of my head. A 100 posts later I am so glad I did this.



Compare my pixie looking Ben 10 with the original below. LOL!



To celebrate my 100th post I decided to tackle something completely new to me. Fondant! I have never eaten fondant in my life and from what I have heard, the stuff tastes awful. But, they say, Marshmallow Fondant is something completely different and nice. Of course it doesn't have the same properties as regular fondant, but as long as I am able to cover cakes and decorate I am happy. There are a lot (and I mean a lot!) of tutorials out there for this and I have listed some of them below. Please check out Peggy Weavers page as there is a lot of detailed info and pictures on the subject and this helped me a lot. I made a Ben 10 cake for my nephew's birthday and I am happy with the results even though there were a lot of mistakes. I know the cake looks very amateurish but this was my first attempt and I was not sure what would be the end result. I just wish I had those Americolor food markers with thin tips. I ordered mine from ebay (Wilton) as we don't get them in Dubai and the tips are quite fat. I made this in my cousins kitchen and didn't have access to all my stuff so I had to improvise on a few things (the hair is colored brown with cocoa powder).
BTW I hate marshmallows. They have this weird texture and feel slimey in my mouth. But this fondant tastes nice and not sticky!

Recipe Source - Adapted from Peggy Weaver's Baking Corner

Ingredients - Makes enough to cover and decorate a 9X13 inch cake

250 Gms Mini Marshmallows (Use a good quality brand)
1 Tbsp Water
450 Gms Icing Sugar
1/2 Tsp Clear Vanilla Essence
1/2 Cup Shortening

1. Grease a large microwave-safe bowl, the bowl of the stand mixer, a spoon, and the dough hook generously with the shortening. Place the shortening in a bowl on the counter so that it is easily accessible.

2. Put the marshmallows and water in the greased microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds. Remove and stir with the greased spoon. Microwave again for 30 seconds till all of them are fully melted.

Add the vanilla essence to the bowl. If you want only one coloured fondant you can add the food colour at this stage.

3. Keep aside about 1 cup of the icing sugar and add the rest to the bowl of the stand mixer, along with the salt. Create a well in the center. Pour the melted marshmallow into the well and turn the mixer on to the lowest setting. When the mixer sounds strained, turn the speed up one setting. Turn off the mixer once all the sugar has been incorporated. If the fondant is sticky, add the reserved sugar 1/4 cup at a time until it is no longer sticky.
4. Grease the counter and your hands with shortening. Pour out the contents of the mixer bowl and knead till the fondant becomes a smooth dough adding more sugar if needed.

Grease the outside of the fondant ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place in a Ziploc bag and let it rest overnight.

To Use Fondant

When ready to use, microwave for 10 - 20 seconds to soften and divide in portions as desired. Colour as needed and keep the unused fondant covered in plastic wrap. 

Generously sprinkle cornflour on counter and roll out dough to 1/8th of an inch. Make cut outs or cover cake fully, just have fun with it!

Useful links

Bake at 350

Annie's Eats

Happy Eating!

Chocolate and Hazelnut Mousse Cake

This is a rich cake. Eat slowly. Or you will repent. Not that I did! I made this entremet (oh what a fancy word!) as a part of this months Daring Bakers challenge and everyone loved it. This cake has three parts - A flourless chocolate cake, topped with chocolate hazelnut mousse and white chocolate whipped cream. The cake for the bottom layer doesn't take too much time and is very easy to prepare. Only thing was that I found it a little too bitter as I used a 70% dark chocolate, so next time I will use semi sweet (change given below). The hazelnut mousse requires something more to increase the hazelnut taste as mine was completely over powered with the chocolate in the nutella. Most of the reviewers added Frangelico but as I don't take alcohol, that was out. The original recipe has a chocolate mousse in the middle but I made the hazelnut mousse instead. This dessert can be made without the jaconde.

Update - I am linking this to Sweet As Sugar Cookies Linky Party.

Recipe Source - Adapted from Cook's Illustrated (November 1, 2009) via I am Baker and Gourmet (February 2006) via Epicurious

Ingredients

Bottom Layer - Flour less Chocolate Cake

6 Tbsp (3/4 Stick) Unsalted Butter (cut into 6 pieces, plus extra for greasing pan)

198 Grams (7 ounces) Semisweet Chocolate (Chopped Fine)

3/4 Tsp Instant Espresso Powder
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

4 Large Eggs, Separated

Pinch of Salt

1/3 Cup Packed (about 2 1/2 ounces) Light Brown Sugar (Crumbled with fingers to remove lumps)

 

Middle Layer - Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

1 1/2 Tsp Unflavored Gelatin

4 1/2 Tbsp Cold Water

1 Cup Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (E.g. Nutella)

1 Cup Whipped Cream Cheese (E.g Philadelphia)

3 Cups Chilled Heavy Cream

3 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

4 1/2 Tbsp Sugar

Top Layer - White Chocolate Whipped Cream

1/2 Tsp Powdered Gelatin

1 Tbsp Water

100 Gms (Approx 3.5 ounces) White Chocolate (Chopped)

3/4 Cups Cold Heavy Cream

Make The Bottom Layer

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 165 degrees C (325 degrees F). Butter bottom and sides of 91/2-inch spring form pan. Place parchment paper on the bottom only (cut to fit the bottom).

2. Melt butter, chocolate, and espresso powder in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth (I melted mine in the microwave) Remove from heat and cool mixture slightly, about 5 minutes. Whisk in vanilla and egg yolks; set aside.

3. In stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites and salt at medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Add half of brown sugar and beat until combined, about 15 seconds. Add remaining brown sugar and beat at high speed until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, about 1 minute longer, scraping down sides halfway through. Using whisk, fold one-third of beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten. Using rubber spatula, fold in remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain. Carefully transfer batter to prepared spring form pan, gently smoothing top with offset spatula.

4. Bake until cake has risen, is firm around edges, and center has just set but is still soft (center of cake will spring back after pressing gently with finger), 13 to 18 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. (Cake will collapse as it cools.) Remove cake from pan and add the jaconde imprime to the spring form side if using.  Place the cake back on the base, add the spring form side and snap shut. (If not using the jaconde, do not remove cake from the pan and continue with next step).

Make The Middle Layer - Prepare after bottom layer has cooled completely

1. Sprinkle gelatin over water in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Heat gelatin mixture over low heat, stirring, just until gelatin is melted, about 2 minutes.

2. Whisk in chocolate hazelnut spread until combined and remove from heat.

3. Whisk together cheese and chocolate hazelnut mixture in a large bowl.

4. Beat together cream, cocoa powder, and sugar in another large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed until just combined, then increase speed to high and beat until cream just holds soft peaks. Whisk one third of whipped cream into cheese mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream until well combined.

5. Spoon filling onto cake base in pan, gently smoothing top, then chill, covered, at least 3 hours.

Make the Top Layer - Prepare after middle layer has set.

1. In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand at least 5 minutes.

2. Place white chocolate in medium bowl. Bring 1/4 cup cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; add gelatin mixture and stir until fully dissolved. Pour cream mixture over white chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes (mixture will thicken slightly).

3. In clean bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip remaining 1/2 cup cream at medium speed until it begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, 15 to 60 seconds. Using whisk, fold one-third of whipped cream into white chocolate mixture to lighten. Using rubber spatula, fold remaining whipped cream into white chocolate mixture until no white streaks remain.

4. Spoon white chocolate mousse into pan over middle layer (make sure middle layer has set). Smooth top with offset spatula. Return cake to refrigerator and chill until set, at least 2½ hours. Unmold and serve. Cake should be served cold as it melts if kept out for too long.

Happy Eating!!

Daring Bakers Jan 2011 - Biscuit Jaconde Imprime

Jaconde what? That's what my first reaction was when I read this months DB challenge. This was something completely new to me and looked mighty difficult. However, after going through the recipe and seeing what some of the bakers made I decided to tackle it early on in the month. Since my parents and husband were both leaving to India, I made this as a good-bye treat. The imprime is the outer sponge of the dessert you can see in the picture.

Blog-checking lines: The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

I had great fun making this dessert and even though it is time consuming (three days), the ooh's and aah's make it all worth it. I spread the entire thing over three days as I didn't want to burden myself and things went very smoothly. I made a butterfly design with the decor paste (coloured pink and blue) and halved the sponge recipe. I ended up with a little less sponge and had to improvise with cut up pieces of the cake.

This is the order that I used to make the recipe

Make the decor paste

Make the design and freeze the paste on the tray

Make the sponge batter

Pour batter over frozen paste and bake

Cut and assemble.

Recipe - Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste (Makes Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan) I made 1/3 this recipe

Ingredients

14 Tbsp/ 210ml/ 7oz/ 200g Unsalted Butter (Softened)

1 1/2 Cups + 1 1/2 Tbsp/ 385ml/ 7oz/ 200g Confectioners' (icing) Sugar

7 Large Egg Whites - About 7 oz / 200g

1 3/4 Cup/ 420ml/ 7¾ oz/ 220g Cake Flour

Food coloring gel, paste or liquid

COCOA Décor Paste Variation: Reduce cake flour to 6 oz / 170g. Add 2 oz/ 60 g cocoa powder. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to creamed mixture.

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (use stand mixer with blade, hand held mixer, or by hand)

2. Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously.

3. Fold in sifted flour.

4. Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa variation.

Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern

1. Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 1/4 inch (5 millimeter) thick onto silicone baking mat with a spatula, or flat knife. Place mat on an upside down baking sheet. The upside down sheet makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan. - I poured the paste into a pastry bag and drew the butterflies on parchment paper kept over a baking tray. Make sure your baking tray does not warp in the oven.

2. Pattern the décor paste – Here is where you can be creative. Make horizontal /vertical lines (you can use a knife, spatula, cake/pastry comb). Squiggles with your fingers, zig zags, wood grains. Be creative whatever you have at home to make a design can be used. OR use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one.

3. Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes - It took around 30 mins for me.

Joconde Sponge (Makes Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan) - I halved this recipe

Ingredients

3/4 Cup/ 180 ml/ 3oz/ 85g Almond Flour/Meal - *You can also use hazelnut flour, just omit the butter

1/2 Cup Plus 2 Tbsp/ 150 ml/ 2⅔ oz/ 75g Confectioners' (icing) Sugar

1/4 Cup/ 60 ml/ 1 oz/ 25g Cake Flour (1 Cup Cake Flour = 3/4 Cup All purpose flour + 2 Tbsp Cornflour)

3 Large Eggs - about 5⅓ oz/ 150g

3 Large Egg Whites - About 3 oz/ 90g

2 1/2 Tsp/ 12½ ml/ ⅓ oz/ 10g White Granulate Sugar or Superfine Sugar

2 Tbsp/ 30 ml/ 1oz / 30g Unsalted Butter (Melted)

1.Pre heat oven to 475ºF /250ºC

2. In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.

3. Sift almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, cake flour. (This can be done into your dirty egg white bowl)

4. On medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light. (If using a stand mixer use blade attachment. If hand held a whisk attachment is fine, or by hand. )

5. Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.

6. Fold in melted butter.

Getting Ready to Bake

1. Remove the patterned tray from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.

2. Bake at 475ºF /250ºC until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 10 - 15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. Yes, it is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.

Assemble The Entremet

1. Cool. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.

2. Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)

3. Trim the cake of any dark crispy edges. You should have a nice rectangle shape.

4. Decide how thick you want your “Joconde wrapper”. Traditionally, it is ½ the height of your mold (mine was a 9 Inch spring form pan). This is done so more layers of the plated dessert can be shown. However, you can make it the full height.

5. Once your height is measured, then you can cut the cake into equal strips, of height and length. (Use a very sharp paring knife and ruler.)

6. Make sure your strips are cut cleanly and ends are cut perfectly straight. Press the cake strips inside of the mold, decorative side facing out. Once wrapped inside the mold, overlap your ends slightly. You want your Joconde to fit very tightly pressed up to the sides of the mold. Then gently push and press the ends to meet together to make a seamless cake. The cake is very flexible so you can push it into place. You can use more than one piece to “wrap “your mold, if one cut piece is not long enough.

7. The mold is done, and ready to fill.

I will post separately on what I filled inside my mold.

Happy Eating!!

Russian Honey Cake - Medovyi Pirog

After a year of searching through the world wide web, I have successfully found it! What, you may ask. This recipe of course! Here is the background story. One day, my colleague bought this unusual looking cake to work. I had a piece and fell in love. It was so different and yet so tasty. I asked her for the recipe but as she had not made it she could not give it to me. I quickly logged onto the net and started searching for a Russian Honey Cake as I was told that was its name and it was famous in this part of the world. Well, my search revealed only two results and I was not sure if the outcome would be the same. Fast forward to a year later, and I ate the cake again. This time however, my search revealed a lot of results and I even got a recipe with pictures! Yay! I quickly went home and made the cake and got the exact same taste as I remembered. The simple ingredients morph into a fantastic taste and this is a great cake to serve to company.

This cake takes some to make, but it is very easy. you need to make the dough which takes like 5 minutes. Cool it and roll it out. Cut into shapes and bake. What you need to make sure is to stand near the oven like a hawk and keep an eye on these babies. They bake so quickly that you wont have time for anything else. I lost two precious layers to my negligence :( I halved the original recipe and still got a good cake to serve 5 - 6 people.

Recipe Source - Food.com

Ingredients - Makes approx. 15 layers of 8 inch each.

For the Cake Layers
2 Eggs

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tbsp Liquid Honey
100 Gms (1/2 Cup/8 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter
2 Cups All Purpose Flour

For the Filling and Topping
750 Gms Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Honey
1/2 Cup Shredded Sweetened Coconut (Optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. Beat eggs well with sugar; add baking soda and liquid honey (warm).

3. Melt the margarine/butter in a pot over low flame; and add the above mixture (margarine should not be too hot).

4. Keeping the heat on low, add the flour a little at a time. Keep mixing until the mass is without lumps. (the mixture will be very thick and very hard to stir). Remove from heat and cool.

5. Take a big piece of dough, roll into a ball and dip the dough in flour. Place on parchment paper and roll into a very thin layer. (1-2mm). Using a round cutter (I used my saucepan lids-use something of minimum 8 inches in diameter) cut a circle as round as possible. 

7. To start, roll out at least 4 circles and place on separate parchment sheets. Place each circle in the oven and bake 180°C for 2-4 minutes (You can do two at a time or one by one) or until golden brown in colour; repeat with remaining dough and allow to cool before assembling. (Watch the cakes very carefully as they are done quickly and burn easily).

Make the Filling

Beat the sour cream, sugar and honey until the sugar dissolves-the mixture will still be fairly liquid.

Assemble The Cake

1.Take two cake layers (Use the most imperfect ones) and grind to make cake crumbs in the food processor. Keep aside.

2. Place one cake layer on a flat plate and add a generous layer of cream. Repeat till all the cake layers are finished. Coat the entire cake with the remaining cream.

3. Cover completely with the cake crumbs. Top with sweetened coconut if using.

4. Place in fridge and allow to set at least 6 hours before eating.

Happy Eating!!