Valentine's Day Cookies: Wooden Hearts

I'm so bad.  I couldn't help it -- the temptation was irresistible.  I'm just not in to all the hearts and flowers and high pressure that comes with this day.  (Says the person who owns 6 different heart-shaped cookie cutters.)

The recipe recommends using a wood-grained texture mat by Chinese Clay Art.  I have one of their mats in a different pattern; they're very nice, but also rather expensive.  So I opted for a much cheaper version that didn't leave as deep of an impression (no pun intended).  The design nearly disappeared on the thicker cookies, even with very little rise in the dough.

I'm still undecided whether to spring for the better mat.  This could be a short-lived novelty.

Here's what I used:

5¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
1 cup dark-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cardamom, allspice, pepper, and cloves in a large bowl. Place butter in a mixer bowl. Bring sugars, corn syrup, and water to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot sugar mixture over butter, then beat on low speed until combined.  Beat cream, egg, and vanilla in a bowl, then add to butter mixture. Beat on medium speed until well combined.  Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Divide dough into thirds, and flatten each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 disk between lightly floured parchment to 1/8-inch thickness. Alternatively, the dough can be rolled out to 1/16-inch thickness for a crisper cookie. Place a lightly floured plastic faux-bois mat on dough, pattern side down. With rolling pin, lightly roll over mat to imprint dough; carefully remove mat. If dough has become very soft, transfer dough on parchment to a baking sheet, and refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining disks. Otherwise, cut out shapes with holiday cookie cutters  and transfer to lightly-greased baking sheets, grouping similar sizes together and spacing them 1 inch apart. Roll out and cut scraps once.  Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to firm. (This will help preserve the imprint.)  Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. (If making small cookies, start checking after 8 minutes.) Transfer to wire racks, and let cool.

Conclusion:  The cookies were good. They're quite sweet, and taste primarily of cardamom, which is my favorite spice.  They're a little tough, which I find happens with all cookies where the dough is pressed.  The dough was extremely soft at first, but became very easy to work with after chilling, even when it came back up to room temperature.

Recipe:  Spiced Cardamom Cookies via Martha Stewart

February ABC challenge: Boston Cream Pie

Obviously there's an art to cutting this cake so it still looks pretty.

I LOVE Boston Cream Pie, but it's pretty much impossible to find a good one commercially.  Most use a cornstarch-based filling, and I don't know what that brown glaze is that bakeries are using these days that they pretend is chocolate, but it's awful.  Consequently, if I want Boston Cream Pie, or a chocolate eclair, or even a chocolate glazed doughnut, I'll be making it myself.  

Fast forward to the February baking challenge!  Happy happy!!  

The King Arthur cake recipe doesn't include a recipe for the filling.  The hunt for a pastry cream recipe revealed that there is a lot of variation, mostly in the number of eggs, but also in the amount of flour, corn starch, sugar and butter.  So, pretty much everything.  And then the reviews were all over the board as well, everything from "This is my go-to recipe" to "This was inedible!"  The ones that confused me were when they stated that the recipe was nothing more than vanilla pudding.  And that made me wonder, "What IS the difference?"  I really didn't know what I should be looking for.  I had finally settled on one in Joy of Baking because that's a dependable brand, when I happened upon one from King Arthur themselves.  With their own recipe on their web site, I had to wonder why their cake recipe suggests their packaged product or sends you searching for your own recipe.  Did they forget they had it?  Anyway, I decided to go King Arthur all the way and used their recipe.  

The pastry cream was very easy and delicious, mildly sweet and heavily vanilla, like the best French vanilla ice cream.  The recipe makes 3 cups and I needed only 1.5, so I halved it, and that would have required 2 large egg yolks.  The Joy recipe called for 3 yolks, which clued me in that a little more egg wasn't going to hurt anything.  The cage free eggs I buy, though labeled "large", usually run pretty small, so I decided to use 3.  Other than that, I followed the recipe as written.

The cake recipe was pretty easy.  I didn't have the KA cake flour blend and didn't know what was in it; I used unbleached AP flour but substituted a few tablespoons of corn starch.  (Essentially making cake flour.)  The instructions to remove any lumps of flour concerned me -- I didn't feel confident that I would find them if they were there.  So I ran the batter through a sieve, which did collect some small gummy bits.  I think this also evens out the size of the air bubbles, which helps give a fine crumb.  I rapped the pan on the counter a few times to encourage the last of the hold outs to rise up and be popped.  

Is this what you'd call "deep golden brown"?

The problem came when I realized that none of my cake pans are 2" high.  So I used a springform pan, but that was only 8" in diameter.  The recipe recommends baking 50-60 minutes, or until it's a "deep golden brown and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan".  At 50 minutes, it obviously wasn't done.  At 60, it seemed done, but I didn't feel confident since my cake was thicker than it was supposed to be and would therefore need to bake longer.  Besides that, it wasn't what I would have called "deep golden brown" and it was clinging steadfastly to the sides of the pan.  So I let it go another 10 minutes.  It still wasn't pulling away from the pan at that point, but it tested done and it seemed the right color.   

I was concerned about the usual problem I have with things browning too deeply on the bottom, so I had put a pan used to catch drips from pies under the cake pan.  Good thing, too, because it did leak a little.  Otherwise, the cake came out nicely.

This looks like a milk chocolate glaze, but it's just the photo.

When it came to making the glaze, I didn't have any good quality chocolate.  I used some cheap chocolate chips that weren't melting very nicely into the cream, so the glaze took a while to emulsify.  Once I finally had the glaze mixed, I wasn't satisfied with the chocolate intensity, so I added about a teaspoon or so of Dutch processed cocoa, which helped. The recipe directs you to pour the glaze on immediately, but it seemed too warm and runny.  I thought it might just run right off the cake, so I let it cool down considerably and then poured it on slowly.   



I could hardly wait to try the final product.  It's been ages since I've had Boston Cream Pie.  It turns out I could have held off on those last 10 minutes of baking.  The cake is crispy on the outside, which isn't a problem other than it resists the knife and causes it to squish down when I cut it.  

Conclusion:  I would definitely make this again.  It's a little time-consuming, with three separate components, but they don't all have to be done the same day.  The cake could probably be made well in advance and frozen.  The pastry cream can be made a few days in advance.  The glaze could probably be made in advance and warmed before drizzling it on.  

I had two slices.  Immediately.  :)

Recipes:  Boston Cream Pie and pastry cream,  both via King Arthur Flour

Lemon Cake with Lemony Sugar Wash

I had some heavy cream I needed to use up, so I looked for a recipe that called for a lot in something other than whipped cream (because it doesn't keep well) and found this one for a lemon pound cake.  It looked pretty easy too.  This has to mix for a LONG time -- it's important not to cut this time short because you're trying to build air into the batter.  Since I have only a hand mixer, that meant I had to stand there the whole time, which wasn't much fun.  But I've been listening to Moby Dick on line, so I had that going.

I got lazy and didn't clean off the beaters after I'd finished mixing the batter, and that's too bad because when I finally did I found most of the lemon zest wrapped around them.  The final cake wasn't very strongly lemon, and I wonder if that had an effect.

I didn't have cake flour, so I used part corn starch.  I also didn't have unsalted butter, so I used salted butter and omitted the salt in the recipe.  In the end, I think the cake could have used just a bit more salt, maybe 1/2 teaspoon.  (I think it would have brought out the lemon zip a little more.)

Here's what I used:

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
2½ teaspoons lemon extract
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 3 cups minus 2 tablespoons unsifted, unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup unsifted bleached cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2½ cups superfine sugar
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Combine the lemon peel, lemon extract, and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl.  Set aside.Lightly spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour, tapping out the excess.  (This makes a lot of batter so if your Bundt pan can't hold it all, put the excess batter in small ramekins and bake those as well.)  Sift the flour, corn starch, and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper and set aside.

Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 4 minutes.  Add the granulated sugar in 4 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat for 45 seconds. Beat in the whole eggs, one at a time, mixing for about 20 seconds after each addition to combine.  Add the egg yolks and beat for 30 seconds longer.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. Blend in the lemon peel and extract mixture. On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the heavy cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl thoroughly with a rubber spatula after each addition. Beat the batter on moderately high speed for 1 minute.  Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until risen, set, and a toothpick inserted into the cake withdraws clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Loosen with a narrow spatula and invert onto a serving plate. Spoon the lemony sugar wash all over the cake, including the sides, giving time for the liquid to absorb before you spoon more over the cake. (See Conclusion.)  Cool completely.

Lemony Sugar Wash
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Spoon over warm cake.

My oven is an old O'Keefe & Merritt with only a bottom burner, which often causes a problem with bottom browning.  This cake bakes for over an hour, and while it wasn't over baked, it did turn out very brown on the bottom (which became the top.)

Conclusion:  This was good -- dense, rich, and moist.  But when I want lemon, I want LEMON, and this only hinted at it.  The wash was the best part, adding a nice tang.  I wish I had poked holes in the cake before pouring it over.

Recipe:  Lemon cake with lemony sugar wash via Stir It Up!

Panettone Muffins

My first ABC challenge and my first blog post EVER!  (This is the edited version, as of 7/19/14.)

I did my usual and made some substitutions.  I know -- the advice is always to follow the recipe exactly as written the first time, then modify according to taste.  Well... no.  I don't usually make anything more than once, so it's gotta be NOW...

According to the King Arthur Flour recipe page, these muffins are "intended to mimic the flavor of Italy's classic Christmas bread, panettone. They're flavored with Fiori di Sicilia — 'Flowers of Sicili' — traditionally used to flavor panettone."  I didn't have it, but I had this mystery bottle of Princess Cake &  Cookie bakery emulsion:
                                                        

I thought it tasted similar to panettone -- a bit citrusy -- so I used it. I'm not a big fan of white flour, and I usually use at least half whole wheat in my baking.  But the more delicate in texture and/or flavor something is, the less I feel it can handle whole wheat flour, and that included this recipe.  Nonetheless, I used 3/4 cup white whole wheat.  And since I didn't have the coarse sugar, I sprinkled on some nonpareils -- these muffins look a bit naked undecorated.

I had an interesting discussion in another forum about cake enhancer, particularly King Arthur's.  Cake enhancer is intended to extend the life of the product, and can be made of natural products or chemicals, or a combination.  I don't know what KA makes theirs out of, and I don't see the need to add any weird artificial ingredient to my baking, so I left it out.

I used these silicone "baking cups" for the first time, and found they didn't quite sit down in the muffin tins.  That created a bit of an insulating air layer, which left the bottoms pale and spongy.  For better success, I should probably use them on a baking sheet.  There is a toasty ring around each muffin where the cup met the tin.  The batter did fill the cups "quite full", and the muffins didn't rise a whole lot after that -- just another 1/2" or so, though I got some great cracking in the tops!

I had to bake these about 25 minutes, and I still found them a bit doughy while warm, even though they were fully cooked.  (The extra time necessary might have been due to that insulating layer, or my crazy oven.)  Doughy/gummy muffins are usually the result of too much liquid.  The batter was quite thick, but not heavy or dry.  It seemed "fluffy" and held its shape, like whipped cream.  I've certainly had batters that were much thicker, so this recipe could probably use about 1/4 cup less milk.  (It might depend on how dry the fruit was.)

Here's what I used:

1½ cups diced, dried fruit:  golden raisins, mango, pears, Rainier cherries, orange-flavored cranberries
1/4 spiced rum
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, to taste princess bakery emulsion
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons King Arthur Cake Enhancer, optional, for enhanced freshness
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2¼ 1½ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup milk
2 generous tablespoons coarse white sparkling sugar, for topping

non-pareils, for decoration

Mix the dried fruit and liquid of your choice in a bowl. Cover the bowl, and let the fruit sit overnight. Or speed up the process by heating fruit and liquid in the microwave till very hot, then cooling to lukewarm/room temperature, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin, or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.  (I did not grease the silicone cups and did not have a problem.)  In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, beating to combine.  Stir in the flavoring and vanilla. Whisk together the baking powder, salt, and flour; stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.  Stir in the fruit, with any remaining liquid.  Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups quite full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with the nonpareils.  Bake the muffins for 18 to 25 minutes, or until they're a sunny gold color on top, and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them. Transfer them to a rack to cool.

Conclusion:  The warm muffins were very delicate and soft, much like cake.  I found them to be a little too sweet and somewhat lacking in flavor; I think that came from the minimal amount of butter and no spices.  I don't really like quick breads much anyway, and I think there is something lost in this recipe by removing the yeast.  For one thing, yeasted bread provides a nice structure that supports all that fruit, which these muffins didn't have.  Perhaps if they had less milk. Once cooled, they were much less gummy and delicate, and the flavors seemed to round out better.  I even started to like them.  But on the second day I was back to thinking they were too sweet.  Ironically, I took them to work and they were very well-received!  "Those are  AWESOME!" said one person.  "Not too sweet."  And someone else, "I like the texture."  They were appreciating the two very things I liked least!!  You never can tell.

Recipe:  Panettone Muffins via King Arthur Flour