The Queen of Tarts

Done in by Dates

I have put up a recipe of this kind before - I promise you. But I keep going back to it, because the ingredients are entirely too easy to get in this part of the world - that would be the Middle East. In the summer people are often seen underneath date trees with large tarps - someone climbs up the tree and throws down the sun-soaked sweet dates. As a child I never liked dates. They were hard and too sugary, and I picked them out of granola and cereal on a regular basis. Then I started liking them, but really only knew about mejdool dates. When we moved to Abu Dhabi, I was shown the wonderful world of dates, and now khodri and segai are my favorite kinds. But back to the date bread (which can or cannot have nuts depending on what you like etc. etc...)

Often I will hesitate before making it - it involves opening the dates, pulling out the pits, and then cutting or chopping them into small pieces. My fingers are left with a sugary-sweet substance all over them. I am filled with a sense of relief once the dates (roughly 1 1/2 cups when it is all said and done) are chopped. They are placed in a bowl and one cup of boiling water and 1 tsp of baking soda are added to the dates. I typically watch the baking soda rise up and bubble for a few seconds and then place the bowl to the side for about 15-20 minutes.

While the dates are soaking, preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

The oven's temperature rises, and I know that it will eventually reach 325 - 330 F, which will be ideal for cooking this sweet bit of perfection.

In a separate bowl, I mix together:

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 C oat bran

2/3 C whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 C flax seeds

1/2 C All Bran Cereal

1/2 tsp salt

and then in yet another bowl I whisk together

2 eggs

1/4 C vegetable oil

1/3 - 1/2 C agave nectar

1/4 tsp Fiori di Sicilia - this is simply heaven, it adds and amazing sweet citrus flavor and makes everything taste like wedding cake as far as I am concerned, and THAT is definitely a good thing.

Mix the flour mixture with the oil and eggs, and once it is all incorporated add the dates. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for roughly 45-50 minutes or until the top is brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan on the cooling rack. Allow to cool for about 40 minutes (if this is at all possible) before cutting into the date bread.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are countless recipes for chocolate chip cookies - everyone seems to have their favorite, and of course there is the great debate over chewy or crispy. I have always loved chocolate chip cookies, and truth be told, I have never EVER met anyone who did not like them. They come in all shapes and sizes and textures as well. I remember driving around in the summer as a child and eating Famous Amos cookies from the brown bags they came in. There was something delectable about that crunch from such a small cookie. The very first time I had a Mrs. Field's chocolate chip cookie was in La Jolla, CA and I was about 14 years old - friends of my parents let me have one, and to this day it stands out as being one of the best cookies I have ever had (or maybe it just tasted better because I had a major crush on their son...) To this day I have never had a Mrs. Fields that tastes as good as the ones I had back in La Jolla.

I have made many versions of this American classic, and the ones that remain chewy are preferable. In recent weeks I have turned back to baking as the weather in our new home, Abu Dhabi, has started to cool enough for me to even want to contenplate turning the oven on. I found a recipe in Cooks Illustrated for chewy chocolate chip cookies, and provided me with a full-on reason as to WHY they reminded chewy (the melted butter and extra egg yolk). I could not resist. Of course like almost every other recipe, I put in my edits. For example, I used three different kinds of chocolate from chocolate bars (which I chopped up) instead of chips. I like the uneven melting and the subtle flavor differences. I am also very heavy handed with the vanilla, and tend to cut back a bit on the sugar. I also doubled the recipe, which turned the whole thing into a bit of a math project due to the metric conversions over here. However, they are amazing, and it is hard to not eat the all of the dough from the bowl.

Enjoy! 

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

24 tbsp salted butter melted and cooled

2 cup packed brown sugar (light)

2 large egg plus 2 egg yolks

3 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups chopped chocolate (for best flavor, mix up the variety with milk, semi-sweet, and dark)

Preheat oven to 325 F and line baking sheets (2) with parchment paper or cooking spray. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, and set aside. Mix the butter and sugar together in a bowl and then beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined. Add the dry ingredients until all incorporated. Finally, add in the chips. Use either a measuring cup or a cookie scoop and measure out about 1/4 cup for each cookie and shape into a ball. Pull the ball apart with your hands, and rotate the hands 90 degrees so the jagged ends are facing up - then press together. Place the dough on the cookie sheet jaggedside up about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 11-13 minutes until about golden brown. 

Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on a cooling rack. Makes about 16 large cookies.

Khalifa City Carrot Cake

One of the best things about carrot cake is the frosting - the cream cheese frosting that is sweet with just the right amount of tang to it. I also use the same frosting for red velvet cupcakes, and it has been known to disappear on it own - right from the bowl spoonful by spoonful. I think the trick to the cream cheese frosting is to use less sugar than the recipe calls for, a small pinch of salt, a little bit of milk to smooth it out, and some vanilla to bring out all the flavors. Five simple ingredients - nothing more, nothing less. But I should get back to the carrot cake!

Sometimes the cake is too heavy, other times to dry or even oily. This recipe, from Cooks Illustrated, seems to be just right, and a perfect balance of flavors. I decided to make cupcakes for easy transport and I like the single-serving size. The recipe makes almost 2 dozen - probably 16 cupcakes. I also made extra frosting... I still like the cream cheese frosting by the spoonful, and now I can have it. I try to pretend that because it is light cream cheese, it is ok to eat the frosting - yeah, right! I named this recipe after our neighborhood – Khalifa City. I thought that it was fitting.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place muffin papers or liners in a cupcake tin, or spray / butter the tin. Set aside.

2 1/2 c all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups granulated (caster) sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

4 eggs (medium)

1 1/2 c vegetable oil

4 cups shredded carrots

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and soda, and spices together in a bowl. Set aside. In a food processor or in a stand-up mixer, combine the sugar and eggs together. After about 30 seconds, add in the oil. Mix well - about 30 more seconds. Pour the mixture into a separate bowl if needed (if not, carry on with the same bowl - makes it easier for clean up!) Add the carrots into the wet mixture, and stir, then add the flour mixture in 3 parts. After each part mix until well incorporated. Place about 1/4 - 1/3 cup mixture in the muffin / cupcake tins. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 15 minutes in the tin. Gently remove from the tin, and allow to cool for 2 hours before frosting.

12 ounces light cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch (small) of salt

1 cup confectionary sugar (or more to taste)

3 tbsp milk

Mix the cream cheese and the milk until smooth. Add in the rest of the ingredients. If needed, allow to firm up in the fridge before frosting, but do not allow it to get too hard as it will not frost well. Best eaten spoonful by spoonful...

Hazelnut Tarlets

Forgive me in advance for my lack of precision.  We have several sets of measuring cups in a kitchen drawer.  We have two sets of measuring spoons.  We have a kitchen scale.  All of this aside, I like to cook by taste.  I do not really measure.  Well, when I am making quick breads, cookies, and those sorts of things, I will measure the flour and butter, but the rest just gets thrown in.  Vanilla - a pour will do. Cinnamon?  Depending on the recipe a heavy handed shake or a gentle sift will often take the recipe to a better place.  And when it comes to chocolate and cream?  I just kind of make it happen.  Sometimes my ganache is a little soft for the truffles, but they are going into one's mouth, so who really cares?  I do not run a pastry shop, and I am not a trained chef.  I am a person who loves to be in the kitchen and play with the ingredients that I have around me.  After all, if I spent my live measuring every last drop my life would not be very fun.

However, there times when measuring is critical, and making any kind of pastry dough is one of those times. Dr. H gave me Joanne Chang's Flour Cookbook as a birthday present, and I ordered a set of tartlet pans for myself, so thought that her pâte sucrée recipe would be the perfect fit for the pans and that the tartlets filled with a hazelnut ganache would work perfectly for a party we had some time ago.  No surprise - her recipe was a success, and not difficult to make.  The dough tastes like a mix between shortbread and pie crust, and has a wonderful buttery flavor and delicate crumble when bitten.

I chose to make a hazelnut ganache for the filling because I love the flavor of the liquor with the melted chocolate, and it is just strong enough to cause a bit of attention.  You can make a plain chocolate ganache, use amaretto, rum, etc.  While the ration for ganache tends to be 8 oz of chocolate to 4 oz of heavy cream, if you are going to use liquor to flavor the ganache, cut back on the cream a little bit (this is where my measuring because a little less than exact to say the least...)

Joanne's recipe was for a large tart - I made it per her instructions, but just filled out the smaller pans.  Due to the fact that it is a crust, I made several pricks in the bottom of the tartlet pan with fork tines, and halfway thru baking, I gently pressed the crust back into the tarts as is does rise a bit.

Pâte Sucrée Recipe

• 1/2 cup (1 stick/114 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (140 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 egg yolk

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until pale and light. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the flour and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds. The mixture will look like wet sand. Add the egg yolk and continue to mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the dough comes together.

Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap (I like Glad Cling Wrap) and refrigerate for about 1 hour. (If you are not going to use this straight away, you can place in a Freezer Safe bag and freeze for up to a month.) Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to soften for about 30 minutes. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work space (I like our marble slab in the kitchen because it keep the cool temperature). Once you roll it out to about 1/8 inch thick, take the little tart pans and turn them over on the dough. Press them down like cookie cutters to get the exact shape and size you need.

Press the pan down and shake it gently to losen the dough, then flip the pan back right-side-up. 

Mold the dough into little tartlet pans - I like to use various shapes to add a variety...

Once you place the dough in the pans, place in the fridge for about 30 minutes so the dough can rest. Once the dough is rested, place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the dough starts to turn golden brown.  If necessary, check about halfway through, and press the dough down into the pan if it is rising too high.

Once baked, place the pans on a cooling rack and allow to completely cool before filling.

Hazelnut Ganache

8 ounces high quality dark chocolate (I like Callebaut chocolate - 60% and buy most of my chocolate at Chocosphere) chopped into small pieces

3 1/2 ounces heavy cream

3-5 tbsp of Frangelico (depending on taste)

Place the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl.  Heat the cream until it is almost boiling, and then pour the cream over the chocolate.  Stir the chocolate and cream until well combined and the all of the chocolate has melted.  Once the chocolate is melted, add the Frangelico and mix well until everything is combined (it does not hurt to taste along the way in order to ensure you have added the right amount of liquor...)  Once the ganache has cooled, cover and allow it to set.

Using a pastry bag, pipe the ganache into the cooled pastry shells.  Allow the ganache to set in the shells, and then serve.  They are best if eaten the same day!

Hector's Cake (Chocolate Cake with Vanilla - Rum Buttercream)

 

Several years ago I had a surprise birthday party for my husband, and I needed to have the perfect birthday cake. I found a moist chocolate cake recipe that had a rich creamy chocolate icing - it stood up perfectly to that warm August afternoon. Since that day, this has been my "go-to" recipe when I needed to impress. From time to time I change the recipe and make it more my own depending on my mood or the situation. 

We recently had friends over who got married several month ago. I turned to this cake to celebrate their marriage (it did not hurt that we had a 10 year old bottle of Dom Perignon as well...). I played with the recipe a bit to make it healthier, but let's be real - it is chocolate cake. When I eat chocolate cake I want sweet, dense, richness in ever single bite. So while the amount of white flour is significantly reduced here, and I swapped out whole milk for 1%, you will not miss a thing. This cake is sure to please your toughest critics. I doubled the recipe and made a drop-dead vanilla-rum buttercream filling for the layers. Really, I should have just served the cake for dinner with a few forks. I am still not sure why we even bothered with the main course...

Preheat your over to 350 Degrees. Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans (or 4 if you double the recipe), and set them aside.

• 1 2/3 cups organic cane sugar
• 1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup Cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, and then in the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Mix together. Once mixed, slowly add in the water. The mixture will be very thin - don't worry about it. It will all work out! Once everything is pulled together, divide the mixture between the cake pans, and gently tap the bottom of the pans on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake for about 29-33 minutes (until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean and the cake starts to pull away from the edges of the pan). Allow the cake to cool in the pan on racks for roughly 10 minutes, then invert the pans and let the cakes cool completely before frosting and assembling.

Frosting (for the outside) - again, this can be easily doubled...

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Now for the middle of the cake - the layers - I made a vanilla-rum buttercream. I tend to be the worst kind of baker when it comes to things that I am comfortable with, which means that I do not really measure. However this means that there is a lot more room for innovation, invention, and fun as far as I am concerned. Here is what I did, more or less, and play around to make it your own...

Vanilla-Rum (for the layers)

2 cups vegetable shortening (I like the Organic Kind - Spectrum)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup dark rum (don't be cheap, use the good stuff!)
3 tbsp milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Put the shortening in a mixing bowl, and gradually add in the confectionary sugar until it is all incorporated. Add in the rum, milk, and vanilla. The frosting should be thick, but not too thick that you cannot spread it on the cake. If it is too thin, add more sugar. Once it is all mixed, allow to cool in the fridge for about a 30 minutes.

Place the first layer down on your cake stand, and then top it off with some of the vanilla-rum buttercream.

Place the second layer on top. If you have more than 2 layers, continue to fill and stack the cakes until all layers are done - do not put the vanilla-rum buttercream on the top layer.

Frost the cake with a thin- VERY THIN- layer of the chocolate frosting. This is a messy layer often called dirty icing. Let this layer sit and harder (best is to chill the cake in the fridge for an hour or two). Once the icing is hardened, place the final layer of icing on the cake and try to make it look pretty. Who cares if it is a mess anyway, it will still taste good!

Green Velvet

 

Growing up, we celebrated almost every holiday, and they always involved some kind of sweet treat. While Halloween is still my favorite, there is a particular St. Patrick's Day that stands out. It had to have been before I was in third grade, because we were still living in Providence. I came downstairs before school and there was a silver tea tray sitting on our kitchen table overflowing with white and green iced petit-fours. As a small child having miniature cakes appear before your eyes for breakfast is nothing less than a dream come true. My parents told me that the leprechauns brought the cakes from my sister and me. Clearly it left a strong impression because 30 years later I still remember it.

Inspired by my imagination from all of those years past and a recipe I made a few months ago for my husband I made a version of little cakes. I took a red velvet recipe and changed it up a bit. While they cannot begin to compare to the onces I had that morning on a silver tray, they are quite good - think red velvet gone green in the name of the leprechauns.

 

Green Velvet Cake 

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
3/4 cup oil + 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
green food coloring (add in enough to give a rich green color - more or less depending on your preference)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners or lightly grease the pan.
• Beat eggs in a bowl and add remaining liquid ingredients (except for food coloring) and stir together with whisk/mix until blended. Set aside.
• Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with wire whisk.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined - now add the food coloring.
• Pour about 1/4 - 1/3 cup into each cupcake space and then drop the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• After about ten minutes, remove the cupcakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 

• Then make the frosting.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. light cream cheese
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Frost the cakes with an icing bag or a knife... and the sprinkle green edible decorations on top for the magical touch...

 

Simple Banana Bread

Banana bread has a way of reappearing time and again in our kitchen. We always get bananas, the weeks comes and goes, and before we know it, there are several brown squishy sweet smelling pieces of fruit sitting on the marble slab on the kitchen counter. Prior to mixing the ingredients together, I often hesitate. I always think about the process, and I tell myself that it takes a long time, that it is time consuming, that it is an task I do not have the time to take on. And then I really think about it and realize how pathetic and lazy I am being...I forget how easy this quick bread is, and also how versatile the recipes are. I cannot even being to count the number of variations I have come up with when I comes to banana bread. However, one thing has always remained consistent - I rarely use white sugar, white flour, or the full amount of oil that is called for in a recipe. The sweetness of the overripe bananas combined with applesauce and a touch of agave nectar make for a pleasantly, but not overly, sweet treat. Somehow the bananas sitting on the counter always last longer than the banana bread. I dare you to keep this around for longer than a week!

Simple Banana Bread

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 egg

1 tbsp plain, nonfat yogurt or buttermilk (you can also use vanilla yogurt if you prefer it or that is all you have) This can also be omitted, however increase the oil by 1 tbsp is you choose do omit it.

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 ripe bananas

3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

Mix the bananas in a bowl with a hand-held or stand mixer. Add in the egg, applesauce, and oil. Once combined, add in the vanilla, yogurt, and agave. In a separate bowl, mix together the salt, baking soda, and flour. Once combined, slowly add in the flour mixture and then the raisins. Mix thoroughly and then pour into the loaf pan. Bake for about 50 - 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Take the loaf from the oven and cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the bread out onto the wire rack, and allow to cool thoroughly before cutting into it. After considerable trial and error, I have found that the bread often still bakes while it is in the pan and while it is cooling on the rack.

Enjoy for breakfast, tea, with coffee, etc.

 

Boys Prefer Blondies

I promised my nephews that we would make brownies - any kind that they wanted to make. In fact, we could make several different kinds in the course of an afternoon. The older one informed me that he wanted to make blondies. He thought that it would be fun and a nice change from the dark chocolate richness that make up brownies. His brother stayed with a more traditional brownies recipe.

It had been some time since I made blondies, and in preparation for the event, I ordered my supplies from Chocosphere. I got a 16 oz bag of Guittard Butterscotch Chips that would make me a hero for the afternoon.

The recipe (which is adapted from Elise Bauer's Simply Recipes) could not have been better or more of a success! I made several changes due to my taste (and the fact that I wanted to focus less on measuring and more on having fun in the kitchen). It was easy to follow and held the attention of both my nephew and me. Because the butter is melted, I decided not to use the mixer, and stir everything by hand. This made things a bit easier in the end and more fun for us as well. My nephew informed us all that the end result "Tasted like heaven." Well, that is good enough for me! Thank you Elise!

Blondie Recipe - Adated from Elise Bauer

• 1/2 cup of butter (salted), melted
• 1 cup of tightly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1 egg
• Dash of vanilla (small amount poured into the bowl)
• Small pinch of baking powder (1/2 tsp if you REALLY must know)
• Smaller Pinch of salt
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 3 -4 small handulls of butterscotch chips (this measuring method worked well for us!)

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a pan for the blondies. Ideally you will want an 8x8. I did not have one on hand so instead used a loaf pan, which ended up working out well. Stir together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips and lightly mix until they seem pretty well incorporated.

4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly (I used my hands here, which made it a bit easier). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes about 12 blondies. 

 

Chocolate Spiced Torte

It was a formidable task, and one that I was not sure I could take on.  However, I had spent most of the past 10 days sitting around - literally.  After undergoing a serious knee operation, my Dr told me that I could not place any weight on my right leg for almost two months.  However when the December Bon Appetit magazine arrived in the mail, I knew that the cake on the cover would take center stage at Christmas dinner.  I needed to figure out a way to both make and assemble the cake. So my husband and I took on this task, and managed to have fun doing it...

I was nervous - making a complicated torte that consisted of layers, ganache, glaze, and chocolate ribbons would not be easy on one leg.  It looked so gorgeous that it had to be done.  Perhaps it was the fact that I could not last very long standing on one leg, but I found that this cake was best done in stages - we did the layers on day and the buttercream the next.  We then assembled everything the day before we wanted to serve it.  The ribbons on top proved to me a new challenge in the kitchen, but one that was fun and something that I plan to do again.

When our family saw the cake there were lots of "oohhhs" and "aaahhhhs", and it actually tasted as good as it looked (I have to admit, I was not really sure how it would taste... After all, I am not a big fan of this particular kind of buttercream, and when I was assembling everything, the torte seemed overly dry. The ribbons themselves do not have a lot of flavor but pull the whole thing together. I will use this technique again for creating chocolate ribbons.

Spiced Chocolate Torte from Bon Appetit - December

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 8 eggs, seperated, room temperature
• 10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), melted, lukewarm
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, sifted (measured, then sifted)
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of cream of tartar

Chocolate Buttercream

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 4 jumbo egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature
• 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), melted and cooled (but still pourable)
• 1/4 cup dark rum

Chocolate Glaze

• 12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder

Chocolate "Ribbons"

• 14 ounces high-quality white chocolate, chopped (the original recipe calls for 7 ounces but I did not find that it was enough)
• 1 cup light corn syrup, divided
• 14 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), broken into pieces (same thing here re:  the amount as in the white chocolate...)

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter and flour three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 11/2-inch-high sides. 

Using electric mixer, cream butter in large bowl. Gradually beat in sugar until smooth. Beat in egg yolks 1 at a time. Blend in melted chocolate. Slowly mix in pecans, vanilla, and spices. Gradually add in flour in 3 batches (batter will be very thick and dense).

Using electric mixer fitted with clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar in another large bowl until medium peaks form. Gently fold 1/4 of whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites. Divide batter among prepared pans, spreading evenly. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Run knife around sides of each cake. Let stand 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks. Cool to room temperature. The cakes can be made in advance and frozen if wrapped well (up to several wks...)

Chocolate Buttercream

• Stir sugar and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil 1 minute. Meanwhile, using electric mixer, beat egg yolks in medium bowl until pale and thick. Gradually beat in hot sugar syrup; continue beating until mixture is completely cool, about 5 minutes. Beat in butter a few (2) pieces at a time, incorporating the pieces completely before adding next. Blend in melted chocolate, then rum. (If buttercream looks broken or curdled, place bowl with buttercream over medium heat on stove burner and whisk 5 to 10 seconds to warm mixture slightly, then remove from heat and beat mixture again on medium speed. Repeat warming and beating as many times as needed until buttercream is smooth.)
• Reserve 1/2 cup buttercream. Set 1 cake layer, flat side up, on rack; spread with half of remaining buttercream. Top with second cake layer; spread with remaining buttercream. Top with third cake layer; use reserved 1/2 cup buttercream to fill in seam where cake layers meet. Freeze cake until buttercream is firm, about 2 hours.

Chocolate Glaze

• Stir all ingredients in top of double boiler over gently simmering water until mixture is smooth. Remove from over water. Stir until glaze is thickened, about 5 minutes (do not allow glaze to set).
• Pour 3/4 of glaze over top of cake. Carefully and quickly tilt cake back and forth so glaze coats sides; smooth sides with spatula, adding some of remaining glaze where necessary. Chill cake until glaze is set.

Chocolate Ribbons

• Melt white chocolate in top of double boiler over gently simmering water; stir until smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup corn syrup. Pour onto baking sheet. Chill until firm, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer white chocolate to work surface and knead several minutes. Shape white chocolate dough into ball. Wrap in plastic. Let white chocolate dough stand at room temperature 1 hour.
• Repeat with bittersweet chocolate and remaining 1/4 cup corn syrup.
• Cut white chocolate dough into 4 pieces. Flatten 1 piece into rectangle. Turn pasta machine to widest setting (if you do not have a pasta machine, use a french rolling pin - you will be fine, no worries!). Run chocolate through 3 times, folding into thirds before each run. Adjust machine to next narrower setting. Run chocolate through machine without folding. If chocolate is more than 1/16 inch thick, run through next narrower setting. Lay chocolate piece on rimless baking sheet. Repeat flattening, folding, and rolling with remaining chocolate pieces. Repeat process with bittersweet chocolate dough.
  The recipe called for several technical details with regard to assembling the ribbons so that they looked just like the cover recipe... We went our own way and had fun.  You will want (and need) and ruler for this.  Have fun with the ribbons and arrange them in a way that makes sense for you.  

Enjoy!

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I am not from the South - no where close. I am from quite North of the Mason Dixon line, however I chose quite deliberately to go to college South.  Now I could come up with some amazing story about why I chose to go to the South for college, but really it all comes down the culture, and the culture behind the Belles of the South.  One of the things I learned while living in the South is the importance and the tradition of food - good food (that you Margaret!).  For some reason, whenever I think of Red Velvet Cake, I immediately think of the South even though Red Velvet Cake traditionally comes from NYC (I hear gasps from Belles all around!).

So when my husband told me that Red Velvet was his favorite cake (, I had to find a way to make and perfect it. I searched for recipe after recipe, both in cookbooks and online.  I am sure that I could have made a quick phone call to Georgia, Louisiana, or Texas, and received some passed down family recipe, however I finally settled on Bakerella's recipe, and it was due in large part to her photos, which had me scrambling to my mixer in seconds to whip this baby up.  

The cake is light and moist and not intensely sweet - that is the job of the cream cheese frosting.  However, I have taken out some of the sugar so that there is a bit more tartness to the rich toping and I found that there is more of a balance.  I also made a few adjustments to the recipe to give it a slightly more healthy spin.  No one will notice these subtle changes, but you can feel a little less guilty when you reach for that second (or third) cupcake!

 

Red Velvet Cake (adapted from Bakerella)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup oil + 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
red food coloring (add in enough to give a rich red color - more or less depending on your preference)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners or lightly grease the pan.
• Beat eggs in a bowl and add remaining liquid ingredients (except for food coloring) and stir together with whisk/mix until blended. Set aside.
• Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with wire whisk.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined - now add the food coloring.
• Pour about 1/4 - 1/3 cup into each cupcake space and then drop the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• After about ten minutes, remove the cupcakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 
• Then make the frosting.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. light cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
8 cups confectioners’ sugar

• Beat cream cheese and butter on high until creamy. Add vanilla.
• Slowly add the sugar to the mixture and scrape down the sides of the bowl in between each addition if needed.  It is probably a good thing to taste test along the way... : )
• Place the frosting in an icing bag and through a frosting tip (1M) on it and get going - to make the cupcakes extra fun, push the tip into the top of the cooled cupcake and squeeze out some of the frosting so that the cupcake with be filled inside with the frosting.  You will notice the cupcake start to expand a bit.  Once you have squeezed a little in (about 2 tsp) frost the top.
• It is important to note that this will make more frosting than you need - but I like to have some on hand for late night snacks... a spoonful or two is really satisfying!

DELICIOUS - and very hard to stay away from!