We’re moving over to Blogger!
Hi all!
Be sure to follow us over to our new blog at touchofclasscakes.blogspot.com. Become a follower of the new blog as well as our fan on FB and Twitter. We appreciate your dedication and hope to hear from you on the new blog!
Happy baking!
Christina & Meghan
February “Daring Bakers Challenge”: Panna Cotta and Florentine cookies
Hi all!
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.
I will admit that I had never made either panna cotta (nor had I eaten it, although I’d had its cousins, creme brulee and crema catalana) or Florentine cookies. Still, the recipes seemed easy enough, so I endeavored to make both at once and during the same weekend I baked eight 8″ chocolate cake rounds for an up-coming project as well as three dozen cupcakes for my middle child’s birthday, made liege waffles (see previous post) for Sunday breakfast AND Kobe burgers with homemade mac ‘n’ cheese for dinner. Phew!
Needless to say, my kitchen was a busy place to be, but well worth it in the end for my family because they got some seriously good eats out of it!
Here are some pics of my Florentine cookies with my vanilla panna cotta, as well as the recipes I used for both. As much as I love Giada DiLaurentiis (hers was the suggested recipe), I went with a panna cotta recipe that used real vanilla beans rather than honey, but I did use the Nestle recipe for the Florentines.
I hope you enjoy the pics and the recipes too!
Happy baking!
Christina
Easy Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
(Recipe from Chef E. Michael Reidt and Food & Wine.com)
Ingredients:
1 quart (4 cups) heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped
1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin*
3 tablespoons of water
Mixed berries, for serving (I prefer fresh strawberries and blueberries)
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds. Bring the mixture just to a simmer over moderate heat. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand until evenly moistened, about 5 minutes.
- Uncover the cream mixture and bring just to a simmer over moderately high heat. Remove from heat, add the gelatin and stir until dissolved. Remove the vanilla bean and save for another use. Pour the panna cotta mixture into eight 4-ounce ramekins and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the panna cotta is set but still jiggly, at least 3 hours. Serve in the ramekins, with berries.
*I used Knox brand, sold in a white box in the baking section of most supermarkets.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Nestle Florentine cookies
(Recipe from the cookbook “Nestle Classic Recipes”, and their website)
Ingredients:
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 (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (95 gm) (3⅓ oz) plain (all purpose) flour
1/4 cup (60 ml) dark corn syrup
1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1½ cups (360 ml) (250 gm) (9 oz) dark or milk chocolate
Directions:
Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F (190°C) (gas mark 5). Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.
1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.
2. 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.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.
4. 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).
5. 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).
6. Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate.
This recipe will make about 2 1/2 – 3 dozen sandwiched Florentine cookies. You can also choose not to sandwich yours, in which case, drizzle the tops with chocolate (over your wax paper).
Sunday morning breakfast: liege waffles
Hi all!
It is tradition in the Corlett household to have a nice sit-down breakfast on the weekends, particularly on Sunday mornings. After the hubub of the week, when there is just enough time to scarf down a bowl of boxed cereal, this is a welcome and much-needed change. Scrambled eggs, bacon, overnight French toast (I love Paula Deen’s “Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup“), and homemade waffles and pancakes are popular items on our regular menu. We’ve even made frittatas and quiches, but since we have three young children with simple palates, these items don’t make a regular appearance, much to our chagrin.
However, one evening recently when Tim and I were cuddling on the couch watching television, we saw an episode of “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” on the Food Network that had us excited to try something new. Well, not new per se, but a new variation on something old. The episode was called “Wafels and Dinges Truck” (watch it here on Hulu) and featured a man named Thomas DeGeest, who owns and operates a Belgian waffle truck in NYC – check out his site here.
Bobby’s challenge was to recreate a liege waffle that rivaled that of Thomas, a native Belgian. It was pretty clear from the start that Thomas would win this one since Bobby had never made a liege waffle in his life and people have been flocking to Thomas’s truck for years. Still, it was an interesting one for Tim and I had never heard of liege waffles either (check out a brief history on these delicious creations here).
We decided we just had to make these for Sunday breakfast but hit a couple of major roadblocks.
Roadblock #1: In the episode both Thomas and Bobby used pearl sugar to make the waffles. They both made it clear that without this particular sugar, these waffles simply could not be made properly. But where to get pearl sugar, something else we had never heard of?
Never fear, the Internet is here! I Googled sugar pearls and found a great site called “Sweden’s Best” where I purchased 3-lbs of pearl sugar for $12 plus shipping. So for less than $20, I had my secret ingredient and was anxiously awaiting its arrival so I could make these beauties. Thanks to Sweden’s Best’s fabulous customer service, I had my pearl sugar in hand by Friday (I had placed my order the Sunday before, so less than a week!) and was ready to cook.
Roadblock #2: I didn’t have a recipe. Bobby lost the Throwdown, so as much as I love him, I wasn’t willing to use his recipe for this, especially after all of the trouble I had gone through to get the special ingredient (well, not so much trouble, but you get the idea…). So back to Google I went and finally hit on a recipe that I was willing to try.
I found a post by a woman whose husband was a chef, and after they had traveled together to Belgium and tasted liege waffles, they set out to recreate them. After much trial and error, they came up with the “perfect” recipe, so I decided to give it a try. Here is their recipe and below are pictures of my adventure making these waffles, as well as the final, beautiful result.
I hope you give liege waffles a try because once you do, no other waffle will ever pass your lips again!
(P.S. To all of my Cranford friends: if you have ever had a waffle at Rockn’ Joe, those are as close to the liege waffle was you will get around here without a trip to Manhattan. They used to be great when they served them fresh, but now you can only get them pre-made and wrapped to go – not nearly as good!)
Happy baking!
Christina
Recipe sharing: Italian Cream Cake
Hi all!
It’s been quite a while since we posted. Things have been busy for us, although not necessarily cake-related. This winter in New Jersey has been a harsh, snowy, and cold one. We’ve had lots of storms that have dumped incredible amounts of snow and ice on the Garden State. The weather and being stuck in the house has bred germs and ailments that we found hard to fight, including migraines, strep, bronchitis, and the flu! We are finally hale and hearty and ready to bake again – despite the fact that another cold front has hit and snow is in the forecast AGAIN!!! 😦
Last week I made this cake for my BFF’s son, Miles, who is turning 6. He wanted Super Mario and so that is what he got. The bottom tier was a 2-D version of a scene from the game, complete with toads, bullets, man-eating flowers, pipes, and the like. The top was a hand-painted Mario with stars and coins as decorations.
Today is Sunday and we are headed to dinner at my MIL’s house for dinner. Since I am the designated family baker, I am in charge of dessert. Patricia (my MIL) is full-bread Italian and so today we can expect a big Italian spread. In the spirit of that, I looked for a good recipe in my library to go with the meal. I toyed with Tiramisu, for which I would have used Giada De Laurentiis‘s recipe since she is my go-to person for delicious-but-easy Italian recipes. I also contemplated Napoleons, which I adore but have never made and so shied away from that.
Finally, I settled on Italian Cream Cake (AKA Italian Wedding Cake), and specifically a recipe I found in one of my favorite cake books, All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray of NPR fame. (If you don’t have this book in your library, GO GET IT!) It is traditionally a cake made with walnuts and coconut with a texture much like carrot cake. The secret ingredient, I think, is the buttermilk, although all of the flavors just come together so well for this delectable dessert.
The final product is very pretty and I am sure will be delicious too. I only deviated slightly from the recipe, using 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract instead of the 1 teaspoon of vanilla the recipe calls for. Why? It just sounded yummier to me.
Here is a pic and the recipe. Buona fortuna in making it!
And of course, happy baking!
Christina
“Alma’s Italian Cream Cake” from All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray
(P.S. She got this recipe from Iron Chef Cat Cora)
For the cake:
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, more for greasing cake pans
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups (1 pound) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts, divided
Place a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit each of two 9-inch round cake pans. Grease the pans with butter, fit the parchment into the pans, then grease the parchment.
To make the cake: Sift the cake flour, baking soda and salt into a medium-size bowl and set aside. In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, cream 12 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a a time, beating well after each addition. Add one-third of the dry ingredients and mix well, then add half of the buttermilk , beating on medium speed and scraping the sides of the bowl down, using a rubber spatula. Repeat, alternating the remaining dry ingredients and the buttermilk. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, the coconut and 1 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts and mix well.
In a separate bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites, slowly adding the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, until the whites form stiff peaks but are not dry. By hand, fold one-third of the egg white mixture into the cake batter until it is incorporated. Fold in the next third of the egg whites; when incorporated, gently fold in the last third. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake until the top is golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, for 30-35 minutes. Set the cakes on racks and allow them to cool completely before removing them from the pans.
To make the frosting: In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, 8 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon vanilla at medium speed until creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating at low speed until blended. When all the ingredients are incorporated, beat the frosting at high speed until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup toasted walnuts.
Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate, bottom side up. Ice the sides and top. Place the other cake round on top, rounded side up, and ice the top and sides. Place the frosted cake in the refrigerator to firm up the frosting. Remove the cake from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving, and press the remaining 1/2 cup toasted walnuts into the frosting on top.
Makes 10-16 servings.
Weekend baking: Snickerdoodle cookies!
Hi all!
It’s a cold winter Saturday in January and the kids and I felt like a yummy snack, so I whipped up a batch of super-easy Snickerdoodle cookies. For those of you wondering, they are also called Snipdoodles, or simply Cinnamon Sugar Cookies. They use basic ingredients of flour, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon so chances are you have everything on hand to make a batch tonight!
Here is the recipe I use, courtesy of the “Joy of Baking” website. Enjoy!
Happy baking!
Christina
Snickerdoodles (Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/Snickerdoodles.html#ixzz1Bo81u2xi)
2 3/4 cups (360 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Coating:
1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Shape the dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) round balls.
Coating: In a large shallow bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on the prepared pan, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Then, using the bottom of a glass, gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick.
Bake the cookies for about 8 – 10 minutes, or until they are light golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Can store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10 – 14 days.
Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
The 2011 Garden State Cake Show is less than a month away!
Hi all!
Just a quick post for those of you interested. The Garden State Cake Show is coming up in February – the 4th, 5th & 6th to be exact. Here is a link to the official site with details about classes, demos, challenges, contests, vendors, and more.
We are planning to attend (and possibly enter a cake too) so we hope to see you there!
Happy baking!
Christina & Meghan
Hi all!
It’s been a while since we posted. December has been a hectic month filled with shopping, holiday preparations, and personal baking. We took a hiatus from baking for customers so that we could focus on our families during this season of love and giving.
We did, however, do one thing that is new and exciting for us: we joined an on-line community called the Daring Kitchen where we partake in monthly challenges as Daring Bakers.
The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book………and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.
Upon doing a little research, we discovered that a stollen is a German cake made during the holidays which contains dried fruit and is covered with powdered sugar. Pronounced \ˈshtō-lən\, this tradition dates back to as early as 1474 and was originally meant to represent the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. (Our friend and colleague, German teacher, Brian, will be proud of us when he reads this!)
The idea of making something that required yeast to rise was intimidating at first, coupled with the fact that this sounded an awful lot like fruit cake, and you know the reputation that has….
But we are Daring Bakers, after all, so we (wo)manned up and got ‘er did! The final product was slightly drier than we wanted it to be, but overall, it tasted great and the whole family, including the grandparents, seems to love it! Check out the process as it unfolded below, as well as the recipe to see if you can be a daring baker too! And be sure to stay tuned each month for the latest challenge.
Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas in German) and happy baking!
Christina & Meghan
**Note: The recipe and pictures below are courtesy of the Daring Kitchen challenge forum and host, Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking.**
Preparation time:
The following times are approximate. I suggest you gather and scale/weigh/measure (mise en place) all your ingredients before you begin mixing.
• Approximately 1 hour first stage – then rest overnight or up to 3 days
• 2 hours to warm up after refrigeration
• 15 minutes shaping
• 2 hours proofing
• 30-45 minutes baking
Equipment required:
• Mixer with dough hook or strong arms and hands
• Mixing bowl
• Bowl to soak raisins
• Small saucepan
• Sheet of plastic or plastic wrap to cover when proofing
• Bench or pastry scraper (very handy for cutting dough and also cleaning work surface)
• Rolling pin
• Dough whisk can be handy but not necessary
• Pastry Brush
• A scale is really important to have when making bread so I strongly recommend you to get one. You do not have to have one though. (would make a good Christmas gift!)
• Sheet Pan or round Pizza pan
• Parchment Paper
Stollen Wreath
Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves. Serves 10-12 people
Ingredients
¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) (22 ml) (14 grams) (1/2 oz) active dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) milk
10 tablespoons (150 ml) (140 grams) unsalted butter (can use salted butter)
5½ cups (1320 ml) (27 ozs) (770 grams) all-purpose (plain) flour (Measure flour first – then sift- plus extra for dusting)
½ cup (120 ml) (115 gms) sugar
¾ teaspoon (3 ¾ ml) (4 ½ grams) salt (if using salted butter there is no need to alter this salt measurement)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 grams) cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (very good) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon extract or orange extract
¾ cup (180 ml) (4 ¾ ozs) (135 grams) mixed peel (link below to make your own)
1 cup (240 ml) (6 ozs) (170 gms) firmly packed raisins
3 tablespoons (45ml) rum
12 red glacé cherries (roughly chopped) for the color and the taste. (optional)
1 cup (240 ml) (3 ½ ozs) (100 grams) flaked almonds
Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath
Note: If you don’t want to use alcohol, double the lemon or orange extract or you could use the juice from the zested orange.
Directions:
Soak the raisins
In a small bowl, soak the raisins in the rum (or in the orange juice from the zested orange) and set aside. See Note under raisins.
To make the dough
Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.
In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup (240 ml) milk and 10 tablespoons (150 ml) butter over medium – low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.
Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add lemon and vanilla extracts.
In a large mixing bowl (4 qt) (4 liters) (or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment), stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests.
Then stir in (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
Add in the mixed peel, soaked fruit and almonds and mix with your hands or on low speed to incorporate. Here is where you can add the cherries if you would like. Be delicate with the cherries or all your dough will turn red!
Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few raisins will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the raisins will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn’t enough to bind the outside raisins onto the dough ball.
Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Put it in the fridge overnight. The dough becomes very firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly… the raw dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week and then baked on the day you want.
Shaping the Dough and Baking the Wreath
1. Let the dough rest for 2 hours after taking out of the fridge in order to warm slightly.
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
3. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4 with the oven rack on the middle shelf.
4. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches (40 x 61 cms) and ¼ inch (6 mm) thick.
Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.
Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.
This was before I pinched it together
Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch (5 cm) intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough.
Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1½ times its original size.
Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F/88°C in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot.
Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter.
Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first.
The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar.
Let cool at least an hour before serving. Coat the stollen in butter and icing sugar three times, since this many coatings helps keeps the stollen fresh – especially if you intend on sending it in the mail as Christmas presents!
When completely cool, store in a plastic bag. Or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style.
The stollen tastes even better in a couple of days and it toasts superbly…. so delicious with butter and a cup of tea….mmmmm
Storage
The more rum and the more coatings of butter and sugar you use the longer it will store.
The following is for the recipe as written and uses the 45 mls of rum and two coatings of butter and icing sugar
1. Stollen freezes beautifully about 4 months
2. The baked stollen stores well for 2 weeks covered in foil and plastic wrap on the counter at room temperature and
3. One month in the refrigerator well covered with foil and plastic wrap.
Additional Information:
Here is a link to recipes to make your own candied citrus peel
http://www.harvestwizard.com/2006/12/candied_citron_recipe.html
http://video.about.com/candy/Make-Candied-Citrus-Peel.htm
http://userealbutter.com/2007/10/09/candied-orange-peels-recipe/
Kneading Bread
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWj8oHMPFm0
Martha Stewart’s wreath
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/stollen-wreath-bread-with-mrs-kostyra