Ring, Ring...Banana Cake!

The only children's CD we have was a gift from my step mother. It's the best 20 years of Raffi. For the Raffi fans out there, the title of this post will hopefully inspire at least a knowing smile. For everyone else: there's a song called 'Banana Phone', which is really catchy and I often have it in my head. As a result, as soon as I uttered the words 'Banana Cake', I could think of nothing else.

This cake cannot call your cat but it's still something to sing about! It's really the peach upside down cake with bananas instead of peaches. It's a nice alternative when peach season is no more. I made this on NYE and it was pretty tasty, although I hands down prefer the peach. Banana lovers would disagree I'm sure, but the beauty of this upside down cake is that there's a version for everyone. Pineapple, peach, banana, pear, apple...I would go on if I could think of something else! The point is that it's a really good base recipe that is very versatile.

January Baker's Challenge: Scones

Bakers Challenge blog checking lines: Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Scones are one of those things that I've made without really thinking about them. The January Baker's Challenge changed that. Scones are complex little creatures with distinct personalities. Did I want a tender scone? Would my scone have layers? These are but a few of the questions I never thought to ask. Lord only knows what kinds of scones I was technically producing before, and I can only hope that the recipients were just as clueless as I was!

In the end I chose a tender scone because that's what Charlie said he wanted. I knew, as maybe he did too, that he had no idea what that really meant. Happy to have some direction, I forged ahead with the instructions for the tender variety.

My mother in law mentioned that she liked scones, and since she was coming over for an infant/child CPR class at our house (not hosted by me thankfully for those attending!), it seemed like a good time to make scones.

I served my decidedly tender scones with devon cream and strawberry rhubarb jam. The crowd was pleased with them, but I held back on declaring a real victory. They weren't burnt, they looked good, they were fairly moist, but I really felt that for something with such few ingredients they would have to be out of this world for me to think I had actually mastered them. Maybe my version of a mastered scone will be slightly different than someone else's but I still don't think I'm there. Next time I will try making a flaky scone. Stay tuned!

The Only Chocolate Cake

From now on I will know no other chocolate cake. This is that good. It's probably due in large part to the quality of chocolate. The recipe recommends the best chocolate you can get and it's worth it because the chocolate flavour comes through a lot.

There is a chocolate shop in the Distillery District in Toronto, called SOMA and that's where I picked up the chocolate for this cake. I made this for my sister's birthday and it was a HUGE hit!! The icing I chose was a cream cheese frosting and I probably wouldn't do it again, as I think it would have suited a milk chocolate frosting better. The recipe actually called for a dark ganache but I thought it would be a bit too intense - maybe not, but I didn't try it in any case. This recipe was taken from http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestcakerecipes/recipes/food/views/Double-Chocolate-Layer-Cake-101275

For cake layers

• 3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut

• 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla

For ganache frosting

• 1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

Special equipment

• two 10- by 2-inch round cake pans

Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Make frosting:
Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency).

Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

Leftover Brown Rice Muffins: A Pleasant Surprise

In the spirit of frugality we have been trying to waste less food. Last night I made a brown rice nut loaf and had a cup and a half of brown rice left. Generally, we find that brown rice doesn't keep well on it's own because it gets sort of dry and hard and - for me anyway - it's totally uninspiring. As a challenge, Charlie suggested I try baking something with the leftover rice.

In an attempt to lazily rise to the challenge, I just looked up a leftover brown rice muffin recipe. After reading the ingredients and tasting the batter i was completely sure that they would be totally gross. Surprise! They were really quite tasty and I'm planning to make them again.

Here is the recipe:

Note: I baked them for 17 minutes at 350 and used all purpose gluten free flour

1 1/4 c Whole wheat flour 2 tb Brown sugar 2 ts Baking powder 2 Eggs 2/3 c Skim milk 1/4 c Vegetable oil 1/4 ts Almond extract 1 c Cooked brown rice Credit: BOYD NARON LEFTOVER RICE MUFFINS Stir first three ingredients together. Beat remaining ingredients, stirring rice in last. Combine two mixtures just until moistened. Spoon into 12 muffin cups. Bake at 440 degrees for 20 minutes. 127 calories per serving.

November Baker's Challenge: Sans Rival Cake

Bakers Challenge blog checking lines: Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

I opted to make only the cake, but really wish I had the time to do both. The cake was really fun - I especially enjoyed the proper French butter cream icing. It was very good. My meringues were a tad chewy but it really didn't take away from the taste as much as I thought it would. This cake is really good and really rich (probably from the cashews).

Here's the recipe:

Sans Rival:
Servings: 12

Ingredients
10 large egg whites, room temp
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) cream of tartar
¼ cup (60 ml) (20 gm) (2/3 oz) Dutch processed cocoa (optional and not traditional)
2 cups (480 ml) (240 gm) (8½ oz) chopped, toasted cashews

Directions:
Note: You will need four layers which will mean that you might have to bake in two batches. Be sure to use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.
2. Line cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.
3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins.). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)

4. Fold in nuts, reserving enough to use for decoration.

(Note the more finely ground for folding into meringue. The coarsely ground for is decoration of finished cake.)

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans, evenly to edges. If doing batches, use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.

7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

French Buttercream:

Ingredients
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
1¼ cup (300 ml) (2½ sticks) (285 gm) (10 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
Optional Flavorings: 2 oz (55 gm) unsweetened chocolate, melted, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) almond extract, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) vanilla extract, or any flavor you like

Directions:

1. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.
2. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F/112°C (or thread stage).
3. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is ROOM TEMPERATURE (about 15 mins). Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add flavoring after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.
Assembly:
Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and sides. Decorate with reserved nuts.

Daring Bakers October: Povitica

Bakers Challenge blog checking lines: The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

Povitica is pronounced 'po-va-teet-sa' and was a lot of fun to make. Next time - and I do think there will be a next time - I want to try a savory version of this. I will likely do an egg wash and fill it with spinach, garlic and cheese. This sweet version was tasty, but a bit too sweet for me (yes, there is such a thing!). Actually, we scarfed down an entire loaf in 1/2 a day, so who am I really kidding??

The big challenge to this dessert is the rolling of the dough, which should be so thin that it's transparent. It's rolled out on a sheet and if you can see the pattern of the sheet through the dough, then you're in business. Povitica masters/show offs can actually use the sheet and a flick of the wrist to roll their dough. I'm not among this group so i rolled mine by hand, just like a jelly roll.

Overall I'd say this was successful, although next time I would spread the filling a bit thinner and cook it a touch longer.

Here's the recipe with instructions:

Ingredients

To activate the Yeast:
2 Teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
½ Cup (120ml) Warm Water
2 Tablespoons (30ml/14 gm/½ oz/2 sachets) Dry Yeast

Dough:
2 Cups (480ml) Whole Milk
¾ Cup (180 ml/170gm/6 oz) Sugar
3 Teaspoons (15 ml/18 gm/2/3 oz) Table Salt
4 Large Eggs
½ Cup (120ml/115 gm/one stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
8 cups (1.92 l/1.12 kg/39½ oz/2½ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Walnut Filling:
7 Cups (1.68 l/1.12 kg/2.5 lbs) Ground English Walnuts
1 Cup (240ml) Whole Milk
1 Cup (240ml/225 gm/2 sticks/8 oz) Unsalted Butter
2 Whole Eggs, Beaten
1 Teaspoon (5ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups (480ml/450 gm/16 oz) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) Cinnamon

Topping:
½ Cup (120 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee
2 Tablespoons (30 ml/28 gm/1 oz) Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter

To Activate Yeast:
1. In a small bowl, stir 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into ½ cup warm water and cover with plastic wrap.
2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, ¾ cup (180 gm/170 gm/6 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.
5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.

6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.
7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick. Note: I did not use all 8 cups of flour
8. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)
9. Place dough in 4 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.
To Make the Filling
10. In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.
11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.
12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.
13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.
15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.
To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)
18. Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.
19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.
20. Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.
21. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.
22. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.23. Spoon filling (see below for recipe) evenly over dough until covered.24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.25. Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.

26. Repeat with remaining three loaves, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.

27. Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of ½ cup (120 ml) of cold STRONG coffee and 2 tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this.

28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.
32. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.
33. Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.
34. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread weighs about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape.
35. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Daring Baker's: Candylicious!

I've been waiting for weeks and weeks to post my August Daring Baker's Challenge and here it is: 'Candylicious'

Bakers Challenge blog checking lines: The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

I opted to make cut/dipped bon bons, two flavours of truffle and a bark candy. Here's what i did:

1) Dolce and Banana Homemade Marshmallow Dipped Chocolates: I made homemade marshmallows, infused with caramelized banana tea and then sliced the marshmallows in half and filled them with caramel before dipping them in dark tempered chocolate

2) Chamomile Lavender Milk Chocolate Truffles: I infused milk chocolate and cream with a chamomile lavender coconut tea and then dipped in tempered dark chocolate
3) Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate Truffles: I infused milk chocolate and cream with a curry and added toasted coconut before dipping in tempered dark chocolate. Surprisingly yummy!
4) Strawberry lime pistachio and sea salt tea biscuit bark: Say that 20 times! I tempered white chocolate, added a bit of strawberry puree, lime zest, honeyed pistachio's and sea salt. I then took every day tea biscuits and poured boiled butter and white and brown sugar over it before baking for 9 minutes. Once removed from the oven I poured my chocolate over it, spread it and froze it until it could break into bark. Next time I would wait for the cookies to cool completely before pouring the chocolate on top. I think the heat of the cookies took away from my tempered chocolate look. Otherwise delicious!