Sweet Peach Popsicles and Sweet Peach Tea
Jul 26, 2010 Desserts, Drinks, Peaches, Snacks
To continue with peach week I have something to keep cool with. I had originally planned on making shortcakes with peaches and raspberries and marscapone cream, which I may still do, but I was too hot this weekend to turn on my oven. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get inspired to bake something, but yesterday I was more in the mood for something cold. Very, very cold.
I am normally never, ever, in the mood for a popsicle. Yesterday, however, I found myself flipping through the latest Bon Appetit and saw a recipe for Blackberry popsicles. They looked amazing. I wanted one, but I didn’t have blackberries. I did, however, have perfectly sweet and wonderful peaches.
Tags: home made popsicles, iced tea drinks, peace ice cubes, peach pops, peach popsicles, peach tea
Peach Week Kickoff with Peaches in Wine
Jul 20, 2010 Appetizers, Desserts, Drinks, Peaches, Snacks
I hereby call this week… (drumroll please…)
Peach Week.
The reason?
I have a ton of peaches.
I know I’m starting this sort of in the middle of the week so it’s not really Peach Week, more like Peach mid-week or Peach Weekend, but nevertheless, we are going to talk peaches for a few posts. Since I’m drowning in peaches over here I feel like it’s all I can think about, therefore it’s all I am going to write about for a few days.
I hope that’s ok with you.
Tags: bellaire peach, peach dessert, peaches and wine, peaches in wine, peeling a peach, peeling peaches, Porter peach, Red Haven Peach, wine poached peach
Beignets disguised as Cinnaminions
Jul 18, 2010 Breads, Desserts, Snacks
The fun thing about having kids around is that you make things that you wouldn’t normally think to make. For example, I never would have thought, on my own, to try and make home made Cinnaminions.
“What’s a Cinnaminion? That’s a weird word. I think you’re making things up!” you might say.
I-Hop has been promoting these sugar coated iced donut things for a while and calling them Cinnaminions, a play off of Despicable Me‘s Minions, which are the little yellow guys you see running around on all the previews.
These guys right here:
Tiramisu Cake
Jul 7, 2010 Cakes, Chocolate, Coffee, Desserts
I realized today that I forgot to tell you what I made for Brian’s birthday dessert. He actually liked it, and his mom liked it so much that she asked for the recipe and has already made it and brought it to work, which is a very good sign.
It was a Tiramisu Cake, which was very easy but I did manage to mess it up a little. It didn’t affect the outcome too substantially, but enough to make me notice. This is a cake made from many of the same parts as tiramisu, minus the ladyfingers and plus the cake. You soak the cake layers in the espresso syrup that you create. The recipe says that you are supposed to double soak the top layer by soaking one side and then flipping the soaked side down on top of the bottom layer, then soaking again before frosting the entire cake. I didn’t read about the double soaking and I put a dry layer on top of an already frosted bottom, which made it impossible to unstick and soak the stuck side. SO, as a result my top layer was only single-soaked, which left the cake slightly dry. If I had double soaked the top layer though, it’s possible that the whole cake would have been extremely espresso-y and wet. I still think that would have been better though.
But, no one complained. It all worked out in the end.
I found the recipe on the Smitten Kitchen but she found it from a cookbook called Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.
Tiramisu Cake
For the cake layers:
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
For the espresso extract:
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (If you are having trouble finding this, look in the International/Mexican section in the supermarket. I found it there. It wasn’t by the coffee. Instant coffee would probably work too, but the real stuff is in the Mexican section)
2 tablespoons boiling water
For the espresso syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy (I used brandy because I had it… and don’t ask my why I had it. I was surprised too)
For the filling and frosting:
1 8-ounce container mascarpone
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy (Again, I used brandy)
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, or about 1/2 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips (I used bittersweet and it was wonderful)
Chocolate-covered espresso beans, for decoration (optional- I left them out)
Cocoa powder, for dusting
Getting ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9×2 inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
To make the cake:
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them, and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right-side up.
To make the extract:
Stir the espresso powder and boiling water together in a small cup until blended. Set aside.
To make the syrup:
Stir the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour the syrup into a small heatproof bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of the espresso extract and the liqueur or brandy; set aside.
To make the filling and frosting:
Put the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth.
Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch.
To assemble the cake:
If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Place one layer right-side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected with strips of wax or parchment paper. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, soak the layer with about one third of the espresso syrup. Smooth some of the mascarpone cream over the layer – user about 1 1/4 cups – and gently press the chopped chocolate into the filling. Put the second cake layer on the counter (NOT on the cake like I did) and soak the top of it with half the remaining espresso syrup, then turn the layer over and position it, soaked side down, over the filling. Soak the top of the cake with the remaining syrup.
For the frosting, whisk 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling. Taste the frosting as you go to decide how much extract you want to add. If the frosting looks as if it might be a little too soft to spread over the cake, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate it for 15 minutes or so. Refrigerate the cake too.
With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top. If you want to decorate the cake with chocolate-covered espresso beans, press them into the filling, making concentric circles of beans or just putting some beans in the center of the cake.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours (or for up to 1 day) before serving – the elements need time to meld. (I refrigerated for 4 hours which was enough time, but the longer the better I’m sure)
Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with cocoa.
Purple Class Tuxedo Cake with Raspberry Buttercream
May 23, 2010 Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts
Finally, a chocolate cake recipe!
STOP for a second. I want to explain why I thought I wasn’t that great at cake decorating. These pictures are cute and everything, but if you actually saw the cakes up close you would see the imperfections that there were. This shot of the Purple Class cake shows just how hard it was to get the icing evenly spread. Look at this cake’s side. There is a crack in the icing on the bottom in the middle, and you can see chocolate cake showing through the right edge. My polka dots all have pointy tips (not on purpose), and the dots on the edge are not at all in a straight line. Pictures can be deceiving. This one shows a little of the truth. Overall, they were cute, but I want to compliment all of the talented cake decorators out there and say that this is hard work, and I am nowhere near even close to being good at it. Hats off to people who can do this well.
I actually used the same chocolate cake recipe for both the Purple Class cake and the Blue Class cake and used different icings. Since this is the last cake recipe you won’t be hearing about these cakes anymore, I promise. The cake recipe was called Tuxedo Cake from The Pastry Queen cookbook. For the purple class cake I used the same Classic Buttercream recipe that I talked about with the Green Class cake, but I added Raspberry puree to the icing that went between the layers. The Classic Buttercream recipe is fun because you are allowed to add up to a 1/2 cup of liquid fresh fruit puree or a little bit of flavored liquor to the mix to make it a different flavor. I went with fresh raspberries, and I think it worked out pretty well. I didn’t want an overwhelming raspberry flavor though, so I used regular Classic Buttercream on the outside of the cake.
The Tuxedo Cake is paired with a whipped cream frosting and chocolate glaze in The Pastry Queen and I’m sure that tastes marvelous. I’m sure several different icings would go great with this chocolate cake recipe. I’ll just give you the one I used.
Tuxedo Cake from The Pastry Queen
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups water
1 cup canola oil
4 cups sugar
1 cup high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbs baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla extract
Directions
For a 3-layer cake, place one baking rack one-third from the bottom of the oven and the second two-thirds from the bottom. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the cake pans with parchment paper rounds, grease with butter, and dust with flour.
Combine the butter, water, and canola oil in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, cocoa, and flour. Pour the butter mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then whisk in the buttermilk. Whisk in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla all at once. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans. For a 3-layer cake, stagger the cake layers on the oven racks so that no layer is directly over another. Set 2 layers on one rack and the third on the other. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Monitor the layers carefully for doneness; each one may be done at at a different time.
Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on racks for about 15 minutes (**Molly Note: I’d give it at least 25 to 30) before inverting onto baking racks. Cool the cakes completely, at least 2 hours, before frosting.
Classic Buttercream (with a Raspberry Flare) from The Cake Bible
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients
6 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups unsalted butter (must be softened)
Fresh raspberries, pureed (1/4 cup if only mixing into layers, 1/2 cup if using on entire cake)
Have ready a greased 1-cup heatproof glass measure near the range.
In a bowl beat the yolks with an electric mixer until light in color. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan (preferably with a nonstick lining) and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is boiling. Stop stirring and boil to the soft-ball stage (238 degrees Farenheit). **Molly Note: this took about 8 minutes. Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.
If using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Don’t allow syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of the syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition, use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Continue beating until completely cool. Add pureed raspberries and beat until combined. **Molly note: I took out half of the buttercream before I added the raspberries so that I could ice the outside of the cake with Classic Buttercream. If you want the whole thing to taste like raspberries, add the raspberries to the entire mixture. This is also the point when you can add it food coloring if you want.
Gradually beat in the butter. Place in an airtight bowl. Bring to room temperature before using. Rebeat if necessary to restore texture.
