I Baked a Cake!

During the summer I don't always get a lot done during the day. But every day Ryan asks what I did. I tend to mumble out of embarrassment due to my utter lack of productivity. "I read. I watched TV. I took a nap. I tickled the dog". But Wednesday I had something to report. I practiced saying it. Excited: "I baked a cake today!" Casual: "Oh, you know, I just baked a cake." I even debated the basic grunt and point "Urg. Cake." Because come on, isn't that cake pretty enough to do the talking for itself? Two moist chocolatey layers, light and fluffy frosting of whipped cream and cream cheese, sweet sweet strawberries. It's so good. You know you want to be able to brag about it too!

CAKE!
A million thanks to Debbie for the basis of the cake recipe and guiding me through the round pan thingy. Go Debbie!! Also, Debbie now has a cookbook. You really might need it. Lookie here.
Please note, all the things I have done to this cake firmly negate any low calorie/weight-watchery virtues she may have mentioned.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt (if you use salted butter, please only use a pinch, if that. This measurement is for unsalted butter users)
1 C dutch-process cocoa (admission, I used Hershey's because it's what was in the cabinet. It sufficed).
10 T butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
2 t vanilla
2 large eggs
1 C plain nonfat yogurt

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Debbie suggests greasing and flouring your pans. I found this insufficient and would put parchment down in the bottom of each round if doing it again, this was a nasty little beast to remove from the pans.

In a medium bowl combine your flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt (if using). Set aside.

Cream your butter and sugar until thoroughly mixed and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs and then mix again until combined. Alternate adding the yogurt and the dry ingredients about a third at a time. After each addition, mix. This is a thick batter, so don't overmix it.

Evenly divide it between your pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the pan (try a half hour) and then run your knife carefully around the edge to separate it further. Very, very carefully turn it out and cool completely, on a rack if you can manage it, but one of mine was so fiddly it needed to cool on a plate. Be careful.

FROSTING!
adapted from here
INGREDIENTS:
8 oz cream cheese
2 C heavy cream
1/4 C sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Whip together the cream cheese and sugar. Then add the heavy cream and keep whipping until the cream can hold a stiff peak. Feel free to mess with the ration of cream cheese to whipping cream, just keeping in mind that the more whipped cream vs. cream cheese you use, the less stable it is, and it will need to be eaten sooner. But you may like the fluffier consistency if the cake will be eaten same day.

NB: Due to a slacker shopping job, I made/used a half recipe of this frosting. As you can see, it made do just fine. I'm giving you the whole recipe because I felt a bit stingy. You may want to feel extravagant or have the option of frosting the sides or you know, just stick your face in it. I don't judge.

ASSEMBLY!!
Rinse, dry and slice up most of a 16oz package of strawberries.

On a pretty serving plate, lay down one of the chocolate layers. Smooth on a suitable amount of the frosting. Artfully arrange the strawberries. (I'm a freak, the inside layer looks pretty much like the top, minus the one central berry). Carefully lower on the second chocolate layer. Top with more whipped cream frosting deliciousness. Artfully arrange more berries. Admire. Announce to anyone who will listen that you baked a cake.

Another Year, Another Birthday

I'm a couple of weeks late with this one, but Ryan's birthday was this month and as per tradition, I did not make him a cake. He doesn't like cake remember? Or chocolate? Or ice cream? Lucky for me, he does like fruit tart, and this couldn't get any simpler. I used different fruit this year, cherries and peaches instead of berries and it turned out just as delicious.

FRUIT TART:
Just a new spin on an old favorite - berry tart

Make the crust and filling as directed in the berry tart. Peel and slice a peach - I needed a little more than 1 peach, so buy two and snack on whatever remains of the second. Pit some cherries, this used less than a bag of the prepacked kind, it seems like maybe a cup or two. Slice your cherries in half. Arrange artistically. This time I painted the glaze using warmed up ginger preserves, but it didn't taste particularly gingery. I'd use apricot if I were to do it again, no use in wasting the ginger. Just use a pale color so the peaches don't get painted red or something. Stick it in the fridge. Serve.

Peach and Ginger Scones

Way back when I was in a peachy mood, I harbored a dream of making peach cupcakes, but with ginger. Come on, how delicious does that sound? And then of course, life got in the way. Mainly, the fact that I am incredibly lazy got in the way. So it never happened. Then last week, when I was lamenting the fact that I am far too lazy to have make myself breakfast every day, I decided to whip up a batch of scones (far less labor intensive than cupcakes my friends), using the same brilliant peach and ginger pairing. Admittedly, they are pretty tasty, but I still want cupcakes.

PEACH AND GINGER SCONES
adapted from Everybody Loves Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 C butter (4 T)
3 T sugar
1/2 C milk
1 egg
1 t vanilla
2 T crystallized ginger, in a fine dice
1 peach cut in a 1/4" dice


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 425 F.
In a stand mixer combine the flour, sugar and baking powder. Then add the butter and run the mixer until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the ginger and mix again. In a small bowl whisk together the egg and milk until foamy. Reserve a tablespoon of your eggy milk, and add the rest to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Then add the vanilla. Stir again. Remove from mixer and add the peaches. Gently fold them in by hand. This is an enormously sticky dough, so have a lot of flour on hand when you turn the dough out onto your work surface. Knead it about 12 times. Roll it out to about an 8" circle and cut into 8 slices. Place on a silpat or parchment covered baking sheet. Brush with a combination of milk and egg, and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Not Enough Time

This summer I'd become a little obsessed with the idea of making this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I hadn't done it, in part because Ryan and I had a small spat at the Farmer's Market. I asked him if he wanted to come to the market, he said yes, and then when we got there, he refused to have an opinion about anything.

Me: "Should I get some more of the delicious tomatoes?"

Ry: "I don't care. What would you make?"

Me: "Do I need to know now? They're tomatoes!"

Me: "Would you like some peaches?" Peaches are Ryan's favorite fruit.

Ry: "I don't know. Did you want to get them?"

Me: "Is there anything here you want?"

Ry: "I just don't care."

I didn't get the peaches.

Then last week my dad called and told me he had an excess of peaches and would I please do something about that. I did not have to be asked twice. It was time for bourbon peach hand pies. Right. Time. This recipe takes hours. All day kind of hours. You better not have anything else you want to do hours. I thought they were delicious, but I don't know that the end result justified the work. Ryan reports they are "pretty good." Which really does not justify the work.

THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR THESE PEACH HAND PIES
adapted from SmittenKitchen

INGREDIENTS:
for the dough
All right folks, the dough is what causes this to be too much work. It's a delicious soft dough, but after it's been out of the oven for awhile it loses some of it's light flakiness - think of how a croissant wilts slightly after it's been out a bit. Smitten says this is the only dough that will work properly, but as I've used my standard dough for empanaditas, I can tell you it will fold easily too. It will not be as light and flaky, but you also won't spend the whole day doing it.

2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
2 sticks of butter cut into small pieces
1/2 C sour cream
4 t fresh lemon juice (honestly I felt the lemon flavor came out too much, but I don't know if it's needed to tenderize the dough or some such)
1/2 C ice water

for the filling
2 pounds of peaches
1/4 C flour
1/4 C salt
1 t bourbon
1/2 t vanilla
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg

for topping
one egg yolk beaten with a bit of water

DIRECTIONS:
Clear your agenda for the whole day. Mix the flour and salt together in one bowl. Stick the chopped up butter in the other. Put in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter and muscles the size of The Rock's. You should do this until the texture resembles coarse meal. I ended up busting out a pair of steak knives and cutting the butter in that way. Whisk together the sour cream, water and lemon juice. Make a well in the center of your flour/butter and add half of this mixture. Use your fingers to smoosh this into the the flour mixture. Keep pressing it all together. Get another bowl. Transfer out the doughy parts to the new bowl, so you just have crumbly flour butter meal in your first bowl. Then add the rest of the sour cream/water/lemon stuff and repeat. Then put all the doughy parts together and pat it all into a ball, trying to get up all the flour bits, but not overworking the dough! Refrigerate the dough for an hour.

Divide the dough in half. Roll out half the dough and cut it into circles using a 5 1/2" cutter. I used the metal top of a cookie jar. Place the circles on a parchment covered cookie sheet and stick back in the fridge (I made layers of parchment/dough circles). The unused scraps can be reused, but they'll need to be refrigerated again first, because this dough will be so soft by the time you're done it will be melting into your counter. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Chill the circles for 30 minutes. I don't think I chilled them that long. Maybe 10-15? It depends on how hot it is in your kitchen.

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Make the filling. Chop the peaches into 1/2" dice. Mix with flour, sugar, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Spoon the filling onto the circles. Use a bit of ice water around the edge of the circle to help create a seal when you fold it over. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edge in a pretty design. If needed refrigerate for another 30 minutes (I definitely skipped this). Baste the top with egg wash. Cut a small slit in the top of each. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned and cracked.

You could cut out a lot of trouble by using a dough that did not need constant refrigeration, I promise.

Visions of Sugar Plums

On Saturday Half a Yard invited me to share some photos I took at the Trenton Farmer's Market. Over here on the Hungry Hippo, I'm cooking up the goods. And these my friend are not the confections of Nutcracker and Night Before Christmas fame; these are adorable sweet, juicy little plums. Small children may not dream of them, I can't say as I saw any fairies dance, but I certainly had visions of a plummy baked good. I ended up with this plum torte (again, what is with people? This had a cakey base. How is this a torte?...Hmm, googling reveals we should probably blame the Italians - anything round is a torta. Fine. I still say it's more of a coffee cake).

The deep golden brown color? Oh yes, that would be cinnamon and sugar sprinkled all over it. And the plums deepen in color to the beautiful purpley red. Tasty and pretty, what more could you want?

PLUM COFFEECAKE
modified from Splendid Table's Original Plum Torte recipe

INGREDIENTS:
Most of 1 pint of sugar plums (I strongly suspect you could use other fruit for this if you liked)
1 stick of unsalted butter (4 oz)
3/4 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 C flour, sifted
1 t baking powder
1 pinch salt

to sprinkle on top:
1 T white sugar
1 T brown sugar
1 t ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Cream together the butter and sugar until well blended. Add the eggs, mixing well between each addition. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Grease and flour a 9" springform pan. Pour in the dough and use a spatula to get it as even as you can. Then start on the plums. Sugar plums are VERY hard to pit neatly. I gave up on using halves. I ended up getting two messy halves of plum and then cutting those in half two times (so what's that? eighths?) making the cute little triangles you see in the picture. Arrange them over the top of the cake. If you use regular plums, slices or halves will do nicely. Mix together the white sugar, tablespoon of brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle liberally on top. This is what gives it that nice coffee-cakey flavor. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350. It's done when a knife comes out clean.

The Perfection of a Peach

I'm never more aware of how beautiful produce is than when I'm at the farmer's market, but I have to believe there is none more beautiful than a peach. I love them so, I even had them put in the flower arrangements for my wedding. Peaches are more than just pretty fuzz however, they're also delicious. I could not help buying a few on my last trip to the market.

There are two basic kinds of peach, the freestone and the cling. The clever, clever peach naming people did this to help us. Freestone peaches detach easily from the pit, whereas the cling peaches, (wait for it)...cling. Which is better? Well, some say the cling are juicier and more delicious and others are just hung up on what a pain they are to work with. I say get freestone if you're intimidated by the work of a cling, it's better than being overwhelmed and avoiding peaches.

For those of you still emotionally scarred by the heat wave of 2010 (or is that just those of us on the east coast?), I strongly recommend a refreshing bowl of cantaloupe and peach soup. I promise it won't even heat up your kitchen.

One of my other favorite uses for fresh peaches is a peach and raspberry tart. The fruit is laid on top of a delicious cakey base, no messing with difficult pie crusts. I made one of these just yesterday since my peaches had already ripened.A peach is ripe when it smells like a peach. Don't worry if the ones you find at the farmer's market aren't quite ripe. You can ripen them easily at home. My nana is the absolute authority on ripening stone fruit and she swears by the paper bag method. Just tuck your fruit in a paper bag on the counter and check on it periodically. When your peach smells like a peach, you're done! Just make sure you use it before it gets mushy (although the cantaloupe and peach soup will hide a multitude of sins), so if you're not planning on using your peaches right away, don't buy them ripe.

For more on my latest trip to the farmer's market, stop on over at Half a Yard, then poke around for more fabulous crafting and gardening info!

Cantaloupe and Peach Soup

My first thought as I was pureeing the heck out of this was, wow, this is exactly what I would want to eat if my jaw were wired shut. Granted, I have never had my jaw wired shut, but I do know not one but two people who have suffered this fate. One had her jaw deliberately broken to treat recurring pain from TMJ and the other, a drunken hockey player, fell out of his bunk bed. If I recall correctly, neither could eat solid food for quite some time. This is so light and sweet and refreshing it would brighten up anyone's day (even those of us with fully functioning jaws). I can picture packing a thermos of it for a picnic of cheeses and baguettes, or serving it as a light appetizer before a summer dinner. We served up bowls of it with dollops of vanilla yogurt for dessert. The yogurt is so creamy and silky mixed in with the peach and cantaloupe.
CANTALOUPE AND PEACH SOUP
from Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Necessary equipment: food processor or blender, an immersion blender will not work (in my case this meant blending one cup at a time in my trusty mini-prep. I really thought I was going to burn out its little motor).

INGREDIENTS:
1 cantaloupe (about 5 inches diameter)
4-6 peaches, very ripe
6 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 T honey
1 C freshly squeezed orange juice
dash of nutmeg
1/4 t cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Peel and slice all the peaches, removing the pits. Place them in a pot with the lemon juice, honey and spices. Bring it to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.Remove the rind and cut the cantaloupe into 1 inch pieces. Add the cantaloupe and orange juice to the peach mixture and then use your blender or food processor to puree the mixture until very smooth. Refrigerate until very cool and serve.