An afternoon of baking: Flourless chocolate cake

"You have to try the apple cannele at Le Pain Quotidien!" my friend and colleague exclaimed one Monday morning when I got to work. "Better yet, put together a recipe and we'll bake it together!" 

My foodie friends often do this: they'll come across a treat they think is just exquisite, call me up, describe it in great length, and finish by saying, "You should make it!" It's sweet that they have such an appreciation for my baking skills; yet I sometimes suspect they think my talents know no bounds.

But back to the apple cannele.  My friend and I had been talking for some time about devoting a Friday afternoon to baking at my apartment. She described the apple cannele for me: sweet yet not cloyingly so, moist like a custard yet light, not dense. I was sold. 

I set to work in search of a recipe that could inspire me. I came across review after review of enthusiastic fans of LPQ's apple cannele. Then, a blog post with a recipe for one.  The author described the cannele as temperamental, fickle even.  That didn't deter me.  What did, though, was the suggestion for the batter, once made, to be refrigerated for 48 hours prior to baking.  Which meant that my friend would only be there for the baking.  Not really what we had in mind.

So instead, we settled for a flourless chocolate cake, another one of my friend's recent favorite desserts.  We found a Gourmet magazine recipe that looked promising.  After we baked it, we served it with a dusting of cocoa powder and some whipped cream.  When we tasted it, we realized we hadn't settled at all. The cake was dense and moist and, surprisingly, really quick and easy to make (the recipe was fail-proof, in my opinion).  Easily the best flourless chocolate cake I've ever tasted.   And best of all: it's a chocolate treat that even those on a gluten-free diet can indulge in.  It's a deep-dark slice of decadence you'll want to sink your teeth into.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
Recipe from Gourmet magazine

4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper.

Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. 

Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. 

Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate.

Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with sorbet if desired. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.)

Day 1 of gluten-free baking: Alfajores

I am now on a gluten-free diet. 

Never would I have made such a drastic (for me) lifestyle change on my own. It all happened over the course of an hour with a nutritionist: after reviewing my recent health and nutrition needs, she suggested a gluten-free diet.  I bristled at the idea: me, a bread lover, avid baker, on a gluten-free diet?  "It'll be a trial for three weeks," she said.  "Think of it as a challenge; have you ever done any gluten-free baking before?"  Try as I might, I couldn't find anything about her proposition appealing.  I continued to resist.  She then urged me to consider it.  I finally acquiesced. 

It only took overnight for me to embrace (yes, embrace!) the idea.

It might have partly been due to timing: this happened just one day after my cupcake fest with fellow food bloggers, one week after my pie-baking class, and six weeks after my Paris trip where I indulged - very heavily, I might add, and gleefully, too - in all things gluten.

So here I was, having committed to no gluten for nearly a month, on the eve of an Argentine potluck I was invited to.  Never one to shy away from a challenge, I decided I would bake.  First stop, Dean and Deluca; they carry gluten-free flour that can be substituted one-for-one for all-purpose flour.  Then onto finding a recipe; I stumbled upon one for Alfajores, which is essentially an Argentinean dolce de leche sandwich cookie.  It sounded divine!

The results: the cookies were light, refreshing with the hint of lemon, and perfectly sweet.  I really don't know if using gluten-free flour made any difference in the texture or taste, never having made these cookies before. But that didn't matter; they were gobbled up by everyone.

Alfajores

Recipe from food.com

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Two egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon rind, grated
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (the Davis brand is gluten-free)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dulce de leche (I used store-bought)

Cream butter for a minute, add sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add egg and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well. Beat in vanilla and lemon rind.

In a separate bowl, sift together cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to mixture and mix well.

Drop batter by small spoonfuls onto well buttered baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove immediately.

Sandwich the cookies together with dulce de leche

Making cupcakes, the Butter Lane way

I started my blog to share with others my passion for creating in the kitchen.  I also started it out of hopes of finding a community of like-minded cooks and bakers.  And I think I found *just* that in Food Bloggers in NYC, a group run by Mallory of Total Noms.

Coursehorse and top cupcake shop Butter Lane teamed up to invite Food Bloggers to a bloggers-only cupcake decorating class.  Just having written a post all about cupcakes, where I extolled the joys to be had in such a teensy baked creation, I thought the timing couldn't be better.  On a recent Tuesday evening, I joined nine other bloggers at Butter Lane to learn all there is to know about making the perfect cupcake. Guiding us through the 2-hour class was our bright, cheerful instructor Olivia.

tip on making batter: mix on very low speed, until just combined

another great tip: use an ice cream scooper to scoop up cake batter

We tried our hand at three cupcake recipes (banana, chocolate, and vanilla) and three basic frostings (vanilla, chocolate, and cream cheese).  Along the way, we picked up some great tips (like how to make a batter that results in super-fluffy cupcakes) and learned proper technique on frosting a cupcake.  We even transformed our basic frostings into our very own custom ones, adding raspberry puree, cinnamon, and peanut butter.  

a custom topping: vanilla frosting with raspberry puree

Olivia demonstrating how to frost a cupcake the Butter Lane-way: tap, tap, turn!

The results: the lightest, fluffiest, prettiest cupcakes I've ever made.  My favorite combination: chocolate cupcake with peanut butter chocolate frosting (it is as dreamy and delicious as it sounds).  

the treat at the end of the evening: my very own box of cupcakes to take home!

It was such a fun evening, meeting and baking with fellow food bloggers.  

Thank you, Butter Lane, CourseHorse, Mallory, Olivia, and Kelly and Miachel!

Sucré Salé, Brussels

the storefront of Sucré Salé

I've crawled out of the mountain of work, emails, and errands that piled up while I was away.  Now, finally, some time to reflect on my time in Europe.  

our friendly waitress

Imagine my delight when a dear friend brought me to a charming cafe with the namesake of my blog: Sucré Salé.  The cafe is in the Saint Boniface area of Brussels, which -- notwithstanding the neo-Gothic cathedral that towers above the surrounding buildings -- has a lively and bohemian feel to it, with colorful boutiques, shops, and restaurants lining the streets.

True to its name, Sucré Salé offers up both sweet and savory options.  The savory menu has over two dozen salads, sandwiches, and quiches to choose from.  For those in the mood for something sweet, there are pastries (apple turnovers, croissants, viennoiserie sweet rolls, raisin brioches) and desserts galore (molten chocolate, flourless chocolate, lemon meringue, apple crumb, and brown sugar cakes).  I had a perfect combination of a croque-madam and flourless chocolate cake.

the beautiful display of Sucré Salé's desserts

my lunch of croque-madame

the cafe's charming interior

The cafe's decor is charming, with tin cans lining the shelving that spans the entire length of a wall; specials of the day written out by hand on a chalkboard; and a large basket placed near the register revealing fresh baguettes and pastries.  The exposed brick adds rustic charm.  The mood is homey and casual, someplace you'd like to sit for hours, alone with a book or -- in my case -- catching up with a friend.

To Paris

My first time in Paris I remember well.  I saw the Mona Lisa, got kissed under the Eiffel Tower, and had an exquisite meal: red wine-braised duck and my first taste of foie gras.  My second time in Paris I explored Le Marais on foot, had my first taste of Laduree macarons, and dined at the marvelous Hidden Kitchen.  On my most recent trip I rode through the streets of Paris on the back of a motorcycle and had my first meal of kangaroo.

Each time I go to Paris, I'm a-flutter with excitement; each time I leave I'm wrapped under its spell.  Memories linger, the senses remember far after the plane touches down in NY.

I've been poring over food and fashion blogs these past few days in preparation for my next trip: the Hip Paris Blog, the unlike City Guides, and the Parisien Salon.  I've learned the macaron has given way in popularity to the eclair, which is enjoying a "serious revival" in Paris.  Out with the old; in with the new.  I now have some tips on how to lug my camera around and still stay "perfectly fashionable."  Chic bag, check.  And I have a list (fairly manageable, I think) of the best new patisseries, wine bars, and restaurants to check out.  Indulgences, sweet and savory.  I cannot wait.

À plus tard.

A Sweet & Savory Brunch

I've always felt there is no better way to start off a weekend than with a delicious brunch, complete with sweet and savory options.  And that's precisely the kind of brunch I prepared last Saturday!

For the first brunch of the day, I drew inspiration from a cooking challenge and a Bobby Flay recipe.  The cooking challenge had me make a wonderfully flavorful sage-almond pesto.  Pesto made, I spread a generous amount on a slice of toasted multigrain bread, then topped with some wild arugula, a fried egg, and slices of pan-fried chorizo.  The earthy undertones of the sage and almonds softened the peppery, sharp taste of the arugula; the egg was perfectly fried, with crispy edges and a warm, runny yolk; and the spicy chorizo had a satisfying bite.  

For the sweet portion of my brunch I made a baked apple topped with oatmeal and Greek yogurt, courtesy of Bobby Flay.  A "bowl" (including the core) is cut out of the apple, and then the insides are brushed with a sugar-cinnamon-butter mixture.  The apple is baked until soft (yet not too soft that it doesn't retain its structure), and then filled with some steel-cut oatmeal (sweetened also with some brown sugar), and then topped with a dollop of yogurt.  The results: a wonderfully spoonable, sweet delight.  

The two dishes made for a delightful combination. 

Sage Pesto

Recipe from GE Monogram 

(The rules of the cooking challenge were as follows: Make a pesto according to the recipe given and serve as an accompaniment to a dish of your choice.)

1 -1/2 cup fresh sage leaves, blanched then shocked, drained well

1/2 cup Marcona Almonds

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup garlic

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1/2 lemon, zest

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor then pulse several times until and paste forms.  The texture should be similar to natural peanut butter.

Baked Apples with Oatmeal and Yogurt 

Recipe courtsey of Bobby Flay.  Serves 6.

6 apples, bottoms sliced so apples stand

1 fresh lemon, halved

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch ground black pepper

1 cup apple cider

1 cup whole milk, heated

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

1-1/2 cups cooked steel-cut oatmeal, prepared according to package directions

Greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  

Cut off the top third of each apple.  With a small knife, and working from the top of each apple, carefully carve out a large "bowl," including the core, about 2 inches in diameter.  Rub the cut part with lemon and put the apples into a 9-inch square baking dish.  Dice the carved-out parts of the apples, without the seeds, and set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and then whisk in 4 tablespoons of the sugar, the cinnamon, and pepper and cook until smooth  Brush the inside of the apples with the butter mixture. Pour the apple cider into the bottom of the baking dish.  Cover the dish with foil and bake until the apples are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 minutes longer.

Transfer the apples to a platter.  Carefully strain the cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Cook until it is reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.  While the apples are baking, stir the hot milk, remaining sugar, reserved chopped apples and orange zest into the warm oatmeal and cook for a few minutes. Divide the oatmeal among the baked apples. Top each apple with a dollop of yogurt.

All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie

I'm moving on to making pies! For some help and guidance I turn to Dori Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours.  When it comes to pies, I can't think of anything more basic and more delicious than an apple pie. Dorie's chapter on pies and tarts has the perfect first entry for me: "All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie."  

The recipe calls for four pounds of the baker's choice of apples.  I settle on a combination of Gala and Honeycrisp: Gala apples because I've read that after baking they take on a marvelous texture, holding their form yet yielding with first bite; and Honeycrisp apples for their perfect balance of sweet and tart.  Once peeled, cored, and sliced, the apples are lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Instant tapioca is used as a pie thickener. Since I can't find any at the grocery store, I substitute with some flour.

The pie crust recipe calls for a combination of butter (for flavor) and shortening (for flakiness). Pie crusts challenge me (they always have!), and while this recipe is no exception, I'm happy to report that I somehow manage to make a double crust.  Two crusts!  They look far from perfect.  But I'm less worried about how they look than how they will taste.  After about 65 minutes of bake time -- during which time my fingers are crossed, or I am peeking through the oven window with the light on, or both -- I remove the pie from the oven.  The top crust is beautifully golden and the juices from the apples are bubbling up through it.  

I serve myself a slice of warm apple pie and eat it plain.  No ice cream.  No caramel sauce.  And yet there is nothing plain about this apple pie.  The play of textures and flavors is so delightful!  As I bite into the pie, the crust -- perfectly flaky and tasty -- gives way to the apples, sweet with just a hint of tart and spice, which melt in my mouth as soon as I bite into them.  Dorrie describes this pie as "pretty darn good."  I couldn't agree more.  

All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie

Baking: From My Home To Yours, by Dori Greenspan

For the pie filling*
(* This will fill a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. If using a standard 9 inch pie plate, just reduce the amount of filling by about 1/4.)

4 pounds apples
3/4 cup sugar
grated zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca (or substitute with 3 tablespoons flour)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into bits

For the crust
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2-1/2 sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces
1/3 cup very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening, cut into four piece
About 1/2 cup ice water
2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs


Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.  Add the butter and shortening into the bowl and mix until you have some pieces the size of fact green peas and others the size of barley.

Gradually add the water until the dough looks evenly moistened.  Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.  Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk, and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour before rolling.

Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.

Working on a well-floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough go to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.   Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 1/2 inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8-inch thick circle and flip it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cover both the circle and the crust in the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425°.
Peel, core, and slice the apples (slices should be about 1/4 inch thick). Put the apples into a large bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest, tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix everything together very well.

Remove the pie plate and top crust from the refrigerator and put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the bottom of the crust (this will help keep it from getting too soggy), and then turn the apples and their juices into the crust. Pat the apples into an even mound. Dot the apples with the bits of cold butter.

Very lightly moisten the rim of the bottom crust with water and center the top crust over the apples.  Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp, or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts,  using the tines of a fork to press that you crusts together securely.  Use the sharp knife to cut about six slits in the top crust.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375° and bake the pie for another 50 to 60 minutes or until the crust is gorgeously browned and the juices bubble up through the top crust. After about 40 minutes in the oven, if the top crust looks as if it's browning too quickly cover the pie loosely with a foil tent.

Transfer the pie to a rack and let it rest until it is only just warm or until it reaches room temperature.

A week of cupcakes

Last week was one of those weeks. A measure of disillusionment. A pinch of self-doubt. Fickle weather (spring is finally here yet it's nowhere to be found). All this conspired to give me a case of the late-winter blues.

In the midst of this, a dose of reality: I wasn't making things better by retreating into myself. Then happenstance; inspiration delivered in the form of a quote:

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink. (Leonardo da Vinci)

Buoyed by those words, I turned over a new leaf.  All this week I woke up uncharacteristically early.  I watched the sun rise.  And in the wee hours of the morning, I baked.  On Monday I baked strawberry cupcakes and topped them with strawberry cream cheese frosting and fresh-cut strawberries. On Wednesday I made chocolate olive oil cupcakes with almond cream cheese frosting.  On Thursday I made some white velvet butter cupcakes with maple buttercream frosting.  These cupcakes I shared with various others: colleagues, friends old and new.  (I brought some to the Baking Makes Friends event hosted by Lillie, of butter me up, Brooklyn!; it was such fun meeting fellow bakers and bloggers!)  I might have remembered to save one or two of the dozens that I baked for me, but smiles, some lip-smacking and second helpings were plenty enough reward.

And so it came to be that a wee little thing called a cupcake - bringing delight to others and in turn to me - helped turn things around.  This is why I bake, after all: I bake because it makes me content and fulfilled and it brings happiness to others.

The recipe for making the white velvet butter cupcakes can be found in an earlier post.  Simply halve the recipe to make about 16 cupcakes.

Maple Buttercream Frosting

Recipe from The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum

3 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 liquid cup maple syrup
1 cup unsalted butter (must be softened)
1 teaspoon maple extract

In a bowl beat the yolks until light and color. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and maple syrup in a small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a rolling boil. Immediately transfer the syrup to a heatproof glass measure to stop the cooking.

Pour a small amount of syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high-speed for five seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for five seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition user a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Continue beating until completely cool.

Gradually beat in the butter and maple extract.

Day 6 with Rose: Genoise Classique

My mother tells me that when I was a child, I would often say I couldn't wait to become an adult so that I could eat cake anytime I wanted.

Looking back now, I can only marvel at what a wise child I was: eating cake anytime I want is certainly one of the big joys and perks of being an adult (for me at least, anyway).

So while this sixth day with Rose is my final lesson on cakes, I am certainly not saying goodbye to cakes; they are, after all, my favorite of all sweet treats.  I am merely pausing to turn my attention to making pies and pastries.  Nor am I saying goodbye to Rose. With all that I've learned from her in these few short weeks, I know I'll be revisiting her again and again for further inspiration and advice.

Today's lesson is on sponge-type cakes. Sponge-type cakes get their light, airy texture from a large amount of beaten eggs (compared with a basic butter cake, for example, a sponge-type cake uses double the egg). The Genoise, which I make today, is a European sponge-type cake. Unlike its American counterpart, it contains butter as well as much less sugar. Syrup is added to the cake to give it some added moisture. Since the cake is rather plain, I top it with some whipped cream. 

The cake is quite simple and quick to make. I find the most time-consuming and somewhat tedious part of the process to be removing the bottom and top crust. Rose explains that sponge-type cakes absorb syrup most easily if the crusts are removed; otherwise the crusts could become pasty. A long serrated knife (and some patience) will help in this process.

The results: a delightfully sweet and perfectly moist cake with a fine crumb.
Next up: pies, pies, and more pies!

Genoise Classique

Recipe from The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Cake

3 tablespoons clarified beurre noisette

1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs (room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 cup – 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Syrup
1/4 cup + 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 liquid cup water
2 tablespoons liqueur of your choice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Warm the beurre noisette* until almost hot. Add the vanilla and keep warm.

*If you don't have clarified butter, you will need to clarify some unsalted butter.  In a heavy saucepan melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat, partially covered to prevent splattering.   When the butter looks clear, cook uncovered, watching until the solids drop and begin to brown. Pour immediately through a strainer lined with cheesecloth.

In a large mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water, heat the eggs and sugar until just lukewarm, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Beat the mixture on high-speed for five minutes or until triple in volume.

While the eggs are beating, sift together the flour and cornstarch.

Remove one cup of the egg mixture and thoroughly whisk it into the beurre noisette.

Sift 1/2 the flour mixture over the remaining egg mixture and fold it in gently but rapidly until almost all the flour has disappeared. Repeat with remaining flour mixture until the flour has disappeared completely. Fold in the butter mixture until just incorporated.

Pour immediately into the prepared pan** and bake 25 to 35 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and starts to shrink slightly from the size of the pan.
Avoid opening the oven door before the minimum time or the cake could fall.
**One 9-inch by 2-inch pan, greased, bottom lined with parchment, and then greased again and floured.

Loosen the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and unmold at once unto a lightly greased rack. Reinvert to cool. Trim the bottom and top crust when ready to complete the cake and sprinkle the syrup evenly on both sides.

To make syrup, in a small saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, bring the sugar and water to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Cover immediately, remove from the heat, and allow to cool completely.  Transfer to a liquid measuring cup and stir in the liqueur.