Daring Bakers! - Baumkuchen

The January 2014 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Francijn of "Koken in de Brouwerij". She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake). 

Oh hello again, polar vortex. On Saturday I was driving back from the city and the snow and winds were so bad I had to drive 40 mph on the highway the whole way home! Glad I made it home safe though. I'll just listen to Let It Go over and over again and pretend the cold never bothered me anyway. 

Egg white hurricane!!!

So the challenge this month was a baumkuchen, or, tree cake. Though European in origin, it's quite popular in Japan (I've seen little prepackaged ones at the Asian grocery store). It's called a tree cake because traditionally, it's made on a spit, even layers of batter brushed on top of the last. It ends up looking like the rings of a tree. A professional can actually made a cake the size of a tree using this method–four feet tall and weighing 100 pounds! Insane. 

Hahahahaha

So though I had been wanting to make one of these for a while, I put it off, because...I was kind of terrified. The ingredients for this cake are expensive and I didn't want to waste them if I messed up! I also didn't want to burn my dorm down, or, on a less dramatic note, set off the smoke alarms and force everyone to leave the dorm. Eternal shame! Thankfully, none of those things happened and the cake turned out marvelously. Someone even said it looked like a tree! I used a recipe from Sasha at Global Table Adventure, because her tutorial is really clear and I think she's super cool. 

Baumkuchen
from Global Table Adventure 

1 1/2 cups almond paste, tightly packed (12 oz)
6 Tbsp half & half
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tbsp), softened
1 cup sugar
10 eggs, separated (put the whites in a bowl big enough to whip them up to stiff peaks)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
10 0z jar apricot jam
1 cup slivered almonds, coarsely chopped (I didn't use any, but you could!)
For the chocolate glaze:
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp rum, preferably dark (I didn't have any :c )
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a clean, preferably not plastic bowl, beat the egg whites until they make stiff peaks, but aren’t dry. Set aside. 

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the almond paste with half and half, one tablespoon at a time. It will resemble mashed potatoes when you’re done. I used my hand mixer and this horrible salad bowl, which was a mistake, but it worked. Next, beat in softened butter until fluffy, scraping the bowl to make sure its all mixed in.
Next, beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then the vanilla. 
Next, sift in the flour and cornstarch in thirds. Beat until well incorporated, scraping the bowl as needed.
Fold the egg whites into the batter until it looks and tastes like an almond paste cloud. D'aw. 

Turn on the broiler and let it warm up for a few minutes. Meanwhile, grease and line a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper. Grease it goooood. You don't want the parchment to curl. Set aside half the apricot jam.
Next, spread 1/4 cup of batter in the bottom of the pan. It might not seem like enough. Put in more if you think you need it, but you only want a thin layer that will cover the bottom of the pan, but that's it. 
Broil this layer until deep golden brown. Don't leave it unchecked for more than 30 seconds. You're gonna be opening and closing the oven a lot. 
Then, add another 1/4 cup batter. Spread it out with a brush and broil, as before.After repeating this step a few times, spread a layer with a bit of apricot jam. Continue making a few layers of cake to every layer of jam, until you've used the 5 ounces.
Be sure to push the batter evenly around so the cake remains flat. Doming cakes are forbidden. You can correct as you go.
Refrigerate overnight.

Spread the top and sides of cake with the remaining half of apricot jam. Set in refrigerator while making chocolate glaze. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add corn syrup, vanilla extract and rum. Dark rum is better but I didn’t have any. Simmer a few minutes to let the ingredients mingle. Remove from heat and toss in the chocolate chips. Cover five minutes, or until the chocolate is completely softened. Stir the glaze until glossy and pour evenly over top and sides of cake. Press crushed almonds over the sides and outer edge of cake. Refrigerate to set the glaze.
Hooray, you did it! 
 

Daring Bakers - Speculaas!

Francijn of Koken in de Brouwerij was our January 2013 Daring Bakers’ Hostess and she challenged us to make the traditional Dutch pastry, Gevulde Speculaas from scratch! That includes making our own spice mix, almond paste and dough! Delicious!

Since nothing is ever open on campus on Sundays anyway, I decided to find a cafe in town settle down and do some reading in. Y'know, cup of tea, some Charles Dickens, typical day in my classy, classy life.  I hopped off the bus and wandered into Fixx (they make beautiful latte art, by the way),  reveling in the rare opportunity to have the sun shine so bright I had to squint. 

Apologies for the bad phone pictures.

 The day was so full of possibility! The whole city was at my disposal. But then...the cloudless sky mysteriously disappeared and down came the rain. I hunched over, hands in my pockets. It was bound to pass soon. But it just came harder. And harder. I ran, looking desperately for shelter. Anywhere would do. I finally spotted a SPAR and burst inside. One of the guys working there looked at me with pity and handed me some paper towels, but they weren't enough to even dry my sleeve. I squeezed my hair out on the floormat, ordered a steamer from their coffee stand, and sat down with a stack of napkins, trying in vain to dry myself out. 

  

The rain finally let up enough for me to escape to the bus stop and finally get home, but I learned to never go out in Dublin without being prepared for any sort of weather. Thanks to the workers at SPAR for being so kind to me. I love Irish people.

 

This was one of the last recipes I made before I left the US for my extended stay in Ireland. I loved that it was unique and new to me but still easy enough to pull off in a short amount of time. Homemade almond paste is sandwiched between layers of spicy speculaas. Nom. I hope I can get creative enough to participate in the next challenge even though I don't have an oven. When there's a will, there's a way. 

Speculaas

Recipe Speculaas Spices
Speculaas spices can be bought in a store. But it's more fun to make your own mixture, so that you can adjust the flavor. Here is a representative recipe from the extensive Dutch tradition.
Mandatory:
cinnamon 40 to 60 % of the total amount
ground cloves 1 or 2 parts
mace ½ or 1 part
ginger ½ or 1 part
Optional:
white pepper ½ or 1 part
cardamom ½ or 1 part
coriander ½ or 1 part
anise ½ or 1 part
nutmeg 1 or 2 parts
A convenient way to mix the spices is as follows:
Take at least 1 or 2 teaspoons of ground cloves, ½ or 1 teaspoon of mace and ½ or 1 teaspoon of ginger.
Add to taste ½ or 1 teaspoon of white pepper, ½ or 1 teaspoon of cardamom, ½ or 1 teaspoon of coriander, ½ or 1 teaspoon of anise, and 1 or 2 teaspoons of nutmeg. Measure or weigh the amount of spices you have now, and add an equal amount of cinnamon.

Recipe Almond Paste
As we are going to make stuffed speculaas, we will need almond paste. You can buy it in a store, but homemade almond paste tastes better.
Ingredients:
7/8 cup (210 ml)(125 gm)(4½ oz) raw almonds (or 1-1/3 cups (320 ml)(125 gm) (4½ oz) ground almonds)
5/8 cup (150 ml) (125 grams) (4½ oz) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) lemon zest

If the raw almonds still have their brown skins, remove them as follows (totally didn't do this, oops!). Bring water to a boil, add the almonds, cook them for one minute, drain immediately and let cool for a few minutes. Rub them between your fingers to remove the skins.
Grind the almonds for one or two minutes in a food processor, until you see nothing but very small pieces. (Or skip this step if you use ground almonds.)
Add the sugar, and grind for another one or two minutes. It must be very fine after this step.
Add the egg and let the food processor combine it - if it is powerful enough. Otherwise you will have to combine it with your fingers.
Store the almond paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Although the flavor gets better as days pass by, it is not wise to store the paste for too long, as it contains a raw egg. For the same reason you should not eat the paste unbaked. 

Recipe Speculaas Dough
Ingredients:
1¾ cups (250 gm) (9 oz) all purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking powder
¾ cup (150 grams) (5-1/3 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
a pinch salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) speculaas spices
3/4 cup (1½ stick) (175 gm) (6 oz) unsalted butter

Directions:
Put flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices in a bowl.
Cut the butter in dices and add.
Knead until smooth.
Feel free to add a little milk if the dough is too dry.
Wrap in clingfoil and put in the refrigerator for two hours.
You can choose to make the dough a few days in advance, just like the almond paste, that will benefit the flavor. Freezing is no problem.


Assembly
1. Grease the pan (I used a 9x9).
2. Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas 4
3. Divide the dough into two portions.
4. Roll out both portions on a lightly floured surface, until they are exactly as big as the baking pan. 
5. Put one of the layers in the pan and press it lightly to fill the bottom.
6. Lightly beat the egg with a teaspoon cold water.
7. Smear 1/3 of the egg over the dough in the pan.
8. Roll out the almond paste between two sheets of clingfoil, until it is exactly as big as the pan, and put it on the dough in the pan. (If you chose to make the paste soft, you can smear the paste instead of rolling it.)
9. Press the paste lightly down to fit in the pan, and smear the next 1/3 of the egg over it.
10. Now put the second layer of dough on top of the paste, press it lightly, and make as smooth as possible.
11. Smear the last 1/3 of the egg over the dough.
12. Decorate the pastry with the almonds.
13. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven.
14. Let cool completely in the pan, then cut it in portions as you like.
 

Hedgehog Cookies

My sister made me this beautiful cake for my birthday. It looks like Mike Wazowski, does it not?

 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, or if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the American sense, just a nice, happy day. It's definitely not an American thing (or something limited to a certain holiday) to get together with your loved ones and share a meal. And I'm a big proponent of letting other people know how much you appreciate them. Go ahead, make someone's day. You never know how much they might need it. 

So we had extraordinary amounts of pine nuts in the house for some reason, and since I don't like pumpkin pie (I know, I know...it's a texture issue, okay?) I decided to make some pignoli cookies. I added a bit of black cocoa to the mix, and just rolled these suckers in pine nuts (which is probably not necessary, seeing as pine nuts are rather expensive). They're awesome! But, according to my mother, not exactly the correct texture for pignoli cookies. They turned out softer and not as chewy or crackly. But, they remind me of hedgehogs. So hedgehog cookies they are!

Hedgehog Cookies

1 (8 oz) Can Almond Paste

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

2 Tbsp All-purpose Flour

2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

2 Medium Egg Whites, Lightly Beaten

8 Ounces Pine Nuts

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper, or use silicone linings. Place the pine nuts in a bowl.

In a food processor, break up the almond paste into small pieces, and pulse with the two sugars, cocoa, and the flour. Once the mixture is finely ground, begin to add the egg whites a little at a time, just until the dough comes together. Depending on the humidity, or the size of your egg whites, sometimes you may need all of the egg whites, while other times you won't.

Using a spoon and slightly wet hands, scoop a small spoonful of the dough, and place this into the bowl of pignoli. Roll the cookie arround until it is lightly coated, and then place it on the prepared baking sheet. Continue forming the cookies in this manner, placing them 2 inches apart on the baking pan. Bake the cookies 20 to 25 minutes, and then cool. Dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving.