Carrot Apple Spice Cake and Surfas

A lovely foodie friend mentioned Surfas restaurant supply store to me recently, and even though I missed taking my mom there on Mother's Day, their website had me buzzing with excitement about my delayed visit. Gelatin sheets! Powdered food coloring! Blanched almond powder!



And, as it turned out, these beautifully professional-looking baking papers! I took this opportunity to make the Gourmandise Desserts Carrot Apple Spice Cake that I had been keeping in the back of my mind. It was somebody's fault that the batter overflowed the cake papers, although I'm not sure if it's my fault for overfilling the papers (most likely) or the website's fault for inconsistencies in the printed recipe (it forgets to mention the baking soda in the recipe steps, and 2 T baking powder sounds excessive to me. I'm just saying.).

In the end, after taking one for the team and personally consuming all the overflowed cake batter, I think these cakes turned out nicely - light (baking powder, anyone?), a tad of ginger, moist, orange zest, and a dollop of mascarpone icing and caramelized pecans. It's not a classic carrot cake like my mom's recipe, but I certainly had no complaints. Gourmandise actually touts it as a breakfast-worthy muffin, so she's a versatile lady.



Surfas was most enjoyable; it's a trendy-feeling warehouse store with all the food and equipment stuff you can only find online. No promises that everything's affordable, but it offers high quality goods AND bulk goods for those who so desire. And it's got this cool cement walkway that has imprints of kitchen supplies.



Equally important, Surfas has a Zagat-rated cafe that blew me away with its creative menu. It's not a large menu, but full of seasonally-based fresh flavor combinations. I've been telling everyone I know about this salad - a bed of spring lettuce with thinly sliced strawberries, sautéed leeks, edible flowers, toasted pistachios, ricotta salata cheese shavings, and...chocolate balsamic dressing. It wasn't very sweet for a strawberry salad, and the flavors were brilliantly paired. I guessed that there was chocolate without reading the menu, but it was definitely a subtle flavor. And the ordinary-looking biscuit was a 42 (or was it 72?)-layer buttery biscuit. Fabulous.

Sticky Chocolate Cake

I love the smell and flavor of brandy, and have been particularly enchanted by the idea of soaking various things in brandy for cooking projects, so this recipe appealed to me right away (Sometimes I feel like one of Jack Lemmon's characters in The Great Race, whose mantra is "Brandy! More brandy!"). Not to mention the fact that it's a chocolate cake. Or that it employs prunes, whose pairing with chocolate I have long been curious about. Or that it has almost no refined sugar (only what is in the bittersweet chocolate). Or that it's called "sticky," which also aided its recent publication on Chocolate and Zucchini.

In any case, this was an interesting cake to make, although not one that I expect to receive many party invitations. It would be worthwhile to try it with white whole wheat flour, just to bump it completely out of the refined carbohydrate orbit and make it even more hearty. Come to think of it, I also made it low fat, except for the one egg yolk in it. I'll keep this tasty wall flower around just for the brandy and relative healthfulness!

I would hesitate to recommend its flavor and crumb to all, except for the fact that I just ate, ahem, two of them. I guess I approve the prune-chocolate coupling.

Sticky Chocolate Cake
From Chocolate and Zucchini

For the cake:
8 oz plump dried prunes (about 16 medium), pitted
1/3 C brandy* such as Cognac, Armagnac, or other brandy
1/2 C plain nonfat yogurt
1 egg
6 T unrefined light brown cane sugar
3 T maple syrup
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
5 1/3 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

For the syrup:
1/4 C unrefined light brown cane sugar

Preheat the oven to 360 degrees, grease the sides of a small cake pan (about 1 liter or 4 cups in capacity) and line the bottom with parchment paper, or line a muffin tin with cupcake liners for 12 cupcakes.

Place half of the prunes and the brandy in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until just slightly warm. Set aside to plump up.

Put the remaining prunes and the yogurt in a blender or mini-chopper, and process until smooth.

Pour into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the egg, sugar, and maple syrup, beating well between each addition.

In a medium mixing bowl, place the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Stir with a whisk to combine and break any lumps.

Fish the prunes from the brandy (reserve the brandy) and cut in halves. Set aside.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined; don't overmix. Fold in the chopped chocolate. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, level the surface, and top with the prune halves, pressing them down gently so they're half engulfed in the batter.

Bake for 30 minutes (15-20 for muffins), until set. A cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean (but don't mistake a melted chocolate chunk for raw batter).

While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup: add the 1/4 C sugar and 1/3 C water to the brandy in the pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and remove from heat immediately.

When the cake comes out of the oven, pierce a few holes through it with a skewer and brush liberally with the warm syrup with a pastry brush, until saturated. Let cool completely before unmolding.

* If you can't or won't have liquor in your cake, you can replace the brandy with good black tea.

Beans, Greens, and Mint Frittata

And now for the token savory recipe of the month! I know I give the impression that I bake all the time (well, okay, maybe I do), but I do provide other food for myself to eat, and I really, really enjoyed eating this frittata. One of the things I love about egg dishes is how easy they are to adapt to the contents of your kitchen, as well as to make healthfully. This dish is all protein and vegetable fiber, with minimal fat from the egg yolks but great flavor.

The mint is a lovely touch; I actually think I like it better as a fresh seasoning for a frittata than I do basil. I had to make several trips to different stores to find the fresh mint and nutmeg required, but it was worth it!

This is the first time I prepared fresh fava beans (I've used the dried beans for falafel before), which was a satisfying process. The beans are wrapped in thick pods that are waxy green on the outside, furry white on the inside. The individual beans each ALSO have a waxy casing that needs to be removed, and inside there is the tender brilliant meaty bean that gets eaten. One spends a bit of time getting down and dirty with the natural bean packaging, unless one misses out and starts with frozen beans.

Of course, if you have favism in your family and are horribly deathly allergic to them, absolutely do not use them in this dish - but do still make some sort of frittata with mint! The dish would be completely fine with just greens or other vegetables mixed in, so don't feel limited. The beans do boost the fiber and protein content of the meal; edamame may be a good substitute to try.

This is one of the many new vegetables and legumes I've tried this year over the past seven months of receiving CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes of local produce. Any time I have mentioned kale, swiss chard, other greens, or beets on my blog this year, it has been because that is what arrived in my box, and therefore what I had to prepare for myself to eat. I have had a great experience with this particular CSA: it's delivered to my apartment complex, costs me $7 per week, introduces new vegetables to my diet, motivates me to learn new recipes, and moves my nutrition towards a more organic and plant-rich base, which makes me feel great physically. Not a bad counterpoint to all that baking, eh?

Enjoy!


Beans, Greens, and Mint Frittata
Adapted from the Frittata Fève et Menthe in the Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook

3 C vegetable or chicken stock, or water
1 C shelled fava beans, fresh or frozen
2 C (several handfuls) cooked kale or other greens
6 large eggs
1/3 C plain non-fat yogurt
1 C grated cheese (Gruyère, Pecorino Romano, crumbled feta, or others would work)
12 fresh mint leaves, washed and chopped
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
a shake or two of black pepper

1. Fava bean preparation: After removing the beans from the pods, heat the stock or water to boil in a medium saucepan. Drop in the shelled beans and cook for 5 minutes (6 if the beans are frozen). Drain and drop into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Cut a tiny slit in the outer skin of each bean with a fingernail or a knife, and peel the waxy skin away with your fingers to squeeze out the inner meat. The beans can be prepared up to two days ahead of time and kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

2. Kale/greens preparation: Wash and tear up/chop the greens and cook them for a few minutes in a frying pan until they become bright green and slightly limp. Set aside off the heat.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper and grease the interior with cooking spray or olive oil.

4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, cheese, and mint. Season with salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Gently stir in the beans and greens and pour into the cake pan.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Macarons with Coffee Buttercream

I continue to be content with my Parisian macaron recipe (can I call it mine now that I've adapted it to a new flavor with the strawberry macarons?), especially after it worked so well with the coffee buttercream that I made this week. I'm starting to realize that macarons get a large proportion of their flavor from the cream in the middle; the cookies themselves have to be mainly made of ground almonds, and any flavor they have has to be from some sort of dry ingredient source in order to not disturb the all-important texture of the macaron. So, this time I introduced coffee to my chocolate macarons with a few flecks of instant coffee on top of each macaron and a nice coffee cream in the middle. I was told these are the best I've made yet, although I am afraid they did not look as perfect as they have in the past. Still, very content.

I thought I'd include the whole macaron recipe, in all its glorious detail, plus a recipe for the coffee buttercream, which would be striking on chocolate cake as well.

This recipe is as verbose as it is because it has VERY IMPORTANT tips that will make your macarons succeed, so do read it carefully. Macarons are very much about proper technique. I've italicized a few parts that I missed the first time I made them, or that I find very unique about this recipe.

Chocolate Macarons
From NPR's The Splendid Table

5 oz. (1 1/3 C) finely ground almond powder or blanched almonds (see step 3)
2 C plus 2 T powdered sugar
1/4 C unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder (high quality if possible) plus more for dusting
1/2 C egg whites (about 4 large egg whites)

1. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, put each baking sheet on top of another baking sheet (or use two insulated baking sheets) and fit a large pastry bag with a plain 1/2-inch or 3/8-inch tip; set these aside for the moment.

2. If you've got almond powder, just sift the almond powder with the confectioner's sugar and cocoa. If you're starting with almonds, place the almonds, sugar and cocoa in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until the mixture is as fine as flour, at least 3 minutes. Stop every minute to check your progress and to scrape down the sides of the bowl. This is not a quick on-and-off operation. Although the almonds may look as though they're pulverized after a minute or so, they won't be. The nuts really need 3 to 5 minutes to be ground to a powder or flour. When the mixture is ground, press it through a medium strainer. In all probability, you'll have about 2 tablespoons of solids that won't go through the strainer - discard them.

3. For this recipe to succeed, you need 1/2 cup of egg whites, which may mean using 3 egg whites plus a part of another white. The easiest way to get a portion of a white is to break the white into a cup, beat it lightly with a fork and then measure out what you'll need. (If you put the egg whites in a glass measuring cup, the whites should come just to the 1/2-cup line when the cup is on the counter and you've crouched down to check the measurement at eye level.)

4. Once the eggs are measured, they need to be brought to room temperature so they can be beaten to their fullest volume. You can leave the whites on the counter until they reach room temperature, or you can put them into a microwave-safe bowl and place them in a microwave oven set on lowest power; heat the whites for about 10 seconds. Stir the whites and continue to heat them -still on lowest power - in 5-second spurts until they are about 75 degrees F. If they're a little warmer, that's okay too. To keep the eggs warm, run the mixer bowl under hot water, dry the bowl well, pour the whites into the bowl and fit the mixer with the whisk attachment.

5. Beat the egg whites at low to medium speed until they are white and foamy. Turn the speed up and whip them on high just until they are firm but still glossy and supple - when you lift the whisk the whites should form a peak that droops just a little. Keep the whites in the mixer bowl or transfer them to a large bowl. Working with a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients gently into the whites in 3 or 4 additions. There are a lot of dry ingredients to go into a relatively small amount of whites, but keep folding and you'll get everything in. Don't worry if the whites deflate and the batter looks a little runny - that's just what's supposed to happen. When the dry ingredients are incorporated, the mixture will look like a cake batter; if you lift a little with your finger, it should form a gentle, quickly falling peak. Try to incorporate all the dry ingredients in a total of 50 strokes or less.

6. Spoon the batter into the pastry bag and pipe it out onto the prepared baking sheets. (To keep the paper steady, "glue" it down by piping a bit of batter at each corner of the baking sheet.) Pipe the batter into rounds about 1 inch in diameter, leaving about an inch between each round. (Because you're going to sandwich the baked cookies, try to keep the rounds the same size.) When you've piped out all the macarons, lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter. Don't be afraid - you need to get the air of the batter. Set the baking sheets aside at room temperature for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.

7. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. You need to bake these one pan at a time, so dust the tops of the macarons on one pan with cocoa powder (or sprinkle decorative nibs on top to match the filling flavor) and slide one of the sheets into the oven. As soon as the baking sheet is in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350 degrees F and insert the handle of a wooden spoon between the oven and the door to keep the door slightly ajar. Bake the macarons for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are smooth and just firm to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack (see step 8 for information on removing the macarons from the parchment), close the oven door, turn the heat back up to 425 degrees F and, when the oven is at the right temperature, repeat with the second sheet of macarons.

8. To remove the macarons from the parchment - and they should be removed as soon as they come from the oven - you need to create moisture under the cookies. Carefully loosen the parchment at the four corners and, lifting the paper at one corner, pour a little hot water under the parchment paper onto the baking sheet. The water may bubble and steam, so make sure your face and hands are away from the sheet. Move the parchment around or tilt the baking sheet so that the parchment is evenly dampened. Allow the macarons to remain on the parchment, soaking up the moisture, for about 15 seconds, then peel the macarons off the paper and place them on a cooling rack (I don't usually do this step, but it is helpful if you want to be absolutely certain your macarons do not tear when you remove them from the paper).

To finish:

Make a ganache and let it cool, or make a buttercream (coffee buttercream recipe below).

1. When the macarons are cool, sandwich them with ganache, buttercream, or ice cream. For the ganache/buttercream: Pipe or spread a dollop of filling about 1/2 inch across on the flat side of one cookie and use the flat side of another to complete the sandwich and to spread the ganache so that it runs to the edge. Transfer the filled macaroons to a covered container and place them in the refrigerator to soften overnight before serving.

Keeping: Baked, unsandwiched macaroons can be kept in an airtight tin at room temperature for 3 days. Once filled, the macaroons should be chilled and served the next day.

Coffee Buttercream

1 stick (1/2 C) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C powdered sugar, plus extra to thicken as desired
1/2 T coffee (strong instant is fine) or more to taste
1/2 T heavy cream or milk (heavy cream makes it richer!)

Beat the butter and the vanilla until soft with an electric or stand mixer, and then gradually add the powdered sugar. Add the coffee and heavy cream/milk, and beat until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar if it's too thin to keep shape between cookies.

Not Baking

It's really hard not to bake something when you've got this photo from White on Rice Couple's blog on your computer desktop, let me tell you. I keep thinking what a beautiful batter that madeleine batter is, and how nice the madeleines would taste with their lemon glaze, and how much I want a copper mixing bowl. Gorgeous photo.

Meanwhile, I've been messing around with the blog template, trying to get a cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing layout that also works in my chocolate-dipped strawberry cupcake photo at the top, since that photo is on my card. What do we think? I'm still deciding if I will keep the layout or not...