tasty but pasty / sour cream butter cake

So, I had a bunch of yolks leftover from making the buche, so I decided to use them on the Sour Cream Butter Cake (page 35).  The ingredient list is simple, and is a typical 3 step cake: mix the dry ingredients, add butter and some liquid, then add the remaining liquid ingredients in batches.  Plus I figured you can't quite go wrong with a sour cream cake. Turns out I was somewhat mistaken, but I did deviate somewhat from the instructions, so I'll have to try this again.  Because my springform pan is black/glass, I baked the cake at 325 for longer.  I covered the top with foil to prevent overbrowning at 45 minutes, but forgot to grease the foil, so it lifted up the surface of the batter and I think interfered with the baking of the center.  I baked for a total of 65 minutes, and still the very center was not fully baked.  The resulting crumb was definitely pasty right after baking, but I let the cake sit as suggested in the book, and, as foretold, much of the pastiness was gone the day after.  Still, I felt the crumb was too dense and not fluffy enough for my taste.  The flavor of the cake is outstanding, though.  So, if texture is less of a priority for you than great flavor, I think this cake is a win, particularly because it's so easy to bake.  I think I may try it one more time at 350 and see how it goes.

 

Ratings:

Overall - 6

Crumb - 4 / too dense and slightly pasty

Flavor - 8 / great mellow flavor, not too buttery

Appearance - 6 / had to dock points for the uneven surface, but that was my own fault; it browns nicely otherwise

Ease of baking - 8 / a very simple cake, no extra steps involved

 

Details:

Bakeware - 9" springform pan (black/glass bottom)

Oven temperature - 325 degrees

Bake time - 65 minutes

Notes - Top covered with foil at 45 minutes.  Cooled 15 minutes in pan on rack before unmolding.  Cake tastes best after being allowed to sit overnight.

 

 

 

not-so-guilty pleasure / zucchini cupcakes

Is this the healthiest recipe in the book?  I don't know, but I do feel a lot better about eating Zucchini Cupcakes (page 73) than, say, a butter cake with chocolate ganache.  Not to mention, these little zucchini breads taste amazing, low-fat or not.  I did use whole eggs and brown sugar, but omitted the raisins.  I grated three medium sized zucchinis, which was more than ample for two recipes worth (weight-based).  I used the food processor with the shredding disk to grate the zucchini, and it worked great.  Bake time was on the low end of the range (20 minutes).  The resulting cupcakes are super moist, with great flavor, and they keep well, too.  I will definitely make these again.

 

Ratings:

Overall - 9

Crumb - 8 / very moist, with a slight chew

Flavor - 9 / just the right amount of sweetness

Appearance - 7 / the surface is a little rough and a bit on the brown side, but the zucchini pieces add nice color

Ease of baking - 6 / grating the zucchini is an extra step, but quick and easy with a food processor

 

Details:

Bakeware - Muffin tin (makes more than 12--I poured the excess into a ramekin)

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Bake time - 20 minutes

Notes - I think the cupcakes are a great way to bake this--better and faster than a traditional loaf pan for zucchini bread.

christmas is the time for second chances / chocolate log redux

I know I said I didn't think it would be worth it to make the Cordon Rose Chocolate Christmas Log again, but, hey, it's the holidays--when if not now to develop a little more patience?  Thankfully, take two turned out much better than the first attempt, and took a lot less time.  I was more exact with the ingredients and was careful to smooth out the batter well in the pan before baking, so the cake looked better out of the oven:

I don't think I rolled this one quite as tightly as the last, though, and it didn't set in the fridge for quite as long, so the roll got a little flattened on the bottom.

The biggest improvement, by far, was that I didn't overcool the ganache, so that it was still of a spreadable consistency and didn't crumble when raked with the fork.  For added detail, I piped some royal icing grass on the cake board, which also made it easier to set the mushrooms.

 

cost-benefit fail / cordon rose chocolate christmas log

As the holidays are upon us, I thought it would be timely to try the Cordon Rose Chocolate Christmas Log (page 197).  This traditional buche de Noel consists of the Chocolate Cloud Roll (page 138), Perfect Whipped Cream (page 253), and Dark Chocolate Ganache (page 269).  The first step was to bake the chocolate cloud roll, which is a flourless, souffle-like sheet cake.  The color of the batter was much lighter than I expected. Initially I thought maybe I hadn't added enough chocolate, but (as detailed later), based on taste, there was more than enough.

 

After the cake was baked and cooled, the log was assembled by spreading one recipe of whipped cream over the top of the sheet, then rolling up the cake using the foil beneath it.  The log was then refrigerated overnight.  To decorate the buche, one end was cut on the diagonal and placed atop the log to form a branch stump.  Chocolate ganache was then spread over the log and scored with the tines of a fork to simulate bark.  I did feel that the ganache was too firm when I spread it, and it crumbled quite a bit when raked with the fork, making for a messy and less realistic effect.  Powdered sugar was sprinkled over the top to look like a dusting of snow, and a few meringue mushrooms were added for effect.  Overall, I think this cake was not really worth the effort.  I felt that the taste was too bitter (maybe mix semisweet with the bittersweet chocolate next time) and definitely not sweet enough. It also did not roll as well as I expected, although it crumbled more than it cracked.  Because the cake was so crumbly and the ganache was too hard, this was a beast to frost.  Pieces just kept falling off, and the crumbs would mix in with the ganache. The cut ends of the cake were also messy because of all the crumbs (I managed to get the top surface of the stump to look okay, but that's about it).

Ratings:

Overall - 5

Crumb - 7 / it is, indeed, light and reasonably moist; it crumbles easily when rolling, though

Flavor - 6 / with the whipped cream and a sprinkling of powdered sugar, it is just barely sweet enough; the cake itself tastes too bitter for my liking.

Appearance - 5 / the color is too light, and the texture is too crumbly to make for a great presentation

Ease of baking - 3 / very labor intensive to make (esp with only one mixing bowl...)

 

Details:

Bakeware - 12"x17" jelly roll pan

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Bake time - 17 minutes

Notes - the ganache was allowed to cool for several hours and was placed briefly in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm to frosting consistency before spreading.  This may have resulted in it becoming a little too firm, as it was a bit difficult to spread and became somewhat crumbly upon dragging the fork through it.  Use caution when cutting the cake, as it crumbles easily and thus disrupts the nice swirl effect of the roll.

 

 

get the good stuff / golden grand marnier cake

In The Cake Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum writes that she used to ship the Golden Grand Marnier Cake (page 44) to her daughter for her birthday.  Several things about this statement suggested that this cake would be a hit: first, that, out of her huge cake repertoire, she chose to make this one for her daughter each year.  Second, the fact that it shipped and kept so well indicated that it must have been sufficiently moist so as not to dry out during transit.  And, seriously, how could you go wrong with Grand Marnier?

The ingredient list has a lot of tasty elements going for it--Grand Marnier (of course), the use of ground almonds in place of some of the flour, sour cream, orange zest.  I did not have orange flower water, so I substituted vanilla as suggested.  With the zest in the batter and the Grand Marnier/fresh OJ syrup, I felt that there was adequate orange flavor as it was. The recipe required the zest of 3 oranges and juice from about 1 orange.  I had only large Ghirardelli bittersweet baking chips, so I cut the chips in half to make them smaller.

I felt that I overbaked the cake a bit, even though I checked the cake at 55 minutes (the low end of the given time range). The sides were a bit overbrowned, but the crumb was still very moist.  So far, sour cream cakes have never once disappointed in terms of the crumb.  The chocolate bits were quite nice, and the amount of Grand Marnier was just right. 

I think I'd like to try this cake again in a different pan.  The book suggests baking in little bundtlette pans, which would make nice individual servings.  I would also probably go with mini chocolate chips next time, as the halved baking chips were still a bit large.  All in all, I agree that this is a fabulous recipe that I probably would request for my birthday, too.

Ratings:

Overall - 9

Crumb - 8 / very moist and soft, and not too wet, just as the book states

Flavor - 9 / terrific orange flavor, complemented nicely by the small bits of chocolate; just the right amount of liqueur

Appearance - 7 / a little overbrowned; use caution when brushing on the syrup as the cake crumbles easily

Ease of baking - 5 / some extra effort required to zest and juice the oranges and grind up almonds; more ingredients than many

Details:

Bakeware - 9-cup Bundt pan

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Bake time - 55 minutes

Notes - slightly overbrowned at this bake time.  Half of the syrup was brushed on immediately after baking with cake in pan on rack.  Cake was then cooled 10 minutes and inverted onto serving plate and brushed with remaining syrup. Cake was served day of baking after cooling.

 

baby steps / lemon poppy seed perfect pound cake

Having just returned from out of town with a bit of a cold, I decided to start simply.  The very first recipe in The Cake Bible is perfect pound cake (page 25).  You can't get too much simpler than this--the ingredient list is incredibly brief.  Because I had an extra lone lemon lying around that I wanted to use up, I decided to try the lemon poppy seed variant (page 26), which involves adding a bit of lemon zest and some poppy seeds to the batter, and then brushing the finished cake with a simple lemon syrup.

 

The recipe is smaller than most, because, as Rose states, her trials with larger volumes of batter caused poorer texture in the cake.  As written, the cake is to be baked in a 4 cup loaf pan.  Since I did not have a medium sized loaf pan, I decided to use 3 mini loaf pans instead.  The batter filled to 2/3 - 3/4 full in each.

 

As you can see, the loaf actually split quite nicely by itself down the middle.  I did not enhance the split by making a cut in the loaf as described in the book, because, when I checked the loaves at 20 minutes, the batter was still too liquid to cut. 

After removing the loaves from the oven, I brushed them as instructed with lemon syrup (juice of one lemon and sugar) and wrapped in plastic wrap overnight to allow the syrup to fully saturate the cake.  The resulting cake had great lemon flavor, but was still a little dry and the crumb was dense.  I think I probably should have used more syrup and let the cakes soak even longer.  There were some dense spots in the cake that looked gummy, so I was concerned that the cake was underbaked, but I think this may actually have been uneven saturation from the syrup.

Ratings:

Overall - 5

Crumb - 3 / too dense and too dry for my liking, despite the syrup

Flavor - 7 / great lemon flavor, enhanced by both syrup and the lemon zest in the batter

Appearance - 4 / the loaves brown nicely on the sides; the cut surface had an uneven density

Ease of baking - 8 / requires minimal ingredients; the only extra steps are zesting and juicing the lemon   

Details:

Bakeware - 5 3/4" x 3 1/2" x 2 1/7" mini loaf pans (x3)

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Bake time - 35 minutes

Notes - cakes were brushed with syrup and cooled, then wrapped airtight and allowed to sit for 24 hours before serving.

one more from the archives / golden almond cake

Okay, one more cake I've already done before commencing with the project proper.  This two tier cake was done for a Thanksgiving party and made a day in advance.  It's the golden almond cake (page 37), with raspberry neoclassic buttercream (page 230) done by adding raspberry sauce (page 337) to the plain buttercream recipe.

I *LOVE* almond, and this cake is an almond powerhouse, which is why it's a 10 for me (in addition to being seriously the easiest cake ever to bake).  The great flavoring comes from a combination of substituting some finely ground almonds for a portion of the flour, and almond extract.  The texture is moist and light, and it tastes great on its own or frosted.  Because I wanted to make this a presentation cake, I baked two batches of batter.  Each recipe will easily make a 6" and a 9" round of about 1"-1.5" thickness.

To dirty ice and fill the cakes, I chose raspberry buttercream, as suggested in the book, since raspberry complements almond well.  The neoclassic buttercream always tastes too buttery and not sweet enough to me when it's made as instructed, so I generally will add powdered sugar to taste.  The raspberry sauce calls for unsweetened frozen raspberries, since the sugar in the sweetened variety will make it more difficult to reduce the liquid (because the sugar caramelizes). Unfortunately, I couldn't find unsweetened frozen raspberries in a pinch, so I used the sweetened kind anyway.  The strained liquid was more difficult to reduce, but it still works.  I was happy with the amount of raspberry flavoring generated from the one bag of raspberries, and the buttercream had an appealing pink color.  I also added some fresh halved raspberries to the filling for added fruit flavor.

 

Once dirty iced, both tiers were covered with marshmallow fondant and stacked.  The cake was embellished with chocolate pinecones and white chocolate fossil leaves.
 

Ratings:

Overall - 10

Crumb - 9 / super moist and light, keeps well

Flavor - 10 / if you like almond, you will love this cake

Appearance - 8 / a great light color, it bakes evenly and browns well

Ease of baking - 9 / besides grinding up the almonds, this cake can't get easier    

 

Details:

Bakeware - 6" round (x2), 9" round (x2)

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Notes - spongy, easy to level, not too crumbly.  Keeps well.

 

it begins / sour cream coffee cake

So, I have already been baking out of The Cake Bible (as well as Rose's Heavenly Cakes) for a couple of months now, but I haven't been totally diligent about documenting, so we'll start over for the most part.  I'll begin with the sour cream coffee cake (page 90).

This is an egg yolk-only recipe, and uses sour cream as the liquid base.  Generally, I have been a big fan of Rose's sour cream recipes, as it gives the cakes a nice, moist, silky texture.  The cake is simple to prepare, but does require a food processor or mini-prep to make the streusel topping and filling.  My feelings toward coffee cake had been rather lukewarm, but this recipe is definitely a hit.  The crumb is soft and not too dense, the sweetness is just right, and the streusel provides a great crunch.

Ratings:
Overall - 8
Crumb - 8 / moist and light
Flavor - 8 / not too sweet
Appearance - 7 / edges came out a little lumpy and it could have used more streusel topping
Ease of baking - 6 / the streusel takes some extra prep time, but the cake itself couldn't be easier

 

Details:

Bakeware - 9"x2" black/glass springform pan

Oven temperature - 325 degrees

Bake time - 75 minutes

Cool time - 10 minutes in pan on rack

Notes - Cake pan covered with foil at 45 minutes to prevent overbrowning.  For future reference, I would make more streusel topping, in order to cover the whole top and avoid the lumpy edges.  Also, I might try adding apple slices as suggested in the book.