True Orange Genoise

True Orange Genois is one of those cakes easily listed on a classy restaurant menu. Composed of a traditional genoise cake layered with orange curd and topped with dark chocolate ganache,Rose gave it the slightest twist using Seville oranges. It was spectacular inspiration.

Born and raised in California, oranges were plentiful. My mother's family raised navel oranges, grapes and tomatoes in the central valley. Whenever an impending frost or freeze was forecast, smudge pots were lit, sprinklers pressed into service or giant airplane propellers mounted on poles switched on in hopes of saving the precious oranges from frost bite.

Sevilles, I thought, grew in Spain and were made into Marmalade for toast in England. Imagine my surprise to learn I'd been living amongst them since the age of seven. It seems about a hundred plus years ago, the streets in the state capitol were lined with Seville orange trees. Try as I might, I could not find any local history as to how or why this happened, but there they are, in local pictorial archives of graceful Victorian homes. Sadly, many of the Victorians are gone, replaced with hideous office and apartment buildings. But the Sevilles remain, as they are technically on city property; sidewalk legality and all.

I once asked why no one picked the abundant oranges; "too bitter." Figuring they were a sort of ornamental orange tree, I never gave them another thought, until this recipe. None of the local grocery stores carried them.

I knew they were on the grounds of the state capitol but didn't relish getting arrested picking them. The capitol is surrounded by a 40-acre park in the middle of downtown that sports trees, plants and flowers from around the world. They generally frown on picking so much as a blade of grass. It is legal, however, to gather any fruit that has fallen. Don't think the thought didn't cross my mind of sitting in a lotus position underneath a Seville waiting for a few to fall in my lap. A friend said I should drive the city streets, shimmy up a few trees and pick all I wanted. She even mapped out which streets had the best trees.

Too old for such shananigans, a local fruit warehouse ordered them, after my favorite Italian market gave me their supplier. They make their own marmalade. Curiosity got the better of me and I bought a jar. It's very dark, not the bright orange which typically are found on store shelves. And yes, I paid a ridiculous price all in the name of research.

"Every year in January, when the Seville oranges in Sacramento start to ripen, Corti Brothers produces its own Seville orange marmalade. Produced according to Mrs. Beeton's 1866 recipe using only fruit, sugar and water, its name is a pun. CAPITAL, since Sacramento is California's capital and in British English, TOP QUALITY or FIRST RATE. VINTAGE, since it is aged for a minimum of a year before sale. Corti Brothers Capital Vintage Marmalade was first produced in 1980, and sold in 1981. The production for sale now is that of 2005. We also have a small quantity of a "reserve" production, that of 1997, which we are selling for the first time. This is a lot that "got lost" and was just discovered. So much for inventory control!"

I love this store: http://www.cortibros.biz/

This was my first attempt at making a genoise. I once heard it's the cake which tests the skills of a baker as the simple ingredients don't allow much forgiveness. Mine never quite reached two inches.

Making the orange curd was far easier this time around after making lemon curd for Woody's Luxury Lemon Cake. Quite exciting the moment it started to "pool"! Spurred on by forty pounds of Sevilles, I made more than a few batches along with, naval orange and Nigella Lawson's orange/lime substitution for Seville juice. All were equally nice. The Seville orange syrup was simple to make and gave the genoise a lovely additional flavor.

I made this cake twice. The first go around my littlest granddaughter insisted "everything is better with sprinkles" and generously showered the No Longer True Orange Genoise liberally. The second cake was drizzled with unadorned ganache.

The greatest difficulty I encountered was keeping the orange curd from disappearing. Both cakes were well received but the orange curd stole the show, making its way onto just about everything.

I have become very fond of Seville oranges, so much so, I'm on a campaign to give our city's their long overdue recognition with an annual festival, bringing in chefs, bakers and bartenders to showcase creations featuring Sevilles. While Nicole visited giant pineapples in Australia, probably every kid growing up in California during the fifties and Sixties visited a giant orange road side stand for fresh squeezed juice. It's high time they were brought back and a Seville parade down Capitol Mall is just the place to start. See what a little Triple Sec can do! I'll be the lady with oranges atop her head doing the merengue.

I know, doesn't it just make ya wanna cry? Sevilles litter the streets.

Souffle Class

Today I attended my first baking class, Souffles. It was fantastic for several reasons. First, the charming instructor was funny, engaging and easily imparted her expertise without baffling the collection of attendees. Secondly, the samples were out of this world. Third, I had no idea such an accomplished chocolatier lived right in my home town.

Sad to say, I've been going to her quaint shop for nearly a year to buy macarons. It wasn't until today during the chocolate tasting portion of the class that I had one of her exquisite, and I emphasize EXQUISITE, chocolates.

She explained the symbiotic relationship between the melting point of chocolate and lucky for us, it just happens to be in the range of 98 degrees. Perfect chocolate hits the palate and absolutely swoons as it melts. I was in heaven!

Souffles seem to strike terror in the hearts of home cooks. She de-mystified souffle's fickleness, which it seems, is directly related to the consistency of oven temperature.

"Don't be afraid of souffles. Knock the air bubbles out of them!"

http://www.gingerelizabeth.com/

Here's the link if you would like to have a look at her impressive profile. She was recently praised by David Lebovitz and I suspect, with such an irrepressible personality, won't go "undiscovered" much longer amongst chocolate fanatics.

Now if I could just ignore the Palet D’Or Entremet Cake calling my name........

Individual Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is an easy standby dessert for just about any occasion. It's dependable, reliable and virtually guaranteed not to fail. No big surprises with this cake
that's been around forever.

Leave it to Rose to up the ante with her newest version of Individual Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes. These gems shine in a class all their own. Innocent looking little things packed with sun shine, perfect for January's cold, dreary weather.

Without fail, every single year my brother requested Pineapple Upside Down Cake or German Chocolate Cake on his birthday. I detested them both. Probably the only cakes in existence which I did not like. Even more sacrilegous is it was made from the 100 year old family Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe.

Needless to say, I wasn't too terribly excited about this week's HCB choice. Okay, I admit, I might have needed the tiniest bit of an attitude adjustment, especially after reading the directions included making dreaded sugar syrup and the even more dreaded caramel, which tend to turn themselves into new atomic crystal formations under my spoon wielding hand.

Slicing the pineapple was a bit tedious and it wasn't quite as sweet as they normally are. Is it pineapple season? I don't know anything about pineapple season other than Jen from Hawaii, who is our physical therapist turned masseuse, has her mother air freight pineapples over because, she claims, they in no way resemble those in a supermarket. I thought a lot about Jen from Hawaii whilst slicing this subpar pineapple and pulling out those thorny little things, curiousity growing by the minute as to what a "real" pineapple tasted like in comparison. I started resenting my Dole Gold, wondering if it was up to task.

Despite my blunder in adding 1/2 cup sugar instead of 1/3 with the butter and lime juice for the top/bottom/no really the top, I am happy to report it caused no major catastrophe. This is the first time I've baked with Raw Sugar turbinado. The crystals are huge.

FYI-I have seven, that's SEVEN, kinds of sugar in my cupboard now.

Oddly enough the most difficult ingredient to find was a can of pitted sweet cherries. Canned cherry pie filling was on every store's shelf as was sour cherries. I must say, I get into the most interesting conversations while out searching for ingredients or pans for Rose's cakes. It surprises me A) how many people do not know about her new book B) how many people go absolutely over the moon excited about all of us scattered around the globe baking together.

Mixing the batter was easy enough and this is the first cake I've made which uses yogurt. I opted to use ramekins I received as a Christmas present three or four years ago.

While they baked, I made the pineapple caramel sauce, holding my breath it would not crystalize before my eyes. I was left with one cup exactly of pineapple juice after pureeing and straining the remaining pineapple bits. If it seized, I was out of luck.

Stirring a pot of sugar affords one a great deal of reflective time, or time to pull one's hair out, and then I heard the sweetest sound of a dove cooing. I couldn't believe the angelic aria lilting softly through the overhead stove vent. It was such an unexpected gift while watching for signs the bubbling brew had turned an appropriate shade of amber. I was horrified the instant read surpassed 140 degrees. Since I overlooked heating the remaining pineapple juice, it did not bubble up furiously when added to the sugar mixture. Luckily, it still turned into a delightful pineapple caramel sauce.

I heated orange marmalade and strained it for the glaze because I was not about to go back to the store for apricot preserves. Putting the little cakes together, I honestly didn't expect much.

It's always such a momentous occasion around here when a new HCB recipe is ready for tasting. I could barely hold them off for one lone picture, which surprised me, as no one in my house is particularly crazy about pineapple upside cake. Each taste tester proclaimed it was without a doubt the best pineapple upside down cake they ever had.

And I absolutely agreed, with or without just picked pineapples flown in from Hawaii. But I will make Jen from Hawaii an offer of she won't be able to refuse when her next crate of pineapples jet in.

Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake

Rose, the Queen of Cakes, has rescued the light and airy angel food cake, bringing it forth into a new century. Angel Food Cake used to reign supreme; luncheons, bridge parties, summer evenings. Somewhere along the line her popularity came to an end. Not even packaged boxed varieties make it into many shopping carts these days. So sad. It is among one of my earliest childhood memories; sitting on the kitchen counter watching my mother magically whip up an angel food cake.

Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake is about to change all that. If you are among the few who have made angel food cake, be prepared to be surprised, this is a change from the typically tasteless variety. For those of you who have never made an angel food cake, of which I was one, Rose's recipe is simple to follow.

The main thing to know is unlike other cakes, an angel food cake requires the pan to be ungreased, un-parchmant papered, un-anything. It needs the surface free which allows the batter to adhere to the pan, guaranteeing height.

Rose gives fair warning that a bottle with a long neck must be made ready for the moment the cake comes out of the oven. It must be secured upside down to cool.

Here's the thing about a cake balanced precariously on a bottle for an hour and half.......little fingers can't resist twirling it around hoping for a crumb or two to accidently fall off. And here's the thing about finally turning this cake right side up and having to let it set for another hour....little fingers absolutely suffer having to resist pulling off a wee bit of crumb or two. Add to all this misery a huge bowl of whipped cream and the suffering in my house has never known such bounds.

There was nothing difficult about putting this cake together, other than going through two dozen eggs hoping for the requisite 18 whites to separate unscathed.

I didn't frost the sides with the whipped cream, opting for a more rustic look. My taste testers' verdicts split down the middle. Everyone agreed the cake was delicious, especially since this is the first homemade angel food they've had. The light, airy texture is such a contrast to a ready made bought for summer strawberries.

The difference was in the chocolate preference. My only conclusion is some are more sensitive to the bitterness of unsweetened chocolate. Next time I will use 85%-90%. I am definitely going to try the vanilla bean version with maybe butterscotch or cinnamon chips "pelted" on top. Really, this recipe alleviated any trepidation I had about making angel food cake.

Seville Oranges

If anyone does not have access to Seville oranges for the True Orange Genoise , I am happy to report the following web site does-

www.ripetoyou.com

I also happen to have a few extras out of a forty pound box from the local fruit exchange.
Should any of you like some, email your address and I'll send some to you. They are touchy things and ripening quickly.

vbagatti@hotmail.com

Torta de las Tres Leches with a bit of Spice

Experimenting with leftover Torta de las Tres Leches, I sprinkled cardamom on cut slices.
If you are a fan of cardamom, it takes this cake to an entirely new level, very reminiscent of the Indian rice pudding Kheer. This spice complements the cooked milk flavor well which is not surprising as several Indian desserts use cooked milk producing the most exquisite sweets.

Torta de las Tres Leches meets Los Tres Caballeros

Patience is the main ingredient in making Torta de las Tres Leches. It is a cake which requires loads of stirring; eggs, sugar and vanilla over simmering water, milk and sugar over direct heat and gentle stirring/folding of flour into the batter. Otherwise it was fairly simple and straight forward.

After reading Heavenly Cake Baker reviews of the strong eggy flavor, I upped the vanilla to a full teaspoon. I was really itching to pop in a bit of Muscavado sugar as well but refrained.

The cake started to form a crack and did not dome; neither did it sink. Trimming the top, I saved the cake and one fourth cup of milk mixture, deciding to see how it faired punched up with amaretto. Remembering the little recipe booklet that came with the Christmas bottle, I found a tasty sounding drink called Disarrono Latte consisting of amaretto, coffee liquer and half n half. Having all these on hand from Rose's previous cakes, in they went producing a mini triffle with a pinch of muscavado. I couldn't resist.

I topped the main cake with sweetened whipped cream but spiked a little with bourban for the trifle. I then blindly taste tested the two on unsuspecting family. The boozy torta won hands down. This cake takes well to alcohol, developing a macho personna that screams "Badges, we don't need no stinkin' badges"!