Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Red Fruit Shortcake

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At last, a genoise that rose to the requisite height and was completely flour ball free.   It's got to be the Wondra flour.  I have better luck with it so might as well face the fact any genoise I try to make will have to be made with Wondra. I wasn't looking forward to making this Red Fruit Shortcake and nearly cried when I realized I overlooked the fact that I had yet to make it.  It does give me courage to face the Gold Passion Genoise left on my bake list. 


I sliced it in half, brushed on the Chambourd syrup, loaded it with berries and then put the top back on.  More syrup brushing just because it was so pretty, a bit of squiggly whipping cream and a final bit of berries.  Very light and scrumptious dessert.


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Monday, June 20, 2011

Bostini

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Finally!  The infamous Bostini.  I have been reminded many times over that I have not made the Bostinis.   Today was the day and it took all day.  It really shouldn't have.  These aren't difficult.  I made the custard first so it would be cooled and ready once the cupcakes were baked. There was leftover chocolate lacquer glaze in the freezer from La Bomba so I pulled that out to thaw.  My silicone cupcake holders must be a smaller size because they certainly did not fill the top of the larger glasses but fit perfectly in the smaller size.
I thought the granddaughters would find it cute having their own tea party size Bostinis but I was wrong.  Rose's custard has become legend in this house and the idea of getting shortchanged was more than they could fathom.  Let's just say the Bostini Happy Dance was most entertaining.  The adults have given it double thumbs up as well.  The chocolate lacquer goes great with the cake and custard.  And littlest Baby Granddaughter, the one who went crazy over the orange cake months ago?  She's been through two mini cupcakes and would go for a third.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Ginger Cheesecake

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Rose's Ginger Cheesecake is a refreshing variation on the usual plain flavored cheesecake.  The most "difficult" thing about it was grating the ginger and squeezing the juice.  It didn't seem possible that a piece of
ginger could produce enough juice but it did.  It's potent stuff.  The only time I've grated ginger is for homemade chai, but all of it is thrown in the brewing tea.  Next time I think I'll use this trick.

I love gingersnap crust so increased the recipe by half  to up the ratio of crust to cheesecake.  And then added a few blueberries.  When I make this again, I'll try another fruit and make a sauce, maybe mango.  It's been a big hit, especially since hot weather has arrived full force.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Rose's Pinkalicous Red Velvet Cake

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Rose's Red Velvet Cake should be on the Quick and Easy List, but since I opted for making it with beets instead of red food coloring, it changed the game a bit and I was not looking forward to baking it.  Still, this was an easy cake to put together considering the lack of cooperation from the beets.  After baking, Rose says to pour out the beet juice as a substitute for the red food coloring.  Two tablespoons are required and my four beets produced approximately an eighth of a teaspoon.  Well, that just wouldn't do!  I've learned nothing if I haven't learned anything about pureeing and smashing fruit/vegetables through a fine meshed sieve which is exactly what I did.

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I had no idea if the calculations for beet puree vs beet juice would ruin the cake crumb, making for a dense texture.  Luckily and surprisingly, it didn't.  What it did do was make the batter a gorgeous glorious color of magenta   You can imagine the excitement this brought in a house full of little girls!  They ate them plain and with frosting.  Rose's Dreamy Creamy Frosting is amazing.  Lindt white chocolate has coconut in it and it gave the cupcakes a little something extra.  The recipe made for one dozen cupcakes and a small tea party size cake.  Now that I don't fear beets, this will definitely go on The Make Again List.  It's a big hit among the under ten and over ten crowd.
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Monday, June 13, 2011

Chocolate Financiers

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This is the last of Rose's financiers that I had yet to bake.  The caramelized cocoa nibs deterred me.  I kept stalling because having to drive downtown to find them was not appealing.  Somewhere along the line I lost the thrill of the hunt for unusual ingredients.  I feel like one of those marathon runners who's legs have gone all wobbly as they're trying to cross the finish line.  I've calculated and re calculated to see how many cakes are left to bake and I think five.  I forgot about the Bostini's  Of course they would not be five on the quick and easy list.  I've already exhausted The Q&E List!

These little financiers should have been quick and easy but my scatter brain turned them into quite a fiasco.  I didn't add the ingredients in the correct order.  Instead of cocoa nibs I pulled out the jar of dried Italian espresso we used for another one or two of Rose's cakes and threw a bit in.  And then discovered I didn't add the flour at all.  So that was quickly added right as the dough was being poured into the pans.

So proud of my weighing skills, I followed Rose's one ounce recommendation to the dot.  They burned.

Evidently my little pans are bigger than a true financier mold which I have yet to find in this town. Financier success seems to be all about the ratio of dough to pan.

They also were incredibly light in color.   It seems I forgot to add the chocolate as well.  Into the chilling baggy of dough went the cocoa powder and was squished around to incorporate it.  There was just enough dough to fill three pans with two ounces each.  Much better.

These little gems are not too sweet and the espresso powder gave them both a lovely flavor, burned and all. The family nibbled them up quite quickly. They are definitely on the Make Again List.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Favorite Buttermilk Cake

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This Buttermilk Cake from Flo Braker is excellent.  Simple and easy, it takes just a few minutes to make a basic cake that is packed with flavor.  It is a perfect summer cake, covered in berries or any fruit of the upcoming months.  This will definitely go in my make again file.  Thanks to Hanaa and ABC bake along.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Zach's La Bomba

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Zach's La Bomba is a chocolate extravaganza.  At first glance the flourless chocolate cake base layer didn't look very appealing.  Since I don't generally have much luck depending on eggs solely for leavening, I was more than mildly surprised to discover the delicate cake was packed with flavor.  My daughter pointed out it would be perfectly acceptable to stop right there but I forged on.  I had my doubts about the custard but finally it snapped to attention, reached the required degree on the instant read and left the tell tale clue of falling in a little puddle. I really love when Rose says to watch for that sign in curds and custards.  Mixing together the berries, chocolate, custard and cream was the easy part.  Waiting eight hours to unmold it was the difficult part.  I was not looking forward to mixing up the chocolate lacquer.  I always think it is going to be more difficult than it is, maybe because it packs such a wow! factor when applied.  The only sticking point was La Bomba refusing to come out of the warmed glass bowl.  It took twenty minutes and many dips in hot water for it to finally release.  To complement the blackberry undertone, I made a blackberry sauce to spoon over it.
I don't know what I was expecting but this La Bomba deceptive.  It's a light textured dessert very rich in flavor. The kids as well as adults like it.