Daring Bakers January- Tuiles

Monday, February 02, 2009

I had a lot of fun this month with the challenge. And I was extremely happy to have learned over the recipe... it started off badly and by the end I had perfected it. Plus I had a great time making a dessert to showcase the challenge-- the best cake I've ever made!
I've listed all recipes here.

I decided to celebrate a work milestone with this dessert... we are (probably) going to be working on redeveloping the website for Kew Gardens which will be an incredible project to be involved with! So the dessert is a chocolate soil cake, with green cocoanut grass, tule trees and mint leaves!

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.





Tuiles

• 65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
• 60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
• 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
• 65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
• 1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
• Butter/spray to grease baking sheet
  

Oven: 180C / 350F
Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored.
Bake in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time.

Notes:
Parchment paper did not (!!) work for me. The first three sheets were ruined because of it, but I quickly learned and started using butter instead directly on the baking sheets. The next challenge was to shape them (I was only doing three shapes per baking sheet, but even that was too many to shape before they hardened!). By the end I was making them like an expert... rushing them out of the oven, using a spatula to take one off (very easily removed once sheet was buttered), chuck the sheet with the remaining two back into the oven, quickly shape around a chopstick... and repeat. Exhausted... but I am so pleased this was successful! And the taste is fantastic-- the thinner the better.

Cake filling/frosting:

• 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 2.5 Tb sugar
• 1.5 T cocoa
  add all together and chill in fridge w/ beaters for 1 hour. Beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.

Chocolate Blackout Cake: (from http://dozenflours.com/)

• 1 1/2 cups (6.4 oz/181 g) all-purpose flour such as Droste
• 1 cup (2.9 oz/85 g) non-alkalized cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (14 oz/400 g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick/4 oz/113 g) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (240 ml) hot brewed coffee

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the granulated sugar and, using the paddle attachment, mix at low speed until blended.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract. While mixing the dry ingredients at low speed, add the egg mixture in a steady steam.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then beat at medium speed for 1 minute, until well blended. Add the hot coffee at low speed, mixing just until blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir the batter from the bottom of the bowl a few times to thoroughly blend the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly. Smooth the batter in each pan and bake the cakes for 30 to 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans set on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Invert the cakes onto the rack and cool completely.


Marshmallow Frosing: used to cover cake (from http://dozenflours.com/)

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 large marshmallows or 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/4 cup whole milk or whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl.
Set aside. Place the marshmallows, butter, and milk/cream in a medium-size heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the confectioners' sugar and cocoa mixture over the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla and stir until the frosting is smooth and satiny.

Daring Bakers November: Caramel Cake

Sunday, December 07, 2008

My first Daring Bakers challenge! Caramel Cake. I felt such pressure and I did pretty well considering it was my first and I'm not much of a confident baker. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and LOVED the tasty result!

I had a heck of time getting the caramel syrup to work! Something is tricky in caramelizing sugar and I finally got it on the third go, but also wasn't sure what "caramel syrup" should be like... I assumed it was supposed to be thicker than what I finally settled for but it worked out fine. Then I had a disaster with the cake pan... I bought a new cake pan for this recipe and opted for one with a removeable bottom (like a cheesecake pan, but different) so I can easily remove it and present it beautifully. But somehow, the cake leaked out through the bottom and into the oven!! I realized this when I had lost half of the cake, so quickly put a pan under the cake and was able to keep the remaining half of the cake. But it resulted in a mini cake. I cut the 9" square into four 3" squares and piled them up for a 4 layer cake!

Beautiful taste and I was proud of the result, although I have a lot to learn about decorting a cake!

---
The recipe for Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting is courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon (http://eggbeater.typepad.com/), as published on Bay Area Bites (http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/).

CARAMEL SYRUP
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.
Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}
Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

Take 1 (hardened clumps!):

Take 2 (liquid with clumps):

Take 3 (success!):

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste
Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.
Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.
Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature1
1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperaturesplash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature
to do:
Preheat oven to 350F Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy. Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform. Sift flour and baking powder. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.} Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan. Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

The cake on the bottom of the oven:

Plum Cake

Sunday, September 16, 2007

we had lots of plums from simon's nana so i made plum cake (who's heard of that before?!) today (adapted from bbc recipe)

ingredients

• 150 g butter softened
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 75 g plain flour
• 1.5 t baking powder
• 75 g minced almonds
• 75 g chopped pecans
• 30-40 tiny plums or 15 normal sized plums; pitted and halved (or quarted if using big plums)
• powdered sugar for decorating top
• whip cream to serve

to do

1. heat oven 180 c / 355 f; line base of 20 cm deep (6 cm) cake tin (i used round) with baking paper
2. beat butter and sugar with mixer
3. break eggs and beat with fork then add slower to butter/sugar and continue using mixer
4. mix flour and baking powder and then fold into the butter/sugar/egg mix slowly
5. fold in nuts
6. spread into pan and add plums (you can be clumsy if you want) on top
7. cook for 45 min (until tooth pick comes out of center clean)
8. flip upside down onto plate, add powdered sugar
9. serve with whip cream on top or side