Tricks for Treats

Getting the right look & consistency in a cake can be tricky business. It really can be trial & error even when you have a recipe. Different things can affect the outcome of your baked goods. For example, I had to adjust a lot of my recipes when I moved because I moved from a home with a traditional oven to a home with a convection oven. All of my cooking times had to be adjusted and I had to work with the recipes to regain the qualities I had achieved before that made them my favorite recipes to begin with.


Sometimes my friends & neighbors will ask me for little tips and tricks. I’ve decided that every once in a while I’ll share some here. I have 4 of them for you today:

1. When separating eggs it is best if they are cold, but when beating egg whites it is best if they are at room temperature. (Tricky little suckers)

2. If you need to soften a stick of butter faster just cut it up and let it sit for 10 minutes.

3. If you are filling and frosting a cake, be sure to chill the cake after you fill it. It will make the frosting process go a lot easier.

4. Frosting a cake is best done when you make it a two step process. First use a thin layer of frosting to seal the crumbs. Refrigerate it before doing the final (thicker) frosting layer that will create the final look of your cake. (This is a tip for all of you that can’t seem to stop little crumbs from ending up on the outside of the frosting and messing up that nice clean look you were going for).

I hope this helps somebody out there!



-L

Tools of the Trade-ish

So I was doing a morning web crawl when I came upon something that I consider Fan-freakin-tastic. I was on one of my favorite sites, Modcloth, when I came across these babies:

Woodland Critter Whisks in Birdie

Woodland Critter Whisks in Bunny

Woodland Critter Whisks in Squirrel

How cute are they!?! I know what you're thinking: "Holy baked goods, chica! Those are not practical at all!". And for your average recreational baker I would say "You are absolutely right." But there is something you need to know about me, there are 2 things (okay, 3 if you count puppies/dogs) that push me over the edge in a giggling school girl sort of way: baking & cute accessories. What I found on Modcloth are cute accessories FOR baking. It's like baking porn.

Now all there is to do is decide if I should pick my favorite or get all three styles. All 3 may be pushing it... that could be construed as sublimating my army wife loneliness (see my other blog for more on this) with unnecessary purchases. Hmmmmm, what's a girl to do? I'll keep you posted on any developments :)

-L

Decadent Dessert Wednesday: Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake

This dessert is my favorite standby. When I am trying to make a dessert to wow the masses at a dinner party but am short on time and/or want to exert minimal effort this is the first dessert that comes to mind.

I jotted down this recipe while in the library browsing through the cookbook titled  All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House, A Memoir by Roland Mesnier & Christian Malard. While looking through the ingredients I realized that I normally carried all of these ingredients in my pantry except for the orange, which was easy enough to purchase and/or omit. So here it is:

Orange Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (170 g) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
flour, for dusting
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet chocolate
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (220 g) sugar
zest of one large orange
4 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
1/2 cup (55 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
candied orange peel and vanilla ice cream, to serve, optional

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Butter and flour a 10-inch (25-cm) round cake pan (I prefer to use a springform pan). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, then butter and flour the parchment paper.

• Gently melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Stir the butter into the chocolate to melt, and stir until smooth.
• Remove from the double boiler and whisk the sugar and orange zest into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk well.

• Sift the cocoa powder over the chocolate mixture and whisk the batter until totally smooth.
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top has formed a good crust.
• Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving platter. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with candied orange peel and vanilla ice cream.

Viola!

I know, I know. My presentation could be a little better. It normally is, but it was calling my name while it was still warm and oh-so gooey, so I slapped it on a plate and snapped a quick pic. In the past, when I have made this for dinner parties, I have made them in individual ramekins and turned them out individually onto plates and dusted them with powdered sugar. I find that this presentation is more visually appealing when I present them to friends.

When I've served this my guests assume that it takes hours to prepare. Even when I try to convince them of how easy-peasy it is, they often don't belive me..... they think I'm being modest, it's funny really. It is so rich and smooth and the flavor that the orange zest adds is a pleasant surprise when all you are expecting is a chocolate flavor.

So, give it a whirl. Try different variations and have fun with it!

-L

Ingredient Of The Week: Cilantro

Cilantro. The mere thought of it sends my tastebuds into a frenzy. As a child I wasn't quite sure what it was that made my mothers savory dishes so delicious. I knew it had to be something but I just couldn't figure it out. Her meat sauce didn't taste the same as the recipe my friends parents were making. Her roasts always had this perfectly balanced essence that made it better than anything I could order in a restaurant. But it wasn't until I was older and began to cook along side her that it all became clear.

This, my dear reader, is cilantro. As a Puerto Rican woman, my mother uses this in almost every savory dish she ever concocted. A guest in our home may not have known, but they definitely would have recognized a unique flavor. My mother is a firm believer in almost every savory dish being the perfect opportunity to pull out the container of homemade sofrito. Now, living in New Hampshire at the time, we may not have been able to get the exact ingredients as it would have been made on the island (unless they were shipped to us by either of my abuelas) but it was as close as you could get in a small Northwest town. This flavor profile would shape my view of the way a meal should be seasoned.

I love cilantro to a degree that some may find odd. I like it so much I put it in most things just as my mother does and my abuelas do. You would be surprised how adding a couple of spoons full of sofrito while browning meat for a simple spaghetti & meat sauce dinner can change the depth of the flavors.

But enough about my handy "season-all" sauce. There are so many great dishes out there that use cilantro as either the main herb or at least a supporting role. As with most herbs, you can ususally find fresh cilantro any time of year, making it a good choice for a quick flavor booster to a simple meal.

Here are a few dishes that incorporate cilantro with links to the recipes:

Tomato Cilantro Soup

Skirt Steak With Cilantro Garlic Sauce

Chilaquiles Verdes - a personal note on chilaquiles: The first time I had Chilaquiles was in my mid 20's. I was in a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas and it just sounded interesting to me. Which is odd because it didn't seem to have anything to it. I had it with two overeasy eggs on top for brunch that day and I was officially hooked. I don't know what it is with this dish, but it is something that, surprisingly, I find myself craving occasionally.

Cucumber Raita

Rib-Eye & Roasted Tomato Sandwich : This recipe is just awesome. No better way to say it. It's not for those looking for a light meal, but I have been known to split one with the hubby and have my half with a salad for something lighter but still ridiculously indulgent.

Scallops with Cilantro Sauce & Asian Slaw - I love that my favorite herb is versatile enough to be used in Asian meals as well. Yummy!

While these are just a small sampling of dishes I recommend be sure that there are endless possibilities. Latin American cuisine, Asian dishes, Indian meals, and even spicing up your standard American cuisine, cilantro can add spunk to many savory meals.

Enjoy!

-L

Spreading The Love

Well Hi! Here is my new cooking blog.

As some of you may know I have another blog about life, motherhood, decorating, etc. However, cooking is such a huge part of my life I've decided it deserves it's own blog.

If you'd like to know a little more about me or my life you can head on over to my other blog His HH6.

But go ahead and stay tuned here for any kitchen creations, experiments and mishaps!

-L