Matcha-Hazelnut Sponge with Lemon Curd & Matcha Marzipan Flowers

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

A joconde imprime (French Baking term) is a decorative design baked into a light sponge cake providing an elegant finish to desserts/torts/entremets/ formed in ring molds. A joconde batter is used because it bakes into a moist, flexible cake. The cake batter can be tinted or marbleized for a further decorative effect.

Entremets (another French baking term) is an ornate dessert with many different layers of cake and pastry creams in a mold, usually served cold, much like a trifle but molded to be free-standing versus layered in a glass bowl.

All seems intimidating, but if you work through the layers in stages, it's really not that big of deal. I sketched out a plan in advance. The idea for mine started with wanting to use up some "leftovers" in my "pastry" fridge. Believe it or not I had on hand fresh lemon curd (recently made to use up 8 extra yolks), homemade marzipan (a gift I was working on for my dad), matcha tea (from my good friends at Arbor Teas), hazelnut meal (a bag that seems perpetually full no matter how much has been scooped from it), and crystalized lilacs (maybe only a dozen left from the original batch of 200).

I wasn't sure if the flavors of the dessert I was crafting in my head would meld well, but I was excited for the vibrant colors--a bolt of the tropics smack in the middle of a snowy and frigid winter. Since this dessert needed to travel to a weekend brunch, I took the safe route and layered them in juice glasses like a trifle. A true entremet with joconde is free-standing. Nonetheless, now having tasted the finished dessert, I can say yes, green tea, lemon, hazelnut, almond, butter and sugar all seem to work nicely together to put a warm smile in your belly.

Joconde Sponge

This Joconde/spongecake requires attentive baking so that it remains flexible to easily conform to the molds. If under baked it will stick to the baking mat. It over baked it will dry out and crack. Once cooled, the sponge may be cut into strips to line any shape ring mold.

YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” jelly roll pan

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites (90g)

2½ teaspoons (10g) white granulated sugar

¾ cup (85g) almond flour/or hazelnut meal - *omit the butter if using hazelnut
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (75g) confectioners' sugar
¼ cup (25g) cake flour
3 large eggs (150g)
2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.

Sift almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, cake flour into the just emptied mixing bowl, no need to wash out egg whites.) On medium speed with the paddle attachment, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light.

Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix. Fold in melted butter, if using.

Reserve batter to be used later.

Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste

YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” jelly roll pan

Ingredients:
14 tablespoons (200g) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups plus 1½ tablespoons (200g) Confectioners' sugar
7 large egg whites (200g)
1¾ cup (220g) cake flour

Food coloring gel, paste or liquid (optional)

COCOA or MATCHA Décor Paste Variation: Reduce cake flour to (170g). Add (60 g) cocoa powder or Matcha green tea. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to creamed mixture.

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously until emulsified. Fold in sifted flour. Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa or matcha variation.

Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern:

Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 1/4 inch thick onto silicone baking mat with a spatula, or flat knife. Place mat on an upside down baking sheet. The upside down sheet makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan.

Pattern the décor paste – Here is where you can be creative. Make horizontal /vertical lines (you can use a knife, spatula, cake/pastry comb). Squiggles with your fingers, zig zags, wood grains. Be creative whatever you have at home to make a design can be used. OR use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one.

Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes.

Remove from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.

Bake at 475ºF until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 8-15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. This is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.

Cool briefly. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.

Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)

Preparing the Jaconde for Molding:

Trim the cake of any dark crispy edges. You should have a nice rectangle shape.

Decide how thick you want your “Joconde wrapper”. Traditionally, it is ½ the height of your mold. This is done so more layers of the plated dessert can be shown. However, you can make it the full height.

Once your height is measured, then you can cut the cake into equal strips, of height and length. (Use a very sharp paring knife and ruler.)

Make sure your strips are cut cleanly and ends are cut perfectly straight. Press the cake strips inside of the mold, decorative side facing out. Once wrapped inside the mold, overlap your ends slightly. You want your Joconde to fit very tightly pressed up to the sides of the mold. Then gently push and press the ends to meet together to make a seamless cake. The cake is very flexible so you can push it into place. You can use more than one piece to “wrap" your mold, if one cut piece is not long enough.

The mold is done, and ready to fill.

Entremet- Filling:

Lemon Curd

makes 1 full cup

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup plus 2 TBS sugar

3 fl oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 TBS, unsalted butter softened

pinch of salt

2 tsp finely shredded lemon zest

In a heavy, non-corrosive saucepan whisk the yolks and sugar until well blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients except the lemon zest. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon and reaches 170 F. Do not allow it to boil or it will curdle. Pour immediately through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on any remains with the back of a spoon to extract as much curd as possible. Stir in the lemon zest and cool. Pour into an airtight container and press a piece of plastic to the surface of the curd before sealing. The curd will continue to thicken when refrigerated.

Matcha Marzipan

1 tsp matcha powder

6 TBS marzipan

On a wooden surface, knead matcha into Marzipan until completely incorporated. Roll out to desired thickness to cut shapes or sculpt into character. Keep tightly wrapped in plastic until ready to use, to prevent drying out.

Amy Atlas Wannabe

Last week my friend Jo got married. The wedding venue was a spectacular farm, complete with gorgeous barns, rolling hills, and a peaceful lake. Jo hired a super talented florist and one of the best local caterers in town. Heather (Sweet Heather Anne) and I were lucky enough to be asked to do an Amy Atlas-esque dessert table for the reception. Jo was such a laid back bride and gave everyone a lot of creative freedom to work within her vision. Her theme was a series of playful vignettes, packed with the charm and vintage worthy of a photo spread in Once Wed. Here's a peek at her penny candy table. See what I mean? Adorable!

And this is how the dessert table turned out. To pull the look together, Heather and I used various cake stands, jadeite platters, metal canisters, and a lovely floral tablecloth from Jo's collection of vintage treasures.

Heather made the cakes, three total and each a different flavor; I made the pastries; and together, we made 8 dozen painted sugar cookies!

The cake design was inspired by Jo's wedding attire, a striking teal mermaid gown with ruching from bodice to floor and a peacock feather hair piece.

The cake flavors were a ginger sour cream cake layered with apricot-ginger jam and topped with a vanilla buttercream, a caramel cake with praline crunch buttercream, and a rich chocolate cake with mexican-spiced chocolate ganache.

In addition to cake and cookies, beautifully rustic apple and raspberry pies made by Helen and Blake of EAT catering also had prominence on the table.

The pastries included chocolate dulce de leche bars, mexican wedding cookies, and brown butter spoon cookies sandwiched with either my homemade raspberry or apricot jams.

A small detail of which I'm most proud for the display is the signage. I was stumped by how to prop up the labels and disenchanted with the numerous cheesy place card holders available for purchase.

Then DIY inspiration hit. When looking through Jo's vintage tableware collection, I saw these: rusty mattress springs with alligator clips welded to the tips meant to be used to display the table numbers.

I made a miniature version by twisting 18-gauge copper wire into the necessary shape. Then, to eliminate the shiny, new-penny look, soaked the wires in a "tarnishing" solution borrowed from a jewelry-making friend to give the perfect brown/black patina.

Making this table (every step from concept to execution) was so much fun! A perfect use of my interests and talents. It would be a dream to quit my day job and instead do this full time. Watch out Amy Atlas, one day I may just get the courage to take the leap...

Baked Alaska from the Soul of the Earth

Toasted marshmallow. Fresh peaches. Honey. A butter-rich cake that hints at caramel due to a heap of brown butter. These are the flavors of my first Baked Alaska. It's preparation wasn't the disaster (i.e., torching ice cream) I always assumed it would be. But maybe my kitchen confidence has improved a bit since the first time I heard what's involved in making a Baked Alaska.

Having no disastrous stories with which to regale you, let's move topics to the world news. Did you hear the price of wheat is rising? Bad news for the state of our global climate and for everyone not abstaining from gluten. But good impetus if, like me, you want to explore alternative grains in their whole form. After reading Good to the Grain cover to cover, I'm ready to nearly wholly commit back to this way of baking. Though, it's not purely from a health or economic perspective. Really, it's driven by wanting to learn new flavors and new textures. Spelt and buckwheat have been my mainstays when I wander past the bin of all-purpose. I'm ready to push the boundaries a little further.

So in that vein...

Today's new-to-me flour is brought to you by the whole grain: kamut [pronounced ka MOOT]. When ground to a fine powder to be used as flour, the amber-colored grain has a buttery flavor and lends a crumbly, sandy texture. This makes it well-suited for baked goods and an especially perfect complement to those rich in butter. Compared to standard wheat, kamut is higher in protein, lipids, selenium, zinc and magnesium, making it a high energy food source that is rich in antioxidants.

Kamut's ancestry can be traced as far back as the wild grains that grew in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia and are claimed to have traveled on Noah's ark. According to legend, 36 kernels of khorasan wheat found in an Egyptian tomb made their way into the capable hands of an organic farmer in Montana. He named the seeds "Kamut" after the ancient Egyptian name for wheat, a word that also meant "soul of the earth". The name was trademarked and an organization was founded to promote research and production worldwide. Still to this day, the organization has protected kamut from being altered by modern plant-breeding practices. Any wheat sold under the name Kamut is guaranteed to be produced organically, free of GMOs. To me, that fact alone is a beautiful reason to incorporate kamut into your baking repertoire.

The cake recipe I'm sharing here is a simple way to showcase its flavor. Using browned butter goes even further to intensify the richness. Read the recipe at least once through before starting to mix the ingredients. The order of additions is quite unique compared to standard pound cake recipes. Also, care should be taken to disturb the batter as little as possible when mixing.

To complete the dessert, I'm sharing my favorite method to make meringue. I learned the technique from Martha Stewart. Like the pound cake, it too is less conventional in preparation as the egg whites are heated over a pan of simmering water just long enough to coax the sugar to melt. Standard meringue recipes skip this step, and as a result, at least to my palate, have a metallic taste. This method produces something more akin to the texture of a marshmallow without the stiffness from added gelatin.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”. Though both are excellent resources, I didn't use either for the following recipes.

Honey-Peach Ice Cream
from ezrapoundcake.com
who adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Makes about 1 quart

2 pounds ripe peaches, peeled and pitted
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1/2-inch chunks, and combine with the honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches are soft, about 10 minutes. Puree the mixture using a blender, food processor or immersion blender. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together. While whisking, slowly pour in about one third of the milk-cream mixture – this will temper the eggs so they won’t curdle. Pour the custard back into the pan, whisking continuously. Cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. The custard should reach at least 170° F, but no more than 180° F.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and peach puree. Refrigerate the custard until chilled (preferably overnight).

When sufficiently chilled, scrape the custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker, and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. While the ice cream is churning, finely dice the remaining 2 peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to blend. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Brown Butter Kamut Pound Cake
adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert

16 TBS unsalted butter
3 TBS whole milk, at room temp
3 large eggs, at room temp
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour (sift before measuring)
1/3 cup plus 1 TBS whole-grain kamut flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Position a rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a 8 x 4-in loaf pan with parchment.

Place the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark toasty brown and the butter smells nutty. Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed but still soft, 15-30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla by whisking together.

Mix together and then sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a standing mixer. In tablespoon portions, scoop 13 TBS of brown butter into the mixing bowl as well. To this add half of the egg mixture. Beat on low speed just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for just 1 minute longer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add half of the remaining egg mixture. Beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl again and add the final remaining portion of the egg mixture. Beat for 20 seconds.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the surface before transferring to the oven. Bake about 55-65 minutes, until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If excess browning occurs, tent the pan loosely with foil, after the first 30 minutes into baking.

Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Use the parchment overhang to transfer right-side-up onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.

Meringue

4 egg whites
1 cups plus 2 TBS sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
salt

Just before serving, combine whites and sugar in a mixer bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm, about 3 minutes. Transfer bowl to a mixer, and add vanilla, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt. Whisk on medium-high speed until shiny, stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Assembly Instructions

Line a bowl with plastic wrap, so that plastic wrap covers all the sides and hangs over the edge. Fill to the top with ice cream. Cover the top with the overhanging plastic wrap and freeze for several hours, or until solid.

Level the top of the brown butter pound cake with a serrated knife. Cut out a circle of cake equal to the diameter of the rim of the bowl. Eat the scraps as a reward for your labor.

Make the meringue.

Unmold the ice cream and invert on top of a cake round. Trim any excess cake if necessary.

Pipe the meringue over the ice cream and cake, or smooth it over with a spatula, so that none of the ice cream or cake is exposed. Freeze for one hour or up to a day.

Toast the tips of the meringue with a culinary torch. Or, bake the meringue-topped Baked Alaska on a rimmed baking sheet under a broiler until lightly golden.

Serve immediately.

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Bombe

Confessions from my middle school lunch box: Little Debbie Swiss Rolls were my fav! And they tasted even better straight from the freezer. Oh how my leanings in consuming preservatives and packaged foods has changed nowadays. This doesn't completely rule out a place for Swiss rolls in my diet. It just means I'd make them myself now...from scratch...if I had a hankering.

Making this Swiss roll was the first time I've ever baked a rolled cake. Well, to be honest, this was my second time baking a rolled cake--the first attempt at this recipe was a crumbly, cracked mess. But the second time around, from those mistakes, I adapted a rolling technique that was much better (or one could argue was obsessive and constantly fidgety). Now I'm all set to put my skills to the test come yule log season or jelly roll craving.

To complete the bombe, two layers of ice cream separated by a layer of fudge lie beneath the cake. I wanted the ice creams to appear as swirled as the Swiss rolls, so I chose to mix in black currant curd to the vanilla-thyme layer and fudge ripple to the dark chocolate layer.

Homemade ice cream was a perfect way to use the 18 egg yolks I had leftover after taking their companion whites to make an exceptionally large batch of buttercream for my friends' wedding cake/cupcakes. Also, this was a great opportunity to try recipes from two of my newest cookbooks: Lola's Ice Creams & Sundaes and Perfect Scoop.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Bombe

Vanilla-Thyme Ice Cream Swirled with Black Currant Curd

from Lola's Ice Creams & Sundaes

1 vanilla pod

fresh thyme sprigs, tied in a bundle

750 ml whole milk

450 ml whipping cream

12 egg yolks

240 g sugar

Put the milk and cream in a large sauce pan. Halve the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Add both the pod and the seeds and the thyme to the milk and cream. Heat to just below boiling. Cover, take off heat and set aside to steep. After 20 minutes of steeping, remove the vanilla pod and thyme bundle, but do not discard. Re-warm the mixture to just below boiling again.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Add a third of the warm milk-cream to the egg-sugar mixture, whisking constantly. While continuously stirring, return this custard mix to the pan with the rest of the milk-cream. Slowly heat the custard stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 80° C. Maintain this temperature for 15 seconds. Do not allow the mix to boil or it will scramble.

Turn off the heat and continue whisking the custard for a few minutes to reduce the heat. Transfer the mixture to a container, add in the reserved thyme and vanilla pod. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

Before churning in your ice cream machine, remove the vanilla pod and thyme.

Black Currant Curd

makes about 2 cups

1 pint black currants, rinsed

2 TBS water

½ cup sugar

2 TBS unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

Place the black currants and the water in a non-corroding saucepan. Cover and cook on a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes or until the currants are mushy. Pass the currants through a food mill to produce about 1¼ cups puree. Stir the sugar and butter into the warm puree and heat, stirring constantly. Whisk the eggs and the egg yolk just until mixed, then whisk in a little of the hot currant mixture to heat the eggs. Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is well thickened and has reached 170° F. Pour into a container, cover and chill.

Mixing it in: The curd should be throughly chilled before using. Just before you remove the ice cream from the machine, spoon some on the bottom of the storage container. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, layer generous spoonfuls of the curd between layers of ice cream. Avoid stirring it in as it will make the ice cream muddy looking.

Deep Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Fudge Ripple

from Lola's Ice Creams & Sundaes

500 ml whole milk

500 ml whipping cream

40 g cocoa powder

250 g dark chocolate (70% cacao)

3-4 fresh coffee beans (optional)

6 egg yolks

150 g sugar

Heat the milk and cream in a pan to just below boiling, then remove from heat. Make a paste with the cocoa powder by mixing it with a little heated milk and cream. Add the paste to the warm milk-cream and whisk continuously over a very low heat for 4-5 minutes in order to cook out the powdery taste of the cocoa.

Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir from time to time until the chocolate melts. Add the melted chocolate and coffee beans to the milk and cream. Stir until everything is combined.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Add the warm milk to the egg-sugar mix and return the mixture to the pan. Heat the custard, stirring constantly, to 80° C. Maintain this temperature for 15 seconds. Do not allow the mix to boil or it will scramble.

Turn off the heat and continue whisking the mix for a few minutes to reduce the temperature.

Transfer the mixture to a container. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

Churn in your ice cream machine.

Fudge Ripple

from David Lebovitz's Perfect Scoop

makes 1 cup

100 g sugar

80 ml light corn syrup

125 ml water

50 g cocoa powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble at the edges. Continue to whisk until it just comes to a low boil. Cook for 1 minute, whisking frequently. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and let cool. Chill in the refrigerator before using.

Mixing it in: The fudge ripple should be throughly chilled before using. Just before you remove the ice cream from the machine, spoon some on the bottom of the storage container. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, layer generous spoonfuls of the sauce between layers of ice cream. Avoid stirring the fudge ripple into the ice cream, as it will make it muddy looking.

Swiss Rolls

For the cake:
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (225 grams) sugar, plus extra for rolling
6 TBS (45 grams) all purpose flour
5 TBS (40 grams) cocoa powder
2 TBS (30 ml) boiling water

For the filling:
2 cups (500 mls) whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into ½ cm pieces (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 TBS (70 grams) sugar

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Brush a half sheet pan with a neutral-flavored oil and line with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat until very thick; when the beaters are lifted, they should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder and gently fold into the egg mixture with a spatula. Then, fold in the boiling water.

Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan, spreading it evenly into the corners. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the cake is springy to the touch.

Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and generously sprinkle it with sugar. Upon removing from the oven, immediately turn the cake onto the towel and peel away the parchment paper. Trim away any crisp edges and generously sprinkle sugar over the cake. Starting from the long edge, roll the cake along with the towel. Be careful not to apply too much pressure, as the cake will crack. Place the wrapped roll on a rack to cool, seam side down. Allow the cake to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

To make the filling, grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a coffee bean grinder until throughly mixed together. Skip this step if you are using vanilla extract. Combine the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture in a large bowl and beat until very thick.

When the cake has cooled completely, open the roll and spread the cream mixture evenly, leaving a ½-inch border. Roll the cake up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge seam side down until ready to use.

Assembly

Line the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with plastic wrap, leaving a generous overhang. Cut the Swiss roll into slices approximately 2 cms thick.

Arrange two slices at the bottom of the bowl, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the remainder of the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes). Meanwhile, set the first layer of ice cream out to soften.

When ready to proceed, remove the bowl from the freezer, peel back the plastic wrap cover and spread the ice cream over the cake slices and up the sides of the bowl. Replace the plastic wrap and freeze until firm (at least 1 hour).

Pour the fudge sauce over the frozen ice cream layer, cover with the plastic wrap and freeze until firm (at least 1 hour). Meanwhile, soften the second flavor of ice cream.

When ready to proceed, spread the second layer of ice cream over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours until completely set.

When ready to serve, peel back the plastic cover, and used a serrated knife to level the bottom of the cake so that it is flush with the bowl. Place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down. Carefully lift off the bowl and peel off the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outside of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water.

Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Happy Birthday, Gingered Rhubarb Puddin'

I'm all for traditional methods of baking, doing things purely from scratch, challenging my notions of what's fit for consumption, and sampling culinary dishes from various cultures. A recent introduction to Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management certainly has satisfied all four of these tenets at one fell swoop.

Mrs. Isabella Beeton was a famous British cookery writer of the late 19th century. Married to a publisher of books and popular magazines, she contributed articles on cooking and household management for her husband's publications. Eventually, all 2751 entries were published as a single volume, comprising information in all realms of Victorian British domesticity including tips on how to manage servants and rear children, medical and legal advice, as well as multi-course menu planning and detailed cooking instructions including seasonability and estimated cost of ingredients. Meant as a guide for an aspiring middle class, this compendium is said to be the first cookbook to show recipes in the format to which we are accustomed today. Flipping through the pages of her book, almost immediately, I was enthralled!

So when challenged this month to make a traditional, boiled British pudding, I chose to try a historical recipe from Mrs. Beeton. Rhubarb is in season, so I went with that as a basis for the filling. For never having seen or tasted a steamed pudding, the technique was quite surprising; you make a pastry dough that appears like pie crust, yet when steamed yields a moist cake crumb-like texture. In essence, I made gingered rhubarb-filled muffins.

By far though, the most adventurous aspect of this recipe was the required source of fat: suet. This was an anatomy and species lesson unto its own. Suet is the hard fat located around the loins and kidneys of a cow or sheep or deer. Not just a hardy consumable energy source for winter bird feeders or Arctic explorers, when rendered, it becomes tallow, an ingredient found in Twinkies and McDonald's french fries (before 1990) and candles and soap. Because of it's relatively low melting point, it makes an excellent source of fat for steamed British pastries. The pig and chicken equivalents of tallow are lard and schmaltz, respectively. Good information to file away...

At 80¢/lb (a sure bargain!), I purchased fresh suet from a local grocer and proceeded to rendered it in my kitchen (see bottom of post for instructions). It was an educationally fulfilling yet somewhat disgusting task that emitted a fragrance reminiscent of french fries. Though economical, I'm not sure I could adopt this source of fat in my regular baking repertoire. Sorry Mrs. Beeton, I think I prefer the flavor of butter instead. I've got a bit more tallow left over though in which I'm tempted to fry potatoes, but after that, I'm done.

By the way, today is the first birthday of my blog. Last year on this day, my inaugural post was Lavender-Infused Cheesecake with Crystalized Lilacs. Interesting to see how far this has come and to imagine where next it will go...

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Gingered Rhubarb Pudding

6-8 servings

Sweet Suet Crust

350 g self-rising flour
175 g rendered suet (see below for directions), or suet substitute (i.e., Vegetable Suet, Crisco, Lard)
1 tsp lemon sugar
a pinch of sea salt
210 milliliters

Filling
4-5 stalks rhubarb, ½-in dice
2 TBS crystallized ginger, finely chopped
110 g (4 oz) Lyle's Golden Syrup

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Coarsely grate the rendered suet on the large holes of a box grater into the bowl. Lightly mix the flour and suet together with fork or pastry blender, forming small pebble-sized pieces.

Mix in the water, a tablespoonful at a time, tossing lightly around the bowl until the pastry just comes together as a sticky and elastic dough. Use your hands to gather the dough into a smooth ball that when swiped around leaves the bowl clean. You may not use the full amount of water, so it is important to add it in small increments. Don’t over handle the pastry or it will become tough and glutiness.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut away a quarter of it and put aside to make the lid. Using a flour-dusted rolling pin, roll the larger portion of dough to a fairly thick circle about 13 inches in diameter.

Line a generously buttered, 4 cup capacity pudding basin with the pastry. If making single-sized servings, cut the pastry into individual rounds to fit smaller ramekins. Squeeze and tuck the pastry to fit snugly in the bowl, pressing it evenly all around.

Divide the diced rhubarb, crystallized ginger and golden syrup among each pastry-lined dish, then roll out the remaining pastry to form circular lid(s) large enough to cover the top of the basin or ramekins. Dampen the edges of each pastry lid with a bit of water and position it on top of the pudding. Seal well by crimping its edges. Cover with a sheet of parchment, pleated in the center to allow room for expansion while cooking and folded and tucked firmly around the edges of the basin. A video of this pleating technique can be seen here. The parchment cover can be secured with cooking twine, making a useful handle for lifting in and out of the hot steamer.

Place the pudding basin in a stove top steamer set over boiling water. Be sure the water comes no higher than a third of the way up the pudding basin, so as not to boil over into the pudding, which would create a soggy disappointment. Secure the lid of the pot and steam for 2-2½ hours for a large pudding or 1-1½ hours for individual ramekins. You may need to add more boiling water halfway through or possibly more often if it runs low. There is a lot of leeway in this steaming time. One way to determine that the pudding is sufficiently cooked is when the pastry changes color to a light golden brown. It is hard to over steam a pudding, though, so it can be left steaming for quite some time until you are ready to serve it.

When ready to serve, turn the pudding out of the basin and eat while still warm.

Rendering Suet into Tallow:

Obtain about a half a pound of suet from your local butcher, keep refrigerated until ready to use. With your fingers remove and discard as much of the muscle and membranous casing stuck to the suet. Once picked over, grate the suet on the largest holes of a box grater into a wide skillet. The smaller the bits of suet, the faster it will melt. Slowly heat the skillet over medium-low heat, allowing the fat to melt into a clear liquid and separate from any remaining extraneous bits. This could take up to 20 minutes or more. A fragrance reminiscent of french fries might waft in the air. Like clarifying butter, heating not only separates the proteins from the fat, but also allows any water to evaporate making it shelf stable. Once completely melted, pour the hot liquid through a fine mesh sieve lined with several layers of cheesecloth into a shallow heatproof container. Using the back of a spoon, press on the bits caught up in the cheesecloth to extract as much of the liquid tallow as possible. Allow the tallow to cool completely at room temperature. In its liquid state, tallow appears yellowish. It turns an opaque white at room temperature. Store at room temperature for near immediate use or freeze for long term projects.

the chase...limoncello tiramisu

Do you ever feel like you're chasing ingredients in the kitchen? Here's what I mean: a recipe, say gelato, calls for 6 eggs--just the yolks; now 6 divested whites sit waiting for your attention. Possibly a family dinner of skinny omelets or dessert of angel food cake? Or, if feeling daring, aged to make a double batch of macarons? But wait! The filling for the macarons calls for several eggs--just the yolks. Now you've more whites to chase around both the kitchen and you're imagination. Certainly the scenario could just as neatly apply to say making a stock from leftover bones, or was it, that you now have extra poached chicken because you needed to make a stock for a certain dish. If you're frugal (which I am, or as my mother would say "a good steward") using every last bit of something becomes that much more important.

Ingredient chasing happens to me quite a lot, and I dare say, actually pushes me to be more creative with the leftovers. In fact, it was from ingredient chasing that I decided to make a less traditional version of tiramisu to complete this month's baking challenge. The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession. The challenge included making from scratch the ladyfingers (or savoiardi biscuits), mascarpone, and two components not normally found in tiramisu recipes: a zabaglione (egg custard) and a vanilla pastry cream.

I happened to have a large supply of lemons on hand from recently having had purchased an entire bag, when really just one would have been fine for my purposes. What to do with all the extra? Also, I knew my friend Susie had homemade limoncello in her fridge. As such, I invited Susie to bake with me, and this is the version of tiramisu that came about. On a technical note, we decided to make our version in tiny spring-form pans, which necessitated a retooling of the ladyfinger. Ours were piped in a round, spiraling, saucer shape; if you're making your own anyways, why not custom fit it to the baking pan at the outset?

The day we got around to baking, Susie's DIY limoncello was long gone, meaning a new (non-DIY) bottle had to be purchased. Currently, the ingredient chase is on for as what to do with the extras. A similar story could be said for the day I took these photos. I forgot to reserve lemon peel to place curled as a garnish. Not wanting to chase a single ingredient more for a silly photo shoot, I decided to let that one go. I hope you'll understand. Not to worry, though. I can almost guarantee that lemons will make another appearance here soon. And yes, this recipe leaves you with 3 extra egg whites. Imagine away what I did with them; more than likely, they became a buttercream.

TIRAMISU
(Recipe sources: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 which I varied based on Lidia Bastianich's recipe)
8 servings
Ingredients
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 TBS sugar
¼ cup limoncello
¼ tsp vanilla
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest

For the vanilla pastry cream:
¼ cup sugar
1 TBS all purpose flour
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
¾ cup whole milk

For the whipped cream:
1 cup chilled heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

For the limoncello syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup limoncello
¾ cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup sugar

To assemble the tiramisu:
⅓ cup mascarpone cheese
1 TBS lemon zest
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less depending on size and shape)
2 TBS lemon sugar or large curls of zest for garnish

Method

For the zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.

In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the limoncello, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.

Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency. Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream:
Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.

Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.

Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)

Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

For the limoncello syrup:
Mix together the water, limoncello, lemon juice, vanilla, and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat, whisk to dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently and allow to cook 5 minutes or so until syrup-like. Refrigerate to cool completely.

To assemble the tiramisu:
Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or I used four 6-inch springform pans.

In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese and zest with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Working quickly, dip the ladyfingers in the lemon syrup, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the serving dish, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered. The spongy nature of the wetted cookies will allow them to squeezed snugly side-by-side into the dish. I simply stacked the saucer-shaped cookies neatly in the springform pan.

Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.

Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.

To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with lemon sugar or garnish with lemon peel curls. Cut into individual portions and serve.

MASCARPONE CHEESE
(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)

makes 12 ounces of mascarpone cheese

Ingredients
2 cups whipping cream
1 TBS fresh lemon juice

Method

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.

It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)

makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2" to 3" long) ladyfingers.

Ingredients
3 eggs, separated
6 TBS granulated sugar
¾ cup cake flour, sifted
6 TBS confectioner's sugar

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and ¾" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips. I cut a pattern the shape of my small springform pans and used that as a template to pipe large, flat swirls of dough.

Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.

Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.

Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.