Caramel Cake!

The unveiling of the Daring Baker's November 2008 Challenge!

This month was a caramel cake with caramel-browned butter frosting. The recipe was from Shuna Fish Lydon (http://eggbeater.typepad.com). I followed the cake directions precisely but I've sworn off powdered-sugar frosting since discovering italian meringue frostings so I took the spirit of her frosting and made my own. Because I feel that if you're going to make one layer, you might as well make two (or three!), if you'd like to make a layer cake, multiply the cake recipe quantities by 1.5. It makes enough batter for two 9-inch rounds and about 2 cupcakes (or you can make thicker rounds). This cake, probably due to the addition of the caramel syrup, is wonderfully dense and moist, so it doesn't rise in the pans as much as you think it will about halfway through the cook time. I understand that the single layer is tall enough to split into rounds with a knife, but I usually find it easier to bake layers separately.

Do be careful with the caramel syrup! It sputters a LOT when you add the water. Add it quickly but carefully and then STEP BACK! Watch the color carefully - it takes awhile to get hot, but then once it does, the syrup goes from golden to dark amber in a matter of seconds, so be ready to pour. If it sounds a little finicky, it's very easy - just pay attention. And as a cooking instructor once told me, respect the sugar! Don't get burned.

If you've only ever made powdered sugar frostings before now - try this frosting! You can use the same basic recipe and beat in whatever flavorings you want. It hardens upon cooling (due to all that delicious butter) so if it's too soft at first to support a second layer without squishing out, chill the cake briefly in the fridge to firm it up. I personally thought the browned butter didn't add too much flavor to the frosting - if I made it again, I would just add the caramel syrup.

Unfortunately I don't have any shots of a finished cake because my camera is acting up. The cake presents well if you plate it and drizzle remaining caramel syrup over it, or drizzle syrup in designs on the plate and then add the slice. Unfortunately when I tried to add it directly to the entire cake, it tended to bead up on the surface of the frosting or run off the sides. Definitely a very tasty cake, in a flavor that you don't always see. Oh and what really makes it special - sprinkle a little salt, preferably sea salt flakes, on top - it really sets off the caramel flavor!

CARAMEL CAKE

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

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.

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.

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.

CARAMEL FROSTING
source: A combination of Nick Malgieri, Shuna Fish Lydon, and Sarah Peitzmeier

4 large egg whites
1 scant cup sugar
Small pinch salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened and creamed to smooth out any lumps
6 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup caramel syrup

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk gently by hand to mix. Bring a large pan of water to a simmer. Place egg mixture over the pan of simmering water and whisk gently but constantly until the egg whites are hot (about 130 degrees) and the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the bowl form the pan of water and place it on the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the meringue until it is completely cooled, first on high speed, then on medium speed after the meringue has become stiff. Touch the bowl with the palm of your hand to make sure that it has cooled completely before continuing.

Switch to the paddle attachment and beat in the softened butter, a couple of tablespoons at a time, on medium speed. After all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium high and continue beating the buttercream until it has become thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. If the buttercream separates during the process and looks scrambled, just continue beating and eventually smooth out. If all else fails, add a little more softened butter.

Beat in the cooled browned butter and the caramel syrup, a few tablespoons at a time.

Tarte au chevre, poire, et poireaux - Goat Cheese, Leek, and Pear Tart

This tart is way better than quiche so try it next time you're in the mood for baking a savory. The recipe can be found here: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2008/10/08/goat-cheese-pear-leek-tart/ . A couple notes on the recipe.

- My leeks weren't very dirty so I just wiped them off and was careful to keep an eye out for any extra dirt.
- I used almost all the dough for an 11-inch tart, and the filling was plenty enough to fill the larger pan.
- Make sure you weight the dough when you prebake it - the official picture in the recipe has an exceptionally shrunk crust; possibly they forgot this step!
- When you cut off a slice, drizzle a little tiny spoonful honey over it if you're as crazy about the goat cheese/honey combination as I am!

Happy 13th birthday, Michael!

Tall Strawberry Shortcake

Three layers of vanilla-glazed vanilla pound cake alternate with layers of vanilla buttercream and fresh strawberries. At eight inches high, it's the Empire State Building of shortcakes! Made with fine cake flour, butter, Madagscar vanilla, and organic and cage-free eggs.

Inspired because he likes strawberries but didn't want pink icing.=)

And some positive feedback:
"Sarah it's BEAUTIFUL! I just went back to the kitchen to see it (THE ESB of shortcakes), and I think there are some envious co-workers here. I really can't wait and I'm sure Michael will be thrilled - he loves strawberries. I appreciate your creativity in providing non-pink icing and OMG, cage-free eggs!! Happy chickens make a better world so we buy cage-free too."

and later:

Yes, it was as wonderful as it looked. You've definitely outdone yourself! As I told your mom, Michael is not typically a cake person, usually has a few bites and eats the ice cream. He made a point that this is the first time (he can remember) that he finished the whole piece. It was perfect in every way, and I'd recommend you make one for yourself and your family to try it. Thanks again!

Happy birthday, Michael!!!

Daring Baker's Challenge - October

My very first challenge! I wasn't able to do the dough toss (despite trying VERY hard, so I had to kind of hold the edges of the dough and let the weight stretch itself out...!)

For toppings I didn't have a whole lot on hand. The first was a clam and artichoke - took a can of clams, a can of artichokes and boiled down the water from both of them to a small amount of thick sauce, mixed it with chopped artichokes and clams, and spread it on the pizza. I grated a little parmesan on top of that and voila! It was really tasty and I liked the flavor combo, but fresh clams would be tons better - not in the least because it was a bit salty with the boiled down clam water! But I still really enjoyed it nevertheless.





The topping worked well on this one because there wasn't very much liquid involved - the crust stayed nice and crunchy and baked up well.



For the second batch of pizzas, I put a spoonful of tomato sauce, grated mozarella and parmesan, sprinkled Italian seasoning, and chopped some sundried tomatoes on top. As I said, I didn't have a lot on hand, but I have to admit I still really enjoyed it!

A word of advice - put much less sauce than you think you need, or everything gets very soggy.

Until you make your own pizza crust, you really don't realize how lacking takeout pizza is. Homemade crust has this beautiful, rich yeasty flavor (even though I pretty much failed at shaping it and am a novice at yeasted doughs) and had both a nice crunch on the bottom and a nice airiness on the thicker crust. Most other pizzas will taste like nothing, or alternatively, cardboard. Definitely really easy (as long as you don't care about having misshapen pizzas like me if you can't toss them into perfect circles) and well worth it. A great first challenge!

I am very excited to join the Daring Bakers community.=)

Croissants and Croissants aux Amandes

I recently purchased Tartine by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson. The pictures and layout are beautiful and the writing really shows Tartine bakery's passion for baking. With all the mouth-watering recipes (and pictures), I figured the best place to start was at the very beginning, and that meant croissants.



They were giant, beautiful, flaky, light, and above all, buttery. Mmmmmmmmm.

If you just can't manage another bite, here's what to do with the leftovers: Cut them in half. Brush with brandy-sugar syrup. Fill with almond pastry cream. Smear the top with more frangipane cream and scatter sliced almonds on top. Bake them up again until crispy.





And just like that, you'll be hungry all over again!

I highly recommend Prueitt's recipe. The dough was really easy to work with and rolled out like a dream. The dimensions she gave to shape the croissants left me with croissants that seemed about twice as large as the picture in the book, so you may want to experiment with the dimensions if you end up with the same "issue." but, there are worse things to deal with than a giant croissant.=)

Croissants

Adapted from Tartine by Elisabeth Prueitt

Notes: Try to work in a cool kitchen until the final rising. If you choose to let the preferment rise overnight in the fridge, make sure to get started baking straightaway the next morning.

Preferment

¾ cup skim milk

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Dough

4 tsp active dry yeast

1 ¾ cup whole milk

6 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

4 tsp salt

1 tbsp melted unsalted butter

Roll-in Butter

2 ½ cup unsalted butter, cool but pliable

Egg Wash

2 large egg yolks

¼ cup heavy cream

Pinch salt

To make the preferment:

Warm the milk just enough to take the chill off (barely tepid). Pour the milk into the bowl of your stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the milk, and stir to dissolve with a wooden spoon. Add the flour, mixing until a smooth batter forms. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the mixture rise until almost doubled in volume, 2 to 3 hours at moderate room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

To make the dough:

First measure out all the ingredients and place them near at hand. Add the yeast to your preferment and mixing with the dough hook on low until incorporated (1-2 minutes). Stop the mixer as needed and use a spatula to clean the bottom and sides, folding the loosened portion into the mixture to incorporate all the elements fully. When the mixture has come together into an even, well-mixed mass, increase the speed to medium, and mix for a couple minutes. Slowly add half the milk and continue to mix until fully incorporated

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, sugar, salt, melted butter, and the rest of the milk. Mix until the mass comes together in a loose dough, about 3 minutes. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 15 to 20 minutes. This resting period helps to shorten the final mixing phase, which comes next.

Engage the mixer again on low speed and mix until the dough is smooth and elastic, a maximum of 4 minutes. If the dough is very firm, add a little milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, to loosen it. Take care not to overmix the dough, which will result in a tough croissant that also turns stale more quickly. Remember, too, you will be rolling out the dough several times, which will further develop the gluten structure, so though you want a smooth dough, the less mixing you do to achieve that goal the better. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise in a cool place until the volume increases by half, about 1 ½ hours.

Preparation for Lamination:

Lightly flour a work surface. Transfer the dough to the floured surface and press into a rectangle 2 inches thick. Wrap the rectangle in plastic wrap or slip into a plastic bag and seal closed. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 4 to 6 hours.

About half an hour before you are ready to start laminating the dough, put the butter that you will be rolling into the dough in the bowl of the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until malleable but not warm or soft, about 3 minutes. The butter may start “weeping” moisture at this point; soak it up with a paper or linen towel. Make sure that absolutely no small, hard lumps remain in the butter, or your dough will tear and be difficult to laminate. Remove the butter from the bowl, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator briefly to chill but not resolidify.

The first and second turn:

Now you are ready to begin laminating the dough. First, lightly dust a cool work surface, and then remove the chilled dough and the butter from the refrigerator. Unwrap the dough and place it on a floured surface. Roll out the dough into a rectangle 28 by 12 inches. With a long side of the rectangle facing you, and starting from the left side, spread and spot the butter over two-thirds of the length of the rectangle. Once again, make sure there are no hard lumps of butter before you begin your folding. Fold the uncovered right third over the butter and then fold the left-hand third over the center, as if folding a business letter. The resulting rectangle is known as a plaque. With your fingers, push down along the seams on the top and bottom to seal the butter in the plaque.

Give the plaque a quarter-turn so that the seams are to your right and left, rather than at the top and bottom. Again roll out the dough into a rectangle 28 by 12 inches, and fold again in the same manner, like a business letter. Wrap in plastic wrap or slip into a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator for 1 ½ to 2 hours to relax the gluten in the dough before you make the third fold, or “turn.”

The final turn:

Clean the work surface, dust again with flour, and remove the dough from the refrigerator. Unwrap, place on the floured surface, and again roll out into a rectangle 28 by 12 inches. Fold into thirds in the same manner. You should have a plaque of dough measuring about 9 by 12 inches, about the size of a quarter sheet pan, and 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. Wrap in plastic wrap or slip into the plastic bag, place on a quarter sheet pan, and immediately place in the freezer to chill for at least one hour. If you intend to make the croissants the next morning, leave the dough in the freezer until the evening and then transfer it to the refrigerator before retiring. The next morning, the dough will be ready to roll out and form into croissants, proof, and bake. Or, you can leave the dough in the freezer for up to 1 week; just remember to transfer it to the refrigerator to thaw overnight before using.

Shaping:

About twenty minutes before beginning the final turn, place the dough at cool room temperature so the dough will warm slightly and roll without the butter layers breaking. When ready to roll out the dough, dust the work surface again. Roll out the dough into a rectangle 32 by 12 inches and 3/8 inch thick. Using a pizza wheel or chef’s knife, cut the dough into long triangles that measure 10 to 12 inches on each side and about 4 inches along the base.

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. To shape each croissant, position a triangle with the b ase facing you. Positioning your palms on the two outer points of the base, carefully roll the base toward the point. To finish, grab the point with one hand, stretching it slightly, and continue to roll, tucking the point underneath the rolled dough so that the croissant will stand tall when you place it on the sheet pan. If you have properly shaped the croissant, it will have 6 or 7 total ridges.

The final rising:

Place the croissants, well spaced, on the prepared half sheet pan. When all the croissants are ready, set the pan in a draft free area with relatively high humidity and let the pastries rise for about 2 hours. The ideal temperature is 75 degrees. A bit cooler or warmer is all right as long as the temperature is not warm enough to melt the layers of butter in the dough, which would yield greasy pastries. Cooler is preferable, and will increase the rising time and with it the flavor development. For example, placing a small pan of steaming water in the bottom of your cool oven and placing the pastries on the racks above is a good way to proof your pastries in an environment with enough humidity to prevent a skin from forming. However, make sure you do not put the pan of steaming water directly under your pastries, or the pan they are on will heat up and all the butter will melt out of them!

During the final rising, the croissants should at least double in size and look noticeably puffy. If when you press a croissant lightly with a fingertip, the indentation fills in slowly, the croissants are almost ready to bake. At this point, the croissants should still be slightly “firm” and holding their shape and neither spongy nor starting to slouch. If you have put the croissants into the oven to proof, remove them now and set the oven to 425 to preheat.

Egg wash:

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cream, and salt until you have a pale yellow mixture. Using a pastry brush, lightly and carefully brush the mixture on the pastries, being careful not to allow the egg wash to drip onto the pan. Let the wash dry slightly, about 5 minutes, before baking.

Baking:

Place the croissants in the oven and immediately turn down the oven temperature to 400. Leave the door shut for the first 10 minutes. Then, working quickly, open the door and rotate the pan 180 degrees and close the door. This rotation will help the pastries bake evenly. Bake for 6 to 10 minutes longer. The croissants should be done in 15 to 20 minutes total. They are ready when they are deep golden brown on the top and bottom, crisp on the outside, and feel light when they are picked up, indicating that the interior is baked through.

Enjoying!

(Like you need instructions for this part). Remove the croissants from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. As they cool, their moist interiors will set up. They are best if eaten while still slightly warm. Enjoy the results of your hard work! You can store leftover croissants in an airtight container at room temperature for one day, and then afterward in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can rewarm them in a 375 degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes to recrisp before serving.

If properly made, each croissant will have a light, distinctly layered, tender, interior.The outside will be crisp and deeply caramelized and make a mess of crumbs when you bite into it. The flavor and aroma should be a combination of excellent butter and the complex organic acids achieved by long fermentation, much like the aroma of fresh warm bread. Congratulations!