Funny cake pie

Happy national pie day, a bit belated. The true date for the holiday was this Saturday January 23rd but it's never too late to celebrate or discuss pies.

In honor of the day I prepared a pie recipe that I've had bookmarked for quite some time. This seemed a very exciting and mysterious recipe because of the supposed party trick that it involves. Please, allow me tell you all about it.


You see, I am a proud member of the of the pie of the month club.

In addition to the fabulous pie of the month club t-shirt and buttons that I received, my membership entitles me to a monthly postcard that features lovely pie art, as well as a fun recipe along with a brief description of the pie.


Truth be told I have not baked many of the recipes from the postcards thus far. Sometimes the pies just sound too weird (For example: watermelon rind pie? I dunno, maybe I'll save that for a summer day on which I'm feeling particularly adventurous).


For now though it was the funny cake pie that caught my attention. The pie features two layers, chocolate and vanilla, with the vanilla layer being especially cake-y in consistency and the chocolate one being more of a cocoa powder goo (which is very tasty and not gross the way the word "goo" sounds).

The recipe boasts that this cake-pie is funny because of a " funny " thing that happens to the two layers: In the pie preparations, you layer the chocolate under the vanilla and then, during the baking process, the two layers flip such that the chocolate layer ends up above the vanilla.

Yes, you read that right. A pie crust with chocolate + vanilla layers that do back flips in the oven. After reading that I was intrigued and just had to try the recipe out.


Let me say that this pie turned out being delicious. Honestly I was surprised by how tasty the end product was because in the end I was a bit tentative about the idea of putting a cake batter in a pie crust. However, I regret that I must also note that I was utterly disappointed by the fact that there was no switcharoo magic that occurred between the two layers in the pie. I had excitedly put the vanilla atop the chocolate and yet the pie came out of the oven with the layers...drum roll...in the same order.

Now, after having performed a google search for other recipes for funny cake pie, I am suspicious that there was a mistake in the pie of the month club recipe. In fact, I think that the chocolate layer should have gone over the vanilla layer and then ended up on the bottom following baking. If anyone reading this has any thoughts about this, or experience baking this particular pie, I'd love to hear them! For now I will say that the next time I bake this pie I plan to layer the chocolate on top of the vanilla and hope for the best in terms of cartwheeling magic between the layers.

In any case, I have reproduced the Pie of the Month Club recipe for Funny Cake Pie below, as it was written on my postcard, but I noted the place in the recipe that I believe to be erroneous. Happy baking and let me know if you manage to get your layers to flip!



Funny Cake Pie
For the Pie of the Month Club

• Top Part:
  
  
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
•  I added a dash of salt here

 Cream together sugar and shortening. Add the combined milk and egg alternately with flour and baking powder. Add flavoring and set aside until lower part is mixed.

• Lower Part:
  
  
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. water
  • 4 Tbsp. cocoa
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla
  • NOTE: I added a dash of salt here
    
  
  Mix together the cocoa, sugar, water, and vanilla. **Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Over this pour the "top part". **The chocolate will come up around the outside edge which gives a nice crusty edge on the finished product. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until firm (toothpick test).

**OR, perhaps you should try to pour the vanilla cake layer on the bottom of the crust, and then on top of this pour the chocolate top part. I believe that this will create the funny switcharoo effect that I was anxiously awaiting.

Rorschach test for food geeks

I see Oscar the Grouch... but in a slightly more palatable form.

Dark chocolate tart with ginger snap crust

As it turns out, size does matter. At least it matters when it comes to baking. Unfortunately I discovered the importance of size yesterday when I used a 2-inch-too-large-in-diameter tart pan to bake the chocolate dessert that I'm about to describe. Nonetheless please note that I'm still posting about yesterday's experience. And that's a testament to how awesome this recipe is.

Because yes, even though my baking equipment was all wrong and I lazed-out when I should have made accurate measurements of ingredients (instead I quickly said to myself, "to my little eyeball that looks roughly like 1 and a half cups, sure!"), we still thoroughly enjoyed this tart. Yes, we loved it in spite of the tart not being aesthetically pleasing, the crust being TOO crumbly, and the unhealthy amount anxiety that I experienced about baking times, and when I patted the crust dough into the pan.




Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me tell you why this recipe rocks: Point 1.) If one uses the correct pan size as well as the appropriate ingredient measurements, the crust recipe is a friggin' cinch and involves only crumbling up some ginger snaps and blending those crumbs with melted butter! Point 2.) PLUS the crust is friggin delicious, boasting a buttery ginger-y flavor. Point 3.) The filling is, like the crust, super simple in terms of preparation requirements and requires the mixing of only a few ingredients. Point 4.) Most importantly, the overall product is a very rich chocolate tart that is delicious and will satisfy any chocoluv-er's (sorry for the pun) cravings.


One final point. What I love even more than chocolate alone is chocolate with a sprinkling of salt on top. I failed to add this magical touch to the tart that I prepared yesterday but intend to do so each and every time I bake this again. If you are into the salty-chocolatey thing too, then I highly recommend that you do the same.



The recipe is posted here, on the smitten kitchen blog, which she found in Bon Appetit. If you check out her post on this recipe you will see how beautiful this tart can come out. I think she used the appropriate tart pan size. And measured out the ingredients properly. Ah, the perfection. She makes me sick, really.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu may be the most delicious, dynamic dessert that was ever created. When done well, its diverse flavors perfectly complement one another to create the best dessert on the planet.

OK, so that summary is both wrought with hyperbole and completely subjective. Nonetheless, it is making this post that got me interested in blogging in the first place. Mostly because I can proudly declare that this is my tiramisu recipe. That's right, I actually thought of something on my own! Of course, I synthesized bits and pieces from other (one might say 'lesser') recipes to come up with what I will outline below. An appropriate analogy of this process would be the creation of the wheel. While others simply came up with squares, then hexagons, then octagons, it was the 'eureka!' of the circle shape that we value as a true 'creation.'

OK, it's probably not that amazing. This recipe is good, but it certainly won't move mountains. Hopefully, it will move you to your local grocery store, then to your kitchen.


I should add a caveat about this post. I wouldn't necessarily call this a 'recipe' for tiramisu, per se. Instead, I will provide guidelines for the making of this fantastic dessert. These guidelines should be enough to recreate the texture and consistency of my tiramisu. In addition, I will specify where one can, and should, take artistic liberties, and I may include suggestions here and there. However, I invite you to try it out, and post comments regarding your own take on how this dessert should be flavored.

Finally, the ingredients will be included in the text which describe the process for making tiramisu. No lists, kinda like the Joy of Cooking, but not quite as structured or readable. Ingredients will be in bold text.

--------------------------------

Let's start with the filling.

First, I seperate 6 egg. Place the egg whites in a seperate mixing bowl and place them in the fridge for later use.

Combine 1/3 a cup of sugar with the egg yolks (as seen below) and whisk together.


Once you have mixed the yolks and sugar (takes about 30 seconds), you should place the mixture on top of a pot filled with water (maybe about 1-2 cups). Turn the stove on medium heat. If you have a double boiler, you can use it here. However, I don't see any need, as a substitute is cheaper, and very straightforward (pictured below).



The idea here is to reduce the yolk/sugar mixture down until it forms 'ribbons.' I think it took me about 3 or 4 attempts at this recipe until i felt like I understood what that meant. Thus, I've included a picture of what you should expect to see (below). Note the use of a flat whisk. I find that this whisk is the best for this part of the process. However, I'm sure a round whisk would work just fine.

This part of the process is pretty involved in that you shouldn't be walking away at any point. Once the mixture begins to thicken, the 'ribbons' will form pretty fast. Also, it's definitely possible to end up with sweet scrambled eggs if you aren't careful. Thus, pay attention, and whisk continuously.


Once you have reduced the yolk/sugar, place it on the counter to cool (at least 5 minutes).

Now you should make the whipped cream. Quite simple, really. Place about 1-1.5 cups of heavy cream in a mixing bowl and whisk until you have whipped cream. The whipped cream should be fairly thick, and hold stiff peaks (pictured below). No soft cream here.

Typically, I will add some kind of flavor to the heavy cream before whisking. You could try a teaspoon of some kind of extract (almond, vanilla, whatever).


Once you have whipped the heavy cream, place it aside for a few minutes. Take the mixing bowl with the yolk/sugar mixture and add in 8 oz of Marscapone Cheese. Whisk these together vigorously until the mixture is smooth. It helps if the marscapone is at room temperature. To this, add the whipped cream and mix until the mixture is, again, smooth. Place in the fridge.

Now it's time to beat the egg whites. Pretty straight forward. You want to whisk them until they form 'stiff peaks.' Below is an image of the egg whites hanging from the whisk. Note that I have been holding that whisk up for a minute or so and the white just hang there. That's a good indicator that you have essentially beaten them into submission. Below is also an image of the 'stiff peaks' in the mixing bowl.

I would recommend a round whisk for beating the egg whites. I think it gets the job done much faster than the flat whisk.



Once you have beaten the egg whites, fold them into the mixture of whipped cream/yolk/sugar/marscapone cheese. Place this in the fridge until you need it.


Next, you will want to make the liquid mixture in which you will soak the ladyfingers. I typically make a mixture of 1-cup very strong coffee (maybe even espresso), 1/2 cup sweet marsala, and about 3 tablespoons of brandy. This mixture should be at room temperature or cool before soaking the ladyfingers, so you might consider making the coffee earlier or just sticking it in the freezer/fridge to cool.

Get yourself a bag of Savoiardi ladyfingers. You should have no trouble finding them in a specialty food store (hopefully you have an Italian specialty store nearby). I usually use about 25-30 ladyfingers by the end of the process, but this will vary on the way you decide to layer your tiramisu. More on this later.

Now, it's time to soak the lady fingers. To do this, I pour some of my liquid mixture into a shallow plate/bowl. This is the part that will determine whether you have light/fluffy ladyfingers or soupy flour/sugar mixture. What you should do is lightly coat each ladyfinger by allowing each side to lightly touch the liquid. Some folks describe this as allowing the ladyfinger to contact the liquid for about 2-3 second, at most (pictured below). It definitely took making soupy tiramisu a few times before I got this.


Now, it's time to layer!

This is another one of those sections where artistic liberty comes into play. For instance, you might decide to have a single, or perhaps triple, layer tiramisu. I like to make two layers as follows:

First, I lay one row of ladyfingers and cover it with half of the cream mixture. On top of this, you could sprinkle some cocoa powder, or shaved chocolate, or some other spice you believe would be appropriate (perhaps cinnamon?).

Next, I simply repeat this for the second layer! Since I have a tapered bowl (pictured below), I usually use less of the cream mixture on the first layer and more on the second layer. In any case, you want to make sure the cream covers the ladyfingers completely.



And, voila! You have tiramisu. If you're lucky, you've got a sweet tiramisu bowl to make it in, like we do (wedding gift). You will likely have plenty of liquid mixture left over at the end of the process. I place it in the fridge for later use.

It's worth noting that I typically make my tiramisu at least 12 hours in advance, or even the day before I plan to serve it. This way, the ladyfingers have time to soak in the liquids and develop that nice, spongy texture. If you serve too early, they will be crunchy, which just isn't right.

Good luck! And please post any thoughts you might have! It's an evolving recipe.

back to the base-ics

Lynne Rossetto Kasper boasts that "merely bending your head over the steaming bowl" of her Triple Essence of Chicken Soup "will make you well." It was probably the title-word 'essence' (or possibly the box of tissues that I was quickly emptying, all the while my nose becoming more red and irritated) that made me long for this cure-the-cold concoction. After reading over the recipe, however, I was shocked to see that this medicine takes three chickens and three days to create...and after filling yourself with the soup (and infecting all of your roommates with the cold prior to finishing production) you will probably not have much leftover to share. Needless to say, I abandoned the recipe and bought a box of nyquil with my chicken money instead.

Now months later...and no longer hopped up on cold meds, I am using the winter chill and the lengthy hours at home on the computer searching for jobs as motivation to make the perfect chicken broth...something that takes a little less time and is a little more friendly toward our chicken friends than Ms. Kasper's recipe...but super yummy. If I can find a cure for the common cold along my journey, so be it...if not, at least I will have a tastey base for tons of different soups

If anyone has been into my slanted house they will appreciate the beauty of a solid foundation. A good soup base, so I hear, is easy to make (even an idiot could...) and you can make a large batch and freeze it for later, so there is no excuse for buying soup bases at the store which just do not do a good soup recipe justice. All you need is a day to sit in the house (not a whole weekend), a chicken (if you are making chicken stock, obviously), and veggies and herbs (I am following my recipe to a T for the first time...but you can pretty much use your best judgement and stuff you like....I plan to experiment later)

That being said...I am an idiot...and my first attempt at chicken base was a disaster; I flooded the pot while attempting to cool the broth by leaving the sink running on cold. Still...it could have been amazing , and I will attempt to make this again tomorrow and report! I will post the recipe that I used and if anyone wants to follow along with me tomorrow, feel free! Email me while you are working...we can share stories!

I am also pre-soaking northern beans tomorrow, and making dough for pasta, 'cause my first soup is going to be ministrone...

Here is the recipe courtesy of Alton Brown from the Food Network's show "Good Eats." It yields 5 quarts of stock.

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chicken carcasses, including necks and backs
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2
• 4 ribs celery, cut in 1/2
• 1 leek, white part only, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 10 sprigs fresh parsley with stems
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 to 10 peppercorns
• 2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 gallons cold water

Directions

Place chicken, vegetables, and herbs and spices in 12-quart stockpot. Set opened steamer basket directly on ingredients in pot and pour over water. Cook on high heat until you begin to see bubbles break through the surface of the liquid. Turn heat down to medium low so that stock maintains low, gentle simmer. Skim the scum from the stock with a spoon or fine mesh strainer every 10 to 15 minutes for the first hour of cooking and twice each hour for the next 2 hours. Add hot water as needed to keep bones and vegetables submerged. Simmer uncovered for 6 to 8 hours.

Strain stock through a fine mesh strainer into another large stockpot or heatproof container discarding the solids. Cool immediately in large cooler of ice or a sink full of ice water to below 40 degrees. Place in refrigerator overnight. Remove solidified fat from surface of liquid and store in container with lid in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 months. Prior to use, bring to boil for 2 minutes. Use as a base for soups and sauces.

Perfection in cookie form

On July 9, 2009 David Leite of the New York Times published an article that begins as follows:

"Too bad sainthood is not generally conferred on bakers, for there is one who is a possible candidate for canonization. She fulfills most of the requirements: (1) She’s dead. (2) She demonstrated heroic virtue. (3) Cults have been formed around her work. (4) Her invention is considered by many to be a miracle. The woman: Ruth Graves Wakefield. Her contribution to the world: the chocolate chip cookie."

What a great opening to a food article, right?? How can you not be intrigued by that introduction? Leite follows this prelude with a brief overview of the history of the chocolate cookie, and then proceeds to summarize tidbits of knowledge that he gathered through interviews with a number of bakers across the City, to answer the question: what makes a good chocolate chip cookie a truly good chocolate chip cookie?

Here are some rules of thumb that he learned, and that he shares:
1.) Most argue that one should serve the cookie warm,
2.) Let the dough rest for 36 hrs. ("They just taste better," said Maury Rubin of City Bakery),

Note: later it's revealed that this method is thought to allow the ingredients to better absorb the egg and thus cook into a better consistency...

3.) Make your cookies six inches in diameter in order to achieve the appropriate texture,
4.) Use good chocolate (with at least 60% cocoa),
5.) Don't underestimate the value of salt on a chocolate chip cookie


After gathering and presenting these facts, Leite concludes his article:

"After weeks of investigating, testing and retesting, the time had come to assemble a new archetypal cookie recipe, one to suit today’s tastes and to integrate what bakers have learned since that fateful day in Whitman, Mass. The recipe included here is adapted from Mr. Torres’s classic cookie, but relies on the discoveries and insights of the other bakers and authors. So, in effect, it’s all of theirs — the consummate chocolate chip cookie."

Now this introduction might seem as if I am teasingly dangling a cookie in front of your face and not giving you any reward. No, don't whimper and cry. I have good news! Leite published his recipe. And I tested it. And I'm reproducing it here, on this blog. (Or you can retrieve the original in the NY Times itself, just in case I make some typos during the transfer).


This recipe produces a lot of cookie dough. Therefore, I was able to test the effects of different dough waiting times on cookie flavor. First, I baked a batch after letting the dough sit for 24 hours. After this first baking, I thought "Okay, these cookies are good, but they're not necessarily the best cookie ever." I was too busy to bake another batch after 36 hours, but I did bake another after 48 hours of waiting time. And WOW. This second batch was incredibly delicious. Maybe I was just hungry, maybe I was especially in need of a chocolate chip cookie that day, I dunno. This was a really good cookie. Chewy in just the right way, with a slight caramel flavor when biting in, and I love the flavor enhancing property of the salt. I've never had my very own go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. But now I do. This is it. Maybe it will turn out to be yours as well. Might as well try it, right? Oh you know you're intrigued.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, from the NY Times

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons

(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Note from the NY Times article: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

Turkish Coffee

• 
  

After a delicious thanksgiving dinner, our gracious host posed the usual pre-dessert/post-dinner question: tea or coffee? Only one of about 15 guests requested tea. All others asked for coffee. Why, you might ask, was coffee such a hit that evening? Well, it's because the coffee in question was not your run of the mill American style coffee. Rather, it was Turkish coffee that would be served that evening.

G.'s mom was up for the task of preparing mass quantities of Turkish coffee (she's a pro!) and I, opportunist that i am, jumped at the chance to get a lesson. Turns out the process of turkish coffee preparation isn't tooooo terribly difficult (of course I say that after having only observed the process), but it does seem to require a great deal of patience. Preparing Turkish coffee is not a simple matter of grinding coffee beans, placing those in a filter, and hitting "start" on an automatic machine. Nope. Turkish coffee prep requires standing over the stove and waiting for water to boil not once, not twice, but about six times! The process is well worth it though, because Turkish coffee is a treat to drink. It's dark and rich, and could easily stand in as a dessert substitute. There is also something extremely ceremonial and communal about drinking Turkish coffee. And it comes with fortune telling (i'll get to that later)!!

The following is what I learned about the preparation of the coffee:

To prepare Turkish coffee, you must begin with very finely ground coffee beans--they should be ground to the point of being powder-like. You can purchase finely ground coffee for this purpose at your local Arabic food market. I'll bet you will find one hiding in your area if you search. If you are in the triangle area, you can try Jerusalem Grocery or Almadina Supermarket, both of which are in Raleigh, or the Mediterranean Deli in Chapel Hill.


Next, place your water to boil on the stove top. Turkish coffee is prepared using a special pot that looks like the one picture below. If you want to purchase one, again, I'd check the local middle eastern food store in your area.

Before the water is boiling, you can add a bit (1-2 tablespoons) of sugar if you like your coffee to be sweet (G's mom does this, and I love how it comes out). Once the water begins to boil, add the coffee: approximately 1 heaping teaspoon of coffee for each cup of Turkish coffee.

Note here that a traditional cup of Turkish coffee is about the size of one shot of espresso for us: small. The coffee pots that are intended for Turkish coffee preparation generally have a marking to indicate the number of cups that the pot will prepare.


Now is the fun part. After you have added the coffee to the boiling water, quickly remove the pot from the burner and stir the mixture briskly. At the start the mixture will appear very dark and sludge-y. You are aiming to reduce the sludge and end up with a very smooth looking liquid (having the appearance of dark but clear coffee).


Once you have stirred the liquid (a long teaspoon is preferred for mixing), return the pot to the burner and bring the mixture to a boil again. Then, once it begins boiling, quickly remove the pot and mix once again. Repeat this process about 6 times until the liquid becomes lighter (it will still be very dark) and clear of residue.

Once you are satisfied with the consistency of your coffee, pour into small mugs. Note that the coffee is generally served black, and G.'s mom says that adding milk/cream will distort the flavor.

• 

After the coffee has been drunk, there will tend to be dark grounds left over at the bottom of the cup. Now comes the fortune telling part! You can turn your mug over and allow the residue to drip out, into your saucer. There will be images left over in the cup. Once these have dried, they can be used to tell your fortune.


G's mom told us our fortunes. Apparently I have a very big, positive event, and an accomplishment in my future! I hope that the coffee grinds are right.