Pastel De Elote: Mexican Sweet Corn Cake

If a cake and cornbread got married… This is an addicting little cake. It’s beautiful in a simple but elegant way, too. I confess that it becomes an “every single morning” part of my breakfast routine whenever I bake it. Dusted with just enough powdered…

Breakfast Dishes, Cakes, Desserts, Vegetarian

September 21, 2020

Wow! Jalapeno Cheddar Bread

Do you have an undiagnosed case of mageirocophobia? That would be a fear related to some form of cooking. If you do, you are not alone. People have all kinds of specific phobias about food and cooking. Apparently, there are people who are afraid of…

Breads, Vegetarian

September 15, 2020

A Party On Your Plate: Chocolate and Almond Torte

A lot of people have had a lot to say about cake.

There was, of course Marie “Let them eat cake” Antoinette.

Julia Child famously quipped “A party without a cake is really just a meeting.”

British PM Boris Johnson stated his position on cake: “My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it.” (What a comedian!)

So…you guessed it!…our theme today on Blue Cayenne is cake.

This time it is a chocolate torte rich with almond flour. Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream next to it and you’ll have a party on your plate.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate and Almond Torte

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Ingredients

2 1/3 C. sliced almonds
5 large eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (roughly chopped)
1 C. Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 t. Kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and position your oven rack in the middle of the oven.
Spread almond slices on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until they are golden brown. This will take 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the almonds once midway through baking. Watch the almonds carefully so that you don't burn them. Cool almonds to room temperature.
Lower oven temperature setting to 300 degrees F. Prepare a round 9-inch cake pan by greasing it thoroughly or spraying it with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment and grease (or spray) the parchment.
Crack eggs in a measuring cup and add the vanilla to the eggs. Mix and set aside.
Measure out 2 cups of toasted almonds and put them into your food processor. Process the almonds for about 20 or 30 seconds watching them carefully to be sure you don't over-process and turn the almonds into almond butter. Once the almonds are finely ground, add the chopped chocolate to the food processor bowl and process until the chocolate is finely ground. You should be able to get this done in fewer than 15 pulses of the food processor. Add sugar and salt and process until combined, scraping the bowl of your processor as necessary. With the machine running, slowly pour in the egg/vanilla mixture. Continue to process until the batter is smooth and well-combined. This should take another 15 to 20 seconds.
Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with 1/3 C. toasted almonds. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the center of the cake feels firm when you gently press it. I had to give my cake a little extra time in the oven. Ovens vary, of course. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out with sticky moist crumbs attached but not with liquid batter attached.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Using a kitchen knife, run the knife around the edge of the cake to make it easier to release the cake from the pan. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and peel off the parchment liner. This cake is very moist and tender, so handle it carefully and take your time. Reinvert the cake onto a serving platter.
Serve the cake warm or at room temperature. The center of the cake will probably be more moist than the outer edges of the cake--a bit like a fudge filling. Serve with a scoop of your best vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition

Calories

4538 cal

Fat

188 g

Carbs

427 g

Protein

62 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

https://bluecayenne.com/a-party-on-your-plate-almond-chocolate-cake

This recipe is adapted from a Milk Street recipe. You can find the original recipe here.

Cakes, Desserts, Vegetarian

September 13, 2020

Beautiful Indulgent Cauliflower Soup

Comfort food. This cauliflower soup is flavorful and oh-so-creamy. Topping it with big buttery bread crumbs elevates it from excellent to exceptional. It’s the perfect comfort food for these difficult times. By the way, did you know that cauliflower is 92% water? How interesting is…

Cauliflower, Soups, Vegetables, Vegetarian

September 8, 2020

A Fleeting Season and A Savory-Sweet Fig Tart

It’s September, people! It’s fig season here in the Northern Hemisphere. Buy figs now while you can during their excruciatingly short season from August through early October. Figs, a member of the mulberry family, are among the oldest fruits consumed by humans. That said, figs…

Desserts, Fruit, Fruits, Pastries, Vegetarian

August 28, 2020

Meditating on Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Homemade bread.

It’s having a renaissance if you haven’t noticed.

You have only to look at the nearly-empty flour shelves in your local grocery store to know that people are baking. Bread flour isn’t the only baking ingredient in short supply; don’t even think about trying to buy yeast. In one week in mid-March of this year yeast sales were up 647% over the same week in 2019.

But why?

Michael Kocet, a mental health counselor and professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology has a theory. He argues that baking is a form of therapy. It delivers a much needed sense of accomplishment during this time of angst and unknowns, giving us something concrete to create, control and enjoy when we have the finished product. This helps to reduce the anxiety stemming from the unfamiliarity of dealing with a pandemic.

I know that I can certainly testify to the meditative effect of kneading bread on a tough day. I’ve gone through fifty pounds of bread flour during the last five months!

Sourdough baking has become my passion of late, thanks to my perky sourdough starter, Kellyanne. In fact, my Kellyanne is happily bubbling and burping on my kitchen counter as I write this. I bake sourdough bread at least twice a week. (A conceit in the sourdough baking world is to give a name to your starter, by the way.)

Sourdough doesn’t have a lock on my baking, though. There have been all kinds of bread experiments emanating from my pandemic kitchen of late–challah, focaccia, banana breads and this absolutely wonderful Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread.

Here’s the recipe.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

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Ingredients

For the Dough

2 1/4 t. active dry yeast (1 package)
1 1/2 C. lukewarm milk
1/3 C. granulated sugar
1 T. kosher salt
3 T. melted butter
2 eggs
5 t0 6 C. all-purpose flour

For the Filling

1/3 cup dry sherry (or apple cider)
1 1/2 C. raisins
4 T. melted butter
1/2 C. dark brown sugar
1 T. ground cinnamon
Cinnamon sugar for dusting (optional)

Instructions

To prepare the dough, dissolve yeast in 1/4 C. of lukewarm milk in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let it sit for a few minutes until the mixture begins to foam. Stir in the remaining warm milk, sugar, butter, salt, and eggs. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer, add flour and mix for about 2 minutes. Then, change to the dough hook attachment and knead until you have a stiff and slightly tacky dough. This will take about 10 minutes. If necessary to get the right texture, you can add a bit more flour.
Grease a large bowl with butter and put the dough into the bowl. Immediately, flip the dough in the bowl so that both sides of the dough are greased. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise. You want the dough to double. This will take between 1 1/2 and 2 hours. Butter two 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pans.
While the dough is rising, make the filling. Put the sherry in a small pan and bring to a boil. Lower the temperature and simmer the sherry until it has reduced by half. Remove from the heat and stir in the raisins. Cover and let the raisins absorb the sherry. If, after a while, your raisins aren't "plumping" sufficiently, add a bit of hot water to the pan. Set aside.
Once your dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl. Find a flat surface in your kitchen, dust it with flour and knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Return the dough to the greased bowl. Let it rise again. This time, your rise should be for about 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl and put it back on the lightly-floured counter. Use the palm of your hand to press the dough down to expel the air in the dough. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Roll one of the halves of the dough into a 16 by 8 inch rectangle. Brush the top of the dough with some butter. Drain the raisins and mix with brown sugar and cinnamon. Scatter half of the raisin mixture and its juices onto the rectangle of dough being careful to spread the raisins evenly across all parts of the rectangle. Starting with the short side of the dough rectangle, roll the dough into a tight 8-inch log. Tuck the ends of the log under the log to seal your loaf. Place your dough roll into a buttered loaf pan seam side down. Brush the top of the roll with butter and dust the top of the loaf with cinnamon sugar.
Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Cover the loaves with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour. You want the dough to rise until it is just above the edges of the pans.
Bake the loaves in a preheated 400 degree F. oven for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, lower the oven heat to 350 degrees F. and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread at 200 degrees. The top of the loaves should be a rich golden brown and the bottom of the loaf, when tapped, should sound hollow.