Julia Child's "Reine de Saba"

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I know.  I am ashamed at how long it has been since my last update.  I have been busy mind you, just not in the kitchen.  To see my inspiration back into the oven, I looked to a classic author and talented chef: Julia Child.  I love her recipes because they are French, but explained clearly and simply, so that whether you are advanced or a beginner you can follow the recipes at your own pace.  Unlike my experience with books such as “Sucré” from Ladurée, who although have lavish gorgeous recipes, they are not for the beginner or faint hearted (average time to prepare a cake is 2 hours minimum) and do not go the extra mile to explain how far to mix ingredients and what to look after.  So for instance, it is arrogantly assumed the reader must know what a “génoise” batter should look like. 

With Julia, you can be sure to be guided well, politely and seriously.

The “Reine de Saba” cake was easy to make.  The only tricky part was in the oven as my cake did not rise exactly as described in the writing, and I thus got a bit confused as to when was the right time to pull my cake out.  It was just slightly over done as a result, but the cake was far from ruined.

Another great point about this recipe is that there is no raising agent.  The rising is done through the eggs.

After the overly sweet confections of the Hummingbird, this French recipe is rightly balanced with a rich chocolate cake that is light and sweet enough to bring out the flavours of the cocoa.  The chocolate butter icing is simply a perfect combination and adds the creaminess to balance out the whole.

To be sure, both the presentation and delicate flavours of this cake will impress your cake eating friends and yourself!

At the end of the day, when it comes to cakes, the French know what they are talking about.

Reine de Saba (Queen of Saba) ingredients:

4 oz. plain chocolate melted with 2 tbls of coffee or rum

¼ lb softned butter

¼ lb castor sugar

3 egg yolks

3 egg whites

1 tbl of castor sugar and a pinch of salt

2 oz. pulverised almonds

2 oz. cake flour (plain)

Icing:

2 oz. plain chocolate

2 oz. unsalted butter

1 tbl of coffee or rum

DJ Cake

It’s with great excitement that this post announces my first official commission!  I was asked to make and design a special cake in the shape of a DJ mixing desk (as the birthday person in question is – you guessed – a DJ)!

The work was hard as this cake was large: 40cm x 30cm.  I had to buy a lot of equipment I could not find in my local supermarkets.  I also discovered the new world for me of sugar paste (or regalice/royal icing), which although looks like playdough behaves very much like clay but in the reverse: the more you handle it, the more it turns into mush.  So I had to work fast and needed to develop a technique to keep my shapes clean.

My advice for this post will be to make sure to practice on techniques you are unfamiliar with before heading full on making a large cake.  This cake also took me 2 days to make: one day for baking and prep; one day for decorating.  This kind of cake decorating is very time consuming and requires trial and error.  The process was new to me.

I will also share information regarding the “glue” I used between the cake and the icing.  English recipes with sponges use warmed apricot jam.  But as my cake was chocolate, I made a white chocolate ganache from a recipe and technique I found on this great youtube video.

The recipe for this cake was the same as my previous post with the quantities doubled.  I used on an average of 2.5 Kg of icing, which I dyed with a range of natural food colourings.

Chocolate and Almond Cake

This recipe is one I have created recently based on the chocolate brownie recipe from the Hummingbird (see my previous post).

I have reduced the sugar content, used a good quality 90% coco chocolate and have added ground almonds.  I have also baked the cake in an 8-inch round cake tin and increased the baking time to 45 minutes. 

The result is a rich cake very similar to a French “moelleux au chocolat” or a mock flourless chocolate cake.  The quality of the chocolate very much affects the taste of the cake and I would advise on paying the little extra in quality as it makes a big difference.

Ingredients used:

200 g Dark 90% Swiss Chocolate

175 g Unsalted Butter

250 g Caster Sugar

130 g Plain Flour

50g Ground Almonds

3 Eggs

Mrs Beeton’s Easter Simnel Cake

I have hesitated whether or not to add this post, but I want my blog to be open and honest about the process of baking.   And the truth is baking is difficult at times, and mistakes and “failures” are part of the process. 

So this post will explain a couple of mistakes I made in this round of my baking ventures.  

A Simnel cake is a classic English Easter cake.  The recipe I used was from “The Best of Mrs Beeton’s Cakes & Baking.”  Mrs Beeton is a very interesting Victorian author from London and I would highly recommend this wikipedia page for further info.  I have made several cakes from this recipe book and it is a valuable bible of time-tested English classics.  The cake is a kind of fruitcake with ground almonds.  It is baked with a layer of marzipan or almond paste in the middle.  It is also topped with an English tradition of a layer of marzipan/almond paste and royal icing.

I made Mrs Beeton’s Simnel cake for the first time last year and it turned out beautifully.  It is really delicious, especially if you are an almond lover as that taste comes through and gives a beautiful texture to the cake.  From last year’s cake I can also testify that although this is technically a fruitcake, it is not as heavy as a traditional fruitcake and tastes more like a cake with dried fruit in it (if that makes sense) than an alcoholic tinged version. 

So I know for a fact that Mrs Beeton’s recipe is a good one.  However, this Easter it went rather wrong, and I believe there were 2 important reasons for that.  I wanted to publish this post as the reasons in question are perfect examples of what not to do when baking and why it is always so important to follow instructions to the letter – or adapt accordingly.

Reason No 1: Sugar

I used unrefined caster sugar instead of the refined one.  I believe that this affected the taste of both the cake and the almond paste.  Unrefined caster sugar can work in some instances for certain recipes, but in this one it altered the taste too much and did not manage to bring out the sweetness required.  It also did not dissolve properly I believe for the almond paste.  This resulted in a more unrefined almond paste, both in texture and taste.

Reason No 2: The size of the cake tin

Last year I used the stated round cake tin size of 18cm / 7 inch.  As I did not have this size this year I used my own round tin that was larger: 20cm / 8 inch.  I was fooled to think that such a small difference would not be a big deal.  As I used the same baking time as the recipe stated my cake came out not burnt, but almost biscuit-like.  The taste was strange to say the least, and texture was bizarre.  I should have reduced my baking time by the very least.

So there it is: my mistakes are out in the open.  I will attempt to make this cake again in the near future.  Just need to save up some cash for the ingredients… But all in all it was a good learning experience.  I did like my decorations too!           

Ingredients used:

Cake

200 g Plain Flour

½ Tsp Baking Powder

¼ Tsp Salt

150 g Caster Sugar

150 g Unsalted Butter

100 g Glacé Cherries (halved)

150 g Currants

150 g Sultanas

100 g Seedless Raisins

50 g Cut Mixed Peel

50 g Ground Almond

Grated Rind of 1 Lemon

Almond Paste

450 g Ground Almonds

200 g Caster Sugar

200 g Icing Sugar

2 Tsp Lemon Juice

Few Drops of Almond Essence

2 Eggs (beaten)

 

I would like to point out that although delicious the Simnel cake is pricy as it uses a lot of ground almonds, almond paste (that you can easily make from scratch!) and dried fruit.  In addition, this is a time-consuming venture as the total baking time is 2.5 hours.

Classic Brownies Made with Swiss Chocolate

A work event induced me to make these as rumour has it everyone loves chocolate and brownies (pretty much).  The hummingbird recipe’s disclaimer that these classic brownies are known to literally fly off the shelves (selling several trays a day) also turns out to be most probably true as my brownies did not spend much time on their serving plate at work.

This was a very easy recipe to make.  The mixing of ingredients is straightforward and would be very hard to mess up.  I would certainly recommend this to first time bakers.  The trickiest bit is the baking time and finding the right timing.  I would therefore recommend a practice batch first if you are planning to serve these to friends.  I helped my boyfriend make some the week before and we left them for too long in the oven, which resulted in slightly hard edges and not as moist a cake.  You have to take the brownies out literally at the moment you see a skin forming on the top.  The tray will seem very gooey, but the batter will harden when cooling, which is why you should not leave these babies in for too long (at most 30 minutes, depending on your oven of course).

I added some decadence by using good quality dark Swiss chocolate and yes quality ingredients, like chocolate, really do make a difference.  Be warned, these brownies are incredibly addictive!

Ingredients used:

200 g Dark (70%) Swiss Chocolate

175 g Unsalted Butter

325 g Caster Sugar

130 g Plain Flour

3 Eggs

Optional: Icing Sugar to Decorate

Ross’ Birthday Cake

A friend’s birthday this weekend was a perfect occasion for this delish chocolate layer cake with white chocolate cream filling.  Even my little pooch wanted a sniff!  I think it worked a treat.

The recipe is the same as my previous post on 21 February.

Banana Two

I am so excited: this is officially my first very own recipe (I can’t believe it – a penned recipe)!  I had a little craving for banana cake this morning, so ventured on to make the banana loaf from the hummingbird recipe book.  I had loved it when I made it exactly one month ago (see earlier post), but I wanted a slightly stronger banana flavour in the dough, and I also had en “envie” for some walnuts to add some contrast texture and crunch.  For this recipe I also went on to add more spices.  The results are super yummy!  I ABSOLUTELY love this loaf!  A great banana flavor, sublte sweetness and cosy warmth with the spices.  You can see from the photo too how different the loaf looks.  I love the colour combination and the blackness coming out with the bananas and walnuts.  I am a happy baker!

Ingredients used:

270 g Soft Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

300 g Peeled Bananas (mashed)

280 g Plain Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

½ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

¼ Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/8 Teaspoon Ground Allspice

140 g Unsalted Butter (melted)

100 g Crushed Walnuts

Chocolate layer cake with white chocolate cream filling

Shared this cake at MPC today.  My lovely sister who works there brought it over as I have to begin to give my baking endeavours away or I will turn into a plump sponge myself (yes clothes are already beginning to feel tighter)…  It’s a great feeling to have others eat my creations that make them happy!  It makes the process of making the cake even more worthwhile.  I have to say I was quite nervous to bring that cake to the MPC office because I could not taste the cake myself.  I did give my sister specific instructions for honest feedback as I am still learning – so am happy the result went down so well.

I am still exploring various sponge options (a post will be coming soon regarding various “génoises”), but I so wanted to make a layer cake last night that I decided to go with what I knew with a twist.  I essentially made the same cake as my previous post “White Layer Cake with Chocolate Cream Filling” with an inversion: chocolate layer cake (Hummingbird recipe for chocolatecupcakes with white chocolate cream filling (Eric Lanlard recipe with white chocolate instead of dark). 

I used a new stencil of my dog Kaiser for the decoration. I can only confirm the taste of the cream filling (could not damage the cake), which was a really nice subtle white chocolate twinge to a classic whip cream overall flavour.  I suspect the chocolate cake was quite sweet as it was the same recipe as the white one only with added cocoa powder.  Sweet (especially chocolate) with cream is always a winning combination, so I can probably imagine why it went down a treat.

A big thank you to the brave ones who tasted and for the support!

Ingredients used:

Chocolate Cake

300 g Plain Flour

60 g Cocoa Powder

420 g Caster Sugar

4 ½ Teaspoons of Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

120 g Unsalted Butter

360 ml Whole Milk

3 Eggs

¾ Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

White Chocolate Cream

100 ml Single Cream

100 g White Chocolate

600 ml Double Cream

600 ml Double Cream

"Quatre-Quarts"

My mind has gone thinking since making my white layer cake (a Hummingbird vanilla cupcake recipe) with chocolate cream filling (by Eric Lanlard).  I now want to make a similar white cake but with a white chocolate filling.  I was quite tempted to simply throw myself into making the same cake and substitute dark chocolate for white chocolate, but I first wanted to check out other white cake bases. 

Tonight I decided on a classic French Quatre-Quarts (the equivalent to an English pound cake).  The recipe involves weighing a given amount of eggs (cracked) and using the same in weight each of sugar, butter and flour.  It is very close to a sponge in terms of proportions in the ingredients, but the method and chronology of the mixing is different, and this results in quite varying cakes.

The result of tonight’s proceedings came about beating the eggs and sugar together and then beating in the butter melted.  After that the flour was sifted to the mixture and mixed gently.  I have to say it was literally quick and easy.

My cake turned out quite refined but slightly on the heavier side.  It was very satisfying as its own “gâteau.”  If I used it for the base of my layer cake though I am worried it might become a bomb in the stomach.  I am still happy I tried this version out.  It seems to be the base for many loaf cake recipes I realise.  I now have a new approach to mixing ingredients too and outlook.

Onwards next to the classic sponge attempt (and then I shall choose)!

Ingredients used for this cake

3 eggs (weighing 175 g once cracked)

175 g sugar

175 g melted butter

175 g flour

White layer cake with chocolate cream filling

This cake marks a departure for me.  I fancied making a layer cake today.  Following the outcome of my last cake from the Hummingbird recipes (the carrot cake) I decided to trust my creativity today and combine two recipes.  To me, the Hummingbird frosting is simply too sweet and powerful.  I find it takes away from the lovely taste of the cake.  So I chose to replace the frosting with a more traditional French alternative used in a lot of European pastry making: cream. 

I had kept notes of a recipe from French cake maker Eric Lanlard from one of his TV shows where he essentially prepares a chocolate whipped cream that is whipped to the point where it almost becomes butter.  Hard (bar) chocolate is added to the cream by mixing it first with warm cream to make a ganache-like mixture that can then be incorporated to and mixed with whipped cream.  With an electric whisk it takes no time to make.  Mind you, as I learned today, make sure to use double and not single cream (my single cream never whipped … after 45 minutes of trying – the double cream whipped in 5 …).  For my cake I used the basic vanilla cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird and multiplied the quantities by 3 so that I could have 3 layers to my cake. 

 The result is really delicious!  The white cake is moist and creamy (it must be that milk added to the batter).  The chocolate cream has no sugar and cuts through and balances the sweetness of the cake.  The result is truly satisfying.  Would be interesting to see what happens if the vanilla extract for the sponge were to be replaced with actual vanilla beans.

With this new cream mixture in the place of the American frosting I am so much happier with the results.  I definitely think I am going to use it more from now on.  I already have ideas how with a whipped cream base instead of chocolate I could add fruit jams, or pureed chestnuts, to make a range of very different tasting cakes simply by changing the filling.

It is one of my most professional looking cakes I think too.  I made a stencil of my dog to decorate it with and am thinking of using that technique more in the future as it gives the cake a true sense of identity. 

Ingredients used (will be doing this from now on):
Cake
360 g Plain Flour
420 g Caster Sugar
4 ½ Teaspoons of Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
120 g Unsalted Butter
360 ml Whole Milk
3 Eggs
¾ Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Chocolate Cream
100 ml Single Cream
100 g Dark 70% Chocolate
600 ml Double Cream

Carrot Cake

 It’s the cake that sounds healthy but is decadent!  I love layer cakes as they really make you feel like you have made a “real” cake.  There is so much room to experiment with decorating as well.  As I am only just beginning I went the traditional route for this one and added a few silver balls.

I chose carrot cake as it is an American and British classic.  The Hummingbird recipe for the sponge was really good.  I realise I should have chopped my walnuts more for it, but otherwise there is nothing bad for me to say other that the filling/topping. 

 

I used a cream cheese frosting that this recipe required, and it was this component that ruined the cake in my mind.  The frosting was ridiculously sweet.  Alarm bells started ringing when I saw myself (following the recipe) mixing 600g of icing sugar to make this specific icing … It was this sugar that gave a sickening taste.  The problem was aggravated as the carrot cake sponge itself was already quite sweet.  A simple topping to ease that sweetness is all that would be needed in my mind.

My boyfriend and I had very upset stomachs because of the frosting.  It was a real shame as the cake itself was so good.  I would like to find another cream cheese frosting recipe, as the cream cheese gives a great taste with the carrot.  My boyfriend thought of simply mixing the cream cheese with some honey and using that.  Perhaps it could be an option.  I will definitely watch out for that Hummingbird frosting in the future.

In any event, looks-wise I was quite pleased.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake

I made this cake for the first time around a year ago.  It is a really interesting cake because it only uses egg whites as opposed to whole eggs.  It has a low butter content (only 85g) and almost 3 times that amount of sugar and flour.  The result is a light sponge that is not dry but super moist.  The lemon flavour is all natural coming from lemon zest in the cake itself, as well as an optional lemon glaze and syrup.

The first time I made this cake I only had the sponge part (the cake really) and very much enjoyed it.  It was not too sweet but still satisfying.  On my second attempt last week I did add the 2 optional components, which were quick and easy to fix up.  They made quite a difference.  For a start my cake ended up looking very posh and dressed up – as if bought from a shop!  The added elegance added a bit of drama.  But looks aside, the glaze and syrup deepened the lemon taste and gave a contrasting texture with the sponge, as the glaze hardened slightly.  This cake, complete with glaze and syrup, was a proper desert, whereas without those 2 added sugary elements it’s more of a tea-time cake.

Banana Loaf

Now this one makes me smile each time I think of it.  It’s a simple loaf, but I obsessed over it and wanted to get it just right on the first day of my first attempt!  I went to see my friend one afternoon last week.  She is a new mother, and as the weather was cold I thought we could have a girly afternoon in and I offered to make a cake for her over at her house.  The recipe was a standard of eggs, flour, butter, baking powder and baking soda with soft brown sugar, some spices (cinnamon and ginger) and of course bananas.  The butter addition was unusual in that it was melted and was the last ingredient added to the batter.  In a classic sponge, the butter would be combined to the sugar first followed by eggs and dry ingredients. 

My friend had very ripe bananas, close to rotten really.  It added a lovely strong deep banana taste to the loaf.  However her oven was very hot and burned the cake a little at the top.  When I got back home I just couldn’t help myself and simply had to try it again (why not?).  On this second attempt my bananas were quite fresh as I had to buy them from the shop.  I also used brown muscovado sugar.  The result was that the banana taste was much subtler and the brown sugar taste came out much more strongly as an after taste (this is the cake pictured).

What can I say, both cakes were really good – just different.  If I were to make this cake again I would add another 150g or so of bananas if they were fresh.  I am now also intrigued to see what would happen were I to use white sugar in place of the brown.

A Hummingbird Start

Baking is an art and skill, and as I feel I am very much an apprentice I thought what better way to start then with easy American baking classics.  I live in London, and the Hummingbird Bakery is a regular haunt of mine, although I must confess I love the Primrose Bakery too.  Both are different and offer equally delicious American pastries alternatives.  But as I received the Hummingbird Bakery recipe book first, it is with the bird that I have begun my practicing.

The recipes are great because in each one you get to exercise what I would call the “art of mixing.”  In baking, as some of you may already know, after accurate measurement of ingredients, mixing is a crucial stage in the baking process and can mean the difference between success and utter disaster.  In the Hummingbird cakes there is only one element to make (counting the frostings and glazes out): the cake!  Perfect – as you can focus on making great sponges, which means only one mixture to make and perfect each time.

This last week I made 3 different cakes from this book: lemon poppy seed cake, banana loaf and carrot cake.  I have individual posts for each!

My very first post

I love cakes.  I can’t stop making them and I love to eat them too.  Being a trained ballet dancer and choreographer by that, my passion for baking may come as a surprise to some. 

I have been making so many cakes and my friends and family love them so much that often only crumbs remain.  Once eaten my pastries vanish and the only traces left are in memory.  That is when the idea of a blog came in.  So see this one as a diary of my baking and pastry-making ventures.  I go through phases and flashes of creativity, starting with wild outbursts of sometimes 2 cakes a day but teetering down at times to only a few a month as I do like to take my time reading hundreds of recipes and authors and finding the ones I feel drawn to explore. 

I hope this will tempt you to eat more cake and bake more too, as I think eating pastries and baking them makes everyone happier and is one of the truly magical pleasures in life!