Baumkuchen (Tree Cake)

The January 2014 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Francijn of “Koken in de Brouwerij“. She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake).

Now here is an interesting challenge! A cake made of many layers, with nothing to separate them. Is that an oxymoron?!

No! A thin layer is spread into the baking vessel, then cooked for a few minutes until it browns. Then, another thin layer of batter is placed on top, and the process is repeated until all the batter has been used, leaving you many individual layers (in my case, eight) of cake, all within one solid piece of cake!

Baumkuchen, also called tree cake because it resembles the wood grain (and if you were to make a round version that was cooked on a spit in rotisserie fashion, it would resemble the cross section of a tree trunk – HOW NEAT IS THAT?) requires that you stand there waiting for each layer to brown just enough so that you can then spread another layer of batter atop it. In other words, no, you cannot go do something else while the cake is in the oven, as you’ll need to stand there watching each layer intently for an hour or so (depending on how many layers you have). And make sure the top layer gets some golden brownness, otherwise you won’t be able to see the lines that separate the layers (which is the coolest part)!

This recipe was actually quite interesting in that it called for marzipan to be crumbled into and creamed with the butter. I decided to use almond paste as I often find marzipan to be too sweet, and went to my local co-op (PCC, which I love ), where they make it in house. And oh my, it was delicious! I was originally planning to make it myself but I was low on sugar and so grudgingly dragged myself to the store to buy a TUBE of who-knows-how-old almond paste from a manufacturer that likely uses glucose and corn syrup, etc. At the last moment, I decided to just pop into PCC on the off chance that they would have it, and they did. FRESH! I was so happy. J

And the almond paste really brought a delicious flavor to the cake. The taste was very good, although I found it to be a little heavy. I am not sure if I would make it again. I don’t mind the work, and I loved the flavor, but the weight of the pastry made ME feel heavy after eating a half piece. That didn’t stop me from eating more and more, but for my own sake, perhaps I will reincarnate these flavors into something a little lighter. All in all, it was a very interesting and fun challenge!

Baumkuchen

Adapted from Koken in de Brouwerij

Batter
6 large eggs (room temperature)
pinch of salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150 ml) (4-1/4 oz) (120 gm) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (5-1/3 oz) (150 gm) almond paste
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (1-3/4 sticks) (7 oz) (200 gm) softened unsalted butter
3/4 cup (180 ml) (3-1/2 oz) (100 gm) confectioner's (icing) sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (1 package) (8 grams) vanilla sugar (or use regular sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
2/3 cup (160 ml) (3-1/2 oz) (100 gm) all-purpose flour, or gluten-free flour blend, sifted

Glaze
1/3 cup (80 ml) (3½ oz) (100 gm) orange marmalade
2 tablespoons (30 ml) orange liqueur (optional)
1 cup (240 ml) (7 oz) (200 gm) dark chocolate couverture chunks
2 tablespoons pure coconut oil

Oil to grease your pan
Parchment paper
10-inch (25 cm) spring form pan / 8x8 inch (20x25 cm) cake tin

1. Preheat your oven to hot 450°F/230°C/gas mark 8.

2. Line your cake tin with parchment paper, grease both paper and tin.

3. Divide the eggs. Beat the egg whites with the salt until medium peaks form, add the sugar and beat until really stiff.

4. Crumble finely the marzipan in another bowl with the powdered sugar. Beat in with the softened butter, confectioner's (icing) sugar and vanilla sugar until soft and creamy. Add the egg yolks one by one and beat well between each addition. Add the stiff egg whites and flour and gently fold it into the batter, trying not to lose too much air.

5. Smear a thin layer of the batter on the bottom of the pan, keep the sides of the pan clean, and bake for (about) 4 minutes* in the oven, until it is cooked and brown. Take the pan out of the oven, smear the next portion of batter carefully over the first, and bake for another 4 minutes or until cooked and brown. Repeat until all batter is used. If you need to flatten a bubble insert a tooth pick or similar to deflate the bubble. 

6. Let the cake cool down for a few minutes, take it out of the pan, remove the parchment paper and let the cake cool completely on a wired rack. Trim the edges if you need to, to make a nice uniform shape. 

7. Heat the jam a little, pass it through a sieve, and add the orange liqueur (optional). Cover the cake with the jam and let it cool.

8. Melt the couverture with the coconut oil in a bowl above warm water. Pour it over the cake to cover completely, move the cake to a cool place and wait until the glaze is dry.

*The actual cook time will vary greatly depending on the thickness of your layer of batter, so just make sure you get some browning on top before smearing on the next layer.

Freezing and storage:  The tree cake tastes better when you wait one day before eating it. Eat within a week. Store in an airtight container. If you refrigerate it, bring to room temperature before eating. To freeze, cut into portions, wrap tightly in cling wrap and freeze up to two months.

Sfogliatelle Frolle (Daring Bakers - Nov 2013)

Ok, so I am incredibly late in posting my DB challenges. But I am still going to post them, right now!

Sandie of the lovely blog, Crumbs of Love, was our November 2013 hostess. Sandie challenged us to make a traditional Italian dessert, along with its American version – Sfogliatelle (or better known in the US – lobster tails). The flakey, 1000 layers of super thin dough, shaped into a horn and filled with a scrumptious filling. Così buono!

As much as I wanted to make the Sfogliatelle Ricci, with its many, intricate layers, the fact that I didn't have a pasta maker AND was working with a minimal amount of kitchen space turned me away. So I made the Frolle version.

The neat part of this challenge was that I learned to make my own ricotta cheese! Although ricotta is not something I use very often, I found it more economical to make my own organic ricotta than to buy it. And it was so easy, and thrilling to make my own!

I decided to the follow the recipe as-is rather than make a gluten free version, as I felt that the gluten would be essential to the development of the dough. Because of this, I cannot say exactly how good it turned out since had to rely on others to tell me (and I can never be sure if they have the same picky taste as me!). the texture seems very flaky and crunchy though (which I noticed as I watched others try it). 

I did, however, cheat a little and taste the Ricotta-Semolina filling, which was so delicious before it even went into the oven! To add more flavor, I diced up some candied orange peel my mother had made and added it to the filling. Sandie encouraged us to be creative with our flavor variation, but my mother's candied orange peel is so delicious, I couldn't think of anything better.

I do wish that the look of the Sfogliatelle Ricci was more beautiful, and I did try to make them bit cuter than instructed, but the dough was a bit tough to handle so I didn't achieve very much (other than making them my favorite shape - a circle). I guess not every dessert can be as visually appealing as a macaron. :)

The below recipes are directly from Crumbs of Love, with the exception of the ricotta cheese, which I have adapted from her recipe. 

Sfogliatelle Frolle 
Servings: 12 pastries

Dough

2 1/3 cups (560 ml) (11-1/2 oz) (325 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour
1/3 cup (80 ml) (2-2/3 oz)(75 gm) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon (3/4 gm) salt
8 tablespoons (4 oz) (115 gm) unsalted butter, cold
2 large eggs, beaten

Filling
See below. The filling recipe makes about 2x the amount needed for the amount of dough, and since there is raw egg in it, I am not sure how well the filling will keep, so I would suggest either halving the filling or doubling the dough. 

Egg Wash 
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
pinch salt

1. By hand: combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Remove the butter from the fridge and pound it a few times with a rolling pin to make it pliable. Add it to the flour and start rubbing it into the flour mixture with your fingertips, working from the bottom of the bowl upwards. Work quickly so the butter doesn't get warm from your hands. This only takes a minute or two to complete. Add the eggs and stir into the dough with a fork until it starts to hold together. Empty it out onto your workspace and knead it a few times. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill until firm. The dough can be made up to 3 days in advance.

2. Prepare the filling and chill it. Whisk the egg yolk, egg and salt together for the egg wash.

3. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into 5 inch (12-1/2 cm) rectangle . Place a hefty tablespoon amount of filling on the lower half of the dough and pull the top half over this. Use your hands to press down around the filling and seal the edges together (like making ravioli). Use a 3 inch (75 mm) round cookie cutter (or glass) and cut away any excess dough.

4. Place the formed frolle on a prepared baking sheet and chill for 2 hours

5. Preheat your oven to moderately hot 375°F/190°C/gas mark 5 

6. Brush the frolle with the egg wash and bake approximately 20 minutes, just until the frolle are baked through.

7. Cool briefly on a rack.

Semolina-Ricotta Filling  

1 cup (250 ml) milk
1/2 cup (120 ml) (4 oz) (115 gm) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (4 oz) (115 gm) fine semolina or cream of wheat (I tried the semolina version and it was great)
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (13-1/4 oz) (375 gm) whole milk ricotta, preferably fresh (see below)
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of one pod and 1 teaspoon of extract)
1/4 teaspoon (1 gm) ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (80 ml) (2 oz) (60 gm) candied orange peel (commercial or home-made)
zest of 1 lemon

Combine the milk and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and slowly add the semolina (or cream of wheat), whisking quickly as to avoid any lumps. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Spread the mixture onto a lined baking sheet, about 1/2 inch (15 mm), to cool. When cool, break into pieces and place into the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or a food processor), and add the ricotta cheese, egg yolks, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until very smooth and creamy. Stir in the candied orange peel and lemon zest.
Scrape into a container, place plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until needed (up to 3 days).

Fresh Ricotta Cheese (makes 2 cups)

Adapted from Crumbs of Love

8 cups (2 litres) whole milk (or goats milk)
1 cup (250 ml) heavy whipping cream (about 35%)
1/2 teaspoon (3 gm) salt
3 tablespoons (45 ml) fresh lemon juice

1. Line a large colander or strainer with 2 layers of lightly dampened cheesecloth over a large glass; set aside.

2. Pour the whole milk, heavy cream and salt into a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in the fresh lemon juice and let sit, 30-60 minutes. The mixture will curdle, which is exactly what you want it to do. Pour this into the cheesecloth lined strainer and let it drain for about 1 hour or until it comes to room temperature. At this point you can scrape the ricotta from the cheesecloth into a container and refrigerate for up to 2 days. 

3. The liquid in the bowl is the whey, a very nutritious and tasty leftover byproduct from making cheese. Don't throw it out - drink it or find another use for it!

Whey is usually a cloudy light yellow-ish color. When I made the ricotta, my "whey" wasn't as cloudy and yellow as I expected. I deduced it was because a lot of my milk solids didn't curdle, meaning it wasn't real whey (the first time I did it, I followed a different process, but after some research, came up with the above adapted process). So after the first batch of ricotta, I followed the process again and was able to get almost an equal amount of ricotta again. This is because ricotta is not traditionally made with milk; it's made with whey as a way (heehee) to use up this cheese-making byproduct, so you can get more out of your efforts by running through the process twice! How satisfying and resourceful!. :)

Princess Torte

Korena of Korena in the Kitchen was our May Daring Bakers’ host and she delighted us with this beautiful Swedish Prinsesstårta!

When I was a child, my family would get me Princess Torte for my birthdays. It was my mother's favorite cake. In my 20s, I got a part-time job at the bakery where my family bought these cakes (my favorite bakery), and thus was able to eat slices and slices whenever I wanted. However, I could never eat the marzipan. It was far too sweet and didn't have great flavor, so I always left it behind.



I was super excited to see that Princess Torte was the challenge for May. Its not a simple cake! It has layers of sponge cake, raspberry jam, pastry cream, whipped cream, and then marzipan draped over the top. The cake is beautiful to look at, with a marzipan rose placed on top. 

I have a friend that used to work in a Swedish Bakery, so I invited her to make this cake with me. The only component I had never worked with or made before was the marzipan, and let me tell you, homemade marzipan is so flavorful and delicious (albeit its still very sweet). The finished product was delightful. We used fresh strawberry compote plus some strawberry syrup I had made earlier in place of the raspberry jam, and colored the decorations naturally with beet powder and matcha (instead of food coloring). We were so happy with the results and so proud of ourselves (it didn't even take all day!). It was a beautiful, sunny day--perfect for enjoying a slice of princess torte. I later packaged up the rest for my family to also enjoy. 

Daring Bakers: Hidden Veggies

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

But first, let me tell you about Daring Bakers. Daring Bakers is awesome. Daring Bakers is a group of people that host and participate in a challenge every month. This was my first challenge, and I didn't realize how exciting it would be. I am so happy about this! It is so refreshing to be given as assignment, especially because I am the type that wants to try everything all at once, so some direction makes much better use of my time. But most importantly, you get to learn new things! Every month presents a new learning experience, and there are forums where you can share your thoughts and see what others have gained from the experience (in fact, you are almost required to post your challenge and express your thoughts). If you ask me, there should be a Daring everything--writers, artists, dancers, you name it. It's such a supportive idea.

So my first challenge was to incorporate veggies into a dessert. For a long time, I have been wanting to try black bean brownies. When I saw this challenge, I knew this was the perfect opportunity.

I used this recipe (omitting the chocolate chips and adding almond flakes) and I wouldn't say I recommend it, not because I don't believe in black bean brownies (I do!), but because I feel there is room for improvement in this particular recipe. Here are my thoughts:

• Making them was incredibly fast and easy--put everything in a blender and call it good.
• The recipe was very healthy. The beans add fiber and protein, plus there was very little fat. In fact, it's probably healthier than a granola bar.
• The outcome was a regular-looking brownie and regular-tasting brownie; it did not taste at all like beans! Ordinarily I would say regular-tasting is not good enough, but in this case, it was beyond good enough.
• My concerns were primarily around the following, which might be addressed by adding melted chocolate or more fat (if you have feedback on how to address the below, please do chime in):
• Texture: The brownie was very soft and lacked elasticity.
• Richness: The brownie, which did not include any chocolate (just cocoa), had a flat flavor.

Thank you, Mr. Boyfriend, for the rather professional photos. We tried to spice them up with some flowers (from my mom)...and it ended up looking pretty silly, like two brownies getting married! Next time, we will know better. :)

Inception

As I sit at the desk of my corporate job (which I love), I can't help but think daily about baked goods. So I've decided to document my ventures. My friend suggested this "company name" (which is more like a passion name since I am not running a business), and I liked it to so much that it inspired me to set up this blog.

Day in and day out, I think about how I can create something in the kitchen. Maybe it is because I lack creative exercise in other parts of life. Maybe this is really my favorite way to experiment, learn, and be creative. I'm not sure, but I know it is such a strong feeling that I often cannot focus on anything other than daydreaming about my next confectionary creation.

I've been baking since I was in middle school and as I've gotten older, my interest has only grown. The past few years, I have delved into slightly more complex pastries, like layered sponge cakes and French macarons. Being Armenian, I grew up around many delicious pastries. I like to credit my culture for my high standards with baked goods, but I love trying pasties that come from all over the world because each country has their own dessert to be very proud of. So I tend to do a lot of research, but also try to put my own spin on things since baking is really a creative outlet (for me), and I love incorporating personal tastes into my desserts.

Recipes are great, but it's important to use your mind too. Branching out and making the dessert truly yours is the most satisfying aspect of baking. The point is to be creative wherever you feel it is necessary. It's culinary arts, after all!