Eat Cake: A Novel Page 22
6. Serve room temperature with a light dusting of powdered sugar, if desired
The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. William Morrow Publishers, 1988.
Lady Baltimore Cake
For the cake layers
1 cup butter, at room temperature, plus additional for greasing pans
2 cups sifted sugar
3½ cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
8 large white eggs, at room temperature
For the frosting
2 cups sugar
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
½ cup raisins, finely chopped
6 dried figs, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brandy or sherry (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans with butter. Line the bottom with parchment. Grease parchment.
2. To make cake: Beat butter and sugar into a bowl at high speed until fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Mix milk and extracts into a measuring cup. Add flour mixture into butter mixture a little at a time, alternating with milk. Beat after each addition.
3. In a bowl, beat egg whites at a high speed until stiff. Fold into butter mixture. Divide batter among pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and cakes pull away from pan sides. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes before turning out.
4. To make frosting: Combine sugar and ½ cup water in a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites with salt in a bowl until frothy. Continue to beat and add hot syrup in a thin stream. Keep beating at high speed until the frosting forms stiff peaks. Mix in the nuts, raisins, figs, vanilla, and liqueur together and stir.
5. Spread the frosting between each layer and over the rest of the cake.
New York Times Magazine, April 21, 2002, from the article “Rich and Famous” by Julia Reed.
Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting
Makes 1 (8-inch) layer cake
ACTIVE TIME: 1HR START TO FINISH: 2 HR
For cake layers
2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup whole milk
2½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
For frosting
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup confectioners sugar
Lemon curd (recipe follows), chilled
Garnish: candied violets
MAKE CAKE LAYERS: Preheat oven to 375°. Butter 2 (8-by-2-inch) round cake pans and line bottoms of each with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.
Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir together milk and lemon juice (mixture will curdle).
Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour, mixing at low speed until just combined.
Divide batter between pans, smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.
MAKE FROSTING: Beat cream and confectioners sugar with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold one third of whipped cream into lemon curd to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream.
ASSEMBLE CAKE: Put 1 cake layer, rounded side up, on a cake plate and spread with one fourth of frosting. Top with second layer, rounded side up, and spread top and sides with remaining frosting. Decorate with candied violets.
COOKS’ NOTES: Cake can be assembled 1 day ahead and chilled in a cake keeper or loosely covered with plastic wrap (use toothpicks to hold wrap away from frosting). Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
This batter can be baked in 16 (½-cup) muffin cups about 15 minutes; or in a 13-by-9-inch baking pan about 25 minutes. Halve cake crosswise to form 2 (9-by-6½-inch) rectangles and layer in same manner as above.
Lemon Curd
Makes about 1⅓ cups
ACTIVE TIME: 20 MINUTES START TO FINISH 1¼ HOURS
½ cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
½ cup sugar
3 large eggs
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits
Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.
Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.
COOKS’ NOTE: Curd can be chilled up to 1 week.
Gourmet Magazine, January 2001
Oatmeal Stout Cake with a Chewy Oat Topping
Serves 10
Cake
1 cup old-fashioned oats (not instant), also called coarse oatmeal or Irish oatmeal
1¼ cups oatmeal stout or other dark stout beer, such as Guinness
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Chewy Oat Topping
¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup tightly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
½ cup old-fashioned (coarse) oats
½ cup lightly toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1. Two hours before you plan to put the cake in the oven, combine the oatmeal and the stout and in a small, non-reactive bowl; cover with plastic wrap and chill.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch springform or other 9-inch round cake pan with 3-inch-high sides. In the bowl of an electric mixer or a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until well combined and somewhat fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and orange zest.
3. Drain the chilled oat mixture, reserving the stout. Into a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the reserved stout in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Take care at this point not to overmix; just make sure the flour is moistened and all ingredients are evenly distributed. Fold in the oats and scrape the batter, which will be quite thick, into the prepared pan. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back when lightly touched, and the wooden skewer inserted there comes out clean. Remove the sides of the springform pan and cool the cake completely on a rack before topping.
4. To prepare the Chewy Oat Topping, preheat the broiler. Combine all the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl and scatter over the cooled cake in its pan, pressing the mixture onto the surface evenly. Place the pan under the broiler and cook, watching closely, until the topping is bubbling and golden. This sweet stuff can burn quickly, so don’t leave the pan under the heat and walk away! Cool the topped cake for at least 10 minutes. Slide slender spat
ula under cake to remove it from pan bottom and slide cake to serving plate, then serve warm or at room temperature. Good with vanilla or orange ice cream.
In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley. Artisan/Workman Publishers, 2001
Pistachio Cake
Makes 1 (13-by-9-inch) cake
ACTIVE TIME: 30 MIN START TO FINISH: 1 HR
If you are using salted pistachios, omit the ¼ teaspoon salt in the ingredient list.
¾ cup shelled natural pistachios (4 oz)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 13-by-9-inch metal cake pan, then line bottom with wax paper. Butter paper and dust with some flour, knocking out excess.
Pulse pistachios in a food processor until finely ground (be careful not to over process into a paste). Add 1 cup flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt and pulse once or twice to mix.
Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup.
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add pistachio flour and milk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, and mix at low speed until just combined.
Spread batter evenly in cake pan and bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around sides of cake and invert onto rack. Remove paper and invert cake onto a platter. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
COOKS’ NOTE: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely and keep, covered, at room temperature.
Gourmet Magazine, May 2001
Ruth’s Carrot Cake
1 cup corn or canola oil
1¼ cup honey
4 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup cake flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon (be generous)
3 cups grated carrots (use large, sweet, peeled carrots)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Heat oven to 325°. Mix oil and honey well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour and other dry ingredients. Add to oil and honey mixture and mix until just blended. Fold in grated carrots and nuts. Bake in two greased and floured 8-by-8-inch Pyrex baking pans for 30 to 35 minutes or until pick inserted in center comes out clean and cake is beginning to pull away from edges of pan.
You might cut the cake into wedges and serve it warm as a vegetable, as Ruth does, or let it cool, remove from the pans, and frost with your favorite cream cheese icing for dessert. How about one of each?
Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Rum-Plumped Raisins and a Spiked Sugar Glaze
Cake
¾ cup golden raisins
½ cup dark rum
2 large or 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup mild-flavored vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt, plus extra for salting the water
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¾ cup buttermilk
Additional unsalted butter, at room temperature, for greasing the pans
Additional all-purpose flour, for dusting the tins
Glaze
½ cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons whipping cream (35%)
Remaining rum macerating liquid from raisins
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt cake pan. In a small non-reactive bowl, soak the raisins in the rum for at least 30 minutes or several hours. Meanwhile peel the sweet potatoes, cut them in half and then cut each half into 4-inch slices. Place the slices into a pot of cool salted water, cover, and then bring the water to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and then cook until the sweet potatoes are very tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Drain off the water and allow the potatoes to air-dry for a few minutes, then use a potato masher or large fork to roughly mash them. Measure out 2 cups of the mash and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl with a whisk or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs a little just to break them up. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is thick and pale, about 2 minutes with a mixer, 3 if whisking by hand. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla, then beat to blend. Drain the raisins and set aside, but add ¼ cup of the rum macerating liquid to the batter. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and mix until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
3. Into a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the batter in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the raisins.
4. Pour the entire batter into bundt pan. Bake in the center of the oven 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, and the cake is just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake in the pan set on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto the rack. Set the rack over a baking sheet or large plate to catch the excess glaze. This cake must be glazed while still warm, so it absorbs the maximum syrup—so don’t take it out of the oven and go to the movies!
5. For the glaze, combine the brown sugar, butter, and cream in a small, heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Continue to boil until the mixture thickens somewhat, about 3 minutes, stirring often. Remove the glaze from the heat and stir in the rum. With a long wooden or metal skewer poke holes all over the cake, concentrating on the top. Spoon about half the warm glaze over the cake and let the cake and remaining glaze cool for 10 to 15 minutes, until it has thickened slightly. Pour the rest of the glaze over the cake, letting it dribble down the sides, then allow the cake to cool completely before cutting and serving or wrapping and storing.
In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley. Artisan/Workman Publishers, 2001
Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake
Serves 6
For topping
2½ firm pears (preferably Bosc)
½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
For cake
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup molasses (preferably mild)
1 cup boiling water
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Special equipment
A well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet
Or
A 12-inch deep nonstick skillet (handle wrapped with a double layer of foil if not oven proof)
MAKE TOPPING: Peel and core the pears and cut each into 8 wedges.
Melt butter in skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides.
Reduce heat to low, then sprinkle brown sugar over bottom of skillet and cook, undisturbed, 3 minutes (not all sugar will be melted). Arrange pears decoratively over sugar and cook, undisturbed, 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
MAKE CAKE: Preheat oven to 350°.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, clov
es, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together molasses and boiling water in a small bowl. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes, then alternately mix in flour mixture and molasses in 3 batches until smooth.
Pour batter over topping in skillet, spreading evenly and being careful not to disturb pears, and bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in skillet on a rack 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of skillet, then invert a large plate with a lip over skillet and, using pot holders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, invert cake onto plate. Replace any pears that stick to skillet. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Gourmet Magazine, February 2002
About the Author
JEANNE RAY works as a registered nurse at the First Clinic in Nashville, Tennessee. She is married and has two daughters. Together, she and her husband have ten grandchildren. She is the bestselling author of Julie and Romeo and Step~Ball~Change.
Permissions
GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material.
Artisan: “Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Rum-Plumped Raisins and a Spiked Sugar Glaze,” “Oatmeal Stout Cake with a Chewy Oat Topping,” “Almond Apricot Pound Cake with Amaretto,” and “Black Chocolate Espresso Cake with Bittersweet Glaze” from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley. Copyright © 2001 by Regan Daley. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing Co., Inc., New York.