Cake Monday: Toll House Crumb Cake

I got rave reviews for the last coffee cake I made so instead of trying something with the esoteric name Orange Glow Chiffon Cake, I decided to make another coffee cake. Why be fancy? But I adapted the method from The Cake Bible. Unlike the stubborn frustrating butter cakes, this method works just fine for this cake, resulting in a moist, tender crumb.

Toll House Crumb Cake

Topping:
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed and sifted
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar and butter. Use two knives or a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until it is the size of peas. Mix in the nuts and chocolate chips by hand. Set aside.

Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream of plain lowfat yogurt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9x13 inch rectangular pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, lightly combine eggs, vanilla, and sour cream/yogurt. Set aside

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are just moistened. Scrape down the sides. Increase speed to medium and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides. Add the remaining egg mixture in 3 batches until just combined. Scrape down the sides. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Cover the batter with the topping. Be generous. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Reactions

The Prime Minister came out and made his plea for cool heads and reconciliation, promising help to rebuild. The curfew is still in effect tonight. I don't know if there will be a curfew on Sunday night as well.

From what I've read on the blogosphere and in the English newspapers, people are divided, as is often the case in polarizing events such as this. There is much bitterness; bitterness for the Red Shirts that they did not reach their objective--although it must be admitted in hindsight that the dissolution of parliament was a long shot. Bitterness for the pro-government supporters that action wasn't swift enough and indignation that the government was powerless to prevent the arson fires that took place. Hundreds are jobless and perhaps ruined.

An enduring mystery is why the temple that was supposed to be a weapon-free zone had so many weapons and why there were six bodies there, all shot, one of them a young Red Cross worker. Then there are the pictures that got people buzzing: the Red Shirt leaders enjoying their incarceration in air conditioned bungalows at a border patrol camp.

Meanwhile, the person the government is accusing of bankrolling the protests is now denying he was in any way involved, much less its leader, though thousands saw and heard his night-time messages of encouragement. I am speaking of Thaksin, former Prime Minister and thorn in the side of every PM since his ouster in 2006, including his own party's. Not one has managed to hang on until the next election. His postscript is not yet written, partly because he has gone underground again, and mostly because he's so good at it. Pied Piper of Promises.

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Recommended reading The Wheel of Life Turns at Ratchaprasong by Jeffrey Race. Race sees parallels and missed opportunities in Thailand's past and present. It seems the country is doomed to repeat its past (isn't that what they say about history too?) or until a hero arrives to save us from ourselves. Such a person has yet to make an appearance. Some of my Thai friends have expressed a yearning for the bad old days of dictatorship. Wishful thinking that's also not new.

Don't Believe Everything You Read on Facebook

Andy called: pack your bags, we're going to Haad Chao Samran for the weekend. The Reds are going to cut power to the city.

According to the Facebook site that we've been following for the latest news on the Red Shirt Rally, some Red hold-outs were going to attack a power station. Their staging area was reportedly just outside Bangkok at the property of a Red MP. Andy called all his friends. He told Mimi if she had to, she should take Mama to the hospital where she'd be safer than at home. Mimi said, just go. He called Boong and told her to look after Gigi.

We threw together a change of clothes for 3 days, swimsuits, sunblock, snacks, laptops and DVDs, and piled everything into the CR-V. We left the house and drove towards Bang Na intersection, a huge concrete monstrosity of elevated highways going over the river, up the river, beside the river and away from the river. Sort of like Washington DC's Mixing Bowl, only I'd say this is more like ruammit--a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of confusion mixed in because of the Thai predilection for giving incomplete directions; the infamous thinoon! or "over there!"

On our way, we passed the supposed staging area and saw enough policemen to deter any Red Shirt determined to be stupid. Andy checked the internet on his iPhone; the Facebook announcement had been retracted. We turned around. He called his friends. He called Mimi. He called Boong.

It only cost us Baht 20 for the toll.

In the Aftermath

School was closed today so we tried to visit some of our usual stops. The noodle shop outside Seacon Square was open but Seacon itself was closed. Uniformed guards and people frowning into their walkie talkies were wandering around the perimeter. The club was open but not crowded with the usual faces. There was even seating in Starbucks at the height of the afternoon heat. The supermarket was crowded though, but the air conditioners and the refrigeration units had conked out. The dairy products had been moved to buckets filled with ice. Most vegetables and fruit, except the expensive imports, were gone. No eggs for the second day in a row. Rather than risk food poisoning, I passed up anything raw and uncooked. We have enough food at home anyway; tonight we had skillet pizza.

The curfew hours have shifted from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. tomorrow and will extend to the weekend. So far, it is quiet in the streets, but the number of places that were set on fire by arsonists has grown to nearly forty. The city says that CentralWorld will have to be demolished; it cannot be saved. The worst is the terrible loss of life. Sadly, they found the bodies of at least six people, all shot, inside a temple that was supposed to be neutral territory in the middle of the fighting. The government spokesman said that emergency services received a call for help from the temple but guards would not permit them to enter the grounds.  It remains to be seen if the government will investigate what happened at the temple. To its credit, the Abhisit government has tried to be transparent and publish accurate figures of those killed and injured; a vast difference from May 1992 when estimates of those killed and injured ranged from a mere dozen to hundreds.

 

Red Shirt Rally Day 69: Descent into Chaos

The government has imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. tonight until 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Today the government soldiers moved in on the protesters at their Rajaprasong rally site. The Red Shirt leaders surrendered. One reportedly told the Red Shirts to stop fighting while another is said to have told them to keep up the fight. Leaderless, the protesters became a mob that looted and set fire to buildings, including a TV station. Five people died today. All this is according to reports from CNN and The Nation website.

All this tragedy happened on a beautiful sunny day. The school had let us out after half-day so I met AJ at the club. I went into the study room to surf the net for the latest news. The Nation wrote there would be a curfew but didn't say when. At 4 p.m. Andy left the office and went home. He said we should come home now. The club is closing early and there is a curfew tonight. At the club, the Thai members like to swim after 4 p.m. when the sun has lost its strength, but the pool was empty. AJ and I went immediately to Tops to buy food. The shelves were barely filled but I managed to get chicken legs and breasts, new potatoes, and small onions for a stew. I grabbed two liters of zero percent milk. Finally, after two days, there was fresh milk again. We joined the queues at the checkout just as the announcement came over the PA that the supermarket was closing.

On the way home, the English language Radio Thailand announced the curfew over the car radio. As we waited in the u-turn lane to enter our soi, I saw a dozen motorcycle riders drive by on the opposite side. The pillion passenger of one was carrying a long white pole with a sharp point. As they approached the cookshop on the corner of Soi Phung Mi, an old man came out of the shop and applauded. Some of them ducked their heads in acknowledgment.  The motorcycles continued east towards Bang Na intersection and as they passed out of sight, I heard two explosions. The first one was a deep boom, the second sounded like a fire cracker. As we drove deeper inside the soi, we joined a queue of  cars going slowly in our direction. A white Toyota had stalled on the bridge near the 93 Building, but once I got around it, we got home pretty quickly.  It's hard to believe; is the Red Shirt Rally finally over?

 From the kitchen window, neighborhood sights and sounds were familiar. The backdoor neighbor's dogs panted in the afternoon heat. Mongkut, the black and white, rolled in the road to scratch an itch. I saw our neighbor jog by. He always jogs in a green tee and red shorts. In the kitchen, I prepped the chicken and the vegetables for the stew. AJ washed and put the brown rice in the rice cooker. Then I heard the whirr of helicopters in the near distance. We have just heard that the Central World shopping mall in Rajaprasong is burning out of control.

Tomorrow the assessment begins: we tally the score and assess the damages. There's sure to be some finger-pointing.

Red Shirt Rally Day 68: Things Will Never Be the Same Again

photo from www.nationmultimedia.com May 19, 2010

Did you see the picture of the baby on top of the barricade?

Indeed, a Thai newspaper printed the picture that took up half its front page. There is a baby (eyes blanked out) sitting on top of the tires forming the Red Shirt barricades. In the background is "no man's land" the strip of asphalt that separates the protesters from the soldiers.  Was it a taunt to the snipers or a dare to the armed soldiers? Sensible people are appalled.  It's further proof, they say,  that the Red Shirts are ignorant and easily manipulated. I think back to six weeks ago when the Red Shirts held their mobile rally. It was peaceful. What has changed to make death a thing to challenge?

Death is also on show. Do you want to see something?  One of the Thai teachers whipped out her cell phone to show me a bird's eye view photograph of four bodies in the street. Somebody sent it to her, she explained. Three of the bodies show no signs of violence but the fourth body, a woman, her blood stains the street in a long dark red ribbon. No one can lose so much blood and still be alive. I turn my head away but I can't forget the image. This isn't mere sensationalism; the Thai press routinely offers graphic pictures for mass consumption. Viewing carnage is normal to the Thai. When is it too much?

To end the protests, the government should shoot all the protesters, this teacher said flatly, a quiet anger in her voice. Her visceral reaction shocked me.  But her feeling isn't unique to the Thai; she actually paraphrased my father. He once declared to a group of Americans that anyone caught committing a crime with a gun should be put to death. Like me, the Americans didn't understand the context of a speech act and looked away, embarrassed.  They didn't know the reason my father spoke like that was his anger at the powerlessness of the Jamaican police to put a stop to the country's murderous crime rampage. That was back in the 1970s and nothing much has changed since. Last year an average of five people were murdered every day in Jamaica.

What will stop the Thai from killing the Thai?

Red Shirt Rally Day 67: Death in the Morning, Civil Disobedience in the Afternoon

The general wounded by a sniper died this morning.  Described in the press as a "rogue" he was an officer who could have defended the status quo but he chose to join the Red Shirts' cause. Now his death represents the deep fracture in Thai society, a serious setback for peace and finding common ground. News reports say that the King is sponsoring Seh Daeng's funeral. Meanwhile,  protesters ignored this afternoon's deadline to leave the Rajaprasong rally site. 

What's unusual about these protests from, say,  May 1992, is how deeply it has entered the consciousness of the residents of the city.  Perhaps the protracted nature of the protests is the reason, but none of the previous protests ever took place literally on the doorstep of the middle class. Protest sites were Phan Fah Bridge and the Democracy Monument, symbols of protests past. Rajaprasong, with its gleaming office towers, proud shopping malls, luxury hotels, and well-appointed condominiums for the well-heeled, seems like an unlikely protest site.

The school will still be closed on Tuesday for students, but all the teachers have been asked to come in.

Red Shirt Rally Day 66: Uncertainty

The government has declared Monday and Tuesday "public holidays."

Since Seh Daeng was shot Thursday night, the violence has escalated; more people have died and hundreds more injured. The uncertainty about what will happen next has caused the postponement of the first day of school for Thai students from May 17 to June 1st. The international schools which follow the British/American school year are closed on Monday.

I got an SMS from a friend today, warning me to stay away from department stores and malls in certain parts of the city.  To create confusion, the SMS said, there are going to be grenade attacks in areas outside the Rajaprasong conflict zone. She didn't say who originated the SMS or where; it was a forwarded message. That just shows how hard it has become to separate fact from rumor, disinformation from the truth.

The government's waffling hasn't helped either. From setting emergency decrees that are largely ignored by their own people to threatening to enforce a curfew then backing off, it's hard to say that the leadership knows what it is doing. The overall impression is that it is as chaotic in the 11th army camp, where the PM  has  barricaded himself,  as it is around the Red Shirt barricades.

Red Shirt Rally Day 65: More Street Violence

First of all, let me assure all our family and friends that we are safe. As we live in eastern Bangkok about 10+K  away from the disturbances, we are not in the thick of things. However, we won't be able to go to mass since the church is very close to the protests.

Fresh violence erupted after the Red Shirt general was shot in the head on Thursday night. He's in hospital but is not expected to live.  The government had reportedly planned to isolate the protesters by cutting water, power, transportation, and communications in the Rajaprasong area. However, because residents of luxury condominiums there were not told to evacuate, those plans were shelved. Fighting Friday resulted in 10 more deaths and many injuries.

Many Thai are waiting and hoping for the King to speak to the protesters. Many believe that a word from him will end the standoff.  He has intervened in past crises but he has avoided any intervention this time.  I was thinking about that literary trope the deus ex machina, the unexpected intervention that saves the day.  In a world where retribution is complicated and power or lack of power is often contested, it's natural to wish for someone to end the predicament in which one finds oneself. Perhaps it's naive to expect to be saved from situations we ourselves created. If that is so, would Thailand return to the way it was before?

Red Shirt Rally Day 63: Tensions Rising

The government has withdrawn its reconciliation plan which included promised polls in November when the Red Shirt protesters made counter-demands and refused to leave the protest site. The tensions worsened tonight when Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawatdipon, known as Seh Daeng, the Red Shirts' security advisor, was shot by a sniper. The government has labeled him a terrorist but the army denies it ordered an assassination.

Assassination is never the solution.

Cake Monday: Toll House Bundt Cake

There are 5 consecutive Mondays this month and I sorely needed some inspiration! I resorted to a classic American recipe: Toll House Bundt Cake. It's made with a cup of brown sugar, lots of chocolate chips, and it has a crunchy almond topping. If your heart can stand it, enjoy!

Toll House Bundt Cake

Nut Topping
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup finely chopped nuts

Cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour milk (1 tablespoon vinegar plus whole milk to equal 1 cup)
1 cup butter (16 tablespoons) softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (sifted to get out the lumps)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 package (12 oz. or 1 1/2 cups) Nestlé Toll House semi-sweet chocolate mini-morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour 10 inch bundt cake pan.

To make the topping: combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix until crumbly. Spoon into the bottom of the prepared pan. Chill while you prepare the cake.

To make the cake:
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla,  and sour milk beating lightly.

Beat the flour mixture on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and half the egg mixture and beat on low speed until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Add the remaining egg mixture in two batches and beat until just combined on medium speed. Scrape down the sides. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.  Pour batter on top of the topping in the pan and smooth the top. Tap lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake and cool completely.

Red Shirt Rally Day 54: It ain't over till the fat lady sings...

The Red Shirts have cautiously agreed to end the protests that have tied up this city in red, yellow, and multi-hued knots. According to an earlier report on the internet, the Prime Minister has offered to call elections in mid-November. The Red Shirts, says the Associated Press, want more details on the time line for the elections.

We'll see... We just won't remind them that's what he offered the first time negotiations broke down.

Cake Monday: Milwaukee Carrot Ring

It's homecoming week! Yesterday it was Real Green Bay Chile. For today's cake, I baked this recipe for carrot cake I had clipped it from the Milwaukee Journal when I was a stay-at-home mom. Just to be different (or just being difficult), I divided the batter between a 6 cup Savarin ring mold and one 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan. The ring came out perfectly but the loaf had a dome in the center and flat edges. Next time I will bake half the batter in an 8 inch square pan, or bake one whole cake in a Bundt pan. For this recipe, I adjusted the method for blending the wet and dry ingredients and added the finishing touches.

Carrot Cake
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar (original recipe: 1-2 cups sugar)
1 1/2 cups sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely grated carrots (about 2 large carrots processed finely)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter one 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Or divide the batter between one 6 cup buttered Savarin ring mold and one 6 cup buttered 8 inch square pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, beat eggs. Mix in sugar, oil, salt, and carrots.

Stir flour mixture into egg mixture in 3 batches, mixing until just blended. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake 30-35 minutes (25 minutes in a convection oven) or until cake is done. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Unmold and cool completely. For a finishing touch, frost cake with caramel glaze, a cream cheese frosting, or simply dust with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

Mimi requested this easy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. You can control the desired sweetness:

8 oz block of cream cheese, softened, cut into cubes
1/2 cup butter (8 tablespoons), softened, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar (just 2 cups sugar yielded a tangy tasting frosting)

Beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and sugar to taste. Beat until light and fluffy. Frosts one carrot cake or 1 carrot ring and 1 carrot cake loaf.

"Real" Green Bay Chile

Near the Marquette University campus in the 1970s there was a diner called Real Green Bay Chile at 15th and Wells. Chile purists scoffed because "real" chile isn't supposed to be served with spaghetti. But the diner was a Milwaukee institution and a bowl of Real Green Bay chile on a winter's night has become the subject of nostalgia at our house.

I found this recipe for Chocolate Chile Con Carne at The Winter Guest (invitadoinviernoeng. blogspot.com) and decided to serve it Green Bay Chile style with pasta.  Other sides included a multigrain bread and German sausage, both from Bei Otto, a deli in Bangkok.

I couldn't decide what to make for dessert. I found a package of puff pastry in the freezer and 5 Granny Smith apples in the crisper. Apple pie it is. I tossed the apples with 2 tablespoons flour (could have been 3 tablespoons),  2/3 cup golden caster sugar, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon salt. I brushed the top crust with milk then sprinkled on some sugar. I baked the pie for 40 minutes and served it at room temperature with a scoop of store-bought vanilla ice cream. In the photograph, that  pie looks a bit like a giant sand dollar!

Red Shirt Rally Day 51: PR Nightmare or Disinformation?

This week has been a public relations disaster for the Red Shirts. This week they have barricaded themselves in the area known as Rajaprasong intersection in central Bangkok with piles of old tires and bamboo stakes. On Friday, they accused Chulalongkorn Hospital near the barricades of harboring government soldiers. Even though hospital officials assured them no soldiers were on the premises, they insisted on searching the buildings, alarming the doctors,  nurses,  and patients. Following the search, the Hospital decided that patients near the barricades would be moved to other hospitals.

The English newspapers published heart wrenching pictures of the move juxtaposed with pictures of the barricades. Manipulation of images by the media, certainly, but the Reds didn't help themselves either. They have been accused of violating patient rights. Though the Red Shirts have apologized, the damage has been done. As they have done before, the protesters have fallen back to their original positions in Rajaprasong. There they remain. Still.

Meanwhile, the state media is accusing the Red Shirts of plotting to destroy the monarchy. Accusing anti-government protesters of lèse majesté is an old ploy.  Critics charge that these laws have been used at times to muzzle dissent. The government needs to go beyond using ideology as an excuse to attack its opponents and instead seek real solutions to the current impasse. All this suspicion and counter-suspicion does nothing to ease tensions. What is needed is for both the government and the Red Shirts to sit down at the table and hammer out an agreement that will end the stalemate.