Furballs want treats too

My cousin Anne Marie refers to her dogs as furball babies.  Though I prefer to refer to myself as Pack Leader rather than Mommy, I believe that our dogs deserve to be spoiled with treats now and then. Sammy and Katie (that's Sam on the left) accept pinches of food from the table, and were allowed to sample my strawberry cake. I didn't ask them whether they liked the cake because the human verdict was good enough for me. We were at Robert and Anne's for dinner and we each had two slices of cake.  Then the thought occurred to me, why not make dogs their own treats?

I did some research on the internet and discovered that there are certain foods that are forbidden, such as chocolate, butter, garlic, and onions, because they can cause serious illness. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it looked fairly safe, if only because none of the forbidden foods was on the list of ingredients.  Making these treats was also a good way to finish up the baking ingredients in my pantry. The only things I needed to go out and buy were Cheddar cheese and margarine.

Doggie Cookies
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons white granulated sugar
2 teaspoons beef bouillon (I used 1 cube chicken bouillon because Gigi likes chicken)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

Preheat oven to 325˚F (I preheated the convection oven to 170˚C). Grease 2 baking trays.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, margarine, and boiling water. Stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, cheese, and egg. Mix in flour 1 cup at a time until a stiff dough forms. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and smooth edges so there won't be sharp rough edges after baking. Place 1 inch apart on the prepared trays. Bake 35-45 minutes (25-35 minutes in a convection oven) or until golden brown. Remove and cool on wire racks. Store cooled cookies airtight in a covered container.

Well, aren't you going to feed me?

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Some time ago, my sister-in-law had expressed a wish for a strawberry cake. Well, why not? Now, baking a cake is an art; it has its rules that must be strictly followed. The amount of flour is better weighed than measured, for instance. Butter cakes have proven to be finicky fussy things that like their eggs and butter at room temperature. They have a positive aversion to over mixing. Wretched optimist that I am, I decided to experiment with the basic buttermilk country cake recipe from The Cake Bible and try for that elusive creation, a strawberry cake.

At room temperature:

4 large egg yolks

2/3 cup buttermilk (substitute: 1 tablespoon vinegar in a measuring cup topped with milk to 1 cup line)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups sifted cake flour (I used 1/2 cup cake flour and 1 1/2 cups special flour)

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup fresh strawberries, washed and gently patted dry with paper towels

1 tablespoon granulated sugar or sanding sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 400˚F. [Cake Baker's Note: It was 350 in the original recipe but the addition of fruit increases the volume.]  Grease a 9x2 inch cake pan and line the bottom with a parchment circle. Grease the parchment then flour the pan and parchment. Set aside. [Cake Baker's Note: Since the edges turned out dry and hard, I conclude the pan was too small and the temperature too high. Next time I would use either a 9 inch square pan or a 10 inch springform pan, reduce the heat to 350 and bake 30-40 minutes.]

Slice the green tops off the strawberries. On a clean dry work surface, place strawberries with the cut tops down and slice each strawberry into 1/8 inch slices. Let strawberries drain on paper towels.  Set aside. Pour off sour milk, if using, to make 2/3 cup. Remove 1/4 cup  from the 2/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk. [Cake Baker's Note: I haven't figured out yet what to do with any left over sour milk or how long it will keep in the fridge.] In a medium bowl, lightly combine the egg yolks, 1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk, and the vanilla. Set aside.

 








 In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend dry ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining buttermilk or sour milk. Combine on low speed until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat until just combined. [Cake Baker's Note: the original recipe said beat 1 1/2 minutes.] Add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating until just combined. [Cake Baker's Note: the original recipe said beat 20 seconds after each addition.] Scrape down the sides. By hand, gently fold in half the sliced strawberries. 

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Gently shift the pan back and forth on the countertop to eliminate air bubbles. [Cake Baker's Note: I saw this on an America's Test Kitchen DVD.] Gently press the remaining strawberries into the top of the batter. If using, sprinkle the tops of the exposed strawberries with granulated sugar or sanding sugar. Use your fingers for this. Try not to get any sugar on the batter as the sugar leaves pit marks in the cake top on baking. If you are going to put a topping on the cake afterwards, the pit marks do not matter. [Cake Baker's Note:  Save the half-cup strawberries for decorating the cake top later.  I noticed that some of the strawberries in the batter closest to the edges got stuck to the pan. To prevent this another idea is to pour half the batter in the pan and arrange the strawberries on top then pour the remainder of the batter on top of the strawberries.]

Bake for 70 minutes until the top is golden brown and the color of the strawberries deepen to a bright red.  A tester inserted in the center should come out clean. Remove cake from the oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a small sharp knife around the edges so that the cake doesn't crack as it cools and separates from the sides. Unmold the cake onto a greased wire rack and remove the parchment circle. Then re-invert the cake so the strawberries are on top. Cool completely before adding any toppings.

If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with crème fraîche and decorate with fresh strawberries or chocolate curls. To make crème fraîche, whip 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until soft peaks form when the beaters are raised. This makes a thick cream topping that spreads easily and yet won't melt or separate like whipped cream. It has a delicious tangy taste. Cake Decorating Idea: Spread crème fraîche on top of the cooled cake. If using fresh strawberries, dip one side in a little lime or lemon juice to prevent browning. Place UNDIPPED side down on the the crème fraîche topping and arrange in an attractive pattern.

Postscript:
Since baking this cake on Sunday, I found a recipe for Cornmeal Strawberry Cake on allrecipes.com. But that's for another weekend, another blog posting. 

 

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.

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.

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.

Cake Monday: Orange Glow Chiffon Cake

This cake has a wonderful orange aroma and the slightly tangy taste of tangerine orange zest. It is light, moist, and tender. According to the author, this cake only has 129 mg. of cholesterol per slice.

Have at room temperature:

• 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup safflower oil (I used sunflower)
• 7 large eggs, separated + 3 egg whites (total: 1/2 cup yolks, 1 1/4 cup whites)
• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about 5 small tangerine oranges)
• 2 tablespoons orange zest (2 tangerine oranges)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Prepare 1 ungreased 10 inch two-piece tube pan. Reserve 2 tablespoons sugar for the egg whites.

In a large bowl, combine flour, the remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Make a well in the center. Add egg yolks, oil, juice, zest, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Add the reserved sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Add the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. Fold in with a balloon whisk or a slotted skimmer until just blended.

Pour into the tube pan. The batter will come up to 1 inch from the top. Run a small sharp knife through the batter several times to eliminate air pockets. Bake 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert the pan over the narrow neck of a bottle and cool completely in a draft-free place.

To un-mold the cake, loosen the sides and center core with a long metal spatula. Invert onto a greased wire rack and loosen the bottom and center core. Re-invert onto a serving plate or wrap airtight. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired, or decorate with flowers.

Buttermilk Country Cake

Some bakers say butter cakes and pound cakes are ideal for beginning bakers, but I've been having an over-mixing problem with these cakes. That slice has more holes than Swiss cheese!

The creme fraiche topping is excellent and so easy to make. Not as sweet as a frosting, it is slightly tangy. I admit the bananas aren't a very country touch, but peaches just weren't available at Tops Supermarket in the City of Angels. 

Personalize your own recipe page

Irish Soda Bread with Cranberries and Almonds

I adapted this recipe for Irish Soda Bread from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. Hers had raisins and caraway seeds in it.  I didn't have either in my pantry, but I did have dried cranberries and almonds. According to chef Rory O'Connell on Epicurious.com, the original soda breads were made with either whole-meal flour or white flour. However, the addition of sweeteners and dried fruit is recent.  Soda bread is patted into a round and baked. The round shape is traditional, and it comes from being cooked originally in a cast-iron pot, since many homes did not have ovens in the early 1800s. Irish Soda Bread is actually a quick bread and not a yeast bread.  In the picture above,  the dough is prepped for baking on a parchment lined baking sheet.

The dough should be handled as little as possible. When I combined the wet and dry ingredients, the dough came together in a gooey sticky mass. I patted it into an 8 inch round. I scraped it off the sides of the mixing bowl and gently placed it on the parchment lined baking sheet. I slashed the loaf and studded the top with toasted sliced almonds. I forgot the egg wash.

This is the finished height and color after baking.  It looks kind of hairy! It looks kind of dry too.

The texture was just like my banana tea bread, and it wasn't too sweet. The ends were dry but the slices in the center were not. I guess I could live with that. The slices were long and narrow like a slice of biscotti. In fact, that's what it reminded me of. To make the bread have more height, I'd pat the dough into a smaller, higher round. And for variation in taste, color, and texture, I'm going to use pistachios instead of almonds with the dried cranberries. Andy pronounced this one a keeper.

This recipe card design personalized with Smilebox

Cake Monday: Golden Almond Butter Cake

The almonds sprinkled on top were indeed a nice touch; crunchy and toasted they had a nice feel in the mouth--pleasantly mealy and slightly bitter. The cake's texture was light, airy, and over-mixed--again! The color was good, though; the top was a light golden brown although it had been sitting in a too-hot oven and the inside was a pale golden yellow. After baking in a 9x2inch cake pan, the recommended pan size, I was surprised by the finished height, 3 inches in the center and 2 inches at the edge. All in all, a good cake recipe. It's not the perfect cake but I'm getting there!

Customize a free digital recipe page

She Bakes and Cooks

Today I had so much energy. I made scones for breakfast, skillet pizza for lunch, and for dinner:  chicken pot pie with home made biscuits,  and for dessert, buttermilk spice cake with pear compote and crème fraîche. I also baked a Golden Almond Butter Cake for school tomorrow.

I added a dollop of St. Dalfour's strawberry jam on the plate. The scones were light, moist, and a tad too flat. The recipe is for 8 scones but I got 12. I had rolled out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness so I recommend patting it flat, rather than rolling it,  to 1 inch thickness then cutting it into rounds.

We invited Robert and Anne to dinner to try this new recipe for Quick Chicken Pot Pie. I felt confident because this recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen, and I haven't been disappointed so far. This recipe is supposed to be "quick" because of the refrigerator biscuits, store-bought rotisserie chicken, and the frozen veggies. But of course, there aren't any refrigerator biscuits in Bangkok so I made my own. Andy bought a whole freshly roasted chicken from Five Star. I adjusted this recipe by adding to the onion, 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic, 2 cups fresh chopped okra instead of the prohibitively expensive celery, and 2 cups diced carrots. The biscuit, I realized, is really a savory scone to be eaten with hearty stews and thick soups like this pot pie.

The pièce de résistance! This is Bon Appetit's buttermilk spice cake with pear compote and crème fraîche. Making the crème fraîche with a hand mixer took 5 long minutes.  Just think of the muscles I'm developing. On my first attempt at the cake I made the silliest mistake: I forgot to flour the pan before lining it. The bottom fell out of the cake as I was unmolding it. The taste was warm and spicy but there were a good number of holes in the batter due to overmixing. The second time around, the cake was light and delicate; the texture had a fine moist crumb--nearly perfect! The spices were faintly detectable, not overpowering at all. It could be the spices are losing their flavor. In this heat, everything needs to be refrigerated. Sigh.

Make your own free digital recipe page

Make a recipe page

Free recipe card design created with Smilebox

Red Shirt Rally Day 1: While the citizens were marching for democracy

Today, there is no school. Today my baking obsession converges with Lent and a political rally. It's Friday and I'd like to observe Lent by being virtuously vegetarian. Meanwhile, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship or UDD, alias the Red Shirts, have made other plans for this day without consulting the residents of Bangkok,  but which involve us nevertheless.  They are converging on the city from the provinces to protest the Supreme Court's judgment against Thaksin. Late last month, the Court ruled that half of his fortune was ill-gotten profit while he was prime minister. Because of the rallies, school has been cancelled. I'm also homebound. For a change, the protesters are actually going to be marching through my end of Sukhumvit Road so the danger of violence along the route is very real. As Lent now coincides with the exercise of the democratic right to assemble,  I baked this variation on Stilton Bacon Scones, UDDerly Scrumptious Scones for Lent. (Forgive the bad pun.)

This digital recipe card customized with Smilebox

Cake Monday: Chocolate Bread

This chocolate bread uses less than a cup of sugar in the batter and just a dusting of powdered sugar on top when it is baked.  Chocolate isn't Andy's favorite cake but he likes this one! It's moist and tender. 

A free printable recipe card by Smilebox

In Quest of the Perfect Cheesecake

Picture perfect! The top was a smooth pale yellow, the color of the new moon.  I made  Chantal's New York Cheesecake, my favorite. My problem is I haven't been able to get it to bake just right. The top invariably had a brown ridge around the edge and the sides were brown. Sometimes the cheesecake cracked in the middle because my oven has a broken thermostat and it got too hot.   So I decided to try a new method: the bain marie or water bath.  I wrapped the springform pan in double foil layers and put it in a roasting pan with about 1/2 inch hot water. I baked the cheesecake for one hour and let it sit in the oven with the heat off for another hour. 

I put it on a rack to cool for an hour. The sides of the cheesecake started to shrink from the sides of the pan. I slid a thin paring knife around the edge. I removed the springform pan sides and lo and behold: a soggy crust. I checked the inside of the foil: bone dry. I checked the internet. I discovered what they don't tell you is that soggy crust is a consequence of a water bath. No advice on how to make a soggy crust dry again. Sigh.

After 18 hours in the refrigerator, I sliced the cheesecake. It was a tad creamier than I would have liked but I was surprised to see that the crust towards the edge was somewhat drier than towards the center which was pudding-like in texture. Definitely, a longer baking time would have made a drier crust and a firmer center. Say, 1 1/2 hours. It's a beautiful cheesecake, the prettiest I'd ever made. Looks so professional, too. Now if I could only get the crust right, it'd be perfect!

recipe card created with Smilebox