Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Daring Bakers: Battenburg Cake

This is why I wanted to join the Daring Bakers baking challenges. I would have normally looked at this cake and passed it by, figuring it would be too complicated or time consuming to make. I mean, look at it. There's two colours all in one cake! And rolled icing! Yikes. But you know what, the recipe was actually pretty straight forward. And yummy.

Not everybody "gets it". I made two different versions of this cake for family dinners- one on my side and one on Tyler's side. I was explaining the Daring Bakers challenges, and my dad said, "Wait, so why did you make this?". My brother asked what the prize is for winning the challenge. All were perplexed when I said it was just for fun.

For June's challenge, Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg Cake challenge! She highlighted Mary Berry’s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease. With this challenge, not only did I try a new recipe (for a cake I'd never even heard of), but I got a history lesson in the process too. And now so will you. Battenburg cake is a traditional English cake that was first made to celebrate the marriage of Queen Victoria's granddaughter to Prince Lois of Battenburg. Read more on Wikipedia if you are so inclined. The traditional markings and colours of the cake are significant too. 

So, as I mentioned, I made two versions of this cake. The first was coconut-lime, which I made up following the basic recipe provided from the challenge, and the second coffee-walnut. They were both good, but the coffee-walnut looked nicer. I think I used too much food colouring in the lime curd for the first cake and it ended up looking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ooze. Also, traditionally Battenburg is covered with marzipan but I went to two stores and neither had marzipan so I had to go with fondant which I don't love. All in all, this was a fun challenge and I can't wait for the next one!

COCONUT AND LIME BATTENBURG CAKE
Adapted from The Daring Kitchen
Serves 8
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into cubes
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • green food colouring
  • zest of 1 lime
  • 1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut 
To Finish:
  • cooled lime curd (recipe below)
  • 1 cup marzipan or fondant
  • icing sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper. Whisk together dry ingredients then add butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with electric beaters or stand mixer on medium-low.

Spoon half of batter into a seperate bowl. Add a few drops of food colouring and lime zest to one bowl and fold in to combine. To other bowl add coconut and fold to combine. Spread batter evenly in each pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan a few minutes then turn out and cool completely on rack.

Once cooled, cut cakes in half and trim edges of cakes with bread knife so that you have 4 rectangles of cake the same size. Spread a thin line of lime curd on the side of one of the pieces of green cake. Stick a piece of coconut cake to it, aligning them side by side. Repeat with other two pieces, but reversing the order so that when they are stacked they make a checkered pattern. Thinly spread the tops of the cakes that are going to be on the bottom with lime curd. Top with top pieces. Set aside.

Sprinkle work surface with icing sugar. Roll out marzipan or fondant to 1/4 inch thickness, ensuring it will cover all sides of the cake. Spread top of cake with curd and place in middle of marzipan. Spread curd on remaining three sides and carefully roll cake to over all sides with marzipan. Trim marzipan, and cut a thin slice from each end to neaten.

LIME CURD
Adapted from Martha Stewart
 Makes 1 1/2 cups
Any citrus juice can be substituted to make this curd.
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • zest of 2 limes
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 4 tbsp cold cutter, cut into pieces
Combine yolks, zest, lime juice, sugar in a small sauce pan. Set over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to get the sides and bottom corners of the pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 7-10 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until smooth. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin forming. Refrigerate until cold.

COFFEE AND WALNUT BATTENBURG CAKE
From The Daring Kitchen
Serves 8
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into cubes
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Coffee Buttercream To Finish:
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp instant coffee
  • 1 1/2 tsp milk
  • 1 cup marzipan or fondant
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper. Whisk together dry ingredients then add butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with electric beaters or stand mixer on medium-low.


Spoon half of batter into a seperate bowl. Mix milk and instant coffee in a small bowl and add to one of the bowls of batter, folding to combine. To other bowl add walnuts and fold to combine. Spread batter evenly in each pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan a few minutes then turn out and cool completely on rack.

With a stand mixer or electric beaters on high, mix together ingredients for buttercream. Refridgerate until ready to use.


Once cooled, cut cakes in half and trim edges of cakes with bread knife so that you have 4 rectangles of cake the same size. Spread a thin line of buttercream on the side of one of the pieces of walnut cake. Stick a piece of coffee cake to it, aligning them side by side. Repeat with other two pieces, but reversing the order so that when they are stacked they make a checkered pattern. Thinly spread the tops of the cakes that are going to be on the bottom with buttercream. Top with top pieces. Set aside.



Sprinkle work surface with icing sugar. Roll out marzipan or fondant to 1/4 inch thickness, ensuring it will cover all sides of the cake. Spread top of cake with buttercream and place in middle of marzipan. Spread buttercream on remaining three sides and carefully roll cake to over all sides with marzipan. Trim marzipan, and cut a thin slice from each end to neaten.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been on the library waiting list seemingly forever for the book Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. So decided to Google it. I had wanted to read, and perhaps buy, this book from all the reviews that I've seen online so I figured there must be other bloggers out there who have (ahem) "borrowed" some recipes. Right I was. I am still going to wait for the book from the library, but I think I have already concluded from all the recipe reviews on other blogs that I want to buy it. Apparently blogging is now the highest form of flattery, with a close second from imitation.

These whole wheat chocolate chip cookies were the recipe that I came across the most, so obviously this was the recipe I had to try first. When I went to save it in my favorites I realized that I'd already saved the recipe almost a year ago. Molly of Orangette had written about these cookies and as is usually the case with her writing, I knew I had to try them. And promptly forgot about the recipe of course.

The recipe differs from a lot of other whole wheat baked goods in that it is all whole wheat flour used- usually it is half white and half wheat. All whole wheat flour makes the cookies taste almost like an oatmeal cookie. They are really good. This recipe will not replace my go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but I will make it again for sure. Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies sound so healthy and virtuous, don't they. Ha. What if I told you there was a cup each of butter and sugar? Not so healthy now, are you little cookie?

Two Years Ago: Aloha Pork Kebabs


Get the recipe HERE from Orangette

NOTE: I always spinkle a little fleur de sel on the top of each cookie before baking whenever I make chocolate chip cookies. I'm really into the salty-sweet thing. If you happen to have some fleur de sel (foodies- I'm looking at you) try it out.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Bookmarked This Week

Photo Credit ChefMichaelSmith.com
Actually, most of these recipes I bookmarked today. I was on a bit of a Pinterest bender.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake from Ruoka a la Sara This looks amazing but the site is in Estonian or something. Please, please let it be in Estonian- then my family can translate! Or I guess it can be Google translated?

Toffee Crunch Cupcake from Bakers Royale Caramel icing, chocolate cupcake, toffee bits. Holy moley. The chances of actually making this are slim, but you never know when the urge to pack a few pounds on your ass will strike.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup from Chef Michael Smith I want this right now. Curse you pantry for not housing any coconut milk right now!

New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp from Once Upon a Chef 

100 Healthy Pasta Recipes from Cooking Light

Chocolate Lentil Brownies from Yummy Mummy Club Hopefully these turn out better than the black bean brownies. Cause those went straight in the garbage.

Pesto and Roasted Red Pepper Dip from Kraft Canada I forsee another dip night in our future

Cinnamon Roll Pie Crust from Taste for Adventure Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about