The Pound Cake...very versatile!

Time & again I return to making my first love in cakes, the pound cake. I have 1 bundt pan which I guard with my life & love the way it turns out my precious pound cake. Perfect & pretty every single time, for the 'once in a while' rich buttery cake that uses 200gms of butter, this is just the most satisfying bake.

A traditional British Pound Cake recipe would specify one pound each of flour, butter, eggs (8 eggs), sugar, and several kinds of dried fruit (currants, sultanas, and raisins, with perhaps a lesser quantity of glacé cherries). (These quantities are too great for most modern families, but the cake can be made with half quantities or less.) It is usual to weigh the eggs first and then use the same weights of the other ingredients; with a traditional pair of kitchen scales, the eggs are simply used instead of weights.

I made this version of the pound cake a few days ago with 2 things in mind...first I wanted to use flavoured orange sugar because I had bought some really orange oranges, & secondly, I wanted to use up some left-over ganache which was crying to be used every time I opened the fridge.

The original recipe is one I have adapted from Better Homes & Gardens & is my all time favourite recipe; it gives me a beautiful crumb & rich texture. The only deviation from the basic recipe is that I always substitute 1/2 a cup of plain flour with whole-wheat flour. Ingredients:
Butter- 1 cup or 200gms
Eggs - 4 (large)
Sugar - 1 cup, granular

Method:

• Grease and flour a 10" bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325deg/175deg .
• Sift together both flours + baking powder+ salt .
• Cream butter and orange sugar well, & then beat in the eggs 1 by 1, beating well after each addition.
• Beat in essence .
• On low speed, beat in the flour bit by bit till well incorporated (4-5 goes) .
• Turn 1/2 the batter into pan, layer evenly with the ganache, & then top with the rest of the batter. Bake for approx 1 hr till done . (If top seems to be getting too brown, loosely cover top with foil until done.)
• Leave in pan for 10 mins to cool, and then turn it out on rack to cool completely.

Note: Can also make a Marble Pound Cake, by folding the ganache into 1/3 of the batter OR ......a Coffee &Dark Chocolate Chip Pound Cake one too.

(Am off down South for a week...will be missing for a few days. See you soon!!)

A delicious, crisp biscotti!

Method:

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat sheets.
• Sift the flours + salt + baking powder.
• Beat the olive oil with the sugar.
• Add the vanilla extract + eggs + coffee & beat well.
• Stir in the flour mix; & gently turn the almonds into the dough. Mix in.
• Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into 2 logs, about 12” X 3 ½”. The dough is sticky, so you may have to dampen your hands to form the log.
• Bake for 35 minutes, or until firm to the touch & light golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes.
• Transfer the log gently to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 2 cm slices with a sharp serrated knife.
• Reduce oven temperature to 135 degrees C. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 8 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.
• Makes about 20 - 24 biscotti
• Note: Roast the almonds at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes, till the skin begins to crack open. Allow to cool, & then chop. Roasting brings out the sweetness & flavour in almonds. Can be done in advance.

This is a healthier version of the biscotti which I normally make. Have substituted some of the plain flour for whole-wheat flour & was quite pleased to see the kids enjoy them as much as we did. It's always a good idea to gradually substitute plain flour with a portion of whole-wheat flour to increase the nutritive value...these are good, healthy cookies with no butter. Made with olive oil & full of nuts, they're headed for Ivy @ Kopiaste & Ben @ What's Cooking US for an event we can't do without...Fat Chefs or Skinny Gourmets? (an event co-hosted by 2 of my fave bloggers). The call is to make something that you consider Diet Food for its nutritious value (high in vitamins and other nutrients and low in calories). I think we all need a little nibble at tea & this quite fits the bill!

The name 'Muffin' either comes from the French word 'moufflet', meaning a soft bread, or from the German word 'muffe' which is the name for a type of cake. There are two types of muffins: English and American. What 'American-style' muffins means is that the muffins are made, not from a yeast dough like the English Muffin, but rather they use a chemical leavener (baking powder or baking soda). Maybe it would be better to describe them as a cross between a bread and a cake.

Either which ways, the kids are always happy to have muffins. These chocolate ones were really nice, so the son made me a 'Happy Happy Day' card to thank me!!

The mini muffins were very cute too. I topped each with a dark & milk chocolate chip the minute they came out of the oven. Perfect little bites!

Ingredients:

Hot water - 1/2 cup
Instant coffee/espresso powder - 2tbsp
Buttermilk - 1/2 cup
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Flour - 1 3/4 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder - 4 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Walnuts - 1/2 cup / coarsely chopped / optional ; reserve a few halves for topping

Method:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper liners.
• Stir 1/2 cup hot water and instant coffee in medium bowl until it dissolves.
• Add buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
• Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
• Add buttermilk mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts (or pecans).
• Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Bake until tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
• Transfer muffins to rack and cool.

MUFFIN is the way to go!!

As Michelle so rightly puts it... "The beauty of the humble muffin is that it’s so versatile and almost any ingredient is agreeable with the baked bun; from pumpkin and fresh fruit to chocolate chips."

This post featured on

• KCRA.com Sacramento

COFFEE stamped all over it!

If March is here, can Spring be far behind?

My daughter then became part of my mad photography & set up a mini studio for the slice of cake! Flowers were brought in from the garden & the infectious March madness spread even further!!PERFECT PARTY CAKE
Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (page 250).

Ingredients:
1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon coffee essence

To Make the Cake:

• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
• Add the butter & with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Add coffee & beat for another minute.
• Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
• Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
• Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
• Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
• Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.
• Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

• Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
• Spread it with one third of the whipped cream.
• Repeat with the next 2 layers.Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining whipped cream to frost the sides and top.
• Garnish, decorate as desired.

• If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

• Notes: Like Morven said in her notes, my cake didn't rise much at all and had a slightly coarse texture but was still quite delicate and moist.
• It gave me an opportunity to use my 4 egg whites that I had frozen away...saved from 2 batches of banana muffins I had made previously. For those who don't know this, egg whites freeze beautifully.
• Also, since I had just a single 9" tin, I baked the whole batter in 1 go, & later sliced it into 4 layers, Painstaking, but possible; not quite the perfect solution though.
• Finally, the cake was a little sweeter than I thought it would be. The kids lapped it up, so did my old folks; DH & I thought it was a bit sweet...but I put it down to personal taste! Was a nice cake; sliced beautifully & perfectly.

So that was my experience. I loved making it. Be sure to drop by the Daring Bakers Blogroll to check out the baking frenzy of the 4 layer type that added to the madness this March!!

Perfect slices...can you see all 4 layers?

Couldn't resist a little trivia about Dorie Greenspan that I found online...

...She burned her parents' kitchen down when she was thirteen. She never even baked a chocolate chip cookie until she was a newly wed nineteen-year-old. Yet today, Dorie Greenspan is one of the most sought-after baking authorities in the country.
Dorie was finishing up her doctoral thesis when she found herself consumed by love of baking. She immersed herself in a complete culinary education and begged her way into famous pastry kitchens to work as an apprentice. Eventually she was hired for her first professional job, where she caught the eye of the owner, who noted approvingly, "How chic! A thin pastry chef." Always an experimenter, Dorie couldn't resist tweaking one of the restaurant's signature cakes. The customers loved the results, but Dorie immediately learned the perils of upstaging a boss. She was promptly fired for "creative insubordination.That insubordination was the beginning of a fabulous career as a cookbook author, culminating in BAKING: FROM MY HOME TO YOURS (Houghton Mifflin Company, November 1, 2006). "

I haven't got a copy of any of her books, but am now going to keep my eyes open for them whenever they show up here in our part of the globe!

The cake is on it's way for Easter Cake Bake, Round 2 @ A Slice of Cherry Pie with Julia. She launched her very first food blogging event last March, the ‘Easter Cake Bake’ & asked fellow bloggers to bake themed cakes for Easter. It brought in outstanding cakes with wonderfully creative ideas, & is onto 'Round 2' this year!!