Matcha-almond sponge layer cake *redo*

I hope you had a nice Father's Day weekend!  Ours flew by with the usual errands and to-do's.  The weather wasn't very cooperative at first but then the sun broke out yesterday, which I thought was very appropriate.  We enjoyed a nice, relaxing Father's Day, celebrating with family time and some treats.

I mentioned in my last post that when I asked my husband what type of dessert he'd like for Father's Day that he, surprisingly, picked the matcha-almond sponge layer cake that I attempted last month (after first reassuring me that I didn't have to make him anything but of course, I couldn't have that!).  I was a little taken aback by his choice but despite the mishaps I had, the essence of that cake really was very tasty and memorable.  I don't think my husband felt like he got enough of a taste last time to satisfy his craving and he'd been thinking about it.

So I went into the kitchen Saturday and had a little re-do of that recipe!  Mainly, I baked the matcha-almond sponge cake in a rectangular 9x13 inch pan instead of the larger 12x16 inch type sheet pan.  I simplified and streamlined the process a bit and things went according to plan.  Baking the cake in the smaller pan gave me the thicker layers I was looking for so that the cake wasn't invisible-thin and I could move and maneuver it a lot easier.  I sliced the baked sponge cake into just 3-pieces and stacked them with 2 layers of cocoa whipped cream in between.  This time we have 5 very-manageable layers instead of 15!

With the little changes and tweaks, these layer cakes were really easy and quick to put together (dishes and cleanup are a different story).  I literally made the batter and baked the cake in between cooking breakfast and prepping other things. So I call it a success, and I wanted to share this little re-do and my revamped version of this recipe. Now that I've got it figured out - in a way that works for me - I'm glad I'll be able to whip this dessert up any time someone has a craving for it.  

The cake layers are so moist and feather-light.  The mild and delicate flavor of the soft cake layers meld really well with the creamy filling, which adds some sweetness and a lot of flavor.  I'd say my husband has pretty good taste, and he heartily enjoyed his Father's Day treat.  And I'm so glad I did this re-make.  With the essence of this recipe worked out, I feel like there are opportunities to play with the filling. Sprinkle Bakes' suggestion of a creamy red bean filling sounds very enticing to me since the combination of green tea and azuki or red beans is a classic one in Asian desserts; however, my husband insists this is perfect just as it is!

Chocolate panna cotta redo

I had some extra heavy cream in the refrigerator the other day after making ganache for the brownie cake and decided I'd try a do-over and make chocolate panna cotta again.  I posted about it back in April 2011 when I first started this blog.  Back then, I was motivated to make it after having a delicious version of it at a nearby Italian restaurant.  Since my husband enjoyed it so much, I tried recreating it at home.  Unfortunately, it didn't come out nearly as well as the restaurant version.

My chocolate panna cotta do-over...much improved over the last time

The main problem I had last time was I didn't get the chocolate to melt thoroughly into the cream and milk mixture.  I ended up with a darker top layer where the chocolate kind of sank into (the top is actually the bottom since it's flipped over when you unmold the custard) and a paler base.  I really wanted to see if I could get the custard smoother and achieve a more even result the second time around.

This time, I adapted a recipe from the William Sonoma website.  Because I didn't want to go overboard with the richness (we are talking about a dessert whose name translates into "cooked cream"), I used cream and a little bit of milk and skipped the mascarpone cheese.  The recipe isn't all that different from the last one I tried.  The main thing I wanted to do was try to incorporate the chocolate more fully throughout.

When I added the chopped dark chocolate into my cream and milk mixture, I had the same problem I faced last time.  The chocolate doesn't fully melt and you see specks and grains of chocolate in the mixture.  This time, I put the saucepan back on the flame, on the lowest possible setting, and continued to whisk it until the chocolate melted some more and the whole thing thickened further. 

I seriously think I'd need to call in the blender or go at it with an immersion blender to completely smooth it out because dark chocolate can be difficult to melt in this way (in David Lebovitz's ice cream book, the Philadelphia-style chocolate ice cream mixture needs to be processed through a blender because of that very issue with the chocolate).  I took the simple way out and just kept whisking away on the stove top until it was as smooth as possible.  It also helps to strain the custard through a sieve as a final step - something I didn't do last time.

I was much happier with my redo.  This panna cotta came out a whole lot better than the first.  No funky sunken chocolate or uneven layers this time; the chocolate is fairly distributed throughout (though not perfectly).  In my memory, it's still not as good as the restaurant version but I'm happy with this and my husband enjoyed it.  I think I can now close the panna cotta chapter of this blog for the time being.