Petit fours

After 7 years of blogging, with plenty of home baking throughout that time, it amazes me that there are always still things I've wanted to make and find myself finally doing for the first time.  

This time, I'm finally making petit fours (or petits fours, or "fancies", as the Brits call them). Really, they're nothing more complicated than small bites of iced almond cake but made ever more attractive - and, yes, just a bit fancy - by their petite size.  I've always been drawn to pretty little things, particularly in pastel colors, and I've always adored these little cakes that look like miniature presents all on their own.  I recently made them right before Easter and they are perfect for celebrating spring, or for a wedding or baby shower, a tea party, or, thinking slightly ahead, for Mother's Day.  

These petite cakes are great for any celebration...including a 7th blogging anniversary!  Yes, it's now 7 years since I started this little blog and I have a healthy roster of favorite recipes, and lots of memories and learning, to show for it.  I've slowed down the pace of my blogging quite a bit in the last year or so but I am cooking and baking as much - if not more - than ever.  It's nice to spend time baking family favorites and to try recipes on a whim without documenting every endeavor.  No matter how much or how little I blog here going forward, I hope to be baking and cooking - trying new things and learning along the way - for a long time to come.  

Now back to the petite cakes.  As you might know, I favor small batch baking and as simple a process as possible so that's the approach I took here.  After looking and saving many petit four recipes through the years, I settled on a recipe from Martha Stewart that I've had my eye on for a long time.  I made a few adjustments by dividing the recipe in half and using apricot preserves as a filling instead of cherry.  

It starts with a moist almond sponge cake.  Once baked in a single layer, the cake is sliced crosswise to be stacked into 2 layers.  I filled the center with smooth apricot preserves, reminiscent of one of our favorite things - Italian tri-color (or rainbow) cookies.

Some petit four recipes call for frosting.  A layer of frosting on top of the cake can provide a smoother surface for the glaze to rest on but I think this version without it is simpler and I like the sharp flavor from the jam filling.  These petit fours are coated with a basic glaze of confectioners' sugar and milk.  I really like this simple 2-ingredient glaze from Martha Stewart that doesn't require corn syrup, and you can tint it to whatever color you like; I went with white and a pale pink.  There's plenty of room for customization in not only the jam filling you use but also the color and design you choose for your glaze.  I topped some of the cakes with ready-made sugar flowers.

And now because this is me, the resident chocoholic, I could not resist coating some of my petit fours in chocolate!  They might not be quite as visually appealing but they sure taste amazing; I used (one of) my favorite 70% dark chocolate and the combination of almond cake, apricot jam, and dark chocolate is, as always, stellar.  

So here's to great times in the kitchen and at the table!  Let's celebrate as often as possible and may there always be some form of cake involved!

Making chocolate 3-layer "magic" cake

Have you heard of 3-layer "magic" cake?  I hadn't until a couple of weeks ago when I saw it on POPSUGAR.  That was when I found out about this cake where you make one batter and, "magically", it bakes up into three separate layers.

I wanted to give it a try and, naturally, I opted to make the chocolate version (there is an original one as well as other versions such as lemon and Nutella that you can check out from Jo Cooks).  The batter sounded fairly easy to make (there are a few steps involved but any cake that doesn't involve frosting is comparatively simple to me) and I was just plain curious as to whether I'd really get 3 layers from the single batter.  I thought it would be a neat trick to show my son.

Well...I followed directions and made the cake batter, which involves incorporating separately beaten egg whites into a chocolate base that ultimately results in a thin consistency.  And I did get 3 layers...but maybe my magic wand needs to go in for maintenance because my layers didn't quite turn out exactly as described.

I was supposed to end up with: a top layer of sponge cake, a middle layer of custard, and a denser, somewhat "fudgy" bottom.  It seems my order got shaken up a bit because while I certainly got that top sponge cake layer, the other 2 parts were flipped!  I ended up with that darker, fudgy layer in the center and the custard was at the bottom!  I've actually seen an image online that looks identical to the result I got; however, I have seen plenty of images of the "magic" cake how it's supposed to be. I am still feeling confused!

Another thing that bothered me is the "skin" that formed at the bottom of my cake - similar to a skin that would form on a pudding.  My husband insists he actually likes that but I removed it for the rest of us who preferred the cake without it.

So this was an interesting experience that left me scratching my head a bit.  It certainly was not a wasted effort because taste-wise, it was a good cake.  My favorite part was actually my dark center - that thin layer was moist and the most chocolaty part of the cake.  This cake tastes deceptively light and with that, the cake did do a magic act...by disappearing quickly!  I'm not sure I'll be attempting this particular trick again but I sure would love to know if anyone has tried it and achieved a different result.

Mini roll cake with Nutella filling

Hello there!  I hope you're enjoying the summer so far and staying cool.  We're in the midst of a heat wave and I feel like I'm in the middle of a summer haze myself, trying to get used to the summer schedule and all the activities that come with it.

Shall we sit a spell and virtually share a slice of this mini roll cake I attempted? It was not a very successful endeavor, to be honest, but at the rate I've been going...I was happy to have something to show for at the end!  It's a mini roll cake from the Dessert for Two cookbook - essentially a sponge cake that I decided to fill with Nutella instead of jam.  All's well taste-wise but rolling the cake was a harrowing experience as it cracked pretty significantly.

Maybe I should have known that simply rolling the cake in foil (as per instructions; and instead of the usual powdered sugar with towel method) was too good to be true. I really wanted to believe and gave it a try...so I watched the cake stick and stick to that foil.  Lesson learned!  With shaky hands, I persevered best I could and in the end, though cracked, we had a roll cake!

The petite cake is baked in an 8" square brownie pan, a good small size for our little family for a mid-afternoon treat.  To be honest, it can be hard to find time to sit down to a mid-afternoon treat in the summer but we managed to gobble this down.  

So...I hinted at not being exactly "on a roll" (haha) lately in the kitchen.  Aside from forgetting the baking powder in a batch of pancakes the other day, I also had a total dud trying to make Dominique Ansel's flourless chocolate cookies.  We went out to brunch in Manhattan last weekend and happened to stop by Dominique Ansel Kitchen (Cronut creator, Dominique Ansel's bakery/restaurant).  We were full but took home a flourless chocolate cookie, which turned out to be amazing!  Aside from being perfectly chocolaty, I couldn't believe how it could be flourless because the cookie was so thick and dense - yet moist.  I found the recipe online and was so excited.  But suffice it to say, the making of that cookie is still a mystery to be because mine were a delicious gooey puddle.   I ended up using some of the warm cookies as a chocolate "sauce" with vanilla ice cream and I froze the rest so we could handle/eat them - they were very tasty but nothing like the ones at the shop.  So maybe you can see why I'm grateful I had some cake to show for this latest kitchen endeavor, cracks or not!  

  

Matcha-almond roll cake with red bean cream filling

This is the dessert I served during last weekend's pasta night, a matcha-almond roll cake with a sweet red bean cream filling.  My sister loves green tea desserts and my husband has been a big fan of this cake so I thought I'd whip up another version of it again.

So I'm once again circling back to the matcha-almond sponge (it's that good).  I made the layer cake twice and each time, I was thinking it would be interesting to try and turn it into a roll cake.  The soft, spongy, and super-moist texture of the cake makes me think of roulades and I just had to give it a try.  

Instead of a chocolate cream filling, I went with the Asian theme and made a sweet red bean filling.  The combination of green tea with sweetened red beans (azuki) is very common and popular in Asian desserts (from ice cream to red bean paste fillings for buns and cakes, which I adore).  You can simply buy prepared sweetened red beans like I did and fold it into some freshly whipped cream.

Need I mention that I'd never made a roll cake before?  It's probably pretty obvious. And should I also say that this might not have been the best first-time experiment since this particular cake is likely more fragile (almond meal adds a great taste and texture but it makes the cake all the more moist) than your typical roll cake recipe? 

Excuses aside, I think I had acceptable success with turning this cake into a rolled one.  Ironically, despite all my worries about how thin and fragile the cake is and how it might stick to the towel, my "downfall" was actually not positioning the cake onto the towel properly so that I had to double fold the towel at the top before the first fold, which resulted in the towel "cutting" into the cake and breaking it in one section. There was some sticking but that was manageable.  If only I had placed the cake in the right position at the top of the tea towel!  But hey, 'don't let perfection be the enemy of the good', right?  I seem to tell myself that a lot.

And when all's said and done (as well as filled and rolled), I think things worked out just fine.  The cake plates were wiped clean and we had a great time over dinner.  I think dessert just round out a meal and gives it the perfect little sweet finale.  

Matcha-almond sponge (multi) layer cake

This is not a green tea crepe cake.  It kind of looks like it, though, doesn't it, with all those thin layers of cake?

When things don't go according to plan: Fifteen layers of super thin matcha-almond sponge cake and cocoa whipped cream

It is, in reality, what happened when I tried to make a matcha/green tea almond sponge layer cake but the cake turned out so thin I ended up doubling the stacks and making a 15-layer concoction instead!  It still only measured maybe a little over 3-inches tall with all those layers, by the way.

If you'd like a good laugh, I was aiming for this.  Sprinkle Bakes had a post on matcha cakes recently and at the end of it, she listed a few other matcha dessert recipes. The one for matcha-almond sponge layers really appealed to me and I thought I could tackle it (ha!).  But let me step back for a minute...do you visit Sprinkle Bakes? Heather is (literally) an artist, and a very nice person to boot.  When I first started this blog 4 years ago, she was one of the original baking blogs I started reading and I was so impressed by her work that I emailed her to tell her so (I'd never done anything like that before).  She replied with a very sweet and encouraging email, and I have continued to admire her creations.  To be honest, her desserts are totally out of my league and I essentially just gawk at her work.  It looks like I need to revert back to gawking...

There was a moment when I was making this cake...when I realized how thin my cake was and when bits of it were sticking to the parchment paper...that I considered just scrapping the whole thing.  I only considered it for a second though because my general motto in the kitchen is to keep going and make the most of it when things go wrong.  I hate to waste - both effort and ingredients - so I try to avoid it and frankly, I find that most missteps still turn out rather tasty, as it did in this case.

So I kept at it and decided to double-stack my layers.  I only ended up with the 3 slices of cake you see here.  Had I trimmed my cake a little better, I might have been able to squeeze 4 slices out of it.  Maybe...

And you know that general advice about never trying out a new recipe if you're having someone over?  Well, it's a very good thing I had only invited my sister (and brother in law) over!  I think of her when I think of green tea desserts.  When things were looking rough, I warned her before her arrival that my project had turned out a lot more challenging than I imagined.  But luckily, I can say that these slices of cake disappeared from the table very quickly.  Everyone enjoyed it!  The matcha-almond cake itself is super moist; the matcha powder gives the cake a great hue but the flavor of green tea is mild.  The cocoa whipped cream I slathered between the layers adds creaminess and of course, a chocolate flavor, which I love.

All in all, this was an interesting experience!  I'm glad I still got to serve something and it was actually quite tasty.  I honestly don't think my sister would have been the wiser had I served this and told her it was supposed to be this way, a torte of sorts. My husband wished we had more of it and I did too but I'm just glad it worked out in its own way and nothing was wasted.  I can only laugh and say that I'm glad I just do this for fun!

Chinese paper-wrapped sponge cakelettes

If you walk into a Hong-Kong style Chinese bakery, you won't find many buttercream-frosted cupcakes, brownies, or bar cookies.  You're more likely to find plenty of simple egg-based cakes, buns (sweet as well as savory), and tarts.  One of my favorite things to get from the Chinese bakery is a simple paper-wrapped sponge cake.  They are light as air, soft and fluffy, and taste mildly sweet and eggy.

At the Chinese bakery, these paper-wrapped sponge cakes are tall, probably 3 times the height of these mini cakelettes that I made at home using a regular muffin tin.  To make the traditionally tall/large versions, you could buy specific molds made for the purpose or use a large muffin tin or try a popover tin.  I've also seen it made using freestanding paper cups lined with parchment paper.  

These little cakes are very much like my favorite chiffon cake, in a smaller, portable form.  In keeping with my small-batch tendency lately, I made half a dozen of these little cakes and realized this is one instance where small batch might not be the way to go.  They vanished in no time, and they make a great little afternoon snack if you want something sweet but not overly so.

The little cakes are really light and fluffy.  As a big fan of eggs in every form, I love this kind of simple dessert that's full of egg-flavor, lightly sweetened and boosting a hint of vanilla in the background.  It may sound silly but I love the eggy aroma that permeates the house when I'm making something like this.  I wouldn't mind if my house smelled like that all the time!

This homemade version tastes just like the ones at the bakery.  Texture-wise, I think I need to work harder at reaching the supreme fluffy/airiness of the ones I get from the bakery.  I'll also own that size-wise, the traditionally larger ones make more sense. Because they are so light, a large one is probably just more appropriately portioned. With these cakelettes, you just want to eat three in one sitting!  So the way I look at it, I need to either make larger ones next time or at least double the recipe.

Experimenting with yellow cake

It's time for what I'm starting to think of as my "September", or "back-to-school", cake.  I figure there's no better way to start things off on a positive note than to celebrate with a cake (and a little pizza party at home)!  Last year, I made a Brooklyn Blackout Cake to celebrate the start of first grade.  This year, I went with a yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.

Can it be I've never actually made an authentic yellow or vanilla cake before?  Well, maybe this one doesn't qualify either because it's more of a hybrid yellow/vanilla/chiffon/sponge cake.  I think the whole thing is pretty confusing anyway given the similarities between cakes like sponge, genoise, and chiffon.

I originally planned to make the yellow cake recipe from Smitten Kitchen (and maybe I should've) but due to (most likely unfounded) fears of that cake being denser and dryer than I'd like, I decided on a recipe I found and read about on Food52.  The recipe had rave reviews and caught my attention because it's made with oil as opposed to butter.  I generally love cakes (like this one, this one, and even these muffins) made with oil - the benefit being the cake is typically quite moist and usually stays that way for a few days.  Additionally, the eggs in this recipe are separated and whipped whites are folded into the base, which again suggests a lighter texture.

So instead of going full-out chocolate like I typically would, I layered chocolate buttercream frosting on to this "hybrid" yellow cake.  At one point during the making of this cake, I thought I must've done something terribly wrong, like accidentally doubled the flour because it was mixing up like dough!  As it turns out, that's how it's supposed to be until you add the rest of the wet ingredients and I did end up with two moist and tender cake layers.  The texture is firmer than the delicious chiffon cake that I'm used to, making it ready to support fillings and frosting; and it is reminiscent of a sponge but with the addition of oil.

This cake provides a blank canvas for a flavorful, rich frosting.  But to be honest, I was disappointed by the lack of flavor in the cake itself.  Maybe I just prefer cakes like this one that have a little more going on.  I am certainly no expert on yellow cakes so I mean no offense to the author of this recipe! 

I assume using butter instead of oil would improve the flavor and I think the cake could use a few more egg yolks for added richness and flavor.  Maybe I'll eventually give that recipe from Smitten Kitchen a try.  Cook's Illustrated also has a relatively similar yellow cake recipe that sounds interesting; it uses butter, buttermilk, a little bit of vegetable oil, and also involves folding whipped egg whites into the batter.  Could that be the best of both worlds in terms of flavor and texture?

I think it's good to try something different once in a while, even if it's just a little different from what you're used to and even if you end up going back to what you know best.  My family, including the guest of honor (the newly minted 2nd grader), enjoyed a slice of this cake after our pizza dinner but given the option, we'd all grab this one or this one instead.

So far, the new school year is off to a good start.  I'm hoping for a far smoother transition this year than last.  Here's to a happy, calm, and successful school year for all school kids out there!

Almond sponge cake

Despite the hot weather, I keep having a hankering for cake lately.  I want to bake cakes!  I guess they just make me happy.  Plus, I like sitting down with a small slice on a neat plate and giving myself a treat.  As a compromise to the season though, I decided to try a recipe for a light sponge cake and as a little twist, an almond version.  I love plain sponge cakes.  I don't generally need a thick frosting on my cakes (well, unless it's chocolate ganache) and I really enjoy that lightly sweet egg taste.

This is also similar to the angel food cake except we're using both egg whites and egg yolks here.  This is definitely more up my alley since I missed the fat that was missing in the angel food cake.  I also love that smell and flavor of the eggs in the sponge cake.  But like the angel food cake, this sponge cake relies on the eggs for all it's volume and contains no other fats (i.e., no butter or oil). 

I decided to top the almond sponge cake with some almond-flavored whipped cream and toasted almond slices.  Frankly, I liked eating it plain with nothing at all as well.  It's sturdy enough that you can cut a wedge and grab it to go for breakfast.  And being the serious chocolate lover that I am, I also tried it with some dark chocolate sauce but I found that overwhelmed the sponge cake too much so I'm saving the sauce for ice cream.  I also discovered this cake would be the perfect base for strawberry shortcake.  The texture is moist in the center but also surprisingly firm (in a good way).  It would hold up well sliced across into two layers and filled with lightly-sweetened whipped cream and strawberries.  Whipped cream and strawberries would be a great option to have alongside this cake as well.