Thank You to my husband

After giving my first class in May (Buttercream Basics- Cake Decorating), I made my husband a "Thanks" cake to let him know how much I appreciated his support. 

One of his favorites is chocolate, so it was a chocolate cake topped with cocoa frosting. I baked a 6 inch cake (15.2 cm) using a modified Whimsical Bakehouse Chocolate Butter Cake recipe.

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
125 ml coffee (1/2 cup)
51 g of cocoa powder (1/2 cup)
125 ml low-fat milk (1/2 cup)
156 g all-purpose flour (1 1/2 cups) (zeeuwsebloem)
24 g corn starch (maizena)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
165 g unsalted butter (1 stick, or 1/2 cup)
262 g sugar (1 1/4 cups)(fijn crystal suiker)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C. Using butter, grease the bottom of a 6" (15.2 cm) round cake pan that is about 3" tall (7.6cm). Cut a parchment circle to fit into the bottom of the pan(it will stick to the butter), and then grease and flour the parchment bottom and also the sides of the pan.

Combine the hot coffee and cocoa powder, whisking until no lumps. Add the milk to the coffee/cocoa and set this aside to cool a bit. In another bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside the dry ingredients. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat well, and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture (flour, etc.) and mix to combine.  Add about 1/3 of the wet ingredient mixture (coffee, etc.) and mix to combine. Continue to add the dry ingredients, mixing to combine, alternately with the wet ingredients (coffee, etc.) in about three additions each. You will have about 965g of batter. 
Pour 630g of batter into the prepared pan. Cupcakes can be made with the remaining batter- it makes about 5 cupcakes, fill the cupcakes about 60% of the way to the top.

Bake the cake for about 25-35 minutes. The best way to check the cake to see if it is done is to use both the tooth-pick test and the spring-back test. Insert a wooden tooth-pick into the center of the cake and it should come out clean (with no crumbs). Next, lightly press your finger into the center of the cake and it should spring back a bit (if it just leaves a dent, the cake is not done). (The cupcakes take about 20 minutes to bake.)

Take the cake out of the oven, run a knife around the edge to separate the cake from the pan, and then cool the cake for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, frost with Cocoa Frosting from the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts:

Cocoa Frosting
300 g powdered sugar (2 2/3 cups)
75 g cocoa (3/4 cup)
87 g unsalted butter (6 Tbsp)
80 ml milk (1/3 cup)
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients on low speed until blended. Increase speed to high and whip until smooth and glossy. Add a bit more milk if necessary to achieve your preferred consistency. 

Assembly:
First, I placed a dollop of frosting on the cake board (I often reuse the styrofoam circles that refrigerated pizza at AH is packaged on!) so that the cake won't slide around.

Next, I leveled the top of the cake and then torted the cake (cut it in half horizontally).

 

The cocoa frosting as a filling makes life simple (and is tasty!)

 I placed the second layer of cake on top and then remembered that I should have used the bottom (the part of the cake that is in contact with the pan) as the very top to make frosting the cake easier (fewer crumbs).

Oh well! I frosted the top and sides of the cake with the cocoa frosting.

I trimmed the edge of the foam to get rid of the unsightly frosting (this was tricky to do, and I have a better method I'll share involving baking paper around the edge of the cake, which is removed after you frost it.) A cake turn-table is essential for me when decorating, otherwise my wrists have to contort in all sorts of weird ways to get the borders even.

And I decorated with the Basic Buttercream icing that tastes amazing and looks divine.

My husband has supported me throughout our time together, and this adventure is no exception. Keeping our Dina occupied with fun things to do while I plan, blog, and bake is not easy. She's always interested in helping her mommy bake and decorate (and 'clean' up the extra frosting.)

I love that Dina is excited about my passion for baking. And I love that my husband is, too. Thank you so much, MJM!

Stay tuned for the next date for my Buttercream Basics Cake Decorating class, on a Sunday afternoon in mid-August. In addition, I'm planning a new class: Cupcakes in Buttercream, which will be a Tuesday night in late-August.

 Everybody loves cupcakes...

 

 ...especially my Dina!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

The holiday baking season is upon us! Joy abounds!

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS! Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies made with Dutch peanut butter and imported American Hershey kisses. It is a marriage made in heaven. Fine tuning this recipe resulted in less sugar than the original, which of course is (almost) always a good thing.

Adapted from my Aunt Mary Lee's recipe(love you, Aunt MLG!):
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter (230 g)
1 cup creamy peanut butter (260 g Calve Pindakass)
1 cup brown sugar (220 g bastard suiker)
2/3 cup granulated sugar (150g fijn suiker)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour (300 g Zeeuwse bloem)
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
56 Hersheys Kisses, unwrapped

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C)
2. Mix butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, sugar in mixer and beat until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla.
3. Mix dry ingredients together, then add to mixture.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake, one sheet at a time, rotating half way through baking for about 12 minutes total.
6. As soon as you pull the tray out of the oven, stick a Hershey's kiss in the center of each cookie.
7. Allow to cool on tray about 3 minutes, then on racks until cool.

Makes 56 cookies.

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving in the USA is just around the corner, therefore I have to discuss Pumpkin Pie. Over the years, I've been perfecting my recipe, based on my grandma's, my MIL's, and a brief discussion with a professional baker while cake tasting for our wedding. The key to the best pumpkin pie is using canned pumpkin, which poses a bit of a challenge for my friends living here in the Netherlands. Do not despair! A little shop in Utrecht sells canned pumpkin, and you can often convince your friends visiting from the US to bring you a can of Libbys. I've used fresh pumpkin a few times and only one thing is for certain with the results I've had: they are never consistent. Furthermore, Cooks Illustrated uses canned pumpkin in their recipes so it has to be the right thing to do.

First, the crust: I say go big or go home. If you want a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth crust you have to use a Pate Brisse recipe. I've mentioned this before, but since pie can never be over-discussed, I'll say it again: make sure your butter is cold. Less than 68 degrees, to be exact. Start with 250g of cubed butter, that you've frozen for 30 minutes or overnight. (That's a bit more than a couple of sticks to you folks in the USA).

Next, process your all-purpose flour (2 & 1/2 cups or 300 g), 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt in a food processor until mixed. Add the chopped, frozen butter and process until you have a sandy-looking texture.

Add just less than 1/2 cup cold water and process until it comes together. Test by pinching a bit with your thumb and finger and seeing if it sticks together.

Shape into two discs (you've made enough for two pumpkin pies!) and wrap in saran wrap. Place in the fridge for at least a couple hours, preferably overnight. When you are ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F (210 degrees C) and roll out the crust to be just larger than a 9" pie plate. Place into a glass or ceramic pie plate and trim the edge to overhang about 2 inches. Fold that under to give yourself a thicker edge, and crimp the edge using your index finger from one hand and your index finger and thumb from the other hand.

The filling:
15 oz can of pumpkin (just pumpkin, please, no additives)
10 oz evaporated milk
2 oz milk
2/3 cup sugar (135 g)
2 eggs, slightly beaten (do not beat them too much because the air bubbles are no good.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
1/4 tsp fresh ground cloves or you can use allspice instead

Pour the filling into your unbaked prepared crust, place it in the oven (425 degrees F) and bake for 15 minutes. It is best if you have a baking sheet to place on the rack beneath the pie, to catch the butter drips. Otherwise you'll have fun cleaning your oven later. Next, cover the crust with a pie shield, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C)and bake for 35-40 minutes more. You will know your pie is done when you insert a knife and it comes out clean.

This poor pie had to be checked many, many times. Alternatively, you can slightly jiggle the pie and see if the center is wobbly. It should wobble a tiny bit, but mostly look set.

Pie holds a special place in my heart because it was my daughter's first word. Miraculously, I managed to capture it on video.

American Apple Pie

Apple picking is in full swing (and almost finished?) in the Netherlands. Gorgeous, juicy, red apples, freshly picked by our friends Dragan and Biba, appeared at our doorstep. What else could I do? I made a good old fashioned American Apple Pie.

Can I just say "food porn"? In my opinion, nothing compares to American apple pie. Just watch the movie "American Pie" and you'll see what I mean.

If you want to create this delicacy at home you'll need 5 large apples(good ones are Gala or Fuji), flour, sugar, cinnamon, butter, salt, corn starch, and ice cold water. And you'll need some time. First, make the pie crust. Do it ahead of time, the night before, and store your discs in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours(or freeze the discs for up to a month or two) . I love Joy of Cooking's pie crust, a standard pate brisse, which Jenny and I used to call 'Pah-tay Briss-ay' until we heard Martha mention it as 'Pat Briss' and we realized our utter non-Frenchness.

The key to pate brisse is cold butter. No, I don't mean refrigerator-cold butter, I mean freeze it! Take your 230g of butter, unsalted, of course, out of the refrigerator and cut it into little pieces. Preferably, perfect pea-sized pieces, but any small random bits will do. Next, put this mess of butter in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. While you wait, put your flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor, or a large bowl and mix. Once the butter is too cold to handle with your Raynauds-fingers, place it in with your blended flour mixture. Food process it to the beat of "mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord..." You know the song, right? Anyway,  if you don't have a food processor, get a pastry blender and get good at it and be quick about it.  Next, add the ice-cold water and pulse-blend until just combined. You'll know it is ready when you can pinch a bit of it with your fingers and it sticks together like playdough. Do not over-blend. Trust me. And don't let the butter even think about getting warm.

Place two large pieces of saran-wrap on the counter and put half of the dough in each piece, shaping it into a flat disc using the edges of the saran wrap. Try not to handle it too much. If the dough does not feel cold, put it in the fridge for a few minutes before shaping it into a disc. If you keep the butter cold throughout this process, your mouth will thank you when you bite into the lovely flakiness later.

Leave the two discs in the fridge overnight (preferable) or for at least an hour. Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F (210 C). Take each disc out and flour your work surface (use a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on the counter), flour your rolling pin, wait a few minutes for the dough to be rollable and go for it. If you try to roll it and it breaks apart on the edges, it is still a bit too cold. But don't let it get warmer than about 68 degrees F (20 C). Roll it into a circle for a 9" pie plate.  The overall thickness is less important than just getting it consistent and big enough for your pie plate.

Once it is rolled, place it in the fridge on a cookie sheet to keep it cool while you do the bottom crust. Do the same thing for the bottom crust and then flip over your paper and place it in the pie plate. Trim the edges to the edge of the pie (if you are making a top crust) or to about 1 inch overhang (and fold under) if you are not making a top crust. Place the bottom crust (that's in the pie plate) also into the fridge to keep it cool as well while you make the filling.

If you have an 'Apple Peeler Corer Slicer" machine, use it! If not, get your apples ready manually. You should have about 5.5 cups of apples, or a large bowl-full.

Next, add the cornstarch (3 Tbsp), sugar (3/4 cup), cinnamon (2 tsp), and lemon juice from half a lemon and stir it up well. If your apples are super sweet you can reduce the sugar to 2/3 cup or even less. Viktorija would say, "use less sugar!" She is smart.

Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and when the timer goes off, get the pie crusts out of the fridge and pour the mixture into the bottom crust.

Now, run a finger dipped in cold water around the edge(so the top crust will stick), dot the top with bits of butter (about 2 Tbsp total) and then place the top crust on, peeling back the paper as you do.

Trim the top crust to hang over about 1 inch, and then fold it underneath the bottom crust on the edges.

Crimp the edge by pinching with your thumb and first finger on one hand and your first finger on the other hand. Or just use a fork like my grandma used to do- pressing it around the edge to make lines. If you have a thin spot, just use some of the scraps you have from the trimming to thicken it up from underneath. If you have lots of scraps and feel like being creative you can re-roll them out and use a cookie cutter to make a pretty topping on your pie. But be quick about it, or do it ahead. The total time for you to get the filling in, top on, decoration done is less than 5 minutes. Apply the cut-out shapes with cold water to make them stick.

Sprinkle the top of the pie with a mixture of sugar (2 Tbsp) and cinnamon (1 tsp) (it will stick better if you sprinkle a tiny bit of water on the pie first) and put a few slits in the top crust with a knife. I've done four above.

Damn, this is starting to sound complex. We're almost done. I promise, it is worth it.

Bake the pie with a cookie sheet on another rack placed underneath the pie to catch the drippings. You'll want to bake it for 30 minutes and then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and put a pie-shield on and bake for 30 to 40 minutes more, or until a knife reveals bubbly juices.

If you don't have a pie shield you can make one out of foil, or skip it and deal with a slightly burned edge. You can see the apple shapes I put on top got a little bit burny. I could have covered them with foil to prevent this.

Serve the pie after a few hours (the inside will set-up nice). The pie is best the day it is made. Here is another example in a prettier pie plate (and it is slightly larger, too- 10 inches, which also works fine.)

If you make this pie for your boyfriend, he will ask you to marry him. It totally worked for me.

October is here! Squash Soup all around!

The fall season makes me so happy. Crisp, chilly mornings giving rise to gorgeous bright crunching leaves days reminds me of going back to school and the upcoming HALLOWEEN! Outside our bedroom window we can see our neighbor's maple tree and it has just started changing to a deep pink and bright orange with some bits of yellow. Gorgeous! Squash and pumpkins are on the market now and I was fortunate enough to buy some (including a typical American style pumpkin for Halloween!!) when we were in Germany a couple of weeks ago.

 

I spent 20 euros on these puppies because we didn't have change and I was so excited to see the road-side stand with the American style pumpkin I just kept putting them in the box until I had 20 euros worth. Mental note: 20 euros of pumpkins makes me quite happy for many days. And my kid, too!

Look how happy she is with the funny double-pumpkin! The two green ones at Dina's feet are called Buttercup squash and they are outstanding.

Fine Cooking once published a Buttercup squash and leek soup which I've long forgotten the exact measurements, but here is the method:

Make or purchase broth- preferably a veggie broth. You will likely need about 2 cups (500 ml) for one squash and 2 leeks.  Next, get a stock pot and add your rinsed, chopped leeks (about 2 leeks, or one if your squash is small or your leek really large). If you haven't cooked with leeks before here's a little info video I made:

Next, you'll slice your squash in half, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and flip it cut side down. Carefully cut the skin of the squash off, using the cut side down method as much as possible to prevent your knife from slipping on the tough skin. Cube squash into 1 to 2 inch squares and throw these on top of the leeks. Next, pour in enough broth to almost come to the top of the squash. If you cover the squash with the broth you will have a thinner soup. I prefer a thicker soup, but either way will work.

Bring your pot to a boil and once it is boiling, simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes or until you can prick the squash pieces with a fork and they just fall apart. Next, use an immersion blender to blend the hot soup together and make a nice smooth texture. If you don't have a hand held blender, you can do it in batches in a traditional blender. Just makes for more containers to clean-up.

Serve it, piping hot, with a dab of butter or extra virgin olive oil. I prefer the flavor of butter, as shown above. To prevent the squash soup from being too thin: before you blend the soup with the blender, remove some liquid, taking care to leave the leeks and squash in the pot. Sometimes I remove about 180 ml (1/2 cup) or more, if I think the squash seemed to release a lot of water. Don't throw this away! Keep it and then, blend the remaining squash, liquid and leeks and check the consistency. If it seems too thick, I slowly add the reserved liquid until I reach the desired thickness.

You can find these buttercup squash at the local markets (definitely the Eindhoven market on Saturday mornings) and also Genneper Park (I am starting to feel like an advert for them!) sometimes has them in their farm market. 

If you wish, you can substitute butternut squash (Flespompoen) for the buttercup, but you'll be missing out on something. Butternut squash is good, no lie, but trust me: the buttercup squash will blow you away.

Happy Fall, everyone!