Tag Archives: cake

baking, recipes

Dessert in my favorite shade of blue

On Saturday we stopped by Rockford’s grandmother’s house to pick some blueberries. His grandfather, Pop, had the greenest of green thumbs, and the blueberry bushes he planted when they moved into their “new” house some 12 years ago have been magnificently productive. Pete puts at least as many blueberries in his mouth as he does in his bucket; Poppy, not surprisingly, doesn’t eat a single berry from her harvest.

“I don’t like eating them,” she says. “I just like the festivity of picking them.”

Rockford and the kids picked probably 2 quarts of blueberries, and last night we turned some of them into a Blueberry Upside-Down Cake.

Blueberry Upside-Down Cake

adapted from “The Best Recipe“

Topping
4 tablespoons butter, plus more for cake pan
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 cups blueberries

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk

For the topping: Butter bottom and sides of 9×3-inch round cake pan. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in medium saucepan over medium heat; add brown sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is foamy and pale, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared cake pan; swirl pan to distribute evenly. Distribute blueberries evenly over topping; set aside.

For the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, cornmeal and salt together in medium bowl; set aside. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Gradually add 1 cup sugar; continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in yolks and vanilla. Reduce heat to low and add dry mixture and milk, alternating in three or four batches, until batter is just smooth.

Beat egg whites in a large bowl at low speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and beat to soft peaks. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat to stiff peaks. Fold a quarter of the beaten egg whites into the batter with a large rubber spatula. Fold in remaining whites until no white streaks remain. Gently pour batter into pan and spread over blueberries. Bake until top is golden and toothpick inserted into cake center comes out clean, 65 to 70 minutes.

Rest cake on rack for 2 minutes. Slide a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Place a serving platter over the pan and hold tightly, then invert the cake onto the platter. Carefully remove the cake pan.

A note about the order of things

I only have a stand mixer, and I only have one bowl for it. This means I have to be a little creative about the batter and the egg whites. I get everything I need for the batter lined up, then I beat the egg whites, put them in another bowl and wipe the bowl down so I can use it to mix up the rest of the batter.

I am considering getting a second bowl for the stand mixer.

Pop gave us a few sticks (or sproutlings or cuttings or whatever you call them) from his blueberry bushes after we bought the house, and I so want them to thrive. I do not have the greenest of green thumbs, though, not by a long shot. So for now we will continue enjoying the bounty of Mom & Pop’s blueberry bushes, and I will keep coddling the sproutlings for as long as they need to be coddled.

Eating

No birds were harmed in the making of this cake.

3 Comments

Hummingbird Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (8-oz) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup chopped pecans
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (The resulting batter is very thick — practically dough-like.) Do not beat.

Combine vanilla, pineapple, pecans and bananas. Stir in to flour mixture.

Pour batter into three greased and floured nine-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 to 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans and let cool completely on wire racks.

Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup butter
2 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (32-oz) package powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter and cream cheese. Gradually add powdered sugar, beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. (This makes roughly 3 tons of frosting. Cut the recipe in half if you’re not a frosting fanatic.)


baking, recipes

The Cake

I found the Strawberry Cream Cake recipe on the Cook’s Illustrated Web site a few weeks ago. I had to wait to make it because I’d just started the South Beach Diet. And what’s the point of making a cake if you can’t eat it, too? So since we gathered strawberries and I fell off the SBD wagon, I decided it was high time I try the recipe.


Last night, I didn’t think the result was worth the labor involved. It was basically a glorified strawberry shortcake. It’s better today, though. The strawberry goo and the icing have permeated the cake layers. And that’s always a good thing. So, if you decide to try the recipe, I recommend making it a day ahead and refrigerating it until you’re ready to serve it.

Strawberry Cream Cake

If using a cake pan, you will need one with straight sides that are at least 2 inches high; otherwise, use a springform pan. The cake portion can be made ahead of time, wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, and frozen; thaw the frozen cake, unwrapped, at room temperature for about two hours before proceeding with the recipe.

Serves 8 to 10
Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour (5 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup sugar (7 ounces)
5 large eggs (2 whole and 3 separated), room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Strawberry Filling

2 pounds fresh strawberries (medium or large, about 2 quarts), washed, dried, and stemmed
4 – 6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Kirsch
Pinch table salt

Whipped Cream

8 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 cups heavy cream

1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour round 9 by 2-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and all but 3 tablespoons sugar in mixing bowl. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks (reserving whites), butter, water, and vanilla; whisk until smooth.

2. In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 60 to 90 seconds. Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten; add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours.

3. FOR THE STRAWBERRY FILLING: Halve 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). In workbowl of food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices and Kirsch until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.

4. FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM: When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed (you should have about 4 1/2 cups).

5. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Using large serrated knife, slice cake into three even layers. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour one half of pureed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge. Place middle cake layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge). Repeat with 20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream; gently press last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top; decorate with remaining cut strawberries. Serve, or chill for up to 4 hours.
from Cook’s Illustrated