Dulce de Leche Lemon Cake

I've been baking for a long time. Each time I try to remember when exactly I first pulled the flour bin out and tried something new, I give up and go do something more useful, like wash the giant pile of dishes that kitchen gremlins keep sneaking into my sink. There has always been an unspoken rule in my family though: I make whatever the heck I want, but mom makes the birthday cakes (except for her own that is, though even then she gets a say in what I make). My older sister has mom's Drunken Cherry cake, without which a birthday is not a birthday, and my younger sister has had mom's "L'ubimiy" (quite literally "The Favorite").  It involved lots of butter, homemade dulce de leche, fresh lemon and fluffy yellow cake layers, and it has been her go to for a long time. That is until a few years ago. I don't recall why, either mom couldn't or she asked me specifically, but I was asked to make my sister my lemon cake instead. I think I mentioned it on here a long time back, it was a cake that involved slightly dense lemon cake layers with lemon curd spiked whipped cream inside and out. I got the recipe from an old issue of Gourmet and modified it slightly over the years based on my family's preferences and it was pretty good. Since then it's been an alternating battle. Does she choose mom's lemon cake or mine?

This year her birthday was going to be celebrated late and while talking over her plans late one night on IM, I typed out loudly "I'm making your cake this year! What do you want?" "I'm sure whatever you make will be lovely. Something with lemon. Or chocolate. Or lemon. Did I mention lemon?" she replied. I reeled through all the different cakes I'd like to try out next in my head before I decided that no matter how crazy I want to get, it's not about what I want to try, but about what she would want. It would be for her birthday after all. And then it hit me! I'd make the ultimate cake for her: I'd combine her two favorites into one giant confection to blow her mind. And this is how the "New Favorite" was born. 

The process is a little lengthy, and I apologize for the lack of good pictures of the cake (it was the middle of the night when I finished it), but trust me, it came out awesome and the birthday girl was blown away. And yes, I did insist on having the correct number of candles on the cake. I'll continue to do that until she's 93 and the cake looks like a flammable porcupine. I may be a middle child but for a few years I was the little sister, and those lessons are hard to unlearn.

The New Favorite (or Dulce Lemon Cake)

This recipe is a combination of several sources, including an old Gourmet recipe, but I'd changed so much about all of it over the years and now combining it with my mom's recipe, the result is all my own. Note: Plan to make this over two days because the lemon curd and the dulce de leche will need time to cool down.

For the Frosting/Filling:

1 14oz can of condensed milk

Zest of 2 lemons

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 stick of unsalted butter (6 Tbsp), cut up into pieces

2 8oz packages of cream cheese, at room temp

1 cup of unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temp

For the cake:

3 cups cake flour

1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
16 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temp
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the unopened can of condensed milk into a deep pot and cover completely with water. Cover the pot and place over high heat until the water boils, then lower the heat to medium high to keep a steady boil going and cook for 2.5-3 hours. Check on the pot every 30 minutes or so and add water as needed to make sure that the can stays submerged. Don't forget about it because if you don't have water in there the can can blow up and you don't want all your hard work splattered on the ceiling. Take the whole pot off the stove, carefully take out the can with tongs and let it stand out until it's completely cool. Don't try to open the can until it's cool or, once again, it will blow up. 

2. In a separate pot, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and eggs. Whisk together lightly, add in the chopped butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until the butter has melted and the custard has thickened enough to hold the marks of the whisk for a bit and you start seeing a few bubbles around the edges. Don't let it boil. Once it's thickened take it immediately off the heat and pass it through a strainer into a bowl to remove any bits of cooked egg and the lemon zest. Cover with saran wrap pressed over the surface of the curd (this will prevent a skin from forming) and let it cool to room temp before you transfer it to the fridge to set completely.

3. Once both the dulce and the lemon curd are completely cool, beat the cream cheese and the butter together until fluffy, beat in the whole can dulce de leche until combined and then beat in the lemon curd in several stages. I added the entire batch in, but my frosting came out a little bit on the softer side. You may want to reserve a little of the curd for your breakfast toast if you'd prefer your frosting a bit stiffer. Or you can just chill it for a bit before you use it. 

4. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Grease the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans lightly with butter, line the bottoms with parchment paper and then grease and flour the bottom and sides again. I use Baker's Pam, which is oil and flour in one and is awesome.

5. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.  

6. In a large bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, the lemon zest  and the sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated,  scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  

7. Combine the buttermilk, the lemon juice and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

8. Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans.  Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

9. Once the layers are cool, cut each one in half, lengthwise. Place one layer on your serving plate and top with a thin layer of frosting. Top with another layer and repeat until you have all four layers stacked with three layers of frosting between them. Use the rest of the frosting to cover the top and sides and pipe on decorations with anything you have left over. You want to get every last bit of that frosting onto that cake because it's the best part.  

The cake will keep for a few days in the fridge, provided you don't eat it all in one sitting. 

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes

The holidays were crazy and it has been really hard to return. At first it was perfectly justifiable. I was working longer hours, sewing holiday gifts, baking treats for different holiday parties and there just wasn't any time to come back here and write. Then after the new year there were birthdays and shows and parties and more work, so I once again put off coming here. Baking was being done in the middle of the night and pictures, if I even bothered to take any, were all badly lit and unworthy. Inspiration was hard to find at the end of each long day so I decided to just call it an extended vacation from blogging. The problem with that is that when you don't have a plane ticket back, you're quite likely to just stay on vacation. 

A few weeks ago, before going to a theater preview with a friend, we stopped by the Ghiradelli store on Michigan Ave for a coffee (we were determined to stay as far away from Starbucks as possible and good coffee is hard to come by in that area). We were cheerfully greeted with a square of caramel chocolate each and when we just couldn't decide between the salted caramel hot chocolate and a cappuccino (caffeine was sorely needed, but the salted caramel just sounded soo good), the friendly "barista" offered to combine the two at no extra charge. Sold! It was delicious, and I have been thinking about it ever since, so when one of my sister's work friends ordered cupcakes from me to celebrate his newborn baby boy, I decided to use those flavors for the cupcakes since I was given free rein. 

I whipped up some smooth lightly salted caramel and folded it into a half cream cheese half buttercream frosting I'd come up with, and then I swirled it on top of a fluffy espresso spiked dark chocolate cupcake. If you really like the combination of salty and sweet I'd recommend topping each one with a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt to kick up the flavor even more. They did that at Ghiradelli and the outcome was divine. 

Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes

Cupcake recipe adapted from Epicurious and the frosting I just made up.

Cupcakes:

2 oz good semisweet chocolate

• 1 cup hot brewed espresso (you can use coffee, but I wanted an extra kick)

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)

• 1.5 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

• 1/2 tsp vanilla (or vanilla bean paste)

Frosting:

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp water

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

1 tsp vanilla (or vanilla bean paste)

1 8oz package of cream cheese, at room temp

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp (2 sticks)

1 cup powdered sugar

Cupcakes:

- Preheat oven to 300°F and line 2 cupcake pans with liners (batch makes between 24 and 30 cupcakes).

- Finely chop chocolate, put into a medium bowl, top with hot coffee, let is stand for a few seconds and then whisk it until the mixture is uniform.

- Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

- In the large bowl of your standing mixer (or another large bowl if you're using a hand mixer) beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3-5 minutes). Stop the mixer and add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs. Whisk together by hand until uniform (or else the liquid will splatter all over the place). 

- Dump in the sugar/flour mixture, give it a few stirs with your whisk and then beat on medium speed until just combined well. 

- Fill each cupcake liner half way (the batter will rise so if you add too much batter it will overflow and you'll have an awkward muffing top to deal with) and bake in the middle of the oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

- In a medium saucepan (bigger than you think you'll need) briefly stir together granulated sugar, lemon juice and water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking, without stirring, until mixture turns dark amber in color, about 6 to 7 minutes. If you see that it's getting color on one side, but not the other, just give the pan a swirl and whatever you do, don't walk away because it can go from dark amber to burnt very quickly.

- Remove the pan from heat and slowly whisk in the cream, vanilla and salt. It will bubble up, but should get thick and creamy once it's mixed and cools down. Let it cool to room temperature, about 25 minutes. 

- Beat together the creamcheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar. Dump in the cooled caramel and whip again until smooth and even. 

- The frosting will be a bit soft so put it in the fridge to thicken for 20 minutes before piping onto the cupcakes. Cover tightly and store in the fridge. They keep great and are even better on the 2nd day.

Optional: Top each cupcake with a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt before serving for an extra delicious punch. 

Enjoy!

Chocolate Walnut Cake

You'd think that after spending several days doing nothing but playing with props, all the pictures featured in my blog going forward would be gorgeous, carefully styled and feature pretty spoons and napkins and stuff. Well, you'd be WRONG! See, while I've learned a lot and will definitely be doing my damnedest to try and incorporate all of those things, sometimes I have exactly 3 minutes to take pictures before the cake goes into a box and is rushed out the back door. Those 3 minutes don't exactly leave very much room for tweaking and styling. But I'm going to try, otherwise it would have been all for nothing.

For example this cake, which I've now made twice in the past two weeks (with the 2nd being an improvement on the first). Both times it was for someone else and both times I've had no time to take pictures, but I wanted to tell you about it, so I plopped it really quickly in front of my white fridge on a cake stand I haven't had time to put away yet and there you go.



The cake itself contains two layers of a dense moist walnut cake with a layer of chunky walnut ganache and a layer of amaretto spiked chocolate mousse sandwiched in between. A smooth coat of ganache went on top and the sides got treated to rows of stars made of leftover chocolate mousse. A few toasted walnuts on top and Voila! Cake.



Chocolate Walnut Cake

Double batch of Walnut Cake from here baked in two 9" round tins

Chocolate Mousse:
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp instant espresso or coffee
1 Tbsp Amaretto
3 egg whites (absolutely NO yolk), room temp
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup cold heavy cream

Chocolate Ganache/Walnut filling:
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
15oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Optional:
As many pretty toasted walnut halves as you can find and not eat

1. Make a double batch of the Walnut cake and allow the layers to cool completely while you make the mousse, filling, and icing.

Mousse:
2. Combine the chocolate, espresso and amaretto in a microwave proof bowl and melt the chocolate by heating at 20 second intervals, mixing with a spatula after each interval until the chocolate is smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. Beat the egg whites in a mixer with the whisk attachment (or a hand beater) until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not over-beat, you want to stop as soon as you get to the shiny stiff peak consistency.
4. Beat the whipped cream on high until peaks form, about a minute. Don't over-beat or you'll have butter (not a bad thing, but not what we're going for here).
5. Fold 1/4 of the heavy cream into the chocolate mixture and gently fold it in with a spatula until thoroughly combined. Add the whipped egg whites and gently fold in until combined. Add the rest of whipped cream and once again, fold in gently until thoroughly combined.
6. CHILL the mousse in the fridge for AT LEAST an hour before using. If you don't, it won't support the top cake layer and everything will ooze out creating a mess and you'll hate me for ever sharing this recipe.

Ganache/Filling:
7. Combine the heavy cream and butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat and heat it until the very first bubbles start forming along the edges. You don't want this to boil or even simmer.
8. Dump the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Gently whisk until completely combined and smooth and pretty.
9. Remove 2/3 cup of the ganache and combine with the chopped and toasted walnuts in a separate bowl. Allow both to cool to room temp.

Assembly:
10. Lay one cake layer on your cake plate/cardboard circle and spread the walnut ganache evenly over the bottom. Chill in the fridge for a few minutes if the ganache is still soft.
11. Spread a thick layer of the mousse over the ganache. Save some to use as garnish. Again, chill for a few minutes if you feel the mousse is still somewhat soft.
12. Top with the second cake layer and smooth down the sides if any of the ganache/mousse is peeking out.
13. Make sure your ganache is cooled to a still soft, but not runny consistency and pour it over the top of the cake, smoothing down the sides with an offset spatula.
14. Scoop the remaining mousse into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe a ring around the base of the cake to cover up any mess the poured ganache may have made.
15. Chill any left over ganache, scoop into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and alternate walnut halves with chocolate swirls around the top of the cake.
16. Chill the cake until ready to serve (use this time to wash the mountain of dishes) and remember to it out 30 minutes before cutting.

Food Photography Workshop with Helene of Tartlette

This all started almost a year ago. It wasn't very long after new year's and I was feeling landlocked, frustrated, and in desperate need of a vacation when Helene of Tartlette posted about the different workshops she was planning over the next year. I love her work and think her photography is gorgeous (and goodness knows I need help in that department), but it would definitely be a major splurge so I waffled back and forth and pestered my friend Joy on whether I should do it and in the end I just clicked the button and signed up. I had to dip into my savings, but this was a rare opportunity and boy would it be worth it! Over the next months whenever I'd get upset or frustrated or get that feeling to hop into the car and just take off, I'd remember about this trip and feel better. That feeling of an adventure already planned and booked is one of the best feelings, I think.

So that brings us up to the first week of November, when after a long wait I finally packed my bags and boarded the plane. I arrived a few hours before Helene's husband Bill was supposed to pick us up, so I grabbed lunch at the airport and wandered around the shops before finally settling down to wait and read my book, but the girl I'd settled next to noticed my tripod sticking out of my backpack and asked if I was there for the photo workshop. Krisztina Desi had been traveling across the US for a few weeks and was going back to Budapest right after this workshop, so my trip had started with me speaking Russian (mom would be proud). Pretty soon Libby Stephens joined us and man alive, she was an absolute riot! A few minutes after that, after scaring away a woman who was definitely not part of our group, we had flagged down Melissa Cole and after we were joined by Karen Cornett and Claire Perez we all squeezed into Bill's red van and headed for the beach house. 




At the beautiful beach front summer house just outside of Charleston, SC we were met by our two teachers for the weekend, Helene Dujardin and Claire Barboza, as well as our wonderful chef for the duration of our stay, Laura Vein. They couldn't have been nicer or more gracious. I had won the room lottery and got a cozy room right by the front door all to myself and while we waited for people to arrive, I settled in, opened all the windows, and let as much of the ocean air in as possible.

Slowly the rest of the workshop attendees started filtering in. Alysha Yoder, an incredible photographer who I wound up pestering to no end later that weekend to suck up as much Lightroom knowledge as possible.  Stacy Able, a fabulous wedding and doggie photographer who is in Panama right now volunteering for the Seeds of Help foundation (and has promised to send me some Guatemalan coffee once she comes back!). Tiffany Scales, of the lovely Savor Home blog. Amy Schleider, who drove in all the way from Missouri and was kind enough to drive and hang out in Charleston with Alecia and I on the last day of the trip. And lastly, as the girls began to open up the wine bottles lined up on the counter, Bill brought Dina Sandakli, a lovely girl whose travel exploits are truly enviable (and who tried to teach us belly dancing as well as the non-PC difference between Indians and American Indians according to her college history professor). Once everyone settled in we had dinner, discussed the schedule for the weekend, enjoyed a fabulous ice cream buffet (homemade ice cream of course), and talked and talked. Once people began disappearing to their rooms, I took a walk on the beach. The water was just warm enough to roll up my pants and get my feet wet, and without the glow of a city nearby, the moon and the stars were the only things reflecting off the water. Just what I needed.



The next few days were filled with beautiful food, running around the house to claim a spot with the perfect lighting, sorting through a huge table laden with props(!), finding corners around the living room to plug in and edit photos, learning various techniques and strategies, chatting, eating fabulous food and drinking wine. On Saturday morning we all got up extra early and drove to the Charleston Farmer's market to take photos (and buy a few things...because I can't NOT buy anything at a farmer's market).

I chatted up this lovely pickle lady and who let me take some photos of her and gave me a small container of pickled peanuts. I also grabbed a small container of her pickled beets, which were amazing.

Back at the house we had to earn our lunch. Helene fried or poached fresh goose eggs, Laura fried up some bacon and we once again dashed to the props table to assemble and photograph our meal before we could dig in.



On Saturday evening we piled into three cars and drove once again into the city to the gorgeous Lana Restaurant. Chef John Ondo, a friend of Helene's, was kind enough to allow a dozen women to run around his restaurant and pester his staff with our cameras. They didn't even mind it (too much) when we took turns popping into the kitchen to get some behind the scenes shots. Every once in a while we'd head back to the table and enjoy the incredible dishes. I had the phenomenal poached pear and gorgonzola salad, a delicious Basque style chicken, and a lovely lemon and olive oil cake (Helen's mother's recipe).

The next day we got back to work and I began cataloging in my head the list of props I absolutely must acquire for myself. That gorgeous linen runner and those adorable numbered cups and dishes are at the top of that list.



Towards the end of the trip, during some free time, a few girls and I took a walk from the beach house to the pier to check out the handful of shops there and I'd discovered that the Ben and Jerry's there still had my all time favorite ice cream flavor, which had been retired everywhere else: Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz. Well, you know I had to have some, right?



Also, on Sunday night, just after it started getting dark, they sky opened up and it began to rain. A few minutes after, the power went out as far as we could see, and there were lightning bolts in the sky, one right after the other. I grabbed my camera and tripod and ran up to the 2nd floor balcony to shoot. I got some decent pictures and it was wonderful to not be the only girl running towards the storm instead of away from it; Alecia and Libby were right there next to me trying to keep our cameras dry and having a total blast.

The power eventually did come back on, and the trip eventually had to end, but I learned a lot, made some friends, and truly relaxed. I don't have a recipe for you today, but I'll be back shortly with a few things I'd been up to, I promise.

Black Forest Dessert Sauce

Hi! How are ya? What's new? Good! Me? Well, let me tell you! I know it's been a month since I've promised to tell you about all the cakes, cakes and more cakes that have been flying out of my kitchen, but there have been so much happening since then that I barely know how I'll ever get you all caught up, so instead I'm going to just share everything and tomorrow we'll start fresh. Okay? Great.

A few weeks ago, I made sugar paste from scratch and created several of these:



And I put them on top of this:



A topper went on top of that (go figure) and turned it into this (picture pilfered compliments of South Branch Tavern and Grille):



It was a vanilla cake with lemon curd filling and italian meringue buttercream on the outside. Here's another pilfered picture of the insides:

And that one in the background up above? That was the groom's cake. A key lime pie cake to be exact, though there are no pictures of the insides. Guess the guy is a U of Miami fan?



Then there was this (ignore the bad lighting, it's what happens when you bake in the middle of the night), a rich chocolate cake filled with chocolate fudge and fresh blackberries:



There was also an ENORMOUS cake covered in pink roses, but there are no pictures of that because it was finished and delivered at 2am, in the dead of night, under the cover of rain. Not kidding. I pulled the keys out of the mailbox, backed the car into the driveway, loaded the monster into the trunk, drove it two blocks to the clubhouse where the party was going to be and drove back as my drunk neighbors were coming back from a night of bar hopping.

There were cookies made, jam, gluten free scones (man do I need to keep working on those, they were NOT good), tarts and tartlettes and baked goods galore. There was a brunch with friends and lots and lots of wine. There was stress at work, lots of hours in front of the computer and many cups of tea. Oh yeah, and my tea kettle broke. Before you ask, it was an electric one and yes, the next one will be the old fashioned kind that doesn't require an outlet and never fails. And none of that even includes the half a dozen sewing projects I'd finished, including these two pillows (complete with zippers!):



There was also a LOT of greek yogurt. You see, I'm slowly working through my rather extensive stash of jams, jellies, sauces, and preserves of all kinds. I haven't even told you about HALF of my canning expeditions this summer (though I promise I will). And last week I have finally scraped clean the very last of the Black Forest dessert sauce that I made last summer. Since I've been eating it on top of yogurt, it's technically breakfast food. Plus there are cherries.



I had found a recipe for cherry sauce somewhere along the way and had heard of people adding cocoa to their canning projects, plus there's a bottle of kirschwasser hanging around in my liquor cabinet, and I had bought a giant box of dark black cherries for next to nothing from the back of a truck...ahem...so somehow all of these needed to come together. (And yes, I made another animated gif. I might be having too much fun with these).

And before I give you the recipe I have to tell you that right now I'm having a bit of a surreal moment. I've just come back from a walk on the beach where the ocean water is still warm enough to roll up your pants and walk barefoot along the surf. The moon is big and yellow and the sky is full of stars. I'm sitting on a sofa in a gorgeous beach house in Charleston, South Carolina and across from me is another late owl, Helene Dujardin, of the incredible blog Tartlette. I'll tell you about how THAT happened in a few days when this is all over, but in the mean time I'd just like to wish you all a happy fun filled weekend, because that's exactly what I intend to do myself.

Black Forest Dessert Sauce
Adapted from so many sources that I may as well call it my own.

3lbs dark black cherries, pitted
3 cups of sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/4 cup Kirschwasser

1. Combine everything except for the booze in a large pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring often for about 20 minutes.
2. Blend everything either with an immersion blender*, add the Kirsch and cook for another 5 minutes. 
3. Ladle into clean/sterilized jars and either boil in a water bath for 10 minutes if you want to keep it for a few months, or let it cool and keep in the fridge if you plan on eating it within a week or two. 
4. Pour over ice cream or yogurt and enjoy.

* I LOVE my immersion blender and highly recommend you get one, but if you don't want/have one I'd recommend blending the cherries before you cook them because blending hot sugar stuff is really scary.