Cinnamon apple madeleines, using coconut oil

I finally got the bump in the madeleine.

I haven’t baked madeleines much lately. The non-stick pans are great. I’ve switched to coconut oil for baking in the last few months. It’s healthier and better for the environment than palm oil. Measuring coconut oil can be hard, depending on the weather it can be either solid or liquid. In the summer months it’s clear looking and runny, like a vegetable oil. When I put it in the fridge it became too hard to scoop out.

Coconut oil melts at about 76°F. Since the weather has cooled, the coconut oil is a soft solid at room temperature. When you spoon it, it resembles large clumps of wax, not smooth like palm shortening. I eyeball the measurements usually, but you can melt it and pour into measuring cups for more precision (and let it re-solidify if you want a solid shortening). I don’t find the taste of coconut very prominent in the end results, but if you really hate coconut then you might notice it. Buying it in the larger jars makes the price more reasonable, and it does last a long time (shelf life and usage).

Cinnamon apple madeleines

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar*
• 1 tsp molasses*
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil**
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt

*or a scant 2/3 cup brown sugar

** you can use melted butter or organic shortening instead

For more of an apple flavor, maybe add a splash of apple brandy.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix sugar and molasses thoroughly, beat in eggs, apple sauce, coconut oil, and cinnamon. Then mix the rest of the dry ingredients till smooth. Fill madeleine pans and bake for about 12mins, till the edges are browned. This makes 2 dozen full size madeleines.

The side scraping paddles are great for brownie batter too.

-Lina

Amaretti blueberry shortcake

This was the birthday cake I made for my grandmother a few weeks ago. Like the Japanese style strawberry short cake, this is 2 layers of sponge cake with cream chantilly (whipped cream) as frosting. The crumbs are crushed amaretti cookies.

Amaretti blueberry shortcake

sponge cake:

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract + 1/2 tsp almond extract (or just 1 tsp of amaretto)

cream chantilly (whipped cream):

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract + 1 tsp almond extract (or amaretto)

rest:

• apricot preserve
• 1 pint of fresh blueberries
• 8 to 10 amaretti cookies
• parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar till very pale yellow and is 3-4 times the original volume using a mixer. Cut parchment paper into circles to fit two 8in round cake pans (fold the paper in halves till you can’t anymore and snip the ends to fit). Oil pan with the parchment thoroughly otherwise it’d be hard to get the bottom out of the pan. Sift in flour and baking powder, fold with large metal spoon and add the vanilla while folding. When fully incorporated pour into pans and bake for 25mins. Check the other cake post for more images.

Beat cream and sugar till it forms soft peaks, add extracts and beat a little more. Put away till cake is completely cooled.

When cakes are cooled peel off the parchment paper, spread on apricot preserve, cover layer with blueberries then spread the whipped cream over. Put on the next cake layer, and thin coat of preserve. Frost cake with the remaining cream.

Crush about 8 or 9 amaretti cookies in either a food processor or in just a freezer bag with something heavy. To get the crumbs on the cake you will need either a cake stand or a second person holding the plate of cake on an angle over a large baking sheet to catch run off.

Top with any remaining blueberries. If you don’t have amaretti cookies, you can just crush up nilla wafers, ginger snaps, graham crackers, or almonds.

-Lina

Happy Mother’s Day…

…and it happens to be my birthday too (happens like every other year). So we are having a big dinner with my family and I make the cake (all organic ingredients). It’s a Japanese style strawberry shortcake, meaning it’s a sponge cake base with whipped cream and strawberries.

Japanese style shortcake

sponge cake:

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

cream chantilly (to be fancy):

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

rest:

• strawberry or raspberry preserve
• 1 qt fresh strawberries
• parchment paper

eggs and sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar till very pale yellow and is 3-4 times the original volume using a mixer. Cut parchment paper into circles to fit two 8in round cake pans (fold the paper in halves till you can’t anymore and snip the ends to fit). Oil pan with the parchment thoroughly otherwise it’d be hard to get the bottom out of the pan. Sift in flour and baking powder, fold with large metal spoon and add the vanilla while folding. When fully incorporated pour into pans and bake for 25mins.

Beat cream and sugar till it forms soft peaks, add vanilla and beat a little more. Put away till cake is completely cooled.

Take half the strawberries (the least pretty ones) and slice into 4ths. De-stem the rest for the top.

When cakes are cooled peel off the parchment paper, spread on a thin layer of preserve, top evenly with the sliced strawberries then spread the whipped cream over. Put on the next cake layer, and thin coat of preserve. Frost cake with the remaining cream. I saved some and piped it on with just a snipped sandwich baggie (I never got the hang of using decorating tips). Top with strawberries how you see fit.

-L

Mango Almond Cakes

I love mango pulp; it’s available from the internet, Indian specialty stores, and even in Whole Foods. In the summer I blend it with yogurt and ice to make mango lassi. The mango pulp gives these cupcakes a pretty color and great mango flavor. 

Mango Almond Cakes

• 3/4 cup organic shortening or butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mango pulp
• 1 1/4 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
• pinch of salt
• sliced almonds to top (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream together sugar and shortening till smoothed. Then incorporate eggs one at a time, then almond flour, almond extract and then the mango pulp, mix well. Add flour, baking powder and pinch of salt, and quickly mix till incorporated. Line or grease muffin tin, fill equally and top with a few almond pieces. Bake for about 25min, it should just start browning.

 -L

heart shaped bread mishap

I shaped some dough into a batard (a shorter wider baguette, inspired by an episode of ‘Baking with Julia’), and after resting I made three slits. 

But when I was transferring it into the oven, it fell in and folded over itself. I decided to make an extra slit on the bottom piece that was sticking out and baked it all the same (in an enameled cast iron pot). When it came out it was strangely symmetrical and heart shaped. <3 

The crust was perfect and the interior chewy and tender, the holes weren’t as large as I had hope but it wasn’t overly dense.

-L

treebeard’s butter cake

There’s this restaurant in town called Treebeard’s (http://www.treebeards.com) and I tend to go there for Friday lunch with the coworkers, because Friday is pot roast day. Oh yes, their pot roast is spectacular, but that’s not what this post is about. Today is about their butter cake. It’s a sweet lil moist piece of heaven that I get every time I go. So I search online and found the recipe. This is my 3rd attempt at this recipe and I think I’m finally happy with it.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Pillsbury yellow cake mix (the one with pudding in the mix)
• 1 stick of butter (melted)
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. of vanilla
• 1 8oz. package of cream cheese (softened)
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp. white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix the yellow cake mix with 1 egg and the melted butter. You should mix until it has a dough like consistency.

In a 9×13 rectangle baking pan, grease the pan with butter and sprinkle the white sugar around. I say 1tsp of white sugar, but make sure it’s enough to thinly cover the bottom of the pan. Place the mixture in the pan and flatten, being sure to distribute the “dough” evenly.

In another bowl, add the softened cream cheese, vanilla, and start off with 1 egg. Mix on medium speed until all ingredients are incorporated. Add 1 cup of confectioners sugar and mix again until smooth. Add another egg and another cup of confectioners sugar, mix until smooth and repeat one more time with the last egg and last cup of confectioners sugar

Pour mixture over flattened “dough” in pan. Place in the oven and bake anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven. When removed, the top should be a light brown and look a little flaky. Also, the middle should look like it sunk in. Let cool, cut and enjoy!

It felt really good to bake again.

–Chelle

Green Tea Cat’s Tongues

I finally bought some matcha for baking. It’s a much richer flavor than the finely ground sencha I’ve been using. The original recipe calls sifting of the flour and salt but I never do it, so I’m leaving it out. And I use a ziploc bag to pipe out the batter instead of a pastry bag (I don’t have one), but make sure you only snip a tiny bit off the corner or else it’ll be very messy. To make it easier transferring the batter into a bag, put the bag in a mug, folding the bag’s edge over the rim before filling.

 Green Tea/Matcha Cat’s Tongues (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies)

• 7 tbsp butter (or Earth Balance Whipped Spread)
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup + 1 tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp matcha

1. Preheat to 375º. Cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar.
2. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Mix in the matcha and salt, then the flour.
4. Transfer batter into pastry bag fitted with 3/8in round tip.
5. Pipe the batter into 3/8in x 2 3/4in strips on parchment lined baking sheets spacing them about an inch apart (I did mine a bit thicker and it affected the baking time, needing a few more minutes to make sure it’s not too soft). 
6. Bake 10-12mins till the edges turn golden (brown).
7. Cool on baking sheets for 3mins before transferring to wire racks (but if it’s humid or if you think the cookies are still on the soft side, leave on the baking sheets to cool all the way thru).

Kind of messy here, some look like dividing single cell organisms.

Matcha or Kryptonite… powdered.

-L

Scallion bread

As lovely as the rosemary bread was, I think this is even more awesome.

Chop one stalk of scallion, mix with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of black pepper. Knead half (or more) of the scallion mixture into a large ‘grapefruit sized’ piece of dough, place on a floured surface and top the dough with the rest of the scallion. Let dough rest for 20mins, cut slits (I shaped it just like the rosemary bread), and I baked it in an enameled cast iron pot (preheated with oven to 450º for 20mins), baked with lid on for 20mins and another 15mins lid off till it was the color I wanted. It taste heavenly, so savory and aromatic. Where as rosemary loses it’s intensity when baked, scallion becomes even more flavorful.

-L

Earl Grey Madeleines

The secret here is to have very fragrant (good whole leaf) Earl Grey tea, being that it’s the main flavoring agent. I had to grind the tea leaves in a food processor and ended up mixing the whole batter with it (less clean up). If you prefer, you can grind up the tea leaves in a clean coffee/spice grinder and use a mixer for the batter.

Earl Grey Madeleines

• 1/3 cup organic shortening or butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp Earl Grey tea leaves
• 3/4 cup almond flour/meal
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Process tea leaves to a medium grind (like very coarse ground pepper). Cream together sugar and shortening, then incorporate one egg at a time till completely blended. Add in almond flour and tea, mix thoroughly. Then add flour and baking powder, mix briefly till smooth. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease pans throughly with shortening or butter. Try to under fill the molds, and you can get make 2 batches of the full sized pans or about 3 batches of minis. Bake for 18-20min (for full sized pans, 13-15 for minis) till the top starts to turn golden brown. Cool for 5min before popping them out.

-Lina

Rosemary bread

My rosemary plant has more than doubled in size. Here I added two tablespoons of chopped rosemary into some dough. The final shape was an accident, I flattened it out too much in the center. The slits were done with a pair of kitchen shears (easier than knives).

-L