My Cocoa Issue, Resolved.

December 7, 2009 at 3:50 pm · Filed under Cake

As I was getting ready to make Deep Dark Chocolate Cake for my bro [because I conveniently ate the last, rather large, piece of cake his wife made for him], I figured I’d look up a conversion for Dutch processed cocoa vs unsweetened.

And I found this wonderful post on the Cupcake Project:

What is Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder?

According to the Joy of Baking article on cocoa powder, dutch-process cocoa powder is
“…treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used. It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids. Its delicate flavor makes it ideal in baked goods like European cakes and pastries where its subtle flavor complements other ingredients. Droste, Lindt, Valrhona, Poulain and Pernigotti are some popular brands.”

What is Unsweetened Cocoa Powder?

The Joy of Baking article continues to say:

“Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder tastes very bitter and gives a deep chocolate flavor to baked goods. Its intense flavor makes it well suited for use in brownies, cookies and some chocolate cakes. When natural cocoa (an acid) is used in recipes calling for baking soda (an alkali), it creates a leavening action that causes the batter to rise when placed in the oven. Popular brands are Hershey’s, Ghirardelli, andScharffen Berger.”

How to Convert Unsweetened Cocoa to Dutch-Processed Cocoa and ViceVersa

If you only have one kind of cocoa powder on hand, do not fear! Use the following formula from What’s Cooking America to convert from one kind of cocoa powder to the other:

  • Substituting Unsweetened Cocoa for Dutch-Process Cocoa - 3 tablespoons (18 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder plus a pinch (1/8 teaspoon) baking soda.
  • Substituting Dutch-Process Cocoa for Unsweetened Cocoa - Leave out any baking soda called for in the recipe.
    • Which means that because the recipe calls for 3/4 c cocoa powder in the cake, I’d add an extra 1/2 tsp of baking soda, and a little less than 3 pinches of extra soda in the icing.
    Just Kidding.
    Don’t put baking soda in your icing guys.

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    Beef Stroganoff + Pasta Gratin

    October 11, 2009 at 9:23 pm · Filed under Casserole-esque ·Tagged ,

    Ever since CanIHaveSomeMoreMum made Beef Stroganoff, I was dying to have more…it was just such a beautiful and simple, yet flavorful, dish.  And it provided the basics: carbs and meat.

    But when could I make it at home?  Would my family appreciate it the way I did?

    It was a normal ol’ day..my mom was cooking and I was in the kitchen helping out here and there.  We couldn’t figure out what to for dinner though.  My mom decided to make pizza, but she wanted something extra on the side…something pasta esque.  That’s when it hit me–it was time!  Stroganoff, I quickly suggested.  I explained it as a mac-n-cheese-with-meat dish, and she seemed willing to try it.  So away I went to quickly prep for it, skipping homework and studying for upcoming exams, and ignoring my extreme sniffles and flu-like aches.

    But as the meat was defrosting and I was pulling up the recipe, I remembered a casserole recipe I’d seen on Kayotic Kitchen a while back..it looked really good in the pictures, and sounded easy enough.  So I figured, hey, why not combine the two.  The ingredients were similar enough, and a casserole is a casserole, after all.  Whether you put 3 ingredients or 30, they come out so melded together that my brothers can’t tell what they started out as anyway.

    Combination Recipe:

    Saute onions and garlic lightly, then add ground beef and lightly brown.  Then add pinches of dried oregano and parsley, and salt, cayenne, paprika, and fresh ground pepper to taste.  Cook till done and set aside.

    Boil short pasta of choice [I used penne rigate [the penne with ridges] to al dente and set in colander.

    Make basic bechamel sauce, and season with salt, pepper, paprika, and mustard [I used stone ground].  Turn off heat and stir in cheese of choice [I used gruyere].

    Layer meat and pasta in casserole dish, and top with sauce, breadcrumbs, and grated cheese [I sprinkled on some parm] and bake until beautifully bubbly.

    Enjoy =)

    I’m not writing exact amounts because it depends on how much you want to make, and how well seasoned you prefer your food.  To get an idea of spice ratios, visit the Stroganoff and Gratin recipes.

    My mom ended up falling in love with this…somehow, the simplicity of the spices and creaminess of bechamel + gruyere just work wonderfully together.  And it takes maybe 30 min to throw together…great week night meal!

    [No pics because it got eaten before I could have any decent poses.]

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    My Issue With Chocolate Cake

    October 10, 2009 at 12:01 am · Filed under Cake ·Tagged ,

    Have you ever tried to make chocolate cake and ended up with something like red velvet…

    Of the 3 chocolate cake recipes I’ve tried recently, 2 of them gave me a red crumb and alkaline taste.  Now I know that this is essentially because of a reaction between the chocolate and baking soda, but when recipes are written and tested, the measurements should prevent such horrible reactions.  Maybe the recipes are written correctly, and I just don’t measure correctly?  Really?

    Chocolate cake chronology:

    -First I made R.L.B.’s mayonnaise cake from the Cake Bible.  I halved the recipe and used Ghiradelli cocoa.  If any sort of alkalinity from the baking soda were to ever remain, it should’ve been neutralized by the mayo’s acidity. In an ideal world that is…

    -Next were White Chocolate Mocha cupcakes.  These were pretty good, though I’d increase the mocha-ness and white chocolate-ness next time.  Though there was lots of room for measurement error, as I thirded the recipe, the crumb was beautifully mocha-black with no bitterness in site.  Perhaps because the recipe calls for chocolate instead of cocoa powder?

    -Third was the cupcakes in the previous post.  Now I’ve had those in cake form twice and there was no red-ness or bitter-ness either time.  As a matter of fact, when I crave chocolate cake, it’s usually this one.  Well, not so much after this last time.

    There could also be an issue of dutch processed vs alkalized or whatever technical term in cocoa powders…but for the 3rd recipe, I used the Hershey’s brand that was suggested.

    Any ideas on what’s wrong or what I could do in the future?

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    Cupcakes!

    October 9, 2009 at 3:08 pm · Filed under Cupcake ·Tagged ,

    Cupcakes have got to be the bestest gift ever.

    cupcake to go

    And if you don’t agree, it’s because you’ve never gotten them!

    I decided to make cupcakes to go for a few friends as a post ‘Eid greeting.  I used the Deep Dark Chocolate Cake recipe, originally from Hershey’s, for the cake, and a whipped white chocolate ganache for the frosting.

    the best thing ever

    And let me tell you, whipped ganache is the best thing you can put on cake.  I personally wasn’t satisfied with the cake, but this ganache made it all worth while…that last half dozen that could’ve been delivered to another lucky someone ended up in my tummy.

    The thing with making something like ganache is you have to use quality chocolate, since it’s all of 2 ingredients: cream and chocolate.  I used Ghiradelli white chocolate chips this time around, but I’m priming up for Vahlrona blocks from Whole Foods…..ah, one day!

    Ganache is technically made with 2 parts chocolate to 1 part cream ratio, but it really depends on what you want to use it for.  I did something like a 1.5:1 chocolate to cream ratio for this ganache, and it worked pretty well, though there’s always room for more chocolate. :)

    cupcake

    If you’re wondering why the frosting on the above cupcake looks a little funky, it’s because I got in a fight with my pastry bag and tip.  The darn thing just wouldn’t work..it wasn’t clogged, didn’t have air in it, and the frosting wasn’t too thick.  Some things just depend on the day I guess…

    Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

    • 2 cups granulated sugar
    • 1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 3/4 cup cocoa (I didn’t use, but recommend Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
    • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 cup milk
    • 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla
    • 1 cup boiling water [I dissolved a few tbsp of instant coffee to kick up the flavor a bit]

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two 9-inch cake rounds or one 13×9×2-inch baking pan.

    In a large mixing bowl, stir together the first six ingredients (sugar through salt); add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin); pour into prepared pan(s) and bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes our clean. If baking cake rounds, allow rounds to cool slightly before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely. If using rectangular baking pan, allow cake to cool completely before icing.

    I didn’t use this frosting this time around, as I clearly have an obsession with whipped ganache, but I’ve had this recipe in the past, and it’s realllly goood.  Like, really.  My fried over at CanIHaveSomeMoreMum made this cake a while back, and actually renamed it Bruce Bogtrotter Cake.  She’s got a vid and everything up to explain her reasoning..

    One Bowl Chocolate Frosting

    • 6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
    • 2 & 2/3 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
    • 1/2 cup cocoa (recommended: Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
    • 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

    In a medium-sized bowl, mix and beat all ingredients using an electric mixer. If icing seems too thick, add a touch more heavy cream until desired consistency is reached, taking care not to over-thin the icing. I have found these amounts enough to frost the top and center layer of two, stacked, 9-inch cake rounds (but not the sides) or the top of a 13×9×2-inch rectangular cake. If you are looking to frost the sides of the stacked cake rounds as well, consider doubling these amounts.

    Notes:

    -Chill the ganache well before whipping it, and don’t whip for more than a few minutes.  As soon as it stiffens, its done.  If you keep going, you may end up with a separated, unforagable mess.  I’ve heard horror stories…

    -The longer the ganache is in the pastry bag and in your hands, the warmer it will get, so work fast, and cool in the middle if need be

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    Snickerdoodle

    September 27, 2009 at 11:24 pm · Filed under Cookies ·Tagged ,

    cooling snickerdoodles

    Snickerdoodle.  What a funny name for a cookie.  Really, who comes up with these titles?  Then again, my brother calls them “whatever-doodles”.

    I threw together a batch [actually half a batch] because I wanted to try out my new gourmet cinnamon and nutmeg.  Instead of hunting around online for a recipe as I usually do, I looked up snickerdoodles in my 1 Recipe, 100 Cookies recipe book.  The recipe was basic enough..

    • 1 c butter
    • 3/4 c sugar [I used demerera instead of white]
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 3 1/2 c flour
    • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
    • pinch salt
    • 1/2 c pecans

    Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients and add.  Stir in nuts.  Refrigerate dough for 30 min before baking.

    If you’ve never made or had snickerdoodles, you’re probably wondering where the cinnamon is.

    • 1 tbs sugar
    • 2 tsp cinnamon

    Make tablespoon sized balls of the dough and roll in cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 10-12 min at 375 F.

    I wanted to use my new cocoa powder somehow too, so I rolled half in cinnamon sugar and half in cocoa sugar.  =)

    snickedoodle

    snickedoodle

    They looked pretty enough, with a slight sugary shine and brown speckles from the cinnamon.  They turned out rather cakey, whereas I was looking for either a chewy cookie [which could've been achieved with brown sugar] or one that spread more and had a caramelized sugar flavor [which could've been achieved with white sugar].

    I have an excuse to use my cool cinnamon again because, after all, gotta find that perfect snickerdoodle recipe!

    Notes:

    -When you make your dough and are about to put it in the fridge, wrap it in plastic wrap or wax paper, and flatten it out to 1-2 inches thick.  Then, when you take it out to bake, just take a knife and cut the dough into small squares and smooth the sides before coating in the cinnamon sugar.  Makes life easier ;)

    -These don’t spread too much because there isn’t much leavening, so you could definitely roll out the dough and use cookie cutters.

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    Penzey’s

    September 26, 2009 at 8:00 pm · Filed under Random ·Tagged , ,

    My friend from CanIHaveSomeMoreMum got me the coolest ‘Eid gift!


    From top left to bottom right: whole nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, natural cocoa, original hot cocoa mix, mint hot cocoa mix, bay leaves, and Chinese cassia.

    It’s great timing since winter is right around the corner..can’t wait to have the hot cocoa before my 8:30 a.m. class.  I’ll definitely be looking for recipes to use the other spices in soon!

    A note about cassia:

    Cassia Cinnamon(Cinnamomum aromaticum) is a close relative to cinnamon (C. verum, C. zeylanicum), Saigon cinnamon (C. loureiroi, also known as “Vietnamese cinnamon”), Camphor laurel (C. camphora), Malabathrum (C. tamala), and Indonesian cinnamon (C. burmannii). As with these species, the dried bark of cassia is used as a spice. Cassia cinnamon’s flavour, is less delicate than that of true cinnamon

    Most of the spice sold as cinnamon in the United States and Canada (where true cinnamon is still generally unknown) is actually cassia. In some cases, cassia is labeled “Chinese cinnamon” to distinguish it from the more expensive true cinnamon (C. verum), which is the preferred form of the spice used in Mexico and Europe.[3] “Indonesian cinnamon” can also refer to C. burmannii, which is also commonly sold in the United States, labeled only as cinnamon.

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    Rollin’ it Up

    September 25, 2009 at 5:26 pm · Filed under Cake ·Tagged , ,

    I’ve always been intrigued by rolled cakes.  Supposedly my mom made one on my sister’s birthday years ago, and I’ve been envious ever since.  She’s taken pastry classes, but seems to have forgotten everything…I guess 4 kids and now a granddaughter later, that sorta thing is natural.

    For school last semester, I had to research about sponge cakes, and so I learned a lot about the different kinds and how to use them in recipes.  Making a proper sponge is not an easy task, and even after studying countless hours about the dessert, I’ve got lots to learn.  But I decided it was finally time to give it a shot.  After all, it was ‘Eid!

    For the genoise [french version of sponge cake], I followed a mocha genoise with homemade mascarpone cake recipe that my friend and I made [and spent a good 5 hours on] over the summer.  I also had some of the frosting from that cake that I’d frozen, so I decided to use it in the middle along with fresh vanilla bean whipped cream.

    cream to be whipped

    whipped cream with vanilla beans

    I made the batter, put it in a jelly roll pan, and got it in the oven as quickly as possible, because sponge cake waits for no one!

    Something like 20 minutes later I pulled it out and hurried to get it off the parchment paper..it was now or never.  Thank God, it was now!.  I rolled it up in paper towel and set it to cool.

    rolled up in paper towel

    But I think I may have left it to cool too long…when I unrolled it to spread the cream inside, parts of the cake were stuck on the paper towel and it broke in several places as I tried ever so gently to get it off.  Then I realized that I hadn’t put cocoa powder on the paper towel before rolling up the cake in it…that was definitely one insurance policy I would never ignore again.

    In the end, I got the cream on and the cake rolled up again.  After sitting in the fridge over night, it set up pretty nicely and was slice-able.  Sure, it wasn’t the prettiest cake I’ve ever made [which is why there's no pic of the final product], but at least it tasted good.  And I know where I went wrong so next time, whenever that may be, I can have a cake that tastes good and looks pretty, too.

    Notes:

    -Its very important to have all ingredients ready to go [mis en place] when making a genoise…once the eggs are whipped, they will deflate very quickly and need to hit the oven heat asap so you can get the best possible rise and sponginess.

    -Liberally spray the jelly roll pan and parchment paper with cooking spray..you’ll be glad you did later.

    -Once the cake is baked, immediately take it off the parchment and roll it in a clean tea towel/paper towel to cool so that it holds its rolled shape.  Sprinkle powdered sugar or cocoa powder on the tea towel/paper towel you use to roll up the cake in to cool, otherwise you’ll end up eating cake off of towel.

    -Once the cake is cooled and you’ve spread the cream on, roll it tightly but gently so when it’s sliced, your guests don’t get air pockets and a misshaped dessert.

    -Rose Levy Barenbaum, author of the Cake Bible, has vids on YouTube that demo how to make a genoise batter, etc…sometimes watching someone do it makes more sense than just reading about the method.

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    In the words of Carlo Petrini…

    September 13, 2009 at 1:48 pm · Filed under Random ·Tagged

    “Food history is as important as a baroque church.  Governments should recognize cultural heritage and protect traditional foods.  A cheese is as worthy of preserving as a sixteenth-century building”

    –Carlo Petrini, Italian Journalist

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    Crack n Cheese

    September 11, 2009 at 4:59 pm · Filed under Casserole-esque ·Tagged ,

    Long time no chat, I know.  I’ve been a bit..busy.  Travelling, school, engagements, Ramadan.  But I’m slowly creeping back into the usual swing of things…so, Hi!

    I came across Martha Stewart’s Mac n Cheese [which was featured by the NYT] a while back.  It has great reviews, and people who’ve made it agree that it’s definitely addictive..so much so that its been renamed crack n cheese by many.

    I decided it was finally time to find out what was so special about it.  I recently began making mac n cheese from scratch, and was still experimenting with the perfect blend of cheeses to use.  I usually use at least 3 [cheddar, swiss, parm] but also throw in mozzarella, provolone, monterey jack, and/or American, depending on the day.  Martha only lists two in her recipe: white cheddar and gruyere or pecorino romano.  Cheddar is a staple in mac n cheese, but this gruyere?  Hmm, I wasn’t sure of the taste, or what it would bring to the dish.  I finally picked some up to see what all the rave was about.  Because I was fasting, I was unable to taste the cheese raw…I had to look at the ratios Martha used of the cheeses in her recipe and hope it would turn out okay.

    As soon as I broke my fast, I dove into the gooey baked pot of goodness to see if gruyere was really worth it.

    The verdict?

    Gruyere will be on my list of “maybe cheeses”.  It didn’t create the best mac n cheese I’ve ever had or made, and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed.

    But perhaps I shouldn’t blame the cheese completely.  I like my macs well seasoned.  And I don’t just mean with salt and pepper.  I put cayenne, paprika, mustard, onions, crushed pepper flakes, garlic powder, and whatever else feels right at the time.  Not being able to taste the sauce itself meant that I didn’t know if I had the perfect balance of spices until it was too late.

    I’ll be doctoring up this mac with a spiced up cheese sauce and rebaking.  We’ll see how that goes…hopes for the best!

    I don’t have a certain recipe that I follow for mac n cheese, nor do I measure anything as I’m making it.  But there are a few things I’ve learned from dearest mac.

    -Processed cheese may sound gross, but it makes the sauce saucier.  Pasta can absorb a lot of liquid, especially if you like your mac baked.  Having extra sauce will ensure you don’t end up with dry cheese flavored macaroni.

    -I don’t believe there is one cheese that is perfect for macs…each cheese brings its own flavor, depth, sharpness, tang, nuttiness, and spice to the picture.  A variety is key to flavor balance.

    -Don’t boil away your bechamel sauce till its gloopy…the cheese will thicken it up perfectly, don’t fret.

    -If you plan on baking at the end, put breadcrumbs or cheese on the top.  You’ll have a delightful crust, and it’ll protect the sauce from steaming away so the stuff under the crust is still gooey.

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    I’m expecting…

    August 5, 2009 at 7:07 pm · Filed under Random

    Picture 002

    Aren’t they adorable? Tiny shoots coming out of the beautifully matured, silky roots.

    Who woulda thought that these were regular ol’ grocery store green onions that I was chopping for what seems to be the 10 different dishes. Instead of discarding the roots, I nestled then in a slender vase with a bit of water and set them on the cozy window sill. Hours later, I had baby greens peeking through their glassy home.

    Usually, we cut off the roots and go on with our business in the kitchen. But, watching The Next Food Network Star, I learned from Melissa [who won by the way, yay!] that the onions will regrow from the roots if you just put them in water.

    I tried to be smart and do this with cilantro, mint, and basil. The mint never made it. The cilantro came alive 3-4 days later, then quickly died. The basil, ah the basil. It gave me such high hopes. Pesto, salad, pizza, orzo. The possibilities were endless. But, as I was becoming more and more excited, showing off my itty bitty leaves and inhaling the fresh scent of its flowers, it darkened. First, the thin outer stems. I thought it would be okay, that it would grow past this low time. But then another stem. And then the main body of the plant. All darkened. I had even started thinking of names for the little guy.  It was like the plague had taken over my window sill.

    Picture 011

    Lesson learned: don’t try to be smart.

    R.I.P. dearest basil.

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