The Unofficial Cook

I purposely looked for this recipe after we went to the Greek Festival here in Colorado Springs  last summer.  There was this particular cake that I really loved and just guessed what it was.  When I saw this recipe, I think I had it.  It’s a walnut cake  laced with citrus syrup after it’s been cooled.  The recipe was a genoise cake which I wrote about in more detail in this post.  I think I’ll make changes in the future and add some butter or shortening.

I didn’t make many changes to the recipe and found it was too dry.  Then again, I’m in high altitude so that certainly made a difference.  That was easily corrected by serving the cake with a large dollop of whipped cream.  (more…)

This  experiment was a success, if I might say so myself.  The cupcakes had that very delicate pandan flavor…not at all overpowering as I thought it would be.  I meant for the green and pink tints to be much lighter but that can be corrected next time.  The recipe is based on a Vanilla Cupcake recipe from that famous NYC landmark, Magnolia Bakery.  The only changes I made were to substitute pandan extract with the vanilla and added some green food coloring. 

The icing is also based on their recipe for Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting.   Again, I substituted the vanilla for pandan and it was just delicious.  I hope some of you will try it. (more…)

The combination of raspberries with chocolate is a recipe for the most luscious desserts or cakes. I previously featured a cake recipe with these two main ingredients. It failed in the aesthetics department but certainly was perfect in every other aspect.  There’s the sweetness of the cake, the bitterness of the chocolate and the tartness of the berries…I just love it.

In this presentation, I took out one cupcake from the foil baking cup and just broke it open when it was still warm.  The smell of chocolate was strong because I deviated from the original recipe and added more cocoa powder.  The raspberries were a nice surprise in the center. I also added more raspberries than the recipe called for….just because. (more…)

This cake was a big surprise. Despite the knowledge that butter cakes are always good cake recipes, this was outstanding.  I didn’t even bother to sprinkle any confectioner’s sugar on it for the photo after I tasted a crumb from the pan. No embellishments for this cake…a cup of tea, coffee or a glass of milk maybe. (more…)

Don’t you just admire those people who can decorate cakes like it was the easiest thing in the world to do?  Magic, blessed hands….

Unfortunately, I’m not one of them.  Here’s my latest sorry attempt at cake decorating.  I can bake it and it tastes great, but does it look that way?  Never mind…

Looking at the photo now, I think about all the things I could have done better.  Piped some whipped cream at the bottom, laid the top layer straighter so the cake doesn’t look so lopsided…a dozen things really.

Oh well, the cake tasted great…the sweet and slightly tart raspberry cream went so well with the bitter chocolate filling.  The raspberry syrup added great depth to an otherwise ordinary chocolate sponge cake.

The base cake is what you call a genoise, a European sponge cake tracing its roots to Genoa, hence the name.  It doesn’t use any shortening or leavening and is perfect for high altitude baking.

A wonderful, wonderful recipe I found at the Godiva Chocolate website that I hope to make for my family back home really soon… (more…)

You’ve seen the pan, now here’s the cake…ta-dah!

Did you notice the cake is lopsided?  You wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t say a word, right?  Not so bad.  The cake was great whichever pan you used.  Can’t really go wrong with a combination of pear and rhum.

This recipe is based on a  Pear and Grappa Pound Cake again found in my current favorite, “The Soprano Family Cookbook” by Allen Rucker and Michele Scicolone.  The cake was mentioned by Meadow Soprano in The Sopranos Episode 59 of Season 5.  In this episode, she bakes that cake for her grandfather’s birthday party.

This cake is highly recommended.  Try it sometime.  It has a lovely combination of flavors, is very easy to make and is pretty much full-proof baking, even for higher altitudes. (more…)