Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet … Strawberry & Chocolate; Espresso & Chocolate

“Anything unattempted remains impossible.”
Author Unknown
Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

HAPPY 2011 you wonderful peeps. It’s the first daring ‘time’ of the year, and this challenge lived up to the name D A R I N G! This was a challenge, and certainly not one for the faint hearted which was how I felt when I read and re read it. For starters, I couldn’t figure out the imprime from the entremet, all gobbly gook to my mind, terms I had fleetingly read before yet never gave much thought to.

Truth be told, I almost never got down to doing it. For 3 days the almond flour mix sat on the counter staring at me, and I merrily baked around it. Then it was time for cake as it was SILs birthday. I couldn’t muster up the courage so fell back on thoughts of making a Strawberries & Cream Mac-o-range Cake that I had recently made for a friend. But guilt is a strange friend, and ribs you till you give in.I did feel guilty… and eventually gave in to the challenge, and a challenge it certainly was. Finally, after a long time, a challenge to shake the daring bit in me. I admit I was unsure, almost frightened and on totally alien ground. I made the pattern and just left it in the freezer overnight as I didn’t want to mess it up. The next morning was breezy easy though, as all I had to do was make the joconde batter & pour it on. I had 3 trays. The first was obviously too close to the heat source {element below} and my pattern got ‘brownish’ hues. UGH! So I went with using just the upper element for tray number 2 and 3 and that worked really well. I did I small portion with instant coffee too, and as you can see that pattern really came out well! WOOT…satisfaction!!

Entremets (French baking term)- an ornate dessert with many different layers of cake and pastry creams in a mold, usually served cold.

A joconde imprime (French Baking term) is a decorative design baked into a light sponge cake providing an elegant finish to desserts/torts/entremets/ formed in ring molds. A joconde batter is used because it bakes into a moist, flexible cake. The cake batter may be tinted or marbleized for a further decorative effect. This Joconde/spongecake requires attentive baking so that it remains flexible to easily conform to the molds. If under baked it will stick to the baking mat. It over baked it will dry out and crack. Once cooled, the sponge may be cut into strips to line any shape ring mold.

My pink patterned joconde might have looked much better, had my strawberry mirror not decided to step off the top. It wasn’t quite the perfect consistency {in hindsight I should have cooled it a lot more} and some portion of it went over the edge, between the entremet and mousse strips and made a slight mess. Even the chocolate mousse should have been cooled a bit more. Another change ‘next time’ will be to sprinkle the chopped strawberries over the Bavarian cream, rather than before. I think they pressed into the chocolate mousse, and should have really stayed with the Bavarian. Oh well… lessons learnt!!The entire experience of the joconde, the enteremet, the assembly and the mousse was fabulous. A real daring challenge, and a wonderful learning process. The cake was MUCH loved {even though I wasn’t a 100% happy with the looks}. The taste was great with the deeply decadent dark chocolate mousse beautifully complimenting the light as air strawberry Bavarian cream. Great marriage of flavours and very,very indulgent. I wanted a better looking joconde, and a better looking cross section for the strawberry entermet, yet the espresso entremet I made a week later made up for everything! {The sponge stayed fine in the fridge cut into strips, with the mousse in place, for a week! Baking & dessert making in winter is good!!}I had enough joconde to line the 8″ cake, make a bottom for it, and still plenty left for some coffee joconde. Those were 3 smaller portions, topped with a layer of the chocolate cream, followed by an espresso panna cotta. I whirred the trimmed cake bits in the food processor and folded them through the panna cotta to give it some body! Worked well and didn’t collapse. The taste was fabulous too! I had left over panna cotta-cake crumb mix, which I set in the coffee mugs, topped with pipings of the patterned patterned joconde-decor paste. Nothing wasted!!

All is all this has been a fantastic challenge, and a huge learning experience. The coffee imprint gave me a sense of how beautiful a sponge imprint can actually be, and this is such a versatile beautiful medium. Hail Daring Bakers, I’ve felt challenged after ages, and this was top stuff. I loved it!

Thank you Astheroshe for the exciting and daring challenge, and thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by HERE and check the ‘stamps’ that our other daring folk have left around the globe.

Thank you Suma @ Cakes & Bakes for sending me the mousse strips. They were fantastic!

Joconde imprime /entremets
Recipe Source: From Chef John O, The International Culinary School in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
Joconde Sponge
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
¾ cup almond flour
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons icing sugar
¼ cup cake flour *See note below
3 large eggs
3 large egg whites
2½ teaspoons white granulated sugar or superfine (caster) sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
*Note: How to make cake flour: http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/
Method:
In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.
Sift almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, cake flour.
On medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light.
Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.
Fold in melted butter.
Reserve batter to be used later.
Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste
{I made half of this}
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
14 tablespoons/200g unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups plus1½ tablespoons Confectioners’ (icing) sugar
7 large egg whites
1¾ cup cake flour
Food coloring gel, paste or liquid
COCOA Décor Paste Variation: Reduce cake flour to 6 oz / 170g. Add 2 oz/ 60g cocoa powder. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to creamed mixture.
Method:
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously.
Fold in sifted flour.
Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa variation.
Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern:
Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 1/4 inch thick onto silicone baking mat {I used parchment} with a spatula, or flat knife. Place mat on an upside down baking sheet. The upside down sheet makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan.
Pattern the décor paste – Here is where you can be creative. Make horizontal /vertical lines (you can use a knife, spatula, cake/pastry comb). Squiggles with your fingers, zig zags, wood grains. Be creative whatever you have at home to make a design can be used. OR use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one.
Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes.{I froze it overnight}
Remove from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.
Bake at 250ºC until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. Yes, it is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.
Cool. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.
Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Peel off parchment gently. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! {The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting}
Preparing the MOLD for entremets:
Start with a large piece of parchment paper laid on a very flat baking sheet. Then a large piece of cling wrap over the parchment paper. Place a spring form pan ring, with the base removed, over the cling wrap and pull the cling wrap tightly up on the outside of the mold. Line the inside of the ring with a curled piece of parchment paper or mousse strips overlapping top edge by ½ inch. CUT the parchment paper to the TOP OF THE MOLD. It will be easier to smooth the top of the cake.
Chocolate Cream
2 egg yolks
40gm caster sugar
100ml milk
150ml low fat cream, {25% fat}
1 vanilla bean, scraped
200gm dark chocolate, chopped
Method:
Simmer the milk, cream and vanilla bean and leave to steep for 30 minutes.
Beat the yolks with sugar until pale & creamy.
Bring to a simmer again, and pour about 1/2 cup over the beaten yolks, stirring quickly with a balloon whisk to incorporate fully. Pour this back into the remaining milk/cream mixture in the pan, and continue to cook over low heave until the custard thickened and coats the back of the spoon. {Make sure it doesn’t boil}
Remove from heat immediately, and strain over the chopped dark chocolate. Stir until smooth. Cool well, until it loses the heat but is still pour-able, yet quite thick. Pour about an inch over the cake base, and allow to set completely in the fridge, at least an hour, before adding next later.

Strawberry Bavarian Cream
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup vanilla sugar
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp milk
1 1/4 tbsp gelatin {reduce to 1 tbsp if you use high fat cream}
400m cream (25% fat)
400gms strawberries
Method:
Whisk the egg yolks with a balloon whisk with 1/3 cup of vanilla sugar until smooth.
Simmer 1/2 cup of milk and 200ml cream with 1 scraped vanilla bean, bean included. Turn off heat and allow to infuse for 30 minutes. Bloom gelatin in 3 tbsp of cold milk
Put the pan back on simmer. Once the milk mixture comes to a boil, take it off the heat and whisk into the yolk mix, somewhat like in French pastry cream.
Return to a heavy bottom pan, and place on medium heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly.
Take off and whisk in bloomed gelatin. Strain and leave to cool. {You can quicken the cooling by stirring the bowl held over a bowl of ice.}
Once it is completely cooled, whip 200ml of cream with 1-2 tbsp of Castor sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and fold it into the custard gently but thoroughly. You will notice the Bavarian thickening. Sprinkle chopped strawberries over the set chocolate cream, and pour the Bavarian mousse over. Leave to set overnight.
Espresso Panna Cotta  with cake crumbs
500ml low fat cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp espresso powder
1 tsp instant coffee
1.5 tbsps gelatin, bloomed in 1/4 cup water
1 cup cake crumbs, from left over joconde trimmings
Method:
Steep the espresso and coffee powder in 1/4 cup heated cream for 10-15 minutes to intensify the flavour.
Combine the cream, sugar and steeped cream and simmer till it comes to a slow boil.
Take the cream mixture off the heat. Whisk in the gelatin, strain & allow to cool, but not set. Continue to stir it so that a skin doesn’t form. Stir in the cake crumbs.
Pour over the cold chocolate cream, and let set undisturbed overnight.
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Strawberries & Cream Mac-O-range Cake … Macinspirations

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”
John Muir

It was definitely inspiring and a great wrap on 2010. I’m talking about the Donna Hay Strawberry & Vanilla Macaron Trifle I made over Christmas. It made me look at the endless charm that macarons offer with wonder. Having won sort of won the battle with feet, or rather managing the frills on the fiddly macs more often than never {100% success is yet to land on my platter}, I wanted to explore different ways of incorporating macarons in dessert.Laduree in Paris might have introduced some delicious made in France cupcakes, and the tables might look to be turning around once again making cupcakes the new macarons! Been hearing that sort of mild buzz on the net recently; also that these cupcakes are ‘out-of-this-world‘ good. They do look novel, creative & pretty, but then that’s Laduree for you! Nothing but the best!!However, in my mind,  I’m not ready to give up my macaron ‘fascination bordering on obsession’ just yet. Feet still give me endless joy; each batch popped into the oven still a heart-stopping adventure. The kids walk by nonchalantly exclaiming, “Oooh pretty, you got feet! Can I have one?So many failed batches later and we are a well versed mac household who know the importance and the mood swings that come with the failures & success of the pitter patter!I made this cake, inspired by mac thoughts for a sweet old lady who lives near by. She’s over 80, sprightly as can be and bursting with positive energy. Two days without seeing me and she’s at my gate with her walking stick checking  if all is well, filling me up on the neighbourhood happenings, telling me that the lime tree is full of fruit etc. She sends me tangerines from her tree each year to make Bitter Orange Marmalade … one of my absolute favourite pass-times. It gives me as much joy, well almost, as finding feet! Seeing translucent pretty marmalade take shape from the very tart tangerines is in my mind, priceless!It was her birthday a few days ago, and I knew the cake had everything she would love … strawberries, cream and orange. I added macarons around and on top for effect as I was elated to have found enough feet to go around a cake! Gosh, it isn’t often that I find so much mac-success, so mac-inspiration was in order.

Mac-Inspiration is our theme for our monthly macaron event on Mactweets this month … STARTING THE NEW YEAR WITH THE OLD AND THE NEW : MACINSPIRATION! You can combine or integrate your macarons into any dessert, making it a new part of an old favorite, or turn your macarons into your favorite dessert, inspired in flavor, texture, color.

What dessert would you be inspired to see recreated in macarons? I continue to be inspired by fruit in season, the colour palette that nature amazingly offers, textures … and of course macarons! Ever since sweet Jamie & I got together and launched MacTweets {a blog dedicated to making macarons}, there has been no dearth of inspiration! This time, my macarons are inspired by strawberries & cream, a simple dessert that we love to love. I made vanilla bean macarons, and filled them with slices of strawberries and cream {also did a few with candied orange slices and cream}.

Do you want to join us making MACARONS?

If you do, Jamie & I would be happy to have you join us  for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally have the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!

Strawberries & Cream Mac-o-range Cake
Serves 6-8
Orange Sponge
1/2 cup plain flour
1/8 cup cornflour
1/2 + 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, separated
1/8cup oil {I used sunflower oil}
3 tbsp water
Rind of 1 orange {I used kinnow, a mandarin orange/citrus hybrid, like a satsuma}
1 tsp orange extract, or pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a 7.5-8″ round tin; grease and dust with flour.
Mix together the cornflour, plain flour, baking powder, salt and1/2 cup powdered sugar in a large bowl {I used a balloon whisk}.
Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cream of tartar and beat till droopy soft peaks form. Reserve.
With a whisk, lightly mix the oil, water, yolks, rind and extract together. Stir into into the dry ingredients.
Beat with an electric beater on low speed until smooth.
Gently fold the beaten whites into the yolk mixture.
Turn into the prepared tin and bake till well risen and golden brown, about 45 minutes/until done. Check if it is done with a wooden pick. {Slide a sheet of foil lightly over the top if it begins to brown too fast}.
Leave in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on rack.
Once cool, cut into 2 layers.
Filling
200ml low fat cream
2-3 tbsps powdered sugar
200gms strawberries, chopped
Method:
Whip the cream and sugar to medium peaks. Fold in the chopped strawberries.
Whipped Buttercream Topping
Method:
200ml low fat cream
1 tbsp melted butter
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp strawberry extract {optional}
Beat the low fat cream, sugar and extract, and pour in the melted butter in a steady stream while beating. This will reintroduce the fat back into the low fat cream and allow it to be whipped to stiff peaks.
Assemble
Sandwich the cake with the filling
Frost the sides and top of the cake with the whipped butter-cream.
Garnish with sliced strawberries, candied tangerine slices and macarons
Vanilla Macarons
Macaron Batter
1/2 cup powdered vanilla sugar
1/4 cup almond meal
1 large egg white {30gms}, at room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp granulated vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp egg white powder
Method:
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond meal briefly so there are no lumps. Don’t over work, else you might get oily almond butter.
In the bowl, beat the egg whites until they become frothy. Beat in the granulated  vanilla sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding. {If you draw the spatula through the macronage, the line drawn should disappear to the count of ten.}
Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons and get rid of trapped air bubbles, then rest for about an hour.
Bake them for 15-18 minutes, watching carefully. {I bake mine on the highest shelf, as my oven functions on just the lower element}
Let cool completely, then remove from baking sheet.
Sandwich with some whipped buttercream and strawberry and candied orange slices.
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May I share with you my 5 minutes of fame which made me do the Happy Feet dance?

I was featured in the January 2011 Indian edition of ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ with an interview and 4 recipes in a 3 page feature.

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Baking | Chocolate Orange Almond Gateau … Sweet beginning to our New Year!

“Giving birth is little more than a set of muscular contractions granting passage of a child. Then the mother is born.”

Erma Bombeck

Another year… welcome 2011! She came into our lives 15 years ago, in 1996, on a chilly foggy 2nd Jan. It was cold beyond belief, and we waited for what seemed like forever with our baby bag packed,  never knowing when the ‘time would come‘.  A few false alarms later, poor Mr PAB was in panic and driving me down through foggy roads … it was time. After some rather painful hours, we found a new world with the sweetest little bundle of joy. She was here!He still remembers her cute little face, a huge mop of hair, eyes blinking, gurgling laughter … a little cherub. I remember not, nothing much, and that is typical me. My memories are recorded by Mr PAB, and he replays them time and again, whenever he is hit by a wave of nostalgia … happens O F T E N!. A golden child till she was 3. Then bit by bit she developed her own stubborn little ways, shaping her personality as the years went by…She turned 15 two days ago. No 1st January or New Year Day has the hype as the 2nd at home. Hushed whispers, gifts being wrapped and the teen in our mind. She isn’t the angel she used to be; much the rebellious little lady now. Life isn’t a cake walk at all given times, and handling her isn’t exactly easy. Still, her heart of gold makes life better! I know hope know we will look back at thesewonder years‘ and wonder how we pulled through. Until then, there is always cake!As the years go by, it seems easier to make a cake. Teens are T O U G H to handle, layered cakes are not! Winter makes baking  and cake making fun. The cream {low fat is what we get here} whips into submission, the frosting sets and doesn’t melt, the bright orange hybrid ‘kinnows‘ colour the bazaar orange, and the tangerines are ripe for picking! I initially wanted to make something from the Le Cordon Bleu Chocolate Bible, but hadn’t taken permission to reprint the recipe. Made a Chocolate Orange Almond Gateau instead. There had to be some chocolate in there…The orange sponge comes out light and delicious, like a cloud. It’s a recipe that I’ve made before from a tiny book  by Sue Ross. The method is different from any other, yet the cake is light, spongy and rises beautifully. The original recipe is for one 3 egg gateau, but I made 2 three egg sponges as we are a large extended family, and love our cake! There is no culinary joy for us without seconds; the kids will try and  get thirds if possible … the lad managed with his charming persuasive skills!!I didn’t get any pictures of the making as the day was dark, dreary & foggy. Thankfully the blanket of fog and the cloud cover disappeared for a bit on the 2nd, and I got a few pictures. The cake was wonderful and moist, with a beautiful balance of flavours. Orange, almond and chocolate hang in delicate harmony, each complimenting the other, no overpowering flavours. The basic sponge  recipe is a nice one to keep in your recipe folder as a base for layer cakes. I’ve got it in my folder …

Chocolate Orange Almond Gateau
Serves 15-18
Orange Sponge
{I doubled the following recipe for 2 X 10″ sponges}
150gms {1 1/4 cup} plain flour
25gms {1/8 cup} cornflour
150gms {1 1/4 cup} powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, separated
5 tbsp oil {I used sunflower oil}
5 tbsp water
Rind of 1 orange {I used kinnow, a mandarin orange/citrus hybrid, like a satsuma}
1 tbsp orange / kinnow juice
1 tsp orange extract
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line 2 10″ spring form tins; grease. {The original recipe uses 2 8″ sandwich tins for 1 three egg cake. I made 2 three egg cakes, each cake in a 10″ tin}
Sift the cornflour, plain flour, baking powder, salt and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl.
Beat the egg whites till they stand in soft peaks. Keep aside.
With a whisk, lightly mix the oil, water, yolks, juice, rind and extract together. Stir into into the dry ingredients.
Beat with an electric beater on low speed until smooth.
Carefully fold the beaten whites gently into the yolk mixture.
Turn into 2 lined tins and bake for about 45 minutes till well risen and golden brown / until done. Check if it is done with a wooden pick. {Slide a sheet of foil lightly over the top if it begins to brown too fast}.
Leave in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on rack.
Once cool, cut into 2 layers each.
Ganache
200ml low fat cream
225 gm dark chocolate
Method:
Place the cream & half the dark chocolate in a pan over low heat and stir until the chocolate has melted.
Put the remaining chocolate in a bowl, and pour the melted cream and chocolate mixture over it, and stir until all the chocolate has melted and is glossy. Reserve. {It will continue to thicken as it stands}
Filling / Almond Nut Whipped Cream
600ml low fat cream, chilled
4 tbsp almond meal
4tbsp powdered sugar {increase if required}
Method:
Whip all ingredients together till thick and hold peaks. Adjust sugar if required.
Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup water
1/2 tsp orange extract
Small stick cinnamon
Method:
Simmer till the sugar has dissolved, and cool completely. {I usually keep a thick syrup in a jar in the fridge, sieved leftover syrup from poaching pears in}
Assemble the Gateau
Brush the cake with the cooled syrup and sandwich with the almond nut whipped cream.
Frost the sides and top of the cake with the ganache. Decorate the top with grated chocolate shavings etc. Top with a few slices of candied tangerines. Stick some toasted slivered almonds into the sides {Thank you for the slivered almonds Madhulika. Loved using  them!} Chill well for the flavours to mature. In winter keep out at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. In warm weather, serve straight out of the fridge.

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Strawberry and Vanilla Macaron Trifle … Joyeux Noel!

Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, Bo Nadaor Merry Christmas! I’m beginning to get notorious with temptation. Things that draw me a point of no return are colour, texture, visual appeal … all magical in my eyes! Of course I’m talking food porn and all these beautiful food blogs are awash with sensational stuff these days. One such post I saw a short while ago was this Strawberry & Vanilla Macaron Trifle at Trissilicious, the very talented and sweet food blogger from Down Under. One look and I was sold. The dessert had me hypnotized. I HAD TO MAKE IT!

It had MAGIC in it, a combination of some of my favourite things. Tell me dear readers, does this happen to you too?

I knew this was going to be constructed in my kitchen within the next few days, so great was the temptation. Strawberries √, Macarons – find feet {had to}, Vanilla bean √, Cranberry juice √. Intriguingly enough, winter in North India spells season 2 of strawberries in the year. We get a bounty in the summer months, and then again come January, we see fresh juicy red strawberries entering the market again. Lucky? YOU BET!!

This time we are luckier and they’ve entered the market a little early, in December, a bit steep yet, but firmly there. Red, ripe, juice and full of taste. So there was no question in my mind and I was thanking Triss for the wonderful idea. It’s a Donna Hay recipe, and is visually delightful and full of charm like all her recipes. I love the fresh look she introduces to cuisine, seasonal variations and great platings etc.

You can make this in one large bowl like Donna Hay did, or in single servings as Triss did. I am a sucker for single servings, where I love to dress up the dessert individually and pass it around, so everyone can take in the whole picture. For me that in itself offers quintessential charm, the dream of a dessert which lingers on for long.

Made this as Christmas dessert after the BBQ we had last night. In India, Christmas day is referred to as Bada Din {Big Day} by the natives, a legacy left behind by the British Raj. It’s our adopted favourite festival too. Each year we have a BBQ on Christmas eve for the family & extended family, and the hub takes over the BBQ. This year was no different and we had chicken tikkas, paneer/cottage cheese tikkas in 2 variants, lamb curry, biryani, garlic butter naan … and then these little red, green and white delights to wrap it up.

Dinner was delicious. Nothing like hot tandoori food straight off the grill, cooked to perfection, smoked flavours enticing the palette. Dinner may have been Indian cuisine, but my dessert had been planned forever! It had to be in red, white & green, the spirit of Christmas and the holiday season served in some style. MACARON TRIFLE! I was unsure about whether I could pull it off. So I made the cranberry jelly a day in advance, and the macarons 3 days in advance. My jelly didn’t set in 2-3 hours as the recipe said, and needed some more gelatin too. It was a simple dessert to make.

The macaron Gods seem to be shining goodwill on me these days. I found feet yet again; but never underestimate these fiddly creatures. Of the 3 trays I baked, only 1 gave perfect feet!  Why? Ask ’em Gods! Who knows, but I was glad to get 15 perfect feet, and I used 1 crackled top for the 16th! I also had success a few days ago with my savoury macaron experiment for MacTweets, but I have to admit that I love the sweet ones…savoury, alas, are not for me!

That recipe post follows soon…We were really STUFFED, yet once dessert was served, there was magic in the air. The goblets looked like ‘Santa was stuffed into each glass‘ in Mr PABs words. So befitting for the Big Day, and such an absolute delight!  The colours, the flavours, the textures…all in perfect harmony. The cranberry jelly and suspended strawberries beautifully balancing the macaron and the lightly sweetened vanilla cream. Light yet ever-so-satisfying dessert!

Donna Hay’s Strawberry and Vanilla Macaron Trifle
Adapted minimally from Donna Hay’s Recipe
The trifle can be served individually or in a large trifle bowl.
Serves 6–8.

16 pieces plain macarons
1 vanilla bean, scraped
300 ml low fat cream
2 tbsps powdered sugar
200 grams strawberries, halved

For the Jelly
3 1/2 teaspoons gelatine powder {original recipe uses 2 1/2}
750 ml cranberry juice
110 grams caster sugar
200 grams strawberries, quartered
Method:
Jelly
To make the strawberry jelly, place the gelatine and ½ cup {125ml} cranberry juice in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatine is absorbed. Place the remaining cranberry juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the gelatine and stir to combine. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
Vanilla Cream
Whip cream, scraped vanilla bean and sugar to soft peaks.
To assemble
Arrange the strawberries in the base of the serving glasses/bowls and pour over the jelly mixture. Refrigerate for 2–3 hours until set. {Mine took almost overnight to set}.
Set a macaron each in the glass/bowl on the jelly. Layer the cream over the macarons. Top with strawberries to serve.

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Garam Masala Fruit Cake … a twist to the traditional, my recipe from scratch!

“I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.”
Harlan Miller

I love this season, and agree with the quote above. Christmas is not our main festival, but certainly is an adopted one, one we have learnt to love. Christmas & New Year also mean FRUIT-CAKE season to us. My mother set the trend years ago, when she baked a fruit cake every winter without fail. Would you believe I never imagined that there could be people who dislike fruit cake? Crawled out from under a rock last year when I saw tweets being exchanged, and I discovered that there were 2 very definite sides to the fruit cake coin – LIKE vs HATE … no in betweens. Thankfully, we are a family who LOVE our fruit cake to bits. I have to hide the loaves from the daughter who loves a good fruit cake nibble.I heard her rummaging through the fridge and cupboards yesterday and I knew just what she was looking for! My precious cake has been wrapped and is maturing {in hiding}. We’ve had the ‘tasting ceremony‘ a few days ago, and the cake is darned good. Now to wait a few more days, and we shall savour it bit by bit. I am pretty miserly about it because I make it from scratch. Peels, chopping, caramel syrup, butter, weighing, zesting … I heave a sigh of relief when the fruit is finally soaked because the rest of the cake-making seems a cakewalk.

The fruit cake season was kicked off a couple of months ago with this traditional cake mixing ceremony at the Hilton Garden Inn. That was a fabulous experience, and I still hold those huge bowls of peels and dried fruit in my eyes! At the time, I was hit by infectious enthusiasm and the drive back home saw me mixing my fruit the next day… well, in my thoughts!How very ambitious! Back home and life returned to the fast track in the week to follow … mundanities like laundry, driving the hapless kids in circles, laying out winter flower beds, baking, pulling out winter clothes & putting away light summer mulmuls happened. The ‘traditional fruit mixing left on the back burner’, yet not forgotten.Each time I reached out for a baking ingredient I would see the fruit and promise myself, tomorrow! Tomorrow never comes! That ‘tomorrow’ came last week. I knew I was desperately late, and it was a now or never. Twitter was buzzing with fruit cake activity, Meeta had posted her gorgeous  cake, and frugal Monsieur Lebovitz had his list of fave Holiday Recipes out. Shameful that my fruit was still sitting pretty in bags!I eventually emptied the fridge and larder out. It was like an end of year clearance, literally. I used all the left-over nuts and peels, making up the remaining weight with candied cherries and almonds. In went the bag of raisins from Madhulika in Nasik, currants and black raisins from Old Delhi, dried apricots which had seen better days {but were in for a sweet soaking}, leftover crystallized ginger and orange peels from a Lebovitz recipean entertaining connect of people, places, feelings as I mixed fruit! Instead of Christmas spice in the cake, I took my favoured route of garam masala.Have you ever added garam masala to your fruit cake? You really should try it. It doesn’t add curry flavours to your cake, I promise. It adds deep warm winter flavours that mingle with the fruit ever so deliciously, you’ll wonder what kept you away so long. Besides, making your own garam masala fills the house with wonderful warm aromas. I make a largish portion now and freeze it.The fruit was soaked for 3 days, but overnight is good too. If you want to go the non alcohol way, just substitute the alcohol with fresh orange juice, but then store the soaked fruit in the fridge for a day or so. Alcohol preserves the fruit so they keep out in a cool place for long. I also added zest from the oranges, and on day 3 I had this fabulous plump shiny sweet smelling mincemeat of sorts. Not the traditional kind as that has suet and grated apple maybe, but my own sweet kind. I was delighted to find a similar link on David Lebovitz for a Quick Mincemeat.Once the fruit is mature, the rest of the cake is a virtual breeze. I follow a basic recipe that my mother learnt from a baking course almost 40years ago. The soaked fruit are tossed in the flour mix, coating each fruit well. This way the fruit doesn’t sink to the bottom. The cake gets a rich dark colour thanks to a caramel to which coffee is added. The rest is normal cake procedure. Butter & sugar beaten, eggs added, floured fruit folded in …  and off it goes to bake.

Twitter got me great ideas from Barbara the Vino Luci gal {oh, she is sweet}, and Colleen aka Colly Wolly, the adorable Brown-Eyed Baker from South Africa. Barbaras Last Minute Fruit Cake, and CW was sweet enough to send me hers. I eventually made my own, but have to thank these 2 great gals for the inspiration. The world is certainly better with folk like you, and I can thank twitter for making 2010 such a wonderful year!

Mincemeat or fruit mix, sans suet
{made from 1 kg of fruit/nut/peel combination}
300gms raisins, chopped if desired
200 currants
200gms black grapes, chopped
100gms crystallized ginger & orange peel {David Lebovitz recipe}, chopped
100gms almonds, chopped
50gm dried apricots, chopped
50gms candied cherries, chopped
1/4 cup Cherry liquor/brandy
1/2 cup rum {or brandy}
3/4 cup fresh orange juice {from 3 keenus/oranges}
Juice of 1/2 lemon {or 4 limes}
Zest of 2 keenus/oranges
4 tbsp garam masala
Method:
Mix all of the above nicely and soak overnight in a cool place, or for 3-4 days. The longer you soak the fruit, the more mature the flavour. I soaked mine for 4 days as I didn’t have time to bake. {You can substitute the alcohol with an equal amount of orange juice too}

Garam Masala Fruit Cake
1 kg mixed fruit,nuts,peel mincemeat {mincemeat recipe above}
3 cups plain flour
300gms unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
5 eggs
3/4 cup caramel syrup {Made with 1 cup of sugar caramelised. Add some water and heat gently to liquefy. Measure and top up with water to make 3/4 cup liquid. Cool}
1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt {skip if using salted butter}
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Method:
Toss the soaked mixed fruit in the 3 cups flour well in a large bowl {I used a huge wok} so that the fruit is completely coated. Reserve.
Stir coffee into caramel syrup. Reserve.
Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy, 2 minutes, add the eggs and beat well again.
Now add the caramel syrup and vanilla extract and beat again for a minute till well incorporated. The mixture may appear curdled but that’s fine. Add baking powder and whisk again.
Turn this batter out over the mincemeat and stir well with spatula to blend uniformly.
Turn into lined loaf pans/baking tins and bake at 140C until the top appears done when you touch it, about 1 hour for the loaf pans, and almost 2-2 1/4 hours for my 15 X 11 tin. {Do keep an eye on the top of the cake. My ovens ‘bake’ setting is just the lower level so the top doesn’t brown too quick. If you find the top browning too soon, please slip a foil loosely over the top about an hour and a half into baking.}
Cool in tin, turn out and wrap in cling-film when cold. Allow to stand and mature in a cool dark place for a day or two, at least overnight. The longer it stands the better the flavours, but we never get that far in my fruit-cake loving household.

Note: You can poke holes on top and pour over some more rum/brandy if you like. In this case, first wrap it in cheesecloth, and then in clingwrap and store in a cool pace.

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Apple Cake … Dorie Greenspan’s winning recipe

“Better late than never.
Titus Livius

I wish I had made the apple cake earlier, but I’m SO GLAD I made it when I did!  It made for the best dessert we’ve had in a while … fresh baked, almost steaming hot, a cake which unbelievingly delivered perfect light as cloud slices. I added a scraped vanilla bean to the batter, and flaked almonds on top. Despite the cake going through 2 LONG power outages, it still came out slam dunk delicious!  That was the first time I made it. I decided to make it again a few days ago, this time as petit fours in individual dessert rings {from my little shop in Old Delhi}, pictured above.Guess what? Yes, power outage again!! Felt like I was on a mission to test this particular cake to its limits. I do bake a lot, an understatement maybe, and rarely face power outages these days. Not this instance though. The cake won the ‘battle of power outage’ again. Everything about Marie Helen’s Apple Cake is wonderful & well balanced – the fruit, the texture, the sweetness, the lightness; above all the power to satisfy. It’s a designated winner in my book; one which I will make over and over again.

I’m pretty sure most of you have baked it in the last few months. If like me, you haven’t, the time is now. Do yourself a favour. Been reading about it on just about every blog under the sun since Dorie’s new book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes From My Home to Yours’ hit the stands. Saw a zillion folk bake it for the  French Fridays with Dorie group, and most came out with a wonderful review. I wonder what kept me from baking it sooner?Then Pamela mentioned it over lunch at the French Pastry Festivals Le Cordon Blue workshop, singing praises of it. I had it on my mind ever since. Dreamt of it that night, yes I have ‘sweet dreams’. I  knew it was what I wanted to make for dessert the afternoon as my nephew was coming over for lunch. Life isn’t that easy, and my menu was based on bakes… Chicken, Mushroom & Roasted Pepper Juliene, Buttermilk Cluster Bread and an apple cake. I managed to do all of this at breakneck speed as the power was horribly erratic. Each time I popped the cake in, blink, power cut. It baked in 3 20 minute intervals, with gaps of an hour in between, still came out fabulous. By the time lunch was served, it had baked for the 3rd time … resulting  in a nice warm cake for dessert. I let it sit for 10 minutes in the tin, before slicing it.

What a charmer the cake is. Elegant, fuss free, light, delicately flavoured … in one word PERFECT! Very simple to make too. I did read some reviews on Epicurious about increasing flour because of pooling butter etc, but that didn’t happen with me. It was well set and firm after an hour of intermittent baking, and even though I used a 9″ tin instead of an 8″ one, it still looked quite good. I think flaked almonds added a nice touch to the top, and yes, the scraped vanilla bean added beautiful flavour throughout. Vanilla bean is now my favourite baking ingredient and I am so glad India grows some of the finest vanilla beans now. I have had the pleasure of receiving a box of Ecopsice Bourbon vanilla beans from Mia, and they are excellent.

Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake
Minimally adapted from Epicurious
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes From My Home to Yours
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large apples {if you can, choose 4 different kinds}
2 large eggs
3/4 cup vanilla sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1 vanilla bean,scraped
1/4 cup slivered almonds
100gms unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Method:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180C. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan, or 12 individual dessert rings bottoms lined/sealed with aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put the springform/ or dessert rings on it.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl.
Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1- to 2-inch chunks {cut them slightly smaller for individual bakes}.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until they’re foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in the rum and scarped vanilla bean.
Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that you have a smooth, rather thick batter.
Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it’s coated with batter. Scrape the mix into the pan/rings and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it’s evenish. Sprinkle the top with slivered almonds.
Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes. {Individual dessert rings baked for about 30 minutes}.
Carefully run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the springform pan. {Open the springform slowly, and before it’s fully opened, make sure there aren’t any apples stuck to it.}
Allow the cake to cool until it is just slightly warm or at room temperature.
If you want to remove the cake from the bottom of the springform pan, wait until the cake is almost cooled, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving dish.
Serving: The cake can be served warm or at room temperature, with or without a little softly whipped, barely sweetened heavy cream or a spoonful of ice cream. Marie-Hélène’s served her cake with cinnamon ice cream and it was a terrific combination. {The cake reheats very well too in the microwave}
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I want to thank all my readers for taking the time to vote for me at the Blog of the Year contest on Blog Revue. I am really happy that I won.

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