First Bake

My first bake as a homeowner! Yay!  Having just recently moved to Atlanta, one of our top priorities was to get on the property ladder.  Renters no more!  The hub and I snagged a pretty sweet loft in a converted building downtown, something we could've never afforded in NYC.  And the kitchen has counter space for days!!  Now that we're pretty much settled, a break-in bake was in order.

I've been playing around with alternative sugars for some time, and in the South, sorghum syrup is everywhere.  Baking with liquid sweeteners can be tricky, since they add a lot more moisture to baked goods, which can drastically alter results if trying to substitute them for a recipe with granulated sugar.  Sorghum syrup is the juice of the sorghum cane, that's been boiled and reduced to a molasses -like consistency.  The complex, cereal flavor can be addictive, and it pairs really well with salt.

Only having a couple liquid sweetener cake recipes in my arsenal, I'm always ready to seek out more.  I found an interesting recipe from Epicurious using maple syrup, and knew it would be easy to swap out the maple for sorghum.  I also have this thing where I can never just follow a recipe as written, especially when baking at home, where I may not have the exact ingredients on hand, or my intuition tells me it'd be so much better with the additional pinch of this or that.  Case in point, many chocolate cake recipes out there only use cocoa powder as their chocolate component. That's not a chocolate cake to me.  I have to have REAL chocolate in my chocolate cake!  I also threw in a little bit of sourdough starter into the mix, just because.  Perhaps it will improve the crumb and flavor from the original... but I'll never know, because I will never make the original! Lol.  I would love to have used sorghum flour in this cake as well, but I didn't have any on hand. Next time!

This cake, with the sorghum buttercream recipe that follows, turned out just as I'd hoped.  The sorghum really comes through, and the cake is just sweet enough to be satisfying.  The cake itself is moist with good structure and has a lovely soft crumb.  Please try making this recipe at home, and deviate at will.

Chocolate Sorghum Sourdough Cake

Makes 1 low lying brownie pan's worth

96 g      all purpose flour

25 g      cocoa powder

¾ tsp     baking soda

½ tsp     baking powder

1 tsp     fine sea salt

170 g    sorghum syrup

120 g    yogurt (I used almond milk yogurt b/c that’s what I had)

1            whole egg

30 g      grapeseed oil

1 tsp     vanilla extract

1 tsp     coffee (optional, I had some left in the coffee maker)

20 g      sourdough starter or levain (also optional)

30 g      unsweetened chocolate, melted and warm

Preheat oven to 350F.  Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl large enough to fit everything else.  In a separate bowl, whisk together all the liquids except the chocolate.  Once everything is homogenous, quickly scrape in and whisk the melted chocolate, so it doesn't seize up.  Now pour this liquid mix into the dry mix.  Starting from the center out, whisk into a smooth batter.  Transfer to a greased brownie pan and allow to rest before baking about 10 minutes (this is to allow the chemical leaveners to hydrate, as well as let that sourdough reactivate). 

Baker's trick:  when I want a nice flat, cake with little or no bump, I'll wrap the pan in a wet dishtowel, like a scarf around a neck, to insulate the sides from crusting too quickly.  This allows the entire cake to bake at basically the same rate, therefore less bump! 

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top looks dry and the cake gives some resistence when lightly pressed.  This cake won't rise much, so don't be alarmed.  Cool about 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a rack, then invert again so the top of the cake is facing up.  Cool completely.

Salted Sorghum Buttercream

Enough to frost this cake – you’ll need an electric hand mixer for this, sorry

80 g      sorghum syrup

5 g         fine sea salt

2            whole eggs, large

213 g    soft butter (or 1 stick)

5 g         vanilla extract

Bring the sorghum and salt to a boil and allow it to slightly caramelize (swirl the pan as the edges of the syrup darken a bit). Turn off the heat, and allow to cool just for a few seconds.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, using an electric hand mixer, whisk the eggs until foamy.  Carefully drizzle in the still very hot syrup into the eggs while whisking constantly.  The syrup my harden a little in the bottom of the bowl but that’s okay for now.  Quickly fill the same pot that had the sorghum in it half full with water and get it on the stove again.  Now put your sorghum-eggy bowl over the hot water and continue whisking until the foam becomes warm, thick and almost dense.  There should be no more trace of any hardened syrup.  Now pull the bowl off the heat and continue whisking until just lukewarm.  Add the soft butter in chunks, then the vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.  Your buttercream may look like a loose icing at this point (mine did).  No worries.  Throw the bowl in the freezer for a couple minutes, then whisk again.  Keep whisking until it gains some of that density again.  If it breaks, wave the bowl over an open flame to warm slightly.  If you over-warm it, and it becomes soup again, back in the freezer.  I know this sounds finnicky, but please don’t give up.  It will come together, I promise.  Frost and decorate your cooled cake now.

If you've got good, flaked sea salt, it won't hurt to sprinkle some over the top.

check out that crumb!

I just piped and piped until I ran out of buttercream

Sweet Cheese

For some reason, I always associate blueberries with cheesecake.   I don’t recall having it more often than any other blueberry dessert as a kid, so I don’t really know where the correlation comes from.   I do know, however, that when you pair the silkiest of cheesecakes with an awesome blueberry sauce, it can be heaven in your mouth.

This is my attempt at that celestial mouthful…and there isn’t a graham cracker crust in sight.  Instead, I’ve replaced the traditional with a “cremet”, an ethereally light mixture of cream cheese and crème fraiche lightened with meringue and drained overnight through cheesecloth.  Its sweet-floral notes come from the addition of elderflower syrup & liquor.  Blueberries make the sauce and a most intense pickled sorbet.  Toasted shreds of cornmeal cake add texture and a breath of warmth to this summer dessert.  A sprinkle each of fresh lemon thyme leaves and espellete pepper keep every bite as interesting as the last.

Sweet Cheese Cremet
About 10 portions

670 g  cream cheese at room temperature
690 g  creme fraiche

40 g   fresh lemon juice
10 g   vanilla extract
2 g    kosher salt
60 g   St. Germain elderflower liquor
20 g   elderflower syrup

230 g  pasteurized egg white

Line a perforated half hotel pan with a double layer of damp cheesecloth, allowing it to drape over the sides.  Place this pan over a solid half hotel.  Set aside.

Blend cream cheese & creme fraiche in a food processor until smooth, scraping sides of bowl.  While machine is running, stream in liquid flavorings.  Scrape the bowl down again and make sure this mixture is completely smooth.

Meanwhile, whip the egg whites to firm peaks.  Pour some of the liquid cheese mixture into the stiff whites, and fold to loosen. Pour in the remaining liquid and fold until homogeneous.  

Pour the cremet mixture into the lined pan and gently fold the cheesecloth over it to cover.  Wrap this in plastic and allow to rest in the fridge overnight.  Next day, gently peel away the cheesecloth from the surface and scoop about 3 ounce of cremet into a bowl and serve with blueberries or whatever fruit you have on hand.

Note:  Once the cremet has been set overnight, do not stir it.  When scooping, try to do this in one motion, allowing the pattern of the cheesecloth be part of the character of the cremet.

Serve within 2 days of making.

Strawberry Delice

I'm a sucker for the tableside pour.  I've been doing it for a while and I don't see myself stopping.  It's a way to add a touch of theatre to an otherwise simple dish. If the liquid is quite fluid, pouring in front of the guest keeps presentation clean and eliminates undesired sloshing.  And people seem to like it.  

This pour in particular is of an ice cold strawberry consommé.  As it hits the porcelain, the vivid red pools around my new favorite mouthful - a heaped quenelle of Dulcey cremeux.  Garnished with an aleppo flecked caramel lace, the two textures make for a creme brulee like experience.  Succulent summer strawberries and a shower of peppery baby cress add freshness and a peppery finish.

Dulcey Cremeux

The technique is actually of a panna cotta, but the addition of the chocolate gives it a much deeper mouthfeel.

About 8 portions

480 g  heavy cream 

1 g    kosher salt

2.5 g    caramel paste (found in specialty stores, can omit if unavailable)

325 g  Dulcey chocolate (by Valrhona, it is a caramelized white chocolate)
3 ea   gelatin leaves, bloomed in ice water and drained

250 g  cold buttermilk
200 g  cold heavy cream

Boil together the cream, salt, and caramel paste.  In separate bowl, have ready your chocolate and drained gelatin.  Pour the hot liquid over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.  Immediately add the cold liquids to cool everything down.  Blend everything with a hand blender to ensure there are no lumps of chocolate left.  Pour into 3 pint containers and allow to set at least 4 hours.

Once set, use a warm spoon to quenelle the cream into a bowl.  Garnish with fresh strawberries.

Serve crémeux within 2 days of making.

Like Rice On Rice

Almost everytime I read a rice pudding recipe, the author splits the entire human population into two camps: those who love rice pudding, and those who hate it.  By some masterful fate, I must have surrounded myself with only people who love it, and of course I do too.

Here, I've played on my love of rice to incorporate three forms of the wonder-grain in one dish.  Jasmine rice pudding creates a bed for forbidden rice ice cream and crispy Japanese brown rice.  To accentuate the Asian-ness of it all, rosettes of thinly sliced mango and cilantro freshen it up.

Here is my favorite rice pudding recipe.  Feel free to change out the aromatics to your taste.

100 g jasmine rice

100 g sugar

2 g     kosher salt

15 g  butter

1 qt   whole milk

1/2     vanilla bean

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1 stick lemon grass

Everything goes into a medium pot on the stove on medium heat.  Stir occasionally until it starts to simmer.  From here on, keep it at a simmer and stir often until rice is cooked, about 20-25 minutes.  Cool on an ice bath and remove vanilla pod and lemongrass stick.  You may need to add a little more fresh milk to adjust the consistency to your liking.