November Roundup

Happy Thanksgiving and Holiday Season! One big meal down, many more to go! Thanks to everyone for participating in our bread challenge. They all look delicious!

Olive and Rosemary Focaccia

Posted by Lena

My first focaccia. I got this recipe from a chinese baking book, 手工面包the same book that i got  to make my Chocolate Cherry Bread. All breads in this book are actually handmade, no machine used but as usual knowing myself, i prefer to delegate all these hand work to the machine..one word..lazy. I havent eaten a focaccia before..they are sold here but just that i havent tasted them before. My focaccia looks alright to me..afterall it's still a bread..ha! the crumbs ok, maybe the surface a little pale but overall still good to me. Perhaps the next time i should put a little more rosemary onto the holes instead. Actually there are a few versions of focaccia i would like to make but as at now..just this first.

Recipe
Ingredients:
hi protein flour 300gm
salt 5 gm
instant yeast 4 gm
caster sugar 1/2 tbsp
warm water 200ml

olive oil 1 tbsp
some pitted olives and fresh rosemary

Here's how i did using my machine:
1. Combine flour  and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. In another small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water, stir them together and pour into the flour and salt mixture. On the machine and put in that 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Let it knead for about 10-15 minutes on medium speed until you get a fairly smooth dough. Remove from machine, shape them into a big  ball and let it proof in lightly greased bowl until double its size.
3.After proofing, remove from bowl, lightly pat the dough into a square shape and shape them into round again ( by folding the square into 3 parts vertically , turn 90C and fold into 3 parts again and shape them into round) . Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
4. Flatten each dough with a rolling pin, with a thickness of 1 cm and transfer the dough into a lined baking tin for 2nd proof until almost 1.5 or double its size.
5. Using your finger, poke holes all over the dough and top them with pitted black olives . Brush the dough all over with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh rosemary. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 15 minutes .

I'm sharing this with the Have the Cake  with their bread challenge for this month.

100% Whole Wheat Rolls

Hi I'm Kyleen, the girl behind sixteenbeans. For the November Challenge, I made whole wheat rolls. 

*          *          *

I’m a voracious reader, the kind of person who uses reading to procrastinate. I figure that reading since reading is actually educational,  I can feel a lot less guilty about "educating" myself about nineteenth century courtship (courtesy of Jane Eyre) while I'm really supposed to be doing my homework. I will readily admit that a portion of my allowance goes towards expanding my admirable collection of books and that Chapters is my favourite store, ever. Currently, I’m trying to work through the College Board’s 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers. So far, I’ve read about four, but hey, I’ve got two more years to read the rest of the books on the list.

Besides trying to slug my way through the long list of impressive classics deemed “great” by the College Board, I also borrow heaps and heaps of cookbooks from the library. I rarely buy cookbooks because I can’t justify spending $40 on recipes that I could just google. But when I won the Culinary Arts Award at my school last year and received a $25 giftcard to Chapters, it seemed only fitting that I use the giftcard to buy a cookbook.

I ended up buying Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day. I’ve tried making bread before, using random internet recipes, but with no avail. Each failed attempt further cemented in my mind that there was a complicated science behind breadmaking which internet recipes were not explaining thoroughly enough. 

The first recipe I tried from ABED was Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. Not only did the end product taste amazing, but prepping the dough was relatively simple and quick. Encouraged by the success, I endeavoured to make 100% Whole Wheat Bread for the November Have the Cake Challenge. Whole wheat bread had been the source of many frustrations (why is the dough so tough? Why isn’t my loaf rising? Why does the bread look like a brick?) in the past, but I was determined to master it.

Following Peter’s overnight rise method, I produced light and airy bread, even though I had deviated slightly from the recipe. I forgot to dissolve the yeast with the wet ingredients as instructed in the recipe; instead I had mixed it with the dry. I also used whole wheat bread flour instead of regular whole wheat flour as called for in the recipe so I had to add more flour to the dough to achieve the correct consistency.

My older brother commented that the bread had tasted the same as store-bought, which I took as the ultimate compliment considering my past history of dense brick-like loaves. Sometimes the clarity and thoroughness of instruction in a cookbook written by a pro really does make a difference. Not all cookbooks are worth buying in my opinion, but this one definitely was.

Tips for Making Bread:

Use the fresh yeast; many of my brick-like loaves were a result of old yeast which didn’t rise properly.

If you use a machine to knead the dough, be careful not to over-knead; if you are kneading by hand, make sure you knead the dough enough.

The temperature of the water or milk is very important. Anything too cool and the yeast will not be activated; anything too hot and the yeast will die.

A small kitchen scale is particularly useful in the breadmaking venture. Volume and weight are two completely different things and depending on how packed your flour is, the actually amount that you measure out using a volume cup could be different from the weight of flour that is called for in the recipe. My kitchen scale is almost at antique status by now and mostly retired, so I borrowed my friend Jenny’s electronic scale. According to her, kitchen scales are pretty cheap these days, so if you are into baking, you may want to consider investing in one.

Click below for the recipe.

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Source: Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Everyday

Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 6 ¼ cups (28 oz / 794 g) whole wheat flour (I used 28 ounces of whole wheat bread flour and an additional 9 tablespoons)
• 2 teaspoon (0.5 oz / 14 g) salt or 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons (2.5 oz / 71 g) granulated or brown sugar
• 1 egg (1.75 oz / 50 g)
• ¼ cup vegetable oil (2 oz /56.5 g)
• 1 ¼ cups (10 oz/283 g) lukewarm water (about 95F or 35C)
• 1 ¼ cups (10 oz/283 g) lukewarm milk (any kind; at about 95F or 35C)
• 1 ½ tablespoons (0.5 oz / 14 g) instant yeast

Directions:

In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the flour, salt, and sugar together. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and oil together. In another bowl, combine the water and milk and then whisk in the yeast until dissolved. Add the egg mixture and water mixture to the dry ingredients. Using the paddle attachment, mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes so that the flour has a chance to fully hydrate. 

Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough on medium-low speed for 2 minutes. The dough will become more firm and smooth. At this point, add water or flour (a tablespoon at a time) if the dough is too dry or wet, respectively. The dough should be supple and slightly sticky. Continue to knead on medium-low speed for 4 more minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead  by hand for a final few seconds, working in more flour or water as needed so that the dough is very supple and pliable and slightly sticky. Form the dough into a ball. Stretch the front end of the dough outwards and then fold it back on top of the dough. Do this from the back end and then from each side, then flip the dough over and tuck it into a ball. Cover the dough with oiled plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes. Repeat this process two more times, completing all repetitions within 30 minutes.

Place dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl large enough to hold the dough when it doubles in size. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and then refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days. If you plan to bake the dough in batches over different days, you can portion the dough and place it into multiple oiled bowls at this stage. I divided my dough into half and baked a loaf and some rolls on two different days.

Preheat oven to 200F for 1 minute; turn the heat off. Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 3 hours before you plan to bake. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into two equal pieces for loaves or small pieces for rolls, about 2 ounces each. To make a loaf shape, flatten the dough and tuck opposite edges in, rolling to form a uniform log shape. Place the dough in greased 4 ½ by 8 1/2 0inch loaf pans. For freestanding loaves or rolls, line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat and proof the dough on the pan.

Place the dough in the oven and leaving the door ajar, let the dough rise for 2 to 3 hours, until increased to about 1 ½ times its original size. In loaf pans, the dough should dome about 1 inch above the rim. About 15 minutes before baking, remove the dough and preheat the oven to 350. If making rolls brush the dough with egg wash (1 egg whisked with 2 tablespoons water) (this is not necessary for loaves).

Bake loaves for 40 to 55 minutes and rolls for 20 minutes, rotating halfway through. The bread is done when the top and sides are a deep rich brown, the load sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, and the internal temperature is about 185F (85C) in the center. I wasn’t sure how to tell whether the loaf sounded hollow when thumped on the bottom (because the loaf was too hot for me to take out of the pan and thump and check for sounds of hollowness), so I inserted a skewer into the center instead. It came out clean after 40 minutes, so I removed the bread from the oven.

Removes from the pans and cool for at least 20 minutes for rolls and at least 1 hour for loaves before slicing or serving.

Simit

Posted by - Ayse

If you are a bread-monster like me, I have a surprise for you: Simit!

yeah... it is me - the new member of HTC :)

Simit is a good companion to afternoon teas, sine qua non for Turkish breakfasts, a quick lunch, snack for any time in the day, ...

Variation?

In Turkey, some varieties of simit changes from city to city. For instance, Gevrek (literally it means crisp) - also known as Izmir simit - is boiled in grape pekmez-water mixture for a while before baking; Manisa simit and Kumru are prepared with ground chickpeas; Laz simit - also known as Kerkeli - is prepared without sesame; ... And of course, two of the most popular ones: Istanbul simit and Ankara simit.  There are also "patisserie style" simits.

Also, Koulouri in Greece; đevrek in Serbia; Gjevrek in Macedonia; Gevrek in Bulgaria; Covrig in Romania; Ka'ak in Arab countries; Bubrik in Russia and Bagel in America are other varieties. 

Baking time!

I got the following recipe from this website. And the website owner had got it from the bakery Simit Center in Cankaya, Ankara. 

Ingredients

1 kg "flour for simit purpose" (But you can also use bread flour whose protein content is 12% - 13%)

5 gr dry yeast

15 gr salt

Warm water, as necessary

Grape pekmez

Roasted sesame seeds

Method

Combine the yeast and warm water in a glass, and wait for some minutes. Place the flour and the salt in a container. Open a hole in the middle of the flour and place the yeast-water mixture there. Mix it with your hands, while adding necessary warm water. Knead the dough for about 15-20 minutes.

Rest the dough for about 30 minutes if it is summer, 60 minutes if it is winter.

Then work as follows:

Add equal amount of water and grape pekmez in a container. Rest the simits in this mixture for about 2 minutes.

Then toss the simits in sesame seeds, gently. 

 Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the simits on baking sheets and bake until they become rich brown. But be careful in the baking process. If you over bake them, then they would become dry. So you should balance the cooking time well and shouldn't leave the kitchen during the baking. 

Butter Flake Rolls

Posted by - Nancy


My husband LOVES bbq. Plain and simple. And while we have tried a number of barbecue restaurants, we certainly don't have a smoker at home, which is the goal eventually. So tonight my husband decided to try some slow cooked ribs in the oven with a savory rub. 

Which was my chance to try a new roll recipe. A recipe I have wanted to try, but as with all yeast breads, you have to make sure you have time and cooperative kids to make them work. And the stars must be aligned or something because I had both this afternoon. 

Alton Brown's Butter Flake Rolls

Ingredients

• Nonstick spray
• 8 ounces warm whole milk (100 degrees F)
• 2 1/4 ounces sugar (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 15 ounces all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray and set aside.

Place the milk, sugar, yeast, flour, egg yolks, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine on low speed for 1 minute. Change the paddle attachment to the dough hook and rest the dough for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add 2 ounces of the butter and mix on low speed. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through, about 8 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll and shape with your hands to form a large ball. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm, dry place to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and roll into a 12 by 12-inch square, about 1/2-inch thick. Melt the remaining 1/2 ounce butter and brush onto the top of the dough.

Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 12 (12 by 1-inch) strips. Stack the strips into 2 stacks of 6 strips each. Lay the stacks on their sides and cut each stack into 6 (2-inch) wide pieces. Lay each piece on its side into a prepared muffin tin cup. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, dry place to rise until doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake until the rolls reach an internal temperature of 200 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.

Remove the muffin tin to a cooling rack and cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

Ready to mix

Resting before butter

Ready to stack

Nestled for second rise

Flaky deliciousness

Overall these were very good. I am not sure I let the KitchenAid knead long enough, and my first rise wasn't quite doubled. But when I rolled out the dough it seemed "fluffy" enough. The only issue I encountered was the strips grew when I piled them up so I ended up with extra dough. Since I didn't want to dirty up a whole other cupcake pan for two rolls, I used my small muffin tin to make 6 small rolls. Which ended up being the perfect size for the little miss. I will definitely make these again!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread - for Bread Machine

Posted by - Michele

This month’s Have the Cake Challenge was bread. I like to call myself yeastfully challenged. The dough never rises the way it should. I was happy to be able to find a recipe I could use with my bread machine.

I chose the Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread from Food.com. I do not like raisins in bread or cookies or any other baked good for that matter. I don’t know why. I like raisins by themselves. So no raisins for this bread.

It was SO easy to put together. You just toss all the ingredients in the bread maker and it does all the mixing and rising for you. The only thing you have to do is roll out the dough and sprinkle and roll. Next time I make this bread, I would divide the dough in half and use two bread pans. The bread came out a little doughy in the middle and I think it was because it was so big. But we all LOVED it!
If you would like to see this recipes with the raisins, here is the link to Food.com.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread – For the bread maker

Ingredients

1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar


Directions

1. Put milk and egg into measuring cup.

2. Add enough tepid water to make 1 cup.

3. Pour into bread machine pan.

4. Add the softened butter, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast.

5. Set bread machine to dough cycle.

6. Remove the dough at the end of the dough cycle.

7. Roll dough to 10×12 rectangle.

8. Brush egg white on surface of dough.

9. Brush with melted butter.

10. Combine cinnamon and sugar. (I doubled the amount)

11. Sprinkle over dough; leaving about 1 inch on each edge.

12. Roll from short side.

13. Pinch where it meets and roll ends under.

14. Place in loaf pan.

15. Cover with a cloth and let rise for about an hour.

16. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

17. Once the dough has risen, brush top with egg white and sprinkle with 1/1/2 teaspoon sugar. (I used more than that!)

18. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.


Enjoy!

Kings Hawaiian Bread

Posted by - Vivian at Let's try these
The Have the Cake Challenge for this month was bread. Making bread was not going to be a challenge since I've made plenty over the years. For me, the challenge was going to be finding a recipe I've not made before. One of hubby's favorite breads is Kings Hawaiian bread and there are several recipes out there for it. I chose one from allrecipes.com. The only change I made was baking it in two 9-inch round baking pans instead of three. I had to bake it for an additional five minutes, but other than that it was incredibly easy to make and quite yummy. I didn't have any pineapple juice so I opened up can of crushed pineapple and drained off the liquid.
Have the Cake Challenge: Hawaiian Bread
Ingredients
2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 eggs
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 cups all-purpose flour


Directions
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat together the yeast mixture, eggs, pineapple juice, 1/2 cup water, sugar, ginger, vanilla, and melted butter. Gradually stir in flour until a stiff batter is formed. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a well floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and form into round loaves. Place the loaves into three lightly greased round cake pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bottom of a loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

November Challenge: Bread

Posted by - Rena

Happy November! This month's challenge is to make bread. You can make rolls, loaves, focaccia, croissants or any variation of bread you like.

I have tried many times to make bread and the consistency always seemed wrong but then I was at a friend's house and she made bread in a bread maker. It tasted the same and had a similar texture. I think I'm used to mass produced breads which is a bad thing. I've been dying to try this recipe I found on Steamy Kitchen. I have a weakness for garlic so I'm sure you'll be seeing garlic pop up in my bread.

Since Thanksgiving is this month, I thought it would be timely to make some sort of bread to go with the meal. Maybe pumpkin bread? Hmm...

Happy Kneading (or not)!

November Roundup

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!! Thanks to everyone that participated this month. This is a tricky month thanks to the holidays so I'm glad we got a few chiffon cakes out. Looking forward to next month!

We also have a facebook page! Come and "like" us!
Have the Cake on Facebook

November 2011: Orange Saffron Chiffon cake with cardamom

Posted by - Vivian Thiele

I was intrigued with the Perisian Love Cake challenge but couldn't find all the ingredients (small towns tend to have that problem from time to time).  So I looked up some chiffon cake recipes and found a few that used some similar ingredients to the Persian Love cake and did a bit of a combination of recipes.  A result that produced a very delicious, airy, aeromatic cake.  I would say it ended up a success!

I combined the Orange Saffron cake from Ifood.tv and the Orange Chiffon Cake at Joy of Baking Having never really tried my hand at such a massive addaptation of two recipes, the end result quite pleased me.
     First I started with the Orange saffron cake ingredients combining:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice

zest of 1 large orange (grated or curls, not large strips)
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads soaked in 2 tbsp of milk
half of a  of cinnamon stick freshly grated
freshly grated nutmeg using half of a fresh "nut"
5 fresh cardamom pods with seeds removed and crushed
1 tsp of vanilla

Directions: In a saucepan on low heat, I combined the orange juice with the orange zest. I Added the saffron (along with the milk), the vanilla and the other spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom). Brought it to a gentle boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Removed from the heat and allowed it to cool.

Next I moved on to Orange Chiffon cake and did the following:
Ingredients:
6 large eggs, separated plus 1 (30 grams) additional egg white

2 1/4 cups (225 grams) sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) superfine white (castor) sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil or safflower oil

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions: Separate the eggs and place the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Cover with plastic wrap and bring them to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and have ready a 10 inch (25 cm) two piece tube pan (ungreased).

    In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, place the flour, sugar (minus 3 tablespoons (42 grams)), baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg yolks and oil, as well as the milk, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract and spice mixture that has been cooled been. Beat about one minute or until smooth.

     In a separate bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 3 tablespoons (42 grams) of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. With a large rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold the egg whites into the batter just until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter).

Pour the batter into the ungreased tube pan and bake for about 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (When lightly pressed the cake will spring back). Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven invert the pan and place on a bottle or flat surface so it is suspended over the counter. Let the cake cool completely before removing from pan (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours).

     To remove the cake from the pan, run a long metal spatula around the inside of the tube pan and center core. Invert onto a greased wire rack.

Peppermint Cocoa Chiffon Cake??

Posted by -colleen
So the question marks are there because my cake DOES NOT merit having the same title as the previously posted GORGEOUS cake by Angela. Mine looks more like a giant doughnut. Oh well. Here is my post (written prior to seeing that "other" cake and I'm just too lazy to re-write or make a new cake)!!!
Every month when the new challenge gets posted, I feel like I'm in college again. I was the one who HAD to get an assignment done right away; it didn't matter if we were given a month to read the book, I started right away so it would be done. Same with this. I check for the post right away on the first of each month and immediately start researching recipe ideas. Chiffon cake posed quite the dilemma for me-so many options. I lingered over lime chiffon cake recipes, a cinnamon chiffon cupcake recipe, various lemony-luscious recipes before hitting on this one: Cocoa Peppermint Chiffon Cake. Perhaps, it's the way-too-early influx of holiday stuff everywhere but this just sounded perfect to me. Chocolate and peppermint can do no wrong.
Here is the original recipe from the Hershey's site (the stars mean I wavered from the ingredient a bit-I explain what I did at the end):

• 2 cups sugar, divided *
  
• 1-1/2 cups cake flour *
  
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda *
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil *
  
• 7 eggs, separated and at room temperature
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract *
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar *
• VANILLA GLAZE(recipe follows) *

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325°F.

2. Combine 1-3/4 cups sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Add oil, egg yolks, water and vanilla; beat until smooth.

3. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in extra-large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Gradually pour chocolate batter over beaten egg whites, folding with rubber spatula just until blended. Pour into ungreased 10-inch tube pan.

4. Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly. Invert pan on heat-proof funnel until completely cool. Remove cake from pan; invert onto serving plate. Spread top of cake with VANILLA GLAZE, allowing some to drizzle down sides. 12 to 16 servings.

*for sugar I used Splenda
*for cake flour I used All-Purpose flour with a little cornstarch instead (the ratio is 2 T cornstarch per 1 c. cake flour)
*I substituted all baking soda for the baking soda/powder/cream of tartar b/c I didn't have any cream of tartar-this may have contributed to a little dryness :(
*I used Pure Peppermint extract instead of vanilla.
*I made a chocolate glaze instead: melt 2 T. butter. Add 1/4 c. cocoa, 1/2 t. vanilla and 3 T. water. Remove from heat. Slowly add 1 and 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Stir well adding water as needed until you get the consistency you want.

Learning from my past mistakes separating eggs, I had 3 bowls at the ready this time (one for yolks, one for the whites and one for cracking the egg) so I was able to get through this part of the recipe without tainting the whites! The whites whipped up perfectly. The cocoa portion of the recipe was quite thick-almost like a brownie batter but once it was folded into the whites the whole thing was amazingly light and fluffy. I poured the batter into my (borrowed) tube pan an popped it in the oven for about an hour (no where near the 1 hour 20 minutes the recipe says).
Now, here is where I encountered a problem: the recipe says to use an ungreased cake pan so I did BUT the tube pan I borrowed must have been old or the coating was all worn off because there was no getting the cake out of the pan. I pounded. I shook. I tapped. I left it suspended upside down hoping gravity would kick in at some point. Alas, I had to poke and scrape and cajole it out losing a bit of the bottom and some of the part around the tube. It didn't fall apart, though so the holes can be covered with glaze! I poured the glaze over the top and then sprinkled some smashed up candy canes on top. The cake looked like an enormous donut!
Flavor-wise this cake rocked. Texture-wise? I suggest having it with a beverage as it was a bit dry.
The tube pan? Yeah. It is still soaking. I think I may have to buy the person I borrowed it from a new one. It has scratches on it and I've scrubbed it a couple times and there is still chocolate coating on it! No more ungreased pans for me....

Holiday Peppermint Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Posted by -Angela/Soap Mom's Kitchen

Since November came rolling in, I have been in Holiday Mode. I have made chiffon cakes before and they are usually moist and light and very easy to handle. The one rule of thumb is you have to keep in mind that the fillings should be light. This particular chiffon cake is not a dense cake and cannot really withstand heavy fillings.

This recipe for Chocolate Chiffon Cake is from reknown pastry chef, Bo Friberg who is my idol. I have been wanting to make this chocolate chiffon cake for sometime, so this is the perfect opportunity. Since the holidays are almost here, I decided to add peppermint extract to the batter and do a light textured peppermint frosting and chocolate peppermint ganache.

Recipe:
Chocolate Chiffon Cake: adapted from Bo Friberg
1 cup canola oil
8 egg yolks
1 cup room temperature water
1 tsp. peppermint extract
11 oz. cake flour
3 oz. Hershey's Cocoa
14 oz. granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 egg whites

Grease the bottom of a tube pan, not the sides. This is very important. The cake batter needs to be able to grab onto the sides of the pan to lift.

Whip the egg yolks and oil together until combine, add water and peppermint extract, mix well.

Sift flour, one third of sugar, baking powder and the salt. Add to egg yolk mixture and mix on high speed for 1 minute, put to the side.

Whip your egg whites until light and at soft peaks add slowly the remaining sugar. Continue to beat just until firm peaks begin to form. Do not over beat!

Slowly fold in egg whites to chocolate batter. Take your time folding until it is well incorporated. Do this with a light hand. You do not want to deflate the batter. Pour into prepared tube. I had to leave out about 3/4 cup of the batter. I was afraid it would overflow.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. Everyone's oven varies in temperature, do the toothpick test!

Allow cake to cool completely. I ran a very thin paring knife around the cake pan to release the cake. Invert onto a serving plate.

Filling:

1 stick room temperature soften unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream cold
4 cups powder sugar
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

Whip butter until light and fluffy, add cream and extract, continue to beat until fluffy and well incorporated. Add one cup at a time of powder sugar and continue to beat for several minutes until it is fluffy and white.

I cut cake into 4 layers and layered with peppermint frosting!

Peppermint Chocolate Ganache

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 T. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

Heat heavy cream in sauce pan, until very hot, add chips and beat with whisk until well incorporated, add corn syrup and extract, mix well.

Spoon ganache over cake and let drizzle down sides. I crushed some peppermint candies to add a festive look to the Cake.

Piped Frosting:
1 stick soften butter
3 to 4 cups of powder sugar
a few drops of more peppermint extract
and milk if you need to thin out

Beat butter until creamy and light, add extract. Add one cup at a time of powder sugar. Add milk if need be. Pipe rosettes on top of cake with pastry bag and large star tip. Add a peppermint candy to each rosette.

It really is delicious! Moist, light and the peppermint is divine with the chocolate ganache! My family loved it!

I will be making this for my Holiday Dinner Party! It reminds me of the candy, York's Peppermint Patty .