Suzi's Blog
Pear Cake: The Ideal Fruit Pound Cake from Piece of Cake
This could be my last post. I’m taking a risk. Some government guys in black helicopters may object to what I am about to say.
I’ve been seeing small silver disks. Everywhere. Lots and lots and lots of them.
They could be a threat.
Suzen keeps telling me that is nonsense. She’s just freezing her new, moistest, bestest thing: layers of pound cake with fruit.
We got this remarkable book, Piece of Cake: Homemade Baking Made Simple by David Muniz, David Lesniak and Rachel Allen. It has lots and lots of recipes I would like Suzen to try:
- Spiced Pecan Frosting
- Coconut Buttermilk Cake
- Lemon Lavender Scone
- Toffee Walnut Brownies
- Blueberry Sour Cream Cake
- Caramel Frosting
Lot of things. But will she do them? No. All she does is this pound cake with fruit. She keeps buying pears. And making cakes. We have, honestly, run out of freezer space. She’s giving them away. If you are near Tribeca, please drop by. Get a cake. We need space for ice cream.
This is a great cake. It’s one that even I don’t think needs frosting. It’s moist, buttery and wonderful. How good is it? Even Suzen eats the batter. It’s sooooo good. You eat the batter and you know the cake will be wonderful.
I do like the pears. I’m not quite tired of them. I can’ wait for berry season.
In the meantime, if you want a superior baking book, then I heartily recommend Piece of Cake.
Fresh Fruit Coffee Cake
Yield: Serves 12 to 16.
Ingredients:
- 4 ½ cup all-purpose Flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking Soda
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 2 ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or Grand Marnier
- 2 cups Ripe berries (or fruit of choice- diced into ½ inch cubes
- 1 ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°E Butter a 10-inch tube pan, line the bottom with parchment, dust the sides with flour, and tap out any excess.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and vanilla or Grand Marnier. In yet another bowl, toss the fruit with 1/4 cup of the flour mixture, to prevent it from sinking to the bottom while baking. Set the bowls aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to incorporate each egg fully before adding the next.
As always, scrape the bowl as needed along the way. On low speed, alternately ‘add the flour and buttermilk mixtures in 3 to 4 parts, mixing only until Just combined.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the fresh fruit with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top as necessary.
Bake for about 90 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a small knife emerges clean. If need be, cover the cake loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Cool the cake in the pan for 45 minutes before releasing it. While this may seem too long a cooling period, it allows the fruit juices to set within the cake to prevent it from falling apart when you release it from the pan.
Finish this either with a simple lemon glaze or a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. [Or, as Suzen and I do, just eat plain with great cup of coffee.]
Source: Piece of Cake: Homemade Baking Made Simple by David Muniz, David Lesniak and Rachel Allen
Salted Butter Caramel Cupcakes from Cox Cookies and Cake
Did I actually make those gorgeous cupcakes above? And the decorations? Well, of course, I did. In fact, …
No. I didn’t. Not a chance. That’s a picture from the publisher, very representative of the delightful photos in Cox Cookies and Cakes. I wish I could make these cupcakes. I will attempt it. But frankly, I am not Eric Lanlard. Along with co-author Partick Cox, Eric has produced another brilliant book. His cake and tart books [Cake Boy and Tart It Up] have been featured on this blog. Those books are filled with marvelous recipes that you can try and pretty easily do at home.
This book, Cox Cookies and Cakes, is a different beast. Oh, you are free to tackle any of the 75+ recipes here for cupcakes and cookies and bars and other wonders. Bake away. But each of these recipes comes with a picture that is going to make you say to yourself: I am not Michelangelo.
This is a cookbook but it’s also a coffee table book. Something to just sit and wonder at. Eric and Patrick are artists and this remarkable book proves that.
You know, on second thought, I bet I can make, or at least try anything in this book. It’s just that my first step will be to open a very cold bottle of champagne as I start. I’ll need to chill, relax, and see if I can just remotely come close. Patience is the pathway to perfection.
Just a note, Eric explains that he grew up in Brittany, famed for its dairy farms. He grew up on caramel, salted butter caramel. So, he kinda had a head start here. I’m not calling him a cheater or anything, but he’s way ahead of most of us. Thankfully for us, he’s a great baker, writer, and teacher.
Salted Butter Caramel Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
- 1 ⅓ cups self-rising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- ½ heaped cup Barbados sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 2oz toffee or pieces of fudge, cut into small dice
For the caramel sauce:
- ⅔ cup superfine sugar
- 5 tablespoon salted butter
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the buttercream frosting
- 1 ⅜ sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1¼ cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon caramel extract (optional)
- few flakes of sea salt, to decorate
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400°F, and line a cupcake pan with paper baking cups.
Sift the flour and baking soda together into a bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for a good 5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs gradually, beating between each addition and adding 1 tablespoon of flour about halfway through to stop the mixture from curdling. Beat in the vanilla extract then fold in the remaining flour, the milk, and the toffee or fudge.
Divide the batter between the paper baking cups and bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when pressed with a finger. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
To make the Caramel Sauce; dissolve the sugar in ¼ cup water in a small heavy saucepan over very low heat. Increase the heat and simmer. As soon as you have a nice blond-colored caramel remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter—be careful because it may splutter. Continue stirring as you add the cream and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth then leave to cool.
To make the Buttercream Frosting; cream the butter and confectioner’s sugar together for at least 5 minutes then beat in the vanilla and caramel extracts.
Use a small metal spatula to spread Buttercream Frosting onto the cupcakes. Pour a little Caramel Sauce over the top, and scatter each cupcake with a few sea salt flakes to finish.
Source: Cox Cookies and Cakes by Eric Lanlard and Patrick Cox
