Red Velvet Cake Roll

I have made many cakes but this would be the first time that I have actually made a cake roll.  My hesitation has always been that it would crack and the filling seep out.  However, when I read through this particular recipe, it stated that the compression of the roll would take care of the cracks- if any exisited.

Also, the blend of cake, fruit and cream quickly got my attention. In looking at my photo, I realize that the omission of the raspberries would have given it a more distinctive white swirl.  Since you cannot eat a perfect picture of food, I chose to include the raspberries and forgo the stunning picture.

There were a few methods/tips in the recipe that were new to me.  One was beating the egg before adding it to the batter.  The method of tenting the cake with foil while cooling is something I have never come across. It is a great way to keep the cake from drying out in the cooling process, so I will use this method on all layer cakes in the future.

Red Velvet Cake Roll
adapted from Baking for All Occassions

Ingredients/Cake

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp apple cider or white vinegar
1 tbs liquid red food coloring
1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter plus 1 tbs, room temp
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup of flour
2 tbs cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients/ Filling
1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 cup red raspberries
1/2 tsp almond extract
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick of butter
5 oz melted white chocolate (see tip below)

Optional for decorating
powdered sugar
red raspberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  The spray non stick spray in the center of a jelly roll pan (15 1/2 X 10 1/2).  Line with foil creating a 2 inch overhang on the short sides.  Then melt one tbs of butter and brush all of the inside with the melted butter.  Dust with flour and tap out excess.

Take a small bowl and whisk together the vanilla extract, milk and vinegar (or cider-whichever you are using).  Set aside.  Then lay out a sheet of wax paper and sift cocoa, flour, salt and baking soda onto the wax paper.

Fill the bowl of a stand mixer with the remaining 1/2 cup butter.  Beat for one minute until smooth and then increase the speed to medium.  As the mixer is running, slowly pour in the sugar.  Beat for about two minutes, scraping down the sides every 30 seconds.  Continue to beat and add the egg slowly.

On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients, then 1/2 of the milk mixture.  Repeat the process and end with the last 1/3 of the flour mixture, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl.  Then continue to beat and add the food coloring.  Once all is an even hue, spread batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, this should take about 10 minutes.  Place pan on a rack and run a knife around the two long sides if needed.  Then take out of the pan using the excess foil on the sides and place on rack. Let cool for 45 minutes before assembly.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the filling.  Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth and creamy.  Then add 1/2 of the white chocolate and beat for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and then add the rest and beat for another 30 seconds.  Add the butter,  powdered sugar and almond extract and continue to beat until it has a smooth and creamy consistency.

The  length of the cake should run from the left to the right.Using a small offset spatula or a knife,  smooth 1 cup and 2 tbs (you will have a small amount remaining) of the filling over the cake.  Leave a half inch border on the top edge of the length of the cake. 

Then place raspberries randomly along the length of the cake.  Take the edge of the cake closest to you and roll it over.  Using the aid of the foil (the cake will stick to your hands) roll the cake into a log.  Then place it on the bottom third of a 24 inch long piece of parchment paper.  Fold the paper over the top of the roll and use a baking sheet at a 45 degree angle over the top.  Pull on the parchment and push down with the baking sheet.  This will help compress the cake and also get rid of any cracks that may have formed. 

Then lift the aluminum covered cake log and place it, seam down, on a clean sheet of wax paper. Place on baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour before serving.  Lift out of foil and if using, sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices and serve with raspberries on the side.

Tips and notes:
1. Use good quality white chocolate and be careful when melting. The water in the double boiler should not exceed 110 degrees or the chocolate will seize and form lumps.  The smaller you chop the chocolate the easier it should melt.  Let the chocolate start to melt on its own without stirring.  Then remove from bottom double boiler pan and stir, the residual heat will help finish the melting process.  If your chocolate seizes, there is no recovery.

2. I have found that chilling the cake for 2 hours creates a more stable filling.

3. Using whole raspberries does give quite a juicy pop to the cake when you bite into it, however, halving them may help your rolling process go smoother. 
                               **LAST YEAR: Banana Crunch Cookies***

Mixed Berry Tiramisu

With all the berries that have come into season, I could not resist this particular tiramisu recipe when I came across it. I had never made any type of tiramisu before, so I thought this would be a fun project.  As I followed the process, I came to a point where I started questioning the outcome.  I had a watery liquid in my pan. Even though it is not your standard recipe, one thing I did know was it was not supposed to be watery.

I had envisioned it to be served on a plate.  However, now I started to notice the manner of serving that the recipe suggested-a bowl. Then, I sighed as I placed it in the fridge for the last chilling time, calculating just how much this watery mess cost me to make with all the fresh berries.

After 8 hours, to my surprise it all solidified, no runny mess! Also, unlike what the recipe said, it could be served on a plate!  What I had ended up with was a delicious final dessert-crunchy lady fingers covered in a bed of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries with a touch of lime.  Then, to top it all off, is tart mixture of marscapone and lime curd.  In the end, I decided it was perhaps one of the tastiest ways to enjoy a good dose of ice cold berries this season!

Please note that this particular recipe has several components that have to chill for many hours, so read thoroughly before planning to make this.

Mixed Berry Tiramisu with Lime Curd
adapted from Bon Appetit/June 2009

Ingredients/Lime Curd 
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tbs lime peel
pinch of salt
5 egg yolks

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Once melted, remove from heat.  Then stir in lime juice, lime peel, sugar and salt.   In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together.  Pour the egg yolks into the saucepan with the butter and lime.  Place over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until curd thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon.  A thermometer should register 165 degrees and cook time is about 10-15 minutes.

Place a mesh strainer over a heat proof bowl and pour curd into bowl.  Then place plastic wrap all over the surface of the curd.  Place in the refrigerator and chill overnight.

Ingredients/Filling and Base
1/2 cup water (for berries)
1/3 cup water (for syrup)
3 tbs lime juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
3- 1 1/2 inch lime peel strips
1 cup thinly sliced strawberries
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 7oz package of ladyfingers ( or make your own, as I did, recipe here  )

For the berry mixture, stir together powdered sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan.  Then fill with  blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  Place over medium high heat and simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Turn down heat to medium and let cook for 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.  After cooked, berries will be soft but still intact. Mix in the lime juice.  Pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool to room temperature. Once it reaches room temperature, fold in strawberries.  Cover and chill for 4 hours.

For the syrup, place 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar and lime peel strips in a saucepan.  Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Remove and let cool to room temperature and discard lime peel.  Then brush the syrup all over the ladyfingers, the top as well as the bottom.  Place in a 9X13 inch glass baking dish.  Make sure cookies cover the whole bottom of the pan, you may need to cut them to fit.  Then pour the chilled berry mixture over the top, smoothing so all ladyfingers are covered. Set aside.

Ingredients/ Top Layer
2 1/2- 8 oz containers or 20 oz of mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 recipe lime curd (above)

Beat together mascarpone and whipping cream until thickened and blended.  Then beat in the lime curd.   Using a large spoon drop dollups of the topping onto the cold berries.  Then smooth the top, making sure that all the berries are covered.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours.
After eight hours, cut and serve.

Tips and Notes:
1. To make sure that your dish will be ready by lunch, you will need to prepare the lime curd, berry mixture and (if you make them) lady fingers 2 days in advance and compile the dessert and chill one day in advance.
2. Pan does not need greasing, dessert comes cleanly and easily out of pan.
3. I used only 16 oz of mascarpone and 1/4 cup and 2 tbs of whipping cream with the lime curd and it was enough to cover.  How much you use or how thick you want the topping is at your discretion.
4. When beating marscarpone and whipped cream, do not over do it for it may curdle.
                      **LAST YEAR: 50/50 Biscuits**

 

Lower East Side Nut Cake

This recipe is one that I have had for quite some time and just now got around to making it.  The two things that drew me to it was the inclusion of matzo meal as well as the raspberry filling.

Before I made this, I wanted to be sure I did everything to insure that this was a success. I got a buttercream icing recipe and scaled it down to make the crumb crust, I did not want this thing tearing as it was iced.  However, it needed very little crumb coating since the cake was only  1 1/2 inch in height and had a layer of raspberry on top underneath the icing.  Also, instead of just purchasing raspberry jam, I got raspberry filling (I used Solo brand) and I used the whole can instead of 1/4 cup as stated in the recipe.

I really did like how it turned out.  It was a dainty, nutty cake and the raspberry was a great pairing of flavor.  The only issues I had was that I should have ground the hazelnuts more and the chocolate ganache frosting took a long time to set up.  Next time, I may use chocolate instead of chocolate chips, which may help with the consistency. Also, note that this recipe recommends using two 9 inch square baking pans.

Lower East Side Nut Cake
adapted from Food Network

Ingredients/Cake
1/4 cup cream
2 tbs hazelnut liqueur
2 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, separated
1 cup finely chopped roasted hazelnuts
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp salt and one pinch for egg whites
pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup raspberry cake filling or seedless jam (see note above)

Ingredients/Ganache Frosting
4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
chocolate buttercream crumb coat (optional)
1 pint raspberries for decorating

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare pans by spraying with non stick coating.  Then line the inside bottom of each pan with parchment paper.

Place flour, salt, baking powder and 1/2 cup of sugar in a sifter and sift all into a large bowl. Then sift again for 2 more times.  Then whisk in the chopped nuts and the matzo meal.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and add egg yolks, oil, liqueur, cream and butter.  Stir with a wooden spoon until all is blended.

In a separate bowl add egg whites, salt and cream of tartar.  Beat with electric mixer until foamy and just starting to form peaks.  Add 1/4 cup of sugar and beat for 1 minute.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until stiff glossy peaks form.

Stir in 1/3 of the egg whites into the yolk batter.  Then fold in the rest of the whites until no white streaks remain.  Divide batter evenly and pour into each pan, spreading until even.  My batter was a little over 2 cups for each pan.

Bake cakes until lightly tan on top and top springs back when lightly touched.  This should take about 20 minutes.  Remove pans and place on cooling racks until completely cool.  Cake should pull away from edges while cooling.  Once cool invert pans and let layer release from pan.  Then place one layer on a cake plate, parchment side up.

Remove parchment and trim top to level if needed.  Then spread with half of the raspberry mixture.  Remove parchment on other layer of cake and flip over on top of the other layer.  Trim to level if needed. Spread the remaining raspberry on top of the cake, leaving a small border to insure raspberry does not drip down sides.  If using a crumb coat, smooth it on the exposed sides of the cake and the top edge then place in fridge for 30 minutes to set.  If no crumb coat, still place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

To make frosting, place chopped chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl. Then pour cream into a small sauce pan and place over medium high heat.  Once it reaches scalding, remove and pour cream over chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted and smooth.  Let cool for 30 minutes or until it is thick enough to spread.

Remove cake from fridge, frost the sides and top of the cake with the ganache frosting.  Then place raspberries on top for decoration.  Place in fridge for another 30 minutes to have it all completely set.  Then run a knife under hot water, wipe off and cut cake into pieces for serving.