{ Mélanger :: to mix }

My first Passover Seder.  It was all so new – and I was like a child experiencing it for the first time.  I remember the decorative Seder plate including the six symbolic foods.  The four cups of wine drunk during the Seder.  The cup of wine — and door left wide open — for the Prophet Elijah.  The afikomen.  (I could tell you a funny story about the hiding of the afikomen, but I may leave that for another time!)  And last but certainly not least, the Passover songs.  Chad Gadya was firmly my favourite.

So tonight at sunset, there will be Passover Seders in homes all around the world.  It will mark the beginning of Passover.

During the eight days of Passover there are additional Kosher restrictions around grains and cereals.  Never having to really consider food restrictions myself (for religious or allergenic purposes), I watched the planning required to avoid those key food groups during Passover.  With all the recipes now available online for Kosher Passover food, however, I hope it is easy to find something new to try.  Like this cake.

This cake slightly breaks the Simple Cakes mould in that, due to its richness, it is  more appropriately a dessert cake rather than afternoon tea cake.  But in saying that, it certainly it is quick to prepare and bake, so a Simple Cake indeed.

One taste and I immediately I conquered up images of that heavily advertised butter substitute.  You know the one…

I can’t believe it’s (not) Kosher!

{ Chocolate Chestnut Cake } recipe by Nigella Lawson

* Ingredients *
16 oz / 439g canned unsweetened chestnut puree
1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum (I omitted this ingredient)
6 large eggs, separated
9 oz / 250g bittersweet chocolate
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar

* Directions *
Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C.  Beat the chestnut puree with the butter, then add the vanilla, rum, egg yolks and melted chocolate.  Blending well.  In another large bowl, whip the egg whites with the salt until they are foamy.  Add the sugar gradually to form stiffer, glossy peaks, and then sprinkle the brown sugar over and either fold in or whisk in slowly.  Fold the whites, gently into the chestnut mixture, a third at a time.

Pour into a prepared 8 inch / 20 cm spring form pan (greased and lined with parchment paper).  Baked for 45 minutes, until the cake has risen and is firm on top.  It will look dry and cracked, but don’t panic, it won’t taste dry.  Cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then turn out on a rack.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar to serve.

{ Chocolate Chunk Coconut Macaroons } Looking for a more traditional Passover sweet?  Try Chocolate Chunk Coconut Macaroons. These little hay-stacked cookies are a simple little biscuit perfect for a sweet indulgence any time of day.  They are simple and quick to make.   { Get recipe … }

A new dessert.  A layered dessert.  A most perfect Daring Baker’s Challenge.  Orange Tian.

This dessert is layered with a multitude of different textures and flavours.  Pâte sablée.  Orange marmalade.  Orange flavoured whipped cream.  Caramel infused orange segments.  Caramel orange sauce.

Traditionally, you build the dessert upside down and then unmould the dessert so that the bottom layer (the orange segments) becomes the top layer.

The dish provided great flexibility in creating the components in stages.  I deviated slightly from the instructions by creating a tart-like tian.  Instead of assembling the components upside-down with the top layer first, I stacked each layer starting with a shallow lipped pastry shell.

I selected my favourite pâte sablée recipe as the base of this dessert (recipe from Strawberry and Pistachio Tarts).  This nutty pistachio pastry holds up well to fruit flavours, in particular the bold, citrus orange.

As a bonus to this challenge, I am proud to now have a couple of homemade jars on hand.  It will not last long, I am sure!

Thank you Jennifer for a great selection.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

{ Orange Tian } Daring Baker’s Challenge by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings

For the Pâte sablée:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
granulated sugar 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams
vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
Unsalted butter ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed
Salt 1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams
All-purpose flour 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams
baking powder 1 teaspoon ; 4 grams

Directions:
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

For the Marmalade:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
1 large orange used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
pectin 5 grams
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

For the Orange Segments:

For this step you will need 8 oranges.

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

For the Caramel:

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

For the Whipped Cream:

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.
[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

It seems I am not the only one who loves this cake.  This light, moist ginger cake is the most requested recipe of pastry chef and blogger, David Lebovitz.  I first stumbled upon this cake on another of my favourite blogs, Passionate about Baking.  Deeba made this ginger cake just before Christmas, and I instantly knew I had to pop it on my list.

As the temperature starts to drop here in Australia, and winter approaches (albeit, very slowly!), this is the perfect cake to lure along some cooler days.  The cake has a rich, spicy flavour from not only the large injection of fresh ginger, but the addition of rich spices such as cinnamon, cloves and black pepper.

With new season pears now available in stores, the recommendation to serve this cake with this poached pears would be ideal.  But given my goal to find some quick and simple cakes this month, I kept it fuss-free and simply enjoyed with a small (okay, large!), dollop of cream.

I now have baked this cake with almost the same level of frequency that Mark, from No Special Effects, made Tartine’s  Zucchini and Orange Marmalade Tea Cake (previous post).   If you love the flavour of ginger in cakes, you will instantly love this cake.  I know this will not be the last time this cake is baked in the Mélanger household.

{ Fresh Ginger Cake } recipe by David Lebovitz

I find unsulfured molasses difficult to source here in Australia (if you come across blackstrap molasses do not use for this recipe!).  For any recipe that calls for a mild molasses, I simply substitute a light treacle (ideal) or golden syrup (backup).  Be sure to check your cake after 30 minutes to check how quickly it is browning.

* Ingredients *
120g or 4 ounces fresh ginger
1 cup mild molasses
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil, preferably peanut
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs, at room temperature

* Directions *
Position the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F. Line a 22cm / 9 1/2 inch springform pan with a circle of parchment paper.   Peel, slice, and chop the ginger very fine with a knife (or use a grater).  Mix together the molasses, sugar, and oil.  In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper.  Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan, stir in the baking soda, and then mix the hot water into the molasses mixture.  Stir in the ginger.   Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the batter.  Add the eggs, and continue mixing until everything is thoroughly combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 1 hour, until the top of the cake springs back lightly when pressed or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  If the top of the cake browns too quickly before the cake is done, drape a piece of foil over it and continue baking.  Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan.  Remove the cake from the pan and peel off the parchment paper.

Around three o’clock in the afternoon I start to think about a little sweet yum-yum to get me through the rest of the day.

Sure, ideally I would reach for some fresh fruit, yogurt or pre-prepared vegetable sticks to curb those afternoon hunger pains.  Well, easier said than done with a sweet tooth like mine.  So admittedly, I regularly enjoy a sneaky sliver of cake, some deliciously rich chocolate, or even a melt-in-the-mouth cookie (or two!), around that time of the day where your will power is surely tested.

The moment I saw this cake on one of my favourite blogs, No Special Effects (taken from the Tartine book), I immediately got up from my laptop, walked to my copy of the book and marked the page immediately.  Mark had made this tea cake four times in two months.  It was that good.

Never having made zucchini bread before, I was eager to try the combination with a bitter orange marmalade (marmalade is a breakfast favourite in the Mélanger household!).

The cake is very moist thanks to the zucchini.  The small addition of cinnamon draws out a warm spicy flavour that combines well with the sweet and bitter orange marmalade.  I had omitted the recommended walnuts from the recipe, but they would bring a lovely crunch to each mouthful, too.

I can see why Mark made this cake so frequently.  It definitely is a perfect slice to sit down in the afternoon and enjoy with a cup of tea.

{ Zucchini and Orange Marmalade Tea Cake } Recipe by Tartine

* Ingredients *
1 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped

* Directions *
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.  Grease a 9 x 5 inch (23 x 12 cm) loaf tin.  Set aside.  Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, oil, sugar and marmalade until just combined.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour until just combined.  Add the nuts until incorporated.  Pour into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake for 60-70 minutes until a tester comes out clean.  Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minute, then turn out to let cool completely.  It will keep well, in the refrigerator for up to five days.

:: Today is Macaron Day, Jour du Macaron ::

All simple cakes are perfect to enjoy for an afternoon pick-me-up.  Except perhaps today.  If you have a Parisian patisserie close to hand, I dare say you will be enjoying a French macaron, or two! Today is Macaron Day, or Jour du Macaron.

For those with a keen eye, I honour this day by including a feature on French macarons from an issue of Régal magazine as a prop in the above photographs.

Looking for an afternoon macaron pick-me-up?  Try one of over 25 flavours of French macarons on Mélanger.

For me, food and travel is inextricably linked.  Travel inspires my food exploration.  Food motivates my travel destination choice.  Some of my fondest memories of traveling revolve around food.  Food tells you so much about a place.  The culture, customs and traditions.  It is so central in defining a location.

I was fascinated by the history and origin of this Swedish Visiting Cake.  This Scandinavian sweet treat comes from Dorie Greenspan.  The recipe was passed on to Dorie by her Swedish friend Ingela Helgesson who said you could start the cake when you saw friends coming down the road and it would be ready by the time they settled in and sat down for coffee.

The key for me was how quick and easy this cake seemed to be.  The hidden gem was the taste.  The cake is light and airy, and with additional texture provided by the roasted flaked almonds, you are offered great crunch to each mouthful.

Mr Mélanger actually selected this cake for Simple Cakes Month.  Flipping through Baking: From my Home to Yours he noticed the photograph, threw his hand down and immediately pointed to the picture exclaiming, “Can you make this?”  We then eyed the recipe title, paused, then laughed.

Being half-Finnish, I figured he has some built in Scandinavian/Nordic food radar.  Or perhaps he recognised the style of cake from his travels through Sweden while living in Finland.  Either way, it was the best selection he could make.

Knowing this was meant to be served with coffee, I had to make one key adaptation of the recipe.  I removed all traces of the vanilla extract and almond extract and replaced with one generous tablespoon of ground cardamom.  Cardamom and coffee is one of the ultimate food combinations around.

Coffee is such a significant part of life in this area of the world.  I can vividly picture friends or family sharing this cake, sipping piping hot coffee and sitting around table tucked away in a cosy Swedish kitchen.

{ Swedish Visiting Cake } Recipe by Dorie Greenspan, from Baking: From my Home to Yours

I omitted the vanilla extract and the almond extract.  As a substitute, I added 1 tablespoon of ground cardamom and folded into the batter along with the flour.  Original recipe below.

* Ingredients *
125g (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for preparing pan
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sliced almonds

* Directions *
Centre a rack in oven and preheat to 350F/180C. Butter a seasoned 9-inch/22cm cast-iron skillet or other heavy oven-proof skillet.  Pour sugar into a medium bowl. Add lemon zest and blend zest into sugar with your fingers until sugar is moist and aromatic. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Whisk in salt and vanilla and almond extracts.  Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in flour. Finally, fold in melted butter. Scrape batter into prepared skillet or pan and smooth top with rubber spatula.  Scatter sliced almonds over top and sprinkle with sugar. If using a cake or pie pan, place pan on baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and a little crisp on outside; the inside will remain moist.

Can you believe there are people out there with an aversion to fruit cooked into cakes, breads and slices?  Hard for me to believe, given I rarely discriminate against any type of food, or food combination for that matter.

I am an enormous fan of fruit packed cakes.  Sultana cake.  Fig cake.  Apricot cake.  Moist, rich cakes that are full to the brim with chunks of fruit.

Last year I experimented for the first time with date loaf – as part of some testing for some entries into the Queensland Royal Show cooking competition.  The recipe was as traditional as date loaf can be.  Delicious with a huge slab of butter and washed down with a cup of tea.  But I was curious to explore another version perhaps with merits of its own.

Enter Dorie Greenspan’s date-nut loaf recipe.  In fact, this was the recipe I used for my final entry.  (There were a few last minute recipe changes just before curtain call!) I made two loaves at the time.  One to enter, and one to taste later.

I was impressed at how moist this cake was, and how it seemed to keep for days.  The crumb is definitely lighter than the more traditional cake, and as a result, the date almost has a marbling effect.  (I did ‘re-hydrate’ dried dates to substitute for fresh dates, so partially to explain, too!)

Unfortunately, I did not win any ribbons for my date loaf entry – sorry Dorie, maybe next time?  But still worthy of baking up again, and even perhaps becoming a staple in the Mélanger household.

{ Date-Nut Loaf } Recipe by Dorie Greenspan, from Baking: From my Home to Yours

I omitted the nuts and substituted re-hydrated dried dates in place of fresh.

* Ingredients *
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (250g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 oz (90g) cream cheese, room temperature
¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup soft pitted dried dates, each cut into 8 pieces
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

* Directions *
Preheat oven to 325F (160C).  Butter a 9 x 5 inch (22 x 12 cm) loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess.  Put the pan on a baking sheet.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Working with a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, another 3 minutes or so.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the extracts.  The batter may look curdled – don’t worry, it will come together in a minute.  Reduce the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dates and nuts.  Turn the batter into the pan.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Cover the top of the cake with foil and bake for another 40 minutes or so until the top is honey brown, bumpy and cracked and a thin knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Transfer the cake to a rack and cool about 10 minutes before unmolding.  Then cool to room temperature.

One eye closed, you could almost be convinced you are savouring a lemon and sugar drenched crêpe.  Sure, the texture may be slightly different, but the flavours are almost the same.  Not surprisingly, as this bundt is simply a mixture of flour, eggs, milk and butter in another form.  Cake form.

This is essentially a lemon syrup cake, yet for me, its similarity in flavour reminiscent to the lemon and sugar crêpe, compelled me to be more descriptive in my title.

The original recipes come by way of an always-busy-mother-of-two-and-full-time-worker.  My colleague, F, has a handful of quick and easy cake recipes that she turns to in a pinch.  She has shared this lip puckering delight at work on a few occasions.  After my very first bite, I was politely begging her for the recipe.  Well, I hope I was polite!

If you are partial to a zesty, syrupy cake, you will not be disappointed with this one bowl wonder.

{ Lemon and sugar bundt cake }

I doubled the original recipe to suit the larger volume of my 25cm (10 inch) bundt tin.  The original recipe can be baked in a 20cm (8 inch) round cake tin or 20 x 10 cm (8 x 4 inch) loaf tin, at  180C (350F) for 25-30 minutes.  Recipe also works well substituting orange or lime for the lemon.

* Ingredients  *
250g / 2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons lemon zest, about four lemons
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 ½ cups whole milk
3 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
Syrup
¾ cup of lemon juice
¾ cup of sugar

* Directions *
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).  Beat the milk and eggs together in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Sift the flour and baking powder in a separate small bowl.  Set aside.  In a large saucepan, combine the butter and sugar on a low heat until melted.  Whisk in half of the milk/egg mixture until loosely blended.  Whisk in half of the flour mixture.  Repeat in the same order with the remaining mixtures, finishing with the flour.  Gently stir in the lemon zest.   Pour the batter into a prepared cake tin / bundt.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire cooler, and immediately prepare the syrup.  Bring the lemon juice and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan.  Using the skewer, poke a few holes around the cake.  Drench the cake with the hot syrup.  Allow the cake to cool in the tin, then gently remove.  Keeps well for 3-5 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Sometimes, the reward of baking, is purely the baking, plain and simple.  The act of creating something made by hand.  The special thought, and the effort of mixing sugar, butter, flour and eggs to share with friends or family.  And the pleasure of the fragrant smell of fresh baked goods in your kitchen!

My recent hectic schedule reminded me of the fundamental joy of baking – and how rewarding something so simple can be.

I would be hard pressed to identify one simple cake I would make in a pinch, so this month, my challenge is to build a repertoire of simple and quick cakes.

To be classified as quick and simple, the recipe needs to:

1. Only take ideally 5 minutes, and no more than 15 minutes, to put together
2. Only need one bowl to prepare, excluding ingredient organisation
3. Only take 60 minutes to bake (75 minutes maximum)

I already have a number of recipes that I am eager to try.  Some from my favourite baking books, and some I have recently seen on my favourite blogs.  What is your favourite, quick and simple cake recipe?

At the end of the month, no matter how time poor I am again in the future, I hope to have a handful of baking solutions that will adapt around my life.