Since most of us indulged during December, I thought I'd post a somewhat lighter cake for dessert during the in-between-holidays week.
It's a delightful cake and originally from the island of Majorca in Spain. Almonds are a major crop of the island, first grown in the 19th century after Majorca's wine industry was wiped out from disease. Mallorcan farmers decided to plant almond trees in their place. Considered high quality almonds, there are more than 100 types grown here and more than 5 million almond trees.
The cake is traditionally served with almond ice cream, but I don't think it needs that....a slice of it with a cup of espresso or cup of tea is absolute perfection. It's delicious, very lemony and it has a lovely light crumb.
Flourless Lemon Almond Cake
From Simply Recipes
Ingredients:
4 eggs, separated into 4 egg yolks and 4 egg whites, room temperature
2 Tbsp lemon zest, packed
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup white sugar, divided 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup
1 1/2 cup finely ground almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar
Pinch of salt
Powdered sugar for sprinkling
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350°F Place a round of parchment paper on the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, and grease it and the sides of the pan with butter or cooking spray.
In a large bowl, beat together with a wooden spoon the egg yolks, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour, ground cardamom, and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and beat by hand until smooth. It will be very thick.
With an electric mixer and the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, starting on low speed and gradually increasing the speed. When bubbles start to form, add a pinch of salt and the teaspoon of vinegar. As the egg whites begin to increase in volume, sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, a little at a time, as you continue to beat the eggs whites. Beat until soft peaks form.
Fold the beaten egg whites into the almond mixture a large scoopful at a time. It will be difficult at first, keep folding scoops at a time and soon you'll be able to gently fold in the whites in such a way as to create a light batter.
Pour the batter into a the prepared springform pan and place in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake helping it to separate from the side of the pan. Release the springform pan sides, and gently move the cake to a cake serving plate. Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar before serving.
What better way to end your Christmas dinner than with eggnog ice cream? And don't stop there, make some profiteroles and top it all off with a divine rum sauce. What a show-stopper!
I always make out a schedule when entertaining and try to use recipes I can make ahead. You want to spend time with family and friends and NOT in the kitchen. (Unless you've got the kind of family that loves gathering in the kitchen and they really help!) The good news is all the elements in this recipe can be made days before.
Have a Happy Christmas my friends!
Profiteroles with Eggnog Ice Cream and Rum Sauce
From :pastry studio
For the eggnog ice cream
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
generous 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
slight pinch of cinnamon
even slighter pinch of ground cloves
salt, to taste
Method:
Bring milk to a simmer over moderate heat.
Whisk the yolks and sugar together in a bowl until thickened and light yellow. Gradually add the hot milk, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook the custard over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Be very careful not to let the mixture heat too quickly or boil.
Immediately pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean container and stir in the cream, rum, vanilla and the spices. Whisk thoroughly. Add salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until chilled thoroughly.
Freeze in an ice cream maker. Pour into a container, cover and put in the freezer.
For the profiteroles
Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
2 oz (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
egg wash:
1 egg
splash of water
small pinch of salt
Method:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Bring the water, butter and salt to a boil. Reduce heat and add flour all at once. Cook and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it’s smooth, pulls away from the sides of pan and leaves a noticeable film on the bottom of the pan. This will take a couple of minutes.
Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with a paddle for a few minutes until there is no longer any steam rising from the dough. (I did it with a hand beater.) Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. The dough will go from looking lumpy to very smooth. Continue to add eggs one at a time and beat until you have the same results, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
Make an egg wash combining an egg, a splash of water and a tiny pinch of salt. Set aside.
Line a baking sheet with parchment. Place the pâte à choux into a pastry bag fitted with 1/2" plain tip. Pipe 1 1/2" mounds. (This will make about 1 dozen small profiteroles. I wanted a larger size so used an ice cream scoop. I got about five large.) Wet your index finger with cold water and smooth the tops of each piece of piped dough. Brush each piece lightly with egg wash.
Bake until golden brown and puffed, about 22 to 24 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
Rum Sauce
Ingredients:
1 oz (2 tablespoons) butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons rum
salt, to taste
Method:
Melt the butter over medium heat and combine with the brown sugar. Lower heat a bit and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the cream and continue cooking for another 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and rum. Add a pinch of salt, to taste. Cool.
To serve:
Gently slice the profiteroles in half crosswise and place on serving dish. Place a scoop of eggnog ice cream into each profiterole and replace the tops. Drizzle lightly with the Rum Sauce and serve immediately.
The cookie of the century? Really? That's quite a label to live up to. Sometimes I wonder how I miss popular recipes like this one. It seems it was the grand prize winner in Sunset magazine's cookie contest of 2001 and entered by Nancy Jamison. I did a little research and found out that:
"Nancy created this recipe over about a month's time, continually refining and testing before submitting it to Sunset's contest. Sunset awarded Nancy the grand prize winner, but she was surprised that Sunset adjusted the original recipe when they printed it in their December 2001 issue."
The differences? She originally included twice as much salt (1/2 t), the additions of baking soda (1 t) and orange oil (3/4 t), less orange zest (2 t), and additional fat in the form of Crisco shortening (1/2 cup). I can't imagine more fat, but the cookie is dry when you mix it and perhaps her addition alters that. Next time I make these, I might try Nancy's original recipe and see what happens.
While these turned out beautifully (yes, they are very addictive) and I don't mean to discourage you from making them, but "cookie of the century" is a bit of a stretch.
Have you made them? Let me know what you thought.
Coconut Cranberry Chews
From Sunset Magazine, December 2001
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3/4 lb.) butter or margarine, at room temperature (butter needs to be really soft)
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked dried coconut
Method:
In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1 1/2 cups butter, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla until smooth.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture, stir to mix, then beat on low speed until dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Mix in cranberries and coconut.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets. Note: I flattened the dough a little bit...they turned out better-shaped.
Bake in a 350° oven until cookie edges just begin to brown, 8 to 11 minutes (shorter baking time will yield a chewier cookie; longer baking time will yield a crispier cookie). Note: they took almost 15 minutes in my oven. If baking two sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets. They are delicate at first and when I transferred them to a rack, a couple fell apart. I left the rest to cool on the baking sheet and all was well.
