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Extraordinary Cakes: Decadent Yogi

5/12/2016

This is from Extraordinary Desserts' bake book Extraordinary Cakes, which I've replicated here as an easy reference to myself since I always bake from my phone. I would highly recommend picking up their book - as complicated as many of the recipes may seem, once I wrapped my mind around the ingredients lists and components, they haven't taken me more than 3 hours to both make and do ongoing clean-up (and as you can see, results in some seriously beautiful and decadent desserts!). Even better, they're not to the usual saccharinely American-sweet standards - I would suggest making it to the letter first and then adjust from there to your own taste.

As for this particular recipe, I've seriously made it 3 times in less than 2 weeks - that's how quickly it's been disappearing. The cake is wonderfully moist, even after sitting out overnight with no cover, and the chocolate crisp is a huge hit amongst all age groups. Even the frosting is quickly becoming my favorite - I'm usually not a huge fan of frosting (especially the infamous buttercream) but this didn't have nearly as much cloying butter and the 100% cocoa powder helped to cut the sweetness to something that complements the cake.

Chocolate Cakes

1 10" bundt pan or a 6-cup bundt pan
Vegan butter stick, room temperature (for greasing)
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 cups all-purpose flour or (gluten-free) 1 cup brown rice flour + 1 cup sorghum flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp instant coffee granules
2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/3 cup grapeseed or vegetable oil
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
3/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup pureed banana (about 1 small banana)
2 tsp corn starch or potato starch
2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (3/8 cup) vegan butter, room temperature
2-1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sifted cocoa powder
3 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Crunch

2 oz (1/3 cup) vegan chocolate chips
2 tsp grapeseed or vegetable oil
1 cup puffed brown rice cereal

Chocolate Cakes

Preheat oven to 300 F. Generously grease the cavity or cavities of the bundt pan with the softened butter stick.
Sift together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Bring 1-3/4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and whisk in instant coffee. When fully combined, whisk coffee mixture into cocoa powder.
In a stand mixture with a whisk attachment, combine oil, both sugars, banana, potato starch, and vanilla. Whip on medium until very well combined, 3-5 mins. Remove bowl from mixer and, using rubber spatula, fold in sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with coffee-cocoa mixture.
If using a 10" bundt pan, pour batter into pan. If using 6-cup bundt pan, use a 1/2 cup dry measure to fill each cavity with 1/2 cup of batter.
Place cake pan on rack in center of oven and bake until an inserted knife comes out clean, about 30 mins for smaller cakes, 50 mins for 10" cake. Cakes should appear moist and spongy. Allow cakes to cool completely.
When fully cooled, remove cakes from pan and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Can be made 1 day in advance and stored at room temperature.

Chocolate Frosting

Whip the butter on medium-high speed for about 3 mins. It will appear fluffier.
Combine the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and add to the butter. Whip on medium speed for about 2 mins. Add the soy milk and vanilla and whip until well combined.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and hold at room temperature until ready to frost the cakes, but for no longer than 3 hours before using.

Chocolate Crunch

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
Melt the chocolate chips in a heatproof mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water (do not allow the bowl to touch the water), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and using a rubber spatula, mix in oil until smooth and homogeneous. While chocolate mixture is warm but not hot, fold in cereal until well incorporated.
Using a metal spatula, spread mixture as thinly as possible onto prepared baking sheet. Place Chocolate Crunch in refrigerator until firm, about 15 mins. Break up crunch into larger pieces and reserve in refrigerator until ready to use, or for up to 4 hours.

After cake assembly:

Refrigerate the decorated cakes for 2 hours to set. When ready, place frosted cakes on a serving platter, and allow to come to room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.

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Rhubarb Tart

5/10/2016

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Long story short, I attempted this recipe due to the convergence of a challenge from an old friend (who, after seeing my koi pond pie, commented that I should next make something reflecting my namesake/internet handle) and another friend having spied cheap rhubarb for sale in another state and hand-carrying a pound's worth of stalks back for me. I then promptly ended up doing a whole bunch of substitutions, both intentional and unintentional, and in the end determined that this is really just a sweet rather than savory pizza-like dessert that is pretty forgiving of whatever you want to do with it. Thus, if you wish to try it, I wish you many happy experiments!

1 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 pound rhubarb stalks, thinly sliced diagonally (1/8 inch)
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17 1/4-ounces package), thawed (see note below
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
Stir together orange juice, lime juice, and sugar in a bowl. Add rhubarb and let stand, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut pastry in half lengthwise, then roll out each piece into an 11-by 7-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Arrange pastry rectangles side by side on an ungreased large baking sheet.
Make a 1/2-inch border around each pastry rectangle by lightly scoring a line parallel to each edge (do not cut all the way through). Prick pastry inside border all over with a fork.
Strain rhubarb mixture through a sieve set over a bowl, reserving liquid. Top 1 pastry rectangle (within border) with half of rhubarb, overlapping slices slightly. Repeat with remaining pastry and rhubarb.
Bake until pastry is puffed and golden (underside of pastry should also be golden), about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil reserved rhubarb liquid in a small saucepan, skimming foam if necessary, until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 15 to 18 minutes.
Transfer tarts to a rack. Brush rhubarb and pastry with glaze and sprinkle with zest.

Note: The first time I made this, I had leftover phyllo sheets in the fridge that I wanted to use up, so I substituted that for the puff pastry. It actually worked really well, though the process ate up my time like you wouldn't believe. (Note that, due to the toughness of baked phyllo, you may want to "cut" the tart using kitchen shears rather than a fork and knife.) Also, I accidentally burned the orange-lime glaze when I turned away from the stove for the crucial last minute - as a substitute, I spooned out some apricot reserves into a saucepan, added some water, then stirred as it simmered. Once the bubbles started looking syrupy, I strained the liquid into a bowl and used that as a substitute glaze - which actually worked beautifully.

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Coconut Banana Bread w/ Lime Glaze

5/4/2016

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My mother likes to eat bananas just as they're coasting from raw to ripe - in other words, she usually manages to eat only 2-3 out of a bunch before the rest are too ripe for her taste. Inevitably, the rest languish away. In the past I've just thrown them into a smoothie if I notice them in time, but this time, I decided to do some serious research into a go-to banana bread recipe. This was adapted from a myrecipes.com page, and I have to say, the sweet lime glaze certainly adds a nice accent!

9" x 5" loaf pan
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
(optional) 3 tbsp dark rum or 1 tbsp molasses
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut + extra for garnishing

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
Beat the sugar and butter in a large bowl at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add banana, yogurt, rum or molasses, and vanilla. Beat until blended.
Add flour mixture, beat at low speed just until fully blended. Stir in the flaked coconut.
Spoon into the loaf pan and sprinkle with some extra coconut. Bake for 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and lime juice, stirring with a whisk, and drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

Notes: The amount of banana you can throw in there is somewhat forgiving - I threw in 4 bananas, and didn't bother measuring how much there was except to ensure that it was at least 1.5 cups. I also sort of eyeball the time - depending on what pan you use (the first time I made this was in a much larger pan) it may take much less than 1 hour to finish. My rule of thumb is that it should turn golden, but it should not start to brown. Try the toothpick trick every 5 minutes after the 40 minute mark to test its doneness.

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Extraordinary Cakes: Decadent Yogi

Rhubarb Tart

Coconut Banana Bread w/ Lime Glaze

Sweet Enough

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