Pound Cake For The King

According to Mary Jenkins Langston, Elvis Presley had a sweet, sweet tooth. Langston cooked for  the King for 14 years and knew exactly what he loved to eat. While she debunks the myth that he loved jelly doughnuts ("I never saw him even once eat a jelly doughnut" — elvispresleypedia.com), Langston concedes that the King loved his Southern Food. And he did indeed love his "butter-soaked deep fried banana and peanut butter sandwiches" and banana icebox pies.

Another favourite of his? The pound cake. Not just any pound cake but the one made by his childhood friend Janelle McComb. According to an article in Saveur, McComb used to bake her famous friend two loaves every Christmas and Elvis loved it so much, he could eat an entire loaf himself.

Don't judge. When you taste this beaute, you'll understand. It's amazing. You can't possibly stop at a piece. Or two.

A good pound cake is really, really soul-satisfying. A great pound? Well, who can resist right? This recipe is bordering on being great. Certainly one of the best pound cakes I've tasted and the best one I've tried making. 

A tad sweet though it is (even though I reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup), the cake is so, so tender with a lovely dark brown crust. It's perfect. 

Elvis Presley's favourite pound cake 

3 cups cake flour

3 cups sugar (I used 21/2 and it was sweet enough)

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 tsp salt

7 eggs

226g butter, softened and at room temp

1 tsp vanilla

Beat the butter, sugar and salt in a mixer on medium to high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each time the egg is incorporated into the batter before adding more. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium-low and then add half the flour followed by the cream and then the remaining flour. Mix until incorporated then increase the speed of the mixer to medium and beat for about 5 mins till really light and satiny. 

Grease two loaf pans or a 10-inch bundt pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Tap the pans on the counter top a couple of times to release the air bubbles. 

DON'T pre-heat the oven. Place the cake tins into the oven and heat it to 180C. Bake for 1hr 15 mins or till a tester comes out clean with a few crumbs clinging on. 

Cool for at least 30 mins before cutting.  

(Where's The) Butter Cake

About a week ago, my friend JY pointed me towards a recipe for a cake that used cream instead of butter. The whipped cream cake from Rose Levy Beranbaum uses heavy cream in lieu of butter. I was curious and I couldn't wait for the weekend to try making the cake, especially since JY tried it herself and boasted of the "wonderful flavour and tender crumb" of her cake.

I measured the ingredients, preheated the oven and got to the first step of the recipe: whipping the cold cream till it formed stiff peaks.

And then things went a little out of control. I decided to multitask. I sieved my flour, baking powder and salt while the cream was whisking. It should take about 5 minutes more, right? I had time. I made myself a cup of tea, washed the dishes and then sauntered back to check on my cream only to find a big sloshy mess in the bowl of my mixer.

Egad!

I'd let the cream be whipped too long! I was well on my way to making butter! Blast! (Yes, these exclamation marks are deliberate). So much for a no butter cake!

What had happened? The extra whipping had expelled the butter milk from the cream.

[Aside: To make butter, you need to drain the buttermilk away and whip the cream once more to expel even more buttermilk. Then you drain again and wash the butter: fill the bowl with cold running water. Let the water wash over the 'butter', gently kneading the butter to dispel any remaining buttermilk from it. Keep was water going until there is no trace of whey, until the water that drains off the clear.  For a detailed explanation read this article in The Guardian]

Back to my cake.

I turned off the oven and stared at the butter-in-progress, quite helpless. What should I do? Abandon the project and make butter instead or try to salvage the cream as best I could. I decided to keep whisking, wondering all the while what would happen.

Wouldn't you know it, miraculously, the buttermilk and cream came together once again. What just happened? Turns out, just as you can separate the buttermilk from the cream to make butter, you can whisk it all back together. Buttermilk and cream whisked together give you cream. Well, that's how I understand it. Would gladly welcome any comments or a better explanation perchance.

Alls well that ends well: I managed to reconstitute the cream and whipped it to hold peaks, watching closely this time and proceeded with the recipe.

Wasn't sure how the cake would turn out but as I watched it bake, I was hopeful that all would be well. It rose really well and though cracks appeared on the surface, it looked swell.

After 35 mins, I removed the cake and waited impatiently for it to cool before tasting it.

It ... was... lovely. Light, moist, pillowy soft with that tender crumb JY promised. It didn't quite taste like a butter cake: it was lighter and Beranbaum's recipe called for a modest amount of sugar and if anything, the next time I would add just a little more sugar to the recipe. To compensate, I slathered on some chocolate buttercream frosting which I had stored in my fridge: remnants of a cupcake project from last week. Ah, perfect! [On hindsight, or rather after eating quite a few slices, the topping wasn't necessary. Instead a light dusting of powdered sugar as Beranbaum suggests, works sufficiently].

Phew. What a morning.

Whipped Cream Cake

adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum

21/4 cups cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

11/2 cups heavy cream, cold

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

11/4 cups sugar (the original recipe called for 1 cup + 2 tbsp)

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Gently whisk the eggs and the vanilla. Set aside.

Whisk the cold cream the your mixer until it forms firm peaks. Start on a low speed and slowly increase to medium high and then high. 

Add the egg mixture gradually to the cream until its incorporated and achieves the consistency of mayonnaise. Add the sugar and beat to incorporate.

Gently fold in half the flour with a spatula; add the remaining flour and fold in till mixed together well.

Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake for 30-35 mins or till a tester comes out clean. 

Checkmate!

This was my first attempt at making checkerboard cookies and as you can see, they're far from perfect, appearance-wise. I certainly wasn't going to serves them to anyone other than my husband, who is often the unsuspecting victim to my kitchen foibles. This time though he surprised me by gobbling up much of the cookies at one go. I guess he isn't one who goes for appearances ... err, good to know but what does that say about me? Hmmmm...

Back to the cookies. What you need is precision and attention to detail, two things I sorely lack. What you need to do is make a basic cookie dough, divide it in half, flavour one with cocoa powder and toll them both out into identical 7-inch squares (identical in size and thickness) and then cut the squares into exact strips, about 1/2 cm wide (or slightly less). Here's where I failed. I didn't roll my chocolate dough thin enough and my strips weren't all 1/2 cm wide. The result? Imperfect squares in the checkerboard. 

But all is well. I've resolved to be less uptight this year (one of my many new year resolutions that I intend to keep) and I'm not hung up over the aesthetic imperfections of my cookies. They're homemade not gourmet,  and therefore it's fine that they're rustic (that's what I'm calling them, ok). 

The appeal of the cookies isn't just aesthetic. The combination of vanilla and chocolate is a winner and, if you add finely chopped nuts into the dough, you're in for a treat.

Martha's Checkerboard Cookies

225g butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lemon extract (optional)

21/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp cocoa

1 egg beaten + 1 tbsp water

Cream the butter and sugar till incorporated. Add the vanilla and lemon extracts and mix. Turn the mixer to a slow speed and gradually add in the flour (mix in the salt to the flour first).

When the dough comes together, gently knead it for about 3-5 mins and then divide the dough into two equal halves.

Mix in the cocoa to one half of the dough until it's well incorporated. 

Roll each ball of dough in between two sheets of plastic into two identical 7-inch squares (thickness of about 1/2 cm thick). Using a sharp knife, slice each square into 1/4 cm wide strips. 

Whisk the egg and water and keep aside.

Cover your work surface with plastic. Place three strips of dough on the plastic, close together (white, chocolate, white). Brush the top of the strips with the egg wash and repeat this time starting with the chocolate strip (chocolate, white, chocolate). Brush the top with egg again and repeat (white, chocolate, white). 

Wrap the block (with the three layers) with the plastic and refrigerate.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

Chill the blocks for 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 180. Bake for 10-12 mins.

Vanilla Beetroot Cupcakes

What I love about beetroot is its colour. A brilliant, deep crimson that instantly puts a smile on my face. The taste of beetroot? Well, I'm not a huge fan. Nevertheless, I make sure that I include beetroot in my diet from time to time because of its healthful properties.

So when I bought this month's quota of beetroot, I had a cake in mind. I had no recipe at hand but I was sure I could find one and improvise.

Using vegetables in cakes isn't such a radical idea. Take the most famous vegetable-based cake: the carrot cake. It is a much loved cake now but when it was first introduced in the US in the 1960s, it was very much a novelty. However because the cake is so flavourful, moist and delicious, it caught on pretty fast and is now pretty much a standard dessert fare. Carrot cake and cream cheese frosting can be found in almost every cake shop.

For some reason though, other vegetable cakes haven't quite become so popular. I can't understand why because I am a huge fan of vegetable cakes — I made a chocolate avocado cake some time ago that was just lovely and a couple of months ago I tried a zucchini and walnut cake that was also great.

This time around: a Vanilla Beetroot Cupcake. Beetroot in cake is usually paired with chocolate. Some bakers even substitute rhubarb with beetroot when making the infamous Red Velvet Cake. I didn't want to go the chocolate way and instead I chose to make a plain vanilla cake with the beets.

To be honest, I was hoping the crimson from the beetroot would make me a pretty pink cake. Didn't turn out that way though: apart from the little flecks of crimson here and there, the cake was a pale yellow that is typical of a vanilla cake. (I have since researched at length to find a way of keeping the pink of the beets and have learn that roasting the beets BEFORE pureeing them into the batter may help hold the colour in. Will try this the next time).

The texture however was not disappointing. Nice and moist (but not soggy or wet), with little chewy bits here and there courtesy of the grated beets.

The frosting for the beetroot cupcake is the standard cream cheese frosting but to add a light shade of pink, I added a tablespoonful or two of beet juice.

Vanilla Beetroot Cupcakes

175g Castor sugar
175g all purpose flour
11/4 tsp baking powder
175g unsalted butter, softened
175g beetroot, pureed (you can try roasting it first: wrap in foil, bake for 30-40 mins or until soft, peel and roughly puree).
3 eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 180C. 

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks, flour, beets and vanilla and mix till well incorporated (about 2 mins). Set aside. 

Whisk the egg whites until it starts to form peaks. Using a metal spoon, fold in the egg whites into the batter. 

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases and bake for about 20 mins or until the cakes are firm to the touch and a tester comes out clean.

Set aside to cool on a rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

150g cream cheese (at room temp)

75g butter, softened

2 cups icing sugar

1 tbsp beet juice

1 tsp rose water

Blend the cream cheese and butter till smooth and free of lumps. Add the sugar and mix till light and well incorporated. Add the beet juice and rose water and mix for a minute or two. Remove and refrigerate for at least 30 mins or until ready to frost.

Pretty in Pink

I don't make pretty cakes. I am clumsy, have little patience and, to make matters worse, I have rather chunky fingers that sometimes don't do what my brain tells them to. All these make it very difficult for me to make pretty cakes. 

But yesterday, for some strange reason, I wanted so badly to make a pretty cake. Maybe it's the Christmas spill-over effect? You know, you see so many pretty cakes and cookies around christmas you feel you just have to jump on the Christmas wagon and make some pretty edibles yourself? No? Well, maybe its just me.

So I wanted to make a pretty cake. A pink pretty cake. I visited my bake shop and bought the necessary spoilers: one little container of colourful sugar sprinkles and another of some pretty silver sugar balls. I feel pretty, Oh so pretty and witty and gay ... (and obviously a little mad)!

I was excited. I came home from work early so that I could finish all my chores quickly and get to my cake. It's a light, if a little sweet, vanilla cake with pink butter cream icing. The recipe is from Magnolia bakery, you know the bakery that became famous because of Carrie and her friends (Sex And The City, peeps)?  Ooooooooooh. 

The recipe called for three layers but since I only had two 9-in pans, I made just two layers. No biggie. I also reduced the ammount of sugar called for in the cake because 2 cups of sugar for the cake PLUS 1/12 cups for the icing seemed like wayyyy too much sugar for me. So, I used just 11/2 cups for the cake and 1 cups + 1 tbsp for the buttercream. How you do it (should you too want to make a pretty cake) is up to you.  

Also, though the recipe calls for vanilla extract, I'd add some fresh vanilla into the cake because nothing beats real, fresh vanilla beans and if you are making a vanilla cake, you gotta use real beans man! You just gotta.

  

Vanilla Cake

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

225 gm unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar 

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to180C. Grease and lighly flour two 9in round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment  paper.

In a small bowl, combine the flours, sifted of course. Set aside.

Using your stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth (med speed). Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the flours in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. 

Divide the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 - 35 mins or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the layers completely before you begin to ice them.

Pink vanilla buttercream icing

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream
pink food coloring

Cream together the vegetable shortening and butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add the cream, vanilla extract and pink coloring (use as little or as much as you wish) and beat until you reach the desired consistency.

Once the cakes are nice and cool, lay the bottom layer on a plate/cake stand and slather some of the cream (about 1/3) on it. Place the top layer on and ice the cake, sides and all, with the remaining cream. Decorate as you please.