tuesdays with dorie / baking with julia: gingerbread baby cakes
I’m definitely more of a cook than a baker. Exercising and expanding my baking horizons is one of the reasons I’m participating in the latest incarnation of Tuesdays with Dorie. This week’s recipe for Gingerbread Baby Cakes comes from Johanne Killeen. Who can resist a simple everyday cake like this one, especially when it comes in a seemingly personal size as these 4-inch darlings do?
I have admired Johanne Killeen and her husband George Germon for years. My first introduction to them was in the early 1990’s. They had just published their book Cucina Simpatica. They were sitting at a tiny folding table outside an equally tiny cookbook shop in Porter Square, Cambridge, offering samples of food, bruschetta, I think, and signing their book. Years later, I had a wonderful meal at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island. They also ran a restaurant in Boston for a few years where I had lunch. Many years after that initial introduction, I finally bought their book and have enjoyed an assortment of their recipes in the comfort of my own home.
Because I had no occasion to serve dessert to 8 this week, I decided to make a half batch. When I was setting up to bake, I discovered that I owned only 2 4-inch (springform) pans, not the four I thought I had, so I ended up making a very small batch of just two little cakes (one quarter of the recipe).
I like that this recipe uses typical pantry items that I always have on hand. One deterrent to spontaneous cake is that cake recipes often call for milk, not a usual item in my fridge. This is a milkless cake, making it even more perfect to have in my arsenal of quick sweets to whip up on a whim.
I used my stand mixer. With such a small quantity of batter, I had to beat things a bit longer to combine everything thoroughly, but overall it was super easy. Butter and brown sugar are creamed together. Then the egg is added. Freshly grated ginger and molasses smooth out the batter. Finally, the dry ingredients, including a hefty dose of ground ginger and freshly ground pepper are folded in.
My cakes were still visibly wobbly in the middle after 25 minutes, but after thirty, they seemed springy and slightly cracked. I treated myself to a late-night dessert of warm gingerbread sprinkled with powdered sugar. The cake was slightly too moist in the very center, so next time I would let the cakes bake for a just few more minutes.
The baby gingerbreads really hit the spot. The warm temperature combined with the warm and spicy flavors were delicious and perfect for the colder season. The cakes also get high marks for their cuteness factor. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for some more tiny cake pans to add to my inventory so I can make a larger batch to share.
For the recipe, visit this week’s TWD host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. The recipe can also be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book, written with Julia Child, Baking with Julia.
To read about other bakers’ baby cakes, follow their links here.
ffwd: beef daube with carrots and elbow macaroni
I’m sure that each time I make a beef stewy thing I mention that it’s not my favorite sort of meal. I’ve never been able to sort out whether it’s the long-cooked vegetables or the texture of the meat. So, I was ambivalent when I set out to make this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe for Beef Daube with Carrots and Elbow Macaroni.
The recipe ideally calls for beef cheeks. I still have a chest freezer half-filled with the hind quarter of a cow that we purchased last fall from my sister’s father-in-law who raised it. At the time, we requested the beef cheeks, even though they are obviously from the other end of the animal, thinking others might not want this less familiar meat. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it.
As an alternative, the recipe suggests using chuck roast. Chuck roast is the shoulder of the cow, again from the wrong end of what we have. It seemed like I should use something I had rather than going to the store to buy more beef. I looked up other alternative cuts that are good for braising and so I used a round roast which is part of the hind quarter. Otherwise, I stuck to the recipe with the addition of two parsnips that were sitting in my vegetable drawer.
The meat smelled great as it browned, though it did make a big mess of the stovetop in spite of the splatter guard. The vegetables plus some bacon were softened before making a gravy with the addition of some flour, water, beef broth and red wine. The meat was added back in and the pot sealed up with foil, then it braised in a slow oven for nearly two hours, filling the kitchen with a wonderful aroma.
Shortly before the daube was done, I cooked some elbow macaroni and grated some bittersweet chocolate. The chocolate was stirred into the pot and allowed to simmer, stovetop, for a few minutes before stirring in the nearly cooked pasta.
I loved the flavors in this stew. The carrots and parsnips made the gravy sweet and the chocolate added extra complexity. I also liked how the elbows absorbed the delicious sauce. The only negative is that I definitely chose the wrong cut of meat to substitute. The round was a bit tough which took away from the end result. I think if the meat were more meltingly tender, I would have loved it. All isn’t lost as I would definitely try this again with the recommended chuck or cheeks. I’m sure that would fix the issue I caused. Howard, who is more of a beef stew person than I am, had the same problem with the meat, but thought the elbows added a fun touch to the meal.
I liked the wine I added to the pot: Toasted Head Untamed Red, which included the suggested Syrah grapes along with Zinfandel and Petite Syrah. There was enough left in the bottle for two glasses to drink along with the meal. Perfect!
We don’t’ share the recipes made in this cooking group, but I encourage you to find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
To see how other bloggers’ daubes came out, and whether they found cheeks or not, check out their links here.
A Plateful of Happiness 