Red Wine Poached Pear Sorbet with Star Anise, Cinnamon and Black Peppercorn

I think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  I've been running all week to get my daughter ready for back to school which started today, you can't see it but; I'm busy doing the Electric Slide as we speak.  Her birthday is this weekend and the girls and me were doing some cake experiments so we could nail down the menu.  We made a White Cake with Chocolate Buttercream and Chocolate Mousse and Grand Marnier filling.  It was light and decadent, yet I couldn't help but think it needed a little something.

As you can see by the missing cake, it was well received around here.  We just may have to make one more before we make our final decision.

I had these gorgeous red Bartlett pears from the farm stand and I didn't want these pears to feel unloved and unworthy of all the attention I have been lavishing on my other farm stand finds.  I decide they needed a recipe that was worthy of their beauty.

These were special pears and they needed a recipe that was as splendid as they were.  So after a little thought; this is how those pretty pears met their demise.

Red Wine Poached Pear Sorbet with Star Anise, Cinnamon and Black Peppercorns

4 red Bartlett Pears

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used Merlot)

2 whole star anise

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole black peppercorns

Peel and cut the four pears into 1" cubes and place them into a large saucepan.  Add the sugar, red wine, star anise, cinnamon stick and peppercorns.  I added the spices loose, but you could put them in a piece of cheesecloth that is tied up for easy removal.  Turn the heat on to medium high and let the mixture come up to a boil, then turn down to a low simmer.  

I let the pears simmer for about 30 minutes, till they were fork tender, turned the heat off and let them cool completely.  I fished out the spices and put the mixture into a food processor. Pulse until finely pureed, if you have any large pieces, force through a sieve.

Then put the mixture into the frozen canister of an ice cream maker and mix for 25 minutes.  Put in a freezer safe container and keep frozen.  

It was the perfect companion for the cake, the wine really infused into the pears and the spice is there but not overwhelming.  I could have eaten the whole container of sorbet myself, but I exercised just a smidge of restraint, after all I needed room for the cake.

Hope you are enjoying the summer; mine seems to be going by way too quickly.

Enjoy,

Gina

Spiced Chocolate Torte Wrapped in Chocolate Ribbons - Where the heck are the ribbons?

The December issue of Bon Appetit arrived at my house and on itscover was a picture of the prettiest cake I'd ever seen!  My first thought was, who in the hell would be crazy enough to make that!  My second thought was, I would!  What did I have to lose, besides 3 pounds of butter, 2 pounds of chocolate and more of my brunette hairs?

It's been quite the week so to throw this cake in on top of everything else, was that push I needed off a cliff.  I abandoned the ribbon bow after a good cry!  I decided to have a heart and go with a simpler design on top.

I'm headed to a ladies holiday party tonight and we are supposed to wear ugly Christmas sweaters. I gave all mine away out of shame years ago, and could you believe I couldn't find one around here to save my life.  I'm hoping by bringing this pretty cake tonight I won't hear any smack for not wearing an ugly sweater.  I'll have to give you the taste test results after we dig in, but I'm almost afraid to eat it since I know what went in it!

Cake:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

8 large eggs, separated, room temperature

10 ozs. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), melted, lukewarm

1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted (measured, then sifted)

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cream of tartar

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Use three 9" cake pans.  Spray the bottom of each pan with no-stick spray and line bottom of each cake pan with parchment paper, then spray again with non-stick spray.

Using electric mixer, cream butter in large bowl.  Gradually beat in sugar until smooth.  Beat in egg yolks 1 at a time.  Blend in melted chocolate.  Slowly mix in pecans, vanilla, and spices. Gently fold in flour in 4 batches (batter will be very thick and dense).

Using an electric mixer fitted with clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until medium peaks form.  Gently fold 1/4 of the whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites.  Divide batter among prepared pans, spreading evenly.  Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.  (Mine only took about 25 minutes.)

Run knife around sides of each cake.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Invert cakes onto racks.  Cool to room temperature.

Buttercream:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

4 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature

6 ozs. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), melted and cooled

1/4 cup dark rum

Stir sugar and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil for 1 minute.

Meanwhile, using electric mixer, beat egg yolks in medium bowl until pale and thick.  Gradually beat in hot sugar syrup; continue beating until mixture is completely cool, about 5 minutes.  Beat in butter 1 piece at a time, incorporating each piece completely before adding next.  Blend in melted chocolate, then rum.

Reserve 1/2 cup buttercream.  Set cake layer, flat side up, on rack; spread with half of the remaining buttercream.  Top with second cake layer; spread with remaining buttercream.  Top with third layer; use reserved 1/2 cup buttercream to fill seam where cake layers meet.  Freeze cake until buttercream is firm, about 2 hours.

Glaze:

12 ozs. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

2 tbsp. Honey

3/4 tsp. instant espresso powder

Stir all ingredients in top of double boiler over gently simmering water until mixture is smooth. Remove from over water.  Stir until glaze is thickened, about 5 minutes.
Pour 3/4 of glaze over top of cake.  Carefully tilt cake back and forth so glaze coats sides; smooth sides with spatula, adding some of remaining glaze where necessary.  Chill until glaze is set.

Chocolate ribbons:

7 ozs. high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped

1/2 cup light corn syrup, divided

7 ozs. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces

Melt white chocolate in top of double boiler over gently simmering water; stir until smooth.  Stir in 1/4 cup corn syrup.  Pour onto baking sheet.  Chill until firm, 30 to 40 minutes.

Transfer white chocolate to work surface and knead several minutes.  Shape white chocolate dough into ball.  Wrap in plastic.  Let white chocolate dough stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Repeat with bittersweet chocolate and 1/4 cup corn syrup.

Cut white chocolate dough into 4 pieces.  Flatten 1 piece into rectangle.  Turn pasta machine to widest setting.  Run chocolate through 3 times, folding into thirds before each run.  Adjust machine to next narrower setting.  Run chocolate through machine without folding.  If chocolate is more than 1/16" thick, run through next narrower setting.  Lay chocolate piece on rimless baking sheet.  Repeat flattening, folding, and rolling with remaining chocolate pieces.  Repeat process with bittersweet chocolate dough.

There are more directions, but I will spare you.  If you really want to attempt the ribbons, buy the magazine.

My tips to help things go smoother:

1)  The cake itself is not too difficult, use good pans like the aluminum magic line ones I have.  Spray them with no stick spray and put parchment rounds inside.

2)  Make sure you don't over beat your whites or they will break, you want them to look like this.

3)  The buttercream is not for newbies, it's a serious sticky mess and you will have to boil your pans afterwards.  Don't cook the sugar too long or you will have caramel.

4)  Before you frost, you need to put the first layer of the cake on a cake round, such as the one below, or it will be impossible to move the cake for the rest of the steps.  I'm showing you 10" ones, but use 9" inch ones if you are using a 9" pan.  Or you can cut them down.

5)  Make sure and chill the cake thoroughly before attempting ganache.  Put the cake on a wire rack over a pan to catch all the chocolate that will run off.  Sorry for the bad picture, it was getting late, and I was getting irritated.

6)  If you don't have a pasta roller like I do; don't even attempt the ribbons.  The chocolate per directions, wasn't near pliable enough.  Not wanting to waste all the chocolate, I salvaged enough to cut out these cute little hearts.  I brushed them with a little gold pearl dust for a little shine.

It better taste darn good, to make up for all the work it was!

Serves 8.

Enjoy,

Gina

Dark Chocolate Cake w/ Custard & Bananas - Don't Save It For Someones Birthday!

Don't you just hate waiting a whole year for your birthday to come around to enjoy your special cake?I'm putting an official end to that, I here-by grant you permission to eat cake any day! Sounds like a great idea, huh?

The cake recipe is adapted from a Hersey's cook book and the girls love it, so I haven't tweaked it much, the cake batter seems really runny but it ends up being so moist.

Dark Chocolate Cake

2 cups granulated sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder - European style or Hershey's

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk 

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. In a large mixer bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 22-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. I know the minutes sounds random, but I always like to start checking my cakes a little early by the time you smell them, they are over baked.

A tip for you: I don't grease and flour pans. Cut a circle of parchment paper out the size of the bottom of your pan, spray the pan with no stick spray, lay the parchment in and spray again. Run a knife around the edge of the pan when cooled, invert the cake and pull off the parchment.

While cakes are cooling, make a batch of frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder 

1/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Add butter to the mixer and beat on high for 1-2 minutes. Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla, turn mixer on and add milk a little bit at a time until a frosting is firm but still soft enough to spread. Spread a little bit of the frosting on the cake and if your spreader is not gliding nicely add a little more milk. I like to use a small offset spatula to frost.

A tip for you: The custard is staying put in the center of the cake because I put a small amount of the icing in a pastry bag, and piped a circle of it on the outside edge of the cake.

Custard (Pastry Cream)

1 1/2 cups milk (low-fat works fine)

1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste or 2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg

2 egg yolks

6 tbsp. sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter

Pour milk into a saucepan, add vanilla bean paste and heat on medium heat until almost boiling. In a bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolks and sugar until well blended and smooth. Add the flour and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to temper the yolks. Add the rest of hot milk to yolks and whisk till combined.

Heat the mixture till boiling, whisking constantly. Cook for one minute until thick. Remove from heat and add butter. Strain the pastry cream into a bowl, through a fine sieve to remove any egg bits. Place a layer of plastic wrap over the surface of the cream and store in fridge. You can make the cream up to a couple of days ahead.

I got the custard recipe from Cindy Mushet's book the Art and Soul of Baking.

On top of the custard add a layer of bananas, then put the top layer on the cake and continue till it's all frosted and pretty. Make sure and store the cake in the fridge.

Happy Birthday whenever that may be!

Serves 8.

Enjoy,

Gina