Strawberry (and blueberry) Shortcake

My lovely sister visited me a couple of weekends ago, and while she was here we decided to make shortcake! She'd made it before, but I'd never even eaten a real shortcake before. I find that most of the time you see it in a restaurant, grocery store or bakery, it's actually angel food cake served with strawberries. Very different!

Shortcake is actually made with a dough. It looks like bread dough. You mush it into a pan and it's lumpy and not very pretty when it comes out. But it still somehow looks delicious and perfect.
You're supposed to cut this (very thin) cake in half and layer it with whipped cream and fruit. We decided it would be difficult to do (plus we were tired and just wanted some cake), so we didn't. It kept a lot better that way.

I didn't take photos of the whole process because we were also busy making dinner when we made it, but here's what it looked like when we were done!









It's really a simple and lovely cake. Very filling, too, so you can get quite a few servings out of one cake!

Recipe

Strawberry Shortcake

×××

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cold butter or margarine, cut into pieces
2/3 cup milk
2 pints strawberries (about 7 cups whole)
1 cup whipping cream

×××

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease 8-inch round cake pan. In medium bowl, combine flour, 3 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt. With pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until mixture forms soft dough that leaves side of bowl. On lightly floured surface, knead dough 10 times. With floured hands, pat evenly into cake pan and sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Bake until golden, about 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, reserve 4 whole strawberries for garnish; hull remaining strawberries and cut in half or in quarters. In medium bowl, toss strawberries with remaining 1/2 cup sugar until sugar has dissolved.
Invert shortcake onto surface. With long serrated knife, cut shortcake horizontally in half. In bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream just until soft peaks form.
Place bottom half of shortcake, cut side up, on cake plate; top with half the strawberry mixture and half the whipped cream. Place remaining shortcake, cut side down, on strawberry mixture. Spoon remaining strawberry mixture over, then top with remaining whipped cream. Garnish with reserved whole strawberries.


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Strawberry and White Chocolate Tart

Okay. So, not only am I back from Germany, but I'm also unemployed because 1) this is a weird time of year to hire anyone, and 2) it's a terrible economy to hire anyone. You're probably thinking that I should be using all this time to bake bake bake and post post post. But bake bake baking requires money money money, which I am sorely lacking because of my current state of unemployment.
Nonetheless, I did bake last week. I actually made something for a friend who was looking for a subject for a photography exercise/contest. I spent a lot of time considering all my options. Something tried and true or something completely new (rhyme not intended)? I chose a dish, then changed my mind, then changed my mind again and finally I did land on something I had made before... only completely different.
If you'll think (or look, if you weren't with me back then) back to June 2008, you'll remember that I made a strawberry chocolate pie for my sister's birthday. Well this time I decided to follow the original recipe more closely and used white chocolate... but I still used strawberries. Mostly because the raspberries were about twice the price.


I started by hulling and washing some beautiful, fresh, Ontario strawberries. I'm only glad I live in Ontario in the summer, and only because of the plethora of beautiful, fresh produce.


I set those aside to drain and cut up some chilled butter.


Then added some flour and sugar.


And blended it all up.


Next I added some egg yolks, whipping cream and lemon juice and blended those in.


The dough looked like this when it was all blended.


I formed it into a ball and wrapped it up in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.


Meet my new Paderno tart pan. I love it.


When the dough was chilled, I fit it into the lovely lovely pan.



The dough went back into the fridge and I chopped up the white chocolate.


I melted it in a pot with some whipping cream and vanilla (which made the colour kind of gross, but I tried to ignore it).


I poured the melted chocolate mixture into a bowl with an egg and beat it up.


While I was doing all that, the tart shell was baking blind, so once the filling was prepared, I filled the bottom of the tart with a bunch of strawberries.


And drowned them with the white chocolate mixture.


After going in the oven for 45 or 50 minutes, the tart came out looking like this, which is basically what I imagine heaven looks like.


So, I don't have any photos of the tart cut. I took the tart over to my friend's house where he had set up about three flashes and his fancy-pants camera. Many shots of the whole tart were taken before we cut a perfect slice out and took many most photos of the slice and the tart, etc. It was fun and a lot of the photos seemed to turn out pretty nicely. Of course I haven't seen any since that night, but as soon as I get my hands on them, I'll post them up and show you what my food looks like when you light it properly instead of just using the natural light of my huge apartment windows.
We also ate some, and it was pretty tasty! They crust was a little too thick, but the filling had a pleasant white chocolate flavour and the strawberries gave it a nice fresh taste, too! I did alter the recipe based on thoughts by eat me, delicious, who made it quite a while ago and thought that the white chocolate flavour was a little weak. All I did was increase the white chocolate by 2 ounces and decrease the whipping cream by 2 ounces. It worked out just fine!
I'm not sure I would add it to my regular rotation of desserts for gatherings or functions, but it was quite enjoyable.

More posts to come soon, hopefully! My sister is visiting for the weekend and we're planning to make shortcake!

Recipe

Strawberry and White Chocolate Tart
adapted from a Ricardo Larrivée recipe.

×××

Shortcrust
2 ¼ cups flour
1 pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon ice water or 35% cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Filling
½ cup 35% cream
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups fresh strawberries (or enough strawberries to fill the bottom of your tart crust)


×××

Shortbread Crust
Place the butter, flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and blend with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg yolks, water or cream and lemon juice and blend until the mixture is uniform. Shape into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Pat the dough into a 9-inch tart pan. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes. With the rack in the lowest position, preheat the oven to 375°F. Line the chilled crust with aluminum foil, scattering a few dry beans or pie weights on top to hold the foil in place. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and bake for 5 minutes more. Let cool.
Filling
Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a saucepan over low heat, gently melt the chocolate in the cream and vanilla. Lightly beat the egg using an electric mixer on lowest speed. While beating, slowly add the chocolate mixture, taking care not to incorporate air into the mixture. Beat for 15 seconds more. Arrange strawberries on the pie crust with their pointed ends facing up. Gently pour the filling over the berries without covering them completely. Bake until the centre is only slightly jiggly, 45 to 50 minutes*.
Let stand at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours. Best if served the same day.

* Make sure you check often after about 35 minutes, because all ovens are different!

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Jaffa Orange Cake with Orange Glaze

Well, I'm back from Germany and I finally have time to post up the last cake I baked. The recipe is modified from one I previously modified and posted, so I'm not going to post all of my process photos, just the final product. Enjoy!


It all started with some oranges...


The finished product.





This particular cake got a little dark, but the orange flavour was so strong and lovely. The glaze on the outside hardened just enough to give a crisp bite on the outside of the very moist and soft cake inside.

Recipe

Jaffa Orange Cake with Orange Glaze
Cake
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups freshly squeezed orange juice*
Glaze
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice, fresh
1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

×××

Cake
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake pan, and dust lightly with flour. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into a bowl. Add the oil, orange zest and vanilla and mix the batter with a fork or small whisk. When the batter is uniform, add the orange juice and stir quickly. The batter will foam slightly where the baking soda and the orange juice are reacting. Stir just until the orange juice is evenly distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool before glazing or frosting.
Glaze
Sift the sugar into a bowl. Add the orange juice (and zest, if using) and whisk until smooth. Pour over cooled cake.

*I used jaffa oranges, but any oranges with a strong flavour will do just fine.

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Temporarily away

Okay, so... I'm in Germany right now. I have a cake I need to post, that I made before I left and if I ever have less homework to do, I will post it.
I'm living with a family here, and apparently the son in the family loves baking as well. So hopefully he and I can do some German baking before I leave at the end of June.

Thanks everyone for hanging on and continuing to follow my blog. I'll be back in full force when I'm back in Canada! Continue reading...

Outrageous chocolate cookies!

I love chocolate. I love cookies. I love chocolate cookies. These cookies are truly, truly, truly outrageous.


First I melted a whole bunch of chocolate. Oooh yea, chocolate. I didn't really want to use chocolate chips but it was all I had.


Then I sifted some flour and baking powder and a tiny bit of salt.


In another bowl I whisked up some oil, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.


Then I added the melted chocolate to the egg mixture. You have to add it slowly so as not to cook the eggs.


Next I mixed in the flour mixture.


And then the chocolate chips.


Delicious cookie dough.


I dropped the dough by 1/8 cup on a cookie sheet, and then pressed them down.


I baked them for a bit and oh man delicioussss.


Seriously... look at that. Make these and eat them.

These cookies are soft and chocolatey and delicious and I love them. This is one of the most incomprehensible description of anything I've baked. But it involves chocolate. And I love chocolate.

Recipe

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from an adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe.

12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus an extra 1/3 cup
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a mixing bowl, beat oil, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Mix in melted chocolate and then the flour mixture until just combined. If the batter is too wet, add the extra flour little by little. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop 1/8 cup portions of dough 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Press down (the cookies do not spread much). Bake until cookies are crackly and edges are set, but centres are still gooey, 7-10 minutes. Cool on sheets for 10 minutes then transfer to racks to cool completely. Makes about two dozen cookies.

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Balsamic Bruschetta

Okay, I love bruschetta. When I'm at a restaurant that has very few vegetarian choices, or if I just can't decide what I want, I get bruschetta. I've had so many different kinds. Some with cheddar, or mozzarella, or feta. Some with fresh basil, or no basil, or maybe oregano. Some with white onions, or red onions, or just too many onions. Some served hot, or served cold. It's always different and while I like it pretty much every way, I've never had an order of bruschetta in a restaurant that I would consider perfect. So I decided to try making my own.


I started by chopping up some tomatoes.


And some red onions. I like the flavour or red onions better than white onions, plus they don't seem to aggravate my heartburn as much.


Next I sautéed some garlic in olive oil.


And then added the onions.


I added some balsamic vinegar and let that cook until the onions softened slightly and balsamic mostly evaporated.


While that was happening, I cut some slices from this lovely Italian stretch loaf. I didn't take any photos of this, but I also brushed the slices lightly with olive oil and toasted them in the broiler just until they were a little golden.


Next I added the tomato (and salt and pepper) to the pan with the onions and garlic, and let it cook, ONLY to heat the tomatoes. I didn't want the tomatoes to cook and loose their bite and shape.


Finally I put a few spoonfuls of the bruschetta mix on each slice of bread and popped them back into the oven to heat through and toast slightly.

It took a few tries to get it to turn out how I wanted it to, and there are still some changes I would make, especially if I was just making it for myself, not myself and Anders. For example, I might try to put some fresh basil chiffonade in. I might also melt some mozzarella or parmesan or both on top. But generally, I like that it's simple and light. The balsamic adds a nice flavour and the red onion is nice and sweet. I can't wait to make this in the summer during the height of tomato season!

Recipe

Balsamic Bruschetta
1 cup tomato, chopped
3/4 cup red onion, chopped
olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

×××

Briefly sauté the garlic in the olive oil then add the onions and balsamic vinegar. Allow this to simmer until the onions have softened and the vinegar is mostly evaporated. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and continue to simmer, only until the tomatoes are heated through. Serve warm on your favourite (toasted) French or Italian bread. Left overs keep well in the fridge for a few days and can be reheated in the microwave before serving on bread.

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Chocolate Orange Marble Cupcakes with Chocolate Orange Ganache

It was my birthday well over a month ago now. On that day, I had one class at 8.30AM. I decided to treat those who actually showed up by bringing in cupcakes. Also, I just like making cupcakes. I modified my vanilla and chocolate marble cake to come up with these lovely cupcakes, so I didn't take step-by-step photos. The recipe is posted below!


Fresh from the oven. I made a recipe and a half and filled the cups quite high, so the domes came out beautifully, I think.


I made a simple chocolate ganache with some orange juice concentrate in it to top them, and decorated them with a few orange star-shaped sprinkles.

Recipes

Chocolate Orange Marble Cupcakes

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1 ½ cups + ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 to ¼ cup thawed orange juice concentrate

×××

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with papers. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat oil and sugar until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until smooth, occasionally scraping bowl. Transfer half of batter to medium bowl. Add cocoa to batter in one bowl and orange juice concentrate to the other and beat until blended. If the orange batter is runnier than the chocolate, add the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Alternately spoon orange and chocolate batters into cups. With a knife, cut and swirl through batters to create marbled effect. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes. Cool cupcakes in tin on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove from pan to cool completely on rack.

For the ganache, all I did was melt some chocolate, add some cream and then add some of the left over orange juice concentrate. I didn't add very much liquid, as I wanted the ganache to form a thick layer over the dome of the cupcakes. When the cupcakes have cooled completely, dip the domes of the cupcakes into the ganache.

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