Baking a Difference

Say Cheese!

October 5th, 2010 § 0 comments § permalink

“The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Can you believe there are quotes about cheese?

I’ve been not so mysteriously silent. It’s sort of difficult learning how to incorporate a blog into one’s daily life. I can see why so many people who’ve made it big with their blogs started when they were unemployed. This is a lot of work.

But while I haven’t been writing, I have been baking, and I think poet’s would have written many a line regarding my latest kitchen concoction, THE PEAR GINGER CHEESECAKE. This is quite possibly, the best cheesecake in the world. (Don’t believe me, bake it for yourself.) It was beginner’s luck.

The lucky recipients of my baking have been telling me that I’m a talented baker. I would say I’m good at making recipe selections, but as I rarely follow a recipe exactly, I must concede, there might be a bit of talent at play.

I baked a couple desserts for my friend Evelyn’s birthday. Cheesecake is her favorite. I’m not generally a fan of cheesecake and I had never baked one. She wanted something fruity and suggested pears as they’re in season. So, I spent a bit of time researching recipes on the internet and decided on a Pear Ginger Cheesecake. I used one recipe for the cheesy base, took some elements from another for the crust and contrived how to add the gingery goodness. It worked!

Several people declared this the best cheesecake they’ve ever eaten. Try this for your next dinner party. Your guests will love it.

Pear Ginger Cheesecake

Crust:

1 tablespoons melted butter
40-50 Gingersnap cookies (recommended if available in your area, Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Snaps cookies)

Filling:

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
3 ripe pears, peeled and sliced
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2/3 cup candied ginger
1/3 cup water

Heavy-duty foil for pan

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, and heat oven to 325 degrees. Brush interior of a 9-inch springform pan with butter. Crush gingersnaps or use a food processor to create crumbs. Add melted butter. Press into the bottom of the pan and 1/2 way up the sides using fingers or the bottom of a glass.

Tear off two long strips of heavy-duty foil, overlap in a cross pattern, and set the pan in the middle. Bring up sides, crimping around exterior top of the pan and forming a tight seal. Set in the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling.

(While preparing the filling, bring a tea kettle of water to a boil, then turn off heat.)

2. Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down bowl sides and beat again until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition to ensure a creamy batter. Slowly beat in vanilla, then cream and sour cream. (Meanwhile, simmer candied ginger and water in a saucepan until softened. 3-5 minutes. Puree ginger and fold into the batter.)

3. Layer the filling and the sliced pears in the prepared pan. Start with a layer of pears on the bottom, cover with 1/2 of the filling. Add a second layer of pears, cover with 1/2 of the filling. Top with the remaining pears, arranged in a nice design.

4. Set the springform pan in a roasting pan large enough to hold it. Place the roasting pan on oven rack and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake until cake perimeter is set but center still jiggles, about 50 minutes (some flavor variations will take longer). Turn off heat and leave oven door closed; let cheesecake sit in oven so the residual heat continues to cook it, about 30 minutes.

4. Remove pan from water; set on a wire rack. Let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled, about 3 hours (can be refrigerated up to 4 days). Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan, loosen the spring siding and serve.
Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com.

PS. I’m trying different photo formats to see what sticks. If you have an opinion, let me know.

A word about who I’m sponsoring…

September 12th, 2010 § 3 comments § permalink

I live in a renovated elementary school that is populated by artists. It’s a really wonderful community of people. To name our most obvious disciplines, we are: painters, sculptors, photographers, poets, writers, musicians, dancers, fire dancers, jewelry makers, and film makers. My neighbors, Scott Squire and Amy Benson, are on the surface film makers and photographers, but at the most elemental level they are storytellers. They document the journey of our tribe, and when I say tribe, I mean the human tribe.

A couple years ago, Scott and Amy were hired to do a documentary for a non-profit organization called The Little Sisters Fund. It’s a group based in the United States that helps to educate girls in South Asia. Through the Little Sisters Fund, Scott and Amy were introduced to a cause that touched their hearts, and that they have become passionate about, educating girls. They saw first-hand what a difference educating a girl does for her family and her community and felt there was a need to bring more awareness to this subject. Their documentary was started during their first visit to Nepal. Currently, they are telling the story of three girls and are following their journey over several years’ time. It’s been shown that when you educate a girl, that the impact on her family and community is palpable. In one generation, a family can come out of poverty. They’re hoping to be able to illustrate these kind of results in their film.

Scott and Amy have already received many grants and have applied for additional sources of funding to finish their project. They’ve even applied for a Sundance Documentary Grant. Watch their 20 minute submission. I want to support their efforts and that’s why they’re the first project that I’m sponsoring here on Baking a Difference.

You can learn more about The Girl World Project and watch a 3 minute trailer at http://girlworldproject.org or read their blog at http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/. To learn more about Scott and Amy and their other work please visit www.nonfictionmedia.com.

A cake by any other name…

September 1st, 2010 § 5 comments § permalink

What’s a B52 cake? Do you mean like, the “Love Shack” Group?

It didn’t occur to me that “The Love Shack”, would be the first thing that popped into people’s minds when I said, “B52”. No one seemed to connect the popular drink with the name. Hmmm, these people must have spent more time dancing than drinking in college.

I’m declaring my first cake a success, despite my poor, cake-decorating skills. I am in desperate need of a lesson in the chemistry of frosting. The B52 Cake was a taste sensation, but truly a nerve-wracking mess where the frosting was concerned. I don’t like frosting so sweet it could curl the hairs in your ears. So, I used only half of the amount of sugar the recipe called for and ended up with a drippy mess. But oh, did it taste good! Better than good! What in the world is one to do? I sacrificed looks for taste and the result was a happy birthday boy and happy friends who enjoyed partaking of this cake.

The Finished B52 Cake

David’s birthday theme was the Beat Generation. I highly recommend this as a theme. We drank martini’s, while sporting beret’s, turtlenecks, and dark glasses. After the BBQ and before the cake, we had a poetry reading beat-style, with bongos, finger snaps, and cool poems; impromptu poems made up on the spot, original poems crafted carefully at home, and favorite poems shared from favorite authors. It was truly a fun evening and I was happy to participate with some poems and as baker of the cake.

This is a family recipe that we’ve been baking for about 25 years now. I usually bake it as a bundt cake and serve it plain without frosting. For the cake above, I omitted the chocolate chips and used 9” cake pans. I made two batches which made the 3 layers plus a dozen cupcakes.

B52 Cake Recipe

1 package (18.5 oz) Devil’s Food Cake Mix (without pudding)
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Kahlua or Amaretto liqueur
3/4 c vegetable oil
(Optional – 1 6oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips)

In a large bowl combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, liqueur and oil. Beat at low to blend. Increase to medium fast, beat 3-5 minutes. (Optional – Stir in chips. Pour into a greased and floured 10″ Bundt or tube pan.) Bake for 55-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pan 30 minutes. Loosen and invert. Cool completely on rack.

The Amaretto Ganache Filling*

12 ounces bittersweet / baking chocolate (1 1/2 packages)
1 cup heavy cream
3 TB butter at room temperature
2 shots Amaretto liqueur

Break the chocolate into smaller pieces place in a heatproof bowl. Simmer the cream in a saucepan, when it’s hot, pour over the chocolate and let sit 1-2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Stir in the butter and the liqueur. (If the chocolate doesn’t completely melt, you can microwave it carefully for up to 20 seconds.) Let cool, whisking occasionally, until it begins to set up.

Trim the cake layers so that the top side is even. Spoon between the layers.

Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting*

1 Stick unsalted butter
1 8 oz package cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar (recipe actually calls for 3-4 cups)
1-2 shots Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur

Cream the butter and the cream cheese together in a bowl. Slowly beat in the confectioners sugar. Beat in the liqueur. Adjust liqueur and sugar amounts to your taste.

* The Ganache and Bailey’s frosting were inspired by and adapted from my favorite food blog, SmittenKitchen.com

Incubating a blog

August 26th, 2010 § 6 comments § permalink

Today is my day to watch the chickens.

There I’ve done it, I’ve written my first line. Not as catchy as my all-time favorite first line, “Call me Ishmael.”; the one and only thing I remember from my failed attempt to read Moby Dick while on a 24-hour train trip from Crimea to Moscow way back in 1993, but it’ll do. Have you read Moby Dick? I hear some people love it, but I found it to be way too dry, especially while trapped for 24 hours on a post-Soviet train. I should have had better foresight and brought a less risky read, like a Tom Robbins, which is always guaranteed to entertain. But forgive me, I digress, none of the above has anything to do with this blog. Or maybe, it has everything to do with this blog. I’m not sure, as it’s a project that’s just beginning to unfold.

This is Baking a Difference, a thunderbolt of an idea that hit me ten days ago, that combines a few of my many interests. You see it all began with a needy barista, a recipe I absolutely had to bake and a fond memory of watching my Mom bake cakes.

When I was growing up, my Mom was always baking cakes. She didn’t do it as a business, but as a gift for people. She’d bake birthday cakes, graduation cakes, even wedding cakes. It was a hobby and she only charged for the ingredients, never her time. Her cakes were delicious, whimsical and fun. She used this amazing French Butter Cream frosting that was rich, but not sweet. I’ve never had her frosting on any baked good I’ve ever eaten. I think it’s some recipe from the 1960’s that the cake baking industry has long ago forgotten.

So, one morning before work, while Kara at Herkimer coffee was making me an Americano, we chatted about baking. I’d just made cupcakes for my friend Craig’s birthday; chocolate Guiness cupcakes, with a whiskey granache center and a Bailey’s Irish Cream frosting. They were AMAZING! Unbelievably delicious, and I was bragging. Kara was in the process of baking a wedding cake and needed a traditional French Butter Cream Frosting recipe, but couldn’t find one on the internet. I thought it was so random that she expressed this to me and was so happy to say, “I’ve got my Mom’s recipe, right here on my laptop.” Voila! Problem solved. I’d never made the frosting, but I’d seen my mom make literally, hundreds of batches, so I described the process in detail to Kara until a new customer arrived and my turn was over.

Later that day, I wondered to myself, “Why didn’t I ever ask Mom to teach me how to decorate cakes?” That question, a few too many episodes of the Cake Boss, combined with a few more batches of my chocolate, whiskey, Irish Cream cupcakes, is why we’re all here now. I want to improve my baking skills, try some new cakes, learn to decorate, make some creative wonders, possibly have a few disasters and help others in the process.

Baking a Difference is like an on-line cake sale. Just like my Mom, I’ll be donating my time baking for someone and in return they’ll pay for the ingredients. However, in addition, I’m going to ask that they make a donation to a good cause, or non-profit that I’ve chosen to sponsor that month. I’ve already got two orders for birthday cakes and my first cake is happening this weekend.

It’s David’s 50th birthday. This is a special birthday and it requires a special cake. I’m thinking of making a B52 cake. The plan is something like, a chocolate kahlua cake, with an amaretto granache between the layers and Baileys cream cheese frosting. I’ve never made this cake, I don’t even have an official recipe for it, but I know it’s going to be good. I’ve got a chocolate amaretto cake recipe that I’ve made for years, that I’m going to adapt. The theme for his party is 1950’s chic/beatnik. I was thinking of making a bongos cake, but as this is my maiden voyage, I think I’ll keep it simple and focus on the flavor. It can look ok, but it must taste fabulous.

Call me Crazy.

The journey has begun.
P.S. My first “cause” is the Girl World Project. I’ll explain all about it and the chickens later.

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