Pineapple Upside Down Cake: The cake The Monsoon romances with…

A Monsoon Romance Story between the Pineapple n the Cake; Pineapple Upside Down Cake n they did exist happily ever after until we ate it

Monsoon is a huge thing in India, the season of rain showers and almost the whole country it getting wet now, the greenery is at its bloom, the crops are finding their voice, the frogs are planning for the future, the peacocks are totally showing off, the drowned human being are looking for a dry shelter because the shower played a bit too much at some places, wild mushrooms are coming to life in several forests n they are the best, pineapples are popping out of the soil, the hilsa fish is finally meeting their destiny: getting steamed with coconut n mustard, the  mature sugar-palm fruits are oozing out deep orange sap out of their rough n tough fibers-life is full of contrast I tell you, fritters are getting crispy in the hot oil in the evenings  n sauces are being churned in blenders.

I love the sight of pineapples all arranged in rows after rows in the local market as the monsoon comes, I totally love their flavor…there is something about pineapples that makes me salivate. As you cut across a pineapple- the sharp knife goes through the soft flesh of the pineapple, the tough exterior gives off as you slice them off one by one, the fresh juice oozes out n the aroma hits you- this whole experience is satisfying n provocative.

This cake is decadent; it looks totally impressive, tastes even better and truly very satisfying. The first time I baked this humble cake I fell in love with it, the cake is soft n moist like a dream, the pineapple slices all dark, full of depth n caramelized with the sugar n the butter and the soft cake sits on  that absolutely delicious pineapple layer .

First the butter n sugar are taken to a dark caramel color n poured in the cake tin, the fresh pineapple pieces sit on that, then the cake batter goes on top of that, as the cake bakes, moisture from the pineapple penetrates through the cake batter upwards making it rise n keeping it moist, the same moisture from the pineapple doesn’t let itself burn in the caramel, the baking powder also helps in giving the cake the lift n lightness.  Finally when the cake is done and you flip it over, the mere sight of it makes you smile and the air in the room gets heavy n hungry with the dissolving aroma.

The first time I made this cake when I was watching the video of Stephanie Jaworski on her site joyofbaking.com, it is a wonderful video n there was a fresh pineapple on my lunch table and I thought I will give it a try, and in that evening I was holding the beautiful cake in my hands n everyone in my home were happy. I really like her recipe, so give her a watch if you want. In my recipe I have not used the cream of tartar and I have also omitted the cherries, also I have used more butter in the cake batter, the amount is not a big number but it certainly makes a slight difference. So I know by now you are getting impatient for the recipe, so let’s bake this damn good cake and trust me it will be a staple cake in your house.

For The Recipe:  You will need

For the Cake Batter:

All purpose flour- 200 gm, sifted

Butter-120 gm (I used 150) at room temp

Sugar-200 gm, powdered

Baking powder- 2 tsp

Salt-a pinch (skip if butter is salted)

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Egg-2 large, separated

Milk full-fat- 120 ml

Lime juice- a few drops for whisking the egg-whites

For the Pineapple Layer:

Butter- 55 gm/4 tbsp

White sugar/light brown sugar- 160 gm

Fresh/tinned pineapple slices- 25 pieces app., cut into ½ inch pieces

Pre-heat your oven to 180 C/350 F, butter an 8 inch cake tin.

1. Start by making the caramel mixture, place the butter n sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, let the sugar dissolve and let the whole thing get brown to dark brown which will take just few minutes, shake the pan to even out the caramelization, then pour the whole thing carefully into the buttered cake tin. After that take the pineapple pieces n arrange in a circular pattern over the caramel, pack the small gaps with small pieces of pineapple, and keep aside.

2. For the cake batter, first in a clean non-oily wide bowl pour the egg-white and squeeze a few drops of fresh lime/lemon juice over them, then with a clean whisk start whisking them, when they reach the ribbon stage add 2 tsp of powdered sugar as you whisk and take them to firm peak, not stiff peak, just firm.

3. In another bowl cream the butter n sugar until pale n fluffy, then add the vanilla extract, mix well, then add the egg yolks one by one, whisking after each addition until well mixed, then first add 1/3 rd flour n baking powder mixture, mix briskly, then ½ milk n mix, then another 1/3 flour n mix, then rest of the milk n mix, lastly the rest of flour. Finally take ½ of the egg white and mix with big strokes, its okay if at this stage you can still see the egg-whites at places, and then fold the rest of the egg-whites carefully. Finally pour the batter slowly over the pineapple, place it in the oven for about 45-55 minutes until the cake has started to shrink from the sides of the pan, a toothpick inserted into the cake comes clean. Place it over a wire rack n rest it for 10 minutes, then carefully run a knife around the edges and flip it open in one quick move over a cake stand or plate n tap softly on the back n lift it up slowly.

There you are! What do you see as you just lift the pan off! isn’t that just amazing and I know there is a smile all over your face, share this view with everyone at home before you cut the first slice and when you do you will fall in love with this cake again. This cake needs nothing else but you. Bon appétit.

The Last Bite

A Black forest German Gateau Cake ‘Schwarzwälder Kirsch torte’with Cherries from Kashmir, Baked in Bengal

This was his last bite. My Father, he tasted the little portion of the black forest cake that I cut for him n served him on a tea saucer. Back at that moment I had no idea that this was going to be the last thing he will eat, made by me. So for me this is his last bite of any food cooked by me and it is special in that way but it will always have sadness n gloom attached with this memory. Now that my Father has left his body, I run the pictures in my mind of the moment when he looked at the piece of cake in the little saucer, cut into it n very carefully, with a little shaky hand he transferred into his mouth, so that it doesn't fall off the spoon. I was looking for any signs of expression on his face and I find a little sign of satisfaction as he went through the cake. I am just re-running that subtle expression of Dad in my mind.

                            I wanted to do this black forest gateau cake for a long time, sometimes the doubt of eating so much whipped cream halted me, sometimes the doubt of whipping up huge volume of cream by hand made me pause, and sometimes I didn't get the cherries. But then with love that stayed on n upon consistent demand from my cute nephew, I did whip up large volume of cream by hand, whip up eggs with sugar till I reached the ribbon stage, pitted the cherries all by hand n I bake the cake!

                                                     The black forest cake or gateau has its origin in Germany, though the name doesn't come from the Black Forest mountain range in south-western Germany, rather it comes from a special liquor of that region called ‘Schwarzwälder Kirsch(wasser)’ n it is distilled from tart cherries. The liquor has a distinctive cherry pit flavor and alcoholic in nature that gives the cake its distinctive smell n flavor. So ‘Kirsch’ is what makes it special although other liquors are also used such as rum, which is used in Austria and co-incidentally which I also used, red rum.

                                                                                             Making the chocolate sponge for this cake requires a bit of whipping, first eggs n sugar r heated in a water bath until warm while constantly whisking, when the temperature is achieved the mixture is removed from heat and then further whisked until the mixture fluffs up and becomes almost triple in volume. When the whisk is lifted we can see ribbons falling off from the whisk and a figure of 8 made the ribbon stays for a second to be visible. No baking powder is used for this cake and the light volume is achieved by incorporating air in the egg n sugar mixture.

                                                                                                                The touch of Kirsch or rum gives the cake it’s special touch, but then you can always skip it if you want to, in my case my nephew kept away all the cherries from his piece! He likes the black forest cake without the cherries!

I have to tell you this, if you want to eat this cake tomorrow you have to begin today, the cake needs rest for several hours after baking, preferably overnight, also the cherries in soup which is treated with cornflour, need overnight time in the freeze to set, so keep that in mind.

                     So I guess it is now time to tell you about the recipe, here we go to have a walk in the Black forest cake.

For The Recipe: You will need

For the Chocolate Sponge:

Eggs-6

Powdered Sugar- 200gm (I used 180gm)

Coco powdered- 45gm

Plain Flour- 90gm

Butter, melted n kept warm-60gm

Salt-1/4 tsp, skip if butter is salted

For the Cherry layer:

Cherries-350gm, pitted and separated from the syrup

Syrup in which the cherries were preserved-1 cup

Lime Zest-1/2 tsp, roasted, dried out then whizzed with sugar

Cinnamon- ½-1/4 tsp, roasted slightly n powdered

Cornflour-1-1 ½ tbsp

Sugar-1 tbsp+1 tbsp (optional)

For the Whipping Cream:

Whipping cream/double cream-500ml

Fine powdered sugar-4 tbsp

Vanilla essence- 1 tbsp

For the Rum syrup:

Red rum- 3 tbsp

Suagr-2 tbsp

Syrup from the cherries-4 tbsp

For the Chocolate Layer n Chocolate shavings:

Dark chocolate-50-80 gm

Save a few whole cherries for decorating the cake.

1. We will begin by making the cake which will need to rest overnight. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius n butter one 8 inch cake tin. So begin by cracking the eggs in a big airy bowl n add the powdered sugar on them. Prepare a water bath or bain-marie, as the water comes to simmer, place the bowl with egg n sugar on top of it making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Whisk continuously as the mixture warms up, test it by placing a little of the mixture with your finger on your inner wrist, it will take 3-5 minutes to get warm, on your wrist it should feel comfortably warm, not something that is beginning to get intolerable for skin. So when the mixture feels warm enough remove it from the water bath and now either with hand whisk or electric whisk or stand whisk, whisk it until the mixture fluffs up becoming almost triple in volume. If you are whisking by hand it will take about 20 minutes, otherwise it will take about 5-8 minutes, when you will lift the whisk it will fall off smoothly making ribbons on the surface, if you try to do a figure of 8 you will be able to see the figure 8 for a moment before it vanishes, when you can do that you are at the right consistency.

2. Now sift the coco powder n flour alternatively in 3 stages and gently fold in with a spatula, first sift one-third coco powder, then one-third plain flour in 3 stages, until the flour n coco powder has been incorporated. For folding rotate the bowl while you lift up the mixture gently with the spatula and fold in slowly, keep rotating the bowl as you do so. After that add the warm melted butter and gently fold in again. Then carefully place the batter gently into the buttered cake tin which is layered at the bottom with perchment paper, then smooth the surface with a spoon or scraper. Then give one tap on the table before you place the cake tin in the oven, bake for about 20 -25 minutes, when a toothpick inserted comes out clean and you will see the cake will start to shrink from the sides. Then take the cake out of the oven, rest 10 minutes, take it out of the cake tin and place on a wired rack to cool overnight.

3. Now well prepare for the cherry syrup. Take a lime, with a sharp knife cut the peel lightly so that you don’t get the white part under the peel, when you have taken off the zest of the whole lime like that, put them in a baking tray and in a very low oven of around 100 degrees Celsius roast them but keep the oven door slightly open, give them about 5-10 minutes, shake the tray in between until they get brown but not burnt. When this is achieved take them out and cool them and they will crisp up, after that in a mortar n pestle powder them with 1 tbsp of sugar, keep aside.

4. Take 1 inch cinnamon stick and roast it slightly in a frying pan, tossing the pan often for about 1 minute, then crush it to a powder in a mortar n pestle, keep aside.

5. Take 4 tbsp of the cherry syrup and mix the corn flour, lime zest powder, cinnamon powder, 1 tsp of sugar until it is smooth. Then put the cherries with 1 cup of syrup in a pan and let it come to a boil, then add this mixture stirring constantly, very soon the cherry syrup will begin to thicken, taste it, add a little sugar if you think it needs a bit, then take it off the heat, pour it in a bowl, let it come to room temperature, when it is there, cover it with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight and it will settle and almost become like cherry jam.

6. So next day we are ready to put it all together. Mount the cake on a high platform, make it by placing a plate on a deep high bowl, you can rotate it also, now with a serrated long knife cut around the edges of the cake to get 3 layers of the cake. Turn the cake slowly as you cut through the cake. Obtain 3 layers.

7. Melt 40 gm of dark chocolate in a water bath and pour that chocolate over the 1^st layer of the cake, make that surface almost coated with the liquid chocolate, after that place that cake layer in freeze until the chocolate solidifies.

8. Now we will whip the cream, freeze the whisk, the bowl for whipping for around 30 minutes. The cream should be very cold, around 0 degrees Celsius, then with an electric beater whisk it, when the cream starts to thicken add the vanilla essence, powdered sugar bit by bit and beat it until it just begins to hold the peak when tested with the whisk. Don’t over beat or your cream will be grainy and if using dairy cream it will turn into butter. Just when the cream begins to hold the peak, stop right there.

9. Dissolve the sugar in the water n red rum mixture. Get the cake layer with chocolate and the cherry mixture out of the freeze, with a spoon spread the cherry mixture on top of the chocolate layer which is now solid, cover that surface completely with the cherries. Now take whipped cream and spread it over the cherries until you cover them completely with cream. Place this layer on a round piece of cardboard so the cake will have a solid base and it will easy to move the cake further.

10. Now take 2nd layer of cake and sprinkle the rum syrup with a spoon or brush over both the sides of the layer. Then carefully place that layer on top of the cherry layer, then on top of this layer spread a layer of whipped cream. Then you place the 3^rd layer on top of this cream and again brush the rest of the rum syrup all over the surface. Then cover this surface with whipped cream. Now we have to cover the whole cake with cream, so cover the sides carefully with cream. When it is done, put the rest of the whipped cream in a piping bag and pipe on top of the cake the way you like it, I made small spiral rounds around the edges.

11. Now we will make chocolate shavings, get a bar of chocolate, take sharp knife, hold the blade of the knife between you two hands so it is parallel to your body, then resting your hands on the chocolate bar, putting some weight on the bar so it doesn't slip, drag the knife towards you and the chocolate shavings will appear. Be careful when you do this, do it slowly, get around 1 cup of shavings.

12. Take a handful of chocolate shavings and press it lightly around the base of the cake. Go around the cake until the cake is covered with the shavings around the base. Now place whole cherries on top of each cream round you have made on the top, then fill the middle portion of the top of the cake with a handful of shavings. Now see how beautiful it looks! Isn’t it just so amazing? You just did that!

And now we are ready to cut into the black forest gateau cake! Look at the cake for some time and absorb the beauty; let the cake settle a bit also, and then approach with love and with a knife. Bon appétit.

The Battenberg Case

The truth, the myths and the marzipan in between ;)

Year 1884 April 30^th and a cake is born-the Battenberg cake to celebrate the marriage between the Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine on that very day.

No this is not true!, in fact this is the myth, no historical written record or proof has been found which depicts that the co called Battenberg cake was created on the occasion of this marriage. The modern version of this cake has 4 panels in colors of pink n yellow arranged in check pattern, however the cake at that time used to have 9 such sections. Now because the 4 sections since it looks like a child’s drawing of a window panel it is often known as window chapel cake in northern England. Now as with everything changes occur naturally with time, so did happen with this Battenberg cake, perhaps the cake started getting 4 panels when the mass industry production started taking place before the world war 2, we need a minimum of 4 panels to create a cross check pattern, so it makes sense to simplify things for the sake of mass production.

                                            The creator of this Battenberg cake was Frederick Vine, a talented British food writer around that time. In fact he used to write Battenberg as “Battenburg”; after all it is his creation. His original earliest cake however did not have any check pattern; it was simple fruit loaf with lots of sultanas and candied peel. Some years after the marriage mentioned above, there was perhaps gradual appearance of this check pattern cakes, in fact in 1898 appeared Mrs. Marshall’s domino cake which looked just the same as Frederick Vine’s Battenberg cake with 9 sections and Robert Well’s Neapolitan roll which had 4 sections like the ones we see today. The distinctive thing about this cake was it was covered in almond paste which we know as marzipan in the era. If you want to read more about it and see some real pictures from that time click here http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/battenburg-cake-history-again.html

This is great history food blog by the talented Ivan Day.

                                       Now let me tell you about the cake itself, it’s a light sponge cake, the panels assembled together with apricot jam and then coated in a layer of marzipan. Now I find this cake to be a little over-sweet and you can imagine why! I mean the sponge cake is sweet, the marzipan is sweet and the apricot jam is sweet, sweet on sweet on sweet…all right. When I baked the cake I reduced the sugar in the sponge itself and I also rolled the marzipan as thin as I could. The cake looks lovely, in this bright pink n yellow squares, it can make you smile.

                                   Hey I made my own marzipan, for the first time, that too with some changes and it worked. Well what I did was I took equal parts of almond and peanuts, took off their skin by soaking them in hot water, not boiling water, for about 5 minutes when the skin comes off easily, then I pat them dry with a towel and then in a strong blender I made almost a smooth powder out of them, it doesn't have to be very smooth, and then I take equal amount of castor sugar and I combine them with this castor sugar with a bit of red rum. I used red rum because I love the flavor and I think red rum gives it a longer shelf life. And I did have a bit of fun with the marzipan, now I will call it “MARZIFUN” and you can have a look at them… child’s play right! Imagine you give this to a group of children and what amazing things they will come up with! You can even eat all that fun literally.

Now one interesting thing about the prince Louis of Battenberg though it is not related to the cake, is he was of German origin and later on he was a member of the British Royal family, he was appointed the captain, the admiral, the first sea-lord by the royal family. So he modified his family name from Battenberg to Mountbatten since there were rumors that the British royal family must be pro-German. I am sure he has eaten this cake many times. Well for you, readers I have this cartoon from “punch” depicting this modification of his family name.

                                                                                

                                                                                                                      Oh! I did have a bit of fun with the marzipan, my hands made some caterpillar and some weird animals and I don’t even know what to call them!

                                                     I thought I will tell you about the Battenberg markings which are high-visibility markings on the sides of the emergency vehicles used in some European countries and some more. Mostly they are in green and blue or yellow squares in a check pattern just like the cake! The name for the markings most probably comes from the similarity in appearance of the cross section of the cake.

                                                                                                So when I will be carrying the cake walking in the street, tell me will you be able to see it from far! And then you will go home and make it. Ha-hah. Now I will tell you the recipe. Bon appétit.

The Recipe: you will need

For the sponge     

175g/6oz very soft butter, plus extra for greasing

175g castor sugar (I put the sugar a bit less like 155g)

175g self-raising flour or all purpose flour

3 medium eggs

1 tbsp of vanilla extract

Zest of 1 orange, zest of 1 or 2 limes

1 tbsp of fresh orange juice

1 tbsp of baking powder if using all purpose flour/1 tsp baking powder if using self-raising flour

A pinch of salt

Some drops of pink food color.

For the covering

200g of marzipan

About 6 tbsp of apricot jam

3 tbsp of icing sugar for rolling the marzipan

You need a brush to coat the cake with warm apricot jam.

For the marzipan

50g almonds

50g peanuts

2 tsp of red rum

1.       Let’s begin with making the marzipan. Measure 50 g of almonds and peanuts each, if you like almonds more measure 100g of almond. Heat some water in pan to almost boiling, then take it off the heat and when the temp, reduces slightly pour the almonds and the peanuts in separate pans by dividing the water in 2 pans. Now give them about 5 minutes, then start with the almonds, with your fingers if you press the almonds you will see the skin has come loose, you may have to scratch them a bit, so de-skin all of them. It will take a bit of time to de-skin both the almonds and the peanuts, when done pat them dry with a towel, then in a grinder place the almonds, grind to almost the smooth powder, same with the peanuts, in case of peanuts you will find that the powder of them looks more like a smooth dough. Now measure 100 g of icing sugar. In a big bowl mix the powder of both almonds n peanuts with the icing sugar with a wooden spatula, when well combined add 1 tsp of rum and mix well, you will see that the mixture has begin to come together like a dough now add 1 more tsp if you think it needs, then mix well with your hands until the whole mixture comes together like a smooth dough. Here you have just made fresh marzipan! Now wrap it in cling film and freeze it.

2.       Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square tin with butter, as for me I buttered a 1 lb loaf tin very lightly and I lined the loaf tin with baking parchment paper and buttered it. With an aluminum foil I made a pleat and place it in the center along the length of the tin so that I can bake the 2 colored cakes in the same tin.

3.       Start creaming the butter with a whisk; when the butter attains a light color add the castor sugar and cream it until it becomes lighter in color for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 egg and whisk until it is fully incorporated, then add the 2^nd egg and do the same, then with the 3^rd egg shift a little flour on top of the egg in the cake mixture and beat it in. we are doing this so that the mixture wont curdle, even if it curdles it will be fine. So when the eggs are all in add the lime and orange zest and vanilla essence to the mixture and whisk it in. Then pour the baking powder, a pinch of salt into the flour and shift the flour in 2 batches into the wet mixture and mix well. Now divide the mixture in 2 equal parts and to one part add 1-2 drops of pink food color just to attain the pink shade. Now to the other part add the orange juice and mix well. Now pour the pink and the yellow mixture in the tin and place them in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back when touched.

4.       Take the cakes out of the tin after 10 minutes and when they have cooled off, take a sharp knife and cut both of them along the length into rectangular stripes which has around 1 inch/2.5 cm square sides. Do them with both the yellow and the pink sponge. Then warm the apricot jam in a pan, with a brush apply the sides of the first 3 strips of cake to stick them together, now brush on the top side of them and take one opposite colored strip and brush its downside and put it on the first base strip of the cake, brush its side and place another strip of cake beside it and the same for the last strip. Now brush the jam all over the cake lightly with the jam.

5.       Roll the marzipan on a flat surface dusted with icing sugar to a thickness you want. I rolled it to the minimum thickness I could, and make sure the rolled surface is big enough to wrap the cake all around. Then brush the inside of the rolled marzipan with apricot jam, then place the cake in the middle and warp it. Pinch the meeting sides together with your fingers. And now with sharp knife slowly cut across the length t reveal the checkered pattern. You are done!

                             

                         

It is a bit of work and after all the hard work it does look lovely. Since it’s a tea cake get some tea!