Any baker knows this, but when it happens to you, it's the most frustrating thing: humidity, which is what I had in my kitchen between the 80° F temps and the inches of rain that fell. Tart crusts didn't seem to want to firm up, and although I can't find any scientific reason for it, I would swear my egg whites weren't stiffening properly.
A cake made with mint extract tastes great but looks bad, a tart with pine nuts needs to be tested again with fewer egg whites and with the nuts toasted for a nuttier flavor, but the final recipe, a yogurt cake with grapefruit (above), looks and tastes beautiful. Generally, it was a tough, sticky day in the test kitchen, but onward I slog. Another three recipes await me today, and the anticipated humidity is 66% - not bad.
Recipes Made: 3
Average Per Day: 2-3
interesting
what do you think happened to the mint cake?
I was lucky with a very simple butter cake (with sour cherries, mmmm) on 4 July. I didn't make a pie because it was such a swamp outside, and I don't have AC in mi cocina
Where to begin? I overbeat the mint filling, and undercooked the torte - so I had a 10 pound chocolate mess filled with curdling mint cream - sounds delicious, doesn't it?!
o my
my sympathies to you and your Kitchenaid!
Ugh, I just saw your post Sara Kate, that would've put me in the worst mood if it happened to me, I feel your pain.
I can't wait for another yogurt cake recipe. Maybe I will be able to figure out what I am doing wrong? Sometimes they come out great for me, other times they are messed up!
I made a yogurt cake with blueberries for a 4th of July party. I baked it longer than suggested and on the convection setting, which is supposed to crisp things up, and it was still a bit raw in the middle.
Chris--you might try wrapping your cake pan in a wet towel before baking, so that all parts will heat evenly. And check your oven temperature, too.
Do you really like the results with mint extract? I always think it tastes like York patties.
Sara Kate and Rachel,
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to try a yogurt cake again this weekend and I'll carefully document and blog the results -- for better or worse. This way, if something bad happens, I can get your help trying to figure it out.
I've made yogurt cakes 6 or 8 times before. I find that they always take longer than the recipe says to bake, especially since I like the crust to turn golden.
Do you think making it with blueberries makes it take longer to bake? I think it was also a bit harder for me to be sure it was done, since the yogurt plus the blueberries make the cake very moist.
There was a post a few days ago on The Amaeture Gourmet, where he made a yogurt cake that broke to pieces too.
I've resisted a thermometer for me oven, since my electric stove is less than a year old, but this calls for more investigation. I'll get the thermometer and report back on that too!
I can't WAIT until your book comes out! We'll be first in line at the Amazon.com pre-order. Good luck with it . . . and thanks for the tip on making a grapefruit cake in the meantime.
Chris,
I've had good luck so far with that yogurt cake (also as cupcakes.) My oven is very ancient and unreasonable and tends to run hot...
I wonder about mint extract v peppermint oil.
It was a key factor in the fake girl scout cookies that 100 Cookbooks Heidi came up with . . .
I think we chatted about it at some length here.
can you tell me the recipe for the grapefruit cake? sounds so yummy
thank you!
Isabelle,
I'm afraid I can't as it's for the book I'm writing, which comes out in September of 2007! However, I can encourage you to experiment with the yogurt cake on this site (search in the recipe archives) and doctor it up with some grapefruit juice and zest. Maybe even making a syrup with some juice and sugar, heated gently over a flame until it thickens, and pouring it on top of the cooled cake.
Chris, it sounds to me like your oven is running cool... I would invest in an oven thermometer, they're not expensive and are very useful. I've made yogurt cakes before (not that exact one, mind you) and haven't had to cook them extra long. Blueberries would make it extra moist, it's true, though.
guido, I didn't make a pie out of my sour cherries either, but I did make an awesome sour cherry gelato. I took two dry pints of pitted sour cherries and tossed them with 1 cup of sugar and let them sit at room temp (80 F) for about 6 hours. I like to do this so the sugar replaces some of the water in the fruit and they don't get icy when frozen. Once all of the sugar was dissolved in the juice, I brought them to a simmer with 1/4 c of corn starch. I also included 4 of the insides of the cherry stones (which freaks some people out, but when you can roast them at 350 for 10 minutes if you're worried about it...I have to say the french and italians have been using them in small amts for years with no ill effects).
Once they cooled I stirred in about 2 - 3 T of Calvados (I was out of kirshwasser), again, to lower the freezing temp of the cherries so they'd stay softer. I refrigerated this mixture overnight. I also heat up a pint of cream from our local dairy with 1/2 c of sugar and then refrigerated it.
The next day I mixed the two together (after picking out the cherry stones) and froze it. Super yummy, and the fruit never got icy. It was a beautiful soft pink color with ruby cherries through out. I like making gelato a lot, and I try to not over freeze or churn it so it stays nice and dense. I even go very southern in my approach sometimes, and just use whole milk thickened with some kind of starch, it's the frugal sicilian in me.
regards,
trillium
trillium
wow!
do you get an almondy flavor from the cherry pit?
Yes, somewhat almondy, but a little bitter and herbal too. It somehow just makes it taste more like cherries. More subtle then almond extract. I do the same thing when I bake with peaches and apricots or make preserves.
regards,
trillium