A Couple of Cakes

Since discontinuing my website, I have been slowly bringing into this blog recipes that once were only on the website. It is taking time, as there are a lot of them that were once only on the website, but I am working them down, and today I wanted to put two cake recipes in here that are truly delicious. One uses rhubarb, which is not available everywhere at this time of year, but do file this recipe away for spring, because it is worth it! The other can be made most any time, using cornmeal!

The Rhubarb Pecan Coffeecake recipe is one I originally experimented with using gluten free flour mixtures, such as this simple "6-2-1 Flour Mixture." The end result is quite different in color and texture, but made with regular all-purpose flour or substituting 1:1 with the gluten free flour mixture makes no difference at all to the great flavors.

Rhubarb Pecan Coffeecake

Rhubarb Pecan Coffeecake

Rhubarb Pecan Coffeecake

Makes one 9 x 13 pan

CAKE:
½ cup butter
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
2½ cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup chopped pecans

STREUSEL TOPPING:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup light brown sugar
4 - 5 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon

CAKE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together the butter and sugar; beat in the eggs and vanilla. Whisk or sift together the dry ingredients, to combine. Alternately beat in the dry ingredients and the sour cream. Stir in the rhubarb and nuts. Pour into a greased 13 x 9 pan. 

STREUSEL: Mix the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Work in the butter until it looks like large crumbs. Sprinkle over the cake. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

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The other cake I am sharing here is the Sour Cream Polenta Cake with Honey Orange Glaze. It is a small, single layer cake with an extremely tender and moist crumb, as well as a little bit of texture, due to the cornmeal. The glaze was made with honey and Grand Marnier liqueur, but orange juice could be substituted for the liqueur. I served this cake with dollops of Mascarpone Whipped Cream, which was just the perfect accompaniment.

Sour Cream Polenta Cake with Honey Orange Glaze

 

Sour Cream Polenta Cake with Honey Orange Glaze

Makes one 9-inch single-layer cake

Sour Cream Polenta Cake
with Honey Orange Glaze

CAKE:
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon orange zest in thin matchsticks
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cardamom seeds, coarsely smashed
1 stick unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
¾ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

GLAZE:
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier Liqueur, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch spring-form pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and spray the parchment. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients and set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter with the sugar. Once creamy, add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the sour cream and vanilla to combine. Add in the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the Honey Orange Glaze. Combine the two ingredients and heat in the microwave on short bursts. Once cake is done, set on the counter and with a pastry brush, spread the Honey Orange Glaze over the hot cake repeatedly, until it is all used. Allow the cake to cool. Remove the rim of the spring-form pan and quickly flip the cooled cake over onto a rack. Remove the parchment and then set a cake plate over the cake and flip it back over, so the top remains upwards. Serve wedges of the cake with the Mascarpone Whipped Cream. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Peaches and Mascarpone Spelled Dessert

Last week I had planned to make a cake and ice it with (what I thought was) a recipe using mascarpone cheese. I bought two containers of mascarpone just for this. Until I went to the recipe to see what else was in it - only to find it had no mascarpone at all. What?!?

Totally confused, I searched the magazine and found zero uses for mascarpone cheese in an icing. How I misled myself into this belief is beyond me, but hey, I am chalking it up to fate. It is a great excuse to use mascarpone in other applications. Yesterday was the first one, and I came up with an idea for a tart. 

Peach Mascarpone Tart with Tarragon Shortbread Crust

On Mascarpone

Peach Mascarpone Tart
with Tarragon Shortbread Crust

If anyone in the blogging world does not yet know what mascarpone cheese is, the simple explanation is that it is an Italian version of cream cheese. While I have absolutely nothing against good old Philly cream cheese, mascarpone just has a better flavor, a different flavor, a better feel, just more depth of character. If Philly is your everyday face, then mascarpone is your totally dressed-up face. This is my own feeling on the matter. Still, maybe you get the picture.

Unlike Philly, one thing to caution about mascarpone: it is best not to over beat it, as it becomes grainy very easily. That said, mascarpone can strengthen and stabilize whipped cream so that it will stand up to refrigeration for days without weeping or losing its shape and texture. This makes any pie with a whipped cream topping (Key Lime, anyone) a total breeze to make slightly in advance rather than having to do things last minute. Pipe rosettes of this stable whipped cream onto a cheesecake for decoration. Use it between cake layers. It has been the most wonderful discovery I've made in years. To make this wonderful stable whipped cream, here is what I do:

Mascarpone Whipped Cream

 

Mascarpone Whipped Cream

Mascarpone Whipped Cream is shown atop a Cherry Custard Tart in the photo at right.

Makes about 3 cups

1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

With a mixer, beat the one cup of whipping cream until it holds very soft peaks. Add in the confectioners' sugar and beat until it holds stiff peaks. Stop the mixer and add in the mascarpone cream. Beat again just until combined. Beating too long will cause the mascarpone to look curdled.

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Okay, I so totally lost my train of thought there, but my goal is to tell you about the wonderful dessert tart I came up with yesterday. It was one of those experiments that went totally right. While rich, it was not terribly sweet, and totally full of flavor. I called it Peach Mascarpone Tart with Tarragon Shortbread Crust. A mouthful to say, but wait till you taste it. 

I used a 9-inch tart pan with a removable rim, so I could set the finished tart onto a fancy plate for serving. The only aspect of this dessert that I would do any differently is to ensure that the crust is pressed all the way up the sides of the tart pan's rim. The reason for this is that when I filled the shell with the mascarpone filling, it reached higher than the crust. The filling is just the slightest bit runny, and with the peaches set on after the filling, it reached much higher. It did not overflow or leak when baking, however I did have to go all around the pan, loosening the filling and crust from the fluted rim of the tart pan. Not horrible, but it was a bit time consuming. Some of the crust still stuck a bit, which you can see on the photo at top of page. Made absolutely no difference to the flavor though!

If you use a tart pan that does not have a removable rim, also be sure to press the crust mixture high, which ensures the slices can be cut and removed for serving with ease. The tart is not terribly thick / deep, so the portions are easy to handle, even after a large meal.  

For the St. Germain liqueur, if not using, sprinkle a little water into the crust, if needed, and for the filling just substitute a teaspoon of vanilla and a little water, if needed.

Peach Mascarpone Tart with Tarragon Shortbread Crust

Peach Mascarpone Tart
with Tarragon Shortbread Crust

Makes one 9 or 10-inch tart

CRUST:
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup cornstarch
1½ teaspoons finely minced fresh tarragon
5½ tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
⅓ cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon St. Germain elderflower liqueur, optional

FILLING:
1 cup (8-ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons St. Germain elderflower liqueur, optional
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1½ cups sliced peaches, fresh or frozen

Make crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready a tart pan.

Whisk together the flour, cornstarch and tarragon in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, Cream together the butter and confectioners' sugar. Stir in the flour mixture and mix lightly to combine. Add in the elderflower liqueur and toss lightly. Pour into the tart pan and using fingers, press into bottom and sides. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden. Remove from oven and cool.

While crust cools, make the filling: In a smaller mixing bowl combine the mascarpone, egg yolks, sugar. Mix together with a fork, or extremely briefly with a hand mixer, to just combine. Add in the liqueur, if using. If not, just add a little vanilla.

If using fresh peaches, peel and slice the peach(es) into thin wedges, as the filling is not deep. Have them ready.
Pour the filling mixture into the cooled crust and set the peach wedges on top. The peaches might be substituted with berries, if preferred. Bake the tart until the filling is just set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before serving. 

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.