Redsugar
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“ 'Make a remark,' said the Red Queen; 'it's ridiculous to leave all the conversation to the pudding!' ” – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Susheela Uhl wrote in the July 2001 edition of Food Product Design that “English puddings are popular desserts.” That is surely an example of simplistic understatement! As British restaurant critic, Terry Durack, confessed: "I could argue that sticky toffee pudding is an occupational hazard, but the truth is, I am not a restaurant critic for my health." (The Independent on Sunday; Jan. 25, 2004.) At least on this point, I offer Mr. Durack my sincerest understanding -- and a second helping of the pudding.
I have served a similar version of this recipe on more than a dozen occasions. Made with Wholesome Sweeteners’ Organic Succanat, the flavor of the pudding is transmuted to a hedonistic experience, Dervishly swirling the brain’s pleasure center. Best served with vanilla-bean ice cream, always enjoyed by the appreciative diners. And, I should add, the sticky-fingered cook, too.
Another scrumptious version of this excellent (and very filling dessert) is provided on p. 31 of Margaret Johnson’s Irish Puddings, Tarts, Crumbles, and Fools published last year by Chronicle Books. Her sauce comprises 2 fl. cups heavy cream, ½ cup dark-brown sugar, and 2 Tbsps. molasses or dark corn syrup. It looks most splendid when turned out of a scultped pudding mold. Clotted cream is an ideal accompaniment.
Likewise, Nigella Lawson – in keeping with her prefatory note, “Never Knowingly Undercatered” – offers ( Nigella Bites; Hyperion, 2002) a straighforward sticky-pudding cake:
110 g dark muscovado sugar
175 g self-raising flour
125 ml full-fat milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 g butter
200 g chopped dates
In D.C., Chef Bob Kinkead further enriches his sticky-toffee date puddings with dried cranberries & cherries (and even spoons fresh cherries into the port-flavored sauce). And, according to a report last year in Nation's Restaurant News, Gale Gand has served Sticky Toffee Pudding with a root beer float!
“Can there be more wanted on the Meditation on a Pudding? If more be wanted, more can be found.” – Samuel Johnson, in Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Dr. Johnson.
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Cricklewood: Ice Cream by Robert T. Marshall (Springer, 6th ed., 2003). Professionally targetted, it is comprehensive in scope – ingredients, composition & properties, flavoring & coloring materials, mix-formulation & other calculations, and various processing procedures. Expect to pay a premium (albeit sub-$100) price, unless you can locate a used copy!
Fundamentally simpler coverage (at a substantially lower retail price) is provided in Caroline Liddell & Robin Weir’s Frozen Desserts. It's a book I’ve often recommended to ice cream aficionados.
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“Give us the tools and we’ll get the job done.” ~ Churchill
Occasionally, I read a post on eG which is, at once, charming and instructive – and FistFullaRoux has delivered ideally! The traditional goose-feather brush consists of selected feathers lashed together for half its approx. 7-inch length. Like birch-twig whisks, it is possibly bought more often for its “folksy” decorative appearance than for its functional efficiency. We ought to do more than simply wax nostalgic for the feather pastry brushes: Lo and behold, it is a culinary answer-to-prayer when you see how splendidly it applies the thinnest possible egg-white glaze to delicate pastry lattices & shells.
In the broader view, the best general purpose brushes are either flat- or round-headed in design, and made of sterilized hog’s bristles set securely (one hopes!) in plain wooden handles. Flat brushes are designed much like house-painter’s brushes, with the bristles fastened into a tinned-steel band. Round brushes usually have the bristles secured directly into the handle, perhaps with an adhesive, such as non-interactive, non-toxic glue.
Nylon bristles are harder and less resilient than bristle. A major advantage of the silicone brushes is resistence to melting within a specified temperature range stated by the manufacture. (These brushes are widely distributed throughout the marketplace, as they can be found stocked, not only by kitchen/restaurant-equipment suppliers, but also in department & hardware stores.)
I’ve generally been satisfied using the various brushes I’ve purchased from King Arthur Flour Co. over the years. And the Oxo® pastry brushes are winners, too.
I would like to see greater availability of black-bristled brushes. The reason is akin to why I prefer to use brown-shelled eggs: A stray, colored bristle (or bit of eggshell) is more readily seen during most prep work than a neutral of white one. Otherwise, it might find it's way into the dental interstices of a guest's mouth!
[Edited for textual emphasis.)
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I notice Chef Giaccone holding the pan directly over the flame. (Does he measure the Marsala in the eggshells?) The particular attentiveness required is to hold the pan as steadily as possible, except at crucial moments when it needs to be veered from the heat in order to decellerate the emulsification. It’s probably advisable for most people making zabaglione the first few times, to use a double-boiler (even a makeshift one).
I’m quite unswervingly traditional making zabaglione – the general ratio is 6 large free-range egg yolks, about ¼ cup sieved (light) organic sugar, and 2 fl. oz. Marsala.
As fatmat noted, above, savoiardi biscuits (the Italian version of biscuits à la cuillière, used in authentic tiramisú). Langues de chat or zaletti (cornmeal cookies with currants) are delectable to consume with the froth, as well, along with fresh-cut fruit. And, of course, serving it in stemmed glassware maintains an indispensably elegant presentation.
Someday, I'll splurge on the purchase of a 6-cup copper sabayon pot.
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What's the secret for perfect slicing of the Fraisier, and the Dacquoise? Slice frozen, hot knife? Perfect slicing is the key to so many things, and I can never get a definitive answer.
Oh yes, Le Frasier -- the "strawberry-plant" cake!! (Your post seized my attention primarily because I make a frasier each July for my own birthday.) This mousseline-cream-filled sponge cake cake is chilled until the delectable moment you portion it with a serrated baker's knife (which features a thinner blade than that fitted on a bread knife.)
My knives at work are mostly Forschner Fibrox.
My three main slicing knives are: A Wüsthof 10-inch serrated bread knife & 10-inch serrated confectioners’ knife, the latter used for such baked-meringue confections as dacquoises, pavlovas, & vacherins; and a Forschner 12-inch baker’s knife for horizontally slicing denser products, such as lebkuchen cakes. Also, a 7-inch cake-knife blade is useful for slicing many types of layer cakes into service portions.
Angel food cake is easiest to slice (after it's been chilled) with a serrated knife, rather than one of those outsized steel hair-pick gadgets.
As Wendy has noted, a hot well-honed, plain-edged slicer is ideal for deftly cutting many non-meringue & non-puff-pastry items. (An Apple Jalousie, for example, is served close to room temperature; whereas a Gâteau Saint-Honoré is kept refrigerated until serving time. On the other hand, a Paris-Brest cream-puff ring is usually served within 1 hour of assembly; if not, it’s necessarily refrigerated.)
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something my most recent pastry chef introduced me to is Stroh Rhum which is made in Austria.
Austrian Stroh 80 is, to my palate, probably too fiery & astringently tannic for dessert cookery. (The distillery also produces a less potent Stroh 60.) Yet, although many top-rated rums are generally intended to be demonically pronounced in flavor, they do not all have culinary feasibility.
Recently, I've been using English Harbour 5yo .
However, the thread-starter explicitly asked for liqueur recommendations, rather than spirits in general.
My experience would subsume the following liqueurs in the must-have category:
Amongst the orange-flavored varieties, Grand Marnier is the most broadly useful due to its smooth, relatively mild cognac-based taste.
Cointreau, the other leading Curaçao, is more pronounced in flavor. It incorporates very successfully with strawberries and in soufflés; as well as in crêpes and other flambéed preparations.
Triple Sec is not a brand name – although that’s an error in denotation quite commonly made. It is, however, a type of Curaçao made from the peels of the same bittersweet green oranges as other Curaçao liqueurs.
Mandarine Napoleon is a mixture of distillate of Andalusian tangerines & old cognac, the type of tangerine used reportedly being a rare one. M.N. is styled softer than many Curaçao liqueurs. There’s also a Mandarine from Marie Brizard.
You can also find on the market, orange liqueurs produced by Dutch, German, and Italian firms.
Zwack (from Hungary) is the pear brandy I have most often used. (There’s also a German label called Kammer.)
Blackcurrant: The wonderful Vêdrenne Crème de Cassis; also Bramley & Gage from England and another French label, Lejay-Lagoute.
Black Raspberry liqueurs included the inimitable Chambord Royale and Marie Brizard Rose de Plombieres.
Coconut: Kalani from the Yucatan Penisula in Mexico.
Limoncello: Notably from either Caravella or Villa Massa.
You really ought to stock both Kahlua & Tia Maria for coffee liqueurs. Tia Maria is the spicier of the two.
The most notable nut liqueurs you'll want to shortlist are Amaretto di Saronno (almond), Frangelico and Crème de Noisette (hazelnut), and Nocello and Crème de Noix (walnuts). There're are lichee liqueurs, too, such as Soho.
The exotic La Grande Passion is a passion fruit liqueur from Grand Marnier.
Benedictine & Chartreuse (the yellow is sweeter than the green version) are palatable only to a minority of pastry cooks.
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Curlywurlyfi:
There are distinctions worth noting re the candying of apples:
Sticky-sweet caramelized apples are created by sautéing firm-apple wedges in caramel for several minutes. Quite delicious served over brown-bread-&-honey ice cream. Or, simply substitute apples flambéed in Calvados.
Toffee apples have a soft, brown toffee coating obtained by dipping (whole) crisp apples into hard-crack “brittle” syrup (dark-brown sugar, molasses, butter, vinegar).
Taffy apples, on the other hand, are the children’s classic apples encased in a clear, hard (sometimes red) sugary shellac.
Mention has been made of puréeing the apples – and, indeed, that’s plausible. I also like the idea of making a simple apple purée (rather than applesauce) – using 1 lb. cored, chopped Jonathan or Winesap apples, a sugar cube, 1 oz. of butter – and adding it to a caramel-based ice cream as it’s churning. (Leaving the apples unskinned would added color & texture to the ice cream or frozen yogurt.) Pure rum flavoring would accent the ice most favorably. (Marrons glacé or walnuts appear as accompaniments!)
I think both approaches can be greenlit.
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Crisp, juicy-tart Haralsons would venture successfully in recipes such as….
Apples à la Grecque.
Apple Bonne Femme.
Apple Confit, spiced with star anise.
Apple & Quince Charlotte.
Apple strudel in phyllo.
Sticky-sweet caramelized Apples.
Dumplings.
Turnovers (served with spiced crème fraîche).
And a dessert pizza – with Bosc pears, dried cranberries, mascarpone cheese.
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Autumnal Ice Cream Pairings:
Caramel…….with Apple Galette or Whiskey-Chocolate Cake
Black Walnut…..with Sticky Toffee Pudding
Cinnamon……with Plum Tart
Chestnut…….with Ginger-Brioche Bread Pudding
Cider…….with Apple-Pumpkin Strudel or Russian Tea Cakes
Brown Sugar-&-Sour Cream…..with Fruit Crisps
Café Brûlot…..with Hot Chocolate Soufflé
Goat Cheese…..with Apple Puff Turnovers
Crème Fraîche…...with, well, Stick Toffee Pudding!
Spiced Honey…..oh, most any apple-based dessert.
Cardamom……Port-Poached Pears
Curry…..with Sweet-Potato Cake
Cranberry...Pumpkin Upside-Down Cake
Applejack or Calvados…..Tart Tatin or Quince Pound Cake
Pumpkin……Gingerbread Pudding
Apple-Pie.....with Pumpkin Torte
Armagnac.....with Prune- (okay, dried plum) Chocolate Cake
Licorice (using an infusion of licorice root)…..Walnut Cookies
Happy churn-freezing!
Lawrence
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A supplement to the titles recommended by Andiesenji, posted above:
Beverly Cox: Biscuits, Pancakes, and Quick Breads.
James Villas: Biscuit Bliss.
Sue Carroll: Breakfast at Nine, Tea at Four.
Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough: The Ultimate Muffin Book.
Allysa Torey: More from Magnolia.
Dorie Greenspan: Waffles from Morning to Midnight
Heidi Cusick (ed.): Scones, Muffins, & Tea Cakes: Breakfast Breads and Teatime Spreads.
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McDuff – En route to finding satisfying answers, please consult this relevant set of FAQs:
http://www.chocolatefountainsales.com/choc...n_questions.htm
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Maceration – the term applies specifically to fruits; whereas “marinade” pertains to usage with seafood & meats.
Fruitcakes have become the object of every form of bad culinary joke – predominantly because most North Americans, exposed increasingly to little more than insipid store-bought or mail-order products, do not know (or have forgotten) what great fruitcake tastes like. In the US South, aficianados of this confection are, by tradition, fiercely proud of their fruitcakes, and disputes can become heated when it comes to which ingredients are indipensable, exactly how a cake should be mixed, and the length time it must be aged. Because of their high alcohol & sugar content, “heirloom fruitcakes” that are moistened from time to time with additional spirits and kept in sealed containers can be preserved for many years.
Purists believe that the ideal fruitcake should be baked at least one year in advance of serving. It should be wrapped well, stored in an airtight container to mellow in the refrigerator – where it’s pampered with occasional dousings of bourbon, rum or sweet (such as blackberry!) wine. Nevertheless, to venture an answer as to "why" some are ready to be eaten quite soon, even a well-made fruitcake in its infancy has the abilitiy to produce instant gratification.
Using two standard loaf pans, one of my favorite fruitcakes to bake contains orange-juice-softened dried apples & apricots, sultanas, dates, and pecans. The cakes are doused with the spirits (brandy & orange liqueur) only afterwards. Success with these cakes have been essentially invariable.
My largest fruitcake (baked in a 10-inch tube pan & two loaf pans) contains a whopping six pounds of dried fruit which is not macerated before it’s added to the batter along with ¾ cup bourbon. After the cakes have been removed from their pans, glazed & decorated, I wrap them securely in muslin cloth, over-wrap with foil, then store for at least a month before cutting. Beyond that time, I sprinkle the cloth with bourbon about every 6 weeks.
However, (as you’ve indicated), the dried fruit can, indeed, be macerated prior to being spooned into the batter. A good example recipe is supplied in Malouf’s The Hudson River Valley Cookbook (Harvard Common Press, 1998), in which dried cherries, cranberries, and golden raisins are simmered in brandy for 5 minutes, then allowed to steep. (see pp.274f.) Likewise, a baker in my area macerates his fruitcake’s almonds, raisins, currants, and dates in brandy or cognac overnight at room temp. (The pineapple is cooked on the stovetop; then brandy, cherry juice, and preserves are added.)
The optimal benefit from macerating the fruits is that the steeping provides an infusion or melding of flavours which are then imparted to the baked cake. As your post is vague regarding actual measurements & proportions used in your fruitcake, please supplement with further details. Then you’ll see the suggestions flow in this topic thread!
In the meantime, interested readers search the Arizona Daily Star Web site for an article by Rebecca J. Boten, “Serious Fruitcake.” (Originally published on Dec. 22, 2004.) I downloaded a copy several months ago: I assure you that it’s well-worth accessing.
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Add the chopped chocolate gradually to the warmed cream. Once the chocolate is melted & well-blended, then add vanilla extract and the spirit – say, 1-1½ fl. oz. per pound of chocolate.) Some cooks add the liqueur to the cream before stirring in the chocolate, but I prefer the former sequence.) At service, remember to keep the flame low beneath the fondue pot(s). And have plenty of clean skewers available.
I had thought that chocolate fondue was originally from the 1950s; however, it may have been created by Swiss-born Konrad Igli in 1964 at his New York City restaurant:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/4519
A French refugee introduced cheese fondue to a Boston restaurateur in 1794! (Source: James Trager, The Food Chronology, p. 189)
I’ve located some practical fundamentals re chocolate fondueing:
http://www.chocolatemonthclub.com/pastnews...ers/vol5no8.htm
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"This is the age, among things, of chocolate."
~ J.B. Priestly: English Journey
Essentially, you’ll be making & holding a tempered ganache. Melting the chocolate slowly is, naturally, requisite. I like to add kahlua or kirschwasser to the blend. Also, coffee. El Rey white chocolate would provice a superlative pot!
Have you shortlisted your top choices for the items to be dipped? You may like to consider: Portions of angel & pound cake, and perhaps croissants, too. Some of the more ideal fruits are those which can be speared easily by the guests (after all, you’ll want to keep the whole procedure simplistically elegant & thoroughly maintained. Whereas bananas would be troublesome, apples, fresh pineapple chunks & Satsuma oranges, e.g., would be ideal.
Will children be in attendance at the buffet? Hopefully, they’ll be supervised constantly! Could you have a fondue prepared that contains, say peanut butter? It’s likely such a (non-alchoholic) flavor combination would be appealing to the youthful subset.
Incidentally, have you known of Forever Fondue – the all-fondue restaurant in La Jolla, CA?
http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/168516/
And a nationwide string of franchises: The Melting Pot! Visit the corporate Web site, click on the map (under “Menu & Locations”) and you’ll be transferred to specific restaurants where you can download the comprehensive menu as a .pdf document. You may expect to glean a good many ideas to inspire your own preparations:
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"At the bottom of each ramekin, place bits of dried apricots that have been slowly poached with Sherry & raspberry preserves. Top with a layer of génoise; then fill up with the custard."
For this one you mean
you fill with custard on top of the layer of genoise.
then you bake it like a regular brulee??
Yes, that's the exact sequence of filling the dishes.
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Yvegeny, et. al. – Pangea brand is available:
http://www.veganstore.com/index-store.html...itemsperpage=12
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It appears that I'm getting in under-the-wire with my contribution to the "build" of this topic. Nevertheless....
I have made both lavender- & maple-flavored crème brûlées (as recommended, above), and they deserve to be shortlisted. (Tip: In a food processor, blend sugar with fresh lavender flowers and use that mixture to make the crusts!)
The milk-chocolate-malted is a version I must bake off soon.
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At the bottom of each ramekin, place bits of dried apricots that have been slowly poached with Sherry & raspberry preserves. Top with a layer of génoise; then fill up with the custard.
Accompany “plain” crème brûlée with prune- & almond-filled risoles. Serve with Moscat de Beaumes de Venise.
Present your crème brûlées in tostada shells that have been lined with sliced peaches & bananas, drizzled with chocolate.
On each service plate, decoratively arrange cubes of cantaloupe & honeydew with kiwis & raspberries. Top with the crème brûlée, spangled with crackly golden caramel.
My other suggestions comprise:
►Crème Fraîche Crème Brûlée!
►Kabocha squash
►A lavender-hued Port crème brûlée (served with a selection of cheeses, dates, and roasted hazelnuts).
►Passionfruit
►Coconut (with coconut foam & tropical-fruit salsa).
►Cardamom (with pomegranate sauce).
►Chocolate (with kirschwasser-spiked cherries).
►Lemongrass (with mango sorbet & juilienned crystallized ginger ).
►Ginger (with white peach-Sangria sorbet).
►Banana (with chocolate-glazed madeleines).
►Key lime (with small banana fritters).
►Fig (served with icewine.)
►Duck-eggs!
[Edited, after recognizing that I wouldn't have aced today's wine-name spelling bee!]
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Fresh cranberries are now available here in the N.E. – mix them with pears for a dazzlingly colorful pie, cobbler, or crisp. K43’s input, above, excellently suggests making tart tatin (possibly using a combination of peaches & pears) – for which, if I may so observe, Amaretto Ice Cream is a hedonistic accompaniment.
As for Pear Pear, consider using a hazelnut crust and serve it with Milk-Chocolate Ice Cream (a worthy recipe for the latter is offered by Stephen Durfee in Fine Cooking #40, pp. 54f.). A ground vanilla bean (or Cook’s vanilla powder) is a an ideal ingredient to include in the crumble topping, along with flour, sugar, and butter. Allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple, and Marsala also pleasantly accent the flavour of pears – which is to say, such flavorings could be used in the filling or in a sauce anglaise. And, yes, crystallized ginger and either aged white cheddar or goat cheese “pair well with pears,” too. (Especially when served with luscious pear butter spread over muffins & quick bread!)
Please note the filling ingredients for the premium-rated, comfort-food Pear Pie served at the Stumbling Goat Bistro in Seattle:
12 ripe pears; 2 fl. oz. maple syrup; ½ cup golden raisins; 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon; 2 Tbsps. potato starch; 1 oz. butter.
I enjoy making an open-face pear tart in a toasted-nut pastry, brushing the fruit with apricot glaze, boosted with pear liqueur. (Red currant or raspberry jelly can also be used.)
Choosing the most suitable variety of pear for a specific type of dessert is almost as crucial as the right selection of apple. Referring to notes I’ve recorded in my baking journal: Pear-Apple Compote (Anjou or Bartlett); Tart Tatin (Bosc); Chutney (Bosc); Brandied Pears (Forelle or Seckle); Poached (Bosc, Comice, Forelle, Seckle); Caramelized with Madeira (Rocha); Pear Jam (Bartlett).
My top-ranked pears for eating out-of-hand are Concorde & the delicately perfumed juicy-sweet Taylor’s Gold from New Zealand.
A book to consult is The Great Pear Book (Ten Speed Press, 2000) by Barbara Flores. (See, e.g., her recipe for a classic elegant dessert that can be re-imagined in so many subtle ways...Poire Belle Hélène. She serves hers with a Fra Angelico Chocolate Sauce.)
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Cream cheese is an American addition to rugelach. I have found mention of it in Mildred O. Knopf’s The Perfect Hostess, published unsurprisingly (!) by Knopf in 1950 (my ed. from 1958). Yet, even earlier citations were made, as evidenced by the fairly in-depth research available at The Food Timeline.
I have not seen the Portale recipe. Nevertheless, I bake rugelach (using equal measurements of butter & cream cheese in the pastry) at 375° F. for about 18 minutes. Orange-poppy seed & chocolate are my favorite variations: These scrumptious crescent cookies freeze well, too.
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By way of example, there is an Amy Pearce recipe for Caramelized Fig Cake in Tucker & Enloe’s The Artful Vegan: Fresh Flavors from the Millennium Restaurant (Ten Speed Press, 2003). Substitute the called-for canola oil with e.v. coconut oil – and brush the pan with the latter oil as well. It’s also delicious to use in carrot cakes and pineapple upside-down cakes. (I’ve never used coconut flour, but it sounds like an intriguing product.)
Coconut & figs pair exquisitely in other combinations, too – coconut crème brûlée and coconut panna cotta would both star appropriately with dried figs poached in red wine. Or spoon the poached figs onto a melon-&-mint salad, then garnish with coconut chips.
I must add that Sugarbuzz's suggestions (pumpkin, orange, Armagnac, maple syrup, Mascarpone) are admirably inspired. A pumpkin-fig combo could be very captivating. Thank you!. (What is the name of that pumpkin syrup used by Mexican cooks?)
In her book, A Feast of Fruits, Elizabeth Riely included recipes for "Figs with Marsala & Mascarpone," "Fig Frangipane Tart," Figs Poached in Madeira," and "Baked Figs in Brandy or Port." (pp. 93-97)
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“Now sing of the fig, Simiane,
Because its loves are hidden.” – André Gide
It's probable that I would need to sternly restrained from consuming an entire tray of fresh black-mission figs with pale-rose interiors or greenish golden-fleshed ones. Such is the nature of one of my few publically confessed weaknesses….
Luscious figs ally in the pastry kitchen most notably with:
*Fresh raspberries (as jgarner53 zestfully offered, above) and a premium raspberry liqueur – such as Chambord Royale, La Salamandre, or Marie Brizard Crème de Framboise. Kirschwasser & orange-flavored spirits, too.
*Fortified wines, such as Marsala and Sherry (Persimmon Sherry, from the White Owl Winery in Illinois, has a great depth of flavor). A great Spanish brandy
*Cream of coconut & extra-virgin coconut oil. (Please become acquainted with that splendid oil; it’s the healthiest on the planet!)
*Candied citrus peel, pignoli, walnuts, ground mace.
*Caramelized, figs are lovely served with crème brûlée – or hedonistically scooped into a clafouti (richly served, I’d suggest, with caramel crème anglaise).
*Tarte aux Figues: A generous offering of the fresh fruit served on packets of pâte feuilletée. See, e.g., Ann Willan, La France Gastronomique (p. 59) and Robert Carrier’s enchanting Feasts of Provence (p. 181). Also refer to the recipe for Petites Tranches aux Figues in Hilary Walden’s Pâtisserie of France (p. 88). Seeking a different, but more elegant presentation? Consider serving figs wrapped in packets of phyllo. Easy to make; and an orange-flower water crème anglaise can be prepared the day before serving.
*A Lady Baltimore Cake traditionally has dried figs in the filling, but I suspect it would be too-over-the-top for your gathering. A better suggestion is that you Google-search for a recipe to bake a dried-fig cake called "Torta di fichi e noci." It’s a no-fuss preparation made in a springform pan. Saveur had published a recipe for scrumptious Fig-&-Almond Cake in its Nov./Dec., 1996 issue, and perhaps it’s freely available on the magazine’s Web site. Sherry Cream is a pleasant accompaniment to a fig-studded cake:
Whip to blend 16 fl. oz. well-chilled cream with about 5 tbsps golden sugar; add 2-3 fl. oz. of Cream Sherry and continue to whip to nicely buoyant soft peaks.
Thomas Keller paired Roasted Figs w/ Wildflower-Honey Vanilla I.C. I made the ice cream one summer to eat with wild blueberries...alas, no figs! (The French Laundry Cookbook, p. 284).
*And – ta, da! – honorable mention in a discussion of this subject must be accorded to the mahogany-hued Figuon:
http://www.liquoristerie-provence.fr/figgb.htm
You may like to refer to recipe ideas offered by the California Fig Advisory Board en route to making your decision:
[Edited to correct pesky mispellings.]
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The first-known recipes for Angel Food Cake were published in the 1880s.
To begin, it is imperative that your egg whites be ready at room temperature. They are the basic ingredient and are pretty much the sole leavening.
Use an ungreased angel-food pan. Indeed, be sure all bowls & utensils are spotlessly free of grease.
Use cake flour rather than AP and sift it several times.
Because of its lightless, angel cake is usually served with little or no icing. (Chocolate versions being the most common exception.) Lori Longbotham embellishes her cakes with an appealing Lemon Glaze. [see Luscious Lemon Desserts (Chronicle Books, 2001); pp. 20-22.] Add a few drops of good-quality grenadine syrup to give it a special enhancement. Also refer to the Orange-Angel Food Cake offered by Barbara Scott-Goodman & Mary Goodbody, The Garden Entertaining Cookbook: Recipes & Menus for Casual Dining Outdoors – another Chronicle publication, 2001; pp. 125f.
It’s really best to break apart the cake, rather than slice it. Or try using one of those large comblike tools. If a knife must be used, I’d suggest choosing a thin, well-honed serrated blade dipped in water.
Here is the recipe I’ve used most often for summertime service; I very much like to use crème anglaise as an accompaniment along with fresh, slightly tart berries, know they act as a nice foil for the sweetness of the cake. Yet, macerated strawberries also generate smiles.
1¾ cups free-range egg whites (about 14 whites)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp fine salt
1¾ cups granulated white sugar
1¼ cups sifted cake flour
1½ tsps vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
¾ tsp fresh lemon juice
When you pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, then rap the pan on the work surface. Bake in a 300° F. oven until golden brown and springy to the touch. Remove cake from pan by loosening it around the edges with a long thin-bladed metal palette knife. If you like to add rosewater, please be sure to use triple-filtered!
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Blackberry-&-Apple Pie – one of the classics of English cookery in late Summer, when the hedgerows are full of blackberries. It will bring a tear to the eye of the staunchest expatriate. A year ago, I made Ken Haedrich’s recipe for Blueberry-Apple Lattice Pie, substituting blackberries. [Apple Pie Perfect (Harvard Common Press, 2002), pp. 84f.]
Put up a batch of blackberry conserve, thus to bake a homey Southern Blackberry-Jam Cake.
Use plums & blackberries for a less-sweet variation on strawberry shortcakes. Enhance the fruit-compote filling w/ Vedrenne Crème de cassis.
The flavour of blackberries also succeeds as a sorbet to accompany melon.
Top a glazed custard tart w/ blackberries & raspberries.
Make Blackberry Fools & Syllabubs. Or a Kissel – a tart, pureéd dessert of Russian origin, which is made with various berries and has a thickish consistency in-between a custard pudding and gelatin. Serve in stemmed glasses.
Serve them atop maple crème brûlée or, as Nicole Routhier has suggested, a margarita mousse.
Mix 1½ cups berries w/ 1 cup granulated sugar & 1/3 cup blackberry brandy; let stand for 2-3 hours; then stir into vanilla I.C. base.
Make a seedless jam and use it as filling for a walnut torte.
Bake a Blackberry-Lemon Cobbler using cornmeal in the topping and serve it w/ Peach I.C. Similarly, the berries could be added to an Apple Pandowdy.
“If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries I would give no man a reason upon compulsion.” ~ Shakespeare, Henry IV, Pt. 1.
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Ice Cream & Sorbet Cookbooks
in Cookbooks & References
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Notwithstanding, the Marshall & Arbuckle book provides scientific explanations of ice cream manufacture. It is, albeit, aimed at a readership intent on operating a commercial-scale business. Similarly, Malcolm Stogo’s book (published by Wiley) is explicitly written for entrepreneurs functioning on the commercial level – however, it has cogent value for shortlisting as a solid overall reference volume, as it covers batch & continuous freezing processes, the assiduousness of hygiene, flavor ingredients, various aspects of marketing, as well as providing ice cream & gelato recipes.
An instructive and very readable book is Gail Damerow’s Ice Cream! The Whole Scoop (1994). (There’s even a chapter on “Emulsifiers & Stabilizers.”) Recommended.
As Andiesenji noted, above, Sarah Tenaglia’s Williams-Sonoma book offers only a few recipes in its content. A better buy, in terms of content richness, is the Scarborough & Weinstein book. (The same writing team released The Ultimate Frozen Dessert Book earlier this year; it’s a 500-recipe compendium of frozen confectionery in a broad range of categories.
The Oriol Balaguer volume is for the affluent book shopper, as it is exorbitantly priced.