Labels: travel

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut out 2 parchment rounds that will fit in the bottoms of your two 8-inch cake pans. Grease the pans with butter. Place the parchment rounds in the bottoms of the pans, and grease them. Dust the pans with flour and tap out the excess.
2. Mix the cocoa and espresso powder and pour the boiling water and mix until smooth. When it's cooled to room temperature, add the vanilla.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
4. Beat butter in electric mixer set to medium-high speed about 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar and beat until the mixture is fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating one minute after each addition. Scrape down the bowl.
5. With mixer on the lowest speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed immediately by 1/3 of the cocoa mixture; mix until the ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter. Repeat process twice more. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 30 seconds.
6. Pour the batter evenly divided into the cake pans. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool in the pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Run knife to loosen cake from pans and invert cakes, peeling off parchment paper. Turn the cakes right side up and cool entirely. Prepare the frosting.

Vanilla bean buttercream:
2 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 8 pieces

1. Bring a pan of water to a simmer. Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla bean contents and salt in bowl of standing mixer and set over the simmering water. Whisk constantly to keep the eggs from curdling. Continue whisking until the mixture is foamy and is 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
2. Set the bowl in the stand mixer and beat with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and airy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add butter one piece at a time until each piece is incorporated. (Keep adding the butter, even if it starts looking curdled; it'll correct itself once all the butter is added.)
3. Frost the inside layer of the cake. You can freeze the rest of the buttercream for another recipe. (To thaw, set at room temperature until softened.)
4. Use a paper doily or cut paper into shapes for dusting powdered sugar on the top of the cake.

Links:
SHF 27: Chocolate by Brand
Wikipedia: Droste effect

Labels: recipes, the chocolatey, the sweet

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Cut a round of parchment paper to fit the removable base. Place in the tart pan and butter the parchment paper as well.
2. Combine the walnuts, almonds, sugar and salt in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add the lemon zest and process just a bit more, until combined.
3. Turn the mixture into a large bowl and add the flour, allspice and cinnamon. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry knife until it resembles coarse meal. Whisk the egg and vanilla together and add to the flour mixture. Use your hand to combine until the dough comes together.
4. Turn the dough onto some cling wrap and divide into three equal pieces. Combine two of the pieces into a single ball, flatten into a 5-inch disk, wrap in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator.
5. Place the third piece on the tart pan bottom (which is lined in the parchment paper), cover with a piece of cling wrap and roll out the dough until it is the size of the tart pan bottom. Remove the cling wrap and place the tart bottom in the tart pan. Place on a baking sheet, prick holes into the dough with a fork and bake the tart bottom for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. (This prebaking keeps the bottom of the tart from getting soggy when the filling is added.)
6. For the filling, mix together the raspberry preserves with the lemon juice and set aside until needed.
7. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Now to make the sides of the tart. Break off one-third of it and with your hands roll it into a rope about 3/8-inches in diameter. Press it into the sides of the tart pan (the dough is very forgiving) until you have the sides all the way around.
8. Set the remainder of the dough onto parchment paper. Roll the dough into a 9-inch square, approximately. Cut into strips that are 3/4-inches wide. You should have at least 10 strips. (You'll probably have extra just in case.) Slide the parchment paper with the dough on it onto a baking sheet, cover loosely with a sheet of parchment and freeze for 20 minutes.
9. Spread the preserves mixture evenly onto the tart.
10. Take the dough strips out of the freezer and invert. Carefully remove the dough strips as you are making the lattice on the top of the tart. Start with an 'X' in the middle, and alternate the strips around it to create the lattice pattern.
11. Brush with heavy cream. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour and serve with vanilla whipped cream.

Labels: recipes, the sweet

Labels: recipes, the sweet

1. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Combine the flour, brown sugar, orange zest and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and cut it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. (Alternatively, use a food processor.) Stir in the egg with a fork, then use your hands to knead the mixture until it resembles, well, a ball of dough. Flatten the dough into a 6-inch disk, wrap in cling wrap and place in refrigerator for at least an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 3/4 of the dough between two sheets of cling wrap to about a 13-inch circle (set aside the other 1/4 of the dough for the top of the tart). Set it into the springform pan. Don't worry if it tears; the dough is really forgiving, so just pat it into the bottom and sides of the pan. Scatter the breadcrumbs along the bottom of the tart crust. Place it into the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
3. Core and peel the apples. Divide each apple into 16 slices. (Place the apples in a bowl of ice water so they don't turn brown.) Drain the apple slices and combine with the cornstarch, salt, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
4. Roll out the remaining crust dough into strips to create a lattice-like top. (Don't worry about making it perfect-- it'll sort of 'melt' in the oven anyway.)
5. Place the apple mixture (but make sure not to include the accumulated liquid) into the tart crust and lay the lattice-dough-strips on top.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Remove and cool on a cooling rack-- once it's cooled to room temperature, remove the springform sides. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Labels: recipes, the sweet