A Victorian Rose Poundcake recipe? Me?

Yeah.

I am really all about chocolate when it comes to desserts. I like things to be intense.  When I painted I painted still lifes on very dark backgrounds, very much in the style of the Dutch Masters of the 1600s.  When I listen to music I like it to be fast, and intense.. I dislike small talk..I want to know what people are thinking.  Some people think that I am…intense.  So…yeah…chocolate it my flavor of choice.

There is just nothing girly about me.  At least not that I will admit to or let you see. But..there is something about Victorian style,Victorian teas, Victorian homes…….sigh…

This pound cake fascinated me.  The color, the ingredients, the flavors…there are some changes I plan to make in it  next time.  I will add edible rose petals for color. I will probably add some chopped white chocolate, but all in all this is nice.

Perfect for a tea.  This is a light dessert, sweet without being intensely sweet, and the flavors are very delicate.  I made two loaves, one to eat fresh and one to eat the next day.  I wanted to see if there were any flavor and texture changes.  The texture was unchanged, however the flavor had matured and so I really do suggest that you make this the day before you want to serve it.  I served it with a few macerated strawberries.  I macerated them for an hour in a little sugar and about 1 tbs of rosewater.  It would be equally good with raspberries, a little clotted cream, or lightly sweetened whipped cream.  Think light and delicate with this.

Tea would definitely be better than coffee.  I would suggest a Darjeeling if you are having only one tea.  If you are having more than one I think that the following would be good:

Teavana Cloud 9

Tea Avenue Romantic Time 

Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Rose 

So there are my suggestions for go withs.  This Victorian Rose Poundcake would be a great finish to the Roast Chicken with Herbs de Provence.

The texture is a little drier and lighter than regular pound-cake due to the fact that is it leavened only with egg whites.  Fold carefully so that you don’t deflate them, and of course, be sure not to over beat.

I found that covering the almonds with water and then microwaving worked better than pouring boiling water over them for blanching and removing skins.

Victorian Poundcake 

1/2 c unblanched almonds, whole

1/4 c rose water

1 tsp almond extract

1 c unsalted butter

2 c super fine sugar, or run sugar through the blender

1/2 tsp salt

12 egg whites (about 1 1/2 c), room temp.

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.  Set aside

Preheat oven to 350F.

Put almonds in a microwave safe bowl with water to cover.  Microwave until water comes to a boil and then remove.  Let cool.  When water has cooled take almonds out and slip the skins off.  Allow to dry on a towel.

Put the almonds into a food processor and pulse until the nuts are coarsely chopped. Add the rose water, and almond extract, and continue to pulse until the mixture is pasty but not totally smooth.

Remove 1/3 cup of the egg whites and set aside.

Rinse the mixer bowl and beaters with a little lemon juice. Drain the juice out and add the remaining egg whites. Beat until foamy.  Continue to beat while slowly  adding 1/2 c sugar. Beat to peaks that curl slightly when beaters are removed.

Remove whites from bowl, or use a second beater bowl.

Beat the butter until creamy.  Add the sugar and continue beating until smooth and graininess is gone.  Scrape the bowl and beaters and beat a few more minutes.

Add in almond mixture, reserved egg whites, and salt. beat until thoroughly mixed.

Now add in the flour by hand mixing well.  You can use a mixer but adding by hand will keep the texture more delicate.

Once the flour is incorporated into the butter, start adding the egg whites in.  Fold in 1/3 of the whites to lighten the batter and then fold in the remaining whites carefully.

Spoon the batter into the loaf pans and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Start checking for doneness after an hour.  When done the cakes will have a crack int he top and a toothpick will come out clean.

Let cool for 20 minutes in the pans, then loosen from the pans and turn out to finish cooling.  Wrap and leave at room temp for 24 hours for best flavor.

2 loaves.

The kitchen smells heavenly when these are baking.

All content on this page (c)2008 Marye Audet for Baking Delights, http://bakingdelights.com. Any other use is stealing.  Uncle Guido does not like stealers.

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I don’t do cupcakes much. I guess with 5 boys, 3 girls, and a husband that considers 6 dozen cookies an apertif I just always made things in large quantities. Large, FILLING quantities. Cupcakes seem sweet and delicate to me.

But yesterday I wanted something different. I had made chicken with apples and lavender for TRGWT. hosted by Vanielje Kitchen and I was serving brown rice and mushroom risotto with it. I had worked on another foodie challenge all day and needed something simple..we have meetings at church each evening this week, too. So….hmmm….CUPCAKES!
Cupcakes are quick, easy to do, cute, and in my house anyway, unusual enough to be considered party food. Of course, in my house, EVERYthing is considered party food. Bologna sandwich? MMMM! PARTY!
Seriously. I don ‘t know where they get it.
These are deliciously light and tender, delicately flavored with almond and lemon peel. They take less than an hour from start to finish and you know you deserve to have one with that cup of coffee this afternoon!

Almond Cupcakes
1/2 c butter, room temp
2/3 to 1 c sugar( depends on how sweet you like it)
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond
zest of one small lemon
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c milk
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts and lemon peel. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder, stir in and then beat in milk.
Pour into lined muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes at 350. cool

Cream Cheese Almond Frosting

8 oz cream cheese room temp
4 tbs butter
3 c confectioners sugar
1 tsp almond
1/2 tsp vanilla

beat butter and cream cheese together until mixed. Add rest of ingredients and beat until fluffy. Add a little cream if needed to get the right consistency. Use to frost cupcakes.

makes 12

Image: (c)MaryeAudet

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When I got married back in the dark ages it was a well kept secret (by me) that I could not cook. I could make bread, brownies, and spagetti. My mom was of the school that felt the less time I spent in the kitchen the less mess she had to deal with. My 6′6″ husband came with no operating instructions but a HUGE appetite. I was amazed at the amount of food he could put down…He ate more in a meal than I ate in several days and I am not exaggerating. As you can see this was not a promising combination. I would wait for him to go to the base (we were military) and I would begin supper. Sometimes I had to cook a recipe several times (and throw out the result) before the finished product was edible and I became adept at turning a failure into something edible by calling it something else. It turns out that this was one of the best cooking lessons I would ever learn. I put it to good use the other day when I made an angel food cake and got distracted (who me? ) as I was folding the flour into the beaten egg whites. The angelfood cake was edible but a little tough and not at all like what I wanted. I tore it into pieces and sprinkled them with left over coffee while I quickly created an almond custard in my microwave. I poured the custard over the cake and then with a flash of inspiration made a praline sauce to swirl on top. I finished it by sprinkling with almonds. Voila! Angel food Pudding. You can substitute a bought angel food cake for the homemade but since the texture of hte cake doesn’t matter much in this why not use this as an excuse to practice making the perfect angel food cake?

Basic Angel Food Cake

1 c sifted cake flour
1 1/4 c sugar
1 c egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp mexican vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1. sift the flour and 1/4 c of the sugar together.
2. beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until frothy.
3. Add remaining sugar a little at a time until stiff peaks are formed but the egg white is not dry.
4.Add flavorings
5. Sift 1/4 of the flour at a time over the mixture and fold in gently.
6 Pour in a large ungreased tube pan and bake at 350 45-60 minuntes.
7 invert pan and let cake hang until cool (if cake rises over the top you can invert the pan over a glass bottle.

When cake is cool, cut or tear into bite sized pieces and sprinkle with 1 c coffee.or enough to moisten cake. set aside

Custard:
2 egg yolks
1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
3 c milk, half and half or cream
pinch salt
1/4 c unsalted butter
1 tsp mexican vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1. whisk together until frothy
2.microwave for 6-8 minutes, or until thickened, whisking smooth every minute.
3.remove from microwave and add butter and extracts.
4. stir until butter melts and is incorporated into custard
5. Pour over cake pieces.

Praline Sauce
1/4 c unsalted butter
1/4 c dark brown sugar
melt together in nonstick sauce pan over medium heat, whisking until there is no more graininess. Pour in a swirl over the custard. Top with 1/2 cup almonds. Chill. Serves 8..

Post from: Baking Delights