I was really surprised at how quickly this cake went together.  You can have it baked and cooling within an hour, and on the table in less than two.  The thing is, it just looks incredible and fancy and people will think that you have been working all day.  Now THAT is my kind of dessert!

Yesterday when I was trying ot figure out what to do with my unexpected time I found an old Bon Appetit magazine from 2005 that I had bought and not read yet.  That probably sounds silly but sometimes that happens to me, and in 2005 we were in the midst of trying to make the tea room work.

Anyway, so I started paging through and found a recipe that was just beautiful.  Remember I said I was going to practice my genoise skills? It seemed the perfect moment to do it.

The only thing was this cake was topped with coffee flavored whipped cream only and i was craving something rich and chocolate.   No worries! Just adapt the recipe!

What resulted was pure bliss.  The cake is rich with walnuts, and given a rich coffee flavor from my inspired idea of grinding coffee beans up to add with the walnuts. I added a thick layer of coffee infused ganache between the cake and the whipped cream.

This made 8 servings for us, but my family eats even the richest cakes like they were potato chips.  I would think most people could get 10 or even 12 servings from this cake.

After it is baked, while it is cooling, the top will sink down some.  It is supposed to do that and gives the ganache a place to nestle.   I think I may do this again and try it with a chai infused ganache…

Walnut & Coffee Genoise with Coffee Infused Ganache

cake:

1 1/3 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons espresso coffee beans

2 tablespoons flour

4 eggs separated, room temperature.

1/2 cup sugar

ganache:

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon ground espresso beans

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

topping:

1 cup of heavy cream, whipped and sweetened to taste

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 350.

Butter the bottom only of a 9" springform pan. Set aside.

Grind the walnuts, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 2 tablespoons of espresso beans in a food processor or blender.  They should be ground fine but not pasty.   Set 2 tablespoons aside for garnish.

Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored.  Slowly add in the 1/2 cup sugar continuing to beat until thick and a ribbon forms when beaters are lifted.  Carefully fold the coffee and nut mixture into the yolks.  Be careful not to deflate the mixture. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, but the eggs are not dry. Fold half of the whites into the nut  and yolk combination.  Fold in the rest of the whites, again, be careful to work quickly but gently.

Spoon batter into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Cool in pan for 5  minutes. Run knife around the sides to loosen the cake and then remove springform.  Finish cooling while you make the ganache.  Middle will drop slightly.

Add the 2 tablespoons ground coffee to the 1 cup of heavy cream and bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and allow to steep for 5 minutes.  Strain out coffee grounds.  Bring the cream back up to a simmer, remove from heat and add chopped chocolate.  Stir  until the chocolate is melted. Cool.

Spoon cool ganache onto the top of the genoise.  Set int he freezer to firm up while you whip the cream for the topping.

remove from freezer, cover with a layer of whipped cream, sprinkle with the reserved nut-coffee bean mixture and serve.

Images: Marye Audet 

Post from: Baking Delights

When I was making the cake for Amanda’s graduation last week, I had  one layer crumble as I was moving it. Not just crack, mind you, but CRUMBLE with every ounce of determination it had to crumble.

You can’t just toss out cake.  Not here anyway. So I took the pieces and spread them in a 13x 9 dish and set them aside.

After things had calmed down I grabbed the dish and sprinkled the, by now slightly stale, cake with rosewater.  We don’t have alcohol here much, although some sherry sprinkled on the cake is very good.  Use what you have. Make a sugar syrup of green tea, or lemonade..whatever. Don’t get the cake wet, just sprinkle it.

Next layer fruit over it. I had picked up a couple of packages of very ripe, organic strawberries at the store so I used those. Raspberries are fantastic, blackberries are better…

For the custard:

3 c  fresh goat  milk (if you use regular milk use 1/2 c heavy cream in place of 1/2 c milk. Yes, there is that much difference. BUT DO NOT used goat milk from the stor. EWWW.)

1 c sugar

1/4 c flour

4 egg yolks, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp rose water

1/2 c butter (unsalted)

pinch salt

mix sugar, flour, milk and salt in a pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until thickened.  Add a little of the hot mixture to the egg yolks to temper and then add the yolks to the custard. Stir constantly for 1-2 more minutes. Remove from heat, add in the butter and the flavorings and let cool.

When the custard has cooled pour it over the fruit and cake.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for 2-3 hours.

When ready to serve whip 1 pt of heavy cream with a little sugar to taste and a few drops of the rosewater. Spread over custard. Serves 12

Image: Marye Audet 

Content:Marye Audet for Baking Delights 

Post from: Baking Delights

I notice that the more kids I have had, the bigger house I have had, the more projects I have going, the more I am unorganized. My family, as you know, has a combined sweet tooth the size of Vermont. Maybe bigger. Therefore, if I want there to be peace , joy, and happiness then something sweet, besides yours truly, had better be available round the clock. Yesterday when I got home from church I was struck by two important facts. One, it was later than usual, and two, I had failed to create dessert for our planned meal. Ack!

With visions of predatory, prowling, wild things dancing through my head, and hoping that my family would be distracted by a football game or something, I began the mental quest for dessert. Bars. Quick, easy, great. But I have done brownies alot lately…hmmm.

Well this is what I came up with. They were really good, moist and chocolaty with the rich marshmallow and cherry topping, and cherry fondant type swirl through the brownie it’s self.. A casual dessert or a great snack.

Brownies:

3/4 c unsalted butter- melted

2 c sugar

4 eggs – beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 c dark cocoa

pinch of salt

Mix sugar and melted butter. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Beat in cocoa until smooth and then flour mixed with salt.

Spread in a greased 13″ x 9″ pan.

Fondant Swirl

Mix:

1/2 c sweetened condensed milk

1/4 c marachino cherry juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 egg

4 Tbs cream cheese

until smooth. Make channels in the brownie batter with a spoon and pour the mixture into the channels. Swirl through the batter.

Bake at 350 about 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake.

Remove Brownies from oven. Sprinkle 2 c mini marshmallows and 1/2 c chopped marachino cherries over top. Put back in over for 5 minutes, or until marshmallows are melted.

Let cool and cut. Makes 2 dozen.

Reminders!

I hope you are playing B5’s Fall Scavenger Hunt

Don’ t forget about the First Annual Boobie Bake-off here and on Apron Strings & Simmering Things. It is for a good cause and you can enter on either of the blogs, and be featured on both at the end. Check the link for instructions and more information! All proceeds will go to Breast cancer research in the name of the winner! There have been several entries all ready, and I am telling you, this is going ot be an fantastic event!!!!!

Post from: Baking Delights