Recently, in the baking aisle at the grocery store, I encountered a young woman clutching a large, spring-form pan and a box of cake mix. Glancing my way she sighed: "I want to bake a birthday cake but I've never baked one in my life and I'm terrified that it won't come out well. Plus I have no idea which pan to buy."
Her statement was not unusual. People's days are now so frantic that home baking, like home cooking has become a cherished memory for many. Gorgeous bakeries inside grocery stores, neighborhood specialty bakeries and supermarkets selling dry mixes have each taken a toll on home baking as well.
However, baked items prepared "from scratch" allows us to avoid ingredients such as partially hydrogenated fats, artificial colors, flavors and additives frequently found in mixes. Being able to control the ingredients used in our food is one of the benefits of baking from scratch, not to mention the freshness and taste.
An exact art
Baking is an art and a science. Unlike cooking, which allows some latitude to improvise, baking requires close adherence to the recipe, particularly regarding technique, time, temperature and ingredients. Each ingredient works in concert with the others so proportions are critical in baking. Sugar, for instance, gives sweetness and tenderness to baked goods but excess sugar interferes with gluten formation resulting in a gummy mass, which fails to rise. Thus when trying a new recipe, especially a cake, it's always wise to follow the directions carefully until you become very familiar with how it behaves.
Preheating the oven is essential; you want steady heat to help the cake get going immediately. An insufficiently heated oven can hamper the cake's ability to rise, resulting in a gluey lump. Cookies also suffer if an oven is not preheated
Nature has given us one of the baker's best tools, our sense of smell. Trust your nose to tell you when a cake is nearly ready to be removed from the oven. That heady aroma indicates that a cake should be checked. That said, always allow a cake to bake for a minimum of 25 minutes before opening your oven.
Most cakes bake from between 45 to 75 minutes but the first 25 minutes are critical as they allow the cake to rise and to build a structure. Opening the oven prior to that could cause a cake to fall.
An exception of course would be cupcakes, which need less baking time.
Setting up
Getting ready to bake begins, believe it or not, with reading the recipe. Taking this simple step will familiarize the baker with the ingredients and the steps ahead. I, for one, have had the unfortunate experience of belatedly discovering that something should have been chilled, mixed, or in some cases purchased ahead of time.
Setting out the required utensils, tools and ingredients helps the process go smoothly. Usually dry ingredients will be mixed in a bowl separate from wet ingredients. This keeps leavening agents like baking powder and soda fresh and inactive until just prior to baking. Buttering baking pans ahead saves steps (and messy fingers) later.
The following recipes advise using an electric mixer since sufficient air must be incorporated into the rich batter to help it rise.
A unique flavor
Cardamon (also spelled cardamom) is the somewhat unusual spice used in the cakes described below. Probably of middle eastern or Indian origin, cardamon varieties also grow in Mexico and central America. In these regions, only saffron and vanilla are more highly prized. Spicy, clean-tasting with a hint of sweetness its use dates to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Part of the ginger family, cardamon is best when freshly ground as its delicate flavor dissipates quickly. The dry, green paper-husk like pods can be found in the spice section of most grocery stores as well as in ethnic markets, particularly Scandinavian and Indian food shops.
Crush open the papery pods and grind the tiny black and brown seeds to powder using a mortar and pestle for best results.
Casablanca Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, softened but not melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature (gently warm in a bowl of lukewarm water if needed)
2 cups white flour, gently sifted
2 teaspoons ground cardamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup sour cream (or fat-free sour cream or non-fat plain yoghurt)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (be mindful that most ovens fluctuate somewhat).
1. Generously butter the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan. Set aside.
2. Using a large mixing bowl place butter and sugar inside and beat until the mixture becomes light, fluffy and a very pale yellow and the volume increases. Set aside.
3. Using a smaller bowl break eggs one at a time into the bowl. (This allows for removal of any bits of shell which might have broken and landed in the egg white).
4. Add eggs separately, beating into butter/sugar mixture until well incorporated. A rich yellow color will begin to appear. Follow with other two eggs. Continue to beat mixture until a great volume is generated. Set bowl aside.
5. Using the second large mixing bowl measure and gently sift flour into the bowl. Do the same with the second cup of flour.
6. Measure in two teaspoons ground cardamon. Follow with salt and baking soda.
7. Gently stir dry ingredients together with a fork until cardamon is visible throughout.
8. Measure 1 cup of sour cream; set aside.
Now we combine ingredients. Using a large spoon alternately add dry ingredients to the bowl containing the butter, sugar and egg mixture followed by spoonfuls of yoghurt.
Continue to add ingredients alternately until all the dry mixture and all of the yoghurt are incorporated into the wet ingredients. Scrape the bowl periodically to be sure that ingredients are evenly incorporated. The volume will be large, airy and glossy.
Pour or spoon the mixture into the bundt pan; place pan immediately into the oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a clean toothpick stuck into the center of the cake emerges clean. The cake should also pull away from the sides of the pan.
Place the pan on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes; loosen gently around the edges of the pan and invert on a rack to cool. To maintain moisture place a sheet of wax paper (not plastic wrap) loosely over the cake as it cools.
When cool, this cake can be gently sprinkled with confectioner's (powdered) sugar pushed through a strainer or sieve. Nice touches also include adding 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds to the batter before baking and/or finishing the powdered sugar with the zest of an orange.
Make a chocolate version by adding one more egg plus 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (melted) to the batter after the eggs have been beaten in and one additional teaspoon of ground cardamon. Continue as above. Finish cake with a sprinkling of confectioner's sugar or with a chocolate ganache as follows:
1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
Heat cream in a saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Do not boil cream. When hot, add chocolate (chips or pieces), stirring well until chocolate is completely blended with cream. Remove from heat and allow to cool down to warm.
Beat vigorously with wooden spoon until glossy and luscious; place cake onto a large serving plate and carefully pour or spoon mixture over the cake. Allow ganache to flow slowly down sides of cake.
Either version can be embellished with edible pansies placed around the base of the cake for color and contrast!
The above recipes are adapted from The Greyston Bakery Cookbook, Helen Glassman and Susan Postal, Shambhala, Boston and Shaftesbury, 1988.
Georgia Lord Wantanabe may be contacted via editor@sdistrictjournal.com.[[In-content Ad]]
