Baked Alaska

The first time I had Baked Alaska was the night I got engaged, so it holds a special place in my heart.  Robby and I shared a trio of tiny white blobs of meringue filled with light sponge cake and tart fruit flavored ice creams at our favorite restaurant in Philly, Washington Square.  (note: it doesn’t exist anymore so you can’t go L). 

Recently my mom showed an interest in the concept of Baked Alaska, so when it was time for me to have the “fam” over to my house for her birthday I thought it was the perfect opportunity.

There are a few contrasting stories on the origins of Baked Alaska.  I have deduced that although versions of this dessert stem all the way back to ancient china the most well know version, sponge cake and ice cream covered with a quickly browned meringue topping, was termed “Baked Alaska” at Delmonico’s around 1876.  This term renamed the existing confection know as “la norvégienne” (Norwegian omelet) for the newly annexed territory of Alaska.  

When my mom was in California last year Robby and I took my Dad to the very same Delmonico’s for dinner, as it is right down the street from my current office.  We all had the Baked Alaska, and it was divine.

The first thing to do, when contemplating your own Alaskan dream, is to figure out what kind of ice cream and cake you would like. 

My mom is not a big dessert person, but I can usually get her to eat meringues and fruit flavored things.  So, in this case, I went for a light génoise cake and had Robby prepare a homemade mango ice cream.

I followed the génoise recipe from my Rose’s Heavenly Cakes book and made the cakes 2 days ahead of time.

Robby Made up his own mango ice cream recipe and made the mixture for it the night before.  (He held off putting it into the ice cream machine until I was ready to assemble.)

He is such a good honey bunny that, without me even asking, he took pictures of his process for my blog.  I will try to describe/make-up what he did from looking at the pictures.

RoBBy's Mango Iced Cream

First I think he cut up the mangoes and put them in a pan. 

Then he cooked them over medium heat until they begin to soften.



Next he added a tablespoon of rum (or a glug or two). 

(Of course he was careful not to catch the

flame and cause the bottle to explode! )

Then he cooked it until the alcohol was absorbed.

Allow the mangoes to cool a bit then pure them in a tiny food processor. 

(Only a tiny food processor will do!)



Add 4 egg yolks and 1 cup of half and half.  Mix.



Return to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens.

Cool to room temp.  Then add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Now we are ready to assemble the cake.  (Again you need to do this a day ahead of time.)

Get the mango i.c. out of the fridge and put it in your (pre frozen) ice cream machine.

With the mixture in the ice cream machine, or with your store bought ice cream out in the counter to soften, select a bowl large enough for 2 cake layers and two layers of ice cream. 

Cut the cakes to size.  One layer will be the exact size of the bowl and the second will be about 1-2” smaller in diameter, depending on the parametric shape of your bowl. 

When ice cream is done, spray the bowl with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap.

Pour a layer of ice cream at the bottom of the bowl, equal to the thickness of your cake layers.

Place your smaller cake circle on top.  (If it is too large then trim it down.)  (If it is too small then smush it down till it fits or a layer of ice cream squeezes up around the edge.)

Pour another equal layer of ice cream on top.

Place your larger, and final, cake layer on top and smush.  (it does not matter if the layers don’t reach the top of the bowl.)

Place bowl in freezer overnight.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, start the coffee, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and make the meringue.

Whip 4 egg whites till foamy.

Add pinch of cream of tartar and whip till soft peaks form.

On medium speed continue to whip as you gradually add in ½ cup of granulated sugar.

Whip till glassy and soft peaks form.

Take the bowl out of the freezer.  Invert bowl onto over safe plate.  Pull gently on plastic wrap until cake is freed from bowl.

Cover the top of the cake with the meringue.  (Work quickly as it may start to freeze as it comes in contact with the cake.)

Swirl a pretty pattern from the bottom to the top.

Place cake in hot oven and stare at it until it is nicely browned.  (I had in the oven for only 3 minutes and even then I almost burned the top.)

Remove from oven  . . . . carefulllllllly . . . . and WOW your guests!

It actually cuts pretty easily and the ice cream didn't melt at all in the oven as the meringue acts as an insulator.

Here is a picture of Mommy Lou and her cake . . .

Here is a slice for you . . . .

Here are some of the other things i made for that dinner/dessert . . .  .



an apple crumb cake . . .



a stuffed turkey breast . . . .

a torta pasqualina . . . .

.

and some other stuff i din't take pictures of . . .  

until next time . . . . .

Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a staple dessert for one who lives in New York, as i do.

The invention of a "cheesecake," dessert made with soft unripened cheese and various additives, has been around since ancient Greece and has it's place in many cultures.

Some of the main styles of cheesecake include:

• The standard New York style cheesecake, which i actually don't make, is made from whipping cream and cream cheese (eggs and sugar of course) and it topped with a sour cream mixture.  The "cake" part is rich and dense with a tang from the sour topping.  These usually have a gram cracker crust.
• French style cheesecakes are made with  fromage blanc (translated as "white cheese"), which are relatively soft with a tangier flavor and usually a pastry crust.
• Ricotta style cheesecakes (aka Italian style)  are also relatively light and more milky in flavor.
• There are also Italian cheesecakes which use a mixture of ricotta and mascarpone which smooths out the texture and makes it so rich and yummy!

Of course in addition to the multitude of cheese and crust combinations pretty much any flavor can be added to the cheesecake.

For example:

• chocolate
• coffee
• amaretto
• lemon
• pumpkin
• key lime
• Kahlua
• strawberry
• etc.

For this, my first cheesecake blog, i will make my standard cheesecake.

This recipe is adapted from "Aunt Maureen's Cheesecake Recipe." 

(This is Robby's actual Aunt Maureen.  His Mom's side of the family made a family cookbook a few years ago, which I think is fun and has proven useful.)

It is most similar to the New York style, in that it is made with cream cheese and sour cream.  However, i do not classify it as a strict New York cheesecake because the sour cream   is incorporate into the batter (not on top).  Also because people are crazy specific about their cheesecake!

The first thing you need for my cheesecake is a boat load of cream cheese . . . 4 boxes/32 oz.

Chop it up and put it in a bowl.  Allow it to come up to room temp.

While the cheese softens prepare the pans and the crust.

Following my http://bakingforrobby.blogspot.com/2012/08/perfect-cake-liners.html cover two 8" cake pans with parchment.

In a separate bowl combine one stick of melted butter with one heaping cup of graham cracker crumbs.

Mix till crumb are moistened.

Pour 1/2 of mixture in each pan and press down.

Set pans aside.

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Move racks in over so that the top rack is in the middle and has at least 6" clear above it.
Fill two 9x 13" pans with 1" of water and set on middle rack.

(impressed with my fancy pans?  The one on the left is so dented i am convinced it was thrown down a flight of stairs.)

Now it is time to make the batter.
Cream together the softened cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar.
Add 2 tsp of vanilla and 1/2 cup of flour.  Mix till combined.

Separate 6 eggs.

Add yolks to batter and mix till combined.
Whip whites until soft peaks form. 
Fold whites into mixture.
Finally fold in 1 pint of sour cream.  (I totally fogot about the sour cream untill i was ready to add it to the batter.  Luckily i live in the Bronx so i was able to run up the the deli and grab some.  I was on the phone with my mom at the time and she didn't even know I had left the house.)

Pour batter over prepared crusts.

It is that easy!
Oh wait now for the technical part . . . .

Carefully drop each cake pan into the pan of water in the oven.  Remember the pan and water are hot!

Bake cakes for 1 hr or until top is golden.
Turn off oven.

DO NOT TAKE CAKES OUT OF THE OVEN!

Open the oven door just a crack and leave cakes in oven for 2-4 hrs. 
Really.  This will keep them from cracking and ensure even cooking.

Remove the slightly warm cakes and place in fridge overnight.

After the cakes have cooled overnight remove strips of parchment around sides of cakes and flip them onto a paper towel.  If you did your parchment paper right they will plop right out.
















Put a plate on the back side and slip off the counter/table so the paper towel and cake are in the palm of your hand with the other hand on the plate.  FLIP!

I put a berry pure on top of this one for serving.


Now your families will all love you because you can bring cheesecakes to the party!

Turning Japanese

As you may have heard . . . Robby and I just went on a trip to Japan!

It was wonderful and fabulous and I highly recommend going . . .only not in August.

Japan is hot . . . like really hot . . . I am serious!

[SIDE STORY (bear with me . . . . ) ]

The reason we went in August was so that we could climb Mt. Fuji.  Any other time of year it is too cold and dangerous at the top.  (There is about a 50 degree difference from the bottom to the top.)

(This picture was taken at the summit.  About 4am and about 20oF.)

If you go to Japan I highly recommend doing this. Unless you are faint of heart or faint of shape.  It is a serious mountain.   

As you can see from the picture above it is definitely a climb . . . not a HIKE!

(Above was taken about midnight from ascending trail.)

You climb overnight to reach the summit for sunrise. 

It is supposed to be about 5hrs up and 3hrs down.  Yeah right! 

It took us 7.5 to get up to the summit.  

We then sat in the freezing cold for about 1.5hrs waiting for the sun to rise.  

Going down took about 3.5 hrs, and was complete torture!

However in the end it was definitely worth it.

(Picture above was taken about 6am from descending trail.)

(OK back to food . . . .)

Japan is not all raw fish and fried ice cream, although we did eat both of those things while there.  There are actually about a dozen different cuisines in Japan.  In addition to this people are often surprised to find that the Japanese love sweets.  Everywhere you look there were little sweet shops filled with multi colored mochi and sweetened bean paste.  Each town or city also has there own special treat to sell to tourists to bring home as souvenirs.

One thing that is immediately apparent on the sweets market is the prevalence of green tea.  Green tea is not just a thirst quenching obsession, it is also incorporated into a multitude of confections.

For example . . . . . . 

 . . . . this green tea filled cake, shaped like a maple leaf, from Miajima.

(They are also obsessed with maple leaves, take that Canada!!)

 . . . . or this green tea snow cone we had on the top of Mt. Misen

(yes they sell snow cones at the top of mountains)

(and yes we climbed two mountains, but this one was easy compared to Fujisan)

. . . . then there was my favorite, a green tea mochi ball

filled with sweet bean paste and green tea powder.

(this was from a 7-11 in Tokyo) (or Kyoto I forget which)

 . . .and finally, the pièce de résistance, green tea ice cream!

(this one was from a little lady in an even smaller booth outside of a shrine in Kamakura)

(Do you see how melty it is!! That is why I say DO NOT got to Japan in August.)

(OK so on to my recipe. . . . )

We didn't have any cakes or full deserts to inspire me so i decided to take my adopted love of matcha (powdered green tea) and mochi (rice gluten) and make up my own recipe!

The mochi (refer to green ball above) is made of glutinous rice.  The consistency is a little gummy and a tiny bit spongy.  When racking my brain to make something mochi-like without getting into the labor intensive  mochitsuki (rice gluten pounding) i though of crepes.

I make a mean crepe cake and i thought that the thin, sweet, slightly gummy crepe with a nice green tea flavored French pastry cream would be outstanding!

so here you go . . . . .

GREEN TEA CREPE CAKE:

(AKA Pseudo-mochi cake with Matcha Cream):

The first thing you need to do is plan ahead. 

Both the pastry cream and the crepe batter are best made the day before and stored in the fridge overnight.

Crepe batter/

Pseudo-mochi:

1 cup flour

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups whole milk

4 eggs

1 tbs vanilla (yes tbs)

1 stick melted butter

Sift together flour sugar and salt

In separate bowl mix together milk eggs and vanilla

(below is a picture of my homemade vanilla extract.  I'll share that recipe at some point . .. hopefully.)

Add the dry to the wet, mixing constantly to prevent lumps.

Then add the melted butter and whisk till smooth.

Cover and refrigerate overnight

Green Tea Pastry Cream/

Matcha Cream:

2 cups whole milk

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/3 cup flour

Heat milk until simmering.  Turn off heat.

Beat together yolks and sugar in separate bowl.

Add flour to eggs and sugar mixture.

Add cream slowly, whisking constantly to temper the eggs.

Transfer mixture to sauce pan and boil, while constantly stirring, till mixture is thickened.  Like this . . . .

Now it is time for the secret ingredient . . . .the matcha. (I guess it is actually not so secret, as it is in the name of the cake.) 

Robby and i bought this matcha from a conveyor belt sushi place in Osaka!

You can see the tea in the purple and green capped bottles

on the counter in the pic on the right.

(One is for fatty fish and one is for regular fish.  I honestly don't remember which on i got, but i think it is the purple one for fatty stuff, which makes sense with FRENCH PASTRY CREAM!)

Add enough till you like the flavor or it looks green enough.  (Aesthetics count too!)

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

(holy moly this blog is getting long . . . . sorry . . . . )

Now to make the crepes and assemble the cake . . . .

How to make crepes:

First take the batter out and make sure it is mixed smooth.

Then get out a nice sized ladle.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.

Add 1 tbs of butter.  let butter melt then coat pan by swirling it around.

When butter is bubble ladled enough batter into pan so that you can swirl it around to coat the bottom.

let the crepe cook until the edges look slightly browned.

Flip the crepe.  Don't be afraid . . just shake it to make sure it is not stuck and do one quick sharp motion with your wrist. 

(Even if you ruin a few crepes at first it is worth getting this down.  Trying to flip them with a spatula is a nightmare!!  Plus if you drop a crepe or rip it it is a good excuse to eat it!)

Put crepe on a plate to cool.  Continue until all batter is gone, adding butter to pan as needed.

Assemble the cake:

Put down one crepe on a pretty plate and spread a generous amount of green tea cream.

Add another crepe on top and press down lightly.  (If the cream comes out the sides you put too much or pressed too hard . . . . so do it better next time!)

Keep layering till you run out of cream or crepes.

to decorate the top i made a stencil out of some Japanese maple leave shapes.

I then dusted the top with powdered sugar.

TA DAAAAA!

done - done - done

(note: the confectioner's sugar melted in transit

so i sprinkled some more green tea on top before serving.)

ENJOY!!