Meyer Lemon Meringue Tart

I have been keeping the lemons for two weeks now. I had to throw some of them away because they went bad :(. You can't imagine how bad I felt when did that. They were too precious to just go to waste. So, I was determined to fulfill their destiny by making a wonderful dessert with it. Lemon tart is definitely the perfect choice for this.

For those of you who are lemon tart fans, you must have heard Pierre Herme's lemon tart. If you haven't, you don't know what you have been missing my friend. The first time I made his lemon tart was actually about two years ago, and yes, it is a long time. But I only made the lemon cream at that time, and I don't remember what recipe I used to make the tart crust.

So this time, I was determined to make his recipe from start to finish. I have two of his books that contains a recipe for his lemon tart. One is Dessert By Pierre Herme, written by Dorie Greenspan. This book is modified to suit American home bakers. The amount of the recipe is written in cups, and tablespoons, which I don't really like as it is not accurate. But Dorie made the recipe sounds a lot easier. The other book I have is La Patsserie De Pierre Herme (the link is for the Spanish ed.). It contains Pierre's original recipe and has both French and English translation in it although the direction is very sparse. You have to scale down the recipe by a lot though, unless you are feeding an army with your cake :D. There are a couple of cakes featured in both books, although the recipe is somewhat different. It is a lot more complicated and some of the ingredients are hard to find here in the US. Dorie does make it A LOT easier on the other book, although it is not 100% PH original I guess. But it is more than enough if you want to re-create Pierre's recipes at home.

It took me approximately two nights and two mornings to make this from start to finish. I started by making the pate sucree for the tart crust. The crust is wonderful as it has vanilla bean in it, and a little almond flour for that extra texture. I made it with my faithful Kitchen Aid mixer, make the job a lot easier. You can also use a food processor, but the idea of cleaning it up doesn't really excites me. Cleaning the mixer bowl is a lot easier :D.

The pate sucree is pretty simple to make once you get all the ingredients ready. With the help of my trusty Kitchen Aid, it's a breeze to make. You can't make only for a single crust though. You will need to make at least the amount enough for three crusts to get the best texture. I halved the recipe from PH book.

I brought this tart to work of course, to thank my coworker for bringing me this wonderful gift (well, he kinda expected me to make something with it when he gave it to me anyway :D). I emailed him and a few other friends that I left it in the fridge. A couple of minutes later, they came to my cube saying everything is gone already. I didn't witnessed that, but from what I heard, they all liked it very much. I even had people (who weren't in my email list) saying how good it was, another also emailed me (not in my list as well) to thank me personally and to tell me how superb it was. He even asked me if I worked at a bakery before, hahaha (I'll take that as a compliment). Some other friends came to my cube 5 minutes later and said that he didn't get any. All he found was just the empty box. Hmm... I guess they did like it :).

Fortunately, I made a mini version of the tart and save it for myself and I completely agree with them (and also the rest of the world for that matter) that it was indeed wonderful. My niece and nephew kept coming back for more. I just wished I saved more :D

My piping is not that great. I was pretty dissapointed with how it looks (despite all of the compliments I got of how pretty it looks) :(

Pate Sucree
yield: three 101/2-in crusts or four 8-in crusts

300g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
190g powdered sugar
60g ground almonds
1 vanilla bean, scrapped
2 eggs, room temperature
500g all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt

• Put the butter in a mixer bowl and cream until smooth and creamy using a paddle attachment.
• Add the sugar, ground almonds, and vanilla bean seeds. Mix until combined.
• Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating the previous one before adding the next one (the dough might look curdled at this point but don't worry, it'll come together once you add the flour)
• Combine the flour and salt. Add to the dough in about three addition. Mix until just it comes together. Do not overwork! Like Pierre said, "it's better to have lumps of butter rather than to have an overwork dough".
• Divide the dough in the portions you need. Form each one into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight (you can also freeze the dough at this point and thaw it in the fridge overnight).
• Remove one disk from the fridge, and roll it either between two sheets of parchment paper, or just well-floured surface. You need to move quickly though. You don't want the dough to be soft and overworked.
  
• Line your tart pan with the dough and put it back in the fridge for at least 1-2 hrs to rest.
  
• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• When you're ready to bake, put a parchment paper on top of the dough and fill the bottom with either rice or beans.
  
• Bake for 20 minutes. Take the parchment paper and the beans/rice off, then continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes until it's golden brown.
• Let cool in the ring.

Lemon Cream
Slightly adapted from La Pattiserie de Pierre Herme book.
You can view the recipe that Dorie has modified to American home kitchen here

4 eggs
165 g fresh meyer lemon juice
200 g sugar
zest from about 3-4 lemons
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature and cubed

• Rub the zest with the sugar using your finger until the sugar is moistened with lemon oil.
  
• On a double boiler, combine the sugar, eggs and juice .
  
• Whisk/stir constantly until the mixture reaches 85-86 C.
• Strain the mixture and let cool to about 55-60 C and put it in a blender (if you don't have a hand-held blender)
• Add the butter a couple of pieces at a time, to make an emulsion. The mixture will ligthen in color. Continue running the blender for a few minutes after all of the butter has been added to ensure the airy and light cream. Make sure stop and run the blender a few times to avoid over-heating.
• Pour the mixture into prepared crust and refrigerate.

The italian meringue is optional though. Both books have the recipe only for lemon tart, but Pierre also said that you can also add Italian meringue if you wish. If you're only making the tart without the meringue, glaze the top of the tart with translucent glaze, apple jelly or apricot jelly for that shiny effect.

Italian Meringue

3 egg whites, room temperature
150 g sugar
50 g water

• Combine the water and the sugar in a saucepan and bring the temperature to about 247 F on a candy thermometer. Brush the splatter on the sides using pastry brush that has been dipped in cold water to prevent crystallization.
  
• Meanwhile, beat the egg white until soft peak forms.
  
• When the sugar is ready, with the mixer running on a low speed, pour the hot sugar syrup on the side of the mixer bowl to avoid splatter (it will splatter eventually a little). Do not attempt to scrape the splatter on the sides of the bowl or you'll get lumps.
  
• Continue beating on a medium high speed until the meringue is almost at room temperature. The texture will be marshmallow-y, as light as cloud.
• Decorate the tart with meringue.
• Brown the top with blow torch or under a broiler for a few minutes.

Not wanting to trash more of the lemons, I decided to zest and juice them up and freeze it. I got a little more than 6 cups of juice and about 1 cup full of zest. I don't have to worry about not having lemons in spring or summer for desserts now. And I know exactly who to go to if I ever ran out of them :)

This tart is also my entry for Lemon Day event hosted by zorra at kochtopf.twoday.net
Here's the link the her post:
http://kochtopf.twoday.net/stories/announcing-ankuendigung-lemon-day/

I hope I will have more time in the next few weeks to come up with more lemony desserts :D

Vanilla Cheese Layer Cake

I know, another cheese layered cake. It might look the same as the ones I made many many times before, but this one is different.

I was craving for a simple yet satisfying cake lately. I've been working late for a while and I feel like I deserved to indulge a little. I don't want those fancy cakes with mousse, cream, gelee, chocolate. All I wanted was a simple and comforting cake, and the only thing on my mind was this cake. There's something about this cake that just very comforting, not to mention delicious, and a lot simpler to make than regular french gateau.

I'm trying new recipe this time. I usually use three layers of soft and moist sponge cake (with lots of egg yolks and butter), layered with simple buttercream, and cheese of course. This time is not that much different, except the method of making the cake and the frosting. A regular sponge cake method is beating the eggs and sugar until pale, folding the dry ingredients, then the melted butter at the very end. But this time, I used a recipe that calls to beat the butter separately, and folded in at the end. It uses more egg yolks than usual (although the usual has lots of egg yolks already). It's the same method as "Lapis Surabaya" cake, making the cake super soft and moist. Instead of regular buttercream, I used cream cheese frosting instead. I had about 165 g of cream cheese leftover and the amount is too odd to make something with it, but it is perfect for the cream cheese frosting I needed for that size of cake.

The verdict? I was surprised myself. The cake is super soft, the cream cheese frosting was lovely, not to mention the shredded processed cheese. The cake has to be good for this kind of cake because you will eat it the most, not the frosting, unlike any other french cakes I made where the cake is only the base. I know my friends would go crazy over this cake, but it was on Sunday night when I finished making the cake, so I didn't have time to share to them. I brought a slice or two everyday for snack at work. My little niece (she's 3 years old now) can finish two slices on her own in one sitting. I don't think the cream cheese frosting was that noticeable though, especially since I flavored it with the same thing (vanilla and a little rum extract). So next time, I think I will stick with this kind of cake, although it's more time consuming and more labor intensive, but just use regular buttercream for the frosting and filling.

Lemon Pound Cake

I found out recently that my coworker has a tree full of meyer lemons. I almost had a heart attack! I mean who wouldn't when it comes to meyer lemons? ok, maybe it's just me, but still...

He said that the tree has hundreds of lemons right now and they're big. I didn't believe him at that time, as from my understanding, meyer lemons are small, a little rounder that regular lemons and more orange than regular lemons, but more yellow than regular orange (does this sentence make sense?). But anyways, of course I wanted them, immediately! He said that he had to throw a lot of them away because they're just too many. For a slight moment there, my heart was aching when I heard that :(

So the next day, he showed up in my cube bringing a big plastic bag full of meyer lemons!!! The lemons were big, unlike the usual meyer lemons I saw.
My head was spinning, trying to think what wonderful desserts I can make with this.

It's been more than a week that I have abandoned those wonderful meyer lemons that my coworker gave me. It hurts everytime I opened the fridge and saw them waiting patiently for me to do something with them. My excuse is still the same, no time. I came home late and by the time I got home, all wanna do is just take a shower, eat, and sleep. I don't even think I have enough energy to do something else. Besides, the kitchen is always full of people at night, that I don't feel like juggling with space and everything to make a cake. I just don't like doing something in that kind of environment. I like it when the kitchen is empty, no dirty dishes in the sink, and lots of counterspace. Unfortunately, this rarely happens :(. But I should be thankful to be blessed enough to have a kitchen and all the necessary tools I need for baking :).

My coworker was certainly expecting something out of those lemons. A week had past, and not even one dessert I brought to work. So, I decided to just make something quick that we can all enjoy right out of the oven. Not those multi-component cakes, tarts, mousses. I settled down on lemon pound cake. I've never been a fan to a pound type cake, it's just not my cup of tea. But I baked lots and lots of lemon pound cake a few years ago. It seems like I was always excited to try a new lemon cake recipe. I can't count how many recipes I tried, not to mention lemon tarts, lemon meringue pie, and lemon bars. I was just that crazy with lemons. I just love the smell of fresh cut lemon in the kitchen. It's so refreshing and fresh, I just can't describe the feeling. It's been a while though that I didn't make lemony goodies anymore. I think I skipped last year's lemon season for some reason.

So anyways, I decided to try this lemon cake recipe by Lori Longbotham. I first read about it in tartlettte's blog. The way she described it, is just way too good that I had to try it myself. Besides, how can I resist something that starts with "the ultimate"? I didn't really read the recipe before I decided on this. I thought this is just a regular pound cake, with lots of butter, flour, eggs, etc. So, I prepared all of the ingredients on the night before and planned to bake it in the morning. When I started putting all of the ingredients together, I realized that the amount of butter is amazingly a lot, I also think the baking soda is too little for that amount of flour, but what do I know. I'll just follow the recipe to the tee.

So the next morning, I woke up earlier to bake this cake. When I was about to put it in the oven, I was super surprised when the recipe says that I need to bake it for 1.5 hours!!!!!! It's unusual to bake a pound cake at 300F for 1.5 hrs, but I followed anyway (and I was late for work that day :D).

It was pretty good, although may not be the ultimate for me :). I'm not even sure if I can find an ultimate pound cake if I don't even like pound cake. But I'm glad that at least I tried this recipe.

Here's the recipe taken from tartlette's blog:

Ultimate Pound Cake, adapted from Lori Longbotham:

Serves 12 (in theory)

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 TB lemon zest
1 tsp. pure lemon extract
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300F. Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together twice.
Cream the butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon extract.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Poke holes all over the cake with a wooden skewer
Meanwhile, bring the lemon juice and remaining sugar to a boil over medium high heat in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Invert the cake onto a rack, position over a baking sheet and slowly pour the syrup over the cake, it will seep through the holes and into the cake. Let cool to room temp.

Cheese Thousand Layer Cake (Lapis Legit Keju)

I did it! I did it! yaaayy.............
This is my second attempt making this kind of cake and the first one was nothing but failure :(. I was determined to make it again until I succeeded and here it is my friend, I proudly present my Lapis Cake :D.

This is another traditional Indonesian delicacy, although Singaporean and Malaysian also have this same cake too. This cake is best known for its ridiculous quantity of butter and egg yolks, making it the number one cake that has the highest cholesterol level :D, not to mention the time it needs to make layer by layer. It needs a great patience and determination. But it's not like you eat it everyday, or you eat the whole thing, so moderation is the key.

Still being traumatic with the failure I had last time, I don't want to waste another 20+ egg yolks and a pound of good quality butter. This is one of the most expensive and labor-intensive cake in Indonesia. To get the best taste, you have to use the best quality ingredients. The freshest eggs, the best quality butter. I would say butter is the key to this cake. We usually use Australian butter that has higher fat content than American butter, and it also has "milky" taste to it that I love so much. The only draw back is that this kind of butter is so darn expensive, about $5 for less than 1/2lb.

I tried a new recipe this time, which uses cream cheese in the batter. You know I love anything cheesy and I still have a little cream cheese left in the fridge. And it only uses less than 20 egg yolks for 7x7in pan. So, it's perfect for another try. 16 egg yolks are not much at all if you're thinking of making this cake. I have a recipe that calls for 60 egg yolks. Yes, you read it right, it's the whole 5 dozens egg yolks and 1.5lbs butter. I'm not that crazy yet, so I'll save it for another time :), but I would be very curious to know how it would turn like.

I used a recipe from auntyyochana site, but I completely change the method. The usual method is you beat the butter and the egg yolk separately until they both bleached, then you combine them together, but the recipe doesn't suggest this. Somehow, I follow my instinct and use the method that I'm familiar with. I also added condensed milk when beating the butter (it's usually added for emulsifier I think? no?) and substitute the rum with Indonesian vanilla powder. It doesn't call for "bumbu spekoek" or mixed spice that's usually make lapis legit its distinct flavor. Some people like it and some don't. I'm okay with it as long as it's not too strong. A little of this spice goes a long way. But I would think it would completely overpower the cheese flavor if it was added. I would prefer it to be added in a regular flavor lapis cake.

I layered it one by one, taking the pan out once every 5 minutes or so, press the cake with fondant smoother, prick the air bubbles if there are any, and layer it with another batter. You need to weigh the batter or use the same amount for each layer to ensure the even finish layers. It took me more than 2 hours I think to finish layering (not counting the batter preparation itself) and all that time, I patiently waiting and sticking my nose to the oven window, watching it carefully like eagle's eyes :D. But seriously, you need to watch it carefully to prevent burning (at least for amateur like me), since you need to use broil setting to brown the layer.

I felt pretty confident when I was halfway through. The cake felt very moist and soft, unlike the first one I made. And I was filled with joy after I cut the four sides and see the pretty layers showing. The very top part was a little too brown than what I would have expected. I was holding a baby and then remembered about the cake!! (I didn't time it). Good thing I didn't burn it or else the last 3-4 hours would have been gone straight to drain :(.

It tasted very moist and soft when I tried it. I was really satisfied with the result, and it completely made my day even though now I'm left with this pain on my feet and my back, hehehe...The cheese flavor is not that strong, I can barely taste it. I think it's predictable, considering the amount of the cream cheese compared to the butter. I would make some adjustment to the recipe to make the ultimate "Lapis Legit Keju". I'm thinking adding more cream cheese, sprinkling each layer with shredded cheese, adding a little more egg yolk to have the usual yellow color in this cake. Some people added yellow coloring to it, but I think it's just fake. This cake is not as yellow as the ones sold in upscale bakery in Indonesia since this doesn't use as many egg yolks. And since I'm a big fan of "milky" flavor, I will substitute some of the flour with powdered milk. Now, it would really be "the ultimate" :D. But don't expect me to make it anytime soon. After this one, we need to work hard to lose that extra calories and cholesterol, not to mention the labor-intensive and time-consuming part. But I gues a multi-component cake would take much longer to make than this.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake for Valentine's Day

We had a small Valentine's gathering last Saturday on Valentine's day with just a bunch of friends. To be honest, it wasn't really for Valentine, it was just a get-together sorta thing. There were only ten of us, the rest of them had a three-day conference that they had to attend. It was a potluck party as usual and I automatically think of dessert whenever I can (who wants to waste an opportunity to bake something special anyway?).

I actually planned on making a heart-shaped cake that has six different components. A combination of flavor that I've been wanting to try for a while and been waiting for the perfect time to make it. The only heart-shaped ring I have is 9.5in wide, and I was planning to make it to feed about 20 people. When I found out that a bunch of them were not gonna make it to the gathering, I had to change plan. I didn't really want to make a cake just for the ten of us.

I remembered when I used to make desserts all the time instead of a cake, although cake is considered a dessert too, but you know what I mean. When I was still in college, living in Texas, I often made desserts and invited my close friends to have dinner together (I would cook the meal too), or I were too busy, I just invited them to have dessert after dinner at 9pm. It was fun, I miss those days. I don't make desserts often anymore. Most of the gatherings we have (Almost all of them actually), involve 15++ people, and there's no way that I would make individual dessert for each one of them. And we always have a very casual get-together, we eat while we're standing and chatting, watching TV. So, a pretty individual platted dessert is never an option. It's usually a cake, not a heavy cake, just a light fruity cake.

So I thought, this is the perfect time to make an individual dessert, instead of a big cake since there are only a few of us. Besides, it's usually a lot quicker than making a cake that has multiple components. After some time thinking and brain-storming, I finally decided on molten lava cake. I used to make it often when I was in TX and I made it once since I got back in CA for the last two years. I first ate it at Chili's I think and since then, I've determined to make it myself at home. So I began trying different recipes for it. Every recipe I tried was good, far from disappointing, but I finally settled on the first one I tried. The first one is always the one that strikes you the most, doesn't it? I believe I modified it from Emeril's recipe (I was a HUGE foodnetwork fan at that time). And this is Valentine, so something chocolaty would be perfect. Besides, chocolate is an aphrodisiac food anyway :D.

I only have 6 ramekins so that's how many I would make. It wasn't long at all whipping the batter up. The good thing about it is that I can refrigerate the batter and bake it just before serving it. If I baked it way before serving it, it would be just like a flourless chocolate cake instead of molten cake. I brought along Muscat wine and a soft red wine too for the after meal drink.

The cakes were gobbled up pretty quickly just minutes after coming out from the oven, and yes they have to share. It's best if paired up with some vanilla ice cream, but unfortunately the only ice cream my friend had on hand was cherry chocolate chip ice cream. So, we will have to make do with that and with some rum whipped cream and we thought it was still fabulous. I don't have any fresh red fruit to decorate it with, it would be much prettier if they were decorated with some raspberries, strawberries and mint leaves and also vanilla ice cream on the side. But my friends have never cared too much about decoration at all, as long as they can eat it (those barbarians tsk tsk tsk :D). I am so glad that they all LOVED it. I used 75% dark chocolate, making the cake sweet enough but has a bitter aftertaste from the chocolate (in a good way). It was definitely perfect for Valentine's dinner for those chocoholics and those who are not (even I liked it and also did my brother who is anything but chocolate fan).

I only baked five of them at my friend's house, leaving the last one to be baked at home and at least photograph it. So, here it is. The picture is not that much better than the one took at the party, but oh well.

Black Forest Cake

Another black forest post. It has been a while though since I made black forest. I don't normally make the same cake more than two times, unless if it's a cake order.

It was one of my dearest coworkers birthday last week and he requested black forest cake for his birthday cake a month before :), it is his ultimate favorite cake. Having made black forest cake many times before, of course I'd happily approve it :D

There are nothing much too say about this cake. Just the usual black forest cake components (my way) with three layers of dark chocolate sponge, moisten heavily with rum solution, filled with a layer of rum whipped cream, dark sweet cherries, a layer of chocolate cream, and frosted with the rest of rum whipped cream. Maraschino cherries and dark chocolate shavings make a traditional finish to the black forest cake. What I love about cake like this is that you don't have to think hard about how you're gonna decorate it. Black forest has it's particular look. Of course I can always decorate it all I want, but why would I? I want people to know that it's black forest cake inside, and not a mousse cake or anything.

So, here it is. I guess the most time-consuming part of this cake is the chocolate shaving part. I have never been good with chocolate. I don't usually temper my chocolate if I make some decoration with it (yeesss, I know how bad untempered chocolate can be), it was time consuming, messy, more bowls and spatula to be washed, etc. But I tempered it this time. The room temperature was too cold to work with chocolate that night, it was 17-18 C. I'm not a chocolate expert at all but I believe room temperature of 20-22 C is best to work with chocolate? Anyways, I wanted to have more long choc. curls but the chocolate set too quickly. The worst part of working with choc, is of course when it's time to clean up. I'm just glad I'm not a chocoholic which means that I don't make chocolate cake that often. But wait, umm...if I am a chocoholic, I don't think I would mind at all cleaning up the chocolate mess as long as I get one decadent chocolate cake, do I :D?

Mango Pudding

I actually made this about three weeks ago. But lazy-ness got the best of me and put it off until now :D. I absolutely LOVE everything about mango. I love everything that has mango in it, although I'm not a big fan of it in savory dishes though. I always think that fruits are meant for sweet stuff.

I've been wanting to be able to make a killer mango pudding just like those in dim sum place. I tried making it once before using agar agar (a type of gelatinous substance just like gelatin, but derived from seaweed). It was far from perfect though. The color was pale yellow, and the texture was nothing close to smooth and silky. The flavor of the mango was very vague too. So, I determined to continue my search for the perfect mango pudding recipe.

This recipe is using gelatin for the gelling agent. Although agar and gelatin are both gelatinous substances, but the texture they produce are different. I used heavy cream for the liquid to get that silky texture. I also used mango pulp leftover from the rainbow cheesecake I made before. If I haven't told you before, this is one of my absolute favorite ingredients. The taste of the mango is so intense, not to mention the vibrant yellow color, and most importantly, it's available all year long and guaranteed sweet!!!

I wouldn't say that this recipe is the one I'm looking for, but at least it's better than the first one I made. I've never been a big fan of too-much-gelatin. I tried to use as little as possible of gelatin in my mousse and my other desserts. The texture of too-much-gelatin is somewhat rubbery to me. Although I do realize that that amount of gelatin is needed for the pudding to hold it's shape. But, it's not the kind of texture I'm looking for in a pudding. I would imagine pudding to be smooth, silky, soft, and you don't have to use your teeth that much to process it. I guess the search is still continued? If anybody's willing to share the ultimate pudding recipe, I would REALLY appreciate it :)

Here's the recipe if you want to try it:

Mango Pudding

1 cup mango pulp
1/2 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbs. cold water
1 Tbs. powdered gelatin

• Combine the mango pulp, heavy cream/evaporated milk, milk and sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a gentle boil.
• In the meantime, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let it bloom. Then, melt the gelatin in microwave for a few secs to melt the mixture (don't let it come to boil. 5 seconds will do just fine)
• Pour the melted gelatin into the cream mixture and stir well.
• Take the pan off the heat and pour in any mold you want. Let it set for a few hours before unmolding.