Pomegranate Pavlova

Happy 2013! I hope the holiday season was good to you, with plenty of time spent with loved ones. Our time was happily filled with a visit to see family and friends, a lovely wedding, many games of Banagrams, many episodes of Boardwalk Empire, sledding, cooking from Burma, reading and eating peppermint bark and popcorn. And, of course, the return of Downton Abbey last night.

Over the winter break, I reminisced about our trip to Australia during the same time last year, and this lead to thoughts of Pavlova, which is very popular during the Christmas season there (large meringues are readily available in the grocery stores).  I’ve shared my love of cream and meringue desserts before, and Pavlova is another such creation - an old favorite for a new year.

Egg whites are whipped with sugar until they are snowy white and then mounded with softly muffled glumpf sounds onto a baking pan and swirled into a round. When baked, I’ve noticed that sometimes the meringue stays white and sometimes it becomes golden, which reminds me of a nicely toasted marshmallow - not a bad thing! Billows of whipped cream are then spread over the meringue and topped with fruit.

Passion fruit is traditional (we ate the best passion fruit ever in Australia), but I chose to use some beautiful pomegranates which are in season now. Pomegranate arils are so pretty, like little jewels, and their ruby color is striking against the white cream, their crimson juice staining it pink.  They burst with tart flavor as you take a bite of this light, airy confection. The soft crunch of meringue melts in your mouth. This is one magical dessert.

Pavlova is stunning, perfect for a holiday celebration or an elegant dinner party. Or, in our case, a family dinner where we blissfully devoured the whole thing, winter break stretching luxuriously ahead of us.

Now we have a shiny new year ahead filled with new possibilities. I am looking forward to a delicious, creative 2013 with lots of joy, both in and out of the kitchen. Wishing you the same, as well!

Pomegranate Pavlova
Serves 6-8

2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
6 egg whites, room temperature
A pinch of kosher salt
1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 pint heavy whipping cream, chilled
1 cup pomegranate arils

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Draw a 9 inch circle on a piece of parchment paper and place it on a baking sheet.

In a glass measuring cup, stir together the cornstarch, white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Set aside. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed with a pinch of kosher salt until soft peaks begin to form. Lower the speed a little and slowly add 1 cup of sugar. Pour in the cornstarch mixture. Whisk until well mixed. The egg whites should be smooth and billowy, be sure not to over mix them.

Gently spoon the egg whites onto the baking sheet and smooth to fill the circle. Place the baking sheet in the oven and lower the heat to 300 degrees. Bake for 1 hour, then decrease the heat to 180 degrees for 1/2 hour.  The meringue should be puffed and lightly golden. Turn the heat off and leave the meringue to cool in the oven with the door closed. It can be prepared the night before and left in the closed oven until the next day.

When ready to serve, whip the chilled heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until mixed.

Peel the parchment paper off the meringue and place on a flat serving plate. Dollop the whipped cream over the top and smooth. Scatter the pomegranate arils and any collected juices over the cream. Bring to the table and serve in slices.

Pumpkin Pie with Maple Sweetened Whipped Cream

When planning the Thanksgiving feast (or any festive meal for that matter), I often skip over the actual dinner part and think about dessert first. From there, I work backwards to choosing the main course, sides and appetizers. I love to bake, and dessert offers the opportunity to pull out cake tins, sifters, pie plates and rolling pins. While I like to add one or two new treats to our Thanksgiving dessert buffet (check out this Pumpkin-Chocolate Torte I’m making), I do appreciate tradition and I adore pumpkin pie.

One can never have too much pumpkin pie in my opinion. Growing up, I ate my slices of pumpkin pie by skimming the filling off in layers with my fork to make it last longer, saving the crust for last – I can safely say I’ve loved pastry my whole life! I prefer to keep my pumpkin pie simple, with just a hint of cinnamon and ginger. As much as I enjoy autumn spices, I like to taste the pumpkin and find it’s often lost in cloves and allspice.

Pumpkin pie is an American classic. It tastes of holidays, family, warmth and comfort. We discovered through some of our exchange students that pumpkin is often an acquired taste (along with root beer and peanut butter). Creamy, maple sweetened pumpkin custard wrapped in a rich, buttery crust gets my taste buds tingling. And whipped cream is a must – it’s a beautiful sight to see clouds of cream mounded on top of the pie (keep the bowl nearby to dollop on more).

This is Sam’s favorite pie and I must say I can happily eat it year-round. I’m most delighted when I discover leftovers the next morning and can cozy up with a slice for breakfast.

Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream
Serves 8-10

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3-4 tablespoons ice water
2 cups unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 cups heavy cream, divided (be sure 1 cup is well chilled for whipping)
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated
1 teaspoon cinnamon

To make the pastry, combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the chilled butter pieces and pulse until the butter breaks up into little pieces. Add 3 tablespoons of ice water and pulse to blend. If the dough does not begin to hold together when a small amount is squeezed, add 1 more tablespoon. Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Press into a flat disc, wrap up and pop in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filling.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the pumpkin puree, 1 cup of cream, eggs, 1/2 cup maple syrup, ginger and cinnamon. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Have ready a 9 inch pie plate or tart pan. Remove the pie dough from the fridge. Open the parchment paper and lay another piece of parchment paper over the dough. Roll the dough into a round to fit our pan (remember to roll in a few directions, then move the dough around so you are rolling evenly). Peel the top sheet of paper off and, using the bottom sheet, gently invert the dough into your pan. Press in and smooth to fit and remove parchment. If you’d like, crimp the edges in a decorative way.

Fill the crust with the pumpkin filling. Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking dish and pop it in the oven. Bake until the custard is set, about 30-40 minutes (it should be a bit jiggly). Remove and let cool. Serve room temperature, or chill for up to a day before serving.

When ready to serve, whip the chilled cream with the remaining 2 tablespoons of maple syrup until soft peaks form. Dollop and eat!

Chocolate Cherry Bourbon Shortcake

Chocolate cherry bourbon shortcake ... I meant to take only a little bite to taste how the flavors came together.  And then another, just to be sure.  And then before I knew it, the plate was empty.   Now I’m sighing in delight and can’t even think about dinner.

Strawberry shortcake is my favorite summer dessert, followed closely by Pavlova – any excuse to pair fruit and cream!  My son, Isaac, chose strawberry shortcake for the dessert at his Bar Mitzvah Shabbat dinner ... it’s a family favorite.  So when I saw that Abby Dodge selected shortcake for this month’s Bake Together challenge I was a bit gleeful.

Normally I am traditional in my shortcake and bake a cream scone as the base for luscious cream and juicy berries.  Abby shares her chocolate shortcake, though, and I decided to try something new, adding a dash of ground espresso for more depth of flavor.  My small counter space was taken up with a flat of raspberries, so I scooped the dough out rather than rolling and cutting it.  The resulting shortcakes were quite rustic with craggy tops that I rather liked.

I haven’t cooked or baked nearly enough with cherries yet this season so I continued to branch out in my shortcake adventure and use cherries in place of berries.  I seem to have misplaced my cherry pitter, but fortunately my friend Ashley shared her handy tip to pit with a chopstick – just give the cherry a poke and the pit bursts out.  Now, pitting cherries is a tedious and messy process but if you can embrace the stained fingers and inevitable splatters you will be happily rewarded.  I listened to Ladi6 and grooved a bit and two pounds of cherries were pitted before I knew it.

I didn’t stop there – cherries lend themselves well to booze and chocolate so I spiked the whipped cream with bourbon and sweetened it with brown sugar (I love bourbon as an added flavor and in cocktails ... I promise to share a smashing cocktail later this summer).

What a combination of flavors and textures!  The dark sweetness of cherries and chocolate combined with billowy cream is rich and sublime, soft and tender.  I will happily make this shortcake again.

Chocolate Cherry Bourbon Shortcake
Adapted from Abby Dodge’s Double Chocolate-Strawberry Shortcakes
Serves 8

For the shortcakes
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
3/4 cup buttermilk, chilled
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened, natural cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the whipped cream
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
2 tablespoons bourbon
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the cherries
2 pounds cherries
1/2 cup sugar

To make the shortcakes
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick liner.

Cut the butter into small pieces and place in the freezer until ready to use. Whisk the buttermilk and vanilla together and pop in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Put the flour, sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Add the cold butter pieces and, using short pulses, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 1 minute.

Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and pour the buttermilk and vanilla over the flour mixture.  Use a rubber spatula to stir until it forms a moist dough and holds together (do not mix too much).

Divide the dough into 8 portions and drop onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until puffed and spring back when the tops are gently pressed, about 12 minutes. Let the shortcakes cool for about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

To make the whipped cream
In a medium bowl, beat the chilled cream until soft peaks begin to form.  Add the bourbon, brown sugar and vanilla and beat until mixed in. Serve immediately or cover and chill for a few hours.

To make the cherries
Pit the cherries using a cherry pitter or chopstick.  In a bowl, stir the sugar and cherries together and then mash with a pastry cutter to start juicing and breaking the fruit down (you may also discover a pit or two that slipped by).  Cover the bowl and refrigerate for a few hours until the cherries have released some of their juices.

To serve
Using a serrated knife, cut the shortcakes in half crosswise and place the bottom halves on serving plates.  Spoon big dollops of whipped cream onto the bottom halves, ladle some cherries and their juices over, add a little more whipped cream because it’s so good, and cover with the top half of the shortcake.  Serve immediately.

Raspberry Angel Food Cake for Bake Together

I’ve been thinking about this cake all month and have been excited for the moment I could get in the kitchen and bake it.  This month, Abby Dodge shares her terrific Angel Food Cake for April’s Bake Together recipe, along with some tempting variations.  Yes, angel food cake ... that airy, eat-way-more-than-you-intend-to cake.  My family has been known to devour an entire angel food cake in one sitting, pulling off one pillowy hunk after another.

For my version, I mashed fresh raspberries to dollop in the batter, reserving some of the juice to mix into whipped cream to frost the cake.  Mixing up an angel food cake is a gentle process – you want to keep it as light as possible.  And I love the way angel food cake cools, suspended upside down on a wine bottle to keep the cake tall and majestic.

This is the first time I’ve baked an angel food cake and I can safely say I will not be buying a store-bought one again.  After sneaking a small bite of the cake, my plan to wait for my family to come home went out the window and I had to sit down and enjoy a slice immediately. Softly textured, snow white, studded with raspberries and slathered in blush pink whipped cream ... definitely the food of angels!

This stunning cake would be lovely for a Mother’s Day brunch, a summer birthday, or just because.  I can tell you it is divine eaten straight from the pan, and is heavenly with berries and cream.  I can’t wait to bake it again!

Raspberry Angel Food Cake
Adapted slightly from Abby Dodge’s Tangerine Angel Food Cake
Serves 10-12

1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
11 large egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup superfine sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
1 cup fresh raspberries, mashed lightly and juices reserved
2 cups whipping cream, chilled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pull out a 10 x 4–inch angel food cake pan (do not butter or grease the pan). Have a wine bottle ready to hold the pan in a level, upside-down position for cooling.

Sift the flour, 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar and salt together three times (Abby says “no joke – THREE times”) onto a piece of parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium-low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar, increasing speed to medium, and beat until whites are opaque and climbing about half way up the bowl (the tracks from the whisk will be beginning to hold their shape) forming very soft peaks. Continue beating while slowly and continuously adding the superfine sugar. Beat on medium high until the whites are thick, shiny and form medium-firm, fluffy peaks. (The peaks should droop over gently.) Do not over beat. You want to leave some room for those whites to expand in the oven. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat just until blended, about 10 seconds.

Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture over the beaten whites. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the whites. Repeat with remaining flour mixture, one quarter at a time.

Using the spatula, spoon 1/3 of the batter into the cake pan and spread around the bottom.  Gently dollop 1/2 of the mashed raspberries on top of the batter.   Spoon the next 1/3 of batter on top, then dollop with the remaining raspberries.  Spoon the last 1/3 of the batter on top and smooth. Bake until the cake is light golden brown and the cake is springy when touched, about 40 minutes. Immediately invert the pan onto the neck of the wine bottle and let cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the chilled cream until soft peaks form.  Add the reserved raspberry juice (about 1/8 cup), 1 tablespoon powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Beat on low until mixed.

To remove the cake, rotate the pan, gently tapping the bottom edge of the cake pan on the counter as you turn it until the cake loosens from the pan. If necessary, run a long, thin knife between the cake and the pan and around the inside of the tube to loosen the cake. Slip the cake from the pan and gently lift it up from the center of the pan and arrange on a flat serving plate.  Frost the cake with the whipped cream, or serve the cream on the side with slices of cake.

The Sweetness of Chocolate Cake and Friendship

My dear friend, Julie, celebrated her birthday yesterday and I was honored to make a cake for her. Julie has been in my life for many years now. Bob and I met her and her husband, Mitch, when I was pregnant with my older son and soon after we bought houses on the same street. That was 16 years ago and since then we have raised children, taken vacations together, shared holidays and Shabbat dinners and become family. Their children, Sophie and Jake, are close with my children, almost like cousins. In fact, Julie and Sophie (5 months old at the time) were in the delivery room when my younger son, Isaac, was born. Sophie and Isaac like to say they’ve known each other since birth!

A special friend like Julie deserves a decadent cake to celebrate her birthday and it must be chocolate. My go-to chocolate cake for the past 10 years is one from Cook’s Illustrated. You can bake it in a 9x13 inch pan and take it on a picnic, no frosting needed. Or you can use two round cake pans, layer it with a rich filling and slather on frosting for a festive occasion.

Pondering a new cake idea is so much fun! I’ve been dying to try this chocolate bourbon whipped cream and thought it would provide a heavenly cake filling. It did, and I’ll admit to sneaking quite a few spoonfuls while assembling the cake. The icing on the cake was a tangy, rich one of chocolate and sour cream. Yum!

A balmy evening, tiki torches burning, sipping chilled wine, indulging in cake and ice cream and celebrating friendship.... just a few of life’s moments to savor. Cheers to a lovely friend!

Chocolate Sheet Cake
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Makes one 9x13 inch cake or two 9 inch round cakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering baking pan(s)
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar (a little less if using semi-sweet chocolate)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of baking pan(s) with butter.

Sift together cocoa powder, flour and salt in a medium bowl. Heat chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring until melted and smooth (or you can use a microwave). Whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl.

Whisk chocolate into egg mixture until combined. Combine buttermilk and baking soda and whisk into chocolate mixture. Then whisk in dry ingredients until batter is smooth and glossy. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake until firm in the center when lightly pressed, about 30 minutes for 9 inch cake pans and 40 minutes for 9x13 inch pan. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. This cake freezes well, too. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month.

If assembling a layered cake, set one cake on a serving plate. Layer with Chocolate Bourbon Whipped Cream, place second cake on top and ice with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (recipes follow).

Chocolate Bourbon Whipped Cream
From food52.com
Makes about 2 cups

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon

Combine cream, cocoa, sugar and bourbon in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour to allow the cocoa to dissolve. Whisk by hand or beat with a hand-mixer until stiff peaks form. Take a taste (or two!). Chill until ready to use.

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
From Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups sour cream, room temperature

Melt the chocolate chips over low heat or in a microwave. Let cool to room temperature. It’s very important that the chocolate and sour cream be the same temperature or the frosting will be gloppy and grainy (this has happened to me before ... still delicious but not as pretty). Stir the melted chocolate and sour cream together until smooth. Frost away!