Matcha Green Tea and Chocolate Pound Cake

Oh, you know how I feel about matcha.  Truthfully, I think matcha and white chocolate make a better pairing but I really was excited about the idea of this color combination.  

This recipe makes a pound cake that avoids being the dense clumsy brick that we might be familiar with.  The crumb is a bit finer and I think has a much more appealing texture.  And the color!

Matcha Chocolate Pound Cake

2 sticks (8oz) of butter, unsalted and at room temperature

8 oz of good quality semi-sweet chocolate (3 oz for the ganache, 5 oz to blend into the batter)

1 tsp of matcha green tea (powdered green tea is not the same thing)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs (separated) 

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1. grease and flour  a 8 1/2 inch loaf pan (or I used 3 disposable mini-loaf pans) and preheat an oven to 350

2. sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. set aside

3. melt 5 oz of chocolate in a double broiler

4. cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy

5. add the egg yolks one at a time and beat for one minute with each addition

6. fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with additions of the whole milk

7. beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks

8. fold the egg whites in very gently.  it's okay if they are not completely blended in

9. divide the batter in half

10. to one half of the batter add the melted 5 oz of chocolate and mix until just combined

11. to the other half add the matcha and vanilla extract until just combined

12. fill the load pan(s) with heaping spoonfuls of batter, alternating between the matcha batter and chocolate batter.  

13. settle the batter by tapping it against a hard surface

14. with a butter knife marble the batter by making a swirling motion, make sure not to over  mix.

15. bake in the oven for approximately an hour if in a large loaf pan and about 4o minutes if in the mini-loaf pans 

16. let cool completely

17. heat up the heavy cream and then pour over the remaining chocolate 

18. let stand for about 1 minute and then whisk until smooth

19. spread over the top of the loaf and let harden for about an hour

A Very Pleasant Evening (recipe for pear and bittersweet chocolate cake included)

homemade kettle corn

cantaloupe, watermelon, mint, and white wine salad

pear and bittersweet chocolate cake

i really love the idea of a movie night.  i think they're nice. and relaxing. and usually there is food involved.  i had a few people over the other night to watch "in the mood for love" and "talk to her".  Are movies at movie nights supposed to be light and easy?  Because, these movies were decidedly not.  But I think that's a good thing.  We actually had conversations about the movies...like little discussion sessions after the viewing.  it felt----productive (??).  In any case I had a lovely time and i think my friends are peachy.  

When I have people over, I get really host-y.  It's probably obnoxious but I all of a sudden feel responsible for everyone's comfort.  The best way to deal with this is to stuff people up to the gills with food.  Speaking of gills, Gil brought the most amazing pita bread--unusually doughy and adorably misshapen.  I think he said it was from a bakery on Fairfax.  I will have to get the address from him.  Also, Sam brought an excellent fruit plate.  fruit and summer.  thomas brought hummus and babaganoush (which he mistook for tabouli/tabbouleh).  lan brought her buoyant and joyous self.  I made a pear and bittersweet chocolate cake, a melon mint white wine salad, and homemade kettle corn.

Pear and Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

3 pears diced in cubes

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick of 4 ounce butter

1. preheat the oven to 350

2. either use a decorative disposable cake mold or butter a 9 inch springform pan

3. sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside

4. with a mixer, whip the eggs on high speed for at least 5 minutes until the eggs have greatly increased in volume and the mixture looks pale and thick

5. brown the butter at medium heat in a sauce pan.  the butter is done with brown solids begina to form and the butter turns just slightly brown.  careful not to burn.  as soon as the brown solids appear, remove from heat

6. add the sugar to the whipped eggs and mix for a few minutes more

7. add the brown butter and flour in alternating additions, being careful not to over beat

8. pour the batter into the cake pan

9. top with the pear cubes and chopped chocolate

10. bake for about 50 minutes

adapted from smittenkitchen.com

Chocolate Honey Cake with Caramelized Banana Filling and Nutella Frosting

Did you know that I have a brother?  His Name is Brian and he just turned fourteen.  For his birthday I offered to make him a cake.  Brian requested a chocolate cake.  Now, my natural inclination was to add all sorts of things to this simple request for a chocolate cake.  Lavender came to mind.  Sour cherries came to mind.  Caramelized figs and pears with chocolate ganache came to mind.  

But in the end I had to edit myself because as delicious as the previously mentioned flavors seemed to me, I just wasn't confident that they'd suit Brian's palate and it is his birthday after all.  

I came to a compromise.  Caramelized banana filling and a Nutella frosting.  Approachable, right? The idea for the Nutella frosting came first and then bananas came to mind as a good pairing.  And I really do love caramelized fruit of all kinds.  

A small tragedy happened while I was baking this cake.  I really wanted this to be a tall 3-layer cake and everything was going well until I accidently dropped one of the layers and it split.  There's just no salvaging a broken layer of cake.  It won't ice prettily.  Sure I could have left it at a two layer cake, accepted my losses, but I felt almost comically resolute about this having to be a 3-layer cake.  It was about 2 or 3 a.m. and at that hour sometimes I lose a sense of practicality and common sense (though it could be argued that I lack that altogether).  So for me the logical solution was just to bake another three layers of the cake.  Again, I could have done the math to change the measurements to make one layer, but again...loss of common sense.  

I feel like maybe I put at lot of expectations on this cake, like I had high standards for it, or something.  Or maybe I was projecting a lot of tension onto the poor cake. In any case, while I was assembling the cake a small bit of the bottom tore off, the tiniest bit, an imperceptible bit.  I sort of lost it.  With my icing spatula in one hand I sort of leprechauned into the air and had a nano-second tantrum, yelling something about needing the cake to be perfect.  Saeyoung was a shocked witness.  It was weird.  I felt very out of body.  I think I need sleep.  

But yeah, the cake was pretty yummy.  

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup cake flour (you can also use all-purpose if you choose)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened (I recommend Valhrona or Callebaut)

6 ounces dark chocolate, unsweetened (I also recommend Valhrona or Callebaut)

1 stick of butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar + 1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup freshly brewed extra strong coffee

1/2 cup honey

1/4  teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2/3 cup buttermilk

Filling:

5 bananas, sliced at about 1/4 inch rounds

5 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons rums

Icing:

2 1/4 cups Nutella

2 sticks of butter

2 cups confectioners sugar

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1. preheat oven to 350

2. in a double broiler, melt the 6 ounces of chocolate 

3. when the chocolate begins to soften, add the coffee and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and whisk until smooth

4. in a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt and set aside

5. in a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and 3/4 cup of sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy

6. add the honey to the sugar and butter mixture

7. add eggs one at a time

8. add the vanilla

9. alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in three separate additions and fold until just combined. finally fold in the melted chocolate/coffee mixture.

10. divide the batter between three greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans 

11. bake for about 20 minutes

12. invert the layers and let cool completely

13. meanwhile, slice the bananas and melt the butter on a very large saucepan or griddle type pan

14. sprinkle about half the sugar onto the pan

15. arrange the banana slices into a single layer on the pan and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the top

16. let the butter and sugar bubble.  when they look brown and caramelized on one side, flip them

17. add the rum

18. remove from heat when both sides are caramelized

*note : if you do not have a large enough pan, you may need to do this step twice

19. let the banana slices cool

20. meanwhile make the frosting

21. with an electric mixer beat the nutella and butter

22. add the confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt

23. add the cream

24. when the cakes have completely cooled, arrange one layer on top of a doily

25. take strips of parchment paper and line the sides of the cake by tucking the edges slightly under the cake for easy removal after icing

26. put a layer of caramelized bananas over the layer of cake

27. top with the second layer of cake and again place the bananas on top of that layer

28. place the third and final layer on top

29. ice the cake generously

30. remove the parchment strips

* the chocolate honey cake was adapted from "Sky High Cakes" chocolate almond cake with bittersweet chocolate ganache cake"

The Many Iterations of Nancy Cake

blue (berry) nancy cake

ew! it looks like there are bugs in my cake, very organized bugs!

It's official, Nancy Cake is my go-to recipe.  It's pretty fool proof and you can add any fruit to it.