Burnt Caramel Cake

I was sure it was going to be a cake filled with lemon curd and topped with a toasted meringue frosting. Then, I changed my mind and considered a simple, vanilla angel food cake with strawberries on the side. And, there are two different pistachio cakes that I’ve wanted to try for ages. I have a hard time choosing when it comes to my birthday cake. In the end, my decision was made when I remembered the Burnt Caramel Cake in Basic to Brilliant, Y'all. I mean, caramel covering multiple layers of cake? Of course I had to make this. There are three cake layers rich with butter and eggs, and the icing is a cooked caramel made thick with butter and cream. In this book, every recipe has a tip for making it “brilliant.” For this cake, an embellishment of apple hazelnut compote is suggested as a filling between the layers which sounds lovely but in more of an autumnal way. I decided to dress it up with chopped, toasted pecans between layers instead, and I sprinkled big flakes of sea salt on top. The recipe is available online, but there’s a missing bit of instructions. It skips over adding the eggs which should be mixed in after the butter and sugar have been creamed. The instructions for the caramel icing are great though. This reminded me of the frosting I made for Kurt’s birthday cake which needed to be spread swiftly which I learned as I went. Here, Virginia Willis points out that if you place the bowl of caramel icing in a bigger bowl of warm water, it keeps the icing from setting quite so quickly. It’s a great tip and one I’ll remember next time I work with a similar frosting. Once on the cake, the caramel sets nicely and, the cake stores well at room temperature. 

It’s a simple cake to make which starts with softened butter that’s creamed with sugar. Next, four eggs were added one at a time and mixed into the butter. Flour that had been sifted with baking powder was added in three parts with milk being added alternately. The batter was divided among three pans, and the cakes baked for about 25 minutes. To make the icing, sugar was caramelized in a skillet while more sugar, butter, and cream were brought to a boil in a saucepan. The caramelized, or burnt, sugar was then poured into the cream mixture, stirred to combine, and cooked to reach the soft-ball stage. Off the heat, vanilla and salt were added. It was allowed to cool a bit before being whisked in a stand mixer. Placing the bowl of icing into a big bowl of warm water worked perfectly to prevent it from setting too quickly as the cake was assembled. Still, once the icing was spooned onto the cake, it needed to be spread quickly before setting. I had toasted and chopped some pecans in advance and sprinkled them on the two bottom layers after spreading the caramel icing. 

This is an old-fashioned, caramel-dream of a cake. It was like one giant, Southern praline wrapped around layers of buttery, vanilla cake. I'm not good at deciding on a flavor of ice cream when presented with several options either. This wasn’t a quick decision, but I think I finally chose well. 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.

Tweet

Shrimp Rillettes and Fennel Flatbreads

When I was telling you about the new book Basic to Brilliant, Ya'll, I mentioned that I planned to make the shrimp rillettes for Thanksgiving. Well, I did, and I’m so glad that I did. I made the fennel flatbreads too which was the option for making this basic recipe brilliant, and they were fantastic as well. After the shrimp were cooked and pureed with butter and cream cheese, the mixture needed to be chilled for at least eight hours, but a quick taste let me know we’d be in for something delicious. While the rillettes chilled in a covered ramekin, I set about making the flatbreads and learned a good lesson. After rolling out pieces of dough as thinly as possible, they were supposed to have been placed directly onto a baking sheet that had been brushed with olive oil. I somehow thought it would be a good idea to use a silpat brushed with olive oil and placed on a baking sheet as you can see in the photo below. The silpat prevented the flabreads from browning in the oven. So, then I did as I was told in the recipe and baked the next few directly on a baking sheet, and they were golden, crispy, fennel seed-flecked perfection.

To begin the rillettes, shallots were sauteed in oil with a bay leaf, and then peeled and deveined shrimp were added with some white wine. The shrimp were seasoned with salt and pepper and just cooked until pink. The mixture was transferred to a food processor and pureed with butter, cream cheese, lemon zest, and chives. You could then place the rillettes into individual jars for serving, but I placed the entire mixture into one ramekin and covered it with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface. The ramekin was chilled overnight, but it could have been made a few days in advance. The dough for the fennel flatbreads was quickly mixed in the food processor. Bread flour, sea salt, fresh thyme leaves, and fennel seeds were pulsed, and then cold water was added and pulsed until the dough formed. The dough was removed from the processor bowl and kneaded until smooth. Then, it was divided into ten pieces, and each piece was rolled out as thinly as possible. After rolling, each piece was sprinkled with salt and pepper and given one more roll with the rolling pin. To bake, the flatbreads should definitely be placed directly on a baking sheet that has been brushed with olive oil. They baked for about 20 minutes.

The flatbreads were fragrant from the thyme and fennel seeds, and they snapped easily into bite-size pieces to be spread with the rillettes. And, those rillettes were rich and decadent, and the wine and lemon zest added lovely flavor. This is an ideal item for a party since you’re required to make it in advance, and the flatbreads also store well for a few days. Once it’s served though, it disappears quickly.

Tweet

Curried Chicken Wings with Peach Dipping Sauce

I get pretty excited about a new book with great recipes, and when it includes an interesting tip or two as well, I’m even more eager to use the book. With that in mind, the new book from Virginia Willis of which I received a review copy, Basic to Brilliant, Ya'll, will frequently be open on my kitchen counter. Willis combines classic, southern cuisine with perfected techniques and some French dishes that may have been given a southern twist. Every recipe in the book is presented first in its standard way, and that’s followed by a brilliant tip that makes the dish even more special. The tip might be a suggestion for the presentation, a garnish, or an added step in the process. They're all so brilliant because they’re not about adding to the cost of the recipe, they’re just about taking an additioinal step for special occasions. For instance, for the shrimp rillettes, the spread could be served with store-bought crackers or endive leaves, and the brilliant tip is to make homemade fennel flatbreads. I plan to try this for a Thanksgiving appetizer. The kale omelet would delicious on its own, but it’s made brilliant by being baked in a sourdough boule. And, the meringue pillows with strawberries and cream recipe is elevated by making dacquoise layers for a cake instead of individual meringues.

I couldn’t wait to try the curried chicken wings recipe and its accompanying brilliant tip. The basic recipe involves marinating chicken wings in a mix of curry powder, turmeric, cayenne, soy sauce, canola oil, chopped jalapenos, and finely chopped garlic. To up the presentation of the wings, they were turned into chicken “lollipops.” Each wing was cut into drumettes and flat pieces, tendons were cut, and the meat was pushed down the only bone on the drumette or the bigger of the two bones on the flat piece. On flat pieces, the smaller bone was then removed. You’re left with a scraped-clean bone that makes each cooked wing piece very easy to pick up and eat. After turning the pieces into lollipops and marinating them for at least an hour, they were baked while the dipping sauce was made. The sauce was a mix of Greek yogurt, peach preserves, hot sauce, and salt and pepper.

Cutting the wings to form the lollipops did require some extra effort, and the flat pieces were not as easy to convert as the drumettes. However, it was absolutely worth it. They looked great, and were perfect for serving yourself from a platter. They tasted as good as they looked too. Even though I only had time to marinate the wings for one hour, the spices flavored the chicken well. And, the sweet-spicy dipping sauce was exactly right with the flavors from the marinade.

See my review of Basic to Brilliant, Ya'll and get this curried chicken wings recipe at Project Foodie.

Tweet