Dare to Bake Well

Umm, I mean bakewell. Tart that is. Co-hostesses Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar challenged us with a bakewell tart for this month's Daring Bakers' recipe. The history of the bakewell tart is a bit fuzzy. According to Jasmine and Annemarie, today's version of the bakewell tart/pudding typically falls under one of two categories. The first is the "pudding" where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the "tart" where a rich short pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling. The version they came up with is a combination of the two: a sweet short crust pastry, frangipane and jam.



The first element was an easy to make dough for the short crust pastry. They encouraged us to put away the food processor and make the dough by hand. Grating frozen butter into the flour mimics the processing that a machine would do. My only problem was a lot of butter stuck to my box grater. I was unsuccessful in my attempts to extract every bit of butter out of the grater's teeth, so I just threw in another tablespoon of butter into the mix. Problem solved. To reduce the amount of water and increase the fat, I used heavy cream instead of water in the dough. No one said this was low fat baking!



They gave us the freedom to use any flavor of jam and it could be homemade or store bought. I decided to use a mango jam given to me by a friend. And then I exercised some creative license for the final element - the frangipane filling. Even though I love almonds, I used macadamia nuts instead of almonds in the frangipane filling. I'm not sure if I can still call it frangipane if it doesn't have almonds. I toasted the macadamia nuts in the oven and let them cool completely before blitzing them in the food processor. I made sure to add a small amount of the confectioners' sugar from the filling recipe. The confectioners' sugar absorbs some of the oils released from the nuts and prevents the ground nuts from turning into nut butter. I also added a bit of dark rum and vanilla to the filling to round out the tropical theme.

The end result was quite amazing. It was like eating a tart and cake at the same time. The cakey nut filling was divine. It was rich and moist. The perfume of the macadamia nuts paired wonderfully with the sweet mango jam. The crust was flaky and buttery, but sturdy enough to encase all the goodness of the jam and cakey filling. I could cut super thin slices and it held together beautifully which was important since I was taking slice after thin slice and eating it sans fork and plate.



The fine print:
The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I've been spending most of my time on my professional life (aka "the day job") during the last few weeks. The project will be completed within the next few days and I hope to be back to my baking and blogging life very soon after that. I did have time to make cupcakes for a baby shower recently. I made four varieties for the shower. Three were tried and true, but this fourth one, the snickerdoodle cupcake, was a new recipe I created.

It's a cinnamon cupcake topped with a cinnamon-sugar crackle. The cinnamon-sugar mixture is sprinkled on top of the cupcake batter before they go into the oven and it bakes into a crispy, crackly, cinnamony shell atop each moist cupcake. I then frosted each with a swirl of Swiss buttercream and then sprinkled the buttercream with more cinnamon-sugar to add a bit of sparkle. They were a big hit.



Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
(24 cupcakes)

Cupcakes:
3 cups cake flour
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 ounces (3 sticks / 1.5 cups) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (10 fl. oz.) buttermilk

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping:
1 tbsp granulated sugar combined with 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 (4 fluid ounce capacity) cupcake wells with paper cupcake liners. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside flour mixture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla.

Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Fill each well approximately two-thirds full. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon-sugar topping over the batter. (You might have some cinnamon-sugar leftover. That's okay. Just use it to sprinkle on top of the frosting.)

Bake cupcakes at 350F until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean or when the top springs back after lightly pressed, about 20-23 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove cupcakes and cool on wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Swiss Buttercream
(enough to lightly frost 24 cupcakes)

1 cup granulated sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp milk (I used low fat)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.

On medium speed, gradually beat in the milk, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla and cinnamon (if using). You should have a shiny smooth buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream if not using immediately.