Blueberry Hand Pies

Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake and I had the honor of choosing the theme for this month's You Want Pies With That. We asked the participants to come up with a pie that reminds them of a "Taste of Summer". Summer can conjure up seasonal fruit or carnival foods, but it can also be about sunburns and bored kids. I was one of those bored kids.



The concept of over scheduled children driven around by a "soccer mom" didn't quite exist when I was growing up. My parents didn’t send us to camp or summer school. In fact, it was okay to leave children at home alone unsupervised for a few hours back then. My brothers and I would hang around the house and try not to destroy the house or each other.

My mom never let us have any junk food normally. But during the summer break we could occasionally go to the corner store and pick out something sugary. I always chose a Hostess Fruit Pie. I know it sounds gross and I am a bit ashamed to admit that I like it, but a 9 year old me thought it was delicious. [Note: Hostess Fruit Pies are a commercially produced hand pie.]



So I decided to bake some miniature blueberry hand pies as a tribute to that childhood summertime treat.



Blueberry Hand Pies
(22-24 pies)

1 quantity of Flaky Pie Crust (see recipe below)

Blueberry Filling:
14 ounces blueberries
6 tbsp granulated sugar
5 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Optional glaze:
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water
1-2 tsp granulated sugar

To make the filling:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

To assemble the hand pies:
Roll out your chilled dough to about 1/8-inch thick. Using a 4-inch round cutter, cut out 4-inch circles. (You can reuse the dough scraps once. Lay the scraps, side by side slightly overlapping and roll them between plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for at least 15 minutes before cutting out more circles from the rolled scraps.) You should get about 22-24 circles.

Spoon about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of the blueberry filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Brush the edges lightly with cold water (to help the dough stick) and fold dough in half. Using your fingers, press the border to seal it and then press the border using the tines of a fork. Refrigerate filled turnovers for 30-60 minutes.



To bake:
Preheat oven to 400F. If desired, brush the chilled turnovers with egg glaze and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut 3 steam vents into the top of each turnover. Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden and the filling is bubbling. Let turnovers cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Flaky Pie Crust
(from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Pie & Pastry Bible)
(makes 21 ounces dough - enough pastry for 22-24 hand pies)

7 ounces (14 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
11 1/4 ounces (2 1/4 cups) bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 to 7 tbsp ice water
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Divide the 7 ounces (14 tbsp) of butter into 2 portions: 4.5 ounces and 2.5 ounces (9 tbsp and 5 tbsp). Refrigerate the 4.5 ounce portion and freeze the 2.5 ounce portion for at least 30 minutes.

Place the flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade. Process for a few seconds to combine.

Add the 4.5 ounces of (refrigerated) butter and process for about 20 seconds or until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the 2.5 ounces of (frozen) butter and pulse until the frozen butter is the size of peas.

Add the 5 tbsp of ice water and the vinegar and pulse 6-7 times. Pinch a small amount of the mixture to see if it holds together. If not, add another 1 tbsp water and pulse 3 times. Try pinching again to see if it holds together. If not, add the final 1 tbsp water and pulse 3 times.

Divide the dough in half. Wrap each portion with plastic wrap and flatten into discs. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

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.

Macadamia Mango Bakewell Tart
Makes one 23cm (9-inch) tart

One quantity sweet short crust pastry (recipe follows)
One quantity macadamia nut frangipane (recipe follows)
125ml (4 US fluid ounces) mango jam

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatized for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poufy and brownish.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poufy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the filling will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet short crust pastry

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) granulated sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 large egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) vanilla extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water or heavy cream

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water or cream, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Macadamia Nut "Frangipane" Filling

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing (confectioners') sugar
3 large eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) pure vanilla extract
5ml (1 tsp) dark rum
125g (4.5oz) macadamia nuts (weigh, lightly toast, cool and then grind finely)
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is light and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the vanilla extract and rum and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the nuts) and retain its pallid yellow color.

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.

Daring Bakers Stretch and Roll

This month's Daring Bakers' challenge is upon us again. Co-hosts Linda of Make Life Sweeter and Courtney of Coco Cooks chose strudel. They gave us the freedom to fill our strudel with whatever our hearts desired. Their only mandate was that we must make the strudel dough.



When the challenge was announced, I was excited as well as apprehensive. Never in my life did I think I would make strudel dough. I've always thought that strudel making takes decades to perfect and those proficient use secrets passed from generation to generation. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how simple the dough was to make. Rick Rodgers' recipe for strudel dough was truly wonderful. The dough was really easy to handle. Using a floured cloth to line my countertop, the dough didn't stick at all and it stretched tissue-paper-thin without tearing. And stretching it was so much fun too - I was actually giggling while doing it! Luckily no one but the cat was around to witness my silliness.

Traditionally apples are used, but apples are out of season right now so I decided to make a cherry strudel. Since cherries exude so much liquid I knew I would need a thickener. The recipe the hosts provided uses bread crumbs to absorb some of the fruit juices exuded during baking to prevent a soggy crust. I read that cornstarch can be used in place of the bread crumbs, but cornstarch needs to come to a boil to become thick and the baking time in the oven would not allow the cherries to reach that temperature. So I cooked my cherries on the stove top with the cornstarch and some sugar until it became thick. Problem solved.

Even though I had used some cornstarch, I still wanted to use some crumbs in the strudel, but I did not have bread crumbs (or even bread) in the house. My choices were chocolate genoise trimmings or panko. Using either would probably be blasphemous, but genoise seemed like the lesser of two evils. Since I introduced chocolate in the form of crumbs, I though I would add some chopped chocolate to the strudel too.

Overall the strudel was delicious. The pastry shell was strong enough to hold in the cherry chocolate filling but was at the same time delicate and flaky. The only criticism of my strudel was the ratio of filling to strudel pastry was high. I would have liked more layers of the flaky pastry. This was the 25th DB challenge that I have completed and I learn something new with each challenge. I already see myself making some kind of savory strudel for dinner in the near future and when autumn comes I will be making an apple strudel. Thanks to Courtney and Linda for choosing a great recipe which stretched my baking repertoire.

The fine print:
The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.



Cherry Chocolate Strudel

16 ounces bing cherries, pitted
3 tbsp granulated sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
Pinch of salt
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 tsp pure almond extract
Strudel dough (see recipe below)
1/2 fresh bread crumbs
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, divided
1/3 cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate

Make the cherry filling:
In a medium, non-reactive saucepan, stir together cherries, sugar, cornstarch, salt and lemon juice. Allow mixture to sit for 10-15 minutes to allow the cherries to exude some juices.

Over low heat, bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. The juice will thicken and become translucent. Allow it to simmer for 1 minute. Transfer to a clean bowl and stir in almond extract. Allow mixture to cool completely.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 2 minutes. Let filling cool completely before using.

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the bread crumbs about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm) wide strip. Sprinkle the chocolate over the bread crumbs. Spread the cherry filling mixture over the chocolate.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. If necessary, curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter. Using a sharp knife cut a few steam vents in the dough.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.



Strudel Dough
(from Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers)

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry. Add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

YWPWT: Egg Custard Tarts

This month's You Want Pies With That theme "Family Favorite Pie" was chosen by Natalie of Oven Love. She asked us to use a family favorite dessert as the inspiration for our pie or tart.



A childhood sweet that I still love to this day is Chinese egg custard tarts aka "dohn-tot". They can be found on dim sum menus and in Chinese bakery cases everywhere. In fact, there is a cafe in New York City called Egg Custard King. But I have it on good authority (my brothers) that their namesake egg tarts are no match for Golden Gate Bakery's egg tarts. There is always a slow moving line for the egg tarts at this San Francisco Chinatown bakery. The wait can be as long as 15-20 minutes on weekends. The tarts at GG Bakery are pricey at $1.15 each, but the lightly sweetened silky egg custard encased in a flaky pastry shell is worth it. In general, dohn-tots are best eaten warm, but if it's still delicious when cold, you know you have winner.

The owners of GG Bakery close the bakery at least once or twice a year for a 4 or 5 week long vacation. And when they reopen, they always seem to raise the price of the dohn-tot by 5 or 10 cents. I heard from my parents who heard it through the Chinatown rumor mill that they always raise the price to pay for their long vacations. But I think they raise the prices because demand is high and simply because people will still line up for them.

The origin of the dohn-tot is unclear. Some people believe that they are similar to a Portuguese egg tart called pastel de nata and made its way to Hong Kong via Macau, a long time Portuguese colony.

I've never felt the need to make my own dohn-tot because I can easily get one from GG Bakery. Also, a lot of the dohn-tot recipes I've come across have a shortbread crust as opposed to the delicate but much more labor intensive puff pastry shell. In my opinion, it’s not a dohn-tot if it has a shortbread crust. For this month's YWPWT, I decided to try my hand at making dohn-tot.

I found this recipe for Portuguese custard tarts in an old issue of Saveur magazine. It sounded great because the crust is made using a rough puff pastry dough. Rough puff pastry is not as difficult to make as traditional puff pastry but it's still extremely flaky. It's perfect for this application. The custard filling recipe called for blueberries and passion fruit, but I left out the fruit to make the tarts more dohn-tot-like.

I liked the way my tarts came out. I was afraid that the custard filling would be a bit too sweet, and it was, but not when paired with the buttery, flaky tart shell. The filling had a nice flavor, but it wasn't as silky as I hoped it would be. But, overall, I think this was a good first attempt. The custard tart was very reminiscent of dohn-tot.



Egg Custard Tarts
(makes 2 dozen)
(adapted from Saveur Magazine #95: Portuguese Custard Tarts)

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt

Custard filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3 tbsp all purpose flour
6 large egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Crust:
Toss together 1 1⁄2 cups flour, butter, and salt in medium bowl. Add 6 tbsp. ice water; form into a rough ball (don't mash butter). On a floured surface, shape dough into a 6" × 12" rectangle. Fold like a letter. Roll out into a 6" × 12" rectangle; fold again. Roll out and fold 3 more times. Cover; refrigerate for 1 hour; repeat rolling and folding process 2 more times. Cover; refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll out dough into a 12" × 18" rectangle. Tightly roll up long side to form a cylinder. Cover; refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut crosswise into 24 slices. Working with 1 slice at a time, lightly flour, roll into a 3" circle, and press into 2 1⁄2"-wide, 3⁄4"-deep pie tins with sloping sides. Transfer to baking sheet and cover; refrigerate.

Custard:
Put sugar and 2⁄3 cup water into a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat without stirring; reduce heat to medium and boil for 5 minutes. Be careful - this sugar syrup is hot.

Whisk together 1⁄4 cup of the milk with the 3 tablespoons of flour in a large bowl. Bring remaining milk to a simmer and, while whisking, pour hot milk into the milk-flour mixture. Whisk in sugar syrup and let mixture cool until warm. Whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla to make a custard.

Preheat oven to 400°. Fill each tart by two-thirds with custard. Bake until pastry is light brown and custard has just set, 16–18 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

The Creamiest Cheesecake

Time for this month's Daring Bakers' challenge. Host Jenny of Jenny Bakes presented us with an easy challenge - cheesecake. She gave us the freedom to do any flavor cheesecake and any kind of crust as long as we used the recipe she gave us as the starting point. The recipe comes from Jenny's friend Abbey. Abbey's recipe was very similar to the recipe that I've been using for years. My batter is made with three sticks (24 ounces) of cream cheese, 3 large eggs, 1 cup of sugar, and a little heavy cream and/or butter. Any number of flavors can be added to the batter and, over the last 15 years, I have tried many combinations. The major difference between my usual recipe and Abbey's is the amount of heavy cream. I usually use about 2 to 4 ounces heavy cream which adds some mellow richness to the cheesecake. Abbey's recipe uses a full 8 ounces. Oh my, how decadent! Not that I'm complaining. If you're going to make cheesecake, might as well make the richest, creamiest one you can.



Many people love cheesecake, but I am not one of them. Most of the time it's too tangy-sour-cheesy for me. Even so, I've baked a lot of cheesecakes in my lifetime and people are always impressed by homemade cheesecake. Cheesecake is not as hard as people imagine it is to make, but let's keep that little secret between you and me.

Since I'm not a fan of cheesecake, I prefer batters with flavors that downplay that cream-cheesiness. I know that defeats the purpose of a cheesecake. One of my favorite flavors is espresso/coffee. I gave up coffee about a year ago due to health reasons, but I can still have one very teeny-tiny cappuccino every few weeks. Having one is pretty much a special occasion for me. I can tell you the exact details surrounding each one I've had in the last 6 months. Can you tell how much I miss drinking coffee? For my birthday last month my husband asked me what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to go to the Blue Bottle Café at the Mint Plaza and share a cappuccino. Hey, what can I say? I'm a cheap date.

Anyway, like I was saying, espresso cheesecake sounded really good. I didn’t want to do a graham cracker, cookie, shortbread or pastry crust, so I decided to make a chocolate brownie for my crust using a recipe from Tish Boyle's "The Cake Book". The brownie bottom was a perfect complement to the espresso bean flecked cafe latte filling. The bottom layer was like a really moist and fudgy brownie and the filling layer was extremely smooth and creamy. It must be from all that heavy cream. That Abbey really knows her stuff. Thanks to hostess Jenny for sharing this great recipe. So there you have it. Another DB challenge under my belt - that makes 24 and counting. I can't wait to see what's in store for next month.



The fine print:
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. Please visit Jenny Bakes to see the original recipe for Abbey's infamous cheesecake.

Brownie Bottom Latte Cheesecake
(One 10-inch cheesecake)

Brownie Bottom Ingredients:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I like using 60-72%cacao)
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in 8 pieces
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Cheesecake Ingredients:
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup (8 fl oz) heavy cream
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
2 tsp finely ground espresso beans

Make the brownie bottom:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 10x3 inch springform pan. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper and butter the parchment. Cut two or three 18-inch squares of heavy duty aluminum foil and wrap the foil around the outside of the pan.

2. In a double boiler, heat the chocolate and butter until just melted. Add the espresso powder, vanilla and salt, Whisk in the sugar until well combined. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the flour until just incorporated.

3. Scrape batter in the prepared pan and smooth the batter into an even layer. Bake the brownie for 25 to 30 minutes until a tester inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Place the pan on a cooling rack while you make the filling. Increase oven temperature to 350F.

Make the cheesecake filling:

1. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, espresso powder mixture, ground espresso beans and blend until smooth and creamy. Don’t overbeat.

2. Pour batter into your baked brownie bottom and gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. (The foil wrapped around the pan should help keep the water from seeping into the cake.)

3. Bake at 350F for 45 to 55 minutes, until the edges are set and the center is still a little wobbly. You don't want the cheesecake to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let the cheesecake rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top.

4. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter (about 2 hours), and then cover and chill in the refrigerator. Chilling it for at least 4 hours before cutting is important. Otherwise the cheesecake won't be completely set and might be runny when you cut into it.

How to remove the cheesecake from the springform pan:

Run a thin bladed knife along the sides to loosen the cake from the pan. Undo the latch of the springform and remove the ring. Run a thin blade or spatula underneath the parchment paper to loosen the cheesecake from the bottom of the springform pan. I like to use an icing spatula for this. Now place a piece of parchment on top of the cheesecake and then place a plate on top of the parchment so that the cheesecake is sandwiched between the cake pan bottom and the parchment-plate. Invert. Remove the cake pan bottom and gently peel away the parchment from the brownie. Place your serving platter on the brownie and re-invert so that the cheesecake is right side up. Remove the plate and parchment from the top.

Chocolate Truffle Tarts

I'm not posting as often as I would like since I've been extremely busy with work lately. I do apologize and I hope you'll be patient. The craziness at work should settle down in the next five or six weeks. I'm still trying to bake and post for Daring Bakers and YWPWT, but I haven't had much time otherwise. I've dug back into my Flickr archives and found this lovely tart I never posted. The crust is an almond cookie crust with some grated orange zest. The zest is optional, but I think the combination of orange and almond works really well with the raspberries and chocolate. The chocolate filling is a truffle cake batter with some raspberry jam mixed in. The batter is baked in the prebaked cookie shells and then I topped the tarts with gorgeous fresh raspberries when I was ready to serve them.

Chocolate Truffle Tarts with Raspberries
(makes seven 4 3/4-inch x 3/4-inch tartlets)

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup raspberry jam, at room temperature
(I prefer seedless jam but with seeds can work too)
7 prebaked 4 3/4-inch x 3/4-inch tartlet shells
(see "Sweet Almond Cookie Crust recipe below)
Fresh raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water), combine the chocolate and butter and stir occasionally until smooth and melted. Set aside.

3. In the bowl from a stand mixer heat the 4 whole eggs, 1 egg yolk and sugar, set over the same pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally to prevent curdling, until mixture is just warm to the touch.

4. Attach bowl to the stand mixer, and using the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed until just lemony yellow and doubled in volume.

5. Whisk the flour into the chocolate mixture. On low speed, add the chocolate mixture to the eggs all at once. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the raspberry jam and mix for another 30 seconds. At this point the batter can be refrigerated, tightly wrapped, for up to 5 days. Or you can use it right away.

6. Pour batter into the seven prebaked tartlet shells. It's okay to fill the shells all the way to the top. (You might have some batter left over.) Bake at 375F for 13-16 minutes until the filling is just set and slightly wobbly in the center. Allow tartlets to cool for at least 30 minutes. Carefully remove the tartlet from the pans. Top with fresh raspberries and serve.

Sweet Almond Cookie Crust
(makes enough dough for seven 4 3/4-inch x 3/4-inch tartlets)

2 ounces ground blanched almonds
3 tablespoons superfine or granulated sugar
4 ounces (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1-inch cubes
5 ounces (1 cup) all purpose flour
2 tsp finely grated orange zest (optional)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions for making the dough and prebaking the crusts:

1. In a food processor, add the ground almonds and sugar and pulse to combine. Add the butter cubes and pulse about 15 times or until no loose bits of almonds/sugar remain. Add the flour, zest and salt and pulse about 15 times or until the butter is about the size of small peas.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and the cream. Add it to the mixture in the food processor bowl and pulse until the ingredients are just barely incorporated, about 8 times.

3. Dump the mixture into a plastic Ziploc bag and flatten the dough. Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until firm enough to pat into the tartlet pans.

4. For seven 4 3/4-inch x 3/4-inch tartlets, divide the chilled dough into 7 equal portions. Press each piece of dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of each tartlet pan. Chill the tartlet shells in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before baking.

5. Preheat the oven to 425F. Bake for 5 minutes at 425F. If the dough starts to puff in places, prick it lightly with a fork or press down lightly with your fingertips. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F and continue baking for another 5-8 minutes or until it turns pale gold, feels set but is still soft to the touch. Cool tartlet shells (still in the pans) on a wire rack.

The Ultimate Pick Me Up

This month's You Want Pies With That? hosts Jacque and Natashya chose the theme "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". They asked that we make a pie based on someone famous. It can be inspired by them or something you'd like to serve them if they ever dropped by. Our famous celebrity must be someone who has had more than 15 minutes of fame. So all you reality show hacks can apply elsewhere.


Champagne wishes and caviar dreams

For the uninitiated, the premise behind YWPWT is to make a pie (or anything pie-ish like a tart) inspired by the chosen theme. Then everyone who made a pie can vote for their favorite pie and the baker with the most votes gets to host and choose the theme the following month.



Tiramisu is a dessert typically made from ladyfingers soaked in espresso and Marsala and then layered with a mascarpone cream. Tiramisu means "pick me up" in Italian. The dessert will do that to you because of the espresso and booze. I decided to turn a typical tiramisu into a tiramisu tart. I made a tart shell with pate sucree which is like a sugar cookie dough. I then sweetened some mascarpone cheese and blended it with some whipped heavy cream. I also made a genoise (sponge cake) and soaked that in an espresso-Kahlua syrup. Then I layered the cream and soaked genoise in the tart shell (which I first brushed with some melted chocolate) and I topped it off with a dusting of cocoa and some bittersweet chocolate shavings.



Now what does tiramisu have to do with Brad Pitt?

Could it be the sweet, dreamy clouds of mascarpone cream?



Perhaps the smoldering, dark espresso?



Or maybe it’s the simple fact that no matter how bad a day you've had, this sight has to be the ultimate pick me up.



"Brad Pitt Me Up" Tiramisu Tart
(makes one 9-inch tart)

Four components: pate sucree, genoise, espresso syrup, mascarpone cream.

1. Pate Sucree (Sweet Dough Crust)
(makes 14 ounces)

4 ounces (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (200g / 7 ounces) all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg yolk
2 tbsp heavy cream

In a food processor with the metal blade, pulse the butter and sugar about 15 times. Add the flour and salt and pulse again about 15 times or until the butter in no larger than small peas.

In a small bowl, stir together the egg yolk and cream. Add it to the mixture and pulse until just incorporated, about 8 times. The dough will still be crumbly.

Empty onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap press the dough together, kneading it a few times until the dough becomes one smooth piece. Flatten into a 6-inch disk.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until it's firm enough to pat into the pan or to roll.

You will only need 11 ounces of the dough to line your 9 x 1-inch tart pan. Save the rest of the dough for another use. It's important that your tart pan be at least 1 inch deep. I used a springform pan and made sure that my dough came 1 inch up the sides. Also, be sure to use a pan with a removable bottom - it'll make it easier to get your finished tart out.

Roll your dough in between lightly floured sheets of plastic wrap to about 1/8-inch thick circle. Trim the edges of the rolled dough so that you have 11 1/2 inch circle. Gently transfer dough to your pan and press into pan, making sure that the dough comes up at least 1/8 inch above the rim of the tart pan. If the dough tears, just patch the holes with scraps. Wrap the lined pan well and refrigerate for 6 hours if you have the time. The longer rest period will help decrease the shrinkage during baking. But if you're pressed for time, refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400F. Remove the plastic wrap and line the dough with parchment (pleat the parchment to make it fit nicely). Fill the parchment with pie weights. Bake at 400F for 5 minutes. If the dough puffs in places, prick it lightly with a fork. Lower the heat to 375F and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until set. Lift out the weights with the parchment, prick lightly and continue bake for 10 to 15 minutes. (So total baking time would be 30 to 40 minutes). Let crust cool in the pan.


pie weights

2. Genoise (Sponge Cake)

3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup cake flour, measure and then sift 3 times

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare one 9-inch round cake pan by buttering just the bottom. Line with a parchment circle and butter the paper.

Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring to a simmer. Combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer and place the bowl over the simmering water. Insert a thermometer. Whisk constantly until the temperature reaches 110F, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and attach bowl to your stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip on high speed for 5 to 8 minutes or until the eggs are three times their original volume, are thick and pale yellow and form a ribbon that doesn’t dissolve when drizzled from a spatula.

Turn down the mixer to medium speed and whip for 2 more minutes. This helps the form to stabilize. Decrease speed to low, stream in the melted butter and mix for 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer.

Add the flour. Fold in gently with a balloon whisk, maintaining as much of the foam as possible.

Pour the batter into your pan. Tap the pan lightly on your countertop three times to eliminate any air bubbles. Then, using the same jerking wrist motion you would use to toss a Frisbee, swing the pan around on your countertop so that the batter is forced up the sides of the pan. This will prevent a dome from forming in the middle of the cake.

Bake 25 to 27 minutes. Test for doneness by lightly touching the top of the cake with your finger. The indentation should spring right back if it's done. If it's not done, bake another 5 to 10 minutes.

Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack, gently peel off the parchment. Cool for at least 2 hours. Slice the cake horizontally to get a 1/3-inch thick disk or cake. Make sure the disk will fit inside your baked tart crust. If necessary, trim some of the edges to make it fit. Save the remaining cake for another use.

3. Espresso Syrup

4 tsp instant espresso powder (I use Medaglia d'Oro brand)
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2/3 cup water, divided use
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp coffee liqueur (like Kahlua brand)

In a small saucepan, stir together the espresso powder, sugar, and 1/3 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the espresso and sugar. Remove from heat and add remaining 1/3 cup water, vanilla and liquor. Can be made 1 day ahead (store in refrigerator).

4. Mascarpone Cream

1 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp coffee liqueur (like Kahlua brand)
1 cup heavy cream

Put mascarpone, sugar, vanilla and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.

Working with a stand or hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch (you don’t want to deflate your mixture). Use immediately.

How to assemble your tiramisu tart

Place your disk of genoise on a sheet of plastic wrap and brush with half the espresso syrup.

Make sure your baked tart crust has cooled completely. Leave tart crust in pan. Melt 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate. Warm 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and stir into melted chocolate until well combined. With the chocolate mixture, "paint" the bottom of your crust. This helps to moisture proof the tart crust so that it doesn’t get soggy.

Spoon half of the mascarpone cream into your chocolate painted tart crust, spreading the cream gently and evenly with an offset spatula. Place the genoise disk, syrup side down, on top of the cream. Brush genoise with the remaining syrup. Spread remaining mascarpone cream gently and evenly on top of genoise. Dust with unsweetened cocoa powder. Refrigerate tart at least 3 hours before serving.

Daring Bakers Make Lasagna

When co-hosts Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande announced that March's Daring Bakers' challenge was lasagna, I thought about passing on this one. I don’t usually skip any of the Daring Baker challenges, but lasagna falls outside of what I normally blog about here on Alpineberry (which is mainly pastries, baking and desserts).

I admit I have blogged about a savory tart before, but that was about making a flaky pie dough. And, yes, I blogged about pizza for the October 2008 DB challenge, but that was more about making the yeasted dough for the crust. To me, making pizza dough seems to be more like making bread. I know that the key part of this month's challenge is to make our own pasta dough, but making spinach lasagna with a béchamel sauce and meat ragu feels more like cooking than baking. I know it's a fine line. Technically something is baked if it went in the oven. I guess you can argue that pizza also straddles the line between cooking and baking. But would a roast chicken be considered baking? I mean, it's baked but is it baking? I don't know. We could argue the semantics for days.



I think our hosts may have chosen lasagna as a way to celebrate the launch of our new website The Daring Kitchen and a new group called the Daring Cooks. Yup, that's right. We're no longer just Daring Bakers anymore. We're cooks now too, hence, the new Daring Kitchen. Even though the lasagna is the Daring Bakers' challenge recipe and not the inaugural Daring Cooks' challenge recipe, I'm not going to argue with the powers that be. After some consideration, I knew I could turn this month's challenge into something that I could post on my blog. I decided to create a sweet "lasagna" dessert.

I wanted to be sure to honor the main part of this month's challenge - making the pasta dough. Instead of spinach pasta, I decided to make a sweet pistachio pasta dough. And instead of béchamel and meat ragu, I decided on a white chocolate mascarpone cream and a diced strawberry "ragu". My idea was to deep fry the sweet pasta dough and then layer it with the cream and strawberries.



I had to make up a recipe for the sweet pistachio pasta dough. Using the spinach pasta dough recipe as the basis, I omitted the spinach, decreased the amount of flour and added some sugar and pistachio paste. I used canned pistachio paste which is a mixture of ground pistachios, oil, and sugar. My dough was difficult to knead by hand and to roll out. It took some time but I managed to get the dough nice and thin. I think I built up some arm muscles working that dough. My resulting pasta dough wasn’t as elastic and stretchy as traditional pasta dough, but, for the most part, it had the texture and feel of fresh pasta. The dough wasn't as green as I wanted and it lost any semblance of green after I deep fried the pasta squares.




The white chocolate mascarpone cream was very straightforward. I just made a white chocolate ganache, mixed in some mascarpone cheese, chilled the mixture and then beat it until fluffy. My ragu of strawberries was even simpler. Just dice some strawberries, toss in a bit of sugar and let them macerate for a few minutes.



The sweet lasagna dessert was pretty delicious. The fried pasta squares had just a hint of pistachio and was just sweet enough. The cream was rich and decadent and the berries were sweet and tart. It was a good combination of flavors and textures. The only thing I didn’t like was my fried pasta squares were a bit crunchy so it was difficult to break through the top layer of the lasagna with a fork. The bottom two layers were easy to break since the cream and berries softened them a little. Overall, I would say it was a great success.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

To see the recipe for Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna, please visit our hosts Enza, Melinda, and Mary.



Sweet Pistachio Pasta Dough
(enough to make about 36 3x3 inch squares of pasta)

220 g all purpose flour
2 large eggs
4 tbsp pistachio paste
2 tbsp sugar
Pinch salt

Mixing the dough:
Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Beat together the eggs, pistachio paste, sugar and salt in a bowl. Scrape mixture into the well. Then gradually start incorporating shallow scrapings of flour from the sides of the well into the liquid. As you work more and more flour into the liquid, the well’s sides may collapse. Use a pastry scraper to keep the liquids from running off and to incorporate the last bits of flour into the dough. Don’t worry if it looks like a hopelessly rough and messy lump.

Kneading:
With the aid of the scraper to scoop up unruly pieces, start kneading the dough. Once it becomes a cohesive mass, use the scraper to remove any bits of hard flour on the work surface – these will make the dough lumpy. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. If it is too sticky to move easily, knead in some flour. Continue kneading about 5-10 minutes, or until the dough has become satiny, smooth, and very elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let it relax at room temperature 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Rolling:
With a rolling pin, roll out a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest of the dough wrapped. Lightly sprinkle a large work surface with flour. Shape it into a ball and begin rolling out to form a circle, frequently turning the disc of dough a quarter turn. Keep rolling until the disc becomes larger and thinner. The goal is a sheet of even thickness. The sheet should be pretty thin (about 2 mm). Cut into squares about 3 by 3 inches. Repeat with remaining dough.

Fry the dough:
Heat a pan half-filled with vegetable oil to 375F. Fry the pasta squares in batches for 20-30 seconds, until golden. Carefully remove and drain on paper towels. Cool before assembly.

White Chocolate Mascarpone Cream
9 oz high quality white chocolate, finely chopped
9 oz heavy cream
12 oz container of mascarpone cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine chocolate and cream in a heat proof bowl and set bowl over a pot of simmering water (or use a double boiler). Stir occasionally until chocolate is melted. Whisk in mascarpone and vanilla extract. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat until fluffy.

Strawberry "Ragu"
1.5 pounds strawberries
2-4 tbsp sugar

Hull and dice the strawberries. Toss with sugar. The amount of sugar you need will depend on the sweetness of your berries. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Assemble your sweet lasagna:
Top one fried pasta square with 2 tablespoons of white chocolate mascarpone cream and spread cream to cover the square. Take care not to break the pasta square. Top the cream with diced strawberries. Repeat with another layer (fried pasta, cream, strawberries). Set a fried pasta square on top and dust it with powder sugar. Serve.

Eat Good Cake

I've been so busy lately that I've been neglecting my poor little blog. I already missed last month's "You Want Pies With That?" and sadly I couldn't get my act together to participate in this month's event either. I feel particularly bad about it since today is Pi(e) Day (as in 3.14). So I’d like to apologize to my fellow YWPWT participants. I will definitely get back to making pie next month.



I did manage to throw together this carrot cake though. Spring is right around the corner and spring reminds me of bunnies and bunnies eat carrots. So I guess you can say I've just had carrots on the brain lately and there was a bag of organic carrots in my refrigerator calling out to me. I used a recipe from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home to Yours" and tweaked it a little bit. I scaled her recipe down to make a shorter (two layer) cake instead of a taller (three layer) cake. Also, I replaced some of the granulated white sugar with brown sugar to add a bit of that molasses flavor, decreased the amount of cinnamon and added some orange zest. I really liked Dorie's addition of shredded coconut to the cake batter. I adapted a Martha recipe for the frosting. The addition of orange juice and zest to the frosting really brightens up the flavor of your typical cream cheese frosting and pairs nicely with the cake.

Everyone, including me, really liked the cake. It was moist and flavorful and not at all dense and the frosting was just sweet enough. I was a bit surprised with how many people said to me "I don't normally like carrot cake...but I love this one." My response to them was "I guess you don’t like bad carrot cake."



Carrot Cake
(Makes one 9-inch layer cake)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
2 1/4 cups grated carrots
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
2/3 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened or sweetened)
1/3 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter two 9x2-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat both sugars and oil together on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add vanilla extract and orange zest and beat batter until batter is smooth.

On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix only until the dry ingredients barely disappear. On low speed, mix in the grated carrots. Then remove the bowl from the mixer and, by hand, gently mix in the nuts, coconut and dried cranberries.

Divide the batter evenly among the two prepared cake pans. Bake at 350F until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean and the cakes have just started to come away from the sides of the pans, about 35-45 minutes.

Allow cakes to cool in the pans about 10-15 minutes, and then run a thin knife or an offset spatula around the edges to loosen the cake form the pan. Invert cakes onto a cooling rack and peel off the parchment paper. Reinvert the cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.



Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
(enough to frost a 9-inch two layer cake)

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the orange zest and orange juice. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is smooth.