White Chocolate Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake

I finally get to share this cake! I've been saving it for a good day but I just can't wait any longer. So I'm just going to share it because it's a Monday. Happy Monday everybody!

It's one of my best cakes yet, and the first one since I started this blog. Last year for Christmas, I received this cookbook, All Cakes Considered, just in time for my stepfather's birthday on New Year's Eve. The first recipe I made there was the Red Velvet Cake. This year, I decided to make the whipped cream cake for his birthday gathering because I've always wanted to decorate a cake with white chocolate flakes. It was light, creamy and not too sweet. The best part was that everybody was at our apartment to enjoy it with us. 

There are some things to be improved on. Perhaps it was a little dry because the cream had been whipped too much. The second layer has some coffee, but it's not as good as the plain layer.

White Chocolate Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake

Adapted from All Cakes Considered

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

2 cup whipping cream, separated

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp strawberry jam

4 oz white chocolate shavings

About 15 strawberries

Line and grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together. Set eggs out in a medium bowl until they're at room temperature. Whisk until light and lemon-colored. Whisk 1 cup of whipping cream in a large bowl when soft peaks form. Mix in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until light as foam. Mix in the sugar. Sift in flour mixture in three batches and fold in. Pour mixture into cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Remove cakes from pans and let cool. Whisk the remaining cup of cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Spread the jam on the bottom layer. Then spread half of the cream evenly. Add the top layer and spread the remaining icing on the top and the sides. Decorate with strawberries on the side. 

Top with white chocolate shavings. I was using a cheese grater to shave my white chocolate. Then my talented sister arrived and showed me how to make chocolate curls using a vegetable peeler. Technique really is everything.

Refrigerate immediately! It can be served right away or after half--even a whole--day in the fridge. I think it tastes even better 24 hours later. Here's to many more birthdays for me to practice cake decorating!

Lasagna With Fresh Pasta

I got a sweet present for Christmas. Not trying to brag here, but I have the best in-laws. It's the pasta attachment for my KitchenAid. I'm super excited about making pasta for the upcoming year. I made some ravioli to test it out. It was so much fun, though the pasta was a little thick for ravioli. Since now I know what to do, I decided to make lasagna for the family.

Here are the instructions for making pasta. The ingredients are just flour, salt, and eggs. The first time I made it the eggs spilled out. Make sure to make a big enough well in the middle of the flour.

Knead the dough just enough to mix the egg with the flour. 

Then the fun part! Watching the dough roll out kind of reminds me of a weaving machine or a newspaper press.

You have feed it three or four time through to make sure the dough is nice and smooth. 

The first few times I fed  it too much dough and my pasta came out extremely long.

To make the lasagna, boil the pasta for two minutes. I cut up my pasta sheets in half, then in thirds length wise to fit my pot. Meanwhile prepare the vegetables for the ragú. I didn't think chopped tomatoes were necessary because of the tomato sauce, but I ended up adding some at the end for color.

Cook the vegetables with olive oil for three minutes. Then add the ground beef and cook for a few minutes until the meat is browned. Stir in the bacon. Then add tomato sauce and red wine. Season with oregano, salt  and pepper.

Make the white sauce by melting the butter in a large sauce pan. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Then add the milk and stir until it boils. Add the ricotta cheese, salt & pepper, and nutmeg. 

Assemble the lasagna by adding a layer of ragú, a layer of white sauce, and a layer of pasta. Repeat again, then top with another layer of ragú and white sauce and sprinkle on the Parmesan. You can bake it now or freeze it until later. 

To bake it frozen, bring the casserole dish to room temperature or set it in an inch of warm water to take off the chill. Bake it covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Take off the foil and bake for another 15 minutes at 375 degrees to brown the top.

Making it ahead of time worked out well. We had a much needed relaxing day after our adventures in NYC, with board games, reading, and TV while the lasagna cooked in the oven.

Here's the ingredient list:

Lasagna

Serves 6

1 tbsp oilve oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tomato chopped

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 lb ground beef

2 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

2 cups tomato sauce

1/3 cup red wine

1 tsp dried oregano

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup ricotta

1/3 tsp ground nutmeg

salt & pepper

8oz lasagna, cooked

1/2 grated Parmesan

Make the ragú: Cook vegetables with olive oil for three minutes. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Stir in bacon, tomato sauce and red wine. Season with oregano and salt & pepper. 

Make the white sauce: Melt the butter on medium low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Add the milk, stir until it boils. Stir in the ricotta. Season with nutmeg and salt & pepper. 

Assemble with one layer ragú, one layer of white sauce, and one layer of pasta. Repeat. Then add a layer of ragú and a layer of white sauce. Top it off with Parmesan.

If frozen, preheat the oven to 350 and cook for an hour covered, 15 minutes uncovered. If not frozen, cook for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Bread of the Week: Kaiser Rolls

Well...actually...this is bread of last week. I'm just getting around to posting them today. I love making these Kaiser Rolls from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, because they're my husband's favorites and I love twisting dough! It makes me feel like I'm playing with my food, yet something productive comes out from it. And the twists create this interesting texture when you bite into the roll or pull it apart. 

The pâte fermentée recipe in the book makes two batches of Kaiser Rolls. Sometimes I halve the recipe, sometimes I just save half in the freezer. The hardest part of making this bread is the prep work. After the first rise, divide into nine boules and let them rest for ten minutes.

Then the fun part, twist them into rolls and let them rise for 45 minutes. Then flip them upside and rise for another 45 minutes. 

Brush with water and sprinkle with poppy and sesame seeds. Bake for ten minutes at 425 degrees and ten minutes at 400 degrees. These never lasted 24 hours. Nine little rolls disappear quickly with six people, let me tell you. Time to bake another batch!

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Breakfast Cinnamon Rolls

I've made these Cinnamon Rolls from The Bread Baker's Apprentice a few times before, but they used to come out dry. Then I saw the Pioneer Woman's Christmas special on The Food Network and was enlightened. This time I added extra butter, and plenty of glaze. They turned out mouthwatering.

I used the recipe straight from the book, but instead of lemon extract, I used vanilla extract for the buns. Then I drizzled (poured) two tablespoons of melted butter before sprinkling on the cinnamon sugar. It gets kind of messy from then on. My mom thoroughly prepared me for rolling dough as we've been making Chinese Scallion Pancakes together since we were children. Although, my sister was always the superior roller. Cut 12 rolls and, following the lead of the Pioneer Woman, place them slightly touching in a cake pan.

Place them in the fridge overnight, or over two nights. Take them out four hours before baking to let them rise.

Once risen, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the glaze with two cups of powdered sugar, warm milk, and zest from one orange. Glaze right after the buns come out of the oven.

Yes my glaze could have been thicker, but it was sweet enough for three caffeine-deprived travelers and two  hungry hosts. Quick, put on another pot of coffee!

Leftovers? Yes, please! Reheat in the microwave to prevent the icing from drying out.

Squash Bread

Happy 2012~! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend. The past week flew by like a whirlwind. My family came to visit us in New York for the first time. We celebrated a second Christmas, a birthday and the New Year. Incredibly, we braved New York City on the 31st and made it out with exhilarated exhaustion. Of course, the entire visit was filled with delicious food.

I was anxious for their arrival and couldn't stop baking. I figured it was a good thing because isn't everyone always hungry during the holidays? I made this squash bread using the acorn squash leftover from the squash tart a week ago. Easy to serve, and perfect for a snack. Add some walnuts if you got them. Enjoy with Earl Grey or your tea of choice.

Squash Bread
2/3 cup squash puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 canola oil
1 large egg plus 1 egg white
1 1/4 all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a 9x5 loaf pan. Mix squash puree, sugar, honey, oil, and eggs in a large bowl.

In a medium mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, ground nutmeg and ground cloves. Mix well with a whisk.

Add to the squash mixture and mix until smooth. Pour into the baking pan and bake for 45 minutes.

After everyone arrived and got situated, my mom prepared a hot pot feast. Egg dumplings, fish balls, rice noodles, sliced beef, bok choy, taro, the works. My tummy was happy. And it didn't end there! I can't wait to share what we had for breakfast. Stay tuned!