Trés Leches Cake with Macerated Strawberries and Cream

A simple and elegant dessert, that looks beautiful, and tastes out of this world. We've been researching this traditional Mexican pastry lately, and we've created the most delicious recipe with the best flavor and texture. The cake was soaked with condensed milk, evaporated milk, whole milk and dark rum. It was served with macerated strawberries in cinnamon, and sweetened whipped cream. The combination of all of these flavors is absolutely heavenly. We guarantee you'll love it.

Spray an individual mold pan (we prefer individual molds over one large cake, since it will bake faster, soak faster = eating faster!), and dust it lightly with flour, tap out the excess.

Sponge:
In a small bowl put:
1C all purpose flour
1/2t baking powder
1/4t baking soda
1/4t salt

In a blender put:
1/2 stick melted unsalted butter
3 eggs
1/4C sugar
1/4C vegetable oil
1/4C whole milk
1t vanilla extract
Blend till lemon colored, about 2 minutes.
Pour the mixture in to the flour mixture and whisk till smooth.

Divide the batter in to the molds, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean they are ready.
Take the cakes out of the molds, cut off a small amount of cake from the bottom so that they can stand up straight (since they will really puff up in the oven and have a muffin top), and place them into a 9x9 casserole dish.
With a wooden skewer make 5 holes in each cake.

Soaking liquid:

In a large bowl add:

1 can condensed milk (14oz)

1 can evaporated milk (12oz)

1/2C whole milk

1T vanilla extract

1/2C dark rum

Whisk. Now pour half of the liquid over the cakes very slowly. Soak for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes turn the cakes over, pour the rest of the liquid over the cakes very slowly. Sit for another 10-25 minutes.

They should be fully soaked through. The sponge will be soaked nicely without being mushy.

Macerated strawberries:
Wash and cut about 8 large strawberries. Cut them into quarters, then lay them sideways and cut smaller pieces.
Add 1T sugar in to a bowl
1/2t ground cinnamon
1t vanilla extract
Mix together with the strawberries and a sugar-strawberry sauce will form. Let them sit for 10 minutes minimum.

Now whip 1C heavy cream in to a mixing bowl,
add 1t vanilla extract and
1T powdered sugar. Make stiff peaks.

Put everything together on a large plate, starting with a ring of whipped cream on the plate first, put a cake on top, some more cream, and the strawberries over that. EAT!

Ricotta Fritters with Raspberry-Cranberry Compote and Cream Cheese Topping

As you may have noticed the last few recipes have all included ricotta cheese. We made a homemade batch and wanted to use it. We made these Ricotta fritters earlier in the month, but with a fresh orange sauce (march 10th). These were made with a raspberry-cranberry compote (sounds fancier than it is) from jam. If you have some jam in the fridge that you want to use, then use it to make a simple sauce. These were topped with a cream cheese topping, the whole combination with the crispy, yet soft fritter is absolutely delicious, and people can't get enough of them.

Fritters:

In a mixing bowl put:
3/4C all purpose flour
1t baking powder
1/4C sugar
1t lemon zest
1t orange zest
1t vanilla extract
2 eggs
and 8oz ricotta cheese. Mix it all together until smooth, don't over mix.

In a saucepan, heat 1C non-hydrogenated shortening on medium heat. When hot, add the ricotta batter with a ice cream scooper. Keep the heat on medium as they should not brown too quickly since the inside will still be raw. When golden on one side, flip them over, continuing on medium heat. Place them on a paper towel, now make the sauce.

Raspberry-cranberry compote:

In a saucepan put 4T seedless raspberry jam

2T cranberry jam (or any jam that you want to use)

To this add 3T of water, the zest of 1 lemon, and the zest of 1 orange.

The juice of 1/2 lemon

1/8t salt

1/4t ground cinnamon

Let this bubble a little on the heat, it will go quickly as you just want everything to combine. Turn off the heat.

Add 3 T brandy at the end, stir, and pour over the fritters.

Cream cheese topping:

In a bowl put 3T spreadable cream cheese,

2t powdered sugar

1t vanilla extract. Whisk till smooth. Put a spoonful on top of each fritter.

Crêpes Suzette with Royal Mandarin

This is a really popular brunch dish on a saturday or sunday. Light and soft crêpes, covered with a warm orange-Grand Marnier sauce. Our version also includes some homemade ricotta (optional, to offset the sweetness) and topped with fresh royal mandarin segments, then dusted with powdered sugar. Easy to eat and make! 

First make the crêpe batter:

In a blender put:

2 eggs

1/2C milk

1/8t salt

3t sugar

1/3C cold water

1T oil

1T melted unsalted butter

Blend till smooth, then add:

3/4C all purpose flour. Blend till smooth. This can also be made 1 day ahead, the batter becomes more flavorful as it stands a bit.

In a 6" saucepan add a little bit of butter, heat the pan, then add just about 1-2 tablespoons of batter, and swivel the pan so that the batter spreads out and you have a thin crêpe. This will all cook very fast. When the edges are golden flip sides. Put on a plate, and repeat with the next crêpe.

Now for the sauce:

Juice 1 royal mandarin, or orange. 

Pour it into a pan. 

Add 1t vanilla extract

1/4C sugar

zest of 1 royal mandarin

Let this reduce and thicken just enough that when you pour the sauce it has a continuous consistency and doesn't just drip. This will take about 8 minutes of boiling. Turn off the heat. Add 3T of Grand Marnier and 1T butter. It will bubble. Now pour this over the crêpes. Top it with whipped cream or ricotta cheese and segments of royal mandarins.

Royal mandarins are the size of an orange, but their skin is a little bit more wrinkly and thinner than that of an orange. They are sweeter than a regular mandarin would be. Royal mandarins are seasonal, and bring a different flavor to a recipe that is usually made with oranges.

Blueberry-Ricotta Upside-Down Cake

This cake can be made with any type of berries that are in season. It's very light and fluffy because of the whey milk and the ricotta cheese added, or buttermilk can be used instead. The berries are put at the bottom of the cake pan and the batter is put on top, then baked, simple. 

Grease a 9" springform pan, and put a parchment circle at the bottom of the pan, also greased, and sift a little bit of flour in to the cake pan, tap out the excess. Then lay a single layer of berries (2-3C) at the bottom of the pan. We used frozen wild blueberries, but anything can be used. Sprinkle 1/4C superfine sugar over your fruit layer, if the berries are more sour, add a little more sugar. Put aside.

In a mixing bowl put:
2C All purpose flour
1 1/2t baking powder
3/4t salt
1/2t baking soda
mix a little.

In a larger mixing bowl add:
1 stick soft unsalted butter
3/4C sugar
2t vanilla extract
zest of one orange. Cream together till the butter is a shade lighter.
Now mix in 3 eggs, 1 at a time,
add 1C whey milk (from the homemade ricotta cheese, previous blog post), or use buttermilk.
add the dry ingredients, mix on low until combined,
then fold in 1C fresh ricotta cheese until combined.
Put this on top of the berries in the cake pan. Smooth it out on top.

Bake at 350F starting at 45 minutes-1 hour. Test with a skewer, it should come out clean. Take the pan out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Put a large plate on top of the cake pan and flip the pan over so the plate is now on the bottom. The cake should come out very easily. Gently pull off the parchment to reveal the fruit on top.

Let it cool some more before dusting it with powdered sugar.

Dust and serve with whipped cream , or ice cream. It tastes best warm or at room temperature, when it is the softest.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

We love cheese! Ricotta is nice because you can use it for sweet and salty recipes. We usually buy ricotta cheese, it's pretty expensive, and it doesn't taste like anything special. This time we decided to make it, more time consuming than buying a tub, obviously, but so worth it. The flavor is more creamy, a little more salty, and delicious. Obviously we don't have cows in our backyard, the real ricotta is made with raw milk, which can also be bought, but pasteurized works fine. Try it. It only needs 4 ingredients, bring the milk to a simmer, wait 25 minutes, then chill it. Done. Thus begins our ricotta cheese craze, as we have to use it!

In a large pot add:
4C whole milk
1C heavy cream
Bring to a simmer don't stir, just leave it, and add:
1t kosher salt
2T fresh lemon juice. Loosely stir gently with a large spoon. Now let it sit for 15 minutes.
Curds will start to form. Add 1 more tablespoon of lemon juice, again stir loosely, let it sit for 5 minutes.

Milk and cream simmering.

After 15 minutes.

Now set up 2 layers of cheesecloth (or a thin, clean, kitchen towel), and secure it halfway in the bowl, so the center hangs inside the bowl, without touching the bottom. Now scoop the ricotta with a large spoon into the cheesecloth. As the cheese cools, whey milk will drop to the bottom (a lighter version of buttermilk that is very healthy, and can be used instead of buttermilk for other recipes). Let the cheese cool in the cheesecloth, then cover it with plastic wrap for at 2 hours, or overnight. All the moisture has to drip out, also it will add more flavor to the cheese, but too long will dry out the cheese, so find a happy medium.

The cheese the next morning. Perfect. Use it in cakes, pancakes, doughnuts, or eat on some toasted bread with lemon zest, honey or meats. Now see the upcoming recipes we used for the whey milk and the ricotta cheese. It makes about 2 cups. Use it in 2-3 days.

Nutella Cake

This cake is very simple. It's just a pound cake, baked in a loaf pan, alternated with batter and straight up nutella! The cake is buttery, and then with tasty swirls of nutella you can't go wrong. 

In a mixing bowl put:

1 stick soft unsalted butter

1/2C oil

1/4C dark brown sugar

1t vanilla extract

Cream well until smooth and light in color, then add

5 large eggs 1 at a time.

To this add

1/2C toasted ground hazelnuts

1/4t salt

3/4t baking powder

1C whole wheat flour

Again mix till smooth.

Set the oven to 325F, and spray a loaf pan, then put a strip of parchment paper in the loaf pan so the cake can be easily removed when baked.

Have 1C of nutella ready.

Then put 1/3 of the batter in the pan, and put 1/2C nutella on top of the batter. If the nutella is too stiff it can be softened in the microwave briefly, it will make it spread more easily. Repeat with the batter, and put another layer of nutella on top. Then finish with the left over batter.

With a butter knife swirl the batter with the nutella gently.

Bake it for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool. Then remove from the pan.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk.

Chocolate Kouign Amann

Kouign Amann comes from Brittany, France, they have been making these since the 1860's. Kouign means "cake", and amann means "butter". It is a flakey yeast cake, made with layers of butter rolled in, very similar to a danish dough. The dough is then rolled in sugar and put in sugared dishes and baked. In the baking process the dough gets caramelized from the sugar, making the outside crispy, and the inside chewy and flakey. The original cakes are not made with chocolate, but it adds a deliciousness, then these are also filled with chocolate chips, giving the inside a buttery-chocolatey gooiness. These cakes are not quick to make, but the finished result is worth it. 

Measure 3/4C of warm water, about 110F and put 5g of active dry yeast in to the water. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it has dissolved and bubbles.
In a large mixing bowl, put 3C of all purpose flour,
2T cocoa powder
1 3/4t salt
1T melted unsalted butter
Combine and mix with your hands, then add the yeast water, mix for about 5 minutes with a dough hook attachment on low until everything comes together. The dough should be elastic, don't over mix.
With a sharp knife cut an X on top of the dough, about 3/4" in to the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, let it rest in a warm area, rise a little for 30 minutes. After this refrigerate the dough until it is fully chilled for about another 30 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap.

Now make the butter block that will go inside the dough.

1 stick of soft unsalted butter

1/2C sugar.

Cream these together till nicely combined. Form a square and wrap it in plastic wrap. Put in the freezer for about 10 minutes. It must be cool, not too stiff though.

Take out the chilled dough, roll it into a square on a little flour so it doesn't stick. Put the butter block diagonally on top of the dough.

Take the sides of the dough and squeeze them together with your fingers to form a square.

Brush off the excess flour, turn the square over, and with a rolling pin roll the square in to a rectangle, about 1/2" thick.

Now fold over the dough in 3, like an envelope, fold one side, then overlap the other side of the dough on top of that.

Brush off the excess flour. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes and repeat this process 2 more times, each time letting the dough rest for 30 minutes. You are creating lots of layers by rolling the butter in to the dough. Now weigh the dough and divide it into 8 even dishes, butter and sugar each dish.
Roll the small pieces of dough into very thin squares on sugar. Put this square in to the dish, fill it with a 1/4C of bittersweet chocolate chips.

Fold over the edges again into a square, pinch the edges.

Repeat with all the dishes. Now put them in a warm place for 1 hour. Let them rise.

Turn on the oven to 350F and bake them for 35-40 minutes. Take them out of the molds immediately, or they will stick because of the sugar.

Let them cool fully to really taste the different layers of butter and chocolate. Below you can see the sugar crust on top, and the shiny edges from the caramelized sugar in the molds and the dough.