by Rose Levy Beranbaum
from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes
(John Wiley & Sons, 2009)
Serves 12

Jenn Giblin, pastry chef of Blue Smoke, came up with this stellar version of sticky toffee pudding. She uses stout beer, giving it the most compelling flavor of any I have tasted. The cake, which in England is referred to as a pudding, dissolves in your mouth. The toffee sauce is the ideal accompaniment; it absorbs deliciously about an eighth inch into the top of the cake.

An additional and unusual accompaniment, from pastry chef Letty Flatt, is vanilla ice cream flavored with root beer extract.

convert Ingredients
For the batter
1 cup stout beer, preferable Guinness extra stout
1 teaspoon baking soda
About 6 large dates, pitted
6 tablespoons unsalted butter [65F° to 75°F (19C° to 23°C)]
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off) bleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

For the butterscotch toffee sauce
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar, preferable Muscovado
1 vanilla bean
16 tablespoons unsalted butter [65F° to 75°F (19C° to 23°C)]
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the pecan and crème fraîche topping
1 1/4 cups pecan halves
3/4 cup crème fraîche, lightly whipped

Method
1. Prepare one 9 by 13-inch baking pan, bottom coated with solid shortening, lined with parchment (no need to coat the parchment or sides). Have ready a baking sheet, lined with plastic wrap and coated with nonstick cooking spray plus a baking sheet or cutting board.

2. Set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) for at least 20 minutes. [If using a Pyrex or dark pan, bake at 300°F (150°C)].

Prepare the dates
1. In a small saucepan, bring the beer to the boiling point. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the baking soda. It will fizz up a lot. Pour the beer mixture over the pitted dates. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

2. Remove the dates to a food processor and add a little of the beer mixture. Process until a paste is formed. Gradually add the rest of the liquid through the feed tube. The mixture will be very smooth, dark, and glossy. Scrape it into a bowl and keep it covered until ready to use.

Make the batter and bake the cake
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add the eggs in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. (The mixture may appear curdled, but after adding the flour, it will be smooth.)

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the batter and mix on low speed for 10 to 15 seconds just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half the date mixture and mix just until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, then the remaining date mixture, and finally the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until the batter is uniform in color and no streaks remain.

3. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with an offset spatula. The pan will be about one-third full.

4. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan halfway, and continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until a wire cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the center and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.

5. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto the prepared baking sheet. Reinvert it onto the second sheet or cutting board. Serve at once or reheat for 5 minutes in a 350°F (175ºC) oven. The cake will be about 1 1/4 inches at the sides and 1 1/2 inches in the center.

Make the butterscotch toffee sauce
1. While the cake is baking, make the toffee sauce. In a small saucepan, place the brown sugar. With a small sharp knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the sugar. Rub the seeds in with your fingers. Remove and reserve the pod. With a silicone spatula, stir in the butter.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the heavy cream, lemon juice, salt, and the reserved vanilla pod. The mixture will be slightly grainy but will become totally smooth on standing. Reheat, if necessary, and remove the vanilla pod before serving.

Make the pecan topping
1. Spread the pecans evenly on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350°F (175°C) oven for about 7 minutes to enhance their flavor. Stir once or twice to ensure even toasting and avoid overbrowning. Cool completely. Break or chop them coarsely and set aside.

Complete the sticky toffee pudding pudding
1. Cut the sticky toffee pudding into thirds the long way and fourths the short way. Set each portion on a serving plate. Pour 3 tablespoons of the toffee sauce on top of each serving, allowing it to cascade over the sides and pool onto the plate. Sprinkle the lightly toasted pecan pieces over billowy dollops of crème fraîche.

Variation:  individual sticky toffee puddings
Bake as individual puddings in small ramekins or brioche molds filled about half full. (Using 3/4-cup ramekins will yield 12 puddings; the standard 1/2-cup brioche mold will yield 18 puddings.)

Notes: If measuring rather than weighing, pour the beer carefully against the side of the measuring cup to prevent foaming. If there is some foam, allow it to settle so you can get an accurate measure.

If you desire more texture, reserve two of the dates and pulse them in, after you have processed the date mixture, until only small pieces remain.

Recipe © 2009 Cordon Rose, LLC. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.

This cake was, without a doubt, the hardest recipe to develop in The New Portuguese Table. Cindi Kruth, one of my recipe testers, and I made 13 versions of it until I knew it was as good as the recipe I got at Papas, the tiny restaurant up the hill from my apartment in Lisbon. The problem was—and I have no idea of this was intentional (you know how some cooks can be)—but they gave me a recipe for a classic chiffon cake. Yet their mighty bolo de laranja was dense and rich, and just one slice could satisfy even my appetite.

Friend and Portuguese food scholar Janet Boileau was smitten with the cake and also went to work trying to figure it out. In the end, it took a call to the wonderful Lisbon chef Fausto Airioldi to help me get a handle on the dessert. He agreed with me that this was no stinking chiffon cake. It was too full of the bold flavors of Portuguese. So, that’s when Cindi and I started from scratch, literally. Several weeks later, we came up with this. And if you had a chance to stop one of my book signings, you would have had a sample. It’s what I always serve, and people always ask for, when I’m fending off those huge lines of three and four fans.

If you want the recipe, leave a comment and let me know.

Portuguese Orange-Olive Oil Cake
by David Leite
from The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe’s Western Coast
(Clarkson Potter, 2009)
Serves 10 to 12

Atenção: Make sure to use a light-colored Bundt pan. A dark one will turn out a cake that sticks and is unpleasantly brown. Since this cake only gets better with age, don’t even think about taking a bite until the day after you make it, or even the day after that.

convert Ingredients
Nonstick baking spray with flour
4 to 5 large naval oranges
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
5 large eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups mild extra-virgin olive oil
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Method
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven, remove any racks above, and crank up the heat to 350°F (175°C). Coat a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan with baking spray and set aside.

2. Finely grate the zest of 3 of the oranges, then squeeze 4 of them. You should have 1 1/2 cups of juice; if not, squeeze the 5th orange. Set aside.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs on medium-high speed until well-combined, about 1 minute. Slowly pour in the granulated sugar and continue beating until thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and oil, starting and ending with the flour, and beat until just a few wisps of flour remain. Pour in the orange juice and zest and whirl for a few seconds to bring the batter together.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, about 1 1/4 hours. If the top is browning too much as the cake bakes, cover lightly with foil. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.

6. Turn the cake out onto the rack and cool completely, then place it in a covered cake stand and let it sit overnight. Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar.

Next time your kids mention gingerbread, surprise them with these gingerbread cupcakes with a delightful cardamom cream cheese frosting. Better yet, let them help you make them. Molasses and brown sugar form a rich flavor stage for some of our favorite spices to dance on. You’ll be tempted to eat these cupcakes right out of the oven, but take our word for it—the cardamom cream cheese frosting is worth the wait.

The frosting is simple to make and easy to love. It’s sensational on the gingerbread cupcakes, but you’ll find plenty of other ways to use this recipe. Feel free to adjust the spice to your own preference. Orange zest would be a nice substitute for the lemon. We’re always partial to cardamom, the queen of spices, but allspice or cinnamon would work well, too

convert Ingredients
For the gingerbread cupcakes
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon dried lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cardamom cream cheese frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground green cardamom

Method
Make the gingerbread cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease 12 standard-size muffin cups or line them with paper cups.

2. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses, egg, and vanilla. In a small bowl, stir together the boiling water and baking soda until dissolved. Stir the baking soda water into the molasses mixture.

3. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, lemon zest, and salt into a small bowl. Whisk the flour mixture into the molasses mixture until the batter is combined.

4. Spoon the gingerbread batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of one or two of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the pan.

5. Place the gingerbread cupcakes on a rack to cool for 30 minutes.

Make the cardamom cream cheese frosting
1. Cream together the cream cheese and sugar in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and cardamom and beat until fluffy and smooth. Chill the frosting in the refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Spread the cream cheese frosting generously over the cooled cupcakes.

Recipe © 2009 The Seasonal Palate, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.

This semolina-olive oil cake was inspired by a dessert I had at A Voce restaurant in Manhattan. Semolina flour, the finely ground endosperm of durum wheat, adds a rustic note to this cake and gives it a slight crunch. The olive oil gives it a light texture, the syrup makes it moist, and the grapes are a surprise addition.

Serve small glasses of the Moscato wine with the cake as a special treat.

convert Ingredients
3/4 cup (6 ounces) Moscato
8 ounces seedless grapes (about 40), halved
1/3 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces by weight) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (41/2 ounces by weight) semolina flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces by weight) granulated cane sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup (5 1/4 ounces) delicate extra-virgin olive oil with tropical notes

Method
1. Pour the wine into a small bowl. Add the grapes. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the bowl and add the bean as well. Macerate the grapes for 30 minutes. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and reserve the wine, vanilla seeds, and bean.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), positioning the rack in the middle. Line the bottom of a 9-by-3-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.

3. Sift both flours, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

4. Put the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with the paddle on medium speed, gradually adding 1½ cups of the sugar.

Turn to medium-high speed and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes.

5. Turn the mixer speed to low. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer running, gradually add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the olive oil in 2 additions (start and end with the dry ingredients). Fold half of the macerated grapes into the batter with a spatula.

6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.

7. Let the olive oil cake cool completely, still in the pan, on a rack. Run a table knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a plate. Peel off the parchment paper and turn the cake right side up onto a serving platter.

8. Poke holes with a skewer at 1-inch intervals in top of the cake, stopping before reaching the bottom.

9. Make a sugar syrup by boiling the reserved wine mixture with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until it reduces by half. Strain the syrup.

10. Spoon the warm syrup over the cake. Serve with the reserved macerated grapes.

Recipe © 2009 Fran Gage. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.

One recipe from the Temple Israel cookbook was a crustless apple crumb cake. An Americanized apple streusel, also known as apple crisp, it was a favorite Friday evening dessert during my childhood. “Fill any size pie plate with apples, depending upon the size of cake desired,” were the vague directions.

Tip: I often add fresh mint or fresh cranberries to my apples — delicious.

convert Ingredients
12 Cortland, McCoun, McIntosh, Greening, or Granny Smith apples (about 12 cups)
Rind and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup white sugar or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (about)
2 cups all-purpose flour (about)
1 cup dark brown sugar
6 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup orange juice

Method
1. Peel, core, and slice the apples. Place in a greased 9 by 13-inch or equivalent rectangle baking dish. Grate the lemon rind and then squeeze the juice over the apples. Sprinkle with the white sugar and about 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon.

2. In a mixing bowl pinch together the flour, brown sugar, and butter or margarine. Scatter over the apples and then sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.

3. Pour the orange juice over the crumb topping. It will seep through to the apples.

4. Bake in a preheated 400°F (200°C) oven, approximately 30 minutes or until the apples are soft and the top is brown and crusty. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Recipe © 1998 Joan Nathan. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.