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inspiration is a rising tide

 
 

Hopefully I don't get blacklisted for posting this grainy point n' shoot of Michael Ruhlman, because it makes me grin, and grins are in short supply these days. This was just before the closing keynote at BloghHer Food conference this weekend, and Ruhlman was getting ready to bring it on the ballroom stage along with Shauna and Molly. At the conclusion of what was already a great conversation between these three writers, Ruhlman was compelled to stand and remind us that cooking is important (and according to anthropologist Richard Wrangham cooking is what makes us human) pacing the stage with the kind rhetorical passion I can only describe as...Mr. Ruhlman Goes to Washington. I would like to thank him for the boost. Well, I want to thank everyone there, actually. I only made it to one day of the conference, but the lift I got makes me feel like a boat that was dry docked all winter and suddenly plopped into the bay on a warm and fogless autumn afternoon.

Mint Chip Ice Cream, and Notes on Homemade Ice Cream

This could also be titled "How I Learned the Hard Way that Homemade Ice Cream for a Crowd is Not a Good Idea." 

I was the lucky recipient of an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer in summer 2008, and yet said attachment sat in the unopened box until just a few months ago. Unlike 98% percent of humans, I did not come with the ice-cream-loving chip preinstalled, and left a fine dessert-making machine in a box all that time. I only really want frozen desserts when it's hot outside, and given that I live somewhere that tops out at an infuriating 61 degrees in AUGUST, that's not often. Even growing up in Los Angeles, where the summer weather stretches wide over the calendar, I remember picking the rainbow sherbet just so I could furiously stir it into a gray puddle. But my husband had wanted homemade ice cream, so for his birthday party I decided to do an ice cream sundae bar with homemade ice cream and toppings. Great idea, right?

Chocolate Banana Stud Cake

The Heavenly Bakers are making a single-layer chocolate cake made with sour cream and banana, frosted with bittersweet chocolate and studded with chocolate chips. Hence the name. Chocolate Banana Stud Cake.

I used Vahlrona Rouge cocoa because I thought it would be a beautiful color with the sour cream and banana. I was excited to bake a cake with banana in the batter just to see if my frozen overripe bananas would work as well as a ripened fresh banana that had only sat on the counter.

I am happy to report that the thawed frozen banana worked perfectly having mashed and liquified itself , and conveniently poured into the measuring cup with a quick snip of the peel. I am happier to (potentially) gross you out with this photo of what that looked like. 

Heavenly Cake Bakers: Coconut Cheesecake

 
 
 Imagine this on your picnic table next to the watermelon.  Not too shabby. This week the Heavenly Bakers made cheesecake, and I declare it the perfect thing to bring to a summer party, as long as you can park it in the shade and keep it cool, then consume soon after breaking it out. Why? Because people LOVE cheesecake.  Rose's Coconut Cheesecake with a Coconut Cookie Crust delivers the classic tangy, creamy wonder you hope for in a cheesecake, judiciously souped up with cream of coconut and coconut extract (in the filling), bits of coconut (in the cookie crumb crust), and flaked, toasted coconut over the top (for good measure).  

Conquering Homelessness through Employment in Food Service

This time of year makes me giddy. Still light out at nine o'clock.

OK, so I should not have taken a photo while driving, but I wanted to remember that light trailing over my left shoulder over Treasure Island. Still light out after 9pm. The extra daylight makes me think I should do a whole lot more, you know...take advantage of all that extra time. After a few weeks of running myself ragged, I realize that it's just extra daylight, and it's not extra time.

Bear with me. I know this is a baking and cooking blog. We'll get there.

 
We cannot manufacture more time or energy, we only have so much attention, and it may seem impossible to do those things we have always meant to do. For years, I wanted to find a place to volunteer, not just contribute some cash, but actually show up on a regular basis and serve someone else. I wanted it to do with food. I was operating for so long as if I did not have time to help others, but when I found the right program, time was no longer an issue. Thanks to the Baker's Dozen, I found CHEFS (Conquering Homelessness through Employment in Food Service, part of Episcopal Community Services), a "12-month [culinary] program that includes classroom instruction, hands-on kitchen training in institutional and restaurant settings, job counseling, and placement with coaching and follow-up". I was honored to be asked to teach a a chocolate class during their session, and volunteering for this wonderful program has been a pleasure, and has given me more than I could have imagined. When they had their big fundraiser last week, Summertini 2010, I decided to get gussied up, buy a ticket and go.

 
 Some of the CHEFS students I had taught didn't even recognize me, probably because I usually look like a bit less glamourous in the kitchen classroom (photo courtesy of CHEFS/ECS)...

 
Here we are taking the temperature of some chocolate during tempering (we temper chocolate, make chocolate-dipped macaroons, and lemon curd). CHEFS students, despite whatever rough circumstances brought them to the program, are hardworking and cooperative; usually as soon as I have dirtied a dish it's out of my hands and being washed. The students, Bill Taylor (Chef Instructor) and ECS staff appreciate the guest instructors so much. I am so glad that Nancy Kux of Baker's Dozen asked BD members to contribute sweets for Summertini last year so I could learn about CHEFS. Speaking of BD, members contributed this delicious spread.

I bobbed around, happy as a clam because the event was hopping, and even got ambitious and bid on several silent auction items (my wallet is kinda glad I didn't win anything), tasting the bites put out the myriad sponsors. My two favorites were A16's burrata appetizer, and Chef Dane Boryta (of the fabulous Sens) blew me away with his Grilled Spanish Octopus, served in butter lettuce cups and harissa aioli, mint and cilantro. The food was great, but it was worth the ticket price to see the generosity of those who pledged directly to the CHEFs program (the final lot in the live auction) including lucky #293 here.

  
Gosh that photo is dark, but look at the gorgeous windows in the SF Design Center - an amazing space.

And look at this amazing lighted display piece by Katie Gong.

It was a great evening. Driving home over the Bay Bridge that night, with the sun sinking into the Pacific behind me, I was so happy I ended the week by supporting CHEFS, instead of the perfectly reasonable alternative of not spending the time or money.

One cannot measure the return of volunteering in minutes or cents. It is beyond measurement. (And as a baker, that is not something I often say!)

If you feel guilty that you do not have a way to give of yourself that feels right to you, don't fret. You will find it. Mine is CHEFS, but yours could be a soup kitchen, community garden, tutoring program, museum, church, or something else.

You have time to figure it out. After all, it's still light out.

 

 

 

Cake Flour is Passive Aggressive, & Other Things I Learned from Rose Levy Beranbaum

I had the great pleasure of meeting Rose Levy Beranbaum and Woody Wolston for the first time when they made a stop in the Bay Area on their way to Portland for the IACP conference and winning two IACP awards (including Cookbook of the Year).

Rose came to speak at the Bakers Dozen, and I agreed to write an article summarizing the meeting, which proved the perfect way to capture all the details of such a thrilling experience I might have otherwise lost in the excitement of it all-- like lightning bugs in a jar.

I would like to share my article with you so you can feel like you were there, too. You will notice in my closing that I caught Rose's comment "Cake flour is passive aggressive" but didn't hear why. Rose filled me in: "[cake flour is] so tender, yet stronger in the elastic sense, so that the cakes will rise higher!" I want to be like cake flour.

[Article begins after the jump. Pictures will be added shortly.]

Rose Levy Beranbaum at Omnivore Books in San Francisco

 
Rose Levy Beranbaum is swinging through the Bay Area (!) on her way to the IACP conference in Portland and this Saturday April 17, 2010 (3-4pm) she will be giving a talk and signing books at Omnivore Books in San Francisco's Noe Valley. Not only that, there will be the SF contingent of the National Food Bloggers Bake Sale from 12-3pm out front. Proceeds from the sale benefit Share our Strength and the fight against childhood hunger. I will be there with something from my own oven, so I hope to see you there![UPDATE: We raised $1650 for Share our Strength!!]

Heavenly Cake Bakers ~ Sicilian Pistachio Cake with Golden Molasses Buttercream

 

Implausibly green blanched pistachio batons have danced in my head from the moment I first saw the stunning photograph of Rose’s Sicilian Pistachio Cake With Golden Neoclassic Buttercream (via NPR). I only wish I had been able to find the same gorgeous pistachios, but next time (oh yes, there will be a next time for this cake) I will be sure to order premium model-worthy pistachios. Unwilling to do the multi-store gauntlet, I went to the best (and largest) store, and proceeded with what I was able to get, which turned out to be roasted, shelled pistachios. Delicious, but not beauteous.

 

Heavenly Cake Bakers - True Orange Genoise (for real this time)

I love this time of year, when the days are getting longer rather than shorter, everything is intensely green, and the earliest flowers are starting to bud. Around here, daffodils and other bulbs pop first, and then the trees flower (first magnolia, then plums). I have no idea what these flowers are, but I am sure someone will tell me. Those of you with a snowy winter may want to punch me right now, which I understand, but in about 6 months, I will be jealous of your hot summer.

ANYWAY, about that True Orange Genoise? Well, turns out my oven was out of commission bit longer than I thought. RHC and I were together on the kitchen floor trying to think of a way around that.

True Orange Genoise

 
The flavors chocolate and orange do not always play well together, but when they do, I adore them (full disclosure: my wedding cake was an orange poppyseed cake soaked in grand marnier, covered with ganache). Chances of a successful orange-chocolate pairing are increased if the chocolate used is high-quality bittersweet and the orange is pure, clean and tart. Too much sweetness can easily ruin this tempermental combination, which is why I was eager to try this week's Heavenly Bakers recipe, a layer of genoise split and filled with orange curd and frosted with bittersweet ganache, as the key to this recipe is the elusive (um, in these parts) bitter orange from Seville in Spain.

Fellow bakers have procured their Seville oranges at Monterey Market in Berkeley, but after searching through over 25 varieties of citrus, the Bergamot sour oranges from California (pictured above) were the closest thing I found to Seville. Maybe I missed the Seville's short season, or came to the market too late in the day. The Bergamot variety is apparently "a cross of a Seville orange and Pear lemon, is sour and not edible, the oil from the peel is used in Earl Grey tea." I know the only way to test them is to just tear into one and throw a lip over it.

If they are very sour, I plan on using a combination of them and tangelos (or regular navel orange) to achieve a similar flavor in the True Orange Genoise. Either way I need to use them.

What should I make with these bergamot sour oranges? Will they work for genoise?

My kitchen floor is being replaced today, and my oven is disconnected (what? I cannot bake a cake with a disconnected oven?!), so you have until Wednesday to lend me your advice!