4.15.2012
6.18.2011
HOUSING WANTED: next to Bourke Street Bakery. Surry Hills, Sydney
- Sift the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt
- Put egg whites in a very clean DRY bowl otherwise they won't make it to soft peaks
- Use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment and beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks start forming. If you want, you can add a pinch of cream of tartar which helps to stabilize meringue. Slooowly pour in the sugar for the egg whites while the motor is still running. Stop mixing when you get to a soft peak stage.
- Transfer meringue to another bowl and set aside.
- Using the same bowl, add the whole egg, egg yolk and sugar for the yolks. Mix on high speed for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture doubles in volume and is quite airy.
- While the mixer is still going, slowly stream in the oil. If the oil is poured in too quickly, the mixture might split or deflate too much.
- Remove the bowl from the standing mixer and gently fold in the flour mixture until combined.
- Fold in carrots (and any other ingredients you might want to add, like coconut or walnuts)
- Quickly and lightly fold in the meringue - don't fold it through completely! You should still be able to see streaks of white meringue through the mix.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hr 10 minutes. You can check for doneness by sticking a wooden toothpick through the center of the cake - if it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, then it's done. I don't like over-cooked cake because they end up getting really dry in the center, so as long as the toothpick comes out without wet dough on it, it's pretty safe.
- Don't open the oven for the first 40 minutes. The meringue needs time to rise and bake into shape - if you open the oven, it will deflate and you'll have a crumb that is much too dense.
- IF after the first 40 minutes, the top of the cake is browning too quickly, you can drop the temperature to 180C and place a piece of foil over the cake.
- When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool.
Nutrition Facts | ||||||
Serving Size 101 g | ||||||
Amount Per Serving | ||||||
Calories 378 Calories from Fat 191 | ||||||
% Daily Value* | ||||||
Total Fat 21.2g 33% | ||||||
Saturated Fat 5.4g 27% | ||||||
Trans Fat 0.0g | ||||||
Cholesterol 47mg 16% | ||||||
Sodium 127mg 5% | ||||||
Total Carbohydrates 44.3g 15% | ||||||
Dietary Fiber 1.5g 6% | ||||||
Sugars 28.7g | ||||||
Protein 4.1g | ||||||
| ||||||
Nutrition Grade C | ||||||
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet |
1.11.2011
6.24.2010
When Life Gives You Lemons...
I've been baking quite regularly recently, I can't say the same for my blog updates - but talking about that won't get us anywhere! Along with my baking/cooking, the big boys I mingle with have been mastering the art of starting a fire (their first attempt created a char crusted stove-top and me dizzily gasping for fresh air away from the kitchen/potential carbon-monoxide suicide scene). To their credit, it only took another get-together for them to put a boy scout to shame - what an accomplishment!
So, to accompany their perfectly charred cuts of meat, I tried out my first-ever Lemon Meringue Pie (www.joyofbaking.com). Two days later, I tested my hand again with a new recipe. Unfortunately, this entry is not about those pillowy pies - I kind of just wanted to prove that I had been practicing and not slacking off.
After work this week I've made Blueberry Crumble Bars with a Lemon Zest Twist and a Mango Olive Oil Cake.
The Blue Berry Crumble Bars were made because, well...we had some frozen blueberries (not ideal, I know), a bag of left-over lemons, some empty-bellied guests coming over - and I needed something fast after work.
I had a request from a dear friend Wei for something healthier - a word of warning - this is defiantly not it. A crumble is basically made of a bit of flour and pea-sized pieces of butter mixed with sugar. That's right - it's simple, crazy tasty, and slightly dangerous. Here's the recipe:
I halved the recipe below because Asians tend to eat desserts like fairies(ugh).
Preheat oven to 190C/375F
Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan
- In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, flour, salt, lemon zest and baking powder.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla together until combined.
- Use pastry cutter or your food processor to blend the flour mixture with the butter and egg/vanilla mixture. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan. (If you don't have a pastry cutter or food processor, grate the frozen butter over the flour mixture. Gently cut together with two cold forks. When butter is pretty well coated with the flour, pour over the egg and vanilla mixture - continue to lightly bring together to a loose dough. Press half of dough into the prepared pan as mentioned above)
- In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.