Didn't you know that the muslim would do an Easter post simultaneously? Sheesh.
Dude, I'm just showing off. It's probably better for my ego that the picture shouldn't sit at the top of the page.
This was a triumph. I'm making a note here. HUGE SUCCESS.
That's the best-looking invisible Easter cake I've ever seen.
Damn, I thought I could link it from the Verizon site -- I'm running out so I can't fix it until tonight. Trust me, it's spectacular.
I made a casserole that I realized too late looks exactly like soft flesh that you cut open to reveal a gory interior. I put the recipe for Blood of Christ Casserole on the food wiki.
Caramel cage, eh? This is another Cake Bible effort?
This cake sounds divine, Liz. I don't love anyone enough to make it for them, but might you post the recipe to the wiki sometime so I can drool over it?
Yes, please post the recipe. I'm in a mini-sulk over here because my pastry failed utterly. (Well, I failed it, to be precise.) Luckily my sister had graham crackers so I made a new crust for the delicious, delicious chocolate tart. Mmmmmmmsigh....what? Yes, the recipe. When you're back from the wilds of NJ. And a photo. Please.
I made a ton of peanut candy yesterday, all of it ruined. It tastes quite good, actually, but it's the wrong texture.
Hey, does anyone know what the story is with "cake flour"? A lot of the nicer recipes call for it, and in the past I've ignored them and used "all-purpose" instead, but am startign to suspect that I perhaps should get me some. Or would the fact that I don't have a sifter moot the gains?
Cake flour has much less gluten than all-purpose, so you'll get a finer texture.
Not having a sifter would make cake flour more necessary. I think it has a slightly finer grain and is cleaner. I use regular organic flour, and I always have to sift it the requisite four times to clean it and even it out enough to bake with it.
Please post gps coordinates for this cake's destination.
You can sift with a regular old fine-grained strainer. (Yes, I'm the kind of baking killjoy who actually believes in sifting.)
Right: cake flour has less gluten, and is milled more finely than all-purpose.
If you don't have a sifter but have a food processor, use that instead. It works just as well.
You can treat all-purpose flour in a microwave so that it's more like cake flour. I don't know if there's a comprehensive set of information on the subject, but start here and here.
The cake picture is dead! The cake picture will rise again!
Speaking of biblical themes, Miami is having a deluge special for Easter!
But my cakes turn out fine!
I'm with you, JM. It's not like we're pastry chefs at the French Laundry; who the fuck can really tell the difference??
(I made a shaker lemon pie yesterday, which bled a bit through the bottom crust, thereby sticking to the pan, and so I'm scraping it out of the pan with a spoon, basically, but so what? It tastes fabulous.)
I do not have a sifter.
I do not have a food processor.
I do not have a microwave.
I bet you have spinner wheels, though.
It's going to be funny when the most complicated thing mrh has the energy to make is saltines.
I was going to ask what those were but was too ashamed of my ignorance.
The nice thing about all-purpose flour is that it's all-purpose. That said, you don't have to be a French Laundry food snob to notice the difference between cake flour (soft, low-protein, less nutritious, but will make for a lighter cake) and bread flour (harder, higher-protein, good for yeast-based items because it's sturdier).
I've never known anyone who's actually made one of those caramel cages. Impressive!
I celebrated Easter with a Super Heeb sandwich from Ross & Daughters. Mmm, mm.
I would be happy, by the way, to help anyone out who has an excess of ruined peanut candy on their hands. (as if you could *ruin* peanut candy, sheesh)
Hey, I was a kid in Teaneck, The First Town in the Nation to Vote for Integrated Schools, followed by things going to hell racially in the 1970s.
My parents (and my mother's 14 cousins) all grew up in beautiful Teaneck. I never knew the thing about integrating the schools. I'll have to ask my dad what he remembers about it, though he was already out of college by then.
The cake may be visible now. I can't tell because I could see it before, but I think I've uploaded the picture to the site. It survived the trip to Teaneck, and received the appropriate amount of adultation.
Oh, wow, that is some Epcot Spectacular cake.
For reals! Golden lattice work suspension and everything.
Cake flour really does seem to make a difference. We keep it around for cake and for waffles, which are fluffier and crisper with it. But substituting all-purpose works pretty well; the rule I know is that if the recipe calls for cake, you substitute a cup of all-purpose with two tablespoons taken out for each cup of cake.
Damn, LB. And you're employed and everything.
We spent the day in our jammies and had pasta for dinner.
The kids' babysitter had us over for Easter dinner. I had to demonstrate respect and affection somehow, and they're food people. And I like ridiculous cake projects.
For anyone thinking of attempting a caramel cage, they're not hard. But you want to give yourself time for a couple of attempts -- my first one went bad.
the rule I know is that if the recipe calls for cake, you substitute a cup of all-purpose with two tablespoons taken out for each cup of cake.
Goddammit, I thought the whole point of using the Joy of Cooking was to be informed of things like this.
43: And it is. Does the JoC tell you this? No?
Then it's not important.
Wow, elbie, great cake. That cage is fantastic.
Damn, LB, that cake looks good. Jewish holidays suck.
Thing is, you don't necessarily need cake flour for most cakes. Some things, it makes better. It's never critical, but sometimes noticeable.
Personally, I don't believe in sifting. I turn over the flour container before I measure, so the flour isn't packed. Good enough, IMO.
Oh, and nice, crazy work, LB. I made this silly "coffee cake" from Penzey's that is basically packaged puff pastry slathered with sweetened cream cheese, topped with more pastry, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. It's tasty, but if the calories were any cheaper, you'd just alternate spoonfuls of sugar and cream cheese.
Jewish holidays suck.
Hey, now. chocolate-covered matzoh is awesome. I can't explain to my raised-atheist wife why it's different from chocolate-dipped communion wafers. But I know it's good.
The main baker's reason for using bread flour or all-purpose flour for cakes is if you plan to use the cake as a base for a dessert - rum baba or something of the kind. Coarser flour makes a cake that soaks up way more syrup.
Then again I would call LB's cake dessert.
(The difference between "cake" and "dessert" for me is that cake can be eaten with your fingers, but dessert needs a spoon.)
That's a magnificant, cake, LB. It reminds me of a croquembouche, something I have been meaning to try for a long time. Maybe your success will inspire me, Lizard.
Fleur reminded me shortly before Easter dinner that I hadn't foreseen a dessert. I looked around to see what ingredients we had, and found half a fresh pineapple in the fridge, so I improvised a dish of individual pineapple upside-down cakes with candied ginger and caramel. They were pretty good for a first effort, but I think I could improve them with practice.
LB, that's looks amazing
9: Perfect, AWB. I finally got around to trying to add a couple things, did I do it right? I'll add more soon if so.
Does the JoC tell you this? No?
I'm surprised to hear that it doesn't.
Does the JoC tell you this? No?
Took me a minute there to realize that this abbreviation did not denote the Journal of Commerce. It's confusing when my various worlds collide like that.