So when I made the apricot danish cake, I thought, hmm, this could be pretty cute- and convenient- as mini cakes… but I wonder if they’d turn out the same way. And indeed, like a sign, they did not! I do have to admit that it was not fully the result of having switched to a smaller size- I changed several elements at once. Low-fat/light sour cream was replaced by fat-free; the egg whites were fresher and therefore more firm (and with more air), and more apricot puree was inserted into the creamy batter (which weighed it down a bit more). That said, it was a fascinating experiment, and the only way to describe them, really, is as being some sort of hybrid between a danish and a souffle, with a slight cheesecake-like texture near the fruit. And the jelly was a complete accident! I was yet again- in vain- attempting to make a caramel sauce to top the cakes and out came jelly. Go figure- I think I’m just not meant to get caramel right.

Mini Apricot Cream Cakes with Home-Made Apricot-Pear Jelly

Adapted from Bill Granger’s Apricot Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients (for the jelly/ fresh fruit topping):

• 1/3 cup Kerns pear nectar
• 1/3 cup apricot juice
• 1/8 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy butter
• 1 can fresh apricot halves in juice (keep the juice!)
• 2-3 additional fresh apricots, halved (and rinsed, de-seeded)
• 1 tsp 2x-concentrated vanilla extract

Ingredients (cake):

• 5 tblspn soy butter
• 4 + 6 oz fat-free sour cream
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 apricots, pureed
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 separated eggs
• 1 tsp 2x-concentrated vanilla extract

Process:

1. Heat oven to 355 degrees F and butter a large muffin pan (I had leftover batter from doing 12 muffin-size cakes and therefore buttered a pan to make a long, flat cake. you can try making mini cakes in a mini muffin pan with your extra batter)
2. Heat together pear nectar, apricot juice, lemon juice, brown sugar, soy butter,and  vanilla extract over medium heat until it begins to bubble slightly; then add in apricot halves and reduce heat slightly. Keep flipping over the apricots so that they’re fully coated with the mixture, until they are soft and cooked through but not falling apart, and the sauce has caramelized. Then, pour apricots slowly and evenly into pan and set aside.
3. Pour caramelized sauce into a small, fairly flat bowl and set aside. This will become a jelly (I’m told pear probably has pectin, which triggers this. My pear netar is also a bit on the old side, which may have contributed to this texture in some fashion)
4. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.
5. Put soy butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix slowly until the mixture has a creamy texture. Then gently mix in the first 4 oz of the sour cream. Whisk in the egg yolks in two batches (2 at a time), then add in the pureed apricots (just halve them, chop into small pieces, and place in blender or food processor) and mix slowly.
6. Add the sifted flour in two batches, stirring slowly and only until just mixed in. If there are a few small tufts of unmixed flour, don’t worry about them! Then add in the remaining half of the sour cream, again mixing slowly.
7. Take a chilled bowl (preerably metal) and place egg whites and 1/2 tsp salt inside. Beat with an electric mixer on 1 or lowest speed for 3-60 seconds, then slowly raise speed until stiff, white peaks are formed. Be careful not to overbeat, or the whites will begin falling back down.
8. Fold the egg whites in 3-4 batches, being careful to fold and not mix so as to get all the air into the cake. Pour mixture slowly and evenly over the apricots in your muffin pan.
9. Place in oven on top rack for approximately 20-25 minutes, then remove and check with a toothpick. Let side 5 minutes to cool, then flip over onto a plate (or carefully remove each mini cake individually- or flip onto a cookie sheet, as my visiting friend suggested) and allow to continue cooling for 30 minutes. Eat warm with vanilla ice cream and heated jelly or cool as a Danish (as it cools, the cake will compress and compact into a thicker, creamier texture, especially near the fruit)
10. For the jelly, it ought to have jelly-itized by now. If it hasn’t, try going the conventional method and re-heating and adding pectin. Once your jelly has set, scoop out tiny pieces and place on top of the cakes. Serve with a leaf of fresh basil or mint and a warm scoop of vanilla ice cream with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

…and if you serve it with the serving suggestion in step 10, prepare yourself by getting some more ice cream, because it will be eaten so quickly that you won’t realize it happened until it’s too late. Warm cake with oozingly caramelized fruit + melting ice cream = mmmmh. Now I’m tempted to go make a batch of these again :). They’re portable, rather simple, and make a great gift or are perfect for your next entertaining event!

My parents brought us two boxes of delicious and delectable campari tomatoes the other week which clearly called for a self-attempted challenge. Added to this, my wonderful friend from work, B, gave me the lovely gift of the most enormous bag I’ve ever seen (honestly) of kitchen supplies- cake tins, baking sheets, cake molds big and small, and… an electric mixer. Cue angelic singing- this was the most exciting development my kitchen tool collection had seen in quite some time :). The thought of beating egg whites within two minutes by myself rather than within an hour of combined work of three strong boys. Thus I was definitely going to make a souffle.

So then began the challenge: can a fresh tomato souffle be done? All my online research pointed to the contrary: “It’s too watery!”, “Even removing the pulp won’t do it” “Sun-dried works better”- which, of course, begged for me to try it out and see if it was true. And I’m glad to say that I’ve found that it IS possible. It won’t rise quite as much, and it falls perhaps a bit more quickly, but in texture, mechanics, taste, and smell, it is a souffle. What else matters? :)

Fresh Tomato and Cheese Souffle

Adapted from Julia Child’s Classic French Cheese Souffle adaption at Epicurious

Ingredients (Makes 7 souffles):

• 1/2 cup grated San Pietro cheese (can be substituted for Parmesan or similar cheese)
• 2 tablespoons grated French Gruyere cheese
• 1 cup organic fat-free skim milk
• 1/3 cup double-concentrated tomato paste (I used Amore)
• 1 cup carved/hulled campari or cherry tomatoes, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
• 2 1/2 tablespoons organic soy butter spread
• 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 large organic cage-free egg yolks
• 5 large organic cage-free egg whites

Process:

1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F
2. Butter 7 soufflé ramekins (or maybe butter 6 and have a 7th on hand ready)
3. Sprinkle some of the grated San Pietro onto the buttered ramekin and coat the sides
4. Warm milk in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming
5. While warm is heating, melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat
6. Add flour once butter is melted and whisk until mixture begins to foam and loses raw taste, about 3 minutes (do not allow mixture to brown)
7. Remove saucepan from heat; let stand 1 minute
8. Pour in warm milk and 1/2 of the tomato paste, whisking until smooth
9. Return to heat and cook, whisking constantly until very thick, 2 to 3 minutes
10. Remove from heat; whisk in remaining tomato paste, paprika, salt, and nutmeg
11. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, whisking to blend after each addition
12. Scrape soufflé base into large bowl and cool to lukewarm
13. Carve out pulp of tomatoes (see picture below) and cut into chunks. Then, take a paper towel and blot out as much moisture as possible. Use a second paper towel if the tomatoes are still at all shining (this indicated water content) and toss the tomatoes, then blot again, until fully dry
14. Once dried, toss half of the tomato chunks into souffle base mixture
15. Sprinkle some salt into a large mixing bowl, then, using electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry (should take approx. 2 minutes- I suggest starting on the lowest setting and slowly working your way up, working in small circles that get wider and wider)
16. Fold 1/4 of whites into lukewarm or room temperature soufflé base to lighten
17. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions while gradually sprinkling in the remaining Gruyère and San Pietro cheese
18. Transfer batter to your prepared ramekins- and be prepared to need an extra one or two depending on the size of your ramekins (or les, if your ramekins are on the larger side)
19. Place the remaining half of the tomato chunks in the middle of the ramekins, evenly distributing between the ramekins
20. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and then place sheet in the oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F
21. Bake until soufflé is puffed and golden brown on top and center moves only slightly when dish is shaken gently, about 25 minutes (do not open oven door during first 20 minutes). This can take up to 30 minutes depending on oven heating
22. Serve immediately for best results- can be stored outdoors for the first day and should be refrigerated afterwards

It’s delicious, and really best when hot out of the oven and steaming. They’ll sadly begin falling as soon as they come out, so if you wanted to snap a photo of them when puffy, be quick! The cheese taste overpowers the tomato a bit, but this can be combatted by a) using more or a stronger tomato paste, or b) using less (or a less strong) cheese. Tomato souffle is a popular choice, but it’s rare to find it with fresh tomato rather than sun-dried; just remember to dry the tomatoes out as much as possible prior to mixing in to the batter!

Part two of the souffle extravaganza was dessert: pear souffle! Fruit souffle is as popular as savoury souffle- really, so many things can be souffle’d- and pear’s a nice choice. As it’s incredibly thick when churned, it creates a coarse paste that lends itself well to souffle. It’s also amoung the starchier fruits, so you don’t need flour when making this one (as opposed to a lighter fruit, ie: berries, where some flour would probably be needed to add volume to the mixture).

We chose epicurious again as our recipe (ah, that was another great show to watch! why are all the good ones cancelled?) and followed it rather precisely. We didn’t make the chocolate sauce as making two souffles was a hefty enough task for one evening. We also had stations of sorts: A manned the pears while the cooked, Saloni and I pureed the pears and whisked in the yolks to the mixed puree. And we had the cheese souffle going simultaneously for extra fun.

There’s not much else to say on this one… it’s a fairly simple recipe if you follow it closely, but it is time-consuming. Oddly, this one yielded much more souffle than the cheese recipe, so there was enough left over to snack on the next day for dessert. And mmh, it was a yummy snack. My only regret is that we were out of vanilla ice cream at the time to accompany it…

So based on the last poll’s results, it looks like I have an excuse to go get a torch for that banana creme brulee. It shall be forthcoming! Moving onto today’s entry:

Gruyere + parmesan = mmh! Sunday night was another fun night of baking with Saloni, this time with the added bonus of her boyfriend (G) and the ever-knowledgeable friend A, along with the boyfriend. This had me learn a very important lesson: I don’t deal quite as well with a crowded kitchen, even if all hands are helping out :). I’ve also come to the conclusion that I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to kitchen maintenance/cleaning/upkeep and general culinary methodology. It’s interesting cooking with a variety of people and seeing how our styles mingle and fuse and shift to adjust and adapt.

We had discussed a number of souffles to try and settled on two: a classic cheese recipe adapted from Julia Child as well as a dessert one (pear). When I asked Saloni which cheeses she’d like for it, she picked an excellent combo: gruyere and parmesan (coincidentally the two listed on this recipe). The nuttiness, saltiness, and stickyness lent themselves fabulously to this souffle. This is the first time I’ve attempted one of my favourite childhood foods (my mother makes a killer cheese souffle!) and actually succeeded in achieving the same flavour and texture. Hence, this was a very special day for me :)

Some recipe adjustments and lessons learned:

• We used organic skim milk in lieu of the whole milk and this thing was a meaty souffle… I’m actually frightened to know what would have happened had we used the intended fatty milk
• In addition to the cup of gruyere, I added a 1/4 cup of grated parm
• Freshly-cracked black pepper in lieu of paprika, which I lacked
• A tells me that using a cold (frozen for a few minutes) metal bowl aids the egg white beating process
• Using a manual egg beater takes an incredible amount of time and force. Hire mafia goons or athletic types for this one, you’ll need quite a bit of strength
• If using a manual egg beater, throw in an extra egg white or two. Our lack of force resulted in less frothy mix to fold into the batter, resulting in a smaller load of souffles being made. We barely made 4 ramekins, despite buttering for 6. Sadness.

These things aside, they were a definite success. Take a look at the inside to see the gooey texture- airy yet dense, just as it should be. Having watched Julie & Julia the day before with my family, I found this recipe choice to be particularly appropriate.