hector's take on ROSE'S heavenly CAKES

at last, the video continuation of hector’s take on ROSE’S heavenly CAKES:  Pumpkin Cake (page 125).  just today, i found time to edit this wonderful video segment recorded in 2009!

little do we know that so much thought is behind the 2 step mixing method.  this method is easier and faster, but the benefits are deeper.  ROSE’S heavenly CAKES:  Pumpkin Cake (page 125), as well as most all oil and butter cakes on the book, uses the 2 step mixing method.

the 3 step mixing method reads obviously longer.  this is also known as the creaming method.  the first step is creaming the butter with the sugar.  the second and third steps are adding liquid ingredients in parts alternating with flour in parts.  most people juggle between over mixing or uniformly mixing ingredients.  if you overwork the flour on the 3 step method, your cake will be tough.  a cake becomes tough when flour has been overworked in the contact with liquids (a process called gluten formation).

overworking the flour in the 2 step method is impossible.  flour never touches liquids directly.  flour is first mixed with part of the butter or other fats, thus becoming water proof.  mixing the flour in 2 steps rather than in 3, also helps all ingredients incorporate more uniformly.

i am pretty sure, my next turkey key will remain unfrosted, don’t you think this is beautiful?  ROSE’S heavenly CAKES:  Pumpkin Cake (page 125), baked on a turkey pan

the main purpose of cakes is the party, here is the turkey cake having a party, for ROSE’S heavenly CAKES:  Pumpkin Cake (page 125).

music  soundtrack:  apple iphoto ‘09 theme music, shatter

enjoy the photos, as much as we enjoyed eating the cake.  really, pumpkin pie will soon go out of fashion, once you try cake instead.  it is delicious.

bundt take for ROSE’S heavenly CAKES:  Pumpkin Cake (page 125), done by my youtube student!  happy thanksgiving everyone, i have a lot to thank for this season.

it is almost 10:30 am and i need to rush to make my cappuccino, otherwise i loose chances to get my italian passport!  HOWEVER, i am stopping and post this for you to enjoy.  my friend Deanna just baked the Pumpkin Cake.  this cake is gorgeous unfrosted, where you can shine the unique pumpkin color and clean flavor.  cake like this can easily make pie making out of fashion!

Deanna used a 14-16 cup bundt pan, she reports to have made a 1.5 batch of the recipe to obtain this picture perfect shape.  i am eager to taste a slice!   there isn’t a biggest reward than when one of your students bakes something they learned, indeed two students as Corey and her teen soon are baking one, too!  adding, have your children break the walnuts by hand, which makes much cleaner and delicious whole pieces than chopping with a knife!

and here is the cake frosted with only the Caramel Creme Anglaise component on the same recipe.  Deanna said she was so exited i loved the picture of her cake, that she couldn’t go to sleep so she made the creme anglaise!  her children were so stunned when i had them taste and smell the caramel creme anglaise i had prepared for our silk meringue episode.

life doesn’t bet getter than this, don’t you agree?

here is how i started ROSE’S heavenly CAKES:  Pumpkin Cake with Burnt Orange Silk Meringue Buttercream (page 125).

a note from a happy baker:   “Hi Hector, we had company over today to celebrate Veteran’s day.  J made the pumpkin cake as a test run for Thanksgiving.  It was  delicious, and everyone was raving about it.  I told J that I have NEVER made a cake from scratch in my life.  He was all smiles.  We bought a scale.  Weighing things really make our life easier.  You have opened horizons!  Thank you so much for your kindness and patience.  C”

i am certain you are probably waiting for my next take.  not so fast, as i feel i shall make important learning how to bake.  here is the first part on the making of the pumpkin cake, mixing dry ingredients, the importance of weighing, and the advantage of weighing.



i let you be the judge:  is measuring by weight less messy than measuring by volume?

tips for success:

1- a digital scale is indispensable.  love the fact that you can accommodate a full baking pan on mines.  it really is designed for bakers and after the ergonomics of the larger industrial bakery scales.  during prep, pre-video taping, i used my other pocket digital scale to keep good count of the 8 tsps of baking powder, and sure thing, during taping, my youtube guests were in confusion counting the number of tsps.

2- always whisk together the dry ingredients prior to sifting, as called on a recipe.  this assures even distribution of baking powder, baking soda, salt, and other minute ingredients.  because sifting DOES NOT mix the ingredients uniformly.

3- the nifty electric sifter is nifty, but not a necessity.  it does a good and a clean job, produces the less mess.  honestly, i can’t live without it, once you have it.  and it is one of the tools i take with me when i travel.

soundtrack:  apple iphoto’09 sample music, minuet in g

if one can turn into a pumpkin, why can’t a pumpkin turn into a turkey?

happy thanksgiving month everyone.  here is my rendition of ROSE’S heavenly CAKES:  Pumpkin Cake with Burnt Orange Silk Meringue Buttercream (page 125).

the twist:  using mac nuts instead of walnuts, mac oil instead of safflower and walnut oils, and maui gold turbinado sugar instead of light brown sugar.  covering the turkey with Lacquer Glaze.

the results:  love it!  mac oil transforms when baked in a cake (sorry, as a salad dressing or for frying, mac oil imparts a characteristic fume most chefs dislike, but baked in a cake it transforms into something you should savor in life, heavenly).  i am certain walnut oil is luxurious, so the nut is your choice.

tips for success:

1- use a 3d turkey pan with a 10 cup volume. This is the same volume of the pumpkin 3d pan used on the book.  because the turkey shape has different thickness for the neck and feet compared with the chest and wings, the cake doesn’t rise evenly nor fully.  it is best to make a double recipe and fill the turkey pan to the very top or not lower than 1/4 inch full. there will be 1/3 extra batter, ideal for cupcakes or financiers (easier to double the recipe and have extra batter to make cupcakes, than to calculate a 1.667 factor!).  the turkey will dome considerably, so level it off with a serrated knife prior to inverting the pan. eat this, tastes wonderfully still warm!

2- the turkey halves are refrigerated overnight, then attached with a thin coat of buttercream.  trace a cardboard round to fit under the base of the standing turkey and attach with a thin coat of buttercream, this is for stability and perfect plating.

3- generously, glaze the turkey, avoiding the back of the tail if possible.  let the glaze set for about 2 hours at room temperature.  meanwhile, roses are piped without a center core, on individual parchment squares, then frozen.  with a paper towel, wipe off lacquer glaze from the turkey tail, only as much as possible without damaging the cake; this will provide a rougher cake surface, ideal for attaching the roses.  attach frozen roses with a nickel sized dollop of room temp (soft) buttercream.  arrange the roses as close as possible but without smashing; pipe leaves or petals to fill the gaps.  once the roses thaw to room temperature, do not move the completed cake or you risk the roses falling off.  i transport this cake frozen or well refrigerated inside a cooler with ice packs.

4- i love my instant read thermometer. one of the many uses is for testing cake doneness rather than using a wooden toothpick or wire cake tester.  once the internal temperature is between 198 to 205oF, i take the cake for done!  this particular turkey pan took 10 minutes longer to bake, my instant read thermometer gives 100% assurance of doneness, specially on such irregular cake thickness.

i really love my instant read thermometer.  besides being yellow (no surprise) and having an improved design, my friends at the manufacturing company are fast addressing all my questions and assure love.  the best was when one day i mentioned that i need to show it off and wished it would fit inside my chef’s coat arm pocket (having a little bit of yellow sticking out, of course).  the manufacturer replied by saying this is a well asked request by chefs, so they are working on a special carrying case or clip.  then, after 15 minutes, they emailed me a photo of a chef’s coat where they had unsewn the middle thread between the pen pockets so now my thermometer fits perfectly!  love it.  note that this is the thermometer of choice, however if you can’t afford one, go to the company’s website and have fun shopping for one of their several less expensive instant read thermometers.

i use my instant read thermometer to bring the buttercream to perfect piping temperature (72oF).  with my instant read thermometer, i also continuously monitor the ambient temperature around the roses while been piped.  because my room temperature is above 80oF, i need to chill the freshly piped roses immediately, otherwise the petals may droop excessively.  rather than opening and closing my refrigerator as i make each rose, my favorite way is to place the freshly piped roses, as done, on a large 2-inch deep layer cake aluminum pan, this pan over a couple of frozen ice packs.  i place my instant read thermometer on the pan, and it reads about 620F which is perfect!  when you are finished piping all the roses, cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in the freezer  (a shallow sheet pan will be of no use, to avoid damaging the roses with the foil!).

my instant read thermometer is also absolutely necessary when making the buttercream:  you need to heat the sugar temperature to the exact range, otherwise forget about piping roses and defy gravity, i don’t care on my tail, the turkey tail, rose’s tail, or whatsoever.  my instant read thermometer is also very useful when making the creme anglaise, but not absolutely necessary.

5- if you haven’t gotten your digital scale yet, please, do so.  nowadays, digital scales are affordable and wonderfully easy to use, easy to read, and more importantly: accurate.  it is important you have one, to a point where you won’t enjoy my blog unless you have one!  you will notice me using my digital scales appearing on each of my youtube episodes, that is how often i use one!

in addition, i also find practical a pocket digital scale for small quantities, i.e. baking powder.  pocket digital scales have an accuracy of 0.10 grams or better! note that, the preferred method for measuring baking powder is by volume with teaspoons. the pumpkin cake uses 4 tsps of baking powder, so when making a double recipe, measuring 8 tsps becomes a chore. also, more than often when i am on the 7th tsp, i ask myself if that was the 7th or 8th!!!!! this confusion happens to my students, too! what i prefer, is to measure with tsps, but over my pocket digital scale (measure by volume over a scale), noting down the weigh for 1 tsp, then as you add more tsps, the scale reading confirms when the correct number of tsps are added!  keep in mind that most pocket digital scales have a maximum capacity of 500 grams or less! practical for weighing minute quantities and not a replacement of a standard size digital scale (which have a maximum capacity of 5000 to 8000 grams aprox and an accuracy of 1 gram).

6- whatever nut option you choose, be sure to use freshly packed ones. i find less than fresh all mac nuts sold in cans at supermarkets. best if you befriend a local bakery that buys in bulk, or better yet, most small mac farmers on Hawaii will mail order.  try this once and you will never go back.

7- this turkey cake has only the Lacquer Glaze on it, no ganache undercoat.  if the cake surface bakes terribly with large air pockets, you can touch it up with dark chocolate ganache.  most air pockets on the surface of shaped cakes are preventable, by first brushing the pan with a thin coat of cake batter (but without removing the baking spray), filling all the cracks and convolutions, then filling the pan rest of the pan.