Gesine Bullock-Prado's Blog, page 13

Giving for Team Kea

Please Donate HERE to support Team Kea and the Cancer Research Institute.

Did you walk outside last night to take a gander at that full Hunter's Moon?  I did.

It's hazy until you put down the camera.
At 8pm every evening, I grab my iPhone and turn on the flashlight app.  I walk to the pond and call for Mama.  She keeps a precise Nighty Night schedule.  She puts the ducks to bed just as the sun sets.  If I take too long in closing the door to their pen, she nudges them back across the pasture, out to the pond to keep them safe from predators until I bumble out into the dark to lead them back to dry safety.

Last night, I walked to the pond to find the reflection of the moon but no birds.  I stumbled across the property to the water fowl pen, keeping my neck craned towards La Bella Luna and forsaking the lame dribble of path lighting from my phone.  I poked my head in to make sure that my babies were cuddled together for the night.  There they were, Mama on her nest and her ducky ladies in waiting surrounding her.  I swung the door to their pen shut and listened for the "click" that signals the latch found its home.

I returned to the house as I'd left it, weaving like a drunk as I kept focus on the moon.  I ran into a tree.  My phone fell out of my hand and the faint stream from the flashlight facing up, illuminating nothing really but it did wake me to the fact that I had my phone at hand.  Which meant I had a camera.  I could take a picture of the moon to gaze upon instead of flirting with a future neck ache.

I took 20 pictures, the lens bringing the moon into sharp focus for a  fleeting millisecond.  I stabbed furiously at the "take a picture dammit" button but never managed to capture the moon in focus.

Which led me to remind myself to be thoughtful, to focus on the beauty in front of me without the filtering it through a smartphone.  To appreciate that I was alive to enjoy it.  Never mind the hacking cough plaguing me from my near collision with walking pneumonia that escaped just as I was enjoying the moonlit silence.  I am on a slow mend, not quickly enough to get permission to run the Marine Marathon next weekend but I'm assured that I will indeed be cured in the near future.  Despite my disappointment in learning that I wouldn't be able to run; throughout the fever, the sore throat, the phlegm, I reminded myself that my sickness was momentary and familiar.  That it could be much worse.  And I kept saying that when my husband asked how I was faring as I gasped for air, fighting through a coughing fit worthy of a TB riddled cave troll.  It could be worse.

I've made it a mantra because I know and love people that have it worse.  That have had it much worse and died.  My mother, when she battled colon cancer, didn't have the luxury of Chloroseptic, high octane Sudafed and an army of wadded tissues to see her through.  She had chemotherapy, radiation and pain.  And even then, there was no one to tell her that these ministrations would see her through to a cure.

I think of my beloved friend Lisa, who faces a diagnosis of Stage IV metastatic breast cancer with an honesty and fierceness that makes me love her more every day.  Despite entering into an experimental trial within the next few weeks, not a single oncologist will tell her that she's on a course towards a cure (read her wonderful blog HERE).  And then there are my high school classmates Kea and Irma who were both missed and mourned at our 25th reunion this past weekend.  We've lost both to breast cancer within the past year.  In honoring them, beautiful pictures of them attending our 20th reunion looking healthy and happy accompanied songs and moving spoken tributes.   It's those damn pictures that gut me.  In 2008, they were seemingly healthy, young, vibrant women.  Five years later they were gone.

So I ask if you saw that moon last night because I think of my mother, Kea and Irma and mourn that they couldn't share the beauty of such a beautiful site with us.  I hold out hope that Lisa will see many more full moons to come.  I rejoice that I still have these moments, where I can crane my neck like a fool and stare in awe at the night sky.  I want thousands more of these moments for all of us and that's why I'm raising money for the Cancer Research Institute.

And even though I can't run the Marine Marathon in honor of Kea and Irma and Lisa and Mom and everyone else who is living with cancer and those who we've lost to cancer, I'm still raising money for my team.  Team Kea.  If you are so inclined, please click HERE to contribute to our effort to raise money for the Cancer Research Institute.  As an added incentive, if you give within the next week, no matter the amount, I'm choosing one person at random from those who make a donation to receive a copy of The Runner's World Cookbook  to which I am a contributor .

FREEGRACE FRIDAY! A Few Hidden Gems.

I've been working on the latest book.  We've been traveling.  I got sick.  All these things have been tangled up in each other and have made for a time vacuum.

Now that I'm settled back at Freegrace and my lungs are slowly clearing from the muck and mire, I'm able to post a little something and savor a few lovely discoveries on the farm like the new hidey hole Lacey has found in the corn crib to lay her eggs.  The ancient crab apple trees tucked on the back acres of the property that appeared as if by magic as we followed a new path made by our resident deer.  The bulbs of garlic I planted last fall and thought had been dormant but only now decided it was time to start growing, ditto to the fava beans that decided to follow suit.

Stretching our legs after a long flight.  Can't beat the view.
A week ago, on the other side of the Atlantic, I was exploring another place I call home.  So before I lavish you with images from Vermont in its fall glory (I'll save those for next week), let me share a few moments of autumnal discovery from Bavaria and Salzburg.




Just off the plane in Munich, we took a short drive and stretched our legs alongside a small lake.  This kitty was the first to greet us, shimmying out from under a fence and bouncing over to me.  I bent down to snuggle.  She upped the ante and hopped onto my lap.  Well played little kitty.  Well played.


Along the lake's path, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this ancient gem of a church entry.

Hidden away, someone's winter wood.

Oktoberfest.  As it should be.


Salzburg.  It was a magical city in which to live a few tender year.  I love it more each time I visit.



My childhood friend, Volker, took us up an alley a few steps from Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg.  Tucked away in a hole in the wall, LITERALLY, was a stand selling the most outrageously delicious wurst sandwich.  It's called Balkan Grill.  I just drooled on my keyboard thinking about it.

The oldest bakery in Salzburg has been churning out bread and pastry since the 7th century.  I grew up in this town as a kid and this was my first visit.  They still grind their wheat with that grist mill.

Salzburg's oldest restaurant, the St. Peter Stifstkeller, is tucked away inside the city walls.  You'll see the sign "Seit 803" and a tunnel.  Don't be afraid.  Walk through the darkened space with confidence.  There's beer and sausage awaiting you on the other end.  I couldn't resist raising a glass with family and friends to soak in hundreds of years of conviviality.

Keeping with this theme of discovery, I went on a little walkabout in the St. Peter Stiftskeller searching for a bathroom.  I couldn't help myself when I realized that the place contained a network of private dining rooms.  I broke into a few and took pictures.  This one was my favorite.

What me, stop for pastries?  Of course!  You may be familiar with the famous confection, Mozart Kugeln (Mozart Balls, no joke).  Cafe Fürst Konditorei created the first Mozart Kugeln and they still make them by hand.  They also create so many other gorgeous tasties that it's hard to leave.  Heaven.

I have a nose for hidden bakeries and Salzburg has the very best signage for them.

At the end of our journey we made our way up a long, windy path through the alps to find a slice of heaven in the hills.  Zwetschgendatschi!  

Freegrace Fridays: Pumpkin Drama

Today would usually be an update on Freegrace hijinks but as I've been away for a few days doing a little work on the other side of the country, I'm as bereft of news from my beloved farm as you are.  More soon, I promise.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a recipe from my latest The Talk segment wherein I made, among other things, a pumpkin version of my Because You're Mine cake.

One thing I can tell you about Freegrace is that my sugar pumpkins are patiently waiting for me to pluck them from the vine.  They are ready to rumble!

Speaking of my pumpkins (and no, that isn't a euphemism...but maybe it should be), our tractor recently broke down and I had to contract out the mowing.  I was teaching all day at King Arthur and I returned home to the wonderful scent of freshly shorn grass.  I puttered out back to see how my various plots were fairing and I noticed that in the far distance, my pumpkin vines weren't looking so well.  They had been perky and flourishing in the wee hours of the morning but upon my return, they looked forlorn and, well, saggy.  As I got closer, I came to realize that not only did I get a mow but some areas got manicured with a weed wacker.  They wacked right through the stems of 3/4 of my pumpkin harvest.  Mind you, it took some work to cut through the stuff because the lead vines were easily 4 inches in diameter.  All that work, almost 5 months worth of cultivating and growth, gone.  All but 4 of my sugar pumpkins obliterated.

Who knew that inside all that white down was a heart of gold?

I did what any sane woman would do.  I sat down on the soggy ground and wept like a colicy baby.  For 10 minutes I allowed myself extravagant, wet sobs.  I may have repeatedly wailed, "Why?  Why would they do this?" with great drama.  Taken completely by my horticultural loss, I didn't notice that mama had been nudging me and softly murmuring goosey condolences.  Not to be ignored, she crawled into my lap and gave me sweet nibbles, tucking her one eyed head under my chin.

That, my sweet friends, made the slaughter of innocent gourds a small trifle compared to the feathered love my sweet goose displayed.  I'm a lucky farmer to have such friends in my fowl.

But back to the dessert.  Here's the recipe for the cake.  Click here if you missed the segment on The Talk.

A very happy fall to all of you.  I wish for you an unmolested pumpkin harvest and I send you sweet goose nibbles.


PUMPKIN BECAUSE YOU’RE MINE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
For the pumpkin cake2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup cornstarch (helps to keep cake flexible for rolling)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup maple syrup
8 eggs, separated
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
1/4 cup canola oil2-3 drops orange gel food coloring (optional)

For the vanilla cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature1 cup granulated sugar2 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon salt3/4 cup non-fat buttermilk

For the filling
2 (8 ounce) packages Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature4 cups confectioners' sugarpinch salt1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
For the icing
5 egg whites1 cup sugar1 pound unsalted butter, room temperaturepinch salt

PROCEDURE:

For the pumpkin cake

• Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Line 2 half sheet pans with parchment and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

• In a very clean bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment, combine the salt and egg whites.  Whisk until light and foamy and slowly add 1 1/2 cups of the granulated sugar, very slowly, until the egg whites hold a stiff peak and shiny.  Don't over whip to the point that they become dry.• Transfer the whites to a clean metal bowl.• In the original mixing bowl (you don't have to clean it) add the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of the remaining sugar the maple syrup, pumpkin puree, the oil, and the dye (if using).  Whisk until just combined. • In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for at least 30 seconds to distribute the leavening and then sift over the egg yolk mixture.  Fold the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture until smooth and well combined.  Add 1/4 of the egg whites and stir to lighten.  Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold into the batter until no white streaks remain• Transfer the batter into the prepared sheet pan and using a large offset spatula, smooth the batter evenly in the pan.• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when gently poke and just begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool completely.

For the vanilla cake
• Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Spray a 10" round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment.  Set aside.• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter and beat on high until light and fluffy.• Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well to incorporate between each addition.  Add the vanilla.

• In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder, whisk for 30 seconds to distribute the leavening.• Add half the flour to the mixing bowl on slow, just to combine.  Add the buttermilk and then the remaining flour.  • Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and springs back lightly when touched.  Allow to cool completely.  Once cool, split the cake evenly in half horizontally.
For the filling

• Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and whisk until smooth.
For the buttercream icing

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, sugar and salt.  Place the bowl over a gently simmering saucepan of water, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely melted and the mixture reaches 180ºF on a sugar thermometer.• Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and whisk on high until the bowl is cool to the touch and the meringue is stiff, shiny and white.  • Add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly until the buttercream thickens and becomes smooth.  You may not need all the butter.  If the mixture looks as if it's beginning to curdle, this is a sign that the buttercream is about to come together.  Add another small hob of butter and let the mixer do its thing.

To assemble

• Leaving the pumpkin cake in the pan, cut each sheet of cake into long strips, 4 inches wide; you'll get 3 strips from each pan, altogether.•Divide the cream cheese filling among each strip and smooth evenly.• Roll the first strip, cream cheese filling side in, into a tight roll.  Move the roll over to the start of the next strip and continue rolling, with the end of the first roll touching the beginning of the second.  Keep adding strips to make a big fat spiral of cake!  You may have more cake than you need.  Stop when the spiral is 10… in diameter.  Save the left over cake and carefully scrape off any filling on it.  • Spread a thin layer of buttercream over one of the vanilla cake layers, just enough to cover the top (save the rest of the buttercream to ice the outside of the cake).  Place your giant spiral cake on top of the buttercream.  Smear a thin layer of buttercream over the top of the spiral and top with the remaining layer of vanilla cake.  If you have a 10" cake ring, secure it around the cake to protect while it sets.  Otherwise, wrap it in plastic wrap.  Place the cake in the freezer to set for 1 hour.• While the cake sets, preheat the oven to 200ºF.  Tear up the extra pumpkin cake with the filling taken off and place on a sheet pan.  Bake for 5 - 10 minutes in the 200º oven in order for it to dry out but don't let it brown.  Allow the cake pieces to cool and then place in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until the cake turns into a powder.  Set aside.• Remove the cake ring or plastic wrap and cover the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream.  Place in the fridge for 20 minutes to set.  Smooth the remaining butter cream over the cake in an even layer.  Cut leaf patterns from a piece of parchment to create a stencil, about 6-10.  Smooth the leaves over the surface of the cake.  Gently press the cake "powder" over the cake.  Once the cake is coated, gently remove the parchment to reveal the leaves.

The Talk! Pumpkin "Because You're Mine" Cake!

Enjoyed visiting with the beautiful women of The Talk again.  We made a pumpkin version of the "Because You're Mine" cake.  The link to the video is here.  I'll be posting recipes from the segment in the next few days as well.

Happy Fall!

FREEGRACE FRIDAYS! Harvest is Near

I haven't posted in far too long.  I have a bevy of excuses:  I was in Paris, with my wonderful neighbors, who invited me to be their zany companion for a week.  They housed me, fed me and proved to be the very best travel companions (and neighbors for that matter).  When I returned, I jumped into a Better Homes and Gardens photo shoot at Freegrace.   Nancy Hopkins, senior food editor, and her amazing team camped out for a little less than a week, creating a holiday atmosphere while I baked winter inspired treats.

In the meantime, the gardens won't wait on me and Ray captured the hops harvest (Mama supervised).  The sugar pumpkins are threatening to ripen and I've got a sneaking suspicion that a homebrew Pumpkin ale isn't far behind.  The zucchini is taking over, the tomatoes are bumper, the potatoes need digging up.  After the dirty work, we'll get a visit from The Chew to capture some Freegrace baking after Labor Day and then off to LA to visit with my baking friends on The Talk on the 23rd and then to San Francisco to judge cakes and candies for Living Well t.v.  All the while, I'm writing and recipe testing away on the new book. 
I hope your summer was as magical as mine. 
 Instead of giving you an even wordier recap, I'm going to post a ton of pictures.  Starting with the hops harvest...




One of our first Paris pitstop:  Pierre Hermé macaron!

Gardens in Versaille
The Paris Catacombes.  An adventure under the city.
The first and still the best superstar.
Colorova.  Wonderful pastries and amazing brunch.  




The kitchen inside the Musée Nissim de Camondo
The best bread...in the world.




Had to capture the Versailles gardeners sculpting the hedges.  They have templates!  Of course they do!
The china cabinet in Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon.  I want.
The country village Marie Antoinette created so that she could play at being a "peasant" with her pals.  It was magical.

The potager gardens in M.A.'s village.  
Had to visit with the resident rooster and shy bunnies.
And of course I paid my respects to the ducks and geese.  Check out that billy goat on the wall.

E. Dehillerin is the holy ground of pastry and restaurant supply in Paris.  But take the time to walk around the Les Halles area to take in an endless supply of more modern restaurant supply shops.  I did some damage.

Back home to take some holiday pictures.  

NPR's All Things Considered: Found Recipes. The episode now available for a listen.

My NPR interview is now available online, click HERE to listen.

Zwetschgendatschi, A Mouthful That Captures The Perfect Plumby NPR STAFFAugust 01, 2013 4:03 PM



If it's early August, it must be time for Damson plums. Gersine Bullock-Prado — a Vermont-based pastry chef and author of Bake It Like You Mean It — has a special place in her heart for them."They're not like your normal plum. They're not round. They're oval and very dark purple, almost black."When barely ripe, the plums are firm, tart and olive green, Bullock-Prado says. "[They're] just these lovely little orbs of joy."The fruit is the key ingredient in one of her favorite desserts: Zwetschgendatschi (pronounced ts-vetch-kin-dah-chee), which is the Bavarian word for plum cake. She shared the recipe forAll Things Considered's Found Recipes series.In additional to being delicious, it's also beautiful. Bullock-Prado says it "looks like a flower in full bloom." The cake is traditionally made on a sheet pan and as it bakes, the plum skins start to run red and dye the dough underneath a ruby red color.She says the dessert takes her back to her childhood."I grew up half German and half, I call it, 'Alabamonian' — my father's from Birmingham, Ala.," she says. "My mother [Helga] was an opera singer and met my father in Germany while he was stationed there."More From Bullock-PradoWalnut Meringue Cookies Sealed With A 'Kiss' June 14, 2012A Baker's Escape From Hollywood Jan. 3, 2010She says they always had Zwetschgendatschi in the summer no matter where they were — Germany or Arlington, Va. Every time they had the cake, it felt like a special occasion."These plums were so in the season for only about a week or two," she says. "And when we could find them in the States at the time, it was just a joy and a rarity."Bullock-Prado ended up opening a pastry shop years later. One day, a man came in and requested a cake he'd had in Germany around World War II. After a few questions, she discovered he was talking about the Zwetschgendatschi. He asked if she could bake him one. Although she said yes, she knew it wasn't going to be easy."It wasn't tough because it's a tough thing to make — the tough part was that I hadn't made it since my mom died," she says. "So I was sitting there thinking, 'I don't want to do this because it'll bring back so many memories and I'm going to break down in the kitchen and I'll just look silly to my employees.' "But Bullock-Prado steeled herself, and when the plums were in season, she set to work. Pressing out the dough and putting it the oven proceeded without incident. But when she opened oven door 40 minutes later, she lost it."That smell came to me — and it was my mother, my mother was in the room, and I started to weep. I mean that smell that comes from that cake, it's different from any plum cake or apricot cake; it is so specific," she says. "And since it was my mother's joy to make in the summertime, it was Helga coming from the oven."When her employees came into the kitchen to see what was going on, they assumed something must have exploded in the oven, "that'd I'd done something horribly wrong," she says."But ... I'd done something incredibly right," she says. "It was just sad and fantastic all at the same time."Recipe: ZwetschgendatschiBullock-Prado used traditional plums in the version pictured here because the Damson variety weren't quite in season.Enlarge imageCourtesy of Gesine Bullock-PradoMakes one 8-inch tartCrust1 cup all purpose flour1/2 cup cornstarch1/4 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon salt3/4 cup unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small pieces1 egg yolk1 1/2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk1 teaspoon vanilla extractFilling3 pounds Damson/Italian prune plumsTo Finish:1 tablespoon raw sugar (or 1 packet you've pilfered from Starbucks)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the crust, using the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Slowly add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mixture while pulsing; continue until the dough just begins to come together.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead it until the dry ingredients are fully integrated and the dough holds together, being careful not to overwork it. Press the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.Spray an 8-inch fluted tart pan with nonstick cooking spray. Crumble the majority of the dough into the tart pan and gently press onto the bottom and up the sides so that you have at least 1/8 inch of crust all around. If you have extra dough left over once you've completely covered the tart pan, set it aside.For the filling, split each plum along the natural seam and remove the stone, leaving the plum still hinged on the backside like a little book. Cut a 1/4-inch notch at the top of the plum, where the stem once was. Why? Because that's how my mother and Omi did it.Arrange the plums upright on the uncooked dough, flesh side facing in. If you have any leftover tart dough, crumble it evenly on top of the plums. Sprinkle the raw sugar over the plums as well.Bake the tart until the sides of the dough are golden brown and the plums are tender, about 45 minutes. If the plums begin to brown before they are tender, carefully cover them with aluminum foil and continue baking until the juices of the plums start running.

Freegrace Friday! On a Thursday! The Welsh Harlequin Ducks...all grown up

I am suffering the grave misfortune of traveling to Paris today.  Poor me.

From left to right, Dame Shirley,  Hester, Lady Tom (she's stretching) and Marjorie.
I'll take pictures of all the wonderful things I eat and share them when I return home in a week.  In the meantime, things are growing beautifully at Freegrace.  The Welsh Harlequin Ducks especially.  Dame Shirley, Lady Tom, Hester and Marjorie are some of the prettiest lady birds I've ever raised. And boy oh boy, are they mellow.  They have turned out to be wonderful companions for my sweet swan goose and best bird pal, Mama.

Egg comparison:  Mama the goose's egg on the left.  Dame Shirley's duck egg in the middle and Lacy the hen's egg on the right.
The ladies have barely begun to lay.  Often, there are a few test runs before the girls start laying in earnest (Welsh Harlequins lay more eggs per year than the best laying hen).  Mama has decided to get in on the action and started laying again herself.  Geese don't lay year round.  Most often, they pick a time in the early spring and then in the late summer.  There's really no set schedule.  Especially with swan geese like Mama.  I suspect, sensitive beauty that she is, she's started to sympathy lay;  to show the young lasses how it's done.  Am I anthropomorphizing my birds yet again?  Yes.  But in the case of Mama, I think I'm spot on.

I leave you with a video of what my early mornings look like walking out with the birds.  You can bet that I'm going to miss doing this despite all the treats in store for me in Paris!

Happy August!

Listen to NPR's "All Things Considered" Tomorrow for the Story of a Tart (a pastry, not me)

Some of you know of my family connection to the beloved Bavarian Italian plum tart, Zwetschgendatschi.  Well, I'll be telling the story of this delectable summer treat tomorrow on NPR's All Things Considered:  Recipes Found.  Tune in.  You won't be sorry and you will go out hunting for plums to start baking beautiful summertime memories.

Mile High Meyer Lemon Pie

Piled High
If you have the opportunity to pluck Meyer lemons the size of a chihuahua's head from a tree bowing to breaking from the weight of so much juicy fruit, may I suggest you stuff at least ten of those babies in any available satchel or pocket?

I did just that and ran back home to make a pie.

In its first incarnation, it's a Tarte au Citron.  A simple sweet tart shell filled with a smooth lake of deep yellow, sweet and tart bliss.

Tarte au Citron, Meyer Lemon Addition
If you want to gild the lily, as my father would describe it, why not pile it high with meringue?  I did.

MILE HIGH MEYER LEMON PIE

INGREDIENTS

For the crust

1/4 pound / 1 stick unsalted butter.  Slightly cooler than room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
zest of half a Meyer lemon
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

For the filling

10 Meyer lemons, juiced to make 1 1/4 cups
1 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter
8 eggs
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (optional)
pinch salt


For the meringue topping

10 egg whites
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
generous pinch salt

OPTION

•Graham cracker or Nilla wafer crumbs, a few tablespoons.

PROCEDURE

For the crust

•Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Cream until light and fluffy.

•Add the egg and mix until well combined.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.  Add the vanilla and zest.  Mix again to combine.

•Add the flour and salt.  Mix until the dough starts to come together in small chunks.

•Transfer the dough to a large piece of plastic wrap.  Knead it gently to incorporate any errant flour blobs.  Refrigerate at least 20 minutes.

•Spray a 9" tart pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Crumble half the dough onto the bottom of the pan and pat down.  Take small pieces of the remaining dough to press against the sides of the tart pan.  Tightly wrap any remaining dough for later!  This stuff makes the best cookies as well.

•Dock the dough with a fork and freeze the dough lined tart pan and freeze for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350º.

•Bake the crust for 20 minutes or until completely baked through.  Allow to cool completely.

For the filling

•Melt the butter in a very large saucepan.  Add the sugar, juice, zest and salt, and stir until the sugar is completely melted.

•In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and yolks.  Continue whisking and add a cupful of the warm butter/juice mixture to temper.  Add the tempered mixture to the saucepan, whisking all the while.  Continue whisking the mixture over medium/low heat until the filling thickens to the consistency of ketchup.  This can take a very long time.  I'm not going to lie.  Give yourself a nice half hour to slave away whisking.  It's worth it.

•Take the filling from the stove and sprinkle the gelatin over the top of the hot filling (if using, it really helps set the mixture).  Allow to sit for a minute and then whisk the gelatin into the filling until completely melted.

•Pour the filling into the cooled tart crust.  Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.  At this point, you already have a beautiful Tarte au Citron.  Serve it just like this and you'll be a star.  If you want to make this completely off the chain, keep going...

For the meringue

•Once the filling is cool and set, combine all the meringue ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

•Place the bowl over a large saucepan of simmering water and whisk until the sugar is completely melted and a candy thermometer reads 160º.

•Transfer the bowl to the stand mix and whisk on high until stiff peaks form and the bowl is cool to the touch.

Piled mile high.
To finish

•NOTE!!!  Remember the Option ingredient up there of cookie crumbs?  This is a little trick for meringue pies.  If you've ever experienced a meringue topping that slippery slides off the filling, which happens most often with a filling like this, or if it weeps on you (another reason I "Swiss" the meringue over the simmering water, to take out extra moisture and set the meringue), this little trick will help.  Before piling on the meringue, sprinkle the top of the filling with a light layer of cookie crumbs, ground as finely as you can manage.  This will create a moisture barrier for the meringue.

•Preheat the oven to the BROIL setting.

•Plop the meringue on top of the filling carefully and using the back of a large spoon, swirl the meringue on top of the filling, anchoring the meringue on to the edge of the crust along the way.

•Brown the meringue for 10 to 20 seconds under the broiler but BE JOHNNY ON THE SPOT AND WATCH THE ENTIRE TIME, until the meringue is just browned.  One extra second and you can char the top.  So just a few seconds.

Double Sunshine Pyramid Cake

Double Sunshine Pyramid Cake!
Since Bake It Like You Mean It has been out, I've had the best time traveling around the country teaching and demoing cakes from the book.  My favorite has become a variation on the Lovers, Dreamers and You Cake.  As I make it traditionally, it's a vertically layered, rectangular cake.


In one of my King Arthur Flour Classes, I decided that I'd love to add yet another twist to the already zany confection by carving it into a pyramid.

Images from a colorful class.
I was scheduled to demo and talk for a lovely crowd in S. Hero, Vermont yesterday and I fell back on my go-to demo.  But the heatwave we've been drowning in inspired a variation on my rainbow.  I opted for an ombre cake, one where a single color in many graduating shades is the basis of inspiration.

It was hot as Hades in that gym but a little flop sweat isn't going to stop me from enjoying the best job EVER!
I chose sunshine yellow as my inspiration color and reduced or increased the hues for the layers.



I'm sending you to this link HERE for the basic cake recipes and initial building instructions.  What follows is the pyramid technique:

(1)  I decided on 6 layers and colored them as follows:  the first layer I left plain.  The second layer I added 2 healthy drops of yellow gel food coloring (AmeriColor brand), the 3rd layer I added 4 drops.  The 4th layer got 4 drops and 2 drops of orange.  The 5th layer got 4 drops of both orange and yellow.  The 6th layer got 4 drops orange, 4 drops yellow and one drop of red.  You should play with the colors until you get them just as you like them.

(2)  Assemble the cake as directed in the link up to the point were you turn the cake to see the vertical layers.  Make sure that the cake is VERY COLD and the filling is set, otherwise the slicing and dicing that follows will be a bit messy.

(3)  You'll then cut the cake in half lengthwise.  Something you DON'T do in the original incarnation.
(4)  Cut each half diagonally in half so that you end up with 4 triangles of cake.  The reason you cut the cake in HALF and then cut each piece diagonally is that if you cut the entire cake diagonally, when you arrange the pieces to form a pyramid, the colors of the layers won't match up.

Add captionI have to thank Michele Gregoire Joyce, one of my students and a fabulous baker with her own baking business, for puzzling out how to match the layers together for the pyramid.  I hadn't thought to cut the cake in half to make the layers match.  She looked at her assembled cake in class and bullied through the geometry.  Thank you Michele!

(5)  Once both halves are sliced diagonally, match up the corresponding halves.  One triangle from the first half will match up perfectly with one triangle from the second half.   It's likely that on your first go around you'll be flipping pieces around quite a bit but you'll find each piece's soulmate.
One half slice diagonally.  Now to slice the second half so that I can match this one triangle with it's perfect mate.

(6)  Once you've found the right pairings, spread a small amount of filling in between the matching pieces to seal them together.
(7)  Cover the outside of the cakes (you'll either have two separate cakes or you can stick them together into one long pyramid) with icing.  You can follow the muppet dust instructions from the original link 
OR
You can do as I did and arrange candy coated SUNflower seeds in a lovely sunburst pattern.  Might as well play up the sunshine because it sure is beating down on us.