Cake #47 - Pear, Almond, and Tahini Cake

This is the first recipe I've made from this cookbook.  I really enjoyed it as a read - it's written by a British novelist, Marian Keyes, who found herself in a deep depression and feeling suicidal.  She used baking as therapy - a productive task made up of small, manageable steps that kept her in the real world and outside of her head.  Although I have never been depressed or suicidal, I identified with the idea of baking as therapeutic.  The biggest lesson of this year's worth of baking is that having a hobby, something other than the work I love, to distract me and give my down time some direction and sense of productivity, creates more balance than anything else I've experienced.  Baking cakes, with the structure of this year-long project and blog, has had an amazingly positive effect on my life. 

Unfortunately, I struggled with this recipe.  I was eager to try it because it was one of a few vegan recipes I've found in conventional cookbooks.  The combination of pears, almonds and tahini seemed intriguing.  Somewhere along the way, though, I think I made a mistake.

As the cake came out of the oven it smelled wonderful - like the cake version of baklava.  Very promising.  The cake itself, however, was too moist.  It was heavy and sticky - maybe even bordering on gummy.  One of my steadfast cake tasters equated it to having a mouth full of peanut butter. 

I'm struggling with whether or not to try it again.  It was a good flavor - I ate several small pieces, despite the unappealing texture, before I threw the remainder away.  I used a bit more pear than the recipe called for, which may have caused it to be too wet.  I was also confused about the tahini - was 8 ounces a liquid measure or a weight?  I assumed liquid, and measured out a cup of tahini, but perhaps it was supposed to be 8 ounces in weight?  I also wondered (having picked up this tip from the America's Test Kitchen Gluten Free cookbook) if it would be better in a bundt pan, so that it got cooked more completely.  It also could be that it's not an accurate recipe, since this is the first from the cookbook I've tried. 

If you try it, would you let me know it comes out?

 

 

Pear, Almond and Tahini Cake

8 ounces tahini

9 ounces maple syrup (or date syrup)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup almonds, chopped roughly

5 ounces pears, peeled and diced into ½-inch cubes (or you can use canned pears)

1 cup apple juice (or pear juice, if using canned pears, with added apple juice to bring to 1 cup)

 

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper.

2.       Give the tahini a quick stir while it’s still in its jar, because the oil usually separates into a layer on the top.  Then pour into a mixing bowl and beat with the maple (or date) syrup.  Add the baking soda and mix again.

3.       In a separate bowl, combine the sifted flour, cinnamon, almonds, and diced pears.  Add a third of the flour/nut mixture to the tahini and mix.  Add half the apple juice, then mix.

4.       Add another third of the flour, then the other half of the juice.  Finish with the remaining flour and mix until combined.

5.       Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes.  After 30 minutes drop the oven temperature to 325 degrees and cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan.

 From Saved By Cake by Marian Keyes

Cake #46 - Kentucky Bourbon Cake

This cake is pictured on the spine of one of my favorite cookbooks, Vintage Cakes, by Julie Richardson.  I find that pictures of cakes on covers of cookbooks are very suggestive.  Those are the cakes to make.  This is also the cake that caused me to buy the swirly bundt pan, which never ceases to elicit big compliments.

 

This is a wonderful cake - simple and rich.  Richardson suggests replacing shortcake with this, and eating it with berries and whipped cream.  It's pretty good by itself, and truthfully, reminded me of a delicious cake doughnut, because of the crusty, sticky glaze.  In that way, I can imagine it being just perfect by itself with a cup of coffee.  I did also have it with raspberries and blueberries and canned whipped cream from the store, and it was a lovely, colorful and wholesome dessert.

It's a large cake and easy to make.  Obviously it requires a separate glaze, so in that way is not as simple as a single layer cake, and it does require creaming butter, so not as simple as a cake that is just stirred together with melted butter or oil.  However, as "creamed" cakes go, this is a straight forward one, and quick to come together.

 

 

 

Kentucky Bourbon Cake

Cake

3 cups (12 ounces) sifted cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter

1½ cups (10½ ounces) sugar

½ cup (3¾ ounces) firmly packed brown sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

¼ cup bourbon

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

 

Glaze

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter

¾ cup (5¼ ounces) sugar

¼ cup bourbon

 

1.       Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and dust with flour 10-inch bundt pan.

2.       To make the cake, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then whisk the mixture by hand to ensure that the ingredients are well mixed.

3.       In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  As you make the batter, stop the mixer frequently and scrape the paddle and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter.  Combine the bourbon and buttermilk in a small bowl.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk-bourbon mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour.  After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl.  Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula.

4.       Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly.  Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake until the cake is golden and springs back when lightly touched, 40 to 45 minutes. 

5.       Make the glaze by combining the butter, sugar, and bourbon in a small saucepan over low heat just until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, whisking to combine. 

6.       Remove the cake from the oven but leave it in the pan.  Poke holes all over the top of the cake with a wooden skewer.  Pour three-quarters of the glaze slowly over the cake, saving the remaining glaze.  Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes, then flip it out onto a serving plate so the glazed part is on the bottom.  Brush the top with the remaining glaze.  If the glaze has thickened, rewarm it over low heat. 

From Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson