From the Vaults: Cake and Bake

I've managed to create a few homemade desserts in the past several months, even with a rug rat taking up much of the time I'm used to spending in the kitchen.



Here's a slice I remember fondly.  It's from a Tres (actually Cuatro!) Leches Cake.  This cake was amazing.  I doubled the recipe and made two -- one for a friend's birthday and one for myself.  Thanks go to Zach for the recipe.


Cake:
6 eggs, separated
2 cups sugar
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping (leches):
1 can coconut milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream

OVEN @ 350

Use a mixer: Beat egg whites till soft peak, slowly and sugar to stiff peaks, add yolk one at a time making sure to incorporate each one. Alternate dry and wet ingredients. Make sure to do this part quickly (to not lose volume). Put in a greased rectangular cake pan and bake until golden- maybe 25 mins.

To make the milky topping: in blender/processor- combine all ingredients.

Remove cake from oven, while still warm, poke holes all over the top. Use all the liquid.

You can make this double layered by using two round or square cake pans.

Once you poke holes in the cakes and pour all the liquid in, it works well to wrap the pan up really well with saran wrap an put in the fridge to cool. To get the cakes out of the pans once they have chilled, set the pan directly on your stove burner on low for a bit to warm up the bottom. Then when you flip it over it will pop right out! I just left it in the pan, though, and ate it that way.

Frosting: Top with whip cream blended with sugar and vanilla. In the middle of the two cakes (if stacking), spread whipped cream and some sprinkles of cinnamon.

 



Oh, and I managed to turn out a pretty tasty Plum Cake -- honestly, I'd forgotten where I got the recipe, but I think I used this one. Yum.




And we had a plateful of Apple Fritters -- These came from a kids' cookbook I have.  They were only really right when freshly made (and then quickly got soggy), but were quite good at that point.

Just looking at these photos makes me want to get back to my mixer.  Got any recipes for me to try?

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No Line? So Fine.

The problem with the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park is that the lines are almost always ridiculously long.  When it opened in 2004, I was working nearby and managed to get in on the ground floor of the phenomenon.  The frozen custard "concretes," which are like Blizzards, and cheese fries were my special loves.  But as the lines grew longer, I stopped going.  I wasn't going to give up most of an hour-long lunch break waiting to place my order.  The food is good, but not good enough to justify the wait. 



Now, Shake Shack is expanding across this city and into others.  Until today, I had yet to try any of the new locations.  I guess I assumed the long line in Madison Square would be replicated at each.  But, happily, I see that I was wrong.  After an early afternoon at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (closed to the public on Mondays, but I have a hook-up!) seeing, among other things, the Alexander McQueen retrospective, we walked over to the Shake Shack on 86th Street.  It was about 4pm, so perhaps the time was a factor, but there was no line at all!



Dan's burger was good, he reported. My fried mushroom burger, filled with gooey melted cheese and topped with crisp onion and tomato and lettuce and pickles, was excellent.  The cheese fries were fresh, warm, and swell.  Dan's root beer didn't disappoint.  My lemonade was perfect. Our Coffee Bean Brownie (coffee-caramel-brownie-vanilla) concrete was sweet and smooth.  And, to make things even better, there was outdoor seating in a public plaza adjacent to the restaurant.  And the bathroom had a changing station.  Golly! What an afternoon of happy flavors and thoughts!



So maybe I won't wait in line for it, but I will take the train.

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Optimize Your Fries

Forced by circumstance to purchase sub-par take-away lunch counter French fries?  Here's how to cut back on the sogginess factor:

Upon receiving your to-go bag, immediately reach in and pop the top of the fry container open (or, if it's aluminum foil, rip a sizable chunk away).  By creating a vent, you keep your fresh, hot French fries from steaming, and therefore sogging, further.  Also, two different coworkers tell me, if you know that your local diner tends to shy away from "crispy" to an unfortunate degree, ask for the fries to be "well-done," or even slightly burnt.

Sadly, my favorite neighborhood joint for fries closed to become a healthy, "organic" foods diner.  Boo.

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I am the United Nations of Snacking.

 We watched the World Cup quarter-final match between Brazil and The Netherlands at Piper's Pub, a British Isles-themed sports bar and restaurant in Pittsburgh, PA.  While there, naturally, I had to try my first Scotch Egg.



A Scotch Egg is a hard-boiled egg that is somehow encased in a sort of bread-and-sausage batter and then fried.  Yow!  I was not expecting my eggs (which were cut in half and served to me with hot sauce) to  be so thick and large.  But, however overwhelming, they were quite good -- especially dipped in the hot sauce.  It took four of us to eat my serving, though.  This is a snack to share.  And eat it hot!

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Right Where We Belong

Here we are, at the ferry terminal on our way to Governors Island last weekend.

Here we are, on the tree-lined sidewalks of this former military base.

Here we are, one of us participating in and one of us spectating at a big ol' badminton tournament.

Here we are, spotting a nearby purveyor of food, Le Gamin.




Here we are, standing in a long, slooooow line [shoes by Manimal].




Here we are, edging closer to our snack...(eventually, this truck would completely sell out of food, so we were lucky).




Here we are, finally, on what might be the cleanest grass in NYC, about to enjoy a Nutella crepe and (as it turns out, slightly oversalted) fries with mayo and ketchup.

"Here we go! Let's start the show!"

Poetry Tuesday: A villanelle for Hero

A Missive from the Miami Metro Zoo

Are you sure that babies don't eat curly fries?
We're small and cute and teething is a pain;
Ah, ah. I must swallow these, my sighs.

And yet I tried a clementine - that flies?
I'm telling you that french fries rarely stain.
Are you sure that babies don't eat curly fries?

A baby, such as I, a baby tries
To be the cutest yet - with little gain.
Ah, ah. I must swallow these, my sighs.

A frozen carrot answers not the whys -
The whys, I mean, like why must I refrain;
Are you sure that babies don't eat curly fries?

I know there's milk, but have you seen my size;
Must I not grow? Eating is not in vain!
Ah, ah. I must swallow these, my sighs.

And you, my father, hear you not my cries?
If I may not eat that, shouldn't you explain?
Are you sure that babies don't eat curly fries?
Ah, ah. I must swallow these, my sighs.

(What's a villanelle?)

No ham or turkey for us!

(phone photo by Dan)

For this pastor's (and pastors') kid, Christmas was never really about the food. Or, rather, part of our Advent and Christmas celebration each year was certainly about cookies, bread, sparkling non-alcoholic beverages, and cinnamon rolls, but we don't really do a big Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner along the lines of the Thanksgiving-style feasts in which many other families indulge.

This year, with two services to go to and just 30 minutes or so in between, Christmas Eve Dinner was a hastily grabbed and eaten assortment of pizza, cheesesteak, and french fries from Palermo's (4 locations in the Philadelphia suburbs). I didn't try the cheesesteak, but the fries were fresh, crispy, hot, and great. I'm told they're the best. The pizza was also excellent - thin, hot and not at all greasy. The owner was at the Pottstown location when we picked it all up, and he's a friendly, decent guy. I wish it were my local pizza joint.

Col-Pops with Paul: A Photo Essay

The BBQ in "BBQ Chicken" does not stand for barbecue. This Korean chain found in 37 countries serves "Best of the Best Quality chicken."



Paul sent me a link to this article on BBQ's most inventive invention (and, to me, the only real reason to go there): the Col-Pop. Our trip there today was like attending a mildly exhilarating, mostly fascinating, slightly tamer-than-expected luncheon in an unknown land.



Col-Pops begin as medium or large cups of soda/pop/soft drink (though just one can of the beverage is used to fill your cup, regardless of whether you're getting a medium or large Col-Pop) and ice. Choose your flavor from the fridge and hand it to the employee behind the counter as you order.

Next, fried food is prepared in medium or large quantity, according to your order, and placed in a plastic receptacle on top of the cup (covering the soda). The straw sticks up through a special conduit so that you can eat the fried items (shrimp, chicken or "pepper munchers" at this location) while a)having full access to your straw and the soda beneath, and b)carrying everything in one container - and therefore one hand.



All the employees disappeared while our food was being made, so the process of filling the Col-Pop cups remains mysterious.

The flavor of the chicken nuggets was good (a little sweet, chewy, not "fake-tasting") but this was Paul's second trip to BBQ Chicken and he felt that the novelty of his first taste had worn off quite a bit. Plus, we sat down to eat our food while it was hot. Removing the excitement of the food's portability (i.e. not carrying it around and eating on the go) may have made us less thrilled.



I tried the "Pepper Munchers," which were cheesy and slightly spicy but neither particularly peppery (only the slightest specks of green were evident in the chopped filling of the Muncher) nor as good as the chicken.

Needed: dipping sauce. But how would that be integrated into the cup design?



p.s. One of the flags on the "Refreshing Fresh Nap Moist Towelettes" packaging pictured above is an American flag. Anyone recognize the other one?

Crazy Good

Favorite appetizer at Panna II Indian Restaurant, "Where Chili Papper [sic] Lights Meets [sic] Christmas-tree Lights:"

Banana Pakora (banana fritter), freshly made and piping hot.

Panna II (NYC)
93 First Avenue
Between 5th and 6th streets
212-598-4610

What I Ate at the Giglio Festival: Vol. 3

The best snack I ate at the festival was actually scouted by Dan and Matt.



These are fresh plantain chips served with salsa (medium cup only $2). The chips were made on the spot, shaved into a giant vat of oil. They came out wafer thin, crispy, not at all greasy and still warm. The salsa was mild but a good accompaniment. The festival lasts another week or so. If I go back it won't be for the dancing of the structure. It will be for more of these.



It figures that the booth with the least flash and signage would be the one with the best treat.

What I Ate at the Giglio Festival: Vol. 2

I think this was my first time trying the deep-fried Oreos. But I can see where I might have had one and forgotten. They actually aren't all that memorable.

Matt like these, and more power to him. At least he tried one (Dan ate half of one, but no one else would bite). But he only ate one. I ate two and a half. That makes me an expert, right? I really think these fried too slowly or at too low a temperature. I might have enjoyed them if the cookie inside had still been a little crunchy. Instead, I found it melted into a sort of sogginess - and the whole thing was just lukewarm and sweet. I like soggy Oreos, but I assumed the point of frying them would be to play textures of dough and cookie and cream against each other.



We've now visited 2 of the 3 snacks I had at the Giglio Feast last night in Brooklyn. Stay tuned for the third -- also fried, but not so sweet!

What I Ate at the Giglio Festival: Vol. 1

One is a zeppola.

Two or more are zeppole.



I've never bought less than 6, but I share them with my friends.



The best ones aren't too oily from their bath in the fry-vat. These were pretty good. The girl serving them up (they are shaken in a bag with powdered sugar before you get them) had interesting eye makeup. That's how I chose the booth I bought from over the 3 or 4 others I saw advertising zeppole. I was encouraged by friends to do a taste test from multiple booths and determine which was the best, but that seemed like a lot of fried dough to ingest. Maybe next time.

One last thing: powered sugar is dangerous. Don't inhale when you take a bite. Be prepared to get some extra sugar on your fingers, mouth, clothes, and feet.

Questions and clues:

Where did we go tonight?









What did we eat there?









And did powdered sugar get everywhere?





(to be continued...)