Sunday, December 26, 2010

All I Want for Christmas

It is hard to remember how to cook in a three-dimensional kitchen! I was so busy there was just no time to take pictures either.  I had to do most of the preparations myself since it was a workday for Andy.  I started  at eleven for 6:30 sit-down dinner but we didn't eat until 7:45 that evening. It's a sure sign I'm slowing down!

I'm usually rather strict about adhering to Mom's turkey dinner as I remembered it from my childhood. However, this year I broke a tradition and added a new one.  For the first time I did not stuff the bird and instead, made the stuffing into a casserole. Not only did the bird roast quicker but I thought the stuffing tasted fine baked as a casserole. But Andy, ever the purist, says that next year I must stuff the bird because the stuffing tastes better when it's infused with turkey juices.

We decided to have our dinner on Christmas Eve instead, so we ordered a 7 kg turkey and a 6 kg. Virginia ham from Foodland.  There were 13 of us, an unlucky number, but to my mind, when it's Christmas you just make room at the table for one more. It was just the family plus our friends, Robert and Anne, Chart, Margie and their son Kris.  Mimi brought her young friend from Japan.

 We had the usual accompaniments: potstickers, giblet gravy, bread-potato stuffing casserole, jellied cranberry sauce, potato salad, and pan roasted asparagus with bacon, tomatoes, and black olives. In addition, I made a no-alcohol sangria, and for dessert, a haupia cake, both of which went down quite well. Mimi brought a chocolate cake and an orange cake both from Baby's new bakery. Lek brought  fried cashew nuts with fresh chilies and scallions. I asked Boong to help set up the tables and wash dishes, pots and pans. Without her we'd have been cleaning up until 2 a.m. Christmas day.

On Christmas day we went to Lek's house for paw pia which is a Chinese taco, a rice pancake filled with slivers of meat and vegetables. When my mother-in-law was well, it was her New Year's Eve signature dish to ensure that we all would never go hungry in the new year! This is AJ's masterpiece:


For dessert, I tried a new ginger cookie recipe from the Food Network. They were a huge success! That makes the ginger cookie a new Christmas tradition.


Mimi bought a coconut cake from T-Det, the Thai restaurant at Paradise Park. This is what a whole cake looks like!


And here is a delicious slice of sponge cake layered with whipped cream and fresh young coconut. Aroy maak-maak!

On Sunday, the RIS alumni had their annual Christmas get-together, which was pot-luck. So, with Andy's help with the mincing, dicing, and grating,  I made a diced turkey and leek shepherd's pie (and threw in a cupful of chopped ham that wasn't in the recipe) and, I made a second batch of ginger cookies, for which I used brown sugar instead of white to make a darker cookie. I made a third batch for Nan, Andy's secretary, who gave me a box of my favorite mochi. This is a Thai version of the Japanese rice cake. The pink ones are filled with red bean paste (tastes like chocolate) and the green ones have mung bean paste.


So that took care of a weekend of eating. There's more to come before we head off to Vietnam on Thursday for the New Year! It's time to make some New Year's resolutions or buy an entirely new wardrobe...

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Baking is always a challenge, especially in Bangkok. Finding the ingredients here is like embarking on a treasure hunt! A simple Christmas staple like Ginger Cookies takes some ingenuity and resourcefulness. I like to try out a new recipe as it is written, but I was forced to make two substitutions at the outset. Molasses, for one,  is difficult to find and it's expensive. Preserved ginger, for another, should have been available since it is an ingredient in Asian cooking, but as it is with most foods here, it's a mystery. So, instead of molasses I used maple syrup, which I happened to have in my pantry,  and I used fresh grated ginger instead of ginger preserves. And once in a while, an ingredient will have a different name. I recognized demerara sugar in the packet though it goes by the name namtaan thammachart or natural sugar here.  I made these cookies in the afternoon and brought them over to Lek's house, where we ate them for dessert. We all agreed: this recipe from foodnetwork.com is a keeper!

Clockwise from left: ginger root, vanilla, maple syrup, and a Japanese ginger grater
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
5 cracks black pepper (I took this to mean 5 twists of the pepper grinder)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar (use brown sugar if you are not using molasses)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses or maple syrup or honey
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar (original recipe: 2 tablespoons ginger preserves, minced)
1/2 cup namtaan thammachart or demerara sugar for rolling

Namtaan Thammachart (Natural or Demerara Sugar)
Grate the ginger. I discovered this unassuming little tool, the ginger grater, in a Japanese section of a department store. I saw from the picture on the package what it was for so I bought it. It was definitely cheaper than a microplane grater but not as easy to use. I had to press hard. I grated two tablespoons of ginger, put it in a small bowl, and added two tablespoons of sugar.

Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, mustard, salt, and black pepper.

Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, beating until just combined. Add the molasses or maple syrup or honey and the ginger-sugar mixture. Beat until the batter turns a light brown color all over.

Add the dry ingredients. All at once, add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape and turn with a rubber spatula to make sure all ingredients are moistened. Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate for 25 minutes.

Cookie Balls Rolled in Demerara Sugar
Scoop and roll. Spray two baking sheets with cooking oil or cover with silicone baking mats.  Pour a 1/2 cup demerara sugar into a small bowl.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and scoop out a tablespoon of dough. Roll into a ball in your hands and dip one side in the sugar. Put sugared side up on a baking sheet. Continue scooping and rolling. Refrigerate 25 minutes. Chilling will make the cookies chewy on the inside and crackly and crisp on top. Preheat oven 375˚F.

Lightly Golden Chewy Ginger Cookies
Bake cookies. Pop the trays in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool the cookies in the pan for about two minutes, then remove to wire cooling racks until completely cooled. The cookies came out light brown because I did not use unsulphured molasses. It didn't affect the taste at all! In fact, they were deliciously chewy and moist, spicy, and crunchy on top.

A Plate of Ginger Cookies from My Kitchen

Friday, December 3, 2010

Heavenly Angel Food Cake

The last time I made an angel food cake it was for AJ's first birthday in Lake Zurich, Illinois. I don't remember that recipe but this one is from Betty Crocker. It's lightly sweet and moist and quite spongy in texture. It uses 12 egg whites, which leaves me with the problem of what to do with a dozen egg yolks. I've frozen them--yes, they do freeze well but are the hardest thing to get out of the ice cube tray. Serve this angel food cake plain, without powdered sugar or frosting. It only has 130 calories per slice!


Ingredients
Have at room temperature~
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cake flour
12 large egg whites (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Move the oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven 375˚F. Use a two-piece 10 inch tube cake pan, preferably with "feet" for keeping the cake off the counter as it cools upside-down.

Prepare the flour-sugar mixture. In a large bowl, whisk the powdered sugar and cake flour together. Set aside.

Separate the eggs. Eggs are easier to separate at room temperature. Be careful not to get any yolk in the egg whites or they will not whip. If you aren't going to use the egg yolks immediately, freeze them in an ice cube tray, one egg yolk per cube. [Tip: they'll be easier to remove from the tray if they defrost a few minutes. Store the frozen egg yolks in a zip-lock plastic bag. Defrost in the refrigerator 8-10 hours before using.]

Whip the egg whites. In a large bowl  put the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip on medium speed until foamy. Beat on high speed, adding the granulated sugar 2 tablespoons at a time, until soft peaks form. Slowly raise the beaters. If the peaks fall over, that is soft. Add the vanilla, almond extract, and salt with the last addition of sugar. Continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Slowly raise the beaters. If the peaks stand up tall, that is stiff.

Add the flour-sugar mixture. Dip and sweep a 1/4 cup measure into the mixture and sprinkle it over the whipped egg whites. Gently fold into the meringue.  Scrape into a tube cake pan. Using a thin blade, cut the batter to release air pockets. Here's a video at Allrecipes.com that shows how to fold the flour into the meringue.

Bake. Place the pan in the oven and bake 30-40 minutes or until the cake, when pressed lightly, springs back. Remove from oven and immediately invert over a wine bottle. If you have a pan with feet, let it hang upside down. Cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours. Using a thin blade, loosen the sides and invert onto a cake plate. Then carefully slide the blade between the cake and the pan bottom and  remove it.


Meringue at soft peak stage

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Potstickers

A potsticker is a Chinese dumpling appetizer--or a snack. I only made these because they were an America's Test Kitchen recipe but I wasn't sure if they had an authentic Chinese taste! Having eaten potstickers before, I made some adaptations to the recipe. Diana and AJ both said they were "delicate" in taste,  because I had used the lighter-tasting ground chicken instead of an "earthier" ground pork. This recipe makes more than 24 potstickers--I have leftover filling and dumpling dough.

Three cups napa cabbage

Napa cabbage chopped finely down to two and a half cups

Salted napa cabbage draining in a colander

Ground chicken, ginger, scallion, napa cabbage, egg whites, and seasoning

The filling

Ready to make potstickers
A scant tablespoon of filling

Mound the filling in a slightly oval shape

Wet the edges with a fingertip dipped in water

Fold the dumpling in half, pressing out any air pockets and sealing the edges

Only two potstickers left!

Yum!
For the potsticker filling
3 cups napa cabbage, chopped finely
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound ground pork or ground chicken
4 teaspoons soy sauce (recommend white soy sauce since it won't color the meat)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 large egg white (original recipe: 2 egg whites)
4 medium scallions, chopped finely
1 large clove garlic (about 1 teaspoon), chopped finely

For the potsticker dumplings
1 package round gyoza or dumpling dough (See photo above)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup water

Make the filling. Combine napa cabbage and salt in a colander and set over a large bowl to drain. Salting the vegetable releases excess water. Let stand for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the drained napa cabbage and combine lightly. The original recipe said to refrigerate 30 minutes or more until ready to fill dumplings, but I skipped this step.

Make the dumplings. Assemble dumplings as in the photographs above. Put each dumpling on a parchment lined baking tray. Be careful not to over lap the dumplings. The recipe said to make 24 but cook 12 at a time.  I froze the remaining 12 dumplings and refrigerated the leftover dumpling filling and dumpling dough. I will make more dumplings tomorrow.

Pan-fry the dumplings. Arrange 12 dumplings in a cold 12-inch skillet. Add oil and fry 2 minutes until the dumplings are browned on the bottom. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan by pouring it around the dumplings. It will sizzle, so be careful.  Cook, covered, until the water is absorbed, about 3 minutes. I found the water was not completely absorbed so I removed the cover and let the dumplings cook for another minute or so until the water cooked down to about a tablespoon. Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce (recommend Kikkoman's)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon chili oil, optional
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 scallion, minced

I recommend, for an authentic Chinese taste, or just to spice things up, crumble a dried red chili in your fingers or chop up a fresh chili pepper and add to the dipping sauce. To make the sauce less spicy, remove the seeds and veins from the fresh chili, if preferred.  Put up any leftover sauce in the refrigerator. Caution: if you add dried or fresh chilies to the sauce it will marinate and become hotter!

P.S. I made 17 additional dumplings out of the leftovers!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Curried Cashew Shrimp with Garlic Cilantro Rice

It's a cold evening in New York and it wanted warming up with a dish that's got echoes of the tropics with coconut milk, garlic, cilantro, shrimp, and rice. With a rice cooker to cook the rice, you can whip up this meal in half an hour.

Heat the oil to fry the minced garlic

Brown the rice in garlic and oil

In a bowl, toss shrimp with curry powder, ginger, and salt

Zucchini half-rounds, chunks of red sweet pepper, and shrimp

Brown the cashew nuts whole

Add he shrimp to the cashew nuts

Add the zucchini and peppers

Pour in the coconut milk

Adding the Greek-style yogurt

Some brown sugar and fish sauce

Garlic cilantro rice ready to serve


Curried Cashew Shrimp with Garlic Cilantro Rice
For the rice
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 cups (3 rice cooker cups) uncooked Thai jasmine rice
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using chicken broth)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

For the shrimp
1/4 cup cashews, whole or pieces, roasted or raw
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 pound or 2 cups shrimp, shelled and deveined with tails on
4 teaspoons curry powder, hot or mild
1 tablespoon or more minced ginger
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds and halved
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce

Preparation
For the rice
Brown the rice. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the oil and fry the garlic 30 seconds until golden brown. Add the uncooked rice to the pan and fry until the rice grains are coated with oil.
Cook the rice. Scrape the browned rice grains into the rice cooker. Add the broth or water until it comes up to the first knuckle of your finger dipped into the top of the rice, about 1 1/2 cups liquid. Add salt, if using. Cover the rice cooker and press the button to start. Just before serving, mix in the cilantro leaves.

For the shrimp
Season the shrimp. In a medium bowl, put the shrimp. Add the curry powder, ginger, and salt. Toss to coat thoroughly. Set aside.
Stir-fry. Heat a 12-inch skillet. Add the cashews and brown until lightly golden. Spray cooking spray on the cashews and turn.  Add the oil and heat until shimmering, turning the nuts frequently. Add the shrimp, peppers, and zucchini. Cook on medium high heat until the shrimp turns pink.
Make the sauce. Add the coconut milk to the shrimp mixture in the pan. Turn the heat to low and allow to come to a slow boil, about 5-6 minutes. Add the yogurt and combine. Stir in the sugar. Sprinkle fish sauce on top, or add more to taste. Serve hot with garlic cilantro rice.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Black and {Black-and-White} Cake

Ever had those "senior moments" in the kitchen?  Hmm. Forgetting the sugar in the batter of a butter cake once taught me forcibly that baking is an exact science. Today was another one of those moments when I used soy sauce instead of hoisin sauce because the recipe said "Kikkoman's" and I read no further. Nevertheless I remain optimistic in the kitchen, fool that I am, willing to experiment so long as I have willing souls brave enough to try my cooking; last week's attempts at Haupia Cake, notwithstanding. John was very diplomatic to say he liked my first attempt, which he called a haupia "torte," and Richard said that for my second attempt the haupia was exactly right. Well, some things do work sometimes!
This recipe was originally called a Black and White Cake in Diane Mott Davidson's book Fatally Flaky a detective novel-cum-cookbook. As a genre I'm not sure how it's supposed to work--should I read the book or put it down and cook?  I decided to cook. AJ requested an ice cream cake so I decided to give this one a try. It was originally supposed to be a chocolate layer cake with a vanilla ice cream filling; hence a black and white cake. However, AJ wanted a chocolate vanilla swirl filling instead. And I used a different chocolate cake recipe only because I happened to have all the ingredients for that cake in the Teeny Tiny Kitchen.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake (New York Times Cookbook)
Have at room temperature:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease two 9x1 1/2 inch layer cake pans, bottoms lined with parchment or waxed paper and greased. Flour pans. Set aside.

Mix all ingredients. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, eggs, water, milk, and vanilla. Blend on low speed to moisten all the dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium and blend until just combined. Do not over mix.

Bake the cake. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan 10 minutes on wire racks. Then invert the cakes and remove the pans and the parchment/waxed paper circles. Cool completely.

After this I followed the Davidson recipe for Black and White Cake.

Make the ice cream layer.
1 quart vanilla or vanilla swirl ice cream
1 9x1 1/2 inch layer cake pan, buttered

Soften the ice cream in the refrigerator about half an hour; 15 minutes on the kitchen counter. The consistency should be soft to the touch and spreadable. Spread the softened ice cream in the prepared pan and freeze until it is solid again.

Assemble the cake and ice cream layers
Remove the frozen ice cream layer from the freezer. Use  a thin spatula to separate the ice cream from the sides. An offset spatula will help to remove it from the pan. If it breaks apart, just push it back together. 

Put the bottom layer upside down on a serving plate. Place the ice cream layer on top and smooth it together. Put the second layer on top of the ice cream. Loosely cover with foil and freeze for at least 3 hours.

The next part is the fun part!

Making and pouring the chocolate glaze.
10 oz. (1 1/2 cups) bittersweet chocolate chips (easier than chopping up the chocolate, I find)
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons corn syrup

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in the corn syrup. Let cool to room temperature. I would say when the glaze feels warm when you dip your finger in it.

Set a wire rack over a baking tray. Take the frozen ice cream cake out of the freezer and using a large pancake turner, take it off the plate and put it on top of the wire rack. With a thin blade spatula, smooth the ice cream layer flush with the cake layers. Pour the glaze all over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. The frozen cake will solidify the liquid glaze into a thin coating of chocolate! Is it ever neat!

Refreeze the cake for about an hour to set the ice cream. To cut the cake, heat a serrated knife in hot water--I poured boiling water over the blade--and wipe dry. Slice the cake using a sawing motion--don't press down.

The cake was cold, lightly sweet, and creamy--but the texture was holey like the last two cakes I made. Over mixed. This disappointing result is because my mixing bowl is too small. Time to get a bigger one!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Herbed Pan Fried Pork Chops

With Pan Roasted Asparagus, Tomatoes and Black Olives and Basmati Rice
I always like to try new recipes. This one is from America's Test Kitchen, which seldom disappoints. It had good flavor without being either too salty or too oily. The only question I had was, what do I do with the crisp bacon bits?

Blended spices (or use your own blend)
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon sage
pinch of ground fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour
3 strips of bacon, chopped
4 center cut, bone-in pork chops
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable oil


Make the spice blend. Pour blended spices in a shallow pan or pie plate. You may find you will need to make another batch after two pork chops. I did. Pour flour into another pan or pie plate.

Season the pork chops. Dip each chop in the spice blend, then lightly dredge in the flour. Let the pork chops rest in a plate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fry up the bacon in a large 12 inch skillet. When crisp, remove the bacon to drain but reserve the bacon fat. Start wth 1/4 cup of oil to the fat and heat until just smoking. Add more oil if necessary.

Fry the pork chops. Put each pork chop in the hot oil. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. Mine came out over done so I would reduce that to 2-3 minutes per side instead. Drain on a greased wire rack set over a baking tray in a warm oven. Don't discard the pan drippings.

Still no idea what to do with the bacon bits but since I was making pan fried asparagus with tomatoes and black olives, I decided to dress that up with the bacon. Ta-dah!

Pan-fried Asparagus with Tomatoes and Black Olives (and bacon bits)
2 pounds thick asparagus spears, ends trimmed
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup black olives, chopped
2 -4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tablespoon bacon, chopped and fried until crisp, drained (optional)
4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (optional)

Trim the asparagus. Hold up one spear and snap off the end. Cut all the other spears to the same length.

Make the tomato-black olive dressing. Use the pan drippings from the pork chops to make the dressing. Over medium heat, fry the garlic in the pan drippings until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and olives. Cook until the tomatoes "spring" water and become wilted. Pour the dressing into a bowl, cover with foil, and reserve.

Cook the asparagus. Rinse out the skillet and dry it with paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil. Lay half the spears in the pan in one direction. Lay the other half in the opposite direction. Cover and cook over medium heat until the asparagus turns a bright green, about 2-4 minutes. Remove to a serving dish and pour the dressing on top. Top with cheese, basil, or bacon bits.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Peruvian-Style Fried Rice

Chinese people have immigrated to every hemisphere and brought home style cooking with them. This version of fried rice comes from Peru and uses one local ingredient, Spanish chorizo sausage. It's a hard sausage, which reminded me of the Chinese sausage (fah chung in the Hakka dialect), except chorizo can be either spicy or mild. Fried rice is versatile, allowing cooks to use up leftovers or to just use whatever is on hand. So, of course, I added my own ingredient to this fried rice, celery. This recipe is adapted from Every Day with Rachel Ray.

Peruvian Style Fried Rice

Egg "tortilla"

Chorizo
Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
cooking spray
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil (3 tablespoons were too strong, so I reduced the amount and added canola oil)
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (my addition; optional)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced 
1 cup celery, chopped (optional)
1 cup chorizo, mild or spicy, chopped
1-2 cups large shrimp, deveined, with tails on
3 cups cooked white rice, cooled slightly
1/4 cup white soy sauce (Can be used to salt but won't darken food)
2 tablespoons rice wine
Cilantro and scallion, chopped, for garnish

Make the egg tortilla. Spray a 12 inch skillet with cooking spray. Heat the pan on medium high heat. Swirl the eggs in the pan to make a thin omelet. When it sets, roll up, and remove to a cutting board. Cut into 1/4 inch wide strips and set aside.

Cook the ingredients. To the same skillet, add the oils and heat until shimmering. Add the garlic, onion,  and celery, if using. Cook until the vegetables become fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chorizo and shrimp.  Cook until the shrimp are no longer transparent, about 1-2 minutes. Add the rice to the pan. Use the back of a slotted spoon to break up any large chunks of rice. Toss to coat thoroughly in oil. The chorizo and sesame oil will make the rice reddish-brown. Add the soy sauce and wine. Toss to coat thoroughly.

Garnish the rice. Top the rice with the reserved egg tortilla strips and sprinkle cilantro and scallion. Serve hot with extra cilantro/scallion garnish and a hot sauce, such as Sriracha.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Haupia Cake: Hawaiian Coconut Pudding Cake

Ever since Richard told me that this is a cake, I've wanted to try it. Basically, it is a coconut pudding on top and between two layers of sponge cake. I frosted the sides with crème fraîche. Hmm-m! I made four tries at it yesterday and today. This time I got it right. It still needs some adjustment but I'm working on that too!
Haupia Cake frosted with Crème Fraîche

Three egg yolks in a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Whipped egg whites form soft peaks

Just out of the oven

The sponge cake base is 2 inches high


Haupia on top and between sponge cake layers

Haupia Cake
Sponge Cake
This recipe is adapted from the South Beach Diet Cookbook.
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
7 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar 
1 cup cake flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted then cooled slightly

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  It was hard to remove the cake from the spring form pan bottom so I suggest greasing and lining the bottom only. Unless the sides are loosened, the cake  shouldn't fall out of the pan when you invert it.

Make the batter. In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and vanilla. In another large bowl, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. On highest speed, add the sugar one tablespoon at a time. By hand, combine one-third of the egg white mixture with the egg yolk mixture. 

The tricky part. You don't want to over mix this. Scrape the remaining egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Sift the flour on top of the egg whites. Pour in the cooled butter. Gently fold in the flour and butter into the egg mixtures, until just combined. If the batter is still showing white streaks, then it's perfectly mixed.

Bake. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Using a thin knife blade or spatula,  cut the batter to release any air pockets. Put the pan into the middle of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. I reduced the original baking time by 10 minutes because I have a fast oven.

Cool. Invert the pan on a cooling rack.  Do not loosen the sides. Re-invert the pan and run a knife with a thin blade around the edges. Release the pan sides. Turn the cake upside down on a greased wire rack and release the bottom. Remove the paper liner. Put the cake in the freezer for about one hour. I read that in a haupia cake recipe. I think this step is to ensure the cake is firm enough for cutting horizontally. While the cake is in the freezer, make the haupia and the crème fraîche.

Make the haupia or coconut pudding.
This recipe comes from food.com
1 13-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
4-6 tablespoons sugar
4-6 tablespoons cornstarch (maybe just 5 tablespoons)
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or rum (I recommend also jasmine or coconut extracts)
toasted coconut for topping, optional

Pour the contents of the can into a large sauce pan. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add water and stir to dissolve. Pour the sugar mixture into the coconut milk and heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Stir vigorously with a wire whisk. Add the vanilla or rum. I used the maximum tablespoons of cornstarch and it thickened quite rapidly during heating. I think I should cut back to 5 tablespoons to get a less gummy texture.

Make the crème fraîche.
This quick crème fraîche recipe is from The Cake Bible.
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Whip until soft peaks form.

Assemble the cake. Remove the cake from the freezer and split it in half with a serrated knife. Spread half the coconut pudding mixture on the bottom layer to within 1/2 inch from the edge. Put the top layer on and press down lightly. Spread the remaining coconut pudding on top. If desired, sprinkle toasted coconut on top. Refrigerate to set the pudding layers. Then, spread the crème fraîche on the sides of the cake. If desired, sprinkle more coconut on the sides. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve the cake with the remaining crème fraîche or with ice cream. If we were in Thailand, I would suggest kati or coconut ice cream or perhaps ice cream ruam mit, a coconut ice cream that has tiny bits of rice flour noodles (lop chong) and corn kernels mixed in.