Book Food: Macbeth and Oedipus Rex

     Next up for Book Food is this strawberry jello poke cake, representing Macbeth by Shakespeare and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

       Both Macbeth and Oedipus had characters who tried to control their own fate, though they inevitably failed.  Both books were also really bloody, a bit too much for my liking.  

(spoiler alert) Did Macbeth's head really have to be ripped off?  

        The red strawberry gelatin oozing down through the cake looks like blood and symbolizes the turmoil that Oedipus and Macbeth faced in order to gain their thrones.  The reflective "mirror" on top of the cake conveyed that one's actions "reflect" one's destiny, and so one controls their own fate.  

          Basically, this cake is just vanilla cake, strawberry butter cream, and Jello.  I used my vanilla layer cake recipe and my strawberry buttercream recipe for this.  

           First, you bake the cake and poke holes in it with a fork at 1/2" intervals.  

      Then you mix 1 package strawberry Jello with 2 cups hot water.  Stir for 2 minutes until the Jello is dissolved.

 

     Pour the jello over the cake.  Then refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours.

        Frost the cake with strawberry buttercream and refrigerate for another 2 hours.

        Then mix 1/2 pack of jello with 1 cup of hot water, stir until dissolved, and pour it over the frosting.  Refrigerate until the jello stiffens.  

           The top jello part unfortunately didn't work out for me.  Still, the cake tasted pretty good and it represented the books well.  

            Enjoy!

Strawberry Chocolate Macarons

     

     Nothing impresses these days like a macaron.  I brought a tray of these to cooking club and they were gone before the meeting started.  Most people think you need magical powers or some innate ability to make them, but that isn't true.  All you need is some patience, precise measurements, and the ingredients.

      I decided to make chocolate-strawberry macarons this time.  I've never made either flavor before, but I figured that they would make the perfect combination.  After shooting the photos, I realized that these would also make really cute "Neapolitan" macarons if you filled them with white vanilla buttercream instead of ganache and strawberry jam.  But I also feel that the ganache and strawberry filling bring out the flavors of the shells. 

      I'm sorry to say I don't really know how the flavors turned out.  As I said, I brought these to cooking club and they just vanished.  I had some extras in my fridge, but those disappeared too.  My family just doesn't understand that macarons need to mature in the fridge for a couple of days before you eat them.  I heard that they were good, though.  And I'm sure they are; I've never had a bad macaron.

This is how the batter should look.

     If you want some macaron tips, basically this is it:

• bake one sheet at a time on new, unused parchment paper
• don't over-mix or under-mix (follow directions)
• make precise measurements with a kitchen scale (I actually bought by first scale for the sole purpose of making macarons, so you should too.  You can get a cheap one for 5 bucks at Target) 
• let the macarons sit on the baking sheet after you pipe them for about half an hour to prevent cracking
• after you fill the macarons, let them sit in the refrigerator for a couple of days so that the flavors can develop more
• have fun and don't worry too much
• see here for more detailed step-by-step pictures of the process

      I hope you enjoy!

Strawberry Chocolate Macarons

makes about 30 assembled macarons

recipe adapted from Tartlette and Chocoparis

Ingredients

For the strawberry shells:

90g egg whites (about 3) 
30g granulated sugar
200g  powdered sugar
110g ground almonds/ almond flour
1/2 cup (7g) dehydrated strawberries, crumbled to a fine powder
pink food coloring

For the Chocolate Shells:

90 grams (3 ounces) of egg whites (equal to whites of 3 large eggs), at room temperature

125 grams (4 ½ ounces) of ground almonds or almond flour

125 grams (4 ½ ounces) of icing sugar

25 grams (1 ounce) unsweetened cocoa powder 

125 grams (4 ½ ounces) of caster sugar (aka superfine sugar, or regular sugar pulsed in a blender for a few seconds)

For the filling:

6oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

strawberry jam (I used the strawberry balsamic jam I made)

Directions

Prepare the strawberry macarons: in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue with soft peaks.  Stir in the food coloring until evenly incorporated. Sift together the almonds, powdered sugar, reserved powdered strawberries. Add it to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets. 
Preheat the oven to 280F and position a rack in the center. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.

Prepare the chocolate macarons: Sift together the almond flour or ground almonds, icing sugar, and cocoa powder; set aside. Beat the egg whites with a bit of the superfine sugar for a few seconds until foamy.  Whip the egg whites on high speed, gradually adding the rest of the superfine sugar, until the meringue has soft peaks when you lift out the beaters.  Fold in the dry ingredients until the batter drips from the spatula like a ribbon.  Pipe the batter into rounds on clean parchment lined baking sheets.  Let the batter rounds sit for about half an hour until the surface is dry and firm.  Bake at 325*F for 12 to 14 minutes and let cool.

Fill.  Make the ganache by boiling the heavy cream, then pouring the cream over the chocolate in a small bowl.  Whisk until the chocolate is all melted and let cool until the ganache is thick.  Pipe some jam into the middle of one macaron shell.  Pipe the ganache around the jam and press another shell on top.  Repeat for the rest of the macarons.  Keep the macarons in an airtight container and refrigerate for a few days before serving so that the flavors can develop.  

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pop-Tarts From Scratch

I really like of Pop-Tarts, so when I saw a recipe for making them from scratch, I knew I had to try.

I used a basic pastry dough recipe from Flour by Joanne Chang, and then put homemade strawberry balsamic jam between two rectangles of it.  I then baked it and coated the pastries with chocolate glaze and sprinkles.

It wasn't really a Pop-tart, but it was delicious.  They reminded me of flakier, butterier versions of the Pillsbury Toaster Strudel.  But of course, these were much better than those treats you get from the freezer.  

These do require a little time and effort to make.  You have to refrigerate the dough for at least four hours before using it, and I suggest that if you have  warm kitchen, you should return the dough to the refrigerator a couple of times while you're cutting out rectangles.  Otherwise, the butter will melt and it'll be much harder to make  a good looking toaster pastry.

You can use store-bought jam, but I decided to make my own jam from fresh strawberries and balsamic vinegar.  The vinegar really brings out the sweetness from the strawberries.

The result has a texture and flavor similar to that of a croissant, only it's not as soft on the inside. I also love the strawberry filling combined with the chocolatey glaze.  I'm definitely going to make these again.  You can mix it up and use any fillings and glazes you want.

Enjoy!

To make the jam: cook the strawberries with the sugar and vinegar.

It's ready when it looks like this.

Here's the cooled jam, ready to use.

I stored my jam in a Smucker's strawberry jam jar.  (Very resourceful, I know)

To make the dough, mix cold butter pieces with the dry ingredients until incorporated. 

Then stir in egg yolks and milk until it forms a shaggy dough.

Place the dough on an unfloured surface.  Form a tight mound.

Starting from the top of the mound, slide your palm down the mound, flattening the dough.  Repeat for all sides., until you have a flat dough with smears of butter. 

Gather up the dough, cover in plastic wrap, press into a disk , and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to a couple of days.

Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle.

Score one rectangle into 8 smaller rectangles and brush this with egg.

Put on some jam.

Place the other sheet of dough on top, cut into 8 rectangles, then bake.


Let the pastries cool.


Whisk together the glaze.


Pour the glaze on the pastries, put on some sprinkles, let the glaze set, and enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pop-Tarts

makes 8 large pastries

adapted from Flour by Joanne Chang

Ingredients

For the Pastry Dough:

1-3/4 cups (245g) all-purpose flour

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp coarse salt

1 cup (2 sticks/288g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

2 egg yolks

3 tbs cold milk

For the Filling:

Strawberry balsamic jam (recipe below) or other strawberry jam

For the Glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup water

1 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

To Finish:

1 egg, beaten

sprinkles (optional)

Directions

1. Make the pastry dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.  Mix in the cold butter pieces until the flour is clumpy and there are pecan-sized pieces of butter visible.  Whisk together the egg yolks and milk in a separate bowl, and then add to the flour mixture.  Mix for a few seconds until incorporated and the dough looks shaggy.  On an unfloured surface, form the dough into a tight mound.  Starting from the top, slide your palm down the sides, pressing the dough flat until the butter is smeared and the dough comes together.  Gather the dough into a ball, then wrap in plastic wrap and press into a disk 1" thick.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. Split the pastry dough in half.  Keeping the other half refrigerated, place on half on a floured surface. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top and roll the dough into a 14" by 11" rectangle.  Return this half to the refrigerator and roll out the other half of the dough to the same dimensions.  With a knife, score one sheet of dough into 8 smaller 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" rectangles.  Brush this dough with beaten egg and place 2 tbs of jam into the center of each small rectangle.  Carefully place the other sheet of dough on top and lightly pres down.  Cut the dough into 8 rectangles, following the score marks you made.  
3. Place each rectangle on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350*F for 30-40 minutes, until the pastries are light golden brown.  Let cool for half an hour.  
4. Make the glaze: whisk all the the ingredients for the glaze together in a small bowl until smooth and pourable.
5. Pour the glaze on each cooled pastry and then sprinkle the pastries with sprinkles, if desired.  Allow the glaze to set for 10-15 minutes.  
6. Store pastries in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. 

Strawberry Balsamic Jam 

recipe adapted from Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients

2 cups chopped strawberries

1 cup sugar

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Add the chopped strawberries, sugar, and balsamic vinegar to a large pot. Simmer until strawberries are tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
2. If you have an immersion blender, puree strawberries right in the pot until slightly smooth but still slightly chunky. If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and pulse until desired consistency, then add the mixture back to the pot.
3. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, and cook for 30 minutes, allowing the mixture to thicken. Stir frequently to ensure the mixture doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pot. It's ready when it's thick enough that when you stir, you can see the bottom of the pot.  

Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

 
    I love mornings, don't you?
    You wake up just as the sun is rising and everything is quiet and fresh.  Then, you have the whole day ahead of you.
    I like waking up early, before anyone else is up.  I feel like I can do anything that I want.  And oftentimes that means making breakfast.
    I never have time to make pancakes on school days, so on the weekends, I like to take full advantage of my time.  Nothing beats starting the day with a stack of soft, fluffy pancakes.  It puts you in a good mood for the rest of the day, guaranteed.

    And I love flipping pancakes. I used to really want to be a professional pancake-flipper, seriously.  And waffles? No.
    Strawberry pancakes are my favorite. Whenever a restaurant I go to serves them, I have to order it: pancakes topped with whipped cream and strawberries, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  I think it's been my favorite dish since I was five.
   Usually, though the strawberries aren't actually in the batter.   And these pancakes I made are a bit healthier, since they use whole wheat flour and flax.  Flax seed meal actually gives the pancakes a great, nutty taste while replacing some of the oil.

    Make sure that you cut the strawberries nice and thin so that they don't stick to the pan and stay in the pancake. And my dad always told me that the pan is ready for some batter when a drop of water sizzles on the pan.  Don't ever press down on the pancake with the spatula, as that would cause it to lose some of the fluffiness.
    Enjoy!

Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

serves about 4 people

adapted from Adventures in Cooking

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup flax meal

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 large egg

1-1/4 cup buttermilk (or stir 1 tbs white vinegar with enough milk to make 1-1/4 cups, let sit 5 minutes)

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

about 1-1/3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced thinly

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, flax, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until the flour is moistened. Then stir in the strawberries just until combined. 
4. Heat a pan/griddle over medium low heat until a drop of water sizzles on it.  Grease with a bit of butter or cooking oil, and then ladle on some batter.  
5. When little holes appear around the edges and the edges are fluffy, flip the pancake and cook until both sides are golden brown.  Repeat with the rest of the batter.

 

Confetti Cake from Scratch with Strawberry Buttercream

Cake before being decorated with fondant

     Back in the days before I'd ever had a home-made from-scratch birthday cake, my favorite cake was the Funfetti cake I helped my mom make from the box mix.  As my taste for box mix faded, however, one thing remained: my absolute love for sprinkles.

   I love sprinkles.  They come in every shape, size, color, and even flavor.  When I go to the grocery store and the bakery section sets out a couple of tubs of sprinkles for a dollar, I immediately grab them. (Here's something you may not know: the bakery section in your grocery store will probably sell you some sprinkles for cheap if you ask. Also, you can make your own sprinkles or buy really fun shapes like dinosaur sprinkles online.) For the cake, regular rainbow jimmies work best because they stay in the batter better and their colors spread into little bubbles of joy.

   Yes, I have a weakness for sprinkles.  So for my brother's birthday cake, I wanted to give him something fun and colorful: Funfetti cake.  Only instead of using mix, I made it from scratch, which is a million times better, trust me.  It also lacks all those bad artificial flavors and preservatives. I adapted the recipe from a standard vanilla cake recipe, and I added sprinkles and a bit of almond extract. It turned out delicious.

    This was my favorite part: dumping all the sprinkles in.  I used all the rainbow jimmies I had, and I was debating whether or not to use all of them. I ended up dumping them all in.

YES

Prepared pan

    I really like how the buttercream turned out.  Smooth, creamy, and with a very nice strawberry flavor.  It's like strawberry ice cream that doesn't melt.  Also, it goes perfectly with the cake.

Strawberry Buttercream

Frosting the Cake

   This post is all about the inside cake.  If you want to see the finished, decorated cake, check the next post.
Here's the recipe, enjoy!

Confetti Cake from Scratch

Makes one 8" 2 layer cake

adapted from Sweetapolita

Ingredients

5 large egg whites (150g), room temperature

1c whole milk (237 ml), room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

3 cups (345 g) cake flour, sifted

1 3/4 cups (350 g) sugar

1 tbs + 1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks, 170g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and at room temperature

Rainbow Jimmies (I used 1 1/2 small bottles, 175g or 2.6oz.)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F and grease two 8" pans with butter and dust with flour.  Then add a circle of parchment paper to the bottom and butter and flour that.  Tap out excess flour.
2. In a large bowl, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk or mix with a mixer on low until well combined and fluffy.
3. In a small bowl, mix egg whites with extracts and 1/4 cup of the milk.
4. Add cubed butter and remaining 3/4 cups milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until moistened. With a mixer on medium speed, mix for about 1.5 minutes.
5. Scraping the bowl, add the egg mixture in 3 batches. Mix for 20 seconds after each addition.
6. Add sprinkles and mix until combined.
7. Spread batter evenly among the pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Then let cool on a wire rack 10-20 minutes.
8. Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a spatula. Invert onto a wire rack and flip so it's top is facing up. Let cool completely, then wrap with plastic wrap and place in a refrigerator or freeze for 30 min before frosting.
9. Trim the tops of the cake so the layers are even.  Frost with buttercream (recipe below). Decorate if desired.
10. The cake is best eaten on the same day. (Since it's a butter cake, it can get dry if not stored properly.) Wrap with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze up to 2 months.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Buttercream

makes enough to frost and fill one cake or frost 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

4 sticks butter (1lb), at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cups (7 oz) strawberry preserves 

pinch of salt

4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Directions

1. Beat butter for 3 minutes until fluffy.
2. Add strawberry preserves, vanilla, and pinch of salt and beat until well combined.
3. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy and desired consistency is reached.