Dessert attempt tastes great but doesn’t shape up quite
right
Whenever I try to make a dessert from scratch, something usually
goes wrong. I can manage brownies or cake from a box mix. I can
also manage basic chocolate chip cookies
– most of the time. But when it comes to anything more
complicated somehow the principles of baking elude me.
Dessert attempt tastes great but doesn’t shape up quite right
Whenever I try to make a dessert from scratch, something usually goes wrong. I can manage brownies or cake from a box mix. I can also manage basic chocolate chip cookies – most of the time. But when it comes to anything more complicated somehow the principles of baking elude me.
Recently, I found a recipe for a German chocolate cake roll that I wanted to try. German chocolate cake is my dad’s favorite and I knew he would love a homemade cake for his birthday earlier this month. I’ve never made a cake roll before, but the recipe made it sound quite simple. All I needed to do was get the right size pan and the cake should roll up just right, like a giant-size Ho-Ho with coconut filling.
I thought making the filling and the cake batter would be the hardest part of the process, with the assembly just being a matter of spreading the coconut-pecan mixture down on the cake and then rolling it together to look like the picture accompanied by the recipe. Making the filling and the cake proved easy enough. There were a lot of steps, but it wasn’t very hard to do it by myself.
When I took the cake out of the oven, it was light and spongy. I let it cool for about half an hour, then pulled it and the parchment paper out of the pan and onto a cutting board. But the second I tried to lift the edge of the cake, it started to crack. It became clear that there was going to be no way this cake was going to roll up without breaking into dozens of pieces. I ended up having to improvise and turned the cake into a two-layer rectangle cake with some of the filling in the middle and some on top. The cake didn’t look perfect, but the taste was the same.
I still haven’t figured out what went wrong with the cake – the pan was exactly the dimensions specified in the recipe. I don’t know if I cooled it too much and that made it less pliable or if I went wrong somewhere else. But the cake was a hit for my father’s birthday dinner.
The other dessert I tried in recent months was a Meyer lemon cheesecake that I made for Easter. I’ve made cheesecake before and no matter what the recipe, I always encounter the same problem. The top of the cheesecake always cracks on me. The solution to this is simple enough – just make sure there is a topping to put on the cheesecake to cover up the flaws. For this recipe, a sour cream topping goes on top of the cake and it can easily fill in the cracks to make the cake look perfect.
German chocolate cake roll
Recipe courtesy of Food Network Magazine
1 c. evaporated milk
2 1/4 c. granulated sugar
3 large egg yolks plus 3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 c. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter; 1 stick cubed, 1 1/2 sticks softened
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1 2/3 c. sweetened coconut, toasted
1 c. chopped pecans
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 c. strong hot coffee
1/3 c. buttermilk
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13-by-18-inch jelly-roll pan; line with parchment paper, letting it come up the short sides by about 2 inches. Brush the paper with oil or melted butter and lightly dust with flour.
For the filling, whisk the evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, 3 egg yolks and the cubed butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and creamy, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla, the coconut and pecans. Set aside to cool completely, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the cocoa and chocolate in another bowl. Add the hot coffee to the cocoa mixture, stirring until smooth; stir in the buttermilk and the remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Using a mixer, beat the softened butter and the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar in a large bowl on high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to low; add the 3 whole eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each before adding the next. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the cocoa mixture in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until just blended; if necessary, fold the batter together with a rubber spatula.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake until the cake springs back when pressed lightly, about 16 minutes. Cool slightly in the pan.
Run a knife around the edge and slide the cake with its paper onto a work surface. Spread the coconut filling evenly over the cake. Roll the cake from one of the short ends, pulling it away from the parchment into a tight cylinder; transfer to a platter. Cool completely and dust with the confectioners’ sugar or cocoa.
Meyer Lemon Cheesecake
Recipe courtesy of Fort Greene
Lightly butter a 10-inch spring form pan.
Fit the pan with a wax or parchment paper circle, lining the bottom and pleating the paper to fit the pan’s sides.
Butter the paper and set aside.
Graham Cracker Crust:
Combine until thoroughly blended:
1 1/4 c. cracker crumbs
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. melted butter
Pack mixture firmly into pan bottom and up sides about 1 1/2″. A flat-bottomed glass is a useful tool for this.
Chill for 1 hour or bake for 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Filling:
With a stand or hand mixer, beat until fluffy:
3 packages (8-ounces each) of softened cream cheese
Slowly add and blend:
1 c. sugar
Juice of 3 Meyer lemons
2 tsp. finely grated Meyer lemon zest
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
6 large eggs, added one at a time
Dash of salt
Pour filling into prepared crust. Lift and drop pan once or twice to release any air bubbles and place pan on a cookie sheet in the middle of a preheated 325 degree oven. Bake for 1 hour. Test center with a toothpick or bamboo skewer. It will come out clean when cake is completely cooked.
Cool cake for about 30 minutes.
Topping:
In a small bowl, blend completely:
1 c. sour cream
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Spread sour cream mixture on cake’s top to the very edge where filling meets crust.
