Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

In the words of Hannibal from the A Team…”I love it when a plan comes together.”
Yes, I am a product of the 80’s. I wore scrunchies in my hair, big sweaters, neon colors, stir-up pants and my Sony Disc man was the coolest thing ever! Or should I say it was totally bitchin’. My bangs were super high and sprayed with so much hairspray that I must have killed at least a dozen brain cells a day inhaling all that Aquanet. My hair was badly permed and my goal was to dress like Jeanie, Ferris Bueller’s sister. Watching the movie now makes me cringe…her pants were pretty much up to her boobs. Very attractive.
The 80’s was the first time I ever had Bailey’s Irish Cream. Now before you envision some teenager doing shots of Bailey’s(yuck could you imagine?), it was simply a sip of my mom’s coffee that was spiked with Bailey’s. But I remember it being good. Not like any of the other “yucky” alcohol I had tasted thus far. The flavor stuck with me and whenever my mom would make them(which was usually only around the Holidays) I would beg for a sip. I was an annoyingly squeaky clean kid so it never dawned on me just to make one of my own when the parental unit was not around. I’m still a squeaky clean nerd now too. Bailey’s to this day is still my favorite liquor. So when they came out with new flavors I had to buy them. I have one mint and one caramel.
I had baked something else(will be on blog later) that involved making a chocolate-caramel ganache. I had some leftover and it got my head spinning as to what I could make with it. Caramel, caramel, caramel just kept going through my head and there in the refrigerator door was the answer(yes, I have booze and not healthy things like milk or orange juice in the fridge door :P) Bailey’s Original is still my favorite but both the mint and the caramel versions are something that should be in everyone’s home bar.
I keep this cake in the fridge because the frosting can start to slide a bit as it warms up. But you could serve it at room temperature just fine. If you don’t have any caramel sauce don’t worry, that was just a last minute addition on my part to add some contrast for the camera.
If you are a Bailey’s lover too, you should try this cake.

Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream Cake

Chocolate Cake(recipe follows)
Chocolate-Caramel Ganache(recipe follows)
Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting(recipe follows)
Store bought Caramel Sauce
Deeply Dark Devil’s Food Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
11 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups warm water

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease two 9 inch cake rounds and dust with flour.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix to incorporate.
3. Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture in three additons alternating with the warm water in two additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake cake for 45-55 mintues. Cool cake for 20 minutes after baking.
5. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before frosting.

Source: The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
½ cup water
2 cups sugar
3 cups of butter, at room temperature
½ tsp salt
4 TBSP Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream

Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the eggs and yolks in a large bowl on high speed for about 5 minutes. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar; simmer until it reaches the soft ball stage, registering between 234 and 240F on a candy thermometer. Immediately transfer the syrup to a large heatproof liquid measuring cup. In a slow, thin stream, add the sugar mixture to the egg mixture., mixing on low speed the entire time. Increase the speed to medium and beat about 7 minutes, until the syrup has cooled. Add the butter, half a stick at a time, beating on medium after each addition. Once all of the butter has been added, beat on medium speed until the frosting thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in the salt and Irish Cream.

Chocolate-Caramel Ganache

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
10 caramel candies, unwrapped

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream and caramels over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramels have melted completely. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and stir until melted.
Source: Both Ganache and Buttercream are adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman

To Assemble: First off I made mini cakes and therefore my cakes look different than the instructions I am going to give you. I did not put buttercream between any of the layers, nor did I make 4 layers. You can mix and match however you like.
Take your two 9-inch cake and  cut each one of those layers horizontally in half(so you should have 4 layers). Place the bottom layer on a cake plate. Spread a thick blanket of frosting on top. Add the second layer. This time spread the chocolate-caramel ganache on that layer. Place third layer on top of that and spread more buttercream. Place forth layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with remaining frosting. Drizzle store bought caramel over the cake, however much you would like. Place cake in refrigerator until ready to serve.

I have mentioned before how when I married a Southern gentleman I assumed I would have to do some Southern cooking. I bought many a Southern cookbook and many, many people upon hearing that I had married a Southern gent offered up their mother or grandmother’s recipes. I not of course realizing at the time that my husband really only eats one Southern food(that being fried chicken) gladly took all the recipes I could get. One recipe that I seemed to get over and over was for peach cobbler. But not like any cobbler I have ever had. See where I am from, peach cobbler is some peaches tossed with some sugar and sometimes spice and then toped with either a biscuit kind of topping or crumbled up dough and oats with sugar and nuts. So when I kept reading the very similar cobbler recipes I found it fascinating that the peaches went on top and that it was more cake like. Hmmmm. All of the recipes assured me that the peaches would go to the bottom and the cobbler would go to the top…they are correct. And I must say that from now on this is how I will be making cobbler! I loved it, it had just the right crunch on top but all soft and peachy on the inside. I topped mine with some cinnamon schnapps spiked whipped cream and dusted it with some cinnamon sugar mixture. You can top yours with whatever you like.
Oh and in case you were wondering, no my husband would not eat it…he “doesn’t like peaches.” Boo on him.

Southern Peach Cobbler

½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup plus 3TBSP granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP baking powder
¾ cup milk
2 cups of sliced peaches, with or without skin(your preference)(some recipes used as many as 3 cups…I think I might do that next time)
1/3  cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F.
Place butter into a pan. Let melt(2 recipes said to brown the butter and 3 said just to melt it…I just melted it). Place melted butter into an 8 x 8-inch baking pan.
In a small bowl, mix together 3 TBSP sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon.
In a medium bowl, mix together granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon sugar mixture, baking powder and milk. Pour this on top of the butter and do not stir just leave it be. Place the sliced peaches evenly on top of the batter. Sprinkle brown sugar and pecans on top of the peaches.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Top with ice cream or whipped cream.

Source: a whole lot of different Southern ladies 

When we arrived in Seattle three years ago(October 1st) I’m surprised I didn’t strain my neck somehow. It whipped around the car as we traveled lost through the city in search of our corporate housing. What was causing my head to spin around you ask? Trees. Not just trees, trees turning colors. You see seasons don’t exist in Phoenix Arizona unless you consider warm, hot and super crappy hot to be seasons. Oh sure Canada has seasons but I had lived in Arizona so long I forgot how wonderful the changing of the seasons can truly be. My husband having been raised on a tree farm could have cared less and made fun of me most of the day.
I stare out my window at the lone tree that has decided that it is already Fall. Bright red leaves against the sea of green behind it. A symbol of all the wonders that are about to come as the season will be changing. I get to drag out my sweatshirts to help cover up my love of food :P. I get to bust out the flannel sheets and be enveloped by ultimate coziness. I get to start using large amounts of profanity mostly directed at my hockey teams when they are playing less than stellar(Flames first pre-season game on Sunday). Large amounts of profanity coming out of my mouth while I miss the open net by two feet( I go skating next week and might possibly get to play this Fall…fingers crossed everyone). I get to make two separate dinners almost nightly as I will be making soup and my husband wont eat soup so he gets something else. No more sweat rolling down the backs of my knees. No more bugfest. No more abundance of food I am allergic to.
Now this is so not a Fall food. I consider Tiramisu to be a pretty much year round food. In a way this is more of my goodbye to Summer(good riddance). Sponge cake is so light and I almost always just bake it in Summer and Spring. I have no idea what possessed me to make it into a roulade. I love traditional tiramisu and had been looking for a way to do something slightly different to it. This has all of the flavors but is a tad more tricky since you don’t just layer it in a dish,  you have to roll it up…which if it wants the roll can have a mind of it’s own.

Tiramisu Roulade

sponge cake(recipe follows)
mascarpone filling(recipe follows)
1 cup chocolate shavings
soaking syrup(recipe follows)
cocoa powder for dusting
Sponge Cake

1 cup cake flour
6 TBSP cornstarch
8 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cream of tartar

Sift together the starch and flour. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line a 12 x 17 inch sheet pan. Place down parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.
Separate 4 of the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and whites in the another.
Add the 2 additional yolks and remaining 4 eggs to the yolk bowl. Add 1 cup of sugar to the yolk mixture. Whip mixture on high speed for 5 minutes until it triples in volume. Add vanilla.
Sift the flour mixture over the eggs and fold in gently.
Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the remaining 2 TBSP of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the other batter. Place batter in prepared pan. Bake until golden about 12 minutes.
After the cake cools about 10 minutes, loosen the sides with a knife. Remove the cake from the pan. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the cake and flip the cake over. Peel off the paper on bottom of the cake.

Tiramisu Filling 

11 ounces Mascarpone cheese
6 ounces cream cheese
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 TBSP Kahlua
½ tsp vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Combine ingredients into a mixer bowl. With whisk attachment, whip until stiff. Set aside.

Soaking Syrup

1 1/2 cup prepared coffee
1 cup Kahlua

Mix all ingredients in heavy large saucepan.
Boil over medium-high heat until mixture is reduced to 1 1/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Cool syrup completely.
Assemble: Brush coffee mixture onto cake, making sure not to make it soggy. Let rest. Spread the tiramisu mixture onto the cake. Sprinkle chocolate shavings. Roll the cake up lengthwise. Sprinkle cake with cocoa powder, cut and serve.

Since I enjoyed turning Almond Joys into bread, I thought I would try once again to take a candy and make it into a baked good. This time around I thought I would be kind and make something my husband would eat. Since Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are high on his lists of favorite candies, I decided to pay tribute to those. Now, I don’t nearly enjoy Reese’s as much as Almond Joy, though they are good for portion control because I only am able to eat two before I start to get peanut butter overload. This cake however is a different story. Not thinking I would really even eat anything more than a piece, I cleared a whole mini cake no problem.
The recipe is nothing new. I have already made this cake a year or so ago, the  difference being the use of the peanut butter chips. The other difference is the use of my mini(4-inch diameter) tart pans. I used those to give the cake a more peanut butter cup look. If you get too much rise on your cake you can always trim off the top with a bread knife(that’s what I had to do). If you don’t have little tart pans, you could simply bake it in the rectangular pan and then cut out circles with a cookie cutter. It wont have that cute peanut butter cup shape but will be tasty nonetheless.

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Peanut Butter Peanut Butter Chip Cakes(recipe follows)
Chocolate Glaze(recipe follows)
peanut butter cups, chopped, for garnish

Peanut Butter Peanut Butter Chip Cake

2 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar
3 ounces creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 325F.

Grease three 9 x 1 1/2 inch pans.(I personally used just one 9 x 13 pan). Line your bottoms with parchment. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix together brown sugar, peanut butter and butter for two minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and mix for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and mix for another minute.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated about 20 seconds. Then add the sour cream, mixing again for 20 seconds. Gradually add the remaining flour mixture.  Add the hot water in a slow, steady stream and mix on low to combine, about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla and mix for another 10 seconds. Add the peanut butter chips and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Divide the cake batter into the prepared pans, spreading it evenly. Bake for about 22 minutes. If you have 4 inch diameter tart pans like I used, it takes the same amount of time to bake the cake, if not a few more minutes. Use a knife to see if it is done.

Source: Death by Chocolate Cake by Marcel Desaulniers

Chocolate Glaze

6 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 TBSP unsalted butter

Break chocolate into small pieces and place in a small stainless steel bowl over a pot of hot(not boiling)water. Melt the 4 TBSP butter in a small saucepan, and skim off the white foam that rises to the top. When chocolate is just melted, stir in the clarified butter(discard the white solids left behind). Set aside until chocolate is 86F.

To Assemble: Place cakes on a wire rack. Place rack on top of a cookie sheet so that the extra chocolate has a place to drip onto.Pour chocolate glaze over cake and using a narrow metal spatula, quickly pared it evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Allow chocolate to set to firm consistency before serving. Garnish with chopped peanut butter cup.