Simple Math Bakery » blackberry

Birthday Cake for a Sandwich Cookie Lover

Jeanne — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:30:53 +0000

This weekend, we celebrated two milestones: a birthday and the continued world travels of Simple Math Bakery’s cookies. The Boyfriend’s birthday was last week (one of the big ones – it ends in a “0″). What better way to celebrate than with a giant cookie (cake)? As for my cookies, they have now officially been consumed by fish and humans 61 feet underwater in the Mediterranean Sea. My friend Susannah travels the world as an underwater archaeology photographer. Someday I hope to accompany her on expedition as her official Personal Baker, but until then I send cookie care packages across the Atlantic Ocean.

Photo by Simon Claeys and Susannah H. Snowden

Since peanut butter isn’t readily available in Spain, my peanut butter cookies made the trans-Atlantic journey along with two other favorites.

Photo by Simon Claeys and Susannah H. Snowden

The fish seemed quite interested in the cookies as well! I wonder if they would be just as intrigued by a slice of cake…

Chocolate Cake
From The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook
Yield: Two 9″ cake layers, or enough to make one giant cookie cake.

1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon brewed coffee
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease the pans with butter or spray with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, combine the coffee and cocoa powder. Heat over high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. While the chocolate is cooling, add the lemon juice to the milk and allow to sit.

With an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs, and egg yolk on low speed until combined. Add the milk mixture, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds. Add the flour and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour in the chocolate mixture, and mix on high speed for 3 minutes, until the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter between the two cake pans. If you are using silicon pans, place them on a cookie sheet before placing them in the oven. Bake the cake for 35-45 minutes, or until it tests done. Place the pans on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cakes have cooled, invert them out of the pans. Use a serrated knife or a cake leveler to even out the sides of the cake that will face the icing.

Fresh Blackberry Buttercream
Created by Simple Math Bakery
Yield: enough frosting to fill one 9″ cookie cake

12 tablespoons (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners sugar
1/2 cup fresh blackberries

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and vanilla extract on low speed until smooth (3-5 minutes). While that’s happening, it’s a good idea to sift your confectioners sugar. Sifted sugar makes super smooth icing!

Add 1/2 of the confectioners sugar and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add the remaining confectioners sugar and continue to mix on low speed. The frosting should be crumbly and dry at this point.

Add the blackberries and beat on low speed until they break apart. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth and gorgeously purple.

Spread the icing on top of one layer, and top with the second layer. Enjoy with a giant glass of milk!

Daring Bakers Challenge: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

Jeanne — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:00:35 +0000

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

‘Tis the time of year to turn on the fan, sprawl on the couch (or on the patio if it’s not 100 degrees out) with a good book, and enjoy a bowl of ice cream. This Swiss Roll ice cream cake is like an all-in-one ice cream sundae with two different ice cream flavors, hot fudge, chocolate cake, and strawberry whipped cream! It’s sure to cool you down on a hot July day.

I rarely make ice cream, though I love to eat it. I don’t own a fancy ice cream maker, just this simple hand crank Donvier model that we used when I was young. This ice cream maker is 22 years old! In fact, I can tell you that we made our first ice cream from this machine on December 27, 1988 (it must have been a Christmas present). And we liked it. Thanks, mom, for keeping good notes!

I generally make a custard ice cream (in other words, using eggs) so it was interesting to try these simple recipes with just cream, sugar, and flavor. They did come out delicious! The only issue I had was that the chocolate ice cream never froze solid. It remained soft, even after sitting in the freezer overnight. I’ve never made chocolate ice cream before, so I’m not sure if this was my error or a problem with the recipe.

The original recipes called for caster sugar, which is unavailable where I live. It’s basically superfine sugar, so I created my own substitute by grinding some organic sucanat in a coffee grinder. It worked beautifully!

Since there are so many lovely berries available right now, I decided to give my cake a berry twist. I used fresh strawberries in the Swiss roll filling, and fresh blackberries in one of the ice cream layers.

Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake
Adapted from Taste of Home

This recipe is best made over the course of two (or more) days. I made the Swiss roll and blackberry chip ice cream on the first day, and the hot fudge and chocolate ice cream on the second day, while assembling the cake. The cake sat in the freezer overnight, since I had some difficulty with freezing the chocolate ice cream.

Chocolate Swiss Roll With Strawberry Whipped Cream Filling
Yield: one Swiss roll (approximately 10 slices)

For the cake:
3 eggs
1/2 cup sucanat, finely ground in a coffee grinder or food processor
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon boiling water

For the filling:
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
5 tablespoons fresh strawberry puree

Preheat the oven to 390°. Prepare an 11 inch by 9 inch baking pan by spraying with cooking spray then lining with parchment paper.

With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sucanat until the mixture is very thick. This will take about 10-12 minutes. The mixture is thick enough when you lift the beater and it leaves a trail for 10 seconds.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together. Fold into the egg mixture in three batches. Gently stir in the boiling water. Spread the batter into the pan, as evenly as possible. It will be very thin.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the center is springy and the edges are starting to curl away from the sides of the pan.

Spread a dish towel on the counter and sprinkle it with some confectioners sugar or finely ground sucanat. When the cake comes out of the oven, invert it onto the dish towel. Peel away the parchment paper and trim off the crisp edges.

Carefully roll up the cake and the towel together. Doing this while the cake is still warm will allow the cake to keep its shape once filled. Cool the cake, rolled up in the towel, on a cooling rack, seam side down. While the cake is cooling, prepare the filling.

Place the mixer bowl and beater in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (this step is optional, but will make it easier to whip the cream). Puree the strawberries in a food processor (or like me, if you don’t have one just use a potato masher).

Add the cream and vanilla extract to the bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the confectioners sugar and continue to beat until the cream forms stiff peaks, or to your desired consistency. Fold in the strawberry puree. If you’re not using the whipped cream right away, place it in the fridge.

Cover your work surface with confectioners sugar to prevent the cake from sticking. When the cake has completely cooled, carefully unroll it onto the sugared surface. Spread the whipped cream over the cake, to within 1/2 inch of the edges.

Gently roll the cake up again, without the towel this time. Sprinkle the cake with confectioners sugar and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate, seam side down, until ready to use.

Blackberry Chip Ice Cream
Yield: slightly less than one quart

2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sucanat, finely ground
1 cup fresh blackberries
1/3 cup grated chocolate

Whisk together the cream, vanilla extract, and sucanat. Stir in the blackberries and chocolate. Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions.

If you’d like to make the ice cream without an ice cream maker, David Lebovitz gives some excellent instructions.

Hot Fudge Sauce
Yield: 1 3/4 cups

1 cup sucanat
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sucanat, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and water. Heat over medium heat, stirring contantly, until the mixture comes to a simmer. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Ice Cream
Yield: one pint

2 cups whipping cream
1 cup sucanat
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, and place over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture begins to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature (even better, cool and then place in the fridge for an hour or two).

Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions.

To assemble the cake:

Select a freezer-proof container of the size and shape you desire for your cake (I used a 2.5 liter Pyrex bowl). Line the bowl with plastic wrap to facilitate easier removal of the cake. Slice the Swiss roll and line the bottom and sides of the bowl with the slices. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until the slices are firm (about one hour). In the meantime, remove the blackberry chip ice cream from the freezer to soften (about 20 minutes).

Spread the softened ice cream over the Swiss roll slices, cover, and place back in the freezer until the ice cream is firm (about 2 hours).

Pour the fudge sauce over the ice cream to the desired thickness (I only used about half of the sauce). Cover and place back in the freezer until the fudge sauce is firm (this took 3 or 4 hours).

Soften the chocolate ice cream. Mine had never firmed up so I didn’t need to remove it from the freezer ahead of time. Pour the softened ice cream over the fudge layer. Cover and place back in the freezer until firm (I left it overnight).

To remove the cake from the bowl, invert the bowl onto a plate. Carefully hold down the plastic wrap and lift the bowl off. If the plastic wrap sticks to the bowl, run a cloth dipped in warm water over the outside surface of the bowl. Peel the plastic wrap off the cake, slice, and serve.

Maple Blackberry Scones

Jeanne — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:12:40 +0000

I’ve got a problem. I’m obsessed with fresh berries from the farmers’ market. I simply can’t leave without a pint or two or three of strawberries. This past weekend, as I approached my favorite berry farmer’s table, I spied the blackberries! Perfectly ripe and sweet, I knew they wouldn’t last long. If I didn’t use them right away they’d be eaten.

So, what to make? My first thought was muffins, but I make those way too often. I’m a little burned out on muffins. A quick perusal of my cookbook collection yielded a spark of inspiration: scones!

This recipe is different from any other I’ve tried in that you don’t roll out the dough and slice it. Handling the dough less makes for a better texture in the finished pastry. Also, less work and less mess to clean up later!

The recipe recommends freezing the berries for two hours before folding them into the batter. Genius! Since the batter is so stiff, this should prevent the berries from breaking apart when they are folded in. I am impatient so I only froze the berries for one hour. It certainly made a difference! The berries were much firmer, and only a few of them broke apart.

The goal is to mix the dough until it just barely comes together. It will really come together when you shape it, so be gentle while mixing! I just made free-form balls on the cookie sheet, but you could also press the dough into a large round cookie cutter. Be sure to leave plenty of room, these babies spread while baking! I placed just 6 scones on my baking sheet for each batch.

Maple Blackberry Scones
Adapted from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook
Yield: 12 scones

1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt*
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup rice milk plus 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or 3/4 cup buttermilk)
3/4 cup pure maple syrup

Rinse the berries, pat them dry, and spread them on a plate. Place the plate in the freezer for 2 hours.

In a large bowl, stir together the butter, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Place the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the vanilla extract, milk, vinegar, and maple syrup. Place in the fridge until needed.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the flour mixture from the freezer and work the ingredients together with a pastry cutter until the butter cubes are the size of peas. Make a well in the center and pour the liquid ingredients in. Using a wooden spoon, gently combine the ingredients just until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Carefully fold in the frozen berries.

Pack the dough into 3 inch round cookie cutters, then carefully remove the cutter, leaving the scone on the baking sheet. Alternatively, shape the dough with your hands, making sure the top of each scone is flat. Leave enough room between the scones for them to double in size.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Let the scones cool on the sheet for a minute or so, then remove them and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

*Note: I found these to be just a touch on the salty side. I actually enjoyed them this way since the slight saltiness offset the sweetness of the berries. You may wish to reduce the salt slightly.