Cake Day

Chocolate cake-Japanese style

What day is today? （今日は何の日？）is a podcast my husband listens to. It is a radio broadcast from FM Fukuoka (FM 福岡) everyday, he lets me listen to some of the interesting topics. In only a minute or two it tells you (official or non-official) what day today is. According to the broadcast, January 6th is Cake Day. Because a cake shop owner in Ueno, Tokyo first advertised his store on January 6th 1879 (明治12年). It goes on to say that for Japanese, cake equals strawberry short cake and it is a staple (定番）in every cake shop in Japan. But the original Western version of shortcake was simply whipped cream and strawberry between the two pieces of bread and not even close to today’s standard. Legend has it that in 1922 (大正11年）Fujiya the major cake/sweet maker company created the strawberry shortcake to be suitable for Japanese taste. And that is what is widely available today.

What kind of cake should I make for cake day? Ooooh, so many choices, so little time. I crave something chocolate. I love Beast’s flourless chocolate cake but for my blog’s purpose, I made Japanese style chocolate cake and it was good! There are so many steps in this recipe so that means plenty of pans to wash but no PANs no glory… something like that? More and more Japanese homes are equipped with an oven thus more people make or try to make cake at home - it’s like a PANdemic. But, no PAN intended. OK! That is enough playing with words!

Ingredients for cake base use 8-inch round pan lined with parchment paper (parchment paper should be a couple inches higher than side of pan)

• Weak power flour (薄力粉）or cake flour 40g
• Almond powder 40g
• Unsweetened pure cocoa powder 40g
• Powdered sugar 40g
• 4 eggs - separate white and yolk
• Sugar 80g
• Unsalted butter 80g melted.

1. Combine flour, almond powder, cocoa powder and powdered sugar and sift. Set it aside.*
2. Put egg white in a stand mixer and beat for one minute or so at low speed. Add half of sugar and make meringue - first 30 second with low speed then high speed for 2-3 minutes then lower speed for an additional 30 seconds-this will make smooth meringue. Transfer the meringue to other bowl or a gallon zip-lock bag. Set it aside.
3. In a same stand mixer (without washing), put egg yolk and rest of sugar then mix at medium speed until the color turns pale yellow.
4. Add about a cup of meringue into the egg mixture then mix at low speed. Remove the bowl from the stand. Preheat oven to 356 F.
5. Add flour mixture all at once to egg mixture and gently fold it in with spatula.
6. Add melted butter and mix well.
7. Add rest of meringue one cup at time and combine using a cutting motion.
8. Pour into the prepared cake pan and tap the bottom few times. Put in the oven for about 17 minutes.
9. Insert tooth pick and check for doneness. It’s ok if some crumb stick to the tooth pick. Do not over bake.

*It may be hard to sift almond powder, do best as you can.

While cake is baking, make syrup- 2 tablespoon of sugar dissolved in 50cc of hot water. Add a few drops of rum flavoring (optional or real rum 30 cc). Set it aside.

Chocolate cream

• Bitter or semi-sweet chocolate 100g
• Heavy cream 100cc
• Rum flavoring 2-3 drops. If you are using real rum 2 tablespoons.

1. Break chocolate in small pieces and put In a microwave proof bowl.
2. Add heavy cream. Microwave for 30 second at 60% power, stir well then repeat the process until melted.
3. Add rum flavoring and cool. Set it aside.

Assemble the cake

1. When the cake is done, take out the cake by lifting the parchment paper onto a cooling rack. Remove paper.
2. Brush entire cake with syrup and cool (use all the syrup for rich flavoring).
3. Slice in half and spread 1/2 of chocolate cream between the slices and the rest of on top so that when you stack the cake, cream is in middle and top.
4. Chill the cake for 1 hour.

Miroirs or Grasaju (ミロワール・グラサージュ)

Miroirs means mirror. Grasaju means glossy or luster. It’s chocolate coating over the pastry to give it a glossy surface. This is an optional step but gives the cake that polished look and people think you are brilliant and it takes you to next ‘sheen’ level for sure. When it’s all done, reflect your accomplishment (oops, I had too much fun with words today). Anyway, this simplified version is not as difficult, but a candy thermometer is recommended. For coating soft sponge cake you need to spread whipped cream first. Otherwise it absorbs too quickly.

Ingredients

• Unflavored gelatin 1 packet
• 1/4 cup water for gelatin.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Water 80g
• Heavy cream 70g
• Granulated sugar 90g

1. Put the 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl and sprinkle on the gelatin. Do not stir. Set it aside.
2. In a small sauce pan put cocoa powder. Add the water, a small amount at a time, stirring to incorporate.
3. Add milk and sugar and heat at low heat. Stir the mixture when tiny bubbles show up around the edge of pan and stir again when bubbles show up, repeat as necessary. When the cocoa mixture starts looking glossy then remove from heat. Cool for 6-7 minutes.
4. Add prepared gelatin and dissolve in the cocoa mixture. Stir occasionally and it will thicken as it cools. Cool to 86 F.  If it’s too cold then it will be difficult to coat. Warm back up if it’s too thick.
5. Pour miroirs over the cake as quickly as possible. Tilt cake to cover sides too. Wait for the coating to dry. Put cake in fridge to speed up the drying process if you like. Do not cover with plastic until dry.

 

I am going to go Utah to see a friend for a few days. She is a fabulous non-pro pastry chef. She promised to make me a mont blonc cake, my fav, I feel lucky!. I will put the photo on next blog.

My orchid is in full bloom. I’m working on the macro lens I got for Christmas.

My husband uses the Stitcher radio app to listen to the podcast. You can find the podcast by looking in the iTunes store as well.

Dreamy

Dreamy Russian Cream

The Beef Wellington was baking in the oven on Christmas Day. My plan of making Christmas cake aka strawberry shortcake was altered to make this Dreamy Russian Cream (no, really, that is the real name of this recipe) because unlike my daughter’s kitchen I only have uno oven. The old newspaper clipping of this recipe was chosen for just that cause. 

For uneducated me, the images associated with Russia are very limited – the Kremlin, Lenin, Romanoff, Anastasia, crazy Rasputin, Chernobyl, babushka dolls, one of the 007 movies (From Russia With Love?), super cold and deep snow. Do they really have this for dessert? Though I have never been there, I know 5 people that have and 4 of them did missionary work in Russia (one of person was born and raised in Hawaii so it must have been quite an adjustment). I looked for a Jell-O mold in the house but could not find any. Right, I don’t make Jell-O but I have a Bundt pan. One thing that I was concerned about was will it come out from the pan cleanly? Or will we have to eat it from the pan with a spoon?

I needed to modify the recipe because I didn’t have one main ingredient- sour cream. Christmas day and Sunday so no store is open I bet. I substituted Greek style yogurt. It was better than I expected. The flavor is similar to panna cotta bit stiffer and as fans of panna cotta we’re delighted. I didn’t care for the old fashioned look of the dessert however and the ‘dreamy’ is overrated in my opinion but maybe not using sour-cream has something to do with that?

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin-use less if you like softer texture. 
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 pint half and half
• 1 cup sugar
• 16 ounces yogurt or sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla-for variation, try almond extract. 
• 2 cups strawberries, blueberries, peaches or other fruits- for Christmas color I used strawberries and kiwis.
• Raspberry sauce (optional)

1. Combine gelatin with cold water and set aside.
2. Heat half-and-half and sugar in a small sauce pan to scald stage over medium heat.
3. Remove from heat and stir gelatin into the pan with the cream mixture.
4. Add yogurt or sour cream and vanilla.
5. Pour into a 5-cup mold and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours or more.
6. Dip bottom of pan in warm water for 10 seconds or so to loosen. Put a plate larger than the mold over the pan and flip. Clap your hands if it comes out in one piece! (optional).
7. Decorate with fruits.

I love eating this dessert with raspberry sauce which is easy to make. Put however many raspberries you want in a small pan, add water just to cover the raspberries then add sugar and cook over low heat until it makes a syrupy sauce. Add a few drops of red food coloring if you have some to brighten the color. Add lemon juice. You can strain the syrup for a smooth seedless sauce. Now that’s more of a dreamy dessert!

Here is my husband with his Kindle. He is an avid and fast reader. The painting on the wall is one I painted in 2002. It’s my imaginary peaceful place I would like to vacation in.

I hope your 2012 will be healthy and happy and that all your dreams come true.

Mochi Mochi

Rice bread

Bread made with cooked rice was introduced in the Asahi Newspaper (a major newspaper in Japan) two years ago and caused a sensation among bread lovers. I was intrigued with how it tasted but it is not sold in US, at least not in our area so I looked for recipes. I came cross the cook book written by Kazumi Yamada whose daughter experimented with using leftover cooked rice to made bread for her family and it was a hit. Though they are not professional bakers, their love for making  bread ended up in newspapers and Yamada wrote a cook book about cooked rice bread. You can purchase her homemade breads at Dossari Ichi (どっさり市) in Shizuoka, Japan.     

Unfortunately this is not a gluten-free recipe since you still have to use bread flour in it. But using cooked rice (often left over rice) not rice flour makes economical sense and the bread turned out mochi mochi (もちもち), a Japanese word that describe food texture or skin condition but not easy to translate-springy, bouncy, moist and soft or all three of these combined which appeals to many Japanese.

All the recipes in the cook book are relatively simple and the bread machine does the hard part. I made basic bread first which I was not impressed and moved to chocolate variety with great success. You can create your own version of mochi mochi bread.

Ingredients for basic white bread-special equipment-bread machine

Note: If you are using a Japanese bread machine then cut this recipe in half.

• Cooked rice 200g –Soft cooked is better for this.
• Warm water 200g
• Milk 80g
• Bread flour 500g
• Sugar 50g
• Salt 1 teaspoon or 6g 
• Unsalted butter 30g
• Dry yeast 1 packet or 7g

1. Put cooked rice in bread machine pan then water. Wait for 10 or more minutes for the rice to soften.
2. Add milk, bread flour, sugar, salt, butter and finally if your machine has yeast dispenser, yeast go in there otherwise sprinkle the yeast over flour. 
3. Set machine to rapid bake and go play.
4. After it’s done, remove from pan and cool for 5 minutes or so then put the still-warm bread in a plastic bag- the steam will moisten the bread further.

Ingredients for double chocolate bread

• Cooked rice 200g
• Warm water 200g
• Milk 50g
• Heavy cream 50g
• Bread flour 500g
• Unsweetened pure cocoa 20g
• Sugar 60g
• Salt 1 teaspoon or 6g
• Unsalted butter 30g
• Dry yeast 1 packet or 7 g
• Mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chips (I did not have white chips so used butterscotch)

1. Put all ingredients except chocolate chips as basic bread above.
2. Set machine for dough only cycle.
3. When the dough is done, take out of machine and roll out to flat sheet.
4. Cut into 12 or so strips. Even though I didn’t do it this time, if you cut them into shallow parabolic shapes, it makes a prettier roll when done.
5. Top with chocolate chips and roll up like making cinnamon rolls.
6. Put in pan and loosely cover. Let rise in a warm place until about doubled in size.
7. Pre-heat oven to 150 C / 302 F.
8. Bake for 6 minutes then cover with aluminum foil and bake 13 minutes more.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I really like to dress up the table this time of year.

 

This is the Chinese characters for “Hope”

This was one of my favorite presents from a friend.

My cute 3 foot Santa!

The Thursday before Christmas it was cold and there was lots of frost. When the wind blew it was like snowflakes.

Wishing you a very happy New Year!

Sunshine

Orange rolls

I think Oregon’s gloomy and gray winter drives people to seek sunshine. So dark that I have to keep lights on all day today and pretend that the light bulb is the sun. I day- dreamed that I was somewhere in a warm place walking on a sandy beach, my hair blowing in the nice breeze and two little angelic people chasing me, calling me Nana. Buzzz, I was woken by sound of the washing machine signaling the finish. What a beautiful dream! Those children looked gorgeous!

We don’t get sunshine often this side of Northwest at this time of year. My husband is from southern Utah where pretty much everyday is sunshine. We moved to Oregon (and to Washington later and back in Oregon) where it rains a lot. He thought he couldn’t survive this much rain at first. Nagasaki, where I grew up, is well known for many rainy days. There is a famous Japanese song called ’Rain fell yet again today in Nagasaki’ (長崎は今日も雨だった）It is an often requested song at Karaoke bar in Japan by old folks. I know this song by heart and if you start singing it, it will be stuck in your brain forever. So rain didn’t affect me as much as him but gloominess is something different. All day shade is disheartening.

My husband agreed to make this rolls to cheer me up tomorrow because this needs overnight rest. This recipe is from ‘Simply so good’ and he loved it and has made it twice already. I can see the future with this recipe - many repeats.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/2 –5 cups flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water, set it aside for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together eggs, sugar and salt. Set it aside.
3. In a small saucepan, melt butter then add milk. Slowly pour into egg mixture mixing all the time.
4. Add yeast mixture and 2 cups flour. Mix until dough is smooth. Add remaining flour 1 cup at time. Only use needed amount of flour to form a smooth yet sticky dough. Do not add more than 5 cups of flour.
5. Cover dough with plastic wrap or aluminum foil then place in refrigerator overnight.

Ingredients for Orange filling

• 1/2 cup butter-melted
• 1 cup sugar
• Juice from 1 orange
• Zest from 1 orange

Combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl and stir to blend.

Final stretch-Preheat oven to 375 F

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil.

1. Butter or grease 2 muffin pans then set aside. (You can also do these like cinnamon rolls. I did half each way.)
2. Divide dough into two equal balls. Roll into a rectangle. Spread half the melted butter and orange mixture on the dough leaving 1/2 inch border around the sides.
3. Cut roll into 12 slices and place in prepared muffin pan.
4. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
5. Allow to rise until double in size.
6. Bake in a oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
7. When done baking, remove from pan by flipping the pans over onto a prepared cookie sheet.

Here is a picture of the other pan – cinnamon roll style.

These rolls are like sunshine in my stomach. Warm me way up so that I’m ready to go again to fight the crowds for last minute Christmas shopping.

On my son’s day off it is his turn to cook. He made pork chops, roasted Brussels sprouts, mashed potato with gravy and a can of corn.