…from the California Kitchen![]() How you doin’? St. Louis is Missouri's second-largest city and is known for its beer, baseball and The Blues hockey team, the Arch, the Mississippi River, the zoo and Ooey-Gooey Butter Cakes all in the center of the country. I’ve only been there a few times on client business and I’m sure there is much more than that—butter cake should be enough. If anyone can help me out, let me know what I’m missing. I’ve been told that in St. Louis Ooey-Gooey Butter Cakes are more than just a favorite dessert but an essential part of growing up. At first glance it’s just another slice of yellow cake. However, one taste will tell you it is really special—sweet, sticky with contrasting textures: a dense, cookie-like crust, and a sweet, gooey filling reminiscent of a vanilla custard. Nothing too complicated… just flour, sugar, butter, eggs and corn syrup, yet it’s immediately satisfying and luxurious to eat. It’s chewy, rich and creamy… almost like a vanilla pudding that’s been nestled into a blondie. You can find commercially made Ooey-Gooey Butter Cakes in most St. Louis grocery stores, bakeries, and restaurants, but homemade is so much better. Where did Ooey-Gooey Butter Cakes originally come from? Judy Evans, former Food Editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, says that the origins of the cake are shrouded in myth. Like so many great things it may have been the result of a happy accident. Maybe a baker was making a butter cake and messed up the proportions and voilà!... the ooey gooey butter cake was born. Another story is that this cake just started showing up in the early 1940s. Prep time: 20 minutes Proof time: 2 hours Bake time: 25-30 minutes Cool time: 20 minutes Yield: 16 servings Ingredients For the cake 1/4 cup whole milk 1 package active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 large egg 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons additional soft unsalted butter for prepping the pans For the filling 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 cup light corn syrup 1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature 1 cup cake flour 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting the cake Directions To make the cake
ChefSecret: Cake flour is a low protein flour that’s milled into a fine consistency. It contains about 7-9% protein, while all-purpose flour, a harder flour, has anywhere between 10-12% protein. What does this mean for baking? The protein content is directly related to gluten formation. Cake flour’s lower protein means less gluten is formed as you mix the batter together. Less gluten formation means a softer, fluffier texture. Don’t have any handy? You can make your own cake flour.
Quip of the Day: “My friend hurt his foot walking around a St. Louis landmark... it was the Arch.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Desserts #Snacks #Baking #Butter #OoeyGooeyButterCake #StLouis #Arch #JudyEvans #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022
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…from the California Kitchen ![]() How you doin’? For my generation there were lots of wonderful memories with some of mom’s or grandmother’s cooking—today’s kids may not have the same recollections. If you have a family favorite you might want to document now so it can live on as a family legacy to share with your current and future mini me’s. When I think back to my childhood most of the great baking came from my Aunt Esther and I have shared several recipes of hers with you on this blog. And then there was the yeasty waffle recipe from Aunt Waffle (actually, Aunt Ethel). My mother’s recipe… not so much. I once featured on one of my restaurant menus, “Apple Pie like mom used to make $2.95; Apple Pie like mom thought she made $5.95.” That being the case, I have a fascination with other moms’ great recipes. I recently read in Allrecipes that James Beard shared his mother's recipe for shortcake with a friend. James Beard claimed that his mother’s secret ingredient in baking her shortcake was finely crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks, which enrich the dough without toughening it. Even before Beard was the famous award-winning James Beard who wrote 20 cookbooks, hosted cooking shows and changed the game of modern cuisine, his mom was whipping up one seriously delicious—yet delightfully strange—shortcake recipe. Thanks mom! When I was in Melbourne several years ago, I worked with an old-world German pastry chef and he, too, used finely crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks, which enriched the dough without toughening it contributing to the baked cakes' perfectly tender crumb. The technique has also appeared in recipes from The Great British Bake Off in 2018. What I found out is that this method is common in Northern European baking, where savvy bakers discovered that the small egg yolk bits prevent too much gluten from forming in the dough, keeping the baked goods (like shortcakes) ultra-tender. The next time you’re in the produce section of your local supermarket and see all those beautiful, aroma-blessed fresh strawberries, pick up a couple of baskets (or flats) and then walk right by the packaged, convenience spongy bun shortcakes and go home to make your own home-baked shortcake pastry following the recipe below. Prep time: 30-40 minutes Bake time: 15 minutes Yield: 6 Servings Ingredients For the shortcake pastry 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling 1 tablespoon, plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled 2 hard-boiled egg yolks, pushed through a small mesh sieve 3/4 cup heavy cream, chilled 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter For the strawberry topping 3 pints fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and halved 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon orange liqueur For the whipped cream topping 1 cup chilled heavy cream 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract mint sprig (garnish) Directions To make the shortcake pastry
ChefSecrets: The secret to tender shortcakes is to not overwork the dough. Quip of the Day: “Why were the little strawberries so upset? Because their parents were in a jam!” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Desserts #StrawberryShortcake #Strawberries #EggYolks #JamesBeard #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the California Kitchen ![]() How you doin’? This is a delicious, fun crispy-cookie-style bar with the taste and texture of a Butterfinger bar. Butterfinger was invented by Otto Schnering in 1923 after he founded the Curtiss Candy Company in Chicago the year before. The company held a public contest to choose the name of this candy. In an early marketing campaign, the company dropped Butterfinger and Baby Ruth candy bars from airplanes in cities across the United States as a publicity stunt that helped increase their popularity—it was raining chocolate and peanuts. The first bite of a Butterfinger bar is a unique experience. There’s no candy that quite captures the same flaky crunch of this peanut-y pleasure. After several different shifts in ownership, the taste and texture has remained pretty much the same. The whole thing starts off with real, freshly roasted runner peanuts. These peanuts are then ground into a creamy peanut butter—the base for the Butterfinger filling, with additional ingredients to deliver that crispy, crunchy texture. To get that rich flakiness, the recipe calls for the addition of hybrid corn flakes to create the light, airy and perfect texture that compliments the smooth peanut butter. They’re stirred into the churning vat of peanut butter, making up the Butterfinger center! While the peanut butter is being readied, another mixture is boiling away. It is a mixture of molasses, corn syrup, sugar and water which is heated 300⁰ F degrees, and then poured onto a cooling table to rapidly bring down the temperature. The sudden temperature changes cause the candy to crystallize, adding even more of a bite to the consistency of the filling. Then the whole thing is covered with chocolate. Nestlé sold over twenty of their candy brands, including Butterfinger, to Italian chocolatier Ferrero, for $2.8 billion. The newly acquired brands were folded into the operations of the Ferraro Candy Company. Butterfinger has since been reformulated to improve the flavor and texture with a cleaner label. Here is my version of a clean label Butterfinger-style confection. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Cool time: 20 to 25 minutes Yield: 2 dozen servings Ingredients Food release spray (I prefer Pam) 4 cups crispy cereal (corn flakes or crispy rice) 2/3 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup white corn syrup (I prefer Karo) 1/3 cup molasses 1 (16 ounce) jar crunchy peanut butter 2 cups milk chocolate chips Directions
ChefSecrets: If you ever wondered, it’s the molasses that gives the Butterfinger the unique orange color. Quip of the Day: “I tried juggling some candy bars but kept dropping them. I guess I have Butterfingers.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Desserts #Snacks #ButterfingerBars #CrispyCereal #PeanutButter #NationalPeanutBoard #NPB #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 For Passover or Anytime When You Need A Chocolate Fix ![]() How you doin’? It’s coming close to when Jews around the world observe the Passover holiday. This year it coincides with April 15th. Maybe, just maybe the Angel of the IRS will pass over my house! There are a number of dietary restrictions that are important to this holiday, one of which is the absence of any leavening in baked goods. Being the author of Choclatique—150 Simply Elegant Desserts, I have a great chocolate dessert recipe that fits this requirement perfectly. Okay! Are you ready? Here is my new great-tasting Passover dessert! It’s a wonderful combination of flourless chocolate cake and coconut-almond macaroons. You will need to shop for kosher for Passover ingredients—coconut oil, toasted almonds, shredded coconut and, most importantly lots of cocoa powder and chocolate. The dessert has both great flavors and textures—it’s nutty, melt-in-your-mouth fudgy, rich and chocolaty and spiked with coconut. You’ll love the topping, too—a rich chocolate, glossy ganache sprinkled with crunchy, toasted coconut-almond clusters. The ganache may be a bit extravagant, and maybe it is, but it sets up to a very shiny finish and gives the cake its unmistakable Passover holiday elegance. Prep time: 35 minutes Bake time: 35 to 45 minutes Assembly time: 30 minutes Yield: 10 servings Ingredients (If strictly observing kosher or for the Passover holiday, be sure to look for the certifying kosher agency seal on ingredients) For the cake 1 cup virgin coconut oil, melted, cooled, plus more for the pan 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for the pan 1 cup skin-on almonds 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 6 large eggs, room temperature 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract For the ganache and assembly 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup Pinch of kosher salt 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (from a very well shaken 13.5-oz can) 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes 1 tablespoon sliced almonds 1 teaspoon granulated sugar Directions To make the cake
ChefSecret: My recipe is an easy cake to make (really it is), it has a lot of steps to help you avoid making mistakes. It can be baked a day ahead. More good things to think about—this cake is gluten-free and it can be dairy-free if you use vegan chocolate. Quip of the Day: “There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles.” What is Passover? Passover, also called Pesach is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Passover Seder is the ritual meal on Passover night—the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover is traditionally celebrated for eight days. The Passover Seder is one of the most widely observed rituals in Judaism. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Desserts #Baking #Cake #Kosher #ChocolateMacaroonCake #Passover #Coconut #Holiday #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the California Kitchen![]() How you doin’? Peanuts just might be the magical ingredient for a happy life. The peanut's origins have been traced to Peru. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish and then spread to Africa and Asia. It arrived in North America in the mid-18th century with African slaves. Before the salted caramel craze, there was the peanut pie. Some say it's simply a poor man's version of pecan pie—I don’t, I think it stands on its own and I love it. Others say its salty-sweet punch was inspired by the flavor thrills of a now-vanishing gas station treat created by pouring a five-cent packet of salted peanuts into a bottle of ice-cold Coke. Either way, we say it's a crackerjack pie. It's at its finest when made with roasted, Virginia peanuts, the super-sized Cadillac of peanuts grown in the sandy soils of Tidewater Virginia and North Carolina. The near century-old Virginia Diner, located a stone's throw from the country's first commercial peanut farm in Wakefield, serves up a swoon-worthy peanut pie topped with a tender peanut-brittle-like veneer. It's totally addictive. One of the first variations on the original recipe peanut pie that I tasted was Peanut Butter Cream Pie served at Williamsburg's Shields Tavern. There's something about this pie that gives it a nostalgic quality, whether through childhood memories jogged by the peanut butter flavor, or via the old-time creamy filling I remember as a kid. This pie recipe makes, what I would call, an upscale ice cream pie with a delightful crispy rice crust. This is one of those heritage recipes that you can easily add to your family’s must have list. Total Prep time: 15 minutes Chill time: 10 minutes (for the crust) Freeze time: 5 hours or overnight Yield: 8 servings (1 9-inch pie) Ingredients For the pie crust Food release spray (I prefer Pam) 1/3 cup unsalted butter 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 2-1/2 cups crispy rice cereal For the pie filling 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 10 ounces sweetened condensed milk 3/4 cup peanut butter 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup warm chocolate fudge sauce (more if you desire) 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts Directions To make the pie crust
ChefSecrets: I use creamy peanut butter, but it is okay to use crunchy. You can substitute a store-bought chocolate wafer crust for the crispy rice crust if you prefer. The lemon juice brightens the flavor of the pie filling without added salt. Quip of the Day: “Why did Charles Schultz call his comic strip Peanuts? The name Peanuts was chosen because it was a well-known term for children at the time, popularized by the television program “The Howdy Doody Show,” which debuted in 1947 and featured an audience section for children called the “Peanut Gallery.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Desserts #FrozenPeanutButterPie #PeanutButter #Chocolate #CrispyCereal #NationalPeanutBoard #NPB # #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 |
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