Chocolate Confetti Chiffon Cake with Almond Crunch'

Is December, this momma turn 47 young yesterday , nothing fancy happen since I don't like to celebrate birthday especially my own but I baked cake for sure, not because of birthday's girl need cake but I have 2 cookies monsters at home who keep looking what under cake dome .. any time !!! I said any time, I am not joking ..  

Anyway, I visited a local library the other day and found this recipe from book I borrow (ssst.. I tell you secret, I love flip all cooking books - I always amazed by pretty pictures under tag 'food'  hahaha ..  are you with me ?) 

The recipe called 'Chocolate Confetti Chiffon Cake with Almond Crunch' .. whoaaa... that is a long title for the cake, so I baked this cake on my birthday and surprise (or not surprise) this two cookie monsters love the crunch topping on the cake and off course the chocolate confetti inside the cake

So here is the recipe I slightly copy so I won't forget and will make another time for sure

Chocolate Confetti Chiffon Cake with Almond Crunch

from : Fine Cooking Book - 100 Best-ever Recipe

For the topping

1 large white egg

1 1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 tbsp granulated sugar

For the cake

1 1/2 cup miniature semi sweet chocolate chips

2 1/4 cup cake flour (all purpose flour, will work too - just shifted 2times)

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup corn or canola oil (vegetable oil, work as well)

7 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup waters

1 tsp vanila extract

1 tsp almond extract (skip if you don't have)

1/4 tsp cream of tar tar (fresh lemon juice can be used as substitute 

For Glaze

1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

3 - 4 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

Prepare the Topping

Heat the oven 325F . Have ready un greased non stick baking sheet

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs white with fork until foamy, about 30 second. Stir in the nuts until they're evenly coated. Sprinkle sugar over the nuts.  Spread the nuts with wooden spoon onto the baking sheet.  Bake for 5 minute, stir the nuts and bake again for another 5 -8 minutes.  Remove the nuts, immediately stir them .  The nuts will become crispas the cool. Set a side

Make the Cake

Heat the oven to 325 F    Have ready 10inch un greased chiffon pan

In food processor , pulse the chocolate until some of them are finely grated and the rest have formed small crumbs

In a large bowl, shift together flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, salt. Male a well in the center and put in the oil, egg yolks, water, vanila, almond extract. Beat the mixture until smooth and thick.  Fold in the reserved chocolate chips. Set a side

In a large , clean bowl stand mixer, whisk white eggs, cream of tar tar until foamy, add little by little remaining granulated sugar, Beat until soft peaks form

Stir about 1/3 white eggs mixture into yolk batter, gently fold .  Do it until all the mixture comes nicely together .   Bake for about 1hour 15 minutes, depend on your oven (make sure you check with clean skewer)

Invert the pan onto a bottle with narrow neck and cool thoroughly about 1 hour  than remove the cake , slide onto a serving plate

Make the Glaze :

In a small bowl, stir sugar, mil and extract, adding enough milk to make a smooth glaze, set a side 2 tbsp.   Spread the remaining glazed over the top of the cake, you might not used all of it.  Cover the top of cake with prepared almond crunch , drizzle the reserved glazed.  Enjoy

Ketan Serundeng Ikan / Glutinous Rice Cake with Shreded Fish Topping

I've been contacted by Lubna Karim - from Yummy Food ; to participate into her event "Joy from fasting to feasting" about a week ago. But with all 'the chaos' around me ; I hardly to manage my time until today . 

I love her idea to share our tradition to other fellow blogger during Ramadan - wish I have more time to take more decent picture than the one I sent to her.

Take a peek at her blog and her event HERE - and you will find so many interesting recipes from all around the world and common serve during Ramadan.

I share 'Ketan Serundeng Ikan'  recipe and will be posted at her blog on August, 7. This recipe is always bring my childhood memory back - the time that I love to sit together with my family for iftar (fasting break time).  After all, what better than soul food for yourself, huh ? :)

 

 

Ketan Serundeng Ikan // Glutinous Rice Cake with Shredded Fish Topping

 

Ingredients :

 

500gr glutinous rice , rinsed well, soaked into the warm water for 1 hours, drained

 

250ml lite coconut milk

2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

 

Ingredients for fish topping :

300gr red snapper fillet or tuna or tilapia ; steam for about 10 minutes ; shredded when is cold enough to handle

2 Bay Leaves

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp sugar

2 Lime Leaves

 

The Spices, grind very well all the ingredients bellow with mortar or food processor :

3 medium garlic

2 red bird pepper / 2 tbsp sambel oelek

1/2 tsp coriander powder

5 shallot

Directions :

1. Steam the glutinous rice for about 10 minutes

2. Meanwhile In medium pot, boiled coconut oil, turmeric powder, salt - stir very well. Than, add into the rice, mix together, add lime juice. Steam it again until cooked through about 15 more minutes.

3. Fish Topping : in medium wok, saute the spices , bay leaves, lime leaves with vegetable oil until translucent, than add shredded fish , stir ; add sugar and salt. Cooked until the mixture become dry.

4. Serve the cake rice with fish topping. Enjoy.



Thank You .. *I'm back*

 

Forgive me not updating my blog for almost 2 and half months - and I know some of my friends and contacts still looking after me ; wondering where am I going ? What happened with me . For that matters I would like to say Thank You that you are so loyal to me.

I'm still around , kind of busy with my family to take care , but I promise I will come back when I have a plenty time like before to share my recipes to you and visiting you again.

You know, sometime life is going to different direction without warning - our life just turn to other directions that we never expect . It was sad, it was nerve- racking . For some reason, I need to be strong ; I must to believe that everything happen for a reason - always rainbow after rain. I have no energy to be sad, and at the end we know, there is Allah always help us to find the way out :)

I (we) always feel blessing that we have many family and nice friends around . To me , is so easy to see who is your truly friend is , they who come to you during hard time and not always in a good time. Trust me, is not always about money, but just simple question, if we still alive or not.. that is mean a lot to me.

I know I cant thank you enough for what friends, family did to us but just let me share a little thing that I made from the bottom of my heart. How grateful I'm - to have you as my family friends .

 

Thank you R, Thank you F .. you guys are awesome supportive friends..

Happy Spring - Nowruz - Persian New Year

 

Today is officially First Day of Spring ! But the weather just horrible , still cold, breezy, even we still expect to get more snow during this week ... eeeewww... last weekend was the second weekend without sunshine at all .

First Day of Spring mean is Nowruz, Persian New Year ! - The festival of Nowruz is celebrated by many groups of people in the Middle East, Central and South Asia, but particularly by Persians or various Iranian Peoples. It's the time to make new beginnings, realize dreams and reach new goals.

And this year,it's a first time for me to really try prepared several stuff to accommodate New Year celebrations like plant the wheat sprout representing rebirth .  I preparing to serve a good meal for dinner tonight too ; which is must to cook : Baqala polow (dill rice with fava beans) and smoked fish.

To honor my husband culture, today I bake Nan-e berenji (cardamom rice cookies) ; I never bake this cookies before, but after read the recipe, though is pretty easy to bake and since cardamom is become familiar spice to use at my household, I know I will like this type of cookies. Oh yeaah, I was right - this is a type of cookies that you wont to stop to eat, melt on your mouth and before you know you will keep hold the cookie jar for yourself  , don't ask me how my little one loves this cookies. She is doesn't mind with the aroma of rose water at all.  She loves the cookies as I do :)

Try to prepare some ingredients day a head, and keep in your mind that this cookies is so soft and easy to crumble so be careful when you transfer the cookies from tray to the jar.
 

Cardamom Rice Cookies - Nan-e Berenji
Recipe : Najmieh K.Batmanglij (A Taste of Persia)

For Syrup :
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 tbsp. rose water (easy to find at Mid-East Store)

For Batter :
3 eggs yolks
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup clarified butter or Ghee *see note*
1/2 cup corn oil
1 1/2 tsp cardamom
3 cups rice flour
2 tbsp. poppy seed or fine grind pistachio nuts

 

Directions :
1.Combine the sugar and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture boil over. Remove from the heat, add the rose water, and set aside to cool. This syrup should be room temperature and not too thick. Set aside I cup and bottle the remainder for future use.

2.In a warm mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks with 1 tablespoon sugar and beat well, until creamy.

3.In another mixing bowl, combine the clarified butter, oil, cardamom, and rice flour. Mix well for a few minutes then add the egg yolk mixture and mix a few seconds. Add the I cup syrup from Step 1 and knead well for a few seconds, or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. This will create a snow-white dough. Allow the dough to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature.

4.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

5.Take a spoonful of dough, roll it into a ball the size of a hazelnut, flatten it slightly, and place it on the cookie sheet. Repeat, leaving 2 1/2 inches between each ball. With a fork or the edge of a cookie cutter, draw geometric patterns on the cookies and sprinkle them with poppy seeds. You may also use a cookie press (readily available in most cookware stores) to stamp a design in the dough.

6.Place the cookie sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake the cookies 10 to 15 minutes. Keep in mind that the cookies should be white when they are done.

7.Remove the cookies from the oven and cool. Lift the cookies off the baking paper carefully: They crumble very easily.

8.Arrange the cookies in a pyramid on a footed cake dish.

 

Make about 36medium cookies

 

Make your own Clarified Butter (Ghee)

Even so easy to find ghee at store, but why not make your own .. very simple and yet safe more money.

 

Melt 1 lbs of unsalted butter in sauce pan ; when it bubbles, cover and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minute, until most of the froth subsides.  Let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes

Then strain the liquid through one layer of muslin or three layer of cheese-cloth to separate the clear butter fat from the milk solids. Discard the solid and store the ghee in a tightly closed jar in your refrigerator.