Birthday Cake, Breakfast Cake: Upsidedown Cake from Rachel Allen's Favorite Food at Home

This weekend we are celebrating my birthday.  I’m not one to get too excited about my upcoming birthdays.  Most of the time I forget about my birthday, or I would, if not for my mother who always sends me the most thoughtful gifts and tells me my birth story each and every year (and no, I never get tired of hearing it).  This year is a little different however, because my son, Emmett who is three now LOVES birthdays. He’s been excited about mine for weeks.  To him, birthdays mean CAKE and I cannot let him down.

The fact is, not only am I not a “birthday person” but I’m not really a “birthday cake person” either.  Don’t get me wrong, I love sweets as much as the next person but in terms of cakes, I’m much more of an afternoon tea or a breakfast cake eater than a dessert cake type.  I am drawn to cakes that are moist, fruity and tart, the kind you could imagine having for breakfast with a cup of tea or coffee.

So, in selecting my birthday cake this year I knew the following:

#1 – I could not forgo cake because, Emmett

#2 – I wanted something in the vein of a “breakfast cake”; and

#3 – after a long Chicago winter and a not very spring-like spring, I wanted something bright, something that would remind me that we are on the precipice of longer, warmer days.

Somehow I knew that Rachel Allen would not let me down.  I picked up her fantastic cookbook “Favorite Food at Home” and sure enough, it had just what I was looking for.  First, I noticed a Plum and Rhubarb Crisp that is exactly MY kind of dessert, but unfortunately, not a cake (see #1 above).  So the final decision ended up being between Sponge Cake with Rhubarb Cream and Upsidedown Rhubarb and Ginger Cake.  Talk about a tough decision.  Well, until, I thought to whip up some Bird’s custard to spoon on top of each piece of the Upsidedown Cake.  Did I mention that I am definitely a “custard person”?  That’s when I knew this had to be my breakfast-birthday cake this year.  

You know what they say about the best laid plans right?  Well, all three of my birthday choices involved rhubarb (which I thought was a safe bet because it is supposed to be rhubarb season), but when I went shopping there was no rhubarb to be found anywhere. Disgruntled but not defeated I decided to find a replacement for the rhubarb but nothing seemed right. After much deliberation and in spite of #3 above, I finally settled on cranberries. Despite their complete lack of seasonality, in terms of taste, I thought they would make the best stand in and I wasn’t wrong.

This cake is both sweet and tart with a terrific texture – moist cake topped with soft pieces of cooked down fruit and crisp bits of caramelized sugar tucked in around the edges of the berries. It really needs no accompaniment. Rachel Allen suggests topping it with fresh whipped cream which sounds amazing. Emmett wanted his with ice cream, also a solid choice. But I am a custard girl through and through.

Because Paul is only selectively fond of ginger (i.e. gingersnaps and gingerbread) I replaced the ginger with some vanilla bean paste and lemon zest.  I also used a cake pan because my cast iron skillet is enormous.  So I melted the butter on the stovetop, added the brown sugar and cranberries and poured the whole mixture into the cake pan instead of doing it in a skillet. It was birthday perfection and even better the next morning with a big dollop of greek yogurt (or more custard, I won’t tell if you won’t) and a cup of tea. You can bet I will be baking this again with rhubarb as soon as I can get my hands on some.

A Cranberry Cake adapted from Upside-Down Rhubarb and Ginger Cake

from Rachel Allen's "Favorite Food at Home."

Makes:  8 servings

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar (divided)

12 ounces rhubarb, trimmed and cut into ¾-inch chunks OR 12 ounces of frozen cranberries

1 2/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk or sour milk

1/3 cup vegetable or sunflower oil

1 generous teaspoon grated ginger OR the zest of one small lemon and 1tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

Softly whipped cream OR Bird’s custard

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in medium (10-inch) ovenproof frying pan. Stir in half the brown sugar and cook over low heat about 2 minutes. Add the rhubarb (cranberries) - no need to stir - and remove from heat. Set aside.

I added the brown sugar-butter-cranberry mixture to the bottom of the cake pan and just tried to spread it out in an even layer before pouring the cake batter on top. 

Into a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Okay, we didn't sift it.  But this little guy stirred and stirred. 

In a 2-cup glass measuring cup or small bowl, whisk eggs and add remaining brown sugar, the buttermilk, oil and ginger (or zest and vanilla).

Our liquids are in the measuring cup in the center of this photo, just waiting to be whisked and incorporated into the batter. Emmett was so proud of himself for cracking the eggs and getting them all in the cup (no eggshells!). 

Mix together, then pour into dry ingredients and whisk to form a liquid batter.

Pour over rhubarb, in our case, cranberries, in pan. Place pan in preheated oven and bake 30 minutes or until cake feels firm in center.

The top, um bottom, was so beautifully browned and a little crisp around the edges.  It was a good idea to bake this on a baking sheet to catch the overflowing juices. 

Cool 5 minutes before turning out by placing an inverted plate over top of pan and turning pan and plate over together in one quick movement. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate Éclairs: A French Dessert with Irish Flair

This afternoon we are heading over to the home of our very close friends.  Our kids love to play together and we usually have dinner and try to squeeze in some adult catch-up talk before heading home to put the little ones to bed.   People say it’s the Japanese side of me but I hate going anywhere empty handed.  Not that it doesn’t happen, but I think it’s so nice to at least try to arrive with something for your host.  So, for tonight I wanted to prepare a dessert that we would all enjoy without having to make an extra trip to the store.  Inexplicably, I came up with chocolate éclairs.  Chocolate éclairs.  Yes. I know they seem like EXACTLY the opposite of a treat you could just whip up with stuff that you already have in your fridge and pantry, but looks can be deceiving. I don’t know about you, but I always have eggs, flour, sugar, chocolate, and a canister of Bird’s Custard Powder in my cupboard – from the Irish Boutique (of course).  Believe it or not, that’s all you really need to make éclairs.  There are a few steps in the process but none of them are difficult.  I love it when a recipe is both impressive and simple.

I start by making the custard because it needs to cool before I can assemble the éclairs.  I’ve included instructions on how to make Bird’s Custard below despite the fact that there are easy to follow instructions on the side of the canister.  This is because U.K. measurements are a little different from the ones we use here in the U.S.  Personally, I do just fine winging it and adjusting the amount of milk, sugar and custard powder depending on how sweet, thick or thin I want my custard to be.  I'm not much of a measurer, but I’ve included the recommended amounts (the ones on the canister) below in U.S. measurements so you can make it the way it's intended to be.   

Birds Custard

1. Put 2½  tablespoons* of custard powder and 1½-2½  tablespoons of sugar in a heatproof bowl or measuring cup.

*Technically, the proper amount of custard mix is 2.4 tablespoons but I rounded to 2½ for the sake of simplicity.  Like I said, I'm not much of a measurer.

2. Mix into a smooth paste with a little (approx. 2½  tablespoons) milk taken from 1 Imperial pint (568ml/2.36 cups/19.2 ounces).

3. Heat the remaining milk to nearly boiling and pour onto the custard mix; stirring well.

4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to the boil over a gentle heat; stirring continuously.

NOTE: Because I wanted to fill my éclairs with a thick, vanilla-flavored custard, I adapted the ratio of ingredients a bit.  I ended up using about 3½ tablespoons of custard powder, 1½ tablespoons of sugar and only 2 cups of milk and stirred in ½ a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste after I took the custard off the heat.  For a pourable custard, the kind we usually eat, I would go with the measurements provided on the canister.

Once the custard is ready - it will thicken more as it cools – cover it with a piece of plastic wrap so that it does not form a skin and refrigerate until cold.

On to the choux pastry.  This is the stuff profiteroles (cream puffs) are made out of. When shaped into round balls they are called profiteroles and when shaped into logs they are known as éclairs.

Pâte à Choux (cream puff dough)

makes about 16 3-inch éclairs

¼  cup whole milk

¼ cup water

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

½ tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Pour milk, water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Dump in all of the flour at once and turn the heat down to low.  Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together in a smooth ball.

Now, take the dough out of the saucepan and place it in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix the dough at medium-low speed until it cools down a bit and add the first egg.  The mixture breaks each time you add an egg.  Don't be scared, just keep mixing. It will come back together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the second egg.  Scrape down the sides again and continue to mix until a smooth paste is formed.

Place a pastry bag with a large pastry tip or a plastic ziptop bag in a large glass.  Roll the sides of the bag over the glass and use a spatula to fill the bag with the dough.  Cut the tip of the bag off and pipe the dough in 2½ inch logs onto your prepared sheet pan.  

Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 10 more minutes. Leaving the oven ajar just a bit, bake 5 more minutes until the éclairs are a light golden color. Cool completely on a rack.  

Once éclairs have cooled completely, cut them in half length-wise and fill a pastry bag (or a ziptop bag with the tip cut off) with your chilled custard.  Pipe a generous amount of custard onto one half of each éclair and sandwich the filled half and the unfilled half together. Place éclairs back in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Let your baby suck the extra custard out of the pastry bag to instill an early love of baking. 

Ganache

4 ounces heavy whipping cream

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

When you are ready, make the ganache.  Heat the whipping cream in a saucepan or in the microwave until simmering and pour over the chopped chocolate.  Wait a couple of minutes before gently stirring, taking care not to incorporate too much air. Now, dip your éclairs in the ganache and place back in the fridge until you are ready to leave the house.  

Look how shiny they are! I sprinkled sea salt on about half - for the adults- and left the rest plain.

Good luck getting them all into the fridge!

Sunday Breakfast: Irish Scones

Hi. My name is Michelle and I am married to Paul Barry, son of Paddy and Linda Barry who opened the Irish Boutique and Paddy's on the Square in Long Grove about 40 years ago. My husband's brother John, my brother-in-law and uncle extraordinaire to our two (plus one due in June) children now manages the three family stores in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. Today we are blogging about Irish Scones and baking with kids.  You can find all of the products we are using today at the Irish Boutique in Long Grove and Crystal Lake.

Yesterday we took a trip to the Irish Boutique (AKA "Ireland" or "Uncle John's House", according to my three-year old son Emmett) and picked up this scone mix. Perfect for breakfast on a cold day in April that feels more like a winter morning than a spring one. 

Emmett was excited about being the chef. Once we washed our hands and put on his apron we were more than ready to get started.

The beauty of making these scones is that there' s not too much preparation to take care of before you get to the fun part of kneading, shaping and baking.  Just pour 3/4 cup water in the biggest bowl you can find (if you happen to be doing this with a three-year old, otherwise any bowl will do) and add the mix. 

We set the bowl on the floor when we added the mix because the stool we were using wasn't tall enough for Emmett to get to a comfortable chef height. Then we wised up and brought a chair over to the counter.  Much better. 

And stir.

Once a shaggy dough has formed, turn it out onto a countertop lightly dusted with flour (or not so lightly, I am only the sous-chef here). If I am being honest, there was a teensy tiny part of me that worried about getting too much extra flour in the mix and making the scones tough but they came out just fine. Note to self: baking with children is NOT the time to give into your Type A tendencies.

Shape into scones. We don't have a biscuit cutter but we did have this nice "B" cookie cutter that worked just fine. 

All that's left to do is pop them in a 400F oven - we threw a tray of bacon in there for good measure - and wait 15-20 minutes. Just enough time to clean up and make a cup of tea.  

We couldn't help but take a peek once the kitchen started to smell amazing. 

Serve with butter and Mileeven Irish Whiskey Marmalade.

Baby sister approved. She was feeling under the weather but didn't let that stop her from eating a whole scone. Yum.