Cooking for Seven

This cake is my favorite.  The batter is not too sweet, the custard filling is so rich, and the whipped cream frosting is perfect.

Here’s a tip from Grandma: soak your poppy seeds in milk overnight.

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“I don’t mind some cake - seed-cake, if you have any.”

“Lots!” Bilbo found himself answering, to his own surprise; and he found himself scuttling off…to a pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon for his after-supper morsel.

When my sister read those words from The Hobbit, I could almost taste the seed-cakes. They sounded like a wonderful blend of sweet and savory. A perfect companion to tea.

Nearly tenyears after listening to that timeless tale, I decided to try my handing at baking up a beautiful seed-cake.

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Devil’s Food Cake

Chocolate & Almond Biscotti

Macadamia Nut Brownies

Milan Cookies

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

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The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus:  Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

I have wanted to make a many-layered cake ever since I saw a picture in a DK Geography book a few years ago. I searched the internet for a recipe, but couldn’t find one to my satisfaction.

I don’t believe that I am completely satisfied with this recipe (or my execution of it). The components were delicious. Vanilla sponge cake and deep dark chocolate buttercream frosting. How could I go wrong?

I totally ruined the caramel topping.

I didn’t cook the caramel nearly enough, so it seeped into the spongy cake and the topping was a soggy (yes, SOGGY) layer of lemon-flavored cake. Ah well, better luck next time. We just picked off the top layer and enjoyed the rest of the cake (with ice cream).

Now I’m dreaming of making a crepe cake. My sister Amanda (whom I thank for all of her help with making this challenge and whose feet you see in the above photo) has agreed to help me with that project. She informed me that she would go crazy if she took it on solo.

If you would like to try this recipe for Dobos Torte yourself, here is a link to the pdf file. Good luck!

You may recognize this recipe from a previous post - Our Christmas Brunch. It was buttery and a little crunchy from the poppy seeds, but not so rich as to make one sick. Perfect for brunch or a light dessert.

Sister Amanda liked it so much that she decided to serve it at our Girl’s Party.

Of course, we substituted whole wheat pastry flour for part of the AP flour. And we served ours with a mixture of cream cheese and orange zest. I’m not a big fan of sugar syrup.

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:: Orange Poppy Seed Cake ::

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks (1/2 pound or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup Demerara or granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• One 8-ounce container of sour cream
• 1/2 cup poppy seeds

Orange Cream Cheese Topping:

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Directions:

For the Cake
1) Grease a 9″ springform pan. Line the bottom with greased wax paper cut to size. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2) Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

3) Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the mixture is very light, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat the batter until it is smooth after each addition.

3) Decrease speed to low and add half the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides with a spatula. Beat in the sour cream followed by the rest of the flour mixture. Fold in the poppy seeds to give the batter a final mix.

4) Scrape the batter into prepared pan and bake for about an hour or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the Topping

1) In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the butter and beat until smooth.

2) Add the maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of cream, orange zest, and orange juice. Beat until smooth. Taste and add more maple syrup, if needed. Add more cream if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.