Since today is Thursday, and I don't teach on Fridays, I thought I should celebrate the end of another work week. Also, it's my half birthday, and that is clearly deserving of recognition, no? I mean, 35 1/2 is kind of a big deal! So I decided to make a pineapple upside down cake.
But, as you know, we don't do gluten or eggs in my house. And also, while I love to bake, I often find myself choking a little at the amount of sugar and butter (or oil) that many recipes call for. I mean, I like fat and sweet as much as the next person...especially fat...but man. There's gotta be balance, you know?
Anyway, I read a few pineapple upside down cake recipes, compared proportions in a half-assed way, and did the following.
1. Melted 2 T of salted butter in a 7x11 pan. Then added 4 T of brown sugar, and topped it all with pineapple chunks.
2. Mixed 2 T of salted with somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 c of granulated sugar. I beat them a little while, then added some vanilla, and some rum.
3. Added 1.5 cups of GF flour mix (for this kind of thing I use a blend of brown rice, potato and tapioca), 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 tsp xanthan gum. Mixed that all up with the butter, sugar etc.
4. It was not battery, not in the least.
5. So I used an idea from Smitten Kitchen and added pineapple juice til it looked battery. This did double duty actually, as I'd been planning to add some vinegar since the acidity, combined with the baking soda and baking powder, provides lift and fluffiness in egg free recipes. But pineapple juice is acidic too, and adds sweetness and pineapple flavor!
6. Then I spread the batter on the pineapple and put it in a 350 oven and cooked about 35 min.
Verdict: Yum! The amount of sugar was totally fine (maybe even more than needed). Next time I'm going to up the butter a bit, but over all, a success. I'd post a picture but, you know. We ate it.
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Saturday, March 15, 2008
In which it is shown that Jovis probably shouln't bake cakes
So, Zion's birthday is on Monday (for the historically inclined, today is the day, 4 years ago, that I caved in to my own desperation and took castor oil!). When I asked him what kind of cake he'd like he gave me a surprisingly detailed and creative answer for a four year old (at least in my experience). He said that he wanted, "a vanilla cake, with almonds. And with chocolate frosting so that it looks like a chocolate cake, but really it's a vanilla cake!" (I am totally glowing with foody mama pride over this, in case you were wondering!)
Anyway, this request was later modified somewhat to include strawberries and whipped cream and vanilla frosting instead of chocolate. I had this vision in my head, a vision of a layer cake with strawberry jam in between the layers, with a light coating of vanilla buttercream and sliced almonds all around the edges. Just before serving it would be topped with a glorious mound of whipped cream.
This afternoon I made strawberry jam (12 oz organic strawberries + 3/4 c sugar). Then I read a bunch of cake recipes, none of which were quite right for reasons of flavor or eggs or both. Then I baked my own cakes.
First the overflowed and burned a bit in my oven (the overflow, not the cakes). Due to the overflow the cakes were not pretty, but I didn't mind since they'd be covered up anyway. The real heartbreaker is that one of them just plain refused to come out of the pan, and the other came out rather unwillingly, resulting in further damage to its aesthetic appeal. *sob* Two guesses who'll be baking another cake tonight after the kids are in bed....(the party is in Brooklyn tomorrow, you see.)
I suppose I should look on the bright side and focus on how much nicer this is than being 9 days past one's due date and drinking castor oil!
Later that evening....
Well, I just couldn't face making another cake. So I decided to try putting the jam on the one layer, and then some sliced almonds, and then topping it with whipped cream tomorrow. Here's the result. It's not too bad, right?
And, for fun, here is the jam. Robert tasted it and said, "Good strawberry jam!" "Yes," I replied, "I'm very good at making jam. Just not cakes!"
Anyway, this request was later modified somewhat to include strawberries and whipped cream and vanilla frosting instead of chocolate. I had this vision in my head, a vision of a layer cake with strawberry jam in between the layers, with a light coating of vanilla buttercream and sliced almonds all around the edges. Just before serving it would be topped with a glorious mound of whipped cream.
This afternoon I made strawberry jam (12 oz organic strawberries + 3/4 c sugar). Then I read a bunch of cake recipes, none of which were quite right for reasons of flavor or eggs or both. Then I baked my own cakes.
First the overflowed and burned a bit in my oven (the overflow, not the cakes). Due to the overflow the cakes were not pretty, but I didn't mind since they'd be covered up anyway. The real heartbreaker is that one of them just plain refused to come out of the pan, and the other came out rather unwillingly, resulting in further damage to its aesthetic appeal. *sob* Two guesses who'll be baking another cake tonight after the kids are in bed....(the party is in Brooklyn tomorrow, you see.)
I suppose I should look on the bright side and focus on how much nicer this is than being 9 days past one's due date and drinking castor oil!
Later that evening....
Well, I just couldn't face making another cake. So I decided to try putting the jam on the one layer, and then some sliced almonds, and then topping it with whipped cream tomorrow. Here's the result. It's not too bad, right?
And, for fun, here is the jam. Robert tasted it and said, "Good strawberry jam!" "Yes," I replied, "I'm very good at making jam. Just not cakes!"
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