Happy Birthday, French Style

How do you imagine your perfect birthday cake?

Is it a mountain of yellow cake smeared with billowy buttercream, or something more along the lines of a dark chocolate tart?

Maybe it's easier to start along the lines of what someone woudln't want in a birthday cake. Take my sister, for example. She wouldn't want ginger in her cake, no way. Cooked fruit wouldn't really make her very happy either. As for orange blossom, well, she's allergic to it.

This is why my sister's birthday cake had orange blossom mousse. No joke. Obviously, I wasn't planning a remake of a Roman tragedy: my sister falling over in the middle of a restaurant clearly wasn't my goal. I wanted her to fall over, sure, but in surprise, joy and excitement over the fact that it was her birthday and she was spending it in Paris. So let's make something clear: she's mildly allergic to orange blossom, but loves it. And what my sister loves, I do. (Aww.)

A french party cake isn't usually a butter or oil cake like you find in the United States. In France it's all about the génoise. Genoise is a sponge cake, made mostly with eggs and hardly any butter. The result is light and airy, and filled with mousse, it becomes a great dessert for any occasion. Frost it with almond dark chocolate ganache, and then, you've got yourself a proper birthday cake.

What better way to celebrate a birthday in France than a French birthday cake? Having it sliced, plated and served in a restaurant probably belongs on that list--but maybe I was the one falling over at that point.

After her allergy headache went away, my sister's verdict was that this was quite a tasty cake. For anyone who enjoys orange blossom and almonds (allergies or not, but watch out though), this cake is a great way to have the two flavors meld together without being overwhelming.

And since I didn't do enough overwhelming with the cake, I'll be overwhelming in my extension of what a "birthday weekend" really is. It's already Thursday, six whole days later, but that's alright:

Happy Birthday, Biquetta!

Génoise

makes one 9-inch cake

4 eggs, separated
1c. + 2 TB granulated sugar
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 TS baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking powder.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks in a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer. Add sugar and keep beating at medium speed. Decrease speed, add egg yolks all at once, followed by flour mixture.

Beat until just incorporated and immediately pour into cake pan. Bake until golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes.

Let cool in pan. Serve the same day or the next. The génoise can also be frozen if well-wrapped.

To assemble cake: cut génoise in half and spread mousse between layers. Cover with ganache frosting and decorate with toasted almonds.

Orange Blossom Mousse

makes 500g mousse, more than enough to fill a 9-inch cake

6.5 TB water

1 1/2 TB orange blossom water

1 TB powdered gelatin

1 1/2 c. Italian Meringue (recipe follows)
1 3/4 c. whipped cream

for Italian Meringue:

3 egg whites

1/4 c. water

1 3/4 c. + 1.5 TB granulated sugar

Boil water and sugar until mixture reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer.

Beat egg whites to soft peaks on high speed. reduce speed to medium and add syrup. Beat until mixture cools slightly.

for Mousse:

Heat water, orange blossom water and powdered gelatin until dissolved.

Delicately mix Italian meringue and whipped cream. Add water/gelatin mixture and combine. Use immediately or refrigerate up to one day before using.

Dark Chocolate Almond Ganache

makes enough to frost a 9-inch cake

7 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1 c. heavy cream
1 TS almond extract

Place chopped chocolate in the bowl of a food processor.

Scald heavy cream until bubbles appear at the sides of the saucepan.

Pour cream  and almond extract over chopped chocolate and process for approximately one minute until smooth. Pour into a dish and refrigerate, stirring every hour, for several hours or until you reach desired consistency.

Frost cake immediately, or refrigerate ganache until ready to use. Bring to room temperature before using.

Danette: A National Dessert

Step into a French grocery store, big or small, and walk towards the yogurt and refrigerated dessert aisle.

What you'll notice first is the stunning variety of products, similar to the cereal aisle in the United States yet so different from the yogurt selection you would find there. In France, yogurt and crème dessert are found in nearly every family's fridge.

Look back at the aisle in the grocery store. There will be a large section devoted to colorful packs of four individual dessert puddings: Danettes.

A quick YouTube search of "Danette" will show you just how impactful their advertising, with the popular slogan "On se lève tous pour Danette" ("Everybody rises for Danette"), has been throughout the years. First introduced in 1970, you can now find fifteen flavors at any given time. They range from the classic vanilla or chocolate, to the more daring extra dark chocolate, vanilla-caramel, or pistachio. Watch out, though: don't get these confused with Jell-O pudding. Danettes are primarily made with whole milk and have a true creamy taste that you don't find in any other industrial dessert.

Peek into the fridge of any French pudding aficionado--whether they're 10 or 100 years old--and there's a good chance you'll find a tub of Danette. My personal preference is the extra dark chocolate, but give me any other flavor and I'll be more than happy to devour it.

Since Danette was created in 1970, exactly forty years ago, they decided to celebrate with a bang. A beang, meaning a huge Danette free-for-all in the heart of Paris. For a week in mid-September, you could walk right into the Danette "pop-up store" in the first arrondissement and have your pick of one of the fifteen flavors, with an array of crunchy toppings: coconut, crispy chocolate cereal, you name it. Once you grabbed your Danette, you could head over to the baking space, where a chef demonstrated how to use Danettes in baked goods, namely chocolate tart.

Of course, the best part was going back outside with your Danette in hand. One look around you and it was pretty easy to notice that everyone was looking at you--with an extreme sensation of jealousy.

As they say, on se lève tous pour Danette. In some countries, you rise for a flag. In others, well, it's all about dessert.

Compost Cookies

Have you ever had a baked good, only to spend hours on end wondering what, exactly, was in it? What was that indescribable, absolutely addictive taste?

If that's your thing, meet the Compost Cookie.

For all the salty-sweet lovers out there, listen up. For those not so convinced by the power of a chocolate-covered pretzel, well, listen up too. You just might be pleasantly surprised.

The compost cookie is officially the creation of pastry chef Christina Tosi from Momofuku Milk Bar in New York--but I'm pretty sure home bakers all around the world have been experimenting with add-ins in their cookies for quite a while. A quick survey around me found tasters (i.e. my fellow colleagues) to think of the obvious when I asked them to guess what exactly was in these compost cookies. Chocolate? Check. Some kind of nut? Check (almonds and hazelnuts, finely chopped). Salted butter? Nope. They ran out of ideas, and ended up pretty surprised when they heard the remaining ingredients...scroll down for the answer!

The subtelty of the compost cookie is that while you may add strange ingredients, that seemingly don't pair well at all, the result is completely cohesive from a flavor standpoint. Brown sugar imparts a butterscotch aroma to the baked cookies, which in turn pairs quite well with chocolate, pretzels, or... corn chips. "Don't knock it till you've tried it" is what they say. 

The preparation of the batter is an oddity as well--ten minutes of beating and a good hour (at least) in the refrigerator make for some cookies that ended up a little too much on the crunchy side for me. Good thing I kept part of the cookie dough and baked it in individual pans, making two huge cookie "bars"--chewy and utterly addictive.

It's hard to summarize a cookie with so many ingredients in just one sentence. But here goes: have you ever dreamt of going to the concession stand at the movies and getting one of everything? 

Let your dream come true with a compost cookie.

Compost Cookies

adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar

yields 12 large cookies

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. granulated sugar
3/8 c. light brown sugar
1/2 TB corn syrup (I didn't have any and left it out with no noticeable effects)
1/2 TS vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 c. + 2 TB all purpose flour
1 TS baking powder
1/2 TS baking soda
1 TS salt
3/4 c. of your favorite baking ingredients (options: chocolate chips, nuts, etc.)
3/4 c. of your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor, cream butter, corn syrup and sugars until fluffy and light in color.

Add egg and vanilla. Beat on high for ten minutes (or a little less if, like me, you're afraid of killing your mixer): mixture should become pale and almost double in size.

Delicately mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until just combined. Stir in baking ingredients and snack foods.

Drop cookies onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to one day.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C.

Bake 9 to 11 minutes, until golden. Cool cookies completely on pan and store in an airtight container.

Blown Out of Proportion

It's easy to make a big deal out of nothing.

A quick sideways glance can become a declaration of love for some.

In other cases, it's all about the crumb. You dropped that cookie crumb on the ground? And pretended like you didn't see it? The perfect start to a dramatic tirade. Not like that's my type or anything.

When I get tired of things being blown out of proportion all day long, I react in a manner that is perfectly bizarre. I blow other things out of proportion--in an outburst of complete giddiness. Well, first it starts with a childish temper tantrum. But it all becomes filled with rainbows and blue skies when I pick up a spatula and preheat the oven.

Let's get it on, food processor. 

It's easy to make a big deal of cupcakes: who doesn't? Sure, you've got the ones who rain on the cupcake parade all the time, with statements along the lines of "Cupcakes are overrated", or "They aren't really anything special". I beg to differ: yes, they are. When you've had a rather annoying day for various reasons, a pink and sprinkle-laden baked good is an amazing little thing. 

Eating a cupcake becomes an act akin to deep meditation. You look at it closely, taking in the color of the frosting and its apparent creaminess. It's like a treasure chest waiting to be opened. First, the wrapper, followed by a first bite. It can be tricky to get just the right amount of frosting and cake in that first bite, but don't despair. When you succeed, the creamy taste of butter melds with a smooth vanilla flavor and a just-right sweetness for an unforgettable few seconds.

Am I blowing things out of proportion? Probably, but rightfully so. 

Don't pay attention to all those cake crumbs I'm dropping on the ground, though.

 Vanilla - Vanilla Cupcakes

makes 12-14 cupcakes

cake recipe adapted from Rose Levy Berenbaum's Heavenly Cakes

for the cake:
3 large egg whites
2/3 c. milk
1 1/2 TS vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. granulated sugar
2 1/2 + 1/8 TS baking powder (I only used 2 1/2 TS)
1/2 TS salt
1 stick (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.


Note: All ingredients should be room temperature.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites, 3 TB milk and vanilla until lightly combined.

In a stand mixer or food processor, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt for 30 seconds. Add butter and remaining milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes.

Gradually add the egg mixture to the batter in two parts, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.

Scoop into prepared cupcake pan, filling each liner about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a knife inserted in the centers comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes, and cool completely on a wire rack.

for the frosting:
3 TB all-purpose flour
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 TS vanilla
food coloring, optional

In a saucepan, heat flour and milk, stirring constantly, until thickened. The resulting mixture should be very thick, like glue. Let cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a stand mixer or food processor, beat sugar and butter together until fluffy and creamy.

Add flour mixture, vanilla and beat until smooth. Mix in food coloring if using.

Use immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature.