Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake (Secret Recipe Club)

It's May's Reveal Day for Secret Recipe Club and we've once again attempted to stray out of our comfort zone and bake something. A cake, no less. Neither of us can remember ever baking a cake together, and most of our combined experiences with making cakes have involved Betty Crocker. That said, now that things are starting to grow in the garden again, we've also been wanting to cook with something homegrown. Unfortunately, since it's still early in the growing season here, the only thing we currently have growing is rhubarb. And what are the odds that our assigned blog would have a recipe with rhubarb as the ingredient?

Not too bad, as it turns out. In fact, Taryn, the author of Sweetly Serendipity had not one, not two, but three recipes with rhubarb in them. The dilemma was which one to choose. Rhubarb Buttermilk Muffins sounded pretty good, but Taryn herself admitted that "they weren't the best." Been there! So it was between Lemon Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake and Upside-Down "Strawbarb" Cake. For some reason, the strawberries sounded more appealing so that's what we made. 

It was definitely the right choice, for we are mad for this cake! Not too sweet, with a moist, silky texture and crunchy sweet "crust", this is one of the finest cakes we've ever had, nevermind that it's the only one we've ever made from scratch! We had to bring some to the neighbors for fear we'd eat the whole thing in one night. We attempted to create a basil-oil-infused cream to go with it, but it flopped. No worries, for while it may have been an interesting addition, it was completely unnecessary. This cake possesses all the characteristics we think a dessert should have, including how yummy the house smelled while it was baking. 

We highly recommend this cake, which Taryn adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart. However, we did take advantage of Taryn's excellent suggestions, and so here is the recipe we made, as per Sweetly Serendipity.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

For The Topping

• 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• Pinch Kosher salt

For The Cake

• 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a diagonal
• 1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and chopped

• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 
  

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the topping by stirring together the butter, flour, sugar, and salt until moist and crumbly; set aside. Butter a 9-inch pie dish, then dot it with 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter cut into pieces. Toss rhubarb and strawberries with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in the pie dish. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat remaining stick of butter and cup of sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in Grand Marnier, then beat in eggs, one at a time until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Stir the sour cream and buttermilk together in a separate small bowl. Beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream/buttermilk mixture, until smooth. Spread evenly over the rhubarb and strawberries. Crumble the topping evenly over batter. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a serving plate. Let cool completely.

Meyer Lemon Curd

Amy writes:

So a couple of weeks ago we took a baking class called Baking for English Tea, and one of the recipes we learned to make was lemon curd. Then Chris went away for the weekend, off to a theoretical physics conference in Santa Barbara, California. Yeah, I don't really know what that is, either. 

Anyway... I was feeling a little bored, and I knew that if I made something yummy, I could bring it to the last winter farmers' market and enter it into the swap for something else. I had a bunch of Meyer lemons at home, so I decided to make a batch of Meyer lemon curd. The recipe made enough for 2 decent-sized jars, so I kept one for myself (well, I may share it with Mr. Science) and brought one to the swap where I swapped it for a pretty little dragonfly made from recycled silverware (Thanks, Ed)! Love it!

So, as hinted at in an earlier post, here's the recipe for Meyer lemon curd. The recipe is from Chef Chris French, who makes his with "normal" lemons, but there is something I just love about the hint of sweetness the Meyer lemon offers. If you like things a little more tart, use regular lemons but add another 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Meyer Lemon Curd

recipe courtesy of Chef Chris French

Ingredients:

5 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced

8 egg yolks

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pats

Whisk the lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolks and sugar together in a stainless steel bowl. Create a double-boiler by placing the bowl over a sauce pan with simmering water. Gently heat the contents of the bowl on low to medium heat, stirring frequently. Continue to heat until the mixture is very thick and reaches 180-185 degrees. Immediately remove the bowl from the pan and pour the contents through a fine mesh sieve to remove the zest and any egg solids (discard those). Immediately put 2 pats of butter into the lemon curd and whisk in until incorporated. Continue by adding 1 pat at a time, whisking until incorporated before adding the next. Cover with plastic wrap in contact with the lemon curd and refrigerate until set, 4 hours or longer. Serve with scones as a spread or to fill mini tarts, or as a topping on shortbread. 

Cooking Class: Baking for English Tea

A couple of weekends ago, we took another baking class at Manchester Community College (our local community college, well-known for its culinary program). This one was with the same instructor (Chris French) as the pizza and focaccia class. Obviously we were so pleased with the first class, we had to sign up for another, and obviously, our baking skills could use some work.

Chef Chris French at his demo station

This class was called, "Baking for English Tea," and it started off with some clarification about English tea, mainly that what people often refer to as "high tea" is actually a less formal, dinner-type setting whereas a tea at which there might be sweets and pastries is traditionally the more formal "afternoon tea." Who knew? The class would focus on the latter, with the goals being to learn and participate in making scones, shortbread, and cream puffs, and to learn via demonstration how to make lemon curd, Devonshire cream, pastry cream and an English trifle. Quite ambitious, but we had five hours together, so we forged ahead.

Amy tried "rub method mixing"

Scone dough

Amy's partner forms our scones

Chris tops his scones with some sanding sugar

First we watched as Chef Chris demonstrated and explained how to make scones, and then we paired up and made our own scones with cranberries and walnuts. The most important thing with this recipe was that we hand mixed the scones, learning how to rub the butter in by hand, which is not as easy as it sounds, but definitely leads to better results. We could choose whether to bake our scones during class or take home the dough to freeze, but since we are "A Couple in the Kitchen," we were able to do both. The scones were fluffier and lighter than we've had in the past, thanks to the hand-mixing method we guess, and we would certainly try the recipe again. When we do, we'll share it with you.

Amy slices her golden-brown shortbread

Next thing we did was make shortbread. Now we have tried shortbread in the past, with relative success, but ours simply does not compare to the buttery crisp amazing cookie we learned in this class. We look forward to topping a sheet of these with some homemade jam or lemon curd and making delicious bars to share with the neighborhood!!!

Making pate a choux

Everyone got a chance to try to pipe the pate a choux dough

Delicious cream puff!

Pate a choux (cream puff dough) we are well familiar with, thanks to Dorie Greenspan and her gorgeous gougere recipe. But we learned a few tips on how to improve our technique, such as using bread flour instead of all-purpose flour, getting a good sheen on the dough by adding in an extra egg, and piping the dough when it's warm and fresh. 

Chocolate Croissants

The scones had been set aside to eat later along with the various curds and creams, and everything else was in the oven. Luckily, Chef Chris was thoughtful enough to bring in some of his homemade chocolate croissants for us to nibble on in the meantime. Just look at these beauties!

Lemon curd, mock Devon cream, whipped cream

The reward for a hard day's work

When the hands-on part of the class was done, we fixed tea and sipped while Chef demonstrated his recipes for pastry cream, lemon curd, and "mock" Devon cream (aka clotted cream). The real Devonshire cream runs for about $7 for a small 4-ounce jar, if you can even find it. Chef's mock version can be made in about 10 minutes and costs a fraction of real Devonshire cream. Here's what you do:

Mock Devon Cream 

recipe courtesy of Chef Chris French

Ingredients:

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cream cheese, cold

1 cup heavy cream, cold

Using a stand mixer with the whip attachment, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and lump-free. Add the cream and beat until stiff. Chill before serving. 

A beautiful English trifle

Finally, we tried all of these goodies while watching Chef assemble a beautiful English trifle. We met some great people, had a fun day, and learned plenty of new tricks and tips to help up become better bakers. These recipes would be perfect for Easter, Mother's Day, or just for hosting your own English tea! Once we try any of these things at home, we will be sure to let you know. 

If you are interested in taking a credit-free culinary class at MCC, here is a link to the credit-free catalog. 

Sorghum and Spice Gingersnaps (Secret Recipe Club)

Here we are. It's mid-September, and yet we still haven't told you about the last week of summer that we spent in Maine. That would be because we're teachers. That we'll get around to it sometime is about all we can promise right now. But for today, it's time for September's Secret Recipe Club. We sat out of the summer reveals because we were away a lot, but we're back and certainly glad to be, especially after the tasty results we got today's recipe!

Our SRC assignment this month was Yumsilicious Bakes. At first we were nervous. ALL of Yums's recipes are for baked goods, and, as you may know, we've had a few baking disasters in the past. But then we received some inspiration: this gorgeous leaf we found on our lawn this weekend. Yes, it's almost fall and what's better for fall than crisp spice-flavored cookies to match the crisp spice-scented air? Let's make gingersnaps!

Avanika of Yumsilicious Bakes adapted her gingersnap recipe from one by David Leibovitz who based his on Alice Waters's version from The Art of Simple Food. This particular cookie recipe was even more exciting for us because it calls for molasses, and we've been wanting to bake with this Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum that Bourbon Barrel Foods sent us to try. Molasses, a by-product of sugar, can be used interchangeably with sorghum. And this sorghum, milled in Kentucky from a single crop then blended with Kentucky Bourbon and Bourbon-Madagascar Vanilla (yes, those are ALL the ingredients!) is earthy, sweet and spicy and, we thought, would give that certain complexity to our cookies that we are always searching for.

Did it ever! The crisp, sugary cookies have remarkable depth of flavor with hints of cinnamon and vanilla and a nice kick from the black pepper. In the spirit of fall, we used orange sanding sugar to make them pretty. We ate them with tea, then by themselves, and later that same day, stuffed with chocolate chip gelato as ice cream sandwiches. We couldn't get enough! For fans of Pepperidge Farm Ginger Man cookies or any other crisp, spicy gingersnap, we highly recommend this fabulous recipe. Thank you to Yumsilicious for sharing it, and to Bourbon Barrel Foods for the amazing sorghum. What will we make with it next?

Sift together dry ingredients

Cream together butter and sugar

Add sorghum and one egg

Mix in dry ingredients

Wrap dough and chill

Slice dough and top with sanding sugar

Bake, then cool on wire racks

Sorghum and Spice Gingersnaps

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum

1 egg at room temperature

sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper. Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg and sorghum and mix until well incorporated. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes, then roll to shape into a cylinder. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat. Slice the dough into roughly 1/4-inch thick rounds. Dip the tops into the sanding sugar, and place on the baking sheet, leaving room to spread. Bake for 13-14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, and store in an air-tight container.