The Cake Slice Bakers August 2013 - Maple Pecan Chiffon Cake with Brown Butter Icing

Today is the 20th of the month so it must be the Cake Slice Baker's time.  This month's cake, winning by a narrow margin, was the Maple Pecan Chiffon Cake with Brown Butter Icing.  Such a big mouthful for such a light cake. It is hard to believe that we only have a couple of cakes to go before we reveal our next book.

I am notorious for leaving the baking of my cake for the group to the last minute each month.  It was all planned for me to have a relaxing baking day on Sunday, but that went out the window on Friday night when I found out that my youngest daughter had been asked to join a paddling crew on Sunday for the Duke's Ocean Fest.  What we thought was going to be a morning race turned into an all-day event.  And I may have been fried to a crisp in the process, which is so unlike me since I am usually so good about applying sunscreen. Regardless, it was a great day and her all-girl team certainly gave the boys and mixed teams a run for their money. And the cake did not get baked, only I did.

So Monday morning I got the girls off to school, went out for my usual five mile walk/run, and came back ready to get baking.  I don't know what made me grab my carton of cream out of the fridge to check if it was ok (the expiry date was Sept 7), but I did and it was definitely not going in this recipe.  So off I went to Costco again to replace it.  This seems to be a recurring theme with my Cake Slice Baker's cakes at the moment.  I really must try to kick that habit.

I have heard people say that chiffon cakes can be difficult and fussy, but I have never found this to be the case. This cake was very easy to put together and came out exactly as described.  The instructions to place parchment paper on the bottom seemed a little strange to me but I was determined to follow the recipe as stated.  I removed the middle tube, traced a circle and cut it out, then folded it in half and cut a semi-circle from the straight side to make it fit perfectly in the pan. The mixed cake seemed light and fluffy, and baked beautifully in the oven for exactly 50 minutes. Unfortunately my angel food cake pan  does not have feet so I could not flip it upside down in the traditional way.  Last time I made this type of cake I turned it upside down and stuck a wine bottle in the tube part to support it.  Naturally I thought this would work again but I guess I don't have the same wine now and the bottle was too big.  Now it was time to panic because I did not want the cake to sink.  It was quite comical to see me running around the kitchen pulling out every bottle I had to see if it would fit.  Thank goodness I finally found one.   So learn from my mistake and, if you do not have a pan with feet, find a suitable bottle to use before the cake is in the pan.

The cake itself was quite good, with a nutty flavor and a light texture.  The icing was another story. Whilst the flavor was quite good, the mixture kept looking like it was going to separate, especially when it was out on the counter. Nobody wants a cake that looks like it is melting off of the plate. Now in fairness it was a hot day here today, but I really wish I had just gone with a light glaze instead.  I did cut the measurements for the icing in half since with a few of the previous cakes I had left-over frosting, and I did use all of this one.  I am not sure if cutting it in half threw off the balance of ingredients, but the butter appeared to blend in and then once I iced the cake it look like it was separating.  It did not make for very attractive photos, so sorry about that.

I can't wait to see all of the cakes from my fellow bakers.  Please join me in visiting their blogs by clicking on the individual photos shown below.  Also, don't forget that the Cake Slice Baker's have a Facebook page, where you not only get to see each months' creations, but also great tips and other treats that we have been baking.






Maple Pecan Chiffon Cake with Brown Butter Icing

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients ~ Cake

• 2¼ cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• 6 egg yolks
• ½ cup canola oil
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 8 egg whites, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup toasted finely chopped pecans

Ingredients ~ Brown Butter Icing

• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• ½ cup heavy cream (plus a little more to thin icing as required)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• pinch of fine sea salt

Preparation ~ Cake

1. Prepare an angel food cake pan with feet by lining the bottom with parchment paper, ungreased.
2. Adjust a rack to the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325℉. 
3. In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the brown sugar and whisk the mixture by hand to combine. 
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the yolks, oil, maple syrup, water, and 1 tablespoon vanilla. 
5. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry mixture and briskly stir with a rubber spatula until just smooth. Do not overmix. 
6. In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and whip on high speed until soft peaks form. 
7. Turn the mixer down to medium speed and gradually add the granulated sugar in a steady stream. Kick the mixer up to high speed and whip until the whites just hold firm (not stiff!) glossy peaks. 
8. Fold a third of the whites into the batter using as few strokes as possible. Add the remaining whites, folding only until evenly incorporated. Lightly fold in the pecans during the last few strokes. 
9. Gently pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top springs back when touched or a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs attached, 50 to 55 minutes. 
10. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool upside down by inverting the cake pan onto its legs. To remove the cooled cake from the pan, slide a long thin knife or spatula along the sides to loosen and knock the pan sharply on a hard surface until the cake drops out.
11. Frost the top and sides with brown butter icing. To cut the cake, use an angel food cake cutter or a serrated knife and a sawing (rather than a slicing) motion. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Preparation ~ Brown Butter Icing

1. Put the confectioners' sugar in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. 
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Using a pan with a light-colored bottom will help you keep track of the color. Let the color of the butter darken from lemony to golden brown (swirl the pan occasionally to ensure even heating). Once the butter is dark brown and you begin to smell a nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat. 
3. You can either pour the butter off carefully to leave behind the milk solids that have collected on the bottom of the pan, or you can keep and use the butter solids. Either way, pour the butter into the bowl containing the confectioners’ sugar and add the cream, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth. 
4. As the butter cools, the icing will become firmer. If using the icing as a glaze, use it immediately. If you plan to use the icing as a frosting, allow it to cool to a good spreading consistency. 

Recipe by Julie Richardson from Vintage Cakes.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones

There is a place quite close to Waikiki Beach that sells the most amazing scones.  Diamond Head Market & Grill is quite well-known to locals and tourists alike. They have a great variety of gourmet foods that are packaged in to-go containers, so it is the perfect place to stop and pick up a picnic lunch. They also have a great selection of baked goods including pies, cakes, cookies, and their famous scones.  Blueberry was the original flavor and is probably their most popular, but they have added a few new flavors over time including banana, apple crumb, and pineapple. Once you have had one of their scones you are hooked for life.

Since they sell hundreds of these scones every day, it is not surprising that the owner is keeping the recipe a secret.  Of course that has not stopped people from trying to copy it, including me.  In my quest to find a recipe for these scones I came across an article that had been written back in 2003 by Betty Shimabukuro (food writer & recipe guru in Hawaii) in the Honolulu Star Bulletin that seemed pretty close.  I decided to give it a try, with a few small tweaks.

Every time I that I have eaten these scones they seemed to have a very soft, pillowy crumb and I would always wonder how they got them so soft. I decided to replace some of the all-purpose flour with cake flour to achieve a softer and finer texture.  One of my favorite things about these scones was the glaze on top, so I omitted sprinkling the berries with sugar and added a glaze that was brushed on liberally with a pastry brush as soon as they came out of the oven. I also decided that I wanted to use fresh blueberries. I found that the easiest way to incorporate the berries and cream cheese pieces was to leave the dough in the bowl, poke a few berries and cream cheese pieces into it and then gently put my hand underneath the dough and fold it in half, repeating this until all were incorporated. Also, the recipe did call for cutting the cream cheese in pieces, which I have left in the recipe below, but I found it easier to just break off pieces by hand as I was incorporating it.

My scones were a little smaller than the ones you will find at Diamond Head Market, but I have to say that the taste was a perfect replica.  Warm from the oven, with a little glaze over the top, they were melt-in-the-mouth good.  I found myself breaking off just a piece here and there throughout the day, until I finally thought to myself this is ridiculous, so I made a cup of my favorite coffee and sat down to relax and enjoy one.  And I am so glad that I did.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup butter, cut into small pieces
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup milk
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ cup blueberries
• 2 ounces cream cheese, cut in 1/2-inch pieces (see note above)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ¼ cup hot water

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400℉.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
3. Combine butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and cut with a pastry blender or two butter knives until crumbly (I like to use my hands for this).
4. Whisk milk into softened cream cheese (3 oz), add egg and continue to whisk until well-combined. 
5. Stir cream cheese mixture into flour mixture until dough forms a ball - if the dough is a little wet sprinkle some additional flour on top and gently knead).
6. Gently push blueberries and cream cheese pieces (2 oz) into the dough to incorporate evenly. Be careful not to crush the berries or mash the cream cheese pieces.
7. Using a large spoon or (ice cream scoop) drop mounds of dough onto a cookie sheet to make 8 scones. Tuck berries and cream cheese pieces into the dough as much as possible.
8. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden. 
9. While the scones are baking make the glaze; place the powdered sugar in a small bowl, gradually add the hot water, and whisk until smooth. Once the scones are removed from the oven glaze them generously with this mixture.

Recipe adapted from The Honolulu-Star Bulletin by ATLATC.