Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

Rozanne, u r welcome. Another one here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4430921586905453932

nope, can't get the rights for baking magic, neither for johnson wales series.

however, the 1988 video producer is long gone, thus i can share that video.

heavenly cakes will have free video!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | June 19, 2008 9:30 PM #

Hector, thanks for posting this. I loved watching it. Have you had any luck getting Rose's Baking Magic series?

Reply to this      Posted by: Rozanne | June 19, 2008 8:40 PM #

I will, but maybe under another thread, as this blog post has over 400 comments already!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | June 17, 2008 7:59 PM #

What a delightful clip! I hope you will post a few more Hector!

Reply to this      Posted by: Matthew | June 17, 2008 7:57 PM #

Very good question, a spider allows the batter to go thru which creates more loss of air. I've tried it. The holes on the skimmer are just to create more friction on the surface of the "spatula," so folding is faster than without this friction holes.

I bought the video in Amazon.com. Was expensive!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | June 17, 2008 6:35 PM #

A - how in the world did you find this, and B - I wonder if a brass "spider" would work in it's place?

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | June 17, 2008 6:32 PM #

to everyone who asked about Rose's less angled slot skimmer to fold, here it is as good as it gets!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2136428742172128025&hl=en

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | June 17, 2008 5:59 PM #

Natalie, I had a feeling you were baking away in such intensity!

I would be curious to know does it compare baking cupcakes vs a 9" cake? I know cupcakes are easier to serve, but my suspicion is that cupcakes can't taste/feel as good as a slice of whole cake?

Kathy baked the Domingo in my 9" pan and texture was wonderfully perfect. Every time I eat cupcakes I can taste or smell the flavor of the cupcake cup! I am going to find you a set of silicone cupcake cups, reusable, no taste, easy to unmold; but a little hard to wash if you don't have a dishwasher (what I do is wash them with my laundry!)

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | May 20, 2008 1:50 PM #

Hello Rose and Barbara, THANK YOU for your SWEET comments about the brownie photo.

Barbara, here's what I tried:
#1 Midnight Chocolate Cake - June Honda
#2 Chocolate Cupcakes - Williams Sonoma
#3 Dark Chocolate Cupcakes - America's Test Kitchen
#4 Chocolate Domingo Cake - Rose Levy Beranbaum
#5 Brownie Cupcakes (photo) - Joyofbaking.com
All were slighty different and yummy according to my kind coworkers/taste testers. I don't have one favorite but have enjoyed the experience which I credit to my friends Hector, Janette, and Kathy. Their zeal for food and baking have been inspirational.

Reply to this      Posted by: Natalie | May 20, 2008 12:21 PM #

Happy belated b'day Hector!

Reply to this      Posted by: Rozanne | May 17, 2008 8:15 AM #

Oooh! I want one!

If Natalie has some comments or recommendations after trying all those recipes, I'd love to hear them.

Happy Birthday, Hector! And many happy returns -- with cake, preferably made by someone else!

Reply to this      Posted by: Barbara A. | May 16, 2008 10:40 PM #

My dearest friend Natalie, neighbor, graphic designer, and right hand cake assembler made these for me.

Natalie has been working diligently on chocolate cupcakes for the past 15 days. She has been baking everything from America's Test Kitchen chocolate cupcake recipe to Rose's Chocolate Domingo. Lucky her office workers for the samplings.

You won't believe how good it feels on your birthday, when you see good cake, and made by other than yourself!

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/NatalieBrownie.html

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | May 16, 2008 3:52 PM #

Reeni, I didn't watch the episode but from your description it sounds delicious. I tried to go onto your site in the hopes of finding a picture but I encountered the same problem Hector did.
I love to see a pictures.

Reply to this      Posted by: Rozanne | February 4, 2008 1:09 PM #

Reeni, good to hear from you! I made a point with everyone that was stuck on TV with me last night, that I bet Reeni won the taste award! I found very interesting that the other competitors had an array of tastes, if not all choices in the cake world, some towards traditional vanilla butter cakes, some towards contrast layers, and some towards wanna be pastry taste excellence.

I wish Food Network makes episodes for cake taste and pastry excellency. Most people today think that cake needs to be sugar sculptures!

Thanks for the Chiffon recipe, I am going to try it, as 'sponge' cakes is my specialty. Do you use baking powder? Rose's recipe for her Mexican Killer Kahlua Chiffon on Rose's Melting Pot, does not use baking powder, and to my amaze it rises beautifully. Chiffon was my Mom's best known cake for layer cakes, and my sister still uses it as her only cake to date.

You can send me a cake, as it is a permitted item as long as it doesn't include any raw/fresh whole fruits or meat! I would send frozen and add dry ice on it so it arrives frozen. US Mail Priority Mail is the most cost effective way, and it takes 3 days. I am hand carrying (with dry ice, 2 lb is permitted on board) 2 layer cakes to Palm Springs. I know cakes are strong but it swirls my heart to think of mistreatment.

Your gumpaste work is nice. Your website is down? It asks me for a login id and password to access it.

Regards.

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | February 4, 2008 12:56 PM #

sorry, I forgot on the outside...
Chocolate plastic ribbons: milk chocolate and lavender-tinted white chocolate plastic run through a pasta machine.
Gumpaste: anemones in deep purple, pink rosebuds, white calla lilies.
Free-form hearts and scrolls in tempered milk chocolate, piped and chilled to set before applying.
This was all in November 2005, a little more than 2 years ago, but I still remember every detail because every so often it will replay and someone will ask me about it again!

Reply to this      Posted by: Reeni Espino | February 4, 2008 9:00 AM #

Thank you Hector. Not to disparage anyone else in the competition, but it was enough for me as a pastry chef to hear that my cake "was the star of the the tasting part" on national TV.
If I could be assured that it would travel to Hawaii, I would bake you a cake like this. As it was, they called me months after the contest because they wanted another cake to use for the interior shots and I had to send a 6" via next-day air. One of my students who works for Carymax said that it was also a favorite of the Food Network/filming crew!
Instead, a breakdown:
Orange chiffon cake, made very similar to TCB but with orange oil and equal number of whites and yolks, baked in a regular round cake pan (for the size in TCB, possibly a 10x3).
Grand marnier syrup -- equal parts simple syrup and Grand Marnier in a spray bottle
Wild blueberry compote -- blueberries (I used half fresh cultivated organic from the Greenmarket and half frozen wild), sugar, pectin, and freshly ground nutmeg.
Mascarpone cream -- mascarpone cheese, butter, orange blossom honey, a bit of creme fraiche
White chocolate ganache buerre -- 3 parts white chocolate to 2 parts cream, then 1 part butter whipped in.
Enjoy! even if it does not come out the same, it will be delicious.

Reply to this      Posted by: Reeni Espino | February 4, 2008 8:54 AM #

Reeni, I am watching Food Network's wedding cake competition. Your cake is my favorite, and I wish I could taste a slice of it. The orange chiffon grand marnier, white choc ganache, etc, really kept the judges taste buds happy!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | February 3, 2008 7:45 PM #

Some weekend pics.

Moist Chocolate Genoise 'cupcake' topped with chocolate kahlua mousseline buttercream. 25% whole wheat Basic Sourdough Bread, stilton and piave cheese dome. Golden Luxury Butter Cake dripped with grand marnier Creme Anglaise, Neve Nero scraps.

Enjoy!

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/WashingtonDC-and-AMERICAN-in-PARIS_2.html

star dish, orange ramekin, and cheese dome from Crate and Barrel.

the only thing baked at the moment was the bread, the rest came frozen from -10 degrees.

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | October 15, 2007 2:33 PM #

Oh, sorry, Dora cake was posted here:

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2007/09/another_hector_triumph.html#comment-67835

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | October 12, 2007 4:36 PM #

Everyone, here I am posting this link here again to share with you how wonderful Washington D.C. was to me!

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/WashingtonDC-and-AMERICAN-in-PARIS.html

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | October 12, 2007 4:34 PM #

Oh I'll love to see how you turn the bear into Dora! I made the same 3D bear with Golden Luxe and it was divine! Yes - welcome to the world of genoise - I especially love genoise made with part yolks or all yolks, and Rose's Golden Genoise is just lovely! Like a very light and eggy butter cake! Can't wait for your final pics!

I just made choc fudge cupcakes frosted with the glorious Sour Cream Ganache - simply lovely and what a wonderful texture to pipe!

Reply to this      Posted by: Elicia | September 28, 2007 9:31 PM #

Hector:
Good for you. I have discovered the joys of Genoise about a year ago. I love them!. The golden genoise is exceptionally amazing. I have paired it with a Mouselline butter cream that was flavored with Amaretto and Coffee. YUM!

Reply to this      Posted by: Bill | September 28, 2007 4:47 PM #

I am intrigued Hector!

Reply to this      Posted by: Jeannette | September 28, 2007 3:55 PM #

I am in love again. With Golden Genoise that is! I find it very easy to whip and fool proof. Keep the eggs warm while beating, a water bath mixer attachment helps. When the volume has tripled, add the water (warm), and whip until the volume has almost quadrupled. Fold in the flour/starch and warm clarified butter without fear, it will deflate to 2/3, don't fear.

In a well preheated 350oF oven, the batter rises magically to double height! It is pure magic without chemical baking powder. I attribute this to the well whipped eggs, were warmth has almost cooked the eggs into air micro bubbles, these bubbles expand with heat in the oven, thus the rise. Allow plenty space in the oven, the heat should be quick and constant 350oF during the first half time so the cake can set w/o collapse.

The taste is pure butter and eggs, a refined version of yellow cake, superb smooth texture perfectly emulsified; golden. It is 'the cake' made of just a handful of very simple and natural ingredients.

Try it. These pictures will turn into a baby version of Dora The Explorer due next weekend. Will blog it.

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/DoraTheExplorer.html

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | September 28, 2007 2:45 PM #

Let me think, the flan is all about bubbles, meaning you want to prevent them. I used to mix the flan by hand for only a few minutes, then strain it without squeezing (pieces of whites and yolks would never mix in). But soon after I became the KitchenAid king in my group, I've decided to give it a try. The flat beater incorporates the less air (to none), and it must beat at speed 1 or stir to even more lower the chances of air incorporation. Why so long? I would just observe until there would be less egg unmixed. Initially, 15 minutes was reasonable, but one day I've got side tracked with other projects that I let the mixer go for over 1 hour. The speed is so low that the mixer is too quiet to hear unless you stand in your kitchen. And that time, I noticed an incredible improvement in texture. After beating for so long, I also noticed that the unmixed eggs would stick to the flat beater, so no straining needed. Straining incorporates air, too!

Now, if you want a lighter texture (I am using 100% evaporated milk), you could replace anything between 1/2 to 1/4 of it with fat free milk. It works. You can also try a white flan with just whites (equal weight as whole eggs), for the white flan, I would leave the 100% evaporated milk, as if fat free milk may thin it out just too much.

I stress the importance of making a good caramel. Don't burn it, the taste changes it completely. Honestly, many many times I burn mines, specially when I am not committing 100% of my attention to it (which is normally the case). I just throw it away and start clean with a new pot.

Very important too, to start with an non-preheated oven and water bath and bake at such low temperature, and later let the flan sit in the oven until completely cool. I've noticed that this gradual heating/cooling process would set the custard very nice and evenly. Again, I don't like flans with crust or with uneven textures as you dig into it (many flans I see, when sliced, have a nice top, and a bubbled out rough bottom). I criticize flan, that needs to be almost like a picture perfect prop, almost like making a fake flan just to make a nice photograph: if that is the case, I would make a caramel shell, then fill it with buttercream or bavarian cream, let it set and unmold, and photograph it, that is how the flan should look in pictures.

My homemade vanilla uses 1 vanilla bean cut in 1/2" pieces (I don't split them) and soaked in 1 cup of pisco for 1 month minimum. Pisco is grape vodka and it helps to cut off the "egg" taste of custard. Vodka works well, too. Or you could just keep adding used vanilla beans (split, seeds scraped out) to your natural vanilla essence, store bought. Regardless which one you use, it will give the same texture, so don't worry too much on this ingredient. The different flavors of different vanillas is unnoticed in flan, it is just a such dense, sweet, and fat dessert that the vanilla differences are overpowered; the caramel flavor is first (thus the name). Important though, to use the alcohol in the vanilla, as I do believe this alcohol helps with texture.

This is my original recipe, that I developed after many years of making flan, perhaps over 100 flans. I started from different recipes I gathered from my family. Once, I hosted a flan contest with my family, there were 7 or 8 entries, I became second place! My recipe is based on the recipe of my relative who won first place, her flan is excellent. She has it down to a science including the 50 year old flan tube pan which is almost falling apart, and she refuses to use any other pan. The pan affects the heating and cooking, so it is perhaps the main factor on texture. When she comes over with flan, I put mine's away.

I've been asked to make flan demonstrations at other people's houses. It comes out acceptable, but because of the oven, mixer, and pan differences, the textures are compromised! I am certain if you try my recipe in your kitchen, you will still NOT achieve my same flan =( But I am sharing as much thought and explanation, so hopefully you could adjust your setup and get a good one!

I do have a picture of the flan contest!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | September 5, 2007 1:23 PM #

Yep, looks like creme caramel to me! Amazing that it is beaten so long - how did you come to that, Hector?

Reply to this      Posted by: Elicia | September 5, 2007 11:49 AM #

Hector, how do you make your home-made vanilla? I have seen recipes that call for vodka and vanilla beans but what are the propotions? I'm dying to try out your flan recipe. Sounds interesting beating it for so long. Is it an original "Hector recipe"?

Reply to this      Posted by: Rozanne | September 5, 2007 10:08 AM #

Thank you Nushera, sure use the pic as wallpaper. I am so happy about the rose wreath too, like I said I spent countless hours on the design desk to come up with this arrangement. I measured the size of my cookie cutters and the size of the piped roses, and I asked the children to cut exactly how many little cakes of what size and color! Was fun to see them practice how to count.

No, I did not freeze my jelly roll sheets. They were just refrigerated airtight for 2 or 3 days.

Yes, I think creme caramel = to flan. I haven't tried the pressure cooker method.

Mines is smooth from top to bottom, no bubbles, no burned crust. The caramel doesn't really infuse into the custard, it mostly sits on top and drips down as you cut. Also, I make it rather tall, once I tried to use a shallower pan and the caramel would just infuse into the custard, which I don't like. Most ones I've seen locally at hotels and restaurants are made about 1 or 2 inches tall, mines is about 4 =)

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | September 5, 2007 3:10 AM #

Oh Hector- another brilliant n beautiful job from the Yellow Kitchen, bravo!
did u freeze the jelly roll sheets?

thanks for yr flan recipe, are flan and creme caramel same? yr egg-evaporated milk ratio is almost equal to that of my creme caramel recipe(i use 6 eggs + 2 cans of eva milk) but i do not beat that long. yet i get a satiny smooth finish coz i steam it in an old-fashioned pressure cooker(high heat till the first whistle, then 8 minutes on low, better not to open the cooker until cooled). Another point, if the pan's bottom is brushed with melted butter and chilled before pouring caramel, the finished top is more likely to be creamy n satiny, even if the caramel is a bit on the burnt side.

would u pls permit me to use yr beautiful rose wreath pic as wallpaper in my computer?

Reply to this      Posted by: nushera | September 5, 2007 1:41 AM #

Silvia, re: finding time. The buttercreams were made during my June/July baking nights to make the big cake; vacuum packed and frozen. About 2 weeks ago, I took 2 flavors each evening, microwave thaw, and piped them into roses. The jelly roll sheet genoise were baked early last week. The kids at my party made all the cut circles, placing, and topping.

King Kong, I don't know exactly what is made of. I know it is popular in Peru. Try google it =)

Flan recipe: heat on high 1 cup of sugar in a heavy sauce pan. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the sugar starts dissolving, you will notice a few darker caramel spots, stir them around. You must be in front of your stove, eventually all will melt and get a light gold color. When the gold turns into light brown, pour immediately on your flan tube pan. Under no circumstances let the caramel achieve a dark brown color, it will continue to darken as it cools, and it would taste burn. I usually throw away so many batches!

Mix at speed 1 or with the paddle attachment: 9 whole eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 4 cans of evaporated milk, for 45 minutes. Yes this long. Remove the paddle attachment carefully, it will have some egg clinging to it, discard. Stir 1 tablespoon of homemade vanilla essence. Pour on your flan pan (by now, the pan should have cooled down and cracking caramel glass broken noises should have been heard).

Place on a water batch, room temperature water, in a NON-preheated oven at 300oF for 60 minutes. Turn off your oven, do not open the oven door. Let the oven and flan cool completely before removing from the oven, usually overnight or 4 to 6 hours during the day.

Chill in the refrigerator, well wrapped for at least 24 hours, up to 1 week. Shorter time will not allow enough caramel from the pan to release.

Slide a non-serrated thin knife thru the outer and inner borders of the pan. Unmold upside down and leave the pan for about 15 minutes until the most caramel have detached. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Flan tastes better when it is at room temperature. Be sure to scoop a few spoons of dissolved caramel onto each serving plate.

It is important "your" 300oF does not boil the flan mix or water batch at any point, otherwise you will form bubbles in the custard as it sets. After 60 minutes the flan will still be fairly liquid, it will finish setting with the residual heat.

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | September 4, 2007 11:36 PM #

Bravo - another breathtaking display by Hector "the rose man" Wong!

I Can't wait to hear about the flan too!

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | September 4, 2007 10:20 PM #

Oh Hector, I love the way you put together the 'cupcakes'! Piped roses do take your breath away! I agree that golden genoise is buttery yet lighter than butter cakes! That's a wonderful twist to cupcakes!

Do fill us in on the details of the flan.

Reply to this      Posted by: Elicia | September 4, 2007 9:41 PM #

I am always in awe when I see your presentation. The cupcake / flan wreath is really beautiful.

Reply to this      Posted by: Rozanne | September 4, 2007 9:25 PM #