Hope Vacation Highlights
Jun 12, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose
I’ve been trying to have a real rest and change from my usual routine which means mostly staying off the internet. Nature cooperated by huge thunder storms that zapped the dsl box requiring the modem to be reset and the apple airport to be reconfigured (1 ½ hour drive to the nearest Apple store in the Rockway Mall but the genius bar was just that!).
Now I can’t resist sharing these five photos from the past week. These first two are the Devil’s Food Cake from the upcoming book frosted with the Peanut Buttercream Marie Wolf wrote about and pictured on her new blog http://heavenlycakeplace.blogspot.com but pared with a spice cake. (Peeking out from the side are dried tart cherries that had been soaked in cognac! The nuts encrusting the side are dry roasted unsalted peanuts cut by hand to avoid nut dust--it was a very relaxing process.) My friend and neighbor Maria Menegus invited us to help celebrate her birthday at neighbors' Lorraine and Bob. When I asked her for her favorite cake flavors and she mentioned chocolate and peanut butter this rendition leapt to mind.
Everyone contributed different dishes to the celebration and it was all fabulous: Marion’s potato salad with Joe Menegus’s winter storage potatoes (the best I’ve ever had), Lorraine’s spinach and strawberry salad (what a terrific combination of bitter and sweet) using Maria’s just picked spinach, Maria's spinach and cheese calzone, Bob’s marinated, grilled flat iron steak and surprise surprise—he roasts and grinds his own coffee! Before I went over to the Nespresso pod system I did the same but he is the first person I’ve met who also makes this effort.
We left just as night was falling and a new moon rising.
I made 12 caramel buns just for us for the week. I had trouble to stop eating this one in order to take the photo of it's gossamer texture.
This last photo is of the largest turtle I have ever seen in the wild. We were walking up the hill to play tennis at the Inn at Mill Race and I was so shocked I thought it was a sculpture. But no—it was digging a hole into the side of the hill to lay its eggs. We will be following its progress—with great hope.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
06/20/2009 04:53 PM
claudia, please be patient! i'm sorry to be tantalizing you but the publisher only allows giving out three recipes in advance of the book and those will be given by marie wolf on her blog heavenly cake place. she's already given out the marvelous peanut buttercream (those swirls didn't take talent on my part--it's the creaminess of the buttercream. i really want her to have the freedom to chose which recipes she will chose to offer.
i think amazon will also have permission to give out a few recipes but i don't know when.
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claudia
06/18/2009 02:04 PM
Thank you Rose..I can't wait to try the new recipe. Any chance of posting it? Just thought I'd beg!
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
06/18/2009 10:34 AM
the recipe is entirely different. you can use the original recipe making 1 1/2 times the amount but don't fill the pans more than 2/3 full--bake cupcakes with any leftover.
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claudia
06/18/2009 10:23 AM
Rose I was just looking at your recipe in the Cake Bible for the Devils Food Cake. It calls for 3-9 inch pans 1.5 inches. The new recipe looks like 2-9 inch pans, probably 2 inches high. Can you tell us the difference in the recipe so we can make 2 layers instead of three in the taller pans. Thanks. I'm thinking of using it for some layers in a Wedding cake tier.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
06/15/2009 10:28 PM
if you find cognac a bit harsh or strong you could do a simple syrup with a small amount of cognac or, as you suggested, a liqueur such as amaretto.
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Anonymous
06/15/2009 11:14 AM
I tried soaking dried cherries in Courvoisier once, but when I tried combining them with ganache, I found the cherries still had a very strong alcohol burn/flavor. Are they supposed to be strong? Maybe I just don't like cognac--perhaps amaretto would also work.
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Melinda
06/13/2009 06:02 PM
Your cake looks delicious!
Isn't nut dust the worst. I just hate that! lol
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Julie
06/13/2009 06:34 AM
Oh Rose, those are so lovely! The devil's food cake looks just wonderful- I especially like the thought of cognac-soaked cherries with the chocolate and peanut butter. I bet it was beautiful when sliced, too!
The sticky bun looks so wonderful, I think I'm going to go start up a batch of brioche right now, it's one of my all-time favorites.
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Jeannette
06/12/2009 04:48 PM
Lovely pictures, I hope you are enjoying your break, Rose. Every time i see pictures of the cakes from your new book I get more and more impatient to see it! Made your Coffee Cake last week, as you know it is very good!
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Hector Bakes His Own Birthday Cake!
On Vacation