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Recipe of the Week: A berry-topped pound cake for the Fourth of July - jacksonprogress-argus

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Recipe of the Week: A berry-topped pound cake for the Fourth of July - jacksonprogress-argus

Recipe of the Week: A berry-topped pound cake for the Fourth of July - jacksonprogress-argus

Posted: 29 Jun 2020 07:41 AM PDT

We'll all be celebrating Independence Day a little differently this year, with socially distanced picnics or backyard hangouts with the people we've been sheltering in place with for months.

Sometimes a festive dessert can make the difference between a regular ol' Saturday barbecue and one that feels like a holiday.

Consider this blackberry-topped pound cake from "The Great British Baking Show: The Big Book of Amazing Cakes." The book features recipes from the baking competition that has gained as much popularity in the U.S. as in its home in the U.K.

We can sit at our homes in Omaha or Austin and cheer on Priya, Briony, Kim-Joy and David, my personal favorites from recent seasons, and marvel at the not-so-nuanced differences between our baking cultures while drooling over the results.

This pound cake is a dessert that folks on both sides of the pond would recognize, and it's the blackberries, edible flowers and honey-sweetened Greek yogurt-based topping that nudges it into holiday territory for me. Instead of blackberries, you could use raspberries, blueberries or strawberries - or a patriotic mix of several red and blueberries.

Blackberry Pound Cake

Don't be put off by the longer baking and cooling times for this cake - it's really simple to make. Dusting the fruit in flour before folding in helps to prevent the berries sinking in the mixture.

For the sponge:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 5 large eggs

• 3/4 cup whole milk

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus an extra 1 tablespoon for dusting

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

• A pinch of salt

• 1 1/2 cups blackberries

For the topping:

• 1 1/4 cups Greek yogurt

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 2/3 cup blackberries, halved

• Edible flowers (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until pale and creamy.

With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition (don't worry if the mixture curdles slightly - it will come together when you add the flour).

Gradually add the milk and mix well to combine. Using a large metal spoon, fold the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture, until just combined.

Put the blackberries in a small plastic bag with the extra 1 tablespoon of flour and give them a shake to coat. Gently fold them into the cake mixture until evenly distributed.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely (1 to 2 hours).

Meanwhile, make the topping: Using a wooden spoon, beat together the Greek yogurt and honey in a bowl, until smooth.

Once the cake is completely cool, spread the topping on top. Decorate with the halved blackberries and then dot with edible flowers, if using. Serves 12.

- From "The Great British Baking Show: The Big Book of Amazing Cakes" by The Baking Show Team (Clarkson Potter, $27.99)

Addie Broyles writes about food for the Austin American-Statesman in Austin, Texas. She can be reached at abroyles@statesman.com, or follow her on Twitter at @broylesa.

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Tips for homemade wedding cakes? Plan and `don’t go wild’ - Washington Post

Posted: 29 Jun 2020 09:07 AM PDT

First, don't be overly ambitious, says Jocelyn Delk Adams, cookbook author and founder of the Grandbaby Cakes blog. People tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves when making wedding cakes.

"Don't go too wild," she cautions. Make a practice cake or two so you feel prepared for the big day.

Preparation is the key, agrees special-occasion cake baker Ron Ben-Israel, owner of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City.

"Prepare and simplify the process by writing down all of the different stages,'' he says. "Separate out the pieces of the process, and write down what each will require."

List the ingredients you will need and make sure you can find them all, since items like flour and baking powder might be in short supply.

Ben-Israel emphasizes the need to find your cake recipes, including fillings and icings, from a reliable source.

The good news is that cake layers can be baked and frozen, well wrapped, weeks in advance. Defrost the wrapped cakes in the fridge. Ben-Israel says it's easier to assemble and decorate cakes straight from the fridge (not the freezer, because of possible condensation as they defrost).

Fillings and icings can be made days ahead. Remove them from the fridge and let them reach room temperature, then blend them again and spread at room temperature.

And shortcuts are OK. Says Adams: "If you don't feel like you are good technically at baking, don't be afraid to doctor up a cake mix! There are so many ways you can make a cake mix feel more special."

One thing I learned the hard way is the importance of a crumb layer of frosting. This is the technique of applying a very thin layer of frosting to the cake and allowing it to firm up before you apply the final, thicker layer. The first layer might pick up some crumbs, but then seals them in, so the subsequent icing layer won't pull up more crumbs and mess up the clean look of the cake. This is important when you are frosting a chocolate cake with white frosting, for instance.

Single-tier cakes are simpler, and if you are looking to do more than one tier, Ben-Israel urges you to read up on how to structure a multi-layered cake. Check out videos on YouTube to learn the physics of it. When I made some rudimentary wedding cakes for friends in days past, I placed the top layer on a cardboard round (camouflaged by icing), and before placing it on top of the bottom layer, I inserted some straws cut to the height of the lower cake layer in a circle in the middle of the cake to support the top layer.

As for decoration, Ben-Israel and Adams both advise keeping it simple. Ben-Israel says you might skip the piping altogether, or if you do want to use a bag with pastry tips, "think of Keith Haring and cover the whole cake with doodles. Don't go for straight lines."

He also advocates for candies, sprinkles,and edible flowers (not sprayed with anything). He suggests using multicolored candies to create a stained-glass-window effect.

If you are feeling extra-creative, Ben-Israel says, mix some food colors with a clear alcohol like vodka, and paint them like water colors over the frosting. "If the colors start dripping? Great! Drip the colors all over the cake."

One perk of baking a cake for a small wedding party: You can really think about the flavors that the couple loves.

"Your cake can reflect the personality of you and your fiancé in a way that might not have felt possible when you are hosting a big wedding and worrying about being a people-pleaser," says Adams.

Erin Butler, director of volunteer services for City Harvest, a hunger-relief organization in New York, knows exactly what she wants for her cake when she gets married this summer to fiancé Ben Cohen.

"The first time Ben came to visit my family in Florida, I took him to get a Publix supermarket cake, which is totally reminiscent of my childhood," she says. It was the cake her family bought for every celebratory occasion, and Butler and Cohen dug into Google forums, searching for the recipe.

"There are certain traditions that we are throwing away, but this Publix-inspired wedding cake feels like a real important piece of the puzzle in making our wedding feel special,'' she says.

Adams also suggests thinking beyond cake.

"You actually don't have to adhere to the traditions so much right now,'' she says. "The tradition is really cutting the dessert together, so you could cut a pie together, if that's what you like."

Try to have fun with the process, she says, maybe making the cake together and creating that memory.

"It will make it taste sweeter — the fact that you created that cake or dessert together for your special day."

Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, "Dinner Solved!" and "The Mom 100 Cookbook." She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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