Baking with Less Sugar (27 page)

Authors: Joanne Chang

BOOK: Baking with Less Sugar

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9.
Carefully place the second cake on top of the first cake (place it upside down so the even, sharp edges will be on the top of your finished cake), and spoon about 1 cup [240 ml] frosting on top. Spread the frosting thinly to the edges and down the sides of the cake, smoothing it as well as you can and covering the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting. This layer of frosting is called a crumb coat; it keeps loose crumbs from migrating to the surface of the finished cake. (At this point, it helps to refrigerate the cake for about 15 minutes to help set the crumb coat; it's not crucial but if you have time, it makes frosting a little easier.)

10.
When you are done with the crumb coat, spoon a heaping 1 cup [240 ml] frosting on the cake and spread it evenly across the top and sides again. This is the final finishing layer of frosting. Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with the remaining frosting, and pipe a border around the bottom of the cake, if you wish, or pile it on top of the cake.

11.
The cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Any longer than that and the frosting will get softer and may slide off of the cake. Remove the cake from the refrigerator 2 to 3 hours before serving, garnish with fresh fruit or chopped nuts, and serve the cake at cool room temperature.

KABOCHA SQUASH SPICE CAKE

When people ask me what I would have for my last meal, I always describe my favorite dishes my mom made while I was growing up:
mapo tofu
, noodle stir-fries, greens sautÃ©ed with something magical to make them the most delicious vegetables ever, pretty much anything she put on the table. I grew up eating amazing food, and I'm grateful to her for instilling in me an appreciation and passion for good eating. (Which is a very nice way of saying, “Thanks, Mom, for fueling my food obsession!”) So when she was visiting a few years ago and told me about a new dish that she had to show me, I was all ears. We went to the Asian market and bought a hefty kabocha squash, also called Japanese pumpkin. While she was baking it, I went out and she had me fetch some Cheddar cheese and mayonnaise. She mixed the baked squash flesh with gobs of mayo and chunks of cheese and then put it under the broiler. It was about as unappetizing as it sounds. Sorry, Mom.

However, it wasn't a total fail because it did introduce me to the amazing kabocha squash. It's green with some orange flecks, is round like a pumpkin, and the flesh is incredibly creamy and sweet. I filed it away in my mind as something I'd want to play around with some day.

Here is the day! I made an unbelievable spice cake using the squash and some dates as the source of sweetener. The squash makes the cake incredibly moist, which can be an issue with no-sugar baked goods, and it takes especially well to these spices and vanilla.

MAKES
ONE
8-IN [20-CM] CAKE

1 small kabocha squash, quartered and seeded
160 g/
²/
₃cup Medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped
¹/
₂tsp baking soda
1 vanilla bean
160 g/
²/
₃cup whole milk
100 g/
¹/
₂cup vegetable oil, such as canola
1 Tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
2 large eggs
245 g/1
³/
₄cups all-purpose flour
1
¹/
₂tsp baking powder
¹/
₂tsp ground cinnamon
¹/
₄tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¹/
₄tsp kosher salt
Unsweetened whipped cream or crÃ¨me fraÃ®che
(see page 24)
for garnish

1.
Cut the quartered squash into large pieces, place in a medium saucepan, and fill with water to cover the squash. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, decrease the heat so that water simmers, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is tender and you can pierce it easily with a fork. Remove from the heat and let the squash cool in the water.

2.
Put the dates and baking soda in a small bowl and add enough hot water to cover the dates. Stir to dissolve the baking soda; it will soften the skins of the dates, allowing them to blend more easily into the cake batter. Let the dates soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the dates and mash them well with a fork to make a purÃ©e, and set aside.

3.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350Â°F [175Â°C]. Butter and flour an 8-in [20-cm] round cake pan.

4.
Remove the squash from the water, then mash the squashâskin and allâwith a fork to make a coarse purÃ©e. Measure out 120 g/
¹/
₂cup of the purÃ©e and reserve in a small bowl. Save any remaining squash purÃ©e for another purpose such as mixing into a stew or using as a sandwich spread.

5.
With a paring knife, slit the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds into a medium saucepan. Add the squash purÃ©e and the milk to the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook gently for a few minutes until the squash completely mushes up in the milk and the vanilla seeds are well incorporated. Remove from the heat.

6.
In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil with the mashed dates and ginger until well combined. Add the squash purÃ©e and continue to whisk well. Add the eggs and whisk until well combined.

7.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add to the date mixture and mix just until barely mixed in.

8.
Using a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when you press it in the center with your finger. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Turn the spice cake out of the pan. Slice and serve with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream or crÃ¨me fraÃ®che. The spice cake can be stored, well wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 2 days.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The kitchen is my happy place. Whether I'm stressed or tired or just plain hungry, stepping in front of a whirring mixer, a hot oven, a container of flour, and a bin of sugar instantly centers me. I am grateful I am able to share that joy of baking with others through writing cookbooks. I am even more grateful to the team of people that have helped me do so.

Thank you to Nicole, my indomitable executive pastry chef, for keeping the bakery running smoothly while I was focused on writing this book, and to Jes, our pastry assistant, for her careful baking, note taking, and photo-shoot prepping.

Huge thanks to the kitchen team at Flour Fort Point for sharing their tight kitchen quarters with me and eating seemingly endless versions of not-quite-there treats. Thank you also to the entire teams of Flour and Myers+Chang; you do your jobs so seamlessly and well that it allowed me to step away and write this book. I'm lucky and I know it!

I had two invaluable testers, Keith Brooks and Sandy Warner, who painstakingly tested numerous variations of recipes each time with as much enthusiasm as the first time. Thank you Keith for coming back for more after testing recipes for
Flour, Too
, and thank you Sandy for introducing yourself to me many years ago at a book signing and generously offering up your time and talents. You both made grand impacts in the development of these recipes.

Thank you to the students at Cambridge Culinary who also lent their baking skills to this book and tested many of these recipes for me; it is always a gratifying experience working with passionate, eager students.

I feel awfully fortunate to work with the uber-talented team at Chronicle Books. Thank you to Bill LeBlond, Sarah Billingsley, and Lorena Jones for cheering me on, throwing me their full support, and guiding me through this book; to Peter and David for being the best marketing fan club an author could have; to Alice for taking the mishmash of recipes and pictures and making a glorious book, and to everyone else at Chronicle who lends their skills and talents to my books.

Everyone should be so lucky to have an agent like Stacey Glick. She must represent other people, but I would never know because she is always so 100 percent focused on helping me navigate through the behind-the-scenes, inner workings of getting a cookbook written. Thank you, Stacey.

Working with my photographer Joe De Leo was a fabulous experience, and I have such respect for his professionalism, attention to detail, and careful eye. Our stylist Molly Shuster was a delight, and if you're drooling over the pictures you can thank her for her meticulous food styling.

Thank you, Mom and Dad; many years ago I took a less-traveled path and you hardly blinked an eye (at least that's how we all like to remember it now), and you've given me more love, support, and encouragement than any one person should be allowed to have. That has truly made all the difference.

And the biggest, bestest, hugest, mostest thanks go to my husband, Christopher. Thank you for gamely trying every version of each and every pastry and always giving me your honest no-holds-barred feedback; for not giving me the stink-eye when I had to cancel plans and reroute trips to make time for this book; for editing every last word of the manuscript when you'd rather be watching the Golf Channel (baffling); and mostly for loving me so fully it takes my breath away. I love you MOST.

INDEX
A

Agave nectar, 28

Allspice, 27

Almonds

Almond Milk Panna Cotta with Plum-Grape Compote, 172â73

Cherry Almond Granola, 97

extract, 27

French Apple-Almond Crostata, 184â86

Honey-Almond Snack Cake, 119â21

Nutty-Seedy-Fruity Energy Bars, 100â102

Summer Peach Dumplings with Almonds and Whipped Cream, 179â81

White ChocolateâCherry-Almond Cookies, 47â49