Pastry Class: Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Chocolate Chunk Cookies

In my pastry class, we are starting to get into technique. Most of the class is focused on labs, rather than lecture. We've picked groups, and I ended up with a good one, I think. Three of the other guys have industry experience. I've done large scale cooking in the SCA, at science fiction conventions, and catered some LARPs. Everyone takes initiative, and just get things done. We communicate well. Just by random draw, I ended up being sous chef for our group for this lab. We seem to be fast and efficient, so may find ourselves doing Chef's mise en place, as well as our own. Sometimes there is a price to pay for being teacher's pets.

Our first recipe was a banana cake with cream cheese frosting. This was a very moist cake, and I loved the tanginess of the frosting. We were focused on professional methods, so much of the ingredients are measured in weight, not volume. The way we cut the cake, there was a row for each person in the group, so we each got to decorate our own. I just followed Chef's scheme. Others in my group came up with their own designs. My row is the second from the left.
The point of this exercise was to illustrate the Mix Method. This is the simplest of methods for combining ingredients. Dry ingredients are sifted together, wet ingredients are mixed together, then wet are added to dry and combined quickly. A lot of cakes and quick breads are done this way.

The other recipe we did was chocolate chunk cookies. Like chocolate chip cookies, but bigger pieces of chocolate. This recipe produces a moist, chewy cookie. We used a bittersweet chocolate, with 58% cocoa liqueur. That was fine with me, as I prefer darker chocolates. This recipe was to illustrate the Cream Method. In the cream method, the fats and sugars are beaten together to add air and provide leavening.

Both these recipes are provided by my instructor, Chef James Foran. As these are professional recipes, much of the measurements are by weight rather than volume.

Recipes

Banana Cake

Wet Ingredients
9 fl oz vegetable oil
6 oz by wt eggs
12 oz by wt peeled bananas
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 fl oz cream
5 oz by wt brown sugar

Dry Ingredients
10 oz by wt sugar
10 oz by wt cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Prepare  a half sheet pan, oiled and lined with parchment or wax paper.
Preheat oven, 325 degrees for a convection oven, 350 degrees for a conventional oven

Using an immersion blender, blend together wet ingredients. Sift together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients all at once to dry ingredients. Whisk together until just combined. Pour batter into half sheet pan, and smooth. Bake 12 - 15 minutes, or until cake is browned and springy.

When cake is completely cooled, invert onto cutting board, and frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz by wt cream cheese
3 oz by wt room  temperature butter
6 1/2 oz by wt powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer. Cream with a paddle until smooth.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

fats/sugars ingredients
5 oz by wt butter
4 oz by wt sugar
5 oz by wt brown sugar
3/4 tsp. kosher salt

wet ingredients
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

dry ingredients
8 1/2 oz by wt all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder

garnish ingredients
9 oz by wt semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Preheat oven, 325 degrees for a convection oven, 350 degrees for a conventional oven

Using a paddle in a stand mixer, cream together fats and sugars for at least five minutes, until smooth.
Add egg and vanilla, cream until smooth.
Add dry ingredients in two stages, remembering to scrape down the bowl periodically.
Stir in chocolate.

Scoop out dough in approximately 2 tbsp. balls onto sheet pan. Top each cookie with a few grains of sea salt.

Bake about 5 minutes, or until flattened and brown.

A Medieval Islamic Dinner

A couple of friends have been enthusiastically asking me to cook for them for awhile. We finally found a mutually acceptable date, so the spouse and I went over to their place, and I had the pleasure of cooking for them. I'd been wanting to try some dishes that I'm thinking about for a feast I am co-ordinating in November. I wanted to give them maximum bang for their buck, so to speak, so did the full meal thing: appetizer, main dish, dessert.

For the appetizer, I made a chickpea paste with pita bread. This is an ancestor of humus, but without tahini. It's flavored with preserved lemons, white wine vinegar, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and served with fresh mint and parsley, and olive oil. I really liked it. The pickled lemons gave it a unique tang. I did have to run the food processor longer than I usually do to make humus, the lemon was resistant. The fresh herbs added a nice contrast.

For the main dish, I made spice rubbed sauteed beef cubes with almond stuffed dates, on a bed of walnut butter couscous, with fried eggplant with a sweet and sour sauce. The beef is a London broil, cut into cubes. I tossed it with a spice rub of coriander, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger,and kosher salt. It was sauteed with dates stuffed with whole blanched almonds. The sweet dates added a nice contrast to the spicy beef.  I cooked the beef just to a nice medium rare. It came out juicy and tender. The walnut butter couscous was rich and fragrant, I'm particularly happy with it. The eggplant was fried in shallow oil, until brown. It was dressed with a sauce of lemon juice, white wine vinegar, sugar, cilantro, parsley, mint, garlic, black pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. The acid of the sauce helped cut the richness of the beef and couscous.

For dessert, I kept it simple. I made fried bananas with pistachio syrup. The bananas were fried in a little butter on the griddle, until golden brown. The syrup was a simple syrup of sugar and water, with a little salt, and rough chopped pistachios. For all it's simplicity, it was very good. It was missing a cold component and a little acid, though. I think next time I will serve it with a little cardamon-honey creme fraiche.




All-in-all, I'm very pleased with this meal. I feel I'm starting to get a handle on plating. I felt really good about timing and multi-tasking to get all the components of the main dish to finish at the same time. I think the balance of flavors, and textures was spot on.

Recipes

Chickpea Paste with Preserved Lemon

1 8 oz. can chickpeas
1/2 a preserved lemon
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. chopped mint
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. olive oil

Drain chickpeas, reserving 1/4 cup of liquid. Place chickpeas, chickpea liquid, lemon, vinegar, spices, and salt into a food processor. Process until smooth. Place on a platter, sprinkle with fresh herbs, drizzle with olive oil. Serve with wedges of flat bread, like lavosh or pita.

Sauteed Beef with Dates

1 1/2 lbs London boil
8 oz. pitted dates
1/3 cup blanched whole almonds
2 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. whole coriander seeds
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. olive oil

Carefully insert an almond into the cavity of each date, set aside. Cut beef into 3/4 inch cubes. Grind up coriander in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. In a small bowl, mix salt and spices. Toss beef cubes with spice mix until well coated. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add dates, saute for a couple of minutes, then add beef. Cook until meat is browned, but still pink in the middle.

Walnut butter couscous

2/3 cup walnuts
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 cups dried couscous
4 cups boiling water

Place walnuts in a food processor. Process, drizzling in olive oil until walnuts are a thick, peanut butter-like paste. Set aside. Place couscous in a bowl, pour on boiling water. Let sit 10 minutes, until water is absorbed. Use a spoon to fluff up couscous. Add walnut butter and salt, stir until butter is incorporated.

Fried Eggplant with Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 eggplant
juice of 1 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. chopped mint
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
canola oil for frying

In a small saucepan, simmer juice, vinegar, spices, herbs, salt and sugar over medium-low heat. Cook until sugar dissolves, and garlic is tender.

Slice eggplant into 1/2 thick slices. Put a thin layer of canola oil into a frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, fry eggplant on both sides until brown, place on paper towels to drain. Plate eggplant, drizzle with sauce.

Fried Bananas with Pistachio Syrup

3 bananas, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/2 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. butter
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt

Place water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer until sugar and salt are dissolved, let cook until slightly thickened. Stir in nuts, set aside.

Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat. When hot, lightly coat with butter. Fry bananas on both sides until bananas are caramelized, and softened. Plate sauce, arrange bananas on top.

Happy Eating!