Cake Talk

When Life Hands You Lemons...

Mom and dad have a lemon tree in their backyard. As fate would have it, I visit once a year, in January when the lemons are ripe.

And, there are only so many lemons my parents can use or give away. Especially in California, where every other house has a similar tree.

So in the suitcase they go.

Future lemon squares at Mary's Cakes and Pastries!

They are pretty easy to make, you just need fresh lemons. Don't even THINK about using bottled lemon juice.

I like them when they are heavy on the lemon custard and light on the crust. Tart and sweet at the same time. Makes them almost seem healthy. Here's a closer look.

Want the recipe? No mixer required, we make this ENTIRELY by hand in the shop so there is no fighting over Rosie (the new 60-quart Hobart mixer we won in the Get Back To Scratch contest last summer). The recipe is also in our cookbook.

You can use the crust recipe below or press unbaked shortbread dough into the bottom of the pan. Shortbread dough will make the crust firmer and stronger.

Mary's Lemon Squares

For the crust:

12 oz. butter or margarine (3 sticks)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 cups all purpose flour

For the filling:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (with zest from lemons)

For the crust: Cut the margarine into pieces. Add the margarine (or butter), brown sugar and flour to a large mixing bowl and mix with a fork, pastry cutter, or your hands until incorporated and the margarine or butter is in pea sized pieces. Press into a half sheet (12" x 18") pan. Do NOT line the pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until set. Crust will be slightly soft. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10-15 minutes before pouring the filling over the crust. Lower heat in the oven to 325.

For the filling: While crust is cooking, combine eggs and sugar in a bowl and whip with a hand whisk. Then add flour, lemon juice and zest. Mix with whip until combined and the mixture is lump-free.  Pour lemon mixture over cooled crust and return to oven. Bake at 325  for 20-25 minutes or until set. Do not brown or create a hard crust on top.

When totally cooled, dust with confectiiners' sugar and cut into squares. Makes 48 2-inch squares (or more if you cut them smaller).

 

The Linzertorte

The Linzertorte or Linzer Tart is our new favorite pastry at the bakery. And we just love watching people's expressions as they taste it for the first time. Absolute bliss.

A traditional Christmas pastry in Europe, it originated in Linz, Austria. The pastry is made from a nut and spice dough, filled with jam and topped with a lattice crust.

It's one of those fussy *named* pastries you learn about in culinary school, along with the Sachertorte, the Napoleon and the Madeleine.

The Linzertorte is also one of the oldest known tarts with a recipe, discovered in an Austrian abbey in 1653.  An Austrian immigrant who worked as a baker is recognized for introducing it to America in the 1850's.

The traditional recipe calls for hazelnut flour and black currant jam, ingredients that are expensive and hard to come by in America. Most American recipes call for almond flour and raspberry jam instead.

We use almond paste instead of almond flour, which results in a very soft dough. Too soft to roll with a rolling pin, we spread the bottom layer with a spatula, and pipe the lattice with a pastry bag.

Here is the recipe from our Cookbook.

Mary's Cakes Linzer Bars

• 1 lb. butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup almond flour (or almond paste)
• 3 cups a.p. flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 lb. raspberry jam
• confectioners sugar
• sliced almonds (optional)

Place butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle atttachment. Cream until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Beat dry ingredients into butter mxture to blend thoroughly.

Divide the dough into thirds. Reserve one-third for the lattice top. Press remaining dough into the bottom of a 12" x 18" (half sheet) pan. Spread jam evenly onto dough in bottom of pan.

Roll out remaining dough for lattice top and cut into 1/2-inch strips. Arrange on jam in a criss-cross fashion, re-rolling dough as needed to make sufficient strips and piecing strips as necessary. (If you used almond paste instead of almond flour, your dough should be soft enough to pipe the lattice using a large plain tip). Sprinkle with sliced almonds (optional).

Bake at 350^o for about 40 minutes or until  nicely browned. Cool, then dust with confectioners sugar and cut into 2-inch squares. Makes 48 squares.

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A little bit of trivia... The third largest in Austria, Linz is a city of about 200,000, just 30 kilometers south of the Czech border, about halfway between Salzburg and Vienna. It sits on both sides of the Danube River. Known for steel and chemical production, it is also a center for music and art. Former resident and composer Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) is to Linz what Mozart is to Salzburg. Fred Astaire's father was born there. Johannes Kepler (the astronomer) and Adolf Hitler (most infamous resident)  lived there. It's almost the home of PEZ candy (in Traun, about 15 minutes away). And that's about all you need to know about Linz besides the cake.

Gingerbread Persons

 

Rosie helped make this year's gingerbread persons. All 220 of them.

Of course, without Suzanne, they'd be plain or ordinary.

And that's not the kind of place that Mary's Cakes is. Neither plain nor ordinary.

So every year, about this time, we mix up a batch of gingerbread cookie dough and roll out the naked bodies.

Then we mix up a really big batch of royal icing, and Suzanne gets to work clothing each one in his or her unique costume.

Each one is different, but there are themes.

There are always Bama and Auburn fans (Suzanne went to BOTH UA and AU). Party persons with tacky Christmas sweaters and pinstripes and bow ties. Glamorous gals in swimsuits and evening gowns. Funky folks in all types of sportswear and Hawaiian shirts.

And of course there are brides in off-the shoulder dresses and veils, holding bouquets.

She adds incredible details like Pearls. And flip flops. And wristwatches. And hats. You never know what her mind will come up with next.

This year there is even a pirate with an eye patch and sword, a ship's mate with a striped shirt, and a mermaid.

Plus Santa (with a big "S" on his belt buckle).

When the icing dries, we attach a ribbon for hanging on the tree (better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it...) and package each person in a protective celophane bag tied with another ribbon.

They are suitable for hanging on the tree, but also deliciously edible.

Come on down and pick out your favorite. They'll be ready and hanging from our tree at Dickens Downtown.

Or make your own. Here's the smaller version of Rosie's Recipe...

GINGERBREAD PERSONS

Shortening	1 c.
Granulated Sugar	1 c.
Dark Molasses	1 c.
Cold Water	1/4 c.
All Purpose flour	6 c.
Ground Ginger	2 tsp.
Ground Cinnamon	2 tsp.
Salt	1 tsp.

Cream shortening, sugar and molasses. Add cold water and mix thoroughly. Add Dry ingredients and mix to incorporate.

Roll out and bake at 350F until done, about 10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen.

Decorate with royal icing.

Note: Dough rolls and cuts better if slightly chilled. Pierce head  with straw or decorating tip before baking if you plan to add a ribbon to tie on the tree.

New TV Show -- Cookie Challenge

I'm kinda surprised The Food Network hasn't come up with a cookie decorating competition. You know, eight hours to make fabulous decorated cookies for some special event and become the Cookie Queen (or King).

They could be for wedding or baby shower favors, or for a garden club, tailgate, new baby announcement... the possibilities are ENDLESS (that means many seasons of shows).

There are thousands of cutters, with multiple ways to decorate each design. Or you can custom cut a cookie. Not to mention all the creative ways to use glaze or royal icing or sprinkles or dragees or disco dust. Or even fondant.

There is the flooding method of covering a cookie using royal icing, or the glaze method using a paintbrush. Each requires a certain amount of skill and has advantages and disadvantages. I'm sure the Food Network could find judges that favor one method over another.

Cookies are not as quick or easy to make as cupcakes, but require lots of skill in piping and decorating, not to mention the drama involved in baking. There's shortbread and sugar cookies, which react differently in the oven. Put 'em too close together and they get all ugly on the sides. Roll them unevenly and some will burn before others are done.

Think about it, besides over- or under-baking them, you could make the icing too watery or overwhip it, or mix awful colors. Or you might leave the icing uncovered and it will get crusty and plug up your piping bag. Or it will spread or bleed.

And you can't just scrape the icing off if you make a mistake. Or you can stack them when they're still wet and the icing will come off or get all ugly.

I'd watch a show where the makers of those really beautiful cookies I see on blogs get made with a DEADLINE! Let's see how long it really takes to get that perfect cookie.

Yep, plenty of drama for a TV cooking show.

So, Food Network, ARE YOU LISTENING?? People would watch.

Photo of cookies from K-Delights.com.

Bakers I follow...

Thanks to the Get Back To Scratch movement, I've discovered an online world of passionate food artists. I visit anonomously in the middle of the night and am awed by their work.

There are some amazing bakers out there. Many one-person shops that bake from shared kitchens or their homes, take online orders, or sell at local farmer's markets. They are incredible artists, and extremely passionate about their baking. These are real people, local treasures, and inspiring individuals.

I follow several of them; here are a few of my favorites.

Sugar Tooth Bakery, a.k.a. Meghan. You gotta love her, she was our main competition in the Signature Scratch Item Contest, and named her new mixer after me. She makes beautiful and edgy sweets for vegans and folks with food sensitivities in Austin, Texas; I'm sure there are many people in Tuscaloosa who would love for her to be within shopping distance. These are her Sesame Street cupcakes. She has a great website, but I follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Southern Scratch, a.k.a. Kathryn and Reid, and their brand new baby, Josephine. They live on a farm in Washington, Georgia and bake for private events and the Washington Farmers' Market. I get hungry reading detailed descriptions of the yummy comfort foods Kathryn makes for her husband and their customers. She has also has a webpage and blog, but the best place to follow her is on Facebook. Here it's not so much about the photos, but the vivid descriptions of her food.

Les Pop Sweets, a.k.a. Elizabeth, makes cake pops in South Orange County, California. Beautifully decorated cake pops. She's just getting started and is incredibly fresh and candid with her discoveries and accomplishments. Also on Facebook.

Bake at 350, a.k.a. Bridget, is one of those overachievers that you just have to love. The best place to follow her is the blog, beautifully designed and chock full of lovely photos of cookies. I found it searching for images of cookies and visit for sheer cookie envy. They are NOT part of the Get Back To Scratch movement.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, what baking blogs, facebook pages or websites inspire YOU?

Sugar Free Sweets

I confess. I like sugar.

And I love what it does to baked goods. In addition to providing sweetness, sugar adds flavor, bulk, and structure. In cakes without shortening, sugar helps delay egg coagulation and allows a cake to "set" properly. It also retains moisture in baked goods. And as it’s heated above its melting point, it caramelizes and takes on an amber color with a wonderful aroma and flavor.

Without pretending to understand physiology or chemistry, I also understand that some people can't (or shouldn't) have real sugar. Alternative sugars are still the best -- beet sugar, fructose, sorghum sugar and maple syrup sugar -- but some people can't have (or don't want) these either.

We get occasional requests for totally sugar-free items, mostly from diabetics and people with digestive illnesses and sensitivities.

Trying to accommodate these diets, we've learned a few things about artificial sweeteners and baking.

Sugar substitutes have plusses and minuses and choosing the right one for a recipe is not easy. The most common obstacles  are taste, moistness and volume. People expect sweets from a bakery to look and taste a certain way, whether they contain sugar or not. If we are going to put our name on a baked product, it can't be dry or flat or hard, even if it's sugar-free. And it has to look great too.

We also have to consider the cost of making sugar-free items. We're a small bakery with an extremely narrow profit margin, so we can't afford to spend a lot of time experimenting on items we can't sell. To work for us, a sugar substitute has to *substitute* for sugar without requiring modifications to the recipe.

The most popular artificial sweetener on the market is Splenda (sucralose). You can buy it in a bulk granulated white or brown-sugar variety.

We've tried it and hate it. When used in our recipes, we get dry cookies and cakes, with a chemical after taste. And we can't make a glaze or buttercream with it, so we can't even decorate those dry cookies and cakes.

Maybe, with enough experimenting, we might be able to come up with an acceptable product, but had to make a business decision to stick with real sugar.

A month or so ago, we were introduced to a relatively new sweetener, Ideal, made from a combination of  xylitol, natural dextrose, natural maltodextrin and a small amount of non-natural sucralose. It comes in granulated, brown and confectioners (powdered) varieties.

It's not perfect, but it's much better than Splenda. It can be substituted for sugar in many of our recipes. And we're able to make buttercream and glaze for decorating with the confectioners version.

The downsides?

• The buttercream is not quite as smooth as when we use 10x confectiners sugar, but it's pretty good.
• Xylitol is toxic, even in small quantities, to dogs and cats. So, don't share these sweets with your beloved pets.

It also contains a small amount of sucralose (the main ingredient in Splenda), which some people have problems with. However, if you are a diabetic, the benefits may outweigh the risks.

And, if you'd like some sugar-free sweets from Mary's Cakes & Pastries, give us a call.

Yea, Alabama!

Seven days to kick-off. Alabama hosts Kent State for the first game of the 2012 season next Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

And so it begins.

The dough sheeter is going to get a workout as we roll out cookies. We'll make lots and lots of glaze and have a ready supply of fresh trim brushes to paint cookies.

Plus pastry bags, royal icing, and copious amounts of red paste color. You've gotta have just the right shade of red for our elephants. Just the right shade of pale yellow for our Saban hats. And a good pigskin brown (brown with a drop of orange) for our footballs. Goes without saying, black to create the houndstooth design on our hat cookies.

By the end of the season (January 2012) everyone in the shop will be adept at making the famous script A, drawing Big Al's ears and trunk , and applying the stitching to the footballs.

There will be seven home games and -- as you know -- decorated shortbread cookies from Mary's are the PERFECT TAILGATE DESSERT!

Call us to reserve yours. 205-345-8610.

Roll Tide.

 

Day 81 -- Nice Blondies Martha!

These are Martha Stewart's Pear, Pistachio and Ginger Blondies. The recipe is on page 201 of Martha Stewart's Cookies.

And these are ours (her recipe times 7.1 to use exactly two pounds of butter).

I am not a professional photographer (this was taken with my iphone) but THEY look and taste DELICIOUS!

Spicy candied ginger, chopped dried pears and pistachios. Plus butter, brown sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla. That's it!

Chewy and buttery, you taste all of the ingredients, from the pears to the ginger (the hotness in the candied ginger is toned down somewhat in the blondie) and the pistachios. Plus the brown sugar, butter and vanilla. There is no cinnamon so they don't taste "seasonal." Just yummy-delicious.

Not sure how she got hers to stand on edge because they are really too soft for that. Plus the square size is much more practical in the bakery than making rounds and cutting wedges.

Taking the time to make these from scratch was so much FUN, and reminds me why I love baking. Thanks Martha!

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Today is day 81 of the voting marathon, officially known as the Get Back To Scratch Contest. We're competing to win a big new mixer for the bakery. We are currently in the lead but there are 12 days left to vote and we have no idea whether we are ahead by one or one thousand..

Get Back To Scratch is a movement that supports and encourages the passion of bakers and chefs. Folks who invest the time and materials bake with real flour and sugar and eggs instead of pre-prepared and par-baked items. It was created by Hobart, the folks who make large commercial mixers. The movement is supported and promoted by an online network of culinary and baking professionals, including Buddy Vallestro, TLC's Cake Boss.

Vote for us at http://www.getbacktoscratch.com/directory/profile/?id=268 through August 21.

 

Day 12 -- Life goes on at the Bakery

It's day 12, with 81 voting days left in the contest. Right now, at 7 am, the top 3 are:

2,749 - Sugar Tooth Bakery

2,745 - Mary's Cakes & Pastries

711 - Jones Bros. Cupcakes

I wish I could say that we are not obsessed with the contest. But we are.

However, life does goes on at the bakery. And no, those #2 pencil shortbread cookies have nothing to do with the contest.

Our to-do list includes four weddings this weekend, plus several birthday and shower cakes.

There are loads of cupcakes to be made. And cookies. And petit fours.

A bunch of batches of croissant dough are in progress for stuffed croissants, bear claws and pains au chocolat.

We'll have a new flavor of gelato this afternoon -- banana split (banana gelato with ganache, nuts and strawberry sauce swirled in!

Tomorrow is Art Night.

Then there are the daily donations of sweet treats to the wonderful volunteers at TES.

If you are inclined to vote for us to win the gigantic mixer from GetBackToScratch.com, put it on your to-do list. Need a daily reminder? Send us an Email with the word "REMINDER" in the subject line.

Cookie Throwdown: Saturdays in Tuscaloosa

What could be more fun? A crowd of kids -- of all ages -- plus cookies, icing and sprinkles! Prizes too! And it's free.

We call it a Cookie Throwdown!

Conceived last winter to beat the off-season blues, it make our wedding-less Saturdays busy and exciting. Brought lots and lots of smiles to everyone, and the kids had a blast!

Here's how it works...

1. We pick a theme and bake some shortbread cookies (sugar cookies would do fine as well). Last week it was "Winter Wonderland" and we made polar bears, trees, birds, snowflakes and ice cream cones. Of course most kids picked the polar bear because it was the biggest.


2. Then we set up a couple of big tables and put out bags of icing (not too full for little hands and secured on the ends with rubber bands so the icing does not come out the top). Plus lots and lots of sprinkles of all shapes, colors and sizes.


3. We made up a placard of rules (Be nice, share, etc.)


4. Everyone gets one free cookie to decorate (extras are $1 each if you want to practice or you eat the entry before it gets judged). BTW, there is no rule saying you MUST enter your cookie. Kids (and adults) are welcome to just decorate (or not) a cookie and eat it.


5. Contest starts at 1:30, with judging at 2:45 and clean-up at 3pm. Mary's Cakes tee-shirt for the winner in each age group, plus a box of pastries for the runner-up. Everyone in the "five-and-under" category gets a prize and we bend the rules for "no outside help" for the little ones.

The cookie at the top of the post was one of the winning cookies in the "five-and-under" category. According to Lulu's mom "This is her anti-arctic oil exploration statement. Note oily sheen on mid-section."

<< The "Adult" category is the most competitive, with contestants placing sprinkles on one-at-a-time with tweezers.

OK, we're a bakery and it's easy for us to do this, but it works great for parties as well.

This Saturday? The theme is "Here Comes the Bride" with cake cookies, dresses, rings and flowers!