Peach Bourbon Upside Down Cake

Lovey likes to go through my magazines as they arrive and select a dessert for me to try.  This turned out to be a nice cake and a way to use some peaches I had that needed to be used before they went bad on me.

Like any upside down cake the fruit is placed in the bottom of the pan with a butter/sugar mixture then the batter is poured on top.  This is how the fruit looks when first turned out of the pan.

It's a dense cake, almost like a pound cake, so the light glaze was a nice compliment. 

 

 We ate most of it as a breakfast cake.

Peach Bourbon Upside Down Cake
From June 2018 issue of Southern Living
Serves 12

Ingredients: 
1-3/4 cups butter, softened, divided
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar, divided
4 peaches, peeled and cut into 4 slices
1 - 8 ounce pkg cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup (2 ounces) bourbon
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

Method:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Melt 1/4 cup of the butter in a small saucepan over medium, stir in 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Pour mixture evenly into a 15-cup (10-1/2 inch) Bundt pan that has been heavily greased with cooking spray. Place peach slices in an even layer on top of brown sugar mixture.

Beat cream cheese and remaining 1-1/2 cups butter with a heavy-duty stand mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add granulated sugar and remaining 1-1/2 cups  brown sugar, beating on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yolk disappears. Beat in 1 tsp. of the vanilla.

Sift together flour and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with bourbon, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter carefully over peaches in prepared pan; level with a spatula.

Bake in preheated oven until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 1 hour and 25 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack until pan is cool enough to handle but still hot, about 25 minutes. Remove cake from pan to rack, and cool completely, about 2 hours.

Stir together confectioner's sugar, remaining 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and 1 Tbsp. of the milk in a small bowl, adding remaining 1 Tbsp. milk, 1 tsp at a time, if needed to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake. 

Strawberry Ice Cream

This may be the best strawberry ice cream I have ever tasted.  Pulled it from the current June 2018 issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Start it the night before you want to make it.

 Clean and halve a pound of fresh strawberries and put them in a blender or a food processor along with lemon juice and sugar.  Process until nice and smooth.

Press the purée through a fine sieve.  You should get around 1-1/2 cups of purée.

Bring the milk, cream, corn syrup, and sugar to a boil and simmer.

Cool the cream mixture in an ice bath until cool.

Once the cream mixture is cool, add the strawberry purée.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Roughly chop the 8 ounces of strawberries and add to a mixture of vodka and sugar.  Cover and allow to macerate overnight in the refrigerator.

The next morning, process in your ice cream maker according to directions. When the ice cream gets to a soft serve stage, drain the reserved strawberries and add to the ice cream.  Use the drained vodka for another use (like a cocktail).

 Spoon ice cream into a bread pan and refrigerate.

 Strawberry Ice Cream
Makes 1-1/2 quarts
From the June 2018 issue of Martha Stewart Living

Ingredients:
Fresh strawberries - 1 lb. plus 8 ounces more; 
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup low-fat milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for macerating
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup vodka

Mise en place:

• Clean and hull the pound of strawberries and cut in half
• clean and coarsely chop 8 ounces of strawberries
• squeeze lemon juice
• measure out all other ingredients

Method:
In a blender or food processor, purée  the halved strawberries with lemon juice and salt. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve (you should have 1-1/2 cups of purée; reserve any excess for another use).

Combine milk, cream, 2/3 cups sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes. Strain mixture into a bowl, set the bowl in an ice bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold. Stir in strawberry purée. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 

Stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and vodka.  Add chopped strawberries and macerate, covered overnight in the refrigerator.

Process the purée mixture in your ice cream maker according to the directions.  When the ice cream is at the soft serve stage (towards the end of processing), drain the chopped strawberries and add the berries to the ice cream.  Save the liquid from the macerating strawberries for another use; most likely for a cocktail 😀

Transfer the ice cream to a loaf pan and freeze, wrapped in plastic, at least 4 hours and up to 1 week. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.

Strawberries and Cream Cake

Lovey selected this clipping from the April 2013 issue of Southern Living.

I'll just say up front that this cake is very easy but takes a lot of time to create.  A lot of that time is everything cooling off in the refrigerator.  They should call this Patience Cake

There are three components: the cake layers, a strawberry jam filling and a strawberry frosting.

It will make it easier on you if you start the jam and the cake layers a day or two ahead of serving.

For the Jam

Begin by slicing up or roughly chopping fresh strawberries then mashing them up with a potato masher.  A pastry blender gets the job done as well.

Add sugar, blend and let stand for about half an hour.  (There's 1/2 hour waiting)



Bring this to a boil over medium heat; let boil for 5 minutes.  Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in strawberry gelatin until dissolved.  Let this sit and cool for about an hour (another hour of waiting).



Once cooled pour into a covered container and refrigerate for 8 hours. (we're up to 9-1/2 hours waiting now).


Once the jam is in hibernation, make the cake layers.



You will be making six 8-inch layers.  I just happened to have 6 throw-away tins so I used those.  They've been taking up cabinet space for more time than they are worth.



Grease and flour each cake pan.




Separate the eggs.  There are a lot of eggs in this cake.




Measure out the dry ingredients and the oil, lemon juice and water.




Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl then make a well in the center.



Add the oil, lemon juice, water and egg yolks and beat 3 or 4 minutes until smooth.

I mixed up the batter with my hand mixer because I'm going to use the stand mixer for the egg whites.



Sugar and cream of tartar will be added to the egg whites.



Beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar at medium-high until soft peaks form.



Gradually add the sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.



Gently stir about a fourth of the egg white mixture into the cake batter.


Gently fold in the remaining egg white mixture into the batter.



Spoon batter into the cake pans, dividing equally.



Smooth tops with an offset spatula.



Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  The instructions called for 12 - 15 minutes of baking time but I baked them for about 20 minutes before a cake tester came out clean.



After resting in the pans for about 10 minutes, remove from pans and allow to cool completely on wire racks, about an hour.  (we're up to 11 hours cooling time now)

I covered the cake layers and began the assembly the next day. 

Cover a cake board with foil and place one layer on the cake board


Give the chilled jam a good stir and spread about 2/3 cup on top of the first layer, leaving  1/4" border around the edges.



Repeat with the remaining layers but do not spread any jam on the top layer.  You will have jam left over.

Now, wrap the complete assembly in plastic wrap and, you guessed it.....put it in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours.  (we now have a tally of 19 to 35 hours of chill time)

Now it's time to ice the cake.  I was so tired of working on this thing that I didn't even take photos of making the frosting.  Again, like every step in this recipe it was very simple and easy; nothing difficult.  The magazine photos of the finished cake showed the icing to be as smooth as a baby's butt.  Mine definitely didn't look as pristine.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that once the cake is iced.... it has to be refrigerated for at least 2 hours.

It was impressive and showy

It was also very tasty; but here's the thing...

After the first bite, Lovey and I looked at each other and said, "Tastes just like strawberry shortcake".  And it did.  Lawzy Mercy!  Next time I'm wanting something like this I'll just make shortcake from scratch, cut up some fresh berries and top with whipped cream!

But if you want to make an impressive looking cake that tastes just like strawberry shortcake here is how to do it.

Strawberries and Cream Cake
Adapted from the April 2013 issue of Southern Living
Serves 12

The Strawberry Jam Filling

Ingredients:

2 pounds whole strawberries

2-1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin

Method:

Wash and slice  or roughly chop strawberries. Using a pastry cutter mash the berries so you have  4 cups mash.

Stir together the strawberries and sugar in a large saucepan; allow to sit and macerate for 30 minutes.

Bring strawberry mixture to a boil over medium heat; boil 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in gelatin until dissolved; cool completely (about 1 hour).  Cover and chill for 8 hours.

The Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted cake flour

2-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. table salt

1-1/4 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

4 large egg yolks

1/4 cup water

8 large egg whites

1 tsp. cream of tartar

Method:  

Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease and flour 6 8-inch round cake pans.

Stir together the first 3 ingredients and 1 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of mixture; add the oil, the lemon juice, egg yolks, and water. Beat at medium-high with an electric hand mixer 3-4 minutes or until smooth.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into flour mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Spoon batter into the 6 prepared cake pans.

Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Spread the chilled filling between the cake layers, leaving a 1/4-inch border around the edges (about 2/3 cup between each layer). Don't spread any filling on the top layer. Cover the cake with plastic wrap, and chill 8 to 24 hours.

The Strawberry Frosting

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. strawberry-flavored gelatin

2 Tbsp. boiling water

1 cup chilled whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 - 8 ounce container chilled sour cream

Stir together first 2 ingredients in a small bowl; cool completely (about 20 minutes).

Beat whipping cream and gelatin mixture at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Stir in sour cream, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring just until blended after each addition. 

Assembly

Place the chilled, layered cake on a cake plate or stand.  Spread the frosting on top and sides of cake.  Chill 2 hours before serving.

Festive Cranberry Torte

It's been a very long time since I've posted a recipe; but, you know, life happens and it certainly has been happening to me lately.  Not complaining, just going with the flow.

It's the Christmas season and since life has been hectic lately I've had few opportunities to enjoy the Christmas season to the extent I usually do.  This is an oldie in my clipping files.  I have had this for a very long time.  When I originally cut it out I only cut out the photo from the magazine and I wrote down the recipe so I have no recollection what magazine it came from.  I actually remember the very first time I made it which was for a Christmas party in 1982 or 1983.  

I like to give credit where credit is due so I thought I would Google the desert (guessing the name was the original) in order to see if I could find the original source.  I found several links that posted the recipe with the exact same name and the exact same recipe (ingredients and wording of the directions and all) and photos that looked like the magazine photo I had cut out. 

So, with confidence, I can say that this recipe was a clipping from a 1979 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.  That mystery solved, let me share this recipe that is not only a tasty treat but it has lots of "curb appeal" on a Christmas buffet.

Start with making the crust.  It's a graham cracker crust with finely chopped pecans in it.  The recipe doesn't call for the crust to be baked but I think you could.  Once it's pressed into an 8 inch springform pan the crust is refrigerated while you prepare the rest of the torte.

One time I didn't have enough graham cracker crumbs so I combined them with ginger snap crumbs.  
 

 The cranberries get roughly chopped in the food processor.

The cranberries are then mixed with the sugar and left for 5 minutes to macerate.  They'll get nice and juicy.

 Add the egg whites, orange juice concentrate, vanilla and salt to the cranberry mixture.

Mix on low until frothy,

then, mix on high for about 6 to 8 minutes until the mixture is really, really stiff.

 In a separate bowl, whip the cream until you have soft peaks that flop over,

then fold the cream into the cranberry mixture.

Transfer to the springform pan and place in the freezer.  What is nice about this recipe is that you can prepare it the night before.  

 Your glaze starts out looking like this.

 This is what it looks like when it's finished.  

I like to cook the glaze slowly to allow the cranberries to lend their color to it.  Once it's thickened and the cranberries have popped and are squishy (there's a nice culinary term for you), I just slide the saucepan to the back of the range top and let it cool completely.  Don't refrigerate the glaze.

 When you are ready to serve your torte remove it from the springform pan and spread the glaze on top of the torte.  I normally, as the recipe recommends, decorate the top with thin slices of orange, quartered. 
 
Festive Cranberry Torte
From a 1979 issue of Better Homes and Gardens
Yields 8 to 10 servings

 Ingredients:
Crust
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling
1-1/2 cups ground fresh cranberries (2 cups whole)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup whipping cream

Glaze
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 cup whole fresh cranberries
2/3 cup water
1 orange

Method:
In a mixing bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, pecans, 1/4 cup sugar, and the melted butter.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of an 8 inch springform pan.  Chill.

In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine the ground cranberries and 1 cup sugar.  Let sit for 5 minutes to macerate.  Add the unbeaten egg whites, orange juice concentrate, vanilla, and salt.  Beat on low speed until frothy.  Then, beat at high speed 6 to 8 minutes or till stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up).

In a small bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the cream to soft peaks (tips curl over); fold into cranberry mixture.  Turn into the chilled crust.  Freeze until firm.

An hour or two prior to serving make the Cranberry Glaze.  In saucepan stir together 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch.  Stir in the cranberries and water.  Cook and stir till bubbly.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberry skins pop.  Cool to room temperature.  Do not chill

To serve, remove the torte from pan.  Place on a serving plate.  Spoon the Cranberry Glaze in the center of the torte. Slice the orange into several 1/4" slices then quarter.  Place the orange quarters around the edges of the torte.