one faux-pas turns into a completely different dessert!
Today’s a story of turning lemons into lemonade – well, I think I should find a more seasonal version of that little phrase, shouldn’t I? Here is a little story about the importance of mis-en-place – and not talking incessantly while you’re trying to bake………
Wow, it is frightful outside this morning. It is 27F and the wind is blowing hard. Old Man Winter is trying to sneak in a week early, I think. Snow is predicted for the weekend. Yikes. All of my planned trips to the city may be sabotaged………
Today’s recipe came about via a huge faux pas from yesterday. We had a real life “that’s the way the cookie crumbles” event.
I spent the day baking with a friend who asked that I show her how to make my shortbread cookies. We were so busy talking that I inadvertently put an extra stick of butter into the dough. We chilled and baked off the dough – it didn’t seem off to me – and, when I opened the oven, I instantly knew what I’d done. Arrrgggg, I thought to myself……. We decided to keep these cookies, over bake them a bit, and we turned them into crumbs. I thought at least I could use them for a cheesecake crust or something………
Chef Rachel and Silvana – next to whom I sat for our entire program; seems like yesterday (photo courtesy ICE Culinary)
Early this morning as I sat down to write this post I came upon another idea for the crumbs. I picked the Olive Oil Cake from Maialino for a few reasons. One is that it sounded amazing – especially with the Grand Marnier. Two, I did my very first stage in the Pastry kitchen at Maialino with Chef Rachel Binder. This was a most memorable and intimidating day for me. Third, while this recipe is not credited to her, I’m strongly suspecting it is indeed hers. If it is, I’m making it in a gesture of my fond memories of her. I can still see Chef Rachel diligently piping chocolate buttercream onto the sides of a mounting layer cake in our classroom. I’m filled with great memories of our old classrooms on West 23rd Street.
This is the cake, as shown, which is made up of three recipes:
Here is the recipe for the cake:
https://food52.com/recipes/26709-maialino-s-olive-oil-cake (recipe courtesy food52)
grand mariner sugared cranberries
For the sugared cranberries follow this recipe: http://vanillaandbean.com/sugared-cranberries/ (recipe courtesy vanilla and bean)- BUT, add 1 tsp grand marnier to the poaching liquid; when draining, reserve this liquid and reduce to a syrupy consistency – this ties the cranberry topping into the flavoring of the cake
for the crumbles: follow my recipe for orange shortbread cookies – https://kitchen-inspirational.com/2016/03/28/quick-need-cookie-orange-almond-shortbread-cookies/, with or without the orange (we made them without the orange) but add an extra stick of butter; when you bake these they will come out flat – precisely because you doubled the butter; bake to a golden brown; remove from the oven and cool; when cool, crumble and return to a 375F oven and toast to a consistent golden brown; cool again and toss with another 1/4 cup granulated sugar, cool.
To assemble the cake: Turn the cooled olive oil cake onto a cake pedestal topped with a round doily. Sprinkle the cooled crumbs over the top of the cake. Arrange the grand marnier-scented sugared cranberries on top of the crumbs. In the center, place a tbsp of sugared orange zest. If desired, drizzle some of the sugaring liquid, reduced to a syrup, on top of the cake. (Or use in your martinis).
Now, I don’t feel so bad for wasting an entire batch of cookie dough!