Strawberry Cream Cake

To contact us Click HERE

I was searching around for a white cake recipe for my Dad's birthday when I came across this recipe on Cook's Illustrated website.  The idea of the whole thing just sounded mind blowing.  I mean who would not love a giant size gourmet strawberry shortcake with a cream cheese whipped cream topping.  Heck, the whipped cream recipe alone won me over.  This cake is so light and fluffy that it is great for the warmer months when you just don't want to eat anything that will make you feel like you ate a brick.  Light, fluffy, and fantastic -  A must try dessert!  


Strawberry Cream Cake
Source: Cook's Illustrated

Cake
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar 
5 large eggs (2 whole and 3 separated), room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Strawberry Filling 2 pounds fresh strawberries (about 2 quarts), washed, dried, and stemmed
4 - 6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Kirsch
pinch table salt
Whipped Cream 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 cups heavy cream

Instructions 
FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour round 9 by 2-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and all but 3 tablespoons sugar in mixing bowl. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks (reserving whites), butter, water, and vanilla; whisk until smooth. In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 60 to 90 seconds. Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten; add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours.
FOR THE STRAWBERRY FILLING: Halve 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). In workbowl of food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices and Kirsch until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.
FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM: When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed (you should have about 4 1/2 cups).
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Using large serrated knife, slice cake into three even layers. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour one half of pureed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge. Place middle cake layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge). Repeat with 20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream; gently press last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top; decorate with remaining cut strawberries. Serve, or chill for up to 4 hours.

We Have Moved!!

To contact us Click HERE
Have you heard?  Amber's Delectable Delights has moved.  I am so very pleased to announce the launch of my new site.   We are at new site, with a new name, a new look, new recipes, and the whole shebang!  Please come and check us out!
www.SugaredWhisk.com









Don't worry, Amber's Delectable Delights is not going anywere.  This site will stay live with all of the old recipes and anything that you have saved in your readers will not dissapear.  I will just not be posting here anymore.
The new site has a lot of great things to offerPrinter friendly posts
Custom badge to "Take Me Whisk You"
Follow Sugared Whisk by e-mail
Follow Sugared Whisk on Facebook
Follow Sugared Whisk by RSS Feeds

Imitation Snow Crab Sandwich Recipe (Surimi)

To contact us Click HERE


In the ideal world, of course, I would use freshly picked and cleaned proper crab meat to make this open sandwich. However, good-quality crab meat (actually, any crab meat) is hard to come by here in Estonia. Instead I have to settle for imitation crab, or surimi.

Here's a quick and simple topping for a slice of toast or soft roll that I quite happen to like.

Imitation Snow Crab Sandwich
(Lumekrabist saiakate)
Makes four

120 g packet snow crab (surimi; make sure you use the best one around with highest surimi percentage)
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 soft rolls, halved or 4 slices of toast

Break up the snow crab sticks. Place into a bowl, fold in mayonnaise. Season with lemon juice and a sprinkling of salt.
Serve on a halved soft roll or on a slice of toast, garnish with fresh dill and season with black pepper (and perhaps some finely grated lemon zest).

More surimi recipes:
Open-faced surimi and egg salad sandwich @ What's Cookin, Chicago
Surimi Maki @ Inspired Bites
Imitation Crab Salad @ Karen Cooks
Russian Style Crab Salad @ Natasha's Kitchen

Beer, mustard and cheese bread recipe, inspired by Welsh Rarebit

To contact us Click HERE


Are you familiar with the British pub classic, Welsh Rarebit? It's a slice of toasted bread topped with a melted cheese, mustard and beer concoction. Excellent, if rich, comfort food. Those three flavourings are all present in this soft yeast bread that's been a favourite for years - I even included a recipe in my first cookbook. It's soft and tender, with plenty of gutsy flavours going on. It's obviously not a bread that you'd toast and slather with jam, but with some extra cheese or a slice of good country ham - oh yes!

See also Felicity Cloake's post How to cook perfect Welsh rarebit in the Guardian to give you some insights into the dish that inspired this bread. 


Beer, mustard and cheese bread
(Õlle-juustuleib)
Makes 2 loaves



500 ml dark beer (ale, porter, stout - all work; 2 cups)
50 g fresh yeast or 2 envelopes fast-action instant yeast
3-4 Tbsp light syrup (golden syrup or corn syrup is fine; about 80 g)
2 tsp fine salt
150 g hard cheese, coarsely grated (Cheddar's good, or any Estonian cheese :))
600-650 g all-purpose flour*
1-2 tsp English mustard powder (I use Colmans)
100 ml vegetable oil or 75 g butter, melted and cooled

Use a large mixing bowl.  If using fresh yeast, then crumble it into lukewarm (37C) beer and stir until dissolved. Add the syrup, then fold in the grated cheese and about half of the flour. Add the salt, mustard powder and knead in the rest of the flour. Finally add the oil/melted butter. 
(If you're using the fast-action instant yeast, then simply mix all the dry ingredients, then add the beer, syrup, cheese and mix, finally adding the oil/butter). 

* A note on the amount of flour. I've successfully made this with 600 g flour, which is about 1 litres or about 4 heaped cups.  You may need a little more - you're aiming for a soft, dropping consistency.

Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel, place the mixing bowl into a warm and draught-free location and let the dough raise until doubled in size. This will take about an hour.
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured worktop. Lightly knead the dough and divide into two equal parts. Form into oblong loaves and transfer into buttered or lined baking tins. (I've used 22 cm/2 litre bread tins to make high loaves and 30 cm/3 litre bread tins to make smaller loaves).
Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 175 C/350 F oven for about 45 minutes, until well risen and golden brown on top.



Alternatively, you can free-form the loaves and bake them on a baking sheet, as above.

More unusual takes on Welsh Rarebit:
Welsh rarebit lamb nachos @ Endless Simmer
Cheddar, beer and mustard pull-apart bread @ Smitten Kitchen (an idea not so dissimilar to this)
Welsh rarebit souffle @ Amuse Bouche

Rhubarb and sour cream tart

To contact us Click HERE


Rhubarb season, which seems to have last for a few weeks now in England and in parts of the US, has just began in Estonia (remember, my homeland is at about 58.5 latitude, so quite far up north). During the last week or two, I've already baked two batches of my very favourite rhubarb muffins, cooked a batch of rhubarb kissel (kind of fruit soup), and devoured this spiced rhubarb sheet cake with my family. You'll find all Nami-Nami's rhubarb recipes in this post. Next up? Probably this rhubarb curd from my friend Alanna, and then perhaps Rachel's rhubarb and plum crisp from David's blog? We'll see.

If you do have a good rhubarb recipe suggestion, please share it in the comments!

Today's cake recipe has been another rhubarb favourite for years, and it's also much loved by the readers of my Estonian Nami-Nami site - about 48 people have commented the cake recipe, most of them saying how much they love it :)

Remember - as long as you're using nice and young rhubarb stalks (preferably red-skinned!), there's no need to peel the rhubarb first.  

The idea is from a Finnish Ruokala site (Antin raparperipiiras), but over the years I've modified it considerably to suit my taste, so am happily claiming this as Nami-Nami's rhubarb cake recipe :)

Delicious rhubarb cake with sour cream topping 
(Hõrk rabarbrikook hapukoorega)
Serves eight

Pastry:
100 g butter, at room temperature
85 g caster sugar (100 ml)
50 g sour cream
1 egg
180 g all-purpose flour (300 ml)
1 tsp baking powder

Filling:
250 g sour cream (20% dairy fat)
4 Tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla sugar or extract

Topping:
4 to 5 rhubarb stalks, cut into 5-8 mm slices
demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F. 

Cream the butter with sugar. Stir in the sour cream and egg, then fold in the flour that's been mixed with baking powder. Stir until combined - the pastry should be soft, but not watery. Using your hands, spread the pastry onto the base and sides of a 24 cm (9-to-10-inch) loose-bottomed springform tin.
For the filling, combine all the ingredients. Pour onto the pastry base.
Scatter rhubarb on top, sprinkle with some demerara sugar.
Bake in the middle of a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the filling is set.Cool in the tin, then carefully remove the tin and transfer the cake onto a serving plate. 

Asparagus and cheese tart recipe

To contact us Click HERE


Originally posted in May 2011, but I'm bumping this up again, as the local asparagus season has began.

Isn't it pretty? This lovely topless tart can be served either warm (perhaps with a green side salad) or cold (cut into thin slices to accompany drinks). It's a simple tart - a puff pastry base (I made a quick rough puff pastry myself) is covered with a layer of grated cheese, followed by an egg and cream mixture, and finally topped with lightly cooked asparagus spears. You could certainly mix the cheese in to the egg and cream mixture, but I loved the visual effect of using a separate cheese layer.

The basic idea is from the UK-based food writer and photographer Alastair Hendy via the always-inspirational Delicious Days, but I omitted the potato layer.

Asparagus and cheese tart
(Spargli-juustupirukas)
Serves 8 to 10



500 g puff pastry (store-bought or home-made rough puff pastry)
24 medium-sized fresh green asparagus spears
150 g Gouda or Gruyère cheese, coarsely grated
3 large eggs
200 ml fresh cream (whipping, heavy or double)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg

Snap off the hard and woody lower end of the asparagus spears (these can be used to make stock, for instance). Cook the asparagus spears in a simmering and lightly salted water for about 2 minutes. Drain, rinse quickly under cold water and drain again. Put aside.
Line a rectangular pie dish (approximately 25x35 cm) with a parchment paper. Roll out a puff pastry so it'd cover the base and come up the sides a little. Prick with a fork here and there.
Scatter the grated cheese over the base.
Whisk the eggs with cream, season with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. Pour carefully over the cheese.
Place asparagus spears on top.
Bake in a preheated 200 C oven for about 30 minutes, until the tart is nicely golden on top and the puff pastry is cooked.

Easy entertaining: whole hot-smoked trout or salmon with caviar dressing

To contact us Click HERE


Want something super-delicious, rather elegant and extremely simple for your next festive spread? Here's an excellent idea I got from my friend Annika. Annika is Estonian, but she works and lives in Sweden. She introduced me to this very popular Swedish and Finnish "sauce" that's traditionally served alongside smoked or grilled trout or salmon at a party she hosted at her Tallinn holiday flat at the end of last year.

Since then I've served this on several occasions and always to a great success. You need a good-quality smoked trout or salmon to start with - I've used a whole hot-smoked trout*, that we "carve" at the table, but you can also serve it alongside portion-sized pieces of smoked fish. Although salted trout or salmon roe is nowhere as prohibitively expensive as "proper" caviar, it's still very festive and elegant and makes people feel that they're really being pampered :)

If you're based in Tallinn or nearby, then I whole-heartedly recommend the whole hot-smoked trout from Pepe Kala OÃœ. You'll find their stall at Tammsaare tee 89 during the week, or come and meet them at Viimsi Taluturg (Viimsi farmers' market) on Saturday mornings from 10 am till 2 pm. They also have excellent lightly salted trout roe.  




Creamy caviar dressing
(Kalamarjakaste)
Serves 6

200-250 g thick sour cream or creme fraiche
1 Tbsp finely chopped onion (shallot is fine)
150 g lightly salted trout or salmon roe (or slightly less, depending on your budget and taste)
2-3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
freshly ground white or black pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together, spoon into a nice bowl and serve alongside the whole smoked fish. 



Ok, how easy and effortless was that? :)

What's your super-easy and quick entertainment dish? Feel free to leave a link to the recipe in the comments!