GB Houses

I know the holidays have passed and everything, but I wanted to share this picture with you...
This was our gingerbread house display at The Westin, isn't it awesome!? :) It was in the lobby of the hotel.




By the way, Happy New Year everyone ;)

Baumkuchen

I would like to talk to you a little bit about BAUMKUCHEN.

Baumkuchen is a traditional, layered, German cake and is known as the "king of cakes." It literally means "tree cake" and this is due to the ring effect you get when you slice it. Some say it is a true test of a pastry chef's skills; it is very labor intensive, time consuming and requires close attention.

The traditional way the baumkuchen lines are achieved is by brushing a thin layer of batter onto a spit and allowing it to bake until golden, then, repeating this until all of the batter is used up or the desired number of layers is achieved. While this is probably the best way to achieve the golden "tree ring" effect, other methods exist that are easier for the home-baker.

I've looked for recipes online and found some, but lemme tell ya, they differ. Some use zest, some don't. Some use more eggs than others; some use nutmeg while others don't. I found one thing in common though--rum. harhar :) Seriously.

I found out about the existence of baumkuchen at work. The exec. Chef, Thomas, is as german as they come and he loves his baumkuchen. Personally, I love the recipe we use at work but it's a lot more complicated than the ones I've been finding online and in books. It calls for almond paste, uses spices and zest, a meringue, etc...
We bake ours using a salamander and the whole process takes about 3 hours. No joke.

As for the finish: at work we don't really do anything to it, we just bake the cake and hand it over to our friends in garde manger who use it in an appetizer. But in a sweet application, a finish of apricot jam is often used, followed by ganache.


Here is a recipe I found that is worth a try, I'll try it at home when I get a chance, but it seems like a good recipe. Don't think it's easy though, this one requires some time as well.

Baumkuchen
(adapted from Sherry Yard's "The Secret Of Baking")

Ingredients:
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
9 large eggs
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 Tbsp. dark rum
1 1/4 c. cake flour, sifted 3 times
2 Tbsp. heavy cream

Apricot Glaze:
1 c. apricot preserves
1/2 c. water

Ganache Glaze:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
4 Tbsp. apricot preserves
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. milk
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Adjust the rack to the upper part of the oven. Spray the bottom only of a 10-x-3-inch round cake pan. Line with a circle of parchment paper and spray the paper. Place the prepared pan inside empty cake pans if you have enough cake pans. This prevents the outside of the cake from browning too much.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set the butter aside to cool slightly. It should remain liquid.

Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Combine the sugar, eggs, water, nutmeg and rum in the bowl of your standing mixer or another metal bowl and place it over the simmering water, creating a double boiler, being careful that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Insert a thermometer. Whisk continuously until the temperature reaches 110 F, 2 to 3 minutes. (If you don't have a thermometer available, whisk until it feels very warm to the touch and all of the sugar has dissolved).

Remove from the heat and transfer the bowl to a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer. Whip on high speed for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the eggs are three times their original volume, are thick and pale yellow in color, and form a ribbon when drizzled from a spatula. Turn down the mixer to medium speed and whip for 2 minutes more. Mix the cream and butter together (the cream should be slightly warm so it does not cause the butter to solidify). Fold some of the egg mixture (a couple of heaping spatula-fulls) into the cream/butter, then add this to the egg mixture and fold in. Carefully scrape the batter into a large, wide bowl.

Gently fold in the flour, being careful not to deflate the foam. Do not overmix.


Pour approx. 1 cup of the batter into the prepared pan, spread out, enough to coat the pan in a thin layer. Bake for 7 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove it from the oven and pour another cup of batter and spread on top. Return the cake pan to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more, or until the top is golden brown. Repeat until all the batter has been used. Once the final layer has been baked, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool slightly for a couple of minutes. Remove cake from pan.

For the apricot glaze:
Combine the apricot preserve and water in a small saucepan and warm over low heat until the jelly is liquefied. While the cake is still hot, brush the top and sides with the apricot glaze. Let cake cool completely, at least 1 hour before applying ganache glaze.
For the ganache glaze:
Chop the chocolate and place it in a medium heat-proof bowl.

Warm the apricot preserve in a small saucepan over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring until melted. Whisk in the cream, milk, and corn syrup. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil.

Pour the hot cream mixture over the chopped chocolate. Tap the bowl on the counter to settle the chocolate into the cream, then let it sit for 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, slowly stir in a circular motion, starting from the center of the bowl and working out to the sides. Be careful not to add too much air to the ganache. Stir until all the chocolate is melted.

When all the chocolate has melted, test the temperature of the ganache, it shouldn't be hot or cold, it should be body temperature, maybe slightly warmer.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and place a cooling rack on top. Position the cake on the cooling rack. The ganache will flow over the cake, through the cooling rack, and onto the baking sheet.

Pour the warm ganache onto the top of the cake, directly in the center, working outward. Give the rack a couple of gentle taps on the counter to send any remaining ganache over the edge. Let the cake sit for 5 minutes at room temperature to set before serving.

Books and stuff

There's a book I want and I want it now. Actually there are a lot of books I want, and want now; but I've been thinking about this one recently. It's "chocolates and confections" by the CIA.





I flipped through it at B&N a while back and it seemed like a great book; a couple of days ago, Justin (from work) made truffles, using a recipe from the book, and that's how I got reminded of it. Theory and technique explanations, along with many awesome recipes, are found in the book... and I love theory and explanations. I want it I want it I want it!


In the meantime, things at work have slowed down now that we're past the holidays, and I kind of like it that way. I'm not a big fan of running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Nope.