Tuesday, January 27, 2015

TWJ: Baking Chez Moi - Brown Butter and Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake

You may have noticed that I haven't done many Baking with Julia recipes lately.  I promise that I haven't given it up.  The thing is, the recipes for this month I was super ambivalent about, so I chose not to make them.  In case you are interested, the first was an upside down inside out Tiramisu, and the second was a European Rye.  The thing is, I have troubles with both of these recipes.  First, I LOVE Tiramisu.  But I want my tiramisu to be the real deal.  And I have a recipe for the real deal that is DIVINE (completely swoon-worthy), so creating a deconstructed version of this treat just does not interest me.  I want the bonafide amazing dessert. 

As far as the European Rye bread, the thing is, I don't actually care for rye bread.  Sad, to some of you, but true.  So why make this loaf?  For the experience, yes, but....  Just to be clear, I do intend to do more Baking with Julia recipes.  Just not these two....

Here we are then, with a Baking Chez Moi recipe.  Brown Butter and Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake.  I personally haven't ever heard of something referred to as a weekend cake before.  Here is Dorie's explanation, "a simple, sturdy cake that will last the weekend, that can be put out to be nibbled by family and houseguests, that will be as good for a dessert as it will be for an end-of-the-afternoon snack or an end-of-the-morning tide-me-over."  Ah-ha!  Now I get it.  And personally, I love this idea!

This cake is super simple to make.  No mixer necessary, just some bowls and a whisk and spatula.  Now I have to admit, any time that a recipe says to "fold" I get a quiver of trepidation.  Folding is not my forte.  I have no confidence in this arena and tend to hold my breath and pray for the best each time.  Is there anyone out there that has any sage folding advice for me?  It always makes me nervous.  Luckily, the amount of folding in this recipe is minimal and I had success (I think). 

The flavors in this cake are simple and delicious.  Browned butter and vanilla bean.  Oh and rum or amaretto if you like.  (IF??)  If you have never used brown butter, you need to.  It adds a lovely nuttiness to the flavor of your dish.  You do have to be super careful when making browned butter.  Do not multi-task at this time.  This is very hard for me, as I often multi-task in the kitchen, but trust me.  You can't multi-task and brown butter.  The difference between lovely browned butter and yucky burned butter is a second.  And then you have to start all over!  Grrr.  So just stand there at the stove and focus on that lovely butter.  It is worth it and your dessert will thank you.  And quite honestly it doesn't take long at all to brown butter, it isn't like cooking risotto or something!   Oh, I used dark rum in my cake, but I think I'll try amaretto next....  YUM.

I would describe this as a pound cake, if someone didn't get the "weekend" cake concept.  They look similar and have a similar texture.  And like a good pound cake, you can heat this up in the toaster the next morning and have a special breakfast! 

You can find this recipe on pages 6-7 of Baking Chez Moi.

For insight as to what our other bakers thought of this recipe, go here and click on "LYL: Brown Butter and Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake".  All of my fellow bakers list their blog addresses there for you to visit!  Who knows?  You might get inspired to join this group or to follow another of the great bakers!  I have!




12 comments:

  1. Folding is not my friend, but this cake sure was :-)
    Looks delicious! (and you didn't miss much with that deconstructed tiramisu - it was just odd...)

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  2. Sometimes recipes just don't strike our creative gene. Good to skip them and wait for another that's more your fancy. Great post!

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  3. Your cake looks lovely and well worth the efforts, which is how one should be doing things...I started out in BWJ but ran into a spate of recipes that just did not match with what we wanted to eat so I drifted away and haven't returned. Which makes me kind of sad as there were a lot of them I did want to make, I just sort of lost the desire to check in and see what was up for the coming session. Oh well, your approach seems good, make what you want and skip the others not forsaking the whole experience altogether. :-)

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  4. Simply beautiful cake! This one was a winner in my house too! Thought it had great flavor! Happy Tuesday!

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  5. I love the idea of a weekend cake as well. Yours baked up beautifully!

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  6. Your cake came out great. I multi-tasked while making this and I JUST saved my butter from turning black. It was a lucky last minute save. I haven't done any BWJ myself and I wanted to try my hand at the rye, but had a busy weekend. I've never made bread before, so I thought it would be a good challenge. Maybe I'll jump in next month.

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  7. Looks perfect! Nice to be back baking with you!

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  8. It is indeed a pound cake! Perhaps a little lighter, but a pound cake indeed!

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  9. I skipped the rye bread too for the same reason. :) Your cake looks great!

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  10. Looks good! I felt it was similar to a pound cake as well. I was a bit disappointed to find out the tiramisu recipe was not the classic, but did enjoy it in the end.

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  11. I loved how easy this cake was to make. Not fussy at all. Clearly the folding went well for you in this instance because your cake looks great:)

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