Cherries and Preserving them

Cherries are my favorite fruit on earth. They are delectable when they are fresh and in season and local. Unfortunately the season isn't long enough for my liking so I decided to preserve some cherries in a sugar syrup with a bit of liquor added in. I made one set with rum and the other with brandy. I figure these beauties will be wonderful in tarts in winter.

The variety I used is called 'Tieton". They are mammoth, juicy and hold there shape well. I was talking to the people where I bought these pretties from, and they said they only have them for about 2.5 weeks per year. So sad. But I have a little treasure tucked away for the colder months.

Ayumi's Tart (Banana, Rum, Coconut and Vanilla)

I'm not going to be here for my good friend Ayumi's birthday so I thought I would make her something. I asked her what she liked and didn't like, and she suggested that I make something "experimental". And.. well I just happen to have the perfect thing! I decided to make her the tart I had been thinking about for a while: the banana, rum, coconut tart with a thin layer of chocolate on the base (I chose white for color consistency) and then a simple pastry cream made with vanilla bean and rum.

She liked it. And so did the others who tried it, which is always a relief as often I'm not sure what I'm thinking when I pair random tastes together, but it seemed to work. All the hard work of preserving worked out!

Marble Cake

A nice, easy cake that I have made countless times. It is quick to prepare, and looks magnificent. A wonderful coffee cake!

Ingredients: Main Cake
300g butter at room temperature
275g sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla sugar
2 Tbs. rum
1 pinch salt
5 medium eggs
375 plain flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbs. milk

Ingredients: Chocolate Swirl
20g cocoa powder (I use Dutch processed)
20g sugar
1-2 Tbs. milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bundt mould (do this really well).

2. Using a stand mixer set at medium speed with a whisk attachment, cream the butter until smooth.

3. Slowly add the sugar, vanilla sugar, rum and salt while the mixer is still in motion.

4. Add one egg at a time whisking for 30seconds at the highest speed between additions.

5. In a medium bowl using a hand held whisk, combine the flour and baking powder.

6. Add the flour mixture in two stages, alternating with the milk (do these additions at medium speed).

7. Spoon 2/3 of the cake mixture into the bundt pan.

8. With the remaining 1/3, sift in the cocoa powder, add the sugar and 1 Tbs. milk. Combine well until the batter is homogenous – if required add the other 1 Tbs. of milk.

9. Spoon the Chocolate batter on top of the original batter.

10. Use a fork and a swirling motion and drag the fork through the chocolate layer and then through the other batter layer.

11. Put the cake in the oven. Bake for around 60 min.

12. Remove from oven and let it sit on a wire rack for 10min before removing it from the pan.

13. If you like, you can dust the cake with sifted icing sugar.

Taken from Dr. Oetker's "German Baking Today: The Original" p.28.

Banana & Rum Cake

A moist, fruity cake with a slight taste of rum.

Ingredients: Banana Cake
2.75 cups all-purpose flour
1.25 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1.5 sticks of unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temp
2 Tbs. rum
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 can of unsweetened coconut milk (can use light as I did)
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup raisins

Ingredients: Rum Syrup
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water

Ingredients: Cream Filling
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs. confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Method: Banana Cake
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350F.

2. Butter 2 springform pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess.

3. Mix the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl.

4. With a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is creamy.

5. Add the sugars and beat for a couple of min.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Then add the vanilla and the rum.

7. Lower the speed and add the bananas. Keep it on low speed while you add the coconut milk and the flour - add the dry ingredients and liquid ingredients alternately, adding the flour mixture in three portions and the coconut milk in two (begin and end with the dry ingredients).

8. Mix until everything is just Incorporated.

9. Using a rubber spatula gently stir in the coconut and raisins.

10. Divide the batter between the two pans.

11. Bake for around 45 min, or until the cakes are a deep golden brown.

Method: Rum Syrup (make this while the cake is in the oven)
1. Stir the water and the sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring it to a boil.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the rum.

3. Pour the syrup in a heat-proof bowl and let it cool down.

Method: Assembly
1. Transfer baked cakes to a cooling rack to for 5 min, and then unmold and place back on the racks.

2. With a thin knife, poke small slits all over the cakes.

4. With a pastry brush, slowly brush on the rum syrup on the cake.

5. Leave the cakes to cool to room temp.

6. Prepare the whipped cream filling (whisk the cream and sugar together, until thick and pretty firm - then mix in the vanilla extract by hand).

7. Add a thick layer of whipped cream onto one of the cakes and then place the other cake on top.
Once again from Baking From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan pp. 204-5.