Archive for April, 2008
Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake
Every year as Passover draws near my friends begin giving me pitying, almost apologetic looks. As a foodblogger and someone who frequently writes about baked goods, folks often get the impression that I can’t live without flour. “What are you going to eat during Pesach?” they ask me, “How will you manage?” Case in point: when I posted my buttermilk pretzels a couple weeks ago my friend Neil remarked: “Seriously, you are too much. First the bagels, and now pretzels! Passover must be hard on you.”
Passover (Pesach) is one of the major Jewish holidays and commemorates the biblical story in Exodus 15, which describes how Moses led the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. One of the most significant observances related to Pesach (and the one that affects bakers everywhere) involves removing all grain products (called “chametz”) from your diet. This includes anything made from the five major grains: wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt. In the Ashkenazi tradition, corn, rice and beans are also prohibited because they can be ground into forms of flour. (Ultra-observant Jews even change what they feed their pets during Pesach so that they’re not benefiting from chametz by giving it to their animals, but my husband and I don’t do this because we’re not that observant and we don’t want to mess with Oreo’s diet.) The only bread product allowed during Passover is Matzah, which is a sort of cracker (unleavened bread) that reminds us how the Jews, leaving Egypt in a hurry, didn’t have time to let their bread rise before escaping. If there is anything that can be said about Judaism that holds true across denominations, it’s that food is a powerful symbolic tool in our traditions.
My husband and I are vegetarians so we follow the Sephardic custom during Passover, which means that we don’t eat any flour products but allow beans, and sometimes rice or corn, into our diet. That makes things easier, but there’s still the question of the chametz in my pantry: all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, pastry flour, whole wheat pastry flour, bran, oats… oy! Here is where my friends’ concern comes in, and truth be told, Passover used to be incredibly difficult. My husband and I ate so much pasta and bread that once it was all locked away we looked around our kitchen and panicked. What were we going to eat? Less than desirable “kosher for Pesach” products, it turned out, and lots of matzah, and cheese, and maybe some fruit. Our diet took a major down turn during Passover.
Yet over this past year we’ve cut back on these one-time staples in an effort to make our diet (and our bodies!) healthier. True, I do bake quite often, but not as much as many people think – about once a week on average, and most of it is given away to friends or co-workers. The rest of the time we indulge in a variety of delicious and Passover-friendly recipes, some of of which have been posted on this blog (see sidebar) but most of which haven’t made it online yet: scrambled eggs with dandelion greens and goat cheese; carrot leek soup or vichyssoise; pan-seared butternut squash; southwestern bean cakes; strawberries with peach ice cream and champagne – the possibilities are endless! Even the baker in me finds satisfaction by making treats like pistachio cake with chilled rose syrup or the fallen chocolate souffle cake shown here.
The chocolate cake is the newest addition to my repertoire and comes from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, which was featured on this site recently. I wasn’t planning to post another recipe from this book but when I realized how perfect the souffle cake was for Pesach I had to ask Melissa for permission to share it with you. She graciously gave me the go-ahead and also agreed to let me interview her. Continue reading below to learn more about the baking dynamo behind the Sweet Melissa Patisserie, what it takes to own a bakery, and how Melissa balances baking with a healthy lifestyle. 
If you celebrate Passover, one more thing: chag pesach sameach!
In the introduction to your book you recount one of your favorite childhood memories: picking apples with your family, then making the apples into pies with your mother. Would you share another food memory with us?
Right after Thanksgiving, my mom and I would start baking for Christmas. We’d start with Pumpkin Breads and Cranberry Walnut Breads. We used to make a lot of these breads for giving to all of our neighbors and friends, and we baked them in coffee cans! My mom would save our coffee cans for the whole year prior, and we’d bake as many breads as we had cans. That to me was so fun, to reuse those coffee cans, and I loved the striped indentations that the can left on the bread, a perfect guide for slicing! After baking, we’d cover the cans with pretty wallpaper and cellophane on top, and tie it up with a ribbon. People were thrilled to receive one of my mom’s Christmas breads.
The recipes in your book are so playful and unique. How do you come up with them?
I strive to bake everyone’s favorite desserts, better than they’ve had them before. So when I am thinking of making a new recipe, I go back, to my childhood memories, as opposed to looking forward as many chefs do, they are trying to think of the next “new” thing. I focus on the best ingredients, and the best techniques, to take these favorites to a new level.
What is your favorite recipe in “The Sweet Melissa Baking Book?”
That’s like asking a mother to choose between her children! All of the recipes in my book are my favorite of its kind, so the chocolate chip cookie is my favorite out of the 30 I’ve tested. I certainly have my moods and cravings though, based mainly on seasonality. In the summer, I love peaches, raspberries and ice cream. So my North Fork Peach Raspberry Pie a la mode would hit the spot. In the fall, it’s all about apples and pears, so I look forward to baking recipes like the Pear Cranberry Pie with Gingersnap Crumble. Over the winter months, when fruit is not in season, I love to eat my Butterscotch Pudding, or Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Rum Raisin Sauce. Come spring, I am so excited to see the first tender stalks of rhubarb and then local strawberries, and Strawberry Shortcake is another of my favorite desserts.
What are the challenges of owning a bakery? The rewards?
Running you own business is hard, it’s true, but also rewarding. I would say the most difficult thing for me is opening a new store. The build out can be very stressful, and it takes my time away from the kitchen. Right now, I am expanding my original store, it will have lots more seating, a larger retail bakery area, and an enormous garden! But at the same time my cookbook was just released, and between the interviews and fun things like radio spots and live demonstrations, as well as managing my staff (over 40 people!), it’s a lot to do. I am happiest when I am creating new recipes, I look forward to writing my next book!
Do you have any advice for people who dream of opening their own bakery one day?
Owning a bakery is about baking yes, but you also have to have a strong business mind. If that is not your forte, then find people who have those skills, who you trust, to team up with.
What is the most popular item on your menu?
Our Chocolate Souffle Cake is very popular, as are the Chestnut Honey Madeleines, Sour Cherry Pie with Pistachio Crumble, Butterscotch Pudding, and the Bee Stings, all of which are in my book!
What is the one food you just can’t get enough of?
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Almonds… or Butterscotch Banana Sundaes with Salted Cashews
In your book you mention how you love to eat chocolate chip cookies, hand-rolled croissants or warm sticky buns for breakfast. What is another breakfast favorite?
Today I ate my Cherry Almond Granola with plain Greek yogurt. I also love to make and eat my Sweet Plum Clafoutis in my cast iron skillet. It is so delicious! Especially with a dollop of lightly sweetened sour cream.
How do you stay in shape even though you spend so much time around tempting baked goods? What is your food philosophy?
My motto is “If you are going to eat it it’s GOT to be good!” So I recommend staying away from packaged cookies and frozen bagels, and when you are going to eat something indulgent, make it worthwhile. If you want a warm sticky bun, get one from a place that makes an awesome one, or make your own!
Testing and tasting all of the recipes in my book meant that I needed to join the gym, so I joined The Fitness Collective, which is a great group of personal trainers – conveniently located next to my shop.
Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake
Reprinted with permission from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, by Melissa Murphy.
Ingredients: Makes 1 cake
- 10 1/2 ounces best-quality semisweet (58%) chocolate
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 large eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup sugar divided into 2 equal parts
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (I used Cognac)
- Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling
- Optional accompaniments: berries, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, warm fudge sauce
Before you start: Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch springform pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray or butter. Line the bottom with a parchment paper round.
In the top of a double boiler set over simmering, not boiling, water, melt the chocolate with the butter, stirring until smooth. (I used a medium-sized metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. The pot should be big enough for half the bowl to fit inside it, but small enough so that the bowl can’t fall in. Also, make sure the bottom of your bowl is not touching the water – there should be at least 3-4 inches of space.)
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg yolks with half of the sugar until doubled in volume. Add the melted chocolate and mix until combined. Add the zest and Grand Marnier and mix until combined. Transfer the chocolate batter to a large bowl. (Wash the mixer bowl and whip attachment very well, and dry thoroughly.)
In the clean bowl of the electric mixer, fitted with the clean whip attachment, make a meringue by whipping the egg whites until foamy. In a slow steady stream, add the remaining sugar. Whip until the whites hold stiff but not dry peaks.
Briskly fold one-third of the meringue into the chocolate mixture to lighten the batter. Gently fold the remaining two-thirds of the meringue into the batter until it is just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Spin the pan to level the batter. Bake for 65 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake will fall as it cools.
When the cake is cool, release the springform ring and remove it. To release the bottom, invert the cake onto a flat plate and remove the bottom and the parchment round. Turn right side up onto a serving plate and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or warm hot fudge sauce and garnish with fresh berries, if you’d like to make the dessert a little fancy. The cake keeps tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 1 week. (Leave the cake in the pan for storage, it is delicate.)
Mistress of the Revolution (Interview)
Of all the book genres, historical fiction is by far my favorite. If it’s done well it allows you to completely immerse yourself in the events of another place and time, and when you finish the story you feel as if you’ve learned something too. From Bernard Cornwell I learned about the battle tactics of Danes and Norsemen fighting in late 9th century Wessex; and through Kathleen Winsor I became more familiar with the customs and politics of Restoration England. Though authors obviously take some liberties when writing these stories, they nevertheless give you a taste of the period. There’s nothing I enjoy more than delving into books like this during train rides to and from New York City, or at the end of a long, hard day at work.
Recently I discovered a new author in the historical fiction genre: Catherine Delors, whose first novel, Mistress of the Revolution, was published in March. Set in revolutionary France, it brought both the turbulence and the decadence of French society to life through the story of its fictional main character, Gabrielle de Montserrat. We first meet her as an impoverished young noblewoman who has the audacity to fall in love with a commoner named Pierre-Andre Coffinhal, then we accompany her through the court of Louis XVI and her subsequent struggles to hide her nobility from the French revolutionaries. Throughout the story, Gabrielle’s intelligence, indomitable spirit, and enduring love for Pierre creative a captivating narrative. Discovering what would happen to Gabrielle quickly became the highlight of my day, and when the novel finally ended, as all books must, I knew I wanted to learn more about the woman who wrote this story. Catherine agreed to let me interview her, and as it turns out, she’s something of a foodie as well. Continue reading below to learn more about French society, food, politics and Catherine herself.
What sparked your interest in the French Revolution?
Serendipity, or fate, or God’s will. In fact it all came from a conversation with my late father about the name of Coffinhal Street, in Vic, the little mountain town where I spent the summers of my childhood. When my father told me that the man had been the Vice President of the Revolutionary Tribunal, I had to research that character. That sparked my interest in the French Revolution.
While writing Mistress of the Revolution, did you have any writing rituals? For instance, a favorite place to write, a preferred drink, etc. Describe a typical writing day for us.
I work full-time as an attorney (you know, the aptly named day job.) So my “writing day” is practically nonexistent. I write at night, in bed on my laptop. My most productive time is after 10 p.m. Until when? It all depends on my sleep requirements, which are fairly elastic. My wake-up time remains fixed because my son needs to go to school in the mornings.
As for drinks while I am writing, I often fix myself a nice big pot of tea, which I set on my nightstand. It is there only for moral support, though, because I get so involved in writing that I forget all about the tea getting cold next to me. But sometimes I have a cup or two before turning off the lights when it’s shamefully late, or early, depending on how you look at it.
What would people be surprised to learn about 18th century French society?
My guess is that people would be surprised by many things! I was astonished myself by many details of everyday life. For instance, did you know that, during high society dinners, the guests sat where they chose and brought their own valets to serve them? It would have been deemed very rude for the hostess to tell her guests where to sit. There was no set menu either. Various dishes and wines were displayed on a dresser behind the guests (a bit like a self-serve “all you can eat” arrangement in a modern restaurant.) A noblewoman like my heroine, Gabrielle, would have ordered her valet, who would have been standing behind her chair during the whole meal, to go fill her plate and glass with the food and drink of her choice.
What would a typical meal have been for a commoner compared to someone of noble stock?
First let’s look at someone at the top of the social scale. That person would have eaten a very diverse, refined diet. For instance, I show Gabrielle, for her first dinner in Versailles, having foie gras, mushroom crepes, sweetbreads with asparagus and, for dessert, cream puffs and chocolate mousse, accompanied by Sauternes wine. This is a minuscule sample of the food that was served at aristocratic tables. You had everything: meat, fish, shellfish, vegetables, an amazing variety of pastries. Wines were very similar to the best modern French wines, such as champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy. Foreign wines such as Madeira were also imported.
As for the commoners, there were huge differences among them. Some were very wealthy and ate much the same things as people of noble stock. The poor were on a diet of whole grain bread (wheat or buckwheat.) Meat, usually pork, was reserved for rare festive occasions. Salt was very heavily taxed in some regions, and beyond the means of many. So here you have it: a diet high in fiber, low in saturated animal fat and sodium. Very healthy by modern standards.
What was not healthy, however, was the water people drank. Fountains were rare in Paris, and many drank water from the Seine, which was then little better than an open-air sewer. Apparently those Parisians who did not die from it acquired some sort of immunity. The rich could afford to have spring water brought from the suburbs. Gabrielle, for instance, gets her first taste of river water when she is in jail during the Revolution.
We shouldn’t forget that famine remained a constant threat for the poor. Due to a disastrous harvest in the summer of 1788, there were food shortages all over the country, aggravated in Paris by additional taxes on food. That made bread unaffordable for the poor. People were literally starving on the streets of Paris. So the Revolution has much to do with food, or the lack thereof.
Another food that appeared in France just before the Revolution was the potato. People were at first very leery of that new plant, but its culture was encouraged by the government, and it became popular very fast. At one point, as I describe in Mistress of the Revolution, all the public gardens in Paris were planted with potatoes.
I am sorry, I ramble, but you are to blame for asking such an interesting question. Political issues and food were so closely intertwined during the Revolution!
If Gabrielle had a favorite comfort food, what would it be?
Oh, that’s an easy one: hot chocolate and croissants (a Viennese pastry that had been brought to France by Marie-Antoinette.) In Mistress of the Revolution, Gabrielle and her friend the Duchess have a late breakfast of chocolate and croissants after the fateful evening at the Opera when Gabrielle meets the three men who will become her suitors in Paris.
But, mind you, when I say chocolate, I mean the real thing, not any atrocious instant imitation! Take unsweetened bitter cocoa powder, and mix it with powdered sugar. Then add hot milk, very gently, while slowly stirring the cocoa and sugar mixture. To me, that’s the mother of all comfort foods.
As with every novel ever written, there are some autobiographical parts in Mistress of the Revolution. The comforting power of friendship, added to chocolate and croissants, is one of them.
Do you plan to write another novel?
Actually my second novel, “For The King” is already written and in the process of final editing. It is to be published in March 2009 by Dutton. I am working on a third novel right now. It will be a prequel of sorts to Mistress of the Revolution.
What did you have for breakfast today?
A pot of Earl Grey tea, with a drop of milk, no sugar, and brioche with butter. I toasted the brioche to a very light gold color so the butter softened without melting. Now this is purely sinful since, as you know, brioche is already enriched with butter and eggs. Also I dare brioche purists to despise me!
And by the way, the French version of the phrase “Let them eat cake” (which Marie-Antoinette never said) refers to brioche, not cake. I will post shortly on Marie-Antoinette’s food tastes.
You can visit Catherine online at her blog: Writing with a Foreign Accent
Win a Copy of “Mistress of the Revolution!”
Many thanks to Catherine for spending time with us and to the generous folks over at Penguin, who’ve made it possible for me to round off this interview with a book giveaway. To enter to win a copy of Mistress of the Revolution simply comment on this post.
On Tuesday, April 15th, I’ll use the random number generator to pick the lucky winner. The winner’s name will be announced in the sidebar, right above the “Tweet Tweet” section.
// Edit: Congratulations to Tara (#50) who won a copy of “Mistress of the Revolution” for her mom! Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway – I’ll do my best to make more books available to you soon.
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