Ginger - Lemon - Coconut Cake

Ginger - Lemon - Coconut Cake (aka "The Rachel")

August 2007

Rachel's birthday was the perfect occasion for a new cake. Since we both love Ginger and Lemon they seemed like a logical starting line. I did a few recipe searches and saw a few tropical inspired blends, so I went with coconut as well to even out the bite of the ginger.


Here is the recipe:


1 box yellow cake mix

2 1/2 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp freshly ground ginger (if you don't have it add more dry)


3 eggs (per package directions)

1/3 cup oil (per package directions)


1/2 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup ginger ale

[Coconut Milk and Ginger ale are substitutes for the 1 1/4 cup water in the directions. Do not add the water also or you will have soup.]

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice


Zest of the lemon

About 4 tbsp candied ginger



Directions:

1- Preheat oven according to package directions and butter two round cake pans.
2- Mix all of the dry ingredients together (cake mix, fresh ginger, ground ginger)
3- Mix wet ingredients (eggs, oil, coconut milk, ginger ale, lemon juice)
4- Combine wet and dry ingredients and split batter into pans. Bake according to package directions.
5- Take about 3/4 of the crystallized ginger and chop finely. Mix with lemon zest in a small bowl. (Option: Add a handful of sweetened flaked coconut)
6- Level and ice the bottom half of the cake and sprinkle with 1/2 of the crystallized ginger/lemon zest mixture.
7- Add the top half of the cake and finish icing it. Sprinkle the top with the remaining crystallized ginger/lemon zest mixture and decorate the edge with the rest of the crystallized ginger pieces.
8- Enjoy!

Note: I like whipped cream frosting since it isn't as sweet and doesn't compete with the subtle coconut and lemon flavors. But you can use your favorite vanilla or lemon based icing.

How's this for a birthday action shot? (Thanks La!) Thanks also to the staff at Bambule (http://www.bambuledc.com/) for an amazing dinner experience of Mediterranean tapas. Yummmm.

SE Asia Treats: Singapore & KL

SE Asian Treats:

Singapore & KL

August 2007

I just returned from a wonderful vacation travelling through SE Asia. The dessert of choice in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam is defintiely fruit. However, I managed to find a few treats along the way.

SINGAPORE

* Sweet Corn / Yam Ice Cream - I tried this treat at the botanical garden and I blame my judgement on jet lag. It was like mixed veggie gelato, not an experience I'd like to repeat. No, it would be unfair to say I didn't enjoy the yam for the first several bites. But the corn, well, it was more like sucking on mashed up frozen corn... Not sure why I don't have a picture. My camera batteries were on the fritz.

* Chinese Egg Custard Tarts - Delicious little tarts with warm custard in the middle that we enjoyed at a Cantonese dim sum resturaunt. Much better than American fortune cookies. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_tart)

* Cookie Cake Bars - Yes, this is what the man in Little India called them. And since he baked them- he wins the right to call them whatever he wants. The yellow one with the mysterious green seeds was delicious. The top was smooth and sweet and the cookie bottom was crunchy and light. Amazing. The pink one I only bought because it was A) Bright Pink and B) Sparkly Silver. It tasted like coconut though which I don't care too much for.

* Moon Cakes- In many areas we saw chinese mooncakes since the Moon Festival is right around the corner in August.

* Singapore Sling- While not exclusively a dessert item, this sugary cocktail was certainly a treat. The original was concocted right here in the Raffles Hotel.

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

* Donut Factory- It is well worth a trip to the website to see the flavor list(http://donutfactory.com.sg/) that icludes orange cream, hazlenut, spicy cheese, wait... WHAT?! The lines stretch out for over an hour at some locations though there is an express line for lunch sandwhiches. Think about that ham and cheese with a little lettuce and mustard on a chocolate glazed donut. Here's your first stop.

* Breakfast Muffins- The buffet at the KL Hilton is unbelievable. Frim dum sum, noodle soup, fresh fruit, assorted cheeses, and of course some tasty muffins and puff pasteries full of nuts, guava, or red bean paste. Dessert at breakfast? Yes please!

SE Asian Treats: Vietnamese Pastries

SE Asian Treats:
Vietnamese Pastries

August 2007

The bulk of our trip took us through the northern half of Vietnam. These are still fruit-fanatics (for good reason), but the area was also heavily influenced by the french so the bread and pastries are wonderful.

HANOI, VIETNAM

* Ginger Creme Brulee- The Tamarind Cafe is a tea house / travel agency that became a sort of base camp for backpackers. They have vegetarian fusian plates as well as western style desserts like this ginger creme brulee using fresh grated ginger.

* Chocolate Wontons- Resturaunt Bobby Chin is not exactly a hangout for locals, but I am not complaining about anyplace I can get sake-steamed crab and filet mignon for $20. It is worth stopping by just to read the menu, which is witty and creative. We we so full that we ordered the "On a diet dessert" which is a big plate with a tiny (delicious) chocolate wonton. Dark chocolate dough wrapped around a truffle-like chocolate center. Decadent.

HOI AN, VIETNAM

* Vietnamese Coffee- Coffee is a dessert in itself since sweetened condensed milk is added to the dark brew to thicken and sweeten it up. It arrives in a little percolator which fills the cup. Then you pour in the milk from the dish until it is "of good quality for you".

* Many Pastries- Hoi An is home to the Cargo Club Resturaunt and Patisserie. This largely ex-pat hangout is a great place to end the day with a cup of coffee or ginger tea and a fresh cake or mouse. My favorites include the passionfruit and chocolate mousse cake and the pistachio mouse cake.

Here is the Patesserie and the pastry case:

Here is the pistachio mousse cake and the mango cheesecake (or maybe passionfruit mousse... not sure):

This one I am sure about. It's the passionfruit mousse on top of the chocolate mousse:

For a change of pace I also enjoyed some mango sorbet. (I love the pretty green swirled wafer cookie too.):

Greetings from Vietnam

Greetings from Vietnam

August 2007

I am taking a baking hiatus to vacation in SE Asia. Although I have enjoyed some fabulous cakes and cookies here, the best dessert is fresh tropical fruit. There is nothing more refreshing in hot sticky weather than ripe pineapple, guava, papaya, or even a juicy peach. There are lots of fruits I have never tried before. My new favorite is Rambutan, with its alien like tentacles. It looks more like a clown nose than a fruit, but has a juicy lychee-like center. I also enjoy dragonfruit and mangosteen. We just picked up a "custard apple" from the market, so I will let you know how that goes.

RAMBUTAN

This is a close-up of the inside of the Rambutan. I already ate the fruit in the middle, so it is not shown here.

Check out http://www.ranbutan.com/ for a complete guide to growing and eatting this fruit.

DURIAN

Durian. Also known locally as Dodol, this is the fruit that smells like dirty gym socks wrapped around really smelly cheese. It actually smelled worse in person than I expected after hearing about it on Anthony Bourdain. But surprisingly, I liked foods flavored with it. Except the beer with durian juice.... that was just gross.

What I love most about the durian are the signs at hotel, train stations and airports that you may not bring durian into the building (because of the smell). Yet there are tons of durian flavored candies, potato chips and other snacks if you can't keep a slice on hand. Sometimes I had trouble telling the difference between durian and the the much nicer tasting Jackfruit, because they look kind of similar.

ORANGES

This guide is showing us an orange. What makes this fruit different than oranges in the US? It's green. This is a ripe juicy orange.

(The slightly larger orange-colored citrus are actually pomelos, which are asian grapefruits.)

Just to the left of her hip you can see the bright pink and spikey dragonfruit. The inside is white with lots of little black seeds. At my first breakfast buffet I actually ate the rind because it looked more appetizing than the fruit. I won't make that mistake again. (It was bitter like eatting too far down on a slice of watermelon.)

MANGOSTEEN

From top to bottom of this picture you see the pomelos, then pears, cherries in bags, grapes in bags (very expensive), rambutan, and then mangosteen at the bottom.

When you peel the slightly spongy mangosteen skin you find the fruit which has sections like an orange, but a totally different flavor.

There are much better pictures here: http://www.xango.com/learn/mangosteen.html

MARKETS

This is pretty typical of a fruit stand in hanoi. Although you can also get cheap and convienient snacks from the ladies that sell fruit out of hanging baskets. They will slice up pineapple, cut you a branch of longan, or haggle over anything else in season.

FLOATING SNACKSHOP

There are also some very entreprenurial women who will approach on boats in case you might like some fruit, a beer or a can of Pringles while swimming.

Hoi An has a little more room than the city for fruit and vegetable markets.

ART

In Ha Long Bay we saw some amazing fruit sculptures.