BAKING 101: Junjun De Guzman & Adoree Uy
To my dearies and drearies, how’s all of you? I was vacationing last week and had to answer all your questions from the beautiful island of Panay, specifically Iloilo. I had such a lovely time resting and working at the same time, as you will see in the lovely photos that will accompany my article next week. I am also giving my partner Adoree a rest, since the topic this week are mostly definitions and techniques that I can handle myself. Read on, I know a lot of you will learn from these. Take care…..Jun jun.
1. My dearest Jun jun, everybody is still talking about this bruun butter cake that was so famous years ago. Do you still remember it? You wrote about it, so can you more or less tell me where I can purchase that butter and how it is made? This is your Tita Elaine from Makati…
Hala…Tita Elaine, of course I remember…..did you read that article on the Vargas butter cake….yes that was it. I am including with this article a butter cake recipe, which I tested the other week, that is similar to it, however bruun butter is no longer available here. Bruun butter if you can still remember is a butter from Iceland that was brought in by our lovely flight attendants during the late 70’s and early 80’s. They used to get it from Amsterdam or London. It had a very strong smell of cheese, parang queso de bola, and when used for butter cake gave such a rich and perfect taste, but now it is not seen here in the Philippines. There are plenty of substitutes, you can use European butters, but I cannot tell you what butter the Vargas kitchen uses, Tita Elaine, they will kill me, specially Inez. You better read my article on Etiquette of Recipe Giving and Asking, para you learn a few graciousness in this area. Don’t get mad at me, hehehe – it’s been their business, so go and buy. Call me para naman we can all help each other. Or better yet you try the recipe that I made just for you and my other readers. Good quality butter is the secret for the best butter cake and of course, technique. Make sure to cream your butter and sugar until light, this of course will take at least five to seven minutes. Hey, don’t start with melted butter, your butter must be at least firm to touch hindi yung lupaypay na. Tita Elaine, treat me out naman to lunch, I will teach you this new dessert that’s a rave in New York – the crepe cake…..
2. What’s an Angel Food Cake? I saw a lot of it during the X’mas season, but it was frozen and refrigerated with a filling that was very sour. Where did it originate from? (Mian from Makati)
Hello Mian, Angel Food Cake is an American invention, a no fat dessert cake that is made with egg whites, flour and sugar that is classically baked in a tube pan. It is one of the hardest cakes to make due to the whipping of egg whites and the folding of the dry ingredients. It has come into vogue due to the continuing saga of dieters in the whole world. Its very light, more like a big marshmallow, some Pinoys don’t really like it and I feel this cake is an acquired taste, just like my boss. The secret to this cake is to slowly beat the eggwhites so bubbles are kept small which then become unrecognizable by the tongue. Ok ba? During Christmas, a lot of enterprising ladies came out with their version using curd from a citrus fruit as a filling in the middle to break the monotony of sweetness and to make it more appealing to non- dieters like me. Then it is covered with whipped cream to add a little richness to the whole ensemble. Almost every household in America have their own version of Angel Food cake. As a matter of fact, Splenda just came out with a recipe using their half sugar, half splenda blend. O ayan, hindi yan sugar free ha…..
3. What’s a Devil’s Food Cake ? (Sylvia of Pasay City)
Hi there, Miss Sylvia - Devil’s Food Cake is what the devil eats.Heheh….no, it’s originally a diner dessert in the United States, a chocolate cake made with unalkalized cocoa powder, that’s your cocoa powder that’s readily available in the grocery. The cake mixture has some instant coffee powder. It doesn’t have a chocolate fudge icing but a boiled frosting on it, so puti puti siya sa labas. Do you know those cake stands that you usually see in cake shops with the plastic cover? Those are the typical places that these are placed in. Again, it is made using a very simple, chocolate butter cake recipe, similar to what we earlier discussed in our first question. Devil’s Food Cake is a lot sweeter and lighter in color from your regular chocolate cake that we have been accustomed with. Iba talaga siya…..Marilyn just loves my version of it. And for our last question…..
4. What’s Engano Bobo? (Maricar of Pasig)
Uy…..that’s a great question…..there’s no book in the whole world nor any website on the net that will answer this question. I had to ask my great good friend, Señora Betina Kahn Legarda, what it means since I already know what is in it. In English, it means " I fooled you, idiot " so it’s a dessert that you think doesn’t taste great, but will bring or send you into the high heavens after having a piece of it. It’s a spoon dessert, I know of two versions, one has peaches and custard cream on ladyfingers with some chocolate sauce. The other has plain chiffon cake with two types of pastry cream – plain and chocolate - and some whipped cream. But it is really how they are blended and served at the right cool temperature that really makes them so good. It’s heavenly. Basta……Mrs. Grau makes….Mrs. Fudge in Iloilo and of course, Café Ysabel….
Take cake and please don’t try all these, all at once……call Taste for the numbers….
Version Recipe
Inigo’s Butter Cake
Ingredients:9 pcs egg yolks
200 gms salted butter
190 gms sugar
285 gms cake flour
1 ½ tbsps baking powder
½ cup fresh milk, room temperature
5 pcs egg whites
¾ cup sugar
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 325 ºF. Line and grease a 9 x 13 rectangular pan. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light for 7 minutes. Add egg yolks one at a time. Sift dry ingredients.
Alternately add dry ingredients and fresh milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients in three additions.Set aside.
Beat egg whites until foamy. Add sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Fold this into butter flour mixture. Pour into cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or do toothpick test. Cool on wire rack.
Serve at room temperature, a bit warm or cold.
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