Cake
ALISA’S MARBLED POUND CAKE
Panque marmoleado de Alisa
1 10-inch loafINGREDIENTS
1/2 pound unsalted butter, plus more to butter the pan
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Confectioners’ sugar, optionalTO PREPARE
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the sides and bottom of a loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper cut to fit.In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and continue beating until well combined and fluffy, another 2 minutes. Pour in the vanilla and continue beating until well incorporated and smooth, about another minute.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Break the eggs into another bowl. Add half of the eggs and half of the sifted flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating on medium-low speed until well combined, scraping down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Repeat with the remaining eggs and flour.
Add the sour cream and continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Set the batter aside. In a small bowl, combine the hot water with the cocoa powder.
Pour half the cake batter into another bowl and fold in the cocoa-water mixture with a rubber spatula until thoroughly mixed.
Spread the “white” batter from the mixer bowl in the bottom of the loaf pan. Pour the chocolate batter on top, in a straight line down the center. Make a design with a knife or fork, so it will look “marbled.”
Bake the cake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool. Invert the cooled cake onto a plate, remove the parchment paper, and invert again onto another plate.
Dust the top of the cake with confectioners’ sugar, and it is ready to slice. To store, keep it covered.
The breakfast of your dreams, prepared by Pati and her sister Alisa. This episode includes both quick, simple dishes and ones meant for a deliciously messy morning feast.
These home-style dishes are a staple at the small restaurants known as “fondas” in Mexico — and delicious inspiration for busy cooks in American homes today. Make them once, and they’ll become easy to make but special treats in your own kitchen.
TRES LECHES CAKE
Pastel de tres leches
Serves 10 to 12INGREDIENTS
Cake Ingredients:
9 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flourSauce Ingredients:
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extractFor the Topping:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugarTO PREPARE
Preheat the oven to 360 degrees. Butter a 9×13-inch pan, lining the bottom with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit the pan.Pour the egg whites into the bowl of your mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, or until they hold soft peaks. Slowly stir in the sugar and continue beating until they hold harder or stiffer peaks. Turn off the mixer and, with a spatula, move the egg white mixture into a large mixing bowl.
Rinse the mixer bowl and its whisk. Now, pour the egg yolks into the bowl and beat on medium-high speed for about 5 to 6 minutes, or until the yolks become creamy and puffy and their color has toned down to an almost cream color rather than a loud yellow. Stir in the vanilla and continue beating for another minute.
Pour the egg yolk mixture onto the egg white mixture and, with a spatula, in circular motions, combine them into a homogeneous single batter. Do so gently, trying not to lose too much volume gained from beaten egg whites. Fold in the flour, scraping the bowl with the spatula so that all the flour is well mixed.
Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and place into the oven for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. It can be a bit moist, but not wet. The top of the cake should be tanned or golden brown.
Once it cools down, turn it onto a platter. Remove parchment paper, cover the top with an upside-down platter and invert again. The platter should be large enough to hold the cake and the vanilla sauce you are about to prepare. Using a fork, or two, poke holes all over the cake so that it will better absorb the vanilla sauce.
In a mixing bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, milk, and vanilla extract. Pour the vanilla sauce over the cake. It may appear like too much sauce, but it will all be absorbed!
In the bowl of your mixer, whip up the heavy cream with the confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture holds up stiff peaks. Spread the whipped cream all over the already-wet cake and place it in the refrigerator. You can decorate the cake with berries or any other topping of your choice.
JUJU’S BIRTHDAY CAKE
Pastel de chocolate de JujuINGREDIENTS
For the cake:
1 cup water
2/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup unsalted butter or vegetable shortening
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperatureFor the Frosting:
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup vegetable shortening or butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup sprinkles, optionalTO PREPARE
To prepare the cake:
Grease a 9×13-inch cake pan with butter. Cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.In a large pot, over medium heat, pour the water, stir in the cocoa and add the butter. Let it heat for a few minutes, stirring now and then, until it all dissolves. Remove the pot from the heat.
In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In another, beat the eggs and combine them with the sour cream.
In turns, add a quarter of the flour mix and then a quarter of the sour cream mix at a time into the pot with the cocoa mixture; stir with a spatula, mixing all of the ingredients as you move along. Pour onto the greased cake pan and place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out barely moist but not wet.
Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool a bit while you prepare the frosting.
To prepare the frosting:
In a saucepan, over medium heat, pour in the milk and the vanilla. Stir in the cocoa and add the butter. Heat and stir until everything is all dissolved and combined. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Thoroughly mix with a spatula and set aside.To assemble:
Run the tip of a knife around the edges of the cake. Turn the cake onto a platter and gently remove the parchment paper. Pour the still-warm frosting over the cake and gently spread it out with a spatula. If you wish, you may add sprinkles of your choice before the frosting hardens (NOTE: The cake is soft and moist the first couple days, then hardens like a brownie afterwards if left uncovered– perfect for packing in school lunches).
The same foods that parents pack into a hearty school lunch in Mexico are perfect for school lunchtime in America. These dishes are so tasty and filling, even grownups will want to take them to work…
FLOURLESS ALMOND AND PORTO CAKE
Pastel de Almendras con Porto
Serves 12 to 15INGREDIENTS
2 cups slivered almonds
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp Porto wine, optional or more to taste
1/4 cup apricot marmalade
1 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
Whipped cream, optional
Fruit of your choice, optional (I love it with berries!)TO PREPARE
Butter a round 9 to 10 inch spring-form pan, and cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the almond and sugar into a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. Crack the eggs on top of the mixture. Pulse until well combined. Stir in the vanilla extract and Porto wine, if you will use it. Drop in the butter chunks, and process until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Pour the batter into the cake pan. Place on a rack in the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The top will be nicely tanned, the cake will feel springy to the touch and a toothpick should come out clean if inserted in the cake.
Remove from the oven and let the cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Unmold the cake, invert onto a platter and remove the parchment paper. Invert the cake again onto another platter to have the top of the cake right side up.
In a small saucepan, mix the apricot glaze with the lime juice. Set over medium heat and simmer for a couple minutes, just until it dissolves.
With a brush, spread the apricot glaze on the outer circumference, about 1 to 2 inches in depth, on the top of the cake. Sprinkle the glazed area with the toasted almonds. You may serve the cake with whipped cream on the side, or on the top of the cake. Any fruit of your choice will be lovely too!
This cake is a treat. What’s more, being flourless, it is perfect for both gluten free eaters and the coming Passover week.
As a fan of marzipan this cake feels like a fluffy, smooth, tasty piece of marzipan that has turned into a cake to become a bigger, lighter and longer lasting version of itself. It can be served as a dessert, with some whipped cream on top. If you are lucky to have some leftover, it makes for a decadent breakfast with a side of berries and some hot coffee or tea.
The recipe comes from the Mexican convent of San Jerónimo, where Mexico’s most famous nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was settled. It dates to the late 1600′s. Spanish nuns who came to help establish the different convents, had an indomitable sweet tooth, which paired with Mexico’s exotic ingredients, made for some of the country’s dearest and sweetest desserts. Centuries later, these desserts are staples in Mexico’s kitchens.
Continue reading Flourless Almond and Porto Cake
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Flourless Almond and Porto Cake
Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk’s Cake, is one of the most, if not the most popular and sold cake throughout Mexico. It is also amongst the most requested recipes I have been asked for after Pickled Jalapeños and Piggies cookies. So dear readers, I am sorry it has taken this long but here it goes! I promise to get to the other requests, which I love getting on your emails, as soon as possible.
Tres Leches is a sweet, practically wet, homey cake. Its base is a vanilla sponge cake, completely soaked in a sauce traditionally made with three kinds of milk: sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and regular milk. Some versions substitute regular milk with heavy cream. The cake will sometimes have a topping like fresh whipped cream, which I seriously consider of utmost necessity (!). Sometimes the topping turns out to be meringue or even chocolate ganache.
Growing up in Mexico City, there was a bakery called La Gran Via, which sold such delicious Tres Leches that even though it was far from home, we used to drive many Sundays to get one. These days La Gran Via has become a large chain store of bakeries… it has been years since I have eaten one of their cakes. This recipe, is as close as I get to my nostalgic memories.
Continue reading Pastel de Tres Leches
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Pastel de Tres Leches
It seems that when it comes to birthdays and cakes, most of us grown ups are like little kids too. So this year, I planned my husbands’ cake with a little help from my three young boys.
The night before, as I tucked them in bed, we talked about making an irresistible I-want-to-jump-into-that-cake kind of cake. It had to be something that could WOW him away and could also feel yummy and soft when they dipped his face in it (yep! that was their plan).
This talk led me, once again, to tell the boys stories about cakes from my childhood. Most of those cakes came from Sanborns’, a chain of stores that sells almost anything you can imagine: books, DVD’s, make-up, electronics, luggage, candies, the best ever chocolate covered raisins, marshmallows and toys. It also has great coffee-shop style restaurants with some of my favorite molletes and enchiladas. Not to forget its perfumeries and pharmacies. It is a serious knock out one-stop-shop. But most importantly, it was, and may still be, one of the most popular places to get a birthday cake.
One of the cakes that left me with a permanent impression went something like this: A couple layers of fluffy and moist vanilla cake, a foamy and soft meringue filling paired with old fashioned strawberry jam and pecans, the same soft meringue layered all over the top, some more pecans and whatever decorations you fancied.
That cake, by itself, made a party happen. It was a creation worthy of its own celebration.
Continue reading A Cake Worthy of its own Celebration
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A Cake Worthy of its own Celebration
09 May 2013
Talks at Google: Pati Jinich
04 May 2013
CBS This Morning: Chef Pati Jinich’s Cinco de Mayo feast
03 May 2013
Fox News Radio: Cinco de Mayo with Pati’s Mexican Table
02 May 2013
All Things Considered: This Little Piggy Cookie Is A Sweet Mexican Find
01 May 2013
The Chew: Pati Jinich Heats Up The Kitchen
30 May 2013
The Asian Influence in Mexican Cooking
07 Jul 2013
Canyon Ranch Cooks
29 Sep 2013
Book Tour: Baltimore Book Festival
24 Oct 2013
Mex-Americana: The Evolution of Mexican Food in the US
