There are several perks to writing a food blog, the best being the excuse to have delicious cakes, like this almond chiffon cake, in the house at all times. The only person who has an issue with this is my personal trainer, but I just remind him what job security it is for him. I also have an extensive (300+) cookbook library that I attribute to “research” when my husband asks where we will put them all, now that my book shelves are over flowing. Then there are the products companies send me to critique and review. I have received everything from peanut flour (which I adore) to a confectionery funnel (which is for portion control of pancakes and other runny stuff. Really, you have to make your pancakes the exact same size???). I will never review or endorse a product I don’t actually love and find value in.
Now back to the baking…this cake was inspired by my trip to Italy this past summer. The man who owned the home we rented introduced me to his favorite cookie, the ricciarelli. They are made from almond paste and egg whites baked into little rich clouds and dusted with pure white confectioners’ sugar. I was completely addicted to them after the first bite. They are available all over Tuscany and when baked fresh you want to sing their praises. The stale ones you buy in the tin are to be avoided and unfortunately that is what most of us have tried. After writing this description I realize I need to create and post a recipe for the actual cookie, but for now I have a cake that it inspired. It is light and spongy, but at the same time decadent because of the almond paste. The cake is great on its own with a cup of coffee for breakfast or with ice cream or coulis for dessert.
For recipe…
Ricciarelli cookies on the counter in San Gimignano (the best I had).
A typical day’s sampling of the local Tuscan bakery.
(My average breakfast when traveling. Now you see why I need the personal trainer.)
Ricciarelli (rich-ee-a-relly) Chiffon Cake
2 cups (220g) Cake Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
7 ounces (200g) Almond Paste
5 egg yolks
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/2 cup (118 ml) oil (I used 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup vegetable oil)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
8 egg whites
confectioner’s sugar for the top
To make the cake: preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. Cream the almond paste until smooth and then add egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, oil, water and extracts. Cream together until smooth, about 3 minutes, set aside.
Whip the egg whites until foamy then add 1/2 cup sugar and whip until stiff peaks, they should be stiff enough to hold onto the whip when lifted out of the bowl, but the peak will be soft enough to flop over like a dairy queen ice cream cone. (If you over whip the egg whites they will not have any elasticity left to rise when they get to the oven.) Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the whites and fold it in gently using a rubber spatula. Repeat two more times with remaining flour.
Fold the egg white mixture into the almond paste mixture, again in 3 additions.
Place the batter into an ungreased 10-Inch Tube Pan
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Remove almond chiffon cake from the oven and invert the pan over the neck of a bottle to cool. This guarantees that the cake will not collapse while cooling.
Dust almond chiffon cake with lots of confectioners’ sugar and enjoy!
I have a little cast iron whisk with a mermaid on the handle that i found at goodwill. It doesn’t really work…but it’s too cute to throw away.
Well, I do own TWO cherry pitters and TWO springerle rolling pins… but that’s about as strange as I can think of. Madeleine pans aren’t strange, right?
I have a tiny curly little whisk. I find I use more than I would have expected. I’m taken with your site – I love to bake and you teach me things I didn’t know were even things to learn. Thanks.
Well, the strangest gadget I have (I think it’s strange) is an old timey nutmeg grater – it’s a little wooden mill with a turn-around handle. You put the nutmeg in the center, square-on the shaver, and turn. The only thing is, it wastes a lot of nutmeg. I much prefer my tiny micro-plane zester.
The oddest piece I have is my retro Toastess TT-200 Electric Turnover Toaster. It does not have a timer and you have to toast one side at a time. It can be tricky, but I use it several times a week. Now I can smell when it is time to turn the slices of bread over. The trick is to never NEVER leave it unattended. As soon as you do it burns. Here is a picture and some stats http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/toastess-2000-retro-toaster
Hmmm… I would say my mini food processor – it is great for chopping nuts, but otherwise it just takes up space. I use my larger food processor much more often.
The pics from Italy – yum, yum and triple yum!
I have a mold to make jello eggs… Strange, but fun, and good for Easter.
Strangest piece of kitchen equipment is one of the simplest, new set of pots and pans and the lids don’t fit, I guess inspector 23 was out that day. Great web site..
So, a meat tenderizer probably isn’t super strange, but as a vegetarian of over 20 years, it looks a little out of place. And yes, I was a vegetarian when I acquired it.
I love my little cups/bowls that I use for mis en place(sp). I use my egg poaching cups and oil dipping bowls for mis en place too. I have all kinds: stainless steel, ceramic, etc. Stephanie
The strangest thing I have is an olive oil mister. I received it for a gift for my birthday last year and it sat on my shelf for a whole year until I realized I could use it to make pita/tortilla chips. Now I use it to mist pizza crusts. Before this I just used a pastry brush.
I suppose the oddest “tool” I use in my kitchen is baby spoons. I use them to stuff manicotti and such. Thanks for the great tip on cooling the cake over the bottle to prevent collapsing!!
Oh, and if you want to see it: http://www.seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2011/01/wordless-wednesday-76.html
An egg clacker.
Fondue forks. No fondue pot, just the forks. It is still one of the weirdest presents I have received and I got them when I was 16. I haven’t found a use for them, but still lug them with me every time I move. Maybe this time will be different…
My oddest kitchen tool happens to be a small pan, only because I use it as a lid for our pots because we have no lids for them. So a giftcard would mean pots with lids! And pans returned to their usual usage.
My oddest utensil is my soy milk maker. While nursing I couldn’t have any dairy so I started making my own soy milk all the time. Since I can have dairy again, it has rarely been used. BUT maybe again someday.
I love love love my tongs. Couldn’t live without them!
LOVE W-S! I guess my weirdest piece of kitchen equipment would be my ball whisk or my pumpkin shaped pocket pie mold. Ha. Or maybe my popsicle mold. I use all but the pie mold, but I plan to use it as well! Just haven’t gotten around to it just yet 🙂
My favorite appliance by fr is my stand mixer!…it’s a complete lifesaver
I have two (TWO!) teeny-tiny (really really small) box graters. They’re supposed to be for grating ginger or garlic, but they would take off your fingers. I use the microplane for ginger, and then I have a ceramic oroshi from Japan for garlic (so why don’t I get rid of the tiny graters???).
I have little egg dishes to make poached eggs. Too bad we don’t love poached eggs, but since they were a gift, I have a hard time giving them away.
It’s not so much an odd kitchen tool, but my favorite conversation piece is a copper lobster-shaped cake mold. It seems so silly to have a copper mold of a sea creature.
… a tostonera to make tostones – daughter-in-law bought it for me on her vacation in Puerto Rico – now to find some plantains!
My all time favorite kitchen tool is my Kitchen Aid Miixer, I know that it is not a creative, but I love it! I love using it, looking at it, and cooking with it. I makes my life easier and for that I am grateful!