Kikukat Mom: Mahogany Chiffon Cake

I have known my mom for close to a half century, and this is, hands down, her favorite cake.

Mahogany Chiffon Cake

     3/4 c boiling water
     1/2 c cocoa (I use natural, not Dutched)
     1 3/4 c cake flour
     1 1/2 tsp baking soda
     1 tsp salt
     1 3/4 c sugar, divided
     1/2 c vegetable oil
     7 eggs, separated
     2 tsp vanilla
     1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine boiling water and cocoa.  Let cool.  Sift cake flour, 1 1/4 c sugar, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl.  Make a well and add oil, egg yolks, vanilla, and cooled cocoa mixture.  Mix until smooth.  In a large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until almost stiff.  Gradually add 1/2 c sugar, and beat till stiff.  Pour chocolate mixture in a thin stream over entire surface of egg whites, gently cutting and folding in with a spatula until well blended.  Pour into an ungreased 10" tube pan.  Bake 55 minutes.  Increase heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.  Invert and cool completely.

Madeleines

April is generally not a month I enjoy.  When I was younger, I looked forward to Easter and all the candy that came along with the holiday.  Coloring eggs was also a much-anticipated activity.  But April always seemed like a month of endless rain.  And I don't like rain.  Everything starts to take on the damp feeling, and it makes me feel a bit foolish to be making a fire in the fireplace.  The window for that (in my mind) closes at the end of February.

Another reason for April receiving a bad mark in my book has been my inability to get going after spring break.  Getting back in the work groove after a break is hard, but it seems even more difficult transitioning from the 3rd to the 4th quarter.  Ugh.

Now that I'm older and have a child attending a college 3,000 miles away, April isn't so bad.  It means that I get to see my hiapo (firstborn in Hawaiian) in a few weeks.  I haven't seen her since early January when I dropped her off at the airport in Kona.  I miss her a lot.

With her imminent homecoming, I figured it would be a good time to get off my butt and start exercising a bit more diligently.  I bought myself a new fitbit and have been hitting the elliptical every weekday morning.  To amuse myself on the elliptical, I've been watching Craftsy videos.  It's amazing the kinds of classes they have for sale.  I've purchased both knitting and cooking classes.  The most recent class I watched was a class on making macarons, madeleines, and other miniature desserts.

Am I the only one who noticed how the previous paragraph covered BOTH exercising AND desserts?

I haven't tried making macarons, but I've been making madeleines for years.  I've tried multiple recipes, but I adapted a recipe I found on the internet.  The original recipe is delicious and was the only recipe I tried which I could replicate successfully time after time.  However, the drawback for me was the lemon zest.  I am not a big fan of using lemon zest in my desserts because I seldom buy lemons.  I have a lemon tree in my backyard, but the lemons do not usually boast beautiful, smooth, golden skin.  The skins are often sunburnt with a green-brown tinge, and the zest they yield does not look appealing in desserts.  This is unfortunate because the flavor of lemon zest is sublime.

So I took that recipe and adapted it for use without lemon zest.  However, I realized that I occasionally missed the lemon flavor.  Using lemon extract will not yield a product exactly like the original recipe, but lemon extract is easy to get.  Using the vanilla extract with a drop or two of lemon oil is another option, however lemon oil is more difficult to obtain.  Of course, the generous dusting of powdered sugar will hide unsightly zest pieces on the surface, but some people might be put off when they encounter off-color zest when they take a bite.

Collette Christian's Craftsy class offers yet another take on getting that citrus flavor.  She opts for dipping the madeleines in a glaze.  Interesting.  I have not yet tried the madeleines from the class, and I'm not sure if I actually will.  I purchased the class for the step-by-step macaron instructions.  I hope to try that out this summer when D1 is home. . . someone to wash my dishes.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

No-Fuss Madeleines

     1/4 c butter, melted and cooled

     2 eggs

     1/2 tsp vanilla extract (may replace half with 1/4 tsp lemon extract)

     pinch of salt

     1/3 c  sugar

     1/2 c flour

     powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Generously grease and flour the wells for 15 3" madeleines.  Combine eggs, vanilla, and salt, in a large (1 quart) glass measuring cup.  Gradually add sugar while beating at high speed.  Continue beating until mixture is light yellow and has increased in volume.  This will take about 10 minutes with a hand-held mixer.  Sift flour over egg mixture and fold in gently.  Add melted butter and fold in gently.  Using a #40 disher, divide batter among prepared wells.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Tap pan sharply to dislodge madeleines and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over madeleines when completely cool.

Sponge Drops

Today finds me heading back to work after nearly a week off (I worked on Monday).  I'm certain that by the time this workday is over, I will know exactly how many more slave days until summer vacation.  I always post a countdown in my room. . .one figure for most students, and the other, smaller figure, for the seniors.

This will be the first time in many years where the seniors are in school beyond Memorial Day.  For the rest of us, summer gets underway hella late!

By the end of today, at least one of my friends will be looking towards a change of work site for the next school year.  A few others won't know until later this week if they have tickets outta Dodge yet.  Choose wisely, young grasshoppers.   Actually, changing work site is truly exciting.  Best wishes to all.

While today marks the beginning of the 4th quarter, there is still much to be done.  I have another workshop to attend in Honolulu, as well as a workshop to give here.  I need to get through the Junior Prom (as an adult).  I also need to see D1 through two proms (as a parent only, since I am completely banned from attending one of them).  And that brings me to another thing on my mommy to-do list:  get D1 to commit to a college.  Is it important to go somewhere with low brand cachet but willing to offer a HUGE financial aid package?  Or is it more important to go to a school more respected for academics but very low in athletic team post-season activities...no March Madness/Big Dance/Bowl?  Does a school's performance in NCAA Division 1 athletics make a difference?  What about ease of access...is the school in close proximity to an airport with direct flights from Hawaii?  Lots to think about, lots to weigh and ponder, lots of money to dish out!

While I'm waiting for D1 to make a decision, I think I will have a sponge drop.  I need one.  Maybe I need two.  Eating sweet things makes me feel happy.

As I mentioned in last week's post, I've been trying to support The Help's healthier eating effort by reducing the amount of desserts and sweets I make, but after dealing with D2 and her friends during the break last week, I broke down and decided it was time to save myself.  I made a batch of these sponge drops as a reward for surviving sleepover night and not smacking anyone across the head (including those 2 bratty kids who sat in the booth behind me in McDonalds and jumped on their seats while their lazy-ass parents sat away from them and pretended they didn't notice).

I first tasted sponge drops at a party in the early 80s.  I thought I was eating 2 'nilla wafers sandwiched together with whipped cream, but when I tried to do this at home, it didn't taste the same.  It wasn't until years later I realized the treat I had eaten was sponge drops

Normally, I don't enjoy a soft cookie, but sponge drops are different.  While they look like cookies, they are NOT cookies.  They are, as the name implies, soft and spongy.  They get even softer when the filling gets put between two of them.  And don't be afraid to be generous with the filling.  Any extra filling can be used as a topping for sliced strawberries or other tart fruit.  If you are like me, you will enjoy the filling on a big spoon too!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Sponge Drops

     1 c flour

     1/2 tsp cream of tartar

     1/4 tsp baking soda

     3 eggs

     1 c sugar

     1/2 tsp vanilla

     1 tbsp powdered sugar

     1/2 c heavy whipping cream

     2 oz cream cheese, optional

Stir together flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, beat together eggs and sugar.  Add flour mixture and stir until well combined.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Using a small (#70) disher, drop rounded scoops of batter onto parchment in a 4 x 5 array.  Bake 7 minutes.  Let cool 3-4 minutes on sheet before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Make filling when cookies are cool.  Combine vanilla, powdered sugar and whipping cream (if using cream cheese, add it now and add another tbsp of powdered sugar).  Whip with an electric mixer until thick and stiff.  Spread on underside of a cookie, and top with another cookie (underside touching filling).  Chill in a single layer in an airtight container (may separate layers with plastic wrap).