I have to get together with some of the people who visit this blog, namely the bakers. I really need to focus more on learning the finer point, or really, the basics of baking.

I was reading Megan’s blog, My Baking Adventures, and she has a list of things to learn. I’m going to do this too. I love the idea of baking bread, all sorts of breads and cakes and pies  but so far… well, let’s just say people have been very , very kind to me about my baking! The taste is there, I think, but it’s the presentation that is sadly lacking. The finesse. The artistry.

This Four Spice and Ginger Cake is from a Creole cookbook and as simple as it sounded, I goofed. Luckily, it turned out to be quite tasty, but definitely not because I followed the directions!

The Batter, Ready to be Baked

The recipe calls for the cake to be baked for 45 minutes and at that point my cake was still liquid inside. Even after a good hour of sitting on a rack, it was still liquidy. I put it back into the oven and increased the heat to 350 degrees F. Thirty minutes later, it was still wobbly – it needed about another 20 minutes for perfection. Altogether, I’m not really sure of my "real" total baking time but it was a lot more then the original 45 minutes, and at least a portion of that time was at the higher 350 degrees F.

Finally – done!

Where did I go wrong? Maybe my oven is going. That would explain why my baking is hit and miss. I think I’m going to have to test the temperature to see.

I loved the cake just the way it was, nice and gingery and peppery. Belle isn’t a big fan of ginger, but she enjoyed the cake, too. She spread creamed cheese on top and loved it. Dylan said,"Where is the frosting, Daddy?". Not that he would have eaten it anyway. Although to be fair he did lick a piece to try it.

Belle’s note: Despite Ward’s problems with the baking time and oven temperature, this Four Spice and Ginger Cake was very delicious. Not too sweet, with just the right touch of rich spiciness, each slice was moist and incredibly good. It really called out for a cream cheese frosting of some sort, but I got around that by spreading the slices I had with plain spreadable cream cheese – delicious! As an added bonus, the occasional bite offered up the sweet spice of the candied ginger – as Ward says, I’m not a big fan of ginger, but this was quite the perfect touch!

The following recipe is adapted from Creole, by Babette de Rozières.

Four Spice and Ginger Cake

8 large free-range eggs
1 cup sugar
pinch fine sea salt
1 cup butter, softened and cut up into 1/2" cubes
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g (approx. 1 cup) crystallized ginger (candied), chopped
3 tbsp quatre épices*

*quatre épices (four spices)

Mix together:

1 tbsp white peppercorns, ground in mortar and pestle
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, break the eggs and add the sugar and salt.
3. Mix with an electric hand mixer at low speed until fluffy.
4. Add the butter, vanilla and mix.
5. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and quatre épices. Mix well. 
6. Spray a cake pan with vegetable non-stick spray.
7. Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for 45-60 minutes.
8. Check to see if a toothpick comes out dry, if not, bake for an additional 15 minutes and check again. Repeat this until done.  

The source for this dessert was a bargain cookbook we’d bought a while back, from which I have since made countless meals: Simple Japanese by Silla Bjerrum.

The recipe says to use ginger biscuits instead of the usual digestive biscuits but I had to find ginger biscuits without a nut product. The only ginger biscuits I could find had coconut in it.

(I found out later that people with nut allergies are usually not affected by coconut. In 2006 the FDA defined coconut as a tree nut so caution should be taken, but generally people are not affected by coconuts.)

Let me back up here and say one of the people coming for dinner has a nut allergy. Anyway, I decided to err on the side of caution and bought digestive biscuits as well. I decided to use the digestive biscuits and later found out my guest was not allergic to coconuts. Next time I make this cheesecake I will try the ginger biscuits.

My local grocery store, which is a big national chain here in Ontario, used to carry crème fraîche but no longer does. Neither does anyone else around here, or so it seems. Now as I am writing this I just realized there is a local dairy nearby that I have not checked out, so tomorrow I will stop by to see if they carry it. Belle did find me a recipe on-line to make your own crème fraîche but I had forgotten about it. So I went with whipping cream and my trusty electric hand mixer.

I will definitely make this again.

You’ll notice that there is no picture of the green tea cheesecake with whipped cream and a dusting of green tea powder! I barely had time to take this picture.

Come to think of it… I didn’t even get a piece. My older son came home later with some friends and they finished it off.

Next time I’ll remember to take a picture of this as an individual serving. Maybe with crème fraîche.

Belle says: This unusual green tea dessert is a light and airy cheesecake that’s not very sweet, which is in keeping with a lot of Asian desserts. It has just the right hint of green tea. I definitely enjoyed it!

The following recipe was adapted from Simple Japanese.

Green Tea Cheesecake

Ingredients:

200g (7 oz) digestive biscuits
60g (1/4 cup) butter
75ml (about 1/3 cup or 2.5 fluid oz) double cream
3 tbsp green tea powder (matcha)
225g (8 oz) full fat cream cheese
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
200ml (6.8 fluid oz) whipping cream

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray a 9” spring-form cake tin with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Place biscuits in food processor, crush and place crumbs in a bowl.
4. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan, add to the biscuits and mix.
5. Pour the biscuit mixture into the cake pan and press down to create a firm layer.
6. Chill crust in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow it to set.
7. Bake crust in the oven for 10 minutes, then set aside and cool.
8. Reduce oven to 300 degrees F.
9. Heat the double cream in a small sauce pan and add the green tea powder. Do not let the cream get hotter then 185 degrees F or it will separate.
10. In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth on low speed.
11. Add the egg, egg yolk and the double cream mixture and mix on low until smooth.
12. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the lower third of the oven for 30 minutes (at 300 degrees F).
13. Take the cake out, let cool for one hour.
14. Whip the whipping cream.
15. Cut the cheese cake, add whipped cream and dust with green tea powder.

But the list of ingredients called for a 15oz can of pumpkin and all I found at the grocery store were 796ml (28oz) cans. So I thought, why not make two pies and cut out 1 oz from each pie? Even better, the pie crust recipe I liked (from Bon Appetit, Nov 2009 issue) happened to be for two 12″ crusts. Perfect!

I was going to make two Jamaican-spiced pies but after mixing up and pouring the first one, I remembered a Scotch pumpkin pie I made last year with a graham cracker concrete crust (I really could not cut through it, although I don’t think it was meant to feel like concrete!). Since this year’s crust looked a lot easier, I decided to use the Jamaican-spiced recipe as a model and then substitute scotch instead. Scotch and coconut milk …Hmmm.. well maybe not, so I went with heavy cream instead.

I still need lots of practice with pie crusts but as long as the family thinks the pies taste good, I will keep on experimenting.

Jamaican Rum-Spiced Pumpkin Pie

I think the pie crust could have used a little more ice water as it cracked on me as I was rolling it out but the taste was fantastic. Light and flaky and very buttery

I will definitely make this again. More practice should yield a better looking crust. (For full recipe, see below.)

Jamaican Rum-Spiced Pumpkin Pie

Scotch & Pumpkin Pie

As I mentioned above, the second pie I made was adapted from a pie I made last year using scotch in the pumpkin. I couldn’t find the recipe so I improvised using the Jamaican rum recipe (see below) as a model.

I substituted whipping cream for the coconut milk and scotch for the rum.

Both pies were a big hit.

I whipped up some more whipping cream with a electric hand mixer for the topping (I placed a medium metal bowl, and the hand mixer’s whisk attachment in fridge for 20 minutes). To make the whipped cream, place 1/2 cup whipping cream in the cold medium metal bowl,  begin whipping at low speed until frothy, and then turn up to high speed until nice big soft peeks form.

Scotch & Pumpkin Pie

Jamaican-spiced Pumpkin Pie (adapted fromFine Cooking Oct/Nov 2009 issue, pg 62)

14oz pure pumpkin pie puree
1.25 cups unsweetened coconut milk (full Fat)
3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 large free range eggs
2 tbsp Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum

1. Rack in center of oven at 425F
2. In a large large bowl whisk the pumpkin, coconut milk,sugar,ginger, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and then whisk in the rum until smooth
4. Whisk the egg mixture into the pumpkin mixture until smooth.
5. Pour into a 9″ pie crust
6. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 350F and bake until filling doesn’t wobble when jiggled (approx 45 minutes)
7. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

Pie Crust (from Bon Appétit November 2009 pg 144)

2.25 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/4 cup (or more) ice water

1. Combine first three ingredients in stand mixer with paddle attachment.
2. Blend on low speed.
3. Add butter; mix on low speed until mixture is crumbly.
4. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup ice water and mix until dough clings to paddle, add more water by teaspoons if dough is dry.
gather dough together and roll out on a lightly floured surface to two 12″ round crusts.