Pastry chef/author and TV chef Gale Gand definitely obeys the Two Commandments of Pastry which
are: Thy Desserts Shall Be Silly and Thy Desserts Shall Be Delicious. No
one deconstructs childhood flavors quite like Gand.
Think of root beer floats re-invented as Root Beer Slush-Vanilla Cream
Cordial Cups which a vanilla creme anglaise with root beer granita on top.
The chapters are based on diferent kinds of "bites" - cookie, cake, frozen,
chocolate, creamy, candy, fruity and cheese.
The Tiny Lemon Angel Cakes with Lemon Confit are lemony enough to satisfy this lemon lover, and tart enough to evoke the lemon sourballs I used to eat in the movies. The tiny cakes as promised, are bite-sized and it's very easy to eat way too many of 'em. Sometimes, though, within this recipe and others, Gand doesn't take the shortest way from point A to point B, and the detours are a bit puzzling.
What I mean: for the lemon confit, she instructs you to "cut a slice off the top and bottom of each lemon to expose the flesh. Cutting from top to bottom and following the contours of the fruit, cut off the peel and white pith in one-inch wide strips."
This is needlessly complicated. Why not just strip or zest it, in sizable pieces? There are extra steps here, and for no particularly good reason that I can discern. And, she has you make a glaze of lemon juice and sugar, when you have a truly excellent glaze from the syrup you made the candied lemon peel in - why not use that, and save another step? When I made this, I ended up using very little of the confit, a)because the cakes were so small and b) because they were so lemony. So you could make these cakes and glaze them, and leave out the confit entirely.
The Very Red Velvet Cupcakes were much fun - silly nostalgia in the form of a red devil's food cupcake, iced with a milk-confectioner's sugar vanilla icing. The red cake peeks out from underneath a petticoat of creamy white frosting, a flirty, Moulin Rouge cupcake.
They were utterly delicious and sold out quickly at a bake sale I brought them to. But again - in the frosting recipe, the first time I made it, I threw it out because it reached a point where it looked as though the icing had "broken" and I wouldn't be able to bring it back. The next time I tried the icing recipe, I kept beating it in the Kitchen Aid and sure enough, the icing came together. It would be helpful if Gand had put that in the book - and it's attention to those details that make the difference between a good cookbook and a great one.
One recipe I tested, and tested it twice, was unfortunately a disaster both times. That's the recipe for Chocolate Doughnuts with Vanilla Malted and Cranberry Jam. I decided to make the doughnuts only and both times, despite the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 3 ounces of melted chocolate in the dough, once they had proofed, risen and been fried, they had no chocolate taste whatsoever, and collapsed on themselves. My educated guess here is that there is too much yeast in the recipe and the rising time may be too long. It is clear that Gale Gand is a gifted pastry chef and knows her stuff - mistakes in recipes do happen, especially when a chef has to scale them down from restaurant to home baker quantities.
I know I will try more recipes from Just A Bite, such as the Cannelés, and the Chocolate Seashells with White Coffee Ice Cream Pearls, to name two. And I think that this book is a worthwhile book for a more experienced baker who can troubleshoot when necessary.
Very Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Makes 12)
For the Batter:
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ounces (2 small bottles) red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour (Tester's note: Not self-rising)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon red or white wine vinegar (Tester's note: I used plain white vinegar and it was fine).
For the Frosting
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cool unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Equipment: a Muffin tin
12 white ribbed paper cupcake liners
a small icing (offset) spatula
Make the cupcakes: Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners. Heat the oven to 350° F.
Cream the shortening, eggs and sugar together in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy.
Whisk the cocoa powder and food coloring into a smooth paste in a small bowl. Add the paste to the shortening mixture and mix.
Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together. Combine the buttermilk, vanilla and vinegar in a bowl. With the mixer running at low speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture and mix. Then add about half of the wet ingredients and mix. Add another third of dry ingredients and mix. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
Pour or ladle the batter into the cupcake papers, filling them three-quarters full. (Tester's note: These rise a lot - half-full is preferable). Bake until the cupcakes are firm to the touch in the center, 15 to 20 minutes, Let them cool in the pan.
Meanwhile, make the frosting: Put the milk in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Brgin to a simmer over medium heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes, whisking often. Cover and let cool to room temperature.
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and very fluffy. Add the cooled thickened milk and mix until smooth. (Tester's note: it's during this mixing that the icing may look "broken." Fear not, and keep on mixing). When the cupcakes are cool, use the icing spatula to frost the tops.
By Sukey Pett
