Course the Fifth: Pistachio Cake with Rhubarb-Strawberry Compote and Orange-Blossom Scented Whipped Creme Fraiche

Long title, tasty sweet.

We had this with Kalyra's Gewurztraminer "Sticky Wicket". Yummy.

Again, professionally written per one serving. Multiply as needed.

Pistachio Cake with Rhubarb-Strawberry Compote and Orange Blossom-Scented Whipped Crème Frâiche

pistachios 2/3 oz shelled
sugar, granulated 1/3 oz
light corn syrup 1/3 tsp
orange 1/8 tsp zest finely grated
orange blossom water 1 drop

sugar, granulated 1 oz
butter, whole 1/3 oz
egg 1/5
sour cream 1/3 oz
vanilla extract 1/12 tsp
orange blossom water 1/12 tsp

flour, all-purpose 1/8 cup
baking powder 1/8 tsp
baking soda 1/12 tsp
salt pinch

rhubarb 2 oz cut into ½-inch pieces
vanilla bean paste 1/8 tsp
sugar, granulated .5 oz
white wine 1 TB
strawberry 1 oz trimmed, small dice

cream, heavy 1 TB
crème frâiche ¾ tsp
orange blossom water 1 drop
orange 1/16 tsp zest finely grated

pistachios 2, whole shelled
sugar, powdered 1/8 tsp
cardamom tiny pinch

Method: Grind pistachios finely in a processor. Heat sugar, corn syrup and 1/8 tsp water to 225F. Slowly pour hot sugar mixture into processor while running to make a smooth paste. Add orange zest and orange blossom water. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 325F. In processor, combine pistachio paste, sugar, room temperature butter, egg and sour cream until smooth. Pour into a bowl. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently add to the pistachio mixture and stir until just combined. Pour batter into a buttered 6-oz muffin tin cup to fill between 2/3’s and ¾’s full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack and remove cake from cup.

In a saucepan, combine sugar and ¼ tsp water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and let turn brown without stirring or burning, about 5 minutes. When brown, add rhubarb, vanilla paste and white wine. Let cook until rhubarb just begins to fall apart and becomes jam-like, about 15 minutes. Let come to room temperature and stir in strawberry.

Whip cream, crème frâiche, orange blossom water and orange zest together until firm peaks form.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, toss together pistachios, powdered sugar and cardamom. Bake until nuts are toasted and sugar melts, about 10 minutes.

Plating: Place cake on one side of plate. Top with candied pistachios. Spoon compote to make a line through center of plate. On the other side of the compote line, place whipped crème frâiche.

Gobble, Gobble

Happy T-Day everyone! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I hope this holiday season brings us all much love, peace and happiness.

Quickie Cranberry Sauce (no picture because I accidently deleted it. It was red and chunky.)

8 oz frozen cranberries
1/2 seedless tangerine, rind and all
sugar, to taste
fresh chili pepper, to taste, I used a manzano but a floral habenero would be good too
1-2 TB Triple Sec

Throw everything in a blender/food processor. Blend until it reaches desired texture; I like mine chunky. Taste for sugar. Serve! A caveat, this doesn't make very good leftovers becase the oil from the tangerine rind starts to take over. This makes enough for about 3-4 servings. Multiply or divide as needed.

SHF #22 K's Birthday Jam

For the past four years, I have gifted K, the partner's mom, with strawberry jam for her birthday. I didn't even realize that SHF (Sugar High Friday) this month and K's day coincided pretty nicely, until yesterday. So here is my second addition to the SHF phenomenon.

In the past, I have just cooked the berries with a smaller then typical amount of sugar my secret ingredient and strongly advised that the jar be kept in the fridge. This method isn't really jam, more like a slightly thickened strawberry sauce. Depending on what I did that year, the "jam" was quite often runny. This year however, armed with my preserving book, I made an actual recipe for jam, complete with the scarily obscene amount of sugar. Then I really and truly canned it. I am slightly paranoid that K will get botulism and die but I don't think that will actually happen,at least I sincerely hope it won't. Without further ado, here is my recipe for strawberry jam with a twist.

2 lbs strawberries, preferably organic/pesticide free
2 lbs sugar (about 4 1/2 cups)
2-4 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2-4 tsp orange flower water, or to taste

If you are planning on canning this, everything must be scrupulously clean.

Place a saucer in the freezer. Trim the greens off the berries and cut fruit in half. Combine berries and juice in a very large pot and cook over medium-low heat until fruit begins to break down, stirring occasionally, about 12-15 minutes. When fruit is softened, crush about half of the berries against the side of the pot. Add the sugar and stir until well combined.

Turn heat up to medium and let mixture come to a boil. Try not to stir once this has happened. Skim off the foam that comes to the top. If you ever read M.F.K Fisher's essay, "The Measure of My Powers", you will find this to feel like a slightly Proustian exercise.

After jam has boiled for ten minutes, remove the saucer from the freezer and place a few dabs of jam on it. Let cool for a minute. Poke with your finger, if it wrinkles, remove jam from heat and
let cool. If it does not wrinkle, let cook for another two minutes and test again. Conversely, the jam will be done once it measures 220F (this did not hold true for me, but it might for you). After jam is removed from heat, stir in the orange flower water.

If you plan on canning, which I will not give instructions for because I don't really know what I am doing and I don't want anyone to get sick, let jam cool for 5 minutes and fill jars. If you are not canning, let jam cool to room temp, and pour into very clean jars. The jam will keep in the fridge about six months.