(not) Bourbon bread pudding

I topped it with some blood orange segments and caramel

Bread pudding is a great way to use up slightly stale bread, but if you rarely have bread in the house it's not so convenient. After baking with TWD last week and getting such a warm welcome back I really didn't want to miss this week. Of course, things never work out quite the way I expect. I had a lovely weekend of visiting friends, eating out and skating on the canal. After work today, I skated home (about 6 km/4 miles) on a very soft and slushy canal, put on some comfy clothes and settled in to relax. I did relax, for about 5 minutes, until I realized I didn't have any bread for the bread pudding. I was so reluctant to get dressed and go back outside that I started gathering the ingredients to make a loaf of bread. This seemed perfectly reasonable to me, until I discovered I was out of yeast too. Not having the time to gather wild yeast, I moped for a couple of minutes, then looked in the freezer and found some little crumpets I had made for the poached egg challenge a couple of months ago. So, here's what I did: I quartered the recipe, except for the booze. I doubled that. Wouldn't you, at this point? I used mostly milk and skipped the extra egg yolks. Instead of bourbon I used my favourite heavily spiced rum/extrait antillais. It tastes of vanilla, mace, sapote and tonka beans. I made 2 little ramekins, and ate one for dessert. If you see a picture with this post, it means the other little bread pudding survived the night. How was it? Absolutely delicious! Thanks to Sharon of Simply Southern for choosing this recipe. As always, she'll have the recipe for you, and you can see who else baked this week by heading to the Tuesdays with Dorie site.

The homemade mini crumpets

Marie-Helene's apple cake

This was the first thing I baked in the oven in my new place. I thought and thought about what I wanted to make first. The more I thought, the harder it was to choose just the right thing. In the end, I had a huge bag of apples and an apple cake recipe on the list for French Fridays with Dorie. This is only my second recipe with the group, as there is no requirement to cook along every week. I am the slacker sort, so I have been picking and choosing to make only what I can eat/have time for. I am so glad I made this recipe, though, as it was delicious. So delicious that I made it twice. This is the second one above, for which I browned the butter and replaced the rum with Amaretto. It was a much nicer colour than the first one, but also significantly sweeter. I used the same apples for both--a mix of Empire and Cortland, so not sure why it was so much sweeter--more than a few tablespoons of Amaretto would account for. Anyway, it was fantastic, and luckily I sent lots of it home with a friend, or I would have eaten the entire thing. Here's a picture of the first one, made before I realized my oven runs 50℉ lower than the temperature gauge indicates:

Check out the 'Leave your Link' feature on the spiffy French Fridays with Dorie site to see how the other bakers fared. Oh, and if you're looking for the recipe, it's in the book. We've been asked not to publish recipes from this book, and you can hardly blame Dorie, with her recipes burning up the blogosphere.

TWD: Rum-drenched vanilla cake

This is the recipe I would have chosen if I ever got to choose one with the Tuesdays with Dorie group. You know, if there were 400 more recipes in the book, and if I had joined a lot earlier than I did. No matter, cause Wendy of Pink Stripes chose it, and I just got to make and eat it, which works better for my lazy self. She'll have the recipe on her site.
I made half a recipe, as the original makes 2 loaf cakes. I halved all but the rum, just because. I really thought I would love this cake, as all the ingredients are among my favourites. My only doubt was whether the syrup would make the cake a bit soggy. I love syrup-soaked cakes, but prefer sponge cake in this situation. It gets moist, but never heavy, like butter cake can.
I thought the cake had a wonderful vanilla flavour, and all the vanilla bean seeds added a slight crunch that I liked. The rum was good, but the syrup never soaked through the entire cake. I poked holes in it and even made it in a 9" pan so it was shallower, so this was disappointing. The texture was lovely, but a bit mushy on the top crust and the bottom dried out quickly. I'll definitely try this again, as I want a perfect result next time.
Check out the other TWD bakers for many different takes on this cake.

Kuchen Borracho (Drunken Cake)

How could I resist a recipe with a name like that? This is a cake from Chile, and its name reflects its Germanic origins. Kuchen borracho consists of three layers of buttery cake and two layers of apples and cream. Oh, and rum! It's another winner from Warm Bread and Honey Cake, the same book I wrote about here and here.

I had kind of a tiring week at work, and am having trouble finding time to bake and write about it. I also didn't get a job I had applied for, which wasn't that unexpected, but it was still disappointing. I had a telephone interview a couple of weeks ago, and it was a bit of a fiasco. First of all, I forgot all about it, and was shopping when my phone rang. It was a blocked number, so I ignored it, thinking it was some kind of sales call. The phone rang again, and, atypically, I answered it. *(%#%@! It was the interview! She was quite understanding and offered to call me back in an hour, so I headed home, a journey that would normally take about 45 minutes. Of course, it took ages that day, and when she called back I was speedwalking through the downtown core. I couldn't bring myself to ask her to call again, so the interview started. I thought it was going well, but it was hard to hear with buses and transport trucks whizzing by. The man yelling obscenities right beside me didn't help either. I tried walking faster, so was slightly breathless by the time I reached my building. Eager to get inside my apartment, I got in the elevator....and promptly lost the signal and cut her off. How embarrassing was that? She was persistent and called me back for the fourth time to finish the interview. And that was it--I never heard back. I started a few emails, but wasn't sure what to say, not wanting to remind her of all the things that had gone wrong during the interview.  Anyway, I finally wrote to her the other day, and she forwarded me a copy of the gentle rejection letter she had sent me a week earlier. So now, it must seem to her that I am incapable of using both a telephone and a computer! But really, I never got that email. I suppose I should be more upset, but I find this pretty funny. I definitely need to practice my interview skills, though.

This cake dirtied all my bowls, but it was worth it. Apparently it keeps for 4 days at cool room temperature, but I don't think I'll be able to test that, though it is a big cake (about 4 pounds). I had a slice when it was still warm from the oven, and another for breakfast. It's got fruit, so I think it's ideal breakfast food. It would also be perfect with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea. Enjoy!

Filling
1lb 7oz tart apples, prepared weight (about 5)
2¾ oz/generous ⅓ cup granulated sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
3½ fl oz/½ cup heavy cream
(I added half a nutmeg, grated)

Cake
10½ oz/2 cups all-purpose flour
2½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt (heaping, for me)
5½ oz/scant 1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp rum
5 tbsp water
(I added some Extrait antillais, which is rum, vanilla, mace, sapote and tonka bean; vanilla extract is a good alternative)

Grease and flour a 9" springform pan--it needs to be at least 2¾" tall. Preheat the oven to 325℉/160℃.

Peel and core the apples, cut each into 8 parts and thinly slice. Combine the sliced apples with the cream and sugar, and nutmeg, if using.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Cream the butter, add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add the beaten egg in four batches, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Fold in the flour in 4 batches, adding the rum and water with the third batch. (I did 3 additions of dry, alternating with 2 additions of the wet). Gently fold in the last of the flour mixture and stop mixing as soon as it is incorporated.

The batter needs to be divided evenly to create the layers in the cake, so it's best to weigh it. Weigh 11½ oz of batter into a bowl, and then transfer it to your prepared pan. Level it with a spoon or offset spatula. Add half the apple mixture (11½ oz--I eyeballed this: no more clean bowls) and spread it evenly, leaving about ½" free space around the edge of the pan. Weigh out and add another 11½ oz of the cake batter and level. Repeat with the rest of the apple mixture and the last of the batter. Your pan will be very full, but the author assures us it will not overflow during baking. Mine didn't, even though my springform was only 8¾".

Level the top and bake for 1½ hours, until a skewer comes out clean. (Mine never came out clean, but it was obvious that it was the cream and not cake batter stuck to it). I baked mine for 1¼ hours, but I think the oven may have been at 350℉. Oops. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then loosen the edges carefully before releasing the sides. Cool completely on a wire rack.

The verdict: It was great! The batter smelled and tasted very boozy, but the finished cake only has a hint of rum. The nutmeg was perfect with the creamy filling, and I'm sure other apple pie spices would be great. Cardamom, anyone? I used Granny Smith apples because they were on sale, but I am not fond of them. They were still a bit crunchy in the the finished cake, and I hate crunchy apples in desserts (unless they're raw). I did slice them quite thinly, but next time I'll use another type of apple.

Expect some rhubarb recipes next week, as it's FINALLY ready at my mother's. I'm heading up for a Mother's Day visit and what better time to raid the garden.