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----- Original Message -----
From: Tessa
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2011 1:18 PM
Subject: Flat Apple Cake
> Dear Uncle Phaedrus,
>
> My Bubbe (Jewish grandmother) was a terrible cook and baker but the one
> thing she baked that all the grandchildren loved was a flat apple cake. Of
> course, no one in our large family ever thought to write down the recipe.
> She was from somewhere along the Polish-Austrian border, closer to Austria
> I think because she didn't speak Polish at all. And I had a Austrian born
> friend, sadly now gone who made an almost identical cake.
> The cake was very flat - about 2" to 2-1/2" high, baked in an 8"x8" pan (I
> think). It was a layer of a cakey-dough on the bottom, then a thin layer
> of what I remember was like a very thick applesauce and another layer of
> the dough. It was pretty solid and cut like a bar cookie, as she would
> serve them in squares. It had no dairy in it - no milk, and she probably
> used vegetable shortening as opposed to butter or margarine. The liquid
> might have been orange juice. Any help would be appreciated.
> Thanks
> Tessa
Hello Tessa,
Sorry, I cannot find a recipe called "flat apple cake" that fits your
description. There are some Jewish apple cakes that have orange juice and no
milk on my site here, but they are baked in a bundt pan. See:
Apple Cake
Phaed
Dear Phaedrus,
in response to Tessa's request for "flat apple cake" posted on 10/05/11, I
would first want to clarify that Austria and Poland do not share a border.
There is a small country in between, called the Czech Republic. Secondly,
I think that the cake she is referring to is Polish "Szarlotka". It is
time consuming to make, but delicious, and the recipes- in English- are
available online.
Kind regards,
Barbara
Hello Tessa,
One of my readers suggests that this may be "Polish “szarlotka”. See:
https://www.homemade-cake-recipe.com/apple-cake-recipe.html
Phaed
Dear Uncle P
Thanks, but unfortunately it's not what I'm looking for.
My grandmother's was two "cakey" layers with a thick apple
paste in the middle.
Close, but no cigar...
Again thanks
Tessa
Hi Tessa,
Suggestion:
There are lots of “Szarlotka” recipes. It might be productive for you to Google “szarlotka” and see if any of them sounds
right to you.
Phaed
----- Original Message -----
From: Jeffrey
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2011 9:52 AM
Subject: Graham Cracker Cake with Chocolate Glaze
Hi,
When I married in 1969, a friend gave us a cookbook with a Graham Cracker Cake with
Chocolate Glaze recipe in it. It was a spectacular, meaty, moist cake with a semi-sweet
glaze that topped it off just right. When we divorced in 1985, all the cookbooks
stayed with my ex-wife, who is not willing to communicate with me to share the recipe.
I've googled and searched otherwise for this recipe for years and never found quite the
right one. I've tried a number of graham cracker cakes, hoping they'd be equally good,
but none has come close.
I know this was a blender recipe, since it called for making your own graham cracker
crumbs with one. Other specifics I recall include lining the baking pans (it's a layer cake)
with waxed paper and melting what I think was baker's chocolate as a starting point
for the glaze. The recipe called for glazing between layers and on the top.
I do remember that some recipe books we were given included McCalls, both red- and
green-covered versions, and I think this recipe came from one of them--not certain, though.
It would be a thrill to taste this wonderful cake again.
Many thanks for any help you might be able to provide.
Sincerely,
Jeff
Hello Jeffrey,
Sorry, I had no success. I'll post the request on my site.
Phaed
Hi,
This is the recipe I have for Graham Cracker Cake. I hope it's
the one Jeffrey was looking for on 10/5/2011. I don't remember
where I got it, but it's yummy.
Instead of the Mocha Cream filling my nieces like it better
when I use Marshmallow Fluff as the filler.
Kindest Regards,
Lisa
Graham Cracker Cake
25 double graham crackers, broken
1/2 cup shredded, dried unsweetened coconut
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1.2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks (save the whites)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
4 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 350. Butter (or spray) or cut parchment paper to
line two 9-inch pans. (If you use parchment, butter that, too.)
In the food processor (fitted with steel blades), put the graham
cracker crumbs and coconut. Process until very fine.
Add baking powder and pulse 6 to 8 times to blend. Set aside.
Cut butter into 1-inch pieces and cream on medium to high speed
until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, taking 6 to 8 minutes to blend
in well. Yes, it seems very persnickety, but sometimes a good cake
is a persnickety cake. Scrape sides of bowl occasionally.
Add egg yolks, 2 at a time, in 1-minute intervals. Scrape sides of
bowl. Beat 1 extra minute. Blend in vanilla.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the crumb mixture alternating with
the milk, 3 parts dry to 2 parts wet. Scrape sides of bowl and mix
10 more seconds. Set batter aside in larger bowl.
If you don't have two sets of beaters, or a balloon whisk attachment
(Kitchen Aid mixers have them and boy, they are great!) wash and
thoroughly dry your beaters.
Thoroughly. Any hint of foreign material and the next step won't
work too well.
Put the egg whites in a separate bowl and beat them on medium speed
until they are frothy (like the foam on a nice glass of Bass Ale).
Add the cream of tartar and kick the mixer up to medium-high.
Beat until your froth becomes firm, moist peaks, and stop.
Do not overbeat.
Fold 1/4 of the whites into batter, taking about 20 turns. Fold in
the remaining whites, about 20 turns.
Spoon batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with the
back of a tablespoon. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 or 30 minutes,
or until cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan and is
springy to the touch.
Let pans cool for 10 minutes, then invert pans onto cake racks
sprayed with nonstick spray. Gently remove pans and peel off
parchment paper (if you used it).
Once cake is completely cool, it's time for the filling and
the frosting. But while you're waiting …
You'll need a pastry bag, or improvise with a zip-lock bag with
one corner tip sliced off. The pastry bag works better, though.
Mocha Whipped Cream Filling
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1/2 teaspoon coffee zest (coffee zest is made with 3 parts
instant coffee crystals to 1 part boiling water;
I didn't want to fool with that, so I just set aside a
teaspoon of regular coffee from my morning brew)
1/6 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoons Kahlua
1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa, for garnish
Raspberries, for garnish, optional
Chill mixing bowl and whisk or beaters (I toss them into
the freezer for 5 minutes).
Pour cream into chilled bowl and whip for a minute or two.
Stir in the confectioner's sugar and cocoa, then beat on
medium speed until cream begins to thicken.
Add the coffee zest and the Kahlua. Continue whipping
until cream reaches the soft peak state, then remove
from mixer. Whisk by hand until cream is thick,
but not grainy. Refrigerate.
Set first layer of cake on plate, top side down. Fit
pastry bag with No. 5 plain tube and fill bag 1/3 full
with mocha
whipped cream.
Starting 1/2 inch from edge of cake, pipe a circle of
cream around the layer. Fill center with additional
cream, smoothing surface with large metal spatula.
Carefully place second layer on top of frosted bottom
layer. Empty the remaining cream into the pastry bag.
Pipe 1/2-inch dots on the top layer, beginning at the
outer edge. Each dot should touch the preceding one,
forming a ring. Continue working toward the center of
the cake until the entire surface is covered.
You can cut the cakes in 1/2 to make a 4-layer cake,
if you do, double the mocha cream recipe
Now for the finish
Chocolate Sauce
1 cup Whipping cream
2 tablespoons Sugar
4 ounces Bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
Combine the cream and sugar in a small saucepan and
heat to a boil. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate
and butter in a medium bowl.
Stir until completely melted and smooth. Pour over cake.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Penny"
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 10:38 PM
Subject: Hermit Bars
Hi
We've looked high and low to find the recipe for Hermit Bars/Cookies from
the Korbs Bakery in Pawtucket RI that closed a few years ago. Ingredients
include, sugar, butter, molasses, raisins, sometimes nuts) and flour.
Please help, we now live in CA and have tried to recreate but to no avail.
Thank you.
Penny
Hi Penny,
Sorry, I had no success finding a recipe or copycat for hermits from Korb's
Bakery. There are probably other hermits recipes if you want one of those,
but I couldn't say whether they would be similar to Korb's.
Phaed
I think I found something that is similar.
Hermit Bars (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated)
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace (or pinch of nutmet
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (use less if using salted butter)
1 cup raisins (plumped)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugar
using high speed of electric mixer. Beat for 3 minutes.
Beat in eggs and molasses. In a separate bowl, stir together
all dry ingredients. Stir dry ingredients into molasses mixture.
Stir in raisins and nuts.
Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpats. Divide dough
into 2 sections and form two logs of about 14×2 inches.
Brush logs with beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for
15 minutes. Slice each log at an angle about 2 inches thick.
Makes about 16 bars.
Thanks for your help!
Lisa
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandra"
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 12:21 PM
Subject: Recipe Request
Hi,
I am looking for a pressure cooker recipe - yes,I checked the links on your
site with no luck-that I think was originally in the Presto Pressure Cooker
recipe booklet. It had chicken breasts,BBQ sauce and potatoes and maybe a
little white vinegar.
Thanks again!
Sandra
Hi Sandra,
The Presto Pressure Cooker manual with recipes is here, and there is no
recipe like that in it:
Presto Pressure
Cooker Manual with Recipes
Same with the manual for the 8-quart cooker here:
Manual for 8-quart
Presto Pressure Cooker with recipes
There is no recipe like that on the Presto website, either:
Presto Recipes
I tried searching by ingredients + cooking method, but had no success.
Might have more success with the actual name of the dish.
Phaed
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