Cake

Nectarine Pistachio Frangipane Cake / Tart

June 22, 2016 By Asha Shivakumar

Happy Summer my friends!!

I am looking forward to those summer cool night walks.

The foraging we do on our hikes.

The warmish sea that we can dip our feet in.

The late mornings.

The late nights.

Movies, Books and Cooking with boys.

We really do have so much to celebrate. The beautiful shining sun, the cool shade, the long talks with friends. Vacations and family.

The fresh bounty in the markets. The trees all showering us with their fruits. All the summer picnics, the gallons of lemonade, and beautiful summer cakes.

Let’s celebrate summer with this beautiful cake/torte/tart.

This definitely is a denser tart kind of a cake because it is baked twice. It’s quite an easy cake, but packs a huge presence.

The frangipane makes it rich, while the fruits make it fresh and summery. The cake base is my basic Orange cake that I used, and it works great every time.

Hope you get to make this beautiful cake this summer.

I will be in Indian this summer and can’t wait to write about it in future posts. I might do a post dedicated to Bangalore..

What are your plans?

HAPPY SUMMER!! Sending you all hugs.

Ash

5.0 from 1 reviews

Orange-Nectarine Cake with Pistachio Frangipane

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 30 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

Author: Ash

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1¼ cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup Powdered sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3 large eggs separated
5 tbsp vegetable oil
6 tbsp Orange Juice
Zest of one whole orange
pinch of salt

for the pistachio frangipane:

4 ounces shelled raw unsalted pistachios
¼ cup sugar
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (½ stick)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

to top the cake

1 tbsp sugar
Garnish with berries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the base and sides of a 20cm square or round baking tin.
Sift All Purpose Flour+baking powder+salt+ powdered sugar
Beat egg whites to soft peaks
Mix oil+yolks+orange juice+zest.
Add the dry ingredients, all purpose flour and everything with the oil, yolks, orange juice and zest. Mix well to incorporate everything.
Then fold in the egg white in 3 parts to incorporate well.
Pour in round pan and bake for about 30 minutes in a 325 degree oven or until it golden brown, will be not be cooked through. Let cool for 20 minutes until you can proceed.

For the Frangipane.

In your food processor, grind the pistachios, flour, salt, and sugar to a powder (or as fine as you can make it!). Add the butter and process until no longer visible. Add egg and vanilla, blending until it forms a smooth paste.
Spread the filling over the cooked base. To decorate like I have in the photos, cut the nectarines/apricots into diagonal strips, then slide each half onto a knife and fan over the pistachio frangipane. Alternatively, you could put the halves straight on or cut the stone fruits into slices and decorate as you wish.
Bake the cake in a 325 degree oven for 45- 50 minutes, or until they are golden and a skewer inserted into the pistachio comes out clean.Around mid point of the bake, turn the cake pan and sprinkle some sugar for the extra caramalised bits.
Leave in pan to cool.
Decorate with more berries and serve with some Ice cream.

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ALL IMAGES AND POST COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. Do NOT copy it, do not use it anywhere without our consent. PLEASE give due credit if you do recreate it for your blog with your own special touches.

5 Deliciously EASY CAKES for Mother’s Day

May 3, 2016 By Asha Shivakumar

Hi my friends,

Some parts of the world celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend.

“What do you want for Mother’s Day?” asked my little one. To that I thought for a few minutes, and responded, “Nothing, I just want to sit at home, on my couch, in my pajamas, all day, watching movies, eating junk, and most of all, no one asking me anything. Lastly, I don’t want a messy kitchen!” I added quite sternly.

He looked at me like, I just wanted to know what to make for you. Oh, well.

…

Pineapple-Almond-Coconut Honey Syrup Cake

April 16, 2016 By Asha Shivakumar

Happy April!!

I can’t believe we’re in mid April already!

Four years! It’s been four years and two days since I published my first post.

It is a relationship. A bond between the writer/creator, blog space and readers/friends. A relationship I take quite seriously and cherish every bit of it….

Sesame-Almond Apple Cake

November 19, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Have you ever asked yourself, “If I were to re-live the last 10 years, would I do some things different?” I definitely ask myself that sometimes.

We rush to achieve perfection in everything, and try to juggle a ton of stuff when all we can do is manage one. After all, we are just human. I would like to change small things. I didn’t have to vacuum everyday. I didn’t have to buy that perfect gift and drive around 4 hours to find one. I really didn’t have to eat that whole bag of chips (although I enjoyed it then). I would’ve loved to visit family back in India more often.

…

Pistachio Cake with Coffee Cardamom Mousse

June 19, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

It’s a perfect combination of nuttiness and creaminess with a touch of coffee. The coffee cream is very subtle and works like magic in this cake. It’s a coffee lover’s dream cake. Happy Father’s Day to everyone around! Happy father’s day to my pops who has the biggest sweet tooth!

…

White Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

May 30, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Simplicity. Especially being a food blogger, I get lost sometimes in the hoopla of creating creative and fancy food. Simplicity is somewhat forgotten. I’m always puzzled when I get asked to make this cake for birthdays and dinner parties. I fully respect the fancy food but love to make this one when there’s a demand with all my heart. I found this recipe few years ago and have always followed it. It hasn’t ever disappointed me.

…

Ricotta-Pistachio-Rosewater Banana Bread – Mom’s post

May 6, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

May through July are some of my most emotional months. There’s just so much going on. In those few months are my kids’ bdays, my closest friend’s bday, my cousin’s bday, and, of course, Mothers Day….

Eggless Cashew Cake Lamingtons(Coconut-Chocolate Coated Cake with Jelly)

March 31, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Happy April!!

March was a very long month. It feels like it dragged a bit, although we were frantically driving around and quite a lot of things happening around here.

Between hubby’s travels and kids classes, managing everything was a challenge. Oh well, the laundry suffered, and so did our back yard, but that’s ok. I will admit, one thing that doesn’t ever get compromised is our food. That’s partially because I love food, and I have this crazy urge to cook something good every few hours. What is it with cravings? I guess we’ll never know. Some day it’s either a bowl of noodles or a decadent cake. The boys equally love their soul satisfying food. When a lot of things are happening, I bring the kids together to cook, and it calms all of us and takes the edge out a bit. There were many cake days last week. The little one always demands for a plain cake. Always. The teen cannot get enough of his chocolate. So here’s a Lamington.

…

Sesame-Creme Brulee Cake

February 24, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

My never ending enthusiasm to minutely change the taste buds once in a while has a profound effect on how my family enjoys food. Many of us are quite familiar with Sesame laddoos; we grew up eating it. This cake is definitely inspired by the sesame laddoos. The pungent flavors, the colors, and textures are very unique, and definitely not conventional ones. The creamy custard is the crowning glory, which tops the cake to give it a perfect balance. It is absolutely out of the world delicious.

It looks impressive and is a deceptively easy cake to make.

It was an honor and pleasure to shoot for Z Gallerie, my favorite store. You can find the Cake Stands , the dessert plates, Server Set and accessories in their store or online at www.zgallerie.com.

Thank you all for you kind words and for the support that keep us all motivated to continue to do what we do. Bloggers rock!! Thanks again for stopping by.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Sesame- Creme Brulee Cake

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

Author: Ash

Recipe type: Cake, Dessert

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

For the Sesame Cake

1⅓ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup black sesame seeds toasted and finely powdered
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 stick or 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract
2 large eggs at room temperature
½ cup buttermilk

For the NO BAKE CREME BRULEE

1 cup Whipping cream
1 cup half and half
5 large egg yolks
3 tbsp cornstarch
3-4 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean or vanilla paste
2 tbsp turbanado sugar for bruleeing

Instructions

Sesame Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a round 61/2 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Line Set aside.
In a large bowl add the all purpose flour+powdered sesame seeds+baking powder+baking soda+salt. Using a egg beater, mix everything well or you can sift everything together.
In a mixing bowl, add softened unsalted butter and whip it for 2-3 minutes. Add one egg at a time, beat till well incorporated. Add the granulated sugar and whip it for another 2 minutes on high or till it is pale. Add the vanilla paste or extract and mix.
Slowly add the buttermilk to the butter mixture and whip for 10 seconds. Do not worry if the mixture looks grainy and separated.
Add the buttermilk-butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix till all the dry mixture is well combined. Pour in prepared pan and BAKE for 40-50 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.
YOU can leave it over night too before you top it with the creme brulee mix.

NO-Bake Creme Brulee

Mix the egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar and salt and make a very thick slurry. Add the whipping cream to the slurry and mix well until there are no lumps.
Keep a pan ad bring the half and half to a slow simmer. Add the vanilla paste or take the seeds out of the vanilla bean and add the bean to the pot. When you see small bubbles around the corner, the mixture is ready to temper the slurry.
Add the hot liquid to the slurry slowly and vigorously stir so no lumps form.
Add everything back to the pan and bring it to a very slow simmer. You will see the mixture thicken, it will take 5 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn, so keep stirring. It should coat the back of the spoon. It should be thicker than a custard.
Take it out and strain the custard with a fine sieve. Let it cool completely, making sure to whisk every few minutes so that it does'nt form a coating. You can speed the process by keeping the custard with the pan on a shallow bowl filled with ice. Be careful not to allow the water to mix with the custard. Stir well.

Assembly

If the cake is uneven, level it lightly. Turn the cake upside down if you want. Use a wax paper to wrap at least so that the paper comes 2 inches above the top of the cake and secure with a thread. Now pour the creme brulee mixture on top of the cake. Refrigerate it for at least 2-3 hours or overnight. Just before serving, add the turbanado sugar and torch it. SERVE immediately.

Notes

I used a 61/2 inch round pan. The measurements and the time is based on the size. If you use a bigger pan, then the baking time will vary. Also, you might need a little bit more of the Custard mixture.

If you leave it in the refrigerator overnight, bring the cake to room temperature for atleast an hour before you torch and serve it.

The custard has to get thick or it is not going to set.

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Disclaimer: Thank you to Z Galleries for sponsoring this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

Orange Saffron Madeleines

January 30, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Coming down in the wee hours to a cold room, still not able to open your eyes is something I do look forward to. Smelling coffee beans and brewing a cup of hot coffee hot coffee is refreshing. My neighbor aunt calls to say that there’s a package outside, and that I should pick it up before I leave to pick up the boys. It’s so sweet. A friend just stops by to drop a big bowl of fresh fruits from her garden. Now that can’t be beaten.

The small things make a huge difference. An unexpected action is just a reminder that sometimes the small things do matter.

Cooking is like that right? The small things make a huge difference….