King Cakes are pastries that are associated with New Orleans and Mardi Gras. The cakes are actually sweet, yeast breads made with a dough that is similar to danish dough and are iced with bright colors and sprinkles. Many are also filled to make them even richer, and feature cream cheese-type fillings or almond paste, just to name a couple of options. I tend to see the early in the year, around Mardi Gras time, and have even made a couple myself. I have never made one anywhere near the size of what Haydel’s Bakery just made. They set the record for the world’s largest king cake by baking two to encircle the Louisiana Superdome (a football stadium) TWICE! The ring concept works perfectly for the cake because king cakes are traditionally shaped in a ring – albeit a much smaller one – in the first place. The cakes were a very long braided yeast dough covered with sweet icing and lots of black and gold sprinkles.
The finished cakes weighed in at 4,068 pounds and 8.99 ounces, and 4,073 pounds and 7.12 ounces, with the larger of the two being the official record-setter. It used roughly 4,000 pounds of Danish flour, 286 pounds of yeast, 428 dozen eggs, 299 pounds of cinnamon sugar and 331 pounds of black and gold sprinkles. The need a forklift to move the cake pieces to the assembly site and had to set up 500 tables to lay the cakes on.
After the official weighing, hungry members of the crowd could buy generous chunks of the cake to take home, with proceeds going to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure New Orleans.
While it’s nice to see elaborately shaped pans creating intricate masterpieces out of cake around the holidays, as the Cornucopia Bundt Pan does, it can also be nice to see pans that are a little bit simpler but still get the job done well. Nordic Ware’s Harvest Classic Baking Mold is just such a pan and it is easy to love the look of its finished product. The pan features the simple design of a large pumpkin and an ear of corn, but the design comes through clean and clear in the finished cake, with no deep angles for the batter to get stuck in, like some of the more intricate bundt pans to. It is made of aluminum and has a nonstick finish for and easy release. Although it could be used for a cake, this pan would really be perfect for a batch of cornbread or pumpkin bread on a holiday weekend.
The pan holds 8 cups of batter, which is about the same as a 9-inch round or square cake pan. At about the same depth, you won’t need to significantly adjust the baking time, either. That is also about the same volume as a 9×5-inch loaf pan, so you could modify a favorite quick bread recipe to work in it, too, although you would have to adjust the baking time down to account for the fact that the pumpkin-shape creates a much shallower bread than a loaf pan does.
There aren’t too many souffles that focus on vanilla as a flavor. Chocolate, double chocolate, citrus and all kinds of other fruits seem to work themselves in easily. I’m not complaining because I really enjoy a good chocolate souffle, but sometimes I just want that vanilla to stand out more. These Ricotta Souffles are a perfect vehicle for vanilla because, like cream cheese in a cheesecake, mild ricotta cheese has a subtle flavor that adds richness and structure to the souffle while letting the vanilla be a focal flavor.
This recipe is based on one I clipped out of an issue of Food & Wine magazine a couple of years ago (I was able to find it online, too!) for a lemon-flavored version. I eliminated the lemon, loaded up on vanilla and kept the technique the same. This souffle starts out with a choux pastry dough, made by cooking butter, water and flour together in a skillet. Ricotta, egg yolks and vanilla are added to this base, then beaten egg whites are folded in before dividing the mixture into ramekins for baking. The choux dough, which is the same type of pastry used to make cream puffs and eclairs, ensures that the top of this souffle becomes wonderfully crisp when it is fresh out of the oven.
The finished souffles will fall fairly quickly, but that doesn’t take away from their deliciousness. They have a crisp top, moist and cheesecake-like interior, but with a very tender texture thanks to all that ricotta cheese. Even the leftovers – which can be stored in the refrigerator – taste good. You can definitely taste the vanilla in the souffles, too. Since they’re relatively plain (but delicious on their own), they are perfect for pairing up with a fruit garnish. I used freshly whipped cream and some blackberries, simmered lightly in a bit of sugar to sweeten them up.
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I have to admit that I just don’t have room in my kitchen for all of the neat gadgets and baking pans out there. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably faced the same problem. I try to make room, but I love it when I find a way to make something usually made with a special pan without one. One recent example is the experience I had when baking some bran muffin tops. Normally, I would have needed a special pan for this type of recipe, but I used Cupcake Creations Muffin Top & Tart Baking Cups.
These Cupcake Creations cups are made of sturdy parchment-type paper and stand up on their own on a baking sheet, allowing me to easily bake muffin tops by simply arranging some wrappers directly on a regular pan. The cups are grease proof, hold their shape even with heavy batters (like the bran muffin batter – although the company notes that some carrot cake batters might be too heavy for the cups) and release easily when they’re done in the oven. As the name suggests, you can use them to make tarts without having a bunch of small tart molds, too, simply pressing your crust right into the wrapper. They’re about 3-inches in diameter, which is a nice size for muffin tops or single serving tarts. I have plenty more and will use these again in a heartbeat for their performance, their ease of use and the fact that they take up almost no room in my pantry!
