Chipotle Pumpkin Enchiladas with Greens and Beans

You know those times when you have a random can of something on your shelf, and you’re like, what in the world am I gonna do with that? This recipe was borne out of that recent situation: a lone can of organic pumpkin puree sitting in my pantry.

Foodily, my go to recipe search engine when I need inspiration, spit out multiple variations of a pumpkin enchilada sauce, but this version, come across via One Hungry Mama, appealed for its simplicity.

I also happened to have most of a pot of simple Rancho Gordo pinto beans in the fridge, and I knew that they would be great filling. Now let me tell you, I’ve always been skeptical of those who insist that paying a premium for dried beans, the Queen of cheap foods, was a good idea. But I received two bags of beans as a gift from someone, and I was blown away by the quality. And while I won’t be shelling out for shipping on these puppies very often, I can tell you that those Rancho Gordo pintos were amazing: creamy, fat, sweet, and fast-cooking as well. I made a big pot simply with onion, salt, bay leaf, and a pinch of dried oregano to eat with cornbread and then pureed the leftovers with some spices to make the filling for these enchiladas. Seriously though, treat yourself one of these days to some heirloom dried beans…

My modification of the recipe has multiple steps, mainly because I had leftovers that would work as great filling in the enchiladas, but the good news is that canned refried beans or whole black beans, as well as whatever veggies you have in the fridge (greens, carrots, potato) or freezer (corn) would substitute in well. The pumpkin sauce turned out really well–rich, but not heavy, healthy, and a welcome alternative to metallic-tasting canned enchilada sauce.

(Now listen, I know my sloppy plating and photo below aren’t the best, but I challenge you to prettily plate enchiladas without cilantro on hand!) Hope you all enjoy!

• 1 can pumpkin puree, about 2 cups
• 1 1/4 C. water or vegetable stock
• 1 canned chipotle pepper, plus a few teaspoons of adobo sauce
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• dash cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cider vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 3 Tb. olive oil, divided
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large bunch of swiss chard or other greens, chopped coarsely
• 1 C. refried beans (either canned or made by pureeing pintos with salt, a bit of olive oil, cumin, and chili powder)
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1/4 C. feta cheese and/or white cheddar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the pumpkin puree, water or stock, chipotle, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste in the food processor. Whir until thoroughly combined. Taste the puree for salt, vinegar, and chipotle, adding as needed, and mixing again. Heat 1 Tb. olive oil in a small saucepan and add the pumpkin mixture. Turn on low and simmer.

In the meantime, heat the remaining 2 Tb. olive oil in a pan and add the onion. Saute 5 minutes and then add the garlic. Saute over medium until the onion is transclucent–about 5 more minutes. Add the greens and saute for 5 minutes and take off flame..

At this point, the enchilada sauce will have simmered for about 15 to 20 minutes and may be taken off the flame if it is thickened and tasty.

Coat a square Pyrex dish with olive oil or Pam and set aside. Pour 1/3 of the warm sauce into the bottom of the pan. Heat up the tortillas in a water-soaked kitchen towel for 1 minute in the microwave to soften them. Remove, careful of the steam. Fill each generously with some refried beans and greens, roll, and place seam-side down in dish. Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas. Top the enchiladas with cheese, and then place in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until hot and bubbling and cheese is melted. Serve, ideally with cilantro sprinkled on top, and extra hot sauce on the side.

Planned Happiness Via Garlic Toast with Rabe and Onions

We signed up for a CSA and it started this week.  Our kitchen is flooded with every green thing imaginable: spinach, scallions, green garlic, rabe, several varieties of lettuce….you get the idea.  I’ve been a pretty uninspired cook lately but I found that heaps of pre-paid produce snap you into gear whether you feel inspired or not.

The other thing that has helped is a book my dear friend Emily recommended called The Everlasting Kitchen.  It’s a lovely, lyrical little book that gives loose instructions about how to minimize waste in your kitchen and make the most out of all your ingredients.  It’s more full of suggestions than recipes, which appealed to me as a more advanced home cook, and it’s full of time- and money-saving ideas.

Therefore, today I present you with a very simple recipe.  The trick of it is not in the ingredients or the technique- it’s in the fact that I threw it together in 10 minutes on a Thursday night and was still able to enjoy the flavors of roasted garlic and caramelized onions, which usually take at least 45 minutes.

At the beginning of the week, I roasted batches of vegetables that like to roast, such as sweet potatoes and broccoli.  I threw in 5-6 garlic cloves on the baking sheets (no oil, in their skins.)  When all the roasting was done, I stored the veggies in containers and saved the garlic to the side.

Two days later, when making a frittata (tasty, recipe to come), instead of using just the one onion I planned to use, I sliced all three of the ones we had and spent a good leisurely hour talking on the phone and getting a skillet full of melted gooey and brown onions.  I placed those in a plastic bag with the garlic in the fridge.  I wasn’t sure of my plans for them, but roasted garlic and caramelized onions are never a hardship to have on hand.  (PS: I caramelized the onions in butter and I’m not sorry.)

 The Everlasting Meal also reminded me of the simple beauty of toast as a centerpiece of a meal.  Sometimes I forget that you can heap a bunch of vegetables on a good piece of bread and that can be it.  So that was it: no recipe, just toast a piece of bread, rub roasted garlic over it with a fork, pile caramelized onions on top.  Rinse and chop broccoli rabe and wilt it in a hot pan with some roasted pepper flakes.  Then add it to the toast and enjoy the fact that you planned for your own happiness (in the form of garlic and onions) earlier in the week, and you are now able to reap the rewards.

Bulgar with Arugula Pesto, Beet Stems, & Poached Egg

After a month (really?) in our new home, we finally feel like we’re settling in. We’ve painted almost every room in the house, hung new lighting in almost every room, finished a bathroom renovation, and most importantly for me–finished a kitchen renovation (better pics to follow). (And PS, if you ever renovate a kitchen, let me save you some trouble with your appliance/hardware source list…)

The new kitchen at night

We love the hardworking kitchen counters (leathered granite)–so much better than our past poorly sealed concrete counters that bubbled up at the suggestion of water–and I love the light that streams in through the windows during the day.

Lilies in our back yard

Our little garden has also taken off, and it has been great to come home after work and weed, haul dirt, and mow. Like yoga, hard manual labor in the yard is a great segway between work and computer time during the day, and the rest of the evening. It forces you to stop. Stop thinking. Just do stuff and enjoy the smells and sounds of the outdoors (including a neighborhood mockingbird that mimics an alarm clock. Seriously. And starts chirping at 2 am. But that’s another story.)

I’m still getting the hang of what to plant in our raised beds. The arugula did well for about a month, but then quickly bolted, so last night I bit the bullet and trimmed off the woody leftovers for pesto and pulled them out by the roots to fill that space with something new. I’m thinking okra, which is perfect for hot weather planting and grilling, but I’m open to suggestions.

As you may know, it is my feeling that there’s little that isn’t made tastier by arugula pesto and a poached egg. So here’s an impromptu dinner made last night with the last of the garden’s arugula (until fall), and other bits and pieces in the fridge. I made this recipe with walnut arugula pesto, but you can see in the past I’ve also made arugula pesto with pumpkin seeds.

Bulgar with Arugula Pesto & Beet Stems

• 1 very large bunch arugula
• 1/2 C. walnuts
• juice of two lemons
• 1/4 C. olive oil + 1 Tb. olive oil, divided
• salt and peper
• 1 bunch of beet greens and stems, cleaned well, and chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 C. bulgar
• 2 eggs
• 1/8 C. feta cheese

Bring a kettle of water to a boil and pour over the bulgar in a large ceramic bowl, just covering the grains with water. Cover the bowl with a ceramic plate or plastic wrap and cook in the microwave for four minutes.

In the meantime, make your pesto. Make sure the arugula is well-rinsed and toss it in the food processor. Pulse it until it is chopped. Add in the walnuts, lemon juice, and a bit of salt and blend. With the motor going, slowly drizzle in the 1/4 C. olive oil till emulsified. Taste for salt, and then set aside.

Heat 1 Tb. olive oil in a pan, and add the garlic. Cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant and then add the beet greens and stems. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

While the greens/stems are cooking, toss the bulgar with the arugula pesto, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To poach the eggs, either do it on the stove, or as with my favorite method, pull out a mug. Fill 3/4 full with water. Add 1 tsp. cider or white vinegar. Crack a raw egg into the mug and then microwave the egg and water/vinegar for 1 minute. Pull the mug out and drain the cooked egg. Cook the next egg in the same manner. If you’d rather, you can instead soft boil or fry the eggs.

Place some of the pesto bulgar in a bowl and top with the sautéed greens and stems. Top that with a cooked egg, and then sprinkle with feta. Serve with Aleppo pepper flakes or harissa, and enjoy. There should be plenty of bulgar leftovers for a lunch salad the next day.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

K had a four day weekend this week  (Ascension day on Thursday as well as a ‘bridging day’ on Friday- companies here realize many people would inevitably take it off, so they give it as freebie – so progressive). Unfortunately, my employer does not celebrate Ascension day or bridge so we stayed in Basel, which was a nice reprieve from our otherwise hectic schedules.  Focusing on house projects, we FINALLY BOUGHT A GRILL!!!!  Now if anyone knows K, this is a BIG deal in our lives and I must say, I feel more grown up with this purchase than any other we’ve made.

As I’ve previously mentioned, Basel is a wonderful place to live; however, the food scene is utterly lacking.  Granted, if you hop on a bike and cross the border, you are bound to find incredibly decadent, delicious French food, which we did Saturday night, but if you want anything ethnic, with a hint of heat, we have found the best option is to make it ourselves.  As a result, we’ve really expanded our culinary repertoire.  We’ve made many dishes where after taking a bite we exclaim – “Wow…is that it? It’s so easy!” So we christened our grill with Jamaican Jerk Chicken (it’s so easy!), parmesan/lemon asparagus and veggies. DELICIOUS.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Ingredients (Adapted from Saveur):

This mix is for one whole chicken deconstructed.

- 1/2 c brown sugar

- 1/2 c allspice

- 1 shallot minced

- 1/3 c peanut oil

- 1/4 c kosher salt

- 1/2 c minced giner

- 1/3 c lime juice

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tbsp fresh thyme

- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

- 1 tsp ground nutmeg

- 7 gloves minced garlic

- 3 habaneros

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Rub all over chicken, especially getting into the skin area.
2. Grill. (Not sure what one is involved here, but I’m sure most people who use one do).
3. Consume.

Jerk chicken with lentil, veggie quinoa salad with mustard, lemon vinaigrette

Grills veggies and asparagus

Ramp Risotto with Lemon, Peas, and Radishes

Ramp, or “Wild Leek”, CC: Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, Courtesy Wikimedia.

We are almost there–T minus four days until move in and much of our big renovating will be done as of tomorrow. We will be living without kitchen counters for a couple of weeks once we move in, as well as without a stove and sink for a while, so this may well be the last blog post I write for a bit as I see Co-Op deli dinners and eating out in some of our future. But we’re excited to create this new home together, and hopefully to have all of you there eating meals around a table together in the near future!

Today we were at the house after work checking out the kitchen progress. As always, I was wondering what I might be able to cook with little food in the cabinet, and most of our pots and pans packed away. A few days ago, while tilling our second raised bed, I pulled out what I assumed were irises so I could transplant them elsewhere, but quickly found that I’d pulled up some kind of onion. They looked like really large green onions, with a leek-like stem, and leaves like irises. They wer actually ramps.

Ramps are kind of an Appalachian thing–people down here eat them with beans and cornbread or sauteed with bacon grease. Now I’m wishing I didn’t pull all of them, because I should definitely plant some more for next season–apparently they’re actually a protected species in some places! Anyhow, with my surplus of ramps, and some radish plants still needing thinning, I figured I’d make some kind of risotto–my go to “everything but the kitchen sink” solution.

Ramps & Radishes

Of course, I realized once we were home that we didn’t have any white wine in the house, so I figured I’d try gin–why not, and the juniper/herbally flavors I thought might be nice with spring onions and radishes. We also didn’t have any cheese, which is all the better since I really shouldn’t eat it, so the key to cheeseless risotto is adding butter at the end–what the French call monter au beurre–in order to emulsify everything and give it some rich mouthfeel. Frozen peas (one of my favorite go to pantry items) and lemon juice rounded it out.

I’m excited to have put this together on a whim, and look forward to taking advantage of more Appalachian indigenous ingredients, like ramps. Enjoy!

• 1.5 C. Arborio rice
  
• 5.5 C. veggie stock
• 1/2 C. gin
• 1 Tb. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. butter, divided
• 1 large bunch ramps
• 1 large bunch of radish greens and baby radishes, chopped
• 1/2 to 3/4 C. frozen peas
• Zest and juice of one lemon

Heat the veggie stock in a large pot. In the meantime, heat the olive oil and 1 Tb. of the butter in a heavy pan over medium. Clean the leeks well of any dirt and chop off most of the green leaves. Cut off the bottoms, and similarly to leeks, peel off the outer layer and rinse well to get rid of dirt. Chop ramps fine. Saute the ramps in the olive oil and butter over medium until tender. Add the rice and stir, coating well, for 1 minute. Add the gin and stir until absorbed. Start adding in the stock, about a cup or so at a time. Simmer and stir, adding more until you’ve used a little more than half of the stock. Stir in the radishes and radish greens.

When you’ve added in your last ladle of stock, stir in the frozen peas and cook slowly till most of the stock is absorbed. Add in the lemon juice and zest and stir. Add in the remaining Tb. of butter and stir till melted. Serve hot with plenty of fresh ground black pepper. Serves 4-6.

Vegan Chipotle Squash & Carrot Soup

So today I should be working on my (last?) paper and presentation for med school, on prescription drug costs or something like that. So what better time to put that off and write up a recipe I’ve been sitting on for a few weeks?! Exactly.

All I’m saying about this one is that the doll really liked it, ok?

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 5 carrots
• 1C cooked black beans
• 1 head garlic
• 6oz firm or extra firm tofu
• 2 chiles in adobo sauce (adjust for preferred spiciness)
• 4C vegetable stock (adjust for preferred viscosity)
• 1 C chopped cilantro
• Olive oil
• Salt

Directions:

1. Turn oven to 450. Peel the carrots and slice them ¼ inch thick. Pierce the butternut squash in several places with a knife. Cut the top off the head of garlic.

2. Oil half of a cookie sheet. Place the carrots and the head of garlic (cut side down) on the oiled side, and the whole squash on the non-oiled side. Bake in the oven until the veggies are all squishy, 40-50 min. Keep an eye on the garlic to make sure it doesn’t burn.

3. While the  veggies are in the oven, make the tofu croutons. Squeeze out the excess water in the tofu and cut it into ½ in cubes. Heat a non-stick pan with olive oil and fry the tofu cubes, flipping half way through, so that all sides are a nice, crunchy golden-brown.

3. Remove the veggies from the oven. Carefully cut the squash in half and spoon out the flesh, tossing the seeds or saving them to make a snack. Put the stock, 4 or 5 roasted cloves of garlic, carrots, squash and chiles into a food processor and puree. Add salt to taste. Adjust the amount of stock depending on how thick you want your soup.

4. Add the beans at the end and mix them in, then drop the tofu croutons and cilantro on top. Yum! Vegan.

Roast Eggplant With Quinoa, Middle-Eastern Style

Hi all! So glad we’re all jumping back on this bandwagon after an apparently very busy winter. I personally, however, can’t claim to have been so busy as I spent a large chunk of the time since my last post in Lima. I went with two awesome ladies for a medical rotation at a huge public hospital where patients come from all over the country for treatment. We had the opportunity to learn about how healthcare works in Peru (FYI, everyone is eligible for some sort of government-funded insurance), hear about the early days of HIV and how it has evolved among the population from the head of the infectious diseases department, and to participate in providing free health care to women in one of the most poor and marginalized areas of the city.

But we also had plenty of time to run along the parks overlooking the ocean, stuff our faces with ceviche and cremoladas (Peruvian sorbet), and go to an organic farmers market each weekend to get fresh produce and dairy products and mingle with the local and expat yoga mat-toting, vegetarian population of Lima. We had a lovely apartment in a great neighborhood complete with a giant roof terrace, and cooked decadent vegetarian meals most nights with our spoils from the farmers market. This dinner went over quite well thanks to the delicious fresh feta and surprising find of tahini, likely made with toasted sesame seeds – the flavor was distinctly smoky and added a nice extra oomph to the always delicious paste. It was a great time and I’m looking forward to my next experience providing and hopefully improving medical care abroad, when I will be as a for real doctor. For now though, I’m glad to be back on US soil with a job contract and abundant free time to spend with loved ones!

Ingredients:

• 2 large or 3 small eggplants, sliced lengthwise ~1/3 in thick
• 1C dried quinoa – I used red but white would be fine too
• 1 head of garlic
• ½ C crumbled feta
• 3 tbsp tahini – if made with toasted sesame seeds, all the better
• Harissa (delicious and super flavorful middle-eastern/north African spice paste)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Salt both sides of each eggplant slice generously. (You will later wash off the salt – use lots!) Leave it for 30 minutes to let the water come out, then rinse the slices well. Set your oven to 350. Cut the top of the garlic off and place it with the cut part down on an oiled cookie sheet in the oven for these 30 minutes.

2. Change the oven to broil. Place the eggplant slices on the sheet with the garlic and paint the up-side with olive oil. Put the sheet under the broiler until both sides are golden brown – cooking time will depend on your oven but is usually somewhere around 10 minutes on the first side and 5 on the second. By the time the eggplant finished, the garlic should be thoroughly roasted with spreadable cloves. Do watch it though to be sure it doesn’t burn.

3. While the eggplant is in the oven, cook the quinoa. 2-2.5 parts water to 1 part quinoa. Put the quinoa and water in a pot and turn the flame on until the water boils, then turn it down to a simmer until all the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy and soft.

4. Make the tahini sauce: Mix the tahini with ~1-2 tbsp olive oil and mix with a fork until it’s a dense, syrupy liquid. It should be thick, but should also pour easily. Add harissa to taste – its super spicy so this will depend on how much heat you want. FYI – this sauce is delicious! Don’t drink it all though – leave a bit for the dish!

5. Assemble: place the eggplant slices on a platter. Smear a clove of garlic or two on each slice. Spoon the quinoa onto the eggplant. Crumble feta on top, then drizzle on the tahini sauce. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper on top to taste.

Quinoa with Lemon and Radish Leaves

What a month. Renovating, packing, moving, and disasters here at home, and around the world. Everything has been feeling a bit frenetic and all mixed up. For me, it has been a month of perspective taking: remembering that what’s really important is what I have in front of me: a husband I adore, family, friends, and a way to make a living in a field I believe in. The rest is just details–sometimes I just need to remind myself of that more frequently.

One nice thing we’ve done recently is plant a garden in the little raised bed behind our new house. We started with lettuce, arugula, and radishes, and I look forward to adding more. Because my years being forced to weed my mother’s garden and my casual coming and going from the Dartmouth Organic Farm apparently did little to instill actual gardening skills in me, I planted way too much of all of the seed. Now that the glorious spring has erupted here in Tennessee, the plants are going gangbusters. So, the other day I tried to thin them out (after having done battle with cat shit–we have a huge population of feral cats in the hood. Side note for gardeners: if you put a grid of chicken wire right on top of the dirt, cats won’t use your garden as a litter box, which is a good thing, since their “fertilizer” is actually really dangerous). I was left with a really cute pile of radish greens, which I did not want to compost because a) they looked so fresh and delicious and b) because we literally had no veggies in the fridge. Thus, this simple recipe was born of desperation, deep gratitude for spring, sun, and life, and things that I had in my cabinet.

I recommend adding protein by plopping a poached egg on top. We had ours with a butter bean and beet salad (canned butter beans, leftover roasted beets, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper). The dukkah (read more on this amazing Egyptian spice in the link below) really adds a little pizazz, so I strongly encourage you to make some (or apparently Trader Joe’s carries it too…).

• 1.5 C. quinoa
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• bunch of radish leaves (or other young green leaves: spinach, chard, etc.), chopped coarsely
• 3 Tb. olive oil
• 1/4 C. feta cheese, crumbled
• 3 green onions, chopped
• Chopped almonds or a few Tb. of dukkah (promise I’ll post a recipe soon!)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the quinoa. Combine the lemon juice, zest, and olive oil together. When the quinoa has boiled for 15 minutes, drain well in a fine mesh strainer and toss with the dressing, and plenty of salt and pepper. Toss in the chopped greens, feta, and green onions and serve warm or room temperature, garnished with some nuts or dukkah. Add a poached egg on top for some delicious protein.

My recent adventures in sweet potatoes

It’s not like I needed new ways to fix sweet potatoes- I was already an addict.

But I came across this recipe, and I was tempted by the promise of crunch, since I usually settle for soggy-but-still-good sweet potato fries.  I followed it pretty much to the letter, including using the coconut oil and shaking the mixture in a ziploc (strangely satisfying by the way).  The fries blew all my past attempts out of the water.  They were so good that my dinner guests ate them sans ketchup, and they disappeared rapidly. 

See the crunch on these bad boys?

 

Then I started craving a sweet potato sandwich, so I made this springy little tortilla grilled cheese on my panini press. 

Just before it got topped with the second tortilla and went into the panini maker.

 

Instructions are simple: Make pesto by combining 2 cloves garlic, walnuts, kale pieces that have been torn off the stem, the juice of one lemon, and olive oil in a food processor.  Add salt to taste.  Spread one corn tortilla with pesto.  Layer sweet potato coins that you have roasted in the oven for 10 or so minutes at about 375 F.  Then add red onion slices (you can soak them in cold water to diminish their bite, but still I wouldn’t eat this before a job interview or anything.)  Add a pile of arugula and a sprinkling of goat cheese and then your second tortilla.  Then heat the pressed sandwich until the cheese melts and the tortillas get crispy. 

This would be an excellent lunch for anyone working from home while STARTING AN MBA, or taking a break from renovating their BRAND NEW HOUSE, or anyone taking lil’ vacation before becoming a SUPER FANCY DOCTOR AT AN AWESOME RESIDENCY PROGRAM.  Just for example.  

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

As I write this recipe miles away from friends and family, I am deeply saddened by the events that transpired in Boston yesterday. My thoughts are with everyone and I am grateful for all of the first responders, out pouring of support and the coming together of people in the face of such senseless violence. As I prepare for my upcoming marathon, this article in particular captured the spirit of running and the importance of not losing faith.   These events also make me want to reach out to my community and reconnect, which is why this blog was originally created. So here is the recipe and some background. 

The Japanese are incredible with food, even pastries, which they are not so well known.  Their pastries are not overly sweet and very light. I never thought that I could make the strawberry shortcakes served at the beautiful department stores in Tokyo and that I always loved since I can remember, but K wanted it for his birthday. I will note there was a failed attempt Friday evening despite being armed with my newly purchased cake pan, white flour and sugar. Luckily, I had more or less planned for this as I always have meltdowns while baking; I am terrible at precise measurements and following directions.To my defense, my failed attempt was because I did not have a mixer/egg beater and no matter how much I worked my arm muscles to whip these eggs into a stiff batter, the end result was a dense, sweetened egg omelet, not a light fluffy pound cake. So after purchasing my first baking gadget (a hand held egg beater!) Saturday morning, I am proud to say – I succeeded!

Recipe adapted from this blog – the other headache was converting these measurements as well as not having cake flour (who knew it existed!) in Switzerland. This was for a 23 cm/9 in cake. 

Ingredients:

Cake:

- 6 eggs (separated with yolk and whites)

- 3/4 cups + 2 tbs of granulated sugar

- 1 and 1/4 cup of cake flour

- 2 tbs of melted butter

- 1 and 1/3 tbs of milk

Filling in the middle

- 10 strawberries sliced

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar

- 1/4 cup water

Stabilized Whip Cream (Frosting)

1 tsp unflavored gelatin

4 tsp cold water

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Decoration:

10 Whole strawberries for the top

 

Cake Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Line 9 in circular cake pan with parchment paper

- Medium bowl, add sugar and egg whites – beat with a electric mixer until stiff

- Add egg yolks whisk gently. Add milk. Slowly add flour while folding the mixture. Do not beat it, use a spatula.  Finally, fold in the melted butter. 

- Pour into cake pan, get rid of air bubbles by banging it on the counter (it worked). Bake 25-30 min until golden brown.  Cool and remove. 

Whipped Cream Frosting Direction:

- Mix (with electric mixer) cream and sugar until thick. Let stand while you make gelatin concoction.

- Put cold water in sauce pan, put in gelatin and let stand for 5 min without stirring. Put on low heat and stir constantly. Remove from saucepan and cool a few minutes, but don’t wait too long or else you will have clear jello. Pour into whip mixture and set at high speed until stiff.

Syrup Direction:

- Mix sugar and water into saucepan until sugar dissolves. Remove and cool

Assembling the cake:

- Slice cake horizontally into two layers

- Place bottom layer on serving platter.  Spread syrup, then thin layer of whipped cream, then sliced strawberries.  Spread additional layer of whipped cream above strawberries. 

- Brush bottom of the top layer with simple syrup and place it on top of the bottom layer. Frost sides and top with remaining cream.  Decorate with whole strawberries.

Woah…writing this recipe was even tiring, but below are some photos! 

Batter form

Delicious.