When at first you don't succeed,.... bake a cake

The month of August means two things for me. 1) The school season is coming back and 2) Tons and tons of birthdays to celebrate. Both of my sisters share birthdays in this month. And now, I come to learn, that my new boss' birthday is in this month too. Birthdays, like the beginning of a new school season, signifies the start of something new and the celebration of the people that have made a difference in this world. Now, how can you celebrate a birthday, or any special occasion, without a cake?

Unfortunately for my sisters, I am not close enough to bake them a cake. If I were in town, they know that I would make it in a heart beat, decorations and all. I am sorry, but one day, I'll be back and I will make you a cake again. Although my sisters are too far away, I did make a cake for my boss. It was the first I've made a dessert for her, or anyone at the restaurant (as I took it in for everyone to share), and I wanted to make sure it was a great cake. This recipe is one that my mother has had for a very long time. She calls it the "Bolo de Aniversario" or the "Birthday Cake". It is a light, not overly-sweet cake that can be paired with whatever fruit you desire and is best with a simple chantily, or sweetened whipped cream. The recipe is below.

Now, I have/had a slight problem. As a chef and a person who was educated in the culinary arts, we are put in a pedestal called the "you study it, you are a professional" pedestal. Anything that I cook or I bake has to come out perfectly, the first time. Just because I have a piece of paper saying I graduated with honors from Johnson&Wales, all of my meats have come out with perfect temperatures and all of the baked goods are picture book perfect. Sigh....... I'm sorry to inform all of you, but I can't be perfect all of the time. I've tried, but most of the cooking that comes out relatively good are always a result of numerous trials and errors before coming to the conclusion of what it is now. For example, I couldn't tell you how many apple pies I had made at my previous job, and it wasn't until towards the end of my internship that my pies started to come out consistent and tasty, and even then I had some bad days. I want everyone to understand that, I am practicing and I will keep on practicing until I can create the best gosh darn anything anyone asks of me.

So now that you have read my rant, you can see where this is leading. My first try at the birthday cake was an epic FAIL. It might have been my anxiety over making something I haven't made in a long time, it might have been my heart not into the moment (this is another story but, believe me, have a heart), it might have been the pan I used, or it could have been I just opened the oven doors too early. But my cake fell, and it fell hard. There's nothing like watching your cake through oven doors, seeing section by section falling and deflating like an unwanted balloon, right before your very eyes. And not only did it look bad, but it tasted gummy and not the cake I remember from my mother. BIG SIGH.. Hines, who is quite honest with me, told me this isn't good. As my mother always said, don't serve something you are not proud of and you wouldn't eat yourself (but you will eat it because if not, it's wasted food.)

See how gummy it looks? (ignore the "we-had-to-eat-it" section of the cake) 

So here I go again.

and VOILA! Second time's the charm. I used a different kind of pan, actually dividing the cake into two separate parts. I also didn't touch the oven doors until after the allotted time, and I also watched for the sign my mother said, about the sides of the cake coming off of the pan sides. Man, maybe I should have just read the instructions better. Shame on me.

Here is the finished product :)

Well, all in all, the cake turned out great and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I used chantily cream to decorate, and I also made a strawberry simple syrup to moisten the cake and add an extra flavor in there. Strawberry pieces, too, added texture, which was a nice bonus.

Hope you all enjoy the recipe and let me know what fruit you would add to this delightful cake.


BOLO de ANIVERSARIO
Oven: 350F

For the cake:

Eggs, separate 4 each
Sugar 200 mL
Heated whole milk 200 mL
Unsalted Butter 1 Tablespoon
Baking Powder 1 Tablespoon
White Flour 400mL

For the strawberry simple syrup:

Medium strawberries 5 each
Sugar 1/4 cup
Water 1 oz

For the chantily:

Heavy whipping cream 1 pint
2 oz of powdered sugar

MOP

CAKE:
1) Beat the egg whites to soft peaks Slowly add the sugar until the mixture is shiny and glossy. Add the yolks in, one by one, beaten thoroughly at medium speed.
2) Heat your milk and butter until melted and lightly simmering. Take away from the heat source.
3) Mix together the baking powder and flour. Sift the mixture.
4) Remove the egg mixture from the mixer, and with a spatula, alternate adding the flour mixture and milk mixture to it. Start and finish with the flour. Mix in slowly and be sure to sift the flour mixture again, to avoid any possible lumps in the batter.
5) Grease and flour your cake pans. The cake will fit into 2 standard 9in pans, or a 13x9in rectangle pan. Pour the batter into the pan. Gently place inside the oven and bake for 25 minutes. DON'T OPEN THE OVEN!!
6) When the 25 minutes is up, look through the oven doors first. If the pan is still stuck to its sides, bake for another 3-5 minutes. Watch for the color, too, should be a nice golden brown, and when touched, the cake should spring back up (a good way to test any baked good for its doneness). Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Have your cooling rack ready. Even while the cake is hot, remove from the pan. If it stays in the pan, it will stick to the side and you will have a hard time removing it.

STRAWBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP:
1) Remove the stem and dice the strawberries into small pieces.
2) Place in a pot with the sugar and water, and let it come up to a simmer.
3) When all of the sugar is dissolved and the color runs pink, remove from the heat and set it aside for the cake.
4) Prepare this while you are baking the cake.

CHANTILY:
1) Place your mixer bowl and whip attachment in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. This will help with forming nice, firm peaks that don't melt.
2) Pour all of the whipped heavy cream into the bowl, and gradually turn the speed up until you are on the highest speed. And when I say gradually, I mean, GRADUALLY. You do not want to clean up cream off of your ceiling.
3) When your cream forms soft peaks, slow down your speed and add your powdered sugar. Return back to high speed and beat until firm peaks form. Firm peaks are when the whip attachment is turned upside down, the whipped cream stays upright, with no droopy cream.
4) Prepare this while you are baking the cake.

ASSEMBLY:
1) The cake can be assembled however you like. On the rectangle cake, use a fork to poke holes all over the cake. This will help the simple syrup be absorbed better into the cake. Slice some strawberries and make a nice layer on top of the cake. Finish with a generous amount of chantily and enjoy.

2) If using the round cake: Poke holes with a fork into both cake parts. Spread the simple syrup onto both layers. Spread a small amount of chantily cream onto one layer. Slice strawberries and make a nice layer. Put other cake upside down, or simple syrup side onto the whip cream. Use the remainder of the chantily to spread around the cake. Smooth and decorate with chantily and extra strawberries.

Relationships... could it be sweet?

If you are a chef, cook, server, bartender, or anyone who works in the food industry, you understand when I say, being in a relationship with one (romantic or not) can be difficult. Whether family, friend, or significant other, there is never enough "we" time and too many one sided conversations. As a cook, I do take blame for a part of the neglect that comes from my side, but I also agree that the food industry is a major factor in disrupting relationships. In the past I had found this article that pretty much sums up how I, or any food person, feels about relationship. The link is here :Marrying a chef? Check out the little tidbits the chef has to offer. Feel free to comment, too.

While reading the article again, I had to smile when reading #19. True, I am talking about difficulty in relationships, and although the statement is 99% of the time true, I have to admit that I was actually productive on my last days off. I do have to use the word productive lightly, however, as it was more fun for me than doing work :) and my "productive" project was................................................

SUGAR COOKIE DECORATING!

Recently, I had talked to Roseann, the restaurant owner of The Country Corner Cafe, about expanding the retail side of the place and she had said that sugar cookies were one of the items they used to sell in the past. With that idea in mind, I baked off some sugar cookies in different shapes, made some royal icing, and decided to decorate them how I pleased. And here are the ends results.

Look at all the craftiness!

Here's one for the Cafe. (Yes, I will work on my penmanship) 

In honor of the Man of Steels

And, of course, I had to make Hines one, right??

Although I still need more practice, I enjoyed myself and I feel as if the cookies could go far. Tell me what you think of them or even help me come up with ideas for decorations. If they work, I might even post them on here ;)

I found the sugar cookie recipe here Sugar Cookie dough. The royal icing recipe that I used is Alton Brown's recipe found here Royal Icing. If you have any questions, let me know.

I hope everyone learned a little bit more about being connected with a chef/food person, but also to remember that, when you know one, you will probably get some really nice treats (aka: these cookies !) Just be patient, talk to us if you feel alone, and above all, know that we do care, we're just often really really tired.

Cheers and kanpai,

Kikko

Kikkos bake day

A small little tidbit about Kikko's day:

Part of moving to a new city is getting accustomed to our surroundings, correct? Being the bookworm that I am, I decided to visit the Saratoga Springs Public Library to see what it has to offer. To my pleasant surprise, it was a very welcoming, clean, friendly environment, with, most importantly, having LOTS AND LOTS of books (cooking books til I drop!). Who knows, maybe one of these books will inspire my next creation at the Country Corner Cafe. I got myself a library card and know that I'll be back and ready for some book action.

In other news, today was a very productive day for me. Began with 2 soups, (a seafood New England chowder and a kale and split pea soup) a blueberry pie, biscuits, and 2 muffins (a peach and coconut muffin and a banana walnut muffin). Phew. What a day. And it didn't end there. As we began closing down the restaurant, a regular customer calls in to make a 3 pie order for the next day, a blueberry pie and apple pies. Although the work will be given to Eric, the original baker, I couldn't help but remember all the apple pies I had made at my previous job. Although it won't be the same kind here, it was a trusty pie and I would like to share it with you all. So enjoy. Let me know if you have any tricks or secrets for your apple pie. Certain apples, caramel vs sugar, blind bake vs not, etc.

Apple pie :
Filling
Apples (we used Granny Smith, but any crisp apples that holds its shape works)- 8 small to med each
Brown sugar -1 cup
Granulated sugar -1/4 cup
Cornstarch-1/4 cup
Heavy cream- 1cup
Corn syrup- 1/2 cup
Salt- pinch
Cinnamon- pinch

Dough
Your choice of pie dough (9in pie pan size) or stay tuned for my go to recipe in another post

MOP (method of preparation)

1: Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all the filling ingredients, except for the apples, into a saucepan. Bring to a rolling simmer and allow the temperature to reach 225F. Use a candy thermometer for exact measurement. The caramel should be thick but still liquid. Beware of over cooking as it can lead to hard ball stage, making your caramel too hard.

2: While the caramel is working, peel, core, and cut the apples into thin slices. Approximately, when quartered, each quarter should give you 6-7 pieces.

3: Mix the apples and caramel together and set aside while you prepare your pie shell. If it is pre made, allow the dough to thaw slightly in the cooler. If the dough is homemade, roll out your dough and place it in the pie pan. Refrigerate for 15 min to harden the dough slightly. Have your top shell rolled out and ready.

4: With a slotted spoon, mix the apples again and then scoop into th pie pan. You want a small pool of caramel at the bottom of your pie, but you will not use all of the liquid.

5: Place the top shell on top of the apples. Press down carefully to let out any air pockets in the pie (this will allow for minimal air dome when baking, making a better presentation piece). Cut four small slits into the top shell for air vents. Adjust the edges with a knife for any over hang and, using beaten egg whites as glue, crimp the edges down firmly.

6: Add any decorations you would like with extra pie dough you have. Brush the top with a thin layer of egg whites you used earlier. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on top. When done, this will create a nice crunchy, sweet and beautiful crust.

7: Place in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 20 minutes or until you see caramel bubbling up from the slits. The bubbles should be slow and thick like. If it is fast and thin, cook longer as it shows there is too much moisture still inside.

8: Remove from the oven and let sit at room temp. Enjoy the slices warm or cold, with ice cream or plain. But remember, eat the fruits of your labor with a smile :)

Thank you for reading and I hope you all enjoy the apple pie. I will post the pie dough soon !!

Cheers and kanpai

Kikko

My First Course from Saratoga

A new start and a fresh beginning to make a name for myself and start a new chapter of my life with my best friend.  It's because of Kikko that we took this adventure head on together and decided to move to Saratoga Springs, New York.  Though this leap was taken on a bit of hope and faith it could not have happened without the hospitality of a big-hearted family willing to take us in for now.  And after being here for a week I'm beginning to feel right at home. 

This somewhat small town has kept to preserving their historic roots while developing into a place flourishing with opportunities for small businesses.  It is everything I could have hoped for from local farmers market held twice a week to the numerous amounts of restaurants of every type of cuisine that I can't wait to try.  I am so inspired by all this local food that I'm bursting at the seams to try as much of it as I can as quickly as I can.  This first week has been like an intermezzo course filled with fresh summer strawberries that has cleansed my life from the previous years and has me refreshed and ready for whatever course may be served up next.  

Hines

First taste

And so, the first week of Saratoga Springs have come and gone and Soy Sauce (Kikko) and Ketchup (Hines) (well, we have to give ourselves nicknames right??? ) have gotten ourselves situated. Everyone is so helpful and kind, it's hard not to become comfortable. 

Because it is still our first week in ( and also, Hines laptop decided to go on a fritz) I do not have any cool pictures to share with all of you, but it is in the works. Some of my future work at the restaurant will include muffins and random pastries I create, and I will be sharing some of the deliciousness with you. Plus, wouldn't that just make you want to come and visit even more??? 

One recipe I can share with you now is the soup I made today. It was a chicken florentine soup for the week and with all the rain pouring down, it only felt right. Very simple too:

Chicken- 1 pound 
Bacon fat- 2oz 
All Purpose Flour- 2oz
Yellow onion- 1 large each 
Spinach- 8 oz 
Whole Milk- 1 gallon
Seasoning ( whatever you like, but always salt and pepper)

Method Of Preparation (MOP)

1) Melt the bacon fat in a cook pot. Mix in the flour to make a roux. Remove from the pot and set aside.

2) Pour in 1Tablespoon (Tbsp) of oil into the pot. When heated up, place the onions in the pot and cook until slightly brown. Heat should be on high.

3) Put the chicken into the pot and cook until all chicken is white and opaque. 

4) Pour the roux back into the pot. After mixing, pour the milk into the pot and keep mixing. The heat should be at medium low.

5) Continue to cook the soup at low. Pour in 3 cups of water to the soup, or chicken stock if you have handy. Add in the spinach and cook until a low simmer begins. Cut the heat off and continue to stir for another 5 minutes. This is when the magic and creativity happens. add your spices and seasonings that you enjoy the most.  Try to come up with ideas that go well with chicken. I used paprika, smoked chili pepper, and garlic. when you're done, enjoy the soup!

If you come up with some very yummy ideas for this soup, please share in the comment box. There are so many varieties of herbs and spices out there that the combinations are endless. 

We hope you enjoyed this recipe and thanks for reading. :)

Cheers and kanpai 

Kikko and Hines

Ketchup N Soy Sauce

Welcome, everyone, to the new postings of Stephen Owens (ketchup) and Ilyana Kano (soy sauce). We're so glad to have you join us in our blog journey. Let us, first, introduce ourselves; get to know us a little better.

Ilyana- Hello, I am a 22 year old Japanese girl/women/lady (whatever you'd like to call me), youngest of three girls, and born in São Paulo, Brazil. Of course, you may wonder, what is a Japanese girl, born in Brazil,  doing in America? Well, short story short, immigration led my family to Brazil, then father's job led me here. Fair enough? Anyways, the reason for my joining in this culinary blog is to share my love of writing stories about the kitchen and all the recipes that I have tried, am trying, and will try.

Stephen- I am a 22 year old young man from the little place called Red House, West Virginia.  At a young age I developed a passion for cooking (mostly ramen noodles and pizza bites) and a love for all things food.  My work at "The Diner" and journey through the Queen City has led me to accomplish many things with some of the industry's best.  I want to share my passion for the culinary arts by sharing my thoughts and ideas in the kitchen and at the table.

Currently, we are both living in Saratoga Springs, New York. We both moved here, together, to start our new jobs at The Country Corner Cafe, and wanted to create an outlet for us to share our experiences of cooking new ideas, as well as, possible culinary adventures in New York and surrounding areas. It is our first time living in the Northeast and we'd like to document our times here.

So here's to our new grand adventures. Please feel free to comment on any recipe's or adventures we post, and also, any recipes you'd like us to try or create? As a new pastry chef at the Cafe, I am open to suggestions to help the creative juices flowing. (Also, if you're in the area, come and say hi !)

Cheers and Kanpai

Ketchup and Soy Sauce