Amaretto butter cakes + "Argo"

Years ago I watched a good movie called “Gone Baby Gone” which to my surprise had been directed by Mr. Ben Affleck; he’d never been one of my favorite actors, but since I’d been pleased with his directorial debut and had also liked his performance in “Hollywoodland” I thought that watching “The Town” was mandatory – and what a great film that turned out to be, with an insanely good performance by Jeremy Renner, an actor I like a lot (and those who think of him just as Hawkeye should watch this movie, “North Country” and “The Hurt Locker”).

Two weeks ago I watched “Argo” and understood all the fuss about Affleck’s new movie: it really is an excellent film, with a great story I believe not many people knew about (I certainly did not). Affleck’s abilities as a filmmaker have been improving and he continues to let the actors shine – to me something that every director should do; the clothes, the hair and makeup, the places, the music, everything seems so perfectly crafted. And to top it all off he gives the movie a frantic rhythm, one in which every scene has a purpose and nothing is wasted, one that will get the muscles on your body tense with anticipation and without noticing you’ll be holding your breath (I speak from experience). :)
The awards season starts soon and I would be very glad to see “Argo” receive the recognition it deserves – and I hope Affleck continues to work as a director for many years to come.

***
Ever since using Amaretto in baking for the first time I’ve been looking for excuses to do it again and again: I’ve used it to replace almond extract a couple of times with really good results and it goes well with chocolate, too. That is why I was so curious about these cakes and they did not disappoint: you can really feel the liqueur flavor in them and they are very tender, with a crunchy touch given by the almonds. They’re delicious plain, with no icing at all – and especially moreish still warm from the oven – but I wanted more Amaretto flavor and topped them with a simple glaze made with the liqueur.

Amaretto butter cakes
slightly adapted from CakeLove in the Morning: Recipes for Muffins, Scones, Pancakes, Waffles, Biscuits, Frittatas, and Other Breakfast Treats

Cakes:
1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
pinch of ground cinnamon
½ cup sour cream*
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
85g (¾ stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ tablespoons Amaretto
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup whole almonds, toasted, cooled and coarsely chopped
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Glaze:
1 cup (140g) confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon Amaretto
1 tablespoon water, more if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour twelve 1/3-cup capacity brioche or muffin pans.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the yolk – beat well after each addition and scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the Amaretto and vanilla.
At low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the almonds.
Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 2 minutes then unmold onto a wire rack – do not wait longer than that or the cakes might stick. Cool completely.

Glaze: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl. Add the Amaretto and mix to combine. Gradually add the water and stir until desired consistency. Pour icing over cakes. Set aside until set, about 20 minutes.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Makes 12

Chocolate peanut butter biscotti

The biscotti-craze doesn't seem to be going anywhere, therefore it was not so difficult for me to choose which recipe to make first from the oh, so beautiful "Tea With Bea": the cheesecakes looked amazing and I felt tempted to start with one of them, but since I did not have any cream cheese in the fridge I went for the chocolate pb biscotti. I have to honest with you: the dough needed some adjustment and enclosing the peanut butter inside it was less fun than I'd expected, but in the end it was all worth it, because the biscotti turned out absolutely delicious.

Chocolate peanut butter biscotti
slightly adapted from the oh, so beautiful Tea With Bea: Recipes from Bea's of Bloomsbury

2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (45g) cocoa powder
100g light brown sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup – I used corn syrup
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80g roasted, salted peanuts
80g dark chocolate chips
granulated sugar, for sprinkling
generous 1/3 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa and sugar. Set aside.
Put the golden syrup, oil, eggs, water and vanilla in another bowl and whisk to combine. Add t the dry mixture and stir until just combined (my dough here was very dry and crumbly, so I added another egg and 1 tablespoon oil).
Add the peanuts and chocolate and mix until evenly distributed. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before proceeding.
Preheat the oven to 145°C/290°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Sprinkle a work surface liberally with sugar. Place the dough onto the sugar and flatten roughly with your hands. Dot spoonfuls of peanut butter all over the dough and lightly roll the dough into a log about 6cm (2½in) wide and 2cm (1in) high. Try to encase the peanut butter inside the log to avoid it from burning.
Transfer the dough log to the prepared baking sheet. Bake it for 25-40 minutes until the top is completely hardened, and when tapped, feels sturdy and not squishy inside. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
Turn the oven to 135°C/265°C. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Slice the cooled log, diagonally, into 1cm (½in) slices. Lay all the slices flat on the prepared sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until nice and dry, turn all the biscotti over bake for another 10-15 minutes on that side. Cool completely on the sheet.
Store in an airtight container. The biscotti will keep for up to 1 month.

Makes about 30 – I made the exact recipe above and got 22

Lemon and almond buns + Dragonette

I have many favorite TV shows and one of them is “Chuck’s Day Off” – not only because the food looks delicious but also because to me it has the best soundtrack among the cooking shows. After watching several episodes, I noticed that one album cover kept appearing at the end of the show, and after listening to some of the tracks I completely fell in love with Dragonette’s “Fixin To Thrill”. My favorite tracks are “Don’t Be Funny”, “Pick Up the Phone” and “Easy” – impossible not to love a song that starts with that beat and the words “you love me like a bull in a china shop”. :)

I sometimes have the feeling that I get addicted to certain things much too easily, like I did to Dragonette’s album and to Paul Hollywood’s marzipan – I have used it yet again, this time as a filling to Dan Lepard’s insanely tender and delicious lemon buns.

Lemon and almond buns
slightly adapted from Dan Lepard’s column at The Guardian

400g strong white flour – I used all purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons dried yeast
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
100g unsalted butter
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
1 large egg
250g marzipan – I used homemade
melted butter, toasted slivered almonds and icing sugar, to finish

Start the night before: in a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, lemon zest, yeast and sugar. Melt the butter and beat with the milk and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix everything together until a soft, sticky dough forms – I used the Kitchen Aid with the dough hook for that. Mix thoroughly, scrape any remaining dough from your fingers, cover the bowl tightly and leave in the refrigerator until morning.
Remove dough from the refrigerator and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. Line a 25cm (10in) square baking pan with foil, leaving two overhangs on opposite sides, and butter the foil – I used a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan.
Lightly flour a work surface, knead the dough until smooth (again, the Kitchen Aid), then roll to a long rectangle about 70x10cm (28x4in). Roll the marzipan into a 70cm (28in) cylinder, place along the centre of the dough, then roll the dough around it to seal*. Leave the dough to relax for 10 minutes, then cut into nine slices and place in three rows, without turning them on end, into the prepared pan. Leave to rise for 1 ½ hours or until doubled in volume.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Bake the buns for about 35 minutes or until golden. Cool in the pan then brush with melted butter, sprinkle with the almonds and dust with the icing sugar.

* the buns turned out great, but if I were to make them again I would finely chop the marzipan and spread them all over the dough rectangle (as if making cinnamon rolls) then roll it – that way the marzipan flavor would be more dispersed in the dough

Makes 9

Apple, berry, almond and chocolate crumble

Since almonds, berries and apple worked so beautifully in tart form, I could not wait to try this crumble: all those flavors combined without the need of making pastry – not that I don’t like making pastry, I actually enjoying it very much, but when the need for something sweet is urgent there’s no time for chilling pastry. :D

I was also very intrigued by the addition of chocolate to the crumble topping but have to say I don’t think it was a nice idea here: if you want to see it for yourself go ahead and try it, but when I make this crumble again it will be sans chocolate – and with more almonds to boot.

Apple, berry, almond and chocolate crumble
from the always glorious Delicious - Australia

1kg Granny Smith apples (about 5)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
200g frozen mixed berries
100g brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
200g marzipan, chopped – I used homemade
custard or ice cream to serve

Almond crumble:
200g unsalted butter, cold and chopped
250g all purpose flour
50g brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup almonds, chopped
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
75g dark chocolate, chips or chunks

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. For the crumble, place the butter and flour in a large bowl and rub together with your fingertips to form coarse crumbs. Using a fork, gently stir in the sugar, salt, almonds, cinnamon and chocolate. Set aside.
Peel and roughly chop the apples, then place in an 8-cup capacity ovenproof dish. Toss with lemon juice, then carefully stir in berries, sugar and ginger. Dot with marzipan then top with the crumble.
Place the dish on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit is tender. Stand for five minutes, then spoon into bowls and serve with custard or ice cream.

Serves 6-8

Lemon-frosted pistachio cake

Hollywood is dominated by men, or better, by white men, so I am always glad to watch women deliver great work. Not many directors are women - some of them are really, really talented and responsible for masterpieces, like Jane Campion and Susanne Bier. Now Vera Farmiga, an actress I'm very fond of, has stepped into directing shoes and brings the beautiful and so sensitive "Higher Ground" - a movie that discusses religion and faith very openly and honestly; even though I don't believe in anything, I felt touched by Farmiga's movie because I was once the girl who sought answers for so many questions, the girl who thought that everything in life happened because a certain being wanted it that way. I liked the movie a lot and hope that Vera Farmiga continues to work behind the camera.

***

This cake is not the super tender type of cake I usually bake, but it's so delicious I cannot wait to buy more pistachios to make it again.

Lemon-frosted pistachio cake
from the always delicious Delicious - Australia

Cake:
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 ½ cups (195g) pistachio kernels, ground*
1 cup (100g) almond meal
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup (120ml) extra virgin olive oil
finely grated zest of 1 orange
100g unsalted butter, melted, cooled
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rosewater

Icing:
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons hot water, if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Butter and line the base of a 23cm (9in) springform cake pan with baking paper**.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and stir in the pistachio and almond. Place sugar and whole eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 4-5 minutes until thick and pale. Beat in the olive oil, zest, butter, vanilla and rosewater, then fold in the flour mixture. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing: sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl and gradually add the lemon juice and enough hot water to make a smooth dropping consistency.
When the cake is cool, pour the icing over the cake, allowing some to drip down the sides. Set aside until firm, about 20 minutes.

* if you’re grinding the pistachios at home, add part of the flour to the food processor to avoid turning the nuts into a paste

** I used a regular 23cm (9in) cake pan (no removable bottom); I cooled the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 25 minutes, then carefully inverted in onto a plate, removed the paper, then inverted it again (top side up) onto the rack to cool completely

Serves 6-8