Texas Home Cooking
Page 51
If you want to make angel food with any frequency, invest in a "folder," a spatula that makes it easier to combine the beaten whites with the dry ingredients.
At high altitudes, make your usual minor recipe adjustments, and beat the egg whites only until soft peaks form.
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Gingerbread with Citrus Sauce
Gingerbread is a quick alternative to most homemade cakes and will bring just as many accolades from your family and friends. The addition of white pepper heightens the spicy taste. This recipe calls for a citrus topping, but you can use a sauce made from any fruit that's in season.
CAKE
1½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons powdered ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
½ cup unsulphured dark molasses
⅔ cup buttermilk
CITRUS SAUCE
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Dash of salt
Juice of 1 grapefruit, preferably a Texas Ruby-red
Juice of 2 oranges
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
Makes an 8-inch square cake
Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease an 8-inch square pan.
Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, soda, salt, and white pepper. In a bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is creamy. Add the sugar, and beat well until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the molasses, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately in thirds, continuing to beat as they are added.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
While the gingerbread is baking, make the citrus sauce: Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small, heavy saucepan. Stir in the fruit juices slowly, mixing well to avoid lumps. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture is thickened. Add the butter, and keep the sauce warm.
Serve the gingerbread warm, accompanied by the warm sauce. The gingerbread will keep for a couple of days tightly wrapped, but it's best the day it's made.
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The sweet, thin-skinned ruby-red grapefruits of the Lower Rio Grande Valley developed out of a natural mutation. A worker picked a few one day along with many other grapefruits but couldn't identify the tree. The next harvest, a year later, the grower found the special fruit on a single branch of one tree. With a much more plentiful supply today, you can get a whole branchful delivered to your door (see "Mail-Order Sources," [>]).
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Poteet Strawberry Shortcake
Henry and Ida Fischer Mumme, the founders of Poteet, started their town on the way to becoming the Strawberry Capital of Texas when they planted a few rows of the fruit in their kitchen garden. You can sample the luscious local berry in dozens of dishes and drinks each spring at the Poteet Strawberry Festival, where we got the inspiration for this shortcake recipe.
CAKE
2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 eggs, separated
¾ cup water
¼ cup crushed fresh ripe strawberries
1 teaspoon almond extract
TOPPING
1 cup whipping cream
⅓ cup powdered sugar
2 pints fresh ripe strawberries, sliced
Serves 8 to 10
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Add waxed paper or parchment, cut in circles to fit the pans, and grease and flour the paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With a mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the water, strawberries, and almond extract. Add them to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the dry ingredients. Continue beating the batter until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
In another bowl, preferably copper, beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Fold them into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pans, and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the layers in their pans for about 5 minutes, run a knife around the edges, and invert the pans over cake racks. Remove the pans, and allow the layers to cool.
Prepare the fruit topping while the cake cools: Whip the cream in a mixer with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Refrigerate the cream until you are ready to use it.
Combine the strawberries with the remaining sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until they are as sweet as you like them.
Transfer one cake layer to a serving plate. Top it with half the berries, and spread half the whipped cream over them. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Serve the cake immediately.
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You won't miss Poteet if you're driving south of San Antonio on Highway 16. The town's 130-foot water tower is painted to resemble a giant strawberry.
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Generations of Texans have sweetened desserts with Imperial sugar. The Imperial Sugar Company, founded in 1843, is the oldest business in the state that is still in its original location. The site, now the town of Sugar Land, used to be vast fields of sugar cane. A turn-of-the-century owner named the company after New York's Imperial Hotel, a symbol for quality at the time.
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Peach-Ginger Crisp
Second cousins to cobblers, crisps come with similar fruit fillings, but their crusts are crunchier, often because of the addition of oatmeal or nuts.
TOPPING
¾ cup pecans, toasted
1 cup oatmeal
1 dozen gingersnaps
⅓ cup dark brown sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup chopped crystallized ginger
FILLING
3½
to
4 pounds fresh ripe peaches
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
⅓
to
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 gingersnaps, crushed
Serves 8
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan or baking dish.
In a food processor, combine the pecans, oatmeal, and gingersnaps, and process until they are coarsely chopped. Add the brown sugar, salt, and butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. The mixture should remain a bit chunky. Set it aside.
Peel and pit the peaches, and slice them into a bowl. Mix them with the lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Stir in ⅓ cup of the brown sugar, taste, and add more if needed. Add the crystallized ginger, flour, crushed gingersnaps, and egg yolk, mixing lightly.
Spoon the fruit into the prepared pan. Cover it with the topping, spreading evenly. Bake until the topping is crunchy and a deep, rich brown.
Serve the crisp warm.
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Like other pioneers, Sam Houston loved rice pudding, at least most of the time. One day at the home of prominent friends, he was jawing his way through dinner when the hostess brought out a steaming bowl of the dessert, just out of the oven. Wrapped up in his rhetoric but eager for the treat, Houston took a big bite of the pudding and promptly spat it out on the table. Trying to put the best light on his bad manners and burnt tongue, he reflected gallantly, "A lot of durn fools would have swallowed that."
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Capirotada
The most common bread pudding in Texas comes from the New Orleans tradition,
which involves a liberal use of eggs and cream. This version hails from the opposite, western side of the state, and gets its richness from butter and cheese.
½ cup raisins
1 cup brandy
10
to
12 slices white bread
½ cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup (4 ounces) grated mild cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
2 cups sugar
3½ cups hot water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon ground canela (Mexican cinnamon) or cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of cloves
Whipped cream, optional, for garnish
Serves 8
Place the raisins in a small bowl, and pour the brandy over them. Set them aside to soften. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Tear or slice the bread into bite-size pieces. Transfer it to the baking dish. Add the pecans and the cheese to the bread, mixing both in lightly. Scatter the raisins over the top, including any brandy not absorbed by the fruit.
Pour the sugar into a large, heavy saucepan. Warm it over medium-high heat, until the sugar melts and turns a deep golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the sugar occasionally to assure even melting. Pour the water into the molten sugar (stand back from the pan as you do so, because steam will rise as the water hits the sugar). The mixture will partially solidify. Continue cooking until the mixture becomes liquid again, stirring occasionally. Add the butter, vanilla, and spices to the syrup.
Ladle the caramel syrup carefully over the bread. The syrup should be about level with the top of the bread. If any bread pieces aren't coated, push them into the syrup.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes until the syrup is absorbed and the cheese has melted into the pudding.
Serve this pudding hot, topped with whipped cream, if you like.
Nanny's Boiled Custard
A Texas favorite for more than a century, boiled custard is never boiled, but it is cooked on top of the stove, distinguishing it from thicker baked custards like flan. Boiled custard can be eaten plain in a bowl with a spoon, ladled over angel food cake, or poured over strawberries, peaches, or mangoes.
This simple yet delicious version comes from the late Mary Helen Smith of Bonham, who got it from her mother, Nanny.
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 quart whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
In a double boiler or large, heavy pan, beat together the eggs and sugar. Whisk in the milk. Heat the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Unless you want scrambled eggs, do not boil the custard. The custard is ready when it coats the spoon; this takes at least 20 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, and cook about 2 minutes more. The custard should remain thin compared to most puddings.
Serve boiled custard warm or chilled.
Variation: Boiled custard makes a great base for vanilla ice cream. Just freeze it according to the directions that come with your ice-cream maker.
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Ruth Bauer, a Texas artist, fondly recalls her Aunt Mary Helen's boiled custard from childhood family reunions, where it was part of a feast that always included fried catfish from the stockpond on the family ranch, quail hunted nearby and wrapped in bacon, and a smoked turkey or ham. On the side, they had biscuits, jellies, sweet pickles, pear relish, watermelon pickles, and vegetables such as sliced tomatoes, raw green onions, fried okra, black-eyed peas, and green beans seasoned liberally with bacon and black pepper. The boiled custard topped vanilla ice cream and angel food cake. Pitchers of sweetened iced tea washed it all down.
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Banana Pudding
This perennial barbecue dessert soared in popularity after Nabisco adapted it as a way to encourage sales of vanilla wafer cookies, which came on the market in 1945. Now 'Nilla Wafers and 'nana pudding are inseparable companions.
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
6 eggs, separated
2½ cups whole milk, heated
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 12-ounce box vanilla wafers
5
to
6 bananas
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
Serves 8 to 10
In the top of a double boiler, stir together 1 cup of the sugar, the cornstarch, and the salt. Mix in the egg yolks, and place the pan over its simmering water bath. Pour in the warm milk, stirring constantly. Continue to stir frequently as the pudding cooks. It will gradually thicken, usually in about 15 to 20 minutes, but don't rush it. The eggs need to poach and thicken slowly, not scramble. When the pudding coats a spoon and slides off it slowly, it is done. Remove the pan from the water bath, and stir in the vanilla.
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
While the pudding cools a bit, arrange a layer of vanilla wafers at the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Slice the bananas thin, and arrange half of them over the cookies. Spoon half of the pudding over the banana slices. Repeat with more cookies, the remaining banana slices, and the rest of the pudding. Tuck more cookies around the sides of the dish as well. We normally use only about two-thirds of the box of cookies, but some people manage more.
Beat the egg whites in a large bowl, preferably copper. When they become frothy, add the cream of tartar and salt. Gradually beat in the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, and continue beating until the whites form stiff peaks.
Crown the assembled pudding with the meringue, heaping it high in the center. Bake the pudding for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the meringue is firm and golden brown. Let it cool at room temperature 30 minutes before serving (refrigerate the pudding if you plan to hold it longer than that). Leftovers can be kept for another day, though the bananas will darken.
Variation: Eliminate the bananas, and substitute sherry or almond extract for the vanilla. Layer the pudding with 2 to 3 cups of coarsely crumbled macaroon cookies instead of vanilla wafers. Sprinkle the top with toasted almond slices before piling on the meringue and baking according to the recipe.
Pecan Praline Cheesecake
They don't make it quite like this in New York.
CRUST
1 cup minced pecans, toasted
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
FILLING
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
3 eggs
¼ cup sugar
1¼ cups chopped pralines, homemade ([>]) or store-bought (about 3 to 4 2-inch pralines)
2 teaspoons minced orange zest
½ cup sour cream
CARAMEL SAUCE
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
½
to
¾ cup milk, warmed
½ teaspoon vanilla
Makes a 9-inch cheesecake
Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
Make the crust: In a small bowl, mix together the pecans, graham cracker crumbs, and brown sugar. Pour in the butter, and stir to combine. Press the warm mixture into the prepared pan, packing it evenly around the bottom. Bake until the crust is set, about 10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool. It can be made a day ahead, if you wish.
Raise the oven temperature to 350° F.
Make the filling: Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and then the sugar, continuing to beat until everything is well incorporated. Mix in the chopped pralines and the orange zest. Pour the filling into the prepared crust, and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until the center is just firm.
Take the cheesecake out of the oven, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Raise the oven temperature to 425° F. Spread the sour cream gently and evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Bake the cheesecake an additional 5 minutes, unti
l the sour cream bubbles at the edges. Cool the cheesecake completely on a rack. Run a knife between the cake and the sides of the pan to loosen it. Cover the cake, and refrigerate it until it is well chilled, at least 3 to 4 hours (the cake can be made a day ahead of serving).
Make the caramel sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the brown sugar and water, and cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage, 234° to 240° F. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the mixture cool a couple of minutes. Stir in the amount of milk necessary to achieve the sauce consistency you prefer, add the vanilla, and mix well. The sauce can be kept warm over a hot-water bath, or made ahead and rewarmed at serving time.
Serve the cheesecake topped with warm caramel sauce.
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In the East Texas town of New York (population 12), Lyn Dunsavage makes "New York, Texas" cheesecakes that are good enough to be marketed as far away as Manhattan. Give her staff a call (see "Mail-Order Sources," [>]) to get one delivered to your door.
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