Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook (31 page)

Whoever thought putting black pepper into gingerbread would add a certain
je ne sais quoi
to the result? When I finally hit on this combination of ingredients, Jim pronounced it his favorite gingerbread ever. I have somehow collected a number of castle cake molds, so I make three of these gingerbreads every Christmas. The grandchildren then sprinkle on powdered sugar, or place dabs of frosting here and there on top, with jimmies or colored sugar on top of that. They used to take great pride in their creations, but except for the youngest one, they're becoming a little too cool to decorate gingerbread castles.
Tempus fugit.

1.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Take out three 8- or 9-cup tall nonstick castle cake molds and baking spray, but do not spray the pans until just before you are going to pour the batter into them.

2.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, spices, pepper, and salt. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the molasses and set aside to cool.

3.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs with the sugar until they are very thick and almost white. Add the butter mixture and beat on low speed, just until combined. Add the flour-spice mixture and beat on low speed, just until combined. Add the boiling water, sour cream, ginger, and orange juice and beat 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle attachment, making sure all the ingredients are well incorporated.

4.
Coat the 3 castle molds with baking spray until every surface inside the mold is completely covered. Immediately pour the batter into the molds, dividing it evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, and check with a toothpick to see if the gingerbread is done. If necessary, allow another 5 to 10 minutes for the gingerbread to bake, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each gingerbread comes out clean.

5.
Grease 2 large or 3 smaller cooling racks. Cool the gingerbreads, still in their pans, on the racks for 20 minutes. Carefully invert them to unmold onto the greased racks. Cool completely, then carefully slide onto serving plates. Serve with the ice cream.

Makes 3 gingerbreads, 4 to 6 servings each

I thought it was a great idea to use the legal term
tort,
which at its base means a
wrong,
with
torte,
which is a
dessert.
I thought (mistakenly, as it turned out) that most readers would think it was a great idea, too. Yet many people who had not read the book, which involves both torts and tortes, indignantly told me at signings that a word in my title was spelled incorrectly, and that what I meant was t-o-r-t-e. My rigid-smile response became, “Please read the book.”

That aside, I did enjoy experimenting with t-o-r-t-e-s, and learning about t-o-r-t-s. This recipe uses finely ground zwieback crumbs and finely chopped pecans. The syrup moistens the layers. A trick I learned while catering is that pouring
liquid
gelatin into whipped cream helps hold its shape.

1.
Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375˚F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans. Butter two cooling racks.

2.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until they are light and lemon-colored. Remove 2 tablespoons of sugar from the cup of sugar and set aside. Gradually beat the rest of the sugar (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons) into the egg yolks.

3.
In another large bowl, combine the crumbs, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves (and flour if cooking at high altitude), stirring to combine well. Stir this mixture into the egg-yolk mixture (the dough will be very stiff). Set aside.

4.
In another large bowl, using a wire whip or whip attachment, beat the egg whites until they
are foamy. Add the salt and cream of tartar, and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Gradually beat in the reserved 2 tablespoons sugar.

5.
Fold one-third of the egg-white mixture into the egg-yolk mixture. Fold in half of the nuts. Fold in another one-third of the egg-white mixture, then fold in the last of the nuts. Fold in the remaining egg-white mixture until there are no traces of white in the batter. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pans.

6.
Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, or until the layers have browned slightly, a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the layers have begun to shrink from the sides of the pans.

7.
Cool the layers for 5 minutes in their pans. Place large pieces of foil underneath the buttered racks and fold them up all the way around so as to catch the syrup. (This makes your clean-up easier.) Turn the layers out onto the separate buttered cake racks. Allow the layers to cool while you make the sherry syrup.

8.
Using a skewer or ice pick, evenly poke holes all over the tops of the layers. (Take care not to poke the holes all the way through the cake. The holes should go down about three-fourths of the way through the layers.) Carefully and slowly pour the hot sherry syrup evenly over the layers, until it is all gone.

9.
When the layers are cool, make the whipped cream topping. Discard the foil and carefully turn the first layer onto a cake plate. Spread a thick layer of whipped cream topping over this layer. Then top with the second layer. Spread the rest of the topping on the top and sides of the torte.

10.
The torte may be served immediately or it may be chilled. Because of the whipped cream, leftovers must be kept in the refrigerator.

Makes 12 servings

2 cups sugar

2 cups spring water

½ cup dry sherry

1.
In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Allow the mixture to boil until it reaches the soft-ball stage (234˚ to 240˚F) on a candy thermometer.

2.
Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
Using a wooden spoon, carefully and slowly swirl in the sherry until well combined.

1 tablespoon spring water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder

2 cups (1 pint) heavy (whipping) cream, well chilled

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1.
Pour the water and vanilla into a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the surface of the liquid and allow the gelatin to soften for 2 minutes. Turn the heat on under the pan to medium-low. Swirling the mixture frequently, cook and stir the mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Keep the heat on very low to maintain the
liquid
gelatin mixture.

2.
In a large bowl, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Beat in the powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.

3.
With the beater running, pour the liquid gelatin mixture into the cream and beat until completely combined.

This recipe has been honed over the years, and is our family's favorite apple pie. (We planted an apple tree in our yard and, as with the cherry trees, the elk ate
that
one down to the ground.) Serve with best-quality vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

For the crust:

1.
In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade), whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds. Drop the first 4 tablespoons of chilled butter on top of the flour mixture, and cut in with 2 sharp knives (or pulse in the food processor)
just
until the mixture looks like tiny crumbs. (In the food processor, this will take less than a minute.) Repeat with the rest of the butter and the lard (or vegetable shortening) in batches, keeping the
unused portions well chilled until it is time to add it to the flour. The mixture will look like large crumbs when all the butter and lard have been incorporated.

2.
Sprinkle the ¼ cup water over the top of the mixture, and either mix with a spoon or pulse in the food processor until the mixture
just
begins to hold together in clumps. If the mixture is too dry to hold together, add 1 to 2 tablespoons additional water until it does. Place the mixture into a 2-gallon zippered plastic bag. Pressing very lightly through the plastic, quickly gather the mixture into a rough round in the center of the bag. Refrigerate the bag of dough until it is thoroughly chilled.

3.
When you are ready to make the pie, preheat the oven to 400˚F. Have a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and a rimmed baking sheet at the ready.

4.
Remove the bag of dough from the refrigerator. Unzip the bag, then quickly roll out the dough (still inside the bag) to a round about 10 inches in diameter. Using scissors, cut the plastic all the way around the bag and gently lift one side of the plastic. Place the bag, dough side down, into the pie plate. Gently remove the remaining piece of plastic so that the dough falls into the plate. Trim and flute the edge of the crust. Using the tines of a fork, prick the pie crust in several places to allow for steam to evaporate. Gently line the crust with parchment paper and weight down the crust with ceramic pie weights or uncooked rice or beans.

5.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, take out the parchment and weights, and brush the bottom and sides of the crust with the beaten egg (you will not use all of the egg). Return the crust to the oven and bake for 10 minutes more. If the fluted edge begins to brown too quickly, it can be covered with pieces of foil until the crust is baked. Remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool slightly while you prepare the filling and topping.

For the filling:

In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Place the apple slices in a large bowl. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and set aside while you prepare the topping.

For the topping:

1.
In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade), whisk together the flour and sugar for 10 seconds. Drop the pieces of butter on top of the flour mixture and cut in with 2 sharp knives (or pulse in the food processor) just until the mixture resembles large crumbs. Do not overblend.

2.
Place the apple mixture in the crust. It may seem very tall, but the fruit will cook down. Take the time to get all the apple slices in, even if you have to cut some of the slices in half. (Discard any liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl.) Evenly spread the topping over the apples.

3.
Place the pie on the rimmed baking sheet, place in the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 375˚F. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the topping is browned and the apples are cooked. (If it seems as if the topping is burning, reduce the oven temperature even more, to 350˚F.)

4.
Cool the pie on a rack for at least 2 hours so it can set up.

Makes 8 large servings