Grapefruit and Earl Grey-Infused Brown Butter Pound Cake…

It’s a mouthful to say, but these are the ingredients.

It’s a pound cake with grapefruit zest and brown butter infused with earl grey tea leaves. It doesn’t need any icing, none of that please. (There’s quite a bit of sugar in the cake anyway.) I wanted to call it a Russian Earl Grey Pound Cake, because Russian Earl Grey teas will usually have citrus peels alongside bergamot, but I didn’t want to confuse anyone. So, Grapefruit and Earl Grey-Infused Brown Butter Pound Cake it is.

Brown butter gives the cake a nutty flavour, but the earl grey is almost imperceptible after baking (it is there if you strain your palette hard enough, think of it as finely layered addition), while the grapefruit zest brightens up the cake quite a bit. Depending on how sweet you like your treats to be, unsweetened tea or coffee is the way to go.

If you’re not sure how to infuse tea into butter, read all about it here. Do note that because you’re browning the butter, it’s safest to add your tea leaves towards the end of the process. Additionally, the tea will tint your butter, so don’t panic when your butter gets considerably darker.

Brown Butter Pound Cake

slighty adapted from Poire et Chocolat. 

200g unsalted butter if infused with tea / 185g unsalted butter if plain
200g caster sugar
pinch of fine sea salt
3 eggs, cold from the fridge
200g plain flour
1 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
165ml whole milk
1 tsp vanilla paste (or extract)

Optional
2 tbsp loose leaf earl grey tea
Zest of 1 grapefruit

Place the butter into a big pan and set over medium heat. Keep heating as the butter crackles and foams. Stir occasionally until the butter starts to darken. Be careful not to heat it for too long, burnt butter will have a bitter taste. Pull the pan off the heat once the butter achieves a desirable tan colour. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool – it needs to be room temperature.

If you’re infusing the butter with earl grey or any other teas, you will always need more butter than what the original recipe calls for. In this case, I added 15g extra. I opted to add my tea leaves about 1 minute before pulling the pan off the heat and let it infuse for 5 minutes before straining it into a bowl. The brown butter will be quite fragrant.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Either line a loaf tin (around 9″/23cm long) or carefully grease a round/decorated tin. Scrape the cooled butter into a stand mixer bowl and add the sugar and salt. Beat together until creamy, then add the eggs one by one, beating in between. If it curdles, don’t worry – that’s normal. Beat on medium-high for 5 minutes until pale and thick.

Sieve the flour and baking powder together. Tip a third into the mix and stir together on low. Slowly add half of the milk and briefly beat. Add the rest of the flour and milk, combining in between. Add the vanilla and beat together one last time. Scoop into the tin and spread out.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is a deep brown. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out onto a rack.

Enjoy!

For more Earl Grey goodness:

• Earl Grey Chocolate Tea Cakes with Earl Grey Icing
• Earl Grey Milk Jam

Penne with Brussels Sprouts and Smoked Portuguese Bacon

This New York Times’ recipe for Penne with Brussels Sprouts, Chile and Pancetta is a nice break from the meaty and saucy pastas we usually make at home. The recipe was tweaked by replacing the pancetta with smoked Portuguese bacon, chili flakes instead of fresh chili, and we omitted the butter, but added asiago cheese.

I will admit that it doesn’t look incredibly appetizing after everything has been mixed together, but if you can load each component unto your fork, it makes the perfect little bite.

Recipe via New York Times & Reading My Tea Leaves.

For the vegetarians,  there’s a Brussels Sprouts with Shallots and Wild Mushroom recipe on Epicurious which might taste just as good – but can anything really be better than bacon?

Instagrammies: Alfajores (Dulce de leche sandwich cookies)

I clipped and saved A Clockwork Lemon blogger Stephanie Eddy’s Alfajores recipe way back in early spring when I saw it on the main page of Globe and Mail’s life section. It was on my fridge for the longest time, waiting patiently to be picked up again, and I finally found the perfect time to make them. These sweet, delicious and simple babies will be part of a cookie exchange amongst friends.

You can make the shortbread cookies and the dulce de leche in advance.

Shortbread recipe can be found here.
My milk jam recipe if you’re looking for an alternative to using condensed milk.

Garam Masala Cake

A pack of Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker cake mix can go for as little as 97 cents. The most I have ever paid for one was $1.50. While I usually like them just fine on their own, on occasions when I want to be fancy I like to throw in special ingredients like a mix of brown sugar and cinnamon with ground nuts for a coffee cake.

The idea of using Garam Masala came from my mom. I was a tad skeptical at first, but google proved her right once again.

Duncan Hines has their own recipe for a Garam Masala Pound Cake, but it needs apple butter and their spiced cake mix. I flavoured a regular white cake mix with loads of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cinnamon, and replaced the apple butter with sour cream. The problem with cake mix flavours is that they’re already overpowering and quite sweet, so, I put more garam masala than suggested. Like a lot more.

The cake went well with a cup of strong coffee. I’m thinking of adding some dried apricots next time.

Other variants: LCBO’s Persimmon Garam Masala Upside Down Cake, and a Teaspoon of Turmeric’s Holiday Garam Masala Spiced Cake.

Bouchon Bakery’s Cinnamon Honey Scones

It’s been a grey morning over here in Toronto, Canada, and it doesn’t seem like the sun will be making an appearance today. So, why not make scones to cheer up the family? I know what you’re thinking – scones, again? Can’t you make anything else, Patricia? No. Not really. Scones are my fail proof items to make. I’ve never messed one up…except for the very first time when I mistook salt for sugar, but otherwise, I’ve never made a bad scone. I mean, it’s just flour, sugar and butter, how can you go wrong? You can’t. Not even when it comes to Thomas Keller Bouchon Bakery‘s Cinnamon Honey Scones.

Despite Keller’s name being quite prominent on the book cover, most of the recipes from Bouchon Bakery comes from Sebastien Rouxel, Bouchon’s Executive Pastry Chef. (Keller makes an appearance here and there with a few cookie recipes and posing as a handsome man kneading dough.) As expected, coming from both Keller and Rouxel, the recipes are very particular. There’s a strong emphasis on weighing all your ingredients, including your eggs. Working clean and in an orderly fashion is another point that’s constantly emphasized throughout the book. The recipe details are a tad extensive. But, surprisingly enough, the notes don’t come across as off putting or daunting. It actually felt encouraging.

These scones were the most laborious scones ever made. It called for cake flour, which I didn’t have, and I ended up making it at home. (See how to make your own cake flour here.) It also asked for creme fraiche, which I didn’t have either. A substitute was made with a mix of sour cream and milk. The cinnamon honey cubes had to be made in advance as well. Then, once mixed, you freeze the scones overnight. They can be frozen for up to a month, which makes all the work worth it.

Bouchon Bakery’s Cinnamon Honey Scones
yields 12 scones

Cinnamon Honey Cubes
All purpose flour – 30 grams or 3 tablespoons
Granulated sugar – 30 grams or 2 1/2 tablespoons
Ground cinnamon – 4 grams or 1 1/2 teaspoons
Cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes – 30 grams or 1 once
Clover honey – 20 grams or 1 tablespoon

Plain scone dough
All purpose flour – 152 grams or 1 cup + 11/2 tablespoons
Cake flour – 304 grams or 21/4 cups + 2 tablespoons
Baking powder – 12.5 grams or 2/12 teaspoons
Baking soda – 2.5 grams or 1/2 teaspoons
Granulated sugar – 91 grams or 1/4 cup + 31/2 tablespoons
Cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces – 227 grams or 8 onces
Heavy cream, plus more for brushing – 135 grams or 1/2 cup + 1/2 tablespoon
Creme fraiche – 135 grams or 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons

Honey Butter Glaze (optional)
Clarified Butter – 4 grams or 3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
Clover honey – 20 grams or 1 tablespoon

For the cinnamon honey cubes:
Place flour in a medium bowl. Sift in the sugar and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Toss in the butter cubes, coating them in the dry mixture. Using your fingertips, break up the butter until there are no large visible pieces. Using a spatula, mix in the honey to form a smooth paste.

Press the paste into a 4-inch square on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and freeze until solid, about 2 hours. (The paste can be frozen up to 1 week.)

For the scones:

Place the all purpose flour in the bowl of a stand mixer and sift in the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and granulated sugar. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest setting for about 15 seconds to combine. Stop the mixer, add the butter, and on the lowest setting pulse to begin incorporating the butter. Increase the speed to low and mix for about 3 minutes to break up the butter and incorporate it into the dry mixture. If any large pieces of butter remain, stop the mixer, break them up by and, and mix just until incorporated.

With the mixer running, slowly pour in the cream. Add the creme fraiche and mix for about 30 seconds until all the dry ingredients are moistened and the dough comes together around the paddle. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle and pulse again to combine.

Cut the cinnamon honey paste into 1/4 inch cubes. Once the scone dough is mixed, mix in the cubes by hand. Mound the dough on the work surface and, using the heel of your hand or a pastry scraper, push it together. Place the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and press it into a 7 1/2 by 10 inch block, smoothing the top. Press the sides of your hands against the sides of the dough to straighten the edges. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours, until firm.

Line up a baking sheet with parchment paper of silpat. Using a chef’s knife, cut the block of dough lengthwise into thirds and then crosswise into quarters. Cover with a plastic wrap and freeze until frozen solid, at least 12 hours, but preferably overnight. (The scones can be in the freezer for up to 1 month.)

Preheat the oven to 325F (convection) or 350F (standard). Line a sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper.

Arrange the frozen scones 1 inch apart on the sheet pan. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes in a convection oven, or 28 to 30 minutes in a standard oven, until golden brown.

For the glaze:
Stir the butter and honey together in a butter warmer or a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the butter has melted and combined with the honey.

As soon as you remove the scones from the oven, brush the top with the glaze. Set the sheet pan on a cooling rack and cool completely.

Enjoy! :)