Cinnamon Sugar Sponge Cake with Milk Sauce

Written by a sponge dipped in warm milk and sprinkled with sugar. – John Ciardi

John Chairdi was a professor, critic and poet known for his sharp wit as well as a internationally respected translation of Danté’s “Inferno.” He was extremely critical of much poetry aimed children, which he defined as ''written by a sponge dipped in warm milk and sprinkled with sugar.''

Those are interesting words, because this recipe is exactly that: a wonderful sponge cake, dusted with sugar and drizzled with milk sauce. So sometimes that’s a good thing. Perhaps not so much in literature, in Mr. Chairdi’s opinion.

I remember milk sauce on cake from when I was very young. Mom used to serve it with blueberry cake. It was a treat and delight.

The origin of this cake started, as most things do, in front of my computer because I didn’t have an ingredient. I had no butter, and was looking for a cake recipe that didn’t use it. You can substitute shortening, but when I searched I stumbled across the unexpected. 

A recipe I found contained no butter, or shortening and no milk in the batter. I did have milk. That wasn’t the issue. But I was intrigued. So intrigued I made it, or at least a version of it.

I won’t get into exactly what I changed It still bears a passing resemblance to the original, but that’s probably about it.

Left to right: the eggs and sugar; with the flour incorporated; ready for the oven.

I have made a fair number of cakes and have never made one that defined the word “sponge” so clearly. This was the lightest cake I had ever made. Think of angel food cake light. But the thing is there’s no separating and beating the eggs.

This came together, and went down, very quickly.

If you’re not that much into milk sauce try it with ice cream. Or anything else you may think will work!

Cinnamon Sugar Sponge Cake with Milk Sauce

Prep: 10 min  |  Bake 25 min  | Yield 8x8 square cake

4 eggs 

This is about 2 minutes after I removed the cake from the oven.
It had barely started to pull away from the sides in the oven.
I also used a toothpick to test. Better safe than sorry.

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking powder

pinch salt
8” square cake pan

Milk sauce:

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup whole milk, or better, coffee cream

2 tbsp white sugar
    

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease the pan with shortening (or butter) and dust liberally with white sugar. Set aside.

Place the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla, salt and baking powder to the eggs and beat for 30 seconds. Then add the remaining sugar in two batches. Continue to beat until very light and foamy. 

This is the cake just sprinkled with icing sugar – no milk sauce.

When beaten enough, the beaters will leave slight trails behind in the batter (much like when halfway through whipping cream). They will disappear immediately.

Using a spatula, fold in 1/4 cup of the flour. Repeat with the remaining flour, in two equal batches. Deflate the batter as little as possible when adding the flour.

Pour into the prepared pan.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the sides start shrinking from the edge of the pan. You can also test the centre with a cake tester or toothpick. When it comes out clean the cake is done.

Let cool in the pan. Once cool you can turn out onto a plate and sprinkle the top with confectioners sugar (optional), or use the sauce for an amazing old-fashioned style dessert.

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Make Brioche with your mixer!

But since you're asking me, I'll tell you my opinion: all cornbread is authentic, as long as it's good, hot, and made with love and fresh ingredients. – Jeremy Jackson 

The quote begs a very interesting question: what makes a recipe “authentic”? Is it ingredients, technique, location something is made? All are valid to argue in the positive and negative.

Consider how you get down from a hilltop. You can walk, roll, bike, run, sled, ski, etc. The end result is getting down the hill in one piece. How you get there is of no great concern, really. It's the end result.

The flour, sugar, yeast, salt and butter.

The same is true with making brioche. It has to be rich and buttery, with a moist, tender crumb. But it's a French classic – it must be difficult. As with all classic French recipes, there’s more fear and mystery surrounding how to  make them than is necessary.

But for a moment, let's talk original. As far as “authentic” goes, look no further than Julia Child. She uses a spatula and her hands. (Of course she would!) I would imagine that is exactly the way she was taught when she was studying cooking in France.

If you want to read how she does it, look here.

Interestingly, the method of choice nowadays is a mixer with a whisk and dough hook. Many fine dining magazines have published recipes that use that most useful kitchen tool. 

If it’s good enough for Fine Cooking magazine it's good enough for me... So I don’t feel that guilty in using my KitchenAid to help me out. Otherwise I would be in for a bit of a mess.

The "paste." before first long rise.

Before being baked, brioche is part dough, part paste, or “pâté de brioche.” Luckily my excursions in overnight raises have conditioned me for what to expect from an 8-hour bread rise. It’s substantially different than when first started.

A few sites lament about “fast” brioche recipes common nowadays where the flavour is not allowed to develop before baking. This also is solved by the overnight rise. The length of time lets “yeastiness” develop that 2-3 hours just doesn’t deliver.

I made this recipe because I was bored one night this week. If it failed all I would be out was a few cups of flour, some butter and eggs. No big deal.

That’s the good thing about baking. If it’s a flop you just throw it out. Luckily this was not. Any fear I may have had about making brioche has now completely evaporated. It’s no more difficult than any other bread.

This was delicious warm and plain, and the next morning toasted with butter. It can be used to make excellent French toast, or even sandwiches. The dough itself can be shaped into rolls, as lining for tarts, or rolled into croissants. They can then be broiled briefly with French pastry cream and almond slivers. Versatility at its finest!

So what’s stopping you from trying your hand at this? Nothing. I know you want to...

Settled in for 2nd rise. Dish is 8" wide x 5" high.

Brioche

Time: overnight, plus 3 hour rise |  Bake: 1 hour  |  yield 2 regular or 1 lg loaf

4 cups unbleached flour

1/4 cup white sugar

2-1/2 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/3 cup water

1 tbsp cream (for brushing)

Place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of your mixer. Using the whisk attachment, mix the dry ingredients together.

Cube the butter into 1/2” pieces. Add to the flour and whisk until the butter begins to break up. Then add the eggs all at once. Continue to whisk until the mixture looks granular, about 2 minutes. (see photo)

Switch the whisk for a dough hook. Then add the milk and water. Beat the dough until it comes together in a mass, but is very sticky. This will take a couple minutes. Remove the hook.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl so all the dough is together in one mass. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. let rise overnight, or for 8 hours.

After the first rise, butter your hands and remove the dough to a board. Using a small amount of flour, knead briefly to make the dough smooth. It will still be very moist but will not stick.

If making two loaves, divide in two and place in two well buttered loaf pans, or two fluted “mousseline” moulds. (They have deep flutes and flare out on the sides.)

If using a circular baking dish (like I did), butter it well, line with parchment paper 1” up past the sides and butter the paper. Place the dough in the dish.

Let the dough rise again for 3 hours. It will almost triple in size. 

Preheat the oven to 400°F with a pan (with 1 cup of water in it) on the bottom rack. Brush the loaf (or loaves) with the cream.

Bake the small loaves for 30-35 minutes, or the large one for 1 hour. The loaves are done when they are well browned on top and sound hollow when tapped. 

Note: the large loaf can be tricky because of its size and the dough moisture content. The very centre has a tendency to cook very slowly. That’s why the time is twice that f the smaller loaves.

Remove from the oven and the pans, and let cool.

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Easter Baking: Hot Cross Buns!

My mom used to say Greek Easter was later because you got stuff cheaper. – Amy Sedaris

Light, fluffy, spicy and sweet. What more can one ask?

Some things are very seasonal. Pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and barbecue in the summer are two good examples. So are hot cross buns at Easter. Try to find them in a bakery any time other than the week before. Impossible.

That's a shame because they're delicious. Hot cross buns are a sweet bread roll with spice and currants – or raisins – and icing in a cross shape on top. They're kind of like a sticky bun in a different shape (and without all the sticky). What's not to love?

After kneading, before first rise. Currants will fall out as you
knead. Just stick them back in the dough.

For success you need to find a recipe that gives you moist buns. I have a perfect one, courtesy of my much-loved Great Aunt Hilda, or more accurately her handwritten cookbook. Her recipe dates from at least the 1960s, and probably quite a bit earlier. My recipe is almost identical, but of course I couldn't leave well enough alone... I fiddled with the spice amounts.

The amount of both the spice and currants can be adjusted to your own liking. I find “store-bought” very frugal on both counts.

There’s actually some interesting history surrounding these spiced, moist buns. Read on.

After first rise.

History and Folklore

Abridged from Wikipedia

Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the Crucifixion. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term "hot cross bun" was not until 1733.

It is believed that buns marked with a cross were eaten by Saxons in honour of the goddess Eostre (the cross is thought to have symbolized the four quarters of the moon); "Eostre" is probably the origin of the name "Easter". Others claim that the Greeks marked cakes with a cross, much earlier.

One superstition says that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or become mouldy during the subsequent year. Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone who is ill was said to help them recover.

Sharing a hot cross bun with another person is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year, particularly if "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" is said at the time.  If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck. If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. 

So rolls that will last a whole year, eh? I doubt that quite a lot. These never last more than a day or two in my house! These are excellent, and 8-12 will be nowhere near enough if you have family coming. So double the recipe. They always make a good gift.

Hot cross buns only take a few hours to make, and most of that time is in waiting for the dough to rise, so there’s really no reason you can’t start them in the morning, do whatever you need to do during the day, and come back and finish the process.

They’re well worth the very minimal effort.

Here's a useful kitchen hint. Buying yeast in packets can be expensive if you do a fair amount of baking. Buy yeast at a bulk food store and place it in a jar in your freezer. It does nothing to the yeast and will last for months and months, remaining as fresh as when you bought it.

Also, don't forget today is Thursday. Depending on where you live stores are closed tomorrow (Good Friday), open on Saturday and then closed again on Easter Sunday. So if you have to do any holiday shopping (turkey, ham, roast, whatever) do it today to avoid disappointment!

Dividing into 8 makes large-ish buns...12 makes more manageable
sized buns but take a few minutes more to bake.

Old-Fashioned Hot Cross Buns

Prep: 20 min  |  Rise: 2-2.5 hours  |  Makes 8-12 buns

3/4 cup water, heated to 110°F

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup powdered milk

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tbsp active dry yeast 

1 cup dried currants

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp allspice (or nutmeg)

2 lg eggs 

3 cups unbleached flour

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

3 tsp coffee cream

Heat the water, powdered milk, butter and sugar in a small saucepan until the butter is melted and the liquid reaches a temperature of 110°F. If it's any warmer you'll kill the yeast when you add it.

Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the liquid. Stir gently, cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes to proof. At the end of the time the yeast should be creamy. If not, throw it out and start again with fresh yeast.

Icing in a plastic bag ready to apply.

Place the currants in a large bowl. Add the salt, cinnamon, allspice, eggs and proofed yeast liquid. Mix well and then add the flour. Stir until it comes together, then transfer to a board and knead for 5 minutes. The dough will still be “wet” but won’t stick to your hands or the board.

Place back in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled. This will take about 2 hours. (I didn't have as warm a spot as usual for my bread and my first rise was 2.5 hours...)

At the end of the rise, punch down and divide into 8-12 equal balls. 8 balls make good sized buns, 12 make the number of apostles…

Arrange the balls in an 8” x 8” oven-proof dish. Let rise again until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375°F. Just before baking cut a small cross in the top of each bun. This will help the icing stay on top in a cross shape.

Bake for 20-25 minutes (30 min if making 8 because they're larger). Remove from the oven and rub with butter. Let the buns cool for 10 minutes.

Mix together the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and cream. Place in a plastic bag, snip off the end, and squeeze a cross on the top of each bun.

My "crosses" leave a little to be desired. I think I snipped too big an end off my
icing bag. It should only be 1/4" wide.

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Recipes: Kale Mushroom Frittata and Garlic Sauce

Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet. – Thumper, Bambi (Walt Disney Pictures), 1942

A mushroomy frittata with slices of steak and creamy garlic sauce. Hungry yet?

This recipe is a way to use a winter green that we should all be eating more of. I just ended a sentence in a preposition…. I hate doing that. Grammar police, come get me.

What I don’t hate any more is kale.

Previously, kale was something I felt I should eat because it was good for me, and available in the grocery stores in the dead of winter. Did you know – if you plan ahead – you can be growing your own kale outside in Nova Scotia even now in January. I know people who do it. And that's not all they grow 4 seasons.

Kale has a very “earthy” taste. I really don’t know how to describe it. Maybe saying it resembles Swiss chard is a good start. It can be an acquired taste if you don't like strong flavours.

But we should be adding it to our diets. It’s a nutritional powerhouse.

Here’s some reasons why you should eat kale: 

It’s low in calories, high in fibre and zero fat. Kale is high in iron and vitamins A, C and K. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Kale offers cardiovascular support by lowering cholesterol. Kale is high in calcium. Kale is also useful as a detox food because of its high fibre and sulphur content.

Kale has been given several nutritional monikers, including being called “the new beef.” I don’t know if I would go that far. It’s not very brown or very meaty… But that doesn’t mean it’s not good. I like carrots and they're not very beefy either.

I’ve actually grown quite fond of it, and will be trying to over-winter some this year if possible.

A really nice way to enjoy it is in a frittata. Essentially frittata is a “fancy” Italian omelet. 

Whereas an omelet is finished on top of the stove, frittatas are most often baked. Ingredients are distributed in the egg mixture before it is placed in the oven. They can have onions, mushrooms, greens, potatoes and/or bacon.

My recipe has no bacon, but if you wanted this as a single dish for brunch add about a cup and you’re done.

I served this with steak and a most amazing garlic sauce. Originally I made the sauce for the steak, but the frittata is so hearty it is just as good served with that on the side.

If you’ve never eaten kale perhaps this is a place for you to start. I wished I had made more…which translates into this dish will most definitely be made again.

Enjoy!

Kale Mushroom Frittata

Prep: 15 min  |  Bake: 40 min  |  Serves 2 or 4

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups kale, pre-cooked and chopped

200 g mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion

4 garlic cloves

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Heat the oil in an oven-proof frying pan. Add the mushrooms, onions and garlic and sauté until the mushrooms start to brown slightly. Stir in the pre-cooked kale.

Whisk the eggs, milk, cayenne, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Pour over the mushrooms and kale in the pan and stir to distribute the mixtures together. 

Sprinkle the top evenly with the cheese and breadcrumbs. Let the mixture cook on top of the stove until you can see it just beginning to set around the edges, about 2 minutes.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30-45 min. The time will depend on the size of your pan and the depth of the frittata. My 10” cast iron took 40 minutes.

Serve as a main dish or side for brunch or dinner.

Creamy Garlic Sauce

Time: about 10 min

4 tbsp butter

8 garlic cloves, diced

2 tbsp onion, finely diced

1 cup beef stock

1 cup cream

1-1/2 tsp cornstarch

Sauté the garlic and onion in the butter over medium heat until the garlic is soft and very fragrant, but take care not to burn. 

Mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of the stock. Add the resulting slurry, remaining stock and cream to the garlic.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and let cook until the amount of liquid has thickened, about 4-5 minutes.

Serve with the frittata, or on top of grilled meat as part of a meal.

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Lunchtime: Croque-monsieur with Quince Jam

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? – W. Clement Stone 

Ohh, la la. Hammy, cheesy, melty, tasty.

Last Sunday I posted a recipe for making jam out of the fruit of flowering quince. At some point I had to do something that would force me to use some.

This was it. And a fine choice it was. I love these sandwiches. I guess it’s partly because I love French toast. Some people are more comme ci, comme ça about it.

Regardless, French toast is really more of a breakfast food. For a light lunch you have to add a little something to it. Those little somethings are ham and cheese.

My homemade flowering quine jam.

Croque-monsieur originated in French cafés and bars around 1910 as a quick lunch. “Croque” refers to the crunchy sound, and "monsiuer" is mister. So for as fancy as it sounds, this is a “Mr. Crunch.”

Croque-monsieur always have either Emmental or Guyère cheese, but there’s a lot of different options you can try to spruce it up.

 Serve with an egg on top (for a "madame"), or a slice of tomato ("provençal") or with a slice of pinenapple (Hawaiian).

If you find yourself in France you can go to McDonald’s and order – are you ready – a Croque McDo. Hmmm.

I think I’ll make mine at home. They’re not rocket science.

This recipe uses Emmental cheese. It’s sometimes confused with Swiss Cheese in North America. Emmental comes from a specific region of Switzerland. North American Swiss cheese – usually not quite as flavourful – can be made anywhere. Our attempts are usually made from inferior ingredients so the taste isn't as "full."

Emmental melts very well so it’s one of the two cheeses often used in fondue and in grilled cheese sandwiches. We’re making glorified grilled cheese sandwiches today. So if you can, get Emmental.

There's always a dollop of jam on the plate when I serve these. The quince jam was perfect for lunch. The jam itself is not too sweet so it paired extremely well with the ham and cheese.

No wonder I like these so much.

Croque Monsier, pour deux

(to serve four double all the ingredients)

Prep: 5 min  |  Fry: 5 min  |  Bake 15 min

1/4 cup butter

1 lg egg

1/4 cup cream (or milk)

salt and pepper

4 thick slices of homemade bread

200g sliced black forest (or your favourite) ham

200 g sliced Emmental cheese

jam

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Melt the butter in an oven-proof skillet.

Mix the egg and cream together on a plate. Add salt and pepper.

Pair up the slices of bread. Place 1/4 of the cheese slices on two pieces. Follow that with 1/2 of the ham and then the remaining cheese.

Close each sandwich with the remaining slices of bread. Take each sandwich and dip into the egg mixture. Let it soak for a few second and then flip and repeat.

Place each sandwich in the hot butter and let cook on each side until golden.

After each side has browned place the pan in the oven and let cook until the cheese has melted, about 15 minutes.

Serve with the jam of your choice.

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Evening Snack: Strawberry Orange Pound Cake

Sure, you can mix the flour, baking soda, salt, shortening, and the whole nine yards, but why wouldn't you just pull out a box of Bisquick? – Sandra Lee 

Good cake.

There’s so many things wrong with the thinking in that quote above... Nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to homemade.

Sometimes you just have to have homemade cake. I’m old enough to admit that. It’s sad that the craving usually hits in the evening – and at times when you don’t have any in the house.

Pink batter. Like a party in a pan.

It’s also kind of sad that what passes for cake at the grocery store really isn’t. Well it IS, but most certainly doesn’t hold a candle to homemade. Cake should make you mumble “mmmmm,” not make you wonder at every bite what was substituted instead of butter.

I find grocery store cake light and fluffy. Too light and fluffy. “Airy” would be a word to describe them. That’s not good. A decent cake should have some substance. 

So going to the grocery – usually one of my most favourite pastimes – was out. Cake from a box is nearly as bad.

If I had gone to the grocery store I would have picked up a pound cake. By this time I really wanted some. A good pound cake is a delight to behold.

Pound cake’s name originally came from its ingredients: 1 pound each of sugar, flour, butter and eggs. Of course that makes pretty large cake. For example, there’s about 8 large eggs in a pound. Calculating from that, a true pound cake would make one twice the size of this recipe.

In France pound cake is called “quatre-quarts” (four quarters). The name means that all four ingredients are included in equal weight, so you don’t really have to stick to a pound of each.

The characteristic crack that good pound cake gets
when baked.

As long as you have a 1:1:1:1 weight ratio of each ingredient you will end up with a pound cake. Many recipes don’t even call for salt or vanilla.

I took a basic pound cake recipe and made some additions, based on what I had to work with in the house. I had some frozen strawberries and oranges hanging around, so in they went. The flavours work extremely well together.

Making a cake in the evening can be a little time consuming, especially waiting for it to bake. But if you get your craving soon enough after dinner you’ll be drinking milk and eating cake in no time.

You'll notice the recipe calls for frozen strawberries. You could use fresh, but I;'m not sure it would turn out quite the same. The frozen berries kind of disappeared into the batter. Pieces that were larger ended up being a little like jam in spots. Nice. I don't think fresh berries would do that.

Dusting the cake pan with sugar is a good thing to do. The finished cake comes out with a sparkly, almost sugary-crunchy exterior. 

As I said before: mmmmmm.....

A little about Bisquik (regarding the intro quote): It was first "discovered" by a travelling sales executive from General Mills in 1930. While on a train trip he asked the rail line chef about his wonderful biscuits. The chef said he used a pre-made mixture of flour, lard, salt and baking powder – that he kept on ice.

General Mills started to make a version using soy as a preservative, and finally settled on hydrogenated oil, that didn't need refrigeration. Look up hydrogenated oil on the web. It isn't good...

So back to the pantry we should go.

I have to admit I had more than one piece while it
was still warm.

Strawberry Orange Pound Cake

Prep: 15 min  |  Bake 1 hr 15 min

1 cup + 2 tbsp butter, room temperature

2 cups + 6 tbsp white sugar

2-1/2 cups + 1/4 cup white flour

2 cups chopped strawberries, frozen

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

rind of 1/2 orange, finely chopped

Juice of 1 orange (1/4 cup)

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 10-inch bunt pan with 2 tablespoons of the butter. Dust the inside with 6 tbsp of sugar. Set aside.

Toss the strawberries with 1/4 cup flour in a bowl and set aside.

Beat together the remaining butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then add the baking soda, vanilla, orange zest, juice and salt.

Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until all is incorporated. Stir in the strawberries. If you wish to have a pinkish cake, vigorously stir the berries to break them up slightly in the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean and the top has split characteristically like a pound cake.

Remove from the oven , let cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack.

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