St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

As I mentioned a few entries ago, we had a few varieties of Gooey Butter Cake while we were in St. Louis. I don't think I've seen this pastry anywhere else, and I have no doubt that its origins are in a mistake. Today I made it for the cafe and it was a huge hit! Here's how its made:

Make the dough
Mix 1/4 C. Sugar, 1/4 C. Shortening, and 1/4 t. Salt in a mixer or food processor. Add one egg and beat for 1 minute or until well blended.

Dissolve one packet of yeast in 1/2 C. warm milk. Add the flour to the mixer, then the milk/yeast. Mix for 3 minutes using a dough hook if you have it. Lightly knead the dough for 1 minute and cover. Let it sit for 1 hour. Uncover and voila:


Make the filling
Combine 2 1/2 C. Sugar, 1 C. (2 sticks) softened butter, and a pinch of salt. Add 1 egg, and 1/4 C. Light Corn Syrup. Mix just until incorporated. Add 2 1/4 C. Flour, 1/4 C. Water and 1 T. Vanilla.




Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Roll or spread into two well buttered 9x9x2 pans (I used my 9" springform as you'll see.) Press the dough half way up the pan side. Prick with a fork along the bottom.

Divide the filling into two and pour into each crust. Don't worry about making it to pretty. You'll see why.


Then bake in a preheated oven at 375F. Bake for 30 minutes and DON'T over bake or you won't have "gooey." Here are mine at 15 minutes. I'll need to do an altitude adjustment next time as you can see:


And finally at 30 minutes:

Morning Pearls

Not much to say except I love Jasmine Pearl tea...possibly more than I love Zyllis' Julienne Peeler.

Coming right up!

So, I'm working in the cafe kitchen today and Martyn (the cook) says, "I need some carrots cut for sushi. I said, "No problem." Seconds later...

He was duly impressed with a time consuming job being knocked into seconds, and the precision of the cuts. I love the Zyllis julienne peeler. (Pardon the shameless plug).

Sometimes...

I just don't get people. Today was my first day staging at our café and I did my usual in at 6 am thing to make some sweets. I made a lemon mousse: Lemon curd folded into an Italian meringue, folded into whipped cream, set on top of lady fingers soaked in amoretto and caramel. As far as taste goes, it was probably the best thing I've made in months. I sold one. I ate two. I'm not sure how to get people to buy things that aren't chocolate chip cookies or tiramisu. It looked pretty. I described it clearly. Yet, people still didn't try it. We'll see what happens tomorrow. My money is on whomever bought the first one, coming back to buy another.

Wedding Day

I'm often mocked by my family for not taking pictures of people. Here are two. First, the wedding couple that brought us to St. Louis. The bride is my cousin Heidi and her husband, Nick.


Here is my Aunt Betty, Uncle Max/Joe (Heidi's Dad), Uncle Dick and my Mom, Peg.

These are the root of my love of food. These four have travelled the world and eaten foods from all corners of the globe. My aunt has visited numerous countries including her more recent trips to Egypt, Turkey, Thailand, and Antarctica. She regularly brings back ideas for foods that she translates into meals. Uncle Joe is a Russian History professor at Washington University, and my guide in the world of cheese and beer. Uncle Dick brings me the Asian influence of Japan from his many travels to that country. And of course, my mom, who introduced me to Mexican night and Chinese night growing up, but now shares my passion for exploring new restaurants. We truly are a foodie family. None of us is quite the same, but there is not much you could put on a plate in front of us that we wouldn't eat.

A Toast to Her Majesty the Queen

Queen E2's favorite drink is gin (30%) with dubonnet rouge (70%), on ice with a slice of lemon under the ice. So tonight, Tyler made a glass to toast the Queen! Here, here!

Mango - StL

Here's our last notable meal of St. Louis - Mango, a family Peruvian restaurant. Tyler and I have are fans of Peruvian, and we've enjoyed it both family style and fusion. Fusion is fun, but the good old food of the people is the way to go. Since I get Peruvian so rarely I ordered my favorite dishes from my time in Peru - Papas Rellenos and Aji de Gallina.

The papas are essentially mashed potatoes filled with spicy meat and raisins. These weren't the best I've had, but were still very good. A papa could easily be a lunch in itself.

The Aji is my all time favorite dish and this one didn't let me down. Bread thickened yellow pepper sauce with shredded chicken, potatoes, boiled egg and olives on rice. My first plate of this was with Los Hermanos de Colombianos - and Italian Catholic order that I stayed with prior to my big climb. The housekeeper made this for me to fatten me up before the climb!

Artenseraju

Aji de Gallina
c.1997, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger
1 large frying chicken (about 3 1/2 4 pounds)
1 leek, trimmed, washed and chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 cups soft bread crumbs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon yellow Aji, Amarillo or Chile powder
1/3 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 pounds small potatoes, boiled, peeled and halved
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
Chopped parsley for garnish

Place chicken in a large pot and fill with water to halfway up sides of bird. Add leek, onion, carrot, tomato, salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and place in a bowl until cool enough to remove the meat from the bones and shred into bitesize pieces. Meanwhile, strain broth and reserve 4 cups.

Soak the bread in the milk. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and saute for 1 more minute. Add softened bread and aji or chile powder, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring. (For a creamier sauce, place onionbread mixture in a blender, puree until smooth and return to skillet.) Add 2 cups of the chicken stock and continue cooking until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken and simmer for 5 to 8 more minutes, adding more stock if needed. Stir in the walnuts and Parmesan cheese, and simmer gently for another 5 minutes, or until thickened slightly. To serve, spoon chicken and sauce onto a serving platter and surround with potatoes and eggs. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.