Undomesticated Happiness: September 2011

Lemon Meringue Pie is one of those basic pie recipes one should master as a baking newbie. It is so basic that kids in cooking shows know how to do it. And a talented teenager has actually mastered and shared her perfect pie in her website Whisk Kid.

The pie recipe in Whisk Kid used an actual pie crust. Stupid me cannot even make a decent pie crust. I blame it on the hot humid weather of the Philippines! So, I had to be resourceful and just use a basic graham cracker pie crust.

This pie has the right combination of sweet and tart. I love how the lemon balances the sweetness of the meringue.

Lemon Meringue Pie
from the Whisk Kid (Lemon Filling and Meringue recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com)

I had a very frustrating experience making the pie crust from the website so I had to resort to the graham cracker pie crust from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook.

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted

Mix all ingredients together and press into a 9" pie plate (you will have some leftover because the recipe is for an 11" tart pan). Bake at 350F for 10 minutes then cool to room temperature.

Lemon Filling

4 egg yolks, room temperature in a heatproof bowl

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup water

2 lemons, juiced and zested

2 tbsps butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Add the water, lemon juice and zest and cook in medium high heat. Stir frequently until this mixture comes to a boil.

Add the butter until melted. Pour half of the mixture to the egg yolks and whisk immediately. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and return to heat. Cook while stirring frequently until the mixture is very thick.

Pour this mixture over your prepared pie or graham cracker crust.

Meringue

4 egg whites

6 tbsp white sugar

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Spread the meringue over the filling making sure to seal the edges.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the meringue top turns golden brown.

I should have a kitchen torch :-(

Pawis rating: 5 of 5 because of the pie crust!!! Otherwise, this is a simple recipe for beginners :-)

Disclaimer: I'm a home cook wannabe, not a photographer :-) My photos below will show you why.

This is my second recipe from the September 2011 issue of Yummy magazine. This month's issue is all about Filipino food - yes, I know, it can be boring. But, tablea? Never boring! Give me anything chocolate and I'm awake LOL!

First off, the Filipino dishes are not bad at all! I tried the Fishtek Tagalog and the kids loved it! A simple and tasty dish. The Prawns in Aligue is next in my list.

Most important is an article on tablea desserts! I'm super tempted to try the Tableche Flan with Kahlua but (1) I don't have Kahlua, and (2) I don't have enough eggs at 12mn! Yes, I cook at odd hours of the night/morning.

I went with the Tablea Chocolate Cake from Chef Aileen Anastacio and I was not disappointed! The cake was super-moist. It stayed that way even after 1 day in room temperature and 2 days in the ref. The chocolate taste was right on spot - not too sweet in the right gooey-ness. This is the type of chocolate cake you'd get from a good restaurant. The entire cake was finished in one day (and this is a double layer 8 inch!) and a slice was left in the ref for my husband. It was that good!

Chocolate Tablea Cake
Yummy Magazine September 2011

1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used unsweetened Hershey's cocoa powder)
3/4 cup tablea chocolate, chopped finely (I didn't chop and I didn't have a food processor, so I grated the tableas)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup butter, cubed and softened (I used unsalted)
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk

For the icing:

20 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely (I used chocolate chips)
3 cups heavy cream
2 tbsps corn syrup

The recipe called for 2 9-inch round baking pan. I only have 1 9-inch so I used 2 8-inch round baking pans instead.

Grease the pan with butter. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan and parchment. I already used flour when I remembered I should have used cocoa powder instead in dusting the pans. This is so that you don't get white spots when you take your cake off the pan.

Instead of chopping the tablea, I grated them. This gave me a fine powder which was easier to melt in water.

Place cocoa powder and grated/chopped tablea chocolates in a bowl. Pour boiling water and stir until chocolates are melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one a time beating well after you add each one. Add the vanilla.

Slowly add the cocoa mixture and beat well.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt.

Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until well blended.

Pour the batter into the pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center. Toothpick should come out clean.

See all that flour on the sides of the pan? That should be cocoa powder :-(

Cool in a wire rack for 10 minutes.

You can prepare the icing while your cakes are baking.

Place the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over medium heat.

Stir constantly while chocolate is melting. Be careful not to burn your chocolate. Do this for about 20 minutes or until the chocolate is thick.

Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup. Transfer to a bowl and let cool in the ref for about 2 hours. Check and stir the mixture every 15 minutes.

Remove one of your cake from the pan and transfer to a cake turntable.

Place your icing in the middle of the cake and spread evenly on the layer of the cake. Note that I didn't even bother leveling the cake. I want this messy and gooey LOL