Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Recipe

09 Feb 2009

Root Beer Bundt Cake

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This recipe comes from the clever folks at Baked, an innovative bakery located in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I picked up their cookbook, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, last week and was immediately smitten with the Root Beer Bundt Cake. “We weren’t looking for a hint of root beer,” wrote chefs Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, “We needed an avalanche of root beer.” The Astronomer baked the cake this weekend to celebrate a certain Gastronomer’s 27th. While the cake didn’t quite deliver the landslide of sassafras we were hoping for, it was a solid chocolate cake with an intriguing essence of root beer.

For cake

2 cups of root beer (do not use a diet root beer)
1 cup of dark cocoa powder, like Valrhona
1 stick unsalted butter, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cups dark brown sugar (packed)
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs

Baked Note: If you can find root beer schnapps, substitute 1/2 cup of root beer with root beer schnapps. The root beer flavor will be more pronounced.

For frosting

2 ounces of 60% chocolate (melted and slightly cooled)
4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup root beer
2/3 cup dark cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Make cake

Preheat oven to 325º degrees.

Generously grease or spray (with a non stick spray like Pam) and flour your bundt pan to ensure that your bundt cake will slip out easily. Knock out the excess flour.

In a small saucepan, heat root beer, cocoa and butter over medium heat until butter is completely melted. Add both sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove mixture from heat to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk eggs until just beaten, then whisk into cooled cocoa mix until combined.

Gently fold flour mixture into chocolate mixture. Mixture will be slightly lumpy—Do not over-beat which could cause the cake to be tough.

Pour mixture into bundt pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Rotate pan half-way through. A small sharp knife inserted into the bundt should come out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan completely.

Once cooled, gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn out onto a cooling rack. Make sure the cake is cooled completely before adding frosting.

Make this cake the night before serving to let the root beer flavor intensify.

Make frosting

Place all ingredients, chocolate, butter, salt, root beer, butter, and confectioners sugar, in a food processor. Pulse in short burst until fudge frosting is shiny and smooth. Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the bundt in a thick layer. Let frosting set before serving.

Serve with a big scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.

Restaurant Review

07 Feb 2009

Pie 'n Burger – Pasadena

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In the early days of gas•tron•o•my, a common feature on the site was he said / she said joint reviews where I’d write a few words and The Astronomer would chime in with his two cents. I decided to bring back this tradition with my friend Laurie. She’s a fellow Pasadena resident and Caltech physics graduate student canoodler. We have lots in common.

Laurie: Ever since I moved to Pasadena with my own Astronomer, I’ve been hearing foodies and physicists alike raving about the two namesake items at Pie ‘n Burger. I walked past the place often enough, but the air wafting out of the kitchen always smelled like grease, so I avoided it. Fool! I should have known better.

Gastronomer: We came for lunch on a sunny Friday afternoon. Pie ‘n Burger’s been around since 1963 and not much has changed since then. According to the restaurant’s website, one of the waitresses has been there from the start, and the current baker has manned the ovens since 1971—a very impressive retention rate, if I do say so myself!

Laurie: After signing our names on the seating list and waiting half an hour, The Gastronomer and I were finally seated at the bar.

Gastronomer: The Formica counter and wooden swivel chairs upon which Laurie and I dined are the same ones from nearly fifty years back.

Laruie: We ordered two of the famous burgers with cheese ($6.75) and split an order of fries ($3.55). When our lunch arrived, we dove into the greasy goodness. The burgers were topped with grilled onions (at The Gastronomer’s request), cheese, tomato, lettuce, and the eatery’s homemade version of Thousand Island dressing. Glorious. The burger was a bit heavy on the lettuce, but otherwise, it was bitchin’.

Gastronomer: As cliche as this may sound, it was, in fact, love at first bite. Pie ‘n Burger’s signature dish tasted absolutely fresh and didn’t sink to the pit of my stomach the way lesser burgers do. Laurie and I had some big-ass smiles on our face as we chomped, chomped and chomped some more. I couldn’t shut up about how delicious the burger was for the rest of the day.

Laurie: We could have done without the massive plate of chain-restaurant-style steak fries that tasted like they’d been frozen at one point in their lives. Not bad, but I wish I had saved the room for more pie.

Gastronomer: The limp and lame fries tasted more palatable with copious amounts of ketchup, but next time around, we’ll pass.

Laurie: And oh, the pie. After our huge meal, The Gastronomer insisted that we sample both of the restaurant’s specialties, and she ordered a slice of rhubarb pie. All I had room for was one bite, so I made sure to savor it. The rhubarb was sweet but still tangy enough to balance out the rich, buttery crust. I’m not a crust person. If someone is nice enough to eat the leftover crust of a piece of pie for me, we’ll be friends forever. But this crust was out of this world. It was flaky, but held together well; buttery, buttery; sweet but not overwhelmingly so; and contained a touch of salt to bring it together. Perfection. Although I loved the burger, next time, I’m skipping the entrée and going right for the dessert.

Gastronomer: That’s what she said!

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Pie ‘n Burger
913 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91106
Phone: 626-795-1123

Vegetation Profile

05 Feb 2009

Vegetation Profile: Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit

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Vegetation Profile

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The fruit of prickly pears, commonly called cactus figs, Indian fig or tuna, is edible, although it has to be peeled carefully to remove the small spines on the outer skin before consumption. If the outer layer is not properly removed, glochids can be ingested causing discomfort of the throat, lips, and tongue as the small spines are easily lodged in the skin.

Prickly Pear Cactus have been a staple food of Native Americans for many centuries. Some species of prickly pear cactus were introduced into North America from tropical America a number of centuries ago. The fruit of these cultivated prickly pear cactus is a common delicacy in Mexico and is sold in markets as “tuna.”

The prickly pear fruit normally ripens and is ready for harvest during the late summer and early fall months. Prickly pear fruit are often used to make candies, jellies, drinks and pie fillings.

During my year in Asia, it seemed like I was sampling a new fruit every other week. Everything was exotic and new, and I wanted to taste it all. Now that I’m back at home and frequenting supermarkets rather than wet markets, I strive to be just as adventurous. During a quick trip to a grocery store in Alhambra with Wandering Chopsticks, she recommended that I purchase some prickly pear cactus fruit to try. Even though they looked dull and unappealing, my curiosity got the best of me and I bought three.

I decided to eat the prickly pear cactus fruit in the same fashion as I do dragon fruit—sliced in half and scooped out with a spoon. The fruit’s flesh was a brilliant magenta, while the texture was coarse and full of round, edible seeds. Although its appearance was intriguing, the fruit’s actual taste was a disappointment—one-dimensionally sweet without a trace of tang.

It makes perfect sense that these fruits are generally transformed into candies, jellies, drinks and pie fillings rather than eaten raw. Without any added oomph, prickly pear cactus fruits are a bore.