Pepper Pound Cake

Pepper Pound Cake

Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.), pg. 168.

This Jamaican pound cake is a bit different from others that I have tried. The flavoring of allspice and black pepper give it a very unique taste. It is made with cream cheese and butter and has a fine texture. It is a breeze to make. I used a Bundt pan but a tube pan can be used. I served this with Grand Marnier soaked strawberries and a bit of cream. Very good!

3 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1/2 lb. butter (softened)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. allspice

3/4 tsp. black pepper

1 TBS. vanilla extract

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

7 eggs

3 cups sifted cake flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray or butter and dust a 9 inch tube pan or Bundt pan.

Cream the butter and the cream cheese with the salt, allspice, pepper and vanilla. Add both sugars. Mix well, beating for 2 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time on higher speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary. The mixture will be very light. On low speed, slowly add the flour, beating until smooth.

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

Bake for 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean (my cake was done in 1 hour, Maida advises 1 hour and 20 minutes!).

The cake will crack at the top - this is normal.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before inverting onto a rack and allowing to cool completely. Let it stand 8 hours or more (overnight is good) before serving.

Comments

Palm Beach Brownies with Chocolate Covered Mints

Palm Beach Brownies with Chocolate Covered Mints Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.) , pg. viii. I made these brownies again a few days ago and they were just as good as ever. This time I made half with York Peppermint Patties and the other half with Andes mints. There wasn't a noticeable difference in taste. The ones with the Andes mints were pretty with the mint green color but the ones with Yorks are equally pretty. When Maida Heatter's first book (the above-mentioned title) won the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame Award in 1998, she accepted her award on stage and began to toss out these brownies to the audience. Everybody clamored for one and went wild. The original recipe came from a local deli in her area and did not include the mints (that recipe is available in the first edition of this book). She tinkered with the recipe and added the mints which do not melt during baking. I've been itching to ...

Mulattoes

Mulattoes Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.) , pg. 199. Of the hundreds of Maida Heatter cookie recipes, this may be the most famous. These are chunky but soft, extremely chocolaty, full of nuts and chocolate chips. Sinfully delicious! They are easy to make. The trickiest part may be the baking time. After making them numerous times, I have learned to only bake them 10 or 11 minutes at the most, then remove them and allow them to sit on the hot baking pan for about 5 minutes. They will be extremely soft to the touch but eventually they firm up nicely. I just use my hand mixer for these. Although the recipe states that it makes 18 large cookies, I find that the yield is slightly higher, even when making them fairly large. I use a tablespoon scoop to form the cookies. 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate 3 oz. (3/4 stick) butter 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking pow...

Frozen Chocolate Mousse

Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.) , pg. 228. Here is a dessert sure to make any chocoholic swoon. Silky and decadent, this frozen mousse is like a rich chocolate ice cream. It is really easy to make - all the folding required will give you a workout but it is worth it! The crust can be made with crushed wafer cookies or you could even buy a ready-made crust. If doing your own, the instructions say to apply the crumbs around the sides of the pan (use a springform pan) but I did not do this - I just made a bottom layer. You will have to run a sharp knife around the pan before releasing the catch on the pan. The mousse is soft (even after freezing) and it will need to be put back in the freezer as soon as possible after serving. Maida Heatter recommends covering the mousse with either whipped cream, strawberries or chocolate leaves. I did not do either, it looks lovely without a topping. Crust 8 oz. choc...

Mad About Maida

Search This Blog