Chef Geila Hocherman’s Hamentashen With Four Fillings

As featured in her brand new cookbook, Kosher Revolution, Geila Hocherman teaches us how to make hamentashen in print and on video:

Hamentashen with Four Fillings

Crust

• 2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for flouring work surface
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (optional)

Poppy filling

• One 2-ounce jar poppy seeds
• One 12-ounce jar black currant jam
• 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in boiling water until soft, drained
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Raspberry filling

• One 12-ounce jar raspberry jam
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Apricot Filling

• One 12-ounce jar apricot jam
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, soaked in boiling water until soft, drained.
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Coconut -Chocolate- Hazelnut Filling

• One 13-ounce jar Nutella, or other
• chocolate-hazelnut spread

Photo by: Antonis Achilleous - Kosher Revolution, page 181

1. First make the crust. Sift the flour and baking powder onto parchment paper. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugar and vanilla, and blend at medium speed. One at a time, add the eggs, incorporating the first before the adding the second, and blend. Add the orange juice, if using and blend. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, gradually to make a dough.
2. Divide the dough into 2 parts and flatten each to make a disk. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap, stack the discs on a plate, and refrigerate until the stiff enough to work easily, at least 2 hours.
3. Meanwhile make the filling(s). For the poppy, raspberry-and/or apricot fillings, combine the ingredients in small bowls, stir to blend, and refrigerate for 1 hour. For the chocolate combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer half the filling to the centerof an 18 inch piece of plastic wrap, fold the wrap over the filling to enclose it, and squeeze the mixture to create a log 1-inch in diameter. Repeat with the remaining filling and freeze the logs.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Flour a work surface well and roll 1 of the discs out on it. Using a 3-inch glass or round cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of the poppy seed, raspberry and/or apricot filling(s) in the center of each round, wet the edges with water and bring up the dough together to seal. Alternatively, drop the filling onto the dough by heaping tablespoons. For the chocolate filling, cut the frozen logs onto 1/2 inch discs. Fill the rounds by placing a disc in the center of each form and seal.
5. Transfer the hamentashen to 1 or more cookie sheets and bake, in batches if necessary, until pale gold 12 or 14 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Flourless Milk Chocolate Cake with Grapefruit and Hazelnuts

François Payard is a third generation pâtissier (French pastry chef), born in Nice (France), he lives and works in New York since 1990. His pattisseries are in such varied locales as New York, Las Vegas, Brasil, Japan and Korea, he’s authored three books – all on chocolate desserts and more. In 1995 he earned a James Beard Association “Pastry Chef of the Year” award, honoring him for his unique pastry designs and high attention to flavor.

In his Chocolate Epiphany – Exceptional Cookies, Cakes and Confections for Everyone, published in 2008, he has many delightful recipes that can be made kosher with hardly a change. It is hard to go through the book without salivating as one looks at the superb photography by Rogerio Volcan, or as one reads the recipes and envisions the results.

Here is one, which I can’t wait to try:

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Candied Grapefruit

• 1 grapefruit, scrubbed thoroughly
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Make the Candied Grapefruit Peel

1. Cut the grapefruit into quarters. Remove the pulp and as much of the white pith as possible. Place the peels in a medium saucepan , fill it with water and bring to a boil. Drain the water, then fill the pot with fresh water and bring to a boil again . Repeat this this process a third time. Drain the water completely.
2. Combine the peels, granulated sugar, and corn syrup with 1/2 cup water in the saucepan, and place over low heat. Simmer for about 1 hour, until the peels become slightly translucent.  Remove from the heat, and let them seat in the syrup until cool. You can keep the the peels in the syrup, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Darin and and finely chop 1/2 cup of the peel to add to the cake batter.

Milk Chocolate Cake

• Vegetable cooking spray, for the pan
• 4 1/2 oz milk chocolate chopped
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup hazelnut flour or finely ground blanched hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Make the Cake

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 F. Spray the sides and bottom of a round 9-inch cake pan with vegetable cooking spray. Cut a 9-inch round piece of parchment paper and place it at the bottom of the pan.
2. Fill a medium pot one-third full with water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl that will fit snuggly on top of the pot but not touch the water. Reduce the heat to low and place in the bowl over the pot. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat.
   
3. Place the eggs, egg yolks, and brown sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the mixture turns a pale yellow and increases in volume. With a silicone spatula, fold in the chocolate until it is well incorporated . Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 40 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean and the sides slightly pull back from the edges of the pan.
4. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife along the sides of the cake to release it from pan, unmold the cake, and let it cool to room temperature on a wire rack. You can make the cake 1 or 2 days ahead. Keep it tightly wrapped in a cool, dry environment.

Milk Chocolate Sauce

• 1 lb milk chocolate chopped
• 2 cups whole milk

Make the Milk Chocolate Sauce

1. Put the chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour the milk over the chocolate and let the heat melt the chocolate. Stir gently, then strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Let it cool until it is lukewarm or at room temperature. You can make the sauce up to 3 days ahead. Keep it covered  and refrigerated , and let it come back to room temperature before serving.

Serve the Cake - Cut the cake into slices and serve with the chocolate sauce.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Sachertorte

Sixteen year old Franz Sacher first developed his famous torte on a day when Austria’s Chancellor Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich‘s pastry Chef was out sick, and the Prince – who was entertaining some foreign diplomats that evening – needed urgent help. Since 1832, Sachertorte has been famous enough to attract many a tourist from around the world to the two Vienna establishments that serve it. The Demel Bakery, where young Franz worked at the time, claimed they had the original recipe while the Sacher Hotel - owned by the Sacher family – claimed theirs was the real one. After 7 years, of fierce legal battles, the courts decided that both could be sold under the name Sachertorte. The main difference between the two consists in Demel‘s being simply coated with apricot jam and chocolate icing, while Sacher‘s also has a layer of apricot jam spread through the center.

As the kids were growing up, this cake became a tradition in our home, a special treat to celebrate that special occasion, a celebration of that special landmark in each one’s journey through life:

Sachertote

Photo from: Holidays in Austria - Arrive and revive

Ingredients

• 5 oz unsalted margarine (or butter for a tastier, dairy, version)
• 5 oz plain chocolate melted
• 5 oz castor sugar (hard to find and rather expensive you can make your own by grinding regular granulated sugar in a blender or food processor, castor or caster sugar is much finer than confectioner’s sugar and dissolves immediately)
• 6 eggs separated
• 4 oz plain flour, sifted
• Apricot jam

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Apply margarine lightly to a deep, 9 inch cake tin and line the bottom with margarined greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the margarine and beat in the the cooled melted chocolate 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the sugar and egg yolks alternatively, beating well after each addition. Mix in the flour.
3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into the chocolate mixture
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for an hour, or until the cake is well risen and has shrunk slighly from the sides of the tin.
5. Remove cake from the oven and let it stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
6. When the cake is quite cool, either spread the top and sides with warmed – strained –  apricot jam, or cut the cake in half horizontally, spread the jam between the two layers (which I prefer) and put together the two halves before spreading the top and sides with more jam.

Chocolate Icing

• 7 oz plain chocolate
• 8 oz castor sugar
• 5 oz water
• margarine

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. In another pan, dissolve the the sugar in water over low heat. When the sugar has dissolved increase the heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Beat the chocolate until smooth; gradually beat in enough hot sugar syrup to make the icing the consistency of thick cream, Finally beat in a small piece of margarine.
3. Pour the hot icing over the top of the cake and let it run down the sides. Quickly smooth the icing round the sides of the cake with a spatula. The less the icing is touched, the shinier it will be. Set aside until the glaze is quite hard and dry.

Serve with one or two billows of Crème Chantilly (sweetened whipped cream).

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Viennese Chocolate Fingers

SYR and I are both confirmed, hopeless, chocoholics. Yes, we love chocolate in almost any shape or form. Here is a recipe she adapted (to make it pareve) from Jacqueline Bellefontaine‘s What’s Cooking Chocolate:

Makes about 18

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sweet margarine
• 6 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
• 1 1/2 cups self – rising flour, sifted
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 7 ounces dark chocolate

Directions

1. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets. Beat the sweet margarine and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat the flour and cornstarch into the mixture.
2. Melt 2 1/4 oz of the dark chocolate and beat into the cookie dough.
3. Place in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe fingers bout 2 inches long on the prepared cookie sheets, slightly spaced apart to allow for spreading during cooking.
4. Bake in a prepared oven at 375 F for 12-15 minutes. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets, then carefully transfer with a spatula to a wire rack and let cool completely.
5. Melt the remaining, dark chocolate and dip one end of each cookie in the chocolate, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl.
6. Place the cookies on a sheet of baking parchment and allow to completely set before serving.

Not only do these cookies practically “melt in your mouth,” but the taste is almost unequaled by anything else I can remember. They went so fast, I never got a chance to shoot my own picture and had to use the photo above, a detail from the one appearing  in the book!

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Biscotti

Biscotti (or biscotto in singular) are Italian cookies which are baked twice, once by first baking in a loaf, then slicing the loaf and baking the slices. They are deliciously crunchy and are just perfect for dipping into dessert wine or coffee.

They are one of my favorite breakfast treats, sometimes I’ll even have them as dessert with wine, after a special dinner. Here is Lévana‘s easy and scrumptious recipe:

Chocolate Espresso Biscotti

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups flour: all purpose, whole wheat pastry or spelt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon instant coffee powder (decaf OK) mixed with 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

Directions

1. Mix the eggs, sugar and oil by hand or with a mixer, until well combined. Add all remaining dough ingredients and mix to make a smooth dough. The dough can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. On a very lightly foured board, roll each piece into a 12 inch cylinder. Transfer each cylinder onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten into a log about 2 1/2 inches wide and and 1/2 inch thick. Make sure the shaped logs are at least 1 inch apart, as they will expand. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. Reduce the temperature to 325 F.
4. When the logs are cool enough to handle, carefully move them onto a cutting board. Cut 1/2 inch slices with a very sharp serrated knife; put the slices back on the cookie sheet, cut upside down and bake again for 20 more minutes or until golden brown and very crisp. (Take one out and let it cool and then taste it. If it’s not very crisp, return the biscotti to the oven for 2 to three minutes.)
5. Store at room temperature in an airtight cookie tin.

Yield: About 4 dozen

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Pecan Pie – Part 2 – Maple Pecan Pie

Last Sunday we posted a recipe for Pecan Pie, here’s a delicious variation on the theme from Geila Hocherman‘s Kosher Revolution (page 170):

SYR's pie from the recipe, photographed by Irving Schild for The Kosher Scene

Every so often I get a pecan pie urge, for me, means I need to make one. On one such occasion I discovered I didn’t have the corn syrup, the traditional sweetener. The serendipitous replacement was maple syrup, which adds its own great flavor as well as sweetness. I also found a store-bought frozen pie shell – my standard go-to when making this, especially when its part of a big-deal holiday menu. Feel free, of course, to make your own crust, but a bought shell works beautifully here and saves toons of time. Using chopped and whole pecans adds textual interest.

Convert It

To make this dairy, use unsalted butter in place of Margarine

Ingredients

• One 9-inch frozen pie crust
• 1 1/2 cups pecan, 1 cup coarsely chopped, the remaining whole
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 3/4 cup packed light sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place the pie crust in it. Spread the chopped nuts over the crust and arrange the whole nuts on top. Set Aside.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flour, syrup, sugars, eggs, margarine and vanilla. Stir to blend and pour over the nuts. Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 60 minutes. Transfer to to a rack to cool before serving.

Easy to make and superb tasting… who can ask for anything more? Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie may be a Thanksgiving classic, but it also happens to be a favorite of mine at almost any time. I looked for an easy to make, great tasting recipe and I found this one on one of our must read foodie blogs:

Photo by: Irene Saiger from bamitbach.wordpress.com

This recipe was printed in the New York Times many years ago.  It is the only one I use and has never failed me.

• 1-10″ baked pie shell
• 1 1/4  cups dark corn syrup
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 stick butter or pareve margarine, melted
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup pecan halves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Partially bake your pie shell.  Remove and allow to cool.  Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a heavy pan.  Bring to a boil and stir till sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl.  Mix in cooled syrup, melted butter, chopped pecans and vanilla.  Pour into pie shell.  Decorate the top of pie with pecan halves.  Bake for about 50 minutes.  Cover crust with foil to prevent from over-browning.   Serves 10

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Yom Tov Recipes – Cranberry Apricot Bread Pudding

Last year we had a few posts with recipes for this time of the year:

Orange Honey Cake

Yom Tov Recipes – Carrot Kugel

Yom Tov Recipes – From Prime Grill’s Chef David Kolotkin

Yom Tov Recipes – Rib Roast

Yom Tov Recipes – Personal Honeyed Chocolate Lava Cake

This year we feature yom tov recipes again and we’ll start this year’s series with one of  Chef Lévana Kirschenbaum‘s dishes, from her new book The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen.

Photo by: Meir Pliskin

Cranberry Apricot Bread Pudding

I often whip up this treat after a party, when I look to recycle my leftover bread. Attention gluten- free diners: This is for you too!

Any bread will do as long as it is not too crusty (in other words, don’t use baguette or ciabatta!). You will love the kick and the bold ruby-colored specks the cranberries add. Nothing to it: All aboard-one step and you’re done! Individual desserts: Pour into greased muffin molds and reduce the baking time to about 45 minutes.

Sometimes cranberries can be hard to find, like in this Rosh Hashanah holiday season, so I am making the pudding with apples, which is every bit as delicious. I have included the apple variation, every bit as delicious and as pretty.

• 3 cups milk or dairy-free milk, low-fat OK
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups all-fruit apricot preserves
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons orange flower water  (settle for 2 tablespoons orange zest)
• 3 tablespoons apricot brandy or rum
• 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped (food processor)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Mix all ingredients except cranberries by hand in a bowl, breaking up the bread and preserves as you go. Fold in the cranberries. Pour the batter into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan, or a greased 10-inch round pan. Bake for about 1 hour, or a little longer, until the pudding looks nice and puffy, and the center is firm. Serve warm or at room temperature, alone or with caramel sauce (recipe follows), and a scoop of sorbet or vanilla ice cream. Makes a dozen servings.

variation: Apple Bread Pudding GFA

Skip the cranberries and the orange flower water, reduce the milk to 2 cups. Add 4 Granny Smith (green) apples, unpeeled and coarsely grated and 2 tablespoons ciinamon. Proceed just as above.

Caramel Sauce

Another glowing example of a treat known as dairy that doesn’t in the least suffer from a dairy-free adaptation, au contraire! (Go ahead and multiply the recipe if you would like-it keeps very well.)

• 1 cup Sucanat
• ½ cup agave syrup
• ⅓ cup water
• ¾ cup dairy-free milk, low-fat OK
• ⅓ cup soy or rice milk powder
• 3 tablespoons brandy or rum
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt

Bring the Sucanat, agave, and water to boil in a small saucepan, stirring. When it comes to a boil, stop stirring and cook until thick and a deep amber color, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk the remaining ingredients in a small bowl until perfectly smooth, then carefully add to the saucepan (to avoid splattering). Cook another 3 minutes on a medium flame, whisking. Makes about 2½ cups. Store refrigerated in a glass jar.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Lemon Tarts, Lemon Tarts!!

Since my earliest days there was something about the taste of lemon I always liked, ever since I’ve tried to include lemon as an ingredient wherever possible… and sometimes even where it was not always possible to make it work.

Lemon Tarts are and have long been personal favorites, here is a a parve (and a dairy) version of the recipe:

Photo from: http://ourfamilyfoodadventures.com/2011/08/29/a-little-plate-of-sunshine/

Lemon Tarts

(adapted from Eat, Play, Love)

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

Tart Crust

• 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 6 tablespoons margarine (butter, for a dairy version)
• 6 tablespoons parve cream cheese (regular cream cheese,  for a dairy version)
• 2 tablespoons ice water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Tart Filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon lemon peel, minced
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions

Tart Crust

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Use a pastry blender to mix the dry ingredients. Next slice the margarine and parvecream cheese into 1″ slices and add it to the flour mixture. Use the pastry blender, or two knives in a scissor fashion, to combine the ingredients until mixture has the texture of a coarse meal.Next combine the water and the vanilla extract and sprinkle it over the flour mixture. Using two forks pull the flour from the bottom up over the top. Then with your hands, gently begin kneading the dough to form a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or freeze it for up to one month).Finally preheat the oven to 375F. When you’re ready to use the dough, roll it out on a floured surface and place it in 6 to 8 mini tart pans (or one 9-inch tart pan). Add some pie weights or dried beans to the tart pans and bake the shells for 10 minutes. Then carefully remove the weights and return the shells to the oven for another 5 to 10 more minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool completely.While the tart shell is baking, prepare the filling.

Filling

Carefully remove the peel from one lemon. Cut the peel down so that it?s paper thin and slightly translucent. Then using a sharp knife mince the lemon peel. The peel of one lemon makes approximately one tablespoon.Add the minced lemon peel, sugar and eggs to a small sauce pan and whisk together. Stir in the lemon juice and then add the butter in pieces. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture simmers. Do not let the mixture boil.Once the butter is melted, reduce the heat to a simmer and stir constantly until the mixture thickens (5 to 7 minutes). Finally remove from heat, cover and let cool, stirring occasionally.

Assembling the tarts

When the tart shell has cooled and the lemon filling has cooled. Pour the filling into the mini tart shells, using approximately 1/3 cup per tart. Refrigerate the tarts for at least an hour. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Green Tea

Green Tea, originally from China, is making fast inroads in the West where black tea is traditionally consumed. Many scientific studies have been made to determine the truth of its oft claimed health benefits. There seems to be a correlation between regular tea drinking and a lower rate of heart disease and tea may even stimulate fat oxidation, while boosting the metabolic rate by as much as 4% without raising the heart rate.

Why are we posting about green tea, which we’ve mentioned before on these pages? We received quite a few emails asking for a Green Tea Cake recipe, after looking at various posts throughout the blogosphere we settled for this one (it sounds interesting and delicious!). Found it on the Dessert First blog:

Photo by: Pastrygirl, from Dessert First blog

Green Tea Cake with Red Bean Filling

Green Tea Genoise

2 eggs, room temperature
2 ¼ oz confectioners’ sugar
2 ¼ oz ground almonds
1 tsp matcha powder [powdered green tea]
1 oz all purpose flour
2 egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 oz sugar
½ oz butter, melted [substitute margarine to keep it parve]

Red Bean Filling

1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces red beans

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan (about 12″x16″) with a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat.

Combine the eggs with the confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds in a mixer until cream-colored and light.

Add in the matcha powder and combine. You can add more or less depending on your taste, but don’t add more than 1 ½ tsp or it might affect the cake’s texture.

Remove from the mixer. Sift the flour over the egg mixture.

Whip the egg whites in a clean bowl on a mixer at low speed until they start to froth. Then add the cream of tartar and increase mixer speed, whipping until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and whip for a few seconds longer to incorporate.

Scoop about 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg mixture and fold in gently with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in until uniformly mixed. Pour the melted butter over the batter and fold in to incorporate.

Pour the batter into the half sheet pan and distribute it evenly with an offset spatula, making the layer as level and smooth as possible.

Bake in the oven for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the cake is just firm and lightly brown but not completely brown as this cake should not be over-baked.

Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it. Slide the cake off the sheet pan and onto a wire rack to cool. When the cake is no longer hot but still warm, place another rack or sheet pan on top of the cake and flip it over, then carefully peel the parchment paper from the cake to prevent it from sticking to the cake. You can place the parchment paper clean side down or a clean Silpat onto the cake, then flip it back over to finish cooling.

When you are ready to assemble the cake, trim off the edges and slice the cake in half along the short side, then cut each piece in half along the long side so you get four 6″x8″ pieces.

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold in the red beans gently with a rubber spatula until they are evenly distributed; the cream may take on a light reddish tint.

Place cake layer on a covered cake round and frost the top with a quarter of the whipped cream. It’s ok if some of the cream goes over the sides; just try to keep the layer even.

Cover with a cake layer and frost the top with a third of the remaining whipped cream. Repeat until you have assembled all four layers of cake.

Cover the cake and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to serve, trim off the sides of the cake to make them nice and even.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS