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An Epicurious and Tasting Table Fall Pick. “A beautiful and thoughtful master class on how to bake your cake and eat it too.”—Carla Hall, TV chef and author of Carla Hall’s Soul Food
After more than a dozen years developing recipes for food and health magazines and collaborating with noted pastry chefs, Genevieve Ko was determined to create treats that were just as indulgent as their original counterparts, as well as more full flavored and nourishing. In a word, better. Healthful oils prove superior to butter, giving Mocha Chip Cookies crisp shells and molten insides, liberating the citrus in Lemon Layer Cake with Olive Oil Curd, and tenderizing Melting Walnut Snowballs. Refined white sugar pales beside concentrated sweeteners like pure maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses in muffins and granola. Pomegranate Pistachio Baklava uses reduced pomegranate syrup instead of the usual saccharine one. Nubby flours with personality—whole wheat, spelt, rye, buckwheat, graham flour, and almond flour—bring richness to such desserts as Glazed Apple Cider Doughnuts. And pureed fruits and vegetables (beets in Red Velvet Roulade with Strawberry Cream Cheese; grated zucchini in Chocolate School Party Sheet Cake) keep desserts extra moist.
“The best baking book I have seen in many years.”—Sarabeth Levine, James Beard Award-winning pastry chef and restaurant owner
“Ingenious recasting of favorite recipes.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Motivated to update classics with more alternative flours and less sugar, Ko has created some of the most innovative flavor combinations you’ll find in a baking book, such as Fennel and Currant Corn Bread; Buckwheat Almond Apple Cake; Toasted Walnut and Grape Clafoutis; Chestnut Kisses.”—The Washington Post
From the Publisher
School-Party Sheet Cake from Better Baking
Makes one 9-by-13-inch cake (no nuts)
When I bring treats to my girls’ school parties, I don’t want them to be mortified by their mom’s weird food—nor do I want to turn their classmates into hyperactive rascals with empty calories. That means some- thing that looks familiar but tastes better than the original. Enter this easy sheet cake. Zucchini keeps the cocoa–chocolate chip cake extra-moist, and sweet potato swirls into a frosting as creamy as that canned stuff, with far more flavor (and no added sugar). Dark chocolate—semisweet or a lower-percentage bittersweet—makes the cake luxurious and sophisticated enough for adults. Kids may ask about the bits of green zucchini in the cake. I’m not a believer in sneaking in veggies, so I tell them. Even if they balk, they still gobble up the cake once they take a bite or hear their friends raving. Party on!
Directions
1. To make the cake: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Coat a 9-by-13-by-2-inch cake pan or dish with nonstick cooking spray. If you’re using a metal pan, line the bottom and sides with foil or parchment paper and spray again.
2. Set a box grater on some paper towels and grate the zucchini on the large holes. Spread it out on the paper towels, top with more paper towels, and press gently to remove excess moisture.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk the sugar, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl until very smooth. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients, just until smooth. Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips with a silicone spatula until evenly incorporated. Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared pan.
4. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs back a little when lightly pressed with a fingertip, 45 to 50 minutes.
5. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.
6. Meanwhile, make the frosting: Bring the sweet potato puree to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is at room temperature and the consistency of canned frosting. It should hold soft peaks when you lift the spatula from the pan but not be stiff. Spread the frosting all over the top of the cake, creating swoops and swirls.
Tips
– Use unsweetened pure canned sweet potato puree; it’s usually stocked near the canned pumpkin. Freshly cooked and pureed sweet potato is too granular and thick.
– Chocolate with a cacao content between 55 and 60% makes the frosting perfectly sweet and smooth.
– A glass or ceramic dish is nice for a sheet cake. Bake the cake in the greased dish, cool completely, and frost. You can cut it into pieces right in the dish. I have a Pyrex dish that comes with a stiff plastic lid, making it simple to tote to parties at school or a friend’s house.
– If you plan to cut your cake ahead and place the pieces on a serving platter, use a metal pan. Generally I prefer straight-sided metal cake pans, which produce clean edges. Line the bottom and sides with foil or parchment paper and grease the foil or paper. Once the cake has cooled completely, lift it out using the foil, then frost and cut it. To get perfect slices, you can freeze the frosted cake until firm before slicing, then bring it to room temperature before serving.
Ingredients 1 pound (453 g) zucchini (about 4 small), trimmed 2½ cups (360 g) white whole wheat flour ½ cup (48 g) unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1½ cups (312 g) sugar 1 cup (245 g) buttermilk, at room temperature ½ cup (112 g) grapeseed or other neutral oil 3 large eggs, at room temperature 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup (180 g) semisweet chocolate chips 1 (15-ounce; 425-g) can pure sweet potato puree 10 ounces (283 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (1 2/3 cups)
ASIN : B01IQJ49O4
Publisher : Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Illustrated edition (September 27, 2016)
Publication date : September 27, 2016
Language : English
File size : 66056 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 791 pages
Customers say
Customers find the recipes in this cookbook interesting and delicious. They appreciate the healthy, creative ingredients and simple recipes. The book has beautiful photos and is easy to read with clear instructions. Readers appreciate the ingredient lists that are easy to understand and the gluten-free options included.
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