Entry tags:
mmmm mini almond pound cake
Over on FB a friend was discussing the pros and cons of toasters vs toaster ovens, and, after deciding to get a toaster oven asked for recipes that one can make in them. I shared my simple unleavened bread/cracker recipe (1/4 cup flour, enough water to make a dough +/- salt, roll thin, bake crisp), and pointed out that ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hrj has a web page that had lots of single-serving baked goods recipes that are perfect for a toaster oven, but I didn't remember where it was. She kindly provided a link, and I was reminded of her mini pound cake recipe.
Something in the pound cake family sounded like the perfect thing to chase the "pumpkin chilli" inspired dish I had made for lunch*, I decided to make one. Rather than using her measurements I just got out my kitchen scale, weighed the smallest egg in the box (56 grams), and then mixed it with 56 grams each of sugar,butter, almond meal, and flour (adding one at a time, in that order). Given her description of it being too flat in the loaf pan she used I looked in the cupboards to see what would give a better result shape-wise. I eventually decided on a small ceramic oven-safe bowl with very straight sides, so I buttered it, and dusted the sides of the bowl with almond meal (from the above mentioned 56 grams, before adding it to the batter).
That much dough pretty much filled the bowl, but this wasn't a problem, as I truly love cake batter (indeed, the reason I bake is to eat the batter!), so I ate just enough batter to give it a little room to rise in the pan, and popped it into the oven.
Soon after I was done cleaning up the kitchen mess the cake started smelling good, and had risen up nicely. I pulled it out, poked it with a testing stick. Still raw in the middle. Put it back. Did a couple of more little tasks around the house. Checked it again. Starting to turn a gentle golden colour on top. Still raw in the middle. Put it back. Thought about it for a couple of seconds. Realised that I am baking for me, and me alone, and I love cake batter. Took it out of the oven. Scoped 1/3 of it into a small bowl, gooey side up, and then put the rest back into the oven, which I turned off, to let it solidify a little more, and, hopefully, keep better, as while this is a small cake, I really don't want to eat more than 1/3 of it at one sitting. Yum! I think I was actually happier to eat it only partially baked than I would be completely baked.
*My above-mentioned variant on Pumpkin Chili:
- 1 box each "canned" kidney beans, black beans, mixed beans
- 1 home grown large green round squash + seeds
- 1 home grown small pumpkin + seeds
- 1 handful of home grown dried kale
- 1/4 handful each home grown dried nettle, carrot tops, & fireweed
- 1 apple
- 1 handful toasted sunflower seeds
- ~8 cloves garlic
- ~25 g butter
Pretty much everything in the spice cupboard, in unusual proportions (next time try less of the cayenne pepper)
hrj has a web page that had lots of single-serving baked goods recipes that are perfect for a toaster oven, but I didn't remember where it was. She kindly provided a link, and I was reminded of her mini pound cake recipe. Something in the pound cake family sounded like the perfect thing to chase the "pumpkin chilli" inspired dish I had made for lunch*, I decided to make one. Rather than using her measurements I just got out my kitchen scale, weighed the smallest egg in the box (56 grams), and then mixed it with 56 grams each of sugar,butter, almond meal, and flour (adding one at a time, in that order). Given her description of it being too flat in the loaf pan she used I looked in the cupboards to see what would give a better result shape-wise. I eventually decided on a small ceramic oven-safe bowl with very straight sides, so I buttered it, and dusted the sides of the bowl with almond meal (from the above mentioned 56 grams, before adding it to the batter).
That much dough pretty much filled the bowl, but this wasn't a problem, as I truly love cake batter (indeed, the reason I bake is to eat the batter!), so I ate just enough batter to give it a little room to rise in the pan, and popped it into the oven.
Soon after I was done cleaning up the kitchen mess the cake started smelling good, and had risen up nicely. I pulled it out, poked it with a testing stick. Still raw in the middle. Put it back. Did a couple of more little tasks around the house. Checked it again. Starting to turn a gentle golden colour on top. Still raw in the middle. Put it back. Thought about it for a couple of seconds. Realised that I am baking for me, and me alone, and I love cake batter. Took it out of the oven. Scoped 1/3 of it into a small bowl, gooey side up, and then put the rest back into the oven, which I turned off, to let it solidify a little more, and, hopefully, keep better, as while this is a small cake, I really don't want to eat more than 1/3 of it at one sitting. Yum! I think I was actually happier to eat it only partially baked than I would be completely baked.
*My above-mentioned variant on Pumpkin Chili:
- 1 box each "canned" kidney beans, black beans, mixed beans
- 1 home grown large green round squash + seeds
- 1 home grown small pumpkin + seeds
- 1 handful of home grown dried kale
- 1/4 handful each home grown dried nettle, carrot tops, & fireweed
- 1 apple
- 1 handful toasted sunflower seeds
- ~8 cloves garlic
- ~25 g butter
Pretty much everything in the spice cupboard, in unusual proportions (next time try less of the cayenne pepper)