The Daring Bakers� April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.
Now! we were told we didn't neccesarily have to make both. I'd lurrrrve to make both and have every intention of making both but I'm exhausted and lazy this week.
So! Procrastinator for life, I took care of it last minute this evening and tried my hand at the Armenian Nutmeg Cake.
Let me tell you, my house smells amazing.
the ingredients we're pretty standard (reciepe is below) only thing I had to go out and get was more brown sugar because I'd just made peanut butter cookies.
this was the first reciepe I've done where I had to cube the butter.
it looked so fun all cuddled up in the brown sugar and flour.
i was so lazy, the batter
ended up still lumpy with butter chunks.
i really didnt want to get out the mixer. so i did it by hand and thus, i had some chunky butter batter
the most hilarious part of baking this cake was the butter
after 30 minutes i went to check it becuase our oven cooks faster than a lot of reciepes call for.
i open the oven, pull out the rack, and laugh at the pool of butter dripping form my pan.
i have a lovely fancy springform pan. never had anything leak. i blame the chunky cbutter batter.
it looked yummy coming out of the oven at 40 minutes
the momma and I stood over it sniffing.
gorgeous isnt it!?
i'm saving the tasting for tomorrow. I'll be sure I post an update when i do.
lovely challenge. cant wait to make the Nazook.
Armenian Nutmeg Cake
Makes one 9�/23cm cake which yields 12 servings
Video Instructions by me
Ingredients
�1 cup (240 ml) milk (I use whole, but nonfat or lowfat should be fine; non-dairy might work just fine, as well)
�1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking soda
�2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour (I suspect pastry flour or another low-gluten flour might even work better to achieve a light, fluffy crumb)
� 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) baking powder (I used single-acting, because it's aluminum-free, and it turned out fantastic)
�2 cups (480 ml) (400 gm/14 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
�3/4 cup (1� sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) butter, preferably unsalted, cubed
�1/2 cup (120 ml) (55 gm/2 oz) walnut pieces, may need a little more
�1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons (5 to 7 � ml) (5 to 8 gm) ground nutmeg (try to grate it fresh yourself; the aroma is enchanting)
�1 egg
Directions:
Directions - the Traditional Way (The Fast, Easy Way further down)
1. Preheat your oven to moderate 350�F/175�C/gas mark 4.
2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder; that's for the next step) into the milk. Set it aside.
3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl. One sift is fine
4. Add the brown sugar. Go ahead and mix the flour and brown sugar together. Or not.
5. Toss in the cubed butter.
6. Mash the butter with a fork into the dry ingredients (you can also use your fingers if you want). You'll want to achieve a more-or-less uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.
7. Take HALF of this resulting crumbly mixture into your springform (9�/23cm) pan. Press a crust out of it using your fingers and knuckles. It will be easy.8. Crack an egg into a mixer or bowl.
9. Toss the nutmeg in with the egg.
10. Start mixing slowly with a whisk attachment and then increase to medium speed, or mix with a hand whisk if you're doing it manually. Once it's mixed well and frothy (about 1 minute using a standing mixer, or about 2-3 minutes of vigorous beating with a whisk), pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until uniform.
11. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture. Mix that well, with either a paddle attachment, or a spatula. Or continue to use the whisk; it won't make much of a difference, since the resulting batter is very liquidy.
12. Pour the batter over the base in the springform pan.
13. Gently sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter.
14. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 30-40 minutes. You'll know it's done when the top is a golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
15. Allow to cool in the pan, and then release. Enjoy!
10:21 p.m. - Friday, Apr. 27, 2012