10K Report and Weekend Eats

My race drink of choice. Warning: Only drink this if you wake up 3-4 hours ahead of time, otherwise it takes the place of water, which you need to hydrate.

As I mentioned in my last post I had a 10K this past weekend. There were definitely parts I could have done better at, but I got the time I wanted. Of course, I started nitpicking it immediately upon crossing the finish line! Overall, I wasn't sure if I would be able to get the time I did, getting back into training late and it being my first actual 10K race, so overall it was the time I should have gotten considering everything I did up to that point. My next 10K is in July, and I can't wait to see how I improve then.

After the 10K, I went to eat brunch where I always do after the Sunburst, Le Peep.

I ordered a pancake combo that came with eggs, potatoes, and sausage. The sausage was slightly spicy. I didn't know that when I ordered it, so I was pleasantly surprised. I tasted a mealiness in the potatoes, which tells me that Russets were used. The yolks of the eggs helped with that, though. The blueberry granola pancakes were pretty decent, with a nice light sponginess and a lack of vanillin. They weren't stingy with the blueberries, either, and they added a little container of blueberry syrup. As you can see, granola was topped during the end of the cooking time. It added a nuttiness, though it ended up being sort of a pasty-crunchy texture after some of the syrup was soaked in.

On Sunday I went out with the family to Great Wall restaurant. The couple who owns it are retiring, so we decided to try it out since we've never been there before. (big mistake!)

We started off with soup, and I ordered the egg drop soup. It looks the same as the soup I get at buffets, but it has a richer chicken broth taste and it wasn't as gloopy. It didn't compare to the egg drop soup I had in Chinatown Chicago, though. One of my brother's ordered the wonton soup, which featured at least 5 decently sized wontons, and which I didn't take a picture of. :/

My entree was "pork in garlic sauce". The pork was really tender and sliced thinly, which paired nicely with the julienned vegetables. I normally don't care for water chestnuts, but I didn't mind it in this dish. The sauce wasn't really as garlicy as I would have thought. I ate a "chicken with ginger stir-fry" at a Thai restaurant a while ago and not only were there actual pieces of stir-fried ginger, but it had a very pleasant, and present, gingerness. That's pretty much what I expected of this, but it seemed to lack it. The overall taste was good, nicely seasoned and well-flavored, just minus garlic.

This was one of my brother's entree, "moo shu pork". I tasted some, and what I liked the most was that the pork and vegetable mixture was sans sauce, but it had a really great grilled-like taste and it was moist. The Mandarin pancakes are basically thin tortillas, but it's not supposed to be tortillas. So don't say it is. Hoisin sauce was in a little cup alongside the entree. It tasted sweet-and-savory, kind of licorice in taste. If I put too much of it on the pork mixture, it turned me off. A great pick, though.

My dad's entree was "chicken in wine sauce". The chicken was moist, though the wine taste was leaning on a fake fruity essence, and it definitely didn't taste like sherry. It remained pleasant to eat, the rice mellowing out the fruity undertones.

Mom ordered the "spicy eggplant", which uses Chinese eggplant instead of the typical eggplant you see in grocery stores everywhere. What's good about Chinese eggplant is that it has a thinner skin and is features a more delicate flavor. I'm pretty much horrible at describing the flavors of all the dishes because I just can't remember... I do know that the texture of the eggplant was literally melting in my mouth, so tender, and the flavor of the eggplant melded beautifully with the flavors of the dish, obviously a spiciness that wasn't too overpowering, and, *sigh*, it just tasted good.

Sadness ensues upon seeing the once fully filled rice bowl nearly empty. :(

I would totally buy that statue if I could, heck yes!

Krispy Kreme has Albino Doughnuts!

Since I had the contest loot burning a hole in my purse, yesterday seemed like the perfect time to cash in my prizes. First, I got the Caribbean Fruit Chiller, the frozen not the Kreme. Last time I had a Kreme Chiller I swear it consisted of pulverized doughnuts. I was reading a book about doughnuts yesterday, and one of the recipes is for doughnut soup. Heat the milk, pan-fry the doughnut in butter, place both in a blender, and purée. Um, gross? Though it's not much different then buttering a slice of tender white bread, sprinkling it with cinnamon sugar, placing it in a bowl and pouring hot milk over it. Hm. The former tasted weirder, by far.

But I digress.

In the heat, it's always a good idea to stick with the fruity iced beverage rather than a cream-based beverage. In some slushee drinks, the ice remains pebbly, whereas the ice in this was perfectly pulverized so that it was slightly crunchy, but mostly a smooth icy texture. The flavors were great, very tropical, mango-pineapple-orangey, and the level of sweetness was perfect. It cooled me down without leaving a sticky feeling, which is why I find sorbet more refreshing than ice cream in intense heat. (It wasn't intensely hot yesterday, but all the same.)

My first inclination when I got home was to eat a doughnut, but I do have a 10K on Saturday so I need to still pay some attention to balanced eating. Dinner consisted of chicken wraps. The chicken was sort of poached in a mixture of sautéed vegetables, a wine, and seasonings. A day or so later, it was sliced and ready to make wraps. Note to self: I hate mayonnaise for a reason. I should have spread my wraps with sour cream, as I was tipped off to do. I also spread some horseradish mustard on the Flatout wraps, sprinkled it some with blue cheese (another note to self: I don't care for the taste of Kraft Blue Cheese Crumbles), then layered with spinach and the chicken, which wasn't overcooked, I should add. Properly cooked chicken makes all the difference.

Question: Is Krispy Kreme now trans fat-free? I don't know if that pertains to what I'm about to say, but the glaze on these doughnuts isn't translucent and shard-free, but rather it's morphed into an albino doughnut.

See how it breaks into shards when cut? It never used to do that, even when at room temperature and not right off the belt. It used to crunch slightly and seemingly melt into the doughnut. Weird.

Finally, this is the featured doughnut at Krispy Kreme, the Caribbean Kreme Doughnut. The girl behind the counter said the filling reminded her of bananas, but maybe only in texture. I sort of know what a Caribbean flavor would be, which makes identifying the flavors easier. Those flavors being mango, pineapple, and an orange taste. The Blognut said the filling includes passion fruit, but I really don't know what that tastes like. The last time I had passion fruit it reminded of tangerine and pineapple. The texture of the cream was good, not too sweet, and the dough was perfectly sweet and not bread rollish, plus it was tender and held up. The frosting didn't overly sweeten the taste, and the contrast of the crumb topping was really good against the filling.

My only complaint I have with Krispy Kreme doughnuts, besides not particularly caring for them (this doughnut being a pleasant exception), is that they are quite stingy with their fillings. See how there's only a quarter-sized circle of filling? It's hard to get even dough-to-cream distribution when there isn't enough cream. On my paczki post, scroll down and look at the amount of fillings. Granted, it's a once-a-year event here, but still. STILL. Krispy Kreme, I know your stocks are leveling off and the soaring gas prices contributes to ingredient pricing inflation, but no one appreciates blatant stinginess, because your doughnuts have been this way since the store first opened in Mishawaka. Maybe it's just this location. I'm willing to make that concession.

Thanks again, Blognut!

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I have a 10K coming up that I'm mostly ready to race. Considering that it's only been 2 month of consistent training, I'm not shooting for the moon, timewise, but I should still get a decent time, definitely sub-1 hour, especially if I PACE MYSELF. I may or may not post pre-race pictures tomorrow, but if not, wish me luck on my 10K Saturday!

Daring Bakers and the Opéra Cake

We're back, and this time in a pastry challenge worthy of a spot at the Olympics! This challenge was brought to us by Fran from Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie, Ivonne from Cream Puffs in Venice, Lis from La Mia Cucina, and Shea from Whiskful.
An Opéra Cake is made up of five components: the jaconde, an almond sponge cake, a simple syrup to moisten the jaconde, a buttercream to fill some of the layers, a mousse to make up one of the layers, and a ganache to glaze the top. We were instructed to keep the flavors "light" -- no chocolate, cocoa, or coffee, and the color had to be light as well. Going ahead with that train of thought, I decided to turn my Opéra Cake into a "White Forest Cake"; white chocolate making up the ganache as per the given recipe, and cherry puree making up the simple syrup, buttercream, and mousse. It was my dad's birthday, and I typically make him a Black Forest Cake, though a walk on the light side is always a good idea.

After making all the components, I proceeded the next day with the assembly of the cake. In this picture, I have brushed the first layer with cherry simple syrup, flavored with the most hideous kirsch I've ever smelled.

(Actually, I've never used kirsch before, but after research found that Hiram Walker Kirsch was made from the pit of the cherry instead of the cherry itself. Obviously, bitterness came to mind, and it really didn't lend a cherry taste to the syrup. My mom tasted some of it and told me that it not only didn't remind her of cherry cough syrup, it tasted like cherry Listerine, complete with the intense throat-burning feel. On the label, there are directions for a strange cocktail flavored with the HW Kirsch, HW Amaretto, HW something else liquors, lemonade, and ice. I think this brand was just made to get drunk? I didn't research kirsch ahead of time, but I know what I will buy next when the ENTIRE bottle gets used... It'll most likely take over 1 1/2 years for that to happen. Maybe this is all my n00bness coming through. If you can, enlighten me on this subject!)

Here is the mousse layer. Very light and airy, though the cherry taste was missing. I pureed my own mix of frozen dark cherries with a bit of sugar, but I think I either needed to use sour cherries or add more sugar.

This is the completely assembled cake, finished with a layer of French buttercream. The buttercream curdled a bit after I added some of the cherry puree, but it remained smooth in feel. Maybe I reduced the butter by too much, as I used 2 1/2 sticks instead of 3 1/2, and perhaps I should have used at least 2 3/4, but I don't know. Also, the Swiss buttercream I made from the Perfect Party Cake challenge was not as achingly sweet as this was, but when fully assembled it wasn't overpowering.

A view from the side


Leftover scraps from trimming the sides

After setting in the fridge, a white chocolate ganache was poured on top. For extra flair, I decided to add drops of the remaining cherry syrup (I probably could have brushed more of it on the layers) and create a marbleized design.

When we were ready to have Dad's birthday Opéra Cake, I sliced and served everyone a piece. The overall reviews were in the positive, though we all agreed that it didn't really have much of a cherry taste. The jaconde was a favorite because it was light, nutty, and paired well against the smoothness from the buttercream and mousse. The mousse was favored for it's slight difference from the buttercream in that it wasn't as sweet and was more billowy, but the texture was smooth and very much "in rhythm" with the other components. As for the buttercream, it wasn't too sweet against the jaconde and mousse, but was slightly sturdier and basically, in both a different-yet-similar way of the mousse, was within the texture and feel of the jaconde and mousse. The white chocolate ganache, however, was really off. It's waxy, plasticy texture was a complete difference, and I couldn't even cut through it without all the fillings of the cake oozing out. I would have preferred a shell of just melted white chocolate to the waxiness of the ganache.

We all enjoyed another slice as a Memorial Day treat served with vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with cherry puree-syrup.

Thanks to the hosts for giving me a push! This recipe is one I might have noted, but put off until I forgot about it. Once again, I have expanded my baking repertoire! Don't forget to peruse the Daring Bakers' Blogroll to read other tales of the Opéra Cake.

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PEACH, ALMOND & VANILLA OPERA CAKE
This recipe was posted by Pam from Sugar Chef. The recipe is from the original posted by the hosts, but changed to make it fruit-flavored and with a fruit mousse instead of a white chocolate mousse. A big thank you from me to Pam, as I was looking for a way to incorporate fruit, but I didn't exactly know how to proceed.

6 Large Egg Whites (room temperature)
2 Tablespoons (30 grams) Granulated Sugar
2 Cups (225 grams) Almond Meal
2 Cups (225 grams) Powdered Sugar
6 Large Eggs (room temperature)
½ cup (70grams) Unbleached All Purpose Flour
½ Tablespoon Vanilla
3 Tablespoons (45 grams) Unsalted Butter (melted & cooled)

Line two ½ sheetpans with parchment paper. Butter the paper.
Sift together the almond meal and powdered sugar, set aside.
In a bowl of a 5 quart mixer using the paddle attachment beat the eggs to break them up. Add the sifted almond meal and powdered sugar mixture as well as the vanilla. Beat for 3 minutes.
Add the flour and mix on low speed just to incorporate.
In a clean bowl of a 5 quart mixer using the whisk attachment beat the egg whites to soft peak and while still beating slowly add the granulated sugar. Continue to whisk at high speed until the mixture is at full peak and glossy but not dry.
Fold this mixture into the egg, almond meal & powdered sugar mixture.
Remove ¼ cup of the mixture and stir into the melted butter. This will allow the melted butter to completely mix into the larger mixture. Fold everything together.
Weigh the mixture. Mine weighed 2 pounds 4 ½ ounces. Spread 1 pound 2 ¼ ounces into each prepared ½ sheetpan and bake in a 400 degree convection oven (425 degrees standard oven) for 7 minutes or until light brown.
Invert onto a clean sheet of parchment paper and peel off the parchment from the cakes. Turn over and use the parchment to cover the cakes. Let cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap to keep it air tight.

PEACH SYRUP
1 Cup Peach Juice (from IQF frozen peaches drained overnight)
2 Tablespoons Peach Schnapps
Sugar to taste if your peach juice is not sweet enough.

Bring the peach juice and sugar (if using) to a boil and reduce a little to a syrup consistency. Add the Peach Schnapps and refrigerate until ready to use.

PEACH BUTTERCREAM
2 Cups Sugar
½ Cup Water
2 Large Eggs
2 Large Egg Yolks
14 Ounces Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1/3 Cup Peach Puree
In a 5 quart mixer beat the butter with a paddle attachment till light and free of lumps. Set aside.
Put the eggs and egg yolks in a bowl of a 5 quart mixer with the whisk attached. Whisk for a minute to break up the eggs.
Put the sugar and water in a sauce pan and cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 225 degrees. (Once the mixture reaches 210, start whipping the eggs at high speed.)
Lower the speed to medium high and pour the sugar mixture slowly down the side of the bowl. When it is all incorporated bring the speed back up to high and beat until cool (about 5 minutes).
Add the butter a little at a time whisking at high speed.
Whisk in the Peach Puree.

PEACH MOUSSE
4 Ounces Peach Puree
1 Ounce Granulated Sugar
1 ½ Gelatin Sheets (bloomed) (I used one packet of unflavored gelatin, though I think only half was needed to sub for 1 ½ sheets. I erred on the side of caution, just in case.)
6 Ounces Heavy Cream

Heat puree and sugar to about 86 degrees just to melt the sugar.
Add the gelatin and stir to dissolve.
Let the mixture cool to room temperature
Whip the cream and fold it into the puree mixture.

WHITE CHOCOLATE GLAZE
14 Ounces White Chocolate (I used Callebaut)
½ Cup Heavy Cream (I used 40%)

In the microwave bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate. Stir with a whisk until the chocolate is completely melted. Use at 90 degrees.

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
Cut the cake so you have one piece 10” x 10” and one piece 10” x 5”. Repeat with the other cake. You will have two 10” X 10” and two 10” x 5”.
Put one of the 10” pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Moisten it with the peach syrup using a brush.
Spread a ¼” thick layer of peach buttercream over the cake. Put small diced pieces of fresh peach over the buttercream and push them down into the buttercream.
Put the two pieces of cake that measure 10” x 5” over this, fitting them together so you have a 10” x 10” square. Moisten with the peach syrup.
Put all of the peach mousse onto this cake layer and spread out evenly.
Put small diced pieces of fresh peach over the mousse and push them down into the mousse.
Put the last 10” square cake on top of the mousse layer. Moisten with the peach syrup.
Spread a ¼” thick layer of peach buttercream over the cake. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Spread the white chocolate glaze over the chilled cake and return to the refrigerator.
Chill until set.