Mad Tea Party – A Bohemian Repast

It’s time for A Fanciful Twist’s 8^th Annual Mad Tea Party!

Come! Come in out of the heat and sit for a spell. Brush the dust off your weary feet and leave your worries at the door. 

Dip your head beneath the silk veils and lounge in my quiet corner. If we are lucky, there may even be a tale or two…

Here, have a glass of mint tea.

Refresh yourself with succulent oranges and sticky roasted figs drowning in cream. Mmmm…that should please a Jinnee or two.

Can you smell it?

The fragrant perfume of orange blossoms and sweet mint is wafting in through my humble door, and the summer air is redolent with the savory scent of toasted almonds, the warm spice of cinnamon, and the citrusy aroma of cardamom.

That would be the sweetmeats and confections, fresh from the oven and dripping in sugar syrup. With recipes hailing from Morocco and Lebanon and Israel (with a few of my own special twists thrown in), we’re sure to have a delicious afternoon.

Just-sweet-enough ma’amoul cookies…fig and orange centers coated with a crumbly semolina shortbread and dusted with powdered sugar.

The cake of many names…whether it’s called basbousa, namoura, or revani, this semolina and coconut cake soaked in syrup is fit for a sheikha.

Tales of Shahrazád and her one thousand and one nights float through the room.

With an empty teapot and only sticky crumbs left on our plates, it may be time for a nap…and maybe a midafternoon hafla?

Who needs tales when life is as mouthwatering and magical as it is?

I have read that ma’amoul are celebration cookies, prevalent all over the Middle East, where they are made for both Muslim and Christian holidays. Traditionally shaped in decorative wooden molds and stuffed with dates or nuts, I have taken a liberty by stuffing my ma’amoul with ground figs (not unheard of, but not as customary it seems). Shaping them by hand is relatively easy, if not a bit time consuming. But it can be relaxing on a quiet morning. They are the perfect complement to tea or coffee.

Ma’amoul (Yield: 14 cookies)

Dough

3/4 c. flour

1/4 c. semolina flour

1 tbsp. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

5 tbsp. butter, at room temperature

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tbsp. whole milk

1 tsp. orange blossom water

1. Stir together the dry ingredients in a bowl, making sure everything is fully incorporated.
2. Using a fork, smash in the butter, smearing it into the flour mixture until it becomes sandy.
3. Pour in the oil, milk, and orange blossom water, and fold the ingredients together until you have a homogenous dough. Allow it to sit while you make the filling.

Filling

Heavy 1/4 c. chopped walnuts

Heavy 1/4 c. chopped dried figs (about 5 dried figs)

1” piece of orange rind, pith removed and cut into thin strips

1/8 tsp. cardamom

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. fig preserves

1. Place all the ingredients, besides the preserves, in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until everything becomes finely ground.
2. Add the preserves and pulse until the mixture clumps together and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

To assemble the ma’amoul:

1. Preheat the oven to 325º F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick mat.
2. On a lightly floured board, divide the dough into fourteen equally sized portions and roll them into balls.
3. Do the same with the fig mixture. You’ll use about a teaspoon of mixture for each portion, and they will come together like little truffles.
4. Take a ball of dough and flatten it in your palm to make about a 2 1/2-3” circle.
5. Place a fig “truffle” into the center of the dough, pinch the sides of the dough together around it, making a little package. Roll the whole thing together between your palms until it is smooth, and then slightly flatten the top of the cookie. Prick the top with a fork. Place it on the baking sheet, and then repeat the process for the rest of the cookies. Leave about 1 1/2" between the cookies. 
6. Bake the cookies for 30 minutes, or until the bottoms are very slightly golden. Allow them to cool and then dust with powdered sugar.

Take a peek at last year’s mad tea adventure!

Sources:

Barbey, William, Edward William Lane, and Edward Stanley Poole. The Thousand and One Nights, Commonly Called, in England, The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. London: Routledge, Warne and Routledge, 1865. Print.

Roden, Claudia. The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. New York: Knopf, 2000. Print.

Fourth of July

            I can’t believe another Fourth of July has come and gone! It always hits me after the fireworks end…

            I spent the day celebrating America by watching old musicals and gorging myself on homemade cornbread and chili. Also CAKE.

There is always cake.

The first time I had a cake like this, it came from the bakery section of my grocery store. Fluffy, fine-crumbed white cake with a three-inch layer of mousse-like cream floating on top and perfectly flush against the sides of the cake. A glistening variety of fruits in rainbow colors were arranged prettily above the cream, and it was all held together by a clear plastic sleeve.

I immediately tried to make it myself. It seemed simple—white cake, cream, fruit. But I soon found that when a dessert is made of such humble components, each element has to be as close to flawless as can be. It has taken a few tries, but I think I’ve gotten pretty close.

The white cake, adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake, is probably the best white cake I’ve ever made. Unlike other recipes I’ve tried, it is super moist and the crumb isn’t too fine, which makes it satisfyingly substantial compared to the cake from the grocery store. Additionally, the recipe doesn’t consist of an odd number of eggs or a ridiculous amount of egg whites, which is, somehow, very emotionally satisfying to me.

The whipped cream is stabilized with a small amount of gelatin. When I’ve experimented with this recipe in the past, I’ve simply eyeballed the gelatin, but the cream either came out too soft or too solid. This recipe from Baked Bree provided the perfect ratio of gelatin to cream. I think stabilizing the cream is necessary so that it can support the weight of the fruit, especially if the cake will be sitting at room temperature for a while.

Another thing I love about this cake is that it allows you a certain amount of artistic freedom. Use whatever fruits you love or that are in season and have fun arranging them. They could be placed into a pattern or simply piled haphazardly atop the fluffy cloud of just-sweet-enough whipped cream. Because the raspberries and blueberries I found looked so perfect, I didn’t bother glazing them. Instead, I coated the cake in a fine dusting of powdered sugar. Simplicity at its best.

Fresh Fruit and Cream Cake (Yield: one 8” cake)

1 c. + 2 tbsp. cake flour

1/2 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. + 2 tbsp. whole milk

2 egg whites

1/2 tbsp. vanilla

3/4 c. sugar

4 tbsp. butter, at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F and butter and flour an 8” round cake pan.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set it aside.
3. Whisk the milk, egg whites, and vanilla together in a measuring cup until thoroughly combined.
4. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter with a fork until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
5. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar. Pour in half of the milk, stirring until the batter just combines. Fold in the second third of the flour, then the last of the milk, and finally the last third of the dry ingredients. Be careful not to over mix the batter.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, give the pan a few gentle taps on the counter to release any air bubbles, and bake the cake for about 25 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely and then whip the cream.

Stabilized Whipped Cream (Yield: about 2 cups)

1 tsp. gelatin

1 tbsp. water

1 c. heavy cream

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Stir together the gelatin and water in a small bowl and allow it to set as you whip the cream. (It will thicken and solidify.)
2. Whip the heavy cream until it holds a soft peak, and then add the sugar and vanilla.
3. Microwave the bloomed gelatin for about 15 seconds, or until it liquefies. Pour it into the thickened cream.
4. Continue whipping the cream until it holds stiff peaks.

To assemble the cake, loosen the cake from its pan and place it on a serving platter or cake stand. Dollop the cream on top of the cake, smoothing it out to the edges with a rubber spatula. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes, in order to allow the stabilized cream to set and solidify slightly. Arrange the fruits (berries, kiwis, mandarin oranges, grapes, or any stone fruit would all be delightful) on top of the whipped cream, and then allow the cake to come to room temperature. Dust the fruit with powdered sugar before serving.

Also…

I am happy to announce that I’ll be participating in A Fanciful Twist’s Mad Tea Party for the second year in a row! This is such a fun event, and I am super excited!

Something delicious is in store…