February Roundup

Thanks to everyone that participated in this challenge and thank to Mia for picking this interesting cake. Beautiful results. Looking forward to March... and spring!

Romeo & Juliet Cake

Posted by -Lena

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Probably this is one of the most famous lines in  Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet story. But have you heard of a Romeo and Juliet cake? If you google Romeo and Juliet cake, you probably wont find many listed under the search. I have used the recipe here from Talitha of Chocorango. There is a unique combination here in the cake that calls for grated parmesan cheese to be used in the cake and guava paste as topping or filling if you like. In South America, the combination of cheese and guava paste is also known as Romeo and Juliet, i do not know why..maybe because we never have thought of cheese pairing with guava and yet they make a perfect couple. There isnt any guava paste available in my place here so i make the my own guava paste instead. The recipe for the guava paste can be found here. I only made half of the recipe for the paste..just enough for this cake.I do not know whether if i have made the guava paste correctly, the color of the guava paste is quite different from those store bought ones available in overseas. The guava paste has a strong flavour of guava but i find it a little bit too sweet for me.  As for the cake, i could have overbaked it causing it to be a little dense, a little aroma of the cheese but if you eat that with guava paste, then you wont get to taste the cheese flavour. Thanks also to HTC( Have the Cake) for organising this Romeo and Juliet cake for this month so that i have the opportunity to know the cake and the new discovered combination.

Recipe from Chocorango
3 large eggs
200gm sugar
200gm flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1tbsp baking powder ( i used 1/2 tbsp)
20gm grated parmesan cheese ( i replaced with parmesan powder)
200ml milk
40ml oil

Topping
300gm goibada cubed ( guava paste)
water

I used my home made guava paste and did not any in any water cos that's already spreadable.

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 350F.Grease a 22cm round tin. Sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder and set aside.
2. Beat the eggs with sugarfor 10minutes on high speed. Beat for 2 minutes more on low speed. Fold in the sifted ingredients.
3.Mix in 1/4of the batter with oil and milk.
3. Fold in the remaining batter and add in parmesan cheese.
4.Spoon into the pan and bake for 25minutes. Let cool on rack. Cover with guava paste/goiabada.
 ( i baked mine at 160C for almost 50mins)

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #4- Love is in the Air ( feb2011) hosted by Cuisine Paradise and also linking to HTC ( Have The Cake).

VANILLA LAVENDER ROMEO AND JULIET CAKE-FEBRUARY CHALLENGE-HAVE THE CAKE

Posted by - Mia.

A pairing of cheese and Guava paste make a Romeo and Juliet cake , here a totally vanilla cake , that has cheese in it , and covered with a 7hour home simmered perada, also with vanilla , and a little sprinkling of Lavender here and there...

I dressed up the cake as my imagination of Juliet , full of love ,as the shape of the cakes, with flowers and crystals pins in her golden hue'd hair , in long layered gowns of wispy lace , in pink....

Here shot , as rustically (ok sort of...) as might have been in the pathways and cobblestone ways of Europe...

Romance and love....so in the air...by 365....

 

 

Some things dat will breathe love into the air after its baked.....in a rustic way....as if ur down the local coffee shop ,by cobblestones in Europe, having the most romantic holiday fo ur life and enjoying every min of dng so.... its the month of love after all and what could be better than the ROmeo and Juliet Cake , jus like the perfect pairing in love , {ok minus the tragic end}, here 's a perfect pairing of cheese and Guava paste....

 

And with a hint of vanilla ,it makes it so muc better!

I'll wanted to post mine earlier but here i am,and yeah having them into heart shapes , adds to the fun even more , so get those heart shaped baking molds out!

I can think of so many ways to flavor this moist cake too , ofcourse along with Vanilla , say ur fav cinnamon or a clove or 2 or even lemon or orange zest!

I think Cardamon as well as saffron or lavendor would pair wonderfully too!

I think this cake would hold in a few of ur fav nuts as well but i think i would want it plain , as muc as i think coconut would make it even more moister , ofcourse i so want to stick to the original!

But the cheese has to be in , coz its the cheese and goiabada pairing that makes it a romeo and juliet cake , a perfect pairing.

Romeo and Juliet is the name of recipes that combines cheese and goiabada (guava paste).

A soft, light and moist cake with cheese flavor. A creamy and brightly colored topping of goiabada. The perfect pair!

U can read more about this tradition here and honestly i first found out about this on Talitha's wonderful blog and actually is the only real R&J recipe i could find online to the extent that the Romeo and Juliet site on Fb has posted her recipe, so its quite officially the Romeo and Juliet cake recipe.

Ofcourse u can use a recipe of a cake that has parmesan r cheese in it , but this one is the most authentic recipe.

My Suggestion is as far as possible to bake this HEART SHAPED , yeah lets all have heart shapes this month, but if u dont have the mold cool , bake as u wish , though BAke it Pretty , does have some cool heart liners, ie baker molds.

I wanted to link back for step by step pics instead of a lonnngg post here, but thought since i chose the recipe ,i better go the long way...
So lets begin ,shall we , and before we do i have to show u these eggs , these are free range organic eggs = eggs from home chickens...get 3 to 4 fresh daily , almost..

 And lets break 3 eggs, 3 nice and yellow eggs...

And some sugar, i used vanilla sugar ,and since mine had some lavender in there , there was Vanilla and Lavender happening eeverwhere...

+i added a vanilla bean there , honestly i really go overboard with this Spice....

And beat away for a good ten mins ,till really light and fluffy , i think i did this for almost 15mins and while the mixer was at work got the rest of the ingredients ready.

Now time to fold in the flour , and then add the whisked milk and oil , in 2 parts and lastly fold in the Parmesan cheese.

I loved what Corrine did ,so i had a little layer of guava cheese in the middle too...

After the first bite ,i realized i sure needed to add salt to the batter , ,so well its already baked so what i did was shave some himalayan pink salt on all the cakes...

Why did i dress this cake with flowers and glitter?

Coz i somehow think Juliet would be dressed in pink layered gowns , with flowers and crystals in her hair...

 RECIPE FROM TALITHA"S BLOG
(conversions using my scale , so hope they are right , else stick to the grams)

3 large eggs

210g/1 cup/7.4ounces vanilla sugar or add half a bean scrapped in

200g/1.1/4th cup+1tbh/7.1oz flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt

20g/3 almost heaping tbh/0.7ounces grated parmesan cheese

200ml milk(slightly warmed)

40ml oil

Topping

300g goiabada cubed (guava paste)

water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 22cm round pan or mini heart pans

Sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Set aside.

Beat the eggs with sugar for 10 minutes in high speed.

Beat for more 2 minutes in slow speed ,till really light and fluffy.

Fold in the sifted ingredients, till blended.

Mix the oil and milk together and whisk lightly .

Mix in 1/4 of the oil and milk mixture in the batter.Fold in.

Mix in the remaining , into the batter and add the grated parmesan, fold in everything now.

Spoon into the pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Let cool on a rack.

Cover with goiabada.

if u making a layer inbetween , use a cookie scoop so u get a layer in the middle , like use a 2tbh scoop , place some guava paste , then cover with another 2tbh scoop full of batter.

Topping

Melt the goiabada with water. Let boil, stirring until reduce. Let cool slightly and cover the cake.

If ur using any Jam /jelly ,do the same , warm it with a splash of water , jus to liquefy and spread over the cake.

Romeo & Juliet Cupcakes

Posted by - Corrine

I kind of did my own thing with the Romeo & Juliet theme, I hope that's ok :)

Since Romeo and Juliet refers to the pairing of Guava paste and cheese, I thought what about a guava cake with cream cheese frosting.  I did cupcakes because, well, I love cupcakes and they're easier to share with neighbors.

Most recipes I could find for guava cakes used guava nectar, but I did find one that uses guava paste as a layer in the middle of the cupcakes.  I used my go-to cream cheese frosting from Baked Explorations, I decorated some with a swirl of guava paste and some just piped with frosting.  The cupcakes turned out pretty good, the cake is quite dense, like a pound cake which isn't my favourite (I'm more of a sponge cake type of girl), but my husband loved it.  I don't think I cut the guava paste thin enough so it didn't quite melt into the ribbons I had envisioned, but it tasted great nonetheless.  Next time I'll use a more standard yellow cake recipe and slice the guava paste as thin as I possibly can.

Guava Cupcakes 

from Food.com

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces guava paste, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together.

Add eggs, one by one, beating thoroughly.
Add applesauce and vanilla, and mix well.
Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until fully blended.
Place a scoop of the batter (I used a small ice cream scoop) in each lined cup and smooth it to fill the bottom.
Top each with a few slices of guava paste
Top with another scoop of cake batter and smooth out over the guava paste, so the cups are about 3/4 full
Bake for 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (except for the guava paste).

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
From Baked Explorations

3 cups confectioners' sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until is completely smooth.  Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.

Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth.  Be careful not to overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure.  (The filling can be made 1 day ahead. Cover the bowl tightly and put it in the refrigerator.  Let the filling soften at room temperature before using.)

Romeo & Juliet Cake

I finally made the cake. I gave up looking for guava paste in my little Mississippi town & used Smuckers guava jam instead.

For the cheese, I used finely shredded Parmesan cheese. The recipe didn't specify, but I didn't think I was supposed to used the powdery Kraft cheese.

I found the instructions kinda sketchy.

That said, I didn't really enjoy the cake. I thought the flavor was lackluster & found the crumb to be very coarse and tough. Maybe that was my doing and not the recipe, I don't know.

Romeo and Juliette cake

Posted by - Vivian 

I made this cake for my mother in-law's birthday.... actually, I made little individual cakes using the heart shape cupcake pan I have.  I had to reduce the cooking time to 16 minutes (rotating the pans after 8 minutes) and the directions were a bit confusing so I ended up winging a few things.  There's milk in the recipe, but the directions here or on the site this was taken from said when to add it.  I decided that I would combine the milk and oil and where the directions stated to add the oil that's when I put it in.  Also, I didn't know what to do with the guava jelly... that probably sounds stupid since the obvious answer is to put it on the cake.  However, the jelly is.. well, its jelled.  So to make it spreadable I added some water into a small pan and then added the jelly to warm it together and liquefy it.  While it was still quite hot, I dipped the little cake tops into it.  Having the paste would have been better, I'm sure of it.  But I was lucky to find the jelly in our area so jelly it was.  Like the previous poster stated, I added fresh Parmesan cheese but none of us tasted it.  This was an interesting challenge and was happy to take part in it so a big thanks for the suggestion of this cake!

Romeo and Juliet Cake

Posted by - Michele at Alwayzbakin

Today is Valentine's Day so I decided to make the Romeo and Juliet cake. It's been too long since I participated in this club and I couldn't wait to join back in. I do have to admit, when I first saw this recipe I was a little skeptical. Parmesan cheese in a sweet cake? It sounded VERY different to me. But, nonetheless, I decided to try it anyway.

You can't really taste the parmesan in the cake. It's a very soft cake and the flavors all meld together very nicely. I'm glad I tried it because it's very good. It even looks romantic.

I used the recipe posted by Mia from Sugarplum Fairy. I had a little bit of a hard time trying to convert the grams to cups, but it came out fine. Thank you Mia for this wonderful recipe and sweet idea for the month of February!

FEBRUARY CHALLENGE- ROMEO AND JULIET CAKE

Posted by -Mia(SugarPlumFairy)


Have the cake is the second group {the first one doesnt run anymore so this almost like first now}, i joined after joining in blogosphere!

I have lods of reasons as to why i have caught up inbetween one of the main being, i was without a laptop for a few months co our order was delayed by the company!

Christmas time is over and we are entering into the love month ,
  oh yeah lovee is in the air *365 and this is sooo wonderful!!

Its my turn to chose this months recipe and after going to and fro , around 4 , really wonderful but quick recipes  this one  finally  made me feel like i arrived home....jus fitted in ....for the month of love*365...

Before this one,I thought and baked and thought and baked ....and then baked some more and thought and came up with lodsss of baked goodies options, oh so right for valentines!

Some things dat will breathe love into the air after its baked.....in a rustic way....as if ur down the local coffee shop ,by cobblestones in Europe, having the most romantic holiday fo ur life and enjoying every min of dng so.... its the month of love after all and what could be better than the ROmeo and Juliet Cake , jus like the perfect pairing in love , {ok minus the tragic end}, here 's a perfect pairing of cheese and Guava paste....

Here's a link where u can make it easily at home or maybe buy it at a store , and well , if none of the options appeal to u ,dont fret , but go rite ahead and chose any pink /red, preserve/jam/jelly and make it ur own!

 Despite that i urge u to make ur own Goiabada/perada or Guava paste /jam , its so worth it and u will love and enjoy it on ur heart shaped toast at breakfast or a light snack at noon !

And with a hint of vanilla ,it makes it so muc better!

I'll post mine asap ,and yeah having them into heart shapes , adds to the fun even more , so get those heart shaped baking molds out!

I can think of so many ways to flavor this moist cake too , ofcourse along with Vanilla , say ur fav cinnamon or a clove or 2 or even lemon or orange zest!
I think Cardamon as well as saffron or lavendor would pair wonderfully too!
I think this cake would hold in a few of ur fav nuts as well but i think i would want it plain , as muc as i think coconut would make it even more moister , ofcourse i so want to stick to the original!

But the cheese has to be in , coz its the cheese and goiabada pairing that makes it a romeo and juliet cake , a perfect pairing.
Romeo and Juliet is the name of recipes that combines cheese and goiabada (guava paste).
A soft, light and moist cake with cheese flavor. A creamy and brightly colored topping of goiabada. The perfect pair!
U can read more about this tradition here and honestly i first found out about this on Talitha's wonderful blog and actually is the only real R&J recipe i could find online to the extent that the Romeo and Juliet site on Fb has posted her recipe, so its quite officially the Romeo and Juliet cake recipe.
Ofcourse u can use a recipe of a cake that has parmesan r cheese in it , but this one is the most authentic recipe.

My Suggestion is as far as possible to bake this HEART SHAPED , yeah lets all have heart shapes this month, but if u dont have the mold cool , bake as u wish , though BAke it Pretty , does have some cool heart liners, ie baker molds.

 RECIPE and ABOVE PIC FROM TALITHA"S BLOG
3 large eggs
200g sugar
200g flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp baking powder
20g grated parmesan cheese
200ml milk
40ml oil

Topping
300g goiabada cubed (guava paste)
water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 22cm round pan. Sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Set aside.
Beat the eggs with sugar for 10 minutes in high speed.
Beat for more 2 minutes in slow speed. Fold in the sifted ingredients.
Mix the oil and milk together and whisk lightly .
Mix in 1/4 of the oil and milk mixture in the batter.Fold in.
Mix in the remaining into the batter and add the grated parmesan.
Spoon into the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Cover with goiabada.
Topping
Melt the goiabada with water. Let boil, stirring until reduce. Let cool slightly and cover the cake.
If ur using any Jam /jelly ,do the same , warm it with a splash of water , jus to liquefy and spread over the cake.

Serve: 8 portions.