A Blank Slate

Egg whites. Say no more...egg whites are, second only to the little critters commonly known as yeast, probably my favorite baking ingredient. Yes, yes, yes, of course I love chocolate...but I don't think of chocolate as an ingredient...it's more of an essential part of life. Chocolate is, depending on the day, a craving, a medicine, a vice, an indulgence, an overindulgence, a need. Egg whites, I daresay, are rarely any of those things, yet they are truly wondrous..

I'm not talking about that flat, rubbery flap that surrounds the yolk on a fried egg. Yes, certainly that is an egg white...but that is a sad example of this multifaceted ingredient. Start with the act of separating the yolk from the white. We probably all were taught to slosh the egg between the two halves of the jagged, sharp, broken egg shell, letting the white drop into a bowl while the yolk is transferred back and forth. That's one way to do it, but let me offer an alternative that is more effective, safer and so much more fun...First, watch the beautiful movie The Hours and take note when Meryl Streep is separating eggs as she prepares for the party...instead of using egg shells to separate the yolks/whites, she uses her hands. Her hands! The whites fall into the bowl below as she gently moves the egg from hand to hand, and she is left cradling the yolk in her palm. That is how to separate an egg. Why? (other than the fact that Meryl Streep does it that way?) 1) You are much less likely to burst the yolk on a sharp corner of shell; B) in the unlikely event that you are dealing with a salmonella-coated egg shell, you are not going to repeatedly dip your egg white in contaminated shell as you pour it back and forth between halves, and 3) it is completely sensual and hands-on to handle a raw egg like that. Love it. Love it.

For those who are fat-phobic, egg whites are a gift. Other than a few assorted minerals, an egg white is about simply about 10% protein and about 90% water. Who can argue with that?!

But that is not why I put egg whites near the top of my list. Egg whites are a blank slate, a canvas, a medium, a slimy bowl of culinary possibility. Think about it...souffles (savory and sweet), pavlovas, meringue, 7-minute frosting, divinity, marshmallows, buttercream, genoise...to name but a few of the foods that have egg albumin as their central pivotal ingredient. Angel Food Cake, for heaven's sake! Egg whites are the key, but without screaming "taste me, taste me, I'm an egg white!!!" And it is that transparency and versatility that makes it a star for me. Kinda like Meryl Streep.

So it is only fitting that one of my all-time favorite cookies is made with, of course, egg whites. The french macaroon is a simple little cookie that not only is the first thing that I made at culinary school that excited me about the life beyond bread, but it is also taking the baking world by storm. These little sandwich cookies have been around for a century or more, but a food blog isn't a food blog until it has featured some version of them, and there are bakeries in some of the foodier cosmopolitan areas that make only french macaroons. A combination of egg white, sugar, ground nuts, and a flavoring...that's it. Yes, seriously, that's IT. Try them, fall in love with them, try different versions, and celebrate the magic that is the egg white.

Oh, and I assure you that this post was not sponsored by the Egg White Council of North America.

Espresso Macaroons
(from the beautiful blog: Tartelette)
Egg whites...............................90 grams
White Sugar.............................30 grams
Powdered Sugar.......................200 grams
Almond Meal...........................110 grams
Espresso Powder...........................1 tsp
1. Whip egg whites till they foam. Gradually add the white sugar and continue to whip until it forms a glossy but soft meringue. Stop beating before the meringue looks dry.
2. Mix together the powdered sugar, almond meal, and espresso powder. Quickly fold the dry ingredients into the meringue. Stop just when all the dry is incorporated into the meringue. (The mixture should flatten when piped out - if it doesn't, give it a few more folds.)
3. Pipe the mixture into a Silpat into 1 1/2 inch circles. Let sit for 30-45 minutes, to dry slightly on the top.
4. Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes.
5. Let cool before removing from the Silpat.
6. Sandwich two of the cookies together with a small amount of buttercream.

It's A Girl!

I am not a perfectionist, I'm really not, I'm not...well, at least not for most things, as proven by our rather lax approach to house-keeping, my genuine willingness to wear an unironed shirt, my inability to keep receipts, and the mess that covers my desk most of the time. But once I get an idea in my head, be it a paint color or a theatrical production or a cake design...then I want/need reality to match that image in my brain, which itself is perfection, because who imagines an imperfect idea?

Yes, I know, I know, it might be suggested that I should maybe consider thinking about next time cutting myself a little slack and assume/acknowledge that the picture in my head is what is it - a fantasy, a Platonic ideal, a place to start - and avoid the whole moaning-and-frustration-induced-death-scene that results from the inconvenient insertion of reality into my world. But I know that isn't likely to happen...because sometimes/occasionally it almost gets there...it's true, there have been times when the living/breathing/tactile version almost/nearly matches the imagined/what-if version. But (and this is the jab in the ribs), you know what, regardless of how closely the end-product matches the mental picture, no matter how smoothly the process goes from brain to world, I still pretty much go through the same routine: smooth start/no problems...crisis...moaning/anger...Nik says nice things...frustration and a quick/sharp comment...followed by mutual silence...followed by "it works out in the end".

And The Baby Shower Cake was, I must admit, not God's gift to the world of cakedom, but rather an example of "thank God it worked out in the end." Meaning...it tasted good, it was cute, it didn't collapse, I wasn't embarrassed...but it also means that the fondant ripped, the sides were bumpy, the ribbons were bent, and I had to change some of the decorations to hide the imperfections. Obviously, the fondant in my brain was not torn and bumpy - it was smooth and perfect, like it will be on the next cake.

Oh, and in case anyone is keeping track, I did attend the baby shower, I stayed for the duration (because I had to cut the cake), and I did enjoy it...little tiny hats, little tiny socks, little tiny onesies, little tiny butt wipes (and a butt wipe warmer - I want one of those!)...what's not to enjoy? Nik and I don't have kids - we have dogs who we call our kids. And our dogs are funny, and quirky, and pushy. And I know others might disagree, but our dogs/kids are an example of reality informing/creating my image of what perfect is...in my mind our dogs are perfect! And I have a feeling that if we did have kids (of the human variety), I would think that they were perfect too.

Congratulations, Kristen and Eric!

The bottom (10-inch) tier of the cake was a Poppy Seed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Lemon Bar Filling. The top (7-inch) tier was an Orange White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Filling/Frosting. I had intended to have a little (4-inch) tier on the top...but that was part of perfection that reality revised. The whole thing was covered with rolled fondant

and a garden of foam-flowers on spiral floral wire sprang out of the top and sides of the cake.

Poppy Seed Cake

Milk.............................1 1/3 cup

Vanilla Bean....................1

Vanilla Extract.................1 1/2 tsp

Poppy Seeds...................1 cup

Cake Flour......................3 1/3 cup

Baking Powder.................3 1/2 tsp

Salt..............................1 tsp

Butter............................12 oz

Sugar.............................2 1/2 cups, divided

Egg Whites......................8, room temp

Cream of Tarter................1/4 tsp

1. In a small saucepan, scald the milk. Remove from the heat, add the poppy seeds. Slit the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds into the milk, then add the pods. Let mixture cool to room temp.

2. Preheat the oven to 325. Spray 10-inch x 2-inch cake pan with cooking spray, line the bottom with parchment, and flour the pan.

3. Sift the flour, the baking powder, and the salt into a bowl.

4. In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the sugar and beat until very light and creamy, about 4 minutes.

5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture (3 additions), alternating with the milk/poppy seed mixture (2 additions).

6. In a clean bowl, with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites until frothy, add a pinch of salt and the cream of tarter. When soft peaks form, gradually add the remaining 1/2 sugar and continue to beat until meringue is stiff and shiny.

7. Fold 1/4 of the meringue into the cake batter to lighten. Fold in the remaining batter.

8. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 60-70 minutes.