Floral Red Earth Cake (Baked)

[ Equipment: slow cooker or oven. For more information about the terminology in this recipe, see Low Temperature Baking: A Journey of 3 Paths ].

The slice of cake in the picture above looks like an ordinary chocolate cake, although there is only a tiny amount of cocoa powder in it. On close inspection, it's possible to distinguish a slightly reddish hue to the brown with flecks of vibrant red throughout. The red comes from hibiscus flowers that both tint the cake and give it a tart floral flavor. The cake isn't as brightly crimson as a red velvet cake, but it tastes like velvety sweet flowers.

It all began one day when I was watching celebrity chef Paula Deen on TV mixing up a red velvet cake, a traditional cake of the American South that gets its coloring from a combination of cocoa powder and red food coloring. She poured into the batter 2 full bottles of red food coloring and tossed in sticks of  butter totaling 1/2 pound. The cake baked up a screaming fire engine red. Although red velvet cakes are said to be for special occasions (and hence the high fat and intense artificial coloring are supposed to be infrequent indulgences), I began researching for a way to eliminate the bottled food coloring and balance the calories for an everyday LTB cake.

During World War II, when red food coloring was scarce, red velvet cakes were reddened with grated beets or beet juice, but the resulting red faded or browned during baking. While studying red velvet cake recipes online, I also pulled up recipes for red earth cakes, similar to red velvet cakes in composition, but with a reddish brown tonality, because they contain less red food coloring. It was not clear that they are of southern origin. Yet, as I thought about it, a red earth cake seemed more evocative of the American South, assuredly so to non-Southerners. It was on red earth that the southern plantation beloved in popular culture stood, the red earth of Tara in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind. But I digress.

Because a red earth cake is meant to be more brown than red, I figured one with a natural food coloring could be successful, and the low heat of LTB might preserve the color better. Instead of beets, I had a bag of dried hibiscus flowers in one of my food bins. Hibiscus tea is deep red or purplish red, so I ground up 5 or 6 flowers in a coffee grinder to produce a fine powder as a colorant. Dried whole hibiscus flowers are sold in 3 oz. bags at my local market, but if they aren't available, it might be possible to substitute the contents of one or two herbal teabags (finely ground), which contain hibiscus as the main ingredient, though any other ingredients in the tea will affect the cake's flavor and color.

Normally, natural cocoa powder contributes its own redness when it's mixed with an acid ingredient like vinegar, but Dutch-processed cocoa, which is now sold as a baking cocoa, is non-reactive. The cocoa in this recipe is Hershey's Special Dark, a blend of natural and Dutch cocoas. It's present for flavor and to color the cake a deep brown only, not for any red coloring.

The cake has between 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of dark cocoa powder, a fraction of the amount in my Gotta Have Heart Cake, for example. Yet, it has a distinct chocolate taste, thanks to the coffee bean powder which amplifies the cocoa flavor to blend with the delicate hibiscus bouquet without overpowering it. For the best floral scent and flavor, I recommend adding 1/2 teaspoon of dark cocoa powder to the batter. To emphasize the chocolate and deep brown tone, increase the amount to 1 teaspoon of dark cocoa powder. The coffee bean powder is made by putting unbrewed ground coffee (canned coffee will do) into a coffee grinder and grinding it to a very fine powder.

Southern red cakes can have as much as 1/2 cup of butter or oil per cup of flour. This recipe has one teaspoon of butter for a taste of butter and applesauce to add moistness to the cake. The water content of applesauce varies by brand. If the batter is too dry or too thick, add more water or milk, a dribble at a time.

Paula Deen's red velvet cakes are dressed in a rich cream cheese frosting or icing. I like to serve a slice of this red earth cake with a dollop of light whipped topping (homemade or from the market), sprinkled with a few mini chocolate chips. Avoid any kind of heavily-flavored topping that would compete with or overwhelm the lovely hibiscus.

Makes 1 small loaf or 8 servings
- 620 calories per loaf or 78 calories per serving
- Oven Temperature: 250°F/121°C

• 1 teaspoon butter, melted
• 1/8 cup applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon coffee bean powder (see text)
• 3 teaspoons powdered hibiscus flowers
• 1/8 cup milk, regular or reduced-fat
• 5/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon dark cocoa powder (see text)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Pre-heat oven or slow cooker to 250°F/121°C.

1. Grease a small loaf pan (5-3/4 inch x 3 inch).  Set aside.



2. Heat the milk until hot. Put hibiscus powder in a cup and mix in the hot milk. Allow mixture to infuse for at least 5 minutes.



3. In a small bowl, mix melted butter and applesauce. Set aside.



4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch and baking powder. Set aside.



5. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, vanilla extract, salt and coffee bean powder until well combined.



6. Mix in hibiscus-milk infusion.



7. Stir in flour mixture in 2 or 3 portions. If the batter is stiff, dribble in some milk or water to thin it out a bit.



8. Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. If baking in a cooker, put moisture-absorbing paper towels under the lid. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.



9. Cool for 10 minutes and unmold. Cool cake on a rack for another 15 minutes and serve.

Zong-Zi Wrapped Rice Dumplings (Boiled or Steamed)

[ Equipment: steamer or large pot for boiling. For more information about the terminology in this recipe, see Low Temperature Baking: A Journey of 3 Paths ].

The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival takes place on June 16 this year. They don't race dragon boats in the US, but people do celebrate by eating zong-zi (also written zhongzi and called jung in Cantonese), rice dumplings with assorted fillings, wrapped in bamboo leaves, that are boiled or steamed. In Chinatown markets, bakeries and from street vendors, zong-zi are sold year-round. Because the dumplings are wrapped, they can be held and eaten as a meal on the run (don't forget the soy sauce packets). My favorite way to eat them is in bowl with an assortment of chopped vegetables.

Although supermarkets in the US dedicate a few shelves to Asian foods, two basic components of zong-zi are still rare: bamboo leaves and glutinous rice. Asian specialty markets stock them and esoteric ingredients for the filling, but I decided to make American-style zong-zi. That is, I would make them only from ingredients that were found locally.

Instead of bamboo leaves, I used dried Mexican tamale corn husks. Banana leaves would have been great as wrappers (being large and green), but I didn't find any locally. Tamale corn husks are between a half and a third as long as the average bamboo leaf. Printed on the bag of medium grain rice (discussed next), the recommended serving per person is 1/4 cup of uncooked rice. Happily, one large corn husk will wrap that amount of rice plus a few heaping spoonfuls of filling. Smaller husks can be joined to make one large wrapper or even a super-sized wrapper.

In place of the glutinous rice, I substituted a medium grain rice (Hinode brand Silver Pearl). Because the dumplings in this recipe are boiled, the individual rice grains flow into each other and merge into a cake, with a texture very much like a glutinous rice dumpling. I have read of zong-zi made with a long grain rice, so the lack of speciality rices should not be a deterrent from making zong-zi. Sushi rice might have been a better substitute for glutinous rice. Both are short grain, sticky rices, although a couple of online sources insisted that glutinous rice is stickier than sushi rice. I didn't look for the sushi rice because I discovered a bag of medium grain rice hiding at the bottom of one of my food bins.

Zong-zi can have a variety of fillings, from meats to sweet bean pastes. My dumplings were stuffed with a savory filling made of vegetables (mushrooms, green onions and bamboo shoots) and a meat or meat alternative. Traditionally, the mushrooms would be reconstituted dried Chinese or shitake-type mushrooms. I substituted white button mushrooms that had been steam cooked for 5 minutes and roughly chopped. The bamboo shoots bring in a crunch, scent and presence of bamboo, as a reminder of the missing bamboo leaves. Chopped water chestnuts would also add crunch. The meat component can be cooked chicken or pork or a Chinese sausage or an equivalent. The "meat" in the pictures below is actually slices of vegetarian riblet, each one about the size of a mini sausage link. To bind everything together, I mixed in a few spoonfuls of prepared hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is sweet and tangy. For a more savory taste, oyster sauce or another thick dipping sauce would be good binding sauces as well.

The shape of a zong-zi can be the simple rectangular package or the famous pyramidal or tetrahedron forms. Because the corn husks are so small, it was much easier to wrap the rectangular shape. The tying technique shown below is efficient and traditional, but the dumplings can be tied any way that holds the husk flaps down.

Zong-zi can be steamed or boiled. However, unless the rice is pre-cooked, steaming may not evenly cook the rice inside the dumplings. Thus, for steamed zong-zi, pre-cook the rice first by steaming it for 30 minutes in a dish filled with water to cover the rice. Dumplings stuffed with uncooked rice will expand during boiling and could burst through the wrapping, but dumplings containing pre-cooked rice are more stable because the rice is already plumped.

This starter recipe makes only 2 dumplings. It's far more convenient to assemble and cook a large batch of zong-zi at a time. Double, quadruple or otherwise multiply the quantity of ingredients as desired. For the Dragon Boat Festival, home cooks may devote an entire day to preparing different varieties of zong-zi, hung all around the kitchen to dry. Large batches of zong-zi freeze well, and quickly reheat in the microwave.

Makes 2 zong-zi dumplings
- 250 calories per dumpling (varies with filling)
- Oven temperature: boiled or steamed

• Dried Mexican tamale corn husks (or dried bamboo leaves)
• 1/2 cup medium grain white rice (or glutinous rice or sticky short-grain rice)
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped white mushrooms (or shitake mushrooms)
• 1 tablespoon sliced green onion
• 1-1/2 tablespoon julienned bamboo shoots (or chopped water chestnuts)
• 2 teaspoons hoisin sauce (or oyster sauce or other thick dipping sauce - see text)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons soy sauce (see text)
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 mini sausage links (or equal amount of cooked meat or meat alternative about 3 inches long)
• 2 three-foot lengths of cotton kitchen twine

1. Soak rice in water for 3 or 4 hours or overnight. Drain.

Raw rice is for boiled dumplings. For steamed dumplings, the rice should be pre-cooked (see text above).



2. Soak corn husks in warm water for about an hour. Put in more husks than actually needed, in case some of them have splits, which are difficult to see when the husks are in dried form. The husks should be very pliable after soaking or they will be hard to fold.



3. In a small bowl, mix vegetables. Drain off any excess water. Add chili powder and hoisin sauce. Add soy sauce to taste, but not so much that the mixture turns runny. In a second small bowl, put the mini sausages or meat alternatives.



4. Place husk on flat surface or over a small baking cup. Husks measuring about 6 inches wide at the top and 9 inches long or larger are the easiest to wrap.

[caption id="attachment_678" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="Overlapping Two Smaller Husks To Make A Big Wrapper"][/caption]

Two small husks (less than 6 inches wide) can be overlapped top to bottom to form a rectangle and hold one dumpling.



5. Spread two tablespoons of rice on the husk starting about 2 to 3 inches from the top and in an area about 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches.



6. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the vegetable mix over the rice. Put a sausage link (or other meat or meat alternative) over the vegetables.



7. Spoon 2 more teaspoons of the vegetable mix around the sausage or to cover it. Spoon 2 tablespoons of rice over the filling.



8. Fold sides of husk closed to cover the filling.



9. Fold the bottom flap over against the dumpling.



10. Fold the top flap over against the dumpling, overlapping the bottom flap. Secure the top flap with a loop of cotton twine tied in a half knot.



11. Place more loops of twine and half knots along the dumpling to secure both flaps and bring string around the bottom of the dumpling and back up over the top. The tension should be sufficient to hold the dumpling together but allow for some expansion. If the dumpling is tied too tightly, the rice could split the corn husk when cooked.



15. If needed, wrap one more loop at the top of the dumpling. Then tie the string ends together.



16. For boiled dumplings, bring large pot of water to boil and drop dumplings into the water (two dumplings will fit in a 2-3 quart saucepan) and boil on medium heat for 2 hours. For steamed dumplings, put dumplings in steamer and steam for 1-1/2 hours.



17. Remove dumplings and cool.

18. Serve by removing the string and unwrapping the husk or leaves. Sprinkle with soy sauce.

19. Refrigerate or freeze extra dumplings for later.

Fast-Rise, Kneaded White Bread Mini Loaf (Steamed & Baked)

[ Equipment: steamer and slow cooker or oven. For more information about the terminology in this recipe, see Low Temperature Baking: A Journey of 3 Paths ].

Jan. 5, 2011 Note: A fast-rise, baked-only version of this recipe can be found here.

The name of this recipe has been changed to distinguish it from the many slow-rise recipes on VaporBaker. Also, at the time this recipe was written, I had not yet experimented with many low-temperature browning agents (for example, alkaline olive oil was first described in my REVISED slow-rise no-knead focaccia recipe, not the original recipe). The writeup below refers to the older version of focaccia.
---------------
Unlike my first focaccia bread which emerged from the oven very pale, this white loaf is adorned with a golden crust. The focaccia's lack of color might have been due to the falling oven, in which the temperature dropped from 250 to 225°F in the final 40 minutes. However, I did bake one at a steady 250°F throughout, and while that loaf singed at the edges (and dried out hard as a Frisbee), it never managed the even golden tonality of this mini loaf. The browning trick of this bread, the key difference in the recipes, is the addition of sugar to the dough, which begins caramelizing at 230°F and imparts color without searing heat.

This mini loaf is baked in 2 stages: steamed first and slow-baked at 250°F to finish. A regular loaf of bread baked at high temperature is done when the internal temperature reaches about 180°F. Water steam can heat well over 200°F (at sea level), so steaming is as effective as oven baking in an oven to cook the bread. For the finishing touch, the bread is then baked at 250°F to dry and brown the crust.



I have tested the bread dry steamed and wet steamed. Both techniques work, but dry steaming produces a drier surface that browns faster. To wet steam, the pan is put in the steamer and a piece of greased wax paper or foil is placed over the dough to protect it against any water dripping down from the lid. Despite the greasing, the paper or foil might stick to the bread anyway, leaving a rougher surface for the browning stage. To avoid that problem, don't cover the dough and cover the steamer instead with a dish towel under the lid to absorb moisture.





In dry steaming, steam doesn't touch the bread. The pan can be encased in a large foil pouch, seams along the top and sides. The pouch idea works best if the steamer is big, so it isn't a hassle to form a foil dome that will fit in the steamer with the cover on. An alternative is to make a foil bonnet that fits over the pan and is secured with string against the pan's rim. I make the bonnet by pressing a sheet of foil into a large loaf pan as the mold.

The bread should be steamed until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 180°F, by which time it's fully cooked. However, since the bread will be baked next, the steaming stage could end a little earlier, when the internal temperature is a degree or two less than 180°F, and the bread will finish cooking in the oven.

This mini or demi loaf is a great size for snack sandwiches, not too big and not too small. It tastes best if eaten soon after it's cooled, although it toasts up very well a day or two later. With the lessons from this recipe, I'm working out the details for a larger loaf and a new version of the focaccia.

Makes 1 Demi Loaf
- 540 calories per loaf
- Oven temperature: steaming, oven at 250°F/121°C

• 1-1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
• 1/2+ cup warm water

1. Put flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

2. Add 1/4 cup of warm water and mix. Continue adding warm water, one tablespoon at a time until it forms a sticky but kneadable dough.



3. Knead dough to form a smooth and elastic ball. If the dough is too dry, it won't rise properly. Sprinkle in water to hydrate it. If the dough's too wet to knead, mix in a little flour to absorb the excess water.

For this amount of dough, my favorite kneading method is to hold the dough in both hands and stretch-fold, as though I were making taffy candy, for 2 to 4 minutes, until the dough becomes elastic and will stretch about 1 foot without breaking. Do not overknead.



4. Cover and put in a warm place (90°-100°F) to rise until double in height, about 2 to 3 hours.



5. Deflate the dough. Briefly knead it. Shape and put dough in a small (5-3/4 inch x 3 inch) loaf pan.



6. Cover and put in warm place to rise until double in height, about 1 to 2 hours.

7. Prepare pan for dry or wet steaming as described in text above.

8. Preheat oven/cooker to 250°F.





9. Bring steamer water to rolling boil and reduce to a medium boil. Put bread in steamer and steam until the bread's internal temperature reaches 180°F or higher (about 40 to 50 minutes).



10. Remove bread from steamer. Remove pouch or any covering and put bread in oven or slow cooker and bake for about 40 minutes until crust is lightly golden. Do not overbake or the crust may harden. If baking in a slow cooker and the surface of the loaf is wet, position lid slightly askew for venting and bake for another 10 minutes to dry the crust.



11. Remove bread from oven/cooker and cool about 10 minutes. Unmold and continue to cool bread on a rack.



12. Slice and serve.

Spiced Chocolate Gotta-Have-Heart Gobs w/ Lemon-Lavender Creme (Baked)

You've gotta have heart
All you really need is heart
When the odds are saying you'll never win
That's when the grin should start

Jerry Ross, Richard Adler - Damn Yankees

[ Equipment: slow cooker or oven. For more information about the terminology in this recipe, see Low Temperature Baking: A Journey of 3 Paths ].

Revised: Feb. 7, 2011

The original Gotta-Have-Heart cake was a simple chocolate genoise, inspired by news of chocolate as a health food. When I was ready to replace the low-res pictures in that recipe with new ones, a new inspiration beckoned me to a different direction: creme-filled gobs (a.k.a. whoopie pies). Because the cake slices are so thin (1/4 inch), they're really more like skinny cake sandwiches than the average gob or whoopie and better served on a plate than held in the hand, a more formal pastry. The basic chocolate genoise has been decked with Mexican-style flavorings: hot spices and ground almonds and a sturdier crumb, but has retained the moisturizing grape syrup drench. The upscale filling combines the earthy caramel of a dulce de leche spread with a heap of light, lemon-scented lavender creme.

Every year, there are countless news items extolling the health benefits of chocolate. At the time of the original Gotta-Have-Heart cake, headlines were proclaiming that chocolate eaters had a lower risk of heart attacks and possessed radiant skin with fewer wrinkles and that pairing chocolate with wine could protect against stroke. Hence, I mixed up mini chocolate heart cakes infused with Concord grape syrup to celebrate this cascade of cocoa-related revelations (Concord grapes being packed with resveratrol, a compound famous for its potential anti-aging properties and a synergistic combination with chocolate). Those were the original Gotta-Have-Heart cakes.

Last year, I came across an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about an east coast snack cake sweeping into west coast markets and eateries: the whoopie pie or gob. Gobs were now sold all over the Bay Area. They were a publishing sensation too. I counted no less than 6 cookbooks dedicated to the whoopie pie on Amazon.com and all published (or to be published) between 2009 and 2011. Gobs had become a culinary trend in America. So, when I began updating the Gotta-Have-Heart recipe for a new photo shoot, I pulled out the old mixing bowl and went to work on my own version of gobs.

The classic gob is better classified as a cake sandwich than a cookie sandwich, although over the years, the distinction has not been scrupulously observed. The cake itself is typically a sponge cake, charged with a reliable chemical leavener. A genoise cake in this recipe employs no chemical leavener, but relies on an intensely-beaten egg foam to lighten it. Because my only mixing device is an electric whisk (and not the fastest whisk at that), beating alone at room temperature will not fully saturate the egg foam with air. A method for making an acceptable electric-whisk egg foam was detailed in my apple madeleines recipe. It involved heating the batter twice to over 100°F/38°C.

In this recipe, maximum lift isn't necessary. Plus, the extra ingredients for Mexican-style chocolate genoise collapse the egg foam anyway, leaving a fraction of the suffused air behind. That tiny amount of air still tenderizes the cake, so the egg foam can't be avoided. To save time, I only partially whip the egg foam. However, for those with more powerful mixers than I have, I recommend beating a fully-saturated egg foam, because it will produce a more tender cake. Just continue beating on high speed in step 5 until a dripped ribbon stays visible for 15 seconds or longer.

Espresso powder appears to be the preferred ingredient for enhancing chocolate, but I used what I had on hand. The coffee bean powder very effectively punches up the cocoa flavor to match the cake's deep intensity color. It's nothing more than supermarket ground coffee (Folgers medium roast in this instance) that has been pulverized in a coffee grinder. The coffee powder must be very fine ground, or the cake will end up gritty. This is an important flavoring to ramp up the intensity of the chocolate. For substitutes, I'd try instant coffee powder or a coffee extract.

The cakes are baked in a falling oven (20 minutes at 270°F and 20 minutes at 250°F) so that the batter heats up faster and the air bubbles can expand more before it sets - but not to leaven. The purpose of the higher start temperature is to tenderize the cakes with a finer crumb. At no point should the cakes actually get hotter than 250°F/121°C, as the batter's still not quite set when the oven temperature begins falling. Alternatively, they could be baked in a steady oven at 250°F/121°C for 50 to 60 minutes as originally specified, especially if the egg foam had been whipped to maximum aeration. Otherwise, a dash (1/4 teaspoon) of baking powder in the batter could also help tenderize the cakes.

When made in the specified pans, the cakes are about 1/2 inch thick, essentially the height of the batter before baking. Initially, I worried the cakes might be difficult to slice horizontally. However, the firm texture withstood thin slicing, and I was always able to do it without it tearing or crumbling, due in no small part to a sharp, finely serrated knife.

Historically, the creamy filling for a gob was a kind of marshmallow creme or a shortening-based frosting. In this recipe, the cakes are filled with prepared Dream Whip whipped topping mix, scented and tinted with lemon and lavender. At 140 calories per cup, it's half as calorie dense as plain marshmallow creme. A meringue frosting, such as 7-minute frosting, made with fresh lemon zest and lavender powder, would be a good substitute for either Dream Whip or marshmallow creme.

The lemon zest and milk for the Dream Whip topping has to infuse for several hours in the refrigerator. I considered warming the milk first to accelerate the infusion, but heating would have changed the taste and the texture of milk and possibly the fluff of the topping. The recipe specifies 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest for the infusion. With the 1/4 teaspoon amount, the zest brightens the taste of the lavender creme and subtly scents it with lemony freshness - very delicious as it is. The optional 1/2 teaspoon of zest is for those who want a stronger lemon flavor. Lavender has been a mainstay flavoring of artisanal chocolates. I make the lavender sugar by fine-grinding dried culinary lavender flowers and granulated white sugar in a 2-to-1 ratio by volume. The sugar assists the spice grinder by adding heft to blossoms.

Makes 2 gobs (each gob can serve one or two)
- 190 calories per gob
- Oven temperature: 250°F/121°C

Cake

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon coffee bean powder, very fine ground (see text)
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/8 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoon dark agave syrup or dark maple syrup (grade A)
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon raisin puree (see below, see text)
• 1 teaspoon Concord grape jam
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 cup lavender creme filling
• 2 tablespoons dulce de leche (optional)

Raisin Puree

• 1 tablespoon raisins
• 3 tablespoons boiling water

Lemon-Lavender Creme Filling (makes 1 cup)

• 1/2 package Dream Whip (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/4 cup cold milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (dried or fresh - see text)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lavender sugar (see below)

Topping

• 1/8 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon lavender sugar (see below, see text)
• fresh grated lemon zest (optional)

Lavender Sugar (makes 2 tablespoons)

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Preheat oven or cooker to 270°F/132°C.

Raisin Puree Method:



1. Soak raisins in boiling water.



2. Puree the mixture with an immersion blender or in a mini food processor.

Concord Syrup Method:



1. In a small microwave-safe bowl, mix grape jam and water. Heat in microwave until the mixture simmers (about 1 minute).



Lemon-Lavender Creme Method:



1. In a small bowl, mix the milk and lemon zest. Cover and infuse in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 hours or overnight.



2. Strain the milk. Press the lemon zest against the strainer to extract any remaining liquid and discard the zest. If necessary, add more milk to bring volume back up to 1/4 cup.



3. Refrigerate the lemon-milk until ready to use.



4. Prepare 1/2 of an envelope of Dream Whip (about 2 tablespoons of mix) according to the package instructions with the lemon-milk and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.



5. Mix in the lavender powder.



6. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Gob Cake Method:



1. Thoroughly mix together the flour, cocoa powder and cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside. If available, cake flour can be substituted for the all-purpose flour and cornstarch.



2. Melt the butter in a small heatproof dish in the microwave. Mix in the olive oil and raisin puree. Set aside.



3. Put the egg, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, agave syrup and salt in a heatproof bowl and whisk until frothy.

4. Bring a saucepan with 1 inch of water to a simmer and place the bowl over the saucepan. Monitor the temperature of the mixture with an instant-read thermometer (preferably a digital instant read). Stir the mixture until it reaches a temperature of 105°F/41°C. Heating the mixture will help it hold more air when it’s whipped.



5. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and whip the egg mixture with an electric whisk or mixer on HIGH speed until the batter turns a pale yellow and the volume triples. When dripped from the beater, the batter should trail a ribbon that stays visible for about 5 to 6 seconds (about 4 or 5 minutes of beating, depending on the speed of the mixer).

For those with a strong handheld mixer or a stand mixer, I recommend beating the egg foam until the dripped ribbon stays visible for over 15 seconds.



6. Sift a small portion of the flour mixture over the batter and fold in with a spatula or large soup spoon.



7. Drip a portion of the butter-oil-raisin mixture along the edge of the batter where it meets the bowl and fold it into the batter.



9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until both mixtures are completely incorporated.



10. Grease two mini heart molds (5/8 cup capacity) and spoon batter into molds. The molds should be at least half full.



11. Bake for 20 minutes at 270°F/132°C. Then reduce the heat to 250°F/121°C and bake for another 20 minutes. (Alternatively, bake in a steady oven at 250°F/121°C for 50 to 60 minutes - see text.) Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick or wood skewer into the center of a cake. It should come out clean, excluding any surface moisture.



12. Cool and unmold. Place on rack to allow any excess moisture on the bottom and sides to evaporate.



13. Each cake should be about 1/2 inch thick. Thinner cakes will be harder to slice.



14. Slice each heart cake horizontally and brush the inside surfaces with the grape syrup. Avoid brushing on too much syrup or the cake will be soggy.



15. Spread one side with lavender creme and the other side with (optional) dulce de leche milk-caramel spread. Dulce de leche may be softened in the microwave for easier spreading.



16. Reassemble the cake halves. Dust the top of each gob with a mixture of confectioner's sugar and lavender powder. If desired, sprinkle on fresh grated lemon zest.