Bonjour David, that looks delicious! I have an old-fashioned sifter, the kind with a crank, that I use for sifting and mixing dry ingredients. I probably bought it in college, so it's really old! I had to go look in the top shelf of my cupboard where I keep the stuff I don't use much to see if my bundt pan moved or was donated in the hectic last days. It was there. Yea!
David, love this newsletter because I love chocolate cake…and fancy pans. I’ve found if I paint them with Crisco and dust with flour, nothing sticks. Learned this from a NordicWare chef lots of years ago.
We don't have Crisco here, although a friend with a vegan doughnut shop somehow gets it (she called it the "OG vegan fat.") In England, they have Trex. I know a lot of people swear by it for greasing cake pans - thanks for chiming in!
We did several Thanksgivings in France - this is early 2000’s and the best turkey we got was at the Dijon public market, where you can still get horse meat. We also got good turkeys at the butcher shop ( sorry about the English) on the Rue du Bac not far from Blvd St Germain.
I brought a lot of stuff with me from NY- stuffing mix, cranberries, even canned cranberry sauce ( sort of ick but great to have on the table for the non Americans), but the place to go for anything Thanksgiving ( at least it was 20-25 years ago) was/is the Food Market at the Bon Marche department store. They even had Ocean Spray cranberries! I don’t know if we’d do it again- we threatened two years ago but then decided not to- I think I’d rather do Christmas Day in Paris. That is if the Chinese restaurants are open which they are in NYC dating back to when the Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants lived in NY’s Lower East Side, right next to NYC’s first Chinatown ( in Manhattan by the Lower East Side) and the only restaurants open on Christmas Day were the Chinese Restaurants as both the Chinese and the Jews didn’t celebrate Christmas and so this NYC tradition still stands . Chinese food and a movie. I like it much better than turkey and stuffing and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. :-)
😱 in the Bon Marche epicerie? Oy! You are not kidding that times have changed! I do remember there was the store Thanksgiving but it was so easy for us to go to the Bon Marche.
There used to be a store in Paris, which you may remember, called "Thanksgiving" which was open year round, but sold all the fixin's for Thanksgiving. (A friend once ordered the entire meal from them, which they offered, and visiting Americans who were dining at her house with us remarked on how scrawny the turkey was...compared to their plumped up American counterparts.) People complained about the prices for things like molasses and canned cranberry sauce, but everything was imported, hence the higher prices.
They closed a few years ago but there are still some American épiceries around Paris. They completely remodeled the food sore at the Bon Marché and now influencers comes from around the world to set up tripods to do videos in the butter aisle. I was remarking to a friend who has also lived here a long time, that in the old days, if you took even a picture in that store, security would come running over to you and you'd get yelled at.
I have used “baker’s goo” for years and it works as advertised. But when I am making chocolate cakes, I substitute cocoa for the flour. It’s more flavorful than flour and if the cake isn’t being iced, it looks way better.
I have a pretty intricate bundt pan and I triple-insure myself: coat with melted butter with a pastry brush to get in all tight spots, flour or cocoa powder, chill so that all sticks, then spray with Bakers Joy with flour. So far, so good!
I love their cocoa powder (although it's pricey, and not everyone has access to it) but it's quite rich in flavor. Extra brut Cacao-Barry is also delicious, but it's only available in kilo (2.2# bags) so I tell people to share one with a friend...if they want to use it : )
I keep some homemade "cake goop" in the back of my fridge at all times. It has been recommended by several chefs online for troublesome cake pans, like a bundt. Its recipe is simple: equal parts flour, oil, and Crisco. I slather it on my bundt pans with a brush, and it always works. Also, one chef reminded me to turn out the cake no longer than 5 or 10 minutes after coming out of the oven--so the fat in the cake doesn't start to harden onto the pan--and stick to it! Quick turnout has worked for me, too. I do every trick I can because nothing is more heartbreaking than a beautiful, expensive-ingredient cake getting stuck in the twisted turns of a gorgeous bundt pan!
This cake is the first one I made from Dorie’s new cookbook and it was a huge hit. I, too, used the baking spray with flour and had no trouble with the release although it does always feel a bit like magic when it plops out of the pan onto the plate intact. I bought one of the Bake from Scratch W-S Bundt pans as well - what a lovely cake it makes!
A 1:1 paste of melted butter and unsweetened cocoa powder works beautifully on Nordic Ware bundt pans to release chocolate cakes, including the bundt form that foiled you, David. Let the paste dry while making the cake batter. 10" rest in the pan when it comes out of the oven, invert it, and out it pops.
I use uncoated Nordic Ware (NW) bundt pans--old ones from the early 60s and new ones that I buy from the factory before they're coated. The 1:1 butter:unsweetened cocoa paste works beautifully on uncoated pans for chocolate cakes.
Lordy - it’s very much a scavengers hunt to find Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix here in the states! I use a mix of PF cubed and regular mixes and add lots of water chestnuts to their recipe. WHY is it so hard to find? I went to 4 grocery stores before I got the two I needed. It’s the best - and yes I’ve made stuffing from scratch. My family rebelled! Love that you love it too.
I was once invited with some others to go visit Pepperidge Farms in Connecticut and it was really (really) interesting. At the end, they had a 'shop' and told us we could take whatever we wanted. I took bags of stuffing : )
Those coppery colored cake pans are Gorgeoussss! Wow! I have used nonstick spray (are we really baking if a thick layer of Pam from an aerosol can is not applied lol) on cheap Bundt pans and ran them through the dishwasher and abused them and they are fine. I think sometimes you just get lucky with pans, and sometimes you just don't with regard to if things will stick or not. Also I see people running in San Diego without shoes semi frequently - and very much by choice it appears. It truly amazes me!
It may just be something that applies to Nordic Ware bundt pans (?) because of whatever coating they use - it may be incompatible with theirs. What brand of pans do you have?
I have had Nordic Ware Bundt pans but honestly my most reached for is something that I bought at the grocery store (because I needed it right then and there) for probably $6.99 about 15 years ago. And it's still fine! For loaf pans, I like Chicago Metallic. I have some that I've baked hundreds of loaves in, dishwasher, and fine!
Thanks. I don't know all the different pans out there but perhaps the Chicago Metallic don't have the same coating, hence the difference. Most of us (myself included...) likely don't read the instructions carefully that come with cake pans, if they come with them. But I'm going to from now on.
I'm also from New England and can easily get cranberries, which is nice, but I'm still flummoxed that I can never find Dutch process cocoa at any grocery store here in Western MA. Yet every recipe with cocoa powder calls for it these days.
Usually in the U.S. you can find a brand list Droste or Bensdorp at grocery stores and some even carry Hershey's Special Dark, which is actually pretty good:
But I know that every supermarket and grocery store is different. When I'm in the States, I often buy things from King Arthur Baking. They have a "triple" cocoa powder that's a blend of natural, Dutch-process, and black cocoa...that's good for everything : )
Thank you! I've never heard of or seen Droste or Bensdorp. I think I've seen the Special Dark though, and that King Arthur one sounds great. My usual go-to is Ghirardelli which makes great brownies!
Bonjour David, that looks delicious! I have an old-fashioned sifter, the kind with a crank, that I use for sifting and mixing dry ingredients. I probably bought it in college, so it's really old! I had to go look in the top shelf of my cupboard where I keep the stuff I don't use much to see if my bundt pan moved or was donated in the hectic last days. It was there. Yea!
David, love this newsletter because I love chocolate cake…and fancy pans. I’ve found if I paint them with Crisco and dust with flour, nothing sticks. Learned this from a NordicWare chef lots of years ago.
We don't have Crisco here, although a friend with a vegan doughnut shop somehow gets it (she called it the "OG vegan fat.") In England, they have Trex. I know a lot of people swear by it for greasing cake pans - thanks for chiming in!
And the cake looks so gorgeous and looks so delicious! Thank you David and Dorie!
We did several Thanksgivings in France - this is early 2000’s and the best turkey we got was at the Dijon public market, where you can still get horse meat. We also got good turkeys at the butcher shop ( sorry about the English) on the Rue du Bac not far from Blvd St Germain.
I brought a lot of stuff with me from NY- stuffing mix, cranberries, even canned cranberry sauce ( sort of ick but great to have on the table for the non Americans), but the place to go for anything Thanksgiving ( at least it was 20-25 years ago) was/is the Food Market at the Bon Marche department store. They even had Ocean Spray cranberries! I don’t know if we’d do it again- we threatened two years ago but then decided not to- I think I’d rather do Christmas Day in Paris. That is if the Chinese restaurants are open which they are in NYC dating back to when the Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants lived in NY’s Lower East Side, right next to NYC’s first Chinatown ( in Manhattan by the Lower East Side) and the only restaurants open on Christmas Day were the Chinese Restaurants as both the Chinese and the Jews didn’t celebrate Christmas and so this NYC tradition still stands . Chinese food and a movie. I like it much better than turkey and stuffing and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. :-)
😱 in the Bon Marche epicerie? Oy! You are not kidding that times have changed! I do remember there was the store Thanksgiving but it was so easy for us to go to the Bon Marche.
There used to be a store in Paris, which you may remember, called "Thanksgiving" which was open year round, but sold all the fixin's for Thanksgiving. (A friend once ordered the entire meal from them, which they offered, and visiting Americans who were dining at her house with us remarked on how scrawny the turkey was...compared to their plumped up American counterparts.) People complained about the prices for things like molasses and canned cranberry sauce, but everything was imported, hence the higher prices.
They closed a few years ago but there are still some American épiceries around Paris. They completely remodeled the food sore at the Bon Marché and now influencers comes from around the world to set up tripods to do videos in the butter aisle. I was remarking to a friend who has also lived here a long time, that in the old days, if you took even a picture in that store, security would come running over to you and you'd get yelled at.
Times have changed!
I have used “baker’s goo” for years and it works as advertised. But when I am making chocolate cakes, I substitute cocoa for the flour. It’s more flavorful than flour and if the cake isn’t being iced, it looks way better.
I have a pretty intricate bundt pan and I triple-insure myself: coat with melted butter with a pastry brush to get in all tight spots, flour or cocoa powder, chill so that all sticks, then spray with Bakers Joy with flour. So far, so good!
Not to be a Debbie Downer but I always use Valhrona cocoa. Always a success.
I love their cocoa powder (although it's pricey, and not everyone has access to it) but it's quite rich in flavor. Extra brut Cacao-Barry is also delicious, but it's only available in kilo (2.2# bags) so I tell people to share one with a friend...if they want to use it : )
I keep some homemade "cake goop" in the back of my fridge at all times. It has been recommended by several chefs online for troublesome cake pans, like a bundt. Its recipe is simple: equal parts flour, oil, and Crisco. I slather it on my bundt pans with a brush, and it always works. Also, one chef reminded me to turn out the cake no longer than 5 or 10 minutes after coming out of the oven--so the fat in the cake doesn't start to harden onto the pan--and stick to it! Quick turnout has worked for me, too. I do every trick I can because nothing is more heartbreaking than a beautiful, expensive-ingredient cake getting stuck in the twisted turns of a gorgeous bundt pan!
This cake is the first one I made from Dorie’s new cookbook and it was a huge hit. I, too, used the baking spray with flour and had no trouble with the release although it does always feel a bit like magic when it plops out of the pan onto the plate intact. I bought one of the Bake from Scratch W-S Bundt pans as well - what a lovely cake it makes!
I can't wait to use my Bake from Scratch pans...along with my baking spray (which I forgot about in my cupboard!)
A 1:1 paste of melted butter and unsweetened cocoa powder works beautifully on Nordic Ware bundt pans to release chocolate cakes, including the bundt form that foiled you, David. Let the paste dry while making the cake batter. 10" rest in the pan when it comes out of the oven, invert it, and out it pops.
interesting! will have to try that...
: )
I use uncoated Nordic Ware (NW) bundt pans--old ones from the early 60s and new ones that I buy from the factory before they're coated. The 1:1 butter:unsweetened cocoa paste works beautifully on uncoated pans for chocolate cakes.
Romaine is now part of the stuffing cult. Who can resist it?
That chocolate cake looks and sounds delicious. How about a bit of chili powder?
Do you have a rum cake recipe? I'd like to find a new one.
Yes, there is a Rum Cake recipe in my book Ready for Dessert - it's delicious!
I don't have Ready yet. I have Room. Is there a preview page with the rum cake recipe?
Lordy - it’s very much a scavengers hunt to find Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix here in the states! I use a mix of PF cubed and regular mixes and add lots of water chestnuts to their recipe. WHY is it so hard to find? I went to 4 grocery stores before I got the two I needed. It’s the best - and yes I’ve made stuffing from scratch. My family rebelled! Love that you love it too.
I was once invited with some others to go visit Pepperidge Farms in Connecticut and it was really (really) interesting. At the end, they had a 'shop' and told us we could take whatever we wanted. I took bags of stuffing : )
Those coppery colored cake pans are Gorgeoussss! Wow! I have used nonstick spray (are we really baking if a thick layer of Pam from an aerosol can is not applied lol) on cheap Bundt pans and ran them through the dishwasher and abused them and they are fine. I think sometimes you just get lucky with pans, and sometimes you just don't with regard to if things will stick or not. Also I see people running in San Diego without shoes semi frequently - and very much by choice it appears. It truly amazes me!
It may just be something that applies to Nordic Ware bundt pans (?) because of whatever coating they use - it may be incompatible with theirs. What brand of pans do you have?
I have had Nordic Ware Bundt pans but honestly my most reached for is something that I bought at the grocery store (because I needed it right then and there) for probably $6.99 about 15 years ago. And it's still fine! For loaf pans, I like Chicago Metallic. I have some that I've baked hundreds of loaves in, dishwasher, and fine!
Thanks. I don't know all the different pans out there but perhaps the Chicago Metallic don't have the same coating, hence the difference. Most of us (myself included...) likely don't read the instructions carefully that come with cake pans, if they come with them. But I'm going to from now on.
As for the baker’s goo, after you brush the pan with the butter or oil, could you dust it with cocoa instead of flour?
I've never used it (we don't get shortening here) so can't say but I'm sure if you did a quick search on Google someone would explain how it's used.
I'm also from New England and can easily get cranberries, which is nice, but I'm still flummoxed that I can never find Dutch process cocoa at any grocery store here in Western MA. Yet every recipe with cocoa powder calls for it these days.
Usually in the U.S. you can find a brand list Droste or Bensdorp at grocery stores and some even carry Hershey's Special Dark, which is actually pretty good:
https://www.hersheyland.com/products/hersheys-cocoa-special-dark-100-cacao-cocoa-8-oz-can.html
But I know that every supermarket and grocery store is different. When I'm in the States, I often buy things from King Arthur Baking. They have a "triple" cocoa powder that's a blend of natural, Dutch-process, and black cocoa...that's good for everything : )
Thank you! I've never heard of or seen Droste or Bensdorp. I think I've seen the Special Dark though, and that King Arthur one sounds great. My usual go-to is Ghirardelli which makes great brownies!