Lemon Cake with Lychee Jam and Lavender Buttercream

Lychee Jam

Yield: About 3 cups

Ingredients

• 2 cans lcyhees in syrup

• ⅓ cup granulated sugar

• 3 tbs cornstarch

Method

1. Combine 1 can of lychees (syrup included), the sugar, and the cornstarch in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Drain the syrup from the second can of lychees, then add to the blended mixture. Pulse until mostly blended but irregular pieces of lychee remain visible, or as smooth as desired.

3. Pour contents into a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick enough to leave a trail on the back of a spoon. Jam will thicken further as it cools.

Lavender Buttercream

Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 

• ¼  cup all-purpose flour

• 3 tbsp cornstarch

• ¼ tsp salt

• 1 can evaporated milk (or 1 ½ cup whole milk)

• 2 tsp dried culinary lavender

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

Method

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Thoroughly whisk in the evaporated milk. Strain the mixture into a medium saucepan, ensuring no lumps of flour or cornstarch remain. Add the lavender, then cook over medium heat while gently stirring constantly for about 20 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to stir to ensure the bottom of the pot is scraped and not burnt. Once the mixture is thick and bubbling, strain the mixture into a bowl to remove the lavender flowers. Stir in the vanilla, then chill overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours. 

2. Remove the flour mixture and the butter from the fridge to bring them up to room temperature. Cut the butter into tablespoon sized cubes. Transfer the flour mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment. Add one tablespoon of butter to the mixture at a time, ensuring the previous cube is fully incorporated before the next cube. Scrape down the bowl periodically to ensure a full emulsion. 

3. Troubleshooting: if buttercream looks curdled, gently heat the bowl of the mixer using a hair dryer, moving the dryer all around the bowl (not keeping it in one place). If buttercream is too runny, try refrigerating for 10 minutes before whipping again. Best results are achieved when butter is lukewarm before adding to the flour mixture - should not be hot nor cold, should not be melted but should have a bit of give when pressed with a finger.

4. Use the buttercream immediately or store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 10 days. When ready to use, bring the buttercream up to room temperature again by leaving it out for 30 minutes, then transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment until the proper texture is achieved. 

Lemon Layer Cake

Yield: two 6” cake layers, or one 8” cake layer (double the recipe for two 8” cake layers or 9” cake layers)

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 ¼ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp salt

• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature

• ¾ cups plus 1 tbsp granulated sugar

• 1 large egg, room temperature

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature

• Zest and juice of 1 (large) lemon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 6” cake pans with baking spray, then line the bottoms with parchment. Spray the parchment as well. 

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat with the paddle attachment on medium high speed for about 3 minutes, until creamy. Scrape the bowl down with a rubber spatula as needed to ensure all the sugar is being beat into the butter. Once lightened and fluffy, beat in the egg and vanilla extract on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl, then add the dry ingredients. Beat on low speed until just combined. Add the buttermilk, followed by the lemon zest and juice. Scrape down the bowl to make sure there are no lumps in the batter, but do not over mix. 

4. Pour batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. If available, use cake baking strips to ensure a level top. Bake for about 20-30 min (cook time will vary by oven). Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

5. Remove the cakes from the oven, then let cool in the pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, invert the cakes onto the wire rack, topside down, to level out the cakes as they cool. Remove the parchment from the bottoms of the cake. Cool COMPLETELY before assembling and frosting the cake. Meanwhile, make frosting and/or filling, if not already pre-made.

Assembly

1. If cakes are still uneven, cut the domes from the tops of the cake layers. Dab a little of your frosting in the center of your serving plate or cake stand, then place the first cake layer on top of the frosting to ensure it sticks to the plate. 

2. Transfer about ½ a cup of buttercream to a piping bag (or, a ziplock bag with one corner cut off). Pipe a ring around the edge of the top of the cake to create a dam for the filling to flood. Spoon the lychee jam into the center of the cake. Place the next cake layer topside down (so that the flat bottom of the cake is now facing upward, making an easier surface to frost) on top of the filling. Center the cake as best as possible, then chill for a minimum of 20 minutes to ensure the dam does not ooze out of the sides of the cake.

3. Retrieve the cake from the fridge, then apply a thin layer of buttercream as a crumb coat (like a layer of paint primer) to fill in gaps and seal the crumbs. Chill for another 20 minutes.

4. Remove the cake from the fridge, then frost as desired. To use more of the lychee jam, leave the top of the cake unfrosted, building up the edge of the cake with buttercream to make another (more rustic looking) buttercream dam. Fill the center with the lychee jam. Garnish with lemon slices and torn lychee pieces as desired. Store in the fridge, but let sit out for 20 minutes before serving to allow buttercream to soften again.

Pandan Cheesecake with Soursop Curd (Gluten-Free)

Most Filipinxs will agree: Filipino food is best enjoyed at home. Until recently, Filipino food has been a closely guarded secret. It’s difficult to find recipes that resonate when attempted, even for those of us who grew up in Filipino households. Everyone’s family has a different way to cook sinigang, and everyone believes theirs is the end-all, be-all. My family, for example, almost exclusively cooks sinigang with pork short ribs. Anything else just sounds disappointing to me.  

In my extended family, our mothers were career-oriented, you-can-have-it-all, aspiring-yuppy women of the 90s, and rarely had time to prepare meals for the family when it could so easily be bought. My brother and I grew up as much on American take-out as the only three dishes my mom can actually cook. As a result, my relationship with Filipino food was slightly more detached than other second-generationers. If I ate Filipino food, it was usually at a family party and catered from a short list of trusted restaurants in Carson, CA (shout out Nita’s and Manila Sunrise). Since I only encountered Filipino food at special occasions, I developed a sort of romanticization of the cuisine that extended to the culture as a whole.

I respect tradition - after all, my parents hauled their asses out of the Philippines to have me and my brother in America and worked with the singular intention of giving us a fantastically normal suburban middle-class childhood, all because tradition gave them a blueprint for American success that they followed to a T. At the same time, whether it’s because I gravitate to novelty by nature or just because I’m a special-snowflake millennial, I’ve never been content with convention. I’ve known I’m never going to have children since I was thirteen; I’ve known I’d never be able to work a 9-5 desk job since I was 16; I’ve known I’d never be the return on investment my mom was expecting since I started taking minimum wage kitchen jobs post-grad about five years ago. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting any of the above - the context of my life just blessed me with other options to explore. My parents came to America hungry. I, with the privilege of having been born here, can seek to satisfy my cravings.

In the course of a meal, dessert is not eaten out of need, but desire. It has to be so enticing that you can’t help but indulge even after you’ve already eaten your fill. To me, that means it has to incite a craving in you you didn’t know you had. A piece of cake can be just that, but why stop there?

Lately, I’ve seen my baking as an opportunity to compromise my respect for traditional Filipino cooking and my rebellion against it. After all, I’m never going to be able to make chicken adobo that anyone who grew up eating it can agree on. We’ve all got different preconceived notions of what Filipino food should be. But I can make desserts I know to be Filipino in spirit, if not in form. This recipe for pandan-flavored cheesecake is familiar and singular all at once - something that, hopefully, offers something enjoyable for anyone at any point in the diaspora. A little soursop curd to add a crisp, almost pear-like flavor to top it off. And if the whole thing can be gluten-free too, why the hell not? It’s 2019 and you have a history of diabetes in your family.

Gluten-Free Shortbread Crust

Yield: one 9” round or square crust

Ingredients

• 1 ½ c sweet rice flour

• ⅓ c powdered sugar

• 6 tbs (1 stick) butter, cold, cut in ½ tbs pieces

• 8 tbs coconut oil (solid)

• 1 egg yolk

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare desired pan with either parchment paper or spray grease.

• Combine all ingredients except for the egg yolk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed, until pieces of butter are small as peas and the dough has the texture of wet sand.

• Add the egg yolk, mix on medium speed.

• Press and smooth the dough into the bottom of the pan, as evenly as possible using the bottom of a measuring cup. Prick dough all over with a fork, to release steam and prevent expansion during baking. Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are golden and the center barely begins to color.

• Remove from oven, cool on wire rack for at least 15 min. Prepare cheesecake filling.

Pandan Cheesecake (Filling)

Yield: one 9” round cheesecake

Ingredients

• ½ c heavy cream, room temperature

• 1 tsp to 1 ½ tsp pandan flavoring compound (gel form, not extract)

• 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature

• 1 ¼ c sugar

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• Boiling water, for hot water bath

Directions:

• Combine pandan compound and heavy cream in a measuring cup. It’ll be bright ass green, but it’s okay. It’ll look normal later.

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed, until very smooth. Scrape the bowl and mix again.

• Add the eggs, and continue beating on low speed. Scrape the bowl. Mix again. Everything should be the same consistency.

• Add the pandan heavy cream. The batter should be a mellow green color.

• Pour the batter over the (cooled) gluten-free crust. Tap the pan on your counter to release air bubbles and even out the batter.

• Place the filled pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water, about 1” high. Bake the cheesecake in the roasting pan on the lowest rack in your oven, to prevent browning the top.

• Begin checking for doneness at 45 min - do not open the oven door before this point! Edges should be set, center should be slightly wobbly. Cheesecake will typically be done at 50 minutes, but every oven is different.

• Once done, leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly cracked to cool down slowly. Once at room temperature (about 40 minutes), transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool further. Set cheesecake in fridge overnight, or at least for 6 hours.

• Top with Vegan Soursop Curd

Vegan Soursop Curd

Yield: about 16 oz

Ingredients:

• ⅔ c soursop juice (100% juice, ideally)

• 6 tbs cornstarch

• 4 tbs water

• 4 tbs honey

Directions:

• Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Whisk together until completely dissolved.

• In a small saucepan, mix together all the remaining ingredients with the cornstarch mix. Set over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, making sure to lightly scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent overcooking.

• Continue cooking until the mixture is thickened and can coat your spatula without dripping.

• Cool to room temperature, then transfer to fridge for at least 1 hour. Spread over completely set cheesecake. Top with sweetened coconut flakes.  

Life Update

From fall 2018. Cardamom-poached quince with tahini ice cream.

Peel and cook your quince before enjoying - they’re not apples. Can’t be eaten raw.

Find the recipe for the spicy caramel on my insta @nique.eats.

How would you introduce yourself to someone if you couldn’t talk about work?

You’d talk about your hobbies, probably. But when you’ve made your main hobby your profession, where do you turn? Really, who am I when I’m not at the bakery I manage or the restaurant I moonlight at?

2019 has been a huge transitioning year for me. The bakery I’ve been managing for three years is now expanding into a café, bringing all sorts of fun logistics to work out. And because that job had started to feel less like a bakery job and more like HR, in January I walked right up to the owner of a new Filipino restaurant outside of a concert and somehow convinced him he needed a dessert specialist on his team.

So between worrying about sourcing organic eggs for the soon-to-be café, challenging myself to develop recipes for Filipino-inspired desserts for the restaurant, and driving through the worst kind of LA traffic on the 10 to get across town between the two locations, I haven’t had a lot of time or headspace for anything but work.

Fall 2018. Cinnamon-scented persimmon upside down cake.

February 2019. Lychee-calamansi bars. When I was still trying to sweeten the deal for the new job. Recipe on my IG @nique.eats.

I knew that would happen. I had counted on it. When I picked up the second job, I had just gotten out of a long-term relationship. It was mutual, but I knew I’d have nothing to distract myself from it if I simply continued the same routine. I wanted my time occupied and my focus on something new, something meaningful.

I didn’t expect the burnout. I was going guns a-blazing on all fronts, but that had never bothered me before. I had no problem working through college, but I guess I never cared as much about college as I care about my current work. It wasn’t so much that I was stretched thin, it was more like I had nothing but work to take up my time. Crashing on my cousin’s conveniently located couch didn’t help either - it cut my commute, but it also made me feel like I was living out of my car. I had no roots anchoring me anywhere, except for work.

April 2019. Bay-leaf infused brownies.

Bagoong caramel. A tad more challenging to others’ palettes than I was expecting. But then, it is fermented shrimp paste, so I couldn’t be too surprised.

I still love what I do. As much as I complain about all the challenges that come with opening a café, I also know that it’s a great project that’s stretching my creativity and business acumen in a way I’ve never had the opportunity to before. Adding brand-building and menu developing on top of the staffing and managing work I’ve already been doing is something I need to do to make sure I can do these things for my own projects in the future, and I know I’m capable.

Across town, I’m developing my identity as a baker with access to a market I’d never be able to tap into on my own. Making Filipino American food for Filipino Americans with a team whose points of view and upbringings match my own is an invaluable experience that couldn’t be replicated anywhere else. If my desserts can help build a community around this venture while retaining the voice I’ve tried to express in my recipe building, I’ll have proven to myself that the decision I made to commit to this profession full-time was the right call. I’m creating the space for myself that was never going to be handed to me, as anyone who’s ever succeeded in this industry in this town has had to do.

At the same time, the gravity of what I’m trying to achieve is what’s really contributing to the feeling of burnout. Maybe burnout isn’t the right word. I’m not getting tired of what I do. I’m committing myself 100% to both endeavors with nothing left in me for any other outlet.

Who am I when I can’t work? I’m a daughter. A sister. A music enthusiast. A drinker. A selfie queen. A millennial. A creative soul. A person who’s capable in ways the world doesn’t always reward - a person who’s trying to change that. Nice to meet you.