Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (35 page)

CAKE

1 18.25-ounce box Betty Crocker
white cake mix
1¼ cups
water
⅓ cup vegetable oil
3
egg whites

LEMON CREAM FILLING

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
I cup heavy whipping cream

VANILLA CRUMB TOPPING

½
cup plus 1 tablespoon
all-purpose flour
½
cup plus 2 tablespoons
powdered sugar
pinch salt
¼
cup butter, softened
½
teaspoon vanilla extract

GARNISH

powdered sugar

1. Make white cake following the directions on the box. Pour batter into a greased 10-inch cake pan or springform pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely when it comes out of the oven.

2. Make lemon cream filling by mixing cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice.

3. Whip cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Fold cream cheese mixture with whipped cream. Stir gently by hand until blended.

4. Make crumb topping by combining flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Use your hands to mix the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture is crumbly, with no pieces larger than a pea. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator and then break up any large chunks into smaller pieces. Keep the crumb topping cold until you are ready to use it.

5. When the cake is cool, slice it in half through the middle and remove the top. Spread all but ½ cup of the lemon cream mixture onto the bottom half of the cake, then carefully replace the top half of the cake.

6. Spread the remaining ½ cup of cream filling over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the cake and press it onto the sides all the way around the cake.

7. Now chill the cake for at least 3 hours before you serve it. When you are ready to dig in, slice cake into 12 slices. Serve each slice topped with powdered sugar tapped through a strainer.

4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons milk
cup granulated sugar
2 cups mascarpone cheese
¼
teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
20 to 24 ladyfingers
½
cup cold espresso
¼
cup Kahlua coffee liqueur
2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil over medium/high heat, then reduce the heat so that the water is simmering. Whisk egg yolks, milk and sugar together in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl on top of the saucepan (you can also use a double boiler forthis step). Stir the mixture often for 8 to 10 minutes or until the mixtures thickens. Remove the bowl from the heat, and to it add the 2 cups of mascarpone cheese and the vanilla. Get in there and whisk the cheese like the dickens until it smoothes out.

2. In a separate bowl, whip the cream with an electric mixer until thick.

3. Slowly fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until it’s completely incorporated, but don’t over mix or that goodness could lose its fluff and flatten out on you.

4. Combine the espresso and Kahlua in a large, shallow bowl. One-by-one, quickly dip each ladyfinger in the espresso. The ladyfinger will soak up the espresso/Kahlua mixture like a sponge, so dip quickly. Arrange half of the dipped ladyfmgers side-by-side on the bottom of an 8x8-inch serving dish or baking pan.

5. Spoon about half of the cheese mixture over the ladyfingers, then add another layer of soaked ladyfingers on top of the cheese mixture.

6. Spoon the remaining cheese mixture over the second layer of ladyfingers and spread it evenly

7. Put two teaspoons of cocoa powder in a tight-mesh strainer and gently tap the side of the strainer to add an even dusting of cocoa powder over the top of the dessert.

8. Cover and chill for several hours. To serve, slice the dessert twice across and down creating 9 even portions. And don’t worry about how that first serving looks—it’s always the hardest to get out.

2 medium Granny Smith apples,
peeled end sliced (about 16
to 20 slices each)
3 tablespoons butter (salted)
½
cup light brown sugar
¾
teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs
cup whole milk
cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼
teaspoon salt
¼
teaspoon vanilla
½ cup all-purpose flour