High-Ratio Pound Cake

This is my favorite pound cake and it's so easy to make! It's from Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes. This is one of the cakes I use for petits fours. *See note below for explanation of "high ratio."

2 1/2 cp (10 oz/300g) bleached all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1 3/4 cp (14 oz/350g) sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cp milk
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Set a rack in the lower third of th eoven and preheat to 350F.

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and beat on the lowest speed for about 2 minutes, or until the ingredients are well combined.

Meanwhile, whisk all the remaining ingredients together in a mixing bowl until well combined.

Increase the mixer speed to medium, add one-third of the liquid ingredients, and mix for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beater. Add another third of the liquid, beat for 2 minutes, and scrape again. Finally, add the remaining liquid and beat and scrape as before.

Use a large rubber spatula to give the batter a final vigorous stir, then scrape it into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes in a 12-cup Bundt pan, buttered and floured, or until a toothpick inserted int the cake halfway between the side of th epan and the central tube emerges clean.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto the rack t finish cooling.

Yield: 7 cups of batter (perfect for petits fours made in 12 x8 x 1 pan)

*High-Ratio Cakes (from Perfect Cakes, pg 44)
A high-ratio cake is one in which the weight of the sugar equals or exceeds the weight of the flour. (This applies to many pound and butter cakes, but not all). The high proportion of sugar can make the batter separate, resultin in a coarse texture in the baked caked. The "high ratio" mixing method, developed in the 1940s by Procter and Gamble, prevents the batter from separating and yilds a particularly fine textured cake.

Basically, you first mix all the dry ingredients with the softened butter. Then the liquids, including the eggs, are combined and added in three parts. The resulting baked cake has a great texture and moist crumb. To convert a recipe to the high-ratio method of mixing, first check to see if the sugar equals or exceeds the flour: calculate 8 ounces for a cup of sugar and 4 ounces for a cup of all-purpose flour. If and only if the recipe passes the test, you can combine all the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl, add the softened butter, and beat for 2 minutes on low speed. The add the liquids, mixed together , one-third at a time, beating for 2 minutes on medium speed between each addition.

Coconut Macaroons

This recipe is from Nick Malgieri's book Cookies Unlimited. He says it's from his friend Kyra Effren. It's such a light, airy cookie that you can't eat just one. The meringue melts in your mouth and then you're just left munching on the delicious coconut. What a treat! And they're so easy to make! They're a beautiful white but I guess you could color them with a bit of food coloring for a lovely pastel treat. Be certain not to overbake them or they will be dry. I suggest turning the oven off after 15 minutes if they're not quite the golden color you'd like.

Makes at 50 - 60 little cookies.

1/2 cup egg whites (from ca. 4 eggs)
Pinch salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 oz (about 2 cp) unsweetened shredded coconut

2 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans covered with parchment or foil

Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325F.

Beat egg whites, salt, and lemon juice until beginning to hold their shape, about 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the speed to the maximum and slowly add sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are very stiff, but not dry.

Whip in the vanilla extract. (Remember to turn the mixer down at first so the vanilla doesn't fly out!)

Fold the coconut into the meringue with a large rubber spatula.

Using two teaspoons or a small cookie scoop, drop the cookies onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets, leaving a mere 1-inch space in-between--in other words, pretty darn close to one another. I fit about 30 on each sheet.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are a golden color but still moist within. Obviously, getting them just right is pretty tricky, so please see my suggestion above.

Don't remove the cookies from the parchment--just slide the parchment onto the cookie sheets and wait for the cookies to completely cool before removing them.

Store the cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a container with a tight-fitting lid.  (I just cut around them and placed them still on the baked parchment in the tin.)