I promised mincemeat…but other than eating it by the spoonful — which I’m not averse to — what do you do with it? Make a mince pie, that’s what. I haven’t eaten one of these since I lived in Britain, lo these many years ago. But even that pie was of the modern, meatless variety. […]
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Here is what I’m told on good authority is a classic cardinal slice: two meringue-layfinger layers sandwiching raspberry jam. Of course because I can’t leave anything alone I stirred lots of fresh raspberries into the jam and spiked the whole mess with kirsch. Hello Vienna!
READ ONWhat did that say? The headline up there? Did that say there will be a disaster at the end of this post? It did? Oh, I am so scared of disasters. Listen, I have an idea. If you don’t scroll down any further we will never get to the end of this post. And that is good, because there is a disaster at the end of this post. So please don’t scroll down any further.
READ ONI know all this is moving painfully slowly. However I’ve got the below Cardinal slice recipe updated now with the new formula and process. I’ll try to post the result this afternoon. However it’s so darn gloomy here I don’t know how well my “hero shot” will turn out. I’ll do my best!
READ ONSure, there are plenty of purists out there who don’t believe cream should be polluted with stabilizers. I’m with them…some of the time. The rest of the time I’m worried about my whipped cream holding up for long periods, on warm days or in the freezer. Then I’m looking for a little somethin’-somethin’ to help get me by.
That something is gelatin. Just a little will do wonders you whipped cream’s stability, and honestly, it barely impacts the taste or texture. Start by melting a little gelatin. For 2 cups of cream you’ll start with a 1/2 teaspoon of powdered gelatin and a little ice water. Yes, these are my little silicone Trudeau bowls again. I love them, that’s why I plug them. They’re wonderful:
NOW we’re cookin’ with gas! Cardinal slices are a study in the effects of over-whipping. For that reason alone I recommend them. The ladyfinger batter is a very particular lady. She wants to be danced with, but not too much. If there’s too much agitation, the bubbles in the batter get too big, the rise gets too aggressive, and the sponge becomes so delicate that it can’t hold its own weight.
The same seems to be true with the meringue. I’ll confess it never occurred to me until today that meringue can be over-whipped. It appears that when it is, it can suffer from some of the same problems: over-puffing in the heat of the oven, then collapse when it cools. Fascinating…as Mr. Spock would say. Right…on to shaping and the most important part: eating. This is going to be good!
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So OK, this is a slow project. But let me tell you, this is a challenging pastry. I’ve done it maybe seven times now and I’m still not happy with where I am. I’m starting to see why there are so few recipes for this pastry in English.
There are several technical issues with the cake. First, it calls for two batters, baked in alternate stripes, right next to each other. Both are fussy: meringue and ladyfinger. One traditionally calls for low heat, the other for high heat. Formulated and baked just right, they coexist in beautiful harmony. But therein lies the rub. If you’ve ever seen a cardinal slice, you know the layers have a fluted appearance. Like so:
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Fall isn’t complete in the Pastry household without a trip to west-central Indiana and the Covered Bridge Festival. Few people know it, but it’s Parke County, Indiana and not Madison County, Iowa that is the real covered bridge capital of America. The fact that no one’s every made a sappy movie about Parke County starring Meryl Streep is big point of pride there. They’ve got over 30 covered bridges, but then who am I kidding? The only reason I go is for the food.
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Part of the fun of being deeply into pastry is discovering the odd little components you never knew existed, but which make your dinner guests’ eyes bug out of their head as they demand to know: what IS that??
READ ONThis basic recipe appears in lots of places, but probably originates in Baking With Julia, a true treasure of a book (buy it as soon as you can). The original recipe is for a three-layer pastry, but you can make it into a two-layer if you prefer. I’ll tell you how later in the post. For the meringue you’ll need:
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