Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone can you become expert.

Dr. William Osler

ten years come and gone / I soon run short of fingers / a decade, complete

Happy tenth birthday to La Pêche Fraîche, this little sliver of my soul.
We have reached double digits together, readers, and I humbly thank you.

Each and every time a significant moment in time appears on this blog, I feel like I do the same old song and dance. “Wow, so crazy, where does the time go, please slow down.”
And here I am, presenting myself to entertain in the same way. But though the words and sentiment are the same, this one feels different.
I’ve just come off my 5th year reunion at the University of Chicago and I’m in the last year of my MD degree; 10 years ago, I started this blog from my AP Chemistry class and I barely had my permit to drive.
The change and evolution is enormous. I grew up here, on this page, through these posts.
I shirk from from the passage of time so often, because the grains of sand seem to fall ever faster. Much as I’ve tried, I have never been able to keep a diary, so my gratitude for this journal is immense and relieving. If I could thank my past self for committing herself to this strange method of documenting our life, I would stoop to kiss her hands.
I am proud of this space, and proud of what I have put in, even when I had precious little to give.

Will there be more decades? I can’t answer that. This is an unconscious dedication at this point; muscle memory to create; a commitment beholden only to myself. The time passes and I am still here—with you, reader. Thank you.

The inspiration for this cake was kicked off by my most recently purchased bottle of Kewpie mayonnaise, AKA the superior mayo. Other mayonnaises, you have been weighed; you have been measured; and you have absolutely been found wanting.
For those of you who haven’t been so fortunate to try it, it’s a more savory and umami mayo than standard, thanks to the delicious addition of MSG.
I knew an old-fashioned chocolate mayonnaise cake would be a great way to showcase the subtle savoriness. This cake is a one-bowl, one-whisk affair and starts the way all the best chocolate cakes do: blooming cocoa in hot coffee. The oil and butter are omitted to make room for the Kewpie. The final bake is a moist, fluffy chocolate cake that is a near-perfect balance of bitter, sweet, and salty, with a whisper of umami.

The filling is inspired by my favorite type of mochi; ichigo daifuku. A small batch of fluffy cream cheese frosting has silky anko stirred in. The result is a sweet, earthy, red bean filling with a bit of tang, studded with juicy chopped strawberries.

The frosting that enrobes the cake is a silky smooth vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream that gets its baby pink color from dragonfruit powder. Topped off with ruby chocolate drips, gilded strawberries, and dragonfruit macarons, this cake is a rather impressive celebration bake that truly showcases all of its unique individual components in harmony.

It befits a 10 year birthday.

Nine years / raspberry cloud cake
Eight years / white chocolate, mascarpone, and lemon cake
Seven years / yellow cake with cherry buttercream
Six years / vegan coconut and chocolate cake
Five years / simple chocolate cake
Four years / eclectic chocolate cake
Three years / vanilla almond cake
Two years / malted milk birthday cake
One year / eek

 

Choco-Kewpie Ichigo Daifuku Cake
makes 1 3-layer 6-inch cake

ingredients:
for the choco-kewpie cake:
180 grams (3/4 cup) hot water plus 1 1/2 tablespoons ground or instant espresso (or sub hot coffee)
50 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
250 (1 1/4 cups) grams sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
180 grams (1 1/2 cups) AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
110 grams (1/2 cup) Kewpie mayonnaise

for the ichigo daifuku filling:
28 grams (2 tablespoons) butter, softened
56 grams (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon salt
125 grams (1 cup) powdered sugar, sifted
3/4 cup anko (smooth sweetened adzuki bean paste)
5-6 chopped strawberries

for the dragonfruit Italian meringue buttercream:
3 large (85 grams ) egg whites
50 grams (3/4 cup) sugar
45 grams (3 tablespoons) water
1/2 teaspoon salt
340 grams (3 sticks, 1 1/2 cups) butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
3 tablespoons dragonfruit powder (or pink food coloring)
purple and pink food coloring as needed

to assemble:
macarons (see note below)
strawberries
melted ruby chocolate (as desired)

directions:
Make the cake: preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour 3 6-inch pans.
Pour boiling water over ground espresso and stir to bloom.
Whisk in cocoa powder.
Whisk in sugar and salt.
While whisking briskly, add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla extract.
Stir in flour, baking soda, and baking powder until 75% incorporated.
Add the mayonnaise and stir until the batter is homogeneous.
Pour into prepared pans.
Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until the cakes are puffed and a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Allow to cool completely, then torte the tops.

Meanwhile, make the red bean filling: whip butter and cream cheese together with the salt and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy.
Add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup at a time and mix on low speed until incorporated.
Stir in the anko paste and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the Italian meringue buttercream: place sugar, salt, and water into a pan over medium heat.
Begin to whip egg whites on high; once the sugar syrup comes to 240 degrees F, the egg whites should be at soft peaks.
Slowly stream the hot syrup into the whipping egg whites, being extremely careful to not splatter the syrup.
Whip on high speed until the meringue has cooled to close to room temperature (or fully room temp, if your butter is completely at room temp).
Add butter one piece at a time, whipping until fully combined.
Add the dragonfruit powder and any food coloring you desire (I used a drop of purple and a drop of pink to neutralize the yellow of the butter); whip on high until homogeneous.

To assemble, place a torted cake onto cake plate and pipe a rim of Italian meringue buttercream around the edge.
Portion out half of the red bean filling and spread in the center of the cake.
Top the bean filling with half of the chopped strawberries.
Repeat with the next two layers.
Crumb coat the cake with the Italian meringue buttercream, then frost as desired.
Optional: drip melted ruby chocolate over the edges.
Top with dragonfruit macarons and strawberries!

The macaron shell recipe  is directly from Pies and Tacos’ fantastic Swiss method. I suggest following her tutorial to a T! I used dragonfruit powder to color them pink and halved the recipe because I only wanted a couple macs.