♪♪♪ Boom!

Hello, I'm Julia Child.

Welcome to my house.

What fun we're going to have baking all kinds of incredible cakes, pies and breads right here in my own kitchen.

Mary Bergin, head pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck's Spago restaurants will make a chocolate bundt cake with a torched creme brulee topping followed by a tasty nectarine chiffon cake.

Join us, on Baking With Julia.

These beautiful ripe, sliced nectarines are going to end up in this upside-down nectarine...

Both: lemon chiffon... cak e done for us by Mary Bergin of Spago and I'll give you back your nectarines.

Okay, we'll set these ov er here.

That would be good, I think.

Okay, and then, to save a little time we're going to put four tablespoons of butter right into this pan and then if you could tu rn that on for me ov er a low heat.

And then, as soon as th at's all melted we'll put a cup of dark brown sugar-- you can use either da rk brown or light brown.

Dark brown has a more interesting, molasses taste...

Right, and it also gi ves a little more color to the top.

And I always use unsalted butter, what about you?

Always, always.

Is this a springform pan?

It is, it's a ten-inch sp ringform pan.

You can use a regular cake pan fo r this.

Mm-hmm, you're going to unmold it anyway.

Right, right.

And the springform ma kes it a little bit ea sier.

So that's nicely melted and then we'll just ta ke it off of the stove and then crumble in a cup of brown sugar.

Here we have it all...

Smell that-- I love the smell of brown sugar, too.

Isn't it great?

Brown sugar and butter... me lted butter?

Nothing wrong with that.

Okay.

So now we have that ni cely packed in there.

And then I'm going to take a piece of aluminum foil set it down on the table and then put my pan ri ght on top of that.

This is in case it leaks?

Right.

All we have to do is unmold it take the ring off, fl ip it over.

And then you... yes... Easy as pie, or easy as cake.

Then we're going to put the nectarines in in a concentric circle.

Would you help me do that?

Sure.

I'll start this way.

Go around that side.

I'm putting it too upright, I think.

And also, if you don't have completely ripe nectarines it's okay, because this takes about 40 minutes to bake and the juices from the ne ctarines will come out and also the help of the butter an d the sugar will make them nice and...

I'm not making mine as neat as yours.

We'll give you th at piece, then, wh en you go to eat it.

( chuckling ): All right.

We can get a little fancy and put the next layer in in the opposite di rection.

Mm-hmm, that's very decorative.

Only we'll know th e difference, right?

When this gets cut up nobody will know th at we put this mu ch work into it.

But I think the presentation is nice, though.

Okay, so now we have th is all prepared and we're going to set this aside and we're going to make the streusel that goes inside of that.

Now... Well, that's a layer halfway up, is it?

It's kind of a coffee cake combination.

Wolfgang would call this: ( in a German accent ): "Something that you make me for breakfast" is what he would say.

But, actually, yo u can serve this you know, after any dinner or luncheon or anything.

Oh, good.

Now, also... over there we have a pan of toasted, skin-on almonds.

Now, a lot of people ca n't figure out when these are ready because they're al ready golden brown.

So what I do is wh en they come out of the oven... Eat one.

...take a bite.

And then you can see on the inside that it's nice and brown.

Okay, so what we're going to do is put this quarter cup of almonds right into the food processor.

And then, to that we 're going to add a third of a cup of flour and this recipe calls for AP flour.

And you want to make sure that yo u have a nice, level third cup and then we're going to go and get four tablespoons of brown sugar.

More brown sugar.

Right.

And again, dark or light.

Pack it down, yeah.

Or we could use one-fourth cup.

( softly ): Exactly-- why didn't I think of that?

All right.

Okay, and then we have some cinnamon to go in there and then we need a teaspoon of brown ginger.

And then we will add to that four tablespoons of cold butter and the reason you want to use cold butter is because it blends in a little bit better.

But you don't want it to end up like mush as it holds up a little...

Right, right, we want it to be nice and crumbly in texture.

And then, we're also go ing to put in a half a cup of quick oats.

Meaning it's just the kind of oat that you'd make oatmeal out of.

Right, or oatmeal co okies... Yeah, and that's it.

Now we're going to process that fo r a few minutes.

Now, you don't want to ke ep it on the whole time because you don't want th e moisture of the butter to really make it st ick too much.

And it also, if you notice, it gets a little darker in color as the butter starts in corporating into it.

Okay, then we're just go ing to take this off and we're going to reuse that same pan spread it ri ght on there.

And personally, I like a few big crumbs.

So all you have to do to make those big crumbs is just kind of sq ueeze it together and then just break that up, ju st ever so slightly.

Mm-hmm.

And now we're going to bake it in a 350-degree oven for about ten to 15 minutes and about halfway through, I like to take a spatula kind of push this over in to the center so the outside do esn't get too dark.

Just like making granola, isn't it?

Very similar to granola.

Oh!

There.

Okay, we'll just pu t that in, in the ce nter of the oven, too is a good place.

And now, it's time for the chiffon cake batter.

I haven't had a chiffon cake for a ghoul's age.

You know, I really enjoy making them because they're really versatile.

We have a cup of granulated sugar.

I'm using a half-cup me asure right now.

Make sure it's ni ce and level.

And then we have a cup of all-purpose flour.

And one of the reasons th at you sift for this recipe is because you want to make sure that it stays ni ce and light.

Now, we also have a teaspoon of baking powder that we're going to add right into that.

Then we have a teaspoon of baking soda.

And now we're ju st going to get that al l nicely sifted and set that aside.

Now, since I do use ko sher salt in this and it can't go th rough the sieve I just go ahead an d add that right on top.

Why do you use kosher salt?

I find that it doesn't have that really intense sa lt flavor.

Oh.

And it, it melts qu ite well.

How much was that?

That is a quarter of a teaspoon.

Okay, now we're ju st going to make a nice little sleeve set that aside and then we're going to crack our eggs.

We're going to separate fo ur eggs and then we're go ing to add an ex tra two egg whites.

Uh-huh.

Now, do you have any tricks about the whites?

Well, I always like to keep the shell, go back and forth.

And also, colder eggs ar e easier to separate because the yolk st ays intact.

Mm-hmm.

So you have...

I have four yolks ov er there and now we're going to have six whites in here and then we also have a half a cup of vegetable oil.

You can use ve getable oil or safflower oil.

And what's we got there?

And then we have a half a cup of fresh-squeezed le mon juice.

And then, what we're go ing to do is we're going to whisk this together.

And then we're going to beat the whites.

Now, we have a half a cup of sugar to go into those whites.

And if you could be at those.

Mm-hmm.

Just whisk those up.

They just need to be mixed, what?

Yeah, you just want to mix them up a little bit.

Okay, and then you're go ing to whisk.

I'm going to pour in th e dry ingredients.

Okay?

And you want to... th is is a good buddy project.

You want to do this wi th a friend so always invite so mebody over.

Always nicer to cook with friends.

Makes your life a lot easier.

It's getting thick.

And the reason that you do this gradually is so that it doesn't th icken up too quickly.

Yeah.

It really has thickened up a lot.

And we're just going to keep that aside and then we're going to beat the egg whites.

You know, wh at I like to do is I like to start off egg wh ites at a low speed... Mm-hmm.

because then you get a lot of volume.

And now, once they get to a soft texture you want to add in gradually the half cup of granulated sugar.

Now you can see, it 's almost the texture of softly whipped cream.

We're going to go a little bit fu rther than that.

And the sugar gives it more staying power.

It gives it a shine, it gives it stability.

Mm-hmm.

This looks like a good time to test.

What you want to do is you want to make ni ce, soft peaks.

I always tell people wh en I'm teaching classes that you want to be able to run your finger ri ght through.

It doesn't cave in an d it also doesn't se parate, okay?

That's beautiful that it's sort of... holding its shape nicely.

Right, yeah, and it doesn't go anywhere when you tilt the bowl.

Yeah, that's great.

Okay, so what we want to do now is we want to put a little bit of the whites into the batter, ju st to lighten it up and then we'll put the batter ba ck into the whites.

And then you want to gently fold-- fold, and always fold in the same direction.

Otherwise, it defeats th e purpose, right?

Yes, I think it's one of the most important parts of this kind of baking, isn't it is to make sure you haven't deflated the... And, at this point you want to work fa irly rapidly but you want to be very gentle an d careful with it.

Mm-hmm.

And this is what yo u want to look for.

You want to see so me volume in there.

You want to see th e softness.

If it's too liquid chances are the egg whites we ren't quite whipped enough.

Yeah.

Okay, and we will get ou r prepared nectarine pan.

Want to put about half of the batter in there.

Mmm, that's beautiful the way it folds in there, isn't it?

And then I'm going to spread that out a little bit.

Just to get in to the corners.

And then we'll sprinkle ou r toasted streusel on that.

And I like to save a little bit of the streusel to sprinkle around the edges of the plates.

Well, that's a good idea, yes.

We're going to put th e rest of the batter...

I can hold that.

Oh, thank you.

You want to make sure th at you get all of your batter in to that.

And then we'll ju st gently spread the rest of this ov er here.

Hmm .

So now we can bake it.

350 degrees.

Mm-hmm.

About 35 to 40 minutes.

Good.

I will do the oven for you.

Thank you very much.

Mary: Le t's see how ou r cake is doing.

Let's do a halfway test.

Julia: Ye ah... Mary: No w, the color is great.

The color is exactly what it's going to be wh en it's done.

The only thing th at you'll see is that it won't jiggle this much.

That really does jiggle like a custard, doesn't it?

It does, an d the cake tester, wh en it is done will come out ni ce and clean.

So it has about another 20 minutes... 20 minutes to go.

Over here, we do have one that's already co oled for 25 minutes and I have this nice li ttle cake round which makes your life ni ce and easy.

And then we'll take off th e aluminum foil and then we'll just fl ip it over.

And if you can hold that, th at's great.

I'll put it right do wn here on the pan... take this off.

Just take a little knife and help yourself off with the top.

Oh, doesn't that look lovely!

Doesn't that look go od?

Would you like to try some?

I certainly would.

Okay.

Oh, my, that smells so good.

Doesn't it?

Look at all those juices.

Mmm .

Cuts nicely.

I love cake an d fruit together, don't you?

Mm-hmm.

Then, I think that's streusel in the middle.

Streusel layer in the center.

Look at that.

Okay, and then wh at I like to do is put a nice dollop of whipped cream on top of that... a good-sized dollop, wo uldn't you say?

Right on the top, yes.

And then, I'll take a little bit more of the streusel... put that ri ght on top.

You can fan these on the side... the nectarines.

Well, that's a good idea.

It reveals... Like a little architecture to your dessert?

That's lovely.

What do you think?

Mmm...

I like that, very much.

Good.

Thank you very much, Mary.

You're very welcome.

I'll add this to my repertoire.

Good.

Chef Mary is now going to do us a chocolate chiffon cake.

And it's exactly the same batter except it has three-quarters cup of cocoa powder in it and, rather than lemon juice it has half a cup of water and a bit of vanilla.

You'll find the recipe in the book that comes with this series.

And here is that egg-chocolate mixture.

Right, and th en we also have our nicely whipped eg g whites.

But before we mix th e two batters to gether let's prepare the pan.

And I like to use a nice bundt pan fo r this because it really co mes out nice and pretty.

And then we'll spread so me melted butter in that wi th a pastry brush.

You want to make sure you get every little no ok and cranny on here and especially the tube because that's wh ere the cake has a tendency to stick sometimes.

So, I'm going to put a little bit of flour in that and also, wh at I like to do... a little hint... is put some st raight on here.

On the cone.

On the cone.

That's very important that you get every part done.

Why make a great batter if it's not going to come out of the pan?

Okay... and then we'll just tap out the excess flour.

She's not tapping it on the floor.

I swear, I'm not tapping it on her floor.

There is a garbage can do wn there.

Okay, so now we have ou r pan all ready and again, we're going to lighten up th is chocolate batter because th e chocolate batter has a tendency to get a little bit stiffer than the lemon batter so we want to make sure it 's nice and light.

And the whole reason for that is so that you can fold in the egg whites without deflating them, isn't it?

Okay, so if you could hold th is up for me I'll scrape it in to the egg whites.

Smelling good.

And now, we'll fold it ni ce and gently.

And then, wi th the chocolate it's a little bit ea sier to see that you're nicely in corporated because you don't see the dark streaks of chocolate.

So now we're ready to go right in to the pan.

And it's a nice batter to pour in, too.

It's lovely-looking as it falls into the pan, isn't it?

Yes, so we're ready to go into the oven wi th this.

What temperature?

350 degrees, and again, ab out 35 to 40 minutes.

So, to make th e creme brulee filling we have nine yolks which we're going to put in to a stainless steel bowl and then also we 're going to put in a third of a cup of sugar.

But you don't want to mix this up ah ead of time.

You want to do this ri ght when you're ready and put it over a pan of simmering water.

And as soon as your granulated sugar goes into your egg yolks, yo u want to whisk that up.

And we're going to put in one and a half cups of heavy cream into the little pot ov er there.

You want that heated now?

You can go ahead an d turn that on "low" while I scrape th is vanilla bean.

And what I like to do is cut off th e little ends and then take a paring knife and just split ri ght down the center turn it around and vanilla beans, si nce they are ex pensive I like to use th em afterwards.

And what I do is I take them ou t of the cream after we've used them and rinse them off, dr y them out-- either in a warm oven or just sitting out on your counter-- and then grind it up with a little co nfectioner's sugar in a food processor.

And you have some ni ce confectioner's vanilla sugar... That's a good idea.

to flavor yo ur coffee with or whipped cream.

So, while that's co ming to a boil I'm going to start to thicken this.

And, you can tell it's really, really ye llow right now and very liquid.

By the time we finish it 's going to be really pale an d really thick.

The yolks are all cooked.

Right, you want to make sure that they're co mpletely cooked.

This will be very hot to the touch.

And the faster you whisk this, the faster it's done.

When your arm feels like it's going to fall off you're just about there.

Good.

These are all essential pastry procedures and you'd better know them if you're going to be in the business.

That's right, an d you have to learn to do what works fo r you best.

Years ago, I learned to switch off arms.

Otherwise, I think I' d have one arm ou t to here and one arm do wn to there.

Okay, now we can put in th e boiling cream.

And if you ca n pour that I'll whisk at the same time and it's okay to go ahead and let th ose vanilla beans fall right in there, too.

This is also another go od buddy project.

Yes.

You don't want to pour it too fast or you'll scramble the yolk.

Exactly.

And you want to make sure you get all this nice little stuff on the sides, too.

There you are.

Okay.

Now, we'll put this ov er an ice bath and let it get ni ce and thick.

And then, when it 's completely co ol to the touch we can strain it and then use it fo r our filling for the chocolate ch iffon cake.

Oh, that cake is really done.

Another example, isn't it is that it... Pulls back fr om the sides.

So that has to cool.

Right, that has to cool completely before we want to fill it up.

And then, the filling.

We are ready to go ah ead and strain that because it's all cool.

It's nice and cool to the touch and it's really nice an d thick.

Yeah.

Okay, so why don't yo u pour into here and I'll push it th rough the strainer.

Okay... Now, this is a restaurant-style st rainer and you can use a regular sieve.

It doesn't have to be this fine.

This is called a "chinois."

Uh-huh.

And a ladle helps be cause you can push all the way down to the bottom.

So, you can see, ev en here nice and thick.

Yes, it certainly is.

And now what?

Now that th e creme brulee is all thick an d ready and strained we're going to go ahead and assemble our cake.

Now, then, the unveiling.

We'll get it al l nice and centered.

It came right out, very easily.

So we're going to take so me raspberries about a cup and a half and then put a nice raspberry li queur over that.

Mm-hmm.

And then toss those.

That'll give them a deeper raspberry flavor.

And I'm going to spoon that right into the center.

Along with all the... all the juices.

Now, we'll take some of this th ick brulee cream pour that right in the center... Hmm... And then we'll drizzle ri ght along the sides.

And don't try an d make it too perfect you know, be cause you want it to look kind of rustic and homemade.

And the way it's dribbling down there is very pretty, I think.

Okay, and now we're going to make this really authentic by burning the br ulee cream on top.

So we'll put a little bit of granulated sugar al l over that.

You don't want to put too much and you also want to torch this right away because otherwise th e sugar will melt right in to the brulee cream.

Well, I was wondering how you...

This is my favorite part.

Good.

( torch hissing ) You want to start off slowly... and try and get all of the sugar cr ystals dissolved.

That's wonderful.

Every kitchen should have one.

I think so.

I think every woman sh ould have a blowtorch because men li sten to you when you have a blowtorch in your hand.

I can imagine.

That's very... ( both laugh ) Now, wh at I like to do is take some other ki nds of fruit and really make a nice arrangement out of th e whole thing.

I'm going to put a little bit of cocoa powder on this plate just to spruce it up, ju st a little bit.

You can also put a little confectioner's su gar over that.

All right, Julia, it 's time to dig in.

Oh, my... You can stand it up, la y it down.

Then we'll take so me of this from the inside.

Put that around there.

Mary, thank you for coming all the way from Las Vegas...

It was my pleasure.

to make us this beautiful cake.

That chocolate and the sauce and the berries and...

It's a good co mbination.

It's just... it's just lovely.

Mmm.

Thank you very much.

( both laugh ) You're very welcome.

Julia: Bon appétit!