cake shooters

One of these days, I'll have see if I can get funded to do research on using a microwave to develop a good cake recipe. My criteria for good is taste, texture, and ease of preparation. The cake should taste good, which means a lot of different things to different people. What's interesting is how much overlap there is between good taste and good texture. I've tried asking my friends about the taste of a particular food, only to find out upon further inquiry that it's the texture that they find disagreeable.

Anyways, my current obsession right now is cakes and eggs. I like the idea of using my steamer or my microwave to make cakes. I feel kind of lonely right now because one of the main reasons I'm doing this is to make single serving portions. I don't have a lot of friends either, so I don't want to make a really big cake. (Think 10 cm in diameter.) I also hate the thought of firing up my oven to bake a small cake. (Although I do have a toaster oven, but I find it kind of flaky.)

What's always been important is temperature! I finally have a somewhat decent temperature probe, so I can conduct experiments. Right now I found out my steamer gets to be about 98.2 degrees Celsius. Cake magic starts happening around 65 degrees C to 74 degrees C. The problem is is how I can control the process!

Here are some other issues. Sometimes the texture of cakes become dry. Very dry. Moisture loss contributes to staling. It's difficult to eat steamed cakes after two days or so because they can get very dry. What's delicious is adding a flavored syrup. I want to experiment leaving the sugar out of the cakes, then spraying them with syrup. Also, the cakes can be really crumbly. I wonder if that's a good or bad thing. There are still lots of things for me to figure out...

As for eggs, of course they go into cakes, but I've been obsessed with the idea of making deviled eggs. Molded eggs is probably a better descriptor...or maybe shaped eggs. Basically, I want to take advantage of the fact that the yolks and the whites congeal at different temperatures. When I thought about the ingredients and steps that go into making deviled eggs, the more sense separating the whites and yolks before cooking made. I can try making a custard from the yolks by creating an emulsion of oil and lemon (maybe a nice vinegar), mustard and paprika. I have to solve the problem of settling. (Although this really might not be a problem. Think pineapple upside down cake.) I can pour this in a mold then cut out slices or shapes that would be a lot cuter than the run-of-the-mill deviled eggs.

I also want to make sweet custards, but that's for later.

Anamary would hate how much eggs I eat, but I like them.

AH! I just thought of an interesting recipe for my rice cooker.

My rice cooker has a funny habit of burning the bottom of the pan. If I layer steak ums, sliced onions, dashi, soy sauce, mirin, I bet it would make a pretty tasty don topping. I'd have to add the egg last, but that's okay. Oh! If I can find a pan that can sit on top of the pot, I probably can cook enough rice at the same time....