Blue Ridge Baker

New Year, New Blog

2010-12-31T09:28:00.005-05:00

Well, I can't say that I'm sorry to see this year come to a close. It hasn't been a particularly pleasant one...

Since I've started over in basically every area of my life this year, I decided to go ahead and start a new blog as well.

It will be called Prairie Table, and located at www.prairie-table.com. I'll put my first post up tomorrow, I'm very excited!!!

Thank you so much to all of you who have followed me as Blue Ridge Baker. You have helped me get through a very difficult couple of years, and I hope you will continue to read what I write at my new address.

Happy New Year!

Blue Ridge Baker is Published!

2010-10-21T21:52:00.009-04:00

Well, I'm little behind in posting this announcement, but I've been published in a cookbook!

I was contacted several months ago by someone from Slattery Media Group, asking if I'd like to be a part of a cookbook devoted to featuring bloggers. It sounded like an amazing opportunity, and I jumped at the chance.

I'm so glad I did. The book is beautiful - it has full-color photos of every single recipe - and is filled with many recipes that I'm anxious to try! Many bloggers in the book I was already familiar with - such as Steamy Kitchen, Honey and Jam, La Tartine Gourmande and Sprouted Kitchen to name a few - but there are many more that are new to me, so I'm excited to start looking them up!

If you'd like to purchase a copy for yourself, just follow this link (the price is in Australian dollars which is almost the same as US dollars):

http://www.slatterymedia.com/store/viewBook/foodies-of-the-world/?ref=FOW87L

In other news, I bought a house! It needs work, but it will be a wonderful home for me and my little ones when it's finished. We're moving to Iowa next week, and hoping to be living in the house by the end of next month.

So, new kitchen means finally getting back to my neglected blog! Yea! Or starting a new one under a different name. I'm not sure I can still be Blue Ridge Baker while living in Iowa.

Oh, life...

2010-09-02T00:00:00.004-04:00

I know I've been MIA lately, and I apologize! I wish I was showing up today with scrumptious photos of a decadent treat, but unfortunately that isn't the case...

The last couple of months have proved very challenging for me, and honestly I just haven't had the inspiration or motivation to bake. I'll be moving again next month, and have high hopes that once I'm settled I'll be able to get back into a more regular baking/blogging routine. I miss every aspect of my blog, and am greatly looking forward to returning. Please bear with me during this enormous transition in my life, I'll be back as soon as I can!

TWD (rewind): Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

2010-07-20T21:20:00.009-04:00

Over the last few weeks - months, really - I've missed several TWD recipes that I was really looking forward to making. As I get the chance, I'm going to go back and bake a few of them. Starting with this loaf cake.

Chocolate cake rarely impresses me. I usually find it too dry, and lacking in chocolate flavor. Oh boy, did this cake prove all of that wrong! It was amazing in every way: flavor, texture, appearance - even the batter was beautiful; it looked like fluffy chocolate mousse. The cake's inherent deliciousness, is elevated to an even higher level by the elements of filling and frosting. Even with all of that, it manages to seem miraculously light. This cake is a keeper.

The cake itself is deeply chocolate-y, the crumb is moist and tight - very reminiscent of a pound cake. Superb. After baking in a loaf pan, the cake is cut horizontally into 3 layers. Each layer is filled with a tart fruit jam - I used black currant; a perfect complement in flavor and texture to the cake. The frosting is amazingly simple. It is made of nothing more than melted chocolate and sour cream. As it cools it hardens, forming a bittersweet ganache-like texture with a sour cream tang. Wow. I'll be using this frosting again. I'll be making the whole cake again for that matter!

I love that this cake has so many elements, yet is so simple. Perfect for any occasion. Thanks to Amy Ruth of Amy Ruth Bakes for making this wonderful selection. You can find the recipe on her blog.

Peach Pie

2010-07-15T22:46:00.009-04:00

There are few things as wonderful as a perfectly ripe peach - and few things as difficult to find. Even here in North Carolina, in such close proximity to Peach Country. Thankfully, over 4th of July weekend, I lucked out with a couple pounds of beautiful, sweet, smooth organic South Carolina peaches. My family requested a pie for our festivities, and, peaches in hand, I was happy to oblige.

This pie was unbelievable. Relying almost entirely on the peaches themselves for sweetness, the fruit nestled between two layers of buttery, flaky, perfect pie crust, served with orange blossom-scented whipped cream. Oh, my. It disappeared in a matter of minutes.

Peach Pie

For the filling

2 pounds of ripe peaches, pitted and cut into chunks about 1/2" x 1" (I left my skins on to create a textural difference in the filling, but peel them if you prefer)

1 tablespoon agave nectar (Madhava brand is best, it's the real deal.)

2 teaspoons tapioca powder or cornstarch

For the crust

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1 1/2 cups white spelt flour

heaping 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks and frozen

1/4 cup - 1/2 cup ice water

Filling

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

Crust

Combine flours and salt in a large bowl. Add butter chunks and cut in with a pastry blender. You aren't aiming for a meal-like consistency here, you want butter pieces of various sizes - though none terribly large. Add the water a little at a time, working it in with your hands until the dough comes together. Work quickly, as you don't want the butter to warm too much. Turn dough out onto a board, divide into two, form each half into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap well in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling.

When ready to assemble the pie:

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9" pie pan. Pull out one disk of dough at a time, and roll out on a well-floured board to about 1/8" thick. Line pie plate with first circle of dough, and trim overhang to about 1/8" - 1/4". Fill with peach mixture. Lay second circle of dough over filling, trim overhang to about 1/4 inch beyond bottom crust. Pinch edges of crust together, tuck top around bottom, and flute crust to make an attractive edge. Cut slits in top crust. If the dough seems to have softened a lot while you were working with it, pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking.

Bake for about 60-70 minutes, or until crust is evenly browned and fruit juices are thick and bubbling. Cool on a rack until warm.

TWD: Salted Butter Caramel Brownies

2010-07-14T22:20:00.011-04:00

It has taken considerably longer to get back into some sort of baking/blogging routine than I had expected. My life will still be in a bit of upheaval for the next several months, so bear with me!

The brownies for this week's TWD were supposed to have peppermint patty chunks in them, but there isn't a truly organic version (and the ones that are close are insanely expensive). I was planning on using chopped mint chocolate, but the town that I am temporarily in is very small, and there was none to be had! So I decided on adding pools of salted butter caramel. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with salted butter caramel.

It was a bit of an experiment, and though they were quite tasty, they weren't terribly attractive... I think I will play around with the way the caramel is incorporated. If I had had more time to make them I would have dropped spoonfuls of the warm caramel onto parchment, frozen them, and pressed them into the brownie batter so that it wouldn't be visible in the final product. I may also try a sturdier brownie recipe. I liked that this one was thin and fudgey, but it was rather flimsy and prone to falling apart. I'll let you know if I try this one again...

The brownie was chocolatey, not too sweet and nice and fudgey. I was pleased that the pools of caramel stayed soft and pliable even after 30 minutes in the oven, and the rich and creamy flavor was a wonderful contrast to the deep chocolate.

I baked these brownies for a family lunch, and they were quite a hit. Taste-wise, there really aren't any changes necessary, my only problems were more aesthetic in nature.

The Brrr-ownies were chosen by Karen of Welcome to our Crazy Blessed Life. The recipe for them (including the peppermint patties) is on her blog.

Let me add an apology for the less-than-stellar photos... We can't win them all...

Salted Butter Caramel

(makes more than you'll need for these brownies)

1 cup sugar

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons salted butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook sugar and salt, stirring frequently, until completely fluid. Add butter, stirring constantly - careful here, it will spit and boil furiously. Just keep stirring. Add cream and vanilla and stir until smooth. Pour immediately into heat-proof jar or bowl.

To finish the brownies like I made them, drop about a tablespoon of caramel into pan of brownie batter - portioning it so that there will be a pool in the center of each slice. (I cut mine into 9 pieces, so I had 9 pools). Bake as directed in brownie recipe.

Macaroon Truffle Tartlets

2010-06-24T15:38:00.014-04:00

The longest I've ever lived in one place was the first four years of my life; spent in a house that my mom lived in as a small child, and where my cousin subsequently grew up. In the 26 years since then I have moved 21 times, and I'm about to turn that into 22. So, while I'm trying to update my blog as frequently as I can, it is difficult to do while packing up my house and moving myself and my little ones. For now, we're moving into an apartment in the lower level of my mom's house so that we can save money for the big move - number 23! - that will take place in a few months. We'll be going to Iowa so that my kids can grow up in the same amazing community I grew up in.

Once I'm settled in my mom's house I should be able to post with greater frequency, until then, these tartlets are so quick even I can squeeze them in!

These tartlets are as simple as they are delicious. What could be better than a chewy macaroon shell filled with rich bittersweet ganache? Perfection. Oh, and they're gluten-free!

Macaroon Truffle Tartlets

For the Macaroon Shell

2 large egg whites

2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

For the Ganache

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

Butter the insides of 8 regular muffin cups and line the bottom with a parchment circle - don't skip the parchment, they will stick without it. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, mix together all macaroon ingredients, stirring until evenly combined. Distribute evenly between muffin cups - about 2 tablespoons per cup - and press firmly into the bottom and sides of the cup. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until insides look dry and outsides are golden brown. The insides will remain very light. Cool completely, then remove from pan.

Make the ganache

Place chopped chocolate in small bowl - I like to use a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup with spout for this. Heat cream, stirring occasionally until it is bubbling around the edges, but not boiling. Pour cream over chocolate, and let it sit for 1 minute. Stir chocolate into cream, starting in the center and moving out to the edges, until smooth. Don't over stir, or the ganache will separate. Divide ganache evenly among macaroon shells and refrigerate to set.

There are so many variations you could make with these: topped with whipped cream and/or berries;with a layer of jam, peanut butter or caramel under the ganache; caramelized or toasted nuts incorporated in the ganache; herb-infused ganache; crystalized ginger or citrus peel in or on top of the ganache, the list goes on!

Cherry & Brown Butter Streusel Muffins

2010-06-17T12:13:00.014-04:00

Whew. Well, that was unexpected. It has been almost 4 weeks since I posted anything, I can hardly believe it. I went out of town fully intending to bake and post while I was there - I even drove half-way across the country with my stand mixer, digital scale and a box of baking essentials. Then about 3 days into the trip, my laptop died. My 1 1/2 year old MacBook Pro. Died. I was not so happy about this. I waiting to find out if it can be fixed, and in the meantime, I'm borrowing my mom's laptop. Thanks, Mom!

I've been back in town about a week, and finally got around to baking last night.

I miraculously found cherries for $1.49 per pound - organic, of course - and decided to make a treat for my little ones to wake up to this morning.

It is no secret around here that I'm slightly obsessed with all things containing brown butter and topped with streusel; I mean, how can you go wrong?! I thought the deep nutty flavor of the brown butter would pair nicely with the juicy, moderately tart cherries. Oh, yes. Oh. Yes.

These muffins arenot excessively moist, so don't overbake them! They are, however, soft and tender and incredibly flavorful. The brown butter really comes through, and melds beautifully with the whole wheat flour and vanilla extract. The streusel adds a wonderful crunch, while the cherries provide little bursts of juiciness every couple bites. Berries of any variety would also work great in this recipe, just be sure not to thaw them if you use frozen ones.

* * * * *

Cherry & Brown Butter Streusel Muffins

For the Streusel

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup palm sugar

2.5 oz (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, browned

For the Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup palm sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch*

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, browned

1 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups pitted cherries, then halved

Preheat oven to 375. Line 12 regular muffin cups with liners, or butter and flour cups.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for streusel, mix well, and place in refrigerator until needed.

In a large bowl stir together flours, palm sugar, baking powder, arrowroot or cornstarch and salt. In the pan you browned your butter in, add milk and vanilla extract. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Fold in cherry halves. Distribute batter evenly among muffin cups. Crumble streusel on top of batter in cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean.

*You may have noticed this is an eggless recipe. If you would prefer to use eggs instead of the arrowroot or cornstarch: omit arrowroot/cornstarch from dry mix; reduce milk to 3/4 cup; add two eggs to butter mixture after you've added the milk - it should be cool enough that the eggs won't cook.

Rhubarb Curd Shortbread Bars

2010-05-22T10:52:00.001-04:00

Curd. What an unappealing, clunky name for something so silky and delicate and delicious. Most of the curd around is of the lemon variety. I've been meaning to make it for some time, and just had trouble finding the initiative to actually do it. Not so with rhubarb curd. It never occurred to me that such a thing could exist, and as soon as I knew it did, I couldn't wait to make it.

Actually, there are about 37,052 rhubarb recipes that I want to try this Spring. I can't believe how versatile this strange stalk is - take a look at this! - and I can't wait to further explore it's many facets.

These bars are heavily adapted from a recipe I saw on Food52 - the curd is completely different, and the flavor of the shortbread is simplified. And they almost didn't happen. I ran into just about every problem possible when making these - I won't bore you with all of the details, suffice it to say I was shocked that they turned out so well. But, oh, how well they did come out... They are wonderful. Light and refreshing, creamy, sweet - but not too sweet. The rhubarb flavor is subtle, and almost delayed in its arrival. With nearly every bite I took, it gently snuck up on me.

This dessert is so unabashedly feminine, it almost seemed wrong to be eating it from the pan with a spoon. Ahem. To really do these bars justice, they should be served on dainty plates with a cup of tea.

The shortbread base is heavily flavored with ginger, and is a lovely complement to the curd. It was, however, incredibly crumbly - as you can see in the photo below; very frustrating. While crumbly is typically a good thing in regards to shortbread, here it made the bars very difficult to remove from the pan. I should have followed my instincts and lined the pan with parchment. Let that be a lesson!

These bars are fantastic, even when eaten with a spoon, and my mind is now reeling with all kinds of new curd possibilities!

Rhubarb Curd Shortbread Bars

For the Shortbread

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment, butter parchment, set aside. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until just combined. Press into pan (mine was actually rather fluid as my butter was incredibly soft, so in this case, pour into pan), smooth the top and place in freezer for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat oven to 350. After 30 minutes, bake shortbread for about 30 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Cool crust completely. In the meantime, make the curd.

For the Curd

1 cup rhubarb juice (from about 1 pound of rhubarb)*

3/4 cup sugar

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons lemon juice**

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks

heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt

zest from 1 large lemon

Whisk together rhubarb juice, sugar, eggs, lemon juice and salt in a large heavy-bottomed pan until well-combined. Add butter and cook over medium-low heat, stirring without stopping until curd is thick enough that it holds the marks from the whisk. Pour curd into a bowl and stir in zest.

When crust is cool, top with curd and smooth surface. The curd layer should be about the same thickness as the shortbread layer, so if you seem to have a lot of curd, don't feel you have to use it all. Bake for another 20 minutes. Place in fridge for 30 minutes to set curd. Let cool completely before slicing.

*If you don't have a juicer, you can follow these instructions.

** Don't leave out the lemon juice! For some reason, I wasn't going to include it. My rhubarb juice was the most gorgeous shade of dark pink until I added the eggs. Then it turned purple. Then green. It wasn't pretty. I actually turned off the burner and almost gave up. Then I realized that the lemon juice was there to preserve the color as much as to provide additional tang. I had a tad more rhubarb juice, so I added lemon juice to it, and added that to my pan. Thankfully, the color transformed! It wasn't as deep a pink as I would have liked, but at least it was pink! If lemon juice was added from the get go, it would have been a different story. One of the many road-blocks I encountered...

TWD (rewind): La Palette's Strawberry Tart

2010-05-19T21:03:00.017-04:00

The TWD recipe for this week was supposed to be Apple-Apple Bread Pudding (and it was supposed to be posted yesterday - oh, details, details...), but I am just not a fan of bread pudding. Instead of skipping this week entirely, I decided to go back into the archives and bake something the group made before I was a member.

My mind immediately went to this tart. I've thought about it a lot since seeing it for the first time last year. So simple, so perfect. Seeing as I had a tub of local strawberries that needed to be used, I knew this was the perfect choice.

My crust is dark and speckled, because I used palm sugar to sweeten it instead of powdered sugar. I was unsure of how this would affect the outcome, but I wanted my boys to be able to eat it, so I went ahead and tried it out. The crust was fantastic. Crispy, and much more shortbread-like than it is with powdered sugar. Plus, I like the rustic effect the palm sugar lends to it.

The only other elements besides a crust are jam and strawberries. Couldn't be simpler! I used a fruit-only spread for the jam, and tossed my strawberries in a tad of agave, mostly to give them a nice shine - they were so sweet, they didn't need anything!

This tart might be my boys' favorite thing I've ever baked. They couldn't get enough. They ate a third of it in one sitting. Keep in mind they're 1 1/2 and 3 1/2, so that's quite a feat!

It is so perfect in it's simplicity and it is incredibly versatile - you could use any fruit and jam combination you can think up! If you had the tart dough prepared in advance, you could throw this dessert together in no time at all. I'm sure it would be fantastic with some fresh whipped cream on top, but ours didn't last long enough to make any! Dorie also suggests fresh cracked pepper on top. I did try a piece this way, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The pepper was earthy and slightly biting, imparting a lovely contrast to the sweet berries and jam, and I plan on cracking pepper on all manner of desserts from now on.

La Palette's Strawberry Tart

adapted from Baking from My Home to Yours

Best quality strawberry jam

1 quart ripe strawberries - trimmed and halved if they're large, and tossed in 1-2 teaspoons of light agave; just enough to give them a shine, not so much that they're dripping

1 9-inch tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough (recipe follows)

Sweet Tart Dough

1 1/2 cups white wheat flour

1/2 cup palm sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick + 1 tablespoon very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

Put flour, palm sugar and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse a couple times to combine. Add butter pieces to bowl, and pulse until butter is coarsely cut in, with pieces of varying sizes. Stir egg yolk to break it up, and add it to food processor a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the whole yolk is in, process in long pulses until the dough begins to clump. Turn dough out onto board, and knead it just enough to incorporate any flour that didn't get mixed in. Press dough into a well-buttered 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Freeze for at least 30 minutes - preferably longer - before baking. Preheat oven to 375. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit it tightly across the crust, buttered side down. Bake for about 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is evenly browned and firm to the touch. Let crust cool completely.

Finishing the tart

Spread an even layer of jam on the crust, add strawberries. Tart is best when eaten immediately after being assembled.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-05-16T13:49:00.023-04:00

Not be be repetitive or anything, but I have another one for you from Good to the Grain. I can't help it, I love this book. This was actually the first recipe that I marked to make when I received the book - I mean, they're chocolate chip cookies! Plus, they are the first recipe in the book - but I went with slightly more unusual recipes when I started to bake from it. Then I found myself with a little unexpected time on my hands...

I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 1/2 year old, so needless to say, I've suffered my fair share of sleep deprivation. It isn't a terribly common occurrence, but every few weeks my younger son decides that sleep just isn't for him and around 2 in the morning he wants to get up and play for a couple of hours. Well, Friday night was one of those nights. After trying all of my tricks to get him back to sleep, I gave up and decided to bake. This recipe immediately came to mind - I had all of the ingredients and it was simple enough that I didn't think I'd be able to screw it up in my half-asleep state. Thankfully, I was right.

I'm a rather harsh critic when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, so I wasn't sure what to expect from these; they use 100% whole wheat flour, which is fairly unusual for most baked goods.

I served these at a class I gave at my store on Saturday afternoon on cloth diapering and baby wearing, and people were crazy for them. Everyone asked for the recipe, and one woman told me they were the best cookies she had ever eaten! They were a hit!

The first thing that surprised me about these cookies, was the fragrance of the dough; it smelled almost like it contained brown butter and had a stronger aroma than any dough I've ever made. They baked up beautifully, and I couldn't wait to take my first bite. Verdict? They are delicious.

The cookies are soft and chewy, generously studded with bittersweet chocolate chunks, and the whole wheat flour adds a sweet, earthy, nutty flavor that is amazingly complementary to the chocolate. I have to say, these chocolate chip cookies are second only to the ones I made a couple months ago that are a hybrid between the Cooks Illustrated and New York Times versions. That is high praise coming from me.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Good to the Grain

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter cut into several pieces

1 cup palm sugar (or dark brown sugar)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate cut into 1/4" - 1/2" pieces

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugars and butter on low speed until just blended, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients, and mix on low speed until flour is barely combined. Stir in chocolate chunks. Form dough into balls about 1.5 ounces each, place on baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until the cookies have spread and cracked, the tops are dry and have browned a bit. Cool on baking sheet.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake for My Dad's Birthday

2010-05-13T11:45:00.025-04:00

Growing up, I used to snack on the rhubarb that grew plentifully in my Iowa backyard. I had quite the affinity for sour things back then, and since I loved raw rhubarb so much it seemed incredibly strange to me to see it in things like pies. Especially when paired with strawberries. Frankly, I found it repulsive. It wasn't until last spring that I ever tried rhubarb in a baked good, and I couldn't have been more wrong about it. I have become obsessed.

I've been picking up hefty bunches of rhubarb every Saturday for the last few weeks, ever since its first appearance at the farmer's market. I've made a few galettes with it - which I haven't posted because they disappeared too quickly! - but decided to branch out this week, so I did a little rhubarb research. I found several recipes I wanted to try - I'll have to double up on my rhubarb purchases to make everything before the season is over - starting with this cake; a perfect choice, since today is my dad's birthday. He still lives in Iowa, so he won't get to taste his birthday cake, but he can at least enjoy looking at it. Actually, I'm not sure if that's nice or just torture...

I've made so many upside down cakes in the last year, and am always excited to find a new and fantastic recipe for one. I love the concept of them, and they are always beautiful and delicious. I love the way the fruit of choice is completely transformed by their long stint of being cooked in sugar and butter. In the case of rhubarb, it becomes tender and buttery with a sweet and wonderful zing, melded with a light caramel flavor. There is no lip-puckering, mouth-watering sour punch that is so often associated with rhubarb.

The cake itself is dense and moist and quite sturdy, with a tight crumb and a light and subtle tang from the buttermilk in the batter. Can you see the flecks of orange zest in the above photo? Who knew that orange and rhubarb were a match made in heaven???

The thing that ties this cake together, and makes it really superb is the crumb bottom. It is a simple crumb topping that is sprinkled on top of the batter before baking, but when you invert the cake, it becomes a crunchy base for the cake. I love having textural differences in my desserts, I don't like eating things that are just soft and mushy. They're too, well, soft and mushy. The crumb bottom completely solves that problem, and adds such a delicious dimension, I'll be adding it to all of my upside down cakes from now on!

In addition to the way this cake tastes, I love the way it looks. That's the great thing about upside down cakes - they need no adornment once they come out of the oven! This recipe has you cut the rhubarb in long pieces - about 3 inches long - and lay them in the pan all going in the same direction. The result is a beautiful pink and green design that looks almost like an abstract watercolor painting. Almost too pretty to eat! Though that didn't stop me from having a slice for (second) breakfast...

Happy birthday, Dad!

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

adapted from Martha Stewart

For the Crumb Topping

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup white wheat flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Cake

1 pound firm rhubarb stalks, ends trimmed and cut at a very sharp angle into 3 inch long pieces

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, divided

1 1/2 cups white wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

freshly grated zest from one medium-sized orange

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Line bottom of 9 inch spring form cake pan with parchment, butter sides of pan and parchment, dot bottom of pan with 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of the butter, set aside.

Make Crumb Topping

Combine melted butter, flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl and stir until combined. Refrigerate until needed.

Make Cake

In a medium sized bowl, toss rhubarb with 3/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside. In another medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat remaining stick of butter and cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add orange zest and juice and beat to combine. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, mixing until just combined. Toss rhubarb one more time, then lay pieces in pan as closely together as you can without overlapping too much. Lay them in rows all going in the same direction. Pour remaining sugar from bowl over rhubarb. Pour batter in pan, smoothing the top, then sprinkle crumb mixture over batter as evenly as you can, making crumbs of all different sizes. Bake for about an hour, or until a tester inserted intp center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake, and invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely - don't invert onto serving plate here, or your beautiful, crunchy crumbs will become soggy, and we can't have that, can we?!

Spelt Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Chunks

2010-05-11T20:06:00.010-04:00

Ever since I got the book Good to the Grain - from which I baked these cookies last week - I haven't been able to get this cake out of my head. It is so unusual, so unpredictable, so humble, yet so sophisticated. It was curiosity that made me bake it the first time, but it is the sheer deliciousness of this cake that will keep me coming back to this recipe for years to come.

It doesn't look like much, but it has a little secret; the thing that sets this cake apart. What is it, you ask? Rosemary. Am I the last person on the planet to bake a dessert with rosemary? I was skeptical, I admit, but after eating this cake I can't believe I waited so long.

I was shocked and amazed at how seamlessly rosemary fit into this cake. Though I haven't baked with rosemary before, this wasn't my entry into herbal desserts. I made basil ice cream last summer and was less than thrilled about it. Because of that experience, I definitely had my doubts going into this cake, but I shouldn't have worried. It is spectacular.

This is a cake that can follow a fancy meal just as easily as it can be an afternoon snack. It has more dimension of flavor than almost anything I can remember eating. Though foods containing both olive oil and rosemary are, more often than not, savory, they make perfect sense in this cake. Really, this is the most surprising thing I've ever made. Each bite I take is new, and transportive and utterly delightful.

There isn't a lot of sugar in this cake, so the sweetness is subtle. It has the perfect quantity of bittersweet chocolate, whose richness and bitterness offset all of the other ingredients beautifully. I couldn't detect the taste of the spelt at all, but chocolate and rosemary are fairly strong flavors to compete with. The crumb of this cake is fluffy and soft and fine and moist, and it has a firm crust. It isn't the prettiest cake around - actually, it kept reminding me of another wonderful though entirely different cake - but I guarantee it can hold its own in the taste department against most anything else.

Oh, and if I haven't convinced you yet, it has minimal ingredients and is mixed up by hand in mere minutes. Make this cake. Make this cake, make this cake, make this cake.

Spelt Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Chunks

adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

3/4 cup white spelt flour

1 1/2 cups white wheat flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup olive oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9 inch spring form cake pan. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whisk eggs thoroughly. Add olive oil, buttermilk and rosemary and whisk well to combine. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and whisk until just combined. Stir in chocolate. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 40-55 minutes, or until evenly golden brown and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.

Ginger Scones

2010-05-08T20:32:00.006-04:00

If you're still looking for something special to make for your mom tomorrow, look no further. These are some seriously fantastic scones.

The recipe comes from Pastries from the La Brea Bakery, by Nancy Silverton. In the book, Nancy calls these the best selling scones in the bakery, and after making them I can see why.

Before I tell you any more, a disclaimer: my scones shouldn't have been as thin as they were. I contemplated not posting them until I could make them again, but they are too good to hold back for however long it will take me to get around to doing that. The reason they were so thin is that I made them on an incredibly hot day, and even though my butter started out frozen, within only 5 minutes out of the freezer it was melty. I should have refrigerated my biscuits after I cut them, but I was impatient - on the day I made them I also made 2 tarts, 2 kinds of cookies and ice cream, all in a 5 hour time span - so I popped them in the oven. Ah well...

These are cream scones, and as such are incredibly light and fluffy, studded with chewy bits of crystallized ginger, and flavored with lemon zest. The tops are dusted with sugar before baking, creating a crunchy sugar crust; a beautiful contrast to the soft interior. Can you imagine anything better? They are the most wonderful scones I've ever had; they are lovely in every way.

Ginger Scones

adapted from Pastries from the La Brea Bakery by Nancy Silverton

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar + more for dusting

1 tablespoon baking powder

finely grated zest from one lemon

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into chunks and frozen

4 1/2 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1/2 - 3/4 cup heavy cream + more for finishing

Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Add butter, and using a pastry blender, cut it in until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add zest and toss in with your fingers. Add 1/2 cup cream, stirring with a wooden spoon or tossing with your hands until it is incorporated. Do not overwork dough. If it seems too dry, add remaining 1/4 cup of cream. Turn dough out on a lightly floured board, knead a few times to form a cohesive ball, and pat into a disk about 3/4 inch thick. If dough seems soft, refrigerate for about 5 minutes. Cut dough into circles using a 3" biscuit cutter, and place them 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut as closely together as you can, then re-form the scraps into a 3/4 inch disk, cut as many circles as you can, etc... until you have cut all of the dough. Again, if the dough seems soft, refrigerate for 5-10 minutes before baking. When ready to bake, brush tops of scones with cream, then dust with sugar. Bake for 12-16 minutes, until they crack and are a light golden brown.

Cashew Chocolate Chip Crisps

2010-05-05T19:59:00.011-04:00

I was lucky enough to receive Claudia Fleming's The Last Course for Christmas. It is an incredibly beautiful book that is only available now through the North Fork Table & Inn website. It is pricey, but worth it. I've spent hours perusing the inventive recipes and sumptuous photographs. Everything looks amazing, each recipe meticulous, unexpected, familiar, inviting. I want to make it all.

To christen my book, I started with these cookies. It is well-documented that I love chocolate chip cookies. These are one of the most interesting chocolate chip cookie recipes I've come across, and I just had to give them a try.

They're called crisps, and Claudia describes them as being brittle, but mine weren't... I made my cookies larger than she specifies - heaping tablespoon of dough instead of a heaping teaspoon - which probably accounts for the difference. The texture was fairly standard as far as chocolate chip cookies go, though thinner than I usually prefer. That being said, I loved these cookies. To me they are a cross between a Florentine and a chocolate chip cookie - this is how they are forgiven for being on the thin side; since they aren't a traditional ccc, they don't undergo the typical ccc scrutiny. Though they don't fall short on any other fronts.

These cookies are chewy, crispy on the outside, contain milk and bittersweet chocolate, they're studded with toasted cashews and are finished with orange zest. They are magnificent.

Cashew Chocolate Chip Crisps

adapted from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming

2 1/2 cups toasted cashews

2 1/2 cups white wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups palm sugar

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest from 1 orange, finely grated

2 large eggs

1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon water

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chunks

8 ounces milk chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a food processor, grind 1/2 cup of toasted cashews and 1 tablespoon flour to a fine meal. In a medium sized bowl, combine remaining flour, salt and the ground cashew/flour mixture. Coarsely chop the rest of the nuts. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add vanilla and zest, beat until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in water and add it to bowl of the stand mixer. Beat until combined. Add flour mixture in two batches, mixing until just combined. Stir in chopped chocolate and cashews. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for about 18 minutes, until golden brown all over. Cool on baking sheet.

TWD: Burnt Palm Sugar Ice Cream

2010-05-04T19:35:00.013-04:00

It has been way too long since I've made ice cream. Every time I make it, I wonder why I don't do it more often, it's really so easy! I was really happy that the TWD bakers were tasked to churn some this week, because it forced me to pull out my ice cream maker for the first time in a very long time.

This is basically a caramel ice cream. First you make a simple caramel out of sugar and water, then add the rest of the ingredients to the pan, resulting in your ice cream base. Couldn't be easier!

This is a delicious, rich, deeply flavored creamy treat. One that even my little ones got to enjoy, since I used palm sugar in place of cane sugar.

Thanks so much to Becky of Project Domestication for this fun pick, the recipe can be found on her blog.

Also, my business is having a great giveaway on our Facebook page, enter here!

Quinoa Cookies

2010-05-02T20:46:00.011-04:00

There has been quite a bit of buzz lately about the new baking book Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. As soon as I heard about the book I bought a copy, I knew it would be right up my alley. I was right.

Good to the Grain is all about baking with whole grains, and each chapter is devoted to a different one; whole wheat, barley, amaranth, quinoa and more. Though I eat a variety of grains on a regular basis, I have barely dabbled with their flours in baking. I've been wanting to incorporate new flours into my baking for some time, but was unsure of how to begin - they all have different textures and flavors and I only have so much time for experimentation!

When flipping through the book for the first time, one of the recipes that immediately jumped out at me was these cookies. I love quinoa. My boys and I eat in on a nearly daily basis. Did you know that it is a complete protein? One of the many things that makes it a regular in my home.

I had no idea what to expect from these cookies. They use not only quinoa flour, but quinoa flakes, plus a hefty 2 teaspoons of nutmeg. Unusual, to say the least.

They came out of the oven much being more attractive than I had anticipated; a crackled top, slightly crispy edges, soft on the inside, flecked all over with the white quinoa flakes. The quinoa flavor is much more subtle than I had hoped - it was rather overpowered by the nutmeg. If I made these again, I would definitely tone the nutmeg down. If you're not sure about your feelings on quinoa, however, you may want to leave the nutmeg as is. I suspect it helps ease people in to the flavor of quinoa which some find to be an acquired taste.

I really enjoyed these cookies, and was surprised at how effortlessly the quinoa fit in. Though I did hope the flavor would be a little more outstanding, though it was there, and very tasty. I used palm sugar as my sweetener, which was a lovely complement to the quinoa and nutmeg. I found them to be a tad on the salty side - which is not something I ever say, I love salty - so you may want to use 1/2 teaspoon less. It just occurred to me that these would also be fantastic as thumbprints, filled with jam or even a nut butter - I'll have to try them that way with some of my remaining dough.

*** Update *** I tasted a cookie on its second day and the nutmeg had mellowed considerably. If you're going to serve the cookies immediately, I would still recommend using a little less nutmeg, but if you think they'll be around a couple of days you may want to leave it as is.

Quinoa Cookies

adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

8 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 cups palm sugar

2 tablespoons molasses (not blackstrap)

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole oats

1 cup quinoa flakes + 3/4 cup for rolling

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar and mix on low until just blended, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about a minute after each addition. Stir in molasses and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix on low until flour is barely combined. Add oats and one cup of quinoa flakes mixing until just combined. Don't be concerned if the dough seems crumbly, it will come together when you form it into balls. Place remaining 3/4 cup quinoa flakes in shallow bowl. Form dough into balls about 3 tablespoons in size and roll in flakes to cover them completely. Place balls in baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for about 5-18 minutes, until cookies have spread, cracked and are an even golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet.

Le Creuset Winner!!!

2010-05-01T21:42:00.004-04:00

The winner of my Le Creuset giveaway is Debbie in Memphis!!! Congratulations, Debbie! Email your shipping address to blueridgebaker@gmail.com to claim your prize!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

TWD: Chockablock Cookies

2010-04-29T17:55:00.000-04:00

I've always been a bit of a procrastinator. If there's something I'm not 100% excited about doing, I'll wait until the absolute last minute to do it. I actually baked and photographed these cookies on Tuesday. I loved the cookies, but wasn't thrilled with the photos so I've been dragging my heels on writing this post... Here goes...

This week's TWD treat is a delightful cookie with endless possiblilities for playing around! It is an oatmeal cookie with your choice of dried fruit and nuts, plus coconut and chocolate - though in the interest of feeding them to my children, I left the chocolate out. There's a first time for everything...

I used a combination of dates and pecans, which I just love together. Since I omitted the chocolate, I added a little extra of all of the other add-ins. Not surprisingly, I sweetened my cookies with palm sugar and an unbelievable local molasses. I also used all butter instead of part butter, part shortening.

These cookies are thick, soft, chewy, chock full of goodies and almost healthy enough to call breakfast! One of my favorite things about them is that the molasses is a very prominent flavor. It was a welcome surprise! I think using palm sugar as my second sweetener helped to highlight the molasses, as it is itself rather dark in flavor.

Thanks to Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for choosing this wonderful cookie for us to bake! The recipe is on her blog.

Roasted Asparagus

2010-04-25T20:37:00.008-04:00

I am completely obsessed with roasted vegetables. I somehow managed to go through 29 years of my life without roasting a single one, but after discovering them last summer, I now make them at least 3 times a week. You name it, I'll roast it, but some of my favorite vegetables to roast are tomatoes - cherry tomatoes, especially - zucchini, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and asparagus.

Oh, asparagus, how happy I am to see you again at less than $8 a pound! I won't buy vegetables if they are out of season, so it has been quite a while since asparagus has been in my house. As long as I can get it at the farmer's market, however, it will be making regular appearances and I couldn't be happier about it. It is one of the things I look most forward to about spring. On a side note, have you ever made asparagus pizza? If not, you have to! My absolute favorite; Peter Reinhart's Pizza Napoletana crust, asparagus, fresh mozzarella and fresh parmesan. Heaven. And on this week's menu. I know, I digress... I'm just so excited about the asparagus!!!

I roast all vegetables in basically the same way - simply; nothing but olive oil and salt. Once in a while I'll add some ground coriander, but most often it is just olive oil and salt. The amazing thing about roasting is that it cooks the vegetables more slowly than on the stovetop, bringing out flavors that you never knew could exist. It also creates wonderful textures. The edges get crispy and caramelized, while the insides are soft, almost creamy with many vegetables.

If you haven't roasted vegetables before, you really must give it a try. It is an easy, effortless way to create a healthy and delicious meal. What I'm giving you below is more of a guideline than a recipe, I never measure anything when I roast... Let me know if you have questions.

Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus - about a pound

olive oil

salt

Preheat oven to 400. Wash asparagus and pat dry - the drying is very important, you don't want excess moisture, or it will steam and get mushy. Trim woody ends. Drizzle baking sheet with olive oil - just enough to give it a thin coat - and spread it evenly with your fingers. Lay asparagus on baking sheet, placing them in a single layer as much as possible. Drizzle with more olive oil and salt to taste. Toss with your hands until asparagus is evenly coated. Re-arrange in single layer and place in oven. Check asparagus every 10 minutes, turning it as necessary. Remove from oven when it is tender and ends are crispy and caramelized - about 25 minutes. This works for any vegetable, though if you use a variety with different cooking times you'll want to stagger their additions to the baking sheet. If you use a large amount of vegetables, opt for more of a roasting pan or baking dish with high sides. As a variation, add a handful of nuts after the asparagus has been in the oven for about 10 minutes, the crunchy toasted nuts add a fantastic dimension to the dish.

Also, I'm having a fabulous Le Creuset giveaway right now!!! Enter here.

Le Creuset Giveaway!!!

2010-04-23T16:56:00.001-04:00

To make up for my absence lately, I have a fabulous giveaway for you!

You could win this beautiful Le Crueset batter bowl & balloon whisk in Caribbean blue!

To enter just leave a comment on this post telling me where you're going on your next vacation - or where you'd like to go if you don't have one planned. I just got back from the beach, and am wishing I was still there!

For an additional entry, follow me on Twitter - I'm @blueridgebaker - and tweet this:

Le Creuest giveaway from @blueridgebaker http://blueridgebaker.blogspot.com/2010/04/giveaway.html

The giveaway will run through 11:59PM EST on Friday, April 30, 2010. The winner will be picked using random.org, and announced here on Saturday morning, May 1st.

This giveaway is sponsored by cookware.com and the CSN Stores. They have over 200 sites with everything from bakeware to pet products to kids beds. They have it all!

TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

2010-04-20T13:05:00.006-04:00

Got 5 minutes? Then you have enough time to mix, roll and cut these biscuits and pop them into the oven. They are that quick.

I was very pleased to see these as a TWD selection this month. I love biscuits. I was raised on biscuits. We have biscuits at every family function. Small fights break out over who gets the last one. We're biscuit people.

I made these particular biscuits for the first time last summer, and have probably baked them a dozen or more times since. They are just so simple, so fast, so delicious.

That first time I made them I was skeptical, I'll admit. I didn't think they would have the satisfactory fluffy interior, the crispy edges that constitute the perfect biscuit. It was one of the most magical oven transformations I have ever seen. I continue to be awed every time I bake them. I won't say that these are the perfect biscuit - though they're close - but they are perfect for when you're short on time, and considering the minimal effort that is put into these, the result is fairly spectacular.

These biscuits are light, tall and fluffy, with a melt-in-your mouth creamy and tender interior. The edges are crispy, and though they are more delicate than a butter biscuit, they will still stand up to a good drenching in honey.

I omitted the sugar - biscuits shouldn't be sweet, in my opinion - and upped the salt a bit, and used white whole wheat flour. I also used closer to 1 1/4 cup cream - the upper end of the range Dorie gives in the recipe.

These will never replace a butter biscuit for me, but they certainly hold their own, and will continue to be a regular breakfast goody in my house!

Thanks to Melissa from Love at First Bite for hosting this week. This fantastic and simple recipe can be found on her blog.

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

2010-04-18T19:23:00.014-04:00

I know I'm a little late posting this cake - it was the TWD pick from last week - but I was at the beach, so I didn't get a chance to make it until now. More on the beach later, for now, it's all about the cake. I've paused on the picture of this cake in Baking from My Home to Yours many times, and have been intrigued by its humble appearance, simple ingredients and the harming story that accompanies it.

Dorie was introduced to this cake by a friend who described it as being so easy you can start making it when you see company coming up the driveway, and have it ready to serve by the time they sit down to coffee. It's true! It is a one-bowl cake that is mixed by hand, then baked and served in a cast iron skillet. What could be easier?!

Not only is this cake easy to make, it is delicious. Unbelievably delicious. In fact, it is one of the best cakes I've ever eaten. It isn't too sweet, it has a subtle almond flavor, a delicious paper-thin sugar crust, crunchy outer edge and a light citrus zing. There are no chemical leaveners in this cake, resulting in a texture that is moist and dense, chewy even.

Chances are, you have all of the ingredients for this cake in your pantry, so rush right into your kitchen! You won't be sorry!

This cake was chosen by one of my favorite bloggers, Nancy. She has not one, but two fantastic blogs - The Dogs Eat the Crumbs and The Corner Loaf. The latter is devoted solely to bread. Everything she makes is beautiful, and she writes the most thoughtful and descriptive posts. If you haven't read her blogs before, you must check them out! The recipe for this cake is posted on The Dogs Eat the Crumbs.

Creamy Meyer Lemon Crumb Bars

2010-04-09T19:46:00.027-04:00

I am powerless when it comes to desserts with streusel topping. I see them, and I have to make them. As soon as The Pioneer Woman posted these crumb bars I knew I would be eating them soon. I had a little time on my hands this afternoon while nursing my sick kiddo back to health, and as there were a few Meyer lemons dying on my counter - having already made these cookies, as well as some preserved lemons which I have yet to post - I decided to put them to good use! Thankfully, I had a can of sweetened condensed milk, and I whipped these bars up in no time.

I love crumb bars because they are so easy to make, plus, one dough used in two different ways creates two different textures. Brilliant! Pair that with a simple, yet delicious filling and you have a real winner on your hands.

These bars - though not terribly photogenic - are unbelievably creamy and delicious with a light, refreshing tang from the fresh lemon juice and zest - if you look closely, you can see the flecks of yellow, mmm... After only about 25 minutes in the oven, the filling takes on a texture very similar to cheesecake - a delightful discovery! As PW mentions, you could change it up a little, use lime for the juice and zest and have lime bars, add thyme for lemon-thyme bars, or alternatively, I had the thought that fresh ginger would be amazing in them. I only wish I had had the idea before my bars came out of - or went into, for that matter - the oven. Ah well, next time...

Creamy Meyer Lemon Crumb Bars

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup oats

1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice

zest from two small Meyer lemons

Preheat oven to 350.

For crust/crumble:

Combine butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Blend with your fingers until all ingredients are evenly moistened and there is no visible loose flour. Press 1/2 of the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9"x 13" pan - you could go a little smaller with the pan, but don't go any larger. Set aside the remaining half of the mixture.

For the filling:

In a medium bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisk until well combined. Pour evenly over crust layer.

Scatter remaining crust/crumble mixture over filling - I like to have a variety of chunk sizes in my crumble toppings, but The Pioneer Woman spread hers in a thin, even layer. Use whichever method sounds better to you. Bake for around 25 minutes, or until crumble is golden. After bars have cooled in pan for 30 minutes, cut into squares with a sharp knife, then place pan in fridge for 2 hours or more before serving.

Homemade Mounds

2010-04-08T09:37:00.001-04:00

I wasn't allowed to eat candy growing up. I mean, there were the occasional indulgences on Easter and Halloween, but even then they were carefully rationed - or so my mom thought... I had quite the sweet tooth, and found ways to sneak treats as often as possible. I always discovered the hiding places of the Easter baskets and Halloween bags, helping myself to just enough that I knew wouldn't be missed. And then there was the bookstore.

The school that I grew up attending had (has) a university attached to it, and that university had a bookstore. A small place, carrying the essentials; toothbrushes, greeting cards, tees & hats with the school's logo, and candy. Tons of candy. Oodles of candy. My favorites were Laffy Taffy, Lemonheads and some other sour, chewy thing whose name escapes me. I liked the sour chewy things best of all. Though the university bookstore has since been overhauled and no longer carries such junk food - now it is all organic, corn syrup free, etc... back then they had it all, and I ate it all. I babysat a lot, so I had my own income, and I lived on school campus because my mom taught there. Every day, I would ride my bike home, speed to the bookstore before it closed for the day, stock up on candy and ride home. When we moved out of the place on campus, my mom found a candy wrapper graveyard behind the sofa. Oops.

Mounds weren't one of the things that I bought at the bookstore - remember, it was the sour, chewy things that were my candy of choice - but my mom enjoyed the occasional Mounds, especially when we went to the movie theatre. It was the legitimatly consumed candy of my childhood. As soon as I saw a recipe for homemade Mounds, I knew I had to make them. I'm sure it has been at least a decade since I ate a real Mounds, but I'm positive that these are considerably better than the real thing.

They have a soft and slightly gooey coconut center enrobed in a delicate layer of dark chocolate. Thankfully, this recipe doesn't make very many. Feel free to double or triple it it. I got 8 candies, each a little more than an inch in diameter.

I would recommend using a silicone candy mold for these. I didn't, and they look a little sloppy. The chocolate layer would be much more even with a mold. I don't have one - yet - and I couldn't wait to acquire one before making this recipe.

Mounds

adapted from Elana's Pantry

3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 tablespoons agave

3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

Combine coconut, coconut oil and agave in small bowl. Form into desired shapes, lay shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in freezer for about 10 minutes to harden. Drop coconut shapes one at a time in bowl of melted chocolate, coating thoroughly. Remove with fork, and lay back on parchment for chocolate to set. You could temper the chocolate if you desire, but honestly, these won't last long enough for the chocolate to bloom. If using a mold, paint the inside of each well with a thin layer of chocolate, place in freezer to harden, press coconut mixture into chocolate-lined mold, paint top of coconut with chocolate, put back in freezer. Remove from freezer, pop candies out of molds and enjoy!

Baklava

2010-04-05T08:09:00.016-04:00

My love for baklava goes as far back as I can remember. I mean, what's not to love about a sweet, syrup-soaked nutty treat?! I have been known to dine at Middle Eastern restaurants for the sole purpose of partaking of their dessert offerings...

Though I am not a part of any organized religion, I really look forward to holidays. Since I don't have associations with the various holidays that many religious people do have, it can be hard to cut through all of the mass-produced, commercialized junk that is out there to find personal meaning in them. For me, though, holidays are about family being together, and tradition. The traditions don't have to be huge and deeply meaningful, but I believe it creates a sense of comfort and stability for kids when there are certain things they can always depend on. Even if it is as small as the food that is served. It always comes back to the food, doesn't it?

I made this baklava for Easter brunch with my family. It is something that I've been wanting to make for a long time - the last time I made it was almost ten years ago when I was in college - so I jumped at the chance! It was a huge hit, and is certain to become part of Easter tradition for me and my boys.

I looked at several baklava recipes, took bits and pieces from each one, added my own touches and came up with this beautiful and delicious version. It was a good thing I had several family members over to my house, because this recipe makes a ton of baklava, and I would have eaten it all by myself if I hadn't sent some home with everyone...

Here are a few tips before you start making your baklava:

- Make sure your phyllo dough is completely defrosted before using it. At least 24 hours in the refrigerator or 6 hours on the counter should do the trick.

- While you're working with the phyllo, lay the whole stack out flat and cover it with a barely damp kitchen towel. This will keep the thin layers of dough from drying out as you work with one piece at a time.

- Phyllo dough comes in different sized pieces. The ones I used were twice the size of the pan I made my baklava in. In order to use the entire sheet of phyllo, line two corners up in the corners of the pan, draping the rest of the piece over the side of the pan. Brush with melted ghee - see below - then fold the overhanging dough over the half in the pan. This fit perfectly in my 17"x10 1/4" pan. Even with folding, you may have to do some trimming with a sharp knife if the pan you use is smaller.

- You'll need ghee for this baklava. It is delicious and easy to make. Here's how: http://blueridgebaker.blogspot.com/2010/01/ghee.html

Baklava

1 pound phyllo dough

18 ounces pecans (or walnuts, or pecans, or a combination of nuts)

7 ounces ghee, melted*

2 tablespoons palm sugar

4 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

pistachios for garnish

Soaking Syrup

1 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon rose water

*you want to keep the ghee liquid at all times, so if it begins to cool and thicken, just pop it back on the burner for a minute.

Preheat oven to 275. Put pecans, palm sugar, cardamom, cinnamon and salt in food processor. Pulse several times until it becomes the texture of coarse meal. Brush pan with ghee. Lay a piece of phyllo in pan, brush evenly with ghee. Repeat until there are 8 layers of phyllo. Pour half of the nut mixture in pan. Spread it evenly. Continue layering phyllo, this time, 4 layers. Top with remaining nuts, then another 12 layers of phyllo. Remember, every time you layer the phyllo, you brush each piece with ghee before adding the next. Brush the 12th layer with ghee, and cut into desired shapes using a sharp knife. Bake for about 2 hours, or until the top is slightly browned. While baklava is baking, make the syrup:

In a glass measuring cup, combine honey, water and rose water. Stir until smooth. As soon as baklava comes out of oven, pour syrup evenly over the entire thing. Let cool to room temperature before eating - this will ensure even absorption of syrup, and the baklava will be less likely to have a soggy bottom.

Meyer Lemon, Lavender and Cashew Shortbread

2010-04-02T19:32:00.014-04:00

While people in many parts of the country are already enjoying the first produce of spring, we in Asheville have yet to have that pleasure. Thankfully, the farmer's markets start up again in the next few weeks, but until then it is still the fruits of winter that I'll be eating. I don't think I've ever had such a variety of lemon desserts as I've had this winter, and I have been enjoying them so much.

One thing I hadn't made yet was lemon cookies. Given my love for cookies, it is surprising that I waited this long to make them, but here they are!

I knew I wanted to use Meyer lemons, and pair them with lavender. I found this recipe from Canelle et Vanille and made a few tweaks, ending up with these lovely cookies.

These cookies manage to be spring-like, despite their use of winter fruit; the brightness of the lemon, the sheer fact that they contain flowers; the happy flecks of yellow and purple throughout.

They have the perfect shortbread texture, as well; crispy with a tender crumb, flaky and not at all chalky. I can't stand those shortbreads that stick to the roof of your mouth.

The only change I might make should I bake these again would be to add more cashews. I was hoping they would play a stronger role here, but there were so few they weren't really noticeable at all. I questioned the amount as I was weighing them - I should have trusted my instincts...

Meyer Lemon, Lavender and Cashew Shortbread

adapted from Canelle et Vanille

110 grams butter, softened

30 grams powdered sugar

zest of two small Meyer lemons

1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice

1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender buds

140 grams white wheat flour

2 grams salt

30 grams (though I would actually double this next time) chopped cashews

granulated sugar for dusting

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar until creamy. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and lavender buds, and mix to combine. Add flour and salt and mix until just combined. Stir in cashews. Roll dough between two sheets of parchment to about 1/4" thick. Carefully fold edges of parchment around dough, turn dough over so it keeps the folds closed, and place dough flat in refrigerator for at least two hours. Remove dough, preheat oven to 350, and cut into whatever shapes you desire. Place about 1/2 inch apart on parchment lined baking sheet, and dust evenly with granulated sugar. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly golden - a little more so around the edges. Let cool on baking sheet.

Oatmeal Shortbread

2010-03-31T21:19:00.005-04:00

When I was a junior in college, I spent a semester abroad in London. I have many incredible memories from that time, among them, the digestive biscuits that I consumed with great gusto. There were many varieties I enjoyed, but one of my favorites was a thin, unassuming oaty biscuit that was somewhere between a cookie and a cracker - might they be called Hob Nobs? - that was barely sweet, and had a wonderful nubby, crumbly texture. With the first bite I took of this shortbread, I immediately thought of those lovely cookies.

This is unlike any other shortbread I've ever had. Usually characterized by its buttery melt-in-your-mouth texture, this version is less refined and a little more homey in its appearance, but it loses nothing in flavor. It is actually very similar to the Sbrisolona I made a few months ago in many respects despite the fact that it contains no nuts - the signature of Sbrisolona. The oats add a fantastic flakiness to the shortbread, making it at the same time light, soft, crispy and crumbly.

I love the fact that there is so little sugar in this recipe, as I'm quite fond of desserts that are subtly sweet. My little ones haven't tasted it yet, but I feel sure they'll approve.

Oatmeal Shortbread

adapted from Pastry Studio

1 cup white wheat flour

1/2 cup whole rolled oats + some for dusting

1/3 cup palm sugar + some for dusting

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into several chunks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Butter an 8" spring-form cake pan or tart pan. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, oats, palm sugar and salt. Pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and vanilla and process until dough forms a ball. Press dough evenly in prepared pan, and sprinkle with a light layer of oats and palm sugar. Bake for about an hour, or until shortbread has taken on a deep golden color. Let cool on rack for 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan, and cut shortbread with a sharp knife while still warm.

Chocolate Babka

2010-03-28T20:01:00.014-04:00

It is so exciting to discover delicious new treats. Until recently, my only frame of reference for a babka was a vague recollection of a Seinfeld episode. I also kind of knew that they were something served on Easter. Then a while back I saw a photo of a chocolate babka on Tastespotting, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since.

Since Easter is coming up, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give this decadent yeast treat a shot. Turns out, what I made is more of a Jewish babka and not the Easter type, but oh well... It is incredibly delicious, and there is no reason it couldn't still be part of your Easter spread!

For some reason, I had a feeling that I would be able to find a fantastic babka recipe on Smitten Kitchen. Maybe because Deb lives in NYC, I don't know. Regardless, I was right. Boy, was I right. I hit the babka jackpot. However, when reading through the recipe, I discovered that it made 3 loaves of this rich chocolate bread. I have no need for even one loaf, and only certain insanity would prompt me to bake three. Looking at the quantities, it is not a recipe that lends itself easily to scaling down, but I knew it was the one I wanted to try so I went ahead and did the math. A scale will be helpful for this recipe, but you can still make the babka if you don't have one. You'll just have to estimate the partial eggs.

So, what is so special about this bread? Where to start...

The actual bread element is soft, tender, creamy, sweet, not at all dry. Actually, I think it would make a better base for the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake than the one in the recipe, as it is similar in texture but much less dry.

In almost equal proportion to the bread is chocolate. Dark, decadent, beautiful chocolate. This bread is most definitely not for the faint of heart. Even in the scaled recipe there is close to a pound of chocolate.

The less dominant flavor in the bread is cinnamon. I enjoy the combination of chocolate and cinnamon, but was unsure of the almost alarming quantity of cinnamon this recipe called for. I was afraid it would be overpowering. It was actually quite complimentary, though it is a distinguishable flavor.

To finish off this already over-the-top loaf is a streusel topping - which despite slightly resembling cauliflower, is delicious. I have never met a streusel I didn't like, and this was no exception. It is made with powdered sugar, which makes it quite crunchy when baked, and offers a wonderful counterpoint to the soft bread and rich creamy chocolate.

Before you make this babka, be warned; it has many elements and takes a good chunk of time. It is, however, completely worth it.

Make sure you read through this recipe thoroughly before starting out. As I mentioned, it was slightly strange to scale, so some of the quantities are odd. In addition, there are a lot of steps. This one requires a little more attention than your average recipe.

Chocolate Babka

adapted from Martha Stewart via Smitten Kitchen

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1/3 + 1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg divided (33.3 grams - 2/3 egg, 16.67 grams - 1/3 egg)

12 grams egg yolk

2 cups unbleached white flour*

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons unsalted butter

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon cream

*depending on the consistency of your dough, you may need more flour. I had to add almost an entire additional cup to mine.

Heat milk to 100-110 degrees. Pour into a small bowl, and add yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in another small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the sugar, 33.3 grams of egg (that's 2/3 of an egg) and the egg yolk. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture, and whisk to combine. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together flour and salt. Add wet ingredients and mix on low until the flour is almost incorporated. Change to dough hook. Add 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon butter to mixer. Beat on medium until dough is smooth and soft, and slightly sticky. If your dough is too sticky, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it is the right consistency. Butter a large bowl, form dough into a ball and roll around the bowl to coat it with butter. Cover bowl with plastic and set in a warm place until doubled in size, about and hour. Meanwhile, make the chocolate filling. Place remaining sugar and butter in a medium sized bowl, and using your fingers or a pastry cutter, combine them until well incorporated. Add chocolate and toss with your fingers until completely blended (though there will of course still be chocolate chunks of different sizes). Butter a 9" x 5" loaf pan. Beat remaining egg (remember, this is 1/3 of an egg) with cream. Turn dough out on a well-floured board. Roll to a square about 16" x 16". Brush edges with the egg-wash, and sprinkle all but 2 tablespoons of the chocolate over the dough, leaving a 1/4 inch border. Roll dough tightly into a log. Pinch seam closed, pinch ends together. Twist 5 or 6 times, and lay twisted log out straight on your board. Brush the left half of log with egg-wash, and sprinkle with remaining chocolate. Fold the right side over the left, making sure your chocolate stays in place. Fold ends under, and pinch closed. Twist your doubled log two times, and place in prepared pan. Brush the top of log with egg-wash, and sprinkle with streusel (recipe below). Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let it sit in a warm place for 20-30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350.

Bake until golden, about 55 minutes, then turn oven down to 325 and bake for about 15-20 minutes more, until the loaf is deep golden. Cool in pan on rack. Wait until babka is completely cool before cutting.

Struesel Topping

1/3 cup + 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached white flour

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Combine all ingredients. Using your fingers, mix until completely incorporated. Crumble, so that there are chunks ranging greatly in size.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2010-03-27T12:16:00.000-04:00

Vanilla extract is one of those things that never occured to me to make at home. Then around the holidays last year, posts started cropping up all over the food blog world, and I had to give it a try. It makes so much sense. I buy strictly organic, fair trade vanilla extract and it isn't cheap; upwards of $11 for a 2oz bottle. For just a few dollars more, I made 1 1/2 pints of my own!

The one drawback to making your own vanilla extract is that it takes time. A couple months of time. This process is not for the impatient; I nearly went crazy waiting on mine to be ready! It is really fun, however, to watch the liquid turn from crystal clear to deep amber over those long, long weeks. But now that it's ready I love opening the jar, taking a whiff, dunking my measuring spoon in the seemingly bottomless well, pouring it in the mixing bowl and licking the spoon. Yes, licking the spoon. It seems almost too decadent to have such an abundance of vanilla extract, and I love it. I'll never go back to store bought.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

adapted from Simply Recipes

1/2 pint jar with tight-fitting lid

3 vanilla beans

vodka (I've also heard of people using rum. I used Rain organic vodka)

Split vanilla beans from end to end with a sharp knife, leaving the ends connected and place in jar. Fill jar with vodka, covering vanilla beans completely. Screw lid on tight. Give the jar a good shake. Place in a cool dark place, and shake it every few days. In about 8 weeks, your vanilla extract will be ready to use! You can keep filling the jar with vodka as you use your vanilla, shake the jar a few times a week and you'll never have to buy vanilla again!

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

2010-03-25T08:06:00.001-04:00

I grew up in a small town in southeast Iowa, a mere 5 hour drive from St. Louis, a city I visited several times over the years. Why then, had I never heard of a St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake until recently?

The first time I saw this cake was a few months ago - soon after it was published in the New York Times. It was the name that got me; how could anything with the words "gooey" and "butter" in it be a bad thing. So descriptive, so evocative, yet so mysterious... What in the world was this gooey butter cake?! I had to find out. After reading more about it I knew I had to make it. However things came up, as things tend to do, and I forgot about it. Until Deb made it recently. Seeing hers made me fairly obsessed, and I knew I wouldn't be able to get it out of my mind until I was taking it out of my oven. Yesterday was the day. The day I finally got around to baking this oh-so-ugly, yet oh-so-tasty cake.

This cake starts with a layer of lightly sweetened brioche-like yeasted dough, and is topped with something gooey, buttery, rich, butterscotch-flavored, delicious. When put together, they create a treat very reminiscent of a cinnamon roll - though there is actually no cinnamon in the recipe... The cake itself is tasty, though not spectacular - it is far out-shined by the gooey topping, which is out of this world. It would be amazing on a shortbread crust. The yeast cake is a little on the dry side, but I think if the quantity of the gooey topping was doubled it would off-set the dryness. It should be noted that my cake is darker than the other gooey butter cakes out there, as I sweetened it with palm sugar.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

adapted from The New York Times

Cake Layer:

3-5 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons water

1 3/4 tablespoons instant yeast

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons palm sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 3/4 cups unbleached white flour

Gooey Topping:

3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon agave (I used amber)

2 tablespoons water

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups palm sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup + 3 tablespoons unbleached white flour

Make the Cake:

Butter a 9x13 baking pan, set aside. Combine water and 3 tablespoons of milk in a small saucepan, and heat until it reaches about 90 degrees. Pour into a small bowl, and add yeast. Whisk to combine. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, palm sugar and salt. Beat in egg. Add 1/3 of the flour, then half of the yeast/milk mixture, stirring to combine with each addition. Repeat for a total of 3 flour additions and 2 milk additions. Beat dough on medium speed until it is smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, about 7-10 minutes. At this point, if the dough seems too dry, add the additional milk. The dough should be a bit loose and slightly sticky to the touch. Press dough evenly into your prepared baking pan. Cover with kitchen towel and set in a warm place until dough has doubled. About 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Towards the end of the rise, preheat oven to 350.

Make Gooey Topping:

In a small bowl, combine agave, water and vanilla. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Add egg, and beat until combined. Add flour in three additions alternating with agave mixture in two additions. Stir until just combined. Spoon topping over risen dough, and spread as gently and evenly as possible. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cake will not be flat when baked - it will have hills and valleys all over the surface. It will not be attractive. Top will be deep golden, and center will still be liquid when done. Cool in pan before cutting. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, if desired.

TWD: Dulce de Leche Duos (and my 1 year blogiversary!)

2010-03-23T10:15:00.015-04:00

Look at this; it is Tuesday, and I'm actually posting the TWD treat on its appointed day & week!!! Miracles do happen...

So, today is my one year blogiversary... I had big plans... They didn't so much work out... Now I'm left with these horrible photos of some insanely delicious cookies - I can't wait until I get my camera back from being repaired!!!

I always had a lot of interests growing up, and not to toot my own horn, but I was pretty good at everything I tried, so I was always a little confused about what I should do when I grew up. Through the confusion, however, there was always one thing I could unequivocally tell you I would never be: a writer. Writing was always something that I found to be very stressful - unless it was a completely impersonal essay. Those I could crank out by the dozens. I don't know that I consider myself to be a writer, but I do write on a regular basis, and that is certainly something I never thought I would do. Even more surprising is that I actually enjoy it. Love it, in fact.

When I started this blog, I don't know that I ever expected anyone to read it. It still surprises and delights me when I look at the number of hits I've gotten on a given day or week, and the locations from across the globe that I get visitors from.

Having a food blog is one of the most satisfying endeavors I've ever taken on. There are so many stages of activity; finding a recipe, creating the food, photographing it, of course eating it, writing about it, and then waiting a bit for that little piece of yourself to make its way into other people's homes and see how they react to your offering.

The food blogging community is overwhelmingly supportive, accepting, giving. It is something I am incredible proud to be a part of.

All of the interests I have had throughout my life have to do with creating things. When I was 8, I had my first business with a friend. It was called Eternal Light, and we made custom candles and jewelry that we sold to our teachers and classmates. We even had business cards. I've knitted since I was six, cooked from about the same age, taken photographs, done darkroom work, and then for many years I performed. I sang, I danced, I acted. I even studied this in college. Every one of these things from beading to singing was a form of expression, a creative outlet, something that made me who I am.

I had my first son in 2006, when I was 26, and I became so consumed with being a parent that I stopped doing things for myself. I stopped creating. Then came marriage problems, then another baby, throw in a new business and you've got a big stressful mess with no room for anything else. Not to mention, there was never a time that I actually had two hands free to create anything with... Then one day, I looked at my friend Teanna's Facebook page, and saw a link with a funny name and I thought I'd check it out. I was led to Spork or Foon, Teanna's witty, hilarious and beautifully photographed food blog. Her blog led me to discover Tuesdays with Dorie, and a number of other blogs that I love and visit on a regular basis. I toyed with the idea of starting my own, but felt self-conscious about putting myself out there in that way. Then one year ago today I took the dive, and I couldn't be happier about having made that decision.

I have emerged from a several-year funk through having this blog. I have once again found an outlet that is satisfying and nourishing and brings me a sense of purpose aside from being a parent to the two sweetest boys I could ever ask for.

Thank you to everyone who reads my little blog, to everyone who has ever left a comment, a word of encouragement. It means so much to me.

Through this transition into being a single parent, I am trying to find my way back to baking and blogging more. I have less time now, so I have to be more efficient in everything I do. I'm working on it.

In case all you want is to hear what I thought of these cookies, here it is: I have wanted someone to pick these cookies for months. Ever since I first noticed them in the book. Especially after I made dulce de leche for the first time. I was so excited to see them on the March schedule. I baked the first batch, and honestly, wasn't wowed. I used the amount of dough Dorie recommended, and the cookies spread like crazy, and they were just too big, and too soft. So I made them half the size and baked them for a little longer. Magic.

My first thought when biting into one of these cookies was sugar. It was like eating rich caramel-y sugar. Three textures of sugar to be more precise; the center is creamy and gooey, then there is the outside of the cookie which forms a crispy sugary crust when baked, and the inside of the cookie which is dense, chewy, soft. These are amazing. And dangerous. Oh, so dangerous. If you know what's good for you, you won't make them. But if you do, triple the amount of salt in the recipe, it is rather salt-poor (1/4 teaspoon), and needs that extra bit to help off-set some of the sweetness. Even tripled, the cookies aren't salty.

This cookie was chosen by Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake. The recipe can be found on her blog.

TWD: Pistachio & Sicilian Orange Thumbprints

2010-03-21T20:11:00.015-04:00

I know, I know, I'm almost two weeks late here... This is the cookie that all of the other TWDers baked week before last, and I really didn't want to skip it. I have a cookbook that has pistachio thumbprints filled with rose petal jam, and I was planning on that combo, but when I opened my rose petal jam, it had mold in it... The only other jam I had was Sicilian Orange. I was skeptical at first about combining it with the pistachios, but in the end it was a fantastic choice. These are some seriously delicious cookies.

Please, no fried egg comments, I know what my little cookies resemble... You'll have to forgive them their appearance, because they really are something special. The Sicilian Orange jam has an almost bitter tartness that plays beautifully off of the creamy sweet pistachios. The cookie is a soft nutty shortbread that almost melts in your mouth. I had to get them out of the house promptly, because I found myself gobbling up one after another. After another...

I'm going to have to make these again one day soon using palm sugar, because I know my boys would be crazy for them, too. I didn't use palm sugar this time because the jam I was planning on using had sugar in it...

The only thing I might do differently next time is to leave out the almond extract and see what that does. Though there isn't a lot, it is a prominent - though tasty - flavor, and I'd like to see how the cookie is affected by removing it. Other than that, these are wonderful.

So, thanks so much to Mike of Ugly Food for an Ugly Dude for picking this fantastic cookie for us all to bake! The recipe is on his blog.

And with this, I'm really hoping to be back into the TWD swing of things, I've missed it the past few weeks!

The next TWD treat on the agenda is Dulce de Leche duos. Stay tuned, you won't want to miss this one!

200th Post!!! Outrageous Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2010-03-17T18:18:00.015-04:00

While I haven't been here as much as I've wanted to lately, I can hardly believe that this is my 200th post! I have always been the type of person that gets incredibly excited about things, does them for a short while, than loses interest. The fact that blogging has become more fulfilling over the last (almost) year is just amazing to me. The food blogging community is truly an incredible thing to be a part of.

These cookies are perhaps the most chocolatey thing I've ever eaten. I've eaten a whole lot of chocolate in my time, so that's really saying something. They are dense, have a brownie-like crust, and are so full of chocolate chunks that they melt in your mouth. In fact, as I was adding the chocolate to the batter, I had a hard time telling which element there was more of.

The batter is supremely easy to make (though is not quite as lightning quick as these lovelies) and could be made gluten free by replacing the flour with cocoa powder.

My mom is probably the toughest baked goods critic around, and she dubbed these the best chocolate cookies she had ever eaten. She said they were better than World Peace Cookies. Better than World Peace Cookies?! Now I don't know that I'm willing to go that far, but they are at least equally as good. They are unbelievable.

Outrageous Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart

8 ounces roughly chopped bittersweet chocolate

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chip-sized pieces

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment, set aside. In a heat-proof bowl placed over a pot of simmering water, melt the 8 ounces of chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on high until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Turn mixer to low and add melted chocolate in a thin stream until combined. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in chocolate chunks. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter on prepared cookie sheet, 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until cookies are dry and cracked but still soft in the center. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer on parchment to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter. If you want your cookies to be the most attractive, spoon all of the batter out while it is still warm. As it cools it will harden, resulting in a slightly thicker cookie with a little less of a crust. These photos are all cookies made from warm batter.

Lemon Upside Down Cake

2010-03-11T12:04:00.021-05:00

Upside down cakes have got to be one of the greatest categories of baked goods. I mean, what is not to like about a cake that has a caramel-like crust, tender fruit and a moist base, made, baked and served in less than an hour.

It is strange to me, but until recently I never thought there were possibilities beyond a pineapple upside down cake. What a world of deliciousness I have been missing!!! I mean, I do love a good pineapple upside downer, but there are so many other cakes to be eaten! I love this apple upside down cake more than words can say, and I think pear would be equally delicious. I recently saw a banana version somewhere - which I'm dying to try - and this lemon cake is just heavenly. Heavenly!

I made this a few days ago for my boys, and it is perhaps their favorite thing I've ever baked. They didn't like the lemons on top - granted, they are rather tart - and took them off, but I love those lemons. With baking they become tender, chewy, and soaked with (palm) sugar and butter, turning them into a sort of heightened candied lemon peel that I would gladly eat sans cake.

The cake itself, however, is fantastic and not to be skipped over. Incredibly moist, fluffy crumb, lemony. I wasn't sure about the flavors of palm sugar and lemon together, but I wanted my kids to have a treat so I went ahead with it. I'm so glad I did, because the deep, rich palm sugar pairs beautifully with the tangy, light, zippy lemon. If you've never had palm sugar, it's worth seeking out (despite its hefty price tag), because it really adds an extra dimension to baking, plus it has a glycemic index of only 35. I have an exciting palm-sugar related announcement that I'll be telling you about soon. I would like to figure out how to make a cake that had a larger portion of the crunchy sugary edges that upside down cakes naturally have - perhaps an upside down cake minus any fruit? Hmm, I may have to try this out... Or a smaller pan... Or both! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lemon Upside Down Cake

adapted from Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham

2 medium lemons

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened, divided

1 1/4 cup palm sugar, divided

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350. Wash lemons, cut ends off, and slice as thinly as possible - 1/8" thick or less. Discard seeds. In a 10" cast iron (or other) skillet, melt 1/4 cup of butter with 1/4 cup palm sugar, stirring until palm sugar is dissolved. When mixture begins to boil, arrange lemon slices in an attractive pattern (though it may be disrupted by the batter) and continue to boil for one minute once the lemons are all in place. You don't need to worry about using all of the slices you cut, but the entire bottom of the pan should be covered - it is okay if they overlap. After one minute, remove skillet from heat and set aside while you prepare the batter. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the remaining 1/2 cup butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the rest of the palm sugar (1 cup) and lemon zest and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well combined. Stir in vanilla. With mixer on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the milk, stirring each time until just combined. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Spoon batter over lemons in skillet, and smooth as evenly as you can. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until top of cake is golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in skillet, then invert onto a heat-proof plate/cake stand. If you let the cake cool completely, it is much easier to cut through the lemon slices using a very thin serrated knife. It is delicious warm, however, so serve it as you will.

Almond Butter Thumbprints

2010-03-03T19:39:00.009-05:00

I'm always trying to create new treats that I think my boys will enjoy. Sometimes I fail miserably, but sometimes I hit upon a winner. These cookies are a serious winner.

Though I had the idea about a year ago, it took me until last month to make a peanut butter cookie with almond butter. I've now made them three times in two weeks, and my little ones can't get enough. These are some of the easiest and simplest cookies I've ever made, and their taste far outshines their appearance.

These humble little cookies may not be pretty, but they are fantastic. They are full of almond flavor, which pairs beautifully with palm sugar; the chunky almond butter gives the cookies a wonderful nubby texture, and the cookies are satisfyingly dense. The dab of jam lightens them up and provides a lovely counterpoint to the richness from the nut butter. I can't get enough of them either!

Don't be alarmed if the dough seems greasy, they won't bake up that way.

Almond Butter Thumbprints

1 cup almond butter

1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 4 tablespoons, 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup palm sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup unbleached white flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

jam

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the almond butter, butter and palm sugar until fluffy. Add egg, and beat until combined. Stir in vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt, and mix until just combined. Form dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter, or 1 ounce each. Flatten ball into disk, and form a small well in the center with a fingertip. Place disks 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Spoon a dollop of jam - I use sugar-free fruit spread, use what you like - into each well you've created. About 1/2 teaspoon should do. Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Cool completely on baking sheet.

Green & Black's Peanut Sticky Buns with Salted Butter Caramel Sauce

2010-02-27T14:26:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Tastespotting sent out a tweet on Twitter that said to contact them if interested in an opportunity that involved baking, blogging and chocolate. Those happen to be my three favorite things in the world aside from my kids.

I received a response a few days later asking for recipe ideas involving the new Green & Black's chocolate bar, Peanut. It is a milk chocolate bar containing caramelized peanuts and sea salt. I love Green & Black's chocolate. As many of you know, I eat exclusively organic food, including copious amounts of G & B chocolate. The ideas started coming. I sent a list of about 8 or more possible recipes to Sarah of Tastespotting and The Delicious Life, including these rolls. They picked four bloggers' submissions, and I was so lucky to be one of the four!

I had so much fun developing this recipe. I made it three times in five days, and unfortunately I ate almost all of them. True story: the day I was photographing the final batch, I looked down and saw that there were only five of twelve rolls left in the pan. I had eaten seven. SEVEN!!! They are just so damn tasty!!!

These are some of the most delicious, decadent things I have ever eaten. Really. They have everything: bread, crunch, chocolate, goo, caramel. Oh my. Oh. My.

The roll itself is not something I would call moist, but it is most certainly not dry. Soft. It is soft. It is ever so slightly sweet with a hint of vanilla. This is a roll that could stand on it's own - all too often I find that the bready part of a cinnamon roll/sticky bun is flavorless without all of its acoutrements. In this case, the roll is already so good, it is brought to a ridiculous level of deliciousness by its toppings and fillings. The Peanut bar is really quite something. I'm normally not a big fan of peanuts, but these are caramelized, so you get a wonderful sweet crunch every bite or so that is a lovely counterpart to the rest of the bun. The chocolate is rich and decadent but not overdone, and its sweetness is balanced by the barely sweet roll and the salty caramel sauce. Oh the caramel sauce. It is perfection. If I could eat it with a spoon I would. Oh, wait. I have been eating it with a spoon. It is smooth. So smooth. So creamy. The perfect balance of sweet and salty with a deep, dark caramel flavor.

Thank you so much to Sarah of Tastespotting for giving me the opportunity to create a fun and scrumptious recipe with a fantastic new chocolate bar. My recipe will be posted on the new Tastespotting blog. The blog launches next week, but there is no word yet on the order that the recipes created by myself and the other bloggers will be posted, so check back here for a link to the recipe.

*** UPDATE *** 3.23.10

The recipe is up!!! Here is the link. Enjoy!

The Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-02-26T12:49:00.025-05:00

It's about time, isn't it?! I can't believe I haven't posted in so long. And here I am with another chocolate chip cookie... I hope you're not tired of them. There have been many factors to my absence, not the least of which is the fact that I've baked several things that I wasn't really crazy about, and I have a hard time posting sub-par treats. These cookies, however are anything but sub-par.

These are the cookies that I surmised about in my last post. These are the Perfect Cookie and New York Times cookie hybrid. These are the cookies. The cookies.

They are drawn more from the NYT recipe than the CI one, the only real contribution from CI being the brown butter. What a contribution it is, though! I will never make another chocolate chip cookie without brown butter. It does add an extra step, but it is well worth it. I find it fascinating that the actual brown butter flavor doesn't really come through here. I tasted several to make sure. What it does is deepens the flavor of the cookie, tempers the sweetness and imparts a slight nuttiness. It is a smooth and subtle addition, one that highlights the tastes already present and seamlessly ties all of the elements together.

These fulfill all of my requirements for a perfect chocolate chip cookie: they are dense and chewy on the inside, with a crispy and sturdy outer shell; the flavor of the cookie itself is rich and complex and mysterious due to the brown butter; the balance of cookie to chocolate is right on and the sprinkle of salt on top is the perfect finish.

I have no criticisms of this cookie. None. They were given enthusiastic thumbs up by everyone who tasted them, were the winner of a blind taste test with this cookie, and my mom deemed them the best chocolate chip cookies she's ever had. That's the real ccc test, people. If my mom approves, it is a true winner.

The Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from The New York Times and Cook's Illustrated

8 1/2 ounces unbleached white flour

1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, browned

5 ounces light brown sugar

4 ounces granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chip-sized pieces

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars. Pour hot brown butter over sugars, and without stirring, place in refrigerator to cool the butter to room temperature. Attach bowl to mixer and on medium speed, beat until light in color and fluffy. If butter isn't becoming pale, it isn't cool enough. Pop it back in the fridge for a few more minutes and try again. When butter mixture is desired consistency, add egg and beat for 30 seconds. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients, and mix until just incorporated. Stir in chocolate. Form dough into a log and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours (if you can stand to. If not, I understand). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment. Form dough into balls a little over an inch in diameter, or 1.5 ounces. Place balls at least 2" apart on baking sheet, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until slightly puffy, dry on top and tinged with golden. Let cool completely on baking sheet.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies?

2010-02-18T14:21:00.006-05:00

I know I just posted chocolate chip cookies a couple days ago, but here are some more for you. These come from Cook's Illustrated, and were brought to my attention by Nancy. As soon as I heard about them I had to make them. Why? They contain brown butter.

I have made my love known many times for all things brown butter, though for some inexplicable reason, I have never made chocolate chip cookies with it. Oh I've considered doing it several times, but I just never did. I am kicking myself now for not doing it sooner. I will have to make up for lost time.

Maybe the reason I waited so long was because I knew that I would love brown butter chocolate chip cookies so much that I would want to make nothing else and eat nothing else until the end of time. That's pretty much what has happened. If one could subsist on cookies alone, I would be tempted.

I'm giddy just thinking about them.

Now, are they perfect as the name of the recipe suggests? Weeeeelll, almost. The flavor is, without a doubt, the flavor of perfection. The brown butter is much more subtle than I thought it would be, but then it is battling 2 teaspoons of vanilla as well as dark brown sugar for flavor domination. That said, it is unmistakably there. It adds a richness and a nuttiness that only comes from the magic that is brown butter. I would drink the stuff if I didn't think I would instantaneously and simultaneously gain 35 pounds and have a heart attack. There is just the right amount of chocolate in these to ensure that every bite is perfectly balanced between chocolate and cookie, an elusive ratio. The edges are perfectly crispy and the centers chewy, though as with Dorie's chocolate chip cookies, they are just a mite too thin for me.

I think the next thing to do is try the New York Times recipe with brown butter, as that is the only version I've ever made that has the texture and thickness that I prefer in a chocolate chip cookie. I'll let you know how it goes.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Cook's Illustrated, May/June 2009

1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar

3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

6 ounces coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a large heat-proof bowl, combine 10 tablespoons browned butter and 4 tablespoons butter, stirring until un-browned butter is completely melted. Add sugars, salt and vanilla, whisking until fully combined. Add egg and egg yolk and whisk for about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat this twice more. Mixture should be thick, smooth and shiny. Add flour and baking soda, and using a rubber spatula, stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks. Form into balls about 1 1/4 inch in diameter, or 1.25 ounces. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges have set, but the centers are still soft. Cool cookies completely on baking sheet.

Dulce de Leche + Cocoa Wafer Sandwich Cookies

2010-02-17T08:33:00.009-05:00

I have made my love for Alice Medrich known many times. Especially in regards to her newest book, Pure Dessert. It is a beautiful book, with many fantastic recipes. I have probably baked more out of Pure Dessert than from any other book I have - with the exception of Baking from My Home to Yours, of course.

The first time I saw these cookies was on Smitten Kitchen, where Deb made a beautiful Icebox Cake out of them. This is incredibly intriguing to me, and one day I'll make one of them.

Then, quite a few weeks ago, Di and Nancy baked these cocoa wafers together via Twitter. I wanted to join in, but I wasn't able to on their appointed day & time. Plus, after looking at the recipe I noticed that it uses a food processor. Normally, I would just use my mixer and call it a day, but I was waiting on a 14-cup food processor to come in the mail - it was my big Christmas present this past year. It finally came at the beginning of February. It took me a couple of weeks to actually use it, but when I did I knew what I would be making first!

I wanted to do something special with these wafers, I didn't think a plain old thin cookie would have really done it for me. I was wrong. These are no ordinary cookies.

These cocoa wafers are magnificent. They taste purely of chocolate, and are on the bitter side. They are very thin, and very crispy. There isn't a hint of softness or chewiness in them. These would make a fantastic cookie crust (and I think Nancy and/or Di used them that way); you could make your own Thin Mints with them, or oreos, or fill them with some homemade dulce de leche as I did.

The sweetness of the dulce de leche is tempered by the deep chocolate of the cookie, and the result is a wonderfully satisfying cookie; crisp on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside, perfect.

My recipe is for Dulce de Leche is here. Cocoa Wafer recipe below.

Cocoa Wafers

adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened

3 tablespoons whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and baking soda in bowl of food processor, and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add butter and pulse several times. Stir together milk and vanilla in small bowl, and add to bowl with food processor running. Process until dough clumps around blade, scraping bowl as necessary. Turn dough out onto board, and using your hands, make sure it is evenly blended. Form into a log, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour. When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Cut slices 1/4 inch thick* from the log and place 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies look dry on top and are fairly firm to the touch. Cool completely on baking sheet.

* For these sandwiches, I rolled the dough out to a scant 1/4" and used my smallest biscuit cutter to cut them out.

TWD: Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-02-16T16:55:00.007-05:00

This week the TWD bakers made one of my all-time favorite treats; chocolate chip cookies!

Chocolate chip cookies played a large part in shaping my childhood. My mom and I baked them together regularly, they were her specialty. They're still the only thing she bakes. I probably make chocolate chip cookies more frequently than any other treat.

I enjoyed these cookies quite a lot. It is no surprise, as Dorie mentions that it is a tweaked version of the Tollhouse recipe, which is the recipe I grew up on. I thought the flavor was wonderful - rich and caramel-y; the texture was good - crispy around the edges and chewy in the center. The only problem I had with these cookies was that they are too thin. I like to have a little more to sink my teeth into. Proving once again that the New York Times recipe is the perfect chocolate chip cookie!

Thanks to Kait of Kait's Plate for hosting this week. You can find the recipe for these yummy cookies on her blog.

Chocolate-Dipped Marzipan Coins

2010-02-13T11:04:00.008-05:00

Whenever there was a special occasion growing up, marzipan was my treat of choice. It was not available in the small town I grew up in - except for a short time when there was a much-loved (by me) candy store downtown - so it was only on birthdays and other holidays when I would get it. It came in a shallow little green mesh box, divided into 9 separate spaces. In each space was a molded marzipan fruit or vegetable, airbrushed some bright color or another. Thinking about it now, it sounds slightly repulsive, but back then it was magical. I would savor each piece, trying to stretch out my enjoyment as long as possible, but the marzipan never lasted more than a couple hours at best.

I was trying to come up with something to post that would be Valentine's Day appropriate, though sophisticated - nothing red, heart-shaped or containing catchy sentimental phrases. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, I'm just not so much in the Valentine's spirit this year.

These are treats that you could give anyone you love on V-Day, not just a significant other. They are also ridiculously simple to make.

They taste better than any marzipan I've ever eaten. They taste fresh, which is not usually something you get with the electric red strawberry-shaped version. They are moist, not too sweet, and tender. The store-bought variety can tend towards rubbery, and these are anything but.

If you have molds, you could certainly use them to make fun marzipan shapes. I rolled my marzipan out and used my smallest biscuit cutter.

If you need a last-minute Valentine to give someone, these are perfect. They are delicious, beautiful and only take about an hour from start to finish - including time for the chocolate to set.

Chocolate-Dipped Marzipan Coins

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

8 ounces blanched almonds

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon almond extract

4-5 tablespoons corn syrup*

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, tempered

Place almonds in food processor. Grind to a fine powder, then process a little longer. About 2 minutes in all. Scrape bowl, and add confectioner's sugar and almond extract, process until well combined. Add corn syrup* and process for another minute. The mixture will be crumbly, but when you squeeze a bit of it, it should form a cohesive piece. Turn mixture out onto a board and knead until it comes together. Form a log, wrap in plastic and place in freezer while you temper the chocolate.

To temper chocolate: Place 2.5 ounces in a heat-proof bowl placed over a pot of simmering water. Melt chocolate, stirring frequently. When temperature is over 105, add remaining .5 ounces of chocolate and stir until melted. When the chocolate cools to 90 degrees, it is ready. Keep it at this temperature while you're dipping.

When the chocolate is ready, remove the marzipan from the freezer and roll it out to about 1/4" thick. Using a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, knife, etc... cut out shapes as desired. Dip into chocolate, and place on a piece of parchment until chocolate is set.

* I've had a couple of comments from people who have made this, saying that the marzipan was extremely sticky and difficult to roll out. My suggestion is to start with 4 tablespoons of corn syrup, and test the marzipan to see if it stays together when squeezed in a clump. If it is still crumbly, add the additional tablespoon. You can also try dusting your rolling surface & pin with powdered sugar, though I have made this twice in the last couple of weeks and didn't need any, so the ideal is to have marzipan that is soft, moist, not crumbly and not sticky (though it will be slightly oily from the natural oils in the almonds).

Nancy's Brown Butter Buttons

2010-02-09T22:24:00.008-05:00

I am making a real effort these days to put my many baking books to good use. I have amassed quite a collection in the last year. Every time I know I'm going to bake, I pull out a few under-used books and make the first thing that jumps out at me. A few days ago, I had some baking time on my hands. I had no eggs in the house, as I had just used my last four for Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia, so I knew finding a recipe would be more challenging. I started thumbing through Baking for All Occasions, and found these. These adorable little cookies combine two of my favorite things: shortbread and brown butter. I knew I couldn't go wrong. I just love the addition of the nutty butter to the sweet cookie.

Though I have made brown butter shortbread before, these are a little different. The main thing is that these have a texture that is so sandy it verges on crunchy. They are unbelievably satisfying, and entirely too easy to eat.

These sturdy little cookies are great for any occasion - or no occasion at all!

Nancy's Brown Butter Buttons

adapted from Baking for All Occasions by Flo Braker

8 oz unsalted butter, browned and cooled

2 cups unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a medium-sized bowl, set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter and vanilla. Stir in half the sugar, blending well, stir in the remaining sugar. Add the flour in two additions, stirring until just combined each time. Set aside for 10 minutes to allow flour to absorb moisture. Form dough into small balls, about 1" in diameter. Place about 1/2" apart on baking sheet. Bake until cookies crack across the top and brown around the edges. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer cookies directly onto wire rack to cool completely.

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

2010-02-09T20:37:00.006-05:00

This week for TWD, we made brownies! Ah, any excuse to make and eat a brownie is okay by me.

At first taste, I didn't think I was a huge fan of these brownies. I actually wrote an entire post - but didn't publish it - about how I didn't really like them. Then I started looking at other people's blogs to see what everyone else thought, and they were all crazy about them. I decided to give them another shot. Not ten minutes ago, I went into the kitchen and ate a brownie, and I must say I have changed my mind. These are really delicious. The texture is very different from any other brownie I've ever had. They are fudgey, but light at the same time due to the whipped eggs that are folded into the batter. I tend to prefer a denser brownie, so I can't say that I've found my new favorite, but these were definitely a lovely surprise.

This recipe was chosen by Tanya of Chocolatechic, and can be found on her blog.

Walnut Pralines

2010-02-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

I love Charleston, SC. Though I live very close, the first time I went there was only about 2 1/2 years ago. Pretty much my entire trip was spent eating, which was not something I complained about. So many fantastic restaurants there, it is probably a good thing I don't live closer.

There is a sweet shop in downtown Charleston. I don't know what its name is, and frankly, it's probably a big tourist trap, but they make pralines. Lots of pralines. They give out free samples of these pralines, and they are oh so tasty. We intentionally walked past that shop several times a day. There was just something so addictive about those nutty chunks of melt-in-your mouth caramel-flavored sweetness.

I've been intending to make pralines for a few months, and finally had the chance a couple of days ago. I was amazed at how easy and quick these were.

I took one bite, and I was right back in Charleston.

These pralines are rich, sweet, satisfying. They have the consistency of fudge with the flavor of caramel, studded with walnuts which lend a slight bitterness. I think the next time I make them, I'll try toasting the walnuts - or whatever nuts I use. I think it would bring out a wonderful flavor that would compliment the sugary candy beautifully.

Walnut Pralines

adapted from marthastewart.com

2 cups sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

small pinch of salt

2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Line two baking sheets with parchment, set aside. In a heavy-bottomed 3 quart saucepan, combine sugar, baking soda, salt and cream. Over medium-high heat, cook until deep golden brown, stirring occasionally. The temperature should be 235 on a candy thermometer. Add butter and walnuts, and stir until butter is melted. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Work rather quickly, as mixture will become harder to scoop as it cools. Allow pralines to cool completely, about 1 hour.

Saucepan Fudge Drops

2010-02-07T08:31:00.007-05:00

While looking for baking inspiration a few days ago, I pulled Bittersweet off of my bookshelf. I hadn't baked anything from it in a long time, and I was on a chocolate roll, so I was hoping to stumble upon something I would want to make.

I looked in the index under "cookies" and saw the title of this recipe, which I had somehow never noticed before. The name intrigued me. Then I looked at the recipe, and was even more intrigued by the method as well as the ingredients. I knew I had to make them.

These are the cookies you make when you want a brownie. Of course, you could just make brownies, but these are so easy and delicious and versatile why not make them instead?!

The cookie is crunchy on the outside, and incredibly fudgy on the inside. It has a slightly sandy texture, because the sugar never has a chance to melt, and a deep chocolate flavor. These would be incredible for ice cream sandwiches. Despite their soft, almost gooey interior, they aren't fragile in the least. They are similar to these cookies I made several months ago, but they have a greater textural difference between the center and the edges, and that makes them even better.

They are so fast and easy to put together, they would make a great last-minute treat for the big game!

Saucepan Fudge Drops

adapted from Bittersweet by Alice Medrich

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed

1/3 cup yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350, with racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl, and set aside. Place butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and sizzling. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa until smooth. Add sugars and stir until blended - mixture will be stiff and sandy at this point. Stir in yogurt and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. You'll want to work quickly, here. If you take too much tim, the batter will thicken as it cools, resulting in a thicker and less attractive cookie. Bake until cookies look dry on top and are cracked all over, but are still slightly soft when pressed, 10-12 minutes. Rotate baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back about half way through to ensure even baking. Slide the parchment, cookies and all onto racks to cool.

Pistachio + Date Scones

2010-02-05T12:06:00.018-05:00

I've been chasing simplicity for quite some time, but can never seem to achieve it. In my mind, all I want is a quiet life in the town I grew up in; baking and being with my kids, friends, family. There is something very comforting about a place where you know everyone you see, and they have all known you since toddlerhood. In reality, I am nowhere near that (and may never be). The last few years have been very stressful for me. In no particular order; I've had two kids, gotten married, sold a house, built a house, moved 5 times, and opened a retail store. It hasn't all been easy - and it certainly hasn't been simple - but it's life. My life. Now another chapter is beginning in my life; that of being a single mom. It will certainly be an adjustment, but everyone will be a lot happier. Now that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Scones are simplicity itself - even when as gussied up as these are. So, even if I can't live my bucolic dreams, I can eat them.

These scones are eggless, and made with cream. I love breakfast treats made with cream - it gives them such a soft, light crumb that almost melts in your mouth. Pistachios have a very distinct flavor - buttery, smoky, savory - and are not commonly found in scones, so these are an unexpected and delightful addition. They are also a wonderful foil for the sweet dates. I love dates. I love them plain, I love them rolled in coconut, I love them in baked goods. I've never met a date I didn't like. When baked, they become unbelievably tender - date paste, almost - and if you're lucky enough to get one that is slightly exposed in the dough you're in for a real treat. The edges become slightly crispy and chewy and caramelized, and they are delicious.

These are sure to be a regular treat around these parts. Next time, however, I will add more dates - I think 1 1/2 cups instead of 1 cup. I thought the date to pistachio balance was a little off. Also, they took a bit longer to bake than the recipe specified. I had to turn the oven down and cover them with foil to prevent them from burning. I would recommend baking them at 400 instead of 425, as the original recipe calls for. I'm writing the recipe below as I made them, with changes I would make in parentheses.

Pistachio + Date Scones

adapted from eatmakeread

2 cups unbleached white flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons palm sugar (or any other sugar; if you use unsalted pistachios, you could reduce this by 1 tablespoon)

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup dates, chopped (I think they need 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons pistachios, chopped, divided

1 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream, divided

Preheat oven to 425 (I think this should be more like 400). Line baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add butter, and using a pastry blender cut it in until well-combined, but so that there are still some large-ish pieces of butter in the mixture. Add dates and 1/2 cup pistachios, tossing with your hands, and separating any large clumps of dates. Add 1 cup heavy cream, and stir with fork until a dough forms. Turn out onto a floured board, and pat into a disk about 1/2" thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Place wedges on baking sheet, giving them as much space as you can. Spoon a bit of the remaining cream on the top of each scone, spreading it with the back of the spoon to coat the surface of the scone. Sprinkle tops of scones with remaining chopped pistachios. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until scones are golden. If they seem to be browning too quickly, cover them loosely with a piece of aluminum foil. Let cool on rack for at least 10 minutes.

TWD: Bittersweet Chocolate Mini-Bundts

2010-02-02T20:22:00.004-05:00

I've been on the search for the perfect chocolate cake. Though I love chocolate in just about all forms, chocolate cake isn't usually my thing. It isn't ever chocolate-y enough. I am always willing to try a new recipe, however, hoping to close in on that ever-elusive perfection that I hope is out there.

I made 1/3 of the recipe, thanks to Nancy's meticulous math, and it fit nicely into one cup of my new mini bundt pan.

I read reports of a lack of chocolate flavor in this cake as written - milk chocolate, that is - so I went darker.

I topped my little cake with a ganache instead of the glaze in the book, as there were also lots of people who had issues with it.

The flavor of the cake was good - it actually tasted like chocolate - though it was a little dry. I may have over-baked it, but dryness was also a common complaint among the other TWDers, so I don't know. Nancy added some yogurt to her batter to help combat the feared dryness. Perhaps with that in mind, I'll attempt this again. We'll see how that works.

The search is still on for the perfect chocolate cake.

Thanks to Kristin from I'm Right About Everything for hosting this week. You can find the recipe on her blog.

Coconut Bread

2010-02-01T21:07:00.014-05:00

I've always been impulsive.

This impulsiveness surfaces in every aspect of my life, from the most trivial - such as the constant changing of my hair - to the potentially dangerous...

An example: when I was 23 and I took off on a cross-country road trip by myself. It seemed harmless enough. I was supposed to be gone for 2 weeks, but close to the end of my trip I blew a tire on the interstate. I was just outside Claremore, OK, whose only claim to fame is being the birthplace to Will Rogers. The speed limit was 75, so I was going about 80. I was listening to Tori Amos' Tales of a Librarian, when all of a sudden my car started to fishtail. Before I knew it I was air-bound, flying off the side of the road. My car landed - blowing another tire - spun around several times and came to rest in some tall grasses. Miraculously, I wasn't injured. Not even a bruise. My car was another story. It required almost $8000 in repairs, and while it was being fixed I was stranded in Tulsa. For two weeks. By myself. I spent the whole time in my motel room watching Law & Order re-runs and knitting.

Though hopefully no experience as extreme as my stay in Tulsa will result from any decision I make in the kitchen, my impulsiveness shows itself in my baking, too - this is on the trivial end of the impulsive spectrum. Sometimes I have a desire to bake, but I have a hard time deciding exactly what I want to bake. If I happen upon a recipe that inspires me, however, I have to make it immediately. Whether it is late at night, early in the morning, in the last 30 minutes I have before I go to work, etc... This was one of those recipes.

As soon as I saw this on Seven Spoons, I started measuring ingredients. It was a perfect recipe to happen upon, as I had been wanting to make my boys a new quick bread for breakfast. Plus, I had just made this fantastic coconut cake that they weren't able to eat, which I felt a little bad about because it was so delicious. Making this bread was my way of giving them a little taste of what they had missed.

This coconut bread is like the less-refined cousin of that cake. Denser, heavier than the cake, with none of its fluffy delicacy though all of its coconut-y goodness. This has more heft, more texture from a greater amount of shredded coconut, which also gives it a little chew. It has a moist, soft crumb and a substantial crust. It is humble, yet sublime.

Taking a cue from the cake, I used coconut milk in place of whole milk to enhance the coconut flavor. I also used palm sugar to sweeten it - which comes from the coconut palm; coconut everywhere! This is a fantastic quick bread eaten plain or toasted with butter and equally as appropriate eaten for breakfast or with your afternoon tea. If you wanted to dress it up a little and serve it as dessert, I'm sure it would also be delicious with chocolate chunks - though for me it would slightly defeat the purpose, as then my kids wouldn't be able to eat it.

Thankfully, not all roads of impulsiveness lead to Tulsa.

Coconut Bread

adapted from Bill Granger via Seven Spoons

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

seeds scraped from 1/2 a vanilla bean, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup palm sugar

5 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) unsweetened shredded coconut

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. Whisk together eggs, coconut milk and vanilla in a small bowl, set aside. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, then stir in the palm sugar and shredded coconut. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in egg mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in melted butter, mixing only until incorporated. Do not over-mix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about an hour, or until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in pan for 30 minutes, then un-mold and cool completely on rack before cutting.

Creamy Chocolate Fudge

2010-01-31T19:18:00.013-05:00

I've been trying to bring you this fudge for a long time. I would have given it to you sooner, but I hit a few bumps along the way.

I saw it originally on Tracey's blog, and knew immediately that I had to make it. I can't even tell you how many years its been since I ate a piece of fudge, and it looked so creamy and heavenly I got right to it.

The first time I made it, it didn't exactly work. It cooked too long, and turned into a strange - though delicious - sort of caramel. I later discovered that my thermometer was off by a none-too-insignificant 6 degrees. Sigh.

The next time I made it, I went solely by the times for each stage of the recipe and ignored the temperature altogether. This time it was perfect. I bagged it up and gave it out for Christmas gifts, thinking I'd have a chance to photograph it before it was gone. Boy oh boy was I wrong! Who knew I was among voracious fudge-eaters, and that it would last less than 6 hours in their hands! Should it have really surprised me, though, given the great chocoholism that runs in my family? Not to mention, we were in the middle of an ice storm and had no power or water, so I had things other than photos on my mind.

Then, I made it again. I had to post it! This time, I went by temperature - I had a new thermometer - and again, it cooked too long. I threw it out.

The next time I made this fudge - oh yes, there was a next time - it tasted fantastic and it was definitely fudge, but it wasn't as beautiful as the perfect batch. I photographed it, but knowing it could be better I just couldn't bring myself to post it.

Now we come to this week when I made it for the fifth time.

I decided to ignore the temperature, as it seemed like in all my experience with this recipe it isn't as important as the length of time the mixture actually cooks for. This time, it was perfect again! Ahhhhh. This fudge is heaven. It is so smooth and creamy, without a trace of grit that is so frequently present in the store-bought variety. It is rich and chocolate-y with a hint of salt. This is some serious fudge. I think you're gonna like it.

Creamy Chocolate Fudge

adapted very liberally from Fine Cooking via Tracey's Culinary Adventures

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons agave (or light corn syrup)

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Line an 8"x8" pan with parchment. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine chocolate, sugar, heavy cream, agave and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring all the time. This should take 7-12 minutes - I find it takes around 10. Once boiling, cover pot and let cook for 2 minutes uninterrupted. Then remove the lid and cook for another 4 minutes without stirring. (The original recipe calls for a temperature of 236, but the last time I made it, it only reached 228 on an accurate thermometer and it was perfect). Remove from heat, add the butter without stirring and let it stand until it is 100 degrees, about an hour. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high for 20 minutes. Then let it rest for about 10 minutes. Beat again on high for 5 minutes, and let rest for 5 minutes. Continue in this way until you can make a wave in the mixture (with your fingers, spoon, etc...) and it doesn't immediately melt back into itself. Pour into prepared pan. Smooth the top or make swirls in it. Let it stand several hours or overnight in the pan, uncovered. Remove parchment, place on cutting board and cut into squares. The fudge will be quite soft at this point. Separate squares and let them sit uncovered for several hours, until they firm up.

*I believe the problem with the batch of fudge that wasn't attractive enough was that I didn't beat it long enough. The top of it wouldn't hold a swirl, and the surface had lots of tiny bubbles. To be sure you've beaten it log enough, take a small dab of the warm fudge out of the mixer and place it on a plate, spoon, anything. Make a swirl in it with your finger. Come back a few minutes later, and if the swirl has remained and the fudge has hardened as it cooled, it is done. If not, keep beating.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-01-29T20:37:00.001-05:00

In addition to croissants, the food (other than broccoli) that marked my childhood in the most significant way is chocolate chip cookies.

My mom and I are quite the chocolate chip cookie connoisseurs, and are very particular about what we consider to be the perfect cookie. We have varying opinions on what that is - she is a huge fan of Alton Brown's The Chewy (which I've made for her several times but never posted), while I love the New York Times chocolate chip cookie. She likes things in her cookies; coconut and nuts to be precise. I am more of a purist. Every time I make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, my mom tells me they need coconut, so when I saw this recipe in The Sweet Spot, I knew I had to make them for her.

After making this fantastic Condensed Milk Pound Cake, I purchased the book it came from. It is full of wonderful and unusual recipes that you'll be seeing more of in the coming weeks. So far, this book has been a great investment.

These cookies are delicious. The coconut is toasted before being added to the dough, bringing out a nuttiness that is really welcome. I was afraid the coconut would be an overpowering flavor, but it wasn't - I think the toasting helps with that as well - it is subtle though unmistakably there, and it lends a chewiness to the cookie. The cookie is soft, but not cakey. The outside is slightly crispy, though it doesn't have quite the textural contrast between the interior and exterior that the New York Times cookie has - the one thing that I think could be improved upon.

My mom loved these, and would like me to make them again at my earliest convenience. Which I'm sure she wishes was yesterday. I loved them too. This is cookie we agree on, making it a definite winner.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from The Sweet Spot: Asian Inspired Desserts by Pichet Ong & Genevieve Ko

1 1/3 cups (4 oz/113 gr) shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted to golden brown and cooled completely

2 cups (11 oz/310 gr) unbleached flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup (8 oz/226 gr) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup + 1 tablespoon (6 oz/169 gr) tightly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (6 oz/169 gr) granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups (11 7/8 ounces/336 grams) bittersweet chocolate chips or roughly chopped chocolate

Sift together flour and baking powder, set aside.

Put butter, both sugars, salt and cooled toasted coconut in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Turn mixer down to low and add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add remaining flour, mixing until just combined. Stir in chocolate. If you have time cover dough and chill for at least 2 hours before baking.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheet with parchment. Form dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter and place about 2 inches part on baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and turning crisp around the edges.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

2010-01-28T00:00:00.008-05:00

You my recall I made a lemon pound cake a week or so ago, and I wasn't so hot on it. It wasn't lemony enough, and was just generally blah. Though it left me wanting a great pound cake I didn't make much of an effort to find one, as I had moved on to other tasty treats.

Now, I have a serious baking book habit. Serious. I basically want every baking book ever written, and have a good number of them already. The most recent addition to my collection is The Craft of Baking, and on my first flip-through this is the recipe that jumped out at me. I love the name of this cake, and everything it evokes. Olive oil; earthy, fruity, tangy - the perfect complement to zippy, tart lemons.

This is my first olive oil cake, per se, though I have used olive oil several times in baking - whenever a recipe calls for a different oil. So I suppose what I should say is that this is the first time I have baked something where olive oil was intended to be a contributing flavor. Oh, how I loved it.

This, people, is a lemon cake.

This is everything a lemon cake should be. It is also everything a pound cake should be. The crumb is tight and tender, supple even. It is perfectly lemony. Lemony, but not tart. The real triumph of this cake, however is its texture. This cake is so moist, it makes a sound when you tear a piece off. It makes a sound!!! It does not have a drop of extra grease, either. It isn't a very sweet cake, which I appreciate, though the top is sprinkled with sugar before baking, creating a paper-thin crunchy crust. Perfection.

The only downside of this superb pound cake is that it is small and it requires a lot of dishes. You may want to double the recipe and save one loaf for later. I say this under the naive delusion that two loaves have a chance of lasting longer than one (which lasted exactly 6 hours in my house).

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached white flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

fresh squeezed juice from 1/2 lemon, strained

3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar for topping cake

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2 " loaf pan with parchment, butter parchment and any pan that is exposed. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Set aside. Place 2 inches of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a heat-proof bowl - preferably the bowl of a stand mixer - combine eggs, sugar and zest, and place bowl over pot of simmering water, whisking until egg mixture is warm to the touch - this doesn't take very long. Remove bowl from pot and attach to mixer fitted with whisk attachment - if you're not using a stand mixer, place bowl on counter and use hand mixer - and beat on medium until mixture thickens and becomes pale, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, cream and lemon juice in a small bowl. When the egg mixture has reached appropriate thickness, drizzle olive oil mixture over it and mix until combined. Turn mixer to low and add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stir in melted butter. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth batter and sprinkle with tablespoon of sugar. Bake until top of cake is golden, and tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes in pan, then remove to rack to cool completely before cutting.

One-Step Croissants

2010-01-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

Croissants are a very special food for me and my mom. I have more wonderful memories associated with croissants than almost any other food I can think of.

When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot of money. We didn't eat out, and we ate simple food. One treat that we ate about once a month though, was croissants. Not fancy croissants, mind you, they were frozen in fact. But they were something that seemed so decadent and so sophisticated. I just loved them. There was a ritual to the way my mom and I ate our croissants; we heated them up, tore off one end, hollowed out the insides and stuffed them with a link of veggie sausage. Sometimes we ate them with cheese, sometimes not. They were especially wonderful when dipped in mustard.

The summer before my senior year of high school, my mom arranged for us to go to Europe by becoming a tour leader for an educational tour company. The tour was 2 weeks in Italy, and then the two of us stayed in Europe for an extra 2 weeks which we spent in Greece. Some of our first nights there were spent in Nafplio in a pension that was above a bakery. You have not known heaven until you've woken up every morning to the smell of fresh bread, and the satisfaction of attaining that bread through nothing more difficult than a flight of stairs and a few dollars. It quickly became an addiction, and even after leaving Nafplio we couldn't function in the mornings until finding ourselves a fresh croissant and our other weakness - a cup of hot cocoa.

I've wanted to make croissants for as long as I have been baking. There are a lot of recipes out there, but the one that caught my eye was this one from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri. I've had the book for a few months but hadn't made anything out of it yet, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

These croissants are a whole lot easier - and less time-consuming - than traditionally made croissants, anything that helps me save time is pretty great in my book.

I only made a half recipe of these, because I made them by hand instead of with a food processor as the original recipe calls for. They turned out beautifully, so I wish I made a full batch!

These croissants are delicious; unbelievably flaky, buttery, tender on the inside, crisp on the outside - all in all, perfect little croissants!

Are they as good as croissants made with a preferment, laminated dough, and given lots of time to rise? I'll have to let you know when I find the time to make those! I'm planning on trying out the recipe from Tartine sometime soon, they come highly recommended. Until then, these are a wonderful alternative that are ready in a few short hours, and that in itself makes them amazing. Next time, I won't make the mistake of only making a half recipe!

One-Step Croissants (full recipe)

adapted from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri

1/2 cup milk

4 teaspoons instant yeast

2 cups unbleached white flour

2 tablespoons palm sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

egg wash: 1 egg, well beaten with a pinch of salt

Heat half of the milk in a small saucepan (keeping the other half of the milk cold) until it is lukewarm - about 90 degrees. Pour into a small bowl and whisk in yeast. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, palm sugar, and salt. Add 4 tablespoons of the butter - keeping the rest of it in the refrigerator - and using a pastry blender, cut the butter in until it is finely mixed into the dry ingredients. Cut the rest of the butter into small chunks and add them to the mixture. Cut in with a pastry blender, just until the chunks have broken up somewhat - about 20 strokes with the blender - but large pieces remain. Add the cold milk to the yeast mixture and pour it into the bowl. Cut the dough once more with pastry blender for about 45 seconds - the dough will not form a ball. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board, flatten the dough into a disk and roll out into a rectangle about 12" x 15". Fold dough into thirds - like a business letter - then roll up the folded dough and press into a rough square. Lightly flour dough, place in a plastic bag and seal it. Let dough rise inside the bag for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. The dough will not double in size. After the dough has risen, using the palm of your hand, deflate the dough and place bag in the fridge for at least 1 hour or as many as 8 hours. Remove dough from bag, place on well-floured board, gently deflate, and roll out to a rectangle about 12" x 15". If the dough seems hard to roll, let it rest for 5 minutes then resume rolling. If at any point the dough becomes too soft, slide a baking sheet under it and place it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Once the dough is rolled out, straighten the edges, and using a sharp knife (or pizza wheel) cut dough lengthwise into two strips, then cut each strip into 6 triangles. Roll each triangle starting at the flat end and ending at the point. Tuck point under, and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. (You'll need 2) Repeat with remaining triangles until all are rolled. Cover each sheet of rolled dough with buttered plastic wrap and let rise until they are almost doubled in size. About 20 minutes before the rise is complete, preheat oven to 350. Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Just before baking, carefully brush each croissant with egg wash, making sure it doesn't pool under the dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, then rotate pans. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until they are deep golden brown and springy to the touch. Slide parchment with croissants from baking sheet to rack to cool.

TWD: Coco-Nana Bread

2010-01-26T00:00:00.008-05:00

When I was in college, I took a nutrition class. Actually, what I should say is that I attempted to take a nutrition class - me and the class didn't exactly get along and I ended up dropping it. Healing through food is something I have always been very interested in - believe it or not, I have done several extended raw food stints - and I thought that a nutrition class would be the source of some very useful and interesting information. I could not have been more wrong.

The class consisted entirely of how to make foods lower in fat and calories, and had nothing to do with actual nutrition. The final straw for me was when the bulk of our first test was a recipe for lasagna that we were supposed to make "healthier" by doing things like replacing the full-fat ricotta with fat free cottage cheese. Really?! Never once was there a mention of whole grains, vegetables, the evils of aspartame, rBGH, the importance of organic foods, etc, etc, etc... It is so very disturbing to me that there are people out there whose ideas of how to eat are based on the lack of knowledge provided in this class.

I do have a roundabout point here.

Chocolate and bananas do not go together.

To me, this is the kind of chocolate bread that would be created by the "teacher" of that class (of course, the butter would first have to be replaced with margarine) in an attempt to create a healthy chocolate bread. Though come to think of it that may be giving her too much credit... Perhaps it is better to say that it is a bread that is pretending to be healthy by containing bananas, just as her recipes were pretending to be healthy because they used Sweet'N Low instead of sugar. It is a thin comparison, but it is what came to mind when eating the bread.

Now, don't get me wrong - I love banana bread. I just love it without chocolate in it. I also love chocolate bread, but banana has no place in it. If I'm going to indulge in a chocolate dessert, I want to really indulge. If I want a healthy treat, I'll eat a truly healthy treat. In this bread the lines are too blurred, and it doesn't satisfy me as either decadent or healthy.

Perhaps I'm completely wrong about the bread trying to be healthy, and there are people out there who actually enjoy the two flavors together, and this bread is simply intended to be a celebration of their union. Ahem. I am definitely not one of those people. I cannot comprehend the inclusion of a mushy tropical fruit in an otherwise wonderfully rich chocolate-y treat. I'm a little mad at the bread, actually. It looks good, it has lots of chocolate in it, why can't it just be good?!

I was really hoping this bread would surprise me - I mean it is a Dorie recipe after all - however, it did not. Actually, it was one of the more disappointing desserts I've ever made.

In my effort to convert myself to a Coco-Nana lover, I tried the bread several different ways: plain - not a fan AT ALL; toasted and topped with salty butter - not too bad; piled high with whipped cream and dusted with cocoa powder - the best of the three (but what isn't improved when drowning in whipped cream?). Am I being too harsh? Perhaps. I just really dislike bad chocolate desserts, and let's face it; if I have to trick myself into liking chocolate bread - CHOCOLATE BREAD!!! - something is very, very wrong.

I will give it credit for having a lovely texture - light and moist with a nice crispy crust.

Thanks to Steph of Obsessed with Baking for hosting this week! Should you desire the recipe after my total blasting of it, you can find it on her blog.

For a couple of wonderful chocolate breads that do not include bananas, take a look here and here.

Coconut Cake with Chocolate Chunks

2010-01-24T19:13:00.008-05:00

There was a time when I would have turned up my nose at this baked treat, simply because it is a cake. Even the chocolate wouldn't have swayed me. Until quite recently, I just wasn't a fan of cakes. Or so I thought. I have now come to realize that I had never had a good cake, or at least not enough of them.

In the last year I have actually come to love cakes.

For reasons like this. And this. And this. (Please excuse the photos for those links, most are from very early in my blogging...)

Oh, and this.

I made this coconut cake for my aunt's birthday today. I find it rather amusing that I have upwards of 40 baking books, a handful of which are dedicated to cakes, all of which are under-used, and yet I turn to the internet when looking for a recipe. Ah well, when there are things this wonderful on the internet, what can you do?

I knew I wanted a coconut cake that contained both shredded coconut and coconut milk. As soon as I happened upon this recipe from Bon Appetit, I knew I had found the one. This time, it was the chocolate that swayed me.

This cake is amazingly fluffy, making it impossibly light without nearing the texture of an angel food cake. It is tender, slightly dense, and oh so moist. The level of sweetness is perfect, especially when paired with the chunks of semisweet chocolate. The coconut on top becomes chewy with crunchy edges in the oven, and forms a sort of macaroon topping for the cake. The only thing I will change when I make it again is the amount of chocolate. It needs more. Next time, I will add an additional 3 ounces of chocolate to the batter, bringing the total amount in the cake up to 9 ounces.

Everyone in my family loved this cake, and it was devoured in record time. Many people commented that it was the best cake they had ever eaten (though they did echo my sentiment about the slight chocolate deficiency).

Coconut Cake with Chocolate Chunks and Coconut Drizzle

adapted from Bon Appetit

For the Cake:

1 3/4 cups unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped (or 9 ounces if you are a chocolate lover)

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, or 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut tossed with 1 teaspoon agave until all coconut is coated and ever so slightly damp

For the Coconut Drizzle:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2-3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9 inch spring-form cake pan. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Stir in 1 cup coconut. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with coconut milk in 2 additions, mixing until just combined with each addition. Fold 3 ounces (or 6 ounces) of the chocolate chunks into batter using a rubber spatula. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Sprinkle remaining 3 ounces of chocolate as evenly as you can on top of the batter, top with 1/2 cup of coconut. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Check cake at around 40 minutes. If it looks like it is browning too quickly, place a foil tent over the pan. Remove cake from oven when a tester placed in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before cutting. (I wasn't able to wait that long, hence the slightly shaggy slices. I will say, it was rather delicious warm, as the chocolate was melty. If you don't mind shaggy slices, serve it warm by all means!)

Coconut Drizzle:

Whisk together sugar, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of coconut milk. Add more coconut milk as needed until mixture is pourable. I did this in a pyrex measuring cup, making drizzling very easy.

Marmalade Tart

2010-01-23T21:01:00.033-05:00

Wow, a lot of citrus around here lately, eh? I kind of forgot how much I love citrus. It was all I wanted as a kid, then I got all caught up in chocolate and didn't eat many citrus desserts for many years. I'm so glad to be re-discovering it. How great is it that the brightest, sunniest fruits are in season when it is cold and grey! I mean, look at this tart; can you imagine a happier looking dessert on a dreary January day? I can't!

The recipe for this tart comes from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook. I received this book for Christmas, and until yesterday hadn't had a chance to look at it very carefully. It has a lot in it that I don't eat - lots of meat, people, lots of meat - but it is a beautiful book, and I love the way it is structured. Each chapter has a bio on one of the people who grow (or otherwise cultivate) the produce, honey, etc. that the bakery uses.

As soon as I saw this tart, however, I had the feeling that the book was worth having for that recipe alone. I was right.

The tart is composed of a sturdy, citrus-scented crust spread with a layer of marmalade, topped with an almond cream which is studded with bits of toasted almonds, and to finish it off, thin slices of fresh citrus are placed on top.

While there are several components, they are all rather simple to execute. The only thing that gave me trouble was the dough for the crust. It was very crumbly, even with several extra tablespoons of orange juice, and was a real pain to roll out. I had to patch it more than I have ever had to patch any other dough I've ever worked with. After it came out of the oven, however, I loved the taste and texture of the crust, so I don't think I'd substitute a different dough.

This tart has a lovely balance of flavors and textures: the firm, almost crunchy crust plays beautifully off of the creamy filling and soft fruit; the sweetness of the almond cream is tempered by the fresh citrus. It is a dessert that is equally appropriate for a fancy holiday dinner or an informal breakfast.

Marmalade Tart

adapted from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook

For the Tart Dough

1 1/2 cups cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes

3 cups unbleached white flour

1/2 cup sugar

grated zest of 1 orange

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons - 4 tablespoons orange juice

For the Almond Cream

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

grated zest of 1 orange

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons unbleached white flour

3/4 cup almonds, toasted until brown on the inside, then finely chopped

For Assembling the Tart

1 cup high-quality citrus marmalade at room temperature

2 medium-sized citrus fruits (or more if you want more variety)

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

To make tart dough:

Combine butter with flour, sugar, orange zest and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, place in freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, covering your hands so they don't stick to the metal bowl, attach to mixer. Using paddle attachment, mix until very crumbly. Add orange juice a little at a time until the dough comes together. Turn out onto floured board and knead until dough is smooth, about 2 minutes. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

While dough is chilling, make almond cream:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, powdered sugar, almond extract, zest and salt until light and fluffy. Add beaten egg slowly, and mix until incorporated. Add flour and mix until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the toasted, chopped almonds.

Preheat oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

Remove tart dough from fridge and place on a well-floured board. Roll out to 1/4" thick. Using a sharp knife, cut a rectangle 12" x 16". Carefully transfer rectangle to prepared cookie sheet. Spread marmalade over dough, leaving a 1" border all the way around. Spread almond cream as evenly as you can over the marmalade. Fold edges of dough in to create a crust. Place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Prepare the citrus for topping:

Cut both ends off of each piece of citrus, creating a flat surface. Place fruit on one of the flat ends, and following the curve of the fruit, cut off all of the rind and pith. Then slice into rounds, 1/4" thick each. Remove seeds as necessary. Remove tart from refrigerator and lay citrus slices evenly over the surface. Place them close together, but not overlapping. Brush the edges of the tart with the beaten egg, and dust the whole thing with sugar, going heavier on the dough than the fruit. Place a dot of butter on each slice of citrus to prevent burning. Bake tart for 40-45 minutes, or until both the almond cream and crust are a deep golden brown. Cool on rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Salted Caramel & Toasted Walnut Shortbread Bars

2010-01-21T20:56:00.008-05:00

I am really at a loss for words with these bars. They are so delicious, they have taken the words right out of me.

I actually made them for the first time a week ago, and couldn't get a photo I liked enough before they all got eaten. I couldn't very well post an inferior photo of such a superb treat, so I just had to make them again! The ways in which I suffer.

The base for these bars is a brown sugar shortbread. It is rich and buttery (without being greasy), it is smooth, almost creamy and melts in your mouth. On top of it is a layer of caramel. Beautifully smooth caramel, soft caramel, salted caramel. The caramel contains large pieces of toasted walnuts, whose bitterness are a perfect counterpoint for the sweetness of the other elements. Topping all of this is a light sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Wow.

These bars are surprisingly easy to make, which may or may not be a good thing. I haven't yet decided. Another thing I haven't decided is whether chocolate would improve upon these already-so-close-to-perfection bars. I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Salted Caramel & Toasted Walnut Shortbread Bars

adapted liberally from Cookin' Canuck

For the Crust:

9 tablespoons (4 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

For the Filling:

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

scant 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup agave

1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted until golden brown

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

coarse sea salt for finishing

Preheat oven to 375. Line an 8x8 baking dish with a piece of parchment, letting it hang over by a couple of inches on each end. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, salt and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour and stir until just combined. Press firmly and evenly into pan, prick all over with a fork and place in fridge for 2o minutes. Then bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Place on cooling rack while you make the filling.

To make the filling: Reduce oven temperature to 325. Place butter, sugars, agave, heavy cream and salt in medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil for about three minutes, or until caramel is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, stir in toasted walnuts and vanilla, and pour into crust. Place back in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until mixture has begun to bubble. Remove from oven and let cool on rack, or to speed things up you can place pan in the refrigerator. When filling is lukewarm, sprinkle with coarse salt. Wait until bars are completely cooled, then remove from pan lifting by the overhanging parchment. Peel parchment off, and cut with a sharp knife.

Very Tangy Lemon Bars

2010-01-20T19:48:00.019-05:00

One of my favorite treats when I was a kid was lemon bars. Loved them. Couldn't get enough of them. I didn't get to eat them very often, however, because I grew up in a very small town where there were no lemon bars to be had. The only time I ever got a lemon bar was when we were out of town and I happened upon them in a bakery or restaurant. Deprived, I was. If I had known then what I know now, things would have been very different I tell you. Very, very different. Want to know the secret? Lemon bars are so easy to make. So insanely, ridiculously easy. I was quite the baker as a young one, and I would have been baking these all the time had I only known...

This recipe comes from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich. My baking book collection has grown quite substantially in the last year, but this is by far one of my favorites. I baked these along with a few friends, so keep your eye on Nancy, Di and Wendy's blogs for their versions of these bars.

The crust is a basic shortbread. It worried me a little, because before it was baked it was incredibly greasy. The oven worked its magic, however, and the crust came out golden and perfect after 25 minutes. The filling is a simple mixture of eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, salt, a little flour and sugar. All you do is stir it all together, pour it in the crust, pop it back in the oven, and voila! Lemon bars!

The filling is gorgeous in flavor and texture. It is smooth, silky, tart. The most amazing thing about these lemon bars is what happens to the crust in the very center, right next to the filling. The top of the crust caramelizes and becomes crispy and crunchy and like nothing I have ever had. It is like there are three layers to these bars instead of two. I imagine this happens because you pour the filling in when the crust is hot from the initial baking, so a little soaks into the pre-baked crust. These are so simple, yet so exquisite.

Very Tangy Lemon Bars

from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

For the Crust

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

For the Topping

1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons unbleached white flour

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained

Preheat oven to 350. Line the inside of an 8x8 baking pan with foil or parchment, or butter the inside of a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

To make the crust: In a medium-sized bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Spread the dough (it will be quite liquid) evenly in the bottom of the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is evenly browned.

While the crust is baking, make the topping: Stir together sugar and flour. Whisk in the eggs. Add lemon juice and zest and stir until combined.

When the crust is baked (and still hot), pour in filling, turn oven down to 300, and bake for 20-20 minutes or until center no longer jiggles. Let cool completely in pan before slicing. Don't worry if the top comes out looking a little frothy. Gently blot it to reveal the zest. If you wish, dust with powdered sugar.

TWD: Chocolate-Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars

2010-01-19T20:00:00.013-05:00

This week's TWD selection is an oatmeal crumb bar filled with a rich chocolate fudge. It was supposed to have raisins and peanuts in it, but I'm not a big fan of peanuts, and raisins in chocolate are definitely not my thing. I've never actually been a fan of candy bars - just too much going on in them - so I thought I would really love these. I almost did.

I loved the texture - wonderfully dense from the oats, nice and crunchy on top, crispy on the edges and creamy in the center. They are rich as well as earthy, and just sweet enough - lots of people complained about them being too sweet with the addition of the raisins; yet another reason I left them out.

So, where did these bars go wrong for me? In a word, cinnamon.

As I was adding the cinnamon to the dough, I was looking forward to the addition it would make - I usually enjoy the combination of cinnamon and chocolate. However, as I took my first bite, I found the flavors to be conflicting in these bars. For some reason, they reminded me of these mesquite chocolate chip cookies (which I did not enjoy at all).

I may try these again at some point - without the cinnamon - as I think they are something I could love.

Thank you to Lillian of Confectiona's Realm for hosting this week. Take a look at her blog for the recipe.

Lemon-Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

2010-01-18T13:10:00.017-05:00

As soon as I saw this coffee cake on The Kitchn, I knew I had to make it. I love the idea of it - a sweet, citrus version of these rolls - and the look of it; so festive, so unusual. I also really wanted a satisfying lemon cake, as I was coming off the heels of this one that was rather disappointing.

I have gained quite a bit of experience working with yeast over the last year, but my experience has been limited to bread. This was the first time I had made a yeasted cake. It took some getting used to, as things are done a little differently than with bread.

The main difference was the consistency of the dough. The cake dough is very slack and sticky - somewhere between batter and dough, really. I had to restrain myself from adding tons of flour to it. I just trusted in the recipe, and it turned out beautifully!

This bread is beyond wonderful. It is light in texture - much like a brioche - just sweet enough, and filled with a fantastic citrus paste made from sugar and zest that is very marmalade-like after baking. The zest and sugar mixture also forms the most amazing crust wherever it has seeped out from between the layers of dough. The glaze was my least favorite part of the cake - it was too thick and could have been more lemony. Though I wouldn't recommend making the cake without it, it definitely adds a wonderful dimension.

I'm not sure I can ever allow myself to make this coffee cake again, because I have eaten almost half of the loaf already... Oh dear... It is that good.

I would love to make this in a muffin pan, and have little coffee cupcakes - great to serve at a party, great for breakfast, great for pretty much any time!

I love this technique of making yeasted treats, and think that there are lots of flavor combinations out there that could be used in the same manner. Cinnamon and sugar for something basic; chocolate, of course; lavender, perhaps? Mmm, maybe I'm allowed to make it again after all...

You can eat this lovely cake one of two ways: you can peel apart the layers (as the name suggests) or cut the bread diagonally when it is completely cool. I ate some (okay, a lot) both ways, and I have to say that though the cut slices are more attractive - you get a lovely striped effect, as you can see below - the peeled-off slices are just plain tastier. There is a higher zesty filling to bread ratio that way.

You can find the recipe here.

SMS: Lemon Walnut Buttermilk Pound Cake

2010-01-17T15:23:00.013-05:00

This week's SMS selection is one that I was quite excited about. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I love any excuse to make a quick bread!

I was slightly disappointed in this one, however.

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as fantastic as I wanted it to be. The main problem was that it wasn't lemon-y enough, even though I used a considerably more lemon juice and zest than the recipe called for. Other changes I made were to use palm sugar in place of cane sugar and buttermilk instead of sour cream.

I will say that it was unbelievably moist, which was fantastic, and it had that wonderful caramelized crust around the edges that is always a delicious foil to the soft center of a pound cake or quick bread.

I'm not likely to make this one again, though it was tasty (and disappeared rather quickly). I just think there are probably better lemon pound cakes out there. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks, because I'm planning on making this one sometime soon.

Thanks to Raeann of Basically, Baby Boots for hosting this week. You can find the recipe on her blog.

Cocoa Almonds

2010-01-16T19:25:00.010-05:00

It seems that I am a few weeks too late with many of my recent posts. I can't seem to get away from making things that would be really great food gifts, these almonds included. Hopefully I'll remember all of them when the holidays roll around again!

These are so easy to make. So. Easy. Let me show you!

These almonds are the perfect treat for someone who doesn't like things that are terribly sweet, as they are coated in unsweetened cocoa powder.

When you put one of the almonds in your mouth, the bitter cocoa powder dissolves on your tongue, giving way to a thin layer of semisweet chocolate. Then you bite into it, crunching, releasing the almond's sweetness that mingles perfectly with the now melted chocolate. Oh yes, I tell you they are divine.

Cocoa Almonds

6 oz semisweet chocolate

2 cups almonds (raw or roasted)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until smooth. Add almonds and stir to coat completely with chocolate. In a medium-sized bowl, pour 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder. Add a large spoonful of the chocolate-covered almonds (about 12-15 almonds), and shake the bowl to coat them in cocoa. Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, scoop out the almonds, shaking all excess cocoa powder back into the bowl. Spoon cocoa-coated almonds onto a piece of parchment in a single layer until chocolate is set. Repeat with remaining almonds, adding more cocoa powder 1/4 cup at a time as needed.

*If you think these will be too bitter for you, you could add powdered sugar to the cocoa powder to taste.

Maple Sweet Potato Bread

2010-01-15T19:03:00.015-05:00

Oh my, I have been so sleep deprived lately. I've been trying to post something for a couple of days, but I've had a very difficult time writing anything remotely coherent, or taking any remotely appealing photos. I look forward to that day (probably still several years off) where I will wake up feeling rested and calm instead of exhausted and on edge. Seriously, the only thing (sort of) maintaining my sanity is baking. Sort of is better than not at all, though, isn't it?

So, what I have for you today is a fantastic quick bread. It is inspired by Joy the Baker, but I made several changes to the recipe she posted.

Quick breads are probably my favorite thing to bake, next to cookies. They are something I need to remember to keep around, because my kids love them and they are perfect for breakfast, snacks, you name it. Plus, there are just so many possibilities!

I've been wanting to try a sweet potato version of cake or quick bread for a long time, and I'm so glad I finally had my chance this morning! This is now one of my favorite quick breads, and I will certainly be making it again.

This sweet potato bread is incredibly moist, and perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. It has a wonderful crunchy crust and a tight, soft crumb. It is probably no surprise that it is very similar to carrot cake, though not as sweet.

Both of my boys went crazy for it, which means it will definitely be making future appearances in my house.

Maple Sweet Potato Bread

adapted from Bon Appetit, November 1992, via Joy the Baker

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

1 cup palm sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups grated sweet potato - I like Bauregards, they're sweet, flavorful, and have a deep orange color

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and palm sugar. Mix in maple syrup. It's okay if the batter looks a little curdled at this point, it will smooth out. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds with each addition. Add vanilla. Stir in grated sweet potato. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. If the loaf looks like it is browning too quickly, place a foil tent over it. I did this at just over an hour though I probably could have done it a little sooner. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from pan and cool completely on rack before slicing.

Caramel Corn

2010-01-13T00:00:00.006-05:00

I have two questions: Why have I never made caramel corn before?! Why did I have to go and make caramel corn?!

It is always a little dangerous to figure out the things you're capable of in your own kitchen.

Caramel corn isn't something I buy, it isn't something I think about, it isn't something I crave. I couldn't even tell you when the last time I had it was - though I'd be willing to bet I was still wearing braces and that the caramel corn came out of one of those tins with three flavors of popcorn in them that my school used to sell to raise money. Nothing good ever came out of one of those tins.

This caramel corn couldn't be more different.

I've been seeing different variations of caramel corn everywhere lately. Funny how food trends go. The recipe I used - or should I say, changed - is from a new book called DamGoodSweet, as seen on Orangette. I chose this one because it was basic, and could be altered easily enough so that my sons could eat it.

My version has no refined sugar in it - palm sugar has replaced the granulated, and agave was used instead of corn syrup. I also left out the nuts, because they are to difficult for the little guys to eat. I also upped the salt, because I wanted it to be more of a flavor than just a flavor enhancer. I just love sweet/salty treats!

I couldn't stop eating this caramel corn, it is so delicious. Fortunately, I only made 1/3 of the recipe. It is wonderfully crunchy, but not at all in a way that will break your teeth! It is sweet, and salty, and has an amazing rich caramel flavor from the palm sugar. It couldn't be easier to make, either. Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas, because this would make a great food gift!

I'd like to play around some with flavorings - different nuts, different spices - but for now, here is the basic recipe that is so good on its own, it really doesn't need any dressing up!

Caramel Corn

adapted from DamGoodSweet by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel via Orangette

10 cups popped popcorn - I popped mine in ghee on the stovetop, but you can use any kind you like (if you use microwave, it will probably have added salt, so keep that in mind when salting yours)

1 cup palm sugar

1/4 cup light agave

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda (measure this before you start cooking your caramel)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (measure this before you start cooking your caramel)

Preheat oven to 250. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Place popped popcorn in large greased bowl, set aside. Combine palm sugar, agave, butter, salt and water in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Continue to simmer, stirring frequently until the mixture reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove pan from heat, and immediately add the baking soda and vanilla and whisk to combine. Quickly pour caramel over popcorn, and using a rubber spatula, stir to coat all of the popcorn evenly. Be gentle here, you want the popcorn to remain whole. Pour the popcorn onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading it evenly. Bake for 1 hour, stirring, turning and re-spreading the popcorn every 20 minutes. At this point, you can take a little taste and see if it is salty enough for you. I sprinkled some coarse sea salt on mine, and I highly recommend it! Let cool on rack for 20 minutes, then gently break apart and serve! You may store in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days, but I doubt it will last that long!

TWD: Mrs.Vogel's Scherben

2010-01-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

We have a rather unusual TWD pick this week - a deep-fried sugar-coated treat similar to funnel cake. Or so I'm told, but I think I've only had funnel cake once and I don't really remember anything but grease, so to me these are in a class by themselves. I don't usually do deep-fried, but these were chosen by the one and only Teanna of Spork or Foon, so I couldn't not make them! Actually, I was even looking forward to making them - they looked unique and fun, and I never would have chosen them on my own so I was excited to try something different.

Teanna and I went to college together, and after reading her blog for a few months I decided to start my own! She is also the way I found out about TWD. My life has been hugely impacted by becoming a food blogger, and without Teanna I may never have discovered this incredible community.

This scherben - is there a more fun name for a treat out there?! Say it with me, scherben, scherben, scherben! - is perfectly crispy (even almost 24 hours after frying them), and hardly sweet at all until tossed in powdered sugar. It is amazingly light for something that has been deep-fried, making it entirely too easy to pop into your mouth, one after another. After another. I used powdered sugar on most of it, but I did also top some with a blend of cardamom and granulated sugar, which was a really sublime combination.

It isn't the easiest recipe to scale down, given that it has one egg and one tablespoon of butter - though the amazing Nancy figured out the measurements for a 1/4 recipe - so I hesitantly made a full batch. Thankfully, I was able to give a lot of it away.

Though these aren't something I would normally have chosen to make, I loved them. I couldn't believe how much fun I had deep-frying them, too. It helps to have a pot that is deep enough to assuage any fears of boiling oil jumping onto my skin. I had welts for weeks after making my Apple Cider Doughnuts a few months back. I don't see myself making them again any time soon, as they are a little fussy, but I'm so glad to have made them and I'll keep them in mind in case an occasion arises in the future that they would be appropriate for.

Many thanks to Teanna for picking such a fun recipe, and of course, for introducing me to the food blog world. (You'll hear more about all of this in several weeks, when I celebrate my first blogiversary!) You can find the recipe for the scherben on Teanna's wonderful and terribly funny blog!