Salt and Chocolate

Centennial Post

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:30:00 +0000

This is my 100^th post. I thought long and hard about what I should make for this momentous occasion and was absolutely stumped. I mean I didn’t have a clue. I didn’t want it to be fancy, complicated or generally hard, Ill save that for my year anniversary. Which is coming up quickly as well, eeek. Back to the 100^th post, I was stuck completely, then it hit me. I had been craving banana bread for weeks but other baking projects had taken over instead. So I made up my mind, banana bread it was. But just plain old banana bread for my 100^th post. That would be kind of lame, so I knew I had to step it up a little. Most people probably would have said to add nuts, or chocolate chips or fruit of some sort, but with true banana bread I am a purist. It’s called banana bread for petes sake, it should taste like bananas. But none the less I had to figure something out, so while racking my brain again for ideas, ( I thought I was done thinking already) I came up with streusel topping. Why not make nice, moist, dense, delicious banana bread have a buttery, crisp topping. So once that was all straightened out it was pretty easy to make which suited me just fine as I didn’t start baking it until 8pm. The bread was everything my favorite banana bread always is and the streusel made a nice addition to the top with a crisp buttery finish. It did however weigh down the top a little in some places, so I guess a little less streusel on the top and a little more streusel for me to snack on while it is baking next time. What, don’t knock it till you try it, I’ll take streusel any way I can get it. Thanks for reading all of these past months and helping me make it to my 100^th post!

Streusel Banana Bread
3 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups of sugar
3-4 mashed overly ripe bananas
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
3 cups AP flour
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
Streusel Topping - see recipe below

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 2, 8 x4 inch pans with non stick baking spray.
In a large bowl beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in the oil and sugar. Stir in the bananas and vanilla. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour the flour mixture into the egg mixture and mix until combined. Divide the batter between the 2 pans, top evenly with the Streusel Topping. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool on a rack in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pan let it cool completely.

Streusel Topping

6 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled
1 cup AP flour
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of salt

Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt together, add in the cooled butter, stir with a fork until blended. When it starts to form crumbs, squeeze it with your hands to form larger lumps and then break them apart. Let sit for 10 -15 minutes before using.

Streusel Topping by Carole Walter in Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More

Need for Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:45:00 +0000

I did it again I bought produce with no plan in mind and now I am sitting here with very ripe peaches and nothing to use them on. I have scoured the internet for days looking for something to do with peaches and nothing is striking my fancy. Then I found it and once again Peabody was a savior. Once I saw Brown Sugar Pound Cake, I just knew that I had found it. It was like finding a vintage t shirt at a thrift store and it only being 50 cents. So I knew i need to act quickly because my peaches would soon turn to mush. So I set about to make this cake and peach sauce and it was just what the doctor ordered. It was fast to make, made my house smell fantastic and brown sugar and peaches to me just go hand in hand.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake with Peach Sauce

1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
3 cups of AP flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups of light brown sugar
5 large eggs
3/4 cup of buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325. Spray two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch pans with non stick baking spray. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a bowl cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract, then add in the eggs one at a time, mix until incorporated. Add in the flour mixture in three parts alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined. Divide evenly between the two pans and smooth the top of the batter. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted. Cool on a wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pans and cool completely.

Peach Sauce
6 large ripe peaches, peeled and cut into wedges
2 teaspoons of sugar if your peaches are not sweet enough

In a saucepan over medium heat cook the peaches until they are starting to break down and smush them up a little to break them down.

Place some sauce over the bread and serve warm.

Hopefully my last Cupcakes for a while

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:23:00 +0000

As you might know by reading my other posts I have several dozen cupcakes to make for my nieces first birthday party. I needed to do some work on the mint chocolate cupcakes and to my surprise right when I was trying to figure out what to do and how to make frosting with no raw egg component. I found this recipe and low and behold it had a frosting recipe attached that had no eggs. In fact the whole recipe had no eggs. So hopefully these go over well because I have the perfect taste testing opportunity because P and I have a party to go where I can test them out and see if they would go over well. The cupcakes looked fantastic, soft and springy to the touch and so I'm crossing my fingers on this one.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

3 cups of AP Flour
2/3 cup of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of cold water
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of canola oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons of mint extract
2 tablespoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl whisk together the water, oil, vanilla extract, mint extract and vinegar. In a large bowl add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the wet and mix to combine. Then add 1/2 of the remaining dry ingredients and the rest of the wet, stir to combine. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix for 2 to 3 minutes until combined. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 17-20 minutes or until the tops of the cakes are set. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then finish cooling on a wire rack to cool completely.

Mint Frosting
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup of shortening
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of mint extract
2 pounds of powdered sugar
4-6 tablespoons of very cold half and half

Cream the butter, shortening, salt and extracts in the bowl of a stand mixer, until light and fluffy. Add the sugar in 4 additions stirring really well after each addition. After all of the sugar is mixed in and well combined, add in the half and half, 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency you are looking for. I used 4 tablespoons.

Apple Pie Baked in a Brown Paper Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:14:00 +0000

Apple Pie baked in a Brown Paper Bag. Yes it sounds strange but it is the best Apple Pie I have ever had in my whole life. If you ever have the chance to make it to Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago Wisconsin I highly recommend you do. It’s not too far from Lake Geneva WI or Milwaukee and its definitely worth the trip. This pie brings back great memories for me. I was first introduced to this pie when I was a camp counselor in a nearby town. We had a day off and one of my fellow counselors was raving about this pie so we took a trip. Let me say that coming from a metropolitan area I was amazed and in love at first site. It’s very rustic and inviting and the smell of fresh baked pies hits you right as you walk in. They have a lot more than just pies, they have cheese, ham, fresh fruit, amazing berry apple cider, and a tons of other baked goods. I won’t go on about those just check out their website. Once I made it past all of the other items they offer in the store I was faced with a fantastic display of baked goods and many bakers racks of pies. We chose to go with the classic apple pie, a 9 inch pie for 3 people. We drove back to camp for what seemed like hours with the fresh baked pie in the back seat the smell of sweet buttery goodness calling our name. We were able to make it up the lodge before we dug into the pie. 3 forks and 20 minutes later the pie was gone. After that I was hooked, I brought one home to my family the next time I went home. In hindsight that was a bad idea because every time I came home I had to pick up at least 3 pies then,1 fresh and 2 frozen. Because they too had become hooked. When P and I were dating I told him about this pie and when we went to go see my sister who by then was a counselor herself we got a pie. And he too was astounded by how good this pie was. We then brought it for Thanksgiving to his family and they really liked the pie as well. So because I have introduced to many people already, I thought why not introduce it the masses via my blog. So this love affair with the Best Apple Pie began over 10 years ago and will continue for a long time to come.

One of my favorite parts of this pie is removing the bag from the pie. As you slowly pull of pieces of the bag some of the fantastic buttery crust will come off and you can peel it off of the bag and snack on it so no one knows you already had a taste when you bring out the pie. And Finally a picture of a slice of pie. Bet you wish you had a piece right now!

Banana Bread Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:59:00 +0000

While looking through Perfect Scoop I found the recipe for Roasted Banana Ice Cream and thought I would give it a shot as I just happened to have exactly 3 ripe bananas. I felt it was an omen to make this ice cream. The roasting of the bananas was really easy and left me plenty of time to make the rest of the ice cream. I know its called Roasted Banana Ice Cream but take one bite of this ice cream and you will agree it tastes just like Banana Bread. P and I were shocked at how much it did taste like Banana Bread. But it is addictive and makes me crave real banana bread but all my banana's were used up on this ice cream so that will have to wait.

Banana Bread Ice Cream

3 medium sized ripe bananas, peeled
1/3 cup of packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups of half and half
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of coarse salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the bananas into 1/2 inch pieces and toss them with the brown sugar and butter in a 2 quart baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring them once during baking, until the bananas are browned and cooked through. Scrape the bananas and the thick syrup in the baking dish into a blender. Add in the half and half, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and salt and blend until smooth.
Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Adapted from Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:42:00 +0000

This post is all about cravings. As it encompasses two of my favorite desserts, cheesecake and ice cream. It was way too hot to turn on the oven today but none the less I was craving cheesecake. So I decided that I should probably go through my cookbooks and see what I could make. I have owned Perfect Scoop for probably a year now and haven't made a damn thing out of it. So it was about time. So when I saw Cheesecake Ice Cream I knew I had hit the jackpot. There were multiple pluses to this recipe, you did not have to cook the base, and it was all made in the blender so basically no work for me. The base tastes as good as the ice cream, so don't eat too much of it otherwise there won't be much ice cream. Both P and I loved this ice cream, it really does taste like cheesecake.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Ice Cream

8 oz of cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of half and half
2/3 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste
Pinch of salt

In a blender or food processor add the sour cream, cream cheese, half and half, sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt. Blend until smooth and then chill in the refrigerator. Then freeze it your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Adapted from Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

A Top Ten of Sorts

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:54:00 +0000

I was tagged a while back by Grace of A Southern Grace to post my top 10 pictures from my blog and I'm just now getting around to doing it. So here goes in no particular order.......

Blackberry Ice Cream

Orange Cornmeal Cake

Fake Out Trifle

Peach Cobbler

Blackberry Jam Cake

Blackberry Streusel Muffins

Lemon Sandwich Cookies

Monkey Bread

Pear and Cinnamon Madeleines

Steak House Mushroom Crostini

Peach Cobbler

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:01:00 +0000

While trying to figure out what to make from all of my peaches and plums, Kristen from Dine and Dish suggested a Peach Cobbler from her site so I decided to take her up on it. It was really easy to make aside from peeling peaches which I hate to do. So after what seemed like hours of peeling peaches the rest of the dish was a relief. And it was very moist and flavorful and had a slight nutty flavor to the batter. So thanks for the great recipe Kristen I used up almost all of my peaches.

Peach Cobbler

Filling -
4 cups of ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Batter -
6 tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups of AP Flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the 3 ingredients in the filling and set aside. In an 8 inch baking dish place the butter pieces and place in the oven until the butter melts. While it is melting combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. In another bowl mix together the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until everything is moistened. Remove the pan from the oven and spoon the batter over the butter spreading evenly but not stiring. Spoon the filling over the top and gently press in the peaches. Bake for 35-40 minutes and then sprinkle with brown sugar and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the crust is golden.

This has been entered in Fruit Frenzy! Check it out!

Banana Pancakes with Nutella Syrup

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:02:00 +0000

One of our favorite treats is a crepe with bananas and nutella. Now crepes are not hard to make what so ever but they do take some planning as the batter needs to rest for a few hours. So I thought why not just make those flavors into something you can just make and cook. So Banana Pancakes with Nutella Syrup was born. The pancakes have great banana flavor and the nutella gives the right amount of chocolate flavor and sweetness.

Banana Pancakes
1 cup AP Flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup of buttermilk
1 banana, ripe and mashed

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. Combine the butter, egg, buttermilk, and banana in another bowl and set aside. Make a well in the dry mixture and add in the wet and stir until just combined. Cook on a buttered griddle over medium to medium high heat.

Nutella Syrup -
1/2 cup of Nutella
2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream

Combine the Nutella and cream in a small sauce pan and heat over medium low heat stirring to combine. Add more or less cream depending on how thick you want the syrup to be.

Pancake recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Buttermilk Pancakes.

This Has been entered in Pancakes on Parade. Check it out!

Tastespotting is Back

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:11:00 +0000

You heard it here. It is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plum and Raspberry Crisp

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:44:00 +0000

I just want to thank everyone who commented and helped me out with ideas. There were a lot of great suggestions. I decided on a Plum and Raspberry Crisp so that I could use up quite a few plums at once. My mom used to make a really good apple crisp when I was younger but not that often because we ate apples up pretty quickly. But when she did we would eat very small portions so it could last a few days. It never worked but we tried. So in a slight homage to my mother I figured I would try plums and raspberries. I think you need firmer fruit for a crisp but this came out ok.

Plum and Raspberry Crisp
1 1/2 lbs of plums
1 1/2 cups of raspberries
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/3 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of AP Flour
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
2/3 cup of old fashion rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
8 tablespoons of butter, chilled and cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl combine the plums, raspberries, cornstarch, lemon juice, and sugar. In another bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt and cinnamon. Add in the butter pieces and blend until it resembles coarse meal. Spread the plum mixture into a 13x9 glass baking dish and sprinkle the oat mixture evenly over the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Peach Bourbon Streusel Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:38:00 +0000

As you can see by my previous post I need to use up a large amount of fruit that I bought. So I thought up this variation on a recipe. I think peaches and bourbon go really well together. So it was a natural fit for me. And I spiked the recipe in a few places. They were really tasty but not that peachy. I think in the future I would probably soak the peaches in some peach liquor next time. But the bourbon was a nice light flavor. And I was able to use up 6 peaches.

Peach Bourbon Streusel Muffins

1 ¾ cup AP flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup of unsalted butter slightly firm
¾ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup of buttermilk
1/4 cup of bourbon
1 ½ cups of peaches, peeled and chopped into a medium dice
Small Recipe of Streusel - see recipe below

Preheat the oven to 375. Prepare a regular size muffin tin with 12 paper liners. In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda until combined. Combine the buttermilk and bourbon and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and light in color. About a minute. Add in the sugar and mix once that is combined add the egg and vanilla. Once combined scrape down the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and add in flour and buttermilk in an alternating patter. Starting with 1/3 of the flour then ½ of the buttermilk, so that you have 3 additions of flour and 2 of the buttermilk, ending with the flour. Mix until just combined. I added the last flour mixture and let it mix a few times then finished mixing by hand.

Put half scoops of batter in the bottom of the liners. I used a tablespoon cookie scoop but basically fill the liners between 1/3 and ½ way up the liner. Place a teaspoon of peaches on top of the batter, then place a dollop batter on top. It is ok to have the peaches showing. Place a handful of streusel on top and pat it down with your hand. Bake for 16-20 minutes until the streusel is starting to brown and then cool on a rack completely.

Small Recipe of Streusel

6 tablespoons of butter
1 cup AP flour
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of bourbon

Melt butter in a sauce pan and let cool to room temperature. Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt together, add in the cooled butter and bourbon, stir with a fork until blended. When it starts to form crumbs, squeeze it with your hands to form larger lumps and then break them apart. Let sit for 10 -15 minutes before using.

Adapted from Zach’s Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins with Streusel Topping by Carole Walter in Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More

I think I went a little overboard

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:15:00 +0000

My Fruit Market that I go to was having a sale on peaches and plums and so I thought I would stock up. That I could bake a lot with them. Well as they were only 10 cents a piece I went a little overboard. I bought 20 each. So now I am strapped as to what to do with them. So please help another food blogger out. With out Tastespotting I am a little stuck. I had all of these ideas that have some how started to fizzle or I didn't need as much fruit as I thought. So if you have any ideas please let me know. I have started to go through my cookbooks but if you know a good recipe let me know.

On a side note. I want to know what 5 things you keep in your house for cooking that you can't live with out. I was looking in my fridge today and realized I always have heavy cream, butter milk, and pounds of butter. And that most people probably don't always have those. So my 5 things would be heavy cream, buttermilk, butter, vanilla bean paste, and kosher salt.

Better than Girl Scout Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:28:00 +0000

P and I were going to go to a friends house and I wanted to bring something sweet. I had already done another take on a girl scout cookie so why not do another. I am not a fan of chocolate and mint myself, so P was my taste tester. I know its a travesty, but its true the flavors are just too strong of flavor profiles for me when they are together. But these came out really really well. They only made about 18 sandwiches though and there was a lot of filling left over. So I would probably double the cookie recipe part next time. They went over pretty well at the party and I would make them again but in this weather I think they are best stored in the fridge.

Chocolate Mint Cookies
Cookies -
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of AP Flour
1/2 cup of unsalted butter - room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg
Filling -
1/4 cup of heavy cream
6 oz semi sweet chocolate - finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Glaze -
6 oz semi sweet chocolate - finely chopped

Whisk the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in the egg and mix until combined. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the flour mixture until it is just combined. Divide the dough in half and shape into 2 disks, wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly dust a work surface with powdered sugar and roll out the dough to 1/8 of an inch thick. Using a 2 inch cookie cutter cut out rounds and place on a parchment lined baking sheet 1/2 an inch apart. Repeat with the leftover dough. Bake until the cookies are firm, 10-12 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.
To make the filling -
In a small saucepan over medium heat bring the cream to boil and add in the chocolate and turn off the heat. Stir until the chocolate is smooth and then add in the extract and stir. Let it cool until slightly thickened, 10-15 minutes.
To make the glaze -
Over a double boiler melt the chocolate and then let it cool slightly.

Assembly -
Take a cookie and place 1 teaspoon of filling on it and place another cookie on top of it and press down to spread out slightly. Repeat with the remaining cookies and then place the sandwiches in the fridge until firm about 10 minutes. After they are firm dip them in the warm glaze and place on wire racks let the excess drip off. Then transfer to the fridge so that the glaze can firm up.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Chocolate Mint Sandwiches.

Blackberry Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:08:00 +0000

I had a bunch of blackberries to use up and since I had recently made a list of culinary items I wanted to conquer and a custard based ice cream is one of them. I decided I should give ice cream a shot. When I saw this recipe on food gawker I knew it was fate. So I have to admit this is pretty good and I didn't need to be afraid of the custard. So I think I will be trying to make more ice cream in the near future. It was really creamy and melted on your tongue in a nice clean finish. The blackberry flavor is subtle and brings a nice sweetness to the ice cream. I have David's book and I have been too afraid to try anything but I think I will add more ice cream recipes to my repertoire very soon.

Blackberry Ice Cream

1 ½ cups half and half
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1 2/3 cups strained blackberry puree (from about 4 cups whole blackberries) – See note
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

In a medium size saucepan heat the half and half and sugar until the sugar granules have disappeared. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top of it. In another bowl whisk together the egg yolks. Pour some of the warm half and half mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Add in the rest of the half and half mixture and whisk to combine. Pour this back into the saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Pour the mixture through the strainer into the cream and mix to combine. Add in the blackberry puree and the lemon juice and stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill in the fridge for 2-4 hours and then churn as directed by your ice cream machine.

Note - to make the puree I blended 4 cups of blackberries and then pushed them through a strainer to remove the seeds.

Adapted from Raspberry Ice Cream by David Lebovitz in The Perfect Scoop.

I entered this in You Scream , I Scream , We all Scream for Frozen Desserts.

Frangelico Chocolate Bread Pudding Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:54:00 +0000

P loves bread pudding. He classifies his ideal desserts as dense, warm, and creamy so bread pudding definitely fits that bill. If there is bread pudding on the menu at a restaurant that is what we are getting for dessert. Don't get me wrong I like it too and we have had a lot of really good bread pudding but never a chocolate bread pudding. So as the theme of my life lately has been that really good blogs and sites have been closing this is from one my favorite blogs and if you have a chance look through the archives. They are really good and inspirational. This bread pudding is portion controlled which is great and with a dollop of whipped cream these are really delicious. The Frangelico is subtle and nice back ground note. P agrees that is meets all of his dessert requirements so give these Bread Pudding Cupcakes a go.

Frangelico Chocolate Bread Pudding Cupcakes

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 1lb loaf of challah bread
10 ounces of Semi Sweet chocolate, chopped - I used Scharffenberger
8 large egg yolk
3/4 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of Frangelico

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, whisk together the cream, half and half, vanilla and cocoa powder. Bring this to a boil while continually stirring. Once it has come to a boil remove it from the heat and cover the mixture with plastic wrap with the wrap touching the top of the cream mixture.* Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Chop the bread into 1/2 inch cubes and place in a large bowl and set aside. Remove the plastic wrap from the cream mixture and bring it back to a boil, once it has come back to a boil, stir in the chopped chocolate. Remove it from the heat again and continue to stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Add in the Frangelico and stir to combine. In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, slowly add in the warm chocolate mixture, whisk constantly until combined. Pour the mixture over the bread, stirring to cover all of the cubes. Cover the bread and chocolate with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 so that the bread can soak up the chocolate. Once the 15 minutes is up fill each muffin cup with bread cubes until they are level with the top of the cup. Pour the remaining chocolate mixture into the muffin cups until they are nearly full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pudding no longer jiggles and a cake tester comes out with custard pieces attached. Let cool on racks in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pan and cool on the rack. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Then you can reheat in the microwave for 20 seconds or oven for a few minutes.

* I waited a few minutes before I put the plastic wrap on it the cream I was afraid the wrap might melt.

Orange Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:49:00 +0000

After my heart breaking moment of losing Tastespotting I am back and ready to blog. I found a new version of Tastespotting called Food Gawker thanks to HoneyB. And the format looks very similar, although I still miss my Tastespotting I hope that Food Gawker can fill the void. So I am making a few recipes today so that I can do my part to help fill the void. I am still trying out combinations and ideas for the twin's birthday party. So here is another trial and I'm sure everyone is tired of me making cupcakes but I promise once I have the menu for the party nailed down I'll stop with the cupcakes for a while. But these just screamed summer to me. According to P these are pretty good and the frosting has a nice strawberry flavor. I can tell you that the cake is really nice but alas I am allergic to strawberries so you will just have to take P's word on the frosting. The cake is nice and light and the orange flavor has a nice bite to it. Its really light and refreshing and the strawberry flavor on the cream cheese frosting compliments it really well. If you have a summer BBQ to go to I think these would be great! I also entered these in the Strawberry Moon Festival. Head on over to check out what everyone did.

Orange Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients -
3 1/4 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of sugar
Zest of 2 Oranges
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups of heavy cream

Frosting Ingredients -
12 oz of cream cheese, softened
4 oz of unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of Strawberry Sauce - See below for instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter until creamy. Slowly add in the sugar and mix at high speed until light. Reduce the speed to low and add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to mix well after each addition and scrape down the sides as needed. Add in the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add in the flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with the heavy cream. With the last addition of the flour mix until it is just incorporated. Fill each liner about 3/4 of the way. Bake for 14-17 minutes or until the cakes have puffed up and they are lightly golden. Cool on a rack in the pans for 10 minutes then remove from the pans and let completely cool on the racks.

For the Strawberry Sauce

14 oz of Fresh Strawberries, quartered
Juice of one Orange

Put the strawberries and orange juice in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat. Smash the fruit with a wooden spoon that you don't care about staining. Cook until the fruit has released most of its juice. Pour the strawberries into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a sieve and work the mixture through the sieve until only the seeds and pulp remain. You might have to scrape the bottom of the sieve so that you can push more through as towards the end its gets thicker. I pour my strained mixture into a squeeze bottle but a pitcher or measuring cup will do just fine.

For the frosting -
Cream together the cream cheese and the butter until they are light and fluffy. Then add in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Sift in the powdered sugar in 3 additions making sure to mix well after each addition. Add in about 1/2 cup of strawberry sauce and mix to combine. Set this aside to chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Then place about a tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake smooth a nice layer all over the cake.

Cupcakes are adapted from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, Basic Golden Cake.
Frosting is adapted from Carole Bloom's The Essential Baker, Cream Cheese Frosting.

It's a Sad Day

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:26:00 +0000

I was off of work on Friday to spend the day with P. And I get online this morning and low and behold Tastespotting is closed due to legal issues. I am honestly in shock. I would visit that site multiple times a day and would challenge myself to make something Tastespotting worthy. It is one of the sites that pushed me to get better and to learn from other bloggers. It is a sad day that this site is gone. I would be so happy when ever my post made it on tastespotting it was like getting an A on a paper in school. I had some recipes planned for this weekend and hopefully some one will step up to the plate and start a new site because I don't know where else I will post my dishes.

Tastespotting Please Come Back!

Easy as Crostada

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:23:00 +0000

Simple fruit desserts are some of my favorite summer desserts. Crostada's definitely fit that bill. Now I'm not so good at pie making especially double crust pies but I can make a mean crostada. Most people have a go to pie crust that they like to use. Use what ever pie crust recipe you have luck with. I normally try out a new pie recipe each time I have yet to find one that really works for me. I had fruit to use up that I had bought for my breakfast last Friday so while trying to figure out if I should make a tart or crumble or crisp. I remembered I had not made a crostada yet this summer. If you have never made a crostada please give it a shot, it travels well and it is really good at room temperature. Not to mention tastes great. I like to add a cream cheese layer into some of my crostada but if that isn't your thing. Just add a few tablespoons of flour to your fruit so it will create some thicker syrup.
Crostada

1 recipe of your favorite pie crust
2 red plums, sliced 1/4 of an inch thick
2 nectarines, sliced 1/4 of an inch thick
1 cup of blackberries
4 oz of cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons of orange blossom honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Roll your pie crust out and place on the parchment paper. In a bowl combine the cream cheese and honey and mix until combined. In a bowl combine the plums, nectarines and blackberries, if the fruit is really ripe just mix to combine. If the fruit isn't totally ripe sprinkle in a little sugar into the fruit and let it macerate a little. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the pie crust leaving at least a 2 inch border all the way around. Pile the fruit on top of the cream cheese mixture and move the pieces around until they are evenly distributed. Fold up all of the edges of the crust so that you make a crease every 3-4 inches to keep all of the juices in. Bake for 20-25 minute or until the crust is lightly golden.

Fake out Trifle

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:21:00 +0000

I said I would use up the rest of the brownie pieces in something and here it is. P loves trifles, I mean LOVES them. Now he didn't even know what a trifle was until he met me but now that he does he can't get enough. So these are Fake out trifles because I use a fake out mousse. This can dessert can be thrown together in minutes and stored in the fridge for a few days. This is my go to dessert in the summer because its easy and looks beautiful with minimal effort. Follow any one of the variations listed below for a more refreshing summer dessert. But the chocolate and strawberry combination is fantastic and the chocolate chips give it a nice texture.

Fake out Trifles

Left over Brownie Pieces from Never look back Brownies
1 box of Instant Jello Pudding, Chocolate Fudge flavor
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
2 teaspoons of powdered sugar
20-25 strawberries sliced lengthwise

Prepare the Jello according to the package directions. And set aside to thicken.
Pour the heavy cream into the bowl of mixer and whip on medium speed until it start to thicken slightly and then sprinkle in the powdered sugar. Turn the mixer to high and whip until you have stiff peaks. Add 1/3 of the whipped cream into the pudding and stir to combine to lighten the texture of the pudding. Once that is combined add in the rest of the whipped cream and fold to combine. Once you have folded in all of the whipped cream, set it aside.

To Assemble
In the bottom of you dish cover the bottom with the brownie pieces, then layer on the faux mousse, then layer on the strawberries. Repeat until the dish is full and try to have either the mousse as the top or the strawberries.

I do this in many variations but the same basic idea. I do one with angel food cake, and lemon pudding and raspberries and blackberries. And one with and orange pound cake, cheesecake pudding and strawberries.

Presentation is Half the Battle

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:13:00 +0000

My sister just graduated from college so we had her graduation party yesterday and I was tapped to make the sweets table. So I was trying to think of a few bite size desserts to serve. I knew I was going to make my Top Secret Bundt cake and my sister requested Sugar Spice Coins as they are one of her favorites. But that meant no chocolate and I don't think you can have a sweets table with out chocolate. So I love these brownies and honestly once you make these you will never try another. They are moist, buttery, chocolaty, and almost like a flour less chocolate cake. So I figured I would make bite size brownies. Who doesn't like a bite size dessert, its less guilt and tastes just as good as a full size dessert. Don't worry I didn't waste the rest of the brownies left over after making all of my cut outs. Stay tuned to see what that turns into.

Never Look Back Brownies

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
7 large eggs
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 . Spray a 12 x17 jelly roll pan with non stick baking spray.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Place on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool use a 1 inch biscuit cutter or cookie cutter to cut out brownie rounds and serve.

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook's Outrageous Brownies.

Blackberry Jam Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:45:00 +0000

At my work we have a breakfast club. So that every Friday some one brings in breakfast. It's not mandatory but a lot of people do participate. So because so many people participate you only have to make breakfast 3 or 4 times a year. So I use this time to test out new recipes and it gives me an excuse to not serve the same thing twice. So I had made this cake before but before I started my blog so I figured why not make it so that I can post it. I really like this cake its slightly spicy and has a hint of blackberry flavor. It's always a crowd pleaser and it transports very well. Not to toot my own horn but my breakfast day is highly regarded as the best breakfast day and everyone looks forward to it. So I must impress. And this cake does the trick.

Blackberry Jam Cake

1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3 cups of cake flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup of sour cream
1 cup of blackberry preserves (do not use jelly)

1/2 cup of blackberry preserves
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 12 cup bundt cake pan with non stick baking spray. In a bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time and scrape down the bowl after each egg. Add in the vanilla and beat until combined. Add a 1/3 of the flour into the butter mixture alternating with1/2 the sour cream beating after each addition. Fold in the blackberry preserves. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 300 for 15 minutes then increase the heat to 350 and bake for 40-50. Or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn it out onto rack to cool completely.

Once cooled heat the 1/2 cup of blackberry preserves in a small sauce pan until melted and then remove from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar. Do this to the consistency that you desire so you can use more or less of either ingredient.

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:45:00 +0000

While trying to figure out what else to make for breakfast I found this recipe and it sounded great. Now I have a system for my breakfast choices. I think its the Math Minor coming out in me or just the over organizer take your pick. I always make my mom's breakfast casserole ( I would have posted that too but I was running late today), 2 breads or cakes of some sort, fruit and Mock Bellini's and Mimosa. We aren't allowed to drink at work, so I use sparkling white grape juice instead of champagne. I bring champagne flutes and everything. So I have 3 of the items I bring pretty nailed down, so that makes it fun to bring new bread and cakes each time. Then I'm not totally over whelmed on Thursday night. But this cake was fantastic, it was really moist and the coconut texture was great. It was a nice change of pace and considering its almost gone I think it went over well too.

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

2 cups of AP Flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup of sour cream
3 tablespoons of rum
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of flaked sweetened coconut
3 tablespoons of flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with non stick cooking spray. Combine the flour, baking soda,salt, and 1/2 cup of coconut and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until well blended. Add eggs in one at a time beating well after each addition. Add in the banana, sour cream, rum and vanilla and beat until blended. Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour mixture slowly and beat until it is just moist. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the 3 tablespoons of coconut. Bake for 45-50 or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan and let cool on the rack. Combine the powdered sugar and the lime juice and drizzle it over the warm bread and let it cool completely.

Pink is for Princesses

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:18:00 +0000

From my previous post you know that I am testing out cupcakes for my niece's birthday. So here is another. Isn't it so cute! So raspberry flavored cupcakes were next on my list of things to accomplish and boy were they good. I mean I only ate 1, ok 2, fine I ate 3 of them alright! They were out of this world good. The cream cheese raspberry frosting was so good I could probably have just eaten that by itself. Now I'm not a big pink fan but if pink food tastes like this I'll try it more often. P's and his sister liked the cakes very much and the girls had a little taste and were ok with it so I think this one is a definite go for their party. They are really darling and the raspberry on top sets them apart a little from the rest of the cakes. Maybe I should go into the cupcake business after this party.

Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients -
3 1/4 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups of heavy cream
1/2 cup of Raspberry Sauce - see directions below

Frosting Ingredients -
12 oz of cream cheese, softened
4 oz of unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
Raspberry Sauce to Color and Taste - I know so precise!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter until creamy. Slowly add in the sugar and mix at high speed until light. Reduce the speed to low and add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to mix well after each addition and scrape down the sides as needed. Add in the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add in the flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with the heavy cream. With the last addition of the flour mix until it is just incorporated. Fill each liner about 3/4 of the way full drizzle about a teaspoon of raspberry sauce and swirl it into the cake with a knife. Bake for 14-17 minutes or until the cakes have puffed up and they are lightly golden. Cool on a rack in the pans for 10 minutes then remove from the pans and let completely cool on the racks.

For the Raspberry Sauce

1 bag of frozen raspberries - at least 14 oz.

Pour the whole bag of raspberries in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat. Smash the fruit with a wooden spoon that you don't care about staining. Cook until the fruit has released most of its juice. Pour the mixture into a sieve and work the mixture through the sieve until only the seeds and pulp remain. You might have to scrape the bottom of the sieve so that you can push more through as towards the end its gets thicker. I pour my strained mixture into a squeeze bottle but a pitcher or measuring cup will do just fine.

For the frosting -
Cream together the cream cheese and the butter until they are light and fluffy. Then add in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Sift in the powdered sugar in 3 additions making sure to mix well after each addition. Set this aside to chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Once chilled mix in some raspberry sauce until the frosting is pink and has enough raspberry taste for your liking. I did about half of the frosting as I was testing to see if this combination would work and I probably used 1/4 of a cup of raspberry sauce for that. Then place about a tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake smooth a nice layer all over the cake. Top with a fresh raspberry.

Cupcakes are adapted from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, Basic Golden Cake.
Frosting is adapted from Carole Bloom's The Essential Baker, Cream Cheese Frosting.

Birthday Prep

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:23:00 +0000

It is my niece's first birthday coming up and I was asked to make the cupcakes. So far I have tried out the Mint Chocolate cupcakes, so I'm moving on to the Lime ones. With the chocolate being so heavy the other 2 kinds of cupcake will be lighter and more refreshing than the dense chocolate cake. So Lime was the first choice for the lighter cupcakes. So I looked through atleast 5 cookbooks to find a basic white cake recipe that I liked and finally found one. Then I had to look through the same books for a cream cheese frosting recipe I liked as well. Once I had those nailed down I just had to figure out how much lime was going to be enough. That was the tricky part, I didn't want it to be over powering but I wanted it to taste like lime. The cakes turned out great, nice and light texture. I can't wait for the party when I get to try out my creations on a crowd. This will be the largest amount of people to eat my baked goods at once so you could say I'm a little excited and nervous.

Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients -
3 1/4 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 limes, zested
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups of heavy cream

Frosting Ingredients -
12 oz of cream cheese, softened
4 oz of unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter until creamy then add in the lime zest. Slowly add in the sugar and mix at high speed until light. Reduce the speed to low and add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to mix well after each addition and scrape down the sides as needed. Add in the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add in the flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with the heavy cream. With the last addition of the flour mix until it is just incorporated. Fill each liner about 3/4 of the way full and bake for 14-17 minutes or until the cakes have puffed up and they are lightly golden. Cool on a rack in the pans for 10 minutes then remove from the pans and let completely cool on the racks.

For the frosting -
Cream together the cream cheese and the butter until they are light and fluffy. Then add in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Sift in the powdered sugar in 3 additions making sure to mix well after each addition. Set this aside to chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Then place about a tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake smooth a nice layer all over the cake.

Cupcakes are adapted from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, Basic Golden Cake.
Frosting is adapted from Carole Bloom's The Essential Baker, Cream Cheese Frosting.