bake shop

banana bread: re-visited

2012-02-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

One of the dreamiest smells in the world is banana bread—baking in the oven. Another joy in life is eating this warm, aromatic bread right out of the oven. I've tried a lot of banana bread recipes over the years, and whenever I try a new one, in the back of my mind, I think about re-visiting this one. I remember how crispy the edges were, and how dense and moist the center was. I tried this again without any nuts, and used two ripe bananas from the counter, and ripe bananas from the freezer. (Remember how we learned from this Ultimate Banana Bread recipe that when you thaw them out, you get some awesome juices that add a lot of flavor?) So, the results are: I seriously LOVE this bread. The texture is seriously perfect. Even the next day, when most banana breads get sort of slimy on the edges, this still has crispiness, but still so... you know... moist on the inside. Also, I mentioned this before, but toasting day old banana bread before eating it is incredible.

Here is the recipe again:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas (two of them frozen and thawed)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Note: The top of my bread was getting too brown, so I placed a piece of foil on top after about 45-50 minutes.

chocolate peanut butter bars

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

I saw the recipe for Peanut Butter Mud Bars on one of my favorite food blogs, Bake or Break, and I couldn't get the idea of eating these out of my head. Sometimes these things happen, and when I'm in the throws of a craving like this, I cannot be stopped. Even if I am missing some of the starring ingredients. I'm on a mission, and I need chocolate peanut butter bars, post haste. So, I just go for it, swapping and substituting till I try my new concoction, with fingers crossed. Sometimes things turn out great, like my cherished Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cake (if you haven't made this yet, seriously just go and do it now—it's insane), and sometimes things do not turn out in my favor. Which is obviously not documented, and I try to erase The Mistake from my memory. This experiment turned out pretty good, not as epic as Pumpkin Bread Pudding, but I kept going back for seconds, so that's a pretty good sign, wouldn't you say?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars (heavily adapted from Peanut Butter Mud Bars via Bake or Break—recipe originally from The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa (I might even try more next time)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (might try more of these, as well)

Frosting:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbs. sifted powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and lightly flour a 9″x 13″ baking pan.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add peanut butter and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla.

Gradually add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.

While base is baking, combine the chocolate chips, peanut buter and powdered sugar in a small saucepan and cook on low until melted and evenly incorporated. Turn off heat once melted, but keep mixture on stove (the heat from the oven will keep the mixture warm).

Remove from oven, let cool for 20-30 minutes, then top with frosting. Let cool at least 30 minutes before eating.

sourdough bread: guest post by 2.0

2012-01-24T13:26:00.000-08:00

I've discusses my sister-in-law quite a bit, and she's pretty much the best sister-in-law of all time. Sorry everybody else, my sisters' and I won the jackpot in the "Who Is My Only Brother Going To Marry, Please Just Let Me At Least Like Her A Little Bit Jackpot". She's one of my best friends, and she's totally down for food like the rest of us. It's so fun to share with her our favorites, and trying some of her family favorites as well. Remember the Oatmeal Cake? I do, because it's the dreamiest (...aaaand now I'm craving it, this is trouble...). Anyway, I've spoken to my sisters about each of them doing a guest post for me, since they've all got mad skills(z) and so many great recipes to share. When I was visiting in November, 2.0 made this sourdough bread that she's spent a while perfecting. It is NO JOKE. Sooooo good. I asked her to share it with us, but she said she had a few more tweaks to make, so she recently fulfilled her promise to me, and below is her post to share with us. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce Caroline 2.0...

I would look so different if I didn't love bread as much as I do. There is something almost spiritual for me in eating the perfect artisan bread, the chewy crumb, the contrast between the crust and the melty insides, the way your jaw tells you about it if you eat too much. I'm talking about bread that has the gal and personality to make it's own shape and not rely on a bread pan to keep it corralled. I grew up right up the street from a little market that had incredible, made that day, Italian and French breads that were central to most of my meals. I also had a Father who was the proud bread-maker of our family. He loved the feeling of his hands in the dough and it was common to find crusty little remnants on his wrists or under his nails. Okay, I'll stop it with all my bread pedigree, all you need to know is that this recipe comes to you from someone who really truly loves bread and it's taken me lots of tries to get it to this wonderful place. Also note that you might need to mess with this recipe a little. I've found that often a bread recipe needs to adjusted because of humidity, flour you're using, your particular oven, the yeast you have etc. There are a lot of variable factors, so try this then make whatever tweaks are necessary to make it magical for you.

Caroline (2.0)'s Sourdough Bread:

Ingredients:

Dutch Oven or something you can put in the oven with a heavy lid on it. This is what I use, but if you have another version that's fine too - you need to trap the moisture in with the bread. Also, you need to replace the plastic lid handle with a metal one - I got one at home depot- it was pretty easy - if need be, just take the handle out and be really careful with the lid.

2 cups water (warm to 110)

2 tsp yeast (no rapid rise, and don't use more, less would be better)

1 cup sourdough start (I used a heaping cup, this can vary a little too)

2 TBS sugar

1 heaping TBS salt

6 cups flour (this one will vary for sure - it's a feel thing, but around 6)

(2.0's sourdough start—do not throw away)

1. Put the water into a large bowl with the yeast. Let the yeast dissolve, about 3-5 minutes and add to this your sourdough start, sugar and salt - stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve.

2. Add flour only a cup at a time - I insist on this - it's the only way to get to the right texture, if you add to much and try to put water in it's a mess. Just go one cup at at time, stirring with spoon, until it's not possible to stir with a spoon and then take off your rings and get your hands in there. Keep adding flour a cup at at time until the dough is starting to come together in one lump. You will need to do some kneading, and as you knead your bread will get wetter. Of course you'll need to add more flour as you knead in small amounts so you can handle the dough, but don't add to much. Put flour on your hands and although many say to knead on a floured surface, I think it's okay to knead in the bowl, then you pick up all your scraps. Just make sure your dough is still a little wet, so it's sticky but not completely stuck to you as you knead. You should knead about 8-10 minutes until it's smooth and elastic with a little sticky to the touch.

3. I usually pull my ball of bread dough out, put it on plastic wrap and scrape around my big bowl with a spatula getting the flotsom and jetsom out then I spray that same bowl, plop my dough back in and turn it around once so it has some oil on top. Make sure to cover the top with plastic wrap.

4. Let this rise overnight or 6-8 hours then pat it down, and give it a good knead - like 5 minutes of just working out the air and getting it back into a smaller ball - you might need to put it on a floured surface for this part - and coat your hands with flour to make it manageable.
5. Spray your bowl again, put the dough back in, flip it and put plastic on top again. Let this one rise a good 4 hours or so until it's doubled in size. The two rises are what give this bread such a nice sourdough flavor. While this is rising spray down your dutch over with lid - it's the only way to make this bread work.
6. When your bread dough has doubled, push it down and knead it out a little, not as much as before and shape it into two loaves. You can do this in one big loaf but I find two a lot more manageable. The way I put these in my dutch oven is by separating them down the middle with aluminum foil - which I also spray. You can put down a little cornmeal on bottom if you wish. Put these two oval loaves into your dutch oven.
7. Put plastic over the top of the dutch oven and let the bread rise about 2 hours or less - until the loaves look nice and raised. Pre-heat oven to 450 during this time.

8. Take off the plastic, put on the lid and put your bread in the oven for about 40 minutes.

9. After 40 minutes take off the lid- your bread should be starting to get light brown and look shiny. Keep the lid off - reduce heat to 375 and bake another 10 + minutes until it's nice and brown and when you check the center by checking halfway down the foil it doesn't look doughy - it needs to give you a little push back when you press in that center area between the two loaves.
10. Immediately take bread out of dutch oven and cool on wire racks.

vacation: re-visited

2012-01-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

It's time for my obligatory Christmas vacation trip re-cap. Of course, the food was incredible, and amazing and was one of the main focuses of my trip. I'm going to post all the photos and names below. If you guys want any of the recipes that aren't linked, let me know which ones, and I'll try to coax them from my Mom. The only one I know for sure that she won't give up is the Special Christmas Torte She Holds Sacred So Don't Even Ask. (All the photos taken by my phone, mostly with Instagram.)

Whole Wheat Waffles with fruit and yogurt and a sauce from the Clinton Street Baking Company cookbook (which I covet greatly - remember how I ate there in New York?).

Citrus Wassail (recipe here)

My adorable Mom writes out a menu for the time that I'm home.

Winter Fruit Salad with Pomegranates (recipe here)

Butterhorn Dinner Rolls (recipe here)

Roasted Beets

Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Compote

Special Christmas Torte She Holds Sacred So Don't Even Ask

The best Eggs Benedict In The World, made by my Mom.

Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Spinach, adapted from this recipe

Prosciutto wrapped Water Chestnuts

Chocolate Dipped Salted Caramels with Fluer De Sel, adapted from this recipe

Apple Pan Dore. Recipe adapted from Mama's Cafe

Fancy Hot Chocolate. (You whip cream with cocoa and chocolate syrup then put in in warm milk then drink it!)

One of my favorite things to eat of all time. Croque Madame from Cafe De La Presse in San Francisco.

Chocolate Malted Crunch Ice Cream from Thrifty's. (My favorite!)

Blackberry Cobbler, made by 2.0. Recipe from Joy of Cooking.

Blackberry Crisp

2012-01-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

I made a New Year's resolution, which I never do, cause I just don't like setting myself up for failure. But, I have been thinking about doing this for a while, and I don't think it will be too crazy, so... New Year's Resolution 2012: try one new recipe a week. It could be any kind of recipe, dessert, snack, dinner, beverage, anything really. Since I sometimes (usually) get stuck in my Favorites Zone, I thought this would be a good exercise for me. (Probably the only exercise I'll get this year, let's be real.) Since blackberries were on sale at the store, I thought I'd make something new with them. When I was on vacation, 2.0 (remember my SIL) make a yummy Blackberry Crumble and I've been wanting to eat it every day since. I didn't have time to ask her for her recipe, so I looked up some options, and nothing totally worked for my time frame, so I used the base of one, with a modified topping from my Great Grandma's Apple Crisp recipe. So, I count this as new, and very, very delicious.

Blackberry Cobbler

Base:
4 cups fresh blackberries (about 18 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:
Grease an 8x8 pan; preheat oven to 375. Stir blackberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 1/2 tablespoons flour, and the lemon juice in a bowl; set aside. Combine the ingredients for the topping well and pour on top of the blackberry mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden on top, and the blackberry juice is bubbling.

pumpkin eggnog ice cream

2011-12-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

(grainy photo from my phone)

Recently a friend sent me a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Shakes, which sounded amazing, but I had unfortunately just ran out of leftover Pumpkin Pie. It inspired me to come up another seasonal concoction, Pumpkin Eggnog Ice cream. I looked up some recipes, but so many ice cream recipes involved cooking things then tempering them, and I was (am) lazy, so wanted an easy and fast way to my Pumpkiny-Eggnog filled dreams. I remembered that when I made the ice cream for the Roasted Cherry Coconut Ice Cream sandwiches, I didn't have to do any of that. So I based some of the recipe on that. I sort of just threw a bunch of stuff together, and I must say, the result is pretty great. Don't you love when mad kitchen science works out?

PS: This would also make a nice Christmas gift, and/or a great treat to bring to a Holiday Party.

Pumpkin Eggnog Ice Cream

16 oz. Eggnog
1 cup heavy cream
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 can Spided Pumpkin
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

Whisk together the ice cream ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure the sweetened condensed milk has been thoroughly mixed into the cream.

Put the ice cream mix in your ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions. Freeze. EAT.

apple butter

2011-12-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

Remember my influx of apples? Well, this is part two of Apple Fest, 2011. I've talked about apple butter before, and it's delightful. This apple butter turned out different than the last batch. I may have cooked it too long, but this stuff is much thicker. I was nervous about that, but then I tried it. It is almost like bread candy. Cinnamon apple bread candy. Yep, I just blew your mind. Now go blow someone else's mind. (Also! This makes a wonderful Christmas gift.)

Ingredients:
5 1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on high 1 hour.
Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness. Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

(I found the recipe found here)

**PS- if anyone has any diabetes or celiac friendly recipes or sites they can recommend, can you send them my way?

apple coffee cake with crumble topping and brown sugar glaze

2011-12-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

(photo from my instagram)

Recently, I had an influx of apples, thanks to an awesome neighbor, and I was looking for yummy ways to use them up. I was talking to my sister-in-law (2.0) and she suggested a cake that my oldest sis likes to make. So, like the homegirl she is, she emailed me this recipe so I could try it. Well, I sure am glad I did. It's definitely not low in sugar, but it's high in awesome. It's a great holiday party cake, so bring this with your ugly Christmas sweater to your next party!

Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping and Brown Sugar Glaze

Cake:
1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples

Crumble Topping:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Brown Sugar Glaze:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.

In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.

To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly.

2011-12-08T13:27:00.001-08:00

I'm in love with these vase mills. I saw them originally on one of my favorite blogs, Design Milk. I have a thing for salt and pepper mills. Maybe, when I have a bigger place, I can start a super sweet collection—and these will definitely make the cut, that's for sure.

ultimate banana bread

2011-11-27T11:11:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to make this bread for a while. I love America's Test Kitchen more than most things. Baking Illustrated is practically my cooking/baking Bible (in addition to my family recipe book). So, needless to say, I follow their blog and collect as many recipes as I can. (Maybe one day I'll beg and beg and beg and they'll let me work in their Test Kitchen?) This was entitled Ultimate Banana Bread and uses SIX, count them, SIX extra ripe bananas. And you use the juices from the bananas for extra flavor. It's full-on. Full-on delicious!

Ultimate Banana Bread

Makes one 9-inch loaf

Be sure to use very ripe, heavily speckled (or even black) bananas in this recipe. This recipe can be made using 5 thawed frozen bananas; since they release a lot of liquid naturally, they can bypass the microwaving in step 2 and go directly into the fine-mesh strainer. Do not use a thawed frozen banana in step 4; it will be too soft to slice. Instead, simply sprinkle the top of the loaf with sugar. The test kitchen’s preferred loaf pan measures 8½ by 4½ inches; if you use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness five minutes earlier than advised in the recipe. The texture is best when the loaf is eaten fresh, but it can be stored (cool completely first), covered tightly with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
6 large very ripe bananas (about 2¼ pounds), peeled (see note)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl.

2. Place 5 bananas in microwave-safe bowl; cover with plastic wrap and cut several steam vents in plastic with paring knife. Microwave on high power until bananas are soft and have released liquid, about 5 minutes. Transfer bananas to fine-mesh strainer placed over medium bowl and allow to drain, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes (you should have ½ to ¾ cup liquid).

3. Transfer liquid to medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to ¼ cup, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir reduced liquid into bananas, and mash with potato masher until fairly smooth. Whisk in butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.

4. Pour banana mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined with some streaks of flour remaining. Gently fold in walnuts, if using. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Slice remaining banana diagonally into ¼-inch-thick slices. Shingle banana slices on top of either side of loaf, leaving 1½-inch-wide space down center to ensure even rise. Sprinkle granulated sugar evenly over loaf.

5. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 55 to 75 minutes. Cool bread in pan on wire rack 15 minutes, then remove loaf from pan and continue to cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

family foods

2011-11-16T11:40:00.001-08:00

I was just in Southern California to see family for a last minute, much needed getaway. I really wanted to hang out with this girl (and the rest of my family, too).

I'm sure it goes without saying, that when I'm around my family, the food is always in delicious abundance. Here are a few things we ate/made.

My sister made homemade chicken noodle soup (homemade noodles, too!), and My sister-in-law made this amazing sourdough artisan bread, which she's been working on perfecting for a bit. I'd say she hit the mark. My goodness, it was fantastic! I will see if she'll do a guest post and give us all her secrets.

Sis-in-law, will heretofore be known as 2.0 (that's my nickname as her, seeing as how we have the exact same name, but she's more awesome than me, hence the v.2.0). Anywho, 2.0 made some awesome sourdough pancakes and put shredded apples in them. They were a delight.

Here is a photo of the start. I'll share the sourdough recipe at the end of the post. You're welcome. (You'll need a sourdough starter to make this)

And one of my favorites, and 2.0's as well, Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cake.

Now for the Sourdough Pancakes recipe:

1 egg

2 T. oil

¼ c. milk

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

2 T. sugar

Add 2 cups warm water and 2 ½ cup flour to 1 cup start. Mix together and let sit overnight. In morning, put one cup in with starter again, leaving you with 4 ½ cup batter. Add any fruit or other lil' nuggets you like to the pancakes. For shredded apples, you add it to the whole batter, if you add chocolate chips or blueberries, add them to freshly poured batter. Griddle or pan should be at medium heat, flip when doughy side bubbles. When pancakes are cooked as golden as you like, EAT THEM UP.

***For Sourdough Waffles, add 2 more tablespoons of oil.

Oatmeal Cake with Pears

2011-11-06T17:06:00.000-08:00

It's comfort food season, and pear season—which, in my opinion—go hand in hand. I had some pears that I wanted to use up and I was trying to think of the best way to do so. I remembered my sister-in-law's (and her mom's) famous and amazing Oatmeal Cake. They have always done it in a bundt pan, but I figured I'd try this cake with pears on the bottom, in a 9x13 pan. It was magical! Seriously, this is one of my favorite cakes ever. It has so many of my favorite elements, cinnamon, oatmeal, coconut, pecans, caramelized goodness, and now pears. Make this cake! Your everything will thank you!

Oatmeal Cake with Pears (slightly adapted from my sis-in-law's recipe)

1/2 c. butter

1 1/4 c. oatmeal

1 c. boiling water

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

4 Pears, peeled and sliced thin

Butter a 9X13 cake pan. Line bottom of the pan with prepared pears; set aside. In a bowl melt butter and combine with oatmeal, add boiling water, let sit for 20 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour batter over pears and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until golden and cake springs back at your touch.

Topping

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. coconut

1/3 c. butter

1 cup pecans (chopped well)

Heat the butter, sugar, and heavy cream until the mixture begins to bubble on the sides, making sure that the butter is completely melted (do not bring to a boil). Fold in pecans and coconut and pour over hot cake. Place under the broiler (lo broiler) for 1-3 minutes and watch carefully so that the coconut doesn’t burn. The topping should bubble and become somewhat caramelized. Put this in your face as soon as humanly possible.

some foods from my new york trip

2011-10-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Last week, I went to New York with a good friend of mine—then proceeded to eat my way through the city. Here are some photos from some of the gastronomic highlights.

On the way there, I sat next to a native New Yorker on the plane who said I had to go to Ferrara since it has so much history. It's been around since 1892. They are famous for their cannoli's and other Italian pastries. Above is a Lemon Meringue tart.

Part of a GIANT Lobster Tail pastry, also from Ferrara.

We went to Brooklyn to meet with some of our dear friends, Dallas and TJ, and they took us to a place I've been dying to go: Four & Twenty Blackbirds. They have incredible made-from-scratch pies. Clockwise from the top left 1) Maple Buttermilk, 2) Salted Honey, 3) Plum Crumble and 4) Salted Caramel Apple.

Here is the storefront.

Vanilla Buttermilk Waffle with an apple sauce and raspberry coulis with vanilla creme fraiche and some kind of amazing sauce that seemed caramely and super delish from Clinton Street Baking Company. My mom has their cookbook, and every recipe looks amazing. I would eat anything on their menu. Every day. All day. Anytime.

an "ah-ha moment"

2011-10-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

A few months back, a woman named Olivia contacted me on behalf of Mutual of Omaha’s “Aha Moment” campaign. Every summer, for the past few years, they take an Airstream trailer across the country and interview people about their "Ah-ha moments"—and they asked me to be a part of it this year. It's a pretty cool concept, and the first time I've gotten a non-spam email from a company through my blog—so I looked into it. As much as being on camera freaks me out (you'll notice my blushing), and feeling like a giant dork, I decided to do it. So, last month, I met the very nice team and hopped into their trailer and tried to make sense of why I have my blog and why I love baking so much. Here is a link to my video.

(And please don't think I'm as big of a dork as I think I am.)

Peach Cobbler

2011-09-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I discussed my love for peaches. They are The Fruit of The Gods. Why can't they just be in season all year? Then I could make Peach Cobbler anytime I want. This recipe is from the awesome cookbook The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. This recipe is super easy and so, so good.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
3 cups sliced fresh peaches, peels left on
1/2 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan set over medium-high heat until it bubbles and turns a nut-brown color. Watch the butter closely, as it can go from browned to burned in a few seconds. Pour the butter into an 8-inch-square baking dish. In a medium, stir together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and milk. Pour the milk mixture on top of the melted butter. Do not stir. Without mixing, arrange the peaches evenly on top of the batter. Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar over the cobbler.

Bake the cobbler for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top turns golden brown. The batter will migrate from the bottom of the pan to cover the peach slices. Serve warm or at room temperature.

blueberry peach crumb muffins

2011-09-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

When blueberries are on sale, I can't seem to help myself from buying as many as possible. So, due to my recent influx of those little blue bits of glory, I needed to find an awesome blueberry muffin recipe. I've made a lot before, but when I saw this recipe from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, I knew I had to try it. I'll be honest, he had me at "Crumb Topping". Also, I needed to add peaches, cause well, peaches are awesome. Do I really need another reason? Didn't think so. Without further ado, here is the recipe...

Blueberry Peach Crumb Muffins
(This says it makes 12 standard muffins, but I definitely had batter leftover. I bet it could make 18, with my muffin tins)

Crumb topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour (spoon flour into a dry-measure cup and level off)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Muffin batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into a dry-measure cup and level off)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 freshly grated nutmeg
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, barely softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 pint blueberries, rinsed, drained and picked over (I personally would use more than this next time)
1 peach peeled and diced

1. Preheat oven to 375°

2. For the crumb topping, combine the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Melt the butter in a small pan. Remove from the heat, then add the brown sugar to the pan of melted butter and use a small heatproof rubber spatula to stir them together. Scrape the butter and sugar mixture into the flour mixture, stirring it in until the flour es evenly moistened. Set aside while preparing the muffin batter.

3. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and stir well to mix.

4. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowls of an electric mixer fitter with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, or until well mixed and a little lightened in color. Beat eggs one at a time, beating smooth after each.

5. Decrease the mixer speed to low and beat in 1/2 the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl and beater.

6. On low speed, beat in the milk. After the batter has absorbed the milk, beat in the remaining flour mixture. Stop and scrape down the bowl and beater again.

7. Add the blueberries and peaches to the bowl and beat them into the batter on the lowest speed for no more than 2 to 3 seconds, to crush some of the berries slightly.

8. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to give a final mixing to the batter.

9. Divide the batter equally among the cavities in the muffin pan. Break the crumb topping into small crumbs with your fingertips and scatter over the top of each muffin. Bake the muffins until they are well risen, feel firm to the touch, and the topping is golden, about 30 minutes. Cool the muffins in the pan on a rack.

foods from my trip, part ii

2011-09-05T20:53:00.001-07:00

More deliciousness...

Fresh garden tomatoes. (Yellow is my favorite!)

Freshly juiced apple juice from homegrown apples in my parent's yard. (One of the best things I've ever had!)

Mint It's-It!! Yummy. The real San Francisco treat.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

foods from my trip home

2011-09-04T21:20:00.001-07:00

Mom's homemade Rhubarb Pie.

Lunch from Dottie's. Zucchini cakes with poached eggs grilled cornbread. Grilled cornbread is the best thing ever.

My favorite ice cream from childhood and just life in general: Chocolate Malted Crunch from Thrifty's.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.

whole wheat chocolate chip cookies

2011-08-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this recipe the other day and had to try it. I love chocolate chip cookies of all kinds, but I haven't seen a whole wheat recipe before. So, for you (and mostly for me) I decided to try it. And I'm glad I did. I adjusted it a bit from the recipe on Butteredup, I made my cookies smaller and just used semi-sweet chips (cause I'm lazy), but I was super happy with the result.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Seen on Butteredup adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce via Orangette

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoon sea salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to blend.

2. Put the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, and blend on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate, and mix on low speed until evenly combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then use your hands to turn and gently massage the dough, making sure all the flour is absorbed. Chill dough for at least 12 hours.

3. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Grease or line two baking sheets with parchment or silpats.

4. Scoop cookie dough onto cookie sheet. (I used a medium cookie scoop to get the size I wanted).

5. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until somewhat cracked and browned.

zucchini banana bread

2011-08-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

(sorry about the crappy phone photo)

Zucchini season is here! And there is a LOT of it. I had the pleasure of receiving some gigantor garden variety zuccs recently and had to find a load of zucchini recipes to use up the copious amounts of the veggie I now had in my possession. The first recipe is yummy, moist-deluxe Zucchini Bread, adapted from Southern Plate: Classic Comfort Food That Makes Everyone Feel Like Family. It's sooooo good, you must try it!

Zucchini (with banana and coconut - added by me) Bread.
makes 2 loaves

3 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 c. greek yogurt
2 t. vanilla extract
splash almond extract
2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup coconut
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease two 4 x 8-inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat the banana till soft. Combine with the eggs, oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla, almond extract, zucchini and coconut. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix all ingredients together.

Pour into the pans and bake for 1 hour, or until the centers are no longer soft.

PS: If you haven't tried Banana or Zucchini Bread toasted with butter, you are missing out, so go fix this mistake!

PPS: If you are trying to save your extra shredded zucchini for later, do not use a food saver, if you have one. I learned the hard way that you just need to measure it out into ziplocs and not try to be fancy and food-save it, unless you want green juice all over everything.

famous!

2011-08-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

My friend, Julia (remember her from all the great photos?) did a little interview with me. Go here to see it!

(photo by Julia Bender)

re-cap: made by tom dinner from june 2011

2011-08-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

(photo by julia bender)

My dear friend Julia shot photos and did a little write up of the Made by Tom dinner I helped out with in June. Take a peek!

banana oat squares

2011-08-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

I like sleep. Sleep is good. This love for sleep sometimes makes it hard for me to have a decent breakfast before I have to get out the door. Because of this constant conundrum, I'm always looking for a grab-and-go options. I can't remember how I came across this recipe, but it fits the bill. It's filling and pretty healthy. I added ground flax seed and toasted wheat germ and swapped the type of nuts, and I am pretty happy with the result. While I use these as a breakfast booster, these could be a substitute for granola bars or cookies. They have a soft and light texture, with a hint of hearty-ness. Check out the recipe below!

Banana Oat Squares, adapted from Sweet and Savory Tooth via Notecook

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 to 1 cup mashed bananas (3 bananas)

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ
2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and beat well. Add salt and mashed banana and mix until incorporated . Add oats and nuts. Stir. Spread in greased 8×8 inch pan. Bake for almost an hour until firm. Cool and cut into squares.

olive oil granola with dried apricots and pistachios

2011-07-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

(photo by Julia Bender)

Remember how I'm obsessed with granola? I see a new variation, and I can't help but try it. This was my latest discovery, and I sure do love it. I found this recipe from the New York Times, via thekitchn (have you noticed I like that blog? Cause I'm siting it in almost every post? Can I work for them, please?) It's so delicious. It's got a bit of a savory vibe, working with a little bit of sweet. It's like a sophisticated granola. The ingredients are a little on the expensive side, so in the future, I'd like to try swapping out different nuts and seeds to make a less expensive version. But try this at least once, you'll love it! I know I did. Lots.

Olive Oil Granola With Dried Apricots and Pistachios

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raw pistachios, hulled
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled
1 cup coconut chips
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
Fresh ricotta, for serving (optional)
Fresh berries, for serving (optional).

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oats,
pistachios, pumpkin seeds, coconut chips, maple syrup, olive oil,
brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Spread mixture on a rimmed
baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every
10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted.

2. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add apricots, tossing to
combine. Serve with ricotta and fruit, if desired.

Yield: About 9 cups.

ice cream sandwiches: roasted cherry coconut ice cream with gingersnap cookies

2011-07-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

(photo by Julia Bender)

As it turns out, I have pretty rad and talented friends. I know a lot of people say that, but allow me to brag for a moment. Julia is a gorgeous and talented photographer, not to mention fun roommate and travel companion and secret code talker. We lived together in SF for 4 years and became like sisters. This summer has been extra fun for me, cause she's been in town, and we've been recreating our old times of awesomeness. Including this little mini photoshoot of a practice round of ice cream sandwiches and some granola (this recipe is coming, just you wait). Isn't she awesome? Also, while in SF, we became good friends with Chef Tom Call. I talked about him before here. Well, the ice cream sandwiches I was testing and Julia was shooting were for this event. When I got my ice cream maker, all I could think about was ice cream sandwich combos. This was the first one I thought of. I liked the idea of cherry ice cream with gingersnaps. I felt like the combo of a chewy and slightly spicy cookie with the freshness of a summer fruit was pretty ideal for an outdoor summer meal. I did a lot of practice tests and research on possible recipe combinations. For the ice cream, I loved this recipe by Faith Durand; who's recipes are always so on point. She doesn't disappoint this time, either. I mean, c'mon, it's got COCONUT MILK in it. You know I'm down for some coconut. (I don't know how her ice cream stays white, I've made this recipe a few times now, and it always ends up pink with the juice from the cherries. Still tastes delish, though.)

Quick Coconut Ice Cream with Roasted Cherries
(makes 1 quart)

For roasted cherries:
1 pound Bing cherries
2 tablespoons sugar

For coconut ice cream:
One 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 cup cream
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the oven to 450°F. Toss the cherries with the sugar and spread them out in one layer on a large baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, stirring several times, and watching to make sure the sugar and juices don't burn. Remove from the oven and let cool. Pit the cherries and set them aside.

Whisk together the ice cream ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure the sweetened condensed milk has been thoroughly mixed into the cream.

Put the ice cream mix in your ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions. When the ice cream is the texture of soft-serve, scrape it out and fold in the roasted pitted cherries. Transfer to a bowl or container and cover the ice cream with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap is in full contact with the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for another 2 hours, or until firm.

Tip: Chill the separate ingredients (coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk) for an hour in the refrigerator before mixing everything together. This will help the mix be colder and therefore freeze faster when you put it in the ice cream maker.

****

For the cookies, I tried a few things, but I settled on an adaptation of this cookie from Martha Stewart (when in cookie doubt, go Stewart!). I really don't know what the deal with this recipe was, but I made it four different times, and I could never get them this fluffy, and mine were much darker than the picture. I wanted these to be really chewy, too, so I added ground oats and more flour. It also helped when the dough was refrigerated overnight and rolled into balls and put in the oven to bake when still cold. I wanted to make sure they were solid enough to hold ice cream without leaking, but not so thick that it overpowered the ice cream. I think with the few tweaks I noted, that it's a great cookie solution. Here is the original recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I ended up with 1 1/4 cup)

(I added 1/2 cup of ground oats)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch of baking powder
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar plus some for sprinkling (I didn't sprinkle any extra)
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons molasses

Directions:
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix on medium speed until the mixture holds together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, vanilla, and molasses. Mix on medium speed until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Place the dough on parchment paper and roll out into an 8-inch-long X 1 1/2-inch-wide log. Freeze until firm, up to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the log into 1/4-inch rounds, place on a baking sheet 1/2 inch apart, and sprinkle with sugar (I skipped this part, because I was filling these bad boys with ice cream - no extra sugar needed!) Bake until the cookies crack slightly on the surface, about 12 minutes (9 minutes was my magic number). Remove from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.