One of the best surprises about my first trip to London was that the Indian food there was beyond incredible. I thought I’d be traipsing around eating fish and chips for every meal but instead, I was downing fish curries, lentils, paneer and naan at every turn and hoarding samosas from Brick Lane in my bag…for later.

I had eaten Indian food before my trip, but I never really tasted it and appreciated it as I had in London. Something about the careful, extremely detail-oriented preparation there and the bold, bright flavors executed so delicately made me fall in love with the cuisine. Now it’s probably some of my favorite food to eat because of that experience.

I had the great opportunity to head back to London recently to celebrate the New Year and I was so excited to see what kind of Indian food I could try this time. The trip was an amazing whirlwind, and on our last day there, we still hadn’t indulged in any Indian food so after spending the day walking everywhere (our specialty!), we were tired and hungry, and were craving a good last meal in London, so we took the tube farther east than I’d ever been, to the Whitechapel stop, walked down the stairs, and stood on the street wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.

The neighborhood was quiet and a little bit creepy. It was dark but not too late, at around 9PM, and we figured that since we weren’t far from the restaurant, we’d keep going and see what it looked like before deciding whether or not we should go somewhere else.

As we walked up the street to the restaurant, we noticed immediately that it was buzzing wildly with activity and that the quiet streets were a stark contrast from the pandemoniom taking place within. We happily continued inside and, instead of putting our names on the “list,” as we do in NY, we waited on the first come-first served line that they had snaking throughout the restaurant, patiently waiting until we could score a table.

At some point while we were on line, it became clear that this restaurant was BYOB only, which posed a bit of a problem for us mid-twenties kids who neglected to keep any emergency booze on us for moments just like this. Scott decided to go out, find a corner store, and get some beer. Good man. Was I worried he wouldn’t come back? Nah!

When we finally sat down for dinner, we were served a wonderful meal. We started with charred tandoor paneer and vegetables and a healthy amount of pappadums and chutnies (so good) which were followed by the main event, where I enjoyed something new (to me), tarka dal.

Usually, when I’m feeling feisty, I’ll order malai kofta or something a little more exciting than a lentil dish when I’m out for Indian food, but something about tarka dal’s explanation on the menu as being characterized by “pure flavors” intrigued me. I had indulged a lot in the previous few days and pure flavors seemed like exactly what I needed. I was right.

The lentils were thick, soft, and falling apart among the tomatoes, green chilis and onions within the bowl. The dal was spicy, intensely flavored with turmeric and garlic, and had an incredible depth, which was shocking to me, as I stared into the yellow pool of lentils, which seemed so unassuming. I soaked up every ounce of the dal with roti and basmati rice, unable to grasp how good the dish was, vowing to try this again in NY as soon as possible.

So when I got home, I put “make tarka dal” on my bucket cooking list, and set out to try it as soon as I could. Surprisingly, finding a solid, consistent recipe was a little confusing. Many recipes used red lentils. Others used a combination of red lentils and yellow split peas. I consulted one of my good friends, whose family is gujarati, and she confirmed that yellow lentils were used for tarka dal.

This dal, which I adapted a bit to use what I could reasonably find at my grocery store, is almost exactly how I remember it from Tayyabs. It’s soupy with just the right amount of texture from the lentils, which fall apart a bit, and a perfect, earthy combination of spices with a little hit of chili in the background. I topped mine with caramelized onions and a hint of cilantro and served it over some brown basmati rice, and the whole dish felt full and utterly complete. It may not have been exactly like the dal I had in London (perhaps fresh ground spices and a little ghee would remedy that), but it was certainly a great reminder of that last meal we had there before we walked through quiet, sort-of-creepy Whitechapel, took the tube back to pack all of our things, and flew home to New York the next day.

One Year Ago: Tofu with Soba Noodles, Shiitake Mushrooms & Spinach

Tarka Dal

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 large yellow onion, half sliced lengthwise, half diced
1 medium tomato, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and minced
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspooon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup yellow split peas, rinsed and drained
2 cups water
kosher salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
chopped cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of oil over medium heat, add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt, and allow the onions to caramelize, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes, until they're very brown but not burnt. Once they're done, set them aside.

2. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onions and a pinch of salt, and cook for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic and jalapeno and saute for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant. Add the mustard seeds, turmeric and cumin, stirring to combine, and toasting for another minute.

3. Pour the lentils into the pot with the vegetables and cover with the two cups of water. Stir the pot well, bring the lentils to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook for about an hour, tasting after 45 minutes to test if the lentils are done. Stir occasionally while the lentils are cooking. If you notice that your lentils are too thick, add more water throughout the cooking process.

4. Once the lentils are cooked and the texture is to your liking, add salt and pepper to taste and serve with basmati rice and/or naan, and top with the caramelized onions and cilantro, if using.

Adapted slightly from Chakali

I love surprising, contrasting flavor combinations. Pour me a jalapeno-passion fruit martini, hot chocolate laced with chili powder, or a handful of chocolate covered pretzels any day and I will be quite pleased.  I love being surprised with each bite or sip and discovering new combinations that I never would’ve dreamed would work well together.

So, it’s not a surprise that the words “salted” and “caramel” in the same sentence generally cause me to jump with joy. (When they are mixed, also, with the word “chocolate,” I enter my red zone, a scary, yet delicious place that we’ll have to discuss another day.)

The most incredible salted caramel combination that I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying was the ice cream at Molly Moon’s  in Seattle last summer. That stuff was crazy. It was the most creamy, delicate, vibrant flavor of ice cream I’d ever had. The caramel and salt were balanced perfectly, toying almost hyperactictively with each other, and the flavors exploded, together, with each spoon full. I somehow managed to give Scott a taste without putting him into a head lock when he asked if he could try it. (I’m notoriously bad at sharing. Ask my mom.) I remember reaching the end of that cup of ice cream and wanting to turn back and go for seconds, but after a roasted onion sandwich at Paseo for lunch that day, and then the ice cream, there wasn’t room for much else.

It seems that the salted caramel combination is pretty popular these days, but I’ve found that it’s not always done properly. At its best, the combination is a welcome revelation, but the rest of the time, it sort of tastes like there might be maple syrup hiding beneath the surface or, worse, there is barely any detectable salt present. That’s a real shame.

When I acquired a bundt pan recently, thanks to a Williams Sonoma gift card from my grandparents (thanks!!) I wasn’t sure what to make in it first. Chocolate cake? Pumpkin? Sweet potato?!?!And then I saw a recipe for a salted caramel bundt cake, and my search was over.

This cake has an inherently subtle sweetness and elegance that makes it very approachable. It’s the sort of thing you can walk over to and taste a bite of, without feeling like you’re going to overwhelm yourself with decadence. The caramel is smooth and silky on top of the moist cake, and the salt is a little surprising at first, popping through the sweetness of the caramel, reminding you, in a not-so-subtle way that it’s there.

Baking the cake itself is a relatively straight forward process and doesn’t  require all that much work besides dropping ingredients into the stand mixer and whirling away. The one bit of advice I can offer here is that you should try your best not to over mix the batter. It’s perfectly light and fluffy when mixed properly, but as soon as you go a little too far, you run the risk of making the cake too dense. Stop mixing the batter a few seconds before all of the dry ingredients are combined with the wet. Then finish it off carefully by stirring with a wooden spoon.

I didn’t use a candy thermometer to make the caramel and it turned out just fine despite this being my first time experimenting with it. The key to the caramel is to keep whisking and to not be afraid of it. (It’s bubbling, AHH!!!!!!!) As long as you’re on top of it and paying attention to it, the sugar will melt with the butter, form a luscious, thick caramel, and then you’ll remove the pot from the heat and gently mix in the cream. (Don’t do as I did, though, and be tempted to to stick your finger in the caramel pot once you think it’s cool. Ouch. Beginner’s mistake.)

I could hardly notice the faint burn in my finger when I sat down to take a bite of this cake, though. It was certainly worth the trouble.

One Year Ago: 5-minute tomato sauce

Salted Caramel Bundt Cake

Yield: 10-12 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

For the cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup crème fraîche
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature

For the caramel glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
Sea salt (I used sel gris, which I had on hand.)

Directions:

For the cake:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease it with butter. Lightly flour the pan after you’ve greased it, just to further prevent sticking.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir with a whisk and set aside.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture has paled in color a bit and is creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition, and then add the vanilla, mixing well to combine. Drop in the crème fraîche in ¼ cup increments, mixing well each time you add more.

4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in 3 small batches, mixing until barely combined after each addition. After you add the third and final bit of flour mixture and beat it until barely combined, use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to finish the mixing and get any flour that got caught on the side of the bowl. Try not to over mix the batter.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top of the batter with a rubber spatula, making sure the batter is distributed evenly in the pan.

6. Place the cake into your pre-heated oven and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick pricked into the center of the cake comes out clean.

7. Remove the cake from the oven once it’s done and allow it to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes until it has cooled enough to handle it, then transfer the cake to a rack and cool for another hour.

For the caramel:
1. Pour the sugar into a medium sized sauce pan and heat on the stove over medium-low heat, allowing the sugar to melt, whisking often. This will take about 3-5 minutes

2. When the sugar becomes slightly sticky and golden brown in color, add the butter and whisk quickly and constantly. Once the butter and sugar are well combined, which will take about 5 minutes, remove this mixture from the heat.p>

3. Add the cream to the pot with the caramel and stir well until the caramel is thick and creamy. Pour the glaze into a bowl and set aside to cool a bit.

4. Pour the caramel glaze over the cake (the glaze can still be warm when you do this, but it shouldn’t be burning hot), and sprinkle with sea salt.

From The Tasteful Life

Sometimes the same old things get boring. Take, for example, where I grew up: Long Island. A place that’s famous for Levitt-style houses, the Gotti’s and the LIRR drunk train (did anyone else see How I Met Your Mother last week? What they’re talking about is real!) Most of the island is just how you’d expect a suburb to be. There are mini-vans, little league games, PTA and community pools. Pizza, bagel stores and Dunkin Donuts litter practically every shopping center. For a long time, this was the exact Long Island I was desperate to get away from because it always seemed stereotypical and boring and I knew I wanted to be among more exciting, faster paced things. So I moved to “the city,” as us Long Islanders call it, also known as Manhattan.

Since I’ve left Long Island, I’ve begun to appreciate it so much more than I ever thought I would. First of all, I love that I can go home with relative ease (1/2 hour on the subway and an hour on the train). Many of my friends live there and most of my family is there, too. Most of all, my personal story was created there; there are memories everywhere.

Recently, I was reminded that there are places on Long Island that I haven’t really explored all that much. I’ve been to my usual haunts, to Jones Beach and Tobay Beach, Huntington Village, Long Beach, and Roosevelt Field Mall. I’ve been to the Hamptons a handful of times, too. But up until a few days ago, I’d never seen most of the North Fork, in eastern Long Island, which is filled with numerous wineries, restaurants and beaches.

It was strange to be out there this past weekend, traipsing through Greenport, drinking wine flights with friends, and driving as far east as we could go (to the tip of the North Fork called Orient Point ), parking the car, and walking out to the quiet beach where almost all we could see was ocean. The water was crisp, blue and quiet. There were hardly any other people around. The rocks and shells lay practically untouched on the sand and we were enveloped by complete silence and peacefulness.

If you’re ever thinking of heading out to the North Fork, I can’t think of a better time to go than winter. I’m sure that if I had been out there during the summer, I would’ve felt differently about it, but being there when it felt like we were practically the only people around, made the experience that much more special. I kept thinking, “All of this exists and I’ve never taken the opportunity to come here?” I guess not everything worth while needs to be accessible by plane, which is how I sometimes determine the solidity and excitement of an adventure.

When the weekend was over and we came back to the city and ascended the steps of the 86th Street 1 stop, the symbol of “home,” I was glad to be back, but I was so refreshed by the simple idea that I had seen a place I thought I knew so well in a completely new way. And I was grateful for that.

It would only be fitting, then, that I talk about pasta. Even though I could eat it, slathered in marinara sauce, every day for the rest of my life and never get bored, sometimes it feels like there’s no real way to make it unique again. It’s as if all of the possibilities have been tried over and over to the point where no one even cares about it anymore. But apparently when you make pasta and toss in some steamed chard, white beans and sun-dried tomatoes, there’s a sudden change of pace on the plate that you don’t quite expect at first glance.

The chard, which I used in place of broccoli rabe, which the recipe suggests, adds a slight bitterness to the pasta while the creamy, tender white beans make the dish more substantial. The sun-dried tomatoes add tartness and a bit of sweetness and, above all, the addition of the warm water in which the tomatoes have been reconstituted, creates the base of the light yet deeply lively sauce that clings to each bite and adds layers of vibrancy that you can’t detect by simply looking at the plate. It’s a perfect way to give pasta a new way to shine, and it’s really, surprisingly good. 

I’m learning now that sometimes the same old things don’t always have to be the same old things. I like that idea.

One Year Ago: Julia’s Brownies

Orecchiette with Chard, White Beans & Sun-dried Tomatoes

Yield: 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound orecchiette pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch chard (swiss, green or rainbow), stems discarded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), or 1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (about 12 pieces), sliced
1 14-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
red pepper flakes, optional

Directions:

1. Steam your chard over a pot of shallow boiling water (I don't have a steamer so I steamed mine in a collander). Season with salt and pepper. After 4-5 minutes, the chard should be tender to the bite. At this point remove it from the heat and let it rest. (You can shock it in a bowl of ice water to keep the vibrant color, if you'd like.)

2. In the mean time, if you're using sun-dried tomatoes that have not been packed in oil, re-constitute them in 1 cup of boiling water in a small pot on the stove for 10 minutes. (If you're using ones packed in oil, skip this step.) After 10 minutes, drain the tomatoes and slice them. Do not discard the water in which you re-constituted the tomatoes; you'll be using it later.

2. Put a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Generously salt the water and cook the pasta according to the package directions.

3. While the pasta is cooking, sautee the garlic in the oil over medium-high heat for about a minute. Don't let the garlic brown. Add the chard to the pan and stir to combine, cooking for 2 minutes. Add the beans, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper, to taste, and then stir the mixture to combine.

4. Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the pan with the vegetables and toss everything together. Add a few tablespoons of the water in which you re-constituted the tomatoes (or reserved pasta water), until the sauce has reached its desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, if needed, and a large pinch of red pepper flakes if you'd like some heat. Serve warm.

Adapted slightly from Whole Foods

I’m not sure about where you live, but around here it has been ridiculously warm this winter (see exhibits A and B). For the first time that I can remember, I’m wishing that it would snow hard just one time so that the season doesn’t end without a blanket of white on the ground, in the trees, and on top of cars.

On one hand, the unseasonably warm weather is kind of convenient. No shoveling, snow boots or even excessive use of the heater. (Unlike many landlords in New York City, mine does not pay for my heat. Therefore, we don’t turn it on unless we really need to.) On the other, it sort of feels like winter never came and that we’re in a perpetual state of fall except with no colorful leaves and winter coats everywhere out of habit, not because they’re actually needed every day.

It’s also strange to be at home in a tank top and cooking soup or marinara sauce because I haven’t been craving those things that much. But it’s hard to eat otherwise, I feel, as the farmer’s markets are full of kale, brussels sprouts, parsnips and cabbage, food that screams winter. It’s a strange and not all that serious dilemma, but it’s made me think about the food we eat, why we eat it, and what motivates us to prepare certain foods in certain seasons.

I guess part of it is the human condition. We need heartier food in the colder months to help shield us against the winter freeze. Our bodies work better that way. And in the summer we turn to salads or cold pasta dishes with fresh herbs and lemon zest because weighing ourselves down during those months just wouldn’t feel right.

My meals have sort of been all over the place this winter. I’ll crave a salad one day and the next I’ll be all over a big bowl of hot lentil soup. And there have been lots and lots of sweet potatoes. Like, almost every day, in all forms (sweet potato fries, curries, soups, tostadas, and most recently, COOKIES! Recipe coming soon.)

Scott received this cookbook for Christmas and I’ve been swooning over the pictures in it ever since. Naturally, I cooked the recipe whose picture I fixated on the most, and the winner in this case was a sweet potato and chickpea stew with couscous.

The preparation of the stew itself was pretty straight forward and included chopping, dropping, sauteeing, and seasoning. The interesting part of the preparation here was for how to make the couscous.

When I first read the recipe and it suggested steaming the couscous, I was bewildered. I had never seen it prepared this way and was sure that if I followed the recipe, I’d mess it up. I decided to forge ahead, anyway, and am SO glad I did, despite the extra time it took. The resulting couscous from this recipe is fluffy and soft, and all of the granules remain separate when you steam them so there are no clumps!  Adding chopped almonds, toasted coconut and raisins makes it more full and nuanced with bits of  sweetness from the raisins and the occasional bite of light almond or coconut throughout. It’s some of the best couscous I’ve ever had.

The accompanying stew works perfectly on top of the couscous. The chickpeas and sweet potatoes soften after stewing with the tomatoes, stock and spices, and the whole stew mingles together, each flavor streaming through the others while the separate ingredients keep their own identities, too. The sweet potatoes shine through and add a buoyant sweetness to the dish while the chickpeas add heft and the curry powder offers a spicy, fragrant background. Served over the couscous, this stew is hearty and warming, but still retains a bit of lightness, lending itself well to this unseasonable warmth while reminding me that it is still really winter. And I like that.

One Year Ago: Restaurants | ilili

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew with Couscous

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

If you'd rather skip the trouble of steaming the couscous, feel free to cook it according to the packaged directions to save time.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of water or vegetable stock, divided
1 large onion, peeled and outer skin discarded
2 cinnamon sticks
2 1/3 cups uncooked couscous (I used whole wheat)
extra virgin olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
kosher salt
black pepper
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 heaping tablespoon of curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 14-ounce can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
1/3 cups raisins
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, pour in a cup of stock or water, the outer layer of the peeled onion (not the skin that you've discarded, but the first layer of onion that you'd eat), and the two cinnamon sticks, and bring to a boil.

2. In the mean time, rinse the couscous in a mesh sieve or for 30 seconds and run your fingers through the grains, separating them as you work through. Prop the sieve over the boiling stock/water (You should be able to let it rest there with the couscous far above the water, not touching it at all), and allow it to cook by steaming. Cover the pot (you won't be able to cover it completely because of the sieve, but just prop the cover on top of it) Let it steam for 20 minutes. If the water or stock begin to evaporate, add more to the pot whenever it gets low.

3. After 20 minutes, pour the couscous into a bowl, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and salt, fluff with a fork, and put the couscous back in the sieve over the stock, cover it, and steam for another 20-30 minutes until completely cooked.

4. While the couscous is in its second round of steaming, chop the rest of the onion that you didn't put in your boiling stock pot. Heat a skillet over medium heat, add a teaspoon of olive oil, and saute the onion for 5 minutes until slightly soft and translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, bell pepper, salt and black pepper and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, curry powder and nutmeg, stirring well and adding more oil if the pan seems dry. Saute for another 5 minutes and then add the tomatoes, half cup of stock (or water), and the chickpeas. Simmer, covered for about 30 minutes, or until the sweet potato is completely cooked and tender.

5. Once the couscous has finished steaming and is fully cooked, drop it back into the bowl, drizzle with a bit more olive oil, add more salt, and fluff.

6. In a small skillet, toast the almonds, raisins and coconut for 3-5 minutes until fragrant and browned very slightly, but not burned. Add this to the couscous bowl and stir to combine.

7. Once all components of the dish are finished, spoon the couscous onto a serving platter or onto individual plates, and serve the sweet potato and chickpea stew on top of the couscous.

From Veggiestan

The non-conformist in me doesn’t want to admit that I sort of like Valentine’s Day. For most of my life, I was happy to participate in the holiday if candy and chocolate was involved, and the rest of the time, I was pretty indifferent to the whole thing. Despite the commercialism of the day and the expectations that it often brings forth, I don’t hate on Valentine’s Day because it’s a day to celebrate love. I like that idea.

I never thought I’d be in love. I was sure that my cynicism and desire to assert my independence were too prominent in my personality for me to ever find someone I’d want to be with. I realize now that this is silly, but at one time, I really felt like love wasn’t in my future. I went on a few dates in college but I didn’t like any of the people enough to see them more than a few times. After college I developed crushes so ridiculous that a friend had to sit with me in the bathroom of a restaurant on her birthday one year and ask, “Nicole, are you serious?” She was so right.

Then, in an instant, it all changed. I’m not sure why or how, but it did. I met him, a cute blond baritone with glasses, on stage at an opera rehearsal. He appeared in front of me with a frantic look on his face and his head buried in his score reviewing his music. Later that day we introduced ourselves. Scott was his name. We talked. We laughed. We spent free time at every rehearsal walking around the block and learning more about each other. We became Facebook friends. A few weeks later I asked him out for coffee. (You want it? Go get it!) A week after that we went out for tapas and wine. The next it was Central Park and Indian food. Each date led to another and another (and another) and now we’re here, happy, together, almost three years later, journeying along, dealing with all of the great stuff, the not-so-great stuff, and everything else that life brings. And we’ve never looked back.

When Valentine’s Day rolls around, we won’t be out at a restaurant or exchanging presents because that really isn’t our style. Since one of our favorite ways to spend time together is to cook a nice, simple meal, hang on the couch with some wine, and play cards or, lately, Monopoly, that’s what we’re going to do. Because we rarely do that on a Tuesday due to obligations, rehearsals, practicing, working out, blogging, whatever, I think Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to forget about the to-do list for an evening and enjoy each other’s company. It’s going to be an awesome change of pace. And there will probably be cake.

I’d never personally made a cheesecake before I made this one. I was very, very hesitant to bake it because I’d heard horror stories about cheesecakes splitting and not cooking properly or being overcooked, and I thought the whole thing was way too complicated. But, despite my reservations, it wound up turning out very well. I chose to make a strawberry cheesecake with chocolate ganache because it seemed so, impossibly decadent and I was in the mood for a dessert that was over the top in sweetness and richness, which this one most definitely is.

The combination of cream cheese and mascarpone here creates a smooth, creamy cake base that’s sweetened with sugar and swirled, just before baking, with strawberry preserves that have been slightly diluted with water to thin them out. The cake lays atop a crust that’s simply a mixture of chocolate cookies (or you could use ginger snaps or almond biscotti) and melted butter. The crust is sturdy and thick, holds up to the cake well, but doesn’t take any glory away from the cheesecake filling itself. The ganache, poured over the top before serving, adds a sweet, deepness to the top of the cake; each bite into the ganache, which hardens a bit over time, mixed with a bite of the strawberry cheesecake, is defined by a creamy fullness that’s made light and sweet by the cheesecake and dark and rich by the ganache.

This cake is so decadent that after one piece I was so satisfied, I didn’t even want another. It’s perfect, filling, and the balance of flavor is just right. The cake took up an entire shelf in our small refrigerator for a week, greeting us every time we opened the door, and begging to be eaten all day. If, like us, you’re not serving this cake to a group and would like to keep it for more than a few days, you can refrigerate the cake for 3-5 days or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to a month. (Freeze the cake uncovered (you can leave it on the bottom of the spring form pan) for an hour before wrapping it very well in foil and then freezing it until you need it, at which point you can thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.)

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, have a great Tuesday. And if there’s cake and wine involved, even better!

One Year Ago: Butternut Squash Gratin

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

Yield: 1 9-inch cake

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

This cheesecake will do best if made the day before. Giving it time to rest in the refrigerator overnight will help give the cake the dense texture that makes it so great. You can top it with the ganache and strawberries the day you plan to serve the cake. If you can't wait til the next day, no worries! Just make sure the cake is completely cool before you top it with the ganache and serve it.

Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups ground crumbs from store bought chocolate wafer cookies (about 6 ounces)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs

For the strawberry swirl:
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
1/4 cup water

For the topping:
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi sweet)
1 pint strawberries, washed, stems removed, and cut it half

Directions:

1. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with two layers of aluminum foil (I did about 4 layers to be safe.) and spray the inside of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Mix the cookie crumbs and melted butter in a bowl until combined. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the springform pan. Place the springform pan with the crust into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, mix the strawberry preserves with the water and heat in the microwave for 1 minute until warm. Set aside.

4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon) beat the cream cheese, mascarpone, and 1 ¼ cups sugar until very smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and blend until completely incorporated. Pour the batter into your prepared springform pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

5. Drizzle the strawberry preserve and water mixture over the cake and swirl it through the cake with a knife.

6. Place the cake-filled springform pan into a large roasting pan and pour enough hot water into the roasting pan (not into the cake pan, obviously) to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

7. Put the roasting pan with the cheesecake inside into the oven and bake for 1 hour, 10 minutes. The cake will be done when you jiggle the pan and the cake moves only slightly.

8. Cool the cake in the oven with the heat off and the door completely ajar for 45 minutes before removing the cake from the oven and the water bath and allowing the cake (still in the springform pan) to cool completely on a cooling rack. Place the cake into the refrigerator once it’s cool enough to touch and let it rest there for 8 hours or overnight. (If you can’t wait overnight just make sure the cake has cooled completely before you top it with ganache and serve it.)

9. To make the ganache, heat the chocolate and cream in a double boiler or in a pyrex bowl put on top of a pot of shallow boiling water. Stir frequently with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until the chocolate is completely melted, the cream has incorporated with the chocolate, and the mixture is silky and smooth.

10. Allow the ganache to cool for 15 minutes before pouring it onto the cheesecake and smoothing with a knife or rubber spatula. Top with strawberries and serve.

Adapted from Bon Appetit and Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body

I’m not sure when it happened, exactly, but a few months ago I decided that I could really use a Vitamix. There wasn’t a real reason and I didn’t know exactly what I’d do with it or how I’d get it, but I wanted one, and I remained fixated on this (expensive) household item, dreaming up all sorts of ways I’d be able to use it and how much *easier* my time in the kitchen would be if I had one. I even got my mom, who had never even heard of a Vitamix, deeply curious about it. (She now owns one and uses it multiple times a day.)

So, for Christmas (and my birthday), my parents generously gifted a Vitamix to me, and it has earned a coveted spot underneath a shelf in my kitchen on the floor where all the other things that don’t fit anywhere else go. It’s easily accessible, and I use it just about every day. Could I have lived without it? Umm, yes, definitely, but now that I have it and its 7-year warrantee, I enjoy messing around with it whenever I can.

With the exeption of the one time a cauliflower puree with raw cauliflower and no liquid was attempted in the Vita (wasn’t me!), we have had a very easy-going and mutually beneficial relationship.  

I’ve been asked (often) what I use the blender for. (Usually to the tune of, “What the hell does this blender do? Turn food to gold?”) Personally, I enjoy making homemade almond milk, smoothies with spinach or any other vegetable (which can barely be detected, in taste!), protein shakes, and, most especially, for pureeing soups. The way the vitamix purees soups is ridiculous. The results are creamy and velvety, with a texture that’s silky smooth and rich.

This particular soup, which I put together on a whim one night after not really being able to decide what to make for dinner, may look simple, but it’s so much more detailed and nuanced than it appears. First, the red lentils and butternut squash provide a great deal of heft to the soup, making it perfectly filling as a meal without any other fillers (although toasted pita bread pairs very well with it). They’re both full of protein and fiber, and, once seasoned with the curry powder and cayenne, develop a rounder, more full flavor that begins simply with the first slurp, and then becomes more and more vibrant and rich with each spoonful.

If you don’t like too much heat in your food, you should probably tone down the spices a bit and use half of the curry powder and either just a pinch of cayenne, or none at all. The addition of some sort of dried fruit or the pomegranate aerils, which I chose to use as garnish, lend a perfect amount of subtle sweetness to the thick, spicy soup. The nuts on top provide a texture contrast as well, and a welcome, interesting change of pace throughout the soup eating venture.

Even though this winter has been useasonably mild in New York, the way the nights grow dark so early and the temperatures chill a bit at night, give a warm bowl of this soup  magical warming and comforting abilities. Best of all, it’s relatively low maintenance (chop, stir, simmer, blend), and economical, too. Even if the Vitamix you’ve blended it in isn’t.

One Year Ago: Homemade Oreos

Curried Butternut Squash & Red Lentil Soup

Yield: 3-4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound butternut squash, cubed (about 3 cups)
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 cup red lentils
kosher salt
black pepper
pepitas, for garnish (optional)
pomegranate arils, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large, heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, cook for 5 minutes until soft and a bit brown before adding the garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, curry powder and cayenne, if using. Stir to combine and toast the spices with the onion and garlic until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add the butternut squash, combine it with the other ingredients, and sautee for 5 minutes.

2. Add the vegetable stock, water and lentils to the pot and stir to combine. Let the mixture come to a boil before reducing the heat to low and covering the pot. Allow the soup to simmer for 20-25 minutes. At this point the lentils and butternut squash should be fully cooked and soft to the bite.

3. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend on high for 1-2 minutes, until completely smooth. You can use an immersion blender to do this, instead, if you have one.

4. Pour the soup back into the pot on the heat, make sure it's heated through, and taste to see if you need more salt, pepper or curry powder. If you need more, add it now and stir everything to combine. Add water if you feel the soup is too thick.

5. Serve the soup hot, in bowls, garnished with pepitas and pomegranate arils or any sort of nut/seed/dried fruit combination you have at home.

*If you'd like a carby side to serve with the soup, toasted pita chips or even regular toasted bread work well.

I played JV soccer until the end of my sophomore year of high school when I decided to focus on playing violin instead because I was way better at it. I also stopped playing because I HATED running and in order to try out for varsity soccer in junior year, I’d have had to run 2 miles on the track without stopping in 18 minutes. I said, “HELL no,” and proceeded to spend the rest of my high school years as a proud member of the orchestra, which I loved.

From that point until about a year and a half ago, I didn’t run at all, but one day last year I woke up and decided I wanted to start running as a way to exercise more and to spend more time outdoors. I started sloooow. I remember running from 155th St. and Saint Nicholas Ave down Riverside Drive to 122nd St near Grant’s Tomb and after that distance, about a mile and a half, I was pissed, sweaty, angry, and totally bummed at how little stamina I had. Slowly, I began running farther and farther, and now, a year and a half later, I run the full Central Park loop  without thinking twice.

A few days ago, after happily running the loop one morning, and after itching for the past several months to run more competitively, I knew it was time to go one step further so I signed up for a half marathon. It’ll take place the first weekend of May on Long Island. My first thought as I clicked “submit” and paid my fee was, “Woo hoo! I’m going to kick some butt!” and now I’m sort of scared, wondering why I’d do such a thing, and trying to figure out how I’m going to train properly while working full time, rehearsing for an opera, blogging, and having a life. We’ll make it happen.

Training for this half is going to be a step out of my running and life comfort zone, for sure, but I’m ready to work towards this new goal, which I never thought I’d have in a million years. 

You know what else I’ve been doing these days besides signing up for this race? I’ve been making dulce de leche.  I found the method for making it here and have been obsessed over how easy, cheap, and ridiculously amazing it is to turn a can of sweetened condensed milk into dulce de leche. It’s SO good! And practically effortless! This dulce de leche is perfect plopped into a cup of coffee, smeared onto an apple or just eaten right off a spoon (my preferred method of consumption), but after searching for desserts to make with it, I came up with the perfect solution: Alfajores!

Alfajores, cookies which you’re likely to find if you travel to Argentina or Peru, are essentially simple butter and sugar cookie sandwiches filled with dulce de leche. They may seem like cute, managable cookies as they sit on a platter looking clean cut and with a bit of confectioners’ sugar on top, but in reality they’re overwhelmingly sweet and creamy sandwich cookies that dance in your mouth and cause your taste buds to immediately want to reach for another once you’ve finished one. The outer cookies, which seem to be non-entities compared to the dulce de leche, are actually sturdy, flaky, buttery discs that yield perfectly to the filling. They are really, really good. Post run snack, anyone? Juuust kidding

I’ll keep you posted on the status of my new running adventure in addition to all my cooking ones. I’m a little scared at this point, but I have a few months to train, and even though I don’t know how the whole thing is going to turn out, I do know that I’m motivated by the challenge, and will leave the rest to training and my competitive personality. I know it’s in there somewhere.

One Year Ago: Restaurants | Po

Alfajores

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 4 hours, 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk*
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

*This will be used to make the dulce de leche. Making your own will take a few extra hours so if you'd rather buy store-bought dulce de leche to save time, definitely go for it. If you do this, skip step one, below.

Directions:

1. Several hours (or the day before) you plan on making the cookies, make the dulce de leche. Completely submerge your can of sweetened condensed milk (the entire can, unopened!) in a pot of water on the stove over medium heat. Cover, bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat and allow the can to simmer in the water for 3 hours. Check several times throughout the process to make sure the can is always completely covered with water or else you run the risk of having it explode. Once the can has simmered for 3 hours, take it off the heat, out of the water, and let it cool for 20 minutes. Don't be tempted, as I was, to open the can immediately or else it will explode all over the place.

2. Once you're ready to make the cookies, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

3. Sift the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set it aside.

3. Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, beat until combined, and then add the egg yolk, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla extract, beat well, and then add the flour mixture in two or three batches, mixing after each addition just until combined.

4. Turn the dough out onto a flat surface and, using your hands, form it into a ball. Cover it with two layers of plastic wrap, press it down to form a disk, and refrigerate for one hour.

5. After an hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and set it on a floured surface. Roll it with a rolling pin until it's about 1/4 inch thick and then cut out circles or whatever shape you want using a cookie cutter. Place the cookie dough shapes onto your lined cookie sheet and refrigerate the sheets for 15-20 minutes.

6. While the cookie dough sheets are in the refrigerator, pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

7. Remove the sheets from the refrigerator after 15-20 minutes and the put them in the preheated oven to bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are firm and they become very slightly golden in color on the bottom.

8. Once the cookies are finished, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

9. To assemble the sandwiches, take a spoonful of the dulce de leche and place it on the bottom of one cookie. Top the cookie with another cookie, bottom side touching the dulce de leche. Do this until you've run out of cookies and then sprinkle the top of your finished cookies with confectioners' sugar.

From Sweet Life Bake

My dad and brothers are die hard New York Jets fans and they’ve been season ticket holders for as long as I can remember.  Because they’re such big fans, I’m also a Jets fan, by default, and although I may not actually admit this in public, I do know (mostly) how the games work, and kind of enjoy watching them, too, when I can. I like the quick pace, the gnarliness, and the relatively short season. I also enjoy the food generally associated with football; Beer, nachos, guacamole, and chili come to mind when I think of it, and I love all those things, so if watching football is a chance for me to partake in it, then count me in.

Despite having to put up with seemingly endless Jets losses, my family is still devoted to the team and while I wish the Jets were heading to Indianapolis on Sunday, I’m still really glad the other New York team will be there. (And so is my grandfather who wears head to toe Giants gear while watching every game, and who said that he was “flying 35,000 feet in the air” after the win against the 49ers last week. He is so cute.)

To be honest, though, the Superbowl is never my favorite thing to watch since the New York teams are rarely playing.  The only reason I’m interested in the the game at all is for the excuse to drink booze and eat chips and chili, and I very much like it that way.

Vegetarian chili, one of my favorite game day foods, often gets a bad reputation. For purists who think that chili with beans or without meat isn’t actually chili, they scoff at the thought that the photo above pictures anything besides a thick soup with beans and vegetables. For me, though, vegetarian chili like this is exactly what I enjoy eating while watching football or old ER episodes (my favorite show, EVER) or nothing at all. It’s the kind of stuff that makes a bad day better as it simmers away on the stove, emitting aromas of chili powder and cumin throughout the house, slowly and effortlessly stewing and becoming more vibrant, deep, and mysterious with every minute. That’s the kind of thing I call chili and crave all winter as I lounge around in my thick sweaters, feeling perpetually cold, craving something that exudes warmth.

This recipe was derived from a version of chili I used to make a while ago ago when I still lived at home. I don’t remember where the recipe was from, but I pretty much memorized what was in it and knew exactly what I wanted to add to it to make it “mine.” A fresh cup of hot, strong coffee and a lot of extra spices along with some roasted frozen corn (a la Trader Joe’s) fit perfectly into the mix.

The coffee, especially, helps to deepen the chili in a way that I hadn’t been able to achieve in the homemade version before. It seems so simple, but the addition adds a touch of mystery and curious depth to the dish. I’m sure that adding a bottle of porter to the chili would have the same sort of effect, in case you’d rather try that. The chili has a great texture, too, aided by the contrast of the two types of beans, the pop of the corn, and the tenderness of the pepper, carrot, celery and onion. The end result is hearty, rich, and thick chili that’s perfect for a chilly winter evening when the darkness strikes early and the world quiets itself as night approaches. And it’s perfect for a Sunday game, too.

One Year Ago: Goat Cheese Ravioli

Vegetarian Chili

Yield: 4-5 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 stick celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 14-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup brewed coffee
1 cup water
1 28-ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
kosher salt
black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, celery and bell pepper and saute for 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin, cayenne and red pepper flakes and saute for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.

2. Pour the fire roasted tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, frozen corn, coffee, and water into the dutch oven, stir to combine, and season with salt and pepper. Allow the soup to come to a boil before reducing the heat, covering the pot, and allowing the chili to simmer for 1 hour, or until the flavors meld. (If you're in a huge rush, you could get away with only simmering the chili for a half hour, but an hour or more will really do the trick.)

3. After an hour, taste the soup, and add more salt and pepper if you think you need to. If the chili is too thick, add a little water to thin it. When you're ready to serve the chili, pour it into large bowls and top with cheddar cheese or sour cream and chives. Store any leftovers in an air tight container in the the refrigerator for 3 days or the freezer for up to a month.

After all the cake, sweets, and overall indulgences that took place throughout my wonderful birthday weekend, it’s time to take it all down a notch and start getting back to eating food that makes me feel energized. I’m completely ready.

I had an amazing birthday. I started celebrating on Saturday night at one of my favorite restaurants, Dhaba, a vibrant, colorful Northern Indian restaurant in Curry Hill. Dhaba is a great place for a group outing with some serious curries on their menu. Some of my favorite dishes there are the saag paneer and malai kofta. After dinner, some friends and I continued celebrating at a local bar, keeping out of trouble, and enjoying a few pints of good beer.

On Sunday, my actual birthday, I requested that we head out early to my favorite NYC breakfast spot, Absolute Bagels, for everything bagels covered with a heavy handed schmear of scallion cream cheese (ooooh!! So good), which was followed by a couple of tums (totally necessary), ice skating at Bryant Park (falling children everywhere!) and dinner at Ai Fiori .  The meal at Ai Fiori was truly incredible. Between the lobster soup, spaghetti with crab and chilis, and halibut with lentils, all of which were tastefully and flawlessly prepared, by the time I saw dessert I nearly cried out in desperation; I was so full! We headed home after dinner and caught the tail end of the Giants game (the best part!) before crashing. It was an exciting, very happy 26th birthday. Just how I like them!

Now that I’m back to reality, I’m craving familiarity and simplicity and meals that are easy, healthful, and economical.  At times like these, when I feel like eating a little lighter and more thoughtfully, I head back to old favorites, and this time, I tried out a kicked up version of one of the best comfort foods that I can think of: rice and beans.

My love for this food truly knows no bounds. Having a pot of beans on the stove and a batch of rice in the rice cooker while I putter around the apartment, knowing that a satisfying, easy meal is just minutes away, is truly therapeutic after a long day at work.

This recipe, in particular, takes the usual notion of rice and beans and adds a bit more substance and flavor in the form of dried spices, chipotle peppers, and corn. The chipotle peppers paired with the rice, sauteed onions, oregano and cumin add a smoky background to the dish while the tender, soupy black beans add hearty warmth and a silky, hearty texture. I topped my version with a simple guacamole (just avocado, lemon juice, cilantro and salt), and some chopped cherry tomatoes, but you could add cheddar cheese, sour cream, diced green or red onions or anything you have around that might work well with this dish.

If you’ve never cooked beans from scratch before and would like to give it a go, it’s really not that difficult. All you need to do is plan a bit in advance (the morning of is fine).

For a 4 person serving:

1. Rinse and drain 2 cups of dried beans, pour them into a large bowl and cover them generously with water until they’re all submerged. Top with foil and leave in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours.

2. Drain the beans of their water after 8-10 hours, rinse them again, and then put them in a large pot and add water so that it comes up above the beans 2-3 inches. Add a few garlic cloves and some dried oregano or any kind of spices you’d like (or you can add nothing at all which I have done on particularly lazy days). Turn on the heat to medium, bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat and cover the beans for 1-1 1/2 hours, depending on the type of bean (chickpeas will take longer than black beans, for example).

3. Start to check the beans after 45 to see if they’re tender.  This will help you gauge how long they’re going to take to finish cooking. Once the beans are ready, you can either serve them immediately or store them in the refrigerator in their cooking liquid for 3-5 days or  in the freezer for up to 3 months.

One Year Ago: Apple Crisp

Kicked Up Beans and Rice

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

For the beans:
extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
4 cups cooked black beans (or 2 14-ounce cans)
1/2 cup water

For the rice:
extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 4 ounces chipotle peppers in adobo, diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup cooked brown rice
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt

Directions:

1. In a medium sized pot over medium, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil and add the onion, bell pepper and a large pinch of salt. Sautee for 5 minutes until slightly soft. Add the garlic and cumin, toast for 2 minutes, and then add the black beans and water. Mix everything to combine, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let the beans cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, and adding more water if you feel your beans seem dry. After 20 minutes, season the beans with salt.

2. While the beans are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion, sautee for 5 minutes, until soft, and then add the garlic, dried oregano, cumin, chipotle peppers and frozen corn. Sautee for 3-5 more minutes, until fragrant, and then add the cooked brown rice, stirring to combine, allowing to cook for 5 more minutes. Add the cilantro, season with salt, and then set the rice aside.

3. Once the beans and rice are done, serve them together, covered with toppings such as salsa, guacamole, cheddar cheese, sour cream, or diced red onions. It's up to you!

Adapted from Dana Treat

Last year on the day before my birthday, I came home from work to get ready for a celebratory dinner and walked into the apartment to see to a kitchen that looked like a scene out of my worst nightmare. There were dishes piled high in the sink, bowls littering the floor, and flour dusting every discernible surface.

Scott was making my birthday cake.

In his defense, the cake recipe complicated, involved multiple steps, several layers, caramel, filling and frosting, and he worked for a couple of days putting it together before and after work when I wasn’t home, hoping to surprise me with it (so sweet!). The end result was fabulous and worth every ounce of effort, and we savored that cake for days, not wanting it to be done.

Keeping with the high standard birthday cake baking that has inadvertently become our tradition, I knew that when Scott’s birthday rolled around a few weeks ago, I wanted to treat him to a cake that we’d enjoy just as much. I practically put myself into a cold sweat trying to look for a cake that I thought he’d like and after some serious internet scouring and thought, I settled on a cake featuring one of my favorite sweet combinations. It was very a good idea.

Best of all, it took me  just over 2 hours (not 2 days! Ah! I have no patience for that.) in all to make this cake, clean up, and frost it, which I consider a decent accomplishment. And Scott loved it, which made me happy.

Something about homemade layer cakes for a birthday are so right. As a kid, my mom always baked cakes for our birthdays. Every single year.  It was one of her (and my dad’s) many ways of taking time to show us that our birthdays were important and worth celebrating. We probably didn’t realize that at the time, of course, but now it makes so much sense. You bake a cake (or something sweet) for the people you love on their birthdays because it’s a great, special thing to do and because it makes everyone happy to celebrate. Cakes mean celebration!

Every aspect of this chocolate peanut butter cake I baked for Scott is complete perfection, worthy of a birthday celebration (or any kind of celebration, for that matter). The layers are moist and rich with a subtle hint of coffee and vanilla. The cake base is creamy and silky with a noticable, but not overwhelming, chocolate flavor that is just strong enough to hold its own against the creamy, addictive frosting. I wanted to bathe in that frosting  It’s like sweet peanut butter cream that’s completely addictive and matches incredibly well to the chocolate cake beneath it.

The only slight problem I encountered while making this was that after I refrigerated the frosting, it hardened slightly and was difficult to apply to the cake. After fighting with it for a few minutes, I left it out on the counter for a while to let it thin a bit, and then the consistency was perfect for frosting the cake.

We savored this cake for several days before it was gone, and it was incredible the whole time, even after sitting out on the kitchen table barely covered by foil for part of it (which I wouldn’t necessarily advise, but…that’s how we do).  

Best of all, we don’t have long to wait for the next birthday cake to make an appearance at our place; my birthday is this Sunday (!) and I think I will be having two cakes this year. (I know. Crazy. My mom wants to bake me a vegan cake from the cookbook I bought her for Christmas. How could I say no to an extra cake?!)

Have a happy weekend!

One Year Ago: Restaurants | Gramercy Tavern

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Yield: 12-16 slices, depending on size

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 cups granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup brewed coffee
2 cups all purpose flour (or cake, if you have it)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk (skim/whole/almond - whatever you have)

For the frosting:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (Jiff/Peter Pan/Skippy..not organic)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, softened
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 bag Reese’s mini-Peanut Butter Cups, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and spray two 8-inch round pans. Then line the bottom of each pan with a circle of parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing completely after each addition, and then add the vanilla and milk and mix for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture is very smooth and well combined.

3. In a separate medium sized bowl, sift the powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones in the stand mixer in two batches, mixing each batch until just combined.

4. Pour an even amount of batter into each prepared cake pan and then tap them on a flat surface to release the bubbles. Bake the cakes in the oven for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack, where the cakes should cool completely.

5. Bring a medium sized sauce pot to simmer on your stove. Place a pyrex bowl over the simmering water and beat together the egg yolk and 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar continuously with a whisk until the mixture becomes hot and the yolk's yellow color fades a bit. This will take about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat at this point and let it cool slightly before mixing in the peanut butter nad butter with a wooden spoon or spatula. Stir in one cup of confectioners' sugar and set the mixture aside.

6. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a hand blender, whip the heavy cream with the other cup of the confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form. Add the peanut butter/egg yolk mixture to the stand mixer with the whipped cream and continue whipping until the mixture is completely combined. Set the frosting in the refrigerator while you're waiting for the cake to cool, but don't attempt to frost the cake until the frosting has been brought back to room temperature otherwise the frosting will be difficult to work with.

7. Frost the cake one layer at a time and then press the chopped peanut butter cups on the side of the cake for decoration.

Adapted from Sugarlaws