Those wonderful Earthquake Cookies

My friend Mary Ann has done it again! She was with me last week when we tried these little deadlies at Sofra and thought they were the cat's pajamas... and now she's has searched the web trying to find a recipe that replicates them and she's already tested out two recipes. Amazing. All that productivity while I was just starting to lean back and contemplate a drive back over to Sofra to buy more cookies...

So here's the link to the better of the two recipes:

http://www.ouichefnetwork.com/oui_chef/2010/02/chocolate-earthquake-cookies.html

This blogger is bent on improvement so this recipe may change over time and become even better. As of right now it is very good and pretty darn close to the original, but falls short in moistness... the centers of the original cookie was soft and fudgelike (I mean that in the nicest way).

I'll be trying these soon myself... well, after I finish off the bag that Mary Ann gave me.

Yum!

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7/2/10

I made this recipe yesterday and baked them today and I felt pretty happy with the outcome. I made a few modifications to the recipe, however, that I'm just going to document here for my own handy reference.


substituted 4 tablespoons EVOO for butter
substituted white whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour
I used a mixture of chocolates to make up the 12 oz. - some unsweetened Scharffen-Bergen with (4 oz) with 5 teaspoons of Turbindo sugar added, some Lindt dark chocolate and some 70% dark chocolate chips.

I baked the cookies for 15 minutes.

The Winning Cookie!

Today at the Watertown Free Library the staff had a chocolate festival to help us get through a long Saturday at work. These cookies were a big hit... something chocolate, but with a twist. Recommended pairings (that we were unable to do at work)- beer and/or a nice glass of port.

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles
(from Vegan Cookies by Isa Changra Moskowitz)

follow this link to the post punk kitchen and the recipe:
http://theppk.com/blog/2009/09/16/mexican-hot-chocolate-snickerdoodles

A grown-up version of the Hostess cupcake

I made these dark chocolate and coffee cupcakes for my friend Mary Ann as a birthday gift and she came up with the brilliant suggestion of piping whoopie pie frosting (made with a marshmallow fluff) into and on top of them. For me the frosting really makes them, but it only works because the cupcake is so dark, dense and chocolaty.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
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1 1/2 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup Turbinado sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup (2 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
2 rounded teaspoons instant espresso + 1 cup boiling water (or 1 cup hot coffee)
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place oven rack in the middle position. Line 18 muffin tins with liner paper/foil cups.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, combine cocoa and chocolate; pour hot coffee over cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth; let cool slightly. Whisk in mayonnaise, egg and vanilla.

4. Stir mayonnaise mixture into flour mixture until combined.

5. Using a 1/2 cup measure fill muffin tins 1/2 full to 2/3 full. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out with a few crumbs attached, 17-19 minutes.

6. Let cupcakes cool in pan for a few minutes and then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Fill and frost with Fluff Frosting.



Fluff Frosting Recipe
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1/3 cup solid vegetable shortening
5-1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1 heaping cup Marshmallow Fluff

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the shortening, butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. When the mixture is smooth, beat in the Fluff.

To fill and frost 18 cupcakes, you will need 1 1/2 times this recipe amount. It helps to use a pastry bag with a metal tip.

Peach Pizza

Necessity is the mother of invention, as we all know very well. Peach Pizza was created on an evening when my husband was away on business, my kids were already in bed and I had friends coming over in the evening and absolutely nothing in the house to serve them. I searched around in my freezer, fridge and cupboards and found:

frozen puff pastry
2 peaches
demera sugar
ground cinnamon or cardamom (optional).

I preheated the oven to 400. Took out one sheet of the puff pastry which was a sweet little 10-inch square. I put the puff pastry on a piece of parchment paper in a sheet pan to defrost for 10 minutes while I peeled and thinly sliced the two peaches. The peaches were sweet succulent specimens from a local orchard and I had a pang about sacrificing their loveliness to a baked tart, but in the end I thought it was worth the gamble - they could always come out even more delicious once cooked.

When the puff pastry was soft, I scored a square about 3/4 of an inch from the edge all the way around. Then I carefully arranged the peach slices within the scored square, nicely overlapping. I sprinkled all with a few big crystals of demerra sugar (you could sprinkle with your spice of choice here if you were opting in) and baked it for about 25 minutes - or until the risen outside edge was golden brown and quite firm.

We ate it room temperature with a cup of tea, but hot out of the oven vanilla ice cream would be nothing to sneeze at.

Of course, you could use apples and cinnamon sugar if that is what you have on hand. Or pears. Plums might be too juicy. The puff pastry came from Trader Joe's and was only $4.99 for two sheets. It is lovely to have on hand in the freezer for just such dessert emergencies.

Apple Cider donuts

I'm a big fan of apple cider donuts which I usually eat about once or twice a year when I'm out at my favorite orchard in Stow, Massachusetts picking up peaches on a quiet day in August.

Apple cider donuts are so named because they have apple cider in the batter. Sadly, for my waistline if not my tastebuds, they are cooked in hot oil - as in deep fat fried, which may account for their amazing deliciousness.

Here is a link to an article in the Washington Post that I found informative when it comes to apple cider donuts:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8595-2004Oct5.html

I have to admit, that this is one item I'm not ever tempted to make at home. Deep frying is so hot and messy, and then you are left with dozens of delicious donuts sitting waiting to be eaten right in your very own kitchen. No thanks, I think I'll pass. It is far superior, to my mind, to go pick up a bag of six little mini apple cider donuts at the orchard - three plain and three cinnamon sugar coated - thus putting a limit on the totally number of donuts consummed for that day.

So you overbaked a chocolate cake. Now what?

I'm sure nothing like this has ever happened to you, but today I baked a chocolate pound cake that came out a little dry. I probably overbaked it a wee bit - I was using a bundt pan rather than the 9 x 5 loaf pan the recipe called for and even though I thought I was checking it often enough I probably wasn't. It still tastes quite good, it is loaded with dark chocolate chips, but it is going to need some help to get eaten.

Of course, I could just toss the cake in the garbage and move on, but I hate to do that. The cake isn't burnt or ruined beyond being edible - it is just ever so slightly too dry. Plus, I've used Valrhona cocoa and some excellent dark chocolate in it, not to mention two sticks of organic butter and four eggs - I just can't bring myself to waste all those expensive ingredients. Since no one in my house is going to eat this cake as is, I've put it into a large freezer bag and put it in my freezer. Cakes freeze beautifully so in a few weeks or a month when I need a dessert for a crowd, I can take it out and defrost it. Of course when I do that I will still have the same slightly dry but intensely chocolate cake before me that needs a little help. Here's what I'm going to do with it.

Tiramisu. Yes, I know Tiramisu is traditionally made with lady fingers or pound cake, but wouldn't it be wonderful with a deep dark chocolate cake instead - I sincerely think so and the slightly dry cake will benefit from the dip in espresso and the layer of enriched whipped mascarpone.

There is one major modification that must be made because the cake is chocolate - I decided to cut out the sweet Marsala wine, which I feel will clash with a heightened chocolate level. Instead of Marsala, however, I would happily use a coffee flavored liqueur, even a chocolate liqueur or a good orange liqueur. Or you could skip the liqueur all together and use straight up espresso. You choose.

Here's the plan:

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Tiramisu with chocolate pound cake
Serves 6-8

1/2 to 1 dark chocolate pound cake, slightly overbaked
1 cup espresso (8-10 shots)
2 tablespoons Kahlua, Godiva liqueur or Grand Marinier (optional)
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
3 cups mascarpone cheese
1 cup chilled heavy cream
unsweetened cocoa or bittersweet chocolate for garnish

Prepare the espresso and cool completely. Mix liquer with espresso, if using. Slice the cake into 3/4 inch thick slices and cut into strips. Dip the cake strips, one at a time, in espresso-liqueur mixture and line the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with a single layer of cake. Set aside.

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites with 2 tablespoon sugar until they form soft peaks.

Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks.

In another bowl, beat 4 egg yolks with the remaining sugar until thick and pale yellow. Add the mascarpone to the egg yolk mixture and blend until well combined.

Fold cream into mascarpone mixture gently but thoroughly.

Lightly fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture.

Cover the espresso soaked cake layer with a thick, even layer of the mascarpone mixture.

Dust the finished tiramisù with unsweetened cocoa or chopped bittersweet chocolate.

Refrigerate at least two hours. Can be assembled one day ahead.


Note: The eggs in this recipe are uncooked. Food safety experts caution that consuming raw eggs can expose you to salmonella contamination. Immuno-compromised patients, the very young and the elderly should not eat raw eggs. You can purchase pasturized egg whites for use in this recipe. In some parts of the country it is also possible to buy whole eggs pasturized in their shells.

Mousse au Chocolat

This recipe is a traditional french chocolate mousse that I started making when I was ten years old. My mom decided that I needed to learn some fundamental cooking skills like separating eggs and working with egg whites so she picked this recipe to be the lesson. It was certainly a delicious way to learn those basics.

You will notice right away that there are hardly any ingredients in this mousse - it is all about technique. The quality of those few ingredients then will really matter which is why I use Valrhona chocolate and Grand Marinier. When I use Valrhona I use 3 bars so I don't have to have any little piddley leftover pieces hanging around in my cupboards and I add one extra egg to compensate. I use two bars (7 ounces) of Valrhona Le Noir 56% Cocoa Bar and one bar (3.5 ounces) of Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71% Cocoa Bar. I prefer a dark mousse that is not that sweet so this mix suits me and my chocolate loving husband, but you may find that it makes a mousse that is not sweet enough for you. You may need to do some chocolate mousse testing at your house to determine the exact kind of chocolate you prefer - this kind of testing is no hardship!

I like to take a bite sized piece of cake - sponge cake, yogurt cake, madeleines' or lady fingers (whatever is on hand) - sprinkle it with liquer and put it at the bottom of the dessert cup before I fill it with mousse. I always like finding this little morsel hidden away at the bottom of the dish when I'm finishing up my last few bites of dessert. It is a fun surprise that takes away some of the pangs associated with finishing a delicious food item.

One more thing - a lot of people nowadays do not feel safe using raw eggs although I can honestly say I've never had a problem. If I'm making this for a large group or for someone who might object to raw eggs I buy a jar of egg whites that have been pasturized and then use the yolks from the eggs I separated - yolks apparently do not easily get contaminated with salmonella. I've heard that it is possible, in some parts of the country, to get eggs that have been pasturized in their shells, but I've never found them in any supermarket near me.

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Mousse au Chocolat

8 oz chocolate
5 tablespoons water
5 eggs, separated
pinch of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons Grand Marinier, Rum or other liquer

Break up chocolate into small pieces, combine with water and melt in a double boiler, or a mixing bowl set over a saucepan, or in a microwave. Melt it slowly - even very slowly - and once it is melted take it off the heat and let it cool down for five minutes.

While the chocolate is melting add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat them until they hold stiff peaks. With a stand mixer this takes about 2-3 minutes, with a hand held mixer this takes about 20 minutes. Set aside.

When the chocolate has cooled down a little, add the Grand Marinier and stir until nice and smooth. Even cooled down a little, the chocolate is warm enough to curddle the egg yolks so you'll need to temper them. To do that take about a tablespoon of the chocolate and stir it into the egg yolks - stirring until it is combined and smooth. Take another tablespoon of the melted chocolate and stir it into the egg mixture again until it is smooth. This will warm up the yolk a little so that they should not curddle when you add them into the rest of the chocolate. Now add the yolk mixture into the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.

Now, fold in a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Don't worry if there are a few lumps, go on to fold in the next quarter of the egg whites, and the next quarter. Make sure you get the chocolate from the bottom of the bowl when you are folding - it is heavy and it tends to want to settle underneath the egg whites so you have to keep scooping all the way down and pulling it up. On the final fourth of egg whites I do try to get out the lumps, but you don't want to keep folding too long and loose the light lifting quality of the egg whites. Just fold until you think the mixture looks smooth and 99.9 % lump free.

Scoop or pour mixture into individual glasses or dessert cups and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Serve with freshly whipped cream (I prefer unsweetened) and strawberries.

Yield: 4-6 individual servings

Plum and Marzipan Crisp

It must be an occupational hazard. Except writing this blog isn't my occupation. Well, not exactly. This year for my birthday I received most of my gifts in edible form and I am here to tell you (or my scale is) that I've definitely put on a few pounds since I got a year older.

This particular gift came from my Mom who knows that I adore marzipan. I love the stuff. It is not the easiest substance to get my hands on in the States because it is not that popular. I think it must be a lack of marketing and publicity because marzipan is delicious and sweet and no self-respecting sweet-toothed American would not like the stuff if given half a chance. Marzipan is blanched ground almonds mixed with sugar. Almond paste is the same thing minus the sugar.

My favorite is marzipan covered in dark chocolate. Ritter makes a square "sport" bar - don't ask me how a chocolate bar could be, in any way shape or form sport related - that is dark chocolate and marzipan that is pretty good. There is also a lovely Danish bakery in Watertown, MA that makes scores of marzipan ladden treats. Here are a few links to important marzipan info:

J.G. Niederegger GmbH & Co. KG is a worldwide acknowledged producer of marzipan based in Lübeck, Germany: http://shop.niederegger.de

The Danish Pastry House based in Watertown, MA: http://www.danishpastryhouse.com

Teucher of Switzerland makes great marzipan filled chocolates. They are a bit snobby, but I overlook that where marzipan is concerned: http://teuscherboston.com/catalog


I'll admit, right upfront, that I am a snob about Marzipan so I will strongly encourage you not to make this recipe with the supermarket shelf marzipan that sometimes only appears on the shelf around the holidays. Don't bother. Try to find a specialty foods store near you and buy a good quality European Marzipan. It really is worth the extra effort to find and use the good stuff... buy a little extra and keep it in the freezer for those marzipan emergencies.

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Plum and Marzipan Crisp

TOPPING

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) good quality marzipan (about 5 ounces)
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 sliced almonds


FILLING

2 1/4 pounds plums (about 12), halved, pitted, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch


FOR TOPPING:
If using food processor: Blend flour, marzipan, sugar inprocessor until marzipan is finely ground. Add butter and blend, using on/off turns, until coarse crumbs form. Transfer to bowl and mix in almonds.

If working by hand: using a fork or a pastry cutter, blend flour, marzipan and sugar until thoroughly combined and marzipan is finely ground. Add butter and cut into flour mixture with two knives, pastry cutter or (my favorite) with your hands until the pieces of butter are smaller than peas. Add almonds and mix.

FOR FILLING:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; toss to blend well.

TO ASSEMBLE CRISP:

Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the topping mixture in the bottom of a large and deep pie plate (10 inches is a good size). Top with plums. Sprinkle with remaining topping.

Bake until filling bubbles thickly and top is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Cool.

This crips can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Serves 10 to 12

A Tale of Two Brownies

Six years ago, my mom gave me a cookbook for my birthday. As is usual with me, it took me a while to look through it and start using some of the recipes, but when I did, I liked them. I liked them a lot. Some of those recipes even made it into the ranks of my weekly standards. This cookbook is The Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten.

The very first time I flipped through that book I noticed right away that there was a brownie recipe and that it looked good. I wanted to make it, but everytime I ventured to do so I just could not get past the 1 lb. of butter the recipe called for. That is so much butter, and no-one else in my family likes brownies so I'll be the only one eating them... that means that I'll be eating a whole pound of butter. I just can't do it. I'd see images of myself sitting down at the table with a bowl full of butter and a spoon and that thought alone was enough to prevent me from ever knuckling down and trying the recipe.

Meanwhile, time goes by. Years go by. My friend Mary Ann tells me about the amazing brownies that her neighbor, Peter Kelly makes. They are the best brownies ever, she says. They are the quintessential brownie, the ultimate brownie, the best of brownie kind. Hmmm. Sounds good. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to get a taste of one of these amazing brownies made by the master himself. Someday...

Well, this year for my birthday (mark this gentle reader - exactly six years to the day) Mary Ann made a batch of Peter Kelly's brownies for me. They were phenominal. I say "they were" because as of this writing they are all gone... gone the way of all good brownies. They were not too cakey, not too fudgy, very dark and chocolate with a hint of coffee and they had the much coveted thin, crinkly layer on top. They were amazing.

Now for the kicker. These brownies, these amazing creations, Peter Kelly's masterpieces were the very same brownies that I had resisted making for six years. Yes, Peter uses the Barefoot Contessa's recipe. It turns out that Ina Garten's brownies really have no more butter than anyone else's... her recipe does call for that frightening one pound of butter, but she also has you make the brownies in a half-sheet pan. If you cut the recipe in half for a 9x13 you only use 1/2 a pound of butter or if you cut it even further for an 8x8 pan you would only use 1/4 pound of butter... After all my hemming and hawing, after all my hand-wringing, after all my valiant efforts at resisting - these brownies were no worse for me than any other brownies. And on top of all that they are wondeful... Ina Garten calls them "outrageous" and I couln't agree with her more.

So, here is the fateful recipe for The Barefoot Contessa's amazing brownies (I've cut it in half so that you won't be frightened off by the pound of butter like I was - silly girl!). And thanks mom and Mary Ann and Peter Kelly for helping me find these brownies after all of these years.

One note about details... this recipe calls for extra-large eggs. If you feel inclined to run out to the store and buy a dozen extra large eggs feel free - or maybe you always have them in the fridge. I don't usually so I cheat and just use 3 large eggs... if you feel guilty about cheating you could add a little water to the recipe - you could even dissolve the instant coffee in said water and then add it. The bottom line is that either way I think you'll be happy with the resulting brownies. Oh my, this is getting complicated. Don't fuss, and don't worry. Just make them and eat them.

Ladies and Gentleman, start your ovens.

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Brownies

1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1/2 pound plus 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
3 ounces unsweeted chocolate
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus 1/8 cup
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Melt together the butter, 1/2 pound chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. When melted, remove bowl from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup of flour, the baking powder and salt. Add the cooled chocolate mixture.

Toss the walnuts and 6 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/8 cup flour, then add to the chocolate batter.

Pour into the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap (as in: to strike with a quick, smart, or light blow) the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Flan - will a custard set with soymilk?

I have always wondered about this, but I've never been motivated enough to find out. Until this week. I had a few really delicious flan while we were traveling around Arizona and I wanted to try it myself, but if I make it at home I'm going to be using soymilk and I have always assumed a custard would not set-up properly if you didn't use real milk. Boy, was I wrong.


I made the recipe from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" for Flan and just substitued soymilk for the milk - without making any other modifications. The recipe said the custard should be done around 30 minutes and mine were still completely liquid so I thought for sure that my little experiment was going to result in no custard, but even in my despair I kept on cooking them. Sure enough, 15 minutes later it was a little thicker and by a full 60 minutes it seemed completely set. Technically, one is supposed to remove the custards from the oven right before they set - so maybe next time I'll try taking them out at 45 or 50 minutes. I cooled the flans and then put them in the fridge to chill. I had one for my after lunch treat and it was amazingly and surprisingly great - very smooth and silky and not tasting overcooked. Both my husband and one of my daughters seconded this opinion - the daughter claiming that she should be allowed to finish the rest of my flan because it was so yummy.

It turns out that this works because it is really the eggs that do all the work of thickening in a custard. I always thought that the chemical make-up of the milk combined with the eggs to create the thickened custard, but I was wrong. In the end it is the magic of eggs that does the trick irregardless of the type of milk: soy or dairy.

Of course, you can use regular milk or cream if you want instead of the soymilk and it will probably be even better.

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Soymilk Flan

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
2 cups soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar

1. You can use a loaf pan and make one large flan or smaller ramekins. Six 6-ounce ramekins or 4 larger ones work well for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Put water on to boil.

2. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar melts and mixture begins to darken. Stir occassionally. When the sugar mixture turns a dark golden brown - this will take about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour enough to coat the bottom into each ramekin, if using, or pour all into the bottom of the loaf pan.

3. Heat the soymilk and the vanilla in a small saucepan until it is just about to boil. Turn off burner and put aside.

4. Beat eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar in a bowl with a whisk (or using an electric mixer) until they are a light yellow color.

5. Stirring constantly, pour the milk mixture in a thin stream into the egg mixture until they are completely combined. Pour into loaf pan or divide equall among the ramekins.

6. Put the loaf pan or the ramekins into a deep roasting dish and put it on the middle shelf in the oven. Pour boiling water into the roasting dish until the water comes about halfway up the sides of the custard dishes.

7. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the the custard is almost set, but the middles are still wiggly. Remove from oven and let cool. Refridgerate until you are ready to eat them.

8. To serve flan, place ramekin (or loaf pan) into hot water for 20 seconds, run a thin sharp knife around the edge of the dish and invert it onto a dessert plate.

For a finishing touch sprinkle the top with cinnamon.

Lazy-girl's Banana Pudding

I love cooked bananas. I am fond of frying up a few bananas in butter and adding dark brown sugar and a little rum for a delicious treat - my own simple version of Bananas Foster one could say. Well, in the last few weeks I've been feeling the need for comfort food, but even the rather benign step of melting butter in a frying pan (thus requiring the washing of a dirty pan) was beyond me. Step-in my latest use of the microwave.

This is barely a recipe, but the result is delicious so I'm posting it here, despite its shortcomings, as an excercise in sharing. I would hate to think that anyone might miss out on such warm sweet delights for lack of information.

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Lazy Banana Pudding

2 ripe bananas, sliced
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
a pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon rum.

Combine everything in a roomy microwave safe bowl, cover with an inverted plate - or whatever cover you prefer and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes.

Remove from microwave and stir to combine.

If you prefer you can reserve the salt until the bananas are cooked and then sprinkle the top of the pudding with the pinch of salt. The pudding is certainly on the sweet side and the touch of salt sprinkled across the top is rather reminiscent of those popular salted carmels - the salt makes the sweetness even better and more interesting.

Serve with milk or cream.

Serves: Well, it really could serve two, but I'm afraid most of the time it serves just one.

Cake Two

Well, the week is up, but the cakes are still coming. Here's the second cake of the three and its a good one.

This is the cake I make every year for one of my daughter’s birthday. It is the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for vanilla cupcakes, but it is simple enough to make it in two 9-inch cake pans instead. It may be vanilla, but it isn’t plain or boring… it is very rich and buttery. I have to frost it with cream cheese frosting which I’ll happily admit may be a little over the top, because this future foodie daughter of mine tasted cream cheese frosting for the first time a few years ago and announced, “It is so good, I could die.”

The beauty of this recipe is that it is a snap. There are no fussy extra steps and it is so easy you’ll wonder why you haven’t been whipping up cakes like this for years.

Yellow Cake with cream cheese frosting
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Jan/Feb 2003


CAKE

1 1/2 (7.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Line with parchment paper circle and butter and flour that.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
3. Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake until the cake tops are pale gold and a toothpick or skewer insterted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, 25-35 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes. Carefully turn out of pans onto racks and let cool completely.
4. Frost with chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting.


FROSTING

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups (1 pound) confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Put cream cheese and butter into bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat together, starting on slow speed and increasing to medium until well combined, about a minute. Add vanilla and mix on medium speed for another 30 seconds.

2. Add confectioners sugar and mix on slow speed until sugar is fully incorporated. Run on medium for the last 30 seconds until frosting appears smooth and satiny.

A Three Cake Week: Cake One

It is going to be a busy week. I’ve got two birthday cakes to make, a special tempting dessert for a school meeting and maybe even something special for my book club. That is a lot of cakes for one week – even at my house.

Cake 1 - Luxury Lemon Cake

The first cake is for a meeting for my daughters’ school – a meeting that I’m trying to get people to come out for at my house to help me organize a fun event that is coming up in March. Let’s face it – this dessert is a bribe to get my friends to come out on a cold January night when they could be snuggling up at home. It has to be amazing, over the top and not that complicated – since I have a very busy day myself tomorrow. Also, it had to be both nut and chocolate free because of food allergies... this cake is both. The Luxury Lemon Cake wins for amazingly delicious – rich and moist and very very lemony. I’m going to serve it with my January strawberries (see my 1/16/07 entry) and a dollop of lemon mousse. I’m sort of cheating on the mousse, but really one has to cut corners somewhere. I’m going to fold some Stonewall Farms lemon curd into some Fat Free Cool Whip. My idea is to have lemon in different textures and forms and then the strawberries will brighten up the plate.

A few notes about this recipe. I don’t bother using super fine sugar. Feel free to use it if you have it or if you really want to use it and can’t find it in the store you can process regular granulated sugar in your food processor to make super fine sugar yourself.

I sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and then stir them for about a minute with a wire whisk to ensure that they are thoroughly combined.

Anytime the recipe calls for wax paper I use parchement paper - because I have it on hand. Either one will work.

I’ve made this recipe in a regular bundt pan and it was fine – so if you already have a bundt don’t feel like you have to run out and buy a 10-inch tube. I did invest in one finally because I love this cake so much and know I’ll be making it often.

And one final plea: Don’t skip the glaze! This glaze is designed to be absorbed into the warm cake – it ups the lemon ante as well as tenderizing the cake. So no matter what – don’t skip that step it takes this cake to higher level.

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Luxury Lemon Cake
(recipe by Lisa Yockelson)

Makes one 10-inch cake


CAKE

Shortening (for the pan)
Flour (for the pan)
Finely grated rind of 3 lemons
2 teaspoons lemon extract
3 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (preferabley fine sea salt)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 3/4 cups superfine sugar
5 eggs
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a plain 10-inch tube pan, line the bottom of the pan with a circle of waxed paper. Dust the pan with flour, tapping out the excess; set aside

2. In a small bowl, combine the lemon rind and extract.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl or onto a piece of waxed paper.

4. In an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar in three additions, beating for 1 minute after each one. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even textured.

5. Blend in the lemon mixture. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.

7. Bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake is clean when withdrawn and the cake pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan.

GLAZE

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes. Bring to a rapid boil, the remove the pan from the heat.

2. When the cake is done, cool it in the pan for 10 to 12 minutes. Carefully invert onto another cooling rack, peel away the waxed paper, then set right-side up on another rack. Brush the top and sides of the warm cake with glaze.

3. Leave the cake to cool completely.

January Strawberries: Rescued!

I make a lot of rules for my own life, but I can’t always live up to them. For example, I don’t buy strawberries in January. Strawberries are lovely and delicious picked under the late June sun, but the ones you get in the frosty mid-winter months just don’t measure up. So why waste your money. (sigh) Yesterday, the strawberries just looked so beautiful and red and luscious I was suckered into to buying a quart. After all, it is hard, trying to live by the rules all the time.

I bought them from a wonderful wholesale distributor near my house so it wasn’t just the top berries that looked good – they were beautiful all the way down to the bottom layer in the box. The only problem was the taste. Ach! Closer to lemon than any bright red berry should ever be.

So here’s what I did:

Cut the tops of the berries, and cut them into quarters (the long way).
Added 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

I mixed it up thoroughly and then left it sitting on the kitchen counter while we ate our dinner. Every time I walked by I’d give it a little stir.

By dessert time, these berries were coated in a sweet and delicious sauce. I filled up a bowl with chocolate ice cream and smothered it in berries and sauce and it was truly fantastic. Somehow the liquer and the sugar and the berry juice had combined into an amazingly delicious sauce that was not screaming any one particular flavor… I couldn’t really tell that all that orange brandy was in there… all I knew was that I felt like licking my bowl when I finished.

Now, I’m not planning on buying anymore berries this winter – after all it is counter to my own rules for living, but at least now, if I should happen to stumble I’ll know what to do with those sour berries that looked so great when I was standing in the produce aisle.

A Better Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

On November 23rd I wrote about the cranberry upside-down cake that I made this year for Thanksgiving. Well, I've found a recipe that I like better - thanks to my friend Mary Ann who made this cake for me. This is the cranberry upside-down cake of my dreams. (Yes, I do really dream about food.) The topping is tart and sticky - the brown sugar, dates and nuts really do the trick here - the cake is simple and buttery just the way I believe an upside-down cake should be. It is delicious the day you make it (of course) but it also stands up well to time and is yummy a few days out. That means less work to do the day of. If I make this for Thanksgiving next year, I'll make it the day before and let myself sleep in late the morning of the big day.

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Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Cake:
Cooking spray
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates
2 tablespoon chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup butter, softened and divided
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon butter, melted
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. To prepare cake, coat a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray, dust with 1 Tablespoon flour. combine cranberries, dates, walnuts and orange rind in a bowl. Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons juice, and cinnamon; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour brown sugar mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle cranberry mixture evenly over brown sugar mixture.

3. Lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place granulated sugar and remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; with with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter evenly over cranberry mixture.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; run a knife around outside edges. Invert cake onto a plate; cool.

5. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Cut cake into squares.

Yield: 12 servings

Lemon Polenta Cake with Rosemary Syrup

Last November, my friend and I were wandering around Camden Market in London enjoying all the little food stalls. I had some remarkable arepas stuffed with spiced and shredded beef. Then there was the stall making a savory Japanese version of Aebelskiver (the Swedish version being round pancake like balls stuffed with jam or sugar) stuffed with squid and shrimp and drizzled with a thick soysauce, sprinkled with little squares of dried toasted seaweed – very interesting and rather good really, but oh so different.

We were lucky enough to stumble on a young pastry chef and his amazing cake collection, but we were so stuffed already that we only had room for the most unusual and delicious sounding of his creations – the Lemon Polenta Cake with Rosemary. Although he was in the open air – and his “stall” was really only a glorified table he plated our wedge of cake beautifully – it sat on the paper plate drizzled with extra syrup beside a still pool of crème anglaise. It was amazing, in every way. The texture was tender but very coarse and it had a full bracing rush of lemon – not too sweet and not too sour and than a wiff of rosemary. I was brazen enough to ask for the recipe, but he just laughed. So I’ve been attempting to recreate it here at home. This recipe is my most successful attempt to date, but it does not approach the refined and elegant cake I had that autumn day last year. When I get it right I’ll let you know – in the meantime we can make do with this.

Right now this recipe is only by weight which will require you to have a kitchen scale to make it. If the demand is overwelming, I'd be happy to provide a recipe with standard American volume measurements. I just couldn't imagine the demand for a sweet lemon polenta cake with rosemary to be so strong, but I'm probably way off base.


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Lemon Polenta Cake with Rosemary Syrup

Ingredients

• 175g/6oz polenta
• 50g/2oz plain flour
• 7ml/1.5tsp baking powder
• good pinch salt
• 75ml/5tbsp natural yogurt
• 75ml/5tbsp rapeseed or canola oil, plus extra for greasing
• 2 lemons, juice and grated rind
• 2 eggs
• 2 eggs, whites only
• 400g/14oz caster or super fine sugar
• 2 sprigs rosemary, plus extra small sprigs for decoration
• 225g/8oz raspberries

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together polenta, flour, baking powder and salt.
Put yogurt, oil, lemon rind and 2tbsp lemon juice in a jug and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs, egg whites and half the sugar until creamy. Beat in yogurt mixture until smooth then stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
Pour batter into a lightly oiled 4 cup loaf pan (I used an 9-inch cake pan) lined with baking paper. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Meanwhile, put remaining sugar in a saucepan with 200ml/7fl oz water and rosemary. Simmer for 10 minutes. Cool and strain.
When cake is cooked, put it on a cooling rack for 15 minutes then invert and remove baking paper. Prick all over with a toothpick and drizzle half the rosemary syrup over. Cool completely.
To serve, slice cake and arrange on plates. Scatter raspberries around and drizzle more syrup over them. Decorate with rosemary sprigs.

Serves 8

A Kumquat Dilemma.

I have a kumquat problem. I bought them for my Thanksgiving Day fruit bowl. They looked fabulous. I ate one or two. I believe someone else ate one. Now I have almost an entire pint of kumquats left over and I don’t know what to do with them. Throwing them out is not an option.

According to Epicurious I could make a variety of cranberry kumquat relishes and compotes. Well, that is a nice idea, but I still have cranberry sauce left over so I really don’t need anymore of that kind of thing filling up the back of my fridge for the next few months. I could make a highly rated date-kumquat sticky pudding, but it only uses 6 fruit so I’d have to make about four sticky puddings and I think that might be three too many. Or what about that wonderful lemon tart I made for Thanksgiving a few years ago which was covered with candied lemons. I could make a Kumquat tart in the same vein and use up all my cute little orange fruits.

Then I remembered orange cake. Orange cake is one of my favorite things in the world - orange cake with orange frosting. When I was a child, Sara Lee® sold an amazing orange cake in the freezer section of the grocery store. I long for that orange cake. It has grown and grown in my memory over the years until it has reached a pinnacle of delicious, moist oranginess. Perhaps I could make a kumquat cake that would simultaneously use my left over fruit and give me orange cake to eat. Good plan.

Here is an unusual recipe for orange cake that I’ve made before (with an orange). This time I tried it with my kumquats. The cake is very moist and flavorful – although not exactly the cake of my memories. One bonus: the entire cake only has 30 grams of fat in it. I’m still working on a good frosting. If you use an orange, buy a navel orange so you don’t have to worry about seeds.

Fresh Kumquat Cake
(Adapted from Fanny Farmer)

1 pint Kumquats (or 1 large bright-skinned orange)
3 eggs
2 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar (optional)

> Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour the baking pans (either two 8 inch round cake pans or one 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan or four mini loaf pans).

> Cut each kumquat in half widthwise and remove any seeds. Put all the kumquats in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

> Measure flour, corn starch and salt into a small mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a small whisk. Set aside.

> Put the eggs and whites in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer, using a whisk attachment, until well blended and foamy.

> Continue beating and slowly add the granulated sugar. Beat until thick and light colored, a minimum of 5 minutes.

> Using the lowest speed on the electric mixer, slowly add the flour mixture. Once it is all added let the mixer run for two seconds longer then stop it. Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in any remaining drifts of the flour mixture.

> Fold in the chopped kumquats. Don’t overfold.

>Spread the batter in the baking pan or pans. If baking in a loaf pan, bake for about 45 minutes and start checking for doneness at about 35 minutes. In layer cake pans about 20-25 minutes, in the mini loaf pans about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake. Turn onto a rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired and serve.

Cranberry Upside-down Cake

Here's the new thing that I made this year. Everyone loved it... there is only a little sliver leftover. Everyone that is except for me. It came out fine, but it was too heavy on the cinnamon for my taste. What I did really really like about it was that it was not too sweet.

I got up early this morning to make it so I could put it in the oven before the turkey went in. I considered making it the night before, but I thought the cake would get a little soggy and stale if I made it too far ahead. I mixed up the dry ingredients the night before and left them out on the counter in a covered mixing bowl. I left the butter and the eggs out as well so they would be at the proper temperature first thing in the morning.

Cranberry Upside-down Cake
(Adapted from FamilyFun magazine)
Serves Ten

Ingredients
6 Tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/12 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cups buttermilk

> Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 Tablespoons of the butter and pour it into a 9 inch springform pan.

> In a mixing bowl, combine the cranberries and the brown sugar, then scatter the mixture atop the butter. Sprinkle on the pecans.

> Beat the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and the sugar at medium speed with a electric mixer until well blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla extract.

> Combine the flour, bakin powder, and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir well. Beat a third of the dry ingredients in to the creambed mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk. Continue alternating in this way until you've beaten in the last of the dry ingredients. Pour the batter over the cranberries and spread to even out if needed.

> Bake the cake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let it cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then invert the cake onto a serving platter and remove the pan.