Category: Sweets

Dessert, Sweets

Flashback Friday – Nobody Bakes A Cake As Tasty

by Wendi1 Comment on Flashback Friday – Nobody Bakes A Cake As Tasty

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/28/08 at Exit 51.

Nobody Bakes A Cake As Tasty

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of pressure.  Expectations are high and people come to the table HUNGRY.  So when dishes don’t quite hit the mark, it can be disappointing.  I’ll give you an example.  Actually, I’ll give you three.

That Mushroom and Barley Pie that I snagged from Smitten Kitchen – everything about it said winner.  Simple flavors, minimal ingredients, and make ahead preparation; these are all good things in the kitchen.  When I pulled it from the oven, the puff pastry had risen to golden brown heights and the smell of mushrooms and bacon filled the kitchen.  At least it looked good.  The taste was not what I had hoped for.  The filling was dry and overwhelmed by the shiitake broth that I used to cook the barley.  Note to self, next time don’t use rehydrated dried shiitake in the mushroom mix.  Stick with fresh portobello or crimini and use beef stock for cooking the barley.  I think I’ll be much happier with those flavors.  And what about the flavor of the red onions that I painstakingly caramelized for the better part of an hour?  They completely disappeared.  Terribly disappointing.  Especially when the smell of buttery cooked onion lingers for days in the house.  Ahhh, what could have been.

And what about the stuffing, you ask.   It’s definitely got potential but I wouldn’t say it lived up to it yesterday.  I have very fond memories of stuffing…moist but not gummy, firm but not dense.  Mine wasn’t bad, but it’s got room for improvement.  I’m going to have to quiz The Grandma this weekend on how she got hers just right.  How do you  know when you’ve added enough liquid to make it moist but not soggy?  Clearly, I should have paid more attention to what went on in her kitchen.

Maybe most frustrating was the roasted butternut squash.  I say maybe most frustrating because I KNOW how to make this.  But I decided to get a little fancy and try Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics version.   This one incorporates maple syrup.  Yes, it should have occurred to me that maple syrup in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes may have a tendency to go beyond caramelized and straight to burnt.  Nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like the wail of a smoke detector.  Fortunately, we were able to salvage most of the squash and the grated parmasean cheese added at the table gave it a nice touch of flavor.

But the saving grace of the day was dessert.  I won’t lie,  the Caramelized Apple Crumb Cake is not a quick recipe.  Don’t think you can leave this till last and just knock it out in a jiffy.  It’s going to take you some time.  Although you could probably make the cooked apples and topping a day or so in advance and then only have the batter and baking to do.  Even then, it’s a needy recipe.  Bake for 15 minutes, add apples and a portion of topping, bake 15 minutes more, reduce heat and add remaining topping, bake till done.  Not exactly an Easy Bake Oven recipe.  But I promise you this, it will be worth it.  And yes, it may just remind you ever so slightly of a TastyKake Coffee Cake.  But it will be way better than that.

Now if you will excuse me, there is some leftover stuffing that I need to take care of.

Caramelized Apple Crumb Cake

Juliet Mackay-Smith’s Recipe posted on Washington Post

  • 4 to 5 medium cooking apples, such as Honeycrisp, York, Ida Red or Granny Smith (about 2 pounds)
  • Juice of half a medium lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the topping

  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

For the cake

  • 18 tablespoons (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the baking dish
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup low-fat or whole buttermilk, at room temperature

Peel and core the apples and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Toss them in a large bowl with the lemon juice and orange juice concentrate until they are evenly coated, then add the cinnamon and sugar, tossing until well incorporated.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the apple mixture; increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the apples begin to caramelize yet are not too soft. Remove them from the heat and let them cool. (If the apples have released a lot of liquid, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a bowl, then boil the pan juices to reduce them until they are thick and syrupy. Combine with the apples to cool.)

Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Use 2 forks, a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the dry mixture, forming a crumbly topping. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with a little butter.  Combine the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high speed and beat for 2 minutes, until well incorporated. Reduce the speed to add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a separate bowl or on a sheet of wax paper. Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternate additions of the flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Mix just until combined, being careful not to overmix. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and spread the caramelized apple mixture in a single layer over the entire cake layer. Then sprinkle half of the topping over the apples. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees.

Remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle the remaining topping evenly over the cake. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool before slicing.

Baking, Dessert, Sweets

Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

by Wendi21 Comments on Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I’m calling this Coconut Cake a happy accident.  Although, in the moment there was very little I was happy about.  I started out to make a batch of Ina’s Coconut Cupcakes for a coworker’s birthday.  And I failed spectacularly.  Instead of the batter rising nicely to form perfect cupcake tops, it spread all over the top of the ungreased muffin tin.  The result of which was two dozen decapitated cupcakes.

It was not a pretty picture.

But it was a pretty funny picture and when I posted it on Twitter I got some great comments.  @breadandputter asked “who came along and chewed off all the tops?”  And @creativculinary said “Oh no…not Ina. Not coconut. Not cupcakes?”   She also suggested that I use a “high altitude” explanation to account for the carnage.  If my house even sat on top of a hill I’d run with that idea.  Sadly, the fault was squarely on me.

And I still had nothing to take to work for the birthday celebration.  Despite the fact that I was pretty steamed about the three sticks of butter that got sacrificed in the name of cupcake mutilation, I laid another two sticks out to soften while I washed the bowls and beaters and grody muffin tin with the caked on remnants of my failure.  By the time Coconut Cake was mixed, baked, and cooled I may have had a little bit of an attitude.

But there was still frosting to make.  In spite of my crankiness towards the cake, the frosting and I were on great terms.  It whipped up in no time and spread beautifully onto the layers.  Once the final bit of cream cheese goodness had been applied, I mentally moved on from Coconut Cake.  I even put the recipe in the recycling bin without transcribing it for the blog.  I was ambivalent about its very existence after a day that involved 6 sticks of butter, 10 eggs, and 5 cups of sugar.

At work the next day, we cut into Coconut Cake.  And I came home and dug that recipe out of the recycling.

The cake was moist without being wet or soggy.  And the coconut in the batter gave it an unexpected texture but didn’t overwhelm the cake with a coconutty flavor.  As a vehicle to move frosting into my mouth, it was excellent.  Once everything came up to room temperature after spending the night in the refrigerator, the frosting was smooth and creamy; not overly buttery and not overly cream cheesey.  There was the added bonus of apricot jam mixed into the frosting between the layers.  It worked perfectly with the rest of the flavors.

So yes, Coconut Cake was a happy accident.  Coworkers were happy.  I was happy.  The only person not happy in this whole thing was The Mistah.  He didn’t get to sample the cake.  But don’t feel sorry for him.  He’s got two dozen mangled coconut cupcake bottoms to tide him over until I pull the next treat out of the oven.

PS – Don’t be fooled by that less than sexy picture above.  That’s what happened when I didn’t get a shot of the cake at home and had to use the office’s aged digital camera to document its existence.

Coconut Cake

Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 2011

BAH Note: Make sure you use a container that will hold at least two cups when you mix the baking soda into the buttermilk.  The buttermilk will react with the baking soda and the mixture will double in volume.

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups sugar or 1 cup sugar and 1 cup vanilla sugar
  • 2 sticks butter at room temperature
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 4 large egg whites at room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (vanilla salt if you have some)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line two 9″ round cake pans with parchment rounds and spray the prepared pans with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the flour and coconut in a medium bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk and baking soda.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar for approximately 2 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks and beat to combine.  Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.  After the last of the flour is added, stop mixing once the batter is just combined.

In a separate bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form.  Mix 1/3 of the whites into the batter and then fold in the remaining whites until just blended.

Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until the cakes are set and a tested inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a crumb or two.  Cool the cakes in the pan for 10 minutes before turning them out onto racks to cool completely.

{printable recipe}

Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 2011

BAH Note: My butter wasn’t exactly at room temperature when I made the frosting.  But after a few moments in the mixer, everything was just fine.  Be sure to start the mixer out on LOW speed or you will have powdered sugar all over your kitchen.

  • 3 1/3 cups powdered sugar
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 to 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons jelly, jam, or preserves (optional)

Combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed until the sugar starts to work into the butter and cream cheese then increase the speed to medium high until completely smooth.

If adding a fruit filling in the frosting between the layers, transfer about 1 cup of the frosting into a separate bowl.  Mix in the fruit filling to taste before spreading it onto the top of the bottom cake layer.  Top this with the top cake layer and use the remaining plain frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake.  Sprinkle coconut over the top of the cake and press some into the sides as well.

Let the frosted cake set in the refrigerator.  Allow it to come just to room temperature before serving and store leftovers in the fridge.

{printable recipe}

Sweets

Bluebarb Jam

by Wendi18 Comments on Bluebarb Jam

There ought to be a PSA for home canners – This is your kitchen on bluebarb jam.

Note to self, the next time you want to make seedless jam, try and think about it before the jam is cooked.  Because I bet it would be a helluva lot easier to put the berries in the food processor and then push that through a fine mesh sieve than the way I did it…which was to cook the jam and then spend an hour trying to force it through the sieve.  Yes, I know Ball says not to use the Cuisinart, that it can impact the gelling of the jam.  I know and I am willing to take my chances. In fact, I used the Cuisinart to make a mostly seedless version of this jam since the unfortunate incident pictured above.  And it worked just fine.

I’ve given this jam away to friends, neighbors, and family.  Most recently, I sent my father in law back to Florida with a 4 ounce jar when he was visiting this spring.  He called me a few weeks later to say it was his favorite jam ever and he might have to schedule another trip in order to get resupplied.

In case you were wondering, this is the other half of the lemon/blueberry sauce combo.

Do you really need another reason to make this?

Bluebarb Jam

Adapted from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving

BAH Note: I got a solid 6 cups out of this recipe.  Please note that you should have your water bath at nearly a full boil and all your jars and supplies prepped and ready to go before you start the jam because this jam is super quick to cook.  I got a little creative when I realized the jam would not cook long enough for the fruit to really break down and I chose to ignore the instruction to roughly chop my blueberries (as if).  Once I had added the blueberries, lemon juice, and pectin, I gave the pot a good turn or two with my immersion blender.  If you’re a stickler for the rules, ignore that suggestion and go ahead and chop your blueberries…just don’t ask me to wash your cutting board.

  • 3 1/2 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, chopped
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 box dry fruit pectin
  • 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Place the rhubarb and water in a large stainless steel pot or enamel dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the blueberries, lemon juice, and pectin to the pot.  Stir to thoroughly combine.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the mixture to smooth out the texture and break down the fruit.

Add the sugar and bring the jam to a boil, stirring constantly, letting it reach a hard boil for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat, ladle the jam into heated jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space, and process for 10 minutes.

Let the jars cool for 24 hours before checking the seal and storing the jars. Any jars that have not sealed should be refrigerated or immediately reprocessed using new lids.

{printable recipe}

Dessert, Sweets

Luscious Lemon Sauce

by Wendi17 Comments on Luscious Lemon Sauce

When I served that divine Kerrygold Shortbread, I topped it with a lemon/blueberry sauce.  Here’s the lemon half of that combo.  I’ve never made lemon curd before but my guess is that this is a simpler sauce that gives a similar end result.  Straight from the refrigerator, it is firm but quickly melts into hot dishes like my morning oatmeal.  More often than not, it goes straight from the jar into my mouth.  I try not to judge…you really shouldn’t either.  At least not until you’ve tasted this sauce.

Lemon Sauce

Adapted from One Perfect Bite

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter

Whisk together the egg, water, lemon juice, and zest in a small saucepan.  Place over medium heat and whisk in the sugar.  Add the butter and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.  The sauce can be served warm or at room temperature.  Store leftover sauce in the refrigerator.

{printable recipe}

Baking, Sweets

Kerrygold Shortbread

by Wendi16 Comments on Kerrygold Shortbread

I don’t often pull the “you really need to use a specific brand” card here.  Today, I’m laying that card squarely on the table.  Because while most of the time I find that attitude to be rather condescending…not that I’m naming names Martha or Ina…it is true that the quality of your ingredients effects your final results.  Especially when you are making a dish that has a small number of ingredients, you notice things.  Like when the butter you use for shortbread is boringly blah.

99.99% of the time, when I reach for a stick of butter, I’m grabbing Land o’ Lakes or the store brand, whichever happened to be on sale.  Usually that’s ok because butter doesn’t typically play a prominent role in my cooking.  If my cooking were the first Harry Potter movie, butter would have played the role of Diagon Alley Boy.  It’s because butter is usually a minor supporting cast member that every so often I get to pull out the really good stuff and let it be the star.  Because you know even Diagon Alley Boy’s understudy aspires to play the role of Severus Snape.

So when a recipe calls for Butter (with a capital B), I pull out my special stash of Kerrygold.  It is richer, creamier, and more buttery than the pale yellow sticks of butter (lowercase b) that get most of the action in my kitchen. Yes, you might have to look a little harder in your grocery store to find it, but I bet you it’s there.  And if you’ve gone to the trouble of putting one block of it in your cart, why don’t you go ahead and just get a few more?  Once you taste what the folks at Kerrygold wrap in that gold foil, you’re going to want to find more reasons to pull out the good stuff.

I suggest you start with Kerrygold Shortbread.  Served with a dollop of Lemon Sauce, Blueberry Jam, or a combination of the two, it is buttery perfection, minimalist style.

Kerrygold Shortbread

Adapted from Kerrygold

BAH Note:  I think I should have popped the uncooked shortbread into the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking.  When I removed it from the oven, I had a noticeable amount of butter leakage on my sheet pan which is a pretty good indication that my dough was too warm when it went into the oven.  It didn’t make the shortbread any less enjoyable; it just meant the bottom of my tart pan was icky.  When you score the dough, go a little deeper than you think you need to.  The dough will puff in the oven which tends to obliterate light score marks.

  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 8 ounces cold Kerrygold Irish Butter, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a sheet pan with parchment or aluminum foil and set aside.

Place the flour, cornstarch and salt in the work bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds to combine then add  1/2 cup of the sugar and continue to mix for another 30 seconds.  Add the cubed cold butter and continue mixing for about 2 minutes or until crumbs form and there is no loose flour in the bowl.  Add in the vanilla and continue to mix for about 30 seconds until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl in large clumps.

Transfer the dough to a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom.  Use your hands to press the dough into the pan as evenly as possible to a thickness of 1/2 inch.  Smooth the top of the dough with a plastic bench scraper or thin metal spatula then use the scraper or a sharp knife to score the dough into 12 wedges.  Use a fork to dock the dough every 2 inches and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the top of the dough.

Refrigerate the dough at this point for 30 minutes to let it firm back up before baking.  When you put the dough in the refrigerator, heat your oven to 300 degrees.

When ready to bake, place the tart pan on the prepared sheet pan and bake for approximately 1 hour or until the top is lightly golden brown.  Immediately use a sharp knife to cut completely through the score lines.  Allow the the shortbread to cool completely in the pan before removing the bottom and separating the cookies into wedges.  Store in an airtight container.

{printable recipe}

Dessert, Sweets

Flashback Friday – Notes on a Recipe Cinnamon Scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

by Wendi5 Comments on Flashback Friday – Notes on a Recipe Cinnamon Scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/13/08 at Exit 51.

Notes On A Recipe – Cinnamon Scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

Rounding out the Fast Food @ Home recipes I tried last week was a baked chocolate mousse cake.  Since going on South Beach, I haven’t made dessert.  That chocolate covered candy crack I made for SFC’s birthday does not count.  Nothing counts on birthdays.

Cinnamon Chocolate Cake

So after months of no cakes or pies or cookies or any sort of homemade treats, I was ready to give baking another try.  I did modify the original recipe to substitute butter blend for the butter and Splenda for the sugar.  Funny thing about Splenda, it dissolves immediately in water.  Not at all like sugar.  Kinda freaky.

Splenda freakiness aside, this recipe is a breeze.  Mix “sugar” and water, boil, add “butter”, once melted add chocolate, stir well to combine and let cool.  Whisk eggs and spices.  Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture.  Do be sure not to overmix so as to avoid little air bubbles in your cake.  Bake in water bath.  C’mon, it does not get much easier than this.

Feel free to add other flavors too.  I love spicy chocolate so I added a bit (maybe 1/8th of a teaspoon) of chili powder to the batter.  Just enough to give it a little heat.  And since coffee really seems to bring out the flavor of chocolate, I threw in a teaspoon of espresso powder as well.  It only sounds scary.  I promise, it tastes good.

The recipe says to bake for 55 minutes to one hour.  I guess if I had a proper roasting pan to use for my water bath that might have been accurate.  But I don’t.  So I used the widest pot that I have.  I think it’s about 6 quarts, short but wide.  Let’s just say that if I had more than a half an inch of space between my 9″ cake pan and the sides of my pot, and if my water bath was greater than one cup of liquid, then maybe it would take almost an hour to cook.  But in my ghetto version of a bain-marie, that cake was done in 45 minutes.  No foolin.  That’s a good thing because all but about a tablespoon of my water had evaporated.  See how close I came to complete oven disaster?

Don’t be in a hurry to eat this cake once it comes out of the oven because it really does need to cool completely before you turn it out onto a plate.  Your patience will be rewarded with is a dense, intense chocolate treat.

Cinnamon-scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

From “The Modern Baker,” by Nick Malgieri

  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, plus more for buttering the pan
  • 14 ounces bittersweet (but not unsweetened) chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 7 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Butter an 8-inch round cake pan, 2 inches deep, and line the bottom with a disc of parchment or buttered wax paper cut to fit. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. At the boil, add the cut-up stick of butter and stir occasionally until the butter is completely melted.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Swirl the pan to submerge all the chocolate in the hot liquid. Let the mixture stand for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and cinnamon to break them up. Whisk in the chocolate mixture in a stream, taking care not to over-mix, or the batter will be riddled with bubbles and not bake to a smooth texture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Place the cake pan in another larger pan, such as a small roasting pan, and place it on the oven rack. Pour in warm water to come halfway up the side of the cake pan.

Bake the cake until it is set, slightly firm and no longer liquid in the center, 55 to 60 minutes. Remove the large pan from the oven, being careful not to tilt it, which would cause hot water to slosh out of it. Place it on the work surface and use oven mitts and a wide spatula to remove the cake pan from the hot water. Cool the cake pan on a rack.

Unmold the cake onto a platter. If the cake has cooled for a long time, it might be necessary to heat the bottom of the pan to slightly loosen it. Cut the cake into wedges and serve it with some sweetened whipped cream.

The cake is best just cooled to room temperature and not refrigerated before it is served. If you must prepare it prior to the day you intend to serve it, refrigerate it, wrapped in plastic, for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month. Bring it to room temperature for several hours before serving.

Baking, Food Memories, Sweets

Food Memories – Snickerdoodles

by Wendi34 Comments on Food Memories – Snickerdoodles

I met Colleen last year at the Big Summer Potluck.  I have to tell you, that one day brought so many talented people into my world.  Colleen not only runs Souffle Bombay, she also has a second site, Picture Me Cooking, geared towards cooking with kids.  And it all started with a Food Memory.  Here’s how she describes it:

My friends and family often joke that no one turns down an invitation to our house because they want to come and eat the food, lol!! Cooking is amazing to me, combine a bit of this with a bit of that and look what you get…a party in your mouth! I enjoy cooking for my family, cooking for others, planning party menu’s and I LOVE cooking with my children. From an early age, the kitchen became my happy place.

One day, I had a flash of a memory…it was about first time I remember cooking as a kid, I could see myself walking toward my family, who were all sitting at the table looking at what I had made with anticipation and excitement. I can remember exactly how I felt carrying that cake as I walked toward them.

I though well…THAT one moment was certainly a defining moment for me…and you know what I don’t even have a picture of it…WHY I thought don’t kids cookbooks have a way to capture some photos of what they cook up in the kitchen, who the cook with…after all to many of us some of our most precious memories happened in a kitchen at the knee of someone we love/loved.

So, I sat down and outlined the book and began to write it, then formed a group about a year later with 3 other mom’s and produced the book. I have even been on QVC with it – all that from a memory.

See what I mean about the talented people I had the fortune to meet that day?  Colleen took a memory and turned it into a book.  She’s been on QVC y’all.  I knew about the book but not the QVC…she must have nerves of steel.  I’m going to have to ask her all about that experience when I see her this summer at Big Summer Potluck II.  Until then, we can all enjoy her Snickerdoodles Food Memory.

Snickerdoodles

For me, eating certain foods and hearing certain songs are the most powerful drivers of my memories.

The food memories, for whatever reason are all warm and happy…the music ones take me back to so many different events, some crazy happy some achingly painful and some “what was I thinking”! Anyone with me on this?

Case in point…Snickerdoodles.
I can see in my minds eye my Grammy often making Snickerdoodles, I can see me helping her, sometimes alone, sometimes surrounded by my cousins and siblings.

I can’t recall a Christmas at her house without having eaten as many of them as I possibly could without any adults saying a word! Man, holidays are best!!

But do I have HER recipe…nope. I do make Snicherdoodles often as my children love both baking them up and of course eating them up.

I was intrigued when I saw this recipe for Snickerdoodles from Miss in the Kitchen (a really nice gal who cooks up quick family style dishes). One of the ingredients in her recipe is cream cheese….yes…cream cheese. Never heard of such a thing in a Snickerdoodle, so I wanted to find out how that would change things.

These were good…they were softer than what I am accustomed to and did not last long in my house lol! We even made 1 HUGE cookie that could have fed 4 kids easily, however my two knuckleheads decided to split it to see if they could eat it! My 9 year old son polished off his half…while my 6 year old daughter made a valiant effort!

Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles
Souffle Bombay’s adaptation from Miss in the Kitchen (Blog)

BAH Note:  The only thing I will add is that the cookie dough is very soft.  I refrigerated mine for about 30 minutes before I tried to scoop it.  And then I returned the bowl of dough to the fridge after I had scooped enough for a sheet pan.

  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In your mixing bowl, add cream cheese and butter. Beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in sugar, eggs and vanilla . Add flour and baking soda mixing until all combined. Scoop into 1 1/2 inch balls and roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on a greased or lined baking sheet and press gently with tines of a fork in a crisscross pattern. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

 {printable recipe}

Dessert, Main Course, Sweets

Flashback Friday – Fast Food @ Home

by Wendi8 Comments on Flashback Friday – Fast Food @ Home

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/5/08 at Exit 51

Fast Food @ Home

This week has not been my best in the kitchen.  All the hubbub and activity of late has me off my game.  My pantry and fridge are not adequately stocked for the meals I had planned.  Somehow I overlooked a fundamental part of meal planning – making sure I have the ingredients for what I intend to make.  I don’t mean things that I can fudge like an onion or spices.  That would be too easy.  I mean that if I figure on making hamburgers, it would be helpful to actually have ground beef. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Fast Food @ Home” →

Sweets

Flashback Friday – Num Yummy

by Wendi2 Comments on Flashback Friday – Num Yummy

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 10/24/08 at Exit 51.

Num Yummy

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the commercials with Mr. Num Yummy – the guy who can’t get his face out of a cup of soup – raise an interesting question.  Namely, what food do you find so irresistible that you can’t pull yourself away? Like Pooh, sticking a paw in the buzzing hive because that’s where the honey is, I’m a sucker for caramel.

Not the sickly sweet sauce that comes from the grocery store, and not the chalky squares hermetically sealed in plastic either.  Nope, I’m talking about the smooth liquid love that only comes from a pot on your stove.   I’ve been neglecting this love of mine because I can’t resist its charms.  Having it in the house is a one way ticket out of the South Beach life.  But SFC’s birthday is coming up and I thought what better way to say I love you than to make the most cracktastic treat in the world – Chocolate Covered Matzoh Crunch.

The last time I made it, I knew I was in trouble.  My waist, if not my mortal soul, was at risk.  Its powers are that strong.  So the recipe stayed hidden away, surrounded by idols and charms to keep it from calling out to me.  But the caramel would not be dismissed.

It waited for me over at Smitten Kitchen where Deb offered a primer on Caramel Sauce.  And then it led me further away from the light with David Lebovitz’s Ten Tips for Making Caramel and How to Make the Perfect Caramel.  Which was really just its way of getting me back to where this all started with DL’s recipe for Matzoh Crunch.

So after I get back from New York I’m going to say a few Hail Mary’s, sprinkle some holy water, and let the devil back into the kitchen.  If you don’t hear from me in a week, please send help.

Baking, Sweets

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

by Wendi22 Comments on Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

I am starting to suspect that I have developed a raging case of Adult Onset Attention Deficit Disorder (AOADD).  I used to be the queen of following directions, reading comprehension, and recall of random information.  I was the girl you wanted on your Trivia Night team.

Much like my youthful complexion, shopping in the Junior’s Department, and cassette tapes, those days are long gone.  I now have lists to remind me about lists.  I would be hard pressed to summarize the plot of anything I’ve read in the last few months.  And I continually find myself wandering off task.  For instance, as I am writing this post, I pop over to Yahoo when it tells me that I have a new email.  From there, I open a few browser windows, read an online chat or two, and try unsuccessfully to get into Twitter for twenty minutes.  All that happens before I remember that I was in the middle of something.

In short, I get in my own damn way.

Sadly, this condition often surfaces while I’m in the kitchen.  And it leads to some interesting internal dialogue.  Let’s consider Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes.  In the bake! cookbook, they were on the pages immediately following a recipe for Carrot Cake.  So there I am, book open with absolutely zero recognition that the page says Carrot Cake and I’m thinking Pumpkin Spice.  I start prepping ingredients.  And then at nearly the point of no return, I figured out my mistake.  Luckily the two recipes shared several key ingredients in almost identical amounts.  So with some deep breathing and quick math, I was able to catch my mistake and keep going.

But had I been paying attention in the first place, I would have realized I was on the wrong damn page.

Should you ever meet me in real life and I do something so completely boneheaded that the only explanation is that I’m losing my mind, I’ll try and remember to mention that I have diagnosed myself as suffering from AOADD.

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from bake!

BAH Note:  I scaled down the original recipe which makes two 9″ round cake layers in order to make one dozen cupcakes.  The math initially involved trying to halve an egg.  Which made my brain hurt.  So instead of bringing on a migraine, I used a little more oil.  I probably could have also just used the yolk of an egg and been done with it.  Maybe next time.  Despite testing for doneness, the larger muffins were still a little wet inside. But then again, this is a very moist cake recipe.  When I ate one the next morning with my coffee, it was perfectly fine.  And nobody who sampled them voiced any complaints.

For the cupcakes:

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon 5 spice powder
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and place a regular muffin tin on a half sheet pan.  Spray the top of the pan with nonstick spray, line the cups with muffin or cupcake papers, and set aside.

Combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

Place the brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and use a spatula to mix in about a third of the pumpkin until there are no sugar lumps remaining.  Use a whisk to mix in the remaining pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla, adding each one at a time and stirring well between each addition.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet in thirds.  Use a standard ice cream disher to scoop the drop the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cupcakes are risen and firm and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer to a rack and cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning the cupcakes out to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

  • 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons crystallized ginger, optional

Place the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl and use a whisk or electric mixer to combine.  Sift the confectioner’s sugar into the bowl one half cup at a time, whisking until it is completely absorbed after each addition.  Add the vanilla and whisk until the frosting is smooth.  After frosting the cupcakes, roughly chop the crystallized ginger and use to garnish the cupcakes.

{printable recipe}