DESSERT OF THE MONTH CLUB!

DOTMC August - Lemon Posset

2011-08-31T17:38:00.001-04:00

Hiya, I am DOTMC's newest and final member...as this is our last year. Sad to see it go just when I just got on board, but happy for the bit of the club that I've gotten to enjoy. So this is my one big shot to submit a dessert for your eating pleasure!

A chef friend of mine from New Zealand introduced me to the yumminess known as a Posset. Certainly not daring to ask him for his recipe, I searched the interwebs and found several recipes for it which are practically identical.

And what's great about this dessert is it's quick, easy, impressive, and very tasty.

Introducing...The Lemon Posset!

 10 oz. (or 300 mls.) cream 
2/3 C. sugar 
Juice of 1-2 lemons

1. Put cream into a small saucepan and add sugar. 
2. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring all the time to dissolve the sugar. 
3. Once it comes to the boil, let simmer for 3 minutes, still stirring all the time. 
4. Remove pan from heat and pour in the juice of 1 lemon, stirring as you do - it should start to thicken instantly. 
5. Give it a taste and add more lemon juice if it is not tart/tangy enough.
6. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then pour into small glasses or ramekins. 
7. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.  Serve with a spot of raspberry puree or a dessert biscuit. Serves 4.

June 2011 D.O.T.M.C.: Gooseberry-Blueberry Pie

2011-07-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

For June 2011's D.O.T.M.C. contribution I was excited to use some of the fruits in my new C.S.A. in Crown Heights. I love tarts and galettes and pies and through a recent Gilt Groupe purchase of little Staub bake ware I was able to make a few of these in different shapes. The recipe is for a regular pie though. Enjoy!

Gooseberry-Blueberry Pie

2 pie crusts (I like the Bittman recipe, basically, 1 C flour, 1 stick butter, ice water, salt and sweetener)

Fruit filling:

1 pint gooseberries, stems picked off, washed and dried

2 pints blueberries wash and dried

1 lemon, juiced

½ cup panela sugar (or any sweetner)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1 large egg beaten, for egg wash

Preheat oven to 375.

In a bowl, combine gooseberries, blueberries, lemon, sugar and flower and let sit to blend together. I like to leave this in a quart container overnight to really get their maceration on. Place crust in pie dish, pour in filling, cover with second crust, crimp, wash with the egg and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Let cool and dig in.

June 2010 D.O.T.M.C.: Cardamom Coconut Panna Cotta with Raspberry-Rhubarb Sauce

2011-07-18T22:00:00.003-04:00

So I somehow lost June 201 and didn't get my contribution out there. Shame on me! Here it is, a year late but hopefully still worthy of consideration. We made this panna cotta for our final dinner at culinary school and I hadn't had a chance to make it on my own until now. I wanted to do what I could to simplify it but still have it be a proper panna cotta texture, remain vegan and taste yummy. I used some seasonal fruit for the sauce and left it chunky but strain away by all means if that's what you like. I hope you give it a try!

Cardamom Coconut Panna Cotta with Raspberry-Rhubarb Sauce

1 T coconut oil

2 cans coconut milk- full fat

½ heaping teaspoons powdered agar

1/3 cup honey

1 T Toasted and ground cardamom pods

½ T kuzu

1 T water

Using a paper towel, grease ramekins with coconut oil.

Toast cardamom pods and grind

Powder agar with a spice grinder and add to coconut milk, cream, cardamom in a medium-sized sauce pan. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat to low and simmer until agar has dissolved. Approximately 15- 20 minutes.

Add honey and taste for sweetness.

Combine kuzu and water to make a slurry and add to coconut base.

Simmer for another 5 minutes to cook kuzu.

Transfer to a blender and puree.

Strain through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.

Pour into greased ramekins and let set in refrigerator, at least 4 hours, ideally overnight

Remove by taking a toothpick around ramekin, and inverting over your serving plate

Serve with a few tablespoons Raspberry-Rhubarb sauce

Raspberry-Rhubarb Sauce

3 T Palm Sugar, or more to taste (you can sweeten it anyway you like really)

1 C water

½ C Raspberries

½ C Rhubarb- thinly sliced

In a small sauce pot combine palm sugar and water to create a simple syrup

Add berries and rhubarb, cook for about 10 minutes until they’re well combined and saucy

Blend using an immersion blender (or in a blender)

Strain if you like it smooth, I left it chunky

March DOTMC: Hazelnut Creme-filled Chocolate Crepe Cakes

2011-03-25T11:38:00.008-04:00

Chocolate Crepes:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus melted for pan
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Bring 1/4 cup water to a rolling boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking to combine after each addition. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate until completely melted. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla in another medium bowl. Gradually add milk mixture to flour mixture, whisking until smooth. Add chocolate-butter mixture, whisking until smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into an airtight container; discard lumps. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Lightly coat an 8-inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet with melted butter. Heat over medium heat until just starting to smoke. Remove pan from heat; pour about 2 tablespoons batter into pan, swirling to cover bottom. Reduce heat to medium-low; return pan to heat. Cook, flipping once, until edges are golden and center is dry, about 30 seconds per side. NOTE: I don’t have a non-stick skillet or a crepe pan and making crepes that are flippable is really sloppy without these items. Since i was making them for a brunch I made mini ones and used my largest biscuit cutter on an enamelware skillet and stacked them on 7 layers high. This made 7 servings using the portions of this recipe so you could half the recipe if you want to make fewer. They made for a nice presentation & were easy to serve just quartered.

Slide crepes onto a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter, coating pan with butter as needed. Crepes can be refrigerated, covered, up to 1 day.

Chocolate Glaze:
Makes about 2 cups

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Bring cream, corn syrup, and salt to a boil in a medium-heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; swirl pan to cover completely with cream. Let stand about 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool completely.

Hazelnut Creme Filling:

4 egg whites
¾ cup sugar
pinch cream of tartar
3 sticks butter
1 11 oz can Hazelnut Praline (Love n’ Bake is the brand I use, if you can’t find amazon sells it, one less step OR see following Hazelnut Praline recipe to make your own recipe of it, which is less than the canned but just as hazelnutty since it’s fresh)

Place the egg whites in a clean mixer bowl. Add the sugar and place the bowl over simmering water. Heat the mixture until slightly warmed and the sugar doesn't feel gritty.
Place the bowl on the mixer with the whip attachment. Add cream of tartar and whip on medium high speed until the whites form stiff peaks. Add the softened butter a few tablespoons at a time, scraping the bowl frequently. Whip until the buttercream is smooth and fluffy.

Hazelnut Praline:
Makes about 1 cup

1 cup (5 ounces) hazelnuts
Canola oil, for pan
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. Spread nuts on a rimmed baking sheet, and toast them in the oven until they are fragrant, about 8 minutes. Transfer nuts to a clean kitchen towel, and rub nuts in towel vigorously between your hands to remove the brown skins. Lightly brush an 8-by-12-inch rimmed baking pan with the oil. Spread the peeled nuts in the pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, brushing down sides of pan with a damp pastry brush to remove any sugar crystals that may form, until mixture is amber, about 9 minutes; do not stir. (Pan may be swirled gently about halfway through to incorporate any uncooked sugar.) Pour directly over nuts to create a thin layer. Set aside to cool, at least 30 minutes.

Place half the praline in the bowl of a food processor; process until the praline is very fine with no sharp pieces. Cut the remaining praline into small pieces for decoration. Praline may be made up to 1 week ahead and kept in an airtight container, at room temperature.

Assembly:
Place a crepe on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet or wax/parchment paper. Spread with a thin ⅛ inch layer hazelnut filling. Top with another crepe. Continue layering with hazelnut filling and crepes, using about 32 crepes and ending with a crepe on top. If making smaller stack to 7. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Spoon glaze on top of the cake, spreading to edges. Spread remaining glaze around sides of cake, coating completely. Refrigerate until glaze is firm and set, about 20 minutes. Cake can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Bomb Brownies

2011-03-18T18:34:00.005-04:00

Hello from the new kid on the block!

My month isn't until August, but I've been obsessing over these browned butter brownies since Valentine's Day and just had to share...Crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside, and that browned butter is good stuff...Best brownie recipe I've tried yet!

February DOTM: King of Cookies

2011-03-05T12:54:00.003-05:00

The Disappointment Cookies.

I don’t know why, but I don’t have a repertoire of recipes that I trust. Maybe it’s because I would usually rather experiment with something new than actually make something that I know will turn out well? I don’t know. At any rate, I don't have much of a collection. So when it comes to giving recipes to other people, or suggesting things for a dessert, or whatever, I’m never like, “Ooh, my grandmother’s coconut cake, it’s so easy and perfect!” it's always more like, “Hmmm, I bet I could make a filling out of this tart recipe and then wrap it in the leftover puff pastry I have and oh it calls for hazelnut flour but I’ll just grind up some almonds instead...” and then I have to test it and tweak it forty seven times before it really comes out well.

That’s fun and all, but sometimes you get tired of complicated things. I make enough complicated things at work. I just wanted a cookie. But ya’ll. I went through THREE cookie recipes before I found one that came out well. THREE. Wtf? I mean, they were edible. But I can’t share a recipe that only comes out so-so. As I was chewing on a rubbery sablé I could just imagine your collective disappointment when you finally made them and I COULD NOT DO THAT TO YOU GUYS. So I got really pissed off and stomped around for a while. And then I remembered that I DO have a perfect recipe!

I didn’t come up with this, and in fact it might very well be the recipe off the Nestle bag, I don’t know. But I do know that it makes the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.

1/2 pound butter
365g brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
360g AP flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
450g chocolate chips

Cream the butter and the sugar to a paste. Add the vanilla and eggs. Once that's combined, add the sifted dries, then the chocolate chips and mix just til incorporated. Bake em at around 325 or so.

Successsss!

DOTMC January 2011: Orange Ring Cake

2011-02-07T13:08:00.001-05:00

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup unsalted butter                              3/4 Cup all-purpose flour

1Tbsp dark corn syrup                               3/4 Cup self-rising flour

2 medium oranges                                       finely grated rind of 1 orange

3/4 Cup superfine sugar                              2 to 3 Tbsp orange juice

3 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 1.5 quart ring cake pan and spoon syrup into the bottom.

Grate rind of one orange. Cut all of the white peel and pith from two oranges and slice the oranges into rounds. Arrange the orange slices over the syrup in the pan.

Cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, beating well after each addition. Sift both fours into the mixture and fold in, adding orange rind and enough orange juice to make a soft consistency.

Spoon the mixture into the ring pan and smooth the surface. Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until risen, golden, and firm. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or cold, with extra syrup drizzled over. Happy New Year!!

I'VE BEEN WORKING ON SOME PIE

2011-02-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

A spicy peanut pie (Sorry Jada!) to be exact. This one had it's issues, but makes for a gorgeous little pie shot, huh?

As usual lots of whoopies abound as well. Keep on dessert making people!

Pure Evil (aka Chocolate Pate)

2010-12-24T12:08:00.005-05:00

So, I know I am super late. I'm November and it's Christmas. I had a small disaster with my original cake which I made in November. It became known as "the dirt cake" and it took me awhile to shake off that failure. I will attempt "the dirt cake" again next November. It will not beat me!
The success: Chocolate Pate with Espresso Whipped Cream
If you're on a diet don't even make it. Don't even look at it. It's evil.
I used to make this at an old place I worked. The original recipe had old coffee in it and a crushed walnut crust. I didn't want to do that since I'm allergic to nuts. It also came out more fudgy than pate-y. So I combined an internet recipe and the old one to get this.

Ingredients:
24 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 pound unsalted butter
6 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
4 egg whites
Well buttered cake pan

for whipped cream:
1 pint heavy cream
powdered sugar
vanilla
instant espresso or instant coffee
water
Pre-heat oven to 325

Melt butter and chocolate in top of double boiler stirring occasionally

Whip whole eggs and yolks until lemon yellow and fluffy.

once chocolate is melted, pour hot water from double boiler into water bath

Whip egg whites into a meringue

Once chocolate is cooled to room temperature, fold egg mixture and meringue into chocolate

Pour into pan and place pan into water bath

Bake for one hour at 325
Thirty minutes in, rotate the cake. Be gentle.

Cool completely in the fridge.

Whipped Cream:

Dissolve 1 tablespoon instant espresso in 1 tablespoon warmish water. Let it cool. I put it in the freezer. Add 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon Nicole's homemade vanilla and one pint heavy whipping cream and whip it!

LEMON MELANG ON TV WITH CAKE

2010-12-12T22:50:00.001-05:00

Darling Dessert Makers! I had the pleasure of "preparing" a cake I have been making at work on the local CBS affiliates live daily program Virginia This Morning. It was nerve wracking and also quite fun and they asked me to come back and do another sometime next month- EEK!

CAKES MEN LIKE

2010-11-14T21:29:00.000-05:00

It was Marty's birthday and I made him a chocolate banana cake.
I think he liked it.

October DOTMC

2010-11-07T11:28:00.003-05:00

Butter Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients

For the purée:

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 medium-large Sugar Pie pumpkin, cut in half and seeded

For the cake:

¾ cup unsalted butter

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1.5 tsp. baking soda

1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon

¾ tsp. table salt

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1.5 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

¼ cup buttermilk

For the topping:

1.5 tbs. unsalted butter

2/3 cup pecans

2 tsp. light brown sugar

¼ tsp table salt

For the frosting:

½ cup unsalted butter

8 oz. cream cheeses, at room temperature

¼ cup light brown sugar

1.5 cups confectioners’ sugar

Pumpkin Purée

1. Preheat over to 350°, brush pan with oil. Place pumpkins halves on the pan cut side down and cook for about 45 minutes or until tender

2. Let cool, peel pumpkins and purée the flesh in a food processor until smooth (set aside 1.5 cups)

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°, butter and flour pan (I used a bunt pan, but you can also used two 9-inch pans)

2. Melt butter until it turns golden-brown (~4 min.), let cool

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and cloves

4. In a large bowl, combine 1.5 cups of the pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter

5. Combine dry and wet ingredients

6. Pour into pan and bake for ~30 min, let cool

Cake topping

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a nonstick skillet

2. Add pecans and cook until slightly brown (~ 2 min)

3. Add brown sugar and salt until pecans are glazed cook for an additional 2 min, let cool

Frosting

1. Melt butter over medium heat, until golden-brown, let cool

2. Using a mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar, until light in color and the brown sugar has dissolved

3. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until fluffy

Assemble cake and devour!

SEPTEMBER DOTMC

2010-10-13T19:59:00.001-04:00

This is a special DOTM because it's my very own sister's first submission! I am not positive but I am pretty sure that is her and my little nephew diggin' in on Nana Lucy's Holiday Bread!
Thanks Christianna, I love the illustrations you did!!

WHAT'S THE TIME? IT'S PIE TIME!

2010-10-12T08:09:00.001-04:00

Pies. They are so beautiful, so practical, so representative of our collective dessert experience as a nation.There is a book, I love called Pie Everyday with tons of all sorts of pie recipes in it and crusts. I wish I had it. Not that I don't own dozens of cookbooks with great pie recipes! I need to have a visit to my kitchen library and get a nice "pie list" going. Here are some that I want to try as I ponder the cooler weather and all the festivities to come:

Apple Cheddar
Spicy Pumpkin in a cornmeal crust with candied pepita garnish
Butterscotch Pie
Bourbon Buttermilk
Cranberry Pecan
Chocolate Tart with Marshmallow topping
Caramel Apple
and of course concord grape if I can find any down here~

In years past me and my wonderful friend Molly threw annual cookie parties. They were a sight to behold
This year as I no longer live in NYC with all of my buddies, I decided to start a new tradition. PIE PARTY.
What do ya think?

Mustard Bread

2010-09-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is definitely not a desert but I know how much we love mustard and great women around here. It's a savory specialty of someone I love dearly who left this world way too soon last week. I made a batch last night with wet eyes and a heavy heart, but it was a delicious tribute to my dear Kath. I suggest you whip some up for your Labor Day BBQs and picnics (even if they end up being indoors). On that note (Labor Day), here's to the moms, cooks, and caring souls who feed us, care for us, and inspire us with their great work and great food.

Peach-Blueberry Cobbler (v)

2010-08-29T11:04:00.006-04:00

Treat for the dog-days of summer.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, August 2005 (p146). Tip-o-the-hat to Veganaise for being such a great cream substitute in this recipe.

2½ pounds peaches, halved lengthwise, pitted, and cut into ¾-inch-thick wedges (about 8 cups)

1 cup blueberries (about ½ pint)

²⁄₃ cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger

salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted soy butter, cut into small pieces

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

¾ cup Veganaise + ¼ cup water

Sanding sugar for sprinkling

Pre-heat oven to 375°, with racks positioned in upper and lower thirds.
Stir together peaches, bluebetries, ¹⁄₃ cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, brown sugar, lemon juice, ginger, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Transfer to a 12-by-8½ inch (2-quart) baking dish; set aside.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and remaining ¹⁄₃ cup granulated sugar in a medium bowl or stand mixer. Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives to form clumps that are no larger than small peas.
Scrape vanilla bean seeds into the Veganaise; stir with a fork to combine. Discard pod. Add cream mixture to flour mixture; stir until a soft, sticky dough forms. Using a spring-loaded ice-cream scoop, scoop out 10 equal portions of dough onto the filling & sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Protect your oven with a parchment-lined cookie sheet on the lower rack. Bake cobbler on the top rack until the topping is golden brown and juices ar bubbling (55-70 minutes). If topping browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil.
Let cool 1 hour before serving.

AUGUST DOTM SPICY PEACH SORBET (V)

2010-08-27T09:04:00.001-04:00

August is for peaches! Summer is for being really lazy about posting on DOTMC!
I dedicate this post to my littlest sister who is in need of non dairy desserts.

I had used my Flip to make a companion video to this recipe to put on Food Punk, and it was really cute and then my computer and Flip had a massive falling out and I lost every video I ever saved. However, I still got a crappy pic with my phone that you see here! Huzzah! Look out for your hard copy in the mail it IS coming. Promise. (For lots of rambling on the recipe below,and some ice cream tips you can check out Food Punk).

4-6 good size peaches peeled and chopped
A couple chiles ( I had dried Chiles de Arbol, but fresh jalapeno or any such nice chile would work well I think)
2 tbsp of honey
2 tbsp of Sorghum Syrup (or corn, no judgments here)
a pinch of salt
the juice of one lemon and (optional) a shot of Tequila

Cook the peaches in a saute pan over med heat. As they begin to cook and break down add the honey and syrup. Stab your chiles with a paring knife and throw them in. When the mixture looks like it would make an ok jam, take it off heat, discard the chiles and puree mixture in a blender.
( I kept half of one of my chiles and threw him in the blender)
Strain the mixture into a metal bowl. This is annoying but so necessary, just keep pushing the puree through with a spatula.
Make sure to scrape off all the goo clinging to the bottom of the strainer as that is the good stuff!
Put the bowl in the fridge and be patient while it gets nice and cool. (2-4 hrs or overnight)
Freeze according to the ice cream maker's directions

Granita, granita, granita.

2010-08-21T15:27:00.009-04:00

Hi everyone! Hope your summertime has been swell. I'm not much of a "summer person," admittedly. It's just... too hot. I don't like being hot. Or sweating. Or humidity. Yeah, I pretty much hate summer and I'm super stoked it is nearly over.

But I'm not a total hater! There is one thing I like about summer: THE FOOD! I weirdly love foods that are associated with heat and boardwalks and outdoor eating (preferably in the shade with a fan or close proximity to an air conditioner). I love food that is grilled outdoors, the smell of burning charcoal or wood, summer berries and stone fruits, watermelons, chilled drinks, and cool/refreshing desserts.

We have a janky window AC unit, so using the oven has been totally off limits for the last couple of months. I didn't have to look far to figure out what this year's DOTMC recipe would be, thankfully. I had some beautiful, super-ripe nectarines from the farmer's market. They were so sweet- but had that tart edge.. the kind of fruit you bite into and just start telling everyone around you about how you have the perfect piece of fruit.
Our dessert drink of choice lately has been Moscato D'Asti... lightly sparkling, (not too) sweet, crisp, fragrant, almost peachy white wine. I thought it would be nice to mix with the nectarines is a frozen way. Thankfully, the two were a perfect pair, and the granita came out beautifully, totally refreshing, and so very easy too.

Below is my recipe card for July's DOTMC... apologies for the tardiness! They'll be in the mail this week.Take care and happy, happy late summer.

More Strawberries! Strawberry Honey Cornmeal Cake

2010-06-15T07:49:00.004-04:00

So last week I got another 2.5 quarts of strawberries at the CSA. I had seen a recipe come through the google reader for a blueberry cornmeal cake and I figured I could adapt it a bit and use up some of these strawberries. Per usual, I decided to try it without the refined sugar it called for and used honey instead. This made the batter a bit more liquidy and I think required a bit of extra cooking time (well I needed to bake it longer and I assume this was part of the reason). The honey also caused it to have a much darker color than its cousin the blueberry cornmeal cake. The results were terrific tasting though. The ricotta and yogurt in the recipe ensures such moistness and the flavor combination with the honey and berries is just wonderful. I think this would be the perfect breakfast cake or wonderful at a luncheon with just a tiny bit of extra cream on top for contrast. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Strawberry Honey Cornmeal Cake
Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cuphoney
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup plain yogurt
3 cups fresh strawberries, quartered

Special Equipment

10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with vegetable oil. Whisk flour and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and honey in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl until creamy. With mixer running on medium speed, gradually add egg mixture; beat to blend. Beat in flour mixture just to blend. Add ricotta and yogurt; beat on low speed just to blend. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Scatter 1 1/2 cups strawberries over. Spoon remaining batter over in dollops, then spread to cover blueberries. Scatter remaining strawberries over.

Bake cake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack.

Serves 12

Lemon Ricotta Maple Strawberry Biscake

2010-06-07T22:43:00.001-04:00

Now that's a dessert name! (uh... maybe not).

Strawberries are here in full effect. I have had a box in the fridge for a few weeks with no time to make anything. Last week the CSA opened and I got a quart more! Thank goodness those little guys can last a while if you don't wash or mess with them. Tonight I had my first opportunity to make something and decided to take a stab at a variation on a strawberry shortcake. I found the recipe below and made a few twists (replacing the sugar with maple crystals, jettisoning the almond extract and slivered almonds and baking them on a sheet like biscuits instead of in muffin tins). I am pretty sure the maple changed the chemistry a bit as they were smoother and had less rise, but they were really really good. A perfect base for the macerated strawberries (I added a tiny bit of crushed lavender and a little maple syrup) and whipped cream.

Lemon Ricotta Biscake

Cook Time: 20 min

Yield:12 biscakes

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon maple crystals or more as needed for sprinkling
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup maple crystals, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta. Beat in the egg and lemon juice,. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy).

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of maple crystals over the muffins. Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

MARCH DOTM POPS BY AMELIA

2010-05-05T16:13:00.003-04:00

I told you guys Amelia's DOTM was gonna be worth the wait. You will be getting these in your mail box but if you are already crazy from the heat perhaps you'd like to make some now!!! Just click the images to see the luscious recipes for these weather appropriate treats!

Apple Rhubarb Galette

2010-04-27T15:05:00.000-04:00

I can't resist buying the new fruits and veggies that are coming into their season even if I have no baking plans. Last night I remembered the rhubarb I bought on Saturday in my fridge and decided to see how quickly I could put something together with it. I went to my trusty Mark Bittman pie crust recipe (easy for me because it's basically one cup flour, one stick butter + ice water and a little seasoning, in this case some maple crystals and a pinch of salt), sautéed the rhubarb with some apples in a tablespoon of butter, added some more maple crystals and baked at 375 for about 35 minutes. Before I put it in I drizzled some olive oil over the edges because I just couldn't resist. What is wrong with me??? I might sauté the filling a little less or not at all next time and add a bit more sweetener, but I have to say, this was the perfect breakfast treat today. Serves 4 easy.

St. Lucian Cocoa Tea

2010-04-27T11:25:00.002-04:00

Cocoa tea is a rich breakfast drink (like European hot chocolate) from St. Lucia. I confirmed the recipe with a St. Lucian chef I met in my travels who added that small doughnut-like pieces called "hot bakes" are sometimes boiled in the cocoa tea, making the drink more of a porridge-style breakfast meal. This recipe is just for the tea.

Makes 2 servings
2 cups soy or light coconut milk (or your favorite kind of milk)
½ cup grated dark chocolate*
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon grated cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2-4 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1 scraped vanilla pod or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white flour or cornstarch (optional)

Note: Works best with a double boiler.

Directions

Bring the milk to a boil and quickly lower heat. If you are using a double boiler, make sure the milk is steamy hot.
Add the grated cocoa, nutmeg, cinnamon and bay leaf and let simmer gently for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in vanilla and if you want a thicker drink, add flour (or cornstarch) stirring continuously.
Add sugar and stir until dissolved.

*The Grenada Chocolate Company makes amazing Caribbean dark chocolate. Any 70%+ dark chocolate will work well.

Moroccan Kaab El Ghzal

2010-04-27T11:14:00.000-04:00

Almond-Mango Crescent Cookies
A rich, mild almond cookie from Morocco with a zesty tang from baked-in dried mango.
Some varieties have pastry dough wrapped around the almond/fruit filling, but this one combines all ingredients into a biscuit. To see how to make the dough-filled version, watch Moroccan blogger Alia make her version on youtube.

Makes 15 - 20 cookies
1 cup raw almonds, finely ground
½ cup Wholesome Sweeteners powdered sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 Ener-G egg replacer (or 1 egg)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup earth balance (or butter), at room temperature
½ cup sesame seed
½ cup of minced dried fruit like mango or pineapple

Directions

Take soy butter out of fridge & preheat oven to 350º
Knead almonds, sugar, flour, almond extract, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter in mixing bowl and mix well. A sticky dough will form. Add water a tablespoon at a time if a ball of the dough does not form, or add flour if dough is too sticky to pinch.
Pour sesame seeds onto a plate or pie pan.
Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough (keep them small, the cookies are rich).
Flatten the dough in your palms and fold in 1 teaspoon of minced dried fruit. Form the dough into a cylinder and roll dough pieces in seeds to coat.
Sculpt the cylinder into a crescent, thicker in the middle, tapering at the ends and curved.
Place side by side onto lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

April DOTMC coming soon!

2010-04-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

Friends,
April is almost May and I apologize for the late-coming recipe! I've been traveling for a few weeks.
Though my long-awaited (and saved-up-for) Moroccan adventure was diverted south but volcanic ash, I spent a while in the sun and underwater in the West Indies.
I'll be posting two recipes via US Post and blogger tomorrow, both in tribute to a place I visited, St. Lucian Cocoa Tea and where I hope to visit some day (soon!?), Moroccan Almond-Mango Crescent Cookies.
Talk to you soon!

CON TODO MI CORAZON CAKE

2010-04-26T14:29:00.003-04:00

For my wonderful friend Molly's 'lady party' in honor of her getting married, I made a simple and gorgeous vanilla rum cake. I served it with a mango puree and whipped cream and it was fantastic.
I had had a Tonka bean that I was going to use in lieu of vanilla in it but LIKE A FOOL, I lost it! Can you believe it! I almost cried. What a bummer. Tonka is like a leathery,tobacco-esque vanilla like bean from South America and you cannot get it in the U.S. as it is not approved by the FDA.
For favors I made these shortbread jam filled hearts, that have their own story.
It was a lovely time!!!

Lavender Lace Cookies

2010-04-13T11:48:00.000-04:00

Passover just passed and boxes of cookies and macaroons were flying around my office. In one of the boxes were some lace cookies and I realized that those are my favorite cookies since childhood but I forgot what they were called. I especially loved the ones with chocolate in the middle. Well it turns out, these are probably among the easiest cookies to make and simply delicious. I happened to have some lavender handy so I ground it together with my sugar, added the other ingredients (including Lang's special vanilla!) and voila... my favorite cookies in my own hands.

Lavender Lace Cookies

2/3 cup turbinado sugar

1/2 tsp dried lavender

1 egg

2 tsp melted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut

2/3 cup raw oats

Preheat the oven to 350. Blend the sugar and lavender in a mortar and pestle until the lavender is finely crushed throughout the sugar. Set aside (this can be done well in advance). In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg. Add the lavender sugar and mix well. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat and drop the dough by half-teaspoons about an inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Allow to cool fully before removing from sheet.

Chocolate Chile Coconut Truffles

2010-03-23T23:05:00.005-04:00

I recently made a dessert that called for vegan chocolate ganache and being the freaker that I am, made double the recipe just to make sure I didn't run out. Well, that left me with a quart of delicious ganache and no where to go with it, except to these truffles! Man they were easy and satisfying to make! I had extra coconut too so I rolled them in that. Next time I might try cocoa powder with a bit more chile to have even more kick, or toasted coconut. The un toasted did give it a sort of nice chewiness contrast to the chocolate so maybe I'll make a few of each. This recipe does yield quite a few truffles so it's great for gift giving season or just cut it way down.

Chocolate Chile Coconut Truffles

8 ounces bittersweet dairy-free chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 ounces semisweet dairy-free chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 15-ounce can coconut milk
1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
1 t. Mexican chile powder
1 pint unsweetened dried coconut flakes

Preparation:

Make the ganache filling. Place the dairy-free dark chocolate in a heat safe bowl. Set aside. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the coconut milk until it just starts to boil, add chile and whisk well to combine. Pour the hot coconut milk over the chopped chocolate, and let sit for 5 minutes without stirring. After 5 minutes, add the vanilla extract and stir the mixture using a wooden spoon until smooth and glossy. (This will take about 1-2 minutes of continuous stirring.) Pour into a shallow container and refrigerate until semifirm, about an hour.

Put the mixture into a bowl of a stand mixer and whip until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Wearing gloves, roll 1/2 teaspoons of chocolate into small balls, roll in coconut and drop on a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 15 minutes.

yields about 70 truffles

OLYMPIC FEVER! NOW IN PIE FORM!

2010-02-20T11:57:00.005-05:00

At first, I was not too excited about the winter Olympics truth be told.
It was Lindsey Vonn's triumph over her injury, and Shaun White's billion dollar smile and California demeanor that pulled me in. But then, of course, who can possibly resist the drama of the men's figure skating, with it's heros and villains.

So last night as I held my breath watching the ski jumping competition, I got to thinking of gold medals....in pie form!
I was inspired by the "Save Room For" recipe for Pear-Raspberry Heart Pies in the February issue of Martha Stewart Living, which appears to be a variation from last year's February issue for a whole pie.
Having no whole fruit on hand, and yearning for a golden medallion of my own, I went with orange-lemon marmalade and the results were...ahem, winning!

BLIZZARD PIE

2010-02-12T11:18:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday it was all snowtastic around here and I only went to work for maybe 3 hours. Which was awesome and left me with oodles of hours to mess around in my kitchen while flakes fell outside my window which is ambience that you cannot beat.
So I made a pie and some Macaroni and Cheese.
Last weekend, on Superbowl Sunday, ( oh and by the way WHO DAT!!!!!!!!) my lovely friend Cathy brought me over Pecans from a relative's farm. They were so tasty and needed to be celebrated in pastry form.
When you are a dessert freak like myself, you usually have pie crust in the freezer.
It helps that the best pie crust recipe I have encountered, makes crusts aplenty:

1 lb butter
1 lb AP flour
1/2 lb cake flour ( i just increase the AP, if I don't have it)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 oz COLD water
Cut butter into pieces combine dry ingredients, rub in butter with hands or a paddle, leaving pea size pieces.
Add in water until dough holds together.
Shape into 2 discs, wrap in plastic and chill until firm

Aaaaaanyway, back to this

Blizzard pie.

6 ounces of pecans
6 ounces of walnuts
4 ounces of desiccated coconut
4 ounces of chocolate, melted
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup of Lyle's Golden Syrup
4 tablespoons butter
one unbaked 9 inch pie crust ( that's right, no blind baking here)

Layer nuts in pie shell, sprinkle coconut over them. This is a nut packed pie so don't get freaked if it looks like too much. Beat the 2 eggs, maybe throw some vanilla in there, set aside.
Put syrup and sugar over med heat, bring to a boil. Take off heat and add butter and chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. While whisking, add the syrup mixture to the eggs and when fully incorporated, pour over your pie. Smush the nuts down if you need to or feel free to mix it up a little as long as you are gentle.
Into the oven at 350-375 for 45 to 50 minutes, until set.

february: salted caramel chocolate lava cakes!

2010-02-11T21:48:00.003-05:00

February is a terrible month. The fun of winter (lights, cookies, Santa, etc.) has long passed but spring still seems so far, far away. I have been lucky enough so far not to experience anything a news team might name "snowmageddon," but winter is still sucking pretty hard right about now.

That's why I, and you, need WARM GOOEY OOZY CHOCOLATEY CHOCOLATE CAKE to make it through. When the cold and dark are bringing you down and you're ready to murder some groundhogs hole up with a valentine and make this and feel better.

Chocolate lava cake is basically nothing more than an undercooked cake. You cook the batter over a water bath before baking so that you can take the cake out of the oven early, before the center is set. You can make the batter ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze it. It's so easy but trust me, people will go apeshit for that lava. Serve it warm out of the oven and VOILA, VALENTINES APLENTY.

If you're not into caramel (in which case you'll never be MY valentine, but that's ok) you can skip that step; you'll just have chocolate instead of caramel lava. Make sure to take them out of the oven when they start to look sunken for maximum goo.

This is the best dessert to eat in bed, according to the chef who demo'd this for our class. Take that as you will.

Chocolate lava cake with salted caramel
I'm not sure exactly how many cakes this yields; I halved the recipe so, approximately half a shit ton.

4 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
7 oz butter
150 g dark chocolate (I used 70%, cause that's how I like it, but anything above 55% will do)
3/4 cup cake flour
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

8 oz sugar
2 oz water
Heavy cream
Fleur de sel or other flaky sea salt

-Preheat your oven to 400.

-Make the caramel:
Have an ice bath ready. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan. Don't stir it! When it reaches a dark blonde (as seen against a white plate...it will look darker in the pot), stick the pot in the ice bath to arrest the cooking. Add an equal amount of heavy cream and stir to combine. It will be a thick sauce-like consistency. Let cool slightly and firm up a bit.

-Spray some molds, flan cups, ramekins, etc. I used a muffin tin which was a bit of a pain to extract the cakes from but it worked OK.
-Melt the butter and chocolate over a water bath.
-Add the yolks and the whole eggs a little at a time, whisking constantly. The mixture will appear to separate and then will come back together. Cook to 170-180 degrees (this ensures the eggs are pasteurized but not overcooked).
-Add the sifted powdered sugar a little at a time.
-Add the sifted flour a little at a time.
-When the mixture is well-incorporated, pour into molds 3/4 full.

-Form the caramel into small truffle-sized balls and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

-Bake the cakes for a few minutes, just until they start to set up a bit and a crust begins to form. Drop a caramel ball into the middle of each one and bake for another few minutes. They will look slightly sunken and underdone-- this is good. All told they'll probably be in the oven for about 10-13 minutes.

-Pop them out of the molds (or fish them out of the muffin tin with a fork) and serve immediately.

JANUARY DOTM

2010-02-03T08:32:00.003-05:00

Tara made a pie for National Pie Day in one of my personal favorite flavor combinations: Cherry Almond! My corner market has cherries right now.....ooooooooo.
And remember.."No exploding pies"!!
Thanks Tara!

Desserts Of The Mediterranean

2010-01-29T12:06:00.001-05:00

I've never eaten this much dessert in my life, but I simply could not help it.

CURD IS THE WORD

2010-01-21T10:41:00.005-05:00

Meyer Lemons are my favorite! Especially in the dark days of winter.
I saw them recently at Fairway and scooped some up, with the intention of trying the lemon souffles featured in the January issue of Martha Stewart. I had no occasion to make 6 ramekins full of darling lemon souffles (Damn my non trophy-wife-socialite existence!) however but I did have a bunch of recently liberated egg yolks...

Adapted from an old January issue of Martha...another lemon fiend

1 cup of sugar
6 egg yolks
one vanilla bean, split and scraped
4 Meyer lemons ( the juicier the better) and their zest
one stick of butter cut up into chunks

Zest lemons. Then juice all three lemons within the skin of their..uh.. skins? In a heavy bottomed sauce pot whisk together sugar and yolks until light in color and uniform. Add the juice, zest, vanilla scrapings and bean and cook over medium low heat until nice and thick, stirring with a spoon to avoid hot spots. When the mixture coats the back of your spoon, take off heat and add the chunks of butter. Stir until melted.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of your bean and any errant chunks of pulp or egg.
Pour into a sterilized canning jar and use within a few weeks.

Happy Birthday, Nicole!

2010-01-17T10:41:00.000-05:00

BAD NEWS BUTTERSCOTCH AND BLOOD VISIONS

2010-01-14T16:15:00.003-05:00

This week has been nothing but bad news.

The tragedy in Haiti is devastating and I am hoping we can offer those people some relief in these awful days and in what is sure to be an excruciating road ahead. Here is a list resources in case you are looking to give.
Haiti was not the only troubling news of yesterday.
We lost a handful of folks in the musical realm.

I felt in need of some comforting when I got home last night so I made some butterscotch pudding.
Marty and I watched the news and felt sad, but thankful for each other and for our loved ones.

Rayy Sweet Gingerbread Biscuits

2010-01-10T19:45:00.008-05:00

Our beloved Kat I. hooked me up with a cookbook I've been wanting for ages, Silk Road Cooking, A Vegetarian Journey by Najmeih Batmanglij. I've slowed down on baking after the holiday blitz, but I've made amazing borscht and also tamarind coconut soup from Silk Road and they were both a-MAZ-ing. I've avoided the Bread, Pastries, Desserts, and Candies section of the book long enough! I plan on making the sweet, spicy and crunchy Rayy Sweet Gingerbread Biscuits this week. I'll send an update when I'm done, for now here's the recipe and a photo from the book. Thanks Kat!!

Rayy Sweet Gingerbread
(Nan-e Qandi, persian gingerbread biscotti)

makes 6 10x5x1/4" loaves

1 cup warm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
3-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 hot red chili, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon chili paste)
4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400 & line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine the water, oil, molases, honey, ginger, sugar, and chili. Mix well.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon onto a piece of wax paper and transfer to a mixing bowl. Gradually blend in the molasses mixture and knead until the dough forms into a ball (about 5 minutes).
Divide the dough into 6 equal balls, cover with a dish towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
Roll out one ball on a floured surface to form a 10"x5"x1/4" think oval loaf.
Immediately place the rolled out dough on the baking sheet and paint the dough with water. Then run a fork down the loaf with a fork and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat for the remaining dough. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until puffy.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

The author recommends dipping in a glass of sweet, hot tea. Cheers!

Update! Here's a photo from a batch I made to celebrate Chinese New Year:

Delicious!

HAPPY NEW YEAR DOTMC

2010-01-04T15:48:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone received their homemade vanilla in the mail!
Please let me know if you did not!
The recipe was simple and you can do it in a larger bottle if you want or keep replenishing the one you have.
If you poke around the net there are oodles of places that sell very inexpensive vanilla beans. I had heard good things about the beans offered at Organic Vanilla Bean Company. So I got mine there. Plus they offered little beans which I knew would fit nicely into those bottles.
The 4oz bottles are from Specialty Bottle Company.

Happy New Year Homemade Vanilla Extract
4 oz Vodka (I used Gordon's but you can use Smirnoff or any such brand)
2-3 5 inch vanilla beans
amber glass bottle with cap

Make sure your bottle and cap are sterile. Run them through the dishwasher or wash in hot soapy water and dry thoroughly.
Place beans in bottles ( I used two beans per bottle) -squish down with a chopstick if necessary.
Pour in vodka leaving a half inch gap at the neck.
Cap tightly and give a nice shake now and then

DONE.
Experiment with more or less beans or maybe try Bourbon if you want to impart that flavor as well.
Let it develop for 2 months if you can help it.
I think I am going to get a big jug and put a mess of beans in it and just keep adding to it as needed.

I hope to see lots of activity on DOTMC in this new year!
I have brought back some inspiration to get me motivated after the holidays-
Behold the Spoils of The South!

Vanilla Elf

2009-12-26T09:40:00.004-05:00

This is one of the most precious gifts ever!
Thank you for the homemade vanilla, Nicole.
Do you have any stories to tell about the making of?
Happy 2010, DOTMCers.

Chocolate and Red Chili Cookies

2009-12-20T21:41:00.014-05:00

The cookies I made for Nicole and Molly's Cookie Party received a warm welcome... literally. There was a snow-typhoon outside, so what better to bring the heat than some spicy hot double chocolate cookies?

I searched all over for a good recipe... I had some red chilis at home, and knew I wanted them in the cookie somehow. Some recipes called for jalapenos, some for ground/dried ancho chilis... so It ended up taking Martha's recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, but making some adjustments along the way.
I also substituted her call for chocolate chips and instead used a Lindt Dark Chocolate Chili bar, broken into pieces (I also melted another one of those chocolate bars into the batter).

I used 2 whole red chilis, but de-seeded them. If you want to tweak the heat, you can keep some cayenne pepper on hand to add in as well. This recipe is really great- the heat hits you after you've started chewing...a slow rise of warmth, then boom!

Recipe below the pics...-1 cup of flour
-1/2 cup of unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-7 ounces of good-quality chocolate ( I used 2 Lindt Chili Chocolate bars total. Each bar is 3.5 oz...so 3.5 oz. for melting & 3.5 oz. broken into chip-size bits)
-1/2 cup of butter
-1 & 1/2 cups of sugar
-2 large eggs
-3 Tablespoons (for medium spicy) of red chilis, finely chopped, de-seeded. (Or Cayenne pepper to taste)
-2 teaspoons of vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 325'F degrees. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt; set aside. Melt 1 chocolate chili bar (coarsely chopped) with the butter in a small heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, throw in the chopped chilis and incorporate well. Let cool slightly. I kept tasting this melted mix to get an idea of the heat level... it's the best way to gauge how hot a cookie (heh) you're gonna end up with.

2. Put the melted chocolate/chili mixture and the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a big bowl and blend well. Gradually mix in the flour mixture. Fold in the other (broken into chip-size bits) chocolate chili bar.

3. Drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, (the dough is super sticky) spacing two inches apart. Decorative sugar is optional (I used some red sugar sprinkles). Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 12-15 minutes (cookies will be soft).

Cinnamon or Red Hots would work well in this recipe too.

COOKIE BLIZZARD

2009-12-20T18:52:00.008-05:00

While outside the 'Blizzard of 2009' raged, inside a storm of another kind waged a war against our will power and my waistline.
COOKIE BLIZZARD.
I have been baking every single night, ignoring my husbands pleas for dinner and missing my favorite shows damn it! I have been chained to the stove, oven mitts permanently on.
All in the name of sugar and flour and ....glory?
Luckily I have finally been able to get WFMU to come in on the kitchen radio- so it's not all bad.

I made three cookies for the 7th Annual Cookie Party

Lemon Wreaths
Honeyed Almond and Cherry Shortbread
and Cream Cheese Walnut coins!

All of the recipes are from Martha Stewart Living.
Though I could not find the first two on the site as of yet.
I made some adjustments to the first two cookie recipes. I used vanilla bean in the wreaths as everyone knows vanilla and lemon are true love BFFs.
Instead of macerating the cherries in Sherry,for the shortbread cookies, I used Rum and OJ and also replaced the sliced almonds (which I have an aversion to- they seem so unnatural) with roughly chopped almonds, which worked beautifully and added to the texture.

I think I decreased the amount of sugar in the walnut coins too, because seriously how much sugar can we consume in one month??!

These cookies were simple (and actually really fun for a dork like me) to make but honestly they were just back up singers for the showstoppers brought over by our very own Kat and Amelia. Rosemary Caramel?!? Red Chile Chocolate?!?! Whaaaaaaaaaa I am telling you those gals really BROUGHT IT.
Ladies! Would you share your recipes with the DOTMC gang???

Gingerbread Brooklyn Bridge

2009-12-18T13:43:00.004-05:00

I made a Gingerbread Brooklyn Bridge. It is missing the cables but what can you do? Licorice rope does not grow on trees in Brooklyn.

I used this recipe from Martha with plenty left over for other cookies:

* 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
* 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
* 4 teaspoons ground ginger
* 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
* 1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
* 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
* 2 large eggs
* 1 cup unsulfured molasses
* Royal Icing
* Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into shapes. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

2009-12-16T02:08:00.005-05:00

One of my favorite desserts! Every year around the holidays I crave Mexican Wedding Cookies. This year, I decided to by-pass the pre-made cookies and make them myself. It turns out that they are easy to make and even yummier when they have been welded with your own hands. Beware of ants... they love confectioners sugar (e.g., don't eat them in bed). Enjoy and happy holidays!

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup pecans, cut into very small pieces, some people prefer to use almonds or a mix of almonds, pecans, and walnuts

Directions:
Cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth.
Mix in the vanilla.
At low speed gradually add the flour.
Mix in the pecans with a spatula.
With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent or ball. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar or sift the confectioners’ sugar over the cooled cookies.

OH, YES I DID. FRUITCAKE

2009-12-13T09:52:00.005-05:00

I honestly have never thought about making a fruitcake until last year. Perhaps the desire to make one does not come until you reach your mid thirties or you are ready for the challenge of attempting to make good such a reviled cake. I don't believe I have ever even had a bite of fruitcake. I have seen the dark brown and glossy specimen at supermarkets..and shuddered at what they must taste like. I have tried panettone but that is as close as I would get. However that is a yeasted cake and American fruitcake is not (though this one does get some lift from egg whites). The one I finally chose, that seemed a pleasant place to start is Eudora Welty's recipe for White Fruitcake (traditionally referred to in the South as a grooms cake). As you can see below I adjusted the fruits because there is no way a green cherry will ever pass my lips if I can help it. Also, having been raised with Italian grandparents I have a strong attachment to candied citron, which is very common in Italian pastries.
I am thinking of this as "Fruitcake Light" as there are many out there that are all kinds of serious. Hopefully next fall if I plan right, (read: never gonna happen) I will have plenty of time to start some cakes and age them properly as is the way with the fruitcake.
Alas, I cannot even report to you how this one is, as I am waiting patiently for it to ahem, mature (read: repeatedly slosh with Bourbon over time).

NOTE: This recipe is from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott (which by the way, paired with Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies by Mollie Cox Bryan would make quite the holiday gift for the dessert or Southern crazed baker in your life.

Eudora Welty's
White Fruitcake

1 1/2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
6 eggs, separated
4 cups flour, sifted before measuring
flour for fruit and nuts
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1 pound pecan meats (halves, preferably)
1 pound crystallized cherries, half green, half red (I used orange)
1 pound crystallized pineapple, clear (I used lemon)
some citron or lemon peel if desired
1 cup bourbon
1 tsp. vanilla
nutmeg if desired

Make the cake several weeks ahead of Christmas of you can.
The recipe makes three-medium-sized cakes or one large and one small. Prepare the pans -- the sort with a chimney or tube -- by greasing them well with Crisco and then lining them carefully with three layers of waxed paper, all greased as well.
Prepare the fruit and nuts ahead. Cut the pineapple in thin slivers and the cherries in half. Break up the pecan meats, reserving a handful or so shapely halves to decorate the tops of the cakes. Put in separate bowls, dusting the fruit and nuts lightly in sifting of flour, to keep the from clustering together in the batter.
In a very large wide mixing bowl ( a salad bowl or even a dishpan will serve) cream the butter very light, then beat in the sugar until all is smooth and creamy. Sift in the flour, with the baking powder and salt added, a little at a time, alternating with the unbeaten egg yolks added one at a time. When all this is creamy, add the floured fruits and nuts, gradually, scattering the lightly into the batter, stirring all the while, and add the bourbon in alteration little by little. Lastly, whip the eggwhites into peaks and fold in.
Set the oven low, about 250. Pour the batter into the cake-pans, remembering that they will rise. Decorate the tops with nuts. Bake for three hours or more, until they spring back to the touch and a straw inserted at the center comes out clean and dry. (if the top browns too soon, lay a sheet of foil lightly over.) When done, the cake should be a warm golden color.
When they've cooled enough to handle, run a spatula around the sides of each cake, cover the pan with a big plate , turn the pan over and slip the cake out. Cover the cake with another plate and turn rightside up. When cool, the cake can be wrapped in cloth or foil and stored in a tightly fitted tin box.
From time to time before Christmas you may improve it with a little more bourbon, dribbled over the top to be absorbed ans so ripen the cake before cutting. This cake will keep for a good while, in or out of the refrigerator.

MILK PUNCH

2009-12-04T10:59:00.006-05:00

'Tis the season for parties and punch.
You may not think to look to a book titled Screen Doors and Sweet Tea for inspiration for holiday parties, but you'd be remiss. For it contains a recipe for Milk Punch by the fabulous Martha Foose. The book is filled with many wonderful recipes actually and Martha's engaging tales. It's one of my favorites.
Back to the punch, some versions appear to be a lighter incarnation of eggnog without the eggs though some do add egg white for frothiness. In researching it's origins I found it is a popular drink in New Orleans, but enthusiasm for it is widespread.
I came across Benjamin Franklin's recipe which sounds great too, and involves soaking lemon rinds in brandy for 24 hours. (A lot of lemons!) I believe it is English in origin.

Though I plan on making real eggnog for the first time this year, and intend on trying Craig Claiborn's recipe, I'm looking forward to adding Milk Punch to the winter cocktail repertoire.

Here are some recipes:

Martha Foose's Milk Punch ( go get her book!)
Serves 1

1 ½ ounces good bourbon or brandy
2 ounces half-and-half
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
Drop of vanilla extract
Ice cubes
Freshly grated nutmeg

Combine the bourbon, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly until the mixture is cold and frothy. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with a grating of nutmeg.

Coconut Milk Punch ( from Gourmet magazine- it's Vegan)

Make coconut milk:
Grate the meat of 1 coconut, wrap it in a damp cheesecloth, and squeeze it over a bowl to extract the milk.
Reserve the milk.
Transfer the cheesecloth-wrapped coconut to another bowl, open the cheesecloth, and pour 1/4 cup boiling water over the coconut.
When cool, squeeze the mixture through the cheesecloth into the bowl to extract all the liquid and add the reserved milk.

In a cocktail shaker combine
1/2 cup each of coconut milk and crushed ice,
3 tablespoons light rum,
1 tablespoon sugar syrup,
1/8 teaspoon vanilla and shake the liquid vigorously.
Strain the punch into an 8-ounce goblet and grate some nutmeg over it.
Makes 1 drink.

Ginger Cranberry Sauce

2009-11-28T15:38:00.009-05:00

My relatives have come to expect this quick, spicy sauce every year during the holidays. I try to make this 24 hours in advance of serving to let the ginger mingle. Leftover sauce is rare, but goes well with cream cheese on toast! This recipe makes 3 cups.

Ingredients:

1 juice orange
1 pkg / 12 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries (I've always used fresh)
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 C sugar
1/2 C cranberry juice

Optional:
Dash cayenne pepper
Splash of orange juice

Prep:
Rinse cranberries.
Grate 2 teaspoons zest from the orange and the lemon.
Juice the lemon.
Remove orange peel and seeds, chop orange into 1/2 inch pieces.
Peel and grate ginger root:

In a nonreactive saucepan, combine orange chunks, cranberries, grated ginger, lemon juice, sugar, and cranberry juice. At this point, I like to add orange and lemon zest, a dash of cayenne, and a little orange juice (Alternately, the zest makes a good garnish just before serving):

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 3 to 5 minutes, stir occasionally until thickened and most of the berries have popped:

Transfer the sauce to a serving bowl to cool, stirring occasionally, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. I never liked cranberry sauce until I made this one.

Kirsch Spirited Away

2009-11-27T11:10:00.025-05:00

I love booze-infused desserts and food. This year I added a new spirit to my (very small) pie repertoire- using the yummy cherry brandy that is Kirsch.

Trader Joe's has been selling bags of deliciously tart Montmorency dried cherries, and I've been waiting for the right recipe to throw them in to. I knew I wanted to make an apple pie for Thanksgiving, so I figured they'd work well within the basic recipe, So I poured about 2/3 cup of the dried little cherries into a bowl, covered them with Kirsch and let them soak up all that goodness overnight.

The next morning they had nearly tripled in size, having soaked up all that booziness. The little Kirsch that was left in the bowl was now dark red, reduced down to the purest cherry essence.

I started with the pie crust. I use frozen pie shells or store bought pie dough because of an admittedly irrational fear of pastry, bread, etc dough of any kind.... but by all means, make your own pie crust if you have a standard recipe you like, because it always, always tastes better. The frozen ones are fine too, but I know nothing tastes better than homemade.

But I digress! I baked the bottom shell at 400 degrees for 10 minutes/'til the edges turn slightly golden. Then took it out to cool down while I worked on the filling:

2 pounds Granny Smith, Braeburn, or other tart apples (about 5-6 med. apples)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

Peel, halve, and core apples and cut into 1/4-inch slices. In a large bowl toss apples with granulated sugar, cherries (plus leftover Kirsch), lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of flour.

In another small bowl mix together, with fingertips: brown sugar, butter, and remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Spoon apple mixture into pie crust and top with brown sugar mixture. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Weave extra pie dough strips in a lattice pattern over pie. Brush top with milk or butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake pie in middle of oven for 1 hour , or until top is golden and the filling is bubbling. Great with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.

The other pie I made is a favorite standard- Maple Pumpkin Pie. It's so simple, easy and no-frills, and friends always love it. I tweaked this recipe a bit... I take out the brown sugar entirely and instead add about 4 more tablespoons of good maple syrup (for a whopping 10 tablespoons total), and I use fresh grated cinnamon and nutmeg in place of pre-packaged pumpkin pie spice mix. And then I gobble it all up.

Lemon cupcake surprise

2009-11-25T09:00:00.006-05:00

I wish I could add aroma to this posting, my house smells like a lemony dream. I wanted to share another baking success story courtesy of the Babycakes cookbook, meyer lemon and bing cherry cupcakes. I put a thinner layer of batter over the cherry filling on half the batch so the cherries would peek through and glaze the top of the cake. Who needs frosting? Not my mom, who's diabetic. No sugar in this moist, delicious cake. The sweetness comes from agave nectar (and the love). Email me if you're interested in the recipe.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH CHEESECAKE

2009-11-24T21:53:00.007-05:00

I am currently obsessed with butternut squash and I want to put it in everything! So I'm gonna. I made this today and Adrian says it's smoother in texture than a pumpkin cheesecake.

CRUST

1 1/2 to 2 cups of crushed ginger snaps
half a stick of melted butter
a graham cracker crust can be substituted just add a little powdered ginger

In a bowl combine the ginger snaps and butter press into a 9" spring form pan. Set aside. Today I didn't have a spring form pan so I sprayed a regular 9" round cake pan lined all sides with parchment paper, sprayed that and pressed the crumbs into the pan. It worked pretty well. The cheesecake came out as easy as pie, well, cheesecake.

FILLING

2 butternut squash average in size
24 ounces room temperature cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs + 1 yolk
2 TBS flour
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Halve and scoop the seeds from the squash place skin side up and roast for about 30 minutes. Once ready scoop the squash out of it's skin and into a bowl. Set aside to cool. @ 15 minutes. In another bowl beat the remaining ingredients together. I usually do this in the order they are listed. Then add about 3/4 of the squash and continue to mix until everything's incorporated. (Hint: since squash varies so much in size, I would limit it to 3 cups max but no less than 2 cups)
Pour into the crust and bake for 50-60 minutes. You want it to be a little jiggly so it doesn't overcook and crack. Let it sit for about 15 minutes then cover with plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours.

So there's some leftover squash. I made whipped cream with it. Just a normal homemade whipped cream recipe with squash and powdered ginger added. Mmmm hmmm

10 Minute Maple Cookies

2009-11-22T12:31:00.003-05:00

My goal this weekend was to make some cookies using ingredients I had in the cupboard and fridge that was as easy as possible. I adapted this recipe from one for snickerdoodles replacing the sugar with maple crystals. Without the sugar they seemed to spread a little more, but they were so yummy and satisfying I'll definitely make them again and take a pic to post.

10 Minute Maple Cookies
Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 3/4 cup maple crystals
* 1 egg
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter, maple crystals, and the eggs. Blend in the flour, baking powder and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUTS IN APPLE CIDER GLAZE

2009-11-11T12:26:00.006-05:00

Molly Schnick and I go apple picking every year but this year it just did not happen. We both really love Fall and I knew when I wanted to make doughnuts I would have to get her on board. My first inclination was of course -Apple Cider doughnuts! BUT I had a big beautiful bottle of organic buttermilk in the fridge....I was torn. Fortunately Molly suggested that as we have supped on apple cider doughnuts many a time in our past, perhaps it would be nice to try something else.

We decided on Buttermilk Doughnuts with an Apple Cider glaze!
It all went pretty swimmingly EXCEPT for when the doughnuts cooked too quickly on the outside and not enough on the inside. Which you can see evidence of here:

I have a lot to learn about maintaining the temperature of oil. At one point it was off the thermometer! So we just shut off the burner and let it drop.

We roughly followed this recipe and for the glaze I boiled down a cup of apple cider and a half cup of sugar.

Once I get myself a deep fryer, I hope to make doughnuts more often. Not the healthiest, I know but it was really fun and think of all the experimenting!
Root Beer Doughnuts anyone??

Gingersnaps!

2009-11-11T08:58:00.005-05:00

I finally own a copy of the Babycakes NYC cookbook. The recipes all sound amazing, even exotic, like meyer lemon and bing cherry cupcakes. I started with a classic (one of my favorites), gingersnaps. Besides wanting a good chomp, my friends Julie, Caissie and I have been talking about a cookie party and I wanted to test out the dough before the extravaganza. Had to share because these are the best gingersnaps I've ever made!! Just as genius Babycakes founder, Erin McKenna, describes, "the recipe produces a fairly flat, crisp-edged cookie" and yes, she put her "chewy, health-minded signature on it." The dough rolled like a charm and as you can see, I put my elephant cookie-cutter to use. The ingredients will be easier to locate at your local health-food store but don't let that scare you. Here's the recipe (my modification in italics):

Babycakes NYC Gingersnaps
makes 36

3/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup applesauce (homemade or unsweetened store-bought)
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (my modification)
1 1/2 cups evaporated cane juice (I used raw cane sugar)
2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/4 cup flax meal
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine the oil, applesauce, salt, molasses, grated ginger, vanilla, and evaporated cane juice. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and xanthan gum. Using a rubber spatula, carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until a grainy dough is formed.
Using a melon baller (or tablespoon measure), scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the portions 1 inch apart. Gently press each with the heel of your hand to flatten a bit. Bake the cookies on the center rack for 15 minutes, rotating the sheets after 9 minutes. The finished cookies will be crisp on the edges and soft in the center.
Let the cookies stand on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

BROOKS HEADLEY, DESSERT PSYCHO

2009-11-09T13:02:00.005-05:00

The wildly gifted Sam McPheeters wrote a really wonderful and entertaining article on Brooks Headley! Brooks is a former (and present) radical drummer and good friend who now holds the position of head Pastry Chef at Del Posto.

The article is here. READ IT!

Rhubarb Cherry Crisp

2009-11-08T19:55:00.001-05:00

Hi ya'll!

So I'm super excited to be joining in here right as I start pastry school-- simultaneously the best and most ridiculous decision I ever made. We have been going fast fast fast, but we made this really delicious and really simple fruit crisp in class the other day and I wanted to share it.

Truthfully I was a little embarrassed to post this here, because you know, it's a fruit crisp, and aren't I supposed to be tempering chocolate and making massive towering sugar sculptures and whatnot? Well, they won't let us in the chocolate kitchen yet, but more importantly, let's hear it for unpretentious, simple food that may be a little ugly but will blow your mind with some vanilla ice cream. Right? Right.

Rhubarb-Cherry Fruit Crisp
This was originally rhubarb-apple crisp, which makes a lot more sense given the season, but I love cherries. We used frozen fruit but the procedure is the same for fresh.

For the topping:
4 oz cold butter, diced
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz pastry flour
4 oz rolled oats (and/or chopped nuts if you like)
1/4 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon

For the gooey delicious insides:
1 lb diced rhubarb
1 1/2 lbs cherries (or other fruit)
4 oz sugar
1/2 oz cornstarch
1/2 t cinnamon
pinch cloves

Make the topping:
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter with your hands until the pieces of fat are roughly the size of walnut halves. Add the nuts or oats and set aside.

Make the innards:
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and toss with the fruit. Arrange in gratins, ramekins, or one big pie dish. Fill them up nice and full and put the tins on a sheet pan covered with parchment. Mine bubbled up a bit (hence the parchment), but your fruit will also shrink a little as it bakes. Cover with the crisp topping.

Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes, depending on size, until bubbly and golden on top.

NOV DOTM Chocolate Guinness Cake

2009-11-04T18:44:00.007-05:00

So, this is a cake I make a lot because it's so easy and I usually have everything I need at home already. The beer, however, does need replenishing sometimes. I've found that even people who aren't cake people like this cake. It stays pretty moist even in the fridge and freezes well.

Ingredients:

1 cup dark cocoa powder (sifted)
1 3/4 cups flour (sifted)
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup Guinness (not extra stout)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and put water on to boil
Mix all dry ingredients then add wet ingredients one at a time adding the water last.
The batter will be very wet. It’s normal.

I use a 10” sprayed spring form pan with a pizza pan or something underneath it in case any leaks out. In my oven the cake bakes in 45 minutes. About halfway into cooking time sprinkle the top with coconut flakes. They will toast as the cake finishes baking. Do a toothpick test and if it comes out clean it’s ready. Let it rest for about 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
Any pan can be used but the cooking time will get adjusted. If you use a casserole dish to make it more like a sheet cake it’ll take about 20 minutes.

I serve it with whipped cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whisk together in a cold bowl (I put mine in the freezer) until it looks like whipped cream. You can add more powdered sugar if it’s not sweet enough for ya.

October DOTM: Apple Cream Pie

2009-10-27T12:14:00.010-04:00

I'm sending out my October DOTM today!
It's a recipe for Apple Cream Pie from Mildred Armstrong Kalish's memoir Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression (which I highly recommend!) Check out the book's website for more farm recipes!

From Chapter 11, "Farm Food"

Here’s how to make crust for two large one-crust pies.

3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/8 cup skim or whole milk

Blend all together with a fork, and form into two equal balls using your hands. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper. Peel the top paper off the dough using a spatula. With the paper side up, carefully fit the crust into the pie pan. Now carefully remove the wax paper. If the crust tears, don’t worry. Using your fingers, carefully paste over the hole. Take care not to stretch the dough. Unlike the old-fashioned lard dough, you can handle this mixture as much as you like. You will probably never make the old-fashioned dough again. (I was skeptical of this crust at first, because pie crusts intimidate me anyways, but even though it's not that pretty...it was easy and delicious!)

Note: the following recipe for pie filling is for one ten-inch pie; if you want to make two pies, double it.

¾ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour
6 large Granny Smith apples
½ pint heavy cream
cinnamon

Combine three quarters of a cup of sugar with three tablespoons flour and one half teaspoon salt. Stir. Add three tablespoons of this mixture to the dough-lined pie pan, and pat it gently but firmly into the crust with the opened palm of your hand. This little trick promises a crisp bottom crust when baked. Set aside the remainder of the sugar mixture.

Peel, core, and cut into eighths six Granny Smith apples. Add two tablespoons of lemon juice if the apples are not tart enough. Arrange apples in the crust, sprinkle with the remainder of the sugar-flour mixture, and dust liberally with cinnamon. Pour a half pint of heavy cream over all and sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar on top of this wonderful creation. Place in 450° oven for twelve minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake about one hour or until the apples are done. You should test for doneness with a toothpick—or a straw drawn from the kitchen broom if you are as indifferent to the dangers of germs as we were.

PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES: PART ONE

2009-10-26T11:48:00.004-04:00

What would Halloween be without PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES? Non-fattening, and as you well know I just can't have that. I am making all sorts of Fall/Halloween themed food this week and will be posting! Part two of these lil guys is coming soon once I get the filling just how I want it..

Also, I have started a NEW BLOG. I decided that Tentacles needed a sister blog for just food.
The new blog is called FOOD PUNK.

After much inner debate on exactly what to call myself in regard to my food obsessive tendencies, I decided that Food Punk describes me in a nutshell.

MY GELATO IN A COOKBOOK?!?!!?

2009-10-21T14:06:00.004-04:00

I'm as shocked as you are!!

Read all about how my recipe will be published in Amanda Hesser's Food 52 book.

Concord Grape Honey Ice Cream

2009-10-19T22:47:00.007-04:00

It's taken me a bit to get hip to the concord grape craze but an unexpected treat in last weeks CSA share forced me to get with the program. I've been on a big ice cream making kick lately and am trying to make them with natural sweeteners whenever possible. I think maple could work well with this combo too so I'll try that next time.

Anyway, I was very pleased with the results here. I'm finally getting my ice cream bases correct so they are smooth after churning and freezing. I'm so happy about that! The flavor of the grapes and cream was sort of unusual, but I really liked it. I also really liked the color. What do you guys think??

Concord Grape Honey Ice Cream

2 cups half and half
2 cups whole milk
2 cups honey
2 cups concord grapes
6 egg yolks

In a large saucepan add the grapes and one cup of honey and simmer until the grapes start to break down. Add the half and half and milk, and cook over medium heat.
Put the yolks in a heat proof bowl and whisk in the other half of the honey. When the cream mixture is starting to steam, whisk a cup or so, 1/4 cup at a time, into the eggs. The goal is the raise the heat of the eggs so they won't curdle when added to cream. When the eggs are tempered, add them to the cream, return to stove until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon and you can draw a clear line through it.

Strain the mixture into a large bowl and chill, 3 hours at least, but preferably overnight. Then process according to your ice-cream maker's instructions, remove from ice cream maker and freeze until it firms up.

Decomposition Of The Monster Club

2009-10-19T18:29:00.008-04:00

I got quite the wonderfully creepy surprise in my mailbox today, and I do believe many of you did as well!!!
Decomposition Of The Monster Club...now where I have seen that acronym before???????
Who pray tell sent these spooky goodies???
Whoever it was just MADE MY OCTOBER!! Come forward so I can lavish you with praise!!

"NUDICAL AND DESSERTICAL"

2009-10-16T13:18:00.005-04:00

Super Uber talented Tara Sinn made a new zine!
JUST DESSERTS
It's in 3D and features nudes and desserts which is just my ~~my cup of tea~~ dish of pudding!

AGAIN WITH THE SKULL

2009-10-05T11:36:00.002-04:00

So I tried to make the Crimson Ghost in tart form yet again
It came out far better this time, no?
Still a mess after baking but what are ya gonna do? I used the wonderous Concord Grape tart recipe that Christophile posted from Oct 2008 Martha Stewart Living. It's really delicious regardless of the crust design.
Try it out before Concord Grapes are gone from the markets.

Salty Caramel Ice Cream

2009-10-03T16:04:00.004-04:00

Sumptuous...can I say that word? I made a sumptuous dessert last week, salty caramel ice cream. As many of you know, I'm of the dairy-free persuasion and since I can't seem to ever make it to Lula's Sweet Apothecary when I'm in New York (http://www.lulassweetapothecary.com/) I decided to try making a frozen treat on my own. I consulted my *autographed* copy of Wheeler Del Torro's newly released book "The Vegan Scoop" and the results are truly rich and dense with a heavenly hint of salt. You'll need an ice-cream maker (thanks to my friend Reb for leaving hers at my house indefinitely) and I invested $12.00 in an candy thermometer for the caramel. My main inspiration: the key-lime ice cream Nicole made when I had dinner at her place in August.

For the Caramel
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup earth balance (non-dairy butter)
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Ice Cream
1 cup soymilk
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
2 cups soy creamer
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the caramel: Slowly boil sugar, corn syrup, butter, and coconut milk until mixture reaches "thread" stage on thermometer (235 degrees). Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Set aside.

To make the ice cream: In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 cup soymilk and arrowroot. Set aside.
Mix soy creamer, remaining 3/4 soymilk, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once mixture begins to bil, remove from head and immediately add arrowroot cream. This will cause the liquid to thicken noticeably. Add vanilla extract.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours. Freeze/make ice cream according to your ice-cream maker's instructions. In the last few minutes of freezing, swirl in the homemade caramel.

[sorry no pics]

OLIVE OIL ZUCCHINI BREAD

2009-09-28T11:59:00.004-04:00

I put the above words into the computer box and a bunch of recipes later, this is what I ended up with.
Divine.

2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
3 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
crushed walnuts
I mixed dry and gave em a nice sift. I mixed wet, added nuts and incorporated to the dry ingredients in three additions. Mix well.
Bake at 350 for an hour checking halfway. I baked mine in a deep 10 wedding cake, cake pan which is a fussy pan and it took longer, plus my oven suffers a temperature identity crises. The olive oil addition to this old stand by is really magnificent.
There was some mention of a sugar glaze but really, the bread needs no adornment.

Sorbete de limon al mar de cava

2009-09-21T05:47:00.005-04:00

My contribution to DOTMC last year was inspired by this dessert, Sorbete de limon al mar de cava, which I first had in January 2008 at Cal Boter in Barcelona. I was lucky enough to be able to return yesterday and couldn't resist ordering it again, even though the menu has other tremendously delicious and classic Catalan desserts. There is something about this perfectly smooth sweet and sour sorbet floating in an equally sour but very strong liqueur that just gets my goat. The other thing that makes me crazy is the liqueur is basically impossible to find, even here in Barcelona, so I guess I'll just take what I can get and enjoy the special chances I have every few years.

APPLE CARAMEL WALNUT TART

2009-09-16T10:46:00.004-04:00

For Molly and Allison's 20th Friendship Anniversary I made this tart. My idea was to have a layered apple bottom and an almost pecan pie like top. It sort of worked. I did not get a pic of the pie cut but I have one more slice in the fridge so maybe I can add it here later. I used Nick Malgieri's recipe for Pate Brisse and it worked nicely. I used my mandoline to get seriously thin apple slices which I layered atop the crust. Then I made a caramel sauce and mixed it with about a cup to a cup and a half of toasted walnuts and poured it on top.
It came out nicely but was in the oven FOREVER. Next time I will use my head and BLIND BAKE the crust some before filling! Part of success in baking is using everything you know about the craft. I have a tendency to ignore the things I know and plow along pig-headed and stubborn. A deeper tart pan also may have helped and less apples. The finished product was ok, but I know I can do better.

Pate Brisee
1 lb butter
1 lb flour
1/2 lb cake flour ( I used all AP)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 oz COLD water

cut butter into pieces combine dry ingredients, rub in butter with hands or a paddle. leaving pea size pieces.
stir in water until dough holds together shape into a disc wrap in plastic chill until firm

Peach Pear Pie With Cornmeal Crust

2009-09-13T22:37:00.003-04:00

Trying to get back into the pie making game and with the results on this one, I'm happy I did! I used the crust recipe from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" replacing 1/4 of the flour with cornmeal which gave it a nice texture, but wasn't overwhelming at all. Since I had peaches and pears from my fruit share at the sweet pea CSA I decided to try a peach pear pie and it worked great. Here's the recipe, I hope you dig it.

Peach Pear Pie in Cornmeal Crust

FILLING:

* 2-1/2 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches
* 2-1/2 cups sliced peeled fresh pears
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/3 cup maple crystals
* 1/4 cup honey
* 3 tablespoons arrowroot
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground Chinese 5 Spice
* 1 unbaked cornmeal crust (9 inches)

TOPPING:

* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup ground maple crystals
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 cup cold butter
* 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
In a bowl, sprinkle the peaches and pears with lemon juice. Combine the sugar and honey, arrowroot, cinnamon and allspice. Add to fruit, toss gently to coat. Pour into crust.

For topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in walnuts. Sprinkle over filling.

Cover edges loosely with foil.

Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

MOLLY'S BIRTHDAY CAKE

2009-09-09T14:52:00.004-04:00

Ms.Schnick had a birthday and this is the cake I made for her. Chocolate cake with layers of caramel and salt, frosted with a caramel chocolate ganache. I used the recipe from Baked.
It was thoroughly enjoyed by all, though the caramel recipe needs to be tweaked a bit, methinks.

Chia Seed Pudding (Vegan and Greek inspired)

2009-08-31T08:34:00.004-04:00

A little while back, I posted an item about chia seeds, how they're used in drinks, their health benefits, and about my general love for them.

I just came across this vegan chia seed pudding recipe on Veggie Wedgie and it looks amazing... I haven't tried it yet, but plan on giving it a go soon...thought you'd want to check it out!

Here's a pic from the link... yum:

July 2009 DOTMC: FUNNEL CAKE

2009-08-01T14:30:00.008-04:00

Hi, everyone! Here's the recipe card you'll be receiving in the mail this week (so sorry it's late!)... I thought about what desserts I nostalgically relate to summertime. I spent many summers in Ocean City, MD, where my cousins and I would harass our parents into taking us to the boardwalk, and we'd go bananas on various amusement park rides, bumper-cars, and iron-on shops, and then inhale Fishers caramel popcorn, Thrasher's french fries, and my favorite of all, funnel cake, until we were happily, exhaustively ill.

Above is the recipe, as well as a vegan version to the right... it's a pretty solid recipe, and was as good, if not better (read: FRESHER), than the real thing. I also made a strawberry, plum, and lime compote to go along with it. I just threw the fruit (about a cup?) in a pan, a teaspoon of sugar, and the juice of a whole lime and cooked it down, adding some whole, uncooked bits of strawberries at the end, to add a chunkier texture. I grated a bit of lime zest in there as well. You can see the whole album of making both here.

Please enjoy! xo kat

BLUEBERRY LEMON HANDPIES

2009-07-26T12:30:00.002-04:00

I was pretty stoked on these.
I used 4 cups of flour one teaspoon of salt one stick of butter and a half cup of crisco for the crust.
Aren't they darlin'?

Outsides
4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 c butter, one stick cold
1/2 c crisco
1/4 cup ice cold H2O ( may not use all of it)

Insides
2 cups of blueberries (I did not measure, actually...more like a mess of blueberries)
1/2 cup of sugar
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
juice of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest

In a food processor or kitchen aid or a bowl with a dough cutter, Combine dry ingredients for crusts, add the fats, cut em in or process em until they are around pea sized. Start adding cold water a tblsp at a time until the dough keeps a shape when you sqeeze it. Ok, step away now! Wrap in plastic and chill for one hour. (The dough I mean, you can chill too if you are not busy- or you can make the filling!)
Heat in a large pot the berries, lemon juice, zest, sugar and cornstarch until stuff starts to break down and jellify a bit. Let cool.
Roll out yer dough.
Use a small plate to make circles of dough. Re-use scraps as you go. Fill the centers of your dough circles with like 2 tblsp of filling. Wet the rim of ONE side of the circle and fold it over. Now is the time to egg wash if you want them to brown nicely. (one egg whipped w 2 tsps of milk)
bake at 375 for like 20 minutes or until they look real good!

RICHARD AND LYNNE'S CINNAMON ROLL AND KLEINUR

2009-06-30T13:29:00.004-04:00

Finally posted!! Sorry it took so long. I am all over the Kleinur!!!!!! For step by step illustrated instructions, download the pdfs which are linked below.

Cinnamon Roll

Ömmu-kanelsnú∂ar (Granny's cinnamon rolls)
Adapted from Cool Cuisine by Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir, Vaka-Helgafell.
Richard Lewis, Dessert of the Month entry for May 2009

From my many visits to Iceland over the years, I've accumulated quite a number of Icelandic cookbooks. Unfortunately, most of them are not available outside of Iceland - like this one
(unless you want to buy the used copy up on Amazon at the moment for $50, which seems a bit much!). I've never actually seen these little rolled cinnamon shortbread-like cookies on my
travels, but they are great, and you probably won't find the recipe elsewhere...
700g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baker's ammonia
225g sugar
200g cold butter
2 eggs
50g melted butter
1 tbs cinnamon
cream
Mix the flour with the baking powder and baker's ammonia in a bowl. Add 150g of the sugar
and mix. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and crumble it thoroughly into the dry ingredients
using a mixer.

Make a well in the middle of the crumbs and break the eggs into it. Gradually stir into the mixer
at low speed and knead until smooth. If the dough does not come together, add cold cream by
tablespoons. Remove from the bowl and form into a disk (you may need to knead it a little to get
all the dough bits to stick together) - wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 355°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it into a rectangle,
about 25 x 35 cm. The dough will be pretty firm, but you should be able to shape it pretty well.
Brush the dough with the melted butter.
Trim the edges of the dough so they are straight. Mix the remaining 75g of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the dough.
Roll up the rectangle, starting at one of the long sides. I recommend using Silpat for these
cookies as it makes it easier to roll the dough.
Cut the roll into 1 cm thick slices and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment
paper.
Bake the rolls in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until nicely brown and crisp. Enjoy!

Kleinur

Kleinur (Icelandic doughnuts)
Adapted from Icelandic Food & Cookery by Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir, Hippocrene Books.
Richard Lewis, Dessert of the Month entry for May 2009
There are variations on this theme around Scandinavia, but here is how to make the Icelandic
version. This recipe tends to make kleinur that are a little more crisp and less dough-y than other
versions, which I like. You can get them pretty much all over in Iceland, even at the airport. I've
never seen them anywhere in the USA, though...

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baker's ammonia (use a mix of baking soda and baking powder if you don't have it)
Pinch of salt
6 tbs butter
2 eggs
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
1/4 cup buttermilk (you may not use all of it)
oil for frying
Grinding fresh cardamom makes a difference! I love my mortar and pestle - it gets a lot of use for grinding spices. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baker's ammonia, and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and stir until
combined. Add eggs and flavoring and mix well.
Add the buttermilk little by little until the dough is fairly soft, but not sticky. If the dough gets too wet, don't panic - just add flour until it all comes back together.
The dough is pretty forgiving.
Flour a flat surface, take the dough out of the bowl, and roll it out to around 1/8 to 1/6 inch thickness.Don't sweat it too much over the shape - you're going to end up trimming off pieces and re-
rolling this out several times with dough scraps.
Trim off one edge of the dough so that you have a straight side.Use a bench scraper or some other long straight edge to mark out parallel lines roughly 1 1/2
inches apart. Now would be a good time to start heating the oil for frying - a good sized wok works great as the vessel for frying.
Mark off diagonal lines that are spaced out about 3 inches apart.Once you have the whole surface of the dough marked off, go ahead and cut through the dough
fully to make lots of little diamonds. Make a little slit in the center of each diamond, and pull one end of the dough through the center slit.I make all of the diamonds first, and place them on lightly-floured baking sheets. Take all the
scraps from the first set of diamonds, roll it out again, and repeat until you've used up basically all the dough. They recommend getting the oil to 375°F. I usually just wing it, and try a small bit of dough in
the oil to figure out if it's at frying temperature (it'll start sizzling and turning brown when it's hot
enough). Fry the bows, 6 at a time in the oil until just golden, about 2 minutes.
Use a slotted spoon to turn them over once for even cooking. Cook them a bit less on the other side. Use the spoon to remove the bows from the oil, and let them cool and drain on paper towel. Technically, that is it - but I like to dust them with a little powdered sugar just before eating,
even though it's not traditional. Wait until they are cool so the heat and steam don't make the sugar gummy).
Dunking in coffee also works well!

June DOTMC: Strawberry Rhubarb Crema Catalana

2009-06-30T06:05:00.007-04:00

These days I’m super into using the best ingredients I can find. For this recipe I wanted to use the fruit from my CSA and fresh raw dairy from my dairy club. I’m also trying not to use refined sugar or corn starch wherever possible so I thought I’d give this a go. This is a traditional Catalan dessert made slightly modern through the use of ingredients as it is usually made with sugar, corn or potato starch and no fruit. Play around with it and fee free to borrow my cast iron caramelizing tool!

5 stalks fresh rhubarb
1 ½ t. butter
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup honey

Slice and sautee the rhubarb in butter until soft, approximately 4-5 minutes. Combine with strawberries in a large bowl, refrigerate.

2 cups milk
4 tablespoons honey (more to taste if you wish)
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
4 egg yolks
1 T kuzu powder
2 T maple crystals

Pour milk into pan, add 2 T honey, the vanilla bean seeds and bring to a simmer and remove from the heat.
While the milk is heating, beat the egg yolks, 2 T honey and the kuzu. Gradually stir in the hot milk and then return the mixture to the pan. Bring back to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes or until thickened to the consistency of soft pudding. Strain out the vanilla seeds and pour into a serving dish or 4 individual serving dishes, add 2 T of the strawberry-rhubarb mixture to the middle of the custard, let cool, then refrigerate for at least an hour (will be fine covered with plastic for up to a day.) Just before serving, sprinkle maple crystals on top and using either a kitchen torch or cast iron tool specifically for this purpose, burn the crystals to caramelize.

Serves 4

SPEAKING OF SUMMER! RASPBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE and BANANA PUDDING ICE CREAM

2009-06-12T13:36:00.006-04:00

I'm such a dud I totally forgot to post two rad summer desserts I made recently! The Raspberry Buttermilk cake from a recent Gourmet issue and Banana Pudding ice cream!

ARE YOU READY FOR THE SUMMER??

2009-06-12T10:04:00.003-04:00

I had this dessert at Ipanema in Rchmond VA. It is vegan poached pear with pecans and a shortbread tart in a caramel sauce. We attacked it, needless to say.
This month we have Richard and Lynne's double dessert whammy that will be posted up here soon. Next up is Molly Neuman! In the mean time.....
Let's get some summer pies up here people!

CHOCOLATE WALNUT PIE

2009-05-19T09:54:00.002-04:00

Last night I made this Chocolate Walnut pie, inspired by the Pecan pie in The Gift Of Southern Cooking. It was during this pie making session that I realized my new oven is about 100 degrees off! (Also the racks were in there upside down??) Oh, hurdles of NYC baking....
I am not usually a nut pie person but something about the chill in the air last night brought this pie into my consciousness. That and the pound of walnuts in my bakehouse.
I have no recipe to go along with this as I am not at home right now but I can urge you to go find a copy of The Gift Of Southern Cooking. It's magical.

DOUBLE DESSERTS

2009-04-28T11:18:00.004-04:00

We have two Desserts Of the Month to feature today. The first is Molly Schnick's whose month was a while back but I misplaced it. Luckily it resurfaced!!
For those of you who don't know Molly's Snickerdoodles, which I prefer to call Schnickerdoodles, are the best version I have ever tasted. In other words DON'T SLEEP.

The next DOTM, is APRIL and comes to us from Jodi, our Vegan Queen! I love love love a good quick cake recipe! This one looks moist and flavorful and I plan on making it for sure. It looks like the kind of cake you can build a tea party around!
Thanks Ladies!!!!

KING CARROT CAKE

2009-04-13T19:26:00.008-04:00

For Easter Feaster (thanks to Kat for the moniker) this year I made the Ginger Carrot Cake that was featured in MSL's April 1999 issue. It was a long time candying those carrots but it looked spectacular and tasted even better. I moistened the layers with the carrot infused syrup. I felt very proud of this cake and I took many photos of it, it sort of hypnotized me.

A TALE TWO PEEPS

2009-04-11T13:35:00.005-04:00

Last year I made Peeps out of meringue. They did not work out as I had planned because I am get impatient in the kitchen sometimes. This year I followed a recipe from MSL. It only called for gelatin and sugar! I busted out my kosher and veegs gelatin and got to work. After like 15 minutes in the mixer, nothing was happening. Bummsville! I hastily added some egg white (as the gelatin had not congealed at all and was still a viscous liquid, it was safe to do so) and ta da! Marshmallow started to happen. I think what happened is I treated the kosher gelatin like regular gelatin. I did not boil it for instance. My question is, had I boiled it and added just the sugar, where is the volume (imagine fluffy clouds of marshmallow) supposed to come from? I am asking you Martha! Without the egg whites, I don't see how that is gonna go down. But I am not Alton Brown so maybe there is a good reason. If you know please tel me. So anyway, my peeps though not a complete failure are VERY delicate. they still look cute tho!

I MADE A CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER PIE

2009-04-04T20:02:00.001-04:00

That is half veegs...check it out over here.

BIBINGKA

2009-04-03T14:37:00.008-04:00

My co-worker Joey has a major sweet tooth. We often score cookies from the kitchen and sneak in bites of chocolate during the work day. The other day she made a Filipino dessert, Bibingka and brought a piece in for me. Creamy coconutty and not too sweet, with a toothy bite, it was delish and I of course asked her to please jot down the recipe so I could share it here!!

Herrrrrrrre's Joey:

Bibingka (bingka, for short) is a really popular dessert in the Philippines. There are generally two kinds, one made with rice (or rice flour) and one made with cassava (also known as yuca). There are lots of variations and personal spins on both. Like apple pie, there are so many ways to make it. I'm sure there are different versions of it in other countries in the Pacific too. This is the recipe for the Filipino cassava bibingka.
I couldn't believe how easy it was to make.

My mom always used the frozen cassava, being a working mom it was just more convenient. It can be found any Philippine-American grocery and at some larger Asian grocery stores. One day I want to grate my own cassava but for now I don't trust myself to cook it properly since it can be toxic if not cooked long enough. All I have to say about macapuno is for the longest time I thought I hated coconut and then I had this. I can eat this stuff right out of the jar.

Here is my mom's recipe:

2 - one-pound packages of frozen grated cassava, defrost overnight in the fridge and leave out until room temperature before preparing
1 jar of coconut sport string (macapuno), drained
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk
4 tbsp butter, cut in small pieces, plus some for greasing the baking dish

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, mix the room temperature cassava with the butter, then combine the coconut sport string, coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk. Place in middle rack until lightly golden, approximately 1 hr, 30 min. depending on your oven. (My old oven at my last place took 2 hours but my fancy stove now took only 1 hr, 25 min.)

Tastes best warm or room temperature, refrigerate leftovers, reheat in microwave. Enjoy!

MARCH DESSERT OF THE MONTH

2009-03-31T21:58:00.007-04:00

Check the mail DOTMCers!
Today, I got the most beautiful surprise! A charming dessert, perfect for Springtime from our Miss March, Amelia! I had never heard of Posset or Friands before! It seems Posset is an old English pudding drink, similar to a nog. I know I speak for all of us when I say I cannot wait to dip in.
I found a tidbit on this historic dish! Thanks so much Amelia!!!

lemon-glazed butter cake!

2009-03-30T23:15:00.005-04:00

A friend I work with has a birthday tomorrow and so I made him this cake. I flipped through my cookbooks and magazines last night looking for a real simple, yummy cake and found this in a spread titled, “Cook Smart: Transformers” in this month's Gourmet! I think this line in the article roped me in, “ Lastly, there is no way we could leave you without a classic Lemon Glazed Butter Cake. This one will become your new best friend.” Perfect and besides being easy, the ingredient list was not at all exotic!

Added plus, lemons remind me so much of spring!

HOMEMADE BERGER COOKIES

2009-03-22T11:46:00.008-04:00

Perhaps you have been to Baltimore, MD and found yourself peering at a dark chocolate covered biscuit like cookie. Berger's cookies as far as I can tell can only be found within the "Balmer" area. I first had one many a year ago and though I can't say I am as mesmerized by them as I once was (the ingredients are quite scary), I do find them a fascinating regional treat. Much like the whoopie pie or the It's It and what is not to like about a cakey cookie and a thick ganache top??

The first two pics are of the store bought original that Marty was so kind to bring back for me on a recent Lp buying trip. I poked around the web a bit trying to frankenstein together a recipe and decided to cull from some whoopie pie cake recipes. A simple ganache would make my thick shiny icing. As you can see from the pics, my ganache, (which was vegan as I had no cream at home) did not keep it's shine. I know better than to not measure when baking but I figured a recipe as simple as Ganache (one part cream, two parts choc) would lend itself to some messing around. Wrong. The end result is very pleasant just not exactly what I am seeking. The recipe below is what I did, I would suggest finding a tried and true ganache if you intend to try these out. These will make a fine bring along dessert to picnics this summer once I get the ratios right.

Cakey cookies
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
½ cup yogurt
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Oven at 350F
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Beat together the oil and sour cream for 1 minute until combined.
Add the sugars, then eggs one at a time.
Stir or slowly beat in the flour mixture. Chill for at least half hour
Parchment line a cookie sheet.
Pipe the batter out into small rounds. I oiled my fingers and pressed them down. onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 minutes or up to 12 if your circles are large.

Vegan Ganache (two parts choc, one part soy)

Bittersweet or dark choclolate
soy milk
1-2 tblsp maple syrup
Chop up your chocolate
Put chocolate and syrup in a stainless steel or glass bowl over simmering water. In another pan bring Soy Milk to a boil. Take off heat and pour over chocolate and syrup until smooth and melted. Take each cookie and using a fork, stab it beneath and dip the domed side into the ganache, swirling to cover, place on parchment to set.

ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES

2009-03-15T11:39:00.003-04:00

I have never been into peanut butter cookies. I know I am a weirdo but all throughout my life, I passed on the ones with the Hershey kiss in the center and steered clear of the classic fork tined cookies. Recently a co worker brought in some peanut butter cookies without the tines, and with such a toothy, chewy and dense texture I had to make some at home. I wanted to try almond butter as, like I said, straight Peanut Butter and I are not so into each other...

Almond Butter cookies.
These could be made vegan easily, by using an egg replacer.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature (I used vegan buttery sticks)
1/2 cup almond butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugars to butter and beat one or two min. Add almond butter and egg. Slowly and in parts beat in the flour mixture.
Refrigerate a few hours.
Preheat oven to 375 and roll into 1 inch balls and roll into course sugar. Bake, keeping your eye on them for 12-15 minutes. Stay closer to 12 if you want them chewy.

Apple Galette

2009-03-10T23:13:00.004-04:00

After my debacle on National Pie Day, I feel the need to redeem myself with crusts and apples. We made this in "crust" class (ha ha ha) on Saturday and it was so easy and turned out well.

Apple Galette
Of course you can make this with a regular crust recipe, this one uses half whole wheat pastry flour and vegan ingredients.

Vegan Crust:
Dry ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
2 T. maple crystals
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
pinch sea salt

Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut oil (room temperature, partially solid-not liquefied)
1 T. vanilla extract
2 T grade A maple syrup
3-5 T. ice cold water

1. In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Use whisk to fully combine.
2. Add oil to bowl. Using pastry cutter, blend oil into flour. Dough should have a coarse, sand-like consistency.
3. Add vanilla, 1 T. water and maple syrup to dough with wooden spoon. Mix to combine.
4. Slowly add water to dough one T. at a time. Dough should just hold together and be wet. Don't overmix!
5. Place dough in plastic wrap. Flatten to disc shape and refrigerate 10-15 minutes only.
6. Take out dough, allow to rest until workable.
7. Roll out dough between 2 layers of parchment paper. The trick is to roll from center out, not all the way across. Dough should be about 8" around and no more than 1/8 inch thick.

Galette Filling

2 Large Apples, peeled and sliced about 1/8" thick
1 T. lemon juice in 1 C. water
1 T. coconut oil
2 T. maple crystals
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. vanilla extract

1. Place sliced apples in bowl with lemon juice and water
2. combine maple crystals, cinnamon and vanilla
3. In medium saute pan, heat oil. Add apples and spice mixture and cook until apples are slightly tender but not mushy

4. Preheat oven to 375
5. In rested rolled out dough, fan apples in concentric circles over center of dough
6. Fold dough over apples (you can get creative in your design, if there is too much dough in one area it can affect the taste)
7. Place dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes (after baking for 15 minutes, glaze crust with maple syrup)
8. Bake for 30 minutes until crust is golden brown and firm to touch. Cool, slice and serve

Guilt Free Cookies

2009-03-06T13:01:00.005-05:00

This past week we made some yummy cookies in class, no refined sweeteners and most with whole wheat pastry flour and vegan. Here are some of my faves.

Macaroons (yield about 24 cookies)

I made these ones. They are not vegan but are gluten free and turned out well. Using maple crystals you make a caramel to sweeten the cookies. I asked why you don't just used maple syrup and I guess the crystalline structure of sugar and the maple crystals is what makes it work. I liked these a lot.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup maple crystals
3/4 cup water
1/8 t. sea salt
3 large egg whites (room temp)
2 t. vanilla extract
3 cups shredded coconut (puled in food processor to a fine powder)

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 325. Line 3 half sheet pans with parchment and lightly oil.

1. In a small pot, combine maple crystals, water and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer together until the mixture thickens to a caramel like texture (about 10 minutes.)

2. Combine egg whites and vanilla in a medium bowl and beat to form soft peaks.

3. Very gradually, fold slightly cooled maple caramel into beaten egg whites until combined. Slowly fold in pulsed coconut. Cover and refrigerate 10-15 minutes.

4. Using small scoop, drop batter onto lightly oiled, parchment baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until firm and bottoms of cookies are slightly golden.

5. Let cool 15 minutes and devour!

Rolled Fig Cookies (yield about 24 cookies)
This is more complicated but was so yummy and pretty, tastes like a fig newton but better. Vegan too!

Ingredients:
Dough:
Dry:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 C. unbleached white AP flour
1/4 cup + 2 T. blanched almonds, ground to a fine meal (measure then grind)
1/4 t. cinnamon

Wet:
pinch sea salt
2/3 C. maple syrup
1/2 melted coconut oil* (or canola oil)

Filling:
2 C. black mission figs, stems removed
3/4 C. apple juice
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
pinch sea salt

*coconut oil is GREAT. Really helps the texture in vegan baking and has lots of health supportive properties.

Procedure:
For the dough:
1. Line one standard sized baking sheet with parchment paper
2. In medium bowl, sift together flours, almond meal and cinnamon using a wire whisk to combine.
3. In separate smaller bowl, whisk together salt, syrup and oil.
4. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture. Mix together.
5. Divide dough evenly, flatten dough into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator 10-15 minutes.
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 while dough is resting and preparing filling.

To prepare filling:
7. In a small pot, combine figs, juice, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Simmer 5-7 minutes or until softened and drain, reserving liquid.
8. Process fig mixture in food processor to make a smooth spreadable paste.

To assemble:
9. Roll each dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to about 1/8" thick. Trim so that dough roughly measures 10"x6".
10. Spread cooled or room temperature filling over rolled out dough. Roll dough jelly roll style as tightly as possible.
11. Place dough in freezer for 10-15 minutes or until quite solid.
12. Using a bread knife, slice dough into 1/8" rounds. Place on cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes. Cool and serve.

Baking Naturally

2009-02-22T10:18:00.005-05:00

(photos courtesy of Toshiko Sato!)

Yesterday's class was all about converting, that is taking recipes using conventional ingredients (white sugar, white flour, eggs, canned additives) and one step at a time replacing the conventional ingredients with natural ones and ideally ones that have some health supportive properties. It wasn't easy and some of them weren't successful at all. We all had one recipe to work with, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, banana bread, chocolate brownies and we were making carrot cake. The fruit ones of course seemed to be the easiest to convert but we had some BRUTAL results. It seemed logical to replace the white sugar with date sugar and a little molasses but the date sugar dried everything out even before we got it in the oven and the texture was just horrible. Our best result in the vegan zone was with an arrowroot slurry as egg replacer, coconut oil instead of canola, and maple crystals instead of white sugar. They were light and fluffy, not too sweet and definitely the prettiest.

In the other groups the ones that created interesting results were using cashew flour (just ground cashews) in the oatmeal raisin cookies. This produced tuile like results that were beautiful and tasty. Those are my favorite kind of cookies so I was psyched.

Here are some of the nuggets I gleaned from the exercise:

A good egg replacer is 2 Tablespoons Arrowroot mixed with 3 Tablespoons Water.
A bad one (in our results)was the flax egg (1 Tablespoon ground flax combined with 3 Tablespoons Water.)
Avoid date sugar!
Maple crystals are a pretty easy white sugar substitute. In most of the conversions the maple taste was barely noticeable if at all. Of course the color is a factor.

I'm gonna start experimenting with using panela and agave (agave seems to be having some sort of controversy these days so who knows if people will accept it as a natural substitute in a few months. My main goal is to try to minimize the use of refined ingredients as much as possible but not sacrifice taste texture and common sense.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE!

2009-02-17T22:13:00.003-05:00

This cake was other worldly. My pictures are not even close to doing it any kind of justice. It was a chocolate genoise, with layers of dense chocolate mousse, covered in whipped cream.
I need a better camera.

SWEET WEEKEND

2009-02-14T10:50:00.003-05:00

Due to Vday being TODAY, a Saturday, there will be many desserts. I made some cookies but a true slap my hiney and call me Sally Valentine sweet is coming later......

WHEN I FALL IN LOVE I FALL HARD

2009-02-04T13:20:00.004-05:00

I made that chocolate tart. Again

National Carrot Day (in lieu of national pie day)

2009-02-03T12:46:00.006-05:00

Since I did not get around to posting this on National Pie Day, I found another reason to celebrate some recent pie escapades inspired by DOTMC: National Carrot Day, which is today, February 3rd. Like Molly N, I made a savory pie -- the rebel of pies, the savory and typically crust-free Shepherd's Pie. It had lots of carrots in it, though the hit of the vegetable mix was roasted celery root. Because I just saw my favorite crust punk band, Amebix, I opted to use a crust in this Shepherd's Pie. I confess that it was a store-bought crust, which takes away all my punk and DOTMC points.

I did not follow a specific recipe but here are a few highlights of the pie:

Mashed Potatoes With Garlic and Rosemary from Angelica Home Kitchen
1 cubed celery root roasted with 1/2 of a chopped onion, a pinch of thyme and salt

To complete the recipe...

(If you use a crust) Pre-cook it for 10-minutes so the bottom cooks a bit
Sautee 1 large yellow onion in 3tbsp oil with carrots and celery until they soften
Heat Light Life Smart Ground in an oiled skillet
Add 3/4 cups corn and 3/4 cups of peas (or green beans) to carrots and celery
Toss in roasted celery root and onion (above) to the veggie sautee
Remove crust from the oven or lightly oil a 9x9" baking oven-safe baking dish
Layer the Smart Ground so the bottom is covered, add vegetable mix and spoon mashed potatoes onto the top so it forms a 1" covering on top
Bake for 30-40 minutes and cool for 10 minutes

Today is also the official halfway point of winter. I probably won't post again until it's blueberry picking time, but I promise to post photos of the pies after that adventure, too.

Sticky Toffee Pud

2009-02-02T11:25:00.003-05:00

Hello ladies,
It's been ages since I've posted...haven't been making many sweets, what with my ever-expanding posterior...expansion, but I wanted to share this treat that I made for our very fab (and recently British-themed) Supper Club.

My brother-in-law in a sous chef in England and has worked at some great restaurants, including a Michelin rated place in Bath, where he learned this Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe from a very well-respected dessert chef.
It's fairly decadent and I don't even serve it with a little vial of clotted cream like he does...

It should be served warm, so that the top if all melty and gooey and the cake dissolves in your mouth in an amazingly buttery, toffee-tinged heap. I personally find the dessert rapturous and have to physically restrain myself from eating huge quantities. It has a weirdly addictive quality to it.

Here's a pic, with the recipe below:

Ingredients:
(Set oven to 350- and use only the upper/top rack for this cake)

2 eggs
1 1/2 + cup- self-rising flour (more than one and a half cups, but not quite one and two-thirds cup)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup butter (for sauce)
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar (for sauce)
small pinch of salt (for sauce)
1/3 cup of heavy cream (for sauce)

1 1/3 cup of pitted, rough chopped dates
2 cups water

Sauce/Topping:
Melt 1/2 cup of butter, the 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar, small pinch salt, heat on medium until all the sugar is dissolved and not grainy, then slowly add the heavy cream. Mix well and set aside, as it must be cooled down before pouring over baked pudding.

Cake/Pudding:
In another saucepan, put in the pitted dates and cook in the 2 cups of water, a dash of vanilla, simmering until dates are tender and reducing the liquid by half. Set aside to cool down a bit.

In a bowl, mix eggs, white and brown sugars, vanilla, and the rest of the butter together. Once mixed well, slowly add flour, baking soda, dry ingredients.
Slowly add dates and their fluid to the batter. It will get foamy if the water is still warm. Don't panic.

Pour into a well greased pan (or ramekins/muffin tins, etc).
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until top of cake is sponge-y firm and golden.

Pour sauce all over the cake as soon as the cake is out of the oven. Get it in everywhere, poke little holes throughout (you can use chopsticks), for maximum surface absorption.

Serve warm- or microwave each serving for 30 seconds.

CAKE TESTED. LANG APPROVED

2009-02-01T21:34:00.003-05:00

This teacake of Tara's was so so so good! And adorable. I forgot to add the baking powder- and it still was delicious and dreamy! I had blueberries and some raspberry syrup which went perfectly with the delicate lemon. I will definitely put this in my go to recipes for last minute yet still elegant cakes. Thanks, Tara!

IF YOU MAKE ONE CHOCOLATE TART THIS YEAR

2009-02-01T11:04:00.001-05:00

Make this one..

DOTMC JANUARY

2009-02-01T10:45:00.002-05:00

Lovely Miss Tara sent a tea cake recipe with some tea bags to encourage us! I am making this for this todays's House marathon...I mean Superbowl. Check in later for pics!Thanks Tara!!

NATIONAL PIE DAY LA PEQ STYLE

2009-01-29T08:43:00.006-05:00

So in honor of the one week anniversary of National Pie Day I am finally posting my NPD effort.

I'm not really a baker but I do enjoy the process of it and I want to get better. I made this savory tart at xmas and it was a big hit and I was thrilled with the crust results. For this pie I decided to try not to use refined sugars and went with maple crystals and grade B maple syrup (which has a deeper flavor) and that worked really well. In the crust I used butter from my raw dairy and that had a great flavor.

The positives: it was pretty easy to make (I'm not the best crust roller outer as you can see) and it tasted great.

The negatives: I forgot to egg wash the top crust so it wasn't shiny and I didn't let it rest long enough before breaking into the first piece so it sort of fell apart but was in better shape on days 2 and 3.

I shall keep on it!

here's the crust recipe, for the sweet pie you just add a bit of sugar or in my case maple crystals to the dry ingredients and double it:

Recipe: Savory Pie Crust Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling

Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about 5 ounces) all-purpose flour, more for rolling

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 8 pieces

3 tablespoons ice water, more if necessary.

1. Combine flour and salt in a food processor and pulse once or twice. Add butter and turn on machine; process until butter and flour are blended and mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.

2. Put mixture in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons ice water; mix with your hands until you can form dough into a ball, adding another tablespoon or two of ice water if necessary; if you overdo it and mixture becomes sodden, add a little more flour. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (You can refrigerate for up to a couple of days or freeze for up to a couple of weeks.)

3. Sprinkle a clean countertop with flour, put dough on it, and sprinkle top with flour. Use a rolling pin to roll with light pressure, from the center out. If dough is hard, let it rest for a few minutes. If dough is sticky, add a little flour; if it continues to become sticky and it is taking you more than a few minutes to roll it out, refrigerate or freeze again.

4. Roll, adding flour and rotating and turning dough as needed; use ragged edges of dough to repair any tears, adding a drop of water while you press patch into place.

Yield: Dough for one 12-inch tart.

DESSERTS CIRCA 1923

2009-01-26T14:09:00.002-05:00

My good pal Dave found these on an old book site and sent them to me. Aren't they so dreamy.

Praktische Konditorei Kunst, dated 1923

PIE WEEKEND

2009-01-25T09:58:00.005-05:00

I have eaten so much pie. Good Lord! I regret to say that I was only able to photograph one, but it is a special pie. A simple pie. A pie that when I make it, I wonder how many times it has been made. Apple pie always gets the spotlight and is our nation's darling, and I love apple pie don't get me wrong. I always add the juice of one small lemon to my apple pies and it creates a taste so vivid, I can recall it now -and the crackly texture of it's sugary crust! Man I feel another pie coming on! Back to the pie I made for National Pie day. A Southern favorite, Buttermilk Pie (and buttermilk crusts, breads and baked goods) were very popular when fruits were scarce. There was always plenty of buttermilk around, as it was a by product of churning butter and due to it's natural acidity, kept well. The traditional buttermilk pie consists of eggs, sugar, buttermilk and flour, however it easily adapts to all sorts of additions and tweaks. I have tried cardamom buttermilk, pecan buttermilk and I always add lemon to buttermilk pies too (I guess I just really love lemon!). Often times recipes instruct you to sprinkle cinnamon or flour and sugar on top of the pie prior to baking. I imagine the sugar makes a nice crust on top but I have yet to try it cos I am always rushing to get it into the oven.
BUTTERMILK PIE
(adapted from Southern Living Magazine)

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour, plus a little for dusting
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs slightly and add sugar and flour. Then add melted butter and mix well. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix.
Pour batter into shell, and then sprinkle a little more flour (or cinnamon or sugar) on top. Bake at 325 degrees until the custard is set. ( at least 45 min)

TOMORROW IS NATIONAL PIE DAY!

2009-01-22T13:24:00.003-05:00

Who is with me?
I think a pie is a lovely way to start off the weekend. I made a butterscotch banana pie last night but as usual forgot to photograph it (I know I have my hang ups). Anyway, this is a Dessert Club right? So can we get some pies up in this place? In honor of National Pie Day, let's make some pies!
Give pies!
Eat pies!
If you are in this club make a pie!
If you are a reader of this blog and make a pie tomorrow (or over the weekend) please send me a pic and I will post it and praise you!
It is your duty as an American and as a pie enthusiast!