Sugar & Wool

Concord Grape Pie

2011-08-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

I married into this pie - so to speak - and oh, I'm so glad I did. You've probably never heard of a grape pie - it does sound weird, doesn't it? But if you can find Concord grapes where you are, you should make this. It's like grape juice in pie form, and it's delicious. It tends toward the sweet, so it's best with vanilla ice cream or, in a pinch, whipped cream.

Concord grapes have a really short season here in Seattle, so grab the grapes when you see them! The season is usually sometime in September, but the weather has been so weird this year that I'm keeping an eye out now. Alas, Concord grapes are not seedless, so you have to get the seeds out of them before you can make the pie. Just put on some comfy shoes and some good music and you'll be done in no time!

Grape Pie

serves 6-10

Filling:

1 ½ pounds (~4 cups) Concord grapes

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

¼ tsp salt

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Bottom Crust:

Your favorite crust, homemade or store-bought

Top Crust:

½ cup flour

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter

Filling: Slip skins from grapes (just squeeze them and the insides will eject); set skins aside. Bring pulp to a boil; reduce heat &simmer for approx. 5 minutes (until grapes fall apart). Press pulp through sieve to remove seeds; addskins to pulp.

Combine sugar, flour, and salt; add to grapes. Add lemon juice and butter; mix well. Pour into pie shell.

Crust: sift flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over pie.

Bake at 400° about 40 minutes, until the top crust is just getting color around the outer inch or so.

Bonus: if you want to be able to make this pie when the grapes are not in season, you can can the filling in a hot water canner - just omit the flour and butter. When you open the jar to make the pie, stir in the flour, and then add the butter and dump the whole thing into the pie crust. It works great!

Peanut Butter Cream Pie - for Mikey

2011-08-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday night, my Twitter stream sort of blew up with shock and sadness - I didn't know exactly what happened until Monday morning, but the food blogging community was reeling from the sudden loss of Mikey Perillo. His wife, Jennifer, is big in the food world. I didn't read her blog, or follow her on Twitter, but I knew of her nonetheless. I knew she had young kids, and I was stunned by the news.

Later in the week, she posted about how fleeting life can be, and reminded us to treasure our loved ones while we can - don't put off loving them until tomorrow, because tomorrow is not guaranteed to arrive. She asked that people make Mikey's favorite pie on Friday, and that we share it with people we love, because she'll never get to share it with him again.

So I did. Peanut butter cream pie is not my husband's favorite (though I'm pretty sure he'll like it), so I'll make his favorite pie in the next few days. For today, though, we have this pie, and we have each other and our son. And even though there are still things we long for in our life, today we'll remember to be thankful for life and love and the abundance we have been given.

Recipe: Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Strawberry Hand Pies

2011-07-05T12:37:00.001-07:00

Today is my husband’s birthday (happy birthday, honey!), and he is a pie guy. He’d much rather have pie than cake, most of the time. Conveniently, it’s also Pie Party day!

I love making small pies, especially strawberry – I love the flavor of the cooked, jammy strawberries, I love that everyone gets more crust, and I love that I don’t have to try to get the slices to hold together!

We just got back from camp yesterday, and I was running short on time and energy (camp is SO fun and SO exhausting), so I used store-bought crusts. I used one Pillsbury and one from Grand Central Bakery here in Seattle, and the Grand Central ones held up MUCH better than the Pillsbury ones – I know which I’ll keep in my freezer from now on!

I got this fun little mini-pie maker a couple of months ago. It’s supposed to make the pies round, with the filling area star-shaped, but the star shaping gets lost in the baking process. I don’t really care – it’s still pretty fun and easy to use. It has a cookie-cutter side to cut the dough, and is hinged to press the crust pieces together with the filling inside.

Strawberry Hand Pies
from Martha Stewart
Makes 8-10 pies

Ingredients:

roughly 3 cups strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered, depending on the size of the strawberry
4 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
Pre-made pie crusts for 2 double-crust pies (4 rounds of store-bought crust)
1 egg
water
sanding sugar (optional; can also use granulated sugar)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
Stir together the strawberries, sugar, and corn starch in a medium bowl. Let sit while you prepare the crusts.
Cut an even number of 5-inch rounds from the crusts.
Put about 2 Tablespoons of filling in the middle of half of the rounds.
Brush the edges of the filled rounds with egg wash.
Top each filled round with another unfilled round. Press and crimp the edges to seal. Place the pies on the prepared cookie sheets.
Cut a vent in each round.
Brush each pie with more egg wash, and sprinkle with the sanding sugar.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
Keeps in sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Oatmeal Scones

2011-06-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it here before, but I’m not really a scone fan. Even if they have good flavor, they tend to be dry and crumbly and just… disappointing. I figured this was how scones were supposed to be, and that they just weren’t my thing. So I’d pretty much given up on them until I tried these. My friend Rebecca made them for a baby shower and – knowing that she makes good food – I tried one. Well! They were anything BUT disappointing, and I smuggled one home in my purse.

Turns out I’d had the recipe for YEARS, as it’s in a 2003 issue of Cook’s Illustrated! I made them a couple of weeks ago, and they’re easy and really good. Not dry and crumbly! I don’t think they need anything on them and will happily eat them plain, but my husband and son liked them with jam or honey. I was hoping these would be healthy enough to make a batch a week and have one for breakfast every morning, but… I plugged the ingredients into an online nutritional calculator, and let’s just say that health food they are NOT. Despite the oatmeal. Alas.

Make them anyway, though! Just not for every day. They keep well, too, if you don’t eat them all the day they’re made.

Oatmeal Scones
from Cook’s Illustrated, Sept/Oct 2003
Makes 8 scones

If you use King Arthur flour (or another higher-protein brand of flour), ad an additional 1-2 Tbsp milk.
You can substitute half-and-half for the milk/cream mixture (I did).

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (4.5 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups (7.5 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (2.25 oz) sugar, plus 1 Tbsp for sprinkling
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
10 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Preheat oven (with rack in middle position) to 375°. Spread oats evenly on a baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant and lightly browned, 7-9 minutes (it took me more like 10-11 minutes). Cool on wire rack. Increase oven temperature to 450°. Line second baking sheet with parchment paper. When oats are cooled, measure out 2 Tbsp and set aside.
Whisk milk, cream, and egg in a large measuring cup until incorporated. Remove 1 Tbsp to a small bowl and reserve for glazing.
Pulse flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined, about 4 1-second pulses. Scatter cold butter evenly over dry ingredients and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, 12-14 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl; stir in cooled oats. Using rubber spatula, fold in liquid ingredients until large clumps form. Mix dough by hand in bowl until dough forms cohesive mass.
Dust work surface with half of reserved oats. Turn dough out onto work surface and dust top with remaining oats. Gently pat into 7-inch circle about 1 inch thick. Using bench scraper or chef’s knife, cut dough into 8 wedges and set on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing pieces about 2 inches apart. Brush surfaces with reserved egg mixture and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar (you can use sanding or decorator’s sugar here, if you have it). Bake until golden brown, 12-14 minutes. Cool scones on baking sheet on wire rack for 5 minutes, then move scones to cooling rack and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes (or, y’know, don’t. They were wonderful warm!).

Chocolate-Cinnamon Challah

2011-05-18T20:00:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, I had the fun of participating in the Food Blogger Bake Sale. Food bloggers all over the country were putting on bake sales, benefiting Share Our Strength – a great organization whose goal is ending childhood hunger.

It was a TON of fun – I got to meet so many local food bloggers! We were at the Uptown Metropolitan Market and lots of people came and bought our wares. We had all sorts of goodies – cake pops, cookies galore, homemade marshmallows, cashew bacon brittle (really good), whoopie pies, cobbler, cake in jars (!) (courtesy of the lovely and crafty Megan of Not Martha), brownies – lots and lots of yum.

My contribution was my chocolate-cinnamon challah, something I’ve been playing with for a year or so now. It’s basically poor-man’s babka, which is where I got the idea. I didn’t take any home with me, so I think it was a hit!

NB: “Challah” doesn’t start with the usual “ch” sound – it’s closer to “HA-la.” If you can do that back-of-the-throat sound like at the end of “Bach,” so much the better!

NB2: The basic challah freezes beautifully and makes FANTASTIC French toast and bread pudding. Can’t be beat.

Basic Challah Recipe
Adapted slightly from Bria
Makes 2 large or 3 medium loaves

Ingredients
6 – 7 cups all-purpose flour
6 tsp active dry yeast (not quite 3 packages)
½ C sugar
1 ½ t salt
1 stick softened butter (unsalted)
1 1/3 C hot tap water
4 whole eggs (preferably at room temperature), plus 1 egg yolk (save the white! you’ll need it later.)
Splash of milk
Oil for the bowl

Combine 2 cups of flour with the yeast, sugar, and salt stand mixer fitted with the paddle and stir well.
Add softened butter and stir again. It will look like wet sand, not a cohesive mass.
Add the hot tap water and beat at medium speed for 2 minutes until well mixed and elastic.
Add the eggs and 1 ½ cups more flour. Beat at high speed for 1 minute or until thick and elastic.
Switch to the dough hook attachment, and stir in the remaining 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 cups of flour. (The first time you make this, go for 3 cups. As you make it more, you’ll have a better idea of your preferences and you’ll know the dough better, and will be better able to gauge how much flour is necessary.)
Once the flour is incorporated, knead for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. I usually let my mixer to the kneading first, then move it to a floured surface and finish it by hand. You can keep adding flour as you knead, so the dough doesn’t stick to my hands or the counter. I go by the windowpane test to know when it’s kneaded enough.
Wash and oil the mixing bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, turn it over once to ensure it’s well-coated, and cover with a clean dish towel for 20 minutes. The dough will swell slightly, but do not expect an overtly visible change.
There are lots of ways to shape your loaves – braids are traditional. I do 6-part braids (it’s easier than it sounds, I promise!), and I use a digital scale and a bench scraper so everything is even. Start by dividing it into two equal pieces (or three, or however many loaves you want to make). Place one piece on your work surface and set the others aside, keeping them covered with a towel or plastic wrap. Divide your working dough into however many pieces you need, and roll each piece into a long snake. Try to get the snakes roughly the same length and thickness. You don’t need to be all that gentle with it – this dough is meant to be played with! Press the snakes together at one end and get to braiding! Here’s a great video for the 6-strand braid, or you can to simpler 3- or 4-strand braids. Whichever you choose, when you’re done braiding, tuck the ends underneath the loaf and move it to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with other parts of the dough.
You can either bake immediately or cover the loaves loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-24 hours. When you are ready to bake, remove the loaves from the refrigerator and let them begin to come to room temperature while you heat the oven to 355 (approximately 10-15 minutes). Beat the egg white in a small dish with splash of milk and gently brush over the loaves. Bake them for 35-40 minutes, slightly less if you went with three loaves as they will be smaller. When they are done, the loaves will be a rich, golden brown and will sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Upgrading Basic Challah to Chocolate-Cinnamon Challah

Chocolate-Cinnamon Filling

Ingredients
1 lb semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips*)
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 stick butter (6 Tbsp), cut into 1-inch pieces

This is most easily done in the food processor – put the chocolate in first and grind it until it’s finely chopped. Add in the cinnamon and sugar and combine thoroughly. Add in the butter and mix well but don’t liquefy it.
*If you use mini chocolate chips, you can skip the food processor altogether and just mix everything together, adding the butter last.

Adding the Filling

Make the basic challah dough through step 7, and make the chocolate-cinnamon filling. Divide the dough as above, making your dough snakes. Using a rolling pin, flatten one snake at a time. Make the dough quite thin, and roughly rectangular. Try to keep it roughly the length it was before you started rolling it out.
Sprinkle some chocolate filling evenly over the dough, leaving about a half-inch strip along one long edge. (I just eyeball the amount of filling needed – half of the batch per loaf, divided by the number of strands I’m braiding plus one, so that I have some left to put on the outside of the loaves.) Press the filling into the dough.
Roll the snake back up like a skinny cinnamon roll, pressing it together after each roll. Pinch the seam to stick it together. Set aside and repeat for remaining snakes.
Sprinkle the little bit of remaining filling on your work surface and put your snakes down for braiding. Braid the dough, pressing the little bits of filling to the outside as you go. Use up all that filling! (If you run out of filling for the outside, you can toss some mini chocolate chips in cinnamon and put those on the outside. I like to have an external indicator of the internal goodness.)
Repeat with remaining dough, and continue with step 9 above. Slice and enjoy! It also freezes beautifully. I haven’t tried making bread pudding with it, but I bet it would be amazing!

Socks! Finished Socks!

2011-04-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hey, lookit that! I finished a whole pair of socks! It only took me a year (or more, maybe…) and 2 3 4 start-overs. Turns out I have really, really loose gauge. I hadn’t noticed just how loose it was, because I tend to make things that don’t depend on gauge, but my sock attempts kept turning out HUGE. These were knit on size 2 needles even though the pattern calls for size 5. Yeah. But once I figured that out and decided to, y’know, actually swatch for socks, it was smooth sailing.

And I cast on my second pair (a different pattern) approximately 8 hours after finishing this pair, so it seems I’ve caught the sock-knitting bug (cue groans from my husband as he anticipates more money being spent on yarn)...

Speaking of yarn – this is lovely stuff. It’s Rios by Malabrigo, a Superwash Merino, roughly worsted weight. I love the colorway, and it’s a dream to knit up. Highly recommended!

Hazelnut Muffins, with Teff Flour

2011-03-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

These muffins are from Kim Boyce’s much-heralded Good to the Grain, and they are lovely. I’d never used teff flour before, but I’ll definitely continue to use it! It has sort of a delicate grassy flavor that is faintly sweet. It’s wonderful in these muffins!

The only thing I’d like to change about these muffins is the body-to-topping ratio. There was too much topping for the 12 muffins I got (you can see how much of it fell off – and the recipe was only supposed to yield 10 muffins!) and at the same time, there wasn’t enough of it for each bite of muffin. I think next time I’ll fold half of the topping into the batter and see how that works out.

Hazelnut Muffins
from Good to the Grain

1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts, skins on, chopped into rough halves
1/2 tsp kosher salt

For topping:
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts, skins on, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

For muffins:
Dry mix:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup teff flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt

Wet mix:
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease muffin tins with butter or cooking spray.

Place the butter, hazelnuts, and salt in a small heavy-bottomed pan and cook over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally and watching for the edges of the nuts to turn golden brown. Remove the pan from the flame before the nuts get too brown, as they will continue to cook in the hot butter. Pour them into a bowl to cool down.

In a small bowl, stir together the topping ingredients. Set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined. (This is where I'd fold in about half of the topping, after combining the other ingredients.)

Pour the hazelnuts and their butter over the dry ingredients, and then pour the buttermilk mixture over the top of that. Using a spatula, mix together the wet and dry ingredients.

Scoop the batter into 10-12 muffin cups. The batter should be mounded above the edges of the cups. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter, gently pressing it into the batter so it adheres.

Bake for 22-26 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool on a rack in the pan until they’re cool enough to handle. Remove each muffin from its cup and set it on its side in the cup to cool (this will keep them from getting soggy).

Semla

2011-03-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Fat Tuesday! In Swedish, “Fat Tuesday” is “Fettisdag,” and the traditional treat is a Fettisdagbullar – also known as Semla (Semlor if you’re talking about more than one). Semlor are cardamom bread rolls filled with an almond paste mixture and topped with whipped cream and powdered sugar, and they are GOOOOD.

I go to a church that is of Swedish extraction, so we have a number of Real Swedish cookbooks between us. A group of us got together to make these (after buying them the previous 3 years), and we noticed that all of the Real Swedish Recipes call for fresh yeast – and a lot of it! That’s hard to find, so we found another recipe on allrecipes.com and went with it.

We think this recipe is good, but it needs more cardamom. The rolls are nice and cardamom-y when eaten plain, but once you add the filling the cardamom is drowned out. Otherwise, these are perfect! They aren’t hard to make, and they’re a lovely treat.

Semla/Fettisdagbullar

makes 16-20
from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
For dough:
2 eggs
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups warm milk (70-80°F)
2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast

5 c all-purpose flour, plus 1 more cup later
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cardamom (next time I'll add about 1/2 tsp. more, or use freshly ground!)
4 tsp baking powder

For filling/topping:
1/2 c milk
5 oz. almond paste
2 cups whipping cream
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
confectioner’s sugar for dusting

In a large bowl, mix the milk, eggs, and butter. Sprinkle the yeast over this mixture and let sit for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk or sift together 5 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, the salt, and the cardamom. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of flour and the baking powder; set aside.

Stir the milk mixture, then add the flour-sugar-cardamom mixture to it. Stir until a soft dough forms. Cover with a towel and let rise for about 30 minutes.

After it's risen, stir in the reserved flour mixture and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough comes is smooth (you're looking for "windowpanes," if you're familiar with breadmaking).

Cut dough into 16-20 pieces and form into balls. Place the balls on greased baking sheets, cover with towels or plastic wrap, and let rise until roughly doubled, 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool.

Once cool, slice off the top (about 1/2" thick at center). Cut or scoop out the centers of the rolls, leaving a shell about a 1/2" thick around the edges. Tear the centers into small pieces and add up to 1/2 cup of milk, to moisten. Stir in the almond paste until smooth. Add more milk as needed, until the filling is as soft as pudding.

Spoon the filling back into the bread shells (you may have extra; I won't tell if you eat it with a spoon, because that's certainly not what I did...). Whip the cream with 2 Tbsp sugar. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream onto the rolls, nice and high. Replace the "lids" of the bread. Just before serving, dust the whole thing with confectioner's sugar.

Arabic Spice Cake

2011-02-16T14:08:00.001-08:00

This is one of my family’s very favorite cakes. My dad and my brother request it for pretty much every birthday, and we’ve been known to eat it for breakfast simply because we can’t resist. It’s an old family recipe (which probably means my Nana found the original in a magazine 50-odd years ago) and I’ve never tasted anything similar. It’s a mocha spice cake, but not your usual spice cake, either. I don’t know why it’s supposedly “Arabic,” but it is really, really good.

The original cake recipe tends to get dry easily, so I’ve tweaked it somewhat and made it a little moister. The frosting is another story – it’s a mocha frosting, and the original recipe calls for raw egg yolks, which of course is a no-no these days. My mom and I make the frosting slightly differently every time we make it, because it’s one of those that you can get right only by tasting it. This time the frosting was perfect, but of course I didn’t write down exactly what I did! So I’ve given guidelines below, but I’m sure I’ll change it next time I make it.

Arabic Spice Cake
adapted from my Nana’s recipe

(original source unknown)

Cake:
3/4 c butter (room temperature)
1-1/2 c sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Dry ingredients:
1-3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Wet ingredients:
3/4 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon extract (I have also successfully used 1 tsp lemon juice, since I’d run out of lemon extract)

1/2 c finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, and vegetable oil. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In a third bowl (or liquid measuring cup), mix together the wet ingredients.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of the buttermilk mixture, beating until just combined after each.

Fold in the walnuts.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center is just clean. Do not overbake or it will be dry. Cool in pans on rack for 15-20 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely.

Frosting (A Guideline)
1 cup butter, room temperature
3-4 Tbsp natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-process, and sift it if it’s lumpy)
1.5-2 lbs powdered sugar
Really strong coffee/espresso – I use approx. 2 Tbsp espresso powder in 4 Tbsp hot tap water. I’ve also used Starbucks Via packets with great success.
Milk
Pinch salt

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream the butter until it’s glossy. Add 3 Tbsp cocoa, approx. 1lb of powdered sugar, and the pinch of salt. Beat until combined. Add about 3/4 of the coffee.

Here’s where it becomes more guideline than recipe: from this point on, you’re trying to get both the flavor (strong coffee and strong chocolate – you don’t want the predominant flavor to be “sweet”) and the texture right. So you’ll add more of the cocoa, powdered sugar, coffee, and milk as you aim for that balance. I’ve also used chocolate syrup with success, when I wanted more chocolate flavor but I didn’t want it to get any drier.

Monkey Bread

2010-10-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

I love having a special breakfast on Saturdays. I’ve been on a major French toast kick lately, but I didn’t have a chance to make the challah for that this week (now that I know how to make my own challah [post coming soon], I am unwilling to pay $5 for a loaf of it at the store!). So I was looking through my recipe binder the other night, trying to find a breakfast item that sounded appealing. This Cook’s Country/Cook’s Illustrated recipe jumped out at me! Then I saw that it had two 1-hour rises involved. Hm. Not ideal for a Saturday morning, but not a complete deal-breaker. I remembered that Deb at Smitten Kitchen had done one not too long ago, and wondered if hers was quicker, so I went a-looking for it – only to find that she’d used the same recipe! Well. I decided to go for it – I printed the recipe back in February 2005, so it had been languishing in my binder for far too long.

I’m so glad I made it – yes, we didn’t get to eat it till 10:30am, but it was WORTH IT. Mine didn’t rise as much as it was supposed to, but the finished product was scrumptious so I don’t really care.

I had some leftover cream cheese frosting in the fridge, so instead of making a whole new glaze I just melted that down and stirred some more milk into it – it worked great. I think next time I make this for just the three of us, I’ll halve the recipe and bake it in my small bundt pan. It reheats beautifully, but I don't really need this kind of temptation lying around!

Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze
From Cook’s Illustrated/Cook’s Country, and Smitten Kitchen.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

2010-10-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

It’s pumpkin season again – yay! I make this year-round, but I make it more in the fall. It’s so easy and flavorful and healthy. I usually make a big batch of it early in the week and then reheat it in portions, but it can easily be scaled down. The best part is that it’s completely customizable – use brown sugar instead of white! Use maple syrup! Make it sweeter or less sweet! Use whole milk instead of skim! Add more spices! Add more water! Whatever floats your boat. In fact, when I scale it down I frequently don’t measure anything except the liquid and the oatmeal – a big spoonful of pumpkin, a dash of cinnamon, it all works pretty well.

Pumpkin Oatmeal
makes 5-6 servings

4.5 cups water, milk, or combination thereof (I use 3 cups skim milk and 1.5 cups water)
1 15-oz can or about 2 cups of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar

heaping 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
1/8-1/4 tsp allspice
pinch salt

3 cups rolled oats

In a large (4-qt.) saucepan, mix all ingredients except the oatmeal over medium-high heat. Whisk well to get rid of lumps of cinnamon. When it’s boiling, add the oatmeal. Reduce heat to medium or medium low, so the mixture simmers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes (this will depend on the oats you use and your preference; Old Fashioned Quaker Oats will be done around 5 minutes, but Bob’s Red Mill Rolled Oats will need at least 10.). Remove from heat; cover, let sit for 5 minutes. Serve.

This will firm up significantly as it cools. I have to add more milk when I reheat it on subsequent days.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-10-09T11:01:00.001-07:00

These are one of my favorite things to make in the fall. They are so easy and SO good – even people who don’t usually like pumpkin like these! They can be made into mini cupcakes (like I did here), or standard cupcakes, or baked into an 11”x15” pan and cut into bars, or any number of things. You only need one bowl. It’s a great recipe.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Makes 6-7 dozen mini cupcakes or about 3 dozen standard cupcakes or about 20 bars (depending on how big you cut them)

2 cups Bisquick mix

2 cups sugar
1 15-oz can (approx 2 cups) pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°. Line pans with cupcake liners (no prep needed for 11”x15” pan). Mix Bisquick and sugar in a large bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix until batter just comes together. Pour batter into prepared pans (I use a #60 disher for the mini cupcakes) and bake: 15-20 minutes for mini cupcakes, 25-30 minutes for standard cupcakes, and 45-55 minutes for the 11”x15” pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting
makes enough to frost all the above cupcakes, with some left over. Maybe 3 cups?

1 8-oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature
approx 1-1/2 lbs powdered sugar
up to 1/4 cup milk, cream, or water
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the cream cheese and butter. Add the powdered sugar in 2-3 batches (so you don’t end up wearing it), mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla, then add the milk in teaspoons until the frosting is the consistency you want. Pipe or spread it onto the cooled cupcakes.

Confession: when I make bars out of this, I use store-bought cream cheese frosting. It’s yummy and simple, and I can go from zero to homemade dessert, ready to party, in under 90 minutes. And I can either eat dinner or get ready to go out while the bars are in the oven. Magic!

Blueberry-Vanilla Jam

2010-09-09T10:39:00.001-07:00

I was surprised when I tasted this jam – it might be my favorite of the jams that I’ve actually canned. Its flavor is more complex than I expected it to be, and it’s not too sweet. It’s still a little firmer than I prefer, texture-wise, but I think I’ve decided that I just don’t like commercial pectin. If I use it in the future, I’ll definitely use Pomona’s Universal Pectin (which is what I used here – I followed the recipe that was included with the pectin, but I added a couple of vanilla beans). Pomona’s Universal Pectin is interesting – most commercial pectin requires a certain amount of sugar to set up, which is why a lot of jams are so sweet. But Pomona’s pectin uses calcium (which is included in the box) to set up the pectin, so you can adjust the sugar to your heart’s content. Most boxed pectin says things like YOU MUST FOLLOW THE RECIPE EXACTLY, so if it’s too sweet for you… well, too bad. Pomona’s pectin, however, gave advice for developing your own recipe (in addition to the recipes they provided). That definitely fits my style more!

Blueberry Jam (recipe from Pomona’s Universal Pectin, on the “Recipe Card 1” in the link, plus a couple of vanilla beans.)

Blackberry Jam

2010-08-30T21:30:00.001-07:00

My second batch of jam was blackberry. I’m having a lot of fun with the jamming and canning process – it’s so different from baking! I used this recipe this time, and it’s… good. Not great, but good. It’s sweeter than I like, but other than that the flavor is amazing. I’m also not loving the texture – commercial pectin makes firmer jams than I prefer. But that’s largely remedied by giving the jam a good stir upon opening.

The other problem with blackberry jam is that there are all the seeds to deal with. I removed about half of them before I made the jam, but I lost patience with the process well before I was done. If I had a food mill it might be a different story, but… I think it’s just as well that it will be another year till blackberries are in season again; I might have forgotten the hassle by then!

Blackberry Jam

Blackberry Crisp

2010-08-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I have now found my go-to crisp recipe! I loved this – it’s wonderfully customizable, so you can adjust for the sweetness of your fruit, and scalable and just plain good. I mean, I made it twice in a week! (Why yes, I did have some fruit to use up, why do you ask?) The first time I used all blackberries, but the second time I added some frozen blueberries in as well, and added some Trader Joe’s roasted milled flax seed with blueberries into the topping – about a tablespoon, I think. I’m going to try adding some graham flour next time, and maybe some vanilla powder, just for fun. I’m sure whole wheat flour would work, too. I may just make some of the topping and keep it in the freezer for impromptu desserts. Yum!

(Summer Berry Crisp recipe, at Epicurious.)

Jamming

2010-07-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hi! I promise I haven’t forgotten you – I just don’t have an inborn need to write. This makes me a mediocre blogger, at best. I was never good at keeping a diary or journal, either, even though I really wanted to be. I don’t process events by writing about them, and I’m not all that great at staying in touch via email or other written means.

Anyway, all that to say – sorry for the infrequent posting, and I think I’ll be changing the format of this blog. I think I’m going to just post the recipe (which may just be a link to the place where I got it), some photos, and my notes on the recipe – what I’d change, what was really great, etc. Instead of feeling the need to WRITE about it, this will be more of a record of what I’ve made and how I liked it. I realize this will probably be not all that exciting to read, but it means I will probably post more often!

And now, on to the jam. I made and froze some strawberry jam last month, but I didn’t really want to deal with the whole canning thing – it just seemed like a hassle. Then I happened to read a lot more about canning (it’s the season, I think), and I changed my tune! This jam is yummy – not the best strawberry jam I’ve ever had, but good. I wasn’t as focused on the actual jam as much as the process of canning. Now that I’ve tried it, I can pay more attention to what’s going in the jars!

Beginner Strawberry Jam

4.5 cups crushed strawberries (a 1/2 flat, minus about a pint of yucky berries)
2.5 cups sugar
1 box No Sugar Needed Sure-Jell (in the pink box)

Top and halve the berries. Crush them, about a cup at a time, with a potato masher. Put them in a stockpot.
Get all your canning stuff set up and ready to go!
Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the box of Sure-Jell. Add this mixture to the strawberries.
Bring the berry mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the rest of the sugar and return to a boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Skim foam off top and discard (or save to put on your toast in the morning! Yum.)
Pour into waiting jars, and process using the boiling-water canning method.
Ta-da! Strawberry jam, in happy little jars.

Brannon & Niusha's Red Velvet Wedding Cake, Part II

2010-04-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

So, here are the details of the wedding cake, in case you want to make one yourself. This, obviously, is quite a project - I baked a little on Thursday, a little on Friday, and the rest on Saturday. I got the cakes filled on Saturday, and frosted and decorated them on Sunday - and I still ran late.

I made a 6" tier, an 8" tier, and two 10" tiers (the second 10" tier was kept back in the kitchen and wasn't stacked with the others). Each tier had 3 layers. By my math, this should have gotten us about 115 servings, but the chef at the wedding cut them smaller than I'd estimated, and there was a LOT left over (but the pieces he served were plenty big!)

Each 6" tier had a little more than 2 cups of batter in it; each 8" tier had about 3.5 cups of batter in it, and each 10" tier had about 4.5 cups of batter in it. Each batch of the cake makes about 9 cups of batter, so you'll have a little bit left over.

TO MAKE:

5 batches of the red velvet cake from Smitten Kitchen
1 batch of caramel sauce. I made my own - recipe below - but good-quality store bought will do (just not ice cream topping!)
1 large batch of cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
2 batches of Dark Chocolate Frosting from Martha Stewart (this is my new favorite chocolate frosting - it is excellent. It tastes amazing and it spreads divinely!)

Caramel Sauce

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in a large saucepan (better too big than too small!) over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Keep boiling until it turn a lovely brown caramel color (but be careful - it goes from "lovely" to "burnt and bitter" in a blink of an eye), swirling occasionally to avoid hot spots. When it's the color you want, remove it from the heat and pour in the cold cream, at arm's length. It will bubble up violently, so be careful! Stir the cream in, then add the vanilla. If it's not quite as dark as you want it, you can return it to the heat, stirring the whole time.

Cream cheese frosting

3 8oz pkgs cream cheese, room temperature
3 sticks butter, room temperature
3-4 lbs confectioner's sugar
2 tsp vanilla
water/milk
pinch salt

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the cream cheese and the butter. Add the vanilla and the salt and stir until well mixed. Add the sugar in batches, so it doesn't poof up all over your kitchen. If the frosting gets too stiff, add a splash of milk or water. Keep adjusting with sugar and milk until it tastes right and is the consistency you want. (Keep in mind - you'll be adding caramel sauce to half of it, so you don't want it too loose.)

Divide cream cheese frosting in half, and add caramel sauce (to taste - I added about a cup) to one half.

TOOLS/HARDWARE

Cake plates: Wilton Decorator Preferred square plates. I used the hidden pillars (which are also on that page) to support the cake.
Edible pearls: 8mm gold pearlized from Sugarcraft.
I covered the big pearls in gold luster dust, also from Sugarcraft. Just put a teaspoon or so of the dust in a zip-top bag, add the pearls, and give it a good shake.
I got the little pearls at Williams-Sonoma in... January? But I can't find them on the website now. This is what the bottle looks like:

They're tiny, like 2mm. You can get a similar product from Sugarcraft, I think.

You'll need tweezers to put them on the cake, unless you really want to go insane.
You'll also need the typical frosting tools: offset (or not) spatulas, cake boards (always buy more than you think you'll need), and a turntable.

FILLING, FROSTING, AND DECORATING

Bake all the cakes. Once they're cool, wrap them in plastic and keep them in the fridge. You can do this a couple weeks in advance and freeze them, but I don't have that kind of room in my freezer.
Make the filling and fill your cakes. I filled them all and put them in the fridge overnight. My tiers, from the bottom up, went like this: cake, caramel cream cheese frosting, cake, cream cheese frosting, cake.
Make the frosting and frost the cakes. Squares can be tricky to frost, but at least you're working with nice spreadable frosting! Put a generous layer of frosting on each tier - if the frosting is too thin, your pearls will fall off (like mine did).
For the pearls... let's see. You want the frosting to be room temperature when you put the pearls on, so if you frost them the day of the wedding, like I did, don't refrigerate the cakes after you frost them. I used long, angled tweezers that I got from Sugarcraft, and I dipped each pearl in a little frosting right before I put them on.

STACKING THE CAKE

Stacking the whole cake is easy - I know it's scary if you've never done it before, but I promise it's not too bad!
Starting with the largest tier: use the separator plate for the next smallest tier and center it over your cake. Once you're sure you like its placement, push the plate gently into the top of your large tier. The feet will mark where the pillars should go.
If you want space between each tier (say, for flowers), just push the Hidden Pillars directly into the cake, where the marks are. IMPORTANT: make sure the pillars are vertical! You don't want them to go into the cake at an angle.
If you want the tiers right on top of each other, push one pillar into the cake and mark its height. Pull it out and use a little saw or knife to cut each pillar to that height. (IMPORTANT: don't just cut all the pillars for the entire cake to the height of one tier - customize for each tier! A half-inch makes a difference here.) Once the pillars are cut, push them into the cake where the marks are.
Do this whole process for each tier.
Once all the pillars are in the cakes, you can stack them. Start at the bottom and fit the feet of the plates into the pillars, making sure they're secure. NOTE: I do not stack cakes before delivery! I don't need that kind of stress. I get them all prepped and load them into boxes, then do the final stack at the reception site.

And look - you have yourself a wedding cake!

Hey, Remember that Sock?

2010-04-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I picked up the sock that I started almost a year ago, and I'm actually making progress on it! That picture is of the turned heel. I'm starting on the gusset, and I might have that lone sock finished within a couple of weeks!

Then I just have to do it all over again...

Brannon & Niusha's Red Velvet Wedding Cake, Part 1

2010-03-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Persians really know how to party - let me tell you!

This wedding was so much fun to attend. First, it was nice to have the wedding cake done! Second, the wedding and reception were at the same venue where my husband and I had our reception more than eight years ago - it was great to go back as guests, when we could focus on the space and the food and really enjoy both! Third, when Persians celebrate, especially something as joyous as a wedding, they really go all out. There was lots of dancing, a ton of food, and all sorts of traditions that were new to me. It was a neat entree into a culture that is not my own.

What you see in the background of the above picture is the sofreh aghd, the traditional ceremonial Persian wedding feast. It's a central element in the Persian wedding service. From the wedding program:

Its various items symbolize what the couple will share in their new life. A few of the significant elements of the sofreh aghd:

Bread and money signify prosperity and wealth.
Flowers express the wish for beauty in the couple’s life.
Sweetness in life, meaning happiness, is represented by honey and pastries, and by the cones of crystallized sugar.
The nuts and eggs represent fertility.
Evil spirits, and the evil eye generally, are warded off by the spice tray.
Rose water brings purity with its perfume.
And the mirror symbolizes light and clarity, specifically the bright future ahead.

This wedding ceremony was a mix of Christian and Persian elements - there were two officiants - as the bride is Persian and Episcopalian (the groom is non-Persian and non-religious).

As for the cake - it was a production! It was red velvet cake with two types of filling: one regular cream cheese frosting and one caramel-cream cheese frosting. Each tier had three layers of cake, and the whole thing was covered in dark chocolate frosting. I think the word we're looking for here is "decadent."

Now, I'm not really a big fan of red velvet cake. Sure, it's tender, but it's usually a neither-here-nor-there cake in terms of chocolate. The groom and I settled on this recipe, though, and thought it looked pretty good (and I was heartened to see that Deb feels the same way about red velvet cake - and liked this recipe anyway!). I made a sample cake to try everything out, and it's a really good red velvet cake! You can actually taste the chocolate, which was refreshing.

The wedding colors were deep red, gold, and brown, so they didn't want it frosted in the white cream cheese frosting that usually adorns red velvet cake. So I suggested we use the cream cheese frosting as filling between the layers. In a previous iteration of this wedding cake (with a different cake flavor), the plan had been to use a salted caramel filling, but that would not have played well with the red velvet. The color of the caramel was appealing, though, so I made my caramel-cream cheese frosting for the couple's sample cake - it was a hit! The caramel brought out the tang of the cream cheese, and it added just a little more decadence to the cake.

The frosting is my new favorite chocolate frosting. It is SO GOOD. It has obscene amounts of chocolate and butter in it, but it spreads so beautifully and is so richly chocolate that it is worth it.

The decorations caused me some problems - I love the way they looked, but they took more time to apply than they should have. Part of the problem is that I didn't discover that I could buy the big gold pearls (instead of trying to make my own similar decoration) until after I'd made the sample cake, so I hadn't actually worked with them before. A lot of them did not want to stick on the cake. I know exactly what to do to remedy this problem next time (put the chocolate frosting on thicker, so the pearls can sink in more), but it made for a frustrating day! And - this really bummed me out - I missed the ceremony because re-applying so many pearls took so long. But I got the cake there on time, which was the important thing!

It all worked out in the end, and everyone loved it! I got lots of compliments on the cake - both its appearance and flavor - and people seemed to like that it was covered in chocolate instead of the usual white buttercream.

I have to say, after this wedding I'm tempted to only do wedding cakes for Sunday-evening weddings! It was nice to not have to take time off work to make the cake. Also, I'm going to call the chef of the Lake Union Cafe (where the wedding was held) the next time I make a wedding cake - he got so many more servings out of this cake than I had planned!

Recipes, supplies, etc. to come shortly in a second post.

Sneak Preview...

2010-03-01T14:00:00.001-08:00

The Cake

This is the cake for my friends' wedding, which was last night. More to come, once my kitchen is less disastrous!

Wedding Cakes

2010-02-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a wedding cake for a friend who is getting married at the end of the month (by "working on" I mean "coming up with designs"), so I've been looking back at the other cakes I've done. The cake above is the first wedding cake I ever made, and I think it's my favorite. That's the bride in the background (she's a costume designer), so you can see how well it matches the wedding colors.

These two were for former student workers of mine (I used to work at a university, and we hired students for our summer staff). The one on the left is the only fondant-free wedding cake I've done (although the one I'm working on will be fondant-free). And I love the "pearl necklace" on the cake on the right.

This was for friends at church, and this was the biggest one I've done. The cake was white with chocolate chunks, and the filling was bright red, which was fun when we cut into it.

I did this one a little over a year ago, and it's my second-favorite. I love the height of each tier (there were three layers in each tier, which I will definitely do again). You can't tell from this picture, but there were clear, snowy sparkles on the cake, which was lovely for the winter wedding.

The upcoming wedding cake will be almost all chocolate, with caramel and roses and gold accents. I can't wait to share the finished product with you!

Honeybee Cupcakes

2010-01-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

I made these last summer for a friend's bridal shower (sorry for the delay...). I wanted to do something different, and I'd never had honey flavored cake. Plus, the bees! I couldn't resist. They were really yummy - they reminded me of carrot cake, somehow (which is a good thing, in my opinion!). The buttercream is silky and rich and buttery, which is good since it uses a WHOLE POUND of butter!

The marzipan bees are a little trickier than the instructions in the book make them seem. Their little heads kept falling off, and the almond wings didn't want to stay on, either. But I made extra, and could choose the best of the bunch, so it worked out fine. And since the shower guests weren't looking at the pictures of Martha's perfect little honeybees and comparing them with mine, they were appropriately wowed.

From Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Makes 20

Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp good-quality honey
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugars on high speed until pale and thick. In a separate bowl, whisk together honey, milk, oil, and zest. On low speed, mix honey mixture into egg mixture. Add flour mixture in two batches, mixing until just combined.

3. Divide batter among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Frosting:

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 pound unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).

2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.

3. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. (It may look curdled; don't worry, just keep mixing! It will come together.) Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2009-10-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's pumpkin season! I love pumpkin. I mean, not as an actual vegetable, but as an element to baked goods. I've already made a couple of batches of pumpkin bread: one for the parents of a new baby, and one that was intended as a gift but I didn't get it shipped in time, so we had to eat it (...darn.).

Saturday morning, I wanted something other than cereal for breakfast, so I thought I'd make pancakes. Then, I decided to try to improvise some pumpkin pancakes - and it worked! These are so yummy - not too spiced, and sweet enough that you don't need toppings (but not so sweet that putting syrup on will make your teeth ache). My 2-year-old likes them, and I love them! I made another batch this morning, mainly to have for dessert. They are a lovely little snack.

Pumpkin Pancakes
makes 15 3-inch pancakes, give or take a few (it's hard to count when you're eating them as you cook them)

1 cup Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain Pancake Mix (your favorite pancake mix will probably work here, as long as it requires you to add more than just water)
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
approx. 1/4 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1 egg
approx. 3/4 cup milk (you can add more or less depending on your preference)
1/3 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp oil or melted butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1. Mix all the ingredients together, being careful not to overmix. A few lumps are okay!

2. Heat a heavy non-stick skillet over medium heat. Melt some butter in it or spray with cooking spray. Let the batter rest while the skillet heats up.

3. Drop the batter onto the hot skillet about 2-3 Tbsp at a time. This batter won't make the traditional holes, letting you know to turn it, so you'll have to play with it a little. But it puffs very nicely to make up for it.

4. Turn the pancakes over to let them finish cooking. Then eat them. Yum!

Deconstructed Summer Berry Dessert

2009-08-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

I don't have any photos of the finished dish because I took it to a work party and it disappeared too quickly, but this is one of my all-time favorite desserts. It sounds a little weird, but you'll just have to trust me!

Part of what makes it so great is that it's terribly, terribly easy, and endlessly customizable. This makes it perfect for a party, especially if you're trying to please dieters and non-dieters; everyone ends up loving this.

So, here we go: it's not so much a recipe as a guideline. You're going to end up with chunks of frozen graham-cracker crust, some whipped cream, and berries (or other fruit, as you wish). You (and your guests/friends/family) get to assemble them as you choose.

To make the crust, you'll need:

1 packet of graham crackers
3/4 (6 Tbsp) stick of butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Turn the graham crackers into crumbs. A food processor works great for this, or you can put the crackers in a zip-top bag and bash them with something heavy. I used a rolling pin before I got my food processor. You want to get the crumbs relatively fine, without turning too many of them into dust, but it's really not critical.

Put the crumbs into a pie tin. (NOTE: an old-fashioned metal, beat-up-able pie tin works best here. Pyrex works, of course, but it will be a LOT harder to get the crust out.) With a fork, mix in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour the melted butter over and dampen all the crumbs with it. Then, start pressing the crumb mixture into the pan and up its sides. Use a flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup to get it smooth-ish and nicely compressed. Put the crust in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

Once it's frozen, use a fork to pry it out of the tin and break it into chunks (no bigger than bite-size). You can do this in advance and keep the chunks in a zip-top bag in the freezer (I don't know exactly how long it will keep in there, but I've kept it in there for months.)

To make the whipped cream, you'll need:

Some whipping cream (very cold)
Some sugar
Some vanilla

(I'm being vague with the quantities here because you can just whip enough cream for one serving for yourself (see above, why I keep the crust chunks for months in my freezer) or for a whole party. And the ratios are not all that important with this recipe, anyway - if the cream is unsweetened, the berries and the crust will pretty much cover it up. For 1 cup of whipping cream I would probably use up to 2 Tbsp sugar and up to 1 tsp vanilla, which would probably serve 4-6 people with this dessert.)

In a cold bowl, with cold beaters (not strictly necessary, but it makes everything go faster), mix the cream, sugar, and vanilla on low speed until combined (about 5 seconds). Turn the speed up to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until you're ready to use (don't wait too long or the whipped cream will deflate).

For the berries, you will need:

An assortment (or not, as you choose) of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries (or any other berries you want to add!). For 4-6 people, a pint of each would suffice, probably.

Wash the berries and make sure you get rid of any that are moldy or otherwise gross. Cut any big strawberries into halves or quarters, so they are roughly bite-size. Set them out in separate bowls. (If the strawberries are too tart, you can toss them with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and let them sit a half-hour or so - they'll get nice and juicy.)

Now, here's the fun part: let your guests assemble their own! Put out each component in its own bowl and let people take as much as they choose of each. If I know I have serious dieters in the crowd, I will also put out a bowl of reduced-fat Cool Whip so they don't have to undo the work they've done just for a treat.

The crust is also great by itself, or with just the whipped cream. It's a nice, cool dessert if you're in the mood for something other than ice cream.

Enjoy!

Striped Baby Hat

2009-08-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

My wonderful, wonderful boss is having a baby boy next month, so of course I had to knit him a little something. I'm trying to be on a yarn diet -- with fair-to-middling success -- and baby hats don't use a whole lot of yarn, so I decided to make this one a stash-buster. I'm so glad I did, because this might be my favorite baby hat ever! I just love the different blues and the pop of red. There's a good chance I'll make one for my own son, if my friends and family stop having babies long enough!

I didn't really use a pattern, per se - it's just a simple roll-brim hat. This is approximately what I did:

Using 12" size 6 or so circular needles, and DK-ish yarn (you may adjust this, of course, depending on the yarn you have, the needles you have, and how tightly you knit):

Cast on 64 stitches. Join and knit in the round, changing the yarn color as you wish, until the hat is about 5 inches long.
Place 1 marker every 8 stitches.

Begin decrease, switching to DPNs when you need to:
*K6, K2tog* all the way around. (56 sts rem)
Knit the next row.
*K5, K2tog* all the way around. (48 sts rem)
Knit the next row.
*K4, K2tog* all the way around. (40 sts rem)
Knit the next row.
*K3, K2tog* all the way around. (32 sts rem)
Knit the next row.
*K2, K2tog* all the way around. (24 sts rem)
Knit the next row.
*K1, K2tog* all the way around. (16 sts rem)
Knit the next row.
*K2tog* all the way around. (8 sts rem)
Knit the next row.
*K2tog* all the way around. (4 sts rem)
Move the remaining stitches to one needle, and knit 2-3 rows of I-cord.
Bind off by running the yarn tail through the stitches and pulling tight. Weave in all your ends and you're done!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream

2009-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

My best friend from college is having a baby girl this fall, and she was in town for her baby shower a few weeks ago. I got to make the cupcakes, which was a lot of fun! The theme was cowgirl - thus the little pink cowgirl hat you see in the picture - and of course I decided they had to be pink!

The cupcakes are the Snickerdoodle cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book, but without the cinnamon. They were lovely and light, and yummy. I think I baked them a little too long, but no one else seemed to notice! The frosting is just whipped cream with sugar, and then some strawberry puree folded in. So simple, and nice and fresh for a summer shower!

I had lots of fun playing with the decorations. I'd wanted to do little cowboy boots, but my local cake decorating store was out of candy molds for them. So I went with hats and fondant flowers. It's been too long since I played with fondant for a relatively low-pressure event -- I usually use it to cover wedding cakes. So it was a lot of fun to make these easy little flowers, and then dust them with luster dust to make them sparkle.

Vanilla Cupcakes
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
makes 28

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt (or whisk them together, which is what I did).

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bwol as needed. Beat in vanila. reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternting with two additions of milk, andbeating until combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester insterted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pans to wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Strawberry Whipped Cream

about 2 cups whipping cream, very cold
about 2 Tbsp sugar
about 1 cup strawberries

Puree the strawberries in a food processor. Strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve to get the seeds out.

Using an electric mixer (or just a whisk!), whip the cream and sugar together until stiff-ish peaks form (or however you like it). Fold in the strawberry puree (as much or as little as you like). Pipe onto the cupcakes and enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-06-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

So, as good as they are, the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies aren't my favorite chocolate chip cookies. These are. I stumbled upon the recipe on epicurious a few years ago, and they've been my favorites ever since (I just looked, and apparently I added them to my epicurious recipe box more than 10 years ago! I didn't think it had been that long...). I love the way the dough smells, I love the scent while they're cooking, and I love the taste. They're simple to make, and the dough freezes well -- I put the dough balls on a cookie sheet in the freezer until they're hard, and then pop them into zip-top bags for long-term storage.

These are so good that I don't actually have any pictures of the finished product - I made them for our babysitter before she left for the summer, and the few that we didn't give her got gobbled up in short order. So you're just going to have to trust me that they are that good. They are just a bit crisp on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside -- truly chewy, in a way that non-oatmeal cookies just can't accomplish.

One of the key ingredients in these cookies is nutmeg. While these cookies are good if you use pre-ground nutmeg, they really come alive with freshly-grated nutmeg. It's worth buying a nutmeg just for this recipe, in my opinion (and a Microplane grater, if you don't already have one). And I admit that I don't actually measure the grated nutmeg when I make this recipe; I just grate it right into the batter and eyeball it.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Bon Appetit, via epicurious
Makes about 50 cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I usually use a combination of light and dark brown sugars)
2 eggs
1 3.4-ounce package vanilla instant pudding mix
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 to 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) chopped walnuts or pecans (or some of each)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place parchment paper on 3 cookie sheets.

Beat butter in large bowl until light. Gradually add white and brown sugars and beat mixture until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pudding mix, vanilla extract, baking soda, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix until well blended. Mix in oats, then flour. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop cookie dough by large rounded spoonfuls (or use a #40 disher) onto parchment-paper covered cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies appear dry and tops are lightly cracked but soft when pressed, about 10-12 minutes (do not overbake!). Cool cookies 5 minutes on cookie sheets, then transfer to racks and cool.

Rosemary-Parmesan Almost No-Knead Bread

2009-06-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I waited this long to make this bread. This is Cook's Illustrated's Almost-No-Knead Bread, and it is so good and so easy... I've already made it a second time. And I bought a six-pack of beer to keep on hand so I can make it again. And I'm plotting variations.

It takes a little while from start to finish - between 11 and 20 hours - but you don't have to do anything for almost all of that time. Seriously - I think I spent about 10 minutes doing actual work on this bread.

I think I'll be making bread weekly from now on.

Almost No-Knead Bread
from Cook's Illustrated

15 oz (3 cups) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp instant/rapid-rise yeast
1-1/2 tsp table salt
7 oz (3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp) room temperature water
3 oz (1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp) mild-flavored lager (CI recommends Budwiser, I have Henry Weinhard's Blonde and was quite happy)
1 Tbsp white vinegar
(optional: 4 oz finely grated parmesan (about 2 cups, packed tightly) and 1 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary leaves. If you use them, add them with the flour in step one.)

1. Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl (preferably glass). Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap (that's why I like a glass bowl - the plastic wrap sticks better!) and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours. Protip: write the 8-hour time and the 18-hour time with a Sharpie right on the plastic wrap. Then you won't have to remember when your countdown started.

2. Lay a 12- by 18- inch sheet of parchment paper inside a 10-inch skillet and spray the paper with cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10-15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges to middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest (or second lowest) position, place 6- to 8- quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with lid (mine is only 5.5 quarts and it works fine) on the rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees (my Dutch oven is only 5.5 quarts and can only go to 450 degrees, so I set the oven to 450 and everything worked fine). Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough. carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhand and lower into pot (let excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20-30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
Note: both times I made this, the bottom of the bread got way overdone -- it was scorched. Next time, I think I'll reduce the oven temp to 400 and see what happens.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

2009-05-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

Oh, Cook's Illustrated, you've done it again!

These really are amazing chocolate chip cookies. Big and chewy, with a TON of flavor. Toffee and chocolate and yum. And they only take a few more minutes than the usual Toll House cookies.

This is dangerous.

It's so simple, too -- just a little more brown sugar than the standard recipe, one fewer egg white, and - swoon - browned butter. It's the strangest thing -- as you stir the unmelted butter into the browned butter, you can smell toffee, even though there has been no sugar involved yet. It's wonderful.

I made two batches in as many days -- one for us, and one to send to a family friend who recently started treatment for breast cancer.

I think they'll cheer her up!

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Cook's Illustrated

1-3/4 cups (8-3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 Tbsp (1-3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (preferably dark brown)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1-1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Cook's Illustrated's preferred chip is Ghirardelli 60% cocoa, and I agree)
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional - I did not include these)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18"x12") baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly, until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1-3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny.

4. During one of the rest times, whisk flour and baking soda together in a small bowl and set aside.

5. After final rest, us a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough a final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

6. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use a #24 disher). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.

7. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through cooking. Transfer sheet to wire rack; cool for as long as you can stand it before diving in.

Secret

2009-05-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

2009-05-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

I love having a special breakfast on Saturdays. That's what we did growing up -- Sunday mornings were too busy with getting ready for church, but Saturdays were special. When my brother and I were little, that was the day Mom got to sleep in, and Dad made breakfast for us -- usually pancakes. We loved it when Dad made pancakes, because he would make special shapes for us -- letters for our names, Mickey Mouse, that sort of thing. I'm sure they tasted good, too, but as long as they were unusual shapes, I'm honestly not sure we'd have noticed!

These pancakes won't make good letters, but they are really yummy. And they are quick and easy to make, as long as you remember to mix the oatmeal and buttermilk the night before! You can mix the dry ingredients the night before, too, but that's not critical.

My husband puts molasses on them, but molasses are not my thing -- I top them with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Just for kicks, this time I tried whipping the cream by hand instead of with a mixer. I wanted to see how long it would take and if it would practically make my arm fall off. I was pleasantly surprised -- it took maybe 5 minutes, and while I wouldn't want to whip large quantities daily, it wasn't hard. And I had a lot more control over how whipped it got than I do in the mixer. It somehow feels less "wasteful" for just a small amount of whipped cream, even though I still dirtied a bowl and a whisk.

Like most pancakes, these are hardly sweet. By themselves, they are on the plain side, even with the cinnamon and vanilla. But dressed with a little sweetness, they really shine!

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes
adapted from Julia

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Combine oats and buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, add eggs and mix to combine. Mix in melted butter and then vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Combine dry and wet ingredients, making sure they are all incorporated.

Preheat a griddle or nonstick skillet (on my electric stove, medium heat is perfect, after the first batch). Spray with cooking spray or oil. Spoon batter on, about 1/4 cup for each pancake.

Here's the tricky part: you'll have to play with the heat a little to get these perfect. They don't really form the bubbles that most pancakes do to tell you when to flip them. And the first batch is always weird -- don't let that throw you! With a little trial-and-error, these will be perfect (and they're pretty good even when they're not perfect!).

Pumpkin Bread

2009-05-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

I know that pumpkin bread is usually more of a fall thing, but I had a hankering for it now. Also, I'm going to be making a lot of it this fall -- more on that later -- and I wanted to do some final recipe tweaking before then.

For some reason, my mom didn't make quickbreads very often when I was growing up. I don't know why; she baked plenty of other things, but not very many muffins or quickbreads. So I'm not certain I had pumpkin bread at all until probably after college, when I got this recipe from my mother-in-law.

I'm so glad she introduced me to it, because I practically lived on the stuff after my son was born. We went through probably 6 loaves in the first month of his life, and I consumed most of it. I was up at all hours with this tiny person who didn't sleep very long, and nursing every 3 hours, and I was hungry ALL THE TIME. Pumpkin bread was appealing because it was yummy, easy to eat one-handed (with a wee baby boy in the other hand), and ready to eat at any time of day -- no cooking or thawing required. And it has pumpkin in it, right, so it's not totally bad for you...

So pumpkin bread is my go-to food for new moms, and I've got 3 babies due this fall! My boss, my best friend from college, and my sister-in-law (I'm going to be an aunt! Yaaay!) are all pregnant, and due within a 6-week period. I'm going to be baking a lot of pumpkin bread this fall, so it was time to finish tweaking. (Oh, and I guess it's time to ramp up the knitting as well!)

Over the years, I'd made a couple of adjustments to this recipe -- reducing the oil (by HALF! It called for a whole cup. Insane.), coating the pan with cinnamon-sugar -- but nothing major. However, when I was eating so much of it after my son's birth, I noticed that it had a metallic flavor. And that the spices really could use a little more oomph. Reducing the amount of baking soda got rid of the metallic flavor, and including allspice helped with the spices. But it was the addition of just a little vanilla that really made this bread a winner -- this batch is definitely the best yet, and I think I'm happy now to let this recipe stand.

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg (I always use freshly-grated nutmeg -- I don't want to be a snob about it, but it makes a big difference!)
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 15-oz can of pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
2/3 cup water
Cinnamon-sugar (optional - 2-3 Tbsp)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 2 loaf pans (or 2 muffin tins) and coat with cinnamon-sugar.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together thoroughly (a whisk will be fine -- you don't need a mixer). There will still be a few lumps.

Divide batter between pans. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.

My First Sock

2009-05-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try sock-knitting for a while now, but a previous attempt failed and I needed to find the right way to learn. I thought about taking a class, but the cost always turned me off. Then, I found Silver's Sock Class. It's a totally free step-by-step tutorial, with pictures and everything. Perfect!

So this weekend, I cast on my first sock. I'm afraid that I don't remember what yarn this is -- I bought it a couple of years ago for that first ill-fated attempt, and the labels have gotten lost along the way.

It's lovely yarn, though. I'm excited to see how this sock develops!

S'mores Brownies

2009-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

So, after the s'mores cupcakes didn't taste so s'more-y, I was going to make another batch. But then I remembered this s'mores brownie recipe (well, I re-stumbled upon it - it was open in one of my many browser tabs), and decided to try that instead. I was on my way to trivia, and making dinner, and I just didn't have time to fuss with cupcakes and frosting. I was in such a hurry that I completely forgot to take pictures until after I got home from trivia, which is why the light is so bad in these photos (just go look at the pictures in the link up there, Joy's are much better than mine!). They were easy to make, and it's fun to crunch up the graham crackers and then put the big marshmallows on the batter.

Verdict: Well, they're brownies, so you know they're good. But I didn't get any s'more-y flavor from these, either, unfortunately. But they were still brownies, so all was not lost! These ended up very cakey (much cakier than Joy's, from the photos) and a little on the dry side. I think I'd like to try the concept again with a fudgier brownie recipe, and I'll probably add more graham crackers. Also, I wonder what it would be like if I covered the top in mini marshmallows, like you do for sweet potato casserole? Hm. Lots of possibilities here!

Oh, and you know that after two s'more baked good failures in one week that we had to make actual s'mores. I am the queen of stovetop s'mores. And it was good to finally get that s'more flavor.

S'mores Brownies
from Joy the Baker
makes 12-15, depending on how big you like your brownies

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs
1-1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
12 big marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. In a microwaveable bowl, combine butter and chocolate. Microwave on 50% power at 20- to 30-second intervals until just melted and smooth, stirring frequently.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers. Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30-40 minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool. Cool for at least 20 minutes, then slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky. Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.

S'mores Cupcakes Experiment

2009-04-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

So, when we do coffee hour at church, I almost never bring just one thing. I like to give people options. And I've developed kind of a reputation, which I have to uphold! So coffee hour, when I do it, almost always involves cupcakes. They're so easy to do in large batches (well, the mini ones are, anyway), and everybody loves them.

I was looking at Chockylit's (sadly defunct) Cupcake Bakeshop for inspiration, and saw her s'mores cupcakes and knew that that was what I wanted to make. But I didn't want to make her recipe for them, because I didn't have time to make the little graham cracker crusts for like a million mini-cupcakes, nor did I have time for homemade marshmallows (although I plan to try my hand at marshmallows, someday). So I went exploring online, and found a LOT of s'mores cupcake recipes. Many of them are made with chocolate cake, which I didn't want -- chocolate isn't really the dominant flavor in s'mores.

So I looked for graham cracker cupcake recipes, intending to put milk chocolate chunks in them, and do some sort of marshmallow frosting. I found the recipe below, and it looked great - lots of graham crackers in there. I found a lot of frosting recipes that used the same basic concept as the one I used (below), so I was set!

The cake batter made me a little nervous as it was coming together -- all those crumbs made for a kind of curdled-looking batter. And I'd doubled the recipe, so I really needed it to work out! As you see, the cupcakes baked up beautifully, and they smelled wonderful in the oven.

The frosting also gave me some pause -- I've never put marshmallow creme in frosting before, and it definitely changes the consistency. It's hard to explain - it seems softer and looser than regular buttercream, but it has more structure at the same time. It made it hard to know when to stop tweaking (I usually just add a little more sugar and a little more water/milk until my frosting is "right").

Verdict: these were definitely yummy (my neighbor LOVED them, said they were the best thing I've ever baked), but I didn't get much "s'mores" flavor out of them. The main flavor I got was "sweet." The cupcakes weren't graham-y enough, which is kind of frustrating given how much graham cracker went into them! The frosting didn't taste marshmallowy at all, although that was probably my fault for adding too much powdered sugar.

I want to try these again, but next time I think I'll add chunks of graham cracker to the batter, and maybe make a streusel-type topping out of graham crackers, too. I will also make a swiss meringue buttercream-type frosting, which should taste more marshmallowy, and I think I'll try to toast it!

S’mores Cupcakes
Adapted from How To Eat a Cupcake
Makes just under 5 dozen mini cupcakes

For cupcakes:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers (about 11 grahams)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1 cup milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks

For frosting:
7 oz. marshmallow creme
6 Tbsp. (3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
approx. 3/4 pound confectioner's sugar
1-2 Tbsp. water or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix flour, crushed graham crackers, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk and beat until batter is almost smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full (I use a #60 disher for mini cupcakes). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean . Remove from oven and cool.

Make frosting: beat butter and marshmallow creme in standing mixer until combined. Add powdered sugar and water until a nice, fluffy consistency.

Frost cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with grated milk chocolate or graham cracker crumbs.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-04-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are filling in for coffee hour at church tomorrow -- one of my favorite things to do! I love baking for an audience. The only thing I don't love about baking for coffee hour is that you have to make a lot of whatever you're bringing; I usually bring about 200 pieces. On the one hand, it's nice to have an opportunity to make more than one recipe. On the other hand - whew, it's a lot of work! Especially since Trevor works on Saturday afternoons, so I'm toddler-wrangling while I bake.

Peanut butter and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations ever, and has been practically my whole life. And these are really good peanut butter cookies! They're lovely and crisp on the outside, but soft on the inside, and the chocolate and peanut butter chips are soft little pockets of flavor.

These cookies are pretty easy, too, although they do have the added step of rolling them in sugar. I used superfine sugar, but I think I'll use regular granulated sugar next time -- I like the look of the bigger crystals.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Smitten Kitchen
Makes approx. 4 dozen

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1-2 tablespoons sugar, regular or superfine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (I used a #60 disher) into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart. Using a fork, lightly indent with a criss-cross pattern, but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Almond Cheesecake

2009-04-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Cheesecake is sort of a tradition in my family. My father-in-law makes heavenly cheesecakes, and he makes them for all sorts of events. He is known for his cheesecakes. He made our wedding cake (and lots of other peoples' wedding cakes, too). He doesn't do New-York-style cheesecakes -- he does chocolate cheesecakes. Chocolate orange, chocolate raspberry, white chocolate cherry, chocolate Kahlua espresso with hazelnut crust (my personal favorite), and others. They're creamy and just to die for.

So it was a while before I ever tried making a cheesecake. It just seemed like it was his arena, and he did it so well that why should I even bother? I eventually got over it, but I make different types of cheesecakes than he does. I certainly don't feel the need to attempt chocolate, but I like a good New-York-style cheesecake -- it's a different beast than the ones my father-in-law makes.

What I'm about to say next might be a little blasphemous in my family: I like this cheesecake even better than my father-in-law's cheesecakes.

Oh, it's close, there's no doubt. I love that chocolate Kahlua espresso and its hazelnut crust. But I love this almond cheesecake. It's so light and creamy, and almondy all the way through. And it's so insanely easy to make. (That's one of the nice things about cheesecake - you don't have to mess around with frosting.) It's like almond paste in cheesecake form (it doesn't get any better than "almond paste in _____ form" with me. I wish almond paste were good eats straight out of the can!).

Anyway, make this. Make it soon. You won't regret it.

Almond Cheesecake
from Bon Appetit, via epicurious.com

Note: The original recipe calls for sour cream and blackberry toppings. I don't really feel the need for them on this cheesecake, but I've done them in the past. I've also done just a simple berry coulis spooned over the top. You can also swirl some coulis into the filling, which is really pretty. Whatever makes you happy!

For crust
1 8-ounce tube almond paste
6 whole graham crackers (about 3 ounces), broken up
1/2 cup whole almonds (about 2 1/2 ounces), toasted, cooled
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

For filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Make crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Set aside 1/2 of the almond paste for filling. Combine remaining almond paste, graham crackers and almonds in processor and grind finely. Add butter; process until moist crumbs form. Press over bottom and 2 inches up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Bake until crust colors, about 10 minutes. Cool.

Make filling:

Wipe out processor. Blend sugar and reserved almond paste in processor until mixture resembles fine meal, about 1 minute. Add half of cream cheese and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Add remaining cream cheese and process until smooth. Add eggs, cream and almond extract and blend until just combined.

Pour filling into crust. Bake cake until just set in center and beginning to crack at edges, about 40 minutes. Chill cake uncovered until cold, about 1 1/2 hours.

Lime-with-Bite Cupcakes

2009-04-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

You can't tell from the picture, but these cupcakes are TART. Almost too tart for me. I made them for my friend James' birthday, and James loves citrus with a bite -- I made him tart lemon cupcakes a couple of years ago, and now it was time to try lime. The trick is, there aren't really any recipes out there for extra-tart lime baked goods other than key lime pie. So I had to figure it out myself. The lemon ones I did a couple of years ago were also no good as a starting point -- I'd used a doctored cake mix family recipe, and no one makes lime cake mix.

So I found a recipe from Cook's Illustrated that used a good deal of lemon zest and juice in the batter, and substituted lime. I used a little bit more zest than it called for, too, since lime is generally a subtler flavor than lemon.

The cake was good, but nowhere near tart. So once the cupcakes came out of the oven, I poked holes in them with a toothpick and poured a little glaze over, glaze made of lime juice with a little sugar. That made the cakes about as tart as I could get them without making like a million test batches -- I don't want to mess with the chemistry of baking that much.

But it's the frosting where you can really get zingy. There's a lot less chemistry in frosting -- with American buttercream, it's just a matter of tweaking for taste and consistency. So this frosting is really, really tart. James loved it, as did a lot of my friends. If I were making this again for myself (and I probably will, because I love lime), I would make it a good deal less tart, because that's my preference.

One other note - I had planned to fill these cupcakes with lime curd, but I ran out of time. So I incorporated some of the lime curd into the frosting. I've done this before, and I love the flavor of it. It's probably not strictly necessary, but lime curd is SO GOOD that I like putting it everywhere.

Lime-with-Bite Cupcakes
adapted from Cook's Illustrated
makes 24 cupcakes

For cake:
3 tablespoons lime juice (from about 2 large limes)
2 tablespoons lime zest (from about 2 large limes)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
18 tablespoons (2-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar

For glaze:
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with papers.
Mince lime zest to fine paste (you should have about 2 tablespoons). Combine zest and lime juice in small bowl; set aside to soften, 10 to 15 minutes.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine lime juice mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk in medium bowl. In small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine.
In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce to medium speed and add half of eggs, mixing until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with remaining eggs; scrape down bowl again.
Reduce to low speed; add about one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until just incorporated after each addition (about 5 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Scrape into prepared pan.
Bake until tops are golden brown and wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 20 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes, still in pan. While cooling, mix together 1 tablespoon sugar and 3 tablespoons lime juice. (I stuck mine in the microwave for about 20 seconds to get the sugar to dissolve.)
Poke holes in the cupcakes with a toothpick or skewer. Pour about 1 teaspoon of glaze over each cupcake, while the cupcakes are still hot.

Lime Curd
adapted from Martha Stewart, via chockylit's Cupcake Bakeshop

4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, strained
1/2 teaspoons gelatin
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
7 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons powdered sugar

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 tablespoon lime juice. Let sit.
Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and citrus juice in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat. Immediately stir in gelatin mixture. Stir in butter, piece by piece. Pour through fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (press the wrap onto the surface of the curd), and cool in the refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours.
Whip together cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold cream into the chilled curd.

Tart Lime Frosting
makes more than enough for 24 cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 pounds confectioner's sugar
1/2 recipe lime curd (above)
approx. 1 cup lime juice
approx. 14 small TrueLime packets(optional)

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add about 1/2 pound of confectioner's sugar. Beat until incorporated.
Add some lime curd (approx 1/2 cup). Beat until incorporated.
Add some lime juice (approx 2 tablespoons). Beat until incorporated.
Add approx. 1/2 pound more confectioner's sugar. Beat until incorporated.
Keep adding lime curd, lime juice, and confectioner's sugar until the consistency is where you want it.
If you want to bring the TART, add TrueLime packets until your mouth puckers.

MaryElla - finished

2009-04-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the MaryElla bracelet is finished and en route to my friend in New York! It went really fast once I got into it -- I knit probably 3.5 inches last Saturday. It's quite an easy pattern, for the most part -- just knitting and purling, with the occasional k2tog and YO. The main thing that I found very mildly frustrating is that it's a little hard to get into a rhythm when knitting it, because you have to stop every few stitches to slide beads up.

I would make ywo little changes to the pattern. First, as others on Knitty's discussion board suggested, I slipped the first stitch of every row (instead of knitting it) and it made a much, much neater edge. Second, I wish the author had made it clear that there will be beads on the right side and the wrong side -- I thought I was doing something wrong until I poked around online and saw that others did the same thing.

The other thing I changed is the closure. I was never all that enamored of the idea of snaps on this bracelet -- they seemed too... prosaic. Too practical, not pretty enough. But I didn't know what other options were out there, so I put them on anyway (as you see in the picture above). And I liked them even less once I got them on -- it felt like they were going to rip off or tear the fabric when I unsnapped them. So I went back to the bead store where I got the beads, and found a different type of closure:

I don't know what it's called, but I liked it a lot better. The two pieces slide together. I didn't attach it as neatly as I would have liked, but I needed to get the bracelet in the mail!

I think I'll make more of these, probably for Christmas gifts this year -- they go so quickly, and they're so pretty, and there are so many colors I could do!

Cozy progress

2009-04-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

MaryElla

2009-04-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Here's my progress so far on the MaryElla bracelet. I love how it's coming along -- it goes pretty quickly, but the tiny needles are tricky to work with.

I'm hoping to finish it this week (ooh, still have to get snaps for the closure. Hmm.) so I can send it to my friend for a late Easter gift.

Seven-Layer Bars, Minus a Layer

2009-04-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

So, apparently Seven-Layer Bars, or Hello Dolly Bars, are a staple of everyone's childhood except mine. I don't think my childhood was deficient in other ways (although my parents were very strict about movies), but I'm not sure I'd ever had one of these until I made them last night.

I used Deb's recipe (at smittenkitchen) as a starting point, but I made some variations. Deb and my husband both said that they were really sweet -- almost too sweet -- and I'm not a big fan of butterscotch to begin with, so I used peanut butter chips instead of butterscotch. Okay, I put a few butterscotch chips in there, too, but I swear I could taste every one of them and won't be doing that again. Also, I don't like coconut, so I left that out, too. I figured that would also help them not be cloyingly sweet.

I'm pretty pleased with the outcome -- they are still quite sweet, but I think they stayed just this side of too sweet. They're still pretty rich, so even I can't eat more than about 2 bars in one sitting -- but they smell so good that it's easy to forget that no, you really can't eat another bite.

They're also dead simple to make, and it's such a quick recipe that I can see myself making this again and again -- and probably playing with it a little every time. Maybe adding peanut butter instead of just chips, or -- ooh! -- Nutella and hazelnuts! Mmm. And maybe adding some caramel sauce. I think this recipe has a lot of room to play!

~~Seven~~ Six-Layer Bars
(adapted from Smittenkitchen.com)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter
1 packet graham crackers, crushed into crumbs in a food processor or smashed in a zip-top bag
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup peanut butter chips (probably a little more than 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup butterscotch chips (probably a little less, actually)
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil (the no-stick foil came in really handy here).

2. Melt the butter. Mix it with the graham cracker crumbs and press the mixture into the bottom of the lined pan.

3. Layer the chocolate chips, pecans, peanut butter chips, and butterscotch chips on top of the graham cracker crust. Pat it out to the edges of the pan.

4. Pour the condensed milk over the whole mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is light brown.

You should let it cool before you cut it -- it will make the cutting easier and neater -- but I had promised baked goods to the people I play pub trivia with, so the whole thing came with me, still hot. We let it cool some before cutting into it. It was messy but so good still warm!

WIP #3

2009-03-28T11:21:00.001-07:00

IMG_3967
Originally uploaded by annsy

You can't really tell the scale from this photo, but this project is tiny. TI-NY. The needles are size #0000, and the "yarn" is really embroidery thread.

It's going to be a beaded bracelet - the Maryella from Knitty. What you also can't tell from this photo is that there are about 1700 beads strung onto the working yarn. That was pretty tedious, but it should go quickly now that I have the beads all done. This is a surprise for a friend who asked for prayer during Lent -- this is my prayer bracelet for her. I hope she likes it!

WIP #2

2009-03-28T11:16:00.001-07:00

IMG_0917
Originally uploaded by annsy

This is the Cozy shawl from Knitty. I've had my eye on this pattern for a couple of years now, and I'm finally doing it! I love love love the yarn -- all rainbowy and so soft -- and it's a simple 8-row repeat pattern. I hope it will open up a little bit more when I block it. I want it to be wide enough to use as a wrap, but not too wide to use as a scarf.

Work in Progress #1

2009-03-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

IMG_0801, originally uploaded by annsy.

This is the Habitat Cabled hat. I don't get to work on it much, now that I'm deep into the cables. This is the second cabled project I've ever done, and the first time I've worked from a chart. It's a little bit of a challenge for me -- in a good way -- and it takes concentration. With a 19-month-old around, I don't have a lot of concentration time! I'm having fun seeing how the hat is developing, though, and the yarn is divine. I hope it fits me when I'm done -- I went down a needle size, since I usually knit kinda loose, but the cables make me tighten up. Should be warm on my head next winter!