Lemon Poppyseed Bread

Lemon Poppyseed Bread - made December 3, 2010 from Afternoon Delights by James McNair (book #18)

When I was in culinary school, James McNair, the cookbook author, came to promote his then-newly released cookbook, Afternoon Delights.  He did a baking demonstration and made one of the brownie recipes from his book and afterwards signed copies of his new book for us.  I think that's what introduced me to getting my cookbooks signed by the author.  It's not something I actively pursue since I have way too many baking books to make that practical but when the opportunity presents itself, I like getting a copy signed by the author and being able to tell him or her if I liked a particular recipe from their book or thank them for doing what they do. Either way, it's a nice memory to have, especially as I use their cookbooks over and over again.  Someday, if I can ever get to a cookbook signing by Lisa Yockelson, I'm going to be the biggest groupie around.

This is a nice afternoon tea bread, i.e. if you need something to serve at an afternoon tea or picnic, this makes a good choice.  It's tart and lemony, especially with the glaze and has a firm texture so it's not too delicate.  I've always liked the lemon and poppyseed combination.  The glaze does make it a bit sticky but it adds a great lemon flavor so don't skimp on it.  Note that you do have to plan a little ahead and soak the poppyseeds in the buttermilk for at least an hour before you mix up the rest of the ingredients and bake the bread.  I broke this up into mini loaf pans so I could give away smaller loaves as part of my Christmas gift giveaways.

1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt (not fat free)

¼ cup poppy seeds

Solid vegetable shortening, at room temperature, for greasing (I just use nonstick cooking spray)

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons finely grated or minced fresh lemon zest

1 tablespoon pure lemon extract

Lemon glaze

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1.  In a bowl, combine the buttermilk and poppy seeds and let stand for about 1 hour to soften the seeds.
2. Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.   Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with shortening (or spray with nonstick cooking spray). 
3. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk to mix well and set aside.
4. In another bowl, combine the butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon extract, and buttermilk-poppyseed mixture and mix until well blended.  Add the flour mixture, about 1 cup at a time, and mix gently just untol incorporated.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. 
6. To make the glaze: in a small saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice.  Place over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat and set aside.
7. When the bread is done, remove the pan to a wire rack.  Pierce the top of the bread all over with a toothpick or wooden skewer.  Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze all over the top of the bread until absorbed.  Set aside to cool completely.
8. Wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight for better flavor and easier slicing or up to 1 week.

Molten Chocolate Babycakes

Molten Chocolate Babycakes - made December 2, 2010 from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson (book #17)

I’d blogged some time ago how I was always asked by my sister for lava cake as a dessert and I’ve tried different recipes each time as I didn’t feel like I’d found a good one yet.  Some were too rich, some didn’t bake properly, some were “just okay” in taste or texture.  Thanks to Nigella Lawson, I might’ve found a keeper.  This one is rich but has good flavor and texture and is perfect in small doses, complemented by vanilla ice cream.  It was easy to make and I made it up ahead of time since I needed it for dessert after dinner with friends.  Because it was chilled, rather than relying on baking it longer in the oven as the original recipe recommended (something I’ve tried in the past and, depending on the recipe, ended up overcooking it or not cooking it enough so that the outside was done but the inside was still cold batter!), I actually put each ramekin in the microwave for 20 seconds to take the chill off before I put them into the preheated oven.  That seemed to work pretty well.  They weren’t quite molten so I probably left them in the oven a minute too long but were still soft and good, especially when topped with vanilla ice cream.  I would advise making this in small ramekins and cutting the baking time by 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of your ramekins.

And of course, what’s always critical in any recipe with such a high proportion of chocolate is to use the good stuff.  I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao for this one and they turned out pretty well.  I imagine they would be even better with Lindt or Valrhona at a higher cacao content.  If you’re having people over for dinner and/or dessert, this is a perfect make-ahead dessert with little fuss.  You can make the batter a day or two ahead and keep them chilled and covered already in their ramekins. The original recipe calls for upending the cakes and plating them when they come out of the oven but I rely on serving in the ramekins topped with ice cream.  The less a warm chocolate cake is handled, the better.  Let yourself or your guests enjoy plunging that spoon through the ice cream to get down to the warm, molten cake.  I’ve never had anyone complain that they had to eat out of the ramekin than on a dessert plate.

Scant ¼ cup soft unsalted butter plus more for greasing

12 ounces best bittersweet chocolate

½ cup sugar

4 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

6 individual 6-ounce custard cups, buttered

1.       Unless you are making these up in advance, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2.       Melt the chocolate and let it cool slightly.  Cream together the butter and sugar, and gradually beat in the eggs and salt, then the vanilla.  Add the flour, and when all is smoothly combined, scrape in the cooled chocolate, blending it to a smooth batter.

3.       Divide the batter between the 6 custard cups, arrange on a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven.  Cook for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool slightly then top with vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6

ETA: I don't know why my pics are coming out so dark.  I switched to a new camera that focuses on closeups better and I take the pics with as much light as possible and they come out all right on my computer but when I upload to my blog, they become darker.  Huh.

Pumpkin "Bars" with Cream Cheese Icing

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing - made November 30, 2010 from More from Magnolia Bakery (book #16)

I love Magnolia Bakery.  They're based in New York and are famous for their cupcakes but ironically it was their brownies I liked best when I tried them in Manhattan several years ago.  Since then I've bought both their cookbooks as well as the Buttercup Bake Shop cookbook (same owners).  The recipes I've tried from all 3 cookbooks have pretty much always turned out so I had high confidence in this one.  That confidence wasn't misplaced.  This is a perfect dessert to bring to a potluck or any kind of gathering.  It bakes in a 9 x 13 pan so you'll have enough for a crowd and is very simple to make.  I think it took longer for my oven to preheat than for me to mix this together so if you're pressed for time this holiday season, this is a good option.

I wouldn't call them "bars" as much as I would call this a pumpkin cake, simply because the texture is all cake and isn't dense like you'd expect a bar cookie to be.  I omitted the pecans, of course, but if you want to dress it up a little, you could always add on cooled toasted pecans as a garnish to the frosting.  If you wanted to go a little fancier, make in 2 8-inch cake layers and frost with the cream cheese frosting then garnish with pecans.  Regardless of the shape and look, it tastes good, especially if you like the pumpkin-cinnamon-cream cheese flavor combination.

 

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin puree

1 ¼ cups sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil, preferably canola

3 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans (optional)

½ recipe Cream Cheese Icing

½ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans for garnish

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.       Grease and lightly flour a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

3.       In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

4.       In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the pumpkin, sugar, oil and eggs until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Stir in the pecans, if using.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean.

5.       Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before icing the top with cream cheese icing.  Garnish with pecans as desired.

 

Cream Cheese Icing (make only half the recipe for the cake)

16 ounces cream cheese

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

5 cups confectioners’ sugar

1. Combine butter and cream cheese and beat until smooth.  Add vanilla.  Add confectioners’ sugar gradually until desired consistency.

Caramel-Glazed Blondies

Caramel-Glazed Blondies - made November 29, 2010 from Cookies, Brownies & Bars by Elinor Klivans (book #15)

I normally don't like blondies.  To me they're usually wannabe brownies that missed the mark because they didn't add chocolate to themselves.  And the typical blondie is generally cakey but isn't a cake. If you want to be cakey, be a cake.  That's my prejudice against blondies.  However, I'm so glad I tried this recipe from Elinor Klivans because she blasted every prejudice I had against blondies.  These are good.  I'm talking flavor, texture, everything.  As in my usual taste test piece turned into 2 taste test pieces because the first piece was so good I had to have another (which I don't normally do).  The flavor itself is good - it's got a nice butterscotch flavor from the brown sugar and the caramel complements it nicely.  But it was the texture that sold me.  It wasn't cakey but would be fudgy if I could describe something non-chocolate as fudgy.  It was dense like a brownie but didn't pretend to be a cake by trying to be cakey.  It's hard to explain but this gets the thumbs up from me based on both flavor and texture.  One of my coworkers described it as "melt in your mouth".  I think that's pretty accurate.

I did "cheat" and use the last of my dulce de leche from South America instead of making the caramel from scratch (hey, it was getting late and I had to work the next day).  The only thing I would do differently next time (and there will be a next time) is instead of layering the caramel/dulce de leche on top all over the blondie, I would drizzle it so that it doesn't cover it completely.  That way the blondie isn't so overwhelmed by the "caramel".  The brown sugar/butterscotch flavor needs to stand on its own as it's a good flavor.  The only drawback to these blondies is with the caramel on top, they're a little difficult to cut cleanly as the caramel clings to the knife and you can't stack them or package them in plastic wrap very well.  But those are minor prices to pay for an awesome blondie.

½ cup unsalted butter

1 ½ cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel Glaze

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ cup heavy whipping cream

¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

1.        Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325˚F.  Line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 9 x 2” baking pan with aluminum foil.  Butter the foil or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.       For the blondies: in a saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar.  Warm over medium heat, stirring often, until melted and smooth.  Scrape into a large bowl and let cool slightly.  In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter-brown sugar mixture and mix until smooth.  Add the flour mixture and stir just until incorporated.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 20 to 25 minutes (this took almost 30 minutes in my oven).  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool until room temperature, about 1 hour.

3.       To make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine the butter, cream and brown sugar.  Warm over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted.  Increase the heat to medium-high and boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  Let cool.  Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl, then whisk in the cooled brown sugar mixture to make a smooth glaze.  Spread the glaze evenly over the cooled blondie, still in the pan.  Let stand until set, about 30 minutes.

4.       Lift the brownies out of the pan using the foil as handles and cut into squares.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.


 

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara - made November 28, 2010

We interrupt this baking blog to post a recipe for “real” food.  Sort of real anyway.  I got this recipe from the coupon section of the Sunday newspaper a couple of weeks ago.  I clipped out just the recipe so I don’t remember the ad but I assume it was for Classico pasta sauce since that’s what’s specified in the recipe.  I love carbonara and simple pasta dishes are one of the few things I can make so this seemed like a good recipe to try.  I did my usual substitutions and modifications though – for one thing, I omitted the shallots because I didn’t know what they were and didn’t want to hunt for them in the produce section.  I assume they’re an onion-like thing so I was fine skipping them since I’m not fond of onions.  I also swapped in turkey bacon for the pancetta.  I like pancetta but bacon is easier to find and I like turkey bacon better than bacon bacon – less fat.  Instead of Parmesan cheese, I substituted a mix of 6 grated cheeses.  For no other reason than the bag of that was cheaper by 50% than the parmesan and cheese is cheese once you melt it into the pasta sauce (I can picture foodies shuddering at my heresy – sorry).  I also used whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles to add a little more fiber in.  Clearly I’m more comfortable making wild substitutions when I’m cooking real food than I am when I’m baking.

Despite all my machinations, the recipe turned out okay.  The trick with carbonara is you have to keep the pasta noodles hot since tossing it with the egg mixture is what cooks the eggs.  But you don’t want to cook the eggs as in scrambled eggs so much as you want to thicken them into a sauce and heat them enough to kill any bacteria.  The eggs/alfredo pasta sauce mixture didn’t have a lot of flavor.  I don’t know whether it was because the jar of pasta sauce didn’t have much flavor to start with or if that’s what I missed out on by not adding the shallots.  For my bland taste buds, this was okay but I have to admit I prefer Donna Hay’s carbonara recipe for real carbonara, even in all its full-fat glory.

1 package (16 ozs) spaghetti pasta

1 jar (15 ozs) Classico Light Cream Alfredo Pasta Sauce, or about 2 cups

4 eggs, beaten

½ lb thinly sliced pancetta, or about 24 slices (I used turkey bacon)

2 large shallots, chopped or about 1 cup

2 teaspoons minced garlic

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions and drain, reserving about ¼ cup of pasta water.  Return pasta to pot and cover to keep warm.  In a medium bowl, whisk together pasta sauce and eggs, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, brown pancetta for 3 to 4 minutes, or until crisp, turning occasionally.  Place pancetta on paper towels and coarsely crumble or chop, reserving drippings.
3. In the same skillet with reserved dripping, over medium high heat, cook shallots and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in wine and cook for another minute.  Remove skillet from heat.
4. Return pasta pot to stovetop over low heat.  Add shallot mixture to warm pasta and lightly toss with tongs.  Slowly add pasta sauce mixture, a little at a time, tossing pasta frequently to prevent eggs from scrambling.  Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or until sauce is cooked through and thickened.  Add reserved hot pasta water if needed to thin sauce to desired consistency.  Add cheese, parsley and pancetta crumbles, and cook for another minute, stirring frequently.  Season with salt and pepper to taste if desired.  Serve immediately.

Double Fudge Brownies

Double Fudge Brownies - made November 18, 2010 from The Family Baker by Susan G. Purdy (book #14)

Since 1 batch of brownies isn't likely enough to feed 12 teenagers, not to mention my nieces' other aunt, a certified chocoholic (yes, Coreen, I mean you), I tried another brownie recipe to add to the birthday goodie bags.  I made them the same way as the Gold Bar Brownies in that I kept it a plain chocolate brownie with a layer of dulce de leche in the middle.  The main difference with this recipe is it uses unsweetened chocolate instead of semisweet.  Although they came out very similar, I think I prefer this one.  It had the same fudgy texture (always a must in brownies) but I like the "deeper" chocolate taste.  It's hard to explain what I mean unless you're eating the same thing. Chocolate, to me, isn't about sweetness.  It's about richness.  And the darker your chocolate, the richer it can be without being overly sweet.  I still love the dulce de leche for the sweetness contrast and the dark fudginess of this brownie sets it off nicely.  As always, no nuts.  No point ruining a good brownie.

8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut up, plus extra for preparing pan

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 ¾ cups granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped solid chocolate

1 cup (6 ounces) chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

1.      Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 350˚F.  Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.     In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, melt the unsweetened chocolate together with the butter.  Stir until smooth, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool.

3.     In a large mixing bowl, with a sturdy spoon, beat together the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla, then add the melted chocolate mixture.  Slowly stir in the flour, cocoa, and chocolate chips and beat until no streaks of flour or cocoa are visible.  The batter will be quite thick.

4.     Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle on the nuts, if using.  Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached; don’t overbake or the brownies will be dry.  Cool the brownies in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into 2-inch squares. 

ETA: after the birthday dinner party, we passed out the goodie bags to my nieces' friends.  One of them told them the next day that the brownies were "heavenly" - can't ask for a better endorsement than that.

Thanksgiving desserts 2010

While I enjoy trying new recipes, holidays and get togethers aren't the time when I experiment.  There are too many people to feed and desserts to bring to gatherings for me to risk a new recipe that might potentially fail.  I fall back on my tried and true recipes, not only because I know how they'll turn out but often people have had them before and that's what they request I make.

For Thanksgiving every year, I prefer to make a variety of desserts but not too much of each one.  I serve them in individual-sized portions so people can sample what they want but not overeat themselves sick.  Moderation is key, after all.  Plus you want to leave them wanting more, not wishing they hadn't eaten themselves to gluttony :).

I don't necessarily have a typical dessert I make every year but I do rotate amongst a select few crowd pleasers.  For those who don't want to search through my blog, here are the links to this year's dessert offerings:

Pumpkin Upside-Down Cake with caramelized pecans and cranberries (I never liked pumpkin or cranberries until I made this cake)


Apple Cobbler, aka Apple Crumble Bars that I made recently and that trumped my long-standing apple cobbler recipe.  Every time we have a family get-together, I have to make cobbler as that's a family favorite.

Red Velvet Cupcakes - requested by my nieces, especially this particular recipe.  Although I originally made it as a cake the first time, any cake adapts easily to the cupcake version.  Just watch the baking time carefully as cupcakes will bake much faster than cakes since they're smaller.  We're going to make the mini cupcake version which can bake/dry out very quickly so I'll be hovering over the oven while these are in there.