Thank God It's Pie-day

Farmers' Market Challenge

2010-09-08T09:00:00.001-06:00

So, here's what I found at the Farmers' Market this weekend:

Of course, I found a lot more than that. But these were the things that tasted the best, looked the best, etc. So I bought them and brought them home.

And then I made these with them:

Smitten Kitchen's Peach Shortbread

Fresh Peach and Blackberry Pie

The shortbread was new and interesting. I probably made the bottom crust too thin and the top crumbs too thick. I also probably cut the peaches too thin.

But they still turned out to be delicate, spicy and buttery. These brown bits you see in the crumbs are bits of brown (but not burnt) butter...so delicious.

I saved some of the crumbs to make myself a little baked peach with white streusel later in the week when all of these yummies are gone and I need a little something. The brown butter is something (as I've said before) that I need to find more uses for. I might try making our family Scotch shortbread recipe with it this Christmas. Brown butter shortbread with caramel drizzle maybe? Yes.

The pie. What can I say? My standby fresh fruit pie recipe that I've admittedly stolen from Dave/Miriam is so easy and delicious and adaptable.

I used 1 cup of blackberries and 1 cup of peaches (with a little less water than the recipe calls for) to make the mashed up jammy filling stuff, and 2 cups of peaches for the fruity part.

What a delicious, not too sweet, perfectly fresh tasting combination.

TGIP Rating--Baking with fresh peaches--KEEPER. My aversion to peach flavored foods is still well intact, but I think it no longer extends to peaches themselves. At least not the fresh ones. Yum.

Next up: I am going to make this cocktail in cupcake form.

Birthday Cupcakes...again

2010-08-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Not much new to see here. I used the same recipe that I used for Seconda's birthday cupcakes last year. And colored the frosting almost the same color. But it was all on request, so blame her. I did attempt to fill them with BAKED milk chocolate frosting (again, on request),

which was delicious, but without the right kind of pastry tip, my technique was lacking. I need one of these:

But they looked pretty.

And the birthday girl blew out 8 candles in one try.

I have vowed never to use these again.

(Wilton baking cups. The Reynolds brand is just fine. These ones pull away from the cake as you can see. Which can be pretty problematic)

Oh, and, I participated in my first bake sale.

And it wasn't even for my kids' school. It was for a theatre. Bet you could have guessed that one.

Next up: Farmers' Market challenge. I don't know what I'm baking next. I'm going to visit the Farmers' Market on a Saturday morning, see what there is to be seen, and make a decision about what to bake. I'm crossing my fingers that there will be more than rhubarb and collard greens available.

Throwdown

2010-08-18T07:32:00.004-06:00

The BAKED boys will be on Throwdown with Bobby Flay tonight. Making banana cream pies. I have no idea what time. I have gotten myself into making brownies for a bake sale. BAKED brownies. So, that will be keeping me busy tonight. BUT I am recording the show and plan to take copious notes when I watch it!

High Altitude Baking

2010-08-11T09:00:00.001-06:00

After this unfortunate outcome, I decided it was time to do a little research into high altitude baking. I've never really given it a lot of thought. I use the high altitude directions for Nestle Toll House cookies--because otherwise my cookies end up flat--delicious, but flat. But that's about the extent of thought I've put into it before now.

And in my research I discovered that...wait for it...my elevation doesn't even count as high altitude. I'm at 4,350 feet. The high altitude directions for Toll House cookies specify "5,200 feet". I visited Zuni this past weekend--with an elevation of over 6,000 feet above sea level. I'm guessing they probably need to make more alterations than I do. Which might account for the casual mention of lard in their sourdough...or not...but that's another blog.

Nevertheless I found some interesting information. This is from an article by Martha Archuleta, Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist at New Mexico State University:

LEAVENED CAKES AND BREADS
At altitudes above 3,500 ft, increase the oven temperature 25° over the temperature required at sea level unless using glass pans when no increase is needed. (Glass does not conduct heat as efficiently as metal.) For example, cakes baked in metal pans at sea level at 350° should be
baked at 375° at all altitudes over 3,500 ft. Faster baking “sets” the cell framework within the flour mixture and helps prevent falling. Use this adjustment for all leavened foods that are high in sugar and shortening.

In areas of low humidity, dry ingredients (specifically flour) become excessively dry unless stored in air-tight containers. A scant decrease in flour or an additional tablespoon of liquid per cup of flour will often bring a batter or dough to the correct consistency. Recipes must be adjusted for flour mixtures that contain considerable amounts of sugar and shortening and
that are leavened with carbon dioxide gas from baking powder or soda and acid.

Some sea-level cakes are delicate and defy adjustment to varying altitudes. Other recipes, especially commercial cake mixes, are so well balanced that little, if any, adjustment may be necessary up to 5,000 ft.

Cakes without fat: Air from beaten eggs is the leavening agent. For angel food cakes beat egg whites until they form peaks that droop slightly; in sponge cakes, beat eggs or egg yolks until slightly thickened.
Cakes with fat: Solid shortening gives good results in high altitude baking because the emulsifier enables the shortening to tolerate a larger amount of liquid. Solid shortening is preferred for “speed-mix” cakes with a high sugar ratio.

You can find the whole article here (that's a downloadable pdf file).

Alton Brown corroborates much of what she says in his book I'm Just Here for More Food. In addition, he says about shortening, "Shortening is amazingly useful stuff because it's everything that butter isn't. It remains plastic between 98 degrees F and 110 degrees F, which means that shortening will be workable when butter would be either rock hard or soup." And, "Unlike butter, shortening is 100 percent fat."

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not advocating replacing butter with shortening in all of your favorite recipes. I am postulating that the all-butter situation is what caused my cupcake mishap. Butter is partially water and has a "narrow window of plasticity" according to Alton. So, it melts quickly and the water portion can cause "trouble". I think the reason for my success with cakes that contain SOME shortening (not all) is that the shortening tempers the butter's tendency to melt quickly. And I'm okay with using shortening--I don't believe it's the devil. I use organic, non-hydrogenated shortening, and usually in recipes that call for mostly butter, so they still taste delicious.

But, really, what do I know? And why does any of this effect me since I'm not really at a high altitude? Questions for another day. The bonus part of this: pies don't generally require any altitude adjustments!

P.S. Alton also has something interesting to say about baking bread at high altitude: "Rising times for yeast breads should be reduced slightly so that bread doesn't overproof. And when working with yeast, go with a high protein flour. A higher protein content will result in stronger gluten capable of stretching with quickly expanding bubbles."

S'more Pie

2010-08-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

This summer break has sort of gotten away from us. It was the first summer that both of us have worked since before we had children. The girls have been at home all day with mr. (while he tries to work), pretty much driving him crazy. And then we've been at rehearsals and performances most evenings. So we haven't had many traditional summer activities. No picnics up the canyon (yet), no slip-n-slide...it's kind of pathetic, isn't it? So, in a shoddy attempt to mend that, I...made a pie. A pie that I thought would taste like those missed campfires. And...it kind of did...I guess. But can anything really take the place of a s'more? Eaten outside? With hands possibly covered with charcoal and/or pitch? In the dark? Knowing you'll come home smelling like campfire? I really don't think anything can.

I had planned to just sort of make this up from various sources--a basic graham cracker crust,

a BAKED Diner-Style Chocolate filling, a marshmallow topping (which I planned to toast with my kitchen torch).

But then I found this recipe at smitten kitchen and decided to trust her. And it turned out pretty good. Not one of my triumphant baking successes, but good. Good enough, apparently, to cause one of my castmates to piegasm (thanks for the word, Mel!). But for my taste, it wasn't great. I liked the way the torched marshmallow topping got crusty just like the outside of a toasted marshmallow would get. I liked the overall effect. But the chocolate filling...just sort of left me unimpressed. It's different than any I've done before--custardy and baked.

And I don't know that that was the texture I really wanted.

TGIP Rating--smitten kitchen's S'more Pie--PRETTY GOOD. If there's a next time, I'll probably use all but the chocolate filling from her recipe and the BAKED Diner-Style recipe for the filling. See how that goes.

Next Up: Seconda is turning 8. She's been watching Cupcake Wars, and Ace of Cakes, and Good Eats a lot lately, so she has had all sorts of fancy ideas about what sort of cake she wants for her birthday, as you can imagine. I think we've settled on cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes. With raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.

Baker's Birthday

2010-07-28T09:00:00.001-06:00

This is what it looks like when a baker has a birthday:

My loved ones are very good to me.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

2010-07-21T09:00:00.002-06:00

Umm...nope.

Probably my biggest fail yet. I'm pretty sure the reason this happened is not related to my serial over-filling. I think it has more to do with the fact that it's an all butter recipe, and I live at a high altitude. It didn't occur to me until after the fact (obviously), but when I looked over other recipes I've used and had success with, they all had some butter, some shortening. So, did I re-work and re-try? No. No time these days. I had a very small window of baking time. But, like I said, the point was that I wanted to test her recipes before making full cake versions, now I know I've got to change the proportions of fats if I want to use them.

I may try this recipe again sometime, I'm intrigued by the salted caramel frosting. But I think I'm going to try something more summery next...something reminiscent of campfires.

TGIP Rating--Chocolate Cupcakes (didn't even attempt the Salted Caramel Frosting)--FAIL, but might work if I adjust the fats.

Next Up: S'mores reinterpreted.

Midweek Projects: Threadcakes

2010-07-14T09:00:00.000-06:00

Yep, this is another blog about Threadcakes on another baking/cooking blog. Why? Why am I jumping on the blogging bandwagon? Because it's a completely awesome contest that I want to enter. If you are unfamiliar, the basic idea is for people to make/decorate/enter cakes that are based on a tee-shirt design at Threadless. Any tee-shirt design you like. And the thing is, the designs at Threadless are really interesting. There's tons of good stuff to maybe make a cake version of.

By way of illustration, here's last year's winner:

Based on this tee-shirt design:

Pretty cool, right? And there's tons more to look at, some with detailed pictures of the process of making the cake.

Here are some designs that I particularly like/would like to take a crack at:

THIS YEAR?!! Oh, hell, no. The deadline is August 16. That might still be enough time for YOU to do something like this, but not me. Not this year. I want to enter SOMEDAY. I have no aspirations of winning. I want to do it because it looks fun, because it would give me a decorating challenge, and because it would give me an excuse to figure out how to work with fondant (more than likely). See any designs over there on Threadless that you like?

Cherry Brown Butter Bars

2010-07-07T09:00:00.005-06:00

These little guys are...dangerous to me. And by "dangerous" I mean "make me have too many thoughts". But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Summertime=cherries in the mind of spiker. I love them. I could live on a diet of fresh cherries alone and be completely content. When I was pregnant with Prima I stopped at the grocery store on my way to work every morning (during the summer months), bought a pound of fresh cherries and ate them all for breakfast. They made me sooo happy. My midwives scolded me for eating so much fruit and told me my baby would be huge. She arrived 6 weeks early, and yes, huge for her gestational age (a whopping 5 lbs., 8 oz.), which is probably why she never had to have oxygen supplementation or a feeding tube, and came home after only 6 days in the NICU. I owe it all to those 50 pounds of cherries I ate that summer!

So, needless to say, when I saw cherries in the grocery store for the first time this season, I wanted to find an amazing recipe to use them in. Searched and searched and found...a dearth of fresh cherry recipes on the internet. I guess people don't bake with them so much. And why is that? I'm a little mystified. But, I did find at smitten kitchen, this recipe for Cherry Brown Butter Bars. Perfect.

I have never made anything before that required brown butter. Holy. The smell when it's browned is probably the best thing I've ever smelled. And the slightly brown sugary, almost smoky flavor that it gives to these bars is...heavenly. I am going to have to find a way to use brown butter in...more recipes. Maybe even some that don't call for it at all. Didn't Julia have something brilliant to say about butter?

Now, back to the ideas running around in my head...the bars are perfect just as they are...buttery, crispy, delicious little morsels with just a little fruit to cut through it. But, the mind boggles at the possibilities. You could leave the cherries out completely and make the most buttery Blondies in the world. Then you could top those with a drizzle of dark chocolate sauce, or a raspberry coulis, or you could replace the cherries with pears, or raspberries, or god forbid, chocolate-covered toffee bites! I know, it's getting a little out of hand over here.

TGIP Rating--Cherry Brown Butter Bars--KEEPER. Try alterations.

Next up: The Priestess just turned me on to The Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit. You should know that in general, I prefer regular-size cakes over cupcakes. But she has some very intriguing recipes that I'd love to try as full-size cakes. For now, I want to give a test run to her recipes by making cupcakes for the cast of the show I'm in. I think I'll do Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting.

P.S. I think this is my favorite of all the photos I've taken for my blog.

BAKED Explorations

2010-06-30T09:00:00.001-06:00

You know how I've baked (and blogged about) altogether too many (and yet, not nearly enough) utterly, fantastically, delicious recipes from this book:

And remember how you still haven't bought your own copy?

Well, they're coming out with a new book this October. And you can pre-order it now:

I did! And when we both get our new cookbooks, we can make things together! Virtual baking parties! Won't that be fun?!

Almost as fun as this:

Croissants and Danish

2010-06-23T09:00:00.002-06:00

You should know, first off, that I didn't make this dough myself. I went to a class at Les Madeleines in which I learned how to make these laminated doughs, and at the end of the class, dear Romina gave each of us a big piece of each: danish dough and croissant dough. This was in February. I put them in my freezer. Possibly for too long.

At any rate, the cutting and shaping and rising and baking of these kinds of pastries is all new to me, so that's what this project was all about.

I learned that I get very frustrated with yeast doughs. The rising is so finicky. It seems like the air has to be just the right temperature and have just the right level of humidity for it to work out right. Putting it in the warming drawer of your oven is not a great idea because that just makes the butter melt. In the future, I will have to have a day full of plans that will keep me busy while the dough rises, so I won't fret over it.

I also learned that I need to just attempt to make this dough from scratch. The frozen and thawed dough didn't rise quite as much as it should have and didn't have the highly anticipated tender flakiness.

The cutting and shaping itself was not as difficult as I thought it would be.

And if I hadn't messed up by adding an extra egg (please don't ask) into the almond cream for the danish, all of the pastries would have been beautiful to look at. They all tasted delicious, just weren't quite as flaky and puffy as they should have been.

TGIP Rating--Croissant and Danish--KEEPER. Next time (sometime when I'm feeling exceptionally brave) I'll make the dough myself.

Next up: Fresh cherries are one of my favorite foods in the world. And I want to use them in a delicious dessert. So, I'm making smitten kitchen's Cherry Brown Butter Bars. And I may add my own little tweak to the recipe. Maybe.

Midweek Recipes 3: KAF Rustic Sourdough Bread

2010-06-16T09:00:00.002-06:00

Highly recommended.

Over a year ago, when we moved and transferred items from fridge to fridge to fridge, my sourdough starter that I had been given by The Pie King kicked the bucket. I don't know that I had ever taken proper care of it. But we did use it almost once a week for sourdough pizza crust, before its untimely demise. And it was delicious. I never tried making regular loaves with it because I couldn't find a recipe that seemed right without being overbearing, if you know what I mean. I've been missing it (and I need it if I'm ever to make Bread and Puppet Theater bread). So, I ordered some from King Arthur Flour a while back. It's highly active. Or hyperactive. I'm not sure which.

And then I used their recipe for Rustic Sourdough Bread. So easy. So good. Next time I'm going to try their Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Obviously, sourdough is perfect for sandwiches or to serve with soups. But, how do I like to eat mine? Toasted. With butter. Also highly recommended.

Biscotti

2010-06-09T09:00:00.001-06:00

Having never made biscotti before, I certainly have no business altering the recipe of the BAKED boys, who apparently both have Italian grandmothers who are opinionated on the subject. But I did. Their recipe is for "Hazelnut Cinnamon Chip Biscotti", and honestly, I'm not a big hazelnut fan. I know. So I reverted to a more traditional version: Almond. All I did was replace the hazelnuts in their recipe with toasted almonds. And yet. FAIL. Witness:

Turns out gooey chocolate and not-all-the-way-cooked dough are not very easy to slice through, as a combination. In fact, in the process, I destroyed the Silpat I've used (and loved) forever. *cry* Never daunted, I decided to try again, making two smaller logs of dough for the first bake and leaving the chocolate chips out (they come into the picture later).

That plan worked out much better. The baked dough was easy to slice through and the individual biscotti crisped up so nicely during the second baking. Once cool, I dipped one long side in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Just a thin coating, but perfect.

And the whole experiment worked out so well, I decided to try the BAKED boys' own variation of Pistachio Cherry Biscotti. I'm partial to those two things: pistachios and dried cherries. And those also worked out beautifully. The cookies are actually incredibly easy to make. You just have to be willing to keep an eye on turning, etc. during the second bake to make sure that all sides get to the level of crispy you like. And whatever recipe you use, you probably shouldn't be married to the baking times that are suggested. Feel for firmness to know the first bake is done. Look for golden brownness and feel for crispiness to know the second bake is done.

Here's the thing about biscotti: they're pretty crispy. They're supposed to be. So you can dunk them in your espresso, or tea, or whatever (Grand Marnier, maybe?!) and they'll take a little liquid, but not get soggy. The concept doesn't work quite as well if you're dunking them in gelato. Unless the gelato is melted. Just a little something to keep in mind when you make these guys yourself. And that was a public service announcement from me--trying to save you tooth breakage.

TGIP Rating--Chocolate-dipped Almond Biscotti AND Pistachio Cherry Biscotti--KEEPER

Next up: I'm finally using the dough that the fabulous Romina of Les Madeleines gave me at the croissant/danish class I took from her in February. (And when I clicked on that link myself I discovered that once again they will be closed for almost the whole month of July--my birthday month. Romina what are you doing to me?! I know you need a vacation. You deserve it more than almost anyone I know. But how will I ever have one of your treats for my birthday?!)

Midweek Kitchen Recommendations 3: Leftovers

2010-06-02T09:00:00.001-06:00

So, a while back, I had a little bit of leftover coconut pastry cream from the Toasted Coconut Cake. I put it in the freezer for a month (or so) and then last weekend decided to use it in a tart. I made a basic tart shell (which, incidentally, was kind of a FAIL--I need to figure out my own tart crust recipe),

filled it with the leftover pastry cream, put cut fruit on top, glazed with an easy glaze (apricot preserves, plus a little booze--you could even use coconut rum! (or you could use water)--cook until melted, strain, brush over fruit). Voila! Easy dessert. And yummy, to boot!

All this to say: even 3/4 cup of leftover pastry cream can come in handy for a delicious dessert at a later date. Your freezer and freezer bags (plus a Sharpie to mark the date) should be your best friends, if they aren't already.

Black Forest Pie

2010-05-26T09:00:00.002-06:00

So, does this taste anything like Black Forest Cake? No. Not really. I mean, it's sort of reminiscent of it, but not really like it. Is it delicious? Oh yes. I have to say this was another success from the braintrust that is my family. In fact, I think it's better than Black Forest Cake. But that may be because the only Black Forest Cake I've ever had was...overly sweet cherry filling, somewhat dried out cake, and...you know...cool whip (I will run outside and spit and turn around three times as penance for saying that curse).

Here's how it goes:

Black Forest Pie *click here for printable version*

Use a chocolate cookie crust (buy one, use your favorite recipe, whatev--I used the recipe that is part of the BAKED Diner-Style Chocolate Pie. I used a different kind of cookie, though, perhaps that's why the crust didn't want to leave the pan. BUT, that didn't diminish the deliciousness AT ALL.

Use this recipe as written (you may remember, I multiplied it by 2.5 when I made French Silk pie a while back. Don't do that this time--it's the perfect amount as is for this pie. Pour into your chocolate cookie crust. Place plastic wrap over it (the plastic wrap should touch the filling so it doesn't develop a "skin").

Refrigerate while you make:

Cherry Topping:

1/2 c. + 2 T sugar
dash salt
1/8 c. cherry juice (drained from canned cherries)
2 c. cherries (approx. 1 can)
1/2 T butter
1/8 c. cherry juice
1-1/2 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine sugar, salt, and 1/8 c. cherry juice in a saucepan. cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil.

Add cherries and butter; bring to a boil again. Boil 2 minutes.

Make a paste (slurry) of 1/8 c. cherry juice and cornstarch. Add to hot mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Remove from heat. Add vanilla extract. Cool completely.

Spoon cherry topping over chocolate filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Top each slice with freshly whipped cream.

And remember: don't use canned "pie filling"! Use these:

Yum. Rich chocolate filling. Delicious, not too tart, not too sweet cherry topping, FRESH whipped cream. Hm. All my favorite things. In one pie.

TGIP Rating--Black Forest Pie--KEEPER

Next up: I think I might try my hand at Biscotti. Will there be chocolate? Most likely.

Midweek Cocktails: Coconut

2010-05-12T09:00:00.006-06:00

Remember when I told you I would come up with some tropical cocktails to use the leftover Coconut Simple Syrup from the Toasted Coconut Cake? I always keep my promises.

Granted, there's nothing new about these. They're both adapted from a variety of other recipes to fit my personal tastes. Because the truth is, I'm not much of a tropical cocktail person, generally speaking. I find them overly sweet and not nearly potent enough. So, if you're like me...then...you'll like these. I've tested both of these recipes (multiple times), and, you know, I'm good. Neither of them is too sweet. The lime cuts through the sweetness of the pineapple in the Piña Colada, and frankly, the Coconut Lime Rickey may be my new favorite summertime drink.

Here are all the recipes:

Coconut Simple Syrup *click here for printable version*

adapted from Throwdown's Toasted Coconut Cake by Bobby Flay

1-1/2 c. water

1 Tbls. + 1 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 tsp. coconut extract

Bring water and 1 Tbls. sugar to a boil. Stir in the coconut, remove from the heat and let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. Strain the liquid into a clean saucepan, add the 1 c. sugar and extract, bring to a boil and let cook until the mixture is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

Piña Colada *click here for printable version*

Serves 4

1/2 pineapple, cut into small chunks

juice of 2 limes

4 oz. heavy cream

2 oz. coconut simple syrup

8 oz. coconut rum

Place all ingredients in blender, pulse until smooth. Pour over ice.

Coconut Lime Rickey *click here for printable version*

adapted from Atomic Cocktails

Serves 1

1-1/2 oz. coconut rum

1 oz. fresh lime juice

1 oz. coconut simple syrup

1 oz. half and half

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all ingredients. Shake vigorously to blend and chill.

Strain the mixture into a cocktail glass (either straight up or over ice). Garnish with lime wedge, if desired.

A couple of things: a--both of these drinks would be tasty even without the rum. I made them for my kids and they loved them. And 2--if you like your tropical drinks frozen/slushy (I don't) and you have the kind of blender that will support that (again, not me) you can put all the Piña Colada ingredients and the ice together in the blender and...there you go.

Dark Mocha Cake

2010-05-05T09:00:00.006-06:00

Confession 1: the only part of this that I made up was the combination of the two recipes.

I used the same Chocolate Stout Cake recipe that I used for Chocolate Irish Car Bomb Cake, and I found the Mocha Buttercream recipe online at Zoe Bakes, and thought they'd make a good combination for mr.'s birthday cake. And they were. The coffee flavor is not overpowering to the buttercream-just sort of subtle and deepens the flavor. And like I said before, you can hardly taste the stout in the cake, it just makes for a very complex flavor. Together, they make for a cake that is flavorful and wonderfully textured. And rich? Oh my, yes.

Confession 2: I don't think I really like using an Italian meringue as a starting point for buttercream. The frosting was delicious, and the texture was lovely. But look at all of the cooked sugar (i.e., "candy") that I ended up digging out of various stages of the frosting:

The directions indicate that you should pour the cooked sugar down the side of the bowl so it doesn't hit the beaters and splash out, but then the sugar just gets stuck to the side of the bowl. And there's no way to avoid some of it getting whipped like spun sugar around the mixing bowl, even if you're using a low speed setting. However, using a low speed setting, I think, is what results in these giant chunks of candy. I think it sort of pooled at the bottom of the mixing bowl because I was using a low speed. So, yeah, I need to figure out a way to alter the BAKED basic buttercream into a Mocha Buttercream. I'll add it to my list.

Pretty though, right?!

TGIP Rating--Dark Mocha Cake--KEEPER--in concept. I think the idea of mocha frosting with this particular cake is perfect. I just need to work on a different version of the frosting--ALTHOUGH THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS ONE. It's just a preference thing.

Next up: Black Forest PIE. I'm making it up as I go along, folks.

Midweek Recipes 2: Kazan Lemon Bars

2010-04-28T09:00:00.003-06:00

A long time ago, before I was a wife or a mother, I spent a lot of my time with my friend Araxi (Tita Rax). I didn't know a whole lot about baking at the time. Just enough to get myself in trouble in the kitchen occasionally. And enough to know when a recipe was easy enough and delicious enough to keep. I've kept this recipe since Rax gave it to me (on 4/17/96 to be exact), partially because it's a great one and partially because it has a handwritten note from her reminding me that I needed to send her the recipe for Wine Cake. We don't see each other much anymore; life has gotten complicated for both of us...and we live in different states. But I still think about her often, especially when I make these.

Kazan Lemon Bars *click here for printable version*

1-1/2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Mix until crumbly. Press into an 8 x 8 pan. Bake high in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.

3 eggs, slightly beaten
3 Tbls. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
juice of 1-1/2 lemons

Combine ingredients, pour on top of baked portion. Bake another 20 minutes--take care not to overbake. Lemon topping should resemble custard with a faint browning in patches. Dust with powdered sugar while hot. Cut into small squares when cool.

This recipe is easily doubled for a 9 x 13 pan. Cooking times are very approximate--the recipe originated at sea level--so adjust as necessary. Resist the urge to cut large squares, the bars are very rich.

Me and Araxi a LONG time ago. In costume for a production of Measure for Measure, if you must know. We didn't dress like this ALL the time.

Shaker Lemon Pie

2010-04-21T09:00:00.001-06:00

There is nothing more disappointing than a pie that turns out…less than delicious. All that time and effort, not to mention ingredients—gone to waste. I try to mitigate these kinds of results by choosing recipes that come from trusted sources and/or have excellent reviews (if they are online). Martha is usually a pretty trustworthy source. But this pie. A big fat yellow disappointment.

I don’t think I did anything wrong, I think it’s just not a pie that I like (nor does anyone in my family). It’s possible that my lemons weren’t sliced quite thin enough.

It’s possible that they weren’t large enough, yielding too little lemon in relation to sugar/eggs. But I don’t know that perfectly sliced lemons or the perfect proportion of lemon slices would have made the difference for me. The taste was just really uneven. Some bites were very lemony, some very eggy, some tooth-achingly sweet. Everything was stirred together completely, as it should have been. And even though the lemon slices sat, coated in sugar, for almost 24 hours, they still had a bitterness that was right on the verge of metallic.

It just…didn’t taste very good. And wasn’t the lemony dessert I was craving.

I’m tempted to make a Cherry-Chocolate pie to make up for the fact that I didn’t get to enjoy the pie treat I was looking forward to. But that would still leave me down one lemon dessert. Maybe I’ll make lemon bars using a trusted recipe from my dear friend Tita Rax. Which should I do? Help me decide.

And maybe one of you should try this recipe. One of you who owns a mandoline for slicing things super thin. And report back on how it turns out for you.

TGIP Rating--Shaker Lemon Pie--NEVER AGAIN. Not worth even 5 minutes of effort.

Next up: mr. is celebrating his 40th birthday in a week and a half. Per his request, I'm combining a couple of recipes to make a Dark Mocha Cake. And I think it will turn out beyummy (beyond yummy).

Midweek Recipes: Hillman's Challah

2010-04-14T09:00:00.002-06:00

Feel free to pronounce the first sound in "Hillman" the same as the first sound in "Challah". I do when I look at this recipe. Sorry, Hillman, I can't help it.

Anyway, some time ago, I blogged about challah and it was delicious and the recipe looked about as complicated as a recipe can be. I tried my dear (and awesome--see below) friend's (you also know her as The Priestess of Irish Car Bomb Cupcake fame) challah recipe and it was easily more delicious and is a much more user-friendly recipe. The addition of honey is *lipsmack* yummy. Try this one instead.

Hillman's Challah *click here for printable version*

minorly adapted from Ethnic Cuisine by Elisabeth Rozin

Proof 1 Tbls. yeast in 1/3 c. warm water

Meanwhile, mix in a large bowl:

1/4 c. honey

1/3 c. vegetable oil

3 eggs + 1 egg white (save the yolk)

2/3 c. warm water

Then pour in the yeast water and mix well.

Add:

2 tsp. salt

2 c. flour (all-purpose white)

Beat until more or less smooth.

Add 3 more cups of flour to make a smooth, elastic dough. It'll still be sticky, though. Give it about an 8 minute knead, adding the smallest amount of flour you can as you go to keep it from sticking to everything. If you sneak in as little flour as possible, the challah will reward you with tenderness, but the dough will be too sticky to get away with adding none.

When your knead is done, oil, cover, and let rise in a warm place for an hour. Prep your baking sheet towards the end of the hour--I use oiled parchment.

Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Take one half and divide into two parts--2/3 and 1/3. Take the large part and divide into 3 parts and braid. Take the smaller part and divide into 3 parts and braid, then put the smaller braid on top of the large braid. Repeat for the second half of the dough. Now you have two challot--it's traditional to have two.

Cover and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour.

Take the reserved egg yolk and mix in 2 tsp. water. Brush both loaves thoroughly with the egg wash. Sprinkle poppy seeds or sesame seeds, or leave as is. Place loaves in a cold oven. Set it to 400 and bake for 25-30 minutes until nicely golden brown.

Two confessions:

I ran out of all-purpose flour in the middle of this recipe. If you've ever seen the quantities of flour and sugar I buy, you would think such a thing would be impossible. I apparently thought so too. So, I used part bread flour and it still worked out beautifully.
I still prefer the single braid, personally, but I'm a goy.

Hillman (as we most affectionately refer to her):

And if you know who those men are surrounding her, you know exactly how awesome she is.

P.S. I changed my mind about what I'm baking next. Spring has sprung and I'm craving lemons. In an ideal world, I'd make the tarts on the cover of BAKED. But I don't have mini-tart pans right now. So I'm trying this Shaker Lemon Pie recipe of Martha's. Bread & Puppet Theater bread another time.

Toasted Coconut Cake

2010-04-06T20:55:00.006-06:00

So, apparently (at least according to the people on this particular episode of Throwdown!) coconut cake is something of a tradition in the South. *shrug* It looked delicious on the show, but I realized when I decided to make it that I had nothing to measure it against. I'm pretty sure I've never tasted a coconut cake. Of any kind. Nevertheless, I still think it's fair to say this is an incredibly delicious cake.

If you follow this link, you'll see the original recipe and you can go to the "Comments and Reviews" tab to see a whole lot of criticism of the recipe. Some of it deserved. I gleaned through all of those comments and took some of the advice given there and used it to adapt the original. Here ya go:

Toasted Coconut Cake *click here for printable version*

adapted from Throwdown's Toasted Coconut Cake by Bobby Flay (using some of the suggestions offered in the comments section of the online recipe)

Ingredients

Toasted Coconut:

2 c. sweetened flaked coconut

Coconut Simple Syrup:

1-1/2 c. water

1 Tbls. + 1 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 tsp. coconut extract

Coconut Custard:

1-1/2 c. whole milk

1-1/2 c. unsweetened coconut milk

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

8 large egg yolks (reserve 6 whites for cake)

2/3 c. granulated sugar

6 Tbls. cornstarch

4 tsp. coconut rum

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. coconut extract

Coconut Filling:

1-1/2 c. coconut custard (recipe above), cold

1-1/2 c. very cold heavy cream

1 tsp. coconut extract

Coconut Buttercream:

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened, but cool

2-1/3 c. confectioners' sugar

3/4 c. coconut custard (recipe above), same temperature as butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. coconut extract

Pinch fine sea salt

Cake:

1 c. whole milk, at room temperature

6 large egg whites, at room remperature

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. coconut extract

2-1/4 c. cake flour

1-3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 Tbls. + 1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. fine sea salt

12 Tbls. unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, slightly cold

Directions

For the toasted coconut:

Preheat oven to 325.

Spread the coconut evenly onto a baking sheet and toast until lightly golden brown, stirring once, 8-10 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the coconut sit in the oven until very dry and crunchy, up to 15 minutes longer (check frequently, it may take as little as 5 minutes).

For the simple syrup:

For the custard:

Combine the milks and vanilla bean seeds in a medium, nonreactive saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Whisk together the yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture, then return the mixture to the pot over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, until thickened. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and whisk in the rum and both extracts. Let cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

For the filling:

Whip cream and extract until soft peaks form. Fold custard into whipped mixture.

For the buttercream:

Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the coconut custard, extracts and salt and beat until combined and smooth.

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment, then butter and flour over parchment and sides.

Whisk together the milk, egg whites, vanilla bean seeds, and both extracts in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With mixer running at low speed, add the butter, one piece at a time and continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs. Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed until the mixture is pale and fluffy, about 1-1/2 minutes.

With mixture on low speed, add remaining 1/2 cup of the milk mixture, increase speed to medium and beat 30 seconds more. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 20 seconds longer. Divde the batter evenly between the cake pans and smooth the tops using a rubber spatula.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached, 22-32 minutes. Cool in the pans on baking racks for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the side of the pan and invert cakes onto the baking rack, removing parchment paper, and let cool completely, about 45 minutes.

To Assemble:

Using a long serrated knife, slice each cake horizontally into 2 layers. Reserve 1 of the flat bottom layers for the top of the cake. Place another layer on a cardboard round (or cake plate) cut side up and brush with some of the coconut simple syrup. Spoon 1/3 of the coconut filling onto the cake and using a small offset spatula, spread it into an even layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge of the cake. Repeat with 2 more layers. Brush the cut side of the reserved cake layer with syrup and place cut side down on top of the cake.

Frost the sides and top of the cake with the buttercream. Pat the toasted coconut onto the sides of the cake and sprinkle the remaining coconut on the top of the cake.

It seems complicated, right? A lot of the comments centered around how long the cake takes to make. Whatever. It took about as long as any fantastic dessert I've ever made. I made the toasted coconut, simple syrup, custard, and cake all on Saturday, then made the filling and buttercream and assembled it on Sunday. No big deal.

A couple of things:

You will probably have simple syrup leftover. It should stay good in the refrigerator for about 3-4 months. I'm sure I can come up with some tropical cocktail that you could use it in if you don't know what else to do with it. I'll work on that.

The custard recipe as I've given it to you is double the original recipe. This will give you plenty to add in to the filling and buttercream (I also doubled the filling recipe). I only had about 3/4 cup of custard leftover, so I'm convinced that doubling it is the way to go. I separated the custard into the different amounts that I would need for filling and buttercream while it was still a little warm. It seemed like that would be easier to deal with than when it was cold and rather stiff.

The coconut buttercream...I don't even know what to say. I've never really considered myself to be a big coconut fan--you know, I like it but it's not my favorite thing in the world. This buttercream quickly became one of my...probably...5 favorite things. It is beyond delicious.

Note that your frosting job doesn't have to be perfect, you're just going to sprinkle and press the toasted coconut into it anyway, don't fret.

I had plenty of toasted coconut (as you can see)--probably would have been enough to sprinkle some over the filling in each layer. I think that would have made for a nice crunch in the middle of the cake. Next time.

And, I have to say, it's such a good cake. The cake itself is really moist and dense. The coconut in every element turns out so nicely, it's not too much, it's certainly not too sweet. And the toasted coconut just cuts through everything to add a wonderful crunch and a whole different layer to the coconut flavor.

TGIP Rating--Toasted Coconut Cake--KEEPER

Next up: This month's American Theatre magazine is all about food. It includes the recipe for Bread and Puppet Theater bread. A project that involves theatre and food?! That's for me.

Midweek Kitchen Recommendations 2: Bak-klene

2010-03-31T09:00:00.002-06:00

This is the most amazing stuff. You know how you get that sort of sticky, greasy build-up on baking pans from using traditional cooking spray? This doesn't leave any of that residue. It has some kind of starch in it, as well as vegetable oil, so you don't have to grease and flour your pans, both are in the spray! You can order it online here. Or, I have found it in Williams-Sonoma stores.

Chocolate Irish Car Bomb Cake

2010-03-21T17:42:00.006-06:00

These are a few of my favorite things.

So, I didn’t actually make this cake completely according to The Priestess’s recipe. Throughout this past week I kept hearing and reading about chocolate stout cakes and I thought that would make a delicious alternative to the cake part of the recipe. I found this recipe at epicurious (and an altered version of it here at smitten kitchen). And frankly, I’ve never seen a recipe on the internet that had so many glowing reviews. I figured I had to try it.

It was such an easy cake to make. I did cut the recipe in half, as a lot of the reviews suggested that it makes a ton of batter. A half recipe was perfect for two 8-inch cake pans. Some of the reviews also mention that the butter/stout/chocolate mixture starts to look like it has “broken” as it cools. It’s true. But if you stir it up it’s fine, and it incorporates well when you mix it with the other ingredients.

The Priestess’s Irish Whiskey Pastry Cream is delicious. Probably my favorite part of the recipe. It doesn’t taste too much of the liquor, but you can definitely taste it in there and, yum.

The Bailey’s frosting...didn’t work out so well for me. In the cold light of day I’m just now realizing that I only used half the amount of powdered sugar that I was supposed to. Which makes my experience with the recipe that much more strange--read on. When I first put the ingredients together it was more like a glaze than a fluffy frosting, so I added a little bit more powdered sugar. But then it started tasting too powdered sugar-y for me. So I thought I’d try to nudge it closer to being a buttercream. I added (in small increments) 7 Tbls. of soft (but cool) unsalted butter and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. It was closer to buttercream, and I went ahead and used it to frost the cake, but it was still not ultimately what I wanted it to be. And it still had a really powdered sugar-y taste and texture.

So--the whole package together--was pretty good. A hit at the St. Patrick’s Day party. But, I don’t know that it really works for me. The chocolate stout cake was really delicious-dense and dark, but the chocolate overwhelms the taste of the stout. It’s good if you want a dark chocolate cake (and it has given me a plan for mr.’s birthday cake). But next time I want a car bomb cake, I’ll want to taste the stout, so I’ll try The Priestess’s recipe intact. EXCEPT--I am going to figure out how to make a Bailey’s buttercream. I’m thinking that if I use the BAKED buttercream recipe, but replace maybe half the milk (3/4 cup) with Bailey’s, it will have the taste and texture I want. More experimentation to come.

TGIP Rating--Chocolate Irish Car Bomb Cake--Needs work. The chocolate cake is perfect on its own--but maybe not right for this combination. The pastry cream is perfect. The frosting needs some tweaking to be what I really want.

Next up: Easter weekend will be the next time I take on a project. When I was a kid we always had cake with green coconut on top (for grass) and jelly beans scattered around on the "grass". So, I feel compelled to make a real, live coconut cake. I saw this episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and the cake looked beyond delicious. I'm not a Southerner, so I don't really know anything about the coconut cake tradition--but I'll learn!

Guest Blog: Seconda makes Torta al Cioccolato

2010-03-15T18:28:00.006-06:00

...with a little help from mr. And me.

Midweek Kitchen Confessions 31: I can't...

2010-03-11T09:00:00.001-07:00

...keep going at this pace. I'm having fun. I'm learning a lot. I'm also battling every day to lose weight. This blog is not entirely to blame for my weight gain over the past year and a half, but it has certainly contributed. So. I'm changing my plan to baking (and blogging about it) every other week.

Between weeks, I promise I will share with you some of my favorite baking-related sites and tools, and, of course, recipes that I've found and hope to try--maybe you can try them first!

You can't know how much it saddens me to realize that I shouldn't be baking as often as I am. But my options were either this or start baking low-calorie treats...which...I just don't believe in anymore. If you're going to take the trouble/time to bake, go all out...and this is the part I have yet to master...just eat a smaller portion. We'll call that your first dose of Kitchen Wisdom from TGIP.