Orange Berry Muffins with Crumb Topping

In my continuing quest to bake every recipe from Baking From My Home to Yours, this week I'm catching up with the orange berry muffins. Practically every time I pick up this cookbook looking for something quick and spontaneous to bake, I look at these muffins, see the blueberries and turn the page. I've written before about the reason for my blueberry aversion here, but the time was here to put on my big girl apron and do it.

To get around my lack of true love for the blueberry, I also added some raspberries I froze last year when they were plentiful at the farmers markets, I included walnuts AND I topped them with a crumb topping. They were spectacular, and I didn't even care that they had blueberries in them.

This is not what I'd call a fast recipe, and you will dirty a few bowls, measuring cups, etc., but it will be totally worth it. It's much easier if you have the crumb topping pre-made in your freezer.

Orange Berry Muffins with Crumb Topping - adapted from Dorie Greenspan
Printer-friendly recipe

Crumb topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Muffins:
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
About 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 Tablespoons honey

1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia extract (from King Arthur Flour, optional)
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup raspberries – fresh or frozen (not thawed)
1 cup blueberries – fresh or frozen (not thawed)

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Make the crumb topping:

Combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter crumb topping ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it's in big crumbles, then set aside in the refrigerator, tightly covered, until ready to use.

Make the muffins:
Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey, melted butter and Fiori di Sicilia (if using).

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with a spatula until the sugar is moist. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle on the crumb mixture (you may have some leftover - just freeze if for another time).

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes (mine were done at 21 minutes). When fully baked, the crumb topping will be golden, the muffins springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Programming note: Check back tomorrow because I'm posting a cake that will amaze you and is a lot of fun to make. In a very tortured way that leads to a lot of dishes. 

Spicy Roasted Romanesco Cauliflower

Beautiful and brightly colored, Romanesco cauliflower showed up in my CSA basket for the first time several weeks ago. Confused, I looked at the list of what they were sending us and figured out what it was, then turned to the internet for recipe inspiration.

I'm not a fan of cooked cauliflower, but after trying this method of preparing Romanesco cauliflower, I am in love. The tips get browned and caramelized and the chili oil and salt transform the flavor. I was alone for dinner that first night and ate the whole head myself. Truly. It was a small head, but still.

Roasted Romanesco Cauiflower - adapted from Brooklyn Farmhouse
Printer-friendly recipe
One head Romanesco cauliflower, core removed and cauliflower broken up into florets
2-4 tablespoons chili oil
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (smoked sea salt is especially delicious here)
Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the cauliflower florets, chili oil and salt together. Add several grinds of black pepper.

Roast in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the cauliflower is softened and is brown in places.

Remove from oven and squeeze the lemon over the cauliflower. Serve immediately.

Perfection Pound Cake and Lemon Curd

Whenever I hear a claim of perfection in a recipe, I get concerned. That means it's been tested and loved by many, and the off chance that someone can screw it up looms over me. My kitchen takes on a dingy hue, no, wait, the kitchen lights are on the dimmer. Scratch that. But it makes me leery of A. failure and B. disappointment.

I wouldn't say this pound cake was a failure, but I was a teensy bit disappointed. I've been to the oven with a pound cake or two, tried probably a dozen recipes, and the one I return to is Rose Levy Beranbaum's from The Cake Bible. That pound cake is moist with the finest crumb. Maybe this was operator error.

In fairness, Dorie says for best texture, wrap the cake up and put it away for a day. I didn't do that, and it may have made a difference. I also didn't add the eggs one at a time and beat well before adding the next egg. I had broken two of the yolks when cracking the eggs and three eggs fell into the bowl at the same time. See what I mean about operator error?

I used cake flour, hoping for a nice crumb but I'm not sure it made any difference. The outside was crisp, and the inside soft, but it was just a plain cake. That's why I made lemon curd to go with it. And brown sugar caramel, but I'll make that for you another time.

I was thrilled to win the latest Cook's Illustrated cookbook in a giveaway on Tracey's Culinary Adventures (thanks, Tracey!). It's a huge book, and it's been sitting on my counter asking to be used since it arrived. I cracked it open and found the lemon curd, perfect because I had a bag of Meyer lemons from my friend's huge tree. If you'd like the recipe for it, you can find it here on the Cook's Illustrated website (you'll have to sign up for a 15 day free trial, but the lemon curd is worth the trouble!)

If you're still test driving pound cake recipes, this is a good one to try (you can find the recipe here). I have a limited attention span with things that are plain, perfect or not, so it's a tough sell for me. Nonetheless, I did mark off another recipe in my quest to bake all the recipes in Baking From My Home to Yours. Score!

Programming note: If you check back around February 1st, I'm going to have a cake that will amaze you and is a lot of fun to make. In a very tortured way that leads to a lot of dishes.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

I love a good biscuit, and I love cheese, so a cheesy biscuit already has my attention. I found this Ina Garten recipe while I was looking for something else and it is yummy. I added smoked Spanish paprika, though you could certainly leave that out, or replace it with cayenne, or a bit of garlic powder.

I also love Ina's method for making scones and biscuits. She has you put the dry ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer, toss in the cold butter, and let the machine do the work. I added aged white cheddar and the aforementioned smoked paprika. Although the color is a little muddy, the flavor was great. 

These biscuits are great as a do-ahead recipe. Simply make the dough, cut out the biscuits and put them on a sheet pan and stick in the freezer. Once frozen through, toss them (carefully) in a ziploc bag and freeze. You can pull a few out and bake them to go with soup or chili or eggs. Just add a minute or two to the baking time.

I skipped the egg wash the recipe called for and sprinkled them with a little shredded cheddar and they were great. Did I mention they were delicious? And yummy? Good. Just wanted to make sure I mentioned we loved them.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits (adapted from Ina Garten, found on Food Network)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the board
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika, optional
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 egg, cold
1 1/2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar, plus extra for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, salt and paprika in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until almost moistened. Turn off the mixer. In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with the 2 tablespoons of flour and, with the mixer on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined (I find it's better to do this part with a spatula so I don't over mix the dough).

Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a 2" biscuit cutter, dip the cutter into some flour then cut out biscuits, keeping cuts close together. Don't twist the cutter in the dough, which can keep your biscuits from rising. Transfer biscuits to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the tops with the extra cheddar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies

I have news for you.

There is such a thing as too much chocolate.

I know, I never would have believed it could be true but it is. I'm not sure if it was the milk or white chocolate (or maybe the combination) that sent these over the top, but I could only take a tiny corner. Two bites. People who I relayed this to looked at me like I was an alien life form, and told me I was crazy. Just another day at the office.

These brownies, from Baking From My Home to Yours, contain cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate chips and a white chocolate glaze.

Bottom line, if you like milk chocolate and sweet brownies, you'll love these. If not, I would suggest replacing the milk chocolate chips with semisweet or even bittersweet, and forgoing the white chocolate glaze entirely. They'd be quadruple chocolate if you did that, which is still pretty special.

I was feeling lazy and didn't toast the walnuts and the world didn't end. At least not yet. But I would recommend toasting the nuts, unless you're trying to bang out as many recipes as you can so you can write lots of posts during your non-existent down time at a conference. Like I am.

You can find the recipe all over the blogosphere, or you can find it in the original post when these were picked for TWD here.

Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake

My friend Hanna at Hanaa's Kitchen has been encouraging me to join ABC Bakers for a while. I thought the last thing I needed was another group (true), but this time she caught me at a weak moment. I had a week off from work so I was relaxed and, at the time, had finished Tuesdays with Dorie with no intention of continuing on with the group when they moved to Baking with Julia, nor of finishing the recipes I had missed.

Fast forward and a lot has changed. I've decided to continue on to BwJ, and I'm joining Nancy and a few other baking buddies in making up the recipes I missed in Baking From My Home to Yours. We're starting with the recipes picked in the very beginning and working through we get to the point where we had joined and were baking with the group every week.

But when Hanaa asked me again if I'd like to join ABC (Avid Bakers Challenge), I took a look at the book they would be baking from in 2012 (The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge) and was very impressed with what I found. Virtually all of the reviews on Amazon are 5 star. It has the weights for the ingredients (yippee!) The recipes are interesting and approachable and are organized by how long they take.

The first recipe the group is making is the nut-crusted chocolate-banana swirl cake. During the winter, it can take a week for a banana to ripen in my cool kitchen, and it did. In fact, I didn't make these with fully brown bananas, but they were spotty. I was running out of time before I left for a conference so I hoped for the best.

I made this one morning in one of my pre-coffee stupors, and I completely forgot to mix in the buttermilk in between additions of flour. By the time I remembered, I had already divided the batter (by eye, instead of my usual obsessive weighing to get exact quantities of the two batters) and started spooning the melted chocolate into one bowl of it. I put half of the buttermilk in each batter. Turns out I had way more chocolate batter than plain so the plain was a little runnier than the chocolate, but it all worked out in the oven. A few things to keep in mind:

• Preheat your oven really well. I used to stick cakes in when it went ding but now I give it an extra 10 minutes, and I believe that gives cakes a little more oven spring.
• One of the things I liked about the recipe is she gives the weight for the bananas peel and all. Another is you don't have to mash the bananas. I dropped banana chunks into the mixer while it was running. A real time saver! 
• I used 70% bittersweet chocolate and added it to probably 2/3, not half of the batter. It gave the finished cake a very pronounced chocolate flavor that people loved.
• After going to the trouble of buttering and nut-and-sugar-coating the pan, I was convinced that it just wasn't worth it and I would skip that step if making the cake again. After tasting - no way. It gives the cake a very special element.
• I used pecans rather than walnuts because we love them and because my buddy Margaret had sent me some (thanks, Margaret!)

Hanaa had said her cake stuck a little bit (find out the beautiful way she remedied that here), but mine popped right out. It looked a little odd because it was predominantly chocolate batter, but my tasters were ecstatic with praise of the finished cake. People who don't normally indulge in the sweets I bring to work were having some because the word in the office was that this one was fantastic. And I have to agree. I'm not a huge fan of baked bananas or banana-flavored things, preferring to peel and eat my bananas. But even I couldn't believe how good this one was - super moist, crunchy on the outside and totally luscious. I'll definitely be making this one again. And again. And again.

If you'd like to see what the other bakers thought of the cake, you can find them here. We're not posting recipes from the book, but you can find the recipe on Fine Cooking.

Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread

I know it was just last week that I was sniffling and bidding farewell to Baking From My Home to Yours, but my friend Nancy came up with a great idea that I'm grabbing hold of, too. Nancy is determined to make every recipe in the book, starting with the very first recipe chosen, and she's doing the recipes in the same order. That means the first recipe is brown sugar pecan shortbread.

Over the years, I looked longingly at these cookies, but I don't think I've ever made them. I've said many times that I love Dorie's method for rolling out shortbread: pile the dough in a gallon size zip top bag and roll it out to the right dimensions. That ends up being the width but not length of the bag. To avoid repeated measuring, I draw a little line on the bag with a Sharpie.

Although the recipe doesn't call for it, I toasted the pecans before grinding them into a flour in my food processor. I find this really enhances the nutty flavor and especially the aroma. I also left out the cloves.

The comments from the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers who made this recipe indicated the cookies spread a lot. I froze half and refrigerated the other half 15 minutes before baking and there wasn't an appreciable difference. I think you'll want to do one or the other since these have so much butter.

They were done (even a touch overdone) two minutes earlier than the recipe indicated, so if you make them definitely check them way before they are supposed to be done. If you'd like to give them a try, you can find the recipe here.

I have 78 recipes to go in order to make every recipe in the book, and I'd like to do it before the end of this year. That takes into account recipes I made, but never posted. On the weeks where I've made the corresponding recipe, I'll substitute another one from my list. This will give me the opportunity to make fruit desserts in season.

I've also reconsidered and will be jumping into Baking with Julia when the group starts that book next month. I probably won't make every recipe. I hope!

Roasted Sweet Potato and Apple Soup

This velvety soup is the best guilt-free pleasure I know. Packed with sweet potatoes (a super food!) and apples (to keep the doctor away), it's a snap to make and is forgiving of whatever holiday excesses you're wanting to undo.

I make it many different ways depending on what I have in the house (sweet potatoes, butternut squash, potatoes, apples past their prime), but it never contains any cream or milk. I usually dose it with cayenne pepper, though you could skip that and top it with some sizzling almonds or toasted pistachios. If you have a lot of apples to use, add a teaspoon of apple cider or balsamic vinegar to balance the sweetness.

This batch had a 1:1 ratio of apples to sweet potatoes by volume because I had quite a few apples past their eating prime, making this soup the ideal hiding place.

I'm fortunate to have a VitaMix to blend it all up in, but you can just as easily use an immersion blender. If you use your blender or food processor, blend it in batches, and add extra liquid if you hear the engine straining.

You can swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth, water or apple juice. If you go with apple juice, add at least one teaspoon of cider or balsamic vinegar to taste. If you don't like things spicy, leave out the cayenne. You can also replace the cayenne with 1 teaspoon curry powder, or use both.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Apple Soup
Printer-friendly recipe

Olive oil
2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (or butternut squash), peeled and cubed
2 large or 4 small apples (or Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes), cubed (peel potatoes if using)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste (optional)
6 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon apple cider or balsamic vinegar (or to taste), optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 F. Lightly oil two sheet pans or baking sheets. Add the cubed sweet potato and drizzle on another tablespoon or so of olive oil. Using your hands, make sure all of the sweet potatoes are coated lightly with the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place pans in oven and roast sweet potatoes for about 15 minutes, or until edges are getting brown and larger cubes are tender when pierced with the end of a sharp knife. Remove from oven and set aside to cool before proceeding.

If using a blender or food processor, add 1/4 of the apple, 1/4 of the sweet potatoes, 1 1/2 cups of broth, 1/4 of the cayenne and 1/4 of the vinegar to the container and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Pour into a 4 quart saucepan or Dutch oven, and add another batch of the ingredients to the container and process. Repeat for remaining ingredients.

If using an immersion blender, place ingredients in a 4 quart saucepan or Dutch oven and using immersion blender, puree ingredients until desired consistency.

Place saucepan over medium heat and heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.

Kid's Thumbprint Cookies, a Big Hug and Then I Cry

You know how sometimes you have something you need to do that weighs on your mind, nagging nagging nagging you to DO IT so you can cross it off your list and feel the elation of procrastination overruled?

This is not one of those moments.

This is the last recipe in Baking From My Home to Yours for the group of bakers known as Tuesdays with Dorie. As much as I've itched to do my own thing these last few months, I've been dreading this day because of its last-ness. And because I have no words without tears about this, it's best that we proceed to the recipe.

I can only assume that as we neared the end of the book, our fearless leader Laurie asked Dorie Greenspan if she'd like to host the last pick, and what she would like that to be. And Dorie's pick this week is one of those crazy technique recipes that I used to scratch my head over in the early days and now I just go with without questioning. Dorie wasn't done teaching me, showing me new ways to do things.

These cookies are a peanut butter thumbprint cookie rolled in egg white and then peanuts. The dimple is filled with jam or chocolate chips. I opted for bittersweet chocolate chips. The recipe wasn't fussy until it came to dipping the balls of dough in frothy egg white before rolling them in chopped peanuts. In honor of Dorie, I didn't alter the recipe this week because I always tweak it. My balls of dough were a tiny bit bigger than they were supposed to be, but they were done in 11 minutes not 15-18 as the recipe suggested.

The cookies were good, though I didn't swoon the way I did over the other thumbprint cookies in the book. Maybe my tastebuds were depressed about it being the last recipe. Dunno, but I needed a big hug after finishing the last recipe from a book and a group that has been, well, a big hug for me these last few years.

To Dorie, your book changed my life. Truly. You taught me how to BAKE, and to make things I never would have attempted. That confidence seeped into other areas of my life, and opened me up to greater personal and yes, even professional success. The creative yearning I felt inside finally had an outlet, and I no longer had to stifle it in pursuit of my career. I always feel your presence and hear your calm encouragement in the kitchen, especially when the going gets tough. I have had failures, but I learned from them, and I have had successes, and I learned from them, too. It all added up to a strong and stable foundation of dozens of things a baker knows by instinct. I no longer assemble recipes; I am a baker. My heart is full and my eyes overflow with tears of joy, sadness and gratitude. Thank you.

To Laurie, whose personal mission to bake her way through the book started this group, I am forever grateful. You invited us on your journey, never complaining when hundreds of unruly individuals made managing the group more of a labor than a labor of love. That generosity hasn't gone unnoticed, and we love you for it.

I am not an easy person to get close to and yet I have made many friends in this group, and the entire group has been warm, welcoming and supportive. To my buds Margaret, Nancy, Kayte, Tracey and Di - I love you all. Anytime, anywhere.

Tuesdays with Dorie will continue on with another of Dorie's books, Baking with Julia. I contemplated staying on to explore that book, but it didn't speak to me the way Baking From My Home to Yours or Paris Sweets does. I want to return to some if not all of the BFMHTY recipes I missed, revisit old favorites, and take what Dorie taught me to other books, other projects. And so the sadness of the ending merges with the excitement of new beginnings. I can hardly wait to get back into the kitchen.

"The reward of a thing well done is to have done it" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

UPDATE: Due to overwhelming pressure from a few friends (you know who you are!) I took another look at Baking with Julia and decided to stick with the group when they start the new book in February. I'll also be revisiting the 78 recipes I skipped or that were made before I joined the TWD in October 2008. Look for the first one soon!

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Scones 2.0

I don't generally repeat a recipe I've previously posted but this is a rewind week for Tuesdays with Dorie so I'm making an exception. The first time I made these scones, I didn't post the recipe because it was a bit of a mess. It's taken a few tries, but I finally got it to the point where it's almost too good to share.

These scones are oh-so-light. Normally, when I pick up a scone it feels substantial. These are feather light, and they are fluffy and tender without being like eating cake. The hazelnut flour gives them a neat flavor and texture. The chocolate chips are a nod to loving chocolate for breakfast and wanting these to be evocative of Nutella. They're perfect to enjoy in the afternoon with a cup of tea, or in the morning for breakfast. You can leave them out if chocolate chips in your scones is not your thing.

The rest of the TWD bakers have chosen other recipes to rewind in this, the next to the last week for us. You can see what they made here. Next week we will be making the last recipe in the book, which was chosen by Dorie herself. Every time I think about writing that post, I tear up.

*******

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Scones - adapted from the chestnut scones in Baking From My Home to Yours
Printer-friendly recipe

1 large egg
3/4 cup cold heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons/210 grams all purpose flour
3/4 cup/84 grams hazelnut flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons/112 grams unsalted butter, cut into bits and chilled

3/4 cup/128 grams semisweet chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Stir the egg, cream and vanilla extract together.

Measure the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and let run for a minute or so to combine the ingredients. With the mixer still on low, drop in the butter and mix on low speed until the mixture is pebbly. You’ll have pea size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and everything in between.

With the mixer still on low, pour the liquid ingredients over the mixture and mix for five seconds then add the chocolate chips and mix until the dough almost comes together; it may be sticky.

Lightly flour a work surface, and place the prepared baking sheet nearby. Before turning the dough out of the bowl, gently press any stray flour into the rest of the dough with a flexible bowl scraper if you have one or a spatula if you don't. Turn the dough onto the floured work surface, dip the bowl scraper in flour and use it to coax the dough into a neater circle about an inch high. Using a 2" round cutter, dip the cutter in flour and cut out the scones, keeping your cuts as close together as possible to minimize waste. Gather the scraps and cut as many scones as you can. Place the scones 2" apart on the prepared baking sheet and place in freezer while you preheat the oven (at this point, the scones can be frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight. You don’t need to defrost the scones before baking - just add about 2 minutes to the baking time).

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400F.

Bake the scones for 17-19 minutes, or until their tops are golden and firmish. Transfer the scones to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for the scones to cool to room temperature.  Makes about 14 scones.

Caramel Cheesecake Bars

I know what you're thinking...and yes, we did just have cheesecake bars recently, but these are as different from the lemon cheesecake bars as a dog is from a cat. Both have four legs, fur and can be domesticated to varying extents. But that's where the similarity ends. And so it is with these cheesecake bars.

Like so many good things I make, I found these on Tracey's Culinary Adventures.

And also like so many things I find on Tracey's website, the recipe was in a cookbook I own. For those of you who mastered the lemon cheesecake bars, these will be very familiar. I really like Alice's crust: it's almost a batter you spread in the pan...no fussy crust, no stress.

They're so easy, especially if you have the caramel already made, and although cheesecake isn't a favorite, these were otherworldly due to the salted caramel swirl, in spite of being a tiny bit overdone. Next time, I'll probably use my own caramel recipe (you can find my caramel 101 here) and add flour de del to it.

Caramel Cheesecake Bars - adapted from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy thanks to Tracey
Printer-friendly recipe
Crust
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour

Filling
3/4 cup caramel sauce (recipe below)
1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup (1.75 oz) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 F with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang so you can lift the bars out after they've baked.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the flour until just incorporated - the mixture will be soft, that's fine. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan and press into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool completely. Turn the oven down to 325 F.

To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until incorporated and scraping down the sides of the bowl in between. Transfer 2 tablespoons of this batter to the 3/4 cup of caramel sauce and stir to incorporate. Pour the remaining cheesecake batter over the cooled crust and spread evenly.

Dollop the caramel sauce mixture over the filling. Use a toothpick to gently marble the caramel, being careful not to scrape the crust while you are doing it. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are puffed and the center is just barely set.

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let come to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably 24. Use the parchment sling to lift the bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares with a long sharp knife. The bars can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Salted Caramel Sauce - adapted from Cook's Illustrated

2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 teaspoon flour de del or grey sea salt

Add 1 cup of water to a 2-qt saucepan. Gently add the sugar to the center of the pot - it will mound, that's fine. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, uncover the pot and insert a candy thermometer. Continue cooking until the mixture registers 300 F and is just starting to develop some color, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat under the pot to medium and cook until the syrup is amber and registers 350 F on the thermometer, about another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the cream into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. If it simmers before the syrup is ready, just take it off the heat and set aside.

Remove the caramel from the heat and add about 1/4 of the warm cream to the pot. It will bubble furiously so be careful. Once the bubbling subsides, add the remaining cream. When it stops bubbling, whisk gently to incorporate fully. Add the butter and the salt and whisk to combine.

Set aside 3/4 cup of the salted caramel sauce for the cheesecake bars. The remainder can be refrigerated for up to 1 month.

Makes about 2 cups

Red Velvet Cupcakes

The other day, a coworker bought red velvet cupcakes at one of those fancy cupcakes stores and shared them with the office. Amid the oohs and aahs, no one seemed to notice that the frosting was overly sweet, the cake blah, and the general experience disappointing. This isn't a complaint directed at this kind gentleman, but an indictment of what passes as a good cupcake (hint: looks matter).

I was so disappointed in what felt like false advertising that I was determined to find a red velvet cupcake recipe that would make people swoon, that deserved the acclaim, and that we could all eat and feel like it was worth the calories.

I didn't have to look far to find what I wanted. Deb at Smitten Kitchen posted this red velvet cake back in 2007, and she noted many people had made it quite successfully as cupcakes.

The recipe didn't disappoint. For red velvet lovers, the cupcakes were swoon-worthy. For the rest of us, they were a pretty darn good cupcake.

Note:  You're working with red food dye here, so be careful not to splash it all over your kitchen. I have very porous light granite countertops and was careful to the point of paranoia. I think next time I'll just spread newspapers on the counter and not worry so much about making a mess. Be careful when you put the bowl, etc. in your sink. If the water splashes the batter around, you could have quite a mess.

Red Velvet Cupcakes - Adapted from "The Confetti Cakes Cookbook" by Elisa Strauss by way of Smitten Kitchen
Printer-friendly recipe
Yield: 36 cupcakes (I got 24 standard cupcakes and 24 minis)

3 1/2 cups/450 grams cake flour
1/2 cup/47 grams unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups/450 grams granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces-3 standard bottles) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Turn off mixer, add the food coloring and drape an old (but clean) kitchen towel over the mixer to control splashes. Turn mixer on lowest setting, wait ten seconds then turn off the mixer. Remove towel, turn mixer to low and add the vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

Fill cupcake papers 3/4 full, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pans 2 minutes, then remove cupcakes to cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting-Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups/684 grams confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed (or use a hand mixer) for 5 minutes. Turn off mixer and add butter, then beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Turn mixer to low and slowly add the sugar and vanilla. Continue beating on low speed to combine. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Everyone is searching for meaning in their lives. The one true love, deepest calling, and perfect job absorb many of us well into our 50s and beyond.

Me, I've been fortunate to tie down all the above, so my searching is now directed to something more mundane but just as elusive: the most ethereal chocolate treats. A couple of weeks ago I posted another chocolate cookie, and I wondered if this recipe could come close or even surpass the perfection of the Jacques Torres Mudslide Cookies. I'm sure M. Torres wasn't losing any sleep because the Mudslide cookie is in a league of its own.

I made these cookie's for Di's Second Annual Virtual Cookie Exchange.  Some of my favorite bakers are participating (I am, ahem, late as usual). Di will post a round up on her blog, Di's Kitchen Notebook.

These cookies, which I saw in Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich, have a similar truffly interior, but I missed the sprinkling of flour de del on the tops. M (who was traveling when I made the Mudslide cookies) proclaimed these "excellent" in waves of "mmmm" sounds. They were best while still warm so the crunch of the edges contrasted more sharply with the soft interiors. When cooled, the inside was chewy and the border lost some of its crispness, but was delightful for the aforementioned truffle-like interior.

I made quite a few changes to Alice Medrich's recipe, which you can find in the book, but here is my version, which I think is a little easier but loses none of the flavor or texture that makes these great.

Chocolate Espresso Cookies (adapted from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy by Alice Medrich)
Printer-friendly version

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped 

1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups/9.33 ounces sugar
1 1/2 tsp espresso powder (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate discs (or substitute chopped bittersweet chocolate)

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a heatproof bowl set over a simmering pan of water, melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate. Stir until the butter and chocolate are melted. Remove bowl from the pan and set aside while preparing the rest of the recipe.

Beat together eggs, sugar, espresso powder, and vanilla until pale, about 5 minutes. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and then add the flour and bittersweet chocolate discs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon liners. Drop the dough in heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops are cracked and the edge resists collapsing when pushed lightly with your finger but the center is still softish. Let the cookies cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to metal racks.

Turkey Soup with Mushrooms & Wild Rice

I don't know about you but I looked through dozens of use-up-leftover-turkey recipes before throwing up my hands, getting out a pot and doing it my way.

After Thanksgiving, the last thing I want to do is make a casserole with a block of cream cheese, or a soup with a pint of half and half. I want something easy that uses my leftover turkey, tastes fantastic, isn't over the top in calories and doesn't make me feel like I'm eating Thanksgiving dinner again.

If you have leftover rice, toss it in instead of making wild rice. Don't have leftover turkey? A rotisserie chicken would be great here. Just remove the skin and strip the meat from the bones. Save the carcass for making stock later!

This soup is easy, earthy, healthy, and deeply satisfying on a cold, rainy (or snowy) night. I like to cook my carrots, onions and celery down so they're lightly browned and very soft. Otherwise, I think the vegetables are too vegetal and they detract from the mellow flavor of the soup. To make it even faster, look for mirepoix (a combination of chopped celery, onion, and carrot) and cleaned sliced mushrooms in your produce section, and cook your wild rice before work, or the night before. Otherwise, you can start the wild rice, then chop your vegetables and make the rest of the recipe. By the time you finish with the rest of the recipe, your wild rice will be done and ready to add to the pot.

Turkey Soup with Mushroom & Wild Rice
Printer-friendly recipe

1 cup wild rice, uncooked

Prepare the wild rice according to package directions. Then chop the vegetables and prepare the rest of your soup:

3 tablespoons olive oil (plus additional if your pan gets dry)

10 ounces mushrooms, sliced

3 ribs of celery, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium-large onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated on a Microplane

1/8 teaspoon (or to taste) cayenne pepper (optional)

3 leaves of sage, finely minced

4 sprigs of thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

6-8 cups chicken broth

4 cups cooked turkey, chopped

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large, deep saucepan (I made this in a 12" non-stick sauté pan, so you can go that route, too) over medium heat and add the mushrooms. Allow the mushrooms to soften and give off their juices, stirring only occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a plate and set aside. 

Add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pot, and add the celery, carrots and onion. Stir to coat with the oil and cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetable have started to soften but are still firmish. Add the garlic and stir into the vegetables. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5-8 minutes, until the vegetables are quite soft, medium brown and cooked down considerably. Stir in the cayenne, sage and thyme branches, add salt and pepper to taste. Pour in 6 cups of the broth and cook until mixture is bubbling around the sides, stirring occasionally. Once all is hot, add your cooked wild rice and chopped turkey. If needed, add more broth (I like my soups to be more stuff than broth, but it's totally up to you). Heat through, then remove the thyme branches before serving.

Makes 8 servings

Normandy Apple Tart

This week, the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers are making Dorie's Normandy apple tart, selected by Tracey at Tracey's Culinary Adventures. More than any other individual blogger, Tracey's site is the one I check first when searching for something to make on a whim. She's a sweet, generous person and has helped me so much in the past with questions I've had about blogging and photography. I simply couldn't miss her final pick, one of the last ones we'll make with the group.

I was fortunate I had a tart shell premade in the freezer. I don't know if it's Dorie's recipe but it was there and that made this recipe even easier. So too for the apple sauce (I actually substituted apple butter). I used a recipe I learned when I went to canning school at Happy Girl Kitchen last month. I had made it a few weeks ago and I was so pleased with myself that I left the jars out on the counter to bring me a smile whenever I passed through the kitchen.

With the two most time consuming steps already out of the way, this recipe came together in minutes. I made a mini, because that was what the crust in the freezer was, and because I didn't have time to peel a couple of apples. I took the cheek off of one Gala apple, peeled that, thinly sliced it, arranged the slices on top of the apple butter, brushed it with some egg wash and off to the oven it went. 

Mine baked quite quickly because the tart shell was still hot when I loaded it up with the apple butter and apple slices, so I had to cover it with foil to keep the edge of the crust from browning too much. After just 25 minutes, it came out of the oven and I brushed it with a little quince jelly (which was one of the recipes Jordan made at the canning workshop). It gave the apple slices a lovely glow, and the combination of apples and quince is such a natural.

This was a delicious and, yes, even easy dessert with a little advance planning. The mellow tang of the apple butter contrasted nicely with the crisp-tender apple slices and the crunch of the tart shell. The star was truly the apple butter, so I encourage you to use a good quality filling.

If you'd like the recipe as Dorie intended it, Tracey has the recipe posted for you here. And be sure to check out what the other TWD bakers thought...you can find their tarts here.