Daring Bakers - Cranberry Orange Apricot Bread

I have been remiss in posting Daring Bakers challenges of late, even though I've made at least two that I could never get written and posted. When I saw this month's challenge however, I knew I had to participate.

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

This bread is one that I've cobbled together from various recipes (starting with a recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook) over the years, completely reworking the assembly to the point that I think it's perfect. Your mileage may vary, but I encourage you to incorporate some of these techniques in your quick bread making. They've given me tender, delicious quick breads for many years now.

• MEP, or mise en place, is critical. Have all of your ingredients ready, including chopping, measuring, melting, heating, etc.
• Flavors and add ins are critical, because without them, you've made a block of cake in a loaf pan with bits of things every slice or so.
• DON'T OVERMIX. Really. My technique (I've never seen it in another recipe) is to add your mix ins when your dry ingredients are about half way mixed into the wet ingredients. This way, you don't over mix while you're trying to incorporate the mix ins. Quick bread batter quickly (no pun intended) starts to stiffen the more you mix it, making it harder to thoroughly combine the mix ins.
• Also to address the mix ins, I mix mine together in a bowl before adding them to the recipe. Again, this makes it easier to have a homogenous loaf instead of one where all the nuts are in one half and the fruit in another.
• Texture. I address this in a couple of ways. If I'm using a wet fruit, I let it drain on a dish towel before adding it. I try to use a variety of mix ins, including nuts or poppy seeds or oats or something to provide an interesting crunch to break up the monotony of the bread.
• Short on time? Muffins. A muffin is a mini quick bread.
• Plan ahead. If you want muffins for your Saturday breakfast, you can make the batter Tuesday night and freeze (well wrapped, of course) in the muffin tin. Set the muffin pan on the counter while you preheat your oven the day you plan to bake. Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.
• I use my food processor for this bread because there's a lot of chopping, and I find frozen cranberries to be the most frustrating thing to chop by far. In this recipe I start with the nuts (if I'm using nuts), then go to the cranberries and finally the dried fruit. No need to wipe out the bowl.
• Think outside the box, er, recipe. Chopped crystalized ginger goes so well with many fruits (think lemon, orange, cranberry, banana, etc.) Likewise, chocolate will play well with many fruits (orange, raspberry, strawberry, apricot, etc.) 

Cranberry Orange Apricot Bread
Printer-friendly recipe

2 cups/280 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup/100 grams sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup/60 grams walnuts
11/4 cups/138 grams cranberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup/75 grams dried apricots
2/3 cup fresh orange juice (I've used store-bought, and substituted POG)
2 eggs
3 tbsp/42 grams unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp grated orange zest

Grease or coat an 8 x 4½ x 3 inch loaf pan with baking spray. Place oven rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Weigh or measure the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, whisk until combined, make a well in the center and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the walnuts until coarsely chopped, and empty walnuts into a medium mixing bowl. Repeat with the cranberries, then the apricots, pulsing each individually until coarsely chopped and them transferring to the mixing bowls with the walnuts. Stir the chopped ingredients until they are equally distributed.

In a small mixing bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, add the orange juice, eggs and melted butter, then zest the orange into the wet mixture and combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and with a spatula, fold them together until about halfway incorporated, then add the nut and fruit mixture, folding just until combined. Make sure you're getting to the bottom of the bowl with your spatula so you don't have dry pockets of flour.

Transfer batter to the pan and bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Wrap in plastic wrap and store for a day or two before serving (I've never done this because it smells too good when it comes out of the oven!)

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. 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Take the deepest, darkest chocolate flavor. Add a soupçon of coffee. Crown with cream cheese frosting with a hint of orange zest. Devour.

Only one thing could unseat a coworker's favorite birthday treat and it was these cupcakes. The cupcake is moist and flavorful and the frosting is lightly orange, sweet enough but not cloyingly. You can make them a day or two in advance without compromising the texture, just store them in a sealed container in the fridge.

They're easy to make but the batter is exceedingly thin, so the first time I made them, I poured the batter into a large measuring cup. That was fine, but my measuring cup dripped all over the muffin tins. The second time I made them I experimented with using a piping bag. This is what happened:

Maybe that wasn't the way to go.

Chocolate Cupcakes - adapted from Ina Garten, inspired by Jamie at My Baking Addiction
Printer friendly recipe
Makes 24 cupcakes

1 3/4 cups/245 grams all-purpose flour
2 cups/190 grams sugar
3/4 cups/72 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In a 2 cup measure, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla and stir with a fork to blend. With the mixer on the lowest speed (I use the Stir speed on my KitchenAid), slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on the  lowest setting, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very thin. Don't worry if you have a few lumps.

Using a large piping bag or measuring cup, fill the muffin wells 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting - adapted from My Baking Addiction

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
zest of one large orange
9 tablespoons/4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia (optional but soo good)

In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese at medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add the softened butter, orange zest and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. 

With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Add the extracts and mix to combine.

Put the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a star tip (or use a knife or small offset spatula) to swirl frosting on each cupcake. Store cupcakes in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Remove to room temperature 30-45 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Orange Marbled Loaf Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick comes to us from Carol of The Bake More. This one was on my short list when it was my turn to pick the recipe, and I was eager to make it. Dorie gives us a basic marbled loaf cake recipe with multiple variations, and since we love chocolate and orange together, I knew which one I would make.

Not surprisingly, I used 70% cacao chocolate to get the biggest chocolate flavor, and it actually made the chocolate part of the dough quite stiff, so my swirling left a lot to be desired. I baked my loaf in my Nancy pan (click here to read the story behind my Nancy pan) and it was done in an hour. I loved the more slender shape of the loaf, and especially loved the dramatic crowning of the loaf.

I find many marbled loaf cakes to be dry, but this one was moist and delicious. The orange was the perfect foil to the chocolate. I served this one on its own, but it could be dressed up with a chocolate ganache, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or sliced berries. It was an easy yet impressive cake to whip up. Dorie's other flavor combinations sound delicious, too, and the other TWD bakers loved the white chocolate mint combo (you can find out what they thought here).

Thanks to Carol for choosing this recipe for us to discover this week. It's a winner that I will make again and again. If you'd like to add it to your short list, Carol has the recipe for you here.

Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins

What, no chocolate?

It happens. I've been making Meyer lemon bars and corn muffins and this savory bread, but nary a decadent chocolate recipe. Fear not. I haven't forsaken chocolate. But in the spring (or after an entire week of chocolate), my thoughts turn to fruits and vegetables and I really want it to be spring. So this week I'm willing it to be spring with this aptly named, sunny muffin.

The sunshine in this muffin refers to the generous amount of orange juice, supplemented with a touch of lemon to make it extra perky. I was prepared to be meh about these, but they were actually quite nice. One secret I can share with you is using butter to grease the muffin tins. This made the outsides crunchy, which was a perfect counterpoint to the orangy middles. I know using paper liners is easier, but the crunchy crust stole the show for me. The currants were nice, but don't make a special trip to Whole Foods as I did. Dried cranberries or chopped dried cherries would be lovely as well. I also toyed with chopped crystalized ginger, but that would take these in an entirely different direction.

Lauryn of Bella Baker chose this recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers to make this week. It's from the epic book Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Lauryn will have the recipe for you (I just realized I overbaked mine when I saw her lovely muffins), and you can find the other TWD bakers here. Thanks, Lauryn, for choosing a recipe so evocative of the warmer weather we're all hoping for.

Cardamom Crumb Cake

Two days ago, it hit me.

This is not the last week of the month.

I know, I know, at this time of the year it's kind of a "duh!" that I don't have a better grasp of the calendar, but I don't celebrate Christmas so I don't have that great an awareness that the clock is ticking down to Saturday. I thought this week was the week we could do a rewind for Tuesdays with Dorie, and I looked forward to the relaxed posting deadline for the...that I plan to make. No, I'm not telling you what it is. You'll have to come back next week.

Two days ago, I was checking the TWD website and was startled to see the P&Q for Cardamom Crumb Cake. What?!? Oh yeah, it's NOT the last week of the year. Bummer.

Frankly, the recipe didn't thrill me. Cardamom, walnuts, coffee and orange are all things I like, but I couldn't imagine how they would work together. But I trust Dorie and I know she has a terrific palate, so I went with it. And I expanded the panoply of flavors by using some leftover crumb topping from this fruit crumble. That crumb topping is decidedly cinnamon, but cinnamon plays well with the other flavors. Plus, I'm lazy. But you already knew that.

Fortunately, this is a really easy recipe to throw together, and Dorie has thoughtfully arranged it in such a way to minimize dirty dishes. I added chopped walnuts to my leftover crumb topping and sprinkled it over the batter. Dorie gives perhaps the best piece of advice about crumb toppings that I've even seen: lightly press the crumbs into the batter. Brilliant! No more crumbless crumb cake.

Please excuse my iPhone photo. We've had practically zero natural light in the Bay area recently as a series of storms marches through, and I couldn't wait any longer to head into work this morning.

This cake was liked by my tasters, but wasn't wildly popular. I thought the flavor combination was interesting and tasty, and a crumb topping is hard to beat. It was fun to be able to throw it together at the last minute.

Our host this week was Jill of Jill's Blog. I love Jill, she is unusually funny and still visits me even if I can't visit her, like for the past month while I've been trying to get over tendonitis in my right wrist. Jill has the recipe for you here.

Find out how the rest of the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers liked this one, too. You can find them here.

Cranberry Shortbread "Cake"

I never, ever, ever would have made this "cake" if it wasn't for my esteemed blogging buddy Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen. And that would have been a real shame. Jessica, who will be faced with renaming her blog next year when she and beau Dudley get married, chose Dorie Greenspan's Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake as this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection.

I had a VERY hard time forcing myself to make this "cake." First, there's no photo in the book and I just couldn't wrap my head around how it would look. Second, although I like cranberries, I don't wake up in the morning and think "Gee, what can I make with cranberries today?" And last, the dough sounded finicky and difficult to work with. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A shortbread "cake" (I keep using quotes because it's all crust to me) surrounds a jam you make with cranberries and orange supremes. I went with a Texas pink grapefruit, both in honor of Jessica and, well, because it was what I had available. I made the super easy jam several days before I made the "cake" and tucked it away in the fridge. Last night, I checked Jessica's post (you can find it here) hoping for a photo of the completed "cake" to inspire me to make it. Yes and yes! So this morning I got up at five and started on the "cake." Surprise of surprises, I LOVED working with the dough. In fact, I plan to try this as a tart crust because I love it so much.

This recipe, except for my procrastination, was completely uneventful. Here's what I learned:

• Knowing my natural proclivity for not evenly measuring two dough halves, I weighed them on my scale.
• Jessica's "cake" looked as though she left a small border around the jam and pressed the crust closed around the jam. I liked that idea so I did the same.
• Tracey tweeted that she measured the top crust to get it the right size. I didn't do that, although I did use the ring of the springform pan to gauge it. My top crust ended up a tiny bit bigger than I wanted, so I pushed down the excess.
• Although I didn't do it this time, I am currently enamored with adding ginger to many of my recipes. I think some diced fresh ginger would make a great addition to the jam.
• I sprinkled Demerara sugar on top of the "cake" before baking.

In case you think I'm on the fence about this one, au contraire. I loved it. The tartness of the cranberries played perfectly against the sweet, crunchy pastry. It will be hard to share this one.

Jessica, thanks for a fantastic pick. I heart you, and not just because you chose this TART.

If you'd like the recipe, I have one thing to say...buy the book already! It's the best baking book, period. But if it's not in the budget this week, Jessica has the recipe for you, as well as a tasty apple version. And there are hundreds of us baking through Baking From My Home to Yours. You can find out what the other bakers thought here.

Check back next week...I'll have something exciting for you!

CwF - Molten Chocolate Orange Madeleines

What? That wasn't the recipe we were supposed to make? Oops.

Julie of A Little Bit of Everything is our fearless leader for Chocolate with Francois. Julie selected chocolate honey madeleines for the group to make this month. It's an easy recipe for us, given that the group has conquered multi-step, multi-day recipes of late. Even easier, the batter is made and rested for up to three days in the fridge before baking. I made these pre-vacation, when I was working tons and feeling stressed. That's my excuse for my seeming disregard of the recipe.

When the recipe said to add the grated zest of half an orange, I figured more was better. When Payard said that you would use two madeleine pans, and get 24 madeleines, I looked at my single madeleine pan and thought "I can put the rest in a mini muffin pan" and then promptly forgot there would be a "rest" to do that with. Instead, I overfilled 19 of the molds, ran out of batter and figured I was good to go. Big mistake. Although my madeleines rose nicely, no matter how many minutes extra I baked them, they never cooked on the inside.

As nice as a molten chocolate cake can be, it's not a good concept for madeleines. These were still good, and the smaller, less gooey ones were delicious, with a nice punch of orange and a very subtle tang of honey.

If you'd like the recipe, and promise to follow the instructions, Julie will have it for you here. And thanks, Julie, for picking something easy and fun!

Orange-Scented Scones, a Sweet Melissa Sundays Rewind

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe is Pumpkin Bread Pudding, and it was chosen for us by Carmen of Baking is My Zen. I wasn't feeling the recipe (sorry, Carmen!) so I decided to skip this week. But then I visited my friend Tracey at Tracey's Culinary Adventures. Tracey is also skipping this week but she did a rewind. What a great idea!

I quickly checked out the page of completed recipes (you can find it here). I just joined the group a few months ago, so I've missed a lot of yummy things from the book. I decided on the orange-scented scones for several reasons:

1.  They're easy and fast
2.  I had all the ingredients the recipe calls for
3.  M. flipped for the last scones I made (you can find them here)
4.  The recipe only makes 6 scones

Well, I said I had everything the recipe called for and that's mostly true. Melissa calls for oat flour but gives instructions on how to make your own. I didn't have oat flour but made some in the food processor. The recipe then has you add the rest of the dry ingredients and pulse before adding cubed butter and pulsing until you reach the pea-sized pieces stage. But then Melissa tells us to finish the recipe in a bowl by adding the food processor ingredients to the wet ingredients.

I don't think so. Easy, lazy Sunday morning recipes don't require dirtying a bowl unnecessarily. So I measured out the cream and added the egg right into the measuring cup, gave it a few whirls with a fork and added it to the food processor. Pulse a few times and you're done!

I found the dough a tiny bit dry, so I'd add a little more cream next time, maybe another tablespoon. I cut mine out with my favorite cutter, a stylized heart that I bought on one of our trips to Paris. I finished them up with cream and a sprinkle of turbinado sugar.

The scones were terrific. Light and flaky with delicate orange flavor and nice crunch from the sugar on top. I bet you have the ingredients in your kitchen if you want to make them right now!

Orange-Scented Scones (adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book)

Printable Recipe

2/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/12 tablespoons sugar
Zest of 2 oranges (or 1 if it's really big)
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
2/3 cup cold heavy cream
1 egg
2 tablespoons heavy cream (for brushing)
1 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, process the oats to a coarse flour. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and orange zest. Pulse several times to combine. Add the cold diced butter and pulse until the butter is the size of medium peas.

Measure the cream in a 1 cup measure and add the egg. Stir with a fork (or whisk) until combined. Add to the food processor. Pulse 5-6 times until almost combined.

Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Working with your hands, corral the ingredients together in a 7" circle. Cut into 6 wedges (or flour a decorative cutter and cut out shapes).

Place the scones on the prepared sheet pan and brush with the cream and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Scones are done when golden brown and set. Cool on a rack for a few minutes before serving. Makes 6 scones.

Orange Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble

These muffins, selected by Chaya of My Sweet and Savory, sound perfect for a Mother's Day breakfast treat. I was cautious about making them as the Sweet Melissa Sundays P&Q had numerous comments from bakers who found them dense, dry, doughy and heavy, not good qualities for a muffin. I was making 1/4th of the recipe and I was determined that my muffins would be moist and light. Here's how I did it.

First of all, I decided that I would have to increase the moisture by the use of additional fat so that all of the flour would be adequately hydrated. To do this, I increased the butter and used all heavy cream (the recipe combines heavy cream and milk).

As blueberries are not in season yet, I used Trader Joe's frozen wild blueberries. They'd been in the freezer for several months and had a lot of ice crystals so I did something you're not supposed to do...I rinsed and dried my berries. I didn't want purple muffins and they were definitely going to be purple with all those ice crystals. I also used additional orange zest to boost the orange flavor.

The comments I read said that the pecan crumble really makes these muffins and I couldn't agree more. I doubled the amount of crumble for the number of muffins I made, and it made them even more delicious.

My muffins ended up moist and tender. The crumble gave them a great nutty flavor boost and terrific crunch. We enjoyed these a lot, and I'll definitely make them again because of the wonderful taste. And I'll be adding the pecan crumble to other muffins and baked goods...it's a keeper.

If you'd like the original recipe, you can find it here. Thanks, Chaya, for hosting us this week and choosing such a terrific recipe!

Orange Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble (adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book)

Printable recipe

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
11 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
Freshly grated zest from 1 orange
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Pecan Crumble
3/4 cups pecan pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers (or butter and flour the cups or spray with nonstick vegetable cooking spray).

Make the pecan crumble:
In a large bowl, stir together the pecans, flour, brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Stir in melted butter. If mixture seems dry, add a little more melted butter. Set aside.

Make the muffins:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and eggs until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream.

Add the orange zest to the flour mixture and gently rub the mixture together with your fingers. Add the blueberries and gently combine. Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients and gently mix with a spoon until just combined. If the mixture seems dry, add additional heavy cream until it's the appropriate consistency for a muffin.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup until full and top with pecan crumble. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12-14 muffins

Roasted Pecan Cake with Caramel Orange Marmalade and Burnt Orange Buttercream

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick is Roasted Pecan Cake with Caramel Orange Marmalade and Burnt Orange Buttercream. I know you're thinking "good grief, whose idea was it to make such a high maintenance dessert?"

Umm, that would be me.

Unlike the times I've gotten to pick the recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly, I didn't choose something easy and popular like granola or grilled cheese. It's like I was challenging myself to see how few of my fellow SMS bakers would be able to play along with me this week.

I'm going to be straight with you. This cake was a lot of work. I made it over a three day period. You can make it in one day, but if you have a life and only one dishwasher, I suggest you do it over two days.

These are the dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher. 

I started with the orange marmalade filling. It was super easy, and I tucked the saucepan in the fridge until I had time to continue.

A few days later, I rushed home from work and toasted the pecans and started separating eggs (eggs separate better when they are cold, but whip better when they are at room temperature). I was watching House, and it was hard to focus on the recipe with the doctors throwing out possibilities for the mysterious ailment that was killing their patient.

Once I pulsed the pecans and sugar in the food processor, I melted and browned the butter. I browned it past the point that Melissa tells us to take if off the heat because the flavor is so good when the butter is well browned. Then I strained out all the bitter black solids and added the butter to the pecan and sugar mixture, which I had transferred to a bowl. Toasted pecans and browned butter smells better to me than any substance on earth, and I wanted to eat it out of the bowl. But I resisted.

Next, I whipped a dozen egg whites until soft peaks formed, added some sugar, and whipped to the point where the eggs held stiff peaks. I folded the egg whites in to the pecan mixture and divided it between two prepared cake pans. I followed Melissa's advice and spun the cake pans on the counter to level them off. DON'T DO THIS! It piled the batter up against the sides of the pans, and I didn't catch it, so my layers ended up higher on the sides than in the center.

Once the cake cooled, I made the buttercream. It starts with reducing orange juice until it caramelizes. 3/4 of a cup of orange juice netted about 2 tablespoons of reduced caramelized orange juice, which I don't think was enough to flavor the buttercream. If you make this cake, double the orange juice. The buttercream did break as the book said it would, but it came together. When I tasted it, I wasn't impressed. It tasted just like butter, not like burnt orange.

The broken buttercream, before it came together

Once assembled, I completely forgot to finish the cake with toasted pecans, which would have helped cut the butteriness of the frosting and dominant marmalade flavor.

All in all, this was popular at work, but I was disappointed. It was a lot of work for a cake that didn't live up to the allure of its name. I loved the toasted pecans and browned butter (not a big surprise if you saw these cookies), but I found the orange marmalade too sweet and too marmalade-y. If I make this cake again, I'll fill it with orange curd instead of the marmalade. It would be more work, but a superior cake.

Roasted Pecan Cake with Caramel Orange Marmalade and Burnt Orange Buttercream
Printable Recipe

I made this cake for my friend Brandon's wedding, which was held in Virginia, at the beautiful farm where she grew up. She and I used to ride horses together, and Brandon loved to tell me of the adventures she'd had on her pony Irving back when she was a child--how they'd just take off for hours without a saddle or a plan.

When Brandon asked me to make her wedding cake, I wanted the decoration to capture the farm I imagined in my mind. She had a whimsical horsey cake topper that I embellished with fondant daisies. I decorated the rest of the cake to look like green pastures filled with lots of clover and lots of love. I only wish her pony could have had a slice.

Makes one 9-inch cake

FOR THE CAKE
1 2/3 cups coarsely chopped pecan pieces, toasted and cooled (see Note)
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
12 large egg whites, at room temperature

FOR THE CARAMEL ORANGE MARMALADE
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 cup orange marmalade

FOR THE BURNT ORANGE BUTTERCREAM
3/4 cup fresh orange juice (I suggest doubling the juice, it really cooks down a lot)
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup water
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

TO FINISH THE CAKE
1 cup pecan pieces, toasted

BEFORE YOU START

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. butter and flour two 9 x 2-inch round cake pans. Line each pan with a 9-inch round of parchment paper.

TO MAKE THE CAKE

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the pecans with 2/3 cup of the sugar and pulse grind until it is a coarse flour. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the all-purpose flour, an additional 2/3 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
2. Have ready a fine-meshed strainer. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, brown the butter over medium heat. (The butter will melt first, and then the milk solids will settle to the bottom. After a little while, the milk solids will start to turn golden.) When the milk solids have reached a nutty brown color, immediately remove from the heat.
3. Using the fine-meshed strainer, strain the butter into the flour mixture. Stir to combine. Discard the butter solids. Stir in the vanilla.
4. In the very clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the very clean whip attachment, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks. In a slow steady stream, with the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 2/3 cup of the sugar and increase the speed back to high. Beat until there are firm--not dry--glossy peaks of meringue.
5. Using a rubber spatula, briskly fold in one-third of the meringue mixture into the batter to lighten it. Add the remaining meringue and gently fold it in until just combined.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Spin the pans to level the batter. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool in the pans for 20 minutes before turning the layers out onto the rack. Cool completely before filling or frosting.

TO MAKE THE MARMALADE

1. In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar with the water until amber in color, like clover honey. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the orange juice to stop the cooking.
2. Add the marmalade and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.

The marmalade may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

TO MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM

1. In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, reduce the orange juice until it is syrupy and just starts to caramelize (it turns brown). Watch it closely; don't let it burn! Add a splash of water to the caramel orange syrup to stop the cooking. Set aside to cool.
2. In another small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the 2/3 cup of the sugar and water and cook to 240 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 7 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the 3 tablespoons sugar and beat until there are medium-stiff peaks of meringue.
4. When the sugar syrup reaches 240 degrees, decrease the speed of the mixer to medium, and immediately but slowly pour the hot liquid sugar in a steady stream down the side of the bowl and into the meringue. (Or, if the syrup is not yet 240 degrees when the meringue is ready, turn off the mixer until it is. Then turn the mixer to medium and add the syrup.) Beat together until stiff glossy peaks form.
5. With the mixer still on medium, add the butter in pieces to the meringue. The mixture will break, but just keep beating and it will come together beautifully. Add the vanilla and reserved caramel orange syrup and mix to combine.

If using the buttercream immediately, set aside at room temperature. If not, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If the buttercream has been chilling, let it reach room temperature before beating it in the electric mixer. The buttercream will break, but then it will come together beautifully.

TO COMPLETE THE CAKE

1. See How to Assemble a Layer Cake (below) for instructions on how to fill and frost a split layer cake. You will split each cake layer in half, and spread one-third of the marmalade over each of the interior layers.
2. After frosting the cake, gently press the toasted pecans against the sides of the cake with your fingers.

This cake keeps very well, in a cake saver in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The cake should come to room temperature before serving.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE A LAYER CAKE

Assembling a layer cake seems as though it would be pretty straight forward, but there are a few tips I use so that my results look consistent and professional.

First, the filling:  Before you assemble your cake, be sure that your fillings are at the appropriate temperature. Fruit curds should be cold. Ganache fillings, buttercreams, and frostings should be at room temperature.

Next, the cake:  The layer cake recipes in this book are made up of two separate layers. Before you do anything, use a serrated knife to trim off any excess cake that has domed or risen up, and make your layers as flat and even as possible. Give the scraps to your kids or save them for something like trifle.

FOR SPLIT LAYER CAKES

For fillings that are looser in texture, such as lemon curd, or fillings that taste best in smaller amounts, such as raspberry preserves, you want more layers holding less filling. Therefore, you will need to split each trimmed cake layer in half. This can be done with a long serrated bread knife. If you're good, you can cut the layer without measuring and do so evenly. If you're not sure how good you are, you can use a ruler to measure and toothpicks to mark the center of the layer every 3 inches or so all around. Once you've marked the center all around, lay your knife above the toothpicks and cut through the layer as you turn the cake, always staying on top of the toothpicks and cutting until you have cut the layer completely in half. Don't separate the halves yet. Repeat with your second layer.

While the cakes halves are still together, take a finger full of frosting and mark a vertical smear down the side of the cake, anywhere, from top to bottom, so that later you can line up the layers where they belong.

Slide each of the top layers onto a separate flat plate, or paper plate, and set aside.

Cut four strips of wax or parchment paper about 12 inches long by 3 inches wide. Place the bottom half of a cake layer cut side up on your serving plate. Tuck the wax paper under the edges of your cake on all sides. Later, after frosting the cake, you can pull away the strips to reveal a nice clean serving plate.

Using a metal offset spatula, spread the filling across the top of the layer but leave about 1/2 inch uncovered around the outside edges. (This leaves room for the filling to be squished down but to stay inside the cake.)

Place the matching half of the bottom layer over it cut side down. Spread filling over the trimmed top, leaving a 1/2 inch around the edges uncovered. (You know--squish room.)

Now place the reserved top half of the second layer trimmed side down on the second layer of filling. Spread it with filling, again leaving 1/2 inch around the edges uncovered.

Place the matching half of the second cake cut side down on top of the third layer of filling.

Using your hands, press gently on the center of the top layer to join the layers together. If you have the time, refrigerate the filled layer cake for at least 1 hour. Chilling will make the cake easier to frost.

HOW TO CRUMB COAT AND FROST A LAYER CAKE
You are going to frost your layer cake in two steps. The first step will be a crumb coat, which will keep most of the unsightly crumbs from ruining your finished frosting. To do this, simply apply a light, even layer of frosting on all sides of the cake. (Really, it doesn't matter what it looks like; it will be underneath the final frosting.) Place the cake in the refrigerator to chill for a good 30 minutes.

After the crumb coat has chilled, smooth on your final layer of frosting. It does take a lot of time to get it really smooth and perfect, so I prefer to make the frosting all swirly and peaked--it looks way more delicious this way as well.

If you must travel with your cake, finish it the night before, and refrigerate it overnight. Your layer cake will will be a lot happier on the trip, and have the best odds of getting to the party in one piece.

TO TOAST NUTS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden and you can smell them. Remove to a wire rack to cool.