Whether you celebrate it by going to church, eating Chinese food, going to the movies (my own family's tradition) or doing nothing at all, I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. My friend Jess and I made gingerbread houses again this year, so, and I thought this would be a good day to post them. We used the same recipes and schematics as last year. Have a happy holiday!
It seems I’m running out of time to post about the Christmas cookies I made this year. What, after all, is the point of posting Christmas cookies after Christmas? It’s not as if anyone makes New Years Cookies. So, without further delay, here are the Christmas cookies I made this year. For those who don’t know, I have a Christmas cookie party every year in early December. For us law students that is the time directly preceding finals, and so it’s known for being a bit stressful. Getting people together with their favorite cookies (everyone brings some), along with some milk, nog type drinks, or whatever else they can think of. This year I made two kinds of cookies, a family favorite peppermint cookie, and the better than brownie cookies from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures. Both kinds of cookies were good, but the brownie cookies were really big hits, and were all gone by the end of the evening (which could not be said for any other kind of cookie. If you’re looking for a cookie with just the flavor of pure chocolate, I strongly recommend these cookies. The peppermint guys are good too, but they tend to lose their crispness quickly (after a day or two). This can be rectified by re-crisping them for a few minutes in a warm oven.
Peppermint Cookies
Makes ~ 40
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and 1 cup of the sugar until fluffy.
2. Add eggs and extracts, mix until well combined. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter in three parts.
3. Combine the crushed peppermints with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar.
4. Form the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the crushed peppermint. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes, or until golden and just firm.
5. Let cool on the baking sheet briefly, then remove to a cooling rack.
Better than Brownie Chocolate Cookies
Makes ~ 30 (Tracey says 24, I got more though)
2 2/3 cups (about 16 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Set aside. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
3. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine well. Slowly add the dry ingredients, folding them into the batter.
4. Once all of the flour is incorporated, fold in the chocolate chips. This dough will be more like a batter (it’s very runny), that’s how it is supposed to be,
5. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Like I said, the dough will be a little runny. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are firm on the outside. Like brownies, do not overbake! Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets.
That’s right, it’s Fondue. Everyone favorite melted dessert from Switzerland. With the weather turning cold it seemed like the right season to invite people over to eat some well heated foods. Rather than sticking to one kind, I went ahead and made the traditional cheese and chocolate fondues, and then as a third, made pumpkin pie fondue with white chocolate and bourbon. That’s right, three fondues (I don’t own three pots, two were borrowed). All three were excellent, and were eaten up by the end of the evening. The chocolate and cheese fondues were both as you’d expect, but I thought the pumpkin was great (maybe just because it was my own idea), it really tasted like warm pumpkin pie, with a good kick of bourbon in it. Perfect for winter. Also, as a side dish I made ground up pecan praline, so that you could roll something dipped in chocolate or pumpkin in praline. Anyway, I’ve provided all of the recipes here, as well as suggestions for things to dip. I recommend preparing all of these in pots, and then pouring the fondues into the serving pots, as you’ll have better control of the heat over an oven, than over a sterno or whatever you call the controller in electric pots.
Cheese Fondue (From Simplyrecipes)
½ lb gruyere cheese, shredded1. Toss the cheese and cornstarch together in a freezer bag and set aside.
2. Rub the inside of the pot with the garlic and discard. Add the wine and lemon juice, bring to a simmer over medium heat.
3. Gradually add the cheese, stirring constantly in a zigzag motion (this helps to keep it from becoming stringy). Do not let it boil.
4. Stir in the kirsch and nutmeg, transfer to serving pot
Suggested dippers
Chocolate Fondue (Also from Simplyrecipes)
12 oz dark chocolate, chopped1. Put the chocolate chopped in the fondue pot. Bring the cream to a simmer on the stove. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds (If this sounds surprisingly like making ganache, that’s because that’s basically what it is).
2. Stir in the frangelico and salt. Keep over very low heat
Suggested dippers
Pumpkin Pie Fondue
1 cup milk1. In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the milk, pumpkin and spices, bring to a light simmer. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in the white chocolate; continue stirring until it has melted. Add the bourbon and bitters, stir to combine. Transfer to fondue pot and keep over low heat.
Suggested dippers
Ok, I’m back, and this time with some really great soup. I got the recipe from here, and made only a few modifications. I added some roasted corn, from one cob. I also pureed everything using a stick blender directly in the pot, rather than transferring it all to a blender.
Roasted Tomato Soup
3 lbs Roma Tomatoes, halved
1. Preheat oven to 400. Put tomatoes, onions, garlic and thyme in a roasting pan, toss with olive oil, and place in the oven. Roast for about 30-35 minutes. Remove the skin from the garlic and discard the thyme.
2. In a large pot combine the roasted veggies with the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Add the corn and chili. Puree with a stick blender.
3. Remove from heat and let cool to an edible temperature. Garnish with salt, pepper, and basil (some chopped bacon would be a good addition too).
So, this is a terrible picture, sorry about that. But I baked these on the morning after my Halloween party, and had to have them ready for later that morning. A friend of mine had a birthday brunch recently, and so I decided to try this recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls. The pictures and the recipe sound so promising, but these just didn’t wow me. Just as likely it was my own fault, and not the fault of the recipe. I did make mine miniature, and so maybe the result was that I overbaked them or something. But, whatever it was, I thought they were tough, and not particularly sweet. All and all, I don’t think I would make these again.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Makes
Dough
8 ounces (1 cup) cooked pumpkin or winter squash puree (canned pumpkin)2 large eggs
1 to 2 ounces (2 tablespoons – 1/4 cup) lukewarm water*
2 ounces (1/4 cup) soft butter
10 1/2 ounces (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
7 ounces (1 3/4 cups) white whole wheat flour
1 ounce (1/4 cup) nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
few grates of fresh nutmeg
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
*Start with smaller amount of water and adjust as needed.
Filling
5 1/4 ounces (3/4 cup) dark brown sugar
1 3/4 ounces (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
pinch each of salt, freshly grated nutmeg, and ground cloves
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) crystallized ginger, minced
2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) dried cranberries
2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) pecans, chopped and toasted
Glaze
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
1. Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients together by hand or mixer until you’ve made a soft, fairly smooth dough. You can dump it all into the bowl at once and then mix until the sticky dough holds its shape.
2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours, until it’s almost doubled in bulk.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface. Gently deflate the dough and then roll it into a 14″ × 22″ rectangle. The dough will be thin.
4. Mix the sugars, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves together for the filling. Brush the melted butter over the dough and then evenly sprinkle on the filling, leaving one short edge free of filling (to make it easier to seal when rolled into a log). Gently press the filling into the dough. Sprinkle the crystallized ginger, dried cranberries, and pecans atop the filling.
5. Starting with the short end that’s covered with filling, roll the dough into a log. Cut the log into 12 rolls using a serrated knife or dental floss.
6. Place the rolls into a lightly greased 9″ × 13″ pan that’s at least 2″ deep (or 2 round cake pans). Set aside, covered, to rise for 1 hour, or until the rolls look puffy.
7. Bake the rolls in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re lightly browned and feel set. Remove them from the oven, and set them on a rack. Turn them out of the pan, and allow them to cool for about 15 minutes. Towards the end of the cooling time, make the glaze.
8. To make the glaze, whisk together the sugar and maple syrup. I added a little milk as well to thin it out. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls.
So, it’s only two weeks, past Halloween, so just in time for me to post what I made for my Halloween party. Unfortunately I didn’t really get many pictures of what I made, so instead I’m just going to post links to what I made (it all came from other blogs), along with some brief reviews, although in truth it was all good.
Main: Chicken and Chorizo Sliders
These were great. The chorizo and jalapeno added some nice spice, and the chicken was tasty and moist. I cooked these up on my George Foreman, and I didn’t think they took a full 7 minutes a side. I also made the avocado mayo along side, which went nicely. My only problem was that I couldn’t find slider buns, so I had to use regular hamburger buns, with the result that these were a little bready. Of course, I made a double recipe of these, and by the end of the evening they were all eaten, so no one seemed to complain.
Dessert: Cinnabon Caramel Corn
This stuff was a little like popcorn crack. I made one batch with light brown sugar, and regular corn syrup, and another with dark brown sugar and dark corn syrup (this has much more to do with my having run out of the light stuff after the first batch, and not too much with creativity). The molasses flavor was very nice though, and complemented the other flavors nicely. My only other comment was that this took longer to bake than I was expecting, and letting it bake fully is important. The popcorn gets soggy from the addition of caramel, and the baking really is needed to dry it out. That said, this is super easy to make, and totally worth it.
Other Dessert: Chocolate cupcakes
For these I used one of my own recipes, so I’ve recopied it below. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what exactly was in the buttercreams, because I just threw it together. I made it with a pound of butter, probably about the same amount of powdered sugar, and some vanilla. I then divided it into thirds, left some as vanilla (which I added red food coloring to, so I could make brains), added melted chocolate and cocoa powder to another third (to make the monsters), and added orange extract and orange food coloring to the third, to make, well, orange ones. These were great cupcakes, and people really enjoyed the decorations.
makes about 60 mini cupcakes
1 ½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/3 + 2 Tbs cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s special dark)
½ cup + 1 Tbs warm water
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
3/8 cup well shaken buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cup all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in cocoa powder until mixture is smooth. Add the water and mix until smooth.
2. Remove from heat. One at a time, mix in sugar, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Sift it over the liquids and mix to combine.
4. Use a tablespoon measure to fill the mini-muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
5. Make sure to find a way to keep separate the mint and orange cupcakes, so you don’t swap their frostings.
Mocha Chunk Brownies
Makes a 9x9 pan
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan2. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. Place butter and half the chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; remove bowl from pan.
4. Add sugar to the chocolate and mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine, followed by the coffee extract. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Add instant espresso powder and remaining chocolate chunks. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.
I’ve had the idea for this cupcake in my head since I first started baking a little over two years ago. I took a shot at it last year in the form of a cake, which was good, but not entirely what I was after. Largely because the nougat just didn’t work out. This weekend, however, I decided to take another shot, this time in a cupcake form. The result was a cupcake that I think definitely captured the essence of snickers, though at least some of my tasters thought that these were too much on the sweet side. I used a cocoa-based buttercream, mostly because I was lazy, I think a buttercream made with full chocolate might have been better. Either way, you might want to reduce the sugar from what I’ve listed. What I failed to keep in mind while tasting was that the nougat and caramel are both pretty sweet. For the cake I just used my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe, which held up well here with a nice chocolate flavor. The caramel recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Chocolate-Salted Caramel cupcakes
These are some of the most challenging cupcakes I’ve ever made, mostly because of the nougat. It’s taken me a good 5 or 6 tries to make it successfully, including two yesterday. For me I think the real problem is that nougat is just not common enough for lots of people to have written about, and so there aren’t a lot of instructions out there on how to make it. I followed the instructions here. I’ve done my best to write my full set of impressions below, but I think it is just one of those things to try a few times until you get the hang of it. The important thing is to coordinate everything in terms of timing, the egg whites and sugar need to be ready at the same time. Unfortunately, the recipe is in grams, which is what I did it in, but I got my grams scale for $5 at Kmart, and it’s worth having, so go out and get one.
The other challenge with these is the assembly. I cut my disks of nougat a little large (mostly because it was the smallest cutter I had). As a consequence I had to hollow out a lot of a large amount of cupcake. The thickness of the nougat also meant the holes had to be very deep. Especially since a layer of nuts and caramel also had to get in there. It’s definitely doable, but takes some effort. Also, the caramel needs to be spooned while it’s still hot, so I filled the cupcakes with the nougat and nuts first, then made the caramel.
Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes ~26
1. Preheat oven to 350. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over low heat. Add in the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Then add the water and mix until smooth again. Remove from heat
3. One at a time mix in the sugar, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla
4. Sift the dry ingredients over the wet, and whisk until well combined.
5. Fill cupcakes using a ¼ cup measure. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let them cool thoroughly before filling.
Peanut Butter Nougat
Makes 1 9 x 13" pan
1. line the pan with parchment paper, and oil it. Place the peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl, put it in the microwave, set it for 1 minute, and set aside. Put the eggs and the salt in the bowl of a mixer set with the whisk attachment. Put the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk until combined, and place over high heat.
2. Turn on the mixer to high speed, whisking the eggs up to stiff peaks. Ideally you want the eggs to reach stiff peaks at the same time the sugar gets to the right temperature, but it’s hard to coordinate, and it’s easier to stop egg whites from beating than caramel from cooking. If the eggs get to stiff peaks before the caramel ready, turn off the mixer.
3. While the egg whites are whipping, heat the sugar to 270F. When the sugar hits about 250, turn on the microwave to melt the peanut butter (it’s just a lot easier to mix in melted peanut butter than solid).
4. As soon as the caramel hits 270, turn the mixer on high, and slowly pour the caramel down the side of the bowl.
5. Continue beating the mixture until it cools off slightly, and becomes just slightly doughy. It should still be pretty hot. Remove from the mixer, and gently fold in the melted peanut butter. DO NOT OVERBEAT, or you will make it crumbly. It should still be pourable when you’re done. My first batch needed to be scooped out of the bowl, and didn’t spread at all, it was also immediately crumbly. The second, successful batch poured out of the bowl and flowed properly to fill the pan.
6. Set aside to let cool completely.
This is the successful nougat
This is what the failed nougat looked like
Assembly stage 1
1. Using a small, circular cutter, cut out disks of nougat. It should cut fairly easily.
2. Cut large, deep cones in the cupcakes. You may need to do some extra hollowing out with the tip of your knife.
3. Place a disk of nougat into each cupcake, top with a few peanuts.
4. Cut the bottoms off of the cones you removed, so that you only have the top, place it back on the cupcake it came from, just to keep track of the proper caps.
I don't know why blogger keeps rotating my images, anyone know how to fix it?
Salted Caramel
2 & 1/2 cups sugar1. Place sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy bottomed saucepan, stir until clear. Stop stirring and bring to a boil. Continue heating until caramel reaches 360 degrees.
2. Remove from heat. Immediately stir in cream, be careful, the caramel will bubble up and steam. Add the salt and continue stirring.
Assembly Stage 2
1. As soon as the caramel becomes manageable, remove the caps from the cupcakes, pour caramel in over the nuts, and reaffix the cupcake tops.
Chocolate Buttercream
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened1. Beat the butter until smooth. Add the cocoa, the milk. Beat in the sugar 1 cup at a time, until the frosting reaches a flavor and consistency you like.
2. This frosting was too thick to pipe, so I just spread it on with a spoon. Top with a sprinkling of peanuts.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Mousse Cake
Chocolate Cake Layers
Makes 3, 8 inch layers
4 cups + 2 T sugar1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter cake pans, line with parchment, and butter the parchment.
2. In a heavy saucepan stir together the sugar, salt, cocoa, and baking soda. Bring the water to a boil, stirring constantly, pour the water slowly into the cocoa mixture. Stir the mixture. Place on the heat and bring back to a boil. Turn off and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
3. Pour the cocoa mixture into a large mixing bowl, add the oil and vanilla and beat on low speed for 10 seconds. Still on low speed add the flour, and then quickly add the eggs, yolks, and buttermilk. Pour the batter into the prepared pans, filling about 2/3 full. If you have extra, make them into cupcakes (that’s what I did).
4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the cake is set, pulls away from the sides of the pan, and a tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then invert onto cooling racks to cool completely.
Peanut-Butter Mousse
2 cups creamy peanut butter (not natural)1. Beat the peanut butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until smooth and well blended.
2. Using clean, chilled beaters, and a chilled bowl, beat the cream to stiff peaks.
3. Fold ¼ of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream ¼ at a time. Fold until smooth and well mixed. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Peanut-butter Ganache
1. Put the peanut butter and chocolate in a bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream to a simmer, pour over the chocolate
3. Let the cream sit for a minute, then stir until thoroughly mixed. Let the ganache cool until it thickens enough to be spreadable.
Assembly
Place one layer flat side down. Spread about 2 cups of the peanut butter mousse on the cake, all the way to the edge. Place the most imperfect layer in the middle. Spread another 2 cups of peanut butter mousse on the cake. Place the final layer on top, flat side up. Pour about half the ganache over the cake, use an offset spatula to spread it all around the top and sides covering all of the cake. Once this layer of ganache, reheat the remainder just until it flows, and pour it over the cake. I found this ganache was too thick to just let it run down the cake, so I still had to use a spatula to spread it all around. I used a little extra peanut butter mousse to do the decorations.
For the pesto quiche I used homemade pesto, but you can just as easily use store brought if you don’t happen to have any around. I got the instructions for caramelizing onions from simply recipes. The one change is that I found it too
Goat Cheese and Pesto Quiche
1 deep dish pie crust, frozen1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put oil in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and a little salt. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to
medium low and continue cooking for another 30 minutes, until onions are well browned, stirring occasionally. Add the balsamic vinegar, and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. While the onions are cooking, blind bake the pie crust. To do this, poke holes in the bottom
of the crust with a fork. Line the crust with tin foil or parchment paper, pushing all the way into the corners. Fill the pie crust with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool briefly. Remove the pie weights or beans, and place the pie back in the oven for another 10 minutes. When this is done, turn the oven up to 400 degrees.
3. Put one T of the pesto into the pie crust. Using a pastry brush, spread the pesto around the inside of the quiche, trying to cover the entire bottom as well as the sides.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the goat cheese (it really just turns into small crumbles) and the sour cream. Add the remaining pesto and the eggs, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Stir in the caramelized onions.
5. Layer the bottom of the quiche with the sliced tomatoes.
6. Pour the quiche filling over the tomatoes (you will probably have a little extra).
7. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. It’s done when the edges are set, but the center is still a little shaky. I should note that my quiche souffléd like crazy (it rose a good two inches, probably means I overbeat the eggs, that’s why I’m saying you should beat them lightly before adding them), which made it hard to tell when it had reached this point. I took it out after an hour 10 and it was fine (and fell back down to normal levels). Cool until just warm and serve.
Brocolli-Garlic Quiche
1 deep dish pie crust1. Preheat the oven to 375. Blind bake the pie crust. To do this, poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork. Line the crust with tin foil or parchment paper, pushing all the way into the corners. Fill the pie crust with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool briefly. Remove the pie weights or beans, and place the pie back in the oven for another 10 minutes. When this is done, turn the oven up to 400 degrees.
2. While the crust is baking, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add the broccoli, and cook for 4 minutes.
3. With a generous pinch of salt, chop up the raw garlic until you make it into a paste. Mush in three cloves of the roasted garlic.
4. Take the remaining two cloves of roasted garlic and place them into the pie crust, using your fingers, gently crush them, and do your best to spread them around the bottom of the crust, without breaking it (this is a challenge).
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and heavy cream. Add the garlic paste, nutmeg, and cayenne.
6. Line the bottom of the crust with half of the cheese. Pour over the egg mixture. Place the broccoli in the quiche, and cover with the remaining cheese (that has not yet been done in the picture below).
7. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. I found this quiche souffléd a lot as well, but I took it out after an hour, and it seemed well set (maybe because it was on the upper rack, and so cooked a little faster). Cool until just warm and serve.
never tried making them before.
Cinnamon-Sugared Doughnut Drops
Makes 30-60 donuts
1.5 cups AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
2 tbl oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar1 tsp cinnamon
1. In large saucepan, heat 2 to 3 inches oil to 375.
2. In large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. Stir in milk, oil, vanilla and egg with a fork just until dry ingredients are moistened.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls into hot oil, 5 to 6 at a time. Fry donut drops 1 to 1.5 minutes on each side until deep golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; roll warm donut balls in sugar-cinnamon mixture.
Sorry, I couldn't come up with a better title for this post. I recently got an ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid, and so I figured I had to try it out and make some ice cream. Gourmet recently printed a recipe for a recipe for salted caramel ice cream, and so I thought I would try my hand. I thought the ice cream this made was really good, with a strong toffee flavor. I didn't think the salt came through particularly though, but maybe that's just me.
Salted Caramel Ice Cream
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided1. Heat 1 cup sugar in a dry, heavy skillet. Stir sugar with a fork until it begins to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling pan occaissionally so sugar melts evenly. Continue cooking until the sugar reaches a dark amber.
2. Carefully add 1 1/4 cups cream (mixture will splatter), stir until all of the caramel is dissolved. Transfer into a bowl and stir in the salt. Cool to room temperature.
3. Bring milk, remaining cup cream and 1/4 cup sugar just to a boil.
4. Lightly whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add half the hot milk mixture in a thin stream while whisking. Pout back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until mixture coats the back of the spoon and registers 170 degrees on a candy thermometer.
5. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Chill in the fridge, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 hours. Freeze according to instructions of your ice cream maker.
A friend of mine was hosting a barbeque (cookout of you're a southerner who insists pulled meats must be present for it to be a barbeque). I decided to make up some cookies to bring. I got this recipe from epicurious, but instead of using chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, I used mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joes. These has a nice, cakey texture (if you like a cakey cookie), but I thought they were a little lacking in flavor.
Double Peanut Double Chocolate Cookies
Recipe says it makes 60, but I thought it made closer to 40
1 cup flour1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder.
2. In another bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and peanut butter together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla.
3. Beat in flour mixture, and stir in mini peanut butter cups.
4. Drop dough by teaspoons two inches apart onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and cool on cookie sheets for ten minutes before removing to baking racks.
Sorry for the delay in my blogging. It's been a busy few weeks, and I've been feeling a little lazy (as is known to happen when the summer heats up). Anyway, a few weeks ago, while I was back home, my mother brought a recipe for Browned Butter Oatmeal Cookies to my attention. I'd never used browned butter before, and the article in which she had seen the recipe (in an issue of Vogue apparently), had boasted that they were the best oatmeal cookies. The recipe is very simple, and essentially makes shortbread with oatmeal in it. The resulting cookies were excellent. Crispy and sandy, with a wonderful toasted taste. These were definitely worth the foray into brown butter. The brown butter actually used in the recipe is a little odd itself, and I've included the recipe for it after the cookie recipe. A candy thermometer is helpful here.
Oatmeal Brown-Butter Cookies
Makes about 30
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat together the sugar and softened butter (the goal is not to cream the butter here, I found this took a fair amount of jabbing with the blunt end of my spoon).
2. In another bowl, combine the oatmeal, baking soda, salt, and flour. Using a wooden spoon, mix these into the butter (this again took a lot of mashing). Mix in the vanilla. The result should be crumbly, but cohesive enough to squeeze into balls.
3. Place 1 inch balls of dough 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies with a fork until they are 1/4 inch thick.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, until pale-gold. Let cool on their sheets for a minute, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.
5. Store in an airtight container.
Browned Butter
This makes 2 cups, more than you'll need for one batch of cookies
1 lb butter1. Take a large bowl and fill it with ice, put a smaller, but still sizable bowl in it (ideally metal). You will need to pour your butter into this later. Set aside.
2. In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the powdered milk. Continue heating the butter, stirring occaissionally. The butter will begin to bubble and foam, this is the water boiling off.
3. Continue heating the butter until it stops sizzling. It should begin to darken. Let the butter cook until it is a medium brown, like the color of a paper grocery bag. Alternatively, the temperature should reach between 245 and 250 degrees F.
4. Pour the butter into the prepared cold bowl. Immediately begin vigorously whisking the butter. At first butter will begin to solidify around the edges, use your whisk to scrape this off and reincorporate it into the whole butter mass. Stop whisking when the butter becomes too thick. This will take some time.
5. Move to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
These were the number three cupcakes in the poll I took of my coworkers. For those who don’t know, a white Russian is a drink made with vodka, kahlua and milk. I have to say, I was not a huge fan of these cupcakes. I used a recipe I got here. It could be the all purpose flour I used in place of the cake flour, but I found the texture of the cupcakes to be a little rubbery. The flavors of the alcohol also didn’t come through strongly enough. I frosted the cupcakes with a kahlua ganache, which might have been a mistake, since the chocolate flavor seemed to overwhelm everything else. The whipped cream in the original certainly would have been more faithful to the original drink, but that’s the way it goes.
White Russian Cupcakes
Makes ~15 cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder). Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.
5. Add vodka and kahlua. Continue beating until incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
6. Using a ¼ cup measure, carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
7. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 5 minutes. Brush tops of cupcake with kahlua. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
Kahla Ganache
8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1. Put the kahlua and chocolate in a bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream to a simmer, pour over the chocolate
3. Let the cream sit for a minute, then stir until thoroughly mixed. Let the ganache cool until it thickens enough to be spreadable.
Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes ~26
2 sticks unsalted butter1. Preheat oven to 350. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over low heat. Add in the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Then add the water and mix until smooth again. Remove from heat
3. One at a time mix in the sugar, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla
4. Sift the dry ingredients over the wet, and whisk until well combined.
5. Fill cupcakes using a ¼ cup measure. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let them cool thoroughly before frosting.
Peanut-Butter Mousse
1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)1. Beat the peanut butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until smooth and well blended.
2. Using clean, chilled beaters, and a chilled bowl, beat the cream to stiff peaks.
3. Fold ¼ of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream ¼ at a time. Fold until smooth and well mixed. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Peanut-butter Ganache
6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
1. Put the peanut butter and chocolate in a bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream to a simmer, pour over the chocolate
3. Let the cream sit for a minute, then stir until thoroughly mixed. Let the ganache cool until it thickens enough to be spreadable.
Assembly
1. Cut large cones out of the cupcakes. Cut the bottoms off of the cones.
2. Fill the cupcakes with peanut butter mousse. Re-cover the tops of the cupcakes.
3. Pour or spread the ganache over the top of the cupcakes. Refrigerate until 30-45 minutes before serving.
This is the second dessert I made for my friend’s potluck last weekend. I found the recipe here, and was pretty tempted. I thought the recipe was great. The blondies had a nice molasses flavor, and was excellently moist. Unfortunately, the recipe is largely in grams, and I don’t have a kitchen scale here in DC. I did double the original recipe for baking in a standard US cookie sheet (~11” x 17”, technically a half sheet I believe). The only ingredient I really don’t have a good measure on is the brown sugar. I needed 800 grams, so I just dumped about 8/9 of a 2 lbs (900gram) into the recipe. I thought that these were really good, but I thought it was a little strange that all of the chocolate and nuts were put on top at the end. If I were making this again, I would have stirred the chocolate and nuts directly into the batter.
Chocolate Chip Brownies
Makes 1 cookie sheet worth
¾ Cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick foil. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Over medium heat melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the brown sugar.
3. Remove from heat, and let cool for a moment. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Sift the flour mixture over the butter mixture. Beat together until just combined.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cookie sheet. Spread the chocolate and nuts over the batter, and lightly push them into the batter.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, until just firm. Remove and let cool completely before cutting.
