impractical bread
November 20, 2009 § 11 Comments
My roommate came downstairs this morning to find me buttering loaf pans. ‘Oh, are you making banana bread?’ That would have been the logical thing to do. My freezer currently contains several black bananas that are crying out to be turned into something delicious. But I refuse to let my baking be dictated by practicality! And it is fall, and I wanted pumpkin bread, so pumpkin bread we shall have.
My craving was set off when I stumbled across a recipe claiming to be the Ultimate Pumpkin Bread. I still felt compelled to make some adjustments, but I present my version here to you today. It does seem entirely possible that this is the best pumpkin bread ever. It’s lightly spiced, which doesn’t overwhelm the pumpkin, and using butter instead of oil (which most pumpkin breads do) really improves the taste. It’s incredibly moist, and if you eat it warm from the oven, the combination of that and the crunchy crust might induce you to eat half the loaf. Also, if we’re going to be technical about it, it really seems like more of a loaf cake than a quick bread, given how sweet and tender it is. Oh, and my house smelled fantastic for hours. I think I made the right decision. I have to go eat more now.
Ultimate Pumpkin Bread – adapted from the Streaming Gourmet
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350˚F and butter two loaf pans.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.
In large bowl, beat together sugars and melted butter. Add the eggs. Beat with the whisk attachment of a hand mixer, on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until fluffy (mine didn’t get fluffy). Add the pumpkin and combine well.
In three batches, add the dry ingredients and mix gently until each batch is just incorporated. Scrape the sides between each batch.
Pour batter into two prepared pans. Bake until a tester comes out clean and the top is golden, about one hour. Cool in pan for ten minutes, then run a knife around the sides and turn out onto a wire rack.
Note: I probably should have sifted the dry ingredients, the batter was kinda lumpy. But still delicious, so I haven’t really learned my lesson.
perfect winter cupcakes
November 15, 2009 § 10 Comments
I made beautiful cupcakes today. I wanted to post about them immediately, but couldn’t think of a single intelligent thing to say. After attempting in vain to come up with something, I concluded that intelligence is a bit too much to expect from me on a Sunday, and I would just put pretty pictures.
But slowly as the day meandered on, I kept wanting to describe the glories of these wonderful cupcakes. I bought fresh cranberries for the first time ever, and they’re gorgeous and enticing and really gross if you just eat them straight from the fridge. Turning them into baked goods, however, is genius. They cut through the sweetness of most desserts, and when you bake them into cupcakes the results are enough to compel one to write a blog post, however uninspired one might be.
The concrete details: these cupcakes are adapted from multiple sources, enough that I feel comfortable calling them my own invention. The base is a pear-cranberry spice cake with white chocolate chunks: this probably could have passed for a muffin until I slathered it with frosting, which I am prone to doing. The cake was moist and sweet and punctuated with the tartness from the cranberries – I never realized how much I love cranberries! It came out great. I iced it with a white-chocolate cream cheese frosting, because I wanted some tanginess to counter the white chocolate. Then I topped them with candied cranberries, to look icy and winter-appropriate. I’m really happy with how these turned out: the result was extremely delicious, and the cake itself is pretty quick to make. I have to admit that it got a little more time-consuming as I added frivolities, but these would be great unfrosted too. Given that easy option, don’t miss out on the deliciousness!
Update: I entered these cupcakes into the Bon Appétit contest: please go vote for me here!
Pear-Cranberry Spice Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Cranberries – adapted from Epicurious, Cupcake Bakeshop, and Key Ingredient
Yield: I got 24 regular cupcakes plus 6 miniatures
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Bosc pears (1 pound), diced
- 1 cup cranberries (thawed if frozen)
- 3.5 ounces (100 g) white chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer until combined well. At low speed, mix in pears, cranberries, and chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until incorporated.
Spoon batter into cupcake liners until two-thirds full. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes for regular cupcakes and 15 minutes for minis. Cool completely before frosting.
At this point, your cupcakes should look like this:
Candied cranberries
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar plus extra for rolling
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, dissolve sugar in water. Lower heat to barely a simmer. Add cranberries and simmer for 5 minutes, or until softened. Remove from heat and strain cranberries, discarding liquid. When cranberries are cool enough to handle, roll in granulated sugar and place on waxed paper until ready to use.
Frosting
- 8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
- 2 cups powdered sugar, plus more if desired
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, stirring periodically. Allow to cool for 2 minutes or so.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Beat in cream cheese thoroughly. Beat in the melted white chocolate.
Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat at low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like (I stayed at 2, and refrigerated briefly before using).
Note: Once you get into melting white chocolate, you need to make sure your chocolate is real, and not the sneaky artificial stuff. I used Callebaut, which is ridiculous, but Green and Black’s and Lindt also make good bars.
Second note: although most cupcakes should be stored at room temperature, these do better in the fridge. The cream cheese frosting holds up better, and because they’re made with oil instead of butter, they stay soft.
more chocolate cake
November 14, 2009 § 2 Comments
I had every intention of bringing an elaborate and impressive cake to my friend’s potluck. But suddenly it was 2 in the afternoon, I was still in my pajamas, and the grocery store seemed very far away. So instead I rummaged through my cabinets and cookbooks, looking for a recipe that I could make quickly and only used what I had on hand. Luckily, I always have pretty much everything baking-related, so it wasn’t too hard – the main obstacle was that I kept getting distracted by pictures of pretty cakes. But eventually I overcame my tiny attention span and settled on the Chocolate Party Cake from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes.
The cake is a sour cream chocolate batter, baked in a Bundt pan and then brushed with cocoa syrup, making the crust shiny and nearly black. How does this stack up against my go-to chocolate bundt, the Chocolate Guinness Cake? Despite their mutual resemblance, they’re pretty different. This cake is lighter and fluffier, with a more distinct butter flavour. I think I still prefer the moist denseness of the Guinness cake, but this is definitely also a nice option. Also, the lack of frosting makes it easy to transport, and it serves a ton of people, so in some ways it’s the ideal potluck dessert – especially because you generally receive a warm welcome when showing up with a giant chocolate cake.
Chocolate Party Cake – adapted from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes
Batter
- 2/3 cup walnut halves
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup sifted cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups sifted flour
- 1 1/4 cup sugar (this is approximate because I measured by weight: 8.7 ounces / 250 grams)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
Cocoa Syrup
- 1/4 cup sifted cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup boiling water (or more)
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a Bundt pan and coat with cocoa powder.
Toast walnuts for about 7 minutes. Pulse in food processor until medium fine, or finer if you don’t like the texture of nuts in your cake.
In a medium bowl, whisk sour cream, cocoa, eggs, and vanilla, until the consistency of slightly lumpy muffin batter.
In large bowl, mix walnuts, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add butter and half the cocoa mixture. Beat on low until moistened, then raise speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Add the remaining cocoa mixture in two additions, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each one. Scrape batter into cake pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.
Shortly before the cake is done baking, make cocoa syrup: whisk together cocoa and sugar. Add a small amount of boiling water and mix until moistened. Add the rest of the boiling water. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring often. Remove from heat, and add vanilla. Add water to equal 2/3 cup, and use while still hot.
When cake comes out of oven, pierce all over with skewer. Brush with one third of syrup. After 10 minutes, turn cake out of pan and brush all over with remaining syrup.
Note: to avoid my last Bundt cake’s pan-sticking disaster, I was really thorough about greasing and powdering the pan. Since there’s no ganache here to hide mistakes, I highly recommend similar obsessiveness to everyone.
much relish
November 8, 2009 § 3 Comments
As a much lower-effort alternative to a dinner party, I recently threw a wine and cheese. The occasion, you might ask? The occasion is that I like wine and I like cheese. And it takes very little for me to find an excuse to enjoy them.
Anyhow, I think I’ve hit upon something excellent, because a wine and cheese is in many ways the perfect social gathering. It’s low-key and relaxed, and it’s big enough to invite everyone you want to see while not being so big that you hate yourself in the morning when you realize you have to clean. Also, it’s extremely easy. You buy some wine and cheese and crackers, and then you are done.
The gathering was lovely, but even lovelier was the fact that I was left with – count them – eleven different varieties of cheese! I’ve been eating a lot of cheese sandwiches. And, fantastic as they are, I felt the need to jazz them up a bit. Enter the roasted red pepper relish.
I never really understood why my sandwiches weren’t as tasty as the ones you buy from proper sandwich shops. Now I know: you need good condiments. I highly recommend it with brie and cucumber, which was my choice, but honestly it would go well with pretty much anything.
The only way this could be better is if I had a panini press (which I firmly believe would improve my general quality of life). Or potentially by using home-baked bread, which should probably be the topic of a future post!
Roasted Red Pepper Relish – adapted from Epicurious
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 12-ounce jar roasted sweet red peppers, rinsed, drained, patted dry,chopped (or two red peppers, roasted, peeled, and chopped)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- dash cayenne pepper
- salt to taste
Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add red peppers and sauté 2 minutes. Add onions and sauté 3 mintues. Add garlic and cook until onions are tender, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes.
Mix vinegar, sugar, and mustard in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Stir vinegar mixture into red peppers. Mix in cayenne pepper. Season with salt. Continue cooking relish until all liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Note: this recipe doesn’t make a huge quantity: I did that on purpose as I am only one person and there is only so much relish I can reasonably be expected to eat. If you’re making this for several people, though, you might want to double the recipe – it’s always easy to find uses for any extra.
gadgets!
October 31, 2009 § 7 Comments
I’ve started regularly checking with my roommates before I buy something kitchen-related. Not because they might mind, but because I need someone to weigh in on the ‘crazy index’ of whatever I currently ABSOLUTELY NEED. Recently I managed to wander into a Williams-Sonoma unsupervised, and emerged with 30 tiny tart tins. I’ll use them all the time, I swear!
But honestly, usually my budget keeps me in check. If I had a million dollars, I’d be awash in stand mixers and high-end photography gear. Instead, I have a graduate stipend. So this post will be devoted to what you can achieve with that income level: the glories of my brand new $30 immersion blender, and some seriously DIY lighting equipment.
First, the blender: I love it! I’m going to make a lot of soup. I started with this carrot soup that I’d been eyeing for a while: the combination of lemon and ginger sounded good, and I liked that it didn’t have any cream. The soup ended up pretty tasty, and I would make it again with a couple adjustments. It was a little too lemony for my tastes, so I’d cut down on the lemon juice. Also, I’m kind of lazy about seasonings but halfway through I added extra pepper and this soup got worlds better. So do as I say not as I do: taste and adjust! Other than that, it was great – the texture was thick and smooth, and the carrot-ginger combination is simultaneously sweet and savory. And it’s extremely satisfying to stick a blender in a pot of chunky soup and watch it all puree.
Not only that, but it was pretty and orange! Taking photos of my food has actually been a bit problematic recently. Now that fall is into full swing, it gets dark far too early for me to photograph my dinner. So here are my first night-time photos with extra lighting, specifically the soup picture at the top of this post – it’s not daylight, but considering my limitations I think it came out well. I’ve coveted many of the lights selling for hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but practicality set in and instead I’m using a fantastic lightbox constructed by my roommate. The secret is to take a cardboard box, fold the lids in to a diagonal angle, and then cover them in tin foil (to reflect the light). Cut a hole in the back, stick a light through, and then cover the other side in bubble wrap (or tissue paper, or whatever happens to be lying around). Voila! Fancy softbox for $15.
The other piece is probably my favourite: a bounce made from a Raisin Bran box. Just tape white paper on one side and aluminum foil on the other, and then aim as you please wherever you need a bit of extra light. Plus the added bonus of nutritional information down the side. I don’t know how effective it is, but I do know that I love it.
Carrot Soup with Lemon and Ginger – adapted from Epicurious
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 1/4 pounds medium carrots, peeled, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
- 3 cups (or more) chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (but next time I plan to only use 1)
- sour cream, for topping
- salt and pepper, to taste
Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chopped carrots, tomatoes and lemon peel; sauté 1 minute. Add 3 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly.
Puree soup in batches in blender (or use an immersion blender!). Return soup to pot. Mix in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more stock, if desired. Ladle into bowls and top each with sour cream.
Note: I actually preferred this without sour cream – you might want to let people add it to their own tastes.
one cake two cake 