Apple-Pear-Cranberry Coffee Cake

If you are like me, your fridge still contains half a bag of cranberries from Thanksgiving.

"Oh shoot, I should have frozen these. Don't they last only a month in the fridge? Oh well, they don't look so bad. [They are happily turning into Craisins.] I don't see any mold. Hmm, what can we do?"

You may also have bought a few very late season apples from the farmer's market that turned out to be more mealy than crisp, and perhaps you didn't get around to making that pear, blue cheese and walnut salad at Christmas, so you have a squishy, browning pear mingling with the celery in the crisper drawer.

"Hmm, I wonder if we put all together we can make something - I'm sure the texture won't matter once they're cooked." Rummaging in the cupboard and cookbooks ensues.

I'm sure by now you're thinking, "I am never eating at her house." Don't worry, I'm not some kind of crazy hoarder, and we do throw food out. But if it's salvageable, why not? One reason I love baking is you can turn something totally unappealing into something delicious - the magic of chemistry.

Here's a bundt coffee cake I made, with apple and pear in the filling and a cranberry swirl. It's very moist, with a strong taste of the fruit. It's a mix of several different recipes, mostly The Joy of Cooking mixed with a little Cook's Illustrated.

Apple-Pear-Cranberry Coffee Cake

Cake
1 apple and 1 pear (or 2 apples/2 pears)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt (I used 1 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup sour cream)
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Filling
About 2 1/2 cups cranberries
3 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp lemon, lime or orange juice
pinch table salt
pinch ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

• Have all ingredients at room temperature. Butter and flour a bundt or tube pan (don't skimp - this is a very moist cake). Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg.
• Make the filling first: combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the cranberries begin to burst and the cornstarch has made the liquid jelled and glossy, about four minutes. Set aside to let cool.
  
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Combine yogurt and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Peel and chop apple and pear into 1/4 inch pieces and set aside.
  
• In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter together until light colored, a few minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
• Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the sour cream mixture. Stir until smooth, then fold in the apple and pear.
• Scrape 1/3 of batter into the pan, then top with half of the filling. Add another third of batter and the rest of the filling, then top with remaining batter. Take a small spoon and dip it to the bottom of the pan, repeating five or six times around the pan, to marble the filling.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for five to 10 minutes, then invert on a rack to cool (be sure to tap the pan all around to make the cake come loose). Cool before serving.
  

Free-Form Plum and Apricot Tart

Question: How do you make fruit un-healthy?

Answer: Add two sticks of butter to it.

As much as I love reading Cooking Light and eating sensibly, there's something so satisfying about boatloads of butter. Somehow it feels a little bid badder to do it in summer, with so many fresh things around.

We signed up for a fruit CSA again this summer and came home this week with apricots and plums. They are tiny little things, and while I enjoyed one at lunch, they really begged to be cooked. More carnivorous chefs than me would probably make apricot chutney or jam to go over roast chicken. I can't help but indulge my sweet tooth.

I pulled together a free-form apricot and plum tart, one of those where you roll out the dough and fold it over the fruit, leaving the top open. I thought I'd be clever and cook the fruit down first. Bad idea. The filling became super soupy; meanwhile the butter crust started melting in the heat. Sigh.

In the end it was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and I wish I'd just saved the fruit compote to serve over vanilla ice cream. (Certainly more appealing than having the hot oven on for 45 minutes.)

Do you have a good recipe for a free-form tart? 'Cause I need one.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, Redux

A few summers ago I made this wonderful buttermilk cake originally published in Gourmet (ah, Gourmet - moment of silence, please). For the Fourth of July this year, I decided to try it again. This time, instead of strawberries, I made it with blueberries and raspberries - and voila, patriotic cake!




It's as good as ever.

Experimenting with Desserts

A few months ago at a party we met a guy who's opening an ice cream store not too far from us. He doesn't know it yet, but he and I are going to become best friends. He's going to let me taste all the new flavors before they go public, and he's going to love my peanut butter and jelly sandwich ice cream idea (I won't get royalties for that, but I'll get a free pint whenever I want it). Ah, the dreams of the sugar-obsessed.

(Edited to add... The ice cream shop is Ample Hills over in Prospect Heights. And they've (sort of) done the PB&J thing. Go check it out!)

This brilliant ice cream maker (chocolate-stout ice cream with chocolate pretzels? Sign me up) is also an ace baker - he brought some amazing blondies to the party, barely cooked through with giant buttons of white and semisweet chocolate oozing out.

They inspired me to make some of my own using the butterscotch chips I bought on a whim a while back. I didn't try the amazing-sounding malt blondies from the Baked cookbook but stuck with the uber-simple Joy of Cooking recipe. These turned out butterscotchy, chewy, and a bit too sweet for me. They were unfortunately kind of one-note - next time it'll be the Baked blondies.

I got in such a baking mood that I decided to try out some meringues (the blondies recipe leaves you with an extra egg white). I've forgotten how amazing meringue tastes and how beautiful and glossy it is.

Here's the meringue recipe I used - "sugar kisses." I loved this one because it only makes 2 dozen cookies and uses only 2 egg whites. The sad part is that I couldn't get it to hold its shape very well - I'm not sure if that's me or the recipe, but it was the same all three times I made it, so I am thinking recipe?

The first version I made had blue food coloring (they were to match a theme for a party) with green sugar sprinkles, and if I had been throwing a birthday party for a four-year-old boy, they would have been perfect - they looked just like dinosaur eggs. Not so much for a bridal shower, though. So I tried again. The second version was a disastrous experiment with mint flavoring - do not make a mint meringue. Don't. Please. Yuck. I did salvage the resulting minty fluff by whipping it into a batch of brownies (mint brownies are much better than mint meringues). The third batch was white(-ish - the oven kind of browns them), vanilla flavored, and topped with crystalline blue sugar. Though still egg shaped, at least these looked pretty and tasted good. Success? Success.

I made the recipe as printed in my cookbook, which is a bit different from the online version:

I mixed in a teaspoon of extract at the very end, after the meringue was almost holding a stiff peak. I didn't pipe the cookies but plopped them by the tablespoon onto the sheet. I also sprinkled some sugar over the top before baking and put them in a 250 deg. oven for 60 minutes, followed by about 1 1/2 hrs in the oven with the heat turned off and the door closed.

How lucky I am to work at an office of people who will take some of these treats off my hands...

Our Summer of CSA - Week... ?

Where does the time go? It seems to have flown by in a flurry of weddings, writing a lot for work, getting the house in order, and enjoying the last of summer and our beautiful fall.

In between, of course, lots of cooking. We made two kinds of butternut squash soup - one with ginger, one with apples, both delicious. We hosted a birthday party for my mom and cooked her a grand French feast: coq au vin, haricots verts, Yukon Gold potatoes, plenty of wine and champagne, and flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet for dessert. Heaven, all of it.

We've also had more kale than we know what to do with; I've taken to making smashed potatoes and kale, kind of two steakhouse sides in one, which feels rich and special though it's easy as any mashed potato could be.

Last week came a bag of concord grapes, which turned in grape sorbet, which has since sat in our freezer. I guess a sorbet on its own, especially at the end of October, isn't super appealing. My dream is to make peanut butter ice cream, swirl it with the grape sorbet, and sandwich that between two shortbread cookies. Sandwich ice cream sandwich! Alas, see first sentence. Where does the time go?

One thing I've been cooking a lot of in the past month is apple crisp. Boy, we had a bumper crop of apples with the CSA. Pounds of them. And pears! I made one apple cake, didn't like it too much (nor did the hubby), so went back to crisps.

I love this recipe - it's superb with tart apples, but they don't have to be super crisp or fresh. I made it mostly with Macintoshes, which tend to disintegrate, and it's like eating apple sauce with a crumble topping. Make it with a mix of apples for the best flavor. We also received some hard, tart, very red-skinned apples (Rome? Winesap?) which were great.

Best Apple Crisp

Filling

1/3 cup light brown sugar (less if you like - and make your own!)

2 1/2 tbsp flour

2 tsp cinnamon (5 or 6 shakes)

Shake or two of salt

8 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely sliced apples (or mix of apples & pears, but use a little less sugar)

Juice of half a lemon (about 1 1/2 tbsp)

1 tbsp cognac, bourbon, rum, or brandy

1 or 2 tbsp apple cider or juice (give or take - depends on juiciness of apples)

Topping

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup rolled oats (I've been using quick - accidental purchase - and they also work here)

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp butter, cut into small chunks

(Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. I love adding them, husband doesn't.)

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Find an 8 x 8 glass pan, deep-dish pie pan, or similar-sized casserole dish.
• In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt until blended. Stir in the apples, lemon juice, cognac, and apple cider and toss until the apples are coated with the brown sugar mixture.
• Spread the filling evenly in the pan and bake for 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the topping: in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, salt and nuts, if using. Add the butter chunks and blend in with your finger tips or a pastry cutter until they're well incorporated. You can add more butter if you like, but don't add less than 5 tablespoons - the topping won't hold together and will end up mushy after baking.
• Sprinkle the topping over the apples until no apples peek through. You might have a bit left, depending on what size pan you use.
• Increase the oven temperature to 375 F and bake for about 25 minutes more, until the filling is bubbly and the topping is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before you serve (lets the filling set up a bit, and keeps you from burning your mouth!).
• This is great served with vanilla ice cream / creme fraiche / plain yogurt / whipped cream.

- Adapted from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett

Our Summer of CSA - Week 13

We have apples. Lots of apples. It must be September. Oh yes, we have peppers and pears and lettuce and carrots and eggplant and corn and tomatoes and basil, but mostly we have apples. So, besides eating one a day to keep the doctor away, what to do? Why make apple cake, of course.

This cake is so easy, it would be a great one to make if you're cooking with a child or someone else who's just beginning. Spicy, moist, and just right on the first real, cool day of fall. Happy New Year, everyone.

Apple Spice Cake

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (sub: 1 tbsp white vinegar and 1 cup plain milk)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped apple (about 1 apple)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• Lightly grease and flour an 8 x 8 inch pan, or line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 deg.
• Whisk the first seven ingredients (flour through salt) together in a large bowl.
• In a separate small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and stir together until combined and smooth.
• Mix in the apples and walnuts.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack about 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan, and invert it onto a plate. Peel off the parchment paper, if using. Let cool right side up on the rack.
• Serve with vanilla ice cream or brandied whipped cream, or just on its own.

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking.

Our Summer of CSA - Week 5

Oops. Week 4 got away from us. It's hard to cook with all this produce, harder still to blog about it. We had many more greens and made a lovely and homey version of lentils with spinach using bulgar, black beans, and mystery greens. We ate peaches and plums out of hand. We made more French green salad with radishes, and we cooked up white bean and potato soup with leeks. We hardly had to throw anything away, which was refreshing.

This week saw fewer greens we didn't recognize, which was also refreshing. We made Cook's Illustrated pesto pasta salad with a beautiful bunch of fresh basil - so wonderful smelling, just like summer. We plan to make a kale and chickpea stew this evening. A huge bunch of fresh cilantro still sits in a glass of water in the fridge, waiting for summer rolls with shrimp and radishes. Our green squash wait for couscous with tomatoes and basil and Bittman's zucchini pancakes. Peaches we've been eating as dessert at lunch time, and plums I turned instantly into plum ice cream, which is tangy and rich and could not be easier or more delicious. These little red plums, with their floral notes, are much better cooked than eaten raw. Here's David Lebovitz's recipe, from The Perfect Scoop:

Plum Ice Cream

1 lb plums (about 8)

1/3 cup water

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar (to taste, based on how sweet plums already are)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp kirsh (I left it out - just helps soften ice cream)

Slice the plums in half and pit. Cut into eighths and put them into a medium, non-reactive saucepan with the water. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Let cool to room temperature (speed this process up by putting the pan in the fridge or freezer, though let it cool on the stove at least 5 minutes first).

Once cool, puree in a blender or food processor with the cream and the kirsch until smooth.

Make sure the mixture is chilled thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker. Makes about 1 quart or so.

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Last week I made an amazing buttermilk cake, which turned out to be the very same on my friend C had found on Smitten Kitchen the week before. We all must have been struck by the simplicity and quiet elegance of this cake - the sort of thing you'd take to a picnic and serve with sparkling lemonade and linen cocktail napkins. It's also a wonderful vehicle for early summer berries, especially when you can't pass up a great deal at the farmer's market and come home with two quarts of strawberries.


Recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine, June 2009.

Is it obnoxious to say I think mine looks the prettiest?

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Grown-up dessert! A layer of dark chocolate topped with sweet, rich pecan filling. This pie has a buttery, shattery crust and a strong hit of chocolate, so use the best you can find. I had a big bar of bittersweet Sharfenberger that worked beautifully.

The recipe is wonderful as is, but I have a few tips.

When making the crust, use 1/2 to 1 tbsp of vodka if the dough needs moistening after the initial 3 tbsp of water. This is a Cook's Illustrated tip that keeps the dough from getting too tough while making it easier to roll out.

Because you're putting a layer of chocolate on the bottom, the pie is best served a little warm. If you eat it straight from the refrigerator, you've got a hard piece of chocolate to bite through (not the most appealing).

As always, I also suggest making your own brown sugar. Just mash together regular sugar and molasses with a fork until it turns the desired shade of brown (whether you're looking for light or dark brown sugar). The taste is always much richer than conventional brown sugar.

Here's the recipe, from Gourmet: Chocolate Pecan Pie.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Biscotti

If you have candied ginger in your pantry, it's probably been there for a while. It's a hard product to find a use for! I didn't want that to happen to me, so I found a recipe that uses a whole cup of chopped candied ginger. Luckily, I can always nibble on a biscotti with my morning coffee and be a happy girl. This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, my favorite cookie cookbook.

Gingerbread Biscotti

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup (6.5 oz) finely diced crystallized ginger

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl, beat together butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled.

Add the flour, spices, and chopped ginger and mix until smooth. The dough will be soft and sticky but should hold its shape when you drop it from a spoon.

Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and shape it into a rough log, 14 inches long, 2.5 inches wide, and .75 inches thick.

Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on the pan anywhere from 5 minutes to 25, depending on what else you're doing in the kitchen. Meanwhile, lower the oven temp to 325.

Wet your hands and lightly dampen the cookie log (alternately, spritz it with a spray bottle). This will make the biscotti easier to cut. Cut into 3/4 inch slices, making sure your knife is verticle so the cookies aren't off balance.

Set the biscotti upright on the baking sheet and bake for another 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Biscotti will last about a week at room temperature; longer if you freeze them.

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

I made my favorite ginger snaps for friends this Christmas and then found myself craving more. In the search for something different, I scoped out these Martha Stewart cookies from her Martha Stewart Living cookbook. They are grown-up cookies, not too sweet, but full of molasses and ginger flavor and melty layers of dark chocolate. They're also sparkly and tea-sized. In short, perfect for the holiday cookie tin. I wish I had spied them earlier.



Chocolate Ginger Cookies

* 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
* 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
* 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
* 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar


Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift or wisk together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined. (I always make my own brown sugar by mixing molasses with regular sugar - try a teaspoon or two here with 1/2 cup white sugar, and mix together with a fork.)

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325°F.

Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; I used a melon baller for this. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes (I don't know if this is necessary - only if the dough gets really soft). Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lime Pie

With Independence Day behind us, it's officially summer. Time for a tart, refreshing dessert. My friend at On the Hob gave me this recipe a while ago and I've been meaning to try it ever since. Here's to July!



Lime Pie

Crust

About 10 graham crackers
5 tablespoons butter, very soft
1/4 cup powdered sugar

- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In food processor, break up graham crackers into pieces and whir until you have crumbs. Add sugar and butter and mix until the mixture sticks together.
- Turn out into a pie plate and gently press into the bottom and up about 1 inch on the side.
- Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are crisp and the bottom is solid.

Filling

14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup lime juice (about 4)
zest of 1 or 2 limes
1 egg

- Wisk together milk, lime juice, zest and egg. Pour into baked crust and bake for 12 minutes at 350 F or until set. Cool, then refrigerate before serving.

Foolproof Pie Dough

I've been told by my dear pal at On the Hob that I need to post something new. She's right - it's been almost two months. Not much has been brewing in my kitchen lately! Mostly I stick to whole wheat pasta with Whole Foods marinara sauce and zucchini... spinach and lentils with carrots... chickpea salad... a fairly boring medley. I also find myself eating out a lot, which is nice for my taste buds but not so much for my blog. 

I think the most exciting and useful recipe I can post is for pie crust. At Thanksgiving, I made a delicious apple-cranberry pie. The recipe came from Cook's Illustrated, as did the recipe for the dough. The secret ingredient is vodka, which apparently keeps the dough wet while inhibiting gluten formation (which tends to make the finished crust tough). I made the dough again at Christmas time, for an apple pie. It was absolutely delicious both times: crunchy, crusty, crackly, and very easy to work with.

So here is the recipe, for your baking pleasure.

Foolproof Pie Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

1/2 cup cold vegtable shortening

1/4 cup cold vodka

1/4 cup cold water

1. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, and salt together in large bowl. Cut the butter and shortening into pieces and work into the flour mixture with two knives or a pastry blender, until the pieces are the size of quarters. Add the remaining cup flour and cut it in until the fat pieces are the size of peas. (Alternately, you can do this in a food processor.)
2. Sprinkle water and vodka over mixture. With rubber spatula, using folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until it is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten into disks. Wrap each in Saran wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.
3. Follow your pie recipe from here. This dough will make enough for one bottom and one top shell. Half it if you prefer to make just a bottom, as for custard pie.

*This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated, November 2007.

Gingersnap and Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches

Now I love peppermint as much as the next girl, but once in a while you've got to shake things up. Christmas should not be limited to egg nog, pumpkin spice, and mint (no matter what Starbucks would have you believe). As I've gotten older, I've developed a fondness for gingersnaps, especially this excellent recipe from the Joy of Cooking. These cookies have a warmth that feels very homey in December, and of course they remind me of making gingerbread houses (and eating most of the gumdrops and licorice before they could be affixed to the roof). I really like lemon with gingersnaps, and instead of making a lemon icing, I made ice cream sandwiches (which have the added appeal of staying fresh in the freezer for several weeks). The ice cream couldn't be easier, and the recipe comes from The Perfect Scoop.

Ginger Snaps

3 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchement paper.


• In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until very fluffy. Add the eggs, molasses, lemon juice, and zest and combine until well blended.


• Stir in the flour mixture until well-blended and smooth. Pull off pieces of dough and form one-inch balls in your hands. Space about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand. You can also use a damp glass dipped in sugar, which will add some sweetness and sparkle to the final product.


• Bake no more than 9-10 minutes for soft cookies; as long as 13 minutes for very, very crisp cookies. Cool on a wire rack.

Simple Lemon Ice Cream

2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large or 3 small lemons)
2 cups half-n-half
Pinch of salt

• Zest the lemons directly into a food processor or good blender. Add the sugar and blend until the lemon zest is very fine. Add the lemon juice and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved. Blend in the half-in-half and salt until smooth.


• Chill 1 hour, then pour into your ice cream machine.

To make sandwiches, match up two cookies of the same size. Put about 1/4 cup ice cream (freshly churned or else softened) on one cookie and press the other on top. Ice cream will squeeze out the sides, and you can scrape it away with a rubber spatula. Wrap each sandwich individually in plastic wrap and freeze. They are much easier to eat once they've frozen solid.

Anise and Almond Biscotti

I used to be intimidated by biscotti. Then I actually made it. No cookie could be simpler.

My bible for cookies, the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, has a dynamite recipe for true Italian biscotti. This cookie is not meant to be eaten plain, unless you are a baby who likes to gum her food. But Italian biscotti are simply sensational with coffee; the hot liquid immediately softens the biscuit while bringing out the subtle flavors (especially delicious when those flavors include hazelnut, chocolate, almond, or vanilla).


Since I had a big jar of anise leftover from a Mexican baking adventure (brush a flour tortilla with melted butter, sprinkle on cinnamon, sugar, and anise, bake for about 10 minutes, cut into triangles, and enjoy with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream), I decided to make King Arthur's "classic" biscotti, almond and anise. It has subtle licorice flavor that's pleasant but not too intense. Nice to serve if you have Italian neighbors or an Italian mother-in-law you want to impress.

For extra interest, throw in a cup of chopped toasted almonds with the flour.


Classic Italian Biscotti

2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp almond extract
1 tbsp aniseed
2 cups all-purpose flour

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla until creamy looking; the mixture will be light-colored and thick as pancake batter. Lower the mixer speed and add the flour and anise seed, beating gently just until it's totally incorporated. Add the almonds now if you're using them.
• Transfer the dough the baking sheet and shape into a log about 14 inches long, 2.5 inches wide, and .75 inches thick. Using a dough scraper or wet hands helps.
• Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit until cool to the touch, 5-25 minutes. About 5 minutes before cutting the cookie log, spritz it with water or pat it with wet hands - this will make the cutting easier.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325. Cut the biscotti into 1/2 inch slices, cutting an an angle across the cookie log. Make sure to slice straight up and down or the biscotti will topple over in the oven.
• Set the sliced biscotti upright on the baking sheet. Bake for another 25 minutes, then cool on a rack. The finished cookies can be stored up to two weeks in an air-tight container. Remember to enjoy them with tea, coffee, or hot chocolate!

Cinnamon Buns

Even though it's still 80 degrees in New York, something about October signals fall. Maybe it's the leaves turning brown and landing in the gutter. Or maybe it's the neighbors, who already have their stoop decked out in fake spiderwebs and plastic bats. Or maybe it's the way the breeze swoops in, cooler than the sunshine and humidity would predict, reminding us that winter really isn't that far off.

In any case, I decided to make cinnamon buns. I've always wanted to and finally found a reipe that seemed relatively easy to put together. In fact, this recipe was more difficult in execution than it seemed it would be. The dough is very sticky and split apart when I rolled it out and again when I rolled it up. Removing the baked buns from the pan "without seperating" was mere wishful thinking on the part of the recipe writers, or maybe they just had a really big spatula. Instead of emerging as eight rolls all stuck together, I ended up with a jumbled mass of bread and melted sugar. Still, it must be said that these buns are all kind of delicious. The biscuit part is very nice, and the filling crisps up into sort of a toffee on the outside. I don't know who ever thought to christen these rolls a breakfast food, however; they are so sweet my teeth hurt.



Quick Cinnamon Buns with Buttermilk Icing

Melted butter is used in both the filling and the dough and to
grease the pan; it’s easiest to melt the total amount (8
tablespoons) at once and measure it out as you need it. The
finished buns are best eaten warm, but they hold reasonably well
for up to 2 hours. Makes 8 buns.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted, for pan

Cinnamon-Sugar Filling
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed, 5 1/4 ounces)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted

Biscuit Dough
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces), plus
additional flour for work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

Icing
2 tablespoons cream cheese , softened
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 cup confectioners' sugar (4 ounces)


1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425
degrees. Pour 1 tablespoon melted butter in 9-inch nonstick cake
pan; brush to coat pan. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking
spray; set aside.

2. To make cinnamon-sugar filling: Combine sugars, spices, and salt
in small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter and stir with fork or
fingers until mixture resembles wet sand; set filling mixture aside.

3. To make biscuit dough: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking
soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk and 2 tablespoons
melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry
ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until liquid is absorbed
(dough will look very shaggy), about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to
lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no
longer shaggy.

4. Pat dough with hands into 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Following
illustrations below, fill, roll, cut, and arrange buns in buttered
cake pan. Brush with 2 tablespoons remaining melted butter. Bake
until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Use offset metal
spatula to loosen buns from pan; without separating, slide buns out
of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before icing.

5. To make icing and finish buns: While buns are cooling, line
rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy cleanup); set
rack with buns over baking sheet. Whisk cream cheese and buttermilk
in large nonreactive bowl until thick and smooth (mixture will look
like cottage cheese at first). Sift confectioners’ sugar over;
whisk until smooth glaze forms, about 30 seconds. Spoon glaze
evenly over buns; serve immediately.


STEP BY STEP: Rolling Up Cinnamon Buns

1. Brush dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle evenly
with filling, leaving 1/2-inch border of plain dough around edges.
Press filling firmly into dough.
2. Using bench scraper or metal spatula, loosen dough from work
surface. Starting at long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to
form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal.

3. Roll log seam-side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With
hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and
keep filling in place.
4. Place one roll in center of prepared nonstick pan, then place
remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan.



*Cooks Illustrated 2002

Fresh Peach Ice Cream

For my birthday a very smart man got me David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop. It's a compendium of amazing ice cream recipes, varying from chocolate and vanilla to basil and avocado. For my inagural taste test, I decided on fresh peach, which seems like a great way to eat in season. I've never been a big fruit ice cream person, but maybe with my tastes changing in other ways, ice cream is not far behind?

This recipe was really delightful. It has tangy, sour notes but tastes strongly of fresh peaches, too. It was pretty foolproof to make (especially compared to some of the recipes in the book) and uses less cream than many ice creams. It was certainly better than some of my invented creations, though I have to say that I thought of malted milk ice cream before I saw the recipe in the Lebovitz book! I'll be interested to see if his version beats mine (probably).

I stuck to this recipe pretty closely. I didn't have sour cream so I substituted cream cheese and half & half. I also used two peaches and one nectarine -- perhaps these substitutions are why my ice cream tasted rather tangy. A bit more cream cheese, and I would have had Peach Cheesecake ice cream -- not altogether a bad idea.

Fresh Peach Ice Cream

1 1/3 lbs peaches (3 or 4 large)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a splash of fresh lemon juice

- Peel the peaches, slice them in half and remove the stone. Chop them into small-ish chunks and cook them with the water in a saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring once or twice, until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in sugar, then cool to room temperature. You can use an ice bath to speed this process up.
- Puree the cooked peaches and the final four ingredients in a blender or food processor until almost smooth but still piecey. Alternately, you can mash the cooked peach with a potato masher or similar.
- Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator or over an ice bath (the colder the mixture, the quicker and better the ice cream will freeze), then freeze in your ice cream maker.

Candy Making 101

I am on a quest to learn how to make candy. I have the thermometer. I have the pastry brush. Lord knows I have the sugar. But I'm a little scared; I can't imagine a more ironic death for the sugar obsessed than spilling a pan and being burned alive by molten sugar. So I'm easing into the process by practicing with two very easy, no-fuss, no boil candy recipes. Both turned out great, so I am encouraged to move on to marshmallows and caramels!


Chocolate-covered cornflakes. How deliciously kitchy. In the article where I got this recipe, the author claimed she first had them at Jacques Torres chocolatier here in NYC, but I imagine they were cooked up by a bored housewife or a General Mills food promotions exec back in the '50s. In any case, chocolate-covered cornflakes are malty, crunchy, sweet, and spectacularly easy to make.

Recipe

* 1/2 lb. Semi-sweet or Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
* 2 Cups Corn Flakes (fresh is best)

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until almost melted. Take from heat and stir chocolate until smooth. Pour half over the corn flakes and quickly stir with rubber spatula. Add remaining chocolate and fold gently until all of the corn flakes are generously coated with chocolate. Using two teaspoons, scoop the chocolate-covered corn flakes onto a waxed-paper-lined cookie sheet, shaping into clusters. (Alternately, spread out on cookie sheet into individual flakes - or as close as you can get.) Let set. Makes about a cookie-sheet full. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.


Rocky Road Fudge. Having been a candy fiend for most of my life, I've sampled many different types of fudge from many different places - maple fudge from Vermont, chocolate fudge by the seaside in Santa Cruz, and peanut butter fudge in the unparalleled fudge hotspot of Mackinac Island. Most fudges are sweet and rich. The recipe I chose to make is rich indeed, but with a more sophisticated and grown-up chocolate taste. Its flavor depends on using quality ingredients - really fine chocolate is a must. But for such sophisticated taste, this is really simple to throw together.

Recipe

16 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts
1 cup marshmallows

Line an 8x8" pan with a piece of greased aluminum foil, folded over to create a double layer (or use a single layer of heavy-duty foil). In a medium, heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler, toss together chocolates, soda, and salt. Stir in condensed milk and vanilla. Place bowl over a pan of boiling water, taking care that the water does not touch the pan (same with double-boiler). Stir mixture for 2-4 minutes, until most but not all of the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat and stir two more minutes, until all the chocolate has melted. Stir in the walnuts and marshmallows. Spread the fudge into the prepared pan and chill until set, about 2 hours.

As a note, these taste much better at room temperature than straight from the fridge. It's worth taking a piece out 20 minutes before you want to eat it to let it come up to room temperature.

These will keep about 2 weeks in the fridge or a month in the freezer.

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

Chocolate Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

This is what I made for my sweetheart for Valentine's Day: obscenely good chocolate raspberry sandwich cookies. Seriously, the picture doesn't demonstrate how brilliant the raspberry flavor is with the chocolate. I guess you'll just have to imagine.

The recipe for the cookies is adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. The only changes I made were to add some wheat flour (as is my wont) and to add half brown sugar (mostly because I ran out of white, but the flavor compliments the chocolate, I think). The recipe for the filling is from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. It's actually a vegan frosting for chocolate cake, but it worked wonderfully as a filling here.

Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp(heaping) salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the salt and the vanilla.
- In a seperate bowl, wisk together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Gradually blend this mixture into the butter mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop the dough by teaspoonful onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about 1.5 inches between each. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes; they'll feel soft on top and will have spread out. Transfer to a rack to cool.
- When the cookies are completely cool, you can fill them. Instructions below.

Filling

1/3 cup raspberry jam
1 cup semisweet chocolate

- Combine jam and chocolate and melt in microwave: try 20 seconds, then stir. If chocolate is not yet completely melted, microwave again in 5 seconds increments. Don't overheat!
- Scoop about a teaspoonful of filling onto one cookie and spread with a knife or offset spatula. Top with another cookie and leave an hour or two to set. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Magic-in-the-Middle Cupcakes

My step-dad is a peanut butter nut, so for his birthday yesterday I made magic-in-the-middle cupcakes. I was inspired by what I saw going on at Cupcake Bakeshop , which has some gorgeous-looking filled cupcakes and great how-to pictures , and also by the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion magic-in-the-middle cookies, which I have drooled over for some time without actually making. These are basically chocolate cupcakes with a sweet peanut butter center and rich chocolate ganache frosting. They are very rich, but one makes you feel perfectly content and deliciously satisfied. I like the cupcake format because it's easy not to over-indulge.

The basic idea here is to take a small sharp knife and cut a cone shape out of the center of the cupcake, reserving the cone. Fill the empty space with filling, then cut the excess cake off the cone and replace the top back on the cupcake. Once you've frosted them, no one can tell the difference!

We cheated and used a chocolate cake mix, but we picked up a nice one at the local gourmet grocery store. Instead of the usual partially-hydrogenated vegetable solids found in most cake mixes, this one had us add the fat in liquid butter form, with very tasty results. The picture doesn't really do it justice because it's a terrible cell phone picture - alas, my digital camera isn't around right now. In any case, this is a fun cake for a special occasion - especially one at which the birthday boy needs to feel like a kid again!

Use your own chocolate cake recipe or mix; here's what I did for filling and quick icing:

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the peanut butter with 1 tablespoon water and beat with a hand-held mixer or a fork until shiny. You can add more to change the consistancy, but if you add too much, the mixture will seperate and turn grainy. Then beat in the sugar and vanilla. Feel free to add more peanut butter or more/less sugar to change the flavor.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting
8 oz bittersweet chocolate/chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

Put the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream on low heat until it just begins to bubble around the edge of the pan. Then pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow to sit for five minutes. Stir until the chocolate has melted and been fully incorporated. The frosting should be very shiny. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes to thicken the consistency; you can put it in the fridge to shorten the time a bit, but the ganache will lose some of its gleam.

Fill cupcakes, frost, and serve with a candle!