TWD: Almost-Fudge Gâteau

The word gâteau always brings me back to my years of learning French throughout all of middle school and high school and evokes such fond memories of my stays in France with my family's close friends, who happen to have started out as my host family when I did an exchange program at the tender age of 10. May will mark the 20 year mark since that first trip and the beginning of a wonderful friendship between two completely random families who would never have otherwise met if it hadn't been for this program.


My French tongue has faded some since my last visit in 2000 but that doesn't mean that I don't have the desire to continue to learn all that is French. I read blogs of expatriots who live in France and I still yearn to be strolling the streets of Paris, ducking into a sidewalk café for a crossaint and a demi-tasse, browsing artists' works in Montparnasse or Montmartre, lunching on a baguette and brie with a glass of wine in Jardin des Tuileries, or of course perusing through one of the hundreds of French bakeries that make France so famous for it's baked goodies. This weeks' Dorie recipe was chosen by Nikki of Crazy Delicious and comes from Hélène Samuel, a French restauranteur, who used to sit in front of the oven (her very first oven while living in Paris) and watch this cake bake as her source of entertainment. Le gâteau itself, as Dorie describes is "plain looking but profoundly flavorful, moist, pleasantly dense, and definitively chocolate..."; a description that perfectly matches how this cake itself turned out.

I'll admit that I didn't run out and buy a 9" springform pan for this recipe so I'm not entirely sure if the cake turned out as "puffy" as it should have (with 5 egg white folded into the batter) while using a regular ol' 9" cake pan. Since this was another TWD recipe without a picture to guide me, I guess I'll have to wait and see how everyone else's cakes turned out. Regardless of how it looked, it tasted FANTASTIC. And fudgy it was! I used 60% bittersweet chocolate and was slightly worried about the bitter-factor but it was the right decision for me and I would use the same percentage should I make the cake again, which I'm sure I will. The top cracked, just as Dorie said it would and because I used a cake pan, my cake resembled more of an oversized molten lava cake than a pretty, smooth-sided cake turned out of a springform pan.

As for the glaze however, I didn't have such great luck. I'm not really sure what happened but after I added the corn syrup, the melted chocolate-cream mixture separated from the syrup like oil and water. It was very strange and I couldn't bear to ruin a perfectly good cake with a mixture that resembled more of an sloppy chocolate mess than a chocolate glaze; powdered sugar and whipped cream worked just fine for me.

In spite of the glaze issue, I thoroughly enjoyed this cake; both making it and eating...and yes, I had a piece for breakfast yesterday morning. Hats off to Nikki for a great choice this week! You can see how the over 30 other members of our growing TWD group did this week by visiting their blogs here.

Almost-Fudge Gâteau

source: Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

• 5 large eggs
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet cacao chips)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons coffee or water
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt

For the Glaze (optional)

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Getting Ready:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan (I used a 9" cake pan), line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper, dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
2. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a mixer bowl or other large bowl and the yolks in a small bowl.
3. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add the chocolate, sugar butter and coffee. Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted; the sugar may still be grainy, and that's fine. Transfer the bowl to the counter and let the mixture sit for 3 minutes.
4. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the yolks one by one, then fold in the flour.
5. Working with the whisk attachment of the mixer or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they hold firm, but glossy peaks. Using the spatula, stir about one quarter of the beaten whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest. Scrape the butter into the pan and jiggle the pan from side to side a couple of times to even the batter.
6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes (35 minutes was perfect for my oven), or until the cake has risen evenly (it might rise around the edges and you'll think it's done, but give it a few minutes more, and the center will puff too) and the top has firmed (it will probably be cracked) and doesn't shimmy when tapped; a thin knife inserted into the center should come out just slightly streaked with chocolate. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the cake rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
7. Run a blunt knife gently around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Carefully turn the cake over onto a rack and remove the pan bottom and the parchment paper. Invert the cake onto another rack and cool to room temperature right side up. As the cake cools, it may sink.

To Make the Optional Glaze: First, turn the cooled cake over onto another rack so you'll be glazing the flat bottom, and place the rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper to catch any drips.

Put the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.

Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave oven – the chocolate should be just melted and only warm, not hot. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil in a small sauce pan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir very gently with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Stir in the corn syrup.

Pour the glaze over the cake and smooth the top with a long metal icing spatula. Don't worry if the glaze drips unevenly down the sides of the cake – it will just add to its charms. Allow the glaze to set at room temperature or, if you're impatient, slip the cake into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. If the glaze dulls in the fridge, just give it a little gentle heat from a hairdryer.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Yields: 12-16 slices

Some Outrageous Brownies

ahh Ina...seriously, you found the right profession when buying Barefoot Contessa all those years ago. I haven't yet made a recipe of yours that isn't fantastic!

OK, so I know she can't hear me, but sometimes I just need to get the voices out of my head..... :)

After 5 years of knowing about the existence of these brownies and hearing all the raves on my cooking board, I only JUST made them for the first time a couple of weeks ago (yes, I'm slow to post recently). The only thing that was stopping me from making them was the fact that I don't ever have instant coffee powder in the house. But nonetheless, I finally decided to forego the powder and make the brownies without it.

WOW!! They turned out just half a notch below outrageous for me but still were out of this world. I know that half a notch was the missing coffee powder and now I'm bound and determined to buy some before I get the hankering to make them again. I made the full recipe, fully knowing how many brownies this would yield, and brought half of them to work where I knew sweet treats are always very much appreciated. As it turns out, my office was having a week from hell and these brownies were the exact "pick-me-up" that everyone needed. I have a few other homemade brownie recipes I want to try before I go and say that this will be the only one that I use but for now, it's right at the top of my list.

Ina's Outrageous Brownies

source: The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

This was adapted from a recipe for chocolate globs in the Soho Charcuterie Cookbook

• 1 pound unsalted butter
• 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
• 2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour, divided - 1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups diced walnut pieces (I omitted)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
2. Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and bitter chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.
3. Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not overbake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Yields: 20 large or 48 human-size brownies

TWD: Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake

Here's to my first TWD recipe!! Jaime of Good Eats n' Sweet Treats chose Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake (pages 218-219) for this weeks' recipe and boy what a great job she did choosing! I'm a lover of all-things-cheesecake, albeit I've only made cheesecake a number of times. I'm always nervous to make cheesecake because there are so many ideas about the best techniques for the best cheesecake: waterbath vs. no waterbath, cool the cheesecake in the oven vs. on the counter, baked vs. no-bake, a crack should be there vs. shouldn't...you get the point. But because I'm such a recipe-follower, I wasn't too nervous about making this one. I know that Dorie's recipes are tried and true and that all I would need to do is follow her recipe. Easy enough.

Easy? Yes. Quick? No. It took me 1 and 1/2 hours to prep this cheesecake because I was so afraid of screwing it up...and lord knows I didn't want to screw up my first TWD recipe! I had to take extra precautions to be sure that everything I did was right...that the crust was browned enough but not too much, that the apples were cooked enough without burning the brown sugar, that the cream cheese was soft enough so the batter wasn't lumpy, that the springform pan was wrapped tightly enough so no water would leak into my masterpiece. It certainly was a process but the proof was in the pudding...err cheesecake...that my precautions and all that extra time yielded one hell of a cheesecake...and a cheesecake WITHOUT a crack!! This was a first for me and was the first indication that I felt that I really did everything right. The only little blemishes on the top of the cheesecake came from the aluminum foil that stuck to the cake as it rose in the oven - no biggie!

Because I made the cheesecake last night (Monday night), I had to let it chill overnight before cutting it which was fine because I feel more comfortable taking pics during the daylight rather than at night...and coincidentally, I hadn't had breakfast this morning before cutting the cake and taking pics. Aww shucks....cheesecake for breakfast? What a bummer! Well, somebody had to taste it in order to write this review!

Dorie certainly was right - this is a substantial cheesecake. Not heavy and dense like NY cheesecake, but creamy and almost light...but substantial in taste it is. The cheesecake never fell in the middle while cooling and resulted in this beautiful dessert flecked with cinnamon as the highest (thickest?) cheesecake I've ever made. I did have to restrain myself from eating a whole piece this morning because I did only cut it 8ths but it was oh so good! (And in the future, I will definitely use dental floss again to make the initials cuts and then a hot, clean knife to finish them off.) I offered to put a piece in Kyle's lunch today but he said that he'd wait until tonight to try it and I almost feel bad about not waiting for him...almost.

Check out how everyone else did here!

Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake

source: Baking: From My Home to Yours

For the Crust

• 30 gingersnaps (or a scant 2 cups graham cracker crumbs) I used cinnamon graham crackers and ground them into crumbs myself
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

For the Apples

• 1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 3 large Golden Delicious or Fuji apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths I used Golden Delicious
• 2 tbsp (packed) light brown sugar

For the Filling

• 1 1/2 pounds (three 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp apple cider
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• Apple jelly, for glazing, or confectioner's sugar, for dusting (optional)

To Make the Crust:

1. Butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Put the gingersnaps in a food processor and whir until you have crumbs; you should have a scant 2 cups. (If you are using graham cracker crumbs, just put them in the food processor.) Pulse in the sugar and cinnamon, if you're using it, then pour over the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are moistened. Turn the crumbs into the springform pan and, using your fingertips, firmly press them evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan as far as they'll go. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)
2. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the pan from the freezer and wrap the bottom tightly in aluminum foil, going up the sides. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is set and lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool while you make the apples and the filling. Leave the oven at 350 degrees F.

To Make the Apples:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, toss in half of the apple slices and cook, turning once, until they are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the apples with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and cook them, turning, just until coated, another minute or so. Scrape the apples onto a plate, wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining apples. Let the apples cool while you make the filling.

Getting Ready to Bake:

Have a roasting pan large enough to hold the springform pan at hand. Put a kettle of water on to boil.

To Make the Filling:

1. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed, scraping down the bowl often, for about 4 minutes, or until it is velvety smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in the cider, vanilla, and cinnamon. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Finally, beat in the sour cream and heavy cream, beating just until the batter is smooth.
2. Pour about one third of the batter into the baked crust. Drain the apples by lifting them off the plate with a slotted spoon or spatula, and spoon them into the pan. Cover with the remaining batter and, if needed, jiggle the pan to even the top. Place the springform pan in the roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
3. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 to 45 minutes, covering the cake loosely with a foil tent at the 45-minute mark. The cake will rise evenly and crack around the edges, and it should be fully set except, possibly, in the very center--if the center shimmies, that's just fine.
4. Gently transfer the cake, still in the pan, to a cooling rack and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it for at least 6 hours; overnight would be better.
5. Run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the crust, open the pan's latch and release and remove the sides.

Peanuttiest Blondies

I was lucky enough to have a couple of very thoughtful people send me gift "cards" to amazon.com for Christmas and since I didn't receive the top 2 items on my Christmas list this past season, I decided to treat myself to these two items, which of course, happen to be cookbooks.

Over the past couple of years, Ina Garden has grown to be one of my most idolized chefs on FoodNetwork. Her food is homey, classic, and fantastic and the next time I find myself in East Hampton, NY (which coincidentally is only 40 minutes from where I grew up and where my entire family still resides), I'm going to make a point of hitting up Barefoot Contessa to test out her stuff in person. For now, I'll settle for making her recipes in my own kitchen and I've just made that a little easier after buying The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Ina's first cookbook. By the way, this was the first of the 2 cookbooks I treated myself to on amazon.

So my little collection of cookbooks is growing and I'm already envisioning the designated space I'd like to create for them once Kyle and I build a home in the next few years. Taking up some of that space will most certainly be the baking bible and what seems to be the most coveted baking cookbook in my foodie circle of friends, cooking message board and so many of the food blogs I read, Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours. I've pined over this cookbook for a year now and for whatever reason, never got around buying it.


Since Dorie's book has found a home in my kitchen, I've been reading it like a novel. Page after page of mouth-watering recipes and conversational dialogue that makes you feel like Dorie is right there in the kitchen with you. How could anyone NOT love a cookbook like this one?? This is the first recipe I've decided to make, and decision was a difficult one (which recipe???). Since Kyle and I are on a strict budget this month, which means no extra spending at the grocery store in an effort to keep costs down and use up what we already have on hand, I decided to go with a recipe that consisted of everything I already have. I'm a genius. This was the best sweet treat I've had in a long time and it certainly made me feel less bad about being so poor this month. :) I followed the recipe exactly, except that I omitted the nuts (of course) and subbed in peanut butter chips - not a bad substitution if I do say so myself. You must try this one!!!

Peanuttiest Blondies
source: Dorie Greenspan, From My Home to Yours

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup peanut butter - crunchy or creamy (not natural)
• 5 tbps unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts
• 6 oz semisweet or premium-quality milk chocolate, coarsely choppped, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil, butter the foil, and put the pan on a baking sheet.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter together on medium speed until smooth. Add both the sugars and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until well incorporated into the butter. Add the eggs one at time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Beat in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough; the dough will be thick. Add the peanuts and chocolate and give the mixer a few turns to stire them into the dough. If the chunky ingredients aren't mixed in after a few seconds, just finish the job with a sturdy spatula - don't overmix the dough. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan.
4. Bake the blondies for 40 to 50 minutes (40 minutes was plenty for mine), or until they turn a deep honey brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
5. When it is completely cool, carefully life the blondies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and turn them out onto a rack. Peel away the foil and invert onto a cutting board. Use a long knife to cut into 16 bars, each roughly 2 1/4 inches on a side.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Bake time: 40 minutes

Yields: 16 bars

better-late-than-never blondies

When Kyle came home from work last week begging for blondies all I could do was hang my head in shame. I had never made them. I had never had the desire to make them. Worse yet, I had never liked them. *gasp!* How could I not like the non-chocolate version of a brownie? Nuts! Every blondie I've ever come across has had some type of nut in them, and while they look fantastic, I've always taken a laissez-faire attitude with them. What's the point of eating something and having to pick around the nuts?


After much begging that evening, something clicked. Why couldn't I make them without nuts?? Duh. :: forehead slap :: I ran down to the computer knowing that I could find a recipe on one of the famous blogs I read on a nearly everyday basis, and of course, Smitten Kitchen came through for me again.

This is a blondie recipe that is simple, allows for any add-ins (or subtract-aways), and is touted to be Deb's favorite blondie recipe. 'Nuff said. Onward to the kitchen...

In my recipe, I used 1 tsp vanilla and added a bag of peanut butter chips. The next time I make this recipe, I think I'll add some peanut butter to the mix as well as chocolate chips because while they turned out pretty great, I think they needed a little extra "umph." (This was no fault of Deb's though.)

Blondies
source: Smitten Kitchen from How to Cook Everything

• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or ½ teaspoon almond extract
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar - beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
   Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below).
3. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times — nobody ever complained about a gooey-middled cookie. Cool on rack before cutting them.
   

Further additions, use one or a combination of:
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

Apple Crisp

What would fall be without our favorite apple crisp recipe? I discovered this recipe years ago in my mom's old (read: vintage) Women's Day alphabetized volumes of recipes - yes, you may have seen them either in your mom's or grandmother's kitchen or at yard/tag sales. As much bad press as some vintage cookbooks have gotten in the "foodie" community, this collection of recipes continually has provided me with tried and true recipes. One of which being this fantastic apple crisp recipe. It really is the only apple crisp recipe I've ever used and Kyle and I love it so much that I don't ever feel the need to find a new one to try. Our love for this recipe is so great, in fact, that our wedding reception centerpieces were classy buckets full of apples (DIY) and we gave out this recipe (my slightly modified version of it) for our guests to take home. (and if I remember when I get home later, maybe I'll post a pic of the centerpieces here)

Apple Crisp
source: adapted from the Women's Day collection of recipes

• 2 lbs cooking apples, peeled and sliced (about 5 1/2 cups) I recommend Macoun or Granny Smith
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon plus extra to sprinkle on top
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup cold butter, diced

1. Put apples in a shallow 2qt casserole; add water.
2. Combine sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and flour in a separate bowl. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender. Spoon mixture evenly over apples. Sprinkle additional cinnamon on top (to taste).
3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and back for an additional 30 minutes.

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Serves: 6-8

Pumpkin in the form of cake

During this week of hectic preparations for the "kickoff of the holiday season" holiday, I decided to take a break last night and make something sweet to follow-up a great throw-together dinner of roasted garlic chicken sausage with quick homemade sauce over whole wheat spaghetti. In all honestly, I have been neglecting my beloved Kitchenaid Mixer and haven't yet had the opportunity to use it since Kyle installed an electrical outlet directly behind the mixer so that I wouldn't have to drag it (for it's too heavy to pick up) out from under the only spot on the counter where it would fit under the poorly-leveled upper cabinets all the way across to the closest outlet - nearly 4 feet away. I suppose his food-intuition (ie, man's intuition as opposed to a women's or mother's intuition) told him that I would be bringing him home some fantastic cake that I had made earlier that day at my parent's house because the outlet was finished and the counter was cleaned up by the time I came home - it was a complete surprise to me that he was planning to put this outlet in for me. This transaction suited us both perfectly.

So back to last night. I pulled this recipe off one of my new favorite website a few weeks ago and finally had some extra energy (and time) last night to make it. Kyle begged me to make cookie dough even though we didn't have any chocolate chips in the pantry - he just wanted the raw dough to snack on - but I stood my ground and promised him that this would be a great recipe, only going on the hunch that it would be though because how bad could a Martha Stewart recipe be? I haven't had a bad one yet...and this one keeps the streak alive. It turned out to be an amazing, mouth-watering, perfect fall-in-New-England pumpkin spice cake with a cream cheese frosting that will knock your socks off. It seriously was worth the wait and the agony of *watching* the cake cool down far enough so that I could frost and serve it.


I should note a couple of things here:

1. As much as I was longing to try the honey cream cheese frosting, I omitted the honey because Kyle is allergic to it when it's uncooked. BOO!! Nonetheless, I added about 1 tsp of vanilla and between 3/4 and 1 cup of powdered sugar in place of the honey to assure that the frosting would be sweet enough.
2. I've had a terrible time as of late adding melted butter to recipes that have eggs. I can't tell you how many times I've cooked the eggs in the wet mixture and had to start the recipe over. This time I decided to heavily soften the butter for the cake batter, but asked Kyle to do so in an effort to quicken the process since I was sifting the dry ingredients, cracking eggs, measuring sugar, etc. After he dumped his version of very soft butter into the bowl and I started mixing, hundreds of little tiny butter clumps arose, and I realized the butter wasn't nearly soft enough (why do I trust anyone other than myself?!?). But I perservered and put the batter in the oven, butter clumps included. It still turned out perfectly but I admit that I was very nervous during those 40 long minutes in the oven.
3. I learned the hard way that it's necessary to adjust the oven temp when using dark pans. I baked this cake in a dark non-stick 9x9" pan at 325 degrees F rather than 350 and it was done just right.
4. And lastly, Martha's recipe says that this cake yields 9 servings. One serving of 9 is a very rich serving, and the next time I make this recipe, I'll cut the cake into 12 pieces instead of 9.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting

source: Martha Stewart

FOR THE CAKE

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice (or 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon each allspice and cloves)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin puree

FOR THE HONEY FROSTING

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
• 1 bar (8 ounces) regular (or reduced-fat) cream cheese, very soft
• 1/4 cup honey * I subbed 1 tsp pure vanilla extract and between 3/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar for the honey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin-pie spice. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, butter, and pumpkin puree until combined. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, and mix gently until smooth.
3. Turn batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan, and cool completely, right side up, on a rack.
4. Make Honey Frosting: In a medium bowl, whisk butter, cream cheese, and honey until smooth.
5. Spread top of cooled cake with honey frosting. Cut cake into squares to serve.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40-45 minutes

Yields: 9-12 squares

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake

Who do I think I am coming up with a post like this? Smitten Kitchen? Yeah, I wish! Deb's blog (aka Smitten Kitchen) is seriously one of the most fantastic food blogs I've ever come across. And I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled upon it (although I know it was by accident about 6 or 7 months ago), but Kyle sure is thankful that I did - almost as thankful that I've found solice in so many of Giada's recipes. Deb's blog is incredibly well-written and witty, and of course it features some of the most drool-worthy food porn out there in the blog-o-sphere. (Like my attention to jargon there?) You'll be hard-pressed to find a better food blog...at least I've yet to find one (although, Culinary Concoctions by Peabody ranks right up there).

So, yes, I've been reading Smitten Kitchen, almost on a daily basis for a few months now (love Google reader!), and was so excited to read recently that Deb and her beloved blog were being featured in the Boston Globe - pretty big honors for a woman who creates some pretty big food out of her pretty tiny Brooklyn, NY apartment kitchen. It was reading the Globe article online where I found this recipe of Deb's that had been filed away in her blog archives and probably wouldn't have been found had it not been for the article (as much as I love Smitten Kitchen, I just don't have the time to peruse nearly 18 months of blog posts). So after wiping the drool off my keyboard, I printed out the recipe and immediately decided to make this for my parents while I was down to visit them on good 'ol Long Island (actually, not too far from where Smitten Kitchen makes it's home).

I took full advantage of my mom's new double-oven that weekend, but didn't dare ask to use the brand-spankin' new holy grail of kitchen appliances (aka the Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer in Onyx) that I had given her the evening before for her birthday. As much as it killed me to restrain myself from asking to use it, I knew that the only person who should break-in the holy grail is its rightful owner. So I used a hand-mixer - no big deal. :)

It's difficult to explain how incredible this recipe turned out without, again, wiping the drool off my keyboard. The coffee cake was exactly how I hoped it would be - dense and flavorful but not crumbly...and it yielded a bonus of a mouthful of chocolate cinnamon flavor in every bite. Can you really get any better than that?? I have to admit that I made the mistake of not cutting the servings small enough (what???) because this cake really is filling. My cake yielded 24 pieces but 32 or even 36 pieces probably would yielded a more appropriate serving size. But nonetheless, neither I nor my parents (nor Kyle after I brought the leftovers home to him in CT) had any regrets about my making this cake. It's perfect for any occasion - brunch, dessert, or an afternoon coffee break - and I will without a doubt make this again.

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake
source: Smitten Kitchen blog

• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 16 ounces sour cream
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  
• 12 ounces chocolate chips (which I tossed lightly in flour before adding to cake to prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1½ cups sugar, then mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Alternately add sour cream and then dry ingredients into butter mixture. Beat eggs whites until stiff, then fold into batter.
3. Mix last ½ cup sugar and cinnamon together in a separate, small dish.
4. In a greased 9″x13″ pan, pour in half of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture and half of the chocolate chips. Pour remaining batter on top, sprinkling the top with the remaining cinnamon-sugar and chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
   

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40-50 minutes

Yields: 24-36 pieces

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Bring on the pumpkin!! Yes, another pumpkin post...but hey, it's fall so this is to be expected, isn't it?? I've never been a big cheesecake baker and only on a couple of occasions have I decided that my cheesecake has turned out well. Yet I keep trying...practice makes perfect, right?

Well...practice is what I will continue to do. I have no idea what went wrong with this one. I followed the recipe to the "T", which as I was so excited about to share, was from one of the most reputable blog sources in Peabody...but something, somewhere, went awry. Don't get me wrong, the actual cheesecake was perfect - just the way I like it - heavy and creamy....and pumpkiny of course! But the presentation of it leaves a little to be desired. This is the pumpkin swirl cheesecake that didn't swirl nor did it quite resemble Peabody's cheesecake whatsoever. And after the great results of my pumpkin spice cheesecake brownies, I was quite disappointed in how this one turned out (or at least looked because it tasted wonderful).

I'm not sure if my oven temp is way off kilter or what because the directions were to cook for about 2hrs at 350 degrees F. The cheesecake was already very brown at 1hr 15 min and I turned the oven off at 1hr 30min because the knive came out clean (with just a little bit stuck to it, as the directions indicated). In no way was the inside of the cheesecake overdone but I still don't know why the top browned so quickly. The browned top doesn't at all change the flavor, only the all-important appearance. But hey, what can ya do? I'll consider making this again if I can figure out what went wrong this time.

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

• 1 1/2 cups Gingersnaps
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 1/2/bs cream cheese
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 TBSP flour
• 5 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
  

1. For crust, combine the gingersnaps, and butter. Press onto the bottom of a 10 inch spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes in 350F oven. Set aside.
2. For the filling, cream the cheese until soft. Add in the sugar and mix well. Add in the flour and mix to blend.
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping th bowl down after each addition. Add in the yolks and vanilla. Mix well.
4. Remove 3 cups of the batter and place in a bowl. In a seperate bowl, combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in the 3 cups of plain cheesecake batter.
5. Layer the two batters in the springform pan starting with the plain batter. Do three layers plain batter and two of the pumpkin batter. Swirl the batters to create a marbelized look.
6. Place the cake on a sheet pan. Place in the oven and pour in hot water to create a water bath. Bake the cheesecake at 350 F for approx. 2 hours. A thin knife inserted in the center should come out almost clean.
7. Cool the cake and then chill. Let sit overnight before unmolding.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1hr 30min to 2hrs

Serves: 12

Apple Crostata

Autumn's abundant apples!! I love the fact that my grocery store sells little totes of apples (1/2 peck) because it allows me to generally have apples in the house all the time during the fall. Mostly I eat them for a snack during the day but sometimes I need to splurge, ya know? So when I feel the need to splurge, rest assured, apples will most likely be involved.

I stumbled across this mouth-watering Ina Garten recipe last week and after seeing her make it a couple of weeks ago, I decided to have a hand at it. Let it be said that I've never, ever, made my own pie or pastry dough but Ina has a way of making dough preparation look so easy. So as many times as I've watched her make dough, I decided that I worked up my confidence enough to give it a shot....

As you are all my witnesses, I vow to never buy another store-bought pie/pastry dough again. This really was as easy as Ina has made it out to be and by allowing the dough to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours thereby breaking the recipe prep steps in half, the recipe was all that much easier to prepare. The dough came together in a snap, even when using my crappy and difficult to use 7 cup Black and Decker food processor - purchased years ago. :: Note to self: put 11 cup Cuisinart food processor on Christmas list :: And because I made sure to use cold (read: nearly frozen) butter, the crust came out perfectly flaky and just sweet enough to complement the apples and crumble topping. In the future, I will double the pastry dough recipe and freeze one to have on hand for another time.

Ina's apple crostata is a keeper in my house from here on out. It is an easy and more rustic alternative to apple pie (not to mention a few less calories because there is only a bottom crust) and can really be whipped up quickly in case of unexpected autumnal house guests. Once again, another wonderful Ina recipe!!

Apple Crostata

source: Ina Garten

Inspired by George German & Johanne Killeen Cucina Simpatica

For the pastry:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated or superfine sugar (I used granulated)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter, diced
• 2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 pounds McIntosh, Macoun, or Empire apples (3 large)
• 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup granulated or superfine sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used 1/2 tsp)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

1. For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough becomes a solid mass. Turn the dough onto a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (I chilled the dough for about 3 1/2 hours.)
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
3. Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet.
4. For the filling, peel, core, and cut the apples into 8ths. Cut each wedge into 3 chunks. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Cover the tart dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.
5. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly on the apples. Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.
6. Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes (mine needed about 28-30 minutes), until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Active prep time: 20 minutes

Inactive prep time: 1 to 4 hours

Cook time: 25 - 30 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Pumpkin-Spice Cheesecake Brownies

The pumpkin frenzy has hit my house with avengence and I'm honestly going to have a tough time letting it go at the end of the autumn. I seem to come across at least one new pumpkin recipe that peaks my interest everyday and I'm starting to have a difficult time narrowing down the recipes to make. I can't possibly make them all for fear of blowing my healthy eating resolution. Thankfully, I've implemented a couple of adjustments to the recipes I do make so that I can try to feel less guilty about eating the mouthwatering pumpkiny results.

Tonight, I broke out Cara's (aka Pumpkin Queen) pumpkin-spice cheesecake brownies. Oh yeah. You read that right...that's brownies. with cheesecake. and pumpkin...all in one dessert!! I did end up using 1/2 cup applesauce (and 1/4 cup butter) and low-fat cream cheese to attempt at making these a little more figure-friendly...attempt being the optimal word there.

They turned out beautifully and so delicious!! Let me tell you...they are going FAST! I've only had the chance to indulge in a couple of them as Kyle is plowing through them at some unGodly rate. This one is definitely a keeper and will most likely make a reappearance sometime this fall. Thanks Cara!!!

Pumpkin-Spice Cheesecake Brownies
source: Cara at Cara's Cravings

Brownie Batter

• 3/4 cup butter, melted (I used 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup applesauce)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square metal baking pan.
2. Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and then gradually stir into butter mixture with a wooden spoon. In separate bowl, beat together cheesecake batter ingredients.
3. Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan, and spoon cheesecake batter over. Dollop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. Swirl the batters together by running a butter knife (or toothpick) back and forth through the pan.
4. Bake for 40 minutes (I baked for 35 minutes), or until center is set. Cool completely on wire rack and chill before cutting and serving.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 35 - 40 minutes

Yields: 12 - 16 brownies

Here is how I dolloped the batter and how the brownies looked just out of the oven:

Super Sugar Cookies

Thank you Nestie joelen&louis for this wonderful sugar cookie recipe!!! I have had so much trouble with sugar cookies in the past - too hard, too brown, too hard to work with. But this one was perfect. I didn't make the icing but definitely will next time.

Super Sugar Cookies

from Nestie joelen&louis

COOKIES:

• 3/4 cup margarine
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Cream margarine and sugar well.
2. Add vanilla and eggs; combine well.
3. In separate bowl, sift the baking powder, salt and flour. Add to wet ingredients slowly until thoroughly combined.
4. Cookie dough must be chilled until firm, or overnight.
5. Remove dough from fridge and roll out to a 1/4-inch thickness. (I dropped the dough onto cookie sheets with a cookie scoop then refrigerated for 20 minutes before cooking)
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. With cookie cutters or rim of drinking glass, cut out cookies.
8. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on oven. Check often to prevent over cooking or burning. Cool on baking rack when done.
9. Meanwhile, prepare frosting

FROSTING:

• 1 teaspoon real vanilla
• 1 stick real butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cream or whole milk

1. Cream butter, milk and vanilla together.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar to butter until desired consistency. If you'd like, add liquid food coloring for festive cookies
3. When cookies are cooled, slather this heavenly frosting. For more texture and color, press the top of the cookie in sprinkles, colored sugar or just eat plain!

Active prep time: 15 minutes

Inactive prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 8-10 minutes

Yields: 3 dozen cookies

Brownies with a caramel touch

After a dinner of spicy garlic lime pasta and fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, my dessert called for a little bit of sweetness (or a lot of sweetness). I needed something to make that was quick and easy to end a weeknight dinner with a guest. Everybody loves brownies but I wasn't feeling up to a pan of brownies - I was thinking something a little special. Yes, my brownies came from a mix (Hershey's Triple Chocolate Chunk which can be found at your local supermarket or at BJ's Wholesale where you can buy a box of 4 packets) but I made them my own by baking them in mini-muffin pans and then pressing a caramel Hershey's kiss in the center after immediately after baking. Not hard but SO good!

I sprayed the mini-muffin tins with Pam for Baking, filled the cups about 1/2 to 2/3 full, then cooked them for about 18 minutes at 300 degrees F. (check with a toothpick for doneness)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 18-20 minutes

Yields: 36 individual mini brownies

Heavenly Birthday Cake!!

I'll be the first to admit that chocolate cake with chocolate icing is not my favorite type of cake. I've requested a marble cake with sweet butter icing every year since before I could remember but this year would be different because my mom's oven is broken and baking a cake in a toaster oven might prove difficult. So I asked Kyle to take care of my cake this year and we'd bring it to Long Island where we'd celebrate with my family, as we do every year.

My only request was that he call the baker who made our wedding cake last year and ask her to bake a small cake - the flavor and icing were his choice - but no chocolate/chocolate. I guess a million things happened between that request and week of my birthday (8/19 in case anyone is wondering ;) ) and the call to the baker never happened. Needless to say, Kyle felt really bad and offered to make the cake himself. Wow. What a nice suggestion. And to be honest, I wasn't at all worried about how it would turn out because he's actually very adept in the kitchen. All he needed was a recipe and for me to be around if he needed help.

What recipe did I choose? Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake with Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Icing. Yes, that's right...a chocolate/chocolate cake. Funny indeed. I had heard wonderful reviews about this cake and hadn't yet gotten the chance to make it so I figured this would be as good of a time as ever (and I wouldn't have to do any work to enjoy it!).

The result? Absolute chocolate perfection. The cake was perfect. The icing was perfect. EVERYONE raved about it and couldn't believe that Kyle made this cake - and their jaws literally dropped when I told them that he made it from scratch! My brother, who I seriously don't think has ever eaten a whole piece of birthday cake in his life had SECONDS! He even requested that Kyle make his birthday cake in November. (Sorry Mom!!)

I'm not going to post the recipe because my iterations in this post have gotten away from me but let me say a couple of things: Kyle made the cake and icing the night before we ate it. We wrapped the cake in SaranWrap, refrigerated it overnight, and put the two in a cooler for our 2 hr drive. The cake arrived without incident (no cracks) and it was iced right before birthday candles were added. He also made 1 and a half of the icing recipe but we agreed that it probably should have been doubled.

DON'T hesitate to make this cake - it's totally worth it!!!

(And go ahead and add the perfect complement: vanilla ice cream!)

Triple PB Blast Cookies

I ran across the original version of this cookie last week after a fellow " WC nestie" posted a comment to one of my blog posts. I knew immediately that I had to try them, and since Kyle and I would be taking a little road trip to one of our area casinos for a concert yesterday, I decided to make them for the ride.

Good call on my part!! These are seriously the best homemade peanut butter cookies I have ever tried. They came out soft (and are still soft after one full day) and full of yummy pb flavor. Since neither Kyle nor I are fans of crunchy peanut butter (as called for in the recipe), I used 1 cup of creamy peanut butter and added a bag (maybe 11oz?) of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips - which is why I renamed them Triple PB Blast Cookies. I didn't make the glaze that the original recipe called for as I didn't want the glaze dripping all over my car as we ate them but I will definitely do so next time I make them. My long-time pb cookie recipe has just taken a back seat to these! Thanks so much for posting these Sarah!!!

And yes, I was so excited about these cookies that I took LOTS of pics of them. :)

Mom's Banana Bread

Why I don't make banana bread more often is beyond me (aside from the fact that Kyle keeps throwing my browning bananas out before I have the chance to stick them in the fridge!). This is always such a nice treat and I'm so happy to have my mom's recipe for banana bread that I have been eating since before I could remember. She always managed to sneak some finely chopped nuts in there but now that I'm an adult, I don't have to put the nuts in if I don't want to. hmph. :) I don't like 'em and Kyle is allergic to 'em so our relationship with nuts works out beautifully for both of us - I never, ever cook with them nor do I buy anything at the store that contains them.

Peanut butter is my only exception and Kyle can eat both peanut butter and peanuts -but peanuts aren't technically nuts so they don't really count in the whole scheme of things. Speaking of peanut butter, go ahead and spread some on your banana bread the next time you eat it - it's truly a delight to the taste buds.

Banana Bread

• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 small or 2 large bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 1/4 cup butter, melted*
• 1/2 cup apple sauce*
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon*

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat egg. Add sugar, butter, applesauce, and bananas - beat on medium until well-blended. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon then slowly add to the banana mixture. Beat on low until well-blended but be sure not to overbeat.

Grease and flour (I use Pam for Baking spray) a loaf pan and pour in mixture. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Bread will be a dark brown colored (it won't be burned, don't worry) and will bounce back to the touch (check doneness with a knife as well).

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 50-60 minutes

Serves: 8-12

*Modifications

1. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter but I used 1/2 cup applesauce (a 3.9 oz individual serving cup) and 1/4 cup butter. Normally if you sub applesauce for the butter or oil in a recipe, it is a 1:1 ratio. I added a little extra applesauce to make sure the bread stayed moist, which worked great.
2. Cinnamon isn't in my mom's recipe either but I figured that a little cinnamon never hurt anyone. :) It added a great underlying flavor and smelled wonderful while baking.

Cupcakes: My next endeavor

Admittedly, I'm not a big baker, mostly because of the extrodinary amount of calories in some recipes, but cupcakes are one kind of baked good that I would love to master. I received a small Wilton cake decorating set for my wedding shower last year and have started dabbling with the bags and tips to figure out the basics but teaching myself has not been easy. So I'm going to look into take the Wilton cake decorating courses that are offered through my local Michael's craft store this winter in the hope of truly learning the basics of decorating with buttercreme, fondant, and gum paste. If I never end up doing anything with my skills other than making fun birthday cakes and cupcakes for my kids in the future, then the courses will be worth it.

Kyle LOVE cake and cupcakes but I've only ever made cake or cupcakes from a "mix." Baking cakes and cupcakes and making icing/frosting from scratch is also something I'll be working on over the next couple of months. This was my first real attempt to decorate a cupcake and I'm documenting this because I hope I'll be able to show my progress as time goes on.

**If anyone has any cupcake cookbooks they love, please feel free to leave me a comment with the title and author (if you have it). Thanks!**