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Young & HungryIf you can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen! |
| 29 January |
It was purely by chance that this cake made it into my kitchen. I am not particularly enthusiastic about gingerbread, nor do I tend to make desserts that do not contain any trace of chocolate. I am enthused, however, that my guest of honor who is a fan of both gingerbread and fruit desserts inspired me to bake this upside-down cake. It. Was. Delicious. And pretty! And really not all that bad for you! So if you find yourself in the company of one of those people who doesn’t keep an emergency stash of cocoa products in their purse, car, and desk or if you just feel like taking a bite on the other side, try this cake. I promise even the worst chocoholic won’t be disappointed.
| 21 December |
Holidays: Christmas; Christmas Eve; stockings and bows and garland and tinsel; good tidings and trips home. The holidays are by far, without doubt, my most favorite time of the year, and the food is just the icing on that glorious yuletide cake. Holiday dishes call for, of course, decadence. I hotly anticipate this season all year, and naturally want it to be worth the wait. This is not the time to sub in Splenda or wonder if margarine will do. It will not. Bring on the cheese, the nuts, the fudge, all the richer the better. What follows is an account of one young and hungry girl’s attempt to create memorable Christmas desserts, desserts basking in unbridled dietary depravity. A grand finale worth the mea culpas.Gloriously decadent figgy pudding
My baking began with the proverbial question of what to make. Sure, I could easily toss together a simple-yet-delicious gingerbread trifle or whip up a batch quick peppermint brownies, but those endeavors seem so….everyday. Nay, my favorite holiday calls for desserts demanding fastidious attention to detail and hours of kitchen toil (there are few things I love better than kitchen toil.) And so here are my two picks for Christmas ’09, one classic and one decidedly untraditional, both equally resplendent in their copious steps: Steamed Toffee Pudding and Cuatro Leches Cake. They are both so mind-blowingly rich and full of carefully nurtured, gorgeous flavors that I may just make them again come Valentine’s Day. Memorable indeed.
For Christmas Eve I chose the quintessential Christmas dessert of yore, Steamed Toffee Pudding, a recipe I took straight from my Craft of Cooking cookbook. One of my most favorite restaurants and home to innumerable memorable meals, Craft, to me, epitomizes the essence of fine dining, and I’d trust any of the recipes in Chef Colicchio’s book. And seriously, how much more Christmas can you get than to hear your family clamoring for more figgy pudding? I half expected Tiny Tim to walk through my door.
| 18 December |
It’s finally pear season! The peachy peaches of summer are long gone to be replaced with gifts of citrus and pomaceous fruits from Harry & David. I recall the much anticipated day when the big box of pears would arrive individually wrapped in gold foil and sitting atop a bed of green foam in their assigned cubbies. And then the wait. Oh, the dreaded and forever long wait for the pears to ripen so that you could scoop out the fruit with just your spoon. Of course, almost immediately after the pears reached the perfect ripeness, they just could not be eaten quickly enough and, god forbid, became waste. If only I had known then what I know now. Had I been in possession of this delightful crumble recipe those pears would have made it to their proper resting place, in some pudgy girl or boys belly. Alas, I know better now and will never let a pear fall short of its proper destiny on my watch.
This crumble could also be used atop apples, peaches, or whatever fruit might happen to be in season. If you have leftovers, it makes a delicious topping for your morning oatmeal or yogurt. And, as usual, serve a la mode.
| 11 December |
Biscotti get a tough wrap for being a tad on the crunchy side, but I’d like to take this opportunity to commit their poor reputation to user error. It’s a dipping cookie people! So whether you prefer coffee, tea, or milk – stop complaining and dunk it! This recipe for Toffee Crunch Biscotti goes particularly well with Starbuck’s new Caramel Brulee Latte or they’re slightly more grown up Toffee Nut Latte. I have never been able to do the black coffee thing and, as such, enjoy experimenting with new coffee creations. The latest and greatest is the simple substitution of about ½ cup of eggnog instead of the usual cream and sugar. For a Thai coffee, swap that eggnog for some sweetened condensed milk. And, if you’re really feeling sweet, heat a tablespoon of cocoa powder or hot chocolate mix with milk or cream for a quick mocha. There are about as many options as there are biscotti, so get dipping!
| 9 December |
Despite the fact that the Baking Bonanza has been in progress a couple weeks now, I actually just started my holiday baking last weekend. This year I decided to go with the 3 Bs of Baking: Breads, Barks, & Biscotti! I’m using said theme to strap some boundaries around what usually turns into a big cookie catastrophe, for my kitchen anyway. Hopefully keeping within these three categories will enable me to tie a pretty little bow around my baked gifts while still allowing some creativity.
We will start with biscotti aka cantucci. For the sake of this holiday season and my Nonna from whom the base recipe comes we will call them biscotti. The biscotti series is going to come to you in four installments, one variation per installment, and will conclude with the orginal (and best) recipe from which all the other recipes were created. I know my mother is asking why mess with a good thing? Well, Mommy dearest, I can only post the real deal one time and there are over 360 days in the year. That, and you know me well enough to know I’m a meddler.
What I was surprised to learn was that after many not so perfect attempts at meddling with various biscotti recipes, these actually turned out just right! They don’t have the traditional essence of anise that make the original recipe so unique, but if you prefer or like these flavor combinations or just want to spice things up a bit these are all quite delicious! There is a METHOD to the madness and I was happy to learn that if you keep to the basic ratios and processes defined in the original recipe, the world is your oyster!
| 30 November |
Here’s an oldie, but a goodie – my father’s favorite Toll House cookie bars. There’s something to be said for classics, try as I might to manipulate them into something new… One must realize things are classic for a reason; reason being that they are perfect as is. And so each birthday & Father’s Day I receive a request for the simple Toll House recipe written for everyone to see and share on the back of the package with special directions not to change anything. As such I will refrain from experimentation just this once and, of course, anytime I need to say thank you for washing my car, monitoring my finances, or just being a great father in general.
I hope you enjoy these as you should enjoy many things in life – simply delicious just the way they are!
| 20 November |
Funny that the forbidden fruit is so closely assimilated with the US of A, although I suppose our great nation is the 2nd largest producer. Apples, seen first in the Book of Genesis, have since come to be symbols of knowledge and immortality, but also temptation and sin; lest we forget the infamous scene in American Pie. Alas, it is apple picking season! While I have not been so fortunate as to have had the pleasure of frequenting an orchard to pick the forbidden fruits, I was lucky enough to have 3 pounds of “the best baking apples”, Arkansas Black, brought home to me from North Carolina. Lucky me!
I don’t know if it was the “best baking apples ever” that made the pie or the “Best Apple Pie Ever” recipe that made the apples, but the result definitely lived up to both reputations. This recipe introduced sour cream to the more standard butter & sugar generally used for the filling and what a difference it makes! Both the flavor and texture are, in my opinion, a much welcomed twist that produces a pie you can only dream is immortal…
| 11 November |
To carry on the cherry theme from my previous post, here is a recipe from this year’s cherry themed party. Yes, I lied. The Sweet Potato Pizza was a leftover from last year. There are a number of these said leftovers and, going forward, I will plead the fifth and my right as a woman to keep the age factor undisclosed. Besides, who doesn’t love a good leftover!
I found this recipe in some sort of woman’s magazine targeted towards an age group that does NOT include me. Alas, I found this and many of the other dessert recipes quite appealing, and so I furtively tore the pages from the magazine, stuffed them in my purse, and continued reading. I wonder what a man, sans purse, would do in such a situation. And is it appropriate to borrow recipes in this matter or is this considered a dishonorable act? And are you, reaping the benefits of a fraudulent recipe an accomplice to the crime? Hmmm. At least I’ve used my embezzled formulas to bring happiness to many a watering mouth. So, for the second time since my sticky fingers came across Home & Garden magazine, I bring you Cherry Revel Bars.
| 4 October |
Candlelight, wine, music and location can all work together to set a romantic scene, but there are other things at play. Fantastical, classical, magical, all definite words per Sir Webster, so what enables the common Joe to take such a literary license and add letters to the traditional term romantic. Many will say there is no excuse for such a grammatical error you egotistical dim-witted dupe. It is because of people like you that words like “irregardless” are now mainstream. Look it up. While listed in the dictionary, per widespread use in everyday speech, it will still ring incorrect by your ever faithful spell check. Alas, I think Webster was a romantic and anything or anyone that can surpass the low expectations we’ve come to accept from the word is permitted, with proper execution, to use it in its heightened idealized romantic-al form.
What makes this bread pudding oh so romantic-al you ask? I think there are a number of attributes generally associated with more romantic or umm seductive foods. There’s texture, smooth, dense and creamy. The bread pudding, with the addition of ice cream, is all of these things. There’s quality, decadent and rich. Check. And then there are external qualifiers including but not limited to size and presentation, the aforementioned setting and the company being kept. The thought that goes behind the choice of recipe is key and if it’s in accordance with the other person’s tastes. Additionally, is it in accordance with the rest of the meal or did you just consume ½ lb of bread in one sitting? While you might feel quite satisfied after the consumption of breadsticks, a pizza and bread pudding I doubt you’re feeling very romantic, much less romantic-al.
| 18 September |
The last wedding weekend of the year has finally arrived! I think there has been much anticipation all around. It has been almost two years since the bride and groom first came together and it has been obvious for all of those two years that they were made for each other. So cheers to you both, you know who you are! And hopefully you are not currently coupled to you computers reading my toast to you.
My second toast goes to the Maid of Honor, who did a fabulous job planning and baking for the many events that tradition persists should herald a marriage. It is no easy feat planning bachelorette parties and showers amidst busy everyday life and a move, just as it is no easy feat to mask a cake resembling the bride’s “double Ds” on a 5 hour caravan to Tybee island. Yet another masterpiece of design from your oven to my tummy! Which was not quite prepared to eat an entire D cup and then dawn a bikini…
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