Posts filed under 'Sweet Recipes'
If you have zucchini coming out of your ears, we have posted some good ideas here and here. This cake is one of my favorite ways to use up bountiful summer zucchini.
The recipe in Saveur magazine a few years back but when I pulled the recipe from my stack of recipes to post, I realized to my horror that there was no date or issue reference on the page! Luckily they have an amazing website and low and behold the recipe was right there.
For the original recipe click here.
I added 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips to the recipe which I highly recommend. Dusted with powdered sugar and served with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries is a great way to enjoy this as a dressed up dessert.
Otherwise it a great snacking cake. A simple glaze of chocolate ganache would also be lovely. My kids snarfed up this cake and had no idea there was zucchini in it.
August 12th, 2010
Vincenzo and I made these cupcakes to celebrate the last day of school. It has taken much too long to get this post up. But alas, school is out and I spend most of my days not seeing straight.
This Joy of Baking recipe was quite good. It resulted in 12 yummy, bakery-quality cupcakes. I could have passed on the rather Smurfy, blue on blue theme but Sir Vincenzo is almost 5 and very insistent.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream - Blue Food Coloring Optional
from Joy of Baking
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, 18 - 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost and decorate.
Frosting
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. light cream
Assorted food colors (if desired)
In an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add cream and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add a little more cream or sugar, if needed. Tint the frosting with desired food color.
Makes about 12 cupcakes
June 29th, 2010
A recent work project has me making ice cream! A recipe for homemade honey ice cream is offered below.
I wish I could use liquid nitrogen as it is far more dramatic. I don’t even know where to begin on this part of the lecture series as I was so mesmerized by the liquid nitrogen.
Harold McGee started off with a brief history if ice cream along with a sample of what would be considered the first ice cream. Click here to read his account and technique for making "instant ice cream." Dave Arnold’s raspberry concoction was made by pouring in liquid nitrogen. It was part of his quest to try and replicate Salep dondurma - or Turkish ice cream.
This unique frozen concoction has a secret ingredient that is illegal to take out of Turkey, it is so highly revered and impossible to reproduce commercially. To read more about it click here.
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In the course of my research, I rediscovered one of my favorite Saveur articles on the world of ice cream. It was published back in 2001. Coming up with the flavors and making them outstanding for a commercial package is harder than you think.
Ice cream always tastes unbelievably the best just after it’s been processed. Still gooey and nicely chilled, the texture is dreamy and no commercial ice cream can come close to the almost chewy texture.
Once ice cream firms up and sits in the freezer, it changes in flavor as well as in texture. I love my Cuisinart ice cream maker and once you make ice cream, like most things, it gets easier and easier and more fun to do as you become less intimidated by the process and more creative.
And if you don’t even want to bother with making the custard, Kim’s No Cook Vanilla from July 2009 is fantastic.
This recipe - however is slightly old school. It does require making a custard. I recommend a nice clover or star thistle honey. Creamed honey would also work nicely but anything darker would be a bit overbearing.
You can easily make this into cinnamon ice cream by replacing the honey with 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Serve it with the Mexican Chocolate Sauce featured a few weeks back.
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Honey of a Honey Ice Cream
It really helps to have a candy thermometer so that you don’t over cook the eggs.
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup honey
In a heavy bottom an heat the cream and milk and bring to almost a boil. In a another bowl whisk together the honey and the eggs. Using a ladel, slowly pour some of the hot milk mixture into the eggs while whisking.
Keep pouring until all the milk is gone and the eggs are "tempered". Return mixture to the pot and cook on moderately low heat until the thermometer reads 110 degrees. Stir constantly and do not allow the mixture to boil, this will cook the eggs. If you don’t have a thermometer then you can tell when the custard is ready when it coats the back of a spoon
At this point, remove from heat and pour the custard into another bowl (If you are nervous about having cooked the eggs, pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve). Allow to cool completely.
You can speed this process up by placing the bowl into a ice water bath and stirring occasioanlly to release some of the heat. I like to refrigerate my custard for a few hours before processing. Usually I make the custard the day before want to have homemade ice cream or at least in the morning.
Process according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Once it comes right out of the ice cream maker, I think it’s perfect to eat. It is also the best consistency for making ice cream cookies, cakes and for filling roulades.
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June 18th, 2010
I bought a bag of Mayan spiced cocoa from Savory Spice Shop a while back. In the winter I enjoy it prepared as hot chocolate. The heat from the chilies makes it especially warming on a cold, blustery day. Its unique blend of chilies, hazelnut powder, vanilla and cinnamon inspired this chocolate sauce.
I served it on on homemade cinnamon ice cream with cinnamon sugar palmiers. The palmiers recipe is from Martha Holmberg’s gem of a book on recipes made with puff pastry entitled Puff. You could also use gingersnaps or cinnamon shortbread cookies.
Mexican Spiced Chocolate Rum Sauce
½ cup unsalted butter, soft
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup Mayan cocoa
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Meyers rum (or any dark rum like Goslings. Captain Morgan’s would work too)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Heat the butter in a sauce pan; add sugar, cocoa cream and salt. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in rum and vanilla.
Serve warm. Refrigerate any leftovers.
June 1st, 2010
We love brownies.
We love making them.
We love buying them at Verbena.
But mostly, we love eating them.
When it comes to desserts, a well-made brownie is the real deal. Rich chocolate flavor in a sweet, buttery dough - It just doesn’t get any better.
Most brownies are easy to prepare and the following recipe definitely falls into that category. I am happy to report that Lollie, the hesitant cook, and her friend have become quite the expert brownie makers.
This is a fabulous recipe to make with children. There are three eggs to crack (All kids love cracking eggs as much as mine do, right?). These brownies are made from 7 pantry items with a bowl and a spoon. Stove-top cooking and electric mixing are not required.
I found this recipe on GoodLife {Eats}, a lovely blog about food and family. Many thanks to flavorista Katie Goodman for this one bowl wonder.
One Bowl Cocoa Brownies, slightly adapted from GoodLife {Eats}
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups good quality cocoa powder
generous pinch of kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup flour
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8×8-inch baking pan. Set aside.
Add butter to a large microwave-safe bowl. Cook on high for 1 minute to melt. Stir in the sugar; then stir in the cocoa and salt until evenly blended.
Whisk eggs and vanilla into the cocoa mixture. Stir in the flour and mix until smooth. Pour batter into a prepared 8×8 pan. Spread batter into an even layer.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan, on a wire rack, for at least 2 hours before slicing. Brownies can be stored on the counter or in the fridge in an air-tight container.
May 26th, 2010
For my first born’s 14th birthday, a super fudge chocolate cake was requested. I decided to try a cake made with vinegar. Vinegar is one of the secret ingredients in Red Velvet cake. It is also used in vegan baking because vinegar reacts with baking soda creating carbon dioxide which causes cakes and cookies to rise.
I can’t say this cake was super tall, but it delivered on super fudge as I layered the cake with milk chocolate ganache and then topped the whole cake off with a fudge frosting. The result was a very rich, moist cake. Since the chocolate, sugar and butter are all melted together, the batter is very loose and pours like a liquid.
For the cake:
2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick of butter (1/4 lb)
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
(At high altitude you need to decrease leavening by 1/3 otherwise the cake gets dry and tough)
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 375 degrees( 350 degrees at high altitude). In a sauce pan melt together the chocolate, sugar and butter and stir well. Allow to cool.
In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients. Pour the milk into a measuring cup and add vinegar and eggs and beat together so the eggs break up.
Once the chocolate is cool to the touch whisk it in the milk mixture. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Now slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry stir well and slowly until the batter is smooth.
Add the vanilla and stir again. Pour into 2 prepared 9-inch round cake pans. Bake until firm and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center - about 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool entirely before removing from the pan and frosting.
Milk Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy cream, heat to almost boiling
9 ounces milk chocolate chips
Pour the heated heavy cream over the chips and stir until all smooth.
Super Easy, Very Kid Friendly, Fudge Frosting
1 lb. powdered sugar, about 3 3/4 cups
1/4 tsp. salt
4 ounces butter, softtened
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
Place the powdered sugar and butter into the bowl of a food processor and process until combined. With the machine running, pour in the milk and vanilla and blend until smooth then add the melted chocolate. Use immediately.
To Assemble: Using a serrated knife, slice each cooled cake in half. You will have a total of four layers.
Place the first layer on a platter and pour some of the ganache on top. With a flat spatula or knife spread it to about 1/8 inch from the edges. Now add next 2 layers and repeat. Add the top, and it should be a smooth top piece from one of the 2 original cakes so that there are no crumbs present.
Spread the fudge frosting across the top and down and around the sides. For best results, allow this cake to sit together from a couple of hours so that the ganache permeates the cake.
Off to have a piece with vanilla ice cream right now!
May 19th, 2010
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