I Blog What I Bake

There are tons of recipes that I want to put up on the blog, but I only have so much time. So, I have decided to do some baking “shorts”.  I’m not really sure what else to call them. “Micro-posts” sounds weird. Anyway, these won’t have a million pictures or stories to go along with them . Just good food.

I adapted this recipe from the Strawberry Bread recipe on My Baking Addiction. The Limoncello glaze was delicious! But if you don’t have, or have never heard of, Limoncello, you can substitute fresh lemon juice or lemonade.

Strawberry Lemonade Bread with Limoncello Glaze
Adapted from My Baking Addiction “Fresh Strawberry Bread”

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon fresh grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, roughly blended

Glaze
4 tablespoons of confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon of Limoncello (or lemon juice or lemonade)

DIRECTIONS

Bread:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
I a medium bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
On the medium speed of an electric mixer beat the sugar and butter together.
Beat in the vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice.
With a wooden spoon or spatial, stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just blending. Add the buttermilk and still only until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
Fold in the strawberries and bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes.  Allow bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Carefully turn it out of the pan and allow to cool completely on a baking rack.

Glaze:

Stir together 4 tablespoons of confectioners sugar with 1 tablespoon of Limoncello. Once bread has cooled completely, pour over the top and spread. If the glaze is to runny add a little more confectioners sugar.

I wasn’t planning on posting this. I had some overripe bananas that I needed to use so decided to make some banana chocolate chip muffins.  There are no elaborate pictures or anecdotes. I made muffins, they were amazing, thought I would share.

Enjoy!

Jumbo Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (makes 6 jumbo muffins)

1 3/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
14 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 over-ripe bananas (mushed)

• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg together in a small bowl, set aside
• In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugars until light and very fluffily. About 3 minutes
• Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture beating well after each addition
• Stir (do not beat) in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk. Only mix until just incorporated
• Fold in the bananas  and chocolate chips
• Scoop batter into a buttered/floured muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes

Sugar and spice and everything nice. That is what I think of when I think of this cake.  It was so sweet and comforting and just plain good!  This recipe has already been on two food blogs that I know of, but I just couldn’t resist making it. The original recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen and Hot Polka Dot featured the cake just over a week ago. I made a couple of super minor adjustments and added the drizzle.  My first attempt at the cake didn’t quite go as planned. I ignored one of my own baking rules. DON’T RUSH. Every time I rush I make mistakes and this was no exception. Let’s just say a tablespoon and a teaspoon of baking powder produce very different results indeed.  So don’t bake rushed, don’t bake distracted and don’t drink and bake. Bad things happen.  Anyway, the second go around worked out perfectly and produced very delicious cakes!

Apple Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, “Mom’s Apple Cake”, www. smittenkitchen.com

6 macintosh apples – peeled, cored and cut thin
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
5 tablespoons of sugar

2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
4 eggs

Cream Cheese Drizzle
Courtesy of My Baking Addiction, www.mybakingaddiction.com

4 oz. of cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

The original recipe called for a tube pan. I don’t have one, so I used two 9 inch cake pans instead. Having two cakes is never a bad thing. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper and butter and flour the pan.

Peel, core and chop up six macintosh apples and place in a mixing bowl.  Stir cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg into the apples and set aside.

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together oil, vanilla, orange juice and zest.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones.  Next, add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated. Note: this dough is thick and sticky!!  (At first I thought I did something wrong.)

Pour half the batter into the pans. Because it’s so sticky you will have to work it to the sides with spatula.  Layer half of the apples on top of the batter. Pour the remaining batter on top and then finish with another layer of apples. Be patient with it.

Bake in a 350 oven for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out of the pan, remove the parchment paper and allow to cool completely on baking racks.

Now for the cream cheese drizzle.

In a medium sized bowl, cream together the cream cheese and the butter. Add the confectioners sugar, alternating with the milk and vanilla and beat until it reaches desired consistency. If it’s too think to drizzle, add more milk. If it’s too watery add more sugar.  I used a squeezy bottle to apply  the drizzle. You can also pipe it with a pastry bag.

Slice it up and enjoy with good cup of coffee!

A few weeks ago I go it in my head to make Key Lime Pie. A friend of mine was searching Manhattan for the pie, so I decided to just go ahead and make one. Simple, right? Um, no. Little did I know that Key Limes are not so easy to come by in Northern New Jersey. But, after a prolonged search and some mild cursing I finally found Mexican Key Limes at Corrado’s Market in Clifton. Thank you Corrado’s for carrying ingredients no one else has. I got really irrationally excited when I found them and bought 3 bags. That’s a lot of limes. SO… I decided to make 3 pies using three different recipes. I’m beginning to think I just like to make things harder on myself than they should be. One is from a native Floridan, one is from Ina Garten (Food Network) and the other is from Epicurious.com. The ingredients are almost exactly the same for each pie, just arranged differently to produce 3 very unique pies. I finally went into pie making mode a couple of weekends ago and here are the results in all their tangy zesty sugary glory.

A lime juicer about to be put through it’s paces. If you don’t own one of these little contraptions, run out and get yourself one. It will save you lots of aggravation. Key Limes are tiny (which I did not know) and I wouldn’t recommend trying to juice these little suckers by hand. The juicer also comes in handy for margaritas. Just sayin’.

Juiced Key Lime graveyard.

These are basically the only ingredients you will ever need to make any Key Lime pie. Sweetened condensed milk, key limes, key lime juice and eggs.

Key Lime zest. The best part.

And now for the 3 recipes….

I used the same graham cracker crust recipe for each pie since they didn’t vary enough to make 3 differnent ones.

Graham Cracker Crust

10 graham crackers

3/4 stick of melted butter

1/4 cup of sugar

In a food processor, process the crackers until the are fine. Add sugar and pulse. Slowly add melted butter. Process until well combined. Press evenly into either glass pie plate or springform pan (see recipes).  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before adding filling.

Mr. K’s Key Lime Pie

1 Graham Cracker Crust in glass or foil pie plate

4 egg yolks

3 oz. fresh squeezed key lime juice

1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

3 heaping spoonfuls of Cool Whip

Combine egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk. Mix well using hand held beaters. Slowly add lime juice. Mix well. Add Cool Whip. Mix well. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow pie to cool on the counter for an additional 20 minutes. Place pie in fridge for 4-8 hours to cool completely. Can be made a day in advance.

Epicurious.com Key Lime Pie (slightly altered from their original recipe)

1 prepared graham cracker crust in pie plate

1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice

1 tablespoon fresh key lime zest

Whisk together condensed milk and yolks in a bowl until well combined. Add juice and whisk until well combined (mixture will thicken slightly). Pour filling into crust and bake in oven for 15 minutes. Cool pie on rack (filling will cool as it sets), then chill, covered, for a least 8 hours.

Topping: Beat cold heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.

Ina Garten Frozen Key Lime Pie

6 extra large egg yolks

1/4 cup of sugar

1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed sugar

2 tablespoons fresh grated lime zest

3/4 cup of freshly squeezed key lime juice

For decoration:

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Beat egg yolks and sugar on high speed with electric mixer for 5 minutes until thick. On medium speek, beat in the condensed milk, lime zest and lime juice. Pour into prepared crust, in a SPRINGFORM pan and freeze for about 8 hours.

For decoration, beat the heavy cream on high speed of electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until firm. Spoon, spread or pipe onto the pie. Garnish with lime wedges.

And there you have it. Three Key Lime Pie recipes for the testing. Slice up and enjoy!

Oh… and this happened on my way to deliver some of these pies. They are now fondly known as the Pies of Mass Destruction.

Sometimes it’s better when things just don’t go according to plan.

I had no intention of making cookies. As many of you know, I have been trying to make Key Lime pies for about 3 weeks now. But since key limes are nearly impossible to find in New Jersey, I had to let the pies go for a little while for the sake of just baking SOMETHING. I was beginning to go into withdrawal.  So I began to look though my baking cabinet and started randomly pulling out items. There was a container of dried cherries I had  mistakenly purchased awhile back thinking they were cranberries, a bag of white chocolate chips that I had been neglecting and several containers of oatmeal.  Voila! Cookies.

I have to admit, these turned out to be some of the best cookies I have ever made. They were wonderfully chewy and rich. Maybe it’s because I thought the nutmeg was cinnamon and put way more in than usual or maybe it’s because the unexpected just tastes better. Whatever the case may be, enjoy!

RECIPE

White Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 white granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons of half & half

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups oats

1  12oz bag white chocolate chips

1 10oz container of dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat brown sugar, butter and white sugar in large bowl until creamy. About 3-4 minutes depending on the softness of the butter. Next, beat in the eggs, half & half and vanilla extract until well combined.

In a separate small bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt cinnamon and nutmeg.

Using a wooden spoon, gradually stir flour mixture into the butter mixture until well combined.

Add oats, white chocolate chips and dried cherries. Mix together until these are pretty evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Roll tablespoon sized portions of the cookie dough and drop them onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for approximately 11 minutes. Keep on eye on them. I like to undercook mine just a touch so they stay nice a chewy.

And there you have it!   Oh, and I found key limes 2 days ago. The pies will finally be made this weekend.

Have you ever been in one of those relationships where, no matter how bad it was, you kept going back because you thought “just one more time and it will work”?  Well, that is how I felt about baking Irish Soda Bread.  We had a tumultuous relationship that, no matter how many times we tried, always ended in heartbreak and failure. Prior to my latest attempt, I had killed four innocent soda breads. They were undercooked, overcooked, had a peculiar taste or funny texture.  With so few ingredients, this should have been easy and I am sure the experienced bakers out there are reading this bewildered by my failure. So…

It was with much trepidation that I went into attempt number FIVE (I am convinced that this dough smells fear). Attempt number four had just been thrown out and I didn’t think I had another one in me. (I don’t recommend trying the same for relationships. You can’t throw those in the trash as easily or feed them to your dog.)  My success can be completely accredited to the recipe I used. Leave it to Ina Garten to have an idiot proof recipe for Irish Soda Bread.  And here it is, my first successful Irish Soda Bread!

Ingredients

• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (plus a bit extra for the raisins and board)
• 4 tablespoons white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional)
• 1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking soda, sugar and salt in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Give it a quick stir on the lowest speed.

Add the cold diced butter and on a low speed stir until the butter is mixed into the flour and resembles peas. You also cut the butter in  using a pastry blender or two butter knives.

In a measuring cup combine the buttermilk and egg and give a quick whisk.

With the mixer on low, slowly pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture. Beat on low until well combined and the dough is clearly formed.

Add just a touch of flour to coat the raisins (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the dough) and stir them into the dough.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife

Bake for 45-55 minutes at 375 degrees or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound. Let it cool for a few moments, slice and serve!

Thank you all for reading!  Have a Happy St. Patty’s Day!!!

There are just some baked goods that will always say “home”.  Apple pie. Chocolate chip cookies.  For me, banana bread is one of them.You aren’t going to find banana bread on many restaurant dessert menus. It is a home food and since my brother and his lovely wife were coming for a visit this week, I decided to greet them with a fresh baked banana bread.

I wanted to make this bread a little more special than usual. I started with my Mom’s recipe, added cinnamon, nutmeg and gave it a crumb topping that I then drizzled with a vanilla glaze. The bread did not last very long! I think Geraldine ate most of the crumb top.

CRUMBLY TOPPED BANANA BREAD

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup of unsalted butter (softened)
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 overly ripened bananas
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

CRUMBLE TOP
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter

DRIZZLE
4 tablespoons of confectioners sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon of water
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Let me just say, you must use overly ripe bananas. Perky bright yellow bananas will not do. With a squeeze of fresh lemon juice mash the two bananas together in a bowl. Set aside.

Line a bread pan with parchment paper and butter and flour the pan. I use a nonstick pan and I still do this step. (I have a fear of stuck breads, cakes etc.)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Set aside

Place the butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl and beat on medium-low speed until creamy and well combined. With a wooden spoon, stir (do not beat) the flour mixture into the butter mixture in three batches alternating with the milk. Careful not to over-stir!

Fold the mashed bananas into the batter. Pour into prepared pan.

For the crumble top, combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter, two forks or you hands cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles a course meal. Stir in the oatmeal.

Generously top the battter with this mixture. You don’t have to use all of it if you don’t want. I like a nice thick crumble top so I used the whole mixture.

Bake the bread for 50 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees.  You house will start to smell delicious! Allow bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Turn the bread out of the pan and let completely cool on wire baking rack. About 40 minutes.

To make the drizzle combine the confectioners sugar with a water and vanilla. Stir together until
drizzling consistency (if too thick add a little more water) and zig-zag the drizzle over the top of the cooled bread.

You can slice and serve the bread, or give it as a gift like I did.  I have learned that people love gifts they can eat and there really is just something special about giving yummy homemade treats.

As always, thanks for reading and check back often!

Typically, popping open a can of Pillsbury is what constituted making fluffy buttery biscuits. This was a big deal for me because I am pretty much dead against anything from a box, jar or can when it comes to baked goods (I’m such a food snob, I know). I have always wanted to make my own, but I have a bit of a dough phobia.  I’m not really sure why, since I have never had any real dough catastrophes. (Okay, well maybe there was an unfortunate incident with some Irish Soda Bread.) Every recipe that calls for making my own dough is met with apprehension.  Then recently, on yet another snowy day, I bit the bullet and made the biscuits.

An old aquaintence of mine has a wonderful food blog called Clean Green Cuisine and it was on this site that I found, what turned out to be, the best buttermilk biscuit recipe.  I have two versions of the biscuits to share today. The first is exactly the way Gretchen made them and the second is with the addition of  cheddar cheese and chives for a more savory biscuit.

Before I get into the recipe there are two things you must not do when making these. One, do not use a food processor to cut in the butter and shortening.  Two, do not use a rolling pin to flatten the dough.  Hand flatten only. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Best Buttermilk Biscuits
Adapted from Martha Stewart & Clean Green Cuisine
makes 12
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface and biscuit cutter
1 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing tops
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated, trans fat free vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

For Cheddar Chive Buttermilk Biscuits add 3/4 cups of cheddar cheese and 2 tablespoons of finely chopped chives

Preheat oven to 400º

Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Sift again.

Using a pastry cutter or 2 forks, cut butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Make a well in center, and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough just holds together. For the Cheddar Chive biscuits, add the cheddar and chopped chives at this stage and gently work into the dough.

Turn dough onto a well floured work surface, and knead into itself 3 or 4 times. Pat dough into 1″ disc. Using a well floured 3″ biscuit cutter(I don’t have a biscuit cutter so I used a cookie cutter…not the best thing, but it got the job done), cut round from dough. Place rounds 2″ apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Gather scraps, pat back into disc, and continue cutting rounds until all dough is used. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter.

Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 15 – 18 minutes. Serve warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze.

Following Gretchen’s lead, I filled the plain buttermilk biscuit with a fried egg, Gruyere and tomato. And since I am a carnivorous creature, I also added a nice slice of crispy pancetta. This was one  hell of a breakfast. It was the perfect thing to eat before shoveling lots of snow.

The cheddar chive biscuits I just ate with a little bit of butter and the were DELICIOUS!

Thanks for stopping by my site!  Be sure to stop by Gretchen’s site Clean Green Cuisine to check out what she’s cooking!  I’ll be back to sugary sweet goodness next time. Maybe a cheesecake…