I Blog What I Bake

I realize there have been many “Baking Shorts” lately and not too many full posts. Things have been a bit hectic. But I will get back to doing full instructional posts with lots of pictures soon.  For now, the shorts will be it.  It’s okay though, there is not much to say about these cookies other than that they are awesome chocolatey, espresso-y (yeah, I am making up adjectives now) goodness. Enjoy!

Cappuccino Cookies

6 ounces of good quality semisweet chocolate chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of dark chocolate cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of instant espresso plus on tablespoon hot water
1/2 cup confectioners sugar for rolling

In a double boiler melt together the chocolate and the butter, whisking frequently. Combine the espresso and hot water together until the espresso is dissolved and add to the chocolate and butter. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl combine the cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and flour.

In a large bowl beat together the eggs and the butter. Add the vanilla. After the chocolate mixture has slightly cooled, beat into the butter and egg mixture.  Slowly stir in dry ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours or until the batter is stiff.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop out tablespoon sized balls and roll in confectioners sugar. Place on baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper and bake for approximately 10 minutes.

Printable Recipe: Cappuccino Cookies

Earlier this week I was commissioned  to bake 3 dozen tie-dyed cupcakes for a middle school event. I wasn’t sure if I would blog this, but they turned out so cute and so many of you asked about them I decided to put them up. Having never made a tie-dyed pastry of any sort, figuring out how to do this was a challenge and really fun!

I just got the last of the green food coloring off my skin today.

How to assemble the cupcakes:

• Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners
• Make your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe. (I use Magnolia Bakery’s)
• Separate the batter into 3 bowls
• Add red dye to one bowl, green to one bowl and yellow to the last bowl
• Add one spoonful of each color to each cupcake liner
• Swirl design in using a toothpick or wooden kitchen skewer
• Bake according you your chosen cupcake recipe
• Allow to cool in cupcake pan for 10 minutes, turn out and let cool completely on wire rack

Frosting:

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4-6 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon of whole milk
• Food coloring (whichever color you prefer)
• Beat the butter on the medium speed of an electric mixer until smooth
• Add the sugar alternating with the milk and vanilla
• Add the food coloring of your choice
• Beat until it reaches a spreading consistency

Happy little cupcake army.

One of the best bits of summertime is all of the fresh fruit and not only it’s availability, but it’s cost! I can finally buy a pint of raspberries for under $4.  Yay!

I love raspberries. They are one of my favorite fruits and one of the few raw fruits that my husband is not horribly allergic to.  That being said, I try to get these little berries into as many recipes as I can. This is the first time I tried putting them into cupcakes. Truth be told, they did not turn out as expected in the first go around. I over-beat the batter and turned them into raspberry muffins. Tasty? Yes. Cupcakes? No.  So, a word to the wise, DO NOT put the raspberries into the batter whole. Chop half, puree half and then FOLD them into the batter.

I made two options for the topping to go on these cupcakes because I couldn’t decided which I wanted to use, so I used both. The first is a raspberry cream cheese frosting, the second is chocolate ganache topped with a whole raspberry. One note, if you do the ganache it is best to serve them fairly soon after adding the ganache. I like my ganache a little more liquid than set.

Raspberry Cupcakes Recipe
Basic Vanilla Cupcake Recipe from “Magnolia Bakery”.

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint fresh raspberries

Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 pint fresh raspberries

Chocolate Ganache

8oz semisweet or bittersweet chocoloate
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unslated butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins with cupcake papers.  In a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside.

Chop one half of the raspberries. Set aside. Puree, or just mush with a fork, the remaining raspberries. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of hand held mixer, cream the butter until it’s smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. About 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over-beat! (unless you want muffins)

Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Fold the chopped and pureed raspberries into the batter

Carefully spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling them about 3 quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before removing them and placing them on a baking rack to cool completely.

Now, for the cream cheese frosting.

Cream together the cream cheese and the butter. Slowly beat in the confectioners sugar one cup at at time. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Add 1 pint of raspberries and beat until incorporated. Spread, or pipe, over cooled cupcakes.

For the chocolate ganache…

Place chopped chocolate into a heat resistant bowl. Set aside.  Heat cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream mixture over the chopped chocolate. Allow it to stand for about 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Gently spoon ganache over cooled cupcakes and top with a fresh raspberry.

Enjoy!!

This just was released and I thought I would share for those of you who love food blogs. The text below is copied directly from the 55 Knives page.

“The 55 Knives book is a collaborative project from some of the web’s top food bloggers in a simple, easy to download format.  The authors included in the project were picked not only because of their expertise in the kitchen but also because of their ability to write well about food.

Each of the 55 bloggers will have a chapter where they will present one or two of their favorite recipes.  Some recipes will be simple and some might be more complicated (Individual Beef Wellingtons!).  Don’t worry though, the complicated recipes will have crystal clear instructions.

In addition to the recipes, each chapter will have a story explaining why that recipe is important to that author.  Some of the recipes have been in families for generations and some are newly created.  I think you’ll find the stories to be touching, funny, sincere, and above all else, entertaining!”

55 Knives is available for sale !

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

Aimez-vous le champagne ? Aimez-vous le chocolat ? If so, this is your cupcake baby. Rich dark chocolate cake and light fluffy frosting both spiked with champagne transform an ordinary cupcake into a dessert that is simultaneously indulgent and playful.

The inspiration for the recipe came from a few places. I had seen a few Champagne Cakes and was curious, my friend Leo suggested that I make the cupcakes dark chocolate and the base of the frosting recipe came from Give Me Some Oven. I also played with some decorative frosting . I usually don’t get along well with pastry bags, I need lessons, but I think these turned out pretty well and I didn’t make too much of a mess! Which is surprising, because by the time I got around to frosting the cupcakes I had helped myself to a bit of the champagne. I know, I broke one of my own rules. Don’t drink and bake.  I avoided disaster this time.

My fear was that, once complete, these wouldn’t taste anything like champagne. Admittedly, the cupcakes did not really taste like champagne, but the addition of the champagne made them incredibly light and moist.  The real champagne flavor came in the icing. It has the perfect little punch. SO good. On that note… onto the recipe.

Dark Chocolate Champagne Cupcakes

2 cups white granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened dark cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup champagne (I used a semi-sweet champagne, not brut)

Pink Champagne Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
7 tablespoons of champagne
2 drops pink food coloring
Sugar crystals for decoration (because champagne sparkles!)

Assemble your ingredients, pour yourself a glass of champagne and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. What?

Line two cupcake pans with the liners of your choice. I was feeling playful when I made these, so I used black liners with gold swirls. Seemed appropriate. You can buy all kinds of decorative cupcake liners. Looking for an online shop? Go to Bake It Pretty. Fun stuff… some is a little to cutesy for me, but overall they have creative choices.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a lage bowl.

Add the eggs, vanilla, oil and milk and beat until well combined on the medium speed of an electric mixer. Add champagne. Beat on low until completely combined. Next, using a wooden spoon, STIR the boiling water into the batter.  Carefully fill each cupcake liner with the batter. Use just under a 1/4 cup per cupcake. Anything more will produce a mess and your cupcakes will overflow the rim when they bake. Don’t ask how I know this.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes. Carefully pluck each cupcake out of the pan and place them on a baking rack to cool completely.

For the frosting cream together the sugar, butter. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in each tablespoon of champagne one at at at time. Add the two drops of food coloring and beat until the color is even.

You can either frost the cupcakes the old fashioned way, with a knife or small offset spatula, or you can get fancy and do any array of pipping.  Once frosted sprinkle the crystalized sugar over the top.

Last but not least, grab your glass of champagne and enjoy!!

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.

Generally speaking, the only place I like peanut butter is on a PBJ sandwich. I have never been a fan of peanut butter cookies, any kind of baked peanut butter or things flavored with peanut butter. I think a peanut butter flavored jelly bean was quite possibly one of the worst things I ever ate.  That said, making a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie seemed a bit masochistic.  But since I like  to do things that don’t  make sense, I decided to try and make a peanut butter cookie that I would like.  I do love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, so I set out to make a cookie that would taste as much like that as possible.

In the end they turned out great and tasted quite a bit like a Reese’s Cup.  Word of advice, have milk handy…these cookies are rich!

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Makes approximately 30 cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups milk chocolate or semisweet chips
1 11oz bag Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In one bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. If you don’t have a sifter whisk them together. In a separate large bowl beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Using a wooden, spoon stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture in three parts.

Next, stir in the peanut butter until it is well incorporated.

Add both the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.

Roll tablespoon sized balls of dough and place them on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly. I like to use a Silpat for all of my cookies because NOTHING ever sticks and the cookies seem to cook more evenly.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!

Thanks everyone for reading! My posts may be a little less frequent going forward. I have rejoined the work world of 9-5 and won’t have as much time to spend in the kitchen.  I will try to post once a week!

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!