cornmeal-lime cookies

I’m a citrus junkie, so I loved these!  No one else wanted anything to do with them, so that meant more for me!  What an original cookie idea.  They were thick and cakey and the glaze was nice and sweet.  I’d love to make them again, but probably won’t because everyone else thought they were weird.

cornmeal-lime cookies, from Flour, Pg 118

Lemon-Raspberry Cake

This may have taken all day to make, required two trips to the grocery store (with 3 children in tow… not an easy or simple feat), and caused undo stress trying to keep my middle child from poking holes in the entire thing as he tried to eat the icing as I was decorating it… but it was worth it.

The cake itself was a little heavy: I whipped the egg whites in the stand mixer, as the directions instructed, and about 10 minutes later I called it a day.  I should have used the hand mixer.  But it was still delicious, and the icing was amazing.

If you do make this? Make sure you have enough eggs on hand.  It requires a full 14.  You can knock out some by using store-bought lemon curd, but the homemade lemon curd was so rich and delicious and not at all hard to make, so I do recommend making it.

Happy birthday to B, the most wonderful husband ever!

Lemon-Raspberry Cake, from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe, by Joanne Chang.  Pg 172

banana donuts

My trusty donut maker, which is basically a waffle iron that makes donuts, is always handy when I want a quick junk food snack.  And I had some near-gone bananas, so I was quite happy to see this recipe in the recipe pamphlet that accompanied donut maker.

These were every bit as good as they looked.  The banana was an interesting flavor for a donut, but it worked very well.  I decided it needed a little extra oomph, so I coated them with some melted chocolate chips.

Banana Donuts, from the Russell Hobbs Donut Bites “Instructions and Warranty” booklet.  Pg. 12.

Buttermilk Biscuits

A good, solid buttermilk biscuit recipe, with nice fluffy and flaky results.  You may have noticed that I have a thing for biscuits, and am constantly looking for the perfect recipe.  My mother has a whole cookbook about biscuits, and I think I need to steal it next time I visit her!

This is just a basic buttermilk biscuit recipe, but really what more do you need?  I’ve made it before and I’ll definitely be making it again.  It’s a very good recipe indeed.

Buttermilk Biscuits, from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.  Pg 32

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Maybe shortening is the answer.

First off, let me say that the dough for these cookies was amazing.  What a strange thing to review, but I could.not.stop.nibbling at it.  It was like eating a ball of chewy butter and brown sugar.  But when baked: eh.  I’m someome who firmly believes that oatmeal raisin cookies should be as chewy as humanly possible.  But all the butter in these made them sorta crispy.

Which is fine if you like crispy oatmeal raisin cookies.  I just don’t particularly.

I feel bad giving this recipe a “meh,” because this is still my very favorite baking cookbook in the universe, and it feels traitorous to say something even a little bit negative, considering that I want to have babies with this cookbook.  But I gotta be honest.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe, by Joanne Chang.  Pg 112

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

B was apparently somewhat disatisfied with the last batch of chocolate chip cookies that I made, and wanted something softer.  So we looked through all of my baking cookbooks, and this recipe seemed the best choice for super-moist chocolate chip cookies.

They were definitely lighter and fluffier than the toll house type. Basically the same recipe (really, how different could it be?) but they upped the brown sugar and downed the granulated.  It still wasn’t quite soft enough for B… he doesn’t seem to want to believe me when I tell him that we’re going to have to use shortening if he wants the kind of cookie you buy at the store!

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Martha Stewart’s Cookies.  Pg 58.

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia

I’ve made this recipe before, and it’s turned out MUCH better.  I was not satisfied with this.  The picture’s not great, either.  I think the issue is that I just grabbed a random packet of yeast from the fridge, and I think I got the “Old Fashioned” kind, and the recipe called for the “Rapid Rise” kind.  Because it didn’t really rise all that well.

I love this recipe because it’s so incredibly super simple, but tastes very good and goes with anything you want bread for.  I had it tonight with cauliflower soup, and I’ll probably have it as a snack tomorrow dipped in a little bit of fancy dipping oil.

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia, from Nicola Graimes’ The Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook.  Pg. 504

Shaker Lemon Pie

The only America’s Test Kitchen recipe that’s been a total dud!  It was my fault, but I think the instructions should have been more clear.  It said to slice the lemons thinly, but did not elaborate on what “thinly” meant.  I totally missed the mark, and think I cut them thickly.

When you pick out the giant chunks of lemons, what’s left is pretty good.  Basically, it’s a crust with some lemon cream.  The lemon cream is very good, and I bet a pie full of it would have been excellent.

Shaker Lemon Pie, from Cook’s Country Best Country Recipes: Every Recipe, Testing, and Tasting from the Third Season of Cook’s County from America’s Test Kitchen.  Pg. 2.

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

What can you really say about Toll House chocolate chip cookies?  If you’ve never had them, you’re probably not from the United States.  They’re the simplest and best chocolate chip recipe out there: even Joanne Chang says so in her Flour cookbook!  They turned out as they always do: just the right amount of chewy inside, with just the right amount of crunchy edges, and tasting delicious.

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, from the back of the bag of Toll House brand chocolate chips.

Cornmeal Biscuits

After my sort of “meh” cornmeal biscuits last week (which did have potential… they just weren’t quite there) I wanted to give this recipe a go.  After all, has a Cook’s Country/Cook’s Illustrated recipe ever failed anyone?  I think not.  And, not surprisingly, this recipe was everything a cornmeal muffin should be.  Light and flaky, but also with a satisfying crunch when you bite into it, and the somewhat gritty texture you’d want from a corn muffin.  “Gritty” may not sound like the greatest praise for your baked goods, but I really liked the texture.  The grit worked, if you will.

This is definitely a recipe to make again.  I’d like to combine it with the Ken Haedrich recipe I used last week: a bit of parmesan and dried basil mixed in, caramelized onions on top.  In the words of Bibs: “yuh-um.  Dee-lish!”

Cornmeal Biscuits, from Cook’s Country Best Country Recipes: Every Recipe Testing, and Tasting from the Third Season of Cook’s Country from America’s Test Kitchen, Pg 62

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes

When my mother was visiting, she came home from the bookstore with this issue of Cooks Country, and I sent her back to buy me a copy.  Largely for this recipe.  Make your own Hostess cupcakes?  How could anyone resist?

They are AMAZING.  The cupcakes are ridiculously light and airy, barely anything at all.  And the cream filling is a mixture of marshmallow fluff and butter and gelatin and water and vanilla, so it has a light and fluffy texture, too.  There’s also a chocolate icing made from bittersweet chocolate chips, which adds a bit of not-quite-so-sweet contrast.

They were also a lot less labor intensive than they looked.  You just cut off the top of the cupcakes, and then I used a melon baller to empty out the cupcakes a bit.  The icing on top covers the seam, and then if you want to be super fancy you pipe the swirls across the top.  I found that a rubber-coated baby spoon was the best icing spreader: two spoonfuls of icing, and then it was just the right size to very neatly push the icing to the edge of each cupcake.  I probably should have used a smaller icing bag tip for prettier curls, but that’s overthinking.

Awesome recipe, and they look really impressive.  This would be fun to make for a children’s party.

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes, from Cook’s Country Best Country Recipes: Every Recipe Testing, and Tasting from the Third Season of Cook’s Country from America’s Test Kitchen, pg 24.

onion-flecked parmesan biscuits

“What does onion-flecked even mean?” B asked when I told him the name of this recipe.  Um, topped with apparently?

I liked the idea of these, but they weren’t quite there.  They needed more lift.  As you can see in the photo, they’re pretty flat.  They have some cornmeal, which gives them an interesting texture, but they need to be a bit lighter.  I did like the flavor: the parmesan, dried basil, and cornmeal gives them a rich and unique flavor.  I’d like to try experimenting with the ingredients and a slightly different biscuit recipe: maybe a simple buttermilk one.  The last Cook’s Country has a cornmeal biscuit: maybe that would be worth tweaking.

It didn’t help that we had them with my disastrous egg drop soup, and that we had had a huge, rich pancake lunch two hours earlier, but no-one really ate these.  We had a snow day today, so our eating schedule was way off: a late breakfast, due to the power cut, then 2nd breakfast at 10:30ish, then pancake lunch at 3ish, and I couldn’t put the kids to bed without any dinner, so we had soup and biscuits and cupcakes for dessert at about 5:30.

Onion-Flecked Parmesan Biscuits.  From Ken Haedrich’s Country Baking: Simple Home Baking with Wholesome Grains and the Pick of the Harvest.  Pg 31.

Cheddar Drop Biscuits

As much as it feels like there shouldn’t be such a thing, these were too cheesy.  Yes, I used normal, real cheddar, but it was just all too much.  Too rich, too oily, too gooey.  Which is a shame, because I love cheddar biscuits, and I love all of the recipes in this book that I’ve tried.  But I would not make these again.

Cheddar drop biscuits, from Williams Sonoma Bread.  Pg 53.

Apple pie in orange custard

I’m sorry, but there was no way to make this pie look attractive for a photograph.  It looked a bit better in the photos I took of the pie as a whole, but I wanted to show what it looks like all the way through: a mess of tart apples and sweet, delicate custard.  That’s what I like about Ken Haedrich’s recipes: they’re all about taste and simplicity and just mixing up some plain, boring ingredients into something that could never be called elegant, but will always be delicious.*  I’m actually surprised this is the first of his recipes that have made it into this blog, as he’s one of my favorite cookbook authors and I use several of his baking cookbooks all the time.

I wanted an apple pie, but I wanted something different.  And this fit the bill perfectly.  You prebake the crust, saute the apples in some butter and sugar before putting them in the crust, then pour the custard over the apples, and bake.  The result is something I’ve never really had before: a crunchy custard pie.  Who would have thought to create such a thing?  The custard tastes delicately of orange, which is a nice mix with the apples.

Overall, great recipe.  There were more steps than your average apple pie, but none were particularly complicated or time consuming.

*ETA: Some of his recipes actually are pretty elegant.  But I always make the simple ones, because they’re the ones that call for the ingredients I have on hand.

Apple pie in orange custard, from Ken Haedrich’s Simple Desserts: Sweet Endings with a Carefree Spirit.  Pg 118.

Banana-Nut Bread

I think two loaves of banana bread in as many weeks should be taken as a sign that my kids ae slowing down their tremendous banana consumption.  We didn’t have enough eggs for the Flour recipe I made last week, so I went for this recipe.

It’s okay.  Not great.  Passable.  A little bit dry, and the flavor is too subtle.  It’s not bad… it’s just not great.

Banana-Nut Bread, from  Williams-Sonoma’s Bread.  Pg 80.

Sweet Potato Maple Muffins

We never got around to making our fancy Christmas dinner, and so began the rush to use some of the ingredients I had bought.  This recipe happened to flip open while I was looking for something interesting to do with brussels sprouts, and it looked intriguing.

And it was absolutely delicious.  Not as rich as the pumpkin muffins I made from the Flour cookbook last week, but also a tad bit healthier so it was a tradeoff I accept.  The tops were deliciously chewy, and the interior nice and soft.  None of the flavors were too overpowering, but they melded together nicely.

Sweet Potato Maple Muffins.  Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, The New Basics Cookbook.  Pg 628.

Sticky Sticky Buns

The reason I wanted this cookbook, and the reason behind at least one trip ostensibly to the Boston Children’s Museum, which just happens to be around the corner.  I started making these last week, but didn’t realize they were supposed to rise in the refrigerator overnight.  So into the freezer they went, and back out last night to rise again.

B proclaimed them even better than the real thing.  I think he may have been right, as we had them straight out of the oven and they were very moist and fresh and amazing.

Sticky Sticky Buns, Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery and Cafe, by Joanne Chang.  pg 84.

old fashioned white bread

After my ill fated loaf of whole wheat bread last week, I went out and bought some fresh yeast.  And oh what a difference it makes!  Alas, I was out of while wheat flour, so I made white bread.

It came out really, really good.  Which is somewhat surprising, considering how badly I messed up the recipe!  I think I added extra flour: a lot of extra flour.  At least a cup and a half.  So then when I went to kneed it in the mixer, it didn’t form a ball.  It looked kinda like pie dough before you add water.  So then I had to pour in more milk.  Lots and lots of more milk.  And then it was too big for my mixer, which I think is dying.  Which is bullshit, because it’s a nice mixer and only 5 years old.

But, miraculously, the bread came out excellently.  I went out this evening and when I came home, B had eaten about 1/2 the loaf.  If I didn’t feel like I should make whole wheat bread when I go through all the trouble of making bread, I’d make this recipe all the time.  Next time I’ll work on giving it a slightly better shape.  LOL, I’m not sure exactly what went wrong there…

Old-Fashioned White Bread, from Williams Sonoma’s Bread.  Pg 10.

Pumpkin muffins with(out) candied pepitas

After waking up at 4 and being unable to fall back asleep, and then discovering that my brioche dough needed 6 hours in the fridge before I could use it, I needed something else to make for breakfast.  I settled on this intriguing pumpkin muffin recipe, despite not having any pumpkin seeds to candy and sprinkle on top.

The recipe made way more than the 12 muffins claimed: and, yes, I filled the dough to the top.  And what muffins they were.  Another hit from the Flour cookbook.  They were amazingly moist on the inside, and the top was downright chewy.  I guess this is what two sticks of butter and four eggs does to your muffins.  When I spread a little bit of butter on a warm one, it was actually too rich… I preferred them butterless when they were straight out of the oven.  They were delicious with cream cheese when cold.

I’d definitely, definitely make these again.

Between the brioche dough, these, and the scrambled eggs I made for the kids, I had used 14 eggs by 7am this morning.  Yikes.  The brioche dough is in the freezer waiting for Christmas Eve breakfast.

Pumpkin muffins with candied pepitas, from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe, by Joanne Chang.  Pg 56

Flour’s Famous Banana Bread

Some forgotten bananas led to this recipe, and I’ve never been so thankful for forgotten bananas.  This was, bar none, the most amazing thing I’ve eaten recently.  It’s ridiculously moist, and has a really deep flavor.  I’d make it again, and again, and again.

Flour’s Famous Banana Bread.  Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe, by Joanne Chang.  Pg 66

Hurry-Up Cake

A cake recipe from World War II, reprinted in the most useful cookbook in the world, this is my go-to recipe when I have leftover egg whites from another recipe.  Which just so happened to be the case, since the pineapple upside down cake called for 3 egg yolks, and this recipe calls for 3 egg whites.

This cake doesn’t have a lot of flavor, but it’s so light and fluffy that I think the texture makes up for it.  I’ve heard complaints from others who have tasted it that it’s bland, but I like bland!

The frosting was a buttercream recipe that came on the back of the powdered sugar bag.  I made it too liquidy so it looks a bit gross.  And it’s a bit too sweet for my tastes.  But, a cake needs frosting and so it goes.

Hurry-Up Cake, from Square Meals, by Jane and Michael Stern.  Pg 230.

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Though it was a bit more labor intensive than my usual pineapple upside down cake, I was eager to try it.  So far, it’s the only slightly less than stellar recipe from my Flour cookbook.

It may have been my fault… perhaps I set the oven wrong.  But I don’t think I did.  And the cake was definitely over-cooked.  I would lower the temperature to give it a nice, slower bake.

Interestingly enough, the cake was much better on the 2nd day.  Next time I’ll make it a day ahead, and cook it slightly less.

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe.  Pg 189

snickerdoodles

Another 3 dozen cookies for my cookie swap… this recipe made 3 dozen+2.  And, another pseudo-family recipe.

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Beat butter and sugar, add eggs.  Add the dry ingredients.  Chill for 20 minutes.  Roll into balls the size of a walnut, and then roll in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Flatten a bit with the bottom of a glass.  Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

thumbprint cookies

I made these for a cookie swap I’m going to tonight.  The recipe was small: I needed to bring 3 dozen cookies, and I tripled the recipe and only had 8 extras.  But they are so, so good.

It’s an old family recipe* which I’m happy to provide here.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• ground walnuts
• raspberry jam

Mix the butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla in an electric mixer until yellow and fluffy.  Add the flour.  Refrigerate the dough for at least 1/2 an hour.  Roll into balls, dip in the egg white, then in the nuts, then put on the cookie sheet and poke a hole in the center.  Put in a spoonful of raspberry jam.  Bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

*Okay, it’s from some 1970’s Better Homes and Gardens or someplace like that.  But it’s become an old family recipe since then.

reindeer cake balls

So, apparently, I shouldn’t quit my day job and become a cake ball decorator.

But, it was sort of fun to make.  Okay, not really.  And probably not worth the payoff.  Nah, it was fun.

I’m obviously deeply conflicted here.  How the hell are you supposed to make the candy coating smooth?  I really truly don’t understand.  These look nothing like the pictures!

Oh well, the kids loved them.   And they grew on me.  They actually didn’t taste half bad.

Reindeer Cake Balls, from Bakerella’s blog, here: http://www.bakerella.com/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-christmas/