My Ideal Fruitcake

I love fruitcake, when it's done well. But frankly, I'm not a fan of loads of spices and candied things in my fruitcake, or any at all for that matter. Between the alcohol, the dried fruit, and the citrus zest, fruitcakes have a lot going on in the flavor department without the addition of cloying spices like cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.

So when I decided to consult some recipes and develop my own fruitcake, I wanted to leave out the spices and accent the fruit angle. With that said, you won't find candied cherries or candied peel in this recipe. You may as well use Skittles and Starbursts if you go that route. What you will find is over 2lbs of fruit, bourbon, and lemon and orange zest. You will find a moist cake with a complex, fruity flavor. You will find my ideal fruitcake.



Fruitcake
yield: one bad ass fruitcake

6 oz calimyrna figs (about 8)
4 - 5 oz dates
8 oz apricots
6 oz currants
8oz raisins

1 cup good bourbon (I prefer Knob Creek or Woodford Reserve, but Maker's can work in a pinch)

Note: Don't go insane about the amounts. Eyeball it. 6 oz of figs is one package. Raisins come in 12oz boxes so use roughly 2/3 of the box.

First thing's first: chop the figs, dates, and apricots so that they're roughly the same size and a little bit larger than the raisins. Pour the bourbon over and stir the fruit so that it's all coated. Let this mixture macerate in the refrigerator overnight or longer if you can. Let the fruit come back to life a little bit. A quick zap in the microwave (5 minutes, stirring every minute or so) can speed this process up as well.



1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
zest of 2 medium lemons
zest of 2 medium to large oranges
4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 9-inch bundt cake pan. Sift together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Bring out the macerating fruit. I let mine go for about 24 hours and there wasn't enough liquid to worry about draining off.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and the zests. Beat the eggs in one at a time until fully incorporated. Gradually add in the dry ingredients mixing until just combined. Fold in the fruit. Pour into bundt pan, smoothing the top. The cake pan will be quite full. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 - 20 minutes.

Using toothpicks or skewers, poke holes in the cake, and brush the bottom with extra bourbon. Let it sit until the bourbon is absorbed. Invert onto a plate or cake carrier. Brush with more bourbon now that the cake is right-side up. Wrap in a bourbon-soaked cheesecloth, then in plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container adding bourbon to keep the cheesecloth moist as needed. Let it sit for two days at least.

Apple Pie (the drink) and Cookie Mega Post

A couple months ago, I started at my new job as the Phonathon Coordinator at the University of Kentucky, and I'm loving it! I get to interact with students on a regular basis, but I also go to meetings and use my writing skillz. Basically, it's the best of all possible jobs, combining the positive aspects of all my previous work experience. And I work with my best friend, so there's that, too. Basically, my work life is AMAZING right now.

I wanted to start by establishing my work because I made a wager with my callers this past Wednesday. For every $1000 they made Wednesday night, I'll make a dozen cookies for them on Sunday. Fast forward to today, and I've got 9 dozen cookies to make. Additionally, I wanted to make some Apple Pie, a delightful alcoholic drink (and I wanted to have the recipe posted for easy reference later on... and I will be making more later haha).

So let's start there.

Apple Pie
yield: 2-750ml bottles

6 cups Apple Cider (not juice, roughly half a gallon)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
10 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, if you're feeling fancy

1 cup pure grain alcohol

Combine the first ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil over medium to medium-high heat. Cool completely and strain over a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Add alcohol. Keep cold (though it's good both warm and cold). Enjoy!



Next up, I wanted to modify my oatmeal cookie variation to the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. This comes from comparing the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe with a traditional Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe. I've posted a similar recipe before, but these turned out perfect!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Variation
yield: about 3 dozen

1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

3 cups oats
1 heaping cup raisins

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Cover the raisins in hot water and let them get a little less dry and sugary (this is an extra step that can be omitted; I just dislike the candy-like quality some raisins have).

In a stand mixer, combine the melted butter and the dark brown sugar thoroughly. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla; mix just until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Stir in the oats followed by the raisins (drained). Chill batter thoroughly. I like to chill it for 3 hours at least, but it can be chilled overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. I recommend scooping the batter into ridiculously large cookies because that's the way oatmeal raisin cookies should be: unabashedly large. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be soft, chewy, and delicious. In fact, these guys get chewier a while after being out of the oven (and they'll be chewy for days).



Additionally, I wanted to make something like Whoopie Pies. It turns out, though, that I hate Whoopie Pies. Instead, I'm going to make a chocolate sandwich cookie filled with what will hopefully be a fluffy, delicious, rich vanilla buttercream.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
yield: about 3 dozen sandwiches



3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup granulate sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

extra sugar

Stir dry ingredients in a bowl to combine. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in corn syrup, egg, yolk, and vanilla, scraping down the side of the bowl. Gradually add the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Cover and refrigerate the dough until firm enough to roll into balls (at least 1 minutes).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sugar in a shallow dish. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar to coat. Place cookies 3-inches apart on cookie sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes or until set. Cool slightly. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Creamy Filling

1/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix butter and sugar on low until incorporated (it won't be smooth). Add cream and vanilla, beating until spreading consistency. Add more cream as necessary. Spread on bottom of one cookie. Top with another cookie. Enjoy!



I can't believe I haven't posted this next recipe before! The recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated, and I've made it at least 3 times at this point (in less than a year). These are both incredibly tasty, and they look amazing as well!

Brown Sugar Cookies
yield: 2 dozen large cookies

14 tbsp butter, divided
1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup granulate sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt and brown 10 tbsp of the butter on the stove. In the mean time, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Additionally, in a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup dark brown sugar. This will be used to coat the cookies before baking.

In the bowl of a mixer, place the remaining 4 tbsp of butter. Pour the browned butter into the mixer, allowing it to melt the 4 tbsp of butter. Allow this to cool.

Add 1 3/4 cup dark brown sugar and salt to mixer and beat until there are no sugar lumps (about 30 seconds). Add egg, yolk, and vanilla, mixing until fully incorporated. Add flour, all at once, and mix for about a minute until fully incorporated. Give the dough a final stir with a spatula and score it in half.

Roll half of the dough into balls. According to the original recipe, you should get a dozen cookies from half the dough. However, my cookies might be a bit smaller since I got about 14 or 15 from each half. Either way, roll the dough balls in the sugar mixture and place on a baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Avoid over-baking (the dough will look raw in between the cracks of the cookie). When in doubt, err on the side of under-baking the cookies. Finished! These cookies require an extra step here or there, but the pay off is big: dark brown sugary flavor, nuttiness from the browned butter, and a beautiful crackly surface.



I have a confession to make. I definitely made a bet with the callers, but I'd be lying if I weren't so excited about baking all weekend long. And I never bake cookies, so this way it's all out of my system. Considering the next few weekends (with moving and visiting friends in other states) I probably won't have much time for baking for a couple weeks.

Recent notes...

I was thinking that, getting into fall, I'd be wanting to make cookies soon. I don't know why, but fall just means cookies for me. I wanted to review this delicious recipe for brown sugar cookies. I could have sworn I had posted it before, but then I got into reading older blog entries unable to find the brown sugar cookies.

Blogs, tumblogs, livejournals, and, let's face it, Friendster pages, are definitely self-centered ventures. I've always said that I have mine for my own purposes; it's nice to catalogue my mistakes and happy accidents in baking and cooking (but mostly baking). I'm really happy with so much that I've put in here in terms of recipes. I've even forgotten some of the recipes I've posted! Basically, the whole experience made me want to write more regularly, even if I can't keep up with recipes for one reason or another.

Last week, for example, I made these AMAZING cream puffs. I saw the idea on "Unique Sweets" and had to try it. Basically, you just pipe pate choux pastry in the center of a square of puff pastry. Fold in the corners of the puff pastry and crease. It can be a little messy, but the magic happens in the oven: first the puff pastry goes to work expanding, and just as it finishes, the cream puff pastry starts expanding inside the puff pastry. You're left with this amazing, flaky, buttery pastry with a cavern in the middle. It's perfect filled with pastry cream and dusted with confectioner's sugar. It's rich and decadent, yes, but it's also airy and light. This definitely falls in the "happy accident" category and deserves a post of its own.

This weekend, I am making brunch for the students at the Phonathon. I've got fifteen students in the Sunday afternoon shift that starts at 1. What could be better than a brunch? So I'm going back to my standard quiche and cinnamon roll recipes. I'm adding a fruit salad to round out the meal. That's why there's nothing new this week: three quiche and a batch of cinnamon rolls certainly are a bit of work!

Next week, I'm not sure what to make. I do have some canned pumpkin still. Those brown sugar cookies could be nice as well if I can fin the original recipe. Oh, and I still want to try these "thin mint cupcakes" I saw on "Unique Sweets." Obviously, my creativity has to come from somewhere haha.

Daniel

Salted Caramel Brownies

I recently failed at making brownies. I tried to make them healthier. I failed. Then I figured, "why on Earth should I try to make brownies healthy?!" Brownies are one sweet that are at their best when chock full of butter, sugar, chocolate, and (in this case) salted caramel sauce.

This recipe comes from a friend of a friend. I only modified* it because I do not have a 13x9 inch pan. This recipe works great for either an 8x8 or a 9x9.

Salted Caramel Brownies

Salted Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp water

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp sea salt (fluer de sel)
2 tbsp sour cream

Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Boil for about 6-8 minutes until an even, deep amber color. Caramel goes from brown to black in a hot second, so be watchful. Add the cream. It will sputter and seize and be all kinds of angry. Whisk away until everything calms down. Add the salt and whisk. Add the sour cream and whisk until smooth, slightly salty, and slightly tangy. This is the most delicious caramel sauce. Ever.

Brownies

1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup ghiradelli dark chocolate chips (roughly half of a bag)

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Mise-en-freaking-place

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8x8 or a 9x9 pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, buttering the paper afterwards.

In a large metal bowl over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate chips together. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder.

Once the butter and chocolate is melted, add in the vanilla and the sugars. Stir until combined and cooled down. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing by hand until incorporated. Be careful not to over mix. Add the flour mixture and fold it in, again being careful to mix only until combined.

The mixture will be rather gloppy. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out the batter. Pour about 3/4 of the caramel over the batter, swirling it into the batter. Add the rest of the brownie batter and do the best you can with it. The caramel will peek out, so stir until you're satisfied. These guys are meant to be messy, but they'll bake up just fine.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes for the 8x8 pan, rotating the pan halfway through. If you use the 9x9 pan, I would reduce the cooking time by at least 5 minutes. As always, check the brownies for doneness sooner rather than later. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Top the brownies with the remaining caramel and a sprinkling of extra sea salt. Cool completely before cutting and serving.



*To make the recipe as it was originally double everything. The flour would actually become 1 1/4 cups, though, you would use 5 eggs, and you would want to use the entire bag of the chocolate chips.

Building My Repertoire

So far, I've made two original cupcakes: the Limey Bastard Cupcakes and the Banana/Brown Butter Cupcakes. This week, I'm adding a S'mores Cupcake to the list.

Now, I'm aware that this is not an uncommon concept in a cupcake. However, I've always been disappointed with the execution. Usually, it's a chocolate cupcake rolled in graham cracker crumbs (or a graham cracker crust for the adventurous) with a marshmallow frosting. The frosting, at least, makes sense to me. A 7-minute or Swiss Meringue frosting is pillowy soft and very much like a marshmallow. That's clearly the best place for the marshmallow component. However, I've always wondered why no one makes a purely graham cupcake. After all, there is graham flour, and graham crackers can easily be crushed into flour.

I found a couple graham cupcake recipes, but they were either inaccessible or used with completely different fillings and toppings. I decided on Vanilla Garlic's Graham Cupcake to start with. I've made some alterations and decided the best filling is, without a doubt, a simple semi-sweet chocolate ganache. Sure, I love bittersweet as much as the next guy, but I only ever make s'mores with semi-sweet chocolate.



S'mores Cupcakes

Graham Cracker Cupcake

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp granulated sugar + 2 tbsp honey
3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs*
1 tsp baking soda**
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1-2 graham crackers, crumbled but coarse

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by lining the cups with cupcake liners.

First, crush the graham crackers until they are fine and powdery (a food processor works wonders here, but they can be crushed by hand as well). Measure out 1 1/2 cup. Sift the graham cracker flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Next, in a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Scoop into the prepared cupcake cups. Top batter with crumbled, coarse graham cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Because of the graham crackers and the honey, these cupcakes will get a bit darker than you might expect.

*2 packages totaling about 16 rectangular graham crackers will give you enough for the crumbs and the crumbled ones
**Note to self: the original recipe had this, but without any acid in the rest of the recipe, I'm not sure it does anything...

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp fresh brewed coffee

Heat the cream until it's near a boil. Pour over the chocolate chips and let it sit for a minute or two. Stir or whisk until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the vanilla and coffee. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to use.

Marshmallow Frosting

3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, egg whites, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a mixer, set over simmering water. Whisk for about 5 minutes until the egg whites are hot. The mixture should loosen up and be fairly white. Place mixer bowl in mixer and beat whites for about 5-7 minutes until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add vanilla and mix again. Use frosting immediately; it begins to harden after it has been exposed to air for a bit. Not harden in a bad way, but the texture definitely changes.

Assembly
Core out the cupcake, fill with the ganache and drop the frosting on top in large, luscious mounds. The frosting is delicious, it's amazing, and it's fat free. Yay frosting!

Building a Better Cupcake

I got mixed reviews from the lemon cupcakes with the lemon mousse filling and white-chocolate cream cheese frosting (from the post below). The filling and the frosting were great, but the cupcakes missed the mark. So what I just got through doing was modifying the wedding cake recipe for 12 cupcakes. It was actually very easy, and the results are much closer to a cupcake version of the wedding cake than I could have hoped!

Wedding Cake Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp orange juice concentrate
1 tbsp vanilla

3 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with muffin liners.

Sift the dry ingredients together 3 times.

In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, oj concentrate, and vanilla.

In a stand mixer whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until medium peaks form. Transfer to another bowl.

In the mixer, cream the butter and 2/3 cup sugar. Add the oil followed by the remaining sugar, making sure to scrape down the bowl a few times as necessary. Add the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the wet in two additions, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Finally, fold in the egg whites in 3 additions using the first fold to lighten the batter.

Fill cupcake cups about 2/3 full, and bake for 30 - 35 minutes. The cupcakes should be beginning to get golden brown all over, and they should pass the toothpick test.



Fill with the mousse from below, top with the frosting, and enjoy! These work much better chilled than the lemon cupcakes, and the lemon flavor is more subdued.

Lemon-White Chocolate Cupcakes

These are the cupcake version of the wedding cake I made quite a few posts ago. I've been wanting to make this delicious flavor combination in a way that doesn't require the time and effort of the wedding cake. However, I had to make some concessions. For the cupcakes, I used a simple lemon cupcake recipe, modified from a lime cupcake recipe I've used before. Instead of two fillings like the wedding cake, the cupcakes had one: the lemon-white chocolate mousse. The frosting remained the same delicious, fluffy frosting from the wedding cake, thankfully. The fillings and frostings are still a little labor intensive, but the only extra step (compared to my other cupcake recipes) is that it's necessary to make the lemon curd to use in the mousse. Of course, you could use store bought...



Lemon-White Chocolate Cupcakes

Lemon Curd

2 lemons, zested
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice

4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4 pieces

Combine zest, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk until pale yellow. Whisk in juice and set pan over low - medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick. Usually, this takes 10 minutes of cooking over a medium low flame. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time and stir until combined before adding another piece. Cool. Cover and chill. This makes about 3/4 cup lemon curd (and can be used to make lime curd as well). This can be made up to 5 days in advance.


Lemon-White Chocolate Mousse

3/4 cup Lemon Curd
3.5 oz white chocolate
3/4 cup whipped cream

Warm chocolate in the top of a double boiler until melted. Set off water and let cool slightly. In the chilled bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream until medium peaks form. With the mixer running on low, stream in the white chocolate until incorporated. Make sure not to over mix. Gently fold in the lemon curd in 3 additions. Place in a bowl, cover, and chill. This can be made 2 days ahead.


[Another delicious use of the mousse: piped over blueberries for a nice, decadent dessert. Top it with some whipped cream and it's pure heaven.]

White Chocolate Frosting

3 oz white chocolate

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar, packed

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Remove from water and cool slightly. In the chilled bowl of your mixer, whip the cream and roughly half of the powdered sugar until medium peaks form. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. In the mixer beat the cream cheese and the remaining powdered sugar until fluffy and combined. Stream in the white chocolate with the mixer running on low speed. Remove bowl from mixer and scrape with a rubber spatula. Fold in whipped cream in 4 additions (using the first addition to lighten the cream cheese mixture). Place in a bowl, cover, and chill. Can be made a day ahead.

Lemon Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a mixer cream the butter. Add sugar and mix to blend. Add eggs, one at a time. Then mix in the lemon juice and zest. The batter may look curdled.

Add the flour in 3 additions alternately with the buttermilk in 2 additions (beginning and ending with flour). Spoon roughly 1/3 cup of the batter into each paper liner, and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely.

Once cooled, core out the center of each cupcake with a small knife. Pipe in the lemon mousse. The mousse is fairly stiff, and these cupcakes should remain chilled once frosted, so it's okay if some of the mousse mounds up on top of the cupcake. Pipe frosting on the top of the cupcake, sealing in the mousse.



This seems like a lot of work, but it's really not. I tend to spread out my cupcake adventures over the course of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so that I'm not doing it all at once. Remember to keep these cupcakes refrigerated and enjoy!

∏

I'm going to post this for future reference. However, this is a flawed recipe. The filling was tasty, but the soy flour added an almost chalky texture that, in the future, I'd like to avoid. Maybe cornstarch will do the trick. I'm apprehensive towards regular flour for the same reason the soy flour didn't work out.

The crust was good, and it worked out very well with the diluted vodka. That was a success. However, blind baking it for only 12 minutes left it soggy after the filling was in it and cooked. I want a crisper, less doughy, crust. In the end, I scooped out the filling into ramekins, topped it with some of the top pie dough, and called it a day. I'd love to come back to this recipe in a week or two.

Quadruple Berry Pie

Start with the pie dough from the last post. Roll out half of the dough and fit into a 9-inch round foil pan. I despise pie plates, so much wasted space. Freeze until firm. Prick all over with a fork, cover in foil, fill with beans or pie weights, and blind bake on 350 for about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool. In the mean time, make the filling.

1/2 cup soy flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup splenda)
1/4 tsp salt

2 cups blueberries
1 cup blackberries, cut in half or quarters if they're very large
1 cup raspberries
1 cup strawberries, cut to roughly the same size as the other fruit

1 tbsp cherry liqueur or brandy, optional
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter

egg wash + sugar

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Toss in the fruit until the mixture is cohesive, but be careful not to stir too vigorously or break up the fruit more than you have to. Sprinkle on the liqueur, lemon juice, and vanilla, and toss again.

Pour filling into cooled pie crust. Dot with butter. Roll out the other half of the pie dough into a circle about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. I had plenty to cover the pie with and scraps left over for decorations (if you swing that way). Make slashes in the top, lattice it, do whatever. I only opted for the, perhaps cliche, Pi symbol in the top of mine. I didn't even scallop the edges. I need practice with pie doughs and pie making.

Brush the top of the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling away. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Personally, I prefer pie either at room temperature or just barely warm. I think I'll serve this with a dollop of lightly sweetened greek yogurt.



Hmmm... I am debating about this pie. The soy flour definitely flavored the filling. Not in a bad way, mind you, but it's definitely there. I'm not sure what to think. More pies will be coming. Maybe mini pies. Something to take some of the pressure off of the filling...

∏ / 2

Pi / 2 Part One: The Crust

To clarify those who are not into math, I am making pie. Berry pie. Perhaps quadruple berry pie. We will see...

But first: the crust! I'm using the vodka crust I used for my quiche recipe. Here, it's in double-crust format. As an added bonus, since the filling calls for a little lemon juice, I thought I would add the zest of 1 lemon to the crust. Why shouldn't the crust be flavorful on its own, after all? Additionally, I've found something that actually makes the pie crust easier. Instead of using 1/4 cup each of vodka and water, I am simply going to use 1/2 cup diluted (42 proof) vodka. Brilliant! Clearly, I've diverged from the original Cooks Illustrated recipe.

Foolproof Vodka Pie Crust with Lemon

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
zest from 1 lemon, optional

20 tbsp (2.5 sticks) of butter, sliced into 1/2 - 1 tbsp pieces

1/2 cup diluted vodka, chilled.

Combine the dry ingredients and and whisk together in a large bowl. Place the sliced butter on top of the flour and chill thoroughly (I place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes). Combine with a pastry blender by hand* until the mixture appears similar in shape and size to cottage cheese curds.

Pour the vodka over the mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into two, flatten into 4-inch disks and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days.

*I don't have a food processor, so this is a bit more labor intensive than the original recipe.

Makin' Banana Cupcakes...

This is kind of a cheat. I'm using a banana muffin recipe from Ina Garten instead of a banana cupcake recipe. I've used the Banana Crunch Muffins before and can attest to how delicious they are. My only modifications are in the butter, flour, and sugar departments. I must say that the originals are definitely worth a shot (though I only ever added the diced banana and walnuts or pecans to them).



Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Filling and Brown Butter Frosting

The filling and frosting can be made a day ahead, so I'll start with those recipes first.

Vanilla Filling

2 cup half & half
8 tbsp sugar, divided
1 vanilla bean, seeded
pinch of salt

3 tbsp cornstarch
5 egg yolks

4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4 pieces

In a medium saucepan bring the half & half, vanilla bean (the whole bean and the scraped seeds), salt, and 6 tbsp of the sugar to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks until smooth. Temper the egg yolks by gradually whisking in about a cup of the hot half & half mixture. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan, reduce the heat to medium and whisk constantly for about 30 second to a minute. The mixture will thicken very quickly.

Remove the pastry cream from the heat and stir in the butter. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to the surface to avoid a skin from forming and chill until cold. For those of you that play the home game, this was the original recipe I modified to create the kahlua pastry cream a couple posts ago. It's worth noting that the recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated.

Brown Butter Frosting

This frosting comes in two parts: first, the caramel syrup; second, the actual frosting. It's a bit labor intensive, and I'm sure any other brown butter frosting would be good as well. This frosting, however, is delightfully complex and perfect with the cupcakes.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water + 1/4 cup boiling water
sea salt to taste

Combine the sugar and the 1/4 cup water in a medium pan over medium high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, reduce heat to medium and cook until amber. Add the boiling water to the caramel to halt the caramelization process. Whisk over medium heat for a minute or two more until it's slightly thicker and add the salt (be aware that the caramel can be salty since it's only a component of the frosting; the salt in the caramel will be the only salt in all the frosting). Cool completely.

6 tbsp butter, browned and cooled
2 tbsp caramel syrup
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 - 3 tbsp half & half

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the browned butter, caramel, and 1 cup of the confectioners sugar until thick paste is formed. Thin paste with 2 tbsp of half & half. Mix until incorporated. Add remaining confectioners sugar and mix until combined. If necessary ass more half & half or confectioner's sugar. Personally, I wound up adding about 2 1/2 cups of sugar and 3 tbsp of the half & half; it was very experimental, but the result was pretty phenomenal (though I'll be the first to admit that this is the style of butter cream that, to me, is too rich and sweet).

Banana Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, browned and cooled

1 large egg
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup ripe mashed banana (about 1 banana)

1 banana, medium diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a mixer, sift the first five ingredients together. Add the browned butter and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together (all except for the diced banana). Add to the butter-flour mixture and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and mix again, but don't over mix the batter. Fold in the diced banana.

Divide cupcake batter among 12-cupcake pan. Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes until tops are firm and toothpick, inserted in the center of the cake, comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, remove from pan and finish cooling.

Assembly

Core out the center of a cupcake.

Fill with vanilla pastry cream.

Top with frosting.



Enjoy! I'm happy with how these turned out, but I think I want to do something to the vanilla filling. I'm not sure the flavors integrate as well as they could. I'll be getting some opinions from friends and coworkers in a couple days.

Brunch in Three Parts

Part three: Quiche her?! But I hardly know her!

I can't believe I've never posted my quiche recipe before. It may not be what most people consider a quiche. Many quiche I've come across have a filling that's more of a puree of ingredients than anything. Mine is a dense, eggy tart and I love it.

The crust is a new experiment, but one that has definitely worked out. I'm using, verbatim, the Cook's Illustrated foolproof pie dough. I can't find a copy online, so I will post it here for my own benefit. Interestingly, it uses vodka (though I had to make a quick whiskey substitution) because the ethanol in the vodka adds moisture, making the crust easy to handle and roll out, while not contributing much water. The result? An easy to handle dough that isn't overly watery or leathery in texture.

Quiche

Cook's Illustrated Single-Crust Foolproof Pie Dough

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 2 pieces

2 tbsp cold vodka
2 tbsp cold water

Combine 3/4 cup flour, all of the salt, and the sugar in the bowl of a food processor*. Pulse to combine, about 2 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds; dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade.

Add remaining 1/2 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over dough. WIth rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Blind bake the crust in a 9-inch pie plate at 350 until golden and set, about 12 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes and make the filling in the meantime.

*I do not have a food processor. I used a pastry blender, kept everything chilled, and worked very quickly. As near as I can tell, the results were nearly identical to those in the recipe from "cottage cheese curds" to an easy-to-handle disk.


Spinach and Parmesan Quiche Filling

6 eggs
1 cup half and half
2 tsp salt
pinch of ground nutmeg

1/2 medium onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 10oz bag, washed spinach

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, half and half, salt, and nutmeg to blend.

In a skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until softened. Add the spinach and only saute until it's partially wilted. Some raw leaves are fine; the varying textures are very pleasant in the quiche. Place the spinach mixture in the baked and cooled crust. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the filling. Gently pour the custard mixture over the filling, moving the filling around so that it is evenly distributed and completely coated with the custard.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes until the filling is slightly puffed and golden. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Brunch in Three Parts

Part Two: Pancakes

Alton Brown's recipe for pancake mix and instant pancakes creates, perhaps, the most delicious pancakes I have ever made. Why mess with perfection? Alton Brown's Pancakes.

Brunch in Three Parts

Part One: Coffee Cake

I've found that breakfast pastries, coffee cakes and muffins in particular, hold up well to some healthier alterations. In this recipe, I used my applesauce+greek yogurt combination in place of butter. The resulting texture was less stiff and coarse than most coffee cakes; however, the wheat flour and crumb topping added some pleasant nuttiness. I used Splenda as well to help round out the healthfulness of this breakfast treat. The result? A low-guilt brunch accompaniment or a nice, light afternoon snack to tame that sweet tooth.



Low-Guilt Coffee Cake

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, packed
1/3 cup Splenda
1 tbsp butter, browned
1 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped

Combine the sugars with the browned butter until a wet sand forms. Toss in the almonds and combine. Set aside.

Coffee Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1/4 cup Splenda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8x8 square pan. A 9x9 would work in a pinch, though you may have to reduce the cooking time.

Combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Whisk the buttermilk, sugars, vanilla, eggs, applesauce, and yogurt together until smooth. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, fold the liquid into the dry until incorporated. Stir until the batter is smooth and well combined. Fold in about 1/2 of the streusel topping.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining streusel topping evenly over the cake. Bake at 350 degree for 25 - 30 minutes. Cool cake on wire rack for 15 minutes before slicing, serving, and enjoying.



*I used a combination of 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 soy flour and the coffee cake turned out great. I would imagine most combinations of flours (wheat, all-purpose, quinoa, brown rice) would work fairly well in this cake, though you can simply use all-purpose to avoid the fuss.

Addendum: I went ahead and calculated the calories and whatnot. Keep in mind that most of the calories (1/3) and fat (3/4) comes from a good source: almonds. Still, this is a relatively light, low-guilt snack.

Assuming 12 servings per pan:

Fat: 7g
Calories: 185
Sugar: 11g
Protein: 9g

Cupcakes in three parts

Sunday: Cupcakes and assembly

I developed the filling and frosting recipes on my own with the help of reliable sources like Cooks Illustrated and other blogger's experiments. Ultimately, my frosting turned out lighter and fluffier than most Bailey's frosting recipes I found (many were simply butter, confectioner's sugar, and Bailey's). I will say that the cream cheese subdued the Bailey's flavor a bit, but the flavor is still delightful. I suppose I'll get official results from my coworkers and friends tomorrow.

Rather than try to develop my own cupcake recipe, I decided to use a recipe from a reliable source: Dave Lieberman from the Food Network. Here's a link to his recipe for Chocolate Stout Cupcakes. The only things I changed were halving his recipe and not using his icing.

In general, I found his recipe incredibly easy. It's interesting that he uses a brownie or muffin method to make the cupcakes. For cupcakes (and regular cake) you incorporate dry ingredients into a fat/sugar mixture alternately with a liquid like buttermilk. However, these guys are less labor intensive; you simply incorporate the dry into the wet, fill some muffin tins and bake. Easy as pie. Or cupcakes. Or whatever.

Assembly

I took a small pairing knife and cored out each cupcake. I aim for a hole the size of a nickel and a depth of about halfway into the cupcake.

Then, I used a pastry bag fitted with a narrow tip to fill the cupcakes with the Kahlua pastry cream. *See below for pastry cream and frosting recipes.

Next, I used a wider rose tip on a pastry bag to frost the cupcakes. I started by going around the opening to 'cap' the pastry cream.

The result? Deliciousness. I will say that these cupcakes turned out very well, but the Kahlua pastry cream is definitely gilding the lilly a bit; they would be great with the frosting on its own if you didn't want to go to the trouble.



My apologies for the crappier than usual picture. For the life of my I can't find my digital camera...

Cupcakes in three parts

Saturday: The frosting

Irish Cream Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur
2 cups of powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese and the butter until combined and creamy. Stream in the Bailey's with the mixer running until incorporated. Mix in the powdered sugar until smooth.

Taste. Add a little more Bailey's for flavor or powdered sugar as needed. The frosting will appear a little thin compared to traditional American buttercream or cream cheese frosting, but put it into a bowl and let it chill. It will become a thick, luscious delight.

Cupcakes in three parts

Friday: The filling

Kahlua Pastry Cream

2 cups half & half
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 vanilla bean

1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks

4 tbsp butter
1/3 - 1/2 cup kahlua*

In a medium saucepan bring the half & half, espresso powder, vanilla bean (the whole bean and the scraped seeds), and 6 tbsp of the sugar to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the espresso powder and sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks until smooth. Temper the egg yolks by gradually whisking in about a cup of the hot half & half mixture. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan, reduce the heat to medium and whisk constantly for about 30 second to a minute. The mixture will thicken very quickly.

Remove the pastry cream from the heat and whisk in the butter and kahlua. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to the surface to avoid a skin from forming and chill until cold. Can be made 3-5 days in advance.

*Two notes:

1.) The kahlua does not cook out. If this is a problem, simply eliminate it from the recipe; you will be left with a delicious mocha pastry cream because of the espresso powder.

2.) By removing the espresso powder and the kahlua, you will have a delicious vanilla pastry cream that is perfect as a filling for pate choux cream puffs or fruit tarts.

My French Obsession

No, it's not the band Placebo with it's androgynously sexy lead singer. It's Macarons. I've attempted french macarons three times this weekend and each time I've been met with failure. Granted, I've been careless.

For my first attempt, I neglected to let the macarons rest before putting them into the oven; stupidity on my part.

For my second attempt, I adjusted the icing sugar content; again, stupidity on my part.

For my final, and perhaps most successful, attempt I can't quite figure out what went wrong. The macarons turned out quite tasty but they lacked a foot and were cracked on top. However, they didn't look like the examples of overbeaten-batter macarons that I've seen on the internet. I let the batter rest; I made sure to fold in the almond flour and icing sugar quickly but effectively. Basically, I've all but chalked it up to lack of experience making proper macarons. I've found another recipe on a blog that looks quite promising (my first recipe came from Bon Apetit magazine). I know these confections are not beyond my ability to make. That will be my challenge.

At least until I run out of almond flour. I mean, really, how expensive is that stuff?! On a delightful side note, I love being from a rural county in Kentucky. Our local Kroger is like most other Krogers; they have the health food section, but the specialty ingredients never move. I was able to find not only a bag of almond meal, but also a bag of Quinoa flour for 2.50 each on manager's special. Naturally I checked the expiration dates and they were months away; how could I pass it up? But I digress. I'll post later about my macarons.

I will also post about a delightful and tasty, if not messy, vegetable lasagna experience.

Dan