Broccoli and Chocolate

Sushi Cupcakes

2010-03-08T18:30:00.001-06:00

by Anne

One of these days I’ll run out of photos from my baking days in Chicago. Until then, here’s a batch of Sushi Cupcakes I made last May! (I should probably tell you right away that these guys contain no fish- raw or otherwise…they’re just pure sugar, baby.)

As I recall, these went over quite well with my friends- who were probably just as giddy about our newfound done-with-graduate-school status as they were about these sugar packed desserts. Meh. I’ll pretend all the smiles were about these little 'cakes.

Why sushi cupcakes you might ask? Well, my friend was throwing a “roll your own sushi” party, and while, I LOVE a good theme, I also wanted to try Bakerella’s Cake Pops method. While these are technically pop-less (read: no sticks), I think I got the gist of the technique, and gained a profound amount of respect for her mad decorating skills.

Want to make ‘em? Just whip up a batch of cake pop “batter”, and form into your favorite sushi shapes. That’s right, sushi shapes. That’s about as technical and this non-sushi eater is going to get. Sorry folks.

Once you have your sushi-shaped ‘cakes, stick them in a refrigerator or freezer for a while, maybe 30 minutes, or until they’re quite firm. While the ‘cakes are chilling, melt chocolate. I’m sure there are lots of fancy melting chocolates you can buy for this task, but I just used chocolate bark for the brown, and almond bark for the white.

Melt the chocolates (do one flavor at a time so you don’t have to keep reheating everything) in a double boiler or via the bowl-over-boiling water method. Not familiar with that method? It’s pretty self-explanatory. Boil water in a small saucepot. Place a heat-proof bowl over the boiling water. Make sure the bowl is larger than the pot- you want the steam from the boiling water to heat the chocolate, not the water. Place chocolate in the bowl and stir until melted.

When the ‘cakes are firm and the chocolate is melted, dip each cake into the chocolate. Depending on what kind of sushi you want to make (California-roll-esque or those little cubes of white rice with fish on top- “nigiri,” or so I’m told), dip the ‘cake into the melted white or chocolate bark. If you want a rice-like texture, roll the ‘cake into coconut or decorator’s sugar before the chocolate hardens.

I topped the rolls with a little bit of vanilla frosting and lots of chopped up gummy worms.

The nigiri are made with a ‘cake, dipped in white chocolate, rolled in coconut, and topped with a “fish” made of starburst candy.

The fish are easy to make, and, I think, look pretty authentic. Just pop a couple of (unwrapped) starburst into the microwave for about 8 seconds. The heat should soften the starburst enough so that you can mold them, but not so much that they melt. Mold them into fishy shapes and use a butter knife to add a little texture. Use a little frosting to stick the fish to the coconut-covered "rice" patties and you're done!

In all, these little sushis are a bit tedious, with all the melting, cooling, and sprinkling... but they're lots of fun! Oh, and they're ridiculously sweet. So consider yourself warned.

Squishing Together Twos

2010-03-03T10:11:00.002-06:00

by Terese

For some reason, I love to worry about things. I will plan them out, worry about them getting done on time days before they are due but never actually start them until the last possible moment. A perfect example would be the cake tasting that I had arranged for this Monday evening.

Many moons ago, at a dinner with Aaron's family I was explaining (ok fine...bragging) about the wedding cupcakes (that you all have yet to see) from Christopher and Anne's wedding. I am very, very proud of them and definitely feel up to many more challenges after that feat. SO... I offered Aaron's newly engaged cousin my services for their upcoming May wedding. Not really thinking too much of it, I received a Facebook message a couple weeks later to find out if I was serious. I was and am so we started to plan their 4 tiered tiramisu layer wedding cake together.

This is where the procrastination comes in. I knew they were going to come over for dinner this past Monday almost 2 weeks in advance. I knew I worked everyday of the week leading up to the dinner. And yet I put off making all THREE 4-layer cakes until that very Monday.

So not only did I spend a whole week worrying about the cakes and planning my weekend around getting them together, but I just ignored all my inner urging to get started and waited until Monday at 7:30 am to get my mixer going. It all worked out fine though after 8 hours in the kitchen. Well, almost fine. The last cake became very unimpressive cupcakes and was quickly vetoed from the running.

See them in the back-ground there...

The two cakes we ended up debating between could not have turned out better. Both were beautiful, delicious and offered a great tiramisu flavor. As one would expect, he liked one better and she simply said no, not that one. Haha. Final recipe for the wedding cake squishes the two cakes together as a compromise, a great practice step for their marriage.

The first recipe was found on epicurious.com and has amazing reviews! The moment I read it I knew it was going to be the winner. The tiramisu flavor of this cake is spot on, very coffee-y and chocolate-y with a hint of marsala wine in the frosting. The second can be found on love & olive oil and is the most refined and elegant cake I have ever made. The layers and lines inside were so clean, but the tiramisu flavor was more subdued.

The final wedding cake will combine the cake, filling and soaking syrup of the epicurious cake, with the soft, almost velvety swiss buttercream from the love & olive oil cake. It's kinda funny...we're squishing together two cakes and their squishing together two lives, its very symbolic don't 'cha think? I'm so excited for the cousin and his bride-to-be and am happy to be an important part of their very special day!

Blueberry Cobblercakes

2010-02-24T17:00:00.002-06:00

by Anne

Before I even knew I was moving back to Minnesota, a friend of mine in Chicago threw a Minnesota hot dish party. And while my friend is technically not a Minnesooooota native, she’s definitely one of the state’s biggest fans, so Christopher and I knew we had to “bring the goods,” as it were.

So even though it was June, in Chicago, we fired up the oven. Christopher whipped up a couple of batches of his family’s New York Spaghetti Pie recipe (yes, it IS a Minnesota hot dish despite the name), and I made a couple of desserts- Minnesota-shaped cookies (sorry, no pictures!) and blueberry cobblercakes. Yum!

These cobbler cupcakes couldn’t be easier to make… or harder to eat! Be sure you use the foil muffin cups - and serve with a spoon- ‘cuz you really don’t want to unwrap these guys, trust me.

Blueberry Cobblercakes
•    1 box of cake mix. Vanilla, white, yellow- whatever you prefer!
•    Butter
•    Blueberry filling. You can buy it canned or make your own!

Fill each muffin cup about halfway with blueberry filling. Top each ‘cake with a generous spoonful of dry cake mix. Remember, since you’re not actually turning the mix into a batter, nothing will rise- so don’t worry about filling close to the rim. Place a small, thin pat of butter on the top of each cobbler. Don’t be too skimpy here, the butter needs to melt into the cake mix and form a warm, golden crust. But, don’t OVERindulge either, unless you just want to taste butter. Ew.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden. The filling will probably bubble up a bit. Don’t worry, that’s a good thing.

A Perfect Baker's Dozen

2010-02-20T12:17:00.002-06:00

by Terese

Pretty late Tuesday night I got a special request for chocolate cupcakes for the following evening. Seeing as I teach and work on Wednesday's, I knew fitting in a complicated chocolate cake recipe in an hour and then decorating them in a manner that won't embarrass myself was kinda out of the question. PLUS I was out of butter. F***. What to do?! What to make?!

One Bowl Chocolate Cake of course. The recipe has the shortest list of ingredients possible, only uses one bowl and tastes better than any mix would. And it would leave me enough time to throw together a frosting and make these little babies beautiful. Or as beautiful as could be expected after a 10 hour day and with only 20 min. Mission accomplished.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup Kahlua or coffee (optional, if not gonna use then just do 3/4 cup milkie)

1 egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, powder and salt in an electric mixing bowl.
Add the milk, Kahlua (if using), egg, oil and vanilla.
Beat on medium speed for 2 min.
Scrape down bowl, then beat for another 2 min.
Pour into 12 paper-lined muffin tins. The recipe filled them up perfectly, hence the perfect this baker's dozen.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min.
Allow to cool, then frost.

I used the Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Frosting recipe off that back of the box because I needed something that didn't use too much butter. (Aaron stole me one single stick from his mom, don't tell anyone.)

That's it. Maybe not the most exciting thing I've ever made, but they took me all of 1 hr total and they looked pretty... pretty... pretty... nice.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

2010-02-20T10:07:00.001-06:00

by Anne

Feeding my fascination* for all things Amish,** my mom gave me this Amish Cooking book as a wedding gift. While these Pumpkin Streusel Muffins were the first recipe I tried from the book, they certainly won’t be the last. In fact, I can honestly say that I’ve never made a better batch of homemade muffins. They were dense but not dry, and full of flavor.

The original recipe called for a loaf but... it was already 10:30 am on Saturday and I didn’t want to wait 50 minutes for a darn loaf of pumpkin bread when I knew muffins would only take 20 minutes. And I like muffins. ‘Cuz they’re like breakfast cupcakes.

The muffins will keep for a few days. I baked these guys on Saturday and we brought a batch over to my mother-in-law on Valentine’s Day. And, they still tasted amazingly fresh! None of that day-old-and-already-dry nastiness that so often plagues my homemade baked goods. Sigh.

Some tips…

Line your muffin tin with liners and spray the liners with baking spray. Don’t over-spray or the muffins will separate from the liners and you won’t be able to take cute pictures. A light misting should do.
Use an ice cream scoop like this one to scoop batter into the muffin cups. It’s easy. It’s clean. And it results in well-portioned little muffins.
Apply the streusel generously, please. It adds a nice texture and flavor –and really, who doesn’t want a muffin covered in warm, gooey brown sugar?

I definitely plan to bake these again- but maybe I’ll plan ahead and actually make it in loaf-form. Or, if I’m feeling really adventurous, I’ll make a pumpkin bundt. I’m not quite sure how to streusel a bundt, but you better believe I’m gonna learn. So stay tuned...

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Muffins:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin (from the can, but the real stuff not the pie filling)
1 tsp vanilla

Streusel:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup almonds

Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare your muffin tins (or, if you want to make a loaf, grease and flour a loaf pan).

For the muffins...

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar in mixer until fluffly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla extract. Gradually add the flour mixture.

For the streusel...

Combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender (two knives, or even a food processor will do), until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in nuts.

Scoop batter into muffin cups and sprinkle streusel topping over each muffin. If you're making a loaf, the recipe suggests you layer the streusel (spoon half of the batter into the loaf pan, add half of the streusel, then spoon the remaining batter into the pan and top with the rest of the streusel)- but this seemed WAY too tedious for muffins. And, c'mon... if it's 10:30 on a Saturday and I haven't made breakfast yet... I'm obviously feeling too lazy to do something like this.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you want to make a loaf, bake for 45-50 minutes.

So, what do y’all think? Would you give these guys a whirl or are you the kind of person who prefers a granola bar or banana bread for breakfast?

*Pun intended. Obviously.
** Sorry, Claire.

Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

2010-02-19T11:23:00.001-06:00

by Anne

As promised, here’s the final post of the “farewell Chicago party/baking extravaganza” trilogy (don’t forget to check out Part 1: Blonde Brownies and Part 2: S’more Cupcakes). And now for Part 3: Snickerdoodles!

Cake mix snickerdoodles, to be exact. Fun stuff here, folks. And super easy to boot!

Mmmm. Aren’t they pretty? Can you tell these pictures were taken a while ago…in the soft lighting of the warm Chicago summer sun? Not like the latest batch of photos snapped in the ever-fleeting light of the Minnesota winter. Bah humbug. Or something like that.

Anyway, here’s the scoop…

Cake Mix Snickerdoodles (from this blog)

1 box cake mix (vanilla, white, yellow- whatever you prefer!)
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
Cinnamon and sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients (except the cinnamon and sugar) in a medium bowl. Chill batter for at least 30 minutes. Roll batter into balls and coat with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes... or until they look done.

I made these little guys twice and while the flavor and texture was consistent from one batch to the next, the cookies remained small the first time 'round and spread out during round two. I’m not really sure why, since both were chilled and similarly-portioned on a cool baking sheet. Oh well, most of the chemistry behind baking remains a mystery to me.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal-Craisin-Chocolate-Almond Bliss

2010-02-17T20:53:00.001-06:00

by Anne

I got this cookbook for my birthday last year and I have solid plans to bake my way through the entire thing. Seriously, not a single recipe has failed me. In fact, I’ve revisited multiple recipes multiple times- a rare occurrence for this somewhat restless baker.

These cookies are faaaaan-tastic. And while I didn’t follow the recipe exactly as it was written, I’ve had absolutely no complaints from the household cookie monster (his mom liked them too!). They’re great as-is or crumbled over a big bowl of vanilla ice cream. And because they have oatmeal, nuts, and craisins, they kind of taste like a granola bar. So you can definitely justify having a few of them with your morning coffee, right?

A couple of notes:

The dough will be stiff. And I mean, STIFF. That’s a good thing- it means the cookies will be nice and dense.
Use whole, rolled oats. Not the instant kind. I’ve used both and the former have a far better texture and way more flavor.
I use "Baking Spice" from Penzey's instead of straight cardamom. If you can get your hands on some of it, do. It’s amazing stuff.
Let the dough chill. Seriously. I usually bake my cookies in small batches so that I don’t ~~eat all of them in one sitting~~ “overindulge.” The dough will keep in your refrigerator for up to a week or you can freeze it for up to two months.

Oatmeal-Craisin-Chocolate-Almond Bliss

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking spice
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups oats
1 cup craisins
1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped almonds
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars in an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add half of this mixture to the butter mixture and beat for 15-30 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Add the oats and beat for another 15-30 seconds. Fold in the craisins, almonds, and chocolate chips. Cover the bowl and chill for 6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into balls and place an inch or so apart on a cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Be sure to rotate the pan halfway through the baking time to ensure even heating.

Not Quite Homemade Chili

2010-02-15T00:07:00.000-06:00

by Anne

Well, last Sunday was the Super Bowl. And from what I can tell, it has something to do with football. At least that’s always what they seem to play between the commercials. But really, who knows.

Mysteries aside, ‘tis the season to make chili. While, I usually prefer something completely homemade (like my sister-in-law Claire's Turkey Chili Recipe- yum!), this recipe is not too shabby. It's easy, pretty tasty, and makes enough for a crowd – or, if you don’t want to share, enough for about a week’s worth of single-serving chili. But, really, that just sounds intense.

Anyway, grab a bag of “Darn Good Chili Mix” at the store, a couple cans of tomato paste, and ground chicken, turkey, or beef (all optional but highly recommended).

Brown the ground meat- add some seasoning during this process or else the chili will taste really meat-y. Eish. Follow the directions on the package for the chili- boiling water, adding mix etc. Feel free to add some ingredients to taste- I usually opt for some extra green pepper, onion, and a can of corn. The mix is good, but if you want it a little spicy, add some chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes.

Top with sour cream and cheese like so:

Oh, and serve with some corn bread muffins. I don’t have a picture of the muffins, but they couldn’t be easier, honestly. Buy that oh-so-trusty box of jiffy corn bread mix, add an egg, 1/3 cup milk (I only had heavy whipping cream, so I was forced to use it…sigh), and about half a can of sweet corn. The muffins are kind of crumbly, but delicious.

What? Someone's been reading this?!?

2010-02-13T14:24:00.000-06:00

by Anne

I just found out that my Red Velvet Whoopie Pies are featured on A Foxy Wedding's Whoopie Pies post! Whoohoo!

Now, I probably should have figured this out a while ago, since the post was way back in October 2009... but obviously I've been a little slow to the whole blogging thang. Meh.

Anyway, THANKS Foxy Wedding. You made my day!

Update! Roasted Tomato Soup

2010-02-13T12:43:00.000-06:00

by Anne

Well, I probably should have had a bowl of the Roasted Tomato Soup before I hit "publish post" but I didn't want lose my blogging motivation. Ummm, lesson learned.

The soup, while tasty, isn't really soup. It's more like pasta or pizza sauce. I didn't strain it, thinking I would like it a little on the hearty side but... it tasted like eating a bowl of marinara. Well-flavored, fresh marinara, but marinara nonetheless.

So, if you decide to try the recipe, skip the grilled cheese and opt for some noodles or pizza fixins.

S'more Cupcakes

2010-02-12T08:15:00.005-06:00

by Anne

So before we left Chicago last summer, my then-fiancé-now-husband and I threw a party. While I don’t usually speak for him, I can accurately say that we LOVE having parties, and since we were leaving we knew that this had to be a great shindig. Rising to the challenge, I made a massive batch of baked goods, including blonde brownies, cake mix snickerdoodles (recipe coming soon!) and s’more cupcakes.

The s’more cupcakes were new territory for me and I spent more hours than I should probably admit researching graham cake, marshmallow frosting recipes, and toasting strategies. And, just for the record, though I threatened to furiously copy down Martha’s graham cake recipe while “mindlessly” hanging out in the bookstore- I refrained. And committed no copyright infringement. Promise.

I finally settled on a slightly altered version of this recipe and the results were pretty good. There’s no flour in the mix (just crushed up graham cracker) so the texture is a bit different from a traditional flour-based cake. But it was pretty good and very graham-y.

Figuring out the topping turned out to be the most challenging part of the whole process. And, thanks to some fabulous friends/cupcake fans, I now have a culinary torch for just these kinds of situations. But no worries, I have a (fairly) foolproof technique for those who remain torch-less.

Once you’ve baked your cupcakes, follow these simple instructions for toasted marshmallow/gooey chocolate-ness that we all love:

After your cupcakes have cooled (REALLY cooled-you don’t want the chocolate or marshmallow fluff melting prematurely), place a square or two of chocolate on the top of the cupcake.
Pipe some marshmallow fluff on the cupcake like you would with any other buttercream/cream cheese frosting. You want to cover some, but not all of the chocolate. The graham cake is pretty delicate, and fluff can be difficult to spread, so I’d really recommend piping.
Toss the cupcakes in a toaster oven. Try to use a setting that directs heat only to the top of the cupcakes (I used broil) because you really don’t want to be toasting the wrapper. I’d avoid the actual oven, or you’ll probably ended up burning the poor little guys like I did. Of course, with the toaster oven technique, you can only do about three or four cupcakes at a time, but the final result is worth it. And totally reminiscent of marshmallows at a campfire.

I know it's not really the season for s'more-themed anything, but sometimes we just need a nice little reminder that winter is temporary, right? Either way, enjoy!

S'more Cupcakes

    •    2 2/3 cups of finely crushed graham crackers
    •    2/3 cup of finely chopped pecans (optional)
    •    1 1/3 tsp of baking soda
    •    1/8 tsp of nutmeg
    •    1/8 tsp of cinnamon
    •    3 tbsp. of butter
    •    2/3 cup of granulated sugar
    •    2/3 cup of light brown sugar
    •    5 eggs
    •    1 1/3 cup of sour cream
    •    1 1/2 tsp of vanilla

In a small bowl, combine the nutmeg, cinnamon, crushed grahams, nuts and soda. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and the sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat very well with each addition. Add vanilla. Add sour cream and crumb mixture alternately to the creamed mixture.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill to 3/4 with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until the cake tests done.

Banana Nut Bread

2010-02-09T08:15:00.011-06:00

by Anne

So, I’m not very good at eating bananas before they go bad. I am, however, excellent at eating banana bread before it goes bad. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right folks?

This recipe was gifted to me at my wedding shower- and with a minor substitution here or there (it calls for chocolate and for some reason I’m not a huge fan of chocolate in my breakfast pastries), it makes the perfect loaf of banana bread. Trust me on this one, I have tried hundreds …ok, probably more like seven… different banana bread recipes and this one is stellar.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vinegar (I used apple cider, white would work too)
1 c. mashed bananas (about 3 medium-sized bananas)
1 c. nuts (I used a mix of almonds, pecans and walnuts. Or, 1 c. of chocolate chips, if you like that kind of thing)

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla. Add eggs and beat well. In a medium bowl, sift flour with salt and baking soda, set aside. In a small bowl, make sour milk by combining vinegar and milk. Add sour milk alternately with flour to the creamed mixture. Stir in mashed bananas and nuts. Pour into two* greased and floured loaf pans. Top with a mixture of brown sugar and nuts, to taste.

*Make sure to split the batter between two loaf pans- this stuff is DENSE and one large pan will result in a mushy middle, over baked top, and a crabby baker. My husband can vouch for that.

Roasted Tomato Soup

2010-02-06T22:10:00.002-06:00

by Anne

Anyone who’s ever been to Minnesota in the winter knows that it’s cold, snowy, and dark. And anyone who’s ever met me knows that those just happen to be three of my least favorite adjectives to describe the weather.

So to cope, there are a few small comforts like Starbucks coffee, toastie toes, and having a husband that doesn’t make fun of you when you wear your Snuggie to bed. Oh, and tomato soup. Homemade tomato soup, to be exact.

This recipe couldn’t be easier, really. Preheat your oven to 375. Cut 6 or so tomatoes in half and place them cut side down in a glass baking dish. Top with 6 garlic cloves- peeled and whole, 1 tsp. each oregano and basil, and half of a red onion, chopped. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar (the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of each, but I didn’t measure), and sprinkle with salt and pepper until the whole thing looks like this:

Bake for 45 minutes or until it looks like this:

Let the pan cool for a few minutes, and use the time to heat 2 cups of chicken (or vegetable) stock in a large pot on the stove. When the tomato/onion/garlic bliss has cooled a bit, place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree. Once everything is nice and smooth, add the tomato mixture to the pot with the chicken stock. Stir in at least one can of tomato paste to thicken- feel free to add more for a denser consistency. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Oh and be sure to top with popcorn before serving. Trust me on this one.

Roasted Tomato Soup (adapted from this recipe)

• 6-8 tomatoes (I used a 6 roma and 2 big boy)
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• salt
• pepper
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 can tomato paste

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut tomatoes in half and place in a shallow baking dish cut side down. Top with onion, garlic, oregano and basil. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes. Place roasted vegetables in food processor bowl or blender and begin puree. Heat chicken stock in a large pot on the stovetop. Add roasted tomato puree to the stock pot. Stir in tomato paste to thicken, if desired. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Well, hello there...

2009-09-27T19:56:00.017-05:00

by Terese

I always hated the days when I would wake up late for something. You'd have to leave dirty, unshowered and tired. People would be waiting for you. There would be no parking and no matter what you did for the first little bit you would be behind. And then there's the excused. "I swear my alarm didn't go off. My car wasn't starting. I got lost." Most mean I couldn't get it together in time.

That is how I feel. Like I woke up late for the blog and, while I swear I showered, I have some catching up to do. "But I was moving all of July. And then brother Christopher and fiance Anne moved back. And then job happened. Did I mention my camera battery died and because of said move the charger was packed in a unknown box?" So sorry.

A simple bar may not be an extremely exciting way to make my entrance, but I will have you know that after the wedding in a couple weeks I will have wonderful pictures to share. And its not to say that there hasn't been baking going on. I have bananas everywhere. All the time. Not kidding, they take over my freezer. There have been plenty of banana breads and cupcakes, trials for the wedding cupcake recipes! And muffins being made to try and use up 2 foot long zucchinis.

There are so many things going on right now. Schools are starting, fall foods are here, Christopher and Anne are getting married (!) and I happened to have just started a different job. Its like my own personal back to school... without homework. The one thing that I miss the most about mornings at home is breakfast. I'm lucky if I remember to put some dry cereal in a bag before I leave. Even easier are the 2 dollar Lara bars I am consuming on an almost daily basis lately. 2 dollars everyday?! That's like 14 dollars a week! And I'm broke! (Reason I took this different job that makes me miss breakfast...) So, to counteract my 2 dollar a day habit I decided to make my own breakfast bars to take with me. Not very pretty or extravagant. Practical. Cheap and mucho grande delicious.

I give you Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Raisins Bars. Whole wheat and with a little apple in there. They were super easy and took literally 15 minutes. The inspiration was from the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars that blogger Baking Bites made a while back. But I wanted something to count as a healthy breakfast even with a whole cup of sugar in it. That's where the whole wheat flour came in and some applesauce in place of part of the butter. Now I can bring my favorite breakfast with me to enjoy with coffee while I take my break.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Raisin Bars

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon both nutmeg and ginger
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 in pan or line with parchment paper. Mix together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and spices. Make a well in the center and add the egg, applesauce, vanilla and melted butter. Stir until its all moistened together. Add the oats and raisins and stir until combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread out evenly with spatula or hands. Bake for 22-24 min. You want them to look like oatmeal raisin cookies, light golden brown.

Blonde Brownies

2009-09-23T12:42:00.003-05:00

by Anne

I rarely revisit a recipe without making a couple changes- either adding something new or switching up proportions. So when I went looking for a good "standby" blonde brownie recipe, I was expecting to experiment with a few different versions before I finally stumbled upon a keeper. Well, little did I know that this recipe is (almost) perfect as is.

Everything about the recipe is easy - the ingredient list is short, assembly simple, and final product delicious. I have no idea how many times I've made these guys - and as long as I cook them long enough (I've been tempted to pull them out early because they smell so darn good) they're great. They really just taste like chocolate chip cookie bars, but then again, isn't that true of all blondies?

So...just preheat your oven to 350, grab a mixing bowl, and cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in two cups of self-rising flour. I suppose you could use all purpose flour, AND add baking soda, AND add salt, but the magic (it is magic, right?) of self-rising flour is part of what makes this recipe so much fun- and so easy. Stir chocolate chips- nuts too, if you want- into the batter.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish. Use butter and flour, please. Pretty please. The only time I've ever screwed this recipe up was when I was too lazy to butter and flour the pan. I used a generic cooking spray and wow, I've never regretted anything so much (no, not really). But it was bad, really bad. And while my fiance ate his fair share of them to make me feel better, his "Oh, these aren't THAT bad" comments reaffirmed once and for all that cooking spray is not an appropriate substitute for butter.

Pour the batter into the pan (it will be a bit thick, so be sure to spread it around) and sprinkle with sea salt. Well, the sea salt is technically optional, but I highly encourage it.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (at least). It's easy to under-bake these guys, so poke 'em with a toothpick in a few places to make sure they're done. Let them cool for about 10 minutes (if you can wait that long), chop them up and enjoy! I'm sure they'd be great all crumbled up and served over ice cream- but I've never had 'em around long enough to try.

Blonde Brownies (adapted from about.com):

2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup (6 oz) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups self-rising flour
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together brown sugar and margarine; beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Stir in flour, chocolate morsels. Spread in greased and floured 9 x 13-inch pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

2009-08-26T16:05:00.009-05:00

by Anne

A while ago I decided to jump on the whoopie pie bandwagon. And since my friends haven’t complained (yet) about the occasional whoopie-pie-instead-of-cupcakes-for-dessert, I’ll consider myself relatively successful.

Indeed, it only took a few aesthetically unappetizing yet still edible attempts to settle on a fairly foolproof recipe. (My fiancée was kind enough to eat those first few batches without too much complaining- thanks honey!) Since then, I’ve used variations of mixes and flavors to make a few different batches: chocolate with vanilla filling, vanilla with chocolate filling, and red velvet with cream cheese filling. I’m still considering myself a novice when it comes to flavor and technique, so stay tuned for more exotic concoctions!

These red velvet whoopie pies were probably the most popular batch so far. And I can’t stress how easy they are to make. The premise is simple: use a box cake mix, and follow the recipe on the back (usually a couple of eggs, some oil, etc.) Don’t add the water- you need the batter to be thick so it doesn’t turn into a thin sheet of cake when you bake ‘em. Add one box of instant pudding mix and ¼ cup self-rising flour to the batter and mix it until all ingredients are incorporated (usually a couple minutes in my mixer). The consistency should be thick, closer to cookie dough than cake mix.

Grease a cookie sheet and drop spoonfuls of batter on the sheet (be sure to give these guys plenty of room, they’ll grow in the oven). Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. I usually get a few batches of whoopie pies from each mix, though I make mine a bit on the small side…the first attempt was disastrously pancake-sized.

The filling is similarly simple. I use a recipe adapted from the “Marshmallow Fluff” website*, though I usually end up adding more powdered sugar and/or butter to the mix, depending on how much I need. For these red velvet guys, I decided to experiment with a cream cheese marshmallow filling, which was later likened to "Dunkaroo" frosting by a pleased dinner guest.

The substitution was easy, I simply used cream cheese in lieu of butter, and then played around with the vanilla and powdered sugar until I was satisfied. Oh, and the original fluff recipe calls for only half a jar. Yeah right. There’s no way I’m going to (a) only use half a jar of fluff – I need way more than that to get the right whoopie pie-to-filling ratio, and (b) measure out half a jar. I’m lucky if I get all the fluff off my spatula and mixing bowl when I’m done, I can’t fathom intentionally dirtying another dish in the measuring process.

Assembly is pretty self explanatory, but here are a few pointers:

DO match up your tops and bottoms according to size before you start in on the sticky filling process. No one wants a disproportionate whoopie pie, and you certainly don't want to start in on this endeavor after your hands are covered in fluff.
DON’T stack your whoopie pies, especially when they’re still warm. The pies will stick to each other, then pull apart and look far less pretty than originally intended.
DO, dust them with powered sugar. Especially if you don’t follow pointer #2. They’ll look pretty and you can hide any imperfections.
DON’T eat them all in one sitting. You’ll feel sick. Trust me (and my fiancée) on this one, please.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies:

1 box red velvet cake mix
1 box instant pudding (I used vanilla, but feel free to experiment with flavors!)
1/4 cup self-rising flour
Eggs (use quantity listed on box)
Oil (ditto)

Mix all ingredients in electric mixer until batter is thick and not (too) lumpy. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until pies are done. Use a toothpick to test, if necessary.

Cream Cheese Marshmallow Fluff Filling
(adapted from Marshmallow Fluff):

1 jar Marshmallow Fluff
1+ cups powdered sugar
1+ teaspoons vanilla
1/2+ block cream cheese

Mix all ingredients in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add more sugar, cream cheese, or vanilla to taste. Spread onto cooled whoopie pies.

* In case you need another reason to love the company that brought you fluffernutters, check out the Fluff Jingles, as sung by the Flufferettes, or this rockin' ad about the causal relationship between consuming fluffernutters and making mad skateboarding moves. Anyone know where I can get one of those fluffernutter helmets?

Homemade Pop Tarts

2009-08-18T10:43:00.015-05:00

by Anne

While packing up my apartment in Chicago – for an impending move to the Twin Cities- I happened upon one of these guys:

My fiancé’s pop tart container. Now, I’m pretty sure I haven’t had a pop tart since I was in high school, but the second I saw this too cute and totally unnecessary pink piece of plastic, a domestic frenzy hit. I needed to make homemade pop tarts. And they needed to be pink. With uber-cheery rainbow sprinkles.

Luckily, one of my fiancé’s sisters and her pastry-loving boyfriend were coming over for dinner. They’re always up for a good culinary experiment, and I knew they would appreciate the silliness that is homemade pop tarts.

Initially, I had hopes of making a vodka pie crust, as I’ve read that the extra moisture from the alcohol makes the whole precarious mixing/chilling/assembling process much easier. And, of course, the vodka will bake off in the oven to reveal a delicious flaky crust. Alas, we’ve had a few parties lately and there was no vodka to be had. So, I turned to the next best thing (not really): vinegar. Apple cider vinegar to be exact. It has the same “extra moisture without a sloppy crust” properties as vodka, and it’s cheap to boot!

After whipping up the pie crust, I got to work on the strawberry filling. First, I grabbed some frozen strawberries and strawberry syrup- left over from a failed attempt at one of Emeril’s strawberry pies. (By the way, I’m still annoyed with you, Emeril). Then, I threw those in the food processor with a couple of tablespoons of strawberry jam.

After the dough had chilled, I rolled it out, and cut it into 3 x 5 rectangles- I used an index card to ensure (well, let’s say “attempt”) accuracy. I lined up all the pop tart tops and bottoms on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and started the assembly. First, I beat an egg in a small bowl and brushed the edges of the pop tarts. Then, I scooped about a tablespoon of filling on to a “bottom” and- logically- covered the “bottom” with a “top.” I secured the sides by pressing down the edges with a fork. I also poked a few holes in the top of the pop tart, since I had (irrational?) fears of pop tarts exploding in my oven. After assembling all the tops and bottoms into lovely little pop tarts, the dough was quite soft, so I threw them in the freezer. After about 10 minutes, I grabbed the cookie sheets, compulsively trimmed the edges of the pop tarts with a knife, and tossed ‘em in the oven.

After the little guys had baked and chilled and I had (again, somewhat compulsively) poked them flat with a toothpick, I made some royal icing. I knew that I wanted the icing to be bright pink, so I used some neon pink food coloring (thanks Mom!). I made the icing a bit on the thick side, since pop tarts are notorious for having a well-defined icing edge. After gently spreading the icing on with a round-edge icing knife, I added some rainbow jimmies, and put the pop tarts in the refrigerator so the icing would set.

The verdict? Ridiculously silly but delicious. The pie crust was far fancier than Kellogg’s pop tart dough, and the icing had more flavor. It was affectionately compared to doughnut icing by the aforementioned pastry-loving dinner guest, and the whole ensemble was fondly likened to “tasty cartoon food” by my initially-suspicious-of-homemade-pop-tarts fiancé. I believe he ate three of them in one sitting.

For the sake of full disclosure, I’d have to admit that the filling was a bit blah. There wasn’t enough of it after the pie crust/pop tart had puffed up in the oven- though it was annoyingly spilling out of the sides during assembly. The flavor wasn’t spectacular either, so next time I’ll probably use more fresh fruit and skip the jam. And I’ll probably try to inject more filling after the pop tarts have baked, since I can’t seem to think of a different solution to that problem.

Pie Crust (from Bon Appetit):

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes*
8 tablespoons (or more) ice water
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 egg, beaten**

Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and process until coarse meal forms. Add 8 tablespoons ice water and cider vinegar; blend until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto work surface; divide dough in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour. Bake at 350 degree for about 15-20 minutes.***

*I only had salted butter, so I just cut down the salt in the recipe

**You’ll need the egg for assembly.

***This time and temperature is for the pop tarts. If you plan to use this pie crust recipe for an actual pie, you may need to increase baking time.

Filling:

Hmmm. It’s tough to describe. Basically, I used the some leftover filling that never set from this pie. I wouldn’t recommend it. But if you’re really that set on trying it, make the filling (strawberries, sugar, vanilla, water, brandy) and skip the corn starch- just in case your filling actually sets. Add 2 tablespoons strawberry jam.

Icing (adapted from Joy of Baking):

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food coloring

Combine sugar and meringue powder in a medium size bowl. Add water, vanilla, and food coloring and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (at least 5 minutes). Continue to add sugar or water to reach desired consistency. The icing should be thick, but spreadable.

Welcome!

2009-07-28T22:57:00.000-05:00

Just you wait- this blog will make the people talk a lot . . . about broccoli and chocolate. A very happy pair!