Category Archives: Dessert

Jan 30 3 comments
Brownies, Chocolate, Dessert, Recipes

Dark Cocoa Brownies for Coco

finishedbrownies

I’m really not a weeper, but I have to admit to the world that I was a bit teary-eyed when Conan O’Brien thanked his band, crew and fans for their support and said goodbye to The Tonight Show. Everyone has their favorite late night host and for me, it’s always been Conan. His awkward charm and self-deprecating humor made his show a pleasure to watch. For those that may not know, Tom Hanks gave him the nickname “Coco” a few months back and I’m dedicating these dark cocoa brownies to Coco. On Conan’s last day I changed my Facebook status to “Sad it’s Coco’s last day” and a friend from high school sent me her condolences on the death of my pet. Ha! We had a good laugh about that after I explained.

Now let’s get to some brownies…and I love me some brownies. I’m kind of particular, but I think others may agree with my view of brownies. Fudgy, made with high quality chocolate or cocoa, no chocolate chips for me, but nuts are ok. I also am very fond of dark chocolate and when I saw dark chocolate brownies on The Craving Chronicles, I was jumping up and down. She used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa, but I realized I had seen black cocoa at King Arthur Flour. I added some of this black magic to my KAF order and waited for my delivery.

cocoaandbowl cupwithcocoa

They are not kidding when they say black cocoa. It is dark and once you add your wet ingredients in, it looks like you’ve made oil. And the photo shoot was no picnic. The brownies mocked me as the natural sunlight bounced off its shiny black crust. I brought these to my in-laws and everyone loved them. They taste like soft Oreos and I think they would make a killer Oreo trifle of some sort, but they were a bit cakey for my brownie tastes.  I don’t think it was the recipe since the picture over at The Craving Chronicles looked perfectly fudgy. I think it was too much black magic. If anyone has ever had the dream to incorporate chocolate in every room of the house, I believe you could grout tile with this cocoa powder. When I scraped the bowl, the batter left behind hardened and stuck. If you needed to occupy some kids, give them this bowl to lick and they’ll be working on it for days. I tweeted about my brownies and KAF suggested mixing their black cocoa with regular cocoa so that the deep cocoa is an accent. And that’s just what I did with the next batch.

bowlwithbatter spatula

batterinpan browniesinpan1

Brownie attempt #2. I used a different recipe that looked easy and the pictured brownies looked amazing. The first Oreo-like recipe was adapted from a KAF recipe and this next recipe was also from KAF for Deep-Dark Fudgy Brownies.  These were really good. So good, that I made my husband take the bulk of them to work as not to tempt myself to eat the entire batch. Marc returned with an empty container and apparently the whole office was buzzing and wondering who had brought in the “black brownies”. I tweaked the recipe a bit because I cannot help myself, so I will share my changes with you.

finishedbrownie2

Deep-Dark Fudgy Brownies

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

1/3 C. black cocoa

1/3 C. regular cocoa (I used Droste cocoa)

1 C. granulated sugar

1/2 C. confectioner’s sugar

1 t. kosher salt (or 3/4 t. regular salt)

1 C. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 T. espresso powder

1 C. toasted almonds, chopped

3 large eggs

1/2 C. vegetable oil

2 T. water (or brewed coffee)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8×8 square pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cocoas, sugars, salt, flour, espresso powder and nuts.

3. Add the eggs, oil and water or coffee, mixing just until smooth. Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 8×8 square pan, smoothing the top.

4.  Bake brownies for approximately 30-40 minutes, but check early. Mine were done in about 30 minutes.  To check for doneness, stick the tip of  a sharp knife into the center and wiggle around enough to see what’s going on. If the batter under the crust is still shiny and smooth, they are not done. Put back in and check frequently If the batter is ultra-moist and crumbly looking, they are done.

5. Place pan on a cooling rack and cool for 1 hour before slicing into 16 rich brownies.

6. Raise your brownie in the air and toast Conan before taking a delicious bite.

Dec 22 5 comments
Bread, Dessert, Recipes

Christmas Stollen

Yeasted Stollen with Powd SugarMy Oma used to bring Stollen, a German Christmas bread, for Christmas every year. It was lovingly packaged in wax paper and again in aluminum foil. As kids, the glistening sugar crust was the best part. My Mom has insisted since my Oma’s passing that the last year she made it was the best, but sadly my Oma did not have a recipe box and I was never able to see her exact recipe. A week ago I went on an extensive search for Stollen recipes and there are tons of recipes out there, but I was looking for the rum/almond type since it was most like my Oma’s. There are many spiced recipes, usually with cardamom that sound delicious, like this one recommended by The Honey Eater that I will definitely be making another time. I combined a few elements from different recipes to come up with the yeast Stollen I made and then I also adapted a quick Stollen recipe from King Arthur Flour that uses baking powder to help it rise a bit and has the unique addition of ricotta cheese. I thought these two recipes had similar fruits and flavoring like I was looking for, but I was interested in the different approaches to the recipes.

My Stollen Tips

  • Soaking the dried fruit in dark rum is a good idea. It plumps the fruit and adds great flavor.
  • After the Stollen has baked, brushing it with melted butter and sprinkling with powdered sugar seals in the flavor and makes the crust extra tasty. I think repeating this process and creating two layers is a good idea, too.
  • Use your favorite dried fruits. Traditionally, you’d see citron and candied cherries in Stollen, but I prefer to use raisins, currants, apricots and cherries.
  • Toast the slivered almonds, always!
  • I used the Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor because I happen to be placing an order at King Arthur Flour and saw it was recommended for their Stollen recipe. It is not heavy or artificial tasting, it just adds a nice hint of sweetness.

Sweet Dough Flavor

Yeasted Stollen

Makes 2 loaves, adapted from several sources.

1/2 C. raisins

1/2 C. dried currants

1/2 C. dried apricots

1/2 C. dried cherries

1/3 C. dark rum

4 1/2 C. all-purpose flour, plus additional as needed

2 (1/4 oz.) pkg. active dry yeast or 2 scant T.

1/3 C. sugar

1 1/2 t. salt

1/2 C. milk

1/2 C. water

4 T. butter, cut up

1 t. grated lemon rind

2 eggs

1 t. almond extract

1/2 C. slivered blanched almonds, toasted and cooled

4 T. melted butter

powdered sugar

1 1/2 t. buttery sweet dough flavor (from King Arthur Flour, optional but good)

1. Combine raisins, currants, apricots, cherries and rum in a bowl and let stand at least 1 hour or overnight.

2. Stir together 2 C. of the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl. Heat milk, water, butter and lemon rind in a small saucepan over low heat until warm (115-120 degrees, optimal temp. for the yeast). Add to flour mixture along with eggs and almond extract (and buttery sweet dough flavor if using). Beat at low speed of electric mixture until flour is moistened. Beat at medium speed until well combined.

Warmed Milk Mixture Yeast Stollen in Mixer

3. Stir 1/3 C. flour into fruit mixture. Stir fruit mixture, almonds and enough remaining flour into batter to make the dough moderately stiff. I ended up adding about 1 C. more flour, but start adding in 1/4 C. increments until you get the desired texture.

4. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 to 8 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

5. Punch dough down, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Turn onto lightly floured surface and divide in half. Pat or roll each half into an 8×14 inch oval. Fold dough in half lengthwise, bringing upper half not quite to the edge of the lower half and press firmly along edge to secure. Place loaves on lightly greased rimmed baking sheet (I used my silpat, but you could also use parchment). Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Yeast Stollen Ball Yeasted Stollen on Pan

6. Uncover. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven until loaves are golden and sound hollow when lightly tapped, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with powdered sugar. When the loaves have cooled, brush with another coat of melted butter and sprinkle with powdered sugar again.

Bite of Yeasted Stollen Slice of Yeasted Stollen

Easiest Stollen

Makes 2 loaves. Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 C. unsalted cold butter, cut into small chunks

1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese

1 large egg

1 t. vanilla extract

1 1/2 t. buttery sweet dough flavor, optional but good

1 t. lemon zest

1/2 C. raisins

1/2 C. dried currants

1/4 C. dried cherries

1/3 C. dark rum

1/2 C. slivered almonds, toasted and cooled

6 T. butter, melted

3/4 C. confectioners’ sugar

1. Soak dried fruit in dark rum at least 1 hour or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment or a silpat. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.

3. Cut the cold butter chunks into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two forks. In a separate bowl, mix together the cheese, egg, vanilla, lemon zest and buttery sweet dough flavor. Toss the fruit and almonds into the flour mixture until evenly distributed. Then combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing until most of the four is moistened.

Cutting Butter Ricotta Mixture

4. Turn the sticky dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead a few times until it holds together. I ended up adding quite a few sprinkles of flour to make it come together. Divide dough in half. Roll each piece of dough into a 8×7 inch oval about 1/2 inch thick.

Quick Dough Ball Quick Dough in Shape

5. Fold each piece of dough roughly in half, leaving the edge of the top half about 1/2 inch short of the edge of the bottom half. Fold lengthwise. Use the edge of your hand to press the dough to seal the edge. This is the traditional Stollen shape. Place the shaped Stollen on prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake the Stollen until they are very light browned around the edges, about 30-40 minutes. A cake tester inserted into the middle should come out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and brush with 2 to 3 T. melted butter and sprinkle heavily with confectioners’ sugar.

7. Allow the Stollen to cool and brush with remaining melted butter and sprinkle generously with sugar again. Wrap in plastic until ready to serve. Plastic-wrapped Stollen will keep well for 2 weeks or so at room temperature.

Bite of Quick Stollen Slice of Quick Stollen

Tasting Day 1

Yeast Stollen

Marc and I both thought this lacked a bit of flavor. It has a nice spongy texture because of the yeast, though. It is important that it has a nice butter and sugar crust to enhance the sweetness of the fruit.

Easy Stollen

SO tasty! It came out quite flat due to the lack of yeast, but it is moist and flavorful. I think the addition of ricotta adds a hint of tangy creaminess. It reminded me a little of a tender and moist breakfast muffin.

Tasting Day 2

Yeast Stollen

Much improved! I tried a slice this morning to see if it had changed at all and I was not missing flavor this morning. The flavor plus the yeasty texture made this very, very good.

Easy Stollen

Consistently flavorful and tasty. I think the texture of the yeast Stollen plus the improved flavor beat out the easy Stollen this morning, but it is still very yummy and a wonderful alternative.

Both recipes are great and I recommend them both. In the case of the yeast Stollen, I believe that recipe will improve with age since it is a more traditional recipe and I’m sure it was meant to be enjoyed for weeks. If you’re looking for a less traditional recipe with great Stollen flavor, try the easy Stollen recipe. Thank you for taking the Stollen journey with me! Have a great holiday with lots of family, friends and fantastic food!

Nov 14 3 comments
Dessert, Recipes

Detroit Medicine

VernorsCan

Last week my stomach was not happy with me. For 2 days, I just did not feel right and I’m pretty sure I know why. We have been installing baseboard molding and it is the molding of my dreams. Contemporary, no frills and 5 1/2″ tall. We have been painting, cutting and sanding and I haven’t had much time to go to the grocery store or cook and we’ve had absolutely no desire to wash dishes (like we ever do). A few times we went the fast food route and on Tuesday and Wednesday my stomach and I were not on speaking terms.  Insert great husband. Marc went out and came back with a bag from the pharmacy and I was wondering what he had in his bag of tricks. Pepto Bismal? Ugh. Rolaids? Bearable. Inside the bag was a case of Vernor’s and vanilla ice cream. You see, friends, Marc’s family believe that a Vernor’s float and Nyquil can cure any ailment you have. Marc’s Dad has been known to whisper from the couch that he could use some Vernor’s and ice cream when he didn’t feel well. Not that my family doesn’t have its own weird “cures” (mostly old-school German superstitions) but the pop and ice cream thing boggled my mind.

FloatPour

Ever have Vernor’s before? I have to admit that I was an adult before hearing about the stuff, even though I grew up only 3 hours west of Detroit. The story of Vernor’s is that James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist, had brewed up a secret mixture of 19 ingredients including ginger and vanilla and put it in an oak cask. In 1862, James was called up to fight in the Civil War and returned 4 years later to find that the aging process had turned his mixture into delicious Vernor’s. It also says on every can that they continue to age their soda in oak barrels to give Vernor’s its distinct flavor.

FoamyGoodness

We don’t usually keep pop (yep, I’m from the Midwest!) around, but Vernor’s is unique. I think the best way to describe it is a mix of cream soda with a bit of gingery flavor. It’s sweet and super bubbly. If you take a breath too close to your Vernor’s, you’ll soon be hacking like a heavy smoker. The extreme carbonation, however, turns the creamy vanilla ice cream into vanilla foam and that’s when the magic happens. I told Marc’s adorable Grandma that he made me a Vernor’s float when I didn’t feel well and her response was, “Well, I don’t know about the ice cream, but the Vernor’s sure helps.” Ha. Well, we’ve proven no facts here, but darn it, this skeptic felt better.

Oct 24 4 comments
Cookies, Dessert, Recipes

Love For The Whoopie Pie

whoopie

I have a ridiculously large binder with printed recipes that I find all over the internet. It is filled to the max with fantastic looking recipes that I really, really want to try. I recently purchased binder #2 as a destination for the worthiest of tasty recipes. I was quite excited about my new binder, but since then I haven’t had any hands-down “Binder #2″ winners and I was a little sad about that. Last night, however, I fell in love with the Pumpkin Whoopie Pie.

Holy smokes are these things delicious! Just the other day I was on Culinerapy and read Sara’s adorable post and saw them. Pumpkin spiced pillows of moist cakey cookies sandwiched together with a generous dollop of cream cheese frosting. All I needed was an excuse to make these sinful treats and then our friends conveniently had a baby boy. Tonight we are bringing dinner and Pumpkin Whoopie Pies over and looking forward to holding baby Devin and hearing all about their first blissful, sleep-deprived week as new parents. I did send one special pie to my buddy Tim at work this morning and he sent me this message, “OMG Nicole! This Pumpkin Burger is awesome!” So take it from Tim and try these  Pumpkin Burgers while I slip this recipe into binder #2.

Baby Devin can't wait to try a whoopie pie one day.

Baby Devin can't wait to try a whoopie pie one day.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Adapted from Culinerapy via Matt Lewis of Baked Bakery

Makes 10 pies with a standard ice cream scoop.

For the whoopie cookies:

3 C. all-purpose flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

2 T. ground cinnamon

1 T. ground ginger

1 T. ground cloves

1 1/2 C. firmly packed light brown sugar

1 C. vegetable oil

3 C. pumpkin puree, chilled

2 large eggs

1 t. pure vanilla extract

For the cream cheese filling:

1 1/2 C. powdered sugar

1/2 C. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Combine flour mixture with pumpkin mixture and whisk until incorporated.

3. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15-17 minutes. Let cool completely on pan. (I transfer to wire rack and this worked well).

4. Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or with an electric beater) beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)

5. When cookies have completely cooled, place a generous dollop of filling in the middle of the flat side of one of the cookies. Sandwich with another cookie, press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to a baking sheet with parchment or another container and refrigerate pies at least 30 minutes before serving up to 3 days.

*I have posted a link to Sara’s adapted recipe above. I posted the recipe I followed. I cut back on the sugar in the cookies and way back on the sugar in the frosting. Sara also used a ziploc baggie to pipe filling into cookies and I used an offset spatula to add the filling and I thought it worked well.

Oct 13 1 comments
Bars, Dessert, Interests

Cranberry Oat Cereal Bars

barwithmilk

I hate to bore you with two cereal posts in a row, but this week I actually have a cereal recipe for you. These are a fun take on Rice Krispie Treats, but instead of using crisp rice cereal, you use toasted oat cereal (Cheerios) and dried cranberries. This recipe is very easy and great for when you want to bring a snack somewhere. You can play around with the mix-ins, too. I’d like to try toasted slivered almonds sometime very soon.

Cranberry Oat Cereal Bars

Recipe from Everyday Food

(I make these in a 9×13 pan to have a more stable bar, the original recipe calls for a 10×15 rimmed baking sheet.)

Nonstick Cooking Spray

4 T. unsalted butter

1 (10 oz.) bag mini marshmallows

1/2 t. salt

6 C. toasted oat cereal

1 C. dried cranberries (or raisins)

1. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add marshmallows and salt; cook, stirring occasionally until marshmallows have melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the dried cranberries.

3. Immediately transfer to the greased pan. Using a spatula or your hands (I prefer using my hands slightly wet), press in quickly and firmly. Let cool, about 1 hour. Turn pan over and pop out the firm oat mixture. Cut into 24 bars or make as small or large as you like. Store in airtight container up to 2 days.

I’ve made these a few times now and they are a hit with both kids and adults. If you can believe it, I have never made Rice Krispie Treats before, even though I do love them. They are another thing I’ll have to add to my list of “I can’t believe I still haven’t made that.”

Oct 01 1 comments
Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, Interests, Recipes

Chocolate Stout Cake

stoutbundt

I tend to like adventurous ingredients and when I hopped over to Smitten Kitchen for a dessert recipe and saw that this cake had beer in it, well my decision was made right then and there. Coincidentally, I”m not a fan of beer and can count on 1 hand the number of beers I’ve consumed in my lifetime, but one commenter at Smitten Kitchen described the nutty flavor the stout added to the cake and I wanted in.

In the case of a “secret” ingredient, I don’t offer up that ingredient right away. I know a few people that wouldn’t touch something that they thought had something “strange” in it. However, Marc took great pleasure in telling everyone that this cake had beer in it. Of course, he mentioned I used Guiness, which is a bit more reassuring than imagining Budweiser in a cake. We brought the cake to a gathering of about 60  and the people that tried it seemed to enjoy it. I personally really loved it and was happy to finally make a cake from scratch that was as moist as cake from a box mix, but had a deeper and more interesting chocolate flavor. Exactly what I’ve been looking for. Do you taste a bit of Guiness? Sure, a bit, but as the commenter said, it just imparts some nuttiness. For the ganache, I substituted instant espresso for instant coffee because I had it on hand and even though I used less, it had a distinct coffee flavor and I was looking to only enhance the chocolate flavor. I’m posting the further altered recipe that I will try next time.

Chocolate Stout Cake

Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 C. stout (I used Guiness)

1 C.  unsalted butter (2 sticks)

3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed (I used Droste)

2 C. all purpose flour

2 C. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

2 large eggs

2/3 C. sour cream (I used light)

6 oz. good semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

6 T. heavy cream

1/4 t. instant espresso

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a standard bundt pan well.

2. Bring 1 C. stout and 1 C. butter to simmer in large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and 1 t. salt together in a large bowl to blend.

4. Using a mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.

5. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed until the white from the flour just disappears. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

6. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

7. Transfer the cake (still in the pan) to a wire rack to cool completely. (Deb states it is important to cool completely or the moist cake may not come completely out of the pan.) Once cool you can turn the cake onto the rack for drizzling the ganache.

Ganache

1. Melt chocolate, heavy cream and coffee in the top of a double-boiler (or alternately put a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water) until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

2. Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.

This is my new favorite chocolate cake. If you double the recipe, it will make a 3-layer 8″ round cake and I think it would make a seriously delicious chocolate birthday cake. I thought that 2 cups of sugar seemed like too much and was leery about how sweet this would turn out to be. Deb has mentioned on more than one occasion that she doesn’t dig super sweet desserts, so I decided not to change the amount of sugar and I was surprised that I enjoyed the recipe as is. I might try to remove 1/4 C. of sugar in the future, only because 2 cups is quite a bit of sugar and not because this recipe needs to be altered in any way. I’ve had some good bundt cake in my day, but this tops the list.

Aug 10 2 comments
Dessert, Interests, Recipes, Restaurants

Panna Cotta Crazy

panna-cotta-with-berries

A few months back we went to this great restaurant, Mind, Body, Spirits, and we had the most delicious burger with roasted rosemary tomatoes and at the time they had a Cold Noodle Salad that was so much tastier than it sounds. Even after all of that great food, we knew we had to split dessert because this place makes their own homemade ice cream! Our waitress said the special dessert of the day was Panna Cotta and Marc looked at me with a puzzled look. I knew what it was, but had never tried it.  I thought to myself, isn’t it just glorified jello, really? Oh no, folks, this is good stuff. It was served with homemade Raspberry Ice Cream, so good! Marc really loved it, too.

As soon as we left the restaurant, the search was on for a worthy Panna Cotta recipe.  I found several, but my enthusiasm fizzled as the days passed. One day I was clicking around on David Lebovitz’s site and he had a simple and delicious sounding recipe. This was it, time to make the Panna Cotta! It’s summer and it’s a dessert that I barely have to heat, perfect! So I warmed the heavy cream with sugar, added the vanilla, poured the gloriousness onto water and gelatin and poured the dessert into my little white coffee cups that I never use (thanks David for the great idea). Well, now I do, they are my Panna Cotta cups, right? Now for the awful part, you have to wait 2 hours for these to firm up, BUT it is so easy that you can make these while you are preparing dinner and then it won’t be long after dinner before they are ready to be served up! I topped the Panna Cotta with strawberries and blueberries sprinkled with a bit of vanilla and a slight sprinkle of brown sugar so that a syrupy juice accumulated. Mmmmm….it was worth the wait. I now cannot get enough of the stuff. I tried the next batch with half and half, trying to get the flavor without as many calories and sadly friends, it’s just not the same. Going back to full cream next time.

Panna Cotta

From David Lebovitz, makes eight servings

4 C. heavy cream

1/2 C. sugar

2 t. vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise

2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 t.)

6 T. cold water

1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. (If using the vanilla bean, scrape seeds from the bean into the cream and add the beanpod. Cover and infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the bean and rewarm before continuing).

2. Lightly oil 8 custard cups with neutral-tasting oil.

3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5-10 minutes.

4. Pour the very warm cream mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill until firm. This will take at least 2 hours.

6. Unmold using a sharp knife onto a plate or serve in cute coffee cups or wine glasses.

This recipe is great, but it is just itching to be jazzed up. I’d really like to try this with coconut milk or try infusing mint in the cream.

Aug 03 3 comments
Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Jam, Recipes

Recreating Oma’s Plum Jam

finished-jam

My Oma (German for Grandmother for those that may not know) was a wonderful lady. She emigrated to New York in 1953 when my mom was very young and the details of her life fascinate me. Oma didn’t speak much about her personal life because it was typical for a German woman of her generation to keep that part of her life very private. However, she was always happy and very  generous with hugs, kisses and tasty food. She passed away when I was a sophomore in High School and I still miss her terribly. My mom always says that I remind her of my Oma and I think I learned from her a passion for cooking good food and the joy of entertaining.

My Opa passed away before I was born and my Oma lived as a widow from 1977-1994. By the time I was in elementary school, my Oma was living in a white 2-story home in Waterloo, Ontario and we visited her every summer. While we were in town, she would invite her Candian friends (all of German descent) over and have a big dinner party. My brother and I helped gather fresh herbs from her garden and helped bring in the cloth tablecloths drying on the line in the backyard in preparation for the dinner party. She made amazing roasts, potato salad and delicious desserts. She adorned her table with beautiful tablecloths and her best China. Since we were kids and couldn’t understand a lick of German anyway, we ate our food upstairs and watched Canadian television (usually the highly inappropriate for kids our age, “Kids in the Hall”) while the adults dined in the large finished basement.

One of my most memorable food memories from my Oma is the breakfast she made for us. Every morning she would walk (she never had a driver’s license) to the corner store and get a fresh loaf of crusty bread. This corner store also had an amazing selection of penny and nickel candy, score! She would serve the bread with softened sweet cream butter and her plum jam. The jam was a rich dark purple and was the tastiest stuff on earth. My Oma never used recipes, so unfortunately I do not have her original recipe. When a few weeks ago I saw a recipe for homemade plum jam on Holly’s blog, I was excited with the possibility of recreating my Oma’s plum jam. I was downright giddy when I picked up 2 lbs. of ripe red plums and teetering between bliss and insanity as the chopped plums cooked into a thick and delicious jam. Oh boy is this stuff good. It is the perfect mix of sweet and tart. I will be trying the next batch with prune plums because I think that is the variety she used, but the red plums were very, very good.

diced-plums jam-cooking

Easy Plum Jam

From Holly of Phe/MOM/enon

2 lbs. firm ripe plums (red, black or prune) halved and pitted

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 C. water

1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick or 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Coarsely chop plums and stir together with sugar, water and cinnamon in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally (more often toward the end of cooking to prevent sticking), until thick and reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Discard cinnamon stick and cool preserves. Transfer to an airtight container** and chill, covered. Preserves keep, chilled, 1 month. You can also follow through with the complete canning process.

**I used Ball pint-sized jars and it filled 1 and 1/4 jars, but they worked perfectly. Before adding the plums to the pot, I filled it with water, brought the water to a boil and sterilized the jars and lids in the water for 15 minutes. Transfer to a towel to dry, then discard the water and proceed with the plum jam ingredients.

jam-on-bread

THEN, I went on Twitter to thank Holly for sharing this lovely recipe and she proceeds to tell me that she has a Jam Crumb Cake recipe that I just had to try. Of course, I agreed that I HAD to try it and made the cake that weekend. Sure enough, amazing. The fresh jam peaks through the soft cake and the crumb topping adds the perfect amount of sweetness without being too sweet.

Plum Jam Crumb Cake

Brown Sugar Plum Crumb Cake

From Holly of Phe/MOM/enon

Makes 1 – 9″ cake, 6 jumbo muffins or mini loaves (I made a 9″ round cake)

For cake:

1 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 C. granulated sugar

1/4 C. packed brown sugar

1 3/4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/2 C. milk

1 large egg

1 t. pure vanilla or almond extract

1/2 C. homemade plum jam

For crumb topping:

3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/4 C. granulated sugar

1/4 C. packed brown sugar

3/4 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

1 C. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour

Make cake:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with rack in the middle. Generously butter a 9 inch cake pan,  muffin cups or mini loaf muffin cups.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together butter, milk, vanilla and egg in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined. Pour batter into cake pan. Dollop jam all over surface, then swirl into batter with a spoon.

Make crumb topping: Whisk together flour, butter, sugars, cinnamon, and salt until smooth. Stir in flour, then blend with your fingertips until incorporated. Sprinkle crumbs in large clumps over top of the cake.

Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and sides begin to pull away from pan, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

And because I can’t keep well enough alone, I decided to try out a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for the Best Drop Biscuits with visions of this beautiful jam glistening on a warm biscuit, mmmm. The biscuits were tasty, but I unfortunately messed up the recipe. I halved the ingredients appropriately to make half a batch, but forgot to cut the butter quantity in half, oops! They were buttery and still delicious, but it probably affected the overall shape. In the end, it reminded me of a buttery jam thumbprint cookie.

jam-on-biscuit

Best Drop Biscuits

From America’s Test Kitchen

Makes 12 biscuits

2 C. (10 oz.) unbleached all-purpose four

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. sugar

3/4 t. salt

1 C. cold buttermilk

8 T. butter, melted and cooled slightly (about 5 minutes) plus 2 T. butter for brushing the tops of the biscuits

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees F. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Combine buttermilk and 8 T. melted butter in a medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.

2. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of the bowl. Using greased 1/4 C. dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (biscuits should measure about 2 1/4  inches in diameter and 1 1/4 inches high). Repeat with remaining batter, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12-14 minutes.

3. Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 T. melted butter. Transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Whew! Long post, but it had to be shared. For those of you that don’t have the time to read my ramblings, here’s the synopsis…

Grandmas/Omas=GREAT!

Plum Jam, Plum Jam Cake and Drop Biscuits=Oh so good! Go make now.

Holly of Phe/MOM/enon=A wonderful and sweet person. I think you should be Twitter friends with her and visit her Blog often.

Mar 30 0 comments
Dessert, Recipes

Vanilla Bean Brown Rice Pudding

Vanilla Bean Brown Rice Pudding

I don’t know what it was about the week of March 23rd, but I suddenly had an insatiable urge for rice pudding. I guess it’s just one of those things, but when the weekend came and I had a few minutes to myself, I set out to make some. I found an easy recipe, but because I’m not in the habit of keeping whole milk or white rice on hand, I decided to attempt a healthier version. The end result is pretty tasty, but I probably should have cooked the brown rice a bit longer. Brown rice has less starch, so it didn’t thicken up as much as white rice pudding usually does. The vanilla bean adds that rich vanilla flavor, so it tastes like you have a bit of lemon hinted brown rice in a bowl of just melted vanilla ice cream. Yummmm.

Vanilla Bean

Brown Rice Pudding

Serves 4-6 (Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook)

2 cups water

1 cup long grain brown rice

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

4 cups 2% milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split open (or 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract)

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

cinnamon for sprinkling (optional)

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Stir in lemon zest, salt, butter and brown rice and return to boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer the rice, covered, until all of the water is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.

Once rice is cooked, place it in a separate bowl and rinse out the pot. Add 4 cups of milk, sugar, and vanilla bean to the pot. Bring to a low boil, stirring often so the milk doesn’t burn or bubble over. Put cornstarch in small cup and mix with a few Tablespoons of cold water until it forms a milky liquid. Stir into hot milk and then add the cooked rice. Stir often until the milk cooks down and the rice is creamy, about 20 minutes. Place in a large bowl or serving dishes to cool. Serve cold or at room temperature. If you wish, sprinkle with cinnamon.

*You can substitute white long grain rice for the brown and whole milk for the 2% for a creamier rice pudding. You can also omit the cornstarch.

Recipe printed from www.dulanotes.com

Boiling Brown Rice