Enrique's Cream Cheese Flan

One summer I lived with Enrique, a Puerto Rican who loved to make flan. He graciously made flan for me and shared his recipe with me. Needless to say Enrique's flan was DELICIOUS and very easy to make. Below are notes directly from Enrique:

The flan recipe is super simple. I've written the one I use below but I've also found this site to be extremely helpful. http://www.elboricua.com/flan.html

Equipment:

Blender

Pot

9-10 inch pan for flan

Pan that can hold first pan (for water bath)

Oven set to 350

Refrigerator for cooling

Caramel Coating:

Sugar

Water

I usually eyeball this. I think its 2 cups of sugar with a tablespoon or two of water. Heat while mixing until it turns a golden brown. I stop it at the first sign of burning. Pour into the pan and let it cover the bottom and harden. 

Batter:

4 eggs (can use 3 - 5 depending on how much you like egg)

2 cans evaporated milk Sugar to taste (I think we used a cup)

(Normal recipe is 1 can evaporated + 1 can condensed)

1 stick of cream cheese

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Blend above together and pour into 9inch pan. Place into water bath in the oven and cook until surface turns a little brown - about 45 minutes.

Remove from oven. Be careful about the hot water. 

Cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hrs. To serve, take a knife and cut around the edge. Take serving plate and place on top of baking pan. Flip so that flan falls onto plate. 

Old Fashioned Gingerbread

I absolutely love spice cakes, especially during the holidays. I haven't made gingerbread in a few years, but woke up this morning with a very strong craving for something spicy. Expect more holiday ginger-recipes to come!

I opted for an old fashioned gingerbread, found here.

Ingredients:

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c butter, at room temperature

1 egg, at room temperature

1 c molasses, the darker the better

2 1/2 c flour

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground ginger, or 1 T fresh

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

1 c hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sift the dry ingredients and spices together in a small bowl, and boil the water. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg. Add the molasses and mix until combined. Mix in the water and dry ingredients, alternating between the two until everything is mixed together. Pour into a greased and floured 9''x9'' pan and bake for 1 hour, until a knife comes out clean.

Let sit ~5 minutes and then run a knife along the edge of the pan and flip the gingerbread out onto a wire rack to cool. Wait at least 30 minutes before serving.

This was fun to make, and as others had suggested in the reviews, I doubled the spices. If you aren't so crazy about spices, as I am, stick to the original quantity. The flavors were spot on, the cake was moist yet fluffy, and not too sweet overall. It will taste great served with a dollop of whipped cream of vanilla ice cream.

Grinding the spices

Butter and sugar, before creaming

Dry ingredients and spices

Creamed butter and sugar 

Butter, sugar, and egg

Adding the molasses

Ready to bake

Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream

Note: This requires an ice cream maker

I've been wanting to make green tea ice cream ever since tasting it at various asian restaurants. The first time I researched recipes, I discovered matcha powder is a key ingredient. I soon went to an asian grocery with an extensive tea section, and remembered to grab matcha powder. Finally I could make the ice cream!

I read through several recipes before settling on this one. I changed it a bit, adding 3 c of cream/milk instead of 2, as it was a bit too sweet after mixing. If I was making this again, I would reduce the sugar to 1/3 c or maybe even 1/4 c. Also, I thought it came out a bit too creamy, so I definitely recommend to keep the milk:cream ratio 1:1.

Ingredients:
2 c heavy cream
1 c 2% milk
1/2 c sugar
3 T matcha powder
pinch of salt

Ice cream is easy to make with an ice cream maker, the only prep required is to freeze the bowl ahead of time.

Warm the cream in a pot over med-low heat. While heating, add the sugar and salt. Slowly add the matcha powder, whisking as you pour it in. When the mixture is steaming, remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate until completely chilled, or overnight.

When ready to make the ice cream, pour the mix into the machine and churn until it is a creamy consistency, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately or if the ice cream is too soft, place it in the freezer for an hour, then serve.

Lemon Cookies

Crumbly but delicious!

Not too long ago PBS ran a television special on Irish chef Rachel Allen. Impressed, I found her website and downloaded a PDF of 20 of her recipes. This is her recipe for lemon cookies.

I have never made these cookies before and was a bit surprised with the result. Though delicious, these are deceivingly difficult to shape. I was making these with my 2 year old nephew, luckily he is not a perfectionist.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c flour
zest of 1 lemon
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 c superfine sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sift the flour int a bowl and stir in the lemon zest, butter, and then sugar. Mix until it forms a dough. My mixture was less like dough and more like crumbs.

Roll the dough out to 1/4'' thickness (again my dough kept crumbling) and cut into shapes. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake 6-10 minutes, until golden.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Rachel notes: the dough can be chilled and rolled out between sheets of plastic wrap.

I did not chill the dough, but perhaps this would make it much easier to handle. Despite appearance, the cookies were light, crumbly, and tasty.

Anzac Biscuits

I first tasted Anzac Biscuits while studying abroad in New Zealand, and fell in love. They are a not-too sweet but addictive oat cookie with just the right amount of coconut. This recipe came from the back of a package of oats I bought in New Zealand.This made 23 cookies.

Ingredients:
2 c rolled oats
1/2 c sugar1/2 c shredded coconut1/2 c flour125 g (~1 stick) margarine/butter2 T golden syrup1 t baking soda2 T boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine oats, sugar, coconut, and flour in a bowl. In another bowl, melt together the margarine and golden syrup. Mix baking soda with boiling water, then add to the melted ingredients. Combine with the dry ingredients and mix well. Spoon the batter out on greased cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes, until golden-brown. Remove from oven, let sit a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I can't remember the consistency of the batter when I last made this in New Zealand, but this time it was very crumbly and not too tacky To shape the cookies, I used my hand to form the a ball that I carefully placed on the cookie sheet. Some of the cookies fell apart while baking and others stayed in tact. This worked out fine, as the crumbled ones toasted more and came out crunchy, and the others had a soft center. The second round I baked were easier to form, as the ingredients had sat out for a bit. I would recommend letting the batter sit ~20 minutes before shaping.

Cinnamon Cookies (vegan)

This recipe is anything but ordinary. It comes from the Italian cookbook, The Silver Spoon, and only contains 5 ingredients. It has no butter, eggs, or leavening, instead using olive oil to bind the ingredients. The result is a powdery mix that is pressed into delicate balls and baked. These may look like normal cookies, but a bite reveals quite a surprise: the cookie bursts into crumbs for a sweet, citrus, cinnamon, albeit dry mouthful.

This is definitely a cookie that you either love or hate. You may love the distinct texture and strong flavors, or hate the tedious preparation and dry texture. Personally, I enjoy them, and have made these cinnamon cookies numerous times since I first tried the recipe in 2009. A word of caution: don't over-bake them, or you will be left with a sheet full of rock-hard cookies.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c superfine sugar (you can find this in the baking isle of any grocery store, or run regular sugar through a blender or food processor.)
5 T olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
cinnamon to sprinkle

Sift the sugar and flour into a large bowl. Add lemon zest and mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Make a well, and pour in the olive oil. Mix with a spoon until the olive oil has clumped up. Then, switch to your hands, crumbling all the olive oil pieces until you have a fine crumb. Set aside for 20 minutes.

While you are waiting, preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a cookie sheet. When ready, grab a handful of dough and squeeze it together until it forms a solid ball. Mine are usually about 1/2 the size of a ping pong ball. They are very delicate, so this may take some practice. Place the cookies on the baking sheet so they are not touching. Because the cookies contain no leavening they will stay the same size when they bake.

Dust each cookie with cinnamon and bake for 20 minutes. The cookies should be slightly browned on top and firm enough so you can pick them up. Wait 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Finished mixing and sitting for 20 mins

The Carrot Cake Mistake!

My mom's birthday was this week, naturally I made a cake. Like most times when I am inspired to bake, I take a look at the ingredients in the pantry before choosing a recipe. We happen to have a couple pounds of carrots, so I settled on a carrot cake. We also had a container of not-so-sweet blueberries, so I planned to make a blueberry frosting to accompany it.

Remembering a good recipe for carrot cake, I pulled out "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook", thinking it was in there. I couldn't find the recipe, but there was one called "Carrot Tart", which I decided to try. I should have closed the book and looked elsewhere for a recipe, but I felt adventurous.

Needless to say, the tart did not turn out well. It is impossible to know if I made one fatal mistakes when mixing the cake, or perhaps it was the combination of several smaller ones.

Here's where I went wrong:
1. I chose the wrong pan. The book specified a springform pan, so I grabbed the first one I saw (thinking we only owned one). It had a thick curved bottom. I should have chosen a pan with a flat bottom.
2. I used cake flour in the recipe when it did not specify what type of flour to use. When substituting cake flour for regular flour, the two are not proportional, and I did not compensate for this difference.
3. I decreased the sugar. The recipe called for 1 c sugar, 4 eggs, 1/2c flour and no butter. 1 cup sugar will make a very sweet cake, especially with so little flour. I suspect that the cake did need the full 1 cup sugar to appropriately rise and cook, while reducing this made the cake very dense.
4. I did not bake the cake long enough. I put the cake in for a minimum time on the recipe, and had my mom check the cake when the timer went off while I made frosting. She stuck it with a toothpick that came out clean, a sign that the cake was cooked. Had I checked the cake--knowing it could potentially cook for 10 more minutes)--I would have seen the top was not yet browned and the cake looked low, evidence to bake it the extra 10 minutes.

The makings of a failed cake

Whipping the egg whites

 

It was during baking that things seemed a bit off

The result: An undercooked, dense, super sweet, and mostly inedible cake. Baking it for less time in the wrong pan resulted in a partially-cooked batter. The denseness is due to reducing the sugar and incorrect flour measurements. Since the cake still tasted too sweet, I concluded that this was simply a bad recipe. I should have taken the extra 2 minutes to check another recipe book before deciding on the tart.

Disaster!

What did I do to resolve the situation? I made a chocolate yogurt cake! This cake is so simple and delicious, I knew I could depend on it in a crunch. I opted to make a completely chocolate version--less sweet than the standard vanilla cake. It was perfect with the very sweet blueberry buttercream frosting I had whipped up.

Ta-Da!! And the birthday is saved.

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

A fluffy, sweet, naturally pink frosting! Paired with a rich chocolate cake, for a match made in heaven.

The recipe came from this blog, and was fun to make. It makes over 2 c of frosting. If you love sweet frosting, then this recipe is perfect for you. I personally thought it was a bit sweet, so I only used 1/4'' layers of frosting on the cake.

Ingredients:
1 c blueberries
3 c powdered (icing) sugar
3/4 c butter
1/2 T lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
*4-6 T cream

*optional

Take the butter out of the fridge to let it soften. Sift the sugar and puree the blueberries in a blender. Push the puree through a strainer/fine sieve to remove all pieces.

When the butter is soft, cream it with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Next, add in the vanilla, lemon zest, salt, and strained blueberries. Mix again until the icing is thick and all ingredients are evenly distributed. If necessary, add cream to achieve desired texture.

I topped the cake with fresh blueberries, which really complemented the frosting nicely. A pleasant reminder to the tastebuds that real berries did go into this pink creamy goodness.

Almond Milk + Ice Cream

I decided to go back to eating vegetarian. I'm also considering going vegan, but I'm going to work my way there, slowly substituting out animal products in my diet. One of the easiest ingredients to substitute is milk. In the past I used soy milk for vegan baking, but I never tried almond milk. Talking to a friend about this, he said, "Almond milk? How do you even make that?!"A quick Google search took me this page: I was so impressed with the simplicity of the process, that I decided at once to try it myself.

Almond Milk Ingredients:

1 c almonds (I used raw, unsalted)

4 c water

cheesecloth

Let the almonds soak in water for 6 hours. Drain the water. Put the almonds and 4 c clean water in a blender. (Depending on the consistency milk you like, use between 3-6 c water.) At this point I realized not all the water would fit into my blender, so I first put only 2 c in and blended.

Next strain the mixture through cheesecloth into a bowl. While doing this you will notice a paste of chopped nuts left in the bottom of the blender. Before pouring this through the cloth, I addd the remaining 2 c water, and blended again. When pouring the new mixture out, the paste was almost gone.

Press the liquid through the cheesecloth. You will have some nut remains left. These you can either toss or toast in the oven, using them in other recipes as you see fit. (Breadcrumbs, perhaps?)

After straining once, pour the mixture through cheesecloth again, without pressing all the liquid through. You have just made almond milk!

This almond milk will keep for about 4-5 days in the fridge, longer if in a sterilized jar.

It's time to start cooking with almond milk!

First, I wanted to make ice cream. I found 3 recipes online in this blog. I decided to make the "Rich Chocolate and Banana Almond Milk Ice Cream". I made it a bit differently than described in the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c almond milk

2 ripe bananas

2 T sugar

2 heaping T cocoa powder

**1/2 t almond extract ---an addition I made

*This requires an ice cream maker*

The recipe suggested using the microwave to heat the milk, sugar, and cocoa together, then blend with the bananas. I thought these steps were a bit unnecessary, and mixed it the way I usually make ice cream: put everything in a bowl and mix. I mashed the banana first, then whisked everything together.

I also used this nice bitter hot chocolate cocoa we have. It comes in a crumb consistency. I added this later during the mixing process. The result was a almond banana ice cream with chocolate chips. I'm not sure if blending everything together would change the texture, but this came out like a sorbet. The result was good. I think next time I will try the blender to see if the taste is even better.

Pignoli Cookies

I first had these cookies, not in Italy, but at an upscale restaurant/cafe I worked at years ago. Everything at the restaurant was made in-house, including artisan breads, desserts, house-cured meats, and all their ingredients were locally sourced. Pignoli were one of the pastry chef's everyday items, and memorable by their distinctive crust, golden toasted pine nuts, and almost creamy-sweet inside. One cookie is enough to satisfy a craving, and this recipe I found replicated the memory exactly.

Peeling the blanched almonds

Ingredients:

12 oz Almond paste: (you can buy this or make the one listed below)

- 3/4 c almonds, blanched & peeled

- 3/4 c powdered sugar

- 1 egg white

- 3/4 t almond extract

- 1/8 t salt

1/2 c sugar

1 c powdered sugar

4 egg whites

1 1/2 c pine nuts

This recipe works best when made in the food processor.

First make the almond paste. Blanch the almonds by placing them in a bowl of boiling water for 1 minute. Rinse twice then remove the skins. Chop up in the food processor until very fine. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until a smooth paste has formed.

Next, add the 1/2 c sugar and 1 c powdered sugar to the food processor. Begin mixing and add 1 egg white, then another. Do not make the batter too wet! I accidentally added too many egg whites and the batter was too wet, so I had to adjust by adding more almonds, more sugar, and some flour. The batter should be workable, so you can roll it into balls, and tacky but not too sticky.

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Spread the pine nuts out on a dish, and have the remaining egg whites on the side in a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1'' balls, coat in egg white, then roll in the nuts. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet, and flatten slightly.

Rolling and coating the cookies

Bake 15-20 minutes, until the nuts are toasted, and the cookies are beginning to brown. I rotated my trays halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack for cooling 1 minute after removing from the oven, and let cool before serving.

Valentine's Day Treats: Chocolate Ganache, Strawberries, & Fudge Cookies

Naturally, I had to make some delicious chocolate desserts for Valentine's day. The recipe for soft & chewy chocolate drops from the back of the box of unsweetened BAKER's chocolate squares was perfect for the occasion. This first time I made these cookies I immediately thought they tasted like fudge--one of my guilty pleasures--and I now make them whenever I have a craving.

I also made simple chocolate ganache to top the cookies (instead of the glaze recipe listed on the box), which I used to dip chocolate strawberries as well. This made for a rich & chocolately night indeed!

First I made the chocolate drops. (this makes about 4 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:
4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (4 T butter + 12 T unsweetened cocoa powder)
3/4 c butter
2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c flour

Melt the butter, then stir in the chocolate until combined. Mix in sugar. Add eggs & vanilla and mix together well for a few minutes. Finally add the flour and stir until a dough is formed. Preheat the oven to 350 F and put the batter in the fridge so it is easy to shape later.

Semisweet chocolate for the ganache

While the oven is heating, make the glaze.

Ingredients:
1 c heavy cream
8 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped up

Pour the cream into a heavy-bottomed pot and heat slowly until a simmer. You will see bubbles form along the edges of the pan when it is hot enough. Stir while it is heating.
While it is heating, chop up the chocolate and place the pieces in a bowl. When the cream is ready, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for ~20 seconds. Whisk the mixture together until it is creamy and smooth. Dip strawberries immediately & set aside on wax paper or a plate.

By this time the oven should be ready. Grease a cookie sheet and remove the dough from the fridge. Roll out 1'' balls and place them 2'' apart. Bake 8-10 minutes, until set. Let stand on the baking sheet a few minutes after you remove them from the oven, before transferring them to a wire rack. Dip the tops in ganache and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy warm or cooled, but don't eat too many ;)

Peanut Butter Favorites

Named appropriately, these cookies are favorites of all my friends who enjoy peanut butter cookies. Once you eat one it’s hard to resist having seconds, thirds, or more!

Ingredients:

¾ c peanut butter

1 stick butter*

1 ¼ c flour

½ c sugar

½ c brown sugar

1 egg*

1 t baking soda

¼ t baking powder

*at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a cookie sheet.

Sift the dry ingredients into a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time until combined. Blend in the peanut butter. While mixing, slowly add the dry ingredients until combined but still a dry consistency. Be careful not to overmix here—if the dough gets too wet the cookies will not have a delicious crumbly texture.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and place on the cookie sheet approximately 2’’ apart. With a fork cross each cookie then place in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes until set and the edges are browning. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Pistachio Biscotti

Wow, that was a long break from blogging! I moved to a new city/job/apartment for the winter. In addition to getting into a new groove (buying ingredients, baking pans, etc.) I’m living in an apartment without internet access so it will be harder for me to get online to upload recipes. I had originally planned to access my blog for recipes while traveling, but without internet access that proves to be a bit difficult.

Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone. For these holidays I made mostly recipes that were already posted on my blog—boring I know—but I did make some fun pistachio biscotti for dessert on Christmas Eve.

This recipe is a family classic. It makes some of the most authentic biscotti I’ve had outside of Italy. Please let me know what you think after you’ve tried them! I added pistachios to the batter because that was all I had around the house, but they can be easily substituted for any other nuts, chocolate chips, cranberries—anything you like. You can also melt chocolate and dip the biscotti after they come out of the oven, yum!

Ingredients:

1 c nuts

2 ¼ c flour

1 t baking powder

½ t salt

3 eggs *room temperature

1 c sugar

1 t vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Measure out 1 c nuts and coarsely chop. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat the eggs, then add the sugar and beat together, add the vanilla and mix in. In a separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients. While mixing with one hand add in the dry ingredients until everything is just combined. Err on the side of under-mixing. Add the nuts and stir until evenly distributed.

On a greased baking sheet, pour the dough into 3 flattened logs, approximately 4 inches wide. Bake 30 minutes until golden and the inside is cooked.

Remove from oven, place on wire rack or cutting board, and immediately cut into ¾’’ slices diagonally across the logs. If you have a wire rack available, lay each cookie down on the wire rack and place the rack back in the oven for another 10 minutes. If a wire rack is not available, place them back on the cookie sheet and back 5 mins each side until they are toasted.

Remove from oven and let cool. When they are cool they will be very crunchy and ready to serve with tea or coffee.

I’ve actually never made biscotti with pistachios before but I LOVED them! (I also happen to love pistachios—go figure). I used salted pistachios and the subtle saltiness that hits the tongue before the sweetness from the cookie is absolutely wonderful. I definitely recommend them.

Birthday Dinner Surprise!

Yesterday was my birthday & I was out of town for the weekend. I came home in the evening and my mom surprised me with a wonderful meal including some of my favorite foods. I'm making an exception & sharing the recipes on here even though I didn't make them myself because they were just too good!

First, we had a butternut squash bisque with salad. The recipe was originally introduced to me by my roommate Carolyn & we made it a few times together in college. My family grows butternut squash in our garden & we save seeds each year for next year's crop.

The second course consisted of rice cakes with asparagus. Rice cakes are something my nonna used to make & they are deceptively delicious for how simple they are to make! I cannot express how much I love rice cakes, and this was the most perfect birthday surprise.

The best food, of course, was dessert. I smelled it as soon as I came in through the door & was immediately overjoyed by the tower of cinnamon buns before me. Another guilty pleasure--one I don't often indulge in.

The recipe for butternut squash bisque is linked above, and I follow it almost exactly as it's listed. I only make 2 changes to the recipe: I omit the cream (it's very tasty without it) and I roast the squash first. To do this, preheat the oven to 375 F and cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds & place each half in a glass baking dish cut side down. Fill with 1-2 inches of water (enough so it won't evaporate while it's baking) and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes.  It's done when the squash is soft, usually when the skin is browning.

Follow the rest of the directions for making the soup, & puree in a blender. Season with nutmeg, salt, & pepper while you are blending, & sprinkle more spices on when you serve.

Butternut Squash Bisque

A quick video I made while eating the soup

To make rice cakes you simply cook some risotto, add cheese, egg, nutmeg, cover in breadcrumbs, & bake until browned.

Ingredients:

1 c arborio rice (or similar)

vegetable/chicken stock, warmed (about 2 c) plus more boiled water if you need it

1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, plus more cut into chunks

nutmeg

1 egg

salt & pepper, to taste

1 T olive oil

1/2 c breadcrumbs

Preheat olive oil in a pan, add rice & some stock. Add more as the rice absorbs it. Cook about 20 mins, until done but still has a bite (al dente). Add shredded mozzarella cheese to the pot & stir. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

When the rice is cooled, add the egg & sprinkle nutmeg (about 1 pinch). Pour breadcrumbs in a wide, shallow bowl & gather 1/2 handful of rice in one hand. Flatten the rice, place 1 chunk of cheese in the middle, cover with more rice, form a ball, & roll in the breadcrumbs until covered. Place on a baking dish. Repeat until all of the rice is used up. Bake 30 minutes, until browned.

Rice Cakes

Finally the recipe for cinnamon buns is one we have never made before. This is a healthy version of cinnamon buns, as my mom omitted the icing drizzle off the top, but I'll include the recipe here so you can make it if you choose. This recipe comes from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

Ingredients:

1 T yeast

4 1/2 c flour (my mom used whole wheat pastry flour)

1 c lukewarm milk

3/4 c sugar

1 t salt

1 T cinnamon

2 eggs

2 T butter

milk, to brush

*optional 1/2 c raisins

*optional cinnamon sugar mix--use if not making the icing

Ingredients for the icing:

3/4 c confectioners sugar

4 t warm water

1 t vanilla

First, start the yeast in 1/4 c warm water & let stand 5 minutes, until bubbling. Add milk & 3 c flour & mix. Let rise until light.

Add sugar, salt, cinnamon, eggs, butter, & 3/4 c flour & blend. Turn out onto a floured board & knead in the remaining 3/4 c flour until the dough can be easily handled. Knead in the raisins. Here, my mom let the dough rise again before shaping, though the recipe says to continue on & shape them.

Pull off pieces of the dough (about the size of M lemons), and roll until they're ~ 8'' long. Wind each one into a coil & arrange on a buttered 9'' cake pan. Cover & let rise until doubled. Brush tops with milk & sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if not making icing.

Preheat the oven to 375 F & bake 25 minutes, until browned. While the rolls are baking, whisk together the icing ingredients in a small bowl. Spread a thin layer over the buns as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cinnamon Rolls

Concord Grape Pie (Oh my!) and other more, traditional, flavors

I write this entry after a short break from my blog. It's not that I haven't been cooking, I just haven't been cooking what I consider "blog-worthy" food. My typical dinner consists of pasta & sauce with salad & veggies. Tonight we had baked grouper with mashed potatoes & brussel sprouts. And for dessert we had a very interesting concord grape pie.

When I was a child my favorite food was cherry pie & to this day it remains a guilty pleasure. Friends of mine know that I love to make pie. During college I made so many pies, I could probably have made one in my sleep if I tried. I'm always on the lookout for new and innovative pie fillings, so when I found this recipe in the Wall Street Journal 2 days ago, I just had to indulge myself.

I did make a few changes to the recipe before I gave it a try, and now that I've tasted the pie, there are some more things I'm going to change for next time.

First, make the filling.

Ingredients:
*5 c concord grapes (I found these at the farmer's market. You can only find them when they're in season.)
**1/4-1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
2 t lemon juice
pinch salt

*When I filled the pie crust it was a bit low, so I added some chopped apples to the top. I recommend using 6 cups of grapes.
**I don't like really sweet pies, and usually I add only 1/4 c sugar to my filling. This recipe called for 1 1/4 c & I reduced it to 1/2. I still thought it was too sweet (grapes are sugary), so I'm going to use 1/4 next time.

Wash the grapes & remove the skins, keeping them aside. Place grape pulp in a medium saucepan. Heat the pan on M & bring to a gentle boil, until the grapes become opaque & white. Pour through a food mill to remove the seeds & return to the saucepan. Now, the recipe said to add all of the skins to the pan, but after tasting the pie I found the texture of the skins to be very distracting. Add in 1/2 of the skins, the flour, lemon juice, sugar, & salt, and stir while heating on M. The mixture will thicken and begin to bubble. Remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 450 F & make the crust. This recipe is enough for a double crust & some leftover for mini pies or small turnovers.

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter--cold
2 cups flour, pastry is best
3/4 t baking powder
pinch salt
water, as needed (~1 cup)

Sift together the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, knives, or your hands cut in the butter until it resembles large crumbs. Take a fork & stir while slowly adding water with your non-dominant  hand. Do not add too much water! Once the dough has gathered into a clump, dump it onto a floured surface & divide in half.

Take the larger half of the dough & set aside.

With the smaller half, take a rolling pin & place it in the center of the dough. Gently roll from the center to the edge & repeat. Do not roll back & forth as you don't want to overwork the dough. Make sure the dough is floured enough so it doesn't stick. When it is about the size of the pie dish, fold it in half, then in half again, place in the dish, then unfold. If it doesn't match up perfectly that's fine, just cut around the edges with a knife to remove excess, & use those to patch up any spots where the crust is short.

The larger half will become the top. Roll it out the same as the first layer, but a little larger. You can either make this a solid top & cut slits in it, cut shapes out of it and place those on top (we always did this when I was little and I loved it), or make a lattice top. A lattice top is easy & fun but too difficult to explain here, so you can watch this video if you don't know how to do it.

Pour the filling into the pie & dot with butter. Then place the top onto the pie or weave the lattice.

After the top is on the pie, pinch the edges closed using your thumb, index, & middle fingers going all around the pie. With the excess dough you can roll it out again & make mini pies or simple turnovers by filling with fruit you have available. Sometimes if I don't have fruit I fill them with chocolate ;)

The oven should be preheated when you're done making the pie. It bakes for 10 minutes at 450, then lower the oven to 350 and set a timer for 30-35 minutes. This grape pie took the full 35 minutes and was perfectly golden.

I still haven't made up my mind how I feel about concord grape pie. No doubt it was a delicious success. Yet, it was a lot of work preparing the fruit: individually peeling the grapes & removing the seeds, just to then add the peels back in and think later while I was munching that I shouldn't have added in so many skins. Another thing, the aroma from concord grapes is absolutely intoxicating. It was everywhere, in the fridge, on my hands from peeling, released the second I began cooking the pulp, and later when the pie was baking. At night, my mom came home from work and said it smelled like wine! I think I spent so many hours smelling what I though would be the pie, that by the time I tasted it, it was less-than spectacular.

Next time, I think I might just make jam :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you want to make a fruit pie that isn't concord grape here's a recipe for other fruit fillings that can be easily tweaked to compensate for what's in season.

Apple Pie
5 c apples for baking (I like granny smith because they're nice & tart)
1/4-1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
cinnamon, to taste
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t clove
1/2 t allspice
1 t vanilla

Peel, core, & slice apples into a large bowl. Add sugar, flour, spices & vanilla & stir until apples are evenly coated. I like a lot of cinnamon, but sometimes I add less or none & it brings out flavor of the other spices.

Cherry, Mixed Berry, Apple/Cherry:
5 c fruit
1/4-1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
vanilla (optional)

Simple Vanilla Ice Cream (and other flavors)

Note: This recipe requires an ice cream maker.

I figured since I went all out and posted the Pistachio Ice Cream recipe, I might as well go back to step 1 and post the standard Vanilla recipe. This is the easiest ice cream flavor to make, and can be easily changed to make whatever flavor you desire.

Ingredients:
1 c whole milk
3/4 c sugar
pinch salt
2 c heavy cream
1 T vanilla

Makes 5 c, 10 1/2 c servings.

In a bowl whisk together all the ingredients, beginning with the milk & sugar, then adding the salt, cream, & vanilla. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator 1-2 hrs min, or overnight. When ready, pour in the ice cream maker & enjoy!

Varieties:
Chocolate chip: Add 1/2 c chopped up or grated chocolate bar (this freezes better & has a better flavor than chocolate chips)
Chocolate: Reduce sugar to 1/2 c & vanilla to 1/2 T.  Add 3/4 c sifted cocoa powder & 1/3 c packed dark brown sugar.
Mint chocolate chip: Reduce vanilla to 1 t & add 1 1/2 t peppermint extract. Add 1/2 c chopped up chocolate bar
Fresh strawberry (or other fruit): Add 1 1/2 c fresh or frozen strawberries, pulsed until roughly chopped in a food processor. Reduce vanilla to 1 1/2 t, cream to 1 1/2 c, sugar to 2/3 c, & milk to 3/4 c.
Coffee: Reduce vanilla to 1 t. Add 1 shot espresso.

Pistachio Ice Cream

Note: This recipe requires an ice cream maker.

We purchased our first Krupps ice cream machine when I was in high school & for the first year or so it got a lot of use. My mom made ice cream all the time, in various flavors. After the novelty wore off, the ice cream maker was forgotten (like many specialized appliances), until I took a new interest in it and began making frozen yogurt with fresh fruit. The ice cream machine joined me at my apartment during college and I used it to make frozen yogurt for my friends.

After I returned home, my mom took up her old habit. Unfortunately, the machine was on it's last leg, and eventually the small motor grew too weak to turn the paddle. Shortly after trashing the ice cream maker, I surprised my mom with a new one for Christmas, this one made by Cuisinart. Clearly a lot of improvement has been made in ice cream machinery during the years we owned ours, because the Cuisinart one is vastly superior to the old Krupps (not saying anything about the respective companies).

Here is a recipe for Pistachio ice cream from the Cuisinart Recipe Booklet that came with our machine. When I made it I cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c milk (whole is best)
1 whole vanilla bean, halved & seeds scraped (I just used 1 t vanilla)
2/3 c sugar, divided
2 1/4 c roasted, unsalted pistachios; shelled
2 c heavy cream
pinch salt
6 large egg yolks
1/4 t almond extract

Makes 5 cups, 10 1/2 c servings.

Shell the pistachios & measure out 1 1/2 c. Take the remaining nuts and finely chop. In a medium saucepan over M/L heat combine milk, vanilla bean if using, half the sugar, and 1 1/2 c pistachios. Bring the mixture to a boil & remove from heat. Let steep for 1-2 hrs.

After steeping, add the cream & salt & gradually heat to just a boil over M/L. While this is heating beat together the egg yolks & sugar until it's pale & thick. Once the milk mixture is at a slight boil ladle 1/3 of it into your egg mixture & whisk together. Then ladle 1/3 more into the eggs and whisk again. Return everything to the saucepan and heat gradually until it thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon, stirring constantly. This should only take a few minutes--don't boil or the yolks will overcook.

Stir in the almond & vanilla extract (if using) and pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the nuts & vanilla pod. Let cool to room temperature then refrigerate 1-2 hours min, or overnight.

When you are ready to make the ice cream, pour it into the maker & when almost thickened (~20 mins) pour in the chopped up pistachio nuts. The results are worth all the extra work & waiting overnight (as I did) for the flavors to set. The only changes I made were using vanilla extract (as noted), and we had salted pistachios, so I omitted the salt. There were no noticeable flavor oddities & I will most definitely be making this again.

Super Duper Chocolate Cake

My younger brother is a chocoholic. Naturally, for his birthday each year he gets some version of a deluxe chocolate cake. This year I made him a 2-layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I know his first response will probably be, "does it have chocolate chips?" but the richness of these flavors should suffice.

This cake recipe comes from the "Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook" and was recommended by my mom. First make the cake.

Ingredients:
3 eggs (room temperature)
1 1/2 sticks butter, 3/4 c (room temperature)
2 c sugar
2 t vanilla
2 c flour
3/4  t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 c cocoa powder
1 1/2 c milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, & cocoa powder into a bowl. Cream the butter in another bowl. Then add the sugar and blend together. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute after each addition. Then add the vanilla. Now alternate adding in the dry ingredients and milk, mixing slowly after each pour until combined. Once everything is added, mix quickly for 20 seconds to add some air.

Prepare 2 9''x9'' or 8''x8'' pans by lining the bottom with parchment paper/wax paper and coating with nonstick spray. Pour half the batter in each pan & bake 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven & let sit 5 minutes in the pan before flipping onto a wire rack.

While the cake is cooling, make the icing. The icing recipe comes from "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook". This is enough to frost 2 layers of an 8'' x 8'' or 9'' x 9'' cake.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c sugar
4 T butter
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate*
1/4 t salt
1/2 c milk
1 t vanilla
*1 square unsweetened baking chocolate = 1 T butter + 3 T cocoa powder

Combine all ingredients, except vanilla, in a heavy-bottomed pan and heat until the mixture starts to simmer. Stir constantly for 1 minute then let cool. After it is cooled, add the vanilla & whip either by hand or with a mixer until light & fluffy. Ice the cake & serve.

RESULT:
Very delicious, BUT the icing was definitely NOT what anyone would call traditional "frosting". It was more like chocolate sauce. It never solidified, and though I thought it gained a bit of volume after whipping a long time in the mixer, as soon as I turned off the mixer, everything collapsed into a runny chocolate mess. So my cake quickly became two layers oozing with chocolate goo. Though this was supposed to "frost" a 9'' x 9'' cake, there was definitely plenty left over. My brother celebrated the fact that even when refrigerated, this icing did not freeze, making it the perfect fudge sauce for ice cream. Phew, at least it's not a total loss!

The icing was so runny, it almost dripped off the plate!

Needless to say, the cake came out perfectly (I've never made this recipe before), it was incredibly moist, and super chocolatey. The very runny icing complemented the cake nicely, and the flavors just melted on the tongue.