Grapefruit Buttermilk Cake

This past year I have had major grapefruit cravings, even eating them the way I eat oranges, peeling segment by segment. But I don't tend to think of grapefruit in baked goods, as it isn't really very sweet. So I was intrigued by the idea of this cake and knew I would need to make it. For the cookbook it comes from, scroll down to the bottom of this post. One co-worker called this cake a "keeper," and I thought it was delicious.

Grapefruit Buttermilk Cake
(Recipe from Wintersweet)

Cake
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp finely grated grapefruit zest
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

Syrup
1/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Glaze
1 tbsp freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Butter a 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch loaf pan. Tear out a sheet of parchment paper. Fold it in half or thirds so that it can lie inside the whole width of the pan, ends hanging over the long sides of the pan. This paper hammock makes it easier to lift the cake out of the pan later.

FOR THE CAKE, mix the sugar with the grapefruit zest in a small bowl. Rub the mixture together with your fingers so the zest releases its oils.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar mixture until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Add the vanilla and mix again.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Add one third of the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and mix on low speed just until combined. Alternate adding the buttermilk and the rest of the dry ingredients in halves to the sugar mixture, mixing until just combined and scraping down the sides of the bowl in between. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake the cake for 55-60 minutes, or until the top is golden and puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

FOR THE SYRUP, combine the grapefruit juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil the syrup for 1 minute and then remove it from the heat. With a toothpick or skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cooled cake. Pour the syrup over the cake, a little t a time, brushing it with a pastry brush to ensure even soaking. When all of the syrup has been added, let the cake cool completely. To remove the cake from the pan, lift up by the edges of the parchment paper.

FOR THE GLAZE, whisk together the grapefruit juice with the confectioners' sugar until smooth. You want the consistency to be loose enough to drizzle, but not so thin that it soaks into the cake. If it's too thin, add more sugar! If it's too thick, whisk in some water a few drops at a time. Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake with a whisk. The cake can be stored at room temperature, covered, for 2-3 days.

Notes from JennyBakes:
1. No need to limit the grapefruit zest to 1 tsp. I just used what I could easily get from the outside of one fruit. Also no need to rub the sugar and zest in another bowl, why not the mixing bowl, so you don't make another bowl dirty.
2. I found one grapefruit sufficient for all grapefruit parts required.
3. I added vanilla to the glaze as well.

This recipe comes from Wintersweet: Seasonal Recipes to Warm the Home by Tammy Donroe Inman, published in 2013. I believe I got this as a review copy from the publisher back then. I made two recipes from the cookbook at the time, one I loved and have made several times (cocoa pomegranate pavlova!). It's funny because I think of myself as "using this cookbook all the time," when in reality I just find myself drawn to it to flip through because of the gorgeous photography. It also relies on winter ingredients for baked goods, which is not only friendly for this time of year, but often even what you may normally have on hand in the pantry. I also have my eyes on the Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cake (which is gluten-free) and the Spicy Prune Cake with Penuche Frosting, which I may make tomorrow, since I bought prunes. Some of the seasonality of these recipes has already passed by, because cranberries have disappeared from the store post-holiday. I'll have to make a mental note that I never made that cranberry cobbler recipe....

As far as #theunreadshelfproject2018 goes, I am still glad to spend a week with this one, because it is clear it has untapped riches. But this is a keeper of a cookbook.

Writer's Block Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (and more on my 2018 cookbook project)

One of the big reading challenges to hit social media in 2018 is #theunreadshelfchallenge2018, where a bunch of bookish people are trying to read books on their shelves. This ranges from reader to reader, from exclusively only reading books they already own to trying to read more of them. For me, it manifested in attempting to go for 50/50 (which would be an increase of over 20%). I'm also working on a cookbook project where I spend each week with a different cookbook already in my collection. At the bottom of this post, I'll post the cookbook and reflect on the experience of cooking from it this week.

Writer's Block Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp water
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups rolled oats
1-2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and water, and beat until smooth.

Sift dry ingredients together. Add to the butter mixture and mix well. Fold in oats and raisins.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, leaving enough space for the cookies to spread. Bake 8-10 minutes, until golden. 

***

This recipe comes from Plenty: A Collection of Sarah McLachlan's Favorite Recipes, published in 1999, right after the high point of Lilith Fair and her very busy touring life. And actually it isn't her favorite recipes as much as it is the recipes chosen by her personal/tour chef. I had marked more recipes than I ended up making from this cookbook, because although the cookies were decent, the savory recipes I made were badly in need of updating into the 21st century. The cookbook apparently came out before they had even heard of olive oil! I made the curried orange lentil salad recipe exactly as described and it was awful; the lentils were overcooked and the raw onion was too strong (I already added half of what it said) and the water never fully drained so it was pretty liquid. On a day my husband and I were home due to snow cancellations, I sauteed some leftover kale and heated the lentils up, trying to salvage it as a soup. It was okay but too vinegary for a soup. AFter that two day fiasco I crossed off the vegetable curry from the recipes to try. It was going to be a lot more work and I wasn't convinced it would be worth it. I did make the creamy mushroom-sherry soup but hardly used the recipe as written. I replaced vegetable oil with olive. I used half the fat and half the flour called for. I used a variety of mushrooms and red wine instead of sherry, shallots instead of onion. It was delicious but I feel like I deserve the credit for that one. I made the chai recipe as described and it was weak. They didn't even have me roast the spices!

So this cookbook is probably one I can let go from my collection. But it had lingered on my shelves for over a decade before this past week.

I'm still a huge fan of Sarah McLachlan though, and this cookbook is a reference to her song Plenty, which is on my favorite Sarah album - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, from 1993 (! whaaat, 1993? I'm old.)

 

Pineapple with Hazelnuts and Vanilla

Can you roast a fruit in the oven like you would a cut of meat? Apparently, you can. I was thumbing through One Knife, One Pot, One Dish: Simple French Feasts at Home by Stéphane Reynaud and came across an interesting dessert. It called for making a caramel (my nemesis), then pouring it over a fresh pineapple, baking it in the oven, and basting it as it baked. I couldn't get the idea out of my head!

I thought the flavors were delicious and not too sweet. The nuts add a nice texture and roast alongside the pineapple. You can't just slice entire slices across the pineapple, it must be the outside, leaving the core, so just plan accordingly. I served my shards with the High Road Bourbon Brown Sugar ice cream, and that was a great pairing as the caramel also has alcohol.

Pineapple with Hazelnuts and Vanilla

Serves 4

1 good-looking pineapple
1 vanilla bean
7 tbsp (80 g) sugar
6 tbsp (3/4 stick/80 g) butter
2/3 cup (150 ml) rum
Generous 1/3 cup (50 g) hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 300 F.

Peel the pineapple, heat the sugar over medium-high heat, without stirring, until the sugar melts into caramel, about 10 minutes.* If necessary, brush down any crystals that form on the side of the pot with a damp pastry brush.

Add the butter, rum, and vanilla bean pod and seeds. Stir to melt the butter and combine.

Place the pineapple in the Dutch oven, cover with the rum-flavored caramel, and add the hazelnuts.

Bake for 40 minutes, basting the pineapple with the caramel frequently during cooking, until it is tender, and then serve immediately.

*I don't believe sugar just melts down into caramel, so my interpretation of this step was letting the sugar cook a while until it was a medium-dark brown. It tasted okay so I think this works. When I added the butter and alcohol, everything seized up but I just kept stirring..... 

 

This post is sponsored by ABRAMS Books, as part of the ABRAMS Dinner Party. All experiences and opinions are my own!

Butterscotch Pots de Creme

 I made this recipe from a cookbook for which I received a digital review copy. More info at the bottom of the post!

Butterscotch Pots de Creme

4 tbsp butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
4 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
8 large egg yolks
sour cream
Butterfinger, crushed (optional)

1. Dump butter and sugar into a midsized saucepan and stir together over medium heat. Cook until mixture starts to brown and smoke ever so slightly, or about 15-20 minutes.
2. Slowly add the cream, a cup at a time. Cook butterscotch until any seized sugar dissolves again. Then add the rest of the cream, vanilla, and salt.
3. Next, whisk those yolks - and do not stop! Add some of the hot butterscotch cream while continuing to whisk. Once the yolks are warm to the touch, dump the yolks back into the pot of hot butterscotch and gently whisk.
4. Strain the mixture, and then crank the oven to 325 F.
5. Divide custard into the ramekins. Then place the ramekins in a water bath (fyi, water should be hot!) and loosely tent with foil.
6. Bake for 25-40 minutes, or until the pudding pots jiggle like a bowl full of jelly.
7. Finally, remove the pan from oven and cool completely. Fridge it for at least an hour - unless you like room-temp pudding, ya weirdo.

Chocolate sauce

2 oz dark-chocolate chips
3 tbsp heavy cream
pinch of salt

1. In a small saucepan, stir all ingredients together over low heat.

To assemble

Plop a spoonful of sour cream into each pudding pot, drizzle-whizzle with chocolate sauce, and sprinkle with crushed Butterfinger, if desired.

The recipe above comes verbatim from Sweet Revenge: Passive-Aggressive Desserts for Your Exes & Enemies by Heather Kim.  I made a few changes - first of all I cut the recipe in half (4 cups of cream?!). I used 6 oz custard cups because that's what I have, but I suspect from the yield and pictures that she intends you to use smaller ones - this is never specified, however. But because I used 6 oz cups I had to bake it longer than upper time limit given here. I may have slightly overbaked but the custard was not scrambled eggs. I also didn't bother with sour cream, butterfinger, or chocolate sauce - just put whipped cream and sprinkles. The flavors are intense and deep, not overly sweet, but rich.

Peppermint Brownies

One of the recipes I wanted to make for Christmas was postponed to New Years Eve, because we had way too many sweet things already! I based this recipe on "Brownies My Way" in The Artful Baker by Cenk Sönmezsoy. He has several brownie recipes in the cookbook, and "Brownies My Way" were slightly less sweet and also included pistachios. I adapted it slightly for my ingredients on hand, and adding peppermint elements. Please see his cookbook for all his brownie variations!

Peppermint Brownies

4 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 oz semisweet chocolate
12 tbsp unsweetened butter
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract (optional but no more than this!)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup peppermint bark pieces (I used Ghiradelli peppermint chunks but actual chocolate coated peppermint bark would be even better)

For glaze:
4 oz semisweet chocolate
Peppermint dust sprinkles or more peppermint bark, chopped up

 
Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare an 8 or 9" square pan with buttered parchment paper.

In a pan set over barely simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate until smooth. Allow to cool completely. Mix in peppermint extract, if using.

In a mixer with a wire whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until sugar has dissolved, mixture is light in color and slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes. Scrape in chocolate-butter mixture and mix at medium speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds.

Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add to mixer at low speed and only mix until barely incorporated. Remove from mixer and stir in peppermint chunks.

Spread into pan, and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out with gooey (but not liquid) crumbs. Allow to cool.

Melt chocolate (I just used the microwave) until smooth. Cool slightly, then spread over cooled brownies. Top with desired topping. Chill at least one hour before serving (after this initial chill the brownies may remove at room temperature.)

Verdict: These were delicious. To go over the top we had brownies with Jeni's dark chocolate peppermint ice cream, at around 11:30 pm, so definitely the last dessert of the year!