More Sugar Substitution - Almond Baby Cakes

Because of our recent commitment to lower carb eating, I'm always on the lookout for recipes that won't suffer from substitution. Take these almond baby cakes from Dorie Greenspan - naturally gluten-free, since so many French baked goods are made of almond flour instead of wheat to begin with (according to her).

After not finding great results baking with Splenda, the taste being too evident, I decided to experiment next with Stevia. Stevia is naturally occurring, in a shrub from the daisy family. The blend I used is similar to the Splenda for baking - somewhat powdery so you can use it cup for cup in a recipe.

I wish I could impart to you that this is the answer! That Stevia tastes like sugar! That this is the easy solution to make all your baked goods lower carb! Oh how I wish that could be true. I found this to have just as bad of a taste as Splenda, if not worse. While the Splenda cheesecake seemed to mellow after a few days in the fridge, these were better warm. I tried one cold this morning and had to just toss it. The chef at the alternative baking class did say we could also just reduce the amount of sugar in a recipe; that may be what I'll have to try next, although I'm not sure it will sufficiently cut back on carbs enough for me. Agave nectar may be another thing to try, but I'm getting mixed information on that ingredient. The Wheat Belly guys and low-carbers say not to use it, but the Glycemic Index people say it is okay. The Wheat Belly guys actually said it is worse than sugar because it is higher in fructose than sugar is. I don't understand enough about the chemistry behind any of it.

In the past, I never used to blog something and urge you not to make it. I just thought my experimentation might teach my readers something too. I don't believe the original Dorie Greenspan recipe to be flawed, and if you were looking for a gluten-free treat that didn't need to be low-carb or low-sugar, I'd try the original recipe as written. Ground almonds make a nice toothsome, slightly crunchy texture to things, and add a lot of flavor. The way the ingredients are blended together, there is nice volume and lightness to these baby cakes.

TWD Baking with Julia - Irish soda bread scones

This TWD Baking with Julia challenge featured the Irish soda bread recipe, which I made for St. Patrick's Day Eve.  I've made soda bread in the past, in fact ruining a pizza stone by throwing chocolate chips into one, haha.  Soda bread is a lot like biscuits but with much less fat, just the wee bit of fat in the buttermilk, so while they are pretty tasty while fresh out of the oven, they turn into rocks later on.

Apparently this also stops any extraneous flour from being absorbed into the surface as it is handled, as evidenced by my photo.  To make these easier to share, I whipped up a batch, added raisins, and made them into sconey sized portions.  I am still partial to cream scones, but it is nice to make a traditional recipe from the isles.  :)

Please do check out the hostess blogs for this recipe - Carla of Chocolate Moosey and Cathleen of My Culinary Mission. 

Healthy Baking Class and Fondant Roses

This morning I went with some of my family to the Spice of Life Food & Fitness Festival at the convention center in Greenville. I was expecting one of those kinds of festivals where you pay money to get in and then pay more money if you want something one of the vendors is offering, but was pleasantly surprised to find actual free things. The best offering of all was a free cooking school (hour-long sessions) offered by the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas. The topic in the time period I was going to be there? "Healthy Baking Recipes and Decorating Ideas." They were set up to have 20 audience members do hands-on and the rest could just watch, so I plopped down 20 minutes before to make sure I'd get to play along!

Chef Alan walked us through how to make a baked good recipe healthier, whether that meant making it vegan, low-fat, gluten-free, or wheat-free.  I also asked him about decreasing the sugar, but he hadn't really prepared to answer that question.  He said we could e-mail him, haha... I plan to!

The second half of class included learning how to make a rose out of fondant. Now, I've tried making my own marshmallow fondant before, but hadn't ever played with official fondant.   The chef also directed us to a local cake supplier that I had no idea existed - CakeSupplies4U.com.  Not the greatest name, but it means I can make an order and pick it up in town!  That's worth the entire price of admission to the festival in itself. 


My rose is not the greatest; clearly I needed slightly smaller fondant marbles and to roll everything tighter, but I took home my bag of leftover fondant to practice on. Apparently the same technique is used with gum paste as fondant, it is just that gum paste dries more quickly. I don't think it is so outside my abilities to learn more about this, so that will be fun.  Honestly I wish I could go through the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas' pastry certificate but last time I checked I'd have to go to class during the day, and well, I have a job.  But sessions like this get me itchy!!

The other part of the decorating was to teach very basic cake decorating strokes like stars and shells.  Since I spent several months as a cake decorator, I didn't learn anything new there, but it is always good to force my brain to do the reverse shells thing since it takes a while to kick it into the right gear. 

If you are in Greenville, SC, and read this before Sunday the 18th, this session will repeat tomorrow at 11:30.  You should go!  It was fun for me, and I look forward to trying some of the recipes that were handed out for alternative baking.  The way the recipes are written, it would be easy to make a standard recipe and then try again with all the versions for comparison.  I might do that on this blog someday; it could be very educational for me!

Coffee Low(er) Carb Cheesecake

I've mentioned that we are eating differently in my house. Suddenly it was pi day (3.14) and I HAD to bake something.  I Skyped my husband and announced that today (yesterday) was the day I would be attempting a cheesecake with Splenda in place of sugar.  He got to pick the flavor, and he picked coffee.

I found a low carb cheesecake nut crust recipe and made the chocolate variety, and topped it with a coffee version of Abbey's (In)famous Cheesecake (the Daring Bakers challenge I hosted), just replacing out sugar for splenda.  The recipe had no flour, so I didn't need to replace any of that.  I made itty bitty ones in a mini cupcake pan, and a 6 incher.  I tried one of the itty bitties before it had chilled overnight and was sorely disappointed - the texture seemed gummy and the tinny taste of the Splenda sang out more than the coffee.  I was bummed.  Tonight I decided I would defeat it with fresh strawberries; luckily the overnight chill in the fridge really makes an incredible texture difference.  So it was creamy but still a bit tinny.  I wish I had tricks to overcome that particular nasty aspect of Splenda.  It doesn't bother me in coffee, but I notice it in pop (soda) and in this.  Maybe it is a hot vs. cold thing?

I'm not really providing an official recipe since I just kind of adapted things.  I also insist on calling it lower carb rather than low, because nuts still have carbs, but really that is the only source in the entire recipe.  Oh yeah and the strawberries but at least they are a real food!  

Hamantaschen

Hamantaschen translates to "Haman's pockets."It has to do with the Jewish holiday of Purim, based on a story int he book of Esther, and I will not attempt to explain it here.  I just don't know enough.  But we should be nomming on these and stealing from Haman's pockets, because he was an evil evil man. 

I had some prune lekvar and some pastry dough leftover from making rugelach, so I made hamantaschen! 

According to Wikipedia, one should drink on Purim until he can no longer distinguish between the phrases arur Haman ("Cursed is Haman") and baruch Mordechai ("Blessed is Mordecai").  Sounds like a fun holiday to me! 

TWD Baking with Julia - Rugelach

I was aware of the Tuesdays with Dorie group, that baked their way through Baking: From My Home to Yours for several years. They were always on my periphery, making delicious recipes at what seemed like a crazy pace. Then I missed the bloggers working their way through the Bread Baker's Apprentice, and would have liked to join in but it seemed beside the point to jump in partly through.  So when I heard that TWD was going to do another round, this time working with the book Baking with Julia, I knew I'd want to join.

Then I decided to start limiting my sugar consumption.  I thought maybe I wouldn't do this after all, but then saw that they would only do two recipes a week, and you only had to do one a month to be involved.  Well.  I can do that kind of pace.  And maybe a little taste, then HURRY UP GIVE THE REST AWAY.   Ahem.

This week's recipe is rugelach!  I had tried a rugelach recipe in the past, and tried making it chocolate, and just remember not liking it much.  It must have either been unlikable enough that I never blogged it, or BJB (Before Jenny Bakes), as it is not in my blog!  I was eager to redeem myself.


In Baking with Julia, it recommends that you use a homemade apricot or prune lekvar. As I'd made rugelach before, I wanted to have a bit more of a challenge, so I did make the lekvar from scratch.  It was easy, and much thicker and more substantial than a jar of jam would have been, more like a fruit butter.  I posted that I was making lekvar on my Facebook wall, and some people assumed I was making hamantaschen.  It turns out that Purim falls on Wednesday this week, but it did not happen to be on my radar since I'm not Jewish.  I often find this happens, that I accidentally make desserts appropriate for other people's religious holidays.  I always seem to make something creamy around February 2nd too (look that one up if you'd like, haha!).  I used one of those little scraps in the corner to make one hamantaschen, but I will wait to post that picture until Wednesday.


My rugelach was quite stuffed, so much that I barely got the end tucked under itself to roll it. Were I to make it again, and I might, since this was a light flaky pastry with many delicious flavors inside, I'd roll the dough thinner, or maybe try the crescent shape I've seen in other recipes.  First the prune lekvar was spread on the dough, then the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then raisins and walnuts.  I went very traditional with this recipe, since I like to do that before experimenting. 

One of the best parts of the TWD challenge is that everyone owns the cookbook.  Baking with Julia is a baker's staple, one of 3-4 I think every person interested in baking should own.  You can buy a copy here, and join in on the challenge over at TWD!

Ginger Soy Baked Tofu

Hey, you can bake savory things too! Lately we are eating tofu at least once a week, and it usually takes the form of baked squares like this. My basic technique is to press the tofu (paper towels on top and bottom, plates on both sides, heavy items on top, let sit for 30-60 minutes), cut it lengthwise through the middle and then width-wise into equal sized squares, and marinate it in whatever liquid I'm flavoring the tofu with.  In a pinch I might use something bottled (barbecue sauce can be tasty, for instance), but it doesn't take much time to whip up a marinade.

I made this recipe for Baked Ginger Soy Tofu Squares from the Garden of Eating blog a month or so ago, and it was tasty!  I don't necessarily follow the recipe exactly, just use what I happen to have on hand.  I'll post what I DID, but please follow the link to the original because it is surely tasty too.  One note - I would use tamari or low sodium soy sauce.  The first time around I used tamari, but this time I used regular soy and it was WAY too salty.  I also bake mine at least twice as long as she recommends, because I like my tofu chewy and caramelizing on the corners!


Ginger Soy Baked Tofu

Ingredients
* 1 (16-ounce) block extra firm tofu
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 2 tsps oil
* 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
* 1 Tbsp black sesame seeds
* 1 Tbsp ginger preserves
* Dash of tabasco sauce or hot sauce

Directions
1. Drain and rinse the block of tofu and cut into squares (see narrative above).

2. Meanwhile, make the marinade. Combine the soy sauce, oil, garlic, jam, hot sauce, and sesame seeds and stir well to make sure the jam is dissolved.

3. Put the cut tofu in a 9x13 pan, cover with marinade, and let sit for 30 minutes. Flip the tofu once and let marinate 30 more minutes, flipping once more before baking.

4. Pre-heat your oven to 350-degrees. Bake in the same pan for 20 minutes, flip squares, and bake 20 minutes longer.  If you like them softer, you can try doing 10 and 10, but you can probably bake as long as an hour if you like them chewy and a little crispy on the edges.

Baked tofu is one of those dishes that can be enjoyed hot or cold.  Try it with rice, greens, salad, or even in a sandwich.

Quick Breads and Google Friend Connect

This month's Daring Bakers Challenge was on quick breads.  I was unable to participate because of travel and lingering illness, but please do check out the blog roll for a variety of delicious quick breads!

I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that Google Friend Connect is disappearing as of March 1, at least for people who don't use Blogger.  Over the last five years, many of you have followed my blog this way.  I will not be creating a page in Google+ at this time, as I already have plenty of web presences to maintain online, even if that is what Google had intended.  If you are in the category of using Google Friend Connect but not Blogger, please continue to follow me by adding me to your RSS feed, following me in Facebook, or stalking me online. 

Back to quick breads!  While I didn't bake anything for this challenge, I have made many a quick bread in my time.  Some highlights:

• Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
• Cranberry Nut Bread
• Key Lime Yogurt "cake" with raspberry coulis
• Praline Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Nutella Bread
• Pumpkin Spice Bread with Maple Cheesecake Layer
• Vegan Banana Bread

Arroz Zambito

In my Around the World Reading Challenge, I read The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa for Peru (you can read about it in my reading blog.) Much of the book takes place with the indigenous people living in the jungles of Peru.

I knew my Peruvian dessert would need to be something special. I was finding a lot of dishes with clear European influence, heavy on the dulce de leche, such as Suspiro a la Limeña, a very sweet meringue topped custard. This looks delicious, and I'd like to make it someday, but it did not seem quite unique enough. I also found a subset of anise-flavored desserts, which must be a Peruvian flavor profile, like the Turrón de Doña Pepa. Just looking at the picture made my teeth hurt. I started to talk to my friend Karen, who talked to her friend from Peru, and they suggested Arroz Zambito. The best recipe I found was over on the My Life in Peru site, where she explains the racial undertones to the word "zambito," but also states

"While it’s generally considered that the Spanish brought arroz con leche to Peru, the native Peruvians took the recipe and ran with it, turning it into something that is very Peruvian.  So if we can look past the racial connotations of the name, we can see how it perfectly fits, in this marriage of European and indigenous Latin American flavors."

This combination, of European and indigenous Latin American flavors, couldn't have been any more perfect to mirror the contrasts and conflicts in The Storyteller.


First I had to hunt down chancaca, a key flavor ingredient to the Arroz Zambito.  Chancaca, also known as panela, raspadura or piloncillo, depending on which part of Latin America you come from, is basically what is left after the moisture is evaporated out of cane sugar.  I had to go to a local supermercado to find any, but they had an entire shelf.  It is a hard block and has to be grated before use.  It doesn't just fall apart on its own, that's for sure.  I got worn out after 3/4 cup or so, so my Arroz Zambito may be a little less sweet than it should have been.  That's okay with me since I haven't been eating a lot of sugar lately!  The raisins, as they cook in the arroz zambito, get dark and syrupy too, so every time you bite into one it is like a pulse of sweetness.

The picture at the top is a bit misleading, because I left the rest on low heat, and more of the liquid evaporated, meaning it was a little denser than as pictured.  I think that's what you want - not soup, but a creamy mouthful.  I have no problem admitting that I was home sick yesterday, and made this for breakfast.  Can you have better comfort food than a warm, spicy, rice dish?  This isn't just regular rice pudding. The spices and panela/chancaca make a big difference in flavor and dimension.  I now have a half-block of panela left, and I may try this chancaca syrup.  

Arroz Zambito (recipe from My Life in Peru)

Ingredients:

• 1 quart (liter) of water
• 3/4 cup of rice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 cloves
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1 cup of chancaca (or panela, raspadura, piloncillo), grated
• 3 cans of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• grated coconut and powdered cinnamon for garnish

How to Make It:

1. Boil the rice in the water with the cinnamon sticks and cloves.
2. When the rice has absorbed all the water, remove the cinnamon and cloves.
3. Add the raisins, the chancaca, and the three cans of evaporated milk. (make sure it’s evaporated, not sweetened condensed!)
4. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, then add the rest of the sugar. Continue cooking on low heat, stirring constantly, until the pudding is of a creamy consistency.

Serve in a bowl, sprinkled with grated coconut and cinnamon, if desired.
 

Cup-Cakin' in Dallas

Food trucks are trendy right now, but I don't have any in MY city, so it was still an inexperienced phenomenon for me.  Then I hit Dallas, Texas for the annual MOUG and MLA Meetings, where I was bound to connect with my BlogFan for Adventure #3.  I had done a little research, and other than a tortilla factory in a suburb that would have been impossible to get to without a car, none of the bakeries of Dallas were really calling my name.


Luckily, Emily (BlogFan) had also been doing some research, and had found a cupcake truck! The Cup-Cakin' Machine can be seen around Dallas, and you can always find their schedule by following them in Facebook or Twitter. That's what she had done, and on Thursday, they were in Thanksgiving Square, a short walk from the Fairmont Hotel. We braved the coldish weather for our cupcakes, and brought Sara along too.  It was too cold to eat outside, so we brought them back to the hotel.  (You can follow our previous adventures in Philadelphia and San Diego, and there will be more to come, as long as we are both music librarians!)


They had 6-8 flavors available that day, and I chose the triple chocolate threat. It was delicious - the cake part was moist and soft, and actually tasted like chocolate. The white chocolate buttercream was thick and sweet but not greasy, and the ganache on top was a nice touch. 

Do you have food trucks in your town?  Do any of them have BAKED GOODS?  If I had a food truck, I would do tea and scones....

Malva Pudding

This past week, I was reading Moxyland by Lauren Beukes for my Around the World reading challenge.  Beukes is South African and Moxyland is also set there.  As I researched desserts for South Africa, I was looking for something a little different this time - not something that had to be native but representative of the blend of cultures. 

I was torn between melktert (milk tart, like over on What's Gaby Cooking?) and malva pudding, both of which were absolutely everywhere.  Malva pudding has even been on Oprah, recreated for her by the famous Art Smith.  He is famous, I swear.  At least on this blog.  Then I came across this story about South African home cooking and comfort food on Honest Cooking, and that solidified my desire to make a malva pudding. 

Remember, there is a big difference between what Americans call pudding (a thick, set custard) and the rest of the world calls pudding.  In this case it is a moist cake, made moister by pouring a syrup over the top at the end of cooking.  This is apricot jam based, and every recipe I looked at was emphatic that it must be served with custard.  Luckily I still had some birds custard powder from the import store.  You can see in the picture that I've not exactly perfected it yet (mine is gloppy).

This was delicious, but I didn't come close to being able to eat one serving of it.  It is very rich, very sweet, and very very South African.

South African Malva Pudding (from Honest Cooking)
Serves 6-8

• 2tbsn unsalted butter
• 1 cup / 250dl sugar
• 2tbsn smooth apricot jam/preserves
• 2tsp white vinegar
• 2 cups/ 500dl flour
• 2 cups/ 500dl milk
• 2 eggs
• 2tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt

Syrup :

• 1 cup / 250dl sugar
• 1/2 cup / 125dl boiling water
• 3/4 / 190dl cup unsalted butter
• 1tsp vanilla extract

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°c / 356°f and grease a 20cm square pie/baking dish.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, apricot jam and vinegar together until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile sift the flour.
3. Alternating, add the flour and milk until the mixture is smooth and thick.
4. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the baking soda and salt and beat well.
6. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and bake for 30-45 minutes until the pudding is dark and baked through (a skewer inserted should come out clean).
7. In a small sauce pan, heat the syrup ingredients and cook until all the sugar has dissolved.
8. Pour the syrup over the cooked pudding and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving with custard. (In South Africa it would be a sin to serve this with anything other than UltraMel custard but you can use any custard you can find)

Po'e - Tahitian Fruit Pudding

This month for the Around the World challenge, I visited Tahiti by reading Frangipani by Celestine Vaite.  Two recipes come up for baked goods and desserts, at least in internet searching - coconut bread that seems to be a hotel or maybe French influenced tradition, and po'e.  I was very interested in po'e, which was described as a fruit pudding, typically served as part of the traditional tamara'a barbecues, after being baked in the fire pit.  A very poetic description of po'e within its meal context can be read on Islands.com.

The main recipe I found online for po'e is posted on The Polynesian Kitchen blog, and that is the one I used.  It is pointed out that traditionally this would be cooked wrapped in banana leaves, over a fire, but the recipe is adapted to the modern indoor kitchen.

Po'e is basically a fresh fruit, pureed and mixed with cornstarch or arrowroot, a bit of sweetener, and then baked.  It is served by being topped with coconut cream, and I found references online for serving it hot as well as serving it chilled.  The smell of my banana po'e was so enticing, there was no way we were going to wait for this to chill before trying it the first time!  On the French language blog La Cocinera Loca, you can see a wonderful photographic step by step demonstration, even if you can't read the directions.

I thought this was delicious, and different.  I love that you can do the same method with almost any fruit - I came across multiple mentions of pumpkin, yuca, and papaya variations.  

Po'e

4 to 6 servings

* Ripe bananas, peeled and cut into chunks -- 6-8 Bananas
* Brown sugar -- 1/2 cup
* Arrowroot or cornstarch -- 1 cup
* Vanilla -- 2 teaspoons
* Coconut cream -- 1 cup

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Puree the bananas in a blender or food processor. There should be enough puree to make 4 cups.
2. Mix together the brown sugar and arrowroot or cornstarch. Add this mixture and the vanilla to the bananas and process well. There should not be any lumps of starch. Adjust sugar to taste.
3. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and pour in the puree. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the pudding is firm and bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.
4. Cut into cubes and place into a large serving bowl or in individual bowls. Top with a dollop of coconut cream, a little more brown sugar and serve.**

Variations-

**Boil and Cook the Bananas on the stove until the fruit turns brown.  Add in remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and pour in mixture. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the pudding is firm and bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.

** Try substituting papaya, mango, pineapple, canned Pumpkin or other tropical fruits for some of the bananas. Just make sure there is a total of 4 cups of fruit puree. Ripe plantains can also be substituted for the bananas. For juicier fruits, you will probably have to add more arrowroot or cornstarch.

Notes

* Coconut cream is the thick coconut milk that rises to the top of a can of coconut milk. Don't shake the can before you open it and you can skim it right off the top.

Caraway Seed Cake

In Dubliners by James Joyce, there is a story called Counterparts.  The main character, Farrington, moves in and out of pubs in Dublin.  As I was reading the stories in this volume, I started marking the food words that I hadn't experienced so I could research them later - barmbracks, blancmange, and then what is mentioned in this passage:

"The curate brought him a glass of plain porter. The man drank it at a gulp and asked for a caraway seed. He put his penny on the counter and, leaving the curate to grope for it in the gloom, retreated out of the snug as furtively as he had entered it."

While Joyce may have meant a literal caraway seed (this could be a drinking tradition), any search I did of "caraway seed" and Ireland brought me to a variation of the caraway seed cake!  I have had bread with caraway seed in it before, but never something sweet.  I'd already made soda bread in the past, and endless scones, so I was looking for something new to me.

Caraway seed bread may be new to me, but it isn't new to Ireland.  According to Imen over on the I Married an Irish Farmer blog, caraway seed cake is merely a variation of the Madeira cake, which dates back at least to the 18th century in Ireland.  The Maderia cake, really just a pound cake of sorts, is thought to have been developed to eat while sipping Madeira or port wine.  It is very much an afternoon tea type cake, and would have been far more likely to be consumed by women, in groups.  She has a recipe on her site, but I found a version I wanted to try over on Rosa's Yummy Yums.  Rosa is someone I've "known" for several years through the Daring Bakers, so I trusted her recipe!  The two recipes aren't much different - Rosa adds a bit of almond meal and uses orange zest for the lemon, while I went back to the lemon for a more traditional flavor profile.  We will just pretend that Rosa doesn't call this an English cake.  I'm sure it is impossible to keep delicious baked goods a secret for long anyway!

 

Caraway Seed Cake
A variation of the recipe on Rosa's Yummy Yums

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp ground almonds (almond meal/flour)
1/3 cup milk or buttermilk
3 Tbsp caraway seeds

1. Cream butter, sugar, and zest.
2. Beat in almond extract and eggs, one at a time.
3. Blend dry ingredients together and add slowly to mixture, alternating with milk.
4. Stir caraway seeds in by hand.
5. Bake in loaf pan at 350 F, 50-60 minutes.
6. Let cool, slice, and serve!

It is my personal opinion that since this is so close to a pound cake, you probably want to serve it with something, like fruit and whipped cream or some kind of spread.  It could be that I'm just not pound cake's biggest fan.

I made this to accompany my Irish reads for the Around the World Challenge.  Both were easy reads, and recommended.
Dubliners by James Joyce (my review)
A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle (my review)

Croatian Black Pepper Cookies (Paprenjaci)

This year, I am doing a reading challenge called Around the World in 52 Books with a group in GoodReads.  Making the list of what I wanted to read and hunting down the books online and in used book stores has been a blast, and I will be posting reviews in GoodReads and in my reading blog, Reading Envy.

Of course, reading 52 books didn't seem like enough.  I started to wonder if I could challenge myself to do a baked good from every country too.  Either a bread or a dessert.  I'm not sure I'll have time every week, but I'm going to try! 

Most of the time, I will hunt down a recipe before reading the selected book, but I might find myself changing my mind based on what is in the book.  I definitely did that this time around.  I was all set to make a Povitica, which is a nut bread prominent throughout eastern Europe, particularly the former Yugoslavia.  As I read The Tiger's Wife, I kept coming across mentions of pepper cookies in the beginning of the book.  I got curious, did some internet research, and I found such interesting anecdotes connected to paprenjaci that I changed directions.

The one recipe I find online was originally posted by a man named Nitko, who lives in Zagreb and seems to have posted many of his grandmother's recipes online.  These have been copied and reposted many other places on the internet.  His recipe for paprenjaci was promising, but contained lard, and everything was in grams.  I don't eat lard, and wanted a recipe I could share, so what you see below is my take, as close to the original as I could make it.

Croatian Black Pepper Cookies (Paprenjaci)

Ingredients

• 6 oz butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper*
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons light honey
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup walnuts, ground (measured first)
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

Cream butter, sugar, and honey. Mix in egg. Mix in spices, then nuts and flour. Chill dough at least two hours. Roll out and use cookie molds or cookie cutters. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

* - These are pretty peppery.  Given the chance to make them again, I might do just 1 tsp.


According to WikiTravel, paprenjaci are said to reflect Croatia's tumultuous history because they combine the harshness of the war periods (pepper) with the natural beauties (honey). This fits right in with the story in The Tiger's Wife. Come read my review!

Holiday Cookie Redux

It turns out that I got so excited about my gingerbread trees with lemon icing, I forgot to talk about the other cookies I made for the holidays!

I made a new kind of swirl cookie, trying to top last year's orange-nutella pinwheels. I instead made Alton Brown's Chocolate Peppermint Swirl Cookies, but they weren't quite as good. The peppermint candies get too hot in the cookie and the carmelized sugar can overbake the cookie itself.

The chocolate crinkle cookies, or what my family always called "wagon wheel cookies," is just a recipe I make every year.  I absolutely can't celebrate December without them.

The best cookie, pictured up in the right corner, almost bland looking, may have been the best one!  Since it is a tweak on a Martha Stewart recipe, I'm including it here for your baking pleasure.

Cranberry Pistachio Icebox Cookies
 
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup pistachios, shelled (measure after shelling)
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and beat until combined. Stir in pistachios and cranberries.  Divide dough in half.  Form each half into a log, either a round or triangular shape.  Chill several hours.  Slice dough crosswise slightly thicker than 1/8 inch. Reshape if needed. Bake at 350 degrees on parchment-lined baking sheets until firm, 12 to 14 minutes.  DO NOT OVERBAKE!  The color will not change drastically when they are done. 

Looking Back at 2011

Resolutions are made to be broken!  In my case, resolutions are made to be gleefully ignored, stomped on, and tossed out the window the minute something shiny comes along.  So this will not be my wrap-up post detailing how I fulfilled my 2011 Culinary Resolutions.  Nope.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.

Okay, wait, come back.  Just for a bit.  Let's talk about what I did accomplish, what I've learned, and what tasty treats I've unleashed onto the world in 2011.  (That's more like it!)

Favorites of 2011
I went with a top 5.  I couldn't exclude any of these recipes, all of which were made for the first time in 2011.  These are JennyBakes approved, five-star, guaranteed recipes.  Each numbered item links directly to the recipe, so click away!

1. Gramercy Tavern's Gingerbread
I realize I just posted about this, but it was seriously good.  This is why holiday baking posts are so difficult; I find something we love that I have to make again, and I run out of space to make new desserts.  Add this one to the repeat pile!

2. Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
These were amazing and quite a visual treat, but the real reason they were on this list is that I started hearing about them at work.  One student said a professor talked about them in class, and another professor came into my office to thank me for the recipe.  (Hi friends!)  You know pancakes are good when they get brought up in music theory class!

3. Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies
Ha!  When I first started this blog post, I realized I never ever blogged these, which explains why you see an early 12/31 post for Christmas cookies.  This was another recipe that I heard about for days after I brought them to work.  There were theories that I used fancy butter (nope, I always buy the cheap generic stuff!), and when I shared the recipe I got weird reactions like "I'll never be able to make them like you."  People.  Don't be afraid of baking.  They are just sugar cookies with stuff in them. 

4. Red Wine Chocolate Cake
The second recipe in my top five from the Smitten Kitchen blog (seriously excited to own her cookbook when it comes out!), and another cake with rave reviews.  In fact, this might be my personal favorite of the list.  I loved the way the red wine elevated the chocolate, and the texture of this cake was also fantastic. 

5. Rosemary Shortbread
I first tasted this at a work function (we have a lot of people who love to cook!), and I hearby apologize to shortbread for thinking I didn't like it.  This recipe proves me wrong.  I can still taste it ....

Oh how I've learned!
I may not have learned about fondant like I'd planned, but I did get a chance to meet a local chocolate maker and play with his chocolate in recipes.  That was a highlight of the year!  I also did a lot more alternative baking - vegan, gluten-free, and trying to make things set up with agar-agar.  I hope I can keep challenging myself to be more adept at those kinds of recipes, since there seem to be an increasing number of people who identify with those dietary choices.  

Gramercy Tavern's Gingerbread

Half of the recipes I mark to make later are from Smitten Kitchen, but I can't help it, that blog is amazing!

You can find the recipe to Gramercy Tavern's Gingerbread on the Smitten Kitchen blog, but I have a few things to say about it.

1. Make sure you heat the Guiness (stout) and molasses in a pan at least twice as big as the liquid.  Bringing those to things to a boil isn't the problem, but prepare for great fizzing explosions when you add the baking soda.  I destroyed an oven mitt on that step.
2. Do everything you can to grease the pan.  I listened and did butter + nonstick spray + flour and still lost a few chunks.  Those chunks were chewy and amazing, but there has to be a way to get it out cleanly.  
3. MAKE THIS TODAY.  You won't be sorry.  The end.

Daring Bakers December 2011 - Rye Sourdough Bread

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

This was my first foray into sourdough bread making, and unlike most Daring Bakers months, I knew I could not procrastinate and make something the last day.  I actually began the starter, affectionately named Gertie, on the 16th or so.  I could post a picture of her here, but she is very sensitive to how she looks.  Just picture a gloppy, bubbly, tan mass, and there you go.  (Sorry, Gertie).  If I had been a better sourdough starter mother, I would have remembered to feed her after I baked her first loaf, but I failed.  It is just as well; this bread wasn't my favorite ever, but it is more of a taste thing.  I'm pretty sure the result is what I was looking for.  You can find the recipe on Jessica's blog, where there are also recipes for country wheat sourdough, and an interesting looking gluten-free variety with brown rice flour.

The second part of the challenge was to make something to put on a toast version of our bread.  With the cold weather and lots of time spent indoors during the holidays, Nathaniel and I had been craving Welsh Rarebit anyway, so even though I didn't challenge myself on that part, it was still delicious!  The dark, smoky, murky flavors of the Welsh Rarebit, created by the Worcestershire and ale, is a perfect pairing with a sourdough like this. 


I use Alton Brown's recipe, kind of. I was horrified at the idea of using cream instead of milk, when almost every recipe you'll find uses milk. There is already so much fat with the cheese and butter, that I just couldn't do it. With the milk, this recipe is quite rich, so I just can't imagine it any richer.  He also only called for 4 slices of toast, but this easily smothered 8 thick slices of the rye sourdough. 

JennyBakes Take on Alton Brown's Welsh Rarebit

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup ale
3/4 cup milk
8ounces (approximately 2 cups) shredded Cheddar
2 drops hot sauce
8 slices toasted rye bread

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, being careful not to brown the flour. Whisk in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add beer and whisk to combine. Pour in milk and whisk until well combined and smooth. Gradually add cheese, stirring constantly, until cheese melts and sauce is smooth; this will take 4 to 5 minutes. Add hot sauce. Pour over toast and serve immediately.

Happy Holidays!

Whatever holiday you celebrate, or if you simply enjoy your time with family, I hope you have a wonderful time!  Best wishes for 2012....

Happy Birthday!

Every Christmas Eve, we celebrate a birthday. Not Jesus! Nathaniel! His old standard used to be the mint chocolate chip roulade cake from Baskin Robbins, but as there aren't any left around these parts, and he is married to someone who likes to bake, I have done some experimenting the last few years.

This year he asked if I could also make the ice cream part. Usually I wimp out and buy good ice cream from the store - Ben & Jerry's, Haagen Daaz, whatever I know is good. After all, I've not had the best luck in ice cream making. Too icey, too eggy, too solid, not enough flavor, and so on. I was thinking back to the one time I was happy with what I made - the hazelnut gelato from the Ciao Bella book. I decided to make two kinds of gelato, and stack this cake high. One is the typical mint chocolate chip, and one is the reverse of that.

I started with the plain base and the chocolate base in the Ciao Bella book. After they had chilled, I stirred in 1 tbsp creme de menthe and 1/2 tsp peppermint extract into each (this sounds like a lot, and was a lot more than the recipe called for, but honestly I wouldn't have wanted any less!). When the ice cream maker started sounding like it was working hard, I dumped in whichever bits I was adding (chopped semisweet chocolate or mint chips). Then I put the mixtures into the same cake pans I'd baked the cakes in, to make it easy to put together.

This was delicious! It looks a bit unfinished, because I didn't ice it at all, but taste-wise it didn't need it. I used the Black Magic Cake recipe I found randomly online, and it was great.