Strawberry Shortcake

What a nice Easter! I spent the weekend welcoming my cousin Arthur to Philadelphia and then hanging out with him and my sister. Saturday we had a nice lunch with his parents (my Aunt Barb and Uncle Bruce) at Top Of The Hill Market and bought some Easter candy at Zipf's. Good thing he came to visit because he was a great help in the kitchen; baking this cake and rolling out balls of Jaques Torres' chocolate chip cookies. I need him next Xmas when we turn my mom's house into a gingerbread cookie decorating factory again. But back to the cake...

In honor of my Nona I made strawberry shortcake for Easter dinner at my Aunt Pat and Uncle Tommy's house. Nona used to make her cake from a box- but when we were little kids we didn't care. It was delicious anyway. I came across this recipe while stumbling around Taste Spotting one day. The recipe comes from Thyme, it's called Mammie Moo's Strawberry Shortcake.

What an easy recipe!! I pretty much followed it to a T except I didn't realize that they don't sell creme fraiche at Pathmark so I just made regular whipped cream instead of the one in the original recipe. I also just used two 9 inch cake pans and covered the bottoms with tin foil and Pam since I didn't have a spring form. But I knew I'd have to cover the bottom because this cake will stick if you just try to grease and flour the pan. Parchment circles will work as well. Then I cut each cake in two and made a four-layer cake with whipped cream in between each layer and strawberries in the middle and on top. Again, really easy and very tasty.

For the cake:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
5 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
5 Tbs. boiling water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Grated zest of 2 lemons

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350, in a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl whip together the egg yolks and sugar with a hand mixer on high speed until thick; the mixture will still be grainy. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the boiling water. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Increase the speed to high and whip again until thick. Stir in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Reduce the speed to low and stir in the flour mixture.

3. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites on medium-low speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until thick and smooth; the mixture should not look dry. Fold half of the whites into the batter with a spatula, then fold in the remaining whites.

4. Gently spread the batter in the prepared pans. (You can use a 9 in spring-form pan, I used two 9 inch cake pans- don't forget to line the bottoms) Bake until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan and invert the cake. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool completely. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into 3 layers if you used the spring-form or cut each layer in 2 to make 4 layers if you used the two 9 inch cake pans. (Snippet's Notes: If you used the spring form wrap dental floss around the cake, cross the floss, and gently pull it through the body of the cake to get 3 even layers.)

For the strawberry layer:

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly
sliced, plus more for garnish
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. granulated sugar

Method:

Place the 2 cups strawberries in a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and 2 Tbs. of the granulated sugar.

For the whipped cream:

2 cups heavy cream
4 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Method:

Whip cream, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer on high until cream is thick and fluffy- don't make butter out of it.

Hurry up, it's almost gone!!

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma TASTE Magazine, "Layers of Delight," by Emily Luchetti (Spring 2002).

Nora's Oatmeal

Nora is making her signature oatmeal:

1/2 C Regular cut oats
1/4 C Water
1/2 C Skim Milk
1 Tbsp Flax seed meal
1 Tbsp Peanut butter
1/2 Apple- cubed
Handful Raisins
1 Tsp Brown sugar
Dash Cinnamon

Note: Nora likes her oatmeal extra mushy so you can back off on the liquid if you like it more solid. We were thinking you could add a handful of chocolate chips and some nuts if you are feeling particularly sinful. All you have to do is heat the water, milk, oats, and flax seed until almost done then stir in the other ingredients. Stir your mixture or it will stick to the bottom and you'll be pissed off.

Nora and Phil decided- last night as we were hanging out with Maya and cousin Arthur- that peanut butter and banana oatmeal is the best thing ever. Unfortunately my bananas are black for baking and this creeped Nora out. So we tried the apples instead and it's a bangin substitute- although no match for the bananas.

Cookie Baking 101: For Everyone Who Ever Asked Why?

One of my professors once told me I should go for my masters because I always ask WHY? Never satisfied with just the answer I'm always wondering "but what if I you did this instead of that?" Same thing goes for baking- can I use this sugar instead of that one, what's the difference between baking powder and baking soda? Cake flour or AP flour? Different ways of measuring things and many other musings...

So one day I was fumbling around on Taste Spotting and I found this very informative and simply written answer guide to many of the questions I have been asking. This chick is a professional baker and just a damn good writer. So if you have a few minutes and you are still wondering WHY?- skim through this post and learn something about the science of baking.

Image credit: Dessert First- Pastrygirl

Jaques Torres' Chocolate Chip Cookies

For Easter dinner I asked my cousin Mike what he wanted me to make for dessert. Anything in the world- give me a challenge. "Chocolate chip cookies". Ok- chewy or crispy? "It doesn't matter". Ok if there were both chewy and crispy on the table which one would you grab first? "I'd probably eat both." -The conversation went something like that for a while until- CHOOSE ONE!!!! "Ok let's go with crispy".

So I went on Taste Spotting- my newest obsession, designed specifically for people like me who choose recipes solely on the basis of a good picture. Try typing chocolate chip cookie (or any other ingredient or dish) in the search box and check out the results. The most gorgeous mouthwatering pictures and some pretty damn good recipes to boot! I looked at the New York Times take on the best chocolate chip cookie- but I've done it before- so I went with the Jaques Torres one this time instead. It's a little bit more involved than the average cookie and it takes some ingredients that not everyone has lying around- but it's Easter, so I figure let's go crazy, right?

So you make this batter and then you leave it in the fridge for an entire day at least, these are not impromptu cookies- they take some foresight. However, I am not a planning person and I am not patient at all so I decided to bake half of the batter right away and leave the other half to "marinate" in the fridge until Easter day. I threw the impatient half of the dough into the freezer for about 10 mins so it wouldn't melt all over the oven and then portioned and baked them. The batter is like velvet because of the cornstarch and they actually turned out well- I made everyone at work try them and they got good reviews. So it will be interesting to see how the impatient cookie compares to the one that's still sitting in the fridge. I will let you know how that turns out later today while I'm making my STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!!! for Easter Dinner. (In memory of my Nona who put whipped cream and strawberries on a Duncan Hines cake and no one was the wiser.)

For the flour in this recipe you can use either AP flour, cornstarch,and bread flour OR cake flour and bread flour. The bread flour is a must, I had cornstarch so I used that and the AP flour- I don't usually keep cake flour lying around.

Ingredients:

(1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
OR
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour)

1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature (2 1/2 sticks)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 2/3 cups dark chocolate chips

Method:

Oven Temperature: 350 F

1. Set out your butter and eggs to reach room temperature.

2. If using all-purpose flour and cornstarch as a substitute for cake flour, level your all-purpose flour and cornstarch as you measure them and sift together 4-5 times. (If using cake flour skip this step)

3. Sift together the cake flour or AP flour and cornstarch with the bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars for about 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute after each addition. Add vanilla and beat to combine. With machine set at lowest speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand, dispersing evenly throughout. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge. Refrigerate for 24-72 hours. Or just throw it in the freezer for 10 mins if you're an impatient freak like me.

5. When you are ready to bake your cookies, remove them from the fridge to reach room temperature. Once your dough is just about scoopable, preheat your oven and prepare your baking sheets. Scoop the dough onto the baking sheets using a fairly large scoop.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, switching racks and rotating the trays halfway through the time. Don’t go longer than 12, even if your dough looks a bit doughy in the middle. Let the cookies cool on the baking trays just until you can move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Later today... STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE with Nora and cousin Arthur

Photo Credits: Bright Eyed Baker and Thyme

Dadism: The Vitamix

My Dad called the other day to ask me if I could get him a discount on a Vitamix Blender at Whole Foods. This man is not a juice man. You can't put a pork chop in a blender Dad, but you might be able to put one in a Vitamix- those things are redic!!

Muffin Thursday: Mandarin Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

So muffin Thursday is being blogged on Friday morning this week. This recipe from Brooklyn Gallery is supposed to make an orange quick bread but I adapted it to be a muffin recipe by changing the cook temp from 350 to 400. Mikey said this was one of the best muffins I've ever made- almost as good as the Jewish Honey Cake he loved so much. And Mole and my Aunt Nan visiting from NYC liked them too!!

Makes about 10 muffins...

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter (melted in microwave)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup hot water
zest of one orange
zest of one lemon
1 1/2 can mandarin oranges
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix the butter, sugar, egg, OJ, water, and zests.
Pur the dry bowl into the wet and mix until almost combined.
Add the mandarin oranges and chocolate chips and finish stirring, just until combined. You don't want to over-mix a muffin or it will deactivate the baking soda and powder and you'll have a flat dense muffin. Grosssssssss!
Portion your muffins into a regular-sized muffin pan and add a few extra chocolate chips or some sprinkled sugar to the top.

Bake for about 15-20 mins until they are golden and bounce back to the touch. Watch out these cooked quicker than I thought!!

Adapted from James Beard’s American Cookery

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons

My friend and neighbor Jenn asked my mom and I to teach her how to make macaroons. Little did she know that neither of us has ever made them before. So Marie set out to get eggs, chocolate, and coconut from Target and I started looking at recipes.

Macaroons turned out to be really simple-looking to make, but they can be very finicky to bake correctly- as we found out. There is a delicate balance between getting them brown on the outside yet cooked all the way through, and not sticking to the freaking parchment paper.

I settled on a recipe that didn't have sweetened condensed milk or flour. I also found that most people were baking their macaroons at 325, although my recipe called for 300, this didn't get them cooked enough so I went back to 325. We made ours bite-sized, these things hit you like a bag of sugar to the face, plus this way you can have more than one.

This recipe makes 8 bite-sized macaroons, it can easily be doubled or tripled etc.

Ingredients:

1 Egg White
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/4 Tsp Vanilla
3/4 C Sweetened Coconut
Pinch Salt

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients with spoon or your hands in a bowl until totally combined
2. Divide into 4 balls if you want larger or 8 balls if you want the bite-sized and squeeze with your fingers until they hold their ball-shape
3. Spray parchment paper with Pam or brush with oil or butter or they will stick!! and place them as close as you want- they don't spread at all
4. Bake for around 20 mins or until they are golden brown and crusty on the outside. If they are too mushy leave them in longer, but don't let them get too dark
5. Let them cool for a couple of minutes and then remove them with a spatula
6. Make your chocolate dip by melting 2/3 C chocolate chips of any kind you like (semi-sweet, dark, milk whatever) and 1 Tbsp of butter over a double boiler and when the macaroons are cool either dip them in chocolate or drizzle it with a spoon over their tops
7. Store in tupperware in the fridge so the chocolate hardens

Here's another one that I want to try later this week if I have time: Raspberry Coconut Macaroons from Smitten Kitchen. I'll let you know how they turn out. And I'm definitely going to dip these in chocolate.

Photo credit: Smitten Kitchen

Earl Grey Banana Muffins

I've been dying to try this recipe for weeks now, adapted from Healthy-Delicious' Banana Bread . After the success of the chai muffin recipe (and I have designs for a lemon chamomile muffin) I have been thinking about baking with tea. Well the Earl Grey was subtle if not undetectable in this muffin. If anything it added to the richness of the banana rather than standing on it's own.

The sour cream (I hate sour cream on it's own) made the recipe incredibly moist. I've used yogurt in muffins before and it made them kind of wimpy and bland, but this addition was a success.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Water (Boiling)
5 bags of Earl Grey tea
1/4 cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Butter- 1 stick
1 cup fat free Sour Cream
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
2-1/4 cups all purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe Bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons Turbinado Sugar (Sugar in the Raw) for the tops

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 if you are making loafs like in original recipe, or 400 if you are making muffins like I did.
2. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the tea bags. Allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes, then discard the tea bags. Add the sugars and butter and return the pan to the heat. Cook until the butter and sugars have melted into a thick syrup, about 2 minutes. Put in fridge to cool.
3. Combine the sour cream and baking soda in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the cooled tea syrup and the eggs.
5. Fold in the mashed bananas.
6. Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl and fold gently into wet ingredients until just combined.
6. Pour the batter into giant muffin tins or 2 loaf pans. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar.
7. For loaf pans bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes on 350 and for muffins bake for about 25-30 mins on 400, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Rustic Apple Cake

In celebration of Game of Thrones' premiere last night I made yet another apple cake recipe to bring to Jen's house. The original recipe can be found at Eat Good 4 Life's blog- I made a few changes.

So for some reason I decided to get fancy and I tried baking this in a small bunt pan. Well I oiled the pan but I didn't butter it and so the top third of the cake stuck to the pan. So this cake is really ugly- but reaaaaally delicious. I might make it again for Easter dinner, but use the right pans next time and grease and flour the pan!!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil (canola oil or vegetable oil will also work, olive oil has healthier fats)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 apples, thinly sliced
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup OJ
powdered sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 9 inch round pan.

In a bowl, beat eggs and sugar for 2-3 minutes. I do this with the hand mixer.

Stir in oil, and vanilla and combine. Then stir in flour and baking powder alternating with the milk. Stir in apples, coating every piece with batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 55-65 minutes or until cake pulls away from pan and is brown on top.

Cool for 20-30 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar if desired.

Muffin Saturday: Honey Orange Cornmeal Muffins

This recipe is adapted from Eat Good 4 Life's Cornmeal Cake Recipe. So I guess muffin Thursday turned out to be muffin Saturday (right before I had to go into work). I made the chocolate chunk cookies first and had an hour of time to kill so I busted these out. I usually like to put whole corn kernels in my corn muffins but I didn't have any cans lying around today. In the summer I like to use leftover fresh corn from the farm-stand.

I didn't have any honey so I used maple syrup instead, also I didn't have orange extract so I just left it out. My batter was reallllllly wet so I actually ended up putting in around 3/4 C of oats to soak up some of the liquid. I also added about 2 Tsp of crushed dried rosemary just for fun. And I changed the baking temp from 375 to 400 because muffins like it hot.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil (canola or vegetable oil will also work)
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/8 cup sugar, plus 2-3 tablespoons to sprinkle the top of the cake
1/2 cup orange juice, plus 2-3 tablespoons
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
Zest 1 orange
2 teaspoons orange extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, eggs, sugar, extract and orange juice. In another bowl mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and orange zest and then combine with the wet ingredients. Then add the oats if you need to, the rosemary, or if you want- some corn, nuts, or craisins.

Pour batter into prepared muffin pan and sprinkle the top with remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. I used a giant muffin pan to make larger muffins. They will cook around 20 mins, maybe 25. Mine came out a little dry because I wasn't paying attention!! I hate a dry muffin. I guess that's why god made butter and jam. These would be awesome toasted with some raspberry jam.