Snowed-In Din-Din

We're experiencing the first Snowpocalypse of the year, and I wanted to make a good Sunday supper last night, but without having to leave the house in a blizzard. I had a pork roast that I had in the back fridge and needed to cook. So I sprinkled it liberally with seasoned salt, browned it on all sides in a skillet, then threw it in the Instant Pot with a bottle of beer, a sliced onion, some garlic cloves, a few glugs of Worcestershire sauce, a good squirt of sriracha, and a bay leaf. I cooked it on the meat setting for 75 minutes and let it release naturally.

Then I found a box of cornbread mix in the pantry, so I zhooshed that up with some caramelized onions and creamy goat cheese. After I took this picture, I added a sidecar of my homemade Hot Pink Jalapeno Garlic Kraut.

Hot Pink Jalapeno Garlic Kraut 
(Source: Adapted from Nourished Kitchen)

3 1/2 pounds red cabbage, shredded
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and minced
4 medium jalapeno peppers, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon pink Himalayan salt

Toss the cabbage, garlic, jalapenos and salt into a large mixing bowl. Knead the vegetables together by hand for five minutes until they begin to release their juices. Allow the shredded vegetables to rest a further five minutes, then return for five more minutes of kneading.

Layer the salted vegetables into a quart-sized fermentation jar or crock (find a crock online), and pack tightly until the brine created by the vegetable juice and salt completely submerges the shredded cabbage and peppers. Weigh down the vegetables with a glass weight sterilized stone or other heavy item small enough to fit within your crock, close and ferment at room temperature.

Taste after about three weeks and continue to ferment if the sauerkraut hasn't achieved the level of tartness you prefer. Transfer to cold storage when sour enough for your liking.

Cornbread with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons butter

3 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced

1 15 oz. box cornbread mix (or 2 boxes of Jiffy)

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup chevre (goat cheese), broken up into large crumbles

To a large skillet over medium-low heat, add two tablespoons of the olive oil and the onions, and cook, stirring frequently until dark golden brown, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool to warm (not hot).

In an 8x8 baking dish or deep dish pie plate, add the other two tablespoons of olive oil, swirl it around, and put the dish in the oven to preheat to 375 F. Meanwhile, whisk the cornbread mix with the buttermilk, eggs, Parmesan, and black pepper. Stir in about 2/3 of the caramelized onions.

When the oven comes to temperature, remove the heated baking dish and pour in the cornbread batter. Poke the goat cheese crumbles here and there down into the batter. Top with the remaining caramelized onions. Bake for about 35 minutes until a tester comes out clean in the middle.

The college where I teach was closed today because of the snow, and I had some more time for home cooking, I decided to make some zesty succotash to accompany my leftover pork and cornbread.

Corn and Lima Bean Succotash

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large red onion, diced

1 cup chopped roasted red and yellow peppers

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 16 oz. bag frozen baby lima beans, thawed

1 16 oz. bag frozen sweet corn

1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

few shakes of hot sauce, to taste

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, peppers, garlic, and lima beans for a few minutes until the onion is tender. Add the corn, Creole seasoning, black pepper, hot sauce, vinegar, sugar, and chicken broth. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the broth has almost entirely evaporated. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh parsley.

The last thing I cobbled together on my snow day (again, I was not interested in leaving the house!) was a Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Bundt Cake with Bittersweet Ganache Glaze from a box of yellow cake mix. For a "cheater" cake, it turned out pretty darn good, I think!

Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Bundt Cake with Bittersweet Ganache Glaze

Cake:

1 (15.25-oz.) pkg. yellow cake mix (without pudding added)
1 cup plain yogurt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1 (3.4-oz.) pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup macadamia nut pieces

Ganache Glaze:

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine cake mix, yogurt, eggs, vanilla bean paste, pudding mix, oil, and water in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium, and beat until light and fluffy, two to three minutes. Gently fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

Pour mixture into a lightly greased and floured Bundt cake pan. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Remove cake from oven, and cool in pan for about ten minutes. Transfer cake from pan to wire rack; cool completely, about one hour.

Microwave the bittersweet chips and the cream in a large bowl for one minute, then whisk until smooth. (Microwave an additional 30 seconds if needed.) Whisk in the butter until smooth. Pour the glaze completely over the cake. Let the ganache set before slicing and serving.

You need a few bites of sunshine!

I can't complain too much about the North Country winter this year. I mean, heck, it was darn near 70 degrees on Christmas Eve, and the lowest temps we've had so far have been in the single digits (this is often 20-30 below time of year). Still, it's cold and dark, and spring is still months away for us. But fortunately, it's citrus season in the supermarkets, and who couldn't use a little tropical-flavored goodness? Since two of my friends had birthdays this week, I decided to bake some sunny, lemony cupcakes to take to share at karaoke last night. And they turned out just DELICIOUS, if I do say so myself!

Ok, ok, I started with a box mix as a time-saving short cut, but there are lots of things that you can do to make a box mix taste more like homemade. You can swap out milk, buttermilk, or sour cream for the water. (For a chocolate cake, swap out coffee or dark beer or red wine. For white or yellow cake, swap out lemon-lime or grapefruit soda or lemonade or ginger ale.) You can--and should--swap melted butter for the vegetable oil for better texture and flavor. You can add one extra egg for a slightly denser texture. Fresh lemon zest in a white or yellow cake is always a fine idea, as is adding a teaspoon of vanilla to any flavor of cake mix. You can also add other spices, extracts, nuts, berries, chocolate chips, or whatever is hanging around in your pantry or freezer that looks like it would be tasty in your cake. But the most CRUCIAL step in making a boxed mix cake taste special and like you made it all from scratch--hear me now, my people--is to make a luscious, homemade frosting to go on top!

For this particular batch, I used a lemon cake mix (otherwise, I might have used a yellow cake mix and added the zest and juice of a lemon), I swapped out whole milk for the water, melted butter for the vegetable oil, added a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, and a pinch of salt. Then for the frosting, I made this creamy, dreamy stuff:

Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 stick (6T) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
zest of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

In a stand mixer, blend the cream cheese and butter with the paddle until completely smooth. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix until very smooth, then blend in the lemon zest and vanilla. Use to frost 24 completely cooled cupcakes.

2016 is already COOKIN'!

As Suzie Diamond says in The Fabulous Baker Boys about New Year's resolutions, "I figure all that stuff's a bunch of crap, anyway. You do what you do, right?" But one resolution I know I can keep is to cook lots of tasty food in new year, and I'm already cooking up a storm for 2016! I made Monte Cristo Sliders and Sour Cream Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting for a New Year's Eve party last night. And then for lunch today, I whipped up a hearty and comforting (and easy!) Beefy Tomato Soup. Shout-out to my wonderful friend, Karen, for sharing the recipe. All in all, what a delicious start to the new year!

Here are the pics and recipes:

My friends at the New Year's Eve party that I attended were all over these tasty little sammies, and I took home two empty pans! WOOT! They also loved the banana cake, even some of them who claimed (like myself) not to like bananas. I especially loved the frosting, and I will use it n the future of other kinds of cakes.

And the soup I made for lunch today is also going into a regular rotation around here! It's simple and yummy, and perfect for a busy work week dinner with leftovers to take for lunch the next day.

Baked Monte Cristo Party Sliders
(Source: Creme de la Crumb)

12 King's Hawaiian rolls, sliced in half horizontally
12 slices deli ham
12 slices deli turkey
6 slices swiss cheese, cut in half
1/2 cup butter (8 tablespoons), melted
1 egg
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 to 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
raspberry preserves (I used homemade black raspberry-peach jam)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease or spray a 9x13 inch baking pan. (I used disposable aluminum pans covered with foil to take to the party.)

Slice rolls in half horizontally. Place bottom halves (side by side, touching) in your prepared baking pan. Distribute ham over the bottom half of the rolls. Next layer the turkey, then the swiss cheese. Top with the top halves of the rolls.

In a bowl, whisk together melted butter, egg, and dijon mustard. Pour mixture over rolls. Cover loosely with foil (tent the foil so that it does not touch the tops of the rolls) and bake for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes longer.

Using a mesh strainer, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve the sliders with raspberry preserves.

To Die For Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting
(Source: adapted from Cooking Classy)

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed overripe bananas (from about 3 large)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Frosting
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish (or use baking spray) then set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and butter, then mix in sour cream and eggs (occasionally scrape down bowl throughout mixing process). Stir in mashed banana and vanilla extract. Add the flour, salt and baking soda then mix well. Mix in nuts, if using.

Pour batter into prepared baking dish, spread into an even layer and bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 33 - 38 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

For the frosting:
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together butter, powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste. Slowly add in heavy cream and mix until smooth and fluffy. Spread over cooled cake. Store cake in refrigerator in an airtight container. Let rest at room temperature a bit before serving.

Beefy Tomato Soup
(Source: adapted from Mantitlement)

1 lb. ground beef
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 (23.5) oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup (1/2 8 oz. package) cream cheese
11/2 cups  elbow macaroni or short-tubed pasta
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil, divided (or 2T dried)
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for three to four minutes until the onion gets soft. Add the ground beef, breaking up with a spoon and cook until no longer pink, then add the garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes to the beef and stir to combine. Next pour in the chicken stock, scraping the bottom of the pot as you stir, then add the jar of pasta sauce.

Bring the soup to a simmer and let cook for ten minutes. Stir in the cream cheese, using a whisk to incorporate it well, then add half of the fresh basil. Pour in the pasta, stir and let cook for another ten minutes with the lid on. (If the soup is too thick for your liking, thin with additional chicken stock.)

Spoon into bowls and garnish with the leftover basil and a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Settlers of Chazy Lake

Literally YEARS ago (four maybe?), I asked for and received a board game for my birthday, Settlers of Catan. But the instruction booklet was so thick and intricately detailed that everyone was sorely afraid and no one would play it with me. When I was complaining about this at some point, my friends, Joanna and Donnie, told me that their family plays, and that their son, Josh, was particularly good at being the explainer/moderator. Thus, we have been saying for a couple of years now that we should get together and play when Josh was in town. Well, it FINALLY happened! Tonight, the Jacksons invited me and another dear friend, Tracy, over for a rousing post-Thanksgiving evening of Settlers of Catan. They made the poor newbs play as a team, but Tracy and I didn't do too badly for our first time. We managed to build a few settlements and a city, but that dreaded robber kept thwarting our expansion plans. Still, they told us that we came in second place out of four teams. YAY! And I enjoyed the game. It's kind of like Agrarian Monopoly.

Of course, the real reason to get together with friends is the smorgasbord of snacks, especially as the Jacksons and their daughter and son-in-law, the Vaillancourts, own Woven Meadows Farm in Saranac, NY and make delicious cheeses from the milk from their dairy cows. As for my own contributions to the party, I made a roasted bacon and corn dip that was tasty, but looked rather unsightly and more than a little vomitous. (No one seemed to mind, though, and I brought home an empty dish.)

However, I was most proud of the cake that I made especially for the party's hostess and my dear friend, Joanna, who is a big Anglophile (she and her husband actually lived in England for awhile while they were both in the service). It was a pumpkin cake that, instead of being heavily spiced with traditional flavors like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, was flavored more delicately with Earl Grey tea. I know, right? I didn't think the delicate tea flavor would come through, but it did so beautifully and added lovely notes of citrus. Just DELICIOUS! I followed the recipe pretty closely, except that I doubled it and baked it in a Bundt pan so that the cake was party-sized.

My only boo-boo was trying to turn out the extremely tender and moist cake too soon and losing some of the top of it on the dismount. So I just covered my sin with a voluminous cloud of tea-spiked cream cheese frosting, and none was the wiser. (Tee hee.)



Earl Grey Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
(Source: Dianna Muscari, Honest Cooking)

1/4 cup milk
2 Earl Grey tea bags
1 cup all-­purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
scant 1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Earl Grey Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 tablespoons milk
1 Earl Grey tea bag
4 tablespoons butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with foil and spray with non­stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Heat milk to steaming and steep tea bags in it for about 5 minutes. When finished steeping, squeeze out the tea bags carefully with the back of a spoon to get maximum flavor from each bag.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a small bowl, beat together eggs, vanilla extract, pumpkin puree and vegetable oil until thoroughly combined.
5. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for about 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1. Heat milk to steaming; steep tea bag in milk for about five minutes. When finished steeping, squeeze out the tea bag carefully with the back of a spoon to get maximum flavor. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl using a hand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese until mostly smooth. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until incorporated.
3. Add about one tablespoon of tea­steeped milk. Add vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. (If the consistency is too runny, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add some more milk.)
4. Frost cooled cake completely. Sprinkle with cinnamon for garnish, if desired. Slice and serve.

Note: This recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a Bundt pan (increasing the cooking time, of course--I think mine took just over an hour, but I would start checking at 55 minutes and every five minutes thereafter until a tester comes out with just moist crumbs). 

Solsticelebration 2014

I can't believe it's already the Summer Solstice! Sheesh...time sure flies, especially at this time of year. But solstice time is celebration time at Woven Meadows Farm in Saranac. There was another amazing gathering and potluck today, and LOTS of good eats--beyond the main stage pig roast.

Because pork requires an awesome slaw to go with it, I made a batch of that fabulous Alabama Hot Slaw that I love so much, figuring that the only kind of cole slaw there would be the mayonnaise-y kind. I was wrong. Someone brought a fermented slaw that looked exactly like mine. UGH! This happened to me last year, too, when I took a lovely volcano rice and quinoa salad with sugar snap peas, and there were half a dozen other grainy salads in the same vein. *sigh*

Continuing my Southern theme, I made a cake that I was quite certain that no one else would bring, a Hummingbird Cake. It's a traditional layer cake with bananas, crushed pineapple, and spices. Some believe that it's called a Hummingbird Cake because it's so sweet with all the fruit and sugar, but apparently, the inventor of the cake liked to decorate the cake with pecans sliced width-wise, making them look like little hummingbirds in flight. Of course, for an informal, outdoor party, I just baked the batter in a half sheet pan for about 30 minutes, cooled it, plopped the icing on top, sprinkled it with some toasted pecans, and called it good. Easy-peasy! And it was well-received by the partygoers. I just had one corner piece to take home to my invalid roommate.

Hummingbird Cake
(Source: Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, January 1999 via My Recipes)

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided
2 cups chopped bananas

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not beat.) Stir in vanilla, pineapple, one cup pecans, and bananas.

Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch round cakepans. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Spread cream cheese frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake; sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup chopped pecans on top. Store in refrigerator.

Recreating My Wegman's Faves at Home

While I was at the PBGV National last month, one of our best dog trainers and competitors celebrated one of her dogs earning a MACH 3 (a very advanced agility title). They had a specially-decorated cake--for us humans, not the dogs. Initially, I declined a piece, because I'm not really a cake person. But her husband (who bought the cake) insisted I try it, that it was amazing....blah, blah, blah. It looked like a regular old grocery store cake to me. Boy, was I wrong! It was DELICIOUS! It had a dark chocolate bottom layer, fresh raspberries in the middle, a lovely, moist vanilla cake layer, and then a fairly thin coating of this creamy, whipped frosting (not nauseatingly thick and grainy like most commercial frostings). I asked the hubby where he got this wonderful cake, and I should have known, it was Wegman's, the world's best grocery store.

When I stopped at Wegman's on the way home to New York, I was tempted to buy a lemon raspberry cake that they were selling, but I was afraid that it wouldn't survive the long drive home in a hot car. I did buy  many other wonderful things, though. I especially love Wegman's salad and deli bars with all the prepared dishes. My favorite is their gigante bean salad. I bought a container of that to eat right away, but I also bought a big bag of dried gigante beans to try to replicate the salad at home.

And today was the perfect opportunity, as my friend, June, had a little end-of-the-school-year barbecue and potluck at her house. It turned out to be quite the gourmet event, too! A new couple, Ray and Ben, made a splash with a lovely Israeli couscous salad with fresh veggies and mint. My friends, The Cones, made a yummy pimento cheese spread, and a stunning shrimp cocktail platter. (Jarrod told me that his secret was cooking the shrimp with pickling spice. Yum!) And my friend, Patti, brought a comforting bundt cake that was a recipe of her mom's.

As for my contributions to the affair, I went with the Wegman's theme, and I brought both a gigante bean salad that I could easily live on and a cake that was in the style and flavor of the one that we enjoyed so much at the dog agility trial. It had both a vanilla layer and a chocolate layer with fresh raspberries as well as raspberry coulis in the middle, and a soft, whipped vanilla bean frosting. It was humble-looking (like all my cakes are--decorating is NOT in my wheelhouse), but it held together as it was sliced (that was my main worry), and I think the taste and texture were excellent. It was certainly an experiment worth repeating. Next time, I might try an oil-based vanilla cake to make it less dense, especially when refrigerated.

Gigante Bean Salad

(Source: adapted from Tamara Duker's blog)

Cook half a pound of gigante beans (soak overnight, then boil until tender). Roast one small red pepper and one small green pepper over open flame (your gas burner will do just fine). Peel their skins off and slice peppers into super-thin strips. (I used red and yellow roasted peppers from a jar.) Mix cooked beans with 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, two tablespoons olive oil, one tablespoon fresh chopped parsley (I used chives), 1/2 cup (or more, to taste) of roasted pepper strips, one or two minced garlic cloves, and salt to taste. I added a teaspoon of paprika. Let salad marinate in fridge for several hours so flavors can blend. Serve at room temperature.

White on White Buttermilk Cake

(Source: BakeSpace)

Note: I made half of this recipe in one cake pan.

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/3 cups sugar
3 large egg whites
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

To make the cake: Place one baking rack one-third from the bottom of the oven and the second two-thirds from the bottom. Preheat the oven to 350-f degrees. Line three 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper rounds, grease with butter, and dust with flour (or spray with flour added).

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed about two minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg whites and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about one minute. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Add about half of the buttermilk and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Continue adding dry and wet ingredients alternately, scraping the bowl down and beating until incorporated after each addition. End with the dry ingredients. The batter will be thick and glossy.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Stagger the cake layers on the oven racks so that no layer is directly over another. Set two layers on one rack and the third on the other. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean and tops are flat and browned. Monitor the layers carefully for doneness; each one me be done at a different time.

Set the cake pans on racks to cool for ten minutes. Invert the cakes onto the racks and cool completely before frosting. At this point the cakes can be tightly wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil and frozen up to three weeks.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake (aka Hershey's Black Magic Cake)

(Source: Ina Garten, via Food Network)

Note: I made half of this recipe and baked it in one pan.

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place one layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

In between the layers, I spread on a couple of tablespoons of raspberry coulis that I had in the freezer and a generous cup of fresh raspberries. Then I frosted the whole cake with a sour cream vanilla bean icing.

Sour Cream Vanilla Bean Frosting

(Source: adapted from All Recipes)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Stir in confectioners' sugar, and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Had a rough week? You need cheesecake therapy!

Despite (or perhaps because of) my long, arduous week at work, I came home and engaged in a little baking therapy. I recently ran across a recipe for...wait for it...CARROT CAKE CHEESECAKE(!) that I wanted to try. Although the result was tasty, it may have been an idea that was better in concept than in execution. It has you bake the carrot cake first, cool it, then pour the cheesecake mixture over and bake again. The double baking of the cake makes it, well, overbaked and a tad dry. Moreover, the cheesecake is delightfully tender and fluffy, but the dense bottom layer makes for a dessert that is yummy, but rather unsound structurally. I can think of only two remedies for this problem. One, maybe you could freeze the carrot cake until it's very firm, then bake the cheesecake on top of it. That might help matters. Or you could bake the parts separately and then combine, which sounds dangerous, but I've done it before successfully with this laborious recipe.

If you do make this cheesecake, I recommend using a 10-inch spring form pan; a 9-inch is a little too small and all the cheesecake won't fit in the pan, nor will there be room for the sour cream topping. Also, I quadrupled the sour cream in the topping (from 2 T to 1/2 cup), and I highly recommend that you do the same, or else you will get mostly sweetness and not that characteristic tang of sour cream, which I simply adore.

Carrot Cake Cheesecake
(Source: Food Network)

Carrot Cake:
1/2 cup pecan halves, plus more, chopped, for garnish
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
kosher salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot (2 to 3 medium carrots)

Cheesecake::
three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sour Cream Topping:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream (I increased this to 1/2 cup)
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of kosher salt

For the carrot cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spread 1/2 cup of the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden and toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool, and then finely chop.

Combine the pecans, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil, sugar and eggs in a separate bowl. Stir the carrots into the egg mixture. Fold the carrot-egg mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Pour into an ungreased 9-inch springform cake pan and tap it on the counter to even out the batter. Bake until the cake bounces back when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. The cake can be made a day ahead and stored in the pan.

For the cheesecake: Beat the cream cheese, sour cream and granulated sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth and creamy, about five minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the flour, lemon zest and juice and vanilla, about one minute.

Pour the cheesecake mixture over the carrot cake. Wrap the bottom and sides of the pan with a large piece of foil. Put in a roasting pan or a large baking dish and fill halfway up the sides of the cake pan with water. Bake until the cheesecake is pale yellow and just jiggles slightly in the center, about one hour. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake rest in the hot oven for 30 minutes. Remove, run a sharp knife around the edge and let cool completely on a rack. Cover and refrigerate eight hours or overnight.

For the sour cream topping: Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, sour cream, vanilla and salt. Spread on top of the cheesecake; garnish with chopped pecans. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Cut into slices and serve.

Minty Christmas Cake for My Colleagues

HALLELUJAH! I have come to the end of a very rough, very long semester. There were definitely points where I wasn't sure I was going to make it. Oh, I still have some more data entry to do to finish up grades, but it's pretty much all over but the shouting. And tonight, the Faculty Association ate, drank, danced, and shouted! It has been a few years since we've had a full-on holiday party, but the lovely wife of our new union president insisted it be reinstated, as she said she missed the dancing! (I did, too.)

We met at the local Elks' Club for a buffet dinner, but we were asked to provide a variety of homemade desserts. I was willing to contribute, of course, but I was just too wrung out and exhausted from finals to make anything elaborate. So this recipe is a bit of a cheater, as it starts with a boxed cake mix. And as usual, I managed to produce the ugliest cake in Christendom, so I hid a multitude of sins with some mini M&Ms and filled the hole in the middle of the bundt cake with fresh vanilla bean whipped cream. The people at the party had it half-devoured before I could even finish my dinner and get across the room to snap a messy, blurry picture. So I guess they liked it, regardless of its lack of visual appeal. ;-)

Mint Chocolate Cake
(Source: The Hungry Housewife)

1 box Devil's Food Cake
1 3.4 oz box cook and serve chocolate pudding mix (not instant!)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup coffee
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/2 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips*

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix and pudding mix. Add the eggs, oil coffee, sour cream, vanilla and peppermint extract. With and electric mixer, mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Stir in the Andes mints. 

Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a cooling rack and allow to completely cool.

Mint Fudge Icing

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Andes Creme De Menthe Baking Chips**
1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Put the Andes mints and the chocolate chips in a medium bowl.
In a small sauce pan over medium low heat, add the sweetened condensed. Bring the mixture to just under a boil. Remove from heat and add extracts. Pour the hot sweetened condensed milk over the mint and chocolate chips. Allow to sit for just a few minutes. Stir until the chocolate chips are completely melted. Pour over the cake.

*Cake- If you can not find Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips, you can use 54 regular Andes Creme De Menthe mints. Just unwrap and chop. You would need TWO 6 oz packages. Use all 36 in the first package and 18 of the second package.

**Mint Fudge Icing- if you can not find Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips, use the remaining 18 mints. Unwrap and chop.

Cooking...without really cooking.

We are heading into the roughest part of the semester, and it seems like I have commitments almost every weekend lately, too. So today, I am thankful just to be at home and to have no plans. I need a break! But a gal's gotta eat, so I made a simple yet innovative lunch that I thought I'd share with you. Ladies and gentlemen, the Grilled Kimcheese Sandwich! I used both sharp and smoked cheddars, my homemade kimchi, and a fried egg. (Carnivores may wish to add ham, but I found it unnecessary.) SO DELICIOUS! This "recipe" is a keeper, for sure.

Since I was just enjoying my lazy Saturday, I had no intentions of baking anything. But one of my friends on Facebook posted something about making a "Watergate Cake" for her boyfriend, and I was intrigued. It's basically just a pistachio cake, but the moniker is an homage to President Nixon. According to crafsty.com, "After the Watergate scandal broke, there was a surge of interest in all things Richard Nixon. Turns out, pistachio was a favorite flavor of Nixon’s, and so all sorts of pistachio-flavored treats proliferated and were dubbed 'Watergate.' This cake is one of the more enduring examples, possibly because of its clever topping: 'cover up' icing." Ha ha! Not only is the name of this cake interesting, it's a cinch to make, because it's made with a boxed cake mix and instant pudding. The food purists may balk, but it was pretty tasty. I like it best once it chills in the fridge.

A couple of notes: Many recipes that you find online call for chopped pecans, but I think a pistachio cake should have, well, pistachios! Most recipes also call for powdered Dream Whip in the topping, but Cool Whip saves you a step and holds up longer in the fridge. Lastly, many recipes call for shredded coconut either in the cake or the topping or both, but I personally can't abide it. But you do as you like. In the words of Nadia G, "It doesn't affect me." (Tee hee.)

Watergate Cake with Cover-Up Icing
(Sources: cobbled together from a number of similar recipes on the interwebs)

Cake:

1 box white cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup lemon-lime seltzer
1 cup finely chopped roasted pistachios
1 cup vegetable oil
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix

Cover-Up Icing:
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 (3 1/2 ounce) packages instant pistachio pudding mix
1 regular tub (9 oz.) Cool Whip
1/2 cup chopped roasted pistachios

Cake: Mix all of the cake ingredients together. Pour into a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until a tester comes out with just moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool completely.

Icing: Beat the milk and the pudding mix together, then fold in the Cool Whip. Spread on top of cooled cake. Sprinkle with nuts. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours untl well-chilled. 

Store leftover cake covered in the refrigerator.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me and to June!

My birthday was Saturday, and I enjoyed a whole celebratory weekend! It began with a noontime party at work on Friday with my colleagues, a lovely dinner out with friends Friday night, and then a whole day in Burlington (VT) on Saturday visiting the farmer's market and the arts and crafts and antique shows at the Expo. Just perfect!

My dear friend June's birthday is just two days after mine, and I sometimes feel like I get celebrated too much and she, too little. So I wanted to make her a very special birthday cake to prove to her how glad I am that she was born!

On the most recent episode of The Pioneer Woman's show on Food Network, and she made something with her famous Texas sheet cake that she called Chocolate Devils. They looked sort of like Ding Dongs, two rounds of chocolate cake with a thick white filling, glazed on top with ganache and topped with maraschino cherries.

This sounded like the sort of thing that June would LOVE, as she adores the chocolate-cherry combination, but I wanted to rework it into a layered birthday cake and pump up the cherry component. My kitchen floor is uneven, so the layers always come out a little lopsided, and the sides looked like they've been spackled with chocolate 'cuz I suck at frosting/decorating. But I know it tasted good, and I do believe that the birthday girl loved it! (And it's the thought that counts, or so my momma always told me.)

Chocolate Devil Cake
(Source: adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Cake Layers:
Baking spray with flour added 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

4 heaping tablespoons cocoa

1 cup cola (or water)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

 

Cherry-Vanilla Filling:
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered sugar!)

1 jar maraschino cherries, drained and chopped

Ganache:

3 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

24 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces

1 jar maraschino cherries

 

For the cake layers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with flour-added baking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar and salt. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa to the butter and stir together. Add one cup cola (or boiling water) to the pan and then allow the mixture to boil for 30 seconds. Pour over the flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

Pour the buttermilk into a bowl and add the baking soda, vanilla and beaten eggs. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the butter/flour mixture. Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake for 20 minutes. Cool the cake layers completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate to make sure there is no warmth to the cakes at all. (The frosting is so light and fluffy, the coolness will help keep it all together.)

For the filling: In a small saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick--thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. If in a hurry, place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about ten minutes or so until the mixture cools. It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. You don't want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven't beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream, then gently fold in the chopped cherries by hand. 

For the ganache: Heat the cream until very hot. Add the vanilla, and then pour over the chocolate pieces. Stir to completely melt. Spread two of the cooled cake layers with ganache and return to the fridge to let the ganache set up.

To assemble: Place one cake layer (glazed with ganache) on a cake plate, ganache side up. Spread on half of the cherry-vanilla filling. Place a second layer (again, ganache side up) on top of that. Spread on the rest of the filling. Top with the last layer of (unglazed) cake. Using a ladle, pour ganache over the top of cake, allowing the chocolate to run over the sides. Place cherries on top in a decorative pattern. Chill the cake until ready to serve.

Have a Cake and a Smile (It Makes You Feel Good)

My friend, Lee Ann, recently had a new back patio installed, so she decided to celebrate with an end-of-summer/back-to-school southwestern-themed BBQ. They prepared quite a few dishes on their own--her husband Steve's (pictured left with another cowpoke, Rufus) smoked brisket was my personal favorite--and then the rest was potluck. I brought a big vat of the beloved corn salad/salsa made with seasonal sweet corn. But I wanted to bring a dessert, too. One of my foodie friends (and former caterer), Randi, recently made a Coca-Cola cake by request for a friend's wedding anniversary. I was intrigued, so I thought I might try making one for the party.

The recipe is more southern than southwestern, but I didn't hear anyone at the party complaining! It was certainly easy to make, and it turned out very moist and delicious. I still prefer The Pioneer Woman's Texas sheet cake, which is somewhat similar, but I would certainly make this again. In fact, I did, because I brought a piece home for my roommate, and she insisted that I make another cake for us right away! Tee hee. I did oblige her, but I made half the recipe in a loaf pan, and that was perfect for just the two of us. I also omitted the mini-marshmallows the second time around. I thought the kids would like them for the party, but I don't know how to keep them from all floating to the top and glomming up in the middle. Moreover, the cake is plenty sweet without them.

Coca-Cola Cake
(Source: The Coca-Cola Company)
 
2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup Coca-Cola

1 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows, optional

1/2 cups butter

1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cups butter

3 tablespoons cocoa

6  tablespoons Coca-Cola

1 box (16-ounces) confectioners' sugar (3 3/4 cups)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

• 2 Cups sugar
• 2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 0.2 liter Coca-Cola
• 1 1/2 Cups small marshmallows
• 1/2 Cups butter or margarine
• 1/2 Cups vegetable oil
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa
• 4.9 milliliter baking soda
• 1/2 Cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 4.9 milliliter vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cups butter
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa
• 6 Tablespoons Coca-Cola
• 1 box (16-ounces) confectioners' sugar
• 4.9 milliliter vanilla extract
• 0.2 liter chopped pecans

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, sift the sugar and flour.
3. Add marshmallows.
4. In a saucepan, mix the butter, oil, cocoa and Coca-Cola. Bring to a boil and pour over dry ingredients; blend well.
5. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to batter along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well.
6. Pour into a well-greased 9- by-13-inch pan and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and frost immediately.
7. To make frosting, combine butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan.* Bring to a boil and pour over confectioners' sugar, blending well. Add vanilla extract and pecans. Spread over hot cake. When cool, cut into squares and serve.

*I prefer to melt the butter and cook the pecans in it for a few minutes until the mixture starts to smell toasty/nutty. Then add the cocoa and Coke, bring to a boil, and continue with the recipe as written.