Homemade Popcorn

I've been meaning to try this for awhile. Tonight I was in the mood for a slightly salty snack, but I was trying to keep it on the healthy side. I grabbed a brown lunch bag, put 1/4 C of popcorn kernels in it, folded it up, and put it in the microwave. Less than 2 minutes later, I had a nice warm bag of fresh popcorn (listen for the pops to be a couple seconds apart just like with the commercial bags). The best part is, you can add whatever toppings you like - plain, salty, sweet, spicy. Spray the popcorn lightly with cooking spray or a mist of cooking oil, then sprinkle with your favorite herbs, salt, sugar, whatever you like. Tonight I had a little bit of salt and cinnamon. I look forward to sharing this trick with the little boy.

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

These Oreo Cheesecake Cookies from Brown Eyed Baker are delicious! They melt in your mouth, and the original recipe is egg-free. A delicious recipe is even better when I don't have to make modifications on my own. I did double the recipe since it says it makes 1 dozen, only to end up with 3 dozen cookies, so I'd say the recipe makes about 18 cookies. The little boy enjoyed pretending to roll the dough in the cookie crumbs but mostly just ate the crumbs. We had fun making them and had a huge mess at the end. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Egg Free Baking: Orange Cupcakes

I wish I had a group of people to consult about egg free recipes. I always put so much trust in published recipes and get disappointed when they fail me. This recipe was half failure and half success. The original recipe calls for putting the batter in a 12 cup bundt pan. I was wanting to serve a small dessert to four people, so I followed all the directions except I put the batter in 4 mini bundt pans plus (luckily) five mini muffin pans. Based on my experience with "normal" recipes, this shouldn't have made a difference.

The mini bundt cakes never set. I cooked them for the suggested time and longer and longer until I gave up. The tops browned nicely, but the insides were a gooey mess. Thankfully, the five mini muffins came out beautifully, so I had the needed dessert.

The icing was my addition since the original recipe calls for putting an orange glaze over the cake, but I wanted them to be more festive with icing.

Mouthwatering Orange Cake modified from "Bakin' Without Eggs"

INGREDIENTS
1/2 C butter or margarine, room temperature
1 C sugar
1/2 C no-fat sour cream or yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 TBSP grated orange peel
1/4 C orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 C vegetable oil

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter mini muffin pans and dust with flour. Tap out excess flour.
2. In a large bowl, combine butter or margarine and sugar. Cream with a hand held mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes, until fluffy.
3. With mixer at same speed, beat sour cream or yogurt, vanilla, flour, baking powder, baking soda, orange peel, orange juice concentrate, and oil. Mix for another 3 minutes, until smooth.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean and tops are golden. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

Yield: about 20 servings

Icing Recipe

Combine 4 oz. cream cheese (softened), 2 TBSP butter, 1 tsp orange juice, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 2 C powdered sugar in a bowl. Mix all ingredients together with a hand mixer until smooth, adding a little bit of extra orange juice until reaching the desired consistency.

Blueberry Muffins

Over the weekend we needed some entertainment, so I made muffins with the little boy. In addition to being allergy safe, it was fun to make these muffins egg free since it allowed him to taste as much as he wanted along the way. We had fun, and I think we'll be doing this a lot more together now that he loves to "dump" ingredients in the bowl, as he likes to say.

Joyce's Blueberry Muffins from "Bakin' Without Eggs"

INGREDIENTS
2 C plus 2 TBSP unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 C granulated sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 C light cream or milk
1/2 C applesauce
1 C drained fresh or frozen blueberries

Topping
3 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP margarine or butter, room temperature
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease twelve muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, combine 2 C flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, lemon peel and juice, milk, and applesauce; with a wooden spoon, mix until thoroughly combined.
3. In a small bowl, toss blueberries with remaining 2 TBSP flour just to coat (this prevents them from sinking), then fold them into batter gently. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling half full. Set aside.
4. To Prepare Topping: In a separate small bowl, with a fork, stir sugar, margarine or butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg until crumbly. Spoon evenly on each muffin before baking.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm.

Yield: 12 servings

Quick Strawberry Dessert

I ran across this Strawberry Cobbler recipe at work and wanted to give it a try last night. I had strawberries and all the other ingredients. If I waited too long, the strawberries would end up in a smoothie, so I just jumped right into it when I got home! The preparation took no time at all, and while it baked in the oven for 30 minutes, I remembered to have a little dinner before filling up on dessert.

I've never made cobbler before, and I haven't eaten it much either. I was a little unsure about the cook time since I made it in three smaller pans instead of the 9" x 9" baking pan. Also, I used the toaster oven so I wouldn't heat up the kitchen, which brought the pans closer to the heating elements. After only 20 minutes, the tops were a nice golden brown. When I went to pull out the pans, the cobbler was jiggling more than I thought it should. So I covered it up with foil and let it finish out the full 30 minutes. Luckily, nothing burned and it was cooked through when it came out!

I happened to have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer to pair with the cobbler. With one scoop of ice cream and a helping of strawberry cobbler, I took my first taste...Simply Amazing! The almond and vanilla extracts wonderfully complemented the strawberries, and it all melded together ever so nicely. The strawberries didn't peek through the topping as much as I expected, but that didn't hurt the flavor one bit. And best of all, the recipe came together in no time at all. I used my hand mixer and only a couple bowls, so there was little to clean up at the end. I'll be using this cobbler for a quick dessert in the future.

Strawberry Cobbler

(adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion by way of Culinary in the Desert)

INGREDIENTS
1 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 C granulated sugar, divided
1/4 C milk
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C water
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 C fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

METHOD
Preheat oven to 375 F.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs and 1 C granulated sugar.
3. Beat in milk and butter.
4. Add dry ingredients, and stir just until combined.
5. Scoop mixture into a 9" x 9" baking pan (or other 2-quart baking dish) coated with cooking spray.
6. In a medium saucepan, add remaining 1/2 C sugar, water, lemon juice, vanilla, and almond extracts. Bring to a simmer, stirring, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
7. Stir in strawberries to coat. Immediately pour hot mixture over the batter in the baking pan.
8. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Yield: 9 servings

I discussed this recipe here.

Decorating Fun

 

I have the coolest Grandma, for many reasons. But without knowing that I've wanted one for awhile, she gave me a cake decorating kit. This is the first time I've had a chance to use it and had fun from the first cupcake on through the last. Here's a picture of the fun I had. I'm already looking forward to the next time I use it.

Pie Time

I don't think I've ever made pie before, at least not that I can remember. On Saturday, we made Junior's Toasted Coconut Custard Pie quickly, so we could take it with us to my Grandma's house. It was her birthday, and she's been dropping hints to my mom about a specific type of pie she liked in New York. Hopefully this will be close to what she's looking for, though we had to use a pre-made pie crust since we were short on time. We sampled a tiny piece before we left, and it was delicious. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Junior's Toasted Coconut Custard Pie

(adapted from Junior's Toasted Coconut Custard Pie, which is probably from Junior's)

INGREDIENTS
Pastry crust for single-crust pie
4 extra-large eggs
2/3 C granulated sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 C heavy cream
1 C whole milk
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 C flaked coconut
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

METHOD

1. Heat the oven to 425 F and butter a 9-in deep-dish pie plate.
2. Mix and chill the pastry. Roll it out 1/8-in thick on a lightly floured surface and trim to a 15-inch circle. Transfer the pastry to the pie plate, leaving a 1 1/2-in overhang. Fold under the edge to stand up 1 in high and flute. Prick it all over with the tines of a fork. Place the unbaked shell in the freezer for 15 minutes.
3. To partially bake the shell before filling it, place a piece of foil in the center and weigh it down with pie weights, uncooked beans, or rice. Blind-bake the crust just until it begins to set, about 8 minutes; remove the foil and pie weights, and return the shell to the oven until it starts to brown, about 4 minutes more. Transfer the crust from the oven to a cooling rack, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 F.
4. While the crust is baking, make the coconut custard filling. Using an electric mixer set on high, beat the eggs in a large bowl until thick and light yellow, about 5 minutes.
5. Mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a small bowl and beat this mixture into the eggs until thoroughly mixed. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium.
6. Add the cream, milk, and vanilla, and beat the filling until light and frothy, about 3 minutes more. Stir in 1 1/4 C of the coconut. Pour the filling into the partially baked crust, dot with the butter, and sprinkle with the nutmeg.
7. Bake the pie for 30 minutes; sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 C of coconut, and continue baking the pie until the filling is golden, the coconut is toasty, and the filling jiggles only slightly in the center, about 20 to 30 minutes more. The pie is ready to come out of the oven when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the pie on a wire rack for 1 hour. Serve the pie at room temperature or refrigerate until it's cold. Store any leftover pie in the refrigerator.

Yield: 8 servings

I discussed this recipe here.

Cookie Marathon

The first baking day of the Christmas cookie season resulted in a table full of over 26 dozen cookies and four different recipes. My friend and I started this tradition last year when she drove up for the weekend from North Carolina. Now she lives in town, and we can spread the baking over a couple weekends. We've tried some of the recipes before, and others were completely new. Luckily, they were all wonderful. Over the next week or so, I'll share the recipes and pictures from our efforts.

To start out the day, we made Coconut Marmalade Crescents. As we were shaping them and putting them on the cookie sheets, we were reminded of mini shrimp, though these cookies taste nothing like shrimp. The cookies are nice and soft, and the topping adds even more fun to their flavor, with a little crunch from the toasted coconut.

Coconut Marmalade Crescents

(adapted from Land O Lakes's Coconut Marmalade Crescents by way of Culinary in the Desert)

INGREDIENTS
For the cookie:
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 C granulated sugar
1/2 tsp rum extract
1 C sweetened coconut flakes, toasted

For the glaze:
1 1/2 C confectioners' sugar
1/3 C orange marmalade
1 to 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
additional sweetened coconut flakes, toasted

METHOD
For the cookie:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Beat in rum extract.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in coconut. Cover dough and place into the refrigerator until firm, about 1 to 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Shape dough into 1 1/4 " balls. Roll each ball into 2" long logs. Shape logs into a crescent shape (or another shape of your choosing) on baking sheets lined with parchment.
6. Place into the oven and bake until set and the edges are lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the glaze:

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar, marmalade and enough orange juice to make desired glaze consistency.
2. Frost cookies with glaze. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Yield: about 5 dozen

I discussed this recipe here.

Biscotti Trial

Cookie madness season officially began this Tuesday when I had Veteran's Day off from work. I tried out this Almond Ginger Biscotti recipe, and it was delicious. This was a trial for the coming Christmas baking season, and I learned a couple things for the next time around.

The dough was much stickier than I was expecting. As I was forming the logs and putting them on the baking sheet, I was worried I had messed up the ingredients and put in too much liquid. When I checked the recipe, I had only put in the 3 eggs and vanilla, so no error there. In the end, there was no reason to worry since the biscotti were great. But now I know to spend a bit more time making longer, narrower logs before sticking them in the oven. This will help the center of the loaves cook a bit more and get as golden as the edges. The slightly firmer loaf will then be easier to cut into without tearing out the almonds as much as I experienced in this trial run.

One helpful tip I read was to stand the biscotti up on the cookie sheet for the second round of baking. This allows both sides to crisp up at the same time, instead of requiring a flip halfway.

Overall, the trial was a success, only requiring a little tweaking for the next batch.

Almond Ginger Biscotti

(adapted from Martha Stewart by way of Culinary in the Desert)

INGREDIENTS
2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C granulated sugar
2 Tbsp lemon zest
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 C whole almonds
1/3 C crystallized ginger, chopped
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
granulated sugar to sprinkle on top, if desired

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt. Stir in almonds and ginger.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir just until the liquid has been absorbed.
3. Scoop the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just until smooth. Evenly divide the dough into two pieces and roll each into logs about 1" high by 3" wide. Transfer logs to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and slightly flatten the logs with your palm. If desired, sprinkle granulated sugar lightly on the top of each log.
4. Bake until the logs are golden and the tops are firm when lightly pressed, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. After 15 minutes, lightly spritz the logs with water, then let sit for another 5 minutes.
5. Use a serrated knife to cut the logs into roughly 1/2" thick diagonal slices. Place slices upright on the baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 20 minutes. Remove from teh oven and transfer slices to a wire rack to cool completely.

I discussed this recipe here.

Spooky Birthday Treat

This Thursday my friend turned 28! To help her celebrate, I baked this Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling since it incorporates two things she loves. One problem that surfaced during the hunt for ingredients was where to find dutch processed or alkalized cocoa, which the original recipe required. After searching five stores for the elusive ingredient, I was left with Ghirardelli natural unsweetened cocoa. I hoped this wouldn't break the recipe and proceeded. The flavor was still very chocolaty despite the change of ingredient; I had hoped for a slightly darker chocolate color, but it still looked like chocolate.

The batter and frosting were easily whipped together in less than an hour (including baking). I used vanilla extract for the flavoring liquid this time, to make sure I wasn't adding too many additional flavors since the filling wasn't in the original recipe. I plan to try amaretto the next time around.

My oven required the maximum cooking time and even a couple additional minutes to get a clean toothpick to come out of the tested cake. The cupcakes cooked in about 15 minutes. While the cake cooled completely, I made the strawberry filling that went between each of the three layers.

During assembly, a ring of frosting was piped around the edge of each layer to keep the filling from overflowing when the next layer was added. I melted white chocolate with a little vegetable oil and used a fork to splatter it onto the cake (for a little decoration). The creation was topped off by a ghostly white cake with hazelnut filling and ringed by cupcakes for those who may not enjoy the strawberry filling.

One suggestion that I received is to slip pieces of waxed paper between the edge of the cake and the tray while icing. This would have made for easier clean-up, and I hope to remember this tip next time. Another change I'd like to try is to chop the strawberries less finely, and keep them more solid than liquid.

Despite some things I'll do differently with another try, everyone seemed to enjoy the cake. Though I did taste it at points throughout its assembly, I had to rely on the reactions of everyone at the party to determine if it was tasty or not (since I'm not really a fan of chocolate). A friend stopped by to help during the assembly and suggested a slight addition of cocoa to the frosting, so I listened. Overall, I think it was a success (one person even dropped the date of their birthday in the coming month, hoping for a cake of their own), and I was happy to please everyone.

Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling

INGREDIENTS
Cake:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
2 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup + 2 Tbsp water
1 cup + 2 Tbsp canola oil
5 large or 4 extra large/jumbo eggs
¾ cup water
1 ½ tsp vanilla

Frosting:
1 pound powdered sugar
¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa (I used Ghirardelli's.)
flavoring liquid (water, vanilla, rum, cognac, kirsch, or amaretto)
1 ½ cup butter - firm, not cold, not too soft

Strawberry Filling:
2 pints ripe strawberries, hulled, and sliced in ½ if large
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD
Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

1. In a large bowl, sift or whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and cocoa.
2. Add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of water and 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Mix for 1 minute.
3. Add eggs, ¾ cup of water, and vanilla. Mix 5-6 minutes with a whisk, 3-4 minutes with a hand mixer, or 2 minutes with a KitchenAid mixer.
4. Pour equally into three 8" cake pans (extra can be used for cupcakes), bake at 350°F for 25-35 minutes (adjust for convection); test by placing and removing a toothpick through the center. Let cakes cool completely on wire racks.

Frosting:
(This part is done to taste.)

1. Put powdered sugar and ¾ cup cocoa into the bowl of a mixer. Mix with whisk attachment until blended.
2. Drizzle in (while using the paddle attachment), until about the consistency of firm butter, several tablespoons of flavoring liquid (water if you aren't looking for flavor beyond the cocoa and butter). Do not put in too much liquid, but if you do, add cocoa or sugar. Taste. When the flavor and consistency are right,
3. add 1 ½ cups of butter (firm, not cold and not too soft). A good rule of thumb is that both the butter and the sugar mixture should be slightly firmer than you would want it to be to spread it, since the mixing action will warm it slightly. Mix until blended.

Filling:
(Set aside several strawberries for decorating if you're frosting the cake.)

1. Puree half of the strawberries in a blender or food processor with the honey, maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla until it is a smooth sauce.
2. Add remaining strawberries and pulse until chopped but not liquified.

Assembly
When layering the cake and filling, apply a thin layer of frosting on the cake layers that will touch the filling to keep them from becoming soggy. Also, pipe frosting around the edge of the layers with filling to keep the filling from dripping down the sides of the cake and making it difficult to finish frosting the cake.

I discussed this recipe here.