milk chocolate malted ice cream sandwiches with chocolate brownie cookies

These ice cream sandwiches are delicious.  My son Greg asks for them often – and since it is a little work (not crazy work) to make the ice cream, I often blow his request off.  But he was very happy last night.  He turned to me… gave a quiet groan of delight, looked me in the eyes and simply thanked me.  My dad who really only likes Haagen Daaz choc choc chip also loves these little sandwiches.  He seemed surprised that he liked them so much – especially given the milk chocolate title.  But  the addition of bittersweet chocolate and malt really make the ice cream special and not too sweet.  The cookies are extra delicious too.  A little espresso deepens the flavor and I happen to love the texture of the mini chips.  And they are very easy to make.  My husband Rob can’t eat/drink milk (sadly) but is very content with these brownie-like cookies alone.  I am too!  I’ve also made the sandwiches with chocolate sorbet which he truly appreciates.  This recipe originated from Claudia Fleming – the former pastry chef of Gramercy Tavern.  The cookbook is lovely.  She suggests adding dried cherries to the cookies which I did (only to a quarter of the batter because my family would not be happy).  And they too were yummy.  Oh and by the way, you can also crumble the cookies and mix them into the ice cream which is also verrry good!

chocolate brownie cookies (barely adapted from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming):

1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, room temp
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon brewed espresso
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 oz extra bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup mini chips
toasted nuts or dried cherries (optional…to taste)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

With whisk attachment, beat the eggs for a few seconds then add the sugar, espresso and vanilla.  Beat until this turns thick.  It should take about 15 minutes on high speed.

In the meantime, over a pot of barely simmering water (or double boiler) – melt chocolates and butter.  You only need about an inch of water in the saucepan, bring it to a boil, and reduce to simmer.  Place a metal bowl on top of the saucepan making sure that the water does not touch the bowl of chocolate.  Once melted, remove from heat.  Do not cook the mixture, just melt it.

Remove the thick egg batter from the mixer and gently fold in the melted chocolates and butter.  Fold about half way – you should still see streaks – and then fold in the flour mixture and mini chips.  Fold all until just incorporated.  (Add dried cherries or chopped nuts if desired.)

If batter seems runny at this point, let it sit for about 5 minutes.  If thick, you are good to go.  Drop by rounded teaspoons onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake until puffed and cracked about 8-9 minutes – you can rotate the pans mid-way.  Try not to over cook these cookies…otherwise they will dry out.

Cool and enjoy!  If you plan to make ice cream sandwiches with these (either with the malted ice cream or store bought ice cream), I find it is easier to handle the cookies if you freeze them first.  This prevents them from breakage when trying to squish the cookies and ice cream together when making the sandwiches.

milk chocolate malted ice cream (adapted from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming):
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
12 large egg yolks
3 oz milk chocolate, chopped
1 oz extra-bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups chocolate Ovaltine mix
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt to taste

In a medium saucepan mix together the milk, heavy cream and 1/4 cup sugar.  Heat the mixture over medium heat and bring to a simmer.  Watch it carefully – you don’t want it to boil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and remaining sugar (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons).  Chop the milk and bitter chocolates and set aside in a large bowl.

Now you will “temper” the eggs which means warming them slowly so that they do not turn into scrambled eggs!  With a ladle, spoon a small amount of hot cream/milk into the eggs.  Continue slowly ladle by ladle and constantly whisking the eggs while you do this.  Keep going until you’ve incorporated about 3/4’s of the hot milk into the eggs.

Pour the warm egg and milk/cream mixture into the remaining cream and milk on the stove.  Over low heat, mix the custard constantly with a wooden spoon keep the mixture moving at all times.  The custard should thicken so that it coats the back of the wooden spoon.  It should take about 7 minutes.  Do not boil.  Cook slowly and carefully.

Immediately pour custard over the chopped chocolates.  Mix and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.  Add the Ovaltine and stir until combined.  Strain through a fine sieve and into a container or bowl.  Cover and chill in refrigerator preferably overnight but for at least 4 hours.

Freeze in your ice cream maker and enjoy!!

ginger cookies

My friends Joy and Lauri absolutely rave about these cookies.  I must say they are my favorite ginger cookies as well.  No big story here…everyone just loves them.  Greg, Andy, Sylvie, and all of their friends.  Most of my friends.  I usually double the recipe and freeze some dough for later because we go through them so fast.  (Look at the oatmeal cookie post for more instruction on wrapping and freezing).  The cookies are soft inside but have a nice crisp to the edges.  They are addictive and great warm out of the oven, or with tea at the end of the day, and cold too.  Try an ice cream sandwich made with vanilla ice cream.  Fresh and good.  These make great gifts bagged up and with a ribbon.  This time I added chocolate chips to some of the batter – and guess what, they were very tasty too!  Next time I might dip them in tempered chocolate…yum.  But most, especially purists, probably prefer them as they are.  Enjoy-

ginger cookies (adapted from Stars Desserts by Emily Luchetti):
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4  teaspoon ground clove
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (if you have)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar, divided in to two 1/2 cup portions
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
8 oz. – 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together the ginger, allspice, cinnamon, clove, baking soda, salt, white pepper and flour.  Set aside.

Beat 1/2 cup of the sugar, the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy for about 3-5 minutes.  Beat in the egg and then the molasses – mix well – scrape and mix again.

On the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.  Finish folding the dough by hand.

Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.  Form the dough into about 1 inch balls and roll each ball in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar.  Place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart (these will spread a bit).  And then flatten slightly with your fingers.

Bake for about 12-16 minutes – and as usual check often and before.  The cookies should look set on the outside and golden – yet stay soft inside.  Let cool.  Enjoy!

glazed irish tea cake

This past week I had grand plans for baking…I bought ingredients for creamsicle ice cream (pictured below) that I couldn’t wait to make for our friend Mike who loves orange and fruit flavor.  I was also oddly excited to make a grapefruit yogurt cake (again photo below) which I know sounds kind of weird, but I had a really good feeling about.  The grapefruit cake – for lack of a better word, sucked.  It didn’t taste like anything.  Awful.  Had to toss it.  The orange ice cream was great right out of the ice cream maker.  Soooo good – like a real creamsicle – yet in ice cream form but once it sat in the freezer it became chalky and kind of started to taste like baby aspirin.  I brought it to Mike and he sadly agreed.  The funny part is that Greg came home that day – and announced that we needed an Irish dessert for school.  He signed me up to bake.  Well, I was in no mood after my failures and I was wiped, and I’m not Irish – nor know much about Irish baking!  So I looked for the easiest recipe that I could find that we could do together.  I decided to double the recipe so we could taste it (what else is new) and also decided to spike the raisins in our cake with rum.  Well, even though this is not something I thought I would love – it was really good!  The cake was light and fluffy – the rummy raisins were a tasty addition and the light glaze on top was really good too.  I find out today if the kids liked their cake (no rum).  Hope so.  (Greg just came in and said eveyone in the whole class loved it!)  Enjoy this – it is nice in the afternoon with coffee or tea (if you like raisins).

glazed irish tea cake (adapted from irish.spike-jamie.com):
3/4 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs (room temp)
3 oz. cream cheese (not whipped and not low fat, room temp)
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup buttermilk (pull out to room temp)
2/3 cup raisins (or currants, dates) and rum (optional)

glaze-
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2-3 teaspoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice

If spiking the raisins – place in a saucepan and add about 1-2 tablespoon of  rum and simmer lightly until rum is absorbed by the raisins.  Set aside

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Butter, flour, and line a 9 inch or 7 cup capacity loaf pan.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 3-5 minutes.  Add the vanilla and then the eggs one at a time – mixing until incorporated.  Scrape down the bowl and mix again.  Add the cream cheese and mix well.

Add 1/3  of the flour mix to the mixer on lowest speed.  Then add half of the buttermilk.  Repeat – and end with the last 1/3 of  the flour mix.  Mix as little as possible.

Remove from mixer and continue to fold batter and scrape down sides to incorporate the flour and butter.  Add the raisins and mix again.

Pour into prepped pan and bake in center rack for a while.  I forgot to time this!  But the cake got nicely browned and had a good spring to it.  Use your toothpick.   The recipe says 80 minutes – but I don’t think it took that long.  Sorry…really wasn’t planning to blog about this.  Just lucked out.  So set the timer for 45 minutes – start there and see how it goes…check often based on what you see (this is really the best way to bake a dessert by the way).

Once cooked, let stand for 10 minutes.  Make the glaze.  Combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and whisk until smooth.  Invert cake carefully as it is delicate – and spread glaze onto the warm cake.  Cool completely.  Enjoy!

pumpkin cookies or cake with brown butter icing

So if you’ve been reading my blog – you’ll remember that although we all really liked the orange pumpkin cake — it wasn’t overwhelmingly pumpkiny.  I had to try again.  It’s not that I even (personally) love pumpkin flavor so much but feel that the kids should know what pumpkin tastes like.  (Since they were clueless with the last cake!)  Plus I know that many adults really like pumpkin.  I scoured my cookbooks and finally found a good looking pumpkin cookie recipe from Martha Stewart.  These cookies came out great and were a huge hit with family and the many friends who tried them.  I had a feeling that the cookies would have a cake like consistency (which many people loved, although I do not) so I also baked them in a muffin and mini loaf cake shape.  Both cakes and cookies were delicious – pumpkiny and have all the spicy warm fall flavors – ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon which round out the pumpkin so nicely.  The brown butter icing completes them.  Enjoy!

pumpkin cookies or cake with brown butter icing (barely adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies):

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cups) butter – room temp
2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (14 oz)
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

icing–
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 cup plus a few teaspoons evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line sheet pan with parchment.  Or, prep mini loaf tins with butter and parchment and/or line your cupcake pans.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Cream the butter and brown sugar on medium high speed in the mixer for about 3 -4 minutes until light and fluffy.  Reduce to medium and add the eggs one at a time until each is incorporated.  Scrape down the bowl and mix again.  Reduce the speed to low and add the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, and vanilla – mix well.

Add the reserved flour mixture – and mix until just combined.  Now here Martha (Stewart) advises to put the batter in a pastry bag and pipe out the cookies.  I know this can overwhelm some people.  Soo…now you have your muffin pans or loaf pans!  Problem solved.  Or…drop by spoonfuls onto parchment.  I did a side by side comparison to show you the difference – the right side is the cookie that was piped, the left dropped.  Honestly no biggie here…right?  Plus, once you add the icing it makes even less of a difference. 🙂  If you do decide to pipe the cookies, here are some tips: 1 – do not overfill piping bag.  You will lose control of the batter.  2 – to fill the bag, place it in a large container – a glass or measuring cup or vase – so that you have two hands to fill it.  3 – twist the end of the bag and with light pressure, squeezing from the twist, gently pipe the cookies.  Use a round 1- 1 1/2 inch tip – I just used the coupler but do what makes you happy.

Bake cookies about an inch apart and for about 12-18 minutes.  As usual check often and before – and rotate the pans to ensure even baking.  The muffins took about 30 minutes and the loaf cake took about 40 minutes.  The cake or cookies should have a good spring to the top – or use a toothpick to check the crumb.

Let cool on rack.  Invert the cake (if you made a cake) after it has cooled for about 10 minutes.  In the meantime make the icing.

Place the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl and melt the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat.  Cook the butter swirling it occasionally and keep cooking until you brown the butter.  Now I went very far here – and really took it as brown as I could go because I love the nutty taste of brown butter.  But be careful, you do NOT want to burn the butter.  Cook it as long as deep as you want – or feel comfortable with (at least a golden brown) which should take about 3 minutes.  When browned, immediately add to the confectioners’ sugar and mix – add the evaporated milk, vanilla and the pinch of salt and mix and whisk until smooth.  Add evaporated milk as you see fit – you can make this loose here and just like a glaze – or keep it thick – more like a frosting.  I like it runny and glazy.  Again, do what you like!

Once the cookies/muffins/cakes are cool – frost with the brown butter icing.  If the frosting gets too hard to work with, you can heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds to re-soften – or add more evaporated milk if too dry.

Yum.  Jason was here just now (the guy and friend who inspired my first post on oatmeal cookies) and said – “Oh, I LOVED those cookies.  I just love that pumpkin with all those flavors…my favorite!”  I hope you like them too!

chocolate chip meringue bars

These bars were my favorite childhood dessert.  I recently asked my mom for the recipe – but being that she is so neat and tidy (which is great), she often throws things away (not so great).  I suffer the same affliction at times.  Anyway, luckily my very good friend Michelle also loved these as a child (we were family friends so she was treated to my mom’s sweets).  And Michelle held onto the recipe!  It is a weird recipe and I had some doubts as I made them – but they were the same ones from my childhood.  I should tell you that these are very very sweet.  Not for the tame hearted sugar eaters here – but oh…for me – they are decadent and heavenly.  Rich and gooey.  I cut one up and put it in my vanilla ice cream last night and really, I felt so content.  My kids wouldn’t eat them the first night.  I said ok everyone – time for something new…my favorite… and I was met with groans of  “more dessert?”  And “can’t we just have a little candy tonight”  Oh boy.  The second night they tried it – and loved it – especially Sylvie and our neighbor Danika.  Greg said it tasted like cookie dough.  My friend Suzanne said a tiny square with her tea was all she could eat because she felt the sugar on her teeth (although she reported she’s excited to eat another small bite with lunch).  And her husband Jamie said yes, sweet, but good – and ate a hearty slice.  Again, this is not for everyone.

chocolate chip meringue bars:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar,  3/4 cup brown sugar for meringues topping (later)
2 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
semi chocolate chips – about 1 cup (or bittersweet might work great here! – next time I’ll try…to cut the sweetness)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.  (Line with parchment if you plan to invert on a pan – and cut neatly.  We just ate them out of the pan!)  Alternately line with parchment or foil – with an overhang so you can use as an aid to remove from pan.  Look to baking tips and pan prep for a visual.

Separate the eggs.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Cream the butter with the sugars (remember just the 1/2 cup brown sugar) for 3-5 minutes – until light and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks one at a time until incorporated.  Add the water and vanilla and mix, scrape down, and mix again.  Add the dry ingredients by hand or on lowest speed until just combined.

Place dough in prepped pan and press to fill out evenly.  Spread and press the chocolate chips all around to cover.

With a hand mixer or in your stand mixer – whisk and beat up egg whites and slowly add brown sugar – on medium speed at first and then up to medium high until they get thick and hard peaks form (I needed to go longer here…although they were still good).  This should take several minutes.

Pour the meringue on top of the batter and bake from 45-60 minutes…but again, check often and before.  The top will get nicely browned and the middle will stay slightly gooey.  But I’ll be honest – it is hard to tell when these are done.  After poking around I realized I took the bars out too early – so I popped back into the oven.  If you need to, cut an edge and see what’s happening in there – but I will say even undercooked these are yummy.  Enjoy!

orange/pumpkin cornmeal cake

I noticed this recipe in Fine Cooking’s Sweet Cakes magazine because of the beautiful photograph of the cake – it looked delicious and pumpkiny – perfect for fall.  I was also curious about the mix of orange, pumpkin and cornmeal. So off I baked.  This cake is rich in color and texture and so very very moist.  I will say that it is not as pumpkiny as I hoped.  But agreed by all – especially the kids – that it was yummy.  I asked Greg’s friend Alex if he tasted the pumpkin and he replied “well, what does pumpkin taste like?”  Greg then followed with…”it doesn’t matter – it is good!”  Friends (kids) Lauren and Zach had equally positive things to say – but again, not about the pumpkin more like “oh, is it lemon?” and “oh, I like carrot cake!”  and more…”doesn’t matter, it’s good.”   Another taster commented how long the cake stayed moist and that it was perfect in the afternoon with her tea.  Regardless of the pumpkin business…it is good.  (Just wanted full disclosure.)  This recipe has a few different steps, but each fairly easy.  Enjoy this fall treat with surprising notes of citrus.  Serve with vanilla yogurt to add another dimension to this sweet.

orange/pumpkin cornmeal cake:
cake–
2 sticks or one cup of soft butter
1 cup sugar (which reader Anne pointed out that I forgot to include my in initial post as she was getting started.  thank you!)
1 tablespoon grated chopped orange zest
1 large egg
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup fine-ground yellow cornmeal
syrup–
1/2 cup fresh orange juice from about 2 oranges
1/2 cup sugar

Butter a 9 inch bundt pan (click to show better butter detail – scroll down in baking tips) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Separate your eggs and keep both whites and yolks.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cornmeal.

With your paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 3-4 minutes.  Add the egg yolks (one at a time) and then the egg and beat well after each addition.  Scrape down the bowl, and beat again.  Beat in the pumpkin puree and vanilla.

In three additions, slowly add the reserved dry mix to the mixer – stirring on lowest speed (or gently by hand) until just incorporated.

Beat the 2 egg whites until soft peaks form.  I find this easier to do by hand with a whisk but you can certainly do with a hand mixer.  Or, you can transfer your pumpkin batter into another bowl, clean the mixing bowl well, and then beat your eggs with the whisk attachment.  (If you bake a lot, you may want to invest in a second bowl for your stand mixer.)

Then gently fold the egg whites into the pumpkin batter – until you can’t see any more streaks of whites, but be careful not to over due it here.

Pour the batter into the prepped pan and bake for about 40-45 minutes (mine took 43 minutes).  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack to cool.

While the cake is cooking, make the orange syrup.  Juice the oranges and place the fresh juice in a saucepan with the sugar.  Mix until sugar dissolves and there isn’t any white sugar on the bottom of the saucepan (it will burn if so).  Boil the mixture for about 2 minutes and then remove from heat.

When cake is warm, brush with the orange syrup.  You can repeat when cool if desired.  For service, dot the  syrup on the side of the cake (if plated) or serve on the side and accompany with vanilla yogurt.  I’m hungry now…

chocolate buttermilk waffles

Sometimes the recipe that comes in the instruction manual is actually pretty good!  In this case, very good.  You may know (from a previous post) that I’m always on the lookout for suitable breakfast foods for Andy.  Andy who doesn’t eat cereal and who really likes chocolate and isn’t all that hungry in the morning.  I found another one!  If you can believe it, this recipe is adapted from the Cuisinart waffle iron manual.  And although I don’t often use this particular waffle iron since it makes little squares (and not big Belgium rounds), I do happen to like most of the recipes in this booklet.  Again, and maybe I’m kidding myself here – these seem fairly healthy; I knocked the butter out of the recipe because he eats these every day (if making for company or a special treat, keep the butter!) and I added some whole wheat flour.  In addition, the eggs, buttermilk and low fat yogurt make me feel good about the cocoa powder and chocolate chips in them.  A few banana slices and he’s on his (somewhat) healthy way.  Greg of course doesn’t eat them (because they are chocolate) although his friend Alex was over and raved about them to my friend Val (his mom)…a nutritionist of all things!  Sylvie happily had one for lunch on Sunday with berries and I made myself a delicious waffle ice cream sundae that night.  This recipe makes about 14 – 6 inch waffles.  I wrapped each individually in plastic wrap and then into a freezer bag.  (I just read about Freeze-tite – a product that is best for the freezer from the same maker as my beloved Stretch-tite!)  Each night I pull one  from the freezer for Andy’s breakfast – ready to pop in the toaster oven or microwave.  A little powdered sugar or maple syrup is nice too.  Feel free to add the butter if you want a richer waffle.

 

 

 

 

chocolate buttermilk waffles:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder (natural)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs slightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (optional, I did not use and these are still good!  or at least cut it to 1/4 cup!)
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups low fat yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or more or less to taste)

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a medium to large sized bowl.

In another bowl, mix eggs, vanilla, butter (if using), buttermilk and yogurt.  Pour the wet into the dry and mix until incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips.  Let batter rest for 5 minutes.

Pre-heat your waffle iron to desired setting (although better to go lighter than dark because you don’t want to scorch the chocolate).  And cook as instructed (depending on your waffle iron).  Enjoy!

brown sugar cookies (with walnuts and white chocolate)

The week of my daughter Sylvie’s school bake sale, my son Andy was sick with fever.  I normally go cookie crazy the days leading up to the sale because as I’ve mentioned, I like baking!  But this week was a little different – dividing my time between keeping him company, taking him to the doctor, talking to my friends about him, asking my dad and brother (who are docs) about him, and worrying about him (was it swine? no, it wasn’t, well, not sure).   Luckily I made a large sheet pan of brownies last week – and froze them in preparation.  I had the Halloween Peeps as well.  I planned to make my soft meringues the day of the sale but really wanted to do more but keep it simple. I found what looked like a good recipe in Richard Sax’s Cookie Lover’s Cookie Book – and just fiddled a little.  Richard Sax calls them butterscotch cookies – but it is the brown sugar that really stands out.  My son Greg (the non chocolate lover) thought white chocolate would go well in these and yes, we adored them – especially him.  And my au pair Alisa said these were her favorite cookies and she could eat them all up!  The guys who came to fix the power unit in the house also seemed very happy with their cookies.  As usual – I think these would make a great ice cream sandwich.  A home made sour cream, buttermilk or creme fraiche ice cream would really compliment the brown sugar flavor – but store bought vanilla will also do the trick!

brown sugar cookies (with walnuts and white chocolate):
2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
1 7/8 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups coarsely chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
1 cup chopped (good quality) white chocolate (optional)

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and place in a bowl.  Set aside.

Toast the walnuts to bring out their flavor.  Place nuts on baking sheet or foil and bake for about 6-10 minutes at 350 – until fragrant.  Do not burn.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

In mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter for 3-4 minutes on medium high speed until light and fluffy.  Add the brown sugar and continue to beat for another minute, until mixture is smooth.  Scrape down the bowl and mix again to incorporate.

On medium speed add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract, scrape and mix again.  Gently stir in the flour mixture and when almost combined, add the chopped white chocolate and toasted (cooled) walnuts.

Bake on parchment lined sheet pans – drop by tablespoons or bigger or smaller depending on your needs – just watch the baking time.  The cookies should take 11-15 minutes or so – but as usual check often and before.  I made a double batch and rolled the extra dough in logs to freeze as outlined at the bottom of the oatmeal raisin cookie post.  Enjoy!

blackout cake

When I asked Ali (my friend and neighbor) what I could bake for her birthday, she looked hard and focused and said “chocolate.”  I said like chocolate chocolate crazy chocolate?  And she replied with a good happy grunt.  So I started to hunt for a cake recipe that would suit both of us since I was going to celebrate too!  I can get lazy with cakes and pies – which is why I’m psyched about this blog.  It forces me to really bake out of my box.  And I can be very tentative about cakes because I unfortunately do not have that artistic flair that makes it all just look good.  But the blackout cake is perfect because you get to cover your cake with lots of cake crumbs, hiding any imperfections.  I found and slightly adapted this recipe from the Nordstrom Flavors cookbook.  I cook from this cookbook all the time – really great recipes here – but this is my first dessert.  And wow, what a success.  We ALL loved it.  Ali and her husband Jonathan, their daughter Danika (their little guy Leo just wants Dove chocolates so no cake for him), my kids Andy and Sylvie (not Greg because he won’t even try chocolate cake), my husband Rob and my daughters piano teacher too (who I happened to give a piece to).  Oh, and me!  I overate and actually still feel slightly sick but it was worth it!  If you make it in stages it is not overwhelming.  I made the pudding first day, the cake the next day, and the ganacblackout-ali-cakehe and assembly the third.  But if you’ve got the time you can make it happen in a day.  Just read the recipe all the way through – so you can get yourself very organized.

blackout cake (adapted from the Nordstrom Flavors cookbook – which I believe you might be able to purchase at the store):

pudding-
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup (6 oz) chopped chocolate – I used a mixture of semi sweet and bittersweet
2 tablespoons unsalted butter -room temp

Fill a medium sized bowl with a lot of  ice and water (once the pudding is cooked, you will place it in this bowl to stop further cooking of the pudding – and to speed up the process if you are making this all in one day).  In a sturdy saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and salt.  Gradually whisk in the milk – and mix until dry ingredients are incorporated.  Add the chocolate to the mixture and over medium heat, cook the pudding – whisking constantly.  The chocolate will melt first and then slowly the mixture will heat up and boil and have a nice smooth sheen to it.  Remove from heat and add the butter one tablespoon at a time.  The whole process should take about 6-8 minutes or so.  Pour the pudding into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap so that it touches the pudding itself and place a few holes in it to let the steam escape.  Place this pudding bowl in the ice bath.  The pudding will need an hour in the ice bath to get it spreadable – but again, I made this in advance and put it in the refrigerator until the next day.

cake–
2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (one cup) unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs (room temp)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (room temp)
1 cup strong brewed coffee (I used my Nespresso machine – and used espresso)
chocolate chips (to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter the bottom and sides of two 9 inch round cake pans, line with parchment, butter again, and lightly dust with flour tapping out excess.

Place first five dry ingredients in a bowl, whisk, and set aside.  In a mixer – with paddle attachment beat butter on medium high speed until light about 2 minutes then add sugar and continue to beat on high for another few minutes until light and fluffy.  Scrape down the bowl, and mix again.  Lower the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time until each is incorporated as well as the vanilla.  Remember to scrape and scrape again, mix again.

On the lowest speed (or by hand with a spatula), add the flour mixture in 3 additions and alternate with the buttermilk in 2 additions – ending with the dry.  Do not over mix.  Gently pour in the coffee or espresso and again, mix until just incorporated.  Divide the cake into the two pans.  Now add the chocolate chips to just one of the cake pans – I like a cake with a bite and texture – so I added these to the recipe.  But you must keep one cake free of chips because you later blend part of it to make the outside crumb.

Bake for about 40 minutes – but again, please check before that – and pull when cake is just cooked.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges, invert on a rack and peel off parchment.  Let cool completely.  I find it is easier to cut these cake rounds horizontally if you put them in the freezer for a bit to harden – especially if you are a novice.  So wrap up and freeze if you choose.  Either the night before or a few hours before assembly.

Ganache–
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional, but I like it- brings out the chocolate flavor)

Place chocolate in a bowl.  Heat cream to a simmer and then pour over the chocolate and let stand for a few minutes then whisk until smooth and shiny.  Let this stand at room temp for a few hours – until it thickens (you’ll need to frost the cake with it).  I ended up putting it in the refrigerator and mixing every now and then to speed up the process.

Assembly–

Ok, place the frozen (or not) cake on the counter and cut each one horizontally into two slices.  You can even pop back in the freezer so again they are easier to handle.  Pull one of the cake layers from the pack – one with out chocolate chips – and in a food processor, gently pulse until it turns into cake crumbs.  (I have a mini processor so I did it in batches.)  Set crumbs aside.

Take the pudding out and mix well (especially if refrigerated overnight).  Place one cake slice on a cardboard cake round (or use the base of a tart pan, or spring-form pan) and spread with half of the pudding.  Repeat with the next cake layer, the other half of pudding, and top with a cake layer.  Pour some ganache on top of the cake and spread it with an offset spatula or knife, and continue to spread the ganache over the sides of the cake.  It doesn’t have to look pretty here…as it will be covered with crumbs!  Spread and add more ganache to your liking (I like a lot!)  Then let set in the fridge for about 5 minutes.

Place the crumbs on parchment or tinfoil, and holding the cake bottom in one hand, scoop up the cake crumbs (in the other hand) and press them into the cake, all around and on top – turning the cake as you go.  Some crumbs will stick, some will fall, but keep going and pressing until the cake is covered.  The foil below will catch the mess (well, most of it – I should warn you this will be messy).

And that is it!  It seems like a lot when I write it out, but  in stages it is doable and so worth the effort.  Store this in the refrigerator – but pull out about an hour before you eat it to truly enjoy the tastes and flavors as it is much better and meant to be eaten at room temperature.

Oh, and btw – you will most likely have extra ganache.  This will keep in the refrigerator for some time.  Melt before use, and enjoy as a rich chocolate sauce over ice cream, dip a frozen banana in, or simply make a mini fondue for your family with fresh fruit as a treat.

 

berry or plain yogurt cake

I loved the write-up of this recipe in Cake Keeper Cakes – in that you usually have the ingredients for it on hand.  This is a great simple plain cake.  One that my son Greg loves.  He said “mom, this is amazing – it is just perfect for me!”  Every day this week there was a piece in his lunch – and he was a very happy person.  Laura Chattman’s recipe calls for the cake plain which is delicious, but I happen to have some mixed frozen berries and I added them to half the batter (I doubled the recipe and made two cakes).  The result was equally as great.  Greg’s friend Jamie was over and exclaimed that he loved berries and cake and “oh, Lisi, this is really really good.”  My daughter Sylvie loved the berries in it too.  I like this cake because there is no butter, and the low fat yogurt and eggs somehow make this feel like a healthy treat despite the sugar and white flour.  (So I didn’t scold my au pair Alisa for eating it for breakfast.)  Enjoy!

(berry) yogurt cake (adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Laura Chattman):

2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 (scant) teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt (or whole-milk)
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs (room temp)
2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
mixed raspberries, blueberries or blackberries – frozen (do not thaw) or fresh – amount to your liking
confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or grease the bottom and sides of a 9 inch round cake pan.  Place a parchment round in the buttered pan, and then lightly flour – knocking out any excess.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  In another bowl, mix the yogurt, oil, eggs and vanilla extract.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix until flour is just incorporated.  If using berries, add now.  Pour into prepped pan and bake for about 40-45 (for plain) and about 50  minutes (for berries).  As usual check often and before to avoid over baking this cake.

Let the cake sit for 5-10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and invert onto a rack and let cool.  Dust with the confectioners’ sugar (if you’d like) and enjoy!