0 Chocolate Babka

Traditional babkas are lightly sweetened yeast cakes with a raisin filling. This is definitely not a traditional babka. No yeast, no raisins and no kneading. The cake batter is made using the creaming method and then layered with a chocolate, walnut and cinnamon filling.



Chocolate Babka
(from Sally Sampson’s "The Bake Sale Cookbook")

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temp.
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter a bundt pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Combine chocolate, walnuts, ¼ cup brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside filling.

Using a stand mixer, cream butter and 1 ½ cups brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the honey, vanilla, and eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add half the flour mixture and beat well. Add half sour cream and beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add remaining half flour mixture and half sour cream. Mix until incorporated. Do not overmix.

Pour one-third of the batter into prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle with half the filling. Repeat and then top with remaining batter.

Bake 50 to 65 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then invert the cake, leaving it in the pan for 20 minutes. Remove the pan and cool completely.

0 Vanilla Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

My family loves cheesecake. And even though it’s not on my list of favorite desserts, I do make cheesecakes quite often. Using this recipe as a starting point, I’ve made some variations over the years. Sometimes I will use graham crackers or Oreo cookies instead of chocolate wafers for the crust. Adding some brown sugar and/or spices to the crust also works. I’ve also played with different fillings: espresso-chocolate swirl (like the original recipe), vanilla bean, mocha-cinnamon or vanilla-chocolate swirl. I treat my cheesecakes like custards and bake them in a water bath.

Vanilla Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Crust
1 9-oz package chocolate wafer cookies
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted & cooled

Filling
3 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
6 oz bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup whipping cream

For crust:
Position rack in the center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Grind cookies in processor. Add butter and process using on/off turns until crumbs are moist. Press crumbs on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Wrap outside of pan with 2 or 3 layers of aluminum foil.

For filling:
Using a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in vanilla and butter.

Combine chocolate and whipping cream over a double boiler and stir until chocolate melts. Allow chocolate to cool slightly and then mix in ¾ cup of cheese filling into melted chocolate.

Pour half of remaining cheese filling into prepared crust. Drop half of chocolate mixture by tablespoons around edge of filling, spacing evenly. Use the tip of a small knife to swirl chocolate into cheese filling. Carefully pour remaining cheese filling over. Drop remaining chocolate by tablespoons into center 6 inches of filling, spacing evenly. Swirl mixtures together using tip of knife.

Bake cheesecake in a water bath until edges are slightly golden about 50-60 minutes (center will not be set). Remove cheesecake from water bath and cool on rack. Chill at least 6 hours. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead.)

Run small sharp knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Release pan sides. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.



Tags: DMBLGIT , cheesecake

0 Mojito Cupcakes

I wanted to bake something out of the ordinary using the leftover ingredients from our office’s "Margaritas and Mojitos" happy hour. I decided to create a mojito cupcake by making some simple modifications to the lime tea cupcake recipe . By steeping the milk with mint instead of tea leaves and adding a dash of rum, I was able to capture the flavors found in a mojito: lime, mint and rum.

My first attempt was not quite successful. I found some small party cups at a local party supply store and thought they would make cute cupcake liners. I filled each cup ¾ full as directed in the original recipe. Unfortunately, this was too much for the cups to hold and the batter overflowed. Unattractiveness aside, the cupcake did taste like a mojito.

I used the same modified recipe for my second attempt. I tossed out the party cup idea (too hard to get the baked cupcake out of the cup) and went with traditional cupcake liners making sure to fill the liners no more than halfway. The recipe yielded 12 regular sized cupcakes and 20 miniature cupcakes.

I frosted the cupcakes with a swirl of lime cream cheese frosting. Although the frosted cupcake tasted good, the cheesiness of the frosting detracted from the mojito theme. In the future, I think I will top them with a mint whipped cream or a rum-infused glaze.

Mojito Cupcakes
makes 18 regular cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3/4 cup whole milk, hot
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
grated zest of 2 limes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum (optional)

Preheat to 350F.

Add mint leaves to hot milk. Let steep for 10-15 minutes. Pour milk through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Press liquid from mint leaves. Discard leaves and allow milk to cool slightly.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in lime zest, vanilla and rum (if using).

On very low speed, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour, mixing until just incorporated.

Fill 18 standard muffin cups half full. Bake until cupcakes spring back when touched, 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely.

0 Butter Cookies with Jam

Sometimes simple is the best. I love the jewel-toned center of this butter cookie with jam. I prefer using a red jam (like currant or berry), but apricot is a nice alternative.

Butter Cookies with Jam
makes 24 to 30 cookies

1/4 pound unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temp.
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup strawberry jam or preserves

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Mix in the egg yolk, vanilla and salt making sure to scrape down the sides of bowl.
Add flour and mix until flour is incorporated. Finish mixing by hand if the dough is too stiff.
Form 1-inch balls and arrange 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheets.
Using the back of a small measuring spoon or your finger, make a depression in the middle of each ball.
Place half a teaspoon of jam in each depression.
Bake 22 to 28 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges.
Allow cookies to cool on sheet for 10 minutes before transferring the cookies to cooling racks.
(Note: Please allow the cookies to cool completely before eating since the baked jam can be very hot.)