0 Too Much Baking, Not Enough Blogging

I've been baking up a storm over the past few days (as I'm sure many of you are as well). But sadly I've been too preoccupied to take any photographs. I've been rushing from party to party, squeezing in some last minute gift shopping after work, and getting the house ready for guests. I guess the holidays are like that for a lot of people. We still have a few more get-togethers between now and the first, so I'll be back to blogging regularly in January.

Here's a list of sweets I've baked in the last few days:

• Espresso chocolate swirl cheesecake
• Bostini cream pie (individual mini custards topped with a mini orange chiffon cake and drizzled with a warm bittersweet chocolate sauce)
• Raspberry chocolate cake (layers of chocolate genoise filled with whipped chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries and covered in a chocolate glaze)
• Crystallized ginger cookies
• Chocolate hazelnut cookies (aka Nutella cookies)
• Cinnamon sugar cookies
• Amaretti
• Almond cookies
• Butter cookies with jam

And here's a photo of my most recent creation Raspberry Champagne Trifle. I'll post the recipe soon. Until then, have a wonderful New Year!

0 Lazy Rugelach

Is it still considered rugelach if it's not rolled into the traditional horn or crescent shape? I was feeling lazy so I just rolled my cookies like a jelly roll and then sliced them. Maybe I should call them pinwheel cookies instead?

Sorry for the short post today. I blame it on laziness too.

Walnut and Chocolate Rugelach
(makes 48 cookies)

Pastry:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
1/2 lb cream cheese, softened at room temp.
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour

Filling:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup semi or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Topping:
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg white, beaten with 1 tbsp milk or water

To make your pastry dough, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and salt. Add the flour, and mix just until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form the dough into 4 even pieces. Flatten each piece into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or as long as 2 days.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Take the dough out of refrigerator and leave it on your counter for about 10 minutes to soften slightly.

To make your filling, mix granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside sugar mixture. In another bowl, mix together walnuts and chocolate. Set aside.

To make your topping, mix granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside topping.

Lightly flour 1 dough disk and place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap (or parchment paper). Roll out into a 12x8-inch rectangle and 1/8 inch thick. Remove the top sheet of plastic.

With the long side in facing you, brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and then sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the sugar mixture. Then top with about 1/3 cup of the walnut-chocolate mixture. Using a rolling pin, gently roll over the filling to help it adhere to the dough. Tightly roll into a log, seam side down.

Brush the top of the log with the egg wash and sprinkle with the topping. Cut the log into 12 pieces. Transfer to your prepared baking sheet, cut side down and 1 inch apart.

Bake until golden brown, about 22-25 minutes. Allow cookies to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to cooling racks.

0 Back from Seattle and an Apple Custard Tart

Here's another great recipe from Emily Luchetti (from her 1991 Stars Desserts cookbook). The custard filling keeps the apples nice and moist. I used Washington State granny smith apples.

Apple Custard Tart
(from "Stars Desserts" by Emily Luchetti)

1 egg white
1 pre-baked 9-inch tart shell (I used this sweet tart dough)

1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 or 4 apples, juicy & not too firm variety, peeled & sliced 1/16 inch thick



Preheat oven to 325F.

Lightly beat egg white and brush a thin coat on the bottom of your pre-baked tart shell. Bake for 5 minutes. This helps to "seal" your tart crust which will keep it from getting overly soggy from the filling.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg, egg yolks, and sugar. Stir in cream, cinnamon and salt. Set aside custard filling.

Arrange apple slices in the tart shell in a circular pattern. Carefully pour custard over the apples until tart is full. (You may have extra custard depending on the depth of your shell.)

Bake at 325F for 15 minutes. Using a large spoon or spatula, very gently press down the apples so they remain covered in custard. Take care not to disturb the pattern of your apples. Bake the tart for an additional 15-20 minutes until the custard is set but still a bit wiggly in the center.

Let tart cool to room temperature before serving.


~.~ Seattle ~.~



Our trip to Seattle was wonderful. Luckily the aberrant snowstorm was long gone and we could see the city on foot. I’m a wimpy California girl so I found the Seattle weather a bit cold, but it’s nothing I couldn’t get used to (or that a steaming latte couldn’t cure!). I don’t do restaurant reviews so I’ll just say that we had some great meals and some not so great. But I want to mention a few places.

My favorite treat was Top Pot doughnuts. Most people will judge a doughnut shop by their raised doughnuts but I prefer glazed old fashioned. I really liked it but my husband thought the glaze was a bit too sweet. I will definitely try other flavors the next time I visit Seattle.

Our favorite dinner was at Lark, a small plates restaurant in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. I wish we could’ve tried everything on the menu, but two people can only eat so much in one sitting. Our favorite dish was the vanilla salted Georgia prawns with citrus endive salad. For dessert we ordered the quince tarte tatin and the chocolate madeleines with chocolate sauce. I was expecting 3 or 4 regular sized madeleines, but instead we were presented with 24 freshly baked, still hot from the oven, miniature madeleines! What a delicious ending to a delicious meal!


And finally, we walked the 2 miles from our downtown hotel up to Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill. The view was truly amazing.

0 Pumpkin Upside-Down Cake w/ Cranberry Topping

I try my hardest not to waste food. Whenever I have stale bread, I pulverize it in my food processor, store the crumbs in the freezer, and voila, fresh bread crumbs when I need them. I save the rinds from hard cheeses and add them to the pot of soup or polenta that I’m stirring up. When I accumulate enough chicken wing tips, necks and backbones, I make chicken stock. When we lived in our previous house, we used to "compost" all our fruit and vegetable scraps by burying them in various unused spots in our backyard. Unfortunately, the yard in our current house is too small and we can’t afford to leave parts unplanted like we did in our previous place. Luckily, San Francisco has a great compost program and will pick up all food waste (as well as used dinner napkins, waxed coated paper containers like milk cartons, pizza boxes) from the residents.

Every baker has a "kitchen sink" cookie where they add all the half used bags of chocolate, fruit and nuts accumulated over time. And who hasn’t turned overripe bananas into banana bread or muffins? So when I had some cranberries, pumpkin puree, and sugared almonds left over from Thanksgiving, I had the perfect recipe to use them up – a pumpkin upside-down cake with a cranberry topping from Emily Luchetti, executive pastry chef at Farallon restaurant in downtown San Francisco and James Beard nominated cookbook author.

I love all things pumpkin but the cranberry and nut topping really transforms this simple cake into a superstar. I love the tartness of the cranberries with the sweet brown sugar topping and the fragrant cinnamon spiced pumpkin cake. The recipe calls for pecans but I used both pecans and some sugared almond slices I had leftover from another dessert. I don’t think the sliced almonds worked in this case. Coarsely chopped or slivered almonds would have been much better. In any case, it felt good to use up what I had in the refrigerator and the results were quite good.

Pumpkin Upside-Down Cake with Cranberry Pecan Topping
(from "A Passion for Dessert" by Emily Luchetti)

Topping:
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups cranberries
4 ounces (1 cups) pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Cake batter:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and sides of the pan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth. Pour into the bottom of your prepared pan.

In a bowl, combine cranberries and pecans. Sprinkle the cranberries and pecans evenly over the brown sugar mixture in your pan. Set aside while you make the batter.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Carefully pour batter over the cranberry pecan topping and gently spread the batter evenly.

Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then invert cake onto a serving platter and carefully remove the parchment paper. Allow to cool completely before serving.

~.~
Husband and I are off to Seattle for a little vacation. No work, no internet, just some R&R. I'll be back soon!