0 Another Raspberry Something

I don't know what's up with my thing for raspberries lately. It's almost Thanksgiving and I'm still using a summer berry. I try to buy seasonal and local produce whenever I can and I'll admit that occasional cravings will override my good intentions. Raspberries should be out of season, but the container says they're from California. Even so, I felt slightly guilty for buying them. Just because they can grow them during the off season doesn't mean that they'll actually taste good. This was definitely the case with these raspberries. They looked good but they turned out to be bland. So instead of tossing them into the compost bin, I used them in these quick and easy cream cheese muffins. Right before adding them to my muffin batter I sprinkled a bit of sugar over my raspberries to add a bit of sweetness. I normally use a dollop of fruit preserves to top the muffins, but any fresh or frozen fruit will work just as well.

On a separate note, I want to apologize for my lack of posting lately. I haven't really been baking much during the last couple weeks. I spent most of this weekend preparing for Thanksgiving. Deciding on the menu, cleaning the house, washing the platters, serving bowls, and fancy glasses. I've done most of my grocery shopping and I just need to pickup the turkey and some sourdough bread for stuffing. I made a gigantic vat of turkey stock, a "scarborough fair" herb shallot butter for my turkey and a chunky cranberry sauce. The cheeses have been grated for the spinach gratin and I also made enough pie dough for my pecan tart and pumpkin pie. I still haven't decided if I'm going to make a third dessert. I'll see how I'm feeling later in the week. I still have a lot of chopping, slicing, brining, cooking and baking until T-day so I'll leave you now with a wish for a wonderful Thanksgiving! Have a happy and healthy one!



Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins
(adapted from Better Homes and Garden Nov 1997)
(makes 24)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened at room temp
4 ounces (8tbsp/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
10 ounces raspberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 24 (approximately 3.5 fluid ounce capacity) muffin wells (or use paper cupcake liners).

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

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and zest until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat 1 minute.

On low speed, add half of flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Mix in milk and then add remaining flour. Mix until just combined.

Divide batter among prepared muffin wells. Place 3 or 4 raspberries on top of each. (If your raspberries are not sweet enough, toss them with a bit of sugar before using.)

Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. Cool. If desired, dust with powdered sugar before serving.

0 Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Every once in a while someone shares a recipe with me hoping that I will make it. I'm more than happy to do so because sometimes it's tough for me to decide what to bake. When there are too many recipes to choose from I can become paralyzed by indecision and end up baking nothing at all. So I'm more than happy when the decision is made for me. This is especially true when it's a recipe I would normally not pick by myself. Like with the Daring Bakers challenges, it's a nice break from my usual M.O. and a great opportunity to break out of my baking box. I always enjoy the experience and always learn something new.

My coworker WW mentioned that he saw a pumpkin chiffon pie in a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living and was taken by the jewel like strands of candied pumpkin atop the pie. He searched Martha's website for the pie recipe but came up empty handed. So he purchased the magazine and asked if I would try my hand at making the pies. I was definitely up for the challenge.

I've made many pumpkin pies before but never a pumpkin chiffon pie. Just like a chiffon cake is supposed to be light and airy, I guessed that a chiffon pie should have a light and airy filling. In this case, the filling is a pumpkin pastry cream which is lightened with a meringue (basically egg whites beaten with sugar) and set with the help of some gelatin. The filling was pretty delicious and very different from the usual pumpkin pie filling, but I found it a tad on the sweet side and not particularly pumpkiny. I would probably decrease the amount of sugar in the filling if I make it again.

The crust was simply commercial gingersnaps blitzed in a food processor with some sugar and butter to hold it all together. This was the first time I've ever bought Nabisco brand gingersnaps. I tried one straight from the box and didn't really like it. I expected the gingersnap to be crisp but it just seemed hard. I hoped that the crust would taste better than the gingersnap itself. The crust did taste pretty good when filled. The gingersnap crust provided textural contrast to the fluffy filling but maybe too much of a contrast. In the future I might try using those thin ginger cookies that you can buy at Ikea instead.



The garnish was fun to make. I didn't have a sugar pie pumpkin but I did have a sweet dumpling squash. It was pretty easy to shave thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler and it was just as easy to candy them in the syrup. I only had a black and white copy of the recipe and photos from the magazine and I thought I messed up since my candied squash ribbons didn't turn out bright orange like I imagined they would be. Mine were more like a greenish tinged yellow. But when I presented my finished pies to WW he said that they looked just like in the magazine. The garnish was a nice finishing touch. Before laying the candied squash ribbons on my chiffon pie, I dabbed the ribbons with a clean towel to take of any excess syrup.

Even though I love the Martha, my success rate with her recipes has been 50/50. But despite the tiny issues I mentioned, I still must count this pumpkin chiffon pie in the win column. So thank you Martha and thank you WW for your wonderful suggestion.



Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
(adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine October 2007)
(makes six 5-inch pies)

Crust
34 gingersnaps*, coarsely broken
(*I used Nabisco brand gingersnaps)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 envelope (1 scant tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin puree
3 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Garnish
1/4 small sugar pumpkin or another sweet hard squash*, peeled
(*I used a sweet dumpling squash)
1 cup water
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 piece (2 inches long by 1 inch wide) peeled fresh ginger, sliced 1/4 inch thick

To make the crust

Preheat oven to 350F. Grind gingersnaps, sugar and salt in the food processor until finely ground. Add melted butter and process until combined.

Divide crumbs among six 5-inch pie plates, pressing into the bottom and up the sides. Bake until slightly darkened and firm, about 11 to 13 minutes.

Let cool 5 minutes. Using an offset spatula, carefully remove crusts from pie plates and cool completely before filling. (Since I had to transport my pies to the office, I kept my pie shells in the pie plate.) Crusts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

To make the filling

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.

Combine pumpkin, egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, milk, salt and spices in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat. Stir in gelatin mixture until completely dissolved. (At this point I strained my pumpkin mixture to catch any lumps. Apparently my strainer's mesh was too fine and it took a while for the mixture to make its way through the mesh. But I wanted to make sure it was lump free.) Let mixture cool completely.

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat 3 egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Whisk one-third of beaten egg whites into cooled pumpkin mixture. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Spoon into pie shells and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. (I refrigerated my pies overnight and they seemed okay.)

To make the garnish

Using a vegetable peeler, shave pumpkin into thin, wide ribbons. Bring water, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, and ginger to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add pumpkin ribbons and reduce heat. Simmer gently until tender and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Pour into a bowl and cool completely. Garnish can stand at room temperature for up to 3 hours. (I put mine in the refrigerator overnight before garnishing the pies.)

0 A Whole Lot of Eggs

...and cream and butter and chocolate. That must mean that the Daring Bakers are back once again. Who are we? Well, we're an online community of bakers who, once a month, receive a recipe chosen by that month's host, make the recipe without modifications (unless allowed by the host), and then blog about the experience on the same day. By following the same recipe, we have a good basis for comparing our results and we get to flex our baking muscles. Our group is now about 200 members strong and we even have a separate blog just to list the links to the participants' blogs!



my how we've grown

I had the honor of hosting this month's challenge. It was difficult to pick just a single recipe. There are too many great recipes and just not enough time. My first inclination was to choose something totally challenging. Something that would require days in the kitchen, ya' know, like the Tartine croissant challenge in January. I joined the group in February so I missed that one. Of course I could go ahead and make the croissants on my own just so I can empathize with the 7 ladies who toiled in butter and flour for days, but it's so much easier to just pop over to Tartine Bakery. I'm a bit of a lazy baker so I chickened out and chose a recipe that was relatively straight forward but still included some technical elements that home bakers should try.

It's the end of October so I decided to go with something that had the colors of Halloween (orange and black). I chose Bostini cream pie. No, it's not a typo. Bostini cream pie, like the name implies, is a twist on a traditional Boston cream pie (which is a vanilla layer cake filled with cream and topped with chocolate glaze). The Bostini cream pie is vanilla bean pastry cream topped with an orange chiffon cake and then drizzled with a rich chocolate glaze.



The recipe is from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni in the Napa Valley and Scala's Bistro in San Francisco and was published many years ago in the local newspaper. A dinner at Scala's Bistro just isn't complete without having a Bostini for dessert. I wanted to try making this treat at home and dug up the recipe.

When I first read the recipe I was really surprised that the chocolate glaze was just equal parts butter and chocolate. I always assumed the pastry chef had some secret sauce. Nope, it turns out that it was just Valrhona chocolate and butter. Just a warning, do not use salted butter. I did a small test batch with salted butter and it was gross.

I love the combination of orange and chocolate. The orange chiffon cake was so light, spongy, and airy. Just like chiffon cake should be. And it was oh so citrusy. I used a combination of tangelos and valencia oranges for my zest and juice. Freshly squeezed juice really makes a different in the flavor. I've tried it with Odwalla brand bottled "fresh" juice and it wasn't as flavorful.



The recipe called it custard but it's really more like a pastry cream. I've made a lot of different pastry creams before, but this vanilla bean pastry cream / custard was a bit scary because it required 10 egg yolks, just 1 egg white, and almost a whole quart of heavy cream! The pastry was scary delicious but really, really super-duper rich. Next time I would use a less rich pastry cream or even a silky baked custard. This dessert is not everyday fare, but fun for special occasions. I plan on making this during the upcoming holidays.

And, by the way, if you're keeping track, the whole recipe required 14 eggs, 1 quart of heavy cream, some whole milk, half a pound of butter, half a pound of chocolate, half a pound of sugar and a smidge of oil. At least there was some fruit involved.

I've already had a preview of a few of the incredible Bostinis the other Daring Bakers have made, but I can't wait to see the creative plating and how everyone felt about the recipe. So please head over to our blogroll, visit the other talented DBers' blogs, and see their Bostini cream pies for yourself!



Bostini Cream Pie
(from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni and Scala's Bistro)
(makes 8 generous servings)

INGREDIENTS:

Custard (Pastry Cream)
3/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 whole egg, beaten
9 egg yolks, beaten
3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze
8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare the custard (pastry cream):
Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolks, beating until smooth. Combine the cream, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and carefully bring to a boil. When the mixture just boils, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk this back into the cream mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard and pour into 8 large custard cups. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter.

Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm.

To assemble:
Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

Please note:
I baked my chiffon cake in muffin pans with 3.5 fluid ounce capacity wells. Instead of using custard cups or ramekins for the custard/pastry cream, I used small ceramic pie dishes (about 4-inch diameter across the top).

~*~happy halloween~*~

0 Raspberry Walnut Coffee Cake

Much like tea cakes don't actually have tea in them, coffee cakes don't actually have coffee in them. Well, unless it is a coffee coffee cake then it does. Instead, these breakfast or snack cakes are meant to be eaten with coffee or tea or even a big glass of milk (soy milk in my case). Served warm or at room temperature, it's equally delicious. I don't remember where I got this coffee cake recipe, but it is one of my most requested.

While baking the raspberries will slightly disintegrate and become almost like a jam. If I am using frozen berries, I don't drain them since I like the way the berry juices soak into the top of the golden cake especially when combined with that crunchy sweet nutty streusel topping.



Raspberry Walnut Coffee Cake
(makes one 9x13-inch cake)

Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 ounces (1 stick/8 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temp
10-12 ounces raspberries, fresh or frozen (barely thawed)

Topping:
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 ounces (half stick/4 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and lightly flour a 9x13-inch pan (or line pan with parchment paper).

To make the cake:
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape sides of bowl between additions. Beat in vanilla.

Add flour mixture and mix until the flour is just barely incorporated. Add buttermilk and mix until just combined and smooth.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and top with the raspberries.

To make the topping:
Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add butter and, with a fork or your fingertips, mix until crumbly. Stir in the walnuts and then sprinkle the topping over the raspberries.

Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes or until cake tested comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

0 Apple Pie Cupcake

Bloggers Cheryl of Cupcake Bakeshop and Garrett of Vanilla Garlic are hosting a second cupcake round-up event. I submitted my chocolate espresso cupcakes for the previous round-up back in January. To keep us cupcakers focused, Garrett and Cheryl have chosen the theme of "Re-Invention" for this round-up. Both bloggers are cupcake masters and they re-invent and re-interpret classic desserts into cupcake form on a regular basis. They also love the bounty of autumn and suggested that we should take advantage of the seasonal produce.

Like I do with most blog events I was running late. I had a lot of ideas for re-inventing a fall favorite into a cupcake, but the deadline was approaching fast and I had no time (or desire) to make a trip to the market. So I decided to make the apple pie cupcakes from the cupcake feature in an old issue of Donna Hay Magazine. I had all the ingredients I needed for my cupcakes.



Even though this is not an original recipe of my own, I hope it still qualifies for the round-up. I made some minor adjustments to the original Donna Hay recipe as well as adding cinnamon and lemon zest to the cupcake batter since a touch of cinnamon and lemon go so well with apples. Topping the cupcakes with sautéed apples before baking was a great idea (thanks Donna!). I considered increasing the apple-ness by adding chopped or grated apples directly into the cupcake batter but I felt that would've made it more like a muffin instead of a cupcake. If you like cinnamon, you'll love the frosting. If you're not a fan, then just decrease or omit the cinnamon.

To make the cupcake more "pie" like, I wanted to top the frosting with a little wedge of baked pie crust as an accent. I was sure that I had scraps of pie dough saved in my freezer for just an occasion. It would've been the perfect finishing touch, but sadly I was mistaken and no pie dough was to be found. Nevertheless, even without the crust accent, the cupcake is still reminiscent of apple pie.



Apple Pie Cupcakes
(adapted from Donna Hay Magazine #27)
(makes 24 cupcakes)

Cupcakes
2 1/4 all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
9 ounces (2 sticks plus 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon or orange zest
1 cup (8 fluid ounces) whole milk

Apple Topping
3 tbsp (40 g) unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

Cinnamon Frosting
12 ounces (3 sticks / 340g) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

To cook the apples
Place butter and sugar in a large fry pan over low-medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add apple slices and cook for 8-10 minutes or until apples are lightly caramelized. Remove apples from pan and let cool completely.

To make the cupcakes
Preheat oven to 325F. Line 24 4-fl-oz-capacity muffin wells with paper liners.

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

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides if the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla and grated zest.

On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until flour is barely incorporated. Add the milk and mix until just smooth.

Divide the batter among lined muffin wells, filling each well about 2/3 full. Top with the apples.

Bake at 325F until a cake tested comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool cupcakes on cooling racks. Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.

To frost the cupcakes
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the confectioner's sugar and cinnamon and beat for another 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Frost the cupcakes with an icing spatula or piping bag. Optional: Lightly dust frosted cupcakes with 2-3 tsp ground cinnamon.



On a side note, Donna Hay Magazine is a gorgeous glossy and has a clean, elegant aesthetic which I absolutely adore. Since the magazine is Australian based, it's a bit pricey to purchase here in the U.S. (one issue is $10), but I had a Borders bookstore gift card and decided to splurge a little.

0 From A To Z

I was wasting some time and I came up with this little game for myself. I wanted to see if I had posted a recipe that begins with each letter of the alphabet. I cheated a little on a couple letters, but I managed to make it work. Hey, what can I say? I get bored sometimes and am easily amused by silly yet goal-oriented tasks like list making. BTW, my other favorite time waster involves folding certain items.

Almond apple bars
Blackberry pie
Chocolate espresso cupcakes
Darkest chocolate crepe cake
Espresso cookies
Frangipane tart
Gateau Saint Honore
Hummingbird cupcakes
Iced meyer lemon cupcakes
Jam shortbread bars
Kuchen with plums, figs & walnuts
Lemon bars
Mousse towers
Nutella cookies
Oatmeal cake with cherry & almonds
Pumpkin cheesecake
Quellia's bagels (I really had to cheat on the letter "Q".)
Rugelach
Swiss orange chip cupcakes
Tart with chocolate & peanut butter
Upside down polenta cake
Vanilla chocolate swirl cheesecake
World peace cookies
Ximena's DB logo (Okay, so I had to cheat again. But I'm giving talented Ximena major props again for creating the very cool DB logo that we revealed during the red velvet cake challenge.)
Yogurt cake
Zucchini bread

0 Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes

Cakes in miniature can make a person feel special. It's like you're getting a whole cake to yourself. I'm not saying that a person shouldn't share, but mini cakes provide a perfect excuse not to share. These chocolate mini bundt cakes are a simple but indulgent treat. The combination of the milk chocolate cake with a bittersweet chocolate glaze is a delight and the ease of preparation pleases a lazy baker like me. And since the cakes are baked in a fanciful mold like a mini bundt, it appears as if I spent more time in the kitchen than I actually did. Of course that's what I will be telling myself if I give in to temptation and buy more cute molds. They're really a time saver. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home to Yours")
(makes 6 mini bundt cakes)

Cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 ounces (1 stick/8 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
7 ounces good quality* milk chocolate, melted and cooled
(*I used Michel Cluizel's Grand Lait 45%)

Glaze:
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tsp light corn syrup

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350F. Generously butter a 6-mold mini bundt pan. (Each mini bundt is about 3.5 inches wide x 1.75 inches tall.)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg and beat for 1 minute more, then beat in the vanilla.

On low speed, add half the flour mixture and mix only until it is incorporated. Add in the milk and mix until just blended. Then add the remaining flour mixture and mix only until it is incorporated. Blend in the melted chocolate.

Divide batter evenly among the 6 molds. Bake at 350F until cake tester comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes.

Cool for 5-10 minutes in pan. Then remove the mini bundt cakes from pan and cool to room temperature before glazing.

To make glaze:
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water or in the microwave on low. Stir in corn syrup. Spread glaze or drizzle over cakes. Allow glaze to set at room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Note: I omitted the nut filling that Dorie had in her original recipe. You can skip the chocolate glaze and just dust the mini bundts with powdered sugar.