2011 - the year of the chocolate

This holiday season I made myself happy. Selfish, I know, among this season of perpetual giving and generosity, but I wanted chocolate and dag-nabit, I would have it! Merry Christmas to me! (not my waist-line)

My weapon of choice: Nutella. For those of you who aren't familiar with this silky, smooth Italian chocolate hazelnut spread, it was a gift from the gods bestowed to happy little children across the Italian peninsula. Thankfully, this chocolate dream is available in U.S. supermarkets. Try in on toast or a hunk of chewy ciabatta or Italian bread and you'll be hooked. Try a Nutella and cream cheese sandwich and you'll thank me. You're welcome.

Salty Cream Cheese Brownies

I turned to Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess for two recipes: Torta alla Gianduia (Chocolate Hazelnut Cake) and Salty Cream Cheese Brownies. The Nutella cake is a rich, dark, and surprisingly light, mousse- like cake with a thick, velvety ganache and toasted hazelnuts to garnish. To say this cake is a chocolate lovers' dream is an understatement. You have to really, truly, love chocolate to eat this cake. The cream cheese brownies are not you're typical brownies, either. Nigella adds a layer of cream cheese slices in between layers of "brownie goop" (as she calls it) for a sharp bite of cream cheese in every brownie. Play a quick game of hide and seek when you slice through the brownie batch and try to find the melted chunks of cream cheese through the fudgy layers of chocolate.

Sharing these recipes and directions with you will not do it justice, read the way Nigella describes the prep and baking of these treats and you'll know why she's an esteemed food columnist.

Crunchy Nutella Puffs

My third Nutella treat are these crunchy little Nutella puffs. Super simple to make and in about 20 minutes you'll have an elegant treat. In all honesty, I didn't really follow a recipe.  But, I'm going to try to jot it all down for you.

Here's what you'll need:
1 package of store-bought puff pastry, thawed
3/4 cup of Nutella (roughly)
1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts (roughly)
1 egg and a splash of water
Flour for dusting

Here's what to do with it:
Roll out the thawed pastry onto a board dusted with flour. One sheet of pastry, for me, made about 9 or 10 (4") squares to fill.

Microwave the Nutella for about 30 seconds, just until it reaches the consistently of a thick syrup and loses it's thick spread texture. Combine the chopped hazelnuts with the melted Nutella and spoon a teaspoon amount of this mixture into the center of each pastry square. Add more Nutella and nuts, if needed.

Brush the edges of the squares with a bit of egg wash and fold each square in half, over the filling, Crimp the edges of these little purses with your fingers and then brush the edges and center of the puffs with egg wash to seal the deal. Continue with each pastry square. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and pop them into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until perfectly puffed and golden brown. (Check the directions on dough box, though, just to be safe.) Let them cool on a wire rack and then enjoy these delicate beauties with a glass of milk and a big crunch.



Happy 2011 - maybe it be filled with the sweetest treats and greatest memories!

My little pumpkin cheesecakes

A new addition to the family has left me with little time to bake - let alone bake and blog. But here I am almost a year since my last post (is anyone still following me?) with a new recipe to share - straight from Mrs. Butter Ya'll - Paula Deen.

While my lil' pumpkin was taking a nap, I whipped up these super easy lil' pumpkin cheesecakes. 

Here's what you need:

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tbsp. light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 stick melted butter 

Filling:

3 (8oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (15oz.) can pumpkin puree

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or 1/8 tsp. each of ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg)

2 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. vanilla

Here's what you do with this stuff:

For the crust: Melt the butter (on a burner or microwave). Remove from heat and pour over the crumbs, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir with a wooden spoon until the crumbs are moistened. Press a palm-full of crumbs into the bottom of cupcake liners (for mini cheesecakes) or spread and press the entire bowl of crumbs into the bottom of a springform pan for a full cheesecake. 

For the filling: Using a hand mixer or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, whip the cream cheese together until smooth. Add the pumpkin, eggs, yolk, sour cream, sugar  and spices and beat on high until well combined. Make sure to scrape the sides on the bowl every so often, otherwise the cream cheese will clump together. Add flour and vanilla and stir until combined. 

Pour the mixture into cupcake tins or springform pan over the crumb crust and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 

Remove the cheesecakes from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. After 15 minutes passes, cover cheesecakes with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. 

When placing the plastic wrap over the cheesecakes it's important to note that you do not remove the cheesecake from the tin or pan. Remove the cheesecake from the baking tin/pan after it has been refrigerated. Also make sure that the plastic wrap is laid directly on top of the cheesecake. This will lessen the amount of moisture that will collect over the cheesecakes in the fridge. No one likes to have "juice" swimming over their cheesecake - gross! 

After at least 4 hours in the fridge, remove and dig in!

I decided to split the batter into one large cheesecake and 24 mini cheesecakes, but you can use the batter for just one large cheesecake or 48 or more mini cheesecakes. 


Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!


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Here are some photos of homemade bucatini I made as well, thanks to my husband who bought me a pastamaker for my birthday. He knows me well.

I'm Dreaming of a Chocolately Christmas

...but others are not. Bury me alive in layers of chocolate! Dark and milk chocolate - white chocolate need not apply!- baked into brownies, cookies, cakes and I'm yours forever! However, this is the time of year for generosity and yes, sugar cookies.

I'm not a fan of sugar cookies. But they are a holiday staple, so it just seemed very Scrooge-like of me to ignore others' cravings for this Christmas treat. Last year's sugar cookie dough was a crumbly disaster! It also tasted suspiciously like a butter cookie, rather than a sugar cookie.

This year, however, I found a great recipe courtesy of Domino Sugar. After all, who knows sugar better than these folks? The cookie dough was a dream! Soft, yet sturdy. Pliable, yet un-crumbly. I busted out my most festive cookie cutters and topped them with Powdered Sugar Icing, or Confectioner's Sugar Icing. 

Powdered Sugar Icing is perhaps a 2nd or 3rd cousin of Royal Icing, in texture and in working with it. However, Powdered Sugar Icing tastes better than Royal icing and is easier to make. You need to work with these types of icing fairly quickly and make sure to periodically stir the icing so it doesn't set in the bowl. If this happens, it's near impossible to spread it on a cookie or cake. The icing transforms from a smooth, sugary texture to a rough, crumbly texture. I used edible sparkle gel pens, M&Ms, colored sugar and tiny Kisses to decorate the cookies. For those of you on the Sugar Cookie wagon, the recipe follows.

Here's what you need:

Sugar Cookies
1 cup sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda


Here's what you do with it:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Blend sugar and butter on low-medium speed in a large bowl. Once combined, beat in egg and vanilla until batter is fluffy. Mix in flour and baking soda.

Divide dough in half. If you're making circular cookies, shape dough into two rolls. If you're making cutout cookies, just divide dough in half and don't worry too much about the form. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. 

Roll out dough onto a heavily floured surface and use cookie cutters to make shapes. The dough should be rolled out to about 1/4 inch in thickness. I usually eyeball-it.

Place onto baking sheet and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until outside edges are a light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack before icing.

The cookies should look like this ~>





Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 - 4 tbsp milk
a drop of vanilla extract

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk, making sure not to add too much milk at once. I started out using 2 tbsp milk and gradually added more milk, 1 tbsp at a time. I used 4 tbsp total for one patch of icing.

The consistency should be a bit thick, not runny. If you add too much milk, gradually add a bit more powdered sugar or vice versa until desired consistency is achieved.

Decorate your cookies and make them all pretty, sparkly and festive for the holidays, like this!

While you're baking these cookies, I'm working on mini apple pies - shown here.

Or perhaps I'll just make a batch of chocolate chip brownies so I can celebrate Christmas in my own chocolately way!

Whatever your persuasion for the holidays - have a happy and delicious one!

Giving Mushy Apples a Kick in the Pants

Recently, I was plagued with 2 weeks of mushy, mealy apples from the supermarket. Every time I bit into a Red Delicious it was like I was fed a spoonful of applesauce - gross!

Rather than throw the apples at the wall in disgust or play a trick on an unsuspecting co-worker (Hey so-and-so, would you like a nice, crisp apple with your lunch?), I decided to take out my frustration on the fruit itself and torture the sad excuse for an apple. I scrubbed them under freezing cold water, peeled their skin and then took a sharp knife and hacked away at them like a scene from Saw VI. And for the finale, I squirted them with lemon juice on their open wounds! Take that!

Once I let go of my anger, I looked down at the bowl of apples and decided I was a bit harsh. These apples needed a new purpose in life. A sweet, warm purpose that would bring smiles to those who enjoyed them. I decided to make them into Apple Almond Cake. Even apples need a lil' TLC.

Apple Almond Cake

Here's what you need: 
2 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp. of lemon zest
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
sprinkle of Nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar (light)
1 cup cooking oil
1 tbsp. vanilla
3 cups peeled, chopped apples (about 4 medium apples)
12 oz. sliced almonds (you can also use pecans or walnuts)

Here's what to do:
Let eggs sit at room temp. for at least 30 minutes. Grease and flour a bundt pan or flat Pyrex dish. (I've used both pans for this cake.)

Wash, peel, core and chop apples and place in a bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over the apples (about 1/2 lemon will do.) This will keep apples from turning brown and soft and adds a bit of tartness. You can use this trick anytime you bake with apples.

Combine sugars, vanilla, oil, and eggs in a stand mixer bowl (or medium bowl if you're using a hand mixer) and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

In another medium bowl, combine flour, lemon zest, baking soda and powder, and spices and stir together with a spoon or fork.

Add flour mixture to the wet mix and beat on low until combined. DO NOT OVER MIX!

Remove bowl from mixer and fold in apples and almonds. The batter will be very clumpy, thick and sticky.

Spoon batter into baking dish and place in a 350 degree oven for one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.

Allow cake to cool completely on wire rack before cutting. The almonds add some bite to the cake. The cake will be moist and chewy. Personally, I think this is the way apples should live their lives - reincarnated through desserts.

Lemon Squares and Birthday Love

There are two people in my life that love lemons and lemon flavored desserts: my brother and my friend. My friend's birthday is today and as a surprise, I made Lemon Squares.

Here's the recipe to make this sweet, sour and gooey treat at home:

What You'll Need:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  

What to do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 9 by 13-inch sheet pan with heavy duty aluminum foil (or non-stick), so that the ends of the foil hang over the sides and set aside.

In a bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour with 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter into the mixture until it resembles fine crumbs. Press in an even layer into the bottom of the pan and bake until pale tan, about 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. (Make sure the crust is pulled from the oven just before the filling is ready - it will set better if the crust is still warm.)

In large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until pale yellow and frothy. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, and the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour over the warm crust and bake until set, 25 minutes. (my oven took a little longer)

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut with a thin, sharp knife into squares and dust with powdered sugar if desired.

I highly recommend using a thin, sharp knife to cut these guys. They're very sticky and gooey even after they've fully cooled. Unfortunately, I did not use a sharp knife and some of my squares were sloppy. I had to keep wiping the knife after a few cuts.

Although I didn't have any myself, I heard the lemon squares were delicious! Enjoy!