Pumpkin Whoopee Pies

Thanksgiving is a truly madtasty holiday! This year, we were lucky to celebrate a little early with a Pre-Thanks celebration at Dave and Bobby's new pad. I brought my mother-in-law's famous mac & cheese and pumpkin whoopee pies with cream cheese filling. Everything was delicious...

...Especially Bobby's turkey!

Pumpkin Whoopee Pies (from Rachel Ray)

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, 2 sticks melted, 1 stick softened
• 2 cup packed light brown sugar 
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten 
• 2 cup canned pure pumpkin puree 
• 3 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• 2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon plus 4 pinches salt 
• 3 1/3 cups flour 
• 8 ounces cream cheese, chilled
• 2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth.

Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet.

Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

And enjoy...

Biscotti with Cranberries and Pistachios

Biscotti with Cranberries and Pistachios (from Bon Appétit, December 2003)

• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon whole aniseed
• 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
• ¾ cup shelled natural unsalted pistachios
• 6 ounces imported white chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
   
2. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl.
   
4. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl to blend well.
   
5. Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
   
6. Mix in lemon peel, vanilla, and aniseed.
   
7. Beat in flour mixture just until blended.
   
8. Stir in cranberries and pistachios (dough will be sticky).
   
9. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.
   
10. Gather dough together; divide in half. Roll each half into 15-inch-long log (about 1 1/4 inches wide).
    
11. Carefully transfer logs to 1 prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart.
12. Bake logs until almost firm to touch but still pale, about 28 minutes.
    
13. Cool logs on baking sheet 10 minutes while maintaining oven temperature.
14. Carefully transfer logs still on parchment to cutting board.
    
15. Using serrated knife and gentle sawing motion, cut logs crosswise into generous 1/2-inch-thick slices.
    
16. Place slices, 1 cut side down, on remaining 2 prepared sheets.
    
17. Bake until firm and pale golden, about 9 minutes per side.
    
18. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.
19. Line another baking sheet with waxed paper.
    
20. Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water just until smooth.
    
21. Remove from over water.
    
22. Dip 1 end of each cookie into melted chocolate, tilting pan if necessary; shake off excess chocolate.
    
23. Place cookies on prepared sheet.
    
24. Chill until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.

Nana Molloy's Blueberry Muffins

My Nana used to make the best blueberry muffins in the world. They were delicious.

Her recipe originally hails from the Jordan Marsh bakery that was on the first floor of the Jordan Marsh department store in Downtown Crossing. Jordan Marsh was the country's first department store. It opened in 1861 and was truly the picture of one-stop shopping. In 1988, Jordan Marsh was purchased by Macy's and the bakery was closed forever, but the recipe will live on in our family.

Nana's Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups (1 pint) blueberries
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp. sugar for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Line muffin pans with baking cups
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt
4. Mix together butter, sugar, and eggs
5. Add dry ingredients to butter, sugar, and eggs in 3 additions. Alternate additions with milk.
6. When well mixed, fold in blueberries
7. Spoon into lined muffin pan
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes

Manhattan Cupcakes

Last year for a friend's birthday cocktail party, we decided to combine the two best things about birthdays - cake and drinking - by making these gin and tonic cupcakes.

This year we wanted to turn that brilliant idea into a tradition. The only problem is that there's a dearth of cocktail cupcake recipes out there -- only these few from Baking Bites seemed up to our standards, and even they are pretty mainstream. Our bag is classic cocktails, and we really wanted to try something a little different. So we made it up.
The cocktail: Manhattan (2 oz whiskey, 1/2 oz sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, shaken and strained, garnished with orange peel and a maraschino cherry). The origin recipe: Burnt-Butter Brown Sugar Cupcakes Now, our recipe isn't perfect yet, so we're looking for another excuse to make these and tweak them a bit. They don't have quite as strong a whiskey flavor as we're looking for, but they're delicious nonetheless.


1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup self-rising cake flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
5 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons whiskey

1 tbsp milk (in the future, we're thinking of substituting whiskey here too)

Preheat the oven to 400F and start burning your butter. Put it in a small saucepan on medium heat, stirring all the time until it turns dark golden color. Take the pan off the heat and let the butter solidify, but stay soft.

When the butter is solid but still soft, put all the cake ingredients except the whiskey and milk in a food processor or blender and blend to a smooth batter. Add the whiskey and milk down the funnel, pulsing sparingly to form a soft, dropping mixture.

Divide among lined cupcake tins, and cook for 15-20 minutes for regular-size cupcakes, 8-10 for mini.

We used a basic cream cheese frosting to top these (buttercream would be too much, well, butter for these cakes) with one little difference: sweet vermouth. That's an integral part of a Manhattan, and we were pretty excited about figuring it into the cupcakes. However, it turns out that the vermouth makes the frosting too sweet, so it's best to leave it out until we do a little more research.

Frost the cupcakes and top with just a little orange zest and a sliver of maraschino cherry.

And if anyone knows of any cocktail baked good recipes, or a way to figure in bitters, please send them our way.

Creme de Menthe Brownies

When I was a kid, my sister used to make really excellent mint brownies with creme de menthe. Since as a youngster I didn't understand that the alcohol in the liqueur bakes out, I thought this is what people meant when they said "special" or "happy brownies". I mean, they make me happy.

All you need to do is add 1.5-2 oz of creme de menthe to your favorite brownie recipe. We used the Prescription-Strength Fudge Brownies from The Weekend Baker because you can make the whole thing in one pot (pictured), but you can find some other recipes here or here (or a box, if that's your style). Taste the batter (yes, you're allowed) until it seems almost minty enough for your taste -- the flavor will intensify when baked.

Top with powdered sugar or green sugar crystals and serve for the holidays -- these are a perfect alternative to Christmas cookies -- or anytime.


Ingredients:

• 12 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 c flour

Melt butter in a saucepan on medium. Remove from heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth. Add sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the first egg and whisk until blended (there's a lot of blending in this). Then add the vanilla and second egg and whisk some more. Sprinkle the flour over the chocolate mixture and stir with a rubber spatula.

Pour into a lightly greased 8-in square baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 32 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie on it.

So easy and so delicious Popovers

A few months ago, my great aunt was cleaning out her kitchen, and says that i simply "must" take this popover pan, because my husband would absolutely love to eat them. I was intrigued, and most of family shocked, that in my many many years of baking and pastry making i had never come across this fabulous thing called a 'popover'. Apparently it is a New England staple, typically served with potroast.

The pan is actually what does all the work - the shape forces up air through the batter and creates a puff in the middle.

Ingredients: 2 Eggs, 1 cup Flour, 1 cup Milk, 1/2 Tsp Salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 F; Grease pan thoroughly
• Beat eggs thoroughly, add in flour, milk and salt, being careful not to over beat
• Fill cups 1/2 way and put in oven for 20 min.
• Decrease oven temp to 350 F and bake for another 20 min.

Serve with hearty soups and stews, as your dinner rolls at dinner or my favorite: a yummy breakfast. You can add some spices into the batter for a little variation - herbs de provence are really yummy for savory or cinnamon is great for sweet. Also, you can top with powdered sugar, honey, almonds once they come out of the oven (make sure its not too heavy though!)

Can be stored up to a week; cool off and place in zip top bag. After you taste these, you will never want to buy store bought rolls again!

Oatmeal Raisin Cinnamon Chip Cookies

I don't know how I've been missing Cinnamon Chips in the baking aisle all these years, but they have to be my new favorite baking ingredient. They are fantastic. They add a super concentrated kick of cinnamon that is the definition of mad tasty.

This recipe, brought to you by Hershey's, is my new favorite recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies.
















Oatmeal Raisin Cinnamon Chip Cookies
Makes 4 dozen cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) Hershey's Cinnamon Chips
• 3/4 cup raisins

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F
2. Combine flour and baking soda in a medium sized mixing bowl
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy
4. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well
5. Add flour and baking soda to butter mixture, beating well
6. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips, and raisins
7. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet
8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes on until lightly browned
9. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack

Sweetspot Cookie Bars

It seems like it's time for a cookie break.

When I start pining for a chocolate chip cookie, this is the one I want. Which is lucky for me because it's an easy recipe, one that produces a slight sugar crust, which is basically an envelope for some pillowey, chocolate- and vanilla-laced half-inch-thick sweet spot chocolate-chip-cookie action. The recipe originally came from the America's Test Kitchen mavens (Melted butter? An egg and a yolk?); my only real modification is to press it into a 9x13 pan rather than roll them into balls.

I never thought I'd turn into this type of person, but what makes these cookies dangerously easy is a scale. You do have to do some math that requires adding fractions. Otherwise just dump the sugar and the flour directly into the mixing bowls, and your only dirty dishes will be a whisk, spatula, mixing bowl, a 1/2 t measuring spoon, and the dish you melt the butter in.

Sweetspot Cookie Bars

• 6 oz butter (12 T), melted and then cooled slightly
• 7 oz light brown sugar (1 cup)
• 3-1/2 oz sugar (1/2 cup)
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 2 t vanilla
• 10-5/8 oz flour (2 cups + 2 T)
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans or walnuts (optional!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the butter into the sugars, mixing well. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla, again mixing well. In separate bowl, combine the flour, soda, and salt, and then stir this mixture into the butter-sugar mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Press into a rectangular 13x9 Pyrex dish. Cook for 25-30 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown in the center. Allow to cool for at least a half hour before slicing into bars.

Easy Berry Pie

We've been thinking about this pie ever since trying it at a dinner party last summer. Aside from being impressed with the taste, we were blown away that someone actually made their own pie crust in a Brooklyn kitchen. And though, like many people, making a pie from scratch struck fear into our hearts -- the mess, the cracking, and oh, the lattice crust! -- we begged for the recipe.

And it's really freaking easy.

The dough didn't stick, the crust didn't tear, and the fruit stayed sweet and not-mushy. Perfection. This is our new every-time crust recipe, and we figure it would be easy to substitute four cups of any fruit you want -- we're thinking next time some seasonal strawberry rhubarb goodness might be in order.

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups blackberries
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup quartered strawberries

Wash and dry the fruit; toss it in the sugar and flour. Then, the crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup Crisco

Mix the flour and salt. Cut in Crisco (a potato masher works well) until the lumps are pea-sized. Move the dough over to the side, then add cold water one tablespoon at a time, moving the wet dough to the other side (mixing large and small lumps) until it's all moist. (About 10 tbsp; add flour if it's too damp.) Flour your hands; knead until it doesn't stick.



Form two balls, one bigger than the other. Roll out the larger ball for the bottom crust and place in pie pan. Roll the smaller one and cut into long strips. Then just layer them on top of each other, or feel free to weave them through to make the lattice extra perfect (the crust will probably hold up enough to do this without much trouble). Crimp the edges with a fork; trim the crust at the edge. Slide a few small corners of butter under the lattice.

Cut a circle in tinfoil and pinch it around the edges of the crust. Bake for 20 minutes at 375, then remove the foil and bake for 20-30 more until the edge is golden. Brush on some warm water.

Banana Bread, Martha Stewart Style

I recently made banana bread for the first time. In "long time listener, first time caller" fashion, I've loved banana bread for an eternity, but never ventured out to make my own until a few weeks ago. I decided I would have to do it right, therefore I looked up Martha Stewart's banana bread recipe. I figured she would not steer me wrong. Turns out she even has a secret ingredient. Following is Martha's easy recipe to make your own banana bread. I customized mine by adding cranberries as well, you can certainly get creative:

Ingredients

(Makes 1 loaf)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan (try this trick for softening butter quickly)
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• Optional: cranberries, blueberries, chocolate chips... you get the idea, it is customizable.
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Quinoa Bread

Quinoa is a “grain” that I haven’t experimented with a whole lot, largely because I don’t really like the flavor. But you don’t have to poke around for too long before people start extolling its nutritional virtues—namely its high protein content, but also other stuff.

This quick bread, from Deborah Madison’s tome Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, is my favorite (and only so far) way to use quinoa on a regular basis. It's great with breakfast. The method is really easy and basic in terms of quick breads—fold wet ingredients into dry; bake. It calls for quinoa flour, the price of which gave me a seizure at the supermarket, so I’ve always just ground quinoa up in a coffee grinder and not had any problems. To Madison’s recipe, I added 1/2 t cardamom, which I think is nice, but not necessary. This can be made in a regular loaf pan (though you want the smaller of the two—I think it’s a one-pound loaf—and even so it will end up being a shallow loaf because this doesn’t make a ton of batter), muffin tins, or mini-loaf pans, which is my personal favorite.

Also, how about all these photographs?!

Quinoa Bread

1 cup whole-wheat flour (or whole-wheat pastry flour, if you have it)
1 cup quinoa flour*
1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 t ground cardamom (or cinnamon, or a few gratings of nutmeg)
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
1-1/4 cups plain yogurt
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup cooked quinoa**

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine the dry ingredients—the flours, salt, baking soda, brown sugar, and cardamom. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients—the egg, butter, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir with a spatula until combined, then stir in the cooked quinoa.

Scoop the batter into greased and parchment-papered loaf pan(s) or muffin tins. Bake for 20-35 minutes, depending on pan size, until a toothpick comes out clean.

* Quinoa flour: make your own by grinding it in a spice grinder.
** Combine 1/2 cup dry quinoa with 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, and then simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, until the water is mostly absorbed. Drain excess water off before stirring into the batter.

Almond macaroons and Cherry Heering drinks

Never before have we memorized a recipe just by making it once, but without even trying we've committed these to memory, mostly because almost all the ingredients have the same measurements. It's great to have a super simple cookie/bar in your arsenal, and this one is so good that we immediately filed it away in our culinary memory bank. It's the first thing we've made from The Cake Club by Susie Quick, and we'll be returning to that book for more of her Southern specialties.

Macaroon seems kind of like a misnomer, since these don't have any coconut in them. But if you wanted to top them with some shredded coconut along with the almonds, it would probably be pretty great.

Almond Macaroons

¾ c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 ½ c sugar

2 large eggs (maybe because 1 1/2 eggs doesn't exist?)

1 ½ c flour

pinch of salt

1 tsp almond extract

½ c sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 10-inch skillet with foil, leaving a few inches over the sides to lift the cookies out. Combine everything but the almonds in a bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon. Spread the batter evenly on the bottom of the skillet. Scatter almonds over the top and sprinkle with about 2 tsp sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool in the skillet for 5 minutes, then remove and cut them into cookies. You could also use a biscuit cutter or heart cookie cutter to make these into nice shapes. They’ll be pretty soft, but thick enough to eat anyway. You could probably just make these in a baking pan, which would make it easier to cut them into squares.

Along with these, we tried a couple drinks with Cherry Heering, a cherry liquor that has a nice flavor, but won't take the paint off the walls (we're looking at you, Maraschino liquor).

The Cherry Cobbler: 4 parts gin, 1 tsp sugar, 1 part Cherry Heering, 1 part Chambord, 1 part lemon juice. Add soda and a slice of lemon if you like. This is a big drink but really the Chambord

combines with the Heering to give it a cough syrup texture (the technical term is mouthfeel but there’s no not-pervy way to say that).

For some more enjoyable mouthfeel (rim shot), check out The Hunter (2 parts Rye Whiskey and 1 part Cherry Heering), good for warming up after a long day of chasing big game, or The Hot Shot (juice of a ¼ lime, 2 parts light run, 1 part heering), a slightly tropical cocktail that still packs a punch. Drink it with a jet engine hot dog, perhaps?

Trail Mix Muffins and Sloe Gin

In preparation for a late-winter snowstorm (and we former scouts have learned to always be prepared), we holed ourselves up with some Trail Mix Muffins, a hike-worthy muffin variation from Baking Bites. It's a different flavor than some of the more ordinary muffins.

Trail Mix Muffins (yields 24)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats (plain oatmeal)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt
2 large eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups trail mix

*You can use any kind of trail mix you want, so we used a combination of three.  That means our muffins are full of peanuts, almonds, cashews, cranberries, raisins, golden raisins, chocolate chips, yogurt chips, and sunflower seeds.  It's a mouthful, but we like being inclusive.  Coconut would also be pretty delicious here.

Preheat oven to 400F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. 
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
 In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.  Pour into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Stir in trail mix.
 Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Each cup will be about 3/4 full.
 Bake for 15 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean.
 Cool on a wire rack.

These would be perfect to make for a quick breakfast treat, since we usually have most of these ingredients in our kitchens anyway.  They're extremely unique, with a different flavor in every bite, and we really like that.  Even the sunflower seeds don't get lost in the taste.  It's a little like eating bird food, and we mean that in the best way possible. 

If by some chance we can't finish all of these before they get stale, we're all set to turn them into muffin biscotti, also courtesy of Baking Bites.

(We meant to illustrate how the muffin explodes with Trail Mix flavor, but doesn't it just look like it threw up?)

While we were baking, outside the apartment the snow started falling for what we'd been warned would be New York's worst storm of the winter. Sloe Gin Fizzes may not seem apropos for a blizzard, but Shake would disagree. A few years ago, before the cocktail obsession, he waited out a storm at a Park Slope bar with a friend, drinking what the bartender had testified were "Sloe Gin Fizzes" -- a highball made of gin, Rose's Lime juice, and soda. They were good drinks (more like a Rickey) to have while contemplating the white streets outside, but nothing like a real Sloe Gin Fizz. Unlike regular gin, flavored with juniper and other herbs, sloe gin is a liqueur flavored with sloe (blackthorn) plums. With the snow coming down outside, it seemed like a good opportunity to correct that old error.  

We picked up a bottle of Plymouth Sloe Gin at the closing of the beloved Red Hook liquor store LeNell's. The first thing to try, of course, was the true Sloe Gin Fizz: combine 1 1/2 oz of sloe gin, 1 oz lemon juice, and 1 tsp sugar. Shake with ice and strain in a highball glass (or a mason jar, if you're classy). Fill with ice and soda. 

This goes down like a Jones Soda on a summer -- er, blustery March -- day.  Very light and sweet, it could almost be a brunch drink. The low alcohol content -- just 52 proof, not the usual 80+ of most spirits -- means you could be looking into a very long brunch.

The Sloe Gin Cocktail is just the opposite -- sweet and thick, with more of an alcoholic taste.  The taste isn't bad in and of itself, but the drink overall seems a bit like cough syrup.  If you've got a scratch in your throat and want to try it: 2 1/4 oz sloe gin, 1/4 oz dry vermouth, dash orange bitters, stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass.

Similar but better is the Tip Toe Cocktail, which is helped by a bit of lemon juice.  Mix 1 1/2 oz sloe gin, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, 1/2 oz lemon juice with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Ring Ring Ring: Banana Cake!

This banana cake is a birthday favorite, and we'll go as far as to say that it's the best banana cake we know of. In fact, after a different recipe yielded dense, banana bread-like layers, Bake's roommate was compelled to try this one to make up some baking karma (with Bake as an attentive sous-chef).

Check out his commentary (under the pseudonym Aunt Betty) and the recipe (from The Weekend Baker) below, plus a -- er, different -- take on the experience here.

I have to say, my friends and family just simply LOVE bananas! In fact, you could even say that they go BANANAS for them!! Now, I’ve always been somewhat of a banana purist myself. The thought of defiling a beautiful banana with any unnecessary additions seems like a sin against deliciousness. A banana split? I’ll take mine minus the split, thank you very much. So, as you can imagine, I was somewhat skeptical when one of my dearest girlfriends Martha told me I had to try banana cake. If it had been anyone other than her, I would have thanked them kindly, and then gone home and permanently removed them from my Christmas card list for ever suggesting such a culinary abortion. But this was Martha, and she has always had exquisite taste (she was the one, after all, that turned me onto Mary Higgins Clark) – so I thought I might as well give it a shot.

My first attempt at banana cake was a disaster, and I should have expected as much. It was doomed from the start, as I mistakenly decided to employ the use of Satan’s instrument – the internet. Now Pastor Mike has repeatedly reassured me that the internet is not only for the homosexuals and Presbyterians, so I have made it one of my New Years resolutions to start using it more (along with losing a couple pounds in my mid section and trying to stop giggling at church). I searched online for a recipe that looked appetizing, and found a seemingly good one on the Food Network website. The recipe was one of Paula Deen's, and though I firmly believe that if you can’t say something nice, you shouldn’t say anything at all – I have to say that this recipe was just the worst! I don’t know why I was surprised. That woman’s love of mayonnaise errs on the side of inappropriate. The cake was hard and chewy, and simply not bananany enough. After one bite, I threw the whole cake in the trash can. You should have seen the looks on my children’s faces. They really shouldn’t have been surprised though - I demand perfection from them as I do myself. Why, I would have done the same thing if they brought home a report card that was any less than straight A+’s – right in the trashcan it would go.

I immediately rang Martha, and in the nicest tone possible suggested that she was going straight to hell for wasting my time with such a terrible suggestion. Yearning to redeem herself, she said she would drop off the recipe she used post haste. One for forgiveness, I decided to give both Martha, and banana cake a second chance. The next morning, she dropped off a cookbook called “The Weekend Baker,” by Abigail Johnson Dodge. Although I found the pictures in the book to be garish and a bit flashy for my liking, Johnson Dodge’s anecdotes about her husband and children warmed me up. I found the book marked recipe and for banana cake, and banana cake – take two – was under way!!

The recipe was – well – a PIECE OF CAKE to follow!! And a lot of fun too! One fun suggestion Johnson Dodge recommends is using sour cream in her vanilla frosting instead of cream cheese to give it a tangy zing. And tangy it was! Well played Abigail! One little addition I would like to recommend is to thinly slicing a banana after frosting the cake, and use the slices to decorate the top. I put rings of banana in concentric circles on top, and it was just simply adorable. It’s the little things like this that make my husband love me.

In the end, I was glad I was strong-armed into making a banana cake. It was a huge hit – fluffy and moist and packed full of flavor. Martha sure may be on to something, and I look forward to defiling more healthy snacks by covering them with sugar and butter. Chocolate covered strawberries, here I come!!

Banana layer cake
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

16 tbsp butter, at room temperature

1 3/4 c sugar

3 medium, very ripe bananas, peeled

2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1/2 c buttermilk

3/4 c chopped, toasted walnuts (we didn't use these, but they're optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour two round cake pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth, then add the sugar and beat until combined. Add the bananas - no need to chop - and vanilla and beat until blended and only small bits of banana remain. Add the eggs two at a time, beating after each addition. Here is where the difference between blended and just blended seems important, probably to keep the cake from getting gluten-y: Add half the above flour mixture and mix until just blended. Add buttermilk and mix until blended, then add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Stir in those walnuts now, if you're so inclined.

Pour into pans evenly and bake about 30 min, until the tops are light brown. Let them cool in the pans on racks, then out of the pans on racks. Make your frosting (below)

Brush away loose crumbs from the layers and place one on a serving plate. Cover with about one cup of frosting, then place the other layer on top of it, flat/bottom side up. Make sure the sides are lined up and press down gently on the top. This makes it look much much better than that rounded mound of cake we all learned to frost as kids. If you do the presentation well here, it makes you think that you just might be able to start a job with Duff of Ace of Cakes.

Tangy vanilla frosting
16 tbsp butter, at room temperature

3 c confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 c sour cream

Beat the butter until smooth and creamy, then add the sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until very smooth and creamy. Add the sour cream and gently stir with a spatula until blended.

We used the vanilla frosting, but this fudgy frosting is especially fantastic, so we'll include this alternative too.

Fudgy frosting
6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 1/3 c sugar

1 c evaporated milk

6 tbsp butter, cut into 2 pieces

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Meanwhile, combine everything else in a blender. When the chocolate is melted, remove it from heat, stir, and scrape into the blender Blend until the mixture is very thick (not pourable), about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool, then frost the cake as above.

Oscar cookies

We scoured cookbooks for days trying to find a nice, elegant-looking cookie appropriate for an Oscar party. The fare in The Art of the Dessert was too intense for a night of watching TV; the morsels in our easy cookie book, too simple. So we took it upon ourselves to combine two elements from our old standby, The Weekend Baker. The cookies are an easy standalone recipe and the glaze is from the Chocolate-Dipped Macadamia Brittle therein (but that's another post). The result is a cookie that takes no time at all and tastes as nice as it looks.

Toasted Almond Cookies
12 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1/2 c sugar
pinch of salt
1 yolk from a large egg
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and toast the almonds -- spread them in 1 layer on a baking sheet and bake until fragrant and just turning brown, around 8 min. Be careful, because they'll keep toasting even when you remove them. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and salt on medium until well blended. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until combined. Pour in the flour and almonds and beat on low until the dough clumps together and looks like, well, dough.

3. Spoon these in little balls onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Press down with your fingers to flatten them a bit and bake one sheet at a time, about 17 minutes (until the edges are golden and the tops are dry). Place the sheet on a rack and let them cool for about 10 minutes.


Chocolate Glaze
3 oz semi-sweet baker's chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp butter
(if you want them really chocolatey, up each of these to four)

1. Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler (aka, a metal bowl on top of a pot of boiling water) or the microwave, if you're feeling less fancy. Microwave for about 15 seconds at a time and then stir so the chocolate doesn't burn. You'll only need to do this for about 30 seconds.

2. Dip half of a cookie into the chocolate and place on wax paper or parchment. Let these set -- they'll go faster and be less likely to melt if you put them in the fridge. Sift some powdered sugar on top for a finished look.

Drink-wise, we wanted to try some variation on the Champagne Cocktail. Champagne seems like the obvious choice for an Oscars party, but when you're tightening your budget and opting for $5 bottles of Andre you need to add something extra to spruce up the drink. We opted for the Chicago Cocktail --well, something like it. We skipped the Angostura bitters and didn't have any orange bitters on hand, which would have been perfect. Instead we measured 2 parts cognac to 1 part orange curacao, added champagne. and called it a night.

And by "called it a night" we mean "Who won Best Picture again?"

Bleeding Heart Cupcakes

Posting this recipe was a bit of a debate. On one hand, they're a little too sweet and Yumsugar omitted the baking time (though we've added it below). On the other, they still taste pretty good, and are fun for Valentine's Day.

The cake itself is good and not too sweet, but stuffing it with jelly and topping it all off with frosting makes it go from 0 to 60 in about 30 seconds. Eating more than one might induce diabetic shock, but moderation is key, and at least they look cool - especially if you can fashion the anatomical topping on this post. We suggest a cream cheese or mascarpone frosting to cut some of the sweetness that comes with the jelly, but we've included the original buttercream recipe below.

White Cupcakes
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

20 glass marbles or small balls of tinfoil
2 to 3 cups strawberry jelly or smooth strawberry jam

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.


2. In a separate, larger bowl, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until light and fluffy.


3. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat well after each addition.


4. In a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla.


5. To the butter mixture, add about one quarter of the flour mixture and mix well. Add about one quarter of the milk mixture and mix well. Continue alternating the flour mixture and milk mixture, beating after each addition until smooth.


6. Line cupcake tins with paper liners. Fill the liners two-thirds full with the batter. Place 1 marble or tinfoil ball between each liner and the tin. This will make a dent in your cupcake when it bakes to make it heart shaped.


7. Bake about 20-25 minutes at 350. If you are using marbles, be careful when removing the cupcakes from the tins because the marbles will be very hot.


8. When the cake is cool, with a small paring knife, cut out a circle about the size of a dime in the center of each cupcake, going about two thirds of the way in. Pull the little plug of cake out. Cut off the top of this piece (about 1/2 inch thick) and eat the bottom. Use a teaspoon or a squeeze bottle to fill the hole partway with the strawberry jelly "blood." Put the little cake plug back in. Continue with the rest of the hearts.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.


2. Add the powdered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.


3. Put one-third of the frosting into two separate bowls. Color one bowl of frosting with the red food coloring. Tint the other bowl of the frosting blue. Tint the remaining two-thirds pink.


4. Frost the cupcakes with the pink frosting. Make it super smooth by dipping a butter or frosting/palette knife in a bowl of hot water and smoothing it over the top. With a pastry bag or a knife, use the red and blue frosting to make veins on the hearts (as you'll see below, we skipped these steps).

Carrot Cake Alternatives

Since today is National Carrot Cake Day, you might expect us to post a classic recipe of the vegetable-infused baked good. But here at mad tasty (and Shake and Bake HQ), we don't succumb to the expected. So while the crumbly sweetness of carrot cake is all well and good, we want to introduce a few alternatives with which to celebrate the day. Who knows, maybe these will have their own holidays soon!

Hummingbird cake is apparently a Southern recipe and makes are one of our all-time favorites cupcakes, perfect if you're looking for a chocolate-free dessert. We've seen a bunch of recipes (Martha even has one, video included) and each is just a bit different. Some add coconut (which we think is a good addition to any cake), some call for pecans or walnuts (though we opted for toasted almonds), and the recipe is so simple that you can probably just wing it. We went with the one from Cupcake Bakeshop today, since it uses oil instead of butter and because we miss this blog being active.


Hummingbird Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1 8oz can crushed pineapple, with liquid
2 mashed bananas (the browner the better, though ours are lacking in ripeness)
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted


1. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt with a whisk in a good sized bowl.
2. Beat eggs.
3. Add oil and vanilla to beaten eggs and mix until somewhat combined.
4. Add egg/oil/vanilla mixture to flour/sugar/baking soda/cinnamon/salt mixture.
5. Mix together pineapple, bananas, pecans until combined.
6. Add to the rest of ingredients and stir to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for ~25 minutes until golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Top with cream cheese frosting (recipe below).




The almonds add an interesting little crunch though, to be honest, we think these were better last time when we made them with pecans - especially if you toast those babies for a few seconds before tossing them in your batter. Toasting isn't necessary, but it really makes the nutty flavor pop, and is helpful in adding more flavor to your cookies. But we digress...


Cream Cheese Frosting (for 12 cupcakes, but it's much easier to double and use for two dozen)

4 tablespoons softened butter
4 oz softened cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar (note: for a frosting that's not as sweet, you can stick with 2 cups sugar even if you double the recipe)
½ tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add 2 cups confectioners sugar and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Beat until light and fluffy.


We like this recipe for cream cheese frosting because it uses less cream cheese and butter to make the same amount of frosting. Maybe it's a scientific miracle, but we think if you combine almost any amount cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla you'll get a passable frosting.

For those who really want veggies in their sweets, consider Zucchini cupcakes. We don't know where this recipe came from, but not to worry - it's tried and true.

Zucchini cupcakes (yields 12)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 zucchini (grated/shredded)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with paper or foil liners. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in nuts.

In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vaninlla. Add to flour mixture and mix until combined. Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Cool and add cream cheese frosting (frosted cupcakes are best eaten within one day, but honestly, why would you wait?).

Gin and Tonic cupcakes

What better food to bring to a cocktail party than a snack that's based on a cocktail? Combining alcohol and baked goods is right up our alley, so we decided on these Gin & Tonic cupcakes from Yumsugar for a cocktail party we attended.


INGREDIENTS
Cake:
2 medium egg whites
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoons tonic water

*This recipe makes 12 cupcakes, but we doubled it and made them mini for the purpose of this cocktail party snack.

Frosting:
1/2 cup mascarpone
1 tablespoon gin
2 tablespoons corn syrup
Green food coloring
Lime slices covered in sugar or lime jelly candies, for garnish

*We added one more tablespoon of corn syrup and a couple teaspoons of Rose's lime juice to make this sweeter, but beware - it changes the consistency of the frosting.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325° Fahrenheit.

With an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites in a large bowl with salt and cream of tartar until they are risen, like a soft merengue. Now beat in the sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, sprinkling it over the egg whites and beating about 20 seconds with each addition. Fold the sifted flour into the meringue in three stages, and then stir in the tonic water.

Arrange muffin paper baking cups inside a muffin tin and fill two thirds full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden on the surface and still springy to the touch. We figured out that when these are really golden brown they're more chewy than cakey, so try not to overbake. Remove and let cool.


Spoon mascarpone into a bowl and beat in the gin and then the syrup and tint it the palest green with a little food coloring. This ended up tasting cheesy and not very sweet, so we added some more corn syrup and some Rose's lime juice. Unfortunately, the exra liquid and over-mixing made the frosting less creamy and separate a bit, so it tasted better, but looked a little off. If anyone has a solution to this, please let us know. Anyway, frost and top with a lime slice or candy.


These cupcakes are light and soft, a lot like angel food cake. They don't taste much like tonic, but the lightness kind of gives the illusion of a mixer.

Now, it's no secret on this blog that Bake hates gin. Luckily, this frosting is creamy and just a little sweet, so it's the perfect way for her to work her way up to actually imbibing the juniper liquor.

Parmesan and Black Pepper Biscotti

We've been thinking of making biscotti for a while now, but never got around to it as part of our holiday gifts. But a three-day weekend is the perfect time to craft a cookie that you have to bake twice (though these actually don't take that long). In looking for a classic, sweet variety of biscotti, we came across this interesting savory recipe on yumsugar.com (via Gourmet).


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, ground
• *if you, like us, aren't blessed with the room to hold a spice grinder, just go with 1 1/4 tbs black pepper
  
• 4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (2 1/4 cups)
• *we ran out of parmesan, so we used Pecorino to make up the difference (a bit more than 1/4 cup)
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk

Directions

1. Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Pulse peppercorns in grinder until coarsely ground.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 cups cheese, and 1 tablespoon ground black pepper in a large bowl.
4. Blend in butter with a pastry blender (if you don't own one of these either, do what we did and use your fingertips) until mixture resembles coarse meal.
5. Whisk 3 eggs with milk and add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms.
6. Divide dough into four pieces. On a floured surface with well-floured hands, form each piece into a slightly flattened 12-inch-long log (about 2 inches wide and 3/4 inch high). Transfer logs to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging logs about 3 inches apart.
7. Whisk remaining egg and brush some over logs, then sprinkle tops of logs evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and 1/2 tablespoon ground pepper.
   
   
8. Bake, rotating sheets 180 degrees and switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until logs are pale golden and firm, about 30 minutes total.
9. Cool logs to warm on sheets on a rack, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.
10. Carefully transfer 1 warm log to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut sides down, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining logs, transferring slices to sheets.
11. Bake, turning over once, until golden and crisp, 35 to 45 minutes total. Cool biscotti on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes.

It's hard to imagine from just four logs, but this recipe makes a ton of biscotti -- 5-6 dozen or so. And you'll be glad you have that many, because these are delicious. The Pecorino we added made these taste pretty strong, but in a really good way. They're not a very hard biscotti, just firm and crumbly, but that means you don't really have to dip them in anything. HOWEVER, these would be really good dipped in pasta sauce. Hmm...