Daring Bakers Challenge: Doughnuts

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious. I chose the Yeast Doughnut recipe from Alton Brown. This was my first experience making doughnuts and I have to say it was easier than I anticipated. The result was a light, tender doughnut which I filled with custard and dipped in chocolate ganache. The only thing is these really must be eaten immediately, or at least the same day.

Yeast Doughnuts
adapted from Alton Brown
Yield: 20 to 25 doughnuts; 20 to 25 doughnut holes, depending on size

• Milk 1.5 cup / 360 ml
• Vegetable Shortening 1/3 cup / 80 ml / 70 gm / 2.5 oz (can substitute butter, margarine or lard)
• Active Dry Yeast 4.5 teaspoon (2 pkgs.) / 22.5 ml / 14 gm / ½ oz
• Warm Water 1/3 cup / 80 ml (95°F to 105°F / 35°C to 41°C)
• Eggs, Large, beaten 2
• White Granulated Sugar ¼ cup / 60 ml / 55 gm / 2 oz
• Table Salt 1.5 teaspoon / 7.5 ml / 9 gm / 1/3 oz
• Nutmeg, grated 1 tsp. / 5 ml / 6 gm / ¼ oz
• All Purpose Flour 4 2/3 cup / 1,120 ml / 650 gm / 23 oz + extra for dusting surface
• Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)

Directions:

1. Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)
2. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
4. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
5. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
6. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
7. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
9. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C.
11. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).
12. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.

Vanilla Custard
adapted from Gourmet March 2005
Makes about 4 cups

• 3 cups whole milk
• 8 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat milk in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not boiling.

While milk heats, whisk together yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heatproof bowl until smooth.

Add 1 cup hot milk to yolk mixture in a stream, whisking, then add remaining milk, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and registers 170°F on thermometer, 6 to 10 minutes (do not boil).

Immediately force custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in butter and vanilla. Chill custard, its surface covered with wax paper, until cold and thickened, at least 3 hours. 

Chocolate Ganache

adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle
Makes 1 1/3 cups

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and process just until finely ground. (Leave chocolate in the processor.)
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate to the pan. Stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the glaze to a small bowl. Cover the surface of the glaze with a piece of plastic wrap and let cool for about 10 minutes before using.

SCD Challenge: Whoopie Pies

I love baking for this blog but it often leaves me with a LOT of leftovers. Since I have a deep-seeded problem with throwing away food I've become quite a food pusher over the last few months. I figure if I give it away one of two things could happen both of which are positive for me: 1– the recipient enjoys the baked goods and thinks I'm a thoughtful, generous person (usually I have the right motives, sometimes I'm just trying to unload the most recent batch of baked goods I made WAY too much of) or 2– the recipient lets it sit around for a few days then throws it away vowing to lie through their teeth the next time they see me about how wonderful the cupcakes/cake/cookies etc were (thus saving me the calories and relieving me of the dreaded duty of throwing them away myself). Obviously I prefer the former scenario but what I don't know won't hurt me so I keep pushing the baked goods on family and friends.

One of the quickest routes to the first scenario is bringing my baked goods to work. My office is very large with a wide open arrangement so it isn't usually hard to give them away even if they go to some random passer-byes who I don't know.

Unfortunately, one person on my team has never been able to partake over the course of the last three years I've been working with her. Joanna–this challenge is for you!!! As a lifelong Crohn's Disease sufferer, she's spent the last three years on a strict diet that is VERY slowly helping her called the SCD diet (specific carbohydrate diet). I've admired her dedication, at first eating only purees of very specific single ingredients, and gradually moving on to a gluten-free, sugar-free, mostly fun-free diet you can read about here. The diet is also often used with great success by parents of children struggling with Autism. You can read about the SCD diet and Autism here.

This recipe is made using blanched almond flour which can be bought here. As you can imagine, being made with ground up nuts makes for a very rich, moist end result. These were delicious and we all agreed they were a good substitution for the classic Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies we remember eating in our school lunches. These were a special treat for Joanna who raved about them and a joy for me to make and eat too.

 

Spiced Whoopie Pies

• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger (dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Blend all the dry ingredients together, and then add all the wet ingredients and blend well.
On baking sheets covered with parchment paper or a baking mat (such as Silpat), place heaping tablespoons (about 2 measured tablespoons) about 3 inches apart in circles, across the sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely–at least 15 minutes–before sliding them off the pan with a spatula.
Take one pie and spread frosting on it. Place another pie on top of the frosting. Serve.

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

• 1/2 cup shortening (I used Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend all the ingredients together.

Spead, serve and store leftovers sealed at room temperature.

Cupcake contest

As I strolled around the room casually sizing up the competition I was genuinely impressed with the depth and complexity of the cupcakes represented. This was my first experience baking competitively and I must say I learned a lot. It was the Cupcake Camp Columbus cupcake baking competition held at North Market in downtown Columbus. The category I chose to enter was "Best North Market Inspired." The North Market is a local landmark that is basically an indoor collection of ethnic restaurants, dessert and sandwich shops, organic farmers market fare, and seafood shops. It's also the original location of the hometown favorite-turned-national-success story Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. Jeni's has capitalized on using ingredients from local, sustainable farms to create ice cream flavors that are imaginative and so not your everyday vanilla ice cream. So I chose to make a cupcake inspired by one of Jeni's signature flavors, Salty Caramel. It's a chocolate cupcake filled with Salty Caramel with a Salty Caramel frosting lightly sprinkled with Vanilla Sea Salt.

I was proud of the result and came away from the competition with a belly full of many interesting cupcake flavors (including bacon!) and some important lessons learned. I didn't win but I don't feel it was for lack of a tasty cupcake or that the competition was necessarily better tasting than mine. See I overlooked (i.e. ignored) that it was strongly recommended to make mini cupcakes. Because mine were full sized I was told to cut each in fourths. What resulted was a gooey unappealing presentation that was inconvenient to pick up and messy to eat. Being the competitive person I am, I've spent countless hours analyzing what went wrong and this is the reason that is allowing me to sleep at night. I can't imagine that a dry Thai Chili cupcake that I almost needed to spit out it was so gross won (runner up) over my gooey moist perfectly balanced salty and sweet cupcakes. The first place winner in my category was a cupcake called "Berry Stoutstanding" which was a chocolate cupcake made with chocolate stout garnished with a berry compote of sorts and topped with some poured chocolate ganache. It was good but not great and as is a common pitfall of mini cupcakes, the texture was quite dry.

I do plan to try again with the same competition when it's held again in the spring. This time I plan to win with mini cupcakes using some sort of over-the-top edible decoration and crazy weird flavor combo (clearly the judges don't appreciate the subtlety of perfectly balanced salty and sweet flavors=bitter much? :) Lest I continue re-hashing this to death, here is the recipe. As I stated before, it is very good and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I dare say it's the best cupcake I've ever made.

For the cupcakes
Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle
Makes about 24 regular sized cupcakes

• 2 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2/3 cup safflower oil
• 1 1/4 cup ice-cold water

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

Sift together the four, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bow. Whisk to combine, and set aside.

In another medium bow, whisk together the eggs until blended. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla extract until blended. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix the melted butter and oil together at low speed. Add the cold water and mix to blend. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix at medium-low speed for 1 minute. Add the egg mixture and mix for another minute, until well blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, filling each cup 2/3 full.

Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Salted Caramel 
via Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt, kosher or sea

1. Combine the water, sugar, and the corn syrup in a deep saucepan and cook over medium heat.
2. Stir together with a wooden spoon until the sugar is incorporated.
3. Cover the saucepan and let it cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
4. After 3 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
5. Do not stir from this point on, but it is important to carefully shake the pan so that one area of the caramel doesn’t burn.
6. Continue to cook until the caramel turns an even amber color then remove from the heat and let stand for about 30 seconds.
7. *** This is the dangerous part *** Pour the heavy cream into the mixture. Wear oven mitts, stand away from the pan, and be careful. The mixture will bubble up significantly.
8. Stir the mixture, again being careful. Add the butter, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until combined.
9. Measure 1 cup into a Pyrex measuring cup. Stirring occasionally, allow to cool until thick like molasses and warm to the touch, about 20 minutes.
10. Reserve any additional caramel (after the 1 cup) for filling the cupcakes

Salted Caramel Frosting
via Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit
makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes

• 2 sticks butter
• 8 ounces or 1 package of Philly cream cheese
• 5 to 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup salted caramel

1. Bring butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours.
2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
3. Sift 3 cups of powdered sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine.
4. Add 1 cup of the salted caramel and beat to combine.
5. Sift 2-3 cups of powder sugar, in 1 cup increments and beating between each, until you arrive at the thickness and sweetness you desire. I used 6 cups. The frosting wasn’t super thick, but it was starting to get pretty sweet.

Assembly
1. Using a pastry bag loaded with leftover caramel equipped with a small pastry tip (3ish), insert tip into top of cupcake in several places and fill cupcake.
2. Frost cupcakes with a generous amount of frosting.
2. Lightly sprinkle each cupcake with vanilla sea salt (which can be bought or made combining sea salt and the seeds from a vanilla bean).

Daring Bakers Challenge: Decorated Sugar Cookies

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking. I'm posting this pretty late but hey, I finished didn't I? ;)

Part of the challenge for September was to decorate the cookies with a September theme–whatever September means to you. As you can see, September brings to mind football. Mainly because it's the time of year I say goodbye to my husband until about mid February. Not literally, but sometimes Saturday, definitely all Sundays, Monday evenings, and sometimes Thursday evenings he spends glued to the tube watching whatever team is playing. Of course I join him when the Steelers play and cheer them on faithfully as I've been doing since my husband and I started dating. It was a prerequisite that I become a Steeler fan and I must admit I've enjoyed watching the last eight seasons. Many people ask if I just became a fan because of my husband. I usually answer yes but after eight seasons, I think I deserve to considered a fan in my own right :)

This was my first experience decorating with royal icing and while it takes some patience, I found it to be much more forgiving than I expected. It's all about the prep work–at one point my husband told me I looked like a mad scientist as I was mixing little containers of different colors/consistencies of royal icing. The recipe for sugar cookies is a good one–very buttery with a great texture.

 

Basic Sugar Cookies

adapted from Peggy Porschen

Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

• 200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

• 400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour

• 200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar

• 1 Large Egg, lightly beaten

• 5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour. Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
Leave to cool on cooling racks.
Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing
adapted from The Joy of Baking

• 315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ - 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted

• 2 Large Egg Whites

• 10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice

• 5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Directions
Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
Beat on low until combined and smooth.
Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Food Day

As I reflect on my high school Spanish class, I can't help but remember food days. Did anyone else get the privilege of experiencing the wonder that is food day? Even during the semesters I didn't have Spanish, one could always sniff out a food day, usually for several days after the fact. Please don't get me wrong, it's not that Spanish food is unpleasant smelling, it's that when you ask 20+ high school Spanish students to each bring in a dish to share, the mingling of aromas in a small classroom tends to last...quite awhile.

Although the requirements clearly stated the dish was to be homemade, by the student, you invariably had your slackers that to went to Taco Bell and put some unwrapped bean burritos in a covered dish hoping to pull a fast one on the Profesora. Then there were the kids that made Mexican wedding cookies for every food day all year for three years. Although now I love an excuse to make a food item to share, I have to admit that back in high school between volleyball games, movies and homework, I usually convinced my mom to, ahem, "help" me make a dish for food day. This recipe hopefully atones for some of my Spanish food day slacking. It's not a Spanish recipe but it is from the Spanish-speaking country of Argentina. I assure you this cookie is worthy of an A+–both for taste and effort.

 

Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies)

adapted from Leite's Culinaria March 22, 2006

For the dulce de leche

• Two 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons light rum
• Pinch kosher salt

For the cookies

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large egg yolks

For the chocolate glaze

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, at least 70% cacao, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup

For the toasted coconut
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut, finely chopped and toasted in a 375°F (190°C) oven on a baking sheet until golden, about 8 to 10 minutes

Make the dulce de leche:
1. Peel off the labels from the cans of sweetened condensed milk and open them using a can opener (the type that pierces a hole used to pour the contents out of). Place the cans in a three-quart sauce pan and fill the pan with hot tap water, leaving 1/2 inch of can above the waterline. Cover the sauce pan with a lid. Over high heat bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 3 hours. A little milk may spill into the water; don’t worry. What’s important is to maintain the water level by replacing it with hot tap water. The dulce de leche will look like a deep golden brown pudding.
2. Carefully remove the cans from the pot and, when cool enough to handle, pour the dulce de leche into a mixing bowl. Add the vanilla, rum, and salt and mix until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using. (It re-thickens as it chills.) Keeps for 2 weeks.
Make the cookies:
1. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the sugar for about 15 seconds to a fine powder. Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt and run the motor for 15 seconds until well incorporated.
2. Evenly scatter the cream cheese and butter cubes over the flour mixture, breaking up any pieces that have clumped together. Combine the dough with 15 one-second on/off pulses until the flour looks like coarse meal.
3. In a small bowl beat the vanilla and the yolks. Pour them over the flour. Pulse with 10 one-second on/off turns, scrape down the sides, then process with the motor continuously running for about ten more seconds until the dough barely starts to come together and clings to the outer portion of the bowl, leaving the center clear. The dough will be dry and crumbly.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and push it together with your hands to form a ball. Do not knead. Divide the dough into thirds, pat each into a flat 5-inch disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Take one disk out of the refrigerator and roll it out between two sheets of lightly floured waxed paper to a long oval shape 1/8 inch thick. If the dough sticks to the paper and is difficult to roll out, remove the waxed paper from one side, lightly flour the dough, replace the waxed paper, flip over, lightly flour the other side, then continue rolling. Roll out the other disks in the same manner. Place the dough ovals in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, or in the freezer for three months.
6. When you are ready to bake the alfajores, position the racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven and heat to 375°F (190°C). For best results, line ungreased baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Take one sheet of dough out of the refrigerator at a time, remove the waxed paper from one side of the dough, lightly flour it, and replace the waxed paper. Flip it over, peel off the other sheet, and cut the dough into as many 2-inch rounds as possible, reserving the scraps. Place the cookies on the baking sheets about 1/2 inch apart. Continue with the remaining dough in the same manner. Combine all the scraps once and repeat the same steps for rolling, cutting, and baking.
8. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking time from front to back and top to bottom until the cookies have a golden edge and bottom. Let the cookies rest for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then cool on wire racks. The cookies can be stored in an airtight plastic container at room temperature for 2 days or in the freezer for 3 months.
Make the chocolate glaze:
1. In a microwave melt the butter in a 1-quart bowl on high power for about 1 minute.
2. Remove from the microwave and add the chocolate and corn syrup. Let stand for 1 minute; the heat from the butter should melt the chocolate. Then, stir until melted. If necessary, microwave on medium power for 20-second intervals.
Assemble the Alfajores:
1. Line the baking sheets with waxed paper and place wire racks on the paper. Place half the cookies on the racks. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of dulce de leche onto the center of each cookie. Top with another cookie and press until secure and the filling is evenly distributed.
2. Place an alfajor on a fork with long tines and hold it over the chocolate. Spoon a thin coating of the glaze over the cookie’s top and sides. (The bottom of the cookie does not get coated with chocolate.) With the cookie still on it, gently tap the fork on the bowl rim several times and then pull it across the bowl rim so any excess chocolate drips back into the bowl. Place the coated alfajor on the rack. Repeat with the remaining cookies, making sure they don’t touch each other. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour until firm.
3. Place the toasted coconut in a shallow bowl. Set one cookie at a time on the coconut and press coconut only onto the cookie’s sides, edging it with coconut and sealing in the dulce de leche. Be careful not to get fingerprints on the chocolate top. Alfajores keep in the refrigerator for 3 days or the freezer for 3 months.

Ahhhh, Fall

I thought this would be fancy. I loved the idea of a traditionally savory herb utilized in a dessert. Inspired by impending fall breezes, I was in the mood for pears. I had a vanilla bean at the ready in the pantry. I thought I'd use the recipe for pound cake my Mom used to make that was oh so moist and rich vanilla-y. This was the dessert with everything going for it–until I actually made it. I overbaked the pound cake and my pears weren't ripe enough. On top of that, my husband refuses to eat anything that "tastes like a Christmas tree."

So here it is for what it's worth. It didn't take a half bad photo and I'm sure it would have turned out alright had I used ripe pears and not overbaked the pound cake. I'm already thinking of how I can use the pound cake in some sort of bread pudding. More to come...

Sour Cream Pound Cake
adapted from Cooking Light April 2002

• 3  cups  sugar
• 3/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1 1/3  cups  egg substitute
• 1 1/2  cups  low-fat sour cream
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 4 1/2  cups  sifted cake flour
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
• Cooking spray
• Fresh blackberries (optional)
• Mint sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 325°.
Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Gradually add egg substitute, beating well.
Combine sour cream and baking soda. Stir well, and set aside. Lightly spoon cake flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and salt. Add flour mixture and sour cream mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla.
Pour batter into a 10-inch tube pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Poached Pears 
adapted from Bon Appétit November 2006

• 3 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup dry or off-dry Riesling
• 3 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 8 Forelle pears or other small pears, peeled, stems left intact

Combine first 6 ingredients in large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add pears and bring syrup to boil, turning pears occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until pears are tender, about 20 minutes. Chill pears uncovered in syrup until cold, at least 3 hours.

Rosmary Syrup and Candied Rosmary

adapted from Bon Appétit November 2006  

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 (4-inch-long) fresh rosemary sprigs

• Baker's sugar or other superfine sugar

Bring 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add rosemary sprigs. Simmer until syrup reduces slightly, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer rosemary sprigs to rack and drain. Cover and reserve rosemary syrup.

Pour baker's sugar into shallow bowl. Add drained rosemary sprigs to sugar, 1 at a time, turning to coat thickly. Place on paper towels. Dry at least 1 hour.

Voila!

I'm Italian by marriage. My husband's family are dyed in the wool second generation talk-with-your-hands Italians. Coming from a fairly conservative family who has always valued peace over sharing exactly what's on your mind, those first few visits to meet my future in-laws were interesting to say the least. Eight years later, I've heard every conceivable embarrassing story about my husband (and shared a few about myself), been witness to a couple million shouting matches (which are really only meant to pass the time and have fun interacting with one another), and been forced to eat a lot of good food (and "no thanks" is not an acceptable answer no matter how full you are).

With all that in mind, Italian food is something that I greatly admire but step lightly with myself–something about my mother-in-law critiquing my aunt-in-law's wedding soup made me not want to even try to recreate anything classically Italian which would surely not measure up to what Nunny used to make. I prefer to side-step the classics by re-inventing them in some way.

This recipe for Tiramisu Cupcakes is really a mishmash of recipes that seemed like they would fit together well. Overall I was pleased with the result but I did make one mistake: the Mascarpone really needs to be room temperature when you use it to make the frosting. I didn't affect the taste in any way but did have a negative impact on the texture of the frosting.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Basic Golden Cupcakes
adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

• 3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Add cupcake cups to two muffin pans.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a mefium bow. Whisk to combine, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat at hight speed until light, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract. If you have a splatter shield for your mixer, attach it now (the milk tens to splash). Add the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating it with the milk in two additions and mixing just until the flour is incorporated. Scrape the batter into muffin cups, filling up 2/3 of the cup.

Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Espresso Soaking Syrup

• 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons hot espresso
• 3 oz. Kahlua
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Combine all and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Mascarpone Cream Frosting
adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

• 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone cheese and then beat in the honey. Spread the frosting over the muffins.

 

 To Assemble  

1. Cut out a cone from the top of each cupcake.

2. Fill each cavity with 2 teaspoons soaking syrup.

3. Replace each top. 

4. Ice the cupcakes, covering up any imperfections left over from filling the cupcakes. 

5. Garnish with a dusting of unsweetened cocoa powder.