Cakes I Have Known 7

These cupcakes were for a 9th birthday party. The vegetable idea came from the first Hello Cupcake book and were surprisingly easy to shape. The peas are salt water taffy and mini M&Ms. I used salt water taffy because I couldn't find the green Starbursts recommended but I wouldn't use them again - they don't hold their shape as well. The carrots, in contrast, were made from Starbursts and they held their shape even in the intense summer heat. The mushrooms are made out of fondant. I used Martha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream. It's a little fussier than my usual icings, but I would use it again, particularly for a cake where taste matters.
Here is a shot of an assortment of cupcakes. The LEGO heads, bricks, the flowers, bananas and mushrooms are all fondant. I used edible food writers for the details.

And I Like Ice Cream Sandwiches Too

And I like fish sticks, but I love you.

Oops, wrong part of the song. Sorry.

I've been going mad here making ice cream sandwiches now that the weather has finally decided to act somewhat summery. I have remembered once again that unless it is incredibly, unbearably, drippingly hot I don't actually like ice cream. Not that that matters, though, because every single other person in this house adores ice cream. And there is, I admit, a certain pleasure to be gained in watching someone eat something I've made with enormous gustatory devotion.

FDPG and I trolled through Martha Stewart's ice cream offerings last week for some inspiration. As usual they are all staged to perfection. I'm one of those people who deeply admires MS (in case you hadn't noticed). Sure, she features items that look impossibly difficult to make, but she's challenging. Anyone can bake but only Martha (and perhaps Bakerella) can make it distinctive. Me, I love distinctive. Not enough of us strive for culinary distinction, if you ask me. And really, it's mostly smoke and mirrors. Go on, check out those ice cream ideas from Martha: a little coloured sugar, some fancy cake tins, and a little dramatic lighting and you too can have adorable coral-coloured fishie madeleines.
Anyhow, I noticed (I might even have gasped a little) that Martha was using purchased ice cream. She hadn't lovingly churned it in her imported-from-Italy made-especially-for-her-by-Ladurée-or-someone-like-that ice cream maker (you know, the one that only uses imported French rock salt from the deepest cracks in the Pyrenees)! After I recovered from that little shock and considered how hot it would make my kitchen to bake cookies for ice cream sandwiches, I thought "Heck, if Martha can use purchased ice cream I can use purchased cookies."

So I did.

I bought a package of oatmeal cookies. Biggish ones. I even squeezed the packet a bit to make sure they were not the hard-as-nails variety, because I figured those would shatter when frozen. I also bought some vanilla ice cream. We've bought a lot of vanilla ice creams around these parts (two summers ago we got a teeny bit obsessive about making ice cream cakes) and in our opinion the best are not the tiny-horribly-expensive-promise-you-the-world premium vanillas but the big round pails they sell at big no name stores. They taste like the ice milk they sell at Dairy Queen, an ice cream even I like.

So, you've got your cookie. You've got your ice cream. The idea is this: you let your ice cream soften a bit, then you scoop out some with a big round spoon, keeping the scoop rounded. Plop it on one cookie, then top with another cookie, pressing gently. Tip: I lined my cookies up before doing this.

I made them in batches of six at a time, because our ice cream was of the Fast Melting variety. You need to have a really cold freezer (which in my case was not the fridge freezer) so they harden without oozing out of their little cookie prison.

After that I melted some chocolate chips and plopped a bit spoonful on the frozen cookie sandwich. Smooth it out towards the edges and place in freezer until firm. If you were feeling so inclined you could even sprinkle something on top of the melted chocolate.

Eat.

By the way, I've used Hob Nobs, Digestives, and regular bargain brand oatmeal cookies and they've all been received enthusiastically, but if you want to make your own chocolate cookies or something along those lines check out the Martha link because she has recipes.

Cucumber Relish

I only made this because someone had given me a bucket of old-ish cucumbers and they looked too ugly to do anything else with them. Well, that and the fact that I am always looking for an opportunity to avoid anything containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and summer dinner condiments are filled with HFCS: relish, ketchup, mustard, etc. So I made this, expecting a ho-hum result mostly because of the state of the cucumbers, but was quite impressed to find that it was a seriously good relish. So good I now have 12 cucumber plants in the garden so I can make more of this stuff...

7 c prepared cucumbers (peeled and chopped)

4 c chopped green peppers

4 c chopped red peppers

2 c chopped celery

1 c chopped onion

1/2 c pickling salt

2 & 1/4 c sugar

3 c white vinegar

4 Tbsp each: celery seeds and mustard seeds

Combine cucumbers, peppers, celery, onions and pickling salt in a large glass or stainless bowl. Cover and leave 4 hours. Rinse vegetables well. Press out excess moisture. Combine sugar, vinegar, and spices in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add vegetables and bring back to boil, then boil for 10 minutes.

Can as per usual. Makes 7 pints.

Peach Pie Filling

I got this from the Bernardin site a couple of years ago. For something that looks rather pedestrian in print, this peach pie filling is astoundingly fragrant and delicious. All three of my kids have exclaimed out loud when I serve it. Usually what I've done is make turnovers with it, using puff pastry. It's also nice over yogurt or ice cream. The original recipe includes a cup of golden raisins but as I've never tried it that way I can't comment.

12 c prepared peaches (peeled, pitted, and roughly chopped)

two 3" cinnamon sticks

2.5 tsp whole cloves

2 & 2/3 c white sugar

2 c peeled, finely chopped apples

1/2 c lemon juice

1/4 c white vinegar

2 Tbsp grated lemon rind

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Place cinnamon and cloves in a tea ball or cheesecloth. Combine peaches, spice ball, sugar, apples, lemon juice, vinegar, lemon rind and nutmeg in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then boil gently for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove spice bag and can: makes 4 pints.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This is an excellent way to use up all that grated zucchini: it tastes good, it's very chocolatey, and it has a lot of moisture. It takes at least 3 days to dry out. Makes 2 loaves.

1/4 c butter

1/2 c oil

1 & 3/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c buttermilk

2 & 1/2 c flour

1/4 c cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 c grated zucchini

1/4 c chocolate chips

Make this the usual way: cream butter and sugar, add eggs one by one, add liquid ingredients then dry ingredients, fold in zucchini. Dump into loaf tins or one 9" X 12" cake tin. Sprinkle with chips.

Bake 325ºF for 45 minutes (loaf tins). Less for cake tin.

Simple Syrups

This is based on a recipe I saw in The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld, a seriously excellent cookbook for the herb gardener.

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Your choice of herb (ie: a fistful of mint, some rosemary, lemon thyme)

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a stainless steel saucepan, stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, then toss in the herbs and clamp the lid on the pot. Leave it for at least 1/2 hour, then strain.

I usually let this mixture cool then pour it into freezer bags. I also usually triple the recipe, which means tripling the herbs (good use for all that mint spreading around your garden!).

Turtles

These are easy to make, surprisingly enough. And you finally get a chance to use that candy thermometer gathering dust in the drawer (um, well, mine was).

First, put some pecans on a baking sheet. The sheet must be lined with either parchment or a silpat. Group the pecans in threes or fours (see the picture to the left - 4 pecans under all that caramel).


Next, make the caramel.

Caramel

1 cup butter
1 & 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup (I used Golden Syrup)
one 14 ounce tin sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

First, melt butter then stir in the sugar. Bring to a boil. Add syrup and bring to a boil again then add the milk. At this point you must stir it continuously and stick the thermometer in it and keep stirring until the temperature reaches 238ºF. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla then let it sit, stirring briefly, until it stops boiling and bubbling (5 minutes or so).

Once it starts to harden up a bit (this is a bit nebulous I realize but fiddle around and keep calm and you'll soon see what I mean) you can drop it by teaspoonfuls over your little piles of pecans. 

Then let them sit for at least a couple of hours, until the caramel is good and solid.

Then melt yourself some chocolate (dark or milk, the choice is yours) and dip them, again using either a silpat or parchment on a cookie sheet.

I halved this recipe when I made it, just because it seemed like such a lot of butter, and it made about 4 dozen turtles, so know that while it seems like a lot of butter and sugar and such, it actually makes a whack of candy.

Cranberry Sauce

This is an adaptation of a recipe I got from the November 1997 LA Times Food Section, back when we lived in the Land of the Forever Sun. It's really good, but I, I have made it better.

Combine the following ingredients in a saucepan:

1 & 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
12 whole cloves
4 whole allspice
4 pieces of cinnamon sticks
a goodly chunk of ginger
4-9 star anise

Edited to add: put the spices (save the cinnamon) in a tea caddy thingie if you have one. It will save you having to fish them out later. Trust me, they tend to disappear amongst the cranberries.


Cook, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear. I like to leave it at this point and let the whole mixture sit for 20 minutes, so the spices can really go to town. Then fire up the heat underneath the pot and add a package of cranberries. When they are popping wildly (about 5 minutes later), turn off the heat and cover. Let sit for ages. But before you do that add in the grated rind of at least 3 oranges.

And that's all you do. People will swoon and tell you it's the best thing you've ever made. Well, unless they are amongst those godless heathen who favour the canned variety, in which case you must feel free to ignore them and know that your tastebuds ARE superior.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Buns

Rolls:

3 cups milk
6 T butter
6 T sugar

1 tsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water

2 eggs
9 cups white flour, more or less

Filling:

3/4 cup melted butter
1 & 1/4 cups sugar
3 T cinnamon


For rolls: Scald milk. Turn off heat, add butter and 6 T sugar. Let cool somewhat.

In a small bowl, dissolve 1 tsp sugar in lukewarm water, then sprinkle yeast over top. Cover. Let sit till foamy.

Combine water/yeast mixture with milk mixture. Add 2 eggs. Add 4 or 5 cups white flour (you can use whole wheat but the texture gets a little heavy) and beat well for 10 minutes. Then let sit for 10 minutes. Then add enough flour to make the dough soft but not sticky (4 more cups, more or less).

Knead on a well-floured surface for 8-10 minutes. Keep in mind that this dough will remain quite soft. Pop it into a greased bowl, cover with a cloth, and put it somewhere warm for an hour or so, until it has significantly increased in size.

To fill: Punch down, divide in half. Roll one half into a largish rectangle. Brush with some of the melted butter, then mix the cinnamon and the sugar and sprinkle almost half over top. Roll up gently, like a jelly roll, then slice into 2 inch slices. Line a baking tin with a sheet of parchment paper, since these can stick, then drizzle some of the butter on the bottom. Place the slices and cover, then place again in a warm, undisturbed area until they have risen and are doubled in size. If you have some leftover cinnamon sugar now's the time to sprinkle some more over top.

Bake 350ºF for about 1/2 hour.

Pumpkin Addition:

I had baked an entire pumpkin, then put the flesh into the food processor until smooth, so I took a couple of cups of this and spread it over the rolled out rectangle, then sprinkled the cinnamon sugar over top. It's a bit goopy, but easily done if you have a steady hand.

Marbled Peanut Brownies

This is such a terrible photo that I'm only going to include a tiny glimpse of it, but it's such a great brownie that I'm still going to give you the recipe.







Marbled Peanut Brownies

Batter:
1 c. butter
11 oz. semi sweet chocolate chopped into smallish chunks
1 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 c. sugar
6 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a bowl over simmering hot water, melt butter and chocolate. Add sugar, stir well. Beat in eggs one and a time, then add vanilla. Mix up flour and baking powder and add that as well.

Peanut Butter batter:
1/2 c. melted unsalted butter
1 c. icing sugar
1 1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 tsp. salt (don't forget this - it adds a really amazing taste sensation)
more vanilla extract

Stir everything together in a separate bowl.

Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie tray, then pour a little over half the chocolate brownie batter on the parchment, spreading it out to the edges. Then get your peanut butter batter and drop teaspoonfuls all over, about an inch apart. Then drip what chocolate batter you have left over top of all this. It will look messy and sort of weird. Don't fret.

Then take a long knife-like object and pretend you are slicing this mixture from one end to the other, until you've 'cut' the peanut butter rather artistically (ie: nice swirls instead of globs) into the chocolate mixture.

Bake 325ºF for about 30 minutes. I kept putting the timer on for 10 minute intervals and checking it, but I prefer my baked goods slightly underdone (keeps them moist), so just keep a close eye on yours.

When this was slightly cooled I melted a few ounces of chocolate (again in a double boiler) and drizzled it over top of the brownie. Then I chilled it and sliced it up. I also kept ours in the fridge between bites - but it's hot here right now and things melt quick.

Lemon Verbena Sorbet

I've written before about this sorbet (see here), but consider this a reminder, because this really is one of the best tastes of summer around. Particularly if you have a lemon verbena plant.

It's easy to make, too.

Cakes I Have Known 6

This year my eldest son wanted a hamburger cake for his 12th birthday. Apparently we don't eat nearly enough hamburgers for his liking. I don't know why, but other than salmon burgers I am not a big fan of your average burger. But Max, he loves them with a passion.

Here's what I did first: baked two 9" round vanilla cakes. Then I baked a double chocolate rectangle (I only needed half this as it turned out), out of which I cut another, slightly larger, circle. I wanted the "burger" part to hang out slightly. For this part of the cake I'd advise a solid, dense cake, with very little crumb, because you won't want it shedding while you're icing it.
Then, as you can see from the photo, I cut one vanilla cake horizontally for the "bun" bottom, and one vanilla cake horizontally for the "bun" top. You could use one cake, I suppose, but I wanted the "bun" to be slightly larger than a half of a cake, so for the "bun" bottom I just shaved off the top; ditto for the top portion of the "bun."

Next, cut out a circle of chocolate cake for the hamburger patty. I simply laid the 9" tin on the cake, and cut away a slightly larger circle.

Then I stuck them together with some ganache, made the night before so it would be thick and cool. Need a ganache recipe? Here's mine:

Chop up 13 ounces of chocolate (or use chips), place them in your food processor, then, with the motor running, slowly pour in 1 & 1/4 cups hot whipping cream. Process until smooth. Pour into a bowl and leave it for a few hours to cool.

Then I used a buttercream icing to frost the details. Need an easy buttercream recipe? Here's mine:

1/2 c Crisco (make sure it's all vegetable)
1/2 c butter
1.5 c icing sugar
milk to thin (no more than 1/4 c)
Put everything in your mixmaster or Kitchen-Aid and blend on high for 5 minutes. Makes a lovely silky buttercream.

Initially I used Wilton's Brown gel for the "patty," but either I had an old gel or I was feeling particularly colour-blind, but that brown wasn't what I'd call brown, so I scraped it off and wondered what to do instead. I might even have panicked a little, because the Party was at that point only an hour or so away. Then I decided to thin the left-over ganache with a couple of blobs of butter, in the food processor, and add some icing sugar and milk, to make a sort of icing. This I patted on with a knife, trying to make it knobbly like ground meat.

I also found myself slightly distressed by the tan/skin colour that I'd intended to use for the bun portion, because that had a distinct reddish tinge to it. I added some yellow and brown, and eventually got something more to my liking. I need to find some better colouring gels though, because the red was similarly at odds with my idea of red. I ended up using red gel in those decorator tubes you can get in the grocery stores. Fortunately the green and I got along fine. I used decorator tip #67 for the "lettuce." I was going to use pine nuts or sesame seeds for the seeds on the top of the bun, but I ended up using yellow decorator's sugar because I had no pine nuts and I wondered about having sesame seeds on a cake. Seemed slightly incongruous.

The kids all gasped and said "A hamburger cake? Wow!" when we brought it out, which was really all I wanted to hear. I'd instructed a friend of mine to say "Wow! Is that a hamburger?" just in case it was unrecognizable and no one knew what the heck it was, and she said it, much to our mutual hilarity, but fortunately it wasn't necessary. Max was quite delighted.

Gingerbread

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup molasses

2 eggs

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp ground cloves

6 tsp ground cinnamon

6 tsp ground ginger

3 tsp cardamon

1.5 tsp baking soda

6 cups (more or less) flour (I use white flour, you might get rocks if you use whole wheat)

Mix everything in order, pausing a little with the sugar and butter. When you've got a nice firm ball of dough, flatten it slightly into a disc, then wrap in a bag and chill for at least an hour.

Then you can roll it out (I roll between parchment, so as not to have too much added flour - I find it makes them hard) and go wild with your cutters. 

This is an incredibly flavourful gingerbread. I've increased the spice amounts from what Martha initially set out, so feel free to get wimpy with the spices if you like. I don't mind. I don't think Martha will, either. 

Oops, forgot the baking instructions:

350ºF for about 12 minutes. Be careful with these though - you don't want them overbaked. 

Easy Peppermint Creams

2 cups icing sugar

1/2 egg white (weird, I know, like who has half an egg white lying around?)

few drops peppermint flavouring

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Place everything in a food processor, and let it churn into a smooth ball. Take out, divide in half. (We dyed one half blue, then rolled out strips of white and blue and rolled them together: looked like weird but cool candy canes) If you want to dye them red or green for a more festive look (or if you've hit the eggnog earlier than usual and are feeling a little wild'n'crazy), do it now. Don't use too much food dye or it might look a little too lurid for your guests.

Then you can either roll them out between parchment (careful, they tend to be sticky) and use tiny cutters (finally, a use for all those Playdough shapers!), or roll them into ropes and slice tiny pieces off. Then place them on a cookie sheet and let them dry overnight.

Truffles

This is an adaptation of a recipe I saw in Martha Stewart's 2005 Holiday Baking issue. It's pretty easy. If you need advanced instructions beyond what I provide, go to her website and type in "Chocolate Truffles." 

1 cup whipping cream

2 tsp Golden Syrup (you could use corn syrup too)

1/4 cup butter (I like unsalted)

Heat this in a good sized saucepan over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Then, working quickly, add 1 lb of chopped chocolate. 

I've used everything from chocolate chips to really good quality chocolate here, and while you can taste the difference between, say Chipits' best and some bittersweet Scharffenburger, don't stress over what you use. If budget is a consideration, save your Valhrona for the coating. 

Once you've added the chocolate, swirl the pan without stirring, until the cream mixture has covered the chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes, then grab a whisk (or a fork) and mix until smooth.

At this point I figure out how many types of truffles I'm going to make. I usually divide this mixture into 2-3 bowls - even though I might make this recipe 4 times over (inspiration sometimes hits me after the fact, so I revisit my drawing board a few times). This gives me enough to give away a few boxes AND have some left over. 

Once you've divided the mix into bowls, add your flavourings. These can be anything from chopped nuts to liqueurs. Be generous here. None of your 1 measly teaspoons of this or pinches of that. Well, unless you're using some ancho chilies, like I did...

Then, depending on your schedule, let each bowl sit on the counter until thick, or, if you're in a rush, chuck them in the fridge. It doesn't take long, but if you have a cool place you can greatly speed up this step. At this point, get some cookie sheets covered with parchment (or waxed paper) and have them nearby. Once the mixture is hard(ish), get yourself a little spoon (I use the small end of a melon baller) and scoop out little balls. Roll them around if you like a more uniform chocolate, or leave them as blobs on the cookie sheets. If you've added too much scotch or brandy, and you find that the mixture isn't solid enough to shape easily, you can do one of two things: if the mixture is sort of scoopable, spoon out blobs and plop them onto the cookie sheet. Then chuck the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once the blobs have hardened a bit, roll them around on your palms until they hold more of a shape, then refreeze until you are going to dip them (in which case you'll need to work in very small batches). Alternately, you can freeze the bowl of melted cream/chocolate, until it's semi-solid, then scoop your truffles from that. You'll probably need to leave that sheet in the freezer as well. Don't fret about this, though, because it will all work out once you've dipped them in melted chocolate. That coating will hold anything together!

I like to dip these centres in melted chocolate, then roll them in something the echoes their inner flavour: candy canes for mint, toasted coconut for coconut, chocolate sprinkles or unsweetened cocoa for chocolate or scotch or brandy, etc. Use your imagination here. All you have to consider is "Is it edible?" and "Will it be a good taste experience?" 

Remember the Prime Directive of every cook: you want your audience to delight in your food. 

Mince Pies

I make a mean mince pie. This year was pretty exciting because I grew both the tomatoes AND the apples with my own two hands (figuratively speaking of course). The sugar and the grapes will have to wait until I either get more land or grow more hands...

I use Martha's Pate Brisée* for the tart shells, and this recipe for the mincemeat:

8 lb apples (I like Granny Smith because they melt in the mix)
6 lbs green tomatoes
3 lbs sugar
2 lbs raisins
1 lb currants
1 c vinegar
8 Tbsp butter
$ Tbsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp grated lemon rind
4 Tbsp grated orange rind
2 tsp nutmeg
20 cloves, stuck in one of those tea balls and left in the mixture the entire time (until you can it)

Peel, core, and chop the apples roughly. Chop the tomatoes roughly. Chuck everything in a very large pot and bring to a boil. Once it's boiled, turn down and let it simmer for an hour or two. I usually leave it to sit overnight or even longer, just to let the flavours meld together a bit. Then I can it.

*Martha's (slightly altered) Pate Brisée

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter
6 Tbsp sugar

Martha adds 1 tsp salt but I don't do that, and GASP, I don't use salted butter either. Go for it: the French swear by salt in recipes like these (and I haven't got a good reason why I don't).

Black Bean Soup

This soup started life here as the Black Bean Chili from The Greens Cookbook, but as usual, ingredient availability (and the cook's inclinations) have changed it somewhat.

Sauté an onion (or two, if they're small) and some garlic in a little oil. When they are getting translucent, add a couple of tablespoons of cumin seeds (whole, not ground, but I'll let you off this time if you only have ground), a tablespoon or two of chili powder, same of paprika, and I add something I have called, rather enigmatically Mexican Chili Powder (I think it has oregano and ancho powder added in). Stir everything up thoroughly. Then chuck in about 2 cups of salsa (I use a homemade tomato/pepper salsa but you could even use canned tomatoes in a pinch, just be prepared to add extra flavourings). Stir well, then add 3 cups of cooked black beans. Then, add between 2-5 cups water, depending upon how watery you like your soup.

Then, let it simmer for an hour or three.

The picture above has a few potatoes added to it.

Amazing Cookies

There is something wonderful about a cookie. I'm very picky about the cookies I make. I like them soft, or chewy, or sandy - what the French call sablé. I like sablé in pastry too. But I don't like hard and crunchy cookies. My geriatric teeth can't handle crunchy. And you know, they never seem to taste as good, either.

Anyhow.

Here is a recipe for a really really really good chocolate chip cookie. I came up with it while looking through Dorie Greenspan's charming Baking: From My Home To Yours. She, like all cookbook writers, has her favourite recipe. I've tried a lot of these favourites, and I don't want to sound supercritical but none of them have become my favourites. I tried Dorie's too. They were okay. But they were not best. 

So, try mine. And let me know what you think.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 - 1 cup butter (you choose how decadent you want to be)

1 cup peanut butter (I'm partial to the organic Virginia PB at Costco)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups of white flour (you can use whole wheat but I won't be responsible for the consequences)

one 400 gm bar of decent chocolate, chopped up

Mix in that order. Scoop and plop. Bake 350ºF for about 12 minutes.

Now here is where you can turn these into Amazing Cookies: don't bake them until they are browned. Bake them until they look almost done. Almost. Still dangerously soft and crumbly. Leave them to cool on their parchment or silpat or whatever you baked them on. Do not remove them, or you might cry, because they will totally fall apart. When they are cold, you can move them. Or eat them. Whichever you prefer. They will be soft, chewy, chocolatey, and peanutty. Your mouth will thank you for such an experience.

Fried Bananas

We decided to try Cami's fried bananas the other day. We used plantains instead of regular bananas because, umm, well, hmm, because they were there. In the bowl. On the table. And we didn't have regular bananas. And you know the rule: improvise when necessary.







The plantains worked well but they were a bit starchier than regular bananas. If I did them over again I would poke them all over with a fork and soak them a bit longer. But they were very crispy - and incredible with vanilla ice cream and a little chocolate syrup...

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

This recipe originated as a recipe from Dorie Greenspan's brilliant Baking: From My Home To Yours, then morphed a bit because a) I'd run out of enough of the necessary butter, and b) I never have sour cream kicking around. They are still memorable enough that I make them all the time, although I have trouble remembering to rub the lemon zest into the sugar.

1 c sugar
grated zest of 3 lemons (add the juice of 2 of the lemons to the yogurt)
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch baking soda
3/4 c yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 c butter (I've done this with half oil half butter and it works fine, they are only slightly less cakey)
4 T poppy seeds

Dorie recommends that you rub the zest into the sugar at the very start of this venture, but she also recommends using only one lemon and 2 T of poppy seeds, so I leave you to make your own decisions on this, because I've obviously strayed heavily from The Path.

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Then cream the butter and the sugar, add the eggs, then the yogurt, then the dry ingredients. If you've never made quick breads before, give this mixing a light hand. I use my Kitchen Aid and let it go round just a few times. If you overmix they won't rise well AND they'll be like bricks.

This is the point at which I line the muffin tins with paper muffin liners and plop the batter into the liners. Then I pop them in a 375ºF oven for about 16 minutes. Well, I say 16 minutes but really, all I do is set the timer for 12 minutes, then check, then add a few minutes to that. By the time I've finished messing around with my neurotic timer habits it's usually been 16 minutes.

Important: I am an Underbaker. I mean that with the utmost seriousness. I hate dry baked goods. And I am renowned for my baking (nothing like a modest blogger, is there), so again, I'll leave you to follow your own instincts. But please, don't overbake these babies.

Dorie mixes 1 c. icing sugar with a teenie bit of fresh lemon juice and drizzles them over her muffins. I've never done this but they look enchanting in her cookbook.