Malva

Reviving the recipe blog after several years dead, in which time I have become a much better cook by pivoting from online to cookbook-based cooking. My phone is getting cluttered with snapshots of recipes and it would be easier to just get back to blogging them than sifting through my phone! But this is an internet recipe and I made this for Three King's Day in 2021 and it was very easy and very pleasing and wholly new, from: https://www.food.com/recipe/malva-pudding-south-african-baked-dessert-118545

Ingredients:

For the pudding:

3/4 C or 180 g white sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp apricot jam

1 C or 150 g all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda (maybe do half and half baking soda baking powder?)

1/2 tsp salt

1 generous Tbsp butter

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/3 C milk

For the sauce:

3/4 C fresh cream

7 Tbsp butter

1/2 - 2/3 C sugar

1/3 C hot water

2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 deg F/180 deg Celsius. 
• Grease an oven dish. I used a 7 x 7 x 1 1/2 inch Pyrex dish. (18 x 18 x 4 1/2 cm)
• Beat or whip the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until thick and lemon coloured, then add the jelly (jam) and mix through.
• Melt the butter (don't boil) and add the butter and vinegar to the wet mixture.
• Sieve, or simply mix together: the flour, soda and salt.
• Add this mixture with the milk to the egg mixture in the processor or mixing bowl. Beat well.
• Pour into an oven-proof dish and bake until pudding is brown and well-risen -- depending on your oven and oven dish this will be between 30 - 45 minutes. (Mine was done in 30 minutes this time).
• In a pot, melt together the ingredients for the sauce, and stir well.
• Pour it over the pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven.
• Leave to stand awhile before serving. Serve warm. Because it's rich it does not really need enhancement (agree), but if you want, serve with vanilla ice cream.

Sanguinaccio

The Robber and I have been treating ourselves to what I think this is at Cafe Venecia in Palo Alto for the last few years-- I'll admit this recipe is the reason I saved any of the Italian newspapers in the first place. I'm hoping it delivers when I actually make some. From AdriBarrCrocetti.com. Serves 4 or more, depending on serving size.

Ingredients

3 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
1 1/2 C whole milk
1 1/2 C heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
4 oz 62% semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Whipped cream, to garnish

Directions

1. Pour the milk into a 2 qt saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape the seeds into the saucepan and add the bean. Heat over a medium flame until small bubbles form around the edges. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover and set aside to steep for 20 min.

2. Blend the cornstarch, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Add the cream and combine. Add the egg yolks and beat well.

4. Slowly pour all the hot milk over the cocoa mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Stir over a medium low flame until it thickens and comes to a boil, about 7-8 minutes.

5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler.

6. Remove the milk mixture from the heat. Remove and discard the vanilla bean. Add the melted chocolate, stirring until smooth. Garnish with whipped cream.

Castagnole

Another Italian newspaper recipe, this from mapleandsaffron.com. Castagnole are the deep fried dough balls served at Italian Carnival.

Ingredients

600 g flour
150 g sugar
150 g olive oil
4 eggs
1 small glass of anise-flavored liquer (optional)
Grated peel of one lemon
8 g baking powder
Icing sugar
A pinch of salt
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together until you get a soft and smooth dough. Let it stand for a few minutes. Cut the dough into smaller pieces and roll them into strips, then using a knife, cut the dough into small pieces.

2. Shape each piece into a smooth little ball. Deep fry the balls in vegetable oil. When they are golden, take them out with a skimming ladle and dry them.

3. Let them cool for a few minutes and then sprinkle with icing sugar. Good for three or four days.

Caramel-Almond Torte with Spiced Mango Compote (for Passover)

Disclaimer: I haven't actually made this yet. Occasionally a recipe shows up on this blog before I've made it because someone sends it to me in hard copy or e-copy and I've nowhere else to store it and I feel compelled to keep it rather than throw it away. This is what my family ate for Passover dessert last year and my mother copied out the recipe on the back of some study materials and mailed it to me, and it looks delicious. Perhaps I'll make it for Passover this spring, if we get the chance to celebrate it (e.g. I am not on the night float.)

From Bon Appetit April 2002 by Jayne Cohen. 

Ingredients:

For the compote:

1 1/4 C. sugar

1 1/4 C. water

1 1/2 T. chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 T. orange zest

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

3 1-pound mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

For the torte:

2 1/4 C. slivered almonds (approx. 9 oz.), toasted, cooled

8 T. sugar

1 T. potato starch

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 large eggs, separated

1 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 C. pareve kosher-for-Passover margarine

1/4 C. packed golden brown sugar

Directions:

1. Make the compote: Combine the first six compote ingredients in a medium heavy saucepan. Bring the syrup to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil syrup five minutes then pour into a medium bowl and cool for 30 minutes. Stir in mangoes. Cover and chill at least two hours and up to four days.

2. Make the torte: Preheat the oven to 375F. Blend 1 3/4 C. almonds, 2 T. sugar, starch, and cinnamon in a processor until nuts are finely chopped, about 45 seconds. 

3. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks, 2 T. sugar, and almond extract in a large bowl until very thick and pale in color, about three minutes. Fold almond mixture into yolk mixture.

4. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and salt in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 4 T. sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold large spoonful of whites into yolk mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whites.

5. Transfer batter to 9" springform pan. Bake torte until puffed and golden brown and tester inserted into smooth and thick, about three minutes. Mix in remaining 1/2 C. almonds. Spoon topping over torte. Cool one hour. (Can be made six hours ahead, let stand at room temperature).

6. Cut around pan sides to loosen torte; release pan sides. Place torte on platter and serve alongside compote. 

Butterscotch Pudding

An indulgence, really, but somehow when I found this recipe it caught my eye and knowing how much the Robber loves butterscotch and I love cold, creamy things, I decided to give this a try. The flavor is more carmelly than butterscotch really, and I didn't have a strainer so the texture in mine turned out less than ideal but it was easy to make and the Robber loved it, so let's call it a win. (I did not make the ganache, this is rich enough it is totally unnecessary).

From the Pizzeria Locale in Denver by way of the NYTimes Restaurant Takeaway Column:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/dining/butterscotch-pudding-creamy-light-and-nutty.html?ref=restauranttakeaway

Ingredients:

For the pudding:

3 C. heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 C. milk

3/4 C. plus 1 T. dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp. fine sea salt (or just regular salt)

4 large egg yolks

1 large egg

4 tsp. cornstarch

4 1/2 T. unsalted butter

For the ganache:

1/4 C. heavy whipping cream (plus additional for topping)

2.5 oz. chopped milk chocolate

Directions:

1. Make the pudding: In a small pot, bring the cream and milk to a simmer. Cover to keep warm.

2. In a medium pot, bring brown sugar, 1/3 C. water and salt to a boil. Cook while stirring occasionally until the solution is 240 degrees on a candy thermometer (5-10 minutes). The mixture should be a deep brown color and smell nutty and carmelized.

3. Immediately whisk cream mixture into brown sugar to stop the cooking. The mixture will seize. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook until smooth.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks, egg and cornstarch. Pour a ladleful of hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the eggs don't curdle. Pour egg mixture into the pot with the cream, whisking more. Cook for another 2-4 minutes until thickened (ok if the mixture simmers).

5. Strain mixture into a bowl and whisk in butter until smooth. Divide into 8 serving dishes (or one large souffle dish) and chill for at least 4 hours until custards are set. 

6. Make the ganache: In a small saucepan, heat cream until steaming. Add chocolate and stir constantly over very heat until just melted. Strain into a glass measuring cup with a spout. 

7. Pour a thin layer of the ganache over the tops of the custards. (There may be some left over.) Chill for an additional four hours and serve with whipped cream on top.

Ruggles Pie

I made this pie for the one month birthday of my little son Ruggles. The pie, like my Ruggles, is my own invention! Home grown. I'm sure there are other cranberry-cherry-lime pies out there (are there? I don't know) but this one I made up for Ruggles. It is based off of a little "tart" I made for Bob when I was pregnant with Ruggles. I hardly ever cooked or baked when I was pregnant, I just didn't have any desire to do so. No nausea, no food aversions... just no cooking bug. But with the few pies I did make, I started to make little "tarts" out of the left over dough instead of pie crackers-- the reason being that most pies really are better on the second day, but no one wants to wait that long to eat one, but if you make a little tart you can sate the desire to eat pie without actually eating the pie itself. And on one particular day I had some cherries in the fridge and, having never baked anything with cherries before, decided to give them a whirl. I must have had limes too, and we always keep frozen cranberries around, so I threw them all together into the little tart and it turned out quite delicious! I vowed one day to try and make a whole pie that way, and Ruggles' celebration seemed to be the perfect occasion. And the pie turned out quite well! I was very pleased with the result, and may not even tinker too much with this formulation in the future. Now that it is Ruggles' pie, he will be obligated to have this as his birthday treat and nothing else for the rest of his life.

The crust I used is a "cornmeal crust" and the recipe comes from the Luscious Little Dessert Company. I don't think you have to use a cornmeal crust, other crusts would be equally delicous, but in honor of the original Ruggles pie as it was baked and consumed you can find the pie crust recipe as below:

http://vegetabletuesdays.blogspot.com/2013/10/cornmeal-pie-crust.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/dining/that-photogenic-blueberry-pie.html

But first, pictures of the pie to whet your appetite:

Ingredients (for the filling):

16 oz (approx 3 C.) fresh or frozen cranberries

16 oz (approx 3 C.) fresh or frozen pitted sweet cherries (not cherry pie filling!)

2/3 C. brown sugar

1/3 C. white sugar

1/2 C. flour

1 very heaping tsp. cinnamon

1/16 tsp. ginger

Zest of 2.5 limes (2-3, whatever)

Juice of 2 limes (just however many you are zesting, 3 would be ok too)

Directions:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients and the lime zest in a mixing bowl. 

2. In a separate large bowl, stir together the cherries and the cranberries. You don't need to thaw them first or cut them up, although if you are using fresh cherries you should de-pit them which may involved halving the cherries. 

3. Pour the dry mixture over the fruit and combine thoroughly. Add in the lime juice and stir again until the berries are evenly coated with the dry mixture and the lime juice. You can either let the fruit sit for a while or use it immediately. Because the cherries/cranberries aren't that juicy, you don't need to "pre-bleed" the fruit like I will for other fruit pies to reduce the liquid content.

4. Add the filling to a large pie dish with one half of a crust in the bottom. Cover the filling with the top crust. Cut slits in the top to vent out extra steam-- this pie won't bubble much so you don't need a lot of slits or to put a pan under your pie plate in the oven. If desired, brush the top of the pie with buttermilk, milk or cream and top with raw (demerara) sugar.

5. Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes and then reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 F and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes or follow the instructions for your crust recipe and bake until the crust is golden brown and the fruit has softened (approx one hour).

Serve hot or cold with whipped cream or vanilla icecream, although the pie is not too strongly flavored that this is necessary. Enjoy and picture the cute, cute baby as above. Cheers, Ruggles!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Another comfort food for the Robber which he requested that his mother make for him when she came out to visit (she did make these). Nana used to make these a lot when the Robber was a wee lad, but had to stop when her seventh child had severe nut allergies. Still the Robber remembers them fondly, and jumped at the opportunity to have these in our non-nut restricted kitchen.

Ingredients:

For the bars:
1 C. flour
1 C. quick oatmeal
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. butter or margarine
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 C. peanut butter
1/4 C. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 package (2 cups) chocolate chips

For the frosting:
1/4 C. powdered sugar
2 T. peanut butter
2-3 T. milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9 x 9 glass pan.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs, peanut butter, milk and vanilla. Stir in the combined dry ingredients by hand.

4. Spread mixture in prepared pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. When bars are freshly out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and spread evenly as the chips melt.

5. For the frosting, combine all ingredients and blend thoroughly. Drizzle over the top of the melted chocolate and swirl while still melted if desired.

Cholesterol Pie

I think most families (except mine?) make this dessert, they just call it something different. In the case of the Robber's family they call it cholesterol pie and someone makes it for every major family event. The Robber himself loves it and when his mother came to visit and to help out with Ruggles last week, the Robber requested special that she make it for him. I ended up making it, in a grand gesture of support for the Robber and to allow Nana to spend more time with Ruggles and I think everyone was happier that way (see note on pecans below) but I think the future I will leave the making of this to the Rawles.

Writing Ruggles and "cholesterol pie" in the same paragraph hurts my heart a little, even if it is entirely hypocritical given that I exposed him to icecream in grand amounts during my whole pregnancy.

Notes: I added chopped pecans to the crust and toasted chopped pecans and some chopped dark chocolate chips to the top. The pecans to the crust were genius for the Robber and I felt the toppings were too, but the Robber scraped them off the top and then ate the rest. Hmmm. If I were making this again I would make a thicker cream cheese layer and remember that the crust is kind of crumbly, so you have to portion out the cream cheese layer for the spreading, not just plunk it down in the middle and spread it out from there.

Ingredients and Directions:

Layer 1

1 C. flour

1/2 C. butter or margarine

1/2 C. chopped nuts (not optional, pecans!)

Mix together and spread in a 9x13" glass pan. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 min.

Layer 2

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1 C. powdered sugar

1 1/2 C. Cool Whip

Cream together and spread over cooled Layer 1.

Layer 3

1 large package instant chocolate pudding

2 1/2 C. milk

Beat together for 2 minutes and pour over Layer 2.

Layer 4

2 C. Cool Whip

Spread on top of pudding layer. If desired, sprinkle top with nuts, chopped chocolate, etc.

Plum Clafoutis

And just like that, my little cooking bug returns. I guess the oven has room in it again.

But it's hard, you know, to cook and to care for a little lion at the same time. Still, I wanted to bake something again just because I wanted to bake and to prove I was more of a human again and less of an incubator. I've been on this fruit kick something serious during pregnancy, so I had lots of plums and I lot of buttermilk I had the Robber buy thinking I would make biscuits-- and I had some milk-- but what I didn't have was flour, cream, or time. What does that all add up to? In this case, clafoutis. And as always, this was easy and delicious, a perfect post-pregnancy treat.

Oh, and the Robber liked it too.

Notes: I made a second one tonight but I forgot to add the sugar to the fruit layer, let's see how it turns out eh? Because if it doesn't need it, that would cut down on the calories a little and make it even more appealing.

Adapted from Julia Child, available here on Gratinee:
http://gratineeblog.com/2009/09/julia-childs-plum-clafouti/

Ingredients:

1 lbs firm, ripe plums (I used three medium-ish plums cut in round cross-sections)

1 1/4 C. milk (I used buttermilk)
1/3 C. sugar
3 eggs
1 T. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 C. sugar

1/3 C. extra sugar

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cut plums in half (or in slices, like I did, I think it's easier to cut through that way) and sprinkle with some sugar. Set aside.

2) Add all of the ingredients except the fruit and the additional sugar in a blender in the order listed. Blend for 1 minute on high.

3) Pour of layer of the batter until it covers the bottom of your baking dish (I use a large glass pie plate). Place in the oven for about five minutes or until a film of the batter has set in the bottom of the dish.

4) Spread the fruit over the batter with skins up (if using halves). Sprinkle with the extra sugar (optional). Pour the rest of the batter over the fruit.

5) Bake for an additional hour or until the clafouti has puffed and browned and a tester placed in the center comes out clean. If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Can serve hot or cold (I prefer cold, the next day).

Additional notes: Julia Child notes you can use either 1 1/4 lbs apples or 3 C pears. To make this Julia's way way, drop the plums in boiling water for ten seconds and then peel and slice them. Next soak the fruit in 1/4 C. orange liquer, kirsch, or cognac and let stand for one hour. Then substitute this liquid for part of the milk in the recipe and omit the final 1/3 C. of sugar.

Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake (Kladdkaka)

I saw this recipe on my friend R.G.'s Facebook page a while back and tagged it, feeling like R.G. ought to know what was good and what was not. She is down to earth, reliable, smart, and used to live in Sweden. The cake is somewhat opposite-- gooey and sweet, runny and soft, but so tempting... I made it for our Valentine's celebration this year and the Robber ate and ate of it. Definitely a treat for two.

I realized I didn't have cocoa powder so I subbed in Ghiradelli hot cocoa mix which was good but I think created a sweeter product. To tone down the sweetness I served it with some tart and creamy Greek yogurt just barely sweetened and with strawberries mixed in. I preferred to eat it that way, while the Robber ate his along with some swallows of whole milk. Either way, it was delicious.

Barely adapted from AllRecipes.Com.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/swedish-sticky-chocolate-cake-kladdkaka/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=kladdkaka&e8=Quick+Search&event10=1&e7=Home+Page

Ingredients:

1/2 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 pinch salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 C. white sugar

1 T. vanilla extract

1/2 C. butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Heavily grease and flour an eight inch pie plate.

2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt, set aside. In separate bowl, combine eggs and sugar and beat until thick and smooth. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture (or vice versa) and mix until thoroughly combined (but avoid over beating). Add in the vanilla and melted butter and stir until homogeneous. Pour into the prepared pie plate.

3. Bake on the lower rack of a preheated oven (to avoid burning the top) until the center of the top had a set crust-- about 35 min. The remainder of the cake may still appear gooey at the edges. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for at least one hour before serving. Can serve either warm or cold.

Deb's Favorite Brownies

In a moment of extreme weakness during my medicine rotation, when I needed something to keep going, I made these brownies and put cut up Andes over one half and stuck Rolos all over in the second half and they were probably mostly sinful, but they hit the spot, you know?

The Robber really liked these and I thought well they tried too hard to like brownies you would make from a mix and I thought honestly, if you are going to make brownies from scratch good heavens they should not be like the box! But then the box brownies have their way of just being gooey chocolate in a not elegant, but satisfying way, so I ate a bunch of these anyway and figured why not just give in and enjoy it. Wouldn't call these my personal favorite, but they are very easy to make and in a pinch, are much better quality than the box. 

From Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/08/my-favorite-brownies/

Ingredients:

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for pan

1 1/3 C. granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. flaky sea salt or 1/4 tsp. table salt

2/3 C. all-purpose flour 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8×8-inch square baking pan.

2. In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until 

only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. 

3. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula and scrape batter into prepared pan, spread until even. 

4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free. If desired, dust the brownies with powdered sugar before serving.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

So all summer long I've basically just been stealing off Smitten Kitchen, and particularly earlier in the summer I got on a kick of making her raved about snacking cakes-- the rhubarb snacking cake, the blueberry boy bait, and most recently the dimply plum cake-- only to be an ungrateful beggar and go on to say how ho-hum I felt about them. Two more of her standards remained in my box of recipes to try, and I don't know that I would have tried this one except that we had a) raspberries and b) buttermilk and c) the need for an easy dessert for dinner with friends. Even with that alignment of stars, it was still with begrudgement that I made this cake. And then--- then! It was actually really good. All she said it would be. All worthy of starting the snack cake craze. So I guess I am reconciled to Smitten Kitchen and her snack cakes and after all, and who knows, I might go about trying the strawberry snacking cake before this summer is through after all. That is, if I can get away from this one. We still have raspberries and more buttermilk, and the Robber, with his big Robber eyes, has been asking for more.

Originally from Gourmet Magazine 2009, adapted by Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/05/raspberry-buttermilk-cake/

Ingredients:

1 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

2/3 C. plus 1 1/2 T. sugar, divided

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (or the rind of one smaller lemon)

1 large egg

1/2 C. well-shaken buttermilk

1 C. (about 6 oz.) fresh raspberries 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. 

3. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 C. sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

4. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. 

5. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 T. sugar (I used cinnamon sugar.)

6. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Note: All the raspberries are downward will be swallowed by the batter and sink to the bottom. The ones where the o is upward stay empty, like cups, and swim closer to the top. Both are delicious.

Plum and Ginger Crumble

My mother sent the Robber home from his trip to Utah with some plums from their backyard tree and, having just made him plum pie, had to go adventuring to find what to make next with the plums. I remembered this delicious crumble which my sister R had made in the Rochacha long ago. It is simpler to make than a pie-- quite simple, actually-- but still can be made in a pie plate and it ultimately very satisfactory. I am loving loving plums this year, something about the bright color and tartness of the flavor are making me very happy indeed.

This recipe is actually an adaptation of one of the NYtimes most famous recipes of all time, the plum torte recipe which I recorded on this blog earlier (search under plums) but have never actually made because really, given the choice, wouldn't you rather have a crumble? 

An old link, but a good link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/21/dining/213frex.html

Ingredients:

12 Italian prune plums, halved and pitted

2 T. brown sugar 

1 1/2 T. plus 1 C. all-purpose flour

1 heaping tsp. cinnamon 

1/4 heaping tsp. ground ginger

2 heaping T. finely chopped candied ginger (I used crystallized)

3/4 C. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 large egg, well-beaten

1 stick butter (1/2 C.), melted

Vanilla ice cream, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place plums in bowl. Mix brown sugar, 1 1/2 T flour, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground ginger, and candied ginger together and mix with plums. Arrange plums, skin side up, in ungreased 9 inch pie plate.

3. Combine white sugar, baking powder, remaining flour, and remaining cinnamon and salt and mix well. Stir in egg. Rub together with fingertips to combine ingredients and make a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle over plums. Drizzle butter evenly over top.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm, plain or with vanilla ice cream. 

Truly Short Shortcake

The redeeming thing about these (and the plum gratin before it) was that I was able to eat these in one of my favorite summer ways: the biscuit split open, with a layer of plain Greek yogurt on each half, and fruit (or fruit puree) scooped over the top. Like a strawberry shortcake with yogurt instead of cream, and more mash to the fruit. Otherwise, this biscuit was a little disappointing. The texture was nice and biscuity, but I like my other biscuit recipe better, and this lacked flavor even with me using buttermilk. The problem is I just keep trucking along, hoping to find alternates when I have things I am already perfectly happy with. So the chances of making this again are slim, but this is not a blog about perfection, just about archiving. Trying. Experimenting. Being. 

Note: I only made the cake part, not the berries. Also, the recipe says this makes 12, but what a mighty small 12 those would be. I made six more substantial sized scones by cutting a round of the dough into six triangles.

From Mark Bittman:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/29/dining/the-minimalist-truly-short-shortcake.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. sugar

2 C. cake flour or all-purpose flour

Pinch salt

4 tsp. baking powder

4 T. cold butter

7/8 C. milk (low fat is ok)

6 C. cleaned and sliced strawberries

Sweetened whipped cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the strawberries with 1 cup sugar. 

2. Mix remaining sugar with flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl or food processor. Cut the butter into bits, and either pulse it a few times quickly in the processor with the dry ingredients or take a little of the dry ingredients, rub a bit of butter into them with your fingers and drop back in the bowl. All the butter should be thoroughly blended.

3. Slowly add the milk to the bowl, stirring it in with a large spoon until the mixture forms a ball. The mixture should be sticky; use a little more or less milk if necessary. 

4. Drop mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet, one heaping tablespoon per cake. 

5. Bake about 10 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown. (Keep an eye on them; once browning starts, it goes quickly.) Let cool a bit; top with strawberries and their juices and the whipped cream.

Roasted Apricots with Almond Topping

This recipe I had saved from last year and kind of cobbled together between two recipes for a little summer picnic with our new friends A&C&R H. I served the desserts with whipped cream with just a touch of almond flavoring in it and found it very satisfactory. It will be hard to keep me from making these again, they are so easy and delicious hot or cold.

Note: I bought enough apricots for there to be 3 apricots per ramekin, but I ended up with way too much filling and had to bake the extra in a little pie plate. Not that that was a bad thing... and it used the extra topping up...

Melded together from Martha Shulman and Smitten Kitchen:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/health/nutrition/25recipehealth.html?ref=nutrition

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/06/breakfast-apricot-crisp/

Ingredients:

8 medium-size or 12 small apricots (2-3 apricots/ramekin)

3 T. sugar

1 T. flour

1 tsp. fresh nutmeg

4 T. butter, melted

6 T. turbinado sugar

1/2 C. oatmeal

1/2 C. all-purpose (1/2 wheat ok)

Pinch salt

2 tablespoons almonds, sliced or slivered, raw or toasted

Directions:

1. Butter 4 6 oz. ramekins. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Remove apricot pits and slice into quarters, or smaller slices as desired to fit ramekins. Combine with 3 T. sugar, 1 T. flour and nutmeg. Set aside.

3. Make topping but combining melted butter and turbinado sugar. Stir in oats, then flour, salt and almonds.

4. Distribute apricots among ramekins and top with topping. 

5. Bake 20-30 minutes. You can serve warm with vanilla icecream or almond-flavored whipped cream, although this is also very tasty cooled and eaten with plain yogurt (or more icecream or whipped cream!) for breakfast. 

Approximate nutritional info per ramekin: 78 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 5 milligrams cholesterol; 11 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 11 milligrams sodium; 2 grams protein. 

Strawberry & Lemon Curd Easy Summer Pie

So there was this time when I saw an "easy summer pie" recipe in the New York Times and I wanted it SO BADLY to be the best summer pie because not only did it have strawberries and lemons, but the crust had vanilla wafers and saltines, something I first was introduced to by SLB when she was SLO but have never tried myself. So I was so excited to try this! I was!....

But oh dear. What a disaster it was. Not all the recipe's fault, but certainly parts of it were. For starters, the crust was so salty the Robber and I couldn't even eat it, we scraped all the curd off and threw the crust away. I think it is salvageable, so I'll post the recipe here sans extra salt anyway, just in case I get bold enough to try it again in the future. Secondly, I ended up dumping almost half the curd on the kitchen floor. And then, the berries. Well. Call me boring, but I like them better just plain with sugar. Gah. But what I am posting is the original recipe sans salt in the crust so here you have it, if after all my comments, you (the future me) still want to try.

From Millicent Souris' new cookbook "How To Build A Better Pie" by way of the NYTimes:

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/bookshelf-how-to-build-a-better-pie/?ref=dining

Ingredients:

For the saltine vanilla wafer cracker crust:

½ sleeve saltine crackers (16)

16 vanilla wafers

1 stick unsalted butter

¼ C. granulated sugar

1 egg white 

For the lemon curd (yield: 2 cups):

Juice & zest of 3 lemons

1 stick unsalted butter

1 C. granulated sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the strawberry topping:

1 pint strawberries (the smaller the better)

2 T. raw sugar

Zest and juice of one lemon

½ tsp. salt

3 sprigs of tarragon, or 4 sprigs of mint, or 4 sprigs of chervil

Optional: a scraped vanilla pod

Directions:

For the crust: 

1. Melt butter in a small pan. Pull from heat before it browns and let cool. 

2. Toss the crackers and wafers in a food processor and pulse until crumbs begin to form. Gradually add the butter, sugar, salt and egg white. Turn the food processor off, and turn the mixture into the pie plate. With a level, steady hand lightly press the crust into the plate. Evenly tap the crust across the bottom of the plate and up the sides about half an inch. It should be even in thickness. 

3. Place crust in refrigerator to rest for at least 20 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once the crust has rested, bake it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Pull and cool. While the crust is baking, make the lemon curd.

For the lemon curd:

1. Fill a medium-size sauce pot about a third way with water and heat. Use a bowl that will fit atop the pot, or nestle down a bit, without touching the water. Cut the butter into small chunks and toss in the bowl with the sugar. Place on the pot so it starts to melt as you zest the lemons, keeping the zest separate to add at the end. 

2. Whisk the melting butter and sugar together and add the lemon juice, whisking together well.

3. Lift your bowl and make sure the water is gently simmering (not boiling). Gently beat the three eggs in a separate bowl. Add the eggs to the bowl over simmering water, whisking everything together. 4. Once the mixture is combined, use a rubber spatula to continuously scrape the bowl around the sides (especially the bottom) so everything cooks evenly. The mixture will thicken in 7 to 10 minutes, and should become more cohesive as it firms up along the edges of the bowl.

5. Add the lemon zest and salt. Mix. 

6.Turn into another bowl and place cling wrap flush across the top of the curd (this prevents a “skin” from developing). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the strawberry topping:

1. Hull the strawberries, then cut in half lengthwise (if they are bigger than the tip of your fingers). Toss them with the raw sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. 

2. Pick the herb of your choice and chop. Gently bruise the stems and toss the them, the herbs and vanilla pod with the fruit. Let the mixture macerate at room temperature, while everything else cools.

Putting it all together:

1. After 30 minutes, fill the crust with the curd. Refrigerate again until the curd settles and tightens.

2. Cut the pie into 8 slices, soaking the knife into hot water after each slice and wiping it clean. Plate the slices, then take a spoonful of the dressed strawberries to top the pie. Finish with a drizzle of strawberry juice and enjoy.

Thai Coconut Icecream

Everyone in Thailand eats icecream. It makes sense. It is always hot and never cool and icecream and the 7-11 where the icecream is sold is your only chance for relief. About a week into our trip we came to a little local icecream shop where, in a brochure, I saw a picture of coconut icecream with peanuts and sweetened condensed milk on it and it looked like heaven in a dish to me. Subsequently the Robber and I tried the remainder of our time in Thailand to find and purchase this dessert, with little success due to either a) no peanuts, b) no coconut icecream, c) a preference for putting creamed corn (creamed corn!) instead of peanuts on coconut icecream, d) no baht. Finally I determined I would have to make this myself when I was back in the States. So make it I did. I found this recipe among many on the internet and who knows if it is the best or the most authentic-- I suppose not, as it uses cream and eggs, cream being a non-Thai ingredient, although the milk in Thailand is very very creamy. But it's flavor is excellent and it is not too sweet, a winning truth about Thai coconut icecream. The texture too is similar, and it froze beautifully overnight without an icecream maker in my freezer, a plus for any icecream recipe in my opinion. And I ate it with salted peanuts and sweetened condensed milk and was happy.

From Group Recipes by some guy named Shine:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/56004/thai-coconut-ice-cream.html

Ingredients:

2 3/4 C. coconut milk 

1 1/4 C. heavy whipping cream

3/4 C. sugar

2 large eggs

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk, cream, and sugar to a boil while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly in the pan.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs well.

3. Slowly add the coconut mixture to the eggs while constantly whisking the eggs (going slowly avoids crippling the eggs.) Continue adding the coconut mixture until half of it has been added to the eggs. At that point, you can add the remaining half in directly while whisking the eggs.

4. Cool the mixture completely and chill in the refrigerator.

5. Transfer to your ice cream maker to freeze, or pour the chilled mixture into a small loaf pan, cover it with cling wrap, and remove any air between the wrap and the mixture. Freeze for about two hours until it starts to get firm throughout.

6. Remove from freezer and mix with a spoon, then place the mixture into a food processor or blender and beat until smooth (I skipped this step and it was fine.)

7. Pour back into pan and put the cling wrap back over the pain, again removing any air, and freeze for several hours. 

Note: This icecream freezes up very hard, so place it in the refrigerator to soften for a few hours prior to serving. Serve with peanuts (and sweetened condensed milk, if you want. The salted peanuts are the real key.)

Rhubarb Snacking Cake

Another Smitten Kitchen recipe that I made for visiting teaching outside in the summer sun. I will admit to not knowing what a snacking cake is, but this cake was snacked on during the teaching session so I suppose it served its purpose. When I made this the bottom was a little overdone oddly enough, maybe I baked it for too long? The rhubarb is delightful, but I think I always like rhubarb when it is more of the main affair. Rhubarb pie or rhubarb crisp-- no cake to dilute the rhubarb-ness. There are other snack cakes by Smitten Kitchen and this was good enough for me to perhaps try out the others later this summer. Oh, and also I tripled the cinnamon and of course wanted even more. So it goes.

From Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2012/05/rhubarb-snacking-cake/

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 1/4 lbs. rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch lengths on the diagonal

1 1/3 C. granulated sugar, divided

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 C. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

2 large eggs

1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. table salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/3 C. sour cream

For the crumb:

1 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 C. light brown sugar

1/8 tsp. table salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 T. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter or a nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom with parchment paper, extending the lengths up two sides. (It will look like a sling). 

2. Stir together rhubarb, lemon juice and 2/3 cup sugar and set aside. 

3. Beat butter, remaining sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at at time, scraping down the sides after each addition. 

4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon table salt and ground ginger together in a small bowl. Add one-third of this mixture to the batter, mixing until just combined. Continue, adding half the sour cream, the second third of the flour mixture, the remaining sour cream, and then the remaining flour mixture, mixing between each addition until just combined.

5. Dollop batter over prepared pan, then use a spatula — offset, if you have one, makes this easiest — to spread the cake into an even, thin layer. Pour the rhubarb mixture over the cake, spreading it into an even layer (most pieces should fit in a tight, single layer).

6. Stir together the crumb mixture, first whisking the flour, brown sugar, table salt and cinnamon together, then stirring in the melted butter with a spoon or fork (would make this before the cake.) Scatter evenly over rhubarb layer. 

7. Bake cake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. The cake is done when a tester comes out free of the wet cake batter below. It will be golden on top. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.

8. Cut the two exposed sides of the cake free of the pan, if needed, then use the parchment “sling” to remove the cake from the pan. Cut into 2-inch squares to serve. 

Note: Cake keeps at room temperature for a few days or in the fridge, covered tightly.

Hello Dolly Bars

My sister TMP made these for our little graduation shindig at home last Saturday. My in-laws loved these and as my husband is, you know, an in-law he loved them too and insisted that we get the recipe. So here it is, dear Robber, for you.

From somewhere, didn't ask TMP where she got them.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. (1 stick) salted butter, melted

1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs (ca. 1 1/2 packages)

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 C. chocolate chips (replace 1 c. with butterscotch or other chips, if desired)

1 1/2 C. chopped pecans, lightly toasted

1 1/2 C. sweetened shredded coconut

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

1. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and cinnamon with the butter and press into the bottom of the pan. 

2. Layer the chips, nuts, and coconut on top of the crust. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the lot. 

3. Bake at 350 for approx. 30 minutes, until nicely browned and a bit bubbly. Cool completely before cutting.

Yield: This quantity will make an 8"x8" pan of thick bars or a 9"x13" pan of thinner bars.

Pear Butterscotch Pie

My Blogger everything just changed and I don't know how to find my dashboard anymore. Ah well. This pie came and went in a blink of an eye, made for a Saturday evening picnic with Team M the night before M went into labor. I'm hoping the pie wasn't the cause of Baby E. wanting to get out. The thing about this pie was that it was very, very good but the pear and the butterscotch were distinct from each other as opposed to making some whole unified flavor. I can't decide if I love it enough to make it over apple pie, but it was delicious and different from the other pear pie recipe on this blog which I have now made multiple times. 

Notes: The crust recipe was enough like my own crust recipe that I won't post it here, just note that I added 2 T. sugar to the usual crust and used butter instead of shortening, as I like butter better with the pears. I also peeled the pears and then macerated them in about 1/2 C. lemon juice + 1/2 C. sugar in a strainer to allow the juices out. Then I slowly mixed in about half of the brown sugar mixture in with the fruit while still in the strainer for additional liquid removal and I thought the pie was the right amount of juicy. Not too liquidy on the first day and perfect the second day. I also sprinkled the top with turbinado sugar, so good! If I make this again I think I will double the spices (why I didn't this time who knows) and macerate the pears the same way again.

From A Hint of Honey:

http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2010/01/pear-butterscotch-pie.html

Ingredients:

1 recipe unbaked pie crust

For the filling:

3 T. all-purpose flour 

1 tsp. cinnamon 

1/4-1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp. salt 

1/2 C. packed dark brown sugar 

2 1/2 lb. firm-ripe Bartlett pears (about 6), peeled, cut into 6-8 wedges, and cored 

1 T. fresh lemon juice 

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 

1 T. unsalted butter, cut into bits 

Optional for topping of the pie:

1 large egg, beaten + 1 Tbsp. warm water 

1 tablespoon organic cane sugar

Directions:

1. Prepare pie dough and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar, making sure break up any lumps. Add the pears, lemon juice, and vanilla and gently toss to coat. Let stand 5 to 15 minutes to macerate fruit (see Notes above.)

3. Roll out prepared pastry dough on a lightly floured surface into two 13-inch rounds. Fit one half into the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish, trimming the edges if necessary.

4. Transfer the filling to the shell. Top with the second rolled out pastry, trim, and pinch the edges to seal. Lightly brush the top with some of the egg wash. Using a sharp knife cut three long vents in the top. Sprinkle the crust with sugar. 

5. Place pie on hot baking sheet and bake in 425F oven for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325 F and continue baking until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 30-40 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before slicing.