Category: baked goods

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

 

I was honoured to be the person who got to bake the cake for Oma’s 100th birthday party.  I believe a birthday cake should be chocolate, so that’s what I made, and I wanted a fantastic buttery icing to go on it, so here it is.  Buttery and chocolatey – who could ask for anything more!

 

This recipe is from Elinor Klivans’ Chocolate Cakes: 50 Great Cakes for Every Occassion.  I omitted 1 teaspoon of coffee granules, which would be added to the whipping cream until the coffee granules dissolve.

 

What you need:

 

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

 

4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

 

1/3 cup whipping cream, at room temperature

 

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

 

2 & 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted

 

1/8 teaspoon salt

 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

What you do:

1. Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler or a bowl on top of a pot of hot water to melt the chocolate.  Let this cool slightly before mixing in.

2.  In a large bowl beat the butter until creamy, then add the icing sugar and slat and beat again until creamy.  I found this easier to accomplish by adding a little of the cream.

3.  Beat in the chocolate, cream and vanilla, then continue beating until the icing begins to lighten in colour.

4.  Use the icing right away.  There’s lots of it for a two-layer cake, so don’t worry about slathering lots between the layers.

I like to serve it cold so the icing is a bit hard, but do as you wish!

Ricotta Pastries

Recently I made up some homemade ricotta, and a few days later some empanadas.  Wanting to use up the last of the ricotta, I stuffed a few of them with this filling made in the style of my mom’s vareniki (Mennonite perogies).  She makes fruit vareniki and these amazing cottage cheese ones… yum!  So I thought the ricotta would be a suitable substitute, and work well with the pastry – oh, was I ever right!

In my original recipe I used only butter in the pastry, but this time I used half butter, half lard, and found the pastry turned out a little flakier – I like!  Of course you can just use butter if you wish.

What you need for the filling:

one recipe ricotta or one tub from the store

one egg

salt and pepper

What you need for the pastry:

2 & 1/4 cups flour

1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/4 cup lard (or use 1/4 cup more butter)

1 large egg

1/3 cup ice water

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1 egg for brushing on the pastry, mixed with a little water

What you do:

1.  To make the pastry, blend the cold butter and lard into the flour and salt with a pastry blender or your fingers (works best with colder hands).  Mix the egg, water and vinegar, and add them to the flour mixture.  Mix with a wooden spoon until combined, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

2.  Mix the ricotta, egg, and salt and pepper (to taste) with a fork.

3.  Have a little bowl of water handy for sealing the edges of the pastry.

4.  Sprinkle flour on your work surface and form the dough into disks, rolling out to about 1/2 cm thick.  Cut out circles with a large cookie cutter or the edge of a bowl.

5.  Fill the pastry with a tablespoon or so of ricotta.  Dab a little water around half of the edge of the pastry, then fold the pastry over and seal.

6.  Place the pastries on a baking sheet, which does not need to be greased.  Cut small slits in the tops of the pastries, then brush them with a little of the egg.

7. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

Let them cool slightly before serving.

Mom’s Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Truffles

For Christmas I received a huge bag of chocolate truffles – so yummy, but even after sharing, way too many to eat.  So I pulled out Mom’s old faithful chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe.  Growing up we didn’t have many sweets, but often we were lucky enough to get some of these.  Mom’s original recipe called for margarine, but I’ve used butter, which I’m sure she would also do nowadays.  These turn out crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside – the perfect oatmeal cookie, if you ask me. . . and my siblings, and all the neighbourhood kids from way back when.  Back then I thought it was unfair that the other kids always had Ding-dongs and Twinkies, but of course I now realize that I was the lucky one, to get home-baked cookies!

What you need:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 & 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup chopped chocolate truffles (or the old-school traditional, chocolate chips)

What you do:

1.  Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg until fluffy, then beat in the vanilla.

2.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and mix into the batter.

3.  Stir in the oats and nuts. (add chocolate chips now if you are using them)

4.  Drop be teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet.  Place a few pieces of truffle on top of each cookie.

5.  Bake at 350F for 12 minutes.

These keep well in an airtight container for a few days, or you can freeze them.  The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, and doubles easily if you need a bigger batch.

Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Having never tried snickerdoodles before, I was drawn to this particular recipe by the idea that they might taste eggnoggy.  It’s the nutmeg in the sugar coating and the addition of rum that gives them the eggnog flavour – there’s actually no eggnog in them.  They are easy to make, and you can vary the baking time depending on if you like them crispy or tender.  These aren’t a fancy cookie, but if you want something sweet and simple, then this one might be for you.

I got the recipe from A Whisk and a Spoon.  The original recipe called for extracts of rum and brandy, but I just used a little more of the real thing in my recipe.

What you need:

2 & 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 & 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons rum

2 large eggs

For the sugar coating:

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/4 cup sugar

What you do:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.  Cream the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs and beat well, then add the rum.

3.  Whisk the dry ingredients together in another bowl, then add them gradually to the butter mixture.

4.  Stir the nutmeg into the sugar in a small bowl.

5.  Scoop the dough with a teaspoon, then form into a ball by rolling between the palms of your hands.  Roll each ball in the sugar and place them on the pan, leaving a good amount of space between them so they don’t melt into each other as they bake.

6.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them.  I did 8 minutes, and they were fabulous the first day.  After that they got a little crunchy, so I would try 7 minutes next time.  Place the baked cookies on a wire rack to cool.  But definitely try one while they are still warm!

Chocolate Cocoa Nib and Pecan Biscotti

 

 

Desiring something a little more chocolatey I reworked my tried and true biscotti recipe to make these – they’re not too sweet, and they satisfy the cravings for chocolate.  If you’d rather not mess around with the dipping chocolate you could just add some semi-sweet chocolate chips into the batter instead.

What you need:

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups white flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup pecan pieces

2 tablespoons cocoa nibs

(3/4 cup semisweet chocolate optional)

For the chocolate coating:

3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

What to do:

1. Cream the butter, then add sugar, then eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy.  Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

4. Combine dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just incorporated.  Add the nuts and cocoa nibs and stir until just combined.

5. Divide the dough into two pieces.  With floured hands form into two logs on a baking sheet.  Bake at 325F for 25-30 minutes.

6. Slice the baked rolls diagonally and place on a baking sheet.  Lower the oven to 300F and bake for 10-15 minutes, until slighty browned.  Turn over and bake for another 10-15, until that side is also slightly browned.

7. Place on cooling racks to cool before you dip them.

8.  Using a double boiler, or just a bowl over a pot of water, bring the water to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer.  Place 2oz of the chocolate in the top of the double boiler, and stir from time to time until it melts completely.

9.  Take the chocolate off the heat and add the rest of the chocolate, stirring until it melts completely.  Return to the heat and stir until it is very liquidy again.  I use this method to temper the chocolate without a candy thermometer – tempering makes the chocolate firm when it cools, and gives it a shiny finish.

10.  Dip each biscotti into the chocolate and let it sit until the chocolate hardens.

Store the biscotti in an airtight container.  They last quite a while – well, they would last quite a while if people didn’t eat them all up!

Key Lime Cake

A tangy glaze and a slightly crisp crust on this new recipe are what makes me think I’ll definitely make it again.  Plus everyone else who ate it with afternoon tea took a piece home without being forced – a sure sign of a great cake!  It’s not a fancy cake, but for tea or coffee or a casual dessert cake it works great.

The recipe comes from All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray, from which I have gotten many amazing recipes over the last few years.

I had no key limes, so I used regular ones; lemons would work great too.

What you need:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 & 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon lime juice

zest of 1 lime

For the glaze:

1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (about 2 regular limes)

1 cup icing sugar

What you do:

1.  Prepare an 8-inch square or round pan by cutting a piece of parchment paper to fit into the bottom.

2.  Preheat the oven to 350F.

3.  Cream the butter, then gradually beat in the sugar.  One by one, beat in the eggs.

4.  Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk together.

5.  Add half of the dry ingredients, then half the cream.  Repeat with the flour and cream, then beat for about 2 minutes.

6.  Add the lime juice and zest, and beat for about 2 more minutes.

7.  Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Cover the cake with foil to avoid too much browning, and bake for 20 more minutes.  Insert a toothpick to see of the cake is done – I needed about 5 more minutes for mine.

8.  Let the cake sit in the pan to cool for about 10 minutes.  Then run a knife around the edge and invert the cake onto a cooling rack.  Invert one more time onto another rack so it is right-side-up.

9.  Combine the icing sugar and lime juice.  Poke holes in the cake with a toothpick or skewer.  Place the cooling rack on top of a plate to catch the drippings, and drizzle the glaze on top.  Use the glaze that drips onto the plate as well, as more will absorb if you pour it on again.

10.  Allow the cake to cool (I ate it slightly warm and it was so good).  You can sprinkle a little icing sugar on top so it’s pretty when you serve it, if you’ve had time to let it cool.  Enjoy!

Pistachio and Chorizo Bread

I wish I had gotten to posting this recipe earlier in the summer, because it makes a great picnic food.  It would be a great appetizer too, any time of year.  It’s pretty easy, impressive, and loved by many.   Feel free to add more or less of the chorizo, sun-dried tomatoes, chili powder and pistachios depending hon how much you like each of those ingredients.

I forgot to put the pistachios in when I made it, so I piled a few on top when I ate a slice.  This worked great because the nuts stayed crunchy.

This recipe comes from David Lebovitz’s blog.  I also recommend his book The Sweet Life in Paris for a taste of life in Paris and some good recipes.

What you need:

butter for greasing the pan

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, for the bottom of the pan

1 & 1/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chile powder

3 eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup plain yogurt

85 grams or so of chorizo sausage, diced (the kind that doesn’t need cooking)

8 or so sun-dried tomato halves, finely diced

3/4 cup unsalted pistachios (hard to find, but they are available at Trader Joe’s)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped (optional)

What you do:

1.  Grease a 9-inch loaf pan with some butter.  Toss the sesame seeds around in the pan until there is a layer of them over the bottom.  Preheat your oven to 350F.

2.  Mix the egg and yogurt together in a bowl.  Add the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt and chili powder.  Stir, being careful to mix only until just incorporated.

3.  Fold in the chorizo, tomatoes, nuts and parsley.  Pour into the loaf pan.

4.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, then let it sit in the pan for about 15 minutes after you’ve taken it out of the oven before removing it to cool on a rack.

When it’s cool you can cut it into thin slices to serve.  Wrap leftovers up tightly in plastic wrap; apparently it lasts a few days at room temperature.  Mine didn’t last the night, so I didn’t get to test that out.

Let me know how you like it!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I read a lot of recipes claiming to be the best before trying this one.  A few recipes involved refrigerating the dough for a day before baking, claiming this is the magic that will give you the best cookies.  I think they’re great, but then how can you go too wrong with chocolate and butter?

I go the recipe from words to eat by.

What you need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 large egg

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)

What you do:

1.  Cream the butter and sugars for several minutes, until creamy.  Add the vanilla and egg and beat briefly.

2.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and stir them in or mix on low.  Add the chocolate chips.

3.  To refrigerate the dough you have two options: roll it in plastic wrap like I did, then cut the log into disks when you’re ready to bake.  Or. . . you could refrigerate the dough in the bowl, then use a scooper to form the cookies.

4.  Line your baking trays with parchment, then place the cookie dough on the paper, leaving some room between them.

5.  Bake for 11-13 minutes at 350F, removing from the oven when they still look almost under-baked.  Pull the whole parchment paper, with cookies on top, onto your cooling racks so the cookies don’t sag between the spaces.

By the way, you don’t have to wait until they are cooled before you start eating them!

Sour Cherry, Almond, Chocolate and Lemon Zest Biscotti

This is a new take on my classic biscotti recipe.  I still stand by the need for chocolate and nuts, but I’ve added the lemon zest to freshen it up a bit, and I happened to have a bunch of dried sour cherries that worked perfectly with this recipe.  One recipient of these thought these were a better fit with tea than coffee.  I usually eat them on their own, as they aren’t the typical hard-to-bite biscotti that needs to be dipped.

What you need:

1/2 cup butter

zest of 1/2 lemon

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups + 2 tablespoons white flour

1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup dried sour cherries, cut in half

What you do:

1. Toast almond slivers in a dry frying pan until slightly browned, then allow them to cool.  They are easy to burn, so watch carefully.

2.  Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers to release the oils in the lemon.

3. Cream the butter, then add the lemon-zesty sugar and beat well.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy, then beat in  the vanilla and almond extracts.

4. Combine dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just incorporated.  Add chocolate, nuts and cherries and stir until just combined.

5. Divide the dough into two pieces.  With floured hands form into two logs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 325F for 25-30 minutes.

6. Slice the baked rolls diagonally and place cut-side down on a baking sheet.  Lower the oven to 300F and bake for 10-15 minutes, until slightly browned.  Turn over and bake for another 10-15, until that side is also slightly browned.

7. Place on cooling racks, then package in an airtight container.   They keep for quite a long time.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares with Peanut Butter Cups

Chocolate and peanut butter, a match made in heaven.  My first experience with it was probably eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as a kid at Halloween.  I can still remember the ad where two people bump into each other while roller skating, and somebody’s chocolate ends up in somebody’s peanut butter – and realize it’s a match made in heaven.

This recipe uses Rebar Restaurant’s peanut butter chocolate chip cookie cake, to which I added the mini peanut butter cups – to rave reviews of everyone who tried it.  A definite crowd pleaser, for those who like the peanut butter & chocolate combo.  Pretty easy to make too – the hardest part it unwrapping all those mini peanut butter cups!

What you need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup smooth natural peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup unbleached flour

1/2 baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

16 mini peanut butter cups

What you do:

1.  Grease an 8×8 pan and preheat the oven to 350F.  Cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.

2.  Add the oats, flour, baking soda and salt and stir well.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

3.  Spread into the pan and bake for 25 minutes.  When it comes out of the oven push the peanut butter cups into the squares.   You’ll probably want to let it cool before you cut it, as the peanut butter cups will be melty and messy.  You may not be able to wait though!