Baking Class: Upside Down Cobbler

Years ago I was visiting my brother in Houston and his girlfriend cooked dinner. I don’t remember much about the meal itself, but for dessert she served an upside down peach cobbler. I’m a fan of neither cobblers nor peaches but it blew me away. Enough for me to ask her for the recipe. She is long out of our lives but the cobbler has remained. You mix the dough and put it into the bottom of the dish and then you pour the fruit on top and the dough bakes up over the fruit. The original recipe uses canned pie filling but over the years I have adapted it for fresh or frozen fruit. It is easy to make and works with just about any fruit, especially blueberries and cherries and as you can see here, plums. A big bonus is that it’s not too sweet.

I originaly posted this recipe in July of 2009 but it is such a lovely dish that I decided to repost it again to give it a chance to get back into rotation. Give it a try. It's delicious!

Home Cookin v9.81 Chapter: My Recipes UPSIDE DOWN COBBLER 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp grape seed oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, sliced strawberries, or chopped plums, rhubarb, peaches or apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 300° F

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add grape seed oil and milk and whisk until smooth. Pour into a 1.5-quart or a 10 x 6-inch greased baking dish.

Place fruit, sugar and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil. Let the mixture  boil for about two minutes, then pour over the batter and place in the oven.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the cake is set and browned on the edges.

exported from Home Cookin v9.81

Baking Class: The Chocolate Cake

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  I got home from Wisconsin last weekend with very little food in the kitchen and was craving something sweet. I don’t really eat sweets these days and don’t keep many ingredients around.  What I did have was a container with extremely sour milk along with flour, sugar, butter and cocoa.  And an old family chocolate cake recipe that calls for sour milk (although we usually just make our own by adding vinegar to regular milk).

While it was in the oven I realized I did not have any confectioners sugar or milk to make icing and if I was going to the trouble to make a chocolate cake I wanted something on it. So I whipped up a quick batch of chocolate syrup and poured it over the top like a mirror glaze. It tasted delicious but the sauce gradually seeped deeper into the cake, making it sticky and difficult to eat. But it was just what I needed.

This is what it looks like with the proper icing. The milk for this one was made sour with vinegar as opposed to using sour milk, and you can see the difference in the crumb. Both are delicious, but it is just a touch better with actual sour milk. Enough so that I always let the last bit of milk go sour in my refrigerator just so I have it on hand when I want to make this cake.

You may wonder why it is called The Chocolate Cake. That is how it was always referred to when friends would ask us to make it. You can see the story behind it in this post from 2010.

Home Cookin v9.81 Chapter: Baked Goods (Sweet/Savory) THE CHOCOLATE CAKE 1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour milk (add 1 Tbsp vinegar to make it sour)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Icing:
1/2 stick softened butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup cocoa
1 to 2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
milk, as needed

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the milk, melted butter and vanilla and mix until just combined.

Pour into 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake pan. Bake on the middle rack for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

For the Icing:

Combine the butter, 1/4 cup of the cocoa, 1 cup of the confectioners sugar, the vanilla, and about two tablespoons of the milk in a medium size bowl and beat until well blended. Add more cocoa as needed for the flavor and more confectioner's sugar as needed to reach a spreadable consistency.

exported from Home Cookin v9.81

Nutmeg Cake with Cognac and Walnut Glaze

Things have been so crazy the past year that I have not been baking much other than bread, so on the rare occasions when I have baked I have tended to rely on old favorites with which I am comfortable and can whip out in a short amount of time.  However, I was invited to a birthday party and one of the two birthday celebrants was the woman who usually brings one of the cakes (yes, cakes - we take dessert very seriously) to our celebrations, so I volunteered to make one of the cakes this time.

Her cakes are always quite extraordinary, so I wanted to find a recipe that would do her justice.  It did not take me long to settle on this nutmeg cake, as I had been eyeing the recipe for a while and deeply regretted that I had missed the opportunity to make it for my spice group's nutmeg potluck.

While nutmeg is used to enhance many dishes, most recipes call for just a pinch.  This nutmeg cake uses four and a half teaspoons, which is one teaspoon more than a tablespoon. That is a lot of nutmeg, let me tell you.

But not too much.  The sour cream balances out the flavor and gives the cake a rich, moist texture.  The original recipe just has a stenciled powdered-sugar design on the top but I wanted something a little fancier for the occasion but I did not want to overpower the more subtle tones of the nutmeg, which I was afraid would be the case with frosting.  I thought a simple glaze would hit just the right note, and from there it was an easy step to add cognac and garnish with chopped walnuts to mirror the walnuts in the cake.

The end result was beautiful and delicious.  The cake was moist and rich and the glaze was the perfect topping for it.

If you are looking for something different  from the usual repertoire of cakes this one does the trick and is much easier to make than the end result would indicate, if you are looking to impress.  But the taste alone will accomplish that.

The one thing upon which I will insist is that you buy your nutmeg whole and grate it yourself.  There is no comparison in flavor between buying it already ground and grinding your own.  And no excuse for not doing so either, if you ask me.

Home Cookin Chapter: Baked Goods (Sweet/Savory)
NUTMEG CAKE WITH COGNAC AND WALNUT GLAZE Makes 8 to 10 servings

12 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed, plus more for pan
3 cups flour, plus more for pan
4-1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

For the glaze:
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp cognac
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts, for garnish

Heat oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan and set aside.

In a food processor combine flour, nutmeg, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until pea-size crumbs form.

Add brown sugar, sour cream, milk, and eggs and process until smooth. Add the walnuts and stir them into the batter.

Pour the batter into the springform pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Combine the sugar, water and cognac and mix well.  Add more sugar or water as needed to reach the desired consistency, which should be thick but should run smoothly from a spoon.  Drizzle the glaze over the cake and top with the chopped walnuts while the glaze is still warm.

from a Saveur recipe found at http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Nutmeg-Cake

exported from Home Cookin v.8.66 (www.mountain-software.com)

Pie Dough Cookies

My brother once told me that he had read somewhere that our brains have the habit of specifying the general in our memories. Often, when we remember something from our childhood that "happened all the time" or that we did "all the time," a deeper look will reveal that it actually only happened once.

My memory of pie dough cookies is the perfect example of this phenomenon. For years I had this memory of us kids making pie dough cookies from leftover scraps whenever our mother made pie. We would cut out different shapes, sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon, and have a nice little treat to tide us over until we could cut into the actual pie.

On one of my recent holiday visits home, my sister-in-law was making pecan tassies (basically a miniature pecan pie), and she had leftover pie dough, so we made pie dough cookies with them. I started to tell my story of how we always made pie dough cookies when we were kids, but something made me stop and go over my memories of how many times we actually did that.

And I came up with: once. I have one memory of making pie dough cookies in my mother's kitchen with my older sisters. We didn't do it all the time at all. Which, when I think about it, makes more sense, because my mother did not make all that many pies.

I was reminded of this peculiarity this weekend when I made strawberry rhubarb empanadas (yes, more on those later). After I had rolled out the dough and cut as many circles as I could (and as many as I could stand to fill, fold and crimp), I still had the last bits of dough from around the circles. So I cut them into "interesting" shapes, put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brushed them with the egg wash I used for the empanadas, and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. When my oven reached 350 deg. F. on its way to the 400 deg. F. I wanted for the empanadas, I put the pie dough pieces in the oven and let them bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until they were golden.

I had an ulterior motive for doing this. I was experimenting with the dough, using half all-purpose and half white whole wheat flour, so I was a little apprehensive whether or not it would work, and this was the perfect way for me to test it.

The result was quite satisfactory. The dough was a little more sturdy than regular pie crust, which makes it the perfect dough to hold up to empanadas and other hand-held pies. I was especially gratified to discover that it was still flaky, if not quite as tender and flaky as an all-purpose crust would be. For regular pies I will probably continue to use all-purpose flour, but for empanadas and cobblers this (slightly) healthier version will work beautifully.

Baking Class: Banana Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

I haven't posted about sweets lately, so I thought it was time I trotted out these lovely banana applesauce spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I am very proud of them, because I was able to successfully adapt a recipe without having the result explode in my oven. And they taste delicious, too!

I eat bananas on an almost daily basis. I try not to buy more at a time than I can eat before they over-ripen, but I am not always successful. When this happens, I usually will decide to let them go all the way, and then I will bake something with them.

Usually, it will be this banana bread recipe that has been in my family for ages. That that takes three bananas, and there was a recent occasion when I only had two bananas that were heading into over-ripe territory, so I looked around to see if I could find something that only used two. I was also looking for ways to use leftover applesauce from all of the granola I was making, so I combined the two and did some online searching.

And found a recipe for banana applesauce cake that called for two bananas. What luck! So I whipped up a cake, covered it with cream cheese frosting, and had a taste. And it was . . . just ok. It was not terrible, but it was not great. I took it into work with me and the feedback I got matched my experience - good, but not great. It had potential, though, so I upped the spices and tweaked the rest of the ingredients and tried it again.

I made cupcakes this time, and I was delighted with the results. They were moist and spicy, and full of flavor. I have been going lighter with the sugar on the cream cheese frosting and it contrasted beautifully with the sweetness of the cupcake.

They were a big success at work, too. I have already made them again.

A cautionary note: because I have been going lighter on the sugar in the frosting, it does not set as firmly as regular frosting does. If you are going to transport them, be sure there is plenty of room between the frosting and the top of the container, or you will mash them down and end up with more frosting on the bottom side of the lid than you will have on the cupcakes themselves.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

BANANA APPLESAUCE SPICE CUPCAKES
Makes 18-20 cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups white whole wheat or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 over-ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 Tbsp milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Cream Cheese Icing:

8-oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
Approximately 1 cup of confectioner's sugar, or to taste

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Line a cupcake pan with paper holders.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and sift into the creamed butter, sugar and eggs. Mix well.

Add the bananas, applesauce, milk and spices and beat for another minute or so to combine all of the ingredients.

Spoon the batter into each cupcake liner, about three-fourths full. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool before icing.

For the icing:

Cream the butter and cream cheese until it is fluffy (a hand mixer is not necessary, but definitely makes it easier). Add vanilla and beat well. Add the confectioner's sugar, a 1/4 of a cup at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency and sweetness. The original recipe calls for a 1-lb. box of sugar, but I have used as little as a cup.

Using a table knife or a small spatula, spread the icing in a circular motion over each cupcake, lifting up from the center at the end to create a swirl effect.

inspired by a recipe found on Chris and Nic's Recipes.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Blueberry Tease

Blueberries are abundant in Chicago right now, and I find myself buying a couple of pints once a week. They have been delicious in yogurt with strawberries, and I have made my new favorite blueberry buttermilk cake a couple of times, but I have been looking for something new.

What you see above is my first attempt at blueberry pie. It was not bad, although there are definitely some adjustments that need to be made.

Once I have made them, and come up with a winner, I will share with you what I did, something that tastes as good as I think this one looks.

Baking Class: Buttermilk Pie with Almond Meal Crust

I was recently gifted with a package of Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour, and I have been looking for ways to use it. I decided to start small, and went with substituting one fourth of a cup of it for an equal amount of the flour in what has become my go to pie crust for a buttermilk pie.

With so-so results. It wasn't bad, but I couldn't really taste the almond, and the crust did not brown as much as it usually does. It also didn't hold it's shape as well when I cut into it, but that might be because I couldn't wait for it to cool all the way before I cut into it. The piece I cut the next day, after it had been in the refrigerator overnight, held it's shape beautifully.

The pie itself was perfect, as you can see. The filling was smooth and creamy and not too sweet. I think this is how the buttermilk part is supposed to be, and not nearly as dark as the previous one.

I guess my main problem with the pie crust is that it did not really brown. It tasted all right, but all right is not usually what I am looking for in a pie.

I think the crust might have browned more if I had toasted the almond meal before adding it to the flour, and it might have added more almond flavor. I think I will also reduce the butter next time. The almonds add their own fat, and it was actually a little too rich for me.

I have it in mind this would make an intriguing apple pie. I will get back to you.

Baking Class: Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake recipe has been in my family for years. I don't know from whom my mother got it, but it's the first cake I remember eating. I'm pretty sure it didn't come from my grandmother, because her signature cake was a yellow cake filled with jelly and covered with chocolate frosting. That was a cake I actually liked, but I think I was the only one. Everyone else in my family was grossed out by the jelly filling, which was a pretty common thing back in my grandmother's day.

Wherever my mother got it, the chocolate cake became THE cake for every family celebration (except for my younger brother and me, but that's a different story). Rich and filled with an intense chocolate flavor, it is one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever eaten.

In those days, women usually had one or two recipes that they did not share. It was the recipes that were show-stoppers, dishes that defined them, made them special. For my mother, it was this chocolate cake recipe. She guarded it carefully, and as each of my sisters and I came of age to make it ourselves, we had to promise not to share it with anyone else.

And I never did. And friends would ask. They would be disappointed when I wouldn't give them the recipe, but they understood. The only exception my mother made was for my friend Mary, who wrote her the most lovely letter begging for the recipe and promising not to give it to anyone else. That is the only time that I know of that my mother allowed the recipe outside of the family. She even balked at giving it to my sister-in-law, although she finally did in the end.

The original recipe was for a single layer, and is actually quite similar to the chocolate cake recipe I found in Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking and wrote about here. There's also a version of this cake that I found in James Beard's American Home Cookery. I'm pretty sure they are all variations of the same cake.

When my sister and I first decided to make the cake, we followed the recipe diligently, but the layers came out thin and barely rose. It tasted good, but just wasn't big enough. Same problem with the second attempt, at which time my mother said, "You doubled it, right?" and we said "What?" It turns out she had been doubling the recipe for so long that she didn't even think about it, so didn't mention it to us.

And then there was my whole wheat phase, which produced the heaviest brick of I don't even know what that swallowed up all of the chocolate and sugar and tasted worse than carob. I only made that mistake once.

I don't make it as often as I used to, since I moved away from home and family. But whenever the opportunity arises, I will whip it up for a birthday or other special occasion. My mother always made a layer cake with the recipe. I found that a sheet cake traveled better, and it also makes lovely cupcakes, which are excellent for Halloween with orange icing.

But I will always think of it as our family birthday cake. Which is why I baked it today. Happy Birthday, Anne.

CHOCOLATE CAKE3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sour milk, or regular milk with 2 Tbsp vinegar (let stand for a few minutes)
2/3 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla

Sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, either with a hand beater or by hand. Pour into a greased 9 x 12-inch sheet pan. Bake 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

If desired, you can pour the batter about halfway up two greased 9-inch cake pans, and use the rest to make 6 cupcakes, and make a layer cake. Or, you can make cupcakes (about 24), in which case check them after 20 minutes as they will cook faster than the cake.

CHOCOLATE ICINGOne stick softened butter
Powdered sugar (approximately a 1 lb box)
Cocoa (approximately 1/3-1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
milk

Place the butter in a large bowl to soften. When soft, add about a cup of powdered sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa, vanilla, and a few tablespoons of milk. Mix well and check for consistency and taste. Add powdered sugar, cocoa, and/or milk as needed to reach the desired consistency. It should be fairly thick, but spreadable.

Baking Class: Streusel Cake

For anyone out there who knows me, it should come as no surprise that I have not been doing much in the kitchen while it's so hot and humid here in the Windy City. Much as I love to cook, I love my comfort more. You won't see me sweating over a hot stove unless I can cool off the minute I walk away from it.

Our summers are usually mild enough, though, that I can get some good cooking and baking days in and around the heat. But this summer it feels like it slammed up into the 90s early in June and hasn't looked back. Even my friends who love summer are complaining. And if they're complaining, you can imagine my comments on the subject.

I am managing to do some cooking, but it's sporadic and minimal stove top, with lots of salads and raw vegetables. I finally found a brand of peanut butter that isn't too terrible (but it's no Valencia Peanut Butter) and I'm :gasp: buying bread, but I am managing to survive without resorting to take-out or delivery. (Not that I'm not taking advantage of that option, but only twice so far, which I think is pretty good.) I have even started a post about things to make when it's too hot to cook, but I don't even feel like writing in this heat.

I am jonesing to get back into the kitchen. Last weekend it almost felt cool enough to make pasta. I am dreaming about pizza dough and biscuits. I have a bunch of beautiful red onions a friend gave me from her CSA basket while she is out of town and I so want to make an onion tart!

But that will have to wait. This heat can't last forever, can it?

In the meantime, I will share with you the last thing I did bake before it got so hot. I believe my earliest cake memory is this streusel cake that my mother made often when I was young. I believe it was my grandmother's recipe. I have nothing but a vague memory to back that up, but I'm pretty sure I'm right, especially since there's no chocolate in it so I don't think my mother would have made this without having already been exposed to it. She would make it to offer to friends when they could come over for a visit over a cup of coffee.

I remember I really liked it when I was young. The cake itself was nothing special, but ooh that streusel topping! Sweet and nutty, with a hint cinnamon to warm it up, it was just as good with milk as I'm sure it was with coffee.

I've only made it a few times myself, and it had been a while since the last time I had made it. I was struck by how similar the cake batter is to biscuits, now that I've been making those on a regular bases (or had been making them, before this godawful heat). Take out the sugar and vanilla, and you have the makings of biscuit dough. I don't know why that tickles me, but it does.

But you will not feel like you're eating biscuits when you take a bite of this cake. It is sturdy, which makes it the perfect companion for a nice cup of hot coffee or glass of cold milk, either of which literally make the streusel topping melt in your mouth.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cakes and Pies

STREUSEL CAKE
1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Streusel mixture:

2 Tbsp melted butter, cooled but still liquid
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch rectangular cake pan.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the dry mixture with a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers.

Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir just enough to mix. Pour into greased pan.

Combine all of the ingredients for the streusel mixture in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the cake mixture.

Bake at 350 deg. F for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

I love fancy desserts as much as the next person, but sometimes I just want a piece of cake. A nice piece of yellow cake with chocolate frosting can be the perfect dessert. Add a cup of ice-cold milk and it is the perfect dessert.

I had a standby recipe, but it has been a long time since I have made this cake and I have no idea where the recipe has gone. It isn't in any of my older notebooks or recipe boxes, and it was harder than you would think to find a replacement.

I had a different recipe in one of my notebooks, a recipe that called for quite a bit of butter, but it actually came out dry. If you're going to use that much butter, you have the right to expect a moist, rich cake. I won't be using that recipe again.

I did some more searching, and finally decided to try a recipe I found at baking.about.com. It is a simple recipe, easy to follow, and it came out moist and delicious. The chocolate icing is from an old family recipe.

I made this for our end-of-month lunch at work. Everyone seemed to like it, as evidenced by how quickly it disappeared.

This would make a lovely dessert for a barbecue or a picnic in the park. It travels well and pairs nicely with ice cream.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cakes and Pies

BASIC YELLOW CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and mix briskly with a whisk.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, adding them one at a time. Add the vanilla and mix well. Slowly add the flour mixture and the milk, alternating between the two, starting and ending with the flour mixture. The batter should be smooth by the time all of the dry and wet ingredients have been incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan. Lift it up and let it drop against the counter once or twice, to release any air bubbles. Smooth the top with a spatula until it is even.

Bake at 350 deg. F. for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For a layer cake, divide batter between two 9-inch greased baking pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then invert cakes onto a plate. Let cool completely before layering and icing.

adapted from http://baking.about.com/od/cakes/r/basicyellow.htm

Exported from Home Cookin 6.45 (www.mountain-software.com)

CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
confectioners sugar
cocoa
milk

Notes: The butter and vanilla are the only constants in this frosting recipe. The rest of the ingredients are added gradually until the desired taste and consistency is achieved. A hand mixer is not necessary, but it does make it easier. Use a wooden spoon and mix vigorously.

In a medium bowl with the softened butter, add 3/4 cup of the confectioners sugar, 2 tablespoons of the cocoa, about 2 tablespoons of milk, and the vanilla. With a hand mixer, beat together at medium-high speed until they ingerdients come together. The mixture should be thick, but not too dry. Add confectioners sugar, cocoa and milk in small amounts, mixing and tasting each time, until the frosting reaches the desired flavor and consistency.

Can be used immediately on a completely cooled cake. Let the frosting set before covering up the cake. If not using immediately, cover the frosting with plastic wrap so it doesn't set in the bowl. Can be frozen and used at a later time.

Baking Class: Buttermilk Pie (A Taste of Two Pies)

Buttermilk pie is popular in the South, especially in Texas. It is similar to chess pie; the main difference being that the vinegar is replaced with buttermilk. There are as many variations for this pie as well.

When I first decided to make buttermilk pie and started looking up recipes, one thing I saw over and over was how sweet it was. I even found a recipe that had a less sweet alternative. With all of those warnings, I decided it might be wise to start with the less sweet version.

To make the less sweet version, according to the recipe I chose, you simply add an egg and half a cup of buttermilk. Since nothing was removed, it was a lot of filling for my standard 9-inch pie crust. I might have cooked it a little too long because I was worried that it might not set, but it was also slightly curdled in texture, and not at all smooth like it should have been.

And it was not sweet. Hardly at all.

So I decided to bite the bullet and make the sweeter version. It came out smooth and silky. And it was sweet, yes. But not terribly sweet.

All I can say is this: Anyone who thinks that buttermilk pie is too sweet hasn't tasted chess pie. It's not nearly as sweet as that.

It's a good pie. The buttermilk adds a slightly tart creaminess to counterbalance the sweetness. I will most likely make it again.

But not nearly as often as I will make the tooth-achingly sweet chess pie.

BUTTERMILK PIE

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 unbaked 9-inch pate brisee

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F.

Put sugar and flour into a small bowl and whisk together.

Beat eggs lightly. Add the sugar and flour and the melted butter and mix well with a whisk or a large wooden spoon. Add the buttermilk and the vanilla and whisk it in.

Dust the unbaked pie shell with a scant teaspoon of flour. Pour the batter into the shell. Sprinkle another scant teaspoon of flour on top.

Bake for about one hour, until a knife inserted into the custard comes out clean.

adapted from Country Cooking, by the editors of Southern Living magazine (Galahad Books, 1974), as related by Natalie Y. Moore in this NPR article.

Baking Class: Sweet Potato Empanadas

I first encountered empanadas in a panaderia down in Nuevo Laredo on one of my regular weekend trips back in the '70s. They reminded me vaguely of Hostess Brand fried pies, except they were filled with a sweet potato mixture that was tasty and exotic, and they weren't as greasy. I was never a big fan of the pan dulce, but I sure did like those empanadas.

I always had the vague idea that it would be nice to make them, but the big bad piecrust kept me from making the attempt. Every once in a while I would wistfully imagine eating one, but never enough to do anything about it.

Once I started practicing on my pie crusts, the idea of making empanadas came back into my thoughts. And once I felt comfortable enough making pies, I decided it was time to try.

For my first effort, I just used the pate brisee recipe I found at Elise's Simply Recipes. While not bad, it was not optimum. Oddly enough, it was a little too flaky for the purpose, and I didn't crimp the edges of the dough together enough so the filling seeped out some while they were baking. Luckily, it did not make a mess, but I realized I needed to find a dough that was sturdier than the delicate pie crust which I had grown accustomed to making.

A brief internet search led me to a recipe that looked easy enough, so I went to work.

I love that you can make pastry dough in the food processor. It's funny, but I only use it for pastry dough. I mix my biscuit dough by hand. It gives me more control I think, and keeps the biscuits more tender.

But for pastry dough it's the food processor all the way. I have always heard that you should process the dough until it forms a ball, and guess what? That's exactly what it does. Its like boiling water - you will know when it's ready. From here on out, it's just like the Pate Brisee - you divide it in half, let it chill, then roll it out.

For the filling, I roasted some sweet potatoes and mashed them up with some raspberry syrup and chipotle sauce. I didn't worry that I made a lot more of the mixture than I needed. I just threw what was left into a pot, added some vegetable broth, gave it a quick blast with the hand blender, and enjoyed some killer sweet potato soup.




After I rolled out the first disk, I cut approximately three-and-a-half-inch diameter circles using my super duper cookie cutter. It was easy to make; I just used the can opener to remove the bottom of can. It's the perfect width. And it pairs quite nicely with the 14-oz. coconut milk can I use to cut out my flaky buttermilk biscuits.




After I cut out the circles, I stack them two at a time between wax paper. Then I put them in the refrigerator for at least half an hour, so they would get nice and cold. As with all things pastry, you don't want the dough to get too warm or the butter will soften into the dough and it won't be flaky when you bake it. Did I mention that this is a time-consuming process?




To make the empanadas, you separate an egg and use the egg white to help seal the ends of the dough together. You brush it around the edge of the circle, then put a tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture in the center. You want to be sure not to use too much filling. You have to be able to close the dough completely over the filling, without any leaking out. With a loose filling like mashed sweet potatoes, you have to be especially careful because it squishes so easily it seeps out before you even know it.

One trick to keep it from coming out is to close the dough over the filling and then start squeezing the ends together after it's already closed. You can see it better if you click on the picture - you want to smush the two edges together and stretch them out a little. That will make it easier to crimp the edges together.




Once the edges are sealed pick up the pastry and hold it in one hand. Using the other hand and starting at one end, fold the edge over itself and press firmly, and then fold the edge right next to it so it overlaps and press that firmly as well. Continue all the way around the edge until the whole side is completely sealed in on itself.

If you've done it right, the filling won't come out while it's in the oven.


And here they are all rolled and ready to go. Well, almost. Remember I mentioned that this is a lengthy process? After they're all rolled, you want to brush them with an egg yolk (the one you separated from the white you were using to seal the edges when you were putting them together) mixed with milk. Then you pierce them with a knife and put them in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Why do you do this? I don't know. But the first recipe I looked at said to do that, so I did. I'm thinking it must have something to do with letting the butter chill up again before you put them in the oven. And 30 minutes is how long it takes for the oven to preheat, so I turn on the oven at the same time I put them in the refrigerator.

And this is how they look fresh out of the oven. It always amazes me how pretty they look. Of all the new things I have made this year, I think I am proudest of these. I have since made them with different meat and potato fillings, and they have all been amazingly delicious.

Are they time consuming and a lot of work? Well, yes. Are they worth it? Hell yes!

Home Cookin Chapter: Cakes and Pies

SWEET POTATO EMPANADAS

Makes 16-18 large or 24-30 small empanadas

Basic empanada dough (recipe follows)
1 large sweet potato
2 Tbsp raspberry syrup, maple syrup, or orange juice
2 Tbsp brown sugar (if using orange juice)
1 Tbsp adobo sauce
1 chipotle, finely chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, separated

Wash the sweet potato and pierce it in several places with a fork. Roast it in a 350 deg. F. oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until it is soft. Let cool. Peel it and mash it with the syrup, adobo sauce and chipotle. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Roll out the emapanada dough and cut into either 3-1/2" rounds or 2" rounds (for appetizers). Put them in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes (or as long as 24 hours) to let the butter re-chill.

Remove the rounds from the refrigerator and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. If using the larger rounds, place 1 tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture in the center of each round (use 1 teaspoo if you are making the appetizer size). Brush the egg white around the edge of the circle and fold the dough over, being sure that none of the mixture escapes out from between the two layers of dough.

Fold the edge of the dough over itself and press firmly to seal it, repeating all the way around the half circle until the piece is completely sealed from side to side. Place on the baking sheet, leaving an inch between each empanada. Continue until all the rounds have been filled and sealed. Brush each empanada with a mixture of the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of milk, then pierce each one twice with a sharp knife.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F. Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator and chill for half an hour. Bake the empanadas for approximately 30 minutes, until they are golden brown.

These can be eaten warm or at room temperature. If you store them in the refrigerator, they are best reheated in a 350-deg. F. oven for 10 minutes.

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Home Cookin Chapter: Cakes and Pies

BASIC EMPANADA DOUGH

makes 16-18 large or 24-30 small empanadas

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cups butter (1-1/2 sticks), cut into 1/2" pieces
1 egg
4 to 5 tablespoons water

Combine flour and salt in food processor and pulse to mix them
together. Add butter, egg and water and pulse together just until the
mixture begins to form a ball.

Dump the mixture onto a well-floured surface and knead just until it
comes together. Divide in half and form two disks. Coat disks with
flour and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to
2 days.

Remove from refrigerator and let sit for 10 minutes, to make rolling
easier. Roll out to desired thickness, then cut into desired size to
make with desired filling. Baking instructions will vary with each
empanada recipe.

from: Laylita's Recipes

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Jack Robinson Cake

Jack Robinson cake has been in our family for as long as I can remember. My mother made it maybe once or twice during my childhood. It's not chocolate, so it was not high on her list of dessert priorities.

I like chocolate as much as the next person, but it is not the only thing I like. Oddly enough, I'm not that crazy about most chocolate cakes, or chocolate ice cream. There's something about those vehicles that dilutes the effect of the chocolate for me. A good vanilla ice cream is dense, thick and rich to me. With chocolate ice cream, the cream and the chocolate balance out too well. It's the same thing with cake. The other ingredients balance out the chocolate, so it is not rich enough by itself and the other flavors don't have a chance to compete. There is one exception, I do have a killer chocolate cake recipe that has also been in the family for as long as I can remember. It's a secret for now and it's not my recipe, so I can't share it.

I do not know from where my mother got the recipe for Jack Robinson Cake. I do have a vague memory of it being called that because you can make it faster than you can say "Jack Robinson." I did not find much when I went looking on the internet, but one other person who posted the recipe said it was named for this reason, so I did not totally pull that out of thin air. I will say that it is not that fast a recipe to put together, and I could definitely not make it faster than anyone can say "Jack Robinson."

Another person who posted the recipe said it was given to her when she got married in the mid '50s, so the recipe is as old as I remember it being. It's posted on foodnetwork.com.uk, and I even found someone who posted in French. But none of the postings have attributes, so I didn't uncover any other hints as to its origin.

Wherever it came from, it's delicious. It's basically a white cake that's covered with a brown-sugar meringue and baked for about half an hour. The meringue forms a sweet, nutty, slightly chewy crust on top of the cake. The brown sugar gives the meringue a toasty, caramelly warmth. It's a little on the light side, which makes it the perfect ending to a rich, heavy meal. I made it for my Thanksgiving dinner, and it hit the perfect end note.

You might not be able to whip it up faster than anyone can say "Jack Robinson," but don't let that stop you from trying. While it's not fast, it is easy, and it's a crowd pleaser.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cakes and Pies

JACK ROBINSON CAKE

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/2 butter, room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add butter, milk and vanilla. Beat on low for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and beat for one more minute. Pour into 8-1/2 x 13-1/2 x 2" pan.

TOPPING:

2 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add brown sugar gradually and beat well. Spread mixture on top of the cake batter, then sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.

Bake at 350 deg. F for 35 minutes.

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Chocolate Chess Pie

I'm still playing with pie crust. I didn't feel like putting too much effort into the filling, and I didn't want to go to the grocery store, so I was trying to make do with what I already had on hand. Chess pie is one of the easiest pies to make, and the ingredients are simple and I almost always have them on hand. But I still wanted to do something different, even if it was just one tiny little thing.

I've seen references to a chocolate chess pie, but hard as it is to believe, I've never had one before. I decided it was time to rectify the situation and started looking around for recipes. I mainly wanted to know how much chocolate I should add, and whether or not I had to adjust any of the other ingredients to accommodate it. Since there are as many different recipes for chess pie as there are people making it, I mainly just looked to see if there was a discernible difference between those that had chocolate and those that didn't. I didn't see anything to indicate that I should change any other ingredients, so I simply added 3 tablespoons of cocoa to the mix.

The result was even more spectacular than I had imagined it could be. Not long after I put the pie in the oven the rich, heavy aroma of baking chocolate filled the apartment so I was pretty sure it would have enough of a chocolate flavor, which was one of my concerns. I must admit to peeking into the oven about halfway through. If it was going to be a total disaster I wanted a little warning.

But it looked fine. The only difference I could see was that it was forming a much thicker top crust than I am used to seeing with the regular chess pie. But that seemed like a good thing to me; at least it looked like it would be good. After I looked, it was hard to wait until the pie was done.

And then I had to let it cool before I could taste it. That was some agony, let me tell you. It did fall in the center while it was cooling - that whole round center piece dropped a ways down, but I could see the lovely chocolate-y filling just below it so I was sure it would be just fine.

When it had finally cooled, I cut a piece and grabbed a fork. The top crust was rich and had some of that consistency that a well-baked brownie top will have. The custard was thicker than a regular chess pie, and less sweet with the cocoa, which is not a bad thing in my book. And it was definitely chocolate. And then there was just that little bitty hint of super-sweet chess-pie goodness right at the end.

The crust was not as successful. It was really tough on the bottom. Too tough to cut with a fork. I think that's because I didn't roll it out quite enough the first time so I took it out of the pie pan and rolled it out a little more. They really don't like to be overworked, that's for sure.

But it tasted fine, and there's nothing wrong with picking up a piece of pie and eating it right out of your hand, right?

For the recipe, go here and just add 3 tablespoons of cocoa to the filling.

Onion and Potato Galette

I have been playing with pastry. There are certain skills I never got around to developing in my years in the kitchen, and pie crust is one of them. There was a certain level of fear involved, I am ashamed to say. I don't know why I have been so afraid of such a simple thing. I suppose it's partly because so much pride is attached to a tender, flaky crust. The other part has to do with something that is unusual for me. I am usually quite adept at all things physical, so it came as something of a shock to me to discover that I could not perform the simple task of rolling out a pie crust. Or, to be more precise, I could not roll the pie crust out into anything resembling a circle.

Something I have been learning in the kitchen over the past few years is this: If you want to learn a new technique, you simply have to do it. And do it again. And again. And . . . well, you get the picture. I first discovered this simple secret when I was trying to learn how to knit. At first I was all thumbs and tangled yarn, but as I persevered I began to be able to see the structure of the stitches, and once I could see that there was nothing I couldn't do.

It's much the same in the kitchen. Of course your first attempt at something new will be less than stellar (unless you encounter that wonderful occurrence known as beginner's luck, and it does happen). But the next time you make the attempt you will have a little more knowledge than you had before, and you will be able to make adjustments based on that knowledge, and you will get a better result. And each time you try, you get better at making those adjustments until before you know it you are turning out a consistent, nearly-perfect product each and every time.

This is related to my other newly-discovered Law of Three. That applies to a new recipe; when learning a new technique it can take more than three tries, for me at any rate. It took about eight times for me to get comfortable with pizza dough. By now I've made at least ten crusts, and I'm just now beginning to feel like I've got it.

Earlier this summer, my friend Nicole, who had been in Washington state for quite some time, finally came home, and brought me a lovely gift of some bona fide original Walla Walla onions. They were big and round and absolutely beautiful. As I was working on my piecrust, I had already experimented with an onion tart or two, with mild success. None of them had gone anywhere interesting enough for me to share them here, but I felt that I had enough information to make something that would really bring out the sweetness of those beautiful Walla Wallas.

And I was pleased with the outcome. Rather than baking it in a pie pan, I decided it would have more rustic charm as a galette. I was going to link to the Wikipedia definition, but it appears that Wikipedia's definition is either a crumbly cake or a buckwheat crepe. I have seen the term widely-used, at least in this country, to describe a rustic free-form pie cooked on a baking sheet rather than in a pie pan, so I am going with that and am calling this a galette regardless of what Wikipedia says it is.

I wanted the onions and the potatoes to be the stars of this dish, so other than salt and pepper I did not use any other spices. It was a wise decision. The flavor of the sweet onions is subtle, and just manages to hold its own with the toastiness of the browned potatoes. Any other spices or herbs would just have gotten in the way.

And the crust came out beautifully, too. Flaky, buttery, rich and tender. Yum! I really love the free-form style of the galette.

This is not a light dish. It's best saved for special occasions. Or when you are lucky enough to have some Walla Walla onions on hand. Hey - if you happen to find yourself in that neck of the woods, pick some up for me, will you?

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

ONION AND POTATO GALETTE

Makes 6 servings

1 single crust pate brisee
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large Walla Walla or sweet Spanish onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp buttermilk or heavy cream

Prepare pate brisee. Dust with flour, form a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator while working on the onions and potatoes.

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until they have caramelized and turned a rich, deep brown. This will take about 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

In same skillet, adding more oil if necessary, leave the heat on medium-high and add the cubed potatoes. Season liberally with the salt and pepper. Cook over the low heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are well browned and almost tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Take the pate brisee out of the refrigerator and let it sit for 10 minutes. Roll it out into a 9-to-10-inch circle and lay it on a baking sheet. Place the onions in the middle of the circle, leaving a good two inches of the dough free. Top with the potatoes. Fold the outside of the dough up over the potatoes and onions, crimping as necessary and leaving a good six inches or so of the center uncovered. Using a pastry brush, spread the buttermilk or cream lightly over the pie dough.

Bake for 50 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Let sit for ten to fifteen minutes before serving.

8/3/09

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

I have been baking with a lot of fruit this summer. It is not something I usually do, but I have been enjoying it immensely. Maybe it's because I'm baking more in general, so it is only natural that fruit would find it's way into the batter, given how bountiful it has been.

I stumbled across this recipe in the June issue of Gourmet magazine. It was the buttermilk that caused me to tear the page out of the magazine and stick it on my big old recipe pile. For some reason I am fascinated with buttermilk. I didn't grow up with it, although I do have at least one memory of my father chugging down a nice cold glass of it. It looked nice and refreshing, but I have since taken a taste of it straight out of the carton and I can tell you that refreshing is not the word I would use. Tart? Yes. Thick? Yes. Refreshing? Not so much.

But I love to cook with it. I have finally found a buttermilk pancake recipe that is within a stone's throw of perfect. I am thinking of making my flaky biscuits flaky buttermilk biscuits. I have used it to moisten my potato and onion galettes (of which more later).

And add two tablespoons of it to a cup of heavy cream, let it sit out for a few hours until it has thickened, and you have creme fraiche, which has certainly made my life a better place.

But in this instance, buttermilk gives you a rich, moist, delicate cake that has a light crumbly texture and almost melts in your mouth. The original recipe calls for raspberries, but blueberries are so abundant and inexpensive around here right now (at least at the grocery store - they're more than twice as much at the green market I am sorry to say), that I have been using them in all kinds of recipes that call for other fruits.

And it works beautifully in this recipe.

I healthied up this recipe by using half white whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. It stayed light and moist, but there was just the slightest hint of backbone that in my opinion held up quite well against the blueberries.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cakes and Pies

BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE

Serves 8

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1-1/2 Tbsp large-crystal decorative sugar (can substitute regular sugar)

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. with the rack in the middle, then butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together the first five ingredients, then set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugar with the hand beater on medium high. Add the vanilla and mix it in. Next add the egg, making sure to beat it in completely.

With the beater on the lowest setting, add a third of the flour mixture and just beat it in. Add half of the buttermilk and just beat that in. Repeat with another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermkilk, and the rest of the flour, beating just enough to mix it in after each addition.

Spoon the batter into the cake pan. Smooth the top, then spread the blueberries over the batter.

Sprinkle the large-crystal decorative sugar evenly over the top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake is golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and let it cool another 15 minutes or so more.

Invert onto a plate before serving.

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, June 2009 issue

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Blueberry Muffins

Blueberries are in season, and are ridiculously cheap at my local grocery store, so I have been buying quite a few of them. There's only so much cobbler a gal can make, and I don't always have yogurt on hand (which is actually one of my favorite ways to eat them - sprinkled on top of French Vanilla yogurt), so I needed to find some new uses.

My sister suggested that I look into cookies, but I'm not sure the berries can hold up to a cookie. Maybe a bar of some kind? Oooh, I think I have just given myself an idea or two. I'll have to work on those.

In the meantime, I remembered a recipe for blueberry muffins that I made once or twice from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. Not really being a muffin lover, I find it interesting that I thought of these, having so recently made the strawberry yogurt muffins, but my memory of this recipe is that I'm always surprised by how good the muffins are. They are sweeter than I remember, and the blueberry really shines. They're not humongous like the ones you get in coffee shops, so there's less guilt in eating one.

These days I'm all about playing around with recipes, and adapting what I've learned from one recipe to another, so I made a couple of changes to this recipe as well. Nothing major, but I think they are improved. I added lemon, and sprinkled decorative sugar crystals on top before baking (something I've been wanting to do for a while in my baking but keep forgetting until after the batter is alread in the oven). I also tossed the blueberries in flour before adding them to the batter, which helped keep them suspended in the batter rather than settling at the bottom of the muffin. One good thing I learned from watching The Food Network.

I used all-purpose flour for this recipe, but I think it could easily be adapted to at least half and half all-purpose and whole wheat flours. Now that there's the softer white whole wheat flour available, I think the shift to whole wheat can be made without sacrificing texture or flavor. It's still not as fine as all-purpose flour, but it's definitely softer than regular whole wheat.

I don't know if it's because we've had such a relatively cool, wet season, but the blueberries seem a little more tart this year. That tartness balances well with the sweetness of this batter. These muffins are easy to make and disappear quickly. There are few better ways to use the season's bounty.

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Makes 12 muffins

2 cup flour, with 1/4 cup reserved
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup blueberries
large decorative sugar crystals (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 deg.

Grease muffin tin (or insert a paper wrapper in each muffin cup).

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine the reserved cup of flour and the blueberries, and gently stir to coat all of the blueberries. Shake off the extra flour into the bowl of dried ingredients.

In a small bowl, beat the egg slightly, then stir in the milk and oil. Add to the flour mixture, along with the flour coated bluegerries, and stir until just moistened.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle the sugar on top of each muffin.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the muffin tin and let cool on a rack.

Adapted from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, edited by Zoe Coulson (Hearst Books, 1980)

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Melt-in-Your-Mouth Strawberry Muffins

Every once in a while I fall victim to package recipes. Like I don't have enough untested recipes from cookbooks, magazines, newspapers and what I find online, right? But sometimes the timing is just right.

I opened a newly-purchased container of Stonyfield Farm Organic French Vanilla Yogurt and found a recipe for strawberry muffins on the foil covering under the lid. It was the middle of strawberry season and I had a fresh pint of strawberries on hand, and I've been in a baking frenzy the past few months, so I decided to make them.

I must first confess, however, that I am not much of a muffin person. I'm not totally sure what purpose they serve. They're too sweet to serve as a breakfast bread, but not sweet enough for dessert. The muffins that are sold in bakeries and coffee shops are huge, and if I'm going to splurge on something that decadently unhealthy I'm going to go all the way and have a brownie or a lemon bar.

But once in a blue moon I get the urge to make them. Every couple of years I will sacrifice some fresh blueberries for a batch. And I do enjoy them once I've made them.

And I did enjoy these. They're not too sweet, and they are certainly moist. I think I may have mixed the batter a little too much because they were a little tough, but I can't blame that on the recipe, much as I'd like to.

My only criticism of this recipe is that there isn't enough strawberry in it. A cup of chopped fresh strawberries isn't enough to flavor the amount of batter. The next time I make them, I will keep the cup of chopped strawberries, but maybe replace some of the yogurt with pureed strawberries so the flavor will permeate through all of the batter.

If you like muffins, you should definitely make these. And even if you don't especially like them, these strawberry muffins are pretty good. I will definitely make them again. After I ate a couple, I put the rest in a zippered plastic bag and threw them in the freezer. They held up very well, and I think they might have actually been a little better than when fresh.

I got this recipe on the whole milk yogurt container, but I have seen postings online from people who used fat-free, so it doesn't matter which one you use. I had been using fat-free yogurt and milk, but after watching Michael Pollan say that cheese with the fat taken out isn't really cheese, I started re-thinking this. I grew up on skim milk, and except for a few periods in my twenties have always used fat-free milk and yogurt, but I have always wondered if it was really the best thing to do. And then I saw that Usha had similar concerns about the use of fat-free dairy products that she expressed in this post. It was enough to convince me to make the switch. I will just use them more mindfully, as one should do with everything one puts in one's mouth. (And someday I might learn how to actually do this!)

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

Makes 12 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.

In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar and baking soda.

In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, butter and vanila. Toss strawberries into the flour mixture. Then pour yogurt mixture into flour mixture and stir.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

from Stoneyfield Farms Organic French Vanilla Yogurt package

Exported from Home Cookin 5.7 (www.mountain-software.com)