Nothing says lovin’ like fresh from the oven….

Here goes...I'm the one of the two of us who doesn't know what he's doing -- at least from a studied point of view....

My grandmother used to peel apples in one long string and my other grandmother used to lament her husband's inability to clean fish scales out of the sink once he'd processed the days catch.

So, I come from a family that cooks, but I know nothing from a book. Or, from class -- except the one J and I are taking now. So, I take baby steps.  Try things that might work, or might not.

My previous experience with creating cakes from a box worked, so why shouldn't this one?

I started with a boxed cake -- plain white. I added a package of chocolate chips, one cup of pumpkin pecan butter.

One of my friends gave me this. It rocks. A bit of pumpkin, a bit of pecan and a lot of sugar. How can you possibly go wrong?

I baked these as cupcakes. Even used the cool foil cupcake liners.

I used a cream cheese frosting (of course, from a tub) to create a cinnamon frosting. I added a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Honestly, I may have used a bit more cinnamon. The frosting was a bit strongly flavored and I needed the cinnnamon to get a bit of the taste. They frosted quite nicely. See the following picture.

The texture of the tops was quite nice, but we'd expect that from a boxed cake. What I didn't expect was how hard and tough the bottoms of the cupcakes were.  They seemed dry and not at all the moist deliciousness that was the cupcake tops.  Odd that you could have two completely different textures in one cupcake.  Even odder -- if that is even a word -- is the ones in a foil liner were moist all the way through.  I assume that I over cooked them.  But, surprisingly, I didn't burn them.

Don't they just look beautiful? That's them up at the top of the blog.

Robb

Sick at home and feeling creative

Ok, y'all I've been sick at home for the last two days.  I ventured out to a framesi event in NJ, but only because every time they have one, I am away or sick or otherwise occupied.

This means that I've spent about 72 hours in my house.  I love my house.  Really.  But, there is a limit to how long I can stay on the couch catching up on my TiVo'd materials.  

I love the View too, but I can't watch more than two episodes in a row.  Sadly, I've tried to watch three in a sitting, but even I have to get up and do something before another episode of Hot Topics.

So, as is usual for us here on Washington St., we had date night.  This means that one of us cooks and we sit at the table and act all civilized until the bottle of Diet Pepsi comes out and I have a bit too much wine and then we really get to talking.  

There is a German word for it, that moment when you find yourself surrounded by your dirty dishes, drinking wine, smoking (if you do that sort of thing), and talking to your dinner companions.  I remember Ingrid talking about it in college -- I used to have a picture of her.  I can't find it anywhere.  She was a roommate in college, from Germany, duh!

For the life of me, I can't come up with the word., and neither can google.  If you know it, I'll make you the cupcakes described in this blog!

Like a lot of people out there, I love Food Network. I can't get enough of the food porn aspect. It sort of influences us here at Bake Through -- if you make a pretty picture of it, they'll want to bake it.

(True Confession: I love Everyday Italian and Giada DiLaurentiis' recipes. And, her cookbooks rock. I have to admit that I TiVo her show and speed through it. Yet, I've NEVER had a problem with any of her recipes. Easy to follow, fresh and full of flavor and each and every time they look like the picture or as I've pictured them in my head.)

Last night, Michael made dinner as I was preparing to go to that NJ thing.  Today, was my turn. I made a recipe I found in the magazine, Everyday with Rachel Ray.  For the record, Salon Topaz, where I work, gets a subscription.  I read it over the shoulder of one of my clients, and I had to try it.  I has gnocchi in it.  I love gnocchi.  Michael is sorta on the fence about it.

Leeky, Creamy Chicken-and-Dumpling Stoup

From Everyday with Rachel Ray

SERVES 4 TO 6

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3 leeks, white and tender green parts split lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
5 ribs celery from the heart with leafy tops, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound chicken tenders, cut into small chunks
2 packages fresh gnocchi (about 24 ounces)
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons dry sherry (optional)
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

1. In a Dutch oven or soup pot, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the leeks, celery, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream, lower the heat and simmer until the soup bubbles at the edges. Add the chicken and gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the parsley, sherry, if using, and paprika; serve hot.

This came together quite quickly and has a deep flavor that I wasn't expecting from only simmering 5 minutes or so.  Really, Michael wanted me to make it again.  HE even said that he liked the gnocchi.  Score one for me.

I ended up not having sherry, so I used marsala.  It worked quite nicely.  I'm always amazed at the benefit of alcohol in cooking.  Sadly, I didn't take pictures of it.  I was too busy trying to get dishes done from Michael's dinner last night. (It's our rule, he who cooks, doesn't clean.)  

But here is a picture of our dessert option:

I can't tell you how lovely this cupcake was.  I was expecting it to be so much tougher, heavier than it should be. (I divided the batter between the 12 cupcake tins and realized I'd forgotten the butter.  Really, how silly is that.  All the while I'm mixing it saying, "Well, that doesn't seem like enough liquid.  But I caught it, and that counts, right?)

It was light and airy and Michael and I both said, "Ohhh." When we tasted it.  I have to admit that it is from Everyday Food.  

I also have to admit that, after Gourmet, it is my favorite subscription.  

I don't know if Janet knows that.  This could be the end of our blogging relationship.  I hope she can forgive me.

When I'm reading cooking magazines, I turn down the pages on recipes that I like.  Michael said he'd seen this recipe turned down and wanted me to make it.  As I said before, it was devine.  

Here is the recipe:

Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Frosting

Everyday Food

Makes 12

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Honey-Cinnamon Frosting (follows)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired.

Honey Cinnamon Frosting

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes

The frosting took a bit more honey to come together than originally suggested.  But it was so good and luscious that I'd forgive an even more heinous sin.

Try these two recipes.  They made a sick guy feel productive.

And, I think I'll have another before bedtime.

Robb

In U End D'oh

Ok...my goal this week was not to wait until next week to get the blog done...check one thing off my list of things to do...

I have to say that I don't like bloggers who talk about the difficulty of getting the blog out without explaining why....so, here's why...I've been battling a very nasty sinus bug...caused either by allergies or a cold or the stress of starting a new job...by the way, I had a busy Saturday...woohoo...just wish my sinuses would clear....Am I bordering on TMI?

This week was a quick week...for a lot of reasons...one, we only made the Zucchini Cupcakes (pg 73). Why would we only make the one, you ask? because last week we made a zillion of them....(ok, honestly, last week was so much fun, but the conversation we had during it was fractured....too many things to do and not enough time chatting with each other....we made up for it this week however.....)

J said that last week she and K didn't get back until almost midnight after delivering all the goodies...granted they did spend some time talking with Jessica & Mark, at least I hope it wasn't a drive by drop off....by the way Kathy, did Geoff and Hil and Lila get their samples or did they stay at your house?

The other reason we didn't spend so much time doing the baking thing is that K's parents are coming into town. They should be there sometime later this week. M & I get to meet them on Saturday. Can't wait! So, J is frantically cleaning the house. For her, that includes painting some items- talk about clean!


(OK, frantically makes me think
of the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil).









Did you know that they are a real animal?



Not as cuddly as I would have hoped....but really how cuddly could a devil be?

Well, really, she wasn't racing around like that, but she did have a long list of things to do....Now that I think about it, J always has a long list of things to do....hmmmm....




This cake (remember we are here to talk about baking cakes, right?) is very similar to the Pumpkin Walnut Ring that we did last week. The differences are really that this has zucchini in it and therefore needs more flour. RLB straightens that out for us in her "Understanding" section, which for me is a great section. I love the whys and wherefores of baking science.

One theme for us was what is the difference between this Zucchini "cake" recipe and the usual Zucchini Bread recipe? And, if it is a "bread" recipe, why is it in the Cake Bible?

RLB uses the words Cupcake and Muffin almost interchangeably. Are they really the same thing? I have a distinctive image of a cupcake that isn't at all like a muffin. The cupcake while it has icing, rich sugary icing....it isn't as domed usually. The muffin is a domed and usually sans icing/frosting.

My little research yields:



A cupcake or fairy cake is a small cake designed to serve one person, usually made in a small paper cup container. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations, such as sprinkles, are defining characteristics of modern cupcakes. (wikipedia.com)

A muffin is an individual cup-shaped quick bread made with wheat flour, cornmeal, or the like, and baked in a pan (muffin pan) containing a series of cuplike forms. (dictionary.reference.com)





Perhaps there is no difference and they are interchangeable. Anyway, what do you see as the differences? Discuss.

So this time, due to its ease, we decided to double the recipe. We split the work load thusly: I did the dry ingredients and wet ingredients, while J prepped the pans, preheated the oven, toasted the walnuts and grated the zucchini.

We are both working away at our tasks and I'm standing over a bowl talking to myself. Those of you who know me may realize that math isn't my strong suit so I spend a lot of time talking to myself while I do figurin'. (For those of you who really know me, this is strange because I was a Math Education major when I started at Purdue, all those years ago.)

Really we were working away until while J was grating the zucchini on the box grater, I heard, "I probably shouldn't spend the next half hour 'pleasuring the zucchini'. I'll use the grating disk for the food processor." The silence after the sentence was complete, no dogs barked, not a bird chirped....then, I giggled and broke the mood...

Having gotten the dry ingredients ready, I'm putting together the wet ingredients, packing the brown sugar (this recipe uses brown sugar, which gives them a darker than golden brown color and really makes the edges crispy...in a good way), counting the eggs and doing numbers aloud to myself. When out of my mouth, I say, "Are my nuts warm yet?"

Still pleasuring the zucchini, J looks at me and laughs out loud.

We added the optional raisins and a bit of currants. I have to say I was a strong liker of the currants as they were smaller, yet gave the flavor of a dried fruit, to me the raisins were a bit too grapey and the different texture threw me off.

J on the other hand loved the raisins and didn't really mention the currants. What she liked about them was the change in texture ("They keep it from getting boring.") We both liked the flecks of green that we could see in the muffin/cupcakes. Also, when you cut it, it looked more like bread to us. Dense, but not too soggy. When they came out of the oven, they were quite heavy, so heavy I thought they might have needed a bit longer in the oven to complete baking, but I was wrong. It sliced like you'd expect a pumpkin/zucchini bread to cut, crumbly, but not falling apart.

This, as far as we were concerned, was the best ever. It was even tasty with a bit of cream cheese.

This is what it's all about folks, hanging out with friends, talking about family coming to visit and baking a cake or two.

By the way, J's in laws are going to have the Zucchini Ring we made (pictured in the center of the muffins at left) for breakfast their first morning. You can check that off the list, J.




Bake Through,

Robb