Frosted Deception

A number of people have asked me if this blog was inspired by the movie Julie &Julia, to which I say an emphatic "No!" because I haven't even seen that movie for starters and I'm not exclusive to just one cookbook.  However, that said, if I were to pick a cookbook to follow, it might just be the one I was using last night titled "Chocolate: Cooking with the world's best ingredient."

I was inspired, as usual, by a chocolate craving attack, and so I started flipping through my books looking for something a little more creative than my usual brownies.  As I drooled over the different recipes in "Chocolate," I started cursing myself for not having the ingredients on hand to make some of the more delicious looking recipes (why on earth don't I have dark chocolate in my pantry??)  But finally, I came across something that seemed just right - Chocolate Fairy Cakes.  This was basically a recipe for chocolate cupcakes, which I've been dying to make for a while, so it sounded like a surefire winner, especially since I actually had all the ingredients on hand and wouldn't even have to fiddle with substitutions.

I began with the icing, because I have a terrible history with making icings so if this didn't work, there would be no point in baking the cupcakes.  Unless the base is cream cheese, I can never get them to come out right so for years I have avoided recipes that called for frosting, unwilling as I am to buy pre-made things.  But, to my surprise, I followed the directions and added the milk slowly, and voila!  Icing appeared in my bowl!  Very exciting, but sadly, this was to be the night's only success...

Next, I started melting the chocolate for the cupcakes.  I do this all the time directly in the pan for brownies, but I decided to try this double boiler business since sticking to the recipe worked for the icing, so why not here, too?  But when I attempted this, I was left with a mound of chocolate that simply would not liquefy.  So I decided to go back to the tried and true technique of melting it in the pan, and dropped my two ounces of chocolate into a small pan on low heat.  But just like before, only a mound of mushy chocolate appeared with no liquid in sight.  Finally, it dawned on me - what was different here from my brownie recipe that works like a charm every time?  Butter!  Butter makes everything better!  So I dropped the softened butter that would just be added later anyway into the pot with my chocolate, and voila!  A nice, velvety chocolate sauce.

From there, things continued to get weird - once the batter was assembled (which almost killed my hand mixer in the process - that should have been a sign of bad things to come...) it looked more like a mousse than a cake batter (probably because I melted the butter...).  But, since I had come this far, I decided to press on and bake it anyway to see what came out.  Who knows, maybe I'd get lucky like with the frosting?  And indeed, when they came out of the oven, they looked simply glorious!  Perfectly puffed cupcakes just begging for frosting.

And then I tasted them, or rather, the lack of taste.  How could a book called "Chocolate" steer me so wrong???

Into the trash they went, because we're technically dieting in my house and there's no point in wasting calories on non-delicious chocolate items (a very strange phrase, I know...)  I'm going to look for a better recipe, but I'd definitely take suggestions on how this one might be improved, too.  (Click "read more" to see the recipe.)

In the mean time, it'd be a shame to let the frosting go to waste...

Sugar and Spice

Last week I got a new cookbook! (Thanks Mom!) But not just any cookbook, a bread book.  Since we always have ripe bananas in our house, I decided to try making their banana sandwich bread, a nice departure from our usual banana quick bread.  But, I should have known that when something calls for the zest of not 1, but 2 oranges, you're not going to be tasting anything else...  Still, the bread had a wonderful texture and their method of making it is something I'd never tried before (the sponge method?) so I decided it was blog-worthy.  I can't wait to try some of the other tasty recipes (accompanied by equally tasty-looking pictures!) this book has to offer.

Also featured in this post: Gingersnaps!  I made these a while ago when my dad came to visit - my dad is the ultimate chocoholic but can no longer have chocolate.  I was looking for something that 1) did not have chocolate (I have very few recipes that meet this criteria to begin with...); and 2) could be made from ingredients I already had in my kitchen.  And as usual, when I'm trying to meet criterion #2, the Joy of Cooking made itself useful.  Though these gingersnaps were not actually crunchy, they had a great taste and went fast!

Gingersnaps
From: The Joy of Cooking
Grade: A-  Pretty easy to whip up, but could not get them crunchy.  Still, great taste!

This is the original recipe and makes 6 dozen cookies.

3 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp orange or lemon zest

Combine dry ingredients.  Beat together sugar and butter, then add remaining wet ingredients.  Stir in the flour intil smooth.  Roll small 1" dough balls and place onto a greased cookie sheet.  Flatten the tops slightly.  Bake at 350F for 10-13 minutes.


Whole Wheat Orange Spice Bread (or "lightly spiced" Banana Sandwich Bread)
From: The Tassajara Bread Book
Grade: A- if you want an orange bread, C+ if you were hoping to taste any banana...  But a wonderful texture!


Caution: This recipe makes 2 loaves, something I always forget to check when making bread and before I know it, I'm elbow deep in way too much dough to handle.  So, I'd highly recommend cutting this in half.  Also, I have an extra loaf of this in my freezer if you want to save yourself the trouble...

Girls night in

What's better than a girls night in with pizza, brownies and some red wine?  I can't think of a whole lot!

This pizza dough recipe is a staple in our house, and the sauce recipe is courtesy of our friend Sam. 

Pizza crust
     Grade A!  (Easy to make and delicious!)
 Adapted from: Italian, by Kate Whiteman, Jeni Wright, and Angela Boggiano


2 1/2 tsp yeast (or 1 packet - there are all types of yeast, but no need for anything fancy here)
1 cup warm water
pinch sugar (about 1/2 tsp if you must measure)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
A drizzle of canola oil

Place the yeast in a mixing bowl and cover with the warm water and sugar.  Mix with a fork to blend and let sit about 10 minutes.  A nice bubbly head should form over the mixture while the yeast does it's job (i.e. eating the sugar and producing carbon dioxide so your dough will rise). 

Dinner for the in-laws

I had fun putting together this menu, and everything was made with things already in the house, since I had no car to go to the store anyway.

Appetizer: Rutabaga, broccoli and cheddar cheese knishes
     Grade: B- (very time consuming to prepare, and the flavor is not that remarkable)

Salad: Chopped spinach with apples, oranges, and raspberry vinaigrette
     Grade: B+ (very easy to prepare and quite tasty, but the dressing has a short shelf life) 

Side: Mashed potato and rutabaga casserole with carmelized onions
     Grade: A! (not much more work than making regular mashed potatoes, but much tastier!)

Main Dish: Sauteed pork tenderloin and pears in mustard-port sauce
     Grade: B+ (not too hard to prepare, but the flavor was a little dull) 

Desert: Blueberry pie
     Grade: A! (very easy to make - not your usual pie crust - and absolutely delicious!)



Appetizer: Rutabaga, broccoli and cheddar cheese knishes
Adapted from: 1001 Jewish Recipes, by Faye Levy
Caution: This is a very time consuming dish to make!

Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter
~5 tbsp ice water

Mix flour and salt in a food processor. Add butter (cut into ~1/2 inch pieces) and process so mixtures becomes crumbly.