TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is from Sihan of Befuddlement. She chose for us to bake the Blueberry Crumb Cake from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe can be found here. It's a simple cake to put together. I made a few substitutions, first, I used plain nonfat yogurt instead of buttermilk because I had that on hand. I substituted one of the cups of flour in the cake with whole wheat pastry flour. Also, I used cinnamon almonds in the crumb mixture instead of walnuts.

I really liked this one. The crumb topping forms a nice crust on top of the cake, and the cake underneath is light and moist. The cake is chock full of berries, and I bet that it will taste even better tomorrow. I will definitely make this again. I think that this cake would also taste great with cranberries, huckleberries, or cherries.

Easy Roasted Potatoes

This is one of my favorite side dishes. It is extremely simple, and it tastes great. Any potato would probably work in this recipe, but I like to use fingerling or small new potatoes. They are not as starchy as other types of potatoes and remain creamy on the inside while the outside develops a crispy crust. I am just posting the simple base recipe for roasted potatoes, but you can also mix things up by adding smoked paprika, parmesan cheese, or herbs such as rosemary and thyme. They are all wonderful variations on a great dish.


Easy Roasted Potatoes
serves 3-4

• 1 lb. fingerling potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 3-4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
  

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet and scatter the garlic cloves amongst them. Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes and season generously with salt and pepper. Toss the potatoes to evenly coat every piece with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread the potatoes back out into a single layer. Place the potatoes in the oven and roast until they are golden brown and crispy on the outside, but give easily on the inside when pierced with a fork, about 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Guinness is probably my favorite beer, and I have been happy to see lots of recipes for Chocolate Stout Cake on the blogs lately. I decided to make cupcakes using this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. It is a simple cake recipe that combines stout beer with cocoa powder to give the cake a really interesting flavor. The stout adds a depth of flavor to the cupcakes without changing the chocolate taste. Instead of making the chocolate glaze that went with recipe, I decided to make a cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes. It was a nice balance to the chocolatey cupcakes. I halved the recipe and still came out with 24 cupcakes. Make sure to only fill the cupcakes about two-thirds full because they really do rise quite a bit.



Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting makes 24 cupcakes

Cake

• 1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cups sour cream

Icing

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1-8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners. Bring 1 cup of stout and 1 cup of butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among cupcake tins. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cupcakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For the icing:
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it is completely incorporated into the butter and cream cheese mixture, then mix in the vanilla extract. Once the cupcakes have cooled, spread the icing on top.

TWD: Lemon Cup Custard

It has been awhile since I have posted a Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. There has been a few that I've wanted to make in the past month or so, but I have been very busy, and some of February's recipes were a bit involved. Fortunately the lineup for March looks great, so I hope to make most of the recipes this month. This week's selection is from Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles. She chose for us to bake the Lemon Cup Custard from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It is a very simple recipe that involves infusing milk with lemon zest then mixing it with eggs and sugar to form the custard. You can find the original recipe here. Many of the bloggers over at Tuesdays with Dorie said that the custard was too "eggy" and that it didn't have enough lemon flavor. I was planning on halving the recipe this time, so to enhance the lemon flavor, I kept the lemon zest and the lemon extract at the original amounts in order to double the lemon flavor. My custards took about 50 minutes to bake, and they had a really beautiful yellow color due to the egg yolks. I think that doubling the zest, and the extract really enhanced the lemon flavor, and it was eggy, but it is a custard, so I expected that. If I were to make it again, I would try infusing some fresh ginger in the milk as well to give it an extra kick.

Hash Brown Egg Bake

I made this dish for a brunch I hosted a few months ago. I adapted it from a recipe from Taste of Home magazine. I made quite a few changes in adapting this recipe. I decreased the amount of potatoes and bacon (I know, crazy, right?), and increased the amount of eggs that was in the original recipe. I also added some spinach, which really went well with the rest of the ingredients. This recipe is extremely easy, and you can even make the night before and pop in the oven the next morning.

Hash Brown Egg Bake

Serves 8

• 1 package (32 ounces) frozen cubed hash brown potatoes, thawed (I removed 1 cup of hash browns from the package and saved them for another use)
  
• 8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach (packed), chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  
• 10 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• Dash paprika

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine hash browns, bacon, 1/2 cup cheese, spinach, salt, and pepper. Spoon into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. In a bowl, beat eggs and milk until smooth; pour over hash brown mixture. Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for about 45 minutes until golden. Top with the remaining cheese and bake for 5 minutes more.

Spinach and White Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

I wanted to make something simple, comforting, and healthy for dinner tonight. For me, that means soup. Soup is a great way to use up vegetables that you have in your refrigerator that are about to go bad. It's filling, but not heavy, and it's a great weeknight meal. The vegetable I needed to use up was spinach. I had a large amount of baby spinach, and it had been in my fridge for some time, so I needed to make a dish that would use all of it. This is a very simple soup made with ingredients I already had on hand. It was so easy to make, and only took about 10 minutes to throw together, and about 20 to cook.


Spinach and White Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, or 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2-14 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
  
• 1-12 oz. package fully cooked chicken sausage (I used Spinach, Fontina, and Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe's)
• 1-15 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups (packed) baby spinach, roughly chopped
• freshly ground black pepper

-Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they are soft, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes longer.

-Add the chicken broth, water, chicken sausage, and beans. Bring the soup to a boil and add the baby spinach. Simmer over low heat until the spinach wilts and the flavors come together (about 10-15 minutes), season with freshly ground black pepper and salt if necessary. (I used low sodium chicken broth because the chicken sausage I used was already quite salty, and I didn't need to add any extra salt to the soup)

Pecan Tassies

I made these "miniature" pecan pies for a football party on New Year's Day, but I haven't gotten around to posting it until now. I got this recipe from Gourmet magazine, and I took the a hint from At the Baker's Bench and added a little sugar to the crust as well. These are wonderful little bite-sized treats that I will definitely make again. I used a canister for a roll of film to form the crust in the mini-muffin tins. I simply placed the ball of dough into the tin and firmly and evenly pressed the canister into the dough. It will push the dough up the sides and form a well for the filling. If you like pecan pie, you will love these.



Pecan Tassies
makes 24

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened slightly
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened slightly
• 1/4 cup sugar
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla

• In a bowl combine 1 stick of the butter, and the cream cheese, stir in the flour, and form the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 24 pieces and press the pieces into the bottom and up the sides of 24 small (2-tablespoon) muffin tins.
  
• In a small bowl beat the egg lightly with the brown sugar and stir in the pecans, the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Divide the filling among the pastry-lined tins, bake the tassies in a preheated 350° F oven for 25 minutes, or until the filling is puffed slightly and the pastry is golden, and let them cool on a rack. Makes 24 confections.

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is from Heather of Sherry Trifle She chose for us to bake the Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe can be found here. I made a few substitutions to the recipe. I used whole wheat pastry flour for half of the flour called for in the recipe. Also, instead of using the stem ginger in syrup (I couldn't find any), I used crystallized ginger. I didn't make the chocolate glaze for the top of the gingerbread, because when I tried a piece without it, I thought that the gingerbread was sweet enough and the chocolate in the bread was very pronounced, so I didn't want to overpower the ginger flavor. The gingerbread took about 55 minutes to fully bake, about 15 minutes longer than the recipe states. I really liked this gingerbread, it had a subtle but pronounced ginger flavor, and the spices are just right. The chocolate is a nice addition, and it is a nice change to traditional gingerbreads. I will be making it again.

TWD: French Pear Tart

Tuesdays with Dorie is celebrating its one year anniversary. I have been lucky enough to have been a participant since July. For the anniversary, Dorie herself was gracious enough to choose this week's recipe. She chose for us to bake the French Pear Tart from her book Baking: From My Home to Yours. Dorie has posted the recipe on her website. I made a few substitutions for this recipe. I had a leftover frozen pie crust from the holidays, so I used that instead of the recipe for the tart dough. For the almond cream, I substituted 8 ounces of almond paste for the ground almonds and the sugar called for in the recipe. I used a stand mixer instead of a food processor, and the cream came together just fine.


I liked this tart a lot. I thought that the pears and the almonds went well together. I used canned pears, but next time I would like to try the poached pears. I think that it would be a better texture to contrast with the texture of the almond cream. I will definitely try this recipe again, but next time I will try the original recipe with the tart crust and the poached pears. I might also add a bit of spice to the recipe as well, maybe cinnamon or ginger.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I hosted Christmas brunch, so I decided to make these Overnight Cinnamon Rolls from Alton Brown. You make the dough the night before, and in the morning, you take them out, let the dough rise a bit, and bake them. The turned out delicious, and they are very simple to make. My house was a bit cold, so they took a bit longer for the initial rise, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.


Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

makes 12

Dough:

• 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 large whole egg, room temperature
• 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons
• 6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
• 20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
• 1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable oil or cooking spray
  

Filling:

• 8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 3/4-ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons

Icing:

• 2 1/2 ounces cream cheese softened, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 tablespoons milk
  
• 5 1/2 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups

Directions:

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.