How to eat your favorite vegetable and your favorite dessert at the same time. - Something Edible Abstract: Those jumbo zucchinis that seem to be good for nothing but baked goods are always welcome in my kitchen. I like to let a few get out-of-control on purpose, just so I can heat up the house to make one of my all-time favorite baked goods: a Zucchini Chocolate Fudge Cake. This simple, yet decadent snack cake is a full pound of vegetables incognito; buried underneath a crispy-crunchy layer of vanilla sugar, melted chocolate and pecans. Purpose: This recipe is another one of my favorites that I pilfered from my Grandma's recipe box. Recipe: Jump to the detailed recipe. 1/2 cup butter (that's one stick; room temperature)1 1/2 cups sugar (12 oz by weight)2 eggs room temperature1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon 1 Tbsp instant coffee 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 3 Tbsps cocoa powder 2 cups all-purpose flour (9 oz by weight)16 oz zucchini grated (about 4 cups loosely-packed) 3/4 cup pecans roughly chopped1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (half a 12 oz bag)2 Tbsps vanilla sugar Observation:
Honey Buns Place all ingredients together into the pan of your bread maker. Set on the dough cycle. You can substitute part or all honey for the 1/3 cup sugar. When dough cycle is finished, divide dough into 30 to 32 pieces, cover so they don’t dry out. Roll one at a time into snakes and coil them, moistening the “tail” and pressing it down on the edge to make a coiled bun. Place on foil lined and greased baking sheets (I get 15 to a sheet) . Remove pans and then preheat oven to 400F. Ice with frosting. To make the frosting: Mix together all ingredients and drizzle on Honey Buns after cooling. Chocolate & Zucchini Cake An American friend once explained to me that nobody ever locks their car in her small town… except when it’s zucchini season. Leave your door unlocked then, and you risk coming back to find a crate of zucchini left on your passenger seat. You see, zucchini plants grow with supernatural vigor, and when harvest season comes around, gardeners are overloaded with their crop, so they’re desperately seeking ways to use it productively. Chocolate & Zucchini Cake To The Rescue! And one of the popular uses of a zucchini glut — aside from abandoning it on the steps of the church — is baking quick breads and cakes, including chocolate and zucchini cake, because everything tastes better with chocolate, even zucchini. I myself did not pick the name of my blog in reference to this cake: I chose it to illustrate the two sides of my culinary personality, my love of fresh, seasonal produce as well as my appreciation for desserts. It produces a delightfully fluffy cake with a crisp outer crust. Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls Recipe : Paula Deen Directions Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. When doubled in size, punch down dough. Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen chocolate zucchini cake This past Friday night was meant for celebrating. The weather was sit-out-on-the-deck-in-the-cool-evening-breeze perfection. Friends gathered from all around the city with chips and salsa and salads and popcorn and laughter and stories to share. The fire pit was aflame. The candles were lit on this (gluten free and vegan) carrot cake. And a very special birthday girl turned the big 3-0. Friends, meet Stacey. Read more TGIF, friends. Hope that you all have had a lovely week, and that a relaxing weekend lies ahead. Did I mention on here that I’m leading an Easter choir at my church?! I’m kind of over the moon about it. Anyway, warm wishes coming your way for a good weekend ahead. Read more Ever since my friends and I met for a tapas happy hour at our neighborhood Spanish restaurant a few weeks ago, I’ve had sangria on my mind. Read more But amongst the thousands of recipes out there using coconut oil, I think I have discovered a new favorite. Read more That recipe is coming on the blog tomorrow.
Rosemary and Garlic Butter Rolls My sister stopped by this weekend to drop off the Electrolux Assistant mixer she had hidden in her basement for the past 5 years. Can you believe someone owning a machine like this and not using it? Craziness. It wasn’t until she caught me talking to one of our other sisters (I have 5 of ‘em!) about the KitchenAid she had bought that it dawned on her she too had a stand mixer lying around doing nothing particularly useful. In the short time I’ve had this mixer now, I found out that really bad things happen when I get cravings and have a powerful machine like this at my disposal. Ingredients: 2 tsp instant yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast) 1 stick butter (soft) 1/4 cup warm water 1 cup milk 2 tbsp sugar 1 large egg 1 tsp salt 3 cups flour 1 rosemary sprig 2 garlic cloves coarse sea salt Directions: The yeast. First, mix 2/3 stick of butter with 1 cup of milk. Lightly beat a large room-temperature egg. Keep 3 cups of flour nearby. Technically I wouldn’t have to add instant yeast to water.
Healthy Applesauce Zucchini Bread One of my favorite summer treats growing up has been zucchini bread. This recipe comes from my grandmother, and we've changed it up to make it better for us! Typically, quick breads are high in sugar, use all-purpose flour and lots (~ 1 C) of oil. This recipe instead, uses whole wheat flour, reduced the sugar by 1 C and substitutes most of the oil with applesauce. You can make this recipe in either loaf pans or a bundt pan; the bundt pan makes for nice slices - especially for serving! Healthy Applesauce Zucchini Bread - Mom's KitchenIngredients2 C shredded zucchini, excess water drained2 eggs (egg whites are fine)1/4 C oil*3/4 C unsweetened applesauce*1 C sugar3 tsp. vanilla1 1/2 C whole wheat flour1 1/2 C white whole wheat flour1 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. cinnamon(may also add 1 tsp. ginger, and 1 tsp. cloves)Directions In a large bowl, cream together oil, applesauce, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add shredded zucchini. Enjoy!
How To Make Croissants [Chocolate Croissants, Pumpkin Spice Croissants, and Cinnamon Sugar Croissants] I hope you’re ready to see a billion underexposed photos of the same exact dough over and over and over again. Please say yes, because you will be rewarded with this. This was a… project. To say the least. I have been dying to try homemade croissants for ages, but after mention of them when I made almond joy scones, I could hardly wait. I have a very nostalgic reason for loving croissants: since I was young, each summer my grandma would always pick up a croissant from the Bread Box Bakery in Boyne City. But I also have a superficial reason for loving croissants: It’s Complicated. Too bad they don’t mention that it takes like 14 hours to really make croissants. I’m not about to tell you “oh! Oh… and I made four flavors of croissants: traditional, chocolate, cinnamon sugar and pumpkin spice. Easy enough… it all starts with some yeast and flour. I know you have all of the ingredients in your kitchen, which means you should probably start right now. No. Then you fold it up like a letter. 1. 2.
Για πετυχημένη μαρέγκα - Συνταγές μαγειρικής χάλια μαύρα! Η δεύτερη φορά ήταν χειρότερη Το χρώμα το πέτυχα αλλά... χάλια ήτανε, χάλια! χρατσ χρουτς μπλιαχχχχ Έβαλα και 1 κ.γ. χυμό λεμόνι που διάβασα ότι βοηθάει να "ανέβει". Ουφ! Πάνε κι αυτές - τις πέταξα. Προσπαθώ απεγνωσμένα να φτιάξω φωλίτσες μαρέγκας για να... στεγάσουν κρέμα κάστανο που έφτιαξα μόνη μου, για έναν φίλο μου που λατρεύει τα κάστανα. ουφ Δεν το συζητώ βέβαια που και οι δίπλες που ξαναδοκίμασα να φτιάξω προχτες πήγανε στα σκουπίδια! (ξέχασα να βάλω και ζάχαρη... χάλια) Ε, δεν είναι άξιο απορίας που μέχρι και τις φακές τις έκανα χάλια! Πώς στο καλό κάνεις χάλια τις φακές????? Ε, τα κατάφερα χτες! Μου δίνω επειγόντως αναρωτική - δεν θα μπω στην κουζίνα μέχρι το νέο έτος παρά μόνο για τα απολύτως απαραίτητα
No Knead Bread Monday, September 10, 2007 No Knead Bread: so easy a 4-yr old can make it! It’s been almost a year since NY Times unveiled the secret to the revolutionary No-Knead Bread. And while fads come and go, this certainly is a recipe that has transcended the fickleness of foodies. It’s time to revisit the bread…. as many of us have been brainwashed by this summer’s ice cream! We’ve made close to 60 loaves since last November and I’ve got to tell you, it is still one of our family’s favorite things to eat. I firmly believe that every person should bake a loaf of bread at least once in their lifetime. No Knead Bread recipe so insanely brilliant – no sticky fingers, no doughy mess, no intricate measuring, no complicated kneading. So, without further blabbering, I’ve pimped out my son to demonstrate that baking No Knead Bread is so simple a 4-year old can do it. Of course I had to bribe him with 2 temporary tattoos. So, let’s start. 3 cups of bread flour in a big bowl. 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast: