blueberry boy bait A few weeks ago, as I was going on about how much I like just about every color and shade of baked fruit desserts, the goofier the name — be it “grunt”, “slump”, “buckle”, or “betty” — the better, a reader named Shirley asked me if I’d ever tried anything called Blueberry Boy Bait. And people, seeing as I unabashedly choose magazines for their covers and fawn over the titles of books (“I Was Told There’d Be Cake,” anyone?) that I have no interest in reading, let’s just say that although I had no idea what Blueberry Boy Bait was, I knew it would be made, in my kitchen, sooner than soon. [Well, actually I'd bookmarked it for August, when I believed blueberries to be in season, only to find them at my local greenmarket four days later where I proceeded to plotz from happiness. Bring on the boy-baiting!] One year ago: I finished a wedding cake! Blueberry Boy Bait Adapted from Cook’s Country, which adapted it from the original Serves 12, generously
Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake I never ate cake until I was 8 or 9 years old. But I sure ate a lot of frosting! I was that kid at birthday parties who hopped up and down when the corner piece – the one with the profuse amount of frosting flourishes – was being passed out. I’d extract every last bit of sugary, fluffy stuff and leave the cake on the little paper plate. It wasn’t until the middle of my elementary school years that a frustrated parent of a friend finally urged me to try just a bite of the cake “just this once” that I discovered the treat I was missing. Suffice it say I’ve eaten plenty of cake – and frosting – this week as we’ve made our way through this incredibly rich and decadent Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake. Chocolate Fudge Layer CakeFrom the Ghirardelli Grand Fudge Cake recipe on the side of the Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa container Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Cool cakes on wire racks completely.
cream cheese pound cake + strawberry coulis Meet my new favorite pound cake. I have had this cake bookmarked for, oh, 100 years or so and while some recipes that I unearth from their 100-year queue are the kinds of disappointments that did not improve with age, this is of the opposite variety: Why did it take me so long to make this? Here, let me kick myself a few times. I’d argue that it was fear. Pound cakes are of British origin, dating back nearly 300 years and their name came from the fact that original pound cakes contained one pound each of butter (four sticks), sugar (two cups), eggs (eight large) and flour (four cups), with no leaveners other than the air that was whipped into the batter. They tend to be a bit heavy and dense but it’s hard to argue that this type is not for you when anything else is not a true pound cake. When it becomes clear that a little erring from the pound cake doctrine is in order, one can go in a lot of directions. Cream Cheese Pound Cake Adapted liberally from Staff Meals from Chanterelle 1. 2.
Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies Hellooooo, good lookin’! What a way to start the week! :) Last weekend as we were exploring Blue Ridge, GA, we stopped by this charming little bakery. I used this recipe from Picky Palate for Ice Cream Sundae Brownies. Cookies and cream ice cream, chocolate chips, and hot fudge… It all gets added to the brownie mix! This thick batter is perfect for layering.. nothing is going to sink to the bottom here! Oh, baby. Come to mama. Layering the Oreos whole is totally the way to go! All these babies need is a big, huge scoop of vanilla ice cream. I think I’ll get on that. ;) Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies 1 box Brownie Mix eggs & oil (as called for by the brownie mix) 1 heaping half cup (6 oz) Cookies & Cream ice cream 1/4 Cup hot fudge topping (chilled or room temp) 1 pkg Oreos (regular, Double or Mega Stuffed! Preheat oven according to directions on the box and spray an 8×8 baking dish generously with cooking spray. Make for: DessertTags: chocolate
strawberry summer cake It is not summer yet. In fact, it’s been raining for more than a week, and another week — the one in which I presume we’ll be introduced to our new mosquito overlords — is promised. In fact, it was so cold that I met a friend for lunch today and had to wear both a light wool sweater and a jacket. It’s almost like summer looked at New York City and said “pbbbblt!” But I know it’s coming. I hope this will be your summer cake. And your apartment will smell like a strawberry patch. One year ago: Rustic Rhubarb TartsTwo years ago: Raspberry Buttermilk Cake and Slaw TartareFour years ago: Cellophane Noodle Salad with Roast Pork Strawberry Summer Cake Adapted, only slightly, from Martha Stewart I recently picked up some barley flour and fell in love with it. I am ever-so-slightly on the fence about the sweetness of this cake. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Whisk flour or flours, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. Pour into prepared pie plate.
6-Layer Rich Chocolate Malted & Toasted-Marshmallow Cake There’s something about layer cakes that always brings me great comfort–from both making them and eating them. To me, layer cakes are baked bliss, truly. Don’t get me wrong, cupcakes are wonderful; cupcakes are sweet; cupcakes are darling (and perky), but they just aren’t layer cakes. Truth is, we never can tell, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m always ready to find out. So, please, brace yourself: this cake is possibly the most delicious cake I’ve ever made. 6 layers of dark, moist chocolate cake sandwiching alternating rich and fluffy frosting: satiny Belgian chocolate malted frosting and creamy toasted-marshmallow vanilla frosting with bits of actual crispy marshmallow in every bite. Here’s a little peek at the marshmallows after being lightly toasted in the oven. Here it is standing tall and proud, flaunting an ever-important ”S” cake adjective for every one of its layers: sky-high, simple, sweet, satiny, special, and, most importantly, sinful. Yum. Ingredients Instructions Notes 1.
lighter, airy pound cake Old-school pound cakes come with their own easily-remembered formula (a pound of butter to a pound of sugar, eggs and flour) with leavening only coming from the air one whips into the batter. But just because it’s the classic way to do it, doesn’t mean mean I don’t think most pound cakes need a little extra creativity to keep them from becoming foamy, forgettable bricks. You can swap out some of the butter for cream cheese, as I do in my favorite non-traditional pound cake recipe, you can add loads of lemon, baking powder, baking soda and buttermilk, rendering something that is impossibly delicious but really, a pound cake in name only, or you can do as James Beard does, and apply smart cake-baking techniques to improve the predictable. As should go without saying, that Beard guy really knows how to cook. One year ago: Napa Cabbage Salad with Buttermilk Dressing. Two year ago: Summer Berry Pudding Lighter, Airy Pound Cake Adapted from James Beard’s Beard on Food Makes one loaf cake 1. 2.
Frozen Butterbeer for the Deathly Hallows Premiere - Cook Like a Champion There’s something you might not know about me. I’m a huge fan of the Harry Potter books and movies. I wasn’t always, but once I watched one movie, I was hooked. I was devastated when I found out Eric and I were moving away from Orlando before Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Luckily, we were able to fly back over the summer and use our season passes one last time. Butterbeer, for those who don’t know, is a favorite drink of young witches and wizards. Looking for more Harry Potter recipes to celebrate the premiere of Deathly Hallows this week? Frozen Butterbeer for the Deathly Hallows Premiere Ingredients For the butterbeer: 1½ cups cream soda 6 tablespoons butterscotch schnapps 2 cups ice For the foamy topping: 6 tablespoons heavy cream 1 tablespoon butterscotch schnapps Directions Combine cream soda, schnapps and ice in a blender. In a small bowl, combine heavy cream and schnapps. Source Cook Like a Champion original
strawberry rhubarb pecan loaf I should apologize for the lewdness of this title—or perhaps you should, for that gutter mind—but I’ve always been endlessly amused by the “put some South in your mouth” logo painted on the wall of the Carolina BBQ joint and frat-boys-living-out-their-glory-days haven, Brother Jimmy’s. Really, it’s just about the only thing I enjoyed about the place the innumerable times a certain ex-boyfriend of mine with a ACC basketball bent dragged me there under duress or pleading. The bar’s menu consists things like fried pickles, green tomatoes and corn fritters and something frightening called a “flaming pig pick,” and while I am not one to argue that these are indeed Southeastern flavors, my associations have always been in sweeter, homier places: berry pies, cobblers and pretty much anything that has known, been adjacent to or looked at a pecan in it’s life. Of course, my tweaks just had to involve a splash of booze, but you probably knew that was coming. Strawberry Rhubarb Pecan Loaf
Triple-Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake Happy Wednesday! I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day with all of your lovies. I woke up yesterday morning, with a sudden and unrelenting need for sunshine–in any form. For what I think was the first time, rather than craving a particular food (or ingredient), I was craving a colour: yellow! I knew I had to make and bake something full of sunshine–absolutely bursting with sunshine, from the inside out: this time it was all about flavour. Naturally, a lemon confection immediately came to mind, so I figured it was time to bake a Lemon-Blueberry Layer Cake. So here it is! If you haven’t made lemon curd before, I highly recommend it. While we’re on the topic of sweet sunshine-y goodness, here are my little blueberry bursts playing while the cake layers were baking. We had a great day yesterday, while we baked the cakes. Even if it was just in our hearts (and bellies) . . . Triple-Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake Ingredients For the Cake: For the Frosting: Instructions Preheat oven to 350°F.
ridiculously easy butterscotch sauce I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spied a recipe that promised butterscotch brownies or cookies or cake bliss within that suggested you make your butterscotch confection with … butterscotch sauce. From a jar. Or butterscotch chips. From a bag. Well, I’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, misled and so have you because butterscotch — deadly good butterscotch, butterscotch so transcendent it might could bring tears to your eyes — is ridiculously easy to make. Gift-Worthy Bakes: This is exactly the kind of thing you should be sealing off in tiny jars and tying a ribbon around for friends this year. One year ago: Sausage-Stuffed Potatoes + Green SaladTwo years ago: Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread CookiesThree years ago: Zucchini Latkes Ridiculously Easy Butterscotch Sauce Adapted loosely from The Washington Post, who adapted it from The Perfect Cake Yield: About 2/3 to 3/4 cup sauce Melt butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.