a simple turn of phrase

I don't think I've ever tried to hide the fact that I like my cookies chewy in the middle (not jaw-achingly chewy, mind you...although that does tend to deter second helpings) and a bit crispy on the outside. Cake-like cookies have no place in my kitchen or belly. (My hollow leg is reserved for such less-than-ideal things.)


A cookie-like cake, on the other hand, is apparently welcome. I didn't realize how acceptable, nay, amazing such a creation would be until now.

I found a recipe for oatmeal raisin muffins that I felt had the potential to make interesting and unique mini-loaves and I was right. Yes, the texture was enjoyable (hearty yet still fluffy and light) and the preparation couldn't have been simpler, but what excited me most of all was that the stuff that came out of my oven tasted exactly like an oatmeal raisin cookie.


It's the little things, folks. The little things.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie-Like Cake
(adapted from this recipe)

1 cup quick oats
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup raisins

Combine the oats and buttermilk in a large bowl and let stand about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spray or line your baking vehicle of choice.
Add the eggs to the oatmeal mixture one at a time, whisking thoroughly after each addition. Whisk in the sugar, then the butter.
In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fold this dry mixture into the wet ingredients. Once the flour is dispersed, but not completely moistened, gently stir in the raisins.
Divide the batter evenly between the molds. Bake until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean, 25-30 minutes for mini-loaves or 13-18 minutes for muffins.

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patent that!

Imagine it: A pillow that you can eat, or alternately, a tasty treat on which you can rest your weary head. No more raiding the fridge for a midnight snack! Any takers?


Perhaps not. If you're anything like me, these bars would never have a chance to be used as a pillow as they would be gobbled up before one's eyes could even flutter closed.

Yes, these are some soft and tender treats. I'm not enamored of Dorie Greenspan as so many people seem to be, but I do often enjoy the recipes she's created. Really, I think this particular concoction makes up for any disappointments I may have previously had using her cookbooks.


The Tuesdays with Dorie group made these applesauce spice bars a while back, and as I'm wont to do, I trailed behind and finally made them myself months later. They really do deserve high praise--they're pillowy, as I think I've mentioned, as well as moist, aromatic (yes, before you ask, I did increase the cinnamon), and flavorful. I used apple butter in lieu of unsweetened applesauce, so they were quite sweet. For this reason, I skipped the (amazingly appetizing) glaze. That was a tough call, but I think it was the right thing to do. I didn't lose any sleep (see what I did there?) over my decision; after all, the glaze would've had a detrimental effect on the functionality of these bars as pillows.*

*Sorry if you found this post utterly ridiculous. In my defense, "one cannot enjoy food without at times putting one's tongue in one's cheek" (a quote from one of the most useful and interesting reads ever).

Applesauce Spice Bars
adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup apple butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins (I used golden)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
Melt the butter over low heat or in the microwave. Add the brown sugar and stir with a whisk until it is melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing until they are well blended. Add the apple butter and vanilla and whisk until the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is once again smooth. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear. Fold in the raisins and nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the bars just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

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sometimes you feel like a nut...

...sometimes you don't.

Remember that jingle for Almond Joy and Mounds? Apparently it was most prevalent in the 70s, but since I remember it and I hadn't yet graced the earth with my presence (I kid, I kid--is there actually anyone that smug?), I guess it carried on over into the 80s.

Although I often feel like a nut (in more ways than one), I won't lie--I prefer Mounds. There's something annoying to me about a big ol' hard hunk of almond in the middle of an otherwise soft, sweet bar. That said, I won't turn down an Almond Joy; I just wish the almonds were sliced and scattered.

The cake I made for our Easter meal (which incidentally doubled as my birthday celebration) was no massive undertaking. I had limited resources with which to work, and this was the best I could do. Thankfully, even though I was forced to morph into Sandra Lee for a hot second, the cake was delicious.

Inspired by the undeniably tasty Almond Joy bar, I combined a devil's food cake mix with the usual suspects, as well as almond extract (hardly a suitable replacement for almonds, but what can ya do?), coconut cream pudding mix, and flaked coconut. If I had had some sliced almonds at my disposal, they would've gone in as well.

The result was a perfectly pretty and quite tasty dessert. It was a wee bit on the dry side around the edges, but that was effectively remedied with some vanilla ice cream or, even more deliciously, some leftover cream of coconut.  I briefly considered going all out with the semi-homemade notion and frosting with Cool wHip, but regained my senses just in time.

Almond-less Almond Joy Cake
(based on this recipe)

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 (3.4 oz) box coconut cream instant pudding and pie filling
4 large eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water oil, and extract in large bowl. Beat until moistened. Stir in coconut and pour into pan.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

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adding insult to injury

Poor bird. Even those with the hardest of hearts has to admit that the disgrace suffered by this particular fowl is quite extreme.


First--how can I put this gently?--she left her body and this world and went on to a land made of birdseed and earthworms.


Then her lovely feathers were removed, among other things which we need not discuss. Finally, adding insult to injury, she got an apple unceremoniously stuffed up her rear end.

All that for me?

Isn't that demeaning? Geez.

Thanks, little lady--I appreciate your sacrifice.

Ravaged and Roasted Rosemary Hens
2 cornish game hens, completely thawed and dry
2 small apples
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 375F. Stuff an apple and 1/2 sprig of rosemary into the empty cavity of each hen. Place on a roasting pan or dish sprayed with non stick spray, and rub oil over each hen. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and remaining chopped rosemary and rub into skin. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, bring the oven temperature up to 400 degrees to brown the skin. Just make sure that they are in the oven for an hour total or until juices run clear. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.

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upstaged

What would Easter be without carrot cake?


A bit of a disappointment, that's what.

No bones about it, I love carrot cake. In the past, the cream cheese frosting typically applied has been the major draw for me, but I've recently come to appreciate the cake itself for its intricate and amazing flavors and textures. I've tried many versions, some basic and others complicated, and the recipe I had come to love the most was a happy medium involving carrots (duh), pineapple, coconut, and walnuts.

Yep, I wrote that last sentence in the past tense. It seems I have a new favorite, and I have Jaime of Good Eats and Sweet Treats to thank for it. I'd had her recipe for carrot cake bookmarked since she posted it over a year ago, but I procrastinated making it because cream of coconut isn't something I keep stocked in my pantry. When Jaime challenged me to compare my go-to recipe with hers, I had no choice but to give it a try.


Feeling inspired and on a mission, I purchased some cream of coconut and set to work. Now, I'm sorry, Jaime, but I didn't follow your recipe exactly. I used my recipe but with the addition of the cream of coconut in lieu of some of the oil. Baby steps, right? I also changed up the frosting, eschewing the cream cheese (contain the violent outbursts, please) for a buttercream-of-coconut-type concoction.

Can you say 'winner by a landslide'? How about 'no competition'? The cream of coconut did something magical to the cake, making it all the more moist and decadent. What's more, my frosting was amazing, if I do say so myself--light yet creamy and with just the perfect amount of coconut flavor.

Yes, somewhere along the way, this cake stopped being about the carrots and became focused on the coconut. I have no regrets.

Carrot Coconut Cake
(thanks be to Jaime)

Cake:
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cream of coconut
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup cream of coconut
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coconut extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 5x9-inch loaf pans. (Yeah, I made two loaves, but feel free to do the traditional layer cake if that's what you're craving!)
In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, and cream of coconut. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well. Beat in the extracts and pineapple.
In a smaller bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add to the wet ingredients and beat just until moistened and smooth. Stir in the carrots, coconut, and walnuts. Divide evenly among the pans and bake for about 40-50 minutes (less for round pans), or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat together the butter, cream of coconut, salt, and coconut extract until well-blended. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until smooth.

Hoppy Easter!

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behold the power of lemon

It's on. Welcome to the Battle of the Buns. The Rumble of the Rolls. The Ultimate Cinnamon Skirmish.


I've decided to take it upon myself to experiment with different cinnamon roll recipes, mixing and matching and melding and meshing until I find the one that pleases me most.

The rolls I picked as my starting point come from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice and you can find the original recipe on any number of sites around the web. I was (perhaps mistakenly) impressed by the oddly specific amounts of certain ingredients--6 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, for example. Would half of a tablespoon of sugar make that much difference? Clearly Mr. Reinhart and his crew had done some thorough recipe work. Not a bad way to earn a living, eh?


Even though I hadn't tested it in its untouched form, I decided to make some changes anyway based on things I had read in various posts:

*I added half a box of instant vanilla pudding mix to the dough, as it has proven to provide mucho moistness.
*I used brown sugar, much more cinnamon, and butter in the filling. More butter is better--that's a rule, right?
*Due to a woeful lack of cream cheese, I used ol' Pete's white fondant glaze (sans lemon extract) on top.

So, what did I think about these? On the upside, the dough was a breeze to handle. However...[brace yourself for Negative Nelly]...the bready part was more cake-like than anything else (perhaps that pudding mix didn't have the desired effect), and the lemon flavor dominated. Thank heavens I didn't add lemon extract to the glaze as Mr Reinhart suggested. There was nowhere near enough cinnamon in the filling--it didn't stand a chance to be tasted against that pesky lemon. Also, the brown sugar probably wasn't as conducive to carrying that spice of all spices into the sense receptors. Finally, and most tragically, the glaze was entirely too sweet and I ended up scraping most of it off.


I know I've made it sound like these were dreadful, but that's not true--they're a tasty treat to be sure. Further, I learned several things about the process and about the components I must include (more cinnamon!), omit (lemon!), and replace (fondant glaze!). All in all, I found them enjoyable, but I can't in good conscience call them cinnamon rolls.

Rolls of Lemon Cake with a Hint of Cinnamon
Makes 8-12 large or 12-16 smaller buns

Dough:
6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 3.4-oz box instant vanilla pudding
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, room temperature

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare dough:
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, salt, and softened butter. Whip in the egg and lemon extract until smooth. Then add the flour, vanilla pudding mix, yeast, and milk and mix until the dough forms a ball. Plop out onto a floured surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes, or until the dough is tacky but not sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to cover it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Shape rolls:
Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top of the dough with flour. Roll it into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Slather the softened butter all over the dough and sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar evenly over that. Roll the dough up into a log, creating a tight spiral as you roll. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 8 to 12 even pieces, each about 1-3/4 inches thick for larger buns; or 12 to 16 pieces each 1-1/4 inches thick for smaller buns.
Line one or more sheet pans with baking parchment or grease with cooking spray. Place the buns on the pan(s) approximately 1/2 inch apart.
Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size.

Bake rolls:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Bake the buns for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool the buns in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then glaze the tops.

Prepare glaze:
Stir the ingredients together and add milk as needed to obtain desired consistency.

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my perfect pairing

If you were to scroll through my posts featuring recipes using apples, you'd find that an ever-present ingredient is cinnamon.


Indeed, I find the combination of apples and cinnamon to be a powerful temptation in all forms--cookies, cakes, pies, breads, donuts, sauces, and on it goes. If apples are involved, then by golly, there had better be cinnamon!

Now that I've professed my love for all things apple-cinnamon, let's talk about this coffee cake. There aren't many recipes out there that specifically call for cinnamon chips, but this is one. (That's not to say that one couldn't replace any type of baking chips with cinnamon chips in any recipe, of course. One could. And should.) It's a triple threat--apple butter (my batch obviously contained cinnamon), straight cinnamon, and cinnamon chips are all involved and, in my opinion, essential.


This corner exhibits what I find to be the perfect bite--lots of chippage,
a little glaze, and some nuts to boot.

There's not a thing wrong with this cake. It's moist and dense and properly sweet, thanks in part to a little powdered sugar glaze. There's a subtle hint of maple, and the cinnamon chips and walnuts are nicely scattered throughout, making each forkful a pleasant experience.

Cinnamon-Lover's Coffee Cake
(three cheers for Hershey's Kitchens! my cake is based on their recipe)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1 cup apple butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups (10-oz package) cinnamon chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 13x9-inch baking pan or a 12-cup fluted tube pan.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well blended. Beat in the eggs, extracts, and apple butter. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in the cinnamon chips and walnuts and spread into the prepared pan.
Bake 30-35 minutes for a 13x9-inch pan or 45-50 minutes for a tube pan or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Drizzle with a glaze (made from combining 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of milk) or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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