still lovin' the cinnamon

Woefully, cinnamon hasn't been featured on this blog in quite some time. Lest you think I've abandoned my love for the stellar spice, I've concocted two batches of cupcakes to refocus the spotlight on its rightful place.

The first cupcake I bring you is of the snickerdoodle variety. The cookies are grand and the blondies are delicious, but these beauties have cream cheese frosting! Cinnamon cream cheese frosting, to be exact. I was thrilled to death with these, and that's coming from a somewhat modest cinnamon connoisseur. Well done, Martha Stewart and friends. Well done. (I used her recipe, replacing the seven minute frosting with cream cheese frosting with cinnamon added. Obviously.)

The second batch of cupcakes wasn't quite as successful, but it's still definitely worth mentioning. I took a recipe for Mexican chocolate cake and used it to make cupcakes with no adaptations.

The resulting cakes were tasty, but flat and crumbly in appearance. The frosting I used in lieu of the original glaze was killer, though--buttercream with a smidgen of cayenne incorporated. The whole cinnamon-chocolate-cayenne theme will most certainly be revisited.

No, cinnamon will not be leaving my center stage any time soon.

read more words!

abracadabra? pshaw.

Presto-change-o? Nah.

Streusel is my magic word.

If you've been a reader of this blog for long, you know that I was never the biggest fan of cheesecake. Somewhere along the line, things started to change, and now I'm excited to bring you the most impressive, most tasty, most complex cheesecake I've ever encountered.

Folks, we're talking layers involving oatmeal cookie streusel, creamy cheesecake, cinnamon chips, and caramel--it doesn't get much better than that. I can definitely appreciate so many flavors and textures going on in one bite. My only complaint would be that because of that crumble, the entire cake held together poorly, but let's be honest--it's all going to the same place anyway. Structure is the least of my concerns when streusel is involved.

Hocus pocus. Alakazam. Voila.

Cinnamon Streusel Cheesecake
(based on a recipe by Marcy Goldman)
Crust:
1 1/2 cups finely ground cinnamon-raisin cookies
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Filling:
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream or whipping cream
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely ground cinnamon-raisin cookies
1/3 cup cinnamon chips, optional (but not really)
1/4 cup butterscotch or caramel sundae topping (or a sauce of your own making)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed with 1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
To make the crust, toss cookie crumbs, butter, and brown sugar together in bottom of one 10-inch springform pan (or two 8-inchers). Press the crust into bottom of the pan(s) and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Wrap the pan(s) with three layers of foil to keep out the water from the water bath.
To make the filling, in a mixer bowl, blend the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream until smooth, scraping bottom and sides of bowl to incorporate everything, about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and flour and blend well, 2 to 3 minutes.
Spoon one-third of the filling into the prepared pan and top with half each of the ground cookies and cinnamon chips. Drizzle on some butterscotch topping and dust on some cinnamon sugar. Cover with another third of the cream cheese filling and then dust on more cookies, more cinnamon chips, and more cinnamon sugar.
Add the last bit of filling and finish the top of the cake with cookie crumbs, cinnamon chips, and a nice dusting of cinnamon sugar. You want to end up with a streusel-ized topping.
Place the pan in a water bath such that the water comes about halfway up the sides of the pan(s) and bake 65 to 75 minutes (for a 10-inch pan; 55-65 minutes for 8-inchers). Turn off the oven and let the cake cool in the oven for 1 hour before removing to fridge. Chill cheesecake at least 6 hours or overnight before serving.

read more words!

jingo! jingo! jingo!

A zealous patriot, I am not. That's not to say that I don't sometimes like the Patriots (or, er...one Patriot in particular) and I did enjoy the flick. It's also not to say that I'm not proud to be an American; I'm just not overzealous about it.

I am pretty zealous about this cake, though. It's the perfect dessert for a 4th of July celebration, as it consists of the appropriate colors and tastes fantastic. All I did was make a regular red velvet cake and normal cream cheese frosting and swirl in a bit of blue coloring between the layers.

Perhaps I'm more patriotic than I thought. Happy Independence Day (incidentally, that's another great movie), everyone!

Not-So-Patriotic Patriot's Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.
In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. (Enjoy the fizz show.) Add it to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Working quickly, divide batter evenly between the cake pans and place them in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. To remove the cakes from the pan, place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, then gently lift the pan. Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting. Frost oh-so-generously with cream cheese frosting.

read more words!

pickerboodles, knickerpoodles, flickertoodles

Snickerdoodles is a really random and fun name for a cookie, am I right? I love it--I think it embodies the whole plain-sugar-cookie-smothered-in-cinnamon-sugar thing.

read more words!

the joy of the almond

We've talked about candy bars before, and I've proclaimed that I enjoy a Mounds bar more than an Almond Joy, regardless of the fact that it's been ridiculously named. Mounds? Couldn't they do better than that? Why not Heaps or Piles or Clumps?

Alas, there's no turning back now, and I guess that in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. I just wish they had consulted me--I have a knack for naming things.

The good news is that a flavor combination can have a silly name and still be amazingly delicious. That's how I feel about chocolate and coconut, and almonds are a nice bonus. These little cupcakes are coconut-flavored and get topped with an almond-infused chocolate buttercream. To finalize things, the garnish on top consists of coconut and sliced almonds, both toasted.

Unhinge jaw, insert tasty treat.

Clumps Cupcakes (with a little Almond Happiness)
(inspired by Martha)

Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg whites
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Frosting:
8 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 cups powdered sugar
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons milk, plus more, if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, toasted
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

To make the cupcakes, first preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients (including coconut) in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix remaining wet ingredients in a bowl. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in three additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry, scraping the sides of bowl occasionally. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

To make the frosting, put the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler set over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Let cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the powdered sugar, butter, milk, extracts, and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, then reduce the speed to low. Add the chocolate and beat until combined, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute more.
If the frosting is dry, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it is creamy but still holds peaks. This makes about 4 1/2 cups, which is more than enough to frost 21 cupcakes. Deal with the rest as you see fit.

read more words!

a new word for your everyday vocabulary

I'd like to change things up today and divert your attention to Natalie's exceptional blog, Perry's Plate. She asked me to do a guest post, and I rarely turn down an invitation for attention like that. If you have any interest in a butyraceous cheesecake, take a peek.

read more words!

goodness gracious, great balls of fire

For me, the epitome of the marvelous spicy-sweet combination is probably pepper jelly. Homemade is obviously best, but a close second is the batch I recently sampled from The East India Company.

The aspect of it that most stood out to me was the subtle hint of ginger--it was unexpected, and it was decidedly welcome. There's a definite kick from the peppers, too--it doesn't mess around! The flame is properly balanced by the sweetness, however, making for an exciting and satisfying eating experience.

There are many fitting places to make use of a tasty and unusual condiment like this pepper (or, as those Brits call it, chilli) jelly. It's thrilling in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it livens up a baked brie appetizer, and it makes a nice component of a meatball sauce. I might even be tempted to put the spicy jelly on some pancakes, literally making them hot cakes. (That reminds me of a one-liner I recently saw: Signs that things aren't going so well: You can't even sell hotcakes. Ha.) My favorite way to partake of it, however, is slathered atop a buttery biscuit. Eat it. Can't beat it.

I encourage all of you to check out The East India Company--they have a huge range of products, from tea to chocolates to chutney. Hey, if you have to deal with pounds, the money type is better than the weight type, right?

read more words!