Spork or Foon?

Oven Baked Rosemary and Thyme French Fries

I love French Fries.

There, I said it.

French fries were sent to this world by evil chefs who whose soul purpose is to dangle sticks of fried goodness in my face, knowing that if I indulge, I'll blow up faster than Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

To combat this, I will sometimes try to make oven-baked french fries.  I carefully chop a large Russet potato into perfect, uniform sticks, salt them generously, and send them off into the oven, imagining perfectly golden, crispy, lower fat french fries.

WRONG! 

Somehow, I always end up with soggy, limp, white french fries.  What is it that I am doing wrong?

Well, whatever I was doing wrong doesn't matter anymore because I found out how to do them right.

Toss these perfect matchsticks with a little rosemary, a little thyme, some kosher salt, extra virgin olive oil and toss it in an oven at 400 F for 25 - 30 minutes and you've got fries... frenchified.

Crispy. Golden. Salty. And enhanced with a touch of woodsy herbs. 

Damn those evil chefs, I'll take my healthier fries any day.

Oven Baked Rosemary and Thyme French Fries

3 Russet Potatoes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons rosemary, minced

2 teaspoons thyme, minced

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Grease a baking sheet with 1 or 2 teaspoons of oil and set aside. Make sure you spread the oil around the whole pan (taking a paper town to spread the oil works well).

Skin and chop potatoes into 1/3" sticks.  Toss with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and place in a single layer on baking sheet.  Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, turning fries every so often, until the potatoes are uniformly golden brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately add salt, rosemary, and thyme.  Serve immediately.

Daring Bakers: Maida Heatter's Polka Dot Cheesecake

I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date... (1. being the posting date of the DB Cheesecake and 2... well... you'll get the significance of 2 in a minute).

Once upon a time, I was dining at Market Table in NYC in honor of Jack's birthday. I rarely order dessert (I know, bad baker, support my people!) but since this was a special occassion, I went for it.  I order Maida Heatter's Polka Dot Cheesecake.

Now, this was long before the days where I found my passion for baking.  So due to my lack of knowledge about baking and famous bakers, I thought this was just a funny way to spell "Mad Hatter" because it's about Alice in Wonderland and they do crazy things like spell names wrong and have cheesecakes with polka dots in them, right?

Wrong. Turns out Maida Heatter is a famous baker who has quite the resume and is described as "The First Lady of Desserts".

That is quite the title. I'd like to live in a country where Maida Heatter is First Lady, Dorie Greenspan is President, Maida Heatter is the First Lady, Johnny Iuzzini is Vice President and David Lebovitz is Secretary of State.  Then Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert, Alice Waters, Daniel Boulud, David Burke and Anthony Bourdain would round out the cabinet.

It would be the tastiest country ever.

And ever since that fateful day at Market Table, I have dreamt of this cheesecake.  The cheesecake was pure perfection. Smooth. Rich. Velvety. And has left an impression on my mind, even 3 years later.

So when I saw that Jenny from Jenny Bakes chose Cheesecake for this month's Daring Bakers Challenge, I lept with delight! I can finally try my hand at polka-dotting my cheesecake. 

If I attempted making this cake 3 years ago when I first discovered it, sweat would have been falling from my brow, my hands would have been shaking, lumps would have remained in the batter, and the cheesecake would somehow have been burnt on top but liquid in the middle. 

I'll tell you, it's true.

But after two years of practice, I whipped this bad boy up in about 20 minutes, flat.

Smooth cream cheese base. Perfect crust. Outstanding taste. And when I say outstanding, I mean outstanding.

Here are the comments from co-workers:

Exceptional.

Holy God.

Ooooooooh.

Best Cheesecake I have ever had.

I'm stealing a slice to take home.

Outrageous.

You should put liquor in the chocolate part so you can get liquor filled bites of dots (HOLLA!)

Kraftius and Nabiscoevitus were on my side this time. And they will be forever more, tiny kitchen or not.

POLKA DOT CHEESECAKE

Adapted from Abbeys Infamous Cheesecake and Maeda Hatter's Polka Dot Cheesecake Recipe

CRUST
1 3/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 stick butter, melted 

3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

CHEESECAKE
2 lbs cream cheese
1 3/4 cup sugar 
4 large eggs 
1 tsp. vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp. almond extract 

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Fill a large roasting pan with warm water and set aside.

Mix together the crust ingredients and press into an 8" springform pan (I used a 9" because that was all I had, but I wish I had an 8" so it would have been taller). Press crust along the bottom of the pan (do not press to the sides).  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.  Set aside and let cool as you make the cheesecake.

Place cream cheese in the bowl of a stand-mixer and beat on medium speed with a paddle attachment for several minutes until smooth, scraping sides and bottom often to incorporate all cream cheese. When the cheese has been mixed well, add the vanilla and almond extracts and sugar and beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, until just combined. Do not overbeat.  

Remove 1/3 of the cheesecake mixture and place it in a separate bowl.  Pour the remaining cheesecake mixture into the prepared pan and set aside.

Combine melted chocolate and the cheesecake mixture until incorporated fully. Place chocolate mixture in pastry bag fitted with a plain #6 tip (1/2 inch) (or you can use a Ziploc bag with the end clipped). Working at table height (you will have more control than at counter height), plunge the tip of the tube in the center of the top of the cake, inserting it only slightly into the cake. Squeeze out some of the chocolate mixture. It will form a ball (tennis ball – or golf ball-size, precise and perfectly round) in the cake and will leave a dark polka dot about 2 inches wide on the top of the cake.

Then, using the same procedure, squeeze out six balls around the rim. In order to space the six balls evenly, place the first one at twelve o’clock (straight up). The next at six o’clock (straight down). Then two on each side. Doing it this way, the chances are that the spacing will be quite even. The balls around the rim should be smaller than the one in the center, and they should not touch each other or the center ball. If you have some chocolate mixture left over add it to the center ball; if you still have some left over add a bit to each of the other balls.    

The top of the cake will not be smooth and level now, but it will level itself during baking. When baked, the polka dot in the center will be about 2 ½ inches wide, the dots around the rim will be about 1 ½ inches wide.

Place the cake pan into the larger pan. Place it in the oven and pour hot water into the larger pan about 1 ½ inches deep. If the larger pan is aluminum, add about ½ tsp cream of tartar to prevent the water from discoloring the pan.)

Bake for 1 ½ hours. The top of the cake will still be come golden brown and it will feel dry to the touch but the cake will still be very soft inside (it will become firm when it has cooled and been refrigerated).

Lift the cake pan out of the water and place it on a cake rack. Cool the cake in the pan for 2 ½ hours. 
Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.        

To serve, dip a sharp knife in very hot water or hold it under running hot water before making each cut, shake off the water but do not dry the blade. Make the irst cut through the middle of one of the smaller dots and the second cut (the one that will release the first portion between two of the smaller dots. 

TWD: Choose Your Own Adventure - Chocolate Cream Tart

I don't know why, but life hated me at around 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.

The day started off wonderfully.  Kind of. My point and click camera died one long, horrible death due to a fall (aka, I dropped it with the lens zoomed out. Twice) about two weeks ago that has slowly killed it, so I got a new DSLR camera.  I was like the kid from A Christmas Story (the one who is now a porn star) getting his BB Gun on Christmas morning. I was just shooting away at things (safely, in this situation), squealing in delight.  Jack complained that I was taking too many pictures and the flash was distracting him while he tried to study.  I told him about the plight of celebrities.  "How do you think they feel with cameras in their faces all day?" I challenged.  "Pay me $20 million dollars to work for four months out of the year and you can flash all you want." he retorted.

Touche`.

Excited to have more reasons to take photos, I jumped at the chance to make this tart.  I will admit, though, before the new camera, I did not want to make it.  I am dessert-ed out.  The summer is coming. I have been working out like crazy, only to pull a muscle in my calf and hurt my knee, so I have not been able to work out in days.  As my friends on Twitter know, this is killing me.  So the last thing I want is chocolate on top of chocolate. 

Well, actually it is the first thing I want, but I can't have because I can't workout.

Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books?  The books where you read a story and you chose the outcome? Like, you could go hiking on a river by turning to page 43 or you could hijack a pirate ship by turning to page 71 and ither way some horrible fate awaits you (who wrote these books)?

That was my life on Sunday.

Regardless, I decided to go for it.  Here is my story.

Kim of Scrumptious Photography chose Dorie's Chocolate Cream Tart (click for recipe).  Do you:  decide not to make it because you don't want to be tempted to eat it (turn to page 2)?

Page 2:  Everyone from Tuesdays with Dorie hates you. You are kicked out of the group.  The end.

Or do you decide to make it, but in order not to have a dessert, you quarter the recipe (turn to page 3).

Page 3:  You quarter the recipe.  The chocolate cream is delicious, but tastes just like chocolate pudding.  You are confused.  Do you stop while you are ahead (turn to page 4)?

Page 4:  You didn't finish the recipe.  Everyone from Tuesdays with Dorie hates you.  You are kicked out of the group.  The end.

Or do you decide to move ahead and make the chocolate tart crust (turn to page 5)?

Page 5:  Don't you know you can't quarter this recipe successfully?  The tart shell never comes together. You add water and it comes out gummy and gross.  Do you throw it in the garbage and just eat the pudding (turn to page 6)?

Page 6: You didn't finish the recipe.  Everyone from Tuesdays with Dorie hates you.  You are kicked out of the group.  The end.

Or do you forge ahead, further trying to complicate the recipe and your life (turn to page 7)?

Page 7:  To try to do something different, you macerate strawberries with some alcohol and make a chocolate chantilly cream.  In your first attempt at making the cream, you over-whip the cream and it coagulates and somehow half of it has the consistency of butter and half of it has somehow not whipped at all and is a milky mess.  You try again with better results, but then drop the bowl of whipped cream off of the counter and onto the floor and spill it everywhere.  You try again. You temper some chocolate for  chocolate disks to top the dessert.  You assemble the dessert and top it with the chocolate disks that are rapidly melting due to the 90+ degree weather which has been bestowed upon you in April due to global warming. You take photos as the sun is setting rapidly, knowing that this was not how you wanted it. 

Do you take a bite of the dessert, hoping all of the components will work together (turn to page 8)?

Page 8: BLECH! This is horrible! The tart shell is rubbery.  The chocolate cream is hidden by your awful tart shell and too much whipped cream.  The chocolate disk has melted. You are a horrible baker! You should go hide in a pantry closet and never come out.  The end.

Or do you throw in the towel and just throw away the dessert (page 9)?

Page 9:  You are still a horrible baker.  You should go hide in a pantry closet and never come out.  The end.

However, the other people in this group LOVED this dessert, so don't let this discourage you (because it really is supposed to be amazing) and take your own adventure over to TWD's page and check out how it REALLY should be done.

I'll just be in my pantry closet.

Jamaican Veggie Patties. Not the Daring Bakers Cheesecake, but Close Enough

Not close enough? Really?  I'm sorry, but it will be late. The Daring Bakers Cheesecake that was due today will be posted on Wednesday and I am super excited about it.  But unfortunately, I went to the supermarket to get cream cheese for the cheesecake yesterday (slacker, I know) and I forgot the cream cheese.  

Sigh.

For now, lets pretend that these Jamaican Veggie Patties are cheesecake, shall we?

Humor me. 

But first...

I just got a new camera - WOOT!

I got the beginners camera - the Nikon D40 with a 18-55 mm lens. So I know it is not the top of the line camera, but it is a huge difference! 

And there is no better dish to honor my new camera with than these Jamaican Veggie Patties.

These veggie patties are a lot like my new camera.  Complex.  Impressive.  Easy to handle.  Better for me (than traditional beef patties).

And oh, so delicious.

Yes, I do love this camera so much that I want to eat it.  Much like these veggie patties.  

The flavors are outstanding.  They are vegan, but even if you are an omnivore, you will love these! Instead of adding butter into the crust, coconut oil is added.  I am so happy to have found an ingredient like coconut oil.  I have never heard of it, but it is a phenomenal substitute for butter or traditional oil.  And don't worry coconut haters, the coconut flavor is not too pronounced. It does, however, add a nuanced flavor to a dish that otherwise would not have been there.  It produced an amazingly flaky crust - and the crust has stayed flaky even three days later.  I had one of these - cold - after the photo shoot and it was AMAZING. As good as the first day! Cold! 

See?  Dynamic. Delicious. Flaky. Just like my camera.

Well, minus the flaky.

Click 101 Cookbooks for the Veggie Patty recipe and make it! Today! 

As a side note, when eating Jamaican food, does anyone sing the song from Cool Runnings? 

Nuff people say you know they can't believe

Jamiaca, we have a bobsled team!

We got de one Darice

And de one Junior 

Yule Brenner and de man Sanka!

The fastest of the fastest of Jamaican Sprinters

Go to Olympics, fight for Jamaica! 

No? Just me? Alright, then.

Game Bird Wrapped in Prosciutto with Polenta

A fantastic recipe from my new favorite Magazine, La Cucina Italiana.

I know this looks like a lump on a plate.  For some reason, I could not get a good photo of this.  But I do have to say that I don't think any photo could do this dish justice.  

I love the back story behind this dish.  Beginning in 1275, the head of the ruling council of the Venetian Republic was required to gift local red footed wild ducks to the nobles at Christmas time. Therefore, local hunts in Marano were organized and were gifted after being larded, stuffed with herbs and roasted on spits.  This tradition lasted (and the type of bird expanded to all game birds rather than just local red-footed ducks) through the 16th Century, when Christopher Columbus brought corn to Europe from the Americas and introduced polenta to the Italians.  The duck hunting ceased quickly thereafter, but the ritual still holds its legacy: a local saying:  "Un grasso e un magro come i osei de Marano" (a fat one and a skinny one like the birds in Marano), describes two people of different size, and is still said throughout Venice

Originally, the recipe calls for quail, and I totally thought I hit the jackpot and found a place that sold quail. I was wrong, my heart was crushed, my friend said I was lucky because quail "looks like pigeon and ew, who would eat pigeon?" 

Sigh.

Regardless, this recipe is OUTSTANDING!  Moist, plump cornish game hen that is robust with flavor sits atop a creamy polenta and is surrounded by earthy, tender mushrooms and sweet carrots and topped with the pan sauces as a dynamic finishing touch.

It doesn't get much better than that.  

Ingredients - Adapted from La Cucina Italiana

4 cups chicken stock

Salt

1 cup coarse cornmeal

4 cornish game hens

Freshly ground black pepper

8 fresh sage leaves

8 thin slices speck or prosciutto

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 small carrot, finely diced

1 small shallot, finely chopped

⅓ cup dry white wine

½ pound fresh wild mushrooms such as trumpet, crimini or porcini, trimmed, halved or quartered, if large

2 small garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives

Extra-virgin olive oil

Special equipment: Wooden picks or 6-inch skewers, soaked well before using, if bamboo (if you have them.  If not, I just used toothpicks)

Instructions

Heat oven to 450°.

Meanwhile, discard any innards from cavity of cornish game hen; rinse inside and out, pat dry and season cavity and outside with salt and pepper. Put 1 sage leaf into the cavity of 1 cornish game hen; place a second sage leaf on top of breast side. Wrap breast of cornish game hen with 1 prosciutto slice, turn and repeat on the other side. Thread cavity closed with a skewer (or toothpicks). Repeat with remaining cornish game hen.

In a large ovenproof skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted and bubbles form; add cornish game hen, breast side down.  Sear for 7 minutes, breast side down, then turn breast side up and sear for another 7 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and roast for 6 minutes; roasting until just cooked through (check inner thigh—meat will still be slightly pink, and a thermometer should read 165 degrees F).

Remove pan from oven; transfer to a plate. Reserve pan (with drippings).

In a separate heavy saucepan bring chicken stock to a boil; gradually whisk in cornmeal. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until polenta is very thick and pulls away from side of pan, 8 to 10 minutes.

In the reserved chicken pan, add carrot and shallot to skillet (skillet handle will be very hot; use a heavy pot holder to handle); place pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrot is tender, about 8 minutes. Add wine, increase heat to medium-high and simmer for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, garlic, chives and pinch salt and pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are just tender, 2 to 3 minutes more.

Spoon polenta and vegetables onto plates. Top with cornish game hen. Drizzle with pan drippings and serve.

Delicious Healthy Brownies???

For reals? 

Yes.  For reals.

Let me give you a bit of a rundown on these brownies:

Typical Brownie Recipe (12 servings): 

295 calories

16.4 fat

46 grams carbohydrates

For Reals? Brownie Recipe (not including walnuts because I hate nuts in my brownies but if you like them, add 16 calories and 1.5g fat per brownie ):

99 calories

0.5 grams of fat

23.4 grams of carbs

'Nuff said.

Now, you may think that these brownies are too good to be true.  "They must taste like low-fat grossness," you say to yourself.

Well, you are wrong.

When I handed these brownies to Jack, he looked at me with confusion and said, "I thought these were low-fat brownies".

Nice!

Since they are low-fat, he uses that as an excuse to eat 3 at a time (which kind of defeats the purpose) but even if he does, it is still 15 less grams of fat per "Jack serving".  And he has super fast metabolism, so he can eat whatever he wants and still be thin.  Sigh.

Now, don't get me wrong. There is no way to imitate the wonderful deliciousness that goes into regular, full fat, butter filled, artery clogging, egg yolk-having, cholesterol-toting brownies.  But these are damn close. For low fat brownies, these are fantastic. 

These are fudgey, incredibly moist, and delicious and taste best (in my opinion) when heated and served with a dollop of whipped cream (if you want to keep it healthy, have it with Cool Whip and only add 25 calories!). A-MA-ZING.  

I'll never look at brownies the same way again.

Healthy Brownies adapted from Maple N Cornbread

Serves 16

1/2 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp instant coffee granules 
1/2 cup white whole wheat pastry flour 
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an individual brownie pan or 8 inch square baking pan, with non stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl mix together all of he dry ingredients. Mix the applesauce and egg whites and gently fold into the dry mixture. Stir only until moistened. 

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until desired texture is reached. Less time will result in a more dense, gooey brownie and longer time will produce a cake like brownie. When cool, cut into 12 pieces.  

Tiramisu Bread Pudding and the Curse of Fatty McGee

 

 

Bread Pudding ranks up there with rice pudding for me.  And when I say "ranks up there", I mean, "YUCK".  I have a thing with soggy carbs.  They just shouldn't exist.  As I was growing up, my father used to pour a bowl of Fiber One cereal and let it soak on the counter for a half an hour before eating it every morning. I would walk through the kitchen and gag.  

Those were horrible, horrible memories.

But when I saw that Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle  (click for recipe) chose bread pudding for this week's TWD, I was open to trying it for two reasons.  First, I am taking from the title of her blog that Lauren lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (call me Captain Obvious, please. No seriously. Do it.), which holds a special place in my heart, as it was my home for a while and am hoping it will be my home again when I move back to NY in August! Second, If anyone can convert me on a dessert I once hated, it would be Dorie.

I wanted to find a way to enjoy this recipe, just in case this recipe did not change my feelings towards soggy bread pudding.  I have been wanting to try the Cooks Illustrated recipe for Tiramisu since December, and I thought that this would be the perfect time to try it.  

I prepared the custard for Dorie's Chocolate Bread pudding and I already had good feelings about this one, even without the adjustments.  The custard looked thick and rich and I thought there was no way it could possibly not be delicious. 

To make it a bit more like Tiramisu, I cut down the milk to 2 cups, upped the heavy cream to 1 1/4 cups, and added 6 tablespoons dark rum and 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee.  

This would either be brilliant or the worst thing ever to happen to bread pudding.

After cooking and cooling the bread pudding, I tried a taste.

Could it be? That... it is not bad? 

Another bite.  Could it be? That... this is AMAZING?

One more bite.  The bread was custard-y and moist, yet not soggy.  The chocolate flavor was perfection. Hints of rum and coffee found their way through at the end of every taste. 

One more bite.  Finally, I had to force myself not to have another bite because I didn't want to be a Fatty McGee.

Now, let me get something straight.  I do not mean that if you take more than three bites of this dessert, that you would be a Fatty McGee.  It is just that my body does not like to metabolise anything more than a stick of Extra Sugar-Free™ Gum, so I could not have more than three bites, lest I wanted to turn into said Fatty McGee.

I made the tiramisu cream (which was outrageously good) and yet again, Cooks Illustrated proved that pure brilliance emanates from their test kitchen.  The cream was rich and creamy (obvs), yet fluffy and light as air, with a subtle hint of rum. 

And it was PERFECT with the Tiramisu bread pudding. I can't even explain how good this was.  My boyfriend did his happy dance again. I had 2 more bites. Fatty McGee be damned!

Billowly, delicious tiramisu cream enveloped the creamy coffee and chocolate flavored custard in two layers.  I did a Google Search for Tiramisu and the second item that popped up was "Heaven in Your Mouth."

Oh, and this was.  

When I eat something made from Challah bread that is good, I immediately shout "Challaaaaaaah!" (like Holla!!!"), which is something that my friends from college and I always said because one of our roommates, Shira, often kept Challah bread in the house.

Well, this definitely deserves a "Challaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" times twelve.  Seriously. Try this recipe. Check out the other TWDers. Unleash your inner McGee. 

Fatty-less, of course.

Bread Pudding recipe (adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours) 

12 ounces bread (brioche, challah or white), preferably stale

2 cups whole milk

1 1/4 cup heavy cram

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled

6 tablespoons dark rum

3 large eggs

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

GETTING READY:

Have a 9-x-13 inch baking pan at hand (a Pyrex pan is perfect here), as well as a roasting pan big enough to hold the baking pan and how water. Line the roasting pan with a double thickness of paper towels

Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. It the bread is stale, put it and the raisins or cherries, if you are using them, into the baking pan. If it is not stale, spread it out on a a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat and bake in a 350-degree-F oven to "stale" it for 10 minutes, then toss into the pan (with the fruit).

Bring the milk and cream just to a boil.

Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, yolks, rum, brewed coffee and sugar together in a bow. Still whisking, slowly drizzle in about one quarter of the hot milk mixture--this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they don't curdle. Whisking all the while slowly pour in the rest of the hot milk. Add the chocolate and whisk it in gently until it is melted and the custard is smooth. Rap the bowl against the counter to pop bubbles that might have formed, then pour the custard over the bread and press the bread gently with the back of a spoon to help cover it with liquid. Leave the pan on the counter, giving the bread the back-of-the-spoon treatment now and then, for 30 minutes.

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. F.

Slide the pan setup into the oven and very carefully pour enough how water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pudding pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the pudding is uniformly puffed, the top is dull and dry and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

Tiramisu Cream recipe (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

4 tbsp dark rum
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 pound mascarpone cheese
¾ cup heavy cream (cold)

In a heat proof bowl set over simmering water, beat yolks at low speed with a hand mixer until just combined.  Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-hgih speed until pale yellow, 1 ½ to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice.  Add remaining 4 tablespoons rum and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds;  scrape bowl.  Add mascarpone and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, 30 to 45 seconds, scraping down bowl once or twice.  

 In a separate bowl, beat cream at medium speed until frothy, 1 to 1 ½ minutes.  Increase speed to high and contine to beat until cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 1 ½ minutes longer.  Using rubber spatula, fold one-third of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain.  

To Assemble

Refrigerate the bread pudding for 1 hour to let it firm up. Cut it in half and place it on a plate. Top with 1/2tiramisu cream and sift 1 tbsp cocoa powder over the top. At this point, you can either put it back in the fridge to let the cream firm up a bit (an hour would be fine) and then top it with the other half of the bread pudding, or just immediately top it with the other half (but the cream will spill out of the sides a bit!).  Top the second half with the remaining tiramisu cream and, again, add 1 tbsp sifted cocoa powder. You can also top it with shaved chocolate.  Refrigerate 6-24 hours.

 

The Cake Slice Bakers: Chai Spiced Cake with Honey Ginger Cream

A great man once said "If at first you don't succeed, don't cry about it, you big baby! Do it again!"

Or something like that.

I initially made this cake for Easter dinner.  It was very easy to put together.  Very straightforward.  Mix the dry ingredients.  Mix the wet ingredients (minus the milk).  Add butter and some milk to the dry mix.  Then add the wet ingredients.  Pour in pan. Bake. Eat and enjoy.

Here is what I did:

Mix the dry ingredients.  Mix the wet ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Curse the fact that I forgot to add the butter.  Try to add the butter at the end, watching it clump and coagulate.  Take a spatula and try to press the lumps of butter out.  Beat for ten minutes.  Fret the entire time that I am overbeating the batter. Pour uneven amounts into pans.  Overbake. Shape cake sloppily.  Ice cake sloppily.

What was amazing about this cake, however, is that after the disaster that was my experience baking the cake, it still tasted good.

Great, in fact!  It was slightly dry and didn't rise at all, but the cake was still delicious.  It was a hit at Easter dinner.  People commented on how amazing the cake was.  They paired it with strawberry ice cream.  Even more amazing! 

So I tried it again, knowing that if the cake was that good after I pooped all over the process, it would be amazing when I didn't poop all over the process.

And WOW, was this cake amazing.  I mean, really. WOW.  The batter was light when I poured it (in even amounts this time) into the pans.  The cake rose beautifully.  For the first time ever, I took my time to even out the edges carefully.  The cake was light with a gorgeous crumb when I evened out the tops.  To ensure moistness (why do people hate that word when describing cakes?  It is the ultimate compliment!), I added some ginger simple syrup to the layers and frosted the cake.  

The dynamic chai flavors of cardamom, star anise, ginger, cinnamon, peppercorn and cloves shone through and paired perfectly with the sweet and slightly tangy honey ginger frosting.  

Without a doubt - and I mean this wholeheartedly - without a doubt, this is my favorite cake I have ever eaten. Ever. Ever, ever, ever.  

Please, if you can, for all that is good and holy, make this cake.  You don't know what you are missing.  Check out the other Cake Slice Bakers here. And check out the book, Sky High:  Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes here.

Chai Cake with Honey Ginger Cream adapted from Sky High:  Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes

1 1/3 cups milk
6 chai tea bags
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
Honey Ginger Cream (recipe below)
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.   Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans.  Line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.
 
In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat.  Add the tea bags, being careful not to let the paper tags dip into them ilk. Remove from the heat and allow the tea to steep for about 5 minutes.  Remove the teabags carefully squeezing the milk from them back into the pan.  Let the chai milk cool completely.
 
In a medium bowl, combine whole eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk.  Whisk to blend.
 
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a large mixer bowl.  Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds the dry ingredients.  Add the butter and the remaining chai milk and, with the mixer on medium low, beat to blend well.  Raise the spread to medium and beat until light and fluffy.  Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing only to incorporate after each addition.  Divide the batter evenly among the 3 prepared pans.
 
Honey-ginger cream


2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

6 ounces softened cream cheese

6 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temp

1/2 cup honey (liquid)

1 tsp. freshly grated ginger


 
Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to incorporate, then scrape down the bowl and process until smooth and well blended.  Transfer to a bowl and chill for an hour before using to fill and cover the cake layers, allowing any excess to drizzle down the sides.

Decorate as desired.

Dog Food - Not Just for Dogs!

No, despite the title, I did not make a bad meal that tasted like dog food.   

I write this post today, you see, because my beautiful 2 1/2 year old Australian Shepherd, Remy (named after the character Remedios from 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, NOT THE ALCOHOL) is getting surgery today.  Remy has cataracts.  

:(

Australian Shepherds (aka - Aussies), famous for their beautiful coats, outstanding intellect, and their two-toned eyes, are actually known to have various eye defects. Some have one brown eye and one blue eye, but in Remy's case, each eye is half-brown and half-blue.  It sometimes makes her look like she has a severe case of lazy eye and my father always relishes in making fun of her, calling her Marty Feldman (from Frankenstein).  

Cataracts is actually very common in the breed, so although Jack and I were sad to discover a big, white mass in her retina, we were not surprised.  When we learned that Remy would have to get surgery, we started to worry like two parents would.  We were instructed to give her eye drops twice daily and at first, she struggled and ran around the apartment as if we had said the dreaded B-A-T-H word.  After a few weeks, however, she sat obediently as we delicately dropped liquid into her eye (she is such a good girl!).  

Taking extra precaution, we fed Remy her last meal before the surgery at around 5 pm.  She was not to eat or drink for at least 12 hours, so at 8:00 pm we gave her her last bowl of water. She lapped it up quickly and excitedly, as if she knew that it was the last taste of water she would have for a little while. 

We cuddled with her in bed while we fell asleep.  I awoke at 5 am and headed to the gym, knowing that an hour later, Jack and I would have to give her her last set of eye drops. Remy excitedly jumped out of bed and ran over to her food bowl, thinking that she would get an early breakfast. I sighed and pet her head as I apologized for starving her.  When I returned, Jack and I gave applied the eyedrops and I began making breakfast as she trailed my every move, still waiting for her breakfast to be prepared as well.

But there was to be no breakfast for my little Remy. 

She watched me intently as I prepared my egg white omelet, positioning herself next to a 20 pound bag of Pro Plan Salmon and Rice flavored food.  She dropped her nose into the opening of the bag, quickly pulling it out and looking at me with a look of both longing and confusion, as if to ask, "Mommy, what about my breakfast?"  

It killed me. 

I sometimes think having a dog is like having a child, but the difference is that you can't communicate with a dog. I couldn't say, "No, Remy, if you eat now, you'll go poop all over yourself and throw up during the surgery." Instead, I just hugged her as she shook her butt (Australian Shepherds have docked tails, so when happy, they shake their butts like hula girls).

Jack then took our thirsty, hungry, and confused dog off to surgery.  I swore to her that I would make her the BEST dinner ever when I got home tonight.  

I scoured the internet for a good meal, keeping in mind that, although the meal can contain some human food, Aussies also have very weak stomachs and cannot eat too many different kinds of foods (much to their dismay, I am sure).  I was shocked at the plethora of foods you can find on the internet! And they look tasty! 

I might actually steal food from her this time! The tables will be turned!

UPDATE:  She's out of surgery and doing great! She'll be even better after dinner! 

Salmon Dog Food Dinner Recipe - From Gourmet Sleuth.com

Ingredients
1 can of salmon (bones removed)
1 egg beaten
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1 potato
1 carrot
1 stick celery

Instructions
Combine salmon, egg, and cornmeal and mix well, form into patties, and coat them with a little more cornmeal. Fry in a tiny amount of canola oil until brown on both sides. Chop patties into small bites and stir together with chopped and boiled vegetables. A spoonful of cottage cheese may be stirred in for moisture if desired. 

Basic Balanced Diet - From GourmetSleuth.com

Ingredients
1lb ground beef,  preferably antibiotic and hormone free
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 lb bag mixed vegetables
1-2 lb plain yogurt

Instructions
Brown ground beef in a frying pan. Set aside.

Steam vegetables until tender in a pan fitted with a vegetable steamer. Remove from steamer allow to cool slightly.  Add vegetables to the beaker of your food processor and pulse until the vegetables are coarsely chopped.

Combine chopped vegetables with rice, add ground beef.  Store refrigerated in a tightly sealed container.

Cupcake Camp NYC

Picture this.  You are walking down the streets of Chinatown. New York City. The sun is setting in the distance as you maneuver your way through the crowded city streets, passing stands featuring gorgeous steamed buns, $2 dumplings, and buckets of raw chicken necks.  The bright signs illuminate foreign characters, growing brighter as the sun sets lower.  Steam rises from the netherworld of the subway below your feet.  You arrive at an unmarked glass door, illuminated by the most subtle of pink lights.  A large man towers over you and wordlessly extends his hand and grunts.  You instinctively reach into your wallet and retrieve your license and quickly hand it over to the imposing figure.  His eyes bounce from the license (which is dwarfed by his enormous hand) to your face and back to the license.  Without saying a word, he grabs your wrist and stamps your hand as he opens the door glass door with his free hand and grants you entrance.  You head down the dark hallway as the pink light grows brighter and you are swallowed by the darkness behind you.  You reach an open doorway and take a deep breath, ready for the onslaught that is about to attack you.

CUPCAKES ARE EVERYWHERE!

Yes, my friends, this was my night on Friday, April 10th.  Cupcake Camp NYC was a sight to be held. 

Just to give you a little background on the event, Cupcake Camp was an event started by Ariel Waldman, Lynn, Marianne Masculino and Cindy Li. CupcakeCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment.  It was a free event that was all peace, love, and cupcakes.  There have been Cupcake Camps in Toronto, Ottawa, and San Francisco with events coming up in Ireland, Boston, Chicago (and soon, DC! More on that later).

Hundreds of people packed into Happy Endings, a nondescript bar in Chinatown to sample hundreds (and I do mean hundreds) of cupcakes. I spent 6 hours (yes, 6 hours) making 3 dozen cupcakes: the Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes, and S'mores Cupcakes (which I was very unhappy with the bland recipe, so I will not be posting it here, but decorated them with Teddy Grahams, and people love Teddy Grahams, so they went quickly) and then hightailed it into Manhattan with my boyfriend, Jack and my friend, Tino in tow. 

Tino had the right idea.  He ate nothing but a tuna fish sandwich leading up to the event and was sure to make it to the gym so that he could down as many cupcakes as he could.  And boy, did he consume cupcakes.  Eight to be exact.  In an hour.

Think about that.  Eight cupcakes in an hour.

.....

The crazy thing is that I don't think he was the only one to accomplish such a feat.  People were pushing their way through the event with 2 cupcakes in each hand and going back for seconds and thirds. In all seriousness, frosting was flying everywhere.  I kept finding frosting in my hair hours after the event. However, I somehow managed to not eat ANY cupcakes, partially because of my willpower and partially because, after baking cupcakes and tasting and adjusting frosting for six hours, I wanted to vomit six times over.  So I had three bites of interesting cupcakes and called it a day.  

There were cupcakes from amateurs and professionals alike (Magnolia Bakery, Baked by Melissa, and Billy's Bakery were just some notable New York City bakeries that brought cupcakes to the event.) Some cupcake highlights were Domo Cupcakes (I had no idea what Domo was before this event), Pink Lemonade Cupcakes, Strawberry Mascarpone, and Bacon, Cheddar and Chive Cupcakes.  

Click here and here for photos of the event. I was so excited to get my photo taken for Cupcakes Take the Cake, one of the BEST cupcake websites to hit the web, IMHO. I'm the girl smiling like a fool wearing a brown leather jacket and double fisting cupcakes.  They also took a photo of my cupcakes and my make-shift advertising (the Red Velvet Cupcakes with orange flags that are pictured on the website were my cupcakes. I made those flags fifteen minutes before the event with safety scissors, post its, and a Sharpie as I chomped down a slice of pizza before the event)!  

Thanks so much to Mary Ann Porch for setting up an amazing event!  She was a great host and my future mentor (although she may not know that yet) because....

Jackie of Food Wanderlust and I are organizing Cupcake Camp DC this summer!  Our website is still under construction, but follow us on Twitter for the time being and we'll keep you updated with all of the Cupcake Camp DC happenings!  It is a month before I move back to NY, and what better way to leave a city than to bombard it with cupcakes!

If any of you are in the DC area in July, let me know! You too can stuff yourself silly with frosting and happiness!

This picture does not do the event justice.  Add about 300 more people at any one time over the course of 3 hours and maybe 900 more square feet and then you'll get a better idea of just how packed this event was.

Click the links above to get the full Cupcake Camp NYC experience!