bridget

snickerdoodle experiments

10/10/2009 By bridget

Uh…sorta forgot to write down which cookie is which, but, does it really matter? They’re just about identical.

I don’t cook with shortening. I just don’t. Look, I know a tablespoon here or there isn’t going to kill me, but my granola-like reasons go beyond my health. For one thing, it kind of grosses me out. Mmm, chemically solidified oil, yum. No. Also, and here is where I really start to sound like a crazed liberal, but I try to vote with my dollar. So if I don’t like how a product is produced or what the product stands for, I try not to buy it.

Besides, shortening isn’t any good. Its only advantage is it doesn’t melt as easily as butter, but if you know how to work with butter correctly, that isn’t an issue.

I absolutely don’t judge you if you cook with shortening, okay? To each his own. I’m fully aware that I’m being stubborn and probably impractical. If I was at your house and you made a light, flaky pie crust with shortening, I would absolutely eat it and enjoy it. And heck, good for you for not being as close-minded as I apparently am.

So. When I saw that Cooks Illustrated requires shortening in their snickerdoodle recipe, I had my doubts. Yes, maybe the cookies would spread just a tiny bit more if they’re made with only butter, but is it significant? To see how big of a difference the shortening would make, I made the recipe both ways and compared. (Yes, I had to buy shortening to do this.)

I made the dough and baked some immediately. I sent most of those away, but my initial impression was that the cookies were identical. I also froze some of each batch after forming it into balls, then toted in on a 9-hour drive for vacation, then refroze it, then defrosted it and left it in the fridge for a few days until I finally got around to baking it. Way to respect my food, right? Fortunately, they came out just fine.

There were four of us comparing the cookies, and the others didn’t know which cookie had shortening and which used all butter. Here are some of the comments:

Shortening: uniform texture; dry; generic; tastes storebought

All-butter: buttery; delicate; firm edges, soft middle; tastes like a snickerdoodle should taste; better

butter + shortening

Are those conclusive results or what? Also, I didn’t see an issue with the all-butter cookies spreading. But in the interest of full disclosure, one of my friends didn’t really notice a difference between the two, so while the all-butter cookie did undoubtedly have a better, more buttery flavor and the other tasted a little flat in comparison, the difference isn’t huge. Both cookies were good, of course.

But, I will certainly be leaving the shortening out of my snickerdoodles (and my pie crust and my biscuits and everything else) in the future.

all butter

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Snickerdoodles (from Cooks Illustrated via Annie’s Eats)

Makes about 30 cookies

I recommend replacing the shortening with more (4 tablespoons) butter. Also, I made my cookies smaller, didn’t flatten them, and baked them for about 2 minutes less. I only ever bake one sheet of cookies at a time.

2¼ cups (11¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened but still cool
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1½ cups (10½ ounces) granulated sugar, plus 3 tablespoon for rolling dough
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, for rolling dough

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening and 1½ cups sugar on medium speed until well combined, 1 to 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and beat again until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.

2. In a small, shallow bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon for rolling the dough. Stir or shake well to combine. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1½-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use a drinking glass with a flat bottom to gently flatten the dough balls to ¾-inch thickness (butter the bottom of the glass before starting, and dip it in sugar between cookies if it begins to stick).

3. Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the center are soft and puffy, 9-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, recipe comparisons

roasted butternut squash salad with cider vinaigrette

10/08/2009 By bridget

It’s hard to believe that most years, I’m anti-anything fall until October 1st. Not this year. September included pumpkin breakfasts, apple desserts, and plenty of pumpkin beer. Granted, the weather was pretty warm in September and the trees were still green so it didn’t feel much like fall, but it didn’t feel like summer either.

That all changed on October 1st, when I had to turn the heat on for the first time, and our dinner complimented the cool, crisp weather – salad with roasted butternut squash, cranberries, walnuts, and dressing made from reduced apple cider, served with sweet potato biscuits.

Every ingredient in the salad is maximized. The squash, seasoned and drizzled with maple syrup, is roasted until it’s caramelized. The walnuts are toasted, and so are the cranberries, which was a trick I hadn’t seen before. The cider, reduced to less than a third of its initial volume, is mixed with acidic cider vinegar and emulsifying mustard to form the base of the dressing.

It was delicious; so good, in fact, that I made again the next day for lunch. It was sweet, but also tangy from the dressing, a bit bitter from the walnuts, and spicy from the arugula. I also like that the hot squash and dressing slightly wilt the arugula – it shrinks it a bit, so it doesn’t take so darn long to eat a nice bowl full of greens. Which is a good thing, because then I can eat more of it.

One year ago: Spinach, Artichoke, and Red Pepper Strata

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Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette (adapted just slightly from Barefoot Contessa)

I used less oil. I didn’t measure the amount, but I’m guessing it was ¼ cup; I only ever use enough oil to just balance the acidity. Also, I liked to let the dressing and squash cool just a few minutes before mixing them with the greens. I forgot the cheese the first time I made the salad, when I photographed it.

1 (1½-pound) butternut squash, peeled and ¾-inch) diced
good olive oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
½ cup walnuts halves
¾ cup apple cider or apple juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Place the butternut squash on a sheet pan. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the maple syrup, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and toss. Roast the squash for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until tender. Add the cranberries and walnuts to the pan for the last 5 minutes.

3. While the squash is roasting, combine the apple cider, vinegar, and shallots in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the cider is reduced to about ¼ cup. Off the heat, whisk in the mustard, ½ cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper.

4. Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and add the roasted squash mixture, the walnuts, and the grated Parmesan. Spoon just enough vinaigrette over the salad to moisten and toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Filed Under: fall, fruit, gluten free, healthy, nuts, salad, vegetables, vegetarian

split-level pudding

10/06/2009 By bridget

Have you ever had a recipe go haywire and just not be able to figure out for the life of you what went wrong? You review the recipe again and again, thinking, “well, it certainly looks like I did exactly what I was supposed to…”

One of the best parts of Tuesdays with Dorie is the discussion of the weekly recipe, where people can voice concerns, provide tips, and compare results. If a bunch of us have the same issue, I feel pretty safe saying that the recipe has a finicky step. We didn’t all follow the directions incorrectly, after all. (But usually only a portion of us have problems, and I swear, I am always in that portion.)

My pudding didn’t set up quite right. It seemed perfect right off the stove, but then Dorie likes to give pudding a whirl in a food processor or blender before she chills it, just to make sure it’s lump free. My smooth, thickened pudding turned right back to liquid after its time in the blender. After it set up in the fridge, it was kind of…weird and lumpy. And I wasn’t the only one with this problem. No more blender/food processor step for me! A fine-mesh strainer will do from here on out.

Other that a slightly odd texture, what’s not to like about this? Soothing, fresh vanilla paired with rich, comforting chocolate. It’s a classic flavor combination for a reason. Remind me in the future how good vanilla pudding is when a simple ganache is added. That’s probably true for most things, though, right?

Garrett should have the recipe posted. As I said, in the future I’ll skip the food processor steps in favor of using a whisk and a fine-mesh strainer. I might also add a little more cream (or less chocolate) to the ganache, because it was quite a bit more solid than the pudding.

One year ago: Caramel Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake

Filed Under: chocolate, custard, dessert, gluten free, tuesdays with dorie

stuffed mushrooms with sun-dried tomatoes

10/05/2009 By bridget

I’ve started my annual football season tradition of planning to eat snacks on Sundays instead of a full dinner, which will invariably last two weeks before I forget all about it and go back to planning a meal and then whining that “I don’t feel like cooking, I just wanna relax!” My life is so hard.

But it can be tricky to come up with snacks that are really good but not so filling that I can’t graze on them for a while. (Translation: I’d like to be eating cheese and bread and sausage and mayonnaise-based dips and chips and cookies and, you know, tasty delicious things like that. But I also want my pants to fit.)

Stuffed mushrooms are a good example of something that seems like it should be fairly healthy, but on closer inspection, is often full of cheese, and not just any cheese, but that most-delicious and fattening of examples – cream cheese.

Fortunately, this recipe keeps it light by skipping the cheese, flavoring the filling with just shallots, parsley, and sun-dried tomatoes, with bread crumbs used for bulk and just a sprinkle of parmesan grated on top for an accent.

Even though it was just Dave and I watching football together on a Sunday afternoon, and we had a few other snacks, I made the full recipe. But it turns out these stuffed mushrooms aren’t the type of snack that you graze on throughout an afternoon, because they were so darn good that we snarfed them up immediately. And since they’re not very filling, you can eat a bunch of them and still have plenty of room for some hummus!

One year ago: Roasted Carrots

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Mushrooms Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (adapted from Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen)

The only minor change I’ll make to this recipe, to bring it from really damn good to perfect, is to sprinkle the inside of the mushrooms with a bit of salt before roasting them the first time. Not so much to eliminate more liquid, but just to season them. (Even Dave agreed with this, and he isn’t as salt-crazy as I am.)

Makes 18

½ ounce sun-dried tomatoes (about 5)
2 tablespoons olive oil
18 white mushrooms, caps reserved, stems pulled out and chopped fine
½ cup finely chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
⅓ cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves, washed well, spun dry, and minced
½ teaspoon dried basil, crumbled
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. If your tomatoes are packed in oil, rinse them before chopping them finely. If they’re not packed in oil, soak them in a small bowl in hot water to cover for 5 minutes. Reserving 1 tablespoon soaking liquid, drain tomatoes well and chop fine.

3. Lay mushroom caps, stems removed, face down on baking sheet either lightly sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Bake them approximately 10 minutes, or until their liquid puddles underneath. Remove from the oven. Carefully pour off liquid that has gathered in the bottom of the pan, and then again, carefully, turn mushroom caps over so they are ready to be filled.

4. In a small skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook chopped mushrooms stems, shallots and garlic, stirring until shallots are softened. In a bowl stir together mushrooms mixture, bread crumbs, tomatoes, reserved soaking liquid, yolk, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mound stuffing in reserved mushroom caps and arrange caps in a lightly greased shallow baking dish, or the same parchment-lined pan you’ve roasted your mushrooms in. Sprinkle mushrooms with Parmesan and bake in middle of oven 15 minutes.

Filed Under: appetizers, healthy, vegetables, vegetarian

applesauce snack cake

10/02/2009 By bridget

You must make this cake.

I try not to say that. I know everyone has their own preferences. Not everyone likes to bake. There is no shortage of apple cake recipes. But –

You must make this cake.

It’s the essence of fall, all in one small unassuming square of cake. It will make your house smell warm and cozy while you bake. The flavor is spot-on apple, and yet there are no chunks of fruit to break up the smooth cake. The texture is soft and moist, with just the thinnest crisp sugar coating on top.

Of course, this perfection comes at a price.

The fantastic smell of fall permeating your kitchen comes from reducing apple cider, which takes some time. Getting the chunk-free texture I appreciate so much requires a quick whiz in the food processor, dirtying several large dishwasher-hogging dishes.

But, oh, it’s worth it. It’s worth it. Really, while the cider is reducing and hydrating the dried apples, you can prepare the baking pan, measure the rest of the ingredients, and clean up after yourself as you go. Then don’t bother waiting for the hot rehydrated apples to come to room temperature like the recipe hopes you will – mix them with cold-from-the-fridge applesauce and puree them together in the food processor. From that point, the recipe is a simple quick bread, mixing the wet ingredients, then stirring in the dry ingredients and baking.

From getting out ingredients to putting the cake in the oven really took maybe 45 minutes. From cutting the cake to eating the cake – darn blog requiring pictures! – took maybe 10 minutes, and it was the longest 10 minutes of my day.

You must make this cake. Seriously.

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Applesauce Snack Cake (from Cooks Illustrated)

Makes one 8-inch square cake

I never do Cooks Illustrated’s trick of lining the pan with parchment or foil; it just seems really wasteful to me, and this cake came out of the pan with no problem.

Start the cider and apples simmering before you do anything else. It seems to take longer than 15 minutes for me, so you may want to bump the heat up to just higher than medium (or use a wide pot). And like I said above, I see no reason to wait for the cider mixture to cool and the applesauce (assuming that it’s cold) to warm to room temperature, when you can just combine them and move on with the recipe.

¾ cup (2 ounces), dried apples, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 cup apple cider
1½ cups (7½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
⅔ cup (4¾ ounces) sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; hear oven to 325 degrees. Cut 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.

2. Bring dried apples and cider to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat; cook until liquid evaporates and mixture appears dry, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

3. Meanwhile, whisk flour and baking soda in medium bowl to combine; set aside. In second medium bowl, whisk sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Measure 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture into small bowl and set aside for topping.

4. In food processor, process cooled dried-apple mixture and applesauce until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl as needed; set aside. Whisk egg and salt in large bowl to combine. Add sugar-spice mixture and whisk continuously until well combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add butter in three additions, whisking after each. Add applesauce mixture and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients; using rubber spatula, fold gently until just combined and even moistened.

5. Turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Sprinkle reserved 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture evenly over batter. Bake until wooden skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Run knife along cake edges without parchment to release. Remove cake pan by lifting parchment overhand and transfer to cutting board. Cut cake and serve.

Filed Under: cake, dessert, fall, favorites, fruit

bran muffins

09/30/2009 By bridget

Everything I eat is evaluated based on its ratio of nutrition to flavor. That sounds tedious but it isn’t. It’s really just answering one simple question that I think most of us ask before we dig in: Is it worth it?

For example, macaroni and cheese: very indulgent, but also very delicious. Definitely worth it, at least once in a while.

Raw carrots? Very healthy, but, eh, not my favorite thing to eat. I tend to ignore them unless there’s nothing else. But add some hummus, and you’ve increased the flavor significantly without decreasing the nutrition drastically, and hey, I’ll eat that.

Sometimes I forget that something can be both ridiculously good for you and ridiculously good. And something like these muffins comes along, perfect in every way, both taste and health, and I’m oh-so-pleasantly reminded. Nutrition to flavor ratio? Off the charts.

One year ago: Pain Ordinaire

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Moist Bran Muffins (from the King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking)

Makes about 18

Note that this is a two-day process, as the dough needs to set overnight before baking. Fortunately, at that point it can actually wait in the refrigerator for several days.

I’ve used both raisins and dried cranberries in these, and both are good. Of course most any dried fruit would work. I’ve also used clementine juice instead of orange juice, and that worked just fine.

¾ cup boiling water
1¼ cups unprocessed wheat bran, divided
¾ cup dried fruit, chopped if large raisins
¾ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
2½ cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup orange juice

1. Pour boiling water over ¾ cup of the bran cereal in a small mixing bowl. Add the raisins, brown sugar and oil. While the bran mixture cools, blend together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Beat the egg with the buttermilk and orange juice in a large measuring cup. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir in remaining ½ cup bran cereal, and then the bran-raisin mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

3. The next day, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin. Fill each cup two-thirds full. Bake the muffin until a tester comes out clean, about 23 to 26 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling, or serve warm.

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, favorites, freezer friendly, fruit, healthy, quick bread, whole grains

chocolate-crunched caramel tart

09/29/2009 By bridget

My favorite way to spend my oh-so-generous three-dollar allowance as a kid, was, surprise!, candy. Well, that and cheap stationary from Walgreens (which I still have, because, I don’t know why). Once a week, my friend Katie and I would walk to Walgreens and wander up and down the candy aisle, picking out favorites. I remember one road trip, sitting in the backseat, each digging through the boxes of candy we’d brought, trading Now and Later flavors (mm, sugary colorful wax) and rationing Sixlets.

I guess this explains all the cavities, huh?

But these days, candy isn’t really my thing, in nearly any form. Oh, I’ll eat it; I don’t hate it. But when it comes to almost any confection, the truth is that I’d rather mix it up with flour and butter and bake something. Give me good brownies over the best truffle any day.

Which gives me a bit of a problem with this tart, which is filled with caramel, nuts, and ganache. It’s basically a piece of candy in a tart crust, and, eh. I ate it, it was fairly enjoyable, it just wasn’t really my thing. I demand more refined flour!

I hate saying anything negative about recipes. I really want to clarify that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this recipe, and I did not dislike it. It just isn’t my favorite. If you think you’ll feel differently, check out the recipe at Carla’s site. She chose this recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie this week.

One year ago: A comparison between two crème brûlée recipes

Filed Under: chocolate, dessert, nuts, tuesdays with dorie

herb-roasted onions

09/28/2009 By bridget

I’m pretty sure I’m the worst yoga-er ever. I think it provides a pretty good workout, but, honestly, it kind of bores me. I know I’m supposed to get all meditative and stuff, but I don’t, and I end up bored, and I end up not doing yoga at all, and that’s no good.

So my new trick is to watch the Food Network while I do yoga. See? Worst yoga-er ever.

But if I think of yoga as “ooh, I get to watch Barefoot Contessa!” instead of “bleah, exercise”, I actually look forward to it. I recently saw her make chicken piccata, buttermilk mashed potatoes, and roasted onions, and I decided right there, in the middle of the warrior series, that I was making the whole meal that weekend.

The buttermilk mashed potatoes were just as good as you’d expect (in other words, very, although I didn’t follow her recipe to a tee), and the chicken was actually a big failure, but the onions were what really stole the show. They get two major hits of flavor, a quick soak in lemony herb mustard vinaigrette before baking, and then another dip in the same dressing after they’re cooked.

This was my first experience serving onions on their own instead of as a support to a dish’s main flavor, and, damn! I’ve been missing out. I really do love onions when they’re soft and caramelized, and the dressing brightened and enhanced the onions’ own sweetness. All that and stretchier muscles. Not bad for half an hour of watching television.

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Herb-Roasted Onions (from Barefoot Contessa)

2 red onions
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup good olive oil
½ tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

3. For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well.

4. With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

Filed Under: side dish, vegetables

pumpkin cupcake comparison

09/25/2009 By bridget

You know what’s totally unfair, considering that I’m in general more interested in food than Dave? He has a more sensitive palate than me. What the hell?

I made these cupcakes when he wasn’t around, and I had to do three separate “tastings” (eating all three in one sitting, unfrosted) over a couple of days before I could really narrow down my opinion. Dave came home, ate one of each, and described them almost exactly as I would have. Gah!

My primary goal for the pumpkin cupcakes was for them to be pumpkin cupcakes, not pumpkin muffins with frosting. I originally thought I’d make this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but then I found two other recipes, one from the newest issue of Bon Appetit which everyone is raving about, and one from Martha Stewart, and of course I’m incapable of making a decision, so: comparison time!

left to right: david leite, martha stewart, bon appetit

Method:
Bon Appetit: This recipe got demerit points from the start for calling for self-rising flour and pumpkin pie spice, both of which I had to look up conversions for. (And I was surprised to find that there apparently is no straight substitution for self-rising flour.) Plus it called for the brown sugar to be mixed with the dry ingredients – clumps! The mixing method is a simple wet ingredients-dry ingredients-combine process, which…sounds like a muffin. It was the only recipe that used oil instead of butter, and it included sour cream.

Martha Stewart: This was also mixed similar to muffins are, with the pumpkin added after the wet and dry ingredients are combined.

David Leite (via Smitten Kitchen): This recipe was the most promising from the beginning, because it’s actually mixed using the cake method, where butter and sugar are creamed, the eggs are mixed in, then the dry ingredients and liquid (buttermilk in this case) are alternately added.

left to right: david leite, martha stewart, bon appetit

Results:
Bon Appetit: They were very dense; I could always identify these cupcakes just by the weight of them. The tangy flavor of the sour cream was definitely noticeable, which I thought masked the flavor of the pumpkin. This was both Dave and my least favorite.

Martha Stewart: These were good – light and moist, with a nice pumpkin flavor. The tops were sticky, but that doesn’t matter after they’re frosted. I was impressed with these until I tried the David Leite cupcakes, and then these seemed too muffiny.

David Leite: Perfect. So light, with just the right amount of resiliency. (It’s hard to describe this trait of cakes, but I like when they’re a little springy.) The pumpkin flavor was nicely balanced. They were just really good cupcakes, pumpkin flavored.

left to right: david leite, martha stewart, bon appetit

For once, a comparison post where the results are clear! Even my dumb palate can tell the difference between these three cakes. David Leite’s recipe is certainly the way to go, unless you’re in a big hurry or hate to bake or something, in which case nobody is going to complain about Martha Stewart’s recipe.

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Pumpkin Cupcakes (adapted from David Leite via Smitten Kitchen)

18 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pans
1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups canned solid-pack pumpkin

1. Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.

3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth. Divide the batter equally between the cups. (They’ll be about ¾ full.) Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

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Pumpkin Cupcakes (from Martha Stewart)

Makes 18

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

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Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes (adapted from Bon Appétit October 2009)

24 mini-cupcakes

The original recipe called for self-rising flour and pumpkin pie spice, but in the absence of both of those, I had to make substitutions.

½ cup cake flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon baking powder
⅔ cup (packed) golden brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon allspice
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 large egg
½ cup canned pure pumpkin
⅓ cup vegetable oil
⅓ cup sour cream
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 mini muffin cups with 1¾ x 1-inch paper liners. Mix flour, golden brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl. Whisk egg, canned pure pumpkin, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract in medium bowl. Add mixture to dry ingredients; stir to fully combine. Spoon batter into paper liners (batter will almost fill liners). Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 16 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Filed Under: cake, dessert, fall, freezer friendly, recipe comparisons

goat cheese, pesto, and sun-dried tomato terrine

09/24/2009 By bridget

Dave is, it should come as no surprise to me by now, quite a good match for me. I used to wish that he was as excited about food as I was. I’d ask him for meal ideas, I’d demand feedback after trying a new recipe, and I wished he’d cook with me. Invariably, his replies were, respectively, “salmon pesto pasta”, “good”, and “sure, someday.”

Which, actually – is fine by me. Do I really need someone picking apart each dish I make? Or adding even more ideas to an already overstuffed recipes-to-try folder? Or taking up valuable cooking opportunities?

No, his uncritical, always-appreciative, open-minded attitude toward food is perfect. And when he does get excited by a dish, I know to take note, like when he came home from a work party raving about a goat cheese pesto spread someone had brought.

What you do is line a bowl with plastic wrap, then spread some softened goat cheese in the bottom. You’re supposed to make the goat cheese spreadable by adding cream, but I used milk and it worked just fine. Over the first layer of goat cheese, you add some pesto, then more goat cheese, then minced sun-dried tomatoes and chopped toasted pine nuts, then more goat cheese. After chilling for a few hours, it inverts nicely, and you pull the plastic wrap off to reveal nice layers.

Wow, what a great combination of ingredients. The sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes balances the tart goat cheese, and pesto is always delicious. I served it with a whole wheat baguette, and we ate, um, a lot of it. It was completely irresistible.

One year ago: Lavash Crackers and Pesto Goat Cheese Spread (Hi! I like pesto! And goat cheese!)

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Goat Cheese, Pesto, and Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine (from Fine Cooking)

Dave did tell me, too late, that his coworker had advised that one of the tricks to making the terrine look neat was to not overfill the intervening layers. That would have been nice to know before I spooned in a bunch of extra pesto.

My personal preference would have been for one more tomato. Dave didn’t agree.

10 ounces goat cheese
¼ to ½ cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons basil pesto (homemade or store-bought)
5 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

1. Line the inside of a 2-cup sharply sloping bowl (about 4 inches across the top) with plastic; let the ends extend over the sides a few inches. In a mixing bowl, mash the goat cheese and ¼ cup of the cream with a fork and season with ¼ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper; add more cream if the cheese hasn’t softened.

2. Spoon about one-third of the cheese into the lined bowl and pack it into an even layer. Spread the pesto almost completely to the sides of the first layer of cheese. Top with another third of the cheese, the sun-dried tomatoes, and all but ½ tablespoon of the pine nuts. Top with the remaining cheese. Pack down, fold the plastic over, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

3. Half an hour before serving, take the bowl out of the refrigerator. Pull on the edges of the plastic to loosen the terrine from the bowl. Invert the terrine onto a plate, drizzle with a little olive oil, and let sit for ½ hour to warm up. Sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts, season liberally with pepper, and serve.

Filed Under: appetizers, cheese, dips, gluten free, nuts, vegetables, vegetarian

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