Oui, Chef

Blueberry Streusel Cake

 

I know this cake is a touch out of season but fact is we've been drowning in blueberries lately, so much so that I felt compelled to create this little beauty as a means to help work through our overstock.  

You see, Muppet's been on a bit of a blueberry bender as of late, begging for them at every turn.  Shocked by the fact that one of our kids was (no-kidding) ASKING for fresh fruit, and not wanting to blow a food-hero opportunity while actually buying something healthy for them, my wife and I each purchased mondo boxes of the lovelies last week.  As fate would have it, the day after we presented our young berry fiend with her fruit-booty she had upper braces slapped on her teeth and promptly lost her taste for just about everything....well, except maybe for chocolate.  Poor child.

Almost Teddies Apple Cake and an OXO Egg Beater Giveaway!

A few weeks back I had the good fortune to attend the Boston book launching party for the The Food52 Cookbook .  My friend Emily (fiveandspice for all you Food52ers) and her husband hosted a pot-luck gathering where each guest made a dish from the book to bring, it was great fun and a delicious afternoon.  As you might imagine from a gathering of such food fanatics, we brought way more food than we needed for the gang assembled.  In fact, as the afternoon wore on I started to get a little concerned that we had not properly paced ourselves and would be unable to have a go at the beautiful desserts decorating the sideboard in their dining room.

A lesser group would have called it a day I’m sure, what with the sheer volume of savory tarts, salads, dips, breads, and charcuterie that we all consumed.  Many would have slipped into a food coma and curled up in the corner for a little snooze, but not this stalwart group.  No, the siren’s song of cakes and cookies took care of that, and as we emptied the last bottle of wine, our hostess took her leave and retired to the kitchen to gather things for dessert.

3 Layer Guinness - Chocolate Cake

A page is turned, a chapter ended.

Ever since I was a student at LCB and learned to make a Bûche Pistache, a delicious chocolate-pistachio log shaped cake, it has been Arthas’ choice of birthday cake.  I still clearly remember my initial shock when a few months after he had tasted the one I made and brought home from class, he asked that I make another for his birthday.  

And the Winner is......Chewy Ginger Cookies!

This is the year that my sibs and I finally cried uncle and decided to suspend holiday giving between our families.  We did this for a couple of reasons.  First, all of our kids are now teens and are basically impossible to shop for, preferring to receive cold-hard cash (large denominations, please) in lieu of any creative gift idea we stupid adults might arrive at on our own.  Second, we stupid adults are so fortunate as to have all that we need or want, and so the whole idea of braving the hordes of holiday shoppers to buy token offerings seemed a bit nutty to us all.  We decided instead (full credit given here to my brother) to arrange a cookie swap between our three families, with each sending the other 4-5 dozen cookies of various types.  

It was such a brilliant idea that I wish it were mine.

Raspberry Cheesecake

I learned a valuable lesson about meal planning over the Thanksgiving holiday.  In short, developing a plan for the turkey day dinner alone is not enough.....not by a long shot.  When 20+ people are expected, including 5 teen-aged boys, the least of our food planning worries was Thanksgiving dinner, it was the breakfasts, lunches, snack binges and dinners that rounded out the rest of our guest's time-in-residence that was our biggest challenge.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Hot on the heels of our recent "Pumpkin Spiced Steel Cut Oats" success, I've been thinking of other ways to get pumpkin's goodness on our table without having to resort to making pumkin pie or pumpkin bread.  Not that I have anything against either one of these lovely confections, but a few in our clan struggle with the thick, custard texture of the pie, and the rest struggle to get even a whiff of pumpkin bread when we make it.

Why?

Because Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread  is one of Muppet's all-time favorite foods, and unless you're standing with her at the stove when the bread emerges, you haven't got a chance.  The poor starved thing will either eat it all in one sitting, or more likely squirrel it away like a little rodent hiding nuts for another day.  I've tried to nanny-cam her to see where she hides them, but so far no joy.

Apple and Cranberry Crisp

HA....we're on a roll now.  This tasty treat turned out to be the perfect foil for a 1/2 used jar of Trader Joe's  Apple Butter hogging space in our fridge, and as easy as that the inventory of our refrigerator condiment museum took another hit.  Perhaps we should craft a song for the occasion...."50 bottles of condiments in the fridge, 50 bottle of condiments....you take 1 out, and put it to use, 49 bottles of condiments in the fridge"  Ugh, with 47 bottles left, this could take a while.....

Rugelach

These rugelach are a terrific cookie to add to your holiday dessert platter, though we like them so much we serve them year-round.  Rugelach generally come in one of two forms, either shaped like a crescent roll, or prepared the way we have here, like a strudel.  I've always liked them this way because it's easier to get a thicker layer of filling using this shape (hey....who are you calling a pig?), but if you prefer the look, or dough to filling ratio of the crescent shape, then by all means roll them that way.

Baked NYC - Sweet and Salty Brownies

In our seemingly endless effort to ferret out the best brownies on the planet, for you, our devoted readers, we come to you today with yet another contender for the title.  Many of you will recall our first foray into "Baked NYC" territory with this post about them back in January.  In it, we put the original "Baked" brownie to the test, and found we really loved it's deep dark flavor, and almost fudge like consistency.  

Well, the guys at Baked Bakery in Brooklyn are back with not only a new cookbook called Baked Explorations , but also a new take on their now famous brownie.  To put it simply, the Sweet and Salty Brownie is their original on steroids, and while we may hold steroids and all those stupid athletes that use them in low regard, in this instance, they are a VERY GOOD THING!

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

 Every year for the past few, Boris and I get away for a father-son hiking weekend.  Over the past several years we've summited all five of Vermont's highest peaks, so this year we set our sites a bit further north and headed to Maine to summit that state's tallest mountain, Mt. Katahdin.

Katahdin is located in Baxter State Park, which unfortuntaley is about a 7 hour drive from where we live in Massachusetts.  I always forget how big a state Maine is, it takes forever to get anywhere up there.  That said, we found ourselves in need of a little pick-me-up about halfway through our drive up, and pulled off at a Starbucks for a recharge.  I ordered up a grande mocha, but Boris, not yet a coffee drinker was at a loss.  He had just asked me what I thought he might like when I saw that their chalkboard special was a pumpkin-spiced latté.  All I had to tell him was that it would taste like a liquid piece of pumpkin pie and HE WAS IN!  He ordered up an iced version and was grinning ear to ear as he savored his first coffee-drink treat.  

 

Boris and I just before our lunch in the clouds atop Katahdin.

 

He like it so much, in fact, that we stopped at the same Starbucks on our return trip so that he could grab another one (and so that his ancient and exhausted father could get a caffeine fix to keep him awake for the long drive home after our challenging hike the day before).  After polishing off his second latté, he turned to me and stated that he was such a fan that he'd decided that he wanted his birthday cake this year to be a pumpkin cake with a cream cheese frosting.  As his 15th birthday was just a couple weeks away, I had a little planning to do.

Without too much trouble I found this recipe on Epicurious, and with a little tweaking to amp the spice of the cake, delivered a big two thumbs up treat for our guy.  Pumpkin may be a bit of an unorthodox choice for most foks for a birthday cake, but Boris just loved his.  For those of you less inclined to sing happy birthday while carrying this lovely around, it would be a fabulous addition to a Thanksgiving dessert spread.

Cheers - Steve

 

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

slightly adapted from this recipe at Epicurious.com

(Print Friendly Version)

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

• Butter for coating cake pans, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the pan
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin purée
• 1/2 cup packed unsweetened, flaked coconut
• 3/4 cup canned crushed pineapple (do not drain)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons canned unsweetened pumpkin purée
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
2. Butter two 9-inch diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch sides. Line the bottom of each pan with a circle of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper. Sprinkle the pans with flour, tap the pans to evenly distribute the flour, and then shake off the excess flour. Set aside.
3. To make the cake, in a large bowl, sift together the 2 cups flour, the granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger. 
4. In the bowl of a blender or small food processor, puree the coconut flakes with the crushed pineapple.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, oil, and vanilla. In another medium bowl, combine the pumpkin purée and the coconut-pineapple mix.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. Add the pumpkin mixture and stir just until combined. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, spreading it evenly.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks and let cool in the pans for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around the edge of the pans to loosen the cakes. Invert the cakes onto the racks and peel off the parchment paper. Let cool completely before frosting the cakes.
7. To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed for about 3 minutes until smooth. Add the butter and beat for about 2 minutes until combined. Add the pumpkin purée and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat for about 3 minutes until fluffy.
8. Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or platter. Using an offset spatula, spread half of the frosting over the top of the first cake layer. Spread the frosting right to the edge of the top without frosting the sides of the cake. Carefully place the second cake on top, lining up the edges. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake without frosting the sides. Swirl the frosting to decorate the top.
9. Refrigerate the cake to set the frosting. Remove from the refrigerator 30 to 40 minutes before serving.