Fig Newtons!

I always have over ripe bananas in the freezer in anticipation of making banana muffins just like my mom's.  But this time, I decided I wanted to make something different with those frozen bananas, and expand my horizons.  That and I recently learned I am allergy (altho not deathly) to walnuts and I feel like banana muffins would be naked without them.  So I found this recipe for Nutella Banana Bread and decided I needed it immediately!

The verdict?  Delicious.  I made a small sample loaf for Rebecca & I so there were lots of crusty edges.  I didn't feel like the Nutella flavor was super strong (and I used about a 1/4 cup extra to use up the jar) but Rebecca said she could definitely taste the chocolate.  Here's the finished product...with some pretty sweet swirling!

Then there's the Fig Newtons.  Much like I found with homemade Girl Scout cookies, the homemade version is much better (duh, fresher).  But they were also kind of a pain; I'm sure Nabisco has a much more efficient method.  A few notes about the recipes...1) The figs came in a 6 oz bag.  Come to think of it, I had thought there was too much water when I was making the filling and I guess that makes sense because I didn't cut back on the water but did cut back on the figs.  2) There's a reason it says to chill the dough....otherwise it will spread a bit in the oven. 3) It look longer than 20 minutes to get them brown.  4) Yum, I forgot how good these cookies are!

Yellow(ish) Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Mmm...been craving this one for awhile. And I wanted it in actual cake format, not cupcakes.  No special occasion, just a Sunday morning activity to keep me entertained.

The cake (someone's adaption from McCall's Book of Cakes and Pies):

Old-Fashioned Yellow Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 + 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk (I used half and half...figured if was an "old-fashioned" recipe, skim milk didn't exist. That and I had half and half to use up).
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl sift flour and sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add butter, milk and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.
4. Add eggs, beat for 2 more minutes.
5. Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally among both. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Turn out and cool thoroughly on wire racks.

Perfect Chocolate Frosting (from Hershey's)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
1 cup cocoa powder
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Stir melted butter into cocoa and alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add a small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 3 1/2 cups frosting. Frost cake when completely cooled.

The verdict?  The cake was good but the frosting was definitely the best part - but that's usually how I feel.  Cake is just a vehicle for eating more frosting...because I would NEVER eat a huge amount of frosting on its own...ever! ;)

I forgot to take a picture of the batter...not super yellow...but here's the cakes pre-frosting:

And a big bowl of chocolately frosting:

SOMEONE had to lick this spatula after the cake was frosted...:

The final product...mmm:

Delicious with an ice-cold glass of milk!

Opa! It's a Greek fundraiser! And some cupcakes!

It's been a looooooong time since I've posted.  Between traveling for work and various social events, I haven't spent a whole lot of time in my kitchen lately. I used to get some extra kitchen time every week when I volunteered for Cooking Matters Los Angeles, but the last class I helped with ended in March!  So when I heard about the opportunity to do a dinner party fundraiser to benefit this group, I jumped at the chance.  Basically I got to throw a dinner party, which I love doing anyway, and charge my friends $20 to donate towards Cooking Matters LA.  I received donations from two of my favorite stores- Trader Joe's and Henry's that covered all of the cost of groceries so that my friends' donations were contributed 100% towards the cause.

Here's part of the information I sent on the invite:

SUMMARY: Donate $20 and I'll make you dinner

DETAILS: You are invited to my Share a Table Opa! Greek Feast Night at my home on Sunday, July 31st from 5 pm – 8 pm. It's a benefit for Cooking Matters Los Angeles that educates families in need on how to prepare healthy food on a budget.

Enjoy a variety of Greek-themed appetizers, entrees & desserts while enjoying good vibes in good company by contributing to this great cause. Don't bring anything except for the suggested minimum donation of $20 that will make a direct impact on the health of families at risk of hunger in Los Angeles.

100% of funds raised will support Cooking Matters’ efforts to provide nutrition education to low-income families in LA. Come out and join me in the effort to help empower and educate under served families in Los Angeles.
Anyway, on to the good stuff.  The food.  I chose a Greek menu because a) Greek is good, and b) most of the food could be prepared ahead of time.  So by course, here we go...

Appetizers
Obviously, hummus and pita bread.  My amazingly awesome roommate Rebecca volunteered to handle this part and she exceeded by expectations!  She made 2 batches of regular hummus (tahini, garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, salt, olive oil, and some magic) that were perfectly smooth and delicious, and then I had her make one batch with roasted red peppers added in.  So, so good!  The pita bread blows my mind - how it knows to puff up the way it does - pretty fun to watch in the oven. Not the best pictures but here's a few puffing up..

They funky-shaped pita were turned into delicious pita chips:

 I also served tzatziki, a super delicious Cucumber Yogurt dip (sorta?) - with my own recipe...something like this:
-1 lb of Fage 2% Greek Yogurt
-2 small cucumbers - shredded and strained to get out the extra water
-Juice of half a lemon (or maybe it was the whole thing, I don't know)
-Garlic
-Lemon Pepper
-This random dill mix I found in my pantry

Mix together...best if it sits over night.  Delish on pita.


Main Dishes
I decided to do 3, because otherwise I wouldn't have enough food.  Ha!  That and I have several vegetarian friends so I wanted to make sure to have options.

My favorite was this Shrimp Orzo Salad.  Holy cow.  It was really good.  I modified slightly - I used an entire pound of orzo instead of 3/4 pound (why measure when it comes in a 1 lb bag?).  I also used half a red onion in the salad.  And since I used extra pasta, I made double the dressing but had enough left over to make the salad again with half a pound of orzo.  For the shrimp, I just used a tiny bit of olive oil, salt, and lemon pepper, and then grilled it.  I don't recall how much shrimp but it was a bag of frozen shrimp, lil' ones, tails & veins removed, from Trader Joe's.  I will definitely make this one again and again - it was good cold or luke warm, and was a great lunch to take to work.  I'd probably actually put more shrimp it in going forward just so there's more protein.  And the dressing was super good - I used about half the amount of olive oil in the recipe and it was just fine!  I don't normally like Dijon mustard (it's my lease favorite mustard) but it worked really well with the dill.

Then I made a modified souvlaki chicken.  I just seasoned some chicken with salt & lemon pepper and marinaded it in Greek yogurt and lemon juice - just for a few hours.  Then I grilled it and served it with more pita bread, tzatziki, roasted red peppers, onions, and feta to make pita samiches.  I think lamb would have been better...maybe next time.

The last dish was Spanakopita, and for the life of me, I can't find the recipe I used.  Something along the lines of:
8 oz - 1 lb ricotta cheese
A ton of frozen spinach (one box but I bought bags and the bags had a different amount than a box) - drained & squeezed
2 (?) eggs
Tons of feta cheese (12 oz? 16 oz? idk...)
Green onion (I think I had to saute this in olive oil)
Dill, garlic, onion
Half a box of phyllo dough
Butter

I made a 9x9 pan - layer some phyllo on the bottom, filled it with all the other stuff that was mixed together, layered the top with more phyllo, brushed it with butter, and baked it.  It was tasty, but I'm not sure it was necessarily worth the effort, mainly because I really hated phyllo dough by the time I made this since I made dessert first...which was...

Dessert
Obviously Baklava.  The link is to the recipe I used, but the ingredient list was more like this:

1 pounds phyllo dough (approx. 40 sheets)- this was one box
2 bags of mixed (cashew, almond, pistachio, macadamia) dry roasted nuts from Trader Joe's (I can't remember the package size), plus more almonds - when chopped finely, I had 6 cups of nuts
1 ½ cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 pounds unsalted butter (melted) - WAAAAAY more than the recipe said I'd need - oops?
2 ½ cups honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice

The process of layering each sheet of phyllo dough, buttering it, layering more, buttering it, etc...took SO freakin' long.  I did not particularly enjoy it, but I DID enjoy eating the baklava - it was basically amazing.  The nuts worked great - the dry, salty flavor with the sweet honey was a great balance.  I don't know if I could be convinced to make it ever again, but it was definitely a hit!  Maybe instead I should find a way to make a baklava cupcake...

I also made a little apple pie out of the extra phyllo dough...(most of) that was given away to the next door neighbors.

Anyway, dinner was a success.  Thank you to Rebecca for all of your help - I couldn't have done it without you.  And thank you to Rakhee, Allison, Haley, Adam, Doug, Zimmer, and Steve for coming to dinner to support my cause.  And, thank you to Catherine & Cat for your help!!

And on another note...I made cupcakes last weekend for a birthday + treat to bring to work.  Nothing more to say except...Yum.

Cajun Chocolate Cupcakes 
Topped with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream - from MarthaStewart.com
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt


The cupcake did not really taste spicy to me at all - but, the frosting was magical.  And I forgot to take a picture.


And then S'more cupcakes....so good.


Beating the crap out of the marshmallow frosting...

It's not a s'more with out toasting the marshmallow...or lighting the cupcake wrapper on fire?

The final product...

Turns out today is National S'Mores Day - shoulda waited a few days to make those.  Or else I should make them again! :)

Hi Hats

Hi-Hat cupcakes consist of a chocolate cupcake base + marshmallow frosting + chocolate shell. These cupcakes were described as 'decadent' by four cupcake eaters...so let me rewrite the cupcake equation as Hi-Hats = rich cake + sugar frosting + ganache crust = DECADENCE

None of them made it to work...sorry coworkers :-/ you'll be getting some bacon maple cupcakes in the near future!

These are naked, ready for the freezer before putting on their chocolate shells!


Their insides!

Final product. Oh so good.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes
from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup room temperature water

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30-second bursts at 50% power, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the melted chocolate and beat to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate each completely before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla and beat until the batter is creamy and the color has lightened a bit, about 1 minute. Add the sour cream and mix until the white streaks disappear. Finally, with the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and water, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and beating just until combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared liners. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the muffin pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pan to the rack to cool completely.


Marshmallow Icing
from Martha

1 1/2 cup sugar
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Over a double boiler, heat sugar, egg whites, water and cream of tartar over a double boil. Whisk until mixture reaches 160 degrees farenheit. Transfer to mixer, and whip until warm. Add vanilla.

Fill piping bag with 1/2 inch tip, and frost cupcakes like a soft serve ice cream cone.

Freeze for two hours.


Chocolate Coating

2 cups chocolate chips of choice
2 Tbsp mild oil

Melt chocolate in microwave or over double boiler. Transfer to drinking glass (for ease of dipping). Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and dip cupcakes.

Shabu and a Chef's Hat

This past weekend was my next door neighbor's birthday. We started the weekend off with a Shabu Shabu feast. It was my first Shabu experience, and so homey that I don't think I'll ever try it in a restaurant. My neighbor explained to me that when she was growing up, Shabu Shabu was a weekly occurrence. She explained that it wasn't just a meal, it was an event. Everyone would sit around the hot pot and tell stories and fill up on veggies and protein.

Shabu shabu is basically an Asian fondue, except you don't put a fork in your own meat and account for it while it cooks. Everything goes in the pot, and you bring out what you want to your bowl. The broth in the pot becomes very flavorful from all the ingredients being poached, and was delicious on it's own.

Here's the veggie spread. We had Napa cabbage, mustard greens, onions, garlic, tomatoes, tofu, mushrooms, some weird fish blocks and noodles. As a size reference, this is a paella pan, and it is sitting on the stove, covering all four burners.

Here's some more pictures of the entire spread. There was so much food it wouldn't fit on one table. We had potstickers, shrimp, clams, ribeye and pork in addition to all the veggies.

The meat was so beautifully wrapped! After all this food, we were in extreme food coma, but it wasn't the uncomfortable coma because we didn't eat many carbs. This would be a fabulous dinner idea for a vegetarian. My favorite items were the tofu and cabbage, surprisingly. I never craved the meat. I'm now wondering how a poached egg would do in there???



And finally, a birthday party is never a party without a cake. My neighbor, being a chef, blew out the candles on this cake, shaped as a chef's hat. Inside, it was seven layers (would have been eight, but it was way too top heavy). Each layer was sandwiched with dark chocolate mousse, and the whole package was frosted with white frosting. Despite what it looks like, I did do a crumb coat. Who knew it would be that hard to frost a dark cake with white icing. Many lessons learned for next time. What will be next??

This mighty bowl is from my 6 quart kitchenaid...aka it's humongous, and that's alllll chocolate batter, enough to feed 75 people. Somehow, no one was lucky enough to be around to lick the bowl this time.

The first of seven layers. Chocolate frosting around the edges to hold in the mousse.

-Rebecca

Much Thanks!

Who doesn't love presents?!?! My roommate's mom gave me one of these cake tester brooms, and it is awesome! You store this mini broom near the stove and break off a strand to test the done-ness of cakes and cupcakes. Thank you Mrs. Noeker, that was so sweet! It will definitely be well used.

Coincidentally I was out of toothpicks.

Baking Backlog

I've been baking so much that I haven't had time to post, below are some of the lovely things leaving our kitchen.

Oink Oink

Over Memorial Day Weekend, they neighborhood hosted a pig roast, and I brought the cake. We named him Babe. Two batches of strawberry cake filled the body, with chocolate cupcakes creating the feet and schnoz. All was iced in buttercream...I've never made that much buttercream. To accompany the cake, I made tiny chocolate cupcakes frosted with a sphere of pink buttercream topped swirled pig tail of buttercream.


I finished of Memorial Day Weekend with a croquembouch. A croquembouche is a cake made of cream puffs. I used a standard cream puff recipe, filled them with pistachio pudding, piled them into a cone shape and splattered them with melted sugar. Delicious. Gave it all to the neighbors.



The weekend after Memorial Day I went home and was pleasantly surprised to find out the boysenberries were ripe. I made a heavenly boysenberry swiss meringue buttercream to top homemade funfetti cupcakes. No pictures, I don't know what happened, it must have been sugar shock. All those went to work.

That same weekend, I came back to Newport and baked a Celestial Chocolate Cake with Marcella. It was the best chocolate cake I've had in a very very long time. Dense and moist chocolate cake, filled with whipped cream, covered in chocolate ganache frosting.

Here are two of the three layers. Oh my.

This baby also went to the neighbors...too much for Christine and me to eat! But a slice sure did hit the spot after eating a vegan/raw meal at a restaurant we will never go back to.


Last week I made cupcakes for my coworkers, past and present. I used the same chocolate cake as the Celestial Chocolate Cake because it was so good. Topped them with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream tainted with strong espresso. And you can't forget the chocolate shavings.

I had so much fun delivering these cuties at my old employer with my sister.



I finished off last weekend making homemade brioche slider rolls. They were delich, but I'm not in love with the recipe, so I'll try again and post one later.


I feel like I missed a lot, but this will do for now. Stay tuned for a another fun cake this weekend....Five layer cake shaped to look like a chef's hat. This should be interesting.

-Rebecca