Category Archives: cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Jan 17 1 comments
cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Gingerbread Cheesecake

I know that as far as seasonal dishes go, gingerbread themed things fall in the Thanksgiving-New Years category.  I am also aware, believe it or not, that it is now mid-January.  Even late January, depending on how you split your month.  You see, I agree.  I was going to make this cheesecake for Dan’s work holiday party.  But then it snowed, like two feet.  So the party got rescheduled.  And then it got rescheduled again so that it was during the work day.  Which meant that Dan was metroing with the dessert, which made brownies the dessert of choice over say, cheesecake.  So brownies it was.

The thing is, ever since I conceived of this cheesecake, it’s been on my mind.  And when I couldn’t make it for the holiday party, it was the first dessert I thought of every time I had an occasion to make dessert.  So this weekend when we had some company I thought, why not?  Even though it’s way past the traditional gingerbread season it’s still winter.  What’s stopping me?  It turns out, nothing.  I dove in, head first, and made a gingerbread cheesecake.

Incidentally this is also the first cheesecake I’ve ever made.  As this website has documented for a year and a half, I am really a pie person.  I like cake occasionally, but when given the opportunity I usually ere towards pie.  However, I married a cheesecake man.  Dan loves cheesecake.  And since marriage is about compromise, I figured it was high time for me to learn how to make cheesecake.  I researched, learned all about the best methods and techniques, and borrowed a friend’s roasting pan (so as to give the cheesecake a proper bath).

Amazingly enough, this went perfectly.  At least 50% of the time when I try something new, it fails.  Or at least has some defects.  But this cheesecake was near perfect.  I took the advice I found online seriously, omitting flour (to ensure silkiness) and baking it in a water bath (to ensure silkiness).  I even sent poor Dan out to get more cream cheese when it looked like I was woefully behind.  All the finicking and stress was well worth it, though.  It was delicious.  Topped with fresh gingerbread cookies it was silky, full of flavor, and beautiful.

Gingerbread Cheesecake

crust:

4 cups gingerbread cookies

½ stick butter, melted

filling:

4 8oz boxes cream cheese (rt)

1 stick butter (rt)

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup molasses

4 eggs (rt)

½ cup sugar

nutmeg

cinnamon

ginger

fresh ginger

Grind cookies in food processor. Mix with butter and press into the bottom of a buttered springform pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Let cool.

Cream creamcheese in mixer on medium speed until light. Add in butter. Add in sugar and molasses. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add in spices.

Heat your oven to 350 and boil a teapot of water. Wrap bottom of springform pan in tin foil to prevent leaks.

Chop your ginger and press in mortar & pestle. Sprinkle over crust. Pour filling into the springform pan and place the pan in a larger roasting pan. When the water is boiling, pour around the springform into the roasting pan, surrounding the cheesecake with 2 inches of water.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour & 5 minutes (65 minutes). Take out while the center is still soft, it will set later. Let cool and chill overnight.

Top with fresh baked gingerbread cookies.

 

 

Dec 03 0 comments
cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Gingerbread Cookies


gingerbread4

I think one of the biggest challenges facing couples that are starting out (and cohabiting) is the blending and merging of traditions, especially holiday traditions.  Every family celebrates a different way, and it can be tricky to protect the traditions that are most important to you while respecting the way your partner feels.  It can also be hard to establish new traditions, to make the holiday your own, when so much of what we feel around the holidays is prompted by the way things were done while we were growing up.  Half of the time you’re fighting the urge to say things like “well the way my mother did it…”

gingerbread3

Dan and I have worked really hard to be respectful of each other’s wishes, traditions, and beliefs.  But, as in most cases, there are some things we just won’t ever see eye to eye on.  For one, I hate surprises.  I usually manage to keep half of what I’m giving him for Christmas a secret.  He loves surprises.  I could put his presents unwrapped in the closet and he would never peek.  We also like totally opposite kinds of cookies.  I don’t mean that he likes chocolate chip and I like sugar, I mean that he likes soft, chewy cookies and I like them to crunch.

gingerbread2

This was a problem when I made gingerbread cookies last week.  You see, I like very thin very crunchy gingerbread cookies.  Snaps, if you will.  He likes them soft.  And… I forgot.  The first batch I made were super crunchy, the kind of cookie that you have to dip in a mug of hot chocolate to eat.  Dan gave me sad puppy eyes while he was gnawing on one, so I made another batch of very soft sugar topped ones, just the way he likes them.  See, the holidays are about compromise.  And cookies!  Lesson learned.

gingerbread1

Gingerbread Cookies

4 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 tbsp powdered ginger

1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1 stick butter, room temp

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Beat sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add in egg.  Beat in molasses and vanilla.

Mix together all remaining ingredients.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Divide, wrap in plastic, and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll out on parchment paper.  Your dough should be 1/4 inch thin.  For snaps roll the dough out as thin as possible.   Put back in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Heat your oven to 350.  Cut into circles or whatever shapes you want and bake 8-10 minutes for soft cookies, 20 minutes for crunchy.  Let cool on a wire rack.

Oct 31 2 comments
cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Halloween Berger Cookies

berger4

There are two reasons I prefer to grocery shop by myself.  The first is that Dan has a bad case of parking lot rage.  He can’t even be passenger in a car that’s in a crowded parking lot without getting all cranky.  The second reason is that he compulsively sneaks treats into the shopping cart when he thinks I’m not paying attention.  When we first started living together, the closest grocery store carried a cookie that is unique to Maryland, more specifically Baltimore.

berger2

Every week as I unpacked our grocery bags, I was (un)surprised to find a box of these cookies, Berger cookies.  Berger cookies are a Baltimore tradition almost 150 years old.  It’s a cakey white cookie (not unlike a black & white cookie) topped with a thick, rich chocolate icing.  These cookies are well known throughout Maryland and well loved by my husband.  I would pull out the box, glance over at him, and I always got the same sheepish look in response.

berger3

Dan’s favorite holiday is Halloween, so I try and go above and beyond to make it special.  He doesn’t really like barhopping, so we do a whole day in, usually with festive drinks, an appetizer based dinner, lots of queso, and scary movies.  This year’s roster includes Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, fuzzy navels, and a halloween edition of the Berger cookie.  I added red and yellow food coloring to the dough so when it is paired with the rich chocolate icing it is perfect for this most ghoulish of holidays.

berger5

Halloween Berger Cookies
Source: Adapted from The Washington Post

Cookies:

2 sticks room temperature butter

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup whole milk

4 1/2 cups flour

Red & yellow food coloring

Icing:

3 1/2 cups chocolate chips

4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 stick butter

2 tbsp light corn syrup

Cookies:

Cream butter on medium high until fluffy.  Add in salt, vanilla, b. powder, and continue beating.  Beat in sugar.  While beating, add in food coloring, alternating red and yellow, until you get the desired color orange.  Add in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in flour and milk, alternating, beginning and ending with flour.

Heat oven to 400.  Bake for 11 minutes on a baking sheet covered with wax paper.  Let cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Icing:

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave 1 1/2 minutes.  Stir.  Microwave another 1 1/2 minutes.  Whisk until fully incorporated.  Let cool to room temperature.  Beat for five minutes to incorporate air into the icing.

When cookies are cooled, dip in icing and place on a rack so the icing can set.

After they’ve cooled, they’re best refrigerated.

Sep 26 3 comments
cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Charm Cake

charmcake9

I know that this is going to be a “duh” moment, but the big epiphany that I had about wedding planning is that you’ll spend all your time compromising.  We’ve found that everyone has an opinion and most of those opinions conflict.  A lot of what the wedding has become is a meld of ourselves and the people closest to us.  We’ve tried to insert ourselves in every nook and cranny so that it comes off as ELENA! AND! DAN!  From the invitations that I letter pressed myself to the place cards Dan designed, the wedding will be as much us as we can make it.

charmcake1

We’ve also tried to make the wedding as southern as possible.  Call it a theme wedding, but we really wanted to highlight the parts of the south that we love.  Dan may hail from Pennsylvania, but that boy is a sweet tea devotee.  We’ll be serving pulled pork barbeque, our tables are named after plants indigenous to North Carolina, and our first dance is to The Luckiest by Chapel Hill natives Ben Folds Five.  Along the same lines, I’ve been trying to flavor the wedding extras with southern touches.

charmcake4

As a thank you to my amazing bridesmaids, I planned a really special bridal luncheon.  My father took the five of us out on a sound cruise around the Beaufort/Morehead area and we sipped champagne, nibbled on fried chicken and pineapple, and finally, partook in a charm cake.

charmcake2

A charm cake is part of a traditional southern wedding.  Essentially the idea is that it’s a fortune telling cake.  You hide charms inside the cake attached to a ribbon, and each of your bridesmaids pulls a ribbon and finds their fortune!  Usually the charms are similar to something you would find on a charm bracelet, different charms mean different fabulous things for the receiver.  The baby carriage charm means that the bridesmaid will be having a baby soon.  The engagement ring means the bridesmaid will be getting engaged soon.  The anchor means the bridesmaid’s life will be stable.

charmcake6

But I didn’t want to foretell that my sisters, best friend, and cousin would be BABIED! and MARRIED!  I’m fine with stability, but I just didn’t dig the vibe of the stereotypical charms.  I may not seem it because I am, in fact, getting married, but I don’t subscribe to the whole these-are-the-things-you-must-do-in-life idea.  So I decided to make my own charms.  A little lighter, a little more fun.  So I predicted that my bridesmaids would eat the world’s most delicious taco, or finally get that Hogwarts acceptance letter.  Perhaps they will find their face on a cereal box or learn how to smile with their eyes, you know, things every twenty-something woman really desires with her whole heart.

charmcake7

I bought wooden nickels and a felt pen at a craft store and set to work, combining my wit and lack of drawing skills to make eight charms, two for each of my bridesmaids.  Some charm cakes are bunt cakes so the charms are just sort of draped over the middle, but I wanted to have the charms in between the layers of cake.  Instead of risking the ink leaking into an otherwise perfectly edible cake, I made each charm a vellum envelope and attached the ribbon to that.  When it was their turn, each bridesmaid pulled out a charm, snipped the envelope open, and commenced teasing me for what a dork I am.  I’m fine with it.

charmcake5

As far as the cake was concerned, I wanted something light to compliment the finger sandwiches.  We had the luncheon the same day as the rehearsal dinner, so I didn’t want to be too stuffed by lunch, and thought a white cake with marshmallow icing would be perfect.  I made the cake while I was still at home the week before the wedding to save myself time and effort, and just froze the layers.  Then, the Saturday before we left, our shiny, beautiful, Carolina blue KitchenAid mixer (a gift from our friend Emily) arrived, and I just had to bake something.  So I thought, why not make another cake- a practice run, if you will.  And I’m glad that I did.  The cake part was fine, but the marshmallow icing I made was not exactly what I was hoping for.  I should preface this by pointing out that I’m not really a cake person, I like pies much more, and I really don’t like icing, especially vanilla.  This icing was fine by vanilla icing standards, but instead of adding lightness like I’d hoped, the marshmallows just added sweetness.

charmcake11

So when I made a second batch of icing, I decided to do so with marshmallow fluff instead of melted marshmallows.  The benefit of marshmallow fluff is that it retains the flavor of the marshmallow but has the right texture.  I found when I melted marshmallows they just became runny sugar.  They lost all of their marshmallow fluff and flavor, which is so the point of marshmallow icing.  As a result, the second icing I made with marshmallow fluff, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.  The finished product was light, fluffy, and creamy, the perfect texture and flavor.  The cake itself was all together fabulous and the charms were, well, charming.

charmcake8

Charm Cake
Source: Food Network

Cake:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 large egg whites (3/4 cup)

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Combine egg whites, milk and vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the milk mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape bowl and beater often. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.

Icing:

3 cups powdered sugar

4 sticks butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 jar marshmallow fluff

Cream butter and sugar. Whip in marshmallow and vanilla.

Sep 06 2 comments
cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Lori’s Coca-Cola Cake


cocacolacake

We have a winner!  Lori DuVall Rosemond’s Coca-Cola Cake is the “And Such” recipe contest champion!  Now, before you accuse me of nepotism, you should know that all of the judging was blind.  I was the only one who knew each contestant’s name, and I didn’t vote.  It was a close competition, but this Coca-Cola cake, in the judge’s opinion, had the best story and the best flavor.

cocacolacake5

Lori is from Georgia, and when asked where this recipe originated she said “Not sure where it originated. Just know that it was always a “staple” dessert when I was growing up. It’s probable that I enjoyed it at church potluck suppers; my grandmother’s house; and at University of Georgia football tailgate parties (along with fried chicken gizzards, boiled peanuts, country ham biscuits and pimento cheese sandwiches!)”

cocacolacake4

When asked what makes this recipe southern, she responded: 1) Coca-Cola (which was “born” in Atlanta, Georgia in 1886); 2) Pecans (Georgia is the largest producer of pecans in the United States); and 3) Buttermilk (my dad grew up on a dairy farm and ate cornbread and buttermilk for dinner every Sunday night).

cocacolacake3

While my opinion didn’t count in the official judging, it sure does count here.  This cake was a delight to make and eat.  The recipe had great flavor and texture, it was straight-forward, and the story that accompanied it was by far the best that we got.  Coca-cola cakes are a southern institution, and this was one of the best I’ve ever had.  So while I will probably get flack because my aunt won my recipe contest, the judges had no idea who made it and they loved it, hands down.  So, congratulations, Lori, your cake came out on top!

cocacolacake2

Coca-Cola Cake
Source: Lori Rosemond

CAKE:
2 cups plain flour (unsifted)
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 whole eggs beaten
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups mini marshmallows

ICING:
1 stick butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
1 box confectioners powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
t tsp. vanilla

CAKE:
Combine sugar and flour in mxing bowl. Heat butter, coca-cola and cocoa to boiling and pour over flour and sugar mixture, mixing thoroughly. Add buttermilk, eggs, soda, vanilla and marshmallows. Mix well. This will be a thin batter with marshmallows floating on top. Bake in greased and floured 9×13 pan at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Ice while hot.

ICING:
Combine butter, Coca-Cola and heat to boiling. Pour over sugar. After beating, stir in chopped pecans and vanilla. Spread over hot cake.