Category Archives: cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Jul 18 0 comments
cookies, cakes, and cupcakes

Crispy Marshmallow Bars

I know that this is the third week in a row that I’ve posted a dessert recipe.  There was ice cream, and then there was pie, and now it’s puffed rice cereal coated in marshmallowy goodness.  This pattern could obviously give someone the idea that all I eat are desserts.  Which is not true.  I just seem to have found myself in a rut.  A delicious rut where I use some combination of fresh or roasted vegetables and either pasta, a tortilla, or a pizza crust and call it dinner.  I don’t think (with the exception of cookout food) that we’ve eaten much lately that hasn’t had one of those bases.  I’m not complaining, it’s been delicious.  I just didn’t want you to think I was holding out on you.  Unless, of course, you’ve never eaten huevos rancheros, in which case go! now! drop everything!

Anyway the point is that while I’ve been cooking a rotation of the same style meals over and over again all summer I have been changing it up with the desserts.  I’ve tried new things and recreated old favorites, I even made white sangria for the first time.  It has been a delicious, albeit hot, summer.  And in following that trend this weekend I made these crispy marshmallow bars for the very first time (presumably, I may have participated in their creation as a child).  I’d been thinking, a lot, about the gooeyness, the crunch factor meeting with the chewy stringy melted marshmallow factor.  So I set out to make them.  And I failed miserably.

On Saturday night we had friends and family coming over, so I thought this would be the perfect make ahead treat.  And while the bars turned out well, they were more crispy than marshmallow.  So the next day I tried again, and the second batch more than satisfied my craving for stringy marshmallow goodness.  Through more than doubling the amount of marshmallow (silly me in the first place, I know), I got the perfect result.  A touch of cinnamon and nutmeg added a pinch of something more, with the end dessert being better than my childhood memories of this old favorite.  And the perfect end to a dinner of roasted peppers and eggplant over pasta.

Crispy Marshmallow Bars

1 bag of mini marshmallows

3 cups puffed rice cereal

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp butter

In a large skillet melt butter, sugar, and marshmallows.  Stir frequently until the marshmallows have melted and begun toasting.  Stir in the cinnamon and the cumin.  In a large bowl, combine the marshmallow mixture with the cereal.  Stir so that it is integrated evenly.

Line a medium size baking pan with wax paper.  Scoop the mixture into the pan, pressing it into shape.  Let cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Jun 11 1 comments
cookies, cakes, and cupcakes, grilled, barbequed, smoked, and fried, muffins, breads, biscuits, and sweet breads

Apple Sage Fritters

About a month ago I started a new job at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, working in their education and programming departments.  It’s amazing and I love it.  And, in an effort to keep work life separate, that is all I will say about it.  Except that I love my coworkers because they are sweet and wonderful and on occasion bring sage in from home.  Which, it turns out, I use by frying it.  Because I have to stay true to my roots.

There is something about sage where, when I smell it, I can only pictured it paired with a granny smith apple.  Sometimes that means on top of a burger or a pork chop, and other times that means in pie.  When I first started dreaming up the apple/sage dessert, I was picturing something akin to a hand pie.  Something bite sized but definitely in the realm of pie.  But I kept describing it to people (Dan) as a fritter.  Not because I can’t tell the difference between a pie and a fritter, but because apple sage fritter sounded better than apple sage pie. And because I’m crazy.

So I set out to make fritters.  And they were so good.  And I was in heaven.  And for a brief, fleeting moment (a week or so), I wanted to cheat on pie with fritters.  I’ve calmed down a bit, and now I just want to be polygamous.  Also, ALSO, I fried these on the grill.  Partially because I’m obsessed with my grill and partially because frying things on the grill is THE BEST THING EVER.  Because here’s the deal, internet.  Since I turned 18 and left the comfort of my parent’s house, where there was always pickled okra and tomatoes,  I’ve lived in apartments.  And you know what is NOT fun to do in apartments?  Fry things.  But, as a southerner who requires a quotient of fried food in her diet, I fried in my apartments.  And it was smoky and hot and messy.  But not any more.  Now I will fry ON MY GRILL.

Apple Sage Fritters

2 granny smith apples

1 cup fresh sage leaves

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Oil for frying

In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk, eggs, and vanilla.  In another mixing bowl combine flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar.  Mince sage and add that.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Peel and dice your apples.  Fold them into the batter.

Place a large cast iron skillet directly on the grill and heat your oil to 350 degrees.  With a spoon (for a more freely shaped fritter) or an ice cream scoop (for a rounder fritter), drop your fritter into the oil.  The batter should sink and then float to the top.  Fry for 2-4 minutes and then, using a slotted spoon, turn them over.  Fry an additional 2-4 minutes or until both sides are golden brown.

Remove from oil and set on a paper towel.  Douse with powdered sugar.  Let cool, and devour.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.