Tag: dessert

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how to bake a wedding cake

Guess what? I’ve successfully baked my first wedding cake! It was easier and less stressful than I expected, and surprisingly, I’d even do it again. Now a most epic blog post about my adventure.

Last weekend, my friend Katie married her sweetheart and I baked her wedding cake. The bride wanted chocolate and the groom wanted vanilla. We needed enough cake for 150 guests—hands down my most ambitious baking adventure to date. After some thoughtful consideration, we decided on a three-tiered vanilla cake with vanilla swiss buttercream icing and three chocolate sheet cakes with chocolate buttercream. Once all the hard decisions were made, it was time to actually bake this monstrosity.

Research & Planning

The research and planning phase of my wedding cake adventure was by far the most crucial part. It involved lots of testing of cakes and frostings, lots of internet research and lots of math. As it turns out, making enough cake for 150 people requires a lot of calculating. Making a cake for 150 people in a tiny San Francisco kitchen with one oven, one standard Kitchen Aid mixer and one refrigerator, that requires even more meticulous calculating.

I tested a few vanilla cake recipes before landing on the final recipe. I was looking for a vanilla cake that was moist and flavorful, but dense enough to stand up to stacking. It also had to taste just as good after freezing, since I had to bake the cakes a few days before the event.

For the vanilla icing, I was looking for a frosting that would taste great, go on smoothly and not disintegrate in the Sacramento heat. The taste and texture of the frosting was key, especially since I wasn’t planning to cover the cake in fondant. In my book, buttercream wins out over fondant any day of the week.  My goal was to create a beautiful cake that was really, really delicious—even if the frosting job wasn’t fondant-pristine.

I knew I had the chocolate cake in the bag. I used my favorite tried and true chocolate cake recipe—it is always a crowd pleaser and easy to pull together. This cake is incredibly flavorful, moist and airy, but won’t stand up to hours of stacking. Sheet cakes that would be served already sliced—perfect!

After landing on final recipes, the calculations began. I had to figure out how much cake I needed to serve 150 guests, how many batches of each of the cake and frosting recipes it would take to create that amount of cake, and how much of each ingredient I would need to buy. I consulted Wilton’s cake serving chart, but decided it was a bunch of crap; 1 inch by 1 inch pieces of cake are not my style. In the end, I was conservative in my estimates on how much cake each person would eat, erring on the side of extra cake. More cake is always better.

For a wedding of 150 people, plus extra cake to be safe, I baked …

  • 2 – 2.5″ by 8″ rounds (serves approximately 15 people)
  • 2 – 2.5″ by 10″ rounds (serves approximately 25 people)
  • 2 – 2.5″ by 12″ rounds (serves approximately 35 people)
  • 3 – 18″ by 24″ sheets (serves approximately 120 people, 40 people per cake)

Which means I needed to plan for …

  • 2 – 8″ rounds = 7 cups of batter (1 batch of cake)
  • 2 – 10″ rounds = 12 cups of batter  (2 batches, minus 2 cups)
  • 2 – 12″ rounds = 16 cups of batter (2 batches, plus two cups from the 10″ cakes)
  • 1 – 18″ 24″ sheet = 14 cups of batter (2 batches)
  • 1 – 18″ 24″ sheet = 14 cups of batter (2 batches)
  • 1 – 18″ 24″ sheet = 14 cups of batter (2 batches)

Yep, that means 5 batches of vanilla cake and 6 batches of chocolate cake. When I went to the grocery store to purchase this insane quantity of  butter, flour, sugar and buttermilk  was when the scale of this task really hit me. Wedding cakes are a lot of cake.

I also purchased  3″ deep round cake pans in 8″, 10″, and 12″ diameters, wooden dowels, cardboard cake boards, cake boxes and rolls of parchment, tinfoil and plastic wrap. I was ready to go!

Baking

Because my kitchen resources were limited, I began my baking a few days before the wedding. I wanted to make sure I had enough time to bake everything before making the trip to Sacramento where I would do the frosting and assembly. Plus, you want the cakes to sit in the fridge or freezer for a day or two before you frost them. They are much easier to handle for stacking and frosting when they’re cold.

First, I cut rounds and sheets of parchment paper to size. Because you want the cakes to come out of the pan as cleanly as possible, be sure to butter the plan, line it with parchment, butter the parchment and then dust the bottom and sides with flour.

I also baked the cakes at 300 degrees for a longer amount of time than the recipe predicted. Baking at a lower temperature prevents the cake from mounding in the center, which reduces the amount of leveling you’ll have to do later.

I started with the vanilla cake. I mixed 2 batches and baked one 10″ and one 12″ cake, adding 1 cup of the extra batter from the 10″ cake into the 12″ pan. Then I baked two 8″ cakes, splitting a batch of cake. Then came a chocolate sheet cake. Then came another 10″ and another 12″ vanilla round. Then another chocolate sheet cake. I was able to bake all of the vanilla cakes and two of the chocolate cakes in one day, but it was epic (and seriously efficient for my tiny apartment kitchen!) baking.

I can now officially say that baking from 9 am to 5 pm is both intense and exhausting.  By the end, my kitchen was a flour and sugar covered disaster, but baking almost everything in one shot is the way to go. The next day, I finished up with the last chocolate sheet cake and it joined its plastic-wrapped buddies in the fridge.

Now for the cake recipes …

***

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake, from Smitten Kitchen
For one 8″ or 9″ cake with two layers 

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons  cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons  baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 300°F. Butter the cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment and dust with flour.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low-speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined. The mixture will look curdled, don’t worry. Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 40 minutes to one hour. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan and invert onto rack. Peel off and discard the parchment. Then cool completely, about 1 hour.

***

Best Ever Chocolate Cake, from Ina Garten
For one 8″ or 9″ cake with two layers

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (I used decaf this time, but have used regular in the past)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter the cake pans and line with parchment paper, then butter parchment and dust with flour.

Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir to combine. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Add the coffee.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for 35 – 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.

***

Once the cakes are completely cool, wrap them tightly and thoroughly in plastic wrap. Then wrap them in  a layer of tin foil and place them in the freezer or fridge. You’ll likely have to split the cakes between both fridge and freezer, unless you’re lucky enough to have industrial sized freezer hanging around.

Frosting

Now that you’ve baked the cakes and it is the day of the wedding, you’ve got to frost those buggers. First, do yourself a favor and buy a nice, long cake frosting spatula. It will save you time and prevent an anxiety attack at the wedding venue. Second, go purchase yourself six glorious pounds of unsalted butter!

For the vanilla cake, I made one massive batch of vanilla swiss buttercream thanks to an industrial scale recipe from Deb of Smitten Kitchen. I filled each of the layers with a unsweetened whipped cream.

For the chocolate cake, I made Ina’s chocolate buttercream and just multiplied the recipe.

***

Vanilla Swiss Buttercream, from Smitten Kitchen
For one 3-tiered wedding cake
2 cups of egg whites (approx. 12 large)
3 cups sugar
5 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 pounds, 10 sticks)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For one 8″ or 9″ cake
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
26 tablespoons butter, softened (3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns white and about doubles in size.

Add the vanilla. Finally, add the butter a stick at a time and whip, whip, whip.

Don’t freak out when the frosting looks soupy, just keep whipping. It will come together gloriously, it just takes a while. Set the frosting aside, leaving it at room temperature.

***

Chocolate Buttercream, from Ina Garten
For three 18″ x 24″ sheet cakes
24 oz semisweet chocolate (I like Guittard)
2 lbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 egg yolks, at room temperature
4 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups sifted powdered sugar

For one 8″ or 9″ layer cake
6 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 lb unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Add the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.

Add the chocolate and mix until just combined taking care to scrape the bottom. Set the frosting aside, leaving it at room temperature.

***

Cut cardboard cake boards about 1/2″ smaller than the diameter of the cake layer. You’ll need one board per tier. Cover the boards in foil—you don’t want the moisture from the cake to make the boards soggy. The boards will help keep your cake from falling in on itself and will also make the stacking easier. I transported each of my tiers to the venue unstacked and then assembled the cake and did the final frosting there. This worked out really well for me and I avoided any heartbreaking cake-dropping disasters.

Another key component of avoiding cake dropping or sliding disasters was the cake dowels. I purchased wooden dowels and cut them into 4″ lengths. Each tier had dowels holding its two layers together. The dowels also help prevent the cake from collapsing in on itself. Insert the dowels in a circle about 3″ from the edge of the cake; the cake board of the tier above will rest on these dowels, preventing any collapse. Win-win!

First, level the cakes, shaving off a bit of cake at a time using a bread knife. Stack the first layer of cake on the cake board. Spread some whipped cream onto the cake and then top it with another layer of the same size.

Insert the cake dowels in a circle about 3″ in from the edge of the cake. Using the vanilla butter cream, smoosh a good amount of frosting in between each of the layers. Then frost the sides and top of the cake. Try and get it as smooth as possible, but don’t stress if it isn’t gorgeous. This is the crumb coat. The cake will get another final coat of frosting at the venue. Put the cake back in the fridge to allow the frosting to firm up.

I did a crumb coat of frosting for each of the vanilla tiers, put them in the fridge to firm up and then put them in cake boxes to transport to the venue. For the chocolate cakes, I just brought the frosting to the venue and took care of them there.

Finishing Touches

Once at the venue, I put the vanilla cakes back in the fridge. I frosted each of the chocolate cakes on the back of a cookie sheet and then slid them onto white cake boards that were about 1″ larger than the cake.

The chocolate cakes went back into the fridge because it was pretty dang hot in the venue’s kitchen. You want to serve cakes at room temperature so I took the chocolate cakes out of the fridge for cutting about 1 hour before dessert was served.

After finishing up the chocolate cakes, I did a final coat of frosting on each of the vanilla layers. I focused mostly on the sides of the cake since that is the most visible part.

With Jordan’s help,  we stacked the cake in its place of honor in the main room. Once stacked, I touched up all of the frosting, adding a bit more in between each of the layers so there weren’t any gaps.

When the frosting was as close to perfect as it would ever be, I decorated the cake with fresh flowers to match the bride’s bouquet.

Ta-da! It was done! And it was pretty! And it was delicious! I was very proud and very relieved. Now for a deserved break from cake.

-Emily

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Recipes

raspberry buttermilk cake

Oh, I love this cake. Discovered on Smitten Kitchen a while back, I’ve already made it several times this berry season. Deb calls it an everyday cake, and she’s right, it is the perfect cake for breakfast, for a BBQ, for a light dessert. And, it’s easy to throw together. I’d advise you to double the recipe and bake two if you plan to bring it somewhere—it’s so good you’ll want leftovers just for yourself when you get home.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, from Smitten Kitchen, originally adapted from Gourmet 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (or any other berry you please)

Preheat an oven to 400°F. Butter and flour an 8″ round pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixture, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Place the raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

 

Bake until cake is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Enjoy!

And a fabulous tip from Deb of Smitten Kitchen—if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes until it clabbers. Instant buttermilk!

-Emily

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rhubarb sundae with blueberries and shortbread crumble

I had a bunch of fresh blueberries from my mom’s garden, a Sunset magazine in my mailbox, a dinner party to go to and this sundae was born.

This sundae is wonderful—better than I expected. There just is something really magical about cold ice cream with a warm sauce. It’s like a deconstructed blueberry-rhubarb pie, and because each of the components are made separately, you can easily adapt the recipe to the ingredients and amount of time you have on hand. You could swap the blueberries for another berry or even stone fruit—whatever is in season or on hand. I made the shortbread from scratch, but you could certainly make due with a store-bought shortbread or vanilla cookies. And while the rhubarb in the ice cream is really wonderful and I really recommend you give it a go, you could skip that all together if you’re especially short on time and just serve it with vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb Sundae with Blueberries and Shortbread Crumble, adapted from Sunset Magazine

For the ice cream
4 cups vanilla bean ice cream
4 stalks rhubarb, sliced thinly
6 T brown sugar

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the rhubarb and brown sugar. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has a jam like consistency. Remove from the heat and puree. Put in the refrigerator to chill for about 20 minutes.

Once the rhubarb is chilled, stir into the vanilla ice cream and return to the freezer.

For the shortbread
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 T sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 T flour
1/8 t kosher salt
1/8 t cinnamon
1 T sugar

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix 1 T sugar and 1/8 t cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. Beat butter, 5 T sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix on low until large clumps form.

Bring the dough together with your hands. Roll it out until about 1/4″ thick on a floured surface. Mine rolled out quite messy, but it doesn’t really matter since you break it into large pieces before serving anyway. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Put in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Bake 15 – 20 minutes, until golden. Cool and then break into large shards.

For the blueberries
2 cups blueberries
1/2 lemon, juiced

Just before serving, heat blueberries and lemon in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, scoop rhubarb ice cream into bowls. Just as the blueberries begin to juice, pour them over the ice cream. Add shortbread shards and enjoy!

-Emily

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happy mother’s day!

To all the amazing mamas out there, and especially to the mamas and grandmamas in my life that take such good care of me, Happy Mother’s Day!

Now to thank your mom for all her hard work all year long, you probably should make something yummy for her this Sunday. Here are a few of my favorites …

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. This recipe is great because you get to enjoy fresh cinnamon rolls in the morning without waking up at the crack of dawn to make them. You make the dough and assemble the rolls the night before and the next morning let them rise briefly and then bake.

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake. This cake is delightful. Moist and tender with hint of citrus and olive oil. You can substitute any variety orange for the blood oranges. She’ll love it!

Miykaelah’s Madelines. The cutest cookies in the world. Yes they require a special pan, but they are so tasty and so adorable—totally worth it.

Jordan’s Favorite Chocolate Cake. If your mom is the chocolate type, make her this. It is the best chocolate cake we’ve found yet. We had a ricotta filling between the layers in this particular post, but cream cheese icing, buttercream icing or just fresh fruit would be wonderful.

Hope you have a lovely weekend! I’m off to Humboldt to see my lil’ sis graduate from college (WOW!) and spend time with my mom and grandmas (YAY!).

-Emily

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cinnamon toast ice cream

Two factors were at play that resulted in the creation of this dessert. First, cinnamon toast is a favorite breakfast treat around these parts. Second, last Sunday I made an angel food cake to bring to our friend Jeff and Peter’s *new* place.

I wish I could claim that the inspiration for this amazing ice cream was my own. But alas, it was inspired by dessert at The Boxing Room. A few months ago, I had the best day ever. It started by sleeping in with my boy and my puppy. Then the boy went to work and some lovely old friends picked me up. We drove over to the house (complete with back porch!) of some really wonderful new friends. We sat on the back porch and devoured a cooler of fabulously fresh oysters and some wine and cheese. Something like 100 oysters split between six people! Did I mention it was 70 degrees and we were sitting outside in the sunshine? Yep, this is all true.

We wrapped up the oyster feast and then I came home to change. I put on a pretty dress and met Jordan at the San Francisco ballet. He looked really handsome in his fancy clothes. We enjoyed the ballet and then went out to dinner at The Boxing Room, a fabulous southern restaurant with emphasis on the creole just around the corner.

After some soul-satisfying creole cuisine, we had dessert … cinnamon toast ice cream. It was amazing—a hint of vanilla, a hint of cinnamon and a hint of buttered toast. But how did they get the buttered toast flavor? I had to know and so I asked the waiter. He said the chef soaked brioche in the custard overnight to infuse the buttered bread flavor into the ice cream. Genius.

Fast forward two months and we’re here. I merged two of David Lebovitz’s recipes for the custard and followed the bread soaking advice of our waiter. The results are phenomenal. Ice cream that tastes like buttered toast? Yes, sign me up.

Cinnamon Toast Ice Cream, adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and The Boxing Room in San Francisco
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
5 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
3 slices brioche bread

Heat the whole milk, sugar, salt, vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks over low heat until it is just about to simmer. Turn off the heat, cover and set aside for the vanilla and cinnamon to infuse for about an hour. After an hour, reheat the milk to just simmering. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Temper the eggs by pouring the hot milk into the bowl slowly while whisking. Put the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan. Heat over low heat until the custard begins to thicken and is just about to boil. Strain through a mesh strainer back into the bowl and whisk in the cream. Once it has cooled slightly, add the vanilla. Cool the custard over an ice bath. Cut the brioche slices in half and then submerge them in the custard. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, strain out the brioche and squeeze the out custard that is has absorbed. Freeze in an ice cream maker. Ta-da! A miraculous ice cream that tastes just like cinnamon toast, but much richer.

-Emily

Ps. Apologies on the lack of a final product photo. It was too quickly eaten, but you can use your imagination.

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salted dark chocolate cookies

I noticed these cookies on Orangette a few weeks ago and decided to give them a go. Who can really say no to chocolate or salt, much less chocolate and salt together.

These cookies were also an experiment in dough refridgeration. The recipe recommends that you refrigerate the dough overnight, and I was curious how much of a difference that made in the end product. The first night I baked these cookies, I froze the dough for 30 minutes before baking. I also baked them the next day after they’d been refrigerating for about 24 hours. Honestly, I didn’t notice a big difference at all.  Do note though, this dough is quite sticky straight out of the mixture so some sort of refrigeration is necessary, unless you just want to make a drop cookie similar to a chocolate chip cookie.

Salted Dark Chocolate Cookies, via Orangette and adapted from from Tartine by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson, and from Renee Erickson and Boat Street Café

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup plus 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t baking powder
8 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
cup plus 2 T sugar, plus more for rolling the logs
2 large eggs
¼ t kosher salt
1 t vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk (I used 1% and it turned out just fine)
Maldon salt, for finishing (Amazingly, we had this particular variety of salt. You might remember The Salties. You’re looking for a large-flaked salt so it doesn’t just dissolve into the cookie or over-salt it)


Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. I usually use a medium-sized metal bowl over a small sauce pan with a few inches of water in it. Melt the chocolate slowly, stirring frequently. Chocolate can burn so easily.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy. Slowly add the sugar, and continue to beat until the mixture is completely smooth and soft, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the salt and the vanilla, and then add the melted chocolate, beating to incorporate. Add the milk, and beat until combined. Finally, add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. The dough will be quite thick and stiff.

Cut two large pieces of plastic wrap and put them on your counter. Divide the dough into two portions and place in the middle of each square of plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands, smoosh the dough into a log like shape that is about two inches in diameter. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and stick in the freezer or refrigerate to firm up.

When it’s time to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put another sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Take a spoonful or two of sugar, and pour it onto the parchment, making a ridge of sugar of approximately the same length as your dough logs. Remove a log from the fridge, unwrap it, and roll in the sugar to evenly coat. Using a thin, sharp knife, slice the dough into ¼- to 1/3-inch slices.  Lay the slices on the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle each cookie with a few flakes of Maldon salt.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the top of the cookies looks set but still feels a little soft to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack, and leave the cookies on the pan to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

These cookies will keep for several days in a cookie tin.

-Emily

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baklava

Our friends Kelly and Russell had us over for dinner the other night for a Turkish feast. We were tasked with dessert and decided to make baklava. We thought it only fitting.

Baklava is very easy to make, but quite time intensive because lots of layering is involved. This was my second attempt at baklava and it took me about 2 hours to make, including baking time, but was worth the time investment. This baklava is delicious and balanced. I find that it is best the first day, but do admit it’s not exactly terrible with coffee the next morning.

Baklava
1 (16 oz) package of phyllo dough
1 pound nuts, chopped (We used 1/3 lb each pistachios, walnuts and pecans)
1 cup butter, melted
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
2 T sugar

For the syrup 
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
zest of 1/2 orange
1 t vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

Chop nuts or chop in a food processor. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar to nut mixture, and set aside. Melt the butter.

Unroll phyllo dough and cut the dough to the size of your baking dish with a sharp knife. Roll up the extra and return it to the fridge or freezer. Cover with a damp paper towel to keep dough from ripping.

To layer the dough, put down a sheet and brush lightly with butter. Top with another sheet. Brush with melted butter and top with another sheet of pastry. Continue to do this until you’ve layered eight sheets of dough.

Spread a thin layer of the nut mixture and top with another sheet of dough. Layer on another eight sheets, with butter between each sheet. It is important to put butter between each sheet of dough so you end up with a flaky pastry. If you don’t put the butter between the layers, the baklava will be very dense, and that’s no fun.

Continue to layer eight pieces of dough and one thin layer of nuts until you’ve used up all of the nut mixture. I used a 9″ x 13″ pan and my baklava had three layers of nuts.  Cut into diamond shapes with a sharp knife. Bake for 50 minutes.

While the baklava is baking, combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the honey and zest and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool for 10 more minutes before adding the vanilla.

When you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the honey sauce over the dish and let it cool. Remove once cooled and place in paper cupcake cups. To store, place in a cookie tin or leave uncovered on a plate. Enjoy!

-Emily

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fresh mint chip ice cream

I am a lover of mint chocolate chip ice cream. My favorite was Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip followed closely by Breyers white chocolate mint, until I made this recipe. The flavor of the fresh mint in unlike anything made with peppermint extract. It is more subtle and less biting, while still being refreshing. I shaved the chocolate chips because it worked so well in the creme fraiche ice cream we made last month. We brought this ice cream to a dinner party and it was a huge hit.

Fresh Mint Chip Ice Cream, adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
pinch of salt
2 cups packed mint leaves
5 egg yolks
1 bar good quality dark chocolate, shaved for the chips

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, sugar and 1 cup of cream. Once hot and steaming, remove the milk mixture from the heat and add the mint leaves. Let sit covered for one hour to infuse the milk with mint flavor.

Strain the mint leaves from the milk, squeezing them to coax out as much minty flavor as possible. Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl and set the strainer over it.

Rewarm the infused milk. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks and salt. Slowly pour some of the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking to combine. Pour this egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan.

Over medium heat and stirring constantly, heat the custard until it has thickened enough to coat a spoon. Pour through the strainer into the bowl of cream and stir. Cool the mixture with an ice bath or refrigerate until cool.

Churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker, adding the chocolate chips in during the last few minutes of churning. Enjoy immediately or freeze until firm.

-Emily

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pumpkin ice cream

It is still fall, and so I continue to cook things with squashes. Plus, I had pumpkin puree left over from the pumpkin tea cake I made last week.

This pumpkin ice cream was tasty! The second day after freezing, it had a bit of a grainy texture. I’m not really sure why that happened, but there is really only one way to get to the bottom of it. More testing/tasting!

Pumpkin Ice Cream, adapted from David Lebovitz
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup  heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

In a large bowl, make an ice bath. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk and cream until hot. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and eggs yolks. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking well. Pour this custard back into the saucepan. Stirring constantly, heat over medium until the custard has thickened.

Pour this custard through a sieve into a medium metal or glass bowl. Whisk in the brown sugar. Set in the ice water bath. Let the custard cool, stirring occasionally. Once cooled, stir in the vanilla and pumpkin. Pass the mixture back through the sieve.

Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the machine’s instructions. Freeze the ice cream for several hours in the freezer if you’re able. But, there is no harm in enjoying it straight out of the ice cream maker either.

-Emily

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pumpkin bread

It’s fall, which also makes it time to bust out pumpkin-everything. First up to the plate …  pumpkin bread. The sugar crust on this bread is lovely, the spices are perfectly balanced and it has a moist, delicate crumb. Basically it is everything you want from a quick bread.

Pumpkin Tea Cake, from the Tartine Bakery Cookbook
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 T plus 2 t cinnamon
2 t nutmeg, freshly ground if possible
1/4 t ground cloves
1 cup plus 2 T pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 t salt
3 eggs
2 T sugar for topping

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Butter a loaf pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and spices into the bowl of your stand mixer or a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar, and salt.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. On low speed, mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix until just combined. You don’t want to over mix because it will make a tough bread.

Sprinkle with the sugar topping and bake for about an hour. Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then invert onto a rack to cool completely.

In what I thought was a stroke of pure genius, I decided to try to turn this pumpkin bread into pumpkin donut muffins. You might remember my life-changing donut muffin experience, but in case you need a refresher, check it out here. We thought that pumpkin donut muffins would be the crowning achievement of my life, but sadly (or perhaps not so sadly because now I still have future achievement to look forward to) the donut muffin topping did not really add anything to the pumpkin bread. This bread stands up perfectly well on its own. Those pumpkin donut muffins did look adorable though …

-Emily