Posted on March 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

As I’m now in Poland, this blog is mostly on hiatus for the time being – it’s impossible to find my usual baking ingredients here. I will be leaving the recipes up as a cookbook for myself and anyone else who wants to read them. In the meantime, you can read about my experiences in Poland on It’s My Pierogi-tive.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Banana Walnut Bread

Posted on March 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’ve had something of a weird relationship with bananas over time. For awhile, I wouldn’t go anywhere near one, and the smell is not one of my favourites. I still won’t touch a banana chip, and the thought of them in something (like chocolate or banoffee pie) turns my stomach.

Oddly, I’ve always liked banana bread. On my recent visit to Ireland, I was greeted with a freshly baked loaf, and since I needed to do something non-work-related this week, I decided to bake my own (along with some roasted red pepper hummus and minestrone soup…but that’s a different story). Well, it turns out that getting bananas in Krakow is, like getting many other food-related items in Krakow, not the easiest thing to do! In the end, I just schlepped out to Tesco, the one place that consistently has decent produce during all four seasons – and after three days of constant checking to see whether my ingredients were ready to be turned into bread, they were finally ripe enough today! So – banana bread!

Banana Bread

Ingredients
285g/10oz all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
110g/4oz butter, plus extra for greasing the pans
225g/8oz caster sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe/overripe bananas, mashed (or you can puree them in a food processor until they’re chunky)
85ml/3fl oz buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g/4oz toasted walnuts

1 Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Toast the walnuts for about 10-15 minutes, and remove to cool.

2. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract (at this point, I also threw in 2 tablespoons of golden syrup for kicks) to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well, then fold in the flour mixture, followed by the walnuts.

5. Grease and flour two large loaf pans (or four small ones) and pour the batter into them.

6. Bake one hour, or until the breads are firm. Remove to cool on wire racks.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Swirly Cupcakes

Posted on February 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

So, first post in awhile! I’ll start by apologising for the general appearance of these cupcakes. Yes, you can totally cut the end off of a ziploc bag and use it to pipe frosting, but the results will be, well – see for yourself! (What I’m really saying here is that I miss my cake decorating equipment.) Anyway, the chocolate cake in these is really, really super delicious, and I suppose you could substitute whatever frosting topping you want.

Before I post the recipe, I wanted to say that this is another one of my “baking problems in Poland” experiments. Basically, I couldn’t find any unsweetened cocoa powder, so I used sweetened and calculated how much cocoa I was actually getting in the sweetened stuff, and then subtracting the amount of sugar in the sweetened cocoa from the sugar originally needed in the recipe (and sort of rounding up in the process).  I love doing math. Anyway, without further delay…

And a cross section:

Swirly Cupcakes

Cake Ingredients
12 tbs melted butter
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 whole egg, room temperature + 1 egg white, also room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 c hot coffee (I used instant)

Topping Ingredients
1 pint of ice cream (any flavour works – I used strawberry and vanilla, fairly classic)
5 1/2 c heavy whipping cream
1/4 c confectioners’ sugar
sprinkles!

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F/160 degrees C. Line two cupcake tins with liners. (You might get slightly more than that – yay! I think this made about 28-30 cupcakes for me).

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then stir in the butter, eggs, and vanilla until just mixed. Then, slowly stir in the coffee just until it forms a smooth batter.

3. Ladle into the cupcake tins, but fill them less than normal. You want the tops of the cupcakes to be below the top of the liner when they’re finished.

4. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. While the cupcakes are baking, chill a bowl for the whipped cream topping.

5. Put the cupcakes onto a baking sheet. Spread a generous tablespoon of ice cream across the top of each cupcake and freeze for about 30 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, in the chilled bowl, beat the cream and confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form. Spoon the cream a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (or a ziploc with the end cut off, if you live in a baking supply-deprived country). Remove the cupcakes from the freezer and pipe a swirl of cream on top of each one. Then return them to the freezer and chill until the cream is solid, about 45 minutes. Finally, remove them and decorate with the sprinkles before serving!

Makes about 30 cupcakes

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes

Bakewell Cupcakes

Posted on September 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

My obsession with the Bakewell tart is well-documented on this blog (I’ve made a tart AND some little baby tartlets). Well, on my new favourite television show, The Great British Bake Off, one of the contestants made Bakewell cupcakes. And I just couldn’t resist (also my friends weren’t familiar with the Bakewell magic, so I felt obligated to demonstrate).

Bakewell Cupcakes

Ingredients
150g (5 1/2 oz) butter or margarine
150g (5 1/2 oz) caster sugar
100g (3 1/2 oz) self-raising flour (or in my case, 100g cake flour plus 1 1/4 tsp baking powder and just under 1/2 tsp salt)
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp baking powder (if you’re using my made up self-raising flour, this is in addition to the baking powder there)
90g almond flour or ground almonds
1 tbs milk
a dash of almond extract
raspberry jam

250g (9 oz) icing/confectioners’ sugar
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
12 glace cherries (again, no glace cherries in Poland, so I just used some cherries from cherry compote)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. Beat the margarine/butter in a bowl until it is light and fluffy, then beat in the sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the milk and almond extract.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour, self-raising flour, and baking powder. Fold this into the margarine mixture.

4. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cupcakes are golden on top and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

5. When the cupcakes have cooled a bit, use a knife to cut out a bit of the center, and spoon some raspberry jam in. Replace the removed bit of cupcake as a lid (you might want to cut away the excess cake in order to get it to sit smoothly). The cross section will look like this:

6. Prepare the icing by whisking the icing sugar with the lemon juice. Spread a small amount on each cupcake and top with a cherry.

Makes 12 cupcakes

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes

The Great British Bake Off

Posted on September 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

Lately, I have become obsessed with a television programme on BBC2 – The Great British Bake Off. It combines two of my favourite things, baking and Britain – so what could be better?!

Anyway, the premise of the show is that they are looking for “the best amateur baker in Britain”, starting off with a cast of 12 bakers and eliminating them weekly in 1′s and 2′s. The bakers participate in three challenges throughout the show – a signature bake, in which they show off their “signature” item in a category, a blind bake, where everyone bakes identical recipes assigned by the two judges (this is to measure technical skill), and finally, a showstopper bake, which is meant to impress the judges. There are little historical segments interspersed (my favourites were about Henry VIII’s kitchen devoted solely to tarts, and the the bit about how bakers made all sorts of crazy substitutions during WWII rationing).

The signature and showstopper bakes tend to produce some pretty creative (and delicious) items, which I then recreate in my own little test kitchen. My favourite baker, who is still on the show, is Mary-Anne, because her recipes are almost always innovative and different than her competitors’, and she has a massive cookbook collection.

Anyway, if you live someplace where you can get BBC2, I highly recommend giving this show a try. There is only one episode left in the season, but you can get all of the older eps on iplayer. And some of the recipes are available on the BBC website.

They have a Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/#!/BritishBakeOff
And a website that doesn’t seem to get updated: http://www.thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/
And here are the recipes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/b013pqxw

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Almond Croissant FAIL

Posted on September 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Confession: I can make a lot of things, but pastry is my weakness. This is largely because I am an impatient person who doesn’t let things chill properly. A few days ago, I attempted almond croissants and met with disaster. More specifically, I set them to rise in what was probably too warm a spot, with dough that was already too warm. The butter in the dough melted as they rose, so when I baked them, they both fried in the melted butter…and then proceeded to burn at 10 out of 18 minutes in the over. The end result looked generally like this masterpiece:

Of course, I still scraped out the almond filling and ate it, since that was why I was making them in the first place.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Stained Glass Pudding

Posted on March 1, 2010 | 1 Comment

What would one call this? Jell-o suspended in a condensed milk gelatin? It’s not really a pudding. Anyway, whilst reading the New York Times recipe, I came across this article and decided that I would attempt to recreate the concoction shown the in title photograph. Now, I loathe basically all Jell-o because I am not a fan of blatantly artificial flavouring, but I really like condensed milk, especially when it’s caramelised into dulce de leche. But that is fodder for another post. Anyway, I figured that maybe putting the Jell-o in something I liked would make me enjoy it – this was faulty reasoning, as I keep picking the Jell-o out and only eating the condensed milk pudding part. I used cherry, blue raspberry, orange, pineapple and “melon fusion” because I wanted a rainbow of colours. Having tasted the product, I would recommend thinking about how the flavours will mix before preparing – the melon fusion, which was by far my least favourite, completely over powered all of the others with its fake watermelony flavour, and it also tainted the taste of the condensed milk portion. But, on a bright note, it does look pretty!

Stained Glass Pudding

4-5 3.0 oz packages of Jell-o powder (I used 5, I think 4 would have worked better)
2 packages of Knox plain gelatin powder
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1. Prepare the Jell-o in separate containers according to the instructions on the package. Let set for 3+ hours in a refrigerator.

2. Remove the Jell-o from the refrigerator and slice into small cubes or other shapes. Gently place in a 9×13″ pan and toss to mix up the colours.

3. In a medium bowl, dissolve the plain gelatin packages in 1/2 c cold water. Once the gelatin “blooms” (it will look all bubbly on top), dissolve in 1 1/2 c boiling water, then stir in the condensed milk. Briefly let this mixture cool a bit (so that it does not melt the Jell-o shapes), and into the 9×13″ pan over the Jell-o shapes. At this point, you may want to smooth out the air bubbles on top for a cleaner look (I didn’t). Let set in the refrigerator overnight.

Makes a 9×13″ tray of Jell-o-ish pudding

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Pumpkin Pie Jack-o’-Lanterns

Posted on October 22, 2009 | Leave a comment

My friend Isabel (aka Grushenka of Grushenka i Alyosha) came over today, ostensibly to study physics, but really to bake and play some Beatles Rock Band.  She is a pie baker, and I am in love with my new non-stick cupcake tins, so we decided to make miniature pumpkin pies in the cupcake tins, which we intend to bring to our Russian-folk-song-singing club/group/thingy.  And, in honour of the approaching festivities of next weekend (i.e. Halloween), we gave the pies miniature stems and faces so that they looked like jack-o’-lanterns (ok, in retrospect it might’ve been wiser to draw those on with frosting for better accuracy). After a taste test, we agreed that these were absolutely delectable, and would make an excellent dessert for any fall gathering.

Pumpkin Pie Jack-o’-Lanterns
Crust
3 c flour
2 sticks (16 tbs) unsalted butter
ice water

Filling
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 can of pure pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Chocolate chips, for decorating

1. Prepare the pie crust: chop the butter into 1/4″ pieces. In a large mixing bowl, cut the butter and flour together until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Adding the ice water 1 table spoon at a time, mix with the flour-butter mixture until the dough holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
2. Prepare the filling: in a large mixing bowl, blend together the cream cheese, pumpkin, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and beat until smooth.
3. Preheat the oven to 350oF. Roll out the dough to about 1/16″ thickness. Using a nonstick muffin tin, cut circles large enough to fill each cup. Line the muffin tin with the dough circles. With the extra dough, make the stems, and press into the dough-lined cups to attach. Fill each 3/4 full with filling and decorate with the chocolate chips. Bake 18-20 minutes, until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely, then remove from the cups, taking care not to break the stems in the process.

Makes about 16, using full size muffin tins

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Tartlets

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Posted on October 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

I don’t really recall eating snickerdoodles growing up, which is a bit shocking as I love cinnamon. Probably the lack of chocolate turned me off to them. In any event, my first recollection of eating a snickerdoodle is over the summer, when I made them for the first time.? Last night, while engaging in my habitual reading-of-food-blogs-to-procrastinate activities, I discovered someone who mentioned making snickerdoodle cookies and snickerdoodle cupcakes and kind of gluing them together with some boiled frosting. What a fantastic idea! Here is my take on that.

Snickerdoodle Cookies
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1/4 c sugar
2 tbs cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375oF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium for about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. Then, add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
3. In a small bowl, stir the remaining 1/4 c of sugar with the cinnamon. Form dough balls about 1″ in diameter and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until well-covered. Place on the baking sheet.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies begin to crack on top. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 18-20 cookies (but we only need 12, so the extras are excellent for snacking!)

Then, make the cupcakes!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c buttermilk, at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350oF. Line a cupcake tray with 12 liners.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 parts (so you begin and end with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
3. Fill the baking cups until about 7/8 full.
4. Bake for about 17-19 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.

Makes about 12 cupcakes

And finally….

Boiled Frosting
3/4 c plus 1 tbs sugar
1/3 c water
1 tbs light corn syrup
3 large egg whites, at room temperature

1. Combine the sugar, water and corn syrup in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Continue boiling without stirring until the syrup reaches 230oF.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the egg whites using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed, until soft peaks form. Then, mix in the 1 tbs of sugar.
3. As soon as the sugar reaches 230oF, remove it from the heat. With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the syrup down the side of the bowl in a slow stream. Raise mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is completely cool, about 8-10 minutes.

Assembly
Spread a layer of the frosting on top of a cupcake. Press a cookie on top. Garnish with another dollop of frosting, with cinnamon sprinkled on it.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Cakes, Cookies, Cupcakes, Spice

Rainbow Cupcakes

Posted on October 3, 2009 | Leave a comment

After a very long hiatus, I am back, in a new apartment (yay!) with an old kitchen (boo).

When I was growing up, my mother, like most parents, wanted to make sure that I ate healthily.  In most cases, this meant that I was not allowed to eat white bread.  However, exceptions were made for a bit of heaven sold at the local ShopRite: rainbow bread.  Rainbow bread is simply white bread, made with dyed dough, rolled together and baked normally, but the addition of colour increases its appeal (and apparently its parental approval rating) by tenfold.

Rainbow cupcakes are the cake equivalent of rainbow bread: vanilla cupcakes with rainbow swirls.  They’re no more difficult to make than regular cupcakes but have the added appeal of colour!  In other words, they are absolutely fabulous.

Rainbow Cake
2 c all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c sugar
4 large eggs
1 c vegetable oil
1 c buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
red, yellow, green and blue food colorings

1. Preheat oven to 350oF. Line a 12-cup muffin tin pin.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Pour in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
3. Divide batter evenly into 4 small bowls and add 10-12 drops of food colouring to each bowl to make red, yellow, green and blue batters. Stir well, so no streaks of plain batter remain. Add additional food coloring if necessary.
4. Starting with the one of the batter colours, add a small spoonful to each of the muffin cups. Repeat with each of the remaining colours, going in whichever order you like. Do not attempt to spread or stir the colours, but allow them to spread on their own to achieve the layered effect.
5. Bake the cupcakes for about 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack before frosting. (I whipped together some cream cheese frosting with 1 8 oz package of cream cheese, 1 c confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tbs milk.)

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes