Martha’s Yellow Butter Cake & Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

One of the two desserts I made for my Memorial Day BBQ was a classic yellow cake with a chocolate swiss meringue buttercream. Both recipes came out of Martha’s Baking Handbook.

The cake recipe was extremely straightforward. I’ll admit, I often take shortcuts when baking, and in this case I took two: I used only AP flour instead of the cake flour called for in the recipe, and I did not sift the dry ingredients separately. Instead, my first installment of dry ingredients was the salt, baking powder, and first cup of flour. Second installment was second cup of flour, etc.  I doubt this had any significant effect on the final product, as the cake had a beautiful texture. It was wonderfully moist and tender. Also, the cakes cooled almost completely flat, making them ideal for stacking into a layer cake (no leveling was required, though I did scrape a bit off the top for tasting purposes!)

Unfortunately, the flavor of the cake was too sweet for my taste. I like my yellow cake to be buttery with a slightly salty note for balance. Hers was just…sweet. Thus, I don’t think I’d make this as is again. The texture really was wonderful, so I may try and fiddle with the proportions a bit to balance out the sweetness. Until I get that right though, I’ll stick with my go-to one-bowl yellow cake recipe from The Kitchn, which can be found at http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/diy-recipe/recipe-diy-yellow-cake-014637

The frosting, however, is a TOTAL keeper. I’ve been wanting to work with non-American buttercreams for awhile now, which is one of the reasons I chose Martha’s Handbook for this project. Swiss meringue frosting does take a bit more effort than traditional buttercream, as it involves whisking egg whites and sugar over a double boiler and whipping the mixture into a fluffy, gorgeous meringue before mixing in softened butter and flavor of choice (vanilla extract, melted chocolate, etc.) But I definitely think it’s well worth the effort (and if you have a stand mixer, it’s really not that big of a deal at all). The sweetness  of swiss buttercream is so much more subtle that it really allows the added flavors to shine, and the texture is beautifully light, smooth and creamy all at the same time. So you can thoroughly enjoy the frosting without feeling like a cavity is forming with each bite. American buttercreams – which are basically just butter whipped with a TON of powdered sugar and added flavorings of choice -  will always have a special place in my heart, but overall, I do think I prefer meringue-based frostings.

1. Whisking over heat. 2. Beginning the whipping. 3. Meringue! 4. After adding the butter. 5.  After adding melted chocolate…The final product!*Drool*

Hiatus

Sadly, my Martha project – and really all of my kitchen adventures – have been on hold for the past month, and probably will be for at least another month or so. At first it was because I moved (into the best house EVER!!) and was busy packing and whatnot. Then I got staffed on this ridiculous case that has me working all hours of the day and night, which eventually ended up sending me to NYC, where I will be for the next 2-3 weeks! While I’m really loving my NYC experience, I’m afraid my little food blog is going to have to be set aside for awhile.

Meanwhile, check out my other blog for funsies:http://alia0628.wordpress.com/

Buttermilk Biscuits: Cheddar Variation

“Mmm, cheesy biscuits.”

I lost track of the number of times I heard that phrase Saturday night, but I have to say, I think it summed this recipe up quite nicely.

I had a good deal of buttermilk left over from the cream cheese and chive adventure of last week, so I decided I might as well use up as much of it as I could before it went bad. And I figured I might as well keep working on my biscuit-making, sooo I opted to the cheddar variation of Martha’s buttermilk biscuits. Plain buttermilk biscuits just seemed too boring; and besides, everyone could use a little more cheese in life!

This recipe is much simpler than the cream cheese/chive biscuits. They are drop biscuits, which means instead of rolling out and chilling a slab of dough, I just had to mix together the ingredients until they formed a big lump of dough, pat it down flat, and cut it into rounds.  MUCH easier.

And the finished product was simply delicious.  I know that this is not must my personal bias towards cheddar biscuits speaking, b/c I took the freshly baked biscuits to girls’ night, and the 6 of us managed to go through about 20 biscuits – and that was in addition to all of the other delicious food that my fellow potluckers had made, which included lasagna and two desserts!

So these were simple to make and absolutely delish – I didn’t have any issues with the recipe to speak of. My one complaint, though, was that they dried out really quickly. They were fantastic the night they were made, but by the next day there were noticeably drier. And the day after that, I couldn’t eat them at room temperature anymore. Nuking them for 15 seconds helped, but by day 4, they were hockey pucks.

Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits

Oh man, I wish you could smell these. I honestly didn’t expect a whole lot from this little recipe…but the aroma that hit me when I opened the oven door instantly set my tummy a-rumblin.

Why, you may ask, did I opt for a savory recipe as my first foray into Tackling Martha Territory? Well, it’s Lent, and a lot of the people in my office (aka the people who eat what I bake so I don’t get fat) have given up sweets for the month. I thought they deserved a treat, and anyhow, I was intrigued by this recipe when I first flipped through the book. It didn’t seem to me that this particular combination of ingredients would yield an especially tasty biscuit. I was very wrong.

The recipe is simple, but time-consuming. The dough must be mixed, kneaded, rolled out four separate times, and chilled twice in the interim. But there is something so soothing about rolling out pastry dough. Pizza dough, on the other hand, is a pain in the ass. It’s so elastic and ornery that attempting to roll it out can be quite a headache. No wonder the experts resort to throwing the stuff at the ceiling – I’ll bet the first person who did that did it out of sheer frustration. But I digress. Pastry dough – smooth, fatty, and delicious – is such a delight to work with, because it’s so easy to shape, roll, and mold into the size and thickness you’re going for. Rolling this stuff out reminded me of working with rugelach dough. I assume working with pie crust is similarly enjoyable, though that is an adventure I have yet to undertake…

Anyhoo, a couple of issues I had w/ this recipe:

1. I’m pretty sure I over-kneaded it, as the biscuits are slightly tough. But Martha says to knead it only 4 times after you dump it out of the bowl. I’m not sure what counts as one “knead,” but I’m pretty sure I went way over 4 before I got it smooth and unsticky enough to work with. Hmm.

2. I was out of parchment paper, so I used buttered foil. The bottoms browned a LOT faster than the tops, so I had to watch em like hawks for the last few minutes to make sure I gave them enough time to brown a little on top but got them out before the bottoms started to burn.

I would totally make these again. The flavor is slightly cheesy, slightly herby – but not to the point where you would be able to pinpoint the use of cream cheese or chives. The ingredients all complement each other nicely to create a wonderful flavor w/out being overpowering, even though cream cheese and chives are too pretty distinct flavors. I just need to get the texture right, but I’m pretty sure that has more to do w/ my technique than Martha’s recipe.

Two Yums Up!

Taking on Martha

Today began my own abbreviated version of a Julie/Julia project.  (I wanted to link to the book, but I can’t figure out how to do it. Bah. See the end of the post for the link.) While I wasn’t crazy about the book itself, I LOVED the idea. And decided that Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook – a lovely graduation gift from one of my favorite uncles – would be my MtAoFC.

It’s been a rough couple of months for me, for a number of reasons, and I’ve been racking my brain for some kind of personal challenge to embark on that would help me get back in touch with the things that really make me happy in life.  If you’ve ever met me, then you know that baking – and subsequently eating the results – makes me very, very happy.

Martha Stewart’s recipes are not exactly known for their simplicity or user-friendliness. But, for the most part, the results are worth the work. Or so I hear. The plan is to bake my way through her beautiful Baking Handbook, making every recipe that sounds remotely tasty to me. There are a few in there that definitely won’t make the cut – call me picky, but Golden Raisin and Fennel Scones are just not for me. But there are many many more delicious looking treats that will, I’m sure, present me with new and fun challenges. And hopefully teach me a thing or three along the way.

So my hope is that by tackling Martha’s madness, I will sharpen my own skills and get back in touch with a side of me that has been somewhat suppressed as of late. I hope you enjoy sharing my adventures with me.

http://www.amazon.com/Julie-Julia-Year-Cooking-Dangerously/dp/0316013269/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237172003&sr=1-1

Scones

A friend of mine invited me over for brunch a couple of weeks ago, and I decided it would be a great opportunity to try out some scone recipes I’ve had my eye on. I made two types of scones: blueberry lemon with a buttery lemon glaze and cheddar rosemary. I used two different recipes for bases, and tweaked them a bit with the fillings and toppings that I used.

For the savory scones, I used Ina Garten’s Cheddar and Dill scones as a base. I really don’t like dill though, so I replaced it with fresh rosemary. Ina’s recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_119789,00.html

My scones didn’t look quite as puffy as hers, but were still pretty:

For the sweet scones, I used Alton Brown’s basic recipe to start with. Recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_147,00.html

Instead of dried fruit, I used frozen blueberries from Trader Joe’s. I also used more than just a “handful” of the fruit; then again, my handfuls are smaller than most. I just tossed in enough blueberries until the dough looked ‘berried’ enough. I also added the zest of one medium lemon to the cream/egg mixture before adding it to the batter.

For the glaze, I combined about 1/4 cup of melted butter, a couple of tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and enough powdered sugar to get the consistency I wanted – probably about a cup and a half or so. I also threw in about 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to add a bit of texture to the glaze, but of course, that’s totally optional.

l made the mistake of trying to thin it out with a little milk, which I’m guessing reacted w/ the lemon juice and made for a slightly grainy texture. Luckily I didn’t add enough milk to do any real damage, but will definitely remember not to use any milk or cream next time around.

Here they are!

So which recipe won the day? Alton’s, hands down. His scones were delicious and moist and soft – practically melted in my mouth! – but still substantial and bread-like enough to be considered scones. I’m sure glazing them w/ melted butter and lemon juice helped a bit, but I could tell that even naked, these scones would have been fabulous. Meanwhile, Ina’s scones were a bit on the dry side. I reheated one in the microwave and that did help some, but overall I would say that her recipe just did not deliver. I did like the cheddar/rosemary combination, and will definitely be using that in the future.

Ina’s method of using the paddle attachment on the Kitchenaid mixer to “cut in” the butter was very useful. Also, I think it’s worth noting that Ina’s dough was a lot easier to work with; Alton’s was sticky and messy, while Ina’s rolled and cut beautifully. But I’d rather have sticky hands and yummy scones than the alternative, so I declare Alton the winner in this round.

Springtime Cupcakes

In celebration of my last day of law school classes – ever – I decided to make cupcakes for my fellow classmates. I wanted to do something springy, so I decided on yellow cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting topped with the peppermint marshmallows described below. I’m happy to say, the final product was as tasty as I’d hoped!

I used the one-bowl yellow cake recipe from Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn website, which I highly recommend. I will advise, though, that you don’t want to let the tops of these cupcakes turn brown. Make sure you pull the cupcakes out as soon as they’re done, but while they’re still light yellow on top. I think that the texture created by the browning doesn’t really work well on frosted cupcakes – it’s too crusty and crunchy and ends up making the tender cake underneath it fall apart when you bite into it. As long as you pull the cake out on time though, it’s really a wonderful recipe, and so easy! It can be found here: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/diy-recipe/recipe-diy-yellow-cake-014637

Bald cupcakes in cute outfits:

Here’s my recipe for lemon cream cheese frosting. I kind of winged it when I made it, but I think this is a fairly close approximation; it will be enough to frost about 2 dozen cupcakes:

• 1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened (half a stick – though next time i would actually use the whole stick; i just ran out this time around)
• zest of half a large lemon (feel free to use more or less to taste)
• juice of half a large lemon (again, to taste)
• approx. 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (if you’re not too lazy to sift – i usually am…)
• pinch or two of salt

1. Cream together butter and cream cheese.

2. Add salt, lemon juice, and zest, beat until blended and smooth.

3. Beat in powdered sugar – I usually do it about a cup at a time – until you’ve reached desired consistency. You may end up using significantly more or less, depending on your goal.

So when I made it, the frosting was a bit runny. But it sets up once it’s been refrigerated or even just after sitting out for a little while. If you don’t use it immediately after making it, make sure to stir it up until it has returned to its original consistency before you try spreading it. If you want a more solid frosting (easier to work with when decorating and piping), substitute butter-flavored shortening for half the butter that you plan to use. In fact, using more butter (I mentioned this in the ingredients list above) may actually fix this problem.

And at last: The Final Product!

My First Marshmallows

Making marshmallows seems to be all the rage in the baking/dessert-making blogging community these days. Or perhaps just on the ones I happen to read? Whatever the case, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at it for quite awhile now, and I finally got around to it last week. It’s a pretty simple process, though it does take a good deal of time. But I really enjoyed it, and definitely plan to do it again soon

As a base, I used the recipe for basic vanilla marshmallows found here: http://www.browniepointsblog.com/2006/04/15/basic-vanilla-marshmallows/

To flavor them, I added about 4-5 drops of pure peppermint oil to the water/vanilla mixture before sprinkling the gelatin over it. I would recommend using all of the vanilla called for by the recipe; the flavored oil should be an addition, not a substitution. I also swirled green food coloring through them to make them a bit more festive, and rolled the sides in granulated vanilla sugar (instead of plain powdered sugar) to add a little crunch and extra flavor.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the pictures!

Boiling the sugar syrup:

Very beginning of the whipping process; right after I added the syrup to the gelatin:

Midway through the whipping process (about 5 minutes in):

End of whipping process (about 10 minutes):

Freshly poured slab, smoothed with an oiled offset spatula:

Beginning the swirling process:

Swirling completed:

Slab flipped over and dusted with powdered sugar for cutting:

The biscuit cutter I used to make the rounds:

The cutting process:

Connect 4, anyone?

The final product!

Valentine’s Dessert Party

My girlfriends and I were toying with the idea of throwing a cheesy little Valentine’s Day party – you know, girls only, construction-paper hearts, pink balloons, the works. After we giggled at how cute that idea was, we decided to actually throw a girls-only V-day party, but to class it up a bit. So we organized a lovely evening of candlelight and desserts, complete with heart-shaped cakes and chocolate covered strawberries. Good times and sugar comas were had by all – especially the three of us who got to do all of the baking and making!

The Menu:

Chocolate Heartcakes with Espresso Buttercream Filling and a Caramel Drizzle

Vanilla Bean Heartcakes with a Fresh Strawberry and Vanilla Buttercream Filling

Vanilla Bean Heartcakes with a Raspberry Buttercream Filling

Spiced Oreo Truffles (with Cinnamon and Cayenne)
Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Strawberry Lime Punch
Spinach Artichoke Dip

Shots of the full spread:

I’ll share the various recipes and techniques in a series of individual entries instead of stuffing them all into this one. I figure it’ll be easier on the readers that way – it’ll definitely be easier on the writer, that’s for sure!

On Waxed Paper

Sometimes, I come across a product in my kitchen, and I think to myself, ” surely this has more uses for it than just the one or two that I bought it for…right?”

Waxed paper is definitely one of those products. It’s pretty much ubiquitous in kitchens of all varieties, from the busiest professional kitchen to the tiniest of home kitchens. I figured there must be more to it than a good way to keep my cakes from sticking to their pans – and boy was I right! Check out this link for a long list of the many uses of this super-product: http://www.cookingvillage.com/cv/kw/tiptionary_results/0,1755,sLang%3Dus&sLet%3DW&iSCat%3D545,00.html

But remember, waxed paper WILL smoke and burn if used simply as a baking sheet; its uses in the oven are limited to those that protect it from direct exposure to the heat of the oven. So don’t try to bake your next batch of cookies on it!