Blueberry frangipane tart

Posted by Melissa in Baking, Food, Recipe February 15, 2012

In our house, if nothing else, at the very least Valentine’s Day deserves a special dessert. Often chocolate, but not always. Last week I made a chocolate treat that saw on Pinterest (a good candidate for a last-minute, no-bake treat–it’s kind of like a homemade Butterfinger candy bar!) so I decided to try something different yesterday. Blueberries, ground almonds, pastry…I like this combination better than chocolate. Luckily, my Valentine likes most any sweet that crosses his path. I’m sorry this recipe comes too late for you to make it for Valentine’s Day, but it would be lovely for any occasion. Maybe a Wednesday.

Blueberry Frangipane Tart

Crust:

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

pinch salt

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. milk

Cream butter, sugar and salt with the paddle attachment of the standing mixer. Mix in the egg briefly. Add the flour and rub it into the butter mixture with your hands until it becomes crumbly. Add the milk and press the dough together. Try not to overwork the dough. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of wax paper into a 9″ or 10″ circle (depending on the size of your pan) and press into a tart pan with a removable bottom (I used 8″ but I’m sure it would have fit in the 9″). Lay a piece of foil in the crust and fill with pie weights, rice or beans. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Filling:

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

4 tsp. cornstarch

1 cup ground almonds

1 egg

1 egg yolk

In the same mixing bowl (you don’t even have to wash it!), cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Switch to the whisk attachment and mix in the almonds, cornstarch, egg and egg yolk. Whisk until the mixture is fluffy. Refrigerate the filling for 1 hour.

Spread the filling into the cooled crust. Arrange fresh blueberries on top (about 1/2 pint), pressing them into the filling. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling is puffed and golden.

Glaze:

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. milk (or lemon juice)

Whisk together until smooth. Drizzle on top of cooled tart.

Chocolate pumpkin spice cake

Posted by Melissa in Baking, Food, Recipe February 1, 2012

I’ve been accused of packing boring lunches (not so boring that anyone wants to eat a school lunch, though), but when questioned about what other kids are bringing for lunch that is so much more exciting, my accusers could only come up with one word: “Cake.”

It’s February, and I finally tipped the last stale Christmas cookies into the garbage. Maybe we all need a little cake. I’d forgotten about this recipe until I saw a stray can of pumpkin in the pantry this morning. I made it once for a Christmas party, and it was a simple way to blend all my favorite holiday flavors in a single cake pan. To be fair, you don’t really taste the pumpkin, and I’m certain you could substitute applesauce if that’s what’s in your pantry. It’s a big cake, but it’s moist and keeps well, so you can nibble on it all week. And the scent of spices and chocolate wafting from the oven makes everything else in the day just a little more congenial.

I won’t be skipping the sandwiches and fruit, kids, but if you’re pretty good I might sneak a little slice of this into your lunch tomorrow.

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cake

adapted from Maida Heatter

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 15-oz. can solid-pack pumpkin (or 2 cups pumpkin puree)

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 cup. unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with baking spray (or grease and flour very thoroughly).

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add vanilla and sugar and beat well. Add eggs two at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and cocoa powder. Add half of the dry ingredient mixture to the butter mixture and beat on the lowest speed. Add the pumpkin, and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Beat only until just incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the Bundt pan, pushing the batter into the pan and smoothing the top with a spatula.

Bake for 90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean and dry. Let the cake stand in the pan for 15 minutes, then cover the pan with a rack and carefully flip it over. Remove the pan and let the cake cool completely.

If you like, sift some confectioner’s sugar over the cooled cake before serving.

Birthday pie

Posted by Melissa in Baking January 20, 2012

Today is He-Who-Was-Formerly-Known-as-Eight’s birthday. Today he is NINE. No, I don’t know where the time has gone. Somewhere along the line there were long nights of rocking in a darkened room, long days of pretending to be Stephanie t o his Sporta cus. But Lazytown moves have been replaced by karate, and the chattering toddler has evolved into a voracious reader after my own heart, falling asleep most nights with a book on his chest. The preschooler who disassembled everything he could get his hands on (especially flashlights and ballpoint pens) has become an eternally curious researcher who studies the instruction manual and warranty, and prints out the shipping label to send his broken electronics in for repair.

We’re not having a big party this year (we have them every other year), so we’re having a quiet family dinner tonight and a movie with a friend this weekend. The birthday menu requested: Breaded chicken filet sandwiches, homemade macaroni and cheese, and chocolate pie. No cake, just pie. That’s my boy.

Chocolate Cream Pie

adapted from Gourmet

1 baked 9″ pie shell

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

4 large egg yolks

3 cups whole milk

5 oz. bittersweet chocolate

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 Tbsp. softened butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

3/4 cup chilled heavy cream

1 Tbsp. sugar

Melt both chocolates in a double boiler or the microwave. Stir until smooth and set aside. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt and egg yolks in a heavy saucepan. Then whisk in milk, pouring it into the pan in a slow stream. Bring the mixture to a boil, continuing to whisk, until thickened. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in chocolates, butter and vanilla. Transfer the filling to a bowl and cover the surface with a piece of buttered wax paper. Cool completely.

Spoon filling into pie shell and chill pie, loosely covered, for at least 6 hours. Just before serving, beat cream with sugar with an electric mixer until it holds stiff peaks and spread on top of pie. If you like, garnish with chocolate shavings or a dusting of cocoa powder.

Farmer’s Market Blueberry Muffins

Posted by Melissa in Baking, Recipe and tagged with blueberries, muffins June 13, 2011

Saturday morning we packed up the kids and went to our first farmer’s market of the summer. I think it might have been the first time in eight years that we did not take a stroller. Another milestone. We came home with a bag of multi-colored fingerling potatoes, two big bunches of asparagus (some of which turned into this salad), and a pint of blueberries. After sampling a few (not a sour one in the bunch), I used the whole box in my favorite blueberry muffin recipe on Sunday morning.

The muffin batter is really just a means to bind the blueberries together, topped with a buttery crumb topping. These are not sturdy muffins that would survive a child’s backpack; these are delicate and tender, best still warm from the oven and borne gently to the breakfast table in a basket. (I bet Dad wouldn’t mind them, along with a cup of coffee and a handmade card, on his tray for Father’s Day breakfast in bed.) Frozen berries will not do. Save this recipe for the best fresh blueberries you can find.

Blueberry muffins
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup milk
1 large egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 cups fresh blueberries

Topping:
2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/3 cup flour
3 Tbsp. sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Melt butter in microwave or in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in milk, egg and vanilla until well combined.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add liquid mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups.

Combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl and rub together with your fingertips until it begins to crumble and clump together. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the muffin batter.

Bake until golden and crisp, and a wooden pick comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of each muffin and carefully remove from the cups. Serve warm.

Olive oil granola

Posted by Melissa in Baking, Food, Recipe and tagged with breakfast, granola September 27, 2010

I’m not going to bother you with my regular old, everyday granola recipe. Just make this. It’s sweet, salty and fruity all at the same time. And if, for whatever strange reason, you run out of olive oil in your pantry, you can substitute vegetable oil or melted butter, and you will still have very good granola. But it won’t be this.

A quick Google search will reveal that every other food blog in the universe has already made a version of this granola, most of them based on the recipe given by Melissa Clark in The New York Times. I had a perfectly yummy granola recipe, developed from several sources, so it took me a while to try this one. So many wasted months….

My biggest change was to reduce the sweetness. I thought about reducing the oil as well (my usual recipe only has 1/4 cup), but I was afraid to lose the fruitiness of the olive oil, so I left it alone. Also, I like my granola in big clumps, so I’ll share my method, which has the added benefit of reducing the baking time. As always, granola is forgiving, so substitute your favorite combination of nuts and seeds.

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups nuts (the original calls for raw pistachios, which I forgot to get, so I subbed almonds)

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), hulled (mine were already roasted and salted, so I skipped the salt later in the recipe)

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp kosher or sea salt (skip if your nuts or pepitas are already salted)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/3 cup maple syrup (or try honey)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the syrup and olive oil together in the measuring cup and pour into the bowl. Mix well. Spread mixture on two rimmed baking sheets lined with Silpats (parchment would probably work, too). Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring once halfway through. baking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the baking sheets. Break granola into large clumps and store in an airtight container. Serve with yogurt (Greek yogurt is my favorite) and fresh or dried fruit. Or just eat it straight out of the container at random times during the day.

Get every last bit coated with oil and syrup.

I think I got the tip about the Silpat from my friend Sara–no more scrubbing the pans, and it’s easy to fold the mat and pour the last few bits of granola into your container.