The Bad News Baker

Despite my passion for cooking, I must admit I haven’t quite mastered the art of baking. I am what I like to call, the “Bad News Baker”. Why is it that I can make the tastiest meals, and fail completely when it comes to the sweet stuff? Case in point – the birthday cheesecake that I made for my husband was flatter than Kate Hudson’s chest (pre-boob job). Case #2 - the Sour Cream Coffee cake that I made for Easter tasted like drywall (not that I’ve tasted drywall, it’s just what I assume it would taste like). I could go on, but I think you get my point.

You’d think since I have such a sweet tooth, that I would be a master in the dessert department. Apparently there are some talents that my mother didn’t pass along to me. That being said, if the “Bad News Baker” finds a recipe that she can do with success, I feel that it’s my duty to share it. To all those baking-challenged people of the world, this Brown Sugar Pound Cake is for you…

Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake with Maple-Espresso Glaze

Cake
Nonstick vegetable spray
1 12-oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups flour, divided
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups (packed) golden brown sugar
2 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. maple extract
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbl. pure maple syrup
2 Tbl. (or more) whipping cream
1 ½ tsp. instant espresso powder

For Cake: Preheat oven to 325º. Butter 12-cup Bundt or Angel Food pan. Spray pan generously with nonstick spray. Dust pan lightly with flour. Mix chocolate chips and 2 Tbl. flour in medium bowl and set aside. Sift remaining flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt into another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy, about 3 min. Beat in vanilla and maple extracts. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chip mixture. Transfer batter to prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 1 hour. Cool cake in pan on rack 30 min. Invert cake onto rack and cool complete.

For Glaze: Combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons cream, and espresso powder in medium bowl. Whisk until smooth, adding more cream by ½ teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick.
Source: Bon Appetit Magazine

The cake is pretty rich, but of course that didn’t stop me from cutting big slices. What can I say; I’ve got to satisfy my sweet tooth! Plus, I was proud that I finally produced a baked-good for my family that didn’t deliver bad news along with it!

--the daughter

Dinner and a Movie

I love when Sunday rolls around because it often means Meg and Drew come over for dinner and a movie. It’s a chance for Meg and I to try out new recipes and compare notes on the outcome. The guys are the lucky recipients of food lavished upon them, from appetizers to yummy desserts.

Usually by mid-week, Meg and I e-mail each other about recipes we’d like to try (always seasonal fare), and we “divide and conquer” on the menu. It’s a special time for us because it demonstrates what this blog is about…a mother and daughter learning from each other, sharing cooking secrets, and enjoying a good meal with the family. Of course, seeing a great movie doesn’t hurt either.

Take this past Sunday, for example. I wanted to experiment with the idea of a noodle kugel done in individual 4” springform pans so that, not only would the edges be golden crisp and the interior creamy, but each person would have their own.

Individual Noodle, Chard and Fontina Tortes

1/8 cup olive oil
1 lb. Swiss chard, stems and ribs discarded (spinach would probably work well too!)
1 medium onion, in ¼” slices, halved
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¼ lb. dried egg fettucine, broken in half
4 large eggs
½ cup half and half
2/3 cup mascarpone
¼ lb. Fontina cheese, rind discarded and cheese cut into ½” cubes

Preheat oven to 375º. Grease 4 individual (4 ½” dia.) springform pans with 1-2 tsp. (total) olive oil and wrap exterior of pans with foil (to prevent seeping). Cook chard in pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until just tender, about 3 min. Transfer to sieve, reserving cooking water in pot. Press hard on chard to extract as much water as possible, then transfer to cutting board and chop.

Cook onion in 3 tbl. oil in heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown, about 15 min. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 min. Stir in chard, ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper and remove from heat. Cool chard mixture to warm. While chard cools, return cooking water to a boil and cook fettucine, uncovered until al dente. Drain pasta in a colander, then transfer to a large bowl and toss with remaining oil. Blend together eggs, half and half, mascarpone and remaining salt and pepper in blender until smooth. Stir chard and fontina into pasta mixture, then stir in egg mixture. Pour into greased pans sets in shallow baking dish. Pat down slightly to level, if needed.

Bake until just set and top is golden brown, 35-45 min. Remove pans to cooling rack for 10 min, then run a small sharp knife around inside edge of pan to loosen tortes. Remove sides of pans and serve torte hot or warm.

These looked really nice plated, and came out with the desired crisp exterior/oozy interior. Because the noodles were “self-contained” in shape, it allows for other food to be placed alongside…in this case, we had a simple tossed Caesar with seared scallops and a crusty piece of French bread. We finished off the chardonnay from Scribe they’d picked up on their picnic the previous weekend to go with it.

Then Meg delighted us with a brown sugar chocolate chip cake with maple espresso glaze. I made her do dessert because she “claims” she can’t do them. Nonsense. It was extra yummy. Do share, Meg, pretty please.

--The Mom

Taking turns with Tyler

Our family descended on my brother and sister-in-law in Colorado, to visit the newest member of the family…8 week old Tyler. We all took turns feeding him, rocking him to sleep, and changing his diapers (well, I was conveniently absent for most of those diapers!). We also took turns with the cooking, each of us responsible for planning a menu and preparing a comforting family meal.

When it was my turn for dinner, I initially planned on rosemary breaded shrimp over white beans and arugula. Apparently my menu didn’t take into account the limitations of available foods in Pueblo, CO. My mother laughed at me through every aisle of Wal-Mart saying, “Oh sure, arugula – good luck with that Meg!” Okay, change of plans. Wal-Mart had shrimp and bread crumbs so I kept it on the menu, and substituted the beans & arugula for a risotto. I was able to find all the fixings for risotto, so I was in business.

While the gang was busy keeping Tyler occupied, I poured myself a glass of wine and headed for the kitchen to start dinner. First up, getting the risotto started…

Spinach Risotto
2 tbsp Olive oil
5 cups chicken stock
1 onion finely chopped
1 ½ cup Arborio rice
½ cup white wine
3 cups baby spinach
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Heat chicken stock in medium saucepan. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add rice and cook for additional 2 minutes. Add wine and stir until liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup chicken stock and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock 1/2 cup at a time until rice is cooked and mixture is creamy. Continue to stir often, about 25 minutes. Add spinach and Parmesan cheese and butter into risotto. Stir in additional chicken stock as desired. Season to taste with S&P. (I also like to add a little cayenne pepper to spice the risotto up and give it some character).

Breaded Shrimp
1 lb. uncooked shrimp (peeled & deveined)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tlsp olive oil
S&P

Preheat oven to 400. Combine bread crumbs, rosemary, olive oil and S&P in small bowl. Coat shrimp with bread mixture and place on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

We happily filled ourselves with bowls of risotto and breaded shrimp on top. It was the perfect meal to keep us all going for those late night feedings. I guess the saying is true; it certainly does take a village…


--the daughter