Summer Pudding Unmolded

In keeping with my promise of photos of the Summer Pudding after it's overnight chill, here you go!

The whole Pud:

Pudding innards:

I have to report that the Summer Pudding was as delicious and light as I had hoped it would be! The perfect berry ending to a wonderful Fourth of July. I garnished it with some unsweetened whipped heavy cream. Yum!

Happy Independence Day to those in the USA!

Well Hello There!

It's good to see you. How have you been? I know, I know..I've been away a long time. I understand if you don't forgive me, but I thought I'd try to win you over with some nice photos and a little recipe. How does that sound? I understand if you are reluctant...I've been really unreliable about posting anything here for over a year and I cannot say for sure how often I'll be posting again, but I am going to make an effort, I am (my goal is one post per month)! I'll stop apologizing now and get to the recipe!

The 4th of July is tomorrow and I thought I'd try making Summer Pudding. Yes, nothing says Happy Independence Day like a British Dessert! But if you look at my ingredients, they are very patriotic colors, right?

Raspberries, Blueberries and Strawberries are a lovely Red and Blue. Paired with some White Bread (crusts cut off) or Angel Food cake and you've got a great 4th of July color scheme!

So, what does one need for this dessert? It's so simple, and I'm hoping for super delicious, but I won't know until tomorrow when I unmold it (Picture will be posted once the unmolding has taken place...really it will. I know, it's hard to believe me after such a long absence, but a photo will happen).

Summer Pudding:

1 loaf of day old white bread (you want something with a tighter crumb here and stale makes for better soaking of the juices... Wonder bread will not work, it will turn to mush) with the crusts cut off, or one Angel food cake (which is what I am using, bread is traditional, but I thought I'd give the low sugar angel food cake a try)'

2 cups of fresh ripe strawberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
(I'm saying fresh for all the berries, but I have a feeling that frozen would work just fine. Fresh is what I have on hand, so that's what I'm using)
1/4 cup sugar
Cream or Ice cream to garnish (optional, of course)

So, here's what I did:
1. Line a 6 cup capacity bowl with food film leaving enough to hang over the sides so you can wrap the pudding once you have it assembled. Slice the bread or angel food cake into 1/4 inch slices (cut off the crust if you are using bread). Line the bowls' bottom and sides with the bread (or cake), leaving a few slices for the top:2. Place the Raspberries, blueberries and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes until the berries release some juice. Remove from heat and let cool:3. Mash the strawberries either in the food processor (just pulse it a few times) or with a potato masher, which is what I did (this is just a photo of the initial mashing. I mushed them up a bit more until they were rather saucey):4. Mix the strawberries together with the raspberry/blueberry mixture, and pour into the bread (or cake) lined bowl:
5. Place a few slices of bread (or cake) over the top to cover the berries like so (or you can be neater about it):
6. Wrap the cling wrap over the top of the bread to seal it in and then place a plate that is just smaller than the bowl on top and place a can of something on that to weigh it down:

(I don't have a photo of it weighed down, but you get the idea)
7. Refridgerate overnight and unmold the next day (I'll show the turned out pudding tomorrow, complete with garnish).

What you are hoping to achieve is a lovely fruit soaked bread-y pudding-y brightly colored dessert. We shall see tomorrow if I have achieved that! Photo's to follow!

Do you forgive me for my absence yet?

How Barmy Got Her Groove Back

Well, more like how I'm working on getting my groove back. I decided that I needed to just start browsing my baking books again, this was a daily habit of mine awhile back and when I lost my baking mojo I just kind of let the books sit on the shelf collecting dust. I have now turned to one of my favorite (also a favorite of many many other people)baking books, left my baking mojo to fate and let the book fall open to where it would. As I'm a bit rusty on the blogging bit of things, I'll just get right to it and present you with the Double Apple Bundt Cake from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It was quite a fortunate fall open, as it was a recipe I hadn't tried yet from the book and the ingredient list reads like heaven. So without further ado, on to the recipe!

Double Apple Bundt Cake (from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours) :

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I do think next time I'll add a full teaspoon of cinnamon)
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (I don't really measure my fresh ground nutmeg, I just grate it over the flour and guess when it's enough..mmmmm, fresh ground nutment...)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 Tbsps or 5 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup store bought apple butter, spiced or plain (I didn't have any of this on hand, but I had quite a few apples. I made them into a cranberry applesauce and then cooked that down to apple butter consistency the day before I baked this cake. I used approximately 7 apples peeled and sliced, 1/2 cup cranberries, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and a few grates of fresh nutmeg. Cook it over medium heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan, puree once the apple are soft and then continue to simmer it over low low heat until it reduces by about half.)
2 medium apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup plump, moist raisins (I have my seemingly endless supply of booze soaked raisins, so I used those here...the ones I currently have on hand are soaked in bourbon)
Confectioner's sugar or Icing to finish (optional, Icing recipe to follow)
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-Preheat oven to 350f and position a rack in the center of the oven.
-Butter and flour a 9 to 10 inch Bundt cake pan.
-Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices together and set aside.
-With a stand mixer and paddle attachment, or a hand held mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for about five minutes on medium speed.
-Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each before adding another beating one minute for each addition.
-Add the apple butter on low speed. The mixture may appear curdled when you add the apple butter, but that's ok!
-Mix in the grated apple on low speed until completely blended in.
-Continuing on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix only until the flour just disappears. Gently fold in the raisins and nuts.
-Scrape the batter into the Bundt pan and smooth it out evenly.
-Bake for about 50 to 55 minutes or until a little knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
-Cool the cake for five minutes on a rack and then turn the cake out of the pan. Let the cake cool to room temperature and then either wrap it up, or dust with confectioner's sugar or ice and serve!

the Icing:
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp or so of fresh orange or lemon juice
____________________
-Mix together until you get a nice smooth consistency and drizzle over the finished cake.

This cake is moist and delicious, the smell of my apartment was just heavenly. I'll make this again and again for company. Really that's all I can say about it...need I say more?

I do hope G's coworkers enjoy it!

Serve it up with your favorite beverage of choice. I enjoyed my little slice o' heaven with a nice cuppa.

Happy Baking!

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Happy Birthday, Blog!

Today my little baking blog is 1 year old! Break out the party hats and noisemakers and start celebrating! I can't believe it's been a year already. What have I learned in my year of blogging? I've learned that in the world of blogging exist many kind, supportive and incredibly talented individuals. I've learned that my love of photographing food things is not going to fade away. I've learned that I do indeed love encouraging people to try scratch baking in all of it's wonderful forms. I am beginning to learn to be a little less shy (I am terribly shy, I have trouble leaving comments on blogs sometimes, because I'm just that shy). I've learned many other things (a little html, etc...) that I won't bore you with. Instead, as it's my blog's birthday, why don't you check out my first awkward day of posting here(you just need to scroll down to the bottom of the page for my first two posts from August 22). After you check that out, why don't you enjoy a nice piece of cake, put on your silly hat and help my blog blow out it's birthday candle (my blog doesn't have great lungs)! I have loads of apples so today I give you:

Apple Upside Down Chiffon Cake (adapted from Baking with Julia: Sift, Knead, Flute, Flour, And Savor... written by Dorie Greenspan):

The Topping:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
3-4 apples, peeled and cut into 8 pieces each (I'm actually not sure what kind of apple I have for these...they were given to us by G's friends who grow their own. This recipe originally calls for nectarines which would be awesome in this as well)
__________________________________________
-Preheat oven to 350f.
-Wrap the bottom of a springform pan with aluminum foil to prevent any dripping.
-Cut the butter into chunks and put them into a 10" springform pan (3"high) and place over medium low heat to melt the butter. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter and pat it down. Arrange the apples over the sugar in a decorative way (however you like).
-Set aside.

The Streusel:

1/4 cup hazelnuts, peels removed (the recipe calls for almonds, but I have hazelnuts onhand, so that's what I'm using)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 stick cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup quick cooking (not instant) oats
__________________________________________
-Toast your hazelnuts in the oven on a sheet pan for about 8 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from oven and cool before proceeding.
-Line the sheet pan with parchment.
-Put all of the ingredients for the streusel into the bowl of a food processor and pulse just to mix the ingredients and chop the hazelnuts and butter. Should be rough and crumbly.
-Spread the streusel out onto the pan and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden brown. It will smell heavenly. Allow to cool while you prepare the cake.

The Chiffon Cake:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt, kosher if you have it
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup vegetable or safflower oil (I'm using vegetable)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large egg whites
______________________
-Sift together 1 cup sugar, the flour, baking powder and baking soda onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper, add the salt.
-In a large bowl, whisk together the yolks, oil and lemon juice until blended. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the yolk mixture, whisking. Set aside.
-Beat the 6 egg whites in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment(or do it by hand if you are feeling strong-of-wrist). Starting at low speed, beat the whites until they are foamy and form very soft peaks. Increase your speed to medium-high and slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until the whites are thick and shiny and hold peaks. Fold about 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten it (this is called "sacrificing"), then turn the yolk mixture into the egg whites and fold gently until thoroughly blended.
-Scrape half of the batter into the fruit-lined pan, smooth the top with an offset spatula, and sprinkle the streusel over the top (reserve a little bit to decorate the baked cake). Top with the remaining batter and smooth. Place the pan on a sheet pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, mine actually took a good hour and 10 minutes to bake, the top(bottom) started to get to dark, so I had to tent some aluminum foil over to keep it from getting darker). Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool at least 25 minutes before inverting onto your serving platter.
-Enjoy warm and naked (the dessert, not you...well, if you want to be warm and naked, who am I to question it?), or dress it up with some ice cream or whipped cream.

This cake is good. I mean, wow, it's got a yum factor of 11 out of 10. The hazelnut streusel combined with the moist lucious brown sugar coated apples is out of this world. My blog could not have asked for a better birthday cake!

Happy Baking!

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Casual Cake?

Banana cake, is it just another way to use up old bananas or is it an excuse to buy a few extra bananas? I like to think it's a fabulous excuse to buy that bigger bunch of bananas. A good banana cake with some cream cheese icing hits the spot when a sweet snack attack occurs. This is great for a casual dessert when company drops by or just as a lovely addition to any picnic. It's a no frills dessert that banana lovers will gobble up. Sure you could dress it up with caramelized bananas or a Foster's sauce, but sometimes it's nice to have a simple cake with straightforward flavors. This is another one of my Gram's recipes that I've tweaked just a little bit and the recipe for the cream cheese icing can be found here (minus the coconut and nuts mentioned...well, I am not using them for this, but they certainly wouldn't be bad with this cake).

Gram's Banana Cake:

2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
__________________________
-Preheat oven to 350f. Prepare two 9" cake rounds with a parchment circle on the bottom and pan spray on the sides and bottom.
-Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
-Stir the vanilla into the buttermilk, set aside.
-Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing to blend after each addition. Add the mashed bananas and mix to combine.
-Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternating between the two, starting with 1/3 flour, mix, add 1/2 of the buttermilk, mix, add another third of the flour, mix, add the remaining buttermilk, and follow with the last of the flour. Mix until the flour has just become blended in.
-Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared baking pans (I used a regular sized ice cream scoop to do this and got about 5 scoops per pan) and bake for 12 minutes, rotate the pans front to back and bake for another 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cakes are a nice golden brown and spring back when the top is touched lightly.
-Cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then invert out of pans and allow to cool thoroughly on a rack.
-Prepare the cream cheese icing (you could use the recipe from the post listed above, or you could make your own, or even a simple icing of butter, confectioner's sugar and vanilla would work).
-Slice the layers lengthwise giving you four layers. Spread the frosting thinly between each layer, ending with a nice coating on top. You can also do the sides if you wish, I just really like the casual look without the sides coated in icing.
-Cut a big slice and enjoy with coffee, tea, milk, or whatever you like!

Happy Baking!

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Strawberry, Meet Rhubarb. Rhubarb, this is Strawberry.

I think that whomever it was that introduced these two should stand up and take a bow. What a beautiful working relationship they have. The sweet strawberries compliment and balance the tart astringent rhubarb. The two are just perfect for each other. While I do enjoy these baked together in a bubbling pie, my favorite way to have them is baked on top of a simple cake base. This is my Grandmother's Kuchen. It works well with any ripe fruit baked on top, but the strawberry and rhubarb remind me of summer days spent playing hide and seek in her backyard with my sisters. We'd go inside to cool off and sometimes we were lucky enough to have the kuchen as a snack, although more often it was served as a dessert. It's wonderful on it's own, but also lends itself well to a dollup of whipped cream.

Gram Danning's Fruit Kuchen: (makes one 9x9" square cake pan, or one 9" cake round)

1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (or buttermilk, I am using buttermilk in mine)
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
sliced ripe fruit of your choice to cover the top of the batter (peaches, apricots, plums, strawberries, rhubarb, most fruits work very well with this)
cinnamon and sugar mix to cover the fruit
4 tbsp of butter to dot
_____________________________________
-Heat oven to 350f.
-Cream together the butter and sugar, add the egg and mix to blend.
-Add the milk, flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just blended.
-Spread the mixture into a greased 9x9 inch cake pan (or cake round or I used a 9" tart pan) and top with the ripe fruit. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the top (can be generous or light with this, depends on the ripeness of the fruit....I used a bit more today because of the tartness of the rhubarb). Dot the top of everything with the 4 Tbsp of butter.
-Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake is done and the fruit is bubbly.
-Cool and enjoy!

Happy Baking!

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I'm Baaack! And I Bring the Gift of Scrumptious Strawberry Shortcake!

First off, thank you all for your well wishes and congratulations towards our wedding. I will say that everything went so smoothly that I cannot believe it was an event planned by me. I was fully expecting something to go wrong. I was really expecting my natural grace to kick in as I was walking down the aisle and to send me flat on my face after tripping on some air (I'm not known for my grace). It was a beautiful, if very fast moving, day.

Second, I have a recipe to share! With spring springing and the warmer longer days ahead, I am in want of fruity things. And with California strawberries on sale at the local supermarket it is easy to fulfill that need. Strawberry shortcake is a no fuss dessert, and it's bright, fresh and delicious. I really enjoy the cake part of the dessert to be a simple biscuit and the strawberries just sliced up, sprinkled with a little sugar, swimming in their vibrant juices. And whipped cream. Not many things are made for each other like strawberries and cream (it's very hard for me right now to refrain from getting mushy and talking about how not many people are made for each other like G and myself..but I'll spare you...oops, too late!). So, I'll get to the recipe so you can get to making and enjoying your strawberry soaked biscuits coated with cream. The biscuit recipe is so old that I'm not sure where it has come from....I just know it's on a recipe card in my box.

Biscuits for shortcake: (makes 8 to 12 biscuits)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup (8 ounces) cold butter
1 cup buttermilk
_______________________
-Heat oven to 425f. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper
-Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.

-Cut in butter with your fingers (I prefer to use my hands for this) or with a pastry blender until mixture is coarse pea sized balls
-Add buttermilk and mix lightly until the mixture forms a ball.
-Either drop biscuits onto the sheet pan for drop-biscuits, or pat the dough out to about 1 inch thickness and cut out biscuit rounds and place on the pan (I prefer drop biscuits for their rustic appearance and sometimes I'm just lazy that way).
-Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes until they are a light golden brown. Remove and cool on a rack.

For the Strawberries:
1 quart fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 or 3 Tbsp Grand Marnier, if you have it (I do not have any on hand today, so I'm using dark rum. It does add a nice little hint of orange).
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-Rinse and pat dry your berries. Slice into halves or quarters or however you would like to slice them.
-Mix the berries with the sugar and booze and let sit until the berries have rendereed their juices.

For the Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp granulated sugar (this is optional, I tend to like my whipped cream unsweetened, so I do not add it)
1 tsp vanilla extract (this is also optional...I have a serious vanilla addiction, so I'm going to even use vanilla bean paste instead of extract)
_________________________________________
-By hand (or in a machine if you prefer) whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla together until it forms soft peaks. Keep chilled till you are ready to use it. It is best to just whip the cream right before you use it.

Assemble the shortcakes in any way you prefer. I like to slice the biscuits in half, layer on the strawberries and lots of juice, top that with whipped cream and place the other half of the biscuit on top like a festive little hat. I have forgotten how good and simple this is. Take a bite, sit back and ooooooh my.

Now that I'm back and have no wedding to worry about, I hope to be posting more frequently! See you all much more often, thank you for your patience while I was away.











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