Homemade Magic Shell

"Magic Shell" is, of course, a brand name, but it's the term most people are familiar with. This is the chocolate sauce for ice cream that is liquid when it's poured on, then goes immediately solid.

• 1/4 C semi-sweet chocolate morsels 
• 1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil 

1. In double boiler, melt both ingredients, stirring to combine.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool for two minutes.
3. Pour over ice cream, wait for shell to harden, and enjoy!  

Robyn's notes: if the sauce is not used right away, it should be refrigerated, as there are no preservatives like the bottled store-bought version has. The sauce will of course harden in the fridge, it can be microwaved to return to liquid form before using, or the container it's in can be placed in a hot water bath.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Mini Cheddar Apple Pies

• pie crust dough (homemade or purchased)
• 4 Tbsp grated sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/2 heaping Tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• dash salt
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 large apple

1.  Preheat oven to 425°F.  Cut two circles of crust for the bottom of the pies (see notes, below).  Press into bottom and up sides of two mini pie pans or tart dishes.  Sprinkle 2 Tbsp cheese over the bottom of each crust. 
2.  In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.  Peel and slice apple into small pieces, coat apple pieces with sugar and flour mixture.  Place seasoned apple pieces into crusts, layering them well above the top level of the pie pan (apples will sink during baking due to water loss).
3.  Cut circles for top crusts or strips if a lattice top is desired.  If using a circular top crust, use a sharp knife to cut slits in several places.  Crimp edges of crusts together with the tines of a fork or with fingers.  Sprinkle top with a small amount of additional sugar. 
4.  Place pans on a baking sheet for easier handling and bake at 425°F for 16-18 minutes.  Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Robyn's notes: I know some people traditionally enjoy apple pie with a thick slice of Cheddar cheese alongside, though I was raised on French apple pie a la mode instead.  I thought incorporating the cheese into the pie itself might make for a nice flavour combination, and knew I would splurge on really good cheese for the purpose.  The cheese I got was Kerrygold Reserve, which is aged 2 years, but I didn't realize until I got home that I had grabbed the version that's aged with Irish Whiskey.  The taste of the whiskey is quite strong, and made the first pie attempt into more of a Drunken Apple Pie.  Still tasty.  I used a Gala apple, other good choices are Red or Golden Delicious.  Might be 4 stars with a less whiskey-flavoured cheese, and/or with homemade crust.

About the crust: a homemade crust recipe is fantastic, or just use a pre-made crust from the market.  Because this was an early test version of the recipe, I used a pre-made.  The first test I made just one mini pie, rolled the leftover crust up in plastic wrap, and refrigerated it.  For that pie I used one of my mini pie pans, which has relatively steep sides.  I placed it upside down gently on the unrolled crust, and cut a circle about one inch away from the edge of it all the way around.  For the top crust, I cut another circle just at the edges.  Because of the size of my mini pie pans, I had to fudge this process, and couldn't really get both circles out of one unrolled pie crust.  This is where homemade dough would be best, as it could be re-rolled to accommodate the second circle instead of having to be cut from the same layout.  For the second test pie, I used one of my mini tart pans, again cutting about an inch away all the way around, but I did (as seen above) a lattice top, in order to make the dough go farther.  Because I still had leftover dough from the first pie, I ended up having about a 6" diameter circle of dough left after completing the second pie.  Since I made the two test pies on different days, I was using different apples and had some apple leftover.  I dipped those apple slices into the leftover filling mixture from this recipe, grated some Edam cheese over half the dough circle, topped it with the seasoned apples, sprinkled more grated Edam on top, folded the dough over, pinched it shut, and made it a turnover.  It went onto a square of parchment paper and into the oven at the same time, on the same baking sheet, same temperature, as the pie.  Not the prettiest turnover in the world, but tasty.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Fudge-Ana

When I was young, I had a lot of activities, from piano to Camp Fire to various things involving horses. For a lot of years one of those activities was ballet, and I was really into it. Throughout my ballet years, a tradition existed in my hometown of going to the small downtown ice cream parlor after performances and treating the performers to a sundae.  Back then, I had a hard time choosing a favourite sundae, but as I've gotten older and the family has continued to make the occasional visit there, I've settled on the Fudge-Ana.  It's not flashy, like the Cherry Hawaiian (coconut pineapple and burgundy cherry ice creams topped with pineapple and creamy marshmallow, chopped toasted nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry).  It doesn't have a pop of flavour like the Mint Delight (chocolate mint and peppermint stick ice creams topped with hot fudge and creamy marshmallow, chopped toasted nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry).  And it isn't surprising, like the Honeycomb Buzz (I'll let you wonder).  What it is, is delicious, every time.  It's just that little bit more than a hot fudge sundae, and every time I eat one, I'm transported right back to that pink and white shop, sitting in a chair with a heart-shaped back while I kick my ballet shoes under the table and spin the free glass of ice cold water they give you as soon as you walk in the door. 

• hot fudge ice cream topping
• one medium banana, sliced into coins
• vanilla ice cream

1.  Melt hot fudge as instructed on package.  Drop a spoonful into bottom of sundae glass or tall drinking glass.   Top with three or four banana coins.  Add one small scoop of ice cream.  Repeat in layers until glass is full.  If desired, top with whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry.

Robyn's notes: no measurements, because it's really about how much you feel like eating, how large the serving vessel is, and how much you like hot fudge. I don't generally bother with the whipped cream, nuts, and cherry when I'm making a Fudge-Ana at home, because it means having them sitting around waiting to be used up.

 ***** 5 Stars: Excellent. A favourite for both of us, I will make this repeatedly

Small-Batch Frosted Sugar Cookies

I have a weakness for grocery store bakery frosted sugar cookies.  Those fat soft cookies with thick frosting and sprinkles on top?  I'm forever in search of a recipe for homemade sugar cookies that come out like those, and I have yet to find one.  This recipe is not the long-awaited successful completion to that search, but it is a perfectly good recipe, if I do say so myself, so I figure I might as well share it for those who are looking for a simple recipe for whipping up a few thin sugar cookies quickly.

Cookies

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp almond extract
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 3/4 tsp buttermilk, sour cream, or plain yogurt
• 1/2 C + 1 rounded Tbsp flour
• 1/8 tsp baking soda 

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir in flavourings, mayonnaise, and buttermilk; mix.  Stir in flour and baking soda.
2.  Shape dough into teaspoon-sized balls, drop on parchment-lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart.  Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass that's been dipped in granulated sugar (see notes).
3.  Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until just set.  Do not overbake.  Allow to cool for 1 minute on baking sheet, remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.  Frost when completely cooled.

Yield: 8-10 cookies

Robyn's notes: to flatten the cookies, I used the underside of a 1/4 C measure.  I gently pressed it briefly against one of the dough balls first, then dipped it in granulated sugar, to get the sugar to stick to the measuring cup for flattening all the dough balls.  Another option is to roll the dough balls in sugar and then flatten them, but I didn't want that much sugar on the outside of the cookies.  It would be best to mix the dough in an electric mixer, but since my mixer is here with us and the mixer's beaters are apparently still in storage, that wasn't an option.  I therefore mixed the dough with a fork as fast as my arm would move, to get air into it.

Frosting

• 1 C confectioner's sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter
• approximately 1 Tbsp + 1-1/2 tsp milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• food coloring if desired

1.  In a medium bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and butter. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

Robyn's notes: again, I had to do this by hand, and frosting is never as good when mixed by hand because it's very difficult to get the air in.  It's also exceedingly difficult to cream that much powdered sugar with that little butter by hand.  Add the milk slowly, until you've achieved the desired consistency.  The entire amount may not be needed, and since this makes a very sweet frosting, if you add too much milk it's hard to firm it back up.  Replacing the butter with shortening is an option and might actually be better, but I didn't have any shortening in the house.  

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often 

Small-Batch Shortbread Cookies

The cats have been waking us up very early recently, which means that we eat breakfast earlier than usual, then lunch and dinner as well, and at the end of the day I'm wanting to snack on something. A quick cookie dessert generally satisfies that, and the other night I was in the mood for a very simple cookie.  I don't know how I managed to bring a kitchen box that contained cookie cutters but didn't manage to bring one that contained a paring knife, but I do have the former and so used them to make these cookies.  I really like shortbread cookie dough, so I only rolled out and cut the dough twice, eating the remainder raw.  Between that and the fact that I rolled my dough thinner than is traditional (see notes, below), the yield is a little vague.  I suspect that 1/2-inch thick cookies cut to 3"x1" would work out to about 5 cookies.  

• 6 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 C + 2 Tbsp flour
• dash salt (see notes, below)
• additional sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp semisweet chocolate morsels

1.  Cream together butter and sugar, add vanilla and mix.  Sift in flour and salt and combine.  Form dough into a flat disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
2.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Turn dough onto lightly floured workstation and roll to 1/2 inch thickness.  Use cookie cutters or cut into rectangles 3"x1".  Sprinkle with additional sugar, place on ungreased baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes.  Allow to cool completely on wire rack.
3.  Once cookies are at room temperature, melt chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler, and drizzle chocolate over half of each cookie until well coated.  Allow to cool.

Yield: 5-8 cookies depending on size

Robyn's notes: the salt measurement should technically be 1/16 tsp.  I used my 1/8 tsp measure and filled it halfway.  This is actually a bit more than I use when a recipe calls for a dash or a pinch, so I like to mention it here.  If using cookie cutters, be sure to either use all one shape or, if using multiple shapes (as I did in the picture above), bake all the cookies of a given shape together.  Size and shape differences can lead to different baking times, and you don't want half the cookies overcooked just to get the other half perfect.  I rolled my dough out to 1/4 inch thick, because that's what I'm used to and I didn't have a recipe in front of me when I was working on this one.  I baked my cookies for 12 minutes at that thickness and they came out perfectly.  In researching various shortbread cookie recipes today, however, I find that the vast majority call for a 1/2-inch thick cookie and a longer baking time.  Whatever works for you.  With this small an amount of chocolate, a microwave is the easiest way to melt it (30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, don't overcook).  We don't have our microwave with us at the moment, so I did it in a double boiler.  I let the chocolate-coated cookies cool on the same wire rack with a sheet of aluminum foil beneath to catch any drippings.   

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Small-Batch Peanut Butter Blossoms

Being as far as we now are from the nearest grocery means that if I suddenly have a sweets craving, I have to satisfy it with whatever is in the house, or do without.  So the other day I stood staring into the pantry, waiting for inspiration, when I realized I had all the ingredients on hand for peanut butter cookies.  I looked up the basic cross-hatched pb cookie recipe and discovered that I was wrong and was shy one ingredient.  I did, however, have all the ingredients (except for the Hershey's Kisses) for peanut butter blossoms, and I figured I could just make those, cross-hatch the tops with a fork, and eat them as peanut butter cookies.  Unfortunately, translating the full recipe into a small-batch version was not as straightforward as some other cookie recipes have been, and it took several attempts to get a successful cookie.  In the meantime, we drove into town for something else and I picked up a bag of Hershey's Kisses, on the assumption that I'd eventually get it to work (and I did!). 

• 2 Tbsp sugar 
• 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar 
• 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter 
• 1-1/2 Tbsp butter, softened 
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/4 C + 2 Tbsp flour 
• 1/8 rounded tsp baking soda 
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• additional sugar
• about 10 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

1. In medium bowl, mix sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, and mayonnaise until combined.  Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder, stir until dough forms.  Refrigerate, covered, one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in additional sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately press 1 Hershey's Kiss in center of each cookie. Cool on baking sheet 1-2 minutes, then move to cooling rack.

Yield: about 10 cookies

Robyn's notes: I wrote this recipe after moving, and it has therefore only been tested at an elevation of 2,500 feet.  The flour measurement is a little awkward, I know, but I feel this is the best way to write it.  One-third Cup plus 2 teaspoons would be the same measurement, or six Tablespoons.  I think this is just the clearest.  I find the easiest way to roll the dough in sugar is to put a couple Tbsp of sugar into a 1/3 C measure, drop the shaped ball on top, and shake the measuring cup around until the ball has been well coated.  Do not skip the refrigeration step or the dough will not hold together when shaped and the baked cookies will spread and flatten instead of remaining rounded.  

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Small-Batch Oatmeal Scotchies

After successfully writing and testing my recipe for Small-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies, I decided to turn the same technique to other cookies.  I love Oatmeal Scotchies, but the recipe makes so many!  Fortunately, the egg and butter ratio could be modified in a fairly straightforward manner, so I'm pleased to have successfully written the below recipe. In the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I used vanilla sugar to counteract any tang from the acid that's in mayonnaise.  I use regular sugar in this recipe, partly because I doubt the vanilla sugar is strictly necessary in either recipe, but mostly because a common ingredient in some butterscotch-oatmeal cookies is a bit of citrus (usually orange zest), so the tiny bit of lemon juice usually found in mayonnaise won't be an issue flavour-wise. 

• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/3 C flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 C quick or old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 C butterscotch flavored morsels

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  In a medium bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until combined.  Stir in vanilla and mayonnaise until blended.
2.  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, add to butter mixture and stir until combined.  Stir in oats and morsels.
3.  Drop dough onto baking sheet in rounded spoonfuls.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are beginning to brown at the edges.  Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 8 medium-sized cookies

Robyn's notes: I made this twice, and the first time refrigerated the dough for an hour because I was in the middle of doing other things and wasn't ready to bake it yet.  That's not at all necessary, but it certainly doesn't hurt anything, just makes it a bit more difficult to form the dough into balls.  It will seem like there is far too much oat compared to dough when you start to mix in the oats, but stick with it and be sure to scrape your spoon, a lot of dough tries to hide in it.  Same with the butterscotch chips, there seems to be too many, but they can all be combined, even if it means pressing the stragglers into the dough balls before placing them on a cookie sheet.  The first four cookies I baked for 8 minutes, the second four for 10.  Not much difference between the two, and neither batch flattened much while baking, though they certainly baked through and I think they're delicious.  Just be aware that the cookies may not look cooked through if they've not flattened, but they actually are.  If you want flat cookies, make them small, the littlest cookies I made did flatten out during baking, but they were about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Oatmeal Scotchies are some of my favourite cookies, so I'm very happy that these came out.  I have also made this recipe at high altitude, successfully, with no changes.  Several friends had them and all loved them.  

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently  

Zoku Fudgsicles

I don't think there's a part of the country that hasn't been suffering from the heat these past few weeks.  Personally, having lived in Arizona and in the Southern CA Low Desert, I'm just grateful to have air conditioning and not be looking at brown-outs on 110°F days.  But I have been using my Zoku quite a bit, mostly for simple juice pops.  I'd tried a Zoku-branded recipe for fudgsicles once before and wasn't happy with the results, so I'm pleased to say that this recipe seems to work great.

• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2/3 C heavy cream
• 1/4 C whole milk
• 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla

1.  Place the chocolate in a medium-sized glass bowl, and set aside.
2.  In a medium saucepan, combine cream, milk, and cocoa powder over medium-high heat, whisking constantly.  Bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and pour mixture over chocolate.  Let sit for 2 minutes without stirring.
3.  Whisk together until chocolate is melted, whisk in vanilla.  Refrigerate until cool.
4.  Stir cooled sauce to re-combine.  Insert stick into mold, pour sauce into prepared Zoku, and let stand until frozen, 10-12 minutes.

Yield: 3 Zoku pops

Robyn's notes: the texture of these is exactly what I look for in a fudgsicle.  Remove from Zoku slowly, the soft consistency wants to stick.  It'll be fine if removed gently but will be a disaster if you force it.  I also thought these were great with some banana coins in the mold first.  Does not store well, I had some leftover in the fridge overnight and it had thickened to a point the following day that I had to defrost the Zoku to get the popsicle out (and I'd stirred it a lot before pouring it in the mold).

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Small-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the challenges with reducing baked goods, especially cookie recipes, is that there's only so far you can reduce them before you're dealing with the ridiculousness that is parts of an egg.  There are ways to address this, and I've used them all.  One-and-one-half Tablespoons of beaten egg will often work for half an egg.  Some recipes choose to use just the yolk.  There's always the use of egg substitute (Egg Beaters being the most recognizable brand name).  And I've got a few recipes that call for a quail's egg instead of a chicken egg, as they're much smaller.  All of these options have their drawbacks.  Using part of a beaten egg means either throwing away the rest or whipping up a partial-serving scrambled egg snack, because it won't last long safely in the fridge (2 days max).  Using just the yolk often makes the final dish taste too eggy and means quickly (within 2 days) finding a use for the white or, again, throwing it away.  Egg substitute is another thing to purchase and have on hand (must be used within 7 days of opening the carton), and to be honest I'm not entirely happy about the product.  They are 99% egg white, with beta carotene for colour and vitamins and minerals added back in, but the manufacturers choose not to disclose how that's done.  And as for quail's eggs, yes, they happen to be available in my town, but they certainly aren't available everywhere, they're more expensive, and the shells are more gelatinous, which not only makes them more difficult to crack but can change the consistency of the white. 

The thing is, we love cookie dough and we even occasionally like to bake chocolate chip cookies.  But if I make an entire batch, or even a half batch, of cookie dough, it'll be gone within 2 days.  We don't even notice we're dipping into it until we're looking at an empty bowl.  And more than 2 dozen cookies is far too many for the two of us.  So I wrote this recipe to solve the problem.

• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 3 Tbsp vanilla sugar
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/2 C + 1 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips

1.  In a medium bowl, cream together butter, vanilla sugar, and brown sugar until combined.  Stir in vanilla and mayonnaise until blended.
2.  Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt, add to butter mixture and stir until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.
3.  Refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour.
4.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Drop dough onto baking sheet in rounded spoonfuls.  Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are beginning to brown at the edges.  Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 8 medium sized cookies (3-inch diameter) or 1 dozen small cookies (2-inch diameter)

Robyn's notes: I'm calling for vanilla sugar instead of regular granulated in order to counteract the slight tang of the mayonnaise.  It is not strictly necessary, I have made the recipe several times with regular sugar.  I did test baked directly on the baking sheet, with parchment paper, and with aluminum foil.  The aluminum foil made for a flatter cookie that I found too crunchy for my taste.  If you like a really crunchy cookie that may be the way to go.  The other two options had no discernible difference, so I'm saving the parchment paper and saying to use just a regular baking sheet.  It was a bit difficult to get all the chocolate chips mixed in, as the dough is not very sticky, so I just forced the stragglers into each ball of dough when I loaded up the baking sheet.  Based on the relative humidity on a given day, the dough may be dry and crumbly (happens about 40% of the time to me), in which case I simply add a very small amount of milk (about 1 tsp is enough) before adding chocolate chips, and mix well.  I find that these cookies have a crispy exterior and soft inside.  There is no trace of mayonnaise flavour, either in the baked cookies or in the dough.  As hard as it is, the cookies are best after 8 hours of resting in a sealed ziploc bag.  I have also made these successfully at high altitude with no changes.   

This recipe has been demonstrated on my YouTube channel!

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Icebox Cookies

This is the base for multiple cookie recipes, read through all notes before beginning.

• 1/4 C butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 7 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp cornstarch
• pinch salt (see notes, below)

1.  Cream and stir butter and sugar together with a fork until light.  Add flour, cornstarch, and salt and mix until just combined.
2.  Add mix-ins to dough, stirring well to combine (see notes, below).  Shape dough into a log about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Wrap in plastic or waxed paper and refrigerate at least 2 hours before slicing or baking them (or freeze for up to 8 weeks).
3.  Preheat oven to 325.  Line cookie sheet with parchment or silicone liner.
4.  Unwrap log and slice cookie dough into rounds about 1/4 inch thick.  Place rounds on lined cookie sheet and bake until edges of cookies are just slightly browned, 20-25 minutes. 

Robyn's notes: this dough makes very crisp cookies, because of the cornstarch.  For the salt, it should be 1/16 tsp, I used my 1/8 tsp measuring spoon and filled it halfway.  The photo above shows the entire batch, so it's a good recipe for making just a few cookies for two people.  The dough is intended as a base for multiple mix-in options, and I didn't use any of them.  I added 1/2 tsp vanilla to the dough, then flattened it into a 1/4 inch-thick disc, wrapped it in plastic, and refrigerated it for 2 hours.  I then lay it out on the counter and cut out the four stars.  The remaining bits of dough I rolled into balls about an inch thick, and rolled them in sugar that I'd dyed with food colouring.  I placed the balls onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet and flattened them with the back of a metal spatula.  The stars were placed onto the cookie sheet and sprinkled with leftover coloured sugar.  I then baked them for the given time.  The cookies came out only ok, not enough flavour.  We ended up frosting them with leftover frosting from the cupcakes I'd also made, and that was good.  I will try the recipe again with other mix-ins and may increase the star rating depending on how it turns out.  To do the recipe properly, here are suggested mix-ins (use only one):  
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme  OR
1 tsp citrus zest + 1/4 tsp orange flower water OR 
1/2 tsp cinnamon + pinch each of ground cloves & nutmeg + 2 Tbsp toasted chopped walnuts or pecans OR
1/2 tsp vanilla + 1/4 C unsweetened shredded coconut

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Simple Cupcakes to Share (Or Not!)

Since this recipe makes four cupcakes, there's enough to share with company if you're having a couple people over, or to keep all to yourselves and have the other two the next day.

• 1/4 C buttermilk
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• yolk of 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 C flour
• 1/4 C + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp butter

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Fit paper liners into 4 cups of standard muffin pan, set aside.
2.  Combine buttermilk and baking soda in small bowl, stirring to mix.  Gently whisk in egg yolk and vanilla.
3.  Place flour, sugar, and salt in medium mixing bowl, stirring to combine.  Add butter and half of buttermilk mixture.  Beat on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened.  Increase to medium speed and beat until mixture is lightened and has slightly increased in volume, about 45 seconds.  Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.  Pour in remaining buttermilk mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended, 20 seconds.
4.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, dividing evenly.  Fill empty muffin cups halfway with water to protect pan.  Bake cupcakes 20-23 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and tops are just beginning to brown.
5.  Remove pan from oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove cupcakes from pan and transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.  Frost as desired.

Robyn's notes: I found these to be a little bit eggy, and not as light as I would have liked, but still quite good.  For frosting, I used store-bought vanilla frosting in a canister because I was very tired.  I split the frosting into thirds, adding red gel food colouring to one bowl, blue gel food colouring to another, and leaving the last white.  I placed a large star tip into a piping bag (I actually had to use two bags, so ended up using a #20 tip and a #35 tip) and then spooned red frosting into one side of the bag, white into the center, and blue to the other side.  It was not easy, as can be seen by my results in the photo above.  The first cupcake I frosted was just getting white and nothing else, until finally the red and blue made their way to the tip.  The second cupcake (front left in photo) came out the best, but after finishing it and adding some colour to the first (back left in photo), I was out of frosting in that bag and had to fill another.  For that bag, the red came out great but the blue was hanging out at the top of the bag, not reaching the piping tip.  I think some practice would be good.  For this situation I'm happy with what I got, and doing it a few more times would help me figure out how best to load the piping bags.


*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Blueberry Upside-Down Cakes

Mostly I wanted something to do with the blueberries that I had on hand, and something that could be made visually patriotic for the 4th of July.  I used two mini cake pans, and since they're very nonstick I didn't grease or flour them.  I did line the bottoms with parchment paper, however, as not doing so seemed like it would be pushing my luck a little bit.

• 1/2 C fresh or thawed frozen blueberries
• 1/3 C + 1 tsp sugar, divided
• 1/4 C buttermilk
• yolk of 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 C flour
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp butter, at room temperature

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Place jumbo muffin pan (3/4 C capacity) or mini cake pan on a piece of parchment paper and, using a pencil, trace around the bottom of one of the cups.  Cut out 4 parchment paper rounds to this measurement.
2.  Grease and lightly flour 2 muffin cups or mini cake pans if needed.  Fit 2 of the parchment rounds into each of the prepared pans, making a double layer.
3.  Place the blueberries and 1 tsp of the sugar in a small bowl, stir to mix.  Spoon the berries into the prepared pans, dividing evenly.  Set pans aside.
4.  Place buttermilk, egg yolk, and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk to mix.
5.  Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium mixing bowl; add remaining 1/3 C sugar and whisk to combine.  Add butter and half of the buttermilk mixture.  Beat with electric mixer on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened.  Increase speed to medium and beat until batter is lightened and has slightly increased in volume, about 45 seconds.  Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.  Pour in remaining buttermilk mixture and beat on medium until well blended, about 20 seconds.
6.  Spoon batter over blueberries in pans, dividing evenly, and smooth tops.  If using a muffin pan, fill empty cups halfway with water to protect the pan.  Bake cakes at 375°F for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.
7.  Remove from oven and place pans on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.  If using a muffin pan, carefully pour water out of extra cups.  Carefully invert pans on large plate to release cake (if necessary, carefully run a knife around the edge of the cake to help it detach).  Peel off and discard parchment paper.  Serve warm.

Vanilla Creme Fraiche

• 1/4 C premium-quality vanilla bean ice cream, softened
• 3 Tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream

1.  Place soft ice cream and creme fraiche in a small bowl, whisk just to mix.  Serve immediately.

Robyn's notes: Cakes were served with Vanilla Creme Fraiche and Raspberry Curd.  This was only ok, mostly because I'm not supposed to eat blueberries, they make me fairly ill, so I just tasted a few bites.  He enjoyed it, but not worth raving over.  The vanilla creme fraiche was not worth making again.  The flavour of the ice cream was totally lost, so it was like eating completely liquified creme fraiche.  

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Cold-Oven Quarter-Pound Cake

America's Test Kitchen is cooking their way through the 20th century this summer, one week per decade.  They've invited readers to participate by making the provided recipes and then submitting a photo of themselves with the finished product.  The first week is titled Cook Like it's 1905! and as soon as I saw the recipe I knew I'd be making it and then figuring out a smaller version.  Everything it called for was already in the house, and I'd recently picked up a couple of mini tube pans using a gift card from my sister.  As you can read at the above link, at the turn of the previous century homeowners were distrustful of the new gas ovens and unlikely to buy them.  As a selling point, manufacturers marketed the gas oven as a time-saver: no pre-heating necessary!  The America's Test Kitchen Cold-Oven Pound Cake Recipe that is the first challenge is formulated for an oven that's cold when you put the pan in, and so my reduced version is as well.  I used two mini tube pans for this, and while I can't guarantee success with another pan, I suspect that two mini cake pans would work as well, because the mini tube pans don't actually have a tube running all the way through, just a divot.  Since my pans are nonstick, they needed no greasing or flouring.  If not using a nonstick pan, be sure to do both!

• 3/4 C cake flour
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 C whole milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1/2 C + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 egg + 1 1/2 Tbsp beaten egg

1.  Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl.  Whisk milk and vanilla in measuring cup.
2.  With electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in whole egg, then remaining egg, until combined.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of milk mixture.  Mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds.  Use rubber spatula to give batter a final stir.
3.  Divide batter between two mini tube pans and smooth tops.  Place cakes in cold oven.  Adjust oven temperature to 325°F and bake, without opening oven door, until cakes are golden brown at the edges and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 38-42 minutes.  
4.  Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack.  Cool completely.  Serve.  (Cooled cakes can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.)

I served with a drizzle of Raspberry Curd and some raspberries.

Robyn's notes: Unfortunately I was not at all pleased with the results of the full-size contest cake.  Since it makes so many servings, I waited until my folks came by, so they could help us eat it.  This means my mom was around to watch me make the cake, and she confirmed that I followed that recipe to the letter.  The final cake had good flavour but was the most solid and dense cake I have ever eaten in my life.  I lifted a corner of the cooled cake off the plate and when I dropped it you could actually feel the reverberations in the table.  As we brainstormed what the problem may have been, we finally thought to take a look at my baking powder.  Sure enough, it was a year out of date.  My guess is that since the rise is relying on baking powder, mine being old (has now been tossed and replaced) kept it from happening properly.  

As for my version, it is again a much denser cake than I would like, as I made it the same day and using the same baking powder.  Because it's small, that outcome of my version is more acceptable to me than the full cake.  The density is not as noticeable because it's a smaller proportion of cake that feels heavy.  I feel confident that when I try this again with fresh baking powder it'll be more successful.  Yes, this does need to be done with an electric mixer, otherwise it'll be nearly impossible to get enough air beaten into the batter.  Even though I'm one of those people who never sift if I can get away with not, I sifted my cake flour before measuring it because it had been in a drawer for so long that it was really clumpy.  The one-and-a-half Tablespoons beaten egg is the equivalent of half a large egg.     

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Raspberry Curd

• 2 oz raspberries
• 1/4 C + 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• tiny pinch salt

1.  Whisk all ingredients in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until slightly thick. Strain; refrigerate until cold and thick.

Robyn's notes: lemon juice is also ok, I had half a lime needing to be used.  I served this over my Cold-Oven Quarter Pound Cakes and used it for an additional topping with Blueberry Upside-Down Cakes.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Happy Independence Day!

Recipes on another day, we're busy having our 4th of July celebration!

Honey Cream Fruit Dip

I took the ratios for this from an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats. It's easy to upsize if necessary, as this makes quite a small amount of dip.  The show used 1 Cup of sour cream, to give a sense of scale. 

• 1/2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• berries of your choosing

1.  In a custard cup or small glass bowl, heat honey in microwave for 20-25 seconds.  Whisk in sour cream.  Serve with fruit.

Robyn's notes: this was a way to keep from wasting even the tiniest remaining bit of sour cream after having used it in several recipes.  It was good on strawberries, but I think where it really shone was on raspberries. If making a large batch, the honey should be warmed on the stove in a saucepan, but for such a tiny amount as this that would be ridiculous.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Peach Mango Smoothies

About 10 or 12 years ago, I picked up a couple Smoothie cookbooks, with the intention of eating more healthily.  I only ever made 3 or 4 recipes out of both, partly because they called for a lot of specialty ingredients and insisted that I put the items into the blender in a certain order, processing for a certain number of seconds between each addition, and I was lazy and poor and those things didn't work for me.  So eventually I stopped bothering with some of the ingredients in one of the smoothies, and stopped worrying about careful combining.  This is where I ended up, and it's a smoothie I've been making ever since.

• 1 banana, diced
• 1/4 C mango sorbet (store-bought ok)
• 1 C frozen sliced peaches
• 3/4 C frozen diced mangoes
• 1/2 C juice of your choice (see notes below)

1.  Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until combined and smooth, stopping blender as needed to stir and push chunks down.

Yield: approximately 22 fl oz

Robyn's notes: it's ok to use a frozen banana, but if so, the banana needs to be diced into coins before being frozen.  I usually have a couple frozen diced bananas on hand for making smoothies with, they do turn brown in the freezer but as long as they were fresh to start they'll retain their freshness long after they stop looking pretty.  A full-size frozen banana is very hard to process and becomes quite frustrating.  I have used both store-bought frozen fruit and fruit that I've frozen myself for the peaches and mangoes, and it really doesn't make any difference.  I prefer buying fresh and freezing myself; if getting the store-bought make sure to buy fruit that has not got added sugar or syrup, it'll mess with the flavour of the finished smoothie.  It is best to use frozen, not just fresh fruit, however, because of the moisture content.  I use whatever juice I can find or have in the house, with a few guidelines.  My preference is for Orange Peach Mango, it just gives the best and truest flavour for this combination of ingredients.  If I can't find that, I'll go for whatever peach-mango combination I can find.  If there isn't one, I'll go for an orange-banana combination, and if that's not available, straight orange juice.  I prefer not to use "tropical mix" juices or strawberry-banana (even though I love the latter as a juice), because it just doesn't taste as good for this use.  For measuring the mango, I usually use the 1 Cup measure and just don't fill it up, since there's a lot of air between the mango pieces it's hard to get an accurate measurement without using a scale.   

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Mango Sorbet

Without an ice cream maker.

I have to be careful about the kitchen appliances that I choose.  Space and money are both limited, so anything that takes up room and has only one use is something I'm just not going to spend money on.  Ice cream makers fall into that category.  We don't eat ice cream very often, so it's not really a loss, if we had one I'd feel like we needed to justify it, and we'd eat ice cream more than we really want or need to.  However, I do love sorbet, specifically peach or mango sorbet, and in the summer I treat myself to pints of them and eat them straight out of the carton with a spoon.

The problems with that are double.  One is the price.  They tend to run about $4 for a pint, and I consider that to be a lot for a snack or dessert.  The other problem is the ratio of ingredients in store-bought sorbet.  For the mango, for example, there is more water than any other ingredient, sugar being the next highest, then mangoes, followed by juice--from concentrate--of lemon, pumpkin, and carrot.  Add "natural flavours" and pectin, and you've got a $4 cool treat.  I'd really rather not have more water and sugar than fruit in my sorbet.  So here's my alternative.  Be aware that since no ice cream maker is required, you can't just leave it and forget about it, it has to be checked.

• 1/3 C water
• 1/3 C sugar
• 2 ripe mangoes
• 1 Tbsp lime juice

1.  In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil.  Stir until sugar dissolves, remove from heat and cool.
2.  Peel mangoes and remove as much flesh as possible, placing all flesh into blender.  Pour 1/3 C cooled syrup into blender over mango, add lime juice, and puree until smooth.  Transfer mixture to a freezer-safe container with a removable lid.
3.  Stir every hour for the first 2 hours, then every 45 minutes after that, for a total of 6-8 hours.

Yield: see notes below

Robyn's notes: The texture is not quite as smooth as what you would get from an ice cream maker, but for my taste it's perfectly fine.  As I was doing the stirring, I tasted a bit of it from time to time, and really thought I'd have to throw it out and start again.  It was quite sour, and I thought I had my simple syrup ratio off.  In the morning it had all evened out.  It's nowhere near as sweet as the store-bought stuff, and if you want really sweet sorbet you may want to increase the amount of syrup incrementally, but it tastes very mango-ey and I'm happy with it.  I used an old Cool-Whip container, and my yield was 1-1/2 packed Cups or 12.5 oz (this is going to depend on the size of your mangoes and how much flesh you're able to get off of them, but expect to get around this much).  So a bit less than the pint I'd get at the store, but mangoes were on special and I already had the lime so this cost me $1 to make and I feel good about what's in it.  Now, don't go eating it all, one of my next recipes will call for some of it.  I made this a second time, using a light syrup that I had cooked peach halves in for canning.  Came out very well.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Crashing Chocolate Cakes

I've got 3 more dessert recipes written that need to be tested, but I think they'll wait a little while.  We're starting to get a little overloaded on sweets, and I do have a couple of entrees also waiting for testing, so those will take priority after this.

Flourless chocolate cakes seem to wax and wane in popularity, having moments of being everywhere you look and moments where it seems no one has ever heard of them.  This one is similar to the "molten" or "lava" cakes that tend to be available in restaurants, but with a more homey look.  Speaking of which, the towel in the picture below was embroidered by my late grandmother in the 1950s.  It's been getting near-daily use in the years since, too, so for those of you who enjoy embroidery but think you have to choose between an item that's utilized and one that's cherished?  Have hope!  Sometimes you can do both.

• 3 oz dark chocolate
• 1/3 C butter
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/2 C sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt, with butter, in a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth.
2.  Beat egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale yellow.  Remove top of double boiler or bowl from the heat and combine egg mixture with chocolate.
3.  Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form (stiff peaks stand on their own completely without falling over.  Do not overbeat), fold into chocolate mixture.  Pour batter evenly into two mini cocottes or individual casserole dishes/ramekins.  Bake 18-22 minutes.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  The cakes will rise while baking, and crash in the centers after being removed from the oven.  Serve warm with ice cream. 


Robyn's notes: I took the first cake out of the oven after 18 minutes, leaving the other to cook longer, so we could taste each and decide which we preferred.  The first (photo above) rose to about a half-inch above the cocotte rim (both had been filled to about a half-inch below the rim), and crashed very nicely and evenly at the center.  It was a little bit too "uncooked batter" in the center for my taste, which I know is the point, but I like the mushy inside of these cakes to be almost like hot fudge, not like licking a beater.  The second, which cooked for about 21 minutes, rose quite high above the rim (almost a full inch), and didn't crash nearly as prettily, instead getting a large crack and subsiding halfheartedly in one direction.  The center was closer to my preference, though.  In step 3, where I say "whisk" the egg whites?  If you have access to an electric beater, use it.  Seriously.  I had to actually whisk because my mixer is unavailable at the moment, and not only does it take forever to whisk egg whites to stiff peaks by hand, it's very tiring.  The only benefits of doing it by hand are 1) the feeling of pride and accomplishment that lasts about 90 seconds upon completion; 2) the knowledge that you could do it if your power went out/that you're not as far removed from your homemaking great-grandmothers as you thought; 3) the tiny possibility of reduction in the jigglyness of your tricep.  If you'd like to add a little liqueur to this recipe, such as Amaretto or Kahlua, about 2 tsp should do it, and it should be added to the melted chocolate and butter before adding the egg+sugar mixture.  These cakes are very rich.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Creme Brulee

The notes on this are kind of long, but that's because there are several options for browning the tops of the crème brûlées.  Plan ahead, these need lots of resting time in the fridge.

• 1 1/3 C heavy cream
• 1/3 of a vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1/3 C vanilla sugar, divided
• 2 large egg yolks
• hot water

1.  Preheat oven to 325°F.  Combine cream, vanilla bean and its scrapings in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes to infuse.  Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for other use.
2.  In a medium bowl, whisk 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp sugar and the egg yolks until they are well blended and just starting to lighten in colour.  Add cream slowly, stirring continuously.  Pour mixture into mini cocottes.  Place the cocottes into a roasting pan and add enough hot water (not boiling) to the pan to come approximately halfway up the outside of the cocottes.  Bake until custard is set but still jiggly in the centers, approximately 40-45 minutes.
3.  Remove cocottes from roasting pan and place them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days if making in advance. 
4.  Remove the cocottes from the fridge 30 minutes before beginning to brown them.  Spread the remaining sugar on top of the cocottes and melt with a kitchen torch to create a crispy topping.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Robyn's notes: first, and most importantly, the taste.  This was far too rich for my liking, I simply couldn't eat it without adding a raspberry to each bite to add some freshness and cut through the strong rich custard.  The raspberries weren't meant to be more than a pretty garnish.  My vanilla sugar is not ready to be used yet, so I used regular sugar, if I'd used vanilla sugar it would have been way over the top (and I love vanilla).  I don't have a lot of experience eating crème brûlée, but my first (and favourite) was at Neiman Marcus years ago during the holidays, and theirs included Grand Marnier.  I may consider using some when trying this again.  Secondly, the process of browning the sugar.  I went to Williams-Sonoma and priced their kitchen torches last week ($40), as well as carefully reading every line of text on the packaging.  I simply cannot afford to spend that kind of money on a kitchen tool that has very few uses.  The packaging said that the torch uses butane, and after a lot of research, I determined that Bic long-handled lighters also use butane.  I am not saying that it's safe to use a Bic lighter for a food product.  As a matter of fact, I'm saying that it's probably not safe.  Probably nobody should do it.  But I decided to give it a try anyway.  It was a pain.  The lighter is not meant to be used for more than 30 seconds straight, and while I decline to say whether I kept it lit longer than that (ahem), I had to be careful that I didn't keep it lit long enough to become a danger.  The biggest differences between a kitchen torch and a Bic lighter are that the kitchen torch a) has a stronger flame, and b) has a hotter flame.  This means that the sugar melts much more quickly and over a larger area.  The Bic lighter took half an hour to melt just the top of one of these mini crème brûlées (we're saving the other to try another technique tomorrow, which I'll get to shortly).  It was very tiring and frustrating.  The sugar did melt, the caramel disc did solidify, but it was not worth the work.  The other option, which we'll be trying tomorrow on the second crème brûlée, is to sprinkle the sugar over the top, then place it under the broiler for a few minutes (be careful!  Not all ramekins are broiler-safe!).  The problem with this is that it subjects the entire dish to increased heat, which changes the consistency of the custard beneath the sugar.  I was trying to avoid that, but we'll see tomorrow how it goes.  Update: the broiler option does work, but as expected it changed the consistency of the custard, in a way I didn't like.  It became much like curdled milk, basically liquid with some strange chunks.  The final option, which I will not be trying at this time, is to flambé the sugar by splashing it with liquor and lighting it up.  I don't currently have either flambé experience or a good fire extinguisher, so I'll be letting that option pass me by for now.  

** 2 Stars: Acceptable. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, if I make changes