Coke Zero Birthday Cake

Last week was my good friend Andrew’s birthday.  I knew I had to make him a cake, but had some trouble deciding on a recipe.  He likes everything so no recipes were jumping out as the obvious choice.  I started browsing my cake cook books and came across a recipe for Coca Cola cake.  Of course!  Andrew is a Coke Zero fiend and I knew he’d get a kick out of it being in a cake.  This cake is delicious.  It’s really moist, fudgy, and chocolaty without being overly rich.  The cake doesn’t actually have the flavor of Coke, but I think it’s the carbonation from the soda that gives it such a great texture. Read the rest of this entry »

Ooey Gooey Lemon Bars

It’s been rainy and dreary here in New York.  I know I shouldn’t complain since we haven’t had any rain all summer, but it’s still disappointing when you have three days off from work and were hoping to go to a water park.  The upside is that baking is much more pleasant when it’s 70º instead of 90º degrees.  And what better way to brighten a cloudy day than lemon bars.  These bars are both very tart and very sweet, and the vibrant yellow color brings some cheer to a damp day. Read the rest of this entry »

Spinach and Gruyère Quiche

I have been doing some recipe testing for a cookbook over the past few months. After  a recent macaroni and cheese cooking extravaganza with my friend Sara, I was left with some extra ingredients. One of those being 1 lb of Gruyère cheese, not the worst thing in the world. I somehow got it into my head that the best possible thing to do/cook, besides french onion soup, would be a quiche. Another reason quiche was on my mind, I had bought a brand Quiche Pan at TJMaxx almost a year ago and it has been taking up space in my cabinet. I decided to make this pretty easy for myself. I used my favorite Pillsbury roll out refrigerated crust. I know it’s cheating, but it takes two seconds and it tastes delicious. If you really really want to make a pie crust check out Jessie’s Lattice pie she made last week.

This recipe from Martha Stewart makes two quiche, so I planned on bringing one into work the next day and eating the smaller one at home. This would be perfect for a brunch at your apartment, or to bring on a picnic. I served it with a side of arugala salad. Of course I made the silly mistake of forgetting to chop up the spinach after wilting and pressing, but it turned out fine (see photos below). This would also be terrific with some crispy bacon or pancetta thrown in. The shallots I used for this recipe made me cry like non other. I seriously had to stop and leave the room for about fifteen minutes before I could continue. Does anybody have a solution to vegetables that make you cry? I’ve even tried wearing swim goggles. Simple, delicious, easy and impressive, readers I present to you… the Quiche!

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Apple Butter Cake with Apple Butter Frosting

I’ve  been in an experimental mood this week.  On two occasions I’ve baked things using without using a recipe.  On Sunday night I was craving something sweet.  I had a lot of peaches that were about to go bad so I figured I’d whip up a peach crisp.  I wanted a crunchy topping with a slightly spiced filling.  Well the topping was dry and the peach filling had so much cinnamon and ginger that it was only edible with a lot of vanilla ice cream mixed in.  I ate one serving, but threw out the rest.

Then I decided I wanted to make a sunflower seed butter cookie based on a confection I had in Portland.  Unfortunately no stores in my neighborhood had sunflower seed butter.  So I bought a container of apple butter instead.  I based this cake off from the lots-of-ways banana cake in Baking: From My Home to Yours.  And it came out really good – if you like apples.  The apple butter gives the cakes a very concentrated apple flavor.

I'm a huge fan of Baker's Joy. These cakes came out of the pan with no issues.

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White Peach Pie with Lattice Crust

As I was making this pie I kept thinking, “This is why I don’t make pies very often.”  Even though there are fewer steps and fewer ingredients than your typical cake, baking a pie feels much more time consuming.  Peeling and slicing the fruit seemed to take forever.  But then I started making the lattice crust, and it was so easy and looked so beautiful that I resolved to make more pies.  And when I tasted the pie this desire became even stronger.  It was by far the best crust I’ve ever made.  It’s tender and buttery and really wasn’t that difficult to work with.  This pie bag made rolling the crust a breeze, but I see no reason why two sheets of Saran Wrap wouldn’t serve the same purpose. Read the rest of this entry »

Roasted Vegetable, Chicken and Goat Cheese Wrap

Summer is for grilling. Better when it’s not 90 degrees outside, but man and fire have a certain relationship that even gross dripping humidity can’t stop. A certain special guy invited me over to his parents home while he was house-sitting last night. Big perk besides an entire house to yourselves, a gas BBQ! I guess I was craving grilled veggies at the time because when he asked me what I wanted to make I immediately suggested grilled wraps, with goat cheese. There is something about those grill marks on a wrap that just make it so much more delicious and appealing. These were fairly easy, minimal clean up and could be made vegetarian by switching in sliced grilled eggplant for chicken.

His dad was even kind enough to leave chicken breasts for us to grill as well, which he marinated in a bbq sauce. Really good. I traded him some sweet italian sausage. We grilled the vegetables and cooked the chicken first, then assembled and returned our overstuffed wraps to the hot grill for the all important horizontal branding marks. Having a BBQ for something like this is amazing  but i think you could execute a similarly successful meal on a grill pan, which my lovely brother got me for Hanukah this year. The roasted red peppers we de-seeded and sliced in half, then ‘flayed or splayed’, what’s the word? directly on the grill. The onions we placed on a piece of foil on the grill and drizzled with olive oil. This seemed to work but if you have the tools a bbq pan would be perfect for this. The one linked here also works for BBQ pizza. My other favorite grilled treat.

We had some trouble getting our wraps to stay closed. We’ve actually both had previous experience in food service but while i got mine off beautifully in one piece.. i kind of butchered his. But he still ate it anyway.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Pat loves chocolate chip cookies.  In his mind no other desserts really compares.  It’s not an exaggeration to say that one of his highlights from our trip to Seattle was visiting a bakery called Cow Chip Cookies.  It’s sort of like Mrs. Fields except they use local ingredients, get fresh dough every two days, and never freeze the dough.  On our last day in Seattle I suggested Pat get a cookie for the train, but when we got to the store they weren’t open on Sundays.  He looked so sad that I promised I’d make him cookies when we got home.  Since I always prefer to try something new I decided to make a cookie cake instead of individual cookies.

This is what’s left after 2 days.  It takes surprisingly little time for two people to eat a 14 inch cookie. Read the rest of this entry »

Peanut Butterscotch Drops

When I bought a box of cornflakes to make cornflake-crusted French toast earlier this week, I was really excited because it meant I had an excuse to make these awesome treats.  I first had them a few years ago when my Auntie Sharon brought them to our Christmas Eve dinner.  I found them completely addictive.    They’re perfect if you need a delicious dessert and only have about 25 minutes to spare, since they’re no-bake and only require three ingredients. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornflake Crusted French Toast

Portland was a great breakfast town.  There were restaurants that had sit down breakfast everywhere.  We read this in our guidebook before the trip and were excited since last summer we went to Washington, D.C. for vacation and could only find bagels, doughnuts, or crepes.  I’ve got nothing against bagels, but if you want french toast or pancakes they don’t really cut it.  I’ve been hearing about corn flake crusted french toast for awhile, and finally tried it at Mother’s Bistro and Bar.  Unsurprisingly it’s really good.  The crunch of the cereal provides a nice contrast to the softness of the bread. Read the rest of this entry »

Peach Upside Down Cake

I had such a wonderful time in Seattle and Portland.  The weather was delightfully cool,  the food was fantastic (and cheap), both cities were very bike friendly, and every person we met was nice.  There are a number of meals that I want to try and recreate at home, but first I have to use up all the peaches we got with our CSA last week.  On Thursday our fruit share contained a half peck of regular peaches and a half peck of donut peaches (the little disc-shaped peaches that look like UFOs).  I love peaches, but there’s no way I could eat that many in the five or so days before they go bad.  I considered making a peach pie, but it’s been so hectic at work since I got back that I haven’t had the energy to tackle pie crust in the evening.  Read the rest of this entry »