More Martha (and I'm loving it)

As previously stated, I love Martha. In her February issue, she provided a few enticing cupcake recipes, one of which was for boston cream pie cupcakes... I've never been a huge boston cream pie person, but a friend requested one, so I retaliated by making these lovely cupcakes (a cake just isn't as cute as lovely little ganache-covered minicakes).

You can find the recipe on her website-I recommend making the vanilla pastry cream first and letting it chill while you prepare the little cakes. Then the ganache! 

I used a nifty pastry bag my friend gave me for my birthday to literally inject the cream into the cupcakes, rather than cut them in half as Martha had suggested. Just like twinkies. Heheheh.

They're pretty great, and relatively simple.

Martha Stewart

I really like Martha Stewart. In the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living, the featured cookie of the month was a recipe for White chocolate-apricot oatmeal cookies---! See her website for the recipe.

They're great! I really recommend them, even though I normally don't eat white chocolate. In this recipe, however, it's actually better than dark or milk chocolate.

Gluten-free Apple tart

I recently purchased some white rice flour to make green tea cookies (which ended up being shortbread with gunpowder green tea flecks, which you couldn't taste...more on that later), and there was a recipe on the bag for gluten-free pie crust. Why not try?

Rice Flour Pie Crust courtesy of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, Inc.

1 1/2 cups white rice flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup melted butter 

Sift all dry materials together in one bowl-combine butter and egg in another. Mix the wet and dry ingredients with your hands until they form pea-sized balls. Turn onto a lightly  (rice) floured surface and roll into a 9-inch circle. Use a spatula to break and pull about six pieces of the dough and place in a greased pie dish or tart pan. Bake according to your recipe.

I decided to make an apple tart with egg. I sort of threw everything together according to memory. I used two granny smith apples, sliced, 2 eggs, about 1/4 cup heavy cream and the same amount of milk ( a bit less ), and a small handful of sugar.

Sprinkle with cinnamon-I baked mine for almost twenty minutes.

Blueberry Crumble

Even though blueberries aren't in season for a few more months, today I just really wanted to make some kind of pie or crumble, and while going through my records I found a recipe jotted down for blueberry compote, originally intended as a topping for cheesecake. It consists of fresh blueberries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and grand marnier (well, it didn't necessarily call for that last ingredient, but why not?).

I decided to settle for a crumble simply because I was out of shortening and too lazy to go all the way to the store. My crumble recipe was sort of made up as I went along- about one cup of flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and one stick of butter. Pinch of cinnamon, all combined in the kitchenaid using the paddle attachment until slightly doughlike. 

The compote is easy: combine all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and then simmer for a few minutes. Pour into a baking pan (or ramekins) and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes (topped with the crumble of course).

YUM!

White Bread

The idea of making bread used to intimidate  me immensely. I think most people find it to be a little scary, but, as with most things baked, it is easy once practiced. My most successful recipe thus far has been one for white bread out of Baking with Julia (Morrow) by Dorie Greenspan. Although my parents have always been adament whole-wheat eaters, even they can get used to smelling fresh bread every weekend. I usually halve the recipe because I have one particular bread pan that I like, but I'd say go for it if you want to make the whole recipe.

White Loaves

recipe courtesy of Dorie Greenspan

2 1/2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

7 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt 

1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

Pour 1/2 cup of the water into the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast and sugar in, and let sit until creamy, about five minutes. 

Add the last 2 cups of water to the bowl and 3 1/2 cups flour. With a dough hook attachment, start mixing on low. Add 3 1/2 cups more flour and mix. Add salt and pull out of the bowl-knead for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Work in the butter, bit by bit-this will cause the dough to fall apart, but it will come back together as you knead. 

When the butter is incorperated, form a ball with the dough and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Punch the dough down (it should have doubled in size), and place on a lightly floured countertop. Spread it out until it's about an inch think and divide into two rectangles. With each rectangle, fold it like you would a formal letter so that both ends overlap in the middle. Pinch to seal, and pinch the sides as well.

Butter two breadpans and place one loaf in each, with the pinched seam in the middle of the bottom of the pan. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Test the dough by lightly poking it. If it does not bounce back fairly quickly, it has risen enough. Bake at 375 for about an hour, but keep an eye one it.

Cut once slightly cooled.

Madeleines

I adore madeleines, and appropriately so. Not only are they superior to many other cookies in taste, they are one of the few who fall under the "mold" category of cookies, as they are baked in shell-shaped pans which gives them a certain appeal as a quaint tea cookie. 

It is agreed by most food writers that the madeleine cookie originated in the town of Commercy, in Lorraine (NE France), though the legends are varied. Madeleines are recognized as a typical french symbol, however, and many different recipes are available depending on how 'french' you want them to be. 

I've been using an old Martha Stewart recipe from one of her early books, Entertaining (Potter). While it is admittedly not the most loyal to a true French madeleine, which is generally drier and biscuit-like, with a telltale hump rising from the top, this recipe produces some pretty tasty dessert cookies which can be easily modified for exciting results. 

I've added multiple kinds of jams to mine such as marmalade, cherry, lemon, and strawberry. Fruits make lovely additions as well- Especially blueberries (Fresh), which make a tasty breakfast treat. Rather like blueberry muffins, without the unpleasant ultra-filling tendencies and confusing baking times. 

Ginger is not a good idea-I added some chopped crystallized ginger to mine once and the result tasted a little like sausages, believe it or not. Don't bother with cocoa powder either, though melted dark chocolate could work. Dipping plain madeleines in melted  chocolate is nice.

Madeleines

1 Cup all-purpose flour (sifted)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter-melted and cooled

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip the eggs and sugar for about six minutes, until thick. Add vanilla and salt. Fold in the flour carefully, then the melted butter. Add desired flavorings (or don't!) and spoon into pans (available at most kitchen ware stores). Bake for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of your pan. 

Dust with powdered sugar to serve. 

Opening Statement

Dear Reader,

I have created a blog in an attempt to fight against myself in a moral war. I have long-since considered the Internet in the same manner a pious old man might: as an instrument of destruction of modern society, and a hotbed of sin. Through recent findings, however, I have learned that through its uglier sides, the World Wide Web also holds something great and beautiful: Food blogs. 

I am an avid baker and strong advocate for what is commonly called "food porn." Like many people with culinary interests, I was raised in a home where food was not solely a necessity, or, on an opposite end of the spectrum, a luxury. Food was way for everyone to centralize and, honestly, argue. I am of a dying breed of Americans; they who ate with their families.

In this blog I'll write about largely baking and desserts, but you may find that I go off on tangents and discuss various topics, all of which, however, will be food-related. As I have found, the Internet is an excellent place to learn about cooking, and this blog is my humble contribution to that wonderful discovery. 

Sincerely,

Madeline.