Uh-mazing

This morning's game was just incredible. Way to go USA. We were robbed once again with the first goal, but the second goal in the 91st minute was just impressive.

Birthday Cake

Last week was my Mother's birthday, so I made her a cake. After three failed attempts at a Genoise cake from The Modern Baker, I decided to stick with what I know. I really couldn't tell you what happened. It was like a frisbee you could fling across the room (I think at one point I did). I followed the directions to a T with zero results. I will not give up on this book though. It can't get the best of me.

This is a classic yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. The buttercream turned out well, but it had a pound of butter in it with chocolate so it is hard to taste bad. The cake on the other hand was in need of some major moisture. I am looking into some cake strips that Rose Levy Beranbaum (all hail the cake goddess) talks about in her books, but for now I need to work on bake time, and more experience.

I have yet to find a yellow cake recipe that I truly, truly love, but when I do I will be sure to write about it.

Souffle

So, I tried my hand at some raspberry souffles for Father's Day. These...were hard. The ingredients are simple and I was lucky enough to have fresh raspberries in the backyard.

Most of the souffles sank when I took them out of the oven, and I may have been overeager and took them out too soon. This was my first try at souffles and they definitely take many trial runs to get just one right. These were out of the Sur La Table book and were raspberry flavored with a chocolate truffle in the center.

For the souffle:
6 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

Raspberry puree:
2 1/2 pints of raspberries
Sugar

Truffles:
3 oz chocolate
Cream

Bake at 400 degrees for 14-17 minutes.

2010 World Cup

Now, I am late in my mention of the World Cup, it started a couple weeks ago, but it will carry onward for a few more weeks. There are very few perks to being unemployed, but one of them by far is the ability to watch any and all World Cup matches. Tomorrow I will be getting up at 7 a.m. for the U.S. Algeria game.

It is great to watch France reinforce every stereotype this World Cup with their whining, complaining and protesting; and in general most teams who were picked to do well have done meh. Case in point: England, France, Italy and Spain.

I hope you are watching the World Cup, too. According to Reuters, it looks like you are: ESPN and ABC had an average of 3.35 million viewers for the first 14 matches of the tournament - a 64% increase since the last World Cup in 2006.

A Cookie Staple

So, there are a few cookies out there that I could eat all the time round-the-clock. This goes for pizza as well. The best cookie ever invented is the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. There is something about the way the oats taste with the chocolate that is just undeniably good. Sure, some people put raisins in instead, but that is just wrong.

I found this recipe on the side of the oatmeal bag when rummaging around in the cupboards. I love thick rolled oats and these cookies do not disappoint. My policy is: the more oats the better. This recipe is great, too, because there is no flour. I have only seen this brand of oatmeal in the Northwest, but it can be purchased online. The recipe can also be found here. I would highly recommend adding in more oatmeal.

They don't look like much, but they taste great and are quick and easy to make.

Cheesecake

There is nothing like chilled homemade cheesecake with fresh strawberries when the weather gets warmer (fingers crossed). Ian's mom asked me to make something for her Shabbat group, so I made two cheesecakes for fear one would go terribly, terribly wrong. She said it went over well, and that was something I was very happy about. Cheesecake is surprisingly simple. I have to say, they both came out pretty well. I have never heard much about cheesecake except that it should never crack on top, so I think baking it in a water bath helps with that problem. Neither of them had cracks. Also, I used a dark coated springform pan and an aluminum springform pan, and shocker, Ian's mom's aluminum pan is the reigning champion.

The crust is simple:
1 package (three in a box) graham cracker crust
1/2 stick of room temperature butter
sugar, baking soda and some recipes call for flour

Cheesecake (pulled from Rose's Heavenly Cakes):
2 boxes Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I think works the best)
Sugar
3 eggs
3 cups sour cream
Lemon juice, vanilla

There are many ways to make cheesecake, but first I wanted to start with basics.

Sweet and Savory

The last thing I baked this weekend was a Potato, Onion, and Gruyere Galette. This was simply delicious and turned out so well. I think I went through pounds of butter this weekend. It is hard to screw up buttery, cheesy, and garlicky goodness, so that has been taken into account. But this recipe does not disappoint. Ian made the filling and I made the crust. What a team.

The crust is a standard pie or tart recipe (use your favorite-there are many to choose from) rolled out into a 13-inch round. Refrigerate for one hour. While that is chilling, the filling should be sauteing.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in one large onion thinly sliced and stir occasionally until soft and lightly colored. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped thyme or rosemary and five grinds of pepper. We added in some fresh white corn for flavor. Blend well. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.

Combine the cooled onion mixture, cheese (4 ounces Gruyere) and 1 lb of red potatoes cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Mound the filling in the center with a 1 1/2 inch border. Fold the border over around the filling and brush the dough with a beaten egg.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. This is best baked on a silicone mat or parchment paper over a baking sheet.

Crisp

I love, love, love crisps more than anything, and decided to make an apple crisp this weekend with some cherries. Crunchy apples I think are far better than other apples, so I stick to Pink Lady's or Honeycrisps. I used about 5 Pink Lady's and 12 ounces of cherries for this recipe.

For the topping:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats (Thick rolled oats are best and I usually put in double than the recipe calls for)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into one tablespoon pieces
1/2 cup walnuts or almonds - pecans are blech

For the filling:
5 crisp apples, peeled, cored and cut in 1/4 inch pieces
12 ounces cranberries, cherries, or other berries of your choice
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3/4 ground cinnamon - the more cinnamon the better

This bakes at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. You can make more or less topping as well, depending on taste.

There will be many more crisps to come as more and more berries and seasonal fruit come in the next few months. Can't wait!

Birthday/Red White and Blue

This weekend kicked off summer here in Seattle, but the weather seems to be taking its sweet time. You may have to hold off on your white clothing items for a few weeks. Memorial Day weekend was a doozy in the kitchen. I managed to bake a number of items during the long weekend (although my long weekend is a little more permanent than others), and there is no better way to start a weekend than with cupcakes.

I wanted to try the chocolate cake recipe in my Sur La Table book to compare later on with the chocolate cake recipe in Rose's Heavenly Cakes book (results will be soon). This is the Devil's Food Cake recipe from The Art & Soul of Baking.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 cup water
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
2 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

You will bring to a boil half a cup of water and pour that over the Dutch-process cocoa powder to bring out the chocolate-y flavor. When adding the dry sifted ingredients, you will intermittently put in the flour mixture followed by the chocolate mixture.

For cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 and place the oven rack in the middle. These cook in about 15-20 minutes and make around 20 cupcakes.

It was my dear friend Virginia's birthday, so they are partly her cupcakes and partly Memorial Day cupcakes. Hence the patriotic sprinkles. I love sprinkles.