Chocolate Cake unlike the 13x9" variety

Every week I volunteer at a wonderful used book store in SoHo, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. I spend my evening shelving books, talking with customers, and socializing with the other volunteers, who have become good friends. For a bibliophile like me, I find myself in a state of utter bliss, being surrounded by books: obscure titles from decades past, new releases, covers for which to judge. I believe that all of us volunteers who are there, not only because we want to support the Housing Works cause, but also because we find a certain comfort in books.

And of course, since another form of enlivenment for me is baking, I tend to scan the cooking section of the bookstore on a weekly basis, checking for any appealing titles. This week did not disappoint. I really should have no shame in saying that I've been waiting for Nigella Lawson's “How to be a Domestic Goddess” cookbook to appear in the store; even though I would not simply go to a bookstore and buy the book full price, I've been fetishizing it for some time. Part of this is due to the title: I do want to be a goddess of this variety, one who has an artillery of recipes for every occasion, all mouth-watering and luscious. Another part is due to the fact that I think Nigella is an extraordinary woman and baker (I suppose in order to support her, I should have just bought the book retail. Oh, well). Though she has not been trained as a chef, she brings her personal style of enjoyment to her cooking shows and her cookbooks: for her, food is a pleasure and it is meant to be savored, not endured. She cares about the method and the final product, all with a relaxed attitude that many uptight chefs would benefit from. Also, she initially worked in publishing, which is why I relate to her beyond the love of cupcakes and the therapeutic nature of cooking.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled to have her cookbook, and I was quite pleased with the dessert I made this weekend. It's a chocolate loaf cake, and it has the simplicity of a quick bread recipe. However, one would never mistake one for the other; this cake is dense and rich. I think that pairing it with vanilla ice cream would make it even better, but it still is an incredibly satisfying dessert on its own.

Chocolate Loaf Cake
Ingredients:

1 cup soft unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted

1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, grease and line a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Be sure to line the pan with parchnent or wax paper.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla, beating well. Fold in the now-cooled chocolate, blending but not overmixing. Gently add the flour, which should have been mixed with the baking soda, and then slowly mix in the boiling water. The batter will be quite liquid.

3. Pour into the lined pan and bake for 30 minutes. Turn down the oven to 325 degrees F and continue to cook for another 15 minutes. The cake will not be entirely firm, so no need to worry if you insert a toothpick and it comes out unclean.

4. Cool the loaf pan on a rack and let it completely cool before turning it out.

Cran Apple Cider Cupcakes

Yesterday at the office there was an overflow of baked goods: we had waffles, chocolate sauce, cookies. No one was complaining, exactly, but when there are so many options, how does one make the choice of what to sample? A small taste of everything? Mindless munching while walking through the cube space? One deliberate dessert to last the day?


Unfortunately, I made the decision even more difficult in the afternoon. During lunch, I picked up a dozen cupcakes from Tribeca Treats: my dozen cupcakes, actually. As the winner of the "create a speciatly flavor" contest, I was given a gift of my Cran Apple Cider cupcake with cinnamon icing and candied ginger; since so many of my co-workers supported me in the voting process, and since I really shouldn't have a dozen cupcakes just lying around my apartment, I brought them in for all to share.

The feedback was amazing. Now, I obviously did not make the cupcakes, so I really shouldn't even be taking credit. But, as was pointed out a few times, they were my brainchild. If I do someday open a bakery (I hear Seattle is a nice place for baked goods), then I'll want to start getting creative now.


The cupcakes are, in fact, incredible. The cake tastes, true to its name, like cider and the cranberries give it a welcome tartness. The frosting also pairs well with the cider, with only a hint of cinammon and a marvelous cream cheese consistency. It's the kind of cupcake I can see myself earnestly pairing with a glass of apple cider, perhaps sitting underneath a tree in the park, watching the yellow and red leaves drift to the ground and get carried off with the autumn breeze.

Seven Layers Never Tasted So Good

I'm amazed to find that the parallel between my baking and my moments of joy are so close. I know I am repeating myself, and for that I apologize, but when I am creating a dessert, I feel immensely happy: as if I am on the right path for me.

That was how I felt tonight, when my blue mood forced me to make a decision: watch episodes of The Simpsons online, or get in the kitchen and do something different. Well, after the first three Simpsons episodes, I decided that I should do something for others, hopefully with a delicious result.

Haven't we all tried the Seven Layer Magic Cookie bars at some point? The treat goes by so many different names now, all with different results. I thought I would take what I had in my cupboard and put together my own variation. I won't lie; I was emboldened by my cupcake flavor winning first prize, and I thought that, perhaps, I could throw something together all of my own.

These are not the Magic Cookie bars that you may have enjoyed at bake sales or from your mother's oven. These are an adaptation that I am excited to show my co-workers tomorrow.
Of course, anyone could have put these together. The whole point, I believe, is to try new things and mix in whatever gets your fancy.

I'm just happy that I was able to tonight (and with the butter, is truly is 7 layers!)

Christie's Seven Layer Magic Cookie Bar

Ingredients:
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup milk chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter chips
½ cup oats
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 cups shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt butter and coat in a 13 x 9 inch pan
3. Spread crumbs evenly over bottom of pan and pat to make a firm crust. Layer chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and oats over crumbs. Pour condensed milk over the mixture. Sprinkle coconut over condensed milk.
4. Bake for 24-27 minutes, until everything is set. Let cool.

No Salt, Just Sweet

Sunny days are the worst when you have a gray cloud over your head.

Most other times, I would decide that a helping of my oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies would help, but I know that no amount of sugar is going to chase this rainstorm away, so why bother?

Aside from the gloom, I am pleased, actually, that I’ve reached a point in my baking where I realize that it’s not just the final product that should be savored, but it’s the entire process. I’m no longer baking just in order to reach a final destination, but it’s a fulfilling task that soothes my mind and relaxes my body; it’s absolutely lifting for my soul to stand in front of my counter, feel the warmth of the stove, and have a recipe card staring me in the face. Sure, the end result is important, and clearly it’s the only part that matters to my audience of tasters, but it’s no longer the sole reason I bake.

With this in mind, I decided on a cookie that I would work with a bit more than a drop cookie; something I could put in my hands, and that I could feel and form. And this recipe for fudge cookies truly yields chocolately-delicious results. The cookie, when slightly under-baked, is soft on the inside with slightly harder edges, and the powdered sugar enhances and adds to the unsweetened cocoa powder.

No matter what the recipe, really, a little bit of sweetness at least helps to brighten up a blue day.

Chocolate Cookie Pretzels

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. 2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well blended. 3. Divide dough into 24 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each piece with hands into thin strips, about 12-inches long. Place strip on ungreased cookie sheet. Twist into pretzel shape and place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. 4. Bake 7-8 minutes. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

My Award-Winning Cupcake, now a Specialty Flavor at Tribeca Treats!

Like any respectable office building, mine has an amazing bakery within walking distance, Tribeca Treats. To top it off, the bakery is only a mere block away from a favorite lunch destination, The New York Hot Dog Company. Many a lunch with my co-workers has consisted of a hot dog and cupcake, or at the very least, a hot dog and a brief interlude inside the bakery, if only to look at its creative greeting cards and take in the scent of cream cheese frosting.

Recently, Tribeca Treats held a contest to determine their newest “Specialty Flavor” that would be featured in rotation at the bakery. Participants were asked to create a cupcake flavor detailing out the type of cake, the frosting, and any toppings. The winning cupcake would be added to their menu for all to enjoy. Naturally, I entered the competition.

I was excited when I learned that my flavor was a semifinalist, flabbergasted when I heard that it was a finalist, and overjoyed to hear that it won first prize!

The contest was an absolute joy to participate in from the tasting perspective as well; for four days, the bakery held taste-testings of each of the semifinalist, then finalist flavors, allowing for customers to rate each cupcake. There was some very solid competition, and I think we all enjoyed sampling an array of uniquely flavored miniature cupcakes, all exquisitely made by the bakery.

After the tasting, and especially after the results, I was – and am – quite proud of my invention. I submitted an Apple Cider cupcake with cinnamon frosting and a bit of candied ginger as a topping.

Growing up in Connecticut, where orchards and farmer’s markets are in no short supply, I’ve been savoring apple cider donuts every autumn since I was a child; I couldn’t think of a more seasonal and mouth-watering flavor for a cupcake, and I’m glad that now so many people are able to get a taste of it themselves.

If you live in the New York area, then I shamelessly implore you to visit Tribeca Treats and try the Apple Cider cupcake for yourself. That way, you can say that you know the creator of this incredible dessert.

I can guarantee, there will be more coverage of the Apple Cider cupcake to come.

You Really Can Doodle a Snicker

There aren't too many cookies with names as adorable as "Snickerdoodle." This alone would be enough for me to try a cookie ("How cute! It must be as yummy as it sounds"), or a cake, or bakery. For example, I knew I would love the Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery before I stepped foot into the small space continually permeated with the smell of buttercream. I also figured that the grocery store Peas N' Pickles in Dumbo must be simply amazing. I was proven correct on both these counts, and so I trusted that if I made Snickerdoodles, they would likewise turn out delicious.Although I had eaten Snickerdoodles before, they never quite stood out in my mind as a cookie to be coveted; this is most likely due to their simplicity and lack of chocolate. However basic the cookie may be, though, the Snickerdoodle should not be cast off in favor for the more glamorous varieties. Snickerdoodles are made from a basic sugar cookie base, and what gives them their distinctive taste is the cinnamon that the unbaked dough is rolled in. This particular recipe yields crisp, dense cookies with a spicy flavor that nicely offsets the sweetness of the sugar. And since there is nothing particularly offensive about these delightful baked goods, it seems to me that they would be perfect for almost any occasion, from birthday parties to picnics to tasty gifts: a perfect multi-purpose cookie with a terrifically fun name to speak.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
2 large eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease baking sheets.
2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.
3. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Form the dough into small balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack.

Almost as easy as pie

My experience with baking pies has only gone as far as a Cool Whip and Jello mixture spooned into a store-bought graham cracker crust. While there's nothing at all wrong with these delicious pies, I felt that I really should be stretching myself as a baker and move away from the 3-step baking recipes that I have gone to by default for years. As I browsed through pie recipes, I became overwhelmed by how complicated some of them could be, but in reality, I only gave the directions a passing glance before deciding that I would not be pitting cherries or buying fresh rhubarb. Once I decided for good, though, that a pie would be a gratifying challenge, I started to read through recipes in earnest, and I found this one for a lattice-topped blueberry pie from Cooking Light.
Actually, the preparation was not exceedingly difficult, but I also did not create an ideal pie. The blueberry filling was a breeze, and it turned out perfectly: sweet enough, but not too much to overwhelm the fruit flavor. The crust, on the other hand, is something that I apparently need to work at a bit more. It was slightly buttery and browned, but it crumbled where it should not have, making for a pie that could hardly support itself. And, if this were for a party or a gift, I would have taken more care when rolling out the dough on the plastic wrap, and also cutting the dough for the lattice top; mine was a bit messy.
In the end, the feedback was all positive. I made this for my family, and each of them agreed that it was absolutely scrumptious, if not heavy on the blueberries (which, in reality, is not a criticism). As summer berry recipes go, it was quite fun to try, and I'm proud that I was able to face the trepidation of making a pie without the safety net of a pre-made crust or a filling that comes from a can. This recipe is nothing to fear at all, and I daresay that I've gained the confidence to take another look at some of the pie recipes that I scoffed at earlier, thinking that it would simply be too much work. After all, the work of it is the enjoyable part!
As us bakers know, there's something so satisfying about creating an entire dessert from scratch: digging our hands in the dough, meticulously measuring out each ingredient, sampling the smallest spoonful along each step, and finally removing a finished product from the oven, fragrant and hot, then offering it up to others as if it were a finely executed work of art.

Lattice-Topped Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:
Crust: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided 1/2 cup ice water 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 1/2 tablespoons butter Cooking spray

Filling: 1 cup sugar, divided 3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/8 teaspoon salt 6 cups fresh blueberries 1 1/2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, melted 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. To prepare crust, spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1/4 cup flour and ice water, stirring with a whisk until well-blended. Combine 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water mixture; mix with a fork until flour mixture is moist.
2. Gently press two-thirds of dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Press remaining dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 9-inch circle. Freeze both portions of dough 10 minutes. Working with larger portion of dough, remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap.
3. To prepare the filling, combine 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl, and sprinkle over blueberries. Toss gently. Stir in butter and vanilla. Spoon blueberry mixture into crust.
4. Preheat oven to 375°.
5. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap from remaining dough. Cut dough into 6 (1 1/2-inch) strips. Gently remove dough strips from bottom sheet of plastic wrap; arrange in a lattice design over blueberry mixture. Seal dough strips to edge of crust. Place pie on a baking sheet covered with foil. Sprinkle lattice with 1 tablespoon sugar.
6. Bake at 375° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until crust is browned and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.