Allspice Crumb Muffins - Tuesdays with Dorie

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table chose Allspice Crumb Muffins, page 16 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Ah. The muffin.

Such a lovely little mini cake that takes no time at all. And no frosting to fuss with. Score.

This one uses Allspice as the secret ingredient. (Although with the name Allspice Crumb Muffin, I guess it ain't a big secret! :)

I don't use allspice much...and I had to head to Penzeys Spice to pick up a new container. Ahhh. Nothing like fresh spices.

I think my topping should have formed a bit more. My topping wasn't crumby enough and sorta spread out on muffin. I'll have to see how my other Tuesdays with Dorie friend made theirs.

Thanks Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table for a yummy pick!

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my niece Hailey!!

Recipe:
Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table
Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 16-17)

Split Level Pudding - Tuesdays with Dorie

Tonight is a night for pudding.

Pudding was one of the things we "made" as kids. Sure, it came out of a square box and you just added milk, but it was "cooking" to us kids.

Now that I'm grown up, I make it from scratch.

But, today, I just wish I could be a kid again.

Because then my friend, Lisa would live 5 houses down the street and we would play all the time. Sleep overs. Picking pill bugs in the garden. Forming clubs...complete with membership cards in the backyard clubhouse.

Lisa and I went to separate colleges and would lose touch for stretches of time over the years. Last May, I called her dad and got her phone number in Minnesota. As it has always been in our lives, we picked up like we just saw each other last week. I wished her happy birthday, and she was filled with news! She was in school getting her Master's degree, her four kids were healthy and happy, and she was engaged to a her college friend. After an uneventful one date in college, they reconnected after all these years.

Then, after a few emails and our usual promises of keeping in touch again, time just flew by...

Today, I learned that she has Stage 2 breast cancer. She's had surgery and will start chemo in seven days.

I'm in shock and sad. And guilty that I didn't know sooner and worked harder to keep in touch. Sometimes, I know more about people in my "blogging" world than someone I've known since the 2nd grade.

Grown up stuff like breast cancer can suck it. Today, I need pudding and to think about my friend Lisa and memories of us riding our bikes to school and walking to Winchell's donuts. My friend Lisa is a fighter and she'll be wearing a pink survivor shirt soon enough. I know she is surrounded by a wonderful family and community of friends. And she will always have a friend here in Los Angeles.

Oh yeah, that nice guy from college? He married her as soon as he found out. So congratulations Lisa and Jason on your recent nuptials...and kick this cancer in the butt.

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Garrett of Flavor of Vanilla picked Split Level Pudding, pages 384- 385 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I only made 1/4 of the recipe. I used milk chocolate for the ganache and it came out a bit hard (my 1/4 measurements may have been off too). I made the vanilla pudding using just a whisk and skipped the food processor. I sifted the cornstarch and salt mixture instead of food processing it. The small amount was fine with a whisk, but if I make the full recipe, I'm going for the food processor. It only too a few minutes for the pudding to thicken.

It was good and just what I needed today. - mary

Chocolate Gingerbread Bars - Everyday Food

It's Fall.
As in the season that follows Summer.
How in the world did that happen?!

Granted, Los Angeles doesn't "do" seasons too well. Today is was burning hot with Santa Ana winds (where the hot air from the desert in Vegas and the like come into Los Angeles...it is payback for all the smoke we sent them last month during our fires). Anyway, I flip the calendar to October and I freak out. I see Christmas decorations up and hyperventilate. Wasn't it just Y2K?! Oh, time is flying by.

So, I'm trying to embrace the season. Here's to Fall!

Chocolate Gingerbread Bars. Yes, you heard that right. Chocolate + Gingerbread = Yum.

This recipe is from Everyday Food and gets thrown together in a flash. You just need two bowls and don't even need to get things to room temp. My kind of recipe!

I used mini chocolate chips instead of regular size semi-sweet chips, and reserved some to sprinkle on top.

Get your Fall started and make some chocolate gingerbread bars.

Recipe:
Chocolate Gingerbread Bars, Everyday Food

"Easiest Cake Ever" with Strawberries & Blueberries

Its name is "Easiest Cake Ever"
And it lives up to its name. Easy peasy.

I've scheduled this post to publish as I'm heading up to BlogHerFood in San Francisco! I'm excited to meet fellow bloggers and the speakers they have lined up sound great.

I haven't been able to bake much lately as I'm finishing up the move. I hope to get all settled next week and start pounding out some stuff. I have a big thing planned for the blog in October/November...stay tuned! :)

I'll post about the conference (and food) when I get back!

This cake is so easy to make. Give your KitchenAid a break and pull out a bowl, basic ingredients and a whisk. Any soft fruit will be yummy. I'd like to try it with some fresh peaches next summer!

Mix in a large bowl:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour into cake pan. I used a 8" pan. Top with any soft fruit, I used strawberries & blueberries. Top with a tablespoon of raw sugar.

As a bonus, it is non-dairy too!

Have a great weekend! See you next week! - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
Easiest Cake Ever adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

Apple Raisin Noodle Kugel

Happy Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah!

My friend Jami's mom makes the best noodle kugel. I've made it twice for Hanukkah in 2008 and 2007.

This year, I decided to mix it up a bit and added one small diced apple and 1/2 cup golden raisins. And luckily, I haven't packed up my 9 x 13 pan and old school electric mixer yet.

The kugel is divine. I can eat it hot, cold, at the table, standing in the refrig in the middle of the night...except this year I can't have dairy so I'm bummed. However, the staff at the library enjoyed it. (And believe me, this is a dairy consortium! Butter, sour cream, cream cheese and cottage cheese!)

There are Parve (non-dairy) kugels that can accompany meat dishes, and I'll definitely try that next year.

Apple Raisin Noodle Kugel
From my friend's Jami's mom, Mrs. S in San Diego!

8 oz. medium egg noodles
6 eggs
1 lb. (16 oz.) carton cottage cheese, small curd
3 oz. small cream cheese [FYI: A regular brick is 8 oz.]
1/2 pint = 1 cup = 8 oz. container sour cream
1/4 lb. = 1 stick butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Handful of cornflake crumbs to thicken the noodle-egg mixture a bit

Optional:
1 diced apple (I used a Granny Smith)
1/2 cup golden or regular raisins (I used golden)

Cook and drain noodles. Beat eggs well, add rest of the ingredients and beat well. By hand, mix in the drained noodles and optional diced apples and raisins. The mixture will be watery. Don't be tempted to add more noodles. They will totally expand while baking.

Topping
Mix together:
1 cup corn flake crumbs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Grease a 9 x 13 pan well and add mixture. Sprinkle topping on. Bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees, uncovered. (Last night, I baked it for 1 1/2 hours, but I think an hour 15 would have been okay too.)

To those celebrating the Jewish New Year, best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful and peaceful year.

And to those who just love noodles, sweetness and lots of dairy, make this yummy kugel!

Mark Bittman's Apple Upside-Down Cake

Switch up Mark Bittman's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with some apples!

Melt 1/2 stick of butter and pour into 8" pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar on top. Then place your apples on top. I used 3 1/2 gala apples.

Wet ingredients: Whisk together 1/2 stick melted butter, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 1/2 c sugar.
Dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, 1 t baking soda, 1/4 t salt. Added 1 teaspoon cinnamon for the apple version.

Add the wet ingredients to the combined dry ingredients until incorporated. Spread the batter on top of the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. I baked mine for 55 minutes. After 5 minutes cooling, flip the cake out onto a serving plate.

I made this cake about a week ago and it was a yummy breakfast treat. I am really enjoying Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I picked it up at the library and have renewed it...I'll be getting it after my move! My new bookshelf has an empty space, you know... :)

Okay pastry people...what happened here? Big holes due to overmixing? undermixing? I know it is one of them.

Oh well, it'll be my Swiss Cheese-like Apple Upside-Down Cake!

I did enjoy this cake. It was quick and "light" (only 1 stick of butter! hee hee). However, my favorite upside-down apple cake is definitely the Barefoot Contessa's Apple Tartin Cake. That one has more butter and sour cream...and it uses a caramel layer. You should definitely try both!

Recipe:
I adapted mine from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) "Pineapple Upside-Down Cake" with Apple Upside-Down Cake, page 915

Zebra Cake

When I saw the Zebra Cake on Foodgawker, I was intrigued! I couldn't figure out how it was made. Luckily, the instructions were really easy! Just pour alternating batter? I can do that!

The secret is two same size measuring cups and working quickly.

You make the simple batter (see recipe links below). Half the batter is vanilla and half is flavored with cocoa powder. I made mine in a 9" pan.

Carefully pour 1/4 cup into the middle of the pan. Don't wait for it to spread. And, hey, don't grab your camera and take photos! I think mine doesn't look like the others because I might have worked too slowly with the photo breaks! :)

Pour another 1/4 cup of the chocolate batter directly into the center of the pan on top of the previous batter. Repeat until you are out of batter.

It is really neat to see the batter spread out into these circles.

A bit of sugar is sprinkled on top and provides a simple crust.

Okay. I'll be honest with you. I thought the cake was a bit bland in flavor. Next time, I might make it Matcha (Green Tea) and Chocolate. Or, I would add more vanilla extract. However, it is so pretty that the flavor can be overlooked a bit! :)

Recipe and more photos (their cakes look have thinner layers that go all the way to the top):
The recipes are slightly different.
I used this one: Connie Veneracion's Home Cooking Rocks!
Great step-by-step photos: Farida’s Azerbaijani Cookbook

Flaky Apple Turnovers - Tuesdays with Dorie

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Julie or Jules of Someone’s in the Kitchen picked Flaky Apple Turnovers on page 316 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Ah, my life filled with procrastination knows no bounds. I started way late on Monday night, baked them this morning, and came home from work to post it! Each time the schedule of recipes comes out on the Tuesdays with Dorie website, I plan to make everything early. Yeah. Maybe next time! :)

I read the directions. A couple times. Really.

But I was also super duper tired, and completely misread the part about the size of the circle. It is about 4 inches and I used a small biscuit cutter instead! Oops. Therefore, I couldn't fold over my turnover to save my life. Unless I wanted to have one piece of apple in each one...which would turn these into just half moons of pie dough. So, at 4:30 this morning, I made the executive decision to put a circle of dough on top!

I used Gala apples and skipped adding butter to the apples...I figure there was enough in the dough.

I didn't eat them, but the dough was quite flaky. I put sanding sugar on top of an egg wash.

Thanks for this cute selection, Julie!
Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Recipe:
Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, page 316
Jule's blog post here

Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes - Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club

For this month's Martha Stewart Cupcake Club, Tracey from Tracey's Culinary Adventures chose Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes on pages 44 of Martha's fantastic book: Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book. Tracey is the most awesome baker, cook, and all around nice person! I love her! Go visit her blog!

Martha Stewart Cupcake Club is a new baking club started by Sugar B of Eat My Cupcake and we are going to make one cupcake recipe per month (or more!) Check it out on the new website here.

I made this recipe earlier with a simply glaze, but this time I made it with the recommended Cream Cheese Frosting. It was the first recipe I made from this book, and it's a winner! I was very happy to make it again as I still had lots of zucchini hanging out in the veggie drawer.

The recipe calls for a boatload of cream cheese frosting. I made 1/2 the cupcake recipe and about 1/4 of the frosting recipe. Me thinks Martha and her crew love the frosting way more than me. :)

Be sure to check out the other Martha Stewart Cupcake Club members and their version of the recipe! And be sure to make this tasty treat! (The cupcake is dairy free but the cream cheese frosting...well, is not!)

Recipe:
Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book: Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes, page 44
Note: The Martha Stewart Cupcake Club doesn't post the recipe. You can use WorldCat to see if your library has it in their collection (hey, I need to put the Librarian in the Food Librarian sometimes! :)

Banana Zucchini Bundt Cake with King Arthur Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites

It's the end of summer.
Sad.
Luckily, I got to go to San Diego over Labor Day weekend and met up with my friend Jami and her new doggie, Maggie. Ain't she the cutest?

When it's summer, it's zucchini time. Kinda like Hammer Time but with a little less dancing.

My blogger friend Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet recently went to King Arthur Flour in Vermont. OMG. When she said she was going to KAF for a baking class, I thought she was kidding. Seriously, I thought KAF was like Oz. A place they mention in their catalog and on their packages, but not an actual place. Well, low and behold, Mary took a baking class with her mom! See her post about her yummy adventures.

After my cat Q-Tip passed away, I received a lovely card and gift package from Mary. She is so sweet. I shook the packet and it sounded like dried cat food! But inside were King Arthur Flour's Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites. These are too cool!

I added 1/3 cup of King Arthur Flour Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites. While they do indeed look like cat food pellets, they are tasty when they soften in a baked good. They are also dairy free! Whoo hoo. (The recipe is also dairy-free).

I found this recipe on Michelle's blog (One Ordinary Day) and Alicia's blog (Confessions of a Bakeaholic ) and it looked so delicious I had to give it a shot. One cup each: raw zucchini, mashed bananas and chopped pecans, along with 1/3 c of the King Arthur Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites.

Yeah. I know. It's a Bundt. Again.
And I have another one that isn't posted yet. I think I'll save that one to space them out a bit! :)

This was yummy. It isn't really rich like Dorie Greenspan's butter and sour cream filled Banana Bundt, but it is a yummy breakfast treat. The King Arthur Flav-R-Bites add a nice cinnamon touch.

Recipe: (three options)
One Ordinary Day who found it on Recipezaar (submitted by Margo59 and baked in two loaf pans) or Confessions of a Bakeaholic