Birthday Cake! (and cookies)

Yesterday was my birthday! I love birthdays. I’m incredibly bad at remembering other’s birthdays and getting gifts to them on time, so I feel kind of selfish in that respect. But when it comes to celebrating the fact that someone is here for another year, birthdays are great. As I’ve gotten older I realize I don’t need a big party or mounds of gifts. But I do need cake. Preferably chocolate.

Not too long ago I finished the previously mentioned book A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. The final chapter was about her wedding cake, dubbed the “Winning Hearts and Mind” cake. I’ve been trying to find appropriate times to make this cake and nothing was working out right. Finally I gave in and just had to make it for my birthday. It seemed a bit odd to make a cake for myself, but I like the logic of it. After all, it’s my birthday and no one else should feel pressured to make or buy me a cake to celebrate. I should be feeding others so they have a reason to be happy that I’m around. So I made the winning hearts and minds cake for Andy and I, and delightful Toffee Chocolate Snicker doodles for work buddies.

The nice thing about birthdays is that they help you reminisce about birthdays past. A great birthday isn’t about the gifts, it’s more about the friends and family around you. And, if we’re going to be honest, it’s also about the cake. As a kid I had a birthday that was flower themed and a lot of fun to put together with my mom. It came complete with a cake that looked like a garden, with Oreo crumble dirt and gummy worms peaking out of the soil. There was the memorable birthday I had in Cuernavaca, Mexico where I actually received two cakes, one of which was involved in a food fight (that I later helped clean up). Then there was the year when my mom took a business trip to Florida and invited me along because I had nothing better to do and it was my birthday. We upgraded to first class for the occasion and went out to dinner with her coworkers. One got a little too tipsy and explained to me the wonders of asparagus pee, a delight I had yet to enjoy. After dinner we ate cake from Publix, which I thought sounded like a wonderful, for-the-people kind of grocery, and this birthday with strangers was a delightful one.

There were some, shall we say, not so great birthdays too. Such as the one in Indiana where my brother got a pair of Rollerblades for my birthday, thereby stealing my “this day is all about me” thunder. And by the time my brother’s birthday rolled around my family conveniently forgot that we now gave siblings gifts on birthdays too. Once I had to run the mile during weight training class. There was the year I had to go to band practice after getting a tamagotchi and had to keep feeding the damn thing when I should have been crashing cymbals. One year I had to clean the bathrooms of our house, which was probably more my fault for putting it off than my mother being mean. The worst of all birthdays was the year my Grandma Summerville died. We were leaving for Indiana shortly after the celebration to visit her in the hospital. Opening gifts that year didn’t have much joy and she passed away a couple days after my birthday.

Despite what it may seem, that’s what I like about birthdays. They help me to remember the good and bad, and the not actually-bad-but-rather-kind-of-funny-now-that-I-think-about-it times. It gets me to thinking about other people’s birthdays and the things I’ve done for them, the people I spent time with, and how the years keep rolling by, no matter what you do. I love birthdays and celebrating life.

Did I mention cake? I’m sorry to entice you with pictures and then blather on and on about memories. You’re probably interested in some cake. Andy graciously offered to make me Special K bars I declined. Mostly because I need actual cake on my birthday, but actually more because I’ve been dying to make the Winning Hearts and Minds cake. It only has FIVE ingredients! Five! That’s so easy. Andy doesn’t like cake much and requests brownies frequently for his birthday celebrations. When I answered his question as to what was in this cake he responded with, “So it’s like a brownie cake?” Yes. And he loved it. He said he wanted it for his birthday. And I’m more than happy to oblige. It has a delightfully crunchy crust and a soft, ooey center.

The only advice I have to give is to get high quality ingredients. This cake would cost you around $30 if you were to purchase a similar one from a particular Scandinavian bakery that I used to work at (in 2007 dollars). The one I made cost me roughly $10. Next time I would up the ante with a little Olive and Sinclair chocolate and hope to score some free range eggs from Andy’s coworker. Here’s the recipe that you can also find on Orangette.

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 ¾ sticks (7 oz) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unbleached, all purpose flour
5 large eggs

(Whipped cream for serving)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and butter an 8 inch round cake pan (I used a 9 inch one and it turned out just fine). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper (craft time!) and grease the paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or a double boiler. When the mixture is smooth stir in the sugar and then set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Then add the eggs one by one (be sure not to lose count!), stirring well after each addition. Add the flour and stir well. The batter should be dark and silky.

Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is lightly crackled, the edges are puffed and the center of the cake looks set. It’s best to set the timer early and check on the cake every couple of minutes by jiggling the pan. It’s done when the center only jiggles slightly, if at all.

Cook the cake for about 15 minutes in the pan. Turn it out of the pan and flip it back onto a plate (or better yet, a cake stand!). Be careful with this, as I turned my cake out onto the edge of my dish and broke the edge. Cool completely before serving with a dollop of whipped cream (best if you whip it yourself).

We Need to do Something about these Bananas

While in Minneapolis (land of many, many good book stores) I couldn’t help but pick up a book that I had heard about on Design Sponge while browsing at Magers and Quinn. I am currently reading it, A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, and to be honest, at first I really didn’t like it. The structure of the book is a memoir that ends every chapter with a relevant recipe or two, sort of like how most food blogs work (and that’s how the author got her start). I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t like the book, after all I love stories and food, and this book combines both with humor and emotion.

After some thought I realized I didn’t like the book because I was jealous, and that’s a tough thing to admit. The author isn’t that much older than me and she’s much more accomplished and well versed in cooking. Did I mention that she spent considerable amounts of time in Paris and speaks French? And, oh isn’t Paris just wonderful? But really what it comes down to is that I would loved to have spent considerable amounts of time in Paris and speak French. Though I did learn to cook for myself in Dublin (and I can count to ten in Gaelic), much of my short time abroad was spent studying (shock!), adventuring, and focusing on the liquid culinary offerings of Ireland. If I really thought harder about it too, if I went to Paris now and spent most of my time eating at wonderful French bistros, cafes, and bouchons, I would probably fawn over the food too, and perhaps even don a scarf. With my jealousy aside I was able to read with an open mind and appreciate the meld of food and stories.

One vignette in particular that I enjoyed was about how the author struggled with improvising and straying from a recipe. For a time I was like that and I reveled in my carefully controlled little food world. Then Andy walked into my life and scoffed at my dedication to a recipe and can whip up a delicious dinner completely off the cuff. It takes practice to be able to improvise well, which sound a bit contradictory but it’s true. Figuring out what flavors go well together means cooking more and if something doesn’t work out, generally it’s still edible.

The following recipe is one that I improvised a bit (not much actually) and is taken from A Homemade Life. This is the first time I’ve made a recipe from a book that I was currently reading. Which goes to show you how wonderfully this banana bread was described. I improvised this recipe on purpose and on accident. I didn’t have candied ginger at the time, though I did have piece of ginger root. Initially I was going to candy my own ginger but that took more time than I wanted to devote to cooking. My second, accidental improvisation came when I realized there wasn’t enough liquid. Adding some more yogurt solved the dry problem. I thought everything was going well until I was sliding the loaf pan into the oven and discovered I hadn’t added the melted butter. There sat my melted butter on the stove, explaining without words why the loaf was a tad dry. In the interest of not wasting good melted butter I fashioned up a new bread recipe using the formula from the book. An accident of de-panning caused the bread to end up more like cobbler than bread, so a second attempt will be made before sharing that recipe with the world.

Here is the delicious Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger recipe from A Homemade Life.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips (I didn’t have much ginger, so I made up for it with 1 cup of chocolate chips)
⅓ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (Here is where I used about 2 inches of fresh ginger root, minced)
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups mashed banana (about 3 large bananas)
¼ cup well-stirred plain whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The How To:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan (9 x 5)ish. In a small bowl melt your butter (we don’t have a microwave so I do it on the stove. Don’t forget about it!) Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips and crystallized (or regular) ginger and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

In a medium bowl (let’s hope you have a set), lightly beat the eggs. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla; stir to mix well. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently, scraping the sides. Do not over mix. The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy, but there should be no unincorporated flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake until the loaf is a deep shade of golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. If it’s browning too quickly, make a tent over the top with tin foil. Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes (10 might even be better). Let it cool completely before slicing (I did not wait and therefore my slices were smeared with melted chocolate. Yum!)

There are so many delicious recipes from this book that I’m just giddy with waiting to make them. Next up, this weekend I’ll be baking the Winning Hearts and Minds cake in honor of Independence Day and our Minnesota visitors! It sound decadent and I can’t wait.

Here's a taste of the apple bread to come!

Muffin Madness: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Any challenge is going to have its ups and downs. I was down last week because I was up in Minnesota and laying down due to a back problem. Not down as in sad, no no no, I was quite happy. Just busy, and hurt, and unable to make my second batch of muffins for the week. I tried though! My plan was to impose on my hostess, make muffins and use her Internet to post a blog. I even brought vital gluten up with me in a zipper bag so I wouldn’t have find more, and because bringing a fine powder along with you in a carry on isn’t suspicious at all. At any rate, I apologize to the diligent followers of my blog (hi Mom!) and I’m back in action.

Action indeed! My my, these little beauties are delicious. I believe that without my break to Minnesota I wouldn’t have let this recipe marinate in my mind for as long and I probably wouldn’t have made them as delicious. I’ve learned my lesson by now and played things safe by basing my recipe directly from 500 Best Muffin Recipes. Except I noticed there wasn’t enough flour, and I switched it to wheat flour, added some vital gluten, chocolate chips, swapped the vanilla extract for almond and added a peanut butter topping. So maybe it’s not so directly from the book anymore. This recipe made me the happiest because I’d used what I learned, followed my instincts and things turned out delicious. And to be honest, I don’t really like peanut butter.

One thing I did this time that I haven’t done for awhile is use muffin cups. It’s silly for me to be against muffin cups, but I find them pointless and wasteful. With the frequency of my baking and use of sticky ingredients, muffin cups have become a better and better idea. Much to my delight the muffin cup section at the grocery has expanded! You can get pastel cups, heart cups, tin cups, Norwegian cups, and in honor of recent air strikes in Libya... fighter plane cups!! Also, they were on sale.

Who doesn't want their baked goods to be in fighter mode?

Are you ready for the recipe yet?

Locked and loaded.

A couple of notes first. I used all whole wheat flour (instead of half whole wheat and half white) because I had vital gluten which creates elasticity and softens the muffin crumb. Don’t be afraid of vital gluten (unless you have a gluten allergy, then be very afraid)! I found it in the bulk section of Whole Foods, but Bob’s Red Mill also sells it. If you’re serious about making things with whole wheat I whole-heartedly recommend using vital gluten. If you are afraid of vital gluten, you can make a combination of white (unbleached) and wheat flour. I used a natural peanut butter with only one ingredient: peanuts. I can’t guarantee the taste, texture or deliciousness of your muffins if you use something with added sugar or odd preservatives. If you don’t want random crap in your muffins, don’t buy a product with random crap in it. Last, don’t skimp on the buttermilk. I think it gives the wheat muffin a little kick that regular milk would not. We made our own buttermilk (and butter) but that’s for another post.

The Goods:

2 cups whole wheat flour
⅓ cup brown sugar
2 tsp vital gluten
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
½ cup peanut butter
1 egg
½ tsp almond extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Topping
4 tbs peanut butter
2 ½ tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp unbleached flour
½ tsp almond extract
¼ tsp salt
Enough warm water to make the topping the consistency you desire
Extra chocolate chips to press into the topping

Go for it!

1. Whisk together the wheat flour, brown sugar, vital gluten, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. In another bowl beat the egg, then add the peanut butter, buttermilk, and almond extract.
2. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and add the chocolate chips. Stir carefully until well combined. Divide into 12 (lined!) muffin cups.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Stick a toothpick in the to make sure they’re good and done.
4. To make the topping stir together all ingredients (except water and chocolate chips). Add the water a little at a time until you get to the consistency you like. It may take awhile. It wasn’t easy to spread so I piped mine on using a plastic bag with the corner cut. Press chocolate chips into the top and admire your greatness!

Look at the power in that wrist! You may want to do some wrist warm ups prior to performing this culinary technique.

Muffin Madness: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Porter Muffins

March is a month of madness; basketball, the weather... perhaps the Middle East. And because I love muffins... now Muffin Madness. Muffins are delicious and versatile. They can be sweet or savory. Completely decadent or delightfully healthy. I love making muffins, and I improvise on recipes from my favorite muffin book (500 Best Muffin Recipes by Esther Brody) frequently. Since I make a lot of muffins it is high time I create my own recipes.

Hence... Muffin Madness. March will be a month of muffin challenge. Each week I will make 2 batches of muffins, a sweet and a savory. The recipes will be of my own creation and Andy will be the official taste tester. I will share my recipes here with you, and if anyone makes a batch, I would love to hear about it!

First challenge, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Porter Muffins.

The only way to realize how many ingredients are in a recipe is to assemble them in one place.

Ever since a coworker brought porter brownies in to work, I’ve been itching to make chocolate beer muffins. I’ve made beer bread before and one batch of beer and cheese muffins, but I’ve never used a dark beer. The thought of the complex, malty beer flavor mixed with melted chocolate was too much for me to resist and I needed to make these first.

Mixed batter ready to be sampled and divided into muffin tins.

These couldn’t be just any old beer muffins, they needed to be decadent and super chocolaty. I’m a chocolate fiend, so I wanted chocolate in every part of the muffin. The dry ingredients get cocoa powder, the wet ingredients get melted bittersweet, stir in some chocolate chips to top it off and now we’re talking.

Why waste space with a dedicated double boiler? Make your own!

Some notes on the recipe: If you don’t have a double boiler it’s OK, I don’t either! Improvise with a small bowl and a sauce pan. Let the chocolate slowly melt on low heat while you mix up the dry ingredients, just keep an eye on the stove and keep stirring. I’m known for using every bowl, surface and cooling rack in the kitchen, so I was extra proud when I realized I could melt the butter with the chocolate and combine all the wet ingredients in the cooled-down chocolate bowl. It’s always better to have fewer dishes to clean. This batch makes about 14 ½ muffins, depending on how generous you are.

Official Taster Opinion:
Andy says, “These muffins have the most complex flavor profile I have ever tasted in a muffin. Muffins are usually just sugar flavor and nothing else. “

Ingredients:
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
⅔ cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
¼ cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs vinegar
1 cup porter beer

1 ¾ cup flour
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

¾ cup chocolate chips, and extra to sprinkle on top

1. In a double boiler combine unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar and milk. Stir and slowly melt chocolate. Add butter and melt. Take off heat.
2. While chocolate melts; in a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center.
3. Once chocolate and butter is combined, add eggs one at a time, whisking thoroughly. Stir in vanilla, vinegar and beer. Pour chocolate mixture into flour, add chocolate chips and combine. Stir carefully and mix thoroughly.
4. Pour into a well greased muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.