Happy New Year! 2010 was a pretty good year for me, although it sure went by quickly. The year started and ended with lots of travelling, I think we went home to Iowa a half a dozen times this past year. I also travelled to Texas a couple of times for my sister's wedding festivities, we went to St. Louis to celebrate our own 1st wedding anniversary, and spent a week at the beach in August with my college roommates. We ended the year travelling for the holidays and a weekend in Chicago to celebrate my mom's birthday. My husband started a new job this fall and I kept busy throughout the summer and fall with lots of baking jobs making hundreds of cupcakes and several birthday cakes.
Of course the big news is that we found out we'll be having our first child in 2011, thank you all for sticking around even though it was tough to keep up with this blog when I could barely think about food for the few months. These last few months have been busy with preparing the nursery, baby showers, and doctors appointments. Now we're almost there and our daughter should be here mid-February!
As we all recover from the sugar coma of the holidays, I'll be sharing some recipes from my baby shower, as well as some freezer meals as I try to stock up before the baby arrives. For now though, I'll leave you with the most popular recipes from 2010. Evidently the popularity of cupcakes isn't over yet!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
2010's Top 10
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Spiced Brown Sugar Christmas Cookies
Recipe slightly adapted from Bake at 350
3 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Combine flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl and whisk to combine. In a mixing bowl, cream sugar, brown sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Slowly add flour mixture, mixing on low speed. The dough will be very stiff. Lay out a large sheet of plastic wrap and turn dough out on to plastic. Form into a disk and wrap tightly. Chill approximately one hour.
Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand five to ten minutes at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. Generously flour work area and rolling pin. Roll dough to about 1/4" thick and cut into desired shapes. Transfer to prepared pans and bake about 9-12 minutes. Cookies shouldn't really brown but will firm up. Remove from the oven, let stand about one minute on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When completely cool, frost as desired.
See other examples here:
Thanksgiving cookies
Christmas Cookies
Gingerbread Snowflakes
More Christmas Cookies
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Rasberry Pochettes
These are a simple little treat with an indulgent cream cheese crust filled with jam. You can use whatever flavor you have on hand, I thought the raspberry would be pretty and it's one of my favorite flavors of jam. That and my husband won't use it for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so we weren't out of it when I went to make these. Use jelly or preserves for these, it doesn't matter. I prefer preserves so that's what I used here.
Recipe adapted from Melissa D'Arabian via Food Network
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
Approximately 1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 egg white
Sanding sugar
Combine butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Slowly add the flour and salt, beating on low speed until just combined. Lay out a large sheet of plastic wrap and turn the dough out onto the plastic. Form into a disk, wrap tightly and refrigerate at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Generously flour your work surface and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough to about 1/8" thick. Cut out rounds or shapes as desired. Add about a half a teaspoon of jam to one side of each cookie. Brush the edges lightly with water. Fold the dough over and press to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. Re-roll scraps and continue with remaining dough.
Beat egg white with approximately one tablespoon of water, brush over cookies and sprinkle cookies with sanding sugar. Bake until golden, about 18 - 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and serve.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Peanut Butter Fudge
If candy-making intimidates you, this is the perfect recipe for you to try. You don't even need your stove, no thermometers are involved, you barely need a pan. This fudge can be made completely in the microwave and only takes about five minutes. It's a perfect recipe to round out your holiday baking when you are short on time.
Peanut Butter Fudge
Recipe via Erin's Food Files from Alton Brown
1 cup of butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb powdered sugar
Prepare a pan by covering it in wax paper and spraying with nonstick cooking spray, leaving at least one inch overhang of wax paper around all edges. You can use an 8x11" baking sheet with a one inch rim or an 8x8" square pan if you want thicker fudge.
In a microwave safe bowl, combine butter and peanut butter. Microwave on high two minutes, stir and microwave two additional minutes. Stir in vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon until well combined and smooth. Pour into prepared pan, smooth, and cover with another sheet of wax paper pressed directly against the surface of the fudge. Refrigerate at least two hours and cut into one inch squares.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Rocky Road Fudge
Friday, December 17, 2010
Butterscotch Pumpkin Blondies
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup butterscotch chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray with baking spray.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, soda, and salt and whisk together and set aside. In a second mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in egg, vanilla and pumpkin. Mixture may appear slightly curdled at this point but its okay. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Stir in butterscotch chips.
Spread batter in prepared pan and smooth out the top with a rubber spatula. Bake about 35-40 minutes until edges begin to pull away from side of pan and toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely in the pan. Invert out of pan onto wire rack, peel off foil, cut into squares and transfer to a serving plate.
Note: As per FTC requirements, the butter in this dish was provided by Real Butter, as part of a Tastemaker promotion sponsored by Real Butter for holiday baking. I received a gift package of butter and holiday baking supplies. However, the opinions above are strictly mine and are not affected by this promotion.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sugar Cookies for Christmas
Frosted sugar cookies are a staple on almost everyone's Christmas baking list. I've made them lots of different ways over the years but my favorite recipe is this one. These cookies bake up without changing shape so its easy to see the details from the cookie cutter. They stay fresh for quite a while and don't turn rock hard as long as you keep them in an airtight container. The almond and vanilla extracts give them great flavor without being too sweet.
Sugar Cookies
Recipe slightly adapted from Annie's Eats
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out cookies
Cream butter in a large mixing bowl on medium high speed, about two minutes. Add powdered sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add in egg, almond and vanilla extracts, and salt and mix until well incorporated. Add in flour and beat on low speed just until mixed. Transfer dough to a large sheet of plastic wrap, form into a disc and wrap well. Refrigerate dough for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Flour counter to roll out cookies. Also flour rolling pin. Roll to approximately 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutters as desired. Transfer cookies to prepared pans and bake about 8 - 10 minutes. Cookies should not brown. Gather scraps and re-roll. If dough becomes sticky, return to refrigerator briefly before rolling. Recipe yields about 4 dozen cookies depending on size of cookie cutters.
Royal Icing
Recipe from Bake at 350
4 T meringue powder
Scant 1/2 cup water
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp corn syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract
Combine water and meringue powder in mixing bowl. You can make royal icing without a stand mixer but its a lot easier with one, your arm will get tired with a hand mixer! Beat until slightly foamy. Add powdered sugar, corn syrup and extract, beat on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium high and beat about five minutes until stiff peaks form and icing is glossy. Divide icing into small containers to color. Add gel coloring as desired and press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the icing and cover with a lid.
To do the shimmery snowflakes, I added sanding sugar over the thinned icing after letting the cookies stand about five minutes. For the Christmas trees, I let the flood icing dry completely before piping on the swirl lines with the original outline icing. If you leave the outline icing in the piping bag, make sure you cover it with a damp towel to keep it from drying out.
This recipe should be enough for the above cookie recipe unless you need to use lots of colors/layers of icing.
See other examples here:
Thanksgiving cookies
Christmas Cookies
Gingerbread Snowflakes
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Classic Apple Pie
Apple pie intimidates a lot of people. Despite looking relatively simple and ordinary, it can be tricky to get the filling to have the right consistency. You want the filling to be thick but not dry, if its too liquidy the crust will be soggy. You want to be able to see the apple slices; tender but not mushy. You want the crust to be flaky and tender, not dense and dry. I'm by no means an expert on apple pie, but here are a few tips that have worked for me.
Crust: Use cold butter, really, really cold butter. You can freeze it and grate it with a cheese grater or your food processor. If you don't want to do that, cut it into small pieces and then return it to the refrigerator/freezer. You want the pieces of butter to remain when you roll out the dough, its those streaks of butter that lead to an extra flaky crust.
Crust:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cold
4 T ice water plus more if needed
1 egg white
Filling:
Approximately 3 pounds apples, peeled, cored and sliced into uniform thickness
1 1/2 T lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1-2 T cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 T unsalted butter
Grate or cut cold butter into small pieces and freeze for about 15 minutes. In bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt. Pulse a couple of times to combine. Add the butter pieces and pulse about 10-12 times until the mixture becomes coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture and process about 20 seconds, the dough will clump up and begin to hold together. If the dough appears too dry, add more water, one teaspoon at a time and pulse briefly until the dough sticks together when you pinch it between your fingers. Lay out 2 large sheets of plastic wrap and dump 1/2 of dough out onto each sheet. Press into a disk, wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour. (You can do this a day or two in advance if you prefer.)
To make the filling, toss sliced apples with lemon juice and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle about half of the cornstarch over apples. Add spices and stir gently to combine. After the mixture sits for a while, if it looks like there is too much liquid, add remaining cornstarch to thicken.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously flour rolling surface and rolling pin. Roll pie crust to about 1/4" thick. Remember that it needs to be about an inch wider than the diameter of your pie plate plus twice the depth. Spray pie pan with baking spray. Carefully move rolled out crust to pie plate. Fill pie with prepared filling, mounding high above the pie plate. Dot with remaining butter. Carefully roll out top crust and center over top of filling. Press and crimp edges to seal as desired. Carefully slice 3-4 slits in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. Mix egg white with one tablespoon of water and brush pie crust.
Bake pie for about 50-60 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling. If the edges begin to look too brown before the pie is ready, cover with foil and continue baking. Let stand about two hours to set before serving. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream both make excellent toppings.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wild Rice and Butternut Squash Dressing
Wow... it has been a busy couple of weeks. In the past 2 weeks we've travelled to my parents for Thanksgiving weekend, had two baby showers, 2 prenatal classes, one of my college roommate's was in town to visit, a Christmas party, and our everyday jobs. That didn't leave a lot of time for blogging. So I have a stack of recipes to share with you and just need to find some time to post them. Now if only I could find some time to get my holiday baking started and Christmas shopping done, I might actually catch up a little bit but the next couple of weeks are looking like they will be just as busy.
Going back to my Thanksgiving recap, I want to share a recipe for wild rice dressing. My mom isn't really a fan of bread so traditional stuffing recipes don't really appeal to her. When I saw this recipe in Cooking Light for a wild rice dressing, I thought it would be a great addition to our normal Thanksgiving menu. I made a few modifications for our own tastes to come up with the recipe below. I think it turned out great and the leftovers were good as well.
Wild Rice and Butternut Squash Dressing
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, November 2010
1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 cup basmati rice
2 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 T olive oil
1 cup dried cranberries
5-6 green onions, chopped
2 T fresh sage, minced
2 T flat leaf parsley, minced
1 T fresh thyme, stripped from stems
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large saucepan, combine rice, stock, water and 1/4 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer about 40 minutes until rice is tender. Transfer cooked rice to a 9x13 or similar baking dish coated with cooking spray, do not drain.
While the rice is cooking, toss butternut squash with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp salt, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for approximately 20-25 minutes until tender. Add to rice in baking dish.
Add cranberries, onions, herbs, and spices to mixture, adding additional salt and pepper as desired. Stir everything together, cover with foil and bake about 15 minutes until everything is heated through.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Pumpkin Roll
While this is a classic recipe, it was one I've never made on my own before. It's a really impressive dessert, especially when you serve it to people who aren't familiar with it because it looks much more difficult than it is. I got lots of "oohs and aahs" when I sliced it at Thanksgiving. This requires less than 20 minutes of baking time. Everything else is just waiting on cooling and refrigeration. Give yourself plenty of time to refrigerate though because this is best served cold. If you want to make it in advance, you can also freeze it.
3/4 cup all purpose flour