French Yogurt Cake

Yesterday I was out watering my husband's puny poplar tree that he finally transplanted to our backyard after an 8 month stint in a re-purposed plastic cat litter container on our balcony. I couldn't believe that the angry thorn bushes I have been seeing all year had mysteriously transformed into something useful and desirable. Hundreds of juicy blackberries in various states of ripeness had appeared entangled in the thorns. This set into motion an unstoppable series of events which, naturally, culminated in us eating cake in bed at 11pm. I spent an hour harvesting a respectable mixing bowl full of only the ripest berries, I was only slightly bloody and very juicy afterwards. These berries were small and flavorful, not like the big mushy guys you get in the plastic tub.

But wait! The magical yardberries are only half of the story! I had read about this cake in several "nonfiction," if editorialized books written by non-French people, depicting highly romanticized versions French everyday life. In every book a chic French mother is teaching her chic, well-behaved French 6 year-old to make this cake on a Sunday afternoon in the South of France. If I hadn't actually been to France I would swear that it was a fictional place, like Narnia--the adorable made-up language, the fanciful delicacies, the charming/unpredictable inhabitants. I wanted to bake this cake but there are hundreds of different recipes for it and I was a little overwhelmed; different sizes, different pans, different proportions of ingredients, almonds/no almonds? nutmeg?  My quest to find the most authentic perfect, delicious recipe proved too much for me until the miracle of the berries gave me the push I needed to just f*cking pick a recipe already. I could have gone with Deb or Clotilde but something made me pick the bonappetit recipe for it. Don't judge me.

My favorite part of this recipe is making the lemon-scented sugar. You zest one lemon and then rub the zest into the sugar until it releases its oils and smells like...just...wonderful. We ate the cake warm with ice cream and berries but I feel that it tastes even better if it is allowed to cool completely.




by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen
 May 2012
French Yogurt Cake

Ingredients:
 Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
 2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
3/4 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 special equipment 8 1/2 x 4 1/4-inch loaf pan

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350°. Coat pan with vegetable oil spray. Dust with flour; tap out excess.

Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and kosher salt in a medium bowl.

 Using your fingers, rub sugar with lemon zest in a large bowl until sugar is moist. Add yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract; whisk to blend.

Fold in dry ingredients just to blend. Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top.

Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50–55 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto rack; let cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

----
Unrelated Fanciness and Fancifulness:
On Saturday I made the most unnecessary, extravagant baking-related purchase of my entire life. In the name of silliness I bought rosewater, pepperment extract, butter flavoring, a ridiculously priced flask of vanilla, parchment paper, goat cheese, and petit fours. "That's right, my good man, and wrap them all up in this Grocery Outlet bag that I had the foresight to bring with me". Mostly I just wanted to show off this dessert even though I didn't make it. Though I bet that I could easily make a much uglier version.

Sugar Cookies

I haven't make sugar cookies in...ever? Not since I was little anyway. My guildmate was raving about this recipe and insisted that I try it. They came out very tender and buttery. I dipped them in a little chocolate and put some toasted chopped pecans on top. I was happy to have a chance to use my forest animal cookie cutters. I also did another batch of bears without pecans but dipped in chocolate with a teaspoon and a half of peppermint extract. Mintybears!

I did have some trouble with the dough being sticky but it just needed to go back into the refrigerator for a bit longer. This recipe came from ourbestbites.com. 

 
Sugar Cookies
1 cup real butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla)
3 C flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop it!)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in egg and extract and mix to incorporate.

 In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. A very important note: It’s important to correctly measure your flour or you will end up with a dry, crumbly dough. Never, ever use your measuring cup to scoop up the flour. Use a regular sized spoon and spoon the flour into the cup and then level it off with a knife.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined. Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour, or use this great tip to make things easier: When your dough is made, instead of putting it in the fridge, immediately roll between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper and then place on a flat surface in the fridge. Chill for about 20-30 minutes and then start cutting it out. This way it chills faster and the bonus is that you don’t need to add extra flour to roll it out.

 If you don’t use this tip, proceed as follows: When you’re ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on how you like them. If you like them slightly chewy, about 8-9 minutes does it. If you like them slightly crisp and buttery, then go for 10-12.

Dill and Cucumber Salad

I saw this in "Clean Eating" and it reminded me of banchan that we sometimes get from the Korean grocery store. The only thing I would change is the honey, I like sugar instead even if it's not as healthy. I also made these without dill simply because I didn't happen to have any.

I picked up these nice Persian cucumbers from the farmers market but you can use any kind of cucumbers. It's nice and light and I'm serving it again tonight with pizza.

Ingredients:
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1 tsp raw honey/sugar
1 tsp safflower oil (I used olive oil)
1 (or 2 or 3) cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 c. fresh dill, roughly chopped (optional imo)
5 or 6 Persian or 3 field-grown cucumbers, sliced to 1/8 inch think.




1. Whisk vinegar, oil, honey/sugar, salt, and garlic in a large bowl. Add dill (optional). Add cucumbers and toss several times to coat.

2. Layer the cucumbers in a dish that you can seal in the refrigerator. Pour any juices left in the bottom of the bowl over the top. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Can be made 3 days ahead of time.

Peach Galette

We went to the farmer's market on Sunday. As much as I love baking and cooking with fancy/silly/overpriced ingredients, I rarely get over to the farmer's market as much as I would like. I think it's because of the crowds and the fact that my husband hates the farmer's market.

We were meandering around, involuntarily smiling at the babies and dogs, and tasting various samples of produce. I saw what appeared to be a Korean Justin Bieber giving out peach slices, he gingerly placed a slice of white peach in my hand with metal tongs and, even though this isn't quite the peak of the season for peaches, it was tart and sweet and fragrant. I purchased two white peaches and and ogled a paper plate full of small white and yellow peaches marked $5. I said "Oh, I could use those to bake a tart. No, they are too expensive."

We got to the parking lot and I said "I should go back for the plate of peaches, no, they're too expensive, oh but I could make a tart..." We drove away and I continued to to mull over my options: One world with 5 fewer dollars but where a gorgeous peach tart made of white and yellow peaches, like a stained glass window, also exists; And another world, where there are 5 more dollars but no tart. We were finishing up another errand across town and I asked my husband if he would mind driving back so I could buy the peaches, he laughed. I'm a tragic clown. Bieber's mom laughed at me too and said "You're back! I knew it!" and gathered up the peaches for me.

I'm using the same recipe for the galette/tart crust that I made last year with nectarines. It's an Alice Waters recipe. It's a very good, the crust is tender and not terribly sweet. The fruit is mostly what you taste with this one. Yong said "MMMMmmmmm!" in such a high pitch that I knew he really loved it.







Dough:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water

Filling:
2 or 3 peaches sliced thin
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 tablespoons sugar

Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; add 2 tablespoons of the butter.

2. Blend in a mixer until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining butter; mix until biggest pieces look like large peas.

3. Dribble in water, stir, then dribble in more, until dough just holds together. Adjust with more flour if the dough is too sticky, more water if it is too dusty.

4. Flatten into a 4-inch-thick disk; refrigerate.

5. After at least 30 minutes, remove; let soften so it’s malleable but still cold. Smooth cracks at edges.

6. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Dust excess flour from both sides with a dry pastry brush.

7. Place dough in a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan, or simply on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you want galette-style. Heat oven to 400°F.

8. Overlap peaches on dough in a ring 2 inches from edge if going galette-style, or up to the sides if using the tart pan (really do whatever pattern you like). Continue inward until you reach the center. Fold any dough hanging over pan back onto itself; crimp edges at 1-inch intervals.

9. Brush melted butter over peaches and onto dough edge.

10. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over dough edge and the other 3 tablespoons over peaches.

11. Bake in center of oven until peaches are soft, with browned edges, and crust has caramelized to a dark golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.

12. Glaze: I just made a simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water heated until syrupy.

13. Remove tart from oven, and slide off parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 15 minutes.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies Yet

AKA: Breakfast for a week. This is a recipe taken from the New York Times. It makes a much better cookie than any other recipe that I've used. The refrigeration of the dough before baking creates a chewy, caramel-y center. It does seem unfair, cruel even, to prepare the dough and then have to wait 24 hours to get a cookie but it's worth it. I tried baking them unrefrigerated and the texture was not nearly as chewy and lovely.

I generally hate buying special ingredients, especially for baking, but I think the cake flour also improves the texture of the cookie. I did sub out the bread flour for all purpose though. They were still amazing. 

I'm thinking I may give these as gifts at Christmas time. They are huge and would look lovely tied up with bows.

Ingredients

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour 
• 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate
• Sea salt

Instructions

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Notes

Recipe from Jacque Torres and The New York Times

*NOTE CHILL TIME of 24-72 hours- it WILL yield a better cookie

Key Lime Cheesecake Pie

I know I promised that I would branch out and stop stealing recipes from smittenkitchen. Nearly a full month later I am making good on my promise. I found this recipe for Key Lime Cheesecake bars from a ridiculous publication called "Clean Eating," I indifferently take them out of my mailbox every month and leaf through them for 20 mins and immediately dump them in the recycling bin. I found a reasonably good-looking recipe for Key Lime Cheesecake bars. I have been wanting to make something with Key Limes since Cinco De Mayo. I just baked these in a pie dish and refuse to cut them into squares. In my opinion, squares are the lowest form of desserts. It's the most boring presentation imaginable for something that should be the dreamy, fantastic finale to a meal.

This recipes calls for some fruity things, like evaporated cane juice, Neufchatel cheese, and "all-natural whole-wheat graham cracker squares," whatever the hell those are, but you know what to do: Just use white sugar, cream cheese, and honey maid graham cracker squares. I also think ginger snaps would be stellar for the crust for next time. I would also replace sour cream with plain greek yogurt, I always do, but due to a rip in space/time I found myself with sour cream but no greek yogurt D:

This recipe needs about 1/4 c. more sugar. While this cake is lovely, as is almost anything containing key limes, it is lacking a certain sweetness that I am used to. The more I eat it the more I think it might be better this way, but no, it's probably better with more sugar, like most things.

I'm also including some photos of my adorable strawberry plant that will probably yield me a good 8! berries this season (not all at once either) and other general garden photos. I also bought some carrots to grow in the huge planters out front as long as the deer don't eat them.

Also, in a step I probably should have taken initially, I will put all the photos first and list the recipe at the end for easy copy/paste. I doubt that I will go back and retroactively apply this change throughout, but maybe if I'm bored later.

Key Lime Cheesecake Pie
Ingredients:
7 rectangular sheets of graham crackers
3 tbsp butter, melted 8 oz cream cheese
1 c. sour cream or plain greek yogurt
1/2 (+1/4?) c. of sugar
1 tbsp lime zest (from 2 limes)
1/2 c. fresh lime juice (same 2 limes!)
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a pie pan with non-stick spray/butter the dish.
2. In a food processor, smash the graham crackers until they are fine. With the machine running, pour in the melted butter. Process for another 2-3 seconds. Transfer the mixture to the pan and press it into the bottom forming an even layer all around. Bake for 9 minutes, until edges are light brown. Cool slightly.
3. Reduce oven to 325. Process the cream cheese and sour cream in food processor until smooth (about 1 min). Add sugar, lime zest, and juice (I also added 4 drops of green food coloring here because it gives it extra flavor ;) process until smooth. Add egg and process until just combined. Spread/pour the mixture into the prepared crust.
4. Bake for 38-40 minutes. Allow to cool for about 10 before covering with plastic wrap/tin foil and placing it in the refrigerator to set for about 8 hours. Garnish with extra lime zest here if you like.

Potato and Bacon Knish

I bought a new spoon! It's some manner of fancy olive wood spoon from Sur la Table. It's really nice and my favorite shape for a cooking spoon. I was trying to decide the first thing I wanted to make with my new spoon. I decided on knishes.

I am borrowing heavily from smittenkitchen.com, it's pretty bad. I should expand my reading list to more than one cooking blog, but Deb just has the kind of recipes that I'm interested in. I'm always disappointed with other blogs that focus on either sweet or savory and the writing is never nearly as witty as hers. I promise I will try to branch out.

I think that bacon is a the perfect, if forbidden, compliment to a knish. If you are not familiar with a knish, it's like a pastry stuffed with potato and onion. I threw some chives in because it felt right.

They were delicious out of the oven with sour cream and spicy mustard. The thing I might try next is to make them inside of a pie crust. I felt like this dough was a little tough and dry. A flaky pastry crust would be even more delicious I think. Would this still be a knish? Probably not.

---

Yield: 6 3-inch hearty knish

Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil (Joe also recommends schmaltz, or rendered chicken fat, if you’ve got some)
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 cup water (see Update, above)

Filling
3 strips of bacon, fried and chopped into tiny bits
1 1/2 pounds (about 3 medium) russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced small
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To finish
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon water

Make dough: Stir together your dry ingredients in the bottom of a medium/large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, vinegar and water. Pour it over the dry ingredients and stir them to combine. Once the mixture is a craggy, uneven mass, knead it until smooth, about a minute. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Set it aside for an hour (or in the fridge, up to 3 days) until needed.


Meanwhile, prepare filling: Put potatoes into a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes can be pierced easily with a knife, about 20 minutes. Drain, then transfer to a large bowl to cool.

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add butter and oil and once they’re fully melted and a bit sizzly, add onions and reduce to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, until deeply caramelized, which will take about 45 minutes. Can you do this in less time? Of course. But the flavor won’t be as intense. Transfer to bowl with potatoes and mash together until almost smooth. (A few lumps make it taste more “traditional,” IMHO.) Stir in salt and many grinds of black pepper and set the filling aside.




Assemble knish: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Divide the dough in half. On a well-floured surface, roll the first half of the dough into a very thin sheet, roughly in the shape of a 1-foot square, but really, no need to be rigid about it. For moderate size knish (smaller than the traditional “doorstops” but still hefty, about 3 inches across), create a 2-inch thick log from half your potato filling across the bottom of your dough. Roll the filling up in the dough like you were rolling a cigarette (which, of course, we would never), but not too tight. A tiny amount of slack will keep the dough from opening in the oven. Keep rolling until the log has been wrapped twice in dough. Trim any unrolled length and add it to the second half of the dough; it can be used again. Repeat the process with the second half of your dough and second half of filling; you might have a small amount of dough leftover.


Trim the ends of the dough so that they’re even with the potato filling. Then, make indentations on the log every 3 to 3 1/2 inches (you’ll have about 3, if your log was 1 foot long) and twist the dough at these points, as if you were making sausage links. Snip the dough at each twist, then pinch one of the ends of each segment together to form a sealed knish base. Use the palm of your hand to flatten the knish a bit into a squat shape and from here, you can take one of two approaches to the top: You can pinch together the tops as you did the bottom to seal them; indenting them with a small dimple will help keep them from opening in the oven. You can gently press the dough over the filling but leave it mostly open, like the knish you would get on Houston Street. Or, you can half-ass it (okay, that’s a third option, and watch your language, Deb), like I did, closing them but not sealing them well because you are indecisive. But why would you want to do a thing like that?




Bake knish: Arrange knish on prepared baking sheet so that they don’t touch. Whisk egg yolk and water together to form a glaze and brush it over the knish dough. Bake knish for about 45 minutes, rotating your tray if needed for them to bake into an even golden brown color.