Valentine's Day and Iced Coffee in the Middle of February

Recently, I've taken up the habit of drinking iced coffee, probably an odd thing to do in the dead of a cold and snowless winter.  Despite my almost six decades on earth (two years short - yikes!),  I'm still not a hot coffee drinker, but I've always loved coffee flavor in cold form -- ice cream, milk shakes, ice cream sodas, (most likely a residual effect from my years working at Stewart's) -- so when I gave up drinking Diet Coke as my morning wake-up elixir, I had to turn to something else to wake me up!  I had remembered visiting my friend Liz (pea pod partner!) one summer day and she offered ice coffee.  I thought it would be an ordeal for her to have to brew the coffee, pour it over ice, etc., etc., but it was much simpler than that.  She opened the door to her fridge and pulled out a pitcher full of icy cold coffee, ready and waiting to be served up.  I thought it was a great idea, almost more instant than instant, and sooooo much better!  Liz is a great host, no matter if I just show up, or give her warning! (xox)...

Anyway, one day at TJ Maxx (max for the minimum!), I bought myself one of those clear thermal tall cups that looks like a fast-food disposable cup, but it's sturdy and not a throw-away, just for the day when I, too, might make my own pitcher of coffee ala Liz.  The cup has a screw-on cap with a  hole for a straw.  I brew a pot of coffee (so far, French Vanilla and Hazlenut), pour it over a pile of ice in my pitcher, and put it in the fridge.  In the morning, I pour the coffee over ice in my thermal cup, add fat-free half and half, sweeten it up a bit, and walk out the door with a jolt of java that accompanies me to work and sits very nicely in the Jeep's cupholder.  It's gone when my 20-minute ride to work is over, and I've noticed a real difference in energy.  It's a little late in life to become a coffee junkie, since I'm almost 58, but I'm really liking it!  The only problem is, some nights I find myself wide awake at 3 am with my eyes bugging out of my head, but there's always a price to pay!  Apparently, I have to learn my limits...

So far, this isn't a very "Valentine'y" post, but I've covered that with the last few, baking-wise.  I am ready for the big day.  I baked more little heart cookies for "my boys" Hank and Pete (big boy Russ already has his), and their cards are ready with a couple of DVDs Katie tells me they'll enjoy.  She and I went to Target over the weekend (aka "The Circle Store" in Henry's world) and had fun shopping for the big day.   Katie's cereal heart pops were a huge hit in Henry's preschool classroom this afternoon, and when I visited Katie, Bill, and the boys tonight after work, his artwork was proudly hanging on the walls - construction paper hearts with red doilies, shredded paper, and apparently lots and lots of glue!  Very cute.

I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's day, whether your Valentine is all grown up, or a tiny little person, or a best friend. Have a great one...

Ready for my Valentines...

Cereal Heart Pops for Valentine's Day

Continuing the discussion of home-made Valentine's treats, today I helped my daughter Katie prepare goodies for Henry's school party tomorrow.  She told Henry's teacher she'd bring in treats to share with the class, and because there are nut allergies, she was eager to find something that all the children in the class can enjoy.  She decided to make cereal heart pops using the traditional recipe for Rice Krispie Treats, but substituted Fruity Pebbles just to make it a little more colorful. She purchased lollipop sticks at the local crafts store, as well as treat bags to cover the pops, and heart stickers as a final touch.

I think the pops came out great.  They're really cute, and a very affordable way to make a fun contribution to a Valentine's Day party.



CEREAL HEART POPS

Butter or spray 9x13 pan (Katie used a 10x14 pan, and it was fine)
Heart-shaped cookie cutter, 2" or so
lollipop sticks, found in candy/craft stores

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
10 oz. bag marshmallows (or 7 oz. container Marshmallow Fluff)
6 cups Rice Krispies (or similar cereal)

2 ounces good chocolate, melted to use later to keep sticks in place

In large pot, melt butter.  Add marshmallows and stir constantly until completely melted.  Turn off heat.  Add cereal and thoroughly combine with marshmallow mixture.

Dump all of cereal/marshmallow mixture into pan.  With buttered spatula, press down evenly and compactly so that you have an even, level surface.

Let sit for a few minutes.  Turn out onto wax paper (or parchment paper) or cutting board.  Dip bottom of cookie cutter in melted butter and cut out as many hearts as you can.  Move to another sheet of waxed paper.  With lollipop stick, create hole for stick.  Dip end of stick in melted chocolate and insert in hole in bottom of heart.  Let sit until chocolate sets up and stick is firmly in place.

Fruity Pebbles Pops for Valentine's Day

A little Valentine Love comin' from my oven

Unlike most couples, and because we have long-term and a not-so-long distance relationship (he lives in central New York), Russ and I won't be seeing each other on Valentine's Day.  We're celebrating tonight, three days early, and I am, as usual, at a loss about what to give the man who has everything.  If  he wants something, he buys it for himself.  It's very challenging shopping for someone like that!  Russ has more ties than I can count.  He doesn't eat candy.  He has a million books.  So I'm baking sugar cookies and banana bread, both of which he just loves! These are my gifts to him this year.  I hope they bring him a little bit of tasty happiness!

Keeping me company as I baked this afternoon is Odie (Oden) my grand-dog.  He's a beauty!

Grand-dog Odie!  Always good company...

Mini-banana bread

Here's a photo of all the goodies I'm baking today.  It's a busy afternoon in the Adirondack Baker's kitchen!

Gifts

Russ and me in 2003 (yikes!)... Time for a new photo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Raspberry and Cream Crumb Cake

I've been thinking about this recipe for a while.  A few posts back I wrote about crumb cake muffins, and the topping has had me fascinated ever since.  After Christmas, my co-worker Tom (we call him "Tommy T!") came back from Long Island and brought in a crumb cake his mom  had made over the holidays.  It was amazing, with a crumb topping so thick and buttery that I was in awe of her skill!  It had been a very long time since I'd had crumb cake (Entenmann's maybe?), and suddenly it was very apparent what I'd been missing and didn't even know it!

In thinking about baking a true crumb cake, I wanted something unique, something my own.  I found highly-rated recipes on-line for a plain crumb cake, or a blueberry version, but I kept thinking about raspberry.  I love, love, love a raspberry cheese danish, and this recipe is my crumb cake version of that favorite.  I made a basic coffee cake base, then a cheesecake batter to dollop on top, and then melted red raspberry preserves to spoon over the top of that.  Then I took a big spoon and turned the batters over in wide sweeps to keep each part identifiable while creating a swirl of all three luscious components.  Once the swirling was complete, I sprinkled a crumb topping over the whole thing.  It sounds like a lot more work than it really is.  It didn't take long to put it together.  It's baking now as I write this post.  It is an experiment, but I hope it is a successful one.   My co-workers will be the judges tomorrow morning (surprise!).  First, photos, and then the recipe:

All that's left is the taste-testing at work tomorrow!

Here's the recipe:


RASPBERRY AND CREAM CRUMB CAKE
inspired by Ina Garten's Blueberry Crumb Cake
takes about an hour to bake

Oven 350 degrees F
Grease or spray 9-10" springform pan

Coffee Cake Base:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or 1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla extract.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add sour cream and mix well.

Stir together dry ingredients in small bowl.  Add to butter/sugar mixture and beat will until thoroughly combined, scraping bowl as necessary.

Spread batter in prepared pan.

Make cheesecake filling:

1 bar (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
2 tbsp. all purpose flour

Beat cream cheese and sugar until well combined.  Add egg and beat well.  Add sour cream, vanilla, and lemon extract.  Beat well.  Add flour and beat until completely incorporated.

Drop cheesecake batter in dollops over top of coffee cake batter.

In microwave, melt 1/4 cup red raspberry preserves, about 45 seconds.  Stir to smooth out lumps.  Spoon over dollops of cheesecake batter.

With soup spoon, turn batter over, turning pan as you go.  To do this, drop the spoon in the center of the pan and pull it under to the outside edge, and then up and back to the center, about six or eight times in wide sweeps, rotating the pan until you've gone all the way around.  You'll have a nice swirl of batters.

Make streusel topping:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
8 tsp. butter, melted

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl.  Pour melted butter over top, and with pastry blender or a fork, work the butter into the dry mixture until you have a loose crumb topping.

Sprinkle the crumb topping over the batters in the pan, completely covering the surface.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes to one hour or until cake tests done.  NOTE:  ovens vary - you may have to bake this for a shorter or longer period of time.  Make sure you test with a toothpick or knife and that it comes out clean.  Start testing around 50 minutes.  Mine had to go for over an hour...


Once out of the oven, cool completely.  Once cooled, run knife around edge of pan to make sure it doesn't stick and when it moves freely all the way around, release the spring and remove the side of the pan.

Dust top with confectioners sugar.

Still warm - couldn't wait!

You can see the cheesecake and raspberry...

Home-made Oreos

Today was the day.  I'd been keeping this recipe on hold for the past week until I had the time and opportunity to make them.  Russ was here this weekend and after he left this morning, I immediately went to work on my version of home-made OREOs!!!!  Too late for Russ, who, when he arrived, asked if I had any cookies.  For someone 6' 4" with no discernible body fat, he's quite the cookie monster! So, nope, no cookies last night...(sorry, handsome).  Anyway, I'd been researching recipes and found some that used cake mixes as their base.  I didn't want that, no.  What I was looking for was a great cookie that I could create, one that could be sandwiched together with a good butter cream filling  Who better to point me in the right direction than Deb from Smitten Kitchen.  She had already tried her hand at home-made Oreos, based on a recipe she credits to Retro Desserts and Wayne Brachman.

I understand that in blogging world we all borrow from each other.  None of us has a truly original idea -we gain inspiration and motivation from others in our cyber world, as well as in actual-world restaurants, bakeries, and in old cookbooks, magazines, and even word-of-mouth.  We may think of new takes and twists on old standards, but really, something outside ourselves usually triggers the creative process to try something new (to us) and different (from what we've done before).  It is with that mindset that I bring you a home-made yet simpler version of a processed food, a little bit 180-degrees from the way things usually work. Like my friend Jody posted on facebook when I mentioned that I'd be making homemade Oreos soon..."Why?  Did they run out of the real thing?"  I might have thought the same way before I became an obsessed "how do they do that?" kind of baker, eager to try my hand at making something good at home, with a little less process, a lot fewer ingredients, and a whole lotta freshness.

So, here, along with my photos, is the recipe for homemade Oreos!


HOME MADE OREOS
inspired by, and adapted from, Smitten Kitchen who was inspired by Retro Desserts, who was inspired by Nabisco, I'm guessing!

Oven - 375 degrees F
line cookie sheets with parchment paper


Cookies:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey's is fine)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature butter or margarine
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Filling: 
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter (not margarine)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract




Directions:

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

2. In large bowl of electric mixer, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg and vanilla. Mix well until dough comes together in an almost-solid ball.

3. Take rounded half-teaspoons of batter and roll into dime-sized balls.  Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened fingers, slightly flatten the dough.

4.     Bake for 9 minutes.  Remove from oven.   Set baking sheet on a rack to cool.

5. To make the filling, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

6. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip (I used a pastry tip with a "toothy" edge), pipe filling cream onto the center of one cookie (see photo in collage). Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.  Pour some icy-cold milk and share!

Click to almost taste enlarge

A Cupcake Kind of Day

First of all,  Happy Birthday to my brother Danny (still Danny to me, even at 55!) who lives on the west coast and won't be enjoying any of my cupcakes, though I did send him a photo of a cake I'd baked and digitally imposed "Happy Birthday Danny" on it!). Hope it's been a great day for him, and that he and his wife Suzette celebrate with a terrific dinner tonight.  If I were closer, Danny, you'd be having at least a cupcake!

It's been a very busy couple of baking days, and last night I made cupcakes for friends at work.  I brought in chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting for our student assistant, Nikki, who is twenty-one today (happy birthday Nikki!). For Helen's husband Jimmy, an ardent Giants fan whose birthday today is being celebrated on Superbowl Sunday, I made devils food cupcakes with ROYAL BLUE buttercream frosting!

The cupcakes were all baked last night (with Henry's assistance) and I got up at 6:00 a.m. to take a quick shower before making the frosting.  There was a lot to do before leaving my house for the day, taking the cupcakes with me.  First I made the white buttercream for Nikki's cupcakes, and then moved on to a batch of frosting made very, very blue by Wilton's Royal Blue paste food coloring.  It seemed too light, and by the time it was just right, I'd used half the bottle of food coloring!  I decorated the cupcakes, packed them in boxes, loaded them into my Jeep and made it in to work right at the wire. I was in such a rush that I threw a couple of hot rollers into my now shorter hair and drove to work that way, ripping them out of my head about a mile from the office (a first, and hopefully a last, for me!).   I got to work exactly at 8:30 a.m., feeling as though I'd put in a full day already (with a very long day, still to go)!

I don't know what it is about cupcakes that people love so much, but I'm guessing that the little serving of sweetness in a fluted paper cup delivers quite a bit of happiness for its small size.  You look at a cupcake, and you have to think it's going to make someone's day.  It's going to say "I'm thinking about you," or "I wish you well," or "Hope you have a great birthday!"  They are like edible greeting cards. And cupcakes are usually eaten with two or more people sharing a moment, their individual desserts bringing them together in appreciation of food and friendship.

Cupcakes are great.

Cupcake Trio

Crumb Cake Muffins

I'm testing out new muffin flavors, since it seems I always settle on the same three or four favorites.  Tonight I decided to broaden my baking horizons with a crumb cake muffin.  I'm using my basic recipe for the muffin itself -- a sour cream batter used as the foundation for every muffing I make -- and topping it with a New York-style crumb topping.  It's a very simple recipe, and it looks great (in the oven now).  The photos are of the muffin-in-process.  It's a pretty little muffin, and all expectations are that it will taste as good as it looks!

CRUMB CAKE MUFFINS

Oven 375 degrees F
Makes 12 standard muffins, plus a couple more...

Crumb topping:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 bar softened butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Muffin batter:
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 3/4  cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Make crumb topping:  in medium bowl, combine all the crumb topping ingredients and cut together with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture has coarse lumps the size of peas.  Set aside.

Make muffin batter:
In large bowl of electric mixer, beat together softened butter and sugar.  Add extracts.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in sour cream until thoroughly incorporated.  Add dry ingredients and mix very well, for about a minute.

Line muffin tin with paper cups or spray with cooking spray.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup batter each).  Top each filled cup with 1 tablespoon of the crumb topping.

Bake for 20 minutes or until muffins are done (toothpick test).  Cool on wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan.  Sift confectioners sugar over top of cooled muffins.

Makes more than enough for a dozen muffins.  (I got 15 out of mine.)

Me and my little helper!
(and happy birthday to his grandpa Gene today!)

Crumb Cake Muffins