My Baking Adventures

Woo hoo!! I was successful at last. Thanks to Leslie’s no-fail recipe, I was able to master the Dutch Baby, Puffy Pancake, Crespella, whatever your choice of names for it might be.

Following her advice, I used my blender (the one I didn’t blow up!) and whipped up that batter quick as can be. I still used my large All-Clad pan - and this was a good thing. It really had plenty of room to puff and expand.

As expected, it deflated as soon as I took it out of the oven. I dusted it with powdered sugar, cut it into wedges, and poured on the maple syrup. Or in our case, Mrs. Butterworth. She’s a close family friend, you see. I handed the kids their slice and waited…………………

I am happy to report that Alexander loved it - he demolished the whole thing. Sabrina didn’t like it - she ate the crunchy edges and pushed it aside. David wouldn’t eat it - carb-phobia right now. I tried it and it was scrumdiddlyumptious!

Thanks again, Leslie!!

Yesterday, Alexander came home and announced that he got a B+ on his math test. It was on measurements - i.e. how many cups to a pint, pints to a quart, etc. He had studied really hard and was proud of himself. With the school year so close to ending, it’s hard to stay motivated. If you ask him his favorite subject in school he’ll tell you it’s recess.

He wanted to go to Golden Spoon (where we are practically on a first name basis with the employees) to celebrate but I spaced on the way home and forgot. So I asked him how a Hot Fudge Sundae sounded and his eyes got really big and he said, “You can make that? But we don’t have any Hershey’s Syrup!” Silly boy, that stuff is for amateurs!

Thanks to Epicurious, I found a recipe right away. I whipped up the hot fudge sauce while he finished his homework - then dished out a big bowl of Cookies ‘N Cream Ice Cream, hot fudge sauce, and rainbow sprinkles.

Wait until my husband finds out we are out of ice cream……………..

Hot Fudge Sauce - adapted from Epicurious/Gourmet

2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring cream, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt, and half of chocolate to a boil in a 1 to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Add butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool sauce to warm before serving.

I must be in a Martha mood today. The air is crisp, cool (you wouldn’t know it’s spring today!) and I feel so……….domestic.

With the weather like this, it calls out for something with cheese, and baked. I know, mac and cheese! Yes, I’m a member of Mensa, can you tell?

Anyways, this recipe originally came from Everyday Food, but I’ve modified it to my tastes. It’s so good, and can be made ahead of time - always a bonus in my book. Just to get your appetite going, here’s a picture:

Tasty!!!

In continuing with the Martha theme, I am waiting for the Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies to come out of the oven. I’ll post a picture as soon as they are done.

Here’s my recipe for the mac and cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese -adapted from everyday food

1 pound short pasta, such as cavatappi

6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk

3 cups shredded (12 ounces) medium cheddar cheese
1 cup finely grated (2 ounces) Parmesan Reggiano cheese

3 cups very coarse fresh breadcrumbs
Coarse grind black pepper

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water 4 to 5 minutes less than package instructions. Drain, rinse with cool water, and return to pot.

Meanwhile, heat 4 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Add milk; bring to a simmer. Cook, whisking, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in cheeses until smooth. Pour over pasta; toss to coat. Pour into greased baking dish.
Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter; toss with breadcrumbs, and season with pepper. Sprinkle over pasta.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until bubbling, 25-35 minutes.

I must be feeling my Italian roots (what, are they showing?) because I have been making so many things that originated from the great country we call Italia. And this is no exception - smooth, snow white, panna cotta. Cooked cream, literally. I can remember the first time I ate Panna Cotta. In San Francisco, at Restaurant LuLu, with my husband and my carrot-cake eating buddy, Andrew. I was amazed at the texture, consistency and flavor. I liked it so much that I called the restaurant for the recipe. Now mind you, these were the days before internet and Google recipe searches. Ok, I’m not that old, but this was at least 15 years ago. So that makes me………..never mind.

I came across Claudia Fleming’s recipe for Buttermilk Panna Cotta, and I thought the tang from the buttermilk might give it an updated feel. Unfortunately, a flurry of questions from two children who shall remain nameless threw off my concentration and I put the gelatin with the wrong mixture. Yes, user error. I’m not one of these talented people that can talk and consult a recipe at the same time. Hey, I can multi-task with the best of them but when I’m trying a new recipe I like to devote my attention to the task at hand.

I completed the recipe and hoped for the best.

The consistency was off (my fault) but I really liked the flavor. It isn’t overly sweet, therefore it needs an accompaniment since you can definitely taste the tangy buttermilk, so I think a side of sweetened fruit would really make this special.

For me, Sundays were meant for comforting foods - mac and cheese, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, chicken cutlets. It is traditionally a day of relaxation and nothing more important than thinking about your next meal. Well, in a perfect world, anyways. In my house, it’s mass pandemonium from the moment I get up. Which makes it no different than any other day of the week. The closest I get to relaxation is sitting down to write in my blog. Besides, sleep is highly overrated.

To go with tonight’s menu, I prepared a wonderful lemon pudding - the recipe is from Lori Longbotham, who wrote a fabulous book called “Luscious Lemon Desserts”. This recipe is very simple to prepare and versatile - not only can you serve it as a pudding, but I have also used it as a pie filling, as a spread between cake layers, and to fill cupcakes, too.

Sorting through my cabinet, I found heart shaped ramekins from Williams Sonoma (that I forgot I had) and filled them with the pudding. With sliced strawberries that have been marinating in Amaretto on the side, dessert is done! Now, if I could only figure out how to squeeze in that relaxation part……………….

My Favorite Lemon Pudding - Lori Longbotham

¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 ½ cups milk
3 large egg yolks
2 tbs finely grated lemon zest
½ up fresh lemon juice
2 tbs. butter, room temperature

Whisk the sugar and the cornstarch together in a medium saucepan. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the egg yolks and zest and cook, stirring frequently at first and constantly towards the end, over medium heat until thickened enough to thickly coat the back of a spoon.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter. Pour through a strainer into a large serving bowl or 4 individual serving dishes.
Let cool to room temperature. Chill, loosely covered, for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days, or until set and thoroughly chilled. Serve chilled.

What could be more enticing than to wake up on a Saturday and realize:

1. The kids don’t have school.

2. You have a new pancake recipe to try.

That’s how my morning started. So far, so good. With my cappuccino in hand, I set out to try “Truck Stop Pancakes” that I saw on Beth’s blog The Sweet Life. Her pictures were outstanding and her reviews were inspiring - so in my book, that’s a recipe for success!

I mixed my batter carefully, and ladled them gently onto my countertop griddle, listening to them sizzle away. Ahh, pancake perfection:

Sabrina got into the act, by mixing up a batch of Ina Garten’s Pomegranate Breakfast Soda. She was a little heavy handed with the lime juice, but overall a very interesting drink. Add a shot of vodka and it would be even better. For me.

By now, the pancakes were golden brown and ready to go: after the kids smothered them in butter and drowned them in syrup, I waited with bated breath:

“Ummm, these are delicious!!!” They were light, had great flavor and the perfect consistency. I think the batter was a little too wet, but another 1/2 cup flour would certainly cure that. Definitely worth trying again!!

Truck Stop Pancakes - courtesy of All Recipes.com

2 eggs
1/2 c milk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 2/3 c buttermilk
1 2/3 c all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1 Tbsp and 2 tsp sugar

In a large bowl whisk eggs, butter and milks. In another bowl combine all dry ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined. Adjust the batter thickness if needed by adding more flour (to make them thicker) or more buttermilk (if they seem too thick).

Heat a large skillet or non-stick griddle to medium/medium-high heat. I used a ladle to pour out the pancakes onto the griddle. When bubbles start appearing all over the “raw” side of the pancake (facing you) check the “doneness” of the cooked side with a spatula and flip when they are browned to your liking.

Pomegranate Breakfast Soda - Ina Garten

(Scaled down from original recipe)

8 oz. pomegranate juice
8 oz. sparkling water - we used Pellegrino
1 tbs. lime juice
2 tbs. sugar

Mix ingredients together and serve over ice.