Cranberry Orange Quickbread

Let's just say I am sick of hot weather.  Yes, we still have hot weather here.  I read all sorts of blogs with posts about fall weather happening and I am just green with envy.  We are still running our air conditioner, are still hot and sweaty outside, and are still swatting at those d*** mosquitos outside.  Ugh.  So I am trying to bake some coldness into my world.  I know, it sounds crazy since baking means using an oven which means hot temperature but I am thinking less literally than that.  Coldness as in the ambiance of flavors, the overall feeling that different flavors give you.  Like a cranberry orange quickbread.  Cranberry/orange makes me think of winter.  Coldness, see?  Winter = cold (well, in most places anyway).  Thus came the cranberry orange bread to my kitchen.

The recipe is from Anne Burrell.  That crazy haired woman can cook.  And this recipe works.  The flavors are spot on.  And, important in my world, it is super fast to make.  Seriously, I decided to start the recipe one evening when I had literally 30 minutes before a guest was coming over.  I had this bread in the oven AND the dishes washed before she got to our house!  Yes!  The bread wasn't actually for the guest, it was for a function the next day, but we could have served it while she was there!  Do you see the word "quickbread" in the title of this recipe?  Take that to it's true meaning - QUICK BREAD.  You got it!

Cranberry Orange Quickbread
adapted from Anne Burrell, Food Network
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra to flour loaf pan
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick cold butter, cut into pea size pieces, plus extra for buttering loaf pan
1 orange, zested (I recommend a large naval orange)
3/4 cups fresh orange juice (approx. 2 naval oranges)
1 orange, peeled, sections removed and diced
1 egg
1 cup dried cranberries

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugars, salt, baking soda and butter.  Pulse until the mixture is like "finely grated cheese".  Add the orange zest, juice and egg.  Pulse some more until just combined.  Pour into a bowl and stir in the orange pieces and cranberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time for even baking.

Cool for about 20 minutes and then remove the loaf from the pan.  Cool completely before cutting.
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I would like to try this recipe with fresh cranberries.  I'll have to increase the sugar a bit to compensate but I think the fresh ones would really pop in the bread.  Something to work on....

Seriously, if you need a quickbread recipe, give this one a shot.  Fast and delicious.  What is better than that?

TWD: Baking with Julia - X Cookies

Our Tuesdays with Dorie recipe this week is for "X Cookies".  These are essentially grown up fig newtons.  Since I am a fig fan, I thought these cookies sounded like a fun treat.  Not necessarily what I will pack for snack day for the clever girl's kindergarten class, but good for us grown up types.  However, I must admit that the clever girl thought they were pretty good.  I just think that some other kiddos wouldn't care for them, plus since one of the ingredients is RUM, I don't want to become "THAT MOM" in her class, so snack day will have to be something else!  Which leaves more of these cookies for me!

Why did Nick Malgieri (the recipe author) make X cookies?  Maybe he was playing with the dough one day and ended up with these cute little X's?  Could there be O cookies too, so they could be X's and O's?  Like kisses and hugs? 

They start with a sweet dough that is a great recipe on three counts:  (1) it is fast and (2) it is tasty but (3) it is foolproof, according to Nick Malgieri!  I must say, a foolproof dough recipe is about too good to be true!  The dough is made in a food processor, and is a combination of flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and eggs.  Once it is good and balled up around the processor blade, you are done!  One thought, though - I think it would be nice to add a little almond extract to the dough.  It would complement the filling nicely I think....

Dump that dough out onto a floured mat, knead it a little and then shape it into a log.  Done.

Now that the dough is done, let's do the filling:    Use that trusty food processor again for this step.  Put in all of the filling ingredients and pulse until it is all finely chopped.  The filling consists of figs, toasted almonds, apricot preserves, raisins, candied orange peel, chocolate, rum, and cinnamon.  YUM.  However, if these ingredients don't float your boat, I am certain you could mix things up a bit here.  You just want something that is almost like a paste, that you can roll into a log shape.  Speaking of log, shape this mixture into a log and cut it into 12 pieces.

Time to make some X's!  Cut your big roll of dough into 12 pieces.  Take one of those pieces and roll it into a 12 inch log.  Flatten it so it is about 3x12-inches. 

Now take one of your filling pieces and roll that into a 12 inch snake and sit it on top of your flattened dough:

Not very appealing looking, right?  Let's just not think about that, okay?

Now wrap the dough around the filling and roll it a bit longer so now it is 15 inches in length.  Cut into 3 inch long pieces - each of these forms an X.  

Now cut a small slit up each end of your piece of dough and shape into an X!  And there you have X cookies!  

Now brush with an egg wash and put them in the oven.  I actually forgot the egg wash on my first tray - the recipe actually never says to apply it, it just mentions the wash in the ingredients list, so by the time I was at this part of the recipe I had totally forgotten about that silly egg wash!  But I remembered when I took them out of the oven and managed to make it happen for the rest of the cookies.  The egg wash gives the cookies a nice sheen.  

We enjoyed these cookies.  The shape is something fun and different, the filling is tasty, and the recipe makes 5 dozen!  Hooray!  I think these would be a great addition to a Christmas platter.  Or should I say X-mas platter?  Teeheehee...

 Would you like one?

The recipe for X Cookies can be found on pages 318-319 of Baking with Julia, or you can find it here.  Do take a moment to see what other bakers in this group thought of the recipe - there are some great (and funny) cooks among us!  You can find our link list here!  Hey, do check that out - one of the bakers made O cookies and played tic-tac-toe!  Now THAT is clever!

Daring Bakers: Chocolate Coconut Pastel de Tres Leches (3 Milk Cake)

I am not very consistent with my Daring Bakers challenges, but I gave it a go this month for Pastel de Tres Leches!  How could I resist?  Inma was our September 2013 Daring Bakers hostess and WOW did she bring us something decadent and delicious!  Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy, just plain delish!

Living in Houston, I have definitely had Tres Leches Cake (as we call it here) before.  The promise of an airy, not soggy version was very intriguing to me, but I also wanted to do something a little different than the "typical" Tres Leches.  Enter Inma's option of a chocolate coconut version!  Whooee, now we are talking!

To be honest, it is not a difficult cake to make, other than all of that FOLDING.  I am not a good folder.  There, I have said it.  It is something I do while holding my breath every time because I know I am not good so my confidence each time is in the toilet.  I need a lesson in folding.  Anyone know where I can get one?  Not an online video tutorial but someone who will stand next to me and help me do it right.  HELP!  Truly, I want to master folding!

The recipe has very few ingredients.  Eggs, sugar, vanilla, flour, water and cocoa powder.  If you made the original version it would be identical but take out the water and cocoa powder.   That's it, people!  And the amount of sugar is quite low for a cake, just 1/2 cup, because of all of the sweet milk you'll be pouring over it.  The tricky part is this - you whip the egg whites and sugar to stiff peaks and then beat the egg yolks until they are nice and fluffy.  Then you have to FOLD the egg yolks into the whites.  Scary part #1.  But wait, remember the ingredient of FLOUR?  Well, you then "shower" the egg white mixture with sifted flour, little bits at a time, and keep gently FOLDING it in.  ACK.  Seriously scary part # 2 through a zillion!  Now, mix the cocoa powder and water together into a paste, and FOLD that into the mix.  Horrifyingly scary part number zillion+!  That is lots of folding and lots of me holding my breath.  Thankfully I did not pass out. 

Pour that batter into a cake pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.  In the mean time, make the 3 milk syrup.  The cake would not be Tres Leches without this crucial element!  Mix together a can of sweetened condensed milk, a can of coconut milk, and a cup of heavy cream, and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.  It needs to cool completely before you use it.  If you were making the original recipe, you would take out the coconut milk and use a can of evaporated milk instead.  And add in a cinnamon stick.

Cut the cake in half horizontally, poke holes liberally with a fork, and start soaking that bad boy with the milk syrup.  I brushed in as much as I could before it was just seeping out all over my platter, and then put the cake into the refrigerator overnight.  I covered the milk syrup and refrigerated that as well.  In the morning, I brushed in more syrup.  I did the same in the afternoon and again before totally constructing the cake that evening.  I still didn't get all of the syrup into the cake but I did the best I could!

Spread some whipped cream on the top of that cake layer, and sprinkle with some toasted coconut.  Then put the other cake layer on top, cut side up.  I drizzled more of the syrup over the top layer as well.  I was not sure if I was supposed to pour the milk into that layer or not, so I didn't at first.  Looking back, you should probably do the same to both layers but then I have no idea how you'd get that second layer off of it's plate and onto the first layer without it falling to pieces.  However, I am fairly sure this is what I was supposed to do!  Oh, well!  Spread whipped cream all around the cake and sprinkle more toasted coconut on the top and sides.  If you were doing the original version, you would use some sort of fresh or canned fruit here and in the filling.

DIG IN.  Yum.

One of my best girlfriends was over for dinner the night I made my Tres Leches cake.  She said it was "pure loveliness", like a blend of chocolate cream pie, coconut and tres leches all together.  She said the toasted coconut really "made" the dessert.  She cleaned her plate.  So did the rest of us!  Delicious.  Inma did not steer us wrong.  This was one super awesome cake, that really was airy and not soggy!  Thank you Inma for this "lovely" challenge!

Coconut Three Milks Cake
Serves 12

Ingredients:
Sponge cake
5 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup water
3 TB unsweetened cocoa powder

Coconut syrup
1 can (~14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (~12 oz.) coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream

Topping and filling
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar (I used a bit less, maybe more like 1/4-1/3 cup)
1 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened coconut, and used more like 2 cups total)

Instructions:
Sponge cake
Preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter a 9x9-inch square pan or 9x9-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment, and butter the parchment.

Separate the yolks and the whites, putting the yolks in a small mixing bowl and the whites in a large mixing bowl.  Beat the whites on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, or until soft peaks form.  Gradually add the sugar and whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.

Beat the egg yolks at medium-high speed until pale colored and creamy, about 5-6 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla.  Pour the egg yolks over the egg whites and gently fold until just combined, being careful to not lose any volume from the egg white mixture.

Fold in the flour little by little in the form of rain.  Mix until just combined.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely, then split the cake into two layers.  Flip the top of the cake onto a cake platter so the cut edge is up and liberally poke with a fork to help the cake absorb the milk syrup.

Coconut Syrup
Pour the three milks to a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Once cool, brush all of the milk syrup into all of the sides of the cake.  Do the top layer the same way if you want, though I have no idea how you'll get the soaked layer up onto the first layer when the time comes!  Rest the cake in the refrigerator overnight to complete the soaking process.

Topping and Filling
Put coconut into a dry skillet and allow to lightly toast.

Whip the cream, and when soft peaks form, gradually add the sugar.  Continue whipping until stiff peaks
form, about 2 minutes.

Layer some whipped cream onto the bottom cake layer and cover with a little less than half of the toasted coconut.  Put the top layer on and cover the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream and toasted coconut.

Enjoy!
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Yum.  A mouthful of creamy delicious goodness.  If you have had tres leches before and thought it too soggy or too sweet for you, give this one a try.  It is perfect!

Curls

The clever girl and I had lots of "girl-time" this past weekend, as Mr. Clever Mom was out of town.  So I thought we'd get really "girlie" and play hair salon!  You see, the clever girl is going to be a flower girl in November, and I want to do something fancy to her hair for the event.  She has a beautiful gown, complete with a tiara and everything, so obviously (to me anyway) she needs a fancy 'do for the big event.  Plus, playing hair salon is just fun and a special thing for that sweet girl, so why not?

I decided to go crazy and see what kind of curl I could get into her very fine, straight hair.  I have this very vague memory of my grandmother putting my hair up in rags when I was little, as a solution to sleeping in uncomfortable curlers.  Ah-ha.  Now what should I use for the curlers??

Here is a fantastic use for those boxy t-shirts you get at all sorts of random events that you never wear!  I used one from a run I did with a girlfriend last fall.  Cut the t-shirt into strips, about 2 inches by 6-8 inches each.  Get the hair nice and damp.  Part the hair into sections that are about 2 inches square, wrap the bottom of the hair around the middle of the "rag", and roll all the way up to the head.  Then just tie the two ends together in a single overhand knot.  Not a complete knot, but just the first part you do like when you are going to tie your shoe.  Now keep going all around the head, and voila! 

Your kid's head (or your own head) will look something like this!  The clever girl has very fine hair and not a lot of it, so if the hair you are using is thicker, you will need more rags and cutting them to be 8 inches in length will probably be helpful.  The benefit of rags is that they are soft and you can sleep on them much more easily than curlers, even the foam ones that they came out with when I was a kid.  There may be some new-fangled soft curler out there on the market now, but why buy that when you can use an old t-shirt??

In the morning, gently untie all of the rags and put them aside for when you do this fun trick again.  DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT put a hairbrush to the hair.  Just gently separate the curls with your fingers.  If you use a hairbrush, you'll end up with a big frizz-head.  Now, that could be what you are going for, and if so, go for it!  But if you want curls, stay away from the hairbrush.

And you'll end up with something like this:

Had I used some gel or mousse in her hair when it was wet before I rolled it, the curls would probably have stayed a bit better.  As it was, they relaxed quite a bit though honestly, it just got prettier and prettier, I thought.  By early afternoon, they were long ringlets instead of the super-boingy curls you see above.

The clever girl LOVED it.  She "boinged" all over the house all morning, just like Tigger.  I just kept staring at her.  Was this my clever girl with these curls?  She looked so different but the same all at once! 

Ah, yes.  Still my silly clever girl!

TWD: Baking with Julia - NOT Espresso Profiteroles

Our recipe this week for Tuesday's with Dorie was Espresso Profiteroles.  I am not a huge coffee fan and since I would be sharing this dessert with my 5 year old, I didn't fancy the idea of the extra caffeine for her right before bedtime.  Caffeine + 5 yr old = bad idea (in my house anyway).  And, to be honest, I just didn't feel like espresso. 

So I used water instead of coffee (boring, right?) and left out the espresso powder.  I could probably have jazzed it up more, but my creativity level was low at that moment.

These profiteroles were filled with ice cream.  YUM and EASY.  The recipe suggested cinnamon ice cream, which I admit would have been super delicious, however I didn't make homemade cinnamon ice cream (lazy) and I didn't find cinnamon ice cream in the crappy grocery store by my house.  (I decided to make these in the spur of the moment one day so the ingredients were not purchased at my regular fabulous grocery store.)  I found some salted caramel ice cream and, I must say, they were pretty tasty!

In addition, I was supposed to use Grand Marnier in the chocolate sauce.  I thought we had some but I couldn't find it and used Amaretto instead.  Did I deviate too much from the original recipe?  Maybe... 

Okay, this reminds me of a funny story about Grand Marnier that I just have to share.  Many moons ago, I visited my sister and she was making chocolate truffles for some event for work.  And she needed some Grand Marnier.  So we drove around to MANY liquor stores asking for Grand Marnier.  No one had it.  It was crazy!  How could this be?  Finally, I told my sister she should ask for "Grand Mar-i-ner" (pronounced totally wrong) and low and behold, we found that secret treasure!  We still laugh about this story together!  Ahhh...

Back to these profiteroles.  Easy and yummy.  That is all I have to say.  They LOOK like they should be hard but they aren't at all.  I love recipes like this!  Oh, and messy.  Messy is definitely a big component to these treats!
 

 A messy messy girl...

But a yummy dessert is worth getting a bit messy for!

This recipe can be found on pages 411-413 of Baking with Julia.  Be sure to check out the Tuesday's with Dorie blog and click on the LYL tab to see what the other bakers though of this recipe!

Espresso Profiteroles
adapted from Baking with Julia
makes 12-16 servings of 3 profiteroles each

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup brewed coffee (or water)
3/4 stick unsalted butter
2 TB sugar
1 TB finely ground espresso beans (optional)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
5-6 large eggs
1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon cold water, for egg wash

Instructions:
Position the oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 400F.

Put the milk, coffee/water, butter, sugar and espresso (if using) into a 2-quart sauce pan and bring to a full boil over medium heat.  Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until the butter is melted.  Continue to stir and add the flour all at once.  Stir energetically and without stopping until the flour is thoroughly incorporated.  Continue to cook and stir for another 30-45 seconds, while the dough forms a ball around the spoon.  A light crust will be visible on the bottom of the pan.

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the dough into a medium bowl.  Immediately beat in the eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon to incorporate each egg before adding the next one.  The first couple of egg will be most difficult, but it will get easier with each egg.  After you have incorporated 5 eggs, take a look at the dough. The dough is ready when, as you lift your spoon, it pulls up some of the dough and then detaches and forms a slowly bending peak.  If the dough is too thick and doesn't do this "peak", add the 6th egg.

You must pipe the dough while it is warm.  Spoon the dough (it is called choux paste) into a pastry bag fited with a 1/2 inch plain tip (or a star tip will work fine) and pipe quarter-sized puffs onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between puffs.  If you do not have a pastry bag, a zip-top bag would work too, just cut off a corner and twist the top like a pastry bag.   Finish piping each puff with a small twist at the end, so there isn't a point on top.  It is like writing the letter C.  Or, give your puffs a point on top!  If you get a point, just dab the point with a moistened fingertip and it will go down.  Brush the pastries with the egg wash.   I forgot to do this!

Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350F and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until the pastries are golden and feel hollow.  Halfway through the baking period, rotate the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back.  Transfer the sheets to cooling racks and allow the puffs to cool completely before cutting and filling.

Chocolate Sauce
(I halved this recipe and had PLENTY)
Ingredients: 
11 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups whole milk
6 TB light corn syrup
2 TB unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 TB Grand Marnier or other orange liquor (or other liquor of your liking!)

Instructions:
Put the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and set nearby.  Put the milk and corn syrup in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Slowly pour the hot milk over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted.  Add the butter and continue to stir until the butter is melted and thoroughly incorporated into the sauce.  Stir in the liquor and serve while warm. 

You can make this sauce up to 1 week in advance, just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Warm the sauce in a double boiler or slowly in a microwave. 

To serve, cut each puff in half crosswise and fill with ice cream.  Drizzle with warm chocolate sauce.  Serve 3 puffs to each person.
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Pumpkin Waffles

I know it is summer Pumpkin Waffles seem more "fall-like" in nature, but really, can't we eat pumpkin all year round?  I had a hankering for pumpkin waffles one morning so summer or not, we had them!

And YUM.  They are a perfect deviation from the "regular" waffle.  The pumpkin flavor is very light, and is enhanced by pumpkin-pie-like spices.  Who doesn't want pumpkin pie for breakfast?  Sounds good to me!

Pumpkin Waffles
adapted from smitten kitchen

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk, shaken well
1 cup solid-pack canned pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 TB) unsalted butter, melted
cooking spray or vegetable oil for waffle iron

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 200F and preheat waffle iron.

Sift dry ingredients together (flour through cloves).  Whisk egg yolks, buttermilk, pumpkin and butter together in a large bowl until smooth.  Whisk in dry ingredients until just combined.

With an electric mixer (hand or stand) whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.  Gently fold them into the waffle batter until just combined.

Spray or oil waffle iron and spoon batter (amount varies depending on waffle iron manufacturer) into waffle iron.  Cook according to manufacturer instructions.

Serve right away or transfer to a cooling rack sitting in a rimmed baking sheet and place in the preheated oven.  This will help them to stay warm and crisp while you make more!

Serve with warm maple syrup.
Printable Recipe

What a great way to start the day.  Sure, it isn't fall weather yet, but I just can't wait until then to have some pumpkin waffles!

Maple-Orange Pork Tenderloin

This is one of our favorite pork tenderloin recipes!  My mom found it first and passed it my way.  It is easy to do, the hardest part is remembering to marinate the pork for an hour before cooking.  I often forget that a recipe needs to marinate and then run out of time and have a frenzy about NOW what do I make for dinner!

Maple-Orange Pork Tenderloin
adapted from Taste of Home
serves 6+
Ingredients:
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 TB reduced-sodium soy sauce or Tamari
2 TB ketchup
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 pork tenderloins, 1 pound each

Instructions:  
Combine the first 9 ingredients (through garlic) in a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag.  Add the pork, seal the bag and swish it around so the entire tenderloin is coated in the marinade.  Refrigerate for 1 hour. 

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Remove the tenderloin from the bag and reserve marinade.  Place pork in a roasting pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil.  Bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, until a meat thermometer reads 145F.  Let pork rest for 10 minutes.  While pork rests, put the marinade into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  You must allow the marinade to boil in order to kill any yucky germs from when it was touching the raw tenderloin. 

Slice the tenderloin and drizzle with maple-orange sauce. 
Printable Recipe

This recipe is so easy and is delicious.  I generally make half of the recipe, which is plenty for the three of us plus a small portion of leftovers.  My daughter loves the fact that it has a sauce - sauces make everything better!  Give it a try.  It might become a go-to recipe for you, too!