lemon bars and life updates

Last we spoke, I had completed my first multi-day backpacking trip. I had hoped that it would light the blogging fire I let go out, but it didn't have such an effect. I still wasn't baking very often, and ran even less. Truth be told, I was, and still am, feeling incredibly stressed out with school and the hells of retail. As the stress built up, I slowly backed away from activities I once found pleasurable. When pleasurable activities became challenging, I tossed them into the pile of stress that accumulated in the corner and disengaged. Eventually, all I had left was that big ol' pile of stress with nothing left to counter it. 

Despite the good things that had (and are happening) in my life, it felt as if I had been handed a giant pile of lemons with instructions to figure it out on my own. I chose to wallow. What I've learned about myself over the years is that I am an expert wallow-er, and if left to my own devices, could probably turn it into a full-time gig. I needed something productive, something with no expectations, to counter my negativity. So, what to do when you have lemons? Turn it into something sweet.

lacing up my running shoes & breaking out the whisk

After my race in August, I took a sabbatical from everything running and cooking related; my motivation for the former was waning and the latter began to feel like more of a chore than a pleasure. There isn't much to talk about here otherwise, so I put blogging on the back burner until I was ready to begin anew. Fortunately, my dry spell only lasted a month. (It could have been worse, right?)

During the last week of August, I finally had the desire to lace up my running shoes. My iPod wasn't charged and I didn't have my Garmin, but neither of those were necessary. I simply ran for fun, paying attention to just my breathing and the scenery. It got a little rough under the blazing sun, though for the first time in a while I didn't mentally quit. Since I wasn't able to see my distance and pace, I avoided subconsciously racing myself, which happens more than I care to admit. Not only did I feel proud of myself, I started feeling hungry. Not long after, I found my way back into the kitchen.

If you subscribe to Bon Appetit, you'll have noticed an incredible chocolate layer cake in August's issue. Something grand, something chocolate would have made an excellent choice!! But it was too much work - the cake layers, the crumb coat, the final coat, the hazelnut crunch. I needed something simpler. Homemade red velvet cookies sounded promising until I remembered that I was out of red dye. Eventually, I decided to bake madeleines, the simple little French cakes that look impressive without even trying.

Madeleines are made from genoise batter, which is a buttery sponge cake leavened by air (some recipes call for baking powder in addition). These cakes require a scallop-shaped tin or else they can't really be called madeleines. I looked up a David Lebovitz recipe I knew I could trust and set to work, preparing the tins to chill in the freezer and the batter to rest in the fridge. According to everything I've ever read about madeleines that Lebovitz' recipe confirms, lengthy chilling of both tins and batter aids in majestically humpy cakes, so make sure you plan ahead. Good things come to those who wait, though, and after a quick nine minutes of baking you will be rewarded with perfection.

Unlike cupcakes, which showboat under a mountain of fluffy frosting studded with sprinkles, madeleines tempt you with their delicate scalloped edges defined by a dusting of confectioners' sugar or a light glaze, quietly stealing the show with their elegance. They're small enough that you can eat three at once without inducing a toothache, because believe me, you're not going to eat just one - I speak from experience, people. Unfortunately, there are only a dozen left (I shared them, okay? I haven't been running that much), so I will have to make something else soon.

Hopefully this trend will continue. The cooler temperature will make for more pleasant running conditions, and I'm looking forward to fall baking. I even have a few ideas up my sleeve.

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Lemon-Glazed Madeleines from David Lebovitz

Cupcake Fail = Cake Ball Win

It wasn't my intention to make cake balls. I made them once before for New Year's Eve, mixed in too much frosting with the cake, and ended up with something that disgusted me. Initially, I planned on making cupcakes flavored with Celestial Seasonings' Sugar Plum Spice tea.

Every year, mid-November, their holiday teas reach the shelves of the grocery store. I really like all their flavorings, like Gingerbread Spice, Nutcracker Sweet, and Candy Cane Lane, a peppermint green tea. I haven't tried Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride yet, so I can't say what it's like. But my favorite of them all is Sugar Plum Spice. It's spicy with a floral note and perfect to sip when the weather outside is frightful. While drinking a cup, I thought back to previous cakes I made with tea and figured Sugar Plum Spice would make for a delicious cupcake flavor.

I have my favorite go-to cupcake recipes, though today I mixed it up and used the Amy Sedaris Vanilla Cupcake recipe,, but halved the original recipe (the link I gave shows the original cupcake recipe scaled in half). I figured that although I hadn't tried it before, I'm sure it would work out well. It looked like a basic recipe.

To begin, I scalded milk and steeped two tea bags in it. After five minutes, I removed the bags and let the milk cool to room temperature.

I also cut open a tea bag and added the leaves to the butter and sugar. I found this adds even more flavor to the cake and you don't notice the tea leaves when you eat it.

When you make a pot of Sugar Plum Spice tea, the tea has a reddish plum color. That wasn't going to work with the cupcake batter because the steeped milk was a little gray, so I added a tiny bit of Wilton food gel coloring to the butter and sugar.

After those two little additions, the recipe proceeds like standard cake recipes. The eggs and vanilla are added to the creamed butter and sugar followed by the flour, in three additions, and the milk in between the flour. I always give cake batters one final stir with the spatula.

I noticed that there didn't seem to be much batter and I was worried the cupcakes weren't going to look very impressive. I like tall, domed cupcakes, not small squatty cakes. There wasn't enough batter to fill the cups up 2/3rds of the way, which technically is what you want. Personally, I always fill them up a little higher when I make cupcakes but there wasn't anywhere near enough to do that this time.

As I expected, the cupcakes didn't really rise much higher than the top of the tin. I also failed to grease the tin properly and almost all of the cupcakes tore as I prodded them out with a butter knife. Failure. Fortunately, they at least tasted flavorful and buttery, with a delicate crumb that melted in your mouth.

I didn't really know what to do with the cupcakes until I decided to turn them into cake balls.

U-G-H.

Thinking back on my last cake ball venture didn't leave me with fond memories. Because I didn't want to waste perfectly good tasting cake, so I proceeded with the idea, making a quick batch of buttercream. I may have made a bit too much because the mixture was kind of tacky after combining the buttercream with the crumbled cake. I stuck it in the fridge overnight and hoped it would be edible.

The next day, I melted two cups of white chocolate chips over a double boiler with shortening. Shortening helps create a smooth consistency that makes it much easier to coat the balls. I don't know how much I used, but it was probably close to 1/3 of a cup until I got the consistency I wanted. It easily flowed from a spoon and wouldn't result in a gloppy mess. I would use Wilton Candy Melts or bar chocolate next time since they melt more easily than chips, which are made to keep their shape. Chips can be used and I often use them because that's what I usually have in the pantry, but it takes longer.

The process went quickly and the cake balls were firm enough to be rolled in the chocolate without melting. I think I was a little sloppy when I transferred them to the wax paper-lined baking sheet, though, because mini disks of chocolate spread out underneath. The tops of the balls were sprinkled with coarse sanding sugar mixed with raspberry jello powder to make a subtle pink sugar. They looked pretty and festive.

They tasted really good, too. The spiciness was dulled a little by the frosting (which I didn't flavor with more tea for whatever reason), though they still were good and the tea flavor did come through. The white chocolate coating wasn't overpowering, either. All in all, success!

Double-Coconut Cake

Easter dessert this year was a coconut cake. My mom made this recipe a while ago and likes it because it packs a very flavorful coconut taste. Many coconut cake recipes use just flavoring and flaked coconut, but this recipe uses coconut milk as the liquid in the cake. We hadn't made it in a while and decided it would be perfect for this spring holiday.

This cake once graced the cover of a Cooking Light magazine, where my mom had first seen it. It's a very pretty, two layer cake filled with an Italian meringue frosting that's flavored with coconut extract. An Italian meringue is simple to make and doesn't dissolve as quickly as a traditional meringue. A sugar syrup is boiled to the proper temperature, then beaten into the whipped egg whites. The heat of the syrup cooks the eggs and makes them safe to consume. It reminds me of a 7-minute icing, where the egg whites are cooked with sugar over a double boiler and whipped for 7 minutes. It tastes like marshmallows.

As I mentioned above, the batter has coconut milk instead of cow milk. The original recipe calls for light coconut milk, but it also works just as well with whole fat coconut milk.

The cake layers were baked the night before, minimizes work on Easter. There was somewhat of a catastrophe that occurred just before we went to make the icing, which was me spilling part of dinner on the floor, but once it was cleaned up the meringue was prepared without a glitch. We brought the cake layers out, icing the first one, topping with icing and flaked coconut, then repeating the process with the second layer. My mom grated fresh lemon zest over the top for color. It also gave the cake a nice subtle lemon essence.

Everyone was looking forward to this cake. Yes, we had a secondary Italian pasta dessert (it's like tapioca, but with acini de pepe), but sweet pasta can't compare to cake. I am usually the one to slice cakes in our family. It's tradition, like how the dad carves the turkey on Thanksgiving. I made the first impression with the knife and pressed down, only to meet with resistance when I reach the bottom layer. The cake started to slide and the frosting in the middle began to press out. I had no idea what was going on. I managed to slice into the bottom layer, though, as you can observe from the pictures, the slices were less than pretty. After making the second slice I looked down to see what seemed like a flap of skin, which I had thought peeled off from the bottom of the layers. And I was right, though instead of skin-like cake layers it was a layer of wax paper that hadn't been peeled from off the bottom of the cake. In the confusion of the pre-frosting disaster we sort of failed to remember it was even there, and since the wax paper was translucent we couldn't tell by looking that it was still there.

And that's the story. If you want to make this cake, and I highly suggest you do, please remember to peel the parchment or wax paper layer from the cake layers.

You can find the recipe by clicking on this link, which is from Cooking Light.

hot cross buns

Every year for Easter breakfast my family makes hot cross buns. We use a recipe from The Bread Book by Linda Collister and Anthony Blake. Hot cross buns were traditionally Good Friday fare in England, but have since become associated with Easter around the globe. It's a good thing, too, because these sweet, spicy yeast rolls studded with fruit are delicious.

They came out a bit dense this time. I'm not sure if it's because I soaked the yellow raisins and dried cranberries in water first and the excess moisture contributed to a rather slack dough, but they were still good. What's good about this recipe is that it makes about three dozen 2 ounce rolls, some for now and some for later. You can freeze the extras, slice, and toast for breakfast.

The dough is enriched by butter, eggs, sugar, and milk powder, though I subbed half the water with skim milk instead. Unlike a typical sweet dough, hot cross bun dough is accented with spices. This time around I used a mixture of pumpkin pie spice, allspice, ground ginger, and fresh nutmeg. I've read that too much cinnamon inhibits yeast action, so I don't go over the 3 teaspoons the recipe says you can use. Most of the spices seemed too subtle, unfortunately. Maybe it's just me. It also seems that using a full 3 tablespoons tints the buns a bit gray, not pleasantly white like the picture in the book shows. Finally, the rolls are given a burst of fruity flavor from the dried cranberries and raisins. Traditionally, citron might be used, but I prefer the fruit.

What makes this recipe different from others is the cross. Most recipes you'll find have an icing cross piped on the rolls after they've been baked, but this version calls for a flour paste cross to be piped on before baking. I made it a bit too runy, which I think made the cross not look as prominent after it had baked.

Immediately after baking, the hot buns are brushed with a thin glaze made from confectioners' sugar and milk. It gives the rolls a finished, shiny look. While the glaze does dry, it gets a bit sticky after a few hours. I don't mind, and the rolls get a little extra sweetness from it. When you toast the rolls, the tops get a little caramelized. It's tasty.

What Easter food traditions do you guys have?

(Recipe after jump)

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Hot Cross Buns
From The Bread Book by Linda Collister and Anthony Blake

Makes twenty-four buns

ingredients -

6 1/2 cups white bread flour
3/4 to 1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
2 to 3 teaspoons spice mixture of your choice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/4 cups mixed dried fruit, such as dark and golden raisins and currants
1/4 cup diced candied citrus peel (preferably lemon and orange peel)
2 cakes compressed fresh yeast (0.6 ounce each) or 2 envelopes active dry yeast, 5 teaspoons total (I use SAF Instant)
2 cups lukewarm water (95F to 105F)
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced and softened
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

Topping -

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons water
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing
Optional: Thin glaze made from confectioners' sugar and milk for glazing after baking

a baking sheet, greased or lined with parchment paper

directions -

1. Heat the oven to its lowest setting. Mix together the flour, sugar (reserving 1 teaspoon if using dry yeast), vital wheat gluten, spice, salt, mixed dried fruit, and candied citrus peel in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Put the bowl in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes to warm the ingredients while you prepare the yeast.


2. Crumble the fresh yeast into a medium-size bowl. Stir in the lukewarm water and nonfat dry milk powder until smooth. If using dry yeast, mix the granules and the reserved 1 teaspoon sugar with 1/2 cup of the lukewarm water and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the milk powder and the remaining 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water. Then stir in the butter until melted.


3. Pour the yeast mixture into the well in the warmed flour mixture. Add the eggs to the well and blend together with the yeast mixture with a large mixing spoon. With your hand or wooden spoon, gradually work in the flour from the bowl into the yeast mixture to make a very soft, but not sticky dough. If the dough is dry and crumbly, work in water, 1 tablespoon at a time. If too sticky, work in flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.


4. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Return the dough to the bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and let rise at warm room temperature (about 75F) until doubled in size, 30 minutes to 1 hour.


5. Punch down the dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently for 5 minutes until very smooth an elastic. Weigh the dough and divide it into 24 equal portions (I just weighed 2 ounce portions), or roll into a fat rope and cut it into 24 pieces. Shape each portion into a neat roll. Arrange fairly close together, but not touching, on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a damp dish towel and let rise at warm room temperature until the buns have almost doubled in size and have joined together, 30 to 45 minutes. During the last 15 minutes of rising, heat the oven to 500F.


6. While the buns are rising, make the topping: In a small bowl, mix the flour and sugar with enough of the water to make a thick, smooth paste. Spoon the paste into a small pastry bag fitted with a narrow, plain tip. With the back of a table knife, make an indentation about 1/4 inch deep in the shape of a cross on the top of each bun. Brush the buns with the egg glaze. Pipe a cross of the flour paste over the indentation on each bun.


7. Put the buns in the oven, the immediately lower the oven temperature to 400F ad bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the buns are nicely golden brown. Transfer the buns to a wire rack to cool. When completely cool, pull the buns apart. Immediately glaze with the confectioners' sugar glaze, if desired.

chocolate butter cookies

I'm on somewhat of a role for Valentine themed baking. I'm usually lucky if I get just one up the day before. What are you guys baking for Valentine's Day?

These chocolate butter cookies come from America's Test Kitchen. What makes them different is the method of preparation, mostly blooming the cocoa powder with butter and instant espresso powder. This brings out the depth of flavor from the cocoa, which the espresso powder boosts. You then proceed by mixing the remaining butter with the sugar, salt (which I increased by 1/4 teaspoon) and chilled cocoa mixture. As the recipe only has egg yolks, the cookies are a bit denser than a typical butter cookies, especially since there is no leavening. The texture is mealy, almost like a shortbread-brownie hybrid.

The dough is really a dream to work with. I rolled it out between two sheets of wax paper (lightly dusting the bottom and top with confectioners' sugar), then freezing until firm before cutting shapes out. This helps make transferring shapes to the baking sheet easier and also keeps the form of the cookies while its being baked. Scraps are then rerolled and the process is repeated. I did separate the dough in half before refrigerating. (If you refrigerated the dough overnight, let stand at room temperature until somewhat softened but still firm.)

Part of the reason I hesitate to make decorated cookies is because they're time intensive. Most of it is that I hate eating such a beautifully designed piece of work.

In this case, I simply dipped the tops of the cookies in royal icing (the best kind of icing for decorating sugar cookies, in my opinion) and sprinkled with sanding sugar after 3 minutes. I waited so that the sugar wouldn't seep into the icing, but would stand out more once it had dried a little.

You can also use a small offset spatula to spread the icing on top, as I did with these cookies. The royal icing dries into a thin, crisp candy-like shell, and the sugar provides a nice crunch. The contrast between the topping and the cookie balances nicely, and the cocoa in the cookie keeps the icing from being overly sweet.

I highly suggest trying this recipe out, even if you've had trouble with rolled cookies in the past. You'll be glad you did and you'll end up with dozens of tasty cookies!

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chocolate butter cookies
Recipe from Cooks Illustrated

ingredients -

20 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to cool room temperature (about 65 degrees)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Your favorite icing or frosting
Various sugars or sprinkles, for decorating

Directions -

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375°. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and espresso powder; stir until mixture forms smooth paste. Set aside to cool, 15 to 20 minutes.


2. In a large bowl, mix remaining 16 tablespoons butter, sugar, salt, and cooled cocoa mixture on high speed with a electric mixer until well combined and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping sides of mixing bowl once or twice with rubber spatula. Add yolks and vanilla and mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl. With mixer running on low, add flour in three additions, waiting until each addition is incorporated before adding next and scraping bowl after each addition. Continue to mix until dough forms cohesive ball, about 5 seconds. Turn dough onto counter; divide in half and press into a square. Wrap each square in plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm yet malleable, 45 to 60 minutes.


3. Roll out 1 dough disk between 2 large sheets wax paper (sprinkled with confectioners' sugar, or parchment paper) to even thickness of 3/16 inch. Chill in freezer until firm. Peel wax paper from one side of dough and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter(s); place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps and chill.


4. Bake until cookies show slight resistance to touch, 9 to 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time; if cookies begin to darken on edges, they have overbaked. Cool for 5 minutes, then, using spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack; cool completely. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with remaining dough disks and scraps, rerolling scraps. Decorate as desired.

Makes about 4 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies.

coconut macaroons

Looking for a simple treat with minimal preparation? Look no further than the classic coconut macaroon. A macaroon is just that, a cookie/confection hybrid made up of sugar, egg whites, and coconut as the main ingredients. They're like a Mounds bar, but have the potential to be so much more depending on what you put into it. Obviously, you can also dip them in chocolate.

I chose to be simple this time and just add half lemon extract and half vanilla extract. The recipe I used called for chopped dried cranberries, though I opted to not use them. Unsweetened coconut really is the way to go for these things to minimize the sweetness, though if you reduce the sugar they'll probably work (though possibly ooze a bit while baking). If strands of coconut bother you, simply pulse briefly in a food processor to break the shreds up.

The fun part of making macaroons is forming them into mini pyramids. Dipping your fingers in water keeps the mixture from sticking and makes forming the mounds easy. They look small when you form the mounts, though they puff up nicely once baked so don't be alarmed by the miniature size.

Bake until the edges are golden and the outsides are dry. The insides should still be chewy, which is the draw of the macaroon. I want to make these again soon! Kroger's here in town started carrying unsweetened coconut for the same price as the regular kind, so I can see this becoming my new go to treat. I want to try some different flavors out!

Recipe after jump

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Coconut Macaroons
Recipe from FoodNetwork.com

Makes 20-24
ingredients -

2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3 cups (about 8 ounces) finely shredded unsweetened coconut

directions -

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment.


2. Whisk the sugar, egg whites, vanilla and lemon extract, and salt in a large bowl. Toss the coconut with the egg mixture until completely coated.


3. Moisten your finger tips with water. Form about 1 heaping tablespoon of the batter into pointed mounds or pyramids on the prepared pans, spacing them about 1-inch apart.


4. Bake until the edges are golden brown and the entire macaroon is nicely toasted and dry, 16 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve.

Store macaroons in a tightly sealed container for up to a week.

red velvet cupcakes with stevia in the raw

What better way to say I love you than with a treat that won't send your lover into a diabetic shock?

Hey, I had to temper the mushiness. I'm sorry.

Since my stock of Stevia In The Raw hadn't been used up, I decided this was the perfect time to try their recipe for red velvet cupcakes.

Sugar plays an important roll in baking. Not only does it affect sweetness, but there's a bit of science behind it. Sugar aids in the texture, moisture, and development of the baked good. The leavening helps baked good rise, but sugar does as well as air is beaten into the batter or dough when whipped with the fat, thus aiding the structure. (Read more: Joy of Baking)

Therefore, it reasons that using a sugar substitute will produce a sub-par result. Knowing this, Stevia In The Raw recipes replaces just half the regular sugar with stevia, allowing the sugar to do its thing but at the same time reducing the calories. Will you still notice a difference? Yes. I'll explain later on.

(It's also important to note that many sugar substitutes, stevia included, are much sweeter than sugar. There are conversion rates if adding to a recipe that doesn't require baking, though SITR says you can use the powder 1:1 in baking. Visit their site for more info.)

While this recipe was straightforward, I didn't feel like whipping egg whites. Following the technique of Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake, I added the egg whites to the buttermilk and gave the batter a 2 minute whip after the baking soda and vinegar were added. The batter was voluminous and tasty.

Now, most brands of stevia have a rather unpleasant licorice aftertaste. This brand is better than many because the aftertaste isn't very pronounced. I started tasting it after a while, especially in the cream cheese frosting, but this was most likely to tasting the batter... Multiple times. Like licking the beaters and finished off the bowl. The family tested some and didn't really notice it, so that's another plus for this brand.

The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons red food coloring. I used an entire 1 ounce bottle of Wilton's coloring paste, which says "concentrated" on the label. I may or may not have tasted it in the batter. This isn't the no flavor version, I don't think. I didn't taste it after the cupcakes had baked up, luckily. However, I'm not sure if I used too much of this type of food coloring. Look at the bowl filled with water!

My changes to the frosting was using just 4 tablespoons butter (for a very lazy reason -- I didn't want to get more out) and adding 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar. I realized I didn't want a straight up cream cheese frosting, and since I turned half the batter into a 6-inch layer cake I would need more for frosting it. I'm not going to type those instructions out since other recipes can be found, like the one I linked to below (for my favorite red velvet cake).

I can't complain about this recipe. It produced such wonderfully domed cupcakes. The height was so stunning that I paused before covering them up with the frosting. The memory will live on in pictures. The texture was a little rubbery and a bit on the dry side but not bad at all. I definitely would make these for friends and family concerned with sugar intake, though it's not going to replace my favorite red velvet cake recipe. That recipe doesn't use any baking powder and I wonder if that's why this recipe was on the rubbery-bouncy side. The recipes are almost similar otherwise, though this one called for 3 tablespoons dye. I prefer my modification of 1 tablespoon dye and teaspoons of raspberry jello powder I talked about in that post.

I found another use for the Nordic Ware covered pie pan I reviewed, though it can only fit 8 cupcakes.

Tiny cakes are adorable. This little 6-inch double layer red velvet beauty was made with the remaining batter after making 12 cupcakes. It took about half an hour to bake, so next time I will use both of the cake pans I prepared. If you only have two people in your household, you can make half the recipe. If you make the full recipe and give away or freeze the extras.

I'll leave you with a question: If muffin tins don't have to be greased and floured (assuming you aren't using liners), why do cake pans? I've never had much trouble getting cupcakes out of the tins, and I only grease the bottoms (my Wilton pan is nonstick). However, I would never ever not grease and flour cake pans. In fact, I almost always line them (I didn't this time and it released perfectly). Maybe it's because the cake pans I use have ridges on the bottom and that's why cakes stick if I don't use parchment.

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red velvet cupcake with stevia in the raw
Recipe adapted from Stevia In The Raw

Makes 24 cupcakes

ingredients -

Cupcakes

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons red food color
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
3 egg whites
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Stevia Extract In The Raw® Cup For Cup
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, though you really can't taste it)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 1/4 cups Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting

2 (8 ounce) packages reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon Stevia Extract In The Raw® Cup For Cup
1/4 cup 1% low fat milk

directions -

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 12 cup muffin tins or use liners.


2. In small bowl combine cocoa, red food color and vanilla, set aside.


3. In large bowl beat together butter and granulated sugar for 3 minutes. Add yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add cocoa mixture and blend well.


4. In another bowl, whisk egg whites with buttermilk. Combine Stevia Extract In The Raw, cayenne pepper, baking powder, and salt with cake flour. Add buttermilk mixture and flour mixture to cocoa mixture, alternating a third at a time beating after each addition. Combine baking soda and vinegar then add to batter and blend well. Beat for an additional 2 minutes.


5. Fill each muffin tin 2/3 full with batter. Bake 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.


6. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before removing from tins. Cool cupcakes on rack before frosting.

Cream cheese frosting

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients and blend well. Makes enough frosting for 36 cupcakes.

(This confused me. I'd adjust proportions so you end up with exactly as much frosting you need without any extra. The caloric guide says each cupcake gets 1 1/2 tablespoons frosting, though I did use more.)

per serving -

Cupcakes

120 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5g fat, 3g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 2g protein, 16g carbohydrate,1g dietary fiber, 170mg sodium, 45mg cholesterol.

Cream cheese frosting ( 1 1/2 Tablespoons)

64 calories, 44 calories from fat, 6g fat, 3.6g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 2g protein, 1g carbohydrate, 0g dietary fiber, 48mg sodium, 16mg cholesterol.

not-so-rustic sun dried tomato rolls

I've bookmarked a particular recipe for rustic olive rolls I saw on a blog before, well over a year ago. Since I had recently purchased some items from Oh Nuts, I decided to use the sun dried tomatoes I bought. What I liked about these is that they aren't packed in oil, yet they are soft.

The taste of these is great. A little acidic, but extremely tomatoey. What I like about these is that you have a greater option of how to use them, either packing them in oil yourself (much cheaper), adding to recipes sans oil, turning them into a pesto, and much more. The good part is that you don't need to soak them in hot water to get them soft because they already are.

The first step to creating these rolls is the sponge, which sets for 14 hours. I was a bit lazy so it ended up sitting for around 18 hours and it still worked out. The sponge is what adds that artisan flavor and rustic texture.

The next day, the sponge is added to more water, olive oil, yeast (the sponge had only 1/16 teaspoon, though I doubled the recipe so it had 1/8th), bread flour, and salt. I added a pinch of sugar.

To add more flavor I used 2 teaspoons of Penzeys Spice Bouquet Garni and I think 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.

So why are these not-so-rustic? Well, I ran out of bread flour. I had made 3 batches of no-knead bread the beginning of the month and it used it all up. At least the sponge had bread flour. For the rest of the loaf, I used all-purpose flour and 1 cup of high gluten finely ground whole wheat flour with a tablespoon of wheat gluten.

Since all-purpose flour has less protein than bread flour, which aids in the lift and chewy texture of artisan breads. All-purpose is a mix of both high and low gluten flours. Tender cookies? Tender cakes? That's what the lower protein does. Oh well.

The bread had a great texture and kneaded well. Note to everyone: Cut my nails before making bread.

At this point, the dough was smelling great thanks to the herbs.

Once the dough was kneaded for 10 minutes and had a smooth feel, I chopped 20 sun dried tomatoes (I would suggest preparing ahead of time so that the chopping is finished before you make the bread) and kneaded them in. I wanted the dough to be stained red from the tomatoes so that it would look prettier. Next, the dough rises.

After the rise, you gently deflate and portion into rolls. I'm not sure if I weighed each piece or eyeballed, I think it was the latter. Since I doubled the recipe I ended up with about 14 rolls. The original recipe makes 6 so I probably made them a bit too small. Once I finished, I let them rise for about another hour.

I'll note that the recipe had the rolls rise on on a cotton dish cloth to maintain a rectangular shape, though since I wasn't making rectangular rolls I let them rise directly on the baking sheet, which I lightly greased and sprinkled with cornmeal, dusting the rolls with flour before covering.

The kitchen had a great aroma as these baked. I remember eating a sun dried bread at a cafe in downtown Grand Rapids a long time ago, and I hoped these would be similar. Texture-wise they didn't come out rustic at all because of the flour issue, but they were still very delicious. The flavors were more mellow than I had expected, though I'm sure you wouldn't want them to be overpowering if you ate them with soup or dinner. I would suggest slicing in half and toasting for breakfast.

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Recipe

Rustic Olive Rolls, King Arthur Flour