Category Archives: Dessert

Cranberry pistachio cornmeal biscotti

We usually try a new recipe or two every year, and we also started making biscotti a couple of years ago. It’s a little more labor-intensive than the other recipes, so it’s a good one to start off the day off. Last year we made chocolate pistachio and this year we decided to try a new recipe.

Pretty biscotti

Cranberry pistachio cornmeal bicotti
Makes about 2 dozen
Source: Martha Stewart’s cookies, 2008

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped pistachios

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in center. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.
2. Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and mix until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time, until well combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture all at once; mix until just combined. Add lemon zest, cranberries, and pistachios, and mix until combined.
3. Transfer dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pat into a log that is about 14 by 3.5 inches. Bake until firm, lightly browned, and slightly cracked on top, 30-35 minutes. let cool on sheet on a wire rack, about 15 minutes.
4. Transfer log to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake cookies, rotating sheet halfway through, until they begin to brown at edges, 15-18 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.



December is cookie month!

I’m designating December as cookie month. Denise and I started a tradition of baking Christmas cookies together back when we lived together in our tiny apartment on Park Drive, possibly even earlier than that. And before that, baking Christmas cookies was always an annual tradition with my mom. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I realized that my favorite M&M cookies can actually be made any time of year, not just at Christmas.

Every year we try to calculate how much of each ingredient we will need, but inevitably end up running out to the store to pick up something we ran out of or forgot. Last year we got smart(er) and wrote down the list of ingredients we need for eight batches of cookies. Yes, eight batches of cookies.

Martha and the ingredients list

Last year we also welcomed a new member of the baking team, the KitchenAid mixer. A-mazing.

Christmas cookie marathon 2011


The cookie marathon this year is taking place on December 8, so let me know if you have any requests! And throughout this month I’ll be sharing cookie recipes.

The Crisp!

With all the peaches I’ve been getting in my CSA, I decided to dig out a recipe for “The Crisp!” that was given to me by a childhood friend. I’ve had this in my recipe box since high school, or earlier, and it’s handwritten on yellowing loose-leaf notebook paper. I’ve been trying to clear out some of the paper recipes in my file (and pile), but I think this one is just too good to get rid of…I especially love the illustration and her autograph at the bottom of the page.
I made it for a potluck (more on that to come later), and it was quite a hit. I used 4 peaches (but could probably have used a couple more), and the “not that sweet” option (see step 3 below).
“The Crisp!” recipe
The Crisp!
Source: Jill Chichester (Sansone)
Serves: 8
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 stick butter
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add egg. Mix with a fork, until crumbly. (Don’t mix too long because it won’t come out right!) Set aside.
3. Place cut fruit into pie plate. If you want it sweet: add brown sugar and maple syrup over top of fruit. If you don’t want it that sweet, sprinkle brown sugar over top of fruit.
4. Put crumb mixture on top of fruit. Spread evenly.
5. Pour melted butter over top. Sprinkle top with cinnamon (lightly).
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Put a bake pan underneath just in case it drips.
7. Serve hot (warm) with a scoop of French Vanilla Ice Cream on top.
Peach crisp
At the bottom of the recipe, there are some suggested fruit combinations to try:
1. apple crisp
2. apple, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry crips
3. nectarine crisp

4. nectarine, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry crisp

Spicy flourless chocolate cake

What Jerel’s cooking this week!

Hot off the Valentine’s Day presses, here’s a recipe that is Jerel-tested and Kendrin-approved. I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day, and if it was lame for whatever reason (poor planning, no planning, filler flowers, etc), perhaps this cake can make up for any missteps from yesterday. Chocolate can make everything better.

Spicy Flourless Chocolate Cake
Serves: 8 (it’s that rich!)
Source: I modified Emeril’s recipe (which looked a bit too tame)

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 Tablespoons cayenne pepper (be brave!). If you want to go Emeril-style, use ancho chili powder instead and omit the cinnamon and nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 to 1 tsp sea salt
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used 72% Cacao chocolate, and even grated in some 100% cacao from tablets my parents gave me for Christmas)
2 sticks unsalted butter, plus a small pad for the pan
1 cup of sugar (I used evaporated cane juice from TJ’s)
6 eggs, separated

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Line bottom and sides with parchment paper and butter those, too. Can also dust some cocoa on the paper.

3. Sift or whisk together the cocoa, cayenne, cinnamon, and nutmeg

4. Over a double-boiler melt the chopped chocolate (+/- the extra cacao) and the butter

5. Whisk the cocoa powder mix into the molten chocolate. Add at least 1/2 tsp of salt.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar until it’s a pretty pale yellow.

7. Carefully whisk the molten chocolate into the egg yolks. Add more salt to taste (I’m a fan of sea salt + dark chocolate, so I added an additional 1/2 tsp). You can also adjust the cayenne here to your taste (so you might want to start with just 2 tbs, then increase it up to 3 if you want it spicier). This mix should taste sweet at the start, then have a hot aftertaste.

8. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Whisk in about 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat the whites. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until it forms a soft meringue.

9. Carefully fold the chocolate mixture into the meringue. Don’t lose any of the volume!

10. Transfer batter to pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Check the cake at 40 (that’s when mine was ready). The sides should be set but the middle should still be MOIST. A few crumbs will still stick to the cake tester.

11. Cool on a wire rack before removing from the pan. You can dust this with some more cinnamon and/or powder sugar, or even some whipped cream.