Chocolate Loaf Cake & Pumpkin Sage Beer Bread Recipes

Good Morning! Thanks to all that came ove to The Boulevard market last night for our tasting! As promised, here are the recipes for the Chocolate Loaf and Pumpkin Beer Sage Bread. You can find the Pumpkin Fondue recipe HERE. Enjoy and happy weekend!

CHOCOLATE LOAF

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup NATURAL cocoa powder (I used Valrhona that we sell at the market. This is not the same as "Dutched" and you won't get the same results substituting)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons Buttermilk
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks (I used Callebaut 66%)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 loaf pan or use 3 disposable pans.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together all liquid ingredients including eggs and egg yolk. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until well combined. Add chocolate chunks. Pour into prepared pan(s).

Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I baked the small pans 1 hour and 10 minutes and thought it was a little too long, I should have taken them out at an hour. They were just a bit too dry and crumbly for my preference. Cool in pan for 20 minutes and gently tap out to remove.


PUMPKIN BEER SAGE BREAD

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup hearty dark beer
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter, slightly cooled
3 Tablespoons fresh Sage, sliced thinly
1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9 inch loaf pan.

Melt butter and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin adding the beer carefully to prevent a foam over, then stir in the butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry and fold gently until just combined. Stir in sage and walnuts and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes and remove from pan.

Apricot Crostata

One of the most challenging aspects of my children growing up/moving out has been the lack of baking around here!  Often, the girls would bake up something fantastic or a least a cake from a box occasionally and now there is little reason to bake as John is only truly happy with something chocolate.  I have been baking and putting extra into the freezer, but it's not the same.  I just want a little corner of a slice of lemon pound cake, not to defrost even a whole slice! UGH!

So, I've been baking for our specialty food store and the customers are loving it!!
It's been great to be really creative with standby recipes and trying out some new things too!

I shared this crostata recipe with my cooking class last week and thought you might like it as well!  I am in the process of using up last years preserves and cleaning out the multiple jams that clutter up the refrigerator.

A traditional crostata is large (12 inches or so) but I find a smaller size is a bit more compatible with my style!  So. I've been making them about 4 inches round.  I chose an apricot jam that has been lurking around for fruit tarts and cheese trays.....

I love the fact that crostatas can be a bit rustic, but hold together well and are less flaky than a pie crust based dessert. They mix together quickly, and taste great with virtually any preserves. Be careful not to handle the dough too much, as that causes it to be tough or over bake as it just turns into a tiny concrete mess!!  I like to use jams and preserves that aren't too sweet, as the baking can concentrate the sweetness, but you could add a tablespoon of lemon juice to your jam first to combat that dilemma!

APRICOT CROSTATA  

1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 egg yolk
zest from 1 lemon
2 cups fruit jam or preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy and then stir in the rest of your ingredients (expect jam) handling as little as possible, until a smooth dough is formed.  Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Cover the bottom only of a 12 inch baking dish with the dough.  (I usually turn my dish upside down over the rolled out dough and use a sharp knife to cut the dough to fit the pan.)  Since this dough is fairly sticky and delicate, if you rip or tear it, just place a little piece over the hole and press lightly.  You could also free form these by just shaping the dough into the sizes you want. 

Spread the jam to 1/4 inch away from edge of dough.  With the remaining dough, cut a strip to create a 1/2 inch border around outside of crostata, press lightly onto edge.  Use the rest of the strips to create a lattice topping for your crostata, or cut into a shape to decorate the center of the crostata.  

Bake 20 minutes, watching carefully and allow to cool in pan about 15 minutes before serving.

I made tiny crostata about 4 inches round and baked them free form on a stone ware pan which turned out a bit more rustic looking than baking in a pan with sides.  I found 13 minutes to be optimum time for baking.  I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to my apricot jam which was fantastic and sprinkled the jam with some chopped roasted, salted almonds!  I had a total yield of 5 tarts. 

Lemon Amaretti Cheesecake

Mascarpone; An Italian,  fresh, triple crème cheese of cows milk from the Lombardy region.

Amaretti;  also from the Lombardy region of Italy and are made mainly from apricot kernels, sugar and egg whites. 

Choosing ingredients from the same region usually makes for great recipes, why?

{ perche e cosi }

Translation; because it’s like that

I am a big fan of Mascarpone cheese!  Most famous for its place in Tiramisu, mascarpone is so much more than just for dessert!  We use it in place of heavy cream in soups for a rich and silky smoothness, or in place of cream cheese as it doesn’t have that sticky feel cream cheese possesses.  I throw a spoonful into my macaroni and cheese instead of creating a béchamel and use it in vegetable gratins and risotto.

I discovered another Italian favorite of mine is Amaretti cookies.  I am charmed by their oh-so-european wrappers and appearance.  I love the jolt of almond flavor and the dry, crusty quality.  Amaretti are also from the Lombardy region of Italy and are made mainly from apricot kernels, sugar and egg whites.  They come packaged occasionally as a “ball” of two separate cookies.  I also purchase them in bags.

I always keep a bag on hand for garnishing puddings or cooked fruits, a tiny treat with a late day espresso, or even topping squash/pumpkin soups.  They seem to keep forever when tightly sealed and if perhaps they get stale…a dunk in coffee or crushed into a crust perks them right back up!

My favorite dessert using these Italian specialties is found under my Sicilian Recipe Booklet!  I thought I’d give you a few photos to go along with it and create an outstanding cheesecake to share with friends today!

CRUST;

6 ounces Amaretti Cookies, crushed into crumbs

4 Tablespoons Butter, melted

Combine in a small dish and press into a 9 inch springform pan.

Bake crust in a 350 degree, preheated oven for 12 minutes.

FILLING;

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

16 ounces Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs

In a large mixing bowl, beat cheeses and sugar until smooth.  Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stir until combined.  With your mixer on low, add eggs one at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding the next.

Pour filling into baked crust and bake 65 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool an hour.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.   

I see Macarons in my future...

On a recent  trip to Virginia, my daughter took me to her Ghent neighborhood shop, Le Marche.  A treasure trove of French/French inspired home goods, she understood the clear and present danger.

The only thing that slowed my shopping instinct was the size of my suitcase.  However, the merchant was quick to assure me that they would be "delighted" to ship any of their goods to Michigan!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to purchase Laduree's new cookbook.  I first experienced their Macarons in Paris and have re-visited the memory frequently.  Laduree put the recipe in this cookbook and even made the cookbook look like their beautiful cookie boxes!  A fuzzy, gold embossed cover, gold leaf pages and purple tissue completed the package, so we are down to the baking itself now!

I will be making my macarons this week and posting as I go.  I would love any tips and techniques from you to make my endeavor more successful!  

Tiny Meyer Lemon Pound Cakes

Meyer lemons are one of my favorite citrus fruits in the world!  A bit less acidic than traditional lemons with a orange-y flavor edge, deep yellow skin and complex flavor.  Here in Michigan, they are around for a short time, so I purchase a couple dozen and enjoy every moment!  You can treat them just like traditional lemons with zesting and juicing (they are really seedy, so be prepared) and the peels are fabulous candied.

I am never disappointed in poundcakes.  Adding meyer lemons just added to the pleasure!  I poked around the internet and didn't really find what I wanted, so I got out a few old cookbooks and ended up adapting a recipe from Taste Of Home.  While I was surfing, I ran across a "Muffin Monday" blogpost in which the author garnished her cakes before baking with a thin slice of Meyer Lemon and a pinch of sugar!  So cute, so creative, slightly weird texture when baked, but you can choose what suits you.

I loved this recipe because I had everything on hand and was snacking in less than 45 minutes!  I would set your timer for a few minutes less than the recipe calls for, I felt mine got a little overdone and were a bit too dry without adding a glaze, which I didn't want to do.  You could always do a bit of meyer lemon simple syrup to pour over when hot too, if you want them a bit sweeter.


Tiny Meyer Lemon Pound Cakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Meyer Lemon zest
1 3/4 cup floour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy.  Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla and mix to combine.  Add eggs one at a time beating in completely before adding the next.  Add sour cream or yogurt and combine.  In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients and add to wet mixture, stirring until just combined.  Fill paper liners or a greased muffin tin about 3/4's full.  Top each muffin with a thin half slice of fresh lemon and a sprinkle of raw sugar.  Bake 18 minutes.   

Brioche; Step 2

Sorry for a bit of delay in the Brioche Saga.  I was very busy eating Brioche! 

( I also shared the recipe and samples with my cooking class on Wednesday, but I baked their loaves in the commercial convection oven at The Market and it really browned up way too quickly!  I didn't adjust the timing enough!  SO irritating!)

My final step was to rise and bake and it went beautifully!  I used the entire batch of dough in this loaf.  Hope you've had time to bake along with me!  I will be posting this incredible cake recipe that uses stale brioche in it in just a couple days!  I think it's really interesting and delicious!    

Brioche; Step 1

I mixed up my Brioche dough according to directions and her is my dough in action:

The dough is now wrapped snug in the refrigerator in it's buttered bowl with a tight wrap of plastic!  looking forward to letting it rise in the morning and baking!  Looking forward to seeing your brioche too!  

Attempting Brioche....wanna join me?

Each French cookbook I purchase, every French or French inspired bakery I visit, I am thinking about Brioche.  I had one EVERY morning in France (occasionally I bought a couple extra for a midnight snack too) and have never found a very tasty one in America.

It's snowing, I NEED to have some fabulous carbs to get me through January.  I have the pans (always had the intention) and now I'm going for it!  Here is my first attempt at Brioche via "The Art Of French Baking" by  Ginette Mathiot.  Since Brioche takes at least an overnight rest, this post will span a couple days.

Want to bake along with me?  I would love to see your comments and photos, please include a link!  Here is the recipe I'm using and I'll see you tomorrow with crumbs on my chin!

BRIOCHE
recipe courtesy of Ginette Mathiot

1/2 ounce fresh yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 Tablespoons milk, lukewarm
7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened + extra for greasing pans
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup superfine sugar (NOT POWDERED)



( note; the intro to this chapter specifically states dough must rest overnight and ingredients should be very cold, yet the recipe directions contradict this.  So I am going to proof my yeast in the warm milk, use cold eggs and mix the dough to glossy.  Then I will let the dough rest overnight in the fridge and finish according to directions)

Dissolve the yeast in milk.  Grease an 8 inch Brioche mold, deep cake pan or muffin pans with butter.  Place the flour in a bowl, make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture, 3 eggs, salt, butter and sugar.  Mix by hand for 10 minutes or by machine set on slow speed for 5 minutes, until the dough is glossy and elastic.  (I'm going to use the kitchen aid mixer with dough hook.  Then I will place in buttered bowl and let rest in fridge overnight)

Place dough in greased pans, cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 3-4 hours.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Beat the remaining egg and brush gently over the brioche to glaze, then bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and the pan sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

GOOD LUCK! Can't wait to see yours too!

(PS I am going to start this on Sunday night and bake Monday...)

Enjoying the remains of the summer

Does September really signal autumn?  September is one of Michigan's nicest weather months and I am going to enjoy every minute of it!  We had a rude awakening on Sunday to wake up to temperatures in the low 60's and overcast skies..."ugh, I'm not ready"! 
I know I'm whining. 
It's not attractive.
I can't stop because it's so miserable outside!

So I decided to bake something apple-y to embrace the nasty day (and make myself feel better about getting nearly nothing accomplished!) and FEEL autumn.  I made these scones from the Midwest Living magazine.

APPLE SCONES  (Midwest Living October 2011)
2 3/4 cups flour 
 1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon apple pie spice (I used English "Mixed Spice")
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, cold
1 cup finely chopped tart apple (I used Paula Reds)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup whipping cream

TOPPING
15 slices of unpeeled apples
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1 tablespoon whipping cream


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Blend all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Cut butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles crumbs.  Mix together eggs and whipping cream and add all at once.  Stir mixture using a fork, just until blended.  Be cautious not to over mix as this will make scones tough.  Scoop dough into 9 rounds or wedges and place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush each top with a bit of whipping cream, a sprinkle of raw sugar and a slice of apple.  Bake 15-17 minutes until golden brown.  

These are not scones in my book, they are mini cakes with baking powder, but they are pretty tasty.

I made these recently for Juli and family while they visited and included some fresh butter whipped with an incredible Cinnamon Cider Syrup (1/4 cup butter, 1 T cider syrup) and a small pot of homemade apple cider jelly.  Apple extravaganza!!!  I will post about the apple cider jelly soon!  

Here is a fun photo of Pierre in the sweet little fleece vest from Juli!  He absolutely LOVES it and has been wearing it during this little cold spell! 

Madeleines

Ahhh, not much evokes France as much as the simple madeleine, a pound cake like small cake, made in a special shell shaped pan.  I saw the sweetest mini madelein pan at the local crack dealer, oh excuse me, Williams Sonoma store.  Non-stick and just right for bite size treats.  The madelein pan was all I have dreamed of and more!!  I have a stash of dried cranberries and many oranges left from The Market's "Gifts from your Kitchen" class (candied orange peel) so I went about adapting a recipe and here is the results!

CRANBERRY ORANGE MINI MADELEINS

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
• 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) butter, melted
   and cooled
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting or melted white chocolate for drizzling

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Using a pastry brush, heavily brush softened butter over each of the 20 molds in a mini madeleine pan, carefully buttering every ridge.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, granulated sugar and salt. Using a wire whisk or a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat vigorously until pale, thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Sprinkle the sifted flour over the egg mixture and stir or beat on low speed to incorporate.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the orange zest and half of the melted butter just until blended. Fold in the remaining melted butter and dried cranberries. 

 

Bake the madeleines until the tops spring back when lightly touched, 8 to 12 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and invert it over a wire rack, then rap it on the rack to release the madeleines. If any should stick, use your fingers to loosen the edges, being careful not to touch the hot pan, and invert and rap again.

Let the madeleines cool on the rack for 10 minutes. Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the tops with confectioners sugar and serve. Makes 20.  If using a large madelein pan, just up the baking time about 4 minutes and I often flour the pan for easier removal.

 

I put my little bits on a gold charger and decorated it with fresh cedar and fresh cranberries and dusted the whole plate with confectioners sugar to look like snow.  It was a beautifully simple presentation and fabulous for a holiday gathering!

    Here is a bit closer view!!

 

It can't be the end of October?

I couldn't believe my eyes when looking back at my last post! Sept 28...what happened? October happened! October is extremely crazy for us every year with 2 of my daughters birthdays, festivals for the store and harvest at the farm. Not to mention the absolutely terrible weather Michigan has had this season! I have been cooking like mad, but instead of writing...I am falling asleep on the couch at 10pm! Apparently, blogging is not a compulsion yet, but I'm working on it! I think this morning I will make some pumpkin quick bread and muffins for the masses of teenagers sure to invade our house (AGAIN) this weekend! My favorite recipe is actually a huge batch that I split and turn 1/2 into bread and 1/2 into muffins, adding whatever seems to be on hand in the way of dried fruit, nuts, chocolate or cheese. Since there is no photo yet...please enjoy "Precious"! Actually this is Otto...technically he belongs to my youngest daughter, Jamie, but I ply him with treats for affection! He in turn brings in many dead animals (or almost dead), muddy paws and lots of cheap entertainment! Enjoy your day!

PUMPKIN BREAD
3 c Sugar
1 c Vegetable Oil
4 eggs
1 16oz can pumpkin puree
3 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg, freshly ground
1 t allspice
2/3 c water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, dried cranberries, chocolate chips or any combination you enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, oil and eggs and beat about 2 minutes. Add pumpkin, dry ingredients and spices. Mix 30 seconds, add water and nuts and stir until just combined.

At this point I fill one 9X5X3 inch loaf pan that has been greased and floured and then muffin tins (about 18) with the remainder of the batter. the bread takes about 50-60 minutes to bake through and the muffins about 25 minutes...watch them carefully. When finished baking,let rest in pans about 10 minutes, remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Banana Bread a la Orangette

I am the type of person who will not throw out food! I collect it from many sources and people, occasionally hoard it, find recipes for it and always end up creating something with it! It's seriously too much invested time just to throw into the compost or trash! So the family has been giving me a really hard time all week over the black bananas in the fridge, until yesterday...

I purchased "A Homemade Life" written by the creator of Orangette blog in June and had a few recipes marked to try. While the internet is an awesome source for recipes, I love books! I enjoyed "A Homemade Life" both the reading and recipes that I have tried, I can see why the blog has such an enormous following as well!

So for the black bananas I tried pg 26, Banana Bread with chocolate and crystallized ginger. It was made entirely with butter (my pre requisite for quick breads) QUICK and it didn't make 27 loaves of bread! Honestly, I just want one loaf...so this was the perfect recipe for me! Delicious, easy, delicious...no one has mentioned the black bananas since! the Boulevard market carries a nice crystallized ginger sold by weight if you have a hard time finding it. It was the magic of this recipe by adding just a bit of zing that quick breads sometimes lack! Enjoy and thank Molly Wizenberg for such a great recipe!

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped semi sweet chocolate (Callebaut or chocolate chips)
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup plain WHOLE FAT yogurt (I used four Corners Creamery...duh for me!)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9X5 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, soda, salt, chocolate and ginger. Set aside. In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs with a fork. Add bananas, yogurt, butter and vanilla and mix well. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a rubber spatula until just combined but no unincorporated flour remains. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 minutes - 1 hour until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan and then turn out to cool. I couldn't help myself, I cut it warm and ate it for breakfast! Molly does say this "freezes beautifully".

Pantry Brownies

Chocolate is a necessity on our household of John and 3 teenage daughters! We like great chocolate! Pantry Brownies are a favorite and I always have all of the ingredients on hand! This recipe is easy and can be made in a variety of pans depending on the occasion. A 9 inch springform, turns it into a torte or ramekins makes it individual sized portions. You only need to adjust your cooking times. We use Mascarpone cheese whipped with a couple tablespoons of sugar to fancy it up, but most of the time it doesn't make it that far! I ALWAYS use Valrhona natural cocoa powder, I have tried others and they just don't cut it! While it seems like a small batch, because the brownies are so rich and chocolate-y, it will feed a crowd!

2 sticks butter (do not use margarine)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs at room temp
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder (NOT Dutch processed)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a 9 inch pan with tinfoil or butter very well and flour pan.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. When just melted, remove from heat and stir in sugar,all 4 eggs and vanilla. SLOWLY stir in flour, baking powder,salt and cocoa powder so it doesn't fly all over the place! Stir until batter is smooth and uniform. Spread into baking pan and bake 40 minutes until toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs remaining. This is a fudgy brownie recipe, so be careful not to under cook. We have added nuts and glace cherries to this recipe successfully! Decadent and rich, this is a great recipe for last minute entertaining!