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Cooking, Recipe and Food Blog

Archives for December 2009

Favorite Gift Roundup 3: Mario Batali Prep Bowls

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I received my first set of these on my birthday in October, and loved them so much that I put them on my Christmas wish list:

mariobatali-prepbowls

They may look like ordinary bowls to you, but trust me when I say that these bowls are the bomb.

They’re meant for mise-en-place, which every baker worth their salt knows is of supreme importance: measuring out all necessary ingredients before starting can save you from many an “oops” moment. Now you could certainly use any old containers for your mise-en-place, but you’ll love these because:

  • They also measure. The bowls range in size from 1/8 cup to 2 cups, and are marked with half-bowl measurements as well.
  • They’re tough. You can’t tell from the photo how thick and heavy these bowls are.
  • Their exteriors are non-slip. I have notoriously slippery hands, especially when I’m in the kitchen, and have been known to drop many many bowls in my time. These bowls are easy to hold on to.
  • They’re non-breakable. If in case your fingers happen to be even slipperier than mine, the bowls won’t break when you drop them on your kitchen floor.

Please note that these bowls are not microwave-safe. They’re made of melamine- very strong melamine, but melamine nonetheless. Because they “nest”, they’re easy to store in your kitchen drawer, which is what I do.

The Mario Batali 5-Piece Measuring Prep Bowl Set is available at Amazon.

Favorite Gift Roundup 2: Beater Blade

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beater-blade

Talk about a product that can change your life.

I’m not kidding, either. I first heard about the Beater Blade around the time I received my beautiful pink Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer, but I thought I was doing just fine with the paddle that comes with the latter. No, I was doing more than fine, since I had never owned a mixer with a paddle attachment before, and I was just discovering how much better it made my cakes and cookies and frosting.

Since I started using the Beater Blade, though, life has become so much easier- and that’s because: no more scraping.

Seriously, when you bake as much as I do, spending hours in front of the mixer, spatula in hand, turning it off, lifting the head, scraping- again and again and again… and then not having to, letting the Beater Blade do its job of mixing AND scraping- it’s… well, it’s like magic.

The New Metro Design Beater Blade for 5-Quart KitchenAid Tilt-Head Mixers is available at Amazon.

Favorite Gift Roundup 1: Flour Sifter

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A Merry Christmas to you all (or Happy Hanukkah, or simply Happy Holidays!)

I had the loveliest Christmas holiday, spending two days in the mountains with our extended families, enjoying the crisp pine-scented air, and sleeping and eating way too much. One of the best things about it? I didn’t have to cook or bake. Not at all.

Having my own Bakeshop for the past two years, I’ve grown to expect gifts related to my little business- and this year, I wasn’t disappointed. Nearly everything was food-related, mostly cupcake and cookie related, and today I want to start a series of posts on some of my favorite gifts this year. Note that these are not in any particular order- I love them all. First up: the incredibly useful Progressive International 3 Cup Measuring Flour Sifter

This was one of my mother’s gifts (she always gives me several. Thanks, Mom!), and it meant so much more because I remember mentioning to her several months ago that my triple sifter had broken, and that I was using regular sieves, two of which I had already thrown away for developing large holes (death for a sieve, of course). That she remembered is truly touching. That this is a great sifter is icing on the cake.

It has a built in measuring cup, which is extremely useful- although I use it with my digital scale because I’m a staunch weigh-er. I love how you crank the handle instead of squeezing out the flour like on my previous sifter- which makes it easier on my fingers. And because of its closed, compact design, I no longer get flour everywhere in my kitchen, as I did with my regular sieves.

Strong, Smooth Espresso at Home

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The phrase Christmas Rush is an understatement: it’s the 23rd, and I still have a pile of unwrapped presents on the table next to me as I type this, plus two cakes cooling in the kitchen, and a whole lot of frosting to make! Can you imagine what it is I need most right now?

espresso-beans

That’s right: coffee. Lots of it. And I don’t mean cups of namby pamby drip-coffee- at this point in time, only good, strong Espresso will do for me.

Here’s what you’ll need to brew perfect Espresso at home. This is good, smooth, strong stuff- not too bitter, and certainly without that awful metallic taste that plagues so many failed homemade Espressos.

  • Espresso Maker. Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, you do NOT need to buy the most expensive machine out there. I use an affordable DeLonghi machine I was gifted around 12 (yes, 12!) years ago, and it’s fine.
  • Coffee Grinder. Again, no need to get too fancy here. Burr grinders, of course, rock my socks off- but any regular grinder will do. I even have a weakness for those hand-cranked antique looking grinders. And just between you and me, I used a regular old blender to grind coffee beans when my grinder broke last week, and could barely tell the difference. I don’t recommend using your food processor, though- never worked well for me.
  • Awesome Water. Now here, really, is where you want to get fancy. The taste of your coffee depends upon how good your water is. I don’t like distilled, have a great fear of my local tap water, and buy Alkaline water for my household for health reasons. I also happen to think it’s delicious.

Now, when you brew yourself some Espresso, here’s what to keep in mind:

  • Use a fine grind. None of that coarse ground for Espresso- it takes literally seconds for your water to go through your machine, and you want as much coffee flavor in there as possible. So, go fine- we’re talking almost like powdered sugar fine.
  • Use chilled water. Not ice water, but a nice, non-toothachingly-cold chill. I’m not sure why this is so, but I’ve found that starting with chilled, clean water produces a better tasting, smoother Espresso.
  • Try some salt. You heard me: try adding a pinch of salt to your ground coffee before tamping it down. I don’t remember where I learned this, but it apparently kills some of the acidity and makes your Espresso less bitter.
  • Serve immediately. Espresso must be drunk right away.

These tips should help you brew up some Espresso at home that will knock your socks off- and cost much, much less than a trip to your local coffeeshop. And now, back to present-wrapping for me!

Cookies for Santa

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It’s two days before Christmas Eve. Are you ready for Santa?

Nobody’s really sure when or where the tradition of leaving a plate of cookies and glass of milk out for Santa came from, but it’s done around the world- cookies and milk in the U.S. and Canada, of course, but sometimes other types of food in different countries: mince pies and a glass of sherry in Britain and Australia, chocolate brownies in Sweden, and in Ireland? Guinness, naturally.

Because we’ve got a freezer full of ready-to-be-baked cookie dough, and we never run out of milk, we’re pretty much set for Christmas Eve. If you aren’t, here are links to some of our most popular cookie recipes- guaranteed to get you on Santa’s “nice” list!

Slathering on some Cream Cheese

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For the past few days, all my local stores, supermarkets and groceries have been out of cream cheese. And by that I mean those regular blocks, not that “whipped” or onion and chive-flavored stuff. I can only attribute this to the fact that Christmas will be here in four days (!), which apparently has sent everyone on a cheesecake-making frenzy.

Now, cheesecake doesn’t figure in my home-based bakeshop repertoire, but I do buy loads of the gorgeous white stuff- many times to make my perfect cream cheese frosting, but mostly just to slather on a slice of bread and go.

Which brings me to today’s recipe, which takes the cream-cheese-on-a-piece-of-toast idea a step further. And what a step it is. Once you’ve made this for your family’s breakfast, be warned: they will beg you for it over and over again. Since it’s so easy to make (it’s done overnight!), that won’t be a problem, of course:

Overnight Cream Cheese French Toast

4 thick slices bread, cubed
1 8oz. package cream cheese, cubed
6 large eggs, beaten
1 cup whole or skim milk
8 teaspoons real maple syrup (pancake syrup will do in a pinch, really)
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional if you like nuts)

Liberally butter a 9″x13″ casserole dish. Place a layer of half of the bread cubes in the bottom. Over this, scatter all the cream cheese cubes- then add the other half of bread cubes on top.

In a measuring cup, combine eggs, milk and maple syrup. Mix well. Pour over the casserole. Cover well and place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, preheat your oven to 350. Sprinkle the casserole with nuts (if using), and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until it looks nice and lightly golden.

Serve with more maple syrup, and some good butter.

Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting

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My two ovens run almost constantly, and as a result it must be at least 80 degrees in my kitchen all the time. This means that making things like meringues and buttercreams a challenge (although my favorite Chocolate Buttercream holds up quite well), and until recently, most cream cheese frosting I’ve made have been too soft and melty, requiring at least overnight in the refrigerator before it could be used for piping.

So I experimented. More butter, less butter, more powdered sugar, meringue powder… I tried it all. One thing never changed, though- and that’s that I always begun by creaming the cream cheese.

So I experimented. I creamed the butter, added the powdered sugar, a few teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a dash of salt… whipped this up nice and fluffy, and then I added the cream cheese in tablespoons, still cold from the fridge. I let the mixer go for no more than 20 seconds, taking care not to overwhip- and wouldn’t you know it? Perfect cream cheese frosting. Tastes awesome, pipes beautifully.

Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter (cold, cut up into 1-inch squares)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 8oz. bar cream cheese (Cold, straight from the fridge. Oh, and Philadelphia is the best. Seriously. Don’t even go near the Neufchatel.)

Cream the butter. Add powdered sugar, lemon juice, and pinch of salt. If you like, add about a half teaspoon of pure Vanilla extract. Whip until nice and fluffy, but don’t over-whip.

Add the cold cream cheese in tablespoons, and whip together just until the cream cheese is incorporated. Do NOT over-whip.

Oven Positioning for Baked Goods

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Because I bake so many different types of things so often, I sometimes feel like I’m constantly moving my oven racks up and down. Depending on what you’re baking, it’s important that it gets the proper heat from the proper sources (above or below) to bake correctly.

Here’s a quick guide to refer to:

Cakes – Center Rack
Cookies – Lower Third
Custards – Lower Third
Pie Dough – Lower Third
Breads (like Brioche) – Center Rack
Croissants / Puff Pastry – Center Rack
Souffles – Lower ThirdOf course, these aren’t necessarily hard and fast rules. When baking Palmiers (a type of cookie), for example, I use the Top Rack. And many recipes are more successful if you rotate your baked goods from the top to the bottom halfway between cooking.