Candied Orange & Hazelnut Bark

February 2, 2015February 2, 20153 Comments

When I made holiday treats this year, I made a huge batch of candied orange peel, hoping to make panettone and other traditional breads. Well, all those breads never happened, leaving me with a good-sized amount of candied orange peel, which we enjoy on its own, a bit, but when I threw it on this bark I was making, we loved it. This simple candy has been repeated I think three times in the last couple weeks, and I can’t get enough. It takes about 20 minutes to put together, and then it’s pretty and delicious and has interesting flavors. I made it for book group and for a little gathering of friends, and it’s disappeared first of everything, both times. Definitely delicious.

Candied Orange & Hazelnut Bark

8 oz. dark chocolate, my favorite are the semi-sweet bars of chocolate at Trader Joe’s, bought in one pound sizes
1/3 c. candied orange peel (I’ll post my favorite recipe, if you’ve never tried it)
1/3 c. hazelnuts
2 pinches of fleur de sel or sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Lay the hazelnuts on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside for the chocolate. Once the oven is preheated, toast the nuts until fragrant and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Let cool and then chop coarsely. Set aside.

Meanwhile, finely shave the chocolate with a knife. In a small glass or plastic bowl, melt half of the chocolate in the microwave at 30 seconds. Remove and stir as long as you can. If the chocolate doesn’t continue to melt as you stir, microwave it again for 20 seconds. Then, remove and stir until smooth.

Add a handful of the reserved chocolate shavings and stir until incorporated. Repeat until you have used all the shaved chocolate. It should take you about 5-10 minutes to add and stir. (This is one method of tempering chocolate. There’s a couple of ways to do this, so if you don’t like this one, just google another way!) By the time all of the chocolate is incorporated, your chocolate should be about 90-91 degrees, which is tempered. If you want to skip this all and quickly melt all your chocolate, the chocolate will taste fine, but could have white streaks or bubbles on the surface.

Pour the tempered chocolate onto the parchment-lined sheet and spread with a spatula to a thickness of about 1/4″ inch deep. Working quickly, sprinkle first the nuts, then the candied orange peel, and then the salt over the surface of the chocolate. Either set aside at room temperature or in the fridge to harden. When ready to serve, break the bark into wrist-sized portions. Can keep for 2 weeks in a airtight container, but mine has never lasted longer than one evening!

Egg Nog Fudge

December 17, 2014December 17, 20141 Comment

KAF photo!

I loved this last year! Can’t wait to make it again for our treat-giving. This recipe is from King Arthur Flour.

Egg Nog Fudge

2 1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. corn syrup
1 3/4 c. heavy cream
7 T. unsalted butter
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. eggnog flavor (I found this at a specialty shop, like Orson Gygi in Salt Lake City)
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 1/2 c. chopped white chocolate, or white chocolate chips

1) Grease a 9″ square cake pan with parchment; grease the parchment.

2) Combine the sugar, corn syrup, cream, butter, salt, eggnog flavor, and nutmeg in a deep, narrow (6- to 8-quart) heavy-bottomed pot.

3) Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until smooth — the sugar should have dissolved, with no grittiness in the bottom of the pan.

4) Boil until the mixture reaches 235°F to 240°F on a candy or digital thermometer, about 15 to 20 minutes. (Remember, 2 degrees lower for every 1000 feet above sea level, if this applies to you. I’m at an altitude of 4500 ft, so I want to only boil to 226-231 degrees F).

5) Remove the pot from the heat and add the chocolate a handful at a time, stirring until smooth. Note: As soon as the chocolate has melted, stop stirring! If you continue to stir, it’ll separate and become grainy.

6) Pour the mixture into the parchment-lined pan — you’ll want to do this fairly quickly, as once it starts to cool, the fudge will be much harder to pour.

7) Cool the fudge overnight, until firm. If it’s in a large pan, cut it into serving-size pieces. Wrap airtight, and store at room temperature for several days.

Yield: about 64 pieces

Rustic Plum Cake

September 23, 2014Leave a comment

I’m surprised that my kids don’t just love eating plums. I love them, and I remember loving them when I was little, too. But, my kids don’t. So, I yesterday many, many Italian plums from a big basket I bought at the farmer’s market that were starting to wrinkle, and the only solution, of course, was to make them into a cake. This recipe I’m just a fan of–of course, the almond meal and almond extract make it delightful, and I love the color that the plums seep into the cake. Incidentally, I have also used non-Italian plums in this recipe. I adapted it (just a little!) from the 2009 America’s Test Kitchen Annual.

Rustic Plum Cake

2 T. red currant jelly or seedless raspberry (I used a Cherry, Raspberry, Rhubarb jam)
1 lb prune plums halved and pitted (about 10-12)
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. almond meal (which you can now buy at Costco! Hooray!)
3/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
6 T. butter, softened
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. almond extract

Melt jelly in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until just loosened and bubbling. Add the plums face down and cook until they shed juices and thick syrup is formed (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool while assembling the cake.

Grease and flour a 9″ springform pan. Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix almond meal and sugar until combined (in a food processor or by hand). Add flour, salt and baking powder and pulse or whisk to combine. Add the butter, and mix until batter resembles coarse sand (I usually do this by hand, also!). Finally add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and process until the mixture comes together, but the batter will be thick.

Spread the batter in a thin layer on the bottom of the pan. Arrange the plum halves skin side down on the surface of the batter.

Bake until cake is golden brown and wooden skewer comes out clean, about 40-50 min. Allow cake to cool in pan on wire rack for 30 min. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

White Chocolate + Citrus Cookies

August 28, 2014September 8, 20141 Comment

This is a yummy variation on the traditional chocolate chip cookie! I loved the citrus in it, and if you bake at high altitude, like I do, the texture of this cookie works well, and the cookie holds its shape (that’s a big plus!). So, here’s a thought for your next batch of cookies. I know I will be using this recipe many times–we just loved them! This recipe comes from Six Sister’s Stuff, but I’ve changed the name (they call it an orange dreamsicle cookie–the connection isn’t right for me, but there you have it:)

White Chocolate + Citrus Cookie

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla extract
2 T. orange zest (for me that was the zest of 2 oranges)
2 c. white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and white chocolate chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overcook! Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Homemade Ice Cream Cones

August 12, 2014September 8, 20141 Comment

I’ve been wanting to try making my own cones with my pizzelle maker, and with the aid and excitement of a great friend, I finally gave it a go. Super fun! The cones were small, and I couldn’t quite get the bottom to close, so I had to dip them in chocolate (darnit!). But they were actually the perfect size for one scoop of ice cream, and I can’t wait to try them again, and even trying some different mix-ins, like perhaps lemon zest? If you got lost at pizzelle maker, here’s a link to amazon‘s sampling of choices–they are great for Christmas cookies! I got this recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Homemade Ice Cream Cones

1/4 c. (60 ml) egg whites (about 2 large egg whites)
7 T. (85 g) sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/8 t. salt
2/3 c. (90 g) flour
2 T. (30 g) unsalted butter, melted

Plug in and turn on your waffle cone or pizzelle maker.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the salt and half of the flour, then mix in the melted butter. Beat in the rest of the flour until smooth.

If you want to bake these in an oven (it seems a little complicated to me), here’s the epicurious link. Otherwise, fill each mold in your cone or pizzelle maker with about 1 1/2 T. batter, and bake for about 1 minute. Remove cookie and immediately shape around your fingers or in a ramekin (for more of a seashell). You may want to use a tea towell or gloves ’cause these are hot!! Enjoy! I doubled the recipe and it yielded about 20 in a pizzelle maker.

My cute four-year-old loving it!

Some Variations:

For Sesame or Poppy Seed Ice Cream Cones, stir 3 tablespoons (35 g) toasted sesame or poppy seeds and a bit of grated lemon zest into the batter.

To make Chocolate Ice Cream Cones, increase the sugar to 1/2 cup (100 g), and use 6 tablespoons (60 g) flour and 3 tablespoons (21 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder in place of the 2/3 cup (90 g) flour.

For Gingersnap Ice Cream Cones, add 1 tablespoon mild molasses and 1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to the batter. Increase the sugar to 1/2 cup (100 g).

For Honey-Cornmeal Ice Cream Cones, substitute 1 large egg and 1 egg white for the 1/4 cup (60 ml) egg whites. Melt 2 teaspoons of strongly flavored honey with the butter, and substitute 1/2 cup (70 g) of flour and 1/4 cup (35 g) of stone-ground cornmeal for the 2/3 cup (90 g) flour.

For Rosemary Ice Cream Cones, add 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary to the Honey-Cornmeal Ice Cream Cone batter.

Dutch Oven Apple Pie

July 26, 2014Leave a comment

Well, we don’t venture out camping very often, but last week we spent two nights in the great outdoors, so of course, I was excited to do a little dutch oven baking! I have made bread in our dutch oven before, baking it just in our home oven, and it works beautifully, but I was a little scared to try it outside. I decided to make soup, bread, and pie, but I was especially happy with how the bread and pie turned out. I used a bunch of granny apples I had on hand, and I went ahead and prepared the crusts (I rolled them out on parchment and put them in the dutch oven before we left), and then brought all the filling ingredients pre-mixed, so all I had to do was core the apples (we had to get a little creative for that), and then toss it all together and bake.

Here’s the hubby and baby boy helping out with the cooking. We didn’t realize until later that this was perhaps a little precarious of a situation to be putting our baby in (since he kind-of looks like he’s about to fall out of the backpack–into hot charcoals. Whoops). So dutch oven soup, bread, and pie were all a success, but I especially pleased when we opened the lid to the pie. It was like magic!

Dutch Oven Apple Pie

5 large tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced (5 cups)
1 c. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
2 T. flour
1/8 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
double crust pie dough (recipe below)
sugar for dusting
1 T. butter, cut into 6 pieces

Combine all ingredients except butter and let stand while preparing pastry. Line 10-inch dutch oven with pastry [I left the pastry on the parchment paper, and placed the dough and parchment paper inside the dutch oven, which also made for easy cleaning]; add filling and dot with butter. Cover with rolled dough for top crust. Seal and flute edge, then sprinkle crust with sugar. Make slits to allow steam to escape, and cover with the dutch-oven lid.

If baking at home, bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then reduce to 350 degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until crust is golden. If baking outdoors, place 10 charcoals under the dutch oven and 12 coals on top of the lid, and bake for about 45 minutes, or again, until the crust is golden.

No-Fail Pie Crust

2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 t. salt
1 c. butter
1/4 c. cold water
1 T. vinegar
1 egg, beaten

Sift together flour and salt. Cut in 1/2 the butter until the mixture resembles small peas, then cut in the rest of the butter until the mixture resembles navy beans [I love these directions–never read anything like it before!]. In a mixing bowl, combine water, vinegar, and egg. Pour into flour mixture and mix lightly with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry forms a ball. Divide pastry into two portions (2/3 for bottom, 1/3 for top). Roll out between parchment or waxed paper.

Recipe from The Friends of Old Deseret Dutch Oven Cookbook

Simple Peach Ice Cream

July 23, 2014Leave a comment

I love when I’m reading a magazine, and I come across a recipe that I have both the time to make as well as all the ingredients, so I can make it pronto! This recipe from Martha’s Living definitely qualified. The simplest ice cream ever, with a lot of fresh fruit. I can’t wait to try it with the cherries in my freezer, too!

Simple Peach Ice Cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 quart frozen peaches (made from about 4-6 medium fresh peaches)

I already had frozen peaches on hand, but if you don’t, just boil fresh peaches for 30 seconds (to loosen the skins), remove from pot, and let cool until you can handle them. When ready, skin and slice the peaches, then either flash freeze them on a cookie sheet in a single layer or place in a quart baggie and freeze for at least one day.

When ready to make the ice cream, place the sweetened condensed milk and peaches in a blender (if you have frozen them in a baggie, you may want to microwave them briefly to separate, and smash them a little to help your blender out), and blend for about 1 minute. This makes a beautiful soft-serve consistency ice cream. You can return it to the freezer if you’d like something harder, but we enjoyed this ice cream right away! We thought this was a perfect end to a summer day.

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014Leave a comment

Need a fast treat that’s sturdy and can be done in less than an hour? I have needed this special something several times in the last few weeks of summer, so this recipe has been a lifesaver. It gets to the oven quite quickly, bakes, and then is easy to take to the lake, camping, for a picnic, or just to have around the house as friends are stopping in. I also love that it’s mostly whole grain and since I don’t think butter is all that bad for people (in moderation, of course), I think this is really a great treat. Hope someone else loves it too! This recipe came from an old Everyday Food magazine.

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
3/4 c. packed light-brown sugar (I’ve also substituted for 1/2 c. honey, and it works fine, too)
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon [I use 1 t., ’cause we love cinnamon]
1 c. all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. [I just line the baking pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.]

In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugars, egg, salt, and cinnamon until smooth. Add flour, oats, and raisins; fold in just until combined.

Spread batter in prepared pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift bars onto a work surface; cut into 16 bars.

Brown Bag Caramel Popcorn

July 9, 2014August 18, 2015Leave a comment

I couldn’t believe this recipe would work, but I was in a time crunch, so it was worth a try. Amazingly, it works! And it’s delicious! I first made it for my Lucy to take for a class treat, but I have since made it several times, including for 4th of July firework shows. It takes a little less than half an hour, start to finish, and is really as delicious as other, more time-intensive, versions. This recipe is adapted from AllRecipes.com, but I’ve changed it here to reflect many of the great suggestions from the readers, as well as eliminate the margarine.

Brown Bag Caramel Popcorn

8 quarts popped popcorn
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. light corn syrup (honey can also work)
1/2 t. salt
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. baking soda

Spray the inside of a large (grocery-sized) brown bag with cooking spray. Place the popped popcorn into the bag. Set aside.

In a 2 quart casserole dish, or other heat-proof glass dish, combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, salt and vanilla.

Now to the potentially tricky part. The original directions say to heat for 3 minutes in the microwave, then take out and stir until well blended. Return to the microwave, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from microwave, and then stir in the baking soda, but I thought it would burn in my microwave (as other cooks had noted it did in their microwave), so I adapted it to microwaving it first for 90 seconds on high, then stirring it to make sure it’s completely combined, then I microwaved it for another 90 seconds on high, and then added the baking soda. I would recommend going with the lower time amount first, because you can always cook it longer, if needed.

Pour syrup over the popcorn in the bag. Roll down the top once or twice to close the bag, and shake to coat the corn. Place bag into the microwave, and cook for 1 minute and 10 seconds (I only did 1 minute). Remove, shake, flip the bag over, and return it to the microwave. Cook for another 1 minute and 10 seconds (again, I just did 1 minute). Dump the popcorn out onto waxed paper, and let cool until coating is set. Store in an airtight container.

Cherry Clafouti

July 8, 20142 Comments

I really love cherry season, and for some reason, cherries are the fruit I get most excited about baking with. I know this is strange–I think it has something to do with memories of Hostess Cherry Pies. Anyway, turns out that nothing from my kitchen has ever tasted like a Hostess Cherry Pie (I’m not really sure how they accomplish it, to be honest), but my adult tastes don’t enjoy them much anymore, anyway. So, if you’re interested in doing something with the cherries you’ve just picked up from a fruit stand, here’s a great option. A clafouti (which, I believe is pronounced “cla–foo-tee”) can be a dessert or if you live at my house, a breakfast food. Ina Garten’s recipes, which I’ve used here, calls for pears, but I’ve adapted it back to the more traditional cherries. Essentially, this is a custard (crepe-like) batter baked with fruit. It’s very simple to make and it looks great straight out of the oven, but stays quite hot, so if you’re serving it to kids, best to wait for 15 minutes or so (the cherries capture a lot of heat). This recipe is adapted from Garten’s Barefoot in Paris.

Cherry Clafouti

1 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 c. plus 1 T. granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
6 T. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. heavy cream (you can use milk here, it will just lessen the creaminess, which works for me!)
2 t. pure vanilla extract
1 t. grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. almond extract
1 c. sweet cherries
Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 10 x 3 x 1 1/2-inch round baking (pie) dish and sprinkle the bottom and sides with 1 T. of the granulated sugar.

Beat the eggs and the 1/3 c. of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. On low speed, mix in the flour, cream, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, and almond extract. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pit the cherries either by slicing them in half or with a cherry pitter. Sprinkle the cherries in the baking dish, and pour the batter over the cherries. Bake until the top is golden brown and the custard is firm, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

(My husband liked this picture better, so I included them both!)