Cranberry Orange Spiced Nuts

19. September 2011 · 52 comments · Categories: Baking, cooking, food, recipes · Tags: , , , , ,

I’m such a sucker for the impulse buy items in the checkout line at the supermarket. It’s not the candy and gum, but every register in nyc has little packs of granola or nuts hanging enticingly in front of my eyes.

I try not to shop hungry, but when I need to grab groceries on the way home from work, I sometimes have no choice.

So a few weeks ago, I happened to see an orange-cranberry candied nuts mix. Being that I love that combination and I was famished, I fell into the very trap they had planted and shoved them in my shopping basket.

I opened them the second I got outside and ate half the bag on the way home. They were so good. I was really surprised by how much orange flavor came through and the cranberry added the perfect touch of sour and sweet. Needless to say I had no appetite for dinner that evening.

Ever since that night, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of cranberry and orange. Remember my Cranberry Orange Rice Salad I made a couple weeks ago?

Anyway, I didn’t want to get suckered into the total rip-off that is the checkout line impulse items again, so I promplty made it my mission to recreate these nuts at home.

I did a little searching and found an orange spiced nut recipe which I then added dried cranberries too. This one had the addition of cinnamon, which I was skeptical about, but after tasting the finished product I think it wouldn’t have been as good without it.

With cold weather coming, you should definitely make these. They’re perfect for fall!

But the best part about this recipe? I actually got to make it on a weekend and take the pics in daylight..YAY for natural light photos!


Cranberry Orange Spiced Nuts
Adapted from Taste of Home

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Makes 20 servings

Ingredients:

2 egg whites, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup walnut halves
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine egg whites and orange juice. Add nuts and cranberries and toss to coat; drain.

In another large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add nuts/cranberries and toss to coat.

Spread in a single layer in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 250° for 30-45 minutes or until dry and lightly browned.

Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. 

Mint Brownies

16. September 2011 · 41 comments · Categories: Baking, cooking, Dessert, food, recipes · Tags: , ,

Chocolate and mint make a really good pair.  Kind of like Nate and I do, but without the occassional bickering ;)

My dad once told me that he likes mint chocolate, but not chocolate mint. I’m not even sure what that means. But I think he’d make an exception for these brownies…I know I would.

These came about after I made some mint-filled chocolates for the Daring Bakers Challenge and had a LOT of leftover mint filling. The recipe I had for the mint filling wasn’t part of the recipe for the chocolates themselves, so I ended up having a ridiculous amount left. I think that the amount I used in the candies was like 1/16th of it.

When I made these, they had a bit too much mint filling. This would normally be fine with me, but the filling is so sweet that too much of it literally hurts your teeth. I ate too much when I was taking them out of the pan, and then all I wanted was salty foods. Does that ever happen to you?

So I’m pretty sure this should be just the right amount. You can easily roll out the filling thinner if you don’t want as much.

In the end, these were super rich and totally delicious. Even Nate, who can eat a giant piece of cake in one sitting, could only have a small piece of these brownies. They’re even better warm. For some reason it cuts the sweetness. Or maybe they’d be good topped with some cold and creamy vanilla ice cream!


Mint-filled Brownies
Recipe by Me

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Makes 24 large brownies

Mint Filling:
1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk
2 oz. softened margarine, unsalted
1 1/4 lbs powdered sugar
1/2-1 tsp mint extract (taste to determine how minty you want it)

Brownie:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons mint extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine filling ingredients and mix until well blended and forms a “dough.” Can be done in a stand mixer or by hand, kneading well.

3. Roll out filling “dough” until it is slightly smaller than a 9×13-inch rectangle. Set aside.

4. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light-colored metal 9×13-inch pan. Butter/spray the pan well.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder.

6. Place the chocolate and butter in the bowl of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water, and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water of the double boiler, and add both sugars. Whisk until completely combined and remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be at room temperature.

7. Add three eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the mint extract and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage, or your brownies will be cakey.

9. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until there is just a trace amount of the flour mixture still visible.

10. Assemble the brownies: Pour half of the brownie mixture into the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Carefully lift the mint filling and place on the brownie batter. You can do it in two pieces if it’s easier.

11. In heaping spoonfuls, scoop the rest of the brownie batter over the mint layer and smooth to cover.

11. Bake the brownies for 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, and check to make sure the brownies are completely done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the pan. The brownies are done when the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

12. Remove the brownies from the oven and cool the brownies completely before cutting and serving. These are easiest to cut at room temp rather than after refrigerated.

11. The brownies can be stored, tight wrapped at room temperature, for up to 4 days. Best served warm with ice cream!

I want candy!- August 2011 Daring Bakers Challenge

27. August 2011 · 18 comments · Categories: Baking, Cake, cooking, Dessert, food, recipes · Tags: , , , , , ,

As you may have figured out, the challenge this month was all about candy! How very exciting.

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks athttp://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

Candy is one of those things I’ve always wanted to try making but have been too scared. Having a reason to make it was the perfect motivator to give it the old college try.

And you know what? It wasn’t all that hard.

I did have a couple issues with the recipes. First, while I followed the recipe to a T, I think the Honeycomb candy had a bit too much baking soda (or maybe I didn’t mix it well enough?). In certain pieces of the finished product, it had a baking soda aftertaste that was not pleasant.

My main issue, however, was with melting the chocolate to the appropriate dipping consistency. I didn’t temper it, but tried the microwave method that many people had recommended. I think maybe I overcooked it? All I know is that it was more gloppy than silky smooth. This didn’t in any way affect the taste (they were amazing!), but it did make the process a whole lot messier and more frustrating.

By the time I finished, there was chocolate smeared on the refrigerator door handles, the microwave, all over the counter, on my face where I wiped my brow in frustration, and dripped all over the floor. I think I may have even seen a few drops on LC the cat. It’ll be a nice surprise for her the next time she decides to groom herself ;)

Filled Chocolates (made with molds)

Makes about 25 small chocolates

Ingredients:

Dark or milk chocolate melted, preferably tempered, about 14 oz
Powdered food coloring (lustre dust mixed with extract) for decoration (optional)

Other Equipment:
A small brush
Chocolate molds
A Ladle
Bench or plastic scraper
OR
A small brush or spoon

Preparation:

1. When coating the molds with the tempered chocolate, I like to do it how the chocolate pro’s do it (much faster and a lot less tedious). While holding mold over bowl of tempered chocolate, take a nice ladle of the chocolate and pour over the mold, making sure it cover and fills every well. Knock the mold a few times against a flat surface to get rid of air bubbles, then turn the mold upside down over the bowl of chocolate, and knock out the excess chocolate. Turn right side up and drag a bench or plastic scraper across so all the chocolate in between the wells is scraped off cleanly, leaving you with only chocolate filled wells. Put in the fridge to set, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Alternatively, if you’d like (or if your chocolate wasn’t tempered correctly and didin’t allow for pouring!) you could take a small brush and paint the tempered chocolate into each mold, or spoon it in if you’d like.

3. Remove from refrigerator and fill each well with the filling of your choice. With the mint filling I used, I rolled each into a small ball, put it in the chocolate filled mold, and flattened it.

4. Again take a ladle of chocolate and pour it on top of the filled chocolate wells, knocking against a flat surface to settle it in. Scrape excess chocolate off the mold with the bench scraper then refrigerate until set.

4. When set, pop your beautiful filled chocolates out of each well.

5. If decorating with lustre dust, put a small amount in a little bowl mixed with a drop or two of extract of choice. Mix well and paint in desired pattern on top of chocolates!

Sponge Candy (also called Honeycomb or Sea Foam candy)

Adapted from Christine Cushing’s Sponge Toffee Recipe

Full photo tutorial Here

Ingredients:

2½ cups (20oz/560gm) Granulated White Sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) Light corn syrup
6 tablespoons (90 ml) Water
1 tablespoon (0.5 oz/ 15g) Baking Soda
2 teaspoons (10 ml) Vanilla extract
Vegetable oil for greasing pan

Preparation:

1. Liberally grease a 10-inch round spring form cake pan with vegetable oil. Trace the bottom of the pan on a piece of parchment paper. Line the bottom of the pan with the parchment paper circle. Line the sides of the pan with a parchment paper so that the parchment paper creates a collar that sits 1 to 2-inches above the pan. Liberally grease the parchment paper.
2. In a deep medium saucepan add sugar, corn syrup, water, and vanilla. Over medium-high heat bring the mixture to a boil (without stirring) and cook until hard crack stage, i.e. until temperature reads 285°F / 140°C on a candy thermometer (if using light corn syrup, it will be light amber, if using dark corn syrup it will be the color of maple syrup). This should take about 10 minutes. If sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan during the cooking process, brush the sides of the pan with a clean pastry brush dipped in water.
3. Remove from heat. Working quickly, add the baking soda and quickly blend to incorporate the soda into the sugar mixture, about 5 seconds. The mixture will bubble up when you add the baking soda. Be very careful not to touch the hot mixture.
4. Immediately pour the hot toffee into the prepared pan. Let set completely before touching. Cut into pieces. It makes a huge mess. But the messy little crumbs can be saved to top ice cream. Leave candy as is and enjoy, or dip pieces in tempered chocolate and let set.


Rainbow Velvet Cake for a Special Birthday!

22. August 2011 · 48 comments · Categories: Baking, Cake, cooking, Dessert, food, recipes · Tags: , ,

Ever since Nate’s last birthday, I’ve been plotting and planning a cake to top what I made him last year. He told me that his fave cake flavors are Red Velvet or Carrot Cake.

But I knew a Red Velvet Cake alone wouldn’t be special enough for his 30th birthday. So I thought bigger.

Nate told me that when he was younger, he loved rainbow sherbert and tye-dye, and basically all things colorful. So I knew when I was scoping the web and saw pictures of Rainbow Cakes, I’d have to do something similar.

However, I don’t have 6 separate pans for different colors, so I thought about putting all the colors in one pan, for more of a tye-dye effect, and only used 2 pans for 2 layers. I had seen that others had already tried this so I knew it would work out.

The only thing that worried me is that all of these were done with white cake, so the colors were very vibrant. I’d be using red velvet batter, though, which is already tinted slightly brown from the cocoa.

In the end, it certainly wasn’t as bright as it would have been with white cake, but it was pretty darn awesome.

But the best part was seeing everyone’s face when I cut the first slice. Nobody had a clue of what was inside that innocent looking white-frosted cake :)

Happy 30th Birthday, Nate! I can’t wait to celebrate many more with you…


Rainbow Velvet Cake with Raspberries and Blueberries
Adapted from Bon Appetit

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Make one 9-in layer cake

Ingredients:

Cake
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet food gels

Frosting
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries
3 1/2-pint baskets fresh blueberries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides.

Sift sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl.

Whisk buttermilk, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions.

Divide batter evenly into 6 small bowls. Add food gel to each of 6 bowls, about 1/4 tsp each or until desired color is achieved.

Drop the colours, one by one, into the middle of the pan, in neat concentric blobs.

When you’re three colours in, start doing the reverse with the other pan. Since I’m going in rainbow order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, I got from red to yellow in the first pan, then purple, blue, green in the second. This is so that your two pans are equal if your measurements aren’t exact (and they’re not likely to be).

For a good visual of how to do this, view here.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 min minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over top of cake.

Arrange 1 basket raspberries and 1/2 basket blueberries atop frosting, pressing lightly to adhere.

Top with second cake layer, flat side down.

Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Arrange remaining berries decoratively over top of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

Cut into cake and watch the amazement on everyone’s faces!

Another Quick Weeknight Meal: Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole

18. August 2011 · 32 comments · Categories: Baking, cooking, Dinner, food, recipes, Savory · Tags: , , , ,

Do you ever have one of those days where you get home late and have to cook dinner, blog, do more work, watch a dvr-ed show, give your cat attention so she doesn’t meow all night AND get to bed at a decent hour? Is that too much to ask for?!

Obviously I’ve been having quite a few of those days (as you may have figured out from Black Bean Burger post, my evenings are short on time), and it’s really starting to get to me. I thought of trying to eliminate some items off my list of things to do, but the only really optional item is the tv, and even that isn’t a choice…I mean a girl needs to have some time to just chill and decompress, right?

So I decided if i can’t eliminate any of my tasks, perhaps I could at least make them easier. Time-saving.

I made a dinner that came together in about 5 minutes, and while it does have to bake for 45 minutes, those are 45 minutes that you can be working on your blog, etc. So it’s a win-win situation.

This meal isn’t quite what you’d think of as a nutritious meal, but it has carbs, protein and veggies so it’s really pretty darn good! It uses processed cheese (Velveeta) but you could easily substitute fresh shredded cheddar. It won’t have the same consistency or be nearly as good, but you could do it :)

It uses Minute Rice, aka the smartest invention ever. Minute Rice, also known as instance rice,  is rice that has been pre-cooked and dehydrated so that it cooks more rapidly. While regular rice takes about 20 minutes to cook, instant rice only takes about 5-10 minutes. Because it has already been cooked, all that is necessary to prepare instant rice is to simply re-hydrate it with hot water.

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend eating this as straight-up rice (although I’ve never tried it), putting it in a casserole is ideal.

Now that I’ve saved you time on dinner, go watch that show you dvr-ed…you deserve it ;)

Broccoli, Ham, Cheese and Rice Casserole
Adapted from Cooking Light (11/99)

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Serves 4 (as a main dish)

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked instant rice (brown or white)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fat-free milk
4 ounces light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)
2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, softened
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1/2 pack of deli ham, chopped (or as much as desired)
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and spoon into a 2-quart casserole. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

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