Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. My grandpa passed away last week and I’ve been spending time down in Florida with my family. As sad as it is that he wasn’t there with us, it was really nice to see everyone all in one place. It doesn’t happen often that we’re all together.

My grandpa had been wanting our whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins) to get together for his and my grandma’s 60th anniversary and earlier last year we had been planning to take a trip somewhere together. After he got sick he knew that trip would never happen and really was just hoping he could at least make it to my wedding in October. It’s sad that we were all finally able to be together and my grandpa couldn’t join us. And my wedding will definitely feel like there’s something missing.

This month’s bloghop ingredient is berries. I really wanted to bake up something that my grandpa would have loved.

His and my birthday were only 2 days apart so either my mom or I would bake a cake every year and the two of use would celebrate together, blowing out the candles on our cake.

birthday with grandpa

Birthday with Grandpa- 8 yrs old

I contemplated baking a carrot cake because I remember how much he loved when we made a carrot layer cake for his birthday, complete with cream cheese frosting. I also remember a time we made a white cake with lemon curd filling and blueberries- the only berry he would eat because he hated seeds getting in his teeth.

I kind of combined the two and made a raspberry cake (I think he wouldn’t have minded the seeds are baked in but you could easily strain them out), with lemon curd filling and a cream cheese frosting. There were no good blueberries so I used blackberries in this filling.

I think my grandpa would have loved this cake. I miss him already.

I’m posting this as part of the #berryove April bloghop. I’m co-hosting with the following:
A little bit of everythingBaker StreetBaking and Cooking, A Tale of Two LovesBigFatBakerBon à croquerCake DuchessEasily Good EatsGeorgie Cakes, Hobby And MoreJava CupcakeMis PensamientosNo One Likes Crumbley CookiesOh CakeQueen’s NotebookRico sin AzúcarSimply ReemSoni’s Food for ThoughtTeaspoon of SpiceThat Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!The Art of Cooking Real FoodThe Wimpy VegetarianVegan Yack AttackVegetarian Mamma

Please join in on the #berrylove fun by linking up any berry recipe from the month of April 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #berrylove event! The twitter hashtag is #berrylove :). See below recipe for linkup!

Raspberry Cake with Lemon Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake adapted from DixieMockingbird, frosting from my Valentine’s Day Cake

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Makes one 9 inch 3-layer cake

Cake Ingredients:
parchement paper:
butter and flour – for the cake pans

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup raspberry puree* (I used about 1.5 12 oz bags of frozen berries, thawed)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, beaten

2 pints fresh raspberries (i used blackberries because raspberries were ridiculously expensive)
8 oz lemon curd ( I bought some but you could easily make it)

*For raspberry puree – simple run two to three cups of raspberries through the blender or food processor until very smooth. You can strain the puree to remove seeds if you wish, but I didn’t

Frosting Ingredients:
8 oz. of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz. butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
2 cups confectioners sugar
8 oz. containter of non-dairy whipped topping (I used Cool Whip Free)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325F. Butter and flour three 8 inch cake pans, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, vegetable oil, raspberry puree, vanilla, and eggs.

Gently whisk in the flour mixture until just combined.

Evenly divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or so. The tops of the cakes should be springy to the touch, and a cake tester (aka wooden toothpick or skewer) inserted into the center of each cake should come out clean.

Allow cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then turn cakes out onto wire cooling racks to cool completley. You can frost them once they reach room temperature, but it is better to chill the cakes for at least an hour before assembling and frosting.

While cake is cooling, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and lemon zest with an electric mixer. Beat in confectioners sugar. Fold in cool whip.

Place one cake layer on a plate. Spread half of lemon curd on cake. Place enough raspberries to cover.

Place next cake layer on top and press down, smushing raspberries. Spread rest of lemon curd on cake and place raspberries on top.

Place top cake layer on top and press down again. Dump frosting on top of cake and spread evenly over sides. You may not need all the frosting. Refrigerate cake before cutting to firm up the frosting.

 

We went down to PA to visit Nate’s mom this past weekend and it was a fun, relaxing time as always. We stopped by a few antique shops on the search for some things I want to use in the wedding. I didn’t have much luck though. I’m thinking next time a flea market will be a better bet.

Another reason we went down is because Nate’s dad gave us a whole set of never-been-used bedroom furniture because he’s turning his guest room into a gym. Although we can’t fit the huge sleigh bed into our teeny NYC bedroom, we’re super excited about when we have room for it!

I figured after getting such a nice little present, I should say thank you in the only way I know how: baking.

After my success with making granola bars the other day, I thought about what else I could make from scratch that would be as good as or better than store-bought.

I had seen some look-alike Fig Newtons online and thought that I would have to try them. Nate told me his dad likes Fig Newtons so I thought it would be the perfect time to give this recipe a try. I wish I was closer to my parents, because growing up I remember my Dad loving Fig Newtons too. Next time I go down to Florida to visit, I’ll have to make these for him.

The dough was a but sticky and kind of ripped when I folder it over the filling, but all-in-all it was very forgiving after it cooked up. In addition, you definitely have to plan ahead with these since the dough has to be refrigerated for several hours and the filling takes a while to cook.

Next time I think I’ll try this with a different flavor inside :)

*Note, for great step-by-step pictures, visit the site I got the recipe from, Oh Nuts

Homemade Fig Newtons!

Taken from Oh Nuts

Print this recipe!

makes about 30 cookies

For the filling:

1 generous cup Calimyrna dried figs
1-1/2 cups water
1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup sugar
zest of 1/2 grated orange

For the cookie dough:
4 oz (8 tbsp) softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1/2 grated orange
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups all-purpose flour

Both parts of this recipe require extensive down-time, so make sure you plan ahead and leave enough time for cooking and chilling. To make the dough, start by combining the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar in the bowl of stand mixer (or use a large bowl and a hand mixer.) Beat them together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg white, the grated zest of half an orange, and the vanilla extract, and beat everything together until you have a silky smooth mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. Add the flour, and mix on low until everything is mixed together and there are no streaks of flour remaining.

When you’re finished, you should have a soft dough similar to a sugar cookie dough. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it until it’s firm enough to roll, for about two hours.

While you wait for the dough to chill, it’s time to get figgy with it! (Yes, I’ve been dying to use that joke this whole time.) Take those dried figs and chop them up into small pieces.

Combine the chopped figs, water, apple juice, and 1/4 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan, and bring it to a boil over medium heat. After it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer it until the figs are soft and practically disintegrating, anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours. Stir the figs occasionally so they don’t scorch on the bottom of the pan.

When the figs are done, most of the water will have cooked off and they will have the consistency of a thick, sticky jam. Cool the fig mixture at room temperature or in the microwave. It’s ok if it’s not as thick as you might think, as it will get blended.

Transfer the fig mixture to a food processor or blender, and add the grated zest of half an orange. Blend until you have a smooth paste.

Now it’s time to bring together the two halves of our Fig Newton. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Take your chilled dough from the refrigerator and dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour. The dough will get sticky as it warms up, so it’s best to do this quickly and avoid adding any more flour than necessary. Roll the dough out into a very thin rectangle, about 16 inches long by 12 inches high. Remember how thin the cookie part of a Fig Newton is? Yeah, it’s a wee little layer. That’s what we’re going for.

Cut your dough into 4 strips, so that you end up with 4 long thin rectangles 4 inches across and 12 inches high.

Take about a quarter of the fig mixture and spread it along the center of one of the strips of dough. Gently fold one side over the fig mixture, then fold the second side over the first, so that you are left with a long tube of dough enclosing the fig filling. Repeat until all four dough strips have been filled and folded.

Gently (gently!) transfer the strips of dough to a parchment-covered baking sheet. I found it was easiest to do this by sliding them onto a long metal spatula, but even a large chef’s knife might work for his purpose. You can either cut them into cookies before or after baking–I prefer before, because I think it’s a little easier to get clean cuts that way, but either way works fine.

Bake the cookies in the 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until they’re puffed and golden brown around the edges.

**These cookies are even better the next day. Fresh from the oven, the cookie layer is a little crispy, more like a shortbread. But after they’ve had time to mellow, it softens like a real fig newton. Keep in tupperware on counter up to a week or longer in fridge.

February is a month for love….and chocolate.

Or maybe for loving chocolate (sorry, Nate, I’ll go back to loving you in March).

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day with someone or alone, it’s appropriate to treat yourself to some extra chocolately goodness.

Ever since I went with Nate and his family to The City Bakery, near Union Square, I’ve been dreaming of their rich and thick hot chocolate.

They’re really well known for their amazing hot chocolate. In fact, every day in the month of February they have a different flavor of hot chocolate as part of their Annual Hot Chocolate Festival.

But honestly, you really don’t need anything but their original flavor. It tastes like you’re drinking liquid chocolate. It’s seriously amazing.

Anyway, after drinking it I searched online for thick hot chocolate recipes. It’s not the watery consistency of hot chocolate you make from a packet. It’s so thick that you could eat it with a spoon. Consitency-wise, it’s kind of like in between instant hot chocolate and chocolate pudding.

I found this one recipe from Southern Living and finally got around to making it for Nate (and me). It was totally as awesome as City Bakery’s!…which is good to know since they charge $5 a pop.

This month’s #chocolatelove is brought to you by the following lovely hosts:

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Click here to enter your recipe and view the rest of the bloghop ones!

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Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate
Slighlt adapted from Southern Living

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serves 4

2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 cups milk, divided
2 (3-oz.) dark chocolate bars (at least 70% cacao), chopped
1/3 cup honey (or more depending on how sweet you like things)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Whisk together cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk until smooth.

Cook remaining 3 1/2 cups milk in a large, nonaluminum saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around edge of saucepan (about 4 minutes; do not boil). Whisk in chocolate, honey, vanilla extract, and salt until blended and smooth. Whisk in cornstarch mixture.

Bring milk mixture to a light boil, whisking frequently (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat. Let cool slightly. (Mixture will thicken as it cools.) Serve immediately.

Sorry I’m a little late with these cookie recipes. I realize Hannukah is today and Christmas is this weekend, but maybe you’re a baking procrastinator? I hope so. But you see, I’ve been a busy girl. I found my perfect wedding dress this weekend! And I think bridesmaid dresses too…and I picked a florist. I feel very productive :)

Anyway, whenever I’m creating my list of cookies/candy that I will be making for my annual holiday cookie-baking, I try to get a good assortment of flavors.

I feel that it’s necessary to have at least one “seasonal” item, like a spice cookie, something fruity, something nutty, and most definitely something chocolate.

I’m a creature of habit when it comes to my cookie-making. Although I love trying new recipes, when it comes to baking the cookies, I don’t usually have the time or energy to try a new recipe and risk it turning out awful.  Because the cookies I’m making this year are mainly just for Nate and a few lucky friends, I figured what the heck!

For the chocolate cookie, I usually default to a recipe my mom discovered a few years back called Chocolate Truffle Cookies. They are even more delicious than their name implies. But since I wanted to branch out a little bit this year, I went with a different cookie I found in my mom’s recipe box called Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

I wasn’t sure what they’d taste like, but the picture on the notecard indicated a pretty presentation. I think I must have made the cookies a bit bigger than intended, because they took longer to cook, but the result was like a crispy, chewy brownie! It’s going to be a tough call deciding whether I should make these again next year or go back to my old favorites. Luckily, I have 365+ days to decide :)

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
From my mom’s recipe box

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makes 4 dozen

2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla
4 egg whites

Sift flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl

In med sized saucepan, combine chocolate and oil on low heat, stirring frequently until just melted. Remove from heat, let cool slightly.

Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla til well blended. Using whisk, beat in egg whites until no lumps of brown sugar remain.

With spoon, gently stir chocolate into dry ingredients just until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 2 1/2-8 hours until firm.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease pans.

Put remaining confectioner’s sugar in bowl. Dusting hands with additional sugar, roll dough into 1″ balls. Dredge in conf. sugar til heavily coated. Arrange on sheets 1 1/2″ apart. Bake 8-10 min til almost firm when tapped. Let stand 2 min. Transfer to wire rack with spatula.

For as long as I can remember, my mom used to spend the weeks leading up to Christmas vacation making at least 10 different kinds of holiday cookies. It was something I looked forward to every year, both because I loved helping and because my brother and I got to sample them!

When I was younger my mom would package up the cookies beatifully in little boxes or platters and bring them around to all of my brother’s and my teachers (we went to a very small school). When I was grown and out of the house but still in college, I always missed helping make the cookies but didn’t have a big enough kitchen to make them on my own.

So when I finally was in grad school and working at my internship and therefore had a place I could actually bring the cookies, I started the same tradition of my own. I hope to continue doing it when I have kids so that they can have the same wonderful memories I have :)

I like to bake at least 8-10 different types of cookies. I make sure they’re all cookies that freeze well since I begin baking several weeks ahead of time.

Sadly this year I couldn’t make as many cookies as I normally do because I’ve been so busy, but a few different kinds did get baked up, and Nate was more than happy to sample them all.

I found this particular recipe in my mom’s recipe box. I’m pretty sure she’s made them before but I couldn’t remember. They were simple to make, and so buttery and delicious! The photos don’t do them justice, as they were taken after taking them out of the freezer. When room temperature or hot out of the oven, they’re super gooey!


Chocolate Pecan-Pie Bars
From my mom’s recipe box

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makes 48

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, soft
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups Caro syrup
1 cup (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease bottom and sides of 15″x10″x1″ baking dish.

In bowl, at medium, beat flour, 1/2 cup sugar, butter and salt til course crumbs. Press into bottom of pan. Bake at 350 for 20 min.

In 3 quart pan, stir corn syrup and chocolate on low til melted. Remove from heat. Stir in rest of sugar, eggs, vanilla til blended. Stir in pecans.

Pour filling over hot crust. Bake at 350 for 30 min or til firm around edges but slightly soft in center. Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars.