Archive for May, 2006
I couldn’t make up my mind whether to make peanut butter or banana cupcakes. Peanut butter seemed like it might be too heavy on its own, while banana sounded like it might be too sweet. I was looking for something light, wiht a nice flavor, when it occured to be to combine the two. Reflecting back on the decision-making process, it should have taken far less time to come to that conclusion that it did, but that’s beside the point now. What matters at the moment is that I have cupcakes.
In this case, the cupcake itself is tender and lighter than I would have expected, with a tight and even crumb, but a very fluffy texture. The batter comes together very easily. There are flavors of both peanut butter and banana, but neither is overly strong and they match each other perfectly. I used regular, creamy peanut butter, which means that there is a fair amount of salt already in it. I took this into account when I added salt to my recipe, but if you use unsalted peanut butter, increase the amount of salt to 1/2 tsp. The resulting cake has a hint of saltiness that perfectly compliments the peanut butter flavor and also allows you to use any kind of frosting without worring that you’ll overdo the sweetness.
Speaking of which, I also had a difficult time deciding what type of frosting to use. I ended up using a marshmallow frosting recipe that I love, though I can’t say that vanilla was the perfect frosting for these. If you want to really appreciate the peanut butter and banana flavors of the cake, eat them plain with a cup of tea or coffee and a dusting of powdered sugar. To play up the peanut butter, use this peanut butter frosting, and just use your favorite chocolate frosting if you need a chocolate fix and don’t mind hiding the other flavors.
Next time – and there will be a next time – I am going to add a touch of peanut butter and banana extracts (yes, those little bottles that you see in the grocery store) to this vanilla marshmallow icing. I mean, can it get any better than peanut butter, banana and marshmallow?
I think not.
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Sometimes, I get tired of plain or simple buttermilk pancakes. Part of the reason is that I like a lot of variety in my foods and a part of the reason is this blog. Not that I’m begrudging my own blog anything, but posting does keep me from repeating myself too often.
I stumbled upon this pancake recipe on Epicurious when I was looking for a way to use up some blackberries that were sitting on my counter. I like blackberries in things like cobblers and smoothies, but I’m not a huge fan of eating them on their own as, more often than not, they’re too tart for me to want to eat a whole handful at a time. A sauce seemed like a good way to sweeten them up and the syrup recipe that went along with the pancakes sounded perfect. Not to mention that it was incredibly simple. Of course, once I was making the syrup, I just had to try out the pancake recipe.
After some heavy “tweaking,” I ended up with some delicious and hearty pancakes that are not entirely unlike the original recipe. They have a fair amount of texture from the inclusion of cornmeal and are not very sweet at all when they are eaten on their own, but go fantastically with any kind of syrup. Butter would be a nice touch with these, too, since there is very little fat in the recipe.
The syrup is chunky and rustic, but too thin to be called a compote. The maple syrup pairs surprisingly well with the blackberries. It was much less sweet than plain maple syrup because of the tartness of the not-too-sweet berries. When I tasted it on its own, I thought that it might not be quite sweet enough (I like my syrup sweet!), but it actually went very well with the pancakes.
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I’ve talked about batter breads before. Their main advantage is that they are incredibly simple, involving no kneading and still produce an excellent loaf.
It is so simple, in fact, that there is not much to say about it! This recipe makes one loaf with a soft, moist open crumb and a slightly crisp, thin crust. I mixed up the dough in my stand mixer, but you could certainly do it by hand, too. I find that giving it a mixing time of a few minutes is important to help the gluten develop and give the bread a better structure, something which normally happens during the kneading and rising process of other breads.
The loaf has the rich, tangy taste of the molasses, but it is tempered by the honey, so there is no bitterness in the bread. The oatmeal adds a bit of texture, but doesn’t detract from the overall softness of the crumb. It’s great for cutting into thick slices and eating with soup or slathering with butter. I like it best untoasted because of the lovely soft texture, but toast is always a good serving suggestion for breads.
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While I don’t generally like bread puddings all that much, and have mentioned that I far prefer ones that can be sliced, like my Restaurant Style Bread Pudding, to ones that must be scooped, there are a few that aren’t too bad. And there are also occasions when it is good to know how to whip one up, since they are versatile, easy and quite popular.
This one falls into the “not too bad” category – by which I mean that it is very good. I’m just not quite willing to come to terms with my enjoyment of this particular bread pudding just yet. I’m sure that once I’ve made this another time or two, I’ll come around.
Bread pudding is chopped up, slightly stale bread that has been soaked in a milk/egg mixture. I usually cut my bread into 3/4-inch ot 1-inch chunks and let it sit out during the day to “stale.” I rarely have bread that is stale on its own and I just can’t be bothered to toast all those bits of bread. It will dry out sufficiently after sitting out, uncovered, for a few hours. If you’re going out, it’s a good idea to cut up the bread in the morning, so it will be ready when you get home and want to make your pudding.
The custard is whipped up very, very quickly. I always set out my eggs with the bread so they’re at room temperature when I go to work with them, but if you store yours in the fridge until the last minute, you can put them in a bowl of slightly warmed water for about 5 minutes to take the chill off. This will allow them to incorporate more easily into the batter. For a sweet custard, I would add some sugar, but here I simply used salt, pepper and a bit of parmesan cheese – which went a surprisingly long way. Rather than cleaning a bunch of artichokes, I used canned ones that were packed in water (not oil) and diced them, saving time and effort.
Overall, the bread pudding was a hudge success. Aside from tasting cheesy with bits of artichoke, it’s difficult to describe the flavor exactly. The flavors of the egg and the whole wheat bread are strongly present, but the whole thing actually blended together very, very well. I’d make it again in a heartbeat for company because, though it looks quite homey, the flavors are very clear and would go well with a whole host of other dishes.
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While I always enjoy making yeasted rolls and breads, I don’t always have time to do so. Sometimes this is out of a sheer lack of motivation, while other times it is because I simply haven’t planned enough time to get bread out with the rest of the meal. That is why it is nice to be able to put together something very quick, like these biscuits.
Drop biscuits are much like scones, with butter cut into a flour mixture and held together with milk or cream. To make these savory, I only added a tiny bit of sugar, to help with browning, and added some sharp cheddar cheese. The type of cheese that goes into these biscuits is important because, while any type of firm cheese can really be used (cheddar, jack, etc), you will probably want to increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon if your cheese is very mild. Otherwise, the biscuits will be pleasant, but a bit bland. I mean, Monterey jack is a lovely cheese, but it doesn’t exactly the most interesting flavor profile. The dill adds a subtle flavor to these biscuits, but compliments the cheese nicely. If you don’t have fresh dill, you can substitute 1 1/2 tsp dried dill.
I opted to make these in the food processor instead of by hand, just for the sake on convenience. Try not to over-blend the butter into the flour and use the “pulse” function to combine the ingredients.
I don’t think these need any butter for serving, but feel free to add some. They’re great with salads.
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