With a corncob pipe and a "button" nose

When I got my December issue of Bon Appetit, the pretty cookies on the cover definitely caught my eye.  Then I spyed the small print near the bottom that proclaimed them to be Dorie Greenspan's Speculoos Buttons, p. 96.  I immediately knew that I'd have to make them.  After all, I know I can rely on Dorie. =)  I realized also that these would be perfect for my virtual cookie exchange. 

The dough is easy to mix up.  You cream butter with regular and brown sugars as well as a little molasses.  Next in are an egg and some vanilla.  Then you add the dry ingredients--flour, salt and spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and a bit of cloves).  The dough is formed into logs and chilled for several hours.  Before baking, the logs of dough are brushed with egg white and coated in sparkling sugar.  This was a great chance for me to use the pretty pearlized sugar that I picked up a couple weeks ago.  The recipe calls for adding a glaze and additional decorations to the cookies after they're baked, but I didn't get that far.

The verdict?  I really liked these cookies--they have a good level of spice and aren't too sweet.  Brianna tried one and didn't really like it.  Gillian wouldn't even taste one.  So I took most of them to work, and found several people who were more than happy to take them off my hands.  I will definitely be making these again--the dough is easy to mix up and stash in the freezer for cookie emergencies. =)  Next time I'll have to add the glaze and play around more with the decorations.  Maybe if the girls get to decorate them, they'll reconsider eating them.  Lol. 

If you'd like to try these for yourself, you can find the recipe here.  Be sure to check back in a few days so see what other tasty cookies my friends have come up with for our cookie exchange!  

A cake of holiday cheer

It felt like a pretty good baking weekend--two recipes made and photographed, as well as some cookie dough made to bake during the week.  I really meant to have a post written yesterday, but I decided it was a better idea to go to bed early.  I stayed up entirely too late on Saturday night (after midnight!) so I could finish the book I was reading.  And to be honest, because I was enjoying the solitude.  I haven't had nearly enough time to myself lately, and it's been making me cranky and unfocused.  Sadly today wasn't much help as far as that goes, since I was at work later than expected.  But I still hope to get the girls to bed early so I can have some quiet time.  Quiet time with a mug of tea and another piece of this cake. =)  

I made this Eggnog Bundt Cake for our annual holiday potluck with the Italian genealogy group.  I can always count on them to help me eat cake (so I don't eat it all myself).  To be honest, I'm not a fan of eggnog.  But when I read the recipe, I realized that it doesn't actually have any eggnog in it.  Instead, it incorporates the flavors associated with eggnog.  There's a full teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg in it, along with a bit of dark rum.  While I don't like eggnog, I'm a fan of nutmeg, and rum. =)  To make the flavors stand out, they're mixed into a cup of the cake batter which is then used to make a swirl in the cake.  The cake is topped with a simple powdered sugar glaze that includes a little more rum.

The verdict?  Well, most of the cake disappeared pretty quickly, so I think it's safe to say that it was a success.  The taste was good, and so was the texture--the cake had a good level of moistness.  The only thing that didn't work as well as I'd hoped was the swirl.  Mine ended up mostly at the bottom of the cake.  I'm not sure if that's because of the pan I used (my Fleur de Lis pan) or something else.  I'll have to try it again in my Classic Bundt pan to see what happens.  I also cut back on the rum in the glaze (using about a teaspoon) because I knew my girls wanted to try the cake.  I'll have to make it again with more when I'm just serving adults.  

If you'd like to try this recipe for yourself, you can find it in this year's Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking newsstand issue.  It's also available to subscribers of the Cook's Country website.  

Spice is nice

Well, I'm more than ten days in now, and so far the posting every day thing is going pretty well.  I'm not entirely happy with all the posts, but none are really bad.  And I feel like I'm making progress toward my goal of just getting the words out.  Today's post is a bit more extensive than the past few, since I had the time to take some better pictures.  I'm playing around with different spots in my house to find some good lighting, and this spot was pretty successful.

As you may be able to tell, today's featured ingredients are nutmeg and rum.  One of my favorite blogs is the one written by the folks at King Arthur Flour.  The posts are always entertaining and informative, even if the recipe isn't something that I plan to make.  But sometimes I read a post, like this one last Monday, and know I have to make the recipe as soon as possible.  Nutmeg Bites sounded fabulous, especially once I got to the part about the rum icing. 

The great thing about these cookies is that they're really easy to make.  No particular mixing order--you pretty much just dump everything in the mixer.  It's a straightforward ingredient list, with flour, sugar, butter, egg, salt, vanilla, and a full teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg.  Once the dough comes together, you stick it in the fridge for an hour to firm up.  I actually left mine longer than that without any problems.  I used my #70 disher to scoop the cookies.  My bake time was a little longer than the 8-10 minutes stated in the recipe; I let them go until they were clearly starting to brown on the bottoms.  While the cookies cooled, I mixed up the icing, which consisted of powdered sugar, a little butter, and some dark rum.  

The verdict?  Mmm, these are wonderful.  I love cookies like these--almost like shortbread, but easier.  The rum in the frosting was very strong right after I mixed it up, but mellowed a bit after a day or two.  In fact, I think that overall, the cookies were better after a day or two.  Nutmeg has become a favorite spice of mine, and I enjoyed the fact that there aren't any other spices in these cookies to distract from the nutmeg flavor.  

If you'd like to give these a try for yourself, you can find the recipe here at King Arthur Flour.  I will definitely be making these again, and probably putting some in my holiday gifts.  

Playing catch-up - Classic Apple Crisp

A couple weeks ago, I was in the mood for apple crisp, and thought I'd try something new.  I found this recipe at King Arthur Flour.   I love anything with streusel, and this one is quite tasty.  I also like the addition of both boiled cider and regular apple cider to the filling.  We originally ate the crisp for dessert, but it also makes a great breakfast.

Keeping the doctor away

I had a really good mail day recently.  It helps that I got tired of the stack of bills needing to be shredded--one evening I switched everything to paperless that I could manage, which means most of the mail now is either total junk or good stuff.  On the day in question, I think I got a new Cook's Illustrated magazine, an issue of Bon Appetit, a Crate and Barrel catalog, a Stash Tea catalog and a King Arthur catalog.  Definitely good stuff. =)  (And you can probably guess, I don't check my mail every day--it had kind of piled up.)  In the back of the KAF catalog, there were some fun Halloween treats, including a picture of Boiled Cider Caramels.  I quickly jumped online to find the recipe.

I will probably end up making the caramels sometime during the holidays.  But I wasn't in the mood to cut up and wrap lots of pieces of caramel.  Then it occurred to me that I could add boiled cider and spices to one of my favorite caramel sauces and come up with something similar.  I decided to go with a classic recipe from Cook's Illustrated, scaling it back by half since this was an experiment.  I added a bit of corn syrup for insurance against crystallization.  Once I'd whisked the cream into the caramel, I added boiled cider one tablespoon at a time until I had a flavor I liked.  I made my own version of apple pie spice by adding a mix of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.  I also added more than the original pinch of salt, since I like salty caramel.

The verdict?  I was a bit surprise at how much flavor the boiled cider brings to the caramel, but I'm still trying to decide if I'm happy with the amount of spice.  It seemed a bit heavy on the cinnamon at first, but was better after a day or two.  The caramel is tasty on top of vanilla ice cream and stirred into tea or warm apple cider, but it's really good as a dip for apple slices.  I know, big surprise, right? =)

I'll definitely be making this again, and playing around with it some more.  I'm including my rough recipe if you'd like to try it yourself.  If you haven't made caramel before, here's a good resource from Fine Cooking, including a video so you can see what it's supposed to look like.  (I do things a little differently, based on the Cook's Illustrated recipe.)

Apple Cider Caramel Sauce
(adapted from Cook's Illustrated and King Arthur Flour)

60 grams (2 ounces) water
200 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
22 grams (1 tablespoon) light corn syrup
115 grams (1/2 cup) heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
60 grams (about 3 tablespoons) boiled cider
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
15 grams (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter

Pour the water into a heavy 2-quart saucepan.  Add the sugar to the pan, pouring it into the center so none sticks to the sides of the pan.  Add the corn syrup and swirl the contents to combine.  Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.  Remove the lid and continue to boil the mixture until it turns straw-colored, about 10 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook the syrup until it turns dark amber, about 5 minutes longer.  Remove the pan from the heat and add about half the cream.  The mixture will bubble vigorously.  Once the bubbles subside, add the rest of the cream and whisk the mixture until smooth.  Whisk in the salt, boiled cider, and spices, then whisk in the butter.  Allow the mixture to cool until just warm before serving.  The caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month.  Makes about a cup.

Weekend wind-down 9.9.2012

Okay, I have to admit that I'm totally stealing this idea from my friend Kayte, who often posts a Sunday Snippets on her blog as a summary of what's been going on during her week.  I have a whole bunch of odds and ends that I can talk about, but nothing that I want to write an entire post about.  I thought about doing a Wordless Wednesday-ish sort of thing, since I have some pictures, but I realized that I do have some words to share as well.  So here we are. =)  If I like the way this works out, it might even become a weekly thing.

Above is my dessert from tonight.  I'm trying to will autumn to come to Central Texas sooner rather than later.  Summer is my least favorite season.  I dislike the heat, I don't really grill, and summer meals aren't the ones I really enjoy making.  We had a brief taste of fall weather this weekend--the highs were still around 90 (I can hear my northern friends thinking, how can she say that's fall weather?), but the low this morning was about 60, which we haven't felt in months.  We might get one more run of temperatures around 100, but maybe we'll get lucky and avoid it.

I've been craving fall flavors big time, things like apples and pumpkin and warm spices.  I had a short day on Friday, and spent part of my time at home making spice cupcakes.  I tried a recipe that I hadn't made before.  (It's from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook.)  It was originally for a 13"x9" pan, and I made it as cupcakes.  It was a mixed success.  The flavors were great, but the batter spread too much and the cake's crumb was too delicate in cupcake form.  It did give me a chance to use my new cupcake papers from my recent KAF order, though.  I took a bunch of the cupcakes to work, where they got rave reviews.  The rest got crumbled up and layered with some homemade applesauce (I found some enormous Paula Red apples at Central Market the other night) and whipped cream.  Yum!

My other major baking activity for the week was the Nectarine Upside-Down Chiffon Cake for Tuesdays with Dorie.  I actually made it on Tuesday, but ran out of energy to post about it.  The verdict?  I like the cake, but I'd make a few changes next time.  The main thing would be to use a tarter fruit, either regular nectarines (I used white ones) or maybe plums.  The cake was also at its best the first day; it got soggy after that.  Thanks to Marlise and Susan for hosting this week.  And everyone else's results can be found on the Links page.

Getting back to fall flavors...  Gillian was quite concerned that Central Market had Halloween stuff out this week.  At least they waited this long.  Most of the candy I can take or leave, but I do have one notable weakness.  I can resist the regular candy corn--I don't buy it, because if I do, I'll eat it without really thinking about it and then wonder, "why did I do that?" when I end up with a queasy stomach.  But a few years ago I discovered caramel candy corn.  This stuff is awesome.  Tooth-achingly sweet, which isn't usually my thing, but so tasty.  

I'll leave you with some kid news.  This picture is actually from last weekend.  Gillian was pretty happy to lose the second of her top front teeth, since it had been pretty loose and annoying.  This way she still can't bite into a lot of stuff, but she doesn't have a wiggly tooth in the way, either.  Both girls were a bit under the weather this weekend.  Both were in daycare from a very early age, so we dealt with a lot of germs and built up their immune systems early.  But G is at a new school this year for kindergarten, with lots of new people and their different germs.  Plus she's been really tired from the adjustment to a new schedule.  So I'm not terribly surprised that she got a cold already (and shared it with her sister).  Here's hoping things improve as we all get into the new routine.  

Well, that's all I have for now.  My goals for the next week include figuring out some new ideas for school lunches as well as some new easy dinner ideas.  (I'm open to suggestions if you have them!)  I'm also reacquainting myself with Pinterest.  A bunch of my blogging/tweeting friends use it, and I'm starting to see why.  I've had an account for quite a while, but haven't spent any time with it.  We'll see how it goes.

When life hands you lemons

It's 11:30pm, and I'm still up.  J headed up to bed, but I didn't feel wound down enough to sleep yet.  Then I realized that I hadn't had my nightly mug of tea yet.  I'm drinking Christmas Morning, which may not seem appropriate for a late night in July, but it's one of my favorites.  Normally I'd be stressing about getting enough sleep, since I tend to get up early for work, but I'm on vacation for a couple more days.  It's amazing how much better I feel, after getting a decent amount of sleep and some naps in over the past few days.  I needed this break.  A lot.

There has been so much going on.  When I saw my mother-in-law a few weeks ago, she commented that she could tell I'd been busy with work because I hadn't been posting here much.  (The fact that we were having the conversation in person is an indication of how crazy things have been, since that wasn't really planned.)  She's right.  When I'm just stressed about work, or stressed about my personal life, I can usually manage.  But both have been kind of out of control, which tends to make me shut down.  I do what I have to in order to survive on a daily basis, but that's about it.  Fortunately, I think I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm starting to feel creative again, which I haven't in quite a while.  One nice thing about having some vacation time is that I've had a change to play around in the kitchen, and I actually feel like writing about some of it.  (So hopefully you'll see some more posts after this one!)

Right at the beginning of this month, one of the work stresses sort of resolved itself.  I'm taking on a new position, which will mean more stress in the short term, but it's a better sort of stress that what I've been dealing with for several months.  It's a pretty big change for me, since I realized that I'd been in my previous role for 7 years.  New location, new people, lots to adjust to.  (plus I'm still helping out my old team for most of this month)  But I'm excited about the change, and I realized that having new (to me) employees has an advantage--more taste testers!  My new team is over twice the size of my old one, so even if some are on diets, there will be others willing to eat baked goods. =)

We had a staff meeting last Monday, and I figured that bringing dessert would be a great way to get off to a good start with everyone.  I wanted to bring a couple of things--something chocolate and something not.  Fortunately, I already had an idea for the non-chocolate one, from one of my favorite sources, King Arthur Flour.  They featured a recipe for Molasses-Raisin Cookies on their blog recently.  I love raisins and spice cookies, and was looking for a good excuse to try the recipe. 

The recipe is pretty straightforward to make, using the creaming method.  The one unusual step is that you put the dry ingredients and raisins in the food processor and pulse to chop up the raisins.  I generally avoid using my food processor because I hate to wash it, but I was intrigued by the idea of the small pieces of raisins blending into the cookies better.  So I pretty much followed the recipe as written.  I did make my cookies bigger than the recipe said to--I used my #40 disher, and got two dozen.  Because they were bigger, I baked them for 13 minutes.  I also skipped the coating of sparkling sugar.  Since the blog post suggested lemonade to go with the cookies, I whisked together some lemon juice and powdered sugar and drizzled the glaze over the cookies.

The verdict?  These cookies are awesome. I took them to the meeting along with a batch of brownies, and the cookies were the clear favorite.  The lemon glaze was nice with the spices in the cookies, although I kind of wish I'd applied it with a heavier hand. =)  I can definitely see how these would pair nicely with lemonade.  I like raisins, but since they're chopped up, they're not very noticeable, and might sneak past the raisin haters if you don't tell them they're there.  The cookies definitely wouldn't be the same without them.  I'm seriously considered making another batch of these cookies just so I can crumble them into a batch of lemon ice cream.

If you'd like make these cookies for yourself, you can find the recipe here at King Arthur Flour.

Can't catch me...

I'm not sure when I became so fond of the flavor of ginger.  My favorite cookies are these Double Ginger Crackles.  While I don't like the flavor of cinnamon with chocolate, ginger is okay.  I like visiting my family in the northeast, because I can get individual bottles of ginger ale (near impossible to find around here, since people drink icky Dr. Pepper instead).  My favorite chai tea is heavy on the ginger flavor.  I've been thinking about making my own crystallized ginger, but haven't found the time yet.

I wasn't sure whether I should do this post, since I had one about granola last month.  But as my friend Phyl put it, "It's gingerbread. It's granola. Of course it deserves its own post!"  I have a tendency to become slightly obsessed with a food and make it repeatedly, in different variations.  (See Jeni's ice cream. =) )  That seems to be the case with granola right now.  Eventually I'll go back and make my favorites again, but right now I'm having fun trying out different flavor combinations.

Since I've made granola a couple times now, I was comfortable with the process.  The only thing I needed to figure out was how I wanted to change it up.  Even when I first made the granola recipe, I debated whether to use the honey, since I'm not a big honey person.  My usual substitution is to use golden syrup in its place.  But I tried the recipe as written, and it was okay.  For the second batch, I used maple syrup, and I really enjoyed that batch and will definitely make it again.  My next thought was to play around with the spices.  I didn't want them competing with the maple, so I decided this would be the time to try golden syrup.  Then I had the idea to make a gingerbread version of the granola.  I added a bunch of ground ginger to the dry ingredients, increased the cinnamon a bit, and also added a bit of cloves and nutmeg.  Since most gingerbread recipes incorporate molasses, I ended up going with a tablespoon of mild molasses and 3 tablespoons of golden syrup.

Once the granola was in the oven and nearing the end of the baking time, I could tell I'd have a winner--it smelled amazing.  Once it was out of the oven, I couldn't resist sampling it while it was still warm, but also wanted to try the granola again once it cooled so I could see what the final flavor would be like.  I could taste the ginger, but was in the mood for more.  I ended up finely dicing some crystallized ginger and adding it along with the dried fruit.

The verdict?  When I tasted the granola the next morning, the ginger flavor was definitely more prominent, thanks to the chewy bits of candied ginger.  If you don't like a really strong ginger flavor, you might want to leave it out.  Overall, I'm really happy with the way the granola turned out.  I think the amount of molasses was just right (I didn't want it to be overpowering) and I like the combination of spices that I used.  I encourage you to play around and figure out what's right for your taste!  Here's my version if you'd like to try it.

Gingerbread Granola
(adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures)

4 cups (340 grams) rolled oats
1 cup (115 grams) pecans, broken into pieces
1/2 cup (100 grams) packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cloves
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
1/3 cup (70 grams) canola oil
1 tablespoon (20 grams) mild molasses
3 tablespoons (60 grams) golden syrup
2 tablespoons (25 grams) vanilla sugar (or plain granulated sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
generous 1 cup (125 grams) dried cranberries
2 - 3 tablespoons finely diced crystallized ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 300º F. Line a rimmed 13" x 18" baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the oats, pecans, brown sugar, salt and spices in a large heatproof bowl and stir to combine.  Put the oil, molasses, golden syrup, and granulated sugar in a small saucepan.  Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat and mix in the vanilla extract. Pour the hot oil mixture over the oat mixture and use a rubber spatula (or dough whisk) to mix until the ingredients are well combined.

Spread the granola on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the granola is golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes. Let the granola cool then add the dried cranberries and crystallized ginger (if using) and stir to incorporate. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes about 8 cups.

If you can't stand the heat...

..you definitely don't want to come to Texas in April.  Two days running now, we've had highs in the mid-90s.  Blech.  It's way too early for this.  I know that everything is air-conditioned here, but to be honest, I still don't want to bake when it's 91º at 7pm.  Especially after having to spend time outside watering the yard.  Have I mentioned that I hate anything to do with yard work?  I also hate getting letters from the home owners' association because the lawn is brown.  Do they know that we're in a drought?  Do they know that we should be under watering restrictions, assuming we aren't already & I just haven't heard about it?  Grrr.

Okay, rant off.  You can't tell it's sore subject, can you? =)  So on to a much more pleasant topic, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.  Jeanette of The Whimsical Cupcake picked A Tourtely Apple Tart for us to make this week.  As you've probably noticed, I didn't exactly make a tart.  I meant to make this recipe over the weekend with Nancy and Tracey, but ran out of time and energy.  By the time Monday night rolled around, so had the aforementioned 90-degree temperatures, and there was no way I was going to have my oven on for a couple hours.  So, much as I like Dorie's tart crust, the tart part went out the window.  

But by this morning, I did have the time and energy to at least tackle the filling.  It's a lot like making applesauce.  Chunks of apple, some brown sugar, a bit of nutmeg, and a couple tablespoons of liquid get cooked together until the apples are almost soft enough to break down when pressed with a spoon.  For my liquid, I got to use something from my most recent King Arthur order, Boiled Cider.  I also added a big pinch of salt.  I admit, I took my apples almost to the point of applesauce, and mashed them up some.   After the apples are cooked (and the liquid is allowed to reduce), you mix in some browned butter and vanilla, and some raisins (and nuts, if you're into that, which I'm not).  Yes, my kitchen smelled amazing this morning.  

The verdict?  Well, I love the filling, so now I really need to make the whole tart. =)  I'll probably do it this fall, if not before, when I can try it with some of my favorite apples (not that I dislike the Macs I used today).  It took me a few minutes to realize that what the filling reminds me of is baked apples, the way we made them when I was a kid.  After coring the apples, we'd fill them with a mixture of raisins, brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon, held together with some butter.  This filling tastes kind of like that, though better because of the browned butter.  Mmm.  I'll probably make just the filling again soon, and pair it with some ice cream as my friend Kayte suggested.  

If you'd like to try the tart for yourself, you can find the recipe on Jeanette's blog.  And to see what everyone else thought of this recipe, check out this week's Links.  

The final countdown

My girls are getting quite excited about the fact that there are only a few more days until Christmas.  Tonight as they were doing their Advent calendars, Gillian told me that there were only two more days until Christmas.  When I pointed out that there were actually three more days, she simply replied, "Yes, but there are only Thursday and Wednesday left until Christmas Eve!"  Can't really argue with that. =)  

Gillian is at a great age for Christmas this year.  It reminds me of the year that Brianna was almost four (at least I think that's right).  Any time that someone asked her what Santa was going to bring or what she wanted for Christmas, her answer was the same, "Cinderella chapstick."  Gillian has only consistently mentioned one thing on her list--"the last monkey Pillow Pet."  Why the last one?  We've only seen one in the store, and for some reason G is convinced that it's the only one left and that it has to be hers.  Who can really understand the 4yo mind? =)  Last week we were in the car after I picked her up from daycare and I was trying to find out some more details about what she wanted for Christmas.  Of course she brought up the pillow pet, but I asked her if there was anything else that she wanted Santa to bring her.  She sat there for a minute, obviously giving a lot of thought to her answer.  Then she replied, very matter-of-factly, "Well....I think I will ask Santa Claus to bring me a big sister who isn't mean to me."  For the record, I did manage to contain my laughter enough that I didn't run the car off the road...

We finally got around to sending letters to Santa on Sunday morning.  The year that Brianna was obsessing about the Cinderella chapstick was also the first year I asked her if she wanted to write a letter to Santa.  Her answer? "No, Mommy. We need to send him an email!" I did some looking online, and found northpole.com.  We still go there every year to send letters.  The other thing we did on Sunday morning was make the latest Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for breakfast.  Jill of Jill's blog picked Cardamom Crumb Cake for us to bake this week.  Crumb cake is always a hit around here, and B & G love to help me make stuff.

I made a few changes, but mostly stuck with the recipe.  I didn't want to mess with making coffee, so I used some brewed tea instead.  I simply left out the espresso powder.  I was going to leave out the nuts in the crumb topping as well, but Gillian suggested that I use cashews since she likes those.  I used the zest from a satsuma (kind of like a tangerine) since that's what we have on hand for packed lunches.  The girls enjoyed helping me make this recipe--Gillian did a fine job rubbing the zest and sugar together.  Then she stirred dry ingredients together.  Brianna got to get her hands dirty, too, making the crumb mixture, and she got to crack the eggs.  They both helped put the crumb mixture on top of the cake batter.  

The verdict?  This one went over reasonably well with everyone here.  I'll probably skip the nuts entirely next time, since even though Gillian suggested the cashews, she said she didn't like them on the cake after all.  I think that's more because Brianna didn't like them than anything else.  So what else is new...  I thought they went well with the flavors in the cake.  The orange and cardamom were good together, too.  My cake seemed kind of sweet, a result of leaving out the espresso powder, I'm guessing.  I might try the cake again, with the coffee.  I'd like to try making it with different spices, too.  

If you'd like to try this recipe for yourself, you can find it on Jill's blog.  To see what everyone else thought this week, check out the Links.    

Oh, nuts

It's been one of those weeks.  Not completely crazy at work (that was last week), but just kind of all over the place. Up and down, up and down.  I knew it was off to a great start on Monday, when I got a call from one of Gillian's daycare teachers.  We've had a lot of trouble with Gillian defying authority lately, which I know is not unusual for 4-year-olds, but it's been starting to get out of control.  In Gillian's own words, she got in trouble "because I ran out into the hallway when I wasn't supposed to, and I spit at Miss S--, and I called Miss S-- a butt-face."  *sigh*  We'd even had a talk before she left the house on Monday about listening to teachers and other adults (since there had been lots of not-listening going on the previous Friday).  I can't wait for the teenage years...  (And yes, if you're wondering, J & I could barely keep straight faces when I asked G to tell her father why she'd gotten in trouble at school on Monday.)

So we tried something new for the rest of the week.  When Gillian left for school on Tuesday, I told her that if she could behave and have a much better day, I would have a surprise for her at the end of the day.  I was off that day, and while I was out running errands, I picked up some cute sparkly snowman stickers.  If she has a good day, she gets one (just counting weekdays for now). If she gets at least four for the week (I know better than to expect a 4yo to be good every single day), she'll get a special treat.  Brianna wanted in on it, too, so for her, the goal is to have a good morning before she leaves the house--getting ready for school without a fight.  So far it's going well--Gillian was much, much better the past three days (confirmed by her teachers), and Brianna has been much more pleasant to be around in the morning.  Now I just need to stock up on inexpensive prizes. =)  

After everything that's been going on, I think the daycare teachers need a treat, too.  So I'm going to make them a batch of the spiced nuts from Around My French Table.  They're one of the December recipes for French Fridays with Dorie.  As with the November recipes, we get to pick which recipe we make when, and I was happy to find an easy one to make this week, since my motivation has been lacking a bit.  

It doesn't get much easier than this.  Mix together some sugar, salt and spices.  Toss a couple cups of nuts with a slightly beaten egg white, then toss with the sugar & spice mixture.  Spread everything on a sheet pan and bake for half an hour at 350F.  Enjoy!  To be a bit more specific, I stuck with the recipe for the first attempt at this one.  So the spice mixture was sugar, salt, chili powder (I like Spice Islands), cinnamon, and a bit of cayenne.  My nuts were a cup each of cashews and pecans, both favorites around here.  I lined my sheet pan with non-stick foil to make things easier.  That's pretty much it.

The verdict?  Well, these certainly don't last long!  I took some to work, and they were a big hit.  My original thought was that I should get them out of my house, but having them at work just meant I could keep eating them.  Oops. =)  Even B & G liked them, at least the cashews (not fans of pecans).  These are definitely going in my holiday goodie bags this year.  I tried out another version this morning--chai spiced.  Half a teaspoon each of Vietnamese cinnamon, ground ginger and ground cardamom, along with a quarter teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch of cloves and a few grinds of black pepper.  The house smelled fantastic by the time they finished baking.  I can't wait to try some more variations.  

For this one and lots of other wonderful recipes, I highly recommend that you check out a copy of Around My French Table.  And if you aren't a member already, we'd love to have you join in the fun at French Fridays with Dorie.  

I like big bundts, too

For the past year (not counting our summer hiatus), I've been part of a fun activity with a bunch of other bloggers/bakers.  Each month, we bake and send each other treats.  It's kind of like Secret Santa, but with baked goods, so it ended up with the name Secret Baker.  I've participated every month so far, but was actually thinking of sitting this one out.  Then I got an email from this month's organizer, Kayte.  She said that the theme for the month was Bundt Cakes, and the targeted shipping date was November 15th.  Now as an avid reader of The Food Librarian, I'm well aware that November 15th is National Bundt Cake Day.  So how could I resist? =)  (As it turned out, Kayte didn't know about the significance of the theme and date until I mentioned it.)

Mary, the Food Librarian, is crazy for bundt cakes.  (And I mean that in the best possible way.)  Last year, she posted 30 bundts in 30 days, leading up to the grand finale on National Bundt Cake Day.  And despite vowing never to do it again, she decided to repeat this impressive feat this year.  She welcomed everyone to join her in celebrating today by making bundt cakes of our own.  After she was sweet enough to make a cake that I suggested to her, I knew that I absolutely had to join in.  

For my Secret Baker recipient, I knew I wanted something with fall flavors.  But I didn't want to try something brand new, since I wouldn't be able to sample the finished product.  (It would be awfully tacky to send a bundt cake with a piece missing.)  I turned to one of my favorite magazines, Fine Cooking, and checked some of the recipes that I have bookmarked online.  I settled on the Espresso Gingerbread Cake.  I've made it before, and it's delicious.  The espresso works well with the dark molasses and spices in the cake.  I thought about buying a new bundt pan, since I've really been wanting this one.  But I'm trying to be good, and well, Christmas is coming. =)  So I went with my Classic Bundt pan.  It makes a very pretty cake.  

The batter is pretty straightforward to make, using the creaming method.  The liquid comes from brewed coffee or espresso, but I don't usually have those on hand, so I used water with some additional espresso powder added.  Espresso powder also gets included in the dry ingredients, along with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  The batter filled my bundt pan about halfway, and the cake took 40 minutes to bake.  I wasn't sure about adding a glaze since I'd be wrapping and shipping the cake, so I ended up brushing it with syrup instead.  I made the syrup by mixing 100g of turbinado sugar with 50g of water in a Pyrex measuring cup.  I heated the mixture in the microwave for a minute, and whisked to dissolve most of the sugar.  Then I added half a tablespoon of dark rum and a big pinch of kosher salt to the syrup.  I brushed the bottom of the cake with the syrup while it cooled in the pan for a few minutes before I turned it out of the pan (onto a cardboard cake round).  Then I brushed the syrup all over the rest of the cake.  I only ended up using about two-thirds of it.

The only other time I've shipped a bundt cake, it had a similar syrup, and I think that helped it stay moist during its travel.  Once the cake was completely cool, I wrapped it (cardboard and all) in several layers of plastic wrap.  Then I wrapped it in heavy duty foil.  Then it will go into a box with lots of crumpled newspaper for padding and be sent on its way.

The verdict?  Well, that's hard to say right now.  I'll come back and let you know once the recipient gets it, later this week.  Update: I heard from Tracey, and she really liked the cake. Yay! And it got there in excellent condition. 

In the meantime, head over to Mary's blog to see all the great cakes she's baked in the past month.  She'll probably have a recap of them today.  And in a week or two, she'll have a lot of the other great bundt cakes that are being posted around the web today.  If you'd like to try the one I made, you can find the recipe here.  Here's a peek at the rest of my bundt pan collection, as well. (On the left, my two mini bundt pans; they hold three cups each.  On the right, my fancy Kugelhopf pan.)  Happy National Bundt Cake Day!

The apples don't fall far from the tree

I didn’t realize how good we had it with Brianna in the sleep department. Oh, of course there were issues when B was a newborn. And we went through the annoying stage after she moved out of the crib where she would come back down the stairs repeatedly every night--just because she could. But for the most part, she was a pretty sound sleeper. She still is--not much wakes that child up. If she calls for me in the middle of the night or (even more rarely) shows up at the side of my bed, it’s because something is seriously wrong. In that respect, B is definitely my child. Sure, I have that “sleeping with one ear open” thing that most moms develop, but aside from that, I usually sleep pretty soundly.

With Gillian...well, it’s completely different. I swear, for the first month of her life I never got to sleep lying down for more than 20 minutes at a time. And certainly not in my own bed. Her crib was in our room, but to avoid bothering J, who is a light sleeper (why yes, that would be where Gillian gets it from) we spent a lot of time downstairs in the living room where the pack-n-play was set up. Not that she really slept there. Whenever I’d try to lay her down and stretch out on the couch, it was like she knew. Within ten or fifteen minutes at most, she’d wake up and start crying. And this is my child who doesn’t eventually give up--she can keep it going for quite some time, no problem. So we slept in the recliner a lot. It was either that or not sleep. Life is just like that with an infant, sometimes.  She eventually got better about sleeping, most of the time, anyway. Even now, we seldom go more than a few weeks without a middle-of-the-night appearance by Gillian. And she’s not subtle about it--she just flings open the door to our bedroom. “Mommy!!” Always mommy, never daddy. *sigh* (And yes, J does try to help. It’s never done any good.)

The latest thing? It seems that Gillian has mostly given up napping. Oh, they still have nap time at daycare, and we have it at home on the weekends (it’s rest & reading time for B). But G doesn’t sleep. She plays, or pretends to sleep. She even tells me that she takes a nap. But when I ask her if she slept or if she just rested, usually the answer is “well maybe I just mostly rested.” All in all, it makes for some very cranky evenings in our house. And cranky dinner table scenes, where Gillian is too tired to eat her dinner, but wants dessert. “Can I have some of that apple cake?” “No, sweetie.” “But I want apple cake!!” “Well, sweetie, you can’t have it, because you haven’t eaten dinner and because we don’t have any more.” “BUT I WANT IT!!!”    **beating my head against the kitchen table**  

The apple cake in question?  That would be this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Double Apple Bundt Cake.  Lynne of Honey Muffin is our host this week.  This was a perfect choice for the beginning of October, as lots of new crop apples are arriving at my favorite store.  I went with my favorite, Macintosh.  The second apple referred to in the recipe title is apple butter.  One of these days, I'll have to try making my own.  For this cake, though, I picked up some wonderful apple butter at Central Market.  (It's from the company that makes my favorite raspberry fruit butter. Mmm.)

The cake batter is pretty straightforward to make.  You cream together butter and sugar, then beat in eggs.  Next up is grated apple and the apple butter.  Then come the dry ingredients--flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  The recipe calls for adding raisins and nuts.  I skipped the nuts, since I knew Brianna and Gillian wouldn't like them, so I increased the raisins.  I ended up baking my bundt for 45 minutes.  Once the cake was cooled, I drizzled it with a milk/powdered sugar glaze.

The verdict?  Well, as you probably already guessed, Gillian was a big fan.  Brianna, on the other hand, wasn't as happy.  She doesn't really like raisins in baked goods, and I think she's tired of all the spices.  I enjoyed it (I love most apple things), but will make a few changes next time.  The cake was rather sweet, and increasing the raisins made it more so.  I'd like to try it with the nuts, or maybe sub dried cranberries for some or all of the raisins.  (Thanks for the idea, Amy!)  Also, as soon as I added the glaze, I wished I'd gone with something different.  I think the salted toffee glaze from David Lebovitz's wonderful plum cake would be excellent with this cake.  One thing I am glad I thought of was the ice cream I had with some of the cake.  Brown sugar cinnamon ice cream.  Mmm.  (Post with recipe coming soon, I hope.)  I definitely plan to make this again, so I'll have a chance to play around with it.

If you'd like to try the cake for yourself, head on over to Lynne's blog.  To see what everyone else thought of this week's recipe, check out the Links.  And for some savory Dorie recipes, be sure to check out French Fridays with Dorie.