Author: Amy

Lemon Raspberry Roulade

lemon raspberry rouladeLemon and raspberry are two of my favorite flavors, even more so when they’re combined in the same treat. For Easter, I decided that I wanted a lemon-based dessert; I found a few recipes for lemon roulade, but most of them involved a cream cheese or marascapone filling. I wanted something a bit lighter, so I chose a scratch-made raspberry filling and I must say, the end result is delicious.

Rolling a cake can be intimidating, but remember, on this blog, we have no fear. The original recipe for the cake portion of this roulade involved allowing the cake to cool completely before filling and rolling it, but I chose to let it cool for just a few minutes before I rolled it in a heavily-powdered-sugared tea towel. I’d recommend rolling it immediately after removing it from the pan just to be on the safe side rather than waiting any time at all. Also, keep a very close eye on your filling; it goes from liquid to thickened in a matter of seconds!

If you’d rather forgo the tangy lemon icing, you could easily dust the roulade with powdered sugar or serve it with fresh whipped cream. But since you’re working with lemons and will likely have a few tablespoons of lemon juice left over, the icing is a nice way to make the most of it.

Part I: Lemon Cake

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • zest of 3 small to medium-sized lemons
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 15 x 10 x 1 jelly roll pan with parchment; spray with baking spray and dust with flour. I used a sieve and dusted the flour directly onto the parchment. Lay a thin tea towel on a counter top and dust heavily with powdered sugar.

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

In a mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for 3 minutes until thickened and light in color.

Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and beat until combined.

With the mixer running on low, add flour and beat until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan and gently spread with an offset spatula to distribute the batter in one even layer.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are just golden and cake springs back when touched.

Remove from oven and immediately flip onto a cooling rack; remove parchment paper and quickly flip cake onto the prepared tea towel. Roll up quickly from the short end, placing on a cooling rack to cool completely before filling.

Part II: Raspberry Filling

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, pulsed in a food processor to crumb-like texture
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons water

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Heat until raspberries begin to liquefy; quickly place in the bowl of a food processor and puree. Return to heat; cook until mixture reaches a low boil.

In a small glass measuring cup, place cornstarch and add 1 tablespoon water; mixture will thicken and almost harden immediately, so add another 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of water to achieve a pourable consistency. Whisk into raspberry mixture and cook at a low boil for 1-2 minutes; mixture will thicken very quickly and become glossy.

Remove from heat and place in a small bowl to cool completely before using. Note: this filling will not be seedless unless you pass the puree through a sieve before returning to the stove and adding the cornstarch and water.

Once both the cake and filling are completely cool, carefully un-roll cake and spread with filling. Re-roll and wrap tightly in plastic wrap; store in the refrigerator overnight to set.

Part III: Tangy Lemon Glaze

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Preparation

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup powdered sugar about 2 tablespoons lemon juice; mix well to completely combine. Add another 1/2 cup powdered sugar and up to 1 more tablespoon lemon juice to achieve a thick drizzling consistency; stir in lemon zest until well-combined.

Unwrap cake and place on a platter or cake plate. Pour glaze down the center of the cake, allowing to drip over the sides, spreading as necessary to cover the entire top of the cake. Allow glaze to harden, then return cake to the refrigerator for storage.

 

Italian Easter Cookies

italian easter cookiesWhen I first saw these cookies, I thought they were called stracciatella. As it turns out, that’s the name of the blog they’re on; the word stacciatella actually refers to three different foods in Italy: an egg drop soup, a kind of gelato that’s similar to chocolate chip ice cream, and a kind of cheese, not these lovely little Easter cookies. Stracciatella means little shred, and is incredibly similar to the last name of one of my best friends ever, Kate.

Kate and I met in the back row of geometry class in the tenth grade, where neither of us had a clue what was going on. We’re both better with words than numbers, and how either one of us squeaked out of that class with a passing grade is one of life’s great mysteries. Our suffering created a bond though; since that fateful meeting in geometry, we’ve shared countless laughs, adventures, challenges, and desserts. We’re still friends to this day; in fact, Kate was among our guests at this past Monday’s Passover seder.

So, on this Easter Sunday, I give tribute to Kate, and her awesome Italian last name…even if these aren’t really called stracciatella, that’s probably what I’ll always call them. Buona Pasqua!

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 3/4 cup flour
  • 5 teaspoons baking powder

For the frosting

  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons milk
  • colored sprinkles

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with foil.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl frequently.

Add almond and vanilla extracts, milk, and vegetable oil and beat until well-combined.

Add flour mixture and beat until a soft dough forms.

Scoop 1-inch balls of dough and roll them into balls, then ropes, and form into rings. Place about 1 inch apart on the prepare baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes on the bottom rack of the oven, then 8 minutes on the top rack; the bottoms will be golden brown when they are done.

Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in frosting.

To make frosting, combine butter, powdered sugar, and almond and vanilla extracts and beat on low, then medium speed, to combine. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time to reach a slightly drizzly consistency; you don’t want the frosting to be too thick or thin, just thin enough to dip the cookies.

Dip the top of each cookie into the frosting and set on a wire rack, then sprinkle with colored sprinkles if desired.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Eggs

peanut butter egg 2The Reese’s Peanut Butter egg is my favorite Easter treat, edging out the Cadbury Egg by the slightest of margins. My sister-in-law Kristin and I agree that the best Reese’s holiday offerings are the peanut butter egg at Easter and the peanut butter pumpkin at Halloween because they each yield a maximum amount of peanut butter; the peanut butter tree at Christmas, for example, isn’t really enough.

Many blogs feature homemade peanut butter egg recipes and they’re all relatively the same, involving melted peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, salt, and a yummy chocolate coating made of either semisweet or milk chocolate chips melted with shortening. I’ve used semisweet below, but you could easily use milk chocolate if you prefer. Though I haven’t tried one yet, I suspect they’ll taste like a cross between a buckeye and a peanut butter egg. Time will tell; fortunately, Easter is tomorrow!

The chocolate coating makes way more than enough for all of your eggs; my peanut butter filling yielded 11 eggs but you could easily make them slightly smaller to yield a dozen or more. You’ll definitely have coating left over, which would be great for drizzling on biscotti, butter cookies, or over cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 16 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons shortening

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and salt. Cook on medium heat until entirely melted and slightly bubbly, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and add powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition to fully incorporate the powdered sugar into the peanut butter mixture. Your end result will be very thick, and this is what you want.

Set filling aside to cool at room temperature until easy to handle; I set mine aside for about an hour.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop balls of filling and shape into eggs. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow filling to harden.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and shortening; microwave in 30-second intervals until completely melted, stirring after each interval; this takes about 2 minutes or so.

Dip eggs into the chocolate coating and cover completely; I use two forks to pass them back and forth, then shake off the excess. Return to the parchment-covered sheet and place back in the refrigerator to harden. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

 

Peanut M&M Blondies

peanut m&m blondiesAs a godmother, I believe that my responsibilities to the lovely three-year-old Maureen Elizabeth Mowery include, among various other things, teaching her about how to be a good person, encouraging her to embrace her feisty girlness, and providing her with baked goods at every holiday. I’m fond of creating care packages for her and her family, picking out fun-colored tissue paper for padding and placing all manner of treats inside, like last month’s Rice Krispie shamrocks, last fall’s pumpkin chocolate chip bread, or some other easy-to-ship concoction that can withstand the trip through the mail from Pittsburgh to southern Maryland.

Last night, I realized that I only had a few days left to go until Easter, and I needed something to send to my main gal Mo. Such things happen when you’re two weeks away from your association’s national conference and you’re lucky to be able to put a coherent sentence together…holidays tend to sneak up on you. Anyway, because most Easter-related cookies are sugar cut-outs that aren’t all that conducive to shipping, I sought a sturdier treat idea. Fortunately I had some Easter-colored peanut M&Ms in the treat jar (a jar given to me by Mo’s grandma, my favorite aunt, Aunt Liz), and I did a quick internet search for something that could be made with those. Fortunately, I found a peanut M&M blondie recipe and adapted it just slightly to suit the other ingredients I had on hand.

Note: you could easily substitute the half-cup of dark brown sugar and half a cup of the white sugar for one cup of light brown sugar. Since I didn’t have enough light brown on hand, I did a quick substitution and they turned out just fine. The recipe below is adapted from one found at A Full Measure of Happiness.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 12 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 12.6-ounce package Easter-colored Peanut M&Ms

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 pan completely with foil and lightly spray with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, dark brown sugar, and white sugar; mix well to combine.

Add melted butter and stir to incorporate slightly; add eggs and vanilla extract and stir well to fully combine.

Add peanut M&Ms and mix with your hands to combine well; using a spoon just wasn’t effective for me.

Press dough into the prepared pan and bake for 23-25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then lift out by the foil and place on a wire rack; peel foil back slightly and allow to cool completely.

Once cool, remove foil entirely and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (for Passover)

passover cheesecakeI may have gone slightly overboard with the Passover desserts this year. There just seemed like so many interesting options, and I had to try them all. In addition to our toffee chocolate matzoh and truffles on tomorrow night’s seder table, there will be this cheesecake, a leaven-free treat of vanilla bean and almond goodness.

The crust for this lovely dessert is a concoction of almonds, matzoh cake meal, sugar, and melted butter, and the filling is a standard cream cheese and sugar mixture that includes the seeds of two vanilla beans, as well as a dash of almond extract. Garnish-wise, you could pair many foods with this cheesecake; strawberries and raspberries come to mind, as does good old-fashioned whipped cream, or perhaps chocolate curls.

I’m so excited about this cheesecake, I may have to break my sugar fast tomorrow night. Passover is about freedom, after all.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup chopped blanched almonds, toasted and cooled
  • 2/3 cup matzoh cake meal
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • seeds scraped from 2 vanilla beans
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine almonds, matzoh cake meal, sugar, and salt. Pulse until finely ground, then transfer to a medium bowl and drizzle in butter, mixing with a spoon to incorporate evenly. Mix with your hands to combine; you want a sandy texture.

Press the crust mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, until one shade darker in color. Cool completely on a wire rack.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add vanilla seeds and almond extract and beat until well combined, about 1-2 minutes more.

Place springform pan in a shallow baking dish and pour filling into crust. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until filling is set 1 1/2 inches from the edge but still wobbly in the middle.

Remove from oven and baking dish; set springform pan on a cooling rack and immediately run a knife around the edge of the crust, then remove the side of the pan and allow cheesecake to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator.

 

Truffles

trufflesI am now a chocolatier. An amateur one for sure, but that still counts, right?

Yesterday, I chopped up an enormous block of bittersweet chocolate with my big scary chef’s knife and made my first-ever batch of real truffles, using only chocolate and heavy cream and butter and flavorings. I had the music from the movie “Chocolat” in my head the whole time and tried my best to channel my inner Vianne Rocher.

Here’s what I’ve learned about working with ganache: once you try to roll it in your hands, all bets for cleanliness are off. It melts immediately, turning one’s hands into a chocolate-coated sticky mess. The end result is worth it, though: according to Mike, these truffles are “like taking a bite out of hot chocolate.” They are super-chocolaty and could of course be flavored and coated with any number of things, but I chose a simple orange extract and cocoa powder enhancement.

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
  • about 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

Preparation

Place chopped chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring heavy cream, butter, and salt to a simmer. Immediately pour over chocolate and let set until chocolate is melted, about 10 minutes. Stir with a spatula until smooth.

Whisk in vanilla extract and orange extract (or just use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract if you don’t have orange), then continue stirring until chocolate is shiny and smooth. Pour into a shallow baking dish and let set overnight.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Using a one-inch scoop, scoop out chocolate and roll into balls. Beware, this is a messy endeavor: I kept paper towels nearby and wiped my hands several times during the process. Coat each truffle in cocoa powder then place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour; once truffles are chilled, place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

Toffee Chocolate Matzoh

matzoh brittleMost people call this “matzoh crack” for its highly addictive quality. Some call it matzoh brittle, or just chocolate-covered matzoh. Apparently, whatever you call it, it’s delicious, and enough to make a sugar-fasting gal break her fast (although I haven’t done so).

This treat is incredibly easy to make; I’ve seen it with regular saltine crackers as well as matzah, and I wonder how graham crackers would fare. My Aunt Liz makes a wonderful cracker/toffee/pecan creation at Christmas that I would swear uses graham crackers, so I’d like to give that a try.

Like many other treats, you can dress this one up as much as you like, or leave it plain and simple. Some recipes call for chopped walnuts or pecans to be sprinkled on after the chocolate chips melt, while others encourage a sprinkling of sea salt. Mike requested this plain version and declared it very tasty.

Ingredients

  • 4-6 sheets matzoh (the Passover kind, not regular)
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 11 x 17 rimmed baking sheet with foil, extending well over and completely covering each side. Line the bottom of the sheet with parchment paper, cutting the parchment to fit.

Place matzoh in a single layer in the bottom of the baking sheet; you’ll need to break some of the matzoh into pieces to fit in one single layer.

In a medium saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar and cook until bubbly, stirring frequently. Once the mixture begins to boil, continue boiling for three minutes, stirring well; the mixture will thicken slightly as it cooks.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and salt, then immediately pour over matzoh. Use an offset spatula to spread toffee evenly over the crackers, as it will begin to set quickly.

Bake for 15 minutes, checking frequently to make sure the toffee doesn’t begin to burn. Remove from the oven and cover with chocolate chips; allow the chips to melt for a few minutes, then spread the melted chips in an even layer over the matzoh.

Allow to cool completely, then break into pieces. Store in an airtight container; we put ours in the fridge to keep the chocolate from re-melting.

Bird’s Nest Cupcakes

birds nest closeupSpring is here! It’s 70-something in Pittsburgh today and appears for the moment that the long, hard, polar vortex extravaganza of winter is over. Having grown up in the fickle weather patterns of Western PA, I realize that tomorrow could be 40, and that snow is a possibility through early May. For now though, I’ll take a beautiful day whenever I can get one.

These bird’s nest cupcakes would be great for any spring-related event; an Easter dinner, Mother’s Day brunch, or in this case, a bird-themed baby shower. One of my colleagues hosted just such an event today and I was happy to provide these, which may look complicated but are actually very easy to prepare especially given the abundance of egg-shaped candies right now. If you can’t find egg-shaped candies for the nests, I suspect that peanut M&Ms would work well too.

Ingredients

Preparation

Bake cupcakes and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Prepare vanilla almond buttercream. Using a one-inch cookie scoop, scoop frosting onto each cupcake and spread with an offset spatula in an even layer.

Prepare cocoa frosting. Fit a piping bag with a medium plain tip, such as Wilton #5. Pipe nests, creating the outer edges first and filling in with a few squiggles of frosting for the nest bottoms.

Place mini egg candies in each nest; most will fit three eggs, but a few of mine fit four. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.

Note: one of the cupcakes in this batch featured a hatched baby bird, similar to a cupcake I’d seen in the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book, as the cupcake for the mom-to-be. To create this, I used one blue Hershey’s candy-coated egg, melted a few chocolate chips, and dabbed the chocolate on for eyes, then made a batch of Zella’s icing, tinted it orange, and piped on a small beak using the smallest plain tip I have. You can see the hatched bird in the photo below, and you can reserve the batch of icing from the beak for another time; it refrigerates very well.

birds nest all

Vanilla Almond Buttercream

caramel cupcakes

Buttercream frosting is a go-to resource for bakers. It’s easy to make and adapt for different flavor combinations. The key to successful buttercream, in my opinion, is to soften your butter just enough; you don’t want it to be too soft, because you risk a runny consistency, or too hard, which will prevent the powdered sugar from incorporating properly. I once read that the proper consistency of softened butter for buttercream is like ice cream; you can indent it with your finger, but not smash it altogether.

This buttercream was inspired by a vanilla caramel candy and would pair well with almost any cupcake or cake, from caramel to chocolate. As you’re preparing it, taste as you go to make sure that the vanilla and almond flavors are well-balanced.

Vanilla Almond Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon almond extract

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute, then add salt and beat another minute.

Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until all of the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes.

Add vanilla extract and almond extract, beating well to combine. Taste; add more extract if desired.

Frost cake or cupcakes and store at room temperature

Caramel Cupcakes with Vanilla Almond Buttercream

caramel cupcakesIn this age of fancy-looking cupcakes, when many a blogger can present the kind of artistic creations that were once reserved for food magazines, I find myself incapable of successfully piping buttercream icing onto regular-sized cupcakes.

While cream cheese frosting flows freely from my piping bag in elegant swirls, buttercream reduces me to the amateur of amateurs. Miniature cupcakes are easier; with such little surface area, you really just need a blob to cover them. But regular-sized cupcakes are another matter entirely, and I simply can’t manage to produce the kind of effect I’d like. We all have our shortcomings, I suppose.

After attempting to pipe this frosting and discovering that my skills were once again lacking, I took hold of my trusty offset spatula. One advantage to frosting cupcakes by hand is that they take on a lovely old-fashioned look, befitting a classic flavor like the caramel of these cupcakes. This recipe was adapted from a few others I’ve seen online to incorporate much more vanilla, and I chose to frost them with a vanilla almond buttercream, rather than a salted caramel or other trendy flavor, to create a more classic treat. Caramel and vanilla are good flavor friends, and according to Mike the almond adds another dimension, which is exactly what I’d hoped to create. If only I weren’t fasting from sugar right now, I’d probably have already eaten a few myself!

Caramel Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners; this recipe yields about 18 cupcakes.

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

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until very light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat on medium speed until combined.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk in alternate batches, starting and ending with the flour and scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Batter will be fluffy.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into prepared pans, filling about half-full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Mine baked for 21 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool in pans for just a minute, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Almond Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon almond extract

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute, then add salt and beat another minute.

Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until all of the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes.

Add vanilla extract and almond extract, beating well to combine. Taste; add more extract if desired.

Frost cupcakes using an offset spatula.