Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

 

 

 

 

 

According to Wikipedia (truly an informational authority), peanut butter-type pastes have been around since the Aztecs. Peanut butter as we know it today was pioneered separately by Canadian Marcellus Gilmore Edson, who experimented with milling roasted peanuts between two heated surfaces until they became semi-liquid, and by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the Michigan physician and cereal magnate.

However it came to be, peanut butter is possibly my favorite food. I’m a Jif loyalist, too, so you’ll never find a jar of Skippy or Peter Pan anywhere in my kitchen. Peanut butter is an amazing ingredient for baking, and when combined with cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a bit of vanilla, it creates a smooth, creamy frosting that pairs well with many cakes. This recipe yields enough for 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3 to 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, cream together peanut butter and cream cheese.

Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Beat in vanilla until incorporated.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

 

 

 

 

 

This tart-but-sweet frosting incorporates some excellent ingredients, like cream cheese and lemon curd. I plan to bake strawberry cupcakes to pair with this sometime, or perhaps raspberry or blackberry, but it went very well with the lemon cupcakes in the photo above. This recipe yields more than enough for 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 4 tablespoons shortening
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons lemon curd
  • yellow food coloring

Preparation

In a large bowl, sift powdered sugar and salt together; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, shortening, and vanilla.

Add powdered sugar in four batches, beating well after each addition.

Add lemon juice and lemon curd and beat well.

Add several drops of yellow food coloring and beat well.

Chocolate Buttercream

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes people tell me they don’t like frosting, that they really like the cake better. I’ve never understood this. I mean, what is cake if not a vehicle for frosting? Why would someone choose plain cake, without the accompanying combination of butter or shortening and powdered sugar and flavorings?

Because I prefer opposites in baking–in that yellow or white cake is, to my palate, most pleasing when paired with chocolate frosting–I believe this chocolate buttercream to be an excellent companion for yellow, white, or almond cakes or cupcakes. Chocolate fans will enjoy it with chocolate cake, too. This recipe yields more than enough for 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3-4 tablespoons milk
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

In a large bowl, sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter for about one minute. Add salt and beat for another 30 seconds.

Add powdered sugar and cocoa and beat on low speed to incorporate as much sugar into the butter as you can.  I cover my mixing bowl with a kitchen towel during this step to prevent a sugar storm.

Add three tablespoons milk and two teaspoons vanilla extract; beat for three minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and add the final teaspoon vanilla extract, then beat for another minute.

Pumpkin Roll

 

 

 

 

 

I love that scene in “Julie & Julia” when Julie Powell kneels before her coffee table, preparing to follow along with the episode of “The French Chef” in which Julia Child de-bones a duck. With that scary chef’s knife in her hand, Julie nods to the television and says, as if hoping to convince herself, “No fear, Julia.”

I thought about this scene while contemplating pumpkin roll over the past few weeks. The concept of the pumpkin roll has long intimidated me. Roll the piping hot cake in a tea towel? What if it cracks? What if it sticks to the towel? What if it’s a total disaster?

Well, if Julie Powell could de-bone a duck, then surely I could make a pumpkin roll.

I summoned as much bravery as possible, mixed my ingredients, and baked my cake. There was a precarious, breath-holding moment when I flipped the cake out of the pan onto a cooling rack, peeled back the waxed paper, then immediately slid it onto the sugar-coated towel. With hope, I rolled the cake in the towel and set it on a cooling rack.

A few hours later, with the filling prepared, I stood before my towel-wrapped cake. Carefully peeling back the towel, I discovered that it was not only intact, but crack-free. After slathering on the filling I re-rolled the cake, secured it in plastic wrap, and with a profound sense of satisfaction, placed it in the fridge to chill.

No fear, bakers.

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup pumpkin

For the filling:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan, then line with waxed paper and grease and flour the paper.

Place a clean tea towel (linen or flour sack, nothing too textured) on the counter top and sprinkle it generously with powdered sugar.

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

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Beat until thickened, about three to five minutes.

Add pumpkin and beat well.

Stir in flour mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top.

Bake for 13 minutes; the top should be just golden-brown and spring back slightly when pressed.

Working quickly and carefully, invert the pan onto a cooling rack, peel off the waxed paper, and slide or flip the cake onto the tea towel.

Roll up the cake and allow to cool on a wire rack completely before filling.

For the filling:

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter; beat until smooth.

Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until very well combined.

Carefully un-roll the cake from the tea towel.

Spread filling in an even layer, leaving about a half-inch border at the long edges.

Re-roll the cake and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Great Pumpkin Sugar Cut-Outs

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite things about Halloween is “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” I admire Linus for his dedication, waiting all night in the pumpkin patch, even if all that came was a beagle.

The Great Pumpkin inspired me to bake these rather large sugar cut-outs, and that’s one of the things that I love about sugar cookies–the endless creative possibilities. Pick your cutter, whip up your icing, and you’re making edible art.

To make these cookies, you will need:

  • 1 recipe sugar cut-outs
  • 1 recipe Zella’s icing
  • Yellow, red, and green liquid food coloring (or orange and green gel food coloring)
  • 1 large pumpkin cookie cutter (mine is 3 3/4 inches)

Preparation

Bake and cool sugar cut-outs.

Prepare icing; reserve a small portion of icing to tint green for pumpkin stems.

Combine yellow and red food coloring until you reach the desired orange tint.

Frost with orange first, using a small offset spatula or butter knife and a back-and-forth vertical swirling motion to create the pumpkin ridges.

Frost stems, using a small dab of green frosting.

Allow frosting to harden before storing; store at room temperature in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper for up to four days.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies I

This time of year, I wonder about the first colonial woman who, at a loss for traditional British baking ingredients, thought to cut up a pumpkin, roast it, scrape out its flesh, and mix it with sugar and spices for pumpkin pie. Whoever she was, I applaud her ingenuity. Without her, we might not have canned pumpkin. And without canned pumpkin, we probably wouldn’t have pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

As these baked, I told Mike that someone should make a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie-scented candle, because they filled our house with a sweet, spicy aroma that was not unlike something you’d inhale at the Yankee Candle shop. Fortunately, these cookies taste as good as they smell.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 15 ounces pumpkin
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

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

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars.

Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla; mix well.

Slowly add flour mixture and beat until well combined.

Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Using a two-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough about two inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake 18 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.

Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend I was online searching for recipes that call for 10×15 baking pans, as my dear friend Carrie gave me one for my birthday this summer and I’ve yet to use it. And while I found several promising ideas for 10 x 15 baking (stay tuned for pumpkin roll, which will be coming soon), I also discovered this blondie recipe, baked in an 8 x 8.

This recipe yields a dense, chewy, peanut butter cookie-like blondie with ample candy pieces, so I recommend cutting them into small squares. You could add even more peanut butter cups or chocolate chips if you wish; next time, I think I’ll add toffee bits or salted peanuts for extra crunch.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 8 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 16 miniature peanut butter cups, cut into fourths
  • 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with foil and coat the foil with cooking spray.

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

In a large bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Add peanut butter cups and chocolate chips and mix well; you may need to use your hands to get everything fully incorporated.

Press dough into baking dish.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is fully set, edges are brown, and a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 30 minutes, then lift out and place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.

 

Pumpkin Bread

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkins claim a place of honor in fairy tales, folklore, and popular culture unparalleled by other vegetables. Cinderella traveled in style in her pumpkin coach. Jack Skellington, of Nightmare Before Christmas fame, was proclaimed the Pumpkin King. The Headless Horseman hurled a pumpkin in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Harry Potter and his friends enjoyed pumpkin juice in the Hogwarts dining hall. Linus missed trick-or-treat fun on Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear—and all that came was a beagle.

These whimsical squashes are both cute and tasty, which is likely why we decorate, celebrate holidays, and cook and bake with them. This was my first experience baking pumpkin bread, and I adapted the recipe from another that I found online, substituting cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for ginger. Next time, I plan to add chocolate chips to the batter for an extra hint of sweetness and perhaps some toasted pecans for crunch. Once they cool, I may even drizzle them with powdered sugar icing.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 12 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 15 ounces canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 3 eggs

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 loaf pans; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; mix well.

In another large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, pumpkin, and eggs; mix well.

Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined.

Divide batter evenly between the loaf pans; I used a measuring cup to scoop about three cups of batter into each pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. You may have to cover the loaves later in baking, after about 45 minutes, to prevent them from over-browning.

Cool completely in loaf pans.

Drizzle with powdered sugar icing if desired; combine two cups sifted powdered sugar with one teaspoon vanilla extract and one to two tablespoons of water until you reach a drizzly consistency, then pour over loaves.

 

Poppy Seed Roll – A Tribute to Grandma Zella

 

 

 

 

 

My grandmother, Gizella Bodnar Kozusko, passed away this week. She was 89 years old. I honor her today with poppy seed rolls, one of my favorite treats she used to bake.

Zella was born on New Year’s Day in 1923 in Budapest. At the urging of his enterprising brother, my great-grandfather Michael Bodnar brought his family to Duquesne, the mill town in Pittsburgh’s Monongahela Valley that was home to the world’s largest blast furnace. They used to dust the house twice a day, Zella told me, to clean away the soot. After high school Zella worked as a secretary at the steel mill; she met my grandpap, Andy Kozusko, at a dance at Kennywood Park. Andy, a handsome sailor in the US Navy, was so enamored with Zella that he paid his friends so they wouldn’t ask her to dance. Andy and Zella married in 1945 and borrowed ration coupons from neighbors to cater their reception. Her wedding dress and his Naval uniform are carefully wrapped in tissue paper in the cedar chest in my bedroom.

In my grandparents’ tidy home, I learned to make chicken soup with homemade noodles. I sat at the kitchen table with my grandpap, eating freshly-picked blackberries sprinkled with sugar. In the cellar on warm summer nights, I helped my grandma make fried zucchini. I listened to the strange language of the radio announcer during the Slovak music program on Sunday afternoons, twirling around in my grandpap’s arms to the polka. I set the table with my grandma’s good dishes, turned up my nose at pickled pigs’ feet, and ate cold ham on Easter and Christmas.

In my grandparents’ house, I learned to say “I love you” in Hungarian and Slovak.

Szeretlek, Grandma. I will miss you.

Poppy Seed Roll

Ingredients

  • 6-7 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 packs active dry yeast (1/4 ounce each)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 ounces sour cream
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 1/2 jars poppy seed filling (about 15 ounces)
  • 1 beaten egg and 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preparation

Lightly grease a large bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, combine two cups flour with the sugar, yeast, and salt.

In a medium saucepan, combine sour cream, butter, and water. Heat to 120-130 degrees, then combine with flour mixture and beat for two minutes.

Add 1/2 cup flour and eggs and beat for two minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough, about two and a half to three cups.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 9-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

Place in the greased bowl; turn once to coat, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide into four portions; roll portions into balls, then roll out into 10×10 rectangles.

Using a tablespoon from your flatware, scoop about two to two and a half heaping spoonfuls of filling onto the center of the dough.

Using a small offset spatula or butter knife, spread a thin layer of filling to within one inch of the edges.

Roll up into a log, carefully pinching the seams and edges closed.

Place into greased loaf pans and/or baking pans; I use two standard loaf pans and one 9×13 baking pan in which I bake two rolls.

Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about one hour; I preheat my oven during this time to help speed the process.

Brush each roll with egg wash, then prick with a fork to let steam escape during baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool before cutting and serving.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

 

 

 

 

 

Millie is our dog.  We adopted her from a local animal shelter less than a month after we moved into our house four years ago.  I’ve never loved anything more than I love Millie.  And yes, Mike is fully aware of that.

Millie and I get along so well because we share an appreciation for meat, cheese, and carbs.  She is an effective beggar, so I admit that Mike and I give in, often sharing a strip of bacon, a bite of turkey, or a slice of cheese at the sight of her sweet, I’m-a-good-dog face.  Nothing rivals Millie’s love of carbs, though.  She likes to steal pizza crust off of plates and once snatched a loaf of challah from the counter, ate half, then left the other half shoved under the cushion on the living room chair.  She has eaten the top crust of an apple pie, an entire platter of rugelach cookies, and, most recently, the remainder of a peach cobbler.

Because I bake for the ones I love, I can’t leave Millie out.  These treats were adapted from larger recipe, which I cut in half to make a smaller batch; this yielded 15 treats.  I used a four-inch bone-shaped cookie cutter, but you could use any shape you like or roll the dough into balls and flatten them with the tines of a fork, the way you would for peanut butter cookies.

 Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 5 ounces hot water (just below the 2/3 cup line on a glass measure)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour and oats.

Add peanut butter and water and mix with a fork until combined, then knead together with your hands to form a very pliable dough.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut with a bone-shaped cutter and transfer to a cookie sheet using an offset spatula to prevent them from breaking.

Bake for 40 minutes; treats will be hard to the touch, like any store-bought treat.

Cool on a wire rack and store at room temperature for up to one week.

Treats can be kept in the fridge for up to three weeks or frozen for up to six months.

Meet Millie

Millie is a seven or eight year-old Rottweiler-Lab mix who enjoys napping, snuggling, barking ferociously at the mail man, and digging large holes in Mike’s garden beds.

Below, Millie snuggles with her Grandma Genny (my mom) on our sofa.