Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Rocket Cake

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Photo credit: my dear sister in law, Sabika Mustafa. Ethics Bowl Champ of NJ!!

My daughter wants to be an astronaut…for now. For the sole purpose of being able to board a rocket and go to the mysterious presence in the night sky. I remember wanting to as well. Then I learned you have to pass a swim test. And psych testing. And you  need a PhD in math/science/engineering (the bachelors did me in).

And the job market doesn’t seem to be too promising for astronauts, since they’re outsourcing it to the machines [insert techno slur]. But she doesn’t know all this just yet. So for now, [CLICHÉ ALERT] she will just have her rocket cake and eat it, too. IMG_2071Planet earth(ish) sugar cookies, pop rocks, and little green men all helped make the space party special!IMG_2066For the inside, I used the classic chocolate cake recipe from Ina Garten (Beatty’s Chocolate Cake), baked in an 11×15 pan for 27 min. Except I did the usual substitution for buttermilk (1 tbsp white vinegar + 1 tbsp less than 1 cup of milk). And since the kids were going to be hopped up on sugar, I used decaf coffee. I’ve been doing  A LOT of reading up on cakes. And there’s no wonder why this recipe has over 1700 rave reviews and counting. There’s:

  • vegetable oil, which is a liquid at room temp, which makes it moist
  • coffee, which compliments the cocoa flavor and also adds moisture
  • acidity from the buttermilk: which tenderizes the flour

And yet with all these liquids, the cake holds up well enough to decorate. I used the guide from Spoonful on how to create a rocket cake. Just remember when you are attaching the “thrusters”, you have to flip cut parts down, and then over, so that the curve faces away from the cake. I added a little extra “flair”  with the leftover scraps (I could have eaten all of them myself, but my pants would hate me for it).

IMG_2037I also made two other cakes: banana cake with dark chocolate ganache for my daughter for the day of her birthday and perfect yellow cake with chocolate buttercream for a friend from college on her 30th (can you tell I’m a big smitten kitchen fan?)!IMG_2010

For the frosting, I used a concoction of my own:

Ingredients

  • 12 oz white chocolate (Ghirardelli)
  • 3 sticks (12 oz) butter, room temp
  • 4 tbsp milk (or as needed)

Directions

  1. Break the chocolate up and add to a  bowl and microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until melted. Do not overheat! Remaining bits of chocolate will melt with the residual heat of the melted chocolate. Just keep stirring! Mine took 90 seconds. Set aside and let cool for 10 minutes.
  2. Whip butter at medium speed for 1 minute. Add cooled chocolate and continue whipping for 2 minutes. Lower the speed and add milk until it reaches spreadable consistency. Tint TINY dabs of food gels to decorate.

Homemade Hot Fudge

IMG_1890It’s bad enough that hot fudge you get from the ice cream spot around the corner is crack. But when you make it at home with good quality ingredients, Ghirardelli (like I did) or even better…Callebaut or Valrhona? This happens:

 (Image courtesy of Tumblr, katty-mee) 

We were entertaining some old friends and so I thought I’d set up a little sundae bar with some of my favorite toppings: this hot fudge sauce, walnuts, and sprinkles (the ROUND kind, not those silly cylindrical ones. hmmph. who came up with those?? i’ll tell you who, someone with kids because they know once these sprinkles make landfall, they get scattered EVERYWHERE.) Get fancy with bananas, gummy bears, whatever you like. Just not whipped cream. I just don’t get whipped cream over ice cream. The latter is so much more rich and flavorful, what is the point of the whipped cream?? If your opinions on this are as strong as mine, please comment below.IMG_1794This is the first thing I made from my copy of Rose Levy Berenbaum’s The Cake Bible. Ok second. First was Swedish pancakes, which were a disaster. Anywho, she says to use dutch processed cocoa, but honestly, I have such a hard time finding dutch processed cocoa (in fact most of her chocolate cake recipes call for it. I’m going to have to experiment with subbing natural cocoa and making the appropriate leavening adjustments) and never get around to ordering it online, so I just went ahead and made it with good old fashioned natural cocoa. As many of you know, dutch processed cocoa is less acidic than natural and usually has a darker color, but I can tell you I did not miss a thing. And for the solid chocolate, I am sure she finely chopped 3 ounces of THE BEST CHOCOLATE IN THE WORLD, but I just used my semi sweet chips from Costco. They are already flavored with vanilla, so I did not add any, as the original recipe calls for. Make this for your next lunch/dinner party!

Adapted from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s The Cake Bible.

Ingredients

  • 3 oz semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla (if your chocolate isn’t already flavored with vanilla)

Directions

  1. Combine the chocolate chips, cocoa and water in a small saucepan (she suggests nonstick, but I used my usual stainless steel All Clad saucepan). Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and everything is combined. Add the butter, sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir until the sugar melts. Then let it cook away, boiling moderately, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture reduces to 2/3 cup (I stopped at 5 minutes, weary of overcooking it). If you want to measure: coat a heatproof glass measuring cup with oil, then pour in the sauce.
  2. Cool slightly before adding the vanilla. Can be reheated in a microwave. Keeps in the fridge for 1 month.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

IMG_1680This is one of the rare cakes I love as much as a chocolate one. It’s not overly sweet like many caramel cakes I’ve had. It’s a super moist bundt cake that gets most of its flavor (and moisture) from chopped, pitted dates boiled in water. I know – that in itself does not sound appetizing. But it works. It’s not heavy on the butter (there’s only half a stick in the whole cake) so the whipped cream on top adds the right amount of richness. FInally, the nuttiness in the toffee sauce just takes it over the edge.  IMG_1669Though I’m not sure why it’s called a pudding. It’s a cake, I swear. I was first asked to make this many Thanksgivings ago for dinner at a family friend’s. I’d never had it. Never known about it. I was handed a recipe, so I made it. And it. Was. Just. Divine. IMG_1670I remade it recently for a ladies’ luncheon (yeah, I live in the 1950’s). Needless to say, it was a hit. So you can imagine my surprise when I served my husband a piece of the leftovers…only to hear that he didn’t care for it! Just not a fan or caramel/toffee. Oh well. Tomato, tomahto. IMG_1673It’s perfect for post Ramadan if you have a ton of dates leftover and have run out of uses for them! I use Medjool dates. They’re nice and plump and sweet. IMG_1675I poke a few holes through the top with a toothpick to let the syrup soak through.   And let me just say how much I love bundt cakes for entertaining. They always look so beautiful and with half the effort of a layer cake. No layer breaking or leveling or aligning. Just pop it out onto a nice serving plate and drizzle with icing. The cascade over the curves and in between the ridges always makes for a show stopper.

But let me interject here. The popping out part has not been so smooth for me (punnnnn!). I’ve had to stick back parts of the cake that stuck to the top of the bundt pan and try to cover it with icing. I don’t know if you’re in the same boat, but I’ve actually had better luck recently! I don’t know if it’s because of the generous buttering of the pan that I do by hand (and subsequent flouring) or if it’s the fact that I’ve been letting it completely cool (overnight) before turning out. But I’d suggest you try both! IMG_1684

Recipe from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1 1/2cups (or 6 oz) chopped, pitted dates
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted, plus more for the pan
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt (I suppose the briny flavor complements the toffee better than table or kosher salt, but use whatever you have on hand)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

For the sauce

  • 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In a medium saucepan, bring water and dates to a boil. Turn off heat and add baking soda. Take off the heat and let cool.
  3. Butter and grease your bundt pan.
  4. Whip butter in stand mixer or using an electric mixer. Add the sugar in slowly. Then vanilla. Then add 1 egg. Mix to combine. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the date mixture. Add the second egg. Finally, add the remaining flour mixture and date mixture.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. For the sauce: bring the sugar, cream, and butter to boil in a small saucepan. Continue to boil while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes. Turn off heat, add vanilla, and voila.

To serve: top with a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of the toffee sauce. Alternately, break off chunks with your hand in your groggy, kids-woke-me-up-too-early daze and eat to comfort yourself, as a sign that the day WILL get better.

Chocolate Almond Torte & Giveaway!

IMG_1467There is nothing more pleasing to me than a decadent chocolate dessert (a sublime mousse, a rich flourless chocolate cake, piping hot fudge on ice cream). After that comes almond cookies, anything from tricolor cookies to macarons to straight up marzipan. So, of course, when I found this recipe, I definitely heard a KA-CHING somewhere and my eyes reflected cupcake silhouettes or something.IMG_1449 A few departures from the original Epicurious recipe: as in all of my baking, I use raw sugar. And instead of slivered almonds like the original recipe, I just use almond meal, using a scant 1 1/2 cups instead of a full 1 1/2 cups to account for settling and density of ground almonds vs. slivered.IMG_1451I’m not sure why the recipe called for a 1/2 tsp of lemon zest. I didn’t find it added anything to the flavor (it was way overpowered by the almond extract). My guess is because Capri (which is off the Amalfi coast) is brimming with lemons, some the size of pineapples, so they probably just add it to everything.   IMG_1455This recipe was also perfect for feeding my almond meal obsession. I just love adding it to everything in lieu of some amount of flour. It adds such a nice texture to otherwise plain jane pancakes or sugar cookies. As you can see, there was some spillage. I won’t point fingers, but if I did they might point down. IMG_1458I am terrible at clearing counter space. And yes, that is Pam in the background that I used for greasing my springform pan instead of the butter the recipe so clearly stated to use. I haven’t noticed a difference…have you? IMG_1461The torte’s not so sexy close-up. Folding the whipped egg whites in three batches. So proud of myself for not deflating (it)! IMG_1462This is just seconds after it had a close encounter with a toddler with a truck in hand. It barely squeezed through.   IMG_1470We whipped out the extra fancy serving dishes and silverware for this torte. Actually my husband and his brother were so eager to dive into it, I had to get up before I could finish my meal and scramble to get the camera before this precious first slice entered into the oblivion. IMG_1473Don’t be sad when your torte deflates. It’s an egg thing. You probably won’t even notice since you’ve taken a bite of chocolate heaven are doubly smacked in the face with almond flavor (both meal and extract), like Billy Crystal’s consigliere in Analyze This. Think, chocolate macaron meets rainbow cookie meets brownie. Really, really good with a dollop of homemade sweetened cream (as opposed to the powdered sugar the original recipe suggests).

On another note…GIVEAWAY TIME! Enter here for a chance to win a $50 gift card to my favorite cookware/bakeware/serveware/specialty food store Sur La Table! Thanks to all my readers for keeping me going!

Recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups blanched slivered almonds (or scant 1 1/2 cups almond meal)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 5 large eggs, separated
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled (I did not cool mine)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Combine almonds and 1/3 cup sugar in processor. Blend until almonds are very finely ground. Transfer almond mixture to medium bowl; do not clean processor. Add chocolate and 1/3 cup sugar to processor. Blend until chocolate is finely ground but not beginning to clump, about 45 seconds; stir into almond mixture. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in large bowl until mixture falls in heavy ribbon when beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes. Beat in almond extract and lemon peel. Fold in chocolate-almond mixture, then butter.

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into chocolate batter in three additions. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 40 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.) Cut around pan sides to loosen; release sides. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Stone Fruit Crostata

I don’t know at what point I got the inspiration to make this. I’m not one of those people who go ga-ga over summer fruit. I pretty much prefer a chocolate dessert any time of the week (or year). And the work involved in making a crust, rolling it out, refrigerating – usually too much for my lazy self. But I went to the farmers market this past Sunday and OD’ed on my fruit purchases. There were just so many different kinds of plums. And nectarines, and peaches, oh my! Or maybe it was the barrage of emails I was getting about galettes (french for crostata) from other food bloggers. This may be a good time to mention what this thing is: a free form pie. A rustic dessert that can be filled with pretty much any fruit of choice. Anywho, I thought, now is the time. IMG_1358 Except making the crust wasn’t the labor intensive part…cutting all this fruit was! The peaches were fine but the plums and nectarines were impossible to pit without turning it into mush. So, you have to cut out each wedge, one by one, with an exact motion away from the pit in order to get decent slices. IMG_1361 This is an example of how not to fill the dough: on the wooden board where you roll it out as opposed to on the parchment paper itself. Transferring it to the parchment paper lined baking sheet was a nightmare. It got so wet and soggy from the fruit juices that we (my sister and I ) just barely made the transfer without turning the whole thing into a giant fruity baked donut.IMG_1365 This pastry has wonderful buttery crumb topping. And the crust is perfect in its simplicity. No vanilla, no cinnamon. Just pure butter, sugar, flour (and a bit of salt). Keeps me coming back for more! Though I did not excel at the folding over and pleating part. And given this batch of fruit, it needed a bit more sugar for our taste. So, we topped it with some powdered sugar and served with a scoop of ice cream (white chocolate raspberry truffle to be exact).IMG_1368 The day was coming to an end by the time I got around to taking these pictures, so the only sun filled surface left was the kids’ toy chest. I think that’s ok. As long as you can see the food, right?IMG_1375Recipe just barely adapted from Ina Garten. Keep in mind, this makes two crostatas so if you planning on freezing the other dough for later, make sure to cut down the prepared fruit by half. I only pictured one here since the other one came out not so pretty from the transfer.

Ingredients

For the pastry

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup granulated or superfine sugar (I use raw sugar, just give it a whir in the food processor beforehand)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
  • 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) ice water

For the filling:

  • 1 pound firm ripe peaches, unpeeled
  • 1 pound firm ripe plums, unpeeled
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

For the pastry:

Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly (and carefully!) with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour. Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board, roll it into a ball, cut in half, and form into 2 flat disks. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. If you only need 1 disk of dough The other disk of dough can be frozen.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to the baking sheet.

For the filling:

Cut the peaches and plums in wedges and place them in a bowl. Toss them with 1 tablespoon of the flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the orange zest, and the orange juice. Place the mixed fruit on the dough circle, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.

Combine the 1/4 cup flour, the 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts to hold together. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Gently fold the border of the pastry over the fruit, pleating it to make an edge.

Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Let the crostata cool for 5 minutes, then use 2 large spatulas to transfer it to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

IMG_0734 Not the most appetizing name for a cookie, I know. But take one bite, and who? wha? What’s in a name? These are actually based off the kitchen sink cookies from a certain famous/infamous bakery that has taken Queens by storm (Martha’s, if you must). Why the duality? You either love it or you hate it. Their chocolate mousse and rainbow cookies: perfection. Their cheesecakes and gelato: leave something to be desired. Pretty much everything else is lukewarm, considering it opened shop in a city that is overrun with foodies, michelin award winning pastry chefs and french macarons that are flown in from Paris daily. Enough about their kitchen sink cookies. Mine have a tad fewer ingredients (nix the white chocolate and toffee bits) and satisfy a craving for chocolate chip cookies that have just a little extra something. The addition of coconut made them appealing even for all the South Asian mouths I have to feed around here. And obviously the oats make them a healthy and nutritious snack so when your toddler stuffs her face with them you’re not thinking “I’m a terrible parent” rather “just look at all that fiber she’s getting”. Lastly, after baking chocolate chip cookies for the past 15 years, I will leave you with some things I’ve realized:

  1. You don’t need to wait around for your eggs and butter to come to room temperature before baking. Just melt the butter in the microwave or saucepan! The cookies come out just as good. But if you insist on being old school, cube up the butter so it warms up faster.
  2. The original recipe says to use quick cooking oats but I used old fashioned and it came out just fine.
  3. Make sure your leavener isn’t too old. For years I thought baking soda was just an inferior cousin of baking powder because the first time I made CC cookies I used an out of date baking soda and my cookies just went SPLAT all over the baking sheet. So, after one year, I’d say get a new one.
  4. For a long time I under baked my cookies (325 or 350 degrees for no more than 10 minutes) but these days, I bake at a higher temp (375) for ten minutes and it just toasts up the butter in the cookies and they get that magical nuttiness to them.
  5. Finally, I’ve started using raw sugar instead of white sugar and there’s no difference in taste or texture as far as I can tell.

IMG_0738 Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter softened (or melted)
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsps vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cups old fashioned or quick cooking oats
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the oats, walnuts, chocolate chips and coconut flakes. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Deb’s Favorite Brownies

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Yes, I’m referring to her by her first name because she’s a household name around here, joining the ranks of Giada and Ina. Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman is who I aspire to be. Mother, blogger, and now, cookbook author. She is a meticulous cook whose love of food and attention to detail are the biggest attributes to her success. I am a novice in many of those respects and though parenting takes up the largest percent of my time, effort and mental faculties, my hope is that in time my recipes and food photography will start to measure up to hers.

Onto the brownies. And yes, there are 1,000,001 brownie recipes out there.  Why blog about it when everyone knows that Ghirardelli’s brownies in a box is the no-fail go-to brownies to make when you’re craving some chewy, fudgy squares of chocolatey goodness? We do it because, what IF, among that pile of recipes, there exists one that is so perfect that it hits ALL THE RIGHT NOTES and you believe that you have, in that bite, found cocoa bliss? That is why we keep making these iterations. That is why Deb has 11 different brownie recipes and no doubt she will continue her brownie exploits (as we all will) until we are finally happy (which I doubt will ever happen). It’s kind of like our white whale (brown in this case)

My conclusion: excellent brownies if you happen to have unsweetened chocolate on hand. It was a rare occasion, but I did. Next time though, I might try decreasing the sugar and seeing how I like the sweetness and texture.

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Recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, extending it up two sides, or foil. Butter the parchment or foil or spray it with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula and scrape batter into prepared pan, spread until even. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (I baked mine for 35 min), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free.

Let cool and cut into desired size.

Pavlova

By now, you must be thoroughly confused. Traditional Bengali food. All American desserts. Mediterranean musings. Korean restaurant review. And now an Aussie/New Zealander dessert? What kind of blog is this? In short, it’s a reflection of me. My south asian roots. My growing up in the most ethnically diverse place in the world. My brief, but glorious time in Italy. My marriage to a guy whose life is even more of a hodgepodge than mine (think, Bangladesh, Libya, New Zealand, New York).

I consider myself blessed for having the exposure I’ve had. Even if that meant that I was viewed as an outsider as much in the States as I was in Bangladesh. Because it’s led me here, to this blog, where I can share a little bit of my delicious albeit widely varied culinary experiences. Right now, it’s just a lowly food blog. But my plan for tomorrow night? TAKE OVER THE FOOD BLOGOSPHERE.

Back to the pavlova. I was intrigued when my husband first told me about it. It’s essentially a giant meringue, but coupled with the creamy, fatty goodness of whipped cream, and the freshness of fruit. Kind of like Eton Mess, but without the hassle of individual servings. Kiwi is the New Zealander’s fruit of choice, but feel free to use whatever’s in season. It’s fairly simple to make. It just requires a bit of patience as you whip the egg whites. And don’t feel badly if it cracks – I haven’t seen one that doesn’t.

A few tips:

1. Dust the parchment paper with cornstarch to avoid sticking.

2. Top with whipped cream and fresh fruit JUST before serving.

3. Leave it in the oven (heat turned off, overnight if possible) to minimize cracking.

 

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 pint heavy cream
  • 6 kiwi, peeled and diced

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw a 9 inch circle on the parchment paper with pencil.
  2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually add in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until thick and glossy. Overbeaten egg whites lose volume and deflate when folded into other ingredients. Be absolutely sure not a particle of grease or egg yolk gets into the whites. Gently fold in vanilla extract, lemon juice and cornstarch.
  3. (Flip the parchment paper over so you don’t get any of the graphite on your pavlova!) Spoon mixture inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper. Working from the center, spread mixture toward the outside edge, building edge slightly. This should leave a slight depression in the center.
  4. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack.
  5. In a small bowl beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. Remove the paper, and place meringue on a flat serving plate. Fill the center of the meringue with whipped cream, sweetened if desired. Top whipped cream with kiwifruit slices.

Pecan Bars

Apologies for dropping off the face of the planet, but as my pregnancy winds down, I find it harder and harder to get through the day with a toddler, let alone baking/cooking for leisure and then blogging about it. But, thanks to my third trimester insomnia, I finally got around to this recipe sometime between my ill timed naps and my daughter’s night wakings.

The other day I re-watched Ina making her decadent pecan squares and decided it was high time I give it a try. Though there was no way I was going to expend 9 bars of butter in a single recipe. I don’t care how carefully she’s tweaked a recipe, I have a hard enough time getting rid of whole batches of baked goods without making enough for a traveling circus. The only challenge in halving the recipe are the 3 extra large eggs. Since I only have large, I settled for 2 large eggs.

I also copped out on the topping. Getting to that last step was an achievement in and of itself. I wasn’t about to scour the fridge for a lemon or run to the store for an orange…so I left the zest out. Somehow though, with all of that butter, sugar and cream, it still tasted fantastic.

Ingredients:

Crust:

Topping:

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup good honey
  • 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tbsps heavy cream
  • 1 pound pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, beat the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, until light, approximately 3 minutes. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the batter with the mixer on low speed until just combined. Press the dough evenly into an ungreased 9 by 13 baking dish (make sure the sides are at least 2inches high). Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust is set but not browned. Allow to cool.

For the topping, combine the butter, honey, and brown sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed  saucepan. Cook over low heat until the butter is melted, using a wooden spoon to stir. Raise the heat and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the heavy cream and pecans. Pour over the crust. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. Cut into bars and serve.

I melted some chocolate chips over a double boiler and added enough heavy cream to make it drizzle-able. Slathered that over the bars and sealed. the. deal.

South Asian rice pudding (Kheer)

Apologies for dragging him into yet another one of my posts, but I’ll do it anyway. One of the many things my dear husband and I bond over is our mutual disdain for South Asian sweets. It seems they’re all permutations of milk products or by products, overly sweetened and offering little by way of depth of flavor (think: golap jam, rosh golla, malai kari and so on). We have, however, a few exceptions:  sweet doi (yogurt), rosh malai and my Rahima Aunty’s kheer.

This is a very traditional dish done in a not-so-traditional way. In the olden days, you would slave over a hot stove all day, slowly reducing a vat of milk to about half, then adding the rice and sugar until cooked and sufficiently thickened. Rahima Aunty has figured out a way to cut down the cooking time and even add richness by using a 2:1 milk to heavy cream combination. She also blitzes the rice (increasing the surface area), which allows the starches to develop further, resulting in super thick and creamy, almost gelatinous pudding.

To achieve the traditional smokey flavor of a gurer (date molasses) kheer, I’d highly recommend picking up some from your local South Asian market. I haven’t tried it with regular molasses, but you’re welcome to give it a shot! And of course, because I can never just stick to a recipe, I added a dash of salt and bit of vanilla to round out the flavors. I’ve already made a serious dent to the bowl…thanks, Aunty!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup basmati rice
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup date molasses
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla
  • dash salt
  • 1 tbsp butter (or ghee [clarified butter])

Directions

Soak the rice in water for 8 hours or overnight.

When ready to prepare the pudding, drain the rice and dump into a food processor. Pulse to break up the rice (don’t overdo this step…you don’t want a paste).

Combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Pour in the rice and simmer until the rice is cooked through, stirring occasionally (about 20 minutes). Continue to simmer until reduced, for 15 minutes. Add molasses, vanilla and salt and stir continuously for the last 5 minutes. Off the heat, add the butter (or ghee) until melted.

Pour into serving bowl immediately and cover with plastic wrap to keep a skin from forming.