Looks like the Fierce and Sweet bake-off win was the ego booster I needed to morph into a baking enthusiast. Up until then, I used to think that baking was an activity better left in the hands of the likes of Pierre Herme, Gaston Lenotre and Francois Payard. But after a series of successful experiments, I can say that I now fancy baking cakes. So for my friend’s birthday, I decided to surprise her with cupcakes. Since she likes simple flavors, I opted for vanilla cupcakes. This recipe has become my go-to recipe for cupcakes. Every now and then, I ditch the vanilla extract for amaretto, but the proportions remain the same.

VANILLA CUPCAKES
12 cupcakes liners
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line the cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

Cream the butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl a couple of times

Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Allow each each to be fully incorporated before adding the next one. Mix in the vanilla.

Sift the remaining dry ingredients together and add to the batter in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. Start and finish with the dry ingredients, but do not overmix.

Scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Evenly spoon the batter into the cupcake liners.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on rack.

Meanwhile, make the vanilla butter cream.

VANILLA BUTTER FROSTING
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 to 4.5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the butter on high speed until creamy. Add 1 cup of the sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add one more 1 cup of sugar and half of the milk and beat until smooth and creamy.

Add one more 1 cup of sugar and the remaining milk and continue to beat.

Add the remaining cup of sugar and vanilla and beat on high speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.

Assess the texture and add a little more sugar if the texture is too light.

Spread a generous amount of cupcakes onto each cupcakes.

Sprinkle with your favorite toppings. I’m using pop rocks for an explosive final touch.

Enjoy!

One thing I really miss about living in Cote D’Ivoire is the overabundance of great Lebanese food. One of my personal favorites was Zaatar Manaeesh, a pita-like flat bread topped with Zaatar (a thyme-based middle eastern spice mix). Manaeesh is a popular breakfast food in Lebanon where it’s eaten with Labne, a thick strained yogurt. For a while now, I’ve had a full jar of Zaatar that my friend brought me from Israel and I never got the chance to use it. So, when an Italian friend of mine asked me what he should do with Zaatar, the first thing that came to my mind was Manaeesh, followed by fond memories of my time in Abidjan. I looked for a recipe on the internet, but nothing was really convincing. Therefore, I decided to improvise and do my own thing. I figured flat bread… hmm why not Focaccia?  And BAM! I whipped up this Zaatar Focaccia. If you don’t have any Zaatar, you can easily substitute your favorite dry herbs.

ZAATAR FOCACCIA (adapted from epicurious)
4 cups bread flour + additional for kneading (all-purpose flour works too)
1 packet of active dry yeast
1.5 cups lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
1/2.tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
3 heaping tbsp Zaatar

Stir together the water, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes until foamy. Add the oil and the salt. Then, add the flour gradually while mixing until dough forms. Depending on the moisture in the air, you may need to add more or less flour. Knead the dough until soft and smooth.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat with the oil. Let rise, covered at warm room temperature, until doubled.

Press dough evenly into a generously oiled baking pan. Let dough rise in the pan, covered with a kitchen towel, until doubled.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Stir together the Zaatar and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Make shallow indentations all over dough with your fingertips, then brush with the Zaatar mixture.

Sprinkle with salt and bake in middle of oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a side of Labne.

Enjoy!

September 25, 2009. I can’t believe summer has come and gone already. Luckily, the weather is still relatively warm. Having said that, I must admit Autumn is my favorite season. Well… the beginning of it at least — when the cool autumnal breeze gently caresses our skin and the trees turn into golden beauties. It’s such a romantic season. So, as we enter the Fall quarter of 2009, let us bid a proper farewell to summer with a cherry clafoutis, the dessert that best utilizes my favorite summer fruit.

The traditional clafoutis recipe calls for milk, but one day I was out of milk and had to use half-and-half instead. This resulted in a more luxurious texture, so I’ve stuck with half-and-half ever since. Feel to use milk if you prefer.

CLAFOUTIS DE CERISES

1 cup ripe cherries (pitted or unpitted)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup half and half
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Amaretto or almond extract (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and lightly flour a baking dish. Place the cherries in the buttered dish.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Whisk in the eggs and gradually add the milk. Whisk until smooth. Add the Amaretto (or almond extract) and vanilla extract.

Pour the batter into the baking dish.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until set in the center and golden brown delicious on top.

Cool slightly. Sprinkle powdered sugar over and serve warm with vanilla ice cream (optional).

Hello Friends and Readers,

I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but fret not. I will be back with more yummy stuff as soon as Ramadan is over.

Having said that, I wanted to share some exciting news with you. On October 11, 2009, Rachel and I are individually participating in Fierce and Sweet, a baking competition and fundraiser to benefit New York Cares, a leading volunteer organization that serves New York City.  This Brooklyn bake off will bring together amateur and professional bakers to compete in front of an audience of sweet toothed voters (ahem.. you).

This is my first baking competition, so I’m really psyched and looking forward it. These are the categories that we can enter for a win:

• Most Surprising Ingredients
• Most Delicious
• Sexiest Baker
• Best “Green” Goodies
• Best Presentation

I don’t know what I’m making yet, but given my recent obsession with True Blood, it’ll likely be something vampiresque.  I’m still figuring it out. My stage name is “Draculinaria”… um yeah… Rachel made me do it

Anyway, it’s for fun and it’s for good.  So, if you’re free, come  show us some love and socialize for a cause.

xoxo

RN

My husband picked up a rare treat one recent weekend: a carton of blueberries.

But he wasn’t about to use the whole stash for his fruit smoothie. I claimed a cup to make blueberry muffins.

Not just any ho-hum blueberry muffins, however. Berry Oatmeal Muffins.

Several years ago I cut the recipe out of a magazine — I can’t even remember which anymore — but I had never followed the exact recipe. Blueberries often are expensive, so I had always replaced them with the (free) red raspberries from my parents’ bushes. The results were delicious.

I prefer the tartness and color of the raspberry muffins, but my husband, whose favorite fruit is the blueberry, liked these better. These muffins are worth a try either way, and the recipe is simple enough to experiment with your favorite fruit (or whatever is on sale). Next up for me: Peach Oatmeal Muffins.

Berry Oatmeal Muffins
Adapted from an unknown source

1 1/2 tablespoons + 1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons + 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or raspberries)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, to taste
1 cup yogurt (plain or fruit-flavored)
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a muffin pan.

Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons oats and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine remaining oats, brown sugar, flour, baking powder and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until the batter is moistened but still lumpy. Gently fold in blueberries.

Fill muffin cups almost to top, and sprinkle reserved oats and brown sugar over muffins. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 12.

I am a chocolate lover who enjoys that black gold in all forms save one: cake. For years, I would dutifully eat the slices of fluffy, wheaty pastries set in front of me at birthdays, weddings, and holiday celebrations simply for the sugar rush that would follow; rarely, however, did I enjoy what was on my plate, and at some point I abandoned the pastry all together.

Several years ago, after being asked to provide a chocolate cake for a friend’s party, I decided to revisit my prejudice and set out to make a baked chocolate dessert that would be cake-like enough for celebrations, but that was not bready and bland. My baking experimentations, of course, brought me to endless flourless chocolate cake recipes, most of which were overwhelmingly dry, chalky, cloyingly sweet, dense like cement, or a combination thereof.  What I wanted was something smooth, fudgy, rich, and with bitter overtones. After dozens of eggs and hours spent pouring over cookbooks and websites, I successfully combined several recipes and came up with a dessert that has become standard to my repertoire.

Technically, this pastry is a baked pudding, but since it is made in a cake pan, it is a good substitute for birthdays and is shockingly simple to make. Firm, but not too dense, you can add a little panache by cutting out individual portions with a cookie cutter. Best of all, there is room for creativity with this recipe: for a richer pastry, use a chocolate (preferably organic, fair trade) with a higher cocoa content, for a sweeter cake one with a lower cocoa content, or try using 2 oz more chocolate or up to 3 oz less to play with density and richness. Top with a little bourbon cream and some fruit and you have a perfect, fancy-looking dessert.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan, and line the inside with a round of parchment paper.

Put the butter and chocolate into a small heavy saucepan and melt over low heat, whisking occasionally (you may also use a double boiler). Set aside and let cool for five to seven minutes.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla in another bowl. Thoroughly whisk in the cooled melted chocolate.

Pour the chocolate batter into the cake pan and cover tightly with foil. Place it in a larger baking pan, and pour in warm water to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Let bake for 1 hour or up to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the cake appears to have set and when you touch the center, your finger comes away clean.

Remove the cake from the water bath and cool completely before serving, plain or with whipped cream and fruit.

Bread Pudding is also a great recipe for experimentation. It has very simple components and you can change the flavor profile to suit your taste or the season. I give a basic recipe below, but it is easy to mix and match any number of flavors. For example, if you’d like a more exotic treat, replace the raisins, cinnamon and vanilla with chopped pistachio nuts, ground cardamom and rose water (that’s the one in the photo above). For a nice autumnal dessert, try using chopped crystalized ginger, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. Think about your favorite flavors and do some experimenting of your own.

BREAD PUDDING (adapted from Fanny Farmer)

Serves 6

butter, softened
6 slices of stale white bread
1 quart milk
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Butter a 2 quart baking dish. Butter both sides of each slice of bread and place in the baking dish in about 2 layers, tearing them into pieces if they don’t fit well. Mix together the milk, eggs, sugar, salt, raisins (if using), vanilla and cinnamon and pour over the bread. Let the dish stand on the counter for about 15 minutes, pressing down on the bread occasionally to help it soak up the milk mixture.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes. If you like the top crusty, you may put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes to brown.

Remove the pudding from the oven and let it stand for 5-10 minutes, it will fall a bit and become more custardy on the inside.

Serve warm, accompanied by heavy cream.

Most girls like to shop for clothes, shoes and accessories, but I like to shop for food. Other than people watching in Union Square, one of my favorite pastimes is wandering through farmers’ markets and gourmet food stores. And since I live near Union Square, a trip to the farmers’ market has become a Saturday ritual of mine. Not only is it fun, but there’s always chance to run into a serious foodie or a blast from the past. Last Saturday for example, I ran into Gabriella Gershenson, food editor of Time Out NY and Darya, a former colleague from my investment banking days.

On this very same trip, I got a little carried away with the food shopping and ended up with more cherries than a one-person household can eat before the cherries go bad. The good news is that cherries cook well and the options in terms of desserts are endless. So instead of letting my cherries go to waste, I baked a cherry pound cake for the interns. This cake is a variation of Francois Payard’s apple cake where I substitute cherries for the apples.

Cherry Pound Cake (Adapted from Payard’s Apple cake)

1 small bowl fresh cherries
1/3 cup dried cherries (optional)
3 tablespoons dark rum
1 scant cup (136 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (115 grams) confectioner’s sugar
3 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a loaf pan and dust it with flour, tapping out the excess.

If using dried cherries, bring a small pan of water to a boil, add the cherries and boil for 1 minute. Drain and repeat the process. Drain the cherries well a second time and place in a small bowl with the rum; stir and set aside.

Pit the fresh cherries.

Sift together the flour and baking powder.

Cream the butter and the sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix in the dry cherries and the rum.

Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on low speed until blended. Do not overmix the batter.

Spoon half of the batter into the pan, smooth into an even layer and arrange half of the cherries dome side up over the batter. Spoon the rest of the batter over the cherries and smooth the top. Arrange the remaining cherries on top of the batter dome side up. I expected the cherries to stay on top, but mine sunk to the bottom. Oh well… Let me know if yours stay on top.

Bake the cake for 60 to 65 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan, then unmold. Serve plain at room temperature.

You may brush the cake with some apricot glaze if you wish. Enjoy!

A friend of mine once told me that she was so broke during college that she had to bake her own baguettes. She said that at times that’s all she would have to eat with butter. I exclaimed: “Oh my God!” Shamefully, this was not so much because I empathized with her as it was because I was amazed that she baked her own baguettes.

See I love bread, but bread baking is one of the few processes that have never worked out for me. I’ve tried, tried, tried and failed, failed, failed miserably each time. So after numerous trials followed by countless ego-crushing failures, I was on the verge of giving up. But I stumbled upon the following youtube video which completely dispelled my fear of bread baking.  6 hours later, I had baked my first successful batch of French baguettes for 1/4 of what it would cost me to buy a similar quantity at Whole Foods.

What I didn’t know is that baguettes are baked at a very high temperature in steam injection ovens, producing crusty and light breads. Luckily, this method can be replicated at home by placing a metal roasting pan in the oven and pouring hot water into it to create steam.

Mini French Baguettes (adapted from several recipes)

I tried to simplify the recipe as much as I could, but feel free to ask any questions in the comment section.

Makes 8 mini baguettes

4 cups bread flour
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Warm water

Proof the yeast by mixing it with 1/2 cup of warm water and a teaspoon of sugar. Let it stand for a few minutes until it becomes foamy.

Meanwhile, mix the flour and the salt in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

Incorporate the yeast mixture to the flour. While mixing with the wooden spoon, gradually add warm water until you obtain a dough ball that detaches itself from the edges of the bowl. The dough will be a little sticky, but no worries.

Transfer the dough ball to a floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes until smooth.

Place the dough into a bowl lightly coated with oil, cover with a kitchen towel or a plastic bag and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours. The dough should double in volume.

After the dough has doubled. Transfer it to the floured surface and gently knead for 4 minutes.

Divide it into 8 equal pieces. Gently stretch each piece and roll it to form a log that will later be shaped into a mini baguette. Set aside and repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough. This allows each piece to relax a little.

Starting with the first log that you shaped, elongate each baguette by rolling it back and forth on the work surface until the loaf reaches the desired length. Be mindful that the bread will expand as it bakes.

Place the mini baguettes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly floured. Make 2  diagonal slashes on each loaf with a sharp knife and dust with a little flour.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 40-60 minutes until the mini baguettes are plump.

30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place an empty roasting pan on the bottom rack.

After the oven temperature has reached 500 degrees F, pour 2 cups of hot water into the roasting pan to create some steam and place the baking sheet with the baguettes on the top rack.

Bake for 10 minutes at 500F, then lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and bake for 20 -25 minutes until the mini baguettes are golden brown and crisp.

Voila! Enjoy your fresh baked mini baguettes while they are still warm with butter, cheese and French charcuteries. And if you want to be really French, add a glass of red wine.

On a rainy Monday circa 5ish pm, this conversation took place on gchat…

5:15 PM Raissa: give me an idea.. what can i make that’s sweet and yummy? will bring to the office for the interns. oh and on the easy side.
5:16 PM Rachel: well, i have to say, the lemon bars I made were really good and easy. i was also just looking at this recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/blueberry-crumb-bars/. i think bars are a great thing to share. i prefer them to cookies, and they’re good to use fresh fruit
5:20 PM Raissa: yum! that looks great. may try raspberries instead.

You get the picture…

Raspberry Crumb Bars (inspired by Smitten Kitchen’s recipe)

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
3 cups fresh raspberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 additional teaspoons flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan. (I used a smaller pan and ended up with thicker bars).

On a work surface or in a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan. I lined my pan with parchment paper. It makes it easier to remove the bars when they are done.

In another bowl, stir together the sugar, the 4 teaspoons of flour and lemon juice. Gently mix in the raspberries. Sprinkle the raspberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

And voila!

I usually suck at baking, but these bars were a breeze to make. They keep well in the fridge or at room temperature. Next time, I might even try a chocolate and frangipane variation.

Thank you Rachel!