TWD: Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Most of the time, I really appreciate descriptive recipe names. It's nice to know, before you even read through the recipe, sorta kinda what the end product will be. Otherwise, you end up getting really confused, thinking that this magic cookie equals this magic cookie. Which, by the way, it doesn't. I think more computer-y things should actually be baked goods. Like pictures in a cookbook, a well named recipe makes you want to make it. Aaannndddd... Sometimes there's such a thing as overkill. Like here. I couldn't even remember the name of this bundt cake, and kept calling the swirl mixture "streusel" (Which, by the way, is a real word *cough*Bloggerfail*cough*). But maybe I'm being nitpicky.

 
However, I don't believe I'm being very nitpicky when I said what the hell to the bundt cake 10 minutes after removing it from the oven. I had happily removed it (right at 60 minutes, which is a miracle with my crap oven), let it rest 10 minutes, loosened the edges with a thin sharp knife, and inverted it onto a rack. It was not interested in becoming friends with the cooling rack. From afar, sure - but actually coming into contact with said rack? Nuh uh. Hmph. I have nevereverever had a cake stick in my bundt pan. It's nonstick, has all its nonstickiness intact, and I even buttered and floured the sucker!!! I was a mite bit offended by the misbehavior of this clunkily named bundt. After much wiggling and jiggling and prying, I was able to get it out mostly intact, though there was definite separation at the middle swirl.

 
Even better? Of course this would happen when this cake wasn't staying at home. Oh no, it was destined for a get-together at the apartment of one of J's coworkers. We had a Jets-Patriots game to watch (heh. heh. suck it, Pats.), and we had been contracted to bring cake and beer. Cake + beer + football? Yeah, I'd call that a perfect Sunday afternoon. And while I had a mangled cake, J was right when he told me that as long as it tasted good, no one was going to care. It wasn't as if it was completely in bits and pieces, so we could even cut nice slices. Like I said, J was right - everyone liked the cake and the Jets won (yes, I know they lost to the Steelers this past weekend, but really - beating them would have been pretty damned surprising). I guess my only quibble is due to my traditionalism when it comes to sour cream cakes. While I had taken out the dried fruit from the swirl mixture, I had left in the chocolate. And as great as the sour cream cake portion was (and whoa, was it good - tender and moist and just amazing), the chocolate was like this bundt cake's name - clunky. It just didn't fit with the cake. So I'd probably nix the chocolate on the next round and put the dried fruit back in. I can handle dried fruit with my walnut-cinnamon-sugar swirl, but evidently not chocolate.

 
Last Week: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Next Week: Great Grains Muffins (thank god for all these muffins - pre-decided breakfasts for J during the work week!)

TWD: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I was tagged by the ever adorable Sarah to do this meme just a bit under a week ago, and thank goodness for that. Because starting last Thursday around 8p, I was down. Down for the count. Laid out by the flu for the first time in probably two decades, which is only impressive when you realize I've only been bopping around for two and a half decades. And let's just say that the last thing I wanted to think about, write about, talk about, or ingest was food. I was so taken aback by this whole being sick thing that I had to call my dad so he could first reassure me (yes, it is the flu, yes, you're supposed to feel like shit with aching joints and dizziness and nausea) and then tell me what to do (drink lots of water. if you can't, just sleep. a lot.). So I spent the next two days sleeping, occasionally drinking water, and feeling entirely repulsed by the idea of food.

Of course, I then spent the next day after that dreaming of all the food I really shouldn't eat, because that dry toast in front of me was probably the only thing my stomach would accept. Darn stomachs, so uncooperative when all you really want is a diner breakfast of eggs, hash browns, and bacon. Mmm, bacon. I took my bacon craving to mean I was beating this whole flu thing. Granted, while the nausea, aches and pains, and dizziness have basically subsided, there's always this reassessment after a meal - a check-in with my stomach to make sure it was agreeable with whatever had ended up in it. So far, so good. I'm waiting for when the weakness ends so that I can go running, because oh whoops, I didn't mention this - Saturday I was supposed to go running with Sarah! With someone! For the first time in months! I was thrilled! Lots of exclamation points! And then the flu. Damn flu.

Lucky you guys. You don't get the flu. You get muffins and a meme. Lucky you.

Meme: Chain of Fours

Four TV shows I watch:
NCIS
Glee
Grey's Anatomy
NCIS: LA (a new addition, because we are besotted with NCIS-anything right now)

Four things I'm passionate about:
running
butter (and sugar) ((and eggs)) (((flour's nice too)))
the environment & environmental policy
horseback riding

Four words/phrases I use a lot:
Like ya do
About that...
Shu-wa (as in "sure" with a really odd pronunciation) ((no idea))
I think I'm going to bake [fill in the blank] today

Four things I've learned in the past:
Everything is better with butter. (not applesauce, butter. not margarine, butter. not earth balance, butter.)
Grades don't matter. (told to me by my dad, a professor, nearly every week growing up. he's so right.)
Sleep is important. Infinitely more important than just about anything else. Yes, I get 8 hours a night.
Don't sweat the small stuff. Heck, don't sweat the big stuff. Just deal with it and move on.

Four places I'd like to go:
Ireland (this is our dream honeymoon destination - hopefully next Christmas?!?!)
Paris (last time I went was in high school, and I definitely didn't take advantage of it)
Switzerland (hopefully sometime before Jenn leaves her postdoc there!)
Japan (J's favorite country, where I'd love to see all of the gorgeous buildings & views)

Four things I did yesterday:
made pancakes
realized there's a reason why J is the resident pancake maker
had Annabelle sleep on my lap for a few hours
had a meeting for a class on a holiday (oh that's right, holiday = buildings closed and buses not running - grad school is overrated)

Four things I'm looking forward to:
The Charlottesville 10 Miler
My best friend's wedding
The day I can start horseback riding again (aka the day I have a salary again - *wah wah*)
Buying a house with J so I can have a kitchen the size of our current apartment

Four things I love about winter:
Snow
Ice skating
The excuse to drink LOTS of hot tea
Winter in NC = being able to run outside the entire time (*love*)

Tag four people to play along:
Kayte
Jacqui
Bridget
Nancy

Last Week: Minty Chocolate Madeleines (which evidently came to be termed "muffeleines")
Next Week: Nutty, Chocolatey, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

TWD: Minty Chocolate Madeleines

So. Madeleines. A couple years ago, I purchased a silicone mini madeleine pan because I had this thought that silicone released better, cleaned more easily, yada yada yada. Well, after a few uses, it ended up just gummy with cooking spray, flour, and some sort of sticky goopiness that basically was impossible to get off. In unrelated happenings, we got married and our apartment was invaded by all sorts of shiny new appliances and cookware. So the idea of buying a nice, shiny metal madeleine pan? Even I nixed it. Which means that these were made by spooning the batter into a regular muffin tin and coaxing it until it covered the bottoms. They're wee little muffin bottoms, but they do have a bit of the madeleine hump to them, so I'm just going with it. And since I have never had marshmallow fluff, never want to have marshmallow fluff, and therefore refuse to ever buy marshmallow fluff (yes, I know it's entirely irrational. no, I don't care.), these are not filled with fluff. Instead, they're just glazed with a minty icing because J loves mint and chocolate, I don't, and if I cover them with minty icing I won't eat them. Win-win?

 

Last Week: Midnight Crackles
Next Week: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Momofuku Blueberries & Cream Cookies

After the epic ramen dinner party on this past Monday, it only made sense to include a dessert from Momofuku Milk Bar. When I went into NYC to meet up with Y, the Milk Bar was one of the required stops - I had heard all sorts of hype, as had she. We had to see if it lived up to expectations! And oh goodness, did it. More sugar, butter, and eggs than you can shake a stick at. Seriously, I have a pretty incredible sweet tooth, and it took one bite of crack pie for me to call it quits that night. Although that might have been because of the ridiculous amount of spicy sausage and rice cakes I had during our dinner at Ssam Bar...

But no worries. I had come to NYC prepared, with only a carry-on but enough room to take a good amount of treats home to NC. So J and I made our way back, proud owners of two different kinds of cake balls (chocolate malt rolled in milk crumbs = yum, birthday cake shellacked in sugary glaze = meh) and half a dozen cookies. Obviously, compost cookies were one of the flavors, but we also got a corn cookie and two of these blueberries and cream cookies.

 Whoa though. You know the best part about that whole trip? It wasn't the cookies, or the H and H bagels. It wasn't the trip to Zabar's or the breakfast at Locanda Verde. Well, it was, and it wasn't. You see, this marks the end of my third year of blogging. The start of my fourth. And I can't even believe that I could have guessed, three years ago, that I would be booking a last-minute flight to a city to meet someone who I've just talked to on-line. I mean, how crazy weird is that? It's also, well, crazy awesome. The friendships I've made have sustained me through some pretty rough times and have contributed some amazing times as well.

So here's to an amazing 2011, an amazing fourth year of blogging, and taking chances on those crazy people we call blog friends.

Oh yeah, and these cookies? Make them. Seriously, they're totally worth it.
 
Blueberries and Cream Cookies
from Bon Appetit

4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 large eggs
5 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cups milk crumbs (recipe below) (I used the entire recipe's worth of crumbs, not just 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups dried blueberries (I used 2 cups because I felt the batter needed more)

Combine butter, both sugars, and corn syrup in the large bowl of a stand mixer. Using a paddle attachment, beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and beat on medium-high speed until sugars dissolve, about 10 minutes. You'll want to scrape the bowl every few minutes and make sure it doesn't decide to dance off your countertop. At this point, unless you have a professional stand mixer, you'll want to do what I did - transfer the butter-sugar mixture to the largest bowl you have. Once there, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. Add in the milk crumbs and mix until they're distributed. Do the same with the blueberries, mixing just until they're evenly distributed throughout the dough. The dough will be very sticky.

Using a large cookie scoop or a 1/4 cup measure (spray the inside of the cup measure occasionally to keep the dough from sticking), portion out the cookie dough onto an unlined cookie sheet. Stick them right next to each other, since this is just so that we can chill the cookie dough before baking. You'll be transferring the dough to lined baking sheets for baking. You should get somewhere between 36 and 40 dough balls. Cover them with plastic wrap and chill for at least 24 hours, or up to 2 days.

When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer 6 dough balls to the sheet, placing at least 4 inches apart, since the cookies spread quite a bit. Keep the rest of the dough in the fridge, only taking it out just prior to baking. Bake for 17-22 minutes, until golden brown and just this side of gooey in the center. Transfer cookies gently to a rack to cool. Now, you can either wait for the baking sheet to cool before baking the next batch, or do what I did. I took a second cookie sheet, lined it with parchment paper, and alternated cookie sheets for each batch so that each sheet had about 20 minutes to cool before being used again.

Cookies should be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Milk Crumbs (makes ~2 cups)
from Bon Appetit

3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup flour
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp kosher salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350*F. In a medium bowl, combine milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the butter. Using a fork, gently toss the mixture until large clumps and clusters form. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and evenly spread the crumbs over the sheet. Bake until crumbs are dry but not browning, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool before using. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature if not using immediately.

TWD: Midnight Crackles

The crackles, I made them. Luckily, I had some tips from Tracey and Mike, so was able to make one very major adjustment to the recipe - Dorie suggests chilling the dough for 3 hours, but evidently that makes it hard as a rock. So the solution for me was to chill it for an hour, then let it sit on the counter and warm up while the oven preheated. It was still a pretty funky feeling dough - it reminded me of chocolate play-do. Thank goodness this is a kind of play-do that would actually taste good! (don't lie - I know you tried to eat play-do as a kid too. everybody does. These are wonderfully chocolatey cookies, especially since I left out the spices and added a teaspoon of instant coffee powder. Chewy, chocolatey, and out of the apartment - they're destined to be a post-Christmas gift to the in-laws. I hope they approve!

In entirely unrelated news, I have been in the kitchen non-stop for two days. You see, J wanted a new video game, and we generally trade - he can buy a video game if I can buy a cookbook. So last Friday, he got Epic Mickey and I got Momofuku. I promptly flipped through the entire book a couple times on Friday afternoon, giddily marking recipes that I wanted to make - spicy sausage and rice cakes, kimchi stew, english muffins... And on Saturday, I decided that sometime this week I should make the ramen. And if you've flipped through Momofuku, you know - when you decide to make ramen, it turns out that first you have to make ramen broth, tare, pork belly, pork shoulder, and slow cooked eggs. Then you can make ramen. Given this sort of time commitment, it just makes sense to get people over to enjoy the fruits of your rather excessive labor. So by mid-afternoon on Saturday, plans had been made to have people over on Monday. In two days. Have I mentioned that I also decided to make this an all-Momofuku dinner? As in ramen, roasted rice cakes, and blueberries & cream cookies. And that the ramen broth takes all day? As does the pork shoulder? And the cookies have to chill for at least 24 hours?

Yeah. After managing to source nearly everything (had to swap in beef marrow bones for meaty pork bones), I roasted and simmered and boiled and sauteed and mixed and baked. Oh, and washed dishes. Over and over again. Thank god our friends were bringing over an appetizer of dumplings, or else I might have gone crazy. In essence, I learned a lot during those two days:

1. Last-minute dinner parties are fun. And stressful.
2. Whole Foods butchers are awesome. Unfortunately, pork belly is not always in stock.
3. It pains me to make stock and then throw away all those painfully-sourced ingredients - smoky bacon, marrow bones, chicken thighs, and vegetables.
4. But bacon that has been fried after simmering in stock for an hour tastes of only one thing - water.
5.With only an hour between each task, the most you can do during a day is go on a 5 mile run. After which, the intense porky smell in the apartment will make you feel ill for the next couple hours. Skip the run.
6. Cookies that contain 5 sticks of butter and three types of sugar can never go wrong.
7. If you think you have enough space in your fridge, think again. I have containers of red dragon sauce, collards, rice cakes, broth, pork shoulder, pans of pre-portioned cookie dough, and a pack of fresh noodles the size of my head.

And last of all:

8. After making all this food, you don't want to eat anything. Persevere. Push past the overwhelming pork / sugar smell that has surrounded you for 48 hours and eat. It is so worth it.

And in the end, it was. Fun, friends, and lots of wine, green tea, and food. Not that I plan on making ramen broth again for a very, very long time. Probably once I forget all the craziness of the past two days. Until then, I have other things to make. That banh mi is calling my name...

Last Week: Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
Next Week: Chocolate Fluff-Filled Madeleines