A Walk in the Woods

Thought I would share a few pictures from my walk today. Binghamton University has the largest piece of protected land of any university. It was about 23 degrees but it was sunny and I hardly noticed the chill.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Simple. Delicious. Try not to eat the batter with a spoon--it will be a struggle.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Adapted from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenburg (of Orangette). Serves 9

Cake

1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

zest of two lemons

1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt (I used stony field farm because I had it home)

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup light tasting olive oil

Syrup

1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 cup lemon juice

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

3 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350
Grease 9-inch round cake pan (or in my case, the heart pan my Mom gave me a couple years back) with organic olive oil spray (I really hate to use cooking spray and such but I just haven't weaned myself off its convenience, not yet anyway).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, lemon zest and eggs, stirring to mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir to just combine. Add the oil and stir well.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25-35 minutes, until cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto wire rack.
Flip back over so that rounded top is up. Set the rack over a pan or large plate.
In a small bowl, whisk together the syrup ingredients and spoon the syrup slowly over top of warm cake.
Let cake cool completely.
In a small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients. Whisk well so that sugar is completely dissolved. Spoon the icing over the cooled cake.
Cake can be served immediately, but glaze will be set after about 1 hour.

Sugared Cranberries

I was browsing my usual blogs this morning over coffee and thinking about what to do with all the food in my fridge before I leave for Long Island Friday. Just as I remembered the cranberries hiding in there I came across this recipe on Heidi's 101cookbooks. Right then I knew that's exactly what I was going to make and into the kitchen I went.

Sugared Cranberries

Adapted from 101cookbooks. Makes 2 cups.

2 cups cranberries, picked over

2 cups water

2 cups pure cane or turbinado sugar

Pure cane or turbinado sugar for first coating

White sugar for second coating

Place the cranberries in a medium glass bowl and set aside.

Make a simple syrup by bringing the water and sugar just to a simmer in a medium saucepan.

Let the syrup cool for a couple minutes and then pour it over the cranberries. If the syrup is too hot the cranberries will burst, so be careful. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, drain the cranberries and toss them with larger grained sugar until they are well coated. Use only a scoop of sugar at a time, and small batches of cranberries, so the sugar doesn't get too damp. Place the coated cranberries on a baking sheet to dry for a few hours.

Do a second toss with the regular granulated sugar, this typically takes care of any sticky spots on the cranberries. Let dry another hour.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bran Muffins

Not your average bran muffin, moist, with a slight tangy tartness from the cranberries and a bit sticky from the molasses. Great on a relaxing morning a little peanut butter and hot cup of tea.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bran Muffins

Adapted from Craving Greens. Makes 12 muffins.

1 cup organic pumpkin purée

(I like to make my own but I had a can at home and wanted to use it up)
3/4 cup wheat bran
2 eggs
3/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup natural cane sugar
1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1-1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 400°F.
In large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin purée, wheat bran, eggs, buttermilk, molasses, sucanat or cane sugar, and grated ginger. Whisk together.

In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Stir dry ingredients into wet, mixing well. Add cranberries to mixture and stir.

Line a muffin pan with paper muffin cups* or grease a non-stick pan, (the pumpkin replaces the fat in this recipe so even a non-stick pan will end up with muffins cemented to it). Divide batter evenly among cups and bake for 20-22 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean and tops are golden.

*I love the If You Care muffin cups. They are unbleached, made from 100% recycled paper and compostable.

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream

Lately I've been looking for good cupcake recipes but until recently I really haven't had any that lived up to my favorite box mix- Duncan Hines Devil's Food. (I hate to admit that cause box mixes are full of so much crap and generally not as good as homemade but the devil's food has always been my favorite). I had a few failed attempts at red velvet earlier in the year and gave up for a couple months but Colin's birthday is coming up so I decided to try again. He really like mint things (ice cream etc) so I decided to make mint chocolate chip cupcakes. I went with a devil's food recipe from CHOCKYLIT. Her recipe calls for mixing everything straight in the bowl which left me a bit skeptical but I went with it and they came out great! Moist and chocolatey and far better than any mix (I'll never buy Duncan Hines again).

For the frosting I used a simple buttercream but instead of adding vanilla I added 1/4tsp peppermint extract. It might have been just a little too minty for me and I think next time I would start off with 1/8tsp and add a little more if needed.

Devil's Food Chocolate Cake

I used organic fair trade unsweetened cocoa powder from my local food coop and they came out great but if a fair trade cocoa isn't available near you than a high quality cocoa such as Ghirardelli or Valrhona will work just as well (maybe better).

makes 24 cupcakes

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups unrefined pure cane sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl.
2. Mix on low speed just until incorporated.
3. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
4. Add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.

Measure out into cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers. A 2" ice cream scoop works great for this. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Peppermint Buttercream

Frosts 24 Cupcakes or 9in 2 layer cake.

2 sticks unsalted butter

4 cups powdered sugar (don't bother using organic here, it turns out kinda grayish)

1/4 cup skim milk

1/8-1/4 tsp organic pure peppermint extract

Beat butter and powdered sugar with an electric hand or stand mixer add milk and and peppermint to taste. Beat until thoroughly combined. If not using right away store covered in the fridge up to a day or two or freeze. Bring to room temperature before frosting. If using now, fit pastry bag with desired tip (I used the star), and frost cupcakes.

Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

Cleaning Out The Fridge Day 1

The end of the semester seems to have snuck up on me and classes ended today which means I'm officially on my last Christmas break (ever?). It also means it's time to finish all those forgotten ingredients in the back of my fridge/freezer/pantry. (eeek who knows what lurking back there?). Well, today I dove in and found various different kinds of bread as well as numerous jars of griessnockerl, spaetzle, tomato sauce and even some frozen egg yolks from some sort of baking endeavor,(no idea what I'm going to do with those). The pantry is full of random leftover pasta, grains, and a large enough dried fruit stash to hike the Appalachian trail. The refrigerator was quite a journey as well. Way in the back was a small container of peanut M+Ms from august (!?) and various cheeses from god knows when. There was definitely a small piece of apple pie back there too but I'm afraid to go near that. Instead I found a tomato on its last leg and decided to chop it up in a salad with the rest of the my vegetables and some previously cooked white beans I found hiding way in the back.

Maybe tomorrow I'll tackle the cheese...

Everything-in-the-fridge Salad

Serves 1

1 Medium Tomato, chopped

1/2 very small red onion, chopped in medium size chunks

1/2-3/4 cup cooked cannellini beans (small white beans, navy beans, butter beans, or chickpeas would be good as well)

3/4 cup steamed or blanched brussel sprouts, quartered

couple ribs of romaine lettuce, chopped

all natural dijon mustard to taste

1 tsp olive oil

balsamic vinegar to taste (I used my favorite fig balsamic)

salt and pepper

Whisk mustard, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl until combined.

Add the remaining ingredients and toss to coat.

Enjoy with whatever bread you have to soak of the dressing (I had some sourdough)

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These cookies always remind me of Christmas and, along with a few other cookie recipes, I pretty much never make them any other time of year. They are chewy, chocolately, and always better the next day. Not to mention they are fairly low in calories and fat (~79kcal and 4g of fat per cookie) which is a plus during the holiday season when I'm bound to eat numerous sticks of butter disguised as baked goods and topped with fluffy peaks of fresh whipped cream.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I've always used Baker's brand baking chocolate for recipes requiring melted chocolate mixed in, but with all the hype about high-quality small batch chocolate (Scharffen Berger, Valrhona etc.) I decided to try it. While good quality chocolate obviously tastes much better when eaten by itself, I was skeptical that I would be able to tell much of a difference in a cookie that it would be worth the price difference, (Fairway sells Baker's for $2.99 for 8oz whereas Scharffen Berger is $4.50 for 6oz). Well, I was CERTAINLY wrong. Not only did the cookies have a better richer flavor but even the consistency was better.

Makes about 48 cookies

3 beaten eggs

1.5 cups unrefined pure cane sugar or turbinado sugar

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (see head notes, I used Scharffen Berger)

1/2 cup olive oil (I use a light color for a less pronounced flavor)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups organic whole wheat pastry flour

sifted powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl beat together the eggs, sugar, melted chocolate*, oil, baking powder, and vanilla.
2. Gradually add the flour to the chocolate mixture, stirring till thoroughly combined.
3. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours until the dough is easy to handle and not too sticky.
4. Preheat oven to 375
5. Shape dough into 1inch balls and roll in powdered sugar to coat.
6. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheets 1 inch apart
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are crackled

*To melt chocolate, break it into chunks and place in a stainless steal or pyrex bowl. Fill a frying pan halfway with water and place it on the stove. Put the bowl of chocolate in the pan and bring water to a boil, (be careful not to get any water in the chocolate or it will seize up and become useless). Watch closely so it doesn't burn, stirring frequently.

EDIT: I specifically chose Scharffen Berger over Valrhona or Lindt because they were a small local company that produces their chocolate bean to bar. However, to my disappointment, I discovered Scharffen Berger was bought out by Hershey in 2005. Hershey now outsources to their produce to Mexico thereby negating my attempt to support a smaller domestic company. For this reason, next time I would prefer to use Valrhona or Equal Exchange instead. Equal Exchange is the best choice since it is local (Massachusetts), organic and fair trade.