Author: Nicole

There are all kind of ways to save space in the kitchen. The most common is to use nesting cups and bowls, minimizing the space required for a set by allowing them to nestle inside one another. Wilton Twist’n Measure takes this concept a step further by eliminating the stack and getting you down to just one cup for most of your measuring needs. The Twist’n Measure is a measuring cup with an adjustable base that can go from 1/8th of a cup all the way up to a whole cup, simply by twisting the base. The sliding base locks into place for each measurement, and can easily be reset when the cup is empty so that you can start again for the next ingredient. It is definitely a space saver, and it can also be a time saver since you won’t need to scout around for a missing 1/3 cup measure the next time you realize you need one. The scoop is plastic and disassembles easily to that it can be washed, and it’s machine washable, too.

I happen to think that tiramisu is a great summertime dessert because it require any cooking and it is served cold. It is also great for entertaining because it can – and should -be made well in advance of when you want to serve it. The only drawback to a tiramisu as a summertime dessert is that it doesn’t make use of any of the luscious berries that are at their peak in the summer. You could say why not save the berries for another day? Today, however, I decided to simply incorporate berries into a tiramisu.

Strawberry Cheesecake Tiramisu is not a typical tiramisu. It does use coffee-dipped ladyfingers, but instead of a mascarpone cream, it uses a cream cheese-based cream to glue everything together. Since cream cheese is heavier than mascarpone, this makes the whole dessert a little bit more dense. That may sound like a bad thing, but in this case it serves to hold everything together and also makes the dessert taste a bit like strawberry cheesecake!

As a little experiment, I’ve posted a video of me making this dessert on YouTube so you all can see me prepare it. I tried to be brief, so the recipe below is actually a little bit more specific than the recipe as presented in the video. Still, it was fun to make and if you all like it, I’m planning to do some more (side note: I’ll be using a different camera in the future).

This dish tastes great, particularly after it has been in the fridge overnight and everything has really come together. I used berries from my local farmer’s market and they were super sweet, so the dessert didn’t need any added sweetened. If your berries aren’t, consider adding about a 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar to the cheesecake cream. Also, you’ll notice that I only dipped the ladyfingers in the coffee mixture for a second or two in the video. Mine were very absorbent, but if yours are drier, give them an extra couple of seconds to soak up the flavor, but be sure to get them out before they get too soft.
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I couldn’t resist giving The Baking Bites Cookbook one more plug before Mother’s Day, which is less than two weeks away. It’s a great gift for any baker – whether you are the mother who is trying to give out subtle gift suggestions to kids and dads, or if you are the one looking for the perfect gift for mom or grandma. Even better, my cookbook comes with a special bonus for the holiday: a handmade Mother’s Day card! These fantastic cards – which I couldn’t resist showing off now that I have some photos of them – are a custom design from a local artist and were produced in a small, limited run just for my readers! These are a neat addition to your gift, and a little bit more personal than running out to Hallmark.

The cookbook is available directly from me via PayPal, with free US shipping (it’s just a few dollars more for priority or international), and there is a discount for orders of two or more. The book can also be found on Amazon.com, but the Amazon books do not include this lovely card.

If you’re curious, the cupcake featured on the card is actually based on a recipe I did not too long ago, for Gingersnap Cupcakes.

There is a lot of appeal to little desserts. As good as a big cake can look, there is something about a perfectly decorated cupcake or well-presented miniature chocolate mousse that will having you reaching out for just one more bite. Petite Sweets: Bite-Size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth is just packed with recipes like these, as it is a cookbook that specializes in small desserts. The book covers all the categories you would find in any other dessert cookbook – cakes, pies, mousses, fruit desserts, custards, etc. – just in much smaller portions. This makes it a good choice if you’re looking for some recipes to entertain with, as well as if you’re looking for recipes with some portion control.

Unlike other mini dessert books, some of which really specialize in helping you recreate pastry chefs’ gourmet restaurant desserts at home, this book has a homier feel to it with recipes like mini cobblers. It also takes a few shortcuts on some of the recipes to try and make them simpler. It makes the book a bit more accessible to newer cooks, but more experienced bakers might want to skip the shortcuts (like using real dulce de leche in the Dulce de Leche cream puffs). There are plenty of great photos to accompany the recipes and that alone is enough to inspire the desire to make some miniature desserts

One caution to this book is that you’ll need to pick up some special equipment to make some of the recipes. Namely, you’ll need some smaller baking dishes for some of the recipes because most people don’t keep things like a set of 1-oz ramekins around just for dessert. Still, you can’t beat the cute presentation that these dishes offer, and nothing is too unusual or expensive that you can’t pick it up at your local restaurant supply store. And all your work will be worth it when you have people oohing and aahing over your beautiful petite sweets.

When the Pillsbury Bake-Off started, the recipe contest was all about from-scratch baking. I’ve got old cookbooks from the contest that feature all kinds of yeast breads, cakes and cookies, as well as main dishes. These days, the contest is much bigger – with a huge million dollar prize – but more of the recipes feature ready made ingredients instead of just the flour that was the original must-have ingredient. Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with a sponsored event asking you to use sponsored ingredients in your entries and it is great to have an element of convenience to make baking/cooking as accessible as possible. But for me, there will always be an edge for from-scratch baking.

Fortunately, there are still contests that give an edge to totally from scratch baking for those of us who love it. In this case, it’s Gold Medal Flour’s Scratch Bakers’ Club Baking Contest. This baking contest requires that you use at least one cup of any type of Gold Medal Flour (All-Purpose, Whole Wheat, Better for Bread, Self-Rising, Organic, Wondra) and that baking is the primary method of preparation.

The grand prize winner will get $1,000 plus a gift basket worth up to $150, and 9 runners-up will receive gift baskets of baking goodies worth up to $150 each! The contest runs from May 4, 2010–May 31, 2010 and all of the entries will be judged on creativity, taste, ease of preparation, appearance and overall appeal. I have to say that I think all of you (my readers!) will have no problems coming up with entries that meet this criteria!

With a big tub of quark in my fridge, I wanted to do something special with it. Quark is low in fat and high in protein, and it is a very versatile baking ingredient because it is stable in the oven (although it is good when eaten plain, too). I decided to turn mine into a pie, a variation on cheesecake.

This pie has two layers of quark cheesecake sandwiching a sweet filling made with cherries. I used jarred cherries, but frozen and defrosted cherries will work very well, too. Compared to a regular cheesecake, this pie is very easy to make. It takes minutes to mix it up and doesn’t have a long baking time. There is no need for a water bath or any of the other precautions that you might take with a cheesecake to get the pie to turn out well. Plus, quark is low in fat so you can feel pretty good having seconds when the pie is ready to eat.

Flavor-wise, the pie tastes like a cherry pie cheesecake, with a rich consistency and a very creamy texture. It’s not as heavy as a cheesecake because quark has that slight tang to it, much like plain yogurt or sour cream, that gives it a slightly fresher taste. It also makes it a great background for the fruit filling, allowing the great flavor of the cherries to stand out. The pie is good at room temperature, but I preferred it when it had been chilled before serving.

Quark is a bit of an unusual ingredient in the US, and while you might be able to find it at some specialty stores in your area (especially if they have a lot of gourmet/European baking ingredients), you also might not be able to find it. If you can’t, fromage frais would work pretty well as a substitute, although it may be slightly thicker than quark typically is. If you live in Europe, you probably won’t have a problem finding quark. Otherwise, keep an eye out because this low fat cheese is great for baking and will probably catch on even more in the US over the coming months.

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Are your homemade cookies often mistaken for bakery cookies, either because they are so delicious or you get them to come out perfectly shaped and baked every time? If you’re sick of people doubting the authenticity of your homemade creations – or doubting your ability as a baker because they don’t know about your food blogger alter-ego – there is a simple product out there that can help: the Homemade Cookie Stamper. This brilliant stamp from SuckUK isn’t for ink pads, it’s for food. Use it to stamp the words “Home Made” onto a batch of cookies or other baked goods. It works especially well in peanut butter cookies, butter cookies, shortbread and other doughs that don’t spread too much because you’ll get the neatest imprint that way, but you can use it with just about anything that is soft enough to take the imprint.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and what could be a better gift for mom than a copy of The Baking Bites Cookbook? The book is packed with great recipes and plenty of full color photos that make each recipe look oh-so-delicious. The only thing better than getting a copy for Mother’s Day would be baking something from the book ahead of time and giving your mom a fresh batch of cookies, scones or a cake to go along with the cookbook to give her a preview of what’s inside! The recipes are easy to make and use ingredients that you probably already have in the kitchen. You – or your mom, of course – can whip them up yourself or bring the kids in to give you a hand in the kitchen (or do they work for you if you’re the one being celebrated on Mother’s Day!).

As a special treat, each cookbook ordered between now and Mother’s Day, May 9th, is going to come with a handmade, limited edition Mother’s Day card created by local artist Robert Sharp, with a design that was inspired by one of my cupcake photos! The card doesn’t have to be earmarked for your mom, but a sweet cupcake card is a great finishing touch for a gift as sweet as The Baking Bites Cookbook.

The book is available directly from me via PayPal, with free US shipping (it’s just a few dollars more for priority or international), and there is a discount for orders of two or more. The book can also be found on Amazon.com.

While quark is a term that you’ll hear in some physics textbooks, it is also one that you’ll find in some cookbooks – one that comes with a very different meaning. Quark is a type of soft, fresh European cheese. It is easy to make comparisons with other dairy products, since it is similar to many other types of cheeses, but definitely unique. It is hard to find in the US but with the ever-growing popularity of cooking as a hobby, it is now appearing in more specialty markets than before, and some US dairies are even producing their own.

Quark is smooth and creamy, with a consistency similar to that of thick, greek-style yogurt or sour cream. It’s flavor is somewhere between ricotta and sour cream, with a bit of a tang to it. It is probably most similar to the popular French fromage frais, although quark is of Eastern European origin and produced in a slightly different way. The exact consistency and flavor of quark will vary slightly from producer to producer.

The reason why quark is so popular in international cookbooks is that it is extremely versatile and low in fat. It holds up very well to heat (unlike yogurt) and can be used any number of ways. For instance, it can be substituted for sour cream, yogurt and even for cream cheese in many recipes, from baked goods to quiches to dips, and because of its consistency will add a richness to dishes even though it is low in fat. If you see it in your local specialty grocery store, it is worth picking up a container to experiment with and try incorporating it into some of your own recipes.

Shortbread is marked by its fine, crumbly and sometimes delicate texture, as well as its buttery flavor. They’re primarily made with butter and flour, and although they’re often served as dessert with coffee or tea, most shortbreads don’t have a lot of sugar in them. This means that they’re easily adapted into more savory applications, like this parmesan cheese-infused variation.

This shortbread comes together very quickly and makes a really nice homemade appetizer to put out with some wine. You can make it by hand, but it is easiest to put it together in the food processor. Simply add your flour, parmesan, spices and butter, then pulse everything together before pressing the mixture into a pan and baking it until golden. The spices I added in are the same ones that I might add to a batch of homemade macaroni and cheese – garlic, chipotle pepper (cayenne will work well, too) and mustard – since they go so well with cheese. They’re subtle and just give these shortbreads a little bit of dimension.

When baked, these are tender and slightly crumbly, and they’re much less crisp than a cracker because they are quick a bit thicker than your average cracker would be. They have a great flavor and are quite addictive, so it’s a good thing that this recipe makes quite a big batch. These are best when they’re fresh and eaten the day they’re made, but you can store them in an airtight container. If you need to crisp them up after a day or two, simply put them on a baking sheet and pop them into a 350F oven for 5-8 minutes and you’ll be all set.

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Before I get too far removed from the rest of my recent Kauai trip, I can’t resist mentioning a quick visit I made to Lappert’s Hawaii Ice Cream. Not to be confused with an ice cream shop with the same name on the mainland, Lappert’s Hawaii was founded on Kauai in 1983 and is based in Hanapepe. Their super premium ice creams come in both classic and island flavors, and all are produced in small batches right there on the island.

As much as I like shave ice, you can’t miss out on a scoop while you’re there, not with flavors like Kona Coffee, Coconut Pineapple, Lilikoi (passionfruit) Sorbet and – one of my favorites – Kauai Pie, which is Kona coffee ice cream swirled with chocolate fudge, coconut flakes, macadamia nuts and a vanilla cake crunch. The scoop pictured at the top of this post is Caramel Coconut Macadamia Nut, which tastes every bit as good as it looks.

Lappert’s has several locations to visit on Kauai, including stores in Kapa’a, Koloa, Princeville and their original store in Hanapepe, and also has a shop in Honolulu, Oahu and one in Wailea, Maui. Again, fans of Lappert’s should note that there is a company making Lappert’s Ice Cream on the mainland that is NOT affiliated with Lappert’s Hawaii. The Hawaiian Lappert’s does ship all their products out if you’re looking for a fix once you get home, however.

When you bake enough chocolate cakes, or simply look at enough chocolate cake recipes, you’ll notice a trend: many of them include coffee or instant coffee as an ingredient. This isn’t because most people are looking for a mocha-flavored cake. Rather, coffee is commonly included because it is a great way to enhance the flavor of cocoa powder, resulting in a more chocolaty cake – not a coffee-flavored one.

Cocoa powder is a bit bitter on its own, with hints of fruit and spice that are detectable when you get a good-quality cocoa. Coffee has these same flavor elements, and a small amount of coffee in a cake batter – whether you’re using 1 cup of coffee or 1 tbsp instant coffee – will help these cocoa flavors stand out even more than they would on their own. The milk, sugar, eggs and so forth that you add into a cake just helps all that cocoa taste good, not necessarily more chocolaty! You would have to add quite a bit of coffee (or not have much cocoa at all) to get more of a coffee flavor than a cocoa one; chocolate is generally more dominant in a baked good than coffee is.

What all comes down to is that even if you’re not a fan of coffee, having some instant coffee in the cupboard can give a little extra boost of flavor to a chocolate cake and take it from good to great. You can keep a small container of freeze-dried coffee almost indefinitely. Still, if you’re really opposed to adding coffee in any form, you will be glad to know that you can always leave it out. If a recipe calls for coffee, just add water (as coffee is just flavored water) and if it calls for powdered coffee, simply omit the small amount called for altogether, just as you might use less cinnamon if you’re not a fan of it in a cake or cookie.

Some quickbreads are very moist and dense, while others are a little bit dry and very bread-like. This moist Apple Spice Bread falls into the former category. The bread is ultra-moist and is packed with two cups of shredded apple, from two whole apples! All that fruit makes it a little bit dense, but the bread is tender and flavorful, so that is not a bad thing in this case.

When you go to shred the apples for this bread, use a large grater that allows for wide shreds. If you use a very fine grater, you’re likely to end up with applesauce instead of shredded apple. I shred my apples whole, leaving all the peel on. As you shred, don’t worry if the apple discolors into a light brown color as it is exposed to air. While you can try and counteract this by adding lemon juice to the apple, the color actually contributes to the lovely color of the finished quickbread (plus it’s difficult to manage the color of so much shredded apple without using a whole lot of lemon juice and we don’t want to add any extra moisture to this bread!).

I included several spices in this loaf, as well as pecans for a nice crunch and a textural break from that moist, apply goodness. The spices I used are cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and cloves. I didn’t go overboard on the spicing so that you can really taste the apple in every bite, but feel free to spice it up and add more of your favorites for a spicier take on this bread, or if you’re looking to give it a more warming feel on a cold day. (more…)

A whoopie pie consists of two cake-like cookies sandwiching a creamy, frosting-like filling. It’s a great snack because, since it’s a bit like an inside-out cupcake, it’s very easy to eat. These snacks aren’t quite as popular as cookies or cupcakes, so they often only get a handful of pages in any given cookbook (if that). Whoopie Pies is an entire cookbook dedicated to whoopie pies alone.

The book is divided into two main categories, the cookies and the fillings. It’s designed so that you can make the suggested recipes, then mix and match to create some of your own, unique flavor combinations. Although there are quite a few recipes in the book, this actually gives it a very simple feel. The flavors here are great, too. There are cookies that include lemon, peanut butter, oatmeal and graham cracker, which is made with graham flour. There are fillings from marshmallow to tiramisu to strawberry buttercream – and I suspect that many of them could be used as frostings for regular cakes and cupcakes if you’re not up for a batch of whoopie pies.

The book is lively and fun to read, with cute illustrations and plenty of enticing photos. The cookies are very simple and the photos really inspire you to get into the kitchen and bake – and odds are good that your treats will come out looking just like these. I admit that this is mostly because whoopie pies are so easy to make (it’s nice to have a professional-looking treat come out of your kitchen with such little effort!), but the recipes are clear and easy to follow along with, as well. It’s a grat single-subject book to cook from and it is definitely fun to enjoy these comfort food treats with friends and family.

I like my waffles to be nice and fluffy, with a crisp exterior and a moist interior. I think that this texture is the best for holding up to melted butter and maple syrup. That said, there are times when a heartier waffle is a good choice, as it is on a chilly spring morning when you want something satisfying to start your day. Or just for the variety and a change of pace.

I don’t usually put nuts in my waffles, so these Toasted Almond Waffles are definitely a chance of pace. They’re nice and nutty, with a good overall flavor and texture to them. There is oatmeal and almond meal – a.k.a. ground almonds – in the waffle batter. Both contribute to the nutty flavor. Having a lot of ground almonds alone could make the waffles a little dense, but this small amount doesn’t make them too heavy. I also chopped up some toasted almonds and mixed them into the batter, for texture and flavor. That little crunch you get when you take a bite is great!

These waffles will cook up just like any other waffle you put through your waffle iron, although you will need a waffle iron to make these. Serve with a sprinkling of toasted almonds and powdered sugar, or drizzle them with syrup and melted butter.

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The 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off ended yesterday morning, with one lucky baker walking away $1,000,000 richer. Last time around, I was lucky enough to attend the big event and spent some time blogging about it, both about the experience of attending and about what goes into making those recipes so great. The cooks there are talented, and don’t let the fact that there are some required ingredients for the contest let you think otherwise!

This year, the million-dollar grand prize went to Sue Compton of Delanco, NJ, for her Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups (pictured above). I love this recipe because it seems so simple, yet when all those flavors come together, it really hits the nail on the head in terms of great flavors. It’s a sugar cookie crust baked in a mini muffin pan, rimmed with chocolate and walnuts, filled with a little bit of jam, then topped off with ice cream and fresh raspberries. This would definitely be easy to throw together for summer parties!

Cooking with Amy was at the Bake Off, along with a number of other bloggers. There is also an official Bake-Off Blog. All are worth checking out. The contest is so big that it takes two years to get to the next round, but that is just enough time to experiment in your own kitchen and come up with your own million-dollar recipe!

The Great American Pie Festival is being held next weekend, April 24-25, in Celebration, Florida and it is the place to be for pie lovers. The event is a huge one, held annually, and draws visitors from all over the country who love pie. The event has a couple of highlights. One of these is the Never-Ending Pie Buffet, featuring more than 50,000 slices of award-winning pies in a variety of flavors, as well as ice creams, toppings and beverages to pair with them.The other big draw is the Crisco® 2010 National Pie Championships. This pie contest typically draws almost 200 entries in three categories, junior, amateur and professional, and covering a huge range of pie flavors, from classic apple to decadent peanut butter. Best of Show winners in the amateur and professional divisions will each win $5,000, a new Sears Kenmore range and a Crisco gift basket, while the top winner in the Junior Chef division receive a $2000 college scholarship and a Crisco gift basket. There is also a commercial division where ribbons and bragging rights will be awarded. I’m going to be judging the amateur division this year and, as a big pie fan, I can’t wait.

If you live in or around the Orlando, Florida area, I have a 4-pack of free tickets to the Great American Pie Festival to give away! It’s a great chance to eat some (really good) pie and have a fun, food-filled day out. I’ll give the tickets out to a random winner, chosen from the comments below on Monday April 19th. If you want a chance to enter, simply name your favorite pie flavor and make sure that you either live in the area or want to take a little road trip down there that weekend! Don’t forget to include your e-mail in the comment form so that I can contact the winner.

Note: Flights/Accommodations are not included, just a 4 pack of tickets to the event.

While cupcakes can come in any flavor, I think that there are still just two main kinds of cupcakes, judging by the standards that you will see in every bakery, every coffee shop and every market: chocolate with chocolate frosting and vanilla with vanilla frosting. To be honest, I like to mix chocolate and vanilla, but I’ll readily admit that nothing goes better with a big, tall, cold glass of milk than a good chocolate cupcake topped off with chocolate frosting

This is one of my favorite basic chocolate cupcake recipes. These cupcakes use a generous amount of sour cream in them, which makes the cupcakes moist and tender. The tang from the sour cream also seems to ensure that the cupcakes taste chocolaty, without tasting overly sweet. The chocolate flavor comes from a lot of cocoa powder, adding flavor without adding any density, and again not making the cupcakes overly sweet. Adding a little bit of coffee doesn’t add a mocha or coffee flavor to the cake at all, it simply deepens the chocolate notes. This base is perfect for a sweet, chocolaty frosting. In this case, it’s a milk chocolate sour cream frosting that is both smooth and rich. Add the confectioners’ sugar in gradually when you make the frosting so it doesn’t become overly thick and maintains a nice, spreadable consistency.

If you really want to take these over the top, thrown in a big handful of mini chocolate chips. They’re not going to dramatically change these cupcakes for the better, since they’re moist and have a great flavor on their own, but they will still sneak in a little bit of a extra chocolate punch with each bite. You can even sprinkle a few on top of the frosting as a decoration in lieu of regular sprinkles. You might want to have a second glass of milk handy if you take this route or risk chocolate overload!
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Some say that the origin of the word “cupcake” comes from the small cups used to measure ingredients out for them. I tend to think that the name might come from the fact that they may have been baked in small cups to get them down to size, since they are also called baby cakes from time to time. But even better than a cupcake is a cupcake that is actually baked in the cup that might be its namesake. If you don’t want to worry about how oven-safe your teacups are, don’t worry because Fred has it covered with some cute Teacupcake Cupcake Molds. These silicone molds look just like teacups, complete with handle and saucer to give them a very finished look when you serve them. They have a flat base and can easily stand up on a baking sheet unsupported while in the oven. Your cupcakes can – and should be – served right in their cups. If you want to do a tea-flavored cake, so much the better, but last time I checked hot chocolate and coffee go well in a cup and saucer, too.

One of my favorite things about Hawaii is the prevalence of macadamia nuts in so many food items. They’re in pancakes, cookies and breads, crusted onto perfectly cooked fish, and dipped in chocolate and packed into boxes for tourists to take home. Macadamia nut production is a big industry for Hawaii, and anyone visiting will benefit by finding the tasty, buttery nut in so many things. For instance, I spotted this bag of Hershey’s Kisses with Macadamia Nuts while I was on my way to the airport after my recent trip to Kauai. Unlike other chocolate-macadamia candies, these caught my eye because I had never seen the nuts in Hershey’s kisses before – was it a new item? or a limited edition product?

It turns out that these little kisses are only sold in Hawaii. Hershey’s bought Mauna Loa, a company that produces macadamia nuts on the big island, a few years ago and put out this regional kiss flavor soon afterward. Each milk chocolate kiss has about half of a macadamia nut inside. Some were a bit bigger than others, but none were small. The nuts were crisp, buttery and a great match for the chocolate. I haven’t had too many kisses lately, but if I had access to these year round, that just might change because they were so good.

As far as souveniers go, these also make a great take-home treat because you get so many candies in one package, and they cost a bit less (at least at the stores I was in) than the macadamia nut candies that were packed up just for tourists. The cashier who rang up my purchase asked if I had had these before. When I said no, she warned that I wouldn’t go back to regular kisses afterwards. I might have to, given the distance between me and a ready supply of these, but it will definitely be something I pick up earlier on my next trip to Hawaii so I can enjoy them while I’m on vacation, too.