Lemon-Raspberry Pudding Cakes

A couple supper clubs ago I said I would make mini lemon souffle's, this did not happen. Souffle's look crazy hard and I chickened out, we serve dinner for 12! That was just too much pressure for my first time. So I scrambled to come up with another lemon dessert that could be made in ramekins.  I ended up making lemon-raspberry pudding cakes. These are amazing, and perfect to make for a large group. I could get better at my swirl technique, but they tasted and looked pretty perfect.

Ingredients:
1 pint raspberries
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, plus 1 tablespoon
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter, plus extra for ramekins
3 large eggs, separated
6 tablespoons cake flour - I couldn't find this - so instead I used 5 tablespoons all purpose flour and added a teaspoon of cornstarch.
1 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
boiling water for ramekin pan
4 ounces creme fraiche


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Process raspberries, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 3 tablespoon sugar in food processor until smooth. Then pass mixture through a sieve to get rid of the seeds, set aside.

Butter inner tops of six 6-ounce ramekins, set aside. Whisk together egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar. Whisk in milk and flour in two separate batches, beginning with flour. Whisk in remaining lemon juice, melted butter and the salt.

In a separate bowl beat egg whites on medium high until frothy. Add remaining 1/4 sugar with mixer running, beat until mixture holds stiff peaks. Whisk half of the peaks into lemon mixture until combined, fold in remaining mixture with spatula.

Place ramekins in baking dish, dividing mixture evenly filling almost to the top. Spoon a few drops of raspberry sauce on top of each ramekin, and use a toothpick to swirl into cake. Pour boiling water into baking dish - about half way up sides of ramekins. Bake about 35-45 minutes, until tops are set. Remove ramekins from baking dish with tongs and let cool for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile beat creme fraiche until peaks form. Dollop cream fraiche on top of each cake and finish with a fresh berry.

Rose' Wine Cakes with Rose Water Whipped Cream

I made these so long ago for supper club and still to this day I am maybe most proud of these, so its about time I share the recipe for these beauties.

Rose' Wine Cakes

3/4 cup unsalted butter
3 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon rose water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Rose'
1/2 cup milk


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour cupcake tins (I used specialty tins - which make my cakes have the shape of angel food cake).

In a Mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk, rose water, and vanilla.

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the wine and milk. Add flour and wine mixture to the butter mixture, alternating the additions. In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into the batter. Pour into pans and bake 20 - 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

Rose Water Whipped Cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (or to taste)
1 tablespoon rose water (or to taste)

Place a glass bowl in freezer 10 minutes before making the whipped cream.

In a chilled bowl beat the heavy whipping cream on high for 2-3 minutes or until cream becomes thick, slowly add powdered sugar and rose water, until mixed thoroughly. Spoon onto cakes 1 to 2 spoonfuls. Garnish with candied rose petals if desired.

Candied Rose Petals

20-25 rose petals
1 egg white
1 cup sugar

Make sure rose petals are clean and dry. Place egg white in a small bowl and whisk until frothy. Place sugar in a separate bowl. Using a small brush, coat a petal with egg white, covering the petal completely. Dip the petal into the sugar and shake gently to get rid of excess sugar. Place on a wax covered cookie sheet to dry. Repeat with remanding petals. Let dry completely before using, these can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month.

Rosemary Bread

This was my first time ever making bread. I had a few struggles at first, mainly dealing with getting the yeast to be active, but once I got that all figured out it was quite simple. I think why most people don't make bread from scratch is probably because it is just time consuming. This bread takes maybe about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to make, which is actually quite short compared to most.

Rosemary Bread

1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup water
5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil - plus more for bowl
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus whole leaves for top of bread
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup whole wheat flour


Stir together yeast and 1/4 cup warm water in large bowl, let sit for about 7 minutes - until foamy.

Add 3/4 cup water, olive oil, sugar, salt, rosemary, all purpose flour, and wheat flour. Stir mixture together. Dust counter top with flour and knead dough. Flatten dough to a round disk, and fold back towards yourself, and with palm of hands push away from yourself. Repeat process about 4-5 times, until dough sticks together and you can form a round ball. Place round ball of dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with a towel in a warm draft free spot. Let rise for 1 hour.

Punch down dough, let rest covered for 15 minutes.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll dough into two 11 inch loaves, gently twist each loaf to create contours. Transfer to a baking sheet, and press rosemary leaves into top of bread. Loosely cover baking sheet with towel, and let rise in a warm draft free spot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Dust loaves with flour and bake for 30 minutes.

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

6 ripe bananas
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line mini muffin tin with liners.
Peal 4 bananas, and mix until mashed, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar, oil, and egg; beat until smooth. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add chocolate chips; stir into mixture.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Slice remaining bananas into thin slices about 1/8" thick and place one on top of each muffin before baking. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating pan half way through. Cool on a wire rack.

Baked Apples With Dried Cherries And Walnuts

Baked Apples with Dried Cherries and Walnuts

8  Rome apples
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons Greek yogurt
cinnamon for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core each apple with an apple corer to about 1/2" from bottom. Peel tops of apples about 1". Fill cavity with dried cherries, walnuts, butter, and brown sugar - alternating ingredients while filling. Push cherries and walnuts down with thumb, to be able to fit plenty of filling.  Top each apple with 1/2 tablespoon of butter and generously sprinkle cinnamon over the tops of apples.

Bake apples for 45-60 minutes. Transfer baked apples to a plate. Pour remaining liquid from apples into a bowl and add the Greek yogurt. Whisk mixture, and drizzle over each apple. Top each apple with cinnamon.

Served at Brooklyn Fork and Spoon's March 12th Dinner.
http://brooklynforkandspoon.com/

Gingerbread Cakes with Chocolate Ganache

This was the first dessert I made for the Supper Club Brooklyn Fork and Spoon, that I co-host with Mardi from Sprout and Pea. www.sproutandpea.com
 I'm slow at blogging, but figured it was time for some photos and a recipe.

Gingerbread Cakes - adapted from Martha Stewart


5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 Teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup boiling water
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Teaspoon black pepper (optional)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
crystallized ginger, thinly sliced lengthwise for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard 12 cup muffin pan, tapping out excess flour; set aside. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper; set aside. In another small bowl, stir together the baking soda and boiling water; set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, and beat until combined. Add molasses, fresh ginger, and reserved baking soda mixture; beat until combined. Add the flour mixture, and beat until combined. Stir in optional chocolate chips to batter.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups, filling each about halfway. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until cake tester inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool for about 15 minutes, then invert cakes onto rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache

4oz of quality semisweet chocolate - I used a bar of Ghirardelli
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan over medium high heat bring cream to a full boil; turn off heat. Add chopped chocolate, and swirl pan to completely cover it with cream. Let stand for about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk mixture until smooth.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of Chocolate Ganache over each cake, letting it drip down the sides. Garnish with strips of crystallized ginger.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls

I made these for a Christmas Eve dinner that I'm attending tonight. I found the recipe in the new issue of Martha Stewart Living - perfectly sweet and salty!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls


1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup, plus 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup crushed pretzels
5 ounces melted milk chocolate

Stir together peanut butter, confectioners sugar, unsalted butter, the crushed pretzels. Roll into 1" balls. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Melt chocolate over very low heat. Dip balls into melted milk chocolate, refrigerate until set.

*To crush pretzels, place in a resealable bag, and bang with a rolling pin.