Almond Tea Cakes

Almond Tea Cakes - adapted from Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes


1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract (or you can use vanilla, if you want a more traditional flavor)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until all ingredients are incorporated - do not over beat. Using a spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Spoon the batter into tea cake tins, mini muffin tins or in lined muffin tins. Fill tins three-quarters of the way full. For mini tins bake 10-15 minutes (though mine took about 20 minutes), for regular muffin tins bake 20-25 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in tins for 5 minutes, then flip out and let completely cool on a wire rack before icing.

Icing - from Betty Crocker - Petits Fours Glaze


1 bag (2lb) powdered sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 to 3 teaspoons hot water

In saucepan, stir all ingredients except hot water. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved; remove from heat. Stir in hot water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until glaze is pourable.

I ended up dipping each cake in the glaze to get an even covering.
I put black food coloring in half the batch - since these were made for Caycee Black's Spring Pre-Sale party of her line. She wanted Black and White desserts.

Danish Butter Cookies

After just returning from a trip to Copenhagen I had the urge to finally try out a recipe from my "Scandinavian Holiday Recipes" book that I bought almost 2 years ago. I figured it was appropriate to try out a Danish one first, since I had just been eating real Danish sweets for the past week.  Though I had to pick up a new ingredient for this one - Cream of Tartar. I had no idea what this was, but after googling it, I have found out it is essentially acidic salt used to keep baked goods from being too heavy. These cookies are definitely not heavy except for the all the butter you will consume eating them, but other than that they are a light and flaky yet chewy cookie. I have not baked in at least 3 months due to the hot heat in the summer, and let's just say I've gotten a little rusty. I made my cookie balls way too big and burnt half of them, so this is the Danish butter cookie fail, but round 2 turned out perfect!

Danish Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 egg yolks, unbeaten
2 1/4 cups sifted white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons of almond flavoring

Cream butter and sugar. Beat egg yolks in, one at a time. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Chill dough. Roll dough into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press dough with a press or a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 325 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove immediately from cookie sheet and cool.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen

Mini Cheesecakes with Apricot Jam

I love these mini cheesecakes because they are the perfect size and when finished they look like little sunny side up eggs, which is so cute for a brunch dessert! The most difficult part of making these mini cheesecakes was actually making the crust. It seems like an easy task when reading the recipe because you are supposed to use wafer cookies which you crumble. I don't always have the proper baking tools needed, so I was trying to crumble and break hard organic cookies into tiny pieces. This is kind of hard with no mallet - I'm thinking if I had one of those meat hammer things it would have made this much easier. I placed them in Ziploc baggie and tried to smoosh by hand. I also used some sort of nature whole foods type of wafer cookie, maybe these are harder then the average grocery store wafer. Also this recipe called for chocolate wafer cookies but I used vanilla bean instead, which for me was a better choice, I think with the chocolate they may have been too sweet for me.

After making the cheesecakes I kept them in the fridge overnight before making the Apricot Jam topping. I held off making the topping until I was about ready to serve them. I had a mini strainer for this, which actually worked out quite well for me, but I think a big one would be just fine as well. I would love to make these over and over, varying the jam topping.

Mini Cheesecakes with Apricot Jam - Martha Stewart

Makes about 18

3/4 cup crumbled chocolate-wafer cookies (or vanilla)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
pinch of salt
1/2 cup apricot jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Mix cookies and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl. Stir in butter. Press 1 tablespoon of mixture in bottom of each cup. Bake until set, about 7 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees. Beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, then vanilla. With mixer running, add eggs slowly, scraping down side of bowl. Add sour cream and salt. Pour batter into muffin cups, filling almost to the tops.

Bake until sides are set but centers are wobbly, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Wrap tins tightly with plastic, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Warm Jam in a small saucepan until liquidy. Strain through a sieve. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam on top of each cake. Cheesecakes will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Corn Bread Bites

Summer so far has been hot and vicious, so I have not been baking lately. It is just too hot for it. Though I had made corn bread bites for a brunch a few month's ago and never got around to posting about them. They are a perfect summer food for brunch or for a side. When I made these, I decided to make 3 different kinds which included jalapeno and white Grafton cheddar, orange and rosemary, and dill and sour cream. I made all savory dishes, because as much as I love sweets there is nothing more I love then savory sweets.

Corn Bread Bites - adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Unsalted butter, softened, or vegetable oil cooking spray, for tin
1 cup flour
1 cup course yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup safflower oil

Jalapeno and White Grafton Cheddar
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped Jalapeno Chile
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated White Grafton Cheddar

Orange-Rosemary
1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Dill and Sour Cream
1 teaspoon Dill
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter a 12 cup mini muffin tin or coat with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Combine buttermilk, egg, and oil. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until combined. Divide batter into 3 batches (1 cup each), and stir a flavor combination into each.

Fill cups of muffin tin 3/4 full with 1 batch of batter. Bake until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn out muffins from tin. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm or at room temperature. Muffins can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Monkey Bread - The way my mom makes it.

When I was a child my mother would always make Monkey Bread for special occasions. She would make it for Christmas morning or for Birthday's, so now it has become my go to, easy crowd pleasing brunch dish. A while back Caycee had a brunch, and I am slowly posting about each dish I made for it. I made all the food! It was my unofficial first catering gig! This dish was requested by Caycee, so even though its not all made from scratch, it is still always baked with pure love. Its total mid-west food; I mean come on, it uses canned biscuits! On a side note, it may be easy, but my sister failed miserably when she tried to make it for Christmas this past year - she used Grands biscuits - don't do that, stick to the cheap 4 pack.

Monkey Bread - Cyndie Medin

3 (10 count) pkg buttermilk refrigerator biscuit
1 Cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Cup brown sugar
1 Stick (1/2 Cup) butter or margerine (I would stick to butter)

Mix cinnamon and sugar in large plastic zip lock bag.
Cut biscuits into fourths with scissors or sharp knife.
Place cut up biscuits in sugar mixture and shake. Stack pieces on top of each other in greased bunt pan.

Melt brown sugar and butter; boil 1 minute

Pour melted butter mixture over biscuits in bunt pan.

Bake 35 min at 350 degrees F. Set 10 min and then flip over and remove from pan.

Asparagus Gruyere Tart

I haven't posted in awhile, because I went for a short period with no internet, but I'm back now and have some long over due posting to do. I made this Asparagus Gruyere Tart awhile ago for a brunch hosted by Caycee Black. It's a simple dish with only a few ingredients which makes it an easy dish for a party. I made many dishes for her brunch that day, and this was actually probably the last one I made and the first to be blogged about. Good thing it is easy, because I was exhausted at this point and it still came out flawless.



Asparagus Gruyere Tart - Martha Stewart

Flour, for work surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
5 1/2 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 1/2 pounds medium asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 16 x 10 inch rectangle. Trim uneven edges. Place pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle. Using a fork, pierce dough inside the markings at 1/2" intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Remove pastry shell from oven, and sprinkle with Gruyere. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell: arrange in a single layer over Gruyere, alternating ends and tips. Brush with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Ginger Cookies

Last week when out with my friends, I told Matt it was finally his turn to choose a baked good for me to make. I usually let his lady friends choose, or I pick myself. So what does Matt pick, but ginger snaps...who wants ginger snaps this time of year? Matt! After searching through recipes I settled on Martha Stewart's recipe "Giant Ginger Cookies", though I opted out of making the giant size. I didn't really want 5" cookies, plus you get a few more when you make them the normal cookie size.

This recipe was kind of cool because it called for black pepper and allspice. The allspice was kind of difficult to find in my Brooklyn neighborhood, but I finally found it at Khim's Millennium Market. The bottle was kind of dusty and an off brand La Flor, but it wasn't expired, so when you are in need you just have to go for it. As far as the black pepper, I just went for it. I was hoping I didn't make a huge mistake then reading the recipe comments on Martha's website, since most reader's tended to leave it out. I made the right decision leaving it in, because DAMN these cookies are good!

Matt you've made me, Kerstin and Chlo believers in the Ginger Cookie. Thanks!

Ginger Cookies - Martha Stewart

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for coating
6 tablespoons molasses
1 large egg

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, allspice, and pepper.

With an electric mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. With mixer on low, gradually beat in flour mixture until just combined. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, and freeze for 20 minutes.



Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Divide dough into twelve 2-inch balls. (I divided mine into about 1-inch balls) Place remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a bowl. Roll balls in sugar to coat; place at least 4 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (I placed mine about 2 inches apart) Flatten into 3-inch rounds. Sprinkle with sugar remaining in bowl.



Bake until brown, rotating sheets halfway through, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.