How about a little Bundt pan history?

In 1950 Nordic Ware invented the Bundt® Pan; a ring shaped pan with fluted sides.   The pan sold somewhat slowly until the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest winner used the little-known Bundt® Pan for her Tunnel of Fudge cake recipe. This prompted a mad rush for the pans, causing them to surpass the tin Jell-O mold to become the most-sold pan in the United States. Since their introduction, more than 50 million Bundt pans have been sold by Nordic Ware.

Oh, and by the way, National Bundt Pan Day is November 15th.  And do you remember the scene in the 2002 movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when the mother of the groom-to-be comes to the home of the mother of the bride-to-be and presents to you a Bundt cake? Still makes me smile, HERE IS A LINK to a grainy video from You Tube.

This super moist yogurt cake is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. So simple to put together and pop in the oven… seriously delish.

FYI: I used a decorative sunflower Bundt pan in place of the traditional Bundt that has the tube in the center, so it took about 20 minutes longer to cook than this recipe states.

Fresh Blueberry Yogurt Cake

2  1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
12 ounces fresh blueberries
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease and flour a Bundt pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir the vanilla extract and only 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice.

Mix in half in the flour mixture, then the yogurt, then the remaining half of the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.

Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Serves 12

Bonus photo:  It takes a lot to dig to the back of the “baking” cupboard to get to my collection of Bundt pans!

Like just about everyone else I know, I love Mason jars! Check out my Mason jar Pinterest board to see just a few of the wonderful ideas clever people have come up with using these American icons. How about a little Wikipedia info on the beloved jars…

“A Mason jar is a glass jar used in canning to preserve food. It was invented and patented by John Landis Mason, a Philadelphia tinsmith in 1858. They are also called Ball jars, after Ball Corp., a popular and early manufacturer of the jars; fruit jars because they are often used to store fruit; “jam jars” or generically glass canning jars. While largely supplanted by other methods for commercial mass-production, they are still commonly used in home canning.”

I baked the cobblers for the clambake in wide-mouth (squat and fat) half-pint Kerr Mason jars and served homemade vanilla ice cream in regular-mouth (tall and thin) half-pint jars. Just as when using for canning, first sterilize the jars with boiling water – and when using for baking, place in a water bath to prevent the jars from cracking.

Mason Jar Peach and Berry Cobbler

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup  plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
1 package frozen peaches, thawed and cut in half
1 package frozen mixed berries, thawed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (Sugar In The Raw)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and baking powder. Work the butter in with either your hands or two forks until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the milk in the well.  Use a fork to mix in milk until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the brown sugar, cornstarch, and water. Mix in the peaches and blueberries. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Mix in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and lemon juice. Continue cooking until the butter melts.

Place 8 sterilized half-pint (8-ounce) wide-mouth Mason jars in a large roasting pan. Divided the peach-berry mixture evenly between the jars. Evenly spoon the cobbler batter in mounds over the hot fruit. In a small bowl, mix together the turbinado sugar and nutmeg, and sprinkle over the batter.

Pour hot water into the roasting pan, coming up about half-way up to the height of the jars. Carefully place the roasting pan in the preheated oven. Bake cobbler for about 45 minutes, or until bubbly and a toothpick inserted into the cobbler comes out clean.

Makes 8

As promised – here is the recipe for the crunchy banana muffins.  If it looks like a whole lot of flour, sugar, and butter… well, it’s because this recipe makes a boatload of muffins….  30 anyway, and that’s a bunch from one recipe. Enjoy!

Banana Crunch Muffins

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup melted butter, cooled
2 bananas, mashed
1 banana, chopped
1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 30 muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, vanilla, melted butter and mashed bananas.

In a third bowl mix together the cereal, walnuts, and coconut.

Stir the butter and egg mixture into the dry mixture until just combined.

Then fold only 2 cups of the cereal mixture (reserve the remaining cup of the cereal mixture) and the chopped banana into the batter.

Spoon into the prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops of each with the reserved cereal mixture.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, switching the pans on the racks halfway through.

Makes 30

Weekly Tip #9

I think I may have missed a week of “tip time”.  We did have “game time” last week though. To make it up to you, an extra tip this week.

Holiday Baking Special Edition

With all the holiday baking, sometimes a couple of your cookies may end up over-browned or even burnt on the bottom in a few spots.

Solution – gently grate off the burnt areas with a Microplane grater.

If you’re making custards like crème brûlée or pots de crème, you know they are cooked in a water bath to ensure slow and even cooking and the lush creamy texture.  The trick is safely getting the ramekins out of the scalding water without burning your fingers or messing up the surface of the custard with potholders.

Solution – slip rubber bands around the tips of your tongs.  The rubber bands insure a good grip for easy and safe removal.

Happy Holiday Baking!

Individual Warm Sticky Toffee Cakes

Toffee Sauce
1  1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1  1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup pure maple syrup

Ramekin Prep
Softened butter
Granulated sugar

Toffee Cakes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons packed dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup pitted and coarsely chopped dates
8-ounce container mascarpone, lightly whipped

Toffee Sauce: In a large heavy saucepan, combine the cream, butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup.  Bring to a boil over high heat, whisking frequently.  Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat.  Transfer mixture to a blender and blend until thickened and emulsified.   Makes about 4 cups

Ramekin Prep: Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Butter ten (3-ounce) ramekins with softened butter and dust with granulated sugar. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. And place prepared ramekins on the baking sheet.

Toffee Cakes: Whisk the baking soda into the boiling water.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

In the bowl of a standing mixer beat the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated. Over low speed, add half of the dry ingredients, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the remaining half; scraping again to make sure the batter is well mixed.

Over low speed, slowly stream the hot water into the batter.  Add the dates and continue mixing over low speed until the batter thickens.

Use a ladle to divide the batter between the prepared ramekins. Try to give each ramekin equal amount of dates and then go back and finish by filling about 2/3 full with the remaining batter.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cakes are a dark, caramel color, about 38 to 40 minutes.

Remove the ramekins and cool for 7 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the inside edge of each ramekin and then invert the cakes onto a rack that is set over the same foil lined baking sheet.

Pour the hot toffee sauce onto the cakes until they are saturated.  Then glaze the cakes a second time with the sauce that has pooled at the bottom of the foil lined baking sheet. Set the cakes aside for about 30 minutes to set up and cool.

To serve, place each cake into a small serving bowl, pour about 1/4 cup of the warm toffee sauce.  Serve with a generous dollop of whipped mascarpone.

The cakes can be made a few hours in advance, loosely covered with plastic wrap, and left at room temperature.

Serves 10  

Weekly Tip #8

Today, I’m actually giving you more bang for your buck – two tips and a recipe – my gift to you!

The first tip is for you Facebook users.  Go to THIS LINK and “like” (or maybe it’s now “follow”) this page for Chow Bella.  Chow Bella is the informative, fun, sometimes irreverent New Times food blog. You will get more food info and learn more about what’s going on in the Valley of Sun (and beyond) than you ever thought there was to know about! Plus, tomorrow, I will be featured in their “Perfect Food Day” series. I think you’ll like it!  And…. while you’re on Facebook – if you haven’t “liked” or “followed” the Les Petites Gourmettes page – do that too! Here is THE LINK for that page.  Now on to the second (and real) tip for today…

Holiday baking time is upon us. Here is shortcut from Chef Anne Willian for making rum balls while using up leftover or stale muffins at the same time.

Quick Rum Balls

8 ounces (1/2 pound) leftover or stale muffins, any flavor
1 cup walnut halves or large pieces
1 cup powdered sugar, plus more for rolling and dusting
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup rum
1 tablespoon light corn syrup, honey, or agave nectar

Break up the muffins and place in the bowl of a food processor, add the walnuts and use the pulse button to finely chop until mixture resembles a coarse meal.  Sift together the 1 cup powdered sugar and the cocoa powder in a large bowl.

Stir in the rum, corn syrup, and the crumb-nut mixture until it is moist enough to hold small ball shapes.  Add more rum, if needed.

Generously sprinkle a baking sheet with powdered sugar.

Roll the mixture between the palms of your hands into walnut-sized balls.  Place on the sugar lined baking sheet and use two forks to roll the balls in the sugar until coated.

Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

Makes about 40 rum balls

Ready to make your pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving? Yeah, sorry I didn’t get this recipe up before the big feast. But maybe you will need to make a pumpkin pie for Christmas, in which case, this is perfect timing!

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1  1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Pie
3 eggs, lightly beaten
15-ounce can pumpkin purée
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toffee Topping
1/2 cup pecans, lightly toasted, chopped
1/4 cup toffee bits

Whipped Cream Topping
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Crust: Pulse the flour sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is coarse crumbs. Add the yolk, pulse to combine. With the machine running, quickly add just enough of the ice water until a dough is about to form. If the mixture is still a bit dry, add more water as needed.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Roll out dough and line a 10-inch, deep-dish pie plate with dough. Crimp edges.

Take the 3 lightly beaten eggs for the pie filling; dip a pastry brush into the eggs and brush the dough lightly with the egg. Place the egg washed crust into the freezer to firm, for 10 minutes.

Move rack to lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cover pie shell with foil and top with pie weights. Bake 5 minutes. Remove foil and weights. Return to oven and bake 5 minutes, until surface starts to look dry by not browned. Place on cooling rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Pie: In large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugars, flour, cinnamon, salt, ground ginger, nutmeg, allspice and pepper. Add cream, juice, bourbon and vanilla. Whisk to blend. Whisk the beaten eggs into pumpkin mixture until blended and smooth.

Pour into pie shell. Bake until filling firms up and puffs slightly at sides, but is still a bit wobbly in the center, 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. As soon as the pie goes into the oven, put together the toffee topping.

Toffee Topping: In a small bowl stir together pecans and toffee bits. Once the pie has baked for an hour, sprinkle toffee mixture over surface and return to oven to finish baking.

Cool pie on rack. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days before slicing and serving.

Whipped Cream Topping:  Whip the cream in large bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and spice and whip to firm peaks. Top each slice of pie with a dollop of cream.

Serves 8 to 10

When beating the eggs for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie or any other custard pie, brush a little of the beaten egg over the pie shell and set it in the freezer for 10 minutes. This helps seal the crust and keeps it crisp.

This makes me want to get busy and BAKE! How about you?

I’ve been pulling out and putting up the Halloween decorations these past two days and since we were in Canada last Halloween, the storage boxes were literally buried in the shed. It was a chore to get them out of there… I’ve got the cuts and bruises to prove it.

The motivation was our weather. The last couple of days have been gorgeous; windows are open, air is off, and life is good! Well, at least for now, because it is  going to be 93 degrees on Tuesday, 97 degrees on Wednesday, and 99 on Thursday! What is up with that!?! Ninety-nine degrees on October 13th… that is not right! Not. Right.

So, I’m soaking up all the coolness while I can and I made chilly-weather chili and cornbread for dinner last night. I usually make my corn bread with buttermilk, but since I didn’t have any (in fact I don’t have milk of any kind in the fridge) I used yogurt. Not just any yogurt, vanilla yogurt. I must admit – very good call on my part. Tomorrow, I’ll share the chili recipe.

Vanilla Corn Bread

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup yellow corn meal
1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
2 eggs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and position a rack in the middle position. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, and melted butter.  Add the flour-corn meal mixture to the yogurt mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cornbread just begins to brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into nine squares and serving.

Makes 9 pieces

This cute Halloween Menu Board is a gift from a friend, thanks Tram!

Inspiration for this recipe came to me after enjoying a white chocolate and limoncello cupcake while visiting my daughter in San Francisco. Limoncello and white chocolate are a match made in heaven. You may use store-bought limoncello or make your own with THIS RECIPE.

I brought these sweeties to a neighborhood luncheon last week to test them out, and since they were a hit, I will be making them tomorrow, along with this puff pastry appetizer, on Channel 3-  Your Life A to Z.          I hope you can tune in at 10:00 AM Tuesday morning.

Oh, and please note, there are only six ingredients – seriously, these are “easy-breezy”!

White Chocolate and Limoncello Cookies

1 cup heavy whipping cream
14-ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 sheets (1 package) puff pastry
1  1/2 tablespoons cold limoncello liqueur
1 teaspoon additional lemon zest

In a 4-cup glass measuring cup or a large microwave-safe bowl, heat the cream to the point just before it boils, between 2 and 3 minutes, depending on your microwave.  Add the white chocolate to the hot cream and let stand for 4 or 5 minutes before whisking the mixture to blend completely.

Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before using.

Combine the zest of 1 lemon with 3/4 cup of sugar.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

Sprinkle a work surface with 3 tablespoons of the lemon sugar and place one sheet of puff pastry on top.  Sprinkle the top of the puff pastry with another 3 tablespoons lemon sugar and roll out just enough to even out the seams in the dough and to press in the sugar mixture into both sides of the puff pastry dough.  Use a 2  1/2-inch round cookie cutter and cut out rounds.

Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets.  Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheet and remaining lemon sugar mixture. You should end up with about 30 rounds. Prick the rounds all over with a fork and place in the oven to bake for approximately 15-18 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top.

Set aside to cool.

Remove the white chocolate cream from the refrigerator and transfer to the bowl of standing mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, beat the mixture until it becomes stiff.  Mix in the 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest and the limoncello, combine well.

Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe a swirl onto the top of each cookie round.

Top the cookies with white chocolate shavings.  Chill until you are ready to serve.

Makes about 30 cookies

To make chocolate shavings you will need a block of white chocolate.  Heat a block of chocolate in the microwave on low for just a few seconds.  Run a vegetable peeler along the softened chocolate to create shavings.

I’ve mentioned many times before how much I love all of the Queen Creek Olive Mill’s flavored olive oils. Use any one of them to make light and luscious cupcakes, from Meyer lemon or Mexican lime to vanilla or blood orange. Or be especially adventurous and use their newest creation - chocolate olive oil to create a mild chocolate cupcake that will surprise. It will be light in color with a subtle chocolate flavor.  We made the orange cupcakes during summer classes, although the kids thought that without any frosting, they were a bit more like muffins. Feel free to top with a light frosting or glaze, just be sure it doesn’t overpower the delicate cake.

OOO (Orange Olive Oil) Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 cup orange flavored olive oil
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Powdered sugar, for sifting on top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in a 12-cup cupcake pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.

Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, eggs, and zest in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vinegar and milk.  Gradually beat in both olive oils.

Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Crush the almonds with your hands as you add them to the batter and stir until mixed.

Fill the cupcakes almost to the top of the paper liners.  Bake until golden on top and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.  Remove the cupcakes from the pan and move onto a rack and cool.  Sift powdered sugar over the tops and serve.

Makes 12

Thanks to the numerous “cake” themed cooking shows on TV, one of the hottest desserts around are cake balls or cake pops. They are incredibly easy to make, especially if you begin with cake mix and canned frosting.  Additionally, they are a fun cooking project to get your kids involved in.  Of course, if you want to go the gourmet route, begin with your favorite cake baked from scratch and use homemade buttercream frosting.  Either way, they are pretty darn cute!

Cake Pops

1 baked and cooled cake; made from your choice of boxed cake mix or homemade cake
1 to 1 1/4 cups frosting of your choice; homemade or purchased
Melted semi-sweet, bittersweet, or milk chocolate chips
Candy Sprinkles or colored tube decorator frostings
Supplies
Small ice cream scoop
Lollypop sticks
Large rectangular Stryofoam form or a sturdy empty box, with holes punched in the bottom with an ice pick

Using your hands, crumble the cake into a large bowl.  Add 1 cup of the frosting and mix, at first with a large spoon or spatula, and then with your hands until it is a dough-like consistency, adding the additional 1/4 cup frosting, if needed.  Cover and chill mixture for at least 2 hours.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of the mixture onto a parchment paper or Silpat mat lined baking sheet. 

Dip the ends of the lollypop sticks in the melted chocolate and stick into the cake balls.  Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Remelt the chocolate and dip the partially-frozen cake balls into the chocolate coating, allowing chocolate to drip off and partially set up before sprinkling with candy sprinkles or decorate with colored frosting tubes. 

Set upright in Styrofoam or hole-punched box.  Allow to chocolate to set completely before serving.

Makes about 40

Cake pops will keep at room temperature for days; if you refrigerate them, the chocolate coating will sweat.

Two flavor combination suggestions:

• Devil’s food cake with fudge icing and dark chocolate coating
• Strawberry Cake with vanilla icing and milk chocolate coating

Once I ran out of ideas and energy for the remaining peaches in my refrigerator, I used them to make peach bread.  The mini-loaves actually fit in my freezer, so they were the perfect and delicious solution.

Peach-Almond Quick Bread

2 cups diced fresh peaches or canned peaches, drained
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

If using fresh peaches, place in a medium saucepan and simmer until soft. Cool and drain.  If using canned peaches, drain before using, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans or 6 mini loaf pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs lightly. Blend in the sugar, oil, and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture and stir in just until combined, do not overmix. Stir in the peaches and nuts. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for about 1 hour for standard loaves and 40 to 45 minutes for mini-loaves, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 2 loaves