It’s been nearly two months since I promised this recipe would be posted here. I can not believe how quickly the summer goes by!  The last week of May we finished the third and final step for homemade limoncello liqueur. Then I gave you a wonderful recipe for lemon-limoncello meringue pie and said another limoncello dessert recipe was forthcoming. It has arrived in the form of these amazingly creamy, yet not too sweet, cheesecake squares. This recipe comes courtesy of the talented and lovely Giada De Laurentiis. Not only am I surprised how long it has taken me to finally make these but I am shocked to realize that this is the first cheesecake recipe posted here. And since it’s not made in a springform pan, it’s not even an actual cheesecake.  Shocking, because I love cheesecake, which is by far one of my favorite desserts. Not only that but I can honestly say that I am a master at making them; The Cheesecake Factory has nothing on me!  I’m not bragging, just stating the facts and I’m going to share with you three of the most important tricks of the trade to making creamy and crack-free cheesecakes of your own.

#1.  Always place your cheesecake in a water bath. The water bath slows down the baking so that the filling cooks evenly, creating the creamiest cheesecake imaginable. This is easy to do with a recipe such as this, where the bars are made in a baking pan. Not so easy with a traditional cheesecake made in a springform pan. Since springform pans are comprised of two pieces that come apart, it is imperative to wrap the springform pan well with two or three layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil before placing it in the water bath. If you fail to do this most vital step, you will have waterlogged and completely ruined cheesecake.  By the way, any cheesecake recipe can be modified to be made in a baking pan (such as these squares) instead of in a springform.  So if you don’t own a springform or just don’t want to hassle with one – use a glass or metal baking pan in its place.

#2.  Mix all your ingredients well before adding the eggs. Then always (whether the recipe says so or not) add your eggs, one at a time, and never over-mix or beat on high speed.  Doing either of those things will incorporate too much air into the batter and will cause your cheesecake to crack in the center.

#3. The importance of “room temperature” ingredients; cold eggs do not blend properly but room temperature eggs are malleable and will mix in better and act as a binder for other ingredients. Cold dairy products will coagulate and clump in the batter and cause the need to over-mix. All in all, room temperature ingredients create a lump free and velvety smooth batter. So unless you are making pastry or if the recipe states otherwise; this rule is true for all baking, not just cheesecake.

There you go, now you too, can be a cheesecake master. One last little tip; since you’re using limoncello as the liquid, you don’t use the juice from the lemons you zest. Be sure and juice those lemons ASAP, otherwise they will dry out since they are missing their “skin”.  And if you don’t think you’ll use the juice in the next day or so, place it in muffin tins and freeze – then pop out and place in marked zip-locks bags.

FYI – I found the large container of individually wrapped almond biscotti cookies at Smart and Final. There is enough in that container to make 3 times the recipe, a nice thing to keep in mind when the holidays roll around again… and we all know how soon that will be!

Limoncello Cheesecake Squares

Pam nonstick cooking spray
8 ounces purchased biscotti
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest, divided
12-ounces whole milk ricotta, drained, at room temperature
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1  1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup limoncello liqueur, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan with Pam.

Finely grind the biscotti in a food processor. Add the melted butter and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, and process until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

In a clean food processor bowl; blend the ricotta, cream cheese, and sugar until smooth, stopping the machine occasionally and scraping down the sides of the work bowl. Blend in the limoncello, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon zest.

Add the eggs one at a time, and pulse just until blended, do not over-mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between the second and third egg.

Pour the batter over the cooled crust. Place the baking pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the baking pan. Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the filling moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour. The cake will become firm when it is cold.

Transfer pan to a rack; cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least 8 hours and up to 2 days. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 12 to 16 squares

I am trying to avoid the aroma that is currently flowing from my kitchen and filling the entire house… baked sweetness. So instead I shall write about something else that may not seem so sweet at first, but truly is… compost.

Some thirteen or fourteen years ago I began composting. I would love to say that I am an avid composter, but honestly I’m more of a sporadic composter. It all began when I spotted an article in the newspaper stating that the City of Phoenix was recycling old worn out trash cans into compost bins and all you needed to do was call and they would gladly deliver one to your home … free! I was into gardening so the idea of composting appealed to me and the word “free” – of course, was all it took. The next day a city truck arrived and dropped of my new bin. What they had done was cut off the bottom of the large rubber trash can, cut large holes all around the sides of the can, and taken off the hinged lid, leaving an opening where the hinge had been – voila, a compost bin was born.

I was hooked, I immediately began saving kitchen scraps (nitrogen) and adding those, along with dry yard trimmings (carbon), to the bin. I watered my bin and turned the contents with a long handled 5-tine cultivator a couple times each week, and in no time my scraps and clippings turned into dark rich dirt – this was (and still is) pure magic to a city girl!

As I said, over the years I have been rather sporadic about composting, but I’m back on track. This summer, all the kitchen scraps from every single kids’ class were added to the bin. There were at least two large mixing bowls of egg shells, fruit peelings, vegetable trimmings, tea bags, coffee grounds, and such each day. The difficult part was keeping up on the carbon half of the equation. You see you need a balance of nitrogen (produced by kitchen scraps and wet yard trimmings- such as grass clippings) and the carbon (produced by wood ash, shredded paper, newspaper, and dry yard trimmings- such as fallen leaves). That balance should be about one-third nitrogen to two-thirds carbon. In the summer, I don’t have many dry leaves or wood ash (usually arrived at by cleaning out the fireplaces) so to get enough carbon, I will tear up newspaper and use the paper shredder on all that annoying junk mail (avoid glossy and colored circulars). When all else fails, I’ll purchase a small bag of organic compost from the hardware store or nursery and mix that in as well.

So why should you compost?  Well if you cook… and if you garden, why aren’t you composting already!?  You will divert at least 30% of your household waste away from your trash can and the landfills.  Plus compost is a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers and it helps retain moisture in the soil. It is a wonderful and natural project for you to begin with your kids… “circle of life” sort of thing. And, it’s fun and rewarding, really it is!  Here is a great website to visit if you have even the slightest bit of interest in learning more and becoming a composter too.

That is the end of my Reduce Reuse Recycle lecture for today…  now on to that aroma wafting through the house that is still trying to lure me back to the kitchen… a cooling loaf of banana bread.

You may notice that this banana bread has no butter or shortening, the Nutella fills in for that. I also prefer to use a longer bread loaf pan. The baked loaf looks prettier and produces nicer sized pieces, plus it bakes a bit more quickly.  I left the banana peels and egg shells in the pictures to remind me that this particular post is about composting, not banana bread. A hard thing to keep in mind when this bread is so moist and rich and is more like a cake than bread. That is why I decided to top it with vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Banana Bread

3 very ripe bananas
1/3 cup Nutellla (chocolate-hazelnut spread)
2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1  1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips, divided
2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, peeled, and chopped
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (such as Sugar In The Raw)
Real Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease either a standard 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch or a longer 13 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl mash the peeled bananas with the Nutella. Stir in the eggs until well combined, then mix in the brown sugar.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix until just combined and then stir in 2/3 cup of the chocolate chips and the hazelnuts.

Pour into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips and then sprinkle on the turbinado sugar.

Bake the standard 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch pan for 45-50 minutes or the longer 13 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan for 35 – 40 minutes, or until a toothpick that is inserted into the center comes out clean and the loaf is golden. Remove to a cooling rack and cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Serve warm straight from the pan or remove bread from pan, place on rack, and cool for at least another 30 minutes before slicing. To serve as a dessert; slice, toast, and top with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Makes 1 loaf

There is a lot of frustration in being a cooking teacher to young ones. But luckily, there is reward to. The frustration comes in many forms and I shall share with you just two examples from the last 5 weeks of summer classes. Heck, these occur every year and have for the past 15 years of kids classes!

1. Telling the same child for 3 or 4 days in a row to “read the recipe” over and over and over again. This occurs when he/she asks for the umpteenth time, “What do I do next?” or “When to I stir in the peppers?” or “How much milk do I need?” or “How long does this have to bake?” or “Does this onion need to be cut up?” My answer to each of these questions is, “Please go back and read the recipe and then you may ask me again -if you can’t find the answer to that question.”  OK, honestly, that’s what I say the first 2 or 3 times, then I just say, “Read the recipe.”
   
2. Turning around to find 2 students measuring and dumping all the items called for in the recipe’s ingredient list directly into the standing mixer/skillet/saucepan/food processor/whatever, without reading any of the “procedure” portion of the recipe. For example- from the recipe below the instructions read: Cream butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer, when the mixture is light and fluffy,  beat in the egg yolk, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract and the almond extract. Mix in flour and 1/2 cup of the almonds to form dough… but when I turn around what do I see in the bowl of the standing mixer? An unmixed pile of butter, all 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the egg yolk (broken and running all over the place – of course), all 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, almond extract, and all 3/4 cup almonds… with a block of cream cheese hanging in mid air and about to be dropped in, as well. Mind you, I do explain, time and time again, what “divided” means in the ingredient list and that you must “read the recipe” – never just dump everything in.

So where is the reward in that, you ask? Believe me, there is plenty! Like when students’ eyes become wide with wonder at exactly what yeast can do to a little flour and water. Or how runny slimy egg whites whip into beautiful puffy fluffy clouds. And when their little eyes are filling with tears from the harsh sting of slicing an onion and they are just hating that onion – but then as they are sautéing that same onion in olive oil, and it fills the kitchen with that wonderful comforting smell, they smile and know something delicious will follow. Later, as they sit down in the dining rooms and are served all they have made, they eat and enjoy it with such pride of accomplishment.

And finally, on that last day of class, when that one student who I’ve repeated my mantra to all week long – gets through an entire recipe without one question and we both suddenly realize that they have “read the recipe”! That is most certainly the very best part of my week!

Almond Fruit Tart

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1  1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted and divided
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur
Fresh fruit of your choice; such as berries, banana slices, apricot slices, and/or kiwi slices
1/4 cup apricot jam
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream the butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer, when the mixture is light and fluffy, beat in the egg yolk, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract and the almond extract.

Mix in the flour and 1/2 cup of the almonds to form dough.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of an 11-inch tart pan. Prick dough gently on the bottom with a fork.  Bake until golden, about 15 – 18 minutes.  Set aside on a rack to cool.

Beat cream cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar until smooth.  Beat in amaretto and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Spread cream cheese mixture onto bottom of cooled tart shell.  Chill until firm, at least 45 minutes.

Top filling with fruit in a decorative pattern.

Whisk the apricot jam and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted.  Cool slightly; brush apricot glaze onto fruit. Sprinkle tart with the remaining 1/4 cup almonds and chill until ready to slice into wedges and serve.

10  to 12 servings

The recipe for Red, White, and Blue Red Velvet Cupcakes follows,

but first…

What is your happiest or earliest memory of celebrating July 4th? Mine is standing in my maternal grandparents’ backyard, holding sparklers with our big extended family all around. That would include my grandparents, mom, dad, brothers, sister, cousins, aunts, and uncles. There could be up to 43 of us at any one time, given that my mom is the oldest of eight. We would either barbeque hot dogs and hamburgers or there would be big buckets of KFC scattered around, and always huge watermelons … and … soda! We were allowed to drink soda – at my grandparents’ house!

Grandma and Grandfather Lorts lived just off 36th Street and Camelback – and they had a pool – we did not. So it was always a treat to go to their house on weekends, as we often did during the summer. We would literally be stripping off our cloths, as we were running up the driveway, to reveal our bathing suits underneath. We’d race as fast as possible through the house and out the backdoor and make a beeline straight to the ever-growing line of cousins at the diving board. When I was really young, my mom’s 2 brothers and 2 youngest sisters were still teens and lived at home, so they were the designated life-guards. A task I’m sure they dreaded! But we adored, admired, and loved them so much; we wouldn’t have gotten that feeling from them, even if they had told us directly to our little sunburned freckled faces what huge pains to their social life we were.

So we would swim until we were literally waterlogged and our fingers and toes were shriveled and wrinkled. Then the parents would force us out of the pool; using screams and threats and then they’d insist that we eat! Even though we were probably starving from all that diving, not only off the board, but also diving for pennies at the bottom of the deep end (an always popular game since you got to keep all the pennies you retrieved), we did not want to get out to eat! Because getting out and eating meant one thing and one thing only – you could not get back in the pool for at least 1 hour (60 full minutes!) AFTER you took your last bite of food. And I am telling you, our parents (and all those aunts and uncles and grandparents) would literally set a timer for 60 minutes! Never mind that 60 minutes to a kid is about as long as 5 hours are to the average adult – that was The Rule. A rule more important and more enforceable than “No using pool as a toilet.” Why? Because if you dared to stick even your baby toe in the pool before the imposed time restriction was lifted, you would certainly and absolutely be overcome with piercing stabbing cramps and …. You Would Drown! Yup, you would die, no two ways about it. You would immediately develop unbearable stomach pain, sink to the bottom of the pool, like a stone, and be dead as a roadkill! Nothing could save you from this fate! Not your big strong 19-year-old uncle. Heck… not all the uncles in the world could save a child who had been foolish enough to enter the pool after… let’s say… 56 minutes!

To this day, I honestly don’t know if parents back in the 60′s really believed this whole “cramps” thing or if it was just the way to get themselves some much needed rest from the constant unending barrage  of ….  ”Uncle Mike, throw me up higher!” and “Uncle Harry, it’s my turn for a whale ride!” and “Aunt Bev, pleeeease throw another penny in for me!” or “”Mom, watch this! Mom? Hey Mom! MOM! WATCH ME!” …. OK, I guess I honestly do know the answer.

So, after the swimming, the eating, the full HOUR, and the swimming again, it would be dark. And Grandfather would bring out the sparklers (even sometimes when it wasn’t the 4th!) and, oh I just loved that!  Sparklers were my “Grandfather’s thing” and I loved my grandfather so very much! So that meant that I loved (and still love) sparklers!

Then we’d all go inside. Some of the families would pack up and go home because they had a long drive. But we always stayed, because we lived around Camelback and 86th Street, not all that far, and because my parents loved to play cards. They’d stick us kids in the living room to “rest” and they would play in the den or around the kitchen table, depending on how many there were.  I would try to be as quite as possible so I could listen to them laugh and fight and scream at each other and gossip and giggle and holler and laugh some more. If it was an especially intense and long game, they would put us all down to sleep in bed together in my grandparents’ and aunts’ rooms. Oh, how I loved that… because that meant that we were staying longer and even if I was actually sleeping, it was a warm, wonderful, and  happy place to be.

Now on to the cupcakes; during a teen cooking class last week, the kids whipped through the recipes so fast that I had them whip up this cupcake batter so I could post this recipe before I left town. Thank you guys for doing that for me and I hope I didn’t break any child-labor laws, since I didn’t allow them have any of the actual cupcakes. Hey, don’t judge, it’s because the cupcakes weren’t done baking before the kids were picked up by their parents! I took two pictures of the class.  The first is of all 10 of them smiling sweetly and the second is them looking longingly at the cupcakes that they will not get to eat…

Red, White, and Blue-Red Velvet Cupcakes

Cupcakes
1  3/4 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1  1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, divided
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting
8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

1 to 1  1/2 cups small fresh blueberries
3 or 4 rolls red-colored fruit roll-ups or fruit snack strips

Cupcakes: Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then add the red food coloring and vanilla.

Mix in one third of the flour-cocoa mixture, then 1/3 cup of the buttermilk. Add another one third of the flour-cocoa mixture and another 1/3 cup buttermilk, and finally, the remaining one third of the flour-cocoa mixture.

Remove the bowl from the standing mixer and use a rubber spatula to make well in center of the batter; pour in the remaining 1/3 cup buttermilk, vinegar, and baking soda.   When bubbles form, stir batter with spatula until well combined.

Divide batter equally among the paper lined muffin cups. Bake cupcakes, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.   Cool 10 minutes; then remove from pans and transfer to rack and cool completely before icing.

Frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl until smooth. Add in powdered sugar and beat until completely smooth and creamy.

Spread frosting on tops of cooled cupcakes.

Arrange blueberries in 3 tight rows of 3 (for stars) in the upper left quarter of each cupcake.

Cut the roll of fruit roll-ups into strips that are about 1/8-inch wide. Place 6 red fruit strips across the remainder of the cupcake surface in rows (for stripes) atop frosting. Refrigerate to allow frosting to firm.

Makes 16 to 18

A few days back, my teen students had their graduation lunch and chose quiche as one of their buffet menu items. Since our time to cook on graduation day is a bit more limited, I made the crust dough ahead and refrigerated it so that when the kids arrived they could roll out and blind bake them immediately. They then proceeded with the recipe, making the filling, baking the filled quiche, and then going back to the beginning to make the crust dough, so they had the experience of actually making the recipe in its entirety. So what’s the point of me telling you all that back-story? The point is, I then had two disks of dough in my refrigerator – hence my utter brilliance in making these lovely wild mushroom tarts for Father’s Day to go with our Steak au Poivre.

You will notice from the photos that I decided to make three rectangular tarts, while the recipe instructs to make a 9-inch round tart. That is because I had two sets of dough and I also knew that with my limited freezer space – two long ones would fit much better than a big old round one.  I have to say, in general, I really do like the rectangle pans better than the round.  You never have to worry about the center of the crust becoming soggy and they are easier to cut and to serve. So if you enjoy making sweet and/or savory tarts, you might consider investing in this great size and shape too.

Now, as for the wild mushrooms, use whatever type you like. Costco sells a large container of wild mushroom mix and also a large bag (as you’ll see pictured here) of dried shiitake mushrooms. And just about all grocery stores sell small packages in either their produce or gourmet sections, as does Trader Joe’s.  That reminds me, when do you suppose Costco and Trader Joe’s are going to start paying me for all the free advertising I give them here?!? Wishful thinking… love ‘em both anyhow!

Wild Mushroom-Gruyere Tart

Crust
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons (about) ice water

Filling
1 cup water
1 ounce dried wild mushrooms
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
10 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup peeled and minced shallots
2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
3 tablespoons minced fresh herbs (such as thyme, tarragon, sage, etc), divided
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese, divided

Crust: Blend flour and salt in processor. Cut in butter using the pulse button until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add enough ice water to just bring dough together.  Gather dough into into a disk. Wrap in plastic, chill 45 minutes.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 11-inch round and fit into a 9-inch tart pan, trimming excess dough. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Filling: Bring 1 cup water to boil in saucepan. Add wild mushrooms; remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes. Using slotted spoon, remove mushrooms from liquid; pour soaking liquid through a cheesecloth lined strainer into a clear glass bowl or measuring cup and set aside. Coarsely chop mushrooms.

Melt butter in heavy large skillet over high heat.  Add chopped wild mushrooms and sliced white mushrooms.  Season with salt and sauté until golden, about 10 minutes.

Add shallots and sauté 2 minutes.  Add Cognac and the reserved mushroom soaking liquid. Boil until almost all liquid is absorbed and evaporated, about 3 minutes. Mix in 1 tablespoon of the minced herbs. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line crust with foil.  Fill with pie weights and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and return to oven until crust is golden, for about 10 minutes.  Maintain oven temperature.

While the crust bakes, make the custard filling. In a medium bowl whisk cream, yolks, egg and remaining 2 tablespoons herbs. Set custard aside.

When crust is golden, remove from oven and sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese onto the bottom of the crust.  Cover with mushrooms.  Pour custard over mushrooms.  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake until filling is set and top is golden, about 30 minutes.

Cool on rack 15 minutes, then and serve.

Serves 8

Right # 1 – Pizza! It is one of the most popular foods for a huge majority of Americans. Why? Because it is packed with flavor; you’ve got the great bread, with melted gooey goodness, and tasty toppings. It can be eaten in hand and is the perfect food to share. It is fabulous eaten hot or cold.

Right #2 – Chocolate! Another all time favorite of people world-wide. Why? For starters, chocolate melts at about 98 degrees and not so coincidentally, our body temperature is about 98 degrees. The soothing quality achieved  by merely placing a piece of chocolate in your mouth and just having it melt away is simply luxurious and luscious. Plus chocolate is known to be a mild mood elevator, stimulating brainwaves and pushing your stress levels down. When your stress levels lower, you become more relaxed which in turn is beneficial to your health. Chocolate also raises antioxidant levels in the blood, which in turn help fight any foreign bodies that can cause illnesses. And of course there is the benefit your taste buds feel when consuming chocolate-which keeps you in touch with that happy little child within.

Excellent overall - combining Pizza and Chocolate! Sounds like the perfect food to me! You’ve got the great bread, the gooey melted chocolate, which not so coincidentally are also the tasty toppings.  You eat it out of hand either hot or cold, and you’ll want to share so your friends can ooh and aah along with you!

But…. before we get to the recipe of the day, I have to once again share a post from one of my favorite bloggers (heck one of my favorite writers) out there. Cheryl Sternman Rule of “5 Second Rule” has such talent, humor, humanity, and style that I just can’t help but share.  Sure, she’s on my Blogroll (in fact, right near the top) but you really must read her post from yesterday, please click this LINK, and thank me later.

You have a few options for the pizza crust. Frozen, purchased fresh and homemade.  If making your own, you’ll find my favorite dough recipe at the bottom.  Use it as is or feel free to stir in 3 tablespoons Nutella when adding the milk and olive oil, for a sweeter and chocolate-looking dough. Personally, I prefer the less sweet original crust and also the contrast of color provided by the golden crust. Also, feel free to mix it up and use butterscotch chips, or mint chocolate chips, or whatever sort of chips or chopped flavored chocolate floats your boat!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Pizza

1 pound pizza dough; homemade, frozen, or purchased fresh
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick), melted
1/2 cup Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread)
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3 tablespoons chopped toasted hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line large pizza pan or baking sheet with foil.

Roll or press out the dough on lightly floured surface into an 14-inch round.  Transfer dough to prepared pan.

Make indentations all over dough with fingertips.  Brush melted butter over.  Bake until pale golden, about 18 minutes.

Smooth the Nutella over hot crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border uncovered.  Sprinkle all three types of chocolate chips over top of Nutella.

Return to oven and bake until chocolate begins to melt, about 2 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle chopped hazelnuts over, slice into 12 wedges, and serve.

Serves 10 to 12

Basic Pizza Dough

1 tablespoon or 1 package active dry yeast
2 cups flour, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine 1/4 cup lukewarm water, the yeast, and 1/4 cup of the flour.  Let stand for 20 minutes, this is called the sponge.

Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup lukewarm water, the olive oil, milk and salt and mix thoroughly.   Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, elastic, and a little bit tacky to the touch, about 8 minutes.

Place the dough in a very lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough over to cover with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Makes about 1 pound pizza dough

There aren’t too many things I make that I would actually label “world’s best”, but these brownies – they are The World’s Best Brownies!  I’ve been making them for nearly 20 years – ever since I first spotted the recipe in Gourmet Magazine (RIP) in November, 1991. I’ve tweaked the recipe over those years, not the ingredients – because I could not improve on that, but more the technique. By the way, you can now find the wonderful Medaglia D’Oro espresso instant coffee locally, at Safeway. Otherwise, look for it at any Italian deli or order it online.

The brownies are very sophisticated in both appearance and taste, but trust me, kids will devour them too. So I suggest you make these for yourself and your adult family, friends, and guests and hide them away from little hands and mouths. Then whip up a batch of Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker brownies for the kids… just a thought!

Cappuccino Brownies

Brownie Layer
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1/2 tablespoon very hot tap water
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Glaze
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2  1/4 teaspoons instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1/2 tablespoon very hot tap water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour an 8-inch square baking dish.

Brownie Layer: Place butter in a medium size micro-wave safe bowl, heat until melted and bubbling. Remove from microwave and stir in chocolate, stirring until melted, stir in espresso mixture.  Cool chocolate mixture to lukewarm and whisk in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking until mixture is glossy and smooth.  Stir in flour and salt until just combined and then fold in the walnuts.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake in middle of oven for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Cool brownie layer completely in pan on a rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting: In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese with butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon and beat until combined well. Spread frosting evenly over brownie layer.  Chill brownies 1 hour, or until frosting is firm.

Glaze: Place butter and cream in a microwave-safe bowl, microwave on high until almost boiling. Remove from microwave and add chocolate, stirring until melted, stir in espresso mixture. Cool glaze to room temperature.   Spread glaze carefully over frosting. Chill brownies, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours. Cut chilled brownies into 16 squares and remove them from pan while still cold. Serve brownies cold.

Brownies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container, chilled  for 5 days.

Makes 16 perfect squares of pure bliss

Another recipe from our “carb heavy” Bread and Sandwich class last week. This is my basic biscuit recipe that has been jazzed up in a very savory way with the addition of basil and Parmesan. To make regular flakey biscuits, just omit those two ingredients. It is important to not twist the biscuit cutter when cutting out your biscuits. When you do that, you’re sealing the outside edges and preventing them from becoming as flakey as they can be. And be sure to roll (or in this case, pat) them out on a surface that has been “floured” with powdered sugar instead of flour… that little subtle difference is what makes them extra special.

Parmesan-Basil Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup minced fresh basil
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup milk
Powdered sugar for “flouring” the cutting surface
Additional unsalted butter for brushing tops, melted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, whisk to combine.  Cut in butter with pastry blender until butter pieces are about the size of small peas.  Stir in basil and cheese. Add milk to flour mixture, stir with a wooden spoon until just moistened.

Turn dough out onto a surface that is “floured” lightly with powdered sugar rather than flour.; pat dough into a 1-inch-thick circle.  Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter (do not twist) into about 15 biscuits. Place on prepared baking sheet, brush tops with melted butter and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve hot with softened butter for spreading inside or jalapeno jelly.

Makes about 15

For the past year, I’ve been providing 2 dozen cookies a month to the winner of an auction item I donated to a local charity.  This is my last delivery of the year and these cookies are real winners.  I have a thing for malted milk balls, Whoppers, as it were.  They have long been one of my all-time favorite candies.  I’m sure my mistreated baby sister, Sloane, could tell some awful stories about my mean-younger self, involving Whoppers… I’ll just leave it at that.  I dearly love you, Sloane and I am truly sorry for that very mean big sister whom you had to put up with, when we shared a bedroom, all those years ago… please forgive me! xoxo

Malted Milk Ball Cookies

1 1/2 cups malted milk balls
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.

Place the malted milk balls in a zip-lock bag, seal and use the bottom of a small pot or a smooth-sided meat pounder to coarsely crush the balls, set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in milk and vanilla, then gradually add in the flour mixture. Do not overmix; you should still be able to see some of the flour.

Use a spatula to stir in the crushed malted milk balls.

Drop 1/2-inch balls of the batter on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 11-12 minutes, or until browned.

Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep well in an airtight container for several days

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Comfort food means many things to many people. Bread pudding is a comfort food for sure. Rich, warm, smooth, melt in your mouth comfort. I made this one for today’s CPA office brunch. The menu included the Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket, Bean and Roasted Corn Salad, (previous posts) this pudding, and an Orzo salad, which I shall post tomorrow. Happy Easter to everyone in Dave’s office, have a wonderful Sunday, you deserve it!

Chocolate-Bourbon Bread Pudding

15 to 16-ounce loaf brioche or challah
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups half and half
8 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons quality bourbon
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove crust from bread, if desired, and cut into 1-inch cubes. Spread out on a couple of baking sheets and toast until just lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees.

Using the back side of a paring knife, scrape the vanilla seeds from the bean halves and place the seeds and the bean in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Mix in the heavy cream and half and half and place pan over medium heat just until small bubbles appear around the rim, about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, place the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof mixing bowl and whisk until pale yellow in color and all of the sugar has dissolved. In a very slow and steady stream, whisk about 1 cup of the cream mixture into the egg mixture and continue to whisk vigorously to incorporate well. Pour the egg-cream mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining cream and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sauce has thickened just slightly, about 5 minutes.  Strain the sauce into a clean bowl and place that bowl into another larger bowl that contains ice and a small amount of water (an ice bath) to stop the cooking and cool down the custard. Once cooled to at least room temperature, stir in the bourbon. This custard is called a crème anglaise.

In a large baking or oven-proof serving dish, layer half of the toasted bread cubes and sprinkle with half of the chocolate chips. Add remaining bread cubes and top with remaining chocolate. Pour crème anglaise over the bread and press down lightly on the bread to submerge.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the pan and weight down with another pan of the same size or slightly smaller. Pour water into the top pan to help compress the bread pudding mixture, leave at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Remove top pan with the water and set aside. Cover the bread pudding pan with foil and place it into a larger pan or baking dish. Pour the water from the smaller pan, that you’ve set aside, into the larger pan so that the water comes about half-way up the sides of the bread pudding pan, this is called a hot water bath.  Place in the 300 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until custard is firm and completely set. Serve immediately.

Serves 10 to 12

Time to gear up for the green! Tomorrow it is finally St. Patrick’s Day, and coincidentally I need to make a couple dozen cookies for a friends, so green it is! These soft cake-like cookies would be perfect for a Tea or Brunch. The “High Tea” theme is popular for wedding and baby showers, and so are these cookies. For a wedding shower you could tint one half of the icing the color of the bridesmaid dresses and leave the other half white. For a baby shower, pink and blue are the obvious choices. No matter what color theme you choose, these cookies will disappear as fast as you put them out!

I tested baking the cookies on both a Silpat lined baking sheet and one that was sprayed with Pam. Although I generally use the Silpat when baking, the cookies turned out a crisper on the unlined pan and in this case, crisper is better. You can see the results for yourself in the pictures below. And thanks to my “cookie tester and model”- Connor, who is home for spring break!

Lemon Tea Cookies

Cookies
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
1/3 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
Icing
3 cups powdered sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
Food coloring of your choice

Cookies: Position oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl, set aside. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg and vanilla, beating until combined well.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing just until smooth.

Drop rounded teaspoons of batter 2-inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking; until tops are puffed, edges are pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a racks to cool.

Icing: Stir together powdered sugar, zest, lemon juice, and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth, adding drops of water, if needed for a smooth spreadable consistency.

Transfer half of the icing to another bowl and add drops of food coloring as desired. With offset spatula, spread colored icing over half of flat side of each cookie. Starting with cookies you iced first, spread plain white icing over other half of each cookie.

Wait until the icing is dry before stacking cookies, with sheets of parchment or wax paper, between layers. May be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 or 5 days.

Makes about 2  1/2 dozen cookies

It’s been raining here in Arizona all week. Yesterday and this morning have been especially harsh; flooding, high winds, closed airports, several feet of snow up north, (plus a leaking roof for me!) – just crazy stuff for our dry desert state! This weather makes me want to bake and the chilliness and dark skies make pumpkin and spices seem like the perfect thing to pop in the oven.  I was planning to make a regular Bundt cake, but while digging through the cake pans, I found my mini-rose shaped Bundt pan. These pretty little cuties bring a little warmth and sunshine to an otherwise cold and rainy day.

Quadruple Ginger and Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt Cake

1 cup ginger ale
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup finely minced candied ginger
1 tablespoon peeled and finely minced or grated fresh gingerroot
Cinnamon Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup milk or cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a Bundt pan or a pan with 12 mini Bundts.

Mix together the ginger ale and molasses in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil, immediately remove from heat and whisk in the baking soda. Be warned, it will foam up. Set aside while the foam subsides.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated and brown sugars, oil, pumpkin, candied ginger, and fresh gingerroot.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir just until combined. Add the warm molasses mixture, then the remaining dry ingredients, stirring after each addition just until combined.

Pour the batter into a standard Bundt pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Or into the 12 holes of mini Bundts, (about 3/4 full) baking for 28 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack. Cool completely before glazing. If making the mini Bundts, after cooling and removing cakes, refill and bake second batch of 12 cakes.

Glaze: Place powdered sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl, whisk to blend, add milk and stir until glaze is smooth and creamy. Add a little more sugar or milk as necessary to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over the top of the cake(s).

Makes 1 cake to serve 12 or 24 mini cakes

There are some things in the world of cooking that are like money in the bank or resemble beautiful gold treasure. Things like having a really well-stocked pantry and freezer. You know what I’m talking about; when you want to make a recipe that calls for chili paste or tamarind or cake flour… there is no getting in the car and going to the market for you, just open a cupboard and there it is – smiling back at you! Pure Jubilation! Hugs, high-fives, and kisses for everyone in the house!

Or how about when your spouse comes home and tells you that last week he/she signed up to bring two dozen homemade cookies to the office potluck, by the way, the potluck – well it is tomorrow!  Sure, as you walk towards that  pillow that is calling your name, you could say, “Darling, how absolutely fabulous! Now you have fun making those cookies tonight, sweetie, I’m off to bed.”  That method doesn’t work when the entire office knows you cook for a living.  Edible, in fact delectable, cookies are anticipated and expected! So that gold treasure in this case is “slice and bake” cookies that you have in your well-stocked freezer. Even your older kids (when they casually mention that they need fresh-baked cookies for the school carnival, that is (wait for it…) of course, in the morning.) could do the slicing and baking without you anywhere to be found.  Your home is instantly filled with Joy, Peace, and Happiness for all!

The espresso powder can be found at an Italian deli or ordered online, and I found the cappuccino chips at Trader Joe’s.  This recipe makes three logs of dough. I generally refrigerate all three for the 8 hours, then slice and bake one log. I double wrap and freeze the other two logs for up to 1 month. The frozen dough does not need to be defrosted before baking – just slice the logs and bake about 1 minute longer. Or the logs may be thawed in the refrigerator, if that works into your schedule better. After all it’s all about you – as it should be!!! Oh, and these are going in the “Easy-Breezy” category on the recipe index too, because they are just a more adult version (hence the “big girl” reference) of good old Toll House cookies and nothing is easier or breezier than slice and bake!

Chocolate and Coffee Chip Cookies

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup coffee, mocha, or cappuccino chips

In a large bowl; whisk together both flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and then set aside.

In the bowl of a large standing mixer; cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, espresso powder and vanilla extract until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually mix in flour mixture, until just combined. (Do not overmix, it is better to still see a little bit of flour and mix it in when adding the chips.) Using a large rubber spatula, stir in chocolate and coffee chips.

see the flour still on the side of bowl and on the dough - this is good!

Divide the dough into three equal portions. Form each portion into a 2-inch-diameter log (about 11 to 12-inches long) on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours to firm up or up to 3 days ahead.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with either silpat mats or parchment paper.

Slice the cold dough into 1/2-inch rounds (be sure they are all as close as possible to being the same thickness, so they bake evenly) and place on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

sliced and ready for the oven

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until just golden brown, switching the positions of the cookie sheets after the first 6 minutes, so the cookies bake evenly. Remove from oven, and allow to cool on the cookie sheets for 1 or 2 minutes before moving cookies to racks to cool completely.

Makes 6 dozen cookies
Each log makes about 2  dozen