Tante Mette's Aebleskiver
2 T. sugar
3 egg yolks
1 t. vanilla
3 c. milk
3 c. flour
1 t. salt
3 t. baking powder
3 T. butter
3 egg whites
Mix in order given. Beat egg whites and fold in last.
Notes: This is a family recipe. You need a special aebleskiver pan to make these "Danish pancakes." I got mine from Williams-Sonoma, it's not a cast iron pan like my Mormor used, but it still works well and it's non-stick! :)
Eton Mess
Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson, 2007
4 cups strawberries
2 teaspoons caster or vanilla sugar
2 teaspoons pomegranate juice
2 cups whipping cream
1 packet individual meringue nests
Hull
and chop the strawberries and put into a bowl and add the sugar and
pomegranate juice and leave to macerate while you whip the cream.
Whip the cream in a large bowl until thick but still soft. Roughly
crumble in 4 of the meringues nests - you will need chunks for texture
as well as a little fine dust. Take out about half a cupful of the chopped strawberries, and fold the meringue cream and rest of the fruit mixture together.
Arrange on 4 serving plates or glasses or in a mound, and top each with some of the remaining macerated strawberries. Notes: I used balsamic vinegar instead of the pomegranate juice and used regular granulated sugar. I love meringues, so I knew I would love this "pudding" as she calls it. I didn't find meringue nests, but did find meringue cookies in the bakery section of my grocery store. I don't know how many I added, but it wasn't quite enough.
Strawberry Choc Chip Muffins:
(This was adapted from May 2008 FOOD Everyday magazine, pg. 44, "better-than-basic muffins."
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 c. baking mix (recipe to follow)
2 large eggs
1/2 c. whole milk
1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 c. choc chips
1 cup of chopped strawberries
Baking Mix:
(taken from Everyday Food, April 2008)
In a large bowl whisk together 6 c. flour, 3 c. sugar, 2 T. baking powder, and 1 T. salt. Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 months. Whisk before using.
Preheat oven to 375. Butter and flour muffin pan (I use paper liners). In a small bowl whisk together butter, eggs, milk and vanilla; set aside. Measure baking mix into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the egg mixture to well. Gently stir ingredients until batter is just moistened (a few lumps are fine). Add chocolate chips and strawberries. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.
Who needs a panini press when you've got a waffle iron? I saw this idea in the paper a couple weeks ago and thought it was a great idea. My kids love these sandwiches! We make ham and cheese, but you could do anything.
Ham & Cheese Waffle Sandwich:
2 slices bread
deli ham
cheddar cheese
dijon mustard
butter
Butter the outside pieces of bread. Spread the dijon on the inside and layer with ham and cheese. Place in waffle iron and toast until crispy. Yum!
Sam's Red Birthday Cake
(otherwise known as Quick Red Velvet Cake from the Cake Mix Doctor)
1 pkg. German chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 bottle (1 oz.) red food coloring
3 large eggs
1 t. pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese frosting
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the middle. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
*Place cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, eggs, and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer until well blended. Divide batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with rubber spatula.
*Bake cakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger and just start to pull away from the pans, 28 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks for 30 minutes more.
*Prepare cream cheese frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick butter, room temperature
3 3/4 c. confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 t. vanilla
Place cream cheese and butter in mixing bowl and blend well. Add confectioners' sugar a bit at a time, blending on low speed until it is well incorporated. Add vanilla, increase speed to medium and blend the frosting until fluffy, 1 minute more.
*Frost cake and enjoy!
This cake was very moist, but the flavor was just ok. Probably not my favorite from this cookbook, but it was still pretty good. It was red, and that was all that really mattered to the birthday boy. :)
Profiteroles
(from Gourmet magazine March 2008)
3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 c. water
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
*Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in middle. Butter a large baking sheet.
*Bring butter, water, and salt to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium, then add flour all at once and cook, beating with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to a bowl and cool slightly, 2 to 3 minutes.
*Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well with an electric mixer after each addition.
*Transfer warm mixture to pastry bag and pipe 18 mounds (about 1 1/4 inches wide by 1 inch high) 1 inch apart on baking sheet.
*Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes total. Prick each profiterole once with a skewer, then return to oven to dry, propping oven door slightly ajar, 3 minutes. Cool on sheet on a rack.
*To serve, halve horizontally, then fill each with a ball of ice cream and drizzle with warm chocolate sauce.
I used store-bought chocolate sauce, but won't do that again because it didn't melt very well, making it difficult to get a good drizzle. :) My mom is the queen of this recipe, but she makes her dough into cream puffs by baking larger mounds of dough and filling them with real whipped cream. Yum! There's really nothing easier.
Sam's Chocolate Cup Cakes
(adapted from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn)
1 pkg. plain devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 c. water
1/2 c. veg oil
3 large eggs
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
Buttercream frosting
sprinkles
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners or spay with vegetable oil spray.
Place cake mix, water, oil, eggs and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Spoon batter into cupcake pan, filling up each one about 3/4 full. Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched about 18 to 20 minutes. Frost cupcakes with butter cream frosting. This recipe made about 24 cupcakes.
Butter cream frosting (makes 3 1/2 cups):
1 stick butter at room temp
3 3/4 c. confectioners' sugar
3 to 4 T. milk
2 t. vanilla extract
Blend butter on low speed until fluffy. Add sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend until sugar is incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add more milk if frosting seems to stiff.
I made only half of the frosting recipe, because I'm going to freeze some of the cupcakes and the first day we ate them with just a dusting of powdered sugar. I have to say they're much better with frosting...
In the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook she uses this recipe in ice cream cones. To do that take 28 flat bottomed cones and spoon about 1/4 c. of batter into each one. Place cones in muffin pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. She also says that you can fill the cones with less batter and then top them with ice cream, so it will look like a regular ice cream cone until you take that first bite. Yum!
Sam's Chocolate Chip Cookies
(originally taken from FoodNetwork.com, but we've tweaked it a tad bit)
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips
2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1 t. kosher salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper. Melt butter in microwave. Then whisk in sugars, eggs and vanilla into melted butter.
Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Stir the dry ingredients in the the wet and finally stir in chocolate chips. Bake for 12 minutes, transfer hot cookies to rack to cool.
I love this recipe because it is so easy. And it's great for Sam, because he can almost make the darn things himself. It might not be the absolute best chocolate chip cookie in the world (and I have a great recipe for those), but it's so quick and easy that I almost don't care. And I know my kids don't. :)
Chocolate Chip Cake
(from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn)
1 bar (4 oz) German chocolate
1 package (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 c. whole milk
1 c. veg oil
4 large eggs
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly mist 10-inch tube pan (or three 8-inch loaf pans) with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out excess, set pan aside.
Break the German chocolate into four pieces. Grate bar using food processor or hand grater, until finely grated.
Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop machine, fold in the grated chocolate, and scrape down sides of bowl, increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pans. Bake until golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed , 58 to 60 minutes (50 to 52 minutes for loaf pans). Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 20 minutes (5 minutes for loaf pans). Run sharp knife around edge of the pan and invert it onto a rack. Allow cake to cool completely, 30 minutes more.
The recipe says that you can freeze the cake, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. I think next time I make it I will use the loaf pans and then freeze two of them. This cake was delicious!!! It had great flavor and was incredible moist.
Fresh Orange Cake
(from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn)
1 pkg. yellow cake mix with pudding
*1 c. fresh orange juice (about 5 oranges) or from carton
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
4 large eggs
Glaze:
1 c. confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 T. fresh orange juice (from about 1 medium orange)
1 t. fresh grated orange zest (from one medium orange)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, the dust with flour. Place cake mix, oj, oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low for 1 minute, scrape down sides, increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour into prepared pan, bake until golden brown and just starts to pull away from the sides of pan, 45 to 47 minutes. Remove pan from oven, place on wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Invert cake onto a rack to cool completely, 30 minutes more.
Prepare glaze by combining confectioners' sugar, fresh oj and orange zest in a small bowl and stir with wooden spoon until smooth.
Place cake on serving platter and pour the glaze over the top, letting it drizzle down the sides and into the center. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before slicing.
Sammy and Mommy rating: 5 stars
*We used orange juice from the carton for the cake batter, but fresh oj for the glaze.
