Super Simple Peach Crumble

After 1 week of fall-like weather, it is back to mid-80 temperatures in Virginia. This warmth has me thinking less about Autumn’s apples and pears, and more about Summer’s berries and peaches. Remember those amazing peaches I mentioned from the market back in August? One of the sweet treats I made with the peaches was a crumble that about as easy as it gets.

Peaches were terrific in it. Since the dessert is based off of a recipe that originally called for nectarines, though, I imagine it would be tasty with about any stone fruit you prefer. Also, although I made it in a single dish, it certainly would be cute baked in separate ramekins or individual mini cast iron pans.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

3 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced

3 Tbsp granulated sugar

juice of half a lemon, freshly squeezed

pinch salt

6 Tbsp all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1 Tbsp wheat germ

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Toss peaches with granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Let stand for at least 15 minutes (but no more than 1 hour).

In another bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, wheat germ, and butter with your fingers to form a crumbly mixture.

In a cast iron pan (or baking dish as a substitute), pour the peach mixture with its liquid. Bake for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, top the peaches with the crumbs and bake for another 15 minutes or until the fruit is soft and bubbly and the streusel is golden brown. Serve topped with vanilla ice cream.

[Recipe adapted from Nectarine-Thyme Crumble, Food & Wine Magazine, July 2013: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/nectarine-thyme-crumble]

Easter Luncheon Cupcakes: Lemon Angel Food

These cupcakes are bright and citrusy, which makes them a perfect finish for a Springtime or Easter luncheon. They have a zesty tang of lemon, the fluff of angel food cake, but plenty of sugar to satisfy your sweet tooth. Make them even cuter with some themed muffin cups. Wilton’s pink petal muffin cups are really cute for this recipe: http://tinyurl.com/3gvvord. Then add some decoration. The original recipe suggested edible flowers, which I thought would be so pretty except they were out of them at the store. I had to opt for some multi-colored nonpareils instead.

For batter:

½ cup cake flour

¾ cup powdered sugar

about ½ cup egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

¾ tsp cream of tartar

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ tsp double-strength vanilla extract

grated rind from 1 small lemon

 

For frosting:

¼ cup softened butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbsp 1% milk

2 Tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice, plus more if desired

decorations like colored sprinkles

Prepare your muffin/cupcake pan; plan on getting anywhere between 16-18 cupcakes. Measure out the cake flour carefully by lightly spooning into measuring cups – don’t pack down. Then sift the flour together with the powdered sugar a total of 3 times. This will help keep the cupcakes fluffy. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Preferably using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt together until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until the mixture forms soft peaks. While the mixer is running, slowly add 1 Tbsp of granulated sugar at a time until all has been added. Continue beating until stiff peaks can be formed. Remove mixing bowl. Adding ¼ cup of the dry ingredients at a time, add in the flour mixture and fold after each addition. Finally, fold in the vanilla and lemon rind.

Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18min or until the tops are lightly brown. Remove cups from pan and cool on a wire rack. (They will sink down slightly upon cooling.) Repeat baking process with any remaining batter.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make your frosting. Again using a stand mixer if possible, beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat at low speed until blended. Add milk and lemon juice and beat until smooth. Beat in extra lemon juice as desired for consistency and taste of the frosting.

Spread a little dollop of frosting atop each cupcake and decorate. (You’ll likely have some extra frosting – I would suggest refrigerating it for later use as a treat with sugar cookies or graham crackers.)

Recipe adapted from Greg Patent’s Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes, Cooking Light, May 2006

Valentine’s Day Carrot Cake

This recipe is adapted from the Best Carrot Cake recipe on www.myrecipes.com. They make it as a layer cake, but I had seen a single layer cake that was shaped to look like a heart, and thought this would be the perfect recipe with which to try it. Next time I might leave off the buttermilk glaze completely, because it is really sweet. It was a huge hit with my husband, though, so it was indeed an excellent choice for Valentine’s Day.

Cake:

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 large eggs

2 cups sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup buttermilk

1 tsp double-strength vanilla extract

2 cups carrots, shredded

8 oz can crushed pineapple

3.5 oz sweetened fresh coconut

1 cup chopped walnuts

Line 1 round cake pan and 1 square cake pan with parchment paper, lightly greased and floured.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a stand mixer (or with hand mixer), beat together eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Slowly add flour mixture and beat at low speed until well blended. Stir in shredded carrot, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Once cakes are done, remove them from oven and drizzle the buttermilk glaze (see below) until both cakes are lightly covered. Cool the cakes in their pans on wire racks for about 15 minutes. Remove from pans onto wire racks and cool completely.

Arrange square cake on a serving platter diagonally. Cut the round cake in half. Arrange 1 half along the top left diagonal edge of the square cake. Arrange the other half on the top right diagonal edge of the square cake. Once arranged, the cake should resemble a heart shape (in 3 pieces). Spread the entire cake with cream cheese frosting (see below).

Buttermilk Glaze

1 cup sugar

1 ½ tsp baking soda

½ cup buttermilk

½ cup unsalted butter

1 Tbsp light corn syrup

½ tsp double-strength vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients except for vanilla extract in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and boil, stirring constantly, until well incorporated. Remove from heat and add the vanilla.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

16 oz powdered sugar

¼ tsp double-strength vanilla extract

Red food coloring

Beat together butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add powdered sugar slowly, blending at low speed. Add vanilla. Drop 1-3 drops food coloring to make the frosting pink (for Valentine’s Day, of course!) or more for redder frosting.

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Sadly, despite the bunches of children in our neighborhood, we get very few trick-or-treaters. However, our neighbors did stop over with their baby boy for his first trick-or-treat and he had on the most adorable little Tigger costume (with footies and hood and all) and had no idea what was going on. Plus, there was a Halloween party at work this afternoon, Chris and I went to a Halloween party on Friday night, and in the spirit of the day, I made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Thanks to my mom for sending the little pumpkin sprinkles and the muffin cups - they say "take a bite" in ghostly cursive on the bottom. Also thanks to Chris' mom for Jan Moon's Big Book of Cupcakes cookbook (from Dreamcakes Bakery) from where I got the cupcake recipe. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Homemade Banana Bourbon Ice Cream

The first try at our Cuisinart Ice Cream and Sorbet maker was a complete success when I made ice cream! My husband, Chris, will tell you that he made ice cream. He didn’t make ice cream. I did. He did, however, come up with the flavor for our first creation and I will give him due props on that vision. The vision was for banana bourbon ice cream, so that was what I set out to make.

Cuisinart, in their ice cream maker instructions provides you with suggested recipes and their little booklet proved to be a very helpful place to begin. Included in the recipes was one for a banana walnut chip ice cream. One ingredient out of 3 seemed like a good start. Plus, in the initial preparations for the banana part, it called for rum. Perfect. Substitute: bourbon.

Banana Bourbon Ice Cream

Makes about 5 cups

1/2 cup 2% milk

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large bananas, sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons, plus 1/2 tablespoon bourbon

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1. In a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat, bring the milk, cream, vanilla extract, and salt just to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes.

2. While the cream mixture is steeping, heat the sugar with water in a large skillet until it begins to sizzle. Stir in the butter and heat until melted. Add the bananas; cook for about 2 minutes, or until fragrant and softened. Carefully stir in the rum and cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, strain the banana/sugar mixture, reserving the sugar syrup and bananas in separate bowls.

3. Stir lemon juice into the bananas and then mix the bananas into the steeped cream mixture. Cover and refrigerate mixture 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.

4. After refrigeration is complete, set up the Cuisinart ice cream maker. Turn on the ice cream maker. Pour the banana mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, almost 15 minutes.

5. Nearing the 15 minute mark, gradually pour in the sugar mixture. Let the ice cream maker continue to churn for about another 2 minutes. Pour in the last 1/2 tablespoon of bourbon and let ice cream complete churning for about 2 minutes. Turn off ice cream maker and transfer ice cream to an air-tight container. Freeze until desired consistency and time to serve.

Enjoy!