(Pastry Fairy’s) Risotto

No, this doesn’t have anything to do with baking. But it is delicious, and not as hard as everyone seems to think it is.

• 1 cup Arborio or other short-grain Italian rice
• 4 cups chicken stock (I use the “no-chicken” broth that we get – best flavor)
• 1/2 cup red or white wine (red will make a nice sort of mauve risotto)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon (or so) extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the stock or broth in a small pot and keep simmering while you make the risotto. In another pot heat the butter and olive oil until hot. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent. Toss in the rice and sauté for two or three minutes, until the grains look toasted. Don’t be afraid of a little sticking; this will prove beneficial to flavor development.

Now pour in the wine. If you’ve got it right and the heat is high enough, it will hiss and smoke and be very satisfying. Stir the bottom to get all those browned bits. Let it simmer until the wine is mostly absorbed; now add about 3/4 cup of stock (this is approximate). Let simmer until absorbed. Add more stock. Repeat. When all the stock is absorbed, which will take 20 to 25 minutes, take the pot off the heat, cover it, and let rest for at least ten minutes, although fifteen is better. Salt to taste and eat.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is the quintessential comfort food of my childhood. The recipe is my mother’s. They keep very well in a cookie jar or sealed container. This is one of the very few recipes where I think margarine actually tastes better than butter. I don’t know why.

For twelve muffins

• 1/2 cup butter or Earth Balance margarine, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Dash salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and bananas. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients, along with chocolate chips. Combine just until the batter comes together; a little leftover flour is okay. Spoon into a greased muffin tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Scones

A few words on scones. They are decadent, delicious, and decidedly sinful, certainly something to be made only on special occasions. A variety of variations are possible, which are listed at the bottom of the page. The basic recipe I give here is for the ever-popular blueberry lemon scone. The recipe I use is from the delightful Cheeseboard Collective Cookbook, and makes about sixteen scones.

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Zest of one lemon, grated
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, undefrosted
• 1 cup butter, cut into slices
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup half and half (or heavy cream for extra richness)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt, and zest. Now cut in the butter. You can do this in two ways. If you are making the scones in the KitchenAid, simply put it on the lowest speed (using the white paddle attachment) and throw in the pieces of butter one at a time until all the butter is cut into the flour. The butter should be the size of small peas. This can be a bit messy and the KitchenAid might spew flour at you, but it requires less muscle work. If you are making it by hand, take out the potato masher, throw all the butter slices in the flour and mash it around for awhile. Fold in the berries carefully so they don’t break, otherwise you will get a grayish scone.

Pour in the liquids and quickly mix them in, taking care not to overmix. There might still be some flour left at the bottom of the bowl. Using the ice cream scooper, scoop the dough onto a baking sheet that you have either greased beforehand or lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• Chocolate Chip: Omit zest and blueberries; add 1 cup chocolate chips.
• Cranberry-Orange: Substitute cranberries for blueberries and orange zest for lemon.
• Maple-Pecan: Omit zest and blueberries; add 1 cup chopped pecans. Combine 1 cup powdered sugar and enough maple syrup to make a thick glaze; spoon over baked scones

(Pastry Fairy’s) Honey Challah

This is a wonderful basic challah recipe. It is moist, tender, and fairly easy to make; the dough is rather stiff because the liquid to flour ratio is low, so kneading requires a bit of muscle effort. The recipe is from A Blessing of Bread, an absolutely delightful book about Jewish ethnic breads.

For one large or two small loaves

• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup warm (wrist-temperature) water
• 1/3 cup honey (or sugar, but it won’t have quite the same flavor)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, plus an extra egg for glazing

Mix yeast, water, 1/4 cup of the flour in a large bowl. Let this slurry rest for ten to twenty minutes. Stir in the honey, oil, eggs, and salt; then stir in 3 cups of the flour. You should have 1/2 cup flour remaining. Use this flour to knead the dough with. It will take about 5 minutes of kneading. Set in a bowl and spray the top with nonstick spray. Let rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume. You can speed up the rising process by putting the bowl in the oven, as long as it is TURNED OFF. This is a bit dangerous though because someone might wander in and turn the oven on, which means disaster.

Punch down the dough. This means taking your fist and punching the hell out of it. It’s fun and satisfying. Imagine the dough is that guy from your Chem 1A class who always breaks the curve.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into braids, loaves, rounds, or whatever shapes you like. I like a five or six strand braid myself. Put on a greased cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or so. Again, you can speed it up by putting it in the oven.

Beat the extra egg with a dribble of water. Brush this egg wash over the loaf or loaves. You can sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top if you want. Place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Irish Soda Bread

This is simple, and good. Serve it with stew for dinner, or add some currants or dried cranberries and serve it for tea. I also like it for breakfast with a cup of strong Irish breakfast tea. In any case it is best eaten hot, cut into wedges and spread with butter. There is no substitute for the buttermilk in this bread, as it contributes all of the flavor and is essential to the texture.

This recipe is very special to me – it is my great-grandmother’s recipe. Her name was Helen Kiley and she was a 1920s flapper from a Chicago Irish family. She died before I was born but my mother got the recipe from her, and would make it on occasion while I was growing up.

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup currants or dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients, and add the dried fruit if using. Make a well in the center, and pour in the buttermilk. Mix it up with a fork until a loose dough is formed; knead a few times in the bowl until it comes together in a cohesive mass. It will be sticky. Form into a round loaf shape, put on a greased pie plate or cake pan, and cut an X on the top with a knife. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown. Eat right away.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Bread Pudding

Similar to fruit crisp in its variations and ability to feed a crowd, bread pudding is a wonderfully satisfying dessert, and very simple. It’s one of my favorite desserts, especially when made with a hearty country-style bread and topped with ice cream (and/or bourbon sauce!) This is a basic recipe; make it your own by adding some of the optional additions. An excellent thing to make for dessert when you only have an hour. The bread is better somewhat stale because it soaks up more of the liquid that way. You can make the bread pudding richer or lighter by using different milk products: nonfat for light, whole milk for fairly rich, and heavy cream for unbelievably sinful!

To serve six or so

• 1 good size loaf French bread or hearty whole grain bread, preferably slightly stale
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup
• Pinch salt
• Spices of choice: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Tear loaf of bread into bite size pieces. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sweetener, spices if using, and salt until well combined. Or blitz it in the blender (I like this option). Dump in the bread and let it soak for 15 minutes or so. Actually, the longer it can soak, the better. Pour into a greased baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or so.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

• Dried fruit
• Chocolate chips
• Booze (bourbon, whiskey, rum, tequila)
• Pineapple chunks
• Cut-up fresh fruit (pears, apples, peaches are good)

A final note: don’t go crazy with the additions. A bread pudding with raisins, chocolate chips, pineapple, pears, AND booze will not be good, it will just be weird. Limit yourself to one or two.

SERVE WITH

• Ice cream
• Booze sauce (make crème anglaise, add booze)
• Yogurt (for health nuts)
• Whipped cream (for hedonists)
• Fruit sauce (buzz some raspberries in the blender. Instant fruit sauce)

(Pastry Fairy’s) Dried Fruit in Phyllo Packets

I make this with my Greek dinner menu, and it’s delicious. A bit time-intensive, but wonderfully sweet and aromatic. You can vary the dried fruit, and I often do. If you don’t want to use butter to spread between the phyllo layers, Earth Balance or nonstick spray works too, just not quite as tasty. The recipe is from Weight Watchers’ Take-Out Tonight!, an excellent cookbook which I highly recommend.

Makes six packets

• 1/4 pound dried figs, quartered
• 1/4 pound dried apricots, sliced
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
• 4 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted if frozen
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Place the cut dried fruit, raisins, juice, honey, water, cinnamon stick, and vanilla in a medium pot. Simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until a thick compote forms. Take off heat, stir in almonds, and set aside.

Place one sheet of phyllo on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter and place the second sheet on top. Repeat until you have layered all four sheets. Score with a knife into six equal squares, then place 1/3 cup or so of filling on each square. Fold up into a neat little packet. Arrange the packets on the sheet. Brush the tops with a little more butter and bake at 350 for about 20 or 25 minutes, or until the phyllo is crisp. Serve with Greek yogurt on the side, or ice cream.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

Substitute any of the following for some of the dried fruit: dried cherries, dried pineapple, dates, dried cranberries, dried pears, dried peaches, etc.

Substitute walnuts or sunflower seeds for the almonds.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Fruit Crisp

This is an excellent dessert to make at any time of year, and it multiplies easy, so you can make it for four or forty. The recipe I give here is approximate and can be augmented, played around with, and reinvented to your heart’s content. I tend to prefer putting less sugar in the fruit, and more lemon juice, but you may change this ratio if you wish.

To serve four:

• 4 cups thinly sliced fruit (apples, pears, stone fruit, etc) or small whole fruit (like berries)
• 1 to 3 tablespoons white or brown sugar, depending on natural sweetness of fruit
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup each: flour, brown sugar, and rolled oats
• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour into a greased baking pan and spread about evenly. In the same bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, and flour. Stir in melted butter and mix until crumblies form. It should have some clumps and some wet-sand looking parts. Spread this evenly over the fruit. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on ripeness and hardness of fruit.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

To the fruit:

• 1/2 cup dried fruit of choice (raisins, cranberries, currants, apricots etc.)
• 1/4 cup fruit juice, for a moister crisp

To the crisp topping:

• 1/2 cup toasted, chopped nuts
• Spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, allspice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

SERVE WITH

• Ice cream
• Yogurt
• Whipped cream
• Cold milk poured over the top
• Caramel sauce

(Pastry Fairy’s) Pear-Polenta Upside Down Cake

This is it. It doesn’t get any better than this, or any more decadent. If you are looking for the ultimate dessert, you have found it. This cake is labor-intensive, but the taste, texture, and scent are transcendental. Whipped cream is an essential accompaniment, preferably with a bit of almond extract added (about half a teaspoon). The recipe is originally from the San Francisco Chronicle food section.

Caramel:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons) butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup, honey, or corn syrup

Pears:

• 4 large, ripe pears, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly
• Juice of 1 lemon

Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal or polenta
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small pot, combine the butter, brown sugar, and syrup or honey; heat over medium until the butter is melted and the caramel is uniform, but not any longer. Spread in the bottom of a circular or square cake pan, about 9 or 10 inches across. You can also use a cast-iron skillet.

Slice the pears and sprinkle the lemon juice over them. Now arrange them on top of the caramel in the pan. This can be as creative or as casual as you wish and have time for.

For the cake, whip the butter and sugar together in the KitchenAid, using the white paddle attachment. Or beat it well in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla extract. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches to the wet ingredients, adding 1/2 cup of milk at a time in between. Beat well. Spread the batter over the pears in the pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until golden on top. Let rest for 10 minutes or so, then invert onto a platter and serve warm.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

This is yummy and gooey and delicious and rich and everything that a good dessert should be. It does not multiply terribly well, so I suggest just making it in the amounts I’ve put here. Let it cool a little before serving, so the sauce on the bottom has a chance to thicken up a little. Vanilla bean ice cream is a divine accompaniment. The recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated, a wonderful cooking magazine that I cannot recommend highly enough.

• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (2 1/2 ounces)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (packed, 1 3/4 ounces)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 large egg yolk

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Stir instant coffee into water; set aside to dissolve. Stir together 1/3 cup cocoa, brown sugar, and 1/3 cup granulated sugar in small bowl, breaking up large clumps with fingers; set aside. Melt butter, remaining 1/3 cup cocoa, and chocolate in small bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water; whisk until smooth and set aside to cool slightly. Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl to combine; set aside. Whisk remaining 2/3 cup sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt in medium bowl until combined; whisk in yolk. Add chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Add flour mixture and whisk until batter is evenly moistened. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread evenly to sides and corners. Sprinkle cocoa/sugar mixture evenly over batter (cocoa mixture should cover entire surface of batter); pour coffee mixture gently over cocoa mixture. Bake until cake is puffed and bubbling and just beginning to pull away from sides of baking dish, about 45 minutes. (Do not overbake.) Cool cake in dish on wire rack about 25 minutes before serving.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Black-Bottomed Cupcakes

This is a recipe of my mother’s, and one of my childhood favorites. It is basically a rich chocolate muffin with a center of cream cheese/chocolate chip filling. Delicious! I have reproduced it here exactly as my mom sent it to me when, as a homesick freshman, I requested the recipe.

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 6 oz. chocolate chips
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp.vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 Tbl. vinegar
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 1 c. water

Preheat oven to 350 deg.and grease muffin tin(s).

Combine 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/3 c. sugar and 1/8 tsp. salt. Beat well. Stir in 6 oz. chocolate chips. Set aside.

Sift together 1 1/2 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, 1/4 c. cocoa, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add 1 c. water, 1/3 c. oil, 1 Tbl. white vinegar and 1 tsp. vanilla. Beat well.

Fill muffin tin 1/3 full of chocolate mixture, and top with cream cheese/chocolate chip mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees 30-35 minutes.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Brownies

You are free to like this brownie recipe or not, as you please; brownies are a highly personal thing, and subject to much contention. Nuts or no nuts? Cakelike or thick and fudgy? Sweet or not-so? These are a nut-free, dense, slightly sweet version. The recipe is from the back of the Baker’s unsweetened chocolate box.

• 4 squares (4 ounces) unsweetened baking chocolate
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• Dash salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan or in the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate together. Stir to completely melt the chocolate. Dump this into a bowl with the sugar. Beat together until the sugar is dissolved; add the eggs one at time and mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla, then the flour and salt. Pour into a greased 13 by 9 inch pan, and bake for 30 minutes exactly. Do not overbake.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a recipe so basic and essential that I don’t even remember where my version is from. I know that when I was a kid, the very first cookbook I owned was an old copy (from the 1960s!) of Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book. I still own it, although it’s falling to pieces, and I learned how to bake from it. So it may be that this recipe is from there, or it may be an amalgamation of the countless chocolate chip cookie recipes I’ve read over the years. Either way, it’s delicious and easily multiplied. And no, I’ve never gotten salmonella from eating raw cookie dough, and I don’t know anyone who ever has. Go ahead and eat it.

For twenty cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened but not melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugars well by hand or using the paddle attachment on the KitchenAid. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Dump in the rest of the ingredients and beat it more. The more beating, the better, I’ve found. Drop by tablespoonfuls on a greased or paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. They will look undercooked. This is good. They will keep cooking once you take them out of the oven, since they’re still on the hot baking sheet. If you absolutely must have them crisper, bake for no more than 5 minutes longer. But I prefer my cookies almost gooey, so I don’t do that.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

• Replace some or all of the chocolate chips with white chocolate chips.
• Add chopped, toasted nuts, about a half a cup.
• Add dried cranberries. I particularly like cookies with chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts. Fabulous!

(Pastry Fairy’s) Cheeseboard Chocolate Cake

This is not your typical chocolate layer cake; it is best baked in loaf pans, and it is one of the most sinful things I have ever tasted. Do not skimp on ingredients or try to substitute lower-fat variations; this is what it is, unbelievably bad for you and unbelievably delicious. Eat warm with a cold glass of milk, or chilled and sliced with a raspberry sauce for an elegant dessert. Above all, consume in moderation. And even if you don’t like the taste of coffee, use the coffee. I hate coffee myself but it is essential to the depth of flavor this cake has. You won’t be able to taste it independently. The recipe is, as the title says, from the Cheeseboard cookbook, and if you don’t feel like making it yourself you can go and buy it at the Cheeseboard.

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee (there is usually some just hanging around in the coffeemaker. It is okay if it is cold.)
• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, coffee, and vanilla together in a small bowl (or yogurt container!). In the bowl of the KitchenAid, mix the flour, cocoa, powder, soda, salt, and sugar. Add the butter in one small slice at a time while the mixer is running on low speed – use the white paddle attachment. It may spew some flour at you from time to time. Once all the butter has been cut in and looks like peas, toss in the chocolate chips and mix briefly. Add in the wet ingredients and again mix briefly until the batter comes together. Pour into two greased loaf pans, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the loaves are firm and springy. Let cool for 10 minutes, and invert onto a serving plate.

(Pastry Fairy’s) Basic Chocolate Layer Cake

This is the perfect birthday cake, or for any occasion when you want fluffiness, chocolate flavor, and tenderness. The secret is the cup of boiling water added at the end. It will make the batter quite thin, but this is nothing to worry about. The recipe is from the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box! It is a wonderful dump-and-stir cake, very easy to make. Recipes from product packages can actually be really good, since they were developed to make you want to buy more of the product. Except for this one time that my mum made this thing called Neptune Pasta Salad, and it was really horrible. But that’s neither here nor there.

Makes 2 8 or 9 inch layers, or one 13 by 9 inch sheet cake

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients with a fork. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat for at least 2 minutes, or use the KitchenAid to whip the hell out of it. You want a very smooth batter. Now beat in the boiling water, slowly to avoid splattering yourself. Pour the batter into the greased pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (longer for sheet cake).

(Pastry Fairy’s) Chocolate Ricotta Muffins

These are the less-sinful relatives of the Cheeseboard Chocolate Cake. Ricotta cheese is the secret ingredient, which provides richness, fluffiness, and tenderness. The chocolate flavor is intense, and they aren’t overly sweet. Cold milk is essential. This recipe is from the delightful Sunlight Café, by Mollie Katzen, from which I get all of my brunch menus.

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups milk (lowfat, nonfat, any kind)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients, including chocolate chips, well. Whisk milk, ricotta, eggs, and vanilla until well beaten. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, along with the melted butter, and mix just until incorporated – a little flour in the bottom of the bowl is fine. Above all, don’t overmix. Scoop into greased muffin tins; I like using an ice cream scoop for this. It makes twelve muffins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes; let cool slightly.

Pastry Fairy’s Recipes

Most bakers in the house have probably noticed a well put together, well used binder of recipes on our cookbook shelf, written by someone called The Pastry Fairy. Jessica Grist (that’s her real name, though she actually was referred to as Pastry Fairy while she lived here) compiled that binder of her favorite baked goods to make for us Shermanites. She was infamous for her Pear Polenta Upside Down Cake and Chocolate Ricotta Muffins, among other things. Since so many of us are leaving, I thought I’d post these recipes on the Sherman Bakes blog so we can make them from our new (or old) homes. These are the same recipes that appear in the binder, complete with her notes.

Outrageous Triple Chocolate Cookies

When we have white chocolate chips in the house, I know it’s time to pull out this recipe. If it seems at all familiar, it has been stuck on the cupboard by the mixer for about a year and a half- I think I was making them for a football game once and it has been there ever since. I first found it in a Betty Crocker cookbook my first semester in Sherman (Fall 05!) That’s Ketti, the former maintenance manager, bowing to me, holding one of these very cookies. Yeah, they’re that good.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chocolate chips
• 2 sticks softened butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat is fine- woo! slight amount of healthiness!)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts. Or substitute 1 cup dried cranberries.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 trays with parchment paper.
• Melt 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips. Allow to cool, but not harden.
• Cream butter, brown sugar, vanilla in electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Beat in eggs, melted chocolate until light and fluffy.
• Add flour, baking soda, salt.
• Mix in remaining 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips, 1 cup white chocolate chips, and nuts/cranberries.
• Drop onto baking sheet, bake for 12-14 minutes (or more, depending on size of cookie.) Centers will appear soft and moist. Cool for 2-3 minutes, remove to wire rack.

Walnut Orange Olive Oil Spice Cake

Phew! That’s a mouthful! I found this on “Luvin Spoonfuls” and made it a couple of days ago, and it turned out quite well. The olive oil disappears into the background; the spices have a more prominent role. Very coffee-cakey;  perfect for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups olive oil
• 1 cup milk or plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (3 small oranges)
• zest of 2 oranges
• 1/4 cup cognac (optional)
• 2 cups flour (or 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup semolina, if we have it)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt

(for the cinnamon walnut topping)

• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts for topping (optional)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 and lightly oil either the 12 inch round pan or 13x9 rectangular pan.
• Mix the dry ingredients and make a well in the center
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Add remaining wet ingredients and the zest. Whisk together
• Add the wet into the dry ingredients and fold to combine. Pour into prepared pan.
• Pour the walnut, sugar, cinnamon mixture onto the cake batter.
• Bake for about 40 minutes to an hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown

Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate ganache may have a fancy name, but it’s really nothing fancy at all. It’s quite simple- a two ingredient affair, and more forgiving than melting chocolate on the stove, since there’s no risk of burning the chocolate. You can change these basic proportions if you want a thicker or thinner chocolate sauce. If you don’t like what you see, add a little more cream or some more chocolate. If the chocolate refuses to melt all the way, put the pan over low heat and stir for a minute. Ganache following these proportions will harden as it cools, making it an ideal middle layer for cakes. It’s also tasty poured on brownies!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup manufacturing or heavy cream
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

• Pour the cream into a small saucepan. Place over low flame, and heat until it almost boils.
• Remove from heat, and add chocolate chips. Stir until melted.

Angela’s Chocolate Cake

I can't take any credit for popularizing this cake; it is from the recipe files of one Angela Dixie Lynch, where it is entitled “Gayle's Chocolate Cake”. Since I don't know Gayle, it has now become known, at least around Sherman, as Angela's Chocolate Cake.

This is the recipe I usually make when people want chocolate cake for their birthdays. It's good. Really good. Very rich (anything with two sticks of butter tends to be pretty rich) but totally worth the calories. A buttercream (powdered sugar/ milk/ butter/ vanilla) frosting is good, but don't use too much- the cake itself is already quite sweet. Cream cheese frosting works well too. Or chocolate ganache. Mmmmm.... cake....

• 2 cups flour (all purpose, whole wheat, or a mix)

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)

• 1 cup water

• 2 eggs

• 3 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Instructions:

• Mix dry ingredients together. Set aside.

• Place the butter in the water and melt (on stove or in microwave.)

• Add butter/water, eggs, vanilla to dry ingredients. Mix well.

• Grease pan(s.) Bake at 350 for 20-35 minutes (in the 12 inch round pan, the 13x9 glass pan, or two 9 inch round pans. It will probably take longer to cook if you use a big pan. You'll know it's done when a toothpick (or fork) comes out clean (a few tiny crumbs are okay.)

• Cool in pan for at least 15 minutes, then remove to rack. Cool completely before frosting. This is important, unless you want a cake that looks like a landslide.

Granola

Some granola recipes just don’t make sense to me. A healthy homemade breakfast cereal isn’t healthy anymore if it’s made with a stick of butter or cups of sugar. I found this recipe for granola that uses applesauce instead of oil or butter here, and adapted it slightly. Each batch makes 1 Sherman size tray. I usually double or triple it. It involves minimal extra effort, and if you’re lucky, some will still be left the next morning for you to have for breakfast!

Ingredients

• ¾ cup plain applesauce

• ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup)

• ¾ cup brown sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp ginger

• pinch cardamom

• ¾ tsp salt

• 3 ½ cups rolled oats

• 2 cups Rice Krispies (or additional 2 cups oats)

• ½ cup shredded coconut

• Up to 1 ½ cups chopped nuts (almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, etc.)

• Up to 1 cup dried fruit (add after baking!)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. (Sherman: 1 large sheet per batch).

• Mix together sugar, applesauce, honey, vanilla, spices.

• Stir in oats, cereal nuts (NOT fruit.)

• Bake for 15 minutes, then move/turn pan(s). Bake for 15 more minutes.

• Remove from oven, use a large spatula to carefully turn over all the granola. Remove any pieces that are burnt/ already done (save aside the done bits, and compost the burnt ones. Sadly, making granola often involves casualties). Replace in oven for 15 more minutes (so 45 minutes total baking time.) DON'T abandon your granola! There's a fine line between perfectly toasted and burnt granola, so keep an eye on it for this final 15 minutes! Rotate pans as needed. When it's done, it should be lightly toasted. It's okay if some of the bigger clumps are kind of soft. They'll harden as the granola rests. Add fruit, and allow to cool. Store.

Sherman Bakes

I was inspired by Melody’s email about her baking blog today. With so many delicious treats being churned out in this house, we should have a place to record what worked and what didn’t - what was eaten within minutes, and what was left until morning (generally not a good sign around here.) A place to share our favorite recipes, so future Shermanites can enjoy them, even when we are gone. Any Sherman folks who want to contribute are encouraged to- shoot me an email with your gmail address and I will add you to the list. This will be a much more useful resource if it is a cooperative effort!