Roasted Cherry (or Berry) Dutch Baby with Caramel Sauce

After doing seven hours of cardio in the past five days plus snowboarding and tubing for several hours yesterday, I woke up this morning needing something sugary and full of carbs and calories. Luckily for me, TheKitchn.com had posted a recipe for Dutch Babies (or Pannekoene if you actually want to be fancy and call it by it's Dutch name) with cherries and caramel sauce earlier this week. Because I didn't have any frozen cherries, I used about a cup of frozen blueberries and it worked wonderfully! This recipe isn't quick --it took almost an hour from start to finish-- it's definitely worth the effort! I also don't have a cast iron pan big enough, so I just used an oven safe skillet. Some people commented on the original post that enamel cast iron pots work, too.

PS According to the recipe, it serves 8. I have already eaten half and I'm contemplating more. Keep that in mind if you are trying to serve several people.

I love TheKitchn not only for its recipes, but because their food is always so perfectly photographed!

Roasted Cherry Dutch Baby with Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Sauce
Serves 8

For the Dutch Baby:
1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (2 oz) white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (6 oz) whole or 2% milk
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12- or 16-oz bag frozen sweet cherries
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter

For the Sauce:
2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt

Heat the oven to 425°F.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor or blender and pulse several times to combine. Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla and blend continuously for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides, and blend continuously for another 10 seconds or until there are no more lumps and the batter is frothy. Let the batter stand in the blender for 15-20 minutes to give the flour time to absorb the liquids.

Meanwhile, toss the cherries with the brown sugar. Scatter them in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or other oven-safe dish of similar size. Roast for 18-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cherries look wrinkled and their juices have turned syrupy.

Add the butter to the cherries and return the skillet to the oven for 2-3 minutes to melt the butter. Stir the melted butter into the cherries. Whiz the pancake batter to froth it up again and pour it immediately over the cherries. Don't stir.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. When finished, the edges of the pancake should be domed and turn deep brown while the middle should look puffed and golden. The dark cherry juices will make the edges look nearly burnt, but continue cooking until the middle looks done.

While the pancake is baking, prepare the sauce. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted, and let the butter and sugar come to a boil. Off the heat, whisk in the cream, cinnamon, and salt. Return to heat and let the sauce come back to a boil. Immediately remove the pan from heat and set the sauce aside.

Serve the dutch baby as soon as it has finished baking. Drizzle some sauce over the entire pancake and then divide it into eight wedges. Serve with extra sauce on the side.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes ~Molly

While searching for the perfect St. Patrick's Day recipes, I kept finding recipes for cupcakes with Guinness. It sounded gross, but I figured if so many sites were posting recipes, they must not be half bad. So, I stopped by Fred Meyer today on my way home from class to buy some Guinness (I swear it's only for the cupcakes, Mom, I wouldn't dream of drinking any). I've already eaten three. Two weren't even frosted because I couldn't wait long enough to let them cool. Don't judge. 


I found my recipe (and the picture) here:  http://theculinarychronicles.com/2011/03/09/chocolate-stout-cupcakes-with-irish-cream-buttercream-slainte/


But, then I realized the recipe was originally posted here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/, only with a ganache filling. I will be trying that next time.

For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling 

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting

3 to 4 cups confections sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue

3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

Grasshopper Brownie Bars ~Molly

I made these for Christmas Eve and they are soooo good! The creme de menthe doesn't cook out, like it would with a pie, so these probably aren't a great thing to take to a church potluck, school bake sale, or AA meeting. Mom has now eaten several and is claiming that she wants to "get a little drunk".  Merry Christmas everyone!

*I didn't take this, I stole it from epicurious.com. Maybe if Sarah were here helping me, I'd have my own picture.

For brownie layer

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 10 1/2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not extra-bitter or unsweetened and no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

For mint ganache

• 1/2 cup heavy cream**
• 10 oz fine-quality white chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons green crème de menthe
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

For chocolate ganache

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 10 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

Make brownie layer*:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a 13- by 9-inch baking pan and line with 2 crisscrossed sheets of foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides. Butter foil.

Melt butter and chocolate with brown sugar in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined. Whisk in flour, cocoa, and salt until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake until set and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs adhering, about 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make mint ganache:
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over white chocolate in a bowl. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Stir in crème de menthe and extract and chill, covered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 1 hour.

Make chocolate ganache:
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over bittersweet chocolate in a bowl. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Chill, covered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 30 minutes.

Assemble layers:
Spread mint ganache over top of cooled brownie in a thin even layer using offset spatula, then chill until firm but still slightly sticky, about 30 minutes.

Spread chocolate ganache over mint and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Lift dessert out of pan using foil overhang. Run a heavy knife under hot water and wipe dry, then trim edges of dessert (1/4 inch off each side). Cut dessert into squares and peel from foil.

*If you don't want to make your own brownies, I'm sure the kind out of the box would work just fine. This recipe makes enough batter for a 13x9 pan, though, so for box brownies you will have more ganache than you need.

**I didn't think the mint ganache was minty enough so I used probably closer to a 1/4 cup of creme de menthe. I didn't reduce my heavy cream at all, though so it didn't set up as much as it should have. When I make this again, I'll probably use about 1/3 cup of heavy cream instead.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grasshopper-Squares-233300

Salmon & Pasta Primavera ~ by D'Lynn

1 1/2 tsp Dill Weed
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Minced Onion
1/2 tsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Thyme Leaves
8 oz of Linguine Pasta
1 LB of cooked Salmon
4 1/2 Cups assorted cut-up, fresh, vegetables
1 Cup heavy Cream
3/4 Cup of Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 TBSP Butter
1/2 tsp salt

Cook Salmon. I put a large fillet on a double layer of foil on the BBQ grill, usually 7 min/inch of Salmon thickness. I shut the grill off and let it sit a bit to cool. Then I flip it onto a plate, peel the fish skin off, and then cut the Salmon into chunks.

Cook pasta in a large saucepan as directed on the package, add the fresh vegetables the last 3-4 minutes of cooking. Drain Well.

While Pasta is cooking, add remaining ingredients, except cheese into a saucepan. Heat it slowly to boiling, stirring constantly to make sure cream doesn't scald. Once it reaches boiling, reduce to simmer and add the cheese, continue stirring so that it doesn't all stick to the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes.

Add pasta and veggies to sauce and fold together until sauce is evenly distributed through the dish. Turn out into a pasta bowl or plate and add the salmon, mix this in evenly.

*I opted for fresh broccoli and marinated artichoke hearts, but carrots, peas, and red bell peppers are nice additives as well. You may also use 1lb of shrimp, scallops, etc. for the seafood portion of the meal.

Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Ganache ~ by Molly

 This is a recipe I found on FoodNetwork.com several years ago and make constantly (mostly because Sarah demands it!). While the recipe is long and has several steps, it's still easy and can be made with things that are usually already on-hand. I copied the recipe from the website, but I usually make a few changes to it. I like to add a brick of cream cheese to the frosting and increase the amount of powdered sugar to make it the right consistency. I also use 2 bittersweet or semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips. It's better quality chocolate and sometimes chocolate chips have additives that make them harder to melt. I also usually use either 8 or 9 inch pans (depending on what's in the kitchen) and increase the time to at least 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 3 cups packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil (olive oil is okay, too)
• 3 eggs
• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/8 cups cocoa powder

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, soft
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Ganache:

• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil 3 (10-inch) cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternately, oil the pans and then flour them.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the brown sugar and oil. Turn on the mixer to a low speed and mix in the eggs. Let the sugar, oil, and eggs mix while sifting together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Set this mixture aside.

In another small bowl, mix the vanilla into the milk and set this aside as well. Bring the water to a boil and pour over the cocoa and whisk it until it is smooth. To the egg mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture beginning and ending with flour. With the mixer off, scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. With the mixture at a low speed add the cocoa. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pour this mixture into the prepared cake pans. Bake the cake for approximately 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean. When cake layers have cooled, remove from pans and refrigerate until cold.

To make the frosting: In an electric mixing bowl place the soft butter and beat it on a low speed while adding powdered sugar. When all the sugar is mixed in, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the vanilla and salt and let the mixer beat for 5 to 7 minutes on a medium speed. Fill and frost the cake and refrigerate it for 10 to 20 minutes to set up the frosting.

To make the ganache: In a heatproof bowl, place the chocolate chips and the corn syrup. Bring the heavy cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk it until smooth then set it aside.Pour ganache over the top of the cake and, with a cake spatula, smooth the top of the cake and allow ganache to spill over the sides. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or longer.