Key Lime Pie

I am firmly and unwaveringly Team Pie. And when my birthday rolls around, I always request a key lime pie. It is, simply, the best! And while it is not my birthday for several months, I made this pie this past weekend and it was glorious. I used pre-crushed graham crumbs (by Honey Maid). I used the rest of a box I had on hand and since I had closer to 2 cups of crumbs instead of 1 1/2 cups, I upped the butter amount from 7 tablespoons to 8. It came out fine. I had lime juice from Whole Foods, which meant I didn't have any actual limes to zest, so I ended up putting in two teaspoons of Penzey's orange peel instead. A bit untraditional, but did not affect the flavor of the pie in a bad way, in fact I kind of like the flecks it created on the pie. Deb says you can use anywhere between 3-5 egg yolks so I used four. The result was a really tart, really smooth, really perfect key lime pie.

Butterscotch pudding

I am not a huge pudding fan but part of the reason I am keeping this recipe archive is to challenge myself to try new things, so I made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

I used whole milk, light brown sugar instead of dark brown, and 3 teaspoons of vanilla instead of two (I overpoured). I followed the directions exactly, though my cooking of the butter and sugar did not really turn into a paste - I was scared of burning it as Deb warns. As I stirred in the milk, the pudding came together really well. There were no lumps and it was smooth. I poured it into six small cups to firm up in the fridge.

After dinner, I sampled one. A skin had formed on top of the pudding - which I hate! I should have covered each cup with parchment before putting in the fridge. The pudding was much more pale than Deb's version, which makes sense, considering I used light brown sugar. However, I was most surprised to find that a few scattered lumps had formed in the pudding. Not so much to make it inedible, but enough to interrupt the smoothness of the pudding.

The flavor was good, but definitely not "butterscotchy" enough. If I make this again I will definitely try it with dark brown sugar as directed.

Fig and Pecan Biscotti

I am posting the link to this recipe here since I followed it exactly (except for using pecans instead of walnuts, which is what I had on hand). Getting totally swamped at work means I have no time to type out recipes lately! These are delicious, though; my first attempt at biscotti but definitely not my last.

NEW YEAR'S EDITION: spanakopita, fudgy brownies, and blueberry cornmeal cake

I don't think I have the time or the talent to thoroughly explain the importance of spankopita  to Greek culture. It's like trying to explain apple pie's significance to American culture! Anyway. I have spent the greater part of my adult life baking and cooking but had yet to make a pita. Our family eats pita throughout the year but especially on New Year's Day (we do a spinach pita instead of a sweet vasilopita but the idea is the same. Actually I think most Vlachs/Macedo-Romanians - certainly in my family, anyway - do a spanakopita on Jan 1). Anyway: I kind of cheated on this one because my mom made the dough, and then told me how to assemble the filling - a combination of spinach, feta, whole-fat cottage cheese, eggs, and salt and pepper - and then showed me how to construct the whole thing in the baking pan (including the "proper" way to roll out the dough - who knew?) and the result was a crispy, chewy, PERFECT pita: 

 

So, basically: I don't have the ingredient list for this. But I will SOON. Mom promised to supervise on another pita - one where I do all the dough, filling and assembling myself. So stay tuned :)

However I did throw together a batch of fudgy brownies, with a recipe cut-out from the side of a bag of King Arthur flour. They were absolutely decadent but I overcooked them by probably 5 minutes (I shut the oven off when the timer went off, and purposefully left the brownies there to firm up just a little but then I forgot they were in there!)

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups cocoa (recipe calls for Dutch-processed but I used the Trader Joe's cocoa and it was still decadent)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9 x 13" pan.

In a saucepan, melt the butter., then add sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just till it's hot, but not bubbling; it will become shiny as you stir it. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl.

Stir in cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Add the eggs, beating until smooth, then add the flour and chips, beating until well-combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies for 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out dry (though it may have a few crumbs sticking to it). The brownies should feel set at both edges and center. After 5 minutes out of the oven, run a knife along the edges. Cool completely before cutting and serving.
  

And since I was feeling extra fancy (read: crazy) and since we had a New Year's guest, I woke up on Jan 1 with the idea that we needed some kind of breakfast "cake" to go with our vasilopita. We were lucky to have a big container of blueberries and just enough cornmeal, so I made Smitten Kitchen's excellent Blueberry Cornmeal Butter Cake from page 245 of her cookbook. I upped the amount of lemon zest (Deb only lists 1/4 teaspoon - why??), used Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, and cooked it in a round glass pie plate instead of an 8" square pan and it came out so good it was gone in less than 24 hours! But alas, I did not get a photo of it before it was all eaten up :(

Since I am lazy: here are pictures of the recipe from the book:

CHRISTMAS EDITION: peanut butter blossoms, cranberry tart, gingerbread cake

I think one of my favorite holiday traditions is baking peanut butter blossom cookies. They are not even particularly holiday-ish but for some reason I only make them at Christmastime. I use the recipe printed on the Hershey Kisses bag and they come out perfect every.single.time. This year I actually made two batches - kept one, and then brought one to a friend's house for a party - and will be making a third to send to my uncle who loves them. A crowd-pleaser for sure. 

48 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (the "fake" stuff, i.e Jiff or Skippy, seems to work best)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Add sugars; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll in the granulated sugar; placed on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a Kiss into the center of each cookie.

The.Best.

One of my perennial favorite desserts is Ina Garten's Cranberry and Apple Cake from "How Easy is That?" It's been on my baking rotation since receiving the book a few years ago. It is perfectly tart and perfectly acceptable to also eat for breakfast :)

12 oz fresh cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/8 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

In an electric mixer, beat eggs on medium-high for 2 minutes. On medium, add a cup of granulated sugar, butter, vanilla, and sour cream (or yogurt) and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly add flour and salt.

Pour fruit mixture into 10" glass pie plate. Pour batter over fruit, covering it completely. Combine remaining tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temp.

Not the best photo.

But delicious any time of day.

And...I also made this cake. I am too lazy to type out this recipe because I followed it exactly. It tasted as described here but made in the springform pan I actually think it was too dense. The flavor was good and though I am not normally a fan of icing, this icing really did compliment the cake very well. If I make it again I would halve the recipe and cook it in a regular cake pan because it was just just a little too hefty otherwise. Here's photographic evidence that I actually made the cake though: