January 25, 2012: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread

Zucchini bread may sound healthy, but other than the nutritional value of the veggie, it doesn’t have any fewer calories or fat content than any other type of sweet bread. Still, it’s quite yummy – especially with the addition of chocolate chips.

Zucchini Bread

3 cups flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 eggs

1 ¾ cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups peeled, grated zucchini (about 1 large or 2 small)

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

½ cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips; you could certainly add about 1 cup more if you’re a chocolate lover)

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.

In medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another larger bowl, beat eggs until light in color. Gradually add sugar and continue beating. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, nuts, chocolate chips, and lemon zest.*

Fold in dry ingredients until combined and then pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees 50 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Remove bread from pans to cool on wire rack.

*If you have a stand mixer, just mix all ingredients at once, starting with the wet ingredients and adding the chocolate chips and nuts after combining the rest of the recipe.

December 29, 2011: Black Forest Bundt Cake Recipe

I wanted to make a really special dessert for Christmas and I knew that everyone in the family loved chocolate. Me? Not so much. But a Black Forest cake is a way to please everyone, including myself. I found a recipe for Black Forest Bars in an old cookbook but since it called for an odd-sized pan, I decided to adapt it for a Bundt cake pan. And since I couldn’t find any kirsch liqueur at the grocery store, I decided to use almond flavoring, which goes really well with cherries and chocolate. The result is this recipe, which is quite delish; the bottom crust layer adds another texture to make it extra special.

Black Forest Bundt Cake

Shortbread Crust:

¾ cup almond meal

2 T. sugar

½ t. baking powder

6 T. butter, chilled

Cake:

3 eggs, separated

¼ cup warm water

1 t. almond extract

½ cup sugar

¾ cup sifted flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ t. baking powder

1 can cherry pie filling

1 t. amaretto

Cream Filling:

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

2 t. amaretto

¼ cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare crust by blending together almond meal, sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles fine meal. Pat mixture into 9” round cake pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

To make cake, beat together egg yolks and water until foamy. Add almond extract and sugar; beat until thick and pale. Mix together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder; pour into sifter. Gradually sift into egg yolk mixture, folding in while sifting. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold into batter. Pour batter into bundt cake that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray with flour. Bake at 375 degrees 15 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove to rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely; cut in half horizontally to make two layers.

To prepare cream filling, whip cream until peaks form. Add amaretto and powdered sugar and continue to beat until stiff.

Mix one teaspoon amaretto into cherry pie filling.

To assemble cake, carefully turn crust pan upside down over serving plate and tap bottom to release crust. Spread cherry pie filling over crust. Place bottom layer of cake on top of cherry pie filling. Spread 2/3 of whipped cream filling over cake, place top layer of cake on top of whipped cream. Place remaining whipped cream in a pastry bag with decorative tip and pipe rosettes on top of cake. Refrigerate until serving.

Serves 12 – 16

December 22, 2011: New Mexican Brunch Cake Recipe

Are you looking for something to serve the troops while they eagerly wait for Christmas dinner to be done? This brunch cake just might fit the bill. It’s very filling (okay, not so nutritious, but calorie counting can wait until after the New Year) and makes a very elegant presentation. I like the fact that it uses piñon nuts, which can be found throughout New Mexico and Arizona in the fall. And if you're looking for a unique dish, rest assured that this is a recipe you aren't likely to find anywhere else.

Tip: Look for piñon nuts in a specialty store or next to the other nuts in a grocery store. You may have to order them online.

New Mexican Brunch Cake

2 cups flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 cup sour cream

½ cup piñon nuts, roasted

½ cup sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup white chocolate (chips or bar)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together dry ingredients. Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with an electric mixer after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Alternately add dry ingredients and sour cream, beating well.

Spread half o batter in greased 9-inch Bundt pan. Combine nuts, ½ cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle mixture over batter. Carefully spread remaining batter on top.

Bake for 45 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan, cool on rack. Melt chocolate and white chocolate separately in the microwave. Drizzle each from the tip of a spoon to decorate top of cake.

Serves 10

December 20, 2011: Homemade Irish Cream Recipe

Here’s another adult beverage very popular around the holidays that’s easy to make yourself (much less expensive, too) and enjoy while sitting around the fireplace on Christmas Eve. It’s not recommended that you give this one as a gift because of the raw eggs (in fact, it’s safer to use pasteurized eggs if you don’t have fresh from the coop eggs like I do; do be aware of health concerns related to raw eggs).

Irish Cream Liqueur

1 ¾ cup Irish whiskey (good quality)

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup whipping cream

4 eggs

2 T. chocolate flavored syrup

2 t. instant coffee

1 t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Serve chilled. Do not store leftovers; drink the same day.

Makes 5 cups

December 9, 2011: Snickerdoodles Recipe

One thing I absolutely adore about the holiday season is that it gives me the license to do baking, lots of baking. I always make fruit breads, pies, a special pastry (one year I made Christmas stollen – man, that was time consuming but yummy), and cookies. Always lots and lots of cookies. Perhaps the favorite cookie I make each year, outside of sugar cookies, is snickerdoodles.

When I make cookies for Christmas, I always turn to my collection of vintage cookbooks – they have THE best recipes as well as really cute pictures. Here’s the one I use to make snickerdoodles.

Snickerdoodles

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 ¾ cups flour

2 t. cream of tartar

1 t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

1 ½ T sugar

1 ½ T. cinnamon

Cream butter; add one cup sugar gradually. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Shape into balls using one level teaspoonful of dough; roll in combined sugar and cinnamon. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees about 8 minutes (cookies should not be brown so watch carefully). Makes about 5 dozen.

By the way, it’s the cream of tartar in this recipe that keeps these cookies soft. But they’ll only stay soft a couple days so if you’re making them in advance, pack them in an airtight container and freeze.

December 8, 2011: My Mom’s Best Cutout Cookies Recipe

I recently got a letter (in the mail! – when’s the last time you got one of those?) from my Aunt Tillie in Wisconsin. She and Uncle Wayne visited us during the summer and of course, I had to feed them (not that I had to, but wanted to as I really enjoy playing hostess).

According to her letter, Aunt Tillie remembers the yummy limeade I made for her (she wants the recipe) and the pot I used to serve my mom’s macaroni salad recipe in (unfortunately, it’s a Desco coated cast iron Dutch oven that is no longer available). But along with her nice little note, she included a pair of hot pads she made and the recipe she uses to make “cutout” cookies (sugar cookies cut into shapes) each and every year because it’s the best. She got the recipe from my mom in the 60s and, in fact, there's a little handwritten note on the page that says "use this one always - no other as good".

It was so neat to find a copy of her original recipe in the letter from Aunt Tillie. I remember making these cookies with my mom but I never got the recipe before she died so I’m very thankful to my aunt for giving me something as invaluable as that.

Go ahead and give this recipe a try and see if it won’t end up being the one you make year after year, without fail.

I'm not the world's best decorator (I don't have the patience) but all that really matters is how the cookies taste (yummy!).

Dorothy’s Cutout Cookies

2 1/3 cups flour

2 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

Mix together dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, beating with a spoon until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and combine. Refrigerate dough at least two hours, or overnight, before cutting into shapes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bonus Recipe: Cutout Cookie Frosting

When making cookies with my mom, we never measured ingredients for frosting. This is the gist of the recipe:

In a deep mixing bowl, pour in about 2 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar. Add about 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a tablespoon of milk. Beat with hand mixer on high, adding more sugar, if necessary, to make a stiff icing.