Vanilla Cupcakes

 This recipe is from Food and Wine, as a part of a recipe for Vanilla Cupcake Ice Cream Sandwiches. The recipe itself is for cupcakes, but it instructs you to slice off the cupcake top to use as a sweet bun for an ice cream sandwich (and save the cupcake bottoms for some other use...lol). I made this for Arkasha’s birthday because I wanted a recipe that would only make a dozen cupcakes and that had an easy number of ingredients and steps that the little ones could help with the baking. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 2/3 cup whole milk 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 3/4 cup sugar 
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature 
• 1 pint pistachio ice cream or sorbet, slightly softened
  

  Directions

  • Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 325°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the milk with the vanilla.

  • Step 2

    In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed, scraping down the bowl once or twice, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. At medium-low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture in 3 alternating additions until smooth. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into each prepared cup.

  • Step 3

     Bake the cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour.

  • Step 4

    Working with 1 cupcake at a time, peel off the liner. Turn the cupcake top side down in the palm of one hand, cover with the other hand and gently twist off the cake top. Reserve the cupcake bottom for another use. Arrange the top smooth side down on a platter. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. Freeze the tops for 1 hour.

  • Step 5

    Spread 1/4 cup of the ice cream onto each of 6 cupcake tops. Close the sandwiches with the remaining cupcake tops and gently press together. Freeze for 30 minutes before serving.

  Make Ahead

  The ice cream sandwiches can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 1 week. Let soften at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

My thoughts:

1. As cupcakes, these were pretty dense, and I wouldn’t make again. Tasted yummy, but definitely needed frosting (I merely used icing) or milk or ice cream or something. 

2. I would be intrigued to use these as “buns” for an ice cream sandwich, though. Maybe in the summer!

Hazelnut Chocolate Monkey Bread

 Made this recipe from the Breakfast Stars series from Martha. I loved the banana bread recipe, and this recipe looked fabulous, so decided to give it a shot. 

We made monkey bread even more irresistible. Nutella takes this pull-apart treat to an extra level of deliciousness. The chocolate-hazelnut spread is layered throughout. When serving for breakfast, make the dough the night before and set it in the fridge, then bring to room temperature and bake. Or make it the day of and serve for elevenses. 

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package) 
• 1/2 cup plus a pinch granulated sugar 
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted separately, plus more for brushing and pan 
• 1 cup whole milk 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 2 large eggs, room temperature 
• 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/4 cups hazelnut-chocolate spread, such as Nutella, melted in microwave 
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar 
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions

• Step 1

  In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment, combine yeast, 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees), and pinch of granulated sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Beat on low speed while adding 1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter, milk, salt, remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and eggs. Slowly add flour while beating until mixture just comes together. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until dough is soft and elastic, 5 minutes.

• Step 2

  Lightly brush a large bowl with butter. Place dough in bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place and let rise until dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours (or refrigerate overnight).

• Step 3

  Generously butter a 10-inch Bundt pan. Drizzle bottom with 1/4 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread. Place remaining 1 stick melted butter in a bowl. In another bowl, stir together brown sugar and cinnamon.

• Step 4

  Deflate dough; divide into quarters. Working with one piece of dough at a time, and keeping remaining pieces covered in plastic, cut off 1-inch pieces with a sharp knife; roll into balls. Coat each in melted butter, then roll in sugar mixture; place in prepared pan. Drizzle evenly with 1/4 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread. Repeat 3 more times. Cover with plastic; let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 60 to 90 minutes. (You can also refrigerate the assembled pan overnight; bring to room temperature 1 hour before baking.)

• Step 5

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until bread feels firm when pressed lightly and is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes; invert onto a serving plate and let cool completely. (If any pieces stick to pan, just pull out and arrange back in place.) To serve, pull apart, or cut into slices with a serrated knife.

  
  

My thoughts: 

1. I added the mild solids leftover from making ghee into the bread dough just to see if it would give it a more butter-y taste. Wasn’t appreciable in the final product.

2. I used Justin’s Hazelnut-Almond chocolate spread, didn’t really measure the 1.25 cup amount. In  fact the entire reason I decided to make this recipe was in order to use up the jar, which expired last year. It melted down into a thin consistency enough to drizzle but it hardened fast too. However in terms of final sweetness, it was perfect for me— I think Nutella might have been too sweet with all the brown sugar in the coating. However, Nutella may have made for a less dry cake. 

3. I did the double overnight rise, and it worked. I would happily do it again that way if I had fridge space for it. I didn’t have a Bundt pan so I used a 9x13 pan, which ended up working out. Perhaps the balls weren’t super smooshed together so the “pull apart” stretchiness didn’t happen— more like balls stuck together. There were only two real layers of balls because of the pan shape. They puff a bit more in the oven. It was done closer to 35 minutes because of the pan shape. 

4. The assembly part is messy and lengthy. I melted the butter in a small pot, and kept it in there, which I would do again. Rolling them into balls takes a while, and the melted butter has to be cool enough that the dough doesn’t melt from the heat but still melted... so I had to put butter back on stove a few times. I mixed the brown sugar and cinnamon in an overlarge bowl which I would also do again so as to have room for tossing around in the mix. Next time I would try to be more assembly line-like about it— roll a ton of balls, then dip and coat and drizzle... but I’m sure it’ll still be messy. I definitely poured any leftover butter and sugar on top. 

5. Yummy, but I wouldn’t necessarily make again unless I was trying to feed a crowd. It’s not really a bread that keeps well. But I don’t think I’d buy Nutella or anything specifically to make this recipe. 

Lentil Quinoa Salad

 Made this and thought it was pretty serveable!

Base: 

Shredded cabbage

Mint, chopped fine

Lemon 

Cauliflower

Butternut squash

Zucchini 

Avocado

Bellpepper (ideally yellow or red)

Hummus

Labneh 

Halloumi (baked at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes ish brushed with olive oil)

Lentil-Quinoa mix - 3/4 cup red lentils, 1/2 cup quinoa, 3ish cups water, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp each onion and garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp red pepper flakes (I used smoked paprika), bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer then when cooked add 2 TBSP chopped parsley and one thinly sliced green onion. 

Assembly:

Cabbage tossed with the mint and a few squeezes of lemon. Maybe can mix in leftover oil from roasted veggies. 

Hummus mixed on top. 

Roasted Veggies heaped on top (zucchini, cauliflower, butternut squash) and raw veggies (bellpepper, maybe cucumber), then scoop the lentil and quinoa, top with halloumi, then green onions, labneh, then paprika or sesame seeds. 

Chakkarai Pongal

 Made this recipe from Subbhu’s kitchen. 

https://www.subbuskitchen.com/sakkarai-pongal/

My thoughts:

1. I did about 2 cups of jaggery. Would do the full 2.5 cups next time because it could’ve been sweeter.

2. I would change the parrupu to dal ratio to closer to 50/50. I thought it was super rice-y. 

3. I followed the recipe exactly for making the jaggery syrup (even strained it, which I would do again to get rid of any any unmelted jaggery lumps). I also added the milk, which I liked. 

4. I used 1/2 tsp of preground cardamom and just a pinch of pachai kalpurAm. Next time would either add more preground cinnamon or consider grinding fresh. 

5. I liked the taste that jaggery gives and would try this recipe again with adjustments! 

Reduced Fat Oatmeal Raisin cookies

 Made this recipe out of curiosity. A colleague had made them and everyone had raved about them (although I don’t think I had one at the time, come to think of it). I did get the recipe from her and was intrigued by the method of using raisin pulp and cooking the butter and oats together. I’ve kept it for years and finally decided to try them out. 

My notes: 

1. I used table salt, a combo of APP and WWPF, and other wise followed the recipe exactly. 

2. They spread quite a bit so 6 to a pan was sufficient, as was 10ish or so minutes in the oven. 

3. Verdict: if I cared more about reduced fat, perhaps I’d make again, but the truth is these underwhelmed me. They’re a little too sticky, and not deep enough for me. So I probably won’t make again unless TK tells me that he looooved them. 

My pics 

Tartine Granola Bark

I made the recipe exactly
1. I used fresh shredded unsweetened coconut
2. I used fake vanilla instead of real
3. I used table salt
4. I accidentally added the salt to the oat mix and not the liquid mix but it Mattered not
5. I used 130 g of maple syrup. (She gave a range in her book)
6. I used already roasted whole flaxseeds which may have been a mistake because I measured everything by mass and these were perhaps lighter than non toasted seeds, and therefore I ended up with more than e recipe called for
7. Came out well. I pressed it with another baking sheet (with parchment) and it really flattened down
8. Used chopped almonds and almond flour although I bet it would taste fabulous with hazelnuts.