Tag Archives: baking

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

I was shopping at the local farm stand and bakery this weekend and found a delicious treat added to their baked good selection, cinnamon sugar donut muffins. I remember seeing these featured on the Food Network not long ago , so I picked up a few muffins to sample with the family. It was so fantastic I knew I needed to figure out how to make them. After some internet research, I found that the bake shop featured on the Food Network was the Downtown Bakery and Creamery in Healdsburg, California in Sonoma Valley. They are kind enough to share their recipe which I have below. Although, baked these muffins do taste just like a fried cinnamon sugar donut. The muffin is easy to make and eating one or two will make your morning and day, if not your week!

From by the bay, wishing you cinnamon sugar food memories!

Maryann

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

Recipe from Downtown Bakery and Creamery in Healdsburg, California

12 standard size muffins

Ingredients for batter

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

3/4 cup fine granulated sugar

2 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup buttermilk

Ingredients for Topping

6 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 Degree F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Sift together in a bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside. Using an electric mixer cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating to combine. Using a wooden spoon to mix, alternate adding the flour mixture with the milk and buttermilk. Make sure everthing is throughly combined, try not to over mix. Pour the batter evenly, into each muffin tin, filling the cup almost to the top. Bake muffins in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Let cool slightly, and remove muffins from the tin. In a bowl mix the sugar and ground cinnamon together. Use a pastry brush to brush each muffin allover with the melted butter and then roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm or cooled at room temperature.

Lemon Poppyseed Plum Muffins

My grandparents would grow italian plums on their small weekend farm. We always looked forward to early fall when we would have a short but sweet time to enjoy these little purple treats. When I found them at the local farm stand, I bought a big basket of plums and tasked myself with the best way to enjoy them. This weekend, the plums were worked into a delicious lemon and poppyseed muffin. It was a delicious combination and one I’m sure you would enjoy too! Hurry and buy some italian plums before they are gone for the year.

Lemon Poppyseed Plum Muffins

12 standard size muffins

Ingredients for batter

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

3/4 cup fine granulated sugar

2 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons poppyseed

2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups plums, pitted and chopped, preferably italian plums

Preheat oven to 350 Degree F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin or use paper liner. Sift together in a bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in poppy seeds and set aside. Using an electric mixer cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating to combine. Using a wooden spoon to mix, alternate adding the flour mixture with the milk, buttermilk, and lemon zest. Add plums and combine, try not to over mix. Pour the batter evenly, into each muffin tin, filling the cup almost to the top. Bake muffins in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Let cool slightly, and remove muffins from the tin. Serve warm or cooled at room temperature.

Irish Coffee Apple Caramel Crisp

I love traditions, but sometimes we need new ones. I wanted to make a dessert that delivered just a subtle hint of Irish Coffee to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. This Irish Coffee Apple Caramel Crisp does just that! Apple and caramel is a perfect marriage of flavors. There is just a touch of coffee in this rich caramel apple filling, topped with a crunchy crumb. The crisp is covered with a cloud of irish whiskey whipped cream. It’s hard to make whipped cream taste better but using a touch of irish whiskey or bourbon does just the trick. This is the perfect topping to any dessert. When you combine all the these flavors you have a winning dessert perfect for any

celebration. You can start a new tradition too!

From by the bay wishing you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Maryann

Irish Coffee Apple Caramel Crisp

Serves 6

Ingredients

Filling

3 apples such as Gala, peeled, cored and sliced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon coffee

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

3/4 cup all purpose flour

5 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degree F. In a bowl mix all toppings ingredients together, making moist clumps. Place in refrigerator to chill. To make filling, add butter and sugar into a saute pan on medium heat until smooth sauce forms. Add coffee to pan and cook, stirring until caramel starts to thicken and foam, about 5 minutes. Add salt and then apples. Toss the apples until coated evenly about 1 minute. Divide filling between 6- 4 ounce ramekins, placed on parchment lined baking sheet. Remove topping from refrigerator and divide the crumb topping over each ramekin. Place into the oven for about 1 hour. The crisp should be golden brown and the filling bubbling. Let stand to cool for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Irish Whiskey Whipped Cream

Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon Irish Whiskey

Directions
In a large bowl whip the heavy cream into soft peaks. Add the sugar and whiskey to the cream and continue to whip into hard peaks. Place into refrigerator and serve cold. ( Do not make too far in advance, I prefer no longer than an hour).

Double Chocolate and Toffee Cookies

Sometimes, it’s my pantry that inspires an adaption of a recipe or a new combination of tastes. This cookie was inspired while exploring my pantry. I was looking at what candy and chocolate was still lingering from Christmas. Every Christmas we receive a gift of toffee with almonds and there was still quite a bit still left over , as well as various chocolate bars received as gifts in food baskets or left from the holiday cookie baking. I decided to bake cookies using the leftover sweets. The cookie dough recipe is a favorite of mine from Ina Garten, which results in a cookie that is soft inside but crispy on the edges. I tossed the toffee into a resealable plastic bag and smashed it with a meat tenderizer, a rolling pin would have worked just as well. I created essentially toffee rubble. Along with the toffee, I chopped up the chocolate into pieces the size of large chocolate chips. I like using bittersweet chocolate but any chocolate would work and the proportions could shift and change based on what sweet left overs you have around as long as you have 1 1/2 cups in total to add to the cookie batter. You can get creative with what you want to add, it could be dried fruit and chocolate or chopped nuts and chocolate instead of the toffee. Make this cookie your own, based on what you like to eat! Happy Baking!

From by the bay wishing you , sweet baking food memories!

Maryann

Double Chocolate and Toffee Cookies

Adapted from Ina Garten, “Barefoot Contessa Parties!” published in 2001

Makes 20 to 24 Cookies

Ingredients

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened ( 1 stick)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 egg

1/3 cup good unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup toffee, chopped

Directions

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl add the butter and sugars. Use an electric mixer and beat ingredients until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the then egg and beat in well. Add cocoa and mix well. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture slowly and mix at a low speed. Next add in the chopped chocolate and toffee and combine. Drop dough in rounded teaspoons of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes and remove from oven. The cookie will appear soft, let cool on the pan a few minutes and it will then take shape. Remove and cool on wire racks. Store in air tight containers.

Sage Biscuits

This past weekend, as usual, I was the first one awake and puttering around the house. It was the first really crisp, clear and chilly autumn morning. I went out for my morning jog and on my way back into the house I spied my beautiful sage plant, growing in abundance. I grabbed some sage leaves went into the house and was inspired to make these biscuits. I served them for breakfast with apple butter. They would also be great with some salted butter to accompany any autumn dinner, such as roasted pork or some beef stew, just to get you thinking. This is a really easy biscuit recipe to enjoy anytime!

From by the bay wishing you great food memories morning, noon or night!

Maryann

Sage Biscuits

Makes 12

Ingredients

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

2/3 cup buttermilk, plus extra to brush top of biscuit

2 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, sage and salt into a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until butter is pea size. Add the buttermilk and combine. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll or pat dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 12 rounds using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Place each round on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush each biscuit with some buttermilk. Place into the oven and bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes. The biscuit should be golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Rosemary Sandcake

Not long ago I was looking for a light easy dessert to complete a meal celebrating the end of summer. I stumbled on this recipe in one of my many cookbooks. The name of the cake was the first draw. I love rosemary and grow it right outside my kitchen door. Second, sand cake reminds me of the beach. As I read the recipe I was intrigued. I had never used potato starch in my baking before. I found that using the potato starch made for an interesting soft texture, that crumbles slightly but remains moist. This is one spectacular cake! It has a lovely lemony taste with just a hint of rosemary. Michael Chiarello suggests that this cake be eaten the day that you make it, so I will too, although there really was no cake left to see how it tastes the second day. I’m sure you will enjoy this cake as much as we did here by the bay.

From by the bay , wishing you sandy food memories!
Maryann

Rosemary Sandcake
Recipe: Michael Chiarello from “Casual Cooking Cookbook”IngredientsCake
Unsalted butter and unbleached all-purpose flour for the cake pan
1 1/3 cups sifted potato starch (not potato flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
3 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For serving:
Confectioners’ sugar
3 pints mixed summer berries or 6 peaches, peeled and sliced, or a combination
Granulated sugar
Lightly whipped heavy cream

Directions

Thoroughly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan with 2-inch sides. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Coat the sides of the pan with flour, shaking out the excess.Make the cake: Sift the potato starch and baking powder into a bowl. In an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the 1 cup sugar gradually, beating until well blended. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the lemon zest, rosemary, and vanilla. By hand, stir in the dry ingredients just until blended.

Beat the egg whites and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar to soft peaks. Fold half of the beaten whites into the potato starch mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, leveling it with a spatula.

Place in a cold oven and turn the thermostat to 350ºF. Bake until the cake is well risen, nicely browned, and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack, then invert onto the rack and carefully remove the parchment paper. Invert again onto a serving platter. Put the confectioner’s sugar in a sieve and dust the surface of the cake lightly with it.

Thirty minutes before serving, put the fruit in a bowl, add granulated sugar to taste, and crush the fruit with a fork until it is roughly mashed. Let it stand 30 minutes to render some juice.

Cut the cake into 12 slices. Serve a slice of cake with crushed fruit spooned over and around it and a dollop of whipped cream on the top or alongside.

Concord Grape Ice Cream

When I start to think about fall and september will do that to you, I often remember picking Concord grapes on my grandparents weekend farm. I loved the scent and color of these deep purple grapes. Concord grapes are not easy to find. They originated in the 1800’s in Concord Massachusetts. Today, these grapes are primarily found in New York, Massachusetts and the Pacific Northwest. I find them briefly in the farmer’s markets or a few specialty stores. Almost every knows this grape from Concord Grape Jelly, but I have found not many people buy these grapes fresh. I think it’s the fact that the grapes are loaded with seeds, but the delicious grape flavor is worth the trouble with the seeds.

Concord Grape Ice Cream
Makes approximately 1 1/2 quarts

Ingredients
2 pounds Concord Grapes, stemmed
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup superfine granulated sugar
pinch fine sea salt
optional: Concord Grape Jelly

Equipment: ice cream maker

Directions
Puree half the grapes in a food processor until smooth. Take a medium bowl and place over it a fine sieve, pressing the mixture into the mesh with the back of a spoon. Discard the solids remaining in the sieve. Repeat process with the remaining grapes. You should have approximately 1 1/2 cups grape juice. In a medium sauce pan place the milk, cream, sugar and salt. Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolve. Pour into bowl with the grape juice and blend. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to directions and then place in an airtight container and put into the freezer to firm up for at least 3 hours. Serve plain or melt a few tablespoons of concord grape jelly in the mircowave for 30 seconds. The jelly will turn into a syrup you can then spoon over the ice cream. Serve along with peanut butter shortbread.

Peanut Butter Shortbread
Makes 36 small cookies

Ingredients
8 tablespoons softened unsalted butter ( 1 stick)
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1 /4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

Directions
Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat the butter,sugar, vanilla and salt until creamy and light, about 2 minutes. Place mixer on low speed and add the flour. Once combined add the peanut butter and blend well. Remove from the bowl and divide the dough into two and place onto two sheets of plastic wrap. Shape each into a log about 3/4 inch thick. Wrap into the plastic and place into the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap logs and slice into 1/4 inch rounds using a serrated knife. Arrange slices onto a baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until light brown at the edges. Cool baking sheets for a minute and then transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.

Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Biscotti

With Thanksgiving over, the shift to Christmas happens immediately! We all know that it also mean’s that Santa Claus is coming to town! Santa loves himself some cookies and this one is a perfect match – big on taste and flavor. These chocolate biscotti cookies are made with almonds and dried cherries and then dipped in dark chocolate to make a delicious cookie perfect for dipping into your coffee or hot chocolate. So get your cookie trays ready because remember the the big fat man is coming……….real soon !

From by the bay, waiting to make food memories for the big fat man!
Maryann

Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Biscotti

24 cookies

1 cup dried cherries

½ cup almond slivers

½ cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon shortening (Crisco)

3 eggs

1 cup fine sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups all purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

6 oz good quality bittersweet dark chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl add dry ingredients, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix and keep to the side. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and shortening until fluffy. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs one at a time until well combined. Add vanilla until blended. Add dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix well until the dough is smooth. Using a spoon and mix in the dried cherries and almonds. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into two. Shape each half of the dough into a log approximately 2 inch high x 12 inches long. Place the logs on to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a baking rack. Place on a cutting board and using a serrated knife slice each log on the diagonal into 12 pieces approximately 1 inch thick. Place the pieces back on to the baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes, turn the slices to the other side and bake another 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Fill medium pot 1/3 with water and simmer. Add to the top of the pot a glass bowl that sits on the top of the pot to create a bain du marie. Add the chocolate and melt over the simmering water. Don’t let the water touch the glass bowl. Once the chocolate is melted use an offset spatula to cover the end of each cookie. Place chocolate on approximately 1/3 of the cookie on all sides. Allow to set at room temperature on a wire rack . You may also set in the refrigerator for a ½ hour to hasten the process. Store cookies in an air tight container.

Blackberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake

I grew up in New York City. My back yard was the hard gray pavement. Most of my childhood games were played on the sidewalk, games such as hopscotch, jump rope and stick ball. Every summer though my family would go on vacation and we would spend two glorious weeks away from the city. We would drive up to the Adirondack Mountains and stay at a cabin on Loon Lake. Much like Dorothy, my world went from Black and White to Technicolor. The cabin was in a wooded area just a short walk from the lake. The surrounding woods were filled with little paths to other cabins. Every afternoon I would take a long walks along the paths. The woods were filled with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. I would fill my pail each afternoon and return to the cabin. Many days I would return from my walk and my sisters and I would just eat the berries straight from the pail, too impatient to make them into a dessert. But on those few days that we controlled our impulses to eat those berries immediately we would stand at mom’s side and make a dessert. We kept our desserts pretty simple: pies, cobblers and crisps. The blackberries almost never lasted until the morning so I bought enough recently so that I could make this delicious coffee cake, it’s moist and slightly sweet bursting with blackberries. Even better is how easy it is to make. Picking and cooking with blackberries were some of the happiest and most delicious moments of my life.

From by the bay wishing you delicious blackberry memories!

Maryann

Blackberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

5 ounces fresh blackberries

For crumb topping

1/3 cup all purpose white flour

3 tablespoons granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces ( 1/2 stick)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a non stick 8″ square baking pan and cover bottom with a square piece of parchment paper. In a small bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix. In a medium size bowl add the oil, sugar and egg. Beat using a spoon until well combined. Slowly add the flour and buttermilk alternately, blending well after each addition. Turn batter into the greased pan. Top with the blackberries. In another bowl add the ingredients for the crumb topping and mix well using your fingers until butter is incorporated and texture is crumbly like sand. Sprinkle evenly on top of the batter. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. When cake comes out of the oven let cool 5 minutes and then loosen the sides with a knife . Let cool another 5 minutes and turn onto a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper and let cool another 10 minutes. Place on a serving plate . This is great to serve warm or at room temperature.

Raspberry Rhubarb Cobbler

There is a new favorite summer dessert here by the bay and it’s a cobbler! What makes this cobbler different is that I make little individual portions. This is the perfect combination of fruit, juice and biscuit topping. Out shopping one day, I fell in love with these little ramekins. Of course I had to own them. So when these ramekins ended up on my pantry shelf , they were just begging to be used. I went through my usual quick dessert list and cobbler seemed a natural, rolling out the dough and using my biscuit cutter to make the perfect size biscuit to place on top of my dessert. Sometimes cobbler can be too juicy and the biscuit can become soggy, but not this version. I experiment with the fruit combinations depending on availability but the tartness of rhubarb combined with sweet raspberries is our favorite. Don’t get me wrong here, no one is refusing this little gem of a dessert made with other fruits. It’s that good!

From by the bay wishing you sweet cobbler food memories!

Maryann

Raspberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Serves 6

Ingredients

Filling

2 cups chopped rhubarb

1/2 cup red raspberries

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

Biscuit topping

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

4 tablespoons buttermilk, plus extra to brush top of biscuit

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degree F. In a bowl mix all the filling ingredients together. Divide filling between 6- 4 ounce ramekins, placed on parchment lined baking sheet. To make the biscuit topping place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until butter is pea size. Add the buttermilk and combine. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll or pat dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut into 6 rounds using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Place one round on top of filling in each ramekin. Brush the top of each biscuit with buttermilk and place into the oven for about 1 hour. The biscuit should be golden brown and the filling bubbling. Let stand to cool for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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entertaining by the bay

casual cooking and living

Tag Archives: baking

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

Lemon Poppyseed Plum Muffins

Irish Coffee Apple Caramel Crisp

Sage Biscuits

Rosemary Sandcake

Directions

Blackberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake

Raspberry Rhubarb Cobbler