Apple Spiced Upside-Down Cake

 

Inspired partly by the previous recipe (Apple Walnut Bread), and partly by the fantastic Plum Upside Down Cake that I posted about last fall, I decided to do a little experimenting this weekend.  I've been desperate to make the upside-down cake again--it's simple to prepare yet rich and buttery, and when topped with caramelized fruit, I can think of few things better.  Since plums are months away from being in season, I thought I would try the cake using a fruit that never seems to go out of season: apples.  I caramelized them in butter and sugar until they were soft and syrupy, and I enhanced the batter with cinnamon and nutmeg, a pair that always complements apples.  The result, I have to say, was fantastic.  I brought it to Armchair Theatre, a monthly potluck/play reading that Erik and I often attend, and then took a page out of my dad's book and enjoyed some of the leftovers for breakfast!  For breakfast or dessert, this cake is a winner! 

Apple Spiced Upside Down Cake, (Inspired by Real Simple Magazine, August 2009)

Serves 8-10

* 3 apples, each peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges 

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus an additional tablespoon
* 1/4 cup brown sugar 
* 2/3 cup white sugar
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2/3 cup sour cream (lowfat is fine)
* 1 large egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar and the apple wedges. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the apples begin to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Arrange the apples in the cake pan in slightly overlapping concentric circles, starting from the outside. Spoon any remaining syrup over the top.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

4. With an electric mixer, beat the 1/2 cup of butter and 2/3 cup of sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, sour cream, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.

5. Pour the batter over the apples (you'll have to use a spatula to spread it around, it's thick).  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for 1 hour. Place a large plate over the cake pan and invert the cake onto the plate.  Slice and enjoy!!!

 Pardon the glare.  It doesn't quite do it justice, but this is one darn tasty cake!

Apple Walnut Bread

 

This recipe begins with one kind of past-its-prime apple sitting in my fridge.  Most people would just chuck it out in the woods for the deer (if your house is surrounded with them, like mine is), or in the garbage.  However, I used it as an excuse to make a loaf of apple walnut bread that I'd been eyeing on a great baking site, Joy The Baker.  And I am so glad I did!

In addition to the apples (you'll need 2 for this recipe), this bread is loaded with healthy and delicious walnuts, flax seeds, wheat flour, and flavorful brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Oh, and butter.  Yum :)  However, if you're weary of butter, I imagine that it could be replaced by canola oil, which is much lower in saturated fat and a tiny bit higher in unsaturated fat.  Also, if you don't want to invest in flax seeds (they run about $5 a bag, kind of steep, although extremely healthy!) you can definitely leave them out.  So whether you've got a couple of apples you need to get rid of, or you're just looking for a delicious and easy bread suitable for breakfast, snacking, or dessert, bake this bread!

Apple Walnut Flax Seed Bread (From Joy the Baker)

Makes one 9×5-inch loaf

* 1 cup all-purpose flour

* 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

* 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

* 2 teaspoons baking powder

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* 2/3 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, see substitution note below)

* 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

* 1 cup grated apples

* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples

* 1 tablespoon flax seeds

* 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided

* About 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar, mixed, for sprinkling

Note: If you don't have buttermilk (I won't lie: I never buy it), here's what you do:  Measure 2/3 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar, and put in a measuring cup.  Add milk until it makes 2/3 of a cup.  Stir, then let sit for about 5 minutes, and voila, buttermilk substitute!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan.

 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flours through spices)

3.  In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.

4.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Add the chopped and grated apple, flax seeds and half of the walnuts and fold them into the batter.

5.  Spoon batter into prepared pan and top with granulated sugar, cinnamon and the rest of the walnuts.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Do not fill your pan this much!  Spillage will occur!  (My pan was too small, and I was greedy and 

tried to fit all the batter in.  It didn't work.  Guess I should have used the right size pan...)

6.  Let cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes.  Cool completely before wrapping and storing.  Enjoy!

A Monstrously Good Salad

 

I may have created a monster.  This is what happened: 

My family came to visit this weekend, and brought with them several bags of Trader Joe's goodies.  Happiness!  Among those things was a bag of haricots verts, yummy skinny green beans (pre-trimmed!), and a box of cherry tomatoes.  On Saturday, after a long walk around town and on the beach, and a quick visit to the Whaling Museum, we were hungry for lunch, but it was already 2 o'clock, and I didn't want to eat anything that would spoil my appetite for what I knew would be a delicious dinner at Centre Street Bistro, where we had 7 o'clock reservations. (Dinner was fantastic, by the way.)  My dad suggested we use the green beans, so working with what we had in the house, I boiled the green beans, sliced some of the cherry tomatoes, and tossed them with a simple mustard-y dressing with just a hint of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Meanwhile my mother soft(ish) boiled two eggs, which she peeled and sliced, and tossed on top of the green beans and tomatoes.  Instant success!  My dad loved the salad so much that he insisted we make it again for Easter breakfast/brunch, so we did, and had it alongside scrambled eggs and bacon, and chocolate cake (another post for another time).  Unconventional, but delicious.  Erik had the green bean salad for the first time on Easter, and liked it so much that today he called me at work, and asked if it would be okay if he made it again for dinner!  I said yes, and so tonight we had it again alongside delicious spicy turkey burgers with grilled red onion, avocado slices, and pepperjack cheese.  Slightly unconventional yet again, but you see, this simple combo is so yummy that we'll eat it with just about anything!  Erik hadn't seen me make the salad the first two time, so his take was slightly different : he used apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic and tossed in a minced shallot.  These little changes were delicious, and I couldn't say which version I like better.  But either way, this quick salad is a winner, on its own or alongside any unconventional thing you can think of.

UPDATE:  I have received several questions about the egg issue: what constitutes soft boiled, and if it's soft, does the yolk mix into the dressing?  For the past three days when we've made this salad, the egg topping has been slightly different.  When my mom made the eggs, the yolks were not completely set, but were not runny, either.  The yolks mixed in a bit, but I wouldn't say they coated the beans.  On Easter I lost track of time and ended up hard boiling the egg, so when the egg was sliced and tossed into the salad the yolk chunks sort of distributed themselves.  Erik's egg was somewhere between those two.  If I make this salad once or twice more I will probably cover all points along the egg-boiling spectrum!  Personally, I hate runny yolks, so I always want them to set up at least a bit.  However, if you like runny yolks, by all means, just cook your egg until your whites are set and the yolks are still liquid-y enough to coat the beans along with the dressing.  I'm pretty sure there is no wrong way to do this, and I'd love to hear from anyone who tries the runny yolk method to hear how it is!

Although I didn't take pictures, my mom captured this image on her iPhone.  

The huge hand belongs to my dad.

Impromptu Green Bean Salad

Serves as many as you like, just scale accordingly

* Haricot Verts or regular green beans, ends trimmed

* Grape or Cherry tomatoes, halved

* Minced shallot (optional)

* Good Dijon mustard

* Balsamic or Apple Cider vinegar

* EVOO

* 1 or 2 soft or hard boiled eggs

1. Prepare your eggs:  I like the Julia Child method, which is to cover the eggs with water, bring to a boil, then remove from the heat, cover the pan, and let sit 17 minutes (for a hard boiled egg), then transfer to an ice bath until the eggs are cool enough to peel and slice.  I haven't experimented with the perfect length of time for a soft-er boiled egg, and I'm simply too lazy right now to go downstairs and find out if the cookbook says what it is, so let's guess that it's maybe 10 minutes? 12 minutes?  Who knows?  I ended up overcooking the egg the second time around, and the salad was still delish.

2. Bring a larger pot of water to a boil, add salt, and then boil the green beans until they are about 90% cooked.  Drain and refill the pan with very cold water and a handful of ice cubes to stop the cooking process.  (It's always best to pull the beans off the stove just before they're finished, because they always cook just a tiny bit more before you get them in the ice bath.)

3.  In the bottom of your serving dish of choice, mix together equal parts mustard and vinegar.  When they are combined, slowly add about the same amount of EVOO.  The dressing here should be a bit thicker than regular salad dressing.  Taste, adjust components if necessary, and season liberally with freshly ground black pepper, and salt, if desired.

4.  Wash and halve cherry tomatoes and add to the serving bowl. 

5. When green beans have cooled, pat them dry(ish), cut them in half, and toss in with the tomatoes.  Add minced shallot, if using, and toss all together.

6.  Slice eggs and add to the salad, and toss once more just to incorporate the eggs.  Serve and enjoy!

Luckily for me, tonight's salad used the last of the green beans, and Erik promises that we won't make it tomorrow (but then added a moment later that haricot verts are on sale at the Stop n Shop right now :)  While three days in a row might be my limit, I know this is one simple salad I will return to again and again (and again and again...)

A Little Scone Experimentation

 

Baking sans oven thermometer is a scary thought, since my oven is manic.  Seriously.  It runs about 75-200 degrees hot, depending on its mood.  Maybe there's a better way to describe it other than "mood," but since I'm no engineer, I just call the darn thing moody.  All my baking went to hell right after I moved to the cottage--I kept overcooking and/or burning everything!  And then one day I had this stroke of genius: I should buy an oven thermometer!  And so I did, and (for the most part), I've been able to set the oven to a somewhat arbitrary number and achieve my desired results.  But then last week the thermometer BROKE!  I don't know what happened; one day it worked, then the next, it didn't.  At first it wouldn't register any temperature, and now apparently my cottage is hovering around 500 degrees.  Fortunately the thing is still under warranty, and yes, I did keep the packaging, so I can send it in, but I've been lazy (read: I haven't done it yet).  Which is why the oven hasn't been used too much lately.  But I was kind of going into baking withdrawal, so I'm winging it.  It's scary, I'm sitting here wondering what is going to happen.  It's usually a safe bet to set the oven about 75 degrees cooler when you're going for 350, but when you want to get temps over 400 it becomes more unpredictable. 

Oh, I should mention, I'm making scones.  Specifically whole wheat scones with dried apricot pieces.  They bake at 425°F, so right now the oven is set at 325°F and hopefully it's going okay.  I mean, the cottage smells delicious, so that's a good sign.  These scones were discovered on Orangette, source of all things delicious and wholesome.   My family is coming for Easter weekend, which I thought would be a nice thing until I got hit with 2 pet sitting gigs, and I realized I couldn't stay with the fam; they will be staying at the lower maintenance 3 cat house, and I will be staying at the higher maintenance 1 dog/2 cat house.  (Mom, I'm not uninviting you--but we will have our hands full!)  They will be on their own for breakfast while I give the border collie her morning walk, I figured I should provision them for breakfast, which is why these scones are getting a trial run.  Immediately out of the oven I would say they pass--hearty but not heavy, nice light crust, and the apricot pieces make sweet and moist pockets in the scones, which I love--plain ones just don't do it for me.  Too monotonous.  I also sprinkled these with turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw), to give the crust a little bit of sweetness.  Although I didn't try them with anything, a bit of butter and a complementary jam would also be great.  As you may have gathered from other recipes featured in the blog, I love things that incorporate whole wheat flour, and I love dried fruit, so they're pretty much perfect.  These will certainly be making another appearance this weekend (no chance this initial batch will last that long!), and I suspect they will be equally delicious with other dried fruits--perhaps the Craisins I have kicking around the pantry will be incorporated next time!

Whole Wheat Scones With Dried Apricot Pieces (Adapted from Orangette)

Makes 8 scones

* 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used regular whole wheat, since I have never seen whole wheat pastry flour for sale anywhere on island)
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* ½ teaspoon salt
* 4 tablespoons (½ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
* ¼ cup sugar
* ½ cup diced dried apricots (or other dried fruit of your choice)
* ½ cup half-and-half, plus more for glazing
* 1 large egg
* A few tablespoons of turbinado sugar or sanding sugar (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.  Add the butter and pinch it between your fingertips to incorporate it into the flour, until there are no butter lumps bigger than a large pea. Add the sugar and dried apricots, and whisk to incorporate.

3. After measuring the half-and-half, add the egg and mix the two together with a fork. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and combine with the fork just until the flour is mostly wet--don't worry about a little bit of unincorporated flour.  Using your hands, gently press and shape the dough, so that it holds together in a messy clump. 

4. Turn the dough and any excess flour onto the counter top, and gently work the dough together, but don't overwork it!  About a dozen kneads should do it.  As soon as the dough holds together, pat it into a rough circle about 1 ½ inches thick and cut into 8 wedges.

4. Transfer the wedges on the prepared baking sheet. Pour a splash of half-and-half into a small bowl and glaze the tops of the scones with a thin coat of half-and-half using a pastry brush.  Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, if desired.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm, additional butter and jam optional. 

Homemade "Bottled" Dressing

 
Making your own salad dressings is a great way to avoid buying icky bottled dressings full of weird ingredients and preservatives, and making them in bulk is a great way to encourage yourself to eat more salads, because who hasn't been in a situation when they know they should eat a salad, but they don't because they don't have any dressing?  I have definitely done that...

My family never bought salad dressing growing up--the whole concept was totally foreign to me until college, when of course the cafeteria salad bars would feature scary pink "raspberry vinaigrette" and thick, gelatinous white "ranch."  We were definitely not a ranch dressing kind of family!  Once I started living on my own I did buy a few bottled dressings, because I thought, hey, this is cheap and convenient!  But I am forced to admit, most of those bottles are still sitting in my fridge, barely used, and I didn't graduate all that recently, despite what I tell myself.  (What, I'm not 22 anymore?  Are you sure?)  Instead, I prefer to mix up my own dressings, something else I learned from my family.  I run glass peanut butter or jelly jars through the dishwasher when they're empty and mix up my dressings in those jars, which hold enough dressing for many salads.  I usually have 2 or 3 different dressings mixed at once.  To keep them straight and to remember what I put in them when it's time to make a new batch, I write the ingredients in permanent marker on the glass or lids. (Permanent marker wipes off instantly with a little bit of nail polish remover on a cotton ball if you want to reassign your jars, too).

Some of my favorite salad dressings are:

EVOO + balsamic vinegar + grainy Dijon + S & P to taste.

EVOO + lemon juice + regular Dijon + S & P + a drop of agave nectar (or sugar) to taste

EVOO + lemon juice + oregano + S & P to taste

EVOO + honey mustard + water to dilute + S & P

EVOO+ apple cider vinegar + Dijon + maple syrup + S & P to taste

For any dressing that involves mustard, it's best to mix your mustard and acid together (either vinegar or lemon juice), and then slowly drizzle in the EVOO while whisking constantly.  If you whisk enough, you will get a thick, creamy dressing that you may even have to dilute with a tiny bit of water.  Then add your salt and pepper.  Sometimes a little bit of sweetness can take the edge off of a strong dijon and lemon dressing--I have used both white sugar and agave nectar with success.  Dressing with a fruity vinegar and just a touch of maple syrup pairs very nicely with salads with fruits, nuts, and cheese, such as a spinach salad with granny smith apples, walnuts, and cranberries.

The key to making yummy homemade dressing that tastes SO MUCH better than anything you'll buy in a store is to get quality ingredients.  There whole point of salad dressing is to make your veggies taste yummier, and are only a few ingredients in dressing, so why make something that could taste really good taste just so-so because you buy low quality stuff?  I used to buy store brand mustard, but I realized that it's just not as good, (with the exception of the Trader Joe's brand stuff).  However, if I haven't been to TJ's in a while, I will go for Grey Poupon or Maille, both widely available, over Stop n' Shop brand, because they do taste better (to me).  For a simple honey mustard dressing, great over romaine and grilled chicken for a fast meal, I love Inglehoffer honey mustard, which is sweet but not cloying.  Another yummy twist is dijon with tarragon, which I first tried from a gourmet store, but TJ's also has their own store brand.  The tarragon adds a nice herbiness to the dressing, or you can just enhance your own regular dijon based dressings with dried or fresh tarragon.  And I've said it before, but I'll say it again: find a GOOD (affordable) EVOO, because you really taste it in dressing.  There are plenty of decent oils that don't cost too much (again, I always turn to Trader Joe's).  But, just like any ingredient, olive oil can get funky if it's been kicking around for too long (think 18-24 months, opened).  You won't necessarily see a difference in color, but it will just smell and taste off, and the last thing you want to do is coat your delicious greens and veggies with funny tasting oil.  I never let my EVOO go rancid because I just go through the stuff too darn fast, but I have encountered some funky oils in my day.  To prolong the life of any oil, buy the biggest bottle that you think you will use up in a year (obviously bigger bottles = better value, but anything that you have to chuck is an instant bad value, since you're just throwing money away), and store in a cool cupboard or pantry.

As for storing your homemade dressings, I prefer the fridge, although my dad, from whom I learned making dressings in bulk trick, leaves his out on the counter all the time.  He eats so much salad that he goes through dressing very quickly, and he's completely indifferent to proper food storage techniques to boot, so that method works for him.  For me, the fridge is best, and I simply set them out while I'm making dinner to help them come to room temperature, or I nuke them for about 10 seconds (lids removed--they're metal!) to loosen up any congealed oil, stir it up again, and I'm ready to pour.

Whew!  I had no idea I had so much to stay about salad dressing!  And I just realized I didn't address the issue of quantities--and that's because I never measure.  If I had to guess, and if I'm starting with a large jelly jar, I will add two heaping tablespoons of mustard, and then slightly more vinegar than mustard, mix those, then add two or three times more oil that vinegar.  If I'm using a sweetener, I start with just a tiny bit because I don't want the whole thing to taste sugary--it's just supposed to take the edge off.  The key to making something you will love and use is to taste as you go; once a dressing has emulsified it's fairly easy to add in more oil or vinegar or mustard, just stir well and keep tasting until you make your perfect dressing.  While none of the above dressing suggestions are groundbreakingly original, making homemade salad dressings is an easy way to enhance your salads with pure, tasty ingredients without all the extra preservatives and lower quality ingredients that show up in bottled dressings.  If you have a favorite dressing, please share it with me, because I love to try new flavor combos!

Chocolate Espresso Semifreddo

 

Instead of throwing a full dinner for Erik's birthday, as I have done in years past, I decided to just do a dessert party this year.  Reason being I often get in over my head, and try to clean the entire house, cook for an undetermined number of people, sew a new tablecloth, make several desserts, paint my nails, make myself look presentable, etc.  While the most I ever accomplish is cleaning the house and getting a meal on the table, I decided to take it easy on myself this year and just stick to dessert.  But if you're only going to do one thing, you have to do it right, right?  Initially I had been leaning towards Julia Child's Reine de Saba (made famous--or infamous?--by the scene in Julie and Julia (the movie) when Julie and her hubby dive into it in some sort of chocolate craze).  However, upon seeing a recipe for semifreddo, a frozen Italian dessert, I changed my mind at once.  Erik and I had semifreddo once before at Babbo, Mario Batali's first NYC restaurant.  I am usually a fast eater (bad habit, I know), but this dessert (actually, the whole meal there) was SO GOOD that I needed to slow down and savor every morsel.  That was nearly two years ago, and it never occurred to me to make semifreddo, until I saw this recipe just a few weeks ago.  Although it's quite different than Batali's take on the dessert, almost akin to a frozen cheesecake, it is pretty darn tasty. 

 

The recipe is somewhat epic, at least my my standards.  Although the ingredients are fairly straight-forward (lots of pantry staples), you have to prepare 4 separate parts that come together right at the end.  A cookie crumb crust is baked briefly, then cools while you separate eggs, making a chocolaty custard with the yolks, whip the whites, and beat cream and cream cheese together.  Those three components are then gently folded together, piled atop the crust, and frozen. 

But, what a lovely dessert it makes.  Decorated with chocolate drizzles and whipped cream, it was a cake to behold!  It's also convenient because you make it ahead of time, freeze it, and then just plate it up and decorate it, if you want, at the last minute.  I made my own whipped cream because I had some kicking around in the fridge, but the kind in the aerosol can would make decorating a cinch.  I contemplated how nice chocolate covered espresso beans would look atop evenly spaced blobs of whipped cream, but alas the storming weather here kept me inside this weekend (confession: I haven't left the house since Friday night...eek).  Alternatively, fresh raspberries would add a punch of color, especially if paired with a raspberry sauce, as suggested by Brown Eyed Baker.  While I was deterred by the hefty price tag on raspberries this time of year, I did make a raspberry sauce, which was nice, but actually I didn't think it added much to the cake.  What can I say, it's just that good on its own.  So without further ado, the recipe:

Chocolate Espresso Semifreddo (Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Use Real Butter)

Serves 12 or so

* 1 3/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (Nabisco's Famous Chocolate Wafers are perfect--you'll use about 2/3 of the box to get enough crumbs)

* 3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

* 4 large eggs, separated

* 2 Tablespoons of sugar

* 1/3 cup of sugar

* 3 oz of espresso (I made mine using espresso powder)

* 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

* 1 Tablespoon of Kahlua, coffee or chocolate liquor, or rum

* 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (this is about 3/4 cup of chocolate chips, if you're using chips)

* 2 oz of heavy or whipping cream

* 16 oz of cream cheese (or Mascarpone, if you can find it.  I can't.)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Combine the cookie crumbs and the melted butter.  Pour mixture into a parchment lined 9-inch springform pan.  Spread crumbs evenly over the bottom and use your hands or the bottom of a glass to press them down.  Bake for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.  Turn off the oven.

3.  Combine egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of sugar over a double boiler.  Whisk the yolks vigorously (I used my electric whisk) until the yolks are thick and light in color.  Add espresso, vanilla, and liquor, and set over simmering water.  Continue whisking until the mixture is thick and foamy, and will coat the back of a spoon.

4.  Remove the yolk mixture from the heat and add chopped chocolate.  Whisk until the chocolate has melted and the mixture has cooled.

5.  In another bowl, combine the cream cheese and cream until combined and smooth.  When chocolate mix is cool, fold the chocolate into the cream cheese mixture, and mix until just combined.

6.  Combine the egg whites and the 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl over a double boiler.  Whisk occasionally until the mixture reaches 145 degrees F (this takes a while--about 10 minutes perhaps?).  VERY IMPORTANT: If you are using the same whisk for both the yolks and the whites, be sure to wash it very carefully so there is no trace of the yolk on the whisk--the egg whites will not whip up if they're contaminated with any yolk!

7. When the whites reach 145 degrees, pull them from the heat and beat them until they form stiff, shiny peaks.  Then, continue beating them on lower speed until the bowl is cool to the touch.  

8. Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate/cream cheese mixture.  Then, even more gently, fold in the remainder, mixing in 1/4 at a time.  Fold very gently, because the air in the whites gives the final product volume, and you don't want to end up with a flat cake!

9. Line the sides of the springform pan with strips of parchment paper and pour in filling.  Shake gently to smooth the top.  

10. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 4 hours. 

11.  Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving.  Release the sides of the pan and lift it up carefully.  Transfer to your serving platter, and slide off the base of the pan and the bottom layer of parchment.  Peel the parchment paper away from the sides.  Decorate as desired with melted chocolate, whipped cream, raspberries, and/or expresso beans.  Slice with a warm dry knife and enjoy!

  

Raspberry Sauce (Adapted from In the Kennedy Kitchen)

* 12 oz bag of frozen raspberries, thawed. (Organic, if you can find them.  I think they have more flavor)

* 1/2 cup of sugar

* 1/2 cup of white wine

1. Combine sugar and wine in a small saucepan.  Simmer until sugar dissolves, then remove from heat.

2. Puree thawed berries in a blender or mini cuisinart.  Pour the puree into a seive over a bowl, and using the back of a spoon, or a rubber spatula, press the puree through the seive, straining out the seeds.  I have found that you really need to mush the puree around to press the liquid through, and periodically take your spatula and wipe off all the puree that sticks to the underside of the sieve.  If you feel like a lot of the puree is still sticking to the seeds, add a few tablespoons of water to the puree, mix it around, and this should help. 

3. Combine the sugar/wine syrup and the puree, and refrigerate in a covered container until ready to serve.

 Straining raspberry puree on the ellusive "other side of the kitchen."  

Equally small, as you can see.

Kinda Healthy Cookies

  

We're celebrating Erik's birthday tonight with a dessert party--I decided to take it easy on myself!  Nantucket (along with the rest of the northeast!) has been experiencing some pretty wild weather this weekend (driving rain and 50 mph winds, anyone?), and about half our (potential) guests were off-island this weekend, so I can't tell whether it's going to be a small crowd or a big(ger) one.  Which of course makes planning a nightmare.  If all invited guest do arrive...well, maybe the cake just won't be big enough (no, I'm sure it will, I just like to worry).  If, on the other hand, the 6 people who were off-island are stuck there, then, well, plenty of dessert to go around.  All this fake worrying is just an excuse to make more cookies though.  Let's be honest.  

Since the main event tonight (Chocolate-Espresso Semifreddo Cake, recipe forthcoming) isn't exactly what one would call...what's that word...?  Oh, right, healthy.  Since it's not healthy, I thought I might cater to the more health conscious folk and make a batch of cookies that were featured in an old issue of Self magazine that I found sitting on my bedroom floor: Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies.  Quick and easy and entirely pantry staples, at least for me.  The "healthy" part is that they just use egg whites as a binder, so the only fat comes from the nuts, which are heart-healthy.  And if you've ever read the nutrition facts on unsweetened cocoa, you'll know that it's virtually fat free, contains fiber, as well as those dark chocolate antioxidants.  Of course, the sugar ensures that they're still yummy enough to be considered a cookie, and I wouldn't say eating one of these cookies is comparable to eating, say, and apple, but as far as cookies go, they're tasty without being too sinful, and best enjoyed with some cold milk.

Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies (Adapted from Self Magazine, December 2008)

Makes about 15 big cookies, or 30 Self-sized cookies

* 1 1/4 cups raw walnut halves (i.e., not toasted or salted)

* 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

* 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 Tablesppons unsweetened cocoa powder

* Pinch of salt

* 2 egg whites (or 1 egg, if you don't mind the egg yolk)

* 1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F

2. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  Roughly chop the walnuts, spread them out on the cookie sheet, and toast  for 9 minutes, then cool.

3.  In a mixing bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, and salt .

4.  When walnuts have cooled, chop them finely, then add to dry ingredients.

5.  Add egg whites and vanilla, and mix until the ingredients are just combined.  Initially it may seem like there isn't enough liquid, but the sugar and cocoa will dissolve into the egg whites soon enough.  

6. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, dollop the batter onto parchment paper or a silicone mat--I used a medium OXO cookie scoop (probably between 1-2 tablespoons of dough), Self recommends "rounded teaspoons."  Let your own cookie conscious be your guide!  

  I got to use my new cookie scoop!

7.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, tops should be shiny and cracked.  Definitely err on the side of underbaking though, so they remain chewy in the center.  Allow to cool on the sheets.  Store in an airtight container for up to a week.  Enjoy!