Category Archives: Baking
Happy Birthday, Dorie!
In honor of Dorie Greenspan’s birthday today, the French Fridays crew is having a virtual birthday party. I love birthdays, anyone’s birthday! And who doesn’t like an excuse to celebrate?
This week, I’m visiting my sister for a couple days. My niece Rachel and I baked cupcakes for the occasion. Rachel, age 11, is an accomplished and enthusiastic cook. She’s been working on perfecting strawberry cupcakes so that’s what we made, in miniature. The cupcake batter has strawberry purée in it, giving it a lovely light pink hue. Rachel likes to frost them with whipped cream and top them with a strawberry, like a strawberry shortcake in cupcake form.
Rachel Sifting
Ready for Baking
Everyone got in the act. My sister Jennifer was in charge of piping the whipped cream. It looked very professional.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DORIE, from Betsy and Rachel! We hope you have a fabulous day!
Rachel’s Strawberry CupcakesMakes 2 dozen mini cupcakes plus a few regular sized ones
2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen (thawed) strawberries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
Whipped cream
24-30 fresh strawberries, for garnishing the cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a mini-muffin tin (with 24 muffins) with cupcake lines and set aside.
Puree strawberries in a food processor. Measure out 1/3 cup of puree. Mix the puree in a small bowl with the milk and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together sifted flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce speed and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture, mixing until just blended. Add the strawberry mixture; mix until just blended. Add the remaining flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until just blended.
Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling just 2/3 full. If there is extra, make a few full-sized cupcakes. Transfer the muffin tin to the oven, and bake until the tops are just dry to the touch (and the inside of the cake is cooked). For mini-cupcakes, bake for 15-20 minutes. For full-sized, bake 22-25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.
When cooled, ice with whipped cream and top with half a strawberry. Enjoy!
Melts in your Mouth!
Oatmeal-Apricot Blondies
When it comes to cookies, I think I’m a lazy baker. I’m sure I’ve already mentioned that I love the convenience of a few rolls of refrigerator or icebox cookie dough stashed in the freezer. Bar cookies are a close second as my other favorite type of cookie to bake. There’s no fussy shaping. You bake, cool, cut, and you have cookies for a crowd.
My latest quest is to come up with a few base recipes for my favorite baked goods, recipes that have the texture I prefer, but can be varied with mix-ins based on what I have around or what I crave. I’m still working on scone recipes that makes the grade, one with buttermilk and one with cream or sweet milk. However, I think I’ve struck gold with a chewy bar cookie.
I’ll warn you that this bar cookie is very sweet, but the texture is meltingly good. It uses melted butter, so there’s none of the preplanning involved with recipes calling for room temperature butter. Other than measuring cups and spoons, this can be mixed in the saucepan where you melt the butter, so cleanup is minimal.
I’ve made this with nuts, nuts and chocolate, and, most recently, with oatmeal and dried fruit. I think your imagination can take it in some many different directions.
Blondies
½ cup unsalted butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
Mix-ins of your choice (see below for suggestions)
Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 13×9-inch pan.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from heat, and add the brown sugar, and stir to combine completely. There shouldn’t be any dry sugar left. Cool for 5 minutes.
Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the flour and salt. Now add your desired mix-ins and stir well.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. It will be stiff, so it probably won’t pour in. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is set and lightly browned.
Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then remove the entire slab from the pan, and continue cooling on a wire rack.
When slightly warm or at room temperature, cut into squares. I prefer 1½-inch squares, but you could make them bigger, smaller, or even a different shape. Cutting larger squares in half to make triangles are pretty.
Mix-in Ideas (one or more, but no more than 3 cups total)
1 cup chopped nuts. Pecans are particularly good.
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped dried fruit
1½ cups rolled oats (not instant)
A Plateful of Happiness 