Rhubarb Cocktails (Review)

People are often impressed that I can bake.  Remember the yellow cake I made for one of my ESL students' 60th birthday? "You made this? Wow!" said the birthday girl after she realized that it was a real cake and not a plastic one. I have no idea why she thought I would bring a plastic cake, but hey, who knows? Maybe she received a plastic cake in the past!

A few weeks later, it was another student's birthday. Since I made vanilla the first time, I decided on chocolate cake with a Texan flair: Texas Sheet Cake from the Homesick Texan. I left out the chile powder because I wasn't sure how well that would go over. I assumed they would like it because 11 of the 12 students are from Central and South America. But, what if the birthday girl didn't like spicy food?

Really, they can be a tough crowd! We were learning adverbs this week and I was trying to think of an example of an annual event to teach the word "annually." Trying to give a relatable example, I used the World Cup assuming that my students were soccer fans. Plus, I'd walked away from the USA-Ghana game to go teach, so it was the first thing that popped into my mind. "El Copa Mundial!" I said, hoping to get a "VIVA MEXICO!" or "VIVA HONDURAS!" out of someone. Maybe if my argentinos had been there I would have gotten a stronger response; instead, I heard crickets chirping. Then I realized that the World Cup is quadrennial and well, I changed the subject. Thankfully, one of my students threw out "Rodeo." Whew! Since someone was able to give a better example than I was, I knew that they understood the word.

The moral of that story is that I can't make assumptions when it comes to my students. They are adults ranging in age from 25 to 60 with real life experiences. They certainly aren't the caricatures of people used as examples in my high school Spanish textbooks. They don't all love soccer and they probably don't all love spicy food. Instead of chile powder, I went heavy on the cinnamon. "Canela, no?" one of my students asked. "You made this? Wow," said my 60 year-old student, "You can get married."

Where am I going with all of this? I'm getting there. Whenever someone is impressed that I can bake, I tell them that baking is mostly about recipe selection. Baking differs from cooking because, for the most part, you can't taste and add along the way. What you put into your dough or batter and your baking parameters are going to dictate the outcome (well, that and the ambient temperature, humidity, amount of stirring, precision of measurement, etc.). I don't find baking challenging because baking is all about following the recipe. Sure, you can go on to adapt recipes or create your own, but for the novice baker, your goal is to follow the recipe exactly. Maybe that's easier said than done. I'm a scientist, so that's my job. Baking is a lot like chemistry lab (but hopefully only microbiology lab if you're using yeast or starter).

What I do find challenging is mixing drinks. C is a drink-mixing all-star. Really, I think he could make or reproduce anything. And if I mess something up, he can taste it, tweak it, and fix it into something delicious.

For the summer solstice, I wanted to make a summery cocktail. Enter the Rhubarb & Strawberry Collins. I muddled and poured and stirred. Exit a boozy rhubarb milkshake. My highball ended up watered down and lacking flavor. C was on call at the hospital (his last call shift for at least 13 months!!), so it was up to me to do the tweaking and fixing. I tried salvaging it by adding more rhubarb syrup but it wasn't quite right. Inspired by Rhubarb Floats from Not Without Salt, I added ice cream. It wasn't a knock-your-socks-off kind of drink, but I was happy to drink it.

Why rhubarb? I bought a half pound of rhubarb on a whim with the intention of baking. Instead, we (well, C) made it into rhubarb simple syrup. Basically, chop up your rhubarb (we used 3 stalks), add enough water to cover it and add an equal (or half for a longer infusion) portion of sugar, simmer 20-30 minutes until the rhubarb becomes mush and the liquid becomes a syrup, strain, and chill. Save the mushy "compote" for something else and use the syrup for cocktails. There aren't a ton of rhubarb cocktails to choose from, though it's not hard to find a rhubarb version for most of the classic cocktails. It's a little trickier to use than say grapefruit juice because the juice and flavor are in the simple syrup, so balance is key.

Our Rhubarb Cocktail Recommendations:

C's vote: Ginger Rhubarb Bees Knees from The Bonjon Gourmet
Ingredients: muddled ginger, rhubarb syrup, gin, lemon juice, and orange bitters, shaken with ice.
Tweaks: more lemon juice.
Flavor: tart and fruity, like a rhubarb drink should be (according to C).

A's vote: Rhubarb and Rose Ramos from Food52
Ingredients: London dry gin, lemon juice, lime juice, rhubarb syrup, cream, and rosewater, stirred then topped with ice and soda water.
Tweaks: left out the egg white for lack of pasteurized eggs.
Flavor: rhubarb ice cream in drinkable form.

Obviously the quality of the base spirit and liqueurs plays a role, but I think the secret to mixing drinks is the selection of ingredients: pairing flavors and picking up on the subtleties of each component. For example, I used the wrong base spirit when trying to make a melon infusion. I picked an aromatic, herbal gin instead of a milder dry gin, so the juniper and herbs overpower the melon. I suspect the other secret is practice by way of trial-and-error. I'm still a novice drinker let alone drink-mixer. Because I don't drink much and and I don't drink often, I'll probably just stick to baking! Anyway, I already have a resident "mixologist!"

My highball attempt. Note the beautiful rhubarb syrup!

Rhubarb Sour Cream Crumble Pie

I just got back to Houston after a wonderful week spent at home with my family and friends. The weather was absolutely perfect which is rare for Memorial Day in Madison. We had warm (but not too hot), sunny days and cool, clear nights. It was even clear enough overnight to see the meteor shower! My mom and I bundled up in warm clothes and blankets and each saw 2 shooting stars. She saw both of hers around 10 pm but I had to go back out at 3:30 to see mine. It was neat to lay in the hammock all bundled up in my down comforter, listen to the sounds of the lake and the trees, look for shooting stars and watch the sun begin to rise. That's not something I get to do in Houston!

I spent the rest of the week visiting friends, running a few errands, eating picnic salads of every imaginable kind, burgers and brats (no, I didn't go to Brat Fest). On Saturday morning, I went to a yoga class then met two of my good friends (and their adorable 11 week-old baby boy!) at the Dane County Farmers' Market. I had my fair share of cheese samples but the only things I bought were a cream cheese filled croissant for a very late breakfast and a pound of rhubarb. I made two stalks into Rhubarb and Rye Scones from Apt. 2B Baking Co. and I made the rest into pie.

Objective
Adapt my strawberry rhubarb sour cream crumb pie recipe to a tart, thin (because a two-inch thick piece of rhubarb pie would be a little too much) rhubarb sour cream crumble pie. Based on my Blueberry Sour Cream Crumble Pie.

Materials
1 unbaked pie crust
2 cups rhubarb, chopped in 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup sour cream (low fat is fine or even Greek yogurt)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1-2 tbsp. flour (optional, for a thicker pie)

Crumble topping:
1/4 cup flour (whole wheat)
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, cold and cut in small cubes

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
2. Place the chopped rhubarb in the bottom of the unbaked pie crust. Whisk together the sour cream, vanilla, sugar and flour. Spread over the rhubarb.
3. In a medium sized bowl, prepare the crumble topping. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients or simply use your finger and pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until you have coarse crumbles. Sprinkle over the pie.
4. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350ºF, tent with foil to prevent the crust from burning,and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes. Cool then chill completely before serving.

Results
Yum! The crust is a deep golden brown and the filling holds it's shape sort of like a cheesecake. The filling is tart and lightly sweetened.

Discussion
I used a store-bought pie crust (which tends to make a smaller pie than homemade 9" pies) and the thickness was just right. In thinking more about it, I might use a graham cracker crust next time I make this pie because the texture of the filling reminded me of cheesecake and that would make it even more cheesecake-like. If you omit the flour, you'll get a runnier pie (check out the pictures of the blueberry version). If you pride yourself in food presentation, I'd recommend adding the flour for clean-edged slices.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the pie to share. I didn't even think to take a camera home with me while I was packing! But to be totally honest, in my family, it's not about how pie looks but rather, how it tastes! I'm pretty sure it tasted good because we offered my brother a bite as he was walking out the door and he turned right back around and decided he could wait to leave until he'd had a whole slice. I'd call that a success!

May Day 2014

Happy May Day! May Day falls smack dab in the middle of Spring. Up north, May usually feels like spring but there is no telling what March or April will feel like. I remember catching a plane for spring break on a 70 degree St. Patrick's Day in 2009 just as easily as I remember waking up to snow flurries on April 30, 2004, the morning after prom! On May Day, the only flowers that are usually in bloom are crocus, tulips and daffodils.

Down here in the south, May feels like summer. March was an unseasonably cold month throughout the country and in Houston, a lot of the flowers (particularly the azaleas) were late to bloom. April was a bit of a roller coaster with temperatures ranging from the low 40s all the way up to 92 degrees! The spring flowers are long gone and the trees are no longer dropping pollen. By May, temperatures generally hover in the mid 80s but often jump into the 90s, making it feel like summer instead of spring.

The first of May will always hold a special place in my heart. As a child, I loved making May baskets out of craft paper and filling them with flowers. My mom would come home from work to find all of her newly blooming daffodils cut and hanging from the neighbors' door handles. She was never pleased to find her flowers cut to the ground, but she never scolded me.

In Houston, I haven't seen any tulips or daffodils. Because I can't pick those special heralds of spring, hang them in May baskets on my neighbors' door handles, ring the door bell, and run away, I'm going to share pictures of the spring flowers we had down here in Texas! The first three pictures (paintbrushes and bluebonnets) were taken between Belleville, TX and Brenham, TX. The last two, the field of bluebonnets and the purple flowers, were taken at McKinney Falls State Park and in downtown Austin, respectively. C and I took these photos during the last two weekends of March.

Flowers aren't the only things that mark spring. Changes in the produce at the local grocery store are also quite telling. First, it's the citrus fruits. Citrus season begins in the winter and continues into the spring. (Remember when I told you about our adventure to the pick-your-own citrus farm?) Some varieties of tangerines and mandarines peak during early spring. In March, I found deliciously sweet Ojai Pixie Tangerines at the grocery store and used them to make an adorable, half-sized Clementine Mousse Cheesecake.

Then, I found reasonably priced rhubarb (down from $5.99/lb to $1.99/lb), another sure sign of spring! I was beyond excited and picked up a half pound to turn into a half-sized Rhubarb Custard Pie from  The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book (p. 79). I worked from home on Good Friday and sat at the dining room table editing a manuscript and snacking on pie. I had a beautiful bouquet of pink tulips and white freesia sitting on the table next to me, filling the room with a lovely floral scent. It was delightful.

Finally, local strawberries hit the market! I started volunteering 4 hours a week to teach a level 1 English as a Second language (ESL) class for adults. While teaching interrogative words (Who? When? Where?), I learned that one of my students would be turning 60 on the 26th. I decided to surprise her by bringing a birthday cake to the next class. I made Yellow Cake with vanilla buttercream and and added chopped strawberries to the filling between the two layers. I've never loved cake, but I did enjoy the small slice I tried!

I love the produce available in spring but I can't wait for the bounty of summer. Sometime soon, probably later this month, it will be peach season. That will be a sure sign of summer in the US, regardless of latitude.

Earth Day and "Recycled" Brat Soup

Happy Earth Day! There are lots of ways to be Earthy-savvy in the kitchen. The most obvious thing that comes to mind is recycling. Depending on where you live, you can recycle a lot of food packaging (here, we're only allowed to recycle glass, aluminum cans and two kinds of plastic. It's heartbreaking). Another idea is to reduce the amount of packaging on the food you buy. Is it necessary to put every bunch of cilantro or lettuce into a plastic bag at the grocery store? Absolutely not. Have you ever purchased grains, beans or flour in bulk foods section? The best part about bulk buying (besides the price) is that you can reuse the same bag over and over again and by taking the empty bag with you to the grocery store, you'll remember what you need. Speaking of bags, you can switch from paper or plastic to canvas or another type of reusable shopping bag (Hawaii was doing this for years before it caught on in the mainland).

What about ways to reduce energy consumption in the kitchen? Make sure to use the appropriate sized burners for each of your pots and pans to reduce the energy lost to the atmosphere. Forgo the oven on hot days. Instead, eat something fresh. The oven uses energy plus your air conditioner will have to work harder to maintain the air temperature. Do the opposite in the winter. Bake a lot of pizza on a hot pizza stone at 500 degrees. Once you're done, leave the oven door open. The heat from the oven and the stone won't take long to warm up the kitchen so your heater won't have to work as hard.

You can also save energy with your fridge or freezer. Keep the door open for the shortest amount of time needed. Cool your food on the counter before putting it in the fridge otherwise you'll warm up the internal temperature of the fridge (this is also important for food safety). Be sure to leave space between items in both the fridge and freezer. As tempting as it is, don't jam it full. Airflow is important for food safety and quality (no one likes find frozen lettuce or icy milk) and it helps make the appliance more efficient. You'll not only reduce energy waste, but  also the organic waste you'd make by throwing away that soggy lettuce.

Some people don't care about organic waste because it decomposes. Sure, it decomposes, but it still takes up space in the landfill and it takes time to decompose. Instead, consider composting. It's amazing to see how much organic waste you produce and watch it decompose. Some things shouldn't be composted--like meat. Who hasn't had to throw away the chicken breasts that got pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten? Eliminating wasted food is important. The amount of energy and resources that go into producing food is incredible. Have you heard of the Haber-Bosch process? It's the reaction that converts atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia. It requires a lot of energy to break the triple bond between the Nitrogen atoms.  This process uses an entire percentage of the world's annual energy supply to produce nitrogen fertilizer for farming. (There's one reason to consider organic foods.)

I live with two guys. You wouldn't believe the amount of food I throw away because I found it rotting in the crisper. It breaks my heart every time. So, today, I'll share a recipe for reusing leftovers. For Earth Day, we'll call it "Recycled Brat Soup." 

I can't believe I haven't shared this recipe before. I first made this soup on a Sunday when C was working in the hospital. I don't know if it was a post-call day or post-nights or why he was so tired (besides residency in general), but when he came home from work, he was about to pass out without having eaten breakfast or lunch (this is typical). I sat him up in bed and forced him to eat soup. He loved it, had a second bowl, thanked me and passed out for the rest of the day.

It quickly became my go-to soup recipe because we usually have all of the ingredients in the fridge, pantry, and freezer. To clarify--we don't usually have leftover brats in the fridge. Brats are a luxury in my house. For some reason, whenever we grill and I ask for brats, C ends up making some sort of chicken sausage or Italian sausage. He's from Iowa. He doesn't understand that serving sausage when I asked for brats is like me serving him peas when he asked for corn. Luckily, we do tend to have a few stray sausages in the freezer at any given time.

I feel like its sacrilegious to eat brats in any way other than [boiled in beer,] grilled and served on a brat bun. (Yes, there are special buns to for brats that taste so much better than hotdog buns). However, this soup is really good. Plus, I live in Texas now. It's my right to do whatever the heck I want to do (or so I've been lead to believe).

Spinach and "Recycled" Brats Soup
Adapted from Elements by Jason Roberts
Serves 4

Materials
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 leftover [cooked] brats (or your favorite sausage), 1/4-1/2" slices
1 med. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup crushed tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orzo (or other small pasta)
1/2 bunch spinach, stems removed and chopped
1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper, to taste

Methods
1. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, onion and garlic. Cook until the sausage has browned and the onions are translucent.
2. Add the chicken broth and crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
3. Add the orzo to the boiling soup. Cook 5 minutes or so, until the pasta is al dente.
4. Stir in the spinach and peas. Cook two minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with fresh bread. Soup is alright leftover, but be aware that the pasta will absorb liquid and it will become less of a soup and more of a goulash.

Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup (without the cream)

Love it or hate it, it's asparagus season! Asparagus reminds me of my childhood and of Easter. Our family celebrates Easter at my maternal grandma's house. Grandma Betty serves scalloped ham and potatoes, crescent rolls or dinner rolls, asparagus (white when she can find it), and a huge bowl of fruit salad adorned with whole strawberries and slices of kiwi. For dessert, she used to serve a chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting but more recently has started serving pie. In honor of my grandma (today is not only Easter but also her birthday), I'll share a recipe for that one food I always hated to see on her Easter table: asparagus!

Before we proceed, a fun fact about me is that I can't stand foods that, for whatever reason, remind me that I've eaten them once I'm done eating them. Examples include garlic, corn, kidney beans, Chipotle's regrettably delicious hot salsa, and last but not least, asparagus. People get uncomfortable talking about asparagus-pee, but it's serious and it caused me to abstain from eating asparagus for a long time. However, C's two favorite vegetables are asparagus and Brussels sprouts, so I've had to get past my aversion to asparagus.

Thankfully, I no longer have to hold my breath in the bathroom. For those of you who, like me, were blessed with the ability to smell asparagus-pee, I'm going to let you in on my little sciencey-secret, Dilution. Dilution, dilution, dilution! The more water you drink, the more you dilute your urine. The lower the concentration of the volatile compounds, the harder it is to smell. Also, I've noted that the tip with the buds is the culprit. If I just eat the shoot, I have no problems. Now, I challenge you to eat enough asparagus this spring to test my theory and report back so that I can expand my data set from an 'n' of one.

With a bunch of asparagus in the fridge and red potatoes that were starting to turn, I decided to make soup. One of the links I gave you in my VegOut! Challenge post was for Kathryn Hill's Rutabaga Chipotle Soup (I made it as stated, but with 2 oz. cream cheese instead of 2 cups of cream). That recipe was my inspiration for this soup: an asparagus soup that's creamy from a starchy tuber instead of fatty cream!

Objective
Make a creamy asparagus soup without cream.

Materials
1/2 lb. asparagus, washed and trimmed (or use a full pound)
olive oil
1 tbsp. butter (or olive oil)
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 small red potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper

Garlic toasts, to serve (optional):
baguette
large clove of garlic

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Lay the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake 8-10 minutes or until the asparagus shoots begin to soften. When the asparagus is done cooking, cut off the top inch and set aside. Cut the remaining shoots into one inch-long pieces to add to the broth.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Add the potatoes, asparagus shoots, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are soft.
3. Ladle most of the broth into the jar of a blender. Add half of the potato chunks, onion, and asparagus. Puree until smooth. Pour back into the pot. Stir in the asparagus tops. Stir in the cumin and season to taste with salt and pepper. If you feel like it's missing something, try adding a pinch of garlic powder. Keep warm while you prepare the garlic toasts.
4. To prepare the garlic toasts, turn the oven to broil. Slice the baguette into 1/2" thick rounds. On a broiler safe sheet, toast the baguettes. Slice of clove of garlic in half and rub each toast with the cut edge. Serve warm with the soup.

Results
Incredibly creamy or maybe better described as velvety.  Tastes like asparagus with a hint of garlic.

Discussion and Future Directions
This isn't a spectacular recipe for wowing guests. Rather, this is a recipe for warming up on a cold spring day. It's a way to savor spring's bounty on those miserably cold days that in your heart you know to expect but nevertheless hope won't ever come. If you want to make it spectacular, stir in an ounce or two of cream cheese before you puree the soup. That will make it richer.

I like my soups a little chunkier so that there is some texture. Feel free to puree the whole soup if you prefer smooth cream soups. If you're going to puree it, feel free to add all of the asparagus to the pot at the beginning (or save just a few tips for garnish). Now, be sure to drink a full glass of water (a tall glass, not a short one) with your soup. See if my dilution method worked, and report back!

Angel Food Cake with Rhubarb Curd Whipped Cream

While I lived in St. Louis, I did a lot of baking to avoid graduate school. I found that baking  was gratifying because I could produce something delicious, which I found a lot more fulfilling than failed experiments. Baking, particularly for others, was the easiest way that I found purpose. I even started this food blog to encourage my creativity (with writing in addition to baking). During my 18 months in St. Louis, I had a lot of baking/cooking successes and a few failures. I rarely made the same thing twice, which allowed me to try a lot of new recipes (and not worry about mastering past failures). This also forced me to learn a lot of new techniques. Some of the highlights were my first gelato, mousse, homemade lemon curd, meringue for an angel food cake, and a pumpkin pie made from a squash. I even made homemade granola, everything bagels, and mini "piecakens" by baking little pies in a mini muffin tin and baking them inside of cupcakes. Since moving to Houston, I've had two extra mouths to use as taste testers! I experimented with scones,  puff pastry, muffins made with steel cut oats, and sunflower seed butter. I made a pie with lard crust. I made a creamy pie with brandy and chocolate liqueur. Most recently, I made homemade graham crackers and homemade amaretto marshmallows for s'mores.

So why all of this back story? The recipe I'm sharing today pulls techniques from a few of my most successful St. Louis kitchen experiments. Of all of these kitchen experiments, my favorite was probably homemade angel food cake. I found a recipe for angel food cake from John Barricelli (see this recipe for an orange version). This recipe seemed to have a lot of angel food cake no-nos. First of all, it requested a nonstick tube pan. It called for granulated sugar instead of superfine baker's sugar or powdered sugar. The cake was to be baked at 350º instead of the typical 300º. The oven rack was to be placed in the middle position, not lower in the oven like most recipes. But what really set it apart from all other recipes I'd seen was that it called for dissolving half of the sugar in the egg whites over a double boiler, then whipping it into meringue. Needless to say, I was skeptical of the recipe, but knew I had to try it. And how did it turn out? Perfect. It had exactly the right airy texture without the metallic taste you get from boxed angel food cake mixes. Since I made the first vanilla angel food cake, I've made a chocolate version, and now the version with rhubarb frosting that I'm sharing today.

I wanted to use pink frosting in honor of my great grandma, Nan, who made me angel food cakes frosted with pink Cool Whip for my birthday when I was a little girl. I was lucky enough to be able to spend 12 of my now 25 birthdays with my great grandma. I knew I wanted a frosting more sophisticated than Cool Whip, but what? What summer food is pink? Rhubarb! With 12 egg yolks left over from the angel food cake, I thought I'd throw half of them in rhubarb curd. I stirred the rhubarb curd into whipped cream for pink frosting (I got the idea from Behind the Skillet). The angel food cake was adapted from John Barricelli's recipe and the rhubarb curd from Everyday Flavours.

Objective
Make an angel food cake with rhubarb curd whipped cream frosting.

Materials

Angel Food Cake:
12 egg whites (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 tsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1/2 tbsp. vanilla paste

1 cup cake flour, sifted

10-inch tube pan (do not grease)

Rhubarb Curd:
1 pound rhubarb, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup seedless raspberry puree*
3-4 tbsp. unsalted butter

*blend raspberries (frozen is fine) until smooth, then strain

Rhubarb Curd Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 recipe of Rhubarb Curd, fully chilled (you may use less)
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Methods

To make the Angel Food Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack in the middle. Place the tube pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside. Set up your stand mixer with the whisk attachment for later use.

2. In the bottom of a double boiler, bring 1 inch of water to a boil. In the top, whisk together the egg whites, 3/4 cup sugar, lime juice, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla paste until the sugar dissolves. Move the mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high speed, until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks (do not beat them so long they dry out). Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the flour and the remaining 3/4 cup sugar.

3. Gently scrape the batter into the tube pan. Tap the pan a few times to to remove air bubbles. Smooth the top of the batter by running a rubber spatula over it.

4. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched and is lightly browned. Invert the cake onto a wire rack or wine bottle to cool for 1 hour. Release the cake from the pan by gently pulling the cake away from the sides of the pan. You may need to run a plastic knife around the edge, but be careful not to cut into the cake. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the Rhubarb Curd:
1. In a small bowl, mix the chopped rhubarb with 1/4 cup sugar and juice from half of a lime. Stir and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour. Place into a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat until the the rhubarb is completely broken down (about 10-15 minutes). Cool briefly. Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree. Set aside.
2. In the top of a double boiler over boiling water, whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and juice of 1/2 lime. Whisk to begin to dissolve the sugar. Add the rhubarb puree and seedless raspberry puree. Whisk until the mixture comes to 160ºF. Remove from heat and strain through a fine meshed sieve. Gradually stir in the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon. Move the curd to a container with a lid, place plastic wrap directly on the curd, and chill.

To make the Rhubarb Curd Whipped Cream Frosting:
1. Whip 1 cup heavy cream to medium peaks.
2. Fold in 1/2-1 cup rhubarb curd.

Results
The cake turned out great (though I was a little too vigorous trying to get it out of the pan and ripped part of it). The texture was light and a bit sticky and had a nicely browned crust. The rhubarb curd tasted like (surprise) rhubarb. While it wasn't as thick as I tend to make lemon curd, it was easy to stir into whipped cream. I would call the color a light mauve. I added a drop of magenta food coloring to the whipped cream to intensify the color of the frosting a smidgen.

Discussion and Future Directions
I really love this angel food cake and am so glad I gave it a try that St. Louis morning. I simply cannot imagine ever eating a boxed angel food cake again. Mind you, this angel food cake in particular is more challenging than a boxed mix because it requires the double boiler and you have to know a thing or two about meringue to know when you're at a stiff (and not dry) peak. There are a number of simpler angel food cakes on the internet that simply require folding dry ingredients into the meringue. I've never made any of those recipes, and now, there's no need because this recipe is perfect. Don't have a double boiler? Neither do I! It was one of the items that didn't make it from St. Louis to Houston because I didn't want to make the space to pack it (now I regret that decision because it was a very nice depth and made of glass, which I prefer to metal because it is nonreactive). Instead, I set a glass Pyrex bowl in a saucepan and it worked very well. If you try this, just make sure that you cover most of the edge of the pot or you'll risk steam burns.

Now onto the rhubarb whipped cream frosting. I don't think I anticipated how much the curd would taste like rhubarb! Also, I'd seen a lot of pictures of yellow rhubarb curd, so I found myself pleasantly surprised by the dusty rose/mauve color of mine (see the photo below).  For the light, airy sweetness of the angel food cake, I thought a tart, refreshing topping would be perfect. While I liked it, I was a bit overzealous with the frosting and wished I only lightly frosted it. Too much frosting overpowered the lightness of the cake. After all, we eat angel food cake because it's "healthier" than other cakes. It certainly packs carbohydrates with the sugar, but at least it's cholesterol free (without the frosting..)! If I made the frosting again, I think I would pipe it along the edges instead of use it to completely frost the cake.

This was a great dessert to make for my summer birthday. I took it along to a combined birthday party. Another friend made chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and someone brought homemade peach greek frozen yogurt. With all of the desserts we had, I was pleased to be able to take home about half of the cake for snacks. I even managed to save one piece for my actual birthday!

Supplementary Materials

Rhubarb and Sorrel Scones

Last weekend at the farmers' market, I saw bunches of sorrel for sale. I had no idea what it was. In my head, I thought it was a type a mushroom, but I could clearly see that it was a leafy green of some sort. I didn't think much of it. This weekend, I saw it again and decided I wanted to try it. I still had no idea what it was, but I knew there was a recipe for Rhubarb and Sorrel Crisp in the cookbook C gave me for Christmas, Simply in Season. However, in my mind, crisps are more of a fall food. So, how was I going to use this large bunch of sorrel?

I had a stalk of rhubarb leftover in the fridge from the Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake I made for Memorial Day. One end was starting to get mushy, so I knew I needed to use it or risk losing it. I also had about 3/4 cup cream in the fridge on its "Best By" date. My plan for the rhubarb and cream was to make scones. Since rhubarb and sorrel pair well for a fruit crisp, I didn't see why I couldn't put them together in a scone. Plenty of people make savory scones with spinach, so why not sorrel?

What is sorrel anyway? Sorrel is a perennial herb that is related to buckwheat and rhubarb. Like rhubarb leaves, it contains oxalic acid, which can cause kidney failure by chelating metals and precipitating crystals in the kidneys. Luckily, sorrel contains less oxalic acid than rhubarb leaves and is safe for consumption (but can be lethal if high quantities are eaten). Lots of foods we eat other than rhubarb, buckwheat, and sorrel contain moderate levels of oxalic acid, for example: black pepper, parsley, spinach, beets, nuts, berries, and beans.

Objective
Make Rhubarb & Rye Scones from Apt. 2B Baking Co. with chopped sorrel.

Materials
2 stalks rhubarb (~4.5 oz), chopped to 1/2" pieces
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
zest of 1 lime
1 oz. sorrel, cut in half lengthwise then chopped
4.5 oz. rye flour (or another whole grain flour: barley, whole wheat)
6 oz. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into 1/2" cubes
4-6 oz. heavy cream (1/2-3/4 cup)
2-3 tbsp. turbinado sugar (or other coarse sugar), for sprinkling

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix the chopped rhubarb with 2 tbsp. white sugar and the zest of one lime. Place the chopped sorrel on top of the rhubarb, but don't mix it in.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly with the butter well-distributed.
4. Find your small bowl of rhubarb and sorrel. Give the mixture a stir to combine the sorrel and rhubarb and distribute the sugar and juices. Scape the vegetables (yes, they are both vegetables) with the sugary juice into the bowl with the dough and stir to mix.
5. Pour the cream in slowly as you gently stir the dough. You only want to add enough to bring the flour together into a dough. Once you get there, stop.
6. Gather the dough together in a ball. I suggest dumping the dough onto saran wrap and pulling the wrap up and around the dough to shape it into a ball. Then, still on the saran warp, flatten the ball to a 1" thick disc. Cut the disc in half, then continue making cuts until you have 8 triangles. Place the triangles on the prepared baking sheet with at least 1" of space around them (see the pictures in Supplementary Materials to see how much they expand). Brush the tops of the scones with cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400ºF. If you can see unbaked dough in any of the cracks, continue to bake. When they are done, the tops should be lightly golden. Remove the scones from the oven. Slide the parchment paper from the pan onto a wire rack and allow the scones to cool. Best served fresh.

Results
The scones are very light and moist. The sugar topping adds a nice crunch. The sweet to tart ratio is great. The rhubarb broke down to "little jammy pockets" just as Yossy from Apt. 2B Baking Co. said it would! The sorrel lost its bright green hue and broke down quite a bit, but maintained its flavor. 

Discussion
I tried my first scone just a few months ago. I always thought scones were dense, dry, and hard. Maybe I was confusing them with biscotti, which I have had and do not like. I made a recipe for cardamom and orange scones with orange blossom water and honey mascarpone from Homemade Winter by Yvette van Boven. I learned that I do not like orange blossom water, but that I do like scones. They aren't the dry, dense little hockey pucks I thought they were. 

This recipe is even better than the cardamom and orange scones I made. The texture is amazing. The flavor is also very good. If you can't get sorrel, leave it out. Yossy's recipe is a keeper. So much so that I'm going to start craving scones. I like that the scones get all of their flavor from the flour, vegetables, and citrus zest. There are no spices. The scones have a crisp rhubarb flavor that is very refreshing (quite the opposite of the rhubarb cardamom combination I used when I was looking for a warm, comforting cake). I am so glad we came across sorrel today so that I could try this recipe, with my own little twist.

Since this recipe only used 1 oz. of sorrel, we still have quite a bit left. We had the scones for "second breakfast." For lunch, I made blue cheese and sorrel grilled cheese sandwiches from Seattle Times. Both sorrel and blue cheese have strong flavors. I felt like the blue cheese won the battle and I couldn't really taste the sorrel. Nevertheless, it was fun to try. I'm going to have to be creative to figure out how to use the rest!

Supplementary Materials

Cardamom-Spiced Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

In Wisconsin, it's rhubarb season. That means that if I still lived in Madison, I would have purchased rhubarb at the farmers' market. I wouldn't have had a recipe in mind, but would have bought the rhubarb anyway as pressure to find a new recipe. I was very excited to go to the farmers' market in Houston last weekend in search of rhubarb. I came up short and the friend we went to the market with said she hasn't seen any rhubarb this year. I think rhubarb is difficult to grow in Texas, which may explain why I've only seen it at the fancier grocery stores.

My first experience with rhubarb was when I was very young. My grandma made a rhubarb pie and brought it to our house for dessert. I took a bite and hated it for its tartness. One of my babysitters had rhubarb plants growing along the woods in her backyard, and I knew that the leaves were poisonous. Taken together, it was reason enough for me to shun anything rhubarb for a long time. I don't remember when I tried it again, but I do remember the first time I used it for baking. It was fall and I made a rhubarb pear crisp that wasn't such a great idea. The following spring, I made a strawberry rhubarb sour cream crumb pie. That was a hit. The next try was a batch of rhubarb upside down muffins. They were very good, but the recipe called for nutmeg which I thought was overpowering.

This time, I actually had a recipe in mind for the rhubarb: an almond desert with rhubarb between two layers of pastry from our seasonal cookbook. However, I've been really excited to have my cast iron skillet back (it was in storage for the past 3 months with all of my other belongings). For some reason, the cast iron skillet made me think pineapple upside down cake, but with rhubarb. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a rhubarb upside-down cake recipe that used a cast iron skillet and had good reviews. So, I chose Delectable Musings' Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake. I loved that the recipe called for buttermilk, but couldn't believe the recipe didn't call for any spices. I knew I didn't want to make the mistake of using nutmeg again and I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon. Instead, I decided to use cardamom because we have a lonely little bag with no more than 2 tbsp. of ground cardamom leftover from a batch of scones. For some reason, I decided rhubarb and cardamom had to go well together. I thought I'd throw in some ginger and cinnamon while I was at it. I wanted the spices to be warm as a contrast to the tart rhubarb.

Objective
Make a rhubarb upside-down cake with cardamom.

Materials
2 cups rhubarb, chopped to 1/4" sized chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk, left out for awhile to get the chill off
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease a 9" springform pan (be sure to place a baking sheet underneath to catch drips). Place the chopped rhubarb in an even layer in the bottom of the pan. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar with the cardamom and ginger. Sprinkle evenly over the rhubarb. Set the pan aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt. Set the bowl aside.
3. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter with a whisk until fluffy. Add the sugar, and continue whisking until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until each eggs is fully incorporated. Add the vanilla. While the mixer is running, slowly pour in the buttermilk. Beware that the butter might curdle, but it will be just fine. Continue to mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is fluffy and begins to come back together. It's not going to come back together as well as it was before the buttermilk was added, but the cake won't suffer.
4. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (add dry ingredients in 2 to 3 batches). Only mix until the batter until the flour has been incorporated, no more. Spread the batter over the rhubarb and sugar in an even layer.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean and the middle of the cake springs back when pressed gently (this is important because if you don't, the middle of the cake won't finish baking and the cake will sag in the middle).
6. Once the cake is done baking, cool it on a wire rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, loosen and remove the edge piece of the springform pan then place the serving plate directly on top of the cake. With the cake sandwiched between the plate and wire rack, flip the cake upside-down. Carefully remove the bottom of the springform pan (it will be hot and sticky). Cool completely before serving.

Results
The cake is perfectly moist and the flavor is slightly sweet but with a little tang. The rhubarb topping is delicious and soft. The rhubarb held its shape and did not break down to mush. The spices are complementary and comforting.

Discussion and Future Directions
I really enjoyed the cardamom with the rhubarb. It did exactly what I hoped it would do: provide warmth to make it a comforting cake in spite of the tart rhubarb. I'm sure the original recipe is great as written. If I decide to make a pineapple upside-down cake in my skillet, I think I'll use the same cake batter because it really is delicious. The cake is tangy and moist, which would be great with sweet, ripe pineapple. If I made this into a pineapple upside-down cake, then I'd probably omit the spices and let the caramely pineapple be the star. I was skeptical of upside-down cakes because they seem a little cheesy (thinking mainly of boxed yellow cake mix and perfectly placed fruit: rings of pineapple each dotted with a maraschino cherry or aligned strips of rhubarb that suspiciously hug the curves of the pan). I found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the cake. And the topping was rustic enough to not look fancy.

Supplementary Materials

Panna Cotta with Leftover Whipped Cream and Leftover Buttermilk

Leftover perishables are an unfortunate part of baking. Even with diligent foresight and planning, everyone ends up throwing out spoiled food once in awhile. Case and point? Buttermilk. Rarely does a recipe call for a full quart, which where I live, is the only size available at the grocery store. Generally I use buttermilk for biscuits or muffins, which rarely call for even a full cup. A full quart? That's over 4 cups. I've never made anything with that much buttermilk! Another thing that's hard to use up is whipped cream. Think about the holidays. Do you make whipped cream to serve with pie? Maybe you stick a little in a fruit salad or use some on breakfast waffles, but have you ever actually finished it? At the end of my family's holidays, there is always a little silver bowl of whipped cream covered with saran wrap that gets forgotten in the back of the fridge. A week later, it gets thrown away.

While my parents were here, I made a Coconut Cream Pie with whipped cream. The whipped cream was a bit of a fiasco. I couldn't figure out why my whipping cream hadn't started to form peaks after 10 minutes of whipping. With a quick pour, my amazing boyfriend realized that it was because my whipping cream was improperly labeled. It was nowhere near heavy cream. It was half and half at best, but maybe even whole milk. The lady at the grocery store was a bit confused when C showed up and explained that our cream wasn't cream. Much to my relief, he came home with the last two cartons of cream and the first one I tried actually whipped!

Once the cream was whipped and the pie was topped, there was a whole tupperware full of leftover whipped cream. Just yesterday, I threw out the leftovers. But! I did find a way to use some of the whipped cream before it went bad. I made a Panna Cotta-esque dessert adapted from Elements cookbook.

Objective
Make buttermilk panna cotta to use up buttermilk and whipped cream.

Materials
1 packet gelatin (or about 2 1/4 tsp)
2 1/2 tbsp. cold water
1/3 cup cream, half and half, milk or non-dairy milk
1/3-1/2 cup sugar (to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup leftover whipped cream
Fruit for garnish

Methods
1. Place 2 1/2 tbsp. cold water in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin in an even layer over the water and let sit until the gelatin softens (about 15 minutes). Prepare and ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.
2. In a saucepan that holds at least 1 1/2 qt., heat cream, sugar, and vanilla paste until the sugar dissolves. Do not boil. Stir in the softened gelatin. Move to the ice bath, and stir occasionally until the mixture cools to room temperature.
3. Stir the buttermilk into the cooled mixture. Then, fold in or gently whisk in the whipped cream. This should end up being about four cups in volume.
4. Pour the mixture into molds such as a muffin pan (12 regular muffin cups or 6 jumbo muffin cups) or divide between 6-8 1-cup dishes (such as prep bowls or jars). Chill until solidified, between 4 and 6 hours. Can be prepared a day in advance.
5. To serve, slide a knife between the panna cotta and dish, tugging gently toward the center to loosen the bottom. Flip onto a plate and serve with fresh fruit. If you used prep bowls or jars, you could garnish them and serve them in the vessel. Serves 6-12 depending on how large you make your portions.

Results
This is rich and well-flavored. The texture is a bit softer than I'd expected (but I had a little trouble with my gelatin). Great with tart passionfruit and blackberries.

Discussion and Future Directions
I was very skeptical of the flavor, fearing that the panna cotta would be sour like buttermilk. Instead, it's rich, creamy, and deeply flavored. The vanilla is prominent, though there is a slight tang. The texture is soft, which made it a little less beautiful on the plate. I used cream (to try to use it up), but next time, I'd use something less rich. I just read a recipe where someone used coconut milk. That sounds delicious (and I happen to have some leftover coconut milk in my fridge from the coconut cream pie)! My version is fairly sweet and I think it would be equally delicious with less sugar. Be sure to adjust the mixture to suit your taste, but keep in mind that if your whipped cream is sweetened, you'll add more sugar at the end. Also, vanilla paste is quite sweet. You can use a vanilla bean instead or stir vanilla extract into the mixture once it's cooled.

If you make a sweet panna cotta, I would suggest serving it with tart fruit such as passion fruit, raspberries, or blackberries. If you reduce the sugar, I would suggest something sweet like strawberries or cherries. You could even add chocolate or agave drizzle. The options are endless!

Supplementary Materials

Coconut Cream Pie for Mother's Day

Spring in Houston is quickly coming to an end, if it hasn't already. All of the trees have leaves and the tree pollen counts are finally declining. It's been an unseasonably cold spring, but I can't complain about 60-70 degree weather the past few months while my family in Wisconsin has been suffering through relentless spring snowfalls. While it's still winter in Wisconsin and spring-like in Houston, I thought it would be the perfect time for my parents to come visit. Traveling south is only a treat when you leave nasty weather for nice weather. Though it's not 90 degrees, the temperatures have been just under 80 with a light breeze. To me, that's perfect!

While my parents are here, I thought it would be a great time to make my mom an early Mother's Day gift. Since I learned to bake, I've relied on my mom's sweet tooth for gift ideas. When I was a senior in college, I decided to make a pie for Mother's Day lunch with my mom and grandmas. My grandmas don't agree on much. For example, my maternal grandma likes coconut custard pie. My paternal grandma likes coconut cream pie. Thankfully, they can both agree on the coconut part. In an effort to please everybody, I made a Coconut Cream Tart from SoNo Baking Company Cookbook. The recipe is a tart crust brushed with melted chocolate before filling, vanilla pastry cream mixed with shredded coconut, whipped cream topping and toasted coconut with drizzled chocolate for garnish. To be honest,  it was a disappointment. It was a pain to make (from the crust to the garnish). For "coconut cream," it wasn't very "coconutty," even when I added coconut extract to the finished pastry cream. I wasn't crazy about the addition of chocolate. Nevertheless, my family seemed to enjoy it.

This year, I wanted to return to the coconut cream pie and improve it. I knew that the first step would be to find a new recipe. In addition to choosing a new recipe, I would have to reduce the sugar and flour for my dad to be able to eat it. I thought it would also be a good idea to reduce the amount of filling to make each piece lighter.  I chose a recipe from the The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. I changed the flours in the crust and reduced the sugar in the pastry filling. As written, the pastry cream was far too sweet which overpowered the coconut. I think that my version has just the right balance of sugar and coconut.

Objective
Make a coconut cream pie that my mom will love and my dad won't feel too guilty eating. Adapted from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook.

Materials
Pastry Crust:
65 grams coconut flour
65 grams whole wheat pastry flour
35 grams all-purpose flour
65 grams sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
1/3 cup (or more) ice water

Coconut Pastry Cream:
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste (or seeds and pod of 1 whole vanilla bean split lengthwise)
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Whipped Cream Topping:
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Garnish:
1/4-1/2 cup large flake coconut, unsweetened

Methods
1. Make the pastry crust: Combine flours, coconut and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until you have pea-sized crumbles. Mix in water until the crumbles come together into a dough. You may need more water (add by the tablespoon until the dough comes together). Bring the dough together into a ball, flatten, and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for one hour. On a floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8". Lay the crust in a 9" pie plate. Chill for one hour. Blind bake for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden. Cool completely.

2. Make the coconut pastry cream: In a medium saucepan, combine milk, coconut milk, coconut, and vanilla bean paste. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it is almost boiling. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour. Temper the eggs by whisking in a small amount of the milk mixture, then whisk the whole egg mixture into the milk mixture. Continue heating over medium heat. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes until the pastry cream is very thick. Cool the pot in an ice bath, stirring until the pastry cream has cooled. Transfer the cream to a storage container. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the pastry cream before covering with a lid. Refrigerate until cool.

3. Prepare the topping and garnish: Place the large flaked coconut on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees until lightly golden (anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on the accuracy of your oven). Watch closely and stir often to keep the coconut from burning. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, whip the cream with  sugar and vanilla (adjust the amount of sugar/vanilla to your taste) to medium/stiff peaks (again, make it how you like it).

4. Assemble the pie: Spread the coconut pastry cream in an even layer over the baked pie crust. Spread an even layer of whipped cream over the coconut pastry cream. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. The pie is best on days 1 and 2. Store in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Results
Yum! Just enough coconut flavor that the vanilla is complementary and not overpowering. Crust was a bit tough but softened up after sitting in the fridge with the pastry cream overnight (probably my fault because I didn't add enough moisture and over-kneaded as I was adding water) . Pastry cream layer is thin, but not insubstantial.

Discussion and Future Directions
I am thrilled with how this recipe turned out! I liked the addition of the coconut flour to the crust to add a bit more coconut flavor. I was thrilled that the pastry cream actually tasted like coconut. When I first made the pastry cream, I halved the recipe and reduced the sugar by a few tablespoons. I found it to be too sweet and it didn't make quite as much as I'd hoped. With a larger batch and even less sugar, it was perfect. And as a bonus to infusing flavor, making the pastry cream with the coconut eliminates the need to strain the pastry cream before stirring in the coconut. That is a huge improvement on the other recipe I'd made! This one is a keeper. Next time, I'd consider omitting the crust (partially because I don't like crust, but mostly because they're a pain to make) and serving the pastry cream as a custard with whipped cream topping.

As I'm getting older, I'm starting to find that many desserts are too sweet. My cravings are changing from sweet to savory. My most common craving is "fresh." It isn't satisfied until I've eaten a salad or fresh fruit. This shift means that my baking style has changed. I'm choosing recipes with whole grain flours or substituting whole grain flours when I can. I'm reducing sugar or using natural sweeteners that aren't as sweet such as honey or agave. When a recipe calls for sweetened shredded coconut, I might use unsweetened flaked. Quantity is another major change. Portion size in America is out-of-control. I can't eat much at once, so it's important that I choose what I'm eating wisely. This means cutting down on the baked goods and sugar. Rarely have I made a recipe in the past 2 years without halving it or reducing it further. This recipe is a good example of these changes. And I hope that these changes are helping me be at least a little healthier, in spite of all of my baking!

Supplementary Materials

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm not a huge fan of muffins (probably because I don't like the texture of cake). Nevertheless, for a morning baking date, muffins are the way to go. I love banana bread and quickbreads, but they take twice as long to bake. On Sunday morning, my friend Kelley came over to bake muffins. I'd given her three options based on the frozen fruits in my freezer: blueberry, cranberry or strawberry. She chose blueberry. I started wondering if people even make strawberry muffins. You can do a hundred other wonderful things with strawberries, like strawberry rhubarb pie or strawberry shortcake, so why make muffins? A quick search for strawberry muffin recipes yielded quite a few results.  Indeed, people do make strawberry muffins. However, the first strawberry muffin recipe that comes up in a Google search has one order of magnitude fewer reviews that the first blueberry muffin recipe, suggesting that people really love blueberry muffins. After I finished the last blueberry muffin, I decided I simply had to try strawberry muffins. With Valentine's day coming up, I decided chocolate had to be added. Recipe adapted from SoNo Baking Company Cookbook.

Objective
Adapt a blueberry muffin recipe to make strawberry chocolate chip muffins.

Materials
1 cup plus flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup (4 tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (substitute plain yogurt, sour cream, crème fraîche)
about 1 cup frozen (unthawed) strawberries, chopped and tossed in 1/2-1 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 375º. Prepare 9 muffin cups (grease the pan or use liners).
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Beat butter, sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add egg. Beat in vanilla.
4. With the mixer speed on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until flour is just incorporated. Add the greek yogurt and continue beating on low speed until incorporated. Beat in the strawberries until just incorporated. Gently fold in the chocolate with a rubber spatula. Note: the batter will be very thick.
5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full (about 1/4 cup of batter per muffin cup). Sprinkle with additional sugar if desired (baker's sugar works well).
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the muffin pan after 10 minutes.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or the muffin springs back when gently touched.
7. Cool the muffins completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Results
Yum! The strawberries are tart which is balanced by the sweetness of the chocolate. Perfectly light in texture and moist. Lightly golden brown.

Discussion and Future Directions
Both the blueberry and the strawberry muffins turned out well. I might be more inclined to make muffins again. They don't get the caramelized dark crust of a quickbread, but that keeps the whole product soft. For banana, I'll stick with bread. Since I didn't have much luck making blueberry quickbread, I think I will continue making these blueberry muffins. The berries did not all sink to the bottom, which is what happened with the really light batter of the blueberry quickbread. This batter is thick, but don't worry, the end product will turn out light and delicious!

This recipe could be easily adapted to other berries. If you leave out the chocolate, I suggest adding citrus zest (try 1 tsp) to add depth to the flavor. For raspberries or blueberries, use lemon zest; for blackberries, use lime zest; for cranberries or strawberries, use orange zest or 2 tablespoons of orange marmalade. If you try these muffins with a different flavor combination, please let me know how they turn out!

Supplementary Materials

Food Plus Words' Lemon Poppy Seed Cake (Review)

Something got me in the mood for a tart, fruity dessert. Maybe it was the weather. A Memorial Day weekend with temperatures in the 90s was far from refreshing. Perhaps that's why I was craving something tart, like citrus or raspberries. Some friends planned to go raspberry picking Monday morning. I would have joined them and used the raspberries for a raspberry pie, but a special someone was scheduled to show up at my door at 6 am after an overnight bus ride from Chicago. I suspected a nap would be a more appropriate welcome than heading out the door to the pick-your-own raspberry farm. So, instead of raspberry, I opted for lemon.

Objective
Make a lemon poppyseed cake to decorate as a graduation cake.

Review
Lemon was the flavor I was in the mood for, but I thought the addition of poppy seeds would make decorating more fun. The recipe I decided to try was Food Plus Word's Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake. I was intrigued by the recipe because the cake was layered with lemon curd mousse and topped with a lemon swiss buttercream, not to mention the reviews stated that the cake was very lemony!

Lemon Poppyseed Cake
Depending on your preferences, this cake might be a huge disappointment. The cake itself is relatively easy to make. It is a bit of a time investment because zesting and juicing lemons quickly becomes tedious. I popped the layers in the oven and all seemed well. However, as soon as the cake was done and cooling, it collapsed. There was lip around the side of the cake as evidence of its fall. In a bit of an overly emotional state, I got a little overwhelmed and wondered if I should even proceed. Having experience with gluten free baking, I was afraid it might end up being a brick. Perhaps it would make a good paperweight. Because I'd already made the lemon curd, I figured I may as well proceed. 

In the end, I really enjoyed the cake. It was dense like a pound cake, which is extremely appropriate for a lemon poppyseed cake. The refreshing flavor of citrus complements the richness of a poundcake very well. The only real concern with the cake was that it was far too acidic for my tastes. The flavor was good, but my stomach couldn't quite tolerate it.

Lemon Curd Mousse
After the incredible clementine curd mousse I made for my Clementine Mousse Cheesecake, I was extremely excited to make lemon curd mousse. Knowing how easy it was to make curd, I spent the time juicing and zesting lemons to make my own. The recipe follows in the Supplementary Materials.

The lemon curd mousse had an entirely different texture from the clementine mousse. The clementine curd mousse was light and airy and made with gelatin as a stabilizer. The lemon curd mousse was denser and creamier (not to mention significantly easier and quicker to make). As a stand alone mousse, this wouldn't be very good. However, it made a great cream filling for this cake.

Lemon Swiss Buttercream
This was my first experience with Swiss buttercream. If you've never had it, it's incredibly rich. It's essentially butter melted into whipped, cooked egg whites and sugar. Swiss buttercream makes a great canvas for decorating because it is heavy and can stiffen up quickly in the fridge. A dense, rich frosting on a dense, rich cake was a little too much. I can't think of what type of cake Swiss buttercream would be appropriate for, but this isn't it. It's just too buttery.

Discussion and Future Directions
I would make this recipe again, but with quite a few changes. In the cake, I would eliminate the lemon juice and use only lemon extract (albeit, increasing the volume). That would reduce the acidity in the final product. The buttermilk is still in the recipe, so there would be mild acidity from the buttermilk instead of the overpowering acidity from the lemons.

The lemon curd mousse filling is delicious. However, for a lighter version of the cake, one could simply use lemon curd (not that lemon curd is particularly light). For a twist, it would be interesting to omit the poppy seeds from the cake and use a raspberry or blackberry jam filling. Or, have two filling layers between the cake layers: one lemon curd and the other jam. If the lemon curd seems like too much work, just use frosting.

As I mentioned before, the Swiss buttercream was a bit too rich for the cake. Instead, I would use a fluffy lemon buttercream. I think I could have had more control over a standard buttercream than I did with the Swiss buttercream. I couldn't really control the sweetness or texture like I could have with standard buttercream. I've seen people use cream cheese frosting, which might also be delicious. But again, I think you would really have to find a light and fluffy cream cheese frosting recipe (I recommend this delicious recipe from Allrecipes.com: Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting).

When I first envisioned this cake, I pictured smooth sides scattered with poppy seeds and a wispy frosting on top with carefully placed candied lemons. However, I ditched that plan in an effort to make it a graduation cake. Overall, I was pleased with how it turned out. I hope the graduate was too!

Supplementary Information

Lemon Curd Recipe
(Original recipe can be found at Joy of Baking)
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
4 tablespoons butter (softened works best)
Zest of 2-3 lemons (however many you juice)

Whisk the eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a double boiler. Stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken (this should take around 10 minutes and most recipes say the magic temperature is 160°F. I disagree. In my experience at 160 degrees, it's just beginning to thicken. Judge for yourself). Remove the mixture from heat. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Whisk in the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon. Stir in the lemon zest. Cover with saran wrap (lay it directly on top of the curd to prevent a film from forming and cool. Store in the refrigerator.