Aunt Sara's Famous Toffee

Now you too can use up 2.5 sticks of butter in a few short minutes.   We made this on Thursday but unfortunately we didn't let it get hot enough so instead of snappy brittle toffee we have snappy-ish crumbly deliciousness.  (A tragedy that has not gone unmourned, I assure you.)  The recipe says to go to 280 degrees, which we did, but the current thinking is that 280 degrees is correct for the thermometer of the recipe-author but our thermometer reads lower.  So, either cook your toffee to 280 as directed (make maybe a half batch to test) and see what happens, or cook to 300, which is what we're going to do next time.  Without further ado:


[Carter's] Aunt Sara's Famous Toffee
2.5 sticks butter
1/3 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1 T molasses
1/3 c water
2 tsp espresso powder*
1 shake cinnamon

1 c chopped nuts (ideally pecans but we used walnuts--technically nuts are optional).
A couple handfuls of chocolate chips (The recipe calls for a mix of dark and white chocolate...we used half a bag of bittersweet chips b/c I'm stubborn like that.)

*We don't have instant espresso/coffee powder so we ground some coffee beans really really finely, practically down into individual molecules, and it worked great.

Cover a baking sheet in foil (doesn't need sides) and spray with cooking spray.  Get all the ingredients measured and ready.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan.  Add sugars, molasses, water, espresso and cinnamon.  Cook over medium heat, stirring absolutely all of the time, until the mixture boils.  Keep cooking, and start checking the temperature-- aim for between 280 (written) and 300 (our goal for next time).

getting closer

just after sugars, etc. added

When the toffee reaches temperature, remove from heat and stir in the nuts.  Immediately pour onto foil-covered sheet and gently spread into a thin layer.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Wait 5 minutes, then smear chips (melted from heat of toffee) into a pretty pattern.  Slide foil onto cool surface or cooling rack, and let cool for what felt like an eternity (a few hours or overnight).  Snap the toffee into pieces and store in an airtight container.  Yum!

Dobos Torta (aka Nutella Cake)

Smitten Kitchen lady made this a bit ago, and I just bought myself this amazing cookbook, and two of my friends are going away for a month, and another of my friends says he ate this cake growing up in Serbia, so I just HAD to make this, you see. If this were a real dobos torta I’d've made a caramel-soaked top layer, but I can’t count and thus made too few layers so I skipped that (see the link above for details for how it’s supposed to look). A committee of two decided that a five-layer-cake without caramel is more exciting than a four-layer-cake with caramel. I decided to follow the cookbook’s recipe rather than the Smitten Kitchen one, almost entirely because it requires fewer eggs (6 versus TEN!). And it seemed like an apt way to break in the cookbook—page 72 is now well-marked with sticky batter drips. Luckily the copy I bought is a used ex-library book, complete with plastic-covered-dust-jacket! Since I bastardized it (er, adapted it) by making it without the caramel and covering it in roasted hazelnuts instead, this might get re-named to Nutella Cake. (A tragic occasion indeed.)

Dobos Torta

Batter

6 eggs, separated

1 1/3 c. confectioner’s sugar (divided use)

1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. plus 2 T. sifted cake flour*

pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)

3 sticks unsalted butter, at cool room temp (yes, three sticks)

2 T. cocoa powder

1 ¼ c. confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1 t. vanilla

1 large handful hazelnuts, de-skinned** and chopped (I guess this is optional)

*If you don’t have cake flour, take 1 c. AP flour, scoop out 2 T. and replace those 2 T. with cornstarch to make 1 c. cake flour. For this recipe I used 1-cup-minus-1/2-tablespoon AP flour and 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch. Or thereabouts.

**Since you already have the oven on, throw the hazelnuts on an ungreased cake pan (or cookie sheet, or whatever), and roast them for about 15 minutes, or until the skins look loose, then let cool and rub vigorously in a kitchen towel until most of the skins come off. I may have over-baked mine as the skins turned almost black, but miraculously they didn’t burn and the nut meats actually got nicely golden brown and roasty.

Prepare pans/parchment:

Unless you have removable-bottom cake pans (thanks Bonnie!), I recommend the parchment paper method. In fact, it was even somewhat of a pain to get the layers off the greased-and-floured removable bottoms, so I’d parchment those too. But really this batter is so thick and foamy that you don’t need cake pans at all. Cut out parchment paper a bit bigger than the layer size you want, trace the circle (or rectangle, or whatever) that you want on parchment and lay the parchment on a cookie sheet (the cookbook notes that you should have the side of the parchment with the graphite/ink on it facing DOWN so as not to pollute the batter). I made five layers, each 9.5 inches in diameter, and supposedly the batter is enough for 6 layers at 9 inches, or you could do some math and make crazy sizes/shapes. Once you have all that set up (you might have to borrow some cookie sheets), turn the oven on to 400 F with the racks in the center and top third of the oven.

Make and bake batter:

Beat eggs yolks, 2/3 c. confectioner’s sugar and vanilla at high speed for 3 minutes, until they are pale yellow and thick (this is a job for the stand mixer).

In a clean, grease-free metal or glass bowl (I used my hand mixer for this), beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 2/3 c. of confectioner’s sugar until stiff, shiny peaks form.

With a large spatula, stir about ¼ of the meringue into the egg yolks to lighten. Then fold in the remaining meringue until mostly-mixed, leaving some streaks of white. Don’t worry about being overly-gentle, the meringue is pretty sturdy. (This is the perfect time to sample the batter for, er, quality assurance purposes.)

Sift half of the flour/salt over top and gently stir in, repeat with other half of the flour and stir until homogenous in color. Batter will be thick and foamy. Plop approximately equal portions of the batter onto your prepared parchment outlines, and spread the batter to the edge of the circles (push, don’t pull) to make a mostly-even layer, about ¼ inch thick, depending on the size and number of your layers.

Bake each layer for about 5 minutes (mine actually took closer to 7, I think my oven’s a bit cool), or until the top springs back when pressed and the edges are golden brown. Be sure to rotate the layers on the oven racks and turn them once; most ovens have a hotter side which will quickly burn these skinny little guys.

When done, flip the layers onto a rack and peel off the parchment, then flip them back onto the parchment or a rack to cool. The tops are very sticky, so don’t leave them sitting around top-side-down for any period of time. Let the layers cool completely, it won’t take long. Don’t worry if some layers are ugly (one of mine ended up with a hole in it), because they will all be lovely ensconced in chocolate frosting very shortly. Any that are particularly large or non-circular should be trimmed so that they stack nicely. (The cookbook recommends laying the bottom of an appropriately-sized springform pan or plate on top and trimming around...I just eyeballed it. I assure you that taste is not affected.)

Make frosting and frost:

Melt chocolate. Cream butter until smooth (for some reason the cookbook recommends using a hand mixer as opposed to a stand mixer for this—maybe to take advantage of the finer metal blades rather than the stand mixer’s paddle?). Mix cocoa into butter, then confectioner’s sugar, then chocolate, then vanilla. Beat until evenly-colored and frostingey. If your kitchen is 90 degrees, I’d recommend throwing the frosting in the fridge for a few minutes while you drink something cold (or wash the dishes) or you end up trying to spread something that’s the consistency of melted butter. Trust me.

When the frosting is spreadable, start stacking and frosting the layers of your cake. It’s a fancy cake, so use a fancy cake plate (thanks Bonnie!). I alternated the ugly layers with the pretty ones, saving one that was fairly flat and uniform for the top layer. Frost tops of all layers as you stack, then frost top and sides of cake. You don’t have to be too sparing with the frosting, but be modest about it or you’ll end up short for the sides. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on the top of the cake and refrigerate until eating time.

As you can see, my frosting layers are a little uneven...but it's good just the same!

Easy as pie!

I've wanted to make pie crust from scratch for a long time now...so I did! I had some moral support from here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/11/pie-crust-102-all-butter-really-flaky-pie-dough/ and my mother, who was visiting, so I went to town. (She was the photographer for most of this too, after I got flour all over my camera... And she helped with everything else, too!) As the above blog will tell you, it seems to help to have everything really cold. Particularly if you don't have a food processor and pastry blender because it makes everything take that much longer-- I periodically stuck the whole bowl in the freezer for a few minutes to help the butter firm back up. Nor do I have a rolling pin (!) so I used a cylindrical stainless water bottle, which worked great. Despite all that, it was quite easy! The recipe is for two crusts-- if your pie/quiche only takes one crust you can wrap the second well in plastic wrap and a bag and freeze it. I didn't have enough AP flour for rolling out the crust so I used WW pastry flour, which was fine. I wrote a lot of notes on how to combine the dough, but it's really not terribly complicated, I promise!

All-butter pie crust:

2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold

2.5 c. AP flour, plus more for rolling

1 T. sugar

1 t. salt

1 c. ice water

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Place in freezer while you dice the butter into small cubes. Retrieve the very cold dry ingredients and sprinkle the butter lumps over it. Combine with a pastry blender or food processor or knifes or your hands until the butter lumps are the size of large lentils or small peas (in the picture I'm about halfway to that stage). In a food processor err on the larger side. The lumps will be uneven, but that's okay. If you're combining with a processor or other tool it will go quicker than you expect, or so I'm told. If you're combining by hand you'll need to stop periodically and put the whole bowl into the freezer for a few minutes while you rest your hands.

You don't want to butter to melt. Once you have the proper sized butter bits, pour in about 1/2 c. water and combine with a spatula. Add more water, 1 T. at a time, until the dough is in a few large lumps with minimal dry flour at the bottom. Stop and combine the rest of the way with your hands-- you want a lump that sticks together but you should still see the butter bits distributed through it.
Split dough into two halves (should be about 12 oz each) and refrigerate them in a plastic wrap for 1 hour or longer. (If your refrigerator is odiferous you might want to put them in a baggie too.) Go start dinner.
When you're ready to roll out the dough, generously flour a nice clean counter or silicon mat. Also generously flour your rolling implement and hands. Plop one cold dough lump in the middle of your surface and slowly start to roll it out, taking care to roll from the center out towards all directions evenly.
Re-flour the top of the dough and your rolling implement as needed so it doesn't stick. Stop when your dough is approximately circular with a diameter of 12 inches for a standard pie tin. In the picture I was almost done-- the second-to-outer circle is 12 inches.

Then you have a few options for transferring the crust to the pie tin. If you have a flexible mat you can put the tin upside down on top and flip the whole business over, otherwise you can roll the crust over your rolling pin and then unroll it into the tin or carefully fold the crust into quarters and unfold it into the tin. You may need extra flour to coax the crust off the counter/mat; be patient with it so it doesn't tear. If needed, trim the edges that hang over the tin, and crimp the edges as desired. Set the crust in the freezer while you prepare the pie filling. That's it! You've done it!

Just in case you need a filling idea, here's an easy one. I like the apple peels in my pie, but many people don't...

Apple pie filling (adapted from Betty Crocker):

4-6 apples, (peeled?) cored and sliced (try Braeburn, McIntosh and Cameo apples)

2 dashes cinnamon (or more...)

dash nutmeg

dash cardamom

1/4 c. AP flour

1/3 c. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Combine all ingredients and pile into your pie crust. It should mound up pretty high-- don't forget that the apples cook down and shrink in the oven. Top with crumb topping.

Crumb Topping:

1/3 c. butter

1/2 c. AP or WW pastry flour

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. rolled oats

1/3 c. chopped pecans (or almonds, or walnuts)

Combine first three ingredients with a pastry blender or hands until butter is the size of lentils/oats. Then add oats and nuts.

Sprinkle generously and lovingly over the apples.

Bake for 40-50 minutes. Check after 30 minutes-- if the top is browning cover the pie loosely with aluminum foil so it doesn't burn. When done the pie filling should be bubbling in the middle and the top should be browned. Enjoy!

Two N.B.s: Yes, I lack both a pastry blender AND a rolling pin. Shameful, I know. Also, sorry about the picture quality-- my camera is REALLY on its last leg and has decided that its new trick is to put horizontal lines through every image...maybe it was a television in a past life. That makes three things for my wish list!

Chocolate Linzertorte

This is the recipe for the linzertorte from this post, which I finally typed up the other day to share with a friend... I transcribed it from a photocopy that came out of some cookbook or newspaper or something maybe years ago...I have no idea what its origin is but I certainly didn't make it up myself! (I did include my notes in the recipe.)

You need: 11in tart pan with a removable bottom.

linzertorte pastry:

1 cup blanched almonds

1/4 c. confectioner's sugar

1 c. sifted AP flour

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/3 c. cocoa powder

3/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. cloves

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/8 t. salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, in 1-T. cubes

3 egg yolks (reserve whites)

2 t. vanilla extract

1 t. grated orange zest

1 t. grated lemon zest

raspberry filling:

12 oz. raspberry preserves (seedless is traditional)

2 t. lemon juice

meringue:

3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

3 egg whites

1/4 c. granulated sugar

make "pastry":

preheat oven to 350 F. (If using a tart pan with a "light shiny finish" preheat to 375)

in a food processor combine almonds and confectioner's sugar, process until finely ground. add flour, spices, granulated sugar and salt and process until evenly mixed. distribute butter, egg yolks, vanilla and zest around blade and process 35-45 seconds or until mixture is creamy. press into tart pan in an even layer. bake for 25-30 minutes, or until pastry springs back when pressed lightly. allow to cool briefly while preparing the filling and meringue.

filling:

stir together preserves and lemon juice. spread over baked pastry, leaving a 1/4 in border free along the edge.

meringue:

melt chocolate over double boiler. let cool until tepid. combine egg whites and sugar over a shy double boiler (water should touch bottom of boil but not simmer). whisk mixture constantly until it is white and creamy and hot to the touch/110 F and the sugar has dissolved. remove bowl from heat. using a hand-held mixer, beat mixture for 5-8 minutes until it's a stiff shiny meringue. fold in chocolate. place meringue in a pastry bag and pipe a lattice top over the filing and a line around the circumferece to cover the bare ring. bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the meringue is firm. let the torte cool fully in the tart pan and then place in an airtight container, it will improve with age.

Aw nuts, not granola!

Homemade granola is simple and delicious. And now you have no excuses! It's easy to scale this recipe up or down for what you need-- a half batch makes enough for two people for a few weeks. Humidity disclaimer: like the biscotti, granola won't get crunchy if it's too humid. (No pictures today, sorry!)

The Basics:
5 cups rolled oats (NOT quick-cooking)
1/2 c. canola oil
1/3 c. honey (or maple syrup)

Fancy-Pants Additions:
3/4 c. nuts of your choice, chopped (pecans are excellent, as are walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts...you can't really go wrong here)
dash or two of cinnamon
small dash cardamom
1 t. vanilla or almond extract
2 T. flax seeds (you can't taste 'em but they're good for you!)
3/4 c. dried fruit (ideas: raisins, cranberries, apricots, apple, prunes)

Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together everything EXCEPT the dried fruit. Don't be tempted to use your hands; it's super sticky. Add more nuts, because if you're like me you'll eat them out of the granola as it cools. Maybe a bit more cinnamon too, what the heck. (I've also been known to lightly coat a handful of extra pecans in oil and honey and cinnamon and bake them alongside the granola; voilà, candied pecans!)

Spread on two greased cookie sheets in an even layer--no more than 1/2 inch deep. Place in oven on center rack and set the timer for 5 minutes. When it goes off, take the trays out and stir gently but thoroughly-- make sure all the oats get moved around so they don't stick. Back into the oven for another 5 minutes. Stir. Repeat 2-3 times. Don't be tempted to set the timer for longer than 5 minutes because the granola doesn't cook linearly-- it cooks slowly for a while (15-30 minutes, depending on your cookie sheet and the humidity) and then browns (and burns!) very suddenly towards the end. A good indicator is it starts to smell heavenly when it's almost done.

Remove from the oven when it's golden brown and stir again. [Turn the oven off.] As the granola cools on the cookie sheets, stir it every 10-15 minutes to avoid serious sticking. When it's completely cool, add the dried fruit and store in an airtight jar. Our favorite breakfast around here is plain yogurt with blackberries and granola, yum!!

Nutty Biscotti

Over the weekend I had a hankering to bake, and since we already had three kinds of cookies (more on those later perhaps) and two loaves of bread in the freezer I decided on biscotti. The recipe came from my mother, and I think she got it from Whole Foods, back when the one near us was still called Wellspring. You can use almonds or hazelnuts (or even leave the nuts out), or chocolate chips or whatever strikes your fancy. Climate warning: If you are making biscotti in the summer or anywhere humid, they may never fully harden. They still taste great though!



Biscotti di Prato
2 c. AP flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
3 eggs (or 6 egg whites)
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract (orange might be good too)
1- 1 1/2 c. whole hazelnuts or almonds, untoasted

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine flour, sugar and leavenings in small bowl. Whisk together eggs and extracts, then add dry ingredients. Mix to form a stiff and sticky dough. Knead or stir in nuts.

With floured or oiled hands, form dough into two long longs, 1-2 inches in diameter. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet, at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 20 minutes, or until logs are golden and firm. Remove from oven and immediately slide onto a cutting board. Slice on the diagonal into 1 inch-wide pieces.

Spread pieces on baking sheet again and return to oven for 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on racks. They will harden as they cool. Store in an airtight jar and enjoy with coffee or tea.