dessert

New Year’s Sweet

January 1, 2014 By Nina Max in cakes, dessert, family, traditions 1 Comment

This New Year’s Eve was nothing like last year’s. The baby and I snuggled off to bed at 9:00. Shane and Rose stayed up until midnight playing cards, Spot It and who knows what else.

At midnight they went up to the roof—so as not to wake us up—and set off some questionable poppers that my sister bought from a street vendor. I don’t know the details, but word is the poppers were kind of scary.

There was no elaborate meal, just a simple lasagna, roasted asparagus and a bottle of bubbly that we couldn’t finish. As I said, nothing like last year… except for the dessert.

Rather than a recap of this tumultuous, but ultimately rewarding year, I’ll leave you with this, New Year’s Cake (aka Baked Alaska). Something sweet for the New Year, and a tradition to carry on. Wishing you all the sweetest 2014, I think we’re off to a good start.

• New Year’s Cake (aka Baked Alaska) •
original recipe from Saveur Magazine

For the filling and cake:
2 pints strawberry ice cream, slightly softened (you can use whatever flavors you want, of course)
Unsalted butter, for pan
½ cup cake flour, plus more for pan (cake flour is good but not essential, it will come out fine if you use all purpose)
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. grated lemon zest

For the meringue:
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
4 egg whites
½ cup sugar

For topping:
Toy penguins (optional, and yes, we know penguins don’t really live in Alaska – you can use caribou or polar bears if you prefer)

Instructions:
1. For the filling: Line a 7″-diameter bowl with a 15″ piece of plastic wrap, allowing excess to hang over rim of bowl. Pack ice cream into bowl, smoothing top, and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours.

2. For the cake: Heat oven to 325°. Grease and flour an 8″ round cake pan; set aside. Whisk together flour and salt in a bowl; set aside. Beat sugar and eggs in a bowl on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Stir in juice and zest; fold in flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool completely, invert onto a rack, and set aside.

3. For the meringue: Heat oven to 450°. Place cream of tartar and egg whites in a large bowl; beat on medium speed of a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Add sugar, and beat until stiff but not dry peaks form, about 2-5 minutes.

4. To serve, place cake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Invert ice cream onto cake and peel off plastic. Cover ice cream and cake with meringue. Bake until meringue begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Using 2 metal spatulas, transfer to a cake plate and serve immediately.

Turkey tacos and a soup-off

November 30, 2013 By Nina Max in dessert, left overs

We had dinner at our friends the Blanco’s place tonight. They had a lovely spread, as always, with turkey tacos (clever!) and a butternut squash soup-off. A good time was had by all, even still-pregnant me.

Let’s go back to the turkey tacos. What a great idea for Thanksgiving leftovers! When you take tortillas, cheese, seemingly any leftover thanksgiving dishes and top it with mole sauce, it’s delicious. The kids can skip the mole if they want.

James’ quick mole sauce really pulled everything together. He pointed out that you can make the kind of mole that takes days, or you can do a quick version in the blender. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a quick blender version, but it was really good!

James and Fiona each made a batch of butternut squash soup, and we did a blind taste test. The results were—and have been, when tested on others—pretty much even. Which means to me that they both make a really good butternut squash soup. Fiona’s was classic, subtle and butternutty, and James’ was spicy and appley.

For dessert I made Martha Stewart’s Banana Bread with coconut, toasted pecans and chocolate chips. the recipe doesn’t actually call for chocolate chips, but I think they’re a great addition. Recipe after the photo.

• Banana Bread with Coconut, Pecans and Chocolate Chips •
from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups canola oil
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1 cup unsweetened dried shredded coconut
1 cup walnuts or 1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped (I prefer pecans)
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup chocolate chips
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat pans with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar and oil on medium-low speed until combined.
4. Beat in the flour mixture. Add the vanilla, banana, coconut, nuts, chocolate chips and buttermilk and beat just to combine.
5. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula.
6. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers come out clean, 60-65 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove laves from pans and let cool completely.
7. Bread can be kept at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months.

Chocolate pudding

November 26, 2013 By Nina Max in dessert, quick

It’s no secret that this pregnancy has been largely an uncomfortable one. The beauty and magic of pregnancy—which has mostly eluded me this time around—has dissipated. I’m ready, I’m done, I want this baby out now. But I’m just a little too much of a nature-knows-best type to request an induction or schedule a c-section.

“There’s not much going on down there.” That’s what my doctor told me today, at my 38 week prenatal visit. Labor is not imminent. It’s possible I’ve got 4 more weeks of this godawful unpleasantness ahead of me. I won’t go into detail, but trust me, it’s seriously unpleasant.

So what does this have to do with dinner? After my appointment, feeling glum, I paged through a magazine and noticed a picture of a very tasty looking chocolate pudding. Chocolate pudding! That was exactly what I wanted, and we had all of the ingredients on hand.

Tonight, rather than dipping into the dregs of the Halloween bucket, we would have a proper dessert. It was sure to make me feel better, or at least distract me momentarily from my discomfort.

When she got home from school, Rose and I whipped up a batch from this Smitten Kitchen recipe (also below). Cooking with Rose is always a spirit-lifter, and fingers dipped in chocolate never hurts either.

It’s a super-easy pudding recipe. Quick to prepare and no special equipment or fancy skills required. It’s delicious, but don’t fill your bowls too much, it’s very rich, and we couldn’t finish ours. Not even Shane.

For dinner, we had ravioli with some of Marcella’s Famous Sauce (from the freezer). And lightly steamed broccoli with lemon-butter.

• Chocolate Pudding •
from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 6 to 7 (I’d say more like 8-10)

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk (2% works fine)
6 ounces semi- or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 1 cup good chocolate chips)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan, Slowly whisk in the milk, in a thin steam at first so that lumps don’t form, then more quickly once the cornstarch mixture is smoothly incorporated. Place over medium-low heat and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk as necessary should lumps begin to form. After 10 minutes or so (slower over lower heat is better, to give the cornstarch time to cook), before it starts to simmer, the mixture should begin to thicken, enough that it will coat the back of a spoon. Add the chocolate, and continue stirring for another 2 to 4 minutes, until chocolate is fully incorporated and mixture is quite thick. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

If you’re concerned about lumps: Run mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. Distribute among individual pudding cups or one large serving bowl, and chill until it is cool and set, about 2 to 3 hours. If you dislike pudding skin: Put plastic on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating. Pudding is good for 3 days in the fridge.Rose’s “pudding setup,” by Rose.

Cape Birthday

August 31, 2013 By Nina Max in cakes, cape meals, dessert, drinks 1 Comment

My sister Anna’s birthday is on September 4th. Every year we celebrate on or around Labor Day with a big dinner and party at the Cape. By big dinner and party, I mean pretty much a regular Cape meal but with extra cocktails, cake and gifts.

For the past several years Anna has requested Mexican for her birthday dinner, but since we’ve already had Mexican a few times this summer, she decided to go back to her birthday dinner roots and have steak.

We started the evening with Anna’s favorite drink, a sidecar, made by Shane. And a virgin sugar-rimmed drink for me.

For appetizers we had shrimp cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce in lovely little yard sale-acquired martini glasses. Rose pointed out that shrimp cocktail was not an adequate dinner if we were all planning to have cake and homemade marshmallows afterwards. We assured her there was (much) more to come.

For the main event, Wayne grilled up some nice tender New York Strip steaks. My mom and Ann made iceberg wedges topped with blue cheese dressing, minced chives & tomaotes and bacon bits, loosely based on this recipe. And for a starch, we had local corn from Cotiut (the town next door).

Dessert was a masterpiece of a cake from Sweetapolita, a 4 Layer Chocolate Cake with Whipped Birthday Cake Filling and Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting.

The cake is really supposed to be 6 layers and feature multi-colored sprinkles but I had to improvise a bit due to poor piping skills and inadequate baking pans here on the Cape. Nevertheless, everyone said it might have been one of the best cakes I’ve ever made, and I have to concur.

The frosting had a whole bunch of Ovaltine in it, which gave it a delicious malty flavor. The whipped cream filling is made extra birthday-cakey with a (this is weird) heaping tablespoon of white cake mix. The recipe is at the link above and also below with my notes.

After dinner we had a bonfire on the beach and toasted homemade marshmallows.

• Chocolate Layer Cake with Whipped Cream Filling and Malted Chocolate Frosting•
from Sweetapolita
note: original recipe calls for colored sprinkles, this is the simpler, non-sprinkle version

For the Chocolate Layer Cake:
2-1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon (330 g) all-purpose flour
3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (135 g) Cacao Barry Extra Brute Cocoa Powder (I used regular old Hershey’s cocoa powder with great results)
1 tablespoon (15 g) baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons (7.5 g) baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons (12 g) salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups (360 mL) buttermilk, room temperature
1-1/2 cups (360 mL) strong black coffee, hot
1/2 cup (120 mL) vegetable oil
1-1/2 tablespoons (22.5 mL) pure vanilla extract

For the Whipped Birthday Cake Filling:
3 tablespoons (45 ml) cold water
1 tablespoons (15 ml) unflavoured gelatin (such as Knox brand)
2 cups (500 ml) whipping cream (35-37% fat), cold, divided
1/2 cup (63 g) confectioner’s sugar
1 heaping tablespoon (15 g) white cake mix (don’t leave this out, it sounds weird but really makes the flavor)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

For the Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting:
1 lb butter (2 cups)(454 g), at room temperature
4 cups (500 g) icing sugar (confectioners’ or powdered), sifted
3/4 cup (75 g) Ovaltine Classic (brown in colour)
1 tablespoon (15 mL) pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
8 oz (250 g) quality Belgian chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled (I used Ghirardelli chips instead, with great results)
1/2 cup (120 mL) whipping (35% fat) cream

For the Cake

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare three (for 6 layers) or 4 (for 4 layers) 8-inch round cake pans (butter, line bottom with parchment paper, butter paper, dust with flour).
In bowl of electric mixer, sift all dry ingredients, including sugar. Combine eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla in a measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork.
Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients mix for 2 minutes on medium speed (you may need the plastic splash-guard that comes with mixer). Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. (Batter will be thin.)
Bake for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Continue to bake until toothpick or skewer comes almost clean (a few crumbs), about 12 more minutes. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes then gently invert onto greased racks until completely cool. The cake will be very fragile, handle with care.

For the Whipped Birthday Cake Filling:

In a small bowl, place the cold water and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring 1/3 cup of the cream just to a simmer, then stir into the gelatin mixture. Refrigerate, stirring frequently, until cool but not set, about 8 minutes. You really need to stir this a lot, if there are lumps, you will have gelatinous lumps in your filling.
In a small bowl, sift together the icing sugar and cake mix.
In a chilled stainless steel bowl with a chilled whisk attachment (for stand mixer), beat the remaining whipping cream, icing sugar/cake mix, vanilla and salt until it thickens just slightly and soft peaks begin to form, about 1 minute. Very gradually add the gelatin mixture and continue beating until medium-firm peaks form (should be thick enough to spread). Keep covered and chilled until ready to use.

For the Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting:

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine the icing sugar and butter and beat on low speed for about 1 minute.
Add malt powder, vanilla and salt, and beat on low until well combined. Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes).
Add whipping cream and beat on med-high speed for another minute.
Mix and “work in” with rubber spatula right before applying to cake (to rid of air bubbles).

Assembly of the (4 or) 6-Layer Chocolate Sprinkle Cake:

On an 8-inch round cake board (or cake plate), put a small dollop of frosting. Cut your 3 cake layers each once horizontally with a long, serrated knife, so you have a total of 6 layers. Skip this step if you baked 4 layers, for the 4-layer version.
Place your first layer face-up on the board (or plate) and cover with 1/5 of the Whipped Birthday Cake leaving about 1/2″ around the edge.
Repeat until you come to your final layer, which you will place face-down. If you find the cake too soft and unstable, put in refrigerator for a few moments to firm it up, then resume.
Frost entire outside of cake with a thin layer of Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting to seal in crumbs. Chill until firm. Repeat with another, thick layer of frosting. Chill until firm.
Serve cake at room temperature, but keep refrigerated if not serving the day it’s made.

End of summer Cape: Day 4

August 27, 2013 By Nina Max in cape meals, dessert

It was a man’s world, or more specifically, a man’s kitchen, tonight. The scene: Three big guys, classic Police, shots of Patron, deep frying, and an unbelievable mess.

The result: Oyster Po-Boys (scallop for ole preggers here – thanks dudes), tater tots, cole slaw with raw ramen noodles & cashews, fresh corn, tomato and cuke salad, fresh-caught bluefish, and three different creamy hot sauces ranging in spice from mild to ring-stinger.

Everyone wanted me to tell you that the boys ran out of cornmeal and had to put tortilla chips into the Vitamix blender for the final batch of oyster-frying batter. It worked brilliantly.

For dessert we had homemade peach shortcake (peaches, with sweet biscuits and whipped cream) by Cathy.

See photo captions for more details.

Macaroni & cheese, for two babies

May 9, 2013 By Nina Max in dessert

You might recall that my favorite dish to make for friends who have just brought home a little one is Martha Stewart’s macaroni & cheese. This is my first time making it for a family who just brought home two little ones.

That’s right! My friends Ian & Britta finally had their twins. One girl, one boy. Two healthy, beautiful, 6 pound balls of love. And thank god they did, because Britta had become one seriously uncomfortable lady, carrying around 12lbs of baby and all the stuff that comes with them. As Rose said: “I wish Britta would just have those darn babies so she can feel good again.”

As I mentioned, the original recipe is from Martha Stewart. It’s posted below with a few extra tips courtesy of yours truly.

Since two hours in the kitchen already wasn’t enough for me (sarcasm emoticon here), I’m also making Anna’s Best Brownies for teacher appreciation week. Thanks to the friend who gently reminded me about it this afternoon.

• Macaroni & Cheese •
from Martha Stewart – takes about two hours start to finish

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (divided), plus more for dish
6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
4 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 18 ounces)
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 8 ounces
1 pound rotini pasta

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into bowl with bread, and toss. Set breadcrumbs aside.

Put a large pasta pot of salted water on to boil.

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, whisking, 1 minute.

While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick. This might take a while, 20 minutes or so. See photo below for what the sauce should look like once it’s thickened.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere. Set cheese sauce aside.

When water is boiled, add pasta and cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer’s directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. Transfer pasta to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir pasta into the reserved cheese sauce
Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyere, and breadcrumbs over top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Shrimp, scallops, couscous, salad

April 28, 2013 By Nina Max in dessert 1 Comment

I bought half a pound of scallops at the farmer’s market today because they were $17.99 a pound and that seemed like a lot of money. I just assumed that you’d get a lot of scallops for a lot of money and that half a pound would do. Upon opening the bag at home, I realized that I’d only bought seven scallops. Seven scallops was not going be enough for my family, specifically, Shane.

Fortunately, Shane went to Costco today and got a bag of frozen shrimp. Which reminds me, do you know about The Steady Table’s Costco shopping list? It’s a list of foods we think are worth buying at your NYC area Costco. And possibly Costcos in other areas.

It was proving hard to find a scallop recipe that seemed simple enough, something without a fussy sauce. And then I remembered my own basic scallop recipe. I cooked the shrimp and scallops together, taking the shrimp out a bit sooner since they cook more quickly.

The couscous was delicious, pearl, with tiny pieces of zucchini, lemon juice, zest, olive oil and ricotta salata. It was inspired by this recipe. In my version I left out the shallot and basil, increased the amount of lemon juice, and decreased the amount of couscous so it would be more veggie-y.

Somehow Shane managed to find a decent tomato. He got it at Fairway, maybe that’s why it was good, or maybe we just got lucky. I prepared it with my mom’s no-effort red wine vinegar, salt and olive oil dressing and added a few leaves of spicy arugula. Yum.

As promised, here are the cookies from last night. They are Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies from Joy The Baker. It’s possible that I might love these more than trusty old Toll House Cookies. The molasses seems to make them extra brown-sugary, the bread flour makes them perfectly chewy and the touch of sea salt makes them, well, perfect.

In case you’re wondering, Buttercup seems to be doing well. I had a bit of a scare today when I thought perhaps she was feeling lethargic, the surgeon said to watch out for that. Turns out she was just being a cat, she later groomed herself, had some treats and drank a lot of water. I think things are looking up for our Butters.

Steak & cake

March 19, 2013 By Nina Max in dessert, family, parties

Today is my favorite husband’s birthday. Alright, my only husband, but still.

We had the smallest of parties, with his favorite meal, steak frites, followed by his favorite cake, Inside-Out German Chocolate. Rose was excited as can be for her dad’s big day, and helped out by decorating the cake with loads of sprinkles and a “2” candle, and fancifying the table with paper snowflakes.

The oven fries were from this recipe (as usual). For veggies, we had simple brussels sprouts (Rose’s favorite), and an arugula and pea frond salad with cilantro and Rita’s dressing.

I haven’t made Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake* for several years. It’s ridiculously decadent and wonderful. A sticky-sweet, gooey coconut & pecan filling is sandwiched between two thin brownies and covered in thick, rich ganache. It’s almost more of a torte than a cake, but we’re not complaining.

*Cake Note: The recipe doesn’t tell you that you need to coat the cake in several layers of ganache, letting each one set in between coats. Put the cake on a rack set in a baking tray, pour over just enough ganache to coat the top and sides, let it sit for half an hour or so and repeat until the ganache is all used up. There will be a lot left in the baking tray, which you can scoop up and store to eat later, over ice cream or with a spoon.

Mint-Tastic sundae

March 15, 2013 By Nina Max in dessert, dining out

There was an art auction at my daughter Rose’s school this evening. I decided to meet her at school, and kick around with her for a few hours until the auction started. Maybe we would pick up an early dinner and be well nourished, and in a good mood for the event.

What I did instead, was to skip her after school snack, drag her around the Upper East Side on foot, and then take her to Dylan’s Candy Bar for an ice cream sundae that was bigger than her head. Genius, right?

About an hour after the sundae, she became quite irritable. By the time we got home from the auction she was starving, and it was already well past our usual dinner time.

I got out my dinner-emergency big guns. Frozen ravioli with Faux Penne alla Vodka sauce. Rose started eating before I even got dinner on her plate, and then had seconds. She never has seconds. Maybe I am a genius.

Brownies

February 24, 2013 By Nina Max in dessert

Shane made steak frites tonight but overcooked both the steak and the fries. As he put it: “This dinner was nothing more than a good salad and something to fill a nutritional void.”

With a review like that, I’m guessing you don’t need more detail. Instead, I’ll give you the recipe for my sister Anna’s most delicious brownies, which we had for dessert. So easy, so delicious, you make the whole thing in one saucepan (baking pans excluded).

• Anna’s Best-Ever Brownies •
Adapted from Baker’s One Bowl Brownies
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate (Anna uses Baker’s)
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 tablespoons cocoa powder (Anna uses Hershey’s or Hershey’s dark)
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup flour
1 cup mini-chips (must be mini)
chopped pecans (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9″ x 9,” or 10″ x 10″ baking pan with foil leaving some hanging over the edge of the pan, and grease foil. Melt butter and chocolate over low heat in a small (2 quart) saucepan, stirring frequently. When chocolate and butter are melted, add cocoa powder and stir to combine. Add sugar, then eggs and vanilla, then flour and salt, stirring to combine after each addition. Mix in mini chips and nuts (if using). Spread evenly in pan and bake for 35 minutes, do not over-bake. Let cool in pan, remove and cut into squares. Wonderful.

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