Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers piped too far apart, but looking good

I have a ton of mascarpone cheese left over from The Wedding that I did desserts for. I need to work on my math skills. At any rate, I figured that tiramisu was a good use of mascarpone, so I decided to try my hand at ladyfingers. They're sot of like the ones I get in the store, but not quite as soft. Next time I think I'll add a little cake enhancer and actually mix in the egg whites a little more because if you look closely at these ladyfingers, you'll see they sort of look like lava rock. Too much air, in my opinion. I still have three more containers of mascarpone after making three tiramisu semifreddos...so I might make some more ladyfingers to use that up.
For now, I'm posting this recipe I got from epicurious.com, and then I'll post the semifreddo recipe I got from my friend at Man Bakes Cake. These ladyfingers were relatively easy to make, in my opinion. I'm no expert, but they did the job.

Ladyfingers
   --adapted from epicurious.com

Ingredients:

• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar, divided
• 7/8 cup all purpose flour
• (confectioners sugar for dusting--I inadvertently left this out)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the rack in the middle of the oven.
Separate eggs, placing the yolks in a large mixing bowl. Beat yolks with an electric mixer (or in the bowl of a standing mixer) at medium speed until pale yellow. Then gradually beat in all but 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar.
Beat yolks and eggs on medium-high speed until pale yellow, tripled in volume, and thick, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer this egg-sugar mixture to another bowl and sprinkle flour over mixture and stir until just combined. Now you have to clean the mixing bowl (if you're using the stand mixer).
Beat egg whites with clean bowl and clean beaters until they just hold soft peaks. Add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a low stram and then beat whites until they hold stiff peaks.
Stir one third of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten, and then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly. 
Spoon batter into a pastry bag fitten with a large circle tip. Line a large baking sheet with parchment, piping a dab of batter under each corner to hold it in place. Pipe rows of batter 3 1/2 inches long and so that they almost touch each other (I placed mine too far apart). (Dust with powdered sugar if you can remember.)
Bake at 350 degrees until pale golden, dry, and soft, but still springy to the touch, about 14-16 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet before removing (I skipped this step and regretted it, so be sure to let them cool on the baking sheet.)

Makes a lot of ladyfingers, like over 50

Star Spangled (sort of) Cheesecake

My American Flag Cheesecake. Not as star-spangled as I'd wanted

I made this cheesecake the first time a couple of years ago for my brother-in-law's citizenship celebration. After living in the US for almost 30 years, he finally decided to become an American citizen. I was in the midst of a rainbow cheesecake phase, so I thought that an American flag cheesecake was a natural choice for this party. To my surprise, it came out just the way I'd intended: red and white stripes and a blue square field with little blobby white stars. I even impressed myself. Unfortunately, that was before I got some food photography skills, and the pics I had were unworthy of a blog post. This year, though, I'm making it happen, and I'm blogging about it. 
It didn't turn out quite as well as it did the first time. It's not so star-spangled. If I wasn't in the middle of teaching summer school, I might just make another one to get the field of stars right. For now, I'll have to leave it as is. Sigh. I'm going to change the instructions below to allow for more blue and probably more white. The red sort of takes over. So hopefully anyone crazy enough to attempt this will have read this little paragraph and not try to make adjustments on their own. You've been warned.

Star Spangled Cheesecake

Prepare at least one day in advance for best results.

Special Equipment

• 9 inch spring form pan
• 1 plastic roasting bag
• Large roasting pan
• zip top baggies (2 gallon or quart size and 2 sandwich size)

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Cheesecake:

•  4 8oz. cream cheeses @ room temperature
•  4 eggs @ room temperature
•  2 tsp. vanilla
•  1 cup sugar
•  1/2 cup heavy cream
•  1/2 cup sour cream
•  blue and red gel food coloring

Topping

•  8 oz. sour cream
•  2 T sugar
•  1/2 tsp. vanilla
• fresh berries for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a medium bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and butter (I like to crush the graham crackers in a gallon size zip top bag, and then I just add the sugar and butter and mix it in the bag). Line your 9" spring form pan with a circle of parchment that's been cut to fit. Put the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan and press firmly all over. 
• Set pan into the plastic roasting bag and fold down the top edges of the bag to give yourself space to add the cheesecake batter.
• If you don't have a plastic roasting bag to use for this, you will want to cover the bottom of the pan with 2-3 layers of heavy duty foil to keep the water out from the water bath you will use during baking.
• Cream cream cheese until smooth.  Add sugar and beat until smooth.  Beat in eggs cream, sour cream, and vanilla.  Stir in heavy cream until incorporated.
• Set your 4 zip top baggies into cups with the open end at the top to receive the cheesecake batter. 
• Scoop about 1/4 cup into a small baggie and zip. Set aside. This will be for the stars.
• Scoop about 1 to 1 1/4 cups into the other small baggie and add 3 drops blue gel food color. Zip top up and gently squish around until all gel color is incorporated. If the blue doesn't seem vibrant enough for you, add more gel 1-2 drops at a time. If you're feeling adventurous, add a whole blob at a time. Set aside. Obviously, this will be the blue part.
• Divide the remaining cheesecake batter between the two larger bags, but make sure the bag that will remain white has more batter than the one that will become red. Zip one up the one for white stripes and set it aside. 
• In the remaining large bag, add a dime size blob of red gel food color. Zip up the top and squish around gently until color is incorporated. Add and squish more red gel as needed.
• Cut a quarter inch from the corner of the white baggie and squeeze a layer of white onto the graham cracker crust until almost completely covered. (If the flow of batter is too thin or slow, you can snip off a little more of the bag, but be careful not to overdo it.) With the back of a spoon or with a small offset spatula, spread the batter to fill in the blank spaces so you can't see the bottom.
• Cut a quarter inch from the corner of the red baggie and squeeze a layer of red all over the white layer. Again, use the back of a clean spoon to gently spread the batter to completely cover the white layer.
• Repeat the previous two layering steps until you have two layers of red and two layers of white. Now, take the blue batter and snip a quarter inch from a corner. Squeeze a ring around the edge that goes about 1 1/2 inches in. Smooth out with another clean spoon. Quickly add the next white layer just in the middle of the blue circle, making sure to smooth the white out.
• Now cut a 1/8  inch corner from the small white bag and squeeze little white dots in the blue ring. The dots should be about the size of a small unpopped kernel of popcorn. These will become the stars.
• Repeat the previous two steps until you're out of batter. Hopefully you won't be left with an overwhelming amount of one color.
• Place pan into the bottom of a deep roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water about halfway up the side of the pan. 
• Place roasting pan with the cheesecake on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake at 350° for about 60 minutes or until cheesecake has risen and center is set.  
• While cheesecake bakes, mix the topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• When cheesecake is set, remove from oven and pour sour cream topping mixture on top and smooth out.  Return cheesecake to oven for another 5-8 minutes.
• As soon as you take pan out of the oven, run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake to release the cheesecake from the sides.
• Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.  Cover with a single sheet of paper towel (or a clean dish towel if you don't have paper towels) and set a wooden spoon across the top to keep the towel in place. Put in the refrigerator and refrigerate overnight.
• Cut and serve as-is, or with your favorite cheesecake topping.

Makes one whole 9-inch cheesecake (12-24 servings)

Perfect Little Sliders

I've thought about posting a burger "recipe" for a while now, but these are one of my quick dinners, so I usually don't take the time to make them look cute and take pics. Today, since I was making these cute sliders, though, I decided to type up the recipe and post. Another reason I'm doing this is for those who are just starting out cooking, and who don't know that you need to flatten your patties pretty well before grilling, lest you end up with a chunky charred hunk of ground beef that doesn't fit the bun. I'm a fan of my patty fitting my bun, which will happen for you too, if you take the time to form your own patties and make them relatively flat (see pic at the end).
So, if you already know burger basics, this post may insult your intelligence. If you're new to cooking ground beef, I hope you find this helpful.

Burger Sliders

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (I like the 85/15)
• burger seasoning*
• 8 dinner rolls, sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Onion Strings (optional)
• American cheese slices (optional)
• other hamburger toppings, if desired

Instructions:
Cut some wax paper into 4x4 or 4x5 pieces.
With a knife, roughly divide ground beef into 8 equal portions.
Roll each portion into a ball. Working with one ball of ground beef at a time, start flattening the ball in your hands, and then place onto a piece of waxed paper. Gently press the beef into a flat circle, about three inches or so in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. I usually make mine slightly thicker around the edges and when they cook, they'll end up relatively flat. Place on a plate or sheet pan to wait. Repeat with remaining balls.
Sprinkle patties with your favorite burger seasoning. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Preheat your grill to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit (or whichever temperature you like to grill burgers at). While grill preheats, lightly butter the cut sides of the buns and set aside. 
When grill is hot, carefully place patties on the grill surface, leaving about 1/2 inch between burgers. Close grill lid. Grill for about 3-4 minutes, or until edges are starting to set. Then flip burgers with a spatula to grill for another 2-3 minutes, or until burgers are done to your liking. 
Top with 1/2 slice of American cheese, if desired and grill with the lid down for 30 seconds, or until cheese is melted.
Remove patties to a plate. Place buns, buttered side down onto the grill. Close grill. After about 30-40 seconds, start checking for doneness. I like mine just toasted. Remove with spatula and serve with the patties and any toppings you like.
Makes 4 servings/8 sliders

Fried Baked Potato Wedges

Fried Baked Potato Wedges

I had intended to serve simple (and relatively healthy) baked potatoes with our burger sliders this evening for dinner, but then my husband said he had some errands to run after he installed my new hood vent over our stove. I had to try out the new hood, right? So I figured I'd have to fry something...like Onion Strings to go on top of the burgers. Well, since I was already heating the oil, and the potatoes were getting cold since I'd started them in time for an earlier dinner, the only logical thing to do was to fry the baked potatoes. You know, to heat them up. I was going to butter mine anyway, and the canola oil is actually better for me than the butter. So here you go. This is what I ended up with. They were fabulous. Try them. You'll like them.

Fried Baked Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

• 4 medium russet potatoes
• canola oil
• salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash, pierce, and lightly oil the potatoes. Place in oven directly on the middle rack and bake for about 1 hour, or until potato yields when gently squeezed with an oven-mitted hand.
Remove potatoes from oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes before you cut them. Cut each cooled potato lengthwise in quarters.
Heat about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of canola oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium high heat (stay on the medium side of medium high, as opposed to the high end). 
When oil is hot (try it out by dipping an end of a potato in there--if it bubbles immediately, it's hot and ready), carefully place as many potato wedges as will fit with a half inch space between. I like to start with the skin side down, so the white fluffy part does not stick. Fry until edges start to brown, and then with metal tongs, turn wedges on their sides until they are an all-over golden brown with deep brown crusty edges.
Carefully remove wedges to a paper towel lined plate and immediately sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining wedges.
Makes 16 wedges

Today I also fried up some onion strings after the potatoes fried.

Creamy (Not Pasty) Macaroni & Cheese

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Well, it's the Monday after my big day making desserts for a friend's actual BIG DAY. With the help of a dear friend, and by stepping on a few toes, I think I pulled it off: the desserts were delicious and pretty. Overall, I feel good about it. One thing I did mess up on, though, were my mascarpone frosting calculations. Somehow I ended up with seven 8 oz. containers of the stuff after all was said and done. So, I've started researching recipes that call for mascarpone. I've found a few good ones, but they will all take time (like the mascarpone ice cream that will be turned into some sort of tiramisu ice cream, which means I will be trying my hand at making ladyfingers as well). 
On my way home from my summer job (teaching a blogging class and Writers' Workshop), I actually had time to think. I was hungry, though, so I started thinking about lunch too. My thoughts of lunch and mascarpone collided, and it dawned on me that I've been going about my pursuit of the perfect homemade mac and cheese all wrong. I've been using recipes that call for making a roux with butter and flour, and then I end up with a pasty clump of inedible cheesy pasta-like stuff. I thought about my Creamy Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli. That sauce is creamy and doesn't clump. Of course, it always ends up soaking into the pasta and leaving very little creaminess, but at least it's not pasty. At any rate, I decided to base a mac and cheese on that method of sauce making, using a bit of mascarpone as one of the cheeses. I also had some Gorgonzola left from making Green Salad with Craisins, Gorgonzola, etc. 
So, what I did was what you see pictured above and detailed below. I'm happy enough with the results. It's tasty, but very, very rich. I have a "main dish" tag on it, but I think it would work better as a small side dish. Maybe even as a side dish for that delicious salad. Hmmmm...
Unfortunately my eating buddy, Ezra was not too impressed, so now I have a big bowl of pasta that I will be solely responsible for. For now, I've eaten plenty--more than I should have eaten, and I'll have to wait until I have some other mac and cheese lovers come over before I make it again. At least now I have a recipe I like. Almost as much as I like the mac and cheese from the blue box. I'm serious.
Note: I think you can use whatever cheese you have around the house. I just happened to have these three. I do think the mascarpone added to the creaminess, though. I'm no expert, but I liked it.

Creamy (Not Pasty) Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound pasta
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated medium or sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 2 teaspoons corn starch 
• 4 teaspoons cold water

Instructions:
Prepare pasta according to package instructions until it is al dente. Pour much of the water out into the serving bowl (this will warm the bowl so your mac and cheese stays warm longer). Pour pasta and remaining water into a colander and allow pasta to drain in the sink while you prepare the cheese sauce.
Put a large pot (I use the same pot I used for the pasta) over medium heat and melt the butter. Add chopped garlic and allow garlic to soften as you add the black pepper and cayenne pepper. Stir. Add milk, stir, and bring milk to a simmer. Add the Gorgonzola and whisk to melt cheese. Add the cheddar cheese and whisk some more. Then whisk in the mascarpone and whisk until smooth and all cheeses are melted. 
Add the drained pasta back to the pot and stir with a spoon until liquid comes to a simmer. At this point, quickly mix the corn starch and cold water, pour into the pasta mixture and stir with a spoon until sauce is thick and coats the pasta.
Drain the hot pasta water from the serving bowl, and then pour the macaroni and cheese into the serving bowl.
Enjoy.
Makes 5-6 large servings or 10-12 side dish servings (in my opinion)

Yummy Dill Dip

Dill Dip

I'm sure my mom got this recipe from someone else, but I got it from her, so I'm giving her credit. This is a fabulous, and I mean fabulous dip that goes with just about anything you want to dip: veggies, pretzels, potato chips, tortilla chips. It's a nice change from the typical ranch dip, and the way I make it here it's pretty salty, which I probably shouldn't enjoy so much, but I do. The original recipe calls for Bon Appetit Seasoning, but since I didn't have that, I just used celery salt, and it tastes just fine.
Enough said. Try it. It's delicious.

Dill Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
• 1 tablespoon dehydrated minced onion
• 1 teaspoon celery salt (or Bon Appetit Seasoning)
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients until combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour until ready to serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Serve with fresh cut vegetables, chips, or pretzels.

Makes 1 3/4 cup dip

I may have added too much salt to this batch...

Easy Coconut Cake

Super Easy Coconut Cake

I first had this fabulous coconut cake at a staff dinner at our principal's home. It was this crazy potluck, where our principal provided pizza for everyone, and the rest of us were supposed to bring desserts. Neat idea, right? What we ended up with was a super gluttonous spread of just about every dessert imaginable. This cake, though, is what got my attention. I don't even like coconut, but it just looked so yummy, and people were just digging in with a spatula. So I took a little bit just to taste it, and oh my gosh. It was one of the best cakes I've ever eaten. I'm not a huge cake fan (no pun intended), but this one was a keeper. It's so easy, that the original recipe just calls for you to mix the cake right in the pan. It's moist, tender, sweet, creamy, and coconutty. So, so good. The only complicated thing about this recipe is that you have to let the cake cool for an hour in the refrigerator. Definitely a crowd pleaser and the perfect cake for a potluck. Thanks, Wendi for one of the best cake recipes ever.
Note: I've also tried making a cupcake version of this cake. They're cute, but I think it tastes better this way.

Easy Coconut Cake

Ingredients: 

• 1 box white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 cups shredded coconut, divided
• 7 oz. cream of coconut (found in the liquor section, but it's non alcoholic)
• 1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed in the refrigerator

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Mix the cake mix, eggs, oil, water, and 1 cup coconut until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly in the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
Remove from oven and poke surface every 1/2 to 3/4 inches with a meat fork. Open up your can of cream of coconut and stir well to break up any solid parts. Pour 7 oz. (or so) of the cream of coconut evenly over the hot cake. With the back of a spoon, spread the cream over any parts that didn't get poured on.
Allow cake to cool a bit before moving to the refrigerator to cool completely (about 1 hour).
Mix the thawed Cool Whip with the other 1 cup coconut and spread evenly over the top of the cake. 
Refrigerate until ready to serve, and then be sure to refrigerate any leftovers.
Makes 1 cake, or 12-24 servings

Gluten Free White Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Gluten Free Cupcakes

I'm not even sure what to say about this recipe. It's just a white cake recipe where I subbed Better Batter GF flour for cake flour. Maybe it's the cake enhancer that pushed them over the edge, but they're not quite what I was going for.
The cupcakes taste good according to me and my gluten limited son. The texture, though, is somewhat strange to me (and to him, although I don't think he could quite articulate it). It's almost as if they are too moist. Moist is desirable in a cupcake most of the time, but when you chew these cupcakes, they almost taste underdone. The tops and bottoms are well-browned and it looks well baked, but it is so moist and soft that it turns a little doughy in your mouth. I think some people like that, but I am not one of them.
We'll have to see if Max chooses to eat any more of these. That will be the true test. For now, I'm really not sure what I'm going to do with all of these cupcakes. 

Gluten Free White Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cup Better Batter Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• 2 tablespoons King Arthur Flour Cake Enhancer (optional)
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs, whole
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 batch buttercream frosting (recipe below)
• sprinkles (optional)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 26-28 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix all of the dry ingredients on low speed. Add the soft butter and mix until it all looks like wet sand.
• Add the egg whites, one at a time, and then the whole eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
• In a small bowl, whisk the milk with the vanilla. Add this mixture, 1/3 at a time, to the batter. Beat 1-2 minutes after each addition, until fluffy. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Transfer batter to a large zip top bag. Carefully seal the top and twist a top corner so that the batter is forced into the opposite bottom corner. Cut about 1/2 inch off the corner. Squeeze batter into each muffin cup to within 1/2 inch of the top. Do not overfill. With a wet fingertip, smooth out the top of the cupcake a little so it doesn't bake with a point on top. Get out another pan and put some liners in even if it's only for one or two extra cupcakes.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a center cupcake comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then with a butter knife or offset spatula, remove cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling.
• While cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting.
• Frost cupcakes however you want and sprinkle with sprinkles, if desired.

Makes about 26-28 cupcakes

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4-6 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and vegetable shortening to combine. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 4 tablespoons milk. Mix on low until sugar is incorporated. Then beat on high until well blended and fluffy. If the frosting seems too stiff, add more milk, a tablespoon and then a teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

GF Cupcake right out of the oven--it's puffy

GF Cupcake after cooling--kind of shriveled