Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Desserts

  • Gourmet Cookbook Cappuccino Gelato

    I've never made gelato, but I wanted to use my ice cream maker recently without having to buy more eggs.  I looked through my cookbooks (again hope that I will actually use my cookbooks!) and found a Cappuccino Gelato recipe in the Gourmet cookbook that basically only required milk, sugar and instant espresso.  I have a big can of instant espresso (though I have to admit, I am not actually use if its "instant" but it seems close enough — Cafe Bustelo) in my fridge from my wave of making the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies a few months ago.  Needless to say, I've only used a fraction of the espresso, so any chance I get to use it up, I definitely take it.  So away I went!

    Cappuchino Gelato 

    I have to admit that I found the cappuchino gelato to be a bit strong for me to eat a normal serving size on its own, but it was a great accompaniment to a number of other baked goods, including Mark Bittman's chocolate souffle.  Others though seemed to not have the same reaction of the flavor being too strong, and so the gelato was quickly eaten up within a few days of me making it!  Definitely recommend looking up this recipe for any coffee fans!

  • Goodbye Essential Baker — Vanilla Cream Pie with Fresh Strawberries

    As I posted a few weeks back, I recently picked up Carole Bloom's "Essential Baker" from the local public library.  After I tried my first selection from the book — the Lemon Shortbread Coins — I decided that the directions were needlessly complicated and that I would give the book one more round before returning it.  My second attempt from the book was the Fresh Strawberry Tart, but it didn't take too much time for me to completely alter the recipe to make it simpler (and it still was a hit with my friends!).

    Vanilla Cream Pie with Strawberries  

    First, I decided to change the crust to make it a pie crust instead of the tart crust that Bloom called for — I admit, the reason was not just to make the directions similar, it was also because I do not own a tart pan (something I hope to rectify soon).  I ended up using my favorite recipe that I can just whip together with my fingertips, the Gourmet cookbook standard pie crust. 

    Second, I also used fewer berries for the modified pie, put a LOT less effort into the presentation of the pie (most of the work you see in the picture above is due to my friend Andrew) and I decided to omit the apricot glaze, even though I purchased apricot preserves to make the glaze.  The berries remained fresh and moist in the fridge despite omitting the glaze, though I admit that the presentation probably looked less formal than Bloom aimed for in writing her recipe.

    Finally, while I decided to use Bloom's recipe for Vanilla Pastry Cream (though substituting high-quality vanilla for the vanilla bean), I found the pastry cream to be just too heavy.  The recipe uses 3 egg yolks and a cup of milk, and I think I prefer recipes that use whole eggs instead of just yolks to cut the heaviness of the resulting cream. 

    Despite these changes and concerns though, everyone who tried the pie seemed to really like it — though I admit, small portions were definitely necessary given the richness of the pastry cream!  And yes, after making this recipe, I did return the "Essential Baker" back to the library and don't think that I'll either purchase the book or check it out again. 

  • Library Cookbook Experimentation Continues with “The Essential Baker” by Carole Bloom

    A few posts ago, I started to describe my new method to avoid using the cookbooks in my house — checking cookbooks out of the library.  I finally cracked open the second cookbook I checked out, Carole Bloom's "The Essential Baker", to make her Lemon Shortbread Coins.

    Lemon Shortbread Cookies

    My first impression of Bloom's book was that the instructions were needlessly complicated and overly detailed.  Perhaps it was only this recipe, but the directions — from how to prepare the dough to how to bake the cookies — required about 3 times the effort that I would normally put into similar cookies.  However, the coins turned out wonderfully and were quickly gobbled up by me and co-workers within 24 hours!  So, I think I'll try another 1 or 2 recipes in Bloom's book before returning it to the library and potentially deciding that the products just aren't worth the effort called for by Bloom's recipes.  If you're a baker though who prefers simple and quick recipes, I would recommend staying away from this book.

  • Chocolate Souffle — I am a Master! (Ok, Maybe Overstatement of the Year but Still a Personal Achievement!)

    About three weeks ago, I finally crossed off an item on my to do list that has been following me for several months — buying ramekins.  If only I could adequately describe how much effort and nervous energy I put into this project — it would be quite a story to tell, but in order to properly describe it, I'd have to become a much better writer.  So to quickly recap my ramekin journey, the first issue was that it seems that many of the standard kitchen stores in town just didn't have any individual-size ramekins, which pushed my search onto the Internet.  On the Internet, I was quickly (and predictably) overwhelmed by the options available, including the ridiculous number of sizes available for "individual" serving ramekins.  That question of size really threw me for a loop, so I of course had to consult ALL of the souffle and custard recipes in my cookbooks to find out the most common individual size called for, and then back to researching this question on the Internet where, of course, I couldn't find an answer that really satisfied my question (the answer doesn't exist of course because chefs seem to actually use all of the different available sizes of ramekins!). 

    I then decided that maybe I should just focus on price, which led to more online research about common prices for ramekins, online store reviews to find the most reliable store, and then of course, while price-comparison shopping for ramekins, I found that that there are different types — metal, porcelain, ceramic, etc. (I had always just assumed they were some sort of ceramic-y-porcelain-y type material).  It seemed the search would never end!

    Eventually I made myself just find a store that had them in stock — a Williams-Sonoma not too far — and took myself there just to get whatever individual size ramekins they had in stock, no matter the price.   I ended up with 4 6-oz. individual porcelain ramekins that just look fantastic and that I am determined to use many times to get my money's worth out of them because I definitely paid way more than I should have.

    My first ramekin project:  individual chocolate souffles. 

    Individual Chocolate Souffles (Bittman)

    As you can tell from the title of this post, this project was definitely a success — such that I decided to call myself a "master".  In reality, the recipe truly was dummy-proof and for that all thanks go to Mark Bittman, the true cooking master that I hope to be 1% as good as someday (crossing my fingers).  I would encourage everyone to check out his simple recipe at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/dining/111mrex.html?ref=dining.  The only change I think I will attempt the next time I make them (and there will absolutely be a next time!) is to prepare some sort of sauce to accompany them — perhaps a Grand Marnier sauce to complete the experience! 

  • Giada Kitchen Week Continues — Lemon Ricotta Cookies

    As I blogged about earlier on the site, I recently checked out Giada De Lauretiis' "Giada's Kitchen" from the local public library.  The second recipe I decided to take up in the book was the Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze, which is also available on the Food Network website at:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/lemon-ricotta-cookies-with-lemon-glaze-recipe/index.html. 

    Giada Lemon Meringue Cookies

    I decided to make them for a co-worker whose birthday was coming and has been trying a new low-fat, healthier lifestyle.  To make the cookies you see above, I omitted the lemon glaze both for health and taste reasons (I don't like overly-lemony sweets, which also led me to reduce the amount of fresh lemon juice used by 1 tablespoon), and I substituted low-fat ricotta.  I also reduced the baking time by about 3 – 5 minutes to make sure the bottoms didn't get too brown. 

    The cookies were definitely a hit in the office — I ended up emailing the Food Network link to no less than 5 co-workers (one of whom remarked to me last week that she was hoping to make them this weekend).  No one could tell that I had used low-fat ricotta, and some were surprised that the original recipe called for a sweet topping as well.  I think that these cookies are going to get added into the baked goods rotation at work given the overwhelmingly positive reaction!

  • New and Improved Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding!

    I recently made my first bread pudding, using a basic recipe from AllRecipes.com (http://www.madhuknitsandcooks.com/madhu_knits_and_cooks/2009/04/chocolate-chip-bread-pudding.html).   A few nights ago, I decided to use up the other half of my Trader Joe's challah bread and the rest of my carton of low-fat milk to make another bread pudding.  However, after the bread was broken into pieces and placed into the pan, and two eggs (instead of the four I used last time) had been beaten, I realized I only had a little over 1 cup of milk to use instead of the 2 called for in the original recipe.  Instead of giving up on the effort, I decided to forge ahead and finish the bread pudding with just the cup of the milk and 2 eggs (basically halving the liquid ingredients in the recipe), adding in the rest of the original recipe ingredients staying as is. 

    The rest:  a wonderful, bouncy, light and delicious chocolate chip bread pudding! 

    Using less liquid really helped bring out more textures in the bread pudding, specifically a nicely browned top and a rich, pudding-like bottom.  Using fewer eggs also helped eliminate the problem I experienced with the original recipe — a cooked, very eggy bottom layer.  So moving forward, I would definitely recommend including only the necessary liquid needed to lightly soak the bread and absolutely no more.  I would also recommend using no more than 2 eggs for a bread pudding baked in an 8-by-8 inch pan.  

    Now, time to make more!

  • Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

    Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts, even though I only discovered it recently.   I stayed away from bread pudding as a child (something about "bread" and "pudding" just instinctively seemed icky to me) and only over the past year or two have I ventured away from this childhood fear to actually try the many varieties of this delicious dish.   And I am pleased to report that the time finally came for me to try to make this dish myself last week.

    Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

    After some research on the Internet, and in some cookbooks, I bought a Challah loaf, milk and eggs from Trader Joes.  I continued to search for recipes as the bread became stale, and at the last minute, decided to put away the cookbooks and use this highly-rated AllRecipes.com recipe as my base:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-Pudding-II/Detail.aspx. 

    I lightly greased the glass 8 by 8-inch pan with a canola oil spray, and substituted 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips for the more traditional raisins called for in the recipe.  I also used low-fat milk, and definitely could NOT taste the difference from using low-fat milk (which was completely an oversight as I usually bake with whole milk). 

    The bread pudding turned out extremely well though I did learn two lessons.  First, I think I will use less egg next time I make the dish.  There seemed to be a lot of egg in the egg mixture, so much so that the bottom layer of the bread pudding seemed to be just cooked egg which added a bit of a weird consistency and flavor to the very bottom of the dish.  Second, I think that one really needs to make sure that the bread soaks up all of the liquid mixture — I think that really pushing the bread down into the mixture or letting it sit immersed for a period of time before baking (something a lot of recipes seem to call for — letting the mixture sit in the fridge for some time before baking) is important to ensure the top isn't overly baked while the bottom remains a bit more soggy.  Notwithstanding these two lessons learned, this was an EXCELLENT bread pudding and I definitely look forward to making this simple dessert again and again!

    **Update:  Check out a new and improved version of this bread pudding at:  http://www.madhuknitsandcooks.com/madhu_knits_and_cooks/2009/04/new-and-improved-chocolate-chip-bread-pudding.html

  • Chocolate Meringue Cookies

    After making the wonderful vanilla ice cream that I blogged
    about here:  http://www.madhuknitsandcooks.com/madhu_knits_and_cooks/2009/03/vanilla-ice-cream-and-apple-crumble.html, I had 6
    leftover egg whites.  Similar to the
    incident with the leftover egg yolks that ended up in the cracked sugar cookies
    (http://www.madhuknitsandcooks.com/madhu_knits_and_cooks/2009/03/very-delicious-and-probably-not-very-healthy-cracked-sugar-cookies.html), I wanted to make sure to use up the whites and immediately my
    thoughts turned to meringue!

    Chocolate Meringue Cookies

    A few years back, I made a banana cream pie and used the
    leftover egg whites to make some delicious chocolate meringue cookies with mini
    chocolate chips (I believe the recipe was from Cooking Light).  However, I did not realize that one should
    really use an electric mixer when making meringues and that the whites should
    be at room temperature before you start, so I ended up whisking the whites for
    two and a half hours before getting soft peaks! 
    I also ended up WAY over baking them, which did not lead to a great
    result.  Needless to say, I’ve learned a
    lot since then about making good meringue!

    For this effort, I ended up finding a new recipe online on
    AllRecipes.com, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Meringue-Cookies/Detail.aspx,
    and doubled the recipe without any problems. 
    I added in some chocolate chips, and slightly underbaked the meringue
    (by reducing the time, not temperature) to get a more chewy result.  The cookies were definitely a big hit in the
    office, and I don’t think they survived for more than a few hours!

  • Vanilla Ice Cream and Apple Crumble

    My winter 2009 cooking extravaganza reached exciting new
    heights when I decided to finally dust off my ice cream maker and use it a second
    time, and couple the ice cream with a wonderful – and simple – apple
    crumble.  Instead of choosing to make an
    easier Philadelphia-style ice cream, I decided to make a French custard-type
    vanilla using this recipe from Williams-Sonoma: 
    http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipeDetail.cfm?objectid=128D0D36-F79E-407C-B19974BA0311BDA1.  Although it definitely took more work to make
    this style of ice cream, I definitely think the effort was worth it in the
    sense that the custard-style ice cream stayed more flavorful and with much
    creamier consistency than the Philadelphia-style (which you don’t cook, rather
    just whisk all of the ingredients together).

    I also chose this apple crumble recipe from Epicurious.com,
    but ended up only buying 3 pounds of apples, so modified the recipe to reflect
    the smaller amount of apples:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Apple-Crumble-and-Vanilla-Ice-Cream-108716.  The one flag that I would have is that I used
    the recommended amount of lemon juice, and I think that it did make the crumble
    a little too citrus-y so I’d recommend cutting the amount depending on your
    preferences.

    Apple Crumble and Vanilla Ice Cream

  • Very Delicious (and Probably Not Very Healthy) Cracked Sugar Cookies

    When I made the improperly-named “decadent brownies” several
    weeks ago, I had three leftover egg yolks that I definitely wanted to put to
    some use.  One benefit of cooking more
    and more is that you realize that you should really throw away very little –
    many leftover items from recipes can be easily used for tasty additions to the
    meal you are making or into whole meals later. 
    So not thinking of any types of recipes that I wanted to make using
    three egg yolks, I jumped onto AllRecipes.com to get some ideas.  I was very happy that I chose that course as
    I found this recipe for “Cracked Sugar Cookies”:   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cracked-Sugar-Cookies-I/Detail.aspx. 

    Cracked Sugar Cookies 2

    The recipe was incredibly simple – I just used ingredients
    that I had at home, and it was a cinch to mix up this batter and get them into
    the oven.  The cookies are both soft and
    substantive, and really have a wonderful flavor (and I’m someone who doesn’t
    like sugar cookies that much!). 
    Definitely check out this super simple and easy recipe.