Chocolate Cranberry Macaroons

I've made these twice the last few weeks...the first time was a request, and the second time because they were so yummy. 

Ever since college, macaroons have been a go-to recipe of mine when there's not much in the kitchen but I still wanted to bake. It's a simple recipe with not too many ingredients and I could always whip it together as long as I had a bag of coconut flakes handy (which I tried to keep stocked).

The first time I made macaroons at home, I was astounded by how much more absolutely delicious they tasted compared to store bought. When they're made at home, they're absolutely perfectly cripsy on the outside and soft on the inside. I often ate one coming out of the oven and had it warm. If you've never had a warm homemade macaroon, make it a priority.

These were requested to emulate a similar creation at Au Bon Pain (or so I've been told). So I took my handy dandy macaroon recipe that I've used from the back of some bag years ago and adapted a bit for this concoction. They're filled with cranberries and topped with chocolate ganache. Don't forget that they're still great warm, crispy, and most importantly homemade with love. 

Chocolate Cranberry Macaroons
Adapted from: I really am not sure.
Makes about 20

For the macaroons
1 bag 15 oz coconut flakes
4 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
about 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries (go heavy if you like them!)

For the ganache
8 ounce bar semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat your oven to 325. Combine all of your ingredients for the macaroons into one big old bowl and mix well. I find that clean hands work very well! Line your baking sheet with parchment paper as they can get sticky. Ball out 1 heaping tablespoon amounts of macaroon sticky flakes and place about 3/4 inch apart - they don't spread much. They should look like little macaroons on the baking sheet. I usually just lightly press my balls of dough onto the pan to give it a nice flat bottom.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the sides are golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Break your chocolate bar into small squares and place into a heat-proof bowl. Heat your heavy cream over medium high heat until just bubbling on the sides - don't let it boil! Pour your heavy cream over your chocolate squares and gently stir for a few minutes until the heat distributes and you have a shiny, delicious chocolate ganache glaze.

Dip your cooled macaroon tops into the glaze and let set at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Enjoy! The mix of cranberry and chocolate is fabulous!

Sam

Cherry Cheesecake

Over Christmas break I received a fabulous book courtesy of the in-laws. It's the kind with ribbon page markers and a matte binding...you know, that kind you just want to feel. 

It's the kind of cookbook that is part fascinating read, part actual cookbook. Nigel Slater takes all kinds of fruits and makes the most amazing concoctions out of them. Unlike most fruit based recipes, these recipes don't drown and cover the fruit in sugar but instead highlight them as the star of the show and put the baked goods part in the background. Case in point: this cheesecake. 

Now normally when you see fruit in a cheesecake, it's some sort of fruit turned into syrup swirled into cake. This version however has the cherries sitting on top in their natural glory. The cheesecake itself is much, much lighter than it's traditional cousin without that dense sweetness that we usually associated with cheesecake.

Cherries take the show here! Light cheesecake and a shortbread crust (not graham) take the backstage blending together in a lovely, light and fruity baked good.

Cherry Cheesecake 
Adapted from Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard

For the Cheesecake
1 pound ricotta cheese
7 ounces cream cheese or mascarpone
2/3 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 pound cherries, cut in half and pitted

For the shortbread crust
12 ounces shortbread cookies
6 tablespoons of butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly butter an 8 inch square pan (For easy removal, line with parchment paper).

In a food processor, crush the shortbread cookies into crumbs. Combine the crumbs with your melted butter and mix. Pat this deeelicciouss smelling mixture into your pan and refrigerate for half an hour.

In the meantime, combine ricotta, cream cheese or mascarpone, cream, and sugar. Add the zest and juice of all of your lemons, vanilla, eggs, egg yolk, and cornstarch. Pour this mixture on top of your now cooled shortbread crust and bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until firm to touch (or it passes the toothpick test). Cover the pan with tin foil it the top begins to brown. Turn the heat off of your oven and let your cake finish cooling in the oven. Let your cheesecake chill in the fridge overnight.

Prior to serving, scatter your cherries on top! That's it!

Optional: Make a simple syrup of 1/2 cup water to 1/2 cup sugar by heating the two over medium heat until the sugar is disolved. Give your cherries a quick swim in the syrup until slightly warmed and pour over cheesecake.

Enjoy!
Sam

Caramel Brownies

This recipe was emailed to me and well, it looked plain delicious. Not the kind of recipe I pick for aesthetic glory (although it is pretty) but more for the plain fact that it's a kind of baked good that is so full of taste bud happiness that it saturates your mind with sugary bliss. 

These brownies are easy to make and filled with caramel. You split half of the batter to bake for a few minutes whiles preparing the caramel filling and then pour on the caramel and the rest of the batter.

The end result? The perfect fudgy brownie, you know the kind with that crackly top, around a gooey caramel filling. If you'd want to make it even yummier, add nuts. Next time, I think I'll add peanuts into the brownie batter to make it more like a snickers bar!

Caramel Brownies
Adapted from tasteofhome

2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 ounces caramels
1 (14 ounces) can sweetened condensed milk


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch pan

Combine your sugar, cocoa powder, eggs and milk in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly add your cocoa powder mix to the flour mix until fully incorporated. Fold in your chocolate chips (and if you'd like, add in 1 cup of nuts of your choice)

Take about 1/2 of your batter and pour it into the bottom of your prepared pan, bake for 12 minutes. During this time heat on med-low heat the caramels and condensed milk. Stir continuously until the caramels are melted. Be careful not to turn the heat up too high or it will burn the mixture. Once your brownies and caramel are done, take the brownie pan out and pour the caramel onto you bottom layer. Then, spoon and spread the remaining batter around the top of the caramel. You can use a knife to smooth the batter to make another layer of brownie dough on top. Bake the rest of the pan for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sam

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread

Winter means scarves, hot chocolate, and most importantly - hearty food. For me, that means warm soups and big loaves of crusty soul warming bread. So for this post, it's still a baked good but it's a savory recipe!

My mother in law makes the most amazing no-knead bread. I'm absolutely in love with it and since my best friend gave me a dutch oven this year, I've been playing with the no-knead bread phenomenon. This recipe is a whole-wheat version so there's less rise than the traditional white loaf (which is pictured below - in instagram form).

By far, the best part of this recipe is the amazing, amazing crust that comes from this bread. Given that it's no-knead, this bread recipe is perfect for setting and forgetting. The time it takes for different rises is incredibly variable and perfect to fitting around any busy day.

My husband has an insatiable sweet tooth, although to his credit - nutella on this loaf is fantastic. Just one of many ways to eat this bread. The original loaf that I'm in love with is from another cook-book but the variation I'll share with you is a mixture of Mark Bittman's version and the Mother in law version. Hope you guys enjoy!

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread
Adapted from: How to Cook Everything

4 cups bread flour (2 cups whole wheat, 2 cups white)
2 cups + 3 tablespoons tap water at about 70 F
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast

Mix together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add your water and stir vigorously until combined. It won't look like a typical loaf - more of a very thick pancake batter consistency. Don't worry - this recipe is incredibly forgiving. Now here's the best part - you can let it rise one of three ways and just do whatever works best for your schedule! Simply cover your bowl with saran wrap and pick one.

1. (For best flavor). Let rise at room temperature for 18-24 hours until about twice in size and the top of your dough is covered in bubbles (soon to turn into crust)
2. Let rise for 2 hours or until doubled at a warm spot in your house
3. Let rise for 1.5-2 hours in the microwave. Microwave a cup of water for about 2 minutes and plop your bowl of dough into the microwave with the cup of water and shut the door. The remaining steam from the water will speed up the rising process.

After this rise, flatten the dough a bit by folding down the edges with an oiled spatula and then pick another rise!

Heat your oven to 450F and put your dutch oven into the oven while it's preheating. You can use another pot as long as it has a good seal on the lid. Something cast iron is ideal. If you have a dutch oven, use it! Once your oven has preheated to 450, your dutch oven should be steaming hot. Take it out of the oven with mittens and very carefully plop your dough (which should have finished it's second rise by now) into the hot dutch oven. Be careful not to deflate your puffy dough!

Spritz the top of your loaf with some water and place the lid back onto the dutch oven.

Reduce the heat to 425 and bake for 50-55 minutes. Remove your dutch oven from your oven and take the lid off. Let your loaf cool and then slice into it. It's absolutely delicious, hearty, and wintery.

Note: The all white flour version gives a much airier, puffier loaf. The whole wheat version gives a denser (although more flavorful) loaf. Play around with it!

Enjoy!

Sam

Lemons!

I recently bought a surplus of lemons, so I thought I would share two of my favorite lemon desserts!

Lemon Bars

These quintessential lemon bars are even prettier, and just as delicious, when made in a tart pan! And surprisingly simple to make.

Recipe from Betty Crocker 

Crust

1 cup all purpose

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

¼ cup powdered sugar

Filling

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

Lemon peel grated, from 1 lemon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Mix the crust ingredients together (I use my hands) until crumbly. Press into an ungreased 8 or 9 inch square baking dish, or a tart pan if you have it.

Beat the filling ingredients together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Or you can use a whisk and do it by hand if you want an added arm workout.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Lemon Sponge Pudding

These little cups are unlike any other dessert I’ve made. While they bake, a layer of tart lemon pudding forms on the bottom, and a spongy meringue like layer rises to the top…amazing!

Recipe developed from Martha Stewart 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs, separated

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup milk (can be skin through whole milk)

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (you’ll need 2 or 3 lemons)

2 tablespoons lemon zest (I used the zest of 2 lemons)

In a medium to large bowl, beat just the egg whites with an electric mixture until stiff peaks form. Do this step first so you’ll have clean, ungreasy beaters (any trace of butter or yolk on the beaters will interfere with fluffy egg whites!).

In another medium to large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks and flour. Stir in the milk, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons zest.

Take the beaten eggs whites and fold them into the lemon yolk mixture. You’ll get an essentially homogenous mixture. Ladle this into 8 to 12 ramekins (so cute!).

Place the ramekins in a roasting dish, and pour boiling water up to about half the up the sides of the ramekins. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Remove ramekins from pan and cool. Enjoy!

Elyse 

S'mores cupcakes

Santa wasn't getting cookies this year.

Merry Christmas!

This may be my favorite recipe to date...and that's saying a lot.

These s'mores cupcakes are filled with a graham cracker crust bottom, a chocolate cake middle, topped with a chocolate ganache glaze, graham cracker crust dusting, and finally a homemade toasted marshmallow topping. Yes, it's as delicious as it sounds.

I know this is a picture heavy post but they're just so gorgeous I had to keep snapping! I made them in both mini and regular form.

Now that is blow torch beautiful.

S'mores cupcakes

Adapted from bakersroyale

Makes 24 regular cupcakes/48 mini cupcakes

For the graham cracker crust

7 tablespoons of melted butter

1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs

Mix these ingredients together and pat a little bit into the bottom of each cupcake tin. Press into the bottom of the tin and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes for regular cupcakes, 5-7 minutes for mini ones. 

For the chocolate cake

Here I took a shortcut: chocolate cake mix! You can go harder and use your favorite cake batter recipe but I used it from a box since I was in the midst of so much christmas baking. 

Fill your cupcake tins until it just covers your graham cracker crust. You don't want to over fill your tins as you want a relatively flat cupcake top for optimal glazing and frosting. Bake in a 350 degree oven until your cakes are done (this will depend on whether you're making full or half size cupcakes - bake according to your original recipe)

For the chocolate glaze

2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

2 tablespoons skim milk

4 tablespoons warm water

4 tablespoons powdered sugar

In a double boiler, melt your dark chocolate chips. Slowly add in your skim milk and water until it becomes a pourable consistency. Finally, whisk in your powdered sugar and incorporate everything over your double boiler. 

Remove from heat and let cool slightly

For the marshmallow topping

5 egg whites

1 1/2 cup sugar

Over your double boiler whisk together your egg whites and sugar until your mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Thermometer is highly suggested! Remove from heat and then mix with a hand mixer at high speed for 10-15 minutes until your mixture doubles in size and gets shiny, puffy, and forms semi-stiff peaks!

Putting it all together

1. Take your cooled cupcakes and flip them upside down to give them a swim in the chocolate glaze. Quickly plop them onto an assembly surface right side up and sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs on top for a festive look. 

2. Let your glaze set for 10-15 minutes. 

3. Pipe your marshmallow frosting onto your cupcakes with your pipping tip of choice! Have fun with this - squealing encouraged

4. Take a blow torch and toast your marshmallow topping until it's perfectly golden brown and given the most wonderful holiday touch to these adorable cupcakes. 

Enjoy!!

Sam

Cranberry hazelnut cookies

Okay okay I promise this is the last cranberry recipe! I promise, I promise.

These cookies have a delicious nutty aroma as they are chocked full of hazelnuts and yes, cranberries! The chocolate drizzle on top makes them look super fancy and adds another layer of sweetness.

They're super festive, super easy to make, and super perfect for a cookie swap or just to gift your taste buds this holiday season. See how chunky? So cute!

But I promise, my next post will be cranberry-less. But gosh, aren't these wonderful?

Cranberry Hazelnut Cookies
Adapted from lifetasteslikefood

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
1/4 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Cream together your butter and sugars together. Slowly add egg and vanilla until well incorporated. Sift in your flour, baking soda and salt. Combine this well and then fold in your dried cranberries and nuts

Roll the dough into little 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet leaving room to spread (about 2 inches apart). Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown. I found that 15 was just perfect for me and I let the carry over cooking do the rest leading to still soft cookies!

Optional: if you want the nice chocolate drizzle, melt your two chocolates into two microwave safe bowls in 30 second increments until just melted. Plop into ziploc baggies and cut off tiny corners to make a makeshift piping bag. Drizzle and let set (it may take a few hours) - here's a tip to make it go faster: stir in just a smidgen of crisco (not even a smidgen, just a dot!) and it'll set up much much faster!

Enjoy!


Sam & Elyse (she came back to help with the chocolate!)