Dessert Night Oatmeal Cake

Whenever I'm given an invitation to a party, my mind quickly wanders to the possibilities of the type of food I can bring; if it is a dinner party, then what dessert can I make? If it is a brunch, then what dessert can I make? If I'm going to a child's birthday party, then what dessert can I make?

Although, like anyone else, I love a nourishing, filling, and delicious meal, I generally am more concerned with what will follow the main course and appetizers. So this past weekend, when I was invited to a “dinner for dessert” party, I was overcome with two emotions: the first was of excitement. Finally, an event that that celebrated the very thing I take the most pleasure in! But as my eyes widened and I unconsciously began salivating, I also began to worry; what could I bring that would stand out, that would not get lost in the delectable crowd of other desserts? My first instinct was to make a rustic berry cobbler or crisp; after all, it's what's in season. But then I backpedaled, thinking that everyone would naturally be taking advantage of the spectacular berries the Pacific Northwest has been savoring. Then, I considered chocolate: anything at all that was chocolate. But again, I had my reservations: I had just recently made a very chocolatey, very rich dessert, and I had hoped for a bit more variety in my baking practice.

So after a bit of consultation and research, I found the perfect dessert: a hearty oatmeal cake with a brown sugar glaze. And it did turn out to be along just the right track; though the only cobbler to be found at the table was a mango cobbler, chocolate was the key ingredient of the night. While I took part in tasting a bit of everything there, I also enjoyed a piece of my cake, which offered a great balance to the other desserts.

The brown sugar along with the honey (or agave nectar) make for a sweet cake, but the whole wheat flour and the oats give it a substance that a purely sugary treat would not possess. The coconut in the glaze added a pleasant texture, and the glaze is best poured on the cake while both are still warm, so that the cake can soak up the moisture of the mixture – without becoming soggy itself. My friends were just as happy with the oatmeal cake as I was; it's just right for grabbing a piece and eating with your fingers, if your plate happens to already by weighed down by a selection of other desserts.


Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups boiling water
1 cup oats
1 cup Raisins
½ cup applesauce
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup honey or agave nectar
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 ½ cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Topping:
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 ½ tbsp. canned evaporated milk
½ cup coconut flakes
½ cup chopped pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan, set aside.
Directions:In a mixing bowl combine boiling water, quick rolled oats and raisins, set aside to cool.In a separate mixing bowl cream together the applesauce, brown sugar, honey and eggs.In another mixing bowl sift together whole wheat flour, cinnamon, baking soda and sea salt, add to sugar mixture, add oatmeal-raisin mixture, blend well.Bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes or until done. Spread with topping while cake is hot.

Sage Biscuits with Ancient Grain

I've become quite a fan of Amaranth flour. Amaranth is an ancient Aztec grain that comes from an annual related to spinach and swiss chard, high starch content, and rich in protein, iron, and calcium. It works best when combined with other flours, as it can have an overly grainy texture on its own; I discovered this while experimenting with Amaranth pancakes.

I thought that this would be the perfect type of flour to use for a savory, satisfying breakfast pastry. Although I'm not much for the overly buttery and flaky variety of biscuits, I wanted to see if I could create something a tad more wholesome. I did some research, and I found two biscuit recipes that were intriguing, but not precisely what I was hoping for. So, I picked and chose a few key pieces from each and put them together into this variation. And these sage biscuits, while certainly not the buttermilk biscuits of the South, are soft, aromatic, and absolutely perfect served warm. I brought a dozen of them to a brunch, where they accompanied fresh fruit and yogurt, and I couldn't have been more pleased with how well they went with a lighter spread of food; they did not overwhelm, but also left no one wanting for a more filling alternative.

Sage Biscuits

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1 cup Amaranth flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. finely chopped sage
8 tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
¾ cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and set oven rack to middle position.
2. Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and sage.
3. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the mixture until it becomes a course meal.
4. Stir in the buttermilk until the mixture forms a sticky ball.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Divide the dough into quarters, then cut the quarters into thirds. Shape each piece into a rough ball and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 10-12 minutes, until tops of the biscuits are browned.

Alternative Baking with Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp

I don't think I would have necessarily sought out a variety of gluten-free recipes on my own; after all, my body and my diet are both very gluten-friendly. But when I was given a gift of flours for my birthday, I realized what a wide world of baking there is beyond the “unbleached white” or even “whole-wheat pastry flour.” Using alternative grains is an absolute art in baking, and a very nourishing one, too. Many alternative grains, such as Kamut or Teff flour, are filled with protein and a host of vitamins.

Generally, gluten-free or alternative grain desserts are not necessarily “healthy,” due to the butter or sugar. But, this can be remedied with alternative sweeteners and butter replacements. From my experience with alternative and healthful baked goods I've bought, and the ones I've made myself, I much prefer the wholesome ones to the full-fat kind (yes, even my birthday cake was a bit too much butter and sugar for me to handle).

I would never look down upon any baked good, regardless of its nutritional content; however, if I'm going to be baking as often as I do, for all of the people I care so deeply about, why not make something that is actually good and satisfying for the body, as well as the soul?

This Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp definitely qualifies for these condition: sweet and tangy, and with a topping that does not overwhelm the natural flavors of the blueberry and rhubarb. And of course, if you do not want to make it with the alternative grains, then it's just fine to use whatever you have in your kitchen.

Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp
From Bob's Red Mill Baking Book

Ingredients:

Topping:
¼ cup Amaranth flour
¼ cup Teff, soy or barley flour
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and diced

Filling:
¼ cup honey
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons Teff flour
2 cups (about 3/4 pound) rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
2. For the topping, combine the flours, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers until crumbly. Refrigerate while making the filling.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the honey, cinnamon, and flour. Add the rhubarb and blueberries, tossing well. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle topping over the fruit and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is brown and the fruit is bubbling. Serve warm.

More Muffins: Carrot Raisin

I recently mentioned how my muffin baking is sparse and slightly erratic, but after my fantastic strawberry muffin success, I'm falling more in love with muffins. What I especially like about homemade muffins is the amount of control I have over the ingredients, and therefore, the taste and health quotient. I'm not a fan of the jumbo bakery muffins, loaded with butter or oil, and I've never understood the allure of chocolate muffins (just make cupcakes if you want to use cocoa powder!). But the muffin recipes I have my sight set on call for alternative sweeteners, like the honey used here, and hearty flours, and flavorful add-ins. These carrot raisin muffins are adapted by me from a basic rice muffin recipe I found; at first, regular sugar was called for, but I found that honey works better with sweetening, without being overbearing and heavy. The cinnamon and nutmeg work well with the raisins, and the carrots add a freshness that could be acquired with zucchini, or shredded apple perhaps. No matter what is stirred into this muffin base, I'm certain that they will turn out as light and tasty as these ones did.

Carrot Raisin Muffins

Yield: 1 dozen

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. canola oil
2 eggs
½ cup milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup honey
1 ½ cup rice flour
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. fresh nutmeg
½ cup raisins
1 cup shredded carrots

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease muffin tins.
2. Mix butter and honey. Beat in eggs.
3. Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to egg mixture alternately with milk. Add vanilla. Stir in raisins and carrots. Pour into muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes

Happy Chocolate Cake-with-Vanilla-Buttercream-and-Strawberries Birthday to Me!

This past Sunday was my birthday, and I celebrated in one of the most joyful ways I know how: I baked, and then shared my dessert with good friends.

Most people want to enjoy their favorite cake on their birthday, whether it be a basic vanilla with vanilla icing, a complex Italian specialty, a festive ice cream cake, and any other cake one can imagine. No matter what kind of bakery you frequent, you can find a birthday cake, or similar stand-in (for example: birthday tortes, birthday muffins, birthday pies). I also know a good number of individuals who prefer to bake their own favorite creation, whether it be a birthday dessert or a very special main meal, for their birthdays; I obviously find this to be the better option for me. In fact, cookbooks featuring only recipes for birthday cakes have been written (to be honest, my roommate owns one, and it sits proudly on our cookbook shelf), and while I did not pull my birthday cake recipe from this volume, it is filled with imaginative concoctions, all of which are incomplete without candles on top. The recipe, from Epicurious, is not terribly complex, but like any layer cake, it is time consuming, and special attention is required if it is to turn out well.


My dream birthday cake was chocolate with vanilla buttercream, and to my joy, it has became a delicious reality. I made it over the course of two days, making the cake a day before the birthday celebration, and letting it cool, then wrapping it in plastic wrap. The frosting, I made the morning of, and then I assembled the entire thing a few hours before we cut it. The cake was everything I wanted it to be: lusciously chocolatey, achingly sugary, and blissfully tasty: the perfect treat to look forward to once a year.

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

From Epicurious.com

Ingredients:
1 cup boiling-hot water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Rounded 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes
4 cups vanilla buttercream

The Cake:
1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 (9- by 2-inch) round cake pans and line bottom of each with a round of wax paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess. Whisk together hot water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.
3. Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Divide batter between cake pans, smoothing tops. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean and edges of cake begin to pull away from sides of pans, 30 to 35 minutes total. Cool layers in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, removing wax paper, and cool completely.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions:
With a hand mixer or stand, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

To assemble cake:
Put 1 cake layer, rounded side up, on a cake stand or platter and, using offset spatula, spread top with about 1 cup buttercream. Top with remaining cake layer, rounded side down, and frost side and top of cake with 2 cups buttercream.

June's Sweet Bounty: Strawberry Muffins

I have one particular go-to muffin recipe that I discovered about a year ago and have subsequently enjoyed through all months of the year. They're blueberry muffins, calling for frozen blueberries, which are available at the store whenever the mood to purchase them strikes my fancy. Because I don't bake muffins very often, I've never been inspired to find a recipe that takes advantage of fresh seasonal produce. Then, I recently found this recipe for strawberry muffins. The ingredient list specifies fresh strawberries are needed, and given how glorious these Pacific Northwest berries have been tasting the past couple of weeks, it was impossible not to make these immediately.

It turns out that I was right to do so. These muffins, found in the magazine Body and Soul are a divine breakfast wake-up call. Not laden with a host of various flavors and textures, the berries have the opportunity to be center stage; and as with any dish, when the key player is fresh, local, and of high quality, then there is no possibility for failure (or great failure, anyway). The buttermilk adds a down-home quality to the muffins without making them heavy, and the whole wheat flour makes them slightly more fiber-filled. And they are a light and sweet morning treat with a vibrant strawberry essence.

Although I know I will pull out the recipe book for my blueberry muffins come autumn, while the season allows, I believe I've found a new go-to muffin recipe.

Strawberry Muffins
Yield: 1 dozen

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups sliced strawberries
1/3 cup plus 1tbsp. sugar
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a potato masher, lightly mash berries; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and berry mixture (with juice). Fold until just combined. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Summer Solstice Rhubarb Bread Pudding

It will take an exorbitant, inhuman amount of rhubarb this summer for me to tire of the wondrous desserts that utilize this tart, delicious seasonal vegetable. Already, I've sampled several crumbles and crisps and cobblers whose defining ingredient is the rhubarb, and with each taste, I only grow hungrier for it. However, I knew that there must be something out there for rhubarb besides the generic pie; once I started searching, I found that I was correct. I discovered recipes for rhubarb sorbets, crepes, trifles and compotes. The one that I was most eager to try was the Rhubarb Bread Pudding I found in my Great Harvest Bread Company cookbook.

What better time to try out this summery recipe than the Summer Solstice: the longest day of the year, a day of celebration in Seattle, revolving around the Summer Solstice Parade and Fremont Fair in the Fremont neighborhood. It is a jubilant time of year, and so it deserves an accordingly festive dessert, which is where the rhubarb comes in. Rhubarb is quite simply a cheery and refreshing food, and it can be used in such a wide range of desserts, from the favorite stand-bys to the unique experiments, that it will be a very dark time when the rhubarb season comes to an end.

As for the bread pudding, it was as much of a crowd-pleaser as I expected anything with rhubarb to be: tangy, with just enough sweetness to balance it out. Even still, I think that the sugar could be reduced slightly to give the dish an even stronger rhubarb flavor.

Rhubarb Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
8 slices white bread (½ inch thick each)
1 lb. fresh rhubarb, diced (about 4 cups)
1 ½ c. milk
5 eggs
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ c. chopped walnuts
¼ c. butter
1 ¼ c. sugar
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Toast bread and remove crusts. Cut toasted bread into ½ inch cubes and places in a buttered casserole dish.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine milk and butter. Bring just to a boil. Pour over toast cubes and let stand 15 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in rhubarb. Stir into bread mixture and sprinkle with nuts.
4. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.