Author Archives: Elizabeth

Irish Soda Bread

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First of all, this apparently is NOT traditional Irish Soda Bread.  According to the Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread, the traditional one does not have raisins in it.  Well, we can agree on that score.  The one I love to make doesn’t have raisins either — it has sultanas — also known as golden raisins.

Back in March of 2009, when we were having book group, I wanted a recipe to take to Joan’s house to compliment the fresh-squeezed orange juice she had promised to serve for refreshments.  And, because it was March.  And when we in America think March, we think green, Ireland, shamrocks, and corned beef and cabbage.  Of, if you’re like me, See’s Irish Potatoes, as well.  Now, with this recipe, you can think “Irish Soda Bread.” Modified slightly from one published in Bon Appetit Magazine.

You’ll need a sturdy 10-inch baking pan; I use a springform pan.  It will fill that all the way.

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) REAL butter, chilled when cut into small cubes, then left out to come to room temperature (if you are having a hot day, maybe leave it in the fridge)
2 cups golden raisins (also known as sultanas; you can buy them at Trader Joe’s)
2 Tablespoons caraway seeds
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350F.  Generously butter heavy 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 to 2 1/2-sides.  In large mixing bowl, blend first five ingredients to blend well.  Add cubes of butter; mix only until they become coated with flour and are about pea-size (NO MORE!).  Stir in sultanas and caraway seeds.  In a separate bowl, whisk egg and buttermilk together to blend.  Add to dough.  Mix briefly, just until dry is thoroughly moistened.  You may have some dry ingredients in the bottom of your mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir in the dry ingredients thoroughly.  A light touch on the mixing yields a tender loaf.  Go easy.

Turn dough into the prepared pan, smoothing top and rounding slightly in center.  If desired, dip a small sharp knife in flour and cut a 1-inch deep X in the top center of the dough.

Bake until the break is cooked through and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour.  Cool bread in pan for ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.  To serve, slice into 3/4″ slices, across the loaf.  This is really good spread with butter (and a little bit of jam if you want, but I’m sure that’s not Irish, either).  For book group, I carted it over there warm, and we gobbled it down accompanied by sweet orange juice, freshly squeezed from Joan’s own orange trees.

May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.

 

Buttermilk Waffles

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Maybe I had some leftover buttermilk that first time I made these, or maybe I just wanted some waffles.  Who knows?  These waffles are from the pages of a well-used, splattered and worn cookbook: The Joy of Cooking.  It was  my go-to cookbook when I was a young bride of 19-and-a-half, alongside the red-checkered Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Years later I laughed out loud when in the movie Julie/Julia, the actress playing Irma S. Rombauer, the cookbook’s author, admits to not testing all the recipes.  I’d say this one’s been well-tested in my kitchen and it is a success every time.

Recently we had the grandchildren over and Alex told me he didn’t like waffles.  “But, Alex,” I said.  “You haven’t had MY waffles.”  Above is his response to tasting them: a hearty thumb’s up.  He had nearly three.  We like them drizzled with warm REAL maple syrup, not that fake stuff in the grocery store (check Trader Joe’s).  That habit–of real syrup–was inherited from my father, who had shipped to him six 1-quart tins of real maple syrup from a farm in Vermont every year when we were growing up, and for many years after that.

Plug in your preferred waffle iron to heat.  If you are using it for the first time, have a bowl with some shortening in it along with a stiff pastry brush to season the grids.  As the Joy of Cooking notes: “Once conditioned, the grids are neither greased nor washed.  You may brush the iron out to remove any crumbs.  After use, merely wipe down the outside with a cloth well wrung out in hot water.”  Last thing from the cookbook: “You may think our waffle recipes heavy in fat.  But the richer the waffle dough, the crisper it becomes.  With the butter flavor baked in, there is then no reason for butter on top of it.”  Amen.  Just some warm syrup in a cute little pitcher.

In a large bowl, whisk together:
2 cups flour
1 and 1/3 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon soda

In a small bowl, beat until stiff, but not dry:
2 egg whites.  Set aside.

Using the same hand mixer and beaters, beat in another (separate) bowl until light:
2 egg yolks.
Add and beat:
1 and 3/4 cups buttermilk
6 tablespoons melted butter

Fold the egg yolk/buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients with a few swift strokes.  Fold in the egg whites.

Bake in a prepared waffle iron, using a spoon to catch any excess that may ooze out.  After baking, there’s a temptation to open it too soon, and to split the waffle in half.  I usually watch to see if it is still steaming, and try and catch it at the end.  I lift the upper part with a light touch, and if there is too much resistance, I let it bake a little longer.  The only caveat is: if you haven’t seasoned the grids much, it may stick on the top as you raise the lid.  Have a fork handy to help it off, then put some shortening on the upper lid to season it some more.

I show above a tradition of my mother’s: adding chopped walnuts, sprinkled over the top of the dough just before closing the lid to bake.  She has also added mini-chocolate chips on occasion, but the nuts are my very favorite.  Shown above is a Belgium-style waffle iron with big fat grids.  Not my favorite.

So, for my birthday my husband gave me an old-fashioned waffle iron with normal grids–more pockets for the syrup to collect in without the waffle getting soggy.  The yield in the big waffle iron (shown above) is about 5-6, but they break into fourths, so you can feed a few at once.  (But I usually always double the batch for a crowd.)  I keep the baked, but not yet eaten, waffles in the oven at about 200 degrees while I’m serving breakfast, then throw the uneaten ones directly into the freezer.  After they are frozen, I place them in ziploc baggies and we toast them in our toaster whenever we want a waffle.

Cranberry-Cherry Pinwheels

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A few years ago I bought this sliver of a book, Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies, and thumbed through it to find a cookie or two to try.  I placed little pieces of torn paper as bookmarks–which the book still has.  But I don’t need one for this page, as I’ve made it so much, it opens by itself exactly here.  I like these cookies because you can make them ahead of time and store them in the freezer.  Some slicing and a quick bake and they’re ready to go.  They are also one of the few things on the holiday table that is lower in fat, but they still have a delicious flavor with the sweet-tangy cherry-cranberry filling and the dough with its grated orange zest. There are a few steps to this recipe, but it’s not difficult.

Filling
Combine in a medium saucepan:
1 and 1/2 cups dried cranberries ( 6 ounces)
1 jar (10 ounces) cherry preserves
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Simmer, stirring frequently, for 5-8 minutes, or until the mixture is soft and most liquid is absorbed.  Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth.  Cover and refrigerate until cool.  Filling may be stored up to 48 hours.  Let return to room temperature and stire well before using.

Dough
Using a wire whisk, thoroughly stir together and set aside:
3 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (16.75 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Using an electric mixer, beat together until very well blended:
1/4 cup butter, softened (2 oz.)
3 tablespoons corn or canola oil
1 and 1/4 cups sugar (8.75 oz.)
3 large egg whites
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel (about 1 small orange)

Beat in half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated, then stir in the remainder until well blended.

Divide the dough in half.  Form each half into a rough oblong shape about 6 inches long.  Center each log on a 12-inch-long sheet of wax paper.  Cover with a second 12-inch-long sheet of wax paper.  Press, then roll each log into an even 11-inch square, occasionally checking the underside of the dough and smooth out any creases.  Patch the dough as necessary to make the sides relatively straight.

Working with one square of dough at a time, peel away and discard the top sheet of wax paper.  Spread half of the filling evening over the entire surface of the dough; the filling layer will be thin.

Using the second sheet of wax paper, roll up the pinwheel, by easing the dough onto itself; use the paper to assist you.

Wrap the roll in wax paper (I use the existing sheet), and twist the ends to prevent unrolling.  Place on a tray or cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Freeze for at least 2 and 1/2 hours or until the rolls are firm enough to be cut neatly.  (If you wish to bake them much later, place the rolls in a plastic bag for up to a month.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.  Cut the rolls crosswise into scant 1/4″ slices.  Place them on the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Try as I might, my cookies are always misshapen, so I kind of squeeze them into shape at this point.   Bake in the upper third of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the tops are VERY lightly colored.  One of the attractions for this cookie is that they are pale with that brilliantly colored red filling.

Drag the entire sheet of parchment paper from your baking sheet to a cooling rack, and let them cool.  Store, airtight, for 10 days, or freeze for up to one month.  I promise you no one will complain that yours are as lopsided as mine.

I made them up into favors for my lesson to the church ladies at Christmastime.  Here’s the front, and then the back.

Some time ago I had purchased 8 1/2 by 11- inch sheets of “sticker” paper.  I print out what I want to say, cut them into shape then peel and stick them on the treat bags.  The filling is kind of sticky sometimes, so I sandwiched a piece of fancy wax paper between the two cookies.

Twice-Cooked, Once-Forked Roasted Potatoes

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Weird title, but I can’t remember what Bon Appetit’s title is, but it does have “forked” in it somewhere.  You can see the fork tines, above, which helps create this wonderfully crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside texture.  I followed their recipe for the most part, except I added some rosemary leaves to the potatoes when I put them in the oven.  We had potatoes with rosemary in Italy one Christmas, so I have added it ever since to my roasting potatoes.

We had these last night for our Christmas Dinner (a bit early, as we are going traveling for the holidays) and we both agreed they were good enough to put into rotation in our regular meals.  They didn’t take that much work either.  Mine were done in about 45 minutes.  Try to time them so you can serve them hot, without having covered them with any tin foil, as I think that would make the outsides soft.  It’s the texture that is so wonderful.

Twice-Cooked, Once-Forked Roasted Potatoes, adapted from Bon Appetit

6 pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes (1 1/2″–2″-diameter), peeled  [NOTE: I couldn’t remember which kind of potatoes to buy, so I ended up buying red (boiling) potatoes; they worked out just fine)
1 tablespoon salt plus more [They call for kosher, but Trader Joe’s has been out for a while, so I used my sea salt grinder.]
1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 425°. Working in 2 batches ( about 5 potatoes each batch), cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to a rimmed baking sheet [Note: I put a rack on my baking sheet and put the potatoes on there]. When cool enough to handle, firmly scrape the tines of a fork up and down potatoes, creating a rough, grooved surface.

Pour oil onto another rimmed baking sheet; bake (to heat oil) for 5 minutes. Add potatoes; turn to coat. At this point, if you are using fresh rosemary, sprinkle about 1-2 Tablespoons leaves over all, sloshing the rosemary around with the potatoes and olive oil–that amount is about one 9″ twig, if you are cutting it off your landscaping plants out front.  Season with 1 tablespoon salt [I used a few grinds of the salt grinder]. Roast, turning 3 times during cooking and occasionally basting with oil, until browned and tender, 60–70 minutes.

Pear-Persimmon Bread

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This recipe was prompted by buying four gorgeous persimmons from a neighbor’s table, set up on the sidewalk with a box (with a slot) where I could put my dollar.

First step to the bread: thinking the persimmons were the Fuyu variety and trying to serve them for a side dish.  Oh, pucker-up-city! But they were gorgeous.

Next step to the bread: letting them sit out on the counter until they were, as one cook said, the texture of a wobbly water balloon.  Yes, that means the Hachiya (a kind of a wedge-shaped persimmon) is ready.  It also helped that I had two pears that were mush, and didn’t want to let them go to waste.  After hunting for a pear-persimmon combination, I used James Beard’s Persimmon bread recipe as a starting point, but had to make a few changes.  Like no cognac because I don’t do alcohol.  And monkeying with the recipe to accommodate the pears.  But here’s mine, which makes two 9-inch loaves of bread.

2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 cups sugar
1 cup melted butter and cooled to room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 cups persimmon/pear puree (from about 2 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons and 2 very ripe pears)
2 cups walnuts, chopped
1 cup cranberries

Oven 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour 2 loaf pans, tapping out excess flour.

Measure the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mixing them together with the blade attachment.

Prepare the fruit puree: rinse the persimmons, then cut the thick flowery stem out of the top.  Place in a food processor. I don’t peel mine at all. [One of my persimmons turned out to be rather hard on one side, so I put it in a small bowl and microwaved it until it was soft and cooked and matched the softness of the other persimmon (desperation measure).]  Peel, core and add the pears to the food processor, then puree the fruits together.

Melt the butter in a small microwave proof bowl (about a 4 cup bowl), add the eggs to this and whisk, then add the pear-persimmon puree and whisk.  Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and blend on a low speed for about 1 minute.  Scrape all around the bowl to make sure the dry ingredients are being incorporated, then blend for about another minute.  Add nuts and cranberries.  (The original recipe says you could also add raisins, apricots, dates, or a mixture of these fruits.)

Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Mine was done at 55 minutes–it is a darker bread, but you don’t want to get it too done.)  Turn out of pans and let cool on wire rack.

It must be good because Dave gave it his Second-Helping-Stamp-of-Approval.

It’s pictured here on my Grandmother’s china, which I got from my mother this year. The very first recipe I ever tried for persimmon bread was my grandmother’s, written out on a 3 x 5 index card. I still have it in my recipe file.  It has canned persimmons and shortening in it, which is why I decided to create a new one.

Stuffed Pumpkin

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I first heard about this on NPR, when Dorie Greenspan was interviewed for a fall baking dish and also to promote her new book of Around my French Table.  Which I promptly put in my Amazon cart and which I now possess.  But because she encourages you to make this recipe your own, mine is nothing like hers except you start with a hollowed-out pumpkin and somewhere along the line you fill it will good things, put it in a 350 degree over for 90 minutes to two hours.  So I bought a sugar pumpkin at Trader Joe’s one day, and since we were having company for Halloween Night (the  trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood all grew up and went to college), I decided to try this.  Mine is stuffed with a small pasta blend (from Trader Joe’s), mushrooms and some Jimmy Dean’s sage sausage.  I roasted it with the lid on for 90 minutes, and it was done.  It makes a great presentation.

Start with the way Dorie starts: cut the lid off a pumpkin and hollow it out, scraping the flesh slightly to get rid of the stringy bits.  Sprinkle the inside cavity with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  I found it easier to grind the salt and pepper onto my cutting board, then pinch by pinch, sprinkle it around the inside cavity (the nutmeg went on from the spice bottle, no trouble).  Set aside.

In a medium size pot, brown the sausage well.  Turn off the heat, set aside.

Wash and cut about 3/4 pound crimini mushrooms into chunks.  In 1 Tablespoon butter, sautee half of the mushrooms in a saucepan (you’ll use this saucepan later for the pasta cooking); don’t crowd.  As they get done, dump them into the sausage, stir to mix.

When mushrooms are done, in about 1 Tablespoon olive oil, cook until slightly soft: 1 shallot, chopped and 1 large (2 small, or 3 weensy) cloves of garlic.  Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups of Harvest Grains Blend** mix (about 1/2 of the package), then add in 1 can of reduced salt Swanson’s chicken broth.  Cook until al dente–it will continue to cook in the pumpkin.  Add this slightly soupy mix to the sausage and mushrooms; stir to mix.

Spoon into your pumpkin, and don’t pack it down.  Just loosely spoon it in.  Set the pumpkin on a cookie sheet that has been lined with a sheet of parchment (or a Silpat) and bake at 350 for 90 minutes to 2 hours.  Check at 90 minutes.  The tip of knife blade should go in easily.  If the mixture is too soupy (mine wasn’t, but Dorie’s was) leave the lid off for the last few minutes.

Serve with freshly grated cheese, to be added atop the melange.  We served it by slicing it into wedges, then scooping out the mushroom/sausage mixture into a shallow bowl, topped with the cheese.  Encourage your guests to mix the cooked pumpkin with the rest–delicious.

I decided to try this again tonight, to see if we still liked it.  We did.  It’s perfect for a fall supper, and since a) today’s the last day in November–made it under the wire for fall, and b) we’re supposed to get a ten-year wind event tonight.  The house is creaking and moaning, and it feels like a Winnie-the-Pooh blustery day.

**Harvest Grain Blend: Could substitute a mix of pearl couscous, red quinoa, orzo and miniscule baby garbanzo beans.  At least that’s what the package says is in there.

Orange Dinner Rolls

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Thanksgiving Day at our house this year was a quiet affair with all the children scattered to different places, my husband and I decided to have a quiet meal at home.  So that allows me to try a couple of new things, without the pressure of deadlines and wondering if the company will like it.

I have already written about the cranberry sauce, but here’s the other new thing I tried: orange dinner rolls.  I’d heard a couple of people say they were having them for their turkey-dinner, and then when I was cleaning out looking for that cranberry sauce recipe I thought I’d lost, I found a clipping of one of those “restaurant request” columns and it featured this recipe.  The restaurant was the Morrison Lodge in Oregon on the Rogue River, and the SOS columnist for the LATimes noted that the recipe “originated with Elaine Hanton, who, with her husband B. A., purchased the lodge in 1964.”

I’d nearly forgotten to make these, in the rush of side dishes and turkey. So with an hour to go, I zipped through the mixing of the dough, rolled them out and shaped them and let them rise on the stove, next to the warm air.  Since it only makes 24, it’s a quick mix, quick shape into muffin tins and they came out of the oven just as the turkey was being sliced.  Good timing.  Good rolls!

Total time: About 1 hour, plus rising time for the dough
Servings: Makes 2 dozen rolls
Note: Adapted from Morrison’s Rogue River Lodge

Ingredients for Dough
1 cup lukewarm water
1 packet active-dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoon yeast)
3 1/4 cups (13.8 ounces) flour, divided, plus additional for kneading
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons shortening, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt

In each cup of a 12-muffin tin pan, place about 1/2 teaspoon melted butter, then swish up around the sides with a pastry brush.

1. In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast and one-half cup flour, stirring to dissolve. Set aside just until the yeast is activated (the mixture will begin to bubble), 5 minutes.

2. While the yeast is activating, combine the remaining flour, salt, and 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a separate bowl.

3. With a fork (if working by hand), or using a dough hook, work half of the flour/sugar mixture into the activated yeast, then add the shortening and egg until combined. Slowly add in the remaining flour/sugar mixture (the mixture will at first be stringy, then very sticky as the flour is absorbed). Stir in the salt.

4. Move the dough to a floured surface. With floured hands, gently knead the dough (it will be sticky at first) about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed just to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers or the kneading surface. The finished dough will be tender, soft and slightly tacky. [Cook’s Note: I added a bit more flour and just used my mixer for another minute or two, remembering to keep the mixing brief.]

Ingredients and Process for Shaping the Rolls

4-5 tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (1 orange)

5. In a small bowl, combine the remaining one-third cup sugar with the orange zest. Using 1-2 Tablespoons of melted butter and a pastry brush, stroke the butter liberally inside 2 muffin tins, coating the wells thoroughly.  There should not be puddles of butter–just coverage.

6. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle measuring 24 inches by 10 inches.

7. Brush the dough with 3  Tablespoons of melted butter, then sprinkle over the orange-sugar mixture.

8. Roll the rectangle lengthwise into a tight tube (as when rolling cinnamon rolls). Cut the tube into 24 (1-inch) slices, using thread if possible (the thread will slice more easily and cleanly than a knife). If you use a knife to cut the slices, roll the tube one-quarter turn after each slice to keep the tube round; otherwise, it will flatten from all the slicing.

9. Place each of the slices into the prepared muffin tin (the tins must be well-greased or the finished rolls will stick to the bottom). Cover loosely and set aside until the rolls double in size.

10. Bake the muffin trays one at a time, until the rolls are puffed and golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Rotate the trays halfway through for even baking.

11. Cool the rolls slightly, then unmold. Serve warm.  I always tip up the rolls in their tins even if I’m not going to use them immediately as this allows the steam to escape and you won’t have soggy rolls.

Each roll: 126 calories; 2 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 3 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 13 mg. cholesterol; 10 grams sugar; 101 mg. sodium.

Cranberry Sauce Duo

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We went back and forth this year on whether or not to go out to a restaurant or stay home and cook.  Out?  In?  And since all our children were taken care of and I heard it was going to rain, In was what won in the end.  I went looking for my mother’s most recent cranberry sauce recipe–tore apart all my stashes of clipped, stained, printed-out papers but couldn’t find it.  I went to Epicurious and searched.  Then I realized I probably had it on my computer.  Duh.

So here are two cranberry sauce recipes.  The first is from Epicurious, dated 2000. It’s a bit tart, but with the addition of ginger and the pepper, has a good tang to it. The second came from my mother and I don’t know where she got it from.

Cranberry Relish, from Epicurious

2 oranges
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, cut in fine julienne
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Preparation
1. Peel 1 orange and cut the zest (orange part only) into a very fine julienne, as thin as possible; set aside. Squeeze both oranges for juice; set aside.

2. Combine sugar and lemon juice in a small sauté pan. Heat up slowly and continue cooking until the sugar begins to caramelize. If necessary, wash down the sides of the pan by brushing with a little water to keep the sugar from burning.

3. When the sugar is caramel colored, add the julienned ginger and orange zest. Cook for about 1 minute, then add the cranberries, orange juice and pepper. Continue to cook on medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until the cranberries are slightly broken but not mushy (frozen cranberries will take about 7 minutes). Remove from the heat and let cool.

Cook’s Notes: I like my berry sauce a little soft, so I cooked it a little longer than they said.  I also tasted it and added about 2 Tablespoons sugar as it was a bit mouth-puckery too tart for me.  I think my oranges were smaller so everything was more intense.  I also grated my fresh ginger, as I keep it in the freezer and there was no way it could have been julienned.

Mom’s Cranberry Sauce, 2006

Cook 12 oz bag fresh cranberries in 1 cup water until skins pop open.  Add 2 cups sugar, scant cup chopped golden raisens, 1 chopped Granny Smith apple, zest and juice of 1 lemon, zest and juice of 1 orange.  Cook 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

(The best yet, she says.)

Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble

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I regularly haunt Smitten Kitchen’s website as she cooks food that I can make, with only a few photos here and there, which makes it an easy read. (I don’t particularly object to a raft of photos, as they are helpful when a new technique is being presented, but occasionally they can get out of hand.)  But I’d have to say it’s her combination of ingredients that are the usual standouts.  She just has a way with food.  Summer Strawberry Cake is one of hers, too, and if you haven’t made that this summer, then you’ve really missed out.

Anyway, here’s a fall treat, made beautiful with three kinds of pears and cranberries and an interesting crumble on top, made from gingersnap cookies.  I bought a box in the grocery store and on first glance, I thought I’d bought a box of brown thin hockey pucks.  I snapped them (with some effort) into fourths then whirled the 16-18 cookies in my food processor to make the crumbs (although a ziploc bag and a swift firm hand with a kitchen mallet would also do the trick).  Amazingly, with the suggested addition of the ginger and pepper, those hideous store-bought cookies turned out okay atop the steaming, juicy pears and cranberries.

Adapated from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from Sweet Melissa Patisserie

Crumble
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (37 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar
1 cup gingersnap crumbs (4 ounces or 113 grams or about 16 storebought cookies)
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon table salt
Pinch of white pepper, especially if your gingersnaps aren’t particularly snappish
1/4 cup (1/2 stick  or 113 grams) butter, melted and cooled

Beauty shot of the pears.
From left to right: Bartlett (yellowish), Anjou, and Bosc.
The Anjou and Bosc are a little crisper than the Bartlett, but cook up well.

And here’s my trick for coring pears: a clay tool from an art supply store.

Filling
2 pounds (about 4 to 5) large ripe pears (I used combination of Anjou, Bartlett and Bosc) peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces or 170 grams) fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (14 grams) cornstarch

Do you have one of these microplanes for zesting?  I figure I used about 1/2 of the lemon for this recipe.  You can freeze the remainder, wrapped up in a square of wax paper, then into a ziploc baggie.  Label it, please, before you stick it in your freezer. (You’ll thank me later.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, gingersnap crumbs, ginger and salt. Stir in the melted butter until large crumbs form.

In a large bowl, mix the pears, cranberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together then toss it with the fruit mixture.

I just had to show you a picture of this before I sprinkled on the gingersnap topping.  Positively holiday-ish! I made this, doubled, for serving to the ladies in church.  Aside from the time taken to peel the pears, it’s a quick and easy recipe.

In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish, layer in the pear-cranberry mixture, then sprinkle the gingersnap crumble over the fruit. Set the crumble on a foil-lined baking sheet (if you are worried about it  bubbling over—I baked mine in a 9×13 pan and had no troubles) and bake it for about 45 minutes, until the crumble is a shade darker and you see juices bubbling through the crumbs. Let cool a little bit, then enjoy.

Cook’s Notes: The original recipe called for 1/2 cup [unsalted) butter in the gingersnap crumb topping; if you use that amount then the crumble will probably stay crisper an extra day.  Ours became softer the second day, but the flavor was still amazing—I wonder if it is the combination of the three pears together?  (The original merely asked for Anjou.)

And what am I doing in the photo above?  Weighing the ingredients.  You’ve noticed that all of her ingredients have a weight listed next to them.  She predicts that this will be the wave of the future, similar to what they do it in Europe. I decided to try it.  I placed the bowl on, zero-ed it out, then added each ingredient, zero-ing out after each.  I can change to kilograms from ounces on my scale; I suggest if you are going to try this, you look for that feature as well.  Instead of multiple cups and bowls, it’s just one-bowl-mixing for the dry ingredients.  Nice.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Icing

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I found this on the web, by a librarian who was having her own personal Bundt Cake Pan challenge: a new cake a day made in her much, un-used bundt pan.  I think I happened on her post right on this day, downloaded the recipe, which originally came from Gourmet Magazine in November 2005.  It is a very moist cake, mild on the spices and it is good for fall baking, leaving a delicous aroma of pumpkin in the air.

For cake
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 – 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-ounce can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
For icing
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well-shaken buttermilk
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
Special equipment: a 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)

Preparation

Make cake:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bundt pan generously, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour (2 1/4 cups), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter (1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

Make icing:
While cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioners sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

Cooks’ note: Cake can be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.  I used the 2 1/4 cups flour it called for, but I believe 2 1/2 cups would be better.  I substituted in 3/4 whole wheat flour for a like amount of the white flour.