Recipe » simmiecakes

Lake Tahoe

I just came back from a week at Lake Tahoe. The weather was beautiful, the water was clear, and the company delightful.

It was a perfect vacation of reading, hiking, water skiing, relaxing, and eating. While I was there I took my first foray into high altitude baking and whipped up a batch of ginger snaps and a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t change the chocolate chip recipe at all, but I did reduce the baking soda in the ginger snaps to 3 tsp.

At one point there were 18 of us in the cabin and we managed to devour upwards of 300 cookies in a day and a half. I feel like I should be concerned about this mass consumption, but instead I’m impressed. Who says cookies can’t be eaten for breakfast? (Well, me, but that’s a different story.)

We had a couple of visits from the friendly neighborhood bears who must have known we were having too much fun and eating too many cookies. Sadly I slept through the excitement so I didn’t get to see them. I did wake up at 5 AM the first night I was there to the sounds of what surely was a large woodland creature rifling through my suitcase. However, by the time I managed to get this guy to protect me from the vicious beast, he had escaped while returning all of my stuff to its appropriate place. Turns out those Lake Tahoe animals are quite polite.

Alas, vacation cannot last forever. We’ve returned back to our regularly scheduled lives which means late night baking is back. Tuesday night, me and some blueberries spent some quality time together. It was magical. A post is soon to follow.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

We’ve had record breaking temperatures here in Maryland for the last…what seems like forever. When I moved here people would warn me of the hot summers down here to which I would respond, “Pshaw, I can take the heat.”

Ok, I admit, I started writing this post like a week and a half ago when it was still sweltering. Temperatures have fallen to double digits and I can walk to from my car to my office without having to change my shirt. But just because it isn’t ridiculously hot, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some ridiculously good ice cream. (Also, I maintain that slightly cooler temperatures are better for eating ice cream so you don’t have to race to beat the heat before it melts. As a notoriously slow eater, this is important to me.)

I made me (and I say me, because I’m pretty sure I ate this entire batch by myself) some mint chocolate chip ice cream. Please note: mint chocolate chip ice cream requires PEPPERMINT extract. Don’t buy mint extract unless you want to eat a bowl of frozen toothpaste.

I love this ice cream. I used fancy-schmancy dark chocolate, but it was still light and refreshing. It’s the kind of ice cream you want to eat on a hot summer day while sitting in a Norman Rockwell painting.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp PEPPERMINT extract
4 oz of dark chocolate, finely chopped

Ice cream is so easy to make.

Combine all of the ingredients except the chocolate in a large bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes if not more. Getting the ice cream mixture really cold before freezing helps keep it creamy.

Pour the ice cream mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream has thickened add the chocolate. Spoon into an airtight container and freeze until hardened. Wax nostalgic.

Blackberry Bundt Cake

Technically this is a mixed berry bundt cake. There are two, count ‘em, two raspberries in this cake as well. If you find them, you win a prize. It’s awesome.

This cake is also awesome. And I finally, finally, got to use my new bundt pan. And by new, I mean I got it two Thanksgivings ago and it’s been sitting in my cupboard ever since. It’s not that I don’t like bundt cakes though. In fact, I think bundt cakes are the bee’s knees. It’s just that I have high standards for bundt cakes, so I couldn’t just use any recipe for the inaugural baking with my new pan.

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Foodbuzz 24×24: Quarter Life Crisis

Elise came to visit this weekend from Chicago! Melissa, Elise, and I all lived together senior year of college and while our apartment lacked 36 packs of Bud Light and rows of shot glasses, we did have a pasta maker and panini press. Let’s just say we like to cook.

So when Foodbuzz came a-knocking for ideas for this month’s 24×24, we jumped at the opportunity.

We’ve been out of college for four years now and I must say, the reality of growing up is starting to sink in. Somehow, without us really realizing it, we’re supposed to be adults. When the heck did this happen? But amid the responsibilities and bills there are some perks to growing up. Our palettes have matured beyond the years of Wonder Bread and bologna (thank goodness) and we can stay up past 10.

We decided to update a few of our favorite childhood foods with more grown-up versions while reminiscing of the good old days of bad haircuts, eighth grade dances, and bad early nineties music. Oh wait, we made a “Gin Blossoms Playlist” on Pandora. Maybe we haven’t come that far.

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Kettle Corn

I’ve recently become obsessed with kettle corn. It’s sweet, it’s salty, and I can’t get enough. Except apparently short of a state fair, street festival, or amusement park, kettle corn is hard to find. I managed to snag a bag from Trader Joe’s last week and then I may or may not (or may) have sat on the couch and devoured the entire bag.

So today when I had yet another hankering , I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. For some reason the guys at the fairs with the huge copper kettles, giant wooden spoons, and large open flames led me to believe that making kettle corn was hard. Turns out it’s not. It takes four ingredients and 15 minutes. 21 minutes if you include how long it takes to eat the entire bowl.

Kettle Corn

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. We knew the oil was ready by sprinkling a few drops of water and hearing them pop.

In a separate bowl, combine the popcorn kernels and the sugar.

When the oil is hot, pour the kernels and sugar into the pot and cover.

Shake, shake, shake (your groove thing) so the sugar doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and create a giant mess. Sometimes we got tired of shaking so we set the pot down for a few seconds. It appeared to not have an adverse effect on the popcorn.

Continue shaking as the popcorn begins to pop. Don’t stop shaking until the popping slows down to one pop every two or three seconds. Remove the popcorn from heat so it doesn’t burn.

Salt the popcorn as you like it. Holy cow I think I need to go make some more right now.

Strawberry Quick Bread

loaf

I have a problem. A strawberry problem.

Remember how I said I bought 4 pounds of strawberries the other day? So I made strawberry ice cream? Well, I couldn’t help myself…I bought another 4 pounds of strawberries. I’m not even kidding. I have been eating strawberries for breakfast, strawberries for snacks, strawberries for dessert…and the funny thing is, I’m not even sick of strawberries.

strawberries

While I was swimming in strawberries, I figured I might as well throw together a quick little strawberry treat. So I flipped open my cookbook and this recipe had both “strawberry” and “quick” in the title which somehow seemed just right.

This bread reminds me of banana bread…except with strawberries. It’s not too sweet, but super moist and easy to grab a slice as you head out the door in the morning.

slice

Strawberry Quick Bread

adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp lemon zest or 1/4 tsp lemon oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups mashed strawberries
1/2 cup vegetable oil

In a large bowl, wisk together the lemon zest/oil, eggs, mashed strawberries and vegetable oil. You will have a not that tasty looking mixture, but it will smell awesome. Strawberries and lemon make a delicious aroma.

batter_in_pan

In a medium bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes at 350º.

Strawberry Ice Cream

ice_cream

I was eleven years old the first time I had ice cream. I was lactose intolerant when I was younger which precluded me from enjoying the creamy goodness that is ice cream. However, once I had that first taste, I never looked back. My first real job was at an ice cream stand where I worked on making the perfect ice cream scoop and became a truly skilled soft-serve ice cream cone maker.

Not too long ago I stumbled upon an ice cream maker on super sale. I snatched it up and have made a few batches of ice cream here and there with mixed results. But yesterday when I was at the store and saw that strawberries were on sale, I picked up a bunch. And by a bunch I mean four pounds.

With four pounds of strawberries in hand and since yesterday was a Thursday, I figured it was as good a time as any to whip up some delicious strawberry ice cream. I use skim milk mostly because I think using whole milk and heavy cream is too rich and not refreshing enough for me.

This ice cream is a cinch to make. No cooking, no eggs, just mix and go!

Strawberry Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups skim milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mashed fresh strawberries

Wash and hull the strawberries. Mash them in a bowl with the back of a fork. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Refrigerate for a half hour. The colder the mixture before you freeze it, the better.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the directions.

No Rise Pizza Dough

pizza

After 8 loooonnnggg days, Passover is finally over tonight. I love Passover…for the first two nights. Then, well then I start craving foods that I don’t even normally want to eat (and some that I do). Texas toast? 7 layer bean dip? Entire bottles of corn syrup? I am a girl who once ate an entire loaf of French bread while in line to get into a movie. I had an entire birthday party devoted to corn products. I loves me some leavened food products.

sauce

Almost every year I break Passover with pizza. Soft crust, garlicky sauce, salty cheese…yum. And this year? Well this year I’m breaking Passover with a hamburger. But if I was going to break Passover with pizza, I would make this pizza. Because you don’t have to wait for the dough to rise. It’s a vision. And it’s delicious.

No Rise Pizza Dough

Adapted from Goodfruit

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Pinch of Sea Salt

dry_ingredients

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups flour, the yeast, and the salt. Add the warm water and the olive oil.

Beat on low speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.

Switch to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Timing is pretty important here, so keep your eye on the clock.

Stir in as much of the remaining flour is needed until you get a nice ball of dough.

kneading

Turn out the ball of dough on a floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic.

dough

cheese

Then, roll it out onto a pan and add desired toppings.

Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 450º oven.

Hamantaschen

hamantaschen

Today is Purim. Heard of it? It’s awesome. Purim is a holiday full of festivities, costumes, gifts, and general good cheer. The Purim story has scandal, manipulation, one really evil fella, a righteous dude, a cool queen, and plenty of intrigue.

That evil dude is named Haman and we hate him so much, when reading the Purim story we scream and stomp and bang to drown his name out. We also make cookies in reference of him. Hamantaschen are triangular cookies traditionally filled with poppy seeds or prune filling, but these days we also include our variety of jams, jellies, and other sweet fillings.

fillings

I whipped up a batch of these the other day in about an hour. But I forgot about the proper folding method for this specific recipe which led to some less than attractive cookies. So I raided some pictures from last year’s batch of cookies to show the proper way to make a pretty, and triangular, cookie.

Hamantaschen

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese at room temperature 3 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 1/3 cups plus 4 tsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
jams, poppy seed filling, etc

orange_zest

Cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Then add the sugar and beat for another minute. Add the egg, vanilla, orange zest, and salt and mix until well combined. Then add the flour until incorporated. The dough will still be a bit sticky.

Form the dough into a large disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm. Since I was short on time, I stuck my dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

circles

After the dough has firmed up, roll it out on a well floured surface to about 1/4″ thick. Cut out circles. As you can see, I used an IKEA cup, which I think is about 2″ in diameter.

circles_with_fillings

Spoon about a teaspoon of filling into to the center of the circles. Poppy seed filling is my favorite, but I also used raspberry preserves, and blackberry preserves. Apricot preserves are another popular filling.

unbaked_cookies

To make them triangular shaped, fold up the dough on three sides and squish the dough together. As you can see in the picture above, I simply pinched the corners. This led to a big batch of cookie rounds with hot jam oozing out. My hamantaschen did not stay together. I realized I did not have this problem last year, so going back to my older pictures, I discovered my previous, and successful, folding method.

proper_folding_method

As you can see, I folded each third up and layered it down over the other sides at each corner. This horizontal squishing method seemed to work a lot better than my pinching method of this year. Live and learn I suppose (although, apparently live, learn, and remember is what I needed to do).

Bake them for 18-20 minutes in a 350º oven. Makes about 20-22 cookies. Yum!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

cookie_pile

I’ve always been at battle with chocolate chip cookies. Many a-recipe tried, many a-disappointment felt. They were always too cakey or too crispy or too dry. As a frequent baker, I have always felt a twinge of shame knowing the best chocolate chip cookies I make come from a package. Yes, that’s right. A MIX. Because sometimes mixes are dang good.

BUT. Yes, BUT. I’ve found my recipe. Actually, Melissa found my recipe a long time ago and I finally decided to get around to making it myself. So maybe it’s actually Melissa’s recipe. Let’s be fair, it’s the New York Times’ recipe. They know news and they know cookies. Who wouldda thunk?

These cookies are perfect. They are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. During this blizzard of ours, I want to wrap myself up in them. The ooey-gooey chocolate with a touch of salt (so elegant…even my salt-hating roommate likes it. I know, someone can hate salt??) brings these cookies to perfection.

dough_ball

They take a while to make. Perfection is found after a 24 hour waiting period, but it’s SO worth it. You can make them right away too, but the extra time makes a big difference.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from The New York Times

8.5 oz (2 cups minus 2 Tbsp) cake flour
8.5 oz (1 2/3 cups) bread flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
10 oz (1 1/4 cups) light brown sugar
8 oz (1 cup plus 2 Tbsp) granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
sea salt

I have a kitchen scale I use to weigh all of my ingredients. It’s definitely the more accurate way to go, but if you don’t have a scale, the volume measurements should work just fine.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Then add each egg one at a time, making sure it is well mixed before adding the next. Then add in the vanilla.

batter

Sift the bread flour, cake flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into a bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the sugar and butter (and eggs and vanilla) mixture until just combined.

chocolate_chips

Mix in the chocolate chips by hand so they don’t break.

cookie_dough

Holy cow, this cookie dough is so good I kind of want to lick my monitor (is that weird? I don’t care, I’m sort of drooling right now thinking of this).

fridge

Now comes the hard part. Cover the dough with plastic wrap (so that it’s pressed down, touching the dough) and stick it in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. I promise, it’s totally worth it.

tray

Preheat the oven to 350º.

After the dough has thoroughly chilled, scoop out golf ball sized balls out dough and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet with about an inch between each ball. Sprinkle lightly with coarsely ground sea salt.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. I think I’ve already eaten at least 7.