PB&J, Rocky Road and Cheesecake Cupcakes

National Cupcake Day was Saturday, August 14th. National Cupcake Day? Yes, there was an entire day dedicated to the love of cupcakes! After hearing about National Cupcake Day, I started thinking about how cupcakes had transported themselves into the day to day lives of people everywhere, from the once, small, inexpensive alternative to cakes, and the tiny treat children brought to school for birthdays, to a gourmet delight commanding significant price tags. Beautiful works of art, cupcakes can now be found everywhere!

Where did it all begin? If you were a Sex and the City fan, you may remember Carrie and Miranda eating cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery on Bleeker Street. The rest, as they say, is history. From that episode, Bleeker street was never the same, and neither were cupcakes. Today, major cities not only have cupcake centric bakeries, but trucks dedicated to distributing the sugary cakes. One of the lower priced gourmet cupcake options in Philadelphia is Buttercream Cupcake Truck which offers cupcakes for $2.00 each. Many other area bakeries have cupcake assortments that top $3.50 each for the mini cakes.

So, how did I spend National Cupcake Day? I thought you’d never ask!

My 12 year old son is talking a lot about becoming a chef. I’m really not clear on where his obsession with food comes from….hmmm, I’ll have to get back to you on that when I figure it out. Anyway, since we were going to be alone for the day and he loves food, I thought, “what better way to spend a day but tasting cupcakes?” And so it goes….

We went to local bakery, Night Kitchen in Chestnut Hill as our 1st stop, at least that was the intention. It ended up being our only stop. The variety of cupcakes in such a small bakery, which is dedicated to cakes primarily, was mind boggling. It stimulated my son’s creative, culinary juices and there was no turning back. Our day became a quest to create his vision of the  perfect cupcake.

My son’s concept drawing of  his cupcake

While at lunch, he began brainstorming and drew the above picture of a dark chocolate cupcake with a molten mango and white chocolate center. He wanted the caramel frosting to resemble a tornado in keeping with the theme of the “molten” center. Yes, I agree it sounds pretty, um, unusual, but he is 12 and he is actually a very good cook as well. So, we went shopping with nothing more than his concept.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Mango and White Chocolate Center and Caramel Frosting

8 T unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 C Dutch-processed cocoa
3/4 C  all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 C sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t table salt
1/2 C sour cream

Filling

A large mango

1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

Frosting

1 box confectioners sugar

1 stick butter

milk

caramel sauce

yield: 12 cupcakes

Usually you would line the cupcake tins with liners. We were not prepared, and in case you should get stranded without cups, butter and flour cupcake pans to prevent sticking. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine first three ingredients in medium metal bowl. Melt ingredients using a double-boiler or a saucepan over simmering water. Whisk until smooth and combined. Set aside to cool, until just warm to the touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder in small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture; whisk until fully combined. Alternate about 1/3 of flour mixture with the sour cream into chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. End with remaining flour mixture and whisk until batter is homogeneous and thick.

Divide batter among muffin pan cups. Bake for 10 minutes.

For Filling:

Cut peeled, pitted, mango in pieces and puree in food processor.

Soften white chocolate in microwave. Blend the white chocolate into the mango puree.

Take the cupcakes out of the oven. With one hand, gently spoon out the center of a cupcake. With the other hand,  fill the center with mango mixture. Replace the cupcake filling to cover mango. Repeat for all cupcakes.

Bake cupcakes for another 8 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack until cool.

For Frosting:

Cream butter in mixer. Add confectioners sugar and cream together. Add milk 1 TBSP at a time until desired thickness is achieved. (Ours was too thin and we were out of sugar to thicken.) Add 3 TBLS of caramel and blend.

Frost cupcakes and drizzle with caramel.

Rediscover the cupcake. I am glad I did!

Freshly Charred Peppers

I absolutely love roasted peppers with a great Italian dinner. There is nothing quite like them on perfect Italian bread. A few months back I promised to write about food my dad loved after he passed away and I plan on keeping that promise. Roasted peppers fall into that category.

Last month we had a big dinner to thank some of my dad’s closest friends for everything they did to help my sister and me get through the toughest weeks of our lives. We had a big Italian feast which started with antipasto. I made roasted peppers to go with The Conshohocken Italian Bakery bread our dear friends and owners of the bakery brought to compliment the meal.

If you have never made homemade roasted peppers, you may be surprised by the method and how unbelievably easy they are to make. You do need a gas stove to make them perfectly, but otherwise, it is pretty simple. I use red and yellow peppers because they make the nicest looking presentation and the colors contrast nicely.

The first thing you do is place each pepper in the center of a burner directly over the heat source. Then, turn the flame on to a medium setting.

Pepper over Flame

Let the skin cook until it roasts and blisters, then turn. It is almost impossible to overcook. The skin should actually crack.

Another Angle of Pepper Cooking

As you can see in the photo above, the center of the side that is showing is under cooked. It is important to continue to maneuver the pepper over the flames so all sides cook evenly.

Peppers Cooling

When peppers are cooked evenly on all sides, remove from heat. Cool completely. Once cool, cut peppers in half. Remove seeds and peel skins off of peppers. Rinse peppers and cut into strips. Toss peppers in extra virgin olive oil and season with fresh ground pepper and a little kosher salt.

Roasted Peppers

Serve with Crusty Italian Bread and butter and/or Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Hot Roast Pork Sandwich

Just in time for the Super Bowl! Make hot roast pork sandwiches for the game and no need to run to South Philly!

How good is Tony Luke’s hot roast pork? I mean, really? My mouth waters just thinking about it. I love John’s too, don’t get me wrong, but Tony Luke’s recipe was a little easier to come by when I wanted to make sandwiches. I’ve mastered it and I’m sticking with it. If it’s not broken ~don’t fix it! And so it goes….

For the big game on Sunday, there is no easier crowd pleaser than this pork. Trust me on this! My big disclosure, however,  is that when I made the pork with broccoli rabe, I forgot to take the picture. The next day when I was making myself a sandwich for lunch, and had no broccoli rabe left, I decided to top it with some fresh arugula instead. The picture above shows the pork topped with arugula. It is also not on the roll I would choose either, but we were having some technical difficulties which prevented me from getting to the bakery. On top of it, these pictures were taken from my cell, so they are not as clear as I may like. So, use your imagination, okay?

Hot Roast Pork with Broccoli Rabe

1 (5 lb)  pork shoulder

6 tablespoons garlic (chopped)

5  tablespoons fresh rosemary (chopped)

6 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)

2 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoon olive oil

Broccoli Rabe

1 lb brocolli rabe

kosher salt

3 quarts water

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 garlic gloves, chopped

1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

football or kaiser rolls preferably from Sarcone’s, Carangi’s or Conshocken Italian Bakery

1 lb extra sharp provolone

Make sure you buy a pork shoulder in netting like the picture below.

Turn your crock pot on high. Pull the roast out of the netting, but DO NOT cut the netting apart because you need to stuff it back in when you are done preparing the meat! Try to cut as little netting from each end as possible. I have actually learned from experience that if you can get half of the net off and dress one side of the meat, then stuff the prepared side back in,  then repeat on the other side, it is much easier.

Mix the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. It should form a loose paste.

If there are any thick sections of meat, score them with a sharp knife. Rub 3/4 of the mixture on all exposed areas of meat, including the areas that have been scored and internal surfaces that are exposed. Return roast to netting. Rub the remaining mixture over the outside of the roast. Place the roast in the crock pot and cook on high for 20 minutes.

Turn down to low and cook for at least 4-5 hours. The longer it cooks, the better. The meat should be falling apart. Remove the roast from the netting by cutting it off. Please be careful not to burn yourself on the interior of the crock pot. With a large fork and knife, shred the meat into chunks befitting a sandwich. Mix the meat around in the sumptuous juices which have accumulated in the pot. Keep pot on a warm setting.

For the broccoli rabe:

Wash and cut about 1/2 inch off of the bottom stems. Cut the florets off of the top and set aside. Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe leaves and stems and cook about 1 minute and a half. Then add the florets and cook until tender, about 6 or 7 minutes. Remove the broccoli rabe from the water, after reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a deep frying pan begin to heat olive oil, red pepper flakes and garlic over med-high heat.  Once the garlic turns slightly brown, add the broccoli rabe. Saute 4-5 minutes and then add the cooking liquid. Season to taste with salt. This will look soupy, but it is done. Serve on the side of with the pork for guests to assemble on their own.

Assembly:

Add the extra sharp provolone to the roll first. This way it will melt when topped with hot meat. Top the pork with broccoli rabe.

Manja!!!!

I used to just steam or saute my asparagus and broccoli and that was just fine, but after a while you get tired of the same old, same old. I like to experiment a lot and sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen. This experiment turned out pretty, pretty, pretty good.……

uncooked broccoli tossed with Dijon mustard sauce

I actually make asparagus most often, but this weekend made broccoli and would not have even thought about sharing, but one of our wonderful followers on twitter requested the recipe, so I am finally putting this together. The one problem with my experiments is that I don’t always measure my ingredients, as in, never.  This one is pretty simple, however.

Broccoli or Asparagus

Dijon Mustard

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl combine almost equal parts oil and mustard, with slightly more oil. The amount depends on the amount of vegetables being used. I would estimate 3 TBSP for 1 lb or so of veggies. Just keep in mind, the more Dijon, the more tangy the finish, but unless you have way too much sauce overall, a little too much of the  mixture won’t make a difference one way or the other. Using a fork or whisk, whisk together. Pour mixture over veggies in glass pan and toss with tongs until completely coated. Season generously with salt and pepper and toss again. Cook 15 minutes for asparagus and 20 minutes for broccoli.

Roasted Mustard Glazed Broccoli

I am not kidding when I say my children literally fight over the last piece of asparagus in my house. I now have to make 2 pounds at a time. It’s that tasty!

Enjoy your veggies!

**** This simple combo is also great on chicken pieces. It creates a great crispy skin and a simple mid-week meal.****

Pumpkin Cheese Cake

A perfect dessert~fall or winter

Crust

1 1/2 cups ground graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 cups toasted pecans (about 6 oz)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted

Filling

4 8 oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature

1 2/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

4 TBSP whipping cream

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

4 large eggs

Topping

1 TBSP purchased caramel sauce

1 cup sour cream

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

For Crust: Grind the graham cracker crumbs, pecans and sugar in processor. Add melted butter and blend until combined. Press crust mixture onto bottoms and sides of 9 inch spring form pan with 2 3/4 inch edges.

Cheese Cake Crust

For Filling: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light. Transfer 3/4 cup mixture to a small bowl and cover and refrigerate to use for topping later. Add pumpkin, 4 TBSP whipping cream, cinnamon, and allspice to mixer bowl. Beat until well combined. Add eggs 1 at a time until just combined. Pour filling into pan.

Batter poured into pan prior to baking

Bake until cheesecake puffs, top browns and center moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 15 mins. Transfer cheese cake to rack and cool 10 minutes. Run small knife around cake pan sides to loosen cake. Cool. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Baked Cheese Cake Cooling avec Fall Decor

Bring remaining cream cheese mixture to room temperature. Combine with sour cream. Press down edges of cheese cake to smooth. Pour mixture over cake and spread evenly. Spoon caramel in straight, thin lines across mixture. Using tip of knife, without using pressure, gently draw a  line across the cake, perpendicular to caramel sauce. Drag the knife toward you then a line away from you and repeat until caramel design has been created.

Delish!

Almond Brittle

Add a little crunch to your cookie tins, or simply serve in a beautiful crystal bowl. This candy is simple to make and it is really tasty. I use it along with Peppermint Bark to accent my cookie tins and cookie plates during the holiday season. Kept in an airtight container, it lasts forever. (not exactly forever)

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

1 cup chopped or slivered almonds

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp butter

Butter a cookie sheet.

In a sauce pan, cook sugar, corn syrup and water until it reaches the hard crack stage. (Mixture will separate into hardened threads.)

Add almonds, stirring constantly. Cook until syrup is golden. Remove sauce pan from heat. Add baking soda, vanilla and butter.

Stir until butter melts. Pour onto prepared sheet. Spread out evenly with a rubber spatula.

Allow to harden and break into random pieces.

Enjoy!

Capers

Recently in our time-line on Twitter, one of our followers said she hated capers. It is our belief that she has not experienced them in a light, subtle, yet fabulous dish. Perhaps we are incorrect, but let’s find out!

The following recipe incorporates lemon and capers into a sauce tossed with angel hair  into this light, yet extremely flavorful dish. Enjoy as a light entree or as a side dish with roast chicken, or Parmesan crusted chicken cutlets.

Angel Hair in a Lemon Sauce

1/2 lb angel hair pasta

salt

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1 lemon plus 1 extremely thinly sliced lemon

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup capers

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 TBSP butter

5 oz baby spinach

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and a little olive oil. Cook until al dente 2-3 minutes. Reserve a ladle of the hot water and then drain pasta.

Coat a large, hot  skillet with the olive oil. Add the lemon slices (remove all seeds), garlic and capers and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the wine and the parsley and cook until reduced, 1 minute.  Stir in the chicken stock. Stir in the butter until melted, then stir in the lemon juice. Add the spinach and cook until wilted Add the reserved cooking liquid. Stir the pasta into the skillet and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper. Toss with Parmesan Cheese and serve.

~Mangia!

Chocolate Truffles

Why on earth do we all pay exurbanite prices for truffles? I’m not talking about novelty works of art that are fun and whimsical like what they make at The Naked Chocolate Cafe. I am talking about basic truffles, like Godiva. Because it’s Belgian chocolate? Not so much. Godiva is made in Reading, PA. Truth.

Now, please understand, I do not believe that my truffles look like, or even taste like Godiva. They look homemade as you can clearly see.  As for taste, I honestly prefer the homemade  to the boxed candy that cost more than $2 a pop, per truffle that is…. Don’t get me wrong, I am not picking on Godiva. They provide that last minute, pick up gift when you are running late and need a hostess, hospital or office holiday gift. No one believes that they, themselves will happen to have a pocket full of beautifully wrapped truffles stashed!

For entertaining, it’s a different story. There is no reason to spend $50 to have a plate of candy available for that last minute visitor. They keep perfectly in the refrigerator in a sealed container. So, give it a shot, it’s easier than you might think!

2/3 cup whipping cream

2 cups chocolate chips

2 tsp vanilla extract

Bring cream to a boil in heavy sauce pan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Pour into a medium bowl. Cover; chill until firm, about 3 hours.

Scoop out teaspoon sized chunks and roll into balls. Working quickly so chocolate doesn’t melt. Roll in any or a variety of the following:

unsweetened cocoa powder

shredded sweetened coconut (as is or lightly toasted)

chopped pistachios, pecans, walnuts or other favorite nut

Put in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.You can purchase small box to gift as gifts or add to cookie tins.

Enjoy!

Russian Tea Cakes

These cookies are a huge favorite at the holidays! They are loaded with pecans and have a wonderful nutty flavor!

1/2 lb butter

4 heaping TBSP confectioners sugar

- cream together-

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups chopped pecans

Roll into a small ball and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until just golden brown.

While still warm roll in confectioners sugar. After cool, roll in sugar a second time.

Enjoy!

Christmas Dogs

I cannot think of anything more traditional than Spritz cookies at Christmas. My grandmother was German. So, she made these cookies every year. A few years before she died, the women in our family started making cookies together at Christmas time with her and included myself and my cousin. According to my mother, it was my grandmother’s dying wish that the cookie day tradition be maintained to keep the family together at least once a year doing something together. And so it goes.

Every year, my mother, my sister, my aunt, my cousin and my cousin’s wife get together for a no-nonsense, grind-them-out, cookie day. There are no children. We make cookies with the children separately for fun. This is about producing lots of cookies! We make Russian Tea Cakes and Spritz. Over the years we have perfected our production techniques. We now make batter at home and each bring it with us to my aunt’s house. It took too much time making it as we went along.

Bad picture alert….

The day begins around 9AM and does not end until we are finished with all of the dough. This year, in our first snow, we finished close to 7PM! We allow very little deviation from the traditional shapes and decorations. It could get ugly for anyone that comes to the table with a new idea. Although, oddly enough, there were new sprinkles introduced this year…..I think that slipped by under the radar…hmmm.

We make trees, wreaths, chocolate decorated flowers and the Jackson Family Christmas Dogs. That’s correct, dogs! These dogs are the most coveted of all the Christmas cookies served each year. Think about it, do you know anyone else that makes Christmas Spritz Dog Cookies? Probably not.  But, here’s the thing, they are a pain in the ass to make. Why? Because of the little collar, that’s why. Very annoying.

The collar is made from a candied cherry. The cherries must be cut in half and then sliced thin. It takes a lot of cherries to decorate these dogs. They are so sticky. A mess. So, we decided that we would make the newest member of the group cut the cherries. My cousin’s wife. We weren’t fans anyway, if you know what I mean. But then, they split up!! Not to worry, he re-married! Thank god! We like this one though, but she’s still stuck with those cherries! But, I digress…….

Spritz

Decorated Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter softened (original recipe calls for margarine but I refuse)

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Cream together butter and sugar; blend in egg and almond extract. Combine dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture. Mix well. Either use right away, or if you need to refrigerate, plan time to allow dough to warm to room temperature. Press and decorate. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

I always double.

You need a cookie press to make Spritz cookies the authentic way. Those new fangled cookie shooters don’t cut it, sorry. You need the old fashioned, break-your-arm, get-calluses-on-your-hands, cookie press!

Exhibit A – the Cookie Press

I had planned my standard, “good luck with that” answer, but actually, you are in luck!  I found just want you need on Ebay!

We decorate our cookies with the standard sugars and use a silver ball for the “star” on our trees. We also cook some of the cookies plain and then drizzle chocolate sauce over them and press them into crushed nuts.

Spritz with Chocolate and Pecans

Make sure you have plenty of cookie tins on hand for storage. Line the tins with wax paper and use wax paper to tighten the seal of the tin to keep the cookies fresh for several weeks.

Enjoy!