Italian Hot Cocoa

The snow is snowin', the wind is blowin', but I can weather the storm. What do I care if icicles form? I've got hot cocoa to keep me warm!

I took some liberties with that Christmas song. Forgive me. Don't know it? It's "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" by Billie Holiday and it happens to be one of my favorites this time of year.

I meant what I said though. I don't give one iota that it's dumping snow right now. You know why? Because I am home, nestled it it's warmth and love, slowly sipping thick and rich homemade cocoa topped with really sweet, softly whipped cream. How's that for adjective overload? Oh, I forgot to mention the best part, which is it's Italian. Everything is more fabulous with an accent.

Italians like a very dense cocoa and thicken it with cornstarch so that it attains an almost puddinglike or chocolate sauce consistency. More chocolate sauce than pudding, but you get the point. For a thinner version, add more milk, water, or half and half or mix in some strong brewed coffee or espresso.

Iv'e heard of the famous hot chocolate that you get in Paris. It's famous for the very same reason as the Italian, namely being thick and rich. The French hot chocolate you get is mostly milk and real chocolate that's been melted into it. The real chocolate (as opposed to a cocoa powder) makes it thick. American hot chocolate is mostly cocoa powder, some sugar and water or milk and very thin. the Italians, like I mentioned above prefer to thicken with cornstarch and it makes for a very smooth and velvety drink. Think decadent.

Italian Hot Cocoa

adapted from "The Joy Of Cooking"

Makes 2 1/2 cups. Serves 2

Stir together in a medium, heavy saucepan:

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot

Stir in thoroughly and slowly while whisking and set over medium low heat:

1 cup water

1 cup whole milk

Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat until the mixture is thickened and coats a spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in:

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Top each serving with:

Very sweet whipped cream

VARIATION: For and Italian Mocha, prepare Italian Hot Cocoa above, substituting 1 cup strong brewed coffee, or 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup espresso, for the water.

Make sure to cook this until it thickens up properly. It should take most of the 10 minutes to do so. In-between stirrings, a"skin" might form on top but don't worry, it will mix together easily. This is not so thick that it feels wrong drinking it. I once had some "chocolate soup" and it was too thick for my liking. This is just thick enough. Bellisimo!

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

This dessert is out of this world good and oh so comforting. It is definitely one of my personal favorites and I have Mrs. Ina Garten to thank for it. I have a lot of things to thank her for.

What you get in the finished product is apples, sweet and soft, seasoned to perfection with cinnamon and a topping that is crunchy and carmel-y tasting from the brown sugar added to it. It's really a knock out. Add some Breyers vanilla bean ice cream and whoever you are serving this to is bound to be one happy camper! I made this dessert for SK8 church so I didn't even get to have any, sniffle. But let me tell you it was shear torture smelling it. Okay, so I took a few pinches from the topping and snarfed, you caught me. It was the highlight of my day. I'm not dramatic much, am I? Seriously, I've made this particular dessert more than a few times so I know full well what I was missing.

As with most crisps, this is very rustic so it would be perfect on your thanksgiving table as a different option along with the usual pumpkin pie. It won't be on my Thanksgiving table this year, however, because I am a severe traditionalist (at least in this point of my life I am) and on Thanksgiving we have 3 different pies. Two Pumpkin, a Dutch Apple and Pecan. No ifs, ands or butts about it. But seeing as how we have Dutch apple, we will sort of get the same kind of taste as the crisp. But, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm inviting some people over for dinner though, just so I can make this crisp. Not that you need an excuse. Only if you want to spread the love it will surely bring.

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

adapted from "Barefoot Contessa Parties!"

serves 10

5 pounds McIntosh or Macoun apples

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

FOR THE TOPPING:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. butter a 9 x 14 x 2-inch oval baking dish.

Peel, core, and cut apples into large wedges. Combine the apples with the juices, sugar and spices. Pour into the dish.

To make the topping, combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. mix on low speed until the mixer is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.

Place the crisp on a sheet pan and bake for one hour until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

In the recipe I say to peel the apples. You might be able to tell in my picture that I didn't peel the apples. That would be why there is a tinge of pink to the final product. Do what I say not as I do. Listen, I was making 5 batches of this. I can't peel 30 apples and stay sane, give me a break! But I usually do, so do it if you can. Otherwise cheat like me, it looks pretty good, and I won't tell. Also, Ina adds the zest of both a lemon and orange to her apples with the spices and sugar before baking. I omit it because I think it imparts too much of a citrus-y note in an otherwise homey dessert. If you like it, knock yourself out.

Hazelnut Custard Bread Pudding

So, I know there is probably some confusion on what exactly my favorite dessert is. Heck, you probably don't care in the least, but let's just pretend for a minute, shall we? If you have been reading for a while you probably think that my favorite dessert is one of two things, either bread pudding (in most any form) or chocolate cake (not flour less). You would be right. Both are my favorite depending on the day, mood, weather and my appetite. That being said, I try to eat them as often as I can in as many forms as I can.

I made this hazelnut variety and served it to my in-laws when they came over for dinner. My father-in-law is a big lover of bread pudding like me and my husband, so really there was no other option. I had never made this particular recipe before, but I am so glad I took a chance on it because it was out of this world good! It's a basic bread pudding, not too mushy, where the integrity of the bread is not compromised but keeps it's general shape up top. Then it is covered with a blanket of warm buttery sauce that is infused with Frangelico, a hazelnut liquor, instead of the traditional bourbon. It's outstanding. Really. I ate way too much of this that night and went to bed with a stomach ache. Not hard to do, as you will see when you make this. I'm not kidding when I say that. This recipe is supposed to feed 6-8 people but four of us polished it off, no problem. If you know us, it's not that surprising.

Hazelnut Custard Bread Pudding

adapted from MixingBowl.com

Makes 8 servings, theoretically

1 Italian or French loaf or 10 slices day-old white bread or cinnamon bread torn or cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup raisins (optional)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup Frangelico (hazelnut liquor)

7 tablespoons butter, cut up

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Place ton bread and raisins in prepared dish; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, the 1 1/2 cups sugar, the 4 tablespoons melted butter, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and the nutmeg. Pour over bread and raisins in prepared dish.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool slightly.

Meanwhile, for sauce, in a small saucepan, combine the 2/3 cup sugar and the flour. Whisk in water and Frangelico until smooth. Add butter. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve warm sauce over warm bread pudding.

Truffle Brownies

Hi there! I wrote this post back in June...June 29th actually, so I am posting this 4 months to the day after the fact. Why? Because I am currently on a much needed vacation in Denver alone with my husband, where we are doing whatever we want, when we want. Ahhh, this is the life...

Truffle brownies don't sound like something I would usually gravitate toward. I'm just now learning that I really like brownies in general. I used to think I didn't. Probably becuase they are overdone and so cliche. Also, a cop-out dessert for so many who use the box kind. I'm not trying to hate on boxed brownies, but they are not very "me". Sure, Ghiradelli got me through a few sad nights when I was about 8 months pregnant and craving brownie sundae's, but usually I'm a from scratch sort of girl.

The other thing is I used to think I didn't really enjoy dense and rich chocolate desserts. I don't much care for flourless tortes or chocolate molten lava cakes. So, when I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit for this rather dense, fudgy brownie with chocolate frosting on top and ran, literally ran to the kitchen to make them right away, I was quite surprised. I thought "well, this is odd". Then as I was measuring the sugar, I began to realize that one of my favorite desserts as a teenager was always brownie sundaes. Then, another startling revelation...My favorite dessert in the world (on most days) is a big piece of chocolate cake with chocolate icing. And, I always order a chocolate shake at In-N-Out burger. And, whats that dessert I love at that restaurant? Chocolate velvet pudding cake, is it? Hey now, maybe just becuase I don't care for certain rich chocolate desserts, doesn't mean I don't like them all together. Sometimes I don't think I know myself at all!

This particular species of brownie would fall into more of the fudgy catagory with a bittersweet, rich chocolate ganache on top. The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate to be used for both the brownie and the topping, but if you are someone who likes their chocolate desserts a little more on the sweet side, I suggest you use semi-sweet chocolate for the ganache frosting. I used walnuts but they are optional.

Truffle Brownies

adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped and divided (or chips)

11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsley chopped

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Position rack in the center of the oven a preheat to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9x2 (I used a square 9" cake pan, but an 8x8 glass pyrex dish would work) with foil, leaving overhang (this is so you can lift the brownies out of the pan later for good cutting) Spray foil with nonstick vegetable spray. Combine 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate and butter in a meduim bowl. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth. Alternately just combine the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until melted. Set melted chocolate mixture aside until lukewarm, 5-10 minutes.

Whisk sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in alarge bowl to blend. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Stir in flour, then chopped toasted walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan. Bake brownies until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 26-28 minutes. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and let brownies cool completely. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining 6 ounces chocolate to hot cream and let stand 5 minutes to soften, then whisk until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate ganache over brownie sheet in pan and spread to cover completely. Let stand at cool room temperature until topping is set, about 4 hours. Can be made 1 day ahead. cover and store at room temperature.

Using foil as aid, lift brownie sheet from pan. Fold down foil edges. Using a large sharp knife, cut brownie sheet into 25 squares, wiping knife with hot moist cloth after each cut. Arrange brownies on a platter and serve.

Makes 25 squares

The key to perfectly moist, fudgy brownies is not to overcook them. As soon as the tester comes out with moist crumbs attached, remove the pan from the oven. My brownies were not done at 26 minutes, but at 29 minutes, they were perfect. If you are using an 8x8 pyrex pan, your brownies will be thicker and will need to bake slightly longer, but make sure you check them at the 30 minute mark.

No Bake Cheesecake (no jello, thankyouverymuch)

Yes it's true. You can have cheesecake without the hassle of baking and the addition of a Jello starter kit that (dare I say it?) actually tastes like a respectable cheesecake. Some might even prefer this to a classic baked cheesecake for it's creamy texture. It's thick and rich tasting strongly of sweetened cream cheese and cream, which is very reassuring since that is exactly what's in it. A few drops of lemon juice in the filling help it to taste fresh and lighter than it is, which is nice.

This was a Sk8 church dessert. It was a perfect pick because the filling could be doubled easily and make two cakes at once, plus it only took about 5 minutes to make. OK, maybe 6, but that's all. What had me sold though was that you could make it in advance (I made them that morning) and it could be sitting in the fridge all day just waiting for you to dump some fruit on top and call it dessert. Since I didn't know which fruit topping 16-18 year old hoodlum skaters would prefer (I say that with all due respect), I made sure to have a nice assortment. I made a couple fresh raspberry sauce topped ones, which is shown in the picture and I will include in the recipe. I also kept one plain for all the purists and I have to admit I cheated and unleashed some canned pie filling over the others in blueberry and cherry. I was specifically warned against this. I watched the episode in which Nigella Lawson made this and she pleaded with us to not use pie filling. Instead, she wanted us to use cherry conserve, which is different from jam, and since we don't live in Britain, hard to find. Pie filling it was. You can choose whatever you would like for your dessert.

No Bake Cheesecake

Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Yield: 1-9" cheesecake

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 crackers if making your own)

2 tablespoon sugar

3/4 stick soft unsalted butter

10 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

1 (10-ounce) jar black cherry spread, pie filling, or fresh raspberry sauce (recipe to follow)

Blitz the graham crackers in a food processor until beginning to turn to crumbs, then add the sugar and butter and whiz again to make the mixture clump. if using graham crackers crumbs, you can use a bowl and wooden spoon to mix the butter in, with the sugar added.

Press this mixture into a 8 or 9-inch spring form pan or a pie plate. press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.

lightly beat the cream in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Take whipped cream out and place on a separate plate and set aside. Wipe the bowl clean (or not) and use it to combine the cream cheese mixture.

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth. The lightly fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. (I stirred with the mixer on low until it combined all the way after folding just to make sure it was well incorporated).

Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the crust and smooth with a spatula. Put in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, un-mold, if using a spring form pan, and spread your desired topping over the top.

Fresh Raspberry Sauce: Optional

1 cup red jelly (not jam) such as currant, raspberry or strawberry

3 half-pints fresh raspberries

melt the jelly in a small pan over low heat. In a bowl, toss the raspberries and the warm jelly gently until well mixed. Arrange the berries on top of the cake.

I used a pie tin to make this cheesecake instead of the traditional spring form pan. You can use either. The only reason I choose it is because I needed multiple cheesecakes for Sk8 church and only had 1 spring form pan.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Chocolate cream pie is one of those things where if you asked me what I wanted for dessert at a restaurant, I'd probably never order it. It's also one of those things where the thought of it is appealing, but not enough to get me to want to make it too often. Alas, it is also of of those things that when I do make it, it's enough to send me over the edge and I can hardly wait until the dang thing sets and I can eat a huge slice. Somewhere during the pie making process, chocolate cream has the amazing ability to go from a so-so dessert in my mind to the grand master, mac daddy, ultimate rich, most luxurious dessert in history. Maybe this is because every time I've ordered it at a restaurant it's not that good. It's usually too chocolaty with a bland crust and much too sweetened whipped cream. At home though, this dessert rocks out. I have a really good recipe. The grand master, mac daddy, ultimate, most luxurious recipe in history if I do say so myself.

This time I started out with a pre-made frozen pie shell (Marie Calendars). I usually make my own crust, but I had this one on hand and needed a pie on the fly. If this is your case, or if you are the type of person who absolutely would not make homemade pie without a pre-made crust, go this route. I recommend Marie Calendars brand as it has much more flavor and thickness than those sad rolled out refrigerated pie crusts that taste like cork-board. After you bake your pie shell, you let it cool while you make the chocolate pudding. This step requires some whisking over the stove on your part, but it doesn't take long, and besides, it's so satisfying to see the cocoa and milk thicken up all of a sudden so it's worth it. After it's thickened you dump a bunch of chopped chocolate into the pudding mixture to melt and what you are left with is pure chocolate cream loveliness. The thickener I use is cornstarch (instead of a weighty egg yolk and cream custard) and it works like a charm and also makes it very slice-able come serving time. It aggravates me when I slice a cream pie and the filling sags and oozes out. This pie yields nice clean slices while still managing to be soft in texture. I keep calling it "chocolate cream pie" for the association but it is better called "chocolate pudding pie", as it originally is, but the name initially threw me off, and it is essentially chocolate cream, just not as heavy. Don't let what looks like a long recipe deter you. Remember, I'm including two recipes, for the filing and the pie dough. It's simple to make and this pie comes together rather quickly...Think 7 minutes and one sauce pan (after the pie shell is baked)

Chocolate Pudding Pie

adapted from Gourmet, via Smitten Kitchen

One recipe "Perfect Pie Crust" (recipe to follow) baked and cooled, or a Marie Calendars frozen pre-made pie shell baked per the instructions and cooled.

Perfect Pie Crust:

makes 1 pie crust. For double crust pies, double the recipe

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) very cold unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/6 cup very cold vegetable shortening

4-5 tablespoons ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. If you need to add another tablespoon of water to achieve this, do it. Dump out onto a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 11-inch round, then fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under and crimp edge decoratively. Prick bottom and side of shell all over with a fork, then chill shell 30 minutes. While shell chills, preheat oven to 375 degrees with a baking sheet on middle rack. Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet until pastry is set and edge is pale golden, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil, then bake shell on a baking sheet until pale golden all over, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool shell.

Pudding Filling:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups whole milk

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (not more than 60% cacao) finely chopped

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chilled heavy cream

bittersweet chocolate shavings for garnish (optional)

Whisk together cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then gradually whisk in milk (make sure you add the milk slowly to the dry ingredients whisking the whole time to avoid lumps). Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, then boil, whisking two minutes (mixture will thicken). Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate and vanilla until smooth.

Pour filling into cooled shell and chill, it's surface covered with wax paper (if you want to prevent a skin from forming...I skipped this), until cold, at least two hours.

Just before serving, beat cream with remaining two tablespoons sugar ( you can use powdered sugar if you prefer) until it just holds soft peaks. Spoon onto pie plate and garnish with bittersweet chocolate shavings, if you are feeling fancy. You can store it with the whipped cream on top in the refrigerator for up to an hour or two before serving.

This pie is equally good in the Summer months as well as into Fall and Winter. It's cocoa-y and chocolaty and rich but not too sweet. It's cold, but hearty and homey making it the perfect choice any season.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

It's amazing how much these actually taste like caramel apples. I want to say they taste more like caramel apples than cupcake, if that's possible. I made a bunch of heavy appetizers for a gathering of Colorado's Young Life wives tonight and made these for the dessert. Heavy appetizer duty doesn't usually include dessert, but I had to make them. Had to. The lighting on these babies is rough. I apologize for that since the coloring looks off. They were beautiful and glossy and drippy in person.

I was running late tonight try to get out the door on time to deliver all my food. I looked like a nutcase running to and fro through my kitchen. Cut the veggies for the tray! Plate the tomato and brie turnovers! Turn the oven off! Cover the hummus! Wipe the counter! Take the ravioli out of the oil! Get the garnish! Close the refrigerator! Wheres my saran wrap!? Grab the parsley sauce! Is Jeremy putting the kids in the car? What's that beeping?! If you know me at all, you know I cannot multitask worth a darn so it was quite comical...now, that is. All the while, I am trying to not drop my huge camera, carting it around and randomly snapping pictures hoping the shots will somewhat represent accurately what I have made. The lighting was far from ideal. I am far from knowing how to manipulate the lighting in a picture, and I was definitely not going to try then in the midst of all that madness. So we get what we get and we don't throw a fit. Can you imagine the state I left my kitchen in after all that mess? It was well...a mess. A disaster area actually. I cannot remember the last time my kitchen was that dirty. And do you know that my wonderful husband has just spent almost the last hour cleaning it for me? Yeah, he's a sweetie.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about these little darlings. The "caramel frosting" on top is just some caramel candies melted with a little cream. Once you pour the sticky caramel on top of the cupcake it almost immediately starts to harden somewhat back to it's original texture. Unless you eat these straight away the topping will set back to chewy caramel. I like that so I didn't mind, but I thought you should know. They are not incredibly sweet and might be described as somewhat mild with the apple flavor really coming through. If you nixed the caramel it could pass for a fine apple muffin and be fit for breakfast with some coffee. And with the start of the new month upon us, these quite fittingly, scream October.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

adapted from Silvana Nardone, Rachael Ray Magazine, October 2010

Makes 12

1 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 rome apples (or another dry apple) peeled and shredded on a cheese grater

1 1/2 cups chewy caramel candies

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Arrange a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with baking liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. whisk in the oil and vanilla.

Stir the sugar mixture into the flour mixture until just combined; stir in the apples. Spoon the batter into prepared pan until almost full. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 25 to 30 minutes. transfer to a rack to cool completely.

In a small, microwaveable bowl, combine the caramels and cream. Microwave for 1 minute at medium power, then stir; repeat in 30-second intervals until melted and smooth. Let cool. Spread the frosting generously on the cooled cupcakes.

Well, I have absolutely nothing else to say. It's been a long day. Need sleep. Goodnight. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. OH, yeah it's time. Really now, goodnight.

Banana Layer Cake

Oooooh, doggie, this cake is scrum-diddily-yum! Actually we, at the MacGray house, say "scrum-didily, yone" The way you say "yone" should rhyme with "cone". Really we mean, it's delicious, but I didn't know if you would get that...so I changed the ending to "yum" so you'd get the point. Good? good.

This is the BEST banana cake out there. I assure you that. When I was testing out cake recipes for Sugar Me Sweet (my cake company-www.sugarmesweetcakes.com) I dedicated some serious time to banana cake. I actually ended up with two on my menu, this version and also a bananas foster cake. Both are scrum-didily...well, you get the point. With this cake, I ended up hodge-podging different recipes together and adding my own ingredients to finally come up with this homey banana cake nirvana. I don't generally recommend tweaking cake recipes. Baking is a science and a little tweaking could cause you a big problem. But, on the other hand, I was making 3 cakes a day sometimes, trying to test recipes out and come up with my menu. I got to know cakes pretty well and could easily come up with acceptable proportion changes and add-ins to form my own recipe.

The only thing you have to have on hand, which could be sort of a pain if you are wanting to make this cake, like now, are very ripe bananas. This sadly is not an option. You simply cannot make banana cake or banana bread for that matter with anything less than dark, heavily spotted, or even black bananas. An unripe or even just ripe banana, does not a great cake make. Say that three times fast. OK, but seriously, If you need ripe bananas pronto, toss your bunch into a paper sack along with an apple and seal it up and leave on the counter overnight. It should speed up the ripening process. I don't know...Something to do with the gasses an apple gives off and how a banana reacts to it (it gets ripe). If you simply can't wait you can do what I do and as bananas go bad, or are in other words, prime for some cake, chuck them in the freezer, skin and all. When you need ripe bananas on the fly you can pull them out of the freezer and defrost them at room temperature for a couple hours. Make sure they are on a plate because some liquid will ooze out. When ready, just cut the skins off and mash the bananas and juice together. However, if you have not prepared in advance for the time when you would need absolutely overly ripe bananas, I'm sorry, but the only thing to do is buy the ripest ones you can get your hands on and wait patiently. I know you didn't want to hear that but it is what it is.

I team this cake up with a creamy vanilla icing that is perfect. It's technically a buttercream, although a little less sweet and a lot creamier. Also you can leave out some of the sugar and make it less sweet if you want without affecting the outcome. I love it because the frosting on this cake is like putting butter on your banana bread. We all know banana bread is fine on it's own, but warm it and top it with some butter and you've taken it to a whole new level, AND managed to add another pound to your thighs. Personally, I like my butter best when it's about room temperature so it stays nice and creamy instead of melting into the bread. It's basically "frosting" if you will be so kind as to go with me there. buttercream frosting is butter, sweetened, is all. So the parallels are appropriate. Behold, the BEST banana cake!

Banana Cake

cake:

3 1/2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 cup (packed) brown sugar

4 large eggs

2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (4-6 large)

6 tablespoons sour cream (or buttermilk)

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Butter and flour two 9" cake pans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift first 4 ingredients into a medium bowl. using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl until blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, then mashed bananas, sour cream, rum, and vanilla. Beat dry ingredients into the wet in 2 additions until just combined. Spoon batter evenly into pans.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes in their pans, then turn out the cakes onto wire racks to cool. When cool, you can frost the cake.

makes 2 layers

Frosting:

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

adapted from the Magnolia Bakery

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar (I use bakers granulated sugar b/c it's finer and dissolves quickly)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk milk into flour in a medium sized saucepan. Place over medium heat and stirring constantly, cook until mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, about 15 minutes. (I stir constantly after it begins to bubble for about 3-5 minutes, just to make sure the flour taste is cooked off). Take the pan off the heat and cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface and cool to room temperature.

Beat butter until smooth; gradually add sugar beating continuously for 3 minutes, until fluffy. This beating is important as it help to dissolve the sugar granules. Add vanilla and then the cooled milk mixture, which will have gotten very thick, and beat on medium-high speed for 5 minutes.

Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use immediately.

If you are planning on doing a lot of decorating or pipework on the top of your cake, you might want to double the frosting recipe, or maybe even more appropriately, just 1 1/2-ing it. I one and a half recipes quite a lot. Mostly because doubling it would yield more than I need, but if that messes with you, just be on the safe side and double it. I just used the same word twice in one sentence ("double"). Dang, I hate that, but I don't want to go back there and try to re-structure the sentence to make it proper. A ha! I will just divide both thoughts here and create two separate sentences for those of you are bothered by it too. Here it goes: Mostly because doubling it would yield more than I need. If that math messes with you though, just be safe and go ahead and double it. Oye, (no, i'm not Jewish) the things one thinks about while blogging. The joys and grammar. OK, now make this cake! And no, I don't really say "oooooh, doggie!".

Ok, I'm writing this to disclose something. I'm writing this about 5 days after I originally posted this but I just realized that I didn't make this recipe up. I totally thought I did and might be a genius if it was true, but sadly I didn't. It's eerily similar to a recipe over at smitten kitchen, and so I must have gotten it there. It would not be the first time!

Peach and Raspberry Crisp

That is a picture of fresh peach and raspberry crisp...on a paper plate. I served this gorgeous dessert on a paper plate. I know, it's just not right, is it? Paper plates don't ever do food justice, unless it's something nasty like KFC.

I'm not in the writing mood today. I just picked up Isabella from school, and since it's Friday, she was out at noon. I was starving already when I called and realized my Aunt, who is coming over and nice enough to bring us lunch, was not going to be here anytime soon. Since I couldn't wait, I ate a peach and some pita chips to hopefully tide me over. Now I'm full. This makes me sad and also a little spacey feeling. Food coma if you will, which is strange given what I ate. I mean, it's not like I stuffed a big mac down. In any case, I feel a bit discombobulated and would rather nap than write this post. Why am I? To put it simply, I have two kids napping, an occupied older daughter and the house is clean and quiet. This is optimal writing time, so I am trying to snap out of it.

Honestly, cooked peaches are not my thing. Fresh peaches are however, and I thought they have been so good and juicy lately that I just might like them cooked as well. So I decided to try this recipe out. My very favorite is apple crisp, but this peach one is nice and summery and that's why I chose it. It's awful looking when you pull it out of the oven, but trust me when I tell you, it's only a facade. Cooked peaches might not be my favorite, but the punch-iness of the raspberry came through and then there's all that butter and brown sugar, and really, what's not to love? Labor Day is upon us. There will be no shortage of cook-out and BBQ's around town (and the whole country for that matter) this weekend. You should consider bringing this crisp. It's good, no matter what you serve it on.

Peach and Raspberry Crisp

adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

10-12 firm, ripe peaches

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups plus 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 pint raspberries

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal

1/2 pound unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the inside of a 10x15x2 1/2-inch oval baking dish.

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, then place them in cold water. Peel the peaches and slice them into thick wedges and place them into a large bowl. Add the 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup crown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the raspberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. If there is a lot of liquid, add 1 more tablespoon of flour. Pour the peaches into the baking dish and gently smooth top.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, and the cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is pea-sized and the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of the peaches and raspberries. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator and reheat in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until warm.

When I made this, I didn't want to dirty my kitchen aid so I just mixed the topping ingredients in a glass bowl and melted the butter, for easier incorporation. It works fine.

Well, it's the end of my post and I still feel sick full. My Aunt is still not here, so maybe I'll take a little 5 minuter--I'm not good at that though. If I nap, which is rare, I need at least 2 hours. Well I can rest my eyes, anyway.

Red Velvet Cake

Lots o' pictures! Sometimes, that's just how I roll. I made Red Velvet cake for Jeremy's Uncle Randy the other week because he was visiting over his birthday. Red Velvet is his favorite. It's a lot of people's favorite. Laura, his wife, asked me to make a "real" red velvet since sometimes people just make white cake and dye it red. A travesty. White cake is NOT red velvet cake. There are a few things that separate authentic red velvet from regular white cake. Number one being, red velvet, by nature, is not white cake. It's like a half chocolate, half white cake. Cocoa is always added to enhance the deep red color it is supposed to have. You don't add enough of it to deem it a chocolate cake though, however, once you add any cocoa and it's definitely not a white cake. It's a hybrid of sorts. The more cocoa you use, the deeper the red color (and the more red food coloring you have to use) but as you can see from the picture of the finished slice itself, mine is a very pretty deep scarlet color. We use lots of cocoa and lots of food coloring! The pictures make the batter and unfinished cake look sort of brownish red, but really it should be red, red. My camera bites the big one...but I won't have that problem for long! My sweet generous husband informed me last night that he bought me a brand new, wonderful camera. This is all on his own, mind you. I mentioned I wanted one and he did some research on the one I had previously specified and just bought it! That stuff doesn't happen too often anymore, so I was thrilled! Food photography is tough with a point and shoot! It's tough anyway, but maybe this will help.

The other thing about Red velvet cake is it does not have any butter, just oil. This might not seem weird to anyone who is used to making box cake mixes (they all call for oil) but from scratch, it's not all that common. Most require you to beat the butter with sugar for a while at the start of any cake recipe. Then there is the addition of the baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda, OK, but vinegar is another strange ingredient called for that lends itself to the mystery of red velvet. Actually its not a mystery. Baking soda mixed with vinegar makes a chemical reaction. It foams up and you in turn fold this mixture into your cake batter. It's equivalent to folding in egg whites, really. It makes for a tender, fluffy cake.

Let's get real for a minute. Most people love red velvet for the cream cheese icing. I don't love cream cheese icing. I don't not like it, it's fine and all but sometimes I prefer a creamy vanilla icing on my red velvet. I'll provide both recipes down below and you can make the call for yourself.

FYI: You are going to need A LOT of red food coloring...6 tablespoons to be exact, so buy a couple bottles of it!

Also, since this is a layer cake I had wanted to give you a few pointers about how to handle and frost such things because it will make your life way easier a yield a better looking result.

1) When the cake has cooled after baking, wrap each layer in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The cake will be stiff enough to work with without the danger of flaking or breaking apart. Then I take a serrated knife and cut the cakes across the top so the surface is flat. To achieve this best, cut the cake about 1" in all around, rotating as you go (like in picture 3) that way when you cut across the middle it will be perfectly straight. Sometimes if you just cut all the way through you can't get it as even. I bend down and look at it eye level to ensure it's even after I've cut it, then I trim if needed.

2) Whenever you frost a cake that is darker than the icing you are applying, you will want to do a crumb coat. A crumb coat is just a very thin layer of frosting all the way around the cake as demonstrated in picture #4. It seals in all the crumbs so you don't see it all in your frosting. Then you refrigerate said cake with the crumb coat for about 30 minutes until it's set (if you are in a hurry, you can skip this step and the crumb coat will still be helpful) applying the rest of the icing generously over.

Red Velvet Cake

adapted from "The Confetti Cakes Cookbook" by Elisa Strauss via Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 2 tall cake layers or three thinner layers

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups canola oil

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Place a teaspoon of butter in each round 9-inch layer cake pans and place in oven for a few minutes until butter melts. remove pans from oven, brush interior bottom and sides of each with butter and line bottoms with parchment. Alternately, butter and parchment your pans how you normally would. Just please, parchment, people! Please!

Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl (or sift together on some aluminum foil if you re like me and want to save a dish)

Place oil and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well blended. beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add the red food coloring. (Take cake: it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat long enough to just combine.

Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. beat for 10 seconds.

Divide batter between the two prepared cake pans and place in the oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40-45 minutes (check at 40 min.) Let cool in the pans on cooling racks for 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off the parchment paper. Cool completely before frosting.

Cupcake variation: yield 35 cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way with batter, and bake between 20-25 minutes, but check them 2/3 of the way through in case your oven gets the job done faster.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

2 packages cream cheese (8 ounces each) at room temperature

2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 dash pure maple syrup (optional)

Beat together the butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Add the flavorings and mix thoroughly.

CREAMY VANILLA FROSTING: to use if you don't care for cream cheese frosting

6 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk flour into milk in a medium sized saucepan. Place over medium heat and stirring constantly, cook until mixture becomes thick and begins to bubble, about 10 minutes. Cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface and cool to room temperature.

Beat butter until smooth; gradually add sugar beating continuously for 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add vanilla then add cooled milk mixture and beat on medium high speed for 5 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use immediately.

Strawberries and Dumplings

I know, that's all I have to say right? I had you at the name. Or, maybe the pictures. Seriously? Strawberries and dumplings...like, together. Why have I not heard of this before? Why is it not some famous dessert like bananas foster or baked Alaska? I'll tell you this much, it deserves to be. Strawberry shortcake probably stole their thunder and shame on it really, because this is no sleeper dessert. It's a star and way better than just biscuit, plain strawberries and a little whipped cream. One bite and you will know what I'm talking about.

The dumplings are perfect by the way. They are hearty little things but break down pillowy and soft when you spoon into them. So, basically you toss some strawberries in sugar (more if they are under ripe and not as sweet) and lemon juice and leave them to macerate like you would for strawberry shortcake, but then you bring it all to a simmer and it does lovely things like get sweeter and bring out more juice in which you poach your dumplings. If that wasn't drool worthy enough, you top it off with a drizzle of heavy cream and BAM! (pardon my Emeril moment) That's what I'm talking about!

This, I feel like I don't even need to say, is (one) of my favorite desserts. It rank's right up there for me, with chocolate cake and bread pudding, man! It's that good. Don't delay. Make this today. That's my only advice. Oh, and make sure you invite friends over to eat with you or else you are in serious danger of eating the entire recipe by yourself. You only think I'm kidding.

Strawberries and Dumplings

adapted wildly from Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen

serves 5

1 quart (about 2 pints or 4 cups) strawberries, trimmed and thickly sliced

1/4 cup sugar (though I might try brown sugar next time, just to up the cozy quotient)

juice of half a lemon

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

heavy cream, for topping

Stir together strawberries, sugar and lemon in a 4-quart heavy saucepan and let stand stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 15 minutes. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Stir the four, baking powder, and salt together. Heat the milk and butter together just until the butter melts. Stir this warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated and smooth. Gather a golf-ball-sized portion of the dumpling batter onto a small spoon, then push the dumpling onto the stew using a second spoon (I used a small cookie scoop) It should make about 10 dumplings. Cover the fruit with the dumplings, leaving about 1/4 inch between each. Tightly cove the saucepan and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, until dumpling looks dry on top, 18-20 minutes; the dumplings will have doubled in size. Let stand off the heat, uncovered, five minutes, then dish up into plates or shallow ramekins. Drizzle with heavy cream right before serving.

This dish definitely tastes best freshly made, as the dumplings do dry out a bit by the second. But then it starts to taste like a cobbler and really, who is going to complain about that? I served this dessert 2 dumplings per person and it was perfect unless you are feeling greedy, in which all bets are off. My dumplings took a few minutes longer to cook. I just checked one by breaking into it with a spoon and when it's fluffy all the way through it's done.

If you are making this for a dinner party, bring the berries up to a simmer just before you sit to eat. Put the dumpling in to poach right as you are about to sit down to dinner and leave it. 20 minutes later, and probably after you have finished your meal, check them and if they are done, turn the heat off and leave the dish there covered until ready to serve. Just make sure you serve it within a half hour or so for maximum freshness and good color.

Spumoni Sundaes with Espresso Hot Fudge Sauce

I am, at this very moment sitting, gobbling down slippery spoonfuls of this very dessert in my smart martini glass very, very thankful for having made this sundae mid-day just for the heck of it! I love spumoni. My husband does not. Therefore, If I was going to have this dessert I was either going to have to make it for other people (oh, and I will!) or indulge in a little lunch time decadence, which is exactly what I did and highly recommend.

Real spumoni is a classic Italian frozen dessert of ice cream, whipped cream, rum, nuts and candied fruit. Usually, we see it here in the states as an ice cream with 3 flavors (cherry, chocolate and pistachio) like neapolitan. Those three flavors are the essence of spumoni and this sundae channels it like none other. Its a very tasty, and sexy dessert in my opinion. It's also sophisticated, especially served in a martini glass. Oh, and it also only took 20 minutes to make from start to finish. A very nice plus!

I first had spumoni ice cream at a restaurant in Camarillo, CA called Ottavios. We used to go to that restaurant when we would visit my great-grandfather. His wife, my Nani, died when I was about 12 or so and he usually ate out. Later in life we he would frequent the Wood-Ranch Grill, but for a long while, we only went to Ottavios. I don't remember how great the food was, but since my Grandfather was Italian, I bet it was pretty good. But what I do remember was the spumoni ice cream that I would get each visit! It was so good! There is just something magical about that chocolate/cherry/pistachio combination and It holds a certain sort of nostalgia for me.

This spumoni inspired sundae is my new favorite. Because it has fresh ingredients, it breaths new life into the classic dessert taking it up a notch or two. I was a bit afraid of the espresso powder in the hot fudge sauce since a coffee flavor would not be authentic, but never fear, it was perfect. It didn't overwhelm, it just added a special something and was delicious. What I didn't put on top was whipped cream and honestly, it doesn't need it one bit but it would look pretty if you had some on hand.

Spumoni Sundaes with Espresso Hot Fudge Sauce

adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2010

1/4 cup amaretto or other almond liqueur

3 tablespoons cherry preserves

1 cup (6 ounces) fresh cherries, pitted, halved

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon honey

1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or coffee powder

4 ounces semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 pints pistachio gelato or ice cream

lightly sweetened whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

chopped pistachios, for garnish (optional)

Bring amaretto and preserves to a boil in saucepan. Reduce heat to medium; boil gently until mixture is reduced to 3 tablespoons, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat . Add cherries; let soak at room temperature at least 3 hours. You can make this up to 1 day ahead.

Bring cream, honey and espresso powder to a simmer in another small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and butter; whisk until smooth. You can make this 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm just until pourable before using.

Spoon 1 tablespoon fudge sauce into each of 6 dessert glasses. Add 2 scoops of ice cream in each glass. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon fudge sauce over gelato on each. Top with whipped cream, cherry mixture, and pistachios.

I said I made this in 20 minutes, but really if you are doing this correctly you are supposed to let the cherries marinate in it's sauce for at least 3 hours. True, this would have made the cherry flavor more concentrated and thus better...but it was outrageous without letting it sit, so there.

I don't own a cherry pitter so I just cut the flesh off the cherry around the pit, like you would a mango. It's very easy.

Peanut Butter Cookies

These peanut butter cookies, dare I say, are the best you could ever possibly make. I will never try a different recipe again. That's how good these are (I'm not too terribly dramatic, am I?). These are a version of what they sell at the Magnolia Bakery in New York. They are cakey and soft and covered in sugar. I'm a peanut butter cookie purist and don't like a lot of add-ins but I think the original recipe calls for chocolate chips and peanuts. I can see why as they are very rich and very plain, although, I mean that in the best way possible. But, the addition of a semi-sweet chocolate chip or two might cut the peanut-butterness of it down a notch which might be welcoming for some people. If you like a lot of things going on in your cookies, by all means, add them in at the end after you have made your dough and then bake.

I used to eat at this place called BJ's Brewery when I lived in California and they used to have something on the menu called a pazooki. I don't know why it was called that as it seemed it was just cookie dough baked in a skillet instead of on a sheet with ice cream on top. Whatever it is, they were incredible. It's a chain restaurant, I believe, so it's strange to me that something from there could be that delicious. It's probably because they were just baked and who doesn't loved fresh baked cookies? My favorite version of this pazooki was the peanut butter, so imagine my delight when I first bit into this very cookie and it took me right back to the memory of the pazooki. I have yet to try making this cookie into a pazooki, so I can't give specific instructions, but if you just happened to have individual sized skillets on hand (or another heavy, bigger baking device like an oval gratin dish) you could just pat some of this dough in an even layer across the bottom of the dish and bake until done (probably just a bit longer than it takes to bake a cookie). Place a hefty scoop of vanilla bean ice cream down over it while still warm and voila! However, if you just choose to make the cookies instead like I did, they won't taste any less incredible.

Peanut Butter Cookies

adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter, at room temperature (I used smooth, but you can use chunky)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature*

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips or peanuts

For sprinkling: 1/4 cup regular sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

in a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat throughly. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips and peanuts/peanut butter chips, if using. Place the sprinkling sugar (about 1/4 cup) on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, and roll them around in it, then onto un-greased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a criss-cross pattern but do not overly flatten the cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not over bake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

makes about 30 smaller cookies or 20 bigger ones

*oh snap, you started making the cookies and just now realized your egg should be at rom temperature, but it's not. No problem! Just put the egg in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes to take the chill off and use.

The only thing I beg of you is to not skip the step of rolling the cookies in the sugar. That's what makes them in my opinion. Also, use regular sugar for the rolling. In the most recent batch I made of these I used bakers sugar, which is very fine granulated sugar and it didn't have the same effect. Enjoy!

Fourth of July Flag Cake

Every 4th of July, I am expected to make an American flag cake for my families annual BBQ. Every year my side of the family gets together on this day either at my Grandparents or my house to celebrate and eat food. We used to go to the rodeo and stay to watch the fireworks. It was tradition, that just what you did. Now my allergies are too bad to tolerate the dust so mostly we end up going back home to watch the display which works out better for a family with young kids anyway.

My side of the family is very predictable. They get together at every single holiday imaginable and it is always the same. For years, Christmas to me meant "Eggs Grillo" at my Grandma's house and then later, my Aunt Kellie's. Now it means "Eggs Grillo" (which is basically eggs benedict with a beer cheese sauce instead of hollandaise) at my house. I love this tradition and tend to find comfort in doing the same things. However it is just now dawning on me that most families I know don't operate like this. Sure families in general like to get together, but it's done differently in each. In Jeremy's family, if they have a get together, it is almost always unexpected and last minute. The attitude is if you can make it, great, we would love to see you but we are going to have a great time with or without you. That might sound slightly mean or weird and for a while I thought it was, but really, it's awesome. There is freedom in that attitude. Freedom from expectations. Freedom in saying no if you have (or would like to make) other plans. Freedom in knowing their feelings will not be hurt if you decline because they are secure in your love for them. Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. And do you know ultimately what that freedom does? It makes you rarely want to say no. Why would you? You want to be with them and at the party that is flexible, unfussy and relaxed where you are free to do whatever it is you want to do whether it be nap on the couch or play bad mitten in the backyard because anything goes there.

When Jeremy's side had a family reunion last year I was sort of shocked at how it was conducted. Jeremy's Mom has 4 brothers and sisters so there are 5 families who's sole purpose was to see and visit each other during the course of a week. In my family, that might be a stressful situation for me personally because when you have a family reunion it is expected (probably as it should be) that you will be together, doing things together, eating together, etc. This is the general idea when Jeremy's family gets together, but there are no expectations of what the time will look like. Basically, each family went off and did their own things. Dan and Sandy's family went river rafting. Gracie's family was hiking. Tim and Sherry went out to lunch with Laura and Randy (and no one else's feelings were hurt that they were not formally invited!) and Cindy was home with her Mom who was napping while she cleaning her house for that night's dinner. When it was time for dinner there was no set time to come. You just came whenever you were done with your nap, or with the activity you were doing. No expectation, no judgement. Just family wanting to be together, unselfishly without their own agenda in mind. If you couldn't come because you had a headache there was no reason to feel badly. You would just see everyone the next day if you were up to it. It was strange. It was downright weird but in the end I rather liked it (shocker huh?)

My family is not flexible. I don't mean to say that in a bad way. They are just not flexible and that's the truth. There are expectations. On the fourth of July the flag cake must be made, we must have a BBQ and we must get together come hell or high water. If you had another invitation from anybody to do anything else you must decline it because you have already committed to do this same thing year after year. It's like an unwritten code. They are not Nazi's. I just read this paragraph over and it sounds like my family might be Nazi's. I assure you they are not and they are lovely people but they just march to the beat of a different drum. On the other hand, Jeremy's family description sounds like they are hippies. HA! They are sooooo not hippies. I remember when we first got married Jeremy saying to me "Your family gets together for every single holiday. That's kind of strange". Poppycock! Your family are the strange ones! Jeremy would sometimes say something like "Let's go to the Heit's for Thanksgiving, wouldn't it be fun?" Fun?!?! Thanksgiving is a holiday. It is for families (the un-written code). The Heit's are our friends. I couldn't call my Grandma or my Mom and say "oh yeah, were not going to make it tonight. Oh, no were fine. No, no ones sick. We just want to go to our friends house who doesn't have any family in town to celebrate with, instead". Yeah no. That would not go over well.

Somewhere along the line, after 6 years of marriage, Jeremy's logic is starting to make more sense to me. I'm sure, somewhere at sometime, during some holiday I will make that fateful call to my family to tell them I will not be coming, but yes I am in town and that I have other plans that year. In a good relationship you should have the freedom to be able to do that. Your family should know and rest in the fact that you like to be with them and will be, just not maybe on this particular day. It should be no big deal. Just writing that, however, makes me kind of dizzy. It won't be this year. It won't be this fourth of July. Nope, today I will log off this computer, march straight into the kitchen, allergies and poor sleep be damned and make this flag cake. After all, it is tradition!

American Flag Cake

adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

2 1/4 sticks (18 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 extra large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature (or plain yogurt or buttermilk)

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:

4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 pounds (3 8-oz packages) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 pound confectioners sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To Assemble:

2 half-pints blueberries

3 half-pints raspberries

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 18x12x1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla int he bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three fourths of the icing on top of the cooled sheet cake. outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place two rows of the raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries (optional).

This isn't about the cake. Can you tell that? it's all about the decor on top so feel free to you use your favorite vanilla or chocolate (or carrot, banana, etc) cake recipe. You don't need to use this one as most recipes for a 2-layer cake will be the perfect amount of batter for the sheet pan. Just make sure to use white icing or it won't look like the flag. I use a different recipe almost every year, but it's supposed to be the same so don't tell my family! :) Serve this cake right in the sheet pan. If you want to be able to remove it after it's baked then put parchment paper in the bottom of the pan before you butter and flour it. But for best results I'd say to serve it in the pan.

Another thing is I never have my eggs at room temperature when I need them to be. Eggs add more volume when they are not cold so in order to achieve this last minute, I put the amount of eggs called for in a bowl of warm water for a couple minutes. It does the trick!

I was in a hurry today and didn't add the stripes of icing in-between the raspberry lines like I usually do. It looks better if you do it, but as you can see it's a beauty anyway. God bless the USA and all our families too.

Coconut Pink Cherry Frozen Yogurt

Have you ever tried making homemade ice cream? How about homemade frozen yogurt? Well, if you are anything like me, you have. Several times. And, if you are anything like me you have failed. Several times. If you haven't please spare me your success stories as I will be completely jealous seeing as how I have tried to make good, basic vanilla ice cream more than 5 times and each was more awful than the next (save for once in the girl scouts when I was about 13 and we made it old school in a coffee tin. I remember that being the BEST ice cream EVER! Very similar to Breyers, with no eggs. However, I was 13 and maybe I didn't know what good ice cream was back then, so who knows if I have ever conquered this.)

I was frustrated. Either the ice cream tasted like straight frozen cream, or the consistency was off, or it was yellow and thick from too many eggs. I threw away every batch. I tried it with more milk rather than cream but it just tasted like frozen milk. I just wanted some Breyers vanilla ice cream and I didn't think I was asking too much! I had some luck the last couple Summers with sorbet and so I was pleased with that, at least. Then, this Winter I made some caramel ice cream that was good, not perfect, but good and that appeased me for a while.

I just didn't understand why it was so hard. Why do ice cream/sorbet/frozen yogurt recipes vary so much? Why do some use all cream/all fruit while others water the whole thing down with water and milk? Eggs? No eggs? Further more, which way was better? And why when I have tried all the ways did nothing taste right???

Then, the Smitten Kitchen came across my radar. She blogged about this Coconut Pink Cherry Frozen Yogurt and she had me at the name alone. I mean how cute? Pink cherry. Adorable. After reading her post I knew I had to make it. She talked about all the same frustrations I had about frozen dessert and she too, searched for an answer. It came by way of David Lebovitz who is the author of "The Perfect Scoop" an ice cream cookbook. YES! She changed it up a bit, changing his plain frozen yogurt recipe to the cherry, coconut version here.

So I made it. And can I tell you? It tasted like actual frozen yogurt! Dang good frozen yogurt at that! It was like the kind you buy at the frozen yogurt houses! Do you get how excited I am about this??? You have to make this. It's the perfect Summer dessert and it's too easy. That was the best part! There was no cooking and cooling and long stints in the refrigerator before actually freezing it. It was just mixed up, chilled briefly and frozen. It was done and in my ice cream maker in 20 minutes from start to finish. Oh, how I love, love, love this!

There is one tiny thing though. This doesn't taste like coconut. It has coconut milk in it which lends a fabulous flavor as only it could give, but it's subtle. Necessary, but subtle. I love it, but I just wanted to make sure all you coconut enthusiasts (Danielle) knew this going in. It tastes like wonderful, fresh cherry frozen yogurt which is nothing to sneer at. If you added some bittersweet chocolate chips it would taste a lot like a frozen yogurt version of Ben and Jerry's flavor, Cherry Garcia. Ah, success. Maybe not at vanilla ice cream, but this is a fabulous start!

Coconut Pink Cherry Frozen Yogurt

adapted from Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen via "The Perfect Scoop"

Makes about 1 quart

3 cups Greek-style yogurt or strained yogurt*

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup cherries, pits removed and roughly chopped

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Place the yogurt, sugar, coconut milk and almond extract in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Place the yogurt mixture in the refrigerator to keep it cold while you pit the cherries.

I pitted my cherries by slicing the flesh off on all their sides like you would a mango, to avoid the pit, then roughly chop.

Take your yogurt bowl out of the refrigerator and stir in the cherries and freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

*To make 1 cup of strained yogurt, line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth, place it on a large bowl (to catch the liquid that will come out) then scrape 16 ounces, or 2 cups of plain whole-milk yogurt into the cheesecloth. Gather the ends and fold them over the yogurt, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Discard the liquid left in the bottom of the bowl and use the thickened yogurt.

I advise to not leave the almond extract out. It would still taste like frozen yogurt without it but the almond extract really helps to bump up the cherry flavor and carry it throughout since it is subtle.

The recipe does not specify what kind of yogurt you should use. I'm guessing whole milk Greek yogurt, but my store didn't have any, so I used half low-fat and half non-fat and mine turned out great but use which ever you would like.