Chocolate and Cream Cheese Red Velvet Doughnuts

I know what you're thinking, "But no one likes the cake doughnuts!" It's true, like the kid always picked last for kickball, it seems as if the sad cake doughnut is always the last to go whenever someone brings in a box of doughnuts to the office. But anyone who says cake doughnuts are boring simply suffers from a lack of imagination. From cinnamon sugar, to powdered sugar, to glazes, frosting and nuts, cake doughnuts--like their cake brethren--are easily adapted to any topping combo your heart desires. I will admit that cake doughnuts usually fail because they're dense and quickly dry out, but because this recipe uses cake flour, these red velvet rings come out soft and fluffy, closer to a bite of cake than a true doughnut.

While I try to stay away from recipes that require special equipment, you will need a doughnut pan for this recipe. I was lucky enough to get one for Christmas but you can also buy them from most stores like Target, Michael's, Walmart, Sur La Table or directly from Wilton. So, while I think I'll have to try out a few more recipes to decide whether these fauxnuts are worth skipping an early morning run to the Krispy Kreme, at least I can say I've crossed off one of my 2012 Baking Resolutions! One down, three to go...

A couple of notes: As always with red velvet, be sure to add PLENTY of food coloring. You could use a pastry bad to pipe the batter into your doughnut pan, but I found a spoon to be just as easy and less mess. The chocolate glaze I used calls for a tablespoon of *gasp* corn syrup--if you're on the super-anti-corn-syrup bandwagon you could easily use ganache instead by melting chocolate into heated cream.  The following glaze recipes make enough for all 10 doughnuts so halve the recipe if you plan to use both...or just make double the doughnuts :)

Red Velvet Cake Doughnuts
     from How Sweet It Is, makes 10 doughnuts
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk + 1 tablespoon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon red food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and baking powder, then mix with a spoon. Add in buttermilk and egg, mixing to combine. Stir in butter.

3. In a small bowl, mix baking soda and vinegar together, then add in vanilla. Add the mixture to the doughnut batter, then stir in red food coloring.

4. Fill each doughnut mold 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 7-8 minutes, then let cool for 5 minutes before removing.

Whipped Cream Cheese Glaze
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4-5 tablespoons heavy cream, or more depending on texture

In a bowl, whisk cream cheese vigorously until it smoothes out. Add in sugar, vanilla and cream one tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly. This glaze will be a bit thicker (almost like a thin frosting), so add more or less cream depending on your desired consistency.

Chocolate Glaze
1/4 Semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon hot water

Combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute. Stir until completely melted, then add 1 tablespoon hot water or more depending on desired consistency.

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White Chocolate Nutella Raspberry Bread Pudding

I know it may be Superbowl Sunday, but February 5th also happens to be World Nutella Day--a celebration that is a least as important in my book.

Nutella isn't as prevalent in the U.S. as it is overseas, but it's definitely starting to catch on, and once you've had a taste I promise you'll be scouring the shelves of your local grocery store for a jar to take home.  If you've never had the pleasure of tasting Nutella and wondered if you're missing out on something, the answer is yes. Sorry. With the consistency of peanut butter, but made from chocolate and hazelnut, Nutella is the perfect compliment to everything from fruit, to ice cream, to plain old toast.  And with no artificial colors or preservatives, it's arguably better for you than some of the other things you might be having with your breakfast.

Nutella holds a special place in my heart because it reminds me of noshing on warm Nutella crepes on the street corners of Paris, and I also have a weakness for anything hazelnut, so I may be just slightly biased. but seriously, try it. You can thank me next year when you're celebrating World Nutella Day :)

P.S. Guys, Valentine's Day is coming up and this is super easy to make, just saying...

A couple of notes: 1) This recipe calls for Brioche but I used Challah--any dense bread you can find will work. 2) The recipe below also calls for "tempering," this just means once the liquids have been heated, to add a little bit to the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl before combining all of it back into the cream mixture.  This simply heats the egg yolks a little bit to keep them from scrambling when you add them to the hot liquid.

Challaaaahhhh!

White Chocolate Nutella Raspberry Bread Pudding
     adapted from Todd English for HSN

1/2 loaf brioche cut into 1/2" cubes
6 oz. raspberries
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean scraped
6 oz. white chocolate
3 oz. Nutella
4 egg yolks
2 oz. sugar

Nutella Cream Sauce
4 oz. heavy cream
4 oz. Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place half of bread cubes into a 9x13 baking dish (or 9x9 for a denser pudding). Sprinkle over 6 oz. raspberries. Top with remaining bread cubes.

2. Heat milk, cream and vanilla in a pan over medium heat until just warm.  Temper hot liquids into the egg yolks and sugar then pour into the warm cream mixture.

3. Whisk Nutella and white chocolate into the cream mixture until melted, pour over bread cubes and raspberries. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat remaining cream and whisk in Nutella until melted. Pour sauce over finished pudding.

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Wild West Cupcakes--Sprinkles, Phoenix

These cupcakes aren't really that wild, but they are from the West, which is kind of a big deal for me because I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually been west of the Mississippi.  So, in addition to seeing the sites on a recent trip to Arizona, I obviously had to check out what the area had to offer by way of cupcakes.  Luckily for me there was a Sprinkles location just down the street from my hotel! I didn't plan it that way, I swear...
 
I decided to sample 4 flavors--Red Velvet (I always try to get a Red Velvet as the control cupcake whenever I'm visiting a new shop, how scientific of me), Banana, Cinnamon Sugar and S'more. And not just any S'more apparently, but a S'more cupcake designed by Gossip Girl herself Blake Lively.

Blake decided to sport her best gladiator skirt and Christmas bow for the occasion

I joke, but this is actually a great initiative, as all of the proceeds from the S'more cupcake go directly to Oxfam. That's right, 100%. So how does it taste?  At first bite, I honestly thought this was the best S'mores cupcake I'd ever tasted. Ever. The marshmallow topping wasn't too sticky and the graham cracker crust was still crunchy.  Then I got to the middle.  Or, should I say, bit into a mini Snickers bar worth of pure chocolate.  It was so unexpected, out of place and overwhelming that I honestly thought it was a mistake. I even went to the Sprinkles website to double check; lo, and behold their description: "S'more is a graham cracker-lined Belgian dark chocolate cake filled with bittersweet chocolate ganache and topped with toasted marshmallow frosting."

Ok, I know what you're thinking, "Ganache? What's the big deal? That sounds great!" In theory yes, in practice this cupcake is filled with essentially three truffles-worth of straight chocolate. It was so solid I literally lifted the entire chunk out with my fingers and set it aside.  So, not to rip this cupcake apart (pun intended?) because all of the proceeds go to an excellent cause, but just a forewarning for anyone else hoping to check out this cupcake while it's still on offer until February 2nd.

As for the other flavors, I was pleasantly surprised to get consistently good results from a cupcake chain. I absolutely recommend the Banana for anyone who is a banana nut muffin fan--the flavor is phenomenal.  The Red Velvet was about standard--the frosting was too sweet for me but the cake was super soft.  Finally, I was really excited about the Cinnamon Sugar because it was a flavor I hadn't tried before, plus the super helpful salesman let me in on a little tip: pop it into the microwave for 15 seconds and it's just like a warm snickerdoodle! Genius.

I absolutely recommend Sprinkles if you're passing through the Phoenix/Scottsdale area or any of their other locations nationwide (Yes, we also have one in DC, shocking). Sprinkles routinely offers a charity cupcake so don't fret if you missed out this time, and you can find future offerings here. No Sprinkles in your area? They deliver!

The celebrity S'more, chilling in the desert before "the ganache incident"

If you go
Sprinkles Scottsdale
4501 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
480.970.4321

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Martha Monday: Gingerbread Raspberry Linzertorte

If you have the Martha Stewart Pies and Tarts tome that was released this past spring, you may recognize this as the Gingerbread Raspberry Snowflake Tart featured on page 276.  What you will not recognize on my tart are any snowflakes, as 1" snowflake cookie cutters seem to be non-existent in the DC area. So you get a Gingerbread Raspberry Daisy Tart, I hope that's ok.

Ever since the arrival and immediate cracking open of my copy of this cookbook, the Gingerbread Raspberry Tart stood out to me as visually striking, and quickly became one of the recipes at the top of my to-do list.  This is an excellent winter or holiday tart, not only because of the snowflakes (er, snow daisies?) but also because of the interesting gingerbread twist on the classic holiday linzertort.

I have to admit however, although the tart is visually appealing, I and some of my coworkers thought the flavors in the gingerbread were off.  Personally, I found it much too salty and next time would maybe add nutmeg and increase the brown sugar.  If you're a big fan of molasses however, you may like the recipe just as it is.  Either way, the tart was still good, just not quite what I expected.

A couple of notes: When rolled out, the gingerbread dough cracks and breaks very easily, I recommend using a knife or bench scraper to loosen it from the countertop before transfering it to the tart pan or baking sheet.

For my tart I just used store-bought raspberry jam because I didn't feel like spending $20 on raspberries to make my own.  If they happen to be on sale in your neck of the woods, I've included Martha's jam recipe below and it's very easy.

Gingerbread Raspberry Snowflake Tart
  makes one 10-inch tart

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
2 egg yolks (1 egg white reserved for egg wash)
1 1/4 cups seeded raspberry jam (jarred, or recipe below)

1. Sift flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and salt into a bowl.  Add sugar; mix on medium-low speed until combined.  Add butter; mix until combined, about 2 minutes.  Add molasses and egg yolks; mix until dough just comes together, about 30 seconds.

2.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out two-thirds of dough to a 12-inch round, 1/4 inch thick.  Fit into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.  Spread jam over shell; refrigerate about 30 minutes.

3. Roll out remaining dough to a 10-inch round, 1/4 inch thick.  Transfer round to a parchment-lined baking sheet; refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.  From round, cut out dot shapes with metal pastry tips, and snowflake shapes with cookie cutters (if desired, reserve snowflake cutouts and sprinkle tops with sugar.  Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees).  Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Lightly beat egg white; brush rim of tart shell.  carefully slide dough round over shell; press edges to adhere.  Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

5. Preheat over to 375 degrees.  transfer tart to a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 50 minutes to 1 hour.  let cool completely on a wire rack.

Raspberry Jam
  Makes about 2 cups
18 ounces (4 cups) fresh raspberries
2 cups sugar

1. Stir together 3 cups raspberries and the sugar in a medium sauce pan (off heat).  Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to give off their juices.

2. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.  Skim off foam.  reduce heat; simmer, skimming foam occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in remaining raspberries; simmer just until berries break up, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Let cool completely. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours, or up to 1 week.

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I Resolve or, Carpe Cupcake

Well, it's that time of year again. You know, the beginning. That time of year when the interwebs explode with retrospectives and resolutions--when we wake up to a new year full of dewy-eyed hopes of accomplishments yet to come. Or just a hang over. :)

The past couple of years I've shied away from posting my new year's baking resolutions because I knew I would be traveling for at least half of the year and didn't want to set myself up for failure, or be pressured to squeeze in baking projects simply because I'd resolved to.  But, in looking back over those years, I realized that I actually managed to accomplish many of my baking resolutions anyway (see: French macarons and conquering my fear of yeast).

So, while there's a good chance I could be on the road again for much of 2012, I'm not letting that hold me back from plunging into exciting new baking projects for 2012. So, without further ado, I resolve...

To Finally Use The Ice Cream Maker I Got For Christmas A Year Ago

Jeni's Smoked Tea and Plum Pudding ice cream

For Christmas this year I was thrilled to get the Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams cookbook which is chock full of the most amazing ice cream recipes you could imagine.  Now I have no excuse not to get down to business. I mean, with flavors like Brown Butter Almond Brittle ice cream and Grapefruit Hibiscus frozen yogurt, how could you not??

To Try My Hand At The Fauxnut Trend

That's right, fauxnuts. Faux Doughnuts, get it? :) Simply a baked version of the usually fried treat, these cakes are catching on everywhere as a healthier alternative to deep fried dough.  Though, depending on the ingredients you use, I'm betting that baked doughnuts aren't really much healthier.  I'm also dubious that baked doughnuts can live up to the real thing but I can't even tell you how excited I am to try out these baked Red Velvet Doughnuts...

To Make Bread From Scratch...Again

So, I made bread in 2011. Once. It was...mediocre.  Baking bread from scratch was one of my resolutions for last year because I am terrified of yeast. It's temperamental, it's complicated, it's time consuming...but I'm convinced that the sense of accomplishment at the end of it all is rewarding enough to give this one another shot. Baguettes, perhaps?

To Make Glorious Homemade Marshmallows

Display of marshmallows in Paris. photo by Initiales JB

 Ok, I know this isn't technically baking. The last time I was in Paris there was a shop at the end of the street where I was staying that had the most amazing multicolored display of huge marshmallow bars in antique glass apothecary urns and  I knew then that I just had to try my hand at making something similar.  That was in 2009. Here I am three years later, but better late than never right? 

So that's it for now.  Now that I have committed my resolutions to paper (to screen?) we'll see if I am more or less likely to accomplish any of them.  What are the big cooking or baking projects you hope to accomplish in the new year?

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Apple Pie Rugelach

Although I have decidedly taken a vacation from holiday baking this year (sacrilege, I know) at least my mom is here to pick up the slack.  While elbow deep in Buckeye cookies, chocolate-dipped meringues, dark chocolate cherry fudge and gingerbread, she somehow found the time to write up the exploits of her first attempt at rugelach--Enjoy!

To help celebrate my first year of retirement I decided to attempt something that I had never before had the time to do...Holiday Baking!  I figured that Hilary must have gotten the baking gene from me, right? Wrong!  While I could handle the simple cut-outs from pre-made Pillsbury gingerbread cookie dough and Chocolate-Almond Meringues, Apple Pie Rugelach was more challenging for a beginning baker.

I confess that I had never even heard of rugelach until I saw the recipe in the December issue of Good Housekeeping and then saw some on display at Whole Foods.  After scanning the ingredients and making sure there was nothing that would be hard to find I decided to tackle this treat [note from Hilary: we scoured THREE stores looking for dried apples. Just saying].  After some trial and error (duh, cutting the dough incorrectly) and advice from Hilary the final batch looked pretty good and even the rejects were tasty.

Here are some pointers I would have liked to have seen included with the recipe:

1) Parchment paper is a MUST as the jelly oozes out of the sides. I even decreased the jelly by 1 tablespoon for the last 3 batches.  2) Immediately remove the rugelach from the jelly puddles or they will cool attached to your cookie.  3) I reduced the baking time to 23 minutes, this depends on how well-done you like your rugelach.

Bring on the next challenge!  But maybe not until next year.

Apple Pie Rugelach

     from Good Housekeeping, makes 64 cookies

Dough:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 package (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened 
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling:

4 ounces (1 1/2 cups) dried apples, finely chopped 
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped 
1/4 cup packed brown sugar 
3/4 cup apple jelly
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Cinnamon Sugar:

1 cup granulated sugar 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

Trial and error.  Even the rejects were tasty.

1.  Prepare dough: In large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy, scraping bowl occasionally. Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour and salt just until blended, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until dough is firm enough to roll. 

2.  Meanwhile, prepare filling: In medium bowl, combine apples, walnuts, and brown sugar. 

3.  Prepare Spice Sugar: In small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon.

4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

5.  Sprinkle work surface with 2 tablespoons Spice Sugar. Place 1 disk dough on top of sugar; turn over to coat both sides. Roll dough into 10-inch round, turning round over a few times and sprinkling dough with 2 more tablespoons Spice Sugar to coat both sides.

6.  Spread top of round with 3 tablespoons jelly, then sprinkle with 1/2 cup filling, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge. With knife, cut dough into 16 equal wedges. Starting at wide end, roll up each wedge jelly-roll fashion. Place rugelach, 1 inch apart, on prepared cookie sheet, point side down.

7.  Bake rugelach 30 to 33 minutes or until dough is browned and cooked through. Immediately transfer to wire rack to cool.

8.  Repeat with remaining dough, Spice Sugar, jelly, and filling. Store cookies in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week or in freezer up to 3 months. Dust with confectioners' sugar to serve.

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Brown Sugar Cardamom Sweet Potato Pie

Whereas in my last post I went out on a limb to try Eggnog Scones, a treat that brought together a couple of the flavors that I usually dislike, this recipe incorporates two of the ingredients that I've gone completely nuts for in the past year: cardamom and sweet potatoes.  When I saw this recipe from Baking Bites last month I couldn't wait to try it--two of my favorite flavors combined in one dessert! It's like she knows me!--and, honestly, I can't believe I didn't think of it myself since I'm pretty much a cardamom fanatic at this point and add it to anything and everything possible.

I was actually completely unaware of cardamom until relatively recently when I ate at one of my now-favorite DC restaurants, Rasika.  The delicious gulab jamun I had for dessert there were unlike anything I'd tasted and I HAD to know what spice was at work in the dish. And the rest is cardamom-scented history :)

If you haven't worked with cardamom before, it's very aromatic and has a slight citrusy taste that you'll probably recognize if you've ever had chai.  It can be purchased as whole pods (often crushed and used for infusing flavor before being removed) as well as ground, which looks like a cross between cinnamon and nutmeg.  If you're a big cardamom fan like me, you might also want to check out this recipe for Cardamom Panna Cotta, which showcases the flavor beautifully.

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, this would also be a great alternative for next year's pumpkin pie if you're not a pumpkin fan, or just looking for something different--although sweet potatoes have more calories from sugar than pumpkin, they are significantly higher in fiber, vitamins A and C, as well as calcium and iron.  So go ahead and have a second slice ; )

*A Few Notes: I've included the Martha Stewart graham cracker crust recipe I used but, if you don't feel like making the crust from scratch you honestly don't lose anything to taste in the recipe by buying a pre-made crust.  If you do make the crust, you should be more adventurous than I was and try it using cinnamon or gingerbread graham crackers (but in that case you might want to omit the added 3 Tbs sugar).  You can also cut sugar by skipping the caramelized brown sugar layer added to the crust before pouring in the filling.

Brown Sugar Cardamom Sweet Potato Pie
     from Baking Bites
1 9 or 10-inch graham cracker pie crust, prebaked or store bought
1 cup brown sugar, divided
1 1/4 cup cooked, pureed sweet potato or canned
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Place graham cracker crust onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the crust. Bake sugar-lined crust for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.

3. Press sweet potato puree through a wire strainer to make it as smooth as possible, adding a tablespoon or two of water if you are working with leftover potatoes to make them a bit more pliable.

4. In a large bowl (or the bowl of a food processor), whisk together all ingredients except the flour. Whisk until very smooth. Sift flour over the sweet potato mixture, and whisk until fully incorporated.

5. Slide brown sugar-filled crust out of the oven and pour filling into pie crust (do not overfill crust if your pie is slightly shallow, just discard excess filling), then return pie to oven.

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until pie is set and jiggles only slightly when the pan is bumped.

7. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight, before serving.

Graham Cracker Crust
     makes 1 9-inch crust
12 graham crackers finely ground
6 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
3 Tbs sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pulse graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar in a food processor until combined.

2.  Firmly press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie dish.  Bake until edges are golden, 12-14 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

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