Cooking for Seven

Devil’s Food Cake

Chocolate & Almond Biscotti

Macadamia Nut Brownies

Milan Cookies

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Magazine Mondays is an event held by Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice. Once a week, bloggers are invited to post a recipe made from a magazine and submit the post to Ivonne. I think it’s a great way to motivate you to actually use your magazines!

This week, I decided to make New York-Style Cheesecake (in celebration of National Dessert Day) from an issue of Martha Stewart Living. Of course, I didn’t make the recipe as it was written. I used demerar sugar in place of granulated white sugar. And I must admit that I undercooked the cake slightly. But it still tasted wonderful!

New York-Style Cheesecake

Printable Page

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, May 2004

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
• Cheesecake-Crust Dough (recipe follows)
• 7 eight-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups demerara sugar or granulated white sugar
• 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• Butter, for greasing the pan
• Boiling water, for water bath
• Large, shallow roasting pan, for water bath

Directions:

For Rolling and Baking the Crust

1.) Make Cheesecake-Crust Dough and chill for the required amount of time. Preheat of to 350°F. Wash out bowl and paddle for stand mixer.

2.)  On a lightly floured sheet of wax paper, roll the Cheesecake-Crust Dough slightly thicker than 1/8 inch. Place the base of a 10-inch springform pan on top of the dough as a guide, then cut the dough. Flip the dough onto the base and remove the wax paper.

3.) Attach sides of pan to base. Wrap the exterior of the pan (including the base) with a double layer of foil. Freeze dough in pan for 15 minutes.

4.) Transfer pan to baking sheet and bake in preheated oven until golden, about 18 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack and allow to cool. Keep oven going.

For Mixing the Cake Batter:

5.) Place the cream cheese the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until fluffy & smooth, about 3 minutes.

6.) In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the sugar mixture. Mix until smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each just until combines. Do not overmix.

7.) Butter the sides of the pan. Pour batter into pan over crust. Set the pan in a large, shallow roasting pan. Carefully add the boiling water to roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan.

8.) Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325° F and continue to bake until the cake is golden and set but still slightly wobbly in the center, about 30 minutes more. Turn the oven off. Leave the cake in the oven with the dore slightly ajar for 1 hour.

9.) Transfer cake to cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 6 hours or overnight. Run knife around the edge of the cake before removing the sides of the pan. Serve plain or with your favorite toppings.

Yields approximately 12 servings (we got 16 servings)

Cheesecake-Crust Dough

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup demerara or granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1.) Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix. Add the flour and salt and mix just until a dough forms.

2.) Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour or up to 1 day.

Yields enough dough for one 10-inch cheesecake

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus:  Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

I have wanted to make a many-layered cake ever since I saw a picture in a DK Geography book a few years ago. I searched the internet for a recipe, but couldn’t find one to my satisfaction.

I don’t believe that I am completely satisfied with this recipe (or my execution of it). The components were delicious. Vanilla sponge cake and deep dark chocolate buttercream frosting. How could I go wrong?

I totally ruined the caramel topping.

I didn’t cook the caramel nearly enough, so it seeped into the spongy cake and the topping was a soggy (yes, SOGGY) layer of lemon-flavored cake. Ah well, better luck next time. We just picked off the top layer and enjoyed the rest of the cake (with ice cream).

Now I’m dreaming of making a crepe cake. My sister Amanda (whom I thank for all of her help with making this challenge and whose feet you see in the above photo) has agreed to help me with that project. She informed me that she would go crazy if she took it on solo.

If you would like to try this recipe for Dobos Torte yourself, here is a link to the pdf file. Good luck!

Last weekend, we went camping. When we returned, I found three VERY ripe bananas in the refrigerator. I knew something needed to be done with them before they were completely useless, but I just didn’t feel like baking banana bread.

So I made banana cake instead! I knew from the get-go that I wanted the cake slightly more healthy (surprise surprise!) than the original recipe. So I swapped whole wheat flour for the AP flour and used maple syrup in place of the brown and white sugar. To compensate for the maple syrup, I increased the flour by 1/4 cup.

This recipe was very forgiving, even with all of my crazy substitutions. The cake was moist and flavorful and rose beautifully in the oven.

The original recipe instructed me to serve the cake with slightly sweetened whipped cream. Since I don’t take orders from recipes very readily, I just served it with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkled it with some toasted pecans.

m

Maple & Pecan Banana Cake

from How to Bake by Nick Malgieri

Ingredients:

For the Cake

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 2 3.4 cups (11 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup mashed, not pureed, bananas
• 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk

For the Frosting

• 1 eight-ounce package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened but still firm
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup toasted pecans, for garnish

Directions:

To make the cake:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 13×9-inch glass baking dish and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2) In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand beater, cream the butter until soft and light. Gradually add the maple syrup and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes more, or until very light. The butter and maple syrup may separate slightly.

3) Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl and beaters occasionally. Beat in the vanilla.

4) In a medium bowl, whisk together the  flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture along with the milk and bananas. Beat on low speed just until combined.

5) Scrape the batter into the prepare pan and bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until the cake is well risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack, removing the paper, and allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting:

1) In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter, maple syrup, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

2) Store in the refrigerator until serving. If the frosting becomes too hard, let it sit a room temperature until spreadable.

To serve the cake:

Cut the cake into desired sized pieces. Spread with frosting. Garnish with toasted pecans. Serve immediately.

Makes approximately twenty-four 2-inch squares

m

You may recognize this recipe from a previous post - Our Christmas Brunch. It was buttery and a little crunchy from the poppy seeds, but not so rich as to make one sick. Perfect for brunch or a light dessert.

Sister Amanda liked it so much that she decided to serve it at our Girl’s Party.

Of course, we substituted whole wheat pastry flour for part of the AP flour. And we served ours with a mixture of cream cheese and orange zest. I’m not a big fan of sugar syrup.

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:: Orange Poppy Seed Cake ::

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks (1/2 pound or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup Demerara or granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• One 8-ounce container of sour cream
• 1/2 cup poppy seeds

Orange Cream Cheese Topping:

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Directions:

For the Cake
1) Grease a 9″ springform pan. Line the bottom with greased wax paper cut to size. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2) Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

3) Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the mixture is very light, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat the batter until it is smooth after each addition.

3) Decrease speed to low and add half the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides with a spatula. Beat in the sour cream followed by the rest of the flour mixture. Fold in the poppy seeds to give the batter a final mix.

4) Scrape the batter into prepared pan and bake for about an hour or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the Topping

1) In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the butter and beat until smooth.

2) Add the maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of cream, orange zest, and orange juice. Beat until smooth. Taste and add more maple syrup, if needed. Add more cream if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.