Cooking for Seven

Today is (my eldest sister) Janna’s birthday. In celebration, I have decided to make this Toasted Almond Panna Cotta for supper. I know, dessert for supper sounds strange; that’s how we are. Afterwards, we plan to watch one of our favorite new movies.

Continue Reading for the recipe » »

Summer is quickly coming to a close. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy delicious, creamy homemade ice cream.

I was surprised by how smooth and tasty this ice cream is was. The list of ingredients is so small. But oh, do those ingredients pack in the flavor.

I would suggest going easy on the salt for the nuts. I salted mine a leeetle too much, and the whole ice cream flavor took on a saline quality. The recipe was very good, but I’m not big into salty ice cream.

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Maple Pecan Ice Cream

Printable Page

from epicurious.com

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup pecans
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon maple extract, optional (I left this out)

Thank you all so much for participating in my giveaway. I was so pleasantly suprised to find that I received 80 comments - a new record!

And now, for the winners. Using random.org, I randomly selected these two comments:

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Winner 1:   Commenter #14, Jamie

“I have never had real maple syrup! It sounds amazing, and maybe it wouldn’t make me sick like the fake stuff in the stores! This looks like a great giveaway!”

Winner 2:   Commenter #17, Rebekah

“I haven’t eaten “fake” maple syrup for years– fortunately for me, my parents really like the real stuff. It’s great for baking too.”

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I will e-mail Jamie and Rebekah, announcing their winnings. Thanks again, and if you would like to check out the wonderful maple products featured in this giveaway, just drop by Coombs Family Farms.

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Ever since I was a very little girl, I have known what it is like to produce maple syrup. Trudging through the melting snow, hauling buckets heavy with the collected sap, and the pleasure of having your dad assure you that you are doing a good job.

I have never ever liked the horrid imitation syrups. If it’s not the real deal, I’d rather eat my pancakes with just butter.

Last week, the wonderful folks over at Coombs Family Farms sent me a sample of their maple syrup products. What initially impressed me was that they have produced 100% pure maple syrup since 1840, and have been producing certified organic maple syrup since 1988.

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When I tasted the syrup, I knew it was the real deal. It was rich and flavorful and reminded me of our own maple syrup. Their syrup has been described as a “deep, dark syrup evocative of a New England fall” and as “Deep, earthy, complex, the essence of spring in maple country (Gourmet, March 2006).”

Wouldn’t you like to try some for yourself?

Those very kind folks have sent me extra maple syrup products so that two lucky readers will win the following items:

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1 Jar of 100% Pure Coombs Family Maple Syrup

1 Jar of Maple Sugar

1 Maple Man Maple Sugar Candy

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Here’s how you can enter to win:

Leave a comment telling me whether or not you have ever tasted real maple syrup.  Make sure to leave a valid e-mail address in the comment forum.

Only one comment per person.

No comments will be accepted after Wednesday, July 29th at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. Using random.org, I will pick two (2) winners. I will then contact the winners and post the results. If the winners do now reply in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen and contacted. Good luck!

Contest has now ended. No further comments will be accepted for consideration. Thanks to all who participated!

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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.

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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

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