Puddin' Pie

I know a secret. I know EmW’s weakness. Personally, my list of weaknesses in the dessert department seems endless.

Peanut butter chocolate cake? I’ll be reasonable, how about I have just one slice now and then save another for after dinner? Every night till it’s gone? That seems like a good idea.
Dark chocolate meringues? Well now, those have tons of egg whites for protein and flecks of dark chocolate for fiber! They’re so nutritious I think I would be denying myself to walk past the cookie jar without grabbing one…right?

Double chocolate peanut butter ice cream? Whoa. Don’t even get me started. I have chills just thinking about it. Are they chills because it was the richest, creamiest ice cream/mousse hybrid I’ve ever tasted or are they chills because I licked the freezer bowl clean? I’ll never know.

Ultimately, give me a frozen dessert, a dessert that mixes sweet and salty, or something that melts in my mouth and can be justified in my illogical head as healthy and I’m done for. I’ve met my match. It’s that simple.
But EmW’s dessert weakness? Now that’s a tricky one. Believe it or not, it’s not an oreo. It’s not even a whoopie pie or a peanut butter bacon cookie. No, EmW’s weakness is much more straight forward. It’s a dessert that means business. No sweet-talking, no silly pretenses, no frosting or custard or piecrust to get in the way. Just…pudding.

Emily might have crazy self-restraint when it comes to seductive cookies left out on the table or licking spatulas and bowls daily…a kind of self-restraint that I cannot claim to possess even in the smallest quantities…but give this girl a pudding cup, be it instant Jello, a charming little Snack Pack, or a freshly whipped up batch of dark chocolate pudding and this girl will lose her marbles. Inhibitions out the window. Just like that. Who knew all it took was a pudding cup.

I discovered this wonderful little secret by accident. We were having a black and white themed party (think oreos, black and whites, and chocolate flecked meringues…) and I wanted to make a black and white cream pie. I set off to the library and returned with “Pie, Pie, Pie!” and a simple recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie. YUM. Apparently, chocolate cream pie is really just PUDDIN’ Pie with an extra large emphasis on the pudding because, honestly, if you just make the pudding part of this recipe and eat it out of a Dixie cup with crushed oreos and gummy worms and call it dirt…I’ll totally understand.
-EmB

Chocolate Puddin’ Pie
(Adapted from “Pie Pie Pie” by John Phillip Carroll and “Baking from my Home to Yours” with Dorie Greenspan)

For the Piecrust (Dorie Greenspan’s Sweet Tart Dough)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

For the Pudding:
3 cups milk (I used skim and it was still very creamy)
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
4 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

To make the piecrust:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan or a glass pie pan (I used a 9-inch Pyrex pie pan and served directly from that).

Whisk flour, powdered sugar and salt in a large bowl till combined and fluffy. Scatter the butter pieces over the dry ingredients and incorporate the bits with your fingers—you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk to break it up and mix it in with a spoon just until the dough forms clumps. Don’t work the dough any more than necessary or it will become unpleasantly dense, though I haven’t run into this problem yet. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing in the bowl. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the buttered pan, using all but one little piece of the dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t press too heavily to the pan or else the crust could become dense once again. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking and then you won’t need to use pie weights!

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and patch any cracks with that left over bit of refrigerated dough. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, until the crust is firm and brown.

To make the pudding:
Combine the milk and chocolate in a medium saucepan. Place over moderate heat and whisk frequently for about 4 minutes, or until the chocolate is melted. Don’t worry if the mixture looks speckled and grainy; it will become smooth later.

In the meantime, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan (this is NOT over heat) and whisk them together until evenly mixed. Continue whisking as you add the chocolate milk in a steady, continuous stream. Add the egg yolks and whisk vigorously until blended. Cook over moderate heat, whisking almost constantly, for 6-8 minutes, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and boil gently for about 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat, add the butter, and stir until smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding (to keep a skin from forming) and cool for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and stir in the vanilla. Pour the pudding into the prepared piecrust and place another sheet of plastic wrap over it. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, until chilled and firm.

To make the whipped cream:
Combine the cream and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk until the cream stands in smooth, fluffy peaks that barely hold their shape. Fold in the vanilla and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

To serve:
Spread whipped cream over top of pudding, leaving a the edges of the pudding uncovered. If you would like to dress it up, make chocolate shavings using a vegetable peeler and sprinkle them on top of the whipped cream. Serve chilled.

One for the moms…

Our good friend Joy the Baker (no, we’re not actually friends and okay, you caught us, we may or may not refer to her by first name as if we have actually met her) wrote a hilarious post a while back entitled, How to Impress a Boy by Baking. In said post Joy teaches us valuable life lessons. She teaches us how all the boys worth anything love baked goods, she explains how to make brownies to win over friends, how to put bacon in cookies and make boys drool, how we should feel good about baking up yummy things for boys because we want to, never because we should.

Joy also teaches us how to impress boy’s moms. That’s right. I hesitate to write this because it is highly possible a certain mother could be reading this post, but I must admit I needed a little help from Joy this weekend when my boyfriend’s parents came to visit.

It would be fun to say that this cake was the result of a calculated decision. I’d like to describe how every aspect of this cake was suited to taste and that the buttermilk and poppy seeds and blueberry glaze each had an intended effect designed to woo my boyfriend’s mom. I’d really like to be able to tell you that I spent hours in the kitchen crafting this exceptionally delicate cake all for the sake of a happy mother and a good impression. Unfortunately, I made the cake simply because it was pretty and yummy and I cooked it all up without breaking a sweat in under an hour because it’s just that straight forward. Shucks.

Regardless of my lack of calculation and slaving in the kitchen to produce this cake, I can assure you that it was a huge hit. Just don’t look at me, I didn’t do anything, it was all thanks to my friend Joy.
-EmB

Buttermilk Poppy Seed Cake with Blueberry Glaze
(Adapted from Joy the Baker)

For the cake:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ⅓ cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk (make your own by adding 1 tablespoon white vinegar to 1 cup skim milk and leaving to sit for 5-10 minutes)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

For the blueberry glaze:
1/4 cup frozen blueberries, thawed but not drained
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons buttermilk (or regular milk is fine too)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan and set aside. (It is always better to over grease than to under grease when using bundt pans.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together canola oil, buttermilk, egg, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Whisk together until just combined and no lumps remain. Stir in the poppy seeds. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cook in the pan for 20 minutes. Carefully run a butter knife along the edges of the cake to assure that it is well loosed before inverting the cake onto a wire rack to cool.

To make the blueberry glaze:

Mash the thawed blueberries in a medium sized bowl releasing lots of dark blue juice. Remove most of the blueberry skins from the juice and discard. Add the vanilla extract, buttermilk and lemon. Add the powdered sugar and whisk to combine. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk to reach the desired consistency. If the mixture is too thin, add just a bit more powdered sugar.

Drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled bundt cake and allow to set for 20 minutes before serving. (If you can wait that long…)

Bunzzz

In lieu of a traditional post today, I simply present to you some haikus on cinnamon buns:

Oh cinnamon buns

So sinfully delicious

I could eat them all

Hello you warm buns

You won’t stop calling to me

Slathered in frosting

I’m sorry tummy

They were just so delicious

Ate too many buns

-EmW

Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese Frosting

(Adapted from SmittenKitchen)

For the dough:

1 cup milk

3 Tb unsalted butter

3 ½ cups flour (you will probably need more than this though, I would leave an additional small bowl full on the side)

½ cup sugar

1 large egg

2 ¼ tsp rapid-rise or instant yeast (equivalent to 1 envelope of yeast)

1 tsp salt

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

For the filling:

¾ cup brown sugar

2 Tb cinnamon

¼ C unsalted butter (½ stick), softened enough to spread easily

Pinch of salt

For the frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ C unsalted butter (½ stick), room temperature

½ tsp vanilla extract

Make the dough:

1. Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave until butter melts and mixture is just warmed (about 45 seconds). Pour into bowl of stand mixer.
2. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of the bowl.
3. Add additional 2 ½ cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky. If dough is still very very very sticky, add flour by tablespoons until dough begins to form a ball and a pull away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Lightly flour a work surface. Place dough on surface and knead for about 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky. Form dough into ball.
5. Lightly oil a large bowl with nonstick spray. Place dough ball into bowl, turning it around to coat in spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel. Let dough rise in a warm environment for approximately 2 hours, or until double in volume.

Make the filling and roll up those buns:

1. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt in a medium bowl.
2. Once dough has risen adequately, press it down. Transfer to floured work surface.
3. Roll out to an approximately 11x15 inch rectangle.
4. Spread butter over dough, leaving ½ inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly over butter.
5. Starting at the longer side of the rectangle, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down using a sharp serrated knife, cut dough into equal slices (each approximately ½ to ¾ of an inch wide).
6. With nonstick spray, grease two 9-inch square glass baking dishes (I used two metal pans, one 9x9 and one 8x8, which also worked perfectly well).
7. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up. There will be almost no space between the rolls.
8. Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap and then kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm area for 40-45 minutes, or until rolls are doubled in volume. This may take longer depending on the environment, but have patience and let those buns rise!
9. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up and allow to continue cooling. Pause to enjoy the fact that your kitchen now smells like a Cinnabon shop.

Make the frosting:

1. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl and using electric mixer, beat until smooth.
2. Spread frosting on rolls.* Serve warm or at room temperature (though I say warm is definitely the way to go…nobody has the will power to turn down a warm cinnamon bun).

*If you are not planning on eating these soon after baking or the day of baking, I would keep the frosting off and frost the buns as you eat them (after popping them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to give them that soft, hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven deliciousness)

Not Paula Deen's Bread Pudding

How do you feel about bread pudding? You can be honest, it’s really okay. Does bread pudding sound like one of those “empty” foods to you? Are there underwhelming images of white bread, milk, raisins and white sugar floating somewhere off in the distance of your memory? Does this sound altogether unappealing?

Good. That kind of bread pudding probably should sound unappealing. But what about whole wheat challah bread mixed with sautéed summer vegetables, eggs, mozzarella cheese, and fresh herbs? Sounding a little better now isn’t it? I’ve never tried a sweet bread pudding because, frankly, it just doesn’t sound like my thing, but I would still confidently put my money on this savory baby to beat even the most decadent sweet bread pudding in a fight.
Since tackling my challah bread recipe earlier this summer I’ve been experimenting with savory bread puddings and I’ve come up with an incredibly adaptable and, thus far, fool-proof recipe. Trust me, I’ve tried every jumbled combination of farmer's market vegetables in this recipe over the weeks and I assure you that whether you throw in onions, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, green beans or even beet greens, this bread pudding will always stop you in your tracks.

So back to my question—bread pudding not your thing? Great, it’s not mine either. Now that we’ve gotten this settled, you should probably go find something better to do with your time. Maybe you should make this bread pudding. What? Yeah.
-EmB

Savory Bread Pudding (loosely adapted from 101cookbooks)
Some notes before you begin: you can use another bread of your choice but challah is particularly wonderful because it magically soaks up liquid like a sponge while maintaining its structure. As for vegetables, I would throw in whatever you have on hand that’s fresh and use as much as you want; the pudding works well regardless of how many vegetables you throw in.

One 1-pound loaf day old whole wheat challah bread (or another bread of your choice)
3 cups milk (I use skim, but it is your choice)
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped (or another vegetable of your choice, just sauté it according to your judgment)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, swiss or gruyere would work well)
Olive oil for sautéing vegetables

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 cooking pan.

In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook until they begin to soften. Add in the zucchini (or whatever vegetable you are using) and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini browns (about ten minutes). Remove from heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Using a serrated knife, roughly cut the bread into 1 inch cubes. Put the cubes into a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, broth, eggs, salt, pepper, and dill until well combined. Mix the sautéed vegetables and ¾ cup of the cheese into the wet ingredients and then pour the mixture over the bread and fold everything together until all of the bread is moistened and the ingredients seem well combined. Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese. Bake the pudding for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is browned and crisp and there is no liquid in the middle. If it is browned and the pudding doesn’t jiggle too much when you shake it, I’d call it done. Let pudding sit for ten minutes to cool and set before serving.

Take a bite while it’s still warm. Now what do you think of bread pudding?

Bacon.

There is meat in my cookies. Yup, you read that correctly. Meat in my cookies. But don’t you worry because that meat is bacon. Phew. No big deal. Just bacon. Delicious fatty, fatty, fatty bacon.

Might I add that there are only five ingredients in these cookies. Sounds crazy right? But it’s true. I wouldn’t lie to you about these cookies. Just five. Not to mention that two of those five are bacon and peanut butter. This is madness!

Now be warned, people may doubt you. They may say, “Bacon in cookies!? Gross! Weird! Sinful! You are crazy!” But don’t let them make you doubt yourself. Simply tell them to sit back, relax, and be prepared to go on a cookie journey unlike any other.

Okay now I have to tell you something that will make it even clearer how wildly delicious these cookies are. I am not a big meat eater at all. I have even debated going the vegetarian route. But these cookies may have just transformed me into a full on carnivore. The kind of carnivore that only eats pb-bacon cookies and nothing else.

So make them right now. But just be prepared to have the unavoidable desire to eat them all immediately.

-EmW

P.S. I apologize for the serious lack of quality in these pictures, we were too busy freaking out over the cookies to sit still and have an actual pb-bacon cookie photo shoot.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

(Adapted from JoyTheBaker)

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky, either works)

1 cup sugar (½ C brown, ½ C granulated)

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

6 slices of bacon, cooled and diced up

1. In a skillet over medium heat, fry up bacon until cooked through. Let cool a bit and then dice the bacon (we broke it up with our fingers which worked perfectly well).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a mixer, combine peanut butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg and baking soda and continue to mix until well combined again. Mix in cooked bacon.
4. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and press down light with a fork to create a criss-cross pattern. If dough is crumbly, don’t fret! Just use your hands and smush it back together into dough balls. Problem solved.
5. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool and firm up on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack. And my final suggestion? Eat them immediately, because a warm pb-bacon cookie is a very beautiful thing.