recipe: cherry cornmeal torte

This is the first recipe I tried from the cookbook Gather Around My Table and boy is it a keeper! With so few ingredients it was in the oven in no time at all. Yet, comes out looking like I spent hours on it. This will surely be my go-to recipe to whip together if I have unexpected guests. It's substantial enough to be served with just coffee or tea. And, I think has a rustic cozy look perfect for Fall!

I did have to look up what a "torte" is and how it compares to a cake. Apparently, it typically uses little to no flour, relying on ground nuts or breadcrumbs and whipped eggs. They don't rise very high, making them shorter and fatter than standard cakes. The author of this cookbook, Kay Chun, said this was inspired by the classic Italian olive oil cake. When cherries are in season, she pits, halves, and freezes them so she can make this cake year-round. She loves this most with cherries, but says other stone fruits like peaches, plums, and apricots are also terrific. The cherries I used were store-brought frozen whole cherries, and I didn't cut them in half. The mixed berries I get for my smoothies I think would also be nice in this (cherries, blackberries, and blueberries). So many options!

Cherry Cornmeal Torte

Ingredients:

Cooking spray, for greasing the pan (I just rubbed butter on the pan)

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cardamon

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature 

3/4 cup turbinado sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling (I used brown sugar)

1/4 cup California-style extra-virgin olive oil 

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

6 ounces cherries, pitted and halved (I used 1 1/4 cups frozen whole cherries)

2 tbsp slice almonds (I used 3 tbsp)

Instructions:

1) Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease an 8-inch springform pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper; lightly grease the paper.

2) In a small bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, cardamon, cinnamon, and salt and whisk to combine.

3) In a medium bowl, combine the butter and the 3/4 cup sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes (I used my stand mixer). Add the oil and vanilla and beat until well blended. Add one of the eggs and beat, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl, until well incorporated; repeat with the remaining egg (I just threw them both in at the same time and mixed like normal). Sift the flour mixture over the batter (I just threw it in). Reduce the speed to low and beat until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top using an offset spatula. It will look like there is not enough batter, but the torte will rise during baking. Arrange the cherries in a single layer on top, then scatter the almonds all over and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tbsp sugar. 

4) Bake until the cake is golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

5) Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 30 minutes. Unmold the cake and cool until lukewarm or room-temperature. Serve with whipped cream, creme fraiche, or ice cream (I just ate the torte plain and it was absolutely delish). 

Store the torte in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.

recipe: lemon butter mochi

The second recipe I made from the cookbook, Mochitsuki, was lemon butter mochi. Butter mochi, in general, is a Japanese sweet that comes from northern Japan. In the cookbook, Kristin Morita, has many different versions of butter mochi using the base and mixing in other flavors such as cafe latte, pumpkin, guava, ube, snickerdoodle, strawberries and cream, and chocolate. Out of these I chose the lemon butter mochi since I was curious how closely it compared to lemon bars in US. 

My verdict is that I would combine parts of the ingredients and instructions of butter mochi and lemon bars next time to see if I could create the ideal dessert. I have not had success in mastering the cook time of lemon bars to get a fully cooked and beautiful bar. In that aspect the butter mochi was much easier to achieve because of the mochiko (rice flour). However, I found the lemon butter mochi a bit bland in flavor and missing the amazing contrast of a crust to the soft chewiness of the center since butter mochi is crustless. Therefore, I would use the lemon butter mochi recipe, but punch up the lemon flavor and add the crust of a lemon bar.

Below is the lemon butter mochi recipe from the cookbook, which is what I made but I will be tweaking as described.

Lemon Butter Mochi

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time: 45 minutes

Makes: 16 pieces

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups mochiko

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup whole milk

zest and juice of 3 lemons (about 1 tbsp zest and 1/2 cup juice)

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp orange blossom water (optional)

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Instructions:

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a 9 inch square metal baking pan with cooking spray, then line the pan with parchment paper, leaving about 1 inch hanging over the sides.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mochiko, granulated sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, eggs, and orange blossom water (if using) and mix until well combined, scraping the bowl to ensure no dry lumps of mochiko remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the butter mochi cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar (if using) and cut into sixteen pieces. Leftovers can be stored, in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Notes:

The mochiko I bought is Bobs Red Mill sweet rice flour. Weee! is also a great source for Korean and Japanese products. I have a large list going of items I would like to purchase from this site. Once I do I will share all of my finds. They do have Mochiko as well.

recipe: cottage cheese grasshopper chocolate pudding

This is the third recipe I made from the cookbook Cheesy by Farideh Sadeghin and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It might be a "healthier" dessert option to have in my back pocket, but there were a few drawbacks to it.

The pudding once done being blended is quite thick. The cookbook author did top her pudding with homemade whipped cream, which I omitted due to time and wanting to truly taste the pudding on its own. However, I do think the whipped cream is necessary to provide some lightness in contrast to the pudding. Sadeghin then topped the whipped cream with chocolate shavings. I substituted cocoa nibs, which would still work.

While it's a natural sugar at least, there is still quite a bit of maple syrup in each serving. And, despite this amount of sweetener, I still felt the end result needed more. 

It may be due to the cheap mint extract I used, my note regarding wanting more sweetness, or residual vinegar from the cottage cheese making process (the how-to for that is coming tomorrow), but there was an odd chemical taste to the pudding, with neither a delicious mint or chocolate flavor shining through.

I did use my Vitamix versus a food processor and it was a pain to get all the pudding out from underneath the blade. I have this same issue with my food processor so using that as directed would not have helped the issue. I may have felt better about the time involved had I made a full batch of pudding. For this small a serving I'm not sure the effort matched the success of the end result.

If I haven't talked you out of making this pudding ;) please see below for the measurements. The original as shown in the cookbook is on the left and what I made with the recipe cut in half is on the right in parentheses (who knows maybe my math was wrong and that's why the taste is off haha). I may try this again by adding a bit of milk to make it less thick or try it with yogurt (just stirring this with a spoon for easy cleanup!) Regardless, it was something fun to try.

 

Chocolate Grasshopper Pudding

Ingredients:

1 lb cottage cheese (1 cup cottage cheese)

1/4 cup maple syrup (1/8 cup)

3 tbsp cocoa powder (1 1/2 tbsp)

1/4 tsp mint extract (1/8 tsp)

1/8 tsp salt (a very small pinch)

Instructions:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the ingredients and process until very smooth. Divide among four 6 ounce ramekins, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 5 days.

RHUBARB COCONUT CRUMBLE BARS

Rhubarb is a perennial that can keep coming up each Spring for up to 20 years.  But, these are stalks from the same plant I gathered from when I was little... 

STILL ABUNDANTLY PROVIDING OVER 30 YEARS LATER!

My mom so carefully wrapped them with water to keep them fresh on the drive home.

If you've never had rhubarb, it is slightly sweet and tart at the same time, perfect for pies, bars, and jams.  

SO YOU WOULD THINK IT'S A FRUIT, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY A VEGETABLE!

You can also pair it with more savory foods, but I baked it up into a typical crumble and it turned out oh so good!  

 

Total time: 1 hour (15 minutes prep / 45 minutes baking)
Serves: 24

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups fresh rhubarb, diced (approx. 6 stalks)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour and the confectioners sugar.  Cut in butter until crumbly.  Pat into a lightly greased 9X13 inch baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
2) In a large bowl, combine sugar and remaining flour.  Add eggs.  Stir in the rhubarb, walnuts, and coconut.  Pour over Crust.  Bake 30-35 minutes longer or until set.  Cool on a wire rack.  Cut into bars.

The above recipe was adapted from Taste of Home's rhubarb dream bars.  I cut the sugar down by a 1/2 cup and they were still plenty sweet so next time I would trim it down even more!  It also called for sweetened shredded coconut, but definitely go for unsweetened.  There is absolutely no reason for all that extra sugar and junk ingredients.  Bob's Red Mill unsweetened shredded coconut is literally just "natural unsulfured coconut," nothing else.  Whereas other brands that make sweetened coconut have a ton more sugar to start with, typically are sulphured, and have preservatives and chemicals to maintain freshness.  Wondering what the difference is between sulfured and unsulfured?  Sulfur dioxide is added as a preservative and to stop fruit from turning brown.  Most information you'll find will say sulfur is fine to consume, but since the World Heath Organization has set the daily acceptable intake for a 2 year old to half a dried apricot, I am staying away!  And, even if you don't believe that sulfur dioxide causes any health issues, isn't it always best to opt for food as close to its natural state as possible?  Especially when there is a natural option so readily available.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU DECIDE TO GROW YOUR OWN RHUBARB, OR MAKE A SWEET TREAT WITH THIS FUN VEGETABLE!