It's It
A San Francisco favorite from the old Playland-at-the-Beach.
It's It is an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich, dipped in chocolate. Back when I was a kid, they were made and dipped right in front of ya. I don't remember how much they cost back then, but I do know that no trip to Playland was complete without one.
With the Super Bowl starting up and the Niner's going for their sixth win, I thought a bit of San Francisco was needed tonight.
They are mass-produced nowadays - someone bought the license when Playland closed - but they're just not the same as a fresh cookie, premium ice cream, and thick melted chocolate.
I may have to have a couple.
The cookies are a pretty basic oatmeal. Not a lot to them but lots of flavor!
Oatmeal Cookies
- 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease pans or line with parchment
Stir together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add flour and oat mixture and beat until just combined.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes total.
Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies and carefully press together. Dip in chocolate and enjoy.
Yellow Cake
I just love cake. And having baked a few cakes in my life, I tend to have a few favorite go-to recipes for them. For flourless chocolate cake I use Tyler Florence's recipe. For a basic chocolate cake, it's Ina Garten. For yellow cake, it's a recipe I found in Bon Appetit, I think, quite a while ago. I've had it as a text file on my computer(s) for years, in a folder of hundreds of recipes that I have collected over the years. I just keep moving the folder as I get another computer and adding recipes to it as I find them - or as they're given to me.
This is a pretty easy cake to make but it takes a bit of time, because the sugar is added really slowly - mixing with the butter to get a really creamy consistency. Another secret is the buttermilk.
Sugar and butter add the tenderness to a cake. Flour and eggs - the proteins - give it its structure. It's why trying to make a cake "healthy" by taking out sugar or butter - or eggs or switching out different flours generally fails miserably.
It's a cake. It's not health food. Don't pretend it's good for you. It's cake.
I also use 8"x3" cake pans. They just work better for me. And I line them with parchment paper.
Yellow Cake
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour two 8" pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Place butter in mixer bowl. Beat for 3 minutes until the butter is light and creamy.
Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well before adding the next.
Add vanilla. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until blended.
Spoon the batter into pans. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
This was one of the two layers I baked. The other went into the freezer.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cube of butter
- 1 8oz cream cheese
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 tbsp espresso powder
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Cream butter and cream cheese until light. Add vanilla and mix well. Add cocoa powder, coffee powder, and sugar and mix until very creamy. Scrape down bowl and then add heavy cream until icing is the consistency you want.
I split the one layer into three and frosted. I resisted adding anything else - this time.
Cranberry Tangerine Bread
We're off to a soirée this afternoon and besides a gift for the Italian Polyanna, we needed to bring an appetizer or dessert. I chose dessert, because, well... I like dessert. I'm the guy who will pass up the entrées and head straight - well, gaily forward - to the dessert table. It's no great mystery why my first-ever job was in a donut and pastry shop.
And this particular dessert came about because of the things I had in the house. When I decided dessert was the way to go, I looked around to get ideas about what to make. Lo and behold, we had tangerines and cranberries in the 'fridge and walnuts in the cupboard - there's always flour and sugar. I thought a twist on a classic cranberry orange bread was in order.
Holiday breads really are easy to make and with just a bit of ingredient adjustments can go from basic to really festive. They can be left plain, topped with powdered sugar, or drizzled with any number of sweet toppings.
I made two of them because I wanted one for the Christmas cookie platter(s) but the recipe can be cut in half or used to make a bunch of mini-loaves.
Cranberry Tangerine Bread
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cubes butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tbsp tangerine zest
- 1 1/4 cups fresh tangerine juice
- 1/4 cup Cointreau
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a food processor, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Place in mixing bowl. In a measuring cup whisk together the zest, the juice, Cointreau, and the eggs. Add the mixture to the flour mixture and stir the batter until it is just combined - don't overmix. Stir in the cranberries and walnuts and spread evenly into two well-buttered 9x5 standard loaf pans.
Bake the bread in the middle of the oven for 1 1/4 hours, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the bread about 15 minutes in the pan and then remove and cool completely on racks.
Serve plain or top with powdered sugar or icing glaze.
I topped it with a simple mix of tangerine juice and powdered sugar. And talk about filling the house with the scent of Christmas Cheer.
I'm glad I made two!
Aunt Emma's Apricot Cookies
This one is the star of the family favorites - Aunt Emma's Apricot Cookie.
Aunt Emma was Emma Peditto, nee Monaco, and the 4th of 11 children - Victor's mom was the 10th. Emma was the cook - their parents both died at an early age and she took over the role of matriarch. The family gatherings all centered around her kitchen.
This particular cookie has always been a family favorite and, while many cousins today try and replicate them, we're the only ones who do them justice. Naturally, everyone else says that theirs are the best, also. However, ours are.
The recipe calls for lard. Yes. Lard. Crisco just doesn't work as well - it makes a tough cookie.
The filling was made yesterday and the dough needs to refrigerate at least a day, so we'll probably start them tomorrow...
Aunt Emma's Apricot Cookies
Filling:
- 1 pound dried apricots, chopped fine (soaked overnight – we soak in apricot brandy!)
- 3 cups sugar
- grated lemon rind (we use about a tablespoon – the amount was never specified)
Drain apricots. Place in saucepan with lemon rind, sugar, and water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until water is absorbed. Be really careful — it burns easily. Cool.
Dough:
- 2 pkg dry yeast
- 5 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 pound lard
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 shot whiskey
- Juice and rind from 1 lemon
Proof yeast with 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup warm water. Cut lard into flour, as you would for a pie dough. Make a well in the mixture and add all the other ingredients, including yeast.
Work dough with your hands and form into a ball. (Don’t overwork. Use a light hand.) Refrigerate overnight.
Roll cold dough to about 1/8″ thick. Aunt Emma would cut the dough into triangles, place a scant teaspoon of filling at the wide end, then roll up and shape into a crescent similar to a croissant. It takes a bit of practice. The easier way is to cut squares, fill, and fold over. Place scant teaspoon of filling, fold and seal. Shape into crescent.
Bake at 325° until golden brown on lightly greased sheets or ungreased parchment paper. (Investing in a box of parchment paper is the only way to fly!!)
Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.
Make a well and add your ingredients.
It starts getting gooey.
Break up the egg yolks...
...and just start slowly incorporating the flour into the liquid.
In just a few minutes you have a completed ball of dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
They do take time, but they really are worth the trouble.
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
We're starting to get our Christmas Cookie Baking List together, so I thought I'd bake a batch of unrelated - but holiday-centric - cookies just for the heck of it. I really wanted to try out some chocolate peppermint chunks to see how they were because I have an idea for a chocolate peppermint biscotti this year. We've dramatically cut the amount of cookies we bake every year, but every year we also come up with some new ideas to augment the old standards - and a chocolate peppermint biscotti - dipped in chocolate - sounds like it may be a fun idea.
After tasting a couple of the peppermint chips I decided to up the chocolate content a bit and made a batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies with a bit more cocoa and a heaping teaspoon of espresso powder. I also added more plain chocolate chips to offset the peppermint a bit.
The end result was a pretty festive cookie. Lots of chocolate with a goodly amount of peppermint. It gave me a good starting point for the biscotti. And if I dip them in a good dark chocolate, they'll be the perfect holiday treat - amongst all our other perfect holiday treats.
I used a #40 disher to scoop out the cookies. They hold 1.75 tablespoons of dough and are the perfect size for adult-sized cookies. It's also the perfect size for mini-muffins. A #60 disher is just barely a tablespoon and makes a great kid-sized cookie.
I highly recommend everyone putting several different sized scoops on their Christmas Wish List this year. They really make cookie, muffin, and even pancake-making, a snap! We have 7 or 8 different-sized scoops we use for a variety of things. We've also had them for years. They really do last forever.
Chocolate Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 heaping tsp espresso powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups chocolate peppermint chunks
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, expresso powder, and salt and set aside. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and and vanilla and beat until combined well.
Beat in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in chips.
Use a #40 scoop if you have one - and you should - and bake about 13 minutes or until cookies are just set and begin to crack on top. Remove from oven and cool.
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
There's just nothing worse than sitting around the house waiting for a hurricane to strike. Whenever we find ourselves in a situation like that, one - or both - of us heads to the kitchen. This time, it was Victor.
He thought it prudent to get a batch of cookies in the oven before we lose power - and the oven. We're very actively involved in trying to get natural gas lines run into our neighborhood, but since that's not happening today, we're stuck with the electric ovens. I could probably bake cookies on the gas grill - I know I can bake bread on it - but if I don't have to... I do like to take the path of least resistance whenever possible.
The pumpkin in these particular pumpkin cookies comes from instant pumpkin oatmeal. I do have to admit I generally don't eat instant oatmeal because it's always sweetened and as much as I love my sweets, I take my oatmeal and coffee straight up the way Mother Nature intended. But Victor likes it for the convenience in the winter and thought this one would mix well with regular oats to make a good cookie.
He was right, of course!
After having these, I imagine any of the numerous flavored instant oatmeals out there could work. Give it a try!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup pumpkin oatmeal
Preheat oven to 375°. Beat butter until light. Add sugars and beat until well mixed. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pinch salt. Stir in oats.
Use 1/4 cup scoop and scoop onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake about 15 minutes.
Now... if the Giants can do me a big favor and clinch the World Series tonight, I'll really be a happy camper!
Pumpkin Pie with a Phyllo Crust
I've made a lot of things with phyllo dough in the past - but never a custard pie. I figured it was time.
It started off pretty easy. I made my standard pumpkin pie filling and then started on the crust. I buttered and layered about 8 sheets of dough, offsetting each one a bit to create a circle. I then carefully placed it in the pie plate. I poured in the filling, folded the overhanging phyllo dough up and over the filling and placed it in the oven at 425° for 15 minutes and then to 350° for another 45 minutes. I laid a piece of foil over the top after 15 minutes to keep the phyllo from burning.
I checked on the pie and it was still completely uncooked! I added 30 minutes - and then added another 30 minutes. It was finally done after two solid hours in the oven! A record, methinks!
So... instead of dessert last night, it was dessert tonight.
It came out good. The bottom crust was soft and not tough at all, and the top had a nice little crispness to it. Still very traditional, but just different enough at the same time.
Maple Coconut Cookies
Okay. I don't often read a recipe and immediately go into the kitchen and make it - well... not really often, anyway - but when my friend Ruth posted a recipe for Maple Coconut Cookies, that's exactly what I did.
And an I ever glad I did!
These rock, boys and girls - and they're totally easy to make. Grade B maple syrup - of course - and it really does go without saying that real maple syrup should only be used. actually, one should only have 100% real maple syrup in ones home, anyway. All that other stuff is garbage - including that gawdawful maple-agave syrup that should be banned.
But I digress...
The cookies are rich, maple-flavored, chewy... they have everything going for them.
I see more of these happening!
Maple Coconut Cookies
adapted from Tasty Bits & Bites
- ½ c. butter at room temp.
- 1 c. packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ c. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 ½ c. flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 c. flaked unsweetened coconut
In a mixing bowl cream the butter and brown sugar till fluffy. Beat in the egg, syrup and vanilla until well mixed.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the creamed mixture.
Stir in coconut. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2” apart onto greased baking sheets.
Bake at 375° for 12-15 min or until lightly browned.
Pumpkin Ricotta Pie
Oh boy! I think I have just created my newest most favorite pumpkin pie! It came about because we have a lot of pumpkin in the freezer and I had a container of ricotta I had picked up last week with a vague idea of making something - and never did.
We have a no-regrets rule at home. If it is purchased, it is consumed. I just hate wasting food. So knowing that ricotta probably wasn't going to be used for something savory any time soon, I decided to go sweet. We have cut back on the desserts - and sugar in general - dramatically, but fall has come and pumpkin in one form or another calls my name daily.
I decided to give this one a go. I knew instinctively that it would work, but it worked so much better than I anticipated. it was a great surprise.
I know this will be gracing our Thanksgiving dessert table.
Pumpkin Ricotta Pie
Pie crust for single-crust pie
- 2 cups pumpkin puree (1 15-16oz can)
- 1 16oz container ricotta
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- pinch salt
Preheat oven to 425°. Mix pumpkin and ricotta. Add sugar, then eggs, maple syrup, and spices.
Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425° . for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° and bake for 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.
This is definitely a keeper.
Pumpkin Pie
I came home today to find a beautiful Pumpkin Pie sitting on the island in the kitchen. A fresh pumpkin pie - made with the pumpkin puree I made a few days ago and a home-made crust.
Absolute perfection!
The crust perfectly tender and flaky. The filling - rich, creamy, and full of pumpkin flavor. It is taking all of my willpower to keep from heading back into the kitchen to get another huge piece.
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
The Crust:
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 stick butter, frozen
- pinch salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3 tbsp ice water
Using a food processor, add flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse to mix.
Chop up frozen butter and add. Pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture looks grainy.
Slowly add ice water and pulse until mixed.
Turn out onto counter. Press and form mixture into disk . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about an hour to allow the flour to properly absorb the water and to relax the gluten.
Roll out crust and place in pie plate. Crimp edges and fill.
The Filling:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups pumpkin
- 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
Preheat oven to 425°. Beat eggs, sugar, maple syrup, and spices in large bowl. Add pumpkin amd mix well. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425° F. for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.
It was just too good for words. And there's more for tomorrow!
Pumpkin Bread Fail
Okay... so everything I make doesn't come out perfect every time.
I've been making pumpkin bread for years and have never had an issue, but... decided today I needed a different recipe. Not a smart move.
The second not-smart-move was using a Bobby Flay recipe. I should know better. Actually, I do know better, just like I knew there was too much batter in the pan - the exact-sized pan specified in the recipe.
But did I take any out? Did I follow my own instincts and better judgement?!? Of course not.
The batter bubbled over and ran down the pan into the oven that Victor had just cleaned. I took the bread out and put in the chicken for dinner to finish.
After the blobs got nice and charred - with more smoke - it all caught fire. A LOT of smoke.
It wasn't flames licking out the door - and I have caused and/or dealt with more than my share of oven fires over the years - so I just let it burn itself out. It was under control and I did have my box of baking soda at the ready. More smoke, of course. The chicken was fine.
Pumpkin Bread
adapted from Bobby Flay's Bar Americain Cookbook
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- Scant 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, not flavored pie filling
- 2 large eggs
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves in a small bowl.
3. Beat the butter, sugar, and oil on high speed in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times, until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
4. Add the pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until just incorporated. Mixing on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and 2/3 cup water and mix until just combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely.
It tasted really good, but I have a feeling I won't be making it, again. My old standby is less trouble.
Apple Upside-Down Cake
One of my most-favorite cakes is Pineapple Upside-Down cake. Well--- just about any upside-down cake will do. There's something about that caramelized fruit-and-cake combination that just gets me every time.
So you can imagine my delight when the latest issue of Fine Cooking magazine arrived and it had a recipe for an Apple Upside-Down cake. I knew at some point I would have to make it.
That point became today since we're heading over to Victor's family for Sunday Dinner.
We've been eschewing the desserts around here in an attempt to cut out sugar and lose a few pounds - and it's been working. But once a baker, always a baker. I want to bake even if I'm not going to devour the whole thing. besides - bringing a dessert means I can have a taste and leave the rest...
The recipe was a bit convoluted and I made a mess that impressed even me - the Mess King (or Queen depending upopn your take...)
But it cake out great. It's worth the several dirty pots, bowls, pans, and other paraphernalia!
Apple Upside Down Cake
adapted from Fine Cooking magazine
For the apples
- 2 lb. (about 4 large) sweet apples that hold their shape when cooked (such as Braeburn, Golden Delicious, or Jonagold), peeled, quartered, and cored, each quarter sliced into 3 wedges
- 1 large lemon, finely grated to yield 1 Tbs. zest (reserve for the cake) and squeezed to yield 1 Tbs. juice
- 3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
- Pinch table salt
For the topping
- Unsalted butter, softened, for the pan
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
For the cake
- 4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp. table salt
- 3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and slightly softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup whole milk
Prepare the apples
In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice.In a heavy skillet, cook the butter over medium heat about 4 minutes. Add the apples and salt and toss gently until well coated. Cook, stirring gently, until some of the apples begin to brown and any liquid has evaporated about 10 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
Make the topping
Butter a 9x2-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment, and butter the parchment.Put the sugar, cinnamon, and 1/3 cup water in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Continue to cook, without stirring, until the caramel begins to color; then swirl the pan until the caramel turns an even, deep amber, about 3 minutes. Immediately pour the caramel into the prepared cake pan, swirling to evenly coat the bottom. Let cool.
Starting in the center of the pan, arrange the cooled apple slices on the caramel in slightly overlapping circles. Set aside.
Make the cake
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 350°.Blend the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt.
Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl and beater. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl and beater.
With the mixer on medium speed, slowly sprinkle in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, taking 20 to 30 seconds to add it. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until pale and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping once to scrape the bowl and beater.
Add the egg and beat on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add the yolks and beat until incorporated, 1 minute. (It’s OK if the batter looks curdled.)
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients in three additions and the milk in two additions; scrape the bowl and beater as necessary and mix each addition just until smooth.
Spread the batter evenly over the apples. Tap the pan down on the counter once or twice to settle the batter. Bake until the cake springs back when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes.
Invert the cake onto a cake plate and slowly remove the pan and the parchment. Let the cake cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
Slightly convoluted, but worth it!