desserts and sweets Archives | Page 5 of 7

fresh fig and almond cake

August 7, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

My grandmother is a magical gardener. She can take a seed and push it into the ground with her thumb and voila! A beautifully lush plant sprouts up seemingly instantly. And, while she insists she “didn’t do much” this year, a quick tour around her garden tells a different story.

She points out each plant rattling off vegetables in her adorable Portuguese accent…beets, tomatoes, beans, kale, lettuce, rhubarb, chard, a half dozen varieties of squash…I quickly lose count of the vegetables. She could also season meals for the entire city with all the herbs she is growing. She picks some lemon verbena for me to dry out and use for tea. “It’s great for your tummy,” she says. Grandmothers are always looking out for you!

She’s nonchalant as she points to peaches hanging from her peach trees, cherries, strawberries, grapes, and finally the fresh figs. She always has fresh figs.

This fig and almond cake is something I can picture my grandmother making to use up her fig bounty. It is a simple snacking cake that highlights the uber-sweet fruit at its peak ripeness. Ground almonds add nuttiness and texture to the cake. I couldn’t find enough fresh figs at the store nearby to make the full recipe so the pictures are of a halfed version. If you want to make the half recipe like I did, you can halve the ingredients listed below. When it came to halving the eggs, I chose to use one full egg and one egg yolk, for richness.

If my grandmother dropped a crumb of this cake into her garden, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if she had a fig and almond cake tree come up next summer 😉

fresh fig and almond cake
adapted from the new york times

prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
total time: about 45 minutes
makes one 9-inch cake

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus butter for greasing pan
1 cup natural raw almonds (not blanched, not salted)
1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
10-12 ripe figs

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan, or pie pan, and set aside. In the work bowl of a food processor, pour the almonds and 1/4 cup sugar and grind for about 20 seconds or until it is a coarse powder. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together eggs, melted butter, honey, and almond extract. Add the almond and flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat together until batter is just mixed. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Remove the stem from each fig and cut them in half, lengthwise. Arrange the fig halves cut-side-up over the batter. Sprinkle figs with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden outside and a toothpick inserted into the cake’s center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.

All aboard the almond train! Check out this recipe for Almond Apricot Olive Oil Cake.

iced brownie thins

August 4, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

How fun are these little cookies?! They are like 2-D donuts! Or chocolate donut pancakes!

As fun as these roll-out cookies are for kids to make and eat, they are equally as satisfying for adults. The brownie thins have a mouth-coating chocolate flavor and the texture of a flattened fudge brownie. They are soft and chewy and are topped with sweet and crunchy vanilla royal icing and colorful nonpareils. Who wouldn’t love that?

Put one of these on the bottom of a bowl and top it with ice cream and you’ll be considered a superhero at home.

You’ll notice that Dutch processed cocoa powder is listed as an ingredient for this recipe. If you’re unfamiliar with the difference between Dutch processed and natural cocoa powder, I put together a separate post to help explain. You can find the deets here. It gets somewhat science-y, folks. Hold onto your hats.

If you skip that post, here’s the quick version:

Dutch Processed (alkalized): Acid removed, darker color, smooth flavor, works best with baking powder, should not be used in recipes that call specifically for natural cocoa powder.

Natural (non-alkalized): Acidic, lighter color, sharp flavor, works best with baking soda, can sometimes be used in place of Dutch processed cocoa in recipes.

In this recipe I specifically used Valrhona Unsweetened 100% Cocoa Powder, which is Dutch processed (alkalized). You could actually try using natural cocoa powder (non-alkalized) in this recipe because of what we learned here. I have not made this recipe using natural cocoa (yet), so, if you try it, please do let me know how it turns out!

Whoops!

This dough is chilled and ready to roll!

plenty o’ sprinkles

iced brownie thins
adapted from the smitten kitchen cookbook

prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 8–11 minutes
total time: 1 hour 30 minutes (includes chill time)
makes about 12 iced donut-shaped cookies or a lot more little ones (you may have extra icing)

Ingredients:

3 cups (275 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2/3 cup (55 grams) unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
16 tablespoons (225 grams or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For icing:
2.3 ounces pasteurized egg whites (about 2 large eggs)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
nonpareils or sprinkles for topping

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar on low-medium speed until it is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Lightly flour a work surface and remove the dough from the refrigerator. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch thick. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut cookies out from the dough and transfer to the prepared baking sheets leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Cook for 8 to 11 minutes, or until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly puffed but still appear soft. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely while you prepare the icing.
To prepare the icing: in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks (5 to 7 minutes). Transfer to a pastry bag and pipe onto the cooled cookies. (You can also use a knife to spread onto the cookies if you’d like.) While the icing is wet, sprinkle with nonpareils, if desired. You may have extra icing and you can keep it in a well-sealed container in the fridge for a couple days to use again!

Is chocolate your jam? You should totally check out this recipe for Chocolate Pecan Torte with Strawberry Buttercream.

favorite m&m cookies

July 23, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

I would marry these cookies if I could. Seriously, they are my favorite. They are chewy, crunchy, sweet, colorful, comforting, fun, and yum, yum, yum.

I can’t even tell you how many times I have made these and they are always a hit. If you’re at all a fan of M&M cookies, you will love this recipe. The edges are crispy with a slightly caramelized flavor, and center remains chewy so you can still recognize the cracking of the M&M candy shells as you bite through. These are not ‘soft baked’ M&M cookies but they aren’t fully crisp either. They bend a little before they break, if that makes sense (cue Dashboard Confessional flashbacks).

To balance out the sweetness of the milk chocolate candies, I like to add some bittersweet chocolate chips. They keep the cookie from being single noted. Semisweet works too, but it is best if they have at least 60% cocoa content. I use some from Surfas that are 72% cocoa.

Here’s the part you’re going to hate: the dough really gets better if you let it chill 24 to 36 hours before you bake it. As the dough chills, it will gradually dry out, concentrating the flavors of all the ingredients. Concentration=flavor. If you can’t resist, bake a few cookies after letting the dough chill for 2 hours and then keep the remaining dough in the fridge for a day or two before you bake the rest. Oh, and this dough freezes amazingly well, so you can make it when you have some time, refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours and then transfer it to the freezer for up to a month. When you’re ready to bake, remove the dough from the freezer and let it sit out for a few minutes until it is scoop-able, but still cold, and then bake as usual.

favorite m&m cookies
Adapted from Jacques Torres in The New York Times

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes (includes the minimum chill time)
Makes 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies (Or a lot more smaller ones!)

Ingredients:

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
16 ounces (about 2 cups) M&M candies
3 ounces (about 1/2 cup) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips (best if at least 60 percent cacao content)

Instructions:

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined but not fully incorporated, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces and candy in and mix on low until just incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours (or at least 2 hours).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Scoop dough into about 2 1/2-ounce golf ball-sized rounds and place on the baking sheet with about 3 1/2 inches between cookies. Bake until golden brown, but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. (Or until you just start eating them.) Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day You may also freeze the remaining dough for up to a month; make sure you triple wrap in plastic before doing so.

peach blueberry pie

July 21, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

Let’s continue to highlight summer’s fruit bounty between two buttery pastry layers, cool? Sweet, fresh peaches and juicy blueberries star in this easy, summer pie that is perfect for your next summer gathering. You want to know how we get the great blueberry flavor into the pie?

Just kidding, but how adorable is that commercial?? Makes me laugh every time.

As always, you can use a frozen pie crust if you’d like, but I do think it’s worth making one from scratch. If you have a food processor, it’s simple: mix the dry, add the fat, ‘glue’ together. I usually go for an all-butter crust but this time we’re switching it up with the addition of shortening. I’ve heard many times that when it comes to pie crust, butter adds the flavor and shortening adds the flakiness. While my heart still belongs to all-butter crust, this recipe from Ina Garten is excellent and yields a light and tender crust that is very easy to work with (Yay Ina!).

Did you know you can easily customize your pie crust simply by using a regular cookie cutter? I was feeling a little tropical when I rolled out the crust so I grabbed a palm tree-shaped one from my collection and got started on my tropical vacation pie! I also carved out the insides of a pineapple and filled it with a frozen pina colada to enjoy while the pie was in the oven. Kidding, but that does sound fun. Let’s do that next time!

ina garten’s perfect pie crust
recipe from food network

prep time: 10 minutes
makes enough for one double-crusted pie

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Instructions:

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine.
Add the butter and shortening and pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter chunks are the size of peas.
With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out onto a floured board and gather it into a ball. Divide in half and shape each ball into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (preferably 1 to 2 hours). While the dough is chilling, proceed with pie recipe below.

peach blueberry pie
adapted from joy the baker

prep time: 30 minutes
cook time: 60 minutes
total time: about 2 hours
makes one 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

one recipe Ina Garten pie crust (above)
about 3 pounds ripe peaches, washed, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-inch thin pieces (about 5–6 medium peaches)
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1–2 tablespoons cornstarch (if your peaches are super juicy, use 2)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
2 tablespoons sparkling sugar, for sprinkling before baking

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, combine peach slices and blueberries. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, spices, flour, and cornstarch. Pour the sugar mixture over the fruit, and gently toss together to coat the fruit. Stir in the lemon juice. Place bowl of fruit in the fridge to rest while you roll the crust out.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and place a baking sheet on the lower rack, just below where you’re going to place the pie (to catch any fruit juices that may bubble over).
Remove one of the chilled pie dough disks from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into about a 13-inch round, making sure to lift each side up off the surface every once in a while to make sure it is not sticking. Gently lift the 13-inch round from the floured surface and center in the 9-inch baking dish. (Tip to help transport the dough: Fold the crust in half and then in half again. Place the dough in the pan with the pointed side of the folded dough in the center. Unfold.) Place in the fridge while you roll out the top crust.
Roll out the top crust into a roughly 13-inch circle just like you did with the bottom crust (here is when you could use cookie cutters to design the crust if you’d like). Remove the bottom crust and fruit filling from the fridge. Gently pour the fruit filling into the pie dish. Carefully lift the top crust from the work surface and lay it over the fruit in the pie dish. If necessary, trim the crust, leaving about 3/4-inch overhang around each side. Press the top and bottom crusts together to seal and then fold the crust edges under. Crimp the edges of the dough with your hands or a fork. If you did not make cut outs in the top crust, make sure to use a knife to add a few small slits to the crust (for air ventilation while it is cooking). Brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
Place pie in the oven and bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake for 45 to 55 more minutes. Remove from the oven when crust is browned and golden, and the juices are bubbling. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before serving. Store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days covered with plastic wrap.

funfetti pie crust (happy pi day! 3.14.15)

March 14, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

With National Kiss Your Fiancé Day* just around the corner, I can’t help but ask: are National “________” Days getting out of hand? Regardless, as a pun-loving baker, there is one National Day I could not be more on board with. It’s Pi Day and it is… Today!

That’s correct, we are talking about a day commemorating the mathematical constant π (3.14159265359… you get the idea). But, we are also talking about the best way to celebrate this special day—and that’s with pie, of course! We learned about it in school and now here we are, putting our math skills to great use.

Don’t mistake tomorrow for your typical Pi Day though. As Mashable points out, today is the only time for the next 100 years where the calendar date reflects the first FIVE digits of that fabulous number (3.1415). The next time this will come our way isn’t until March 14, 2115. Because this isn’t your average Pi Day, you can’t celebrate with an average pie, right? Right. Time to funfettify your pie.

I first made this all butter pie crust filled with sprinkles for my birthday. When you are the baker in the family, you make your own birthday cake (ahem, pie). I like to get my hands dirty and use a pastry blender, but feel free to use a food processor for ease and speed. If you take that route, be mindful not to over-pulse as you want to have lots of visible butter bits. They are your keys to a flaky pie palace.

*National Kiss Your Fiancé Day is March 20^th. I’m not a fiancé, but to me this begs the question, why are you not kissing them other days??

funfetti-pie-crust-recipe-national-pi-day-1

yup. feet.

funfetti pie crust
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen

Makes enough dough for one double-, or two single-crust pies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks (8 ounces/1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
ice water (about 3/4 cup, will be dough glue)
1/4 cup sprinkles of your choice

Instructions:

Prepare your cold ingredients: fill a 1-cup liquid measuring cup with water and a couple ice cubes and set aside. Dice your butter into 1/2-inch pieces and place in a small bowl. Move the bowl to the fridge or freezer until you need it.
In a large, wide bowl whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and a teaspoon of salt. Get out your pastry blender.
Remove your diced butter from the fridge and sprinkle the cubes over the flour. Begin working them into the flour with the pastry blender. Try to break down the butter evenly and stop when all of the butter pieces are around the size of peas.
Pour in vanilla extract and then start slowly drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, stir the dough together. Add in more cold water, a tablespoon at a time, just until you’re pulling large clumps with the spatula. Pour in the sprinkles and then, using your hands, gather the clumps together into one mound, kneading and turning the dough gently a couple of times to distribute the sprinkles as you pull it all together.
All set! You can now chill the dough by dividing it in half and wrapping each half in plastic. Let the dough chill in the fridge for at least one hour before rolling it out. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for a month or so. Any time you are going to make dough for a later use, make sure to wrap it an extra time in plastic to ward off any freezer or fridge smells.

fluffy homemade marshmallows

February 19, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

Have you ever eaten a fresh marshmallow? It’s like a puffy cloud pillow with a soft texture outside and a sticky sweet inside. Dropped into rich hot chocolate, fresh marshmallows are the cure-all for the winter blues. Eaten alone, they are a light, sweet snack. And toasted and smooshed between graham crackers and chocolate, you have one of the best s’mores ever.

As soon as you see how easy it is to make marshmallows at home you’ll be wondering why you haven’t tried it sooner. I’ve made them a few times now and have started experimenting with other flavors like coconut and Crème de Violette.

There are a few things I need to mention before you dive in though. First, you’ll need to have a candy thermometer on hand as you’ll be heating the mixture to exactly 240°F. Second, after you’ve whipped all the ingredients into a thick, bright white, fluffy mixture, you’ll pour/scrape it into a greased and sugar-dusted baking pan. Here’s the key: you will NOT be able to get all of the marshmallow out of your stand mixer’s bowl. It is just too gosh darn sticky. Don’t worry about this and don’t try too hard to scrape out every speck or you will end up looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man covered in all the sticky marshmallow strings.

fluffy homemade marshmallows
recipe from Alton Brown

prep time: 30 minutes
total time: 4 hours, 30 minutes (includes time to set)
makes about 9 dozen 1-inch marshmallows

Ingredients:

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray

Instructions:

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
In a small saucepan over medium high heat, combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Cover and allow mixture to cook without touching it for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook, untouched, until the mixture reaches 240°F, about 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat.
Turn the stand mixer on low speed and slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and the outside of your mixing bowl feels lukewarm to the touch, about 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla extract during the last minute of whipping. Meanwhile, prepare the pan.
Combine the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Spray a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Generously sprinkle about a third of the sugar and cornstarch mixture onto the pan and shake until it completely coats the bottom and sides. Reserve the remaining confectioners’ sugar mixture for later use.
When the marshmallow mixture is ready, pour/scrape it into the prepared pan using a lightly oiled spatula which will help you spread the top evenly into each corner of the pan (Remember, you will not be able to get all of the mixture out of the bowl!). Dust the top with some of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit, uncovered, for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners’ sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining sugar mixture, using additional if necessary. Drop some into your hot cocoa or store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

blueberry and lemon cream tart

February 10, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

Easy as pie tart? Yup. This puppy is even easier than pie! You want to know why? You know that part in pie making when you have to roll out the chilled dough and then transport it to the pie dish and, if you’re like me, you want to then slice more dough for a lattice top or try cut-outs, or patterns, or ruffles, or fringe … this is beginning to sound like the E! Grammy’s Fashion Police wrap up! Well, with this tart, you don’t have to do ANY of that! Easy pease, my friends.

Once you prepare the dough, you can just push it right into the pan with your sticky little fingers. It is a tad more crumbly than a pie crust with a texture like that of shortbread. Once you line the pan, you partially bake the dough so it can stand up to all the juicy blueberries and tart, creamy filling you’ll top it with next. The blueberries stay whole and plump up in the oven so you can pop them with your teeth as you devour a slice. Then you’ll pour a lemony Greek yogurt sauce over the sweet blueberries and bake the entire tart until the sauce sets into what is similar to a loose custard. The combination of the buttery crust, sweet blueberries, and tart lemon cream is bright, fresh, and dreamy.

The tart holds well in the fridge for a few days and can be served cool or at room temperature. It can also be served for breakfast when you are snowed-in in Boston. I can attest to that.

blueberry and lemon cream tart
adapted from Gourmet Magazine, July 1990

prep time: 30 minutes
cook time: 60 minutes
total time: 1 hour 30 minutes (plus more for chilling dough)
Makes 1 12-Inch Tart in Pan with Removable Bottom

Ingredients:

For the crust:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) very cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large egg yolks, beaten with 4 tablespoons ice water
pie weights, dry beans, or raw rice for weighting the shell

For the filling:
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups fresh blueberries (Take a look and remove extra stems or any bluebs that look dried out.)

Instructions:

Make the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the chilled butter and pulse the mixture until it resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses. Pour in the yolk and water mixture and pulse until the liquid is incorporated and the dough begins coming together. Turn the dough onto a clean surface and, using your hands, gather the dough into a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Grab your tart pan (with removable fluted rim) and remove chilled dough from the refrigerator. Grab small chunks of the dough at a time and push into the tart pan with your fingertips. Continue pressing the dough into the pan until you have lined the bottom and sides with dough about 1/4 inch thick. Chill the crust for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, 15 minutes in the freezer, or cover and leave overnight. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line the inside of the tart crust with foil, fill the foil with the pie weights, dry beans or rice, and bake the shell in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights carefully, bake the crust for 5 to 10 minutes more, or until it is pale golden, and let it cool in the pan on a rack. Keep the oven heated at 350°F while you prepare the filling.
Make the filling: In a blender, food processor, or large bowl with a vigorous hand, blend together the yogurt, cream, yolks, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, butter, vanilla, salt, and flour until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
Spread the fresh blueberries evenly over the bottom of the par-baked tart crust. Pour the yogurt and lemon mixture over them. Bake the tart in the middle of the oven at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the filling is just set.
Let the tart cool completely in the pan on a rack. Serve at room temperature or store the tart in the refrigerator and serve chilled. Tart keeps for 4 to 5 days (keep chilled).

sticky bundt (sticky bun bundt cake)

January 27, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

This is a sticky bun/bundt cake hybrid which I’ve aptly named a sticky ‘bun’dt (Get it, get it?). I made a batch of fluffy sticky buns and baked them in a bundt pan literally for the sole purpose of saying sticky bundt all day. Lucky for me, the resulting sticky-sweet, pecan-studded cake tasted amazing, so I’m excited to share the recipe with you while I humbly pat myself on the back. 😉

look at these sweet dough pinwheels getting personal! they love each other!

If you are a fan of sticky buns, you’re definitely open to a bit of butter and sugar. Plenty of pecans adhere to a sticky-sweet—but more of a mature not-too-sweet, sweet—dark brown sugar topping, all of which jumps aboard a nutty, buttery cinnamon roll train. Hopefully, the train is headed for a brunch table near you!

Making sticky buns requires a bit of patience as you’ve got to proof the dough twice; first, right after preparing the yeasted sweet dough, and second, after filling and rolling the dough into pinwheeled buns. I promise you this sticky bun bundt cake cake is worth the extra effort as the bundt is as tasty as it is visually stunning.

There are three main elements to this sticky bun bundt cake: the dough, the filling, and the topping. Broken down into three parts it is totally manageable and you can even prepare and assemble the buns a day ahead of time so you will be able to sleep in and still impress your family and friends at Sunday brunch. Just allow the chilled buns to get to room temperature about an hour and a half before baking in the morning.

the pecan cinnamon rolls will rise up into these layers and you will feel like a superhero for making this happen.

you’ll flip the sticky bundt out of its pan and smell the nuts and sweet butter combined with the warm spices and rich topping.

sticky bundt
Adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2012

prep time: 30–40 minutes (plus time to chill and rise)
cook time: 50 minutes
total time: 5 hours (includes minimum time to chill and rise)
Makes: One 10-inch bundt cake or 10 individual sticky buns prepared in an 8x8x2″ metal baking pan

Ingredients:

Sweet dough:

2/3 cup whole milk
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (from one 1/4-ounce envelope)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces, room temperature, plus 1 tablespoon melted butter for greasing bowl

Topping:

2 cups chopped pecans (I like to keep about 1/2 cup whole to top the bundt, but up to you.)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)
2 teaspoons orange liqueur or rum (optional)

Filling/bun assembly:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg (for egg washing buns)
Coarse sea salt (such as Maldon) for finishing

Instructions:

Make the sweet dough:

In a small, microwave-safe bowl, heat milk in microwave until an instant-read thermometer registers 110–115°F. Stir in 1 tablespoon sugar. Sprinkle yeast over milk and whisk to blend. Let sit until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Whisk in eggs until smooth.
Combine remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar, flour, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add milk mixture and combine on low speed. With mixer still running, add the room-temperature butter, 1 piece at a time, incorporating each piece fully before adding the next one. After you’ve added the last piece, mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and knead until dough is soft and silky, about 10 minutes.
Brush a medium bowl with melted butter; place dough in bowl. Brush top of dough with remaining melted butter; cover with plastic wrap and let sit room temperature until about doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer to refrigerator and chill dough for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the topping:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast pecans on a rimmed baking sheet until fragrant and slightly darkened, 10–12 minutes. Let cool completely. Set 1 1/2 cups nuts aside for inside the buns.
Melt butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, cream, honey, salt, orange zest and liqueur, if using. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until glaze is golden brown, glossy, and slightly thickened, 3–4 minutes. Pour a third of the glaze into your bundt pan, tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside remaining glaze. Sprinkle 1/2 cup toasted pecans over bottom of pan and let cool.

Make the filling and assemble:

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Set filling aside.
Remove dough from refrigerator and transfer to a floured work surface. Lightly dust top with flour and roll out the dough into a 12×16″ rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture over dough with a knife or your hands. Sprinkle 1 cup chopped pecans over the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Beginning with the long edge closest to you, roll the dough tightly into a log. Once you finish rolling, arrange the log seam-side-down on the work surface.
Using a sharp knife (you can wet the knife slightly to help make a clean cut), cut the log crosswise into 10 equal pieces. Don’t worry about making perfect rolls especially if you’ll be putting into a bundt pan. Turn the buns cut-side-up and gently tuck the end of each roll under the bun so it won’t unroll while baking. Place the buns in prepared pan; space them evenly apart. If making the sticky bundt, the buns will touch. If making individual buns in a 8x8x2″ metal baking pan the buns will likely not touch each other. At this point, you can cover and chill buns and remaining glaze separately. Store remaining pecans airtight at room temperature.
Loosely cover pan with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let buns rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour, or 1 1/2–2 hours if dough has been chilled overnight.
Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°F. Whisk egg with 1/2 teaspoon water in a small bowl. Brush tops of buns with egg wash. Bake, rotating pan halfway through and tenting with foil if browning too quickly, until buns are golden brown, filling is bubbling, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of buns registers 185°F, about 50 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and then invert onto a platter. Spoon remaining glaze over sticky bundt. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt. Serve sticky bundt warm or at room temperature.

go-to carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

October 29, 2014 by Butter Loves Company

This carrot cake recipe has been in my family for longer than I can remember. It makes regular appearances at Easter and is often requested in the fall when it seems like just about everyone in my family was born. Let me tell you, it has spoiled many bakery carrot cakes for me. It’s not that the bakery cakes are so bad; it’s just that they aren’t this good. If you’ve ever had a carrot cake that was too dry, too bland, too dense, too light or any of the other “too’s,” you should try this one out. It may be your new go-to.

One of the keys to this recipe from the Silver Palate Cookbook is that the carrots are cooked and puréed before they are mixed into the batter. The result is an extremely moist cake that is sturdy and rich but not too dense. The cake is sweet with a cinnamon spice and textured with coconut and walnuts (if you desire, which I always do). I doubled the cream cheese frosting recipe from the original recipe, because…just because. It can never hurt to have a little extra, but not having enough would be sinful. Put cream cheese frosting on anything and you won’t make any enemies.

We’ve eaten this twice in the last month; the first for my brother’s birthday and more recently for my grandmother’s. Because my grandmother doesn’t care for coconut, I made hers—the one pictured— without it. You’ll see notes about my adjustments following the recipe.

carrot-cake-silver-palate-cream-cheese-frosting-5

some people definitely only like carrot cake for the cream cheese frosting…and that’s okay.

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pardon the poor lighting, but that’s a face that likes this cake!

go-to carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
From the Silver Palate Cookbook

prep time: 20 minutes
cook time: 35–50 minutes
total time: 1 hour, plus another 2 for cooling
makes one 2-layer 9-inch cake or 3-layer 8-inch cake

Ingredients:

CAKE:
Butter, for greasing the pan
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1-1⁄2 cups canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups shelled walnuts, chopped
1-1/2 cups shredded coconut*
1-1/3 cups puréed cooked carrots (to cook: Chop peeled carrots into chunks and boil in water until a knife can cut through a chunk with little resistance)
3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (2 standard packages)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch pans or three 8-inch pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and then grease the top of the parchment paper.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and ground cinnamon. Add the oil and vanilla followed by the eggs, one at a time, mixing to combine after each addition. With the mixer on low speed add the walnuts, coconut, carrots and pineapple (fold them in gently if you are not using a stand mixer).
Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Set on the center rack of the oven and bake until the edges have pulled away from the sides and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 45–50 minutes for 9-inch cakes and 35–40 minutes for 8-inch cakes. Cool on a cake rack for 2 hours. Fill and frost the cake with the cream cheese frosting (recipe below).
Make cream cheese frosting by creaming together the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl, or the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, slowly sift in the confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until fully incorporate. Slowly is the key word here, unless you want to be wearing a LOT of confectioner’s sugar. Once the sugar has been incorporated, increase the speed to medium until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps. Stir in the vanilla, and lemon juice (if using).

*To make the cake with no coconut: Omit shredded coconut and up the amount of pureed cooked carrots from 1-1/3 cups to 2 cups. That’s it!

**You can make the cake layers two days in advance. Let cook completely and then wrap in two layers of plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble. The assembled cake also keeps well in the refrigerator for a solid few days (I can vouch for at least 5).

6-inch super s’mores cake

August 14, 2014 by Butter Loves Company

Let me start by saying, I cannot eat this s’mores cake without singing my sugar- and butter-laden version of Britney Spears’ Gimme More, aptly retitled, “Gimme S’more.” So far my debut as a pop star has only hit the living room, but I’m considering going on tour. And trust me, if I brought this cake, you’d buy tickets. You. Totally. Would.

S’mores epitomize summer. The ultimate campfire food, these gooey treats are best eaten after a fire-roasted hot dog, on a sticky night and with no shoes on. Three simple ingredients: chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers combine to create the perfect sweet, creamy, crunchy, decadent and airy 4 x 4 inch square. For us city dwellers who still want to have ‘s’more’ summer fun but don’t have grills or fire pits to perfectly roast our marshmallows on, a kitchen torch is truly a game changer. It opens up the door for both regular s’mores and also their haute cuisine big sister, this s’mores cake (brought to you by my Tuesday night baking impulse, and apparent delirium).

To give this cake that true s’mores feel graham crackers are ground up and added to the batter to make sweet cinnamon spiced layers, chocolate chips and ample cocoa powder are used in place of chocolate bars to add depth and crunch to the chocolate layers and a sweet and stretchy marshmallow Fluff filling seals the layers together. Lastly, a light, airy meringue topping coats the entire cake. The BEST, I repeat, BEST part about making this cake is using the kitchen torch to “roast” the topping. Once you start in with the torch, you’ll be amazed that the smell is identical to that of roasting marshmallows around a campfire.

Full disclosure: When I made this cake I used large chocolate chunks and also overcooked the chocolate layer slightly. It was drier than I prefer and I felt the large chunks of chocolate made the cake too hard to cut through (you can tell in the pictures). My updates are reflected in the recipe below and I recommend you check fairly frequently for doneness; which is when the outside edge of the cake is fully set and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean (it won’t come out completely clean due to the chocolate chips in the batter). You should not feel like you are inserting the toothpick into jiggly pudding. One thing to remember, the cake will set up a little more as it cools in the pan.

6-inch super s’mores layer cake

graham cracker cake and meringue topping adapted from Deb Perelman’s ‘Smitten Kitchen Cookbook’
brownie cake adapted from Bite Me More
marshmallow Fluff filling adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

prep Time: 45 minutes
cook Time: 60 minutes (if cooking graham and chocolate cakes one after the other)
total Time: Solid 3 hours between prep, cook, speed cooling, and assembling
makes one, three layer, 6-inch cake (two graham layers, one chocolate layer), or if you choose to slice each cake layer in half horizontally, it will make a six layer, 6-inch cake, as pictured.

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Cake:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup honey graham cracker crumbs, finely processed to a powder (from about 7 standard graham cracker sheets)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

Brownie Cake:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Marshmallow Filling:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup marshmallow cream (Fluff)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4–1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Meringue Topping:

4 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

To Make the Graham Cracker Cakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or spray two 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and then grease the paper.
In a medium bowl mix together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large bowl—or the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment—mix butter, sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix a third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then add the milk, then another third of dry mixture, and then the yogurt or sour cream, and lastly, the rest of the dry mixture. Mix completely.
Divide batter between prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake’s center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on wire rack. Then invert onto rack and remove the cakes. Cool completely.

To Make the Brownie Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or spray one 6-inch round cake pan with non-stick spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and then grease the paper.
In a large bowl—or the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment—mix melted butter, sugar and light brown sugar until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips, stirring until flour has become completely mixed in and smooth.
Pour into prepared pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges of the cake have set and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out easily and with minimal batter (it will have some chocolate on it because of the chocolate chips). Cool in pan for 10 minutes on wire rack. Then invert onto rack and remove the cakes. Cool completely.

To Make the Marshmallow Filling:

In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, marshmallow cream, vanilla, and cream on medium speed until completely smooth. Add 3/4 cup powdered sugar and salt. Mix on low speed to incorporate and then increase speed to high to beat another minute. Add 1/4 cup more powdered sugar if the filling is too runny.

To Make the Meringue Topping:

Fill a medium saucepan part way with water and bring to a simmer. Place egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a heat-proof bowl. Place bowl over simmering water and whisk mixture until sugar is dissolved and egg whites are warm to the touch, about 3 minutes.
Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk until glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine. Best if used right away.

To Fill and Assemble:

Arrange one graham cracker cake layer on the center of a cake stand or serving plate. With a knife or offset spatula, spread about 1/2 the marshmallow filling across the top of the cake. Place the chocolate brownie layer on top of the filling and spread the other half of the marshmallow filling across the top. Top with second graham cracker cake layer.
Now, spread a thin layer of the meringue topping over the top and sides of the assembled cake. Refrigerate cake for 10 minutes to set. Once set, remove the cake from the fridge and generously frost the top and sides with more meringue, reserving some for the top. Fill a piping bag, or zip lock bag with a corner cut off, with the rest of the frosting. Pipe dollops onto top of cake. Torch top with a kitchen torch. I have also heard you can set the cake under the broiler for 5 minutes to brown the top of the merengue; however I have not tried this and, if you do, I would ensure your cake plate is oven safe.

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