De Baking Psychopath

Ok, this was another get-rid-of-sour-cream recipe. But boy, it's so good I'd probably go out to buy sour cream just to make it. The texture of the cake can only be described as plush . Moist, soft, with a crunchy and fragrant cinnamon swirl in the middle and top. You can also feel good about making this recipe since it boasts a reduced-fat and -cholesterol profile (no egg yolks and reduced fat sour cream) and lots of good-for you cinnamon, and you could even swap out the flour for whole wheat pastry flour to give a little more fiber. Whatever the reason, it's a yummy addition to any holiday brunch or weekday morning breakfast! Sour Cream Coffee Cake (adapted from Cooking Light Magazine ) Ingredients : 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (can decrease this if you like--it's for the topping) 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large egg whites 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream (o...

I'm coming home today! So hopefully there will be more baking and blogging to be done in the near future, not to mention food travelogues to post! But for now, here's the last of the 4th of July baking, as well as the last of the getting-rid-of-sour-cream series!! This sticky-gooey, colorful beauty is from the book Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. This book has been on my radar ever since Food Librarian had a giveaway for this cookbook about it and posted a delicious-looking orange ricotta pound cake from the book during National Library Week in April. I borrowed it from the library, flipped through it, and within 5 minutes I knew I need to buy this cookbook. It's chock-full of recipes right up my alley: snack cakes, bundt cakes, coffee cakes, tea loaves, etc. The original recipe called for plums, but I had a bunch of white peaches in the fridge and the peach-blueberry combo is always a winner! Not to mention that peaches and ginger (which is in the ...

I lied: I have more recipes to post. But I will try to space them out over the next several weeks so that the blog doesn't come to a complete standstill in the meantime. I had a bunch of sour cream in the fridge to use up before I go, bought for now-unknown reasons. Probably coffee cake that never got made. But I decided to try out these intriguing sour cream muffin recipes, and boy, am I glad I did! If you have a leftover cup of sour cream you don't know what to do with, consider one of these yummy muffins! First up: Sour Cream Bran Muffins , seen on Joy the Baker, recipe originally from The Gourmet Cookbook . The biggest change I made was to use honey instead of molasses, as I like the cleaner taste of honey. I used dried cherries and dried blueberries in these guys. They are super moist and soft and a touch buttery, yet wheaty and hearty enough to convince you that you're eating something healthy! Did you notice the pretty muffin cups? These are the ones I bought...

This is the second of three muffin recipes I made last week (yes, three). I like having muffins in the freezer at work to eat for random hunger attacks. Beats eating a candy bar. This recipe comes from Nigella, who is one of my culinary heroines, and true to her other recipes that I've tried so far, these are easy, yummy, and flavorful. The pears can get quite molten hot, so if you decide to eat these warm, be just a tad careful. The sweet fruit and warm ginger flavor go very well together, and the muffins turned out moist and tender. Pear and Ginger Muffins (adapted from Nigella Express ) Ingredients : 1 & 3/4 cups flour (I used 1 cup AP flour, 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour) 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon ground ginger 2/3 cup sour cream 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon honey 2 eggs 1 & 1/2 cups peeled and chopped pears (about 1/4 inch dice; I used canned pears) Instructions : Preheat oven to 400 d...

This plate is proof that: 1) You do not have to settle for cardboardy frozen waffles from the store, or make the effort to beat the crowd at the local popular breakfast joint on a Saturday morning in order to get good waffles, and 2) You do not have to spend over $10 for a decent waffle iron!! So Michael and I impulse-bought the cheapo, generic brand (Chefmate) waffle iron at Target a couple of months back. I've been pining away for a waffle iron for a little while now, partly because this was a breakfast item that Michael professed little experience eating, and yet he was not inclined to buy any supermarket frozen waffles in order to try them firsthand. And certainly as we knew with pancakes, such things are much better enjoyed at home in the comfort of pajamas rather than outside in some busy, greasy breakfast joint. To our delight and surprise, we've been getting pretty tasty results with this little cheapo thing. There are couple of waffle iron-specific idiosyncrasies t...

I've gotten increasingly frequent and urgent requests for my baking to take a more savory and healthy trajectory. And for the requester, that doesn't mean to just replace the flour with whole wheat flour and sugar with Splenda. Indeed, I also have in mind a couple of goals for the upcoming months: to get in shape for the Rachel Carson 1/2 challenge in June (yes, super-crazy), and to slim down a bit so I have room to gain a few pounds back on my eating-marathon when I visit the homeland in July. So expect in the next few months to see the repertoire here shift slightly away from cookies and cakes and more towards granola/energy bars and savory breads. As my baking is largely determined by personal cravings and social events (such as an upcoming bake sale this week and a departmental spring potluck in early April), however, you can predict that you will be able to see more of the usual yummy treats as well. For now, though, I bring you two savory muffins to kick start the div...

When I was a Senior in college, my Jewish roommate wanted a Chanumas tree. My other roommate and I obliged, and hilarity ensued--involving two fake mini-lawn trees (the kind with pointy plastic trunks intended to be skewered into the dirt) skewered instead into a printer paper box, blue and white lights, YouDee dolls, mini bacteria stuffed toys, and bar crawl wrist bands.... So when I visited aforementioned Jewish college roommate recently in upstate NY where she's now a grad student, it seemed only fitting that the Chanumas/Chrismukkah theme came up again in our exploits. Namely, these black and white cookies she's been making for many years now, the recipe for which comes out of a festive and cheeky Chrismukkah cookbook. More cake than cookie, this New York-associated confection is somehow ubiquitously familiar, yet no two recipes are seem even remotely similar to each other in their components or ratios....I've seen recipes with milk, some with sour cream, some with bu...

This year's Thanksgiving break symbolized freedom to me: four days that I refused to think about labwork (to the best of my ability) while I enjoyed the company of friends, family, cats, and leisure reading. A high school classmate of both Michael and myself came to visit us this Thanksgiving. We had a grand ol' time around the 'Burgh as well as venturing out to Cleveland for an inaugural visit. But before the three of us headed out, we spent Thanksgiving Day cooking while the Macy's Day parade blared in the background. First up, Michael prepared two roasting hens for our main course. We've come to prefer non-turkey options as neither of us particularly enjoys turkey, and I am not a lover of white meat in general, so a more reasonable option for small groups such as a turkey breast was not appealing. He used this recipe from Allrecipes.com and roasted our hens until an internal temperature of 180 degrees (about 4-5 hours for our 3 and 1/2 lb hens). Although the...

I gotta say, that Dorie Greenspan knows a thing or two about brownies. I recently discovered her Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies , and the Tuesdays with Dorie group lately baked en masse what can only be described as two of Michael's favorite desserts in one: espresso cheesecake and homemade brownies!! I think the decision making process to make these brownies went something like this: "Michael, Michael!! Look at these!" "Oohhh..." "Do you want me to make them?" "Okay!" Espresso Cheesecake Brownies (adapted from Baking: From my home to yours , by Dorie Greenspan) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set the oven rack to the center position. Grease and line with parchment paper a 9 inch square pan. Ingredients for brownies: 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, chopped 1/3 cup sugar 2 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Instruct...

A third goodbye in the lab within the last 8 months, and the heralding of the end of summer. At least there's cake to make it a little better. I have a love affair with the pairing of orange and chocolate (amongst other things), and I have exploited this well-matched flavor combo on more than one occasion, usually in a drunken cake of some sort, often involving Grand Marnier. I always forget how strong this orange-flavored liquor is (40% alcohol, can you believe it?!) and add too generously, resulting in a chocolate cake with an orange punch in the face. So I made the same mistake this time too, but I tried to remedy it by cooking the jam-liquor mixture on the stove a little bit to burn off a little alcohol. Whether the sugar melded with the liquor enough for me not to notice it as much, or if it really burned off, I can't tell, but in any case, it's already soaked into the cake, so too late! The cake comes from Nigella Lawson , the decadently sensuous Brit who makes her...