Patriotic Cupcakes

Happy Independence Day!!


If I know anything about myself, it’s that history and geography are not my strong suits. It took me forever to learn the 50 states and their locations and, to this day, I still get Wyoming and Colorado confused – they are both sort of rectangle-ish! I am also very lacking when it come to any history predating the New Kids on the Block, A.L.F., Fraggle Rock and the Goonies. I could tell you how many toothpicks Dustin Hoffman counted in Rain Man (246 and 4 left in the box), but I can’t remember pretty basic United States history such as when and where the civil war ended (1865 at the Appomattox courthouse – sadly, I did a report on Appomattox and visited the very courthouse in middle school and still couldn’t recall this without the help of Google).




Even so, I can appreciate Independence Day and the hard work and sacrifice from our armed forces to keep our freedoms alive! In honor of our Independence and our flag, I whipped up a batch of “Old Glory” Cupcakes. These were very pretty and delicious to eat, but there was an unintended side effect – to get the colors this rich, a lot of food coloring was used, that food coloring ended up dyeing tongues blue. As weird as that was to discover, it was kind of fun feeling like a kid again with one of those blue raspberry popsicles.


Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Independence Day, and many thanks to all of our soldiers, international and domestic, fighting for our freedoms every day.







Vanilla Cupcakes The Girl Tastes

Yields: 6 cupcakes
Ingredients
2/3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. cream
2 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
Instructions
Prepare your ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a liquid measuring cup, mix together the cream, milk, and vanilla. 
Make the batter: Using a hand-mixer, whip the butter for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar, and cream until very light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, just until incorporated. Now, switch to a whisk to add the dry ingredients in three installments, alternating with the wet ingredients. (Add in this order: dry-wet-dry-wet-dry.) After each installment, stir just until combined. Batter will be thick. 
Use batter as is, or you can separate into different bowls and color as I did.
Bake: Line a muffin tin with six liners. Distribute batter evenly between the liners; it should fill them about 3/4 of the way. Bake in a preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Cool on wire rack before frosting.

Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter Y'All!


I hope you have a wonderful day with you friends, family and loved ones! I plan on sitting down to a meal of ham, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding and green beans - and more desesrts than I know what to do with!


Today, I'm going to keep the post short, as I want to spend as much time as I can with my parents, who drove all the way from the East Coast to spend the holiday with us!


So I'll leave you with a great recipe for a traditional hot-crossed bun that is as easy as it is delcious!




Hot Crossed Buns Recipe
From Simply Recipes
Makes 16 buns.

Ingredients
1 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)
3/4 cup warm milk
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons ground spices (for example, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)
1 teaspoon salt
4 Tbsp butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature (if taking right out of the fridge, let sit in warm water for a few minutes to take the chill off before using)
3/4 cup currants or raisins (can sub half of currants with chopped candied citrus peel)
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
 Glaze
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk

Frosting
1 teaspoon milk or orange juice
3 to 4 Tbsp powdered sugar

Directions
In a bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of the warmed milk and one teaspoon of sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and let sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.

In a large bowl or the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, vigorously whisk together 3 cups of the flour (reserving additional flour for later step), the salt, spices, and 1/4 cup of sugar.

Create a well in the flour and add the foamy yeast, softened butter, and eggs. Using a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of your mixer, mix the ingredients until well incorporated. The mixture should be shaggy and quite sticky. Add in the currants, candied peel, and orange zest.

If you are using a stand-up mixer, switch to the dough hook attachment and start to knead on low speed. (If not using a mixer, use your hands to knead.) Slowly sprinkle in additional flour, a tablespoon at a time, kneading to incorporate after each addition, until the flour is still slightly tacky, but is no longer completely sticking to your fingers when you work with it.

Form a ball of dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit, covered, at room temperature (or in a warm spot) for 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.

Press down on the dough to gently compress it. Roll the ball of dough into a log shape and cut it into two halves. Place one half back in the bowl while you work with the other half. Take the dough half you are working with and cut it into 8 equal pieces. The easiest way to do this is to roll it into a log, cut it in half, then roll those pieces into logs, cut them in half, and then do it again, roll those pieces into logs, and cut them in half.

Take the individual pieces and form them into mounds, placing them 1 1/2 inches apart from each other on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and then work the remaining dough into 8 equal pieces and place them in mounds on a baking sheet, again cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough mounds sit at room temperature (or warm place) to rise again, until the mounds have doubled in volume, about 30-40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare egg wash by whisking together one egg and a tablespoon of milk. If you want, you can score the top of the buns with a knife in a cross pattern. You will want to make fairly deep cuts, for the pattern to be noticeable after they're done. Using a pasty brush, brush on the egg wash over the dough mounds. The egg wash will give them a shiny appearance when cooked.

Place in the middle rack of the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes, until the buns are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer the buns to a wire rack to cool.

To paint a cross on the top of the buns, wait until the buns have cooled (or the frosting will run). Whisk together the milk and the powdered sugar. Keep adding powdered sugar until you get a thick consistency. Place in a plastic sandwich bag. Snip off a small piece from the corner of the bag and use the bag to pipe two lines of frosting across each bun to make a cross.

Macaroon Mania! (Part 4 of 4 - Chewy Chocolate Macaroons)

Part 4: Chewy Chocolate Macaroons

And here is the end of our macaroon mania! These macaroons I had to give a try. They are so different than any other recipe I’d seen for a few reasons:
-They’re chocolate. Not drizzled, not dipped – full-on, in-your-face chocolate.
-They are cooked low and slow (250 for 45 minutes versus the typical 350 for 15-20 minutes)
-The contain flour
-There is no egg in this recipe


These macaroons were a cinch to make. But waiting for them to cook was absolute torture. Forty-five minutes seemed like an eternity to wait, especially once the kitchen started smelling of coconut and chocolate. Now that’s a lethal combination.


The payoff was worth it. The cookies are soft, and chewy, without being wet or sticky. These macaroons were divine. I was surprised too, because I was expecting to taste like a mounds bar, or just like a chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon. The chocolate had actually taken on a distinct ‘brownie’ taste, which really surprised me, but paired really well with the coconut.


I really recommend trying these. I never imagined I’d flip for such an unconventional macaroon, but it’s a winner. Why not try spicing up your typical Easter recipes?


Well, there you have it. Macaroon Mania. In the end, I do think the classic coconut macaroon won out, but just by a hair. The chewy chocolate coconut macaroon was amazing as well, and I could easily justify having one (or two) of each, because they’re so different. Alton’s were delicious, more like a coconut meringue than what I consider a macaroon, but everyone who enjoys coconut went nuts over these. The chocolate drizzled macaroons were good, and would be fabulous to make nests out of with chocolate eggs for kids, but I like having the coconut a little more broken down than it was in these cookies, not to mention I preferred the more sophisticated look of the other cookies.

Previously: Macaroon Mania! (Part 3 of 4 - Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons)

Chewy Chocolate Macaroons

From Cooke Madness

Ingredients

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

½ cup sifted cake flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups lightly packed flaked sweetened coconut

1 teaspoonvanilla extract

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 250°. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Melt unsweetened chocolate in microwave. Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with knife. Combine flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add coconut to flour mixture and toss well. Stir in melted chocolate, vanilla and condensed milk.

Drop the batter by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet. Bake at 250° for 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on pan or rack

Yield: 32 cookies (serving size: 1 cookie)

Macaroon Mania! (Part 3 of 4 - Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons)

Part Three: Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons

This recipe appealed to me for two main reasons:
The coconut is toasted before incorporating into the recipe
The egg whites are whipped into a meringue-like consistency before using, instead of just mixing everything together.


This one, like the first cookie, required a little more than a wooden spoon to make. While these were good, I’m not sure this is the first recipe I’d run to if I was craving a macaroon. I’d consider these more along the lines of a coconut-flavored meringue instead of a macaroon. But that doesn’t mean that all the coconut lovers in our house didn’t go crazy for them. These were some of the more popular cookies, despite not being a traditional macaroon. You never know if you don’t try.


Up Next: The exciting conlusion to Macaroon Mania! – Part Four: Chewy Chocolate Macaroons

Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons

From Alton Brown

Ingredients
4 large egg whites

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

12 ounces sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

2 (3 ounce) kosher milk chocolate bars, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place coconut on a baking sheet, spread out evenly and place in the oven.

Return to the oven every five minutes to stir the browning coconut. Once evenly browned, after about 15 minutes, remove the the oven and allow to cool.

In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment. whip egg whites and salt until they become white and begin to stiffen. Add sugar in 3 parts. Continue to whip until the egg whites are very stiff. Fold in toasted coconut.

On parchment lined cookie sheets, drop a teaspoon of the mixture leaving 1 to 2 inches around each cookie. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The outside should be golden brown but the insides should still be moist.

Place chocolate chunks in a heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water so that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water. Allow to melt. Stir until loose and creamy. Partially dip the macaroons in the chocolate then allow to cool and harden on a parchment lined sheet. You can place the pan of chocolate dipped cookies in the refrigerator to speed up the hardening process.

Macaroon Mania! (Part 2 of 4 - Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons)

Part Two: Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons

I was curious what making macaroons without the food processor would be like. But I couldn’t make them plain like the first ones, that would be too boring! So I decided to go with some Easter egg colors to make the plate a little more festive.


I liked that these went together easily, but I did notice that these looked a little more like dyed hay bales when I scooped them onto the baking sheet. Because all the little shreds of coconut were still whole, these macaroons were a little more fibrous than the first macaroons. These would be great to make little nests out of to hold chocolate eggs, but as far as taste and texture goes, the first macaroons were far superior.

Up Next: Macaroon Mania! – Part Three: Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons
Previously: Macaroon Mania! - Part One: The Coconut Macaroon

Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons

From Baker’s Coconut. Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 (14 oz) Bag Shredded Coconut

2/3 c Sugar

6 Tbsp Flour

¼ tsp Salt

4 Egg Whites

1 tsp Almond Extract

Assorted Food Coloring

½ c Semi-Sweet Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour baking sheets; set aside. Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract until well blended. Divide mixture into separate bowls, add food coloring one drop at a time until you reach desired color.

2. Drop coconut mixture into 36 mounds, 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets, using about 1 tablespoonful of the coconut mixture for each mound. Bake 20 min. or until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.

3. To decorate with drizzled chocolate, place chocolate in a sandwich bag on a microwave safe dish and microwave in 30 second intervals moving the chocolate around between each interval until melted. Using scissors, cut the tip off the sandwich bag. The smaller your cut, the smaller the drizzle. Use the sandwich bag to pipe the chocolate back and forth over the macaroons until you reach the desired look.

Macaroon Mania! (Part 1 of 4 – The Coconut Macaroon)

With a week to go before Easter, I figured it might be fun to delve into some Easter goodies! For some reason, even with all the chocolate bunnies, Cadbury Crème eggs, jelly beans and assorted other Easter candy, I always look forward to the macaroons the most. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t ever turn down the opportunity to chomp the ears off of an unsuspecting chocolate bunny, or stuff myself to the gills with Jelly Bellys, but, if I want an Easter tradition that I can truly savor and enjoy, it’s the macaroon. I wanted to find a good macaroon recipe to share with my family and was not really surprised that an internet search for ‘macaroon recipe’ returned a ton of results. I was surprised, however, at the many different types of macaroons out there. Because I was intrigued by the results of my search, I pulled four macaroon recipes to try. Yes, four. And if you can believe it, these cookies were all made in one evening. I know, it’s crazy. But sometimes we do crazy things in the name of food.

Part One: Classic Macaroons

I figured the best place to start would be the beginning, with the cookie that started this process. The classic coconut macaroon. Just by hearing the word macaroon, I envision a very specific cookie. To me, a macaroon is creamy colored and slightly toasted on the outside, not sticky, and when you bite into it, you get the slight crispness on the outside coupled with a soft, melt-in-your-mouth center. It should have a slight chew, but if I can’t swallow it after about four or five bites, it is too chewy.


This recipe from Baking Bites fit the bill. The picture featured with the recipe look exactly like the cookies I was imagining, so I gave this recipe a try. Everything about making these cookies went pretty smoothly, I only had a slight issue when trying to put the cookies on the baking sheet. The cookies themselves are either very delicate, or else I manhandled them, because fell apart pretty easily as I was trying to spoon them out. A quick fix stuck them back together and then into the oven they went.


The end result was exactly what I envisioned a perfect macaroon. I had hit coconut bliss but, I wasn’t done. There were three more recipes that caught my attention, and I had to see if there were any macaroon versions I liked more than the original. And don't let the fact that you need a food processor discourage you - these are worth a little extra cleanup!


Up Next: Macaroon Mania! Part Two: Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

From Baking Bites

Ingredients

4 cups shredded, sweetened coconut (unsweetened is fine, too)

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp rum (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Place shredded coconut into a food processor bowl and pulse several times until coconut is finely chopped (not into coconut flour, but into approx. small, rice-sized bits).

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt until smooth. Whisk in cornstarch and rum. Stir in coconut, making sure the entire mixture is an even consistency.

Drop by rounded teaspoons (so roughly 2 tsp balls, if using a standard measure) onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden on the bottom and top.

Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 – 3 1/2 dozen

Linked to:

Easter Biscotti

When my brother and I were little, my parents the Easter Bunny, would create a path of candy, either jelly beans or m&m’s, originating from our rooms to our respective Easter Baskets. I seem to recall that my brother would pick them up and eat them as he went, whereas I would collect a handful and then shove them all in my mouth at once – classy, right? I loved Easter – it was the only other holiday other than Halloween where we got a free pass on candy consumption (I guess they were hoping that our resulting stomachaches would teach us a lesson. Nope.).

In our baskets, there would always be a chocolate bunny, jelly beans and m&m’s, among other things.

Do you eat your rabbits ears first, feet first, or tail first? I’m totally an ears person. But, I digress. I always really enjoyed jelly beans, especially all the black, licorice flavored ones my brother and mom despised. I had to fight my dad for those. Aside from Jelly Belly brand, I didn’t really know other kinds existed. My husband introduced me to Starburst jelly beans a few years ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

We saw the bags were on sale at our local store, which of course meant we bought more than we should have. I saw this jelly bean biscotti recipe a while ago on Culinary in the Desert, and figured the jelly bean excess would be a good excuse to try out the recipe. The biscotti looked so festive, and the recipe itself was intriguing – would jelly beans in a baked good taste ok?

Everything assembled nicely for the biscotti, and I got it in the oven without incident. I am so glad I had put parchment paper down, because I didn’t think about the jelly beans becoming molten pockets of colored sugar as they baked into the dough. The bit that leaked out onto the paper cleaned up easily, and I had a clean cookie pan once they were done.
My main issue was that the biscotti were very difficult to cut from the log into 1/2” segments - mine were larger than that. The still melted jelly beans would ooze onto the parchment and stick to the knife, and make cutting the next piece off either messy or impossible. I practically had to wash jelly bean goop off of the knife in between each cut. Eventually, I got them all cut and back in the oven, where more of the jelly bean goop leaked out from the cut edges. Once they were out of the oven and cooled, it was time to sample.

The verdict?

They are definite cute and festive, but the jury was still out on whether we liked the taste of them, or were more won over by the novelty of the biscotti. I think I liked them, but I’m not sure if I’ll be making them again – I can think of many other Easter specialties (including my Carrot Cake Cheesecake) that I’d rather spend the time both baking and eating. Because I wasn't sure how jelly bean biscotti would be received, I made a half batch, which worked out fine for us.

Easter Biscotti.
From Culinary in the Desert
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, divided - at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
12 ounces Jelly Beans

Preheat the oven to 375°

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla.

Add in the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the Jelly Beans. The dough may be a bit sticky.

Scoop dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Take one half and roll lightly back and forth making a log about the length of your baking sheet. Carefully place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the second piece.

Using wet fingers if the dough is sticky, flatten each log a bit.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining egg and brush evenly over each log.

Bake for about 23-28 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 10-15 minutes (can go a little more.) Using a serrated knife, carefully slice them on the diagonal into about 1/2" slices. Stand each slice back on the baking sheet - it is ok if they touch.

Bake for another 10-12 minutes until the edges turn a slight golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Easter Bunny Bread

It’s been nearly two years since we’ve owned our house, and I am still shocked at how few decorations we have. Aside from some Christmas lights, my homemade thanksgiving decorations and an Easter serving platter, we have very few things with which to adorn our house for specific holidays. It’s true that the money we saved on decorations has most likely contributed to the fact we’ve been able to afford new appliances as we need them, but I definitely enjoy the feel of a home that is lovingly decorated for each season. Unlike Thanksgiving, I didn’t have a lot of time to make decorations this time; so I figured I’d adorn our table with something that is not only cute, but multi-purposed - an Easter-themed decoration that is also our table centerpiece, appetizer and bread for the meal.

The original recipe for the Easter Bunny bread called for using one-pound tubes of frozen bread dough. I did not even know there was such a product, not to mention I did not know where to look for it in the store. So I just decided to make my own bread and just measure off the necessary amounts of dough for the recipe.
This Easter Bunny was fun to make, and my family got a kick out of me lovingly sculpting him out of bread dough. He so cute coming out of the oven that I felt incredibly guilty cutting the midsection out of the poor bunny, but you have to do what you have to do. I can promise that covered his eyes beforehand and that he didn’t suffer. The cavity was then lined with lettuce and filled with a garlic, lemon and dill dip and fresh veggies (as well as the cubed bread cut from the midsection) were laid out on the platter to serve as an appetizer prior to the meal being served.

Once dinner was ready, it was time to dig into our little bread bunny. To be honest, I was a little worried how my family would react to ferociously dismantling an innocent rabbit to get a dinner bun, but my fears were soon put to rest as soon once husband asked for the left ear. Everyone else started asking for cheeks, arms, legs and portions of the head. They were rewarded with soft bread that had a relatively tight crumb and subtle sweetness from the honey.

Even if you don’t have to heart to make, bake and eat an Easter Bunny, you can make this bread as per its original instructions and have a wonderful braided loaf to proudly serve with your Easter dinner.




Honey Buttermilk Bread
Adapted Slightly From NY Girl Eats World

1/2 cup warm water
1 packet of yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 ½ cups buttermilk, slightly warmed
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4-1/2 cup honey
6 cups flour, separated
egg wash (1 beaten egg with 2 Tbsp water)
sesame seeds, optional

Pour the warm water into the bottom of a large bowl and add the yeast. Then sprinkle in the sugar and then let it sit for 10 minutes. It should be foaming by this point.

Once the yeast has foamed and frothed, add the butter, milk and honey, whisking it all together vigorously.

Add 2 cups of flour and mix with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Add two more cups and mix well. Once the dough is pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add a cup more to soak up the rest of the moisture.

Scatter the remaining cup of flour on your kneading surface. Dump the shaggy dough from the bowl and begin gathering it into a ball and kneading it. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes until you have a smooth, firm pale-yellow ball of dough that gives a thud when you slap it.

Grease the bowl you mixed the dough in and put the dough back in. Let it sit and rise for an hour and a half in a warm place.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the dough has risen to double its original size, gently punch it down and turn it back out on a lightly floured surface.

If you plan on making the easter bunny bread, skip this last part and start with the Easter Bunny Bread directions. Otherwise, continue this recipe to get a delicious loaf of bread that doesn’t look like Bugs Bunny.

Easter Bunny Bread Directions
From Taste of Home published in Quick Cooking March/April 2001, p13

Ingredients
2 pounds of bread dough (one batch of the recipe above should suffice or you can use two 1 pound frozen loaves, thawed)
2 raisins
2 sliced almonds
1 egg, lightly beaten
Lettuce leaves
Dip of your choice (I used the Creamy Garlic Dill Dip found below)

Directions
Cut a fourth off of one loaf of dough; shape into a pear to form head. For body, flatten remaining portion into a 7-in. x 6-in. oval; place on a greased baking sheet. Place head above body. Make narrow cuts, about 3/4 in. deep, on each side of head for whiskers.

Cut second loaf into four equal portions. For ears, shape two portions into 16-in. ropes; fold ropes in half. Arrange ears with open ends touching head. Cut a third portion of dough in half; shape each into a 3-1/2-in. oval for back paws. Cut two 1-in. slits on top edge for toes. Position on each side of body.
Divide the fourth portion of dough into three pieces. Shape two pieces into 2-1/2-in. balls for front paws; shape the remaining piece into two 1-in. balls for cheeks and one 1/2-in. ball for nose. Place paws on each side of body; cut two 1-in. slits for toes. Place cheeks and nose on face. Add raisins for eyes and almonds for teeth.

Brush dough with egg. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Place bread on a lettuce-lined 16-in. x 13-in. serving tray. Cut a 5-in. x 4-in. oval in center of body. Hollow out bread, leaving a 1/2-in. shell (discard removed bread or save for another use). Line with lettuce and fill with dip.

Yield: 1 loaf.

Creamy Dill Dipping Sauce
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or 2 tsp dried dill)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-2 cloves finely diced (or pressed) garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a small mixing bowl, combine sour cream, garlic, dill, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Flatten and shape the dough into a rectangle, then cut it into three equal strips, lengthwise. Cross the strips into a braid and tuck the ends under. Move the bread to a greased baking sheet and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Brush the egg glaze over the top of the bread, which will give the finished bread a nice sheen, and sprinkle the bread with sesame seeds, if using. Finally it's time to perfume the house with the sweet scent of this golden loaf: Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes and let cool.

Happy Pi Day! 3.14 = PI.E!

And, Happy 2nd Anniversary to my wonderful hubby! Yes, we got married on Pi day two years ago today, and had Pi-shaped sugar cookie favors. Last year we decorated our year-old piece of wedding cake with the pi symbol and ate a couple fresh-made pi sugar cookies.

This year we are celebrating with some apple pi(e)! The hubby's favorite dessert of all-time is pie, so it's only fitting that I made some on our anniversary! (If I would have thought about it, I would have made Pizza "Pi" for dinner, too!)


This is a 6 1/2 inch pie using my new fiestaware pie plate! I mostly eyeballed this recipe, so you'll have to adjust it to taste, but for me, this pie used 3 granny smith apples, about a 1 tbsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tsp of lemon zest, 2 tsp lemon juice and a pie crust of your choice. I baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes, covering the edges about halfway through so they wouldn't over-brown.

Happy Pi Day!!!

(And happy anniversary to my dearest hubby!)

Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

I was always curious why mint is associated with St. Patty’s Day. Is it because the color green makes us think of mint? Or did Saint. Patrick just have minty fresh breath all the time?

Whatever the reason, I’m a-ok with it. Anything that is mint-flavored will usually get my attention. So when I saw Andes Crème de Menthe baking chips in the baking aisle at my local grocery store, I had no choice but to throw them in my cart and daydream of all the wonderful things I could do with them.

When you love chocolate, and cookies, and cakes, and practically anything with sugar in it, it is difficult to find a balance between eating healthily and satisfying my sugar cravings. With cookies, I can make the dough for an entire batch, but only bake the ones I want to have around, freezing the other cookie balls to have my own ‘instant cookies’ later. And I’m glad I didn’t bake all of these at once. They are so good, I would have eaten every last one of them.

The chip’s mint flavor really permeates through the cookie and, if I hadn’t known otherwise, I would have thought that the dough itself might have been flavored with mint, it’s that pronounced. If the hubby liked darker cocoa, I would have used my Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder, but, since he’s more of a milk chocolate fan, I used the regular unsweetened baking cocoa. The cookies come out of the oven pretty loose, so be sure to let them cool on the baking sheet as instructed; they will fall apart to mush, otherwise. Delicious, minty chocolaty mush, but mush nonetheless. When the cookies set, they will be soft, but not chewy, and the outermost edges will be the slightest bit crisp, without being crunchy.

The best part to me about these cookies is that you can eat the cookie dough! There are no eggs in the batter, so you could easily omit the baking powder and make mint chocolate cookie dough truffles or, do what I did, and just eat it straight from the bowl. Obviously, I opted for straight from the bowl.

Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

From Two Peas and Their Pod

Makes 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup dutch-process cocoa-make sure to use dutch process for a rich/dark flavor

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed and room temp

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 - 10 bag of chips (I used Andes crème de menthe chips, but any mint chip would do – or go crazy and try peanut butter or white chocolate.. yum!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line baking sheets with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa, and set aside. Beat the butter on medium-high until light and add sugars, creaming well. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternately with the milk in one batch, mixing well. Stir in the mint chips. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes. You can make the dough a few hours or 2 days before baking and it will be fine. Just wrap it up and keep in the fridge.

Scoop the dough onto a parchment- or silpat-lined cookie sheet, press down on them slightly, and bake for 14-15 minutes…for a normal size cookie. Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet, they will set up as they cool. Store in an air-tight container, they will stay fresh for a couple of days.

If Freezing: Scoop the dough as you would when baking it and line up as many of the dough balls on a baking sheet that will fit. Then place the baking sheet in the freezer until all of the dough balls are completely frozen. At that point, you can put all of the dough balls into a freezer bag. To bake from frozen, extend the baking time to 15-17 minutes. And, even if they are underbaked, it's ok, no egg!

Italian Seven-Layer Cookies

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope I have time to share one last recipe with you before Christmas. These are really worth the wait, and definitely some of the most festive ones that have exited my kitchen.

These seven-layer cookies are the last ones I’m making this season, but they were the first on my ‘must make’ list. They seem like such a nice change of pace from a traditional cookie, they have gotten rave reviews on the website where I acquired the recipe, and they’re just plain pretty to look at! I like having one ‘showpiece’ on the cookie plate because, let’s face it, even if the fruitcake is good, it still is a little bit like the ugly duckling on the table.

Aside from the almond paste and apricot preserves, I had everything I needed in my pantry to make these already. The almond paste shouldn’t be difficult to find, either, it was in the baking aisle of our local grocery store, right under the jars of mincemeat filling and canisters of marshmallow fluff.

With three layers of almond cake sandwiching apricot preserves, book-ended with a chocolate coating, these bars are more layer-cake or petit-four than cookie. They simple and straight forward to make, but the projected time required to make these beauties, 11 hours, can be a little intimidating. Most of the 11 hours is inactive time, so if you can find some patience, you’ll be rewarded with a fantastic, show-stopper of a treat. I actually find something strangely satisfying about spending a long time in the kitchen preparing only one thing. I can focus fully on one recipe, instead of multitasking between three of four, which I’ve done before, and requires a lot of effort to keep things situated.

I find myself constantly reaching in the container of these and pulling one out to munch on. They're bite sized, so they don't feel like a complete over-indulgence, but they are a step above most of the other treats I've made in terms of visual appeal and complexity of flavors.

I'm pretty sure I am going to need to make these every year now. And maybe just change the colors of the layers to make it more appropriate for other holidays throughout the year, because I'm not sure I can handle waiting eleven more months to have another one of these once this batch is gone!

Curious about what I’ve made already? Check out:
White Trash
Quick Mix Spritz Cookies
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Spiced Pecans and Pralines
Fresh orange Spritz Cookies
Fruitcake
Ginger Molasses Cookies
Paper-Thin Sugar Cookies
Peppermint-Chocolate Fudge


Seven Layer Cookies
Gourmet 2005 and seen on Smitten Kitchen
yield: Makes about 5 dozen cookies
active time: 1 1/2 hr
total time: 11 hr

4 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 (8-oz) can almond paste
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
25 drops red food coloring
25 drops green food coloring
1 (12-oz) jar apricot preserves, heated and strained
7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

Special equipment: a heavy-duty stand mixer; a small offset spatula

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 13- by 9-inch baking pan and line bottom with wax paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 ends, then butter paper.

Beat whites in mixer fitted with whisk attachment at medium-high speed until they just hold stiff peaks. Add 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating at high speed until whites hold stiff, slightly glossy peaks. Transfer to another bowl.

Switch to paddle attachment, then beat together almond paste and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add butter and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and almond extract and beat until combined well, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and salt and mix until just combined.

Fold half of egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.

Divide batter among 3 bowls. Stir red food coloring into one and green food coloring into another, leaving the third batch plain. Set white batter aside. Chill green batter, covered. Pour red batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with offset spatula (layer will be about 1/4 inch thick).

Bake red layer 8 to 10 minutes, until just set. (It is important to undercook.)

Using paper overhang, transfer layer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Clean pan, then line with wax paper and butter paper in same manner as above. Bake white layer in prepared pan until just set. As white layer bakes, bring green batter to room temperature. Transfer white layer to a rack. Prepare pan as above, then bake green layer in same manner as before. Transfer to a rack to cool.

When all layers are cool, invert green onto a wax-paper-lined large baking sheet. Discard paper from layer and spread with half of preserves. Invert white on top of green layer, discarding paper. Spread with remaining preserves. Invert red layer on top of white layer and discard wax paper.

Cover with plastic wrap and weight with a large baking pan. Chill at least 8 hours.

Remove weight and plastic wrap. Bring layers to room temperature. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Keep chocolate over water.

Trim edges of assembled layers with a long serrated knife. Quickly spread half of chocolate in a thin layer on top of cake. Chill, uncovered, until chocolate is firm, about 15 minutes. Cover with another sheet of wax paper and place another baking sheet on top, then invert cake onto sheet and remove paper. Quickly spread with remaining chocolate. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Cut lengthwise into 4 strips. Cut strips crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide cookies.

Cooks' note: Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 2 weeks.

Chocolate-Peppermint Fudge

Even the most die-hard Christmas cookie fanatics can use a change of pace at times.

This fudge is a rendition of my family’s recipe for Mamie’s Million Dollar Fudge. I’ve looked up several recipes online and all of them are different, so I can only speak of the specific recipe I got from my mom’s recipe stash. I love plain chocolate fudge, but in the spirit of the holidays (and the lack of any other peppermint treats in my baking menu) I wanted to add a peppermint twist to it as well. So instead of making one 13 x 9 inch pan of all chocolate, I made two 8x8 pans of fudge, one plain chocolate, and one peppermint-chocolate. Other than that, I kept the recipe the same.

There are two and three-quarters pounds of chocolate in this fudge. This recipe is not for the faint of heart. I thought that I for sure had written it down wrong, so I started looking up recipes online. The next closest recipe had more sugar and only 24 ounces of chocolate. I finally emailed my mom to make sure I transcribed the recipe correctly and, sure enough, I had.

I’m sure you’ll figure out why this produces such a large batch. Even a big batch doesn’t last long! Creamy, soft, smooth and decadent; everything you want out of a good piece of fudge. I always thought that using evaporated milk and marshmallow fluff was cheating – along the lines of using boxed cake mix and canned icing - and that I’d never make fudge that way. Man, did I ever get knocked off my high horse.

This mouth-watering fudge is fantastic, and I don’t have to worry about spending all the time making it, only to have it become grainy at the end. I may try making my other ‘real’ fudge recipes again just to see if I can ever get it as smooth and creamy as this recipe, but the bar has been set pretty high. I now have a recipe I can turn to when I just want a perfect piece of fudge with minimal effort. How can you beat that?

Now please excuse me while I eat a piece of humble pie fudge.

And another.

And another.

Curious about what I’ve made already? Check out:
White Trash
Quick Mix Spritz Cookies
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Spiced Pecans and Pralines
Fresh orange Spritz Cookies
Fruitcake
Ginger Molasses Cookies
Paper-Thin Sugar Cookies


Mamie Eisenhower Fudge
Family Recipe

4 c Granulated sugar
Dash Salt
2 Tbsp butter
1 14 oz Can Evaporated Milk
32 oz Packages semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 pkgs (4 oz each) German Sweet chocolate bars
1 pint (2 c) marshmallow fluff
2 teaspoons peppermint flavoring (or divide into two batches and do 1 tsp peppermint in one batch and one tsp vanilla in the other)

Boil together sugar, salt butter and evaporated milk for 6 minutes. In large bowl combine chocolate chips and marshmallow fluff. Pour boiling syrup over mixture. Beat with electric mixer by hand until well blended. Pour immediately into greased 9 x 13 pan and allow to stand for 2 hours before cutting. 

Home is Where the Heart Is {Recipe: Paper-Thin Sugar Cookies}

Every family has holiday traditions, and mine is no different. We would usually watch our first Christmas movie usually the evening of Thanksgiving, fighting off the food coma induced by too much turkey and way too much stuffing. My brother and I always got one gift to unwrap on Christmas eve, after coming home from the evening church service. We knew it was always going to be pajamas, but it was so exciting, and felt a little rebellious to be able to open a gift early.

Mostly though, when I think about the holidays at our house, I think of the music we have playing. Of all the Christmas songs that play on the radio these days, I am still drawn to the music of Burl Ives, Perry Como and Bing Crosby to make my holiday feel complete, because that is what our family listened to while trimming our tree, opening presents on Christmas morning, and while rolling, cutting and baking these sugar cookies - a holiday staple at our house.

Though my top ten favorite Christmas songs do change from year to year, the song that inevitably tops my list is “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” sung by Perry Como. As I got older and moved out of the house to go to college, this song always made me look forward to the end of finals, and being able to go home and relax with my family for my month long winter break. I knew, too that I at least still had my summers at home, so being away wasn’t too difficult, but there were moments I got very homesick my first year of school.

Then, I got older, and I moved out to Indiana during the summers to work as an intern, leaving only my winter breaks for the relaxing month-long visit with my family.

Then, I got older still. I graduated college, moved out to the Midwest, got a job, married my sweetheart, bought a house and adopted a puppy. There are no more winter breaks, no more relaxing month-long visits with my family, just a few long weekends several times a year. Back on the east coast with my family, I’ve missed weddings, funerals and babies being born. I didn’t relaly think about it too much until my first winter in the Midwest. Turning on the Christmas music, I heard Perry Como’s voice singing “There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays.” and I started feeling a little depressed. I felt like I should feel at home in my new surroundings, but without my family, my traditions and my holiday routine, I just felt lost.

It took me a while to accept that while this is all part of growing up and moving on, I also realized that I am not lost, and am, in fact, lucky now to have gone from one place that I consider ‘home’ for the holidays, to having three – my home with my husband and puppy, my parent’s house and my in-laws’ house. My hubby and I now have incorporated some of each family’s traditions and now have some of our own.

Now when I hear “No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” I still occasionally get a little nostalgic for my childhood Christmases, but I can smile knowing that no matter where I am when Christmas rolls around, I’ll be at home. And as a little bit of insurance, I listen to Perry Como sing the Christmas classics while I bake these sugar cookies from a recipe that has been passed down from my grandmother, to my dad and now to me. I can hear both of them telling me that to know when the cookies have been rolled thin enough, you should be able to see the design of the table cloth through the dough. And, when I smell the buttery, sugary aroma of these cooking wafting through the house, and taste my first cookie of the season, I know I’m home for the holidays.

Curious about what I’ve made already? Check out:
White Trash
Quick Mix Spritz Cookies
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Spiced Pecans and Praline Candy
Fresh Orange Spritz Cookies
Fruitcake
Ginger Molasses Cookies




Paper-Thin Sugar Cookies
Family Recipe

½ c Margarine
½ c Shortening
2 c Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp lemon extract
½ c evaporated milk
2 Tbsp Water
7 c Sifted Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda

Cream together margarine and shortening. Add sugar and continue creaming. Add eggs, one at a time, vanilla, and lemon extract. Add canned milk and water. At flour, salt and baking soda. Use large mixer, start with beaters and finish with dough hooks. Chill and work with small sections of dough at a time. Roll extremely thin. Cut shapes and transfer to cookie sheet sprayed with PAM. Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 3-4 minutes or until edges start turning golden. Cool on racks.

Note:These cookies bake in a flash, as in, two to three minutes. Once these go in the oven, don’t get distracted. They will go from golden brown to Santa-shaped charcoal briquette faster than you can say”:
“HO HO HO-ly Christmas the cookies are burning!”

Dough can be frozen unbaked or stored, tightly wrapped, in refrigerator.

Gingeriest Ginger Molasses Cookies

If I could have one type of cookie for the rest of my life, it might possibly be a ginger molasses cookie. There is something that draws me in about the sweetness of the molasses and brown sugar with the sharp bite of ginger and cinnamon.

When I was in college, one of my treats on a fairly regular basis was to get a coffee and molasses chew cookie from Starbucks. Those cookies were chewy, spicy and had a wonderful crusty sugary outside. That love affair lasted until I made the mistake of looking up the nutrition information for one of those cookies. Now they are only an occasional indulgence.

You didn’t think I’d give them up forever, did you?

I have since researched recipes in an attempt to imitate that molasses chew cookie so I could have my little indulgence during the holidays. I ran across this recipe, and figured it looked good. Even if it isn’t the Starbucks cookie I know and love, I’ll still get a delicious molasses cookie with a gingery kick.

This cookie did not disappoint. The candied ginger as well as the ground ginger lent a definite spiciness to the cookie. I was a little tentative taking them out of the oven, because for chewy cookies, you usually have to remove them before they look done so that they don't overcook; but I typically don't trust that my cookies will set up properly when I take them out early. I went against my instinct with this one and took them out of the oven when the middles still seemed slightly damp and, much to my surprise, they turned out perfect once they cooled. They have a distinct chew, and the chunks of candied ginger throughout the cookie give a nice textural contrast.

According to the informal poll of my family - this cookie has been one of the favorites I've made this season. Maybe it'll be one of yours, too!

Curious about what I’ve made already? Check out:
White Trash
Quick Mix Spritz Cookies
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Spiced Pecans and Praline Candy
Fresh Orange Spritz Cookies
Fruitcake


Gingeriest Ginger Molasses Cookies
From Sweetapolita

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
3 1/2 ounces (1/2 can) Ginger Chips I used chopped up candied ginger
Granulated Sugar for coating

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Sift dry ingredients together, in medium-sized bowl, whisk, and set aside. In electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or you can use hand mixer), cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 mins). Add egg and molasses and mix for another minute or so, until well-blended. Add dry ingredients to mixer and mix until well incorporated. With the mixer on the lowest setting, mix in ginger chips.

With a cookie scoop (or 2 spoons), make equal balls of dough (1″ ball yields small cookies, but I did 2″), then roll in granulated sugar. Place on cookie sheet with parchment paper or baking mat, approximately 2″ apart. Using the palm of your hand, gently flatten each ball slightly. Refrigerate sheets for approximately 15 minutes, then bake on middle rack (one sheet at a time works best), for 8-10 minutes. Be careful not to over bake, because they are meant to be chewy. Let cookies cool on sheet before gently removing to cooling rack. Makes approximately 18 med-large cookies (a la Starbucks), or 3 dozen small cookies. 

Nuttier than a Fruitcake!

I really do understand why people think of fruitcakes as doorstops. This one is no exception. It is not a light cake - literally and calorically. This cake must have weighed 5 pounds, and it cost a small fortune to send one of them halfway across the country. But you know what? This one is worth picking up from in front of the door and actually enjoying. This is by far the BEST fruitcake I have ever come across, with dried fruit, warm holiday spices and the fact it requires being bathed in bourbon anywhere from several days to several weeks before serving. It packs a punch.

My dad loves fruitcake and rations his so that he can enjoy it throughout the year. My mom, who rarely eats it is now eating small pieces of my dad’s rations, and he's getting sad that he's ahead of schedule with his fruitcake consumption. This is going to be a yearly favorite in my family. And I’ll make sure to make my family extra this year so that they don’t have to worry about their rations.

We're lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's nearby, and between there and our local grocery store, we can find all the dried fruits for this recipe at a relatively low cost, including the candied ginger, which I've heard can be pretty pricey in other stores.

There are a lot of ingredients to this cake as well, which can make it a little intimidating. But this one is worth it. The ingredients for the most part are interchangeable. Don’t like currants? Try dried pineapple, or any other dried fruit your heart desires. If you can’t find any of the dried fruit listed in the recipe, you can easily adjust the amounts of the ones you do have to compensate for the missing ingredient. Change out the alcohol for vanilla rum, or dark rum. Use walnuts or hazelnuts instead of pecans, or omit the nuts completely, if you prefer.

And the best part is you can make it weeks before the holidays! I baked mine on November 21, over a month before Christmas. My one big loaf and seven mini loaves have just been hanging out in my kitchen, getting basted every few days with brandy since being baked. If you do not have a 10-inch loaf pan, you can make two standard-sizes loaves filled 2/3 of the way full, one 10-inch bundt, or six mini loaves – perfect for gift-giving!

Even the biggest fruitcake haters should give this recipe a try. The cake might change your mind, and if nothing else, the alcohol in this cake will definitely fill your holidays with a little more cheer.

Curious about what I’ve made already? Check out:
White Trash
Quick Mix Spritz Cookies
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Spiced Pecans and Praline Candy
Fresh Orange Spritz Cookies



Free Range Fruitake
From Alton Brown via FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup sun dried cranberries
1/2 cup sun dried blueberries
1/2 cup sun dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup gold rum (I used brandy instead)
1 cup sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks)
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 whole cloves, ground (between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp)
6 allspice berries, ground (about ¾ tsp allspice)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pecans, broken
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Directions
Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum (I used brandy) and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit.

Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.)

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour (40 minutes for mini loaves). I also erred on the side of caution and used Pam for baking to grease my pans. The recipe doesn’t mention greasing the pans, but I figured it’s better safe than sorry.. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again. My large loaf took about an hour and twenty minutes to bake all the way, and I used a wooden skewer to test for doneness, since a toothpick doesn’t reach all the way to the middle of the cake, which is the part that would be undercooked and gummy.

Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.

When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks. If you decide to give the cake as a gift, be sure to tell the recipient that they are very lucky indeed.