Pucker Up: Part 1 of 2 - Lemon Poppyseed Cake

I have always been a fan of cooking classes. In fact, I usually seek them out when I'm traveling abroad because I think they add a nice element to the cultural and culinary immersion experience wherever I go. Thus far, I've taken cooking classes in Peru, Spain, and Thailand.

But you don't need to travel far to find great cooking classes! From "Cooking with Bacon" (I've taken two of those) to "Cajun Cooking," there are a bunch of great places to take cooking classes either by yourself, or with a partner in crime. My typical go-to places in the DC-area have included Sur La Table (which isn't just local, I believe they offer classes throughout the country) and the former Living Social event space (RIP). This time around, I went to Culinaerie, which I'd been to only once before in my 11 years in DC and that was for a sushi rolling class. February's venture to the class focused on a very specific ingredient: lemons.

During the course of the three-hour class, we learned to make three dishes that highlighted lemons. On this snowy Thursday, I'll focus on one that might make for a nice snowy day breakfast. I'll follow up with a second recipe from this class in my next post.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake (2-4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 4 TB butter, soft
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. lemon extract
• 1/2  tsp. lemon zest
• Lemon juice plus enough buttermilk to equal 1/4 cup
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• pinch baking soda
• 1 TB poppy seeds

Syrup

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Glaze

• 3/4 powdered sugar
• Combination of water/milk/cream/lemon juice/limoncello to make a glaze

Directions:

First, let's make a cake!  Cream the butter and sugar until light. Add egg and blend. Then add the lemon zest and lemon extract.

Combine flour with baking powder and baking soda. Add flour mixture to butter, alternating with buttermilk/lemon juice. Start with the flour mixture and end with the flour mixture.

Fold in poppy seeds.

Pour batter into greased pan and bake at 350 degrees until the blade of a knife pulls out cleanly. Time will vary depending on what size of pan you use.

Here's how to make the syrup. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is syrupy.

Here's how to make the glaze. Combine 3/4 powdered sugar with the liquid combo I mentioned above. It will need to be a balanced amount to make a heavy yet pourable glaze. Add liquid gradually to the powdered sugar, stirring well, until proper consistency is reached and no lumps remain.

Soak with syrup while still warm (this is optional, but we found the syrup kept the cake very soft for a few days in the refrigerator). Glaze if desired or simply dust with powdered sugar.

Churro Pancakes

Hooray for a long weekend! Long weekends are for sleeping in and making complex brunch dishes. Because you have the time and you have the hunger.

Last weekend, while not a long weekend, was a busy one, but I found the time in the morning to try out a new recipe, one from my friend Nick's blog, www.macheesmo.com. It helped get me through the rest of the day and if you find yourself with some time on your hands this long weekend, you should give it a shot!

This recipe had caught my eye when he first posted it over the summer, but I was waiting for the right opportunity to make it. I wanted something sweet and savory...so I paired it with a side of bacon. Because bacon.

Churro Pancakes (makes 12 pancakes)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 TB cinnamon
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
   
• Spicy Chocolate Sauce:
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 TB unsalted butter
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• Chili Cinnamon Sugar:
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. chili powder

Directions:

Stir together the ingredients for the chili cinnamon sugar and set aside.

For chocolate sauce, stir together ingredients in a metal bowl over a simmering pot of water. Let sit until chocolate melts and stir together. Keep warm over low heat and a double boiler until needed, stirring occasionally. I didn't have a metal bowl, so fortunately my trusty sous chef rigged two pots on top of each other to imitate a double boiler. Worked like a charm.

For pancakes, stir together dry ingredients and spices in a large bowl. Whisk milk, eggs, and melted butter separately. Then whisk liquid stuff into dry ingredients. If batter is super thick, add more milk.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium. Add a small dab of butter or a drizzle of nonstick spray. Once hot, add pancakes in 1/3 cup measurements and cook them for 3-4 minutes on the first side until bubbles show on top of the pancakes and the edges start to pull up slightly.

Flip pancakes and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the second side.

Serve pancakes while warm drizzled with spicy chocolate sauce and sprinkled heavily with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Maple Blueberry Muffins

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Cooking is an art, while baking is a science. I've never been good at science, and while a lot of the draw of science is the ability to experiment to come up with your desired outcome, you have to be prepared for disastrous results.

I'm happy to report that even though I had to experiment a bit with this recipe (namely because I didn't quite have enough of two of the ingredients) my improvisational skills worked out ok. Perhaps the texture of these muffins would be a bit different if I had the exact amounts of Greek yogurt and maple syrup, but I was pleased with the results. And I hope my coworkers who will get to try these tomorrow feel the same way.

I'm posting the recipe as it should be made, courtesy of my friend Nick Evans' blog, www.macheesmo.com. And did I mention that Nick wrote a cookbook? I've received my copy and will be writing about it in the coming weeks, once I've had a chance to cook from it. You should totally check it out.

Maple Blueberry Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:
        

• 1 large egg 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 4 TB unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 6-8 ounces blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl whisk together egg, sugar, syrup, yogurt, melted (and cooled) butter, and milk. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Wash blueberries and toss in with dry ingredients.

Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and fold the batter together. If it's very thick add a bit more milk.

Divide muffin batter between 12 muffin tins that have been lightly buttered or oiled.

Bake muffins for 25-28 minutes at 350 degrees F. Rotate the muffin pan once halfway through cooking.

Remove muffins when they are golden brown on top and around edges. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and then remove and eat while warm or let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Cinnamon-Sugar Mini Muffins

It's a fairly rare occurrence that you can look at a recipe and realize that you have EVERYTHING needed to make it. No need to go to the store. Knock on a neighbor's door for a fraction of a teaspoon of a certain spice. These are a rarity, even with the amount of cooking that I do!

We have a snow day today. And if you're anything like me, you try to be productive in your home and find this a good time to cook food. But I have a ton of leftovers from food I'd made earlier this week, so I find myself uninspired to make more food at this time. And I elected not to run to the grocery store in a panic yesterday. I had my toilet paper. I had my milk. I had my leftovers. I'm good for a few days as far as I'm concerned. But maybe you want to bake and need a little inspiration. I'm here for you. And so is this recipe.

I made these mini muffins last week. They are simple and I'm guessing many of you have the needed ingredients already. So bake away, you won't be disappointed. They taste a little like Snickerdoodles...for breakfast!

Cinnamon-Sugar Mini Muffins (makes 2 dozen mini muffins)

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Topping:

• 2 TB sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and allspice. Combine the egg, milk and butter; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon into greased or paper-lined mini muffin cups.

Bake at 400° for 12-14 minutes or until muffins test done. For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon.

 

Brush the tops of warm muffins with butter; sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

Raspberry Lemon Muffins

As evidenced by the wide variety of things I make on this blog, I'm not much of a creature of routine when it comes to lunches and dinners throughout the week. I like to mix it up. But when it comes to breakfast, it's rare that I stray too far from the staples, namely Cheerios with the occasional egg-based weekend breakfast.

Last week I made raspberry lemon muffins for a brunch I was hosting with some friends, and took the rest into my always hungry government office. These simple muffins were not only tasty, but also relatively low-fat. They were a hit with everyone and something I plan to add into my somewhat predictable breakfast routine.

Raspberry Lemon  Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 large (1/2-cup) muffin cups with paper liners.

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla and pulse until blended.

Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.

Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Best served warm.:)

Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches

A few weeks ago, I decided to try out a simple egg sandwich recipe that my friend Nick had posted last year on his blog, www.macheesmo.com. In his instructions, he indicated several ways to freeze/store these sandwiches for a later date. I followed the instructions he provided on freezing the sandwiches whole and how to defrost when you need a sandwich.  I tested out this strategy over the weekend, following his instructions for reheating and they defrosted perfectly. 

Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches (makes 12 sandwiches)

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs, scrambled
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 2 TB butter
• 6-8 ounces cheese, shredded. I used white cheddar. 
• 12 whole wheat English muffins 

 

Directions:

Scramble eggs and grease each muffin tin with a bit of butter. Add baby spinach to each tin. Just a few leaves per tin will do the trick.

Evenly divide eggs between 12 muffin tins.

Bake eggs at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes until they are cooked through.

Pop the eggs out of the tins.

To make a sandwich, toast the English muffin, add the cheese and egg. Mash the egg down a bit so it evenly covers the muffin.

Bake for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

To store these, make the sandwich and then wrap tightly in foil, and place in a plastic bag in your freezer. When you are ready to eat, place the frozen wrapped package in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes and it'll defrost perfectly. This equates to the time I need to get ready in the morning, so this may just be one of my new go-to breakfast sandwiches when I tire of my daily morning Cheerios regimen. :)

Chorizo and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Tacos

In my second installment of my taco cooking trifecta, I tackle breakfast tacos. I've had my share of breakfast burritos out, but I didn't want to go that big for my weekend breakfast. Plus, I had a solid amount of chorizo left over from earlier in the week, so this seemed a perfect fit. There aren't too many ingredients, the process was simple, and the end result was awesome. This recipe comes from Epicurious.Awesome site for recipes.

Chorizo and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Tacos (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 4 corn tortillas
• 1 cup grated extra-sharp white cheddar cheese
• 4 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 7 ounces fresh chorizo sausage, casing removed if necessary
• 4 green onions, sliced
• Sour cream (optional)
• Hot sauce or salsa (optional)

Directions:

Brush large nonstick skillet with olive or vegetable oil. Char tortillas over gas flame or directly on electric burner until blackened in spots, turning with tongs. Arrange tortillas in single layer in skillet. Sprinkle each tortilla with 1/4 cup grated cheese and set aside.

Whisk eggs and 2 tablespoons cilantro in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté chorizo sausage in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add green onions and sauté 2 minutes. Add egg mixture and stir until very softly set, about 1 minute. Remove egg mixture from heat.

Cook tortillas in skillet over high heat until beginning to crisp on bottom, but still soft and pliable, about 1 minute. Divide egg mixture among tortillas and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro. Fold each tortilla in half. Serve with sour cream and hot sauce, if desired.

Mini Veggie-Frittata Cups

I tend to eat my breakfast at my desk around 9:30/10 a.m. I just can't get it together enough to eat before work and I'm usually not that hungry when I first get up.

Two weeks ago, I was looking for an eas and healthy breakfast that was protein-heavy, low-carb, full of veggies, and portable to take to work. I have made very-mini fritattas before that included bacon and potato, which are awesome, but these contain no meat and are equally awesome. I know that's hard to believe, but it's true. This recipe makes a ton of them, so I froze a bunch and hope to eat the rest once my stomach is back up to eating things other than simple carbs.

Mini Veggie-Frittata Cups (Makes 16 mini-cups)

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 6 large eggs
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
• 1 cup canned artichoke hearts, not in oil or marinate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 roasted red peppers (packed in water), chopped
• 1/2 cup scallions, chopped
• 1/4 cup low-fat cream cheese, room temperature

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat two 8-hole muffin pans with cooking spray (or use one 12-hole pan and four holes from another muffin pan).

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, egg whites, water, salt and pepper until blended. Stir in spinach, artichoke hearts, feta, roasted peppers, scallions and cream cheese; mix well.

Spoon about 1/4-cup egg mixture into each prepared muffin hole. Bake until just set, about 18 to 22 minutes. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Loosen edges of frittatas with a rubber spatula, sliding spatula underneath frittatas to loosen bottoms and lift frittatas out of pans.

Food Porn: The Dor-stop

This edition of Food Porn is brought to you by Pittsburgh diner food. While I was home for the holidays, I met up with my friend and her little girl for breakfast at a place in Dormont. This diner, called the "Dor-Stop," had been featured in the Food Network Show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," which highlights places popular with the locals featuring regional specialties. The host, Guy Fieri, is kind of annoying, but I do like checking out the places he visits, when I get the chance.

One could say that the regional specialty highlighted at the Dor-Stop is the carbohydrate. It is a staple for Pennsylvania winters. While the hotcakes were deemed the thing to order, I opted to try out the raspberry stuffed french toast. With a side of bacon. Obviously.

This place will stuff just about anything in a carbohydrate. Because that makes everything better. And for all of you New Year's Resolutions folks...I ate this in 2012. So there.

Walnut Streusel Bread

Last week, I bid farewell to a colleague I have worked with on our department's anti-bullying initiatives since June. She is going on to a fabulus opportunity, but she will be greatly missed by our groups. For our final editorial board meeting, I organized a farewell breakfast, contributing this walnut streusel bread. This is the second quickbread I've made in a month and I still find that my oven takes a bit longer than instructed for it to finish baking. But I've included the regular cooking instructions, just adjust accordingly per your oven.

Walnut Streusel Bread (serves 16...very tiny people)

Ingredients:

Streusel

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 TB all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 2 TB butter, melted
• 2 TB chopped walnuts

Bread

• 9 oz all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 TB butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup fat-free buttermilk
• Baking spray with flour (such as Baker's Joy)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare streusel, combine first five streusel ingredients in a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons melted butter, stirring until well combined. Stir in nuts. Set aside.

To prepare bread, weigh or lightly spoon 9 ounces flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine 5 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in vanilla.

Beating at low speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until combined. Scrape half of batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with baking spray; sprinkle with half of streusel mixture. Spread remaining batter over streusel; swirl. Sprinkle remaining streusel on top of batter.

Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging.

Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Maple Stout Bread

Fall is here. The weather is turning cooler in DC, and my mind is swimming with visions of comfort food I will be making over the next few months. One thing that I don't make very often are breakfast loaves or breads. I had some Guinness beer that I wanted to use, so I found this great recipe in my Cooking Light magazine for a Maple Stout bread. I'm not the best at baking and I was a bit skeptical when seeing this bake that I had done something wrong (the middle was taking a lot longer to cook). But, it ended up great and a co-worker even commented that it was just the right level of soft because there's nothing worse than a dry breakfast bread. So if I can do this, so can you!

Maple Stout Bread

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (or 7.88 oz)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 TB butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup stout beer, like Guinness
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
• 5 TB maple syrup, divided
• Baking spray with flour
• 5 TB powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Place butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine beer, sour cream, and 1/4 cup syrup, stirring well with a whisk. Beating at low speed, add flour mixture and beer mixture alternately to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until combined.

Scrape batter into a 9x5 inch loaf pan coated with baking spray. Bake for 45 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs clining. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Place powdered sugar in a smal bowl. Add remaining 1 TB syrup, stir until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cooled bread; let stand until set, if desired.

Blueberry Struesel Muffins

This morning I relished in the fact that it was below 75 degrees at the decent hour of 9 a.m. so I pushed myself to take a quick jog outside, telling myself the entire time that I would reward myself by making these muffins. I've been watching my carb intake for awhile, but breakfast time for me usually involves cereal which, let's admit it, after a while gets old. So these muffins will serve me well for lunch for the week and will freeze the other half for another time. These are fairly light as far as muffins go, but the big selling point for me on taste is the streusel topping. It truly makes the muffins worth the extra calories.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins (makes 12)

Ingredients:

 
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 TB butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place muffin liners in a 12-hole muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg with 3/4 cup of the sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and beat until thoroughly combined; blend in vanilla extract.

Add hal of flour mixture and half of milk to sugar mixture; beat until just combined. Add remaining flour mixture and milk, beat until smooth.

Fold in blueberries and fill each muffin liner about 3/4 full; set aside.

To make streusel topping, combine remaining 1/4 cup each of the sugar and flour in a small bowl. Pour in melted butter and combine with fingertips. Divide crumb mixture over muffins; gently press into top of muffin batter.

Bake until slightly golden and toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans for about 10-15 minutes and then transfer muffins onto racks to cool completely.

Or you can be like me and eat them warm and turn your fingers blue. :)

French Toast aka "Egg Toast"

When I was a kid, I was a pretty picky eater. I didn't eat anything green, was a big fan of bread, and tended to eat a lot of the same things over and over again. One of my FAVORITE dishes when I was a kid was my grandma's "egg toast." Egg toast was basically french toast, but cooked expertly by my grandmother who used to work in catering and was a pro in making certain dishes in the kitchen, this being my most favorite.  While I didn't spend Easter with my family, I paid tribute to my grandma by making some french toast. I'll admit, mine was probably not quite as tasty as hers ever was, but I also tried to keep it light on the butter.

French Toast  aka "Egg Toast" (serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 6 thick slices of bread, I used a rustic wheat
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Beat together egg, milk, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.               

Heat a lightly oiled griddle of skillet over medium-high flame. I used a small pat of butter to do so.

Dunk each slice of bread in egg mixture, soaking both sides. Place in pan, and cook on both sides until golden. Serve hot with maple syrup.