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.

Food Porn: Chicken and Waffles

Up until a few years ago, I had never heard of the concept of eating fried chicken with waffles for breakfast. These two very different food items didn't make all that much sense together. Fried chicken for dinner? Sure! Pair it with some biscuits and mashed potatoes? Even better. But paired with waffles for breakfast? That just seemed downright odd. But was someone who often struggles on what to order at brunch, this dish is the best of both worlds. I like a little sweet with my salt, and this combination hits it dead on.

There are a bunch of places that serve this dish on their menu, but I recently tried out the Spit Chicken with Waffles at Kapnos for a friend's birthday brunch. Instead of deep frying the chicken, it was cooked on a spit giving it a crispy, flavorful skin but without all the breading that typically comes with this dish. The smoky maple syrup over the waffles topped this off and definitely gave the dish the right mix of sugar and spice and everything nice. If you want to try this flavor profile without all the fried-goodness, this is a great option for you? Otherwise, check out the chicken waffles at Founding Farmers or Birch and Barley. Or any of the awesome Soul Food restaurants in the DC area. Florida Avenue Grill anyone?

Sweet Popcorn Mix

I could say that my family comes from a long line of bakers and the pressure is just too high to present beautiful cookies, however, the long line is really just one--my Grandma Gorscak. She worked in catering for years and as her grandchild, I was treated to various cakes and unique cookies over the years. From ladylochs to Serbian cookies with jam, her desserts never disappointed. While many of her recipes have been shared and my aunt has made some of them at the holiday times, I have yet to attempt them myself. For fear of not doing them justice. 

We celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this month and several guests had mentioned her amazing baked goods, further solidifying that I wasn't the only one to benefit from her treats.

So in my continuing series that I like to call "Why I opt to make cookies at the holidays" I present another simple sweet snack. This is a great gift to bag up for friends, which is exactly what I did.

Sweet Popcorn Mix

 

 

Ingredients/Directions:

 

First, in a large roaster, combine:

6-8 cups of popcorn (large microwave bag makes 5 cups)

1.5 cups of peanuts

2-3 cups of Cherrios

2-3 cups of Crispix

 

Set aside.

Second, in a small pot, combine the following & bring to a boil for 5 minutes (do not stir)

1 stick margarine

1/4 cup of white Karo syrup

1 cup of sugar

Remove from heat & quickly stir in

1/2 tsp of vanilla

1/4 tsp of baking soda

Drizzle the liquid mixture over popcorn/cereal mix.

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stir every 15 minutes.

 

Let cool and then serve, or package in bags for friends.

PB Pretzel Crack

I'm not the best holiday cookie baker. Often times I don't quite read the directions carefully, or am missing cookie molds, or some other pertinent ingredient to get things just right, and it often ends in disaster. Take the madeleines I tried to make this weekend. I had all the ingredients, but assumed cake/cookie molds were the same as cookie cutters. I was wrong. I couldn't use the cakey dough with a cookie cutter, so I ended up making them round. And they ended up flat. Nothing I care to share with the office as evidence of my culinary skills.

This recipe, on the other hand, never fails. I'm not sure where I got it originally (other than my mom, who I managed got it from someone else), but I can say that it is never meant to look pretty, it's super easy to make, and I never get complaints on it. Even from people who claim to not really care for peanut butter-based sweets. So consider making this for your holiday party or to just have around the house this December. It's so addictive, I call it my PB Pretzel Crack.

PB Pretzel Crack

Ingredients:

• 6-8 cups of thin pretzels
• 1 10-ounce bag of vanilla morsels
• 1 10-ounce bag of peanut butter chips
• 2 TB peanut butter

Directions

Melt the morsels, chips and peanut butter in microwave. Do this in short increments and stir on occasion, to make sure that it doesn't burn or get clumpy.

Add the pretzels into the bowl and mix thoroughly. This will break the pretzels into smaller pieces.

Spread out thinly on a baking sheet covered with foil or wax paper. Refrigerate until candy hardens (1 hour will do it) and then break the candy into smaller pieces. Serve.