Coconut Cloud Cupcakes

This is my entry for the cupcake event hosted by Cupcake Bakeshop and Vanilla Garlic.

I was looking in the back of my baking cupboard (at the various impulse purchases I’ve made over the years thinking at the time, ‘I could make something yummy with that someday’) and I found a jar of cloudberry jam that I’d picked up the last time I was in Ikea and immediately thought of pairing it with coconut. I don’t know exactly why. The cupcakes themselves are based on my go-to white cake recipe. It’s a classic. And cloudberries are a pale yellow Scandinavian berry with the somewhat sour-tart flavors of apricots and green grapes. It’s a bit unusual but pairs well, I think, with the sweetness of the cake. The Italian buttercream is silky smooth and light and the coconut adds a bit of texture and crunch to round out the bite. They’re super yummy!

It’s Just A Little Crush

First it was My Husband Cooks. I stumbled onto this husband and wife food blog using the WordPress tag surfer tool shortly after starting Wait-and-See Pudding and I was instantly smitten. The writing is spot-on and clever and I love their tag-team, conversational approach. The recipes they tackle are always bold and interesting and their photography is absolutely gorgeous! How do they do it?

And so began my series of food blog crushes. Just like their romantic counterparts these crushes are sudden and surprising, sometimes fleeting, but no less all-consuming while they last, and always a bit difficult to justify to your sometimes dubious friends.

Since then I’ve found Cupcake Bakeshop (the photos and flavor combinations almost make me dizzy) and Kitchen Scratchings (aside from the woofy-factor, you’ve got to respect a man who isn’t afraid to take home and render 10 pounds of scrap beef fat rather than let it go to waste). Then Vegan Diva found me and I crushed on her site, especially her excellent vintage dishware. And then BBRUB – Brooklyn Bridge Users Blog found me and I totally crushed on her too – she’s a crafty one, and hilarious too!

And now, I have a new food blog crush. I defy you to hop on over for a visit to foodbeam and NOT fall madly in love with Fanny and her excellent blog. Go on, do it. Right now.

See what I mean?

And what do these sites have in common? Not a whole lot aside from a love of good food and a willingness to share that love with unseen strangers. Each of them is very different. But there’s also something about each of these people and their sites that I find inspiring. They motivate me to bake and cook better, to write better, to keep exploring flavors, ingredients and techniques, and to take more risks and better photos. For those of us who find mystery and joy in kitchen, but not a paycheck, these folks (and many more, I’m sure) stoke the creative fires and keep us on our culinary toes.

So, now, what food blogs do you have a crush on? Come on, spill the beans and spread the love!

What’s In My Basket

No, I’m not trying to be provocative (but if you ask me nicely… ) – I’m actually participating in my very first food blog event at the invitation of Rachel over at Food Maven. And I cheated. Well, sort of.

The idea behind the event is to post an entry with a detailed list of all the items you bought at the grocery store this week (with pictures, preferably). T and I were in Boston this weekend for a long-overdue visit with our good friends E & E and because I’m bossy I insisted on making a trip to Super 88 while we were there. And since I spent more than I wanted to (but not quite as much as I expected to), and since the items I bought at Super 88 are infinitely more interesting than those I would purchase at our local Hannaford on any given week I’m posting about my Super 88 shopping adventure instead. So I didn’t cheat, really. Or maybe just a little bit.

For those of you not in the know, Super 88 is a Boston-based chain of Asian supermarkets. And by supermarket I mean SUPER market. Big. And big fun. It’s chock-full of all sorts of good stuff from all over Asia, north to south and east to, um, east-er and everything in between plus some Caribbean stuff thrown in for good measure.

So here’s what I bought:

Vanilla Plum Tart

The recipe is based on one from Donna Hay’s Flavors, but instead of vanilla extract I used a whole vanilla bean for an extra punch of flavor. This is best eaten slightly warm with a dollop of very lightly sweetened crème fraîche, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Vanilla Plum Tart

tart dough

8 tablespoons (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal

Using your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract on medium speed until light and smooth. Add the egg yolk and blend for several minutes until smooth. Add the flour and almond meal and stir on low speed until the dough just comes together.

Get Your Soup On

It’s been open for some time now (has it been almost year?) but I finally got around to visiting Chef Erik Desjarlais’ Ladle soup shop on Exchange Street in Portland. I have to admit I had pretty high expectations going in – I never made it to Bandol before it closed, but I’d heard much of his talents and intrepid character (you’ve got to have some big Rocky Mountain Oysters to serve offal on a white table cloth in Maine) – and I wasn’t disappointed.

The space is cozy and casual and the very relaxed and personable Chef Erik and his assistant made us feel welcomed right away. The fare is limited to a choice of six or seven daily soups served with a few delicious slices of bread from Scratch, a variety of self-serve sodas (including my favorite, favorite Ginger Brew from Maine Root) and a big jar of chocolate chip cookies. That’s all folks. But that’s plenty.

The soup is good. Real good, with big chunks of meat and vegetables (and I do mean big – this ain’t no soup from a can) and perfectly seasoned. But it doesn’t come cheap. My large bowl of Spanish Pork Stew and a Ginger Brew set me back $11.00! Whoa. But I was full and re-fortified enough to face the cold and the rest of the day.

I certainly can’t afford to go to Ladle more than occasionally, but I’ll be back. I’m dying to try his mushroom soup and maybe next time I’ll save up my pennies and get a cookie too – I hear tell they’re the best cookies on earth. And stay tuned: the word is Chef Erik already has plans for expansion into an adjacent space with a sandwich shop and bakery.

Three Birthday Cakes – Blast From The Past

I don’t know why exactly, but I was thinking about that falling down baker guy from Sesame Street at work today. I loved him – he was my favorite part of the show!

Olive Oil Cake with Candied Blood Oranges

We had our friends M&L and lil’ P over for dinner last night. I’d made a choucroûte garnie – a favorite cold weather supper in our house. It’s hearty and rich and warm and all that sauerkraut and pork makes my German blood sing. I adapted a recipe from Suzanne Goin’s Sunday Suppers At Lucques and served this cake as a follow-up. It’s good, good.

Both the cake and the candied blood oranges can be made a day ahead – in fact, the cake’s flavor is even better the second day. Either way, make the candied blood oranges first.

Candied Blood Oranges

1 vanilla bean
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
4 blood oranges
1/4 cup brandy

Italian Wedding Soup

So I made soup this weekend, just in case the weatherfolk got it all wrong and we got snowed in and needed a meal we could heat up in the dark over a can of sterno. They were right (sort of) and we never had to resort to the sterno. But the soup was just the thing for a cozy night of watching movies while the radiators hissed and the wind rattled the windows. The meatballs are based on Giada’s recipe (c’mon, she’s cute!), but with my own twist. And hell yeah, that stock is homemade!

Italian Wedding Soup

1/2 yellow onion, grated
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1 large egg
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon toasted fennel seeds
1 slice fresh bread, finely cubed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork

14 cups chicken stock
8 ounces Acini de pepe pasta (or similarly shaped small, round pasta)
1 head escarole

Combine the first ten ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using your hands, roll into 1-inch meatballs and place on a platter.

Bring the stock to a boil over medium-high heat. Gently drop the meatballs into the stock and return to a boil. Add the pasta all at once and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through and the pasta is al dente.

Meanwhile, cut off the stem of the escarole and cut the leaves in half across. Wash the leaves thoroughly. Once the meatballs are cooked through, add the escarole to the soup and stir.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper accordingly. Serve immediately (the escarole should stay green and slightly crunchy) with freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

Cheddar Scones

It’s snowing! Not that much, actually. But the roads are crap. The weatherfolk have been talking for a week now about snow or sleet or freezing rain or foggy grey nothing this holiday weekend and we’ve had it all. And to celebrate, I’ve been busy in the kitchen. What better way to start a snowy day off than with yummy, gooey, cheesy warm scones? I can think of none. Well, almost none (ahem).

The recipe comes from The Cheese Board Collective Works by the Cheeseboard Collective in Berkeley, California, though I’ve modified it just a bit.

Cheddar Scones

1/2 pound sharp orange Cheddar cheese
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (4.5 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

Grate half of the cheese using a regular cheese grater. Cut the remainder into 1/2-inch cubes. Toss the cheese together in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, black pepper, salt and cornmeal in the bowl of your mixer and wisk together. Add the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients on low speed for several minutes, or until it is the size of small peas. Gently mix in the cheese. Pour the buttermilk and cream into the center of the mixture and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out on a generously floured work surface. Gently pat the dough into a rectangle, roughly 6 x 9-inches and 1 1/2-inches thick. Divide the dough in half lengthwise and cut each half into six even triangles. Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart and brush the tops of the scones with the beaten egg.

Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes, or until light brown. Allow the scones to cool slightly before serving.

Geo’s Patisserie Cafe

I’m the happiest man in Portland today. A friend of mine had emailed me an article from the Portland Press Herald while I was in California about a new bakery in town and it took me until yesterday to check it out. I have to admit I was a bit nervous going in. I wanted it to be good, but I also didn’t want to get my hopes up (this is Maine, afterall). But as it turns out, my fears were unfounded.

Geo’s is exactly the kind of bakery Portland desperately needs – a patisserie run by a true pastry chef with experience. He’s not a bread baker pretending to know how to make pastries, or a caterer with a cozy bakery cum foodie shop on the side, or a bunch of well-intentioned hippies making essentially the same stuff we could all make at home if we weren’t so damned lazy. He’s the real deal.

So what is he doing back in Maine after working in Boston, DC, California, France and Germany? I forgot to ask. But I, for one, am very glad he’s here.

The space is huge. My first thought was, ‘how the hell is he going to fill this place?’ Then I took my time looking at the pastry case, the coffee menu, the daily lunch menu (including an individual pizza, a roasted vegetable sandwich and something else I forgot to remember because the pizza and the sandwich looked so damn good), the list of daily breads and cakes, and I began to imagine the place filling up once word gets out. So spread the word.

We were greeted warmly by both George and his assistant (whose name I forgot to get). They offered us samples. They were patient with our questions while I took my sweet time deciding what to take home for a more thoughtful taste. They offered more samples (but not in any over-eager sort of way – just, I’d like to think, because they recognized us as people who might truly be interested). And I asked for a bigger box.

Here are just two of the dozen or so items we picked up.

Rum Bombe with Milk and Dark Chocolate

Delicious. Light chocolate genoise with a rum, milk chocolate buttercream.

Chocolate Almond Tart

Also quite good. The chocolate is a little sweet for my taste, especially paired with the sweet almond paste, but this would be a perfect afternoon pick-me-up with a cup of good black coffee or hot cocoa.

Geo’s isn’t, by any stretch, perfect. I’d like to see him be a little more inventive and daring, but I don’t blame him for playing it safe to start out. I’m not crazy about his Anadama Bread (Scratch – formerly one-fifty-ate – still makes the best in town, though Big Sky does a good job too) and some of the items on display had clearly been around for a bit. But as long as he continues to put out a variety of well-crafted and thoughtfully prepared baked goods and sweets, and once he gets settled in and his product starts turning over, I’ve no doubt that he’ll give the bigger boys and girls in town a real run for their money. And unless they aren’t up to the challenge, that can only be good for all of us.