Sour Cream Pound Cake

I recently needed a simple and quick dessert to serve to some family, and since it was going to be an afternoon (sort of a tea-time event) visit, this pound cake came to mind. I'd been wanting to try it out since seeing the recipe in The Savannah Cookbook a while back.

The beautiful thing about this pound cake is how delicious it is, despite having no frills or extra flavoring. If you really need to add something, some fresh fruit, particularly strawberries, would be an excellent accompaniment.

Unfortunately, I didn't think about taking any photographs of the process until after the fact, but here's the basic rundown:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream together 2 sticks of soft butter and 3 cups of sugar until light and fluffy.
• While that's happening, sift together 3 cups of all-purpose flour and 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
• Once the butter and sugar are ready, mix in 6 eggs, one at a time, then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
• In several additions (I think I did three), carefully add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
• Add 1 cup of sour cream and  mix until the whole thing is nice and smooth.
• Butter and flour a tube cake pan or bundt pan, or use a cake release spray like Wilton Bake Easy.
• Evenly pour the batter into the prepared pan, run a butter knife through to release large air pockets, and give it a couple taps on the countertop.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let cool 10-15 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cake plate and allow to continue cooling (though it's delicious served warm). If desired, invert the cake a second time so the crusty top is facing up.

That's it!

Oreo Truffles

I wish I could take credit for coming up with this recipe, but Oreo truffles are not my personal creation. I just love eating them, and they're so easy to make.  Honestly, up until a few years ago, I'd never tasted them. But these happen to be a coworker's specialty, and I was quickly hooked.

I'll take you through the basic step-by-step of making these, with a couple tips I've found that make it a little easier. The original recipe comes from Kraft Recipes.

Cherry Berry Cobbler for the 4th of July

(Raise.com is a platform to buy and sell gift cards. Their July 4 Fun campaign is intended to hear about everyone's holiday weekend, and share party and recipe ideas. For more creative July 4th recipe ideas, take a peek at the  "July 4th Fun" campaign with Raise.com, which features a lot of beautiful recipes for this holiday and a place where you can buy and sell gift cards that can help you save money before you even hit the stores!)

It never quite feels like summer has arrived until the 4th of July rolls around. Something about the parades, fireworks, patriotic shindigs, barbecues, and general merriment just makes the season, for lack of a better word, start.

Friends of ours hosted a 4th of July party (actually, as they call it, a 4th of Ju-Luau party, with a Hawaiian theme), and my contribution to the festivities was a cherry berry cobbler - sort of a variation on my mixed berry pie, in cobbler form, with a tweak or two.

Cobblers, as it turns out, are considered to be a pretty American dessert. Early European settlers used whatever ingredients were at hand in an attempt to make some of the familiar dishes from their homelands, and as such there are as many variations on cobblers as there were variations on settlers. In general, the requirements are some kind of fruit filling topped with some kind of crust, either a crumbly crust, a biscuity crust, or some combination thereof. Once upon a time, cobblers were served as main dishes for breakfast, or a first course for other meals. Eventually, they were relegated to the dessert category, and we sure do still love them!

This recipe was particularly nice to put together, as I still had a lot of cherries, black raspberries, and blueberries frozen from last summer, and this allowed me to make some room in the freezer.

For more great American-themed recipes and party ideas, check out Raise.com's 4th of July Fun blog post!

Apple Cinnamon Empanadas

The sixth-grade team, of which I am now a part, has developed a little bit of a "let's order/make awesome lunches once a week" custom going on now. This week, the two gentlemen on our grade level team decided to make lunch for the ladies, and they settled on Mexican as the theme.

To go along with the chips and salsa and quesadillas, I decided to whip up a Mexican dessert to share. As it's also apple season, I decided on these delicious apple cinnamon empanadas from Diana's Desserts.

Okay, so empanadas aren't much more than single-serving hand pies or turnovers. Main course empanadas (meaning those filled with meat and/or cheese) are often fried, but can be baked as well, just like these dessert empanadas.

Here's how I made them!

Cookies & Cream Mini Cheesecakes (Cupcake of the Month #14)

It's been a really long time since I've shared a Cupcake of the Month. There was a molten chocolate concoction I attempted in June, but it needs a little perfecting before I post about it.

The September 2013 cupcake however, needs no perfecting. Just repetition because it's awesome.

It's a cookies and cream mini cheesecake, with an Oreo cookie as the crust!

I've had bad luck with sinking cheesecake cupcakes in the past, but not so with these babies. I think the use of the cookies sort of helped keep them from sinking. These are a Martha Steward recipe, but try as I might, I can't seem to find a link to the original recipe right now. While it says you can get 30 cupcakes out of this, I made 24 regular sized and still had enough batter for 24 minis.

Anyway, here's how I made them!

Sweet Cherry Crisp

If strawberries herald in the start of summer around here, nothing says midsummer to me like a bowl full of cherries.

Sweet cherries, to be precise.

Often, dessert recipes that call for cherries mean sour cherries, like what I'd use to make a delicious tart cherry pie. But sweet cherries deserve their due. They're really good for you, and don't require as much sugar as sour cherries do.

I found this recipe for cherry crisp in the Reader's Digest Fight Back With Food recipe book, and with a little tweaking, I made it my own.

Here's how.

Ginger Ice Cream

As the Northeast is in the grip of a 90+ degree heatwave (I think we're on day 5 of above 90 degree temps?), I decided it was a great time for an ice cream post.

Ginger ice cream, to be precise.

Remember the peach ice cream I made last summer? This is basically the same recipe from The Savannah Cookbook, except with ginger instead of peaches.

Because you can get the full recipe for making the custard from the peach ice cream post, I won't go through it here. Everything is done exactly the same until you get to the point where you add the flavors. After mixing the cooked custard with the whole milk, you just mix in a very generous 3/4 cup of chopped crystallized ginger and about  a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger. Tip: fresh ginger is easier to grate if you freeze it first. Mine wasn't quite frozen so I got a bit of a juicy mess. Still tasted good though.

Another tip I discovered this time around. The recipe in the cookbook says to scald the cream and vanilla in the top of your double boiler over direct heat. I never really like this step, I didn't feel it worked well.  But since you really do need to use a double boiler to get the custard to cook right, I just switched it up a bit. I scalded the cream in a regular 1-quart saucepan, stirred in the sugar, beat the egg yolks in the top of the double boiler (off heat). Then I beat a cup of the cream mixture into the eggs and put the double boiler top over simmering water to complete the process. Worked great. No pictures, unfortunately, since I was too busy whisking away.

Incidentally, this ice cream is a delightful accompaniment to raspberry pie. Just in case you wanted a pairing.

Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake from Pampered Chef

I really need to stop buying cookbooks that involve amazing dessert recipes. Really. It's becoming an addiction.

A couple months ago, I acquired a Pampered Chef recipe book that's nothing but chocolate. In fact, it's actually called Chocolate. And it has an unbelievable recipe for a flourless chocolate cake that was described by several people as "eating chocolate frosting," or just "OMG!"

For finishing you can add chopped pistachios around the outside edge and chocolate curls to the top. But I didn't. It was still awesome.

I really splurged a bit on the chocolate for this one.

The Healthiest Cookies in the World

You know that Pinterest thing? How it sucks you in and you end up pinning directions for how to make your own soap and ten thousand recipes for cookies that you'll probably never have time to make?

I stumbled across the recipe for two-ingredient cookies several months ago, and I finally found time to make some this weekend.  I kid you not - Lauren over at The Burlap Bag has a recipe for oatmeal cookies that has two ingredients as the base of the cookie. Bananas and oats. And then you add whatever mix-ins you like and chow down with very little guilt. Especially if you go the raisin route for your mix-in.

When these cookies were all said and done, they had a very chewy consistency, and a taste similar to banana bread. I also added cinnamon for flavoring, because I'm not a big enough fan of bananas by themselves.

Chocolate Stout Cake from Smitten Kitchen

I'd had my eye on a couple recipes for a chocolate stout cake for a while.  I wanted to make something like this for St. Patrick's Day, but the timing has never been right.  But this year, we ended up celebrating my cousin's birthday on St. Patrick's Day, so I whipped up this decadent treat for the occasion.

After perusing the different recipes I'd uncovered over the past couple years, I settled on the version from Smitten Kitchen.  From the reactions of everyone involved in tasting this cake, I think it's a keeper.

My husband particularly liked the ganache.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes (Cupcake of the Month #13)

Cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies are both wonderful things.  They become truly excellent when combined.

Yes, that's a little itty bitty cookie on top of that frosting.  And there's a surprise inside, too.

This was a truly multi-step cupcake, as you have to not only make the cake batter, but also the cookie dough and the vanilla frosting.  And I have to tell you something up front about the cookies: the recipe lies.  10 minutes is way too long to bake the little 1 and 1/2 inch cookies.  Mine were close to burned and nearly inedible.  I'd say 5-6 minutes is more on the mark.

Anyway...

Gilded Irish Coffee Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Meringue Buttercream (Cupcake of the Month #12)

So I got a bit behind with non-Christmas baking over the last couple weeks, but I finally found time this evening to make the final 2012 Cupcake of the Month.

Ain't it pretty?  Plus, it marks

Teacher, Baker, Gourmet Meal Maker's 100th Post!

It's an Irish coffee mini cupcake, topped with brown sugar meringue buttercream and "gilded" with festive gold sugar sprinkles (because I could find neither gold luster dust or sanding sugar).

It's quite a finish for the 2012 Cupcake of the Month series - but never fear, cupcake fans!  My mom got me the 2013 Martha Stewart Cupcake calendar, so there are more cupcakes on the way. Perhaps not one every month, but they'll make an appearance every so often. Promise.

Savannah Sponge Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote (OXO Product Review)

One of my coworkers celebrated a birthday a couple weeks ago, and I tasked myself with making her birthday dessert.  It was a small challenge, because she can't have anything with dairy in it, even if it's baked. Fortunately, this sponge cake recipe from The Savannah Cookbook has no dairy.  In fact, it's so simple, it has only four ingredients.

It would be beautiful topped with a dusting of powdered sugar, but I wanted to be a bit more festive.  So I decided to whip up some strawberry-rhubarb compote (you might remember me mentioning in when I made the meringue cupcakes - a.k.a. Cupcakes of Doom - in May).  And since I had some strawberries and rhubarb tucked away in my freezer from this summer's crop, it seemed the perfect combination.

And it was.

What was even more fun is that I got to use my new Mini Measuring Beakers from OXO.

Aren't they cute?  They come in four sizes - 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon, 2 ounces and 1 ounce.  Plus they next together for easy storage.

The fill lines are well below the top of the beakers, which means no spills, and if you overfill, it's very easy to pour the liquid back into the container.

Aside from using them to measure the lemon juice for this sponge cake, I've also used them to measure flavor extracts while baking my Christmas cookies this year. I love them.

Anyway, would you like to learn how to make the cake and compote?

Almond-Hazelnut Cupcakes (Cupcake of the Month Series #11)

It figures that November, one of my busiest months as a teacher, would also happen to be the month of the most time consuming, labor intensive cupcake of the year.

These almond-hazelnut cupcakes weren't actually that difficult to make.  There were just a lot of steps, so the whole process took me a good three hours start to finish.

Now, the recipe card said I should get 24 cupcakes from this recipe, but the online recipe says only 16. I actually got 18 cupcakes total.  So who knows.

Orange Almond Cupcakes (Cupcake of the Month #10)

My mom's birthday was last week, so I whipped up the October cupcake for her!

It's an orange almond cupcake, topped with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and orange marmalade.

Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes (Cupcake of the Month #9)

There's nothing quite as delightful as a chocolate cupcake.  Except maybe a chocolate cupcake filled with marshmallow-y cream.

The September cupcakes are a delightful cream-filled chocolate cupcake, reminiscent of Hostess cupcakes (but without the chocolate frosting).

After a couple months' worth of rather labor intensive cupcakes, these were - pardon the pun - a piece of cake.

Homemade Peach Ice Cream

I totally love the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer.  It does amazing things.

Like help me make peach ice cream.

This happens to be the ice cream I used when I made those mini buttermilk vanilla cupcakes for my uncle's birthday a couple weeks ago.  The recipe came from The Savannah Cookbook.

Now, I'm not an ice cream snob who's going to turn up my nose at the mere mention of store bought ice cream.  But this homemade stuff is pretty dang good, and if you have the time, it's worth making.

Buttermilk Vanilla Mini Cupcakes with Ice Cream (Cupcake of the Month Series #8)

*gasp* Two posts in one week!  Yes, I'm trying to catch up a bit, mostly to ensure that I share this month's featured cupcake.

It's a miniature buttermilk vanilla cupcake, topped with a tiny scoop of ice cream!

Now, the recipe card actually called for gelato, but that's not something easily found in my neck of the woods.  However, also didn't want to just throw any old store-bought ice cream on these baby delights, so I topped them with homemade peach ice cream instead.

Want to see how to make them?

Mixed Berry Pie and Turnovers (OXO Product Review)

Wow, I've kind of fallen off the wagon with posts over the last couple weeks.  I apologize to my loyal readers.  To make it up to you, let me share a delicious new pie recipe and tell you about OXO's new cherry pitter design.

To make this pie...

...which involves delicious homegrown sweet cherries, blackberries, and blueberries...

...you need one of these.

But the design of the above pictured cherry pitter is awful.  I'd been using it for about three years now, and I never liked it.  The grip was too far apart to be comfortable for my hands, it wouldn't really come clean in the dishwasher and was a slight pain to wash by hand. Plus it splattered cherry juice everywhere - on my counter, down my arm, across my (apron-clad) front...

You get the idea.

But fresh cherry pies are so awesome, so you need a decent cherry pitter to make the pitting part easy.

I received OXO's newly designed cherry pitter recently and I have to say, it's pretty awesome.

For one thing, the distance between the hand grips is far, far smaller than on my old cherry pitter.  It's more ergonomically designed and thus more comfortable for pitting quart upon quart of cherries.  The overall design is a lot smarter too.

The prong (the thing that pushes through the cherry, I don't know if it has an actual name) is made of metal - probably stainless steel.  The little "cradle for the cherry is also a little more secure - I had no fears of the cherry falling out, which was a bit of a problem on my old pitter.  Plus, see that little plastic sleeve on the bottom there?  That's a splash guard.

So you don't spray yourself and your kitchen with cherry juice.

It works like a dream.

Plus, that little plastic guard comes off for easy cleaning - and like most OXO products, the whole thing is dishwasher safe.

And perhaps my favorite part (aside from the dishwasher safe thing) - there's a little locking mechanism that lets you lock the pitter closed for easy storage.  Takes up way less space in my drawer!

So, armed with this awesome OXO cherry pitter, what did I decide to make?

Well, that mixed berry pie, of course!

It was one of a dozen pies I made for a friend's wedding recently.

(This, by the way, is one of the reasons I haven't blogged much in the past couple weeks.  The other reason is getting my classroom ready.)

Anyway, the mixed berry pie was amazing, if I do say so myself.  Want to know how to make it?

Cherry Chip Ice Cream

We all like ice cream, right? I mean, I like ice cream.  I don't eat it often because, well, it's not the best choice when you're trying to watch your diet.  But homemade ice cream far outstrips every store-bought ice cream brand out there.  At least, it does in my experience.  

A little over three years ago, I received the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, but I never got around to using it until this week.  Like, it literally got stuck in the back of a cupboard, relegated to collecting dust.  But I really wanted ice cream, and I really wanted it to be homemade.  So I dug out the attachment and whipped up a batch.

I decided to modify Emeril Lagasse's recipe for "old time vanilla ice cream" because it didn't involve using eggs, which is a plus on a 90 degree day.

As far as the ice cream maker goes, whatever type you have will work.  Just make sure you follow the manufacturer's instructions for the machine you have.