Soft Pretzels with Warm Poblano Queso

These pretzels are the kind of thing you want to curl up with when it's cold outside, tuck into while the wind howls or the rain comes down.

But, they are also good on a cool spring evening, and they are so irresistible I imagine they would be good anytime, really.

A couple of months ago, I watched a big bowl of these get eaten at a party, one after another, until the party was practically over and almost everyone had left.  

The few of us still there kept eating until the pretzels were gone, too.  It was sad when the bowl was empty and we had to drive home.

A week later, on a carb-craving evening, I accidentally drove to the grocery store and bought the ingredients.  It was a night when I was pretty sure there'd be a snow day the next day.

There was, and I slept in late after sharing half a batch of these with S.  I put the other half batch of dough in the freezer and had them for dinner last week.  When S objected, I explained that it was just like eating pizza, nutritionally.  He relented and finished off his half.   

You can find the recipe here.  Courtesy of Bobby Flay and the Food Network.  Thank you, Bobby.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  These pretzels made my winter.  And my spring.

The darker pretzels you see above are ones from the first time I made them.  I followed the recipe exactly, and they came out tasting like a pretzel.  This may not seem strange to you, but I mean, they tasted like a pretzel!  I had never made my own pretzel before. 

The pretzels you see in all of the other pictures are Linda's variation.  She was the one who made them the first time I had them.  They are shaped into fat little sticks, perfect for dipping into the cheese sauce.  Instead of 3/4 cup of baking soda, I just sprinkled a bit in, as did she.  Her cheese sauce was thinner (she didn't measure-so maybe more milk or less cheese?), too, and instead of the egg wash, I brushed the tops with melted butter, as did Linda.  The result is less pretzel-tasting, but mouth-watering.  I suggest you try them both ways, as you are sure to make these more than once.  Cup O' Cake Designs' Chrissy made them recently after her husband raved about them, and you can see her post here.  

Baby Banana Cream Cheesecakes

Some things to be thankful for:


Lovely bananas,


and cream, 


and cheese.  

Makes 18 baby cakes.  

For the crust:  

2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

2-3 T butter, melted

For the filling:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

6 T plus 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

pinch of salt

4 tsp cornstarch

2 eggs

1/2 cup mashed banana

5 T plus 1 tsp heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

For the decoration:

3/4 cup whipped cream

2 tsp-2 T. confectioner's sugar (depending on taste)

1 ripe banana

1.  Prep:  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.  

2.  Make the crusts:  Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Put 1 T of crumbs in each cup and use your fingers to pat down the crumbs.  [The crumbs do not need to come up the sides of the cup, but it's okay if they do.  If you plan to remove the liners before serving, you will want to pack the crumbs down into an even line so that they look attractive.]  Bake the crusts for 5 minutes.  Then allow to cool for a couple of minutes while you prepare the filling. 

3.  Make the filling:   While the crusts are baking, beat the cream cheese in a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment until fluffy.  Add the sugar, salt, and cornstarch and beat until mixed.  Then add the eggs, beating adequately after each until batter is smooth.  Mix in the mashed banana, heavy cream, and vanilla.  

4.  Fill and bake:  Fill each cup almost full (this will be easier if you use a cookie scoop).  Place muffin tins in a roasting pan or pans or other large pan(s) and put in oven.  Then fill the roasting pan(s) with hot water to come about halfway up the sides of the muffin pans.  Bake for 22 minutes, until centers are set.  

5.  Cool:  Allow the cakes to cool in the pan before removing them.  Then carefully lift them out of the muffin tin and set on a wire rack to cool completely (if not already cool).  Place in refrigerator and let set for about 4-5 hours, until firm.  

6.  Prepare the decoration:  Beat the heavy cream in a mixer with the wire attachment (or a hand-held mixer) until it holds a shape.  Then add the confectioner's sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Slice one ripe banana into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Cut each slice in half.  

6.  Decorate:  Fit a pastry bag with a wide star tip (I used Ateco #824) and fill with the whipped cream.  Decorate each cake with a large star.  Finish by placing one banana half-slice on top of each star.  Chill until ready to serve.  [Note:  These are best decorated right before serving, or a couple of hours before serving.  After that, the whipped cream will begin to melt and the star will no longer hold its shape.]

All on a Monday evening in May.  

Bounty

Yesterday, my day was spent in food.  

Reading about food.

Planning what food to make.

Shopping for food.

Making food.

Eating food.  

Writing about food.  

I can't imagine a better day.

In the morning, after perusing cookbooks and blogs, Steve and I went to the New Haven farmer's market for the first time this year.  We purchased:

fresh baby lettuces, bagged, from the Yale Sustainable Food Project garden on Edwards 

large, pale brown eggs 

tiny, bright red radishes with green leaves

potatoes, still a little bit dirty 

all from George Hall Farm in Simsbury

thick-cut, smoked bacon from Four Mile River Farm in Old Lyme

a pretzel from SoNo Baking Company in Norwalk

Then, we came home and cooked.  For dinner we ate

anchovy gougeres from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food

Villa Wolf Gewurztraminer

baby lettuces salad with olive oil and lemon vinaigrette, avocado, and roasted beets

grilled rack of capretto, from Dom's home in Sheffield, MA, and our favorite place to buy meat, Moon in the Pond Farm

baked potatoes with olive oil, cream, and parmigiano

Palmiers, recipe below

Afterwards, we felt full, and lucky.

Palmiers

Recipe from Sur La Table baking workshop I took in March

2-3 c granulated sugar

1 batch quickest puff pastry--see recipe below (or 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed and unfolded into a rectangle)

Roll dough out using sugar as you would with flour.  Press about 1/2 cup sugar into dough using a rolling pin, turn over, and do the same on the other side.

Fold both outer edges of doug in toward the middle from top to bottom.  Then fold the rectangle of dough in half, from left to right.  Finally, fold bottom edge up to the top one.  Set aside any remaining sugar on a small plate.  Press the dough lightly, then chill for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the folded dough every 1/3 inch and dip the cut sides into the sugar before placing on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Leave 2 inches of space around each cookie.  

Bake for 10 minutes on each side, until they are well carmelized.  The color should be deep amber, not brown.  Cool pastries for a few minutes until crisp and serve warm.  

Quickest Puff Pastry

2 1/2 sticks cold, unsalted butter

1/2 c cold tap water

1 tsp salt

2 c unbleached all-purpose flour

Cut 2 sticks butter into 1/2 inch dice and refrigerate. 

Measure the water and stir in the salt to dissolve.  Set aside.

Coarsely dice the remaining 4 T butter.  Place flour in the work bowl of a food processor and 4 T of butter.  Pulse until the butter is absorbed--it should be ground finely, with no pieces of butter showing. 

Add the chilled butter and pulse a couple of times to distribute.  Shape dough into a rectangle and place between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.  Press dough with a rolling pin to flatten, then roll back and forth several times with a rolling pin to make a 12x18 inch rectangle.  

Peel away top layer of plastic wrap and turn dough over onto the floured work surface.  Peel away the second layer of plastic wrap and fold the dough in thirds the short way, to make a 4x18 inch rectangle.  Then roll the dough up from one of the 4-inch ends.  Make sure to roll the end under the dough.  Press the roll of dough out into a square, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour, or until firm.  

Use dough within 2 to 3 days.  Or freeze up to one month and defrost in refrigerator overnight before using.  

*Adapted from "How to Bake" by Nick Malgieri, and included in our recipes from a baking workshop I took at Sur La Table in March with Chef Meg Buchsbaum.

Ghostbusters Cupcakes (and Not Scary Cookie Favors)

Who ya gonna call?
Me...if your child is having a back-to-the-80s Ghostbusters party.

Or if you are hosting a 2010 bridal shower and the bride's favorite color is "spring" green. As in, neon. Green. Trees and stuff, right?

Well, let's just say it was rather dark at 5 am Sunday morning, and the lightbulbs in our kitchen are sort of burning out. And have I mentioned how lazy I can be sometimes? Seriously, though, in my defense, the cupcakes matched the plates and napkins perfectly. I'm not kidding. Check out the picture below.

At the last minute I decided (as I often mistakenly do) that 65 cupcakes weren't enough and I should make cookie favors too. I was inspired by Bake at 350, who does beautiful cookie decorating work for all occasions, and who has detailed instructions on how to fill cookies here. Thanks to her, I purchased a squeeze bottle and used it to fill in cookies with thinned royal icing after outlining them in regular royal icing with a #2 Wilton tip.
I used her recipe for Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies
3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar (I use sugar that I've stored vanilla beans in)
2 sticks butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350.Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

Roll onto a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Royal Icing
Keeps two weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.

3 larg egg whites *
4 c (sifted and lightly spooned into cup) powdered sugar
*The egg whites can be replaced with 3 T of meringue powder and 3 ounces (6 T) of warm water.

In a large mixing bowl, place the egg whites and powdered sugar and beat with whisk beater at low speed until sugar is moistened. Beat at high speed until glossy and stiff peaks form when the beater is lifted (5-7 min). The tips of the peaks should curve slightly. If necessary, more powdered sugar may be added.

With the cupcake carrying problem from my Valentine Message Cupcakes solved with two new Martha Stewart cupcake carriers, I had only a few issues left with which to contend. Unfortunately, my cookie icing refused to dry, and, once again, I had a plastic-sticking-to-sugar problem. So sad, I know. I only hope that no one actually tried to remove their cookie from the bag.
A perfect pair. (I used the bride's and groom's first initials: "J" for "Jennifer" and "B" for Brian. It is not proper etiquette to use the bride's new name, if she so chooses to take it, before the actual ceremony has taken place. (So bride's new name at receptions are okay, but bridal showers are a definite faux pas!)

After a minor SNAFU (the cookies were too wide at the bottom to fit in the treat bags I had on hand), I was on my way to shower favor success with three straight rows of nicely bagged cookies. And no, the green icing did not look like green slime this time. It looked perfectly wedding-esque.

But anyways, back to the cupcakes. Here are the recipes.

Cupcakes
I love Rose's new book, Rose's Heavenly Cakes. After turning each page gluttonously in the bookstore and unsuccessfully trying to rationalize buying yet another baking book, this book arrived for me in the mail from none other than my mother. I've made the gingerbread cheesecake, banana cake with "Dreamy, Creamy White Chocolate Frosting" and now the cupcakes, all delicious and nearly flawless (except for the banana cake whose center, which never baked, I had to dig out--oops). I also carry this book around my apartment with me, constantly plotting my next bake. The Sticky Toffee Pudding has me mesmerized.

Batters

Chocolate Butter Cupcakes
These chocolate cupcakes are like brownies. They are more fudgelike than cakey, with a finer crumb and a dense interior. Personally, I prefer Rose's Perfect All American Chocolate Butter Cake recipe, but it really depends on what you are looking for. These cupcakes actually grew on me after a while, and held up for several days (at room temp, already frosted).

1/2 c plus 1 T unsweetened and alkalized cocoa powder, sifted before measuring
1/2 c boiling water
2 large eggs
3 T water
1 1/2 tsp water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 c cake flour
1 c superfine sugar (you can make this by food processing regular sugar)
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 T unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cocoa and water until smooth. Cover and let cool.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, 3 T water, and the vanilla together.
In a mixer, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds. Add butter and chocolate mixture until moistened. Raise speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl.

Gradually add egg mixture in two parts, beating 30 seconds after each addition. Scoop a scant 1/4 c of batter into each of 16 muffin tins fitted with muffin liners.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when pressed lightly in the center and a wire cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

Vanilla Butter Cupcakes
I've been looking for a vanilla cake recipe for a long time, and I think I've finally found it. There is something bland about the traditional yellow cake recipes out there, but this one has sour cream for a little tang, and a moist, sweet interior that is at once airy and yet laden with dense butter.

2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 c cake flour (sifted into the cup and leveled off)
1 c superfine sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter

In a small bowl, whisk eggs, 3 T sour cream, and vanilla just to combine.

In a mixer, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add butter and remaining sour cream and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Gradually add egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium for about 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down sides. Fill 16 lined standard cupcake tins with about 1/4 cup batter each and bake 20-25 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool on wire rack in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and continue to cool on rack until completely cooled.

Buttercreams
I liked making these two buttercreams together because one called for whites and the other yolks.

Chocolate Neoclassic Eggwhite Buttercream

This buttercream is light, airy, and when just whipped produces a beautiful, pale brown.

5 ounces dark chocolate (60% to 70% cocoa)

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 large egg whites (1/4 cup or 2 ounces)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup superfine sugar

Heat chocolate until almost completely melted. Stir until melted.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat butter until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites (use a clean beater) until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks form.

Beat the butter into the egg whites 1 T at a time on medium speed. Use at once or set aside for up to 4 hours. If keeping longer than 4 hours, refrigerate (I refrigerated some of the leftover for 6 days and it still tasted as good as the first day!), then bring to room temp before beating again. If it curdles, continue to beat until no longer curdled.

Golden Neoclassic Buttercream
This buttercream comes out a pale yellow color, so beware! I used this one to make the green slime color, so the yellow didn't matter, although it was a shame to turn that beautiful yolky color into Who ya gonna call color.

3 large egg yolks (3 1/2 T or 1/7 ounces)
1/4 c plus 2 T superfine sugar
1/4 c corn syrup
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
16 T unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Beat yolks on high speed until pale in color.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice. Stir with a silicone spatula until all the sugar is moistened. Heat over medium-high, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup begins to bubble around the edges. Stop stirring completely and continue cooking for a few minutes until the syrup comes to a rolling boil. Immediately transfer to a glass measure to stop the cooking.

Add the syrup to the yolks. Begin by pouring in a small amount of syrup. Immediately beat on ihgh speed for 5 seconds. Add the remaining syrup the same way in three parts. For the last addition, use a silicone scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure and scrape it against the beater. If the syrup has hardened before most of it has been poured, soften it to pouring consistency for a few seconds in the microwave.

Allow to cool completely. To speed cooling, place the buttercream in an ice water bath or the refrigerator, stirring occasionally. When the outside of the bowl feels cool, beat the butter in by the tablespoon on medium-high speed. The buttercream will not thicken until almost all of the butter has been added. Add the vanilla and beat on low speed unti incorporated.

Valentine Message Cupcakes

Okay, these are a bit late, a bit after-the-fact, but that doesn't ruin their charm. Perhaps you missed Valentine's Day or didn't shower your sweetheart with love and need a way to make it up to him or her. You could also make these Hostess-like cupcakes with any kind of decoration or writing on top, as my sister pointed out to me.

These cupcakes come from Martha Stewart, and you can find the Recipe Here.

Instead of using her One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes, however, I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum, called Perfect All American Chocolate Butter Cake.

I piped some modern messages, as well, at Steve's suggestion.

Steve, my husband, declared these cupcakes "hot" and "sexy," due to their shiny chocolate glaze. Although these cupcakes are shinier than when dried (the above picture shows glaze that is not yet dried), the dried glaze also proves rather shiny.

A couple of problems: One, I'm still learning how to use my camera and photographed these in a rush one morning last week during a 2-hour snow delay for school, hence the not-so-fabulous pictures. I'm still learning about light. Two, the plastic wrap stuck to the cupcakes, ruining the shiny glaze and creating those ugly pockmarks. Lesson Learned: I'm purchasing a cupcake carrier this week.