Colossal Crumb Cake

I don't think there is a person on the planet who would say they do not like crumb cake.  I prefer crumb cake over any doughnut, danish, or cinnamon roll for breakfast - it is my absolute favorite.  I have tried Martha Stewart's recipe a couple times but had to stop making it because I could not stop eating it!  But when I saw this recipe on Serious Eats, I could not resist.  I HAD to try it.  Anticipating that I would be able to give some away to family, I decided to make it this weekend.  Luckily, it freezes well, so hopefully I can show some restraint and put the rest of what I have in the freezer for later consumption.

First let's start with the most important component: the crumbs!

I am not sure if this picture gives the crumbs justice.  This is the biggest bowl I own.  The utensil in the picture is a big serving fork (not regular size), so hopefully that will help you to understand just how much of the cake is made up of this delicious crumb topping.

Now for the cut-out corner shot: to say that getting this piece out was easy is a lie.  To say that I did not enjoy eating all the bits of crumbs that fell off the top is another lie.

And finally, the piece de resistance: the cross-section.

Now, this is a particularly big piece... I would not recommend eating all of this in one sitting; while your tastebuds would be very happy, your stomach would not be later on.  Plus, you would probably not be able to move for a while.

So, as long as you stick to smaller-sized pieces and/or have a good crowd of people share this with, I recommend you make this.  It is unbelievably good.

Colossal Crumb Cake
adapted from Arthur Schwartz
serves a small army

For the crumb topping:
3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter
7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar (I used half light/half dark)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 tablespoons cinnamon

For the cake:

2 1/4 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup superfine or strained sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1. Make the topping: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low flame.  Remove from heat and cool for about 5 minutes, but do not allow butter to become cold. Transfer butter to a very large mixing bowl.

2. Add the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and cinnamon.  Stir together until mixture forms small crumbs.  Set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 350 with the rack in the lower third of the oven.
4. Butter a 9x13 inch pan.  Dust lightly with flour.

5. Make the cake: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl and whisk together.

6. Add butter to a large bowl of a stand up mixer.  Cream butter until soft. 

7. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl occasionally.

8. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides as necessary. Add vanilla.

9. Reduce mixer speed to low.  Add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, dividing the flour mixture into 3 parts and the sour cream into 2 parts, starting and ending with the flour.  Mix just until incorporated after each addition.  Scrape sides down and mix for another 10 seconds. 

10. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a rubber spatula.

11. Pour crumb mixture over the cake in the pan.  Make sure to gently press down crumbs on top of batter. Try to make sure the whole surface is covered well (this should not be a problem).  

12. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until cake is golden brown and begins to come away from the sides of the pan.  

*Just a note - my cake needed a little more than 30 minutes for the middle portion of the cake to be cooked through, but ovens may vary so be sure to keep an eye on it!

 Nothing but crumbs!

White Bean Dip

A quick and easy recipe for a variation of hummus.  Serve with veggies and pita chips.

White Bean Dip

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

1 can white (cannellini) beans

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a food processor.  Chill to allow flavors to combine.  I think next time I will add a couple sprinkles of red pepper flakes to spice it up a bit!

New Oven!

So...I am very happy to report that I got a new oven and microwave!  [It's a little pathetic that this is what I get excited about, but it's true].  The oven is a dual-fuel, so it's a gas range with an electric convection oven.  It was quite a project getting it installed, especially since our old oven was all gas.  We didn't realize it would be a problem until the delivery people brought it up (3 flights of stairs) and saw that we didn't have the correct outlet to connect the oven.  Luckily, our electrician was able to come in and remedy the problem and now it's up and running! 

Of course I had to test it out immediately, but since it was already pretty late, I did not want to make anything too elaborate.  I had these beautiful blackberries in the fridge, so I decided to make a blackberry cobbler/crisp.  It was probably the best I have ever made.... and I am convinced it was all the oven's doing!

Blackberry Crisp

serves 6-8

1 1/2 cup blackberries 

1/4-1/2 cup walnuts

1 cup Splenda

sprinkle of brown sugar

1 stick melted butter

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch of kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Spread out blackberries evenly on bottom of 9in glass pie pan.  Roughly chop walnuts (I just broke by hand) and place in between berries.  Mix together the remaining ingredients and place on top of berries.  Bake for about 40 minutes.  Try to hold off from eating it all in one sitting! 

This dish is great served warm by itself or with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top.  I have been enjoying it cold with a dollop of plain yogurt on the side for breakfast!

Oh, and how could I forget to include a picture of my new baby!  Sorry it's a little blurry, but you get the picture...

Triple Chocolate Pecan Cake

Mara's Homemade is one of our favorite restaurants in the city.  We discovered it after coming back from New Orleans - we were jonesing for cajun cuisine and found Mara's online.  We gave it a try and boy were we glad we did.  Not only is the food great and owners friendly, the homemade desserts are out of this world.  Now every time we go to Mara's we HAVE to get dessert.  If we're too full (which we usually are), we take it home.  A couple months back, this is exactly what we did.  We ordered the chocolate pecan cake to go.  After we got home, I opened the box to take a look and said maybe I'll try a bite.  That particular bite will forever be in my memory - it was absolute ecstasy.  I called my husband over because he HAD to try it and 5 minutes later, the slice was gone.  There was nothing we could do to hold back - it was that good. 

So after that night, I was on a mission to find out how to make this incredible cake myself.  I found this recipe online and decided that it was the closest thing I could find, pecans and all.  Since my husband is a chocolate lover, I figured it was the perfect thing to make for his birthday.  We brought it to my parents on Mother's Day (also his bday) and everyone loved it.  While I am still not convinced that it is as good as Mara's, it is pretty darn close...but it won't stop me from ordering it next time I go!

Triple Chocolate Pecan Cake

adapted from The Baking Pan 

Batter:

8 1-ounce squares semisweet chocolate

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ cups granulated sugar

6 large eggs

1/3 cup brandy or cognac (or any kind of liquid you like - I used instant coffee for a mocha flavor)

1½ cups toasted pecans finely chopped

Glaze:

5 1-ounce squares bittersweet chocolate

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons whipping (heavy) cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch of kosher salt

½ cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Fill a deep casserole dish halfway with warm water and put on lower shelf in oven. Prepare one 9 inch springform pan; lightly grease the pan with butter, line with wax paper, and then lightly grease the top of the wax paper.  (I did not use wax paper).
Batter:

In top of a double boiler over hot water, Melt the semi-sweet chocolate and butter; stir to combine. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cocoa powder and sugar. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs and brandy; whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the sugar mixture and stir to combine. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and stir until completely combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and set on higher shelf in oven.
Bake:

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for 15 minutes then remove cake from the pan and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 6 hours.
Glaze:

In top of a double boiler over hot water, combine the bittersweet chocolate, butter, whipping cream, vanilla and salt. Stir until melted and completely combined. Remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes.

Place a piece of wax paper under the chilled cake, and then drizzle spoonfuls of glaze along the edge of the cake, allowing the glaze to drip down and coat the sides. Pour the remaining glaze on top of the cake.

Cover the sides of the cake with ½ cup chopped pecans, gently pressing them on with your hand. Let the cake sit, uncovered, at room temperature or in the refrigerator until the glaze is set. Transfer cake to a serving plate.

Cover cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate Leftovers.
 

After reading this recipe again, it sounds pretty complicated.  Don't be intimidated, because it really is not.  I do have to warn you though, this cake is definitely chocolate overload - if you don't like chocolate, this might not be the right cake for you.  Fortunately, my family does not have that problem!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am always looking for new muffin recipes.  Muffins to me are the perfect breakfast when you are on the go.  They also freeze and defrost well, so I can make a batch and not have to worry about them going stale before we finish them.  I found this recipe on the internet when I was looking for something to make with leftover ripe bananas (I was not in the mood for traditional banana bread).  I don't remember now where I found this recipe, but after a couple tweaks and healthy additions, it has become a favorite of mine and my husband's.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup plus 1 tbsp melted butter

½ cup Splenda

¼ cup brown sugar

1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

pinch of salt 

¾ cup chocolate chips

3 tbsp flax seeds

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Grease a 12 cup muffin tin with butter or baking spray.

Cut bananas into a large bowl and mash with a fork.  Add in the egg, vanilla and melted butter.  Add the sugars and combine.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add to bowl and combine.  Gently mix in chocolate chips and flax seeds - do not overmix or the muffins will be tough. 

Divide the batter between the 12 cups and bake for approx 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

A Tale of Two Weddings

April was busy for my husband and me.  Two couples near and dear to us were married.  As it turned out, the first wedding was in Florida and the second a week later in South Carolina, so we were able to attend both and plan a little road trip in between.  Here are some pictures of our adventure.

A note about this cake: while it looks fabulous, it tasted even better.  I find a lot of times that a cake that looks this good might not taste so good.  This cake was an exception.  I ate my whole piece and then munched on more later that was left in the fridge (whoops, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone).   Each layer of this cake was a different flavor.  The first I tried was an almond cake and the second had some sort of chocolate ganache thing going on.  Luckily, they hid the top layer because I probably would have dug into that too and it supposed to be saved for the couple's first anniversary (just kidding, I would have controlled myself).  

After visiting with relatives for a couple days, we made our way to St. Augustine, Florida, America's oldest city.  We were greeted by very nice innkeepers at The Kenwood Inn and immediately given information as to what to do and where to go in the city.  We toured city hall, Flagler College and Fort Mantazas in between shopping and getting lunch.

After a long day of walking, we were in the mood for some beers before heading back to shower and change for dinner.  We stopped at A1A Ale Works, sat on the balcony and overlooked the bay.  As usual, I had to try the beer sampler...and of course my favorite was the Maibock, the special beer of the month which apparently has a higher alcohol content than any of the others (no wonder!).

 

Dinner was at Collage in town.  Our innkeeper recommended it and handled the reservations for us.  We were very happy with her choice!

Next stop on our adventure was to St. Mary's, Georgia, where there is ferry service to Cumberland Island, a National Park closed off to civilization.  Cumberland Island is truly a wonderland  filled with all sorts of wildlife and ruins of what used to be. I wish we had more time to explore this beautiful, mystical place. It's not every day that you see wild horses on the beach and armadillos digging in the dirt. It was very cool!

  

Our final stop before the second wedding was in Charleston, South Carolina, one of my favorite cities (not to mention my sister lives there).  On this visit, we took a trip to Magnolia Cemetery, which is the most famous cemetery in the area (cemeteries are big down there).  Never in my life have I seen such intricate gravesites.  Here was one of my favorites:

Also while in town we ate lunch at Hominy Grill (finally!) and had dinner at Poogan's Porch and Muse.   Hominy Grill was awesome, and we were lucky that there was no line as we went during prime lunch hours.  I had the pimento cheese sandwich (can't get those up north) with the coleslaw on the side, which was refreshing and light.  My husband and sis got potato salad on the side of their sandwiches and aside from my mom and grandmas, it was the best I have ever had.   

Poogan's Porch is another southern standby tucked in an old house on Queen Street.  I remember eating there as a child and it brought back some memories.  The food was good, especially the biscuits, but the atmosphere is what makes this place.  Supposedly it's haunted too, which is always a possibility anywhere you go in Charleston. 

By far the best place we ate on our trip was Muse, a Mediterranean place also in an old house on Society Street.   Everything about this place was superb - the food, setting, and service.  We will definitely return on our next visit. 

The final stop of our trip was the second wedding in Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms (a 20 minute drive from downtown Charleston).  Like the first wedding, it was outdoor, very intimate, and beautiful.  It was such a treat  to begin and end our trip with these two very special occasions.  We couldn't be happier for the 2 couples as they begin their new lives together!

 

P.S. This was the first time I have seen wedding cupcakes - so cute and so very tasty!!