The Secret History of Toll House Cookies

Read my Secret History of Toll House Cookies, published today on the Toast

Compost Cookies

Love the Comments sections for recipes. Some people do not know how to read recipes, or cook, and their cranky comments are available for all the world to see. As my Grandmother would say, “bless their hearts.”  It was the comments on the Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookies recipe that intrigued me.
The success rate was all over the place.There were people who got great cookies, and people who threw the whole batch away.
“the 1st pan was greasy,flat,and chewy so I threw it away “, “Very disappointing. I don't see how the cookies came out so puffy and dense for you. Mystifying. I wouldn't try this again based on how it worked for me, but would if someone had tweaks to improve the recipe listed here.”
“When I finally baked them, I was so disappointed. I let the dough balls chill all afternoon, and I set the oven to 400 degrees, but they just wouldn't cook in the middle. They got super dark (almost burnt) on the edges, but raw in the middle..”

What was it with this recipe?
There are several versions of this recipe online: there is this one in the Los Angeles Times, this one on Food.com, also here, and here.
Careful reading of the ingredients shows that this is based on the Toll House Cookie .But the techniques supplied are different. The Chef, Christina Tosi, advises beating the butter and sugar for ten minutes in a mixer (!!!), plus she adds what I considered unnecessary additions: corn syrup, and too much salt.
I know from reading the comments that some people’s cookies came out flat, but looking at pictures of the “real” Compost Cookies, they are somewhat flat. Most people have an unrealistic expectation of what a cookie should look like, based on a lifetime of buying cookies, as opposed to making cookies. (Just like they don’t know what good clothes should look like, because they wear RTW).
I resolved to conquer the Compost Cookie.
After reading all of the recipes online, I decided to start with this one, with the following changes, based on my ten thousand hours plus of cookie baking.
I eliminated the corn syrup, which is my view provided more sweetness, plus makes the cookies flatter.
I decided against the ten minute beating of the sugar and butter, because that makes the butter soft and oily, causing unpleasant texture.
I did not add any additional salt, because I used salted butter, and the potato chips and pretzels are plenty salty. Since I did not beat my cookies senseless, I did not have to chill them overnight, although if you want chunky, chewy cookies, as opposed to flat, oily cookies, this is a good idea, if you have time.
Momofuku Milk Bar's compost cookies
Adapted from Los Angeles Times version of the Momofuku Milk Bar in New York.

First, make the graham crust
Graham crust
1 1/2 cups  graham cracker crumbs ( I crushed a package of graham crackers in my Cuisinart, and measured the correct amount)
1/4 cup  milk powder
2 tablespoons  sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter, more if needed
1/4 cup heavy cream
I did not add any additional salt here, because graham crackers already have salt, plus my butter was salted.

I mixed this all together in the Cuisinart, and then set it aside.
There is more than you need for the recipe, so I stored the remainder in the fridge, and resolved to think of other things to add it to.

Compost cookies

1 cup  butter,  (recipe writers always tell you to use room temperature butter. This is flat out wrong, IMHO. It will lead to flat and oily cookies. Your butter should be solid and only slightly pliable. You will be able to gently bend it. It will not be soft.)
1 cup  sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1/4 recipe) graham crust (from above)
1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 1/2 teaspoons ground coffee
2 cups potato chips
1 cup mini pretzels
I also added ½ cup crushed and broken Oreos
and ½ cup crushed corn chex

My method: mix butter and sugars together in Cuisinart .Add egg, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda. I did not add additional salt as my butter was salted and the potato chips and pretzels have salt.. I removed this from the Cuisinart, and had Mr. Hunting Creek blend in the pretzels, oatmeal, chips, chocolate chips, chex, Oreos, etc. He decided to break up the pretzels and potato chips slightly. When it was all mixed together, I let it rest in the fridge for a while - maybe an hour? while I did Christmas shopping “research” online, and Mr. Hunting Creek watched football.
Then I used my tablespoon cookie scoop to form the cookies. I did not want giant, salad plate sized cookies. I do not want to eat that much cookie at one time,. so I opted for a saner size. Preheat your oven to 350. .
We baked a batch at 350 for 14 minutes, you may need to go a minute longer or shorter - you should always do a test batch to see if the recipe time works for you. Don’t do what so many commenters did and bake giant batches of cookies at 400 degrees, just to end up throwing them out. Doing this - baking a giant batch for the first run through is like using your expensive fabric for a pattern that you have never made before. Make a muslin! Do a test batch!

My version of Compost Cookies came out delightfully craggy and crunchy and chewy. Baking time has a lot to do with texture too. Bake slightly less if you want a more chewy texture.
Next time I make these I will try reducing the sugar a little bit and adding different “Compost” ingredients. My testers liked them,
I will include these in my Christmas cookie tins this year.
What new cookie recipes are you going to try? Or do you stick to tried and true?

Hand Made Olive Oil Granola

Every week I make a giant batch of olive oil granola and all of it gets eaten. It's easy to tailor the recipe to your own preferences..
Here is my basic formula:

Olive Oil Granola
 4 cups old fashioned oats (I use the gluten-free organic oats from trader Joe's, but you can use any kind of course)
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts
\1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds (unsalted, hulled)
1/4 cup toasted flax seeds
1/4 cup ground flax seeds (these add omega 3)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (sometimes I use pumpkin pie spice)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (if you use regular salt, only use 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup honey

Mix ll of the dry ingredients together, then pour in the olive oil, honey and maple syrup. Mix well, Pour into a greased large baking pan or two greased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 F  for 45 minutes - BUT - you need to set the timer for 15 minute and stir every 15 minutes.I like it toasty - if you like it less toasted, then bake 30 minutes and stir every ten minutes.
Let cool, break up with a wooden spoon and store in a sealed container. This only lasts a week in my house.
If you don't like nuts, leave them out. You can use any kind of nuts - pistachios, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts...your choice. I add flax seeds, but you could leave them out. You could use canola oil instead of olive oil. You could use coconut oil - I have - it's delicious. Instead of honey you could use all maple syrup, or agave syrup, or all honey  If you like it sweeter you could add a quarter cup of brown sugar, more cinnamon, ...you get the idea. If you would like to add dried fruit wait until after it is toasted. Dried cranberries are nice. So are freeze-dried blueberries.

What do I do with all of this granola? I'm glad you asked.
I sprinkle it on top of mt Greek Yogurt and fruit

I add it to my cooked oatmeal, for crunch.
It makes an excellent topping for baked apples.
Last summer I ground it up and used it for a cheesecake crust. This gave Mr. Hunting Creek ideas - he ground some up with melted butter and more cinnamon, and spread it on some pizza dough that was in the fridge and made cinnamon rolls.
I add it to cookie dough.I add it to pumpkin and banana bread.
You could always make a half batch, but it makes a great gift.
I like to give some to neighbors for Christmas, in a pretty container, tied with a bow.
pretty soon they'll be back with the empty container, asking for more.

Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake

Several people told me that I had teased my readers with mention of an old recipe for Mayonnaise
Chocolate Cake, but had not revealed it to you. Of course the problem this cake solves is an excess of homemade mayo. Nothing better on a BLT, but how many BLTs can we eat in one week? Not as many as we'd like, but that's a separate issue. In the olden days people frequently made their own, as I do from time to time, as does my daughter. But how to use it up?
This recipe comes from an old cookbook that I have had since I was first married,. What Shall I Cook Today, by Nika Hazelton. 
This book has recipes and menus for every day of the year, and is quite charming in a retro way. Of course we all cook our families lunches from scratch every day! My sister always tried to steal it from me.

In the book it's called:
Thrifty Waldorf Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water ( I always use cold coffee with a little rum or liqueur, like Amaretto or Hazelnut)
2 teaspoons vanilla (I make  my own and you should too)
2/3 cup mayonnaise

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x9x2 pan, or two 8 inch layer pans or a small bundt pan. I normally make a square one.

Mix the dry ingredients. The book says to sift, but I never do. I just dump them all in my Cuisinart and pulse it a couple times. Or put them in a bowl and whisk. If you want to sift, be my guest.
Add the water, vanilla and mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. A few pulses of the processor or beat by hand until smooth. Add to pan or pans, bake 30-35 minutes, or until cake pulls away from the sides and is not gooey inside. Frost when cool, or not. My family doesn't love frosting, so I never do. 

This is a super easy cake that you can whip up on a weeknight, and no one will ever know what's in it. Sometimes I add chocolate chips.(the mini ones work best).
Everyone will think you are amazing and in fact, anyone who bakes a cake for their family and friends IS amazing. I like mine with vanilla ice cream and berries.
Happy Friday!

Career Counseling

  Sometimes my job is super tedious like 90% of the time. Like the airline pilot joke says, it’s hours of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. During those hours of boredom I try to imagine what my Perfect Job would be.  The job that uses my considerable natural talents and pays Big Bucks so that I can have plenty of free time,  Greek Yogurt and fancy Cat Food for the kittens. Plus extra left over from that to use to buy patterns that I might never make but need, just in case.

And Extra Money, which is a concept I explain to my children is like Unicorns or the wendigo.

Remember when your High School Career Counselor told you to list your favorite hobbies and classes and they handed out this sheet where you filled in the little bubbles with a number two pencil and then got back a printout that told you that you were divinely chosen to be a dental hygienist or a plumber or a nurse?
Mine said (not making this up, I even saved the paper somewhere) that I was best suited for Military Intelligence. OK... now that you’ve had a good laugh and are making that lame old joke about how that’s an oxymoron, just think about this. What if my high school counselor was right?
I ponder this while waiting for software upgrades to upload.
Do you suppose the Intelligence Community looking for these skills?

1. Baking bread – I guess I could hide secret messages in it. Or feed other, hungry spies.
2. Fixing failed mayonnaise – this skill came in handy just yesterday, when my daughter called saying that her mayonnaise was a giant puddle of eggy oil and I gave her the magic solution and it totally worked and mayo’d but then she had the horrible problem of two cups of fresh mayonnaise to use up after eating her BLT, which I also deftly solved with an awesome Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake recipe, baby, which uses 2/3 cup of mayonnaise. Plus also Crab Cakes, Chicken salad in Heirloom tomatoes and Garlic Cheese Bread. Leave it to a child of the seventies to know her way out of a mayonnaise glut.
3. Sewing: I could make awesome disguises. I once made my son a Darth Maul costume so awesome that he won our neighborhood Halloween contest. Plus, Star Wars! Knowing the star Wars canon has to be good for spying. “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” I could totally say that with a straight face.
4. Painting. See disguises, above.
5. Trivia.  A person who reads all the time necessarily knows lots of previously useless information
6. Never been beaten at Chinese checkers. An unbroken streak lasting 30 plus years.
7. being able to fold those elastic bottom sheets has to be good for something.
8. Never forgetting passwords
9. Know every bridge on the George Washington parkway, thus enabling me to leave bundles of spy stuff hidden where no one but us spies will find it.
10. Tracing Burda Patterns. Anyone who has done this knows that no Cold War expert could do better at solving these Undecipherable Puzzles

Mr. Hunting Creek offers that I am really good at predicting how mysteries will end, either in book or movie form, and also remembering the plots of old movies.
Do you sit and Fantasize about other, more Glamorous lines of work? What’s your Fantasy Job?

The Accidental Diet

No sooner had I come up with a brilliant idea for a cookbook that I immediately decided to write, Mr. Hunting Creek decides to go on a diet. He does this occasionally, and all of us shiver in awe at his dedication and annoying success. He is a fanatic! Dieting is like a religion to him, including the periods of self-denial, ritual fasting and feasting. He never cheats - never!(Once several years ago, when he went on Pritikin, we were so fat free I used to dream at night about butter and olive oil. I am not making this up.) Only when my sister and I threatened to excommunicate him from cooking did he let us bring olive oil back into the kitchen. My sister still remembers this period with a shudder. After that debacle, he was forbidden to even utter the words low-fat in our presence.
This time he decided to combine Atkins with power-walking. Our children and I told him that while we totally supported him, we were not going to go totally carb-free. When we went to Ray's Hell Burger for Mother's Day, he ate his without the bun. Even though I am not on a diet, I had to stop baking, which is my main form of entertainment. Our son and I can't eat a whole cake or batch of cookies and then I'd just have to throw it all out. So in a way we are all inadvertantly dieting because it is no fun for us to eat dark chocolate brownies alone. However, it has been a challenge to design entire menus that do not include excess simple carbohydrates. It's like having vegetarians come for Thanksgiving. You have to be creative. When we had an Easter Brunch I made all the dishes so that he and his fellow dieters at the table could easily avoid the carbs by just not eating the home-baked soft rolls (which were awesome, by the way), and not putting sugar on their strawberries. I discovered that ground almonds make a nice crust for a savory cheesecake and an admirable addition to crab cakes.
This made me think what if there were a cooking site that could convert recipes to conform to different diet regimens? For example, suppose you want a cheesecake - just plug your recipe into the recipe converter and it sends back a converted recipe with suggested changes. My rule would also stipulate that nothing fake could be used, since I don't approve of artificial sweeteners or fake anything. Usually when I imagine something this awesome, the Universe nicely invents it for me and I don't have to do the tedious work of making it happen. (I 'invented' non-electric ice cream makers this way). I'm working on inventing low-carb Ice Cream and cake that has nothing fake. Wish me luck!

Mexican Chocolate Streusel Brownies

Just in time for Valentine's Day: Mexican Chocolate Streusel Brownies
I got the idea for these from the new Sunset cookbook, but I didn't make their recipe exactly. (Their recipe looks wonderful, but I wanted to adapt it. This is the charm of sewing or cooking your own things - you can change things to suit yourself.)

First I made the streusel topping. This involved sending Mr. Hunting Creek to his favorite ethnic grocery to get the Ibarra Mexican chocolate. (He also bought some shrimp ceviche and tomatoes and tortilla chips, but those aren't required for the brownies.)
Take one circle of the chocolate, and break it and then chop it into smaller pieces. I used a large knife to help this along, taking care to NOT chop my fingers. The chocolate is hard, so warming it slightly helped in the chopping - only slightly - don't melt it. Add that to the Cuisinart or mixing bowl. Chop until small - like chopped nuts.
In the food processor or bowl,add to the chopped chocolate, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar(it makes no difference whether it is light or dark) and 5 tablespoons butter.
Mix some more, until it looks crumbly. About 30 seconds or several pulses. Set aside - this goes on top of your brownies.

Then I made my brownies.

I adapted this recipe to my interpretation:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9x 13" pan.
In a saucepan, melt the butter, then add the sugar and make sure it is all dissolved and melted. Turn off the heat. In a bowl mix the eggs, cocoa, salt, cinnamon baking powder, almond extract and vanilla. Blend that with the melted butter and sugar. Blend in the flour. I mix all of this right in the saucepan. Scrape into the prepared 9x13" pan. Sprinkle the Streusel evenly on top. I baked mine for 30 minutes. Your oven may be hotter or cooler - check after 28 minutes. They will be cooked and not goopy. Every one likes their brownies a certain way.
These received high marks from Mr. Hunting Creek, our 20 year old son and a visiting friend. They were great served with ice cream. They were also good with my coffee this morning, renamed into Mexican Chocolate Streusel Brownie Coffee Cake. Hey, it's Valentine's Day.

Undergoing Renovations

Unbeknownst to me, Mr. Hunting Creek had planned to strip the wallpaper in the office/current sewing zone. This has entailed a great deal of domestic upheaval. During these times, when absolutely everything is messy, covered with tarps or otherwise in a different place, one reminds oneself that one is blessed to have a spouse that will strip wallpaper on a holiday weekend. That one should thank one's lucky stars that he likes to paint and decorate. I'll be so happy when it's done. I'll then be able to show pictures of my new studio.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I feel like we should be undergoing a butter-cream detox. I realized when I was making the desserts (my task this year) that I had used one entire pound of butter making three desserts. American Thanksgiving is definitely for people who are preparing for a long, butter-deprived winter.
We received rave reviews for the Crack Pie, the Pumpkin-Gingerbread Trifle and the caramel and Rum Cream Deep Dish Apple Pie(my own creation). When I found the Crack Pie recipe, these words immediately made me decide to make it: Anyone who has taken a bite of this Milk Bar best seller immediately knows the reason for the sassy name. Once you start eating this rich, salty-sweet pie with its oat cookie crust, you won't be able to stop.
That certainly pushed all of my dessert buttons. You will need a glass of milk or cup of coffee to go with it.
I had to have mine for breakfast on Friday because I was too full of Thanksgiving dinner to eat dessert. And it was very super delicious.
Of course, all this butter and sugar give us the energy we need for the holiday endurance Triathlon that is the Holiday Season.
Happy shopping!

Apple-Hazelnut Upside-down Cake

After the first time we have to turn on the furnace, it's Fall. Time to make fall food, like chili and stews and apple desserts. Every weekend while Mr. Hunting Creek indulges in a glut of college football (Go Bears!), I like to bake a new dessert. There's something about baking that appeals to me: the ritual of getting out all of the ingredients, the preparation of the pans....it's almost like a religious rite.
If you are a tentative baker, there are a few things that you can do to improve your baking one hundredfold: measure everything out ahead of time. Get out all of your ingredients and make sure you have everything. Prepare your baking pan. Preheat your oven. It's like the checklist that pilots do before take-off. My daughter measures out all of her ingredients beforehand and she makes the best Toll House cookies.
She attributes this to her mise en place ritual. Mise en place is just French for preparation - getting everything ready to go. Professional chefs rely on it to make their cooking as fast and mistake free as possible. If you get in the habit of doing it every time, soon you will be baking like a pro too.
This weekend I had fresh picked Virginia apples and so an apple dessert was indicated.
I used Nittany apples which are an East Coast variety (if you can't tell by the name) but any good tart baking apple will work. Granny Smith, York, Greening...something tart.

Apple-Hazelnut Upside-Down Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease and lightly flour a 9x2 inch cake pan.

First we make the topping:
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Two peeled and cored apples

Pour the melted butter into the bottom of the baking pan, and tilt it so it is evenly coating the bottom. Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and nutmeg and then sprinkle all over the bottom of the pan. Then slice the apples and arrange all over the bottom. You can arrange in a pretty design, or just dump them in. Just make sure that they are evenly spread in the bottom on the pan. I like to make a nice design, but I'm OCD like that.

Then make the cake:

2 tablespoons hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

First, put the hazelnuts in the food processor with 1/4 cup of the flour and chop them up until they are ground up. Then add the rest of the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix a couple times. Set aside in a bowl. While you prepare the wet ingredients

1 peeled and cored apple
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons rum ( I like dark rum)
2 teaspoons vanilla

I do the whole thing in my Cuisinart. Slice up that last apple into chunks and chop it up - about 5-6 times. You should have about 1 cup. I can tell by looking because I have done this a zillion times, but if you aren't sure, take it out and measure it.
Add butter and sugar and mix a few times, until smooth - about 30-45 seconds or so.
Then add the eggs and mix those in. Add the milk and rum and extracts. Mix a couple seconds. Then add your reserved flour mixture above. Mix just until blended, about 3 or 4 times. You don't want to over mix once you add the flour. This makes your cake tough.
Pour the batter over the apples in the pan, making sure they are all covered and the batter is even. This batter is super delicious, so DO NOT taste more than once.
Bake about one hour, or an hour and ten minutes. Mine only took an hour.
Let it cool for 10-15 minutes before unmolding. I like it warm, but it is good cold too. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or creme anglaise.

Now that you have your nut-fruit upside down cake template, mix it up by substituting pecans for hazelnuts, or use walnuts, or almonds. Use pears instead of apples. Try using brown sugar instead of white sugar for the topping. Use brandy or amaretto instead of rum.
Pretty soon people will be begging you to bring "that cake you make".

This recipe is based on one in Abby Mandel's excellent book, Cuisinart Classroom, readily available for 1 penny plus shipping from Amazon. Of course I adapted it to my own quirks.

More Summer, please

We went to our local produce stand and bought more tomatoes, more peaches, more squash, more plums...summer is all about MORE, isn't it? (As winter is about doing more with less.)
I plan to make a tomato pie, a sub sandwich pizza (Mr Hunting Creek invented it this morning) and another peach cake. This peach cake is a little simpler than the fancy one I invented a few days ago, and smaller. But it is moist and delicious, and best of all, super easy to make.

Summer Peach Cake
(Adapted from Fine Cooking a few years ago, with dare I say, a few improvements)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon rum, or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or add all three - sometimes I do)
2/3 cup plain yogurt (I have used sour cream or flavored yogurt when I was out of plain yogurt - it all works. Buttermilk works too)

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x2 inch deep round cake pan.
Mix the flour with baking powder salt and soda and set aside. Beat butter with sugar until fluffy, then add eggs, vanilla and yogurt until smooth. Add flour, mix til smooth. Pour into cake pan, and top with a ripe cut up peach or nectarine, or some plums, or some peaches and raspberries, or blueberries. I like a combination. Sprinkle with sugar.
Doesn't that look beautiful? Bake about 40-45 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

What are your favorite summer treats?

Consider the Peach

Smell a white peach and you will remember that peaches are cousins to roses. They smell like the most heavenly sweet perfume. Some perfume company should make a white peach perfume. When I'm not standing over the sink sucking down white peaches like a demented peach vampire, I try to think of peach desserts to make.
Something besides peach pie, and peach crisp, because I like to get creative.
I invented:

White Peach, Raspberry and White Chocolate Cake
(I'd show you a picture but there is none left)

3 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt(if using salted butter, only use 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened (I use a Cuisinart, so I never soften the butter)
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but really nice with peaches)
1/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt)
2 cups cut up peaches
1/2 cup raspberries (or use blueberries, or more peaches)
1/2 bag white chocolate chips, optional but highly recommended ( 6 ounces?)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan or angel food pan,(12 cup capacity, 10 inch size) I use the spray that has oil and flour mixed. The person who invented that should get the Nobel Prize for Baking.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt together, set aside. I mix mine in the Cuisinart then place in a bowl while I combine the rest of the cake.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using a mixer or processor. Mix in the eggs, vanilla and almond extract. A splash of Amaretto wouldn't be out of line either - maybe a tablespoon? You won't be sorry. Add sifted flour and buttermilk or yogurt. Then fold in the fruit and white chocolate chips. This is thick and very delicious,If you're the kind of person who loves cake batter, watch out, because it is wonderful, and you'll make yourself sick.
Scoop into baking pan. Smooth it out, (stop licking the spatula!)
bake about 55-60 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes in the pan before removing - hot cakes are more likely to break - ask me how I know.
Glaze or not as you like - we are a no glaze family, but for guests we'd probably add a vanilla-almond glaze, or maybe raspberry.

Hurry and make this, because after summer is over, you won't see white peaches again until next July.

Sunday Brioche

Long ago, when our son was a baby, I told my husband I wanted to be a pastry chef. I had to work as a high-powered manager(well, maybe medium-powered, we are in the DC area, there are higher-powered jobs here) to pay the bills, and with two small children, it just wasn't the moment to quit my job and go to pastry chef school.
So I kept cooking at home, sometimes baking custom orders for friends(once I made a real wedding cake - I will never do that again!)





Mr. Hunting Creek said when our youngest was in school, I could quit and go to pastry chef school. But then...lots of other stuff happened. And I couldn't quite get away. And then 9/11 happened and Mr. Hunting Creek was among the thousands of people who were laid off from transportation industry jobs. He started his own business, and it just wasn't the time to be a pastry chef. But I kept on studying on my own and baking away. My family and friends raved about my cookies and breads and cakes and pies. Then came the Global Financial Meltdown, and then I found out that I had M.S., so I think I understand now that the powers that be did not want me to be a pastry chef. But...as my grandmother used to say, when God closes the door, She opens the window. I found this wonderful book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
and it changed my baking life. Because of my M.S., it was difficult for me to knead bread or stand up for hours baking, but I missed making homemade food for my family. Mr. Hunting Creek loves to cook, but he is not a baker. Baking is very exact and precise, and he is more spontaneous. When I found this book and tried the recipes, I was delighted to discover that I could bake bread again, easily, because the techniques taught in the book could be used to allow a person with limited hand strength and stamina to bake amazing bread and pastries with very little effort. It really does take five minutes a day or less. My family is raving over the crusty bread, sandwich bread, sticky buns, fresh brioche (see brioche buns above) and this morning, a Lemon-Blueberry Coffee Cake Ring (also seen above).
Of course if you are a regular, non-handicapped person, it will be even easier for you. So thanks, Zoe and Jeff. If you like to bake, be sure and try the Brioche Ring with Lemon Curd and Blueberries. It was easy to make and it was amazingly delicious.
If I can do it, so can you. :)

Get out your bowl and spoon

And I mean a BIG bowl. I made no knead bread yesterday and again today and my son says it is the best bread I have ever made(and I bake all the time.)
I bought this book back in November called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
I have to confess that I scoffed. I set the book aside as I was super busy in November and December, but earlier this week, I read it again and tried their basic recipe. (I have linked to the King Arthur Flour version, as it is awesome too.) It is amazing. The crust is crusty and crunchy and the crumb is moist and delicious. This is so easy to do even a beginner could do it.
I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Soup for Supper

There comes a time every holiday season when I just can't eat another French Truffle. No more Brie, no St. Andre Triple Cream cheese, no rib roast, no cake or pie. I just can't take another bite. That's the time when we make soup. It is super cold this week, and cold weather gives me soup cravings. In our household soup is a forbidden fruit: our daughter actively dislikes soup, and complains loudly whenever we have it. So Mr. Hunting Creek and I have to plan our soup for when she is not eating with us. This gives our soup suppers an appealing air of intrigue. Very seldom has bean soup been seen as a controlled substance, but around here, we have to sneak it.
I usually keep a package of dried beans on hand for soup purposes. You never know when you'll be able to make it! I did the quick soak method, (cover beans with cold water, bring to a boil, let sit for an hour...in this case a couple hours, because I forgot about them, but no matter). Now I'm not going to nag you about this, but whenever I cook dried beans, half of the time I sort through and find a teeny tiny rock or dirt clod. I always rinse them off and then proceed with soaking.

Here's how Mr. Hunting Creek and I made our:

Forbidden Bean Soup

1 lb. navy beans, sorted and soaked
3 tablespoons olive oil (or you could use butter, or vegetable oil.)
3 chopped onions
about half a cup of chopped celery (if you don't have any you could leave it out)
4 chopped carrots
3-4 cloves chopped garlic
8 cups of water
1 ham bone with some meat on it, or a couple ham hocks
1 teaspoon thyme (or your favorite soup herb - maybe oregano or marjoram would be nice here)
A Bay leaf is nice if you have one

(We baked a ham last week, since I wanted to make a big batch of ham salad for my sister for a present She loves ham salad. (I also made a loaf of bread and gave them both to her for Christmas. she was delighted). So I had a ham bone available. If you have a ham bone but don't feel like making soup, zip it in a plastic bag and stash it in the freezer for later, when you have time.)

In a large pan, saute your onions, celery, carrots in the oil until soft. About 15 minutes - then add the garlic, drained beans, water, ham bone, and thyme and bay leaf. Don't add salt yet.
Simmer for about two or three hours, or until beans are cooked. You will keep an eye on it and stir occasionally. I don't know if this does anything, but it make me feel better. Sometimes I add a little more water. After the two/three hours, when the beans are cooked, take the ham bone out, let it cool off, then cut off the meat and put the meat back in. Add salt and pepper to taste. Normally Virginia ham is so salty already that the soup doesn't need much more. I like it peppery, so I always add pepper. Serve with bread and salad.

I made popovers to go with our soup. I had never made them before, but I read about popovers on the King Arthur Flour baking blog, so I wanted to make them. I followed instructions and they came out perfectly on the first try. Mr. Hunting Creek was very impressed. I think he ate four of them. Then I had a clementine for dessert; Mr. Hunting Creek had cookies and ice cream.
I'd have soup every night if I could, but these darn kids won't let me (but they will go out with friends on New Year's Eve, so maybe I can sneak some more in!)

Is it time to make soup at your house?

Streusel-topped Cranberry Muffins

Admit it...you probably have leftover cranberry sauce or relish lurking in your fridge right now. Cranberry sauce is not exactly the condiment of a thousand uses in most kitchens. My son puts it on his turkey sandwiches. But other than that it gets neglected for a while until you notice that it has gotten some strange furry mold on it, and then it gets thrown away. I had some leftover cranberry relish, the kind that is raw cranberries chopped up with a whole orange and some sugar. Delicious with turkey, great on turkey sandwiches, but I had about a cup left. I was brought up believing that it was a sin to waste food, and even if you don't believe that, it is a waste of money. When I woke up this morning I knew I was making these muffins, and the recipe details popped right in my head like a revelation.
My daughter said that they were the BEST muffins EVER.
Do you adapt recipes? I do it all the time. It is just like changing a pattern only you get to eat the results, which most of the time are delicious.
I adapted these from the Walnut-Strawberry Quick Bread recipe in my copy of the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.You can turn quick bread recipes into muffins easily - just put the batter in muffin tins and shorten the baking time accordingly.

Streusel Topped Cranberry Muffins
first make your streusel topping (see below)
Preheat your oven to 350

Streusel topping- this will make EXTRA - enough for two batches of muffins, or a 9x13 coffee cake. I always have some in my fridge for streusel emergencies.
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but nice)
In a medium sized mixing bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. Melt the butter, (I melt it in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave) and add the extracts to the melted butter and then pour this into the dry stuff and blend with a whisk or fork until it gets blended into crumbs. (Don't eat it all! Save some for your muffins. It's tasty.)


Muffin batter:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans, but chopped almonds or walnuts would work too)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (cinnamon would be nice too)
2 large eggs
1 cup cranberry relish (the kind that is raw cranberries chopped with sugar and an orange)
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixing bowl, blend the dry ingredients together, then whisk in the eggs, oil, applesauce, cranberry relish, vanilla etc. If you don't have vanilla, you could use rum instead or just leave it out.

Scoop into muffin tins (I line mine with muffin papers) top with the streusel and bake for about 22 minutes.

Any muffins that don't get eaten will freeze nicely and be great for breakfast later in the week.
These were awesome with our coffee this morning, and equally good later in the afternoon with a glass of cold milk.

Happy Baking!

All Cakes Considered

I read cookbooks all the time. I read them the way some people read trashy detective novels or the latest Twilight saga. When I was reading All Cakes Considered, I realized that Melissa Gray is a kindred spirit (as Anne of Green Gables would say.) Melissa is a producer for NPR's All Things Considered, but this book is about cakes. She bakes a cake every week for her office. She doesn't use cake mixes. She likes to make people happy with her baking - which is the best reason to bake something from scratch that I know of. Melissa (I feel like I know her personally now) is a good baker. She uses real chocolate and vanilla, and cares enough about results to "re-cake" again and again until she gets it right. Amusingly enough, we might be neighbors. It says that she lives near Mount Vernon and so do I. We might even shop at the same Farmer's Market or grocery store. Now that we know each other, if I see her I'll say hi, and ask for her autograph. (I think on the Sweet Potato Pound Cake page- or maybe the Tunnel of Fudge page.)
That brought back memories...it was the Tunnel of Fudge cake - from a mix- that got me started on my baking career. I remember that Pillsbury sold the mixes with an aluminum Bundt cake pan attached. I begged my mom to buy one and the rest is baking history. (I still have that pan.)
If you like to bake and make people happy, you won't go wrong with this book.
I think you'll like Melissa too.
Happy Baking!

Ginger Shortbread

Warning! Only attempt Ginger Shortbread if you love Ginger. I love Ginger and will happily eat Australian Crystalized Ginger all by itself, but others aren't as enamoured. I used to order it by the little jar, see in the photo, but now I get it by the bag. Soon I'll be buying futures on the ginger exchange. It's only a matter of time.
What's nice is that I am the only one who LOVES these, so I have a whole jar all to myself. Normally when I make cookies, they disappear and by the time I have time for a cup of tea and a cookie they are long gone. But these have lasted all week.
There was muttering that we needed chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, but I ignored it. Sometimes you have to please yourself.

Ginger Shortbread (from Marie Simmons' wonderful cookbook A-Z Bar Cookies) (Which could be yours for as little as 23 cents on Amazon, if you need one)
Preheat oven to 350
Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking pan
Mix
2 1/4 cups flour,
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks)butter slightly softened
1/2 cup finely chopped crystalized giner

I mix all this in my Cuisinart and pat it into the baking pan. Then bake for about 20 minutes or until slightly browned at the edges. Cool and cut into bars
Enjoy with your tea. There might be some left for you tomorrow (kids don't like Ginger Shortbread)

This gave me ideas - what about Cinnamon Shortbread? And Citrus Shortbread? The kids will probably like those.
Happy Baking!

Rainy Baking Sunday

Sunday might be my favorite day of the week. We always wake up early because we are used to waking up early, but it's nice to not rush around and go to work. This morning Mr. Hunting Creek said, "Oh no! We forgot to get coffee yesterday!" So he got dressed in jeans and went to fetch provisions. I teased him about going in his pajamas; he informed me that he had seen people at Starbucks on previous Sunday morning coffee runs in their pajamas. But we have our standards. Jeans and brushed hair and teeth at least, besides, what if he saw someone we know? That always happens if you go out in your pajamas, I think. It's asking for trouble.
He brought in the 2 kilos of newspaper and made coffee and then since no one else is awake, we read particularly interesting or outrageous articles to each other.


Since it is a rainy Sunday, I baked banana bread, cinnamon raisin bread, and by special request, bran muffins for breakfast all week. Have you noticed how expensive bought muffins are? Ms. Hunting Creek looked it up online to see how many calories and it said the Starbucks Bran Muffins had 400 calories each. We can do better than that, I told her. I bet that theirs are full of fat and sugar.

My banana bread recipe is IMHO simply the single best banana bread recipe EVER. No other banana bread recipe that I have ever tried has surpassed it. I don't remember where I got it, but I've had in in my personal cookbook binder since I have been married, which makes it almost 30 years old.

Best Banana Bread (Really)
makes one loaf (9" x 5" loaf pan)
Grease and flour your pan
Preheat your oven to 350
Blend together
2 ripe bananas, mashed (By ripe I mean getting brown and mushy)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk ( I have also used yogurt or sour cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla ( or use rum, that's delicious too)
then add
1 3/4 cups flour ( or use half whole wheat and half white flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional 1 cup chopped walnuts (my son dislikes nuts, so we take turns with the nuts. If I put them in he complains, but he still eats it)

Add to loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes- check and see if it needs longer. Mine this morning took about one hour and 15 minutes. Depends on the weather and atmospheric conditions, I think. Sunspots maybe? Or magic. Let it cool before you slice it. It is delicious toasted with or without cream cheese. I eat some for breakfast with coffee. It doesn't last long.

The Bran Muffin recipe is from Morning Food, by Margaret Fox, pictured above. ( A great cookbook, by the way and highly recommended.)

Bran Muffins
These are not too sweet - they are MUFFINS, not cupcakes, and do not have a zillion calories like those poseurs at Starbucks.

1 egg
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup strong coffee ( I used leftover coffee from breakfast)
1 cup buttermilk (buttermilk is low fat, you know)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cup flour (you can use half while and half whole wheat, but they'll be heavier)
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons oat bran ( I didn't have this, so I used oatmeal instead)
1 1/2 cup bran cereal (such as All Bran. I used the kind from Trader Joes. It looks like hamster food)
1/2 cup raisins or any other dried fruit (as mentioned previously, I live in Anti-raisin country. Ms. Hunting Creek, who wanted these for her breakfast all week, added a half cup of slivered almonds and a half cup of chocolate chips. "Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins?" "yes," she said "I want to look forward to eating them"
Mix all this together. You don't want to beat muffin batter too much. It causes trouble...tunneling, toughness...anyway, you'd get marked down in 7th grade Home Ec for that move, so don't over beat. The recipe says to leave the batter overnight in the fridge but I have never done that (not a long range muffin planner) and they always come out great.(But it's nice to know that you could do that if necessary) Scoop into muffin tins and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. We used texas size muffin tins so we had eight huge muffins that took about30 minutes. When we sampled one ( for quality control purposes only) it was delicious. Chocolate chip-almond bran muffins are a great invention. You heard it here first.
I hope you also have a great rainy Sunday.
Happy Baking!

Cake for Breakfast

Why not? Flour sugar butter eggs...Nothing non-breakfasty there. I like cake for breakfast with coffee;I'm not much of a dessert eater. However the rest of the crew at chez Hunting Creek are very much dessert eaters; there have been pointed comments and wistful looks at empty cookie jars and cake plates this week. Last night was cold and rainy so I made homemade macaroni and cheese. While it was baking I thought I'd make a cake but none of my recipes inspired me, or I didn't have some vital ingredient. So I made up my own recipe. I've been baking since the Cretaceous Period, surely I could invent a cake? I consulted several of my cookbooks. The basic proportions were all about the same. Here's my invention, based on ingredients on hand:

Cinnamon and Brickle Chip Cake
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream, or yogurt ( I used yogurt because that's what I had.)
2 teaspoons vanilla (I make my own, see previous post on Vanilla for the recipe, I may in the future flavor the cake with rum, Amaretto, lemon brandy or whatever strikes my fancy)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cinnamon chips ( I got mine from King Arthur Flour)
1 cup Heath Brickle chips (obtained at the good old grocery store)

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and flour bundt pan or angel food cake pan. Blend the butter with the sugar ( I use my Cuisinart), add eggs and vanilla, mix in then add sour cream or yogurt. It should be creamy and all mixed up. Add flour and baking powder and salt. Mix that in, then fold in chips. Bake about 55 minutes. It may take longer or shorter - ovens differ. I start checking at 50 minutes and gauge from there.

A note on recipes. I say I invented this, but I am sure someone, somewhere has also made a cinnamon and brickle chip cake. How could it be otherwise? I think that there are really are no original recipes, there are only variations.

At our house cakes are eaten in bowls with milk, because that's how we all always eat cake. We prefer our cakes unfrosted, so that they can get the bowl and milk treatment.(Of course when there are guests we eat cake like the guests. The milk in bowls will be our little secret) I assume it would also be good with ice cream, because what cake isn't?
Next time I will try it with blueberries and cinnamon chips, or maybe mini chocolate chips and nuts. It all depends on what I have on hand.
Happy Baking!

Lemon Cake Custard from 1957

Whenever we go out to restaurants, I like to test the kitchen by ordering soup and dessert. Good soup is rare; good desserts even rarer. Many places outsource their desserts and you are offered the generic Tiramisu (I hate it), creme brulee (so last decade), or Brownie Sundaes (yawn). Washington DC used to be a vast wasteland when we first moved here in 1990. Things have improved quite a bit since then; you can get good desserts at lots of places now.
If they have an old fashioned dessert I always order one, just to see if the chef knows what she is doing. I have made Lemon Pudding Cake, Lemon Cake custard and its chocolate cousin many times. I had a particularly nice version at Zola in downtown DC. The chef there had added raspberries, which made it very special. I was sorry that I had to give Mr. Hunting Creek a bite; he takes big bites.
This version is from the Sunbeam Mixmaster Recipe Book from 1957. I'd show you a picture but it was all eaten before I could take one.

Lemon Cake Custard
Cake at the top, Lemony custard on the bottom

Preheat oven to 350 (Sunbeam did not mention this, so it was my lucky guess)

3 eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar

Take the egg whites and beat them with the salt until foamy. slowly add the 1/2 cup sugar, unril peaks form - about 1-2 minutes or so. Set aside.

2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup sugar (yes that's right, another 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup lemon juice

In a different bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar, egg yolks, flour, milk, lemon zest and juice until smooth. Fold in egg whites. Pour into 6-8 ramekins, custard cups or one large baking dish ( I used an 8x8 casserole, lightly sprayed with baking spray. They didn't mention pan size either, so I guessed there too. It worked though.)If I had used custard cups, I would have placed them in a larger baking dish and put hot water around them to prevent over cooking. That's called a bain marie in cooking terms; you use it to prevent your egg desserts from overcooking.
Bake 45-50 minutes. The top will be lightly browned and cakey, the bottom will be custardy.

In our house we ate this with vanilla ice cream.
I think it would also be good with blueberries or raspberries baked in it, or with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on top. They say it is wonderful warm and chilled. I can only vouch for warm so far.

Happy Baking!