sticky orange cake with marmalade glaze (for breakfast)

sometimes you see something and you just NEED it. this was one of these things. becky crocker sent this recipe my way and no more than 3 days later and my entire apartment was eating it for breakfast. yup, cake and ice cream for breakfast! (as a spring cleaning reward).

although the cake itself is vegan, thekitchn (recipe source) recommended pairing it with pistachio ice cream, which is exactly what we did. yummmm. and i promise, this is one of those recipes that just happens to be vegan, as in, you aren't substituting anything unusual and it doesn't taste like anything has been "altered." the apple cider vinegar ensures a wonderfully fluffy texture.

sticky orange cake with marmalade glaze from thekitchn
makes 2 9-inch round layers

• 3 cups flour (i used a mix of spelt and gluten free)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 tpns baking soda
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 orange, zested
• 2 cups orange juice
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tblspns apple cider vinegar
• 1 tspn vanilla
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoons rum, vodka, or water

• preheat oven to 350°F.
  
• lightly grease 2 9-in rocun cake pans. line the bottoms with parchment and lightly grease the paper.
• make the cake batter: whisk together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. whisk until thoroughly combined.
• in a separate bowl (i, of course, ignored the separate part), whisk together the orange juice, vegetable oil, vinegar and vanilla. quickly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones and whisk thoroughly.
• pour batter into cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.
• let the cakes cool for about 20 minutes in the pan then cool outside of pans. glaze while cakes are still warm but not hot.
• to make the glaze, mix the marmalade and rum or vodka in a small saucepan. warm over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until the glaze is bubbling and hot. turn off heat and immediately glaze cake.
• place one cake layer on a plate. pierce the top with a toothpick a few times. pour about half the liquid over the first cake layer. place the second layer on top and repeat.
• serve with pistachio ice cream!
  

latino brunch and a photo shoot

when i heard that the studio was lit, the only thing that made sense to do was cook and document! friend/colleague mel was generous enough to host and shoot this shindig. and what a shindig it was. i was *pleasantly* surprised to be introduced to this social network that resides in jersey city. as i cooked, a number of friends drifted in and out and soon enough the 6 of us were sitting down to a feast. the feast was a combination of the impressively vast amount of food mel had on supply and a few supplemental materials we picked up at the local deli. on the menu: arepas, guacamole, pico de gallo, eggs, bloody marys and flourless chocolate cake.

let's talk about flours. you've got to have arepa flour, not cornmeal or other corn based flour substances. look at your local latino market or the latino section of large supermarkets. it's pretty common.

arepas with eggs, guacamole and pico

make the arepas:

• once you have arepa flour, just follow the directions on the package. it will be a simple mix of the flour, pinch of salt and warm water. i suggest adding some grated cheese at this point...
• flatten a small handful of dough in the palms of your hands, and fry on the stove top in a decent amount of heated oil until browned on both sides.
  

make the guacamole:

• 2 avocados
• 1 small tomato, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
  
• juice from 1 lime
  
• salt and pepper

• mash the avocados with a fork and add salt to taste
• add tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice. mix well.

make the pico de gallo:

• 2 tomatoes, chopped
  
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• small handful cilantro, chopped
• juice from 1-2 limes
• salt and pepper
  
• 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped

• combine all ingredients in a bowl, allow to sit for a few minutes. you might want to add a tiny drizzle of olive oil...

once you have the components (arepas, guacamole, pico) i suggest layering them with over easy eggs. and more cheese.

flourless chocolate cake
from epicurious

my general rule: the simpler the recipe, the better. nothing fancy required. it's a little bit of a labor of love but totally worth the effort and will blow everyone away.

• 12 ozs bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 12 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• preheat oven to 350°F. butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. line bottom of pan with parchment paper or waxed paper; butter paper. wrap outside of pan with foil.
  
• stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. remove from heat. cool to lukewarm, stirring often.
• using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 3 minutes.
  
• fold lukewarm chocolate mixture into yolk mixture, then fold in vanilla extract.
  
• using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. gradually add remaining 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until medium-firm peaks form.
  
• fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. pour batter into prepared pan.
• bake cake until top is puffed and cracked and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 50 minutes. cool cake in pan on rack (cake will fall).
• using small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. remove pan sides. place 9-inch-diameter tart pan bottom or cardboard round atop cake. invert cake onto tart pan bottom. peel off parchment paper.

or, just make this cake in whatever buttered pan you have. it might not be as beautiful but will be absolutely delicious. and this cake definitely does not require a glaze. i recommend a nice sprinkle of powdered sugar.

winter solstice celebration

to make a long story short, a number of years ago, my family gave up all winter holidays associated with any religion. granted, as jews by definition, the winter spirit of things has just never held as much meaning as for those who might celebrate a certain baby jesus...in any case, we had it. too much commercialization, commodification, all that jazz.

we decided it would be much more appropriate to actually celebrate the significance of the winter season with solstice. the goal was to not really have any rules. over the years, i've embraced it as my own and created a separate celebration with friends. this has come to mean a small gathering, well stocked with food and alcohol. i usually can't resist the urge to make latkes; this year was no exception. this year's signature drink (no rules; it changes year to year) was a sunshine spritzer. i switched from the usual yellow cake with yellow frosting to an upside-down pear cake. the result is always happy and full tummies. the perfect way to celebrate any holiday, if you ask me.

sunshine spritzer
1 shot whiskey
1/2 shot lemon juice
1/2 shot ginger simple syrup
pour over ice and finish with club soda.

ginger simple syrup: boil 1 part water and 1 part sugar until mixture slightly reduces. remove from heat, add large piece of peeled ginger and cover. allow to steep for at least 20 minutes.


my favorite latke recipe
from the ny times

if you've experienced a latke making session before, you know it's no small feat. unless you have a food processor. but for some reason, i find the need to grate everything by hand...it ends up being hours long in process for fried goodness that gets gobbled in a fraction of the time but is totally worth it.

a couple of notes about making the latkes in advance when you're pressed for time or don't want to be in the kitchen the entire time you have people over: i usually start several hours in advance, grate the potatoes and store them in cold water to avoid oxidation. before you make the latkes, rinse the potatoes with more cold water and drain, then squeeze out additional water. then as i start frying batches, i put them in the oven, layered with paper towels to keep them warm.

• 2 eggs
  
• 3 cups grated drained all-purpose potatoes
• ¼ cup grated onion
• 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 to 4 tablespoons matzo meal, or as needed (i use spelt flour)
  
• canola oil, for frying
• applesauce and sour cream for serving (optional).

• in a large mixing bowl, beat eggs lightly. add potatoes, onions, salt and pepper, and mix well. stir in 2 tablespoons matzo meal/flour and let sit about 30 seconds to absorb moisture. if necessary, add more to make a thick, wet batter that is neither watery nor dry.
• place a large skillet over medium heat, and add 2 tablespoons of oil. when oil is hot drop in heaping 1/8 cups (about 2 tablespoons) of batter, flattening them gently to make thick pancakes. when bottoms have browned, after 2-3 minutes, flip and brown on the other side. add oil as needed. drain on paper towels and sprinkle with additional salt to taste.
  
• serve hot with applesauce and sour cream, if desired.
• yield: 4 servings (about 24 small pancakes)

maple pear upside-down cake
from mark bittman

this cake is superbly delicious. the outside gets all browned and crispy while the inside is rich without being too sweet. almost coffee-cake-esque. and it looks so impressive!

• 11 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 to 4 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk

• heat oven to 350 degrees. melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat. add maple syrup and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. bring to a boil and cook for another 2 minutes, remove from heat and set aside. when mixture has cooled a bit, pour into a 9-inch baking pan and arrange pear slices in an overlapping circle on top.
• with a handheld or standing mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons of butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. add vanilla and eggs, continuing to mix until smooth. add dry ingredients (i never do this separately but suppose you might want to consider it): flour, baking powder, and salt.
• add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with milk; do not over mix. (NOTE: although i did not over mix, i also did not alternate butter/flour/milk mixtures. too finicky. however, do not let the batter know you are afraid.)
• carefully spread batter over pears, using a spatula to make sure it is evenly distributed. bake until top of cake is golden brown and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan, about 45-50 minutes; a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. let cake cool for 5 minutes.
• run a knife around edge of pan, put a plate on top of the cake and carefully flip it so that the plate is on bottom and the pan is on top. serve warm or at room temperature.
• yield: 8-10 servings
  

Sound scary? Watch the video to ease the nerves.

quinoa breakfast cupcakes

becky crocker originally sent me this recipe and i'm pretty sure we both had the same initial reaction: quinoa cupcakes--how healthy! when we actually got together to make the things, we realized that they were in fact just cupcakes with some added quinoa. next time, we're going to up the quinoa, decrease the flour, and substitute some of the fat with applesauce. but for now, these cupcakes are delicious, juicy and flavorful and perfect for breakfast. serve with some cream cheese frosting or vanilla ice cream and they're even more decadent.

the recipe below is gluten-free but i used spelt flour when i baked them instead of the rice flour because it's what i had on hand.


gluten-free quinoa cupcakes

• 2 medium sized diced apples
  
• 1/4 sugar
• 1 tspn vanilla
  
• 1 tspn ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 4 large eggs
• 9 tablespoons butter (1 stick + 1 tblspn)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 3/4 cup rice flour (or any other flour)
  
• 1 tspn baking powder
  

• simmer the apple cubes with the water, sugar, cinnamon, and rum until the apple is cooked and almost all the liquid is evaporated.
  
• whisk the egg and sugar and add the melted butter. stir well.
• add the quinoa, mix well, and then add the flour and baking powder. stir well.
• mix in the apple mixture.
  
• bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the tops bounce back when you touch them.

starbucks valencia orange cake - gluten-free!

alright everyone, here it is: the gluten-free cake promised by starbucks. for the record, the spring st. soho starbucks was out of them when i wandered over at 11:00. my valiant coworker and i trekked on in the rain to soho's number 2 starbucks on broadway and broome. victory! the cake was proudly displayed in the pastry shelf. at $1.95, it seemed like starbucks was dishing out bargains. ahem. i mean, valencia orange cakes.

it seems that this gluten-free cake stemmed from what i will call starbucks' grassroots marketing attempt. the site provides a forum for customer feedback where one of the hot topics became gluten-free offerings. the site introduced a voting option and it seems that this spread around the gluten-free community like wildfire!

the ingredients are pretty simple: eggs, orange pulp, almonds, sugar, orange peel, gluten-free baking powder, and orange oil. at 290 calories, 140 calories from fat and 16g of fat, this is certainly not any healthy alternative. HOWEVER, i am hoping that since almonds are one of the main ingredients, this is the type of fat you can feel good about. riiiight....the cake does come individually wrapped "for gluten-free goodness" as declared on the package. "you wouldn't even know it's gluten-free!" i exclaimed, overtaken by the cute cake's moist and spongy texture. "yes, yes you would," sighed my valiant coworker. we agreed that the cake had a texture rather corn bread like (not necessarily in a bad way) but after my initial excitement wore off, i was slightly disappointed by the cake's lack of flavor. the moral of the story here is that i'm not expecting everyone to go crazy over this cake but it's pretty awesome that this is a readily available starbucks product.

starbucks = gluten-free

news alert:

OH SNAP, you can have your cake and eat it too. i'm putting may 5 in my calendar, everyone. taste test to come...

a cake that's perfect for breakfast

what do you think of when you hear about a cake made with olive oil and oranges? i think, "wow, doesn't that sound like the perfect breakfast cake?" hence the sunday morning bake-fest with my favorite baking pal, becky crocker. crocker is the perfect person to bake with since she let's me do all of the things i deem "fun." in this case, it was supreming oranges. that is, until i had done 6 of them and the cut in my hand was stinging of citrus. enter crocker to the rescue, finishing off the job. then there's mixing. i am known to have the amusement level of a small child aka enjoy whipping heavy cream until it's almost whipped cream and my arms are so tired they feel like they are going to fall off. remind me again why i don't just go buy a freaking hand mixer. enter crocker again, to the rescue.

this cake recipe appeared in last week's nytimes dining section and uses olive oil as the fat source. oranges, orange juice and yogurt ensure its moist texture. we used mostly regular oranges instead of blood oranges since the blood ones are not so plentiful in our respective neighborhoods. we weren't so careful about keeping our wet and dry ingredients separate until the end; becky crocker defies the laws of baking.

an alternative serving method to the recipe: serve cake warm (microwave if you have to) and top with vanilla frozen yogurt--YUMMMMMMMM...

blood orange olive oil cake

• Butter for greasing pan
• 3 blood oranges
• 1 cup sugar
• small container of plain yogurt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups flour (i used spelt, as per usual)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Honey-blood orange compote, for serving, optional (see note)
• Whipped cream, for serving, optional.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Grate zest from 2 oranges and place in a bowl with sugar. Using your fingers, rub ingredients together until orange zest is evenly distributed in sugar.
• Supreme an orange: Cut off bottom and top so fruit is exposed and orange can stand upright on a cutting board. Cut away peel and pith, following curve of fruit with your knife. Cut orange segments out of their connective membranes and let them fall into a bowl. Repeat with another orange. Break up segments with your fingers to about 1/4-inch pieces.
• Halve remaining orange and squeeze juice into a measuring cup. You will have about 1/4 cup or so. Add buttermilk or yogurt to juice until you have 2/3 cup liquid altogether. Pour mixture into bowl with sugar and whisk well. Whisk in eggs.
• In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently whisk dry ingredients into wet ones. Switch to a spatula and fold in oil a little at a time. Fold in pieces of orange segments. Scrape batter into pan and smooth top.
• Bake cake for about 55 minutes, or until it is golden and a knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool to room temperature right-side up. Serve with whipped cream and honey-blood orange compote, if desired.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Note: To make a honey-blood orange compote, supreme 3 more blood oranges according to directions in Step 2. Drizzle in 1 to 2 teaspoons honey. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir gently.

cafecito

There once was a time when two girls were just starting out their formidable years at NYU. However, these were not ordinary NYU girls. These girls were broke and instantly became friends. Friend number one (let's call her zo) got a job on campus. Friend number two (let's call her sarah), found the glistening path of waitressing. She chose a small cuban restaurant on avenue c, with a nice long cozy bar and friendly neighborhood clientele. Friend number one (zo) was happy to visit whenever possible and consume as many sangrias/mango margaritas/mojitos as were placed in front of her.

Then one day, the unthinkable happened. Friend number two found a Real Job—a full-time one. Friend number 1 was heartbroken, not so much because of the occasional free snacks she would no longer be enjoying (although they were nice), but more so because she had so enjoyed having a regular place to visit where she sat and chatted with the other waitresses, the busboys knew her face, and the manager kept his eye on her and how many drinks she was downing/tostones she was eating.


The two girls graduated and friend number one also found full time work. Friend number two's Real Job paid so poorly that she started to pick up shifts again on the weekends. Friend number one was sympathetic but excited to have the excuse to visit cafecito regularly again. She would spend the better part of her Saturdays hunkered down at the bar, talking to the other bar regulars and the staff, until friend number two finished her shift and the two sat to share a meal.

Friend number one’s cafecito favorites:

• mojitos and mango margaritas: mmm

• ensalada de pollo: delicious, filling and satisfying, without the guilt of a more
common cuban meal

• ensalada de camarones en escabeche: a refreshing lettuce-less salad

• pollo cafecito: deeee-lish

• YELLOW rice and BLACK beans (not white and red): in my opinion, few places do better and no meal is complete without them

• Plantains (tostones and maduros): so hard to choose between that i have often made sarah venture into the kitchen to make me a “combo plate”. And no, you can’t actually order it. The tostones come with a garlic sauce that is so wonderfully strong, I smell like it for days.

• CHIMICHURRI: I put it on everything

• Flourless chocolate cake: surprising, I know, but cafecito has one of the top 3 flourless chocolate cakes I have ever had. It’s light and fluffy with a perfect crispy top. It’s topped off with dulce de leche and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

If sick, be sure to stick to a sangria spritzer and chicken soup (with lime).

One of my--ahem, I mean, friend number one's favorite restaurants in new york city. Period.

a trip to the other coast (cont'd)

NUMBER 2 - THE BUCHE (de noel)


This one ranks a bit higher than the others since it's a once a year thing. For as long as I can remember, the only Christmas celebration activity done in my family was going to my mom's friend's house for Christmas dinner. My mom (fabulous baker that she is) was in charge of one thing: the Bûche de Noël. It's a thin flourless chocolate jelly roll cake rolled up with fresh whipped cream and then lightly frosted and dusted with powdered sugar. My mom always used a recipe from the Silver Palate cookbook but a similar recipe "Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Roll" is here. In my wheat glory days, the branch stemming off from the rest of the log was a frosted Twinkie, which all of the kids would fight over.