Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Strawberry Cheesecake Filled Yellow Cake

May 8, 2011

Have you had any baking disasters? I’ve had my fair share, and naturally, they all tend to occur when I’m making a treat to share at a party. One time the pecan crust just fell off the sides of a cheesecake I had made for a lab birthday celebration. Another time a cake I made for a dinner party that was loaded with peach puree, didn’t taste like peaches at all, which would have been ok, except that I had just announced it was a peach cake! And I wince every time I think about the night I was easing a cake out of its pan onto a cooling rack and the pan slipped away from me and fell onto a different cake layer that was already cooling – that cake split into 4 pieces, eeek (I ended up pressing all the chunks together like puzzle pieces and making it the bottom layer and I don’t think anyone noticed, thankfully!). Creating new recipes is just so fun though that I usually can’t bring myself to repeat a dessert that I know always turns out well, so I take a bit of a chance each time and the hope that if anything goes wrong, that I’ll be able to save my dessert with a bit of creativity. Enter this cake.

Jen recently posted a beautiful carrot cake with a cheesecake filling that I thought was just genius. She was inspired to put the cheesecake layer in the center of the cake after seeing Erin’s mouth watering Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake and Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cake. When my undergrad assistant Juliana’s birthday rolled around, she told me her favorite desserts were cheesecake with fruit topping and light yellow cake, so I was inspired by Jen and Erin to combine the two desserts into one marvelous treat. Everything went well at first. I baked up a layer of strawberry cheesecake two days before the celebration and then made the tender yellow cakes the night before. They stacked up nicely, but things quickly went downhill when I began to work on the strawberry cream cheese frosting I had dreamed up. I forgot to put the butter in and when I added some strawberry preserves it became a runny mess. When I realized it was beyond saving and that I was out of powdered sugar, cream cheese, and heavy cream, I started racking my brain for a quick frosting fix since the last thing I wanted to do was head out to the store at 12:30am!

I ended up hesitantly stirring up a box of instant vanilla pudding with a little milk and a few cups of Chobani Strawberry Greek Yogurt. It had a lovely light texture but was still thick enough to adhere to the cake! I added in some strawberry preserves for a little extra strawberry punch, frosted my cake, and fell into bed. Will this experience stop me from attempting new desserts the day before I need them? Nope, of course not!

Strawberry Cheesecake Filled Yellow Cake
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Cheesecake:
3 cups pureed strawberries (I pulsed 30 ounces strawberries in the food processor)
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Yellow Cake:
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Strawberry Frosting and Garnish:
1 3.4-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
1/4 cup milk
2 6-ounce containers Chobani Nonfat Strawberry Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup low sugar strawberry preserves
10 ounces strawberries, sliced

Directions:
To make the cheesecake layer, heat oven to 350˚F. Place strawberry puree in a small nonstick pan over medium low heat and heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until reduced to 1 cup. Let cool to room temperature. Combine the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl and beat on medium-high speed with a mixer for 3 minutes or until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in vanilla and cooled strawberry puree. Pour into a greased 9-inch springform pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 350˚F for 60 minutes or until edges are set and middle is slightly wobbly. Cool to room temperature, about one hour. Place in the refrigerator for several hours or until chilled.

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350˚F. Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt and sift the mixture into a large bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer in a large bowl until creamed. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in half the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk, until smooth. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Pour batter into two greased 8-inch cake pans lined with parchment paper. Bake cakes at 350˚F for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the tops are light golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then run a knife around the edges of each cake. Flip over onto wire racks and cool cakes completely, about an hour.

To make the strawberry frosting, place vanilla pudding and milk in a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Stir in yogurt and strawberry preserves. Chill in the refrigerator 5 minutes or until thickened.

To assemble the cake, place one layer of the yellow cake on a serving platter. Remove cheesecake from the pan and flip over on top of the yellow cake. Cut around the edges of the cheesecake layer so it fits the cake layer. Place second layer of yellow cake on top. Evenly cover with strawberry frosting and garnish with strawberries. Makes 20 servings.

Nutrition: 438 calories, 23.4g fat, 1.6g fiber, 9.2g protein per serving
Cost: $0.90 per serving

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Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Tartlets with Blue Cheese

May 4, 2011

After submitting all my dessert recipes to the Pillsbury Bake-Off (please cross your fingers for me!), I had a few extra ingredients in the fridge to use – one package of pie crusts and one roll of cookie dough. I had developed so many sweet treats that I stuffed the cookie dough in the back of a drawer and took out the pie crusts instead with an appetizer idea in mind.

I combined caramelized onions, mushrooms, and spinach to make a yummy filling for little mini tarts made with a mini muffin pan. Then I topped the tartlets with blue cheese. These were so cute and perfect for a party, or in our case, dinner!

p.s. Don’t forget to get in your bids for the Bloggers Bake for Hope Bake Sale that benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure!

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Tartlets with Blue Cheese
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces baby spinach
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 box Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts (15 ounces), softened according to package directions

Directions:
Heat butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add onions, cover pan, and cook for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or until onions are caramelized.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add mushrooms and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Place cooked mushrooms in a large bowl. Add baby spinach to the same skillet and stir until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add spinach to the large bowl with the mushrooms. Mix in caramelized onions and salt.

Heat oven to 375˚F. Unroll pie crusts and place on a flat work surface. Use a 2 1/2-inch round cutter to cut 12 rounds from each crust. Press each round in the bottom of 24 cups of an ungreased mini-muffin cup pan and press dough up the sides to form cups. Fill evenly with caramelized onion mushroom filling and bake at 375˚F for 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes and remove from mini-muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with blue cheese. Makes 12 servings.

Nutrition: 138 calories, 10.1g fat, 0.7g fiber, 2.7g protein per serving
Cost: $0.68 per serving

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Bloggers Bake for Hope and Boston Chocolate School Truffle Workshop

April 30, 2011

Whew, things have been busy lately, but I finally have a little extra time to blog about two events that I’ve been meaning to share for awhile now. The first is a fabulous virtual bake sale, being hosted by my blogging buddies Jen and Cara, that will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Being a cancer researcher myself, I understand the importance of raising money for studies, and I encourage you all to head over to the site and make a bid on one of the many mouth watering goodies from Wednesday, May 4 to Friday, May 6 next week. I’m donating a batch of my M&M Cashew Pretzel Bars and plan to bid on the Crusty White Bread with Rosemary and Sea Salt – yum!

I also wanted to tell you about a fantastic chocolate workshop I attended last month with Shannon. It’s run by Boston Chocolate Tours and focuses on tempering chocolate and making truffles. I received two complimentary tickets to the class, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine, of course!

Our instructor Dorian, who is a retired pastry chef, started by telling us about the history of chocolate while he whisked up some hot chocolate for us to enjoy (which was phenomenal by the way, I’ve made the real deal several times at home now using his suggested ratio of 2-3 ounces of chocolate for every 5 ounces of milk).

He then ran us through the science behind why it’s important to temper chocolate. Basically, chocolate is made up of several types of crystals, but you have to coax them to all be beta crystals in order for the chocolate to be organized perfectly so it snaps nicely when you break it and is nice and shiny. Tempering is essential when you’re dipping truffles in chocolate! He explained how tempering is all about time, motion, and temperature, and we learned how to use a double boiler to temper chocolate properly. You basically heat the chocolate to 110˚F, then cool it by adding additional chocolate (called the seed) to 85˚F, then slightly warm it back to 90˚F, all while stirring well the entire time. Then it’s ready to go!

We got a ton of helpful tips. He suggested getting a milk frothing thermometer because it’s in the range that is needed for tempering. He also suggested using a heating pad to keep the chocolate warm while you’re working with it after it’s been tempered. Also, I didn’t realize this before, but it’s really important to only use high quality chocolate with no added ingredients (which many brands of chocolate chips have) – only cocoa butter, cocoa liquor/paste (sometimes referred to as unsweetened chocolate), sugar, vanilla, and soy lecithin (an emulsifier) should be on the label.

Next, we learned how to make ganache, which was the center of all our truffles. We had four types of ganache to use – dark, milk, raspberry, and caramel – the caramel was my favorite. Then we rolled our ganache into truffles and decorated them. I dipped some in tempered chocolate and coated others with some of the toppings they had, including ground almonds, cocoa nibs, and toasted coconut. I ended up with a huge box of truffles to take home and Apolinaras and I savored each and every one – they were fabulous! If you’re ever visiting Boston, I highly recommend checking out this class or one of their tours. Tickets are $75 and you can register here. Thank you Boston Chocolate Tours for this fun foodie adventure!

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Spinach, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pecan Crusted Chicken Breasts

April 26, 2011

I’m often asked how I manage to post original recipes so often while working long hours and hitting the gym the majority of the days of the week. Well, what I usually do is work in bursts. I may perfect three or four recipes in one weekend and then take a break. I feel most comfortable when I have at least six or so recipes ready to go in my “blog” folder on my desktop, which sounds like a lot, but is really only three weeks worth. Then when I’m extra busy at work, on vacation, or spending all my kitchen time developing recipes for a contest, I can go a couple weeks without cooking for my blog. I end up rarely posting recipes right away, because I’d rather take my time editing the photos, writing up the recipe, calculating the nutrition info, etc, but the chicken I made tonight was SO good that I had to make an exception!

I stuffed chicken breasts with a creamy mixture of mascarpone and blue cheese, shallots, spinach, and turkey bacon, and then coated the stuffed breasts with pecans. This recipe does take a bit of time to put together, so I pounded out my chicken, made my stuffing, and assembled my pecan coating yesterday. Then everything came together in about 40 minutes tonight, which is the max amount of time I want to spend cooking on a weeknight. I am already looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!

Spinach, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pecan Crusted Chicken Breasts
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup chopped shallots (4-5 large shallots)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 strips turkey bacon, chopped
4 cups baby spinach (4 ounces)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, pulsed in the food processor until finely ground
1/2 cup panko
1/4 cup flour
4 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 eggs, beaten

Directions:
Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a medium nonstick pan and sauté shallots for 5 to 7 minutes or until softened; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Remove from heat and place in a medium bowl. Add bacon to the same pan and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes or until browned. Place bacon in the same bowl with the shallots. Add spinach to the pan and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until wilted. Add spinach to the bowl and allow ingredients to cool completely to room temperature. Add blue cheese, mascarpone cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the bowl and mix until well combined.

Meanwhile, place chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound to 1/3-inch thickness using a meat mallet. Place filling evenly lengthwise down each chicken breast, roll up the sides, and secure with toothpicks. Mix ground pecans, panko, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a shallow pan. Put the flour in a shallow dish and lightly dredge both sides of the stuffed chicken in the flour. Place the beaten eggs in another shallow dish and dredge both sides of the flour coated chicken in the egg mixture; place chicken in the pecan mixture and coat well on all sides.

Heat oven to 350˚F. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick pan and place two chicken breasts in the pan. Use large tongs to rotate the chicken and sear it on all four sides. Place seared chicken breasts seam side up in a large baking pan and repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and two chicken breasts. Bake at 350˚F for 18 to 22 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Allow to rest 5 minutes, then remove toothpicks, and cut on a bias. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 415 calories, 24.4g fat, 2.1g fiber, 35.2g protein per serving
Cost: $1.35 per serving

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Red Curry Risotto

April 22, 2011

One of my favorite meals to whip up when we’re low on groceries is a red or green Thai curry. We always have coconut milk, Thai curry paste, and rice in our pantry, and even if we don’t have any fresh produce, I can usually at least dig up some frozen veggies to round the dish out. I have a pet peeve about Thai curries though – after spooning the curry over rice, I feel like I never quite get the perfect ratio of rice, sauce, and veggies in every bite. Then, one night while I was stirring my rice and sauce together on my plate, I realized the obvious solution was simply to make a Thai risotto with Arborio rice!

So, that’s exactly what I did with this dish. I cooked shallots, ginger, garlic, and red curry paste in a pan and then added and toasted my Arborio rice. Then I slowly stirred in a mix of lychees ground in the food processor (which make this curry extra special), chicken broth, and coconut milk, and mixed in red peppers, snow peas, and tofu. I loved this risotto and will definitely be making it again!

Red Curry Risotto
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large red pepper, chopped
6 ounces snow peas
1 20 ounce can lychees in syrup, drained
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup coconut milk (full fat)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 shallots, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon red curry paste (or to taste)
1 cup Arborio rice
9 ounces firm tofu, cut into chunks

Directions:
Heat canola oil over medium high heat in a large pan and sauté red peppers for 3 minutes; add snow peas and sauté 3 additional minutes or until veggies are tender. Remove from heat.

Place lychees, chicken broth, and coconut milk in a food processor and pulse until smooth, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, melt butter over medium high heat in a large stockpot. Sauté the shallots for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add ginger, garlic, and red curry paste and sauté for an additional minute. Add the rice and stir until well-coated and translucent. Reduce heat to medium and stir in 1 cup of the chicken broth mixture. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the stock has been absorbed; add another cup and continue in this way until all the chicken broth has been absorbed, for about 30 minutes. Stir in cooked red peppers, snow peas, and tofu. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 504 calories, 18.4g fat, 4.4g fiber, 17.0g protein per serving
Cost: $2.65 per serving

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Breakfast Sandwiches with Leeks, Brie, and Avocado

April 18, 2011

If you could only eat five different food items the rest of your life, what would they be? I used to mull this over regularly with one of my friends growing up – it just seemed like the worst situation ever and I was even a pretty picky eater then! I can’t remember all the items on my list, but I know pizza made the cut. It still does actually, I can definitely imagine eating it almost every day, just like sushi, which would also now be in my top five. For breakfast, I’d have to go with eggs and more specifically my very favorite morning item – breakfast sandwiches! They are so satisfying that I have them every weekend and some nights for dinner too.

You don’t really need a recipe for breakfast sandwiches, but I made a version I really enjoyed the other weekend and wanted to share. The title says it all in this case. I scrambled my eggs with turkey bacon, leeks, avocado, and brie, and piled the mixture high atop a few English muffins. Mmm, so good!

Breakfast Sandwiches with Leeks, Brie, and Avocado
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1/3 cup chopped leeks, white and light green parts only
4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1 1/2 ounces brie, chopped
2 whole wheat English muffins, split and toasted

Directions:
Heat canola oil over medium heat in a medium nonstick skillet. Add turkey bacon to the skillet and sauté for 5 minutes or until crispy. Remove bacon from the pan and add leeks; sauté 3 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs, milk, and salt together in a small bowl. Place eggs in a small greased nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook until eggs are set, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes. Mix in cooked turkey bacon and leeks, avocado, and brie. Pile egg mixture evenly on bottom half of the muffins. Cover with top halves of muffins. Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition: 453 calories, 25.7g fat, 6.2g fiber, 25.8g protein per serving
Cost: $1.68 per serving

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Ancho Honey Chicken over Tropical Rice

April 14, 2011

My younger brother went through a phase when he was about five where he was obsessed with cantaloupe. I remember him easily downing four or five slices at a time, which I didn’t really understand since I was such a picky eater. In fact, I used to regularly make fun of him because he told everyone that he wanted to be a cantaloupe farmer when he grew up. I was pretty sure, at the ripe old age of nine, that this would never happen. Poor guy, it’s cute now looking back and realizing that he loved the fruit so much that he imagined working in a job where he could eat it all day!

Anyway, whenever I see a cantaloupe, I think of my brother, and I recently realized there were no recipes featuring it on my blog. This had to change! So, I whipped up chicken breasts with an ancho honey glaze over tropical rice with cantaloupe, pineapple, and almonds. This one is for you Richard!

Ancho Honey Chicken over Tropical Rice
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Chicken:
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worchershire sauce
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

Tropical Rice:
2 cups finely chopped cantaloupe
2 cups finely chopped fresh pineapple
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 tablespoons canola oil
Juice of one lime
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
To make the chicken, heat oven to 350˚F. Place brown sugar, honey, vinegar, Worchershire sauce, ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until brown sugar is dissolved and mixture has reduced to 1/4 cup. Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place chicken breasts on a grill pan heated over medium high heat and sear chicken breasts on both sides for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Place seared chicken in a 13×9-inch baking dish and use a pastry brush to rub half the glaze on all sides of the chicken breasts. Bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and baste with remaining glaze. Bake an additional 2 minutes at 350˚F or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

Meanwhile, make the tropical rice by mixing cantaloupe, pineapple, red pepper, and onion in a large bowl. Remove 1/3 cup fruit mixture for chicken garnish, if desired. Stir in rice, toasted almonds, canola oil, lime juice, and salt until well mixed.

To serve, place rice on 4 plates and top each with a piece of chicken and fruit garnish. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 869 calories, 29.4g fat, 9.3g fiber, 66.4g protein per serving
Cost: $2.85 per serving

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Quinoa with Chickpeas, Asparagus, and Lemon Goat Cheese Dressing

April 10, 2011

I actually jogged outside today with shorts and a tank top on – yay for nicer weather! Spring is almost here and I’m so ready for this season’s fresh produce. I actually couldn’t wait any longer and spontaneously grabbed a huge bunch of asparagus the other weekend. It all ended up going in this lovely red quinoa dish along with chickpeas, red peppers, toasted almonds, and a yummy lemon goat cheese dressing. Apolinaras said this was my best quinoa dish so far and I think it was because you get some goat cheese goodness in every bite!

Quinoa with Chickpeas, Asparagus, and Lemon Goat Cheese Dressing
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 2-inch long pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch long pieces
2 1/2 cups quinoa (1 1-pound box of red quinoa from Trader Joe’s)
5 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup chopped toasted almonds
Juice of 1 lemon
6 ounces goat cheese

Directions:
Heat oven to 400˚F. Place bell peppers on a large cookie sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Roast at 400˚F for 8 minutes, then add asparagus, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, mix well, and roast 12 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, place quinoa and chicken broth in a large stockpot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed and quinoa is soft.

Place remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and onion in a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and cook one additional minute.

Stir cooked onions, asparagus and red peppers, chickpeas, and almonds in the large stockpot with the quinoa and mix well. Stir lemon juice and goat cheese together in a small bowl and mix well with the quinoa. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 538 calories, 21.8g fat, 11.8g fiber, 21.8g protein per serving
Cost: $2.08 per serving