Blueberry Buckle

I made this for my boyfriend, who's lactose intolerant and thus couldn't eat fresh peach cake. I honestly didn't care for it that much. It tasted like a big blueberry muffin, which is nice, but if I'm gonna eat a cake, I want a cake, not a muffin. He loved it though. He almost ate the whole thing by himself over the course of two days. Making it was a snap though, which is certainly a plus. The recipe also comes from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plus 1 to 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 pint blueberries (I didn't quite have a pint)
Whipped cream flavored with rum (I also didn't have this)

Topping
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8-inch springform pan.
2. Sift together the 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. Toss the berries with the remaining tablespoon or 2 of flour (to separate and scatter evenly throughout the batter) and fold in. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Combine ingredients for topping with a fork to make a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle this over the batter, spreading it with your hand if you like.
4. Bake for 1 hour, then test this for doneness by inserting a cake tester (since I used a 9-inch springform pan, I tested after 40 minutes and it was done.)
5. When the cake has cooled, run a knife around the edges and lift out of pan. Serve it with whipped cream generously spiked with rum.

Fresh Peach Cake

I had been wanting to make this cake for a long time, but I waited for almost a year because peaches are usually no good out of season. I have to say it was worth the wait. The taste isn't complicated or sophisticated by any means and I certainly wouldn't present it to a dessert master. It's peaches and cream with sponge cake, but it's so good that I had a big slice for breakfast. This is from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick margarine, softened
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
11/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanila extract
9 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

Cream filling
2 cups heavy filling
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Peach filling
5 to 6 large peaches (I used 7 medium ones)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Make cream filling first. Mix cream, sugar, and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease 3 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with wax paper. Grease the paper and lightly flour.
3. Sift the flour with the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
4. Cream the margarine, butter, and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the dry mixture in 4 parts, alternating with the milk and ending with the flour. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Place the beaten egg whites on top of the mixture and fold in with the over-and-under motion. Do not beat, but be sure it is well mixed. Pour batter into cake pans and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto cooling racks. Let cool completely.
6. To assemble cakes, peel and chop peaches into small slices. Toss peach slices with the lemon juice and sugar. Whip the chilled cream-sugar filling until it is stiff. The peaches will have given up a bit of juice by then, so pour some of it over the bottom cake layer, a little at a time, to give it a chance to soak in. Put a third of the peach slices on this bottom layer and cover with some whipped cream. Repeated with the remaining layers, holding them with toothpicks if necessary. Keep cake refrigerated, very loosely covered with foil or wax paper, until ready to serve.

Ultimate Fudgy Brownies

I wanted to make some basic, no-frills brownies, so I made these from a recipe out of the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. They came out very good, a bit cakey but still delicious. I followed the recipe for the most part except that I had to substitute cocoa powder and butter for unsweetened chocolate and I used half sugar and half Splenda. Next time, I'd try less sugar and more cocoa powder for less sweet, but more chocolaty flavor.

INGREDIENTS

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan. Melt the chocolates, butter, and cocoa in the microwave at low, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Let the mixture cool slightly.
2. Whisk the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in the flour until no streaks remain.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes.
4. Let cool completely on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, before removing the brownies and cut into squares.

I also used a 9-inch cake pan, not square pan. The cookbook advises against cutting the brownies until serving as they will dry out. Something to keep in mind. I ended up not taking any photos as they disappeared too quickly.

Maple Walnut Meringue Cookies

I decided I'd experiment more with meringue nut cookie recipe. Since I had some maple sugar laying around, I decided to use them with some walnuts. The outcome was pretty good, but I think I prefer the version with hazlenuts better. Still delicious though.

INGREDIENTS

3 large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Lightly butter and barely flour parchment paper and place it on baking sheets.
3. Beat egg whites until foamy.
4. Add salt and cream of tartar then beat until stiff.
5. Stir in sugars gradually while still beating.
6. Fold in nuts carefully.
7. Drop batter onto cookie sheets. These don't spread much, so it can be fairly close.
8. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until slightly browned.
9. Allow to cool then carefully peel them off.

Vanilla Crescents

This recipe also came from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey. These were very brittle and easily broken, so the handling was a bit difficult. Making them was a breeze though, other than the part where you attempt to shape them like crescents. The taste was pretty good, but nothing terribly special. Perhaps I should've used more vanilla. I bought expensive Madagascar vanilla beans, so I think I was a bit cheap with them.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup sugar plus 2 cups for coating
1 vanilla bean, crushed in chunks
1/2 cup shelled walnuts
2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/3 cups sifted flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place sugar and vanilla bean in a food processor. Pulse off and on a few times until the beans are chopped. Add walnuts and process until finely chopped.
3. Add butter and flour and process, scraping down if necessary, until the dough is pliable.
4. Pinch off walnut-sized dough and shape into balls. Shape balls into small crescents. You can place them close since these don't spread.
5. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 300 degrees. Bake for additional 10-15 minutes or until tan and dry. I ended up baking them about 30 minutes total as my oven's not exactly accurate.
6. Roll the hot cookies in sugar.

P.S My significant other's cousins loved these cookies.

Thick-and-gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thought I'd give chocolate chip cookies one more try. I liked this recipe a lot better than the previous one. My significant other is usually not a cookie dough fan, but he loved the dough so much that he volunteered to clean the mixer as well as the bowl. He did say he thought they would have been perfect if they had had nuts in them. This recipe is from New York Times Sunday Magazine.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda and powder, and salt.
4. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla.
6. Fold in chocolate then dump the flour mixture. Mix well.
7. Chill the dough.
8. Roll 1/4 cup lumps into balls and place on the sheets. Flatten to 1/2-inch thick discs spaced 2 inches apart. These will spread a lot, so give them plenty of space.
9. Bake until the edges turn golden, about 14-19 minutes.

Meringue Nut Cookies

I baked three different kinds of cookies to give to my significant other's cousin's children, and this is the first one and probably the best. These turned out to be a huge success. Both my significant other and I loved them. Not to mention it's a very simple process though it does take a bit of patience to whip the egg whites stiff. The recipe comes from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey. Hazelnuts are easily replacable by any other kind of nuts. I think I'm gonna experiment with dehydrated strawberries next time. It's safe to say I've been converted. Homemade meringues rule.

INGREDIENTS

3 large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups hazelnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Lightly butter and barely flour parchment paper and place it on baking sheets.
3. Beat egg whites until foamy.
4. Add salt and cream of tartar then beat until stiff.
5. Stir in sugar gradually while still beating.
6. Fold in nuts carefully.
7. Drop batter onto cookie sheets. These don't spread much, so it can be fairly close.
8. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until slightly browned.
9. Allow to cool then carefully peel them off.