Cooking With Hanzipan

I’ve had a craving for lavender lately. Not only is allrecipes.com a veritable wasteland when it comes to the flower so are all of the other cooking blogs I cruise through. After a bit of digging I found a Lavender Tea Bread on allrecipes and after a little pondering I decided to make it into cupcakes and, with a little lemon zest, the idea started to make my mouth water. These turned out so puffy, soft and smelled so good! I can’t get enough of them. The flowers were a little disconcerting in the dough, but by the time everything had baked I didn’t notice them anymore, they’re just pretty purple specks.

Lavender Tea Bread Recipe

Via: allrecipes.com (My alterations will be in the parenthesis)

Makes 12 cupcakes or one 5 x 9 loaf.

• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh lavender (I used dried flowers with the same results)
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs (I used one very very large local egg, equivalent to two from a regular store)
• (zest from 1 lemon)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. (Grease muffin tins for 12 cupcakes or one 5 x 9 inch pan).
2. Combine the milk and lavender in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat to a simmer, then remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until the mixture is light and fluffy. (Add zest) Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk and lavender until just blended. Pour into pan (or cupcake tins until 2/3 full).
   
4. Bake for 50 minutes in pan or 25 minutes in cupcake tins in the preheated oven, or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
   

I had this urge to make pink cupcakes so I took the White Christmas Cupcake recipe and Kid Simple Frosting from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans. I feel guilty for posting so many of her recipes online, in case someone would have otherwise bought the book but can get all the recipes from me for free. I recommend you buy the book, it’s really really good. The cupcake recipe is on page 128 and the frosting is on 34. 

I also tried to pipe the frosting on the cupcakes using a pastry bag and tips I got from Big Lots. 

The results were difficult

The middle cupcake represents my anger at how unnecessarily difficult piping is.

From the book Cupcakes!  by Elinor Klivans

Ingredients:

Swirl and Topping:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cupcakes:

• 1 cup grated peeled apple (1 large apple)
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (from above)
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup canola or corn oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Make the swirl and topping. In a small bowl, stir the sugar and cinnamon together.

Make the cupcakes. In a small bowl, mix the grated apple and the 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar together; set aside. In a large bowl, stir the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the eggs, oil, and vanilla, stirring until the ingredients are smoothly blended. Stir in the reserved apple mixture, with any juice that has been released.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into each paper liner. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon sugar over the batter in each liner. Spoon the remaining batter over the cinnamon sugar, using a scant 2 tablespoons of batter for each cupcake. Use a pastry brush to dab the top of the batter with the melted butter. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the top.

Bake just until the tops are light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the cupcakes from the pan to the wire rack to cool completely. 

They may be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

This recipe is from the book Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans.

Filling

• 1  8 ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup canola or corn oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 12 extra-large muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners. Spray the inside of each liner with nonstick cooking spray.

Make the filling. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smoothly blended. Beat in the egg. Mix in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside.

Make the topping. In a medium bowl, using a large spoon, stir the flour, brown sugar, and salt together. Add the melted butter and continue stirring until crumbs form.

Make the cupcakes. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg and yolk and sugar until thickened and lightened to a cream color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. Mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth. 

Spoon 3 tablespoons of the batter into each cupcake liner. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons of cream cheese filling into the center of each; the soft filling will spread slightly over the batter. Sprinkle a generous tablespoon of crumb topping over each. the paper liners will be filled to about 1/2 inch from the top. 

Bake until the edges brown lightly and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. The cupcakes will rise to the top of the paper liners. Cool the cupcakes for 20 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Dust the cooled cupcakes lightly with powdered sugar before serving. The cupcakes can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

My birthday fell on a Monday this year which meant that any sort of special food/things were pushed to Thursday. We had some friends over and I made a casserole, an artichoke dip and an amazing chocolate cake… busy busy busy! I’d promised myself that I’d make a cake and, while it wasn’t the one I was planning on originally, I did wind up making a really good Chocolate Stout Cake from Smitten Kitchen. I used really strong liquid coffee instead of instant and it worked really well. This cake keeps getting better the longer it sits around in the kitchen too! Oh man, I’m going to have to go have a piece now…

Chocolate Stout Cake

This recipe was originally intended to make a layer cake of 3 8-inch rounds. Upon many reviewers’ suggestions, I halved it and it fit perfectly in a bundt pan. The halved amount is below, and the icing replaced with a simple ganache.

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream*
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Cake prep:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan well; make sure you get in all of the nooks and crannies. (Some people even go so far as to brush the inside of their bundt pans with melted butter–you cannot be too careful!). Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack for drizzling ganache.**

Ganache:
For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.

101 Cookbook’s mushroom casserole is so very tasty! I like to substitute wild rice for half of the brown rice the recipe wants. Here’s the recipe taken from 101 cookbooks, make sure you visit her site to see what other tasty things she has:

Mushroom Casserole Recipe

Use any cooked grain you like. Feel free to use low-fat cottage cheese or sour cream if you prefer.

1/2 pound (8 ounces) brown mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, well chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a bit of fresh tarragon, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Rub a medium-large baking dish with a bit of olive oil or butter and set aside. The pan I use is slightly smaller than a classic 9×13 baking dish - just grab for something in this ballpark.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute the mushrooms in a glug of olive oil sprinkled with a couple pinches of salt. Stir every minute or so until the mushrooms have released their liquid and have browned a bit. Add the onions and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes or until they are translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook for another minute and remove from heat. Add the rice to the skillet and stir until combined.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, and salt.

Combine the rice mixture and cottage cheese mixture in a large bowl, stir until well combined and then turn out into your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with 2/3 of the Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and place in oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes more or hot throughout and golden along the edges. Sprinkle with the chopped tarragon, and the remaining Parmesan and enjoy.

Serves about 6.

I also used 101 cookbooks’ baked artichoke dip recipe. I feel like there was something missing from it… something earthy to balance all of that artichoke, but it did wind up being pretty darn good, fresh from the oven. I think next time I’ll use the Quattro Formaggio cheese blend from Trader Joes instead of Parmesan, press the artichokes to get some of that extra moisture out and use a little less yogurt. This recipe was also taken directly from 101 cookbooks:

Baked Artichoke Dip Recipe

Sometimes silken tofu can be hard to find. No worries, I’ve had success using medium firm regular tofu as well - just stay clear of the firm and extra-firm varieties. For some added nutritional punch and color quickly saute a couple handfuls of spinach in a bit of olive oil - toss it in the food processor with the artichokes, tofu, and garlic.

2 (14-ounce) cans water-packed artichokes, well drained
4 ounces organic silken tofu
3 large cloves garlic
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2/3 cup plain (or Greek) yogurt
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or more to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper

more Parmesan to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In a blender or food processor puree the artichokes, tofu, and garlic. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the parmesan cheese, yogurt, salt, and cayenne. Stir in the artichoke puree and pour mixture into a medium-sized baking dish (or multiple smaller dishes). Sprinkle the top with more Parmesan. Bake uncovered until heated through and the cheese on the top starts to brown, about 45 minutes.

Makes 2-3 cups of artichoke dip.

I thought perhaps we’d be having more people come to dinner tonight than actually did and I started cooking with this in mind. I started to make a Pear Upside-Down Cake at 3:30, pulled it out of the oven at 5 and stuck the Baked Pasta Casserole into the still hot oven to get oozy and toasty as these cheesy things are wont to do. Alas it was only the three of us and I’m glad one of my favorite things just happens to be leftovers.

Ok, so this is really REALLY not my picture. I horked it from 101 cookbooks where I got the recipe. When I cook, I usually do it for dinner when the light is not so good and rather yellow. This happened with the pasta. I love this dish and I wanted to do it some justice.

I was intrigued by this cake recipe because it wanted buttermilk as well as freshly ginger, two things I definitely don’t dabble in every day. Or at all. I was totally unprepared for how beautiful fresh ginger smells. It has a clean, sweet smell that gets worked into your fingers as you grate it and into the wood of our counter top.

It turned out to be a heavy, molassesy moist cake that was still warm after we’d finished with dinner. With a chunk of vanilla ice cream melting into the edges, soaked up by the cake, everything felt right with the world. Right now both of these are sitting happily together on their respective dessert and pasta shelves in my tummy.

The first baking post. A while ago the Hanzipan team got together for a weekend of mad cookery. We just so happened to make some Lemon Poppy Seed Butterfly Cupcakes from the book Cupcakes! They took zest from four lemons but it was ohhh so worth it!

Starzipan modeling the tasty tasty cupcakes. They were gone well before noon the next day.

And then Star had the idea to make some mozzarella cheese. She’d gotten a kit a while ago and hadn’t used it yet. Can you think of a better time to make cheese than that one? No, I didn’t think so. Anywho, I know these pictures look familiar but I really wanted to document the occasion properly on this wee blog!

Blog is live! Blog is go!

XD

P.S. These are White Christmas Cupcakes from the book Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans. I gave them to my relatives, tucked inside mugs. Get it? Cakes in cups? Cupcakes?

The cakes are a light, fluff pure white cake(though mine got a bit browned on top) with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and shavings of white chocolate on top. And of course a dusting of powdered sugar.