Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Crumb-Topped Ricotta Coffee Cake
July 12, 2022 at 4:45 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
This Crumb-Topped Ricotta Coffee Cake is one of my recent baking standouts. With a heap of super-crispy (thanks to a secret ingredient…shhhh, it’s cornmeal) crumbs on top and a dense but tender cake (thanks to a not-so-secret ingredient…ricotta), it doesn’t get much better. Oh wait– what about adding a layer of fruit? Well, that would make it better, but not to worry, as this cake has that, too. I used sweet dark cherries in mine, but you could use any berry. Hiding just under the layer of crumbs, the fruit turns soft and jammy. It’s good for a breakfast, snack or dessert treat. Really, this cake hits all the notes.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Everyday Dorie: Cornmeal-Buttermilk Skillet Cake
July 8, 2022 at 3:29 pm | Posted in breakfast things, cakes & tortes, everyday dorie, groups, muffins/quick breads, simple cakes, sweet things | 3 CommentsTags: cake, everyday dorie
This Cornmeal-Buttermilk Skillet Cake with Strawberries is one I actually whipped up a couple of years ago. With the pandemic in full swing, summer 2020 was all around good times. I, like most you, was cooking with whatever I could get my hands on or had already. Saturdays were my shopping days, masked up at the farmers’ market and wondering what would be left after waiting in block-long socially distanced lines, and then going to the grocery store for the other stuff and finding the shelves half empty. But if you know how to cook, you can make some pretty good stuff in all kinds of different circumstances…you can even have cake.
This was an easy, dump-and-stir type of cake that can be baked off as a loaf or a round (I went with the cast iron skillet option). It’s made similar to cornbread, but a little sweeter. I stirred in some strawberries, but you can use whatever berries you have, or none at all. Maybe I should make it again this summer, while the blackberries are around and more readily available.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our cakes this week.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Asparagus-Lemon Quiche
May 31, 2022 at 9:59 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, quiche, savory
Finally it’s more than just turnips and old apples at the framers’ market! My local Saturday market is now hopping with asparagus and green garlic, both of which found their way into this Asparagus-Lemon Quiche. I added a little green garlic bulb to the minced shallot that gets softened for the filling and used the tender green tops as the herb component. Along with the asparagus spears, I took Dorie’s suggestion to toss in some peas, but those aren’t at the farmer’s market quite yet so they came from the freezer department.
I have to say I was sort of confused about the lemon part of the quiche. Not the flavor, as lemon plus asparagus is a winning combo, but cutting a lemon up into slivers and scattering them around the bottom of the tart shell sounded odd. Then I found a write-up of the quiche in Dorie’s newsletter, complete with a photo of those scattered lemon chunks. Instead of doing it that way, I decided to slice part of a lemon as thinly as possible. I then covered the bottom of my par-baked shell with a layer those paper-thin slices, so they would more or less melt into the quiche filling.
I don’t make quiche often….really only when one rolls around for TWD, but I liked this a lot. It’s slim, more of a veggie custard tart than an eggy deep dish pie, and definitely tastes of spring.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Mocacchino Muffins
May 31, 2022 at 1:47 pm | Posted in breakfast things, DC, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, muffins
My Tuesdays with Dorie seems to have turned into Whenever with Dorie. I guess any day is really a good day with Dorie, so even though I made these Mochaccino Muffins a month ago, I’m happy to be thinking about them again right now. Fortified with ground coffee and coffee extract, if your cup of joe alone isn’t cutting it, give yourself an extra boost with one of these. I actually used instant coffee granules instead of ground coffee, even though Dorie says not to…I just dissolved it into the milk. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m not sure that unsteeped ground coffee really packs much of a punch. The chocolate bits were a nice touch, and I added a little bit extra on top.
I had a friend who made these a couple of months ago warn me that her muffins were really dry. I don’t know if that was just a fluke, but I kept that in mind when I mixed my batter. It seemed so light and cake-like (some muffin batters are quite thick), that I decided backing the heat down to 375F might not be a bad idea. They came out nice and soft, and I really liked them a bit warm, despite Dorie’s recommendation that they be eaten at room temp.
For the recipe, see Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cottage Cheese Biscuits
April 26, 2022 at 1:04 pm | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, snacks, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, savory
I’m not the most competent biscuit maker, but thankfully these Cottage Cheese Biscuits were easy to get together and baked off pretty nicely. Would I have really known the dough had cottage cheese in it if I hadn’t been the one to squish it in there? Probably not, but the biscuits had a nice tender crumb, so I think it did something behind the scenes. I made half a recipe and cut four square biscuits so I wouldn’t have any re-roll to deal with. I actually froze the unbaked biscuits for a few days before baking them off, since I picked up my cottage cheese container in the fridge one day and noticed it was getting to the use it or lose it point (i.e., a couple days past the date)!
When I did bake off the biscuits, I turned two of them into egg and bacon sandwiches, a suggestion Dorie threw out there and I grabbed (and tucked into little paper sleeves). The other two are still unbaked and in the freezer, but I have a feeling they’ll get the same treatment.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Whip-It-Up-Quick Cornbread
February 8, 2022 at 1:30 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, other savory, quick breads, savory things, snacks, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cheese, savory
Seems like I’m always looking for something to go with a pot of chili this time of year, and I think I’ve found it with this Whip-It-Up-Quick Cornbread. A buttermilk cornbread you can bake right in a skillet, this one really does come together in a jiffy, and it has a plush, moist crumb. One of the best I’ve made. You can leave it plain or go wild with your fave add-ins. I used some hot pepper flakes, chives and a bit of white cheddar.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Steph’s Bakewell Tart
January 25, 2022 at 11:22 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 9 CommentsTags: baking, tart
My name is Steph and this is my tart, but I am not the Steph behind this recipe for Steph’s Bakewell Tart. A Bakewell is a classic British tart (any GBB fans out there?), with a layer of raspberry jam hiding under cakey almond cream, all baked together in a shortcrust pastry case. This particular version comes from Dorie’s friend, Stephanie, in Paris, who got it from her English mum. I’ve made Bakewell tarts before…first here years ago, and several times since, too. I like the combo of almonds and raspberries a lot, but you can use any jam you want. This is a pretty easy tart to put together, as you can make the components ahead of time, and of course you can buy the jam. Once baked, a drizzle of icing on the top is just, well, the icing on the cake (or tart)!
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Everyday Dorie: Stuffed Cabbage
January 14, 2022 at 12:01 am | Posted in breakfast things, cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things, veggies | 2 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, vegetables
Stuffed Cabbage is a recipe that might be more appropriate for a book called All Day Dorie than Everyday Dorie. Never mind the three hours of cooking time (hands-off, in the oven, no big deal), I think I probably spent close to two hours assembling the dish. No joke, I had to take a coffee break in the middle of it. But that’s ok– I did it on a cold, grey weekend day when I didn’t want to leave the house and was up for a kitchen project.
I’d never made stuffed cabbage rolls before. I don’t eat ground beef or pork sausage, so I swapped these filling meats for ground chicken and turkey sausage. I couldn’t see how I could successfully get the cabbage leaves off the head in one untattered piece without blanching the whole head, so I just did that, rather than blanch the individual leaves as Dorie instructs. It was a process of removing a few leaves at a time and re-dipping the head in water to easily peel off the next layer, and I do have some leftover blanched cabbage still on the head, but I’ll use that in a soup or make okonomiyaki with it this week. I was able to fill and roll the leaves pretty easily and I skipped the step of securing them each with a toothpick. They were fine.
For the tomato sauce, I didn’t pay attention (i.e., I totally didn’t tread the instructions first) to the fact that the ingredients were supposed to go into the Dutch oven in layers along with the assembled rolls. Instead, everything for the sauce went into the pot at once and I snuggled all the rolls down into the mix. I was kind of irritated with myself, but figured that the cook time was so long that all would be fine. And it was! These are a delicious winter dinner (or a few dinners–even a half-batch was a big batch). I didn’t really know what to serve the cabbage rolls with, as they’re kind of complete on their own, with a meat and rice filling, veggies and a sauce. I just went with a little cucumber and sour cream salad and sprinkled some crispy fried onions on top. I also meant to sprinkle the rolls with parsley, but after all that time putting them together, I completely forgot.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Grain and Seed Muffins
January 11, 2022 at 11:42 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 9 CommentsTags: baking, muffins
Grain and Seed Muffins are about as healthy as my baking gets around here. These aren’t cake-for-breakfast muffins– they are full of good-for-you stuff, like whole wheat flour, wheat bran, oats and sunflower, sesame and flax seeds. I needed a trip to the bulk bins to get these ones done. Dorie suggests that the sunflower seeds should be raw, but does a raw sunflower seed really even taste like anything? I chose to toast all the seeds, and I even toasted the oats and wheat bran while I was at it. The muffins came together easily and were lightly sweet from maple syrup and brown sugar. I liked them best warm, with a swipe of sweet and salty maple butter. I felt like my grandma, warming my bran muffin and spreading it with butter, but grandmas know best, right?
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cheese Puffers
December 28, 2021 at 10:25 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, savory things, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 6 CommentsTags: baking, cheese, savory
I’ve never really thought about what would happen if a muffin and a popover had a baby, but apparently it would be a Cheese Puffer. Made like a popover that’s baked in a muffin tin, these are heavy on the cheddar cheese. I guess that cheddar-weight is why they don’t really “popover,” but they are custardy, with melty cheese pockets (I used my favorite Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar) and bits of chopped scallion on the inside, and a beautiful golden brown crust. I scaled back the recipe to just get these four…two were had with chili one night, and the other two with eggs in the morning.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
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