Dessert in 30 seconds or less.

I realize I am odd and normal people do not have chocolate ganache and mascarpone cheese in their fridge on a regular basis, but you should because then you can make this crazy easy amazingly good dessert. You also need dried figs. Here's how it works:

Take a fig and slice it lengthwise. I use brown Turkish figs because I think they taste the best. But that's just me.

Take a scoop of ganache and put it on your plate or in a bowl. Take a scoop of mascarpone cheese and mix it into the ganache. Put a large dollop on each fig half. Pop the entire thing in your mouth and close your eyes. It's that good.

More cake.

This is now my favorite white cake recipe. Buy the vanilla bean, it is worth it. This recipe is from Organic and Chic by Sarah Magid. The only change I made was using a whole vanilla bean rather than a half.

Vanilla Bean Butter Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c white sugar
4 eggs
1 c whole milk
1 T vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and reserved
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 8-inch (I used 6 inch) round cake pans (I also lined them with parchment paper) or place liners in muffin pans for 24 cupcakes.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time.

In a small bowl combine the milk, vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds. Set aside.

In another bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.

With mixer on low speed alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, starting and ending with the flour. When almost combined turn off the mixer and scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Finish mixing the batter by hand with a rubber spatula. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or 24 to 30 minutes for cupcakes. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes then invert on a wire rack and cool completely.

Vanilla Whipped Buttercream

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 c whole milk
1/4 c all-purpose four
1 1/2 T vanilla extract

In a small saucepan combine 1/4 c of the milk with the flour and vanilla and whisk until completely smooth. Over medium heat slowly add the remaining heat and whisk constantly until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and keep stirring. Cool in an ice bath to room temperature.

Cream the butter on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low slowly add the thickened and cooled milk mixture and increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy.

100th Post - Connor's Divine Birthday Cake

I bought The Silver Spoon for Children cookbook for Connor several months ago and decided to try out the recipes for his birthday. We chose the Orange Cake because Connor is obsessed with oranges, and it is now my new favorite cake. It is easy and delicious. So delicious. Completely amazing. Make it tonight.

Orange Cake

7 T unsalted butter, plus a bit more for greasing the pan

1 orange

2 barnyard eggs (yep, that's what it calls for)

1/2 c supgerfine sugar (we used granulated because that is what we had)

scant 1 c confectioner's sugar

scant 1 c self-rising flour

1/2 t baking powder

Orange Glaze

scant 1 c confectioner's guar

1 orange (we used both the zest and the juice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper.

Melt butter and let cool. In a medium bowl combine the eggs, superfine sugar, and confectioner's sugar with a whisk until light and fluffy. Stir in melted butter. Sfit the flour and baking powder onto the egg mixutre and pour in 6 T orange juice. Carefully mix tovether and pour into pan.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool in pan and then turn out on cooling rack. Place on cakestand and poke holes all over the cake with a toothipick or a fork. Whisk together juice from 1 orange, zest, and confectioner's sugar to make the glaze. Spread glaze all over cake, letting it seap into the holes until it is completelyl absorbed by the cake.

Top with sweetened whipped cream with a bit of vanilla and a thinly sliced orange sprinkled with sugar if you would like for decoration.

Panna Cotta with Roasted Strawberries

Divine. Easy. Make this soon.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 c heavy cream
1/2 c sugar
2 c buttermilk
1 T vanilla

Measure 2 T water in a small bowl and add gelatin. Stir and let stand 5 minutes.

Place 1 c cream in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Add the gelatin and sugar and stir until both have dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1 c cream, 2 c buttermilk, and 1 T vanilla. Pour into desired mold, individual glasses, ramekins, large glass bowl, goblets, whatever. Chill until set, about 6 hours.

4 to 6 c frozen strawberries
1 t lemon zest
1/4 to 1/2 c sugar

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper or silpat. Spread out strawberries in a single layer. Sprinkle with lemon zest and sugar. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or so, until berries have softened and juice has thickened with the sugar. Taste for doneness. Let cool. Pile on top of panna cotta to serve.

MIA

Sorry. Life has been crazy. But here are two cookbook recommendations and two recipes that I'm not sure you can live without.

Canyon Ranch Nourish is amazing and quite possibly my new favorite. The recipes are divine and healthy. It doesn't get much better than that.

Ellie Krieger's So Easy is easy, and delicious, and nutritious. Seriously, check these out ASAP from your library.

Here is a sneak peak from Canyon Ranch:

This tart is amazing. I knew the cookbook and I were meant for each other when I found this recipe in the breakfast section. For 2 days I thought I might even like it more than pie. That's how good it is. I've made it 3 times - twice according to the recipe (mostly) and once with all white flour and believe me, it needs the whole wheat flour.

Crust:
4 T unsalted butter
1/4 c low-fat cream cheese
1/2 c plus 1 T sugar
1/4 t salt
3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 c all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 10-inch tart pan with canola oil spray.
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until mixed, reserving 1 T of the sugar for the filling. Press into the tart pan to form the crust.

Filling:

2 or 3 peaches or nectarines

1 c blueberries (if you use frozen berries make sure they are completely thawed and drained)

1 egg

1 t vanilla

1 T sugar

Arrange the peach slices in concentric circles around the edge of the tart and pile the blueberries in the middle. Whisk 1 egg with 1 T sugar and 1 t vanilla and pour over berries. Bake for 40 minutes.

And then I made these:

Cinnamon Snap Rolls (from A Passion for Ice Cream by Emily Luchetti) filled with homemade apricot vanilla ice cream. Let me know if you need the recipes.

The blogging is going to get worse, not better, for the next little while because in 2 weeks I leave to go wait for our baby girl to be born! Can't wait.

Plum Preserves

To read the very long account about how I got the plums go to http://www.petersonabcs.blogspot.com/. To make some crazy good plum preserves use this recipe and add 2 cinnamon sticks to the mixture as it boils. I also made ice cream using the many plums currently in my possession and adapted a recipe from this man who is kind of a genius. Here's the recipe:

Plum Ice Cream

1 lb plums, halved and pitted

1 c sugar

1/3 c water

1 c cream

1/2 t pure vanilla extract

Combine the plums, sugar, and water in a nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until plums are tender. Remove from heat and puree in a blender. Add cream and vanilla and blend until thoroughly combined. Pour through a sieve into a container and refrigerate until cold. Put mixture in ice cream maker and make ice cream. Eat ice cream. It is tart and delicious and the vanilla is the perfect accompaniment to the tartness of the plums and brings out the flavor of the cream. And it looks pretty.

20 lbs of apricots

I saw a listing on craigslist for 20 lbs of apricots for $15, which seemed too good of a deal to pass up. I planned on making apricot lavender jam, but quickly decided upon realizing how many apricots make up 20 lbs that I needed some other quick things to use up all of the lovely produce. I found this recipe and changed it by omitting the vanilla bean (although that would also be perfectly wonderful), doubling the recipe, and adding 5 tsp of culinary lavender buds that I ground up in a coffee grinder with some of the sugar. I also left the peelings on because I love the color and didn't want to peel that many apricots, and after combining all of the ingredients I let it sit overnight in the fridge (covered of course) to really let the flavors meld. This jam is fantastic - on a spoon, on bread, or mixed with some vinegar to make a lovely apricot vinaigrette for a salad. So that's the jam.

Then I saw this recipe for apricot ice cream and decided to puree a bunch of the apricots, add a bit of lemon juice to preserve the color, and freeze the puree in ice cube trays (which were later emptied into gallon freezer bags) so that we can eat apricot ice cream all year long. I haven't made any yet, but it looks quite good.

Apricot pie also sounded idea but rather than make the entire pie I decided to just make the filling, put it in a gallon ziplock bag, shape it in a pie dish and freeze. Once frozen I removed the pie dish and now when I need a pie I can just make the crust, pop in the filling, and bake it. I haven't tasted the finished product yet, but the filling is very good.

4 c apricots, peeled
1 T lemon juice
1 c sugar
1/3 c flour
nutmeg to taste
1 to 2 t vanilla extract

Just toss to combine and you are ready to go.

By this point I had just enough apricots to fill a cookie sheet, so I lined the cookie sheet with parchment, spread out the apricot halves, drizzled them with 2 T olive oil, 1/2 c melted honey,
1 t vanilla, and a sprinkling of cinnamon. I then roasted them in a 375 degree oven for about 35 to 45 minutes, until meltingly soft and a bit caramelized. These are delicious on their own, but especially over French Toast.