April baking

Howdy,
I have been baking in April but didn't have time to photograph and post about the yum. I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Martha Stewart's Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies. I made these for E's birthday in April and they were a huge hit. I modified the recipe by making the cookies smaller and everyone liked the two-bite size better. Also, this recipe makes a million cookies, so I froze some of the dough to use later. For the second batch of whoopie pies I decided to go with a dulce de leche frosting which was also delicious. I actually thought I might have pioneered this whoopie pie meets alfajore concoction, but google-ing reveals otherwise. Anyway, here's how to make that dulce de leche and put it in frosting: 


Dulce de Leche
Take a can of sweetened condensed milk and put it in a soup pot. Put enough water in the pot so that the can is covered. It is imperative that the can remain covered with water the whole time otherwise it will explode. Put the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Boil the can in the water for 3 hours. At the end, you'll open up the can and voila, dulce de leche.

Dulce de Leche Frosting
Now, take a half stick of butter (1/4c) and cream it in an electric mixer. Add 2 tbsp (or more but it throws off the consistency) of dulce de leche and 1 cup of confectioners sugar to the butter. Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Mix until it's frosting. If it's too thick, you can add more dulce de leche or a little bit of milk. If it's too thin, you can add more confectioner's sugar a little at a time. I added too much milk and dulce de leche because I was playing with it, so it came out runny. I just stuck it in the fridge and it firmed up. This doesn't make that much frosting so if you're making a ton, I'd use a whole stick of butter and 2-3 cups of confectioner's sugar and play with the amount of dulce de leche. 

Baked Stuffed French Toast: Lower Fat

This recipe is too good to ever lose, so I'm putting it here for safe keeping. It comes from a co-worker and baker extraordinaire. I made it for Jess's baby shower and E made the delicious asparagus pancetta hash from Smitten Kitchen's recipe. Yum!

I have to admit, the food was great. Check out this spread!

Baked Stuffed French Toast (not exactly Low Fat, but lower...)

16 to 20 slices of cinnamon-raisin bread (or challah if you're not into raisins)

cinnamon

nutmeg

6 large eggs

2 c fat free half and half 

2 c skim, 1% or 2% milk 

2 tsp vanilla

1 c sugar

Filling:

16 oz (2 bricks) Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat than cream cheese, same taste)

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c sugar

1. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan or dish with Pam (or butter). 

2. Arrange 8 to 10 slices of bread (I overlapped the challah a bit so that the bottom of the pan was covered) in the baking pan. 

3. Sprinkle bread lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix filling ingredients (I used a whisk and it was slightly lumpy, but this is OK, you could also use a mixer) and spread over bread layer. 

4. Arrange remaining bread on top, and sprinkle lightly with more cinnamon and nutmeg. 

5. Mix the 6 eggs, half and half, whole milk, 2 tsp vanilla, and 1 c sugar (again I used a whisk and a *big* bowl), and slowly pour this mixture over the bread. (It bubbles up, so be careful.) Try to leave as little bread sticking out of the liquid as possible. I found that I had about half the liquid left over, but I'm not sure if this was just because my pan wasn't deep enough. I'd say, for the first time baking it, make all the liquid and then adjust according to your pan. 

6. Cover with tinfoil and refrigerate overnight.

7. The next day, bake, covered, at 350 for 40 minutes, then uncover and bake 20 minutes more. Cut into center gently and make sure the inside is moist but not soupy. Bake a little longer if necessary. Let stand 10 or 15 minutes before cutting.

8. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar, or serve with maple syrup or sauteed apples or peaches. 

Pasilla Chile Chocolate Cake Continued

Apologies for not posting this sooner. It's taken a while both because I haven't had time and because this recipe needs some tweaking so I was debating whether or not to post it.

My main criticism: not enough or really any heat. I'm not sure if it was my pasilla chiles in particular or the fact that I didn't use the seeds (typically the heat of a pepper is concentrated in the seeds). But, to my mind this recipe is flawed because pureeing the peppers is a tedious process for really no heat yield. Here's the recipe in photos: 

1. Here are the 2 1/2 oz dried pasilla chiles on their cookie sheet waiting to go into my preheated 400 degree oven. 

2. The chiles really only take a few minutes to go from very crunchy and hard to cut to pliable. Also, they have an amazing smell as they're heating. 

Please, when you are working with chiles, even mild ones, wear gloves. This is not so important for your fingers as it is your eyes when you inevitably rub your eyes or worse put your contact in with hands that are "enchiladas." Ouch! As you can see I separated out the seeds and pulled the chiles into bits. 

3. I covered the chiles with hot water and soaked them for about 7 minutes. 

4. While the chiles were soaking, I chopped the POUND of chocolate. Yes, this huge amount of chocolate does make this cake very rich and chocolaty. Here's a tip so you don't get chocolate bits all over your kitchen: put the chopping board you're using inside a baking sheet with short walls. That way when bits go flying they'll stay inside the baking sheet where you can retrieve them as opposed to your floor. 

Voila! It doesn't have to be perfect since it's all getting melted anyway. 

5. OK, back to chile paste making. I drained the chiles and got rid of the water they soaked in (maybe this was a mistake---could the heat have been transferred to this water? Doubt it but possible.) Then I put them in the blender with 1/3 cup water. 

It took about 5 tbsp of extra water to get this to a paste-like consistency. 

7. Then I pushed this paste through a strainer. I got about 2/3 cup out of it, about double what the recipe calls for. This is the point where I finally, with the fear of burning my tongue in my heart, tasted the paste. It tasted sort of fruity and nutty, but really not spicy, kind of like mole. I made D try it. He agreed. Hrmm. OK, maybe it needs some Cayenne. I added a .25 tsp of Cayenne. Nothing. I added another .25 tsp. Still nothing. I added another 1/2 tsp. Still not much. But at this point I got nervous, thinking this was now 3 times what the recipe called for and that was only if you were using Ancho chiles, not Pasilla. Well, I won't make this mistake again. Keep adding chile until it tastes spicy. Here's the other issue: you now see what a pain making this chile paste is. Is it worth it? I couldn't really make out the fruity Pasilla flavor in the baked cake. Maybe you should just be adding Cayenne to your favorite chocolate cake recipe. I hate to say it but I don't think it did much aside from teach you how to make chile paste, which is admittedly pretty cool. You decide.

8. Moving right along. I put the chopped chocolate with the room temperature butter cut up into 1/2 in pieces in my make shift double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, don't fret. Just put one pot on top of another, the bottom one should have a shallow layer of simmering water and the top should fit into the bottom pot without the bottom touching the water. If you don't have pots like this, just put a sauce pan or heat resistant bowl directly into a frying pan with simmering water or whatever you have. The point is not to use direct heat so as not to scorch the chocolate. 

A general tip about room temperature butter: you can put sticks of butter straight from the fridge in to the microwave for 10 seconds at a time to get them to room temperature. Just be careful because they melt very quickly. Or you can put them on your radiator, but again, don't leave them very long or you'll have a mess.

Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted. Yum. 

9. Now you're ready to separate the eggs. To save yourself some cursing, do this over a third bowl. I know, it's more dishes to wash, but it will keep your yolks yolks and your whites whites, even if you blunder with one egg. Whisk the 5 yolks, the 1/3 cup of pasilla paste, 1 1/2 tbs flour, and 2 tsp vanilla into the chocolate (which you've taken off the heat). Don't forget to add Cayenne to taste here.
10. Beat the 5 egg whites and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar into a frothy frenzy on high speed of an electric mixer and then add 1/2 cup dark brown sugar.

Beat until stiff peaks form. Try not to overbeat the whites. You'll know if you do because they'll get clumpy looking. 

11. Take 1/3 of the egg whites and fold them into the chocolate mixture. This will help lighten the chocolate so that the overall batter will stay light and fluffy. 

Once the 1/3 is nice and incorporated gently fold in the rest of the whites. The finished batter has the texture (and taste) of chocolate pudding. 

12. I baked the cake for a lot longer than it said because I'm used to doing the knife test for doneness. I think I may have over-baked this cake because the edges came out very brownie-like and didn't have the delicious taste or texture of the inner cake. So, my advice would be to try and stick to the jiggle test. I also don't agree with the original recipe's refrigerating suggestions. I think this cake tasted the best heated in the microwave with a dollop of ice cream on top. It was decadent, a cross between an amazingly good brownie and flourless chocolate cake. I dusted some powdered sugar on top and a sliced strawberry to garnish. 

Pasilla Chile Chocolate Cake

It's the day after the second snow day of 2010 and D are thinking it's the perfect weather to have friends over and make a pan-Latin dinner. He's making a baked chicken with Daisy's sofrito (Puerto Rico), salchipapa, and a green dipping sauce from Peru (I will try to get D to give up the secret to this sauce but no promises). I'm moving over to Mexico with this spicy chile chocolate cake for desert. I begged this recipe off a coworker after only trying a tiny slice at the office (it went fast!). This is typically a Dia de los Muertos dessert according to Sunset. So, I'm going to make a go at it with results in the next post. 

Pasilla Chile Chocolate Cake (Pastel de Chocolate y Chile Pasilla)

slightly adapted from Sunset, here's a link to the recipe. 

NOTES: Dried long, dark, skinny chiles labeled pasilla or chile negro give this dark chocolate cake a subtle fruit flavor with a hot finish. If these are not available, use dark, blocky chiles labeled ancho, which are sweet and fruity with little heat, and add cayenne to boost spiciness. Both pasilla and ancho chiles are available in Hispanic markets. To use piloncillo sugar (also available in Hispanic markets), put it in a heavy zip-lock plastic bag, cover it with a towel, and pound it with a mallet or hammer until finely crushed. You can make this cake up to 2 days ahead; chill airtight.


Yield: MAKES: About 12 servings

Ingredients
2 1/2 ounces dried pasilla chiles (also called chile negro) or 2 1/2 ounces dried ancho chiles plus 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (see notes)
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup (6 oz.) butter, at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
5 large eggs, separated
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar or finely crushed piloncillo sugar (see notes)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Powdered sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 tablespoon coffee-flavored liqueur such as Kahlúa

Preparation

1. Lay chiles in a single layer on a 12- by 15-inch baking sheet. Bake in a 400° oven just until pliable, about 2 minutes. Wearing rubber gloves, break off stems, shake out seeds, and break chiles into small pieces, dropping into a small bowl; discard stems and seeds. Cover chiles with warm water and let soak until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain chiles and put in a blender with 1/3 cup water; whirl until smooth, adding 1 more tablespoon water as needed to make a thick paste. Push purée through a fine strainer; discard residue. You need 1/3 cup chile purée. If using ancho chiles, stir cayenne into the chile purée.
2. Line bottom of a 9-inch cake pan (sides at least 1 1/2 in. tall) with baking parchment.
3. In a large bowl nested over a pan of simmering water (water shouldn't touch bottom of bowl), combine chocolate and butter. Stir occasionally just until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, about 8 minutes. Remove from over water and whisk in 1/3 cup chile purée, the egg yolks, vanilla, and flour until mixture is blended.
4. Pour brown sugar into a small bowl and stir or whisk to break up lumps and loosen. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until very frothy and foamy. Gradually add brown sugar to whites, beating until stiff, moist peaks form. With a whisk, fold a third of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture until well incorporated. Then fold in remaining whites just until blended. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake cake in a 425° regular or 400° convection oven until it appears set and center barely jiggles when pan is gently shaken, about 15 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack for about 15 minutes. Run a knife between cake and pan rim, then invert onto a serving platter. Lift off pan and peel off parchment. Let cake cool about 30 minutes, then chill until firm and cold, at least 4 hours; cover cake once completely chilled.
6. For best texture, let cake come to room temperature before serving, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Sift powdered sugar lightly over cake (for a pattern, lay a stencil on cake before sifting the sugar, then carefully lift it off).
7. In a bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Stir in vanilla. Cut cake into wedges and serve each with a dollop of whipped cream.

Nutritional InformationCalories:
434 (71% from fat) Protein:
6.5g Fat:
34g (sat 19) Carbohydrate:
35g Fiber:
2.2g Sodium:
155mg Cholesterol:
142mg

Truffles are ready for their closeup!

This is just a quick post to let you know how the second round of truffle making went. I made four different flavors and used the full Martha Stewart truffle recipe for each, so I had about 42 (small) truffles of each flavor. I finished them up on Sunday. and they are now packaged and ready to be hand-delivered to my family and friends for Christmas.

The Fourth Mystery Flavor
If you've been following the last three posts, you know I wasn't a huge fan of the plain truffle covered in cocoa. So, finding a fourth flavor was the major dilemma this round. I finally caved to D's preferences and made a Jack Daniels truffle coated in chopped pecans. Our tribute to the South is actually delicious (can you hear the banjo strummin')! I used 3 tablespoons of whiskey to cover a full recipe and it tastes potent but not rum ball icky. You can always add a tablespoon and then taste it to see how much whiskey flavor you like.

A Better Mint Truffle
The second issue was creating a better mint truffle. Since using mint leaves made the truffles taste too leafy and green, I opted for peppermint oil. Just a tablespoon flavored them very well. I put a few candy canes in the food processor and used this to roll them in. They taste like Andes to me, minty and lovely!

The Final Four Truffle Flavors 
Ancho chile and cinnamon coated in sugar crystals
Jack Daniels coated in pecans
Cardamom and coffee coated in almonds
Peppermint coated in crushed candy cane

I packaged them in these adorable mini-Chinese take-out boxes from the Container store and wrapped them in hot pink ribbon with cutie-pie white and green dots. The truffles plus D's ridiculously yummy take on Irish Cream (Jack Daniels, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, heavy cream, and sweetened condensed milk), and some homemade granola are all getting placed in a neon green bag and wrapped in hot pink tissue (can you tell neon green and hot pink are this year's Christmas colors?) to finish off the homemade gift. Phew! Now to packing!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the little truffle army. Er, marching band, it is Christmastime after all.

 Happy Holiday!

Truffle Experiment Results

A few notes on truffle rolling since I didn't exactly follow Martha's directions:

1) I heated the heavy cream in the microwave. About 45 seconds to 1 min brought it to a boil. I added the flavoring and then let the cream mixture sit for 10-20 mins before I reheated it in the microwave and strained it over the finely chopped chocolate. The chocolate mostly melted from the heat of the cream, but I just put in in the microwave for 10 seconds if it was a little chunky. Then I poured it into another clean container, covered it with saran wrap and put it in the fridge.

2) Let the chocolate chill for 30 mins. If you have to leave it in the fridge all day as I did, do not, I repeat, do not try and hurry it up by putting it in the microwave. Chocolate goes from hard to melty mess in seconds so this doesn't work so well. Just wait. Eventually it will become pliable if left out at room temperature.

3) No need to use a melon baller. Though I did go out and buy a melon baller for this express purpose, I found using a spoon to scrape the chocolate worked much better. For me, the chocolate just got stuck in the melon baller and then was hard to get out. I scraped, formed the chocolate into a ball with my fingers, rolled it around in my palm, and then dusted it all in one go, because I didn't see the point in the extra step of putting the balls in the fridge. If you're going to be a perfectionist and/or you mind having melty chocolate on your palms maybe this works best, but I was not so picky.

4) To keep the chocolate from getting super melty in your palms run them under ice cold water and then work on forming the balls. This works, believe me! I got the tip directly from Jacques Torres via Epicurious.

5) Some recipes call for a coating of tempered chocolate on the truffles. I didn't do this. It seems like an extra super fussy step that doesn't seem to add a lot. But hey, if you want to do it that's your business.

6) Roll the balls pretty small. By doubling the Martha recipe, I made about 72 balls. This is less than the 84 I should have gotten from doubling the recipe and I thought I rolled them pretty small. According to D the secret of a good truffle is having one small enough to pop in your mouth whole.

Now to the flavor results. The winner was definitely the ancho chile and cinnamon. Cardamom and coffee came in second, and mint came in third. D and I really didn't care for the plain truffle. It had two strikes against it: 1) it just tasted like the original chocolate, which is pretty good, but why not just eat the chocolate bar which requires no work? 2) I rolled it in cocoa powder (now, we're not talking Valrhona cocoa powder, I just used Toll House) which was bitter and powdery and detracted from the pretty good chocolate ganache. Two strikes and you're out. When I make these for Christmas, we'll try a new flavor.

Ancho Chile and Cinnamon Results

Since I doubled the recipe but then quartered it so I could test out these three flavors (plus the plain control truffle), I was dealing with 1/4 c of heavy cream for each batch of chocolate (about 7 squares finely chopped). Now, anyone who has worked with dry chilies could have told me that if you add liquid to a dry chili, it will absorb all the liquid. So, I mistakenly pre-measured the 1/4 c of heavy cream and added it to the 1 cut up dried ancho chile and 4 cinnamon sticks and what did I get after heating them together (I just stuck the bowl in the microwave for 1 min) and letting it sit? About 1 tsp of cream. D had the brilliant idea that I need to measure the cream after mixing it with the chilies, instead of before, so I added another 1/4 c and then left it alone to soak. Then, I poured the cream through a sieve and measured out 1/4 c. In the end, the ancho gave off a nice sweet berrylike flavor, but not a lot of heat, so I added a 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper. I think next time I may save myself the trouble of the ancho chiles and just use 1/2 tsp cayenne and some ground cinnamon. I rolled this in some coarse sugar and a mix of cinnamon and chili powder. The sugar added a nice crunch to the yummy ganache. We love chilies and chocolate so it's not a surprise this was our favorite, but I have to admit it was very good!

Cardamom and Coffee Results

I used 20 cardamom pods ground with a mortar and pestle and 1 tbs instant Bustelo coffee (yes, we drink instant coffee occasionally, it's the only way to make cafe con leche with hot milk and sugar). This was so fragrant and delicious. D thought it could use even more cardamom so we'll try it with a bit more next time. I worry, though, because cardamom is not everyone's favorite and, like lavender, can start to taste soapy. I rolled these in ground almond.

Mint Results

I chopped up about a cup of fresh mint and put this in the hot heavy cream (again I just used the microwave to get the cream to a quick boil) and let it sit for about 10 mins. D didn't think it would work to flavor the cream but it really did! However, the flavor was one of mint leaves, not mint. So, this basically tasted like weed and chocolate. If you know what I'm talking about, then you know that this is not necessarily desirable. I think the green flavor is pretty interesting and eating them gave me the munchies, but next time I'm just going to use mint extract. I rolled these in powdered sugar. If I'm going to use mint extract, I'm inclined to roll the next batch in crushed candy canes for that extra crunch.

On Dasher, on Dancer, on Cardamom and Cinnamon, on Ancho, on Coffee, and Donner and Blitzen! You're the most favorite truffle of all!

Truffle Experiment Take 1

Why is it every recipe involving chocolate requires math skills? I am testing out Martha Stewart's truffle recipe, which came highly recommended, for a work holiday party and subsequent giving during Christmas. Shhhh, it's a secret.

Martha Stewart's Best Chocolate Truffle Recipe

8 oz best-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 c heavy cream

1 T liqueur

Unsweetened cocoa powder for rolling

Put chocolate into a large heatproof bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate in bowl. Stir in liqueur, if desired. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 10 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let stand until thick, about 15 minutes.Pour chocolate mixture into a shallow 8-inch dish or pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 30 minutes.Using a teaspoon or a 1/2-inch melon baller, scoop balls of chocolate mixture, transferring them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you work. Refrigerate truffles 10 minutes.Using hands dusted with cocoa powder, dip each truffle in cocoa powder to coat, then quickly shape truffle into a rough round. Refrigerate truffles in an airtight container until ready to serve, up to 2 weeks; before serving, reshape into rounds, and roll each truffle in cocoa powder, if desired.

I'm going to alter her recipe to fit my devilish desires of interestingly flavored chocolate. This is the part I'm not sure will come off. But first, the math test:

I went to Fairway and bought a few Maragda 70% cacao chocolate bars. There are two bars in each package. Each bar has 12 squares, so 24 squares in a package. The two bars combined (one package) weigh .88 lb. If I'm doubling the recipe and need a full pound (or 16 oz) of chocolate, how many squares should I be cutting up?

Look, I even showed my work: 24 squares = .88 lb

.88 lb x 16 oz = 14.08 oz

14.08 oz / 24 squares = .58 oz per square

16 oz in a lb / .58 oz per square = 27.58 squares to make up 16 oz of chocolate

Now, to further complicate things, I want to try out 3 flavors and leave one control truffle plain (minus the liqueur which I generally don't like). So, in order to get the right proportions, I'm going to cut up each batch of chocolate separately. 27.58 squares / 4 batches = 6.89 squares per batch. Phew!

I'm going to try and flavor the 1/4 c heavy cream in each of the four batches with something interesting (minus the control truffle) or a liqueur like creme de menthe. I even read one reviewer who melted down Andes and formed them into truffles.

Mint

I've gleaned that a bunch of mint leaves in the hot cream should do the trick. You could also use mint extract or creme de menthe. I read a comment on Cooking for Engineers that someone melted down Andes, which sounds great to me. D thinks the fresh mint won't be enough to make the chocolate minty, but that's why this is an experiment.

Ancho Chile and Cinnamon

I have dried ancho chiles and cinnamon sticks to heat in the cream.

Cardamom and Coffee

We love the cardamom coffee at Hampton Chutney Co. So, we thought a couple tsp of instant coffee plus cardamom pods would work well.

Now, on to the experiment!

Whole Wheat + Pumpkin = Yummy and moderately good for you

I didn't used to be a fan of pumpkin. I turned my nose up at pumpkin pie. I'm still not sure I love it. Maybe I was scarred by my 2nd grade teacher having a thing for pumpkin pie. She used to say "Do I smell puuuuummpkin piiiiieeeee?" as she sniffed the heads of her pupils. Bizarre.
I do, however, like pumpkin flavor. Like the Green Mountain pumpkin spice coffee D and I drank on our honeymoon in Vermont. Ahh, Vermont. But, I digress. I have also never used canned pumpkin mush and only come face to face with the gourd on Halloween. But, I decided to buy some canned pumpkin to try out this recipe. I was craving something like a banana bread and that's exactly the texture of this. I liked the middle pieces the best, didn't really like the somewhat spongy texture of the heel, so I wouldn't suggest these as muffins. I made an oat and butter crumble for the top, but you could also use E's Pinkberry Frosting on top.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Applesauce Bread
Adapted from All Recipes Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Applesauce Muffins

• Ingredients
  
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice depending on how spicy you like it
  
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/3 cup white sugar (omit the white sugar if you want this to be healthier/less sweet)
  
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 
  
• Directions
• 
  
• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a loaf pan with butter or a spray like Pam.
  
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, applesauce, pumpkin, vanilla, buttermilk, and beaten eggs and mix until well blended. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the raisins and pecans, if desired.
• Place the batter in the loaf pan, making sure it's even and smoothing the top. If you're adding a crumble, put it on top of the batter now. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This took me about 30 mins in a loaf pan, but I'd start checking it at 20 mins. Cool the bread on a wire rack before removing from the pan. Top with frosting if you're using that instead.
  

Easy Oat Crumble
2 tablespoons soft butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cup rolled oats

Combine the ingredients and crumble over the top of the dough. Press it lightly into the dough so it sticks as it bakes.

Elana's Pinkberry Frosting

This is E's Pinkberry frosting because it is made out of Greek-style yogurt and is still very tangy, like Pinkberry and all those other crazy non-sweet frozen yogurts out there. She says it goes great on top of banana bread or pumpkin bread. The Sour Cream Frosting of Doom incident a few years ago makes me a little skeptical, but E knows food, so I trust her.

Elana's Pinkberry Frosting
1 cup Greek yogurt (Fage is best)
A good splash of vanilla extract (I used 1 t)
1/2 cup powered sugar

1. Whisk all ingredients until they become a bit thick.
2. Place in the fridge to thicken even more (at least 30 minutes -
ideally overnight).
3. Spread on cake or cupcakes.

Key Lime Pie for Debbie's Birthday

I saw the photo of Key Lime Pie on Never Bashful with Butter (3/5/07) and it looked sooo good and so easy. Then, Kyle brought in Key Lime pie to the office and Debbie said "this is my favorite!" So, I made a mental note to try out Andrea's recipe for Debbie's birthday. I was going to bring it to the office for a little party there, but it looks likes it is going to be weeks until everyone is in the office for us to do the party. So, I figured I'd just make the pie for Debbie's birthday party tonight at her apt. I'm not sure what the etiquette is here. What if she already made a key lime pie using her favorite recipe and she hates this one? What if everyone else brings a key lime pie? What if the recipe's not actually good and then everyone thinks I'm an impostor and not really from Florida. Can there really be too much pie, though? I'm sure it will be fine. Anyway, here's Andrea's recipe--obviously I didn't use key limes, I'm sure you can find them in NYC, but really, regular limes are fine.

Key Lime Pie

4 large egg yolks (reserve your whites)
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice
2 teaspoons lime zest

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes

Since Andrea didn't say: beat the egg yolks first, then add in the milk and the lime juice, blah blah, I did this in reverse. I zested the limes, then squeezed them and put both juice and zest in a bowl, then I whisked in the sweetened condensed milk and then whisked in an egg yolk at a time. I read a few other recipes that ordered the additions, but I think this was fine, I honestly was trying to dirty as few bowls as possible as I spent the morning doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

*Real* key lime pie doesn't have a meringue top. I'm just sayin'. So, rather than topping the pie with meringue (to use up the egg whites), I topped it with some whipped cream (heavy cream and a bit of powdered sugar, whipped till stiff, baby!) at my mom's suggestion. I wasn't sure if you could put whipped cream on before hand but it looks fine. I have some easy disposable piping bags I rarely use, so piping it on was fun (please, wait until the pie is cool, otherwise the cream will melt). Then I topped it with a slice of lime "so you know what kind of pie it is," more of my mom's sage advice. I felt moderately bad that I didn't make the graham cracker crust, but honestly, buying the crust is so easy and then you even have a top to cover it for the ride over. Sorry, I can't cut a slice and try it, I'll have to wait until tonight.

So, rather than throwing out the egg whites, I went ahead and made Jennifer's Snow cookies (see my 3/14/07 post for the recipe). This is the first time ever that I've been able to make meringue without it burning. Yay! I think the key is that you turn off the oven. Of course, this leaves me mildly worried about salmonella from the mushy part in the middle... nah, it's fine. And soo good! Warm, the chocolate chips are a little gooey! And look how beautiful!