Dunk & Crumble

mollygilbert520

Crumpets with Butter, Ricotta and Jam

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As it turns out, I was in Seattle last weekend. I’d never been before, and it’s sort of a beautiful place, if you’re into amazing markets and fresh fish and misty ocean views.

I spent the weekend eating and boating and biking, walking through parks and markets, and surrounding myself with fleece-wearing, messenger-bag-toting computer geniuses. I even stumbled upon some sort of medieval sword fighting slash jousting convention in Gas Works Park (definitely a highlight of the trip – and definitely still kicking myself for not getting a photo).

I touched a starfish at the Seattle Aquarium,


and got completely overwhelmed at Pike Place Market.

I ate the best crumpet I’ve ever tasted at The Crumpet Shop, a little tea nook and bakery on 1st Avenue by Pike Street.


And y’know what? It barely rained a drop. All that talk about Seattle being all wet and brooding? Lies. They don’t want you to know, but Seattle is actually gorgeous and flecked with sunshine (at least, it is in September). That said, I might have to go back and double check the whole weather situation. It’d be a sacrifice, but I think it’s one I’m willing to make – for my readers, of course. The trip would totally be a weather-researching thing. I mean, it’d have nothing to do with crumpets, that’s for sure.


Crumpets with Butter, Ricotta and Jam

Recipe from The Bread Book by Linda Collister & Anthony Blake

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups (230g) bread flour
  • 1 2/3 cups (230g) all purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 envelope active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), plus ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 2 ¼ cups (510ml) lukewarm water
  • 2 teaspoons (10g) salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2/3 cup (140ml) lukewarm milk
  • unsalted butter
  • whole-milk ricotta cheese
  • your favorite jam (I like blackberry)

Directions:

Sift together the flours and cream of tartar into a large bowl. Mix the yeast and the sugar with ¾ cup lukewarm water and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining lukewarm water.

Combine the yeast mixture with the flours in the bowl of an electric mixer set with the paddle attachment. Mix until you get a very thick, but smooth batter. (If you don’t have an electric mixer, use a wooden spoon and beat vigorously for about two minutes). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot until the batter rises and then falls, about 1 hour.

Add the salt and beat the batter for about 1 minute. Then re-cover the bowl and let stand in a warm spot for 15 to 20 minutes to rest.

Dissolve the baking soda in the lukewarm milk. Then gently stir it into the batter. If the batter seems too stiff, add a bit of lukewarm water to loosen it up a bit. (You’ll know if the batter is too stiff if, when you fry up a crumpet, no holes form – crumpets are supposed to be very light and full of holes. No holes = too stiff, add water).

Heat an oiled griddle or frying pan (cast iron works best) over moderately low heat for about 3 minutes until very hot. Put a well-greased crumpet ring (who owns crumpet rings? Feel free to use a round cookie cutter) on the griddle. Spoon or pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the ring. The amount of batter will depend on the size of your crumpet ring (or cookie cutter).

As soon as the batter is poured into the ring, it should begin to form holes. If holes do not form, add a little more lukewarm water, a tablespoon at a time, to the batter in the bowl and try again. If the batter is too thin and runs out under the ring, gently work in a little more all-purpose flour and try again. Once the batter is the proper consistency, continue cooking the crumpets in batches, three or four at a time. As soon as the top surface is set and covered with holes, 7 to 8 minutes, the crumpet is ready to flip over.

To flip the crumpet, remove the ring with a towel or tongs, then turn the crumpet carefully with a spatula. The cooked side should be chestnut brown. Cook the second, holey side of the crumpet for 2 to 3 minutes, or until pale golden. The crumpet should be about ¾ inch thick. Remove the crumpet from the griddle. Grease the crumpet rings well after each use.

While the crumpets are still warm, slather each with a pat of butter, a mound of ricotta and a spoonful of jam. Eat immediately, accompanied by a cup of tea and, if you can find one, a fleece-wearing computer genius.

Makes about 18 crumpets.

Writer Waiting

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Oh this shiny new computer–
There just isn’t nothin’ cuter.
It knows everything the world ever knew.
And with this great computer
I don’t need to writin’ tutor,
‘Cause there ain’t a single thing that it can’t do.
It can sort and it can spell,
It can punctuate as well.
It can find and file and underline and type.
It can edit and select,
It can copy and correct,
So I’ll have a whole book written by tonight
(Just as soon as it can think of what to write).

-Shel Silverstein

Grandma’s Roast Chicken with Onions and Potatoes

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If I ever have to spend some time at a hospital, as a patient I mean, I’d like for you to bring me a milkshake. Milkshakes are an appropriate gift any time, of course, but I think being a patient at a hospital, especially, calls for a black and white or, at least, a coffee milkshake.


Grandma seems to like them. Grandma’s in the hospital, recovering from some pretty major cardiac surgery. Without going into all the aortic details, I’ll just say that it was scary stuff, and dammit all to hell if all those tubes and wires and nurses and drips and drugs wouldn’t just make me lose my mind. But, not Grandma.

She has her good days and bad, but Grams is what we like to call a trooper. Like, with a capital T. She ignores all the wires, the needles, the web of plastic tubes. She got agitated in the Intensive Care Unit, not because she was, well, in the ICU, but because she found out that the Yankees had lost their two-game lead in the AL East. Hooked up to multiple beeping screens and monitors, she smiles at the nurses who come in to prick her already purple fingers (under the guise of “checking sugar levels,” load of finger-bruising hogwash, if you ask me), jokes with the physical therapists who make her walk the halls until she’s breathless, refuses to flinch while throwing back her daily 12-pill cocktail and, through the entire ordeal, somehow emerges with absolutely flawless hair.

As beautifully as she’s handling the whole thing, it’s not been easy.  It’s hard to watch someone you love in pain, being uncomfortably poked and prodded and pushed to exhaustion, and handle the fact that you can do, oh, nothing about it.

Except, of course, bring food.  Forget the fact that all of the meds leave Grandma with virtually no appetite – I don’t really care.A milkshake, some applesauce, freshly baked biscotti, home made egg salad – these are things I can control and, well, I’m bringing them.  Never mind that it’s usually Gram’s many visitors, and not Gram herself, doing most of the snacking.  It makes me feel better to be rolling and cutting biscotti, chopping veggies, to be armed with a milkshake as I roam the stark hospital corridors.

I’m not sure when Grandma will be out of the hospital – hopefully pretty soon – but one thing is for certain – pricked and bruised and wired and tubed she may be, but she’ll definitely never be hungry.

Grandma’s Roast Chicken with Onions and Potatoes

It’s hard having a Grandma in the hospital, but it’s equally hard having a mother whose mother is in the hospital.Mom’s been driving herself into the ground trying to stay on top of her already stressful job and keep an eagle eye on Gram’s care, so I made this chicken to have in the house, where it’d be waiting as an easy and comforting dinner after long days spent shuttling from the office to the hospital and back again.

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 medium onions, sliced into half-rings
  • ¾ pound baby yellow or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced in half
  • olive oil
  • 1 whole chicken (bone-in & skin-on), cut into 8 pieces
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.Toss the onion slices and potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, and arrange on the bottom of a large glass baking dish.

Rub the chicken pieces with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.Arrange the chicken, skin-side up, on top of the onion/potato bed.

Slice the lemon in half, and squeeze the juice from ½ the lemon over the chicken, onions and potatoes.Cut a few thin slices of lemon and arrange on top of the dish.Squeeze the juice of the remaining piece of lemon onto the casserole.

Sprinkle a generous amount of thyme leaves, and a few whole thyme stems, on top of the chicken, onions and potatoes.


Bake the chicken at 400ºF for about an hour, until the skin gets dark and crispy and the meat’s juices run clear.Serve with a bit of rice and a crisp arugula salad.

Note: this dish can easily be made ahead of time – just let the chicken cool before storing it in the fridge or freezer, and, when you’re ready to eat, cover the dish with foil and reheat in a 350º oven for about ½ hour.

Serves 4-6.

Laura and Peter’s Engagement Fluke

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So… that happened.

Summer? Over. Private chef duties? Done like dishes.

vanilla cream cheese frosting covers carrot cake with walnuts
shrimp salad in zucchini ribbons
chocolate chip meringue cookies
vanilla flower cupcakes
tomato artichoke salad cups
chocolate chip pecan blondies

A few days ago, Labor Day came and went, oblivious to its surroundings, including a fake hurricane on Long Island (Earl who?), an accepted proposal (congrats, Laura and Peter!), a subsequent celebratory family dance party (work it, Aunt Lissie) and, finally, the end of my employment in the Hamptons (yes! Not that I didn’t like it. I’m just, you know, glad it’s over).

To be honest, as jobs go, this one wasn’t all bad; I got to cook everyday, and I got paid to do it. I learned how best to accommodate a family with different preferences and tastes, and how to cook for a crowd on short notice. I got to experiment with menu ideas and recipes, and discovered that I make damn good biscotti. And scones. And coconut cake.

Living and working in someone else’s house in a town miles from anyone you know and love, though, can feel pretty isolating. And by “pretty isolating,” I mean “real effing lonely.” So when Labor Day finally rolled around, I left my post in Bridgehampton and scooted as quickly as possible to Gramma’s house in Montauk, to soak up the last days of summer with some good food, a hammock, and, best of all, my family.


fresh cut watermelon

I think I’ve made it pretty clear how much I love my family, but, if you’ll indulge me, I think it bears repeating. My family is big (and getting bigger – welcome, Jeannie and Peter!), loud, and wonderful. We celebrate with gusto. We joke, we eat, we dance around a beer bottle. We watch the sun set on the beach and then sit on Gramma’s deck, under the stars, our heads back, watching shooting stars paint the open sky.

Aaron, Katie, Molly, Peter
Ben & Katie
Laura & Peter. He put a ring on it.

Uncle Brad
Aunt Marie, Dana, Aunt Lissie
Matt & Patty
Ben & Aaron
I guess Peter’s funny
Laura, Julie & Jeannie
rum & tonic
some cousins


So, as far as summers go? I’d say this one was just fine by me.

Laura and Peter’s Engagement Fluke
(see what I did there? Eh? Ehh? Zing.)


Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs jumbo fluke fillet (or any other white fish, such as halibut), skin removed
  • 3 medium sweet onions
  • 1 large bulb fennel and a handful of chopped fennel fronds
  • olive oil
  • 1.5 tsp dried tarragon
  • 1.5 tsp dried thyme
  • salt
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup white wine or triple sec

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Peel the onions, and cut each one in half. Then, slice the onion halves thinly, into 1/4- or 1/8-inch slices. Set aside. Cut off the fennel fronds and chop a handful of fronds for later. Slice the bulb in half. Use a knife to cut out the tough fennel core, then slice the fennel like the onion, into thin slices. Mix the fennel slices with the onions, and then put a layer of onion/fennel slices at the bottom of a large glass, aluminum or metal baking dish. Drizzle the layer with olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the fluke fillet(s) on top of the fennel/onion bed, and drizzle again with olive oil. Season the fish with some salt, pepper, tarragon and thyme. Cover the fish with the remaining fennel and onion, and repeat the olive oil drizzling & salt/pepper seasoning process. Pour the wine or triple sec around the fish fillet, and sprinkle the fennel fronds on top of it all.

Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the fish is just cooked through and the fennel/onions are crisp at the edges.

Serve with sautéed zucchini, grilled corn, and a diamond ring, if at all possible.

Serves 4.

A Bit Of A Fog

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Today, it rained in the Hamptons. Which seems appropriate, because I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a fog over the past week.


You know that feeling? The feeling like things are happening around you and you’re trying to get a hold on them but no matter how you twist and stretch you just can’t keep your grip on a thing? That foggy-ish, hazy-ish, crazy-ish feeling? No?

Oh.

Well, I do. And let me just say, thank goodness for family. Specifically, mine. Whether I’m freaking out about having to feed fourteen or making a terrified trip to the ER (don’t worry, everyone’s okay), I know my family is there to snap me out of the haze, to pull my feet firmly back to the ground and make everything, somehow, alright.

Aunt Lissie
Aunt Lissie’s t-shirt

See what I mean?

I guess that’s really what families are supposed to be all about – comfort, support, love… and large bottles of wine paired with uncannily appropriate t-shirts, when necessary.

I know that not all families work out like that. Since mine does, I guess I’d just like to say, thanks.

Thanks, family, for picking up your phones, for cooking me dinner, for coming to the rescue, for being my family. Keep it up, if you please.

And now, this week’s Private Chef Chronicles: Summering in the Hamptons (Part 4: A Week in Photographs):

melons at the farmstand
grilled heirloom tomatoes
blueberry peach crumbles
crostini with white bean dip and cherry tomatoes
marriage of s’more and cupcake
a highly anticipated union

lobster salad, for 9. (note: generally ill-advised. apparently lobster meat is not cheap)
banana cupcakes with chocolate and vanilla frosting
kitchen fruit bowl
vanilla pudding pies, Nilla wafer crust
blueberry muffins. wearing pink today.
my mid-morning snack. (it’s a fig.)
sugared apricot and almond torte (I adapted the recipe from another Molly)
looks even prettier (and, presumably, tastes even better) after it’s baked

So, there you have it. A confusing and crazy week, maybe, but not without some lessons learned: eat well, be grateful, and chill. Done, done, and… well, I’m working on it.

Whiskeyed Peach Popsicles (PopPop’s Pops)

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Private Chef Chronicles: Summering in the Hamptons (Part 3!)


Well, oy.

The thing about private cheffing is, at least in my experience, it involves food. I mean, SO. MUCH. FOOD.

See?

banana toffee cupcakes
oreo cupcakes
oven-roasted bbq babyback ribs
blueberry frangipane tart
the makings of a damn good egg salad
peanut butter and jam cookies
blueberry muffin
strawberry short cake
salad with shaved radishes, fried shallots and carrot-ginger dressing
blueberry banana cake
red velvet cupcakes
with vanilla-mascarpone frosting
carrot mint salad with lemon vinaigrette
tomato and mozzerella salad… for 30
sliced sirloin, carrot salad, and crispy oven potatoes
various forms of chocolate-dippery. diptitude.
cobb salad

paella

apricot cherry cream scones

Yeah. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Some days, I feel like I’m simultaneously running a bakeshop, a 24-hour diner and a full-service catering company. Last weekend I cooked for a party of 35. Luckily, my sister came to help me, (I made her slice potatoes for an hour straight – sorry, Case), because if she hadn’t come I might have curled up in a ball and melted into a puddle of tears on the kitchen floor. Instead, all 35 guests were fed (well fed, I should say), and neither Casey nor I am any worse for the wear.

I am, however, feeling just a little bit burnt out, which is probably why I’ve started experimenting with popsicles.

On my days off and in my free time (free time?! hilarious), I’ve been taking some of my favorite summer fruits and converting them into the coolest, most delicious popsicles.


So far I’ve made strawberry basil pops (yum, see above), cherry wine pops (used too much wine, oops), honeydew lime pops (mouth-puckering and zippy) and, my favorite, whiskeyed peach pops.


To me, the peach popsicles taste the most like summer.

When I was a kid on summer vacation, my mom’s dad, Grandpa Arnie (PopPop), used to make us sweet, frosty drinks with fresh peaches, crushed ice and, in true Arnie fashion, lots of alcohol. (For the adults, I mean. Mostly. ). PopPop didn’t spend much time in the kitchen (the closest he really got was the porch right outside the kitchen, where he stood his post as family rib-barbecuing afficionado), so these were a real treat. PopPop was a big time golfer and liked to spend most of his time outside, usually fixing things. He once held his breath so long fixing the drain at the bottom of the pool I thought he’d drowned – as I leaned over to see if the drain had swallowed him up, he popped up from the bottom and, grinning, spit a mouthful of pool water at me.

PopPop’s not around anymore, but these popsicles remind me of him. So, naturally, I think they’re the best.


Whiskeyed Peach Popsicles (PopPop Pops)

Ingredients:

  • 4-5 ripe peaches
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt (nonfat or regular)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • a handful of fresh ginger, cut into small pieces (it’s okay to leave it unpeeled)
  • 3 tablespoons whiskey

Directions:

First, make a ginger simple syrup: Combine the water, sugar, and ginger in a small pot over a high flame. Once the mixture boils, turn off the heat and let the ginger steep in the cooling syrup for a half hour. Strain the ginger from the syrup and place the syrup in the fridge to cool. (Note: if possible, do this step ahead of time – it really speeds up the popsicle-making process. Simple syrup will last weeks in the refrigerator).

Cut the peaches, working around the pit, into wedges (no need for nice, even pieces… if the peaches start to fall apart, that’s fine). Then, peel the skin from each wedge. (If this is too difficult because the peaches are too ripe, don’t worry about it. A bit of peach skin never hurt anyone. Or any popsicles, for that matter.)

Put the peach pieces into a food processor with the yogurt, lemon juice, whiskey, and about 3/4 cup of simple syrup (more if the peaches are under ripe, less if they’re super sweet). Pulse until well-mixed.

Pour the mixture into small plastic cups (I used 3 ounce plastic solo cups. It’s nice to know that solo cups have a place in my life, even after college.) and put the cups in the freezer to chill. After an hour of chilling time, stick one popsicle stick into each cup, and put the cups back in the freezer. Let the popsicles chill overnight to fully harden. When you want to eat one, run the plastic cup under a bit of hot water to loosen popsicle, and the pop should twist right out. Enjoy with good weather and a bunch of free time.

Makes about 15 small (3-ounce) popsicles.

All I Have To Show For It

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Private Chef Chronicles: Summering in the Hamptons (Part 2!)

Well, today is Monday here in the Hamptons. All day. Just wanted to keep you guys in the loop. You know, the super exclusive, utterly fabulous loop of summertime in the Hamptons. I ran into Gwyneth Paltrow the other day at yogalates, and we chatted about the benefits of getting weekly facials and the state of our hydrangeas over nonfat soy lattes.

Nope. That didn’t happen.

What did happen is that I cooked things. I went ahead and cheffed. Privately. I’ve officially been a private chef for 4 weeks now, and this is all I have to show for it:

banana cream tart
butter & jam thumbprint cookies
goat cheese & zucchini tartlettes with green salad
almond & apricot biscotti
hors d’oeuvres – tortilla chicken cups with tomato, corn and edamame
rustic peach cake. Ingredients? Rustic and peaches.
chocolate chip cookies, naturally.
and the ever-present oatmeal raisins. I make a lot of cookies.
toasted coconut cake
strawberry shortcakes

Asian-style (ish) beef salad

chocolate-dipped strawberries

caramel macarons

carrot cupcakes

And rice krispie treats. Because, at this point, why the hell not?

The good news is that I’m still alive, am still getting paid to cook, and have decidedly mastered the art of the grilled vegetable.

Also, I get to spend my days off sleeping late, doing — or, um, trying my really, really hardest to do — crossword puzzles (Thursdays are hard, yo), and drinking chocolate milkshakes with my gorgeous Grandma.

All at my favorite sunny house at the end of the island. The one with the big yellow door, the closets that smell like mothballs and the old raccoon prints in the garage.

There’s no yogalates or soymilk, and I don’t cook anything.

But it’s really pretty wonderful.

Oh, Hey Employment. We Meet Again… In The Hamptons.

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Private Chef Chronicles: Summering in the Hamptons (Part 1)

So, did you all have a nice, relaxing long weekend to celebrate the 4th of July? Sunbathing, barbecuing, boozing it up with your friends and family? Yeah?

Eff you.

…Just kidding. Though I got to participate in approximately none of the above because I was busy cooking myself into the ground and then not getting to eat anything because apparently that’s what you sign up for when you decide to become a private chef, I don’t begrudge you your fun-filled holiday weekend. Much.

No, actually, the fact of the matter is, multiple private dinner-parties during fun summer holidays aside, I’m getting paid to cook, and that’s pretty damn awesome.

Want to see some of the things I’ve been making for my very special Bridgehampton family? (I’d tell you more about them, but for now I’d like to actually keep my job. Maybe later I’ll tell you that they’re a family of four – a mother, a father, and two teenage daughters – and that they like to have a plate of crudité before and a platter of oatmeal raisin cookies after every evening meal. But for now you know nothing.).

Here, the savories:

Spiced homemade pita chips with garlicky edamame dip
Grilled veggie platter
Grilled sweet corn
Endive with white bean dip and cherry tomato
Caprese salad action
Grilled vegetable salad, ready for eating
Grilled halibut with tomato, corn and black bean salsa

And here, the sweets!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Banana whoopie pies
Cake truffles
4th of July cupcakes
4th of July chocolate-dipped pretzel rods
Yeah, I did temper chocolate for this. …What?
4th of July strawberry shortcake
Patriotic cookie platter
Unpatriotic berry cobbler

So um, yeah. I’ve been busy. Tomorrow, I’m cooking for a party of twelve. The menu is ambitious, but I’m excited about it. It has potential. If it’s successful, I’ll tell you about it in my next post. If it fails… I’ll probably still tell you about it. For now, have some crudité. …It’s mandatory.

Sour Cherry Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting

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Ahem… is this thing on?

Just checking. It’s been about two months since I last updated this little nook of the internets, and that’s a long time, in blog years.

At any rate, I’m sorry – I didn’t intend on leaving you all post-less for so long. Here’s everything you need to know about the past few (fine, many) weeks:

1. I graduated from pastry school. I am now a pastry chef. (I’m doing my best to sound casual about this. Actually, I’m pretty damn excited about it. HOLLER.)

2. I went on a Eurotrip with my mom, dad, and sister, Casey. A week-long trip to Tuscany, with a day of Rome and a bonus day in Berlin, to boot. Oh, you want to see pictures? Well okay then.

Berlin’s wurst wurst.
Beautiful Tuscany

First dinner in Radda in Chianti

Not at all life size Chianti wine cork

First breakfast in Raddi in Chianti

First cappuccino

Wild Boar – Cinghiale – regional specialty

Strega Nona?

I definitely didn’t hang out here. Nope.

Not even a little bit.

getting mad air by the leaning tower of pizza. …Pisa.

Pretty window in VolterraJust a couple of gladiators, out on the town. …When in Rome?

3. I got a job. A real one, as the private chef to a New York City family of four. Oh, did I mention it’s in the Hamptons? Yeah, I’ll be “summering” in the Hamptons for the next few months, cooking my little heart out for my employers and all their well-to-do guests. I feel like I should get my own reality show.

4. Sour cherry cupcakes. Or muffins. But really, cupcakes. Cupcakes slash muffins…Cuppins?


Sour Cherry Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting

I adapted these (only slightly) from a recipe I saw on Smitten Kitchen. Deb uses fresh peaches in her cupcakes, but when my sister, Casey, and I saw some seductive looking sour cherries at the Ardmore Farmer’s Market, we decided they’d be a welcome substitute. Turns out we were right.

Straight out of the oven, these guys are the fluffiest, most delicious muffins, but swirl on a bit of frosting and they turn into fluffy, delicious cupcakes with the perfect balance of sweet and tart. It’s up to you – go sans frosting for muffininity, or pile it on for cupcakery. Either way, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Ingredients:

For cupcakes:

  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) sour cream
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh sour cherries, washed, stemmed and pitted

For frosting:

  • 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 8-ounce packages of mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: For cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 28 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars together, beating until fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition. Gently mix in the sour cream. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the cherries.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes for five minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For frosting:

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone and butter until fluffy. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth and light. Chill the bowl in the refrigerator until it firms up a bit, about 30 minutes, then spread on cooled cupcakes.

Casey “helps” with the frosting

Makes 24-28 cupcakes.

Nigella Lawson’s Brittany Butter Cake

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On a sunny, springy weekend in New York City.

Tulips, my favorite. Such deep color, but so friendly and familiar. Just so pretty.
And here are some nice, fat French radishes.

It’d be a shame not to take some home and make them a cozy bed on a baguette with some salted butter. Just saying.

I almost bought one of these:

Just because. But then I decided that a 16-egg omelet for breakfast might be a bit much. So I bought some rhubarb instead, and made some strawberry rhubarb compote.

Which I scooped on top of a piece of warm butter cake, and promptly ate for breakfast. It may have been a bit much, but I think I might do it again tomorrow.


Nigella Lawson’s Brittany Butter Cake

I like this cake. It’s one of those everyday cakes – not terribly fancy… it’s actually quite plain, but delicious nonetheless, and worthy of a few minutes in the kitchen – which is all you’ll need, as this requires very few ingredients and comes together in a snap. It’s moist and dense – it’s texture is more like a blondie than like actual cake, but I don’t know, I’m into it.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 6 large egg yolks

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. Remove 1 teaspoon of egg yolk from your 6, and mix it in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon water. You’ll use this as a glaze later on.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flour and sugar. Add the butter and egg yolks, and slowly whir them together with the paddle attachment. (If you’re making this by hand, make a mound of the flour on the counter, make a well in it and add the sugar, butter and eggs, kneading to mix thoroughly).

Scoop the dough into the pan and smooth the top with a floured hand (dough will be sticky!)

Brush the cake with the yolk/water glaze, and mark a lattice design on top with the prongs of a fork.

Bake the cake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350ºF and give it another 25 minutes or so, until it’s golden on top and firm to the touch.

Let it cool in the pan, then unmold.

Serves 8-10.
This cake will keep well in an airtight container.