Breads & Cakes

Sour Cream Bran Muffins

June 6, 2016 by mollygilbert520 7 Comments

HELLO! Well, wow. It’s been awhile. It seems I had a kid (!) and everything else (cooking, writing, showering…) fell by the wayside. I’m officially one of those people. Yikes.

But! Lest you think all you’re going to find here is a terrible iPhone picture of a pretty delicious muffin, I’d like to introduce you to someone:

OH hi there! This is Calder. He’s my son and I’m keeping him forever. Incidentally, he’s also a pretty delicious muffin.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly how much of the little guy I want to put out there on the internet, but let’s start here. Calder likes: fresh air, hiccups, the sound of the vacuum cleaner, midnight snacks, bouncing. Dislikes: long car rides, crib naps, wearing socks.

Though I’ve not spent much time in the kitchen, the past three months (three months already! bah.) with this little man have been the most delicious ever – so thanks for bearing with my absence around here.

Before Calder was born, I loaded up my freezer with a few simple meals and snacks (including this soup and these meatballs) that I knew I’d want around post baby, and these muffins proved an excellent call. Parading under the guise of good health (I mean, bran muffins), these are light and tender crumbed cakes packed to the gills with sweet fruit and rich molasses flavor.

In the early days when the babe needed to eat every five seconds (or so it seemed), leaving me ravenous at all hours, my nighttime routine included pulling two (or, uh, three) of these muffins from the freezer and setting them by my bedside — they’d thaw just in time for that first, late night nursing session, and I’d descend hungrily on the things after my sweet boy had gotten his fill (of milk, not muffins… little guy didn’t know what he was missing).

I’ve made a few batches since the first to restock the coffers, as it were, and served them, warm from the oven and slathered with butter, to last-minute brunch guests (instead of shoveling them in my mouth at 2am, say), but these muffins will always remind me of those first few amazing, exhausting, terrifying and exhilarating weeks with Calder.

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Best Zucchini Bread

September 9, 2015 by mollygilbert520 9 Comments

Oh HI! You may have noticed my random and entirely unannounced little blog break over here. Yep! I didn’t think about this little nook of the interwebs for ten whole days, and I have to say, it was kind of spectacular.

Not that I didn’t miss you! I definitely did. But sometimes, life starts to bubble up around you and ping you with stress (and sometimes it even gives you the shingles virus, TRUE STORY), and you need. a. break. And it’s okay! Things don’t fall apart. In what I find a both reassuring and terrifying universal constant, the interwebs are ALWAYS here.

So HELLO, people of the interwebs! What have you been up to these first few days of September? Soaking in the last rays of bright summer sunshine? Or hopping on the autumn train early to featherweight cashmere and pumpkin spice lattés?

I always find this time of year tricky. I want to savor the last drops of summer, to make it to one more outdoor concert, to eat dinner on the patio, but at the same time, fall is a welcome change. Something about routine getting righted, and my old boots, and feeling content to turn on the oven again, maybe? It feels happy and familiar.

I’m calling this zucchini bread “best,” because I’ve made a lot of zucchini bread, and this version is by far my favorite. Other recipes often come out of the oven too watery and dense, or else don’t really taste much like zucchini. This loaf is sturdy yet springy, rich and cakey but definitively zucchini bread. I made it twice in two weeks — that’s four loaves, total — and we didn’t even have any leftovers to freeze for later. It feels like the right kind of recipe for this time of year – hanging loosely onto summer while settling cozily into fall.

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Carrot Apricot Mango Muffins

July 7, 2015 by mollygilbert520 4 Comments

Home feels good. It’s hot in Seattle, our plants are sad and I’m jet-lagged as hell, but still. Home!

I ate an entire box of macaron cookies from Pierre Hermé on the plane ride back (I mean, what else is a person supposed to do when she’s spent all of her airport time buying chocolate at duty-free instead of a new book to read, and it turns out the plane is an old one and there are NO TVs?!? Pray, tell me), and between that and the endless pounds of jamón I consumed in Spain, I think it’s time for some VEGETABLES up in here.

Or, you know, muffins. Eeeeasing back into it, people.

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Brown Butter Skillet Cornbread

June 8, 2015 by mollygilbert520 5 Comments

I made us cornbread!

I actually made it a few weeks ago, but I never got around to telling you about it and at this point I’ve eaten it all, but now that the temperature has dropped below 80 in Seattle, it might be time to bake up a new batch. I think you’ll like it.

I also think you’d like our house, which boasts an entirely barren upstairs floor but a downstairs that’s coming along just fine. I wish I could have you over for breakfast! We’d eat cornbread and honey and maybe some fruit salad, too. We could pick our own strawberries and mint from the backyard! We’d stoop low to pluck the small green leaves and the tiny, ruby things and we’d say hi to the spiders who keep watch over the garden. They still make me jump, but I’ve learned to appreciate those spiders. Kind of.

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Strawberry Lilac Pavlovas

May 4, 2015 by mollygilbert520 42 Comments

Happy Monday, friends, and May the 4th be with you! Today I’m just bursting with bright, springtime bloominess (not a word but should be) because there’s an Edible Flower Potluck petaling up (also not a thing) the interwebs!

This gorgeous, flower-filled potluck started with Renee (as lots of good things do), and I have to say, I’m not sure a more beautiful (if virtual) potluck ever existed. Just look at all of these gems!

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Rhubarb Almond Polenta Cake

April 27, 2015 by mollygilbert520 2 Comments

I feel like we need to catch up. Where has time been flying, these days?

Me, I’ve been flying to Philadelphia. There, I ate hoagies and had an IHOP date with my dad.

And I made an appearance on a morning show! (Thanks, Fox 29!) I also bought butter cookies (with extra sprinkles) at the Ardmore Farmer’s market, but didn’t make it to Rita’s for water ice. Next time.

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Brown Butter Citrus Madeleines

April 14, 2015 by mollygilbert520 3 Comments

What do you do on a bumpy plane ride?

I’ll tell you what I don’t do. I definitely don’t freak out. I do NOT insist on staring out the window while counting slowly to one hundred in my head. And by no means do I start listening to Will Smith songs because of the comfort that knowing 100% of the words to “Gettin’ Jiggy With It” brings.

That just doesn’t sound like me.

(But you gotta, Prada, bag with a lotta, stuff in it, give it to your friend let’s spin…)

#whateverittakes

I’m on my way to Philadelphia! To see my parents and do a little book promoting. I’m excited to chat up Sheet Pan Suppers and also tell everyone I come in contact with about the little veggie garden we planted in our backyard last weekend. Look at this!

It’s growing real, actual vegetables! Butter lettuce, spinach, sweet peas, onions and beets! Also some strawberries, raspberries and chives. I’ve never had my own garden before, but last year Ben and I managed to kill every single one of our apartment-sized potted plants, so here’s hoping things are on the up and up for us, green-thumb-wise.

But what am I saying? You guys are here for the cookies, no? Let’s talk about madeleines! I broke in my madeleine pan with these bad boys. (If you don’t have one, not to worry – you can bake these in a muffin tin instead – they won’t have the same shape, obviously, but they’ll be just as delicious.)

I loosely followed Daniel Boulud’s recipe, the one that was published in Bon Appetit a few months ago, and it seems the man knows his madeleines. These are infused with browned butter and orange zest, and they’re soft, cakey and just perfect with a cup of hot coffee or tea. Their one downfall is that they depreciate quickly, losing their light, fluffy texture after just one day at room temperature, but the good news? I found the solution.

…Now excuse me while I eat every single one.

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Citrus Olive Oil Cake

March 23, 2015 by mollygilbert520 5 Comments

We move into our new HOUSE this weekend, so I’ve got a to-do list a mile long and I’m running around like a crazy chicken (primer and paint! packing tape! don’t forget to forward the mail! more paint! call the movers! also how does a person get paint out of his/her hair?! asking for a friend), but I wanted to make sure to tell you about this cake before we forget about citrus and move straight to strawberries/artichokes/rhubarb.

Okay so before we talk about cake I have to tell you that I went to the dentist today (just after writing the intro of this post, actually) and it turns out that, HEY, I’ve got a cavity! Which I’m just thrilled about. But the best part was when my dentist very helpfully informed me that the reason I developed said cavity is because of carbs. Namely, that I’m eating them too frequently and they’re wearing away my enamel?

As he was explaining the situation, I looked at him with wide eyes and an entirely innocent pout and said I’d work on reducing my carb intake. Because clearly, homeboy doesn’t know the half of it.

So with that in mind, HERE IS THIS CAKE! It’s rich with grassy olive oil, bright with fresh orange zest, and positively bursting with carbs. It’s the kind of cake that would make a wonderful dinner party dessert, but also the kind that I can’t help but sneak small slivers from throughout the day as I work and putter around. (#cavities.) A perfectly crumbed, gorgeously scented, sweet-but-not-too-sweet snacking cake.

I’m thinking of baking one for my dentist.

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Waffled French Toast

March 16, 2015 by mollygilbert520 5 Comments

It rained all weekend here, and I didn’t want it to end. The weekend, I mean, and maybe even the rain. I cozied up with (too many) fat slices of pie and a terrible/awesome line-up of movies on tv (Major League, Footloose, Sister Act… I could go on but I’ve got a rep to protect) – needless to say, it was GREAT.

And now it’s Monday and, I don’t know about you, but I think that sometimes Monday needs a big, juicy fist to the face. So we’re making french toast! In a waffle iron! On a weekday! Take that, Monday.

I’ve been leafing through Dan Shumski’s Will It Waffle? for the past few weeks and, in the matter of classic french toast, I just had to know: would it, indeed, waffle?

The answer is yes, my friends. The answer is YES.

Bonuses to waffling french toast (as opposed to employing the traditional skillet method) include but are not limited to: the elimination of flipping and/or babysitting; extra crispy edges; and, most importantly, the creation of delicious divots for maximum syrup collection.

So not only will it waffle but, indeed, it should. Let’s kick this Monday in the shins with waffled french toast!

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Chocolate Stout Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

March 9, 2015 by mollygilbert520 3 Comments

A few things that have recently blown my mind:

1. The amount of money someone needs, on their actual person, to buy a house. It’s… a lot of dollas. YIKES.

2. The kid who played Jimmy Woods in The Wizard is the SAME KID who played Les in Newsies AND Billy Heywood in Little Big League. THIS GUY’S CAREER THOUGH!

3. The correct way to say it is “Daylight Saving Time.” “Daylight Savings” isn’t a thing. WHO KNEW??

4. This cake. THE CAKE, MY GOD, THE CAKE.

Let’s talk about number four.

THIS CAKE. I think it’s my best one yet. (And as someone who’s made their fare share of chocolate cakes over the years, that is saying something.)

I made it for you to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, which is in a week. I’m not particularly keen on St. Patty’s, but any excuse to lick cream cheese frosting from the beaters is fine by me. Hooray for St. Patrick!

The dark stout in the batter is a dream – it really brings out the chocolate flavor and helps create a sturdy, moist crumb. And the chocolate cream cheese frosting? Smooth and dense and oh so luscious. It’s the perfect balance of deep chocolate flavor and bright, light tang. It’s like heaven on an offset spatula.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! (Yes, past tense did. It was a huge cake and now it’s definitely gone because we finished it.)

Still, it’s nice to know that even if we are low on dollas, we’re absolutely RICH with cake.

For the full recipe, head over to the Page-A-Day Blog from Workman Publishing!