Honey Cake with Carmelized Pears

Happy New Year! No, I am not crazy, or 3 months early. It's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. During Rosh Hashanah , people dip apples in honey to remind them of the sweetness of life, and desserts are often made with honey. This year I decided to make a honey cake, but punch it up a notch with some caramelized pears. True it's not apples, but it's another wonderful fruit of the season that adds a wonderful level of sophistication to the cake.

Honey Cake:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of light-brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of honey, plus 1/4 cup for glazing cake
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups of flour
3/4 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix eggs and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add honey, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix until just combined. Add remaining cup of flour and mix until just combined. Grease or spray with non-stick a 10 inch spring-form pan. Bake until cake is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Run a knife around the edge and release spring-form. Pour the 1/4 cup of honey on top of the cake slowly and rub in using a spatula or a brush. Top with caramelized pears (see below). The cake (without the topping) can be made 1 day in advance and left at room temperature covered in saran wrap. (adapted from Martha)

Caramelized Pears
1 tbsp of salted butter
1/4 cup of sugar
2 lbs of red anjou pears, cored and sliced
2 tbsp of honey

Heat the butter in a large skillet on medium-low, when melted stir in sugar until combined. Add the pears and stir. Cook until pears are soft and swimming in syrup, about 15 minutes. Add honey, and turn heat to high, cook until the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Top cake with pears. (adapted from Martha)

Happy Eating.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

When I went to see the Martha Show for to tweet at her cookie special, one of the cookies she made were Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies. The boyfriend (who was most certainly not there) could not stop talking about them. When I tried them at the show, they were good, but there was nothing really Mexican about them, no kick, and I am pretty sure that they left out the chili pepper, because a large crowd, not everyone likes chili, etc. So I made them my way, and they were fantastic! You can't really taste the chili, but it has a little bite to it. The cookies remind me so much of a glass of hot chocolate, I think it's the texture. They were a big hit as part of my Christmas Cookie tray and definitely my favorite of the bunch!



Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies:
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar, divided
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp of cream of tartar
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of instant coffee
3 tsp of cinnamon, divided
1 1/2 tsp of chili powder, divided

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together butter and 1 3/4 cups of sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the cocoa, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, coffee, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of chili powder, and 1/4 cup of flour. Mix until everything is incorporated. Add additional cup of flour, and mix until flour is incorporated, repeat with last cup of flour. In a small bowl mix remaining sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of chili powder. Scoop dough by tablespoon, roll it into a ball and roll it in the sugar mixture, then place on the baking sheet, repeat. Place the cookies about 3 inches apart, they spread. Put the first cookie sheet in the oven on the upper level and bake there for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat the cookie assembly process and fill another cookie sheet. When the first set of cookies has been in the oven 5 minutes, transfer that sheet to the lower portion, rotating the tray and place the unbaked tray on the upper rack. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove the lower sheet from the oven and move the upper sheet to the lower rack. Allow cookies to cool a few minutes before removing from sheets. Repeat this process until the dough is all gone. (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart)

Here is a picture of the Christmas Cookie Tray, the Hot Chocolate Cookies are at the top right, my sea salt chocolate chip cookies are right below that, The Ginger Bread Men recipe is from Martha, they are really spiced! And those biscotti will be coming soon to a blog near you...



Happy Eating.

French Macaroons

I have always wanted to make French Macaroons. They are so glamorous. Petite, beautiful and decadent sandwiches. So I decided to try it. I hunted down almond flour and caster sugar, I found my old piping equipment (from my caking phase) and replaced the missing piece that I needed. I researched a variety of very similar recipes and then I just went for it. I decided to decadent it up a bit by making them chocolate and filling them with dulce de leche (which I have also wanted to make for awhile). My piping skills could definitely use some practice, but overall, these came out delicious and beautiful. The cookies are so light and crisp, but so rich in flavor. It's like the perfect contradiction, and the filling, well there is no other way to describe that besides yum! I am so proud of my little beauties, even though my boyfriend kept calling them mini chocolate hamburgers. Oh well, I can sort of see what he means... I only kept a few of these for myself (for research/taste testing purposes) I packaged the rest up as a little gift for a friend, after all, the best part of baking is sharing!



Chocolate Macaroons:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup almond flour
3 tbsp of dutch process cocoa
2 large egg whites
1/4 tsp of cream of tartar
1/4 cup caster sugar

Allow egg whites to sit out on the counter until they are room temperature, longer is ok, I let mine site for 2 hours. Sift powdered sugar, almond flour and cocoa into a medium bowl. Stir gently, then sift the mixture again. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, using a hand or stand mixer and the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until foamy on medium speed, about a minute. Add the cream of tarter and beat until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Add in caster sugar and beat on low until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes (I just timed mine for exactly 8 minutes). Sift flour mixture over egg whites, then stir with a spoon until just combined. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pipe small circles 1/2 inch apart. Try to make them all as close to the same size as possible. Tap the sheet next to each cookie, to release any air bubbles. Let the cookies sit out for 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to the oven and reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Cook for 5 minutes, then rotate the baking sheet and cook for an additional 5 minutes. n the meantime, pipe the next set of cookies on to a new sheet of parchment paper (since they need to sit for 15 minutes), I found it easier to pipe the cookies if they weren't on the baking sheet. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Let cooked macaroons cool for 5 minutes, then loosen them from the wax paper. Transfer the piped but uncooked macaroons (that had been sitting out) onto the baking sheet and into the oven. Repeat this process until all the cookies are cooked and cooled. (adapted from Martha Stewart)



Dulce De Leche:
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Pout the milk into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently until thickened and caramel in color, about 20-25 minutes. Yes, that is how easy it is to make dulce de leche, when someone told me this, I could not believe it, given what they charge for a jar of that stuff! I just had to see for myself, and let's just say I'll never buy a jar again! This stuff is delicious and so easy to make. Cook it shorter if you want it more like a caramel sauce and longer if you want to make a taffy/caramel like concoction.



Allow the cookies to cool completely, but have the dulce de leche slightly warm (you can touch it with your fingers, and it doesn't burn). Pair the cookies up by how similarly shaped and sized they are. Scoop a small spoonful of dulce de leche onto one cookie, and place the other cookie on top. Repeat until all the cookies are paired off and sandwiched up. Serve immediately or Save them for later, they are amazing either way!



Happy Eating.