Fruit Bar

Remember in college when you would soak oranges and watermelons in vodka so you could enjoy some nice fruit while pre-gaming? Well, this is the more mature version of that. Macerated fruit served over pound cake, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Macerating, or soaking the fruit in liquid infuses the flavor of the liquid into the fruit. With fresh fruit, the most common way to macerate is to sprinkle some sugar on top, pour the liquid in and let it sit for an hour or so - that's it! This is a great dessert, especially in the summer, and is so simple to make. It's also perfect for group gatherings. You can simply make the pound cake, slice it or use a biscuit cutter to make individual sized cakes, set up bowls with different fruits, whipped cream and chocolate shavings to allow everyone to make their own a dessert. And because it's so easy, you can make a few different options in no time. For the pound cake, you can either make your own or buy one already made. I included a recipe below, but you can always substitute it with your favorite. Also, you'll see below that the technique for all of these fruits is pretty much the same, so go ahead and make up your own! Enjoy!

Pound Cake

Ingredients

1 pound/2 cups (4 sticks) butter, plus 1 tbsp.

1 pound/2 cups cake flour*, plus 2 tbsp.

1 pound/2 cups sugar

9 eggs (at room temp.)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Using the extra tablespoon of butter, butter two 9x5 loaf pans. Use the extra 2 tablespoons of flour to dust them.

3. Cream the butter and the sugar together (about 6 minutes on a medium speed). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is fully mixed in before adding the next.

5. While continuing to mix, add the vanilla and salt.

6. Slowly add the flour into the bowl, while still mixing.

7. When fully mixed, mix for about 30 seconds more. Then divide the batter evenly amongst the 2 pans.

8. Bake for approx. 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown but the crack in the middle will appear moist. The cake should spring back if you press it.

9. Allow to cool, then slice. If you want to make individual round cakes, you can slice it, then use the biscuit cutter in the middle of each slice.

Sliced Oranges with Grand Marnier

4 naval oranges

1 tbsp. sugar

1/4 c. Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

1. Cut oranges in half and peel using a sharp knife. Be sure to remove all the orange rind and the white pith.

2. Cut the orange into segmants. Do this by slicing along its divided membranes. Place in a bowl.

3. Sprinkle the sugar over the oranges and pour the Grand Marnier over the pieces.

4. Allow the oranges to sit for at least 1 hour before serving.

Raspberries in Red Wine

2 cups raspberries (rinsed)

Sugar

1/2 cup red wine (pick your favorite!)

1. Put the raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar (to taste).

2. Pour the wine in and let macerate for at least 1 hour.

Strawberries Romanoff

2 cups strawberries (washed, hulled and halved)

1/2 c. fresh orange juice

1/4 c. Curaçao or other orange liqueur

1. Place strawberries in a bowl and add the orange juice and Curaçao.

2. Let sit for 2-3 hours.

Peaches with Marsala

4 ripe peaches (chilled)

Sugar

1/2 c. marsala wine

1. Peel and slice the peaches.

2. Sprinkle sugar over peaches (to taste) and pour the wine over the peaches.

3. Serve immediately*

*Yes I realize this isn't macerated, but it still tastes good!

A recipe for homemade whipped cream can be found here.

For chocolate shavings, just grab a chunk of chocolate and take it to a cheese grater. It's very simple but adds a nice touch.

Your guests can make something that looks like this:

Margaritaville

As summer comes closer, I find myself unable to resist the urge to sit outdoors and drink margaritas. Personally, I prefer the original lime margarita on the rocks, although the frozen ones just scream summer. I used to think those were my two options to enjoy a margarita, that is until my book club decided to have a meeting on Cinco de Mayo. Being the baker of the group (by force), I had my heart set on making margarita cupcakes. I wasn't quite sure how I would make them or what they would taste like, but I was determined. After spending a week looking up recipes for the cake and frosting, I could not find a cake made from scratch that sounded good. Almost all of the cupcake recipes I found were based on a box of white cake mix. So finally, I decided to take the lazy way and use the boxed mix. The cupcakes, which I did in mini-muffin pans and add food coloring to, ended up tasting great. They were very light and the lime flavor went nicely with the sweetness. I was originally determined to create my own recipe from scratch, but after eating these and getting numerous compliments, I will probably not change it. As for the frosting, I used a simple vanilla buttercream that I had already made earlier in the week. The next time I make them though, I will use a whipped cream for frosting to keep the cupcake very light. I recommend you try different frostings and see what you like best, mine will probably be one spiked with tequila! Below I provided the cupcake recipe, as well as a whipped cream recipe and pictures. Enjoy!

Margarita Cupcakes

Ingredients

-1 Box of white cake mix (I used Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic White)

-1 cup Margarita mix (room temp.)

-1/4 cup Tequila (room temp.)

-3 Egg* whites (room temp.)

-2 tbsp Vegetable oil

-Lime zest from 2 limes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare muffin/cupcake tins either with paper cups or by greasing them.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the margarita mix and the tequila.

4. Whisk in the 3 egg whites and vegetable oil.

5. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix with the lime zest.

6. Slowly beat the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Once combined, continue to beat for 2 - 3 minutes (this is where you can add food coloring if you desire).

7. Distribute the mixture evenly amongst the cupcakes.

8. Bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until the cupcakes have puffed up and are a light, golden brown on top. You should be able to poke the surface and have the top bounce back.

9. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Homemade Whipped Cream

Ingredients

-8 oz. Heavy cream

-1/4 cup Sugar

-1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a chilled bowl, using a chilled whisk, whisk the cream until it begins to stiffen.

2. Add in sugar, to taste (you may not use the full 1/4 cup) and any flavorings, like the vanilla extract.

3. Whip only until soft peaks start to form. Take care not to over whip.

Half-eaten cupcake at work:

Bad lighting, but yummy cupcakes:
Fun colors for summer celebrations:

*When not specific, eggs in a recipe call for large eggs. Extra large eggs are 25% larger, jumbo eggs are 50% larger and therefore throw of the balance of fat and protein. This doesn't make much of a difference in your omelets, but could impact your baked goods.

Ebony & Ivory

This post is dedicated to the famous New York City Black & White cookie. The cookie, pictured below, is a wonderful creation in which, as Jerry Seinfeld puts it, "two races of flavor living side by side."

In the famous Seinfeld episode, "The Dinner Party," Jerry encourages Elaine to "look to the cookie" as a metaphor for race relations. So the way I see, the cookie is like my relationship, how can I not love it?! Although, I must admit, I find I usually eat the white side first, saving the chocolaty, black side for last. The cookie itself was created as a way for bakeries to get rid of leftover cake batter without throwing it out. By tweaking the cake batter a little bit, bakers created a delicious cookie, that is still soft and cake-like. Most bakeries frost it with fondant, you'll see below I used confectioners sugar and water, but the idea is that the frosting will dry hard. This is so when you bite into the cookie, you get the firm frosting mixed with the soft cookie.

I have always loved these cookies, but have never really thought of baking them. That is until I had the idea of making them for St. Patrick's Day and frosting them green and white. In the green frosting, I added white chocolate and food coloring, so the darker side of the cookie still had a chocolate taste. To the white side of frosting, I added a few drops of vanilla extract, to give it some more flavor other than confectioners sugar and water. I also must add, it was very hard to get these cookies into perfect circles. I assumed they would spread into nice circles as they baked, but that was not the case. I will attempt to make them again in the future (with the original black & white coloring), and will try to make better circles when placing them on the baking sheet. Below is the recipe I used, as well as pictures of my final product:

COOKIES

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 350°F.

-Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.

-Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well.

-Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth. (See my post below on Red Velvet cupcakes for why this is important!)

-Spoon the batter about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet.

-Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes.

-Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack and chill (to cool quickly), about 5 minutes.

(Cookie recipe is from Epicure: Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-and-White-Cookies-106171#ixzz0mzV2yYXU)

FROSTING

1/3 Cup boiling water

4 Cups confectioner's sugar

1 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

-In a large mixing bowl, stir the boiling water into confectioner's sugar. Stir until the mixture is spreadable.

-Separate the mixture into 2 bowls. One bowl will remain the "white" side. **This is the bowl where I added a few drops of vanilla extract for some flavor**

-In the second bowl, stir in the chocolate. **Since I was dying mine green, this is where I added white chocolate and food coloring instead of bittersweet chocolate**

When the the cookies are cool, frost them with flat side up. I frosted first the white side and then the chocolate side (the chocolate would cover up any extra white on the other side). Let the cookies harden. You can stack the cookies with wax paper in between and put them in an airtight container. ENJOY!

Red, Red Velvet

I rarely pass up an opportunity to bake something, so when our friend Russ told me about his upcoming bake sale*, I immediately offered to donate some baked goods. He accepted my offer and then I began to think about what I should make. I finally decided upon red velvet cupcakes since I was going to be making them for Christmas and have never made them before.

I made mini cupcakes for the bake sale, however I had a slight issue with the wrappers. I bought mini cupcake wax paper wrappers at my grocery store, but they were slightly too big for my Wilton mini cupcake pan. So the first batch came out with the wrapper folding in on itself and some had uneven bottoms. You can see these in the picture, although I tried to take the best ones. The second batch I decided to not use the wrappers and they looked great, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of these.

Anyway, other than the wrapper issue, the cupcakes were pretty straight forward. The most important part is the alternating between adding the dry and wet ingredients. This well help you get a smoother batter and prevents gluten from forming. When gluten forms it inhibits baked goods from rising and will make it a denser. The gluten will make the cake more like a bread consistency, instead of a moist cake. So to prevent this, you coat your flour and dry ingredients with a fat first (the butter, sugar, eggs) before adding the other liquids. Also note, you shouldn't add the wet ingredients first because it will break the emulsion formed by the butter and eggs. And be careful not to over beat the batter, that could also lead to gluten forming! If you follow the steps correctly, you should have a wonderful, moist cake.

Here's the recipe I used:

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 1/3 cups of cake flour
• 2 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of buttermilk*
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
4. In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.
5. Add a fourth of the dry ingredients and mix, then add a third of the wet. Continue adding in a dry, wet, dry pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking to ensure even baking.
7. Allow to cool for one minute in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
• 2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
3. Add the powdered sugar, continually taste to get to desired sweetness. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Here was my final result, I hope yours come out just as tasty!


*The bake sale was a fundraiser for Manhattan College's Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience (L.O.V.E.). The group will be heading down to New Orleans to help build houses for those to need. Russ is supervising the trip of students and if you're interested in donating to this great program, leave a comment and we'll be in touch!