middle cyclones and other references

Domesticity Log: April 21, 2012: Thin Pear Tart

Still working my way through Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts. I liked this one because a) the cream cheese crust was sinfully easy and b) the pear slices really look beautiful. I mean, I thought I’d done a poor job arranging them, but actually they look like a rose, don’t they? Lovely.

Because I could not for the life of me find pear brandy, I soaked the pears in amaretto instead, because pear & almond is a lovely flavor combination. Side note: this is a very, very small pie. If you’re feeding a hungry crowd, I’d recommend scaling the whole thing up. You bake the thing on a flat surface, so you wouldn’t be constrained by the size of the pie dish.

Domesticity Log: April 20, 2012: Buckwheat Jam Scones

Again, on an impulse, I took out Good to the Grain from the local library. And I was just so thoroughly impressed by it. It’s on my first-paycheck list. What an amazing compendium of recipes, and what amazing research and testing has gone into these recipes! She knows exactly how to treat each grain/flour, and what tastes best with what, and she has some really ingenious ideas. Take these scones. I fully admit that I took her Figgy Buckwheat Scone recipe (which are pinwheels) and used it to make the jam sandwich-y barley scones from an earlier chapter in the book. And, yum. Also, it was a great way to use up leftover jam in the fridge (you know, the ones that the male in your household won’t use anymore because there’s only a little bit left?)

Domesticity Log: April 7, 2012: Strawberry Custard Tart

My Easter tart, for the smaller of the two family dinners I attended for Easter. A lovely creme fraiche filling baked in an easy puff pastry pie shell, covered with fresh strawberries. Again, a perfect spring dessert. 

Domesticity Log: April 3, 2012: Peanut Butter Butterscotch Marshmallow Squares

Look….this is the trashiest dessert. And I know it. But goddammit, I love these little squares. I love them to no end. 

Domesticity Log: March 31, 2012: Carrot Cake

When spring comes, all I really want is a nice carrot cake, not too heavy, with a light cream cheese icing. I didn’t want a carrot cake that is so healthy that you don’t get that nice satisfying moist carrot cake feeling; I also didn’t want a ridiculously fatty carrot cake. This was a nice compromise. 

Domesticity Log: March 29, 2012: The Baked Brownie

They’re not lying. It really is the best brownie. No leavening powder, so it’s all gooey and not cakey in the slightest, crackly on top and nothing but chocolate. Like crack. 

Domesticity Log: March 17, 2012 (St. Patrick’s Day Edition!): Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake

One of the best things about St. Patrick’s Day is the baking. Not the drinking. I just like making thing with beer, I guess? And this is a great recipe because it’s by 101 Cookbooks, and it uses different sorts of ingredients that you don’t normally use, and so it’s actually incredibly delicious and light and interesting and different. Reducing the Guinness (of course we used Guinness) really helps concentrate the flavor. 

Domesticity Log: February 11, 2012: Sweet Potato Souffle Phyllo Pie

For Christmas, I got Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts and I’ve been working my way through it. She has some amazing recipes in there. My father’s favorite side dish is (famously) sweet potatoes, and I realized a couple weeks previously that he’d never had (or even known it was possible to have) a sweet potato pie. I had leftover phyllo dough in the freezer; the pie was all but made. 

Side note: souffles are nerve-wracking. 

Domesticity Log: March 10, 2012: Moroccan Date-Walnut Cake (from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant)

A dense little number, sweetened just enough by the many chopped dates, and punctuated by lovely fragrant crunchy toasted walnuts. I think this recipe came from the Albanian section of the Moosewood cookbook. 

Domesticity Log: February 18, 2012: Chocolate Beet Cake

Guys, I love beets. I love anything with beets. This cake is a brilliant and delicious idea. So moist. A semblance of nutrition. So chocolatey.