Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cakelets

The school year here at SFW is officially over. Last night our banquet was held here followed by a last trip to the Kotel. It was quite emotional for everyone. Girls have already started leaving and it saddens me to think that I wont see them every day. Since it's quiet here, I'm taking the opportunity to post some of the things I have waiting. I made these cookies, or rather cakelets, last week for the girl's who adore pumpkin. I have been long wanting to make cookies with pumpkin and I chose to use the recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies from the KAF Cookie companion, without the filling, of course. Because of the high moisture content in pumpkin, I think it's impossible to make a regular cookie- you're guaranteed a cakelet. Taking a page from my book, my roommates insisted on calling them what they really were, cakelets and not cookies. I have taught them well. In any case, these were as simple to throw together as mixing everything in one bowl and scooping. I opted to add chocolate chips, because they are a perfect complement to each other. The girls were incredibly enthusiastic about these. I kept hearing awesome and amazing and true to form, without my knowledge, the entire plate disappeared. Those girls never let me down. Take care to let them cool a few minutes before transferring them to a rack. Since they are so soft, they run the risk of breaking. These cakelets are guaranteed to make your kitchen smell like the best of fall for days.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cakelets

slightly adapted from the KAF Cookie Companion

1 15 ounce can pumpkin

2 eggs

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp molasses

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3 cups flour

chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.

In a bowl, place the pumpkin through molasses.
Whisk well to combine.
Add all of the flavorings and leavenings and blend.
Add the flour and chocolate chips,
and blend to make a thick batter.
Scoop onto cookie sheets, leaving plenty of space between each. These babies spread!
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until they feel firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool on their pans for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tea Biscuit Buttercrunch

Marcy Goldman's famous buttercrunch recipe has received loads of rave reviews so when I was reminded of it while scanning through her most recent book, I decided to make it. The only problem was that I didnt have matzah or saltines. But I did have tea biscuits that I needed to use and so, tea biscuit buttercrunch was born. Of course, there werent that many left but enough to make a 9x13 pan. This recipe couldnt be easier- boil sugar and butter, pour over the tea biscuits, pour over and bake. Sprinkle chopped chocolate over and allow to melt. I used one bar of 60 percent and one bar of bittersweet chocolate. The tea biscuits got nice and toasty and the sugar nice and caramelized. When the girls asked what it was, I didnt quite know how to respond so all I said was, taste it. They did. The unanimous response was, this is really good. And that is how the tea biscuit buttercrunch was finished. Allowing the chocolate to set completely helps to handle and eat more cleanly. Because I used the tea biscuits, the pieces broke into large rectangular pieces. Using matzah will allow you to break into more shard like pieces.

Tea Biscuit Buttercrunch

slightly adapted from A Passion for Baking

25 vanilla tea biscuits

1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar

7 ounces chocolate

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment.
Line the pan with the tea biscuits, breaking them to fit if necessary.
In a saucepan, place the butter and sugar.
Stir until melted, bring to a boil and cook for two minutes.
Working quickly, pour the sugar mixture over the tea biscuits and spread as evenly as you can. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Meanwhile chop your chocolate.
Here is the baked product.
Sprinkle the chopped chocolate evenly over the baked sugar.
Give the chocolate a few minutes to soften and spread with an offset spatula. Break into pieces once set.

Dried Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Before I write anything, I must say, this is my 200th blog post! It's been a long, fun ride blogging my baking adventures. Here's to many more baked goods and blog posts. To celebrate such a milestone, you'd think that it would be fitting to post about something really exciting and different but I think these down home, simple shortbread bars are just the ticket. I made them to b ring to my brother and sister in law and how easy they were to make! I mixed the dough by hand, which required little effort and beat cleaning a mixer. I added chopped dried cherries to these instead of the cranberries that the original Martha recipe calls for. Powdered sugar, instead of regular granulated sugar, lent a smooth, velvety feel to the dough and to the final cookie. I cut them into rectangles while still warm before they had a chance to set up. The cherries, besides giving a nice tart flavor, lent a jeweled appearance to these deceptively simple and delicious cookies. Here's to many more!

Dried Cherry Shortbread Cookies

from Martha Stewart's Cookies

1/2 cup dried cherries

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 325. Line an 8 inch square pan with foil. Set aside.
Chop the cherries and set aside.
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl,
and beat until a smooth dough forms.
Add the cherries,
and knead until evenly dispersed.
Press into the pan
and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cut into desired shapes before allowing to cool completely. How simple was that?

Apricot Nectarine Buckle

Tea cake + fruit= must make cake for me. I love the idea of baking with fresh seasonal fruit and there were some bruised apricots and nectarines that needed to be used. I'd been searching and searching for yeasted kuchen type cakes but I gave up that idea for now. Ill return to that eventually. There's a whole crop of new baking books coming out, with a couple specifically focused on fresh fruit desserts. I cant wait to get my hands on a copy of those. Birthday's coming up.... In any case, since I was baking a cake to bring to my brother's for Shabbat, I decided to whip this up while I was at it. (If you havent noticed with me yet, once I start baking, I cant stop. Really. I made this in addition to shortbread, which you'll hear about it, the banana streusel snack cake, and peanut butter bars....) Back to the cake. This cake which I adapted from Williams-Sonoma was so easy. The cake, studded with apricots and nectarines and topped with a sprinkling of sugar is a cross between shortbread and cake. It's called a buckle because the fruit is placed on top of the batter and pressed in. The batter then bakes up and around the fruit giving it a kind of buckled appearance. I cant even tell you how fast this disappeared. Once again, I was skeptical about fresh fruit in a cake because sometimes people really abhor cooked fruit. As usual, I surprised myself because this cake was gone in five minutes and I received compliments with the words, love, love and love. It was a winner of a cake and Im glad because it is infinitely adaptable in terms of which fruits to use and will carry me through the summer as a refreshing and simple dessert. Ice cream, anyone?

Apricot Nectarine Buckle

adapted from Williams-Sonoma

3-4 apricots

3-4 nectarines

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 sticks margarine or butter, softened

1 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling

2 eggs

·

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch springform pan. Set aside.
Slice the larger fruit into fourths and the smaller fruit into thirds. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Place the sugar and margarine in a bowl,
and beat until uniform and creamy.
Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
The batter will look slightly curdled, but that's okay.
Add the flour mixture all at once,
and mix to form a thick dough/batter.
Spread into the prepared pan.
Top with the fruit and gently press the slices into the batter.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean about 45 minutes, I think it took me.
Remove from the oven and when able to remove the ring from around the cake. Cool completely.
This is what was left after three minutes of cutting into it. I'm not kidding.

Nectarine Upside Down Cake

Spring is in full swing. That means mouthwateringly fresh cherries, apricots, grapes and nectarines at the shuk. That means, I'm totally there and indeed on Sunday, I went into town and picked up some apricots, grapes and nectarines. (The cherries are still too expensive.) When I looked at the nectarines, I noticed that some of them were bruised and so I set out to look for recipes that called for nectarines. To complicate things more, I'm trying only to use the things that I already have in my pantry and fridge to clean out in the next couple of weeks. The winning recipe? This Nectarine Upside Down Cake, a variation of the Pineapple Upside Down Cake from the KAF Baker's Companion. Although this cake is a classic, I have to admit that I've never tasted one let alone made one so it gets points for expanding my repertoire. I must say though that this cake requires little effort and the result is nothing short of beautiful. I substituted fresh orange juice for the pineapple juice and dotted dried cherries in between the nectarine slices instead of the traditional cherries. The topping of margarine and brown sugar caramelize the top of the fruit and its juices lend moisture to the bottom of the cake as well. I thought the girls would be turned off from a cooked fruit cake, and some were and went straight for the banana cake, but they surprised me again and actually enjoyed it. Nothing of it remained. This type of cake is one I will definitely try again with different fruit and perhaps complementary cake flavors. Out of pure necessity, I baked this cake in a nine inch cake pan because I dont own a cast iron pan. Feel free to use either one.

Nectarine Upside Down Cake

from KAF Baker's Companion

5 tbsp butter or margarine

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

4-5 nectarines

small handful of dried cherries

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

Preheat your oven to 350.

Pit and slice your nectarines. Set aside.

Place the margarine in a 9 inch pan.

Melt and swirl to coat the entire pan.

Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the margarine.
Arrange the nectarine slices in concentric circles around the pan.Place the cherries in the open spaces between the nectarines. Set aside while you make the cake batter.

 Place the eggs in a large bowl, beat until light and lemon colored.

Add sugar a bit at a time,

beating all the while.

Drizzle in the fresh orange juice and vanilla, again whisking all the while.

Add the dry ingredients,

and whisk to blend.

Pour over the fruit, spreading to cover, if necessary.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted come out clean.
Invert the pan onto a serving plate leaving the pan on for five minutes, giving the juices and fruit all a chance to detach. remove the cake pan and rearrange any fruit that has shifted. See that nectarine slice, bottom right? Just tuck it back into place. Serve!