Whole Orange Cake

I've made orange cake many times here, but this recipe is by far the most novel way I have ever used an orange, on this blog and in my life. The name of this cake, Whole Orange Cake, does not lie- it features the whole orange, pith and all. I'm not sure who invented this cake, but they were probably a thrifty lot who didnt like the idea of waste. In any case, this intensely orange cake was very successful. Firstly, the smell of it is just divine and the color is a beautiful yellow flecked with bits of orange. The only person who detected any after taste of bitterness was the one person who knew how this cake was made. No one else was the wiser, so I'm pretty sure that had she not known, she wouldn't have noticed the bitterness. This cake comes together really easily, with the help of your food processor for the orange part. I omitted the poppy seeds from the cake, although I imagine they add great visual pop, so add them if you're so inclined. I also omitted the optional glaze, I think the cake was intensely flavored enough. Also, make sure you give the cake all it's due in the oven, mine was raw in the middle and consequently the cake fell. I cut around it to salvage it so it was fine, but a whole cake would have been nicer.

Golden Applesauce Pound Cake

Shavua tov! And happy 300th post to me! It's hard for me to believe that this blog as made it so far! I wish I had something far more glamorous to offer for this milestone, but things didnt quite work out that way- I dont usually plan what I bake around this blog. What I do offer in this post is a simple but truly delicious pound cake. I've had my eye on this Golden Applesauce Pound Cake (from A Passion for Baking) for a while now, even since before I had a can of applesauce (leftover from the French Apple Tarts) hanging around the pantry. I kept putting it off because it called for five eggs, but I stocked up on Thursday, so by Thursday night, I was good to go. This pound cake really is more like a spice cake because it is flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. The applesauce really takes a back seat here but definitely adds to the wonderfully moist texture. The girls swore that this smelled like honey cake while baking but I insisted because traditional honey cake recipes and this cake have mutual spices in common. In any case, this cake was a HUGE hit- slice after slice disappeared well before the orange cake that was sitting next to it (stay tuned!). My technical notes on the recipe are as follows- I used sweetened applesauce and omitted the raisins, lemon zest and mace, because the latter three are not something found in my pantry. I also took the opportunity to use my tube pan for the first time and I love how this cake turned out, with its nice and tall sides and smooth top, perfect for a dusting of powdered sugar. My tube pan is one piece but thankfully I had the foresight to cut a parchment round to fit the bottom of the pan. It released like a dream with no sticking whatsoever. This is a perfect cake to serve as a casual dessert with tea and coffee or for breakfast if you feel like it. Here's to the next three hundred posts!

Deep Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins

With these chocolate muffins, I end my baking drought. It seems it has been a couple of weeks since I've gotten around to baking anything. I've had what I call baker's block- I just couldn't find anything inspiring to make. Rather than not make anything, I decided to just bake something and make a dent in the dairy sitting in my fridge while I was at it. These muffins, from the muffin chapter of A Passion for Baking, fit the bill, making use of some Israeli soft cheese, buttermilk and rice milk. I must say that these chocolate muffins are made in the cake style, so they really are more cupcake than muffin, but no one really needs to know that. These came out of the oven just in time for my weekly Tuesday meeting, where they were happily enjoyed. What remained was summarily devoured by the girls during curfew. These muffins are GIGANTIC, but really chocolately and very moist. The chocolate chips added a nice surprise. For a more visual pop, next time I would place chunks of chopped chocolate on top of the panned batter before baking.

Reinhart's Soft Sandwich Rolls

When we went down to Eilat last week, I knew I'd be breaking my no-bread-during-the-week rule because the lunches that we pack for each hike involve bread. Knowing this to be the case, I had the foresight to bake my own bread and bring it along. Hey, if I'm going to be eating bread, it might as well be good bread. I turned to Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day and settled on his Soft Sandwich Bread. Knowing I wouldn't need two whole loaves, I halved the recipe and made nine small rolls, perfect for this three day trip. This dough is very simple to make and easy to handle. The rolls shaped well and held their form quite nicely. I used  rice milk here, sugar as the sweetener, and oil as the fat. I'm really loving that Reinhart gives oil alternatives to the margarine/butter component. I also topped the rolls with my favorite, sesame seeds. More would have been better, but I was too lazy to make an egg wash, so most of them fell off. The resulting rolls were lightly browned, not golden (and egg wash would have been helpful here), but they were perfect sandwich fare, delicious with tuna and cucumbers, or really just plain. They were soft but still a bit chewy, which is a good thing considering I subbed AP for the called for bread flour. Another winner from Reinhart's latest book. I'm sending these rolls to Yeastspotting!

Peanut Butter Pie with Homemade Cookie Crust

I made this pie over a week ago and I'm finally getting to post it now. We all just got back from a three day trip to Eilat, so at least I have that as an excuse. Last year, I made this peanut butter pie for one of our meetings and the response was out of this world. As is my rule, I thought I'd never make this again. But then something came up and I promised my boss that I would make her this pie. I was going to her for Shabbat and I had never blogged it anyway so I decided to make good on my promise. Last year when I made these I  used a tea biscuit bottom but I was not happy with it. This time around I used a homemade cocoa wafer and I think they made a huge difference. I also used some melted chocolate mixture I had in the fridge to coat the crust before filling which I omitted last time. As for the filling, it's pretty straightforward. I used Israeli cream cheese, which is softer but it was fine. I used half the amount of vanilla and Israeli peanut butter which is not as good as Skippy. Please, if you make this, don't skimp on the good stuff. It makes a difference. The pie was  really well received- my boss took it out and called it Hummus Pie to gross her kids out enough from wanting to take any from her but it didnt quite work. In any case, there was plenty of Peanut Butter Pie to go around and lots of happy people, too.