Zucchini Bread

As much as I complain about the heat, summer is awesome because of all the yummy fresh fruits and vegetables that like to come out of hibernation (if you could call it that). One of my favorites is zucchini. My friend, Lisa's, mom used to make a mean zucchini casserole that, come to think of it, I need the recipe for! Since I didn't have the recipe for that (and, lets be serious, do I ever cook?!), I made zucchini bread from the yummy plethora of zucchini that popped up in my grocery store.

I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks. I highly recommend this site to everyone because it has SO many whole foods recipes in it, and the author does a great job of cooking seasonally, too! Anyways, this bread has lots of yummy stuff in it, which gives it a lot of dimension. One warning: If you don't like crystallized ginger (I think its delicious...but who am I to judge you?), I would leave it out because it is definitely prevalent in this recipe. The following is what I did.

Zucchini Bread
from 101 Cookbooks

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1/3 cup poppy seeds
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups grated zucchini, skins on
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon curry powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 1 pound loaf pans and dust them with flour.

In a small bowl, combine the walnuts, poppy seeds, lemon zest, ginger and chocolate chips.

In a mixer, beat the butter and then add the sugars and beat until mixture is no longer crumbly. Add the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and then the zucchini.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and curry powder. Add this to the wet ingredients and stir.

Fold in the walnuts, poppy seed, lemon zest, crystallized ginger and chocolate chips. Save a bit of this mixture to top the loaves with.

Divide the batter between the two loaf pans. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool the zucchini bread in pan for about ten minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling.

* I made this awhile ago and we ate one of the loaves immediately and I stuck the other in the freezer. I just now brought it out and it is still very moist and maybe a bit better than the first loaf =)

The Frozen Yogurt Epidemic

First there was the cupcake insanity that is still sweeping the country. The next big thing that has emerged in New York is Frozen Yogurt. The most popular ones that come to mind are Pinkberry, Red Mango and Tasti D-lite (not sure if Tasti D qualifies as Fro-Yo, but it's popular nonetheless). During the summer, I inwardly play a battle to not head to one of the aforementioned stores for dessert everyday. Usually I lose.

For my birthday this year, my parents got me an ice cream maker along with David Lebovitz's cookbook The Perfect Scoop (since every time I go home I devour every last inch of my Stepmom's homemade mint chocolate chip and greedily ask for more). The first time I tried it out, I attempted cake batter ice cream. That went a little too well and I got a stomach ache from eating too much. Needless to say, I kept the ice cream maker in the freezer for awhile after that =).

In came the blazing temperatures, this weekend, however, and out came the ice cream maker.

The goal: homemade Pinkberry!

I found a recipe in Lebovitz's book for Vanilla Frozen Yogurt and took a stab at it. I used Greek yogurt and added some mini chocolate chips. YUM! I am currently on day three of not shoving the entire container of it in my face!

This turned out VERY well. It tasted excellent just after churning. Unfortunately, it got really hard after I put it in the freezer. Still yummy, though, after I put it in the microwave for a couple seconds. I may try putting strawberries in this next time and see how it turns out!

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt/ Pinkberry Imitation
2 cups 0% Total Fage Greek Yogurt
1 cup 2% Total Fage Greek Yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the yogurt, sugar and vanilla together. Refrigerate for one hour. Then Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Summertime In NY

It's official. I think we skipped spring and it is now summer. This weekend is supposed to be about 80 degrees everyday. Perfect day for a run in the park!

Next on the agenda....Angel Food Cupcakes with Blackberry Frosting. These little guys are delicious! The cupcakes have a very subtle lemon flavor that goes perfectly with the blackberry frosting. They are also very light...which is nice!

I found the recipe for angel food cupcakes on Baking Bites. I substituted lemon extract for the lemon zest, which was the only change I made. The blackberry frosting on creative loafing. I halved the recipe and used real blackberries instead of the preserves.

Bake on!

Angel Food Cupcakes
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup cake flour
5 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners (this recipe made 11 cupcakes for me).

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and the cake flour.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites and then add cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Mix in vanilla and lemon extracts. Fold flour mixture into egg whites.

Divide evenly into muffin tins. These dont rise much, so feel free to fill them pretty full. Bake for 16-18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Blackberry Frosting
1/2 cup butter
4 oz. cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 oz. blackberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip butter and cream cheese together until creamy. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix the blackberries in a blender and then add to the sugar mixture along with the vanilla.

Happy Birthday, Spice!

Spice was gone this weekend visiting her sister. So, I had the kitchen all to myself. And, with Spice's birthday looming, I made her a cheesecake!

I was a bit nervous about this endeavor and researched the heck out of it all last week. First, I couldn't make up my mind what kind of cheesecake to make and then was all nervous if it would turn out. I chose a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake recipe from the Food Network, that I changed to White Chocolate Blackberry. I also had to add some kind of chocolate in there, which I did for the crust and drizzle on top.

This cheesecake turned out great! The pictures don't do it justice. I liked the blackberry, but I think it would have been better with raspberries. Too bad blackberries were the only ones on sale!

White Chocolate Blackberry Cheesecake
1 cup chocolate teddy grahams, crushed into crumbs
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
8 ounces fine-quality white chocolate (I used Green&Black)
4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups fresh blackberries
Dark chocolate for drizzle

Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grind teddy grahams in a food processor, add butter and blend until combined.
Press over the bottom of a 10-inch spring form pan.
Bake in oven about 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Filling:
Melt chocolate (I used the microwave, nuking for about 20 seconds at a time and then removing to stir). In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in sugar. Add whole eggs and yolks and beat well.

Beat in flour and vanilla until combined and then add the melted chocolate and beat until combined.

Arrange berries in 1 layer over the crust and pour filling over the top. Bake until cake is set 3 inches from the edge, about 45 to 55 minutes (mine was done at just about 45 minutes).

Run a thin knife around the edge of cake to loosen. Then cool completely. I stuck mine in the fridge to help it set.

Alton Brown: Marry Me

Dear Alton Brown,

Please marry me and make me chocolate chip cookies all the time.

Love,

Allison

Spice watches The Food Network whenever she can. I cannot even count the number of Alton Brown's Good Eats I have watched. I have never seen, however, his show on chocolate chip cookies. When I read about his recipe being one of the best chocolate chip cookie ones out there, I didn't doubt it, but I did want to try them out myself =).

Um. These cookies were amazing. I think my heart stopped when I took my first bite. Please walk to your kitchen now and make these cookies. Now.

The Chewy

Courtesy of Mr. Alton Brown

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups bread flour (I used all-purpose and they turned out perfectly)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini-chocolate chips because they were all I had)

Melt butter. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda.

Mix the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and milk. Then the vanilla. Add the dry mixture and mix well. Add the chocolate chips.

Chill dough! (I chilled it for about 24 hours)

Bake cookies at 375 degrees for about 14 minutes.