With autumn comes rain, wind, and fleece—
—well, in Seattle, anyway.
In addition to fashion (how we love long, tailored, black wool coats!) and football (go Bruins!), there is great food. Particularly baked foods. Baked dessert foods.
The time is rapidly approaching when I shall be baking large quantities of something for friends and family (”beware of geeks bearing gifts”) and, as of now, I do not know what that “something” is. I’ve already received requests for my famous chocolate chip cookies, though they’re not exactly festive. Two years ago, I sent out chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin loaves. Last year, I sent out pumpkin loaves and ginger cookies.
What should I send out this year?
Though my love for cookies is known far and wide, I must comment that they are a bit labor-intensive for me: In addition to the time it takes to roll chilled dough into balls (to achieve that cute, miniature shape), there is the lack of efficiency associated with small ovens. If I want to bake a standard batch of cookies, I must do it in three cycles, as my small oven accommodates only one cookie sheet on the top rack.
Maybe I should send out muffins this year. My pumpkin loaf recipe can be easily used for muffins—perhaps I can throw in some chocolate chips?
Or maybe zucchini bread (or muffins). I’ve never baked a zucchini loaf, though I enjoy eating them. (Apparently, I’m a fan of squash.)
I’ve also never tried to make fudge.
Maybe I can make bricks of rice crispy treats (is that a trademarked name?) and coat them with melted marshmallows in autumn hues?
Dear internet: Any tasty, relatively low-effort suggestions? (coughTheBlogThatAteManhattancough)
(Not much can beat a cookie, though.)
21 Oct 2007 |
Fudge.
Definitely fudge.
Make a really killer rocky road fudge with salted cashews.
I use the recipe out of Cooks Illustrated from last year:
16 oz semisweet chocolate (I use either Callebaut from Central Market or Ghiradelli)
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (Ghiradelli or Scharffen-Berger)
1 14oz-ish can of condensed milk (I can’t remember what size that can is, but it’s the typical one of Eagle brand)
1 cup toasted nuts, chopped (do not omit - critical for texture)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T. vanilla extract
Chop the chocolate to smallish bits (the size of chips, plus the dust), toss with the salt and soda. Stir in the milk, and melt, stirring frequently, over simmering water, until the chunks are mostly melted. Remove from heat, stir until completely smooth, add in nuts and vanilla. Transfer to a sprayed baking dish to cool several hours to overnight.
When I make this straight up, I use pecans. For rocky road, I use the lower-salt cashews from Trader Joes, and stir in half a bag of mini marshmallows and top with more big cashews, unchopped. Mmmmmmmmn.
Funny, I spent an hour today working out my holiday baking schedule, too.
E
Comment by Eric | 22 Oct 2007 @ 1:20am
Mars* Bar Slice - very easy, way delicious, not very nutritious.
Ingredients Ratio
3 Cups Rice Bubbles
3 x 60g Mars Bars, chopped
90g^ butter
250g milk chocolate
90g butter extra
1. Melt Mars Bars with first amount of butter. I do it in the microwave in 30 second bursts and lots of stirring. You could also do it on the stovetop if you so desired.
2. Mix melted nummy Mars Bars into the rice bubbles.
3. Press this stuff into a tin. The tin I use is called a lamington tin… I would estimate its dimensions to be about 25cm x 18cm.
4. Put this tin in the fridge while you do step 2. I suppose in Seattle in winter you could just put it on the balcony.
5. Melt the milk chocolate with the rest of the butter, spread it over the top of the rice bubble stuff.
6. Leave it for a few hours or overnight to set, then cut into squares.
Mmmmmmmmm.
* Wikipedia tells me what what we call Mars Bars, you guys call Milky Ways. Basically some sort of chocolate bar containing nougatty stuff and caramel.
^ Butter quantities are rough estimates. Because I am a pharmacist and hence good at guessing the weight of semi-solids, I just put in a few “one ounce” dollops.
Comment by yay | 22 Oct 2007 @ 4:34am
I’ll take an order of muffins. Throw in some fudge, while you’re at it. ;)
Comment by Ali | 22 Oct 2007 @ 9:37am
I have 2 suggestions
chocolate orange triangles -
Comment by tbtam | 22 Oct 2007 @ 2:29pm
How about Chocolate Rice Krispies. You can either substitute 6 oz. choco chips for half the butter and make it a liquid ingredient, or swap a cup of chips for a cup of cereal and make it a dry ingredient that you add right at the end.
Comment by Terry | 22 Oct 2007 @ 3:11pm
Try these -
http://theblogthatatemanhattan.blogspot.com/2007/10/autumn-cookies.html
Also, the chocolate orange triangles for aan EMR conversion have a cheery autumn look, I think.
http://theblogthatatemanhattan.blogspot.com/2006/09/converting-to-electronic-medical.html
Comment by tbtam | 22 Oct 2007 @ 4:55pm
Milk chocolate Ghirardelli chips taste fabulous if you put them in your pumpkin bread.
Comment by Meems | 22 Oct 2007 @ 5:20pm
Apple Zucchini Muffins
recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics
THERE’S NO OIL OR BUTTER IN THESE! AND THEY TASTE UNBELIEVABLY MOIST AND DELICIOUS! fun to make too :[)
http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/recipes/breads/muffins/applezucchinimuffins.asp
good luck with your baking ventures!
Comment by jenny | 24 Oct 2007 @ 2:48pm