Coffee Cardamom Walnut Cakes

Every once in a while, I come across a cookbook that I absolutely love. A cookbook where I want to make every recipe in the book, where I want to step into the book and join their kitchen, where I want to curl up on the couch and read the book all morning.

For about a year now, The Violet Bakery Cookbook has been on my radar. I heard about the delicious less-sweet desserts filled with fruits (loganberries! blueberries!) and unique flours (oats! rye!), but I wasn't ready yet to commit to the cookbook. Food52's Piglet, aka March Madness style cookbook competition, left me cheering for The Violet Bakery Cookbook.

The author, Claire Ptak, founded The Violet Bakery in London after training at Chez Panisse. A San Francisco lady who opens up a bakery in London, serving the cutest violet cupcakes and coffee cakes...where I can sign up? 

One of my favorite aspects of this cookbook is how easy-going the recipes are. No fancy yeast pastries that take all night to rise, no finicky flaky pastries with thousands of steps to assemble. Given The Violet Bakery's small space, they veer towards homier, cozier pastries that are more straightforward for the home chef. 

A few weeks ago, we went to a fun Indian-themed brunch--dosas, samosas, and mimosas! I loved the theme and wanted to contribute something sweet to share. These coffee cakes not only looked cute as a button, but also matched the spicy food with a kick of its own thanks to cardamom.

Coffee Cardamom Walnut Cakes

Makes 12 individual cakes

melted butter, for greasing the pans

2 1/2 ounces walnuts

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground pink peppercorns

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons creme fraiche

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons freshly brewed strong coffee or espresso

Preheat the oven to 340 degrees F. Brush a 12 cup muff pan with the melted butter. 

First, warm the walnuts through on a baking sheet in the oven. Do not toast them; you just want to bring out the fragrant oils/ This should take less than 5 minutes. Let the nuts cool slightly, then chop fine. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices, then whisk this mixture through the chopped nuts. Set aside. 

In a stand mixer, whisk the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each one is fully incorporated, then add the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour and nut mixture and then the creme fraiche. 

Divide the batter among the 12 wells and bake for 20 minutes until the cakes spring back to the touch. Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then gently pop them out (you may need to run a small paring knife around the insides of the wells to ease the cakes out). Place the cooled cakes upside down on a wire rack. 

Whisk together the ingredients for the icing and spoon it over the cakes. Use the back of a spoon to gently guide it to the edges so that it willingly drips down the sides. 

Peanut Butter Brownies for Valentine's Day

It’s only fitting that for Valentine’s Day, this post includes two of my long-time loves, peanut butter and chocolate. The two are a perfect pair, like rainy days and a great book, Kate and William, and bagels and lox.

Both ingredients are heavy players in my diet; peanut butter and bananas, peanut butter on toast, hot chocolate, dark chocolate before bed; there typically isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t have either chocolate or peanut butter.  

I typically eat chocolate and peanut butter separately, but admittedly Reese’s are my favorite drugstore candy item, and I recently fell in love with McConnell’s Double Peanut Butter Chip ice cream. Why not combine the two into brownies?

These peanut butter brownies are perfect for sharing at work, sharing with your Valentine on a hike, and turning into a hot fudge brownie sundae for eating by yourself (which admittedly is me this year as Z is out of town skiing).

My Valentine’s Day will start with laying in bed all day a springboard Pilates class (I’m slowly but surely becoming stronger) and hopefully a massage (thanks to the amazing company Soothe). In the afternoon, I’ll whip up a batch of these brownies again for post-dinner ice cream sundaes.

The first time I made these brownies, I checked to see if they were done, but I was more focused on Downton Abbey  multi-tasking and accidentally dropped a pan of half-cooked brownies on the floor. Oops. So, don’t make the same mistake I did and try to keep up with the Crawley Family while making peanut butter brownies.

  

Peanut Butter Brownies 

From Cook’s Illustrated

Makes about 16 brownies

Note: do not use a natural peanut butter (one where the oil separates from the butter itself). While I never eat Skip or Jiffy, this is the recipe to use it in.

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/4 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup peanut butter, room temperature

Adjust oven rack to middle position, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 8-inch baking dish with foil and coat foil with cooking spray. 

Melt the chocolate and butter in small bowl in microwave, or in heatproof bowl set over pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally to combine. Cool mixture for several minutes. 

Whisk sugar, baking powder, table salt, eggs, and vanilla together in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in flour until no streaks remain.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Drop peanut butter in 10 small dollops spread out evenly across the batter. Without touching the foil lining, run pairing knife through batter to create swirls.

Bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center of pan comes out clean, 25 to 27 minutes. Cool brownies on wire rack for 1 hour. 

Using foil, lift brownies from pan to cutting board. Slide foil out from underneath brownies, and cut brownies into 2-inch squares.  

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

A few months ago, I received a frantic text from Z's mom..."I'm in Brooklyn...where should I go to eat?" While Brooklyn is a neighborhood I haven't explored as much as I would like, I did have a few places to send her to.

A bakery at the top of my list to visit is Baked, a classic American-style bakery. They are famous for their brownie, and I've featured their Pumpkin Whoopie Pies here on the blog.

Z's mom came back with a positive report--everything was delicious, and they have her a dozen cupcakes for free! While she couldn't bring me back cupcakes, she did send me one of their cookbooks, called "Baked Essentials".

Flipping through the cookbook, I was immediately drawn to the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf recipe. The orange and black combination is only fitting given upcoming Halloween celebrations!

Pumpkin and loaf cakes are a perfect match made in heaven; homey loaf cakes and pumpkin treats both conjure up images of crisp fall days and hot cups of tea.

I recommend making two batches, one for work on Friday and one for your friend's Halloween party. I promise it won't disappoint!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

From Baked Essentials

1 3/8 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

1 3/4 cup pumpkin (one 15-ounce can)

1 cup vegetable oil

3 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x5 inch baking pan, dust with flour, and knock out the excess. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baking soda, and salt.

In another large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and oil until well combined. Add the sugar and whisk again. Whisk the eggs into the mixture, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add 1/3 cup room temperature water and whisk again. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.

Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do not overmix.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Use spatula to smooth out the top. 

Bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. 

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Invert loaf onto a wired rack and cool completely before serving. 

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

This week, I'm sharing two loaf cakes that belong on your Halloween dessert table. Today's recipe is a dark as night chocolate banana bread studded with chocolate chips.

For Z's birthday, we stocked up on bananas for toast, and as per usual, we were left with a plethora  of bananas. We bought four times as many bananas as we needed! Instead of letting the bananas go to waste, we froze half, and then put the rest into banana breads. 

Z is big fan of banana bread and chocolate chips, and as soon as I saw this double chocolate banana bread recipe, I knew we had to give it a try. I love how dark the bread turns out, plus the surprising banana flavor. 

I baked the chocolate banana bread on a Sunday, with hopes of bringing leftovers into work, but it was so delicious that we devoured the whole loaf that day! It's crazy good. 

Loaf cakes like banana bread make perfect fall treats--they pair great with an afternoon cup of tea, and I love eating them warm out of the oven on a cold day. Oh, and did I mention there's no fancy equipment required, and the prep process takes less than 5 minutes? Another reason to add this into your baking rotation.

 On Wednesday, I'll share another loaf cake that is perfect for Halloween--hint: it's orange and black!

Other recipes you would like:

Classic Banana Bread

French Yogurt Cake

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

From Smitten Kitchen

3 medium or large very ripe bananas

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mash bananas in bottom of large bowl. Whisk in butter, then brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Place baking soda, salt, flour, and cocoa powder into a sifter, and sift over wet ingredients. Stir ingredients together, and then fold in chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter free. Let cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes. Then run a knife around pan, and invert the cake onto a cooling rack. Move the cake right side up. Serve warm (my favorite) or at room temperature.

Brie and Honey Butter Sandwiches with Homemade No-Knead Bread

There’s no other way to say it: you got to make this sandwich, and you better do it with homemade bread. The sandwich is so simple that every ingredient counts, and this is no place to skimp on quality or calories! 

The sandwich is just bread, brie, honey, and butter, but it’s a heavenly combination that you can use on repeat. At tea parties, picnics, or just as a Sunday afternoon snack, there’s no place this sandwich doesn’t fit it (unless you are maybe going to a picnic with a friend who is both dairy AND gluten-free, which in this case, why are you eating a meal with this person?!?!). 

Z and I had this sandwich at Shed, and it was so delicious that we wanted to recreate it at home. I’m glad we did! It forced me to try the speedy no-knead bread recipe from The Times. I like the speedy recipe compared to the original because it allows for more flexibility; no waiting a full 24 hours here. It’s one of the simplest recipes around, and one of the greatest dinner party tricks. “Hi friends, you made a salad, that’s cool, well I made BREAD”. No need for your friends to know that the salad was probably harder to make than this loaf of bread. 

Is it the most perfect bread loaf around? No. But it’s pretty delicious and goes great with cheese, so make sure to stock your fridge with Brie!

Brie and Honey Butter Sandwiches with Speedy No-Knead Bread

From The New York Times

For Bread:

3 cups bread flour

1 packet instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Oil as needed

For Sandwiches:

Serves 2, adjust as necessary

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 1/2 teaspoons honey, plus more for drizzling

6 thin slices of brie (3 for each sandwich)

2 slices of bread (use 4 if you want it to be a closed sandwich, but I prefer open-face here)

Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water, stir until blended. The dough will be shaggy. Cover dough with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. 

Lightly oil a work surface, and place dough on it. Fold the dough onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. 

Immediately start heating up the oven, setting it to 450 degrees. Put a heavy 6-8 quart heavy pot in the oven. When the dough is done resting, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Put the dough into the oven, seam side up. Shake the pan once or twice. 

Cover the pan with a lid, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid, and back for another 15-30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool pot on a rack, then take out bread and slice.

Combine honey and softened butter together in a small bowl. Spread the butter equally over the two slices of bread. Top with 3 slices of brie on each piece of bread, and drizzle more honey over if desired. Enjoy! 

Best Blueberry Muffins

There are so many reasons to make these blueberry muffins. So many reasons that you should stop off at the grocery store on your way home from work this Friday to buy buttermilk, blueberries, and whatever else you need. Add some good coffee beans into your shopping cart while you are at it. So many reasons that you should wake up a little bit earlier than you typically do to put these in the oven and surprise your loved ones. Make some coffee with those good coffee beans, and then start making the batter.

These blueberry muffins are packed with berry flavor, unlike most that are just cloyingly sweet. The geniuses at Cook's Illustrated tested this recipe over and over again to make sure it was perfect. If you follow the recipe, they'll come out absolutely stunning. Plus, they don't take very long to make, which means you have absolutely no excuse to not whip them up this weekend.

Bring them to a friend's brunch. Cheer up a sick friend with a basket of blueberry muffins. Or just enjoy them in the bright morning sun. Bonus points if you griddle your muffin halves in some extra butter to create a delicious crust.

Best Blueberry Muffins

from Cook's Illustrated

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 1/8 cups sugar plus 1 teaspoon

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to upper middle position, and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick spray. 

Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture has reduced to 1/4 cup. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature. 

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk sugar and eggs together into a medium bowl until homogenous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil to sugar/egg mixture. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla as well. 

Slowly fold in liquids and remaining blueberries into dry ingredients with a spatula. Don't overmix! Batter should be lumpy. 

Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to evenly distribute batter to muffin tin. The batter should completely fill the cups. Spoon 1 teaspoon of cooked berry mixture over each muffin. Using a chopstick, toothpick, or skewer, swirl the berry mixture in a figure-eight motion into the batter. 

Bake until muffins are golden and firm, about 17-19 minutes. Rotate the muffin tin halfway through. Let cool in tin for 5 minutes. 

To griddle in butter, cut muffin in half. Place a tablespoon of butter in a pan, and heat over medium heat. When butter starts to foam, add muffin, cut side down. Let cook until golden and crispy. 

Oatmeal and Blueberry Muffins

I am a bonafide breakfast person. I am useless at work if I don't have a meal before coming into the office. I need food in the morning, but I also want sleep! Smoothies are my typical go-to weekday breakfast drink, but sometimes I want something that's even easier, that doesn't require the 5-10 minutes of prep time a smoothie can take.

I have browsing the New York Times Cooking app recently, and I came across a blueberry muffin recipe that grabbed my attention. I love blueberry muffins, but they are often filled with sugar and fat. Traditional blueberry muffins are a favorite on the weekend, but during the week you want something more wholesome that will give you energy for the day.

These blueberry muffins actually have cooked oatmeal in the batter, giving them a fiber boost for the day. The only additional sugar is a quarter-cup of maple syrup which has a lower glycemic index than traditional white sugar.

You are going to love these muffins--they are delicious, easy to make, and even easier to eat on the subway or on your walk to work. They are great with your morning cup of coffee.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal and Blueberry Muffins

From The New York Times

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cooked steel-cut oats

1 cup blueberries, tossed with 1 teaspoon flor

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and position the rack to the upper third position. Oil, spray, or butter 12 muffin cups. 

Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. 

Quickly stir in the dry ingredients with a whisk or spatula. Do not beat, just mix, stirring up from the bottom until you can no longer see flour. 

Fold in the cooked oats and blueberries. 

Spoon into muffin cups, filling them just below the top. Place in the oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 10 minutes before unmolding.

Molasses Spice Cookeis

Welcome to Day Two of Cookie Week here on Hilary Stone Soup! All week I am showcasing some of the best holiday cookie recipes around.

No holiday cookie collection is complete without a perfectly chewy molasses spice cookies. This recipe doesn't disappoint! It has a great chewy texture, and the warm spice combination tastes delicious. It's rare for me to make a cookie that comes out looking absolutely perfect, but these cookies always do! They are sure to impress anyone.

I personally love these cookies with vanilla ice cream. I love the idea of making homemade ice cream sandwiches with these spice cookies and some high-quality vanilla ice cream. Think of how much your office would love you if you bright these in to the holiday office party!

Molasses Spice Cookies

From Cook's Illustrated

Makes 22 cookies

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed 

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dark molasses

Adjust oven rack to middle position, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1/2 cup sugar for rolling in a cake pan.

Whisk flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together in medium bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars at medium-high until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium low and add egg yolk and vanilla, then beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds.

Add molasses, and again beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 

Reduce speed to lowest setting, add flour mixture, and beat just until incorporated. Give dough a final stir with spatula to make sure there are no flour pockets. 

Scoop heaping tablespoon of dough and roll between palms to create a 1 1/2 inch ball. Drop ball into cake pan and roll in sugar. Set on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned, still puffy, and edges begin to set. Cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone, about 11 minutes. 

Cool cookies for 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer cookies to wire rack. 

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Whether you are gluten-free or not, you will fall in love with these delicious, rich cookies. Part chocolate chip cookie, part brownie, this cookie is what my dreams are made out of.

These brownie cookies are perfect for the holiday season. Both adults and kids will love the rich chocolate taste, and everyone can enjoy them, no matter what type of gluten-free diet they are on!

The best thing about these cookies though is that come together in about 20 minutes, total. I bet you can make the batter in under 5 minutes, and they take about 15 minutes to bake!

Z and I ate these warm out of the oven with some ice cream, but they are just as delicious the next day on a beautiful holiday cookie platter.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie Cookies

From Bon Appetit

Makes 24 cookies

3 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

4 ounces bittersweet chopped chocolate

Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt together then whisk in egg whites and egg. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

Spoon batter by the tablespoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets. 

Bake, rotating once, until cookies are puffed, cracked, and just set around the edges, 14-16 minutes. 

Let cookies cool down in the pan so they can firm up.

Enjoy!