There’s some differences between British and American words for foods. It’s easy to get used to the changes and say “rocket” instead of “arugula” or “courgette” vs “zucchini,” but the one I have a hard time with is biscuit. I just like cookie better. And recently my friend Sarah asked me to explain what “biscuit” means to me. So here’s what it means to me: it looks like a scone, but savory, buttery, and flakey; and it serves the same purpose as a Yorkshire pudding during Sunday lunch.  [If you’re not familiar with Yorkshire pudding, it’s a bready-like (well, made from a batter) side that you use to sop up gravy, meat, and sides.]

But I do miss American biscuits. I’ve only been to KFC once since I moved here and I was pretty disappointed. First, the three piece chicken came in a bag. Not a little closed box, but a bag. Second, and most importantly, it didn’t come with a biscuit. Who doesn’t love a cheap, buttery, albeit slightly greasy, biscuit?! It’s the best. Anyway, I may have gone on a bit of rant at work, about biscuits.

Obviously after this conversation with Sarah, I was in the mood for biscuits. Luckily that same day Food 52 posted a picture of these cheddar garlic biscuits on their Instagram, and I knew I had to make them. Because biscuits are great, and then add cheese and it’s even better. I was most pleased by the gorgeous well defined layers in these biscuits. Look at the picture at the top, there are layers!

For me, the epitome of layers are the Pillsbury Grands Biscuits. I know you probably shouldn’t compare something homemade to something store bought, but those Pillsbury biscuits are so satisfying. They are so “buttery,” the layers peel away so easily, and opening the canister gives such a satisfying pop. What I’m trying to say in this roundabout way, is that these biscuits have really satisfying buttery (and slightly cheesy) layers the flake away. I loved it.

Before getting starting, I have a few tips for this recipe. First, don’t overwork the batter. If you play with it too much you’ll melt the butter and overwork the gluten and make them dense and not very light. Second, you can use milk, buttermilk, or crème fraîche. I used crème fraîche fresh because I couldn’t find buttermilk, and I wanted more flavor and richness. Use whatever you like best and can get your hands on. And finally, eat them on the day you make them. Then, if you can’t eat them all, let them cool completely. I found if you put them away while they are warm they sink a little and lose some of the airiness. If you do have day-old biscuits heat them in the microwave for 20 seconds to refresh and moisten them. Serve with butter for even better buttery-ness.

Adapted, just slightly, from Food 52.

Messy level: The batter is made in one bowl, which is great for dishes and an overall lack of mess. However, you are going to have to get your hands in there (AKA get your hands dirty!) to incorporate all the dry bits of the batter and to form and shape the biscuits.

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 2¾ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup/226g cold butter, plus a little melted for brushing
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup milk, or buttermilk, or crème fraîche

Instructions

1. Cut the butter into cubes. Put the butter in a bowl and put in the fridge until you need it. (It is important that your butter is cold!)
2. Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C.
3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, garlic powder, and baking powder.
5. Cut in the cold butter using a two knives or a pastry cutter. [Note: cutting the butter means using a utensil to break the butter up into the flour into pea sized pieces]
6. Add the in the cheddar cheese.
7. Pour in the milk and use a fork to stir it all together. Stir until it is a shaggy dough.
8. Once it is mostly mixed, use your hands to fold in any remaining dry bits. Fold over on itself until all incorporated. Try to use your hands as little as possible because their heat will melt the butter.
9. Lightly flour your counter. Turn the dough out pat it into a 1 inch-thick disc. Using a 2½" circular cutter cut out circles.
10. Place the circles onto the lined baking sheets.
11. Brush the tops of the circles with melted butter.
12. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges and cheesy bits get golden.

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Guys, it’s been a big week for me. At work I’ve been training to do a show called Flash! Bang! Wallop! It’s a show where I do experiments, light things on fire, and teach about explosions. Training has been really fun, but learning it all and then gearing up to perform for children has been pretty tiring. And then this weekend, Ryan and I are off to Paris which is awesome, and exciting and keeping me busy. But possibly the biggest thing going on is Star Wars day on Monday. Yeah, May the Fourth be with you. 

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Star Wars. I became to Star Wars dork in my mid-twenties and all because of Ryan. He had gotten a Christmas bonus from work and he decided to buy me the video game Lego Star Wars for my Wii. I was skeptical I would like it, but then I played and I was hooked. I rented all the movies and now my flat is filled with Star Wars trinkets. I have two aprons, an R2D2 spatula, Legos, and my friends even threw me a Star Wars themed bridal shower. Should I go on? I could, because obviously I’m super cool. But I won’t do that to you.

However, the truth is that as much as I love Star Wars, I’ve never made anything for May the Forth and I thought it was about time I changed that. So, I searched for ideas about what I could make and Pinterest had loads of ideas. Wookie cookies and Obi Wan canapés sounded cool but I didn’t want just a name. The idea I liked best was for green tea shortbread cookies with matcha. I liked it because I’d get that amazing green Yoda color but without food dye. I have decided it’s the grown up way to celebrate May the fourth. Generally you can make these cookies in any shape but if you’re interested in the cookie cutters they came from Williams-Sonoma. Unfortunately they no longer sell them but Amazon does and also so does Lakeland. Also you can find tutorials on Pinterest for how to make Yoda using a spider cookie cutter. 

But back to the recipe. If you’re not familiar with matcha it’s a really finely ground green tea from special tea leaves. And the leaves are de-stemmed and de-veined and so when they are ground it becomes an extra fine powder.

Matcha can be a little bit hard to find, and also sort of expensive. I saw some prices between £16-30! I went to three different stores before I gave up and bought it on Amazon for £10. The search and the cost was worth it because matcha has a really nice flavor.  I decided to add just a bit of lemon zest to brighten it up a bit. And tea and lemon is totally a thing, so why not turn that into a shortbread cookie? Once baked, these Green Tea and Lemon shortbread cookies have a delicate yet somehow creamy, bright and distinct flavor. I brought them to work to share with my coworkers and celebrate my last day of Flash! Bang! Wallop! training and they seemed to be quite a hit. Although, everyone’s favorite bit might have been the cute Yoda shapes.

Messy level: The method is very straightforward and sort of the same thing you’d do for sugar cookies. Mix the flour, mix the butter and sugar, roll them out on the counter, bake them. However the green color makes it a wild card. Once you get green on your hand, everything else you touch will have green fingerprints. Be careful and may the force be with you. 

Adapted from Serious Eats.

Green Tea and Lemon Shortbread Cookies

 

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Prep time

1 hour 15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon matcha powder
• 140g/1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 egg yolks
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• zest from ½ lemon
• Pinch salt

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and matcha.
2. Add the butter to the sugar mixture. Using a hand mixer, stand mixer, or your arm and a spoon beat in the butter until all smooth and very green.
3. Add the egg yolks to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix until smooth.
4. In a different medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt and lemon zest.
5. Slowly add the flour to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix the flour in bit by bit until you have a smooth dough. You may need to get in their with your hands or a spoon so you can get any dry bits incorporated into the sticky dough.
6. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hour or up to overnight.
7. When you're ready to bake preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
8. Lightly flour your work surface. Then roll out the dough until it is about ¼" thick. Use your favorite cookie cutters to make the shape.
9. Put the shapes about ½-1" apart. Bake in the oven until just lightly brown on the edges, about 10-15 minutes.

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This past Saturday Ryan and I had my friend Sarah and her boyfriend Ben over for dinner. Since moving here, it was only the second time we’d had people over for dinner, so I was a little nervous. I cleaned the whole flat and planned a menu that I knew how to make. And this is an important tip: you’ll be a better dinner party host if you make dishes you’ve made before. Seriously, don’t make something for the first time when you’re having people over. If you know what you’re doing, you’ll be more confident, less stressed, and you’ll know your guests will like the food. I decided to serve a salad, steamed broccoli, and baked rigatoni. Not fancy, but tasty and allows for big portions.

Since such a big pasta bake can be really heavy, I decided I wanted dessert to be a fruit tart. I decided to try out passion fruit because it would be silky and light. I’ve also never made anything with passion fruit before, so I was curious about using it. And, I was good and did take my own advice. A few days before my dinner party I decided to do a dry run and make a practice passion fruit tart. 

I went to the store and bought a dozen passion fruits. They are such a gorgeous fruit! A beautiful deep purple on the outside, a slight hint of magenta on the outer edge, and vibrant marigold flesh. The problem though with passion fruits, is they are kind of small and have lots of seeds. If you were having a passion fruit straight you can eat the seeds, but for a tart I wanted a clean puree.

So I scooped out the flesh and did my best to strain, press, and pick out all of the seeds. It was exhausting work and took me close to an hour, and still a few seeds got into the tart. It was also really messy and my hands and counter were all sticky. This leads me to my my second piece of advice: buy passion fruit puree from the store. It has got to be less expensive and will be way easier. Save yourself the headache.

This tart is absolutely delicious. It’s tart and juicy, with just a whisper of creaminess. The texture is smooth and luscious. My favorite part though might have been the pastry crust. I’m not usually that into crust, but this pastry was sweet, crumbly, and buttery. Overall, it felt a little decadent without being heavy.

But, if I’m being honest, I have to tell you the rest of the story. It took so much work to create my own passion fruit puree that I was put off from making this recipe again. I didn’t have the time to go to the store to buy puree, so I decided on the day of the party to make a lemon tart instead. I made the same pastry for my lemon tart and that came out perfectly. But I curdled the lemon curd and for some reason I decided maybe baking it would help heal my ruined tart. It didn’t help at all. The tart came out looking really gross and unappetizing. I ended up sending Ryan, one hour before our friends arrived, to the store one hour to buy something for dessert. So you see? My advice is important. Don’t make something new the day of a dinner party. Practice is really important! It helps you know how much work is ahead of you and it will give you confidence. Most importantly, you won’t have to run to the shop.

Adapted from Butter Baking.

Messy level: If you make the passion fruit puree, this is a super messy recipe. But, if you buy the puree it’s not so bad. The pastry has a lot of butter, which means it will stick to your counter a bit as you roll it out and it can be a bit crumbly – but it’s nothing to really worry about. You might end up with crumbs and bits of sugar on your counter, but it’s truly an easy clean up.

Passion Fruit Tart

 

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Cook time

25 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Original recipe was written in grams. I've done my best to convert the measurements to cups, but they might not be perfect translations.

Author: Butter Baking

Serves: 8

Ingredients

pastry

• 175g/12½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 100g/1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
• pinch salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 250g/ 2½ cups plain flour

Passion fruit filling:

• 150ml/ ½ cup heavy cream
• 105g/ ½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 5 eggs
• 165g/ slightly more than ¾ cup passion fruit puree

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, confectioner's sugar and salt with an electric mixer. Mix until light and free of lumps. It is imperative that you sift the confectioner's sugar. I know it's annoying, but this will help make sure everything is smooth.
2. Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat until combined. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
3. Add in the flour and mix until just incorporated.
4. Once everything is mixed, use your hands to gather the dough together. When it's in the bowl, it might look a little crumbly, but it will press together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 2 - 3 hours.
5. Once the pastry has rested, remove it from the fridge and well grease a 10 inch tart tin with butter.
6. Put the pastry in between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a rolling pen, roll out the pastry until it is thin, or about 1/16" thick. (You can do this straight on the counter, but using the parchment means you help prevent sticking)
7. Remove one piece of parchment paper. Flip your rolled out dough over and place it dough-side down on the tart tin. Remove the other piece of parchment paper. Press the dough it into the sides and crevices of the case. It's ok if you leave some over hang at this stage.
8. Place the tart shell in the fridge for 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
9. Once it has rested again, line your tart shell with baking paper and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or rice. This is done so when you pre-bake it, the tart won't puff up too much.
10. Place the tart tin on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the weights/beans/rice and cook for another 5 minutes.
11. As the pastry is baking, make your filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, sugar, eggs and passion fruit puree.
12. Once the pastry is done blind baking, slide the tray out slightly, but not all the way, from the oven. While it's all still in the oven, pour the passion fruit mixture into the pastry, filling it right up to the top. You're doing this while it's in the oven so that you don't spill!
13. Bake for 20- 25 minutes, until just set in the center.
14. Allow to cool slightly. Cut off any excess pastry that might be hanging off the edges. This will give you a clean look. Then put the tart in the fridge to cool completely. It tastes best when it's cold!

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I’ve started to do online grocery delivery. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like grocery shopping but sometimes it can be a real pain. Before I started work I had all the time in the world to go to the store and it was always fairly empty, I could read labels and not be pumped. I could muse over which brands to buy. And the checkout lines were short. It was glorious. And then I started work and I had to shop with the crowd on the weekends or after work. There’s children crying, people stopping their carts in the middle of the aisle, and general crowded nonsense. It’s exhausting and takes all the fun out of wandering around and pondering what looks good.

Online shopping has changed all that. No more carrying heavy bags, bumping into people, and long lines. Online delivery means I plan meals so I get home from work and have everything I need for dinner. It means I can order tons of heavy juice containers or the obscure ingredient I can’t find on the shelves. But if I’m honest, every time I place an order I make a mistake. Usually it’s been a small one. I order two cans of something when I only meant to order one. Or I order a giant carton of milk when I meant to order just a pint. But my biggest mistake has to do with carrots. I meant to order four carrots and I ordered four, 1 kilogram bags of carrots. SO MANY CARROTS.

So I’ve been doing carrot everything. I’ve put carrots in a stir fry, I’ve roasted them, and I even made a carrot and coriander soup. But still, there were more carrots. I hit the internet and searched for recipes that used lots of carrots. There are all kinds of crazy carrot recipes out there. Do you know there is such a thing as carrot jam? Anyway, I decided I wanted to make a carrot bread but so many recipes I found were more like cake layered with tons of cream cheese frosting. Now, don’t get it twisted, this bread isn’t so healthy either. It has a whole cup of brown sugar. But, I wanted a bread with the appearance of health. There’s a lot of nice things about this bread. It’s moist, has a lovely flavor that reminds me of oranges and molasses, and it’s easy to make. The downfall, I only needed to use one carrot. One. Just one carrot. Sigh.

When I found this recipe, I was drawn to it because it comes from Mark Bittman. His books, How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, were two of the first cookbooks I bought myself. They are giant cookbooks that really helped me learn to cook. The book has lists of essential tools, it has pictures to demonstration difficult techniques, and it has all the basic recipes you need (like how to hard boil an egg) as well as more complex recipes too. What’s great about those books is that if you have an ingredient you don’t know what to do with, these books will sort you out. Have an eggplant? Just search eggplant in the index and you’ll have at least half a dozen recipe options. It’s truly a great resource.

I’ve adapted this recipe just slightly from the original. I’ve used less orange zest – but that flavor is still present just not overwhelming. I’ve added pecans for some crunch and for the illusion of health. Once, I also made this recipe with self-rising flour because I ran out of all-purpose. If you do this with self-rising flour just cut out the baking powder and do everything else the same.

Finally, if you have any ideas for more carrot recipes please let me know! I need them.

Messy level:  Three spoons, but just barely. Having to grate carrots and orange zest adds an extra tool which can be hard to clean. Also for me, I’m prone to flinging carrot peelings onto the floor.

Brown Sugar Carrot Bread

 

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Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons cold butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup almond milk
• zest of one orange
• 1 egg
• 1 cup grated carrots
• ½ cup roughly chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter.
3. Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the butter to the flour mixture. Use a fork, 2 knives, or your fingers to cut it into the dry ingredients. Keep doing this until there are no pieces bigger than a small pea.
5. In a medium bowl, beat together the milk, zest and egg.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until moist and there aren't big ribbons of flour. Don't mix until everything is smooth.
7. Gently fold in the pecans.
8. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for about an hour.
9. Let cool, then serve.

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Since returning back to London from the holidays in Colorado and Connecticut, I’ve been on a bit of a healthy eating kick. I would say I’ve been doing a good job – in part because when my groceries were delivered, the guy said, “you ordered a lot of vegetables.” So if he’s impressed with the amount of veg I’ve been eating, I must be eating a lot. But even so, I just can’t resist desserts because they are my favorite thing to eat and make.

While I was in the US my DVR recorded all of season 4 of the Great British Bake Off. That means when I got home, I indulged in watching so many beautiful cakes, pies, cookies, being made. The show always inspires me to get in the kitchen and bake. One of the things I like best about Bake Off is the segment they do on historical and traditional British baked goods. I was particularly won over by the bit they did on Tottenham Cake. 

This cake was invented by Quakers who lived in Tottenham, in north London. One of the dorkiest things I might ever say, is that I’m in to Quakers. Growing up I went to a Friends School (a Quaker school) for 11 years. I’m not a Quaker, I’m not even religious, but the experience has stuck with me. As a kid, sitting in silence during Meeting (the Quaker religious ceremony) was really challenging, but as a teenager stressed about friends, boys, and college it was nice to have a place for quiet reflection. Quakers also value simplicity and equality. I find that simplicity has stuck with me somewhat when it comes to my wardrobe. In school the dress code meant to reflect simplicity, and didn’t allow us to wear a number of things, but what I remember most is that we couldn’t wear shirts with pictures on the front or crazy patterns. To this day, the majority of my shirts are solid colored. I have a Star Wars shirts and a few Washington Nationals shirts, but beyond that I always shop for solids.

Anyway, I have a soft spot for Quakerism. In some ways, Tottenham cake reflects Quaker values of simplicity and equality. The cake requires just five ingredients to make and the icing needs only two. It’s a really straightforward recipe with ingredients that everyone has. Also, it is meant to show equality. As a tray bake it is easy to cut up lots of pieces so everyone can have one. Originally, the bakers sold this cake for 1 penny and off-cuts for half that. The cake would have been available to pretty much anyone.

The pink icing is what makes Tottenham cake. Originally the pink was made from mulberries that were picked just outside the bakery. I’m not sure I’ve ever even seen a mulberry, or mulberry juice, so today people use pink food coloring or black currant juice. I found black currant juice easily here in the UK, but in the US I’m not sure that would be so easy. I bet you could use any similar dark red colored juice if you want that hint of berry flavor.

If you’re like me and thinking of breaking your health kick, then this cake might be right for you. It’s easy to make and will give your sugar fix. Then, it’s perfect to take around to friends or coworkers so you don’t eat it all yourself.

Adapted, just slightly, from Bake With Me Blog.

Messy level: Two spoons. I think most cakes are three spoon recipes at least because you ordinarily need two bowls and there’s so much flour that gets everywhere! For this, you’ll need two bowls, one for the cake and one of the icing, and your baking tray. Easy! Also the icing isn’t too messy because you’re only doing the top of the cake.

Tottenham Cake

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Bake With Me Blog

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Cake

• 6 oz/150g/12 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter
• 6 oz/150g/ ¾ cup caster sugar (in the US just use granulated)
• 6 oz/150g/ 1½ cups self-rising flour
• 3 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing

• 5oz/125g/1 heaping cup confectioners sugar
• 30 ml/ 5 teaspoons, water/black currant juice
• pink food coloring (only needed if you use water instead of juice)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350º/180ºC.
2. Line an 8"x8" square tin with parchment paper, then grease that with a bit of butter.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high, cream together the butter and sugar until it becomes a light and fluffy. This takes about 2 minutes, but you may need to clear your beaters intermittently to make sure everything gets mixed.
4. Add the vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.
5. Turn your mixer to low or medium-low and beat in the eggs, one at a time.
6. Once the eggs are mixed, turn the mixer to low and add in the flour all at once. Mix until just combined. It's ok if you have a few lumps!
7. Pour the batter into your prepared tin. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes. The cake is done with you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool.
9. While the cake is cooling prepare the icing. In a medium bowl, add the confectioners sugar. One teaspoon at a time add the blackcurrant juice or water and just a bit of food coloring. Mix in between each teaspoon. Keep adding liquid until your icing looks like proper frosting and is thick enough to spread but not so thick it would rip up the cake when you spread it on. (Note: you may not need all the liquid or you may need more, just mix until it feels right to you. If it gets to drippy, then add more sugar)
10. Let the icing sit for a minute it will harden and get shiny.
11. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

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1. Improve my decorating skills for baked goods (see my gingerbread meltdown and you’ll know why)
2. Create more recipes that are all my own
3. Redo my Puerto Rican arepas recipe.

Today we’re going to focus on number 2 and 3. If you’re not familiar with arepas you might wonder why that makes my resolution list. Well, I’ll tell you. Arepas are fried dough and you can eat them with rice, beans, chicken, and all kinds of good foods. They are absolutely delicious! For both 2013 and 2014, my Puerto Rican arepas post has been my most popular post. I don’t promote this post, I don’t even have great pictures, but when people Google for Puerto Rican areaps recipes they end up with me. I think it’s because Venezuelan arepas are most well known and there are so few clear recipes for Puerto Rican arepas. For example, I watched a YouTube video that was an older women just throwing ingredients into a large bucket and mixing it all together. It’s all in Spanish, but midway through she says she thinks it got botched. Not helpful. It looked authentic, but it wouldn’t have been easy to copy.

Anyway, my first attempt was in May 2013, and I was trying to emulate my grandmother’s recipe. That attempt tasted right, but didn’t look right. So, I tried again with a second arepa recipe in September 2013. This recipe looked right, but tasted too much like regular bread. So it’s been on my mind to try it again, but wasn’t much of a priority. But, the perfect moment to try again was this week while I was in Connecticut visiting my parents. I asked my dad to help me so we could try to recreate his mom’s recipe.

And we freaking did it ya’ll! Specifically, we ticked all our sense memory boxes – which is really the most important element. The arepas were golden in color, they smelled perfect, they were flaky when pulled apart, and they had big air bubbles perfect for filling with beans and rice. This is the ultimate arepas recipe. Is it really my grandmother’s recipe? I have no idea because I never saw her make them. And our memories were hazy. Did she knead the dough until smooth? Maybe, but I couldn’t get my dough there. Did she roll the dough into disks? No clue .When she let the dough sit, did it rise? We had no idea. So, it’s not my grandmother’s recipe, it’s mine, but with the flavors she taught us. And anyway, it made us feel the way hers did, and that’s probably most important.

A successful arepas recipe was cause for celebration. When I fried the first one and opened it, my parents went “WOW!” I’m serious, it was loud and genuine and awesome. So, to do it up right, my mom made rice, beans, and a roast chicken. We had a huge Puerto Rican feast. We stuffed the arepas, I stuffed my belly, and then I immediately fell asleep in front of the TV. I’ll say I’m starting the New Year off right.

Messy level: If you use a large bowl, this is not very messy at all. You need a very big bowl to make sure you can properly mix everything without having flour go flying. The real warning you’ll need is not about mess, but about muscle power. Your arms will be tired after all the kneading!

The Ultimate Puerto Rican Arepas

 

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Prep time

3 hours

Cook time

2 mins

Total time

3 hours 2 mins

 

Recipe for Puerto Rican arepas. This make a large quantity, but half or a quarter of a recipe can be made effectively. Any uncooked arepas can be stored in the fridge or freezer. Simply bring them back to room temperature before frying.

Serves: 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 8 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 heaping tablespoon salt
• 10 oz lard, cut into cubes
• 2½ cups room temperature water
• vegetable oil

Instructions

1. In a very large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Do this with your hands or a spoon.
2. Add the lard to the flour mixture. Use your fingers to break the lard up into little pieces. Massage the lard into the flour mixture until the lard is pea sized and the whole thing looks like sand.
3. A few tablespoons at a time, add the water too the flour mixture. In between each addition knead the water into the flour. You might not need all of the water! [This stage takes a long time and can be tiresome on your hands and arms. You can do it! I'm sure you can use a mixer with a dough hook, but I haven't tried it. And I think hammering it out by hand helps better channel abuela anyway. ]
4. As you use up the water, the flour will turn from sticky pieces to a dough. Knead the dough until it comes together in one large piece. If you don't know how to knead watch this tutorial. The dough is ready when it feels a little springy and you can roll it together into a ball. It won't be perfectly smooth or very stretchy and elastic.
5. Cover the dough with a warm damp towel and let sit for 1-2 hours.
6. When you're ready to cook, tear off balls the size of two golf balls.
7. Flour your work surface, then roll out the balls until you have discs about ¼ inch thick. Any balls you don't want to use can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for a few days. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and put in the freezer if you need to store them for longer.
8. Heat about ½ inch of vegetable oil in a skillet on high heat. Test if the oil is ready by taking a tiny ball of dough (size of a tic tac) and put it in the oil. If it sinks, then rises, and is surrounded by bubbles then your oil is ready.
9. Gently slide 1-3 arepas into your skillet. You don't want to over crowd! If you over crowd the oil will cool down and won't cook your arepas properly.
10. Cook on one side for about 30-45 seconds. It should sink, then rise to the top of the oil, then air bubbles should start to form. When you can see browning on the edges, flip the arepa over. Cook on the second side for about 30-45 seconds. Keep flipping until you have the desired golden color.
11. Keep working in batches of 1-3 arepas until you have cooked your desired amount.
12. Serve plain or with rice, beans, chicken, eggs or whatever you'd like to stuff inside.

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Do you know what a sugar plum is? And if you do know what it is, have you ever had one? My knowledge of sugar plums totals two things. First, from ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, I know that children have “visions of sugar plums dance in their heads,” when they go to sleep. And second, in the Nutcracker ballet there is a dance called The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I know literally nothing else about sugar plums, but then last week Ryan and I received a jar of sugar plum jam as a Christmas present and I decided to do some research. I also decided to use that jam to make thumbprint cookies. 

First, I went to Wikipedia and the article was a little confusing.  Then I found this article from The Atlantic. And what I gathered is that traditionally sugar plums have no actual plums in them! Sugar plums where a type of candy – and possibly difficult to make, special, and expensive. The article speculates on reasons why it’s called a sugar “plum” but comes to no definitive conclusion. Alas. But, my jam does have real plums in it so obviously time changes things. The jam also has orange and lemon juices and “spices.” The ingredients list doesn’t specify the spices, but it tastes like your usual holiday suspects – cinnamon and nutmeg.

If you haven’t tried sugar plum jam, I recommend it. It’s sweet and just the slightest bit tart in a way that reminds me of cranberry sauce. It’s lovely. I wouldn’t put it on a pb&j, but I’d use the jam on toast or baked on top of a wheel of brie. It also goes really well on this very buttery thumbprint cookie. The heavier rich flavor of the jam is a good complement to the soft and flaky cookie. It’s so nice – but feel free to use whatever jam you have. We also used some raspberry jam and that was really good too.

I think these are good sharing cookies. They are easy to make, look nice even when a little bit messy, and they taste delightful. Plus it’s so easy, make the dough, make a ball, flatten with your thumb, plop some jam on, and bake.

The recipe for the cookies comes from FoodNetwork.com

Messy level: Two spoons. This is your basic drop cookies where you need just two bowls and a baking sheet to complete this recipe. If you get crazy with the jam you might get some drips and spills, but in this case I think it adds to the cookies’ charm and can’t be counted as a real mess.

Thumbprint Cookies

 

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Serves: 2.5 dozen

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups/ 224 grams all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup/ 171 grams unsalted butter, softened
• ⅔ cup/ 134 grams caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• sugar plum jam, or jam of your choice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350/180°.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Using a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer with a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This takes about 5 minutes.
5. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until mostly incorporated. Then add the second half of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
6. Using your hands, or an ice cream scoop, make 1 inches balls of dough.
7. Place the balls of dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. These cookies spread A LOT!!
8. Use your thumb, or the back of a spoon, to make an indentation in the center of the cookies.
9. Spoon a dollop of jam into the indentation you just made. I didn't measure the amount of jam I used but think somewhere between ½-3/4 teaspoon.
10. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are just golden. Turn the baking sheet halfway through baking to ensure the cookies come out baked evenly.
11. Let them cool then eat with a cup of tea.

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I love gingerbread so much that over the summer I found gingerbread lip balm, bought it, and then saved using it until last week. Ya know, so I’d only use it “in season.” I also love a good gingerbread latte. Look how cute this one is from Costa Coffee! Ryan said the gingerbread man looks so happy, but he doesn’t know he’s about to be submerged in hot liquid. And of course gingerbread cookies for Christmas. This year, I want to try and make a gingerbread house from scratch. However, as much as I love gingerbread, I’d never had it in a bready-cakey form. Obviously, that had to be remedied so I made a gingerbread cake.

If you haven’t had gingerbread cake before, please try this recipe. It is so moist, even four or five days after making it. The batter is actually pretty liquidy when finished, so that probably contributes to its moistness. The best part though is that this cake is jam packed with flavor. It has Guinness (or whatever stout you prefer) and for me, that gives it “chocolate notes” without it actually having chocolate. I know that might sound like the pretentious sort of thing you say about wine, but there are flavors in the cake that remind me of the richness of chocolate. I also think the Guinness adds just a slight edge of bitterness, which is nice because it keeps the cake from being too sweet (which most holiday cakes are).

But, a lot of the flavor comes from the fresh and ground ginger, cinnamon, molasses, and pepper. I love this combination of flavors. It is warming, intense on my taste buds, and makes me feel like holiday cheer is nearby. This cake has real presence. This is not a cake you absentmindedly scarf down, and later can’t recall what it tastes like, but all you know is that your teeth are coated in sugar. This cake is different. This cake says hey, I’m here, step into Christmas. This is the cake that is so full of character and quality that you only need a small piece to feel happy, satisfied, and full of holiday spirit. Warning: If you serve this at a party, let people know what it is so they don’t expect a brownie and then end up with an unexpected (but awesome) flavor shock.

I recommend serving it with a cloud of whipped cream because the light sweetness helps mellow out the cake. Or, better yet. Cozy up on the couch with a blanket, your favorite movie, and a cup of herbal tea. I don’t think you could have a more relaxing and pleasant afternoon.

I got this recipe from KCET, a California TV station, but originally it comes from America’s Test Kitchen.

Messy level: Three spoons. For the batter you need a sauce pan, two bowls, and the baking pan. It’s a lot of dishes! Also, molasses is always messy and buttering and flouring a pan can lead to spills. It’s not a daunting mess – you won’t have a ruined counter or apron, but it’s definitely not a one bowl cake.

Gingerbread Cake

 

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Ingredients

• ¾ cup Guiness (or stout of your choice)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅔ cup molasses
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pan
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• powdered sugar (optional for dusting)
• whipped cream (optional, but highly recommended, for a side)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350/180°.
2. Butter and flour 8-inch square baking pan.
3. In a medium sauce pan, bring Guiness to boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
4. When it's come to a boil, remove from heat and stir in baking soda. The Guiness will foam up. When the foam stops, stir in molasses, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Stir until dissolved. It might like dissolved, but stir a bit more, I found the molasses deceiving.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking powder, salt, cinnamon.
6. Pour the stout mixture into a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, oil, and grated ginger into the stout mixture. (You can do this all in the sauce pan if you want, but I don't want you scratching your pan)
7. Take wet mixture and whisk it into flour mixture in thirds. Each time you add, stir until completely smooth before adding more.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap pan against counter 3 or 4 times to remove air bubbles. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean and the top should be a bit firm.
9. Cool cake in pan.
10. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if using. Then cut into squares and serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if using.

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Checkout woman (in reference to marshmallow fluff): What do you do with this? Put it on toast? I bought some and I don’t know how to use it.

Me: I’m going to use it for a cake. But, it’s good with a spoon straight from the jar.

Checkout woman says nothing and gives me weird look.

Me: You could also use it to make something like a smore with a digestive biscuit and piece of chocolate.

Checkout woman: Healthy.

And then I felt awkward like I had said something wildly inappropriate (and super American). But here’s the cultural difference part. Her go-to idea for marshmallow fluff was to put it on toast, and that is pretty English. Cheesy toast, beans on toast, boiled egg and soldiers – these are all ways the English use toast. I don’t have that many uses for toast. Obviously you can put it on toast, but I had never considered that before (but maybe I will now). And for me, I felt super American because it never occurred to me that a person wouldn’t know how to use fluff. Also, a spoon seems like a perfectly legit means of eating fluff. And why should a treat be healthy? Smores are an amazing American treat and great when turned into a cake.

For Ryan’s birthday I made Ryan a steak and mashed potato dinner and then we followed it up with this cake.  In making the cake, I did almost set off the smoke alarm. Here’s what happened: I tried to toast the mini marshmallows using the broiler. I put them in the oven and then after about a minute I looked at them and they weren’t even brown yet so I put them back in. I went to melt the marshmallow fluff and checked back in the oven. The marshmallows were puffed up, dark brown, and starting to smoke. I pulled them out, we fanned the smoke, and then threw them out. Oops. Accidents happen.

I had more marshmallows, I didn’t toast them, and the cake cake out really nicely. I lit candles, I sang, he made a wish, then we ate cake. And then we finished the whole cake in three days, because that’s how good smores flavors are. The chocolate cake is very dark and rich, so it’s nice as a loaf because you can indulge without having a huge slice. And the top is all smores with fluff, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham crackers (or in this case digestive biscuits). This cake ticks all the boxes for indulgent dessert because it’s rich, gooey, crunchy, chocolaty, and very sweet.

The cake recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen and the idea for the smores part comes from Kraft.

Messy level: This cake is pretty easy to put together, the messy part comes from the decoration. Marshmallow fluff is sticky and gets everywhere, so that’s the messiest bit.

Chocolate Smores Cake

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ of a tub (8oz) marshmallow fluff
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• about 4 digestive biscuits (or 2-3 sheets of graham crackers)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325/165°.
2. Butter and lightly flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
4. Add the sugars to the butter and beat until fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes.
5. Add the egg and beat well.
6. Then mix in the buttermilk and vanilla.
7. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together.
8. Slowly add the flour into the wet ingredients. Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not over mix.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
11. Remove the cake from its pan. Use the back of a wooden spoon and poke a few holes gently in the top of the cake.
12. Put the marshmallow fluff in a bowl and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
13. Remove the marshmallow fluff from the microwave and spread over the top of cake. Make sure you fill in the holes so the marshmallow drips into the center of the cake. Use the tip of the knife to encourage some of the fluff to drip tantalizingly down the side.
14. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.
15. Use your hands to crush up the biscuits/graham crackers. Crush them into some small crumbs and larger cookie shards. Sprinkle/arrange the cookies over the top of the cake. It should look a little messy but indulgent and amazing.

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Today’s recipe is all about the sides. Sometimes the sides are the best part of the meal. I love that in those home style American restaurants there is often a vast array of sides to choose from. If you don’t know what I mean, there are some restaurants where you order something like chicken, and then the dish comes with something like 2-3 sides and the options are numerous. Apple sauce? Green beans? Biscuits? Mashed potatoes? Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff.

My favorite place for sides is Cracker Barrel. For a little while while Ryan and I were dating we lived about an hour away from each other. Half way in between us was York, Pennsylvania and at exit 16A off of I-83 was a Cracker Barrel. If you’ve never been to Cracker Barrel please stop there sometime during your next road trip. It’s well worth it and, I think, an important example of Americana. Anyway, I’d drive north into Pennsylvania and he’d drive south towards the Maryland border and we’d meet at Cracker Barrel and have dinner and then go to the movies. We’d get raspberry lemonade and then something like a roast beef dinner or chicken ‘n dumplings (that’s ‘n not in). Those meals come with a choice of bread and two sides. Yum.

When it comes to sides Ryan and I are likely to choose cornbread and mashed potatoes and that’s why this recipe is so perfect. It’s a cornbread muffin topped with mashed potatoes. I used a piping bag to make the mashed potatoes look beautiful and give the impression of being like cupcake icing. I topped it all with a splash of hot sauce and a chicken nugget. All the best sides combined into one elegant savory cupcake. And let me tell you, it was epic. I thought this combo was going to taste good, but it is better than good. In fact, it is blow your taste buds off good.

I originally got this idea from Pinterest and a pin I saw from Teacher-Chef. However, she used boxed ingredients and I wanted to make this from scratch. The mashed potato recipe is mine and the cornbread recipe comes from Once Upon a Chef. I was initially worried that the cornbread was too sweet, but it was actually perfect. The sweetness of the cornbread matched with spicy hot sauce, creamy potatoes, and a crispy chicken nugget was perfection. Your taste buds will be delighted with a blast of varying flavors and textures. This cupcake will make you so darn happy. Amazing as an all-in-one side with dinner or as a snack while watching football.

Finally, I will admit that I did use frozen chicken nuggets. Making my own seemed like more work than I wanted to take on. If you’re better than me, you can totally make the nuggets from scratch. But, how ever you make the nuggets please PLEASE use the oven. It will make the nuggets crispy (the microwave will make them soft) and the crispiness really heightens the deliciousness of this cupcake.

 Messy level: Unfortunately this is pretty messy. The cornbread needs two bowls and a muffin pan. The mashed potatoes need a pot and a masher. Also piping the mashed potatoes is a messy pain in the butt! If you’re not trying to be fancy, just spread the potatoes with a knife! I ended up removing the bag and just using my finger to push the potatoes through the fluted piping tube. It looked pretty but my thumb was covered in potatoes.

Cornbread Muffins with Mashed Potatoes and Chicken Nuggets

 

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Serves: 12-15

Ingredients

Cornbread

• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp honey
• ¾ cup milk

Mashed Potatoes

• 2 lbs potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
• 6 tbsp milk
• 4 tbsp butter
• salt

Other

• 1 package of frozen chicken nuggets
• hot sauce

Instructions

Start with the Cornbread

1. Preheat the oven to 350/180°.
2. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.
3. Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a small bowl, break up the eggs with a whisk. Mix in the honey and then the milk.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Stir until just mixed. Don't worry if there are a few lumps.
6. Fill each of the muffin cups until almost full.
7. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until golden.
8. Remove from oven. Let them cool a bit while the potatoes are cooking and being mashed.

Now for the potatoes

1. Peel the potatoes.
2. Cut them in half so they are all about the same size.
3. Put them in a large pot and cover with cold water. Salt the water a little bit.
4. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. The potatoes are ready when they are soft but not breaking up on their own. (Try to get your potatoes cooking while the muffins are in the oven)
5. Drain out the water.
6. In the pot mash the potatoes until there are no lumps (or as best as you can, it's so tough!).
7. Add in 3 tbsp milk and 2 tbsp butter. Use the masher to mix it into the potatoes.
8. Add in the next 3 tbsp milk and 2 tbsp butter. Add a little salt to taste. Use the masher to mix it all together until smooth and creamy.
9. Taste the potatoes. Adjust butter and salt to your liking.
10. Let the potatoes cool a bit so you can handle them. Cook the chicken while you wait.

Finally for the chicken

1. Put the the chicken nuggets on a baking sheet.
2. Bake in the oven until cooked (according to the package instructions).

Assembly

1. Put the mashed potatoes into a piping bag (or just use a knife).
2. Pipe, or spread, the mashed potatoes on top of the cornbread muffins.
3. Splash a little hot sauce over the mashed potatoes so it drips down the sides.
4. Top with a chicken nugget.
5. Stuff your face.

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