What do I do with *that*? Nutmeg Grater Edition

Pinot update: Our sweet little doggie is already doing much better! I don't want to jinx it, but he's even walking a bit (with guidance and watchful eyes) on his own. Thank you, everyone. The words of encouragement have been truly treasured.

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Now that we're married, and setting into our blissful domesticity, I'm trying to figure out how to make use of several un-asked-for gadgets that could not be returned. It seems a golden opportunity to explore Halloweeniness in the everyday.

First on our list: the Nutmeg Grater (mine is much more plastic than that in the picture).

Receiving a nutmeg grater is an invitation into the world of truly delicious pumpkin recipes, because it is a perfect compliment to that special gourd that we all cherish -- and let me tell you, from someone who never liked nutmeg, you just can't top fresh nutmeg over the stuff you find on the spice aisle. It smells better, it tastes better, and you end up with a finer texture that all but disappears in your baking.

My first nutmeg grater project is PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST FOR TWO (or pumpkin toast casserole, because this is really more of a baking experiment). You will need:

• bread (I always use that is in danger of going old before it gets eaten) -- french bread loaves or brioche are the ideal here; enough to line a smallish casserole dish
  
• Canned Pumpkin (1 cup -- not the pie filling stuff)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cream (or half and half)
• 3 tbl. brown sugar
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I only used a 1/4, but then it's not my favorite flavor)
  
• 1 pinch salt
• NUTMEG + your Nutmeg Grater (this is to taste, but I would recommend somewhere between a pinch and 1/2 tsp). Grate it. Smell it. Love it.
  
• 3 large eggs
• Toasted Pecans (optional)

Line your casserole dish bottom with the bread. I leave mine in thick slices, but if you would prefer a more casserole-y experience, you could break it into large pieces.

Mix all the other ingredients (everything but the bread, eggs, and pecans) in a medium or large bowl. The resulting mixture will be a thick liquid.

Fold your eggs into the pumpkin mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour evenly over your toast in the casserole dish.

Place in the fridge overnight.

Bake for 30 minutes at 425^oF. Serve sprinkled with toasted nuts; having real whipped cream and warm maple syrup on the table for your spouse or loved one is bonus points.

This recipe is subtly sweet if you don't use syrup, and it reminds me of what would happen if you tried to balance pumpkin pie and bread pudding in a breakfast meal. Yumminess.

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Did you receive any wedding or Christmas gifts you don't know what do with? Let me know and I'll try to figure something out. creepy.cupcakes@yahoo.com

Berries-n-Scream Cake

Check it out: that is not my cake; the cake you see to your right belongs to CookingLight. My cake hasn't been assembled yet and I doubt I'll get a picture before they slice it's gooey little heart open at my cousin's baby shower.

That's right, you friend Carrie Mae was commissioned for a baby shower cake! Wait, no, that's wrong... commission would imply I am getting paid. Which I'm not, except it the fulfillment of doing something nice for my family and hopefully coming out of the experience with a recipe I can use again.

Anyway, when I saw this recipe in the most recent CookingLight magazine (thank you future-mother-in-law for the subscription) I cut it out and said "Ooo! A strawberry cake is perfect for that shower!" and promptly misplaced the torn-out page. Which turns out to be fortuitous, because looking it up on the internet I saw all the horrible things people had to say about the recipe and was able to make adjustments.

Problems with the original recipe, according to angry internet bakers:

• Ewww, it's too dense
• Yuck, it tastes more like flour than strawberry!
• The icing is the best part - the cake is dense and flavorless
• It's barbie-pink

Well, we can't be having that. I have a newly acquired reputation for being one of the top bakers in the family -- and until recently I was branded the most hopeless. Dammit, I can make cakes and I'm not going to have the family thinking otherwise! But I want a strawberry cake, so we'll just have to mess with it some to add a bit of flavor...

Here's my adjusted recipe, complete with suggestions:


Ingredients

Cake:
* 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
* juice of half a lemon
* 1 tsp triple sec
* 1 tsp sugar
* 10 ounce cake flour - weigh it. seriously.
* 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 3/4 cup butter, softened
* tsp. vanilla extract
* 1/4 tsp. brandy flavoring
* 2 large eggs - ROOM TEMPERATURE
* 2 large egg whites
* 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
* 1/4 cup whole milk

* extra butter and all-purpose flour for greasing and lightly dusting your pans (it helps the cake come off easier, believe me)


Frosting:
* 1/3- 1/2 cup cream cheese
* 1/3 cup butter, softened
* 1 tablespoon Triple Sec/Grand Marnier
* 1 tablespoon orange juice
* 3 cups powdered sugar

Berry Mixture (completely my addition) - or the berry flavored jam of your choosing
* 1 cup strawberries
* 1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (to taste)
* handfull of blueberries
* juice of 1/2 a lemon
* tablespoon of orange juice
* splash triple sec


Making It

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Pour tsp sugar, lemon juice, tsp triple sec over sliced strawberries for half an hour. Place strawberry mixture in a food processor; process until smooth.

3. Sift flour onto the scale. Sift again into a bowl with baking powder and salt. Sift again, if you're feeling feisty.

4. Place granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and brandy flavoring. Beat in egg whites. Add flour mixture and buttermilk+milk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add pureed strawberries; beat just until blended.

5. Divide batter between 2 (8-inch... or did I use 9-inch?) round cake pans coated with butter and completely, but lightly, dusted with all-purpose flour. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with just little crumbs on it (the toothpick should not have wet batter on it). Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

6. Puree all berry mixture ingredients, then boil them over medium heat until reduce be half. Let cool, completely if you have the patience but at least until close to room temperature.

7. To prepare frosting, place cream cheese, 1/3 cup butter, and liqueur in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, and beat just until blended.

8. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; pipe a ring of frosting around the edge. Fill with berry mixture, but don't overfill. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake.


The cake that comes out of all of this has a good flavor - a berry good yet light flavor. The cake itself is moist and dense, but not floury. If anything it is buttery - with a sweet hint of strawberry taste that is not overwhelming but definitely present - and a texture something like if apple cake, pound cake, and good wedding cake could have a baby together.

The icing is pretty good, but the goo in the middle (the berry mixture) is to die for. It ties all the flavors together nicely, and has a jam consistency. Honestly, though, the ingredients I list above might not be quite right -- I actually started with a grossly sweet strawberry puree that the husband-to-be made for ice cream awhile back. One of the few things he's ever made I found inedible; I added lemon juice, orange juice, and blueberries to make it palatable and the result was kind of like a berry jam. You could substitute such a thing if you wanted. ;)

p.s. that super-moist cake is hard to work with, but not unmanageable - overcooking it slightly (i.e. letting the toothpick come out clean) might be a good thing with this cake.

[edit: just finished decorating! Sappy picture after all ... though not of the inside. This is going to be one gooey cake; hope my family doesn't mind.

When I pulled out the parchment paper after decorating it, it was coated with some sticky bits of cake and icing - it's like eating a strawberry short cake that's been blended and baked - I liked it lots]

The Vanishing Blog

I'm not really going anywhere (unlike some people), I just feel like I am. It's been abysmally hard to keep up with the blogging these last weeks. So here is where my time is wisping off to lately:

1. work. OMG work. So. Much. Work.
2. Wedding; did you know they actually expect the bride to make guest lists, register for things, look at flowers, and go to bridal showers? I guess I'm getting close enough to the Overwhelming Day that these things are starting to bite me on the ass.
3. Exercise. ...Okay, this one is new. I went to the doctor yesterday and found out I'm fiddley-fit; except for that cholesterol thing. My doctor wants me to exercise more and take fish oil for the Omega 3 it provides. Yay.
4. Writing. This is the cheatiest thing on the list, as I have not been doing it consistently. The truth is, I'm creatively stifled and I want to start writing again in my free time. I am determined to write and finish writing a book, at least one, just to do it. To best the overwhelming apprehension that I might, in fact, suck at something I care about - and be okay with that failure.
   

So that's what's what. I'll have to interrupt that sh*t and find some more time to blog.