Black Sesame Rice Krispies Treats

I really love sesame-flavored anything, so once I saw this recipe it became a must-make. The simplicity and ease have meant that it's been made at least a half dozen times since I discovered it - sometimes a half-batch is just a fun thing to have for the weekend.

Black Sesame Rice Krispies Treats 

Adapted from Eric Kim's recipe in NYT Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 6 tablespoons salted butter
• ¼ cup/38 grams black sesame seeds 
• 1 (12-ounce/340-gram) bag marshmallows (sometimes I use a 10oz bag because that's the size it comes in)
• 8 cups/210 grams Rice Krispies cereal

Method

1. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk solids at the bottom of the pan start to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add the sesame seeds. Cook, stirring constantly, until the seeds smell toasty, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the 2 teaspoons sesame oil.
3. Add the cereal and quickly stir until evenly coated. Immediately dump onto a piece of parchment paper. Use parchment paper to gently shape the treats into a rectangle.
4. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing into squares. The treats can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature.

Five spice crackle cookies

I have had a jar of Chinese five spice around for a while. Usually I use it on duck, but that isn't on regular rotation at home. When I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit I saved it immediately. It's a hit!

Five Spice Crackle Cookies

From Bon Appetit

Makes 16–18

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) salted butter
• ⅔ cup (packed; 133 g) dark brown sugar
• ½ cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
• 2 Tbsp. Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 2¾ cups (344 g) all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• ¾ cup (83 g) powdered sugar, sifted

Method

1. Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°. Cook ¾ cup (1½ sticks) salted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it foams, then browns, about 4 minutes. Immediately transfer to a large heatproof bowl, scraping in any brown bits stuck to bottom of pan. Add ⅔ cup (packed; 133 g) dark brown sugar, ½ cup mild-flavored (light) molasses, and 2 Tbsp. Chinese five-spice powder and whisk vigorously until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth and emulsified, about 2 minutes. (It will look oily at first, but keep whisking.)
2. Add 1 large egg yolk and 1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract; whisk vigorously until combined and slightly lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Add 2¾ cups (344 g) all-purpose flour, ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 tsp. baking soda and mix with a rubber spatula until a soft dough forms and no pockets of dry flour remain.
3. Place ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar in a small bowl. Using a #20 cookie scoop (about 3 Tbsp.) and working one at a time, scoop out portions of dough and roll into smooth balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar to thoroughly and generously coat, then divide between 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing at least 2" apart (about 9 per sheet). Roll dough balls in granulated sugar again to create an even, thicker layer and return to baking sheets. Freeze, uncovered, 15 minutes.
4. Place ¾ cup (83 g) powdered sugar, sifted, in a small bowl. Working quickly and one at a time, coat balls in powdered sugar, rolling and pressing in slightly between your hands to create an even, generous layer that covers the entire exterior (like you are making a snowball); place back on baking sheets, spacing at least 2" apart.
5. Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until puffed slightly and cracks have formed, 12–14 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets. (They will deflate a bit as they sit.

Pumpkin Bread

In a clearout of the pantry, 3 cans of pumpkin were uncovered. Why do we have so many? No idea. Thankfully, pumpkin bread is delicious. As usual, I've cut sugar, used the whole can of pumpkin and cut back on oil to balance the increased pumpkin. And a few spices were modified due to what I had on hand (pumpkin pie spice instead of a variety of warm spices in the original recipe). Delicious!

Pumpkin Bread

Adapted from Sally's Baking Recipes

Ingredients

• 170g all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

• 3/4 teaspoon salt 

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature 

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 50g whole wheat flour

• 100g granulated sugar

• 100g packed light or dark brown sugar

• 1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup orange juice

• 60g semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Method

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon. Grease a metal 9×5-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, oil, and orange juice. Pour these wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. There will be a few lumps. Do not over-mix. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, if including.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. This may be before or after 60–65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking every 5 minutes around the 55-minute mark.
4. Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and slicing.
5. Cover and store leftover pumpkin bread at room temperature for up to 3–4 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Tomato, Asparagus, And Herbed Ricotta Tart

Hey y'all. While lots of cooking has been happening here (pandemic, etc), I will freely admit that it has not been particularly inspired. More of a "what will get us fed somewhat healthily with a minimum of effort", which means nothing makes it onto the level of saving the recipe on this site. The discovery of this tart recipe was remarkable in that I had a lot of what was needed AND it sounded really different from our usual meals. I upped all the herbs by quite a bit, since I love them, and didn't use any garlic though I'm sure that would be a nice addition. I know the original recipe says it makes 6 servings, so don't be alarmed by A and I ate this whole thing, split between just the two of us. And I don't regret that decision at all.

Tomato, Asparagus, And Herbed Ricotta Tart

Adapted from Leite's Culinaria

Ingredients 

• One (9- to 11-oz) sheet puff pastry rolled to a 10- by 12-inch (25- by 30-cm) rectangle
• 12 ounces whole milk ricotta
• 1 3/4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) Parmesan cheese finely grated
• 1 medium sprig (about 10-12 leaves) fresh basil finely chopped
• 1/4 oz package of fresh chives finely chopped
• small bunch of flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, optional
• Zest of 1/2 or whole lemon 
• 5 ounces asparagus spears woody ends trimmed
• 1 medium tomato, sliced and seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large egg beaten
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Unroll the puff pastry onto the prepared baking sheet.
3. Using a sharp knife, score a 3/4-inch (2 cm) border around the edge of the pastry, being careful to not cut all the way through. Prick the pastry inside the border all over with a fork. This will help to stop it from puffing up in the oven.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta, garlic (if using), Parmesan, chopped herbs, and lemon zest, then season liberally.
5. Spread the ricotta mixture over the tart inside the border. Place the asparagus spears over the tart and dot around the tomatoes. Gently press down on the tomatoes so that they sink slightly into the ricotta mixture, brush lightly with olive oil.
6. Brush the pastry border with the beaten egg and bake until the pastry is golden and cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes. Season with pepper and serve.

Vegan Banana Muffins

For a person who hates bananas I sure have a lot of recipes for baked banana goods. This is mainly because I hate the smell of overripe bananas as much as I hate eating them, so when there are bananas going brown on the counter, I have to turn them into bread or muffins to get rid of them. Our vegan grocery shopping experiment in 2020 has resulted in a lack of eggs in the house, so after some Googling I found a recipe that I had most of the ingredients for, so kept tweaking it to work with the quarantine cupboard. A approved of the taste so I think it was successful!

Vegan Banana Muffins
Adapted from The Worktop

Ingredients

4 medium ripe bananas - mashed
1/2 cup water (or milk alternative)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups white flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, but any vinegar/lemon juice should be fine.)

For topping

1 tablespoon quick cooking oats
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line or lightly grease a standard 12-hole muffin tin.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, water, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and brown sugar. You can mix this by hand, or use a hand mixer on low speed. I usually use a hand mixer since I find that it quickly will mash/puree a ripe banana.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Stir in the vinegar.
5. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Top the muffins with the oats (and turbinado sugar if using).
6. Bake muffins, rotating pan halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25–30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let muffins cool in pan 5 minutes. Transfer muffins onto a rack and let cool completely.

Bon Appetit's Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia

Anyone still out there? I've been cooking the whole time, and have made some dishes that have become part of our heavy rotation in the last couple of years, but this blog definitely got pushed to the side. I still reference it a lot to pull up my favorite things to make - so as a personal recipe stash it is really performing its function well!

Now with all the time we have at home in this bizarro world, I've found myself thinking about making things that I would usually skip over, thinking they'd take too much time. Bread is certainly something that falls in this category - our usual homemade bread comes out of our handy little bread machine. But now! While I am still anti-kneading (I never feel like I have the right counter space, equipment, willingness to get super-messy, etc.) I am certainly ok with trying out no-knead recipes. This focaccia met the bill, and my neighbor's rosemary bush resulted in a slight tweak to the recipe since I associate focaccia with rosemary flavors.

Who knows how long we'll be staying at home - I might be able to keep track of time through how many batches of this I make though...

Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia
Adapted from Bon Appetit - the link has awesome step-by-step pics if you're new to baking

Ingredients

• 1 ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.)
• 2 tsp. honey
• 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for hands
• Enough butter to generously grease the baking pan
• Flaky sea salt
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Method

1. Whisk one ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.), 2 tsp. honey, and 2½ cups lukewarm water in a medium bowl and let sit 5 minutes (it should foam or at least get creamy; if it doesn’t your yeast is dead and you should start again—check the expiration date!).
2. Add 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour and 1 Tbsp. kosher salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms and no dry streaks remain.
3. Pour 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into a big bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. This puppy is going to rise! Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with a silicone lid or plastic wrap and chill until dough is doubled in size (it should look very bubbly and alive), at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. If you're in a rush, you can also let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 3–4 hours.
4. Generously butter a 13x9" baking pan, for thicker focaccia that’s perfect for sandwiches, or an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet, for focaccia that's thinner, crispier, and great for snacking (I used the 13x9" baking pan option as I was worried about the dough bubbling over the rimmed baking sheet). The butter may seem superfluous, but it’ll ensure that your focaccia doesn’t stick. Pour 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into center of pan. Keeping the dough in the bowl and using a fork in each hand, gather up edges of dough farthest from you and lift up and over into center of bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat process. Do this 2 more times; you want to deflate dough while you form it into a rough ball. (We learned this technique from Alexandra Stafford, who uses it to shape her no-knead bread.) Transfer dough to prepared pan. Pour any oil left in bowl over and turn dough to coat it in oil. Let rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm spot (like near a radiator or on top of the fridge or a preheating oven) until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours and up to 4 hours.
5. Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°. To see if the dough is ready, poke it with your finger. It should spring back slowly, leaving a small visible indentation. If it springs back quickly, the dough isn’t ready. (If at this point the dough is ready to bake but you aren’t, you can chill it up to 1 hour.) Lightly oil your hands. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out dough to fill (you probably won't need to do this if using a baking pan). Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, like you’re aggressively playing the piano, creating very deep depressions in the dough (reach your fingers all the way to the bottom of the pan). Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt and chopped rosemary. Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20–30 minutes.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

• 
  
• Apple Cinnamon Muffins
• Adapted from Allrecipes
• 
  
• Ingredients for muffins:
• 
  
• 1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (70 g) whole wheat flour
• 2/5 cup (75 g) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup (75 g) vegetable oil
• 1 egg

1/3 cup (82 g) milk

• 2 apples - cored and chopped
• 
  
• Ingredients for topping:
• 
  
• 1/4 cup (25 g) white sugar
• 1/4 cup (35 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (57 g) butter, cubed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups.
2. From the list of ingredients for muffins, stir together all-purpose and whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix in oil, egg and milk. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, stir together ingredients for the topping: sugar, flour, butter and  cinnamon. Mix together with fork and sprinkle over unbaked muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

I made a lot of adjustments from the original recipe - swapping out some whole wheat flour for white, cutting the sugar in the muffins, leaving the apple peels on, and halving the amount of topping. This makes muffins that are just sweet enough to be dessert, but could also be happily eaten for breakfast without feeling too guilty...

Jessica Koslow’s Carrot-Ginger Sesame Loaf

So A and I went to Squirl in LA in January, and really enjoyed the couple of things we ate there. I'm not sure I'd wait in a long line, but that might be due to my strong aversion to waiting for food. Anyway - spotted this cake and realised I had all the ingredients at home, aside from applesauce, so once that was obtained, we were ready to go! I used normal milk, but the original recipe said almond milk, making a vegan cake.

Jessica Koslow’s Carrot-Ginger (Black) Sesame Loaf

Adapted from Food52

Ingredients

1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil, plus more for the pan
250g all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
135g granulated sugar
145g packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (120ml) unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large carrots (200g total), coarsely grated
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds, plus more as needed (I used natural sesame seeds)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Brush the inside surfaces of an 8½ by 4½–inch (21.5 by 11–cm) loaf pan with a little oil. Dust with flour, tapping out any excess.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, almond milk, ginger, vanilla, and salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture, followed by the carrots, and finally the oil.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with the sesame seeds. You want it to be completely covered in seeds. Bake until the middle of the loaf has puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes.
5. Let cool completely in the pan before slicing. Store, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Coconut tahini cookies with candied ginger

I have all these ingredients on hand that I buy because certain food people tell me they are wonderful (coconut oil, tahini, etc.) and then I put them on my shelves and stare at them and am totally unclear on how to incorporate them into the every day food I make.

Thankfully, I read enough food blogs to get inspiration every once in a while - and Molly's blog on Coconut tahini monster cookies (with chocolate chips instead of ginger) made me run to my cabinets and check yup, I had everything except for the chocolate chips and toppings. A quick substitute of candied ginger and here we were, ready with cookies as a gift to our old neighbors in their new house. These are cakey cookies - lovely and soft and chewy. Next time I think I could cut the sugar a bit as I really don't have a sweet tooth, but they're pretty awesome as is, too.

Coconut tahini cookies with candied ginger
Adapted from My name is yeh

Ingredients

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 c melted virgin coconut oil, slightly cooled
1/2 c tahini
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tb vanilla extract
3/4 c candied ginger, chopped
1/2 c flaked unsweetened coconut (optional)
sprinkles, optional

Method

Preheat the oven to 350ºf and line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.

In another bowl, combine coconut oil and tahini. Whisk in sugar until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then mix in extracts. Finally, stir the flour mixture into the tahini mixture along with candied ginger.

Scoop cookie dough onto lined baking sheets, leaving a few inches between them for the cookies to spread. Top the dough with coconut and sprinkles if using.

Bake until the bottoms are lightly browned and the coconut is toasty, begin checking for doneness at 15 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes, and then remove to a rack to cool completely, or eat them warm.

Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake in One Bowl

I love the UK method of doing most baking recipes by weight as you can just add ingredients straight into the bowl without dirtying loads of measuring cups and whatnot.

A requested a yogurt cake, he has fond memories of this one, but as soon as I saw the Barefoot Contessa had a recipe I had to try that one out.

So here we go:

Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake in One Bowl
Adapted from Food Network

Makes one loaf sized cake

Ingredients

210g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
245g plain whole-milk yogurt
225g sugar for cake, plus 1/3 cup sugar for syrup
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
75g vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze (optional):
1 cup confectioners' (or icing) sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease a loaf tin. You can line with parchment paper if you like, but I use a silicone tin so never bother with that step.

Combine yogurt, 225g sugar, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk well until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt and whisk well to combine until smooth. Fold in vegetable oil until combined.

Pour batter into loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.

Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup - combine 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup lemon juice in a small pan (that was roughly 2 lemons worth of juice, which works well with the number needed for zesting). Heat and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.

Let cake cool for about 10 minutes, but while it is still warm, poke some holes in the cake with a tester or skewer, pour the lemon syrup over the cake and let it soak in. Cool completely.

For the glaze, which is optional, combine icing sugar and lemon juice, then drizzle over the cake.

Muesli and banana muffins

It is not unusual for us to have a banana lying about the kitchen, all brown and mottled and overripe. I don't eat bananas, and even A's love of bananas doesn't stretch to the squishy ones, so the more ways I have of using them up, the better.

There was also a spare bag of bircher muesli sitting around so a quick search for banana muesli muffins turned up this recipe. I halved it and tweaked as I only had butter, so here's my modified (but still tasty) recipe using ingredients I usually have in the house. This made 9 moderately sized muffins.

Muesli & Banana Muffins

Adapted from The Crazy Kitchen

Ingredients

90g Self Raising flour
60g Muesli
1/2 tsp Baking powder
25g Caster sugar (I used golden)
1 banana
1 egg, beaten
40g butter, melted
75ml milk
sprinkle of cinnamon

Method

1. Mix the flour, muesli, baking powder & caster sugar together.
2. Mix the banana, eggs, butter & milk into the dry ingredients - do not over mix, it should be lumpy. Sprinkle cinnamon over the mix and stir in.
3. Divide mixture between muffin cases.
4. Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for 18-20 minutes.

Feta and Scallion Tart

UPDATE: It's now over two years since I first posted this and it's become a go-to staple whenever I have feta and spring onions in the house. Some edits below to reflect how I usually make this.

I love the idea of a super quick "pizza" at home, and all I needed in addition to things in my cupboard were feta and scallions, so it was a simple decision to make this. I have seen people suggest adding vodka to pastry before - apparently it evaporates very quickly and keeps the pastry tender? - but may have to try this once without vodka to determine whether it is a significant addition. I always make it without vodka now - no noticeable difference. Also, I think maybe my sheet pan is smaller than the one the recipe calls for - 1/4 cup of olive oil meant the tray was swimming in it, and I think the temperature for the oven is too high as well as it quickly meant that smoke was billowing out of the oven and I almost asphyxiated A and myself. Also I no longer use the olive oil coating on the sheet pan. Just some parchment paper works fine. I also skipped the butter as I had issues with topping feta with butter. And never bother with the butter either. Thankfully the end result was fantastic (having the leftovers tonight, in fact) so I am going to tweak this and make it again, even though the original recipe was a bit of a disaster. New recipe is anything but a disaster!

Feta and Scallion Tart

Serves 4

Adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup (245g) water
1 egg
1 1/4 cups (160g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Kosher salt
200g crumbled feta
4 scallions, thinly sliced

Method

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 200C / 395F. In a large bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons olive oil, water, and egg and whisk until everything is evenly incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together flour and baking powder. Gently whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until a batter forms, making sure to whisk out all the lumps.

Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour batter onto sheet pan, tilt so it coats most of the pan, and sprinkle with feta and scallions. Bake until feta is beginning to brown and crust is crisp and golden, about 25 minutes. Sometimes if the bottom isn't crisp enough when I take it out, I take it off the sheet pan and pop it directly on an oven rack for a few more minutes, like you'd do with an oven baked pizza. Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Other things I have thrown on top - frozen peas, parmesan, rocket, etc. I've never tried any meat products as I quite like having a quick veggie option at home, but I don't see why any cured meats such as pepperoni / salami / prosciutto wouldn't work well (you might need to add it a little later in the baking time so it doesn't burn though).

Buttermilk Biscuits with Green Onions, Black Pepper, and Sea Salt

I made these once a long time ago and loved them (and so did everyone else, judging by the speed by which they were consumed). So no picture, sorry, but I wanted to post this so I have it for posterity.

Buttermilk Biscuits with Green Onions, Black Pepper, and Sea Salt

Ingredients

3/4 cup chilled buttermilk
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper plus addition for sprinkling
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tbsp melted butter
coarse sea salt

Method

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425F / 220C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. 

2. Combine buttermilk and green onions in medium bowl. 

3. Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper in large bowl to blend. Add 1/2 cup chilled butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk mixture and stir until moist clumps form. 

4. Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead gently just to combine, about 3 to 4 turns. Roll out to 3/4 inch thickness. 

5. Using floured 2-inch cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. Reroll scraps and cut out additional rounds. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter. Sprinkle each lightly with coarse sea salt and ground black pepper.

6. Bake biscuits until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lemon Almond and Polenta Cake

Yet another cake recipe that makes use of bits I have floating around the cupboards, such as ground almonds and cornmeal/polenta. Nigella's recipes haven't failed me yet - she's brilliant for the home cook. While I made the stupid mistake of leaving out the lemon zest from the cake batter, I just stirred it into the lemon syrup at the end and think everything still turned out alright, though I'd recommend sticking with the original recipe here.

Lemon Almond and Polenta Cake
Adapted from Nigella.com
 
Ingredients

for the cake
200 grams soft unsalted butter 
200 grams caster sugar
200 grams ground almonds
100 grams fine polenta (or cornmeal)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 
3 large eggs
 
for the syrup 
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
100 grams icing sugar (originally calls for 125 but I only had 100 and it was sweet enough)
 
Method

1. Line the base of a 23cm / 9inch springform cake tin with baking parchment and grease its sides lightly with butter. I used a 10 inch silicone round cake tin as it's what I had.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/ 350°F.
3. Beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, either by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon, or using a freestanding mixer.
4. Mix together the almonds, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.
5. Finally, beat in the lemon zest* and pour, spoon or scrape the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. (If you use smaller tin, and your cake is thicker, it may be closer to 40 minutes, as in original recipe.)
6. It may seem wibbly but, if the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out cleanish and, most significantly, the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the tin. remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in its tin.
7. Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon zest*, lemon juice and icing sugar in a smallish saucepan.
8. Once the icing sugar’s dissolved into the juice, you’re done.
9. Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester (a skewer would be too destructive), pour the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool before taking it out of its tin.

*As mentioned, I would include the lemon zest in the batter in step 5 rather than in the syrup in step 7. But when I made it, I had to put the zest in step 7 due to my earlier mistake, which is why it is written out this way.

Moist Apple Loaf Cake

Our neighbors have a massive apple tree that always has a few branches drooping into our yard. I grabbed two apples today and wanted to make something not-too-sweet-just-sweet-enough, that was more apples than not. Also, I'm always on the lookout for one bowl recipes. This fit the bill perfectly, and was exactly what I wanted, especially after a few tweaks. I added a bit of cornmeal for texture in the loaf, and subbed golden caster sugar for the mix of brown and white that the original recipe called for. And voila, a moist full-of-apple loaf that is also a cake.

Moist Apple Loaf Cake

Adapted from Bestrecipes

Ingredients
1½ cups self-raising flour
1 level teaspoon cinnamon
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3/4 cup golden caster sugar
2 large or 3 medium apples, diced (I left the peel on)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Method

1. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and spice together and stir through sugar. Make a well in centre, add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly.

2. Pour into a greased round cake tin.

3. Cook at 180°C for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Almond, polenta, orange and cardamom cake with honey and citrus syrup

A's brother T got married in Wales, and as part of the festivities guests were asked to supply cakes for a cake table. I needed something that would travel well and keep for a couple of days as I wasn't sure I'd have time to bake something on the day. This looked perfect for the gluten-free guests - a dense cake with some interesting spice to it (a little nod to T's time in India) and with the delicious nubbly crumb that almonds and polenta create. It's not the most beautiful cake to look at, but its fine eating qualities make up for it!

Almond, polenta, orange and cardamom cake with honey and citrus syrup
Adapted from Dan’s recipe which is in turn adapted from Nigel Slater‘s recipe in the Observer

Ingredients

220 g butter
220 g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
zest and juice of a unwaxed orange
300 g ground almonds
150 g polenta
1 tsp baking powder
12 green cardamom pods
for the glaze: juice of two oranges, two lemons and 4 tablespoons of honey

Method

Line the base of the cake tin with a piece of baking parchment. Set the oven at 180° C/350 F.

Cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. You can do this by hand or in a mixer. Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat them lightly with a fork, then stir into the mixture. Carefully grate the zest and then squeeze the juice from the orange. Add both the zest and the juice to the mixture. Mix the ground almonds, polenta and baking powder together, then fold into the mixture.

Crush the cardamom pods and extract the little black seeds, grinding them to a fine powder. Add the spice to the cake mixture.

Transfer the cake mixture to the lined tin and smooth the top level. Bake for 30 minutes, turn down the heat to 160 C for a further 25 minutes or until the cake is firm.

To make the syrup, squeeze the lemon and orange juice into a stainless steel saucepan, bring to the boil and dissolve in the honey. Keep the liquid boiling until it has formed a thin syrup (4-5 minutes).

Spike holes into the top of the cake (still warm and in its tin) with a skewer then spoon over the hot citrus syrup. Leave to cool, then lift out of the tin.

Bread Pudding

For a New Orleans-themed dinner, I did a bit of searching through cooking sites and found one dedicated to recipes from some of New Orleans' finest restaurants. This bread pudding recipe by Pascal's Manale sounded exactly right as a finish to the menu, but it made enough to serve 15, so I cut it in half and also threw in some dried cranberries when I didn't have quite enough raisins. It was absolutely devoured (especially by S, who said bread pudding was his favorite dessert ever), even though we were all stuffed from the main course, so I'm going to call it a massive success. 

Bread Pudding
Adapted from Pascal's Manale

Ingredients

1.5 Loaves French Bread
215g Raisins
950ml Whole Milk
115g Sugar
5 Eggs
115g Melted Butter
3 tbs Vanilla Extract

Method

Cut French bread into cubes. Pour milk on French bread. Let milk soak into bread. Add the remaining ingredients to French bread mixture. Mix with hand until blended evenly. Pour mixture into ungreased pan.

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Makes 15 or more servings.


Brandy Butter Topping

Ingredients

3 tbs Brandy
225g butter
225g sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract

Method

Let butter sit at room temperature until very soft. Add the remaining ingredients and blend with mixer until smooth. Pour over bread pudding.

Chewy Coconut Macaroons

For some reason I bought a giant bag of desiccated, unsweetened coconut a while back. Every time I looked at my baking shelf, it was there staring at me, so I finally did something about it and made macaroons. If you like chewy, sweet cookies that seem to be entirely made out of coconut, then these are for you. I found them a tad sweet so would probably reduce the amount of sugar next time around.

Chewy Coconut Macaroons

Adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 325F / 160C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spread your shredded coconut on a cutting board and coarsely chop it with a knife to break up the larger shreds of coconut.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Add in shredded coconut and stir with a spatula until well moistened.

Place level 1/4 cup scoops of the coconut mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Pack the macaroons together with your fingers (forming the mix into pyramid shapes is very attractive, but mounds of macaroon are just as tasty!)

Bake for about 20 minutes, until macaroons are golden brown around the edges (time will vary slightly by size of the cookies). Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 10 large macaroons.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

So I got a cookbook for my birthday at work a couple of years ago - the GoodFood cookbook, to be precise. When it came time for my coworker's birthday, I thought it would be a nice touch to make a cake from the book. But little did I know that my baking skills were not quite up to the level required. This cake is a bastardization of the chocolate curl cake in the book - there was absolutely no way I was going to be trimming the cake with chocolate curls and stripes - so what I ended up with was the messy cake above (but it still tasted pretty nice, though it could have been more moist...)

Chocolate Birthday Cake
Adapted from the chocolate curl cake recipe in the GoodFood cookbook

Ingredients

For the cake:
200g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
200g caster sugar
200g butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tbsp milk
6 tbsp apricot jam, warmed (I used strawberry as it was what I had on hand)
Sprinkles or whatever else you want to decorate with

For the chocolate cream:
150g bar dark chocolate
142ml tub double cream

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan. Grease a deep  round 20 cm cake tin. Beat the flour, cocoa, baking powder, sugar, butter and eggs together until everything is mixed, then stir in the milk.

2. Spoon into the tin, level the top, then bake for 45-50 minutes. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

3. Split the cake in half and sandwich back together with half the jam. Brush the tops and sides with the remaining jam.

4. For the chocolate cream, break up the chocolate. Bring the cream almost to the boil, then, off the heat, stir in the chocolate until smooth. Cool until spreadable, then spread over the top and sides of the cake. Add sprinkles or decorations if using.

No Knead Bread

I can't believe I'm writing about this six years after the recipe was first published, but that is just how long it's taken me to get my planning cap on. And of course, like everyone who's done it has said, it's so easy once you figure out what time of day to start the thing, and when you'll be able to finish it.

Because I tend to use weights now when I bake (no messy measuring out cups of flour, just dump straight into mixing bowl!) I'm writing down the recipe using weights. However, for the smaller ingredients (yeast and salt) I find it easier to use teaspoon measurements as I'm not always confident that my scale will tell me exactly when I've measured out a single teensy tiny gram of something.

Original recipe is here. Guidance on some improvements and tweaking is here.

No Knead Bread
From the great Mark Bittman, who adapted it from Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bread

Ingredients


430 grams of flour
345 grams of water
1 gram of yeast  (1/4 tsp)
8 grams of salt (1 1/4 tsp)

Method

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add the water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. [Note: I did this and it totally stuck to my towel, even with a lot of flour. So I'd try parchment paper next time, I think.] Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450F / 235C. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.