Salted Whiskey Caramels & A New Cookbook

I think technically to review a cookbook, you need to have a fancy (profitable) blog that strangers (people other than obligated family members) read and the writers of the cookbook send you an advanced copy before it's publicly released. But I think for those of you who actually do read my blog (I love you, guys. I really, really do), I think you'll enjoy the latest edition to the Baked cookbook collection, too: Baked Elements.

Instagram-ish

This cookbook is the third in a spectacular collection from the owners of Baked in Brooklyn. Its entire focus is the 10 basic ingredients around which the Baked duo create many of their favorite desserts . . . and nearly every recipe looks completely scrumptious. These guys have a way of describing food that any food blogger or cookbook writer would be envious of. Each recipe is written like a blog post, with an entire paragraph devoted to its creation, or a detailed description, or a cute anecdote about how and why it is so well-loved. Seriously, you will even be drooling over the recipes that don't include pictures--and this is coming from the girl who chooses cookbooks based on how many pictures they have (Oh, Alice . . .)

Even though I love every well-chosen ingredient on which an entire chapter is based (there is a whole chapter on peanut butter!!) , I particularly love the chapter on booze . . . You see, like me, Matt and Renato live by the philosophy that nearly every recipe can improved by adding alcohol. I can't even describe to you the amount of times I've been baking and have asked myself the question, "you know what would make this better? Bourbon." Hence these bourbon-spiked caramels I made.

This recipe doesn't come from my new cookbook (though the second Baked cookbook, Baked Explorations, has a fantastic caramel recipe), in fact, I made these before receiving my new book book, but it only seemed right to include a recipe involving an ingredient which the Baked duo dubbed as worthy of its own chapter. I hope you get to experience both--the cookbook and the caramels--they are both truly fantastic.

Salted Whiskey Caramels
Makes about 3 dozen
adapted from Ina Garten's recipe here

3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 cups heavy cream
10 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup bourbon
4 oz good-quality dark chocolate (I used Valrhona)
Fleur de Sel or other high-quality salt (I used pink Himalayan salt)

Line a 9x13" baking pan with parchment paper and grease with oil.

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup water. Boil the mixture until it's golden brown. You can swirl the pan occasionally but don't allow the caramel to splash up the sides (avoid stirring).

In the meantime, heat the heavy cream, butter, and salt over medium heat, just until it simmers. Remove from heat.

Slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and swirl occasionally until mixture reaches 248 degrees F (be patient, it may take awhile). Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and bourbon. Be careful, the mixture will bubble.

Carefully (Seriously, it's hot) pour the mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate until firm. Invert the caramel-filled parchment onto a clean surface and cut the caramel into squares. Before you separate the caramels, melt chocolate (I just put chocolate into a sandwich or plastic pastry bag and microwave at 15 second intervals until it's melted) and, cutting off the corn of the bag, drizzle in a diagonal over the cut caramels. Sprinkle with salt. Allow chocolate to cool before separating caramels.

Keep in the refrigerator and allow to sit out at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving, preferably alongside a small glass of bourbon.

The Brass Ring: Gluten-Free Biscuits

Some days, I want nothing more than to make something comfortable, something I've made 1,000 times before that turns out perfectly. And then there are some days when I feel like kicking some gluten-free baked good ass. These biscuits are a result of one of those days.

I woke up one morning recently thinking about biscuits. And then I realized that biscuits may not be a possibility, which made me angry. I tend to stay away from anything that is so intensely flour-based and have few other ingredients to rely on (puff pastry, croissants, etc.). But this day I was feeling determined. 

I did a lot of research on biscuits, both gluten-free and not, and found that every gluten-free recipe contained eggs as a binder. I wanted to stay away from eggs because of a friend with the allergy. So, I decided to pull out my favorite Martha Stewart Cookbook, and high-quality gluten-free flour (I used Cup4Cup) and got mixing, hoping for the best. Instead of using buttermilk, I used a thicker kefir, which gave both great flavor and enough moisture to keep them together.

When I pulled them out of the oven and saw the perfectly fluffy layers, I knew that I had obtained the brass ring, achieved a master feat: I had made lovely and delicious gluten-free biscuits. And I was thrilled.

Gluten-Free Biscuits

adapted from Martha's American Food

makes about 12

2 1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold salted butter + 2 tablespoons melted butter to use after baking

1 cup kefir (I used goat's milk kefir. You can also use buttermilk)

rice flour, for rolling out dough

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet or lay a piece of parchment on it.

Stir together the dry ingredients. Cut butter into small cubes and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter (seriously, use a pastry cutter. You don't want the butter to get too warm). Work in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in kefir or buttermilk by hand.

Dust clean surface with rice flour (you can also use GF AP flour but rice flour is cheaper). Roll out dough into a disk that is about 3/4 in thick. Cut out dough with a 2-in round cookie/biscuit cutter and place rounds on prepared baking sheet.

Bake biscuits about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter. Serve warm (preferably with a bit of jam or honey).

Browned Butter Jam Muffins

This summer has been filled with so many foodie experiences and I've realized how very important it is to enjoy food as it is seasonal. 

Last weekend, I decided to take a 4-day weekend and stay in Salt Lake to do some of the things I never get to do. I got to go to the craft fair, try a new restaurant or 2, and go to the local farmer's market for the first time in the 3 summers I have lived here. Coming home with our bounty of fresh and local peaches, plums, and strawberries, my friend, Stephanie, and I decided to try another first--canning.

Here, you will not find a recipe for the strawberry-plum jam we made because, frankly, it makes my head hurt to even explain the time-consuming process of canning, but you will find a recipe for some lovely browned butter muffins topped with jam. 

For this recipe, you can use whatever jam you like, store-bought, even. They will be lovely either way. If you do decide to make your own jam, however, you can make about a cup's worth, using about half of it for these muffins and refrigerating the other half for up to two weeks, to use at your leisure, not having to worry about processing it. If interested, the jam recipe we used is from the August 2012 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Whatever you choose, I encourage you to take advantage of the season, soaking in the last drops of summer and its wonderful fruit, while you still can.

Browned Butter Jam Muffins

Makes 9-10 muffins

1/2 cup butter

1 c gluten-free all-purpose flour

3/4 c gluten-free oat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

about 1/2 cup jam

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 9 or 10 standard muffin tins or line with paper baking cups.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue cooking, swirling the pan every so often, until the mixture turns golden brown and has a nutty aroma. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, stir together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the the dry mixture. Place browned butter, milk, egg, and vanilla in the well and whisk together quickly. Stir entire mixture together just until combined. Do not over-mix.

Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin pans. Bake about 20 minutes, until muffins are puffy and golden brown. Remove from oven. Spoon a bit of jam over hot muffins. Cool.

Cherry Crumble

I have a confession: I am cherry obsessed. I will have a full bag of cherries on my counter at home, but then I go to the grocery store and cherries will be on sale for $.99 ($.99!!) and I buy more. A person can only eat so many cherries right out of the bowl, so I've had to think of recipes into which I can incorporate cherries . . . a lot of recipes. I've thrown them into pies, cheesecakes, cake toppings (you'll see). Heck, I even threw some into an arugula salad with chocolate last week and, you know what? It was darn good. But, even better than their incorporation into a salad, is the cherry's use in this delicious cherry crumble.

This cherry crumble is light and sweet and a perfect way to use sweet summer cherries. It is all the better if you pick yourself up some vanilla bean ice-cream (I recommend Tillamook) to accompany it on these hot summer days we've been suffering through (enjoying?).

Cherry Crumble
makes one 8"x8" pan

1 1/2 cups certified gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup gluten-free baking and pancake mix
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter (or coconut oil, if vegan), at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 lb fresh cherries, stems removed and pitted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir together oats, baking mix, and brown sugar. Cut in butter or oil (I just used my hands), until mixture resembles large crumbs. Press 2/3 of the mixture in an 8"x8" baking pan.

In a separate bowl, toss cherries in vanilla extract. Place in an even layer over crust. Sprinkle with the remaining crumb mixture.

Bake 20 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or at room temperature alone.

Honey + Orange Madeleines

Sometimes foods can take you to another place. There are the foods that bring you to places you remember from your childhoods, and then there are the foods that bring you to places you have only imagined. For me, these perfect little French cookie/cakes have me dreaming of sitting on the Champs-Élysées while Proust writes on the next bench over. I love that about food, it's ability to take you someplace else. These little madeleines have the perfect citrus-sweet flavor balance, and will hopefully take you away, too :)

Honey and Orange Madeleines
makes 24
adapted from Martha Stewart: Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel
orange glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt butter on low heat. Once melted, let sit over heat one minute more. Remove from heat. Remove 1/4 cup of the butter from the pan and use it to brush a 24-mold madeleine pan. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Whisk eggs until foamy, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the honey and vanilla. Whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup melted butter. Fold mixture into flour mixture. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

Divide batter evenly between prepared madeleine pans, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until the cakes are crisp and golden around the edges, 8-9 minutes.

Allow to cool and remove from the pan. Cover with glaze.

For the glaze, whisk together 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 tablespoon warm honey, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean powder (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract). Brush over madeleines. These madeleines are best eaten the same day they are made.

Cherry Pielets

I read a book awhile back, in the middle of winter, I think, and the girl in the book talked about a summer in which she made fresh cherry pies all season. I couldn't get the idea out of my head: getting a giant bag of fresh cherries, with the deep red skins filled plump with sweet juice. I wanted desperately to make pie with fresh cherries. I waited.

So, when I saw fresh cherries one day in May as soon as I walked into my local Whole Foods, I spent about a day's worth of food money on just enough to make one pie (or 18 pielets. Mini pies are better- no need to roll out pie crust!).

As I was ripping out stems and slicing open the juicy cherries to remove the pits, I made a note to buy myself a cherry pitter. As soon as I tasted one of these mini pies, I knew I'd need it-I've been baking with fresh cherries all summer long, especially now that I can buy them for about an eighth of what I did at the beginning of summer!

Individual Cherry Pie (Pielets)
makes 18

3 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (containing xanthan gum)
1 cup butter
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

4 cups fresh cherries, stemmed and pitted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the crust, place all ingredients, except eggs, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low one minute. Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating the first before adding the second. If it's still a bit dry, you can add a tablespoon or two of cold water. Divide dough evenly between 18 cupcake molds and press crust into the bottom and up the sides of each. 

For the filling, stir together granulated sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add cherries and vanilla and toss to coat. Divide cherries between muffin tins. Top with streusel. 

For the streusel, stir together 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour. Evenly distribute streusel over tops of each mini pie. Bake about 20 minutes, until filling is bubbly and the crust is a nice, golden brown.