TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

What better way to come back to Tuesdays with Dorie (and posting in general; sorry about that) than with my FAVORITEST ALL TIME DORIE GREENSPAN RECIPE OF ALL TIME.

For serious.

This Swedish Visiting Cake is phenomenal on multiple levels. First, it takes one bowl. Second, it takes only a handful of ingredients. And except for maybe the almonds and the lemon, you have all those ingredients already.

There's no complicated creaming or fancy techniques. You even melt the butter before you pour it in. A quick stir and voila.

Even better, you bake it in a cast iron skillet! How cool is that?! I was going to bake it in My Baby (a 100-year-old, beautifully seasoned cast iron skillet), but realized it was a tad too big. So I pulled out the Le Creuset I hardly ever use, and that now has a new purpose in life: To bake this cake. Over and over and over.

Because - as if the easiness and the coolness of cast iron wasn't enough - this cake is fracking delicious. It's moist and yet sturdy, and there's a delicate taste of lemon to it that's not overpowering. It's perfect with a cup of tea.

As with most of my baked goods, I tried this out on the guys I game with. There were only three of us, and we decimated the entire thing. (I was actually grateful I had two guys here, because I might have done the same if it were just me and then I'd have to go to confession.)

One guy said that he didn't believe dessert was dessert without chocolate in it, but he was making an exception for this cake.

So, there you have it. Awesome dessert to throw together quickly that is not only easy, but totally delicious.

Get the recipe at The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. (How cool of a blog name is that?)

And hi!

Cheddar Cheese Beer-Batter Bread

I read tarot cards.

Odd way to start off a post about bread, I know, but hang in there with me a second. Anyway, I read tarot cards, but I only read for friends. I can't read for myself and I can't read for pay; it's really something I do to help people I care about. And from what I've been told, it does exactly that.

So, if you are my friend, and you need guidance or help on something, you call me up and ask for a reading. And with that reading usually comes a big helping of comfort food, like this cheddar bread. (See? Told you I'd get there.)

I'm actually not sure if it's the food or the readings that keep people coming back, but it makes my friends happy, and that's what matters.

This is a super easy bread; absolutely no kneading is involved. You just mix everything together, pour over melted butter, and bake. The beer is what gives it both its lift and its yeasty flavor. I like to serve this with my Guinness Beef Stew.

Oh, and slight warning: You know how you always like to taste the dough when you're baking, cause the dough's the best part?

Do not do that with this bread.

For serious. Ugh.

But the bread's good!

Cheddar Cheese Beer-Batter Bread

8 oz. extra-sharp cheddar cheese (shred 4 ounces and cut the rest into small cubes)

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 12-ounce can of American-style beer (like Bud)

4 tablespoons melted butter

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

Combine all cheese, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in beer and mix until well combined. Pour into loaf pan and spread evenly. Drizzle melted butter evenly on top of batter.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. (You may want to check it in a couple of places, in case you hit a pocket of cheese.) Cool in pan 5 minutes, then turn onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.

(This is awesome toasted for breakfast the next day.)

TWD: Toasted-Coconut Tart

I've been sick.

I say this not to illicit "poor you" comments (though I'll take pity where I can find it), but to explain why I've suddenly fallen off the face of the earth. Sick, as in...can't think of anything else and spending all my time either at the doctor's or asleep sick. Sick as in, on medical leave sick.

REALLY SICK.

Not too sick to bake, of course. Don't let's be silly. I've actually got several blog posts queued up and just need to sit down and do them: a nice cheddar cheese bread, a rosemary focaccia sprinkled with sea salt and awesomeness, and at least one Tuesdays with Dorie rewind (a pound cake).

But for now, let's stick with today's awesome, awesome Tuesdays with Dorie recipe: Toasted-Coconut Tart.

Holy mother of coconuts, this thing is good. And easy! This was my first ever tart, and I had no issues with it at all.

I have to admit, I actually usually despise recipes that require a food processor, and avoid them as a matter of course. It's getting harder and harder to find modern recipes for tart or pastry dough that aren't built on the food processor, though; even America's Test Kitchen uses it. So, I grumbled alot, but I dug out my old Black & Decker, and guess what? It was so easy. Ridiculously easy.

My crust was a little thicker than it is really supposed to be, because I got nervous that I'd get it too thin. But it turned out great: nice and buttery and just golden brown. The custard wasn't at all hard, even though I let the milk boil all over the stove. I'll show you my 1920s Wedgewood stove one day; it's awesome.

Anyhoo, great dessert. It does take a little time, what with the chilling of various parts, but it really isn't hard. And it looks very impressive, so overall: win.

Now, I just have a huge tart in the house, and no one to share it with. Of course, I am sick, so eating an entire coconut tart by myself is completely allowed. Right?

Want the recipe? Go to Beryl's site.

TWD Makeup: Chocolate Chunkers

Because I have an unnatural aversion to wheat germ (why would I want to cook with germs?), I avoided this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe: Honey-Wheat Cookies.

But I still had hungry gamer mouths to feed, so I decided to do some makeup baking from the recipes I've missed. And since it's easier to play board games with something that you can hold in one hand, I decided to choose one of the cookie recipes.

And boy, did I hit a dandy. I'd say that Dorie's Chocolate Chunker cookie recipe is my favorite of any recipe of hers I've made. It may be one of my favorite cookie recipes, period. The cookies are more mix-ins than dough: a full 6 oz. each of hand-cut bittersweet and white chocolates, a cup and a half of toasted walnuts, and a cup of dried fruit (more on that in a minute). The dough itself, which really just holds all the goodies together, has melted bittersweet chocolate AND cocoa.

In other words, folks, this is one seriously chocolatey cookie.

Now, the only thing I changed on this recipe is that Dorie calls for salted peanut and raisins. I don't know why she has this thing about chocolate and raisins, but she adds raisins to, like, everything. I, personally, can't get into the raisin thing, so I substituted dried cherries, chopped up a bit. I also substituted toasted walnuts for the peanuts.

The only thing I'd do differently is cut the cherries into smaller pieces; the larger pieces sometimes jumped out at you when you took a bite. But honestly, that didn't even matter that much. These things leapt off the platter into people's mouths. They were, by far, everyone's favorite of anything I've brought to Game Days.

And that's saying something.

Chocolate Chunker Cookies

by Dorie Greenspan

pg. 70 of Baking: From My Home to Yours

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks (or 1 cup chocolate chips)

6 oz. white chocolate, chopped into chunks (or 1 cup white chocolate chips)

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped nuts (I toasted mine for flavor)

1 cup dried fruit, such as raisins or dried cherries, cut into smaller pieces if necessary

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Add the butter, and the bittersweet and unsweetened chocolates (Disclosure: I didn't have unsweetened, so used 7 oz. of bittersweet) to the bowl and stir occasionally until just melted. The chocolate and butter should be smooth and shiny, but not so hot the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the heat and set it on the counter to cool.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer and a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale and foamy. Beat in the vanilla extract, then scrape down the bowl. Reduce speed to low, add the butter-chocolate mixture and mix only until incorporated. With a rubber spatula, scrape down the bowl, and - with the mixer on low - add the dry ingredients. Mix just until the dry ingredients disappear into the dough (which will be thick, smooth, and shiny). Scrape down the bowl and, using the rubber spatula, mix in the semi-sweet and white chocolate chunks, nuts and fruit - you'll have more "crunchies" than dough at this point. (The dough can be wrapped in plastic and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Drop the dough by generously heaping tablespoonfuls (I made them bigger) onto the baking sheets, leaving about an inch of space between the mounds of dough.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. The tops of the cookies will look a little dry but the interiors should still be soft. Remove the baking sheet and carefully lift the cookies with a metal spatula onto a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.

Repeat with remaining dough, cooling the baking sheet (if necessary) between batches.

TWD: My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've talked about this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe before, so I'll keep this very brief.

1.) This is my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, and it never fails to get rave reviews.

2.) The ratio of chips/nuts to batter is very high, meaning if you don't like a lot of goodies in your cookies, you may want to ratchet back on the add-ins.

3.) Chopping your own chocolate is a must. SO much better than chocolate chips.

4.) I replace four to eight ounces of the bittersweet chocolate with semi-sweet. The all-bittersweet was too bitter for my tastes.

5.) I go with the full amount of salt. The bit of saltiness gives the cookies major depth.

6.) Yes, they bake up kind flat. They're not at all puffy and cakey. If flat chocolate chips cookies are a problem for you, this may not be the recipe for you.

All in all, a great cookie. Want the recipe? Go to Kait's Plate.

PS...Yes, one day I will post my Tuesdays with Dorie recipe on a Tuesday. But not today.

King Cake!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Yes, today is Fat Tuesday and for the second year in a row, another Louisiana girl and I hosted a Mardi Gras "party" at work. I say "party" because in reality, we had a captive audience at a meeting and a PowerPoint presentation and everything.

But they got cake. So it couldn't have been all that bad.

Anyway, last year, we ordered a King Cake for our Mardi Gras presentation/celebration from a bakery, and had it shipped all the way from New Orleans, along with an assortment of beads and doubloons. My friend Risey got the baby, which traditionally means that you are responsible for the next King Cake.

Risey took that responsibility very seriously, even though she's not from anywhere near Louisiana. She...get this: baked a King Cake herself.

For serious!! I had never heard of such a thing! I just thought they grew in bakeries.

But Risey proved me wrong, looking up recipes and videos on the Interwebs, and baking three King Cakes to get it right. The King Cake she brought in (above) was honestly one of the best I'd ever had.

Risey's going to hopefully put together a guest post showing us all how to do it, too. Next year, I'm totally baking my own.

Laissez bon temps rouler!!

Guinness Beef Stew for Lovers

Look, I am not the one to be giving relationship advice.

I'm notorious for picking absolutely the wrong kind of guy. Emotionally unavailable? Check. Borderline manic depressive? Check. Only shows an interest when he thinks I'm dating someone else? Double check.

Add an Eastern European accent and an addiction or two and there's no going back.

My last liaison went so awesomely that one of my guy friends coined the term "douchelationship": the act (or perhaps art?) of being involved with a douchebag.

She's just upset about her douchelationship.

So, who am I to judge what you serve your honey for Valentine's Day? God knows, you probably know better than me.

And yet...

It is my blog, and I can dish out all the unsolicited and unqualified advice I care to.

And since most of my friends are guys, I actually do know a thing or two about them. I know, for instance, that most of them just want simple things. (Give them a steak and they're happy. Really.) And I know that most of them don't want their wives or girlfriends stressed out, even if it's over cooking a nice meal for them. Maybe especially if it's over cooking a nice meal for them.

Therefore, I propose the perfect, guy-friendly, no-fuss meal for Valentine's Day. (I almost typed Thanksgiving. Ha! Me proposing a no-fuss meal for Thanksgiving. That's rich.)

I've served this Guinness Beef Stew, and the accompanying beer batter cheese bread, to a couple of guys now, and it's always a huge hit. It tastes rich and meaty and somewhat decadent, but is really a cinch to throw together. True, there's some prep work involved, but otherwise, it bubbles away all day in the slow cooker. The beer batter cheese bread (which I'll give you in the next post) is just a quick bread, even though it tastes like something way more. The last guy I served it to doesn't like cheese (?!) and had two slices.

So do yourself a favor and cook something that you know your man will love, and won't kill you in the process. Your douchelationship will thank you.

Which may not be a good thing.

Slow-Cooker Guinness Beef Stew

4 pounds boneless beef chuck stew meat
2 tblsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cups chicken broth (I use homemade, but you can use whatever. Choose something low-sodium)
1 1/2 cups Guinness (not extra-stout), divided
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
Few sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate (yes, really), chopped
2 bay leaves
5 carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal into chunks
2-2 1/2 pounds of red baby potatoes, scrubbed

Pat beef dry with paper towels, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons (or so) of the oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook the beef in batches until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. (In my Le Creuset French oven, with this amount of beef, it takes about three batches.) Transfer meat to slow cooker insert.

Add carrots and potatoes to slow cooker.

Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, onions, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to skillet and cook until onions are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add broth, 1 1/4 cups stout, sugar, thyme, chocolate, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Scrape up any brown bits. Transfer that to slow cooker.

Cook until meat is tender: 9-10 hours on low or 6-7 hours on high. Set slow cooker to high. Whisk flour and remaining 1/4 cup beer until smooth, then stir mixture into slow cooker. The flour will seize up some; do not freak out (like me). Just keep stirring it gently and then let it simmer, and it will work itself out. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until the sauce is thickened.

Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves, and serve.