Overcoming US baking measures - White chocolate and sour cherry cookies

After reviewing a few American baking books recently, and moaning about American baking terms - cups, sticks, farenheit etc., I decided to get over it and have a go.

The other evening, I found myself with the kids both in bed at 7.15 (Blue reading, but essentially settled off as far as I was concerned), and the Husband away. I got a bit of an odd 'at a loose end' feeling which is ridiculous as I have (always) at least 101 things to do. Instead of doing any of the current 101 things, I sloped off into the kitchen to seize those American measurements by the horns, give them a good shake down and see if I couldn't just make them work for me.

I have a set of American 'cups', and I also have a set of proper spoon measures, thanks to a baking set Pink received once, so there's no excuse really why I shouldn't be able to bake US style to my heart's content. So what's the problem? I hear you ask. Why have I been so reluctant?

Well, my friends, it all comes down to the butter. I buy my butter in 250g blocks. And my kitchen is cold. I usually have to leave my butter over a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to soften it up enough for the general rigors required of it in baking because 'room temperature' in my kitchen is not the same as in other peoples'. Why then, would I go to the extra hassle of softening it down enough to get it to fit into a cup and allow for accurate measuring, to then put into another bowl for mixing? Why?

Hmm squares into rounds. Tricky.

Anyway, I did it. The butter was a faff, 

and I seemed to get quite a lot of collateral damage spill out using the cups - more so than if I'd been tipping my ingredients into a bowl straight from the packet:

but otherwise it all worked out just dandy.

and after all, chocolate tastes the same however you weigh it

Based on an oatmeal and raisin cookie recipe that I found in The Cookiepedia (that I recently reviewed), I made these beauties, and I commend them to you. And I remembered to weigh out the ingredients once I'd filled the cups so that you can enjoy them too, either US or UK stylie.

White Chocolate & Sour Cherry Oaty Cookies


Makes around 15
1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter at room temperature (or warmer than room temp if your kitchen is as cold as ours is)
2/3 cup (100g) caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 (110g) cup plain flour
 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinammon
11/2 cups oats
1/3 cup (75g) white chocolate chunks
1/3 cup (75g) sour cherries

Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C) and line 3-4 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and cinammon with the mixer (I'm assuming you're using a mixer, sorry) running slowly, till it's all mixed in, then stir in the oats, chocolate and cherries.

Scoop out tablespoon sized amounts of mixture onto the lined baking trays, leaving about 2 inches between each blob. You might want to flatten each blob a little with a fork I decided to do it half way through cooking, which is a little haphazard, I'll admit.

Bake for 12-14 minutes (they will need slightly longer if, at the half way stage, you decide to get them out and flatten the dough slightly with a fork - so do it before hand) and resist the temptation to leave them in for too long.

They were pretty darn good, I must say, but I have a plea to American readers - I know there are some of you out there - and it is this. Please enlighten me. Does your butter come extra soft? Do you really cut it from a 'stick' and wodge it into cups to then scrape it into the mixer? Or have I completely misunderstood?

Date & Prune Bars - and a timely recipe book review

A new term and a new book to try out. Actually a couple. Just before Christmas, I was sent The Cookiepedia and the Cookie Dough Lovers Cook Book. 

But before I tell you about them, I need to set the scene for today's baking session. So indulge me.

What I wanted to cook today was a cake. I hadn't quite worked it out but what was damn certain was that it was going to have bananas, peanut butter and chocolate in it. This came upon me at lunchtime as I sat there sharing what should have been my first peaceful home alone lunch of 2013 with Blue. The banana/peanut butter combo is what I like to eat when I'm feeling hungover weak, and that was how I was feeling.

I was very ready for the term to start today. I love and adore my children. They are (occasionally) fabulous, funny and engaging. However, after 2 weeks of intense (to the point of fever pitch) excitement over Christmas, culminating in an exceedingly late night on New Year's Eve, followed by a few days of boredom low key R&R as the Husband and I geared back into work last week, I couldn't wait to get them out of the door they were ready and raring to go. 

Except it never quite works out like that does it? As the result of the excesses of Christmas, Blue was suffering a 'blockage' in the bowel department, and whilst not wishing to be indelicate or reveal details in a manner that he might use in future as evidence of parental cruelty, let's say that we were at a critical and, for him, poor lamb, delicate & painful situation which meant that sending him to school this morning was not an option. The dog, on the other hand was, for reasons unknown, suffering at the other end of the spectrum - as the Husband discovered whilst creeping around early morning in the half-dark trying to get out of the house early without waking the rest of us up. Fortunately, he had his shoes on...

For me, a morning at the doctors, at the chemist and trying to work while simultaneously make sure the dog was outside as necessary and the boy was drinking at least a glass of water every hour, meant that I was definitely feeling weak by lunchtime (and not hungover, although I'd nearly reached for the gin bottle on a couple of occasions). I followed my sandwich with banana & peanut butter on toast, just to keep my strength up, you understand, and thoughts of cake flooded into my head.

Now, neither of the books I was sent contain anything like a recipe for a magic mummy rescue peanut butter, banana & chocolate cake - I have decided that I need to formulate one of those in my head if I'm going to meet the precise balance I'd require between the contingent ingredients - but I was flicking through The Cookiepedia, and lo, a recipe for Fig Bars. With thoughts, then, of the boy and his bowels in mind, I decided to selflessly set aside the calorie laden cake thoughts, and devote some time to cookies.

I really like this book. It's American and so the gripe I have about American measurements and insufficient conversion that I raised a couple of weeks ago still applies, but there is a fairly thorough conversion table in the back of this cute, little, ring-bound, hardback handbook. it still doesn't quite go the whole volume to grams thing that I'd like, but I guess you can't have everything.

The Cookiepedia is written by Stacy Adimando with lovely photos taken by Tara Striano. The tag line (if that's what it's called) is 'Mixing Baking and Reinventing The Classics', and there certainly seem to be plenty of classic cookies in here - even as someone who isn't particularly au fait with American baking: chocolate chip cookies, Linzer cookies, shortbread, oatmeal raisin cookies - nearly 50 in all. There are loads of pictures, and I love that each section (there are 6 cookie sections: Buttery, Chocolaty, Fancy, Fruity, Spicy and Nutty & Seedy) has a visual index. 

At the beginning, there's also an 'ABC of Cookie Baking' which is quite interesting to read as a Brit baker because it gives some useful ideas about how to handle the whole US cups issue, and also an insight into US cookie baking, which is not so different from UK biscuit baking, I guess, but I enjoyed reading it.

Look! A 'Notes' section! For guilt-free scribbling

Adimando writes in an informal friendly style, not at all patronising, and with bags of enthusiasm. What I also LOVE is that each recipe has a little section at the end for 'NOTES' - so unlike most of my other tomes which have scribbles all over them, which I always feel slightly guilty about, this one actually invites you to write down things, variations etc. And on the subject of variations, most of the cookies have just that - at least one, sometimes 3 or 4 alternative approaches to the extras or the toppings. Just how most of us bake - and I think this really encourages less confident bakers to be more creative.

Back then to the Fig Bars with Orange Zest. Well, as it's 'austerity January' round here, and I didn't have figs - or as it happened, oranges, after a quick rummage in my (still reasonably well-ordered cupboards) they turned out to be Date & Prune Bars with Lemon Zest. But I think Adimando would approve. I've added the UK measurements I used, checking my conversions against the recipes in Baked in America, and where I substituted ingredients, my substitutions are in italics.

Date & Prune Bars with Lemon Zest

1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (225g) light soft brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cups (300g) plus 2 tablespoons all purpose plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda powder
1/4 tsp salt

11/4 cups dried figs approx 200g dates and prunes, chopped
1/4 cup (55g) sugar 2tbsp maple syrup

(Adimando suggests dates and the substitution of maple syrup for the sugar here so I'm not going too far from her original)

Make the cookie dough by creaming together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy, then add in the egg, vanilla and lemon zest ad mix till combined

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then add gradually to the butter/sugar mix and beat till just combined.

Turn the dough out onto some clingfilm, flatten into a disk, wrap in the clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour.

Make the filling by heating the chopped dried fruit, the maple syrup and 250ml of water in a small pan till it starts to boil. Reduce the heat and bubble until it starts to look 'jammy'. Set it aside to cool.


Roll half the dough out into a rectangle about 8 by 13 inches, transfer onto a piece of greaseproof paper and trim the edges to form straight lines.

Spread half the fruit mix down the middle of the dough, then fold one side over the filling, then the other side, so that it overlaps. Repeat with the second half of the dough and fruit mixture, then place both 'logs' seam side down on a lined baking tray and put in the fridge for at least 20 mins (I didn't read this bit, and they seemed to turn out OK, but I thought I'd leave the step in).

Pre-heat the oven to 375F (200C).

Bake the logs for 20 minutes or so until golden and firm, then leave to cool on a rack before slicing into 11/2 inch wide slices.

Tasty. Not too dissimilar to a mince pie type thing (and I'm thinking wicked and thigh thickening thoughts as I type about the left over brandy butter that's still in the fridge), but as they cool, I'm also wondering about making a lemon icing and drizzling it over the top too, before feeding them to the boy tomorrow if nothing has, ahem, shifted, by then - all those dates and prunes. Bound to get things moving...


And what of the other book? Well, what can I say. This Cookie Dough Lovers Cook Book is exactly that. It is basically recipes in which you make cookie dough, and then use it in other things - ice cream, brownies, waffles, crispy cakes.

Now I love cookie dough & cake batter as much as the next person with her finger in the mixing bowl, but really? We're talking recipes like Cookie Dough Billionaire Bars  - you know like Millionaire's Shortbread, but with an extra layer - of raw cookie dough - between the caramel layer and the chocolate topping. 

I couldn't go for this. I just couldn't.

The book is presented in a similar way to The Cookiepedia and from that point of view, I enjoyed it. It's attractive to look at and although i didn't make anything out of it, the instructions seem clear and easy to follow. There are invariably long ingredients lists because you are making the cookie dough in addition to whatever cake or confection you are adding it to, but that's inevitable. It's American (of course it is) and there's less in the way of a conversion guide, and introduction generally than in The Cookiepedia, but it's not pretending to be a 'how to' guide, more a show case for "...cookie dough and its many virtues: the rich buttery decadence, the gritty crunch of brown sugar, the exotic aroma of vanilla..." . I know where she's coming from, I really do, but for me it stops with a finger in the bowl, not with Cookie Dough Dessert Pizza.

So there you have it, a hit and a miss for me with these 2 books. I am sure there are people out there who will go for the Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook, but my favourite was definitely The Cookiepedia, which I know I will use again, dodgy conversion issues aside..

I'm also adding this to the Alphabakes Challenge for January 2013 hosted by Caroline Makes
and also Ros at More than the Occasional Baker because the letter this month is D so the Date and Prune bar fits in there just nicely.
 
I was not paid to write these reviews, but I was sent a copy of the books. I was not required to write a positive review and the views are my own.

Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever - A Review

Pure Vanilla. More than just a recipe book, this celebrates the heritage and flavour of vanilla, with an interesting history of the vanilla bean from the Totonac Indians in Mexico who first discovered it to its use in the food and cosmetic industries today. It also includes a useful description of the different forms you can find vanilla in - pod, paste, extract - and 'tasting notes': I didn't know that there are different types of vanilla with different tastes and tones

I opened it up and read the introduction. I liked the style of the author, Shauna Sever, and having had a quick look at her blog, 'Piece of Cake' , I established that she was the sort of baker who would happily closet herself away with a cake and a spoon for company. In the blurb about the first actual recipe, she says "This...represents something I feel deeply about, that is to say, dessert disguised as breakfast". My kind of woman, I thought.

From breakfast (including a savoury recipe for bacon), we proceed through cake & pies and cookies & bars to candies & confections, custards & creams and finally drinks, including a vanilla mojito. I like vanilla and there are plenty of recipes that make me go "mmmm" from the title alone - Slow Cooked Vanilla Spiced Oatmeal, Cherry Vanilla Shortbread Cake Squares, Lemon Vanilla Dream bars, that mojito I mentioned - All good.

The book itself is very 'pretty' in a pale - I guess, 'vanilla' - type of way. Muted tones of cream, brown and blue. If you flick through it, there's not much that stands out to make you stick your finger in the pages and start to drool. so you do have to pay attention. There's also not as much photography as I'd like - you can go from page to tastefully designed pastel page with not so much as a doodle of a cake or a biscuit cookie. May be it's just me - but I do like to see what I'm aspiring to, but that's not the reason why I'm not leaping up and down with enthusiasm for this book.

No, not that. Here is the 'but' for me about this book: All the recipes are written in American measurements, and use the odd ingredient that doesn't fall easily into the shopping trolley in the UK. That's fair enough, the writer is American, but then the book doesn't have an easy conversion table for the measurements. Nor is there an explanation of the ingredients that might not be as familiar to the UK audience as they are in the US - such as corn syrup - and what a substitute might be. There is a conversion table in the back of the book, but it converts 'cups' and 'spoons' into a volume measurement. Call me picky, but I don't want to measure my butter in ml - I want it in grams, I'm afraid. I do have cups, but after a brief flirtation, I'm back to grams. And I have never been able to work out what a 'stick' of butter is. Even if the conversion table did the job I'd want it to do, flicking back and forward to the table is a little annoying in the first place. In Baked in America, probably my favourite American baking book so far, all the recipes have the ingredients in cups and grams, thus avoiding the need for flicking. It's a much more satisfactory way of approaching things. I'm sorry to say that this did put me off actually baking anything from the book at the weekend, when I had intended to.
 
If you can get over the recipe conversion issue - I'm sure I will at some point - and the lack of photos, it's a lovely book. There is a wealth of recipes to be explored, and fans of American baking won't be disappointed.  

If you're feeling like something a little less challenging to convert, rather than a whole cake or cookie recipe, the book has recipes to make vanilla extract and vanilla sugar, and I thought I'd share those here - they both have the potential to make good last minute Christmas presents for the foodie in your life (or, if that's you, then for your own purposes!)

Both these recipes and the photo are taken directly from the book, and I'm copying them with permission of the publisher.

Homemade Vanilla Sugar

Fill a lidded container with about 2 cups* of granulated sugar. Bury a vanilla bean** (or two, for more intense flavor), split lengthwise, in the sugar. Tighten the lid and shake the container like you’re competing in a dance contest at a dive bar. Store in a cool, dark place for 2 days and then open the container, take a deep whiff, and die a little from the glorious fragrance of homemade vanilla sugar, It’s that easy! You don’t even need a whole unscraped pod-use the empty scraped vanilla beans from recipes that call for just the caviar. Store the empty pods in the sugar; when your supply runs low, replenish by adding more fresh sugar on top.

Use vanilla sugar the same way you use the granulated stuff. It adds a bit more oomph to baked goods and is a delicious addition to coffee and tea. If you’re making vanilla-forward recipes like the ones in this book, vanilla sugar is yet another simple way to add that irresistibly ambrosial flavor.

To turn this recipe into a gift, pack the vanilla sugar in a decorative container-like a vintage Mason jar-topped with a scrap of fabric and festive ribbon. For an even fancier version, use raw turbinado*** sugar instead of granulated sugar.

Homemade Vanilla Extract
 
And it couldn’t be simpler. All you need is a clean jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid, whole vanilla beans, and a clear neutral-tasting liquor (vodka is my top choice). For an 8-ounce**** jar, 2 split beans should do, but you can add more if you like. Let the sealed jar sit in a cool, dark place for about 2 months before using. I also add scraped seedpods to the extract jar after I’ve used them in recipes, unless they land in my container of Vanilla Sugar first. As you use the extract, top off the jar with more of the same type of liquor for a nearly never-ending supply.

Aside from being a great way to save money on a pricey ingredient, making your own extract is an excellent opportunity to use some of the more exotic flavors of whole beans in liquid form, since store-bought extracts rarely come in such varieties. Magical! You can also combine several different varieties of vanilla in one batch of extract, creating your own special blends. Few things make a more fabulous edible gift than homemade vanilla extract in a vintage bottle decorated with a darling handmade tag. Martha’s got nuthin’ on you. 

 *OK don't say I never do anything for you - 2 cups of sugar is about up to the 500ml mark on a measuring jug. **A vanilla bean is what I would call a pod, and ***'turbinado' sugar appears to be very similar to demerara, but has hints of honey****An 8ounce jar is, I believe, 250ml. 
 
I was asked to provide a review and received a copy of Pure Vanilla for the purposes of carrying out the review. I was not required to provide a positive review. The views expressed are my own

Anyone who doesn’t like peanut butter, look away now.

One of the lovely things about the holidays is that I don’t have to worry about what school requires. In particular, I get very het up (what? Me? Get het up?) about how they go about advising us that we have no idea how to feed our children. Any communication that comes out about packed lunches is aimed at the ‘lowest common denominator’. I know this, but I still feel patronised by the exhortations to try and include a piece of fruit, and not to include chocolate. I think I give my kids good lunchboxes, but I do always try and include a piece of cake or a biscuit though, because that’s just being a good mummy as far as I’m concerned. My main constraint in this department, though, is the total ban on nuts in school. I waiver between being totally understanding about this and being totally annoyed by it because my kids love nuts and they are a good source of nutrition for them. But on balance I’d prefer it if I didn’t cause another child to have anaphylactic shock, so I go with it.

All the more reason so have a nut-fest during the hols, then, and I have been itching to bake these peanut butter cookies from Baked in America for ages. No way could I have made then during term time so they could sit around in the biscuit tin, calling to me while everyone else was at school/work. They wouldn’t have sat around for long...

The cookies are very straightforward to make – cream butter, peanut butter and sugar together, eggs, vanilla extract, flour – stir in peanuts. The mixture is scrummy (always a good sign).  

I recently acquired an ice cream scoop so I felt very pleased with myself scooping out as required by the recipe – my scoop is clearly not as big as theirs, but the uncooked cookies were still massive. I don’t know how big their baking trays are but I needed 3, and made 13 cookies (13 is lucky in Italy, and in baking, don’t you know – let’s have none of that superstitious nonsense here).

The unbaked cookies need 4 hours in the fridge. Mine ended up being in there over night, and I forgot the sprinkling of granulated sugar on top before baking, but apparently no harm done. They baked to instruction (no sinking for these babies) the kitchen smelt heavenly and they are totally scrumptious.

Good job the kids are at home to race me to the biscuit tin.

It would be a good thing if being annoyed with a recipe used up all the calories that were in it...

I made another batch of the lovely Dan Lepard’s honey and multiseed bread (or is that Dan Lepard’s lovely honey and multiseed loaf) – double quantities based on the success of the first batch. It turned out just as yummy.

However, if anyone else is feeling inspired, I wanted to flag something very important – a health warning that no recipe book will ever carry, but really should in such cases. Here it is:

“This recipe will make you very, very sticky and very, very messy, and also a little bit wound up. You will doubt yourself and the person who wrote the recipe. You will want to add more flour. You may shout at your children when they try to help, and there may be language. But then the bread will be very delicious and you will forget all about it. Until the next time – because there will be a next time because the result was so delicious. And then you will remember all over again.”

That last bit is very important. That bit about forgetting. True, when I made this loaf the first time, I wasn’t really concentrating, mainly because I was hoping that I might get a beautifully risen loaf of wholemeal (I was doing 2 different recipes at the same time). I was also trying to make tea. As I re-read the recipe, alarm bells did vaguely ring – the bit that says ‘mix it all into a sticky dough’ (or something like that) – but clearly not loudly enough.

I had it all timed in my head – the various kneadings and restings, but frankly after the first knead the kitchen and I were covered in dough, and the dog had disappeared under the dining room table – usually a place he only frequents when the hoover is out. I think the wetness does improve the finished loaf, but it is a complete pain to work by hand, and I may well resort to the Kenwood next time.

Not quite in the same vein, but it’s another of my irritants which is recipes which seem to be a bit wrong. I think I’ve had a little rant before about recipes which promise that you’ll get so much out of them, only for me to be bitterly disappointed. Well, I discovered another one this evening – Dan, I’m waiting for an apology.

Oat and sour cherry cookies. Well, I didn’t have enough sour cherries, so they ended up being oat, sour cherry, a few dried cranberries and some chocolate chip cookies, but nevertheless, when a recipe promises 50 cookies (“makes 2 batches, each about 25 biscuits” is what it actually says), I’d expect to get at least 45. To be fair, I didn’t bake all of it – I put half the dough into the freezer for next week (ha ha – that is if I remember – more likely I’ll dig it out sometime next year and wonder what on earth it is because I didn’t label it very well), but the recipe definitely says to make the cookies using tablespoonfuls of the dough.

Now, I don’t know if Dan’s tablespoons are smaller than mine, but having scooped out 4 tablespoonfuls, it was quite clear that if I carried on I’d get about 12 cookies at most, so I moved on to dessert spoons. Much more satisfactory. I really must write him a letter and tell him about these little amendments he needs to make to his book, but Dan, if you did ever get to read this, I’ll admit that they are delicious!