Tag: dessert

Following the Crowd: Burnt Basque Cheesecake

Following the Crowd: Burnt Basque Cheesecake

I usually  march to the beat of  my own drummer, but the crush of interest in recipes for Burnt Basque Cheesecake has piqued my interest. It turns out that Burnt Basque Cheesecake originated in the 1990s as a Tarta de Queso at La Vina Restaurant…

Browned Butter Cranberry and Apple Cake

Browned Butter Cranberry and Apple Cake

This great little cake would look wonderful on your holiday buffet table. It is a Browned Butter Cranberry and Apple Cake. The browned butter is a genius addition to the cake. The whole cranberries in the cake give a surprise burst of tart flavor to…

Woo-hoo! We’re Six. Join us for a Halvah Blondie.

Woo-hoo! We’re Six. Join us for a Halvah Blondie.

 

Six. Years. Old.

Who could even imagine it?

Won’t you join us for a piece of Salted Halvah Blondie to celebrate Blue Cayenne’s sixth birthday? The birthday cake recipe is  from Claire Saffitz’ Dessert Person cookbook and it is sweet and savory and very very good. (You can buy the cookbook at your local bookstore or on Amazon here.)

Thank you, thank you to the people who have read this blog, encouraged us and cooked with us over the last six years. Thank you, too, to Al Nomura, our ever-patient and much-talented photography mentor.

We’ve met a lot of good people here. We’ve had our highs and our trolls but, in the big picture, this six-year cooking/photography/writing journey has been a joy.

To be honest, a big part of the “we” in Blue Cayenne is Sweet Juliet, Blue Cayenne’s Chief Quality Officer (CQO). Juliet has kept Blue Cayenne’s Editor on the straight and narrow more times than “we” care to mention. Trust me on this; Juliet is one tough cookie–a sort of “Devil Wears Prada” (with a heart of gold) in a doggie suit. Right now, she’s taking a little much-deserved R&R. She’s celebrating Blue Cayenne’s birthday and her favorite couture holiday–Halloween. (Lest you worry, there are extra Pumpkin Treats this weekend for this sweet little girl multi-talented CQO. )

 

Here’s the recipe.

Salted Halvah a Blondie

October 30, 2021
Ingredients
  • 1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/2 t. baking powder
  • 1 C. white chocolate (coarsely chopped)
  • 4 oz. unsalted butter
  • 1/4 C. tahini
  • 1/2 C. brown sugar (light)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 T. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 C. Halvah (crumbled--I used vanilla)
  • 2-3 T. sesame seeds
  • Flaky salt
Directions
  • Step 1 Use a 8 by 8 inch pan for this recipe. The pan should be lined with two sheets of foil (pressed into the corners of the pan and extending up the sides of the pan)and the foil needs to be generously buttered.
  • Step 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Step 3 Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside.
  • Step 4 Combine white chocolate, butter and tahini in a glass bowl. Heat about 1 inch of water to boiling in a saucepan and position the bowl over the simmering water. (Don’t let the bowl touch the water!) Whisk the mixture until it is smooth. Remove from heat and let the mixture sit and cool for a few minutes.
  • Step 5 Whisk the brown sugar into the slightly-cooled white chocolate mixture. Add the egg and egg yolks and the vanilla. Continue to whisk until the ingredients are fully combined and the mixture is thick and smooth.
  • Step 6 Mix the flour/baking powder/salt mixture into the batter until the flour is combined with the wet mixture. Do not over-mix. Fold the halvah into the mixture, folding gently so as not to break up the chunks of halvah.
  • Step 7 Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface of the batter. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the batter and sprinkle on the flaky salt. (I used Maldon.) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When your blondies are done they will be slightly brown around the edges but the center will jiggle a bit.
  • Step 8 Cool, cut and serve. These blondies are moist and chewy like a good brownie.  Cook’s Note: Halwah is a candy-like Middle Eastern paste made with sugar and ground sesame seeds. It is available online or in your local Middle Eastern grocery. It’s delicious and worth the extra search.

 

 

 

Ube Ice Cream: Purple Yams in Your Ice Cream?

Ube Ice Cream: Purple Yams in Your Ice Cream?

Ube, aka purple yam, is a tuber native to the Philippines. It is closely related to the sweet potato. Starchy and sweet, the purple yam is widely used in desserts in the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia, but it can also be served as a…

“It’s Not Apricot!”  Fruit Galette

“It’s Not Apricot!” Fruit Galette

I’ve told you before how I feel about stone fruits. They rock my world. But, alas, the season is coming to an abrupt end and I find myself scouring the produce aisles of my local markets for the last stone fruits of the season. I’m…

Let’s Do Blueberry Brunch Cake

Let’s Do Blueberry Brunch Cake

Brunch.

It’s a portmanteau– a made up word joining two words and two meanings. You know, a blend. List and article: Listicle. Smoke and fog: Smog. Breakfast and lunch: Brunch. 

Actually, Blue Cayenne’s sweet Chief Quality Officer (CQO)  Juliet is probably a portmanteau, too. Juliet is a little rescue and the bets are that she is a cross between a Yorkie and a Pomeranian. We won’t be telling Juliet, but that makes her a Porkie.

But enough vocabulary wanderings. What about the concept of brunch? 

Nineteenth-century British writer Guy Beringer is generally credited with coining the term brunch. He wrote a tongue-in-cheek piece in a British magazine, The Hunter’s Weekly, in 1895 titled “Brunch: A Plea.” In the piece, Beringer argued the merits of a late Sunday morning meal, one that would better suit those Saturday carousers who, in their hung over state, struggled to face the Sunday feed: “Brunch is a hospitable meal; breakfast is not. Eggs and bacon are adapted to solitude; they are consoling, but not exhilarating. They do not stimulate conversation. Brunch, on the contrary, is cheerful, sociable, and inciting. It puts you in a good temper. It makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings. It sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.”

This Blueberry Brunch Cake is perfect for any midday celebration. There is lots of flavor with lemon and blueberries and nutmeg. It’s pretty too. And, who couldn’t use a little cobweb cleanse now and then?

Blueberry Brunch Cake

June 30, 2021
Ingredients
  • For the Cake:
  • 2/3 C. sugar
  • 1/2 C. unsalted butter (softened)
  • 2 t. grated lemon zest
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
  • 2 T. poppy seeds
  • 1/2 t. baking soda
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1/2 C. sour cream
  • For The Filling:
  • 2 C. fresh blueberries
  • 1/3 C. sugar
  • 2 t. flour
  • 1/4 t. nutmeg
  • For The Glaze:
  • 1/3 C. powdered sugar
  • 1 to 2 t. whole milk
Directions
  • Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a springform pan but greasing it and dusting it with flour.
  • Step 2 Combine sugar and butter and beat until fluffy. Add lemon zest and egg and beat mixture for two minutes.
  • Step 3 Spoon flour into a measuring cup and level it off. Combine flour, poppy seeds, baking soda and salt.
  • Step 4 Alternating between the sour cream and the flour mixture, add the flour mixture and the sour cream to the butter mixture. Mix to combine.
  • Step 5 Your batter will be relatively thick. Spread the batter into the prepared springform pan being sure that the batter on the sides of the pan is about 1/4-inch thick. Set aside.
  • Step 6 Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Spoon the filling over the batter.
  • Step 7 Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 to 55 minutes. The crust for your cake should be golden and the cake should be firm when pressed. A wooden skewer should come out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
  • Step 8 Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool a bit. When the cake has cooled, remove the sides of the springform pan.
  • Step 9 Prepare the glaze by combining the powdered sugar and milk. Adjust the amount of milk you add to get a thick and smooth glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cooled cake.

 

This recipe is adapted from a Marian Burros recipe that appeared in The New York Times. You can find the original recipe here.

 

Peach Poundcake

Peach Poundcake

Ah, peaches! Peaches originated in China thousands of years ago. Persian traders, in turn, introduced the fruit to Europe and called it the “Persian Apple.” Explorers and colonists introduced them to the Americas. They are beloved just about everywhere. Don’t ask for one in Turkey,…

My “Hero”:  Frosty Lime Sherbet

My “Hero”: Frosty Lime Sherbet

There is something truly wonderful about photographing ice cream–or, in this case, sherbet. It melts. Oh, you know, there is the interminable fiddling around with the food styling. Gotta try a gazillion angles and backgrounds. White bowl? Green bowl? Mint sprig? This is a hard…

Crepes with Raspberry-Cassis Sauce

 

I’m having a bit of a pity party about being alone on New Year’s Eve, so I decided to cook today.

Several days ago I discovered this Martha Rose Shulman recipe on the New York Times site. One of my indulgences in life is to subscribe to the NY Times. It is pricey but the writing soars and the food section is wonderful. I don’t know of another newspaper with that dedication to its food section.

This recipe combines warm crepes with a lime zest-infused Greek yogurt filling and sauces the whole thing with a fresh raspberry sauce. What’s not to love here?

A link to the original NY Times/Martha Rose Shulman recipe appears at the end of this post.

 

 

Crepes with Raspberry-Cassis Sauce
Save RecipeSave Recipe

Ingredients

  • Crepes
  • 1 1/4 C. low-fat milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1/3 C. water
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 1/3 C. plus 1 T. unbleached all-purpose flour (sifted)
  • 1/3 C. plus 1 T. whole wheat flour (sifted)
  • 3 T. unsalted butter (melted)
  • 1 t. finely-grated lime zest
  • Raspberry Sauce
  • 1/4 C. sugar
  • 1/2 t. rose water
  • 1 6-ounce box raspberries (about 1 1/4 C.)
  • 1 T. creme de cassis liqueur
  • Yogurt Filling
  • 1 1/4 C. plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 T. plus 1 t. mild honey
  • 1 1/4 t. finely grated lime zest
  • 1 to 1 1/2 t. fresh lime juice
  • Garnish
  • 1 6-ounce box raspberries
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

  1. For the crepe batter, mix milk, eggs, salt and sugar in your blender. When those ingredients are mixed, add the flours (with the motor running) and the melted butter for one minute. Your batter should be well-mixed and smooth. Pour your batter into a bowl and stir in the lime zest. Let the batter rest on your counter for at least 30 minutes.
  2. For the raspberry sauce, mix 1/3 C. water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the sugar has totally dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in rose water, raspberries and cassis liqueur. Return the raspberry mixture to the heat and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain mixture into a bowl. Press the raspberry pulp through strainer with a spatula and discard seeds. Whisk or stir to blend pulp and syrup and set aside.
  3. For the yogurt sauce, whisk yogurt, honey, lime zest and lime juice. Taste and adjust sweetness. Set aside.
  4. To make the crepes ,heat 8-inch non-stick crepe pan over medium-high heat and brush lightly with butter. With pan lifted off heat, pour 1/4 C. batter to coat the bottom of the pan. Tilt and swirl pan to distribute batter in an even layer. Return pan to heat and cook crepe for about one minute, until edges color and bottom of crepe is lightly browned. Crepe should not stick to pan. Flip crepe over and cook for 30 seconds on the other side, until speckled. Turn out onto a plate Continue with remaining batter, brushing pan occasionally with butter.
  5. To assemble the crepes,spread a rounded tablespoon of the yogurt mixture over each crepe, drizzle on 1/2 t. raspberry sauce. Fold crepe in half and then in half again. Place on plate. When all crepes are made and filled, spoon sauce over the crepes, garnish with raspberries and dust with powdered sugar. Serve.

Nutrition

Calories

231 cal

Fat

4 g

Carbs

43 g

Protein

11 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2
29

https://bluecayenne.com/crepes-with-raspberry-cassis-sauce

Here is the link to the original NY Times recipe:

Ny Times Recipe for Crepes with Raspberry-Cassis Sauce

Almond Cake

    This recipe recently appeared on a website that I read regularly, David Lebovitz’ site. I’m a sucker for a great review and Lebovitz prefaces this recipe by writing that this cake is his “desert island” recipe, the one cake he would choose were…