Easter Babka

This magnificent babka is a traditional Polish Easter bread that I made for my best friend’s annual Easter celebration.  Standing six inches tall, it is a slightly sweet yeast cake dotted with rum-soaked golden raisins and topped with a sweet lime glaze.  Rich in flavor thanks to 10 egg yolks, 2 whole eggs and melted butter, this babka is a fine way to break the Lenten fast!

Babka is the Northern Slavic word for “little grandmother”.  The bread is baked in a special pan that shapes the babka to emulate a full skirt covering the ample hips of a typical Eastern European grandmother.   The pan has ridges and curves suggesting the pleats and flowers of the fabric.  Unfortunately I don’t own a babka pan, so my large angel food cake pan became an acceptable stand-in.  

Thanks, Dorota for allowing me to make your babka this year!   Your Easter feasts are well-known and always a joy.

 

Babka (adapted from Valinda’s recipe on Allrecipes)

1/3 cup rum, optional – if you want to soak the raisins*

3/4 cup golden raisins

1 cup milk or half-and-half

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 1/2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

2 eggs, room temperature

10 egg yolks, room temperature

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled but still warm

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons lime zest

6 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus about 1 cup more for kneading

*If you want the raisins to be plump and delicious, soak them in the rum the night before or at least 2 hours before you start the recipe. 

Warm the milk, water and sugar until it reaches 110F (45C).    Add yeast and set aside for about 5 minutes.   Lightly oil a large bowl and set aside.   Drain raisins and enjoy the rum while you bake!

Stir 2 eggs, egg yolks, butter, vanilla and lemon rind in a large bowl of a mixer.   Using the paddle attachment,  mix in yeast mixture and raisins and beat well.   When a loose dough has formed, turn out onto a well-floured floured surface and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes, using the extra 1 cup of flour if necessary.   Place the dough in the oiled bowl and turn to coat on all sides with the oil.   Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.   Deflate the dough by punching it down and folding it over onto itself about 4 times.   Let rise again until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

Grease a babka pan or a large angel food cake pan.  Deflate the dough again and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.   Shape it into a fat cylinder.  Place it into the babka or cake pan and fold over the ends.   Smooth the top with your hands until the dough is evenly dispersed.   Cover the pan with a damp cloth and let the dough rise until tripled in volume, about 40 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F (190C).

Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325F (165C) and bake for 30 minutes more. Reduce oven temperature to 275F (135C) and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.   Let babka stand 5 to 10 minutes before removing from pan and cooling on a rack.

The Icing

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix above ingredients together.  Add more milk or sugar to achieve a pouring consistency.  Pour over the warm babka. 

Peace and joy as we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection today! 

Hristos voskrese!

Prijatno!

Pluott, Ploo-ot – no, Pluot cake!

Friendship is a wonderful thing, especially if one of your friends is the finest food photographer in the world.  Ok, so I’m a little biased, but you have to check Ralph Smith Photography sometime.   He rocks the industry and has photographed several beautiful cookbooks including this award-winning beauty for the Junior League of Houston.   Seriously, the cookbook has won so many awards for design and content, I’ve lost count…it’s brilliant!

Occasionally we are gifted with delicious and unusual food products that come through the studio to be shot (by the camera, people!) for cookbooks, vendors or events.  I will never forget when Ralph showed up at our doorstep with a cooler full of exotic mushrooms --  amazing varieties and some I had never seen before:  ‘hen of the woods’, chanterelles, oyster, enoki and more.  See -- I told you it’s a wonderful thing to have a food photographer as a friend!

But the best prize of all that was brought to my kitchen from Ralph’s studio was an enormous, solid, 11 pound (5kg!!!) slab of dark Callebaut baker’s chocolate.  Holy Moly!  I could have died and gone to chocolate heaven right then and there!  I did share some of it…

Last week, I attended a culinary affaire at Ralph’s studio and came home with a bag full of juicy and perfectly ripened pluots.  Pluots are new enough on the stone-fruit scene that my spellchecker doesn’t even recognize the word yet!  Same with the plumcot, a similar variety.

Intensely sweet, pluots are a cross between a plum and an apricot – but much more plummy than apricoty.  Rich in vitamins C and A and fiber, they range in color from light green to shades of yellow and through the color wheel to deep purple.  They are best eaten fresh (as with most fruits), but also lend themselves well to the sweet and moist Pluot Cake here.

Pluot Cake  adapted from The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook, by Marian Burros and Lois Levine.

Staying true to the title of the book, this recipe is VERY EASY to make. 

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon sugar for the top (optional)2 eggs1 cup all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking powderpinch of salt4 pluots or plums, pitted and quarteredwalnut halves, optional1 teaspoon cinnamonArrange a rack in the middle of the oven.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare a 8” or 9” springform pan by greasing it with butter and dusting with flour.  As you can see from the top picture, I used a 5-inch and a 7-inch pan for one recipe.

Cream the butter and 3/4 cup of sugar in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer or use a stand mixer.  Add eggs, one at a time, until mixture is light and fluffy.  Add flour, baking powder and salt and blend on slow speed until just combined.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan/s.  Place the pluots or plums, skin side down, around the edge of the pan, with the plums pointing inward.  Mix the cinnamon with 1 tablespoon of sugar (optional) and sprinkle over the top.  Place a few walnut halves between the pluots, if desired.Bake for 30-40 minutes (or less if you are using smaller pans) until the top is golden and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool.Using a small sieve, dust the top of the cake with 1 teaspoon of confectioner’s sugar, if desired.  Serve plain, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.  Serves 8.

Prijatno!

Colorado hiking, wildflowers and a Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake

To me, hiking and Colorado are synonymous.   It’s my favorite activity during summer trips.  Easy as it seems, for us Texans it’s not something we can dive into upon arrival.  We sea-levelers fight altitude sickness and a serious lack of oxygen that has us panting and gasping for air every few feet we rise further from the sea.  

My all-time favorite Colorado hike was a few years ago when we started off at the Smiths’ cabin at Pearl Lakes, near Creede.  Led by resident Eagle Scout, Ralph Smith, we hiked for four hours until we reached the rocky summit of Finger Mesa - a rise of over 2,000 feet!  At the time, favorite Son was working on his Camping merit badge (on his way to Eagle) and one of the requirements was a hike such as that.  Challenging at every vertical step, we traversed beautiful valleys and rocky wind-swept fields, and soon realized that objects were always a lot further than they appeared!  Just when we thought we were at the summit, another valley or steep slope presented itself as a challenge. 

The payoff was worth every altitude-induced headache:  the vista was an unobstructed 360 degrees of mountain ranges and peaks for miles and miles in the distance.

Alex and Teague appraising the scenery

This year, we came across this tiny stream (pictured at the top).  It is so much prettier in reality.  My friend, Stacey, thinks that the picture would make a great jigsaw puzzle because when we’re not hiking, fishing or playing darts, we’re putting together 1,000 (tiny) piece puzzles.   Would you like to try matching the leaves, flowers and grasses of that one, Barbara?

Stacey, Barbara and Emilia working on puzzle #3

Back to hiking…..During our hikes, we stumble upon so many lovely wildflowers and of course, I have to photograph just about every one of them (brace yourselves for a slew of pictures taken by this amateur!).  Great variations in altitude (3,500’ to almost 15,000’ above sea level), climate, and terrain allow for a plethora of flora.  Early in July, we went for days without seeing the state flower and finally found these two Colorado Columbines behind Castle Rock:

King’s Crown blooms

 Elkslip Marshmarigold growing in a tiny creek over 10,000 feet above sea level

  Wild Iris

 Rachel and Emilia taking a break from the climb near Castle Rock

We walked through an aspen stand (it felt like we were being watched!)

Early morning dew

If you get up early enough, you might see a shaggy-coated mule deer behind the cabin

Baby pine cones 

Alpine Wallflower

Silky Phacelia

Geum triflorum, purple avens, or simply ‘old man’s whiskers’

And then there are the controversial four-wheelers, only for when a hike would be too long…right!   I’m not a big fan of the noisemakers and even the slightest tilt makes me feel like I’m falling off (a daredevil I am not).  But they did afford me a trip up the ridge to a most beautiful lake:

Black Lake

Karley led me to Black Lake.  She’s the cutest teenager and when I asked her to slow down on the way back because I am not a speed demon and I wanted to take a few pictures, she casually put her left hand on her waist and we cruised back.

I made a Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake before I left Houston and it travelled well over two days in the car.  I believe the time spent sealed in a tin allowed the cake to become very moist, and the tartness of the lemon and sweetness of the blueberries to blend beautifully.  Next time I’ll try it with fresh cranberries for an über tart cake!

Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake   adapted from Fine Cooking, September 2006

1⅓ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal (I used Goya’s Harina de Maiz)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon, or about 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup buttermilk
1½ cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

Preheat oven to 350° F.   Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 2-inch round springform cake pan.  Line the bottom with a parchment round cut to fit the pan.  Lightly flour the sides, and tap out the excess.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until blended.  In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well until the batter is smooth and fluffy, about 3 min.  Add the lemon zest and lemon juice (the batter may appear curdled; don’t worry).
On slow speed, fold in half of the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, and then the remaining dry ingredients until just combined.  Do not overbeat the batter.
Scoop about half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Spread with a spatula until even.  Spoon blueberries in a single layer on the batter in the pan.  Scrape the rest of the batter on top of the blueberries and spread evenly.  Bake in the preheated oven.  After 35 minutes, test the cake for doneness with a cake tester or toothpick.  If it comes out clean, it’s done. 
Let the cake cool on a rack for 15 min.  Remove side ring of the springform and cool completely.  Carefully invert the cake and peel the parchment off the bottom.  Flip it over onto a serving plate.  Dust with confectioner’s sugar or ice with my Cream Cheese Icing, if desired.  Serves 8-10.

Prijatno!

Fresh pear cake

Sometimes my eyes are just too hungry!   And when my eyes are hungry, I buy too much.  I am a lover of all fruit, tutti fruiti!   You name it – there’s not a fig, berry, stone fruit, pome, citrus, tropical, melon, seed-in or seedless piece of fruit that I’ve tried whose flesh and nectar doesn’t excite me!  Be it fresh, stewed, in a tart or pie, creamed, sorbeted, preserved, jammed, compoted, frozen or flambéed – if it’s fruit, count me in! 

So it was with the pears recently.  I found myself with a cornucopia in the fruit bowl, ripe and ready to be eaten.  Juicy and aromatic, but too many for the two of us, they were a perfect excuse for me to kick into baking gear!   

Pears and ginger are in combination with cinnamon and pecans in this cake.  I prefer my ginger fresh and always have a piece in the refrigerator.  I grate it using a handy zester called a microplane.  Peel the ginger and press firmly as you grate to cut the fibers.  This moist cake is easy to make and remains fresh for several days.

Fresh Pear Cake

Adapted from Allrecipes

• 4 cups peeled, cored and diced pears (about 3-4)
• 1 cup granulated sugar, divided use
• 2 –3 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root (or 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
• 2 ¾  cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Combine the pears, 1/2 cup sugar and ginger in a large bowl and let stand for an hour.  Combine flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon in another bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Spray a 10 inch Bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.

Beat eggs and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until pale and creamy.  Add oil and blend in slowly.  On low speed, blend in the flour mixture until most of the flour is mixed in.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Add the pears and pecans and stir on slow speed until just incorporated into the batter.  Do not overbeat.

Pour batter into Bundt pan.  Bake at 325°F, checking after 50 minutes.  When a skewer comes out clean, remove cake from oven and cool on rack for 10 minutes.  Invert cake on a large plate and slide it back onto the rack to cool completely.  Sprinkle the top with confectioner’s (icing) sugar, using a sieve to distribute it evenly.

Enjoy a slice with a cup of tea, coffee or a glass of cold milk!

Prijatno!

Sweet avocado cheesecake with mango and citrus ‘salsa’

Sounds weird, I know!

1. I had half a dozen ripe avocados staring at me from the fruit basket and

2. I had a Daring Bakers Challenge to do. The challenge was to make a cheesecake and a basic recipe was posted with instructions to make it ‘unique’ and get creative with flavors and presentation.

Put these two entities together and what do you get? Sweet Avocado Cheesecake!

I remembered an avocado cheesecake a couple of years ago at the innovative Cafe Red Onion, a Latin fusion restaurant. It was delicious. Avocados, being neutral in flavor, lend themselves to savory or sweet renditions. I believed that the velvetiness would enhance the creamy texture of my cheesecake. I would add lots of lime juice in an attempt to keep the color fresh. I was so excited about the idea I began baking right away.

The verdict: I liked it! My neighbor, Carolina loved it! She couldn’t detect the taste of avocado at all. Her daughter thought it was a pretty good lime cheesecake. Husbie wouldn’t go near it! And my sister and her family expressed a distinct dislike for the texture and color. Thanks, Ve and co. for your honesty! My friend Alma did not care for it. Her charming son, Joey, thought it was ‘interesting’ but liked it! And her husband John… haven’t heard back from him yet!

So, I’d say it’s a clear winner!!! I guess it’s not for everyone!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. You can click on her site to find the original recipe. Thanks to Jenny and the founders of the Daring Bakers, Lis and Ivonne for keeping the ‘daring’ in over a thousand bakers all over the world!

I modified Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake a little so that I could incorporate the avocados and lime juice. Next time I make it (yes, there will be a next time), I will use one avocado less so that the cheesecake is a more pleasing color. Some people just couldn’t handle it! The mango and citrus ‘salsa’ is sweet and tart and is a nice contrast to the creaminess of the cheesecake.

Sweet avocado cheesecake with mango and citrus ‘salsa’ Make the cheesecake the day you plan to serve it because it needs to chill overnight. The ‘salsa’ should be made the day of serving (see instructions below).

• Almond Crust
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted

Put almonds in processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter and pulse until blended but still crumbly. Pat into the bottom and a little up the sides of a 9” springform baking pan (I made two small cakes – one 5” round, and one 6 1/4” round). Set aside.

• Cheesecake batter
• 2 packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2-3 (I’d go with 2) ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
• zest of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon rum
• pinch of salt

Prepare a water bath by half filling a shallow roasting pan with very hot water. Place the pan on the lowest rack in the oven. Place another rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time until all are incorporated.

Place avocados in a food processor. Blend until very smooth. Add zest, lime juice, sour cream, rum and salt. Blend well.

Add avocado mixture to cream cheese mixture and blend on low speed until well blended. Pour into cake pan. Place pan on middle rack in oven. If you’re using a 9” pan, bake for 45 minutes than check to see if it set but still a little ‘jiggly’ in the middle after you bump the pan a little.

Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Chill overnight.

• Avocado ‘Salsa’
• You can make the salsa without the avocado ahead of time. Peel and cut avocado not too long before you plan to serve it so that it doesn’t discolor.
• 1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 orange, peeled and segmented then cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
• 1/2 grapefruit, peeled and segmented then cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 mango, peeled, flesh cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest

Combine avocado and lime juice in medium bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Place fruit mixture in a sieve and drain juices off before decorating cheesecake.

Prijatno!

The St. Patrick’s Day post, a week late!

Update: Please click on the 'comments' section at the end of this post for the recipe for Irish Whiskey Pound Cake.

Due to technical difficulties (ok, it’s blogger incompetence!), I was unable to post during our ski trip in Crested Butte. So here it is, a week late! The Irish Whiskey Pound Cake I made to celebrate the occasion is at the very end.

Top of the morning to you on St. Patrick’s Day! We are enjoying the beautiful slopes of Mount Crested Butte, Colorado. Because our blood is sub-tropic thin, we are fair weather skiers and March is the perfect time of year for us Texans to invade the quaint mountain villages of this awesome state!

Since this trip was very last minute in planning, and by then the price of plane tickets was way out of our reach, we did the second best thing: we chose to drive the 1,100 miles from Houston to Crested Butte, with an overnight stop in Trinidad, CO. Ten people, 2 SUV’s – believe it or not, it was a breeze!

Taking a break along the Arkansas River in Colorado

Delicate aspens grace the snow

We are very thankful and fortunate to be staying in the private home of Lois and Gerry Pate. The house is a short walk from the ski lifts and includes two large balconies with mountain views.

Teague and Mark enjoying a Linne Calodo 2006 Leona’s

The spacious dining area

And cozy fireplace

The kitchen is very well equipped – it even has a pastry cutter! We are cooking most of our meals with pleasure and ease: spaghetti Bolognese, migas, chili, fresh apple crumble, buttermilk pancakes, fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken, banana pudding, and pork chops with applesauce and succotash.

Check out the breathtaking view towards the small historic town of Crested Butte from the window

The house if very tastefully decorated. I love the detail in the backsplash.

It takes a lot of guts for a woman in her forties to take up snowboarding! It’s been a challenge, and a lot of fun for my sister, Vesna, to keep up with her family of snowboarders. There is more ksh, ksh, ksh and fewer bruises every year!

You have always been athletic and determined – stick with it sistuh!

When Emilia was about 10 years old, she came home from her first snowboarding lesson, sat down and drew a pie graph to describe her day. It went something like this: 60% on bum, 20% trying to get up, 10% on lift, 6% waiting for lift, and 4% snowboarding!

You’re quite accomplished now, my little Longhorn!

Alex’s ‘Mental’ cap makes it’s appearance every year!

Even though I had just finished breakfast, I couldn’t refuse the offer of hot chocolate and home-made biscotti at the top of the Silver Queen Express. “You could have said ‘No Thank You’, “ piped Vesna, at the sight of me dunking!

Who am I to refuse these two charming CB hosts?

Teague and Emilia watching the activity on the slopes

Jovan ‘owns’ the snowboard – he’s swift and graceful and the sight of his goggles and helmet prompted me to call him

Astroboarder!

These four daring young men ventured where the rest of us dare not!

Clear blue skies all week

Happy at the end of an excellent day on the mountain

Oh yeah…the recipe! Before we left home, I made an Irish Whiskey Pound Cake. Dried cherries, blueberries, pineapple pieces, cranberries and apricots are soaked in Irish whiskey. The Irish meaning of whiskey is ‘water of life’. I guess it explains how the Irish earned their ‘spirited’ reputation!

The zest of a lemon and toasted chopped almonds round off the flavors. The icing includes a generous helping of Bailey’s Irish Cream!

A slice of this dense and hearty cake is the perfect accompaniment to a strong cup of coffee. And it’s tasting better every day!

Until next time, here’s an Irish blessing for you:

May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.

Prijatno!