Category Archives: Recipes (Sweet)

Cinnamon-Apple Yogurt Muffins

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Muffins with the goodness of fresh apples.

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then an apple muffin a day surely must keep nobody away.

Not when it’s full of tender, juicy diced apples, toasty cinnamon and lovely, caramelized brown sugar that’s sure to prompt a near stampede its way.

When a couple of new apples arrived as a sample in the mail, I immediately got the craving for muffins. What can I say? That’s just how I am.

The apples were Pinatas. No, they weren’t full of candy when you cut into them. Indeed, they’re an heirloom varietal that’s available throughout the United States this year for the first time.

Heirloom Pinata apple.

Family-owned Stemilt Growers of Washington state now grow this boutique apple that originated in Germany. The Pinata is crisp and juicy. It has a sweet, mild taste without any sharp tang. It doesn’t brown much after being cut, and it’s ideal for eating out of hand or for baking.

Look for them at Bay Area Raley’s and Safeway stores for about 99 cents to $2.49 a pound.

After looking over a few muffin recipes, I decided to make up my own, using ideas I liked from a few different ones.

I wanted an apple muffin full of apples and nuts. So into the batter went two apples and 1/3 cup of toasted walnuts. Since I didn’t have milk or buttermilk on hand, I used Greek yogurt for moistness and a subtle tang. Since I still have a half full bottle of Calvados in the house, I added a little of that, too, just for fun. But you can easily leave it out if you so want.

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Lovely Lemons

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My baby.

See that beauty of a Meyer lemon up there?

Yup, I grew that.

That might not seem so remarkable until you realize that I’m the woman otherwise known as “Black Thumb Jung.” Yes, that’s what my dear husband calls me. With the utmost affection, of course.

Admittedly, I’m not the world’s greatest gardener. I have killed ivy and cactus, after all, which are supposedly indestructible. Just not in my hands, though.

I wasn’t born a gifted gardener like my late-Mom was. She could grow anything — even tubs of sweet, juicy tomatoes inside our family house, which too often was enveloped in dreary San Francisco fog to give those delicate seedlings a fighting chance outside.

But that’s not to say that I don’t give it the ol’ school-girl try. Every year, I fill my backyard planters with new soil, new plants, and a bushel of hope. Yes, the utmost optimism that something, anything will actually go on to live and flourish. Usually, at least a few things do. Oh sure, I’ve lost my share of cilantro, tarragon, roses, snapdragons, and butter lettuce that blossomed brightly, then in an instant just died out. Gosh, was it something I said?

Fortunately, a few things actually do go on to thrive. I can grow basil like there’s no tomorrow. Rosemary and I get along just like that. And I once had a tomato plant that not only produced for a full summer, but somehow managed to endure a rainy, cold, neglected winter only to sprout beautiful round orbs once again the following year. Go figure.

So, last year, I planted a dwarf Meyer lemon tree, and waited with bated breath. Sure, many of my friends already have such trees and are only to eager to load me up with their abundance of lemons. But there’s just something wonderfully satisfying about growing your own.

I watched as the blossoms turned into little, hard green spheres that grew and grew, and slowly started turning taxi-cab yellow. I picked the first few last month, all the while beaming with pride.

Dig in.

So, what to do with these special lemons that I grew with my very own black thumb?

Why, make lemon bars, of course.

San Francisco Pastry Chef Emily Luchetti’s, to be exact.

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Cocoa-Marzipan Pound Cake For the Ages

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Cocoa-marzipan pound cake to wind down the year with.

I’m not ready for Christmas nor for the end of 2009.

But I’m ready for cake.

Is it me or has this year just raced by at hyperspeed?

It feels like it should be May or July at the very latest, not December, for gosh sakes.

I remember how when I was little, summer dragged on forever — but in a good way, of course. Now, hours and days zoom by, and before I know it, I’m planted squarely on a new calendar page, wondering how I got there and how the dates have already filled up so fast when I’ve barely taken a breath.

It may be a cliche that “Time flies when you get older.” But I’m feeling the years when I think 2009 is almost over — day by day disappearing, just like that, with nothing I can do about it.

That’s why I need cake.

The recipe makes enough to share.

To be sure, cake is always welcome. At least in my world.

With one forkful, it recalls the past with candles, frosting, party hats and chirpy, sing-song wishes. And it beckons the future with its sweet promises of good tidings to come.

Cake makes time stand still, at least for a moment, as we sink our teeth into something airy, festive and special that makes everything else around us disappear.

I can’t stop 2009 from coming to a close all too soon.

But I can give you cake that will make time slow to a welcome crawl long enough for you enjoy a nice, thick slice.

”Cocoa-Marzipan Pound Cake” is such a cake. It’s by esteemed pastry chef and blogger, David Lebovitz, and it’s from his book, “The Great Book of Chocolate” (Ten Speed Press).

It contains one of my all-time favorite baking ingredients: almond paste, which gives it a lightness and delicacy not found in most denser pound cakes.

Look at the color of this cocoa powder.

It also contains one of my new favorite ingredients: E. Guittard Cocoa Rouge. You can use any unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder in this cake. But when I spied this so-called rare red cocoa powder at Sur La Table, I just had to fork over $8 for the 8-ounce can to take it home to play around with.

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Giving Thanks for a Non-Pie Pumpkin Dessert on Thanksgiving

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A pumpkin dessert that's not pie.

I love all things pumpkin — except pie.

Forgive me my idiosyncrasy with this hallowed squash.

Many of you already know I won’t ever turn down pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins or any savory pumpkin dish. But if pumpkin pie comes to the table, I’d just as soon pass. I think I find it just too dense and one-dimensional.

Yet, I still enjoy the autumn taste of pumpkin and I know it rightfully deserves a place on the festive Thanksgiving table.

That’s why I’m always elated when I find a lovely pumpkin dessert recipe that is not pie.

“Crema di Zucca” or “Creamy Pumpkin Custard” stars pumpkin in the form of creamy, smooth individual puddings that get dolloped with whipped cream and boozy golden raisins.

The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, “Dolce Italiano” (W.W. Norton & Co.) by Gina DePalma, pastry chef of Babbo restaurant in New York.

Cream cheese, mascarpone, and egg yolks give the batter luxuriousness and a fluffier texture than pumpkin pie filling. Pulverized crystallized ginger gives it a special little kick.

The golden raisin compote gets its sweet, grown-up taste from orange juice, sugar, butter and rum.

The custards bake in a water bath, then are chilled before serving.

The original recipe calls for chilling the custards for at least four hours, before inverting them onto individual plates. Try as I might after that allotted time, though, I couldn’t get my custards to release from the ramekins.

The custards after being baked, then chilled overnight.

I conferred with DePalma via email, who noted that at the restaurant, they actually chill the custards overnight. She thought that might make them firmer and easier to remove from the ramekins.

So I waited overnight, and tried again. And what do you know — it worked this time. The custards were indeed firmer. I ran the tip of a knife around the edge of each custard, then let the ramekins sit in a bowl of very hot water for a few seconds, as DePalma also had suggested. Then I placed a small plate over a ramekin, turned it over, and gave it one big shake, which helped release the custard onto the plate. Voila!

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A Profusion of Pears and Spices

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Autumn pears star in these cheesecake-like bars.

That’s just what you’ll find in these creamy-dreamy “Pear Cream Cheese Bars with Macadamia Nut Crust.”

They’re potent with ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon and coriander — a whole teaspoon of each. Whoa!

The fact that they’re so spice-heavy shouldn’t come as a surprise — not when the recipe comes from a cookbook with the name, “The Spice Kitchen, Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices” (Andrews McMeel) by Sara Engram and Katie Luber with Kimberly Toque. Engram and Luber have their own line of spices. And Toque was an assistant test kitchen chef at Lawry’s.

My friends who sampled the bars found the amount of spice overwhelming. I didn’t mind the pronounced flavor, except that it did make it very hard to actually taste the pears in these treats.

Next time, I think I would cut the amount of spice in half, which is how I’ve adapted the recipe below. Feel free to cut the spice amounts even more if you prefer.

The bars have a great interplay of textures — a crisp, nutty cookie foundation, then an almost cheesecake-like middle, followed by slices of fresh pears, and a quite sweet, thick layer of crunchy streusel on the very top. The flavor is reminiscent of a heady pear spice cake in a whole different guise.

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