Almond Torte

Dessert, my friends, is where it's at.

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone with tastebuds.

This recipe comes from the genius of Alice Waters, chef extraordinaire of Chez Panisse. We have my mom to thank for this one as she told me about this cake after having it a couple of times. I am thrilled to call it a new staple! Every home chef needs go-to recipes and this is my new dessert of choice. 

Serve this cake topped with a dusting of powdered sugar, fresh berries, and/or vanilla ice cream.

Or eat it for breakfast. It's versatile. 

Almond Torte

     from Alice Waters

     yields 1 9-inch cake - use a springform pan

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour

1½ tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1¼ cups sugar

7 oz. almond paste, at room temp

10 oz. butter, at room temp

1 tsp vanilla

6 eggs, at room temp

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Grease and line a 9 inch springform pan, set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, combine the almond paste and sugar until the almond paste is in very small pieces. 

Using a standing mixer, beat the unsalted butter until light.

Add the almond and sugar mixture to the butter and cream together until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down sides of the bowl making sure everything is thoroughly combined.

Gradually add in the flour mixture until just combined.

Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for one hour, 

until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before serving.

The most perfect slicing you'll ever encounter.

Serve with powdered sugar on the top or with whipped cream. You don't need much, just a tad. The cake is the start of this show.

Enjoy!

Cognac Banana Bread

If you're anything like me you don't know much about brandy. It's made from wine and you sip it from one of those bulbous glasses, right? Thus begins and ends my understanding of brandy.

For this recipe you don't need to know anything about brandy other than Cognac, a French variant of the spirit, is used and it is a wonderful flavor enhancement. Use whatever kind of brandy you have on hand, there's only a spoonful in the recipe.

Sweet breads, or quick breads, such as banana, pumpkin and ginger bread are easy to make but also pretty easy to goof up. Tips for baking these kinds of breads:

• don't over mix your ingredients - mashed bananas shouldn't be creamed, you want some lumps
• ingredients should be a room temp unless otherwise specified
• break those eggs into a small bowl before adding to the mixer - eliminates your chance of eggshell chips
• throughly grease your pans - nothing is more disappointing than a perfect looking bread or cake that betrays your love by sticking to the pan

Cognac Banana Bread

     makes 1 loaf

     inspired by Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas, roughly mashed

⅓ cup melted butter

1 cup brown sugar, loosely packed (I prefer dark brown sugar but use what you like)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp Cognac

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cloves

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1½ cups flour

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. 

In a large bowl, stir bananas and butter together. Add the sugar, egg, vanilla and Cognac, mix until all is incorporated before adding the spices. Lastly, fold in the flour until just combined. 

Chunky, mashed banana & melted butter

Pour your badder out into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. The banana bread won't be fully baked but remove the bread from the over and lightly sprinkle a spoonful of sugar over the top. This will give the bread a crisp, crystalized top. Return to the oven and continue backing until a toothpick comes out clean, another 5-10 minutes.

Let cool. Serve warm, serve cold, toasted with jam, toasted with butter. I really enjoy the chunky bits of banana throughout the bread. Looking forward to making this one again and again. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Mmmm mmm good!

The Vegan Wedding Cake

Eleven months ago, my friend asked me to make her wedding cake. Honored and excited to be asked I said yes! 

Then she told me it would be vegan. 

It felt like a a fool's errand, making a dairy-free wedding cake. Cakes are so good because they have milk and butter, right?! 

I was the biggest skeptic. How was I going to pull this off? 

The recipe search kicked into gear in January. Vegan cookbooks were purchased (thanks, Aunt B!) and countless vegan blogs were read. After a cake tasting to narrow down a cake in April and a practice wedding cake and subsequent eating party in early June, I felt ready for the late June ceremony.

I'm happy to say the cake impressed this skeptic.

It was all hands on deck during the setup.

I made an extra sheet cake for easy slicing.

The final product!

The recipe is the same chocolate cake I published in the Vegan Cake Tasting post from April, found here. 

If you need any cake recipes, vegan or otherwise, you know I'm your girl.

The happy couple!

Stephanie, thank you for asking me to make this cake. You pushed me to do something challenging and new. I'm so happy I was able to share in your special day. xo

Chocolately Almond Biscotti

Bite-sized and crispy, perfect for dunking, biscotti and coffee are a match made in heaven. If you are a fan of teatime, Italian goodies, or sweets in general, this recipe is for you.

While I was in Italy I found myself drooling outside the windows of cute, little bakeries like this one. 

Those Italians... they're doing it right.

Chocolately Almond Biscotti

     adapted from Cooking Light, March 2009

Ingredients

9.5 oz. flour, about 2 cups

2 tbsp flax seed

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

⅓ cup sugar

⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar

2 egg whites

1 egg

1 tsp Brandy

½ tsp vanilla

⅔ cup dark chocolate chips

⅔ cup unsalted almonds, I used sliced almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Weigh and measure out the flour. Combine flour, flax seed, soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. In the bowl of a standing mixer combine sugars, egg whites, and egg. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes then add in the Brandy and vanilla.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in chocolate and almonds. 

Divide dough into 3 equal portions - The dough will be sticky. Roll each portion into a 6-inch-long roll on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet, cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cut rolls into ½-inch slices. 

Fun Fact: Biscotti means twice-cooked bread.

Arrange sliced biscotti on the cookie sheet and return to the oven. Reduce temperature to 325° and bake 7 minutes on each side. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Enjoy!

Peach Pie with Blackberries

Peaches are some of the sweetest and juiciest fruit - perfect for a snack or dessert. Or a Father's Day pie. This one was for my dad, a true pie guy.

What I am discovering with fruit pies is the ease with which you can add flavor or a little surprise. That is what I tried with the blackberries; a little tartness from the berries to compliment the sweet peaches. 

Peach Pie with Blackberries

     adapted from Foodess

Crust

2½ cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

10 oz. chilled butter, cubed

6 tbsp ice water

Filling

5 white peaches, peeled and sliced

⅓ cup sugar

1 tbsp flour

¼ tsp cinnamon

⅛ tsp nutmeg

1-2 tbsp lemon juice

1 handful of blackberries

Garnish with a few extra blackberries.

Directions

For the crust...

Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Add the cubes of butter and using a pastry cutter or your fingers rub into the flour mixture until it resembles course meal. Add water as needed.

Divide into two portions, form discs, and chill for at least an hour.  

Preheat oven to 500°F, yes, that's correct, 500 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the peaches and lemon juice, toss together and set aside.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough. Transfer the first disc to a 9-inch pie pan and fill with the peach filling, sprinkling the top with blackberries, and cover with the second rolled out disc. Trim the edges and cut air vents in the top. 

Once the pie is in the oven turn the heat down to 425°F. 

Bake for 25 minutes before reducing the heat to 375°F, covering with foil, and baking for anther 25 minutes. The top should be golden brown.

The crust is flaky and buttery... just right! 

I suggest serving the pie warm with vanilla ice cream. 

It's peach season so you and yours can enjoy fresh peach pie all summer long!

mmm mmm mmmmmm

Fish Tacos with Salsa Verde

Summer is here and fish tacos are the perfect meal for a casual backyard dinner party.

We had our own impromptu Sunday night dinner outback, blankets might have been involved, but the tacos were hot and spicy and the company couldn't have been better.

Fish Tacos with Salsa Verde

     slightly adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow

     serves 4

Ingredients

8 corn tortillas

1 lb. halibut (striped bass, cod, or other white fish work)

1 can diced hot jalapeño pepper

½ yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

handful of cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

sea salt 

pepper

olive oil

salsa (I used pineapple-mango)

½ red cabbage, shredded

Directions

For the salsa verde... puree the jalapeño, onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and a pinch of salt & pepper in a food processor. Should be smooth and spicy!

Warm up the tortillas in the oven or microwave as the fish cooks. Make sure all your toppings are prepped so the fish doesn't get cold between the stove and feasting.

Heat olive oil in a heavy pan, add a dash of salt and pepper. Once the oil is hot, add the fish. 

Cook on one side for 3 minutes before turning. Cook for another 3 minutes, then using tongs, shred the fish in the pan, stirring lightly as not to crumble the fish, and cook for another minute or so. 

Tacos topped with salsa verde and cabbage, some chips and dip, and a cold beer... maybe it's the California girl in me, but if that doesn't say summer I don't know what does! 

Enjoy!!

The Blog's Coming Out!

It was only a matter of time before I fully committed to spreading the word about this blog. 

Social media makes sharing information and ideas easy (yay!) and since I love sharing my culinary interests with you I put the blog on Instagram!

In addition to sending you an email* when I've undated the blog I will be posting pictures on Instagram.

Follow me @bakingit, instagram.com/bakingit

For those not on Instagram, 

I happen to know a girl who can hook you up if you so choose (wink wink).

*If you want to get email notifications when the blog is updated, leave me a comment.

Ciao