From My Apartment's Christmas Table

My roommates and I enjoyed a homemade meal together this past Wednesday, prior to heading our separate ways for Christmas. Laura took care of the main course, which was macaroni with artichokes, mushrooms, and scallions, all tossed in a light cream sauce. I, of course, made the dessert. I tried this Stonewall Kitchen recipe for a chocolate-raspberry fudge cake. Once I got past the general unhealthiness of the ingredients (how many sticks of butter? cups of sugar? eggs?), I was able to enjoy the promise of chocolate - as derived from cocoa powder - and raspberry - as derived from seedless jam - flavors. The cake itself is very dense, but not as moist, smooth or rich as I would have liked. Its aroma is better than its taste. In the finished product, I noticed the dry, plain flavors of flour and butter more than the chocolate, sugar, or jam. I would replace some of the butter with oil in future bakings, and see if that moistens the batter and causes it to bake more smoothly. Also, the oil might draw out the flavors more than the solid butter. Aesthetically, it looks rather plain coming out of the 9" round cake pan. In order to enhance both the presentation and the flavors of the dessert, I served it with fresh raspberries and warm bittersweet chocolate sauce. Both additions were delicious!

This was probably the least successful baking experience / dessert yet recorded in these pages, but hey, the recipe was worth a try. I now have the goal of making an appropriately smooth, rich, and flavorful fudge cake!

The Cheesecake Factory's Latest Delight

...is a peppermint bark cheesecake.

The base is a chocolate-mint graham cracker crust. The cheesecake itself has a faintly peppermint flavor, with small chunks of candy and red food coloring swirled in. (The flavor and coloring fade toward the outer crust of the cake, where it is replaced by plain - though still delicious! - cheesecake.) The result truly gives you the impression that you are looking at a slice of peppermint bark, albeit in cream form. There is a layer of vanilla cream on top of the cheesecake, which is sprinkled with more peppermint candy chunks. A dollop of whipped cream, topped with more candy bits, plus two thin wedges of smooth dark chocolate finish off the dessert.

This cheesecake may be my favorite Cheesecake Factory dessert, with the other contenders for that title being Linda's Fudge Cake, Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake, Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake, and Key Lime Cheesecake. The only way this particular cake could have been better? More chocolate, of course. (In my experience, peppermint bark has consisted of just as much chocolate as peppermint!) I would recommend enjoying this seasonal delight as soon as possible, as I don't anticipate it being around much after the holidays.

For a Cheesecake Factory restaurant near you, go to http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/locations.htm.

The Holiday Breakfast

Yes, this entry on Thanksgiving baking is several weeks overdue. I know, I know. I will limit it to the Thanksgiving breakfast, which I baked, rather than including the Thanksgiving desserts as surreptitiously prepared by my mother (she knew I'd be upset if I heard she was baking dessert in advance).

I must start by telling you that I am an apple snob. I didn't choose to become such a snob; it just happened that way. I grew up in Londonderry, New Hampshire, a town with four commercial orchards and, as the local phrase goes, "more apples than people." The most popular of the orchards, Mack's Apples, is the ultimate New England fall destination, with apples, cider, pumpkins, other veggies, baked goods, and maple products available for purchase from the orchard shop. (You can also pick your produce straight from the tree/vine, via several "U-Pick" stations; in the summer, you can enjoy locally-made ice cream by a pond with sociable waterfowl.) The orchard grows a variety of apples, which I have sampled throughout the years; my favorite is the Londonderry Cortland. Cortland apples are crisp and tart, with sparkling white flesh covered by red-and-green blotched skin. They are neither too sweet nor too tangy, and produce the most satisfying crunch possible in an apple - I've never encountered a mealy Cortland. Whenever I go to NH in apple season, it is guaranteed that I will return to Boston with a box of Cortlands. Present me with a different apple, and I will look at it in disdain.

Londonderry Cortlands are big apples, and a Mack's box contains a lot of them - so, I was making applesauce on a weekly basis for a while. I didn't add any sugar or other flavors to the applesauce - the Cortland flavor is strong enough that it doesn't need any enhancement. Other favorite apple recipes are apple crisp, applesauce-maple bread, and an apple spice cake. The apple spice cake had the honor of being the recipient of the last Cortlands of the 2008 season (tear), as well as being the 2008 Thanksgiving Breakfast. Since my parents would be eating the cake over the holiday, I asked for their input on the recipe prior to baking. My dad suggested replacing the Cortlands with Granny Smiths (overrated), Golden Delicious (how boring can you get?), or - wait for it - Honeycrisps (blasphemy). Apple snob that I am, I did not appreciate the joke. I ignored the "input" and baked the cake with my beloved Cortlands.

The cake was an instant hit! It's dense and flavorful. I attribute its success and exceptional taste to the following:

• grated apples - grated apples introduce more juice to the batter, so the apple flavor better permeates the cake than if the apples were diced into small pieces.
• lemon zest and juice - the extra tartness of the citrus fruit enhances the apple flavor.
• butter - yes, there is a lot of butter in this cake, but butter is preferable to cups of oil. Oil tends to weigh down these cakes and give them a moist, heavy quality. The butter gives this cake a creamy texture and keeps the batter somewhat light.
• liberal application of spices - it's a family tradition to double the spices in baking recipes; cinnamon gets the star treatment of frequently being tripled. Mmm, aromatic compounds.
  

Here is the recipe, courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine, for your baking pleasure.

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 3 C flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t ground cinnamon (double/triple as desired)
• 3/4 t salt
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg (double as desired)
• 1/4 t ground cloves (double as desired)
• 1/4 t ground allspice
• 1 3/4 pounds Cortland apples, peeled / cored / coarsely grated (2 apples, to make 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 C (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C golden brown sugar, packed
• 1 t grated lemon peel
• 3 large eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t fresh lemon juice
  

1. Position the rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 325 F. Spray a 12 C Bundt pan with nonstick spray.
2. Sift the flour and the next 6 ingredients into a medium bowl.
3. Grate 2 C worth of apples; set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, both sugars, and lemon zest in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the vanilla and lemon juice.
5. Beat in the flour mixture, and mix in the grated apples. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.
6. Bake the cake until a tester inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes.

Enjoy the cake warm, whether by eating it straight from the oven or zapping it for a few seconds in the microwave. You will not be disappointed!

Londonderry apple season is now over, but Christmas is right around the corner - so, that will inspire me to new heights of baking. Will there be pumpkin pie? Something chocolatey? Sugar cookies in holiday shapes? Stay tuned...