Holiday Bundt Cake

When I first started this blog back in October 2004, it was at the suggestion of my friend Sheri, whose blog is Pork Cracklins. As I am neither the accomplished cook nor the tech savvy blogger that she is, I named mine "Not As Good As Pork Cracklins". Neither of our blogs has a thing in the world to do with pork cracklins.

Though I do still occasionally blog about cooking, over the years, NAGAPC (or as another friend calls it, "Not A Bad Ass") has begun leaning more and more toward baking. I guess I've baked since I was kid, but it's only been fairly recently that I've paid attention to where the recipes come from and who writes them. I've learned that there are certain authors whose recipes can be completely trusted and whose tastes tend to be similar to mine.

Some of my baking inspirations are:

Rose Levy Beranbaum, whose classic books are some of the greatest baking tutorials ever written, including: The Pie & Pastry Bible (I need to use it more), The Bread Bible (LOVE it!), The Cake Bible (my first "real" buttercreams), and Heavenly Cakes (destined to be another classic).

Abigail Johnson Dodge, who used to be a contributing editor for my favorite magazine, Fine Cooking. The only book I own is The Weekend Baker. "My" two signature recipes are actually hers: Double Ginger Crackles and Chocolate Banana Swirl Cake. Several of my go-to reliable, favorite recipes are hers as well: Supermoist Banana Muffins and Emergency Blender Cupcakes.

Dorie Greenspan, whose Baking With Julia(Child) should be in every kitchen. But the book of hers I love the most is Baking From My Home To Yours. The first time Carolyn did the Tahoe Triple, I baked Perfect Party Cake to celebrate, and "perfect" truly describes it. In fact, everything I've made from that book is perfect.

Try to imagine how star-struck I was last week when Dorie Greenspan commented on Not As Good As Pork Cracklins about my Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Black Raspberry Swirl! She said it looked "perfect" and that she was glad I'd made it. As I told my marathon friends, it would be like Arthur Lydiard slapping you on the back, saying "nice run"!

You might think that I reacted by baking another of her recipes so soon, but in fact, I'd already made my next cake -- her Holiday Bundt Cake -- and frozen it for Thanksgiving Day. It was all I could do to keep it, not cut into it, and not blog about it. It's moist, dense, fragrant with cinnamon, and studded with cranberries, apples and nuts. Like every other recipe of hers I've made, it too is perfect.

Holiday Bundt Cake, Baking From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

Gérard's Mustard Tart

Dorie Greenspan commented on my blog about a year ago, and I was beside myself with excitement because she truly is one of the cooks, bakers, and authors I most admire.

It was raining on Saturday when my copy of her latest book arrived, so the mail carrier delivered it straight to my front door. I immediately put everything else on hold and sat down to pore over it. The photography is exquisite, and her personality shines through her stories about both the recipes and also living part-time in Paris. Her philosophy is perfectly summarized by a friend of mine, an amazing athlete and a Registered Dietitian who said, "There is nothing finer than small portions of wonderfully prepared food!"

Gérard's Mustard Tart, Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan
(Bon Appétit published a PDF of the recipe; click here.)

salmon en papillote

Sunday Family Dinner on summer vacation + me on a (temporary) baking ban = precious little blogging.

Tonight's dinner was wonderful. Very very flavorful, V v quick, V v little clean-up. I have no rights to it, but you're lucky because Ms. Greenspan herself has posted the recipe.

salmon en papillote, around my french table by Dorie Greenspan

Coffee Break Muffins

Simple, plain even, and not too sweet. Very tender and quite delicious. I sprinkled with coarse decorating sugar to dress them up just a bit. A definite repeat.

Coffee Break Muffins, Baking From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan.

Applesauce Spice Bars

Rave reviews on egullet. Now I know why.

Applesauce Spice Bars, Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Cinnamon Squares

Baking From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

B'stilla

A production. Nothing was terribly difficult (uh, maybe a tiny bit, but not terribly), although it was quite time consuming. Several people who'd already made it recommended doing it over two days, and I'm glad I did. On the first day I marinated the chicken, braised it, pulled it off the bone, and made the sauce. On the second day, I warmed the saucy chicken and assembled the b'stilla. I liked it and everyone else seemed to as well.

Chicken B'stilla, Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan

Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Black Raspberry Swirl

Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Black Raspberry Swirl, 1-2-3 Bake, Dorie Greenspan

Pumpkin Muffins

You know, if Steve is going to [jokingly] suggest that newcomers to Team Rogue bring baked goods to the workout, then he really should coordinate better with my schedule. Because he said Thursday, and I'd already made plans for today to be my recovery day.

Perfect morning to take a muffin back to bed with coffee and the newspaper, while the rest of the Team runs.

Pumpkin Muffins, Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce

Hopefully the idea of "caramel" in a savory dish doesn't scare you because this sauce is lick-your-plate delicious.

A sidebar next to the recipe suggests dressing up these perfectly seared scallops with thin strips of candied orange zest. I did candy the zest, but ended up putting it on steamed green beans with macadamia nuts. An ideal side dish accompaniment, really.

Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce, Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan

Score!

Score at Half Price Books!!



A brand spanking new copy of Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Pie and Pastry Bible was less than half-price - only $22.48!

And a shiny new copy of Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours was only $9.99, an unbelievable 75% off. Sweet!

Perfect Party Cake

My dear friend Carolyn completed the Tahoe Triple! That is THREE marathons in THREE days. I think she deserves a cake, don't you???

This the Perfect Party Cake from Baking From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe was originally given to her by Nick Malgeri and a version of it is on his website. It's four layers of lightly lemon flavored cake, filled with raspberry jam, frosted with meringue buttercream and patted with coconut. I'll take it to Rogue this afternoon around 4:30, and if you'd like to stop by to help us celebrate, that would be wonderful.