Happy Birthday, jonesing for… !

One year ago today I started my blog and it’s been nothing but fun since.  This whole thing began after encouragement from friends since I enjoyed taking pictures of whatever I was cooking, and liked typing up a few words about it as well. I’ve had so much fun sharing my love of cooking and recipes, and nothing makes me happier than hearing my friends and total strangers have been inspired to cook from recipes I post.

And I have something even bigger to celebrate than my blog’s anniversary. I’m so excited to announce I’ve just accepted a position as the new Test Kitchen Assistant for a national food magazine! I’ll be testing recipes, assisting food styling, grocery shopping, and working in the test kitchen for a living – a.k.a. my dream job! Words cannot express how excited and blessed I feel to be able to do what I love for a living as young as I am. Getting out from behind a desk and back into the kitchen means the world to me, so now it’s really time to celebrate!

So to celebrate, I wanted to bake a cake – a very special cake. In a way, this entire post, blog, and really my career, is dedicated to my oldest sister, DeAnna. She honestly is the biggest reason I pursued cooking – admiring her life as a pastry chef when she was younger and always being enchanted with whatever she was baking or making. This bundt cake is one of the earliest food memories I have of being impressed with food, thinking the black and white drizzle was so fancy, the cake shape so odd, the entire thing just being special. So I wanted to go back to my roots with this one.

Unfortunately neither D nor my mom could find the recipe. They both tore their kitchens apart looking for it to no avail, which seemed almost poetic in a way. I got to just create my own version, which is exactly what I like to do here. So I took a simple chocolate bundt cake recipe and oomphed it up, adding coffee and buttermilk, using a chocolate ganache drizzle instead of melted semi-sweet chips, and I had to stay true to the white chocolate drizzle – even though I’m not a huge fan, you can’t get that stunning white color with anything else, and since the cake isn’t overly sweet, it balances out.

So thank you to my readers, family, and friends for a wonderful year! I can’t wait to see what this next year has in store!

—

Black and White Bundt Cake

Makes at least 16 servings (depending on how you slice it).

Based on my sister’s recipe with froufrou flourish from Food & Wine.

Ingredients

• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped and separated (I really indulged and used Callebaut “Refined” semi-sweet, which is to die for)
• ¾ cup canola oil
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• 1 extra-large egg plus 1 egg white
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup strongly brewed fresh coffee, cooled (the bolder the better)
• 1 cup reduced fat buttermilk
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• ½ tablespoon corn syrup
• ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
• 4 ounces white chocolate (I usually loathe white chocolate but Callebaut’s white is actually nice and mild and not too sweet, so I recommend it)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 365° F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan or your microwave, melt 2 ounces of the chopped chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Pour the chocolate into a medium bowl and let cool until there’s no longer steam rising from it. Whisk in the oil and sugar until smooth, then whisk in the egg and egg white.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture along with ½ cup of the coffee and ½ cup of the buttermilk; whisk until smooth. Add the remaining dry ingredients, coffee and buttermilk and whisk until smooth.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the lower third of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let the cake cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn it out and let cool completely.
5. While the cake cools, prepare the ganache. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer, but don’t scald it. In a heatproof bowl, combine the remaining 3 ounces of chopped chocolate with the corn syrup and butter. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let stand until melted, about 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Let the ganache glaze cool until thick but still pourable, about 5 minutes (don’t be afraid to pop it in the fridge for a few minutes if your kitchen is slightly warm).
6. Drizzle the ganache over the cooled cake. Let the cake stand until the glaze is set, at least 30 minutes, before adding the white drizzle.
7. In a double boiler, melt the white chocolate until smooth and glossy. I do not recommend doing this in the microwave because white chocolate burns very easily and doesn’t melt like real chocolate (because it isn’t)! Drizzle over the cake artfully and serve slices with a huge glass of cold milk (and maybe a glass of champagne!).

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cake, chocolate, dessert, favorite, high altitude, indulge

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Oh, Easter. In a way you’re my favorite holiday in the culinary world more than any other because your day is devoted to breakfast and brunch, in which all my favorite foods reside. I was going nuts trying to choose what exactly to make for my Easter entry since there is no breakfast/brunch food I don’t love (no – really), and in the end, I had to go with one sweet and one savory dish (to be posted later).

Although we did a lot of the traditional Polish/Catholic customs for Easter growing up (dyeing eggs, strict lent, attending all Easter masses), our usual Easter fare wasn’t Polish at all. We’d have a big breakfast of sweet and savory things like scrambled eggs, potatoes o’brian, and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls before heading to church where I would secretly eat the Eggums I had snuck in my pockets and get disapproving looks from my mother. Then for dinner it would be bone-in ham, au gratin potatoes, and cornbread. There just wasn’t much Polish influence in our meals, so as much as I love my heritage and the food it offers, I decided to go with something we always enjoyed at our modern American Easter brunches.

The Doughboy certainly produces a delicious and fast cinnamon roll, but these just put him to shame. Although mine don’t make that glorious thoomp! sound when you make them, they are still ooey-gooey and rich cinnamon rolls with that cream cheese icing I could just eat by the bowlful. They require very little work (just time to rise) and once you’ve tried a homemade cinnamon roll, you’ll never touched the canned ones again.

Eggs, butter, buttermilk.

Dough + melted butter.

Eat your heart out, Cinnabon.

—

Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 12 rolls.

Adjusted for altitude, but based on the recipe from Serious Eats.

Ingredients

For the rolls:

• ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk, warm
• 1 stick unsalted butter, separated into 6 and 2 tablespoons, melted
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 4¼ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• scant ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1¾ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1¼ teaspoons salt
• Scant ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

For the frosting:

• 4 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk

Directions

1. Whisk the ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons warm buttermilk, 6 tablespoons of the melted butter, and eggs together.

2. In a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, granulated sugar, yeast, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and mix until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

3. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 1 minute. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn over a few times until evenly coated, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, checking after an hour.

4. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and a dash of salt together in a small bowl. Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured counter and press it into a 12 by 16 inch rectangle. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over, leaving a ¾-inch border along the top edge. Press on the filling to make it adhere to the dough as best you can.

5. Roll the dough into a tight cylinder and pinch the seams on the end and the length of the roll closed. Gently roll the cylinder until it is 18 inches long and has an even diameter. Slice into 12 evenly sized rolls using a serrated knife or bench scraper. Arrange the rolls cut-side down in a 9×13 inch glass baking dish that has been greased with the remaining tablespoon of melted butter. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until the rolls have nearly doubled in size and are pressed against one another, checking after about an hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Bake until the rolls are golden and puffed, 20 to 25 minutes. Flip the rolls out onto a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes.

7. Whisk the cream cheese and 3 tablespoons buttermilk together until thick and smooth. Sift the confectioners’ sugar over the mixture and whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds. Flip the rolls upright and drizzle the glaze over them.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: breakfast, holiday, indulge, spring, sweet

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“If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.”

With St. Patrick’s Day here, I knew I wanted to bake something to celebrate one of my favorite cultures. I was kicking myself a bit since I previously made cupcakes which are, well, practically the most perfect Irish stereotypical culture themed dessert, but thankfully, this fit the bill quite well.

Drinking whiskey straight isn’t something I do often, but cooking with it is phenomenal. It makes everything aromatic, malty, and just richer. Combined with coffee and chocolate, this cake is out-of-this-world in the flavor levels. Topped with more coffee-whiskey glaze, these are borderline Paula Deen level indulgent, but hey, it’s a holiday which automatically means indulging. Which makes it okay…. right?

A holy triumvirate.

MY WALNUTS!

A bit crackly, but the icing covers all sins.

—

Irish Coffee Sheet Cake

Based on the recipe from BHG.

This obviously isn’t ‘authentic’ sheet cake since it’s baked in a 9×13 pan and is a little deeper, but I didn’t have a half-sheet jelly roll pan on hand. So just go with it!

Makes 24 pieces.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, at room temperature (save the wrappers to grease the dish)
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• a dash of salt
• ½ cup whole milk
• ½ cup Jameson (or good Irish whiskey)
• 1½ tablespoons Espresso powder
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

For the glaze:

• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon Jameson (or good Irish whiskey)
• 1¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 to 4 tablespoons brewed coffee
• ½ teaspoon espresso powder

Optional: More chopped walnuts for sprinkling.

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350º F with rack set in center of oven. Butter or spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray, line with a sheet of parchment paper with edges hanging over, and set aside.

2.) In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together the granulated sugar, butter, ½ cup cocoa powder, and espresso powder until smooth and combined. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract until just combined.

3.) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, and set aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together the milk and ½ cup whiskey.

4.) Working in alternating batches, slowly add the flour and whiskey mixtures to the chocolate mixture, beating by hand after each. Fold in the nuts once everything is combined and pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean (no clinging batter). Set aside to cool completely on a wire rack.

5.) Prepare the glaze. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, whiskey, vanilla extract, and coffee.

6.) Once the cake cools, remove the parchment and cut the cake into squares first (the glaze dries hard so it will look nicer if you cut first then glaze). Drizzle the glaze all over them and topped with more chopped walnuts, if desired. Enjoy with more Irish booze of your choice (Guinness, Jameson, or both).

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, dessert, holiday, indulge, sweet

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I love Valentine’s Day. As my friend Beth put it the other day, “I don’t care what my romantic situation ever looks like, I will forever get 4th-grade decorate-a-shoebox-for-your-valentines excited for Valentines Day,” and I have to agree. Cards and flowers and chocolate and everything in special boxes and packaging… to me, Valentine’s Day is about love – not romance. It’s a day set aside to appreciate those you love most, regardless if they’re your best friend, spouse, significant other, relative, etc. It’s just an opportunity to show you care, if you want to.

I send cards to those closest to me, give out flowers, and of course, make special treats. Originally I wanted to attempt strawberry macarons for this holiday, but since I’m moving at the end of the month (full oven! fridge! dishwasher in my new place! – HOORAY!) with a better oven in the future, I decided to postpone. These popped up in my daily cookie newsletter from Martha Stewart and sounded delish. Plus I had an entire container of malt powder sans one tablespoon begging to be used.

I had fun renaming these with a little  dry humor knowing a lot of my friends and peers roll their eyes at Valentine’s Day and the entire stigma of it, but it really does fit. The cookies are rich and dark, with such a great added pungent flavor from the malt, and the filling is just so divine. Like drinking a chocolate malt, only in frosting form. How can you eat that and not feel the love?

<3

Frosting.

Open hearts.

Did I mention how excited I am to have a dishwasher again?

Sprinkles.

All you need is love.

—

Chocolate Malt ‘Hearts of Darkness’

Makes 2 dozen sandwich cookies.

Based on the recipe by Martha Stewart.

I obviously made sandwich cookies here, but you could easily just make 48 cookies, frost them with the filling, and then decorate them with awesome, obnoxious heart sprinkles or fun nonpareils of your choice. Just enjoy it.

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ cup plain malted milk powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1¾ cups granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons hot water

For the filling:

• 5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• ½ cup plain malted milk powder
• 2 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons half & half
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

For the cookies:

1.)   Preheat oven to 350° F with the rack set in the center. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2.)   In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

3.)   With the mixer running on low, add the egg, sour cream, and hot water. Reduce speed to lowest and add the dry ingredients.

4.)  Scoop a heaping ½ tablespoon of batter and plop onto prepared baking sheet. Be sure you give ample space (at least 2 inches) in between each cookie. Bake until flattened and firm, but not crisp – about 9-10 minutes.

5.)  Cool for a few minutes on the pan, and then using a small, heart-shaped cookie cutter, press onto the cookies. Discard the scraps (unless you’re feeling super ambitious and then make cake pops with them) and let cool completely.

For the filling:

1.)   In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring until everything is incorporated. Let cool to room temperature.

2.)   In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cup of malted milk powder and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the half & half, chocolate mixture, and vanilla. Refrigerate covered until set, about 30 minutes. Beat again on high until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

To assemble the cookies:

1.)  Spread a heaping ½ tablespoon filling on the bottom of one cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat. Cookies can be refrigerated between layers of parchment in airtight containers up to 3 days.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, cookies, indulge

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I’ve lost 2 of my favorite Gingers in the past week. First Conan’s tear-jerking last hurrah on NBC, and then I found out one of my favorite people at work, Chris the resident snarky redhead, was leaving. So of course, I put pastries on the pain. And since Chris probably has the biggest sweet tooth in the building (next to mine), I knew I wanted to bake something pretty over-the-top while hopefully continuing my pie crusade for his goodbye dessert.

And wow, does this cover over-the-top. It’s basically cookie dough pie. With walnuts. And Irish whiskey.

Are you still with me? Good.

This pie is one of those great things you could most likely throw together since the ingredients are all pretty standard baking (and drinking) fare. I keep everything except the walnuts in my baking pantry, and the whiskey I used was actually from a teeny bottle of 12-year-old Jameson my friend Robbie got me while she was interning for Irish parliament (thanks, Robbie!). It comes together incredibly fast which is good because once you taste the filling it will take the hand of God to stop you from eating the rest of it.

So rich and chocolatey and indulgent… it’s got one of those pecan pie-esque ooey gooey sticky fillings, except it’s chocolate and walnuts and…  you really, really need to serve this with milk. Or ice cream. Or both. And maybe a gym pass.

Check that pie crust out!

Need I say more?

MY WALNUTS!

Cookie dough filling (basically).

Of course more chocolate chips.

A giant cookie pie. Jesus take the wheel!

Ooey gooey.

Dig in!

—

Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie

Based on the recipe from the Baked cookbook.

This is my second real foray into pie world. The first crust I made was from The Modern Baker and this one was from Baked. Although Malgieri’s dough came together much easier (Baked’s was extremely sticky and loose), the taste and texture of Baked’s is far superior. It has a little more body and flavor, so for now, it’s ranked #1 (out of two… heh).

Makes one 9-inch pie.

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• ¾ cup ice water

For the filling:

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
• 1½ tablespoons whiskey
• ¾ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 8 oz (about 1¼ cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

For the dough:

1.) Make the dough well in advance or ideally, the night before. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Toss the cold butter cubes in the dry ingredients and then put into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times until the butter is pea-sized.

2.) Pour in the water while pulsing every few seconds until the dough comes together in a loose ball. My dough was incredibly loose and sticky (and I read other bloggers who have had the same issue with Baked’s recipe) but don’t worry – it firms up very well.

3.) Remove it from the bowl and pour out onto a floured surface. Divide into two balls and flatten/shape into discs. Wrap each disc in parchment paper, then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before forming in the shell, or freeze up to 3 months.

For the pie:

1.) Preheat your oven to 350° F with the rack set in the center.

2.) Lightly flour a large surface and roll out the refrigerated dough into a 12-inch round. Press into a 9-inch pie dish, trimming the excess and folding under/pinching the edges. Wrap loosely with plastic wrap and freeze at least two hours before using. (You can also freeze the prepared shell for up to 3 months.)

3.) Once the crust is ready, make the filling, but keep the pie shell in the freezer while you do so. Whisk together the flour and sugars in a mixing bowl and set aside.

4.) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs on high speed until very foamy – about 3 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and with the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 2 minutes.

5.) Add the butter, and beat on high until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides, add the whiskey, and then beat on high for another minute. Remove the bowl from the stand and then fold in the walnuts and ¾ cup of the chocolate chips.

6.) Remove the pie shell from the freezer and pour in the filling. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips over the top and bake for 25 minutes. Wrap the crust in foil so it doesn’t get too brown, and then bake for another 25 minutes or until a cake tester is clean when inserted and removed.

7.) Cool the pie on a wire rack before slicing. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream, milk, and more Jameson at the goodbye party.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, dessert, indulge, pie

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