Cabin in the City

Books, cats and midwestern charm.

Great American Baking Resolution

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Cranberry Orange Pecan Cookies

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Folks, I’ll let you in on a little something: I’m not a huge Thanksgiving fan. While most people are salivating over the biggest food event of the year, I shrug and go meh.

The turkey is fine, the stuffing is OK and I like apple pie well enough, but in conjunction with mashed potatoes, yams, vegetable casseroles and pumpkin everything? Not into it. It’s all just too much rich, brown food, you know? And to deviate from those classics would be almost blasphemy.

So I try to make Thanksgiving enjoyable for myself in other ways. For the past few years, I’ve mixed up pie crusts in advance for all the pies my family makes (which is a lot: apple, lemon meringue, pecan and two pumpkin–one with coconut, one without). This year, I decided to up my Thanksgiving baking game with more pie crusts and a new cookie recipe.

Admittedly, I’m not a pecan person (or really a cranberry person), but these cookies really seem to fit the Thanksgiving bill (and they’d work well into the Christmas season, too). Bonus: they’re so easy to make and great for a last-minute treat.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 2¼ cups flour
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup pecans, chopped
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Zest of one orange

Making the cookies is super simple. Just cream together your butter, sugar and egg yolk, then mix in your vanilla, salt and flour until combined. Once that’s all mixed, stir in your nuts, cranberries and zest.

Then divide your dough into two. Roll each bit of dough into a log, roughly six inches long. Wrap this up in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours (though you can keep it in the fridge for a day or two if you’re the plan ahead type).

Once chilled, slice your logs into ¼” slices and pop on a lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350ºF for 12 to 15 minutes.

If you don’t have pecans on hand, I think pistachios would work well, too (but feel free to sub in macadamia nuts, walnuts or whatever you prefer). If you’re into white chocolate (I’m not) a drizzle over the top could be super pretty. It’s up to you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Apricot Poppy Seed Bars

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I have a soft spot for poppy seeds. My wedding cake was a delicious almond poppy seed layer cake filled with buttercream, and not too long ago I tried to replicate it (and did OK!). But I also love the flavor in the potica and kolaczky I make at Christmas. I love the hint of nuttiness and the crunch they add to all these treats. But let’s face it, cakes, potica and fancy cookies aren’t really everyday treats.

But you know what is an everyday kind of treat? A bar. Just a hardworking sweet that doesn’t require any garnish or flair. They’re perfect for weeknight desserts of for bringing to a party.

So it figures that I wanted to combine the tasty flavor of poppy with the no nonsense feeling of a good ol’ tray bake. I developed this struesel bar recipe based on a recipe from Amy Thielen’s The New Midwestern Table, one of my favorite cookbooks. I wasn’t super keen on the raisins she calls for (and I didn’t agree entirely with some of the proportions), so I developed my own take. Plus, this totally counted as my September bake for my Great America Baking Resolution. Let’s dig in.

For the filling:

  • ¾ cup poppy seeds
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chopped dried apricots
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

For the bars:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cup room temperature butter, cut into chunks + more for greasing pan
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

I warned you that the filling for this one takes a little extra time and work, but you can relax a little knowing it can be prepped a few days in advance – just stash it in the refrigerator. You can relax a little more knowing that making this filling from scratch isn’t mandatory either. Feel free to substitute a can of poppy seed filling from the grocery store (it’s typically in the baking aisle near the canned cherries).

Now let’s get to it. I’m going to kick this off with an optional step: crushing the poppy seeds. This isn’t 100% necessary, but it does help release a little extra poppy flavor by cracking the exterior of the seeds. To crush the seeds, pulverize them in a clean coffee grinder. Working in batches, pulse the seeds in the grinder until they resemble coffee grounds. Set these aside for a moment.

Using your food processor, pulse your chopped, dried apricots so they break down a bit before you add your remaining ingredients. I’d say pulse until they’re about the size of chocolate chips. Then you’re ready to add the rest of your filling ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, vinegar and your poppy seeds. Process until the apricots are reduced to the size of mini chocolate chips or smaller. A blender would work well here too if you don’t have a food processor.

Once blended, pour your mix into a sauce pan. I’ll warn you that it doesn’t look the most appetizing, but don’t worry – it will turn out. Cook this mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently. When the mix begins to bubble, reduce to medium low heat and continue cooking (and stirring) until the filling has thickened – about 15 minutes. Set aside or pop in the fridge.

Now, onto the bars themselves. In a large bowl, quickly mix together your dry ingredients. Then add your cubed butter and mix with your hands until the mix feels damp and holds its shape when squeezed.

Grease a 13″x9″ pan with butter. Scoop five heaping cups of unpacked dough into the pan and press down to form a crust. Bake this at 375ºF for 15 minutes. When done, remove from the oven and let cool for another 15.

Once the base has cooled off a bit, spread the poppy filling across in an even coat, leaving a bit of room around the edge. Then take the remaining struesel mix and crumble on top. Don’t cover the poppy seeds 100%. You’ll want a bit of the filling to show through.

Pop this back into a 375ºF oven for another 45 minutes or so. Wait for this to cool and slice away!

The result is a rich, buttery struesel with a delicious nutty filling with a hint of fruit. These are a bit time consuming, but I think for poppy lovers like myself, they’re definitely worth it.

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Small Goals // July 2017

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My first month of small goals is behind me! Let’s see how I did in June:

  1. Celebrate our second anniversary. Done! Michael and I stayed in Madison for a short weekend. We visited the farmers market, the zoo and hit up the Old Fashioned on the square. Pretty much all my favorite things.
  2. Get the house in order. I got everything I wanted done (with the exception of  slaying the ever-present laundry pile). While the finer points of organization might have eluded me, I think the house looks much better. I’ll call it a win.
  3. Add a few non-wedding items to my Etsy shop. Done! I posted four new designs in my shop this month: a Golden Girls hoop, a 30 Rock hoop and two GBBO hoops. I’m working on a few more and working on replenishing the design I sold out of (yay!). I’ll have a post soon showing you some of these designs plus a few wedding hoops I knocked out!
  4. Visit La Crosse and Eau Claire. Check! Though it was a short trip, I got to see my friends’ new home in La Crosse and caught up with with one of my oldest pals at her baby shower.
  5. Polka at Polish Fest. Done. My dad and I got out on the dance floor for a minute and had a good time (even if we aren’t very good).

5/5. 100% for my first month isn’t too shabby! Let’s keep this momentum going in July!

Since June was pretty busy, I want to focus on slowing down and enjoying some time at home. June was a great month, but between all our busy weekends and trying to put our house back together post-basement repair, I felt like I didn’t get to really bask in the nice, long summer days. To make up for it, I’m trying fill this month with some nice home-based goals that help me unwind a bit.

  1. Take some time up north. Michael’s family has a little place outside the Wisconsin Dells, and I really don’t visit often enough. It’s a great place to relax and super convenient for our Madison-based friends to swing by for the day.
  2. Deepen my tarot practice. Is 2017 the year of tarot? Seems like everywhere I look, someone is getting into reading, including myself. After a few classes and my art show, I got really interested in it. So this month I want to dedicated more of the symbolism to memory, which means I have to actually read the books I got and start practicing!
  3. Sew a dress from Gertie’s Ultimate Dress Book. I cut out a basic day dress from this book all the way back in February because I was excited about summer sewing. Apparently not too excited because the pieces are folded up in a box right now. So it’s time to stitch this baby up and get a few wears out of it!
  4. Get back on the horse with my Great American Baking Challenge. I’ve been keeping up with this challenge, but the last two months I picked pretty easy recipes (key lime and banana cream pies) that didn’t really challenge me too much. I’m thinking about trying my hand at some bread recipes. We’ll see.
  5. Visit the Hoyt Park beer garden. We live pretty darn close to a nice beer garden. While we do make our fair share of trips there throughout the summer, Michael and I typically only go when we’ve got friends visiting from places that don’t have beer gardens (which, it turns out, is most places outside of Milwaukee and Germany). So I’m hoping to convince Michael to take a walk down there one evening and just relax. It’s really a nice place to spend an evening.

Let’s see if I can do 5/5 two months in a row! What are your July goals?

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Easy Wins: Chocolate Ganache Tart

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The Great American Baking Resolution continues! And thank goodness because without it, I’d never post here. I have some stitching projects underway – more on those later! – and they’ve been eating up a lot of my laying around time.

This month, invigorated by new seasons (!!!) of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, I decided to make a chocolate ganache tart. For some reason, I was under the impression that a) ganache was difficult to make and b) I had never made it before. I was wrong on both counts, but that’s OK! An easy win is still a win.

To make this tart, you’ll need the following for the crust:

  • 1½ cups shortbread cookie crumbs (you could also use graham crackers, gingersnaps, Nilla wafers, etc.)
  • 6 tbsp. butter, melted
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • Dash of salt

And the ganache:

  • 8  oz. heavy whipping cream
  • 12 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate
  • 4 tbsp. butter, softened
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Begin by making the crust. This is your standard crumb crust that you’d use for ice box pies, cheesecakes and the like. You’ll start by grinding up your cookies until they’re relatively fine – by fine I mean more like sand and less like powder. If you have a food processor, now’s the time to bust it out! If not, some elbow grease works too. Once you have finely crushed cookies, mix in the melted butter, sugar and salt. Press this into a 9″ tart pan. I used the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crumbs in firmly and evenly. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Let it cool.

To prepare the ganache, start by chopping the chocolate and butter into small pieces – I’d say about the size of a chocolate chip. Put aside while you heat the cream. Heat the cream in a saucepan on medium-low heat until hot (almost simmering). Then pour over the chocolate and butter. Let this sit for a couple minutes, then whisk together. The chocolate and butter should melt pretty easily and you’ll end up with a rich, chocolate mix. Pour this into the cool tart shell. You can let this firm up by letting it set overnight at room temperature or pop it it in the fridge for 2-3 hours. I like the latter. And when I say 2-3 hours, I mean it. You’ll see in these photos that the ganache is a touch soft – that’s what an hour and 45 minutes gets you.

To finish it all off, I sprinkled with some sea salt and drizzled with a little caramel sauce. But some fresh whipped cream and berries would be nice too. You do you!

Overall, this is a simple dessert – a good recipe for home bakers like myself – but it sounds impressive as hell. It’s the sort of dessert that sounds like it can win friends and influence people. So I recommend whipping one up for your next dinner party, visit to your in-laws or charity bake sale. 🙂

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Darn Good Almond Poppy Seed Cake

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Best dessert of your life – go! For a sweet-lover like myself, you might think it’d be hard to choose between the tiramisus, the French silk pies and the eclairs of the world. But you’re wrong here. My heart belongs to one dessert and one alone: Delicately Delicious’s almond poppy seed cake. I don’t know how this bakery does it, but they make the lightest, fluffiest whisper of a cake, and I can’t get enough.

I also literally cannot get it enough. I never get to the bakery on time for a slice. What’s a girl to do? Turns out a girl just makes it her damn self.

And that turned out to be quite the task, but one totally suited for my Great American Baking Resolution. It seems the world doesn’t really make this kind of cake. The internet let out an exasperated did you mean lemon poppy seed cake? every time I searched. Or Pinterest would cough up some halfhearted pound cake recipe. Not what I was looking for.

So I decided that not only would I have to make the cake myself, I’d have to create a recipe too. So I returned to Pinterest, pinned the recipe that looked most like what I wanted and went from there. What did I start with? A very pretty looking lemon poppy seed cake recipe that inconveniently used the metric system – horror of horrors to an American that’s not in the mood to use math.

What I ended up with was risky: inexact conversions, subtracting ingredients, substituting others, a higher baking temperature. Would it ever turn out?!

YES!

This wonderful, sweet cake turned out beautifully. Not quite as good as its professionally produced sister, but so, so, so close, especially for just winging it. And close enough that I consider this a real success 9/10 for sure. The cake is light and moist, just they way I wanted it. And it’s all topped off with Swiss meringue buttercream and some toasted almonds.

Now let’s get baking. Here’s what you’ll need for the cake:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 15 tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp. buttermilk
  • 5 egg whites
  • 4½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 tbsp. almond extract
  • 3 tbsp. poppy seeds

Start by mixing the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl mix your buttermilk and egg whites together. Set these aside for the moment.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and pale. Add your almond extract. Now alternate adding your dry ingredients and your wet until you have a nice, creamy batter. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of your bowl as you alternate to make sure every bit gets blended in.

Divide the batter between 3 8″-cake pans. Be sure that your pans are greased and lined with parchment or waxed paper on the bottom. Pop into a 325°F oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool briefly in the pans and then remove and cool on a wire rack.

And for the frosting:

  • 8 egg whites
  • 2½ cups sugar
  • 3 cups butter
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract

To make the frosting, place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water on the stove making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Whisk the egg whites and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is about 160°F.

When that mixture has hit temperature, pour it into the bowl of your mixer and beat until room temperature using the whisk attachment.  The mix should form soft peaks (this will take about 6-10 minutes). Then switch to your paddle attachment and gradually add in tablespoons of butter until the mix is creamy and frosting-y. Finally add your vanilla extract and you’re done!

I let my cakes cool overnight before frosting. I definitely recommend letting these cakes cool for a few hours. A touch of heat on that Swiss meringue frosting and it’s as good as butter. As for the actual frosting of the cake – I’m no professional. Just swipe it on there and smooth it out, though you could definitely use this frosting with a piping bag for some nice swirls and what-have-you.

She’s a beaut of a cake, and it’s a real shame that I didn’t take a picture of it sliced like a good blogger, but you live and you learn. Now I’ve gotta run and think about what my March baking challenge will be. I was thinking ganache in some way, shape or form. What do you think?

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The Great American Baking Resolution

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As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been making resolutions galore this year – cutting out soda (thanks to my dentist for that one), eating less fried food (sorry, Culver’s) and exercising more than never. These are going alright so far (could still be exercising more than once a week).

But not all resolutions or goals need to be boring or difficult or no fun like the ones I listed above. I decided to set a fun goal for myself as well. Inspired by The Great American Baking Show (and the original of course!), I decided to try a new baking skill or recipe every month. I figure if those bakers can try their hands at Battenburg cakes and petit fours, I can give those more challenging desserts a try.

One new recipe a month isn’t overly ambitious, but there’s nothing wrong with an achievable goal. The way I see it, by 2018, I’ll be confident making 12 new recipes. That’s bound to be more than if I just winged it all year, right?

I started this weekend with eclairs. I’m not confident enough in my execution to show off some sort of tutorial, but I was confident enough with the result to bring those (slightly misshapen) beauties to work. It was a good sweet to start with since it challenged me to make two things I’ve never attempted: pâte à choux and crème patisserie. I had always assumed those things would be ultra-complicated, but it turns out they’re really not too difficult. It was a good recipe to launch me into a sweet 2017.

I don’t have my 11 other recipes quite sorted out yet, but I’m planning on French macarons and another type of pastry to really keep me on my toes. If you have any suggestions for what I should bake next, I’d love to hear them!