I’ve been a cookie-making machine this weekend! We hosted our annual beer and cookie exchange Saturday, then I went to a cookie exchange at Two Sticks Bakery last night. Needless to say, I’m still riding a bit of a sugar high.

The great thing about having a weekend revolving around cookies is my holiday baking is already done! I made eight different types of cookies, and stuck most of them in the freezer. Now all I have to do to get ready for celebrating with family next week is pull them out and put them on a plate. It couldn’t get easier!

I like trying a couple new recipes every year, but I’m big on tradition. I always make almond cut-out cookies with buttercream, pretzel cookies, bourbon balls, and lemon pistachio biscotti.

And, an old favorite returned to my baking list this year. I started making potato chip cookies in college, when my infatuation with baking started.  I brought some home for Christmas break one year, and my brother and his friends went crazy for them. So, I started making them every year.

But I swapped these out for other cookies the past two years — and my family never let me hear the end of it! My brother was especially bummed not to have any potato chip cookies during the holidays. So, I brought them back this year. After having one this weekend, I don’t know why I stopped making them! I’m a sucker for the salty-sweet combination, and these cookies are addicting.

I’ve tested a few different brands of potato chips in this recipe, but I find Ruffles have the best texture and perfect amount of salt. I’ve had problems with some other chips not staying crunchy once mixed into the batter.

I highly recommend only baking one sheet of these cookies at a time. It’s good to do with all cookies to ensure they cook evenly. I still use two cookie sheets, prepping one with dough while the other bakes in the oven. This makes things go more quickly. If you do put two cookie sheets in the oven at the same time, switch which oven rack they’re on halfway through baking.

I want to know what’s on your holiday baking list every year. Tell me in the comments!

Potato Chip Cookies

modified from My Baking Addiction

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup Ruffles, crushed
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• sea salt, for sprinkling

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
2. In an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Add potato chips and pecans to butter mixture and beat on low until combined. Add vanilla, then flour, and mix on low just until the dough comes together.
4. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to portion out heaping Tablespoons of dough. Roll them into balls, and place them about two inches apart on the cookie sheet.
5. Dip the end of a flat-bottomed glass in the powdered sugar, then lightly press down on each a ball of dough until flat. Repeat with remaining dough.
6. Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until edges are just starting to turn golden brown. Remove cookies from oven and let sit at least one minute before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely.
7. While cookies are cooling, place chocolate chips in a small, microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Continue heating chocolate in 15-second increments and stirring until it’s smooth. Use a spoon to drizzle chocolate over cookies. Top each cookie with a light sprinkling of sea salt. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
   [/directions]

The post Potato Chip Cookies appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

As a kid, my favorite holiday cookies were among the sweetest. I always gravitated toward sugar cookies and peanut butter blossoms, which I still love. But, my tastes have definitely matured since then. I now find myself reaching for cookies that aren’t quite as sweet during the holidays. My favorites are those that let simple, high-quality ingredients shine.

My mom started making this lemon pistachio biscotti when I was a kid. While it wasn’t my favorite cookie growing up, it definitely is as an adult. I’m a big fan of lemon in just about everything, and the addition of pistachios gives this biscotti a rich, nutty flavor. I like to dip the biscotti in white chocolate around the holidays, which makes for a beautiful presentation.

Biscotti is also among the easiest types of cookies to make. It’s supposed to be dry, which makes it foolproof. The cookies are also pretty durable, which makes them great hostess or office gifts.

I like to double this recipe, then throw half of the biscotti in the freezer to have on hand when we’re hosting guests. They’re great to pull out in the afternoon to enjoy with coffee.

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup suggar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest (from about one lemon)
• 4 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice (from about one lemon)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup roasted pistachios, crushed
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pepper and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add lemon mixture and pistachios to the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until combined and a stiff dough forms.
4. Spread the powdered sugar on a clean work surface and place the dough on top. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Roll each piece into a log, about 1-inch in width. Place two logs each on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, making sure the logs are at least two inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes, until the cookies feel firm. Place the cookie sheets on a cooling rack and lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
5. Once the cookie logs are cool to the touch, use a serrated knife to cut the logs into 1/2-inch thick, diagonal slices. Place the biscotti back on the cookie sheets and bake for an additional 13-15 minutes, until slightly browned and dry. Place on a cooling rack to bring down to room temperature.
6. While biscotti cools, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir chocolate chips, then continue microwaving at 15-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Dip each piece of biscotti in the white chocolate, so that half of each piece is covered.

[/directions]

The post Lemon Pistachio Biscotti appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

I am so over this crazy hot weather! It’s October and topping 80 degrees, which just feels wrong. I’m ready for boots, sweaters, bonfires and all the delicious seasonal eats. I naturally find myself baking a lot more during the fall, but that hasn’t happened yet because of the nonstop heat. Bring on the crisp, cool fall days!

I couldn’t totally resist turning on the oven the past couple of weeks because I started to see so many pumpkin and apple goodies popping up at stores and bakeries around town. It made me want to create some of my own! As a result, I’ve made far too many batches of cookies in pursuit of the perfect pumpkin chocolate chip version. I’ve always loved the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, but found one of the flavors always overshadowed the other in most recipes. So, I started experimenting and used my beloved banana cookies as inspiration. I wanted the pumpkin cookies to have a similar, cake-like texture.

The first cookies I made were a little too dense and you could barely taste the pumpkin. The second batch had a better texture, but still not enough pumpkin flavor. So, I kept messing with the spice variations and increasing the amount of pumpkin puree and finally found a cookie that was just what I wanted. It doesn’t taste like you’re eating a scented candle when you bite into these and the semisweet chocolate chips complement instead of overwhelm the pumpkin flavor. I gave a couple dozen to my husband so he could share them with his co-workers and they were gone within minutes, which is always a good sign.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set cookie sheet aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg until just combined.
3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla and pumpkin to bowl and mix on medium until smooth.
4. Turn mixer speed down to low and slowly add flour mixture to bowl, scraping down the sides as needed. Mix until just combined then slowly stir in chocolate chips.
5. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to drop Tablespoons of cookie dough onto the parchment-paper covered cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Place cookie sheet on the center oven rack and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are set and just starting to turn golden on the bottoms.
6. Use a spatula to carefully remove cookies from sheet and place on a cooling rack. Repeat process until cookie dough is gone. Allow cookies to cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.

[/directions]

The post Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

Summer is heaven for food lovers. The wide variety of in-season produce available makes meals this time of year simple and absolutely delicious. There are so many uniquely summer dishes I look forward to: grilled sweet corn, caprese salad, melon and prosciutto, rhubarb crisp — the list seems never-ending.

Among my favorite treats of the season are sweet cherries. They taste like candy and I take them everywhere with me in the summer. They’re the perfect, portable fruit for camping, boating, hiking, road trips and just about everything else you may have on your agenda. I haven’t cooked with them much because they’re so damn delicious on their own. But then this galette came to me in a dream. Yes, I’m serious.

Last summer I made a baked brie that I topped with cherries, brown sugar and rosemary. And it was ridiculously good. The funkiness of the brie and rosemary helped balance the sweetness of the cherries and sugar. I kept thinking I wanted to recreate the recipe in scone form, but I dreamt last week about making a galette with the same flavors. I’ve been salivating over the idea ever since.

Here’s what I love about galettes: they’re not supposed to be perfect. Which is a relief because pies can be so fussy. I love pie, but I definitely haven’t mastered the art of the perfect crust. Galettes are supposed to look rustic and thrown together and I’m definitely on board with that. If a little bit of your filling leaks or your folds aren’t uniform, don’t fret. Embrace this more laid back version of pie!

Galettes are one of my favorite desserts to make when we host people for dinner over the summer. I bake it ahead of time and bring it out on a cookie sheet with a few forks. We eat it right from the pan, often paired with a glass of wine, relishing in the season’s bounty.

Rosemary Sweet Cherry Galette With Whipped Honey Goat Cheese

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 1 pie crust, rolled out to 12 inches (I used this all-butter recipe from Salt Fat Acid Heat)
• 3 1/2 cups sweet cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/3 cup plus 1/2 Tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)
• 2 tsp. fresh rosemary
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tsp. fresh rosemary
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp. half and half, divided
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 2 Tbsp. honey

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine cherries and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Let mixture stand at room temperature for ten minutes. After cherry mixture is done resting, stir in lemon juice, salt and rosemary. Set aside.
3. Carefully place pie crust on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pour cherry mixture into the middle of the crust, leaving about two inches of crust around the perimeter. Use your hands to gently shift the cherry mixture to ensure it’s evenly distributed.
4. Carefully fold the crust over the filling in large sections, allowing each fold to overlap.
5. Whisk together egg and 1 Tbsp. half and half to create an egg wash. Carefully brush the egg wash all over the top of the crust. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar all over the top of the galette.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cherry filling is bubbling. Allow galette to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving.
7. While galette cools, make the goat cheese topping. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat goat cheese, honey and remaining 1 Tbsp. of half and half in a large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Top each piece of warm or room temperature galette with a dollop of whipped goat cheese.

[/directions]

The post Rosemary Sweet Cherry Galette With Whipped Honey Goat Cheese appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

There’s something about rainy afternoons that sends me into a baking frenzy. The cooler weather and dreary skies make me want to hole up in my kitchen making the coziest foods possible. It was during a rainy day this week that I dreamt up this amazing dessert. I had some brown bananas I needed to use up, but I didn’t feel like making either of my standbys — banana cookies or banana bread. For some reason, brownies sounded amazing. So I decided to combine two of my favorite flavors: chocolate and banana.

I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a banana + chocolate dessert I haven’t loved. I’ll never forget eating a crepe filled with sliced banana and Nutella for the first time at Water Tower Place as a kid. Who knew a crepe in a mall food court could taste so good? It’s been one of my favorite flavor combinations ever since.

Bananas don’t just lend desserts their wonderful flavor, but they also make baked goods perfectly moist. Adding banana to traditional blondies allows them to remain dense, but also perfectly moist.

A portion of almost everything I bake gets shared with my co-workers. While they claim they’ll eat anything, I’ve found them to be pretty reliable taste testers. How did this recipe do? I came back from lunch to find an empty pan.

Chocolate Chip Banana Blondies with Nutella Glaze

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

Brownies:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 1/2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9 x 9 baking pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt until combined. Set aside.
3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add bananas, egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
4. Slowly add flour mixture to bowl of wet ingredients and beat on medium speed until relatively smooth and combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Carefully stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until blondies just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center is cooked through. Allow to cool completely before topping with glaze.
5. To make glaze, combine Nutella and coconut oil in a medium, microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Whisk together until combined, then whisk in 1 Tbsp. of powdered sugar. If you prefer a thicker glaze, add an additional tablespoon of powdered sugar. Use a whisk to carefully drizzle the glaze over the blondies. Store blondies in the fridge.

[/directions]

The post Chocolate Chip Banana Blondies with Nutella Glaze appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

There are some bites that just stick with you. Foods you try for the first time that you’ll never forget. Once you’ve had a taste, you can’t imagine a world where something so delicious doesn’t exist. Texas sheet cake is one of those foods for me.

The first time I had it was when my Grandpa Les’ friend/ex-wife/girlfriend (it was complicated) Miss Hal brought some over to a family gathering. Every time we traveled south to see my grandpa in Arkansas, he would have a beef or pork roast waiting for dinner, but there was rarely dessert. Hal changed that when she was around. She almost always made a classic Texas Sheet Cake, which is a rich, chocolate dessert that’s somewhere between a cake and a brownie. I’d never tasted anything like it before. The frosting and the cake itself practically melted in your mouth. It wasn’t a dessert anyone in our family made, so I treasured every bite when Hal brought over one of those warm cakes.

As delicious as her chocolate version was, I think white Texas sheet cake is even better. I didn’t know it existed until I got into baking and college and started perusing the Internet for a recipe to help me recreate Hal’s famous dessert. I settled instead on the vanilla-almond version and fell in love with the simple cake all over again.

I make birthday cakes for everyone in our newsroom and, when a birthday came up this past week, several people in the newsroom requested this cake. It’s become my most popular recipe.

The beauty of Texas sheet cakes is they’re pretty foolproof. You don’t have to mess with layers and you actually have to frost the cake when it’s warm, so it comes together quickly. The biggest problem you’ll have? Only eating one piece.

White Texas Sheet Cake

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup unsalted butter

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10.5 by 15.5-inch jelly roll pan.
2. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, sour cream, eggs, baking soda and almond extract. Set aside.
3. Use a medium pan to melt one cup butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and carefully pour into flour mixture. Stir slowly with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour batter into jelly roll pan and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until cake is set and slightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside.
4. To make frosting, melt 1/2 cup butter in a large pan. Once butter is melted, add milk and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar and almond extract until smooth. Pour frosting over warm cake and use an offset spatula to quickly spread over the entire surface. Let cake cool completely before covering and storing in the fridge.

[/directions]

The post White Texas Sheet Cake appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

Happy Monday, all! How was your weekend? My parents were supposed to come visit, but the wicked ice storm north of us forced them to cancel their trip. That meant we had an entire weekend with no plans, which never happens. It’s been amazing! We’ve had a good balance of running errands and relaxing at home. And, we both have today off for MLK Day. What a treat!

It was gray and rainy all weekend, which is perfect baking weather. I’ve been trying to develop a healthier banana bread recipe for weeks and I finally came up with a real winner. I experimented with different combinations of fats to try and come up with a loaf  that tastes like traditional banana bread but cuts down on the refined sugars.

There’s something especially cozy about banana bread. It makes the kitchen smell amazing and it tastes like home. My parents made banana bread quite often when I was growing up and it’s always been one of my favorite treats. I’ll be making it a lot more often now that I have this healthier recipe.

This is a great way to use up bananas that are on their last legs and it’s It’s so easy to throw together, even if you aren’t a big fan of baking. A loaf of banana bread also makes a great hostess gift if you’re visiting someone for a weekend. I included some dark chocolate in this recipe, but it can easily be omitted. Enjoy!

Healthy Almond Butter Banana Bread

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3 bananas, mashed (the more brown, the better)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup natural almond butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together bananas, eggs, almond milk, almond butter, honey, Greek yogurt, olive oil and vanilla. Stir until combined. Add banana mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined. Gently fold in dark chocolate.
4. Pour batter into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake on the middle oven rack for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan for 15 minutes before removing it from pan. Serve warm. Allow loaf to cool completely before storing.

[/directions]

The post Healthy Almond Butter Banana Bread appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

Happy Monday, all! Are you in full on Thanksgiving prep mode? We attended our first feast over the weekend, hosted by two of our lovely friends. And we still have two more Thanksgivings to go over the next week! We’ll get to spend time with both of our families, which is always a highlight.

In preparation for the holiday, I’m going to share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes over the next few days. If you’re like me, you’re waiting until the last minute to finalize your menu!

Every Thanksgiving meal we’re attending is potluck style. The hosts provide the turkey and main fixings and everyone else is responsible for bringing a side dish or dessert. This Maple-Walnut Cranberry pie is my contribution for all three meals. It’s just that good.

For years pecan pie and pumpkin bars were tied for my favorite Thanksgiving dessert. You can’t beat classics, right? But then I stumbled across this recipe in Cooking Light one year and decided it’d be worth trying something different. I’ve been making it every year since.

Pies intimidate me a bit because I don’t make them as often as I do cakes. I’ve had crusts crumble in my hands too many times to count! What I love about this pie is it’s so easy. And everyone always comments on how beautiful it looks when it’s done. Have you ever cut a cranberry open before? It’s proof that food is art — absolutely gorgeous!

When it comes to the crust, choose your battles. I prefer to make my own (mainly so I can get more practice), but a high-quality store-bought crust is just fine.

And, let’s talk about this whipped cream. I could eat regular whipped cream off of a spoon, but whiskey whipped cream is even better. It’s got the perfect amount of bite to round out this dessert. Just keep it away from the kids’ table!

Now tell me what you’re making for the holiday. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dessert? Let me know in the comments!

Maple-Walnut Cranberry Pie with Whiskey Whipped Cream

from Cooking Light

Pie:

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 1 homemade (I like this recipe) or store-bought (such as Pillsbury) pie crust
• Butter for greasing pan
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, halved
• 3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

[/ingredients]

Whipped Cream:

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, very cold
• 3 Tbsp. whiskey
• 3 Tbsp. sugar

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan with butter. Set aside.
2. Place pie crust on a lightly-floured surface and sprinkle the top with flour. Use a rolling pin to roll the crust out to about 11 inches in diameter. Carefully place crust in pie tin. Trim off any extra dough and flute or crimp the edges of the pie.
3. Line the bottom of the dough with aluminum foil and top with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for five minutes, then remove foil and pie weights and bake for an additional minute. Remove pie from oven and place on a cooling rack. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
4. While oven cools, make pie filling. Combine maple and corn syrups, butter, cornstarch, vanilla, salt and eggs in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Stir in cranberries and walnuts. Carefully pour filling into pie crust.
5. Bake pie for 30 minutes then cover crust with aluminum foil or pie shields to prevent edges from overcooking. Bake an additional 15 minutes, or until filling is just set.
6. To make whipped cream, combine cream, whiskey and sugar in a large metal bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about three minutes. Serve pie topped with whipped cream.
   [/directions]

The post Maple-Walnut Cranberry Pie with Whiskey Whipped Cream appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

There’s a tradition when it comes to birthdays in our newsroom. Whenever someone is celebrating one, I bake that person a cake of their choosing. Many of the requests are the same: Red Velvet, chocolate cake, lemon cake. But, every once in a while, someone requests something different.

When my co-worker asked for a Boston Cream Pie for his birthday, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a recipe I’d forgotten about and was so happy to rediscover.

There’s only one person I know who ever made Boston Cream Pie: Grandpa Cork. It was one of his signature dishes, often requested for birthdays and other special occasions. The best part was how he would present the cake — often with enthusiastic song and plenty of laughs.

I helped Grandpa make this Boston Cream Pie a couple of times, but I haven’t ever baked one on my own. In fact, I haven’t had this cake since Grandpa Cork died over ten years ago.

So, I pulled out the old Betty Crocker Cookbook of his that I have and flipped to the recipe. It was easier to make than I remembered and almost therapeutic to revisit a recipe that I associate with so many good memories. I found myself longing for my grandparents’ house in LaSalle, their witty jokes and the sound of their old clock chiming. It’s amazing how certain smells and tastes can transport us.

This cake was a hit in the newsroom. Many people said it taste like a giant, cream-filled donut, which is a pretty good description. I wish I got a picture of this thing sliced open — the thick custard filling is the best part!

Every bite reminded me of my childhood. I can’t wait to make this again. Why did it take me so long?

Boston Cream Pie

modified from Betty Crocker

Filling

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 2 large egg yolks, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. corn starch
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Cake

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Chocolate Glaze

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 oz. dark chocolate
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 to 4 Tbsp. heavy cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1 1/2 cups milk. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, corn starch and salt until combined. Place over medium heat and gradually add egg mixture, whisking constantly. Cook until mixture starts to thicken and boil, still stirring constantly. Boil for one minute before removing from heat. Immediately cover with plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
3. While filling cools, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan.
4. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together using an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
5. Add remaining cake ingredients to butter and sugar mixture and beat on low speed until smooth, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
6. Pour cake batter into pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before removing it from the pan and transferring it to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before assembling cake.
7. While cake cools, make the chocolate glaze. In a small saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Whisk powdered sugar into chocolate mixture until combined. Add vanilla and one Tablespoon of heavy cream to the mixture at a time until glaze is just thin enough to spread.
8. To assemble the cake, cut it in half horizontally using a cake leveler or large, serrated knife. Place the bottom layer cut-side-up on a cake plate and top with chilled custard. Place second half of cake on top, cut side down. Spread warm glaze over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Refrigerate until serving.

[/directions]

The post Boston Cream Pie appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

There are some foods that just taste like summer. Corn on the cob. S’mores. Freshly-squeezed lemonade. But the food I associate most with my favorite season of the year is rhubarb.

My mom used to grow a patch of bright red rhubarb in our backyard every summer. She used it in countless pies, cobblers and crisps — and my brother and I always begged for seconds. Since then, no other summer dessert has come close to stacking up. My brother actually requested a strawberry rhubarb pie instead of a birthday cake this year. For us, it tastes like home and happiness.

While I love a good pie, this strawberry rhubarb crisp is my favorite way to enjoy the summer plant. It’s easier to tackle than a homemade pie crust, but equally as delicious. The butter, sugar and flour melt together and bubble up into a crispy, sweet crust. And it’s the perfect vessel for freshly-churned ice cream. If that doesn’t scream summer, I don’t know what does.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 2 cups rhubarb, chopped
• 2 cups strawberries, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. cold butter, divided

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch glass baking dish and set aside.
2. Combine rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl. Pour mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt until combined.
4. Take 1/3 cup of butter and cut into pea-sized pieces. Use a pastry cutter or knife to combine it with sugar mixture, mixing until crumbly.
5. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over strawberry and rhubarb. Cut the remaining 1 Tablespoon butter into small pieces and sprinkle on top of sugar layer.
6. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until golden-brown and bubbling. Let cool at least ten minutes before serving.

[/directions]

The post Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.