My son's first cake

Cross post at The Adventures of Benji Bear.

ChaseKBH had a little bit of adult help on this project, but not much.  The above is a picture of ChaseKBH's chocolate Thomas Rocket Ship cake.  It's ridiculously adorable - though the cake itself wasn't wonderful, it wasn't terrible either.  

We started with Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake.  We adapted to a half recipe, or at least as close to a half recipe as a three year old can measure.  Instead of following the directions, we simply put everything into a bowl, and mixed it with a whisk.  The cake was baked in a Wilton Rocket Ship Pan, well sprayed with baking spray.  It took about 35 minutes to bake at 350F, but I think my oven is a bit off right now.  I would start checking at 20 minutes and continue from there.

We frosted the cake with a simple frosting consisting of 6 tablespoons of softened European-style butter, 1/2 a pound of powdered sugar, and about 1/3 of a cup of heavy cream.  Everything went into the stand mixer and was whipped until a frosting appeared.  We colored the frosting with Wilton Icing Color - in blue.  After we "painted" the cake with frosting, we sprinkled on an insane amount of blue sprinkles.

The kid sort of looks like a smurf now.

Tatsoi

I was unfamiliar with tatsoi until I got some in my CSA share.  Tatsoi is a green similar to a very soft kale or a creamier spinach, if that description makes any sense.  Anyway, it was quite good simply cooked in garlic infused olive oil, and even better the next day cooked in sesame oil with ginger.  

Roasted eggplant and tomato soup

Cold, wet weather requires soups with a bit of heat.  Of course, we're still full on the summery vegetables (or rather botanical fruits culinary vegetables) here in central Maryland - and we had a lot of eggplant and peppers to use up, but ratatouille or pasta just didn't seem right on a day that required fleece jackets and rain boots.  I was also in the mood for something flavorful, but still kid-friendly, without requiring twenty pots on the stove in addition to the soup pot.  So I preheated the oven, got to work with a vegetable peeler, and listened to the rain pounding on the roof.  If I lacked the kids, I would have added a seeded chile pepper of some type.  If my husband lacked me, he would have added two, with seeds intact.  Take from that what you will.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized traditional eggplant, peeled and cubed

5 Roma or paste tomatoes, peeled with a vegetable peeler (I swear this works)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon cloves

 2 bay leaves

4 cups vegetable stock

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Toss eggplant, tomatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt into a roasting pan, combine well.

Roast botanical fruit culinary vegetables until very soft and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Sweat garlic and onion in remaining olive oil in large stock pot over medium-low heat until translucent.

Add cumin, coriander,  cayenne pepper, cloves, and bay leaves.  Increase heat to medium high, fry spices 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.

Add roasted eggplant and tomatoes.  

Stir and let cook down 1 minute.

Add stock and bring to a boil.

Let soup simmer 15 minutes.

Remove bay leaves.

Blend with an immersion stick blender, food mill, or blender working in batches.

Serve hot.

Granola bars

 Let's get one thing straight - these aren't healthy for any reasonable definition of healthy.  These granola bars have tons of sugar and butter - and while dried fruit, nuts, and whole grains, it doesn't make up for the fact that these are essentially cookies.  Just like commercial granola bars.  However, the flavors can be more interesting than commercial granola bars, and you can avoid certain ingredients if you like.  I made a big batch of these for Jamie's breakfasts during his hour car commute.  I'm working on a couple variations for the next batch.  Switching the sweetener (brown rice syrup, maple syrup, honey, etc.) and the add-ins (dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips) creates totally different recipes.  Remember the chemistry though - if you want chewy bars your ingredients need to be as hydrophilic as possible.  As always, better ingredients yield better results.  These are easy enough to make, but a pain to store and transport - I wrapped them in parchment paper then placed them in a big ziptop bag in the refrigerator, pulling one or two out every morning in my terrible impression of a doting housewife.

Almond cranberry granola bars

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup flax seed oil

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup agave syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup almonds

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar.
Add the rest of the wet ingredients and beat well.
Take 1/2 cup of the oats, place them in a blender or food processor and grind into a fine flour.
Sift the oat flour, baking powder, and salt together into a separate bowl.
Whisk or mix in the remaining oats.
In thirds, add the oat mixture to the wet mixture.  Beat until well combined.
Remove paddle attachment and replace with bread hook or remove and do the rest of the mixing by hand.
Add cranberries and almonds.
Mix until everything is well combined.
Spray an 8 x 8 pan with baking spray or oil (I use silicone - I strongly recommend it in this case).
Lay a piece of parchment paper over the sprayed pan, with significant overhang on each side.
Spray parchment paper with baking spray or oil.
Scoop mixture into pan.
Press down to even out mixture.
Bake until edges are just browned, about 25-30 minutes.
Remove pan from oven.
Let cool slightly.
Using the parchment paper as a sling, remove granola bar mass and place on a flat surface.
Cool completely, then place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or freezer for 20 minutes.
Cut granola bars into squares while very cold.
Wrap in parchment paper to store.

Apple walnut fig cake

This cake is delightfully boozy.  So boozy that I would strongly recommend not serving it to those under 21, even if you would, perhaps, love to get a small person to sleep or stop screaming from teething.  Plus you're not supposed to give little kids nuts.  I made this cake as a large bundt, but I have a lot of syrup left over so I'm planning to make some mini-bundts or mini-loafs tomorrow, with a shorter baking time, to spread around the neighborhood as fall gifts.  This is a basic buttery egg leavened cake with additions.

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar (not this is a pretty sweet cake - you can reduce to 2 1/2 cups if you like but any further is going to throw off the chemistry)
1/2 cup high-fat European style butter, softened
6 eggs, brought up to room temperature
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt (there is about taste, not chemistry, so this can be skipped)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
2-3 apples, peeled, cored, diced finely
6 large fresh figs, stemmed and diced finely
1 cup chopped or crushed walnuts
1 cup apple brandy (Calvados)
1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar (can be omitted)

Method:
Preheat oven to 325F.
Cream together sugar and butter in a stand mixer.  You could try this some other way but it's going to be a pain.  I seriously recommend doing this with a stand mixer if at all possible.
Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  I would suggest 5 minutes at least with the paddle attachment.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs 2-3 minutes, until they develop a bit of fluff.  Add to stand mixer and beat 2 minutes.
Add cream and vanilla, beat another 2 minutes.
Sift together flour, salt, and spices.
In thirds, slowly incorporate the flour mixture.  Beat until well combined.
Gently fold in apples, figs, and walnuts.
Spray bundt pan with baking spray or grease / flour very, very well.
Bake 75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool cake slightly, transfer to a wire rack or plate.
Mix apple brandy and powdered sugar.  Bring to just a boil, then remove from heat.  Whisk well to ensure a good mix.
Brush or drizzle on glaze while cake is still warm.
Let cake cool completely, reapply additional glaze as desired.
You can also simply drizzle on some alcohol, but the cake won't get a glaze.  The fruit is fresh, so this isn't exactly a preserved fruit cake, but alcohol without a glaze will nudge the flavor that way.

Apple cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

We're in a cupcake phase with the three year old.  He doesn't actually eat much of the cupcakes, but he loves the idea of cupcakes.  Particularly using the pastry bag and adding sprinkles to things.  We're also in the height of apple season here in central Maryland, to the extent central Maryland has an apple season.  We do have lovely farms and orchards where the kids and I can go pick apples (and raspberries and broccoli and herbs and flowers and pumpkins) and enjoy bucolic west county for a morning.  Unfortunately, we decided to go apple picking before a play date lunch with ChaseKBH's current crush (I'm not actually sure if the crush is on the 2.5 year old or the 2.5 year old's mother, but while ChaseKBH primarily plays with the just-5 year old, he spends the next couple days talking about the females in that household).  Alas, alack, ChaseKBH tripped over his two feet running in a field trying to cut flowers, resulting in a bloody nose.  He had to be contented giving his fair lady a small decorative pumpkin and a chocolate lollipop.  

Of course, ChaseKBH isn't contented with simply pursing the preschool set.  He's also in love with our next door neighbor - a wonderful lady who is about three decades too old for him.  But he's determined to win her over with baked goods.  She's still at work, but I have dutifully texted her and we're going over tomorrow morning with cupcakes.  In the interim, we're snacking on the excess.

This recipe is a bit difficult on volume - it could be 12 cupcakes, it could be 18, it depends entirely on how much volume the apple takes up.  Do yourself a favor and be sure to only full 2/3 of the way up the cupcake liners.  If you fail, as I did, tear or cut off the excess and consider it your cook's bonus.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Pumpkin pie spice OR cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg to taste 

1 1/2 cup sugar 

1/3 cup vegetable oil 

2 eggs 

1/2 cup milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped finely

Cream cheese icing

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

1 pound powdered sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-4 tablespoons milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift together flour, soda, powder, salt, and spices.  I think this is great with a huge amount of ginger, but really you need to know your audience.  It's pretty hard to ruin with too much spice, and its fine with no spice (if boring), so use your judgment.

Beat sugar, oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla on medium speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer.

Add sifted flour mixture into wet mixture.  Beat until well combined.

Fold in apples.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons milk.  Beat 2 minutes.  Add milk until desired consistency is reached.

I frost these with a pastry bag because I suck at frosting things.  

Cupcakes!

The three year old likes chocolate cupcakes.  And sprinkles.  Especially rainbow sprinkles.  I'm not really one for boxed mixes - mostly because I'm too cheap with money and storage space.  However, I'm also pretty lazy and love easy recipes.  Hands down best easy chocolate cake recipe ever is from the back of the Hershey's tin.     I prefer other cocoas, but I'll use that recipe (and the cocoa if I'm in a pinch) and have cupcakes in less than half an hour.  For the frosting, however, I made ganache - simply a cup of heavy cream, scalded, and a bag of 60% cacoa Ghiradelli chocolate chips melted and whisked into the hot cream then slightly cooled.  ChaseKBH was able to dunk the cupcakes into the ganache to easily frost them, then add the rainbow sprinkles.  Now, my floor has little multicolored balls ground into it, but what's a little floor damage in the grand scheme of creating a young baker?

Payesh

We just celebrated my younger child's Annaprasan - first feeding.  The best description of this event is a Hindu version of a christening from the social perspective, though theologically it's completely different.  The event centers around food - it takes place when the baby is ready to start on solids.  The baby is fed a small portion of food, usually rice pudding or rice, and presented with a traditional Bengali meal (fried vegetables, vegetable curry, fish curry, lamb curry, rice, yogurt, and rice pudding).  The rice pudding, or payesh, is by far the most important dish.  Bengalis make and serve payesh for all auspicious occasions.  We also really like the word auspicious.  Typically payesh is flavored with saffron and rosewater, and contains sultanas and pistachios.  However, since Beatrix Amiya (hereinafter referred to as BeaABH) is only five month's old, I wasn't about to include nuts or other add ins.  

It might make me a terrible Bengali, but I really do not care for payesh.  Its mostly a textural thing - generally too soupy and the rice grains come as an unwelcome surprise.  I also hate cooked raisins with a passion.  In my version of payesh, which I'm sure can be criticized as nontraditional, the rice is cooked in a half-and-half mixture, the liquid a bit reduced, so it comes out creamier.  The rice is also cooked so it melts into the creamy mixture.  The pudding is thickened by the starch coming off the rice.  I do a number of other things wrong, like browning the butter rather than making or using ghee, and fiddling with the temperature since I don't have the knack to push the limits and avoid burning.

Nina's version of payesh

Makes 6-8 servings, depending on how much you like the stuff

Ingredients:

1/2 cup basmati rice

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (preferably European-style high fat butter)

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2-4 teaspoons rose water

6-8 threads saffron

2 green cardamom pods

Method:

Rinse basmati rice several times in cold water - place rice in bowl, flood with water, agitate with your hand, drain, rinse, repeat until agitating the rice in the water does not produce cloudy water.

Brown butter over medium heat.  

Whisk together heavy cream, milk, salt, sugar, rose water, and saffron.  Crack cardamom pods slightly and add.  Set aside.

Add rice to butter.  Saute rice in butter, stirring regularly, for 3 minutes.

Pour in cream mixture.

Increase heat to medium high.

Stirring constantly, bring pot to a boil.  Reduce heat and stir.  Try to keep mixture just under the boiling point, stirring constantly, until the rice is cooked.  It will take about 20 minutes.  Do not let this burn - if it does, toss it and start again.

Cool and serve.