I have many, many friends in New Orleans and travel there as often as possible. Over the years, I’ve come to think of it as, sort of, a home away from home. So, naturally, I really get into all of the traditions of Carnival and the fun goings-on of the season. Until about ten years ago, I’d never heard of King Cake, let alone eaten any. Now that I’ve had it, I look forward to January 6th each year, because that’s when I make my own!

But what is it?

Served during the Carnival Season, starting on January 6th (not before) and until Mardi Gras Day (and not one moment after), the King Cake is a huge part of Carnival (what most people think of as “Mardi Gras”, which is actually just one day: Fat Tuesday).

Made of a rich, sweet yeast dough and filled with cream cheese, the cake is shaped into a ring, iced and dusted with in sugars the colors of Carnival: purple (justice), green (faith) and gold (power). Baked into each cake, traditionally, is a bean or a small, plastic baby.

In pre-Christian times, whomever selected the slice of cake that contained the bean would be chosen as a symbolic “king” of his tribe for one year. The unfortunate end to this “honor”, however, was that the “king” was sacrificed to the gods at the end of that year (sucked to be that guy). Now, the “honoree” isn’t on the hook for quite so much. Find the bean (or the baby) and all you have to do is host the next King Cake party (not nearly as perilous).

King Cake parties are held throughout New Orleans each and every day throughout Carnival Season, which always begins on January 6th (also known at Epiphany, Twelfth Night or Three King’s Day) and continues through Mardi Gras, which in 2010, falls on February 16th.

The recipe that I use is one that was created by super-chef and New Orleans resident, Emeril Lagasse. I’ve been making it each year for about 8 years and have only ever received rave reviews on it. It’s easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. I’m sure you’ll love it, too.

One thing that’s important to note (well, two, actually): there are two hard and fast rules in New Orleans. Beads can only be worn during Carnival Season and you never, never serve King Cake prior to January 6th or after Mardi Gras Day. It’s the law.

Emeril’s King Cake

Ingredients

•    2 envelopes active dry yeast
•    1/2 cup granulated sugar
•    1-1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
•    1 cup warm milk (about 110°F)
•    5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
•    4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•    2 teaspoons salt
•    1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
•    1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
•    1 teaspoon vegetable oil
•    1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
•    4 cups confectioner’s sugar
•    1 plastic king cake baby or a pecan half
•    5 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
•    3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
•    Purple, green, and gold-tinted sugar sprinkles

Preparation

Combine the yeast and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the melted butter and warm milk. Beat at low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, add the egg yolks, then beat for 1 minute at medium-low speed. Add the flour, salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest and beat until everything is incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, forms a ball, and starts to climb up the dough hook. (If the dough is uncooperative in coming together, add a bit of warm water (110 degrees), a tablespoon at a time, until it does.

Remove the dough from the bowl. Using your hands, form the dough into a smooth ball. Lightly oil a bowl with the vegetable oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and 1 cup of the confectioner’s sugar. Blend by hand or with an electric mixer on low speed. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your fingers, pat it out into a rectangle about 30 inches long and 6 inches wide.

Spread the filling lengthwise over the bottom half of the dough, then flip the top half of the dough over the filling. Seal the edges, pinching the dough together. Shape the dough into a cylinder and place it on the prepared baking sheet seam side down. Shape the dough into a ring and pinch the ends together so there isn’t a seam. Insert the king cake baby or pecan half into the ring from the bottom so that it is completely hidden by the dough.

Cover the ring with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Brush the top of the risen cake with 2 tablespoons of the milk. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the icing. Combine the remaining 3 tablespoons milk, the lemon juice, and the remaining 3 cups confectioner’s sugar in medium-size mixing bowl. Stir to blend well. With a rubber spatula, spread the icing evenly over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals, alternating colors around the cake.

The cake is traditionally cut into 2-inch-thick slices with all the guests in attendance.

YIELD: 20 to 22 servings

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

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Photo Credit: yarnivore

“Have you hit your head?” you might ask. NO! There’s just something about that first nip in the air … wearing jeans … and cozy sweaters and the season’s first crackle in the fireplace. There’s something wonderfully comforting about warming up with a hot bowl of soup, wonderful roasted stews and veggies. And apples! What would Fall be without APPLES?

Oh! I love them. I eat apples all year ‘round, but Fall is especially tempting for me, because every crispy, sweet, juicy variety is here and just waiting for me to crunch into them.

Just their names make me happy. Granny Smith. Pink Lady. Fuji. Mutsu. Honeycrisp (OH! The Honeycrisp — maybe the greatest apple in the history of apples.) Jonathan. It’s all enough to make your mouth water with sweet, Autumnal delight.

There are so many to choose from, you might be at a loss to decide WHICH apples are right for your needs. Since, at this time of year, so many people want to bake them in pies, crisps and the like, let’s focus on the best varieties for that. The best baking apples have a good sweet-tart balance and their flesh won’t break down as they cook. If you want to prepare a dish that’s got complex textures and flavors, try combining two or more apple varieties.

While there are LOTS of apples that are fine for baking, some stand up better than others. Some to look for are: Cortland, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Macoun, Mutsu (aka Crispin), Stayman & Winesap.

Now that you’ve got your apples and are ready to tackle some serious baking, here’s one of my favorite recipes of all-time. It’s for the apple pie that my mom made when I was a kid, and that I adopted (and tweaked) when she went back to work. It’s different from any other pie you’ve ever eaten, I assure you, and once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back to “just pie”. Enjoy!

French Apple Cream Pie

Ingredients

• (2) 9″ pie crusts (you can make your own OR use the chilled kind that you unroll — that’s almost as good as from-scratch).
• Filling: 4 pounds apples (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Crispin, Stayman — your choice), peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Topping: 3 oz. softened** cream cheese1/4 cup sour cream1 egg1/3 cup sugar1 tablespoon lemon juice1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Lightly beaten egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of water
• Cinnamon-Sugar for dusting on top of crust

**MAKE  SURE THAT YOUR CREAM CHEESE IS SOFTENED, OR YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE IT SMOOTH, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY.**

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Unroll 1 pie crust (if using refrigerated), place into a deep dish pie plate.
• In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Toss to coat the apples with the other ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes. Pour into prepared pie shell.
• Mix together ingredients for topping until smooth. Pour over apple mixture.
• Place remaining pie crust on top and crimp to seal the edges. Brush the top crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool completely before serving.

Sweet, creamy, rich and satisfying, this apple pie represents everything that I adore about Fall. It’s everything that I want Fall to be. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Melissa DelGaudio is a self-professed food lover & apple junkie. When she’s not slicing up goodness here at Prime Cuts, she’s the Big Apple over at Honeybee Consulting, where she bakes up sweet marketing strategies for her clients. Visit her there, or check her out over on Twitter, where she’s often flakier than her pie crust.

Before this happens, there are countless wonderful things left to enjoy during Summer?s swansong. Ride rollercoasters. Run through the sprinkler. Build a sandcastle. Enjoy as much of the sweet, syrupy goodness of summer fruits as possible.

Cherries. Plums. Strawberries. Blackberries. Peaches.

Nectarines?

Oh, yes. The Nectarine. “What the heck is a nectarine?”, you might ask. The not-so-distant cousin of the peach. Smooth-skinned, and often sweeter than its fuzzy counterpart, nectarines are often overlooked in favor of peaches and plums, which is more than a little unfortunate. Nectarines are delicious as all get- out, have firmer flesh than peaches (which makes them ideal for baking), and have a wonderfully spicy quality, which really sets them apart from other stone fruits.

Like peaches, they come in several varieties. Yellow and white, Freestone & Cling. Which version you prefer is all up to you; each is wonderful. If you have a favorite recipe for peaches, try substituting nectarines. Their subtly different taste will have everyone asking about your “secret” ingredient, about that extra little something special that you added this time. How about a Nectarine Cobbler? For Sunday Brunch, how about a Nectarine Bellini? Or how about … a sublimely sweet Nectarine Pie, kissed with the
zing of candied ginger?

Melissa’s Sweet Summer Nectarine Pie

A couple of notes before we get started. I’m giving the recipe for my homemade pie crust (which is easy as, well … pie), but you’ll get darned fine results if you use refrigerated crust (don’t beat yourself up). Also, if you can get your hands on some ginger ice cream, it makes the perfect accompaniment. On we go!

Easy-As-Pie Pie Crust

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) VERY cold, unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) iced water

Preparation

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse until the butter pieces are about the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll out one piece into a circle and place in a 9” pie pan. Line the pan with aluminum foil and fill with beans, rice or, if you actually have them, pie weights (this will keep the crust down in the pan and prevent it from bubbling up). Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, then bake for about 7-10 minutes, or until the crust feels a little bit set (this process will keep the filling from making the crust soggy later on).

Fab Filling

Ingredients

5 cups peeled, pitted and sliced white nectarines (yellow are fine if that?s all you can find) — about 5-6 large fruits
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, small-diced
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 egg lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons cream, for glazing the crust
A little extra granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the nectarines, sugar, flour, candied ginger and cinnamon. Toss to coat. Fill the cooled pie shell and dot with the small-diced butter.

Roll out the other pie crust and cut it into wedges with a pizza cutter (or not, it’s up to you). Brush a little bit of egg white onto the edge of the bottom crust, then place the wedges on top, slightly overlapping each piece on top of the nectarine filling. Fold back the points to create an opening at the center of the pie (not only does this look nice, but it will help the pie to vent while it’s baking). NOTE: if you choose to skip this and go super-simple, be sure to cut some slits in the center of the pie, so that steam can escape.

Brush the top crust with the beaten egg/cream mixture, then sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake til the pie is golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Serve warm or at room temperature (and get yourself a scoop of good vanilla or ginger ice cream to go alongside it).

A little extra effort? Maybe. But it’ll be completely worth it when you see the looks of delight on the faces of your friends and family … that is, if you don?t keep it all for yourself!

When she’s not serving up goodness here at Prime Cuts, Melissa makes things easy as pie for her clients at Honeybee Consulting. Feel free to visit her there, or find her buzzing about all kinds of other tasty morsels on Twitter @startabuzz.

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Photo by: platinum

It’s Summer and backyard chefs across the country are reveling in Weberific, char-grilled glee. True, it might seem that there are few things in life as laden with awesomeness as a great burger or steak right off the grill, but if you just open your mind…grilling can be oh, so much more.

More, you ask? Why yes! While there are limitless things that can be cooked on your trusty grill, few will leave you so satisfied and awash in post-meal ecstasy as fruit. Yeah, you heard me: FRUIT.  During the summer, the possibilities are only as limited as your imagination. Pineapple?  You bet.  Bananas?  Sure.  But those are fruits for another day.  I’m here today to talk about peaches and the sweet, magical deliciousness they’ll bring to your table.

Peaches. Sweet, delicious peaches.  Loaded with their own natural sugars and juices, they’re the ideal candidates for grilling.  And they’re nearing the peak of their season, so now is the perfect time to bring them to the table.  Whether you choose a juicy golden peach from Georgia or South Carolina–slightly acidic and a little tangy with notes of butterscotchy goodness–or a sweet, perfect white peach, ripe with undertones of raspberry-like perfection, from Central California, your results will be sublime, I promise you.

Ingredients

4 ripe peaches, halved with stones removed
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar
Pinch of Kosher or sea salt
Vegetable (or some other neutral) oil
Your vanilla ice cream of choice

Preparation

Heat your grill to high (and remember to clean your grates … you don’t want your fruit to taste like the blackened tuna you made earlier). While it’s warming up, mix the butter, cinnamon, sugar and salt in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Lightly brush the cut side of each peach with oil, to prevent sticking. Grill peaches ‘til they’re golden brown and just cooked through (about 3-5 minutes). Top each half with a couple of teaspoons of the butter mixture and serve to your salivating dinner guests with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Devilishly simple, sweetly seductive. Grilling fruit will tantalize your taste buds and open your mind to all that grilling can be.

Enjoy!

Photo by: mccun934

Shortbread cookies never get the credit they deserve, they’re simple to make but are often very dry and sometimes lack flavor making them crumbling, tasteless, cardboard squares.

But with a slight change to the most basic recipe and paired with a Brazilian coffee the flavors balance well allowing you to enjoy each individually yet with an embraced sense that all is right with the world. Sometimes relegating to simplicity is worth the questions you might be asked by serving “only shortbread cookies.” There is something nostalgic and sophisticated about breaking the shortbread cookie into your mouth as the foundation and building on top of it by drinking a smooth, full-bodied coffee.

That’s the best part about shortbread and coffee, you can serve it plain and fancy, or you can serve it together with ice cream sandwiched in between two cookies making a fun adventure for your guests, or kids, without the coffee obviously.

The recipe is simple so have fun with it and add additional ingredients like pecans, lemon peel, or brown sugar.

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

Makes 12 large cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Combine flour and sugar; with pastry blender cut butter in until it looks like crumbs and clings.
3. Knead until smooth, form into ball.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Using a knife cut into twelve large rectangles.
6. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. (Score the cookies if you want it fancy, we made a quilt pattern)
7. Bake for 25 minutes

Enjoy!

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Ingredients

2-4 egg whites
1 egg yolk
6 Tbls. Sugar
1 container of mascarpone cheese
Savoirdi Cookies (lady fingers)
2 cups of chilled strong coffee
Liquor of your choice (Whiskey, Rum, Tia Marie, Kahlua, Baileys)…you can even mix a few together, that’s what I usually do.

NOTE:  Put bowl and beaters in freezer before doing anything. It’s better to work with a cold bowl.

Preparation

1. Combine egg whites and 1 yolk with sugar.  Beat for a long time until very fluffy and white. (I am still trying to perfect the fluffiness. It takes FOREVER to beat those egg whites.)  You can probably get a workout in while those damn things are beating.
   
2. Fold in Mascarpone cheese.
   
3. In a low rim bowl, mix 2 cups of coffee with liquor.
4. Quickly, and I mean quickly, dip the cookie in the coffee mixture, just a super quick turn. (Do not let them get soggy.)
   
5. Place in a single layer on a flat dish or baking pan.  Glass pan is best but a loaf pan works well too especially if you want a lot of layers.  After dipping, you may need to cut a little off the cookies for the 2nd row to fit in the pan; for the bottom layer only.
6. Spread Mascarpone mixture on top of the dipped cookies.  Can repeat up to 3 layers.  13×9 pan usually gets you 2 layers, but you can make it higher if you want.  (You will probably need more Mascarpone then.)
   
7. Sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa or grated cocoa.
   
8. Refrigerate until served (making it the night before is best).

* May top with whipped cream and sprinkles of grated cocoa before serving.

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Photo by: romanlily

[viddler id=34f4da3&w=437&h=370]

Enjoy!

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Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

The original came from allrecipes.com, but I’ve amended it over the past year.  For instance, the original called for butter which I replaced with apple sauce; and white sugar and brown sugar, which I replaced with just brown sugar.  Making it healthy and low-fat.

The “toppings” (banana, oats, raisins) can be substituted with chocolate chips, nuts, etc. for a different result.

Ingredients

1 cup apple sauce
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup peanut butter (chunky is best)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or Kalhua, if preferred)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 mashed ripe bananas
2 cups instant oats
1/2 cup raisins

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the apple sauce and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the peanut butter and vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda, and stir into the mixture. Finally, stir in the oats and raisins.

3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cookies are lightly toasted on the edges. Remove and cool.

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As always, we hope you enjoy!

Delicious Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients

10 ounces of 70% dark chocolate
3 ounces butter
8 ounces sugar
5 eggs

Preparation

In a double-boiler,  put the butter and chocolate and let it melt.

In a bowl mix the sugar and eggs (no need for a mixer but you need to beat them well).

Add melted chocolate and butter to the beated eggs and sugar.  Mix until the texture is smooth.

Pour into a low round pie size baking tray and place in a pre-heated oven (335 ºF) for 20 minutes.

Can be served with ice cream, crème fresh, but is best just as it is.

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Ingredients

10 eggs
4oz white sugar
½ lb unsalted butter, roughly chopped
1 lb semi sweet chocolate chips
1 qt heavy cream

Tools Required

1 large mixing bowl
1 small heat proof mixing bowl
Stand mixer with bowl and whisk attachment (or separate bowl and whisk if you don’t have one)
1 large whisk
1 large rubber spatula
Slotted metal spoon

Procedure

• Carefully separate the yolks from the whites of the ten eggs.The best way to approach this task is to do so one egg at a time so you can be absolutely sure not to get any yolk in with the whites.Ultimately the yolks should be in the large mixing bowl, and the whites should be in the bowl of the stand mixer.
• Use the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, on medium/high speed, to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, and set aside.

• Add the 4oz sugar to the egg yolks in the large bowl and, use the large whisk to whip until the yolks double in volume and turn very pale, set aside.

• Place the chocolate chips and the butter in the small heat proof bowl. Bring an inch of water to a simmer in a pot that is of a slightly smaller diameter than that of the heat proof bowl, place the bowl on top of the simmering pot, making sure the bottom of the pot does not touch the water. Use the slotted spoon to stir the chocolate and butter mixture until it is completely melted and free of lumps, make sure not to get any water in the chocolate during the mixing process or it will seize up. Set aside and let cool slightly.

• Use the stand mixer and whisk attachment to whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks, set aside.

• Carefully fold the egg whites into the egg yolks, in ¼ increments.

• In approximately 10 installments, fold the melted chocolate into the egg mix. The reason for the many installments is to raise the temperature of the eggs as little as possible, in order to avoid curdling. The easiest way to lightly distribute the melted chocolate into the eggs is to let it flow through the slots of the spoon, in thin strands. Make sure to scrape the chocolate off the bottom when folding as it tends to sink through the eggs, and you want to get all of it mixed in.

• Finally, fold the whipped cream into the egg and chocolate mixture in ¼ increments, for this final step it is important to mix as little as possible, just enough to incorporate the whipped cream into the egg mixture, in fact it is better to leave a few streaks of whipped cream unincorporated, than to over mix.

• Place the finished mousse into serving vessels, or a larger container, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Mousse will keep for up to a week.

NOTE: This recipe can be cut in ½ or ¼ but depending on the size of you mixer, the small quantities of eggs that result from the recipe reduction may not whip evenly.

Once the chocolate mousse is completed you can serve it with a couple strawberries, some whipped cream and a piece of mint.  Other uses would include chocolate mousse pie or just eating straight from the bowl

Enjoy!

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