Rum nutmeg snowballs and handling cookie dough on a hot day

Weeks ago, while I was putting together the list of recipes I wanted to bake to give as gifts to my friends I saw these cookies on one of Martha’s digital magazine issues (the subscription that was a real bargain). So I decided to make that money count and use the recipe – the cookies looked adorable after all, and the flavor combo sounded delicious.

However, I was baking the cookies on a very hot day, so it was a nightmare trying to shape the dough into crescents – by the time I had finished shaping two cookies the whole dough was going soft. So I put it back in the fridge for a while and decided to turn the crescents into balls – snowballs, for that matter. In the end it was a good decision: cookies looked pretty and tasted great. Win/win situation. :)

Rum nutmeg snowballs
slightly adapted from Queen Martha

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg – do not pack it in the spoon when measuring it
¼ teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (170g/1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (70g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons white rum (Martha uses brandy)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For rolling the cookies:
½ cup (70g) confectioners' sugar, sifted

Whisk together flour, nutmeg, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter with confectioners' sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add rum and vanilla; beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Divide dough into 2 disks; wrap each in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Working with one disk at a time (keeping the other refrigerated), scoop 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie and roll into a ball. Arrange 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets.
Bake until golden on the bottom, 16-18 minutes. Transfer cookies on sheets to wire racks; let cool 5 minutes. Working in batches, carefully toss warm cookies in confectioners' sugar, then transfer to racks and let cool completely.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Dust with more confectioners' sugar before serving.

Makes about 42

Eggnog marshmallows

This year’s Christmas series was not as complete as I would have liked it to be, but it was a lot of fun making it just as the previous years: my house smelling of spices, delicious baked goods cooling down over the counter… It is, indeed, my favorite time of the year, and it would not have felt complete without cookies and gingerbread cake.

I hadn’t made marshmallows in a long time, so when I saw this eggnog version I knew they would be a great addition to my sweet celebration – they turned out great, with a wonderful texture. The recipe is great and you can customize it with other flavors, or maybe making them plain vanilla for the little ones to enjoy as well.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Thank you for keeping me company all this year, especially during those moments I wasn’t around here much – I deeply appreciate it. xx

Eggnog marshmallows
slightly adapted from this beautiful blog

10 leaves unflavored gelatin, each cut in 4 pieces
1 cup cold water, divided use
336g (12oz) granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
pinch of table salt
½ cup (60g) confectioners' sugar
½ cup (60g) cornstarch
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ tablespoon rum
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
vegetable oil, for brushing the pan

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with ½ cup (120ml) of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
In a small saucepan combine the remaining ½ cup (120ml) water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 115°C (240°F), approximately 7-8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat – while the mixture cookies, prep the pan: in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and corn starch. Brush a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan with vegetable oil and sprinkle with some of the corn starch mixture, tapping out the excess and saving the remaining mixture for the finishing steps of the recipe.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, add in nutmeg and increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, 12-15 minutes. Beat in the rum and vanilla.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan spreading evenly. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using sharp knife brushed with vegetable oil. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining corn starch mixture. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Makes 48

Eggnog biscotti

It might have taken me a while to get started with the Christmas series, but once I did I was perfuming my house with spices for hours on end – my husband took a look at the kitchen counter and said: “wow, you are really inspired!” :)

These biscotti are super simple to make and might even receive other flavors if you are not that crazy for nutmeg, maybe some citrus zest? I guess they would be amazing with orange and Cointreau, for instance. The original recipe called for eggnog in the glaze, so I adapted it a little to avoid using raw eggs in the biscotti.

Eggnog biscotti
slightly adapted from here

Biscotti:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, room temperature
⅔ cup (133g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon rum
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 eggs

For the glaze:
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (120g) icing sugar
generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg
about 1 tablespoon whole milk

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.

Biscotti: in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in vanilla, rum and nutmeg. Beat in eggs one at a time. On low speed, mix in the dry ingredients and mix just until a dough forms (mine was too soft to shape, I added 1 tablespoon of flour).
Divide dough in half and shape each half in a log about 15x5cm (6x2in). Place the logs about 7.5cm (3in) apart onto prepared sheets and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let stand for 20 minutes – leave the oven on. Line another large baking sheet with baking paper.
Slice biscotti into little less than 2cm (¾ in) slices. Place slices onto prepared sheet and bake fo 10 minutes. Turn all slices carefully, and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet over a wire rack.

Glaze: whisk butter, sugar and nutmeg until mixture starts to get creamy. Add milk gradually, whisking until drizzable consistency. Drizzle biscotti with glaze and set aside until glaze is dry, about 20 minutes.
Biscotti can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days – without the glaze they last even longer.

Makes about 25

Golden raisin cookies

One very common dish during the holiday season here is rice with raisins – it is served with the usual meat dishes for Christmas and New Year’s Eve dinners. I know people who love raisins in their rice, but most people I know hate it, including my husband and my sister – they’re 46 and 21, respectively, so you can imagine that the hate for rice with raisins is spread throughout different generations. :D

Growing up I was never a fan, either, for I did not understand why people would put something sweet in a savory dish – I thought it was such a waste of something as delicious as rice. :)

I grew up and learned that sweet and savory together in food is actually a good thing, but to be honest I’m still not a fan of rice with raisins: there are millions of other wonderful things to be cooked with rice and I prefer my raisins elsewhere, like in cookies – I used the golden raisins called for in the original recipe, but I am sure that they would be equally great with dark raisins, too.

I found that giving the dough a couple of hours in the freezer instead of the refrigerator is key here because the frozen raisins are much easier to slice.

Golden raisin cookies
from one of my favorite cookbooks

1 cup golden raisins
¼ cup (60ml) dark rum
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (70g) confectioner's sugar
1 large egg
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups (235g) all-purpose flour
granulated sugar, for sprinkling

In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum. Set aside to soak for at least 1 hour.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar at medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 1 minute. Add the egg, salt and vanilla and beat until blended but not smooth (dough will look curdled at this point). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. At low speed, add the flour, mixing until just blended. Drain the raisins, discarding the rum, add them to the dough and mix until combined.

Divide the dough into two equal parts. Place each on a piece of parchment paper; shape dough into logs. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 3.5 cm (1.4in) log – like Martha does here. Wrap in parchment. Chill in the freezer until very firm, 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap one log at a time (keep the other in the freezer). Roll dough logs in the extra sugar, coating them evenly, then cut into 6mm (¼in) thick rounds; space 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, 15-20 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then slide the paper with the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 45 cookies

Lime coconut cake

If I obsess over movies, TV shows and music things wouldn’t be different with food: certain flavors and dishes get my attention from time to time and I find it hard to resist them.

After baking those delicious lime coconut cookies – which looked so cute, by the way – I wanted to make something else with those flavors and this cake was the perfect choice: very tender, with a nice hint of citrus and a delicious coconut topping (I’m a complete sucker for toasted coconut). As a bonus, the recipe comes from a magazine I believe many of us miss, but luckily for us its website is very, very rich.

Lime coconut cake
slightly adapted from the oh, so beautiful and missed Gourmet mag

1 cup (100g) sweetened flaked coconut
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 large limes
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups (245g) self-rising flour*
½ cup (120ml) coconut milk
¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
¼ cup (60ml) fresh lime juice, divided
1 cup (140g) confectioners’ sugar
½ tablespoon rum (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°/350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 22x5cm (9x2in) round cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter paper as well.
Toast coconut in a small baking pan in oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, about 6 minutes. Cool. Leave oven on.
Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Stir together flour and ½ cup (50g) of the coconut (reserve remainder for topping). Stir together coconut milk, milk and 2 tablespoons of the lime juice. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour.
Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment.
Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, then whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and rum (if using) and pour over cake. Sprinkle with remaining coconut.

* instead of self-rising flour, I used 1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour + 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder + ¼ teaspoon table salt

Serves 8

No churn dulce de leche ice cream

Besides being a cookbook junkie, I'm also addicted to kitchen gadgets (in my defence, I use them all the time, both the books and the gadgets). :) One of my favorite gadgets is my ice cream maker, which I keep in the freezer for whenever the feel for ice cream strikes, but knowing that not everyone has one I decided to try this recipe found in Nigella's latest book; not only was it dead easy to make but I think you can go wild and adapt it accordingly to your taste - for instance, Nigella used chestnut purée but I went for dulce de leche instead.

No churn dulce de leche ice cream
adapted from the gorgeous Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes (I bought mine here)

300ml heavy cream
200g dulce de leche + a bit extra swirl into the ice cream (optional)
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon dark rum

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold in the dulce de leche, salt and rum. Transfer to an airtight container and swirl in the extra dulce de leche (if using). Freeze for at least 6 hours.

Serves 6-8

Banana cake with rum glaze

“Artificial Intelligence: A.I.” was on cable last night and I after watching half an hour of the movie my opinion about it did not change after all these years: it is not Kubrick. I know that Kubrick worked on the project for many, many years and reading the movie trivia again I remembered that several details were chosen/decided by him, but I think it was just not enough; I find Spielberg to be a very boring director – and quite corny sometimes – so to me he shouldn’t have been chosen to work with something so dark and disturbing; leave it to Cronenberg, Fincher and even Nolan to deal with that kind of movie, and not someone who digitally replaces shotguns for walkie-talkies.
But there’s one thing I like about “A.I.”: I find Jude Law perfect as Gigolo Joe – he’s such a versatile actor and one of my favorites.

***

I loved this very tender and delicious banana cake – Lisa Yockelson’s cakes are always wonderful – but when I placed it in the oven I thought it would be too plain (very much like Spielberg); therefore, I drenched it in a rum glaze and that made things a lot more interesting. :)

Banana cake with rum glaze
adapted from the wonderful and delicious Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes and Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth

Cake:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2/3 cup (80g) cake flour (homemade: ½ cup all purpose flour + 1 tablespoon corn starch)
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
150g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups + 1 tablespoon (262g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas
½ cup (120ml) buttermilk*

Glaze:
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (60ml) dark rum

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and the bananas.
In low speed, add the sifted ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes – in the meantime, make the glaze: combine butter, water and sugars in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high-heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum.
Carefully unmold onto the rack and brush it generously with the glaze (you can save some to serve with the cake). Cool completely.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Serves 10-12

Coconut custard bars + the unforgettable "Hugo"

I don’t have kids, but I imagine that if I did I would love to cook and bake for them, because I already do that with lots of joy for the people I love and care about – I guess it’s a way of expressing my feelings. Maybe people like doing things they love for the ones they love. And why am I telling you all this, you might ask? Well, because that crossed my mind when I left the theater a couple of nights ago, after watching the fantastic “Hugo” – that was Scorsese’s way of expressing his love for his daughter: doing what he does best, what he loves to do for someone he loves. Some people say “I love/like you”, some bake cakes, and others make movies. :)

As I sat on my chair and started enjoying my popcorn, several kids entered the theater and sat down, too, waiting for the film to start. That is not something I see very often, given the sort of movies I usually watch. Fifteen minutes into the film and I thought to myself, “are these kids lucky or what?”, because as a child I did not have the opportunity to see something so strikingly beautiful, so perfectly made – actually, to be honest, even as an adult I haven’t seen many movies as beautiful as “Hugo”. I was mesmerized by the images, the colors, the sounds – I was in Paris. Asa Butterfly and his big blue eyes (which remind me of Elijah Wood’s) won my heart completely – he made me cry like a baby and by the end of the movie I wanted to take the kid home with me. I know Scorsese is a very gifted director and has the ability of improving just about anyone’s performance, but I never imagined he’d be so good at directing kids. On the other side, for each tear I shed there was lots of laughter with Sacha Baron Cohen – I thought he was delightful to watch, funny and adorable, which, to me, is Scorsese’s touch again (those of you who have watched Cohen’s previous performances might agree with me).

I wish I could tell you more about “Hugo” but I loved it so much and it moved me in such way that I sort of got speechless – this 33-year-old won’t be forgetting Martin Scorsese’s “kid’s movie”. Ever.

Coconut custard bars
slightly adapted from the wonderful The Good Cookie

Crust:
1 1/3 cups (186g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and chopped into 1cm (½in) cubes
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons cold water
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 cup (240ml) unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 cup (100g) sweetened shredded coconut

Make the crust: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 22cm (9in) square pan*.
Place flour, sugar, salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until blended. Scatter butter pieces over the flour mixture and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk, water and vanilla. With food processor running, add yolk mixture through the feed tube and process just until the dough begins to come together in large clumps. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and, using your fingers, pat it evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake crust until golden, 20-25 minutes. Transfer the pan to wire rack and cool completely. Leave the oven on.
In medium bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, and granulated sugar until blended. Slowly whisk in the coconut milk. Whisk in the vanilla, rum and flour and salt.
Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the cooled crust. Pour the filling through a fine sieve over the coconut, covering the crust completely. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until filling is set and the edges are golden brown. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Using sharp knife, cut into bars.

* I made the exact recipe above using a 20cm (8in) square pan; since it has a removable bottom it was easy to unmold and cut the bars

Makes 12

Eggnog pound cake with crystal rum glaze

I told you I was going to make Flo Braker’s eggnog pound cake, didn’t I? I am so glad I did – this cake is delicious! Very tender, with a crunchy glaze and a boozy touch – perfect.

I finally watched “TRON: Legacy” this weekend – I hate 3D movies, that is why I did not watch it in the theaters; up to this moment I still haven’t decided what I love the most about the movie: the creative plot, the breathtaking images or the amazing, flawless music.

Eggnog pound cake with crystal rum glaze
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Baking for All Occasions

Cake:
2 ¾ cups (385g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup (240ml) store-bought refrigerated eggnog – I used homemade, recipe follows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (83g) dried cranberries, tossed with 1 teaspoon all purpose flour

Crystal rum glaze:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter on medium-low speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar then continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the side of the bowl.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in four additions alternately with the eggnog in three additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the cranberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
Bake for 55-65 minutes or until the cake is golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes – in the meantime, make the glaze: place the sugar, rum and water in a small bowl and mix to combine.
Carefully unmold the cake onto the rack and, using a pastry brush, coat the top and sides of the cake with the glaze. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Serves 20

Blender eggnog
from the great The Essential New York Times Cookbook

1 large egg
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons brandy
2 tablespoons dark rum
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream

Crack the egg into a blender and blitz for 1 minute on medium speed. Add the sugar and blitz for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients and blitz until combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Makes 1 cup

Eggnog truffles

The eggnog flavor, here transformed into truffles (a very easy recipe that does not call for many ingredients) has already been around my kitchen in cookie, crème brûlée and ice cream form; I loved each and every one of the twists on that classic holiday flavor and maybe, if there’s still time, I will also try Flo Braker’s eggnog pound cake.

Another twist on a classic I adore is Eric Prydz’s “Call on Me” (despite the lame video clip) – not to mention it’s great for the treadmill, too. :)

Eggnog truffles
from The Christmas Candy Book

130g white chocolate, finely chopped
1 ½ tablespoons heavy cream
1 ½ tablespoons rum – or to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg – or to taste
cocoa powder, for rolling the truffles

Place chocolate and cream in a small heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until creamy and smooth. Remove from the heat, add the rum and mix to combine. Set aside to cool, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours or overnight. Using a small cookie-scoop or a small spoon, make truffles with 1 ½ teaspoons of ganache per truffle and roll into the cocoa powder. Place in fluted paper cases. Keep refrigerated. Truffles can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Makes about 15

Butter rum cake for those who like to bake with booze

I had my first caipirinha on my honeymoon: influenced by my husband, I enjoyed the drink with him in a super hot day, by the sea. What a delicious day that was. After that, I became a caipirinha fan (but you know that already). :D I’ll admit it: I like a little bit of alcohol every now and then.

Therefore, once I started baking with rum there was no turning back – for that reason, one of the first recipes I tried with my new Bundt pan had to be Lisa Yockelson's butter rum cake: there’s rum in the batter and there’s more rum in the glaze. Yum, yum. The cake is very tender and rose beautifully despite the tiny amount of baking soda (and no baking powder). Definitely a keeper.

Butter rum cake
from the always great Baking by Flavor

Cake:
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ cups (450g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (210ml) buttermilk*
3 tablespoons dark rum

Glaze:
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (74g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (60ml) dark rum
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F. Butter a 25cm (10in) Bundt cake and dust with all purpose flour. Tap out any excess flour.
Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-4 minutes. Add the sugar in three additions, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 45 seconds after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Blend in the vanilla extract.
On low speed, alternately add the flour mixture in three additions and the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Add the rum and beat for 30 seconds. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55 minutes or until risen, set and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake stand in the pan, over a wire rack, for 8-10 minutes, while you prepare the glaze.

Glaze: place the butter, granulated sugar and rum in a small, heavy nonreactive saucepan. Set over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts. Bring to the boil, turn the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes. Off the heat stir in the vanilla extract.
Carefully unmold the cake onto a wire rack. Using a soft pastry brush, apply the warm glaze onto the top and sides of the cake. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

*homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Serves 16

Banana, caramel and raisin galette

A couple of days after watching Four Weddings And A Funeral I bought Wet Wet Wet’s "End of Part One: Their Greatest Hits" just because of one song: “Love is All Around” (it was a version of the CD released after the movie, with the theme song included). I had never heard of the band before and not only did I find the CD cover really cool – for the record, I was in my teens – but I ended up liking pretty much all the tracks.

After baking these cookies – which recipe I got on Nic’s old blog – I bought this book; that was a long time ago and it’d been sitting on my bookshelf ever since. I intend to use it more often, even if only for inspiration, because this galette turned out really delicious. I might as well end up liking lots of other recipes, right? ;)

Banana, caramel and raisin galette
adapted from The All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookboook and from Modern Classics Book 2

Sweet shortcrust pastry:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
1 ½ tablespoons superfine sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup (75g) cold unsalted butter, chopped
1 – 1½ tablespoons iced water
heavy cream, for brushing

Filling:
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 tablespoon rum
3 medium bananas, sliced in 6mm (¼ in) thick slices
½ cup (100g) superfine sugar
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Start by making the pastry: process the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough and process until just combined. Knead the dough lightly, form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Start the filling: soak the raisins in the rum for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.
Roll out the pastry between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper, until you have a 25cm (10in) circle. Carefully transfer the pastry circle to the foil lined sheet. Arrange the banana slices in the center of the pastry, leaving a 4cm (1½in) border. Gently fold the pastry edges over the filling. Brush edges of the galette with the heavy cream.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until pastry is golden – the banana slices may darken a little, but do not worry because you’ll spread caramel over them.
Towards the end of the oven time, make the caramel sauce: place sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, without stirring – just swirling the saucepan occasionally – until a golden caramel forms; remove from the heat and stir in the cream (very carefully because caramel will spit). Pour half the caramel sauce in a small jug and keep warm. Add the raisin mixture to the caramel sauce left in the saucepan and mix well.
As soon as the tart comes out of the oven pour the caramel raisin mixture over the banana filling – reheat the caramel mixture before pouring it over the filling if necessary.
Serve warm with the remaining caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Serves 2

Coconut orange tea cake and things that make me wanna scream

I’m going to share something with you, even though you might think I’m crazy: there are times when certain things are so, so good I feel like screaming (for the record, I don’t actually scream). ;)

Off the top of my head I remember feeling like that after watching “Stay” and "Inception", listening to The Temper Trap’s “Love Lost” (especially from 1min50seg on), and more recently, this cake. An absolutely simple cake – no icings or fillings – put together in a heartbeat, but so delicious and tender I felt like screaming – and like devouring the whole thing myself, too. Not pretty, I know. But so true. :D

Coconut orange tea cake
from Dorie’s amazing and delicious book

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup (240ml) canned unsweetened coconut milk*
¼ cup (56g/½ stick) unsalted butter, in cubes
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups (400g) caster (superfine) sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons dark rum
¾ cup (75g) unsweetened shredded coconut
freshly squeezed juice of ½ orange

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 22-25cm/9-10in (10-12 cup) bundt pan or use an unbuttered silicone pan. Do not place the pan on a baking sheet – you want the oven’s heat to circulate through the tube**.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Place coconut milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until milk is hot and butter is melted. Remove from the heat but keep warm.
Place the sugar and orange zest in the large bowl of an electric mixer and rub them together until sugar is fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl and, using the whisk attachment, beat the ingredients until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the rum. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, beating just until flour is incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until blended. Add the coconut milk and butter and the orange juice. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60-65 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely (if using a silicone pan, follow the manufacturer’s instructions). Dust with icing sugar to serve.

* coconut milk comes in 200ml bottles here in Brazil; to avoid opening another bottle to use only a couple of tablespoons of the coconut milk, I used one coconut milk bottle + 40ml whole milk

** I used a silicone pan and it wouldn’t hold still on the oven rack; I placed it on a baking sheet and it worked fine

Serves 10-12

Chestnut pound cake

A very dear friend of mine got me a package of chestnut flour as a gift – yes, we’re the kind of people who love giving/getting food as gifts. :)

I have never seen that flour around here, and the minute she gave me the package she said: “make Alice Medrich’s chestnut pound cake as soon as you can”. I did as I was told – four times already, to be honest – and I’m forever in debt with my friend: this is one of the best cakes I have ever had. EVER.

Chestnut pound cake
from Pure Dessert

1 ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (255g) all purpose flour
1 cup (126g/4½oz) chestnut flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400g) caster sugar
2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk
1/3 cup (80ml) dark rum

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter two 5-cup capacity loaf pans, line with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Sift together three times the all purpose flour, chestnut flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs lightly with a fork.
In the large bowl of a mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add the sugar in a steady stream and beat until light and fluffy. Beating constantly, add the eggs gradually to the mixture.
Stop the mixer, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beat on low speed until flour is absorbed. Stop the mixer; add half the buttermilk and half of the rum. Repeat with half of the flour mixture, then all the buttermilk and rum. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the remaining flour, beat until absorbed. Scrape batter to pan and bake until risen and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (50-55 minutes).
Remove from oven, set over a wire rack and cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Carefully unmold and let cool completely over the rack.
Can be frozen for up to 3 months (wrapped airtight).

Serves 16

Buttered rum meltaways

One of my readers – hi, Angelica! – left me a comment about the amount of recipes calling for rum around here – there’s another one today!
I don’t like rum for drinking, but I certainly love baking with it – and if you try these cookies I am sure you will, too. :)

I’ve slightly adapted the recipe from Lizzie, who got it from a book I’ve been meaning to buy.

Buttered rum meltaways
from Martha Stewart's Cookies

1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons (265g) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (140g) confectioners' sugar, sifted*
¼ cup (60ml) dark rum
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk flour, cornstarch, spices, and salt in a bowl. Put butter and 2/3 cup (93g) of the confectioners’ sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until creamy. Mix in rum and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix in flour mixture.
Divide dough in half. Place each on a piece of parchment paper; shape dough into logs. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 3cm (1 ¼in) log – like Martha does here. Wrap in parchment. Chill in freezer 30 minutes (up to 1 month).
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap logs. Cut into 6mm (¼in) thick rounds; space 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake until just golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool 10 minutes. Place remaining sugar in a bowl and gently toss warm cookies in it.
Store cookies in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Makes about 4 dozen – I halved the recipe and got exact 2 dozen cookies

President Clinton’s oatmeal cookies

I swear I’m not trying to get a job as an oatmeal poster girl, and I’d already decided on which oatmeal cookies were my favorite, but tell me: would you resist making a recipe with such great reputation? :)

These cookies are so delicious I regretted halving the recipe. Mr. Clinton’s taste in cookies is far superior to his taste in... Never mind. :D

President Clinton’s oatmeal cookies
from Desserts by the Yard

Fat raisins:
1 ½ cups (232g) golden raisins
¾ cup (180ml) dry white wine
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 ½ tablespoons dark rum
3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar

Cookies:
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¾ sticks (198g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups (354g) rolled oats
1 recipe (1 ½ cups) fat raisins

Start by preparing the fat raisins: combine the raisins, wine, orange juice, rum and sugar in a small heavy saucepan; bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the while. Lower the heat so that the liquid is at a bare simmer and poach for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat, cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow to cool completely. If not using right away, transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Now, the cookies: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter on high speed until lemony yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle/beaters. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Beat until creamy and scrape the sides of the bowl.
Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Beat on low speed for 15-30 seconds or until the eggs are incorporated. On low speed, add the sifted ingredients, beating until they’re absorbed. Mix in the oats and raisins.
Place 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the baking sheet, then bake for another 5-8 minutes or until nicely browned. Carefully slice the baking paper off the sheet and directly onto your work surface. Cool completely.
Cookies will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 80 small cookies (about 5cm/2in each) – I halved the recipe above and regret it (the cookies were too good!)