Behold, it is time for good cheer!

What better way to show your loved ones how much you care than by stuffing them full of cake?

I was drawn to this cake by one interesting component – cornmeal.  I don’t know about you, but I love cornmeal. [...]]]>

Behold, it is time for good cheer!

What better way to show your loved ones how much you care than by stuffing them full of cake?

I was drawn to this cake by one interesting component – cornmeal.  I don’t know about you, but I love cornmeal.  So does Chris.  Surprisingly, Chris doesn’t like whole kernel corn, though.  He says it’s just a whole lot of nothing and can’t understand why people like it.  Me, I’m indifferent.  But cornmeal, now.

I always find it intriguing when cornmeal is worked into sweet baked goods.  It seems to make them a little more substantial, a little more rustic, and I feel just the tiniest bit less guilty eating them.  I know that really doesn’t make sense, because this cake contains a stick and a half of butter and 6 egg yolks, but it does.  It just doesn’t seem so bad.

Now the cake.  It was good.  I liked the crunch of the cornmeal between my teeth as I bit into it, and the combo of orange zest and cranberries is always a winner.  It made a dense, moist cake, punctuated by bursts of tart cranberries and the slightly gritty texture of the cornmeal (that doesn’t sound good, I know, but it is).  So I’m not raving about it, but I liked it.

It was definitely a bit too sweet.  I’d reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup, at least.  Especially with something as hearty as cornmeal, you almost want the cake to be a little bit savory.

Cornmeal Cranberry Cake
From Giada deLaurentis

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar (reduce this if you like)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow fine cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup orange zest (from 2 large oranges)
1 1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes with an electric mixer. Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time while beating. Mix in vanilla extract.

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Mix in little by little into the eggs/butter mixture, until incorporated.

Fold in cranberries.

Scrape into a buttered and floured 9-inch round cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until cake is golden on top. Let cool before removing from pan.

When I was going to college at the University of Toronto, I used to drop by my local Second Cup every now and then for a nice big latte and a lemon cranberry muffin.  It just hit the spot on blustery snowy mornings, and fueled [...]]]>

When I was going to college at the University of Toronto, I used to drop by my local Second Cup every now and then for a nice big latte and a lemon cranberry muffin.  It just hit the spot on blustery snowy mornings, and fueled me for the 20 minute walk across the icy campus to my classes at the very furthest end of the university.  Sometimes, instead of going in the mornings, I’d spend a few hours in the coffee shop sipping my coffee and munching on my muffin, researching papers all afternoon (hooray for free wifi).

Tim Hortons also had a lemon cranberry muffin, and though it didn’t have the nice crisp cap of the Second Cup muffin, it had a deliciously fluffy cake-like consistency and was almost always gone by the time I got to the Tim Hortons on the south end of campus.

A good lemon cranberry muffin is just one of the best parts of winter.  And despite the fact that it was probably 80 degrees out today on the Central Coast, cranberries are in season, and I’m stocking up.  A few bags of cranberries thrown right in the freezer will last me through till spring, so I’m anticipating plenty of cranberry goodness all through the winter.

Check out the colors of this gorgeous muffin.  I used a yogurt cake base, because every since I made this lemon yogurt cake by Orangette, it has become my go-to lemon cake recipe.  It’s moist and fluffy, with a fine crumb, perfect as a base for poppy seeds or fruit (or both).  I love the tart cranberries as they explode in your mouth!  After making the muffins, I felt they needed a little extra sweetness, so I made a lemon simple syrup that I brushed over the top of the muffins.  But you could just increase the sugar slightly, or sprinkle sugar over the top of the muffins before baking them.

I had a little extra batter left over at the end, so I made a giant muffin (or a mini loaf) in a buttered ramekin.  I actually love the look of the ramekin muffin and think that a set of these little cups with muffins baked into them would make a great Christmas gift.

Lemon Cranberry Muffins

½ cup plain yogurt
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
pinch salt
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup oil
2 cups fresh cranberries

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix the yogurt, sugar, salt and eggs together in a large bowl.  Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract.

2.  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients to wet, and stir together until moistened.

3.  Add oil and mix, mix, mix until batter is smooth and homogeneous.  Fold in cranberries.

4.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into muffins comes out clean.

Lemon Simple Syrup

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar

In a small saucepan, heat the lemon juice and sugar together gently until all the sugar dissolves.  Brush over muffins.

Biscotti is to me what the madeleine was to Proust. Well, sort of. When I was in college I spent many hours in my local Second Cup (Canada’s answer to Starbucks) sipping a coffee and dunking a delicious chocolate-covered biscotti into it, while reading a [...]]]>

Biscotti is to me what the madeleine was to Proust. Well, sort of. When I was in college I spent many hours in my local Second Cup (Canada’s answer to Starbucks) sipping a coffee and dunking a delicious chocolate-covered biscotti into it, while reading a book or writing an essay (believe it or not, I actually enjoyed writing essays). Biscotti, for me, have come to symbolize unhurried leisure and enjoyment of the moment while I savor the flavors of the biscuit melting slightly into the coffee. I’m not as refined as Proust, of course, and the biscotti is a rougher-textured, less delicate snack in comparison to the light madeleine. Plus, even after having lived in France, I’ve never been a huge fan of madeleines. I’ve had too many that were dry and tasteless.

During this holiday season, I didn’t so much crave rich cookies and cakes so much as I wanted the flavorful crunch of biscotti, so I whipped up a batch both to bring to Christmas parties as well as to enjoy with my own hot beverage at home.

To reduce the risk of the biscotti breaking as you slice them, make sure the cookie loaf is fully cooled before cutting into it with a sharp serrated knife. My loaf spread quite a bit in the oven, making for a very long slice, so I cut the longer biscotti slices in half to make them more manageable for eating.

Cranberry-Almond Biscotti
I can’t remember where I got this recipe, but it’s good!

½ cup softened unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
Dash salt
½ cup chopped almonds
½ cup dried cranberries
milk for brushing and extra sugar to dust

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Stir in extract.

Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder and add to egg mixture. Stir together, then fold in almonds and cranberries.

On a greased baking sheet pat the dough into two equal rectangles, about 12×3 inches each. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 375 F for 15-30 minutes until golden on top and firm. Use foil to lift each loaf onto a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Slice diagonally about ½ inch thick.

Lower oven temperature to 300 F. Bake slices, this time on an ungreased baking sheet, 10 minutes per side until browned and crisp.

Chris and I were not able to spend Christmas with our families this year, due to the small factor of us being in China, so when Christmas Eve rolled along, we found ourselves planning a special meal for just the two of us. We [...]]]>

Chris and I were not able to spend Christmas with our families this year, due to the small factor of us being in China, so when Christmas Eve rolled along, we found ourselves planning a special meal for just the two of us. We spent the afternoon strolling along Zhongshan Road, the main shopping street, enjoying the Christmas trees and occasionally getting harried by vendors trying to sell watches. We found an excellent grocery store with a lot of good fresh produce (including hand-pulled fresh noodles!), and picked up some duck legs for dinner.

These braised duck legs are oh-so-rich, flavorful, and even though duck legs are inexpensive, they have that “special” factor that makes them worthy of a holiday meal. Keep the browned skins out of the braising liquid and they will crisp up beautifully, while the meat beneath becomes tender and soft. When the duck is done, the braising liquid reduces to a syrupy, sweet and savory wine sauce, with the added tang of dried cranberries.

Serve it with the rest of the bottle of wine you used to braise it in, and use the rendered duck fat to roast potatoes or sweet potatoes. Serve this dish with a green salad or some light vegetable dishes, as a counterpoint to the richness of the duck.

Red-Wine Braised Duck Legs with Cranberries
Adapted from Gourmet 1996

4 whole duck legs, trimmed of excess fat
1 tbsp dried thyme
5 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup dry red wine, plus extra
1 cup dried cranberries (preferably unsweetened)
2-3 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Score the skin of the duck legs with a sharp knife (but don’t cut the meat). This will help the fat to render.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the duck legs, skin side down, for 10-15 minutes until skin is crisp and dark-brown. Periodically spoon off the rendered duck fat, using a bulb baster if you have one (if not be careful not to burn yourself). Turn legs over to brown the other side briefly, about 2 minutes.

Fit the duck legs snugly into a baking dish (a 9×9 dish was sufficient for mine) and set aside. Deglaze the skillet with the red wine, scraping up any browned bits, and reduce the wine until thick. Add ½ cup cranberries, the thyme, and garlic. Pour liquid around the duck legs. Add enough broth to cover legs, but leaving skin above braising liquid.

Braise in oven for about 2 hours, until meat is tender. Remove legs to a plate. Strain the liquid into a small saucepan, discarding fruit and herbs. Skim off the fat with a spoon. Add ½ cup dried cranberries and another splash of red wine. Boil until reduced to a syrup and cranberries are softened.

Spoon sauce over duck legs just before serving.