All posts tagged: featured

Orange-Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Published by Kathy Hunt

I make cakes from scratch. I make ice cream from scratch. Yet, until this summer, I’d never made an ice cream cake. That all changed when I had a Saturday afternoon to kill, an excess of oranges, heavy cream and bittersweet chocolate in my kitchen, and the bowl of an ice cream maker taking up valuable space in my freezer. Perfect time to try my hand at an Orange-Bittersweet Chocolate ice cream cake. Origins of icebox desserts People have enjoyed some version of an ice cream cake since at least the 19th century. It was during this period that iceboxes became more commonplace. Filled with blocks of ice, these wooden cabinets were used to store perishable foods. Along with extending freshness and preventing spoilage, iceboxes inspired an array of frozen desserts, including a precursor to the ice cream cake, the bombe. This Victorian era treat featured a fruity custard encased in layers of ice cream and, occasionally, cookies or cake. Frozen in a spherical mold, the bombe was sliced and served with a sweet sauce. …

baked polenta with eggs

Polenta and Eggs with Spring Onions

Published by Kathy Hunt

Polenta tends to get a bad rap. People say it takes too much effort and too long to make. I disagree. Stirring up a batch of polenta is as easy as putting ingredients into a saucepan, bringing them to a boil and stirring them together. How hard is that? The tricks to smooth, creamy polenta are to stir often and watch your saucepan. Don’t walk away from the bubbling pot and expect to come back 20 minutes later to the perfect dish. (That holds true for many foods.) More than likely, you’ll return to find a scorched mess. A quick refresher on polenta A staple of Northern Italian cuisine, polenta has been consumed since Roman times. Made from cornmeal, it is reminiscent of hominy grits in its texture and consistency. While grits are made from ground white corn, oats or rice, polenta is comprised of coarsely ground yellow corn. Hence the yellow color of the dish. To cook polenta, you need a heavy bottomed pan, water or stock, ground cornmeal, a touch of cream and …

rhubarb cake

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Published by Kathy Hunt

Rhubarb and I have a troubled past. I was in college when I first saw it in stalk form and thought that it was celery gone bad. Then I tried this vegetable in a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie. The strawberry part of the pie was tasty, but, once I took a bite of a stringy and hard pinkish-green chunk of rhubarb, I was repulsed. Rhubarb fail number one. Fast forward several years and I’m in Southeastern Pennsylvania, with neighbors who grow a variety of uncommon produce. One late spring evening my next-door-neighbor Frank drops off a grocery bag filled with jagged stalks of what appear to be pink celery. Ah, yes. My old nemesis. After instructing me to wash and chop the rhubarb before putting it in a casserole with some water and baking it until soft, he sets off. I do exactly as instructed and create a mouth-puckering sour, mushy dish that even our dog won’t touch. What Frank failed to mention was that I should have added a liberal amount of sugar to …

mushroom galette

Mixed Mushroom Galette

Published by Kathy Hunt

The galette gets its name from the French term “galet,” a flat, weathered pebble. Thanks to its imperfectly round, flush shape and touch of graininess, the moniker “galette” has stuck. Yet, there is nothing rock hard or bland about this rustic tart. It is instead a quick and delicious baked good, one perfect for dinner or dessert. Versatile tart How versatile is a galette? You can stuff it with savory ingredients, including meats, cheeses, herbs, vegetables and/or nuts and serve it as an appetizer or main course. Prefer the sweeter side of baking? You can fill it with fresh fruit, preserves or chocolate and offer it as dessert. You can also make galette des rois, a king or Twelfth Night Cake. Originally, this galette contained only flour, sugar, butter, and eggs and a bean hidden inside. If you’re feeling really decadent, take your sweet galette, top it with plain Greek yogurt and serve it at breakfast. Versatile indeed! Make it with mushrooms Because I’m a sucker for mushrooms, I tend to fill the dough of …

cookbooks 2020

In 2020 Give the Gift of Cookbooks

Published by Kathy Hunt

Most of us have done a lot more cooking and baking in 2020. I know that I have and not just because I’ve been testing recipes for my cookbook Luscious/Tender/Juicy (Countryman, 2021). More time at home has meant more time spent in the kitchen, working through some fascinating food titles. Among the books in which I’ve found comfort and inspiration are two baking and two vegetable-focused cookbooks, a celebration of contemporary Black cooking, food narratives with recipes for fall, winter and Christmas, a restaurant history, and the foods and traditions of one of my favorite cities, Copenhagen. If you have cooks, bakers and/or readers on your holiday shopping list, the following titles will delight them. Arranged in alphabetical order, they comprise this holiday season’s cookbook review. 2020 Cookbook Review Copenhagen Food – Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille, 2018) In Copenhagen Food Trine Hahnemann takes readers on a culinary tour of Copenhagen, her home of 40+ years. Each chapter highlights a different neighborhood and its specialties. With stories and photos of the city, famed restaurants, public markets and …

slice of coffee cake

Brown Sugar-Almond Coffee Cake

Published by Kathy Hunt

I’ve been doing a lot of armchair traveling, looking at old photos and travel journals and cooking and baking dishes that I first tried in far-flung locations. After revisiting several trips to Sweden, I started to crave coffee cake. This, in turn, prompted me to bake my brown sugar-almond coffee cake. In Sweden the coffee break or fika means just that—you take a break to have a cup of coffee and a baked good. It could be a slice of tart, a cinnamon roll or chocolate ball. Or, it could be a piece of cake served with coffee. Hence the inspiration for “coffee cake.” Often Swedish coffee cakes include almonds and such spices as cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. Among the traditional coffee cake offerings are almond tortes and apple, spice or pound cakes. American coffee cakes differ in that they frequently feature sour cream in their batters and streusel and a glaze on top. They tend to be sweeter than their Swedish counterparts. The sweet, aromatic and nutty Brown Sugar-Almond Coffee Cake is a nod …

chocolate mud cake

Chocolate Mud Cake

Published by Kathy Hunt

Like Mississippi mud pie, chocolate mud cake reputedly gets its name from its moist, dark texture, which is said to resemble the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. Because I first tried chocolate mud cake roughly 10,000 miles from the Southern United States, on the South Coast of Australia, and because this cake is so heavenly, I’m not convinced of this story. How could something this delicious have its roots in something as unappetizing as wet dirt or sludge? Perhaps “mud” hints at the inclusion of strong, black coffee. Sometimes referred to as mud, dirt, java or joe, coffee adds a tangy complexity to this chocolatey cake. Along with its decadent flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture, chocolate mud cake has simplicity in its favor. To make the batter, you stir together butter, chocolate, sugar, instant espresso or instant coffee powder and boiling water. Add those ingredients to eggs, vanilla, flour and cocoa and stir until combined. With that you create a luscious cake batter that you pour into a baking pan. It’s that easy! Topping off …

slice of apple-applesauce cake

Apple-Applesauce Cake

Published by Kathy Hunt

Apple-Applesauce Cake is one of those quintessential quarantine recipes. I had an extra Granny Smith apple, a jar of applesauce, carton of expiring eggs, butter and flour in my kitchen. Add to those ingredients too much free time in my schedule. So, I baked a moist and aromatic apple-applesauce cake. Since all of this spare time allows me to write and test recipes at a much greater pace, I’ll share this easy, tasty cake. Originally, I made the cake with only one apple. If you have two on hand, I would slip in the additional fruit. This result is an even more luscious dessert. As for the applesauce, I’d suggest unsweetened. Whether it’s smooth or chunky is your call. If you want a less sweet treat, something you could eat, guilt-free, at breakfast, omit the glaze on the cake. Apple-Applesauce Cake Serves 8 to 10 for the cake: 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 large egg, at room temperature 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon …

lentil burgers with marinara

Mediterranean Red Lentil Burgers

Published by Kathy Hunt

If you’re stocking up on dry goods, you’ve bought a bag of red or brown lentils, and now you don’t know quite what to do with them, I’ve got the dish for you—Mediterranean red lentil burgers. Although I make these velvety patties with dairy products and breadcrumbs, you could easily turn them into a vegetarian or gluten-free dish. Check out the recipe headnote for suggestions or adapt these lentil burgers yourself. Delicious and nutritious Lentils are one of my kitchen staples. I use them in soups and curries, as salads and as stuffings for fish and vegetables. Reputedly the oldest of all legumes, lentils have a wonderfully nutty flavor that goes well with a variety of ingredients. That includes carrots, peppers, onions, garlic, chicken, fish—particularly salmon, trout, Arctic char, swordfish, mahi mahi and scallops—and spices and herbs such as cumin, curry powder, paprika, basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, fennel and parsley. Nutritious as well as delicious, lentils are high in iron and phosphorus and possess a decent amount of calcium and vitamins A and B. On …

Better than black and white cookies? Black and White Cake!

Published by Kathy Hunt

Think of Black and White Cake as a giant black and white cookie but so much better. Before moving to New York City, I had thought that the B&W cookie would become my guilty indulgence, my go-to sweet. A cake-like cookie with both vanilla and chocolate topping. How could I not love this New York speciality? And, yet, I don’t. For 20 years I’ve tried countless bakeries’ takes on this cookie. Unimpressed, I’ve even baked my own. Each time I’ve had the same thought—it could be great as a cake but, as a cookie, it lacks the crispness, crunchiness or gooeyness that I enjoy. Rather than give up on this treat altogether, I tinkered around in the kitchen and came up with a luscious Black and White cake recipe. The Black and White Cake differs from its inspiration in several ways. The most obvious is that it’s a moist layer cake and not a cookie. The second is the icing. The cookie is decorated with fondant, a stiff, glossy topping made from sugar, gelatin, glycerine, …