Cake of the Week: Salted Coconut Maple Oatmeal Cookies

This weekend I learned a new term from my very smart finance friends: Alpha. 

For funds and investments and other money things that are far over my head, it means, “The excess return of the fund relative to the return of the benchmark index for a fund,” and/or, “a measure of an investment’s performance over and above the performance of investments of the same risk.” 

In normal person (super-duper simplified) terms it could be described as extra value added or something performing above expectations. 

So what does this have to do with cookies? Well an oatmeal cookie is good. But an alpha oatmeal cookie performs above and beyond, taking the expected result and making it better. This weekend, in the context of these Salted Maple Coconut Oatmeal Cookies, Jess and I combined our alphas. 

She added the maple, and I added the knowledge that you can half the butter (leading to “healthier” cookies…or you can just eat twice as many). And her boyfriend Zac added the kosher salt component, taking these cookies to a whole new level of awesomeness. And the resulting cookies were aaammmaaazzziiinnnggg. 

Lesson conclusion: Alpha + alpha + alpha = yum. 

Salted Maple Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

This is a half recipe that makes about 24 normal-sized cookies. You can easily double it for a full batch. (Printable recipe.)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup water
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• Kosher or sea salt for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth. Mix in the water. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, coconut, and chocolate chips. 
4. Chill the dough for 15-30 minutes (if you have the patience. It won’t be the end of the world if you don’t chill, but chilling softens the oats a bit which is definitely a good thing). 
5. On a silpat of greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, scoop out cookie dough in 1-2 tablespoonful sized balls. Using your hand, flatten the balls just a little (since this recipe has less butter, they won’t spread very much). Sprinkle with kosher or sea salt. 
6. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. 
7. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

(Printable recipe.)

Cake of the Week: Pumpkin Pancakes

I went to a very small elementary school with just one teacher per grade. That meant that everyone knew exactly what to expect each year, especially those of us with older siblings. I knew that Mrs. Mullins made her 3^rd graders stay in at recess if they didn’t finish the homework, that Steve was the coolest 5^th grade teacher in the world, and that Mr. Paul took his students to 6^th grade camp. Mrs. Wright’s 4^th grade class was arguably the best year ever – students went on an overnight on the C.A. Thayer, and the class made Pumpkin Pancakes on Halloween.

Since that fateful year, I have loved pumpkin pancakes with a love unparalleled by any other breakfast food adoration. Pancakes are my absolute favorite kind of cake (bold statement, but I stand by it). This is their Eat Run Read debut, mostly because I rarely have the patience to take pictures before I dig into a plate of light fluffy syrupy deliciousness.

I like all kinds - blueberry, whole wheat, chocolate chip, etc. etc. But pumpkin pancakes are the best of all worlds because they’re spicy and pumpkin-y and go ridiculously well with real maple syrup, toasted walnuts, and dark chocolate.

I made these for a house brunch, and I’d say they were a smashing success.

Pumpkin Pancakes (adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
•  pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)
• 1 dark chocolate bar, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, nutmeg, and a pinch of ground cloves.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together milk, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and egg; fold mixture into dry ingredients. 
3. Mix in toasted walnuts and dark chocolate pieces.
4. Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat (unless you're using a non-stick skillet - in that case no butter necessary); pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side. 

Yields: 8 to 10 pancakes

I wish this picture were better focused on the chocolatey awesomeness inside these pancakes, but unfortunately I had urgent business to attend to and was unable to get a better shot. 

(That 'urgent business' may or may not have been eating the pancakes. Could you have waited???)

Cake of the Week: Chocolate Layer Cake with Pecan Pie Custard and Maple Buttercream

This weekend was pretty low-key for me: I lounged, I went out at night, and I baked excessively. Maybe that wasn’t the best use of my 3 days off…but I’m pretty pleased with the results!

I got a little bit of non-DC-bar-scene-culture in on Sunday night. I attended a French New Wave Film Night chez LOTR-Emily. We watched Jean-Luc Godard’s Vivre Sa Vie (1962), one of the best examples of the New Wave films that drew upon the cinéma vérité approach to documentary film-making that was popular in the 1960s.

Like many foreign films, not very much actually happens onscreen, but the magic of Godard is that he still manages to keep his viewers engaged. Of course while watching we avons mangé a baguette and brie, plus some délicieuses homemade madelines.

Anywho, back to the baking! One of my housemates is moving to Brazil at the end of the week, so last night we bade him bon voyage with a house dinner. I asked him his dessert preference and he said he likes pecan pie. Of course, being myself, a) I don’t like making pie, and b) I wanted to make it more creative. So I mulled the possibilities over in my head and came up with this: Chocolate Layer Cake with Pecan Pie Custard and Maple Buttercream. Whaaaa BAM! Now that is a cake.

It’s so tall it almost didn’t fit under my cake dome!

I made my Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe in 3 layers (this is the same cake from Sister1’s wedding cupcakes). Then I made the filling, and refrigerated it for a few hours. Then I assembled the layers and the filling, covered it in plastic wrap, and let it chill in the fridge overnight. Finally, the next day I made the frosting (which was originally from my Cranberry Maple Walnut Cupcakes) and finished it off with a flourish!

Though it looks beyond intense, this cake is actually very balanced. The custard isn't too sweet, so it works nicely with the dense chocolate cake and the super-sweet buttercream. 

The Easiest Chocolate Cake (from Joy the Baker, and it's vegan)

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons white vinegar

2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350*, and grease and flour three 8- or 9-inch round pans.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, water, vanilla extract and vinegar.

Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients being careful not to overmix. The mixture will be quite wet, but that's ok.

Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cup comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then place on a wire rack until completely cool before frosting.

Pecan Custard Filling (adapted from AllRecipes)

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1 ½ cup half-and-half cream

¼ cup dark corn syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup chopped pecans

In a large saucepan, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in 4 egg yolks, half-and-half, 3/4 cup corn syrup and salt. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Continue boiling, whisking constantly for 1 minute, or until thickened. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter and vanilla and pecans. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Maple Buttercream

6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp maple syrup

2-ish Tbsp milk (as needed)

Cream butter and sugar until blended. Add maple syrup. Add milk as needed until frosting reaches desired consistency.

I almost experienced a cake disaster of epic proportions! I started making my frosting and pulled out a bag of what appeared to be powdered sugar out of my cupboard. For some reason, I thought twice before putting it in (and thank God I did!) so I did a little taste-test. Blegh! It was cake flour! Can you imagine how disgusting that would have been??? 

Luckily I avoided calamity and the cake turned out deliciously!

Cake of the Week: Cranberry Maple Walnut Cupcakes

I’m a great guest. Invite me places – I’ll bring dessert!

Luckily my roommate had the Thanksgiving pies covered – I suffer from an irrational fear of pie crust and would rather write a cover letter than make one.

So with pies taken care of, I had some leeway to get creative. I went for the wow-factor and made these babies:

Cranberry Maple Walnut Cupcakes. This is a great holiday recipe – they look so festive, but they’re really not too difficult. Bring these to any holiday party – people will think you’re a kitchen goddess and no doubt invite you back soon! (Idea: you could do it with blueberries instead of cranberries and make Hanukkah cupcakes! It’d be a great flavor combo – blueberries + maple syrup = all I love about breakfast. If you try that, you may want to add a teaspoon of cornstarch to make sure the jam gels properly.)

So back to my cupcakes:

What makes them so delicious? Well, I love cranberries. A lot. As in, I eat dried cranberries every day, with almost every meal…what can I say? They’re good!

And in this context, the cranberry jam adds a nice tartness to the very sweet maple syrupy buttercream. I suppose you could pass on the cranberry jam part if you’re not that into cranberries…but that would kind of defeat the purpose of this whole recipe…

The cupcakes themselves are pretty dense – almost muffin-y. And just an FYI, they puffed up a lot, so don’t fill your muffin tins too full! Some of them were so rounded on top that I worried the cranberry jam would just slide off – thus I decapitated them (I know, I’m a cupcake murderer! Cruel and unusual treatment of bake goods? Guilty.) But I think that strategy worked really well, because then the cranberry jam could really soak into the cupcake.

I did the frosting in a “pastry bag” (aka I put it in a zip-lock and cut off the tip). You don’t have to do this, but it’s easy and makes them look really special.

And, another plus – they store really well. I froze a couple to save them for my friend who was away, and they actually defrosted quite nicely.

So here’s the recipe from Beantown Baker, with some of my own adaptations (in red).

 Cranberry Maple Walnut Cupcakes (adapted from Crazy about Cupcakes ) 

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup (use the real stuff!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour 
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped cranberries

Preheat over to 350F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.

In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in the maple syrup. Add the vanilla and eggs. Beat until mixture is smooth.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, powder, and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Beat well. Stir in the walnuts and chopped cranberries.

Cranberry Jam
2 cups cranberries

1/3 cup sugar
water

Place remaining cranberries and sugar in a saucepan. Add enough water to cover the berries.
Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and cover for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and cover. Allow to simmer while cupcakes bake and cool.

When cranberry sauce is cooled, puree in food processor.  NOTE: Make sure you puree them thoroughly, otherwise your jam will be seedy!

Maple Syrup Frosting 

6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp maple syrup

2-ish Tbsp milk (as needed)

Cream butter and sugar until blended. Add maple syrup. Add milk as needed until frosting reaches desired consistency.

To assemble cupcakes:

Allow cupcakes to completely cool. Using a fork or toothpick, poke multiple holes into the cupcake tops.

Spoon some cranberry sauce onto the top of the cupcakes, coming close to the edge. Allow to soak in for 20 minutes.

Mix frosting while cranberry sauce is settling. Using a large tip, pipe frosting on to of sauce, but not covering all of the sauce.

So Beautiful!!!