Quesadillas Salvadoreñas (rice flour muffins)

A friend and colleague was retiring, so we were having a little morning coffee celebration for him.  I needed something I could make easily on a weeknight that would keep until late the next morning.  These rich, little bites seemed to fit the bill.  (Though I have to say, I had to go to three grocery stores before I found rice flour!)

The recipe I used, patched together from several others, gave me mini cakes that weren't as decadent as what I had envisioned in the first recipe I reviewed -- precisely what I was looking for.  I would like to go back, though, and try that original recipe (from Global Table Adventures), because I think they would be more unique.  These were good, but everyone thought they were cornbread.  In fact, fine cornmeal would be a suitable substitution here.

Here's what I used:

3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup half and half
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) melted butter
1/2 cup grated, hard (añejo) cotija cheese*
2 cups rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds, preferably toasted

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream together the eggs, sour cream, half and half, sugar, butter, and cheese.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the creamed mixture; blend until well combined.  Divide evenly into 24 greased muffin tins, filling about 3/4 full.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes until they have a golden brown edge, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool for several minutes in the pan until they are firm enough to handle, then gently remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Just like good little soldiers.

*Cotija añejo is harder and drier than cotija fresca, which can be quite moist.  You can substitute any hard, white cheese -- Parmesan is frequently included.  Consider the salt content, though.  The cheese I used was quite salty, but I still chose to add a small amount of salt after tasting the batter.  If you use a less salty cheese, you might want to increase the salt quantity.  Or not -- I'm sure it's delicious either way.  It's purely a matter of taste.

Conclusion:   Tasty!  Very easy to make, and the quantities are forgiving.  They're sweet and buttery, with a slightly grainy texture similar to cornbread, but very soft.  They smell cheesier than they taste, so don't worry too much about the type of cheese you use.  They would be excellent served with a plain raspberry puree.

Original recipes:
I started out with this one from Global Table Adventure, but was concerned about the comments that they were too greasy.  This one from Qué Rica Vida seemed a little fussy, with the separated egg whites.  Also, the directions aren't entirely clear, but it was very similar to the first.  This video with recipe by Francisca Bo sounded authentic, but had dramatically different proportions from the other two.  It seemed more like a standard cake recipe rather than rich, buttery little bites.  I also looked at this recipe by Sabores en Linea, but it was unnecessarily challenging to convert and I questioned the proportions.

Almond flour banana bread

Update: February 2019. I still used 2 teaspoons ginger (I might go 3 next time), 1 teaspoon butter-flavor extract, and 1 tablespoon molasses. But I also used a little more salt (about 3/8 teaspoon), and perhaps could go to 1/2 teaspoon, 1/4 cup erythritol, and 1/2 cup of UNsweetened flaked coconut. I threw in another 1/2 banana, and used 3 large eggs (that I think are actually closer to medium) and one jumbo. I didn't have the right-sized pan, so I used a 7.5 x 3.5 and a little, single-serve Bundt.  I baked the Bundt about 35 minutes (which made it dark on the outside, but still very moist), and the other about 48 minutes; it possibly could have gone 50.  Both gave me trouble getting out of the pan.  (They were quite soft.)  But the flavor is delicious--- really close to traditional banana bread.  It's going on my "favorites" list!

Update: March 2016, revised again. This time I used 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon butter-flavor extract, 1 teaspoon coconut extract, 1/2 teaspoon banana extract, 1 tablespoon molasses, and 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut.

Update: August 2014, I remade this and made some changes that I really liked. I scrapped all the spices and extract called for and added 2 teaspoons of dried ginger, 1 teaspoon of coconut extract, and 1 teaspoon of Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion.

Another foray into a world without wheat or added sugar...  The original recipe calls for maple syrup, but I left out all the sweetening.  I had intended to add a little maple flavoring, but forgot.  I was a little concerned about how well that would mix with the other flavors going on anyway.  The almond/coconut/banana is tropical, while the cardamom is Scandinavian, and the vanilla/cinnamon are traditionally North American.  I balked at those last two -- there's a lot going on already.  Vanilla seemed entirely unnecessary and I just don't think cinnamon does anything for bananas.  I debated, but in the end threw in the cinnamon since it adds a sweet taste.  I've noted my changes within the recipe.

2 cups blanched almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup of mashed ripe banana (approximately 2)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup liquefied coconut oil (butter or ghee)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and whisk together until is well mixed and there are no lumps.  Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.   Pour into loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake for about 45-55 minutes. (Banana bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.)  Remove loaf from oven, let it cool in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Store in the refrigerator.

Conclusion:  This was okay as it was prepared.  No banana bread that completely eliminates added sugar is going to be great.  There was a slight bitterness that would have easily been masked by the maple syrup -- I don't know what it was from, perhaps the almond skins.  It would be very tasty with the added syrup, although these almond flour breads never quite hit the mark somehow.  (Lacking substance or something.)  The cinnamon was not detectable.

Recipe:  Paleo Banana Cardamom Bread via Paleo Spirit

Plantain Cake

I don't know why the creators called this bread, when it's clearly cake.   It was created by two well-respected chefs, but the recipe had an error and the directions seem scattered.  I can't help wondering if this was something they threw together without much testing.  The original comes with a hazelnut cream cheese; it didn't seem necessary, but admittedly there seemed to be something missing.  The addition of whipped cream didn't quite cut it.

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, for the plantain
1 large, ripe plantain
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 ripe bananas
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Use 1/2 tablespoon of the butter to thoroughly grease a 9 inch round glass pie dish. Peel the plantain and slice it 1/4 inch thick on the diagonal. In a small skillet, heat the butter over medium heat and saute the plantain for 2 or 3 minutes per side, until softened and golden. Distribute the plantain evenly on the bottom of the pie dish and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 325. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Peel the bananas and, in a medium bowl, mash them together with a fork, then mix in the milk and the walnuts. In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. First add the banana mixture to the creamed butter mixture, then fold in the flour mixture, stirring only until all the flour has disappeared. Scoop the batter into the pie dish on top of the plantains and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake will be a nice deep golden brown. Cool the pan on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out upside down and slice for serving, warm or at room temperature.


Conclusion:  It was tasty, but nothing more than a sweet banana bread with plantains.  Unfortunately, the plantains turn a little starchy when fried.  This cried out for rum, and possibly coconut.  Walnuts are unnecessary.

Recipe:  Sweet Plantain Bread via Food Network

June ABC challenge: Pineapple Chipotle Cream Cheese Scones

This month's ABC challenge entry is a bit of a cheater.  The challenge is for this King Arthur basic scone recipe.  Now, I'm not a big fan of scones.  They taste okay and all that, it's just that they have no substance.  They're just above biscuits in that category, and only because they usually come with add-ins.  They're not sufficient alone for breakfast, but it's so hard to limit yourself to just one.  Really you want to eat the whole batch, which is just too depraved to think about.  So I usually keep my distance, and planned on passing on the challenge this month.

Thing is, I had in my refrigerator this:

Chipotle-flavored cream cheese

I thought it sounded delicious when I bought it, but the reality was a sorry disappointment.  It tasted highly processed, salty -- not rich and creamy at all; I'd put it right down there with the cheese that squirts out of a can.  (Or so I'm imagining, as I've never actually tasted cheese that squirts out of a can.)  But what to do with it?

The scone recipe for this month got me thinking.  There are many scone recipes that call for cream cheese; this month's challenge wasn't one of them.  This is where the cheat comes in.  King Arthur Flour has another scone recipe that does use cream cheese, so I started from there.  A few other substitutions, plus a 1/4 reduction in the quantity and I had my recipe.

Here's what I worked with:

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder (see Conclusion)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 ounces cold, chipotle-flavored cream cheese
2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1/3 cup canned pineapple tidbits, squeezed of juice and juice reserved
2 tablespoons dried, chili-spiced pineapple, medium dice
1/4 of a large egg (about 2½ teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon orange extract (or zest of 1/4 orange)
1+ tablespoon reserved pineapple juice

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Cut in the cream cheese and butter until the chunks of butter are the size of peas.  Stir in the fresh and dried pineapple.

In a separate container, whisk together the egg, extract (or zest), and juice.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir with a fork until the dough is evenly moistened.  It will look on the dry side.

Turn the dough out onto a floured piece of parchment or waxed paper, and fold it over several times, until it holds together. Pat the dough into a 3/4"-thick rectangle (about 4" x 8") and cut into 4 wedges.  Brush the tops lightly with milk and sprinkle with sparkling white or pearl sugar, if desired.  Place the scones about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.  (I have to use an insulated sheet or they would burn on the bottom.)  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.



Conclusion:  This is a great flavor combination!  The chipotle is not immediately noticeable, but there is a gentle heat that builds over successive bites.  These are sweet, which I did on purpose to counter the chili heat, but there is already plenty of sweetness in the pineapple; next time I would reduce the sugar by half.  The only down side was they didn't rise much, if at all.  Since I'm adding an acid in the pineapple juice, next time I will convert the baking powder to baking soda and see if that improves the rise.

Now, what to do with the rest of that tub.

Original recipe:  Apricot cream cheese scones via King Arthur Baking

Iced Lemon Loaf

Someone brought in to work yesterday a bunch of fresh lemons right off her neighbor's tree.  They inspired me to make a lemon loaf, and I knew just what recipe I wanted to try.

Supposedly this tastes like Starbucks' original iced lemon cake.  I wouldn't know, because friends don't let friends drink Starbucks.  But, I hear they have a pretty tasty lemon cake.  Or had.  Until they discontinued it. And then brought it back.  But not the same one.  Fickle product lineup is just one more reason to stay away from Starbucks.  

I followed the original recipe, but rearranged the directions.  I modified the glaze slightly (in italics), though, to give it a little more zip.

1½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon lemon extract
⅓ cup lemon juice
zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 × 5 loaf pan.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until thick.  Continue beating while adding the oil and butter, then the vanilla extract, lemon extract, and lemon juice; mix until well blended.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend until smooth. Add lemon zest and mix well, making sure it's evenly distributed.  Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for  about 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. (Check at 40 minutes.)  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then gently remove and cool completely on rack.  Spread with glaze while still warm.

Glaze
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 1 tablespoon whole milk powder
½ teaspoon lemon extract
1½ - 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Beat all ingredients together until smooth, adding enough lemon juice to make a thick but easily spreadable glaze.

Conclusion:  Very good -- moist and delicate with a mild lemon flavor (except for the glaze, which I made quite lemony).  It's moderately sweet, and surprisingly buttery tasting.  It's somewhat oily, but that's typical in commercial-style cake (to keep it "fresh".  For quick consumption, you could reduce the oil up to half.)  It over-browned on the bottom (due to the high oil content), so would need protection there.  It was especially good still slightly warm.  A dash of cayenne would really make this interesting.

Original recipe:  Starbucks Lemon Loaf via My Honeys Place

The Chocolate and Cream Cheese Cake Tango

I don't like the inventor's name for this recipe:  "Rich Chocolate Cake with a New York Attitude".  It's brash.  It's confusing.  It certainly doesn't hint at what's going on here:  the sensual pairing of rich chocolate cake and creamy cheesecake.  This is so decadent it's probably banned by some religions.  So what word better describes this tempting union than... tango?  (Cue seductive Latin music.)

My (chocoholic) co-worker's birthday is this weekend, so I was looking for a cake to bring in today that was easily transportable and didn't require too much time to make during the week.  This recipe was perfect.  I split the work over two evenings by making the cheesecake mixture the night before and storing it in the refrigerator overnight.

The original recipe said it makes 3 9-inch cakes, but commenters said that even with 3-inch-high cake pans, their pans still overflowed.  I checked the quantities and realized that they were about double a normal cake, and that was just for the chocolate part.  Add to that the cheesecake part, and it's no wonder the pans overflowed.  So I cut the recipe in half and used a 9x13-inch pan and it worked just right.  (The original recipe is from a wedding cake challenge, which explains why the recipe is so large and baked in 3 pans.)  I also added espresso powder to enhance the chocolate.  I think almond extract would be a good flavor pairing in this recipe as well.

New York cheesecake swirl:

1/3 cup sugar

8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla (or almond) extract 

1 egg, room temperature

8 ounces semisweet chocolate morsels

Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons espresso powder (optional)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the sugar, cream cheese, and extract on high speed until well combined. Add the egg and continue to beat on high speed, scraping down the sides. Once combined, stir in the chocolate morsels. Chill the mixture for approximately 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9x13-inch cake pan and dust lightly with a little cocoa powder.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the sugar and stir to combine well.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in small increments, gently folding the mixture until well combined.  Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and spread evenly. Randomly place teaspoon-sized dollops of the cream cheese mixture atop the chocolate cake batter.  (If your cheesecake mixture is soft, for a prettier appearance lightly swirl the two together with a knife or chopstick.   See Notes.) Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.  Before serving, dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Spotted.  Not attractive.

Notes:  

• I expected the cake to rise up and cook around the cheesecake, resulting in pockets of cheesecake throughout.  As you can see, that didn't happen -- the cheesecake spread and formed  a nearly cohesive top  layer.  My cheesecake mixture was room temperature and soft, not chilled as directed, which might have been the cause.  While it didn't affect the flavor at all, the result was not very appealing visually.  Though the original directions didn't call for swirling the two parts together (perhaps because cold cream cheese doesn't blend well), it DOES refer to a cheesecake swirl, and I think the cake would look better that way.  Polka dots don't rank highly in food porn circles.

• If  I made this again, I would try the more traditional technique of mixing the sugar and cocoa powder in with the wet ingredients.  The cocoa powder is very lightweight, and tends to get kicked up into the air while trying to mix the dry ingredients.  

Conclusion:  This was very tasty and moist, and was well received at work.  But even though it has more cocoa powder than most cake recipes, it didn't seem that chocolaty.  (It might have been the cocoa powder I was using, which isn't my favorite.)  The cake also fell in the middle, though that might have had something to do with the oven door slamming shut mid-way through the baking.  (Oops.)  Of course, that only made the center of the cake that much fudgier.  No one complained.  (I should also mention the cheesecake part is mighty fine baked separately as its own dessert, warm or cool.)

Original recipe:  Rich Chocolate Cake with a New York Attitude via the Food Network

English Digestive Bake-Off: Foods of England

As I mentioned on my post for King Arthur Flour's English Digestives, I'm a big fan of digestives, and have been searching for the elusive, perfect recipe.  That post was part of an Avid Baker's Challenge bake, but it got me started on my grand bake-off effort.  That same day, I also made another recipe, this one from Foods of England.

One major difference with this recipe was it called for the addition of oats.  I used oat bran, and I think it made a huge difference, giving it a nice nubbly texture.  I also found that using unsalted butter and adding the salt as a separate item created the proper tongue-taste I was looking for.  The salt does not become completely integrated --  you can detect single grains here and there zapping your tongue occasionally.

This cookie was considerably more humble in appearance, but that is probably truer to its original form. The dough was very dry and crumbly.  The biscuit was less sweet than the King Arthur recipe; although I wouldn't call it a savory biscuit, it could be paired just as easily with jam or chocolate spread as with a piece of cheese.

Again, I made one quarter of the recipe.  I messed up the butter and milk quantities, so I'm not sure this is an accurate representation.  (I didn't put in enough butter at first, and had to keep adding milk.  I finally realized the butter error and corrected it, expecting then a sticky dough because of the extra milk, but still had to add a little more milk to get it to hold together.)  I also didn't make them the right size (2.5" instead of 3" -- I wasn't thinking and used the same cutter as I used for the KA recipe.) I'll need to try this one again one day.

Here's what I used:

6 2.5 oz plain wholemeal flour
2 0.5 oz fine oatmeal oat bran
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
½ 1/8 teaspoon salt
3 oz 1.5 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 0.25 oz soft brown sugar
3 to 4 1-2 tablespoons milk

Baked at 375F for 13 minutes, they were just barely starting to color and the bottoms were golden.  Yield:  6 2.5" biscuits,  1/4" thick.

I should have left these in for a few more minutes, as they tasted a little raw and tough, but since they were smaller than called for in the recipe I was worried about overbaking them.  I also wonder if using oat bran instead of oatmeal caused the dough to be too dry, as the biscuits were also rather dry even though I added more milk than called for.

Conclusion:  Very good.  Not quite sweet enough -- just enough sugar to take the bitterness off the wheat.
 I liked the salt distribution and the rougher texture, but they're not very rich; a little more butter would improve them.  They were slightly raw-tasting, so a few more minutes in the oven would help as well.   I might spread some milk chocolate on  these.

Original recipe:  Digestive Biscuits via Foods of England.