In the kitchen: mini Christmas cheesecakes.

Our Christmas dessert, like most desserts we make for just ourselves, had to be manageable to make and bake in one day. And by manageable, I mean small enough for us to remember that yes, it is just us who will be eating it. Though we have been known to make entire cakes for special occasions even if we're by ourselves, we're generally big fans of halving recipes or baking just enough cookies to last the night while freezing the rest. 

And that's why this cheesecake dessert was perfect. The original recipe called for 3-inch molds and cardboard rounds and parchment paper collars, but we went the easy way with our little Staub cocottes. There was definitely less work involved  because we didn't have to worry about measuring and trimming and cutting them just right to make perfect little round cheesecakes...sometimes presentation takes a back seat to comfort; there's something cozy about eating fluffy cheesecake out of a bowl instead of daintily cutting at a slice. 

While we were initially drawn to the recipe because the cheesecakes were topped with homemade wine gelées, we went the short and easy route and bought raspberry preserves to use as a topping instead. Maybe next time we'll play with port and rosé. Using the goat cheese instead of the traditional Philly-cream cheese packages that are usually called for in every single cheesecake recipe was completely worth it, and, as I've said before, give me anything with crème fraîche and I'll be happy. 

Mini Cheesecakes, via Food and Wine. 
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3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted; more for brushing6 graham crackers
1/2 C, plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg yolk1 egg
1/4 tsp. salt
10 oz fresh goat cheese, softened 
5 ounces crème fraîche 
Jam, preserves, jelly (all-fruit...), anything you'd like for the topping. 


Preheat the oven to 325.

Brush the insides of four 3-inch cocottes or ramekins with butter. Make sure they're deep enough - about 2.5 inches. In a food processor, grind together the graham crackers, the melted butter, and 1 Tbsp. sugar. Pack the crumbs into the molds, and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Beat the egg, egg yolk, salt, and remaining sugar at medium speed, about 3 minutes, until pale. Add the goat cheese and beat until smooth. Fold in the crème fraîche. Pour the mixture into the cocottes and smooth the top. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until just set, but not browned. Let cool at room temp, then refrigerate for at least an hour until chilled, but they can be chilled for several hours in advance. 

Top with a thin layer of preserves, and continue to chill until ready to serve. 

Oh, and I noticed that these photos are more of the vessels and tools that made the dessert instead of the actual dessert itself. Blame the new camera, and the fact that we ate our cheesecakes at night after a food coma induced by sous vide rib roast, roasted potatoes, horseradish cream sauce, popovers, Brussels sprouts and sun-chokes with pecans. No more room for food photos. 

To be fair, we ate the other two mini cakes tonight...see, moderation at its best! 

In the kitchen: butterscotch pot de crème.

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So let's not talk about yesterday's loss. The Ukes just couldn't get going; I knew it was going to be rough when, within the first three minutes of the game, France had two corners.

Instead, let's talk about one of my favorite desserts from one of my favorite restaurants in my absolute favorite neighborhood of Minneapolis. No hyperbole at all. We've been to Tilia quite a few times, for birthday brunches, summertime dinners, a particularly warm St. Patrick's day, and graduations. One afternoon, Andrew and I ordered their butterscotch pot de crème, created by Zoe Francois (who happens to be our go-to for all things pizza and bread). It was perfectly smooth, rich, and best yet, topped with a thin layer of crème fraîche. And then, we found that Zoe posted the recipe online.

I made these for our dinner party we had last week. Truly, this is such an easy dessert, but sounds so much fancier and more difficult than it actually is to make. I didn't grab a photo of the finished product...I actually had to run to grab the crème fraîche just a few minute before the appetizers went out. And that is reason number 23 out of 1098 of why it's best to live near two grocery stores.

Butterscotch pot de crème, via Zoe Bakes. 
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2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 C brown sugar
2 C heavy cream  
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped; or substitute 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks
Crème fraîche, for serving. 

Preheat the oven to 325.

Cook the butter and brown sugar over medium heat in a heavy saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar has completely melted and the mixture starts to turn brown and turn smoke slightly.

Add the cream one cup at a time, cooking the butterscotch until the seized sugar cooks down again. Add the remaining cup of cream, vanilla, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Temper the yolks with a ladle or two of the cream mixture, whisking until warm. Pour the yolks back into the cream and slowly whisk to combine. Strain out the vanilla beans.

Divide the custard into four 4-ounce ramekins. Place them in a baking dish and pour in hot water to reach half-way up the sides.* Bake for 25-40 minutes, depending on the heat of the water and your oven. Once the custards have set, remove the pan carefully, and allow the custards to cool in the water bath. Cool until they come to room temperature, then cover and chill for at least one hour (but they can easily be made a few days in advance, which makes this a perfect dessert for parties!). Before serving, top with crème fraîche.

*I find it helpful to have a kettle of hot water going before you start tempering the yolks. That way the water is hot and ready to pour for the water bath, and it's easy to do without splashing up your kitchen.

I love these for so many reasons. Zoe says you don't have to serve it with crème fraîche if the contrast of the sour and sweet isn't your thing, but for this Uki girl, who can't ever get enough sour cream, the topping is absolutely necessary. Enjoy!

In the kitchen: strawberry hand pies.

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It's almost July 4th, which means it's time for grilling, picnics, and fireworks! I've always loved going to see fireworks; we went every year when we were little (over time, the fireworks for the 4th have been overtaken by the those for the Minneapolis Aquatenniel, but that's a post for another day). This year, we'll be taking in Shorewood's festivities: there's a parade that goes down our street, a jazz band concert, and of course, fireworks over the lake. 

A few weeks ago, we were flipping through Bon Appetit's latest issue and found these perfect little pies. We used strawberry jam (homemade - thanks, Andrew!) instead of the blueberries, but I think any summer fruit would work just as well. And they were lovely! The recipe makes 6 hand pies, which is perfect for the two of us - enough for dessert, then breakfast and a snack the next day. 

Since we'll be spending most of the day outside tomorrow, we figured these pies would be an easy dessert to accompany our Fourth of July picnic that Andrew's already started preparing. Side note: I do have quite an amazing and talented fiance who, last night, made BBQ sauce, pickles, pickled red onions, strawberry jam for the pies...AND dinner, and then prepped the pork for grilling. Eat your hearts out, girls! My major contribution was making the dough the other day...I know. Huge help. 

Strawberry Hand Pies, adapted from Bon Appetit. 
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1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Strawberry jam (for a quick berry filling, quarter hulled strawberries and toss with 1 tsp. lemon zest, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, and 1/4 cup sugar; leave to sit until the juices run) 

1 egg, whisked with 1 tsp. water

Sugar, for sprinkling 

To make the pie crust: 

Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor. Add butter, and pulse until all ingredients are combined, with a texture of course meal. Add 1/4 cup ice water and continue to pulse until dough comes together, adding more water if dry. Form into a square, cover with plastic, and chill in the fridge for at least two hours. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling. 

(Note you don't have to use a food processor - I usually don't, and just incorporate the butter with a pastry cutter). 

To make the pies: 

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out dough on a floured surface to a 15x12-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 rectangles. Brush edges of rectangles with water. Spoon some berry filling in bottom half of each rectangle. Fold over the dough and press edges to seal. Place pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar. Cut slits in tops.

Bake hand pies, rotating halfway through, until the dough turns golden, about 35 minutes. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature...at room temp, they taste like a much (MUCH) better version of strawberry pop-tarts! 

These will be the perfect sweet treat for our picnic. Oh, and I think maybe we need this to start. 

Happy (almost) Fourth! 

Grey, with a side of apricot.

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So it's almost June, and you'd think the weather would be lovely and bright and sunny and warm, like the photo above. Nope. It's grey and wet, with a chill in the air. That's not helping my back-from-mn-induced hangover. I feel like there's so much I could be doing but I'm just not motivated. Does anyone else feel that way when you're back from a fantastic break? 

The other day, though, we decided we needed some summery sweetness in our lives, and found it in the form of these tiny apricot cakes. We didn't have the called-for vanilla extract, so I substituted almond, and it definitely worked. The recipe originally called for using a 12-cup muffin pan, but I filled our 6-cup muffin pan a bit more so we ended up having six little cakes instead of a dozen teeny, tiny ones. They're light, fluffy, and perfect for an easy dessert at the end of a late spring meal..and just might make you forget that it's only 50 degrees outside. 

Apricot Cakes, adapted from Bon Appetit. 
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1 cup flour

1 1/2  tsp. baking powder

1/4  salt

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for buttering the muffin pan

1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 egg

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

1 tsp. almond extract

1/3 cup milk

2 apricots, halved, pitted, cut into thin slices

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 6-cup muffin pan. Whisk first three dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add egg, zest, and almond extract and beat until combined, about 1 more minute. 

With the mixer on its lowest speed, add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the milk (begin and end with the flour mixture). Pour batter into muffin cups and smooth the tops. Top with sliced apricots and sprinkle on sugar. 

Bake until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffin pan to wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then remove cakes and let cook completely. It's like having summer in one bite. 

In the kitchen: salted brown butter rice crispy treats.

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A few weeks ago, for whatever reason, we were eating like second graders. Mind you, we were fancy little ones, for what eight-year-old wouldn't make their own roasted tomato soup or pizza with homemade dough and sauce, but still, it was comforting. I don't know what it was that made us crave the foods that reminded us of being little. I'm not saying we'd enjoy eating that way all the time or even that eight-year-olds should only eat "child-friendly food" (there's a whole separate post in here somewhere about children eating what their parents eat...but I'll save that for another day). Yet in the middle of readings, work, and all the other no-fun-adult things we were up to, it perfectly hit the spot. 

Keeping in the spirit of the kids' menu, I figured these would be just right to make: salted brown butter rice crispy treats. Not the most sophisticated of desserts, but they fit right in with our journey back to childhood foods and I loved them. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who's not a big fan of marshmallows (I'll give in to a few if there's chocolate and a bonfire), but the salt and the brown butter take these bars to a whole new level. They're super easy to make, as easy as the regular ones, and in my opinion, taste oh, so much better. That might have something to do with the full stick of butter that's browned until it's deeply golden and fills the kitchen with a rich nutty smell, but what do I know? Try these for yourself and find out...don't be surprised if you're just as excited to dig in to them now, as an adult, as you were when you were eight. 

Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats, via Smitten Kitchen. 
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1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the pan

1 10-oz. bag marshmallows

Heaping 1/4 tsp. sea salt

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Butter an 8-inch square cake pan, set aside. 

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat until in browns (several minutes, but watch this carefully, because you don't want it to burn). Stir frequently to scrape up the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. 

As soon as the butter takes on a dark, nutty color, take it off the heat and stir in the marshmallows until they're melted and smooth. 

Stir in the salt and cereal, then quickly spread into the prepared pan. 

Let cool before cutting into bars...the tempting brown butter smell and snap-crackle-pop of the cereal prove this is harder to do than one might originally think. 

Chicago Day Trip.

Happy Labor Day weekend! It's hard to believe that the unofficial end of summer is already here. We decided to take a short trip to Chicago yesterday - it's so close to Milwaukee! In order to spend as much time in Chicago as possible, we drove to Kenosha to make the 6:50 a.m. train and took that right into downtown. Metra's weekend pass is really reasonable, only $7.00 (and it only costs $2.50 per day to park in Kenosha); this is something we're definitely going to be taking advantage of!

The weather forecast was originally pretty bleak (I had been checking all week), but it turned out to be quite lovely; it sprinkled a bit when we first arrived, but otherwise it was just cloudy and breezy, so we were able to walk around without any trouble.

We went to breakfast at Xoco, one of Rick Bayless' restaurants. We've been to Frontera before, and absolutely loved it, so we were excited (and hungry, as we had been up since 4:30!) for Xoco. It was really good, but we both think it would have been better for lunch. The coffee drinks, though, were amazing. Andrew had a chocolate espresso, and I had a wonderful chocolate cafe con leche: thick, just the right amount of chocolate, and so smooth.

We walked around the city all day, visiting our favorite spots and discovering new ones. We've been to Chicago four times now since we've started dating, and it's the city where we got engaged last October. It's really a special place to us, and we're so excited about how close by it is.  

One of the reasons we love Chicago so much is the fact that there are so many incredible restaurants. On our last trip, we visited Cafe Spiaggia, Q, The Publican, and The Purple Pig, and all were amazing. We knew we only had one day for this trip, so there were certainly fewer meals to plan, but we still made sure we ate well. For lunch, we decided to try Bar Toma, Tony Mantuano's new restaurant. We had guanciale-wrapped sweetbreads with sage and shared the Calabrese pizza, topped with sausage, Calabrian chilies, and mozzarella. The crust on the pizza was the best I've ever had. You could taste the smokiness of the wood from the oven, and it was perfectly soft and crispy at the same time. Amazing. 

We also walked around the Fulton Market District, west of downtown and set in between the highways and the Chicago River. It smells like chocolate, but I'm not sure why. From the outside, it doesn't look like the posh and luxurious neighborhood that's home to some of the country's best restaurants, but famous names like The Publican, Next, Aviary, Blackbird, Avec, and others have found their place and are thriving in the warehouses and brick alleyways of Fulton. During our afternoon walk, we stopped in to Publican Quality Meats, which sells all sorts of local products, from smoked beef heart to artisanal honey (from MN!). Andrew was definitely in his happy place. 

We returned to Fulton for dinner, to a restaurant called g.e.b. The menu had smaller plates to share, which we really like because then we are able to order several dishes and and try more than one. We had calamari with green hummus, oxtail lasagna, a saffron risotto with clams, blueberry cake, and gianduja-filled beignets. Realizing we had some time before our train was to depart, we decided to try RM Champagne Salon, a new champagne lounge we had read about (and which happened to be next door to g.e.b.!). I can't wait to go back! I had a champagne cocktail and Andrew ordered a whiskey with cherry notes; it was the perfect way to end the night. 

We took the train back to Kenosha, and made it back to Shorewood by midnight. We're quite tired today, but already planning the next visit to one of our favorite cities!