Category: Desserts
Ina Garten’s Country Cake with Strawberries (The Comeback Cake)

Ina Garten’s Country Cake with Strawberries (The Comeback Cake)

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When my oldest was a tyke his favorite cake was the Barefoot Contessa’s Strawberry Country Cake.  This was his cake of choice for his birthday for quite a few years… Then Along Came Daddy (his Carrot Cake actually) that put the kibosh on the strawberry cake, so sad.  After I shoved my ego aside, I was FINE with Wes’s Carrot Cake becoming the birthday cake of choice.  It is pretty damn tasty.

The other birthday tradition we have, which thankfully has stayed the same, is going to a Giants game.  His birthday is in June, right about the time baseball is in full swing and school is out for the summer.  This year was no exception, we planned the perfect day for his b-day.

Giants versus the Cubbies plus SF Giants Pride Jerseys for the first 20K fans, dinner at our favorite neighborhood Chinese Restaurant, Gourmet Carousel (which recently re-opened with the OG owners-yay), and to round out the day, birthday cake at home.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Every year around this time, when the weather warms up, the days are longer, this thought pops into my head, “Hey, shouldn’t P&K Farms Strawberries and Triple Delight Blueberries be showing up soon?”.  As luck would have it, both P&K and Triple Delight were at the Farmer’s Market the week of his birthday.  I made a command decision…Ina’s Country Cake with Strawberries for his birthday this year, NOT Carrot Cake.  He’s a big boy, he can handle it.

It Was A Hit, He Loved It

This version of Ina Garten’s Country Cake with Strawberries is from a long-ago issue of Food & Wine.  If you Google Ina Garten’s Strawberry Country Cake you will find multiple sites that have published her recipe.  Why Food & Wine’s version?  First, I had a subscription to F&W back in the day and that’s where I found the recipe.  Second, the recipe makes a single-layer cake that you split into two layers.  Finally, the recipe calls for large eggs. Barefoot Contessa fans know she often uses extra-large eggs in her recipes (which I rarely buy). So this version is my go-to.  I baked another one and ended up freezing it.  We pulled it out of the freezer on Father’s Day and left it on the counter to thaw.   It was delicious, so feel free to use one of the double recipes and freeze the second layer for another day!

I adore this cake, it is buttery, has a nice crumb, and is not too sweet.  Classic prep, cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, and then the sour cream and zest.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with each addition.  Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until the batter is well combined and homogenous looking but do not overbeat.  The addition of lemon and orange zest adds a refreshing citrus hint that is terrific with berries.  Sour cream adds a hint of tang and moisture to the cake.  Spread batter into an 8-inch round cake pan that has been buttered and floured or sprayed.  The batter is fairly thick, not pourable, and will need an offset spatula to spread evenly in the cake pan.

I would increase the amount of whipping cream to 1-1/2 cups, and decrease the sugar to 2 tablespoons, especially if your berries are sweet.  Your whipped cream fans will be happy.

Split the cake into two layers.  The easiest way I know how to do this is with a serrated bread knife.  Place knife level to at the midline of your cake and slice through to the middle only, keeping your knife level.  Rotate the cake and continue to slice from the outside to the middle.  The first cut acts as your knife’s guide for an even cake.  Easy peasy.

Whip It, Whip It Good

Start with heavy whipping cream, preferably pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized, which is heated to a higher temperature and does not whip as well.  Heavy whipping cream has a higher percentage of butterfat than whipping cream (36% vs 30%) and heck, it’s dessert, so we are going for the gusto. Chill your heavy whipping cream, bowl, and whisk attachment before whipping.  This kickstarts the process and results in the lightest whipped cream possible. Place the cream, sugar, and vanilla in the chilled bowl and whisk at medium-high speed until soft peaks form.  You want peaks that will stand up but the tip will slowly fold over.  Don’t overdo it, if the cream looks a bit grainy, or curdled that’s too far.  If you go too far, add a bit of heavy cream and fold it in with a spatula.  This will loosen the whipped cream and smooth it out again.

This is what your whipped cream should look like.

Plop a generous amount of cream on the bottom layer of your split cake. Spread to the edge leaving a small border.  Arrange your berries on the cream.  If you like, dice the strawberries for this layer, so you can maximize the number of berries.  Top with the second split layer cut side down and top with the remaining cream.  Arrange halved strawberries in a cool pattern, and place blueberries and raspberries, if using, in the center of the cake or scatter blueberries in the crevices between the strawberries.  Serve to oohs and ahhs from the cake gallery.

 

Add this cake to your Bake It Bucket List.  Now.

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Country Cake With Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Like a family sized Shortcake, Ina Garten's iconic Strawberry Country Cake
Course Cake, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword barefoot contessa, cake, ina garten, shortcake, strawberries, whipped cream
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 37 minutes
Servings 8

Equipment

  • 1 8-inch cake pan

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Creamed Mixture

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping

  • 1 cup heavy cream I use`1.5 cups of heavey whipping cream!
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar adjust sugar to taste, I use 1.5 tablespoons of sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pint strawberries or berry medley hulled and sliced, blueberries and raspberries left whole

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan. In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
  • In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the 3/4 cup of sugar and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the sour cream, the orange and lemon zests and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla and beat until blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until smooth.
  • Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for 15 minutes before turning it out onto the rack to cool completely.
  • Beat the cream with the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla until soft peaks form.
  • Slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread most of the whipped cream over the cut side of the bottom cake half. Layer most of the sliced strawberries on top. Replace the top half of the cake and garnish with the remaining whipped cream and strawberries. make ahead .

Notes

The cake can be frozen for up to 1 month. Let it cool completely before wrapping in plastic and then foil. The assembled cake can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead.

…

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Another Butterful Cake! (Everyday Butter Cake)

Another Butterful Cake! (Everyday Butter Cake)

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Growing up, one of my favorite places was Ping Yuen Bakery on the corner of Grant Ave. and Pacific Ave.  A hop, skip, and a jump from my parent’s real estate office, you would find us there often, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tea time.  Though called Ping Yuen Bakery, it was an all-encompassing, eat-in Chinese American diner that served noodles and won-ton soup alongside hamburgers and fries.

Their layout was genius, the front deli window enticed passersby with roast ducks, crispy-skinned pork, char siu (bbq pork), fried chicken, and an array of prepared braised and stir-fried dishes. On the other side was a full-service bakery that featured apple pies, custard pies, fresh strawberry cakes, chocolate cakes, and almond cookies.

One of my favorites (there were many) was their pound cake or butter cake.  The cake, tweaked to be a little lighter, a little less sweet, but still buttery, is the Asian version of a classic butter pound cake.

A post featuring a gorgeous, simple butter cake flittered through my feed and caught my eye.  Buttermilk by Sam, a baking blog from a political analyst by trade (gotta love that) described her Everyday Butter Cake as somewhere between a tea cake and a pound cake, it reminded me of Ping Yuen’s Butter Cake, so of course, I had to try it.

A Butter-ful Cake

The beauty of this recipe is that it is not just DELICIOUS it’s also pretty darn easy to make.  It can be made by hand or in a mixer with the admonishment to not overmix.  You start with semi-melted butter for the cake, no waiting for the butter to soften, just zap it in the microwave or melt it on the stove.  Do not melt it all the way, you want the butter to be slightly viscous with some lumps left.  Using cake flour ensures a tender, fine crumb cake, and the sour cream does the same plus adds moisture.  The cake flour and cornstarch create a lower protein content flour=less gluten= tender, light cake. Ta-da.

Make This Cake by Hand-It’s a Good Workout

Finally, sprinkle the remaining granulated sugar over the top of the cake batter.  This morphs the top into a sweet crunchy layer during baking.  This cake is a keeper.

I first made this cake a couple of months back on a cold, rainy day.  While the cake was baking I turned on a favorite K-drama to pass the time.  The aroma of sugar and butter wafted through the air and the heat of the oven warmed the house.  The perfect antidote to the dreary weather.

Fast Forward to Spring-Finally

Beautiful, sweet strawberries from P & K Farms and plump, juicy Triple Delight Blueberries back at our local farmer’s market prompted me to make this cake again.  It also reminded me that I had yet to share this cake with you.  Make this cake, go to your local farmers market pick up some berries or peaches, and enjoy!

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Everyday Butter Cake

A delicious, easy butter cake from Buttermilk by Sam
Course Cake
Cuisine American
Keyword butter cake, pound cake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 16 servings

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter (226 gm)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (200-210gm)
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 cups cake flour, sifted (250gm)
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar can sub with granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ cup sour cream (180gm)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9” square or round cake pan.
  • Place the butter in a large glass or heatproof bowl and microwave it until it’s almost but not completely melted. You will still have some lumps. Or place is a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Remove from heat before it is completely melted.
  • Add the sugar and whisk very well, a full 30 seconds.
  • Add the salt and vanilla and whisk for another 30 seconds.
  • Add the eggs one by one, whisking to fully incorporate before adding another then whisk for a full minute, until it’s light and creamy.
  • Sift in the cake flour, powdered sugar and baking powder together and add to creamed mixture.
  • Whisk in the sour cream. Fold the batter until it’s smooth.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with an additional 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
  • Bake for 30-45 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
Happy Chicken Pot Pi Day!

Happy Chicken Pot Pi Day!

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Here in California, we have been battered by some extreme weather…more rain, snow and high winds than we have seen in a long, long time.  I hope folks are staying safe, warm and dry.

So we are having a somewhat subdued, quiet Pi Day.  Especially since we haven’t had power all day!  That’s not gonna stop me, pi golly.  I adore pies, sweet or savory, by the slice, as a potable hand pie, you get the pic. So Pi Day is just an excuse to make pie.  A day of cold, wet, blustery weather calls for comfort food so what better dish than Chicken Pot Pie?  

I LOVE Pot Pie.  As a kid, it was a special treat if mom pulled out Swanson’s Chicken or Beef Pot Pies for dinner.  Little did I know, it meant an easy meal for her.  As I got older and my taste became more refined I left behind those Swanson’s pies.

I discovered Marie Callendar’s Pot Pies!  So good, more crust, bigger pie, yum.

My love of pies logically led to making my own pies and this includes savory pies, top on the list is Chicken Pot Pie.   

The Elephant In the Room

Not everyone wants or has a compelling need to start from scratch and that’s OKAY!  It’s perfectly fine to start with cooked chicken (a Costco rotisserie chicken comes to mind), commercial low-sodium chicken stock AND a premade pie crust. Making a Chicken Pot Pie is a labor of love.  If any step, homemade PIE CRUST comes to mind, gives you anxiety, use a shortcut. There are great frozen pie crusts dough and puff pastry doughs that can be used to make a fabulous pot pie. Hate prepping veggies?  Frozen WORKS, really.  But if you want to go the whole nine yards…read on 🙂

For novice pie makes, this is a good recipe to make over a couple of days so it doesn’t seem overwhelming.  Make the pie crust and throw it in the fridge to chill. You could do this up to a couple of days before.  This also applies to poaching the chicken and making the filling too.  The chicken can be shredded, the stock reduced, and the filling made and kept in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the pie.

Pick your favorite veggies, I like mushrooms, carrots, celery, broccoli, potatoes, and peas.  Pretty classic aside from the broccoli.  Blanching the veggies ensures they will be nicely cooked in the pie.  Blanch 10 minutes, the goal is al dente + so they don’t get too soft.  The veggies should be cut roughly the same size for even cooking.  The exception to this would be mushrooms, saute’ these before adding to the sauce.

Sauce Me Up

What holds everything together is a simple bechamel sauce of butter, flour, milk,and stock.  Start by making the roux .  Sauté onions with the butter for flavor and add the flour. Cook this for a couple of minutes before adding the chicken stock and milk.  Simmer sauce until it is thick like gravy, stir constantly.  Season well with salt and pepper.  

Two Pie Camps

There are 2 kinds of pie people in my book, those who like crust (ME) and those who like filling (Can’t even imagine who that is).  So I’ve searched far and wide for a pie crust I like.

I love Dorie Greenspan’s pie crust recipe. It’s buttery and flaky, and best of all, it makes a generous amount of dough, enough for a two-crust pie and a small single-crust pie. That’s a lot of crust.  Which is exactly what I want.

Make the crust by hand or in a food processor.  Be extra vigilant that you don’t overprocess the dough.

This is what your dough should look like coming out of the food processor. 

Gather it up into a disc shape and chill.  Roll out 2 crusts one for the top and one for the bottom.  Follow my tweak below or line your baking dish with the bottom crust and chill again.

Let’s Get to the Bottom of the Pie

Bake your chicken pot pie with a top crust only.  What Deb?!  That’s less crust!  Hold on now…here is the tweak.  Roll out the pie dough for the bottom crust then cut out circles or squares from this sheet equal to a serving of your pie.  Bake them separately.  When it’s pot pie time, place one of these buttery, flaky rounds on the bottom of each plate then topped with a generous wedge of your baked pie over it.  Buttery, flaky, crispy, crust on the top and bottom. This, my friends, is chicken pot pie nirvana.

Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving!

So, Happy Pi Day, now go make some pie! Check out my IG Reel for Chicken Pot Pie!

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Classic Chicken Pot Pie

Ultimate comfort food. This is the classic Chicken Pot Pie. Buttery, flaky crust with a thick, velvety Bechamel filled with chunks of chicken and veggies. A keeper!
Course comfort food, dinner, One dish meals
Cuisine American
Keyword Chicken, chicken pot pie, comfort food, food for the soul, made from scratch, pie, pot pie, savory
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 minute
Servings 6 servings

Equipment

  • 1 food processor

Ingredients

The chicken and stock:

  • 1 3 1/2-pound whole chicken (approximately 3 cups of cooked chicken, shredded or cubed) Shoretcut 1: Sub chicken parts for whole chicken Shortcut 2: Costco Roast Chicken Yeah, you read that right
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 small onion halved
  • 2 teaspoons salt or 1 t salt and 1 tablepsoon Better Than Bouillion Chicken Base

Simply Irrecrustable: or Dorie's MoRe CrUsT RecipE

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup 1 stick chilled unsalted butter, diced into 1/2-inch cubes (best to chill cubes in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before using)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening chilled
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

It's All About the Filling

  • 3 med carrots sliced about 1.5 cups
  • 2 stalks celery sliced about 1 cup
  • 3/4 cup green peas frozen or fresh
  • Use any veggies you like broccoli, squash, potatoes. You want about 3 cups of vegetables sliced or chopped.

Da Sauce: This is a generous amount of sauce so you can increase your veggies if you like.

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups yellow onion (you have leeway use 1 med or large onion which yields 1 cup to 1-1/2 cups diced onions diced
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken stock reserved from cooking chicken
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
  • 2 teaspoons salt to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • For the egg wash: optional
  • 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Da Chicken: A whole chicken in a large stockpot with water to make a chicken pot pie casserole. Yep, you read that right.

  • Combine the chicken, carrot, celery, onion and salt or chicken base into a large stock pot. Add cold water until just covered and bring to a boil over high heat.
  • Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool for 15 minutes. While the chicken is cooling, continue to boil the remaining water and vegetables in the pot.
  • When the chicken is cool enough to touch, strip away as much of the meat as you can. Place the meat on a dish, set aside. Shred chicken or cube. You should have about 3 cups.
  • Return the chicken bones to the stockpot and continue to boil, on high heat, until the stock has reduced to a quart or quart and a half.
  • Set aside 2 1/2 cups of the stock for this recipe. Freeze remaining stock for a rainy day.

All About the Crust: Simply Recipe Yields only 1 crust. You will need to double it or make Dorie's omitting the sugar

  • Combine the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the chilled butter cubes and pulse 5 times to combine. Add the shortening and pulse a few more times, until the dough resembles a coarse cornmeal, with some pea-sized pieces of butter.
  • Slowly stream in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough sticks together when you press some between your fingers.
  • Empty the food processor onto a clean surface. Use your hands to mold into a ball, then flatten the ball into a disk. Sprinkle with a little flour, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling.

Filling It Up

  • Blanch prepped carrots, celery, potatoes, broccoli (if using) in water for about 10-15 minutes. Veggies should be al dente but cooked through. Set aside.
  • In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they're translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, one minute more.
  • Whisk in 2 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Whisk in the milk. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often until thickened and creamy.
  • Add the chicken, thyme, sherry, peas, blanched veggies, parsley, salt and pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Pour into prepared baking dish(s)

Pieformers: Assemble

    Bake: Preheat oven to 375

    • Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a little less than a quarter-inch thick.
    • Roll roughly to the shape and size of your baking dish. A little bigger so you crimp the edge. Lay pastry over filling and dish.
    • Fold the excess dough under itself and crimp edge of pie.. Cut a 1-inch vents into pie. Use a pastry brush to apply an egg wash to each pie.
    • Line a baking sheet with foil, place pie on baking sheet. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. If the edge gets too dark, cover with foil.
    • Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
    Cream Cheese Pound Cake-Eric Kim Makes Sara Lee Proud

    Cream Cheese Pound Cake-Eric Kim Makes Sara Lee Proud

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    I am seriously thinking about adding a new category to 3Jamigos. I’m going to call it “Everything Everywhere All at Eric”.  Serving a dual purpose, a nod to the movie EEAAO and its amazing cast, and of course to Eric.  For those of you not “in the know”, I am referring to Eric Kim, food writer, cookbook author (Korean American: Food that Tastes Like Home), Food52 alum, and current columnist of lots of yummy stuff at the New York Times.

    I’ve been following him since his days at Food52 where he wrote a column, Cooking for One.  His writing and recipes are gorgeous, simple, straightforward, and delicious.  I have a backlog of the recipes I have made but haven’t had the time to do them justice in a post.  I will get to them soon.  During the holidays I made his Cream Cheese Pound Cake, it’s divine. Posting about it is long overdue! So here is the list of Eric recipes I have made and love—links to the ones I have posted. I hope you will try them!

    Savory

    Sweet

    Well, the list of savory is overwhelming at this point so I am going to finish off the Sweet category with his Cream Cheese Pound Cake.  It’s delicious and something you should bake right now. It will fill your home with the aroma of butter and sugar and help keep the house warm since our cold, wet, weather is back.  This is the perfect antidote.

    Does it bother you when you make something from scratch and the person eating it says, “Wow this tastes just like the one in the grocery store!” Unless it is your hubby, who you would slug, you politely smile, laugh, and let it go.  This cake is reminiscent of the Sara Lee Poundcake we all grew up with.  Don’t be surprised if someone exclaims “This is like Sara Lee’s” and take it as a compliment.

    Let’s Get Baking

    Make sure your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature (about 68 degrees).  Cream cheese adds moisture, richness, and flavor to the cake. Three cups of sugar is pretty typical for a pound cake although this cake may be a little sweeter since it has a smaller amount of flour.  Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth.  Finally, add the dry ingredients at low speed.  Do not overbeat after adding the flour, this would toughen the cake.

    I cut the recipe in half using weights to split it and baked it in an 8×8 square pan. The cake dipped in the middle despite being fully baked. Looking at a couple of recipes for pound cake, for the equivalent amount of butter and sugar, most used 3 cups of flour. Using less flour, in this case, 2.5 cups, may make a softer cake with less structure and therefore lower in the center.   It was still delicious and nothing a nice dollop of whipped cream couldn’t hide.

    The whipped cream, jam, and raspberry dust are nice additions to the cake but not absolutely necessary.  I skipped the jam and the cake was delicious with just whipped cream and a dusting of ground freeze-dried raspberry.  Fresh berries instead of jam would be lovely too.

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    Cream Cheese Pound Cake

    Just like Sara Lee's Pound Cake! Buttery, slightly dense but tender with a fine crumb. From Eric Kim and the NYT, an absolutely delicious pound cake that will transport you to your childhood.
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Keyword buttery, Dessert, ERic KIm, freeze-dried raspberries, NYT Cooking, pound cake, whipped cream
    Prep Time 20 minutes
    Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

    Ingredients

    It's All About the Cake

    • 2½ cups all-purpose flour (320 grams)
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1½ cups unsalted butter (345 grams) at room temperature
    • 8 ounces cream cheese (226 grams) at room temperature
    • 3 cups granulated sugar (600 grams)
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 1¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
    • 5 large eggs at room temperature

    The Bling Finish

    • 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream (473 milliliters)
    • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 1 cup raspberry preserves (305 grams) see notes
    • 1½ cups freeze-dried raspberries (34 grams)

    Instructions

    Make the cake:

    • Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; line the bottom and long sides with parchment.
    • In a medium bowl, add the flour and baking powder. Whisk to combine and to break up any lumps. Set aside.
    • Add the butter,cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed to combine. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, almost white, and the sugar is mostly dissolved about 5 to 7 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. Use a flexible spatula to scrape the bowl, then beat over medium speed for another minute.
    • With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until most of the flour streaks have disappeared. Using the spatula, scrape the bowl and gently stir until you eliminate the flour streaks. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, then smooth out the top.
    • Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown and a skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes. When you gently press on the center of the cake with your fingertip, you shouldn’t leave a dent. The internal temperature of the cake should be about 205 degrees. Let cool completely in the pan. (The cooled cake can be covered and kept at room temperature for up to 3 or 4 days.)

    Putting it all together

    • If using the jam, spread layer on top of the cake. You could use strawberry or a mixed berry jam also.
    • In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the heavy whipping cream, sugar and salt over medium-high until billowy soft peaks form. When you lift the whisk out of the bowl and turn it upside-down, a peak of cream should flop over slightly like a Santa hat. Evenly spread the whipped cream over the jam-topped cake.
    • Add the freeze-dried raspberries to a fine-mesh sieve and hold it over the cake. Using your fingers, pass them through until most of the magenta powder rests atop the frosting like fresh snow and most of the seeds are left behind in the sieve. The entire surface of the whipped cream should be covered in pink dust. Discard the raspberry seeds. Serve immediately.

    Notes

    Personally, the cake is so damn good, I don't think it needs the jam.  The whipped cream is great and the sprinkling of raspberry dust is more than enough. YOu could also substitute strawberry for raspberry.
    This is from the original recipe
    Look for a brand of raspberry preserves with minimal ingredients: They should consist of only raspberries, sugar, pectin and some kind of citrus. That will taste more tart and less artificial than one with, say, high-fructose corn syrup and other fruit juices that muddy the natural raspberry flavor. If your preserves taste especially sweet, you can stir in up to 3 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice for added tartness.
    Chewy Black Sesame Rice Cake #CakeforTimmy

    Chewy Black Sesame Rice Cake #CakeforTimmy

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    I first made Eric Kim’s Chewy Black Sesame Mochi Cake after a “Bake-a-long” with him, a perk for purchasing his book, Korean American. I was on a “mochi-bender”, if a recipe called for sweet or glutinous rice, I made it.  His cake is not only made with mochi, it has black sesame seeds.  I LOVE sesame seeds in any form, game on.

    Bake-A-long

    For those of you who #1 Have read this far down, #2  Pretty darn observant…yes, the Bake-A-Long was quite a while ago.  While I loved the sesame flavor and texture of the cake, not gonna lie, the cake was pretty sweet.  Eric seems to have a pretty high sugar barometer.  I made a mental note to file it away in my brain to try again with a smidge less sugar.

    52 Reasons To Try It Again

    For all the evils of social media (I say this with a half chuckle) the best thing about it has been finding my peeps.  Finding folks with similar interests that I would never in a million years have connected with if not for Facebook or Instagram. A virtual community that shares a common interest.  Groups like Food52’s Cookbook Club on Facebook (yep, you need to use FB) where folks like you and I can share recipes, reviews, and kitchen adventures.

    Each month features a new (or old) cookbook, which, if you are like me, a cookbook addict, probably have or are in the process of getting.  It gives me that little shove to open up that cookbook and try it.  It’s also a great resource for tips and reviews for many of the recipes.

    This month the selected cookbook is Korean American by Eric Kim.  Which reminded me that I haven’t made anything from it in a while.  Time to tweak that Chewy Black Sesame Rice Cake again.

    Oops, I Did It Again.  But as Muffins

    I decreased the amount of sugar in the recipe and made muffins instead of a cake.  Kinda like having my own personal dessert.

    Sweet or glutinous rice flour is not to be confused with rice flour.  Sweet rice is much stickier than rice flour.  They are not interchangeable.  Koda Farms sweet rice is known as Mochiko and is pretty easy to find especially at Asian grocery stores.

    Black sesame seeds can be found at most grocery stores in the spice section.  Asian grocery stores will also carry sesame seeds in larger quantities and not quite as expensive.  You

    To reduce the sweetness cut sugar by 1/4 to 1/2 cup.  I cut it by 1/2 and it was still sweet enough for my taste. You may have to play with a little.  The time between making the original recipe (full sugar load) and when I made the muffins with half sugar taxes my memory as to whether the texture was different

    The batter is fairly runny and pourable.  Very doable as a cake or muffins.  Shorten baking time to 20-25 minutes if making muffins.

    Looking for something just a little different, gluten-free, and delicious, look no more, it’s right here.

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    Chewy Black Sesame Rice Cake

    A delicious, dense, chewy, sesame flavored cake from Eric Kim
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Asian-American
    Keyword Black Sesame Seed, cake, chewy, ERic KIm, Mochi
    Prep Time 20 minutes
    Cook Time 1 hour

    Equipment

    • 1 9 inch cake pan or
    • 1 12-cup std muffin pan

    Ingredients

    • Cooking spray or butter and flour with plain rice flour

    Eggs and Tings'

    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 cup sugar (it's pretty sweet, I use 1/2 cup)
    • ¼ cup honey mild
    • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

    The Wet Stuff

    • 1 cup whole milk
    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract yes, 1 TABLESPOON
    • ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil

    The Crunch

    • 4 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds divided equally in half

    The Dry Stuff

    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 8 ounces (227g) glutinous rice flour aka mochiko or sweet rice flour NOT plain rice flour

    The Finish

    • Powdered sugar for serving

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mist an 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray or buttered and dusted with rice flour.
    • In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, honey, and salt until fluffy and pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, vanilla, melted butter, and sesame oil until combined. Ain't gonna lie, I use my mixer on medium speed.
    • Using a mortar and pestle (or a coffee/spice grinder), pulverize 2 tablespoons of the black sesame seeds into a rough powder. It should smell very fragrant. Add this sesame powder, along with the remaining 2 tablespoons of whole black sesame seeds, to the bowl with the egg mixture, followed by the baking powder and rice flour. Whisk to combine, then carefully pour the batter into the greased cake pan. This part you can do by hand or machine.
    • Bake until the top is nicely browned and cracked slightly (this is a good sign), 50 to 60 minutes. You can also insert a chopstick or toothpick into the center of the cake, and if it comes out clean, then it’s done.
      For muffins, fill a 12-cup muffin tin that has been buttered to 7/8 full. Bake for approximately 25 minutes.
    • Cool completely before dusting with the powdered sugar and slicing into wedges to serve. The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
    Apple Almond Galette (You’re the Apple of My Pie)

    Apple Almond Galette (You’re the Apple of My Pie)

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    When the fall season rolls around, apples begin to crop up at our farmer’s market.  Gone are the days when the only available apples were Red or Golden Delicious (thank goodness)!  The variety of apples is mindblowing.  My intention is to just get a few, but I invariably end up with what feels like a bushel of apples.

    Here, There, and Everywhere…Apples

    This is why I am constantly bookmarking recipes that sound wonderful and highlight apples knowing full well I won’t be able to resist the fall bounty of apples.  Luckily, I found an Apple Almond Galette from Zoe Bakes.  It’s the perfect recipe “to show off them apples”.  Get a combination of apples, Fujis, Mutsus, Braeburns, Jonagolds, or Honeycrisps.  Yes, you can get them ALL these days.

    Better yet, you don’t have to peel the apples as the PEEL is part of the apPEAL of this galette, it’s a win-win and why you want a variety of apples.  Use a mandolin (carefully) to thinly slice the apples.  A knife is very doable, it will just take a bit longer than a mandolin.  The filling is an almond cream easily made in a food processor and consists of almond paste, eggs, butter, and a touch of almond extract.  A lovely combination-apples and almonds.

    For the galette crust, I used Dorie’s pie dough (1/2 recipe), but feel free to use your favorite pie crust.  You will need enough dough to create a 13 to 14-inch circle.  Roll your dough on parchment paper so you can then slide it all onto a baking sheet, easy peasy.  Spread the almond filling in the center of the dough leaving a 2-inch border.  Next, take stacks of your sliced apples and arrange them ARTFULLY on the almond filling.  Then fold the edge of the dough over the apples.

    The finished galette is not only gorgeous, it’s delicious.  Serve it with softly whipped cream or ice cream.

    This galette is now part of our holiday dessert menu every year. It’s a keeper!

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    Apple Almond Galette

    A rustic, delicious riff on apple pie. The apples sit on a layer of almond cream encased in a buttery, flakey pie crust.
    Course Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine American
    Keyword almond cream, Apple galette, apples, zoe bakes
    Prep Time 25 minutes
    Cook Time 45 minutes

    Equipment

    • 1 mandolin optional
    • 1 food processor

    Ingredients

    Pie Crust

    • 1 recipe of Dorie's pie dough will make 2 galettes

    Almond Cream Filling

    • 4 oz almond paste
    • 2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
    • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
    • 2 tbsp sugar
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 1/2 tsp almond extract

    Da Apples

    • 5 large Apples thinly sliced on a mandoline or use a sharp knife and slice
    • Egg wash 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water
    • 2 tbsp granulated sugar for sprinkling over top Can substitute raw or Demerara sugar

    Instructions

    Galette shell: Use Dorie's Pie crust recipe link below

    • Roll the chilled pie dough to an 1/8-inch-thick circle = 13-14" circle on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet or slide the parchment onto a baking sheet.

    Almond Cream

    • In a food processor blend the almond paste, flour, sugar, butter, almond and vanilla extracts and yolk until smooth. Spread over the center of the dough, leaving about a 2-inch ring on the outside.

    Assemble

    • Arrange apples over the almond cream. Fold the uncovered dough over the apples and pleat to keep it in place. Freeze the galette while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
    • Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle the sugar over the crust and apples.
    • Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until the apples are tender. Allow the galette to cool to room temperature before sliding it onto a serving plate.
    • Garnish with toasted almonds if you like and serve with a bit of Greek yogurt or whipped cream or ice cream (I like vanilla!).

    Notes

    Dorie's pie crust recipe
    Yet Another Peanut Butter Cookie, Soft and Chewy

    Yet Another Peanut Butter Cookie, Soft and Chewy

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    Peanuttttt, peanut butter….cookie!  If asked what my favorite cookies are, Shortbread, Snickerdoodles, and Thumbprints immediately come to mind.  Peanut Butter Cookies would not make the cut and yet a quick search of 3Jamigos will reveal more than a few recipes for peanut butter cookies.  This leads to my 🤦🏻‍♀️ forehead slap moment  “I LOVE peanut butter cookies, they should be on my fav list.” Life’s little epiphanies.

    The other night our postcard posse reconvened to write cards for Reverend Warnock in Georgia.  How he is in a run-off with Hershel Walker is beyond me and beyond the scope of this blog.  I made a half-hearted promise to keep this site apolitical.  Just food, friends, and fluff.  So in the immortal words of Forest Gump… “that’s all I have to say about that.”

    For our postcard session against He who shall not be named, my friend’s daughter, Avery, of Kentucky Butter Cake fame, dropped off some just baked Peanut Butter Cookies for our crew.  I’m sure in solidarity and because she loves to bake (and she is darn good at it).

    One Bite…

    and I knew there was going to be yet another peanut butter cookie recipe on 3Jamigos.  Yep, Avery’s PB Cookies were tender, chewy in the center, super peanut buttery, sweet, and salty, and just darn delicious.  I got on the horn (ok, I texted) faster than you can say Mr. Planter’s Peanuts and asked “can I PLEASEEE have the recipe”.

    Lucky Her Mom Likes Me

    Voila’ the recipe showed up in my text message, lickity-split.  Adapted from a very cute blog Dessert Now Dinner Later, the recipe for Thick and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies is easy and does not require chilling before baking.  You can have a batch of these bad boys done in less than an hour.

    I use King Arthur flour which has a higher protein than GM or Pillsbury.  Feel free to bake off a test cookie, if it spreads too much, add a bit of flour.

    Cream the butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes until it is well blended and smooth looking, not fluffy.

    Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla.  If you like more texture, feel free to use chunky peanut butter.  Beat until well combined.

    Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until combined with no remaining traces of flour.  Do not overbeat as this will toughen the cookie.

    Use a #40 scoop (approximately 1.6 tablespoons) and place the dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Bake one sheet at a time.  Cause that’s how I roll or row actually, lol.  The final cookies will be just shy of 3 inches in diameter.

    The cookies on top were baked for 12 minutes.  The cookies on the bottom with sprinkles, about 11 minutes.

    This would be a lovely holiday cookie to gift or for Santa along with an ice-cold glass of milk or a hot toddy (don’t tell the kids).

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    Peanut Butter Cookies

    A thick but tender Peanut Butter Cookie that is delicious and easy to make!
    Course cookies, Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Keyword Dessert Now, Dinner Later, easy recipe, peanut butter, Peanut Butter Cookies
    Prep Time 15 minutes

    Ingredients

    Dry Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp salt

    Ingredients to Cream together

    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
    • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
    • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter or chunky if you like I use Skippy Natural Style peanut butter
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 tsp vanilla

    Options

    • chocolate chips or sprinkles, raw sugar, Maldon Salt

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lined cookie sheets with parchment or silpat. (note silpats retain heat, check cookies a minute or two earlier.
    • In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, using a whisk.
    • Cream the butter and sugars together in the bowl of a stand mixer for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Batter should be smooth and creamy not fluffy which would give you cakey cookies. Use the paddle attachment.
    • Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix well and scrape the bowl.
    • Add flour mixture to the butter mixture all at once and mix on low speed just until incorporated.
    • Scoop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until just set*.
    • Allow cookies to cool slightly on the sheet for approximately 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store cookies in an airtight container.

    Notes

    For softer, chewier cookies, bake approximately 10 minutes, +/- 30 seconds.  The cookies will not color much and the top may still have some sheen.  The cookies will continue to bake outside the oven.  
    For a denser, cookie that's a bit crumbly (in a good way), bake for 12 minutes.  The cookies will have some color on top and the edge.  The bottoms will be a bit darker.
    Feel free to embellish. Add mini-chocolate chips to dough or add sprinkles.  I use a blend of dark chocolate sprinkles, Demerara Sugar or raw sugar, and a sprinkle of Maldon Salt.
    Rowing for Coconut & Jam Oat Bars

    Rowing for Coconut & Jam Oat Bars

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    About this time of year, I wax nostalgic about one of my passions (not food this time), rowing.  Say what?  Yes, rowing.  I started rowing, gosh too many years ago to count, and it changed my life.  Instead of trudging toward a sedentary, middle-aged lifestyle, it became my sport and form of exercise.

    Spending early morning hours on the water (trust me, I am not a morning person) watching the sunrise, the first rays of light hitting the ripples of water made by the boat, it’s magical.  Beyond that (there’s more?), I have made lifelong friends, found a community, and experienced the camaraderie created by competition, joy, and pain.  #Crewlife

    Rock Star Regatta

    Boston annually hosts the largest regatta (rowing competition) in the world, the Head of the Charles.  Every October, collegiate, high school, Masters (anyone out of school) converge for the regatta.  Imagine the Boston Marathon but with a bunch of really tall people, wearing spandex (lol) in boats on the Charles.  We row as hard as we can for 5km.  All the while navigating through boats, under bridges (5), and around turns.  Throngs of spectators line the bridges and banks of the Charles to watch and root their rowers on.  It’s exhilarating, I haven’t raced there in a while and I miss it.

    Side Trip Fun

    If you go that far to race for twenty minutes, you might as well take advantage of being there.  We began taking side trips after Head of the Charles. One year we went to Vermont to find pie, visit King Arthur Flour, and tour Ben and Jerry’s.  Another year found us in Martha’s Vineyard.  The crowds of summer long gone, we wandered the island taking in the cool, crisp, fall weather, foliage colors, and FOOD!  We stopped at 7aFoods for pastries and coffee which I highly recommend.  Finally, a stop at  Morning Glory Farm to roam their pumpkin patch and eat more pie, the Buttermilk Pie was a standout.

    The 7AFoods Oat and Fruit Bars were dreamy-a buttery crust topped with blueberry preserves, dried fruits, oat, and a delicious crumble. I asked for the recipe which they graciously sent BUT I have yet to try as it makes two full sheets of bars!  So I searched for a simpler, smaller recipe that would satisfy my 7AFoods bar craving.  Luckily, I found a delightful, easy-to-make Raspberry Coconut Oat Bar cookie from One Girl Cookies that did the trick.

    So, I made a batch of these delicious bars while watching this year’s Head of the Charles Regatta.  Sigh, maybe next year I’ll be rowing instead of baking.

    Finally, Notes on the One Girl Cookies Raspberry Coconut Oat Bar

    These bars are easy to make.  The base crust and crumble are from the same dough.  The dough starts with cold butter, eliminating the time to soften butter, and can be made in a mixer or by hand.  Yep, that easy.  Use a mixer, add the flour, sugars, salt, and butter (diced into little pieces) and mix until it forms a crumble, then add coconut and oatmeal.  Use a pastry blender to cut butter into flour and sugar mixture.  This is much like making pie dough.  Do not blend until it forms a single mass as that would result in a tough crust.  As it bakes, the bits of butter in the dough melt and create steam that makes a tender, flaky crust.

    NACL Note

    The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of salt.  It is intentionally salt-forward, a play on the salty and sweet vibe.  If you use a really sweet jam, I would leave the amount of salt.  If you are salt sensitive, try 3/4 teaspoon instead.  You do need some salt as a flavor booster.

    Reserve 3/4 to 1 cup of the crumble mixture.  Press the remaining dough into a 9×13 baking pan that has been lined with parchment.  The recipe calls for baking the crust for 14 minutes, it took a couple of minutes more for the edges to brown for me.  Spread preserves over the cooled crust.  I have used blueberry, mixed berry, and apricot, it’s your choice. The base crust is pretty thin so a thin layer of jam is all that is needed.  I might sprinkle the jam layer with dried fruit and sliced almonds before adding the crumble next time.

    Before adding the crumble, squeeze the crumble mixture so there are some bigger crumbs, it looks nicer.

    With Blueberry Lichi Jam!

    With apricot cherry preserves!

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    JAMMY COCONUT OAT BARS

    Jam & Coconut Oat Bars, a buttery shortbread base topped with preserves and a coconut oatmeal crumble. Adapted from One Girl Cookies.
    Course bar cookies, cookies, desserts
    Cuisine American
    Keyword bar cookies, Jammy Coconut Oat Bars, One Girl Cookies
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 25 minutes
    Resting Time 10 minutes

    Ingredients

    All About the Dough

    • 1-1/4 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
    • 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
    • 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
    • 12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
    • 1 teaspoon salt Very salt forward, decrease to 3/4 tsp. if desired

    Add to Dough Crumble

    • 3/4 cup (85g) unsweetened shredded coconut
    • 1-1/2 cups (148g) old-fashioned rolled oats

    The Finish

    • 1/2 cup raspberry preserves or use your favorite preserves

    Optional Adds

    • 1/4-1/3 cup diced dried fruit that compliments the preserves you use
    • 1/4-1/3 cup sliced almonds or chopped nuts of your choice

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350°F.
    • Spread the coconut on a baking sheet. Toast 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Keep your eye on it as coconut will brown quickly
    • Grease a 9"x 13"x 2" baking pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
    • In an electric mixer on low speed, mix the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and continue mixing until the dough begins to come together. Stir in the coconut and oats.
    • Remove 3/4-1 cup of the crust dough. Set aside. If adding optional ingredients remove 3/4 cup of crumble.
    • Pour the remaining dough to pan. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan, I use a flat bottom cup to press dough into pan. Bake 14-17 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. The crust should be golden brown around the edges. Allow the crust to cool for 10 minutes.
    • Spread the preserves evenly over the crust, leaving a scant 1/2-inch border. If you are adding nuts or dried fruit, sprinkle on preserves now then crumble the reserved dough over the top. Bake 7 minutes, or until the preserves are bubbly. Cool completely in pan.
    • Run a knife around the edges of the bars. Place a baking sheet on top of the pan and flip the pan over to release the bars. Peel the parchment paper off. Then flip again. Using a sharp knife, cut the bars into squares, which in a 9x13 won't be exactly squared, lol.
    It’s The Great Pumpkin Bread, Charlie Brown!

    It’s The Great Pumpkin Bread, Charlie Brown!

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    Who else besides me groans at the first sign of the fall season.  You walk outside, take in the fall air, admire the color of the leaves on the trees, the golden orange rays of sunlight that filter through…

    When you notice

    All around, everywhere you look…PUMPKIN, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin soup, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin ice cream, yes, ALL THINGS PUMPKIN. There is no escape.

    Consequently, aside from the mandatory Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I have developed a slight aversion to pumpkin.  This year, still cautious, we needed only one pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  So, what to do with the remaining pumpkin puree (Libby’s of course).  I took a family poll, and it was a unanimous vote (except for me, lol) for pumpkin bread.  Despite having numerous pumpkin bread recipes on 3Jamigos, I decided to do a search. The first recipe that popped up was Pumpkin Bread from Once Upon a Chef.  Her family’s favorite, the recipe was given to her by her grandmother who had clipped it out of a magazine eons ago.  With a 5-star rating and over two thousand ratings, this was a no-brainer.

    The recipe reminded me of my Best Damn Banana Bread, instead of oil, the recipes call for butter.  Hmmm, good start. The butter is combined first with sugar, it’s a lot of sugar, and the mixture will be crumbly not creamy so don’t keep beating it until the cows come home.  Add eggs one at a time and combine thoroughly.  Beat until mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the pumpkin puree.  The mixture might look curdled or separated, but that’s ok.

    BTW, the recipe calls for 16 ounces of pumpkin, std cans are 15 ounces 🤷🏻‍♀️. Don’t sweat the one ounce. If you happen to have some applesauce you need to use up, throw in a heaping tablespoon. I had some yummy apple butter so I threw that in. You’ll be fine skipping it. Don’t open another can of pumpkin purée!
    At low speed, add the flour.  Mix just until combined.  The batter will lose that grainy look. This is a pretty thick batter so you will need to scoop rather than pour it into your loaf pans.  Divide between 2 8×4 loaf pans.

    I mulled over adding a streusel topping but since this was the first time I was making it, I deferred.  I’ve included a simple topping for those of us who cannot leave well enough alone.

    Made another batch to take to work. Added the sugar topping from Midwest Made. Adds a bit of crunch.

    This bread is delicious!  It has a nice crumb, cake-like, not as tight as pumpkin bread made with oil.  A nice balance of spices although I’m already tweaking it in my mind (less clove, add ginger) but totally good as is.  One note, sift the dry ingredients together.  I didn’t, and a few bites had too much clove.

    I had forgotten how much I like pumpkin bread and how easy it is to make.  This recipe is definitely going in the rotation!

    Print Pin

    Best Damn Pumpkin Bread

    Moist and delicious, best damn pumpkin bread recipe
    Course Breakfast, Snack
    Cuisine American
    Keyword Pumpkin Bread, quick bread
    Prep Time 20 minutes
    Cook Time 1 hour
    Servings 24 servings
    Calories 166kcal

    Equipment

    • 2-8x4 loaf pans

    Ingredients

    Da Dry Stuff

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon ground clove or 3/4 tsp clove and 1/4 tsp ginger
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg can substitute mace

    Da Butter-Sugar

    • 1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup
    • 2 cups sugar

    Da Wet Stuff

    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 15-1/2 oz can 100% pure pumpkin

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour, or use a baking spray with flour in it, such as Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy.
    • Sift flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Set aside.
    • Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. It will be grainy not creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point -- not to worry, flour to the rescue in the next step.
    • Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Do not overmix.
    • Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Start checking at 55 min. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

    Notes

    This bread freezes well.  Eat one now and save another for a rainy day or surprise guests!  Wrap well, you know the drill, and store for up to 3 months.
    Gotta have a topping? Check the ones out for these:
    Or this simple sugar topping from Midwest Made: 
    • Place 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar in a small bowl. Dampen your fingertips with water and work them into the sugar until it just begins to look like snow-if you pinch some, it should just barely hold together. Sprinkle the dampened sugar over the batter, aiming to get it clumped up together in spots. If you want, add a 1/2-1 tsp of cinnamon.
    • Right before baking, sprinkle the batter in loaf pans with the nuts and finish with cinnamon sugar.  Adds a bit of crunch.
    It is delicious when toasted!