Lover's Coffee Cake and the horror of not being "best mom ever"

Does bringing a cake to a party negate the fact you have been absent in the hostesses' life for what seems like ages?  I'm hoping it does, I really am.  I have been feeling bad that I haven't had time these days for anything extra.  I've been missing idle moments to pick up the phone and check in on a friend, or better yet stop by just because.  I've been longing for days involving sitting around in pajamas till noon, tossing something presentable on and schlepping off for a long lunch, heading home to take a nap exhausted from lunch.  Dinner is a no-brainer, ring the delivery man and say, "surprise me".  Slinking to the couch and spending the rest of my waking moments watching junk t.v.  Does anyone know what planet this life exists on, because I want to fashion a rocket ship out of used popsicle sticks and go visit said planet.

I'm still replaying the fond memories of the 50th anniversary party my 4 siblings and myself had the pleasure of hosting for our parents.  All the extra trips getting supplies, phone calls, and e-mails were worth parting with my free time.  Even the hectic pace of finishing the cake up until the 11th hour, washing dishes for the seventh time in one day, or scraping colored icing off the walls was worth it.

  

I feel fortunate I was able to witness such an epic milestone, I know it is a privilege and something I will always look back on lovingly.

I only had a few moments after the party to reflect and deal with the flood of emotions I was feeling about my daughter graduating from college.  I had a glorious daydream before heading up that my daughter prepared a speech in which she profusely thanked her mother for all the sacrifices made over the last few years, all the cookies sent for no reason, for wrenching her back moving her 5 times, for depositing funds to make sure she was able to have enough food that week.

I watched with tears in my eyes as they commenced by, many had personalized their caps; some even had loving messages for their parents (awe).  Wouldn't that be something if my angel paid some sort of homage to her devoted, self-sacrificing (did I mention broke from paying for college) mother, I couldn't help but think to myself.

A sea of black robes went by and out of the corner of my eye I saw her, my little girl all grown up on the way towards the rest of her life.  I held my breath looking for the "I have the best mom ever" sign to pass, but no such sight, apparently she not only received her degree with honors, but she also got a honorary doctorate in the arts of distilled spirits.  Sigh.  It only took me half a second to realize, she was just having fun and being herself and just the way I want her to be. I couldn't be prouder of my daughter and the last 4 years and all the tears (at least on my part) were totally worth it.

I received a request to review "Beach House Baking Delicious Desserts" by Lei Shishak.  I wasn't sure if I could find the time, but I read a little about Lei and liked what I saw and I thought, perhaps this would be a good book to bake with over the summer and ponder the future.  The book has lots of easy recipes, a great selection of cupcake recipes, but her fun ice cream sandwich variations are something I'm really looking forward to trying. I couldn't wait to try her Lover's Coffee Cake recipe to take advantage of the fresh cherries grown here, it did not disappoint.

Lover's Coffee Cake

Streusel
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Cake
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cup sour cream
1 pound sweet cherries, pitted

1)  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Liberally grease a 10-inch tube pan with non-stick spray.

2)  Make the streusel:  Combine the brown sugar, almonds, flour, cinnamon, and butter in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

3)  Make the cake:  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.  With the mixer on low, add in the eggs and extracts and mix until combined.  Scrape down the bowl.  Add in half of the dry ingredients followed by half of the sour cream.  Mix well on low speed. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and sour cream.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Arrange the cherries evenly over the batter.  Sprinkle with half of the streusel.  Top with the remaining batter followed by the streusel.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool completely in pan before inverting cake.  Place right-side up onto serving plate.  Garnish with powdered sugar.

*The only changes to the recipe I made were; used light brown sugar (didn't have dark on hand), creamed butter and sugar and then added rest of the ingredients at once (what can I say, except I'm lazy), and I used a bundt pan since I don't own a tube pan (I know, I'm equally ashamed of myself) which was inverted after only 10 minutes, because bundt pans are notorious for sticking.  The cake was quite popular around here and consumed in record time, so it will get baked again for sure.

Can we be friends again now?  Pretty please, with cherry streusel coffee cake on top.

Gina

Jam overload and is it possible to relax too much?

Is it possible to have too much jam? Probable, but not possible or is that problematic? These are questions of epic proportion indeed.

I've spent the last week traversing the local cherry orchards looking for the best specimens to cart home and turn into jam. I always find myself in a quandary when each branch has better looking specimens than the last. As if one could make a bad decision in such a situation.

I find myself losing track of time once I venture deep into the fields. There is row after row of trees, just begging for a little of my attention. I also find myself losing all track of time once I get deep into jam making. Perhaps that is what happened to the last week of my life. Who knows? You guys should get lost with me out there sometime, it really is amazing.

A few hours later and a sore hand from cutting, the first jars were ready for delivery to Canciamilla Ranch for sale this weekend.

Getting the work part of my week out of the way was a good thing. It left me some free time to engage in a leisurely weekend. I got to enjoy a bbq lunch with my parents and Aunt, complete with a driving tour of a nearby town and drive by our childhood home. It made me wistful for the carefree days of my childhood (scratch that, I worked even as a kid). Well at least sucking on a homemade cherry popsicle that evening made me feel like a kid again.

I think I got a little too relaxed from the weekend. When Hot Dog Dude stuck a pile of invoices in my face this morning; it ruined my completely relaxed vibe. For some reason I just couldn't get back into work mode this morning and found myself working on a little invoice of my own for him.

You know what; I've decided there will be no more long leisurely weekends this year. Besides there is fruit as far as the eye can see around here and I have jam to make. 

Speaking of decisions to make, I was telling Hot Dog Dude at lunch that I needed to decide on a name for my little jam venture. I think it is the too many choices thing mucking it up for me. Do any of you having any name suggestions that you think might apply. Let me know.

Thanks,

Gina

Cherry-Balsamic Cheesecake Bars and Speed Blogging

Today is my Sister-In-Law's birthday and I wanted to bring a dessert with me to a dinner for her tonight, so I headed to the kitchen this afternoon and whipped up these Cherry-Balsamic Cheesecake bars.

Crust:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (I prefer Kosher, but we all have our issues)

Cheesecake Filling:
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract

Balsamic-Cherry Topping:
10 ounces cherries, pitted
4 ounces sugar or about 1/2 cup
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1.  Add cherries, sugar, and vinegar to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.  Stir often and let boil for 13-15 minutes until the topping is starting to thicken.

2.  Add butter, granulated sugar, flour ,and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until just starting to combine.  You can use a bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry blender if you don't have a processor.

3.  Spray a 9" x 13" pan with no-stick spray, put crust in and pat down.  Bake for 15 minutes.  I'm always bringing desserts here and there and I have to tell you just how excited I was to spot this nice disposable one in the market.

4.  Add cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, egg, flour, and vanilla to the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.

5.  Pour the cheesecake over the warm crust (straight out of the oven is a little too hot).  Spread to the edges.

6.  Place dollops of the cherry topping every couple of inches over the top of the cheesecake.  I had a hard time with swirls before, but this time I poked the cherries a bit under the surface before swirling and had a better result.

7.  Bake for 25-28 minutes until the cheesecake is set.  Chill, because eating warm cheesecake is reserved for days when you are on the verge of hurting someone.

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you feel like every time you sit down you have to get back up? Well I've been having one of those weeks for the last few months (possibly years, but I do tend to be in denial from time to time).

I keep thinking maybe there is a better way to manage everything I have going on these days, perhaps speed blogging.  I could just hurl pictures of food at you every few hours and then let the chips fall where they may (although there is that whole law of gravity nonsense).

Say a prayer that these bars are cool before I have to run out of the house again.  (Too late, gotta run Hot Dog Dude is glaring at me it's time to go.)

Gina

The "Unofficial" Bay Area Cherry Report

It's the post all of you in the Bay Area have been waiting for.  Well at least all of you who are cherry crazy like myself and have been dreaming about this day all winter.  If you were waiting on the post on how-to make ninja cookies; sit tight that one may be coming your way sooner than you think.

I took a drive this afternoon to scope out the fruit situation.  I had been hearing rumors that some of the stands were open and I had to confirm this for myself.  Didn't take long after I got off the main road to see with my own eyes the acres and acres of cherry trees all decked out in ruby cherries.  Where to start is always a consideration.

I stopped at one of my favorites (Maggiore) and was surprised at how few cherries were on their trees.  The girl working told me there should be more ripe soon, phew I will have to check back.

I did notice further down the road most all the orchards were open for cherries.  Bacchini's Fruit Tree not only had Brooks, Utah Giant, and Bing Cherries ready for picking but I saw people walking out with gorgeous blackberries. Making a note to get some of those blackberries stat.

I even crisscrossed over to the other side of town to Sellers Ave. where Nunn Better Fams and Laird are located. Both were open plus Smith Family Farms is right across the street, it's one of my personal favorite stops.

Although it's still very early in the season, it looks like it's going to be a good one due to our very warm spring. It's worth going back and getting more varieties of fruit as the season goes on, but for the cherries; it's get there sooner rather than later.

All that fresh air made me famished, so in order to get my energy back up to write this post for you guys I cut myself a nice size chunk of this super tasty Banana (Vegan) Coconut Bread to accompany my afternoon tea.  So glad I stole this recipe from Jean, I didn't feel guilty at all for eating the whole loaf since it was Vegan.  Although wait a minute, I did swap out the applesauce for 2 eggs because I was out of sauce and added a small amount of chocolate.  Never you mind, I still don't feel guilty for eating it all since it was so good.  

Hope you all enjoy your weekend.  I'll be up late tonight planning my route of cherry attack for tomorrow.  If you need to plan your route of attack go to Harvest4you and download a map.

Gina

Chocolate-Cherry Hot Fudge Sauce Cake

Just the mere fact that it is Friday is cause for celebration.  In honor of this fantabulous Friday, I'm declaring it Hot Fudge Friday!  

Forget for a moment it is just another Friday, instead enter into a flaming, fudge filled fantasy of chocolate-cherry nirvana, from which you enter there is no return. 

For a moment imagine your scantily clad lover gently hovering over you dripping warm, liquid, Chocolate-Cherry Hot Fudge Cake into your agape mouth and then "duh" wake up, because you are drooling all over yourself and besides I'd have to say the cake pics are way more interesting anyways.

Chocolate-Cherry Hot Fudge Sauce Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces or about 1/2 of a container of Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries, cut into quarters

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon espresso powder

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1)  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2)  Spray a 9" x 13" baking pan with non-stick spray.

3)  To the baking pan add the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons baking cocoa, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Add the chocolate cherry pieces, eggs, vanilla extract and water and stir to combine.

4)  In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking cocoa, and espresso powder.  Stir till combined and no more lumps. 

5)  Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the top of the cake mixture.

6)  Pour the heavy cream over the top of the whole thing.

7)  Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Serve with fresh whipping cream or ice cream (or both, just saying).  I found my chocolate covered cherries at Trader Joe's, but if you can't find them, try using 1/2 cup dried cherries and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips for a similar effect.

Matter of fact, I liked the pop of cherry so much in the cake; I might up the amount of cherries to the whole container next time.

Happy Hot Fudge Fantasy Friday!

Gina

Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Almond and Amaretto Cheesecake Tart

We have been having some crazy weather lately; I don't think it's ever rained for Graduation ceremonies before.  So if this is the end of the world I recommend having dessert now and probably again in a few hours.  Look if I'm going out I'm going out with a piece of this tart and a fork in my hand.  Okay, I don't even need the fork.

I brought this Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Almond and Amaretto Cheesecake Tart to a blogger brunch I went to recently.  I was crossing my fingers it was a hit.  

First thing you will want to make is the crust.

Almond Crust
2/3 cup almond meal
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
10 tbsp. cold butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 egg yolk

Combine almond meal, sugar, flour, butter and egg yolk in a food processor.  Pulse until clumps start to form, and the mixture is starting to stick together, you don't want it to form a ball.  Less than one minute should be enough time.

Note:  If you can't find almond meal, you can just grind up almonds in your food processor.

Pour the crumbly mixture onto a greased 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom.  Press crumbs evenly up the sides and across the bottom.  Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.

Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake in 325 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool.

Next you will make a chocolate ganache to pour onto the cooled crust.

Chocolate Ganache
180 grams dark chocolate
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

Finely chop the chocolate and place in a bowl.  Heat cream in small pan until it comes to a boil.  Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until smooth.  Once smooth add butter and continue whisking until completely smooth.

Pour into crust.

\

Cherry U-Pick Farms in the SF Bay Area & Brandied Cherries

Some people look forward to the arrival of St. Nick; I myself eagerly await the opening of cherry season.   Memorial weekend marks the opening of the U-Picks in Brentwood.  People come from all over the Bay Area to pick the much sought after fruit.  I was lucky enough to head out Saturday morning before the crowds started arriving.  The sun was shining amongst the clouds.  I grabbed a bucket and headed into the acres of cherries just waiting for me.

I made sure and strolled up and down the rows looking for some beauties.  They were all around me each one prettier than the other.  How can one choose in such situations?

We've had a lot of rain so I was worried about the quality of fruit; have no fear I sampled plenty (quality control purposes).  I bought plenty too; 17 pounds ought to hold me over for a week or so.

Here are a couple of tips for you if you want to come out and haul home a score like this one:

1)  Bring shoes that you don't mind getting dirty and scraping the mud off of, these are farms after all.

2)  Bring the kids, especially if you live in the city and they don't have the chance to go pick their own fruit.  You would be amazed at how much better they think it tastes when they have picked it themselves.

3)  Go online to http://harvest4you.com/ and get a map of all the u-picks and farm stands in the area.  

4)  Some of the farms have picnic areas where you can eat your bounty or there are a few restaurants if you head downtown.

5)  You don't need any special equipment, just your sense of adventure.

My daughter helped me wash and sort them all.  She thought they were so pretty she grabbed my camera and got this shot for you.  I love it; all the training is paying off.

Can you believe that first 17 pounds was gone by the end of the weekend?  I went to a Brunch at Lemons and Anchovies Headquarters with fellow Bay Area Bloggers, it was a wonderful way to spend the day and I brought a tart to the brunch I will share with you shortly.  Great food and great company, I can't think of a better way to spend the day.

I usually plan two or three trips to get all the cherries I want.  I have a special guest (Robbyn) arriving in Mid July and per her request I have prepared a couple of jars of Brandied Cherries. They were something my Grandpa always made and had on hand. They are perfect for having on hand when you want to drop one in a Manhattan; I pitted mine so they can be ladled over ice cream.

Brandied Cherries

3 pounds sweet cherries, pitted

3 cups Brandy (1 - 750 ml bottle)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 strips of lemon zest

In a small saucepan combine Brandy and sugar, turn heat on to medium and cook until sugar is melted.  No need to bring to a boil, take off the heat and set aside.

Sterilize two 1 quart Mason jars and fill with pitted cherries.  Insert strip of lemon zest in each jar and cover with Brandy mixture.  Put lid on tightly and store in a dark place for 6 weeks.    

I received a really great question from Angela - Recipes from my Mom; she wanted to know what cherry pitter I like.  I don't usually specify equipment, but in general I prefer simplicity.  I have an OXO handheld one, I've had it a couple of years and it's still going strong.  I bought mine at a local home goods store but I have seen their products almost everywhere.

Enjoy,

Gina