Elder Hangen's Borscht

This just in.

My nephew Thompson is serving as a missionary in Samara, Russia.  He's been there almost 9 months - the time goes so fast!  His letters home are, as you might imagine, always fascinating and full of cultural and personal observations.  When you become so immersed in a foreign place, it changes you, and it's fun to see that happening to him. 

In this week's email, he sent his much-anticipated recipe for homemade borscht.  I went to Russia once, right after my own mission to Toronto.  I think it was the only time I'd had borscht, but I had it several times that week.  So awesome.  Can't wait to try this one...just need to add beets to my shopping list - definitely not a veg I usually buy!

Elder Hangen's Borscht (in his own words)

Cut up two chicken breasts into cubes and cook them with a little oil in the bottom of the borscht pot. 

 

Add a few cups of cut cabbage and a few cubed potatoes and a cut up onion. And add a couple (2?) liters of water. Bring to a boil and let simmer, but don't forget to add:

a few bay leaves, 2 boillon cubes (i'll never spell that right), and some dill and other greenish herbs.

 

Then grate into a frying pan two medium sized beets, and two large carrots. Add enough oil so that they look a little wet (1/3 to 1/2 cup? I don't measure, just pour) and fry them up on the stove.

 

Slice a tomato into wedges and add them to the frying pan, along with a large spoonful of tomato paste, and a squirt of barbeque sauce. Stir this all together, and when the potatoes in the pot are soft, add the "borscht mash" in the frying pan to the soup. You'll notice the brilliant red color immediately stain everything. Yum. 

 

Let boil for a while, like 35 minutes, and then let it sit and cool for an hour. Serve in a large bowl with a dollop of sour cream!

Traditionally you'd eat it with black bread. But personally I choose my borscht bread based on it's ability to absorb liquid. Good absorptivity = good borscht bread.

I don't think I forgot any ingredients, but I probably did. A pot this size (3 - 4 liters of borscht) would last a long time, so you could probably half the recipe. 

Chai Spice Carrot Cake with Vanilla Bean-Cream Cheese Frosting

 It was my friend's birthday, and her husband was going to be out of town, so I was afraid she might not get a cake.  I emailed to ask him what was her favorite, and his response was immediate: carrot. 

Which is good.  Because I haven't made a lot of carrot cakes, so it was good experience for me.  AND also good because I just got a new workbowl for my food processor, and I'd been rip-roaring to use it!

When looking for the quintessential no-fail carrot cake recipe, I went straight to Baking Illustrated.  Sure enough, there was a recipe, two variations, two pages of explanation, and three pictures of "failed" carrot cakes, with notes on why they failed.  This, I knew, would give me a great cake.

So I was disappointed and a little torn when I read they make it in a 9x13 pan.  I was hoping for something a little more birthday-worthy, a layer cake.  I scoured the explanation to find out why and came up only with "ease" and "simplicity", not my top priorities when making a birthday cake.  So I cautiously strayed from the formula to make two 9-inch layers. 

The cake was delicious (I made the chai-spiced version.)  The frosting as well.  Though the frosting was slightly soft, and therefore maybe better on a rectangle than trying to spread around the sides of two layers darker than itself.  But I tried to hide those unsightly edges from the camera, for the most part, in the hopes of conveying the fabulousness this carrot cake is.  (And no, I didn't make my own marzipan carrot.  Got it at the local European bakery for a couple of bucks.)

 Chai Spice Carrot Cake with Vanilla Bean-Cream Cheese Frosting (print recipe)
Serves 10 to 12

Carrot Cake:
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 T ground cardamom
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound (6 to 7 medium) carrots, peeled
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups safflower, canola, or vegetable oil

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 vanilla beans, halved and seeds scraped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened but still cool
5 T unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 T sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) confectioners' sugar

1.  For the Cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position; heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray the parchment.

2.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

3.  In a food processor fitted with the large shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups); add the carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients and set aside.  Wipe out the food processor and fit with the metal blade.  Process both sugars with the eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds.  With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream.  Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer.  Scrape the mixture into a large bowl.  Stir in the carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time.  Cool the cake to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack, about 2 hours.

4.  For the Frosting: When the cake is cool, process the cream cheese, vanilla bean seeds, butter, sour cream, and vanilla extract in a clean food processor until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down the workbowl with a rubber spatula as needed.  Add the confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.

5.  Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan.  Invert cake onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, then invert it again onto a serving platter.  Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the surface of the cake.  Cut into squares and serve. 

Recipe from Baking Illustrated

Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins

Don't go away! These understated-looking muffins have a super special surprise for you! (You know I love surprise fillings...)Ta-da! Oh yes, just take a bite and it's like cream cheese frosting on the inside! But since it is not on top it is a muffin and you can (and should) eat it for breakfast. Handy-dandy for on-the-go breakfast, or snacks, too. No mess...if you eat it fast enough. And I know these are the flavors you're craving this time of year, too, because I am. Just a little something extra-special-er than a regular muffin. Also happens to be in my new MUFFINS cookbook (which I just made for fun.) You should get you one. Saves blog search time.

Either way, these are perfect for fall. And if you can't get enough carrot cake goodness, try the Carrot Cake Scones or Pancakes. Mmm...

Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins (print recipe)
Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a few drops of orange extract

Muffins:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup grated carrots, lightly packed (about 2 medium-large carrots)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a standard 12-well muffin tin, or line with paper muffin cups and grease the cups.

2. To make the filling, place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds. Stir in the sugar and extract; set aside.

3. To make the muffin batter, in a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, water and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the grated carrots, stirring to combine.

4. Drop about 2 T of batter into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. Dollop a heaping Tablespoon of filling in. Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups quite full. Unless you have especially deep cups, you will have about 1/3 cup batter left over - bake it in a separate custard cup, if desired.

5. Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted into the cake part comes out clean, about 20 minutes. The tops of muffins will feel firm to the tough. Remove the muffins from the oven and as soon as you are able to handle them, transfer to a rack. If you serve the muffins warm, the filling will be molten. If you wait for them to cool, it will firm up.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Zucchini & Carrot Muffins

Honestly, I really do post something healthy-ish once in awhile! It's just been...awhile. But these have 4 cups of shredded veggies, and if you do the math (stay with me), that's 12 muffins, which means 1/3 cup of veggies in each muffin! Healthy! Wheat flour, flax seed - healthy(-ish)!

My 6-year-old said that even though they have vegetables and "look a little bit gross", they "taste like sugar", which is her stamp of approval.

And listen to this. There were genuine tears when these were gone, and begging for me to make more. That almost never happens, even with the most delicious desserts! So I pulled out my last zucchini and the bag of carrots and whipped up another batch. And then a few days later, more begging! Are you kidding? I will make these for the kids ANYTIME they want. So stow this away for the summer's bounty, or better yet, share some with me so we can all have lots and lots of muffins.

*Bummer about the pictures - they were either too golden with sunshine or too blue in the shadows and I was too lazy to get my light out. You get the gist.

Zucchini & Carrot Muffins (print recipe)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 large or 2 small)

2 cups grated carrots (about 4 medium)

1/2 cup dried pineapple or cinnamon chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 3/4 cups King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup ground flax seed (also called flax meal)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon Coarse sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375°F; Line 12 cups of a standard muffin tin with papers, or grease each cup.

2. Whisk together the sugar, oil, salt and eggs.

3. Add the zucchini, carrots, dried fruit (or cinnamon chips) and nuts.

4. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the batter. Stir till just combined.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Let the muffins rest for 10 minutes before placing them in the oven. Sprinkle each with coarse sugar, if desired (it makes a nice crunchy top.)

6. Bake the muffins until the edges are lightly browned and they feel firm if gently pressed, about 18 to 25 minutes. A cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.

7. Remove the muffins from the oven, and cool them in the pan for 10 minutes; transfer to a rack, and cool completely. Makes 12 muffins

Recipe from the King Arthur Flour website

Pancake Week #3 Carrot Cake Pancakes with Honey Butter

Are you kidding me??? Why has it taken me three years to get these sweeties made and posted? There is no excuse; it is ridiculous and I apologize. In addition, why couldn't Snooze, the Denver-based eatery from whence these are inspired, have been around when I lived there? The pancake world is full of injustices.

These comforting cakey flapjacks feature warm spices and bright carrot color and flavor. My family gobbled them up and asked for more. And after yesterday's indulgence, these are even kinda sorta healthy. I mean, there are vegetables! And no ice cream! So, you know, they're healthy!

And before I end the commentary, please take a quick look at Snooze's other offerings. Seriously? I'll have a "Sandwich I Am", Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes (gotta get that recipe!), and a Vanilla Almond Oatmeal Brulee. For starters.

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Honey Butter (print recipe)
5.6 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups finely grated carrot (about 1 pound)
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through ginger) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and next 4 ingredients (through eggs); add sugar mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in 2 cups carrot.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon 4 (1/4 cup) batter mounds onto pan, spreading with a spatula. Cook for 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 1 minute or until bottoms are lightly browned. Repeat procedure twice with remaining batter. Combine butter and honey in a small bowl; serve with pancakes.

Recipe from Cooking Light, January 2010

Carrot Cake Scones with Cream Cheese Glaze

I admit, I don't totally "get" scones. Not a biscuit, not a cake. Often kinda dry and crumbly. What do I do with it?

But I'm glad that didn't stop me when my friend Shanna suggested we try these on our most recent baking day/playdate. Carrot cake is so rich and indulgent (and don't forget cream-cheesey) that it was hard to imagine this not turning out well. This is like a mini carrot cake that is just light enough you could offer it for brunch. But also much more of a treat than your typical scone. So maybe a birthday brunch, or other special holiday.

The batter has carrots, golden raisins, orange zest and cinnamon. The glaze is made with cream cheese and lemon zest. And do not forget the crunchy toasted coconut topping. Despite the hard-crust looking exterior, these scones are moist and cakey inside. A total delight for the senses!

Carrot Cake Scones with Cream Cheese Glaze

Scones:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 T orange zest, finely minced

1/2 cup ground walnuts

1/2 cup firm unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup golden raisins or minced, dried pineapple

Cream Cheese Glaze:

1/2 cup or 4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 T fresh lemon juice

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Finishing Touches:

3/4 cup toasted coconut

Orange zest, optional

Cinnamon, optional

A note about preparation: You'll use your food processor a lot for this recipe. First grind up your walnuts, then do step 1 & 2. Then shred your carrots (no need to clean the bowl, maybe just wipe with a paper towel) for step 3. Then wash or wipe very well to make the glaze.

1. Preheat oven to 400. Stack two baking sheets together and line top sheet with parchment paper. Arrange oven rack to upper third position.

2. In a food processor, add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, orange zest, and walnuts and blend briefly. Add butter adn pulse to make a coarse, grainy mixture. Turn out into a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a large measuring cup lightly mix the buttermilk, egg and vanilla. Pour into well and stir with a fork to make a soft batter.

3. Fold in carrots and raisins. Let rest 5 minutes.

4. Pat or press out dough to 3/4-inch thickness on a floured work surface. Cut into 3-inch rounds. Place on prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool scones on a wire rack. (If your coconut isn't toasted yet, sprinkle it on the scone pan parchment and place back in oven, toasting for 2-3 minutes at a time, checking until golden. Allow to cool.)

6. Meanwhile, to make the glaze, place cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in food processor. Process to make a smooth glaze. When scones are completely cooled, spread generously with cream cheese glaze. Top with toasted coconut (and orange zest and cinnamon, if desired. I just did coconut.) Makes 12 to 14 large scones or 24 miniatures

Recipe from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

Carrot Cake Cookies

More like inside-out carrot cake cookies, with the delectably creamy cream cheese frosting on the inside. These cookies are one of the few exceptions I make to include raisins in a cookie. Like white chocolate and a few other suspect ingredients, they do have their place in the baking world, and this is one of them. The cookies are so bendy soft, sweet and spicy, and the filling so creamy. You can wrap these individually and freeze them for a frozen summer treat as well, or just to make them last longer.

Be sure to read ahead - you need your butter and eggs room temperature, and the dough chills for an hour so make sure you have enough time.

Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots (about 3 large)
1 cup raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. In an electric mixer beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium until well combined.

2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix on low until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Place balls of dough on prepared sheets, 2 inches apart (they really spread!) Bake 12 to 15 minutes, rotating halfway through, until brown and crisp. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Spread about 2 tsp frosting onto flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich together with remaining cookies. Can be stored in refrigerator in airtight container up to 3 days.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla and stir to combine.


Recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies

Morning Glory Muffins

For Christmas my brother gave me an amazing cookbook - The Best of America's Test Kitchen: the year's best recipes, equipment reviews and tastings 2007. I'm an idiot and didn't know what America's Test Kitchen is but now I do. These are the guys who do Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country magazines, and the PBS show "America's Test Kitchen." They have a 2,500 sq foot test kitchen near Boston where two dozen test chefs work full time year round testing and perfecting recipes. Some have been tested 20, 30 or 40 times to get them absolutely perfect. Nice to have someone else do it since I hate nothing more than working hard to chop, puree, fold, and dice, and dirtying every bowl I have only to have a recipe fail.

So every time I flip through the book my mouth waters and I finally got around to trying a recipe tonight: Morning Glory Muffins. I was looking for something to use shredded carrots in, since I have half a bag leftover from making Rachael Ray's "Curry-in-a-Hurry Chicken Salad" (which by the way is really good, especially the mango chutney salad dressing...) a few weeks ago. Sometimes Ed is in a hurry out the door in the morning; it's nice to have muffins around that he can grab and go, so I'm always looking for good recipes to try. And so far the book has lived up to its name. These muffins came out perfect - great texture, not too dry nor too moist, fabulous flavor and extremely aromatic.

Before I give you the recipe let me just mention a few little changes I made to make them my own:

• left out the coconut because I don't like it
• 2 tsp instead of 1 tsp of vanilla - Dave taught me the great trick of always doubling vanilla in recipes
• salted instead of unsalted butter just because that's what I had; didn't notice the difference in taste
• added a dash of freshly grated nutmeg - I add it to anything I can
• my oven runs hot so they were done in only 22 minutes
  
• instead of raisins I used Trader Joe's "Golden Blend", which has dried golden raisins, cherries, blueberries and cranberries - YUM!

Morning Glory Muffins
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 carrots, peeled & grated (2 cups)
1 (8-0unce) can of crushed pineapple, drained and pressed dry with paper towels
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins

1. Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375. Coat 12-cup muffin tin with spray or line with paper cups.
2. Spread the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast them in the oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth. Gently fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold the carrots, pineapple, coconut, raisins, and toasted nuts into the batter.
5. Use a large ladle or measuring cup to divide the batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25-30 minutes.
6. Let muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then flip out onto wire rack. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Let me know if anyone tries them!