South St. Louis Deep Gooey Butter Cake

I recently mentioned a dish called South St. Louis Deep Gooey - our friend Ruth's specialty. I think the first time I got to try it was back in 2008, at our 'Heritage Potluck'. I've been hooked ever since, but never tried making my own. Although Ruth tried out the fancy version of the recipe during our Train Wreck Kitchen cookie party a couple weeks back, I really prefer the quicker incarnation. Ruth was out of town and having phone troubles, so I couldn't score the recipe - but tracked down a couple versions online, and merged them a bit - along with some advice from Ruth once I got a hold of her.

Part of our Christmas tradition with Dan's family is that everyone brings cookies and sweets to Christmas dinner, and we all get to try them after the gift exchange. Everyone is invariably stuffed, so most of the cookies get packed up and sent home. But those that did try the Deep Gooey seemed to really enjoy it (even though I forgot the dusting of powdered sugar on top). And I'm sure to be eating it for breakfast in the morning.

South St. Louis Deep Gooey
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 more eggs, beaten
1 16 oz box confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 300. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.



In a large bowl, combine cake mix, melted butter and first 2 beaten eggs.




Stir to combine, until all the cake mix is moistened.



Spread mixture into the bottom of the baking dish in an even layer.



In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla and remaining 2 eggs until relatively smooth, starting on low and increasing to high.



Turn the mixer down to low and add the confectioners' sugar.



Beat until smooth (smoother than the picture below)



Pour over top of the cake mixture in the pan and spread evenly.



Bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown on top.



Cooking time varies, so keep an eye on the cake and remove it as soon as the top is golden brown.



Allow cake to cool completely. Dust with additional confectioners’ sugar. Cut into bars

Train Wreck Kitchen: Holiday Cookies

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but when your grandmother tells you she reads your blog and checks now and again if there's anything new, I think that's a good sign it's time to find something to write about. Thankfully, the day after seeing my Gramarie (the conjunction of Grandmother and her name, Marie - what I've always called her), our good friend Ruth came over to bake some holiday cookies.

Ruth has popped up several times on this blog, but I don't think I've every talked about 'Train Wreck Kitchen'. It's our little joke for when we get together to cook or bake. There's usually some cocktails and plenty of laughs (or maybe plenty of cocktails and some laughs), and an occasional break for karaoke or food. Today was no different.



Ruth and Dan each picked a recipe they wanted to make, plus we knew we had to make some Rum Balls. I was a bit hungover from the night before (a work holiday dinner), and struggled to figure out what I wanted to make. At first I thought I'd make some ganache and make truffles, but that sounded like too much work. While Ruth and Dan got to work, I pulled out a couple dozen cookbooks and dove in, looking for inspiration.

Dan had already started early on his cookie, as it required golden raisins to be soaked in Pernod (an anise-flavored liqueur) for 3 hours. He also had to shell a cup of pistachios. His Pernod-Pistachio cookie was from his favorite cookbook - Best of the Best from Hawaii
- and was a drop cookie that resembled a classic chocolate chip cookie, but has a very unique flavor when you bite in.

Pernod-Pistachio Cookies
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup Pernod
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbspn poppy seeds
1 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn salt
1 cup lightly salted shelled pistachio nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Soak raisins in Pernod for 3 hours. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, poppy seeds, baking soda and salt. Combine Pernod mixture with butter mixture. Gradually stir in dry ingredients. Add pistachios and stir just to combine. Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto oiled (or silicone mat/parchment lined) baking sheets. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until you smell the Pernod wafting out of the oven. Makes about 3 dozen.



My first cookie choice ended up an Eggnog cookie I found in Christmas Cookies: 50 Recipes to Treasure for the Holiday Season. I absolutely love Eggnog (and their less-milky cousin, Tom & Jerrys), so this recipe jumped out at me. It's basically a refrigerator sugar cookie dough with an egg yolk and spices, plus a rum icing and grated nutmeg on top.

Eggnog Cookies
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tspn freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1/4 tspn salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1 large egg yolk

Whisk together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add the sugars and beat until thoroughly blended and velvety. Beat in the egg yolk. With the beaters on low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until thoroughly combined and the dough starts to come together. Gather the dough into a ball, then divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, place it on a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to shape it into a log and then roll it back and forth to form a smooth cylinder about 6-7 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Wrap up the log in plastic wrap and secure with a layer of foil. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until very firm. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Working with one log at a time, use a sharp knife to cut the dough into slices between 1/4 and 1/3 inch thick. Place the rounds on the prepared sheet, arranging them about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 13 minutes or until the cookies are pale golden, a little browner around the edges. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.

Rum Icing
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 1/2 to 3 Tbspn light rum
1 whole nutmeg, for grating on top of cookies

Whisk the confectioner's sugar and 2 1/2 Tbspn rum in a small bowl until smooth. Add a little more rum as needed to get a spreadable, slightly thin consistency. Spoon 1/2 tspn of icing onto the center of each cookie and spread it with the back of the spoon to form about a 1 1/5 inch circle. Grate a little nutmeg on top of the cookies while the icing is still wet. Let stand until the icing sets completely. Makes about 40 cookies.



During a lull in the kitchen action, I pulled out my recipe for Rum balls and whipped up a batch. This is an incredibly quick and easy no-bake cookie that gets better the longer you can resist eating them. We didn't last long. The origins of the recipe I use are lost, but it's found in a little cookbook I put together many years ago - before I started blogging - to give to family for Christmas. It may in fact be what got me to food blog, as each recipe is accompanied by a story. This recipe talks about when we made it at Burning Man - making new friends walking around with chocolatey rum balls to give out in the searing desert heat. Our friend Serenity also always makes rum balls for Christmas, but has the self control to age them - which make the consistency even better.

Rum or Bourbon Balls
3 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers (about 75 cookies). Ginger snaps can also be used.
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup Dark Rum or Bourbon
1/4 cup light corn syrup
confectioner's sugar to coat

Mix the crushed wafers, powdered sugar, nuts and cocoa. Stir in the liquor and corn syrup until thoroughly combined. Cover your hands with powdered sugar and shape the mixture into 1-inch balls, rolling each in powdered sugar to coat as you go. Ideally, refrigerate in a tightly covered container overnight (or for weeks) before serving.



For my last cookie, I decided to use up the bittersweet chocolate I bought to make truffles, and some of the macadamia nuts we bought with the intent of making mini macnut pies for Thanksgiving (which we hosted this year). This is an even easier no-bake recipe, with three whole ingredients. I'll call it 'Koa Bark', since it's essentially a chocolate bark recipe, using macadamia nuts and coconut.

Koa Bark
12 oz bag of bittersweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups of chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup unsweetened large flaked coconut

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Place in the freezer. Empty the chocolate chips into a large glass bowl. Heat for 30 seconds in the microwave on high heat. Stir. Repeat until the chocolate is smooth after stirring (probably 2 more times). Add nuts and stir to combine. Add coconut and stir to combine. Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread out into a thin layer. Return baking sheet to the freezer to set for 30 minutes or more. Remove and break into small pieces.



For Ruth's cookie, she decided to explore the history of one of her go-to dessert recipes (one Dan & I LOVE): St. Louis Deep Gooey. The version she usually makes starts with a yellow cake mix and ends up a sweet, buttery, gooey bar cookie. But apparently, it had more upscale beginnings, and Ruth wanted to try out the recipe from the restaurant that originated it. This version is much more involved, but my sweet-tooth actually likes the one she usually makes, as it's sweeter and softer (and easier!). I'll have to beg her for that recipe.

Fancy St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake
For the cake:
3 Tbspn milk at room temperature
1 3/4 tspn active dry yeast
6 Tbspn unsalted butter at room temperature
3 Tbspn sugar
1 tspn salt
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
For the topping:
3 Tbspn plus 1 tspn light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 Tbspn unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tspn salt
1 large egg
1 cup plus 3 Tbspn all purpose flour
Confectioner's sugar, for sifting on top

In a small bowl, mix milk with 2 Tbspn warm water. Add yeast and whisk gently until it dissolves. Mixture should foam slightly. Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and the milk/yeast mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition to help keep the mixture consistent. Beat dough on medium speed until it forms a smooth mass and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 7-10 minutes. Press dough into an ungreased 9x13 baking dish at least 2 inches deep. Cover dish with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel, put in a warm place, and allow to rise until doubled, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. To prepare topping, in a small bowl, mix corn syrup with 2 Tbsn water and the vanilla. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and corn syrup mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition. Spoon topping in large dollops over risen cake and use a spatula to gently spread it in an even layer. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cake will rise and fall in waves and have a golden brown top, but will still be liquid in the center when done. Allow to cool in pan before sprinkling with confectioner's sugar for serving. Cut into bars. Makes 2 dozen bars. From NYTimes.com.


We ended up with a great mix of cookies - bars, balls, refrigerator, drop, and bark - that we liberally sampled throughout the process strictly for quality control. That, and we ordered some pizza, so we'd have something other than sugar and champagne in our stomachs. That helps when you're scream/singing Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" after popping a few rum balls. Ruth brought over small and large pastry boxes and we loaded them all up with a mix of cookies to take to coworkers, who said they were all delicious. And I ended up eating probably one whole box over the next few days, so I can attest to that.

The Boss Brought Cookies

Today was my first official day as someone's boss. Forty-five days ago I hired someone, and it's been a long wait - but today he joined my team (which consists of him and me). I couldn't resist taking advantage of the opportunity to do a little baking - bringing in some blackberry muffins and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I figured food was a way to give people an excuse to introduce themselves, so I set up the goodies outside his cubicle and invited everyone to come by.



Coincidentally, today was also the day that our EA brought in treats to celebrate May birthdays and anniversaries - in the form of Babycakes from Cupcake Royale. I'm normally a bit of a Cupcake Royale hater (preferring Trophy Cupcakes by a wide margin), but the Babycakes diminutive size seem to prevent the dryness that have plagued the full size cupcakes I've tried from their shop.



Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°. Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light. Add the egg and mix until fluffy. Blend the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together well. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the chocolate chips. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes

Recipe courtesy of SouthernFood.About.com

French Macrons for an Irish Holiday

My friend & coworker, Adam, found a free copy of Cecile Cannone's Macarons cookbook for me recently, so I promised I'd make something and bring it in.

Rumor has it that French macarons are the new pie (which was the new cupcake for a hot-second). I'd never had one, but the technique seemed straightforward enough and the cookies themselves are so interesting looking that I was eager to bake and taste one. The versatility of them (you can fill them with ganache or buttercream or any number of creamy things) reminded me of profiteroles, for which I have a special place in my heart.

Not to be confused with Macaroons (the coconut & egg white cookie that I believe was an American adaptation of the French original), these are sandwich cookies made of almond meal, confectioner's sugar and egg whites, which are then filled. They tend to be tinted in a pyschadelic array of colors.

I ended up with free time this past weekend, and time in the evenings the early part of the week, so that gave me the opportunity to make a batch of macarons over the course of a few days - making the cookies first, then the ganache, then filling them, then dipping them. Since this week was St. Patrick's Day, Dan suggested I tint the cookies green. They ended up looking a little sci-fi, which I don't mind.

Having not had one before, I wasn't sure if I cooked them long enough. I think I actually made most of them a little too big, which resulted in them being a little chewier and more fragile than ideal. I filled them with dark chocolate ganache mixed with peanut butter, then dipped them in melted milk chocolate. The ganache actually broke on me, but I was able to get it to come back together. Despite my concerns, when I took them in to work my coworkers didn't seem to mind at all. My director even came back for seconds! And Adam said they were great, so I did my job.

French Macarons
250 grams almond flour
350 grams confectioner's sugar
1 cup egg white at room temperature
pinch of salt
2 tspn powdered egg whites (if humid)
150 grams superfine granulated sugar
5-7 drops gel paste food coloring (optional)

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Blend the almond flour with powdered sugar in a food processor to make a fine powder. Then sift the mixture through a strainer until it's as fine as you can get it. This keeps crumbs from forming on the macaron as they bake.

Using a wire whisk attachment on an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt and the powdered egg whites (if using them). Start slowly and then increase the speed as the whites start to rise. Add the granulated sugar and the food coloring. Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks and your meringue is firm and shiny.

Pour the beaten egg whites onto your almond flour mixture and gently fold them in using a rubber spatula. Move the spatula from the bottom of the bowl to the edges with one hand, using the other hand to rotate the bowl. Now hit the spatula against the rim of the bowl until the batter falls in a wide ribbon when you raise the spatula. When you can't see any crumbs of almond flour and the mixture is shiny and flowing, you're ready to start piping.

Fit the pastry bag with a number 8 tip and fill with batter. Start by squeezing a small amount of mix onto a parchment lined baking sheet to form a 2.5 inch diameter circle. Be sure to leave an inch of space between macarons so they won't touch when they bake. If the peaks that form on the top of the macarons don't disappear after piping, you could have beaten the mixture a bit more - but a tap of the baking sheet on the counter should remedy the problem.

Let the piped macarons rest for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake for 14 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, open the oven door briefly to let the steam out.

Let the macarons cool completely on a rack before taking them off the parchment paper and filling.

Fig and Starfruit Cookie Thing

The Complete Book of Cookies

Homemade Treats from Friends & Neighbors

This year we received an abundance of tasty gifts from friends, neighbors and coworkers.



Stephanie & Tom down the road brought us homemade Strawberry-Basil Jam, Brandied Pears, two kinds of fudge, caramels, and these little meringue pillows with candy-cane dust. You might notice the fudge & caramels got devoured before I could snap a photo.



Anna, Jason & Otis spoil us every year with delicious gifts dropped off on our doorstep - like little culinary elves visited us. Past years have been homemade tamales and homemade s'mores fixins, and this year we came home to a bounty of sweets.



Reverse rocky-road had me very intrigued, and a taste revealed them to be homemade marshmallows with chocolate and nuts swirled inside. Incredibly unique and equally yummy.

Spicy biscotti cookies studded with bright green pistachios and bright red cranberries were more flavorful than any biscotti I've tried.

And taking the award for most beautiful was the chocolate bark, which I still can't figure out how they made. It really looks like chunks of bark, with the intricate pattern of the wood etched into the chocolate, white chocolate and almond treat.

Holiday Baking 2010

In preparation for Christmas, Dan & I decided on some cookies we wanted to make for post-Christmas Day dinner. In addition to no-bake ginger-molasses rum balls, we made more traditional chewy molasses ginger cookies, and (as a nod to our love of all things Hawaiian), mango oatmeal bars. We had originally planned on making gingerbread cookies, but wanted to make something softer (and simpler), and I found this recipe while flipping through a new (to me) cookbook I picked up at work by Lisa Zwirn: Christmas Cookies: 50 Recipes to Treasure for the Holiday Season. The Mango bars are from our old standby, the Best of the Best from Hawaii.

Mango Bars
Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9x13 baking pan. Combine flour and sugar. Blend in butter and press into prepared pan. Bake 7 minutes.

Filling:
4 cups chopped mango or mango puree
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tspn lemon juice
1 tspn vanilla
1 tspn cinnamon
3 Tbspn cornstarch
3 Tbspn water

Combine mangoes, sugar, 1/3 cup water, lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon in a saucepan. Simmer until mangoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Combine cornstarch and water and stir into mango mixture, cooking until thickened. Remove from heat and cool slightly, then pour over prepared crust.

Topping:
2 cups quick oats
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened

Combine oats, flour and sugar. Blend in butter and sprinkle over mango mixture. Bake for 50 minutes, then cool and cut into bars. Store in refrigerator. Makes 2 dozen.

Molasses Ginger Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn salt
2 tspn ground ginger
1 tspn cinnamon
1/4 tspn allspice
1/4 tspn freshly grated nutmeg
12 Tbspn unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling the dough
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg in a medium bowl. In an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until fully blended. Beat in the molasses, then the egg. Slowly blend in flour mixture until fully incorporated. Place the remaining sugar in a small bowl. Pinch off clumps of dough and roll into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in the sugar to coat fully. Place balls about 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Bake 11-12 minutes, rotating the sheet pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool for two minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Both recipes were really simple and quick, and the results were mighty tasty. In the future, I hope to adapt the mango bar recipe, making it with different bases (ground up gingersnaps, graham crackers, or almonds?), and with different fruit fillings. Since I'm obsessed with the flavors in a Mai Tai, I thought an almond base with orange/pineapple/rum filling, a cherry on top and a lime icing would be delicious.

Reverse Trick-or-Treating

Halloween is my Christmas - the holiday I still get excited about for at least a month in advance, and spend a seemingly excessive amount of time planning and executing. This year was no exception, with lots of energy focused on transforming our front yard into a spooky graveyard to delight our neighbors and trick-or-treaters. But we also took a queue from our old neighbors, who welcomed us to Beacon Hill with a plate of homemade cookies delivered when their daughters trick-or-treated at our house.



Using that inspiration, Dan & I decided to whip up some Halloween themed baked goods, make up plates, and take them around to many of our neighbors - those we've met and some we've not. I figured that Halloween is one night when people are expecting people to knock on the door, so we wouldn't be intruding.



I made a couple batches of sugar cookie dough, and Dan & I rolled it out and cut it into Halloween shapes and little circles. After they'd baked and cooled, we topped them with royal icing, chocolate, candy corn and Nerds.



We did end up surprising a couple neighbors, as we went out a little early to deliver our treats, but all were excited by the surprise and very complimentary of our transformed yard. It was great to meet so many folks on our street, and I hope I can find more reasons to connect with our neighbors.



Despite the addition of a full sized coffin, an 8 foot tall gateway arch, more lighting and an animatronic bat, we had just 37 trick-or-treaters this year, a few less than last year, but they all seemed really excited by our decorations and the gift bags we give out (which included candies, stickers, Halloween rings, and chocolate eyeballs - a personal favorite).

Super Quick Chocolate Peanut Cookies

Dan needed some cookies for work tomorrow, but we didn't plan ahead - so we brainstormed based on what was around and decided a chocolate cookie with peanuts sounded good. We looked through some cookbooks, and I stumbled on a recipe in the Cake Mix Bible that uses a cake mix to make cookies. Cake mix isn't my usual Modus operandi, but I'm always intrigued by a new technique - and they turned out okay. Hopefully Dan's coworkers think so, too.

Chocolate Peanut Cookies
1 package of Moist Devil's Food Cake Mix
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
2 Tbspn milk
1 cup peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicon baking mats. Combine cake mix, peanut butter, eggs and milk in large mixing bowl. Beat at low speed with electric mixer until blended. Stir in peanuts. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to cooling racks.

(The original recipe specified crunchy peanut butter and used candy-coated peanut butter candies - aka Reese's Pieces - rather than peanuts we opted for. Also, the cookies didn't spread or flatten much at all, so I might make them smaller, flatten them, and space them a little closer if we use this recipe again.)