Easy Upside Down Cake - Use up those peaches stashed in your freezer

Nearly every peach lover I know here in Colorado has a stash of peaches in their freezer. That's because Colorado grows some truly excellent peaches and they show up by the case almost every summer (sadly, some summers we get very little because Colorado is still a tricky place to grow peaches). I like to make a simple "sauce" with them to put on pancakes or waffles, or in oatmeal.

Without the nuts, you can see the peaches but I like it better with the crunch from the nuts

But sometimes, you need dessert. :-) This one is a straightforward spiced cake baked with a sweet topping of peaches and blueberries. It's the perfect cake for tea, coffee, or an informal dinner party. I brought it to dinner with some friends and it was a huge hit.

Unlike many cakes, you don't need an electric mixer, but you do need a heavy 10" skillet, like a cast iron skillet. You will also need a plate larger than the skillet on which to turn out the cake.

Upside-Down Peach and Blueberry Cake
(serves 10)

Topping
1 Tablespoon butter
6 Tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1 ½ Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
the zest of ½ a lemon (remember to zest it before you juice it)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, not necessary to thaw)
¾ cup fresh or frozen peaches, thinly sliced

Cake
1 ½ cups sifted cake flour (measure after sifting)
1 teaspoon baking powder (¾ teaspoon at 5400 ft., Boulder altitude)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅓ cup vegetable oil (I prefer sunflower oil)
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup honey
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
⅓ cup skim milk

⅓ cup toasted almond slices for garnish (see Note)

Preheat the oven to 325°F and position an oven rack in the center of the oven.

Melt the butter in a 10" heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar dissolves, about a minute. Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir in the lemon zest, blueberries, and peaches. Spread into an even layer. Set aside while you make the cake.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, honey, egg, almond extract, and milk. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together until well blended.

Pour the batter evenly over the fruit in the skillet. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean and the cake is golden.

Cool the cake for 4 minutes on a wire rack. Place a large plate on top of the skillet. Using heavy potholders (that skillet is still very hot), flip over the plate and the pan. The fruit and sauce shouldn't stick much, but if it does, use a spoon to scrape it out and arrange on the cake. Sprinkle cake with toasted almonds. Cool cake somewhat because it will be too hot to eat the sugary topping right out of the oven. It's delicious warm or at room temperature.

Note: To toast almond slices, put them in a small baking pan and put in a 300°F oven for about 8-10 minutes, stirring now and then so they brown evenly. Watch carefully because they can burn in a flash.

Adapted from Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by Susan G. Purdy, William Morrow and Company, 1993.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie

Almost the weekend...how about a yummy, rich & creamy chocolate pie? Not sure where this recipe came from. I got it from my mom back in the early 80's. But, it's a keeper. Note that this pie contains raw eggs, though many supermarkets now carry pasteurized in-the-shell eggs. They can be used if you are concerned about eating/serving raw eggs.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie
(8 - 10 servings)

Crust
1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅓ cup melted butter
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted

Filling
6 oz. semisweet chips
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs, separated
¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Prepare the crust: combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add butter and chocolate. Mix thoroughly. Press mixture into a 9" pie plate. Chill until firm.

Melt chocolate over hot but not boiling water. Cool about 5 minutes. Blend cream cheese, ½ brown sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in cooled chocolate and blend well. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in ¼ cup brown sugar. Beat until stiff and glossy. Fold into chocolate mixture. Fold in whipped cream. Scoop into prepared crust, reserving ¼ of the mixture for decorating. Chill until filling sets slightly. Drop reserved mixture in mounds over top of pie. Chill overnight.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Zucchini bread, the classic way to use up too much zucchini from the garden. Or your neighbor's garden. But, my zucchini plant was chewed up by a squirrel, then yanked up by a deer who didn't even have the decency to eat the thing. So, definitely a zucchini shortage in my house this summer. A friend of a friend bestowed an overgrown zucchini so I was able to test out a new chocolate zucchini "cake." I have a recipe that is a bit out of control - too much sugar, too much fat, and too much cake unless you are bringing it to a large gathering. But, I like the concept.

The first time I baked this, I used a loaf pan (see picture above). But, it's so moist and soft that it really works better in a square cake pan. It also bakes up faster because it has spread out more.

I used Dutch cocoa the first time, which results in a darker color and a richer chocolate flavor. The second time, I used natural cocoa (most commonly seen as Hershey's cocoa). The color is lighter as is the flavor. Feel free to try it either way. Both are good, as my husband and friends will attest.

If you end up using a baseball bat zucchini, don't grate up the center part with the seeds. Just use the fleshy outside layer.

If you are baking this cake at sea level (I live at 5400 ft above sea level), increase the baking powder to 1 teaspoon, which is my best guess on the correct amount for you flat-landers.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
(serves 9-12)

Cream Cheese Brownies

I made these brownies mostly because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand and I needed a dessert for company. The recipe is from Let Them Eat Cake by Susan Purdy with some minor altitude adjustments for my mile-high location. I've put the original in too for you folks who are altitudanally challenged. :-) Also, I used full-fat cream cheese - because that is what I had. Purdy has written some of my favorite baking cookbooks: Have Your Cake and Eat it, Too (a healthier baking book like Let Them Eat Cake), The Family Baker, and an excellent high-altitude baking book called Pie in the Sky. Her recipes are well-tested and most are totally doable by novice bakers.

Cream Cheese Brownies
(makes 16, one 9x9" pan)

Yet another pretty Dessert photo

Happy Birthday to Jenny! You can read Jenny's poems by following the link on my blog page(Le Poeme). I made this cake for her birthday dinner. It's another Maida Heatter beauty. It's called the Montana Mountain Cake. Because it's about as tall as a Montana mountain (the nice icing peaks don't hurt either). And, I didn't even bake the layers in 8" cake pans, as she says you can. It would have been ridiculous!

It's three tall layers of delicious mild chocolate cake with loads of coffee-caramel 7-minute icing. Very impressive - when you walk in the door, the guests all go "Oooh!" and "Aaahhh!" Even more ooohs and aaahhhs when they taste it.

People ask me if I like baking desserts best. Certainly, the adulation is lovely. I really love cooking, with baking another part of cooking. I don't really understand people who say they can't bake, especially great chefs/cooks. If you meet me, don't tell me you can't bake. You might not be able to bake this cake as your first (or even 10th) foray into baking, but you can bake. Takes a bit more attention to detail, but if you can follow a recipe, you can bake.

Cheesecake - You crack me up!

First, I'd like to apologize to my loyal readers for my lack of posting. I have been busy working on another blog: School of Eating Good, which is my new baby. This blog features recipes, techniques, and information on basic cooking. School of Eating Good is targeted at young adults who find themselves cooking, often for the first time in their lives. On Facebook, School of Eating Good is associated with Boulder, CO Food Revolution, part of the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution. Search for us and like us!

Back to the cheesecake...lots of people ask me about cheesecake. Has to be the most challenging "easy" dessert out there. Why does my cheesecake crack?? How can I stop this? Why is my cheesecake dry and grainy? I offer a few suggestions here and a recipe.

The Five Reasons for Cheesecake Failure

1. You over-bake it. It's not really a cake, it's a custard. If you bake it until it's solid, it's over-baked. It should jiggle in the center when you take it out of the oven. If the recipe says bake until it doesn't jiggle, get a new recipe, like the one below. Baking the cheesecake less will solve both the cracking and the dry, grainy problem.

Icebox Cake

My friend Jenny has a tradition of Thanksgiving in Summer. Likes Thanksgiving so much, she plans a second one sometime during the summer. Gets to share the turkey her employer gives her every year. I had to bring dessert. Sure, pie is traditional. But, it's not November when I'm more than happy to turn on my oven.

It's July and it's been hot. Really hot. I don't turn on my oven when it's this hot. I cook outside on the grill. Cooking dessert on the grill can be done but it's limited and most grilled desserts lack the wow factor (unless it's homemade ice cream, which is in a class by itself). I certainly won't be baking a pie.

Enter icebox cake. No baking. Simple assembly. Tastes as good as cheesecake. Icebox cake was very popular once but it's fallen out of favor. I don't know why. It's really good, especially if it includes a pound of mascarpone cheese. The only thing to remember is you have to put it together 24 hours ahead

And to make it feel like Thanksgiving, I served it with cranberry sauce.

Ginger-Mascapone Icebox Cake
serves 12-16
(from the Best American Recipes 2000; originally from Fine Cooking Magazine)

butter or nonstick spray
3-4 tbl sugar
12 ounces Ginger Snap Cookie Crumbs
5 tbl Unsalted Butter, melted
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1⁄2 cup Plain Low-Fat Yogurt
2⁄3 cup Sugar
1⁄2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1⁄2 cup Crystallized Ginger, minced
1 pound Mascarpone Cheese
1⁄3 cup Heavy Cream

Spray a 9" springform pan with nonstick spray or butter it lightly. Dust the pan with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and shake out any excess. In a medium bowl, combine the ginger snap crumbs and butter, rubbing them together with your fingertips to combine thoroughly. Sprinkle half of the crumbs over the bottom of the pan and pat down evenly; reserve the rest.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, whip together the cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, vanilla, and ginger until smooth, scraping down the sides. Add the mascarpone and cream and whip until the mixture is thoroughly combined and just holds peaks. Don't overwhip, or the mixture may separate.

Carefully spoon half of the mascarpone mixture over the crust, spreading it evenly to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle half of the remaining crumbs over the mascarpone mixture in the pan. Top with the remaining mascarpone mixture and finish with the remaining crumbs. Gently tap the pan on the counter to eliminate any air bubbles. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold.

Link to PDF of Ginger-Mascarpone Icebox Cake

An Impressive Raspberry Trifle

Here's an impressive holiday dessert, a Raspberry-White Chocolate-Almond Trifle. I pulled this recipe off of Epicurious.com a few years back and I've made it twice to rave reviews. It's not often I make a recipe more than once. It has to be knock-out good. And this recipe qualifies.

This is not a difficult recipe but it does have a number of steps and components. Don't be intimidated! Give yourself enough time to get all the pieces done, put it together and let it chill until you need to serve. Everyone will be impressed.

Crisp ladyfingers are found in some supermarkets in the cookie section or in Italian groceries. They are the same ladyfingers used in tiramisu. Typically, they come in 7 oz packages with 24 cookies in each.

A tip on washing and drying raspberries -  put them in a colander and spray them with cold water. Then shake them gently. Finally, place berries on a clean kitchen towel, hollow side down so any water inside the berries drains out. Fresh raspberries are delicate little things and this is the best way to clean them without banging them up. And since these berries are garnish, you want them to look pretty.

The order of assembly is important here. If you put the hot melted jam on top of the whipped cream, it will deflate the cream, so follow the order in the recipe to keep the cream light and fluffy.

Full disclosure on this recipe: the second time I made this recipe, I grabbed the vanilla extract instead of the almond extract. Still tasted great! So, if you only have vanilla and don't want to spring for a bottle of almond, go for it. It will be just fine.

Raspberry, White Chocolate and Almond Trifle
(serves 16-20)
Adapted from Epicurious.com

Requires 5 hours of chilling after assembly and can be made up to 24 hours before serving

3 ½ cups Chilled Heavy Whipping Cream, divided
12 ounces High-Quality White Chocolate (Such As Lindt Or Perugina), chopped
1 ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract, divided
½ cup Sugar
½ cup Water
7 ounces Boudoirs Or Champagne Biscuits (Crisp Ladyfinger Cookies)
1 cup Raspberry Jam, melted
2 12-ounce Packages Frozen Unsweetened Raspberries, partially thawed
2 6-ounce Containers Fresh Raspberries, washed and dried
¾ cup Sliced Almonds, toasted

Bring 1 cup cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate; whisk until smooth, which will take a couple of minutes. Cool to barely lukewarm, about 10 minutes. You don't want to add hot chocolate to the cream because it will deflate the whipped cream.

Beat 2 1/2 cups cream and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in a large bowl to soft peaks. Fold in white chocolate mixture.

Stir sugar and 1/2 cup water in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar melts. Mix in 3/4 teaspoon almond extract; remove syrup from heat. Quickly submerge 1 biscuit in syrup; shake excess back into pan (I found that the ladyfingers acted like a sponge so there wasn't anything to shake off). Place dipped biscuit in bottom of 14-cup trifle dish. Repeat with enough biscuits to cover bottom of dish (should be 8 ladyfingers).

Spread 1/3 of melted jam over biscuits in dish. Top with 1/3 of partially thawed berries with juices. Spread 1/3 of whipped chocolate cream over berries. Repeat layering with dipped biscuits, melted jam, partially thawed berries, and whipped chocolate cream 2 more times. Mound fresh berries in center of trifle. Sprinkle almonds around edge.

Cover and refrigerate at least 5 hours.

Link to PDF of Raspberry, White Chocolate and Almond Trifle