Cranberry Orange Upside Down Cake

When I was a kid thought of upside down cakes as “dump cakes.” You know, you dump the cake out of the pan and stuff runs everywhere. It seemed reasonable at the time, even if it sounded less than palatable to the average ear. My boys think upside down cakes are magic, and I had an audience when I turned this one out onto the serving plate. Top Gun stood as patiently as he possibly could, his eyes big as saucers when I lifted off the pan, and he simply said, “Wow.” Then after tasting a few crumbs he wanted to know when we were having dessert.

I like upside down cakes because the fruit and glaze looks so pretty on the top, and for the most part they are easy to make. You can serve them as is or dress it up for guests with a little whipped cream or ice cream; either way, you have a simple cake that looks beautiful and works well for dessert or brunch.

With cranberries in season, this is an easy and tasty way to use them. The tartness of the berries and the orange juice balances the sweetness of the brown sugar, the orange zest carries on the theme in the cake, and the whipped cream has just a touch of orange flavor with Grand Marnier.

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Orange Blueberry Muffins

When I acquired a copy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours a couple months ago, my reasoning was I needed it for whatever challenges The Daring Bakers might throw out, but really it’s because I wanted to try every recipe in the book. I’d seen wonderful samples all over the cooking blogs for so long I couldn’t hold out any longer.

Even though The Daring Bakers made Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake in March, I felt I should start at the beginning and work my way through the book, so we started with her Orange Blueberry Muffins for breakfast one morning, and they were gone in a flash. As I studied the recipe the night before, I realized I had some homemade candied orange peel stored in a jar of sugar in the pantry, and I couldn’t resist adding it. I chopped about 1/4 cup of the peel (sorry, I forgot to weigh it) and then sprinkled some of the orange sugar on top of the muffins. As it turns out, it’s a good thing I added the chopped orange peel because Top Gun was stealing blueberries behind my back, so adding the orange peel helped make up for the loss of the blueberries.

We enjoyed the extra orange flavor, and now I have to make more candied orange peel so we can have these muffins again.  The orange and blueberry combination was delicious. And as for the color, they really were that orange! Read more

The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

How often do you find a cookbook that is so chock full of good recipes that you want to make every single one of them? That day? That’s how I felt when The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy arrived in my mailbox. I grabbed the package and took it along in the car when I went to pick up the boys for school, knowing I would have a few minutes to browse while waiting for them. A few minutes was not enough because I found myself pouring over the pages. Many of my cookbooks have sticky flags on the pages with recipes that I like or want to try, but for Murphy’s book I didn’t even bother because I will eventually make everything in it, and the things that I have made so far have been fantastic.

Murphy is the chef and owner of Sweet Melissa Patisserie in New York City, a popular bakery considered one of the best in the city. I spent some time on the bakery’s website, wishing I had a spot in my neighborhood with food that good so I could take the laptop and hang out there on my mommy days. The menu is so tempting and her wedding and specialty cakes are breathtaking. I plan to take a trip to New York City sometime, and one of my first stops will be Sweet Melissa, especially if it has WiFi. Murphy also has a few baking podcasts available on PodCastGo.com, which are now on my iPod.

Because my favorite meal is breakfast, I started in the “Dessert for Breakfast” chapter with her Sweet Muffins recipe. For both her sweet and savory muffins, Murphy encourages variation by not specifying particular fruits or cheeses and vegetables within the text of the recipes, but saves the suggestions for tasty combinations for the end. I made the sweet muffins while Michael’s parents were visiting a few weekends ago, and added apples, cinnamon, and dried cranberries. The muffins were a hit, and it’s a good thing I made a double batch that morning, otherwise there would have been none left for me to photograph. They were perfect right out of the pan, no butter or jam required, with a slightly crispy crust and moist crumb, and the vanilla sugar on top added a sweet, aromatic crunch. Read more

Apple Cinnamon Crunch Muffins

Weekday morning breakfast is usually a quick affair for us with leftovers from the weekend or perhaps cereal with fruit. But today we woke up to ice on the roads and an announcement that schools were closed, so I decided to do something fun and make muffins. The recipe comes from Michael’s mother, a variation on her blueberry muffins that we enjoy during our treks to the family camp. The boys made quick work of them and there are none left for a snack!

My three-year-old wanted to help make breakfast, so I put him to work sifting the dry ingredients. I measured the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon, and he sifted and whisked the mixture for me. He was quite a little helper!

These are easy to whip up on short notice, and you can save time by premixing the dry ingredients and topping the night before. The muffins are on the small side, not like big gourmet muffins, but for little appetites that’s a good thing. If you want bigger muffins, you can make just eight muffins or you can make a double batch of batter and bake 18 muffins instead of 24. Whether you like big or small muffins, these make a tasty treat on a cold morning. With a hot cup of English Breakfast tea, I enjoyed a nice breakfast today, even though the boys were bouncing off the walls.

The topping makes enough for at least two batches, so you can save the extras for another time.

[Updated: October 4, 2008] Read more

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

On Christmas morning we wake up with the kids and look into the stockings and open presents. The kids are so excited we really can’t do much else before that! But after all that excitement is done, I usually go into the kitchen and bake the cinnamon rolls I started on Christmas Eve. In fact, we’ve traditionally called these Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls because it’s pretty much the only day I make them (except for Daring Bakers challenges). This year was a bit different since we were on the go on Christmas Eve and up very late with final preparations, so I didn’t even get started on the rolls until the next morning. The kids were ready to eat and I had to say, “How about some Cheerios while I fix the cinnamon rolls?” That held them off for a little while, although the house was cool and the rolls weren’t rising as quickly as I would have liked. I put them in the warmest spot in the house, our laundry room, right in the sun hoping that they would rise more quickly, but luck was not on my side. Instead of having these for breakfast or brunch, they became an afternoon snack. But we did have them on Christmas Day!

The rolls are a delicious Meyers family tradition that Michael’s mom started and we have continued, but I added the cream cheese glaze because for me a cinnamon roll is not really a cinnamon roll without some sugary glaze on top. The dough is soft and silky and pretty easy to make, especially if you use a stand mixer, but you can of course mix and knead by hand. Mix the dough up and shape the rolls on Christmas Eve then allow them to rise overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning take them out as soon as you wake up and let them come to room temperature, then bake. The cinnamon aroma makes the house smell wonderful! Read more

The Daring Bakers Do Cinnamon and Sticky Buns

I don’t do fancy stuff for breakfast. Seriously. Some people might look at my Breakfast posts and disagree, but as I explained in my Cherry Sour Cream Scones post, most morning meals are simple with just fruit and grains of some sort. With three little boys to get going in the mornings, I don’t have the luxury to make extravagant breakfasts. Though I dearly love cinnamon rolls and could eat them every single morning, I reserve fancy things like that for special occasions such as Christmas or when we have family visiting. Actually, that’s probably a good thing because all that butter and sugar goes straight to my backside.

For our September project, Marce of Pip in the City challenged The Daring Bakers to tackle Peter Reinhart’s cinnamon and sticky buns from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I own the book and have made several things from it, but I’ve never made Reinhart’s cinnamon buns because we have a family recipe that we really like, so thanks to Marce for the opportunity to try this recipe. Read more

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