Chocolate Bread Pudding

Who could have thunk it?  Chocolate bread pudding emerges from freezer week?  Well, yes.  A few slices of Emily's last batch of "quick brioche" were still in the freezer.  Just enough for two ramekin sized portions of bread pudding.  Let me tell you, these are rich and deeply chocolatey...probably because we used all very dark chocolate, and none of that milk so-called "chocolate."  Find the recipe here.  Bread pudding fans will enjoy this, but it's not the highest form of the art.  This scores more in the chocolate column of desserts, than in the bread pudding column.  Still delicious.

Peach-Blackberry Pie

Back last summer, we did a peach-freezing experiment.  According to Cook's Illustrated, the best way to keep peaches is to slice them, and mix with a little sugar and some "fruit fresh" (ascorbic acid), then bag and freeze.  Blackberries, which were amazing last year, are best frozen individually spread out on a tray and then bagged once frozen.  We finally decided to use them and those techniques worked out great.  The peaches smelled like late summer.  Emily then worked her pie-making magic on what has got to be the best fruit pie combination ever conceived.  Even better than strawberry-rhubarb or blueberry-cranberry.

Almond Butter and Jelly Thumbprints

PB&J in a cookie.  Blackberry jam, almond butter, Martha Stewart's recipe.  Simple and delicious. If you haven't discovered Trader Joe's reasonably priced nut butters, please discover them soon.

Meyer Lemon Cranberry Scones

Emily discovered a killer combination with this scone recipe.  Again taking advantage of Whole Food's $2 deal on a bag of Meyer lemons, she turned them into scones with cranberries.  I can't get enough of the super tart cranberries and lemony flavor.  Emily amped it up with a lemon icing.  You can find the recipe here.  These scones were reviewed (and polished off) by the office and seemed to get good reviews.

Eclairs with Chestnut Cream

You must forgive me for not having a clue how this recipe went together.  Eclairs used to be one of my favorites, and chestnut puree (marron glace) still is a rare treasure.  So when Emily offered up this combination, I couldn't refuse.  She then launched into a research frenzy - dissecting and compiling the best aspects of each eclair recipe she could find before firing up the stand mixer.  (She does this often, usually with good results.)  The upshot is that I have no way of telling you how to replicate exactly the flavor and texture combinations created in our household , but I can give you a hint.  She found these recipes for the cream puff dough and the chesnut cream particularly inspiring.  Good luck!

Homemade Marshmallows

Some people like the cocoa, some people like the marshmallows.  Well, if you are tired of those microscopic marshmallows in the Swiss Miss packet, I have a recipe for you.  These homemade cubes are man-sized.  There is a lot of sugar in the recipe, but the liquid is really where the potential for greatness lies.  The basic recipe is here.  Variations we have tried include peppermint (use water and a tsp of peppermint extract) and apple cider (use cider and some apple-friendly spices).  One marshmallow per mug.

 On a side note, we happened to have a really great cup of hot chocolate the other day at Pitango Gelato on P Street in DC.  It's a steal compared to the other prices in the shop, and it is well worth it - in consideration for my "best of" list.  According to their website, they are also in Baltimore and Reston.  They don't top with marshmallows, but definitely don't refuse the whipped cream - it is top quality.

Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake

Try this cake if you are a lemon lover.  It's winter time now and that means it is time for citrus.  The Meyer lemons for this cake did not come from our tree - we had three flowers on it, but no fruit yet - they came from a surprisingly cheap bag of them at Whole Foods.  They get sliced up thinly and put into the cake rind and all.  The recipe is a good one - the cake is moist and the topping crunchy, crumbly and sweet.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Fusion of two great desserts: pumpkin pie and bread pudding has been achieved in the laboratory.  Emily made this recipe using brioche made from scratch.  If you like the crispy bits, take a scrape off the top.  If, on the other hand, you like warm custardy comfort, take a deep scoop.  Pumpkin pairs very well with bread pudding, and this is worth a try.  On the other hand, what doesn't pair well with bread pudding?  Home-made brioche does take this up a notch - and the best part is that you have leftovers that can be frozen for french toast the next time you have a leisurely breakfast.  Don't neglect a tasty bourbon or something similar... just the right amount adds great flavor.

Apple Pate de Fruit

Emily's latest creation is a really good apple fruit roll-up.  Cut with a cookie cutter and served with cheddar cheese, it it quite tasty.  Actually, it makes me rethink my dismissal of the fruit roll-up as kiddie snacks.  Recipe here.

Pear Gingerbread Upside-Down Cake

This moist gingerbread cake bakes in a pan - the same pan that cooks the pears in brown sugar topping. Here is the recipe that Emily made. Bosc pears hold up nicely to cooking and are currently in season, so they are perfect for this recipe.

Hit Cookies

Hit! Emily surpassed those European biscuit sandwich cookies with this recipe. They are good tea cookies - two buttery biscuits and a creamy chocolate filling. They were gone the next morning.

Two-crust Apple Pie

Emily whipped up one of her famous pies for me after we went apple picking on Saturday. Two-crust is my favorite so that was my special request. For a little extra zing she made a ginger-caramel sauce for topping. There are still a few pieces left!

Banana Bread

Cook's Illustrated came through for my office with this banana bread recipe. We had an emergency with a number of bananas going bad over the weekend - black enough that they got passed over for the new all-yellow bananas from Peapod Monday morning. Banana bread is great for past their prime bananas because their intense banana flavor is muted and more tasty in a cake. You can make this recipe with stuff you have on hand (if you generally have yogurt in the fridge) and it is very quick to make. I would have added chocolate if I had some in the house - banana-chocolate is one of my favorite combos.