About Carrie Zinnecker

Posts by Carrie Zinnecker:

Cinnamon Sugar Peach Cake

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When I came across this recipe I practically ran to the kitchen to begin making it.  I took out a stick of butter, 2 eggs and buttermilk to bring them to room temperature.  Since my little guy was asleep, I couldn’t make it to the store to get the one ingredient I lacked…fresh peaches.  So I used…canned peaches.  Did you just cringe?  I’m embarrassed, especially when there are fresh, juicy peaches available about a mile from my house.  While I am sure fresh peaches would have been better, the cake still turned out wonderfully.  That means you can make this in the dead of winter, when peaches aren’t so abundant.

Thanks to Ina Garten, one of my favorite Food Network people, for this recipe.  Her recipe calls for sour cream, which I did not have.  I substituted 3/4 cup of buttermilk and 1/3 cup softened butter.  I think it would have been fine to use 1 cup of buttermilk without the additional butter.

This cake can be eaten for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or for breakfast.  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Peach Cake

Courtesy of Ina Garten, foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup of softened butter
  • 1 cup + 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 large can of peaches, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup pecans
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch-square baking pan.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the all the butter and 1 cup of the sugar for 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, then the buttermilk and vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth.
  3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined.
  4. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.
  5. Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan. Top with half of the peaches, then sprinkle with two-thirds of the sugar mixture.
  6. Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the remaining peaches on top and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans.
  7. Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lemon Rosemary Madeleines

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In honor of Bastille Day…or possibly just an excuse to use the madeleine pan that has been sitting in my cupboard for a few years now? Regardless, these French lemon madeleines are light and lovely.

This was one of those times in the kitchen where you begin to wonder, “Is this just not in the stars for me?”  First the butter exploded in the microwave, with great flair, I should add.  Loud popping clumps of butter going everywhere.  Then I was separating eggs and almost added the whites instead of the yolks to the bowl.  Then I spilled cake flour all over myself and the floor, something I really hate cleaning up for some reason.  Really?  It was just one thing after another.  A lesson in patience and being slow to anger?  Maybe so.

Madeleines are beautiful little treasures, but impossible to make without a madeleine pan.  I only have one small madeleine pan and I didn’t feel like waiting for it to cool, washing it out and re-greasing it before making another batch, so I used my remaining batter to make little lemon rosemary muffins.  Simply grease 24 mini muffin cups, fill them 3/4 full and bake for about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the tops are just beginning to brown.  Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!  They don’t have the same cute little ruffled shell shape, but they are just as good.

Fresh and light lemon flavor with just a subtle rosemary flavor, these little cake-like cookies are wonderful.  I think they’d be perfect for a tea party, baby or bridal shower.

Lemon Rosemary Madeleines

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 3 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • powdered sugar
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two madeleine pans; set aside. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; Mix in chopped rosemary and set aside.
  2. Put eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and thickened, about 5 minutes. Mix in butter. Using a spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Let rest 30 minutes.
  3. Pour batter into buttered pans, filling the molds 3/4 full. Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through, until edges are crisp and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly in pans on wire racks. Invert, and unmold. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

 

Potato, Corn, Tomato and Basil Salad

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This tasty potato salad is one of the sides we had on the Fourth of July.  While I do have a special place in my heart  for a nice mustard potato salad, this one was lighter and fresher in flavor than the traditional yellow side dish.

When dressing this salad I didn’t use the measurements in the original recipe.  I don’t like to overdo it on the oil, so I just drizzled a little olive oil, squeezed the juice of one large lemon, sprinkled some salt and pepper, tossed, then tasted.  At this point you can add more of whatever it needs.  I added a little more lemon, salt and pepper.

This is a nice, simple summer side.  Fresh ingredients make such a huge difference, so it’s the perfect time of year to make this salad.  I used a combination of red potatoes and baby Yukon golds that came fresh from a garden.  The light and lemony dressing make this potato salad a healthier option than those with mayonnaise based dressings.  If you like a creamier dressing, I think adding some yogurt would be a good option.  Enjoy!

Potato, Corn, Tomato and Basil Salad

Recipe from Dave Lieberman, foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

  • 1 pound baby red potatoes, scrubbed
  • 5 medium ears of corn (about 3 pounds)
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
  • 1 small red onion, peeled and sliced thinly (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
  • 1 large bunch fresh basil, rinsed, dried, and leaves picked
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 large lemons, juiced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • About 15 grinds freshly ground pepper

Directions

  1. Place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to boil. Cook until just fork tender, about 15 minutes. Fish out the potatoes with a spider or slotted spoon and place them in a bowl of ice cold water to stop them from cooking.
  2. Shuck the corn and break each ear in half. Cook in the same boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes until tender but not soft. Remove the cooled potatoes to a dish-cloth to drain. Immerse corn in the same ice bath until cool. Cut each potato into quarters and place in a large bowl.
  3. Remove corn from water and also let drain. Use a chef’s knife to cut the kernels off each ear. Add kernels to bowl. Add grape tomatoes, onion, and whole basil leaves. Add olive oil and lemon juice and toss gently to combine. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Buttermilk Berry Muffins

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Most weekday mornings Ben is out of the house before I even roll out of bed.  He almost always has a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  He always uses one of our green soup bowls.  He is a creature of habit, and I love that about him.  But I changed up his routine this weekend.

This past Saturday I was up first and managed to throw together these muffins for breakfast.  They came together so quickly!  Buttermilk makes these muffins wonderfully moist.  The berries provide a burst of tart sweetness.  A little sprinkle of raw sugar gives a nice crunch without the extra work of making a streusel.  Yes, I am too lazy to make a simple steusel.

I used a combination of fresh raspberries and blueberries, about a cup of each.  Blackberries would also be delicious.  This recipe comes from The Joy of Baking.  Enjoy!

Buttermilk Berry Muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • zest from 1 lemon
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups fresh berries
  • 1/4 cup raw/turbinado sugar
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Prepare 18 regular size muffin cups with muffin cups or grease and sugar cups.
  2. Whisk flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt and lemon zest in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl whisk buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla.
  4. Gently fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
  5. Fold in berries, being careful not to mash them too much.
  6. Fill each muffin cup almost full of batter.
  7. Sprinkle each with a little of the raw sugar.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes until just browned.

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Easy Basil Pesto

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Summer means an abundance of fresh basil.  Fresh basil means fresh pesto.  So, summer must mean fresh pesto.

There are so many things you can do with pesto.  Spread on  baguette slices and garnish with a slice of tomato…make it even better with a piece of fresh mozzarella.  Toss it with warm pasta.  Mix with some mayo for basil mayonnaise.  Use on pizza and panini.  Thin it out with more olive oil and drizzle over roasted chicken or fish.

A lovely college friend of mine went to a Giada De Laurentiis cooking demo at Sur La Table when she was in LA 5 years ago.  She bought me a signed copy of Everyday Italian.  It is one of those cookbooks that I love, but don’t use nearly enough.  This pesto recipe is from that cookbook and it is so simple and delicious.

You can make this in a blender, or in a food processor.  If you’re planning to double the recipe, which isn’t a bad idea, so that you have some extra pesto for freezing, then use the food processor.

Basil Pesto

From Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2-2/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Directions

  1. Toast pine nuts in a 350°F oven for 6-8 minutes until slightly browned.  Be careful not to burn them.
  2. Place basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper in blender with a tablespoon or so of the olive oil and blend.
  3. With the blender still going, slowly drizzle in the remaining oil until the consistency is to your liking.  You may need to stop every now and then to push any stray basil leaves back down.
  4. Transfer to a bowl and stir in parmesan, season to taste with more salt and pepper if desired.

 

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

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In my quest for a patriotic dessert to make in honor of the Fourth of July, I came across many that utilize summer’s bounty of red and blue berries.  It just wasn’t the Fourth as a kid without a flag cake!  This red, white and blue dessert is a bit fancier than flag cake, and is really much easier.  No fruity stars and stripes here.  Just classically beautiful and incredibly good.

Panna cotta is Italian for cooked cream.  It has always seemed a little daunting to me, but this is truly one of the easiest desserts I have ever made.  The ability to make this days in advance is appealing to me…as someone who tends to stress before having guests.  Make these early and that’s one less thing to worry about the day of your party.

You can probably tell by the ingredient list that this is not a dessert you would enjoy every night of the week.  It is so very rich, so wonderfully creamy and perfectly smooth.  If you don’t have vanilla beans, then you can use a teaspoon of vanilla extract or ,better yet, vanilla bean paste which would give you the nice specks in this otherwise pure white dessert.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

From Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
  • 3 cups whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 vanilla beans, split
  • pinch of salt
  • Assorted fresh berries

Directions

  1. Place the milk in a heavy, small saucepan.  Sprinkle gelatin over the top and let sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir over medium heat until gelatin dissolves, but milk does not boil, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the cream, honey, sugar, vanilla beans and salt.  Stir over heat until sugar dissolves.  Remove vanilla beans and scrape out seeds into the mixture.  Stir to distribute.
  4. Remove from the heat and divide the cream mixture into 6-8 cups (wine glasses are pretty, but dessert cups or ramekins are fine).
  5. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.
  6. Garnish with berries and a sprig of mint.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Is there any better combination?  Maybe if I’d added caramel in some capacity…

Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
  • 1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup coarsely ground pretzels
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling

Directions

  1. Beat butter and peanut butter until thoroughly combined.
  2. Add sugars and beat until light.
  3. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until fluffy.
  4. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until combined.
  5. Mix in pretzels and chocolate chips.
  6. Roll into balls (about the size of a golf ball) and roll in granulated sugar.  Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment and flatten slightly.
  7. Bake @ 350°F for 10 minutes.

What I Want Wednesday

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This kitchen.

I always thought I wanted a clean white kitchen, but then I came across this while searching for kitchen chandeliers.  I want to put a tiny one above my kitchen sink.

It looks like that’s a 6 burner stove…no, wait…I am pretty sure it’s 8!  The backsplash behind the stove is lovely.  I think that there’s a wine fridge under what appears to be a microwave.

The butcher block island is enormous!  Oh, the prep work I could accomplish there.

The sink has one of those pull down sprayers.  I might even start to like washing dishes with that.

High ceilings, white chandeliers, clean lines, a wall of windows, plenty of room for mingling, glass front cabinets.  I want this kitchen.

Peanut Butter Icebox Pie

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There are not many combinations more perfect than peanut butter and chocolate.  When I came across this recipe as I was flipping though The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook I immediately stopped and added the ingredients to my grocery list.

There is no baking required and therefore no need to turn on your oven, which is nice for me.  It’s been over 100°F most days this summer.

I changed a few things about the assembly of this pie to make it a little simpler.  If you read the recipe from the cookbook you notice that the assembly requires some marbling of the caramel, peanut butter and cream cheese mixture.  I just put a layer of caramel on top of the crust and then mixed the peanut butter in with the cream cheese.  This seemed to be a fine way to assemble the pie, maybe just not as pretty as the marbling would have been.

I highly recommend putting the peanut butter cups in the fridge or freezer prior to chopping.  This makes life, cutting boards, knives and hands, much cleaner.

As you might have noticed, there is not much sugar in the filling.  I was a little worried about this, but it was perfect.  Who am I to doubt Magnolia Bakery?  Combined with the cookie crust, caramel and peanut butter cups it is just wonderful and not overly sweet.

One of my new guilty pleasures are those Reese’s Minis, and I happen to have a stash of them in the fridge (where I must keep any chocolate with it being so hot this time of year.)  I halved the minis and chopped some unsalted peanuts for the topping.  If I were feeling really crazy I might use salted peanuts as a nice salty contrast.  Something else that might be interesting would be using some of the white chocolate Reese’s…I think it could work.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Icebox Pie

From The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

Filling

  • 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup (1 pint) heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
  • 6-8 regular peanut butter cups, chopped
  • 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup caramel sauce

Garnish

  • Handful of chopped peanut butter cups
  • Handful of chopped peanuts

Directions

Crust

  1. Combine butter and cookie crumbs in a bowl until crumbs are evenly coated.
  2. Press into a 9-inch pie plate.
  3. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Filling

  1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy, 2 minutes.  Add sugar gradually, then beat in peanut butter and vanilla.
  2. Whip the cream in a separate bowl, then fold gently into the cream cheese mixture.
  3. Fold in the peanut butter cups.

Assembly

  1. Remove the crust from the freezer.
  2. Spread the caramel on the bottom of the crust, then spread the filling over the caramel and smooth the top.
  3. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 8 hours, or overnight.
  4. To serve, garnish with peanut butter cups and peanuts.

Mixed Berry Bars

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Recently I made these blackberry pie bars again.  The recipe is from Rebecca Rather’s cookbook The Pastry Queen.  Buy it.  This time around I found the bottom crust to be a little on the thick side, and there was an awful lot of filling.  These bars are so substantial that they are best eaten from a plate with a fork.  These are one of the best things you will ever put in your mouth.  Ever.  They are just really decadent and I thought it would be nice to have the same flavors, but in a bar that was a little easier to eat.

So, with some extra berries I decided to make the bars again with a thinner crust, and less filling.  Since I only had a small bag of frozen blackberries I used a combination of blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.  A total of 4 cups of any berries would do.  As with the Pastry Queen’s recipe, thaw and drain any frozen berries that you’re using.

I found these bars to be much easier to just pick up and eat.  There are tons of things you could do with these.  Use different combinations of berries, maybe use peaches, add some ground pecans, almonds or walnuts to the crust and/or crumb topping or even play with spices…cinnamon, nutmeg, cardomom.  Oh, the sweet and delicious possibilities!  I might try a small batch in an 8×8 pan so that I can try more of these variations without having too many extra goodies around the house.

I find these to be extra special served with a small (or maybe a rather large) scoop of Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Bars

Adapted from Rebecca Rather’s Blackberry Pie Bars

Ingredients

Crust and Topping

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold butter, cup into cubes
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, regular or light
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 cups berries (any combination you like, make sure to thaw and drain any frozen berries)

Directions

For the crust and topping:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
  2. Combine the flour,sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until fully combined. Add the butter to the flour mixture and process until the butter is evenly distributed,but the mixture is still crumbly.
  3. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes,or until it is golden brown. Cool for at least 10 minutes.

Filling:

  1. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl,
  2. Add the sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the berries.
  3. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top.
  4. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour,or until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for at least 1 hour before cutting.

 

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