Sesame Peanut Caramel Crispies

-someone help me-

somehow i have a huge bag of sesame seeds in my cabinet. to be totally honest i am not really sure how it got there, or how long its been there. i do really like sesame seeds so surely it was bought on a whim one shopping day, but really who needs a pound of sesame seeds? well evidently the past me knew that one day i would run into a recipe like this and need a good hefty amount of the tasty little seeds. if only my former self would have know that creating these would spawn a totally addiction. i am addicted.

firstly, palm sugar: this is one of my more recent obsessions. basically its a sweetener made from the blessed coconut tree (if it were up to me everything would come from the coconut tree) and has a very low GI level. aka its good for diabetic and well, everyone. thais use palm sugar a lot but, unlike my crystalized form they keep it in small bricks or disks.

1 1/2c palm sugar

1c honey

1c coconut milk

1 1/4c roasted sesame (reserve 1/2c)

1c roasted unsalted peanuts

2c puffed unsweetened cereal (such as kashi)

1 1/2c crispy brown rice cereal (or rice krispies if you can find)

*in a large pot bring the sugar and honey to a boil, stirring just to make sure its not burning

*lower heat a tad and let boil a few minutes until reaches the soft ball stage (220F) or until a drop in water remains a ball - not dissolving

*pour in the coconut milk, stir to combine and bring back to a boil

*again let the mixture reach a soft ball stage

*take off heat

*add in the remaining ingredients (minus the reserved seeds) mixing well

*pour into a parchment lined 8x8 pan, even out with your spoon

*let cool completely, turn onto a cutting board and slice into about 24 pieces

*dip each of the slices bottoms in the reserved sesame seeds (trust me you will want to do this)

*try to control yourself as you inhale these

Vanilla Bean Coconut Ice Cream

-bring on the cake -

as promised, i present you with one of my proudest concoctions. though i am sure that i am not the first to use coconut milk in place of cow milk i'm still just a tab bit proud of myself. my master skills have been proven. ok, enough about my incredible ingeniousness and on to the goods.

like i mentioned i made cake. that cake called to be served w/ fresh whipped cream which i have absolutely nothing against - its the "cool" stuff i have serious issues with - i just didn't have whipping cream in the frig and i wasn't about to walk the 5 minutes down to the bodega, throw down $4 and get some. i know, such a hard life. instead i thought to myself: "what ever happened to cake and ice cream?". really though! think about it, think back the last 6 months. how many times did you had cake or some form of it (cupcakes etc..)? now tell me how many times a nice scoop of frozen lovely came with that piece of cake? yeah well if you are like me its been years if not decades (think back pizza and skate rink birthday parties).

so in other words: cake and ice cream are a fast become endangered species that i aim to save. this business of the almost overused whipped cream or creme fraiche with your cake is just a little to grown-up for me and need i remind you that summer is near?!

now that you have been schooled let me tell you about the ice cream. if you've ever messed around with a fresh vanilla bean you know how powerful they are. once you slice the pod in half the intense and familiar fragarance starts bumping around your kitchen and just handling the thing leaves your hands smelling like christmas cookies for hours. any time you opt to use fresh vanilla be ready for it to be front and center of your creation. the coconut milk acted as a nice, subtle undertone for the vanilla. nothing wrong with just cow milk but, if you are looking for something a tad more complex and almost softer this is for you. enjoy!

VANILLA BEAN COCONUT ICE CREAM

1 1/2c (unsweetened) coconut milk, well stirred

1 c whole milk

3 tbs cornstarch

6 tbs sugar

1/2 fresh vanilla bean, slit

*combine the coconut milk, sugar and 1/2c milk in pan over medium heat

*scrape out the tiny seeds from the split bean. add the bean and seeds to the pot

*in a separate bowl combine the cornstarch and remaining milk

*when the milk begins to steam whisk in the cornstarch and milk mixture

*continue to whisk 3-4 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken

*turn heat down to low, continue whisking for another 3-5 minutes (don't let it get too thick, just slightly thicker)

*take off the heat, allow to get to room temp, remove the vanilla pod and chill for at least 6 hours or overnight

*freeze in your icecream maker.

Torta di Carote - Carrot Cake

-strong enough for winter but light enough for spring-

I've had my eye on this recipe for somewhere around a year. marcella hazan, as you probably know, is the quintessential itallian cook. i've had her "italian kitchen" book for some while now and have loved every thing that comes out of it. i promise you, you will not find a recipe for pasta roses anywhere else. yeah - i said pasta roses and they are amazing.

the deserts are just as warm and homey as the rest of the book but unlike the rest of the recipes this once is actually pretty light, there is no butter or flour for goodness sake!

so back to that year in waiting. there are a few things that stood in my way of completing this cake mostly the lack of lady fingers. who keeps lady fingers in the pantry anyways? well i suppose its not such a stretch for a baker to have them on hand but, really, that and buttermilk give me a break won't ya! so this Christmas when a vendor sent foodie baskets to everyone, which oddly contained ladyfinger, i went around the office and snagged then all. yeah i'm that person; i horde office treats for later use at home. oh the shame. the second strongest force against this cake is, well there never seemed an appropriate time. and finally the day came that an friend of mine and her girlfriend came for dinner. score! the cake was made, slices were doled out and mouths were happily stuffed.

two things i changed: i left out the tablespoon of amaretto called for and used a mix of a vanilla and almond extract. i'm not a 70 year old man by the way nor do i own a silk robe so this i did not have in my pantry, nor was i going to buy any. and Marcella calls for fresh whipped cream to be served alongside but i also don't keep a stash of heavy cream on hand so i whipped up a batch of coconut milk and vanilla bean ice cream. stay tuned for the ice cream recipe, i assure you the warmth of the dense crumbly cake paired with the cool fresh ice cream was-a perfecto!

TORTA DI CAROTE

9oz unpeeled ground almonds

1c + 2 tbs sugar

9oz peeled carrots

4oz ladyfingers

2 1/2tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs, separated

*preheat oven to 325F, place ladyfingers on a large baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes

*take the ladyfingers out of the oven, let cool

*raise temp to 350F, grease an 8" springform pan

*pulse the almonds and sugar in a processors to a consistent mixture, place in a large bowl

*finely chop the carrots in the processor to as fine as you can get it, add to bowl w/ almonds

*place ladyfingers in the processor and chop until you have a fine powder, add to bowl w/ carrots & almonds

*add baking powder, vanilla, almond and salt. mix thoroughly

*mix in egg yolks

*in a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

*add 1-2 tbs of the egg whites to the almond mix to help loosen

*gently (will take a while) fold in remaining egg whites.

*pour batter into the prepared springform. tamp the pan on the counter to level - do not press the batter.

*bake for 50 minutes, until toothpick is clean.

*let cool completely, slice and serve.

Strawerry Pop-Tarts

-yes, i made these and yes they are just a good as they look-

ahhh pop-tarts. who can deny themselves of a fresh out of the wrapper treat like this? i dare so no-one. no matter how food snobby i become i will always have a soft spot in my heart for a Kellogg's unfrosted strawberry pop-tart - ugh its terrible, vending machines across the city taunt me so. but alas i am actually a grown-up and i don't allow myself the constant indulgence of these strangely made "pastries". so when i finally accomplished strawberry jam, well the logical next step is of-course to make some homemade pop-tarts. oh yeah, that's what i said: homemade pop-tarts.

these. are. awesome. you won't be fooling anyone into believing these little guys are kellogg's concoctions (but really, why the heck would you try and replicate that faux pastry-ness? gross - just take a walk to the vending machine or a really big one, like wal-mart) they are more like strudels - remember those frozen treats? the exact line from Pilsbury is, get this: "start your day with a convenient, bakery-fresh treat". ha! since when was the toaster / microwave a baker?and better yet is the "do it yourself icing", people let me be clear on this: squeezing a plastic bag of liquid sugar onto a reheated frozen treat is not do-it-yourself. but i admit many a high school breakfasts consisted of those oddly gooey sugar pops and not just one i would eat like 4, wow. mmm healthy way to start your day, no wonder i still don't know how to write very well.

so back to me. i used my standard pie crust, filled it with the wonderfully perfect strawberry jam from easter and whipped together a stiff royal icing. that was that - nothing difficult and actually a do-it-yourself treat. we munched down on these guys as an after dinner treat; which is what the they are America - dessert not breakfast.

STRAWBERRY POP-TARTS

1/2 recipe pie crust - find mine here

1-2 tbs strawberry jam (or whatever you please)

1 egg lightly beaten

*preheat oven to 400F, line baking sheet with parchment

*after refrigerating the pie dough roll out to a 1/8" thick rectangle, cut the odd edges off as needed

*evenly cut out 5" - 6" squares from the rolled out dough

*place 1 heaping tsp of jam on the centers of half of the squares

*brush the edges of the squares with the beaten egg, place a dough square on top and pinch with fork thongs to seal.

*place the filled pastries on the prepared sheet and brush with egg wash

*bake for 16-19 minutes until golden, not too browned though

*let cool completely before icing (recipe below)

ICING

*1/2c - 3/4c powdered sugar

*2-3 tsp milk (more if needed)

*few drops of vanilla

*whisk together the ingredients adding more sugar or milk as needed to get a thick icing.

*drizzle the icing over your cooled pastries and enjoy

Whole Wheat Walnut Loaf

-my new favorite bread-

many a times i have made this "no-knead" bread, usually with rosemary and lemon which is my mom's favorite - and actually in my oven as i type. every once and again i take a stab at a whole wheat version, which is always successful - but not necessarily loved - if you know what i mean. so not to long ago i was literally stumbling around in kitchen - a little too wound up from the excessive tea drinking - and decided i would throw some stuff together and take yet another gander.

beautiful! this bread is off the charts perfect. at the last minute i realized that i needed to throw in some dark brown sugar, just to take the edge off the whole wheat, and that was exactly what it did. don't be fooled this bread is not sweet but almost more sourdough-y. my theory is that the bit of sugar gave the yeast some real feeding opportunities and thusly it got a nice quickly "aged" flavor. does any of this make sense? most likely not.

i made a breaded chicken sandwich out of a few slices and it was heavenly. be sure to finely chop - not powder - the walnuts. you want the texture to be more even than studded.

WHOLE WHEAT WALNUT BREAD

1 1/2c whole wheat flour

1 1/2c AP flour

1/4 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tbs dark brown sugar

1 1/2c (+) warm water

*in a large bowl sift together the flours, yeast, salt and sugar

*stir in the water, mix to combine. the dough will be very shaggy - if it seems a bit dry add another 1-2tbs water.

*cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let rest for 12-18 hours (will be very bubble and puffy)

*heavily flour a kitchen towel

*dump the dough onto the floured towel, sprinkle (generously) the top of the dough pile and place another towel on top

*let rest 2 hours

*preheat oven to 450F

*dump the dough - just kinda throw the dough blob into the bowl via the bottom towel - into a non-stick sauce pan or dutch oven

*cover and cook 30 minutes

*remove the cover and cook 20-30 minutes until nicely browned

*remove from oven let cool a bit, remove from pot and enjoy with some honey butter...

Birthdays and Cakes

-evidently i was very ready for that raggedy ann and andy cake, or a balloon-

1st birthdays are awesome. i can't say i remember mine, but i am sure that it was rockin' because well, my parents rock - thusly i rock - right? hmm. anyways mostly what i can remember are birthday parties held in my garage. yes i said garage, don't knock it until you've tried it. basically you get a bit of an indie-rocker feel to your party.

well anyways i love my birthday - so much so i made my mom give it to me a month early. i love my birthday not so much for the presents and attention - i don't really take either of those very well. i love my birthday because its always at the time of year when the weather finally gives in and gives us a break with some sun and warmth - maybe even a few flowers and some grass. life just seems better, or at least that its working towards that.

it seems that another little lady shares my birthday zone. Meet Harper Willow, April 1st 2009 only 26 years 362 days younger than me.

- miss Willow munching down on cake, a little more chill than me -

close enough. evidently she really like bananas and although they may not be my fruit of choice i am more than happy to comply with this fellow spring chick's wishes and provide one serious 1st birthday cake. there are 8 full bananas, roasted to perfection to really bring the fruits flavor to in your face status. the honey and cinnamon in the frosting is just enough to make you say m

mmm - warmth!

BANANA CAKE w/ HONEY CINNAMON FROSTING

8 ripe bananas, skin on

3c cake flour

1 1/2c sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

8oz butter, melted

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1c finely chopped pecans (for the sides of cake - optional, but pretty)

*preheat oven to 325F, lay bananas in a single layer on baking sheet. roast 15 minutes turning once until the skins are black.

*let the bananas cool then remove from skins and mash.

*turn oven to 350F, lightly grease (3) 9" cake pans

*sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg

*beat together the butter, eggs, vanilla and mashed bananas to an even consistency

*quickly combine the wet ingredients with the dry

*pour into prepared pans and cook for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean

*let cool completely before icing

HONEY CINNAMON FROSTING

8oz butter, room temp

1tbs milk / water

2 1/2c powdered sugar

2tbs honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

*beat the butter to light and fluffy

*beat in milk for a about 3 minutes

*add in cinnamon and honey, beat well to combine

*gradually add in the powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want