You are going to want a loaf of this around the house during the Thanksgiving holiday.  It is beautiful, autumnal and something of an achievement to show your friends and family.  It is great spread with butter.  Fig, Bourbon and Vanilla Bean Jam is a real treat.  It is gorgeous toasted, and makes amazing leftover turkey sandwiches.

Let me assure you, I am not an expert bread maker, but I can do this.  It is not difficult or time-consuming, but it does take a little effort and some time – if that makes sense.  After the initial mixing, it is relatively hands-off, but it takes some time for the rising and the chilling.  The bread is not some neon orange color, but has a lovely amber tinge.  The flavor is not overwhelming, just a nice subtle flavor of fall.

Butternut Brioche

1packet active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

3 Tablespoons warm water (around 120 degrees, hot to the touch, but not burning your fingers)

1 cup pureed butternut squash*

2 teaspoons rubbed dried sage

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature

Put the yeast and sugar in a small bowl or 1-cup measure.  Add the warm water and gently stir to mix.  Leave the yeast for 10 minutes until it is puffed up and foamy.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butternut puree, sage, salt nutmeg and 1 cup of the flour on medium low until blended.  Scrape in the foamy yeast mixture in, scraping out as much as possible from the bowl into the mixer.  Beat until well blended.

Add the eggs one at a time, alternating with 2 cups of flour, beating on medium low after each addition.  Stop between eggs to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  When the eggs are all blended in, increase the speed to medium and drop in the butter cubes one at a time.  Continue beating until the butter is completely mixed in. Add the remaining flour with the mixer on low until combined.

Grease a large bowl. I prefer glass because you can see how much the dough has risen.  I use the wrapper the butter was in to grease the bowl, but cooking spray works.  Scrape the dough into the bowl and mound it evenly in the center.  At this point, it will be very soft and may seem more like batter than dough.  That is as it should be.  Grease a piece of plastic wrap and cover the bowl.  Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.  I use my friend Holly’s trick to create a warm, moist dough-rising environment.  Place a 2-cup measure with ¾ cup water in the microwave and microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Place the dough bowl in the microwave with the hot water and steam, close the door and leave to rise.

When the dough has risen, spray a sturdy spatula with cooking spray and use it to gently stir down the dough, scraping the sides of the bowl and moving it all into the center.  Cover the bowl with a clean piece of greased plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, deflate the dough by pressing down on it.   Shape the dough into a loaf and place it in a standard size 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and spread it out to the corners.  Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise until doubled again, about 40 minutes to 1 hour.  The microwave trick works again.

Preheat the oven to 375°.  When the bread has risen, bake it for 30 to 40 minutes until it is firm, puffed and golden and sounds hollow when tapped.  Gently run a thin knife around the edge of the bread and turn it out of the pan.  Make sure the bottom sounds hollow when knocked, then cool on a wire rack.

Makes on loaf

*For the butternut puree, there are several options.  From a whole butternut squash, cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place on the rack of an oven and bake until soft, 20 – 30 minutes.  You can also place the halves on a microwave safe plate and microwave until soft, 5 – 8  mintues. Scoop out the flesh and place in a small food processor and blend until smooth.  Add a few tablespoons water if needed

For pre-cut quash pieces, place in a the pieces in a microwave safe bowl with a bit of water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave until soft, 5 – 8 minutes. Puree as above.

I also find canned butternut squash puree in my local stores, and I am completely fine with that.  Just scoop it out of the can.

I love strawberry season.  Not only do I finally get my hands on delicious berries, but it really means the start of delicious farmers market produce.   I only buy strawberries in season.  I know you can get them all year round now, but I don’t like the watery,  hothouse types, or ones flown in from far away under ripe, then left to over-ripen and become sodden in plastic containers.  I HATE those plastic containers. They force you to buy a set amount, and the berry in the middle always seems to be moldy, and rapidly spreading its rot.  A fresh, locally grown strawberry, right out of the ground is a thing of wonder and I eagerly await its arrival.  That is one of the joys of eating seasonally.  The anticipation of the taste of your favorite produce, that brief, delicious season of gorging yourself, then on to the next gorgeous fruit or vegetable.

At some point, after I have eaten as many fresh strawberries right out of my hands as I can, I start to think of ways to bake with them.  I am constantly surprised and perplexed by how many recipes I come across for “fresh” strawberry bread or cake or muffins that use cake mix, frozen berries and strawberry gelatin.  Why?  Cooking with fresh strawberries is a delight.  My Fresh Strawberry Bread is another example.

Cupcakes are all the trendy rage right now, but I make them because I haven’t the patience to perfectly frost a layer cake.  They always come out lopsided and demoralized when I make them.  Cupcakes have charm, even when they are a little wonky.  And I don’t mind the wonkiness – when I go to the effort of baking, I want everyone to know I did it my ownself, and not suspect that I bought from a store.  These gems are not the neon-pink color of those made-with-a-mix cakes, but full of strawberry flavor.  The tang of buttermilk and the sweetness of the berries play off each other brilliantly, and coupled with a cloud of tangy, sweet vanilla-flecked frosting, these are the perfect seasonal treat.

Strawberry Buttermilk Cupcakes with Buttermilk Vanilla Frosting

For the cupcakes:

1 cup pureed strawberries, from about 1 pint

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

½ cup well-shaken buttermilk

½ vanilla bean

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 eggs

For the frosting:

½ cup well-shaken buttermilk

½ vanilla bean

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

6 cups confectioner’s sugar

For the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

Hull the strawberries and puree them in a blender.  Measure 1 cup of puree and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Measure out the buttermilk, then scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the buttermilk, stirring to distribute.

Cream the butter and sugar together in the large bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, beating well after each egg is added.  Add the flour and buttermilk alternately in three additions, blending well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  With the mixer on low, stir in the strawberry puree until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners about ¾ full of batter.  I use a ½ cup ice cream scoop for this.  You may have enough batter leftover to make a few extra cupcakes, in which case lucky you.  Bake the cupcakes for 20 – 30 minutes, until the tops are puffed and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then take the cupcakes out of the pan and finish cooling on the rack.  These cupcakes are very moist, so the centers may sink.  Don’t worry, you’ll fill them with frosting!

For the frosting:

Measure out the butter milk and scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them, stirring to distribute.  Wash and dry the large stand mixer bowl.  Using the whish attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, blending well after each addition.  In the beginning, you can add a few drops of buttermilk to get things moving, but you want to finish the process with buttermilk, so don’t use it all. Continue beating the frosting, finishing with the buttermilk until it is all smooth and spreadable.

When the cupcakes are completely cool, spread them with the frosting.  You can just use a palette knife to cover them, or pipe the icing with a pastry bag or ziptop bag.

The cupcakes can be made up to a day ahead and kept in an airtight container.  Frost shortly before serving.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Soda bread is really a recipe to have in your pocket.  Serving a nice, warm loaf of homemade bread at a moment’s notice is serious kitchen magic.  And I’ve made the process for making Irish soda bread even easier by letting the mixer do the work.  Soda bread is substantial and hearty – the perfect partner for soup or stew, or corned beef and cabbage.  Good butter melting into its nooks and crannies, or a thick layer of jam holding its crumb together, or a leftover slice spread with chutney and a slice of tangy cheddar is a memorable afternoon snack.

At first, I imagined that a traditional Irish farm wife would have considered my method sacrilege – using the mixer, not carefully forming the loaf by hand.  But then I had another thought.  Soda bread was born of necessity, a quick way to satisfy the family with the staple ingredients to hand.  I have read in many cookbooks and novels over the years about women who made a loaf of soda bread every single morning.  They could do it by feel, no measuring, no thinking; just churning out delicious loafs of hearty bread day after day after day.  So maybe the option of making the process a little quicker would have appealed greatly, anything to make the long day a little less trouble.  After all, it’s still only one bowl to clean.

Simple Soda Bread

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 ¼ cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with non-stick spray.

Drop the flours, soda and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix briefly.  Cut the butter into small pieces and drop into the flour.  Mix briefly until the butter is distributed and the flour is slightly sticky.  Stop the mixer and dump in all the buttermilk.  Turn the mixer on medium and mix until the dough is just combined.  It will be a very wet dough.

Turn the dough out into the prepared cake pan.  Don’t worry about it fitting to the edges of the pan, it will spread if it wants to.  Just make a nice even round in the center.  This is a bread meant to be a little rough and tumble.  Sprinkle a bit of flour over the top of the loaf, and then with a sharp knife, cut a cross in the center of the loaf.  The dough is wet, so it may take a few passes with the blade to get the slashes to stay.  This step is said to let the fairies out of the loaf.

Bake the bread for 15 – 20 minutes, until it is golden brown, risen and has a hollow sound when tapped.  Remove the loaf from the oven and immediately turn it out onto a large, clean tea towel.  Tap the bottom to double-check for the hollow sound.  Wrap the loaf in the tea towel and leave to cool for ten minutes.  Wrapping the loaf will keep the crust of the bread tender.

Slice and serve the warm bread.  Leftovers will keep for a day tightly wrapped.

I set out to make a cookie reminiscent of good-old fashioned gingerbread cake.  When I managed to achieve this, it occurred to me that if I called them gingerbread cookies, it would bring to mind the crispy, crunchy type – like gingerbread men or tree ornaments.   That is not what these lovelies are at all.  These little pillowy cushions of cakey, gingerbread goodness are something altogether different.  These cookies are rich with molasses, tangy with buttermilk and spiced with fresh ginger and ground for deep ginger hit, complemented by cinnamon and nutmeg.

These cookies are amazing with a glass of egg nog or plain milk, or beside a mug of mulled cider or hot chocolate.  You can make these smaller or larger, and the recipe is easily doubled if you need a big batch to tote to a cookie swap or party.  These work equally well plain or with the simple glaze on top and you can then go to town decorating with sprinkles or colored sugar, or add an extra hint of ginger with a sprinkling of diced candied ginger.

Gingerbread Pillows

Take your pick – you can use a cookie scoop slightly smaller than 1 Tablespoon or one slightly larger than a Tablespoon.

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

½ cup molasses

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup buttermilk

For the Glaze:

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 ½ Tablespoons (more or less) milk

Dash vanilla extract

Diced candied ginger, colored sprinkles or sanding sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line 3 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, the molasses, vanilla extract and grated fresh ginger until combined.  The mixture may look slightly curdled but don’t worry.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices and toss with a fork to combine.  Turn the mixer on slow, and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately in three additions, ending with the buttermilk and scraping down the sides as needed.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 7 – 9 minutes until the tops of the cookies are puffed and firm.

Cool for two minutes on the baking sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool.

For the glaze:

Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl and beat in the milk and vanilla to the desired consistency. You can go for a light glaze that drips over the side or a thicker, spreadable glaze.  Spread the glaze on the cookies and top with candied ginger or sprinkles.

Makes 2 ½ dozen large, or 3 ½ dozen smaller cookies

I remember a delicious quick bread popular when I was kid, sweet and cinnamony with nice pockets of gooey strawberry.  I think I even remember making it myself at some point.  So I went looking for recipes, and they all contained frozen berries in syrup – some even used cake mix or pudding mix.  But I thought surely I could do better than that.  Fresh, in-season, local strawberries are one of life’s great pleasures, so why muck them up with chemicals and additives and fake gunk.

So here is my new result – sweet, fresh, spiced bread perfect for breakfast, or tea, or even dessert. 

Fresh Strawberry Bread

10 ounces stemmed and sliced fresh strawberries

1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Sliced the strawberries and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle over the 3 Tablespoons of sugar and toss to thoroughly coat the berries.  Leave to macerate for several hours, until there is plenty of juice at the bottom of the bowl. Drain the berries, reserving the juice.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 3 inch loaf pan.

Mix the flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Add the eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix until just combined.  Fold in the drained strawberry slices, distributing evenly.  Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a tester inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove the loaf from the oven and poke holes all over the top with a skewer or thin knife.  Drizzle about ¼ cup of reserved strawberry juice over the top of the bread, allowing it to soak in.  Loosen the cake from the sides of the pan with a thin knife and leave to cool in the pan.

Makes 1 loaf

In the great and varied universe of classic Southern desserts, caramel cake is possibly the North Star.  A soft, white cake covered in thick, thick caramel frosting.  The center layer of frosting bleeds a little into the cake and the frosting on the top and sides takes on a slight crispiness – bite into the cake, and the frosting crackles a little, melts in your mouth, then blends into the pillow-y cake.

Alas, I cannot make caramel cake.  I lack the patience.  Believe me, I have tried.  It’s the frosting. A true, delicious, classic caramel frosting takes patience and timing.  Cooking the caramel to the perfect color, then quickly but methodically beating the frosting until it is just the right consistency, then spreading the frosting quickly but precisely over the delicate layers before it hardens up and all hope is lost.  Caramel Cake is favorite childhood memory of mine, and I think it is my brother’s all-time favorite treat.  It is for him (okay, for me too) that I have attempted to create a caramel cake.  I came close once, but it was so durn ugly, only its family could love it, and I’m not really sure they did.  There is a bakery in the area that makes a truly classic Southern caramel cake, and I actually considered passing one of theirs off as my own effort for my brother’s birthday one year.  I didn’t.  I would have been caught out.  My failed attempts have made it quite clear that caramel cake is not in my skill set.

I have not yet abandoned my quest.  I periodically gear myself up for another attempt.  Hopefully, you may see my triumphant success someday.  But in the meantime, I have created a perfectly reasonable stand-in for caramel cake.  Rich cake with a simple, fool-proof glaze (and I am the fool who proves that it works).

I give you this recipe now, admitting my own baking failure, because in addition to being extremely tasty on its own, this cake is the perfect accompaniment to all sorts of summer treats.  A slice of this cake with some fresh berries – on their own or juiced by a sprinkle of sugar is a delight.  Fresh sliced peaches partnered with the tangy cake and caramel glaze are a revelation.  And this is the perfect vehicle for homemade ice cream of any type. 

Buttermilk Cake with Caramel Glaze

For the Cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk, well shaken

For the Glaze:

¼ cup butter

½ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a Bundt pan.

Sift the flour and baking soda together into a small bowl and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Add the flour and the buttermilk alternately, beating well after each addition, until thoroughly incorporated.  The batter will be thick, but spread it in the prepared pan and bake for 40 – 50 minutes until a tester comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Glaze:

The cake must be completely cool, or the glaze will slide right off.  Place a piece of foil or paper under the cooling rack to catch any drips and make clean-up easier.

Cut the butter into cubes and place in a saucepan with the brown sugar, cream and salt.  After everything melts together, bring to a full, rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  When it reaches that boil, count to 60 Mississippi, then pull it off the heat.  Leave the pan to cool for about 5 minutes, then vigorously beat in the powdered sugar until smooth.

Immediately pour the glaze over the cake, but do so slowly and evenly to cover as much surface as possible.  Leave the glaze to set, then slice and enjoy.  Covered tightly, this cake will last a few days.

Serves 10 if you are lucky

Any good Southern cook has a supply of sweetening syrups that would put Willy Wonka to shame.  Corn syrup, light and dark, and generally known by its brand name Karo (pronounced KAY-Ro).  Molasses, regular and blackstrap.  Sorghum.  Cane syrup.  Maybe even maple syrup, though that smacks somewhat of the Yankee.  I use them all. Corn syrup for chess pie and pecan pie, molasses in cookies, sorghum with beans.  And all are good drizzled over fresh biscuits. They each have a subtly different taste, from pure sweetness to rich complexity. But for me, cane syrup has a distinctly Southern taste. 

Cane syrup is made from a sugar cane breed, ribbon cane, that grows in the South. Sorghum is made from sorghum grass, molasses from sugar cane, but by a different process, and corn syrup is, of course, made from corn. Real cane syrup can be hard to come by.  It’s generally found at country stores, farm shops and roadside stands.  A few years ago, I was thrilled to find some cane syrup at Boomland, an emporium of country products on the way to a friend’s grandmother’s house in the boot heel of  Missouri.  On the shelf next to the homemade fig preserves, pickled watermelon rind and chow chow, across from the country ham slices and thick bacon, I found the elusive jar of ribbon cane syrup.  I brought it home and went on a little cane syrup spree, stirring it into my baked beans, baking cookies, Acadian gateau de sirop, drizzling over biscuits and pancakes.  The next time my friend was heading to see her grandmother, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind picking up a jar of the cane syrup for me.  In her generous way, she returned with half a case of jars.  That really set me on the path to discovery – all the many ways to use cane syrup.

I now find Louisiana’s Steen cane syrup at the local produce market, so cane syrup never has to be an imported item anymore. And like everything else, I have no doubt it can be bought online.  These simple cakes, with their crumble topping, really feature the flavor of cane syrup.  You’ll be impressed by how such a simple recipe can produce such a nuanced flavor.

Cane Syrup Cupcakes

If you really can’t find cane syrup, you can use molasses (not blackstrap) instead.

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups boiling water

1 cup cane syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners or spray well with non-stick spray.

Combine the flour, brown sugar and salt in the large bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly.  Set aside one cup of this mixture for the topping.  Add the baking soda to the remaining mixture and combine thoroughly.  Beat in the boiling water and the cane syrup until just blended.

Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full.  Sprinkle the reserved topping mix over the cupcakes, spreading out evenly.

Bake the cupcakes for 20 – 25 minutes until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 24 cupcakes

I love clementines.  They are the perfect, bright refreshing little sunshine snack.  They are so portable, you can just carry one around all day until you need a pick-me-up.  But I also find clementines annoying, largely because around here they are sold almost exclusively in five to seven pound bags.  I cannot eat five pounds of clementines before they start to shrivel and loose their juice.  So I am sometimes reluctant to buy them, because I know I will end up with uneaten fruit sitting forlornly on my counter.

This lovely bread is one of my excess clementine solutions.  It’s incredibly easy to whip up in the food processor and results in a sweet, citrus-y treat perfect for breakfast, tea or a great snack.  This recipe started its life as away to use tangerines, but I have found this clementine incarnation the most practical.

Sticky Clementine Quick Bread

This moist sticky bread will stay delicious for three days wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.  It can also be frozen for up to a month.  Try making it in smaller loaf pans, even individual sizes, and share with your friends.

For the Quick Bread:

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon clementine zest, from two to four clementines, depending on size

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons self-rising flour

Pinch of salt

4 Tablespoons milk

For the Glaze:

4 Tablespoons clementine juice, from two to four clementines, depending on size

½ cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a standard 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with non-stick spray.

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  The butter must be soft and at room temperature.  If needed, microwave on half power in 15 second intervals until soft. Blend until the ingredients are just combined and smooth, about 1 – 2 minutes.  Do not over process.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, then tap the pans on the counter to spread out the batter.  Bake until golden and cooked through, about 15 – 20 minutes.  A tester inserted in each loaf should come out clean.

While the loaves are cooking, whisk together the juice from the clementines and the confectioner’s sugar until smooth.

When the loaf is cooked, run a knife around the edges of the loaf to loosen from the pan. Poke the top of the loaf several times with the skewer.  Drizzle the glaze over the loaf.  Do this slowly so the glaze absorbs into the loaves.  When the glaze is absorbed remove the loaf to a rack or a piece of waxed paper to finish cooling.

Let the loaf cool completely before serving.

Makes one loaf

Peppermint is the one flavor that transforms itself at the holidays.  Some of the traditional tastes, eggnog, fruitcake, even gingerbread, hardly make an appearance at any other time of the year.  But not peppermint. I eat peppermint candy all year.  The little hidey-hole in the arm on the door of my car is always filled with peppermints pilfered from bowls at restaurants and shops around town. I love peppermint ice cream in summer.  But somehow, around Christmas, peppermint seems so utterly of the season.  There are starlight mints stacked up on store shelves, even the major candy companies go wild with peppermint bark, candy cane kisses and peppermint hard candies in every shape and color.  The standard, plain candy suddenly becomes a classic symbol of the season when December begins.

So I try to incorporate peppermint in my holiday baking as much as I can, before it is once again relegated to the car door.  This is the perfect holiday recipe, because it is easy to make, with spectacular results.  And you can leave these little cakes simple and plainly adorned, or really go to town on decorating. Crushed up candy canes, mini mints, edible glitter.  I found the little round mints pictured above at the dollar store.

I very, very rarely made any kind of angel food cake from scratch, until I discovered liquid real egg whites for sale at the grocery.  Remove the step of separating loads of eggs and finding a use for the yolks, and angel cake and cupcakes are a breeze to make.

Peppermint Angels

This recipe makes a little more batter than needed for 12 cupcakes – about 1 cupcakes worth.  Feel free to make that extra cupcake, but I don’t usually bother.

1 ¼ cup sugar

1 ½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups liquid egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Few drops of red food coloring

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

4 Tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with baking liners.

Sift together the sugar, flour and salt and set aside.  In the large bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat together the egg whites and cream of tartar on high until stiff peaks form. Reduce the speed to very low and gradually sprinkle in the sugar mixture.  When it has all been added, stop the mixer and fold by hand with a spatula to incorporate all the ingredients.  Gently fold in the peppermint extract.

Using a large spoon, spoon about half of the batter evenly among the prepared baking cups. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining batter in the bowl and very gently fold it through to get an even pink tint.  Spoon the remaining batter over on top of the white in the baking cups, filling each cup to the top.  There will be more batter than needed.  Using a thin-bladed knife, gently swirl the batter in each cup.

Bake the cupcakes for 12 – 15 minutes until the tops are firm and a tester inserted in the center of a large cake comes out clean.  Remove the pan form the oven, and immediately use a small knife to loosen the tops of the cupcakes from the pan.  Turn the cupcakes quickly out onto a wire rack, then immediately return to the pan to cool.  Set the pan on the wire rack for cooling.  This step prevents the cooled cupcakes from sticking to the pan, which would make them impossible to remove.

When the cupcakes are cooled, whisk together the glaze ingredients. Spread the glaze over the cooled cupcakes and leave to set.  If you want to add any decorations, do so while the glaze is still soft, then leave to set.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Tough Nut to Crack

Pecans, it seems to me, are thought of as a particularly Southern nut.  I cannot tell you anything about its growing condition or to what region or country the pecan is indigenous, but the trees proliferate around here.  And the nuts feature prominently in Southern cooking from classic pie to divinity candy to pecan cheese straws.

You rarely see pecan trees in residential areas.  But out in the country, they are everywhere.  Driving through the Delta, you’ll see the evidence. One lone tree in front of a farm house, or two long rows making an alley up to a site where there clearly used to be a house.  And often the plot of land between the house and the cotton fields or the bean fields will be a pecan orchard, dark and shady and inviting.

Pecan trees are beautiful, with an arching canopy and dense foliage.  But do they ever produce nuts.  That’s the point, I know, but these trees produce a lot of nuts.  I have oak trees in my yard and the acorns that drop from those trees is nothing compared to what a pecan tree produces.  And pecan nuts are hard. I was once beaned on the head by a falling nut and it really hurt! Woe to the unwitting person who parks the car under a pecan tree.  Not only could falling nuts ding the paint job, but any tree with that many nuts naturally attracts a lot of birds.

So even with one tree, the proud keeper of a pecan is likely to have an overwhelming supply of nuts.  Paying kids a nickel a nut to pick up all the fallen from the grass is a common ploy.  Those nuts are gathered and scooped into brown paper grocery sacks which tend to sit out in the laundry room or screened porch until someone figures out what to do with them.  Pecans are hard to shell.  The outer shell is tough and hard and the nutmeat really clings to the interior walls.  I think this may be why many Southern brides through the ages received nutcracker sets as a wedding gift.  A pretty silver nutcracker and a set of picks that look like decorative dental tools.  Shelling pecans is labor intensive, arduous and just plain frustrating.  Now, this being the South, and the folks being hospitable, the general method for riding oneself of the bounty is taking one of those grocery bags full of little brown devils to a neighbor or relative.  As the recipient of such blatant kindness, one can only be gracious and say “thank you” and “how sweet” and “ooh, I love pecans.”  But the truth is that the passing on of the pecan is an evil.  It is impossible to say no thank you or to complain, but nobody wants a big bag of unshelled pecans.  That’s why the giver brought them – to get rid of them.  And there is always that vague feeling that in return for the pecan pest sharing the bounty, you just have to shell a mess of them and make a pie or some cookies to return the favor.

Pecan season is gearing up here. Fortunately, there are enough farmstands selling shelled pecans that we don’t have to forego our favorite sweets, a classic pecan pie ranking at the top of my list.

Southern Pecan Pie

Lightly toasting the pecans enhances the nutty flavor of the pie.  I prefer dark corn syrup for a rich, deep pie, but there are those who prefer to use light.  The bourbon is theoretically optional, but really?  It seems to add to the Southern flavor.  And I will never tell if the crust did not originate in your kitchen.

For the crust:

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces

2 to 4 Tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

1 ½ cups pecan halves

4 large eggs

1 cup dark corn syrup

4 Tablespoons melted butter, cooled to room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons bourbon

For the crust: Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.  Drop in the small pieces of cold butter and pulse several times until the mixture is crumbly, but some minute pieces of butter are still visible.  Sprinkle the water over, a tablespoon at a time, and pulse to combine.  When the pastry just comes together, dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a disk about ¾ inch thick. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour before rolling. 

When ready to roll, place the disk on a lightly floured surface and using a floured rolling pin, roll out the pastry to a round about 14 inches in diameter, to fit a nine inch pie plate.  Carefully drape the pastry over the rolling pin and transfer to the pie dish.  Gently fit into the bottom and sides of the dish.  Trim any overhanging pastry and lightly dust the bottom of the prepared crust with flour. Set aside.

For the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pecan halves in a dry skillet and lightly toast over medium heat.  Watch carefully and move the pecans around the pan with a spatula or wooden spoon. You do not want to brown the pecans, just toast them gently until you can smell a nice, nutty aroma.  This will only take about five minutes.  Remove the pecans from the heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended.  Add the pecans and stir to distribute evenly.  Pour the filling into the prepared crust, pushing the nuts into the filling to make an even layer.

Bake the pie for 40 – 50 minutes until the center is puffed up and no longer wobbly. I recommend that you shield the edges of the crust with foil or a crust shield before the pie goes in the oven. It is hard to do when the pie is hot.  Remove the cooked pie from the oven and leave to cool completely.  The pie will keep wrapped tightly for two days, or can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil and frozen for up to six months.

Serves 6 – 8