Puto - a steamed Filipino vanilla cake

Puto - made May 7, 2011 from an old family recipe

My mom is from a small town in the Philippines that's known for its puto, a steamed white cake best eaten warm with melted butter and a sprinkle of fresh coconut on top.  I remember when I was a kid in the Philippines, whenever we visited my mom's side of the family, we always had "Puto Binan" which was the town's local specialty.  The cakes were flat and in a rough rectangular or oblong shape, wrapped in banana leaves to keep fresh.  There are many varieties of puto and the mark of a good puto is its fluffiness.  You get the texture from steaming the cake rather than baking it.  Steamed "baked" goods are common in parts of the world where the majority of home kitchens don't have ovens, as is the case in the Philippines.  It's also common for puto to contain rice flour instead of wheat flour since rice is a staple there rather than wheat.

Best eaten warm with butter & coconut

Ironically, this recipe is made with Bisquick so I don't know if I can call it really authentic.  But this is one of the recipes from my childhood so I'm sticking with it here. My mom used to make this when I was a kid and in honor of Mother's Day, I thought I would use the old family recipe and bring it over to my parents' house. Despite Bisquick as the main ingredient, this doesn't taste like fluffy pancakes like you'd expect from using Bisquick.  Instead, it really is a vanilla cake.  The directions are sparse but it's still an easy thing to put together.  Make sure you steam them thoroughly - if the puto is underdone, it'll be heavy and too moist.  Because you're steaming them, it's harder to overcook puto but don't leave them in there too long or they'll be tough.

Puto doesn't have a long shelf life so they're best eaten the day they're made.  If you have any left over, wrap in plastic and store in an airtight container.  When you reheat them, it's better to re-steam them.  If you're going to microwave them, cover with a wet paper towel and microwave for only a few seconds at a time until they're warm enough.  Don't leave in too long or the texture will toughen up and/or dry out.

2 cups Bisquick

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1.      Mix all ingredients together and spoon into small greased ramekins.  Puto will rise so only fill the ramekins 2/3 full.

2.      Steam for 10 to 15 minutes in a steamer or until done, depending on the size of your ramekins (toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean). 

Cashew Macadamia Crunch

Cashew Macadamia Crunch - made May 6, 2011 from Hershey's Classic Recipes from Publications International (book #102)

Yet another Hershey Book from Publications International.  I must've gone through a phase of picking up these types of books whenever I saw them in the bargain aisle at Barnes & Noble.  They generally have a certain number of the exact same recipes as well as the same type of recipes but I can never resist the yummy-looking pictures that accompany most of the recipes.  These people know how to market to people like me.

Instead of the usual brownies, cookies and cakes that go into these books though, I decided to try this easy candy recipe.  I've been wanting toffee ever since I went to the SF Chocolate Salon and (cough) gorged myself on chocolate samples.  I've made my own toffee before but have had mixed results.  Sometimes I overcook it and it's too hard and other times I undercook it and it's sticky-chewy instead of having the easy snap of good toffee.  Buttercrunch is a little easier than toffee.  Some people might use them synonymously but I consider buttercrunch the easy version of toffee.  You don't have to work with candy thermometers or worry about the sugar crystallizing as it caramelizes or it going grainy.

Spread as evenly as you can over the chocolate chips

Case in point, this recipe couldn't be easier.  I just came back from a brief trip yesterday and didn't really need to "bake" but I was meeting friends today and you know I can't go empty-handed.  Yet I was tired from a cross-country flight and not enough sleep so I wasn't up to full-on baking.  This recipe came to my rescue as it literally couldn't have been easier to make.  You spread the chocolate chips in an even layer in the pan, boil the crunch mixture until golden brown, spread over the chocolate chips and cool.  When you boil the buttercrunch, keep stirring it so it browns evenly and the nuts don't burn.  You only want to cook it until it's a nice golden brown, about the color of Almond Roca.  Spread it over the chocolate chip layer and let it cool to lukewarm then put in the refrigerator to set the chocolate.  Cut or break it up into irregular pieces.  Although the recipe specifies milk chocolate, you can use any type of chocolate.  I prefer milk chocolate so that's what I used.  You can also substitute in whichever nuts you like but I'm a fan of both cashews and macadamia nuts so I stuck to the recipe as is.

I really, really liked this recipe.  Not only was it super easy to make on several hours' sleep, but it tasted good too.  It had the perfect crunch without being hard on the teeth.  I also like how it looks "homey", as in clearly homemade - this could become my new go-to candy to include in Christmas foodie gifts. I broke this up into irregular-sized pieces, piled the pieces into cupcake liners, wrapped each cupcake paper in plastic wrap and included them in goodie bags.

2 cups (11.5-ounce package) milk chocolate chips

¾ cup coarsely chopped salted or unsalted cashews

¾ cup coarsely chopped salted or unsalted macadamia nuts

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1.      Line 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan.  Butter foil (I sprayed lightly with nonstick cooking spray.)  Cover bottom of prepared pan with chocolate chips in an even layer.

2.      Combine cashews, macadamia nuts, butter, sugar and corn syrup in large heavy skillet; cover over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Increase heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly until mixture begins to cling together and turns golden brown.

3.      Pour mixture over chocolate chips in pan, spreading evenly.  Cool.  Refrigerate until chocolate is firm.  Remove from pan; peel off foil.  Break into pieces.  Store, tightly covered in cool, dry place.

Makes about 1 ½ pounds of candy

Caramel-Layered Brownies

Caramel-Layered Brownies - made April 30, 2011 from Favorite Brand Name Best-Loved Chocolate Recipes from Publications International (book #101)

It wasn't until I started this baking challenge that I realized how many books I have from the same author(s) or publishers.  The ones from Publications International tend to contain recipes likely sponsored by food companies' test kitchens since they always list the specific brand name ingredients to use.  I've omitted the brand names from the recipes so you should feel free to use the ones you prefer and already know works well (although, of course, the higher the quality, the better your results will be).  This is a recipe book that will likely appeal to less experienced bakers and/or those who like a lot of pictures with their recipes.  It's certainly induced me to try specific recipes over others when I see pictures of how good they look.

Caramel and chocolate is usually a crowd pleaser combination so I chose that to add to the bake sale goods.  I left out the nuts (of course) and the only issue I had with this recipe is that there wasn't enough of the batter on top to completely cover the caramel layer.  The recipe says to hold back 1 cup and I held back more than that since I knew I wanted to cover the entire caramel layer.  Didn't quite work out that way, partly because as the batter cools, it stiffens up so it's not as easy to spread thinly over the caramel layer.  So I sprinkled some chocolate chips over the top as well to try and cover up some of the caramel.

The frosting was probably unnecessary but still good

As the brownie baked, the batter on top spread out over the caramel so that was good.  The caramel only leaked through in a few spots.  It was a little hard to tell when this was done just relying on the toothpick test since some of the caramel also clings to the toothpick and makes it seem like raw batter.  So you might want to time this one.  I took it out when it was still a little underdone so separating it from the foil lining in the pan after it had cooled was a little difficult.  But not impossible since it was easy enough to peel the foil off if you up-end the brownie (which is one of the reasons why I always line my baking pans with foil when I use them).  The brownie turned out well but the caramel did make it a little sweet.  You won't taste the chocolate much on its own since the caramel layer blends in with everything.  It's not quite as distinct a layer as the recipe book picture makes it look.  Still a pretty good brownie if you have a good sweet tooth and want something chewy/fudgy.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups chopped nuts (optional)

14 ounces caramels

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1.     Heat the oven to 350⁰F.  Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

2.     In the top half of a double boiler, over hot water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring constantly until melted.

3.     Stir sugar into melted chocolate mixture.  Mix in eggs and vanilla until well blended.  Stir in flour.  Remove 1 cup of batter; set aside.  Spread remaining batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle with chips and 1 cup of the nuts, if using.

4.     Melt caramels and milk over low heat, stirring constantly, until completely melted and smooth.  Spoon over chips and nuts, spreading to edges of pan.  Gently spread reserved batter over caramel mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup nuts, if using.

5.     Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with fudgy crumbs.  Do not overbake.  Cool in pan, cut into squares.

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

Mexican Chocolate Brownies - made April 29, 2011 from The Ultimate Brownie Book by Bruce Weinstein (book #100)

This is the brownie I originally made both to mark Cinco de Mayo and for the spring fair bake sale I'd volunteered to donate baked goods to.  I'm sorry to say I did not like these brownies.  The texture was fine and I don't think it was the recipe but the Mexican chocolate.  I used Ibarra Mexican chocolate which the recipe specifically recommended.  According to Bruce Weinstein, "Mexican chocolate is actually a combination of chocolate, ground cocoa nibs, and cinnamon".  The ingredients list on the package of Ibarra Mexican Chocolate lists: sugar, cocoa liquor, vegetable fat, soy lecithin, and cinnamon flavor.  Hmm.  That might explain it.  I don't know if I would've liked it better if I had gone with a more high end Mexican chocolate, such as the one from Taza.  I've had the chocolate and cinnamon combination before and liked it so I was really disappointed that I didn't like this one.  I tried to salvage the brownies by adding a layer of dulce de leche over it then topping that with a layer of fudge frosting.  I don't think it really worked though.

However, if you want to make these brownies and have a better experience, I recommend substituting a high end bittersweet chocolate for the Ibarra Mexican chocolate and adding a teaspoon of cinnamon.   There was nothing wrong with the texture - it was just the flavor I couldn't get into.

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

9 ¾ ounces Mexican chocolate, such as 3 rounds of Ibarra, chopped (I recommend either Taza Mexican chocolate or try a high end bittersweet chocolate plus 1 teaspoon of cinnamon)

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.     Position the rack in the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan; set it aside.

2.     In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined.  Set aside.

3.     Place the butter and both kinds of chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water.  Stir constantly until half the butter and chocolate is melted.  Remove the top of the double boiler then continue stirring, away from the heat, until the butter and chocolate are completely melted.  Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

4.     Beat the brown sugar into the melted chocolate with a whisk or with an electric mixer at medium speed; continue beating until the mixture is smooth and silky, about 7 minutes by hand or 4 minutes with a mixer.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, allowing each to be thoroughly incorporated before adding the next.  After beating in the third egg for 1 minute, stir in the vanilla.

5.     With a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture just until combined.  Do not beat.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it gently to the corners.

6.     Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.  Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Pecan Polvorones with Dulce de Leche

Pecan Polvorones - made May 2, 2011 from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy by Alice Medrich

Cinco de Mayo is coming up and at first I went with a Mexican Chocolate Brownie recipe to mark the occasion.  I haven't put the recipe up yet because, as it turns out, I didn't like it.  But I will put it up shortly since it is part of my baking odyssey and my baking challenge and I can't put up just the recipes that turned out.  Not all of them are going to be successful nor will I like all of them.  But that still left me short for a Cinco de Mayo cookie.  And in flipping through the myriad of baking cookbooks I have, I discovered there aren't many "international" recipes amongst them.

Fortunately, the Browned Butter Oatmeal Cookies were so good that I couldn't resist trying another recipe from Alice Medrich's book before I had to return it to the library.  And she does have more variety of an international bent in her book (I also want to try her alfajores recipe).  This time around, I chose polvorones, which, according to Alice, are "exquisitely tender Spanish or Latin American shortbread cookies".  Filipinos have something similar called polvoron.  Looking at the recipe, the base ingredients are also similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies except this is the thumbprint version.  In keeping with the Spanish/Latin American theme, I skipped the muscovado filling and went with dulce de leche instead.

Make sure you toast the pecans first as that brings out their best flavor.  Cool completely before putting in the food processor.  I don't normally use my food processor to make cookie dough but it was pretty easy to put together per the recipe instructions.  The dough was very easy to work with, not too sticky and it was easy to shape.  Make the balls small since these cookies are best when they're bite size.  Once I shaped them into small balls, I poked the handle end of a wooden spoon in the center to make the holes and widened them slightly.  I froze the cookie dough balls with the indentations first before baking a taste test batch.  The cookies spread only very slightly and the "holes" widened and flattened out a bit.  I didn't want them too flat since I did want the indentations to be deep enough to hold the filling so I took the baking pan out halfway through baking and pressed the handle of the wooden spoon again to flatten the indentations a bit more.  If you make the holes deep enough in the first place, you shouldn't have to do that step.

I really liked these cookies - they had the same tender texture as Mexican Wedding Cakes but were sturdy enough to hold their shape.  I loved it paired with the dulce de leche filling as the sweetness of the dulce de leche was a perfect contrast to the nutty flavor and tender crumb of the cookie.  Alice Medrich also suggests you can fill these with nutella. While this wouldn't be practical in a care package, this is a pretty cookie to serve at an afternoon tea or a dessert buffet.

1 ½ cups (5.25 ounces) pecans

1/3 cup (2.33 ounces) sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into chunks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk (optional)

2 cups (9 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling

2/3 cup (4.625 ounces) firmly packed dark muscovado sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

Scant 1/8 teaspoon salt

1.      Pulse the nuts in a food processor until most are finely ground and the largest pieces are about ¼ inch.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

2.      Wipe the processor bowl with a paper towel to remove excess oil from the nuts.  Add the sugar and salt and process until fine and powdery.  Add the butter, vanilla and egg yolk, if using, and pulse until the mixture is smooth.  Add the flour and pulse until the dough starts to clump together.  Add the nuts and pulse just until combined.  Transfer the dough to a bowl and knead it by hand briefly to make sure it is evenly mixed.

3.      Shape the dough into 1-inch balls (0.5 ounce each) and place them slightly apart on a plate or tray big enough to hold all the balls yet small enough to fit in your refrigerator.  Press the handle of a wooden spoon dipped in flour (or your finger) into each ball to form a depression.  Cover and chill the cookies for at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight.

4.      Preheat the oven to 325⁰F.  Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.

5.      Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and place them 1 inch apart on the lined or ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the cookies are lightly colored on top and light golden brown on the bottom.  Rotate the pans from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking.  Cool cookies completely.

6.      To make the filling: while the cookies are cooling, combine the muscovado sugar with the cream and salt in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.  Boil gently for about 2 minutes without stirring.  Cool the sauce briefly.

7.      Spoon a little filling into the depression in each cookie.  Allow the filling to cool completely.  May be stored in airtight container for at least a week.

Chocolate Caramel Oat Brownies

Chocolate Caramel Oat Brownies - made April 29, 2011 from Mrs. Fields' Great American Desserts by Debbi Fields (book #99)

This is the baking book that gave me my favorite coconut cake recipe so it's already worth its price to me.  This recipe is more for a bar cookie than a brownie since it's comprised of a bottom oat layer, a middle layer of pecans, chocolate chips and caramel and a top crumb layer of the same oat mixture as the bottom layer.  I baked it for a few minutes longer than the 15 minutes called for in the recipe because at 15 minutes, although the edges were golden brown, parts of the middle still looked a bit pale.  As long as you cover the caramel completely with the oat crumb topping, it doesn't hurt to bake it a bit longer.  It's important to cover the caramel completely or any that bubbles through the top crust will have a tendency to boil over and become chewy hard when the bar cookie cools.  Keep it covered and the caramel stays soft and creamy.

I thought this was a really good bar cookie, especially if you like oats and caramel.  I didn't even mind the pecans because it added a little bit of crunch and flavor to complement the creamy sweetness of the caramel.  The chocolate chips also provided a nice chocolaty addition to the bar.  Another good recipe from Mrs. Fields.

Top view

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats, toasted

1 ½ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

½ cup heavy cream

14 ounces caramel squares

1.     Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, line it with aluminum foil and butter the foil.

2.     In the food processor, pulse the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt together just to combine.  Add the butter, a few pieces at a time, and cut it into the dry ingredients by turning the machine on and off quickly.  Process until the mixture is coarsely textured with small, irregular flakes and bits the size of small peas.

3.     Remove 2 cups of the crumb mixture and set aside.  Press the remaining crumb mixture over the bottom of the baking pan.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips and chopped pecans evenly over the crumb mixture.  Set the pan aside.

4.     In a heavy-bottomed, medium-size saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over the medium heat.  Add the caramels, turn the heat to low, and melt them, stirring constantly, until smooth.  Pour the caramel sauce over the chips and nuts in the baking pan.  Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture evenly over the top, pressing it down lightly with a metal spatula.

5.     Bake the brownies for about 15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.  Remove the pan to a wire rack, and while the brownies are still warm, cut around the sides of the pan with a metal spatula to loosen the edges.  Let the brownies cool on the rack to room temperature.

6.     Cut the brownies into 2 by 3-inch pieces.  Arrange on a serving plate, cover the plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

7.     Let the brownies stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.

Brownies

Brownies - made April 28, 2011 from Williams Sonoma Dessert (book #98)

I've been asked to contribute to another bake sale this weekend, this time for a spring fair where the proceeds benefit the school a friend's son goes to.  Anything for a good cause and any excuse to bake, that's my motto.  So you know this means the next few posts will be all about bake sale brownies.  I also will bake any kind of brownies that let me add the nutella crunch topping on it so I went with this plain brownie recipe from the Williams Sonoma Dessert cookbook.  This differed from most of my brownie recipe in that it uses cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Except for the cake flour, it's a pretty standard brownie recipe and it turned out well.  In fact, I could probably have left the topping off if it weren't for wanting it to look a little more special for the bake sale.  The brownie was fudgy with just the right amount of chocolate and can stand alone as a plain brownie. I took a couple of closeups of the brownie so you can see what I mean when I say "fudgy".  This is what I look for in a good brownie and why I never overbake brownies.  If you overbake, you won't get this fudgy texture.

A good brownie has to be dense and fudgy

½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup sugar

Pinch of salt
2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup cake flour, sifted

¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chunks

1.     Preheat the oven to 350⁰F.  Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish, preferably glass (I used metal and it was fine).

2.     In a saucepan over low heat, combine the butter and chopped unsweetened chocolate.  Heat, stirring often, until melted, about 4 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt.  Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended.  Sprinkle the sifted flour over the mixture and stir until just blended.  Stir in the chips, if using.

3.     Pour the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly.  Bake the brownies until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost completely clean, about 30 minutes, or longer if using a metal pan.  Do not overbake.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.