Sometimes I get carried away with a flavor idea… and its a GREAT idea at first… and then I just start grabbing things off the shelf and I almost ruin it. Well… this is sort of one of those recipes. It started out as a orange ginger cake but ended up a ‘ginger/cardamom cake with orange and coconut frosting’. The end result was actually pretty delicious. Maybe next time i’ll do a better job of focusing in on the a 1-2 flavor punch. In the meantime enjoy this flavorful and exciting recipe for the ‘too many flavors’ cake.

Recipe:

Cake:

2 Cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 Cups white sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp diced ginger (or ginger paste)
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Filling:

1 Cup Whipping Cream
1/3 cup white sugar

Frosting:
1 Stick of softened butter
1 Brick softened cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
zest of one medium orange (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons sour cream

Topping:
1 cup coconut shavings

Directions Cake:

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt in one bowl. In a seperate bowl combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, ginger, cardamom and eggs. Add in one third of the flour. Combine. Add in half of the buttermilk. Combine. Repeat until all flour and buttermilk is added to the butter mixture.

Bake in two separate 8″ cake rounds.

Once fully baked cool and remove from pans. Bring to room temperature and slice into 4 separate layers.

Directions Filling:

In a chilled bowl beat on high speed the whipping cream and sugar until stiff. Stack cake layers with a layer of the whipped cream equally divided in between each. Chill cake for approximately 30 minutes (keep cake covered in refrigerator).

Directions Frosting:

In bowl beat softened butter and cream cheese for 2 minutes. Mix orange zest into Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating for 1 minute on high between each addition. Beat in sour cream until fully combined.

This is a sticky frosting naturally, but when beaten it should hold its form. If it does not gradually beat in one half a cup of powdered sugar at a time until it does.

Frost the cake starting with the sides and finishing with the top. Once cake is fully frosted sprinkle shredded coconut on cake until fully covered. Serve!

I looooove coffee. So this is a coffee cheesecake recipe thats light on the sweet and heavy on the coffee. Warning… this is NOT a sweet cheesecake. If you never drink your coffee without sugar you might want to add a half cup more sugar. But if you want a bold and smooth cup of coffee with just a touch of cream you’ll love this.

Crust:
Recipe for Shortbread pie crust

Cheesecake:
2 bricks of cream cheese
1/2 cup granular white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp freeze dried coffee (starbucks VIA italian roast is great for this)
1 tsp coffee extract

Ganache:
4 ounces of semi sweet bakers chocolate
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Have one rack in the center of your oven and one rack positioned just below it. On the lower shelf place a pan (round cake pan or pie tin works fine) with about an inch of water.

Prepare the shortbread pie crust according to instructions and press into an 8 inch springform pan. Press this as thin as possible.

Soften the cream cheese by either leaving at room temperature for 4-5 hours or microwaving the blocks individually for 20-30 seconds.

Blend the softened cream cheese, sugar, and coffee until fully combined. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, cinnamon and freeze dried coffee for 30 seconds. Add the egg mixture to your cream cheese mixture and beat for 1 minute on low. Add flour and beat for another minute. Pour mixture into springform pan. Place in oven.

Before closing up the oven double check your bath. Add some water to it if its more than half way empty.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is firm.

Remove from oven and let cool in the pan.

Grate your chocolate into a bowl with high walls. In a double boiler slowly heat up your heavy cream. Once the cream starts to bubble (or is too hot to touch) remove from heat and pour into the center of the chocolate. Stir slowly until all chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth. Pour ganache onto the top of the room temperature cheesecake.

Place in the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours. Once chilled bring the cheesecake back to room temperature before slowly removing the outer ring of the springform pan. Serve!

Dust with some starbucks via :-)

Sometimes you just need a sofa. Most of my life i’ve been opposed to owning sofas (at least the ones I can afford). Most sofas are rather large, unweildy, and take up more space than their intended purpose should warrant. But if anyone wants to buy me one of those mid century modern sofas from Mad Men i’m fine with shifting my opinions :-) .

Fortunately, im in a position to have many guests at the apartment for parties and dinners. So having a place to sit is an inescapable need. This project was a compromise between what I really wanted and what I actually could afford. The final bill for this sofa was about 200 dollars and 30 hours of work.

The sections are made from 3/4″  birch veneer plywood, the front panels are raw masonite, the cushions are high density upholstery foam, and the fabric is from G st. fabrics upholstery ends.

The masonite panels hide storage. Each of the sections are designed to be reposition-able. Sleeps one adult comfortably.

I thought I would do a post about how an apartment dweller gets rid of a 8 ft tree. I basically ‘dexter’ it, trim off the branches, cut down the trunk, sweep up the needles and bag it up. Easily fits into 5-6 bags and can be thrown away in your buildings trash (Although bring the bags down to the trash room, its a very bad idea to put pine needles in a trash chute).

I was born in NY. Specifically in the chelsea neighborhood. Its a pretty lively place. These days its the center of gay life in the city (although, in all honesty, most NY neighborhoods give chelsea a run for its money) and home to numerous icons of the 60s and 70s, greatest of which is the Chelsea Hotel.

While the Chelsea Hotel is no longer what it once was, it does have the good fortune of renting out one of its retail spots to a branch of the ‘Doughnut Plant‘. To say these are good donuts is an incredible understatement. The flavors, textures, and quality are incredible. Its hard to eat a dunkin donut after having these. Its ALMOST hard to eat a Krispy Kreme (although time helps).

You can really taste the quality of the ingredients, the freshness of the product and the genius behind the craftsmanship in each variety. Today I had three small filled donuts:
chocolate hazelnut (the chocolate creme in the middle was so rich it almost tasted alcoholic), Creme Brule (the tops of these are slightly singed, crunchy, and sugary), and cashew orange blossom (the exterior is coated in glaze and cashews while the interior fresh creme is lightly flavored with orange blossom).

They have a rotating array of flavors daily. My absolute favorite is Oatmeal. Its a rich and hearty cake donut with chunks of semi hydrated fruit baked into the donut. The outside is glazed with a milky, lightly sweet, glaze and coated in small chunks of fresh granola. The perfect combination of flavor, heartiness, and crunchy, just-sweet-enough, texture.

Next time you’re in NYC take some time to swing by Doughnut Plant.

These little cupcakes have a lot going on. Starting with a simple spice cake cupcake you pipe a pumpkin cheesecake center right in the middle and top the whole thing with a tangy cranberry buttercream frosting. Serve these fresh, room temperature, not refrigerated.

Recipe:

Yield: appx 18 cupcakes.

Cake:
2 batches of this buttermilk cake recipe (without the berries) with the following additions;
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves

Pumpkin Filling:
4 heaping tablespoons pureed pumpkin
4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1 tsp molasses
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 tablespoons cupcake batter

Frosting:
3 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 stick butter softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1/2 cup dried cranberries (either chopped or proceeded to the smallest pieces possible)

Instructions:

Cupcake Batter:
Following the instructions on the Gourmet.com website for 2 times the base recipe for the buttermilk cake. Set aside.

Pumpkin Filling:
In a medium bowl mix all ingredients and blend on low for approximately 2 minutes (you want to get some air and ‘loft’ into the mix). Once pumpkin mixture is combined spoon into a pastry bag with the widest round tip you have (or use a bag made from parchment with a large opening – a little smaller than the diameter of a dime is perfect).

Baking Instructions:
Spoon approximately 1.5 tablespoons of the cupcake mixture into each cupcake liner.
Bake at 350F for approximately 8 minutes or until cupcakes just begin to rise (the timing all depends on your oven so check every couple minutes). Quickly pull each tray of cupcakes out, dip the pastry bag tip into the center of the batter and squeeze about a tablespoon into each. Timing is important here because you don’t want your cupcakes out of the oven more than a minute.
Bake until cupcakes are fully cooked (approximately 20 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Cranberry Frosting:
Using an electric mixer, combine butter, vanilla, pomegranate molasses, and one cup confectioners sugar until fully combined. In one cup increments blend in the remaining sugar. Min in the cranberries and let sit for about 30 minutes (which should give you plenty of time to

Assembly:
If you were able to cut your dried cranberry pieces VERY small You can pipe this frosting using a very large round tip.

If you were not able to chop the cranberries small it would be better to ice your cupcakes with a spatula.

Garnish with either fresh or dried cranberries. Serve at room temperature (the flavor just isn’t the same after refrigeration).

Since early last year I have been working part time to create a small bindery with my friend Karen. We finally launched PigeonNote a couple weeks ago and are now open for business online. It’s been a long 19 month journey and for the last 4 months we were, what felt like, ‘two weeks to launch’ perpetually. But all the hard work, late nights, business hurdles and creative bottlenecks have been worth it. We have a small company we are proud of that makes products we personally love. Right now PigeonNote is producing handmade journals, cards, and papercrafts here in the DC area using American made, responsibly sourced paper. In the near future we will expand to micro publishing of art books and niche titles.

The focus of our work at PigeonNote is high quality, simply designed paper work that immediately feels familiar, yet has enough originality that it’s worth special consideration. I hope you’ll browse the shop today and give us some feedback when you get a chance (either on this post or on the pigeonnote blog). We plan to launch new products routinely (and probably discontinue products just as frequently) so stay tuned to product and company developments on the PigeonNote blog notes.pigeonnote.com!!

Happy Holidays!
-Godmund

I usually make this a lot in the spring but I find myself making it more as it gets cooler and cooler outside (Im very excited about all the autumn and holiday baking on the horizon :-).

The below recipe is for one apple cheddar pie baked in a 12″ cast iron skillet. Although I am seriously considering buying a couple of these real deal cast iron pie pans from amazon… maybe for christmas.
Old Mountain Pre Seasoned 10161 Cast Iron Pie Pan, 12 Inch x 9 3/4 Inch x 2 Inch

Recipe:

Preheat Oven to 350F

Double the recipe Shortbread Pie Crust (make it soft, slightly less flour)

1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese (how sharp is up to you, I usually go with medium and get good results)

7-8 Medium Apples, cored and finely sliced (you should be able to get at least 12 even slices from each apple)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 stick soft butter

Prepare shortbread crust according to directions. Once Crust is fully combined knead in grated cheddar cheese. Press crust into pie form. Make certain to press and even layer and leave a slightly thicker rim for easy joining of the top layer to the bottom.
Make sure you leave at least 1.5 cups of the crust mixture for the top layer!

At this point place the pie pan into the oven for 5 minutes to ‘set’ the bottom crust. The crust will ‘slouch’ in your pan. This is normal.

Place the sliced apples in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter in a small bowl.

NOTE: At this point, make sure you have removed the pan from your oven. Give it a few minutes to cool down so you don’t burn yourself on the cast iron.

Sprinkle the brown sugar and spice mixture onto apples. Using your hands, thoroughly mix the apples with the sugar and spice mix.

Begin to place the apples into the pie pan. I like to start with apples slices on the outside edge, lightly pressing them into the soft warm crust (this helped to correct the ‘slouching’ that occurs during the crust ‘setting’) and work my way to the interior of the pie, slightly overlapping the apples as I place them. Once one layer is done repeat for the next layer. This process take a little more time, but the result is better slice quality (stacked apples stay together easier) and more consistent support for the softer crust.

The apples should create a slight ‘mount’ to the pie. This is fine.

Once all of your apples are set take the remaining pie crust and form it into several ‘disks’ of dough with your hands, flattening each until they appear to be large enough to cover the surface of the pie mount. Cover the pie with the disks and lightly press each together to form a seal over the entire pie. (I have never been successful rolling this dough. However, if you find a suitable technique please share!).

Sprinkle the top and the edges of the pie with any remaining shredded cheddar. Place in oven for 45 minutes. Cool and serve!

I whipped this up last weekend while watching several iterations of the Halloween franchise. Those movies are SOOOOO much fun this time of year. And for some reason watching babysitters get chased around by evil sibling murderers puts me in the baking mood. Happy Halloween folks :-)

Recipe for 8″ pie:

One recipe Shortbread pie crust

1 pkg cream cheese (softened)
1 can pureed pumpkin (apx 15 ounces)
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 ounces bittersweet bakers chocolate (finely grated)

Crust:
Prepare shortbread pie crust and press into an 8inch springform pan. Place in oven at 350F for 5 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.

Pumpkin Filling:
Combine cream cheese and sugar in a bowl. Beat on medium for 30 seconds. Add in egg. Beat until fully combined. Empty can of pureed pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Beat on medium for 1 minute. Spoon three tablespoons of batter into a medium size bowl and set aside. Using a rubber spatula spoon out the remaining batter into the pie shell.

Chocolate Swirl:
Microwave the medium size bowl containing 3 tablespoons of pumpkin batter (or heat it up in double boiler) for 30 seconds (obviously longer if you are using a double boiler – heat until hot to the touch). Put the finely grated chocolate into the bowl of hot batter and mix until all chocolate is melted and combined evenly with the batter.

Pour or spoon chocolate mixture onto pie. using a chopstick or a toothpick (or the edge of a butter knife) marble the two batters together.

Finishing:
Place pie on a large piece of tin foil. Wrap tin foil around sides of pie. Overlap edges of tin foil to protect the edges of the pie.

Place pie in oven for approximately one hour or until pie begins to slightly pull away from the crust. Remove and cool. Remove springform shell and serve.