Ruthie’s Apple Cake recipe by Bonnie Stern

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
¼ cup orange juice
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 to 5 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 tbsp coarse sugar, optional

With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in a bowl until light. Beat in oil. Beat in orange and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture and stir until combined.

In a third bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, apples and nuts.

Spread about half of the batter in an oiled and parchment lined 9 inch spring-form pan. Spoon apples on top of this batter. Drizzle remaining batter on top of the apples. The batter on the top layer may not cover the apples completely. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for about 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. If the cake is browning too much, cover loosely with foil and reduce oven heat to 325 degree F. Makes 8 to 12 servings.

Recipe from “Friday Night Dinners” by Bonnie Stern.

Dutch Baby from NYTimes

3 eggs
½ cup flour
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter
Syrup, preserves, confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine eggs, flour, milk, sugar and nutmeg in a blender jar and blend until smooth. Batter may also be mixed by hand.
Place butter in a heavy 10-inch skillet or baking dish and place in the oven. As soon as the butter has melted (watch it so it does not burn) add the batter to the pan, return pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the pancake is puffed and golden. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake five minutes longer.

Peach Upside-Down Cake from nytimes.com


¼ pound unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
3 large, ripe peaches
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs
¾ cup crème fraîche

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake or pie pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper and butter that as well.
  2. Pit the peaches and cut into slices about 1/2-inch thick. Arrange the slices in a pattern on the bottom of the pie pan.
  3. Combine 1/2 cup/100 grams of the sugar with 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan or skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture turns amber, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and pour this caramel evenly over the peaches in the pie pan.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and nutmeg, and set aside.
  5. In another medium bowl, beat together the butter and remaining 3/4 cup/150 grams sugar until light. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Stir in the flour mixture. Spread the batter evenly over the peaches and caramel.
  6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until top is golden brown and cake is set. Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack. Run a knife around the sides, place a platter on top and invert the cake onto the platter. If any of the peach slices stick to the pan, lift them off carefully and replace them on top of the cake. Serve the cake warm or cooled to room temperature, with crème fraîche on the side.

Tip

  • Your caramel might harden by the time you spread the batter on top of the peaches. Don’t worry. It’ll melt by the time it comes out of the oven.

 

Eggplant Tomato Pie from loversrecipes.com

  • 1 eggplant
  • 2 tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1  tablespoon pesto
  • Cheddar cheese, shredded
  • Fresh parsley

Peel and cube eggplant, note do not boil, sautee,boil until soft and tender, then drain water and mash. Add diced onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, melted butter and pesto to the mash; mix well. Grease a pie pan. Slice one tomato and layer on bottom of pan. Add the eggplant mixture. Slice the remaining tomato and layer on top of eggplant mixture. Add shredded cheddar cheese and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

 

sweet corn and zucchini pie from pinchofyum.com


4 tablespoons butter
half of a yellow onion, diced
2 ears sweet corn
2 large zucchini, sliced very thinly (about 4 cups)
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces shredded cheese (I used Mozzarella, cheddar and romano)
4 eggs, beaten
1-2 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. While the veggies saute, cut the corn kernels off the cob. Add them to the pan and continue to saute until the veggies are soft, 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Once the mixture has cooled for a few minutes, stir in the basil, oregano, salt, cheese, bread crumbs and the beaten egg. Line a pie pan (9-inch or larger) with parchment paper or just grease a pan with nonstick spray. Transfer the mixture to the pan. Arrange the top so the zucchini slices lay flat and look nice. Top with a little extra cheese for looks, cover with greased foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes to brown the top. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting into slices.

It will bubble up a little bit as it bakes, so put a pan under to catch drips if it’s really full. sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve

Royal pasta dough from jamie oliver

400 g good-quality  00 flour , plus extra for dusting
75 g fine semolina
12 large free-range eggs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

  • THE DOUGH
    Pile the flour and semolina into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the well, putting the egg whites into a sandwich bag and popping into the freezer for making meringues another day. Add the oil and 4 tablespoons of cold water to the well, then use a fork to whip up with the eggs until smooth, then gradually bring the flour in from the outside. When it becomes too hard to mix, get your clean floured hands in there and bring it together into a ball of dough. Knead on a flour-dusted surface for around 4 minutes, or until smooth and elastic (eggs can vary in size and flour can vary in humidity; this dough shouldn’t be too wet or dry, but tweak with a touch more water or flour if you need to – use your common sense). Wrap in clingfilm and leave to relax for 30 minutes.ROLLING OUT
    Traditionally, Italians would have used a very large rolling pin, and you can do it that way if you like, it just requires a large flat surface and a bit of elbow grease. In this day and age, I think it’s fun and advisable to use a pasta machine. Attach it firmly to a nice clean table and divide your pasta dough into four pieces, covering everything with a damp clean tea towel to stop it drying out as you go.STAGE 1
    One at a time, flatten each piece of dough by hand and run it through the thickest setting, then take the rollers down two settings and run the dough through again to make it thinner. Importantly, fold it in half and run it back through the thickest setting again – I like to repeat this a few times because it makes the dough super-smooth and turns it from a tatty sheet into one that fills out the pasta machine properly.

    STAGE 2
    Start rolling the sheet down through each setting, dusting with flour as you go. Turn the crank with one hand while the other maintains just a little tension to avoid any kinks, folds or ripples. Take it right down to the desired thickness, which is about 2mm for shapes like linguine, tagliatelle and lasagne. For anything turned into a filled pasta, such as ravioli and tortellini, go as thin as 1mm because when it’s folded around a filling it will double up to 2mm.

Fettuccine Alfredo from jamie oliver

  • ½ x Royal pasta dough
  • semolina , for dusting
  • 150 ml double cream
  • 150 ml single cream
  • 1 large free-range egg
  • 60 g Parmesan cheese , plus extra to serve
  • 1 fresh truffle or 1 whole nutmeg , for grating
  • truffle oil
  • Make the Royal pasta dough, rolling the sheets out to the thickness of a playing card. Set up the fettuccine attachment on your pasta machine and gently run through each pasta sheet. Place on semolina-dusted tray until needed.
  • Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil over a high heat, then add the fettuccine and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until al dente.
  • Meanwhile, make the sauce. Gently heat the cream in a large frying pan on a low heat, separate the egg yolk (save the white for another day) and whisk into the pan. Finely grate and gently whisk in the Parmesan, then season well with sea salt and black pepper.
  • Using tongs, drop the fettuccine into the sauce and toss well, adding splashes of the cooking water to loosen into a lovely, silky sauce.
  • Serve with shavings of truffle or gratings of nutmeg (if using), a good grating of Parmesan and a drizzle of truffle oil.

carrot cake and frosting from hali taylor

Combine:
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts and/or 1 cup raisins

 In another bowl, combine:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring well. Pour into greased 9 X 13 pan.

Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes

Frosting:

½ cup butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1 box XXX sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Lemon-Spice Visiting Cake from Dorie Greenspan

  • Butter and flour for the pan
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 ¼ cups sugar
  • 1 large (or 2 small) lemons
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • ½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 5 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • cup marmalade (for optional glaze)
  • ½ teaspoon water (for optional glaze)
  1. Center a rack in the oven, and preheat it to 350. Butter an 8 1/2-inch loaf pan (Pyrex works well), dust with flour and tap out the excess. (For this cake, bakers’ spray isn’t as good as butter and flour.) Place on a baking sheet.
  2. Whisk the 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, cardamom, ginger and salt together.
  3. Put the sugar in a large bowl, and grate the zest of the lemon(s) over the sugar. Squeeze the lemon(s) to produce 3 tablespoons juice, and set this aside. Using your fingers, rub the sugar and zest together until the mixture is moist and aromatic. One at a time, add the eggs, whisking well after each. Whisk in the juice, followed by the heavy cream. Still using the whisk, gently stir the dry ingredients into the batter in two additions. Stir the vanilla into the melted butter, and then gradually blend the butter into the batter. The batter will be thick and have a beautiful sheen. Scrape it into the loaf pan.
  4. Bake for 70 to 75 minutes (if the cake looks as if it’s getting too dark too quickly, tent it loosely with foil) or until a tester inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a rack, let rest for 5 minutes and then carefully run a blunt knife between the sides of the cake and the pan. Invert onto the rack, and turn over. Glaze now, or cool to room temperature.
  5. For the glaze: Bring the marmalade and water to a boil. Brush the glaze over the top of the warm cake, and allow to it to set for 2 hours. The glaze will remain slightly tacky.
  6. When the cake is completely cool, wrap in plastic to store. If it’s glazed, wrap loosely on top.

Summer Tomato Pudding from Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Tomato Sauce
Good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium to large onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
Salt and black pepper to taste
generous pinch hot red pepper flakes
2 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tightly packed tablespoons fresh basil, torn
1-3/4 to 2 pounds good-tasting tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped (do not seed or peel), or 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with liquid
Olive oil for the baking dish
7- to 8-inch piece of baguette, a couple of days old if possible, cut into 1-inch thick rounds

Custard
5 large eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste
1 cup half and half, or heavy cream
1 cup whole or skim milk
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Flavorings
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 ounces firm, fresh, whole milk sheep or cow cheese, or cream cheese, thinly sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup pitted Niçoise or oil-cured Moroccan olives
1 good-tasting medium tomato, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, or 1 cup halved, flavorful grape tomatoes

1. Make the tomato sauce: Lightly film a 4-quart saucepan with the olive oil. Heat over medium-high. Add the onion with some salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook until golden. Stir in the garlic and basil, and cook 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, breaking them up as they go into the pan. Bring the sauce to a lively bubble and cook, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until thick. Stir often with a flat wood spatula to keep from sticking. Taste for seasoning. Cover and set aside 15 to 20 minutes to mellow or refrigerate up to 24 hours.

2. Assemble the pudding: While the sauce cooks, oil an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Cover the bottom of the dish completely with the bread slices.

3. Make the custard: In a large bowl, whisk together in a large bowl the eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, half-and-half, milk, and Parmigiano cheese. Pour half the custard over the bread and let it soak in for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the feta cheese, and half the slices of the fresh cheese. Tuck in half the basil leaves.

4. Cover everything with the tomato sauce. Pour in the rest of the custard, scatter the olives over the custard, push the sliced tomatoes and rest of the basil leaves into the custard, cover with the rest of the fresh cheese and sprinkle with the remaining feta.

5. Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes, then raise the heat to 375ºF. and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Finally, uncover and bake another 20 minutes, or until the thermometer inserted near the center of the pudding reads 200ºF. to 210ºF.  Let the pudding rest at room temperature 15 minutes. Serve it hot or just warm.

Makes an 8-inch-square baking dish of pudding and doubles easily. Tomato sauce and custard could be done a day ahead and refrigerated.

between 200ºF. and 210ºF. and then give it at least a 15-minute rest before serving.