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Homemade Marshmallows

December 22, 2011 by 2 Comments

Hello, internets! I’m Sarah from the newly-created Sweet Synthesis and I’m here to talk about marshmallows and the making thereof.

Homemade Marshmallows

Marshmallows! You can make them in your very own kitchen! Who knew? Certainly not most of the co-workers to whom I gave said homemade marshmallows as holiday gifts this year. Whip up a batch (or several) of these babies in various flavors and then proceed to impress your friends. They will think you can do magic. No joke.

Marshmallows don’t always have the best reputation–but hear me out. Homemade marshmallows are nothing like those sickeningly sweet, cylindrical confections you pick up at the grocery store. No, homemade marshmallows are unbelievably fluffy, their taste is somehow much lighter, and they’re much more aesthetically pleasing.

To be honest, the process of making marshmallows really does feel magical — one minute, you have boiled sugar and corn syrup, and the next, you have this whipped up, fluffy white cloud of deliciousness. Magic. But best of all, marshmallow-making is really easy, really quick to prepare, and really easy to clean up.

…but because this is Food Shenanigans, and I have never crafted anything perfectly or without a few mishaps, let me recount my first-time marshmallow-making efforts in all their victories and grotesque defeats. [Read more...]

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Watermelon Basil Granita

August 7, 2011 by 3 Comments

I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen recipes for granitas on the Food Network website and scoffed at them, thinking they’d be a waste of time. Of course, as I almost always am when I decide to dislike something based on nothing factual, I was wrong. I finally decided to give in because I had 3/4 of a watermelon leftover from a cookout and wanted to make sure I used it all up. I’m so glad that I did – this granita is a delicious summertime dessert and even though it’s a bit fussy, it’s well worth the effort.

Watermelon Basil Granita

5 cups watermelon, pureed
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup loosely packed basil

In a small pot, combine water and sugar and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat, add in the basil leaves and let simmer for about 10 – 15 minutes until the mixture has thickened to a syrupy consistency. Allow to cool to room temperature, discarding basil leaves. Mix watermelon puree and simple syrup and pour into a 9×13 pan.

Place pan in the freezer take out every 45 minutes or so, to scrape at the top layer of icy slush with a fork. This is how the granita achieves that light, fluffy texture. My granita took about 6 hours to freeze all the through, but that is because my refrigerator is old and doesn’t work that well. It should probably be closer to 4 hours in a newer freezer.

When I made my granita, I only used 1/3 cup of basil and it wasn’t enough, so I’ve doubled it in the above recipe. This should be enough to bring out the really herbal notes of the basil and cut the sweetness of the watermelon a bit. This granita is basically watermelon candy, it’s so sweet and fun to eat.

watermelon basil granita

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Balsamic Strawberries with Basil

June 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I don’t like basil very much. I don’t know why, but it’s never been an herb of which I’ve been too fond. A few weeks ago I was sent a potted basil plant in my Boston Organics box, so I decided I better get over myself and put the plant to use. First, I [of course] made tomato sauce, then a few other savory dishes. Then I realized how well the basil went with my favorite balsamic vinegar, which led me to thinking about adding basil to the strawberries with balsamic vinegar I make when strawberries are finally back in season.

It was a genius idea.

No, seriously, it was: the balsamic/strawberry combo is one that’s a perfect harmony of sweet and tangy, while the sweetness of the basil has a peppery bite that pairs so well with it. And please, for the love of all that you call holy, use a good balsamic. While yes, store brand balsamic will work in a pinch, a good aged vinegar is what will work best here. The aged stuff has a deeper, mellower flavor that is just so decadent tasting when paired with fruit. The mass produced commercial stuff is far too acidic and has too much of a bite.

Balsamic Strawberries with Basil

2 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 – 3 tablespoons of aged balsamic vinegar
10 large basil leaves, chiffonade

Toss the strawberries and balsamic vinegar together. Let sit in a covered bowl for about 20 – 30 minutes. Uncover, add in the basil and mix well. Cover again and chill for at least an hour prior to serving.

That’s it! Three easy ingredients, minimal prep, and you have a tasty dessert. You could serve this with a barely sweetened homemade whipped cream, or you could take it in a different direction and add some feta cheese to it for a salad. The salty feta would go incredibly well with this. If you happen to have any strawberries left, this will keep in the fridge for a few days.

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Honey Apple Pie

March 24, 2011 by 1 Comment

I’ve been swimming in apples lately. Every week, like clockwork, I get two pounds of apples dropped on my doorstep by the local produce ninjas. I’ve made a lot things with them so far: last post’s pork, apple cinnamon mini muffins, chicken salad with apples, cabbage with apples and onions … I’m like Bubba from Forrest Gump. The apples have all been really delicious, but I’m pretty eagerly awaiting not-apples.

Since I had all these apples, obviously pie had to be made. I figured I’d make it with the local honey I got, which is apparently made pretty close to my house [which is kind of alarming - have you seen my neighborhood?!]. I had wanted to make a pie that was a little less sweet than my normal one, so I figured using honey (and less of it) would be a good way to achieve that. Well, honey and a good dose of ginger and cinnamon.

Honey Apple Pie

7 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and diced
1 pie crust, homemade or store bought

1 1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, toss apples with honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. Place in the pie crust and then sprinkle diced butter pieces over the apples. For the topping, mix together the oats, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the pie and bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until the pie is bubbling and the top is brown. Let cool and serve at room temperature.

This is really good; I should have let mine cook longer, but the flavor was just what I wanted. It was slightly spicy from the ginger and had a nice warmth to it from the other spices. While the honey lent some sweetness, it wasn’t cloying which I was slightly apprehensive about. And to give you a better idea about its taste: it was mostly gone within 3 days. There are only two of us that live here.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

October 24, 2010 by 1 Comment

I know, I’m an asshole. Not only have I not posted in nearly two months, but now that I am, it’s the easiest recipe known to man. I have no excuse [well, I could probably think of a lot, but what's the point, really?]. But I felt like I should post something now so that I’m warmed up for the epic post I’ll have after Halloween with all the stuff I’m making for our party.

I made these cookies awhile ago and really liked them a lot, but somehow I forgot about them until I was organizing the pictures on my computer not too long ago. Oops! Even though they are so simple, they’re still really delicious. As we were eating far too many of them, my friend said that they tasted “like childhood”, which I feel is a pretty apt description.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
2 cups peanut butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 – 3/4 cup jelly, any flavor

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all of the ingredients together until they are well combined. Take about two tablespoons of dough at a time and roll it in a ball, then place on a cookie sheet. Press your thumb down in the center of the cookie, about halfway down. Fill the indent with the jelly of your choice. Repeat with the rest of the dough, this should make about 24 – 30 cookies. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cookies cool completely before eating, or otherwise they may break.

I know, I know; it’s barely a recipe! But totally worth making it. You can also omit the jelly in the recipe, but then you’d just have a plain peanut butter cookie, and why would you want that?

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These aren't the blueberries you're looking for.

March 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

My father-in-law requested a blueberry recipe for the blog not too long ago, and I’ve been thinking about several possibilities, but I want to wait for some good in-season blueberries to make something really good. Which isn’t to say that the subject of this post isn’t really good, because it is, but it uses frozen blueberries which is pretty much cheating and fresh blueberries are always better.

I didn’t actually take too many pictures of this, because it hadn’t been intended for the blog. It was intended to use up the bananas that my husband YET AGAIN didn’t eat. [Note to husband: I am not buying you any more bananas.] But then I made it, and tasted it, and decided to blog about it. Such is the life of a food blogger, I suppose: never eating a hot meal again and never quite knowing what creations will be “blog worthy” as one of our friends says.

Blueberry Banana Cake

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1.5 cups frozen blueberries, defrosted
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. Slowly add in flour, baking powder and salt (the batter will be stiff). Fold in mashed bananas and blueberries until just combined. Pour batter into greased 9×13 baking pan. Cook for 35 – 40 minutes or until set in the center.

Now, mine came out a little light on the top, and I like my baked goods to look nice and golden brown. So I sprinkled about a tablespoon of sugar over the top and stuck it under the broiler for two minutes to caramelize the sugar and brown the top, and then it was perfect.

This makes about 24 pieces of cake, or bars, if you don’t feel like frosting them. These are really tasty; not very sweet, and the flavor of blueberry and banana really comes through. At first I was slightly disappointed in them, but on day two I had a second slice and fell in love with it: moist because of the banana, slightly tart because of the blueberries. It’s the type of snack cake that I don’t feel horrifically bad in eating and also the type that would be perfect with tea.

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Seriously, enough with the clapping.

January 27, 2010 by 6 Comments

We’re watching the State of the Union Address. Can someone please tell me why there’s so much goddamn clapping? I mean, I get it; you like what he’s saying. Can’t you just clap once or twice politely? If there was less bowing and scraping during this thing, it’d be on for half the length of time it is.

You know what you should be clapping about? This recipe I’m about to give you: caramelized banana cupcakes. I KNOW! They were delish.

I was looking for something to make that wasn’t banana bread, but would still use up the extra bananas we had laying around that I bought with the best of intentions, but as usual took forever in using them. I ended up stumbling across a recipe for caramelized bananas, which sounded like it would pair awesomely with a somewhat lighter, less spiced version of my carrot cake.

Caramelized Banana Cupcakes

2 – 3 bananas, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup spiced rum
1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup oil
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. In a 8 or 10 inch skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sliced bananas and cook for about a minute. Add the rum and sprinkle in half of the cinnamon. Let cook another two minutes, until the banana is warmed through and starting to caramelize. Lower heat, cook another two minutes then set aside to cool.

Blend together eggs, oil and sugar. Slowly add in all dry ingredients and mix until batter is smooth. Add in cooled banana mixture. Evenly divide batter into cupcake pans (I filled 16 cups). Bake for 16 – 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

These came out really well; cooking the banana rather than just mashing up the raw banana adds a whole new depth of flavor to it. The banana flavor was much more pronounced and was nicely complemented by the spices. The cake itself is one of my favorites – it’s a nice dense cake that manages not to be too heavy. We had some of these plain, but I felt that for the sake of completeness I should try frosting them as well. I used a store bought [*gasp!*] cream cheese frosting. It did add a nice extra layer of flavor, but these cupcakes totally don’t need frosting. And I’m not just saying that because a) I’m not a big frosting fan and b) I will never, ever make frosting on this blog.

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Peppermint Brownies

January 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Yes yes, long time. I know, okay? Gimme a break.

This past weekend I had to make some baked goods for work. Thankfully, this should be my last time for awhile, as we’ve recently promoted several people, so now they can bake for the ingrates in my department. Anyhoodle, I wanted to make something different, so I looked up recipes for some sort of minty brownie. I’m not a big chocolate fan, so when I make it, I want it to be something different than the norm. [The exception to this is boxed brownie mix on poker night, because those people don't pay me enough of a rake to get fancy.]

I stumbled across the recipe for this on the Hershey website. And before you think I’m starting to shill for companies, I’m not; there were no Hershey products used during the dubious recreation of this recipe. [But hey, if anyone wants to send me free crap, feel free.] The recipe looked good because the work involved was minimal but it would still taste like something special when I brought to it work. And when I taste-tested it at home the night before.

Peppermint Brownies, adapted from Hershey’s Sensational Peppermint Pattie Brownies

24 small (1.5 inch) chocolate covered peppermint patty candy
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup oil
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder [I prefer Dutch-processed, but that's up to you and your conscience.]
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350 F [or 325 F if using a glass pan as I did].

Mix together butter, oil, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and beat until blended. Slowly stir in dry ingredients. Reserve two cups of batter, and spread remaining batter in greased/lined pan. Place peppermint patties on top of batter, roughly 1/2 inch apart. Spread remaining batter over the patties.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly dry or the brownies start to pull away from the pan.

Now, my end product looks quite different than the one on the original recipe; I assume if I had used the Hershey’s candy recommended, it would have looked more similar. Regardless, these were really tasty, if a bit sticky on the bottom from the melted candy.

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Lemon Ricotta … biscuits? Muffins?

November 10, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Little clouds of happiness?

I really have no idea what these are, to be honest. Giada De Laurentiis calls them biscuits, but I don’t know if I buy it. Just because she bats her big eyes at me doesn’t make me trust her!

Also, I have a very sad cat next to me. Our new cat, Paul, was neutered today and he is the saddest sad face of them all. I’m pretty sure he’s a little bit dead inside. He’s young, though – he’ll get over it.

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Now that I’ve exploited my cat for my own personal gain, back to the cooking. [Please, don't ask what I think I'm gaining; I have absolutely no idea.]

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I’ve never actually made any of Giada’s recipes. And yes, I am on first name basis with her, thank you for asking. Give me a break – you try typing that last name over and over again. Then maybe I’ll stop italicizing words. Ahem. I had bookmarked the link to this recipe in my ill-sorted “recipes” bookmark folder forever ago and found it again when I was vainly trying to organize everything into sub-folders. I decided to give it a go, since I had some leftover ricotta cheese from when I made stuffed shells the other day.

IMG_8818The recipe was very easy to follow. The batter was pretty dough-like and sticky, and I was worried I did something wrong. Then again, who knows – maybe I did! But I persevered and put clumps of dough into my muffin pans and hoped for the best while they were baking.

When they came out of the oven, they definitely did not resemble the image from original recipe. They actually ended up looking more biscuit like, which made sense to me given the consistency of the batter. They ended up having a texture pretty similar to pound cake crossed with a biscuit; dense but somehow flaky and light.

These were really good. The husband and I have been snacking on them for the last few days, and they hold up really well. Someone suggested putting butter on them, which I can definitely see as a possibility for one of these fresh out of the oven or even toasted. All melted butter with the little pops of lemon and the creamy ricotta… mmm. Maybe for breakfast!

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Zucchini … brownies?!

August 10, 2009 by 5 Comments

Okay, so not maybe brownies – more like a cake, I think. Either way, I was really pleasantly surprised with how good it turned out. When my mother-in-law’s friend told me about it at the annual family cookout, I was dubious but wanted to try it anyway. So I came home and looked up a few different recipes, finally deciding on this one from allrecipes.com. I actually didn’t change anything, because I honestly had no idea what to expect.

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When I started putting together all the ingredients, my dubiousness [I was really waiting for my spell check to tell me "dubiousness" isn't a word, and apparently it is, and now I feel silly] grew when the batter resembled something the husband cleans out of the rat cage, and not something that would make for a delicious baked good. However, once I put the zucchini in there, it moistened right up and looked fairly normal. That’s when I stopped being nervous about the taste – the carrot cake I make is similar in that the batter is just on this side of dry until I put in the grated carrots, and it suddenly becomes a thick and luscious batter. Also, I’ll have you know that I’ve never used the word luscious in conversation, but now that I have a blog, this is apparently how I talk about food. Weird.

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The original recipe included a recipe for frosting, but I didn’t make that. Why, you ask? Because I don’t like frosting. I know, I know, it’s like I’m a Communist. But fear not, comrade; you can refer back to the original recipe, or read Julia’s post about frosting and go from there. The recipe for the brownies can be found below:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350. Mix oil, sugar, and vanilla [I actually forgot the vanilla, and it was fine without it]. In a separate bowl, add all the dry ingredients and then add to the sugar mixture. Mixture will be really dry and crumbly at this point. Add zucchini and mix, the batter will loosen up and become glossy. Cook in a 9×13 pan for 20 – 25 minutes, or until the brownies spring back when you touch them.

Now, those directions look nice and reasonable; easy to follow, some might say. Some, however, don’t have my lack of attention to detail. I just kind of tossed everything into my mixing bowl, mixed the zucchini in pretty vigorously, and then baked it in a 7×11 pan. Mine came out really cake-like, which according to the reviews of the recipe happened to almost everyone if they didn’t undercook it.

All in all, a good recipe to try, but I don’t really see the added health benefit to it, unless I’m going to replace some of the oil with zucchini in the future. I mean, sure, you’re eating more vegetables but it’s still covered in sugar and cocoa powder.

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