Category: Butter

Hartford Election Cake

10/21/2020

Serves: 10 to 12
1¼ cup whole milk warmed to 100° (no higher)
1 tablespoon dry yeast
¼ cup mixed dried cranberries
¼ cup dried figs, diced
¼ cup sultanas
¼ cup dried apricots, diced
4 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons orange blossom water, or orange extract, or vanilla extract
¾ cup brown sugar
8 tablespoons butter, softened (1 stick)
3 eggs, slight beaten
3¼ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon coriander
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Bundt pan
Butter & flour to prep pan
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix the yeast with the heated milk and set aside.
Mix the dried fruit with the rum and orange blossom water in a small bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar for two minutes on medium speed.
Add eggs and beat for two more minutes.
Drain liquid from dried fruit and add liquid to sugar and egg mixture. Mix to combine. Reserve the fruit for a later step.
Sift flour into a bowl with the salt, allspice, cinnamon and coriander.
Transfer to a stand mixer with a dough hook.
Alternate adding flour-spice mixture and milk mixture to form a loose but very sticky dough. Beat only long enough to bring the dough together.
Pour dough into a large bowl, cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm draft-free place for about two hours or until doubled in size.
While the dough is rising, liberally butter and lightly flour a 10” Bundt pan.
Pour nuts and dried fruit into the dough and mix by hand just until blended throughout.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared Bundt pan.
Cover with a dish towel and let rise until almost doubled in size, about an additional hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from oven and brush with the melted butter.
Glaze with rum icing. Recipe below.

RUM ICING
⅓ cup butter, softened
¼ cup milk
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1½ teaspoon rum
1 tablespoon hot water, as needed

Heat butter and milk over low heat. Stir occasionally. When the butter is completely melted and the mixture combined, remove from the heat.
Stir sugar and rum into the butter and milk mixture. Use the hot water to adjust the icing to the thickness desired.

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Caramelized Onions

9/16/2020

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Makes 2 cups
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 lbs. onions (Spanish are best if you can find them. Yellow are good.)
2 tablespoons water
Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the onions by cutting off root end; halving onion from stem to stern; peel papery covering; placing cut side down on cutting surface and slicing into ¼ inch slices.
Heat the butter and oil over high heat in a very large skillet.
When the foam subsides, add salt, brown sugar and stir.
Add the onions, stirring gently to coat them with the mixture. Stirring occasionally, continue to cook until onions begin to soften and release some additional moisture, approximately 5 minutes
Reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook approximately 40 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are deeply browned and a little sticky. Take care not to scorch the onions. If they begin sizzling reduce the heat. If they are not browning after about 20 minutes, raise the heat.
Remove the skillet from the heat and add the water, stirring gently but well. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

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Chocolate Peppermint Truffle Tart

12/18/2019

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Serves: 12
Crust
9 oz. chocolate wafers, broken
2 tablespoons sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons butter, melted

Chocolate Peppermint Filling
12 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped or broken
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
1½ cup heavy cream
1½ cup sugar
1½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Optional Toppings & Garnish
Sweetened whipped cream
Ice-cream
Colored sugar crystals with stencil
Crushed red and green candy canes with stencil

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly butter a 9” round springform pan with removable sides.
In a food processor, process the broken cookies until finely crumbled. Add the sugar and pulse until fully blended. Then add just enough melted butter to moisten the whole and make it malleable.
Press the cookie crumbs into the bottom and the sides of the prepared pan.
Place the cookie crumb pan in the oven and cook for 5 minutes, until the crust is firm. Remove to a rack and let cool.
Place the chocolate and the cold butter cubes in a medium bowl. Set aside momentarily.
In a small saucepan, bring the cream and the sugar to a steady simmer. When the sugar is completely dissolved, pour the cream and sugar mixture over the chocolate and butter in the bowl, whisking constantly until the chocolate and the butter are fully melted and blended.
Whisk in the peppermint extract until it is fully blended.
Pour the entire mixture into the prepared cookie crust. Set in the refrigerator and allow to cool for at least one hour.
Remove the tart from the refrigerator an hour before serving and garnish the tart as desired.

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Chocolate Peppermint Flourless Torte

4/10/2019

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Serves: 8
1 scant tablespoon butter
8 ounces semisweet morsels
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 tablespoon pieces
¼ cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, for dusting
6 to 10 small fresh mint leaves for garnish
Freshly whipped heavy cream
Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350°.
Set an empty roasting pan on lowest rack of oven. Pour enough water into the roasting to fill it halfway.
Lightly butter a 9” X 4½” loaf pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper approximately 9” X 16”, large enough to line the long sides of the loaf pan with a two to three-inch overhang on each side.
Put chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler over hot water or in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring, until melted. Remove from heat; let cool slightly.
Put heavy cream in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.
Put eggs and sugar in a clean medium bowl and using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium-high speed until tripled in volume, 3 to 4 minutes.
Whisk the peppermint extract into the chocolate.
Gently fold half of the chocolate peppermint mixture into egg mixture until almost incorporated. Then fold in remaining chocolate that mixture.
Gently fold the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Set loaf pan in roasting pan. Bake until chocolate loses its sheen and appears set when loaf pan is jiggled slightly, about 25 minutes.
Carefully transfer roasting pan to a heatproof surface. Remove loaf pan from water bath; let cool completely on a rack.
Slip a flat edge knife into each of the paperless ends of the loaf pan to loosen. Pulling up on parchment, remove from pan; transfer to a baking sheet. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
Using a large spatula, gently loosen torte from parchment and then invert the torte onto a serving platter.
Using a sieve or duster, lightly dust treat with cocoa. Garnish with fresh and chocolate mint leaves, and whipped cream if desired.

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Tomato Butter

9/23/2017

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Ingredients

Cherry tomatoes
Kosher salt
Softened butter

Preparation
Preheat broiler. Broil tomatoes until skins blister and juices are released; let cool. Transfer to a food processor; season with salt. Purée until coarsely chopped, then stir into butter.

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Hartford Election Cake

Caramelized Onions

Chocolate Peppermint Truffle Tart

Chocolate Peppermint Flourless Torte

Tomato Butter

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