Avocado and Pistachio Muffins with Lime Glaze

See!? I told you I was going to be better at updating! Honestly, I was planning on updating yesterday when I made the Black and White Brownies from the Moosewood Dessert Cookbook but... they were terrible. God awful. I was so disappointed! I have never made a dud recipe from Moosewood before, but these brownies were sweet without being rich, and more than a bit chalky. The best part of them was the chocolate glaze: melt 1/3 c. semi sweet chips in a double boiler with 1/4 c. heavy cream... aaaaand there you go.

Anyway, BIG NEWS! I made up a recipe! And it isn't terrible! It needs tweaking, definitely, but I could probably fix the problems without even remaking the recipe to test... Here's the backstory: I love guacamole, but I have been making it so often that it's becoming mundane to me. There was one avocado left over, and about to turn, so I decided to google search "avocado bread" thinking that there might be something useful... no luck. I am not a huge fan of zucchini or banana breads, and that's about all I came up with (aka lots of spices that completely mask the true flavor of the produce). So then I searched avocado cake. Still, not much luck because I didn't have any buttermilk! Apparently, buttermilk is a staple in recipes where you bake with avocados... who knew!? So I decided to make my own recipe. I kid you not when I say that this was one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences of my life... There was a great possibility of my crashing and burning (literally). I decided to make the batter into muffins, because I only had one avocado.

The result? 4 mint-green (thank you camera phone for completely destroying the integrity of my muffin-color), medium-sized muffins that were good with the potential of being great. I have listed the recipe as I made it today, below. To see what I would definitely change about my recipe next time, see the notes section! Remember, this recipe only yields 4 muffins.

Audrey's Avocado and Pistachio Muffins with Lime Glaze

...aka SUPERGREEN MUFFINS

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter, salted
• 1 medium sized avocado, mashed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. salted pistachios, chopped coarsely
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/4 c. powdered sugar

To Make:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream together butter and sugar. Add mashed avocado and beat until smooth. Add egg, then dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Fold in pistachios.
• Bake in ungreased and unlined muffin cups, filled 3/4 of the way full, until peaks are browned (about 20 minutes). Let cool on cooling rack.
• Meanwhile, beat together lime juice, powdered sugar, and water as needed to make a glaze of medium thickness. Apply using a pastry crush to the cooled muffins.

Some Notes:

• Next time, I am going to add 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract to the batter. The muffins lacked dimension, and although the lime and pistachios helped, they were a little bland.
• Next time, I will increase the granulated sugar to a full cup. The muffins would have been much better had they been sweeter. As is, they are basically savory muffins.
• The muffins came out a little doughy in the center. Next time, I will increase cooking time by 2 or 3 minutes.
• Instead of thinning out the glaze with water, next time I will use more lime juice. Today, I only had the one lime half lying around.
• I might play around with substituting yogurt, ricotta cheese, or buttermilk for the butter. The muffins are naturally heavy because of the fats in the avocado, and I think they could use some lightness.
• I might also try adding lime juice to the actual batter to give it some tang.

Chocolate Creme Pie... sort of.

Okay, I'll admit it. I cheated. I used (gasp!) a frozen pie crust! Yes! Me! It's bad. Honestly, though, it was because I completely forgot about, and subsequently burned to a crisp, the chocolate-graham cracker crust in the oven not once, but TWICE. After that, I threw in the towel and just used one of the frozen pie crusts my grandmother had lying around. Oops. As a result, this recipe is not for Chocolate Creme Pie. It is more accurately for Chocolate Creme Pie... Filling.

Chocolate Creme Pie... Filling

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 c. whole milk
• 5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 tbsp. softened unsalted butter
• whipping cream for garnish

To Make:

1. In a large saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt and yolks. Then add whole milk gradually, whisking until combined. Boil over moderate heat until the filling thickens. You can choose to sieve the filling or not, at this point (I didn't and it turned out fine).
2. Mix in chocolates and butter. Chill, stirring occasionally.

Some Notes:

• This 'filling' would be incredible as a pudding. It is SO rich and thick. It's my brother's favorite thing that I make!

Banana Creme Pie

I have made this recipe many, many times. The first was for my maternal grandfather, Bop's, birthday, and so I honestly think of this as Bop's Banana Creme Pie. Since then, I have made the pie several more times, for Thanksgiving, for get-togethers for my fraternity, and any other event when I need an easy pie recipe.

Let me reiterate: I love this pie. It is perfect in every way, ESPECIALLY the crust... because of the bananas used in the crust, the crust turns out chewy and delicious. It's the best part of the pie!

Banana Creme Pie

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For crust

• 2 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. mashed banana
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted

For filling

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 c. whipping cream
• 1 1/2 c. whole milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine crumbs, sugar for crust, and bananas for crust. Add the melted butter for the crust, and press mixture onto the sides of a pie pan. Chill for about 30 minutes, or until firm. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and cool completely.
2. In a saucepan, whisk cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add whipping cream and whole milk gradually, then add egg yolks. Cut vanilla bean in half, and scrape seeds into the saucepan, then add pod. Whisk over medium-high heat until thick and boiling. Remove heat, and whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Transfer to large bowl, and chill, stirring occasionally.
3. To assemble pie, cut the remaining bananas into thin rounds. Spread layer of custard cream over the crust, then put a layer of banana. Repeat twice more. Top with whipped cream.

Some Notes:

• Vanilla beans are expensive, but ENTIRELY WORTH IT. I made the pie several times before using real vanilla beans in it, instead opting to up the vanilla extract. While this works, I was astounded by the difference the real vanilla bean made. And yes, if you look hard enough, you can find them at Giant Eagle AND Kroger. So no excuses.
• This is a great base custard recipe, so feel free to use it as a substitute in other recipes. It also doesn't contain gelatin, which is great for us animal-friendly bakers.
• Also, this crust is amazing. I don't really taste much banana flavor in it, and I use it as my go-to graham cracker crust with any pie.

Mexican Tea Cakes

These cookies were my second contribution to ATH 305's cultural fiesta. They were easy to make only hours before the event (although I would suggest planning ahead... see my notes), and went over very well. I can always remember my mother making these as Christmas cookies, so it was interesting to see them in a new light.

Mexican Tea Cakes

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 1 c. softened unsalted butter
• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt

To Make:

1. Cream together butter and 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla, and add flour, cinnamon, and salt until just combined.
2. Chill for at least 6 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter 2 baking sheets.
4. Roll dough into 3/4 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Immediately roll cookies in powdered sugar and let cool completely. After cooled, roll in powdered sugar again.

Some Notes:

• In the interest of time, I skipped the chilling in step 2. I would NOT recommend doing this. The cookies turned out slightly flattened (as you can see in the picture) instead of perfectly round.

Profiteroles with Caramel Sauce

It's criminal, I know. An entire semester has gone by without a post. In my defense, this was a tough semester educationally, emotionally, and socially. BUT I never stopped baking whenever I was given the opportunity!

One of my favorite classes this semester was People and Cultures of Latin America. We had an evening get together at the professor's house one night, potluck style with all sorts of traditional Latin American foods. I was in charge of the dessert, so I ended up bringing profiteroles with caramel sauce and Mexican tea cookies.

The pictures above don't show the profiteroles (a kind of cream puff popular at weddings in South and Central America) with the caramel sauce, because I made it fresh when I got to the professor's house. That was an experience in itself, cooking with everyone watching me... I got some serious nerves. But these went over really well! They take a lot of time to make, and are technically challenging, but I think they're worth it...

Profiteroles with Caramel Sauce

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For puffs

• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 4 eggs

For filling

• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 2 c. whole milk
• 2/3 c. whipping cream
• 1 vanilla bean
• 6 egg yolks
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• pinch of salt

For caramel sauce

• 1 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. water
• 2/3 c. whipping cream
• 1/4 c. butter, cut into cubes

To Make:

1. Boil water and butter for puffs in sauce pan. Reduce heat to low, and add the flour and salt. Stir until the mixture pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.
2. Transfer to large bowl, and using a mixer, beat in eggs one at a time. Cover and let stand, 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, and butter two baking sheets. Put coupler (with no tip) into a pastry bag, and spoon dough in. Pipe 1 inch rounds onto the baking sheets, and smooth the tops. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Take out of oven and turn off oven. Using a knife, pierce the sides of each puff and put back into oven for 10 minutes with the door ajar.
4. Place the water for filling into a bowl, and sprinkle in gelatin. Simmer in a saucepan milk, cream, and vanilla bean (cut in half with the seeds scraped into the pan).
5. In a large bowl, mix egg yolks, sugar, flour, and salt. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture, then return to saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until thick.
6. Stir in gelatin mixture. Transfer to bowl, and cover with plastic wrap pressed to the mixture. Chill.
7. Spoon mixture into pastry bag with a 1/4 inch tip, and pipe into completely cool puffs.
8. Stir sugar and water for sauce in a saucepan until dissolved, over medium heat. Turn up heat and boil, without stirring until deep amber in color. Take off heat, and stir in cream then butter. Drizzle over puffs.

Some Notes:

• In the future, I will definitely replace steps 4-6 with the much easier and less gelatin-y cream from my favorite banana cream pie recipe.

Coconut-Banana Tartlets

Well, bummer... I failed at the challenge. There was just not enough time to use up all those chocolate chips. If my grandmother doesn't use them before the holidays, then you guys will probably see the return of the challenge once I get home from school!

These tartlets I made for a dinner party at my mom's house. They turned out awesomely, and so pretty (especially considering I don't own tartlet pans), but they were heavy. Whipped cream improved the taste a lot, balancing the heavy flavors with the light.

Coconut-Banana Tartlets

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For crust

• 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. ice water

For filling

• 1 1/3 c. sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 in. pieces
• 3/4 c. whipping cream
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar

To Make:

1. Blend flour, coconut (for crust), sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in vanilla and water, and knead until doughy. Wrap in tin foil and freeze for 45 minutes. 
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 6 jumbo muffin tins with non-stick spray.
3. Divide dough into 6 parts. Keeping other parts in the freezer while you roll each one out into 6 in. rounds on a floured surface. Gently place rounds into muffin tins, folding the extra dough where it creases. Freeze for 15 more minutes.
4. Bake crusts for 20 minutes, popping any bubbles that form. Cool crusts in muffin tin. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F.
5. In a large bowl, combine coconut and banana. In a medium saucepan stir cream and sugar together until the mixture boils. Pour mixture oven bananas and coconut. Stir to combine and spoon into shells, making the tartlets level.
6. Bake tartlets for 25 minutes. Cool in pan, then remove.

Some Notes:

• Definitely use whipped cream in your serving of these tarts.
• Next time I will also cut the banana more coarsely to make the tarts easier to eat.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

My grandfather loved this bread toasted in a toaster oven with some butter on it. It was very rich but a little dry, I thought. There are some changes that could be made to counteract that problem however. See the notes.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. plus 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. wheat flour
• 2 tbsp. butter

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and lightly flour a loaf pan and set aside.
2. Separate one egg, putting yolk in a large bowl and white in a medium bowl. Mix the chocolate chips with the eggs white and set aside.
3. In the large bowl add the second egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat for a minute.
4. In another medium bowl, sift together WHITE flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon. 
5. In yet another bowl, combine WHEAT flour, butter, 3 tbsp. sugar, and a little more cinnamon until crumbly. Spread 1/3 of this mixture on the bottom of the loaf pan.
6. Combine wet and dry ingredients until just blended. Add chocolate chips, but do not mix too much. Pour batter into pan and top with the rest of the streusel mixture. 
7. Bake for 1 hour. Cool completely before taking out of pan.

Some Notes:

• If I make this bread again, I will probably add about 1/3 c. sour cream to try to make the bread a little less dry.