You put peanut butter on my chocolate....No! You put chocolate under my peanut butter!

Perhaps some of you remember that cheesey Reese's Peanut Butter commercial about the chocolate in my peanut butter and the peanut butter in my chocolate....

They had no idea what they started! This grown-up PB/Choco combination is so good that I could not NOT share it with you.

The chocolate cupcake is moist, perhaps because of the 8 oz. of freshly brewed coffee in it. The frosting is flavorful, not-too-sweet and oh, so peanutbuttery.

Make sure you invite a friend over, so you don't end up eating them all by yourself.



Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients

nocoupons

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans OR line cupcake tins.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:

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• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

SOURCE:

2006 Barefoot Contessa At Home

Eureka! It's a lemon of a different sort

You may be thinking, "What the.....is she for real?...a LEMON?......." But I assure you, my friends, this is NO ORDINARY LEMON! This is a Meyer Lemon. "Aren't all lemons the same?", you ask. No. They are not. And this lemon is as special as they come. If you are fortunate enough to have one of these trees in your back yard, you will be seeing more of me than you care to!

While some liken a Meyer lemon to a cross between a lemon and a grapefruit, I am more inclined to compare it to the offspring of a tangerine and a lemon because of its incredibly fragrant skin which is a treat the nostrils. How do you know if it's a Meyer lemon? The skin is softer and more supple than the traditional Eureka lemon. Grip it and use your thumb to rub the surface. It will give way to one of the most wonderful scents on the planet.

The juice of a Meyer lemon is plentiful and tangy, and just a bit sour. It is a pleasure to eat use it as a spritz of flavor on crispy fried fish, as the twist in your iced tea or cola beverage or use the juice and the zest in a lemon glaze for a lemon cake. That, my friends, you will never forget!

Lemon Glaze:

The zest and the juice from 1 Meyer lemon
Enough powdered sugar to make the glaze run, but not runny. Test it on a cake and see the way it falls. If if runs too quickly, add more sugar. If it doesn't run quickly enough, add a small amount more lemon juice.

Focacciyum...........

Yesterday, I made the most wonderful focaccia I have ever tasted. It was rosemary focaccia with caramelized onions on the top and a little Kosher salt for the kicker.

Now caramelized onions are one of my new favorite things in life. They are easy, keep for a week or so, and go well with so many things. Eggs, sandwiches, steak, cheese & crackers, prosciutto (well, everything goes with prosciutto).

Make this, and you will make new friends!

Caramelized Onions:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I like olive)
1/2 teaspoon table salt (I like kosher)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 pounds large onions, root end cut off, halved pole to pole, peeled, and sliced 1/4 inch thick across the grain
1 tablespoon water
Ground black pepper to taste


Instructions
Heat butter and oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat; when foam subsides, stir in salt, vinegar and sugar. Add onions and stir to coat; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to soften and release some moisture, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are deeply browned and slightly sticky, about 40 minutes longer. (If onions are sizzling or scorching, reduce heat. If onions are not browning after 15 to 20 minutes, raise heat.) Off heat, stir in water; season to taste with pepper. (Can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 7 days.)

Serve on burgers, steak, omelets, mac & cheese, in grilled cheese sandwiches, on crostini with goat cheese. Use your imagination!


Focaccia:

16 fluid ounces warm water, no hotter than 138 degrees
1/2 ounce instant yeast
1 oz. olive oil
1 pound 8 oz. bread flour
1/2 oz. sea salt
1/2 oz. fresh, minced rosemary (reserve some for garnish)

Whisk water and yeast together.

Add 1 oz. olive oil and whisk together.

Add approximately 3/4 of the bread flour and mix until it fights you back hard.

Add the rest of the flour, the salt and most of the rosemary and mix to form a ball.

Put in an olive oil greased bowl, turning the ball once to get some oil on the top. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm area to let double in size.

Once doubled, punch it down, put it on a sheet pan with 1 inch sides, which has been greased with olive oil. Shape it however you would like, but it should be about an inch thick. Put the rosemary garnish on top, brush with some additional olive oil, apply the caramelized onions and sprinkle with Kosher salt. "Dock" it, which means use your fingers like you are playing the piano, and put finger indentations on the top. Place it again in a warm area to let rise for about 10 minutes, then bake in a 400 degree oven until it is golden brown, and a thermometer placed in the center registers 200 degrees.

Brush with more olive oil, and serve!

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits good enough for a Yankee!

I'm from the North...about as north as most Americans care to venture. A little famous town called Brookline, Massachusetts, where Paul Revere and William Dawes shouted a few noteworthy words about some red coats, and Joe and Rose Kennedy raised their young. For whatever reason, I liken biscuits with the South, and I was never quite the biscuit "gal" until recently....until I met this amazing, light, flaky biscuit that I am about to share with you. You may never eat Pillsbury again!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Ingredients:

15 oz. AP flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
3/4 ounces (by weight) granulated sugar

5 1/4 oz. Unsalted Butter (that's about a stick and a 1/4 of butter), cut up in small cubes and frozen

9 oz. Buttermilk

Instructions:

1. Add all dry ingredients to the mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low.

2. Add the frozen butter on low and mix until the mixture resembles peas and cornmeal.

3. Add the buttermilk slowly to blend. Batter will be slightly dry.

4. Form a ball.

5. On a lightly floured surface, shape into a flat (1 inch thick) rectangle and cut squares by cutting down the middle, then cutting the individual squares.

6. Put on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

7. Freeze for 20 minutes.

8. Brush with egg wash (whole egg, scrambled).

9. Put another baking sheet underneath. The oven is hot, and we don't want the bottoms to burn.

10. Bake until golden brown, turning after about 10 minutes.

11. Let cool slightly and ENJOY!

Hello, hello, hellooooo.....is anybody out there?

I've been cooking for a long time.....since I could barely see over the kitchen counter. And I've been eating for even longer.

I love food. It's never far from my mind, or mouth, for that matter. Most of what I cook, people really enjoy. But honestly, I think one of my most precious gifts is my discerning palette. I'm good at knowing what's good. And I don't think everyone is.

After way more years than I care to talk about, I've left corporate America in pursuit of my life's passion....food, cooking and baking. Three weeks ago, at 40+ years old, I started Culinary School at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, CA. There, I am studying Baking and Patisserie. I'm learning the WHY behind the HOW, and it's awesome.

I'm not quite sure where this journey will lead, but the road should be very fun, filling and fulfilling. Care to join me?

The Accidental Baker