Japanese Cheesecake

While the boyfriend is away over this Labor's Day weekend, I've decided that I am going to subsist on things that I don't usually have when he's around. This means all things dairy and deep fat fried. Yes, the boyfriend will come home to a more rotund, less appealing girlfriend.

That being said, I thought I'd kick off the solo weekend with some cheesecake and tea. How girly! However, I'm not a huge cheesecake fan. They come across as cloying, rich and sometimes bordering on nauseating. A slice of the Oreo crumbled one at The Cheesecake Factory is enough to send me into convulsions and regret for a month. On the two separate attempts I have tried at making my own low-fat cheesecake, I have failed miserably. One was a no-bake attempt that fell apart as soon as I removed it from the freezer. The other was a sugared-up hunk of cream cheese studded with graham cracker bits.

When I received the Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking cookbook last Christmas, I found that she had included a recipe for Japanese cheesecake that seemed fairly easy. Now, if you've never had Japanese cheesecake, you're in for a surprise. It doesn't taste as cheesy as your regular New York style cheesecake. It tastes a little bit more like a cross-between a sponge cake and a souffle. The difference is that a traditional cheesecake uses tons of cream cheese while a Japanese cheesecake uses more whipped eggs and minimal cream cheese. The result is an airy cake that doesn't cause coronary problems and is a really enjoyable treat when served with some warm green tea.

This recipe by Harumi Kurihara is really simple and as someone who REALLY HATES BAKING CAKE, it was fantastically easy to whip up. As long as your ingredients are at room temperature, you can make this in less than 15 minutes (not including baking time). Her recipe called for a 7-inch springform pan, I had an 8-inch. I improvised by making a quarter extra of the batter and crumbs. The cake turned out really great and I can safely recommend that if you're looking for an easy-peasy dessert, this is it.

Japanese Cheesecake (adapted from Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking)
Makes a 7-inch baked cake

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (100 g/3.5 oz.)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (42.5 g/1.5oz.
1 cup cream cheese (225 g/8oz.)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (112.5 g/4oz.)
2 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sifted all purpose flour (23.5 g/0.85oz)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Make sure butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. Line the a 7-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
2. Soften the butter and mix with the graham cracker crumbs.
3. Pour the graham cracker mix into the bottom of the prepared pan and press down lightly to make a base. Preheat the oven to 340°F.
4. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until soft, then add the rest of the ingredients, in order, mixing each one thoroughly before adding the next.
5. Continue until the mixture thickens (about an extra 5 minutes after adding the lemon juice), then pour into the pan on top of the graham cracker crust. Bake in the oven for 45 - 50 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
6. Once it had cooled, remove from the pan, discard the lining paper and leave on a rack to cool completely.

Konosur's Notes:
(a)You can refrigerate the cake for up to 3 days in a cover container. It will become thicker and richer.
(b) I baked for about 55 minutes but the top did not turn golden. However, the top jiggle only slightly when I removed it from the oven - a sign that the cake is done. I think I will use the convection setting next time.

A lemon and lavender cake for Mother's Day

Not too long ago, I was seized by some unbearable need to purchase a bag of 20 baby lemons at Whole Foods. I don't know if it was being in Whole Foods that made me feel I needed to spend money, or if was the fact that lemons somehow scream summer and that in the middle of May, Seattle is 46 degrees and raining. Lemons have an uncanny ability to look attractive in any spot they sit in - in a bowl, in a pasta dish, in a roast chicken or in a cake.

But back to the lemons, I call them baby lemons but in my uneducated citrus-food guess I think they're just dwarf-sized lemons. However, they came unwaxed and bright-yellow for the affordable(!) price of $4.99. I had stumbled on a recipe at formerchef.com for a lemon and lavender cake that I wanted to try really badly and a monstrous bag of lemons seemed like the perfect excuse.


Back home, I also figured out a way to trick Brian into allowing me to have the cake. My first trick was to turn the cake into a non-dairy one by using rice milk instead of the regular dairy version (Aha! I have him trapped, we're both gluttons now). And the second trick was to use this as Mother's Day prototype to dedicate to both our mothers who are stuck in their morbid jobs far away from us. Also, I think I deserve to celebrate mother's day since I believe I have done a pretty decent job "mothering" my very rascally dog for the past two years.


So, here's my take on the lemon and lavender cake by Kristina at formerchef.com. It should serve well at a Mother's Day brunch with some nice finger sandwiches, tea and strawberries with lots of cream! I used light olive oil instead of vegetable oil, unwaxed lemons and organic lavender flowers; suggestions for swaps are listed in the recipe. You can make this one day ahead - seal tightly with a layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of foil and store in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge about 90 minutes before serving. It should still be moist and delicious.

Naked lemons always make me feel sad.

On a side note, I won a Foodbuzz giveaway to Cochon 555 which is an event that has some famous Seattle chefs killing a whole pig and serving it to us. Oh, and there's also wine! I'm excited because I may be able to rediscover my Asian gastronomic roots by noshing on crunchy pig ears. Hurrah!

Lemon and lavender cake
Makes a 7" round cake or 8"x5" loaf

Cake
1.5 cups all purpose flour (200g)
1 cup granulated sugar (100g)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rice milk (120ml) (or just use regular milk)
1/2 cup olive oil (120ml) (or swap vegetable oil)
2 eggs
2.5tsp lemon zest
1.5tsp dried lavender flowers

Glaze
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup honey (113g)
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray your baking pan with cooking oil or just rub some oil using a paper towel.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil, lemon zest and lavender flowers. Create a well in the large bowl and pour in the egg mixture. Stir gently until all ingredients are just combined. Pour into prepared baking pan.

Chuck into oven and bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes. Stab it with a small knife and if there are no soft crumbs sticking to the knife, it's done. Otherwise, check at every five minute intervals.

When the cake is done, remove from the oven. Let it cool in the pan and you can start on your glaze. Heat all the ingredients for the glaze in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved and the glaze is slightly viscous.

Stab your cake all over with a chopstick or a skewer and pour the glaze all over it. Leave it to soak for about 5 minutes, remove from the pan and it's ready.

A little over three months is a long time to be getting my New Year's Resolution started. In between moving, going on a holiday, a surgery or two, school and general laziness, cooking has taken a backseat. A severe backseat, I might venture to say. I have had the opportunity to savour some of the finest from Safeway's frozen aisles and subsisted on copious amounts of rotisserie chicken and bread. In fact, my wine rack is so miserably barren, I feel an inconsolable amount of sadness.

All these leads me to the question of when will Coolio get his due and have his 76 or so ghetto-fab recipes featured on Konosur? As he would put it, "I've got no friggin' idea, shazam!". I really don't. But what I do now is that I have a pretty decent kitchen right now with a fancy shmazzy gas stove (gas stove!), a convection oven and several really good cookbook I've been dying to get (eg, David Tanis' 'A Platter of Figs' and 'The River Cottage Cookbook').

After a couple of seriously hectic and mind-numbingly dull weeks, we finally got our CSA box in this week. Spring is in transition and the first shipment of strawberries came. I think I might try making some rose-scented strawberries for Easter this weekend. But for now, I've put my aging carrots and bananas to good use for a fine breakfast coffee cake. This is probably nothing new, but it's a great way to use up bits and pieces of leftover carrots and bananas. I made this super easy cake for us , and a carrot/banana puree for the dog. Nothing goes to waste in this house.


Carrot and Banana Loaf Cake
Makes 12 slices

1 cup unbleached AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 cup grated carrots (about 2 large carrots)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x5" loaf pan.

Mix together sugar, oil, eggs and applesauce in a bowl. Stir in bananas. Gently fold in flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda, alternating with the grated carrots. Fold in chopped nuts until just well mixed.

Chuck it into the preheated oven and bake at 350°F for 50 - 60 minutes until the "test"** shows the cake is cooked through. Remove from oven, leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack, cool for another 5 minutes, cut and serve!

** Test refers to the thin knife/skewer method, you know what I mean.

St. Paddy's Day calls for Some Cupcakes

For a long time now I've sworn not to be sucked into the cupcake blackhole that is swirling around on the food blogosphere. Cupcakes! What?! Those tiny little cake/muffin wannabes often decorated to look like sickly cottage drawings; so cute you want to throw them against a wall just to rid them of that sickly pastel hue used in a gazillion pounds of butter and cream and sugar.

Cupcakes! Sold in overpriced shops in the chicest of neighbourhoods, charged at $5 a pop for a malt-button, candy-cane, marzipan topping in the shape of effing "Hello Kitty" or god knows what species of hydrangea and posies. Those bloody cupcakes. I told you I swore not to be sucked in.


But I've come to the realization that cupcake resistance is futile. They're easy to make, come in bite-size amounts, AND you can slather tons of disasterous artery-clogging fat on it, and it will still turn out beautiful. That's the unfortunate and evil beauty of cupcakes.


I thought and thought for days about something to make for St.Patrick's day in order to satisfy my ever-burgeoning sweet-tooth. Somehow the idea of clover-patterned cookies just seem so cliched. Enter the liquer-infused cupcake. Alcohol? Check. Sugar? Check. Butter and cream? Check.


I've been trying for aeons to figure out how to get rid of the bottle of Irish Cream sitting in the back of the liquor cabinet for a long time now. I would drink it neat but it just seems like such a 1990s "mom" thing to do. So here, with my Irish cream buttercream, cream-filled face in hand, I present the beast that is my green-coloured Irish Cream Cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day. They're moist, smell slightly of coffee and topped off with silly little shamrock rosettes. Póg mo Thóin indeed!


P/S: As I write this, I promise you I am NOT drunkk.

Irish Cream Cupcakes
Makes 6 cupcakes (because hey, these can and should be illegal).

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 cup brewed coffee, cooled
1/3 cup Irish Cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 6 cupcake tin with liners.

On a piece of wax or parchment paper, sieve together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes using a stand mixer or 5 minutes using a handheld mixer.

Add in eggs, vanilla, liqueur and coffee. Beat until just combined. Gently fold in the flour mixture and beat for about 1 minute until the mixture starts to form. DO NOT OVERBEAT. Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold all the ingredients until completely combined.

Divide the batter into the prepared tin, filling the liners until about 2/3 full. DO NOT OVERFILL. Bake in preheated oven at 350°F for 15 - 20 minutes until tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn the cupcakes out and cool completely on a wire rack. Top with buttercream frosting (recipe follows).

Irish Buttercream Frosting
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4 cup and 2 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp Irish cream
Green food coloring

Cream the butter, powdered sugar and Irish cream in a bowl for about 1 minute until fluffy. Add in a few drops of green food coloring and stir thoroughly. Spoon buttercream into pastry bag and use a 22 star tip to pipe little rosettes in the shape of a shamrock onto the cupcakes.

Apple Spice Cake with Coconut Caramel Sauce

The boyfriend ages a year today. By the unspoken law of dating courtesy, I can't reveal his age, but let's just say it warrants a nice home-cooked dinner and a delicious cake to go with it. It's always hard when someone has allergies, and with dairy-allergies it's even worse, because store-bought cake is usually out of the question. More often than not, I have to settle with baking a coffee-cake instead.

This is my take on a classic spice cake which I have tried to turn into an apple spice cake with a fluffier and lighter texture than a coffee cake. The boyfriend's mum first shared with me a spice cake recipe which was called "Wacky Cake" just because it had really weird ingredients like vinegar. I have modified that to include chopped apples and nuts, topped with a coconut caramel sauce, and is best served with some creamy vanilla ice cream on the side. The one good thing about cakes that don't have goops and goops of cream on it is that it's usually quite good for you, and you can always have an extra helping without worrying about the calories.
By the way, I have to make a huge plug for Green and Black's Organic Vanilla Ice-Cream which, when served with the apple spice cake is the most delicious thing in the world. Of course, if you're going completely non-dairy, then you can serve it with soy ice cream, otherwise, Green and Black's Organic Vanilla Ice Cream will satiate your decadent fix.

Apple Spice Cake with Coconut Caramel Sauce
Makes one 8-inch cake

Dry ingredients
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 large egg
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp good quality vanilla essence
1 tsp French brandy

To fold
1 large apple (Fuji or Granny Smith, depending if you like it tart), peeled and chopped
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
2 tbsp chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8-inch cake pan if you're using a traditional aluminum pan. If using a non-stick pan, do not grease.

Sieve all the dry ingredients onto a parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat all the wet ingredients together on high speed until fluffy. Turn the mixer speed down to low. Lift the parchment paper with the dry ingredients and fold into half. Gently pour in the dry ingredients into the wet ones bit by bit. Beat gently until the ingredients come together. Turn off the mixer.

Fold in the apples, walnuts and pecans gently. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes until a thin knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then turn out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely. Serve with coconut caramel sauce (see below) and vanilla ice cream.

Coconut Caramel Sauce
Makes 6 servings

3 heaping tablespoons brown sugar
1 tbsp butter (or vegan cooking margarine)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup light coconut milk

In a saucepan over very low heat, gently melt the butter and sugar. Once melted, add in the remaining ingredients and whisk until everything is combine. Reduce and thicken the sauce over low heat for about 5 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and drizzle over the apple spice cake and ice cream.

The fastest and easiest and moistest chocolate cake you will ever bake

Confessions of a girl who oft-denies her feminine side: I don't like cake. I'm not a cake person. I like the idea of the gratification that cake brings, but after a bite of chocolate, cheese, berries or whatever the heck is in those things, I feel like throwing up and go into anaphylactic shock (literally). I've made a couple of cakes on this blog, but mostly those were pretty healthy, involved minimal use of butter and were ready in 45 minutes flat.


I recently bought a Food & Wine cookbook from 1998 at Half-Price Books for $2. I don't do Gourmet or Bon Appetit subscriptions. I'm cheap like that. In the Food and Wine book was a recipe for a mix-in-the-pan chocolate cake. I was semi-thinking: How good can a chocolate cake that didn't involve a mixer be? Wouldn't that just taste like brownies (which I find marvelously gross)?

I decided to try it anyway because a) I didn't get cake for my birthday (I'm anti-cake like that) b) I have a potluck tomorrow for someone's birthday, the cake would be my contribution. And also, lately, I've been craving chocolate so much. I blame that both on Ina Garten and leftover Halloween-goodies, and oh, on the economy, on General Motors, on my thesis advisor, on Eric Cantor and change we may never believe in.


Have a go at this chocolate cake that is so easy, it's laughable. To make it more elegant, you can (and should) bake it in a round cake pan - the recipe will yield two round 8" cakes. Otherwise if you're like me, this recipe will yield a moist, soft and supremely chocolatey 8" square cake, dripping with chocolate glaze and sparkling with chopped walnuts.

Fast and Easy Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Food and Wine, 1998

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 lb unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup very hot water
1 cup low fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Whisk in the eggs, butter, hot water and vanilla. Then whisk in the yogurt. Mix together with a rubber spatula and pour in to the prepared pan until it is half filled. (Note: Do not overfill or you cake will resemble a chocolate volcano!) . Bake for 40 minutes at 350°F until a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out gently on a wire rack and cool completely. Top with chocolate glaze and chopped walnuts.


Chocolate frosting
4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Melt the chocolate and butter in double boiler. Gently pour over the prepared cake, starting from the middle of the cake and letting the glaze drip over the sides. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Disconnect the Dots: Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake

If you're wondering about the dearth of posts recently (apart from stress-relieving sugar fixes), the story is that we got a miniature dachshund. It's the cutest little thing ever. I don't know what it is about dogs, but no matter how much you train them, they still always keep that little bit of genetics with them. Dieter the Dachshund loves burrowing and snorfing around, probably due to the inate hound nature in him. It's so fun watching him spaz out that sometimes I even forget about food!

A couple of days ago, Omnomicon posted a recipe for some Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins, something which I've wanted to try for the longest time now since lemons are supremely easy to come by, and muffins are one of my favourite things in the world. Also, I stare at a jar of Lemon Poppy Seed face wash from Burt's Bees every morning. Some days I get some poppy seed stuck on the sides of my lips and it makes me think about lemony goodness in food form.


I actually prefer the idea of a lemon and poppy seed cake mostly because I want to save on muffin liners and because dumping a whole bowl of batter in a loaf pan is easier than scooping it out bit by bit. So yes, I'm lazy and have no pastry chef skills but have a go at this recipe. Be sure to floss well afterwards though, because you don't want to be walking around and grinning like a loon with poppy seeds in your teeth (speaking from experience here!)

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 stick butter
1/2 cup yogurt
3 tbsp blue poppy seed
2 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
2 tbsp lemon peel (from 1 large lemon)
2 tsp pure vanilla essence
Apricot jam for glaze (optional)
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat butter for about 20 seconds. Stir until melted. Cool for about 5 minutes. Beat eggs together until fluffy. Gently add in the yogurt, vanilla essence, lemon juice and finally add in the melted butter.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in wet ingredients. Add in lemon peel and poppy seeds. Stir until just combined. Be careful not to over mix! Spoon into prepared pan and smooth the top with a knife.

Bake in preheated oven for about 55 - 60 minutes until a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool completely on wire rack. Glaze with apricot jam and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Note1: Once again, I used soy yogurt and cooking margarine instead to make it dairy-free.
Note2: I always use less sugar in my recipes because I don't like the feeling of being on sugar high all day. If you like things a little bit sweeter, use 3/4 cup light brown sugar.

Cinnamon Loaf Cake

We've been having a rough week lately and I felt inclined to make something to offset this doldrummy times. The boyfriend loves cinnamon - cinnamon toast crunch, cinnamon cupcakes, cinnamon latte... this gave me the idea to make a cinnamon loaf cake for breakfast when we can sit together in the mornings with some butter, the Sunday Times and a cup of hazelnut coffee.

Cinnamon Loaf Cake
Recipe from Taste of Home

2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
3 teaspoons baking powder
3-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and salt. In another large bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Pour half of the batter into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon; stir in butter. Sprinkle with half the cinnamon-sugar mixture; cut through batter with a knife to swirl the topping. Repeat.
Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf.

Peach and Watercress Salad with Pan-Seared Turkey and Lime Vinaigrette

Some days I get too tired to post, especially if it's been a long unproductive day working and cleaning or if it's just one of those days. There's nothing better to offset those dreary days than to have a great big salad and lots and lots of leftover cake with fresh berries. Do something special today and have a blonde ale with your meal. It brings out the flavour of the peaches. Here, have some recipes and enjoy!

By the way, having an arugula salad does NOT make you an elitist. Arugula salads are change to dietary habits we can believe in. Yes, Barack!


Peach and Watercress Salad with Pan-Seared Turkey and Lime Vinaigrette
Makes 2 entrée serving, about 300cals per serving
Prep time = 15 mins
Cook time = 15 mins

For the turkey
4 oz. turkey tenderloin, thinly sliced
1/2 tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt

For the salad
2 cups baby watercress
2 peaches, each halved with stone removed
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
Fresh Mozzarella slices, about 3 slices per person (optional)

For the dressing
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp lime rind (optional)

1. Marinade turkey fillets in parsley, lemon juice, pepper and salt for an hour.
2. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Turn heat up high and place turkey fillets in a single layer. Sear until one side turns a little black, about 3 minutes. Do the same for the other side.
3. Turn heat off and leave seared turkey to cool down.
4. Turn on broiler and place peach halves under broiler for about 1 minute each side.
5. Wash baby watercress with twice cold water, lay on paper towels and pat dry.
6. Toss watercress and tomatoes in a large bowl. Spoon out tossed salad leaves onto a plate.
7. Slice broiled peach halves into 1/2-inch slices, arrange on the side of plate - about 4 -6 slices per person.
8. Add in pan-seared turkey and mozzarella slices.
9. Drizzle lime vinaigrette and serve.

Ginger-Orange Cake

Note: I'm procrastinating with work by baking, cooking and shopping for baking and cooking.

This recipe is from the Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook which surprisingly makes no mention of any Pillsbury products, marshmallow man or otherwise.


I modified the recipe to the Ginger-Orange bars by cutting down on sugar, omitting the molasses and using soy milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice instead of buttermilk. I would recommend using buttermilk if you can, it gives the bars its softer, crumblier texture. I also used a little less margarine and substituted that with applesauce. The result was NOTHING like that of the book, it turned out a little dry due to the lack of butter, but I think it made a pretty darn good dessert after the eggplant salad. Instead of using a thick frosting to spread over the cake, I added a bit more orange juice to make a runnier sauce and drizzled it over the cake and raspberries on the side.

Included is a picture of the jerk chicken panini that the boyfriend had from dinner which he made from scratch by marinading a chicken fillet in chives, onion powder, allspice, nutmeg, lime juice, oil and red pepper flakes. Hurrah Brian! Your disdain for eggplants has paid off in panini wages.


Ginger-Orange Cake (Adapted from Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook)
Makes about 15 bars (each bar is 2x2 inch square, 130 cals)
Prep time = 25 mins
Cook time = 2o mins

Bars
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1 egg
2 tbsp applesauce
1.25 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup soy milk & 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (or use 1/2 cup buttermilk instead)
1/8 tsp minced ginger
1.5 tsp grated orange peel

Frosting
1.25 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp margarine or butter, softened
1/4 tsp grated orange peel
2 tbsp orange juice

Recipes: Oatmeal Raisin Coffee Cake and Rosemary Olive Oil Bread dip

I started the day with a slice of raisin oatmeal cake, 1/2 cup of frozen berries and my own blend of coffee: 2 parts Ethiopian Yergachaffe coffee beans from the Allegro brand at Whole Foods and 1 part Cinnamon Hazelnut Praline roasted coffee from Market Spice at Pike Place Market.

The cake recipe was from this site that has an incredible inventory of delicious recipes. I modified the recipe a make it into four servings (just for two persons in the house) and made it a little less sweet to cut down on calories (and thereby allowing me a generous portion of whipped cream). (1 serving Cake: 230 cals; 8oz. coffee, black: 10 cals)

Spent the most part of the afternoon going to consignment stores to sell my last season winter jackets - a side note, don't stand next to the buyer while she calculates how much your "stuff" is worth, she'll break your heart and you'll want to rip hers out ; stopped by Crate and Barrel to pick up a cocktail shaker for the boyfriend and then I had lunch at Ram Brewery and Restaurant in the University Village. There I had a kids meal of one hotdog and a cup of steamed broccoli. I bet the cook was wondering what lunatic child he was preparing for. But anyway, the purpose of stopping there was because it was 75 degrees and sunny and I HAD to have a cold beer. I ordered the Big Horn Hefeweizen which is an unfiltered Bavarian-style hefeweiss with hints of banana. Not as good as the Widmer stuff, but cloudiness from the yeast was rather interesting. (Hotdog with mustard and ketchup: 250cals; 16oz Hefeweizen: 236cals; 1 cup broccoli: 50cals).

Dinner tonight is going to be light: I'm having a Parisian style baguette from Essential Baking Company that's topped with sesame and poppy seeds. I made a bread dip with some rosemary from the garden and top grade extra virgin olive oil. The wine pairing is a bottle of Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand (The best stuff is from Marlborough!) which I got on discount from QFC. The taste is very earthy, typical of Sauvignon Blancs, with slight hints of citrus and honey melon.

Applesauce-Oatmeal Raisin Cake
(Serves 4)
Prep time = 15 mins
Cook time = 45 mins

Ingredients
1/2 cups water
1/2 cup wholegrain old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup dark raisins (or dried cranberries)
Pinch salt
1/4 dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1.5 tbsps. vegetable oil
3/4 all-purpose flour
1/1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp allspice
One egg (beaten)
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp rum

5 by 9-inch baking pan

Method
1. Bring the water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan over moderately high heat.

2. Stir in the oats. When the liquid returns to a boil, stir in the raisins and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the oats are soft and the water is absorbed.

3. Remove from heat, stir in the maple syrup, applesauce, liqueur, and oil. Cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Put the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and allspice into a large bowl. Stir to mix well. Stir the eggs and vanilla extract into the oat mixture. Add the flour mixture, and stir just until moistened.

5. Spread in pan and bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake starts to shrink from the sides of the pan and a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool completely.

** Top with powdered sugar if you want. I served it with frozen berries and a dollop of whipped cream. It also goes well with some jam as the cake isn't sweet at all.

Rosemary Herb Bread Dip
(Good for four slices of 2 inch sliced baguettes)

1/2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Italian chili flakes (or to taste)
1/2 tsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Sea salt to taste (Parmesan cheese will make dip salty, so becareful!)
Black Pepper to taste
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Whisk in a dipping dish and let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving with slightly toasted bread.