Z is for Zest

Zesting a lime or lemon was one technique in baking that used to intimidate me, but ever since I made my lemon raspberry cake for Easter, I am no longer afraid to zest away. It's amazing how much flavor just a little bit of the outer layer of a lemon or lime adds to a batter.



The implement pictured above is a microplane, but I just have a regular zester that I got from Schnucks for something like $5 and it did the job. The microplane might be more efficient for quicker zesting, but I couldn't find one for less than $12.99 and the little zester worked well enough for my purposes.

So now that I have the technique down, I really need to apply it to some more recipes, such as:

Lemon Sugar Cookies
Lemon Bars
Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes
Lemon Cupcakes filled with Lemon Curd
Lime Loaf Cake
Key Lime Pie
Key Lime Cupcakes

Whew, that's enough for now, don't you think?? Eh, maybe... :)

And we come to the end of my little A-Z Baking list. We'll end this Z post with one more little fun tidbit... I love Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, but which one is my very favorite??


Not Twinkies...



Not Swiss Cake Rolls...



Not Hostess Cupcakes...



You may have already guessed....





Zebra Cakes. LOVE 'EM!!!

Don't go too far, I may be starting another ABC list soon on a new topic, just because it's fun! See ya then!

Y is for Yeast

I said before that I have never attempted baking bread with yeast. But I bet you get some pretty good results with it, probably better than with quick bread recipes. Bread that I bake usually turns out crumbly and doesn't hold together well. I'm betting that yeast gives it a more bready and less cakey texture. (My one exception, of course, is my family's Pumpkin Bread, which while it does have sort of a cake-like texture, it is absolutely perfect without yeast.)

It is definitely on my list though, to attempt making bread with yeast. This Rustic Country Bread looks like a nice recipe to start with.



That recipe uses bread flour, which would give me practice with yet another kind of flour to add to my repertoire... :)

Yeast seems to give you a better variety of the types of breads you can bake. Another recipe that is a bit more savory is this one for Feta and Tomato Focaccia. WOW.



I bet it would also be fun to try out my own English Muffins...



...and pita bread.



Some more I'm bookmarking:

Cinnamon Buns
Perfect Pizza Crust
Yeasted Blueberry Pancakes
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Basic Baguettes
Classic Monkey Bread

And this is off the subject, but I am starting to become tempted to bake up a batch of Gooey Butter Cake... simply because I have all those ingredients and it sounds sooooo goooooood... and my work buddies would love me! :)

X is for Xanthan Gum

Now this post is almost a 180-turn from the last post...this post is about using non-wheat flour. When baking with a gluten-free flour (such as rice, buckwheat, or chickpea), a fine powdery substance called xanthan gum is often added to the recipe to help with the texture of whatever baked good is being made. This is a handy tip to know in the event you ever have to bake for someone with celiac disease. Who knows, you might make that person's whole day by knowing about this powdery stuff.



So just in case you ever need a gluten-free recipe, here's a pretty extensive list of recipes that use xanthan gum, including blueberry muffins, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin bread... because no one should EVER miss out on pumpkin bread.

As for recipes starting with X, the closest thing I got was this recipe for X-traordinary Rich Chocolate Pudding Recipe. Also Hot Cross Buns look pretty delicious and they have X's on them... ok maybe they're supposed to be crosses, but turn 'em diagonal and it's an X! Right??



And my totally random recipe that I just feel like posting because it looks good is this one for Blueberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake. I LOVE breakfast desserts. :)

W is for Whole Wheat Flour

Of course I have baked with all-purpose flour... have also baked with cake flour. But I have yet to try baking with whole wheat flour. It adds bonus nutrition to your baked goodies with no extra effort. I rounded up a few interesting recipes (of course from Baking Bites... I just have to say I love how she indexes and catalogs every recipe she has posted):



Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancakes
Whole Grain Banana Cake
Whole Grain Blueberry Buckle
Whole Wheat Maple Muffins
Cornbread Griddle Cakes
Whole Wheat Popovers
Whole Wheat Pie Crust
Crispy Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies



Who knew cookies could be so healthy? :)

V is for Vanilla Bean

Who doesn't love Cheesecake Factory's Vanilla Bean Cheesecake??



Then I bet these Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Bars would be almost as good:



But have you ever baked anything with an actual vanilla bean?



I sure haven't, which is one of the reasons why I am intimidated by this recipe for Real Vanilla Bean Buttercream (the other reason being you have to boil sugar to a specific temperature). I browsed around for other vanilla bean recipes and hit on one for crème anglaise that looked pretty simple (it's combined here with a recipe for cream cheese bread pudding, which sounds a-maz-ing!): it's only egg yolks, sugar, and hot milk, and usually flavored with vanilla.



That looks like it would sweeten any recipe!

(Ok then I had to wonder what to do with the leftover egg WHITES after using those 4 egg yolks. I happened to find this recipe for Berry-Topped Pavlova that also looks creamy delicious and simple, and uses, ta-da, 4 egg whites. HmmmmmMMMMmmmmmm....also, the Sour Cream Pound Cake I linked a few entries back also uses 4 extra egg whites... HMMMMMM again...am pretty tempted to make this as another office treat...)

But wait, I'm not quite done... no entry on vanilla bean would be complete without a mention of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.



If you can split vanilla beans, this is the treat to make.

U is for Upside-Down Cake

I've never baked one, but how bad can a spongy cake topped (bottomed?) with fruit be?? By far the most popular kind is pineapple...



But another one that sounds equally good is peach:



For a delicious breakfast-y dessert, how about an Apple Upside-Down Skillet Coffee Cake?



These fancy little Banana Upside-Down Cakes look cute and classy:



But I especially enjoyed reading this account of a Cherry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake which seemed destined to go wrong at every turn, but still came out irresistible.



And as always, there's Baking Bites with her contributions: these muffin-sized Little Blueberry Upside-Down Cakes, this cute pan for making perfect mini pineapple upside-down cakes, and her own recipe for Banana Upside-Down Cake. She also baked something called a Tarte Tatin that is basically an apple upside-down cake made with puff pastry.

(Wow, I had no idea I'd be posting so many links about a dessert I've never really known much about! Good research.) :)

T is for Tiramisu

I one time bookmarked this Tiramisu Layer Cake as a possible future project. It was when I was thinking of what I could bake with the bottle of Kahlua I had in my pantry. It looks so pretty. I'd have to have a pretty special occasion to bake it though...



These Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars look more on the "quick and easy" side, and pretty yummy too:



It would definitely be something new to try!

S is for S'mores

I made Baking Bites' S'more Cookie Bars for a housewarming party a year or so ago. They were maybe one of the most amazing things I've ever made, and pretty simple as well. I loved how you can perfectly fit two king-sized Hershey bars side-by-side in the 8" baking pan to provide the gooey chocolate inside.



But my jaw almost dropped when I saw she took the S'mores idea even further and developed a S'mores Cake.



She used graham cracker crumbs in the place of flour to make this cake. Genius, I tell you. Sheer genius.

And speaking of genius... my favorite sweet-toothed lady, Jessie Oleson of Cakespy, created a new treat with a name all its own: S'moreos!!



Yep, folks, that's an Oreo opened up with a marshmallow and piece of chocolate in between. Super cute.

Did you know there's a National S'mores Day? Me neither! And it's only a week after my birthday! :) Almost (almost) makes me want to go camping and take along the skewers, graham crackers, marshies and chocolate.

And something else not related to S'mores at all, but still starting with S, is this delicious-looking Fresh Strawberry Pie:



(That's in honor of Janice, who LOVES Strawberry Pie and whose wedding anniversary is today. I don't think she reads this blog either, but Happy Anniversary anyway, Janice!!)

Added later: I just saw after I posted this entry that Houlihan's sent me an email letting me know that S'mores are back on their menu. Sweet!

R is for Rainbow Cake

A woman I work with has a part-time gig baking cakes. So we liked to discuss cake-baking between us, and she had lots of good advice to offer me when I made my lemon-raspberry cake for Easter. One day I was browsing around online and came across this beautiful rainbow cake:



I sent her the link saying, "do you think you could make this cake??" And she was all about it. She wouldn't stop talking about it.

So when we had our baby shower for our coworker (the one that I baked the Maple Cornbread for), she decided to try it out. Here is her version:



I have to say that even though she didn't get the order of colors right, the cake still tasted quite amazing. Each layer has its own flavor (red=raspberry, yellow=lemon, green=lime, purple=blackberry, and so on) and it was frosted with a white chocolate icing. The link says baking this cake will make you think you baked up a dessert of Fruit Loops, with each fruity flavor that goes into it. I just wonder if I would ever be brave enough to take on a baking project like that... you have to create 6 different-flavored layers for this!

Or, I could opt for Baking Bites' much simpler Rainbow Cupcakes:



They're pretty darn cute as well.

(I thought it was fitting to do a cake post for today, as it is my sister's 30th birthday today. She doesn't read this blog, but Happy Birthday, Jen!)

Q is for Quaker Oats

Last winter I developed a craving for the warm, gooey taste of oatmeal... my favorite way to eat it is just with brown sugar and maple syrup stirred in. If I want some quick, I love the Banana Bread instant variety that Quaker Oats makes.

However, I bet Coconut Cream Pie Oatmeal would also be good:



Or Steel Cut Oatmeal with Caramelized Apples:



Plus that bowl is just way cool.

But since this is ABCBaking, we shall now focus our attention on a baked good that uses oats: oatmeal cookies.



A couple of weeks ago I baked Banana Oatmeal Cookies that were delicious (I made them without the chocolate chips). Here are some more oatmeal cookie recipes I'm bookmarking for future enjoyment:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Filling... or rather, your very own homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies!

P is for Peanut Butter

I keep meaning to bake something with a peanut butter frosting. Chocolate cupcakes would be good, banana cupcakes would also be interesting, or I bet it would be good on a chocolate or banana cake.



More fun recipes with peanut butter:

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Peanut Butter Crumble Cake
Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake
Peanut Butter Pound Cake

Speaking of pound cake (which also starts with P!), I have a bundt cake pan that I have never used. A pound cake would be a perfect choice to try it out... but there was also that Maple Syrup Cake I mentioned a couple posts back that would also be great. Decisions, decisions...



Plus, if I make pound cake... I can make those grilled cheesecake sandwiches I mentioned earlier...yummmmm.....

And one final "P" favorite... pancakes, of course. Here are some recipes I have tried or am dying to try.

Apple Pie Pancakes (I have made these twice now...I think this is the same recipe I used...it is from Midwest Living and I'm pretty sure that was the magazine I copied the recipe out of)
Brown Sugar Pancakes with Brown Sugar Maple Syrup (have tried, but mine came out flat due to bad baking powder)
Coffee Cake Pancakes
Banana Pancakes
Best Buttermilk Pancakes (made these... yum!)
Pumpkin Pancakes



Pass the syrup, please...

O is for Orange Smoothie

Ok so you don't bake it, but it is sweet and delicious, and I've been making more of them lately. Great summertime treat. I just use about 3/4 cup of orange juice, 4-5 frozen strawberries, half a banana, and some ice, and blend it up. Delish.



My other favorite smoothie to make is a Chocolate Banana smoothie: 3/4 cup milk, half a banana, a tbsp of cocoa powder, and ice.



I do heart bananas. In fact, (and this DOES have to do with baking!) I am baking up a loaf of Apple Banana bread tonight. Just because I have some mushy bananas to use. I guess I didn't make enough smoothies!