I was recently given a bottle of smoked maple syrup. Yes, I was skeptical as well, especially when I opened the bottle and it was really, really smokey. Hickory and Oak, but smoke, smoke, smoke. I thought long and hard about what I should experiment with, and ultimately, I think that it would go great simply poured over some BBQ ribs, but I thought that I would actually try it in a sweet application, so I came up with this recipe for blondies. And you know what? It worked and they are actually very good. The smoke flavor (and admittedly, I only used a few tablespoons) is really tempered by the toffee and maple and instead of it tasking like smoke, it simply has a deep, almost earthy thing going on. Really quite nice. Also, if you don’t want do the whole “smoke” thing, this recipe works just as well with regular maple syrup.
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Desserts
Today, I had to say goodbye to some dear friends. OK, so it isn’t a real goodbye as I am positive that I will see then again and through the powers of this Internet thing, I am quite sure that we will be in touch all the time, but today these two friends stopped being co-tenants. They moved into the building we shared within weeks of me, and it’s been a decade of living here, so ten years of waves and smiles when we were in a hurry, gossip about other neighbors, the parking, the laundry, the snow — god, the snow of 2015! — Italy, Harvard, Germany, our respective families and cats. They have always gotten my foodie experiments, and I remember telling Erin about CSPS a few weeks after I went down this path and she trying my Roasted Salsa Black Bean Soup (March 2011). In exchange, I always received extras from their Crop Share (thank you again, guys!). So a fare-ye-well from me always involves food. So I made these Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie Cupcakes with Butter Pecan Frosting for them to take on their drive down to their new home.
Here is my present to the Easter Bunny: A spectacularly delicious Carrot Cake with Almond Cream and cute little flowers made from sliced almonds and candy covered chocolate eggs (you could use M&Ms too. It’s really moist, very carrot-y, not too sweet and very flavorful. Came out great and I am actually really pleased. The photos aren’t so great, because I had to take them early in the morning. The cake was a present for a friend and I needed to deliver it early this morning before prime “photography time”. 🙂
Every year right about this time of year, Champagne Mangoes (the smaller, all yellow ones) go massively on sale at Whole Foods, often 5 for $5, and sometimes even cheaper. That was the impetus of this tart… mangoes are cheap, the weather is miserable and this would cheer up and otherwise dreary day (if nothing else, just the color!). It’s modeled after a Key Lime Pie, but not quite as tart. The coconut is actually a last minute addition, only because I had a package of shredded coconut in the house. All in all, not much of a joke on this April Foods Day.