Tim Bruderek

Genius Recipes from Food52

ohoadmin — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 21:36:31 +0000

Genius Recipes from Food52 ohoadmin Wed, 08/14/2013 - 17:36 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/Food-52-Peach-Salad.jpg.webp?itok=9LKzGXeo August 14, 2013

By Tim Bruderek

Since graduating from ICE’s Culinary Arts program in 2009, Kristen’s journey into food media led to enrolling in NYU’s Food Studies program, a subsequent stint at Martha Stewart, and work and a writer and recipe tester for Saveur Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Kristen then got involved with the development and launch of Food52, a food community that encourages home cooks to submit recipes, exchange tips and share food knowledge. Thanks to a recent Recreational Cooking class at ICE lead by Chef Kristen, I learned a few fun ways to turn simple ingredients into genius recipes.

Photo Credit: Food52

She currently serves as a Senior Editor for the site, writing the Genius Recipes column and testing all of the recipes before they are published. When Kristen decided to teach a class based on these experiences, she fittingly returned to where her culinary career began: the ICE kitchens. The idea was to share some of her favorite “Genius Recipes” – which feature classic dishes, but with a small trick or quick tip that saves time and makes it extra delicious.

From creating a refreshing summer salad using unripe peaches, to whipping up a chocolate mousse without eggs or cream, Kristen's recipes and tips are easy to adapt to home kitchens and sure to wow your next dinner guests.

Photo Credit: Food52

Of all of the fantastic dishes we created, the River Café’s Strawberry Sorbet was a standout, and the one I’m dying to recreate at home. For others like me, who are lactose-intolerant, it's a fantastic, cold way to satisfy an unflinching summer sweet tooth.

Photo Credit: Food52

When it comes to this recipe, I can't decide which is more genius – the fact that it has only 3 ingredients, or that it includes a whole lemon to provide its distinct flavor and delightfully creamy texture. You can decide for yourself by making the recipe below. Don't forget to visit Food52 and explore more “genius” recipes at home!

The River Café's Strawberry Sorbet

*Adapted from the London River Cafe Cook Book by Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray (Ebury Press, 1996)

Makes 1 1/2 quarts

Ingredients:

2 to 3 lemons
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled

Instructions:

Quarter, seed, and then roughly chop 1 lemon. (The other 1 to 2 lemons will be juiced in step 3.)
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined -- it will look like lemon slush. Transfer to a bowl.
Purée the strawberries in the same food processor bowl, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

Alumni Special Events Culinary Arts Food Media

Recipe steps

Step 1 - Quarter, seed, and then roughly chop 1 lemon. (The other 1 to 2 lemons will be juiced in step 3.);

Step 2 - Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined -- it will look like lemon slush. Transfer to a bowl;

Step 3 - Puree the strawberries in the same food processor bowl, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon;

Step 4 - Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries;

Step 5 - Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen;

Baking One Girl Cookies with Dave Crofton

ohoadmin — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:18:21 +0000

Baking One Girl Cookies with Dave Crofton ohoadmin Thu, 05/16/2013 - 18:18 May 16, 2013

By Tim Bruderek

Dave Crofton head baker at One Girl Cookies is a warm guy with a big personality. He has a unique passion for baking that’s inspiring to watch. But Dave’s story does not follow the traditional path to success.

Dave graduated from ICE’s Pastry & Baking Arts program in 2003, working during the day and taking his classes in the evening. Upon completing the program, like most graduations, Dave began his search for a job in the field, and his Career Services advisor gave him a lead that sounded interesting. Little did he know this new job would change his life for good.

Dawn Casale, founder, and namesake of the Brooklyn-based bakery One Girl Cookies, was becoming well-known for her delectable sweet treats but was seeking some help with the growing demand and notoriety of her business. Dave contributed his baking talents, and soon enough, the pair was working diligently to make One Girl a success. But they got more than they planned – they ended up falling in love and getting married.

Flash forward a few years, and now Dawn is running the business side of things, while Dave serves as the company’s lead baker. The shop has become famous for its cookies (as the name suggests) but has grown to offer a huge variety to satisfy their customer’s sweet cravings. The pumpkin whoopee pie has become the shop’s most popular item—with pillowy cookies sandwiching a smooth vanilla cream cheese filling, it's easy to understand why! This spring, Dave graciously returned to ICE to teach a class, sharing stories about his success and recipes to make his delicious cookies, cakes and other desserts at home.

A student learns to pipe the pumpkin cookies for One Girl's whoopie pies.

One Girl's Lemon Olive Oil Cake. Photo Credit: UltraTeg.com

The class featured many helpful tips (proper dough preparations, mixing techniques, and baking tricks), and secrets to One Girl’s top recipes (such as their famous chocolate cake, prepared with zucchini to keep it moist). Aside from the seductively sweet whoopie pies, the aforementioned chocolate cake and several varieties of crispy biscotti, the class whipped up a citrus olive oil cake to spice things up.

Light, airy, with a touch of citrus zing, this delicate cake allows the flavor of the olive oil shine through. For an extra sweet and salty crunch, we finished the cake with a sprinkling of sea salt and turbino sugar. It was my clear favorite recipe of the evening, is easy enough to prepare at home and special enough to impress dinner guests. Scroll down for the recipe, and don’t forget to stop by one of the two One Girl Cookies Brooklyn locations to say hi to Dave (and indulge your sweet cravings)!

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Yield: Makes 1 (9-inch) cake

¾ cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
5 large egg yolks
¾ cup olive oil
1½ tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup cake flour
4 large egg whites
½ tsp table salt
1 tbsp Turbinado sugar
½ tsp coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan by greasing with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Using both hands, rub the zest into the sugar, breaking up as many lumps of zest as possible.
Whisk together the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Continue to whisk for 3 minutes, or until the mixture has become light yellow. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and whisk 1 more minute. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cake flour.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until they are frothy, about 30 seconds. With the mixer running on medium-low speed, add the salt and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form. Using a spatula, carefully fold the whites into the batter. Make sure that all of the whites are incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the Turbinado sugar and the sea salt on the top.
Bake for 25 minutes, and rotate the pan in the oven. Bake for 25 more minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. The cake will shrink from the side of the pan and have a rustic appearance. Turn the cake out onto a clean plate, remove the parchment paper, and turn the cake back over onto a cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely.

Pastry Arts Cookies

Add new comment

Ho, Ho, Holiday Cupcakes

ohoadmin — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:04:01 +0000

Ho, Ho, Holiday Cupcakes ohoadmin Fri, 12/21/2012 - 15:04 December 21, 2012

By Tim Bruderek

For most people, holiday desserts don't include cupcakes. But Chef Melanie Underwood's "Holiday Cupcakes Workshop" helped this non-believer (and non-baker) realize that the cupcake is an excellent format for the festive flavors we all know and love.

As mentioned, I'm a self-proclaimed “non-baker.” I have confidence in my savory skills, but when it comes to flour, eggs, and sugar, my knowledge leaves something to be desired. So I brought along my fiancée, who loves to bake - especially cupcakes. She’s always testing out new flavors and techniques, making the class a fun way to kick off our first holiday as an engaged couple.

Chef Melanie taught us to integrate gingerbread, eggnog, peppermint, and cocoa into a range of simple, seasonal recipes while sharing a wide range of general baking tips. For example, I learned how to whip up silky meringues, proper pastry piping technique, the importance of mise en place, and options for ingredient substitutions (yogurt or sour cream for buttermilk).

After mixing our batters and placing them in the oven, we learned that when it comes to baking cupcakes, time is truly relative. The best way to tell when the cakes are done is to press them with your finger. If they spring back to the touch, they are ready. If you leave a fingerprint, they’re not done yet. After taking them out of the oven, it's best to let the cupcakes rest for a few minutes in the pan, before transferring them to a cake rack (so the air can flow to the bottom of the cupcakes).

Next came the whimsical decorations. The “hot cocoa” cupcake was topped with a few mini-marshmallows and a candy cane “straw” or “handle” to make it look like a steaming cup of hot chocolate. The eggnog cakes were sprinkled with nutmeg (and a healthy splash of rum), evoking all the flavors of our favorite warming drink in a single bite.

Not only did I enjoy whipping up these impressive holiday cupcakes, but I've gained the confidence to lend my fiancée a hand in all her future baking experiments. Below, I share my favorite of the recipes, compliments of Chef Melanie.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: Makes about 20 cupcakes

For cupcakes:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground cloves
12 tablespoons (6 ounces) room temperature unsalted butter
¾ cup molasses
¾ cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs
¾ cup buttermilk

For icing:

12 tablespoons (6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 pounds (32 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F; Line pans with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment cream together the butter, molasses, and sugar until light and fluffy, 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
Add one-third of the dry ingredients and mix, add one-half of the buttermilk, and continue alternating dry with wet, finishing with dry.
Spoon or pipe the batter into prepared cake pans and place in the oven. Bake until the cakes spring back when touched, 20 to 25 minutes for large cupcakes.
For icing: In the bowl of an electric mixer combine butter and cream cheese and beat until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add in the sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Top each cake with an icing and serve.

Recipe Pastry Arts Cake Holidays