Boston Cream Pie

          The Boston Cream Pie reminds me of a small doughnut shop in Kincardine, ON that shut its doors more than a decade ago. Due to large-scale competition, this shop was not able to keep up with the demands that Tim Horten's met - at a lower price. But, I can still remember the smell of fresh boston cream doughnuts on Saturday morning. This fresh-feeling can be recreated by a recipe found in one of my "retro" Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks.

Boston Cream Pie

Better Homes and Gardens: All-Time Favorite Cake & Cookie Recipes

Circa 1982

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

Vanilla Cream Filling: 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 1/4 cup milk, 1 tbsp butter, 2 slightly beaten eggs, 1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Glaze: 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp cornstarch, dash salt, 1/3 cup water, 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, 1/2 tsp vanilla

          As expressed, my love for Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks can be seen by any guest in my kitchen. But, the series of hardcover cookbooks published in the 1980s is the ultimate. From a time when a recipe lists margarine AFTER butter, and no lot-fat baking is offered, these recipes are tasty, tried and true. 

          I started by greasing a 9 1/2-inch round baking pan (as directed). Instead of using my "lazy-man's" PAM I decided to actually grease with butter. 

          It was the morning before the Santa Claus Parade, so the dog had not been walked yet. I will write what you should do below, but my baking experience went something like this:

 

1. grease the pan

2. remove paper towel from dogs mouth and return to garbage

3. mix the eggs

4. remove paper town from dogs mouth and remember to shut garbage door

5. remove book from dogs mouth and return to table

6. wipe puppy sneeze off feet and chase dog out of living room

7. add sugar to eggs, put baby gate up in kitchen doorway

8. chase dog to remove chocolate from mouth, realize hiding spots in kitchen, pull dog out from under table

9. mix dry ingredients

10. remove book from dogs mouth

etc. 

          Although I would normally suggest lining the pan with parchment paper, the contents of this recipe and the butter used for greasing will provide enough of a nonstick. In my mixer I beat the eggs at a high speed until bright yellow.

 

          Gradually, I added the sugar until it had fully incorporated with the bright yellow eggs. In a separate bowl, I combined the flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. 

          Very Important: for successful baking, remember to always mix the dry ingredients separate from the wet. Although this is not always the case, it is better to be safe, instead of causing a premature chemical reaction. 

          In a saucepan, I melted butter into the milk and poured into mixture with dry ingredients until everything was fully incorporated. I turned the mix into the pan and baked at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. 

          After the cake had cooled, I split it in half, horizontally, and began to prepare the Vanilla Cream Filling. 

          The Vanilla Cream Filling is as simple as: combining all ingredients except for eggs and a little bit of butter in a saucepan. Melt, and pour over eggs. Whisk until thick. 

          Keeping with the theme of simple, the Chocolate Glaze was similar: Mix all ingredients except for vanilla and heat in saucepan until thick. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

          Assemble like a boston cream doughnut and enjoy!

Ultimate Bar Cookies

          The unfortunate incident that was "Ultimate Bar Cookies" started with high hopes. My step-mom makes bars of all different kinds. She whips them up in no time at all and almost always receives praise. So, when flipping through my Better Homes and Gardens "Anyone Can Bake" cookbook, I was excited to receive the same. I was wrong - or rather, the recipe was wrong - or rather, the directions were wrong. Instead, I made the same mistake that many bakers have made in the past. And, given the nature of blogging, I figured that it was about time to publish that mistake. To learn from it, and to see the reality of substituting/mistaking/forgetting ingredients. I forgot the FLOUR. Here's what they said to do and here is what you too can do wrong.

Ultimate Bar Cookies

Better Homes and Gardens "Anyone Can Bake - Step-by-Step Recipes Just for You"

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 3-ounce jar macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped (I went with sliced)

6 ounces white chocolate baking bars, chopped (I went with white chocolate chips)

1 cup milk chocolate pieces

¾ cup butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

          I greased my baking pan and preheated my oven to 350°F. Using the same softened butter that I used to grease the pan, I mixed the brown sugar and butter. Not the flour. Usually, the part of a recipe that can go wrong happens in the first few steps. In my case, the recipe was doomed from the beginning. 

 

          I pressed the mixture evenly throughout the pan and baked it for 15 minutes. Disaster sign #1: The recipe says that the crust must be light brown. After 15 minutes at 350°F my crust looked like anything but light brown. But, I forged on. 

          In a small saucepan I heated the additional butter and sugar until the sugar had dissolved. And, in a separate bowl I mixed the chocolate and nuts. These ingredients were only headed for one expensive mistake. 

          In a perfect world, I would have waited until the crust cooled, put the other ingredients evenly on top and poured the butter mixture to finish. Off to the oven to bake for 15 more minutes and I was hungry for the "ultimate" bar.  

          TERRIBLE. The "crust" was bubbling, the chocolate was half melted, and the entire mix had set-up permanent camp on my baking pan. As a result, there will be no review today. But, please try this recipe at home and I would be happy to post your pictures as a special: reader-fix-its.

          Just in-case you are curious, this is what my Ultimately Failed Bar Cookies looked like:

 

          See "Better Homes and Gardens: Anyone Can Bake- Step-by-Step Recipe Just for You" for more recipes that really are potentially beautiful. 

 

 

Eggnog Nut Thumbprints

          It's Christmas time! And, I am so excited to be moving on to holiday baking. I thought that I would start the season off right and get to one of my favorite cookbooks that I have ever read. The Better Homes and Gardens magazine was founded in 1922, and published their fifteenth edition of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook in 2010. It's pretty amazing that any publication can exist these days - let alone a multi series cookbook.

           Check out a later post for a recipe from 1982's "Better Homes and Gardens - All-Time Favorite Cake & Cookie Recipes"

          Baking situation #1: I was rushing out the door and asked to provide some cookies for a meeting. I had approximately one hour to prepare whatever I was baking, and only the most basic of ingredients in my cupboard. I have made thumbprint cookies before, so I figured that it would be an easy feat.

Eggnog Nut Thumbprints

Better Homes and Gardens "Anyone Can Bake - Step-by-Step Recipes Just For You"

¾ cup butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

1 ½ cup finely chopped walnuts

1 recipe Rum Filling

Grated fresh nutmeg or ground nutmeg (optional)

          As noted, I started with butter. I use a container that I bought at Loblaws to keep butter in the cupboard. 

          With my electric mixer I beat the butter until smooth (suggested 30 seconds, approximately 60 seconds). I added the sugar and nutmeg and mixed until smooth again. Last week I tried to organize my baking cupboard - at Tap Phong (on Spadina in Toronto, ON) I bought some containers that helped with this. 

 

          Keep in mind, the butter and sugar mix must be scraped at the sides between mixing. If not, you will end with lumps of butter throughout. The recipe suggests that as much flour as possible should be mixed in. I was able to mix in all of the flour after switching to the paddle attachment. However, if you are unable to, it appears that you can mix the remainder of the flour in with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula. 

          Preheat your oven to 375ºF and grease an appropriately sized cooking sheet. Create a breading station with egg, crushed walnuts and batter rolled in approximately 1-inch balls. Word to the wise: use one hand to put the mix into the eggs and the other to coat the balls in walnuts. If you do this, you will avoid caking on your hands from the batter and eggs. 

 

 

          Once the batter is coated, place them on a baking sheet that is greased (or lined in parchment) approximately 1-inch apart. Then, press the batter with your thumb (hence, thumbprint cookies). This indent will be filled with the eggnog filling.

 

          Bake these for 12 to 15 minutes, depending in the heat of your oven. While doing so, make the Rum Filling.

Rum Filling

¼ cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon rum or ¼ teaspoon rum extract

1 to 2 teaspoons milk 

          I beat the butter until smooth and added 1 cup of powdered sugar. At this point, the mixture looked like this: (Obviously more powdered sugar needed to be added)

 

 

          So, I added approximately 1 more full cup of powdered sugar. This happens often, due to the temperature or dryness of the kitchen that you are working in. You can add more powdered sugar until it thickens, and more hot water by the half-teaspoon to thin the icing if needed. 

 

 

          The mixture then appeared to be thick enough. Once the cookies had cooled, I piped the icing into the indents and placed into the fridge to harden. The fridge was not required in the recipe but it still appeared to be thin, so I felt this to be appropriate. I then sprinkled some ground nutmeg on the icing.

 

          There you have it. Anyone can bake!   

          In summary, this recipe was easy to follow and really did taste like eggnog! The nutmeg (although I am not usually a fan) provided a nice, round flavor. Also, the cookies had the consistency of shortbread, and were balanced out by the thickness of the icing. The walnuts added a nice crunch as well. The only thing that I would change is the amount of powdered sugar - however, this can change based on the time of year and your geographical location.

          Better Homes and Gardens has written yet another easy to follow recipe. The cookies came out like classic cookies that were baked by a close family member, and were easy to transport. Happy baking!