Vanilla Pudding, Rapture in a Bowl

No cook desserts?  Bon Appetit has a spread on this topic in the current issue.

We've been ruminating on sweets that don't require a long spell in a hot oven, hence the focus on cupcakes a few weeks back.  On the same topic, We keep coming back to puddings.  This vanilla version is a corker--served plain, topped with seasonal fresh fruit,  a drizzle of caramel or a swirl of melted chocolate, we're sure you're gonna loooove it.


Vanilla Heaven (serves 4-6)

3/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP corn starch
3 cups half and half (or 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 1/2 cups heavy cream)
2 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
1 TBSP butter

In medium saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch.  Add half and half and mix, heating over med til mixture begins to thicken.

In separate bowl, beat eggs.  Pour half of the hot pudding mixture into bowl, whisking constantly.

Then return egg mixture to pan, heat over med-low and cook another minute or two til thickened.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.  Stir to blend.  Serve warm, or place in bowl, put plastic wrap or wax paper onto surface of pudding and chill.

And we couldn't really offer you vanilla pudding without our favorite chocolate counterpart.  We love making these both, and filling a bowl with half of each--kind of the yin and yang of dessert.

Poached Rhubarb and Vanilla Shortbread

Strawbs and Rhubarb - A Marriage Made in Heaven

We're spoiled for choice at the moment - with all the fresh summer produce appearing at markets everywhere.  I spied (and hurriedly grabbed an armful of) fresh rhubarb at my local farmers' market at the Jersey shore and conjured up a rapturous dessert - poached rhubarb and vanilla shortbread.

This tantalizing dessert combines the very sweet with the slightly sour; if you prefer to take the edge off the rhubarb, then you can always throw a generous pile of fresh strawberries into the rhubarb compote.

Rhubarb polarizes people, but my kids grew up on a traditional British dessert - stewed rhubarb and hot custard (Poached sounds posher than stewed, which explains why I used it in my title).  My family is therefore rather fond of this ruby fruit.

Kitchen goddess Nigella Lawson suggests serving poached rhubarb with her vanilla shortbread.  It takes about 25 minutes including cooking time to rustle up her recipe, which is perfect for this time of the year when you'd rather be outside than in.

I must confess this recipe comes from a British cookbook, Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer  And in terms of using non U.S. cookbooks, I've learned my lesson the hard way..through multiple baking mix-ups: I now know that it's not just a case of converting metric measures to Imperial (that never seems to work!)  Instead, I find that if you stick with the same ratio of ingredients then the recipe works out fine.

Hence, this is how I interpreted her recipe:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
2 cups of softened unsalted butter
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
sugar for sprinkling (I used my pantry supply of vanilla sugar!)

For full cooking instructions, see  Nigella Lawson: Forever Summer  

Note: I always have vanilla sugar hanging around in the fridge,  I think this is a transformational addition to many baked goods.  It lends a subtle vanilla nuance to desserts.

And this is how my vanilla shortbread turned out.  A big hit!  To serve this dessert, pile the rhubarb compote into individual decorative bowls and pass around the plate of shortbread.

Vanilla Cupcakes, a Delicious Blank Canvas

  What would YOU add?

When the mercury rises, baking can be unappealing.   Sometimes it's necessary, however; birthdays, for example, really require a baked, iced creation.  My kids were considerately born in November and February, but I have a slew of nieces and nephews with August birthdays.   When we are all at the beach together, so I am often called upon to provide a celebratory cake.

But on those steamy days, minimal oven time is what the doctor ordered--so we go with cupcakes.   The casual way cupcakes are served and eaten is also more in keeping with the easy, breezy nature of summer entertaining, and they generally only require about 25 minutes in the oven.

We recently made a batch of vanilla cupcakes for a teen sleepover.  During a break between Nicholas Sparks films (I know, I know) the girls sought sustenance--doubtless they needed some legitimate sugar after all that saccharine.

This recipe is plain, yes, but delicious nonetheless.  And no one's stopping you from adding sprinkles, colored sugars, or fresh berries...

The Cakes
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2  cups sugar
1 stick butter
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (regular milk can be substituted but buttermilk gives better flavor)

Heat oven to 350.  Line 15 muffin cups with paper liners or grease thoroughly.

Mix all ingredients in large bowl with electric mixer til thoroughly blended and smooth.   Ladle into prepared  pans, filling each cupcake about 2/3 full.   Bake 20-25 mins til lightly browned on edges, and a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely and ice as desired.

The Icing
1 stick butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners sugar (or more to achieve proper thickness and texture)
1 TBSP heavy cream (milk, half and half, or light cream can be used instead)
1 TBSP vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese til smooth.  Add sugar gradually til it achieves an appropriate consistency--slightly dry.  Add cream and vanilla to moisten and beat again til creamy. 

The Easiest Impressive Dessert in the World

Anyone can serve an easy dessert--break out a box of chocolates, a carton of ice cream or a package of cookies and voila, instant gratification.  It is also infinitely possible to serve an impressive dessert--either with  a lengthy stretch in the kitchen, wrestling with pastry dough and caramelizing sugar or by laying out significant cash at a high-end patisserie.   But today we have an easy and impressive dessert, starring this week's featured ingredient:  vanilla.  We mentioned vanilla's reputed aphrodisiac properties previously;  if your dinner guests sprint to the door after ingesting our concoction, we take no responsibility.  But, we guarantee that this Semifreddo will be a hit.

Semifreddo, or 'half cold' in Italian, encompasses a category of desserts including cakes, ice creams, fruits, custards or whipped creams that are partially frozen.  The following has been a go-to in my repertoire for years; it is simple, elegant, and very, very delicious.

Vanilla Semifreddo
Makes 6-8 servings

2 lbs fresh ricotta cheese (at Salumeria or Downtown Cheese)
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Blend on medium high speed for 1 minute til mixture is smooth.  Chill and serve.

Suggestions:  Place semifreddo in large, pretty crystal bowl and top with fresh berries or melted dark chocolate.    Alternatively, serve in individual martini glasses or sorbet cups, drizzled with chocolate.  If you want to get really fancy, drizzle chocolate in the initial of each diner.  I did this at a party last summer and my guests were impressed.

Cook's Note:  This recipe can be made with the standard supermarket ricotta, and it's pretty good, but it is transcendent with fresh ricotta.

Since we gave you the real version last week, we thought a parody was in order.  Vid quality is not perfect, but it's hilarious nonetheless.....

Vanilla Viagra?

The colloquialism "plain vanilla", which implies boring, prosaic, and undesirable is simply wrong.   
Vanilla is among the most expensive flavors in the world, a by-product of the exotic and exorbitantly pricey orchid plant.    It is difficult to cultivate, labor intensive to process, and grows in remote, inaccessible locations, .

Vanilla is also reputed to possess amatory properties--perhaps based on a myth traced back to the Totonac people, who were the first to produce this luscious flavor.  They inhabited the Mazatlan Valley in what is now Mexico.   As the story goes, Totonac Princess Xanat, a divine royal, was forbidden by her father to marry a mortal youth.   Displeased and rebellious, the impetuous lovers fled into the
forest, where they were promptly captured by Dear old Dad's henchmen.  They were then beheaded, and where the blood dripped from their severed necks, a tropical orchid (aka vanilla plant) sprouted.
 
Later, European physicians touted vanilla as a cure for impotence, and Thomas Jefferson (reputed to have been a bit of a Revolutionary ladies' man) is credited with bringing vanilla to the budding American Republic after sampling it during his diplomatic foray to France.

For top-quality vanilla extracts and beans, visit Jonathan Best or The Spice Terminal.  For superb, ready made samples of vanilla in action, visit one of the Market's superb bakeries. 





As we're discussing vanilla, we couldn't resist posting the following blast from the past. For us, this vid will have the opposite effect discussed above, but good for a chuckle, no?