by Клео Коул
6-8 ounces cold seltzer, club soda, or carbonated water (be sure it’s cold!)
Step 1 — Prepare onions: Toss the raw onion rings in ¼ cup of the cake flour and set aside.
Step 2 — Mix dry batter ingredients: Note: For best results, do not make the batter in advance. Finish the batter just before you are ready to fry the onion rings. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of the cake flour, cayenne pepper, baking powder, and garlic salt. Heat the oil to 350° F. Only when the oil is hot and ready for frying should you move to the next step and finish the batter.
Step 3 — Finish the batter and fry: Add enough cold carbonated water to the dry ingredients to make a loose batter. Coat your onion rings and cook at once. Fry until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Serve hot!
Clare Cosi’s Doughnut Muffins
Tender and sweet, these muffins taste like an old-fashioned cake doughnut, the kind you’d order at a diner counter with a hot, fresh cuppa joe.
Makes 12 muffins
For the batter:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten with fork
1 cup whole milk
2½ cups all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the cinnamon topping:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Step 1 — Prepare the batter: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs and milk and continue mixing. Stop the mixer. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg, and mix only enough to combine ingredients. Do not overmix at this stage or you will produce gluten in the batter and toughen the muffins.
Step 2 — Bake: Line cups in muffin pan with paper holders. Fill each up to the top (you can even mound it a little higher). Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until the muffins are lightly brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins quickly from pan and cool on a wire rack. (Muffins that remain in a hot pan may end up steaming, and the bottoms may become tough.)
Step 3 — Prepare the topping: Mix together the sugar and cinnamon to create the cinnamon topping. Brush the tops of the warm muffins with the melted butter and dust with the cinnamon topping.
Clare Cosi’s Jelly Doughnut Muffins
Clare brought this “jelly doughnut” version of her famous muffins to the Five-Borough Bake Sale. Detective Franco is still waiting for her to make him a plain old American jelly doughnut. He’ll have to wait a little longer.
Makes 12 muffins
1 recipe Doughnut Muffin batter (page 340)
¼ cup raspberry jelly or jam
2 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Step 1 — Line cups in a muffin pan with paper holders. Fill each cup halfway with the Doughnut Muffin batter. Poke a hole into the thick batter and spoon in 1 teaspoon of raspberry jelly. Top with remaining batter (filling cup about two-thirds full).
Step 2 — Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until the muffins are lightly brown. Remove muffins quickly from pan and cool on a wire rack. (Muffins that remain in a hot pan may end up steaming, and the bottoms may become tough.)
Step 3 — Brush the tops of the muffins with the melted butter and dust with the sugar.
Clare Cosi’s Magnificent Melt-in-Your-Mouth Mocha Brownies
When Clare needs a quick chocolate fix, this is her go-to recipe. She whipped up a pan of these babies after she realized Mike Quinn had played her the previous night by keeping his secrets. On the subject of pastry chef secrets: one way to deepen the rich flavor of chocolate in any recipe is to add coffee. And the trick to keeping these brownies magnificent is (1) allow melted chocolate to cool before adding to the batter, (2) do not over bake. With this recipe, undercooking is better than overcooking. And (3) allow pan of brownies to cool completely before cutting. These moist and tender brownies will drench your taste buds with chocolate flavor, but they need time to cool and harden before they can be cut into bar cookies. (While still warm, these brownies do make an amazing dessert and can be served on a plate with ice cream or whipped cream. Otherwise, give them at least 1 hour out of the oven before cutting.)
Makes one 9-inch square pan of brownies (about 16 bars)
Cooking spray
1 cup good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or chips)
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals (or 1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder) dissolved into 1 tablespoon hot tap water
3 large eggs
1¼ cups all-purpose flour (measure after sifting)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Step 1 — Melt chocolate and butter: Preheat your oven to 350° F and prepare a 9-inch square pan by spraying bottom and sides with cooking spray (or buttering and lightly dusting with cocoa powder). Melt the chocolate and 4 tablespoons of the butter in a microwave safe bowl. (See note at end of recipe on melting chocolate.) Allow to cool as you make the batter.
Step 2 — Create batter: Using an electric mixer, cream the two sugars with your remaining 12 tablespoons of butter until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla extract, coffee, eggs, and cooled melted chocolate from Step 1. After wet ingredients are blended, add in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. (Blend well but do not overmix or you will produce gluten in the flour and toughen the batter.)
Step 3 — Bake and cool: Spread the batter into your prepared 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes. Do not over bake these beauties. When are they done? As the batter cooks, you will see the top form a crust and begin to show traditional cracking. Gently shake the pan. If the center appears to jiggle a bit, the brownies are still underdone. Continue cooking five minutes at a time until baked batter feels solid when pan is gently shaken. You can also insert a toothpick into the very center of pan. If batter appears on toothpick, continue cooking and checking. Cool pan on a rack to allow air to properly circulate beneath the hot pan bottom. Do not cut brownies before they are completely cool or they may break apart on you. You can always enjoy still-warm brownie squares on a plate with ice cream or whipped cream. Otherwise, simply wait until cool to the touch (about 1 hour), then cut into bars and eat with joy!
Clare’s Note on Melting Chocolate: (1) Make sure bowl and stirring utensils are completely dry. Even a few drops of water can make chocolate seize up. (2) Chocolate burns easily so never heat chocolate until you see it turn completely liquid. Heat in microwave only 15 to 20 seconds to soften. Then remove and stir. Reheat if necessary for 10 seconds at a time and stir again until completely melted. (3) If you do not have a microwave, use a double boiler or create one by placing a dry, heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Place chocolate in the bowl or top of double boiler and stir until melted.
Poor Girl’s Crème Brûlée
What makes this a “poor girl’s” crème brûlée? The lack of a pricey kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. Clare suggests you do what French housewives have done for years: use the oven broiler. The caramelized crust that forms on top of the dessert will not have the hard shell-like texture that comes from using a professional kitchen torch (or even an industrial model à la the firefighter’s bake sale), but the taste of the crunchy, warm sugar atop the creamy silk of the egg custard will be sinfully satisfying. This recipe calls for 6 egg yolks, but do not discard the whites: you can use them to make Nonna’s Brutti Ma Buoni (“Ugly but Good”) Italian Cookies. (See the recipe at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com.)
Makes 4 to 8 servings (depending on ramekin size)
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br /> 6 large egg yolks
⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar
1⅓ cups whole milk
1⅓ cups light cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For topping: ⅓ cup turbinado sugar or “sugar in the raw” (Do not substitute granulated white sugar. If you can’t find raw sugar, use light brown sugar.)
Step 1 — Make the custard: Preheat oven to 300° F. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until smooth. Mix in the milk, cream, and vanilla. Pour the mixture evenly into four individual 7-8-ounce size ramekins (or eight 4-ounce size ramekins). Set ramekins in a shallow roasting or baking pan and create a water bath by pouring water into the pan until it reaches halfway up the outside of the ramekins.
Step 2 — Bake the custard: Bake until set, about 1 hour. Cooking time may be longer or shorter based on your oven and the size of your ramekins. So when is it done? You are looking for the top to set. The custard may still jiggle slightly, but the top should no longer be liquid. It should feel firm (spongy but set) when lightly touched, and when a toothpick or skewer is inserted down into the custard at the edge of the cup, it should come out clean. Otherwise, keep baking and checking.
Step 3 — Chill it, baby: Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Cover each ramekin tightly with plastic wrap and chill completely in fridge for 4 hours or overnight. (Note: Covering with plastic will keep a skin from forming, but be sure to allow the custard to cool completely before covering.)
Step 4 — Caramelize the top: Okay, here’s the “poor girl” part. If you do not have a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar, then take Clare’s advice. Before serving, sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top, set ramekins in a shallow pan filled with ice (to keep custard cool), and place under your oven broiler for a few minutes to caramelize. Check often. Do not let sugar burn. Serve immediately. (Note: If substituting light brown sugar, re-chill in fridge to harden top.)
Clare Cosi’s Blueberries ’N’ Cream Coffee Cake Pie
See photos of this recipe at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com
Mix, pour, bake, eat. Given the flour and eggs on the ingredient list, this supremely easy batter filling gives you a unique cross between a dense coffee cake and a fruit pie. Blueberries are truly the star of this confection, and their fresh, sweet, slightly tart flavor bursts brightly in your mouth with every delicious bite (and it’s just as good, if not better, right out of the refrigerator the next day).
Makes one 8- or 9-inch pie
2 pints fresh blueberries
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
teaspoon salt
⅔ cup half-and-half
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Clare’s Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust (recipe follows) or prebaked 8- or 9-inch graham cracker or shortbread crust
Step 1 — Toss blueberries with flour: Rinse and dry your blueberries. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the flour. (You are coating the berries with flour to soak up excess liquid during baking.)
Step 2 — Make batter: Preheat oven to 375° F. Using a simple hand whisk, gently blend the flour, sugar, salt, half-and-half, eggs, and cinnamon. Do not overmix or you’ll toughen the batter. Carefully fold in the flour-tossed blueberries. (You are not crushing the berries, just gently folding.)
Step 3-Bake: Pour the batter into your pie shell. If using an 8-inch crust, there may be a bit too much batter, that’s okay, just hold it back. (See my crust tips below.) Bake about 1 hour. When is it done? The trick here is not to undercook the pie. You want the batter to firm up completely. The pie is done when a knife or skewer inserted down into the pie at the center comes up with little to no loose batter sticking to it. (You will always see some blueberry juice smeared on the knife or skewer when you insert it.) After 1 hour, check your pie. If not done, keep returning to the oven for 5-minute intervals until the pie is fully baked. (Depending on your oven, it may take 5-15 extra minutes beyond the initial hour.) Remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting. Enjoy plain or with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.
Pie Crust Tip #1 — Store-Bought: When I have no time to make a homemade crust, I simply purchase a prebaked graham cracker pie shell from my local grocery. I know that sounds odd. Premade crusts are primarily used for unbaked cream or pudding pies, but they work very well in this recipe! As the blueberry batter bakes, it caramelizes the graham cracker crumbs in the prebaked shell, giving a wonderfully sweet, satisfyingly al dente texture to your final pie crust, a nice contrast with the soft, slightly tart filling. An important point to remember if you do this: before pouring the batter into your store-bought pie shell, set the shell, aluminum pan and all, into a standard, empty metal pie pan. This added sturdiness will make the pie much easier to handle as you transfer it to the oven and finally cut and serve the pie. Final note: the store-bought crusts come with the aluminum pan’s edges folded down. Before baking the pie, be sure to unfold these edges, opening them up completely. This will make cutting the pie and removing the slices much easier!
Pie Crust Tip #2 — Homemade: Press-in graham cracker (or cookie) crusts are very easy to make. If you have time for this extra step, see Clare’s Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust below.
CLARE’S CINNAMON GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
Makes one 8- or 9-inch press-in pie crust
Nine 2½ × 5-inch square cinnamon-flavored graham crackers
½ cup butter, melted
Pulverize the graham crackers into crumbs using a food processor, blender, rolling pin, or another fun smashing device. This should give you about 1¼ cups of crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the melted butter. Press into an 8- or 9-inch pie pan.
For Clare’s Blueberries ’N’ Cream Coffee Cake Pie: Chill for 20 minutes before filling and baking. There’s no need to pre-bake for my blueberry pie recipe — just chill and fill.
For no-bake pie recipes: If you’d like to use this crust recipe for a cream, pudding, or other no-bake pie recipe, then you will need to bake this crust before filling. Preheat oven to 350° F and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven. Do not over bake or it may turn out too hard!
Final Note: If you prefer regular graham crackers to the cinnamon-flavored variety, be sure to add 2 tablespoons of sugar to this recipe.
Joy’s Mini Cake-Mix Biscotti
“Hey, Mom, I just added butter and eggs to a cake mix and made a kind of biscotti dough out of it. What do you think?” Joy came up with this one when she was twelve. Clare used it for one of her In the Kitchen with Clare columns — and began to get a clue that her daughter might have a future in the world of food.
Makes 24 to 28 cookies
For Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti:
1 package chocolate cake mix
3 large eggs, 1 separated
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup hazlenuts, toasted and chopped (see note)
White or semisweet chocolate chips (for dipping), optional
For Vanilla-Almond Biscotti:
1 package yellow cake mix
3 large eggs, 1 separated
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (see note)
White or semisweet chocolate chips (for dipping), optional
Step 1 — Form the dough: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, blend the cake mix, 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, butter, flour, and nuts. When a dough forms, turn off the mixer. Using your hands, form a dough ball in the bowl. Turn the ball onto the lined baking sheet.Work the dough until smooth and shape into two cylinders of about 1½ inches in diameter and 10-inches long. There should be a few inches of space on the baking sheet between the two logs. (They will expand during baking.) Now generously brush the top, sides, and ends of each log with the egg white (no need to brush the bottom and no need to use all of the
egg white). This brushing will help keep the baked log together when you slice it later.
Step 2 — Bake and slice the logs: Bake for about 25-30 minutes. The dough logs are finished when they are cracking on the surface, fairly firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes up clean. Remove the hot pan from the oven. The logs are very fragile at this point so do not move them or they will break apart. Simply cool them on the pan for 2 to 3 hours. The pan should be placed on a rack to allow air to circulate beneath the pan bottom. Note: If you try to cut the logs while they are still the least bit warm, you will see the cookies crumbling as you cut. This is heartbreaking! Let the logs cool completely before cutting. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut the log into slices on the diagonal. Slices should be about ¾- to 1-inch thick.
Step 3 — Biscotti means baked again: Lay the biscotti slices flat on a sheet pan and bake for 8-10 minutes on one side. Then turn them over carefully. Don’t burn your fingers and don’t allow cookies to break apart! Bake on the flip side for 6-8 minutes. (You are literally toasting the cookies to give them more flavor and make them harder.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before handling or storing.
Step 4 — Optional chocolate dip: If desired, melt a cup or two of white or semisweet chocolate chips. Dip the top edges of the cooled biscotti slices into the warm chocolate and set on wax paper. (Or dip half the cookie into the chocolate — your call.) Serve after chocolate has hardened. (For tips on melting chocolate, see Clare’s Magnificent Melt-in-Your-Mouth Mocha Brownies recipe on page 342.)
How to Toast Nuts: Spread nuts in a single later on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350° F for 8-10 minutes. Stir once or twice during toasting to prevent scorching.
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