Willow Bird Baking - Page 57 of 127 - lessons in life & kitchen confidence

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

I wrote this post as part of the Plugrá Butter Brigade. Thanks, Plugrá, for sponsoring this post and for making my favorite butter!

I don’t know about you, but I really needed BatKid this past week. If I’d known how profoundly BatKid would affect me, in fact, I would’ve sent up the bat signal long before now.

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

In case you’ve been living under a rock (no judgment; I hear it’s warm under there), I’m referring to how San Francisco morphed into Gotham City this past week for Miles, a 5-year-old child recovering from leukemia. The city transformed to honor Miles’ request to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children diagnosed with life-threatening conditions.

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

Some kids wish to go to Disneyland. Others wish to have an Army Fort to play on. Others want to meet real ballerinas.

Miles’ wish was just as characteristic for a 5-year-old child: to be a superhero. What was surprising, though, was how the wish played out. Make-A-Wish used social media to round up volunteers to create scenarios for BatKid to save the day. Once all was said and done, an army of over 12,000 people participated in Miles’ experience. He rescued a damsel in distress, stopped a bank robbery, recovered a captive Lou Seal, and received the (chocolate version of the) key to the city. People all around the world tweeted and instagrammed messages of support to tiny #BatKid.

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

Maybe this seems like a lot of trouble for one kid at first glance. (If so, however, I hope you’ll take a second glance and note that this kid who’s been through trauma even adults struggle to face deserves every moment of his wonderful day.) But the most beautiful thing about BatKid’s day is that it doesn’t just affect BatKid. It affects his family, who now feels the force of a whole city — a whole world — behind them as they face their greatest fears. It affects other families navigating similar circumstances, who can now see the love available for them in their communities. It affects the volunteers, who surely gathered more hope and inspiration from playing a role in Miles’ adventure than he could ever imagine. And it affects the people watching from home through tears of surprise and joy — so many different people. People who have been laboring under negative and critical thoughts, having a hard time at work, dealing with a breakup, navigating the loss of a family member. Millions of people watched Penguin’s capture and simultaneously received a refill of trust in the world, as if Miles had really locked at least a few of our demons behind bars.

I needed that. I don’t know about you, but I really did.

Thank you, San Francisco. And thank you, Miles, for sharing your wish with all of us.

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

On a different scale but still in the spirit of sharing love, I’m sharing these cookies with you. This recipe is the very best cookie recipe for butter lovers out there. Buttery shortbread with toasted pecans is slathered with a rich rum-spiked toffee sauce. Both recipes (the cookies and toffee) are quick and easy to make, but together, they make for a transcendent tea time. I used Plugrá butter, my favorite because of its low moisture content, which makes for lovely crisp shortbreads. You would be remiss to leave these amazing cookies off your Christmas cookie list!

Enjoy — and if you haven’t already seen them, may I suggest scrolling through photos of #BatKid’s derring do as you nibble on your shortbreads? Just to make a sweet moment sweeter.

One year ago: Pimiento Cheese Cookies
Two years ago: Pumpkin Streusel Swirled Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Three years ago: Easy Apple Puff Pastry Tarts with Almond Whipped Cream
Four years ago: Creamy Chicken and Green Chile Enchiladas with Mexican Sausage Rice

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

Recipe by: Adapted from Ina Garten
Yield: around 20 shortbread cookies

The butteriest! These buttery shortbread cookies boast toasty pecans throughout, and the buttery rum-spiked toffee is the perfect complement. You’re gonna love these.

Cookie Ingredients:
3/4 pound (1 1/2 cups) unsalted Plugrá butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans*

Toffee Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup Plugrá butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup dark rum

Directions:
*To toast pecans: spread pecans on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for around 6-7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until fragrant. Chop while still warm.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. In a separate, large bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar together for 1-2 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Pulverize the toasted pecans in a food processor for a few pulses (or crush by hand) until very fine, and then stir into the dough by hand. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, form into a thick rectangle, and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cover three baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle of 1/2-inch thickness. Cut the dough into 1-inch by 3-inch rectangles and place these on a cookie sheet (position them 2 inches apart because they will spread slightly). Bake the cookies for around 20 minutes, rotating and switching positions of baking sheets once partway through baking. Remove the cookies when they’re just slightly colored on the edges and let them cool completely on their baking sheets.

To make the toffee sauce, bring the brown sugar, butter, heavy whipping cream, and rum to a boil in a heavy saucepan over high heat, whisking frequently. Once the mixture boils, turn the heat down slightly to medium-high heat and whisk constantly for 8 minutes, until the mixture is thickened. Pour the mixture into a serving bowl. Serve it smeared on cooled shortbread cookies. Store any extra cookies and toffee sauce in airtight containers, heating up the toffee sauce in the microwave to refresh as needed.

November 18, 2013 by Julie Ruble | 13 Comments

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Quick Weeknight Dinner: Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Croutons and Crispy Fried Onions

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Croutons and Crispy Fried Onions

I feel like around half my posts these days are about ridiculous things I’ve done. Apparently getting married, switching jobs, and moving to a new city in the space a few months turns everything a bit sideways. And then autumn had to come, and daylight savings time had to end. Who knows which end is up anymore?

If my experience making this soup — which is actually a super (souper?) simple and quick recipe — is any indication, not me. I call it the Pumpkin Soup Incident.

It all started on a cold day last week. I’d seen Sommer’s pumpkin soup recipe circulating around Facebook and decided to make it for dinner. As I always advise, I’d prepared my mise-en-place. I had ramekins of onion, jalapeño, and spices arranged on my counter. I had a brand new bottle of chile oil standing by. I had my brand new immersion blender ready. As I’ve also mentioned, my kitchen right now is not easy to work in. There’s not much storage or counter space, and what there is, is currently consumed with food and appliances that don’t fit anywhere else: a crock pot, a wayward stockpot, my old microwave, roughly 8 boxes of cereal. You get the picture.

So my neat, organized mise-en-place was actually not so neat and organized. My prep bowls were stuffed into crevices, stacked on other objects, and generally in the way. My immersion blender, in particular, was in an awkward position — right in the middle of everything else — and you know how wobbly immersion blenders can be.

I bet you’re starting to get a feel for what transpired.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Croutons and Crispy Fried Onions

About 5 minutes into the recipe, I noticed my onions and spices starting to burn. I was using an old stock pot wherein everything burns immediately, so I half-knew this was going to happen. I was ready, though! All I needed to do was grab my chicken stock and dump it into the pot —

— except that when I went to grab it, I knocked the immersion blender and sent it crashing to the floor. And the immersion blender, being right in the center of everything, took the glass bottle of chile oil and a huge can of pumpkin down with it. Shattered glass exploded clear across the kitchen, carrying a payload of bright red chile oil and bright orange pumpkin.

At this point, my onions still burning in my pot on the stove, it was time for triage. Could the soup be saved? If it had just been me in the kitchen, the answer would certainly have been no. Thankfully, Mike rushed to the rescue, cleaning up debris as I dumped stock in the soup pot and opened a new can of pumpkin. I decided to try and salvage supper as best I could.

That makes me sound like a trooper, doesn’t it? Super (souper?) calm and composed, right? So maybe I should add that I had finally stopped screaming but was still a crying mess, stepping in glass and oil, and generally wallowing in a why-me style kitchen rant.

By the time the soup was almost finished, I was almost calm. Then I opened the fridge to grab the salads and, in doing so, dumped an entire container of blue cheese across the floor. THAT’S RIGHT. THE BRIGHT RED-ORANGE STAINED GLASS SUNRISE PAINTED ACROSS MY KITCHEN FLOOR WAS NOT ENOUGH. I HAD TO DUMP BLUE CHEESE ALL OVER IT.

I’m sure you won’t blame me for what I did next. I fled the scene. I hid in my bed for the next 15 minutes or so with the covers over my head while, again, superhero husband cleaned up the mess. I’m sure he secretly wished I’d given up on dinner.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Croutons and Crispy Fried Onions

Happily, though, that was our last mishap and dinner itself was amazing. The soup was worth the disastrous process: rich, hearty, and topped with lots of crunchy, spicy toppings. We liked it so much that we bought a nice new Dutch oven and repeated the recipe — with a carefully cleared out kitchen — and found that, as I suspected, it was actually quite simple. If you avoided a klutzy meltdown, that is. To help with this, I’ve included instructions in the recipe for how to prepare your mise-en-place (“putting in place,” or your setup of ingredients) before you begin.

One year ago: Broiled Southern Pimiento Cheese
Two years ago: Fresh Open-Faced California Sandwich
Three years ago: Deconstructed Margherita Pizza Bites
Four years ago: Gâteau aux Noix

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Croutons and Crispy Fried Onions

Recipe by: Adapted from A Spicy Perspective
Yield: 6-8 servings

This quick, easy weeknight dinner will warm and fill you right up! The toppings make the soup so satisfying and delicious. The croutons, especially, will be your new favorite little recipe. I’ve included a simple mise-en-place setup to make this recipe a cinch for you!

Crouton Ingredients:
12 slices of a small (~3 inch diameter, ~1/2-inch slices) sourdough baguette, cubed
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt

Soup Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
8 cups chicken stock
1 (29-ounce) can pure pumpkin purée
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds; for topping)
1 cup french fried onions (like French’s; for topping)
Hot chile oil (for topping)

Directions:
Prepare your mise-en-place:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and cover 2 baking sheets with foil.

Prepare a paper towel lined plate for draining the croutons when they’re done.

Melt the butter for croutons and mix in garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, and salt.

Put olive oil into a Dutch oven or heavy stockpot on the stove.

Put chopped onion, garlic, and jalapeño into medium prep bowl.

Put cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and salt into small prep bowl.

Open cans/packages of stock and pumpkin.

In a small prep bowl, mash together softened butter and flour (this is called a beurre manié and is used to thicken soups)

Put red wine vinegar and honey into two small prep bowls

Prepare a dish with pepitas and fried onions and set this with the bottle of chile oil on the dinner table.

Once mise-en-place is prepared, this soup is super (souper?) easy to prepare. First, make the croutons. Pour the butter and garlic powder mixture over the bread cubes and toss them to coat. Spread the bread cubes out on the baking sheets in a single layer, making sure they don’t touch. Bake for around 20 minutes, flipping occasionally. Allow the croutons to cool on a paper-towel lined plate.

Make the soup. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeño into the pot and cook for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add cumin spice mixture and cook for another 1 minute or so. Add stock, pumpkin, and beurre manié to the pot and stir to mix. Heat this to boiling before turning it down to a simmer. Simmer for around 20 minutes. Add red wine vinegar and honey and simmer for 3-5 more minutes. Use an immersion blender (or a regular blender covered with a dish towel — if you do this, blend in small batches, opening the blender vent and being careful of the hot liquid) to purée the soup.

Serve the soup topped with crunchy fried onions, pumpkin seeds, croutons, and a drizzle of chile oil.

November 10, 2013 by Julie Ruble | 15 Comments

cakes

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

I don’t feel much like telling a story today. It’s dark outside way too early, colder than it should be, and altogether dreary. I do feel like listening to a story, though, or several. Get your Snuggie (you do own a Snuggie, right?! Doesn’t everyone?) and some hot tea and let’s share some of our favorite memories.

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

One of mine is when my mom offered to buy me any patchwork bear I chose at the Southern Christmas Show one year. I picked a cream and pink one and I believe I still have it under my bed somewhere.

Another is when a kind lady held my hand as our plane took off when I was 8 and going to the Bahamas with my family. She didn’t know me from Eve, but she knew I was terrified to fly and made it her business to comfort me.

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

One that always makes me smile is the memory of driving home from Carolina Poodle Rescue with Byrd sleeping on my lap, wondering what she was like and how we’d get along. Do you know for about the first 3 months after I got her, I felt unsure about my decision to get a dog? Looking back, I don’t know why (except that very characteristic sense of worry I always have) and I can’t quite believe I was so nervous. She’s certainly one of the best things to ever happen to me.

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

One last one is actually a recurring memory. One of my favorite times in my classroom over the past few years is choice project time, when my students propose their own project to convey their understanding of changes in the novel, Flowers for Algernon. During those workdays, my classroom was filled with kids planning, playing guitar, sculpting, composing piano pieces, filming, writing, and painting. We always ended up marveling over the creativity and sheer variety of the finished products at the end. I can’t wait to see how my current students will tackle the challenge.

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

What are your favorite memories? Share a few with me and let’s brighten up the dark evenings, shall we?

In the meantime, here’s a really fun — and really easy — cake to bake up. If you love pumpkin and you love tres leches cake, you’ll love this combination. A pumpkin sheet cake soaks up a delicious three milks mixture before being topped with my favorite fluffy whipped icing.

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

One year ago: Broiled Southern Pimiento Cheese
Two years ago: Quick Dinner: Garlicky Peanut Noodles with Crunchy Vegetables
Three years ago: How to Make 27+ Cheesecakes and Look Awesome While Doing It
Four years ago: Barefoot Contessa’s Carrot Pineapple Cake

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking using a pumpkin sheet cake recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Yield: 20 servings

A pumpkin spice sheet cake meets a tres leches cake! The whipped icing on this delicious, custardy cake is one of the best parts.

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Tres Leches Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1/2 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

Whipped Icing Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup milk
7 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 7/8 cups granulated sugar (not powdered sugar; note: 1/8 cup = 2 tablespoons)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 15-inch x 10-inch x 1-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together sugar, pumpkin, oil, and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Gradually whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack (keep in the pan). Poke holes in the cake with the back of a wooden spoon.

In a medium bowl, whisk together whole milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk. Pour this mixture over the cooled cake. Chill the cake overnight.

To make the frosting, heat the milk, flour, and granulated sugar together over medium heat, whisking constantly. Once it starts to boil, continue whisking and heating it for around 7 minutes or until it’s very thick, like cake batter consistency. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Remove the mixture to a shallow pan and let the mixture cool completely (after a bit, I stuck mine in the fridge to hurry it along). Once the mixture is cool, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until soft and fluffy. Add the completely cooled mixture and beat on high until you have fluffy frosting the consistency of stiff whipped cream. Frost your chilled cake.

November 3, 2013 by Julie Ruble | 44 Comments

cakes

Chocolate Poke Cake with Whipped Coconut Icing

Chocolate Poke Cake with Whipped Coconut Icing

Cooking is very enjoyable to me, obviously, but when I started out, it felt like I was all thumbs in the kitchen. Recipes took hours longer than they seemed to take other people and I always ended up with a huge mess. So I completely understand why some people hate to cook – or want to like to cook but get turned off quickly.

Periodically I share insights for making cooking more enjoyable, and I thought I’d do that today. Cooking for my tiny family (just me and Mike) has seemed exponentially harder than cooking for just myself, but I’ve found some tips that make it satisfying and manageable.

Tips for Cooking Smarter & Simpler

Prep your kitchen in general:

1. Rearrange your kitchen. This is killing me right now, because my new apartment’s kitchen layout is cramped and not working for us! But I know what we need to do because I’ve done it in many apartment kitchens before this one. One weekend, rearrange your stuff! Put the items you use most in the front of your cabinets without any stacking. The items you use least can be stacked in the back or even in a storage closet. Clean out your fridge and freezer. Try to keep counters clear by hanging up pans, buying a utensil jar, and putting away infrequently used appliances. Create extra workspace with an over-the-sink cutting board or a portable island. If money permits, visit the store and get the shelving, cabinet and drawer organizers, and caddies that you need to make your space really functional for the recipes you want to start making.

The goal here is simple: it should feel fun and relatively easy to use the space in your kitchen. I’ve found places like Ikea and The Container Store help me to “think outside the box” when it comes to arranging my (limited!) space.

Chocolate Poke Cake with Whipped Coconut Icing

When you’re ready to cook:

2. Start with clear counters and a relatively empty dishwasher. It takes a couple of minutes to clear your counters, wipe them down, and empty the dishwasher before cooking, and you may be anxious to just dive in to your recipe. I understand that. But I also understand how discouraging it can be to realize your sink is filled to the brim and there’s nowhere to set your hot tray of cookies midway through your process.

Starting with clear counters means you have lots of tidy workspace. Starting with an empty dishwasher means that as you use each dish, you can toss it in. By the end of your recipe, your dish duty (and your blood pressure) will be manageable. It feels better to work when you have space to do it in.

3. Ferme your bouche and mise your place! (Apologies to France.) “Mise-en-place” is something I’ve harped on before. It’s a French phrase that just means prepping your ingredients and equipment before beginning to cook. Again, you may be excited to dive into cooking. Measuring out all your ingredients into prep bowls and getting out your pans may feel like an unnecessary hassle, but I bet you’ll be surprised at how easy-breezy cooking becomes when you do it!

First, mise-en-place requires you to read the full recipe before you begin, which has saved me many a time from getting halfway through a recipe and realizing I’m out of eggs. Reading the entire recipe also allows me space to visualize each step.

Secondly, mise-en-place separates cooking into two parts: the cathartic, mindless “idiot work” of chopping, measuring, prepping — and the action! This means I can relax through the prep and then confidently tackle the action because I know everything I need is right at hand. There’s never the stressful, rushed confusion that turns so many people off of cooking. Plenty of recipes would’ve burned if I hadn’t had my mise-en-place prepared. So invest in a set of prep bowls (I like ones like this) and give it a try.

4. The journey is the destination. Don’t make getting the product on the table your ultimate goal, if you can help it. Shoot for making the process peaceful and satisfying instead. Pour a glass of wine (or for me, Coke Zero), put on some music you love, tug on your favorite Kiss the Cook! apron, and enjoy yourself. Try to detach yourself from time pressures and the worries of your day. Be mindful about each thing you do — feel the food you’re working with, listen to the sound of the chopping and sizzling, smell the garlic or cinnamon (hopefully not both at once. Don’t get crazy.) The food will be a treat for someone else later — but for now, let the process be a treat for you.

* * *
Chocolate Poke Cake with Whipped Coconut Icing

Over and over again, I’ve said, “I know you want to dive in, but wait!” Well finally, at the very end of this post, here’s one thing you can just dive into: a piece of this amazing cake! It’s absolutely incredible, y’all. Rich, moist Texas Sheet Cake gets aerated and doused with chocolate glaze before being topped with the fluffiest, most surprising coconut whipped icing you’ve ever tried! This whipped icing, especially, is a new treasure for me, and you can bet I’m going to be slathering it on everything.

This cake is also great because it’s special but perfect for a beginning cook. The recipe has several steps, but each one is very manageable. It’s the perfect time to try out the techniques listed above! And you’ll be so richly rewarded.

One year ago: “Magic” Chocolate, Coconut, and Pecan Pastry Braid
Two years ago: One-Skillet Gooey Pumpkin Cookie Cake
Three years ago: Homemade Hot Chocolate & Marshmallows
Four years ago: French Macarons

Chocolate Poke Cake with Whipped Coconut Icing

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking with icing adapted from Missy Dew on Tasty Kitchen
Yield: 9 servings

Simply: one of the best cakes ever. A Texas Sheet Cake doused with chocolate glaze and topped with fluffy whipped coconut icing. You won’t believe the taste.

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
dash salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sauce Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cocoa
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Whipped Coconut Icing Ingredients:
1 cup milk
5 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup coconut plus more for topping

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with a parchment paper sling (I cut two 9-inch wide sheets that are longer than the pan so they’ll hang over the edges a bit, making it easy to pull the cake out later. I then lay them in the pan, one horizontal and the other vertical). Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt together and set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring the butter, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove it from the heat and whisk in into the dry ingredients well. Mix in the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Pour into your prepared baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.

Poke holes in the cake with the back of a wooden spoon. While the cake starts to cool, make the sauce. In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, cocoa, and milk to a boil. Remove them from the heat and add the icing sugar and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over the warm cake and let it sit to soak up the chocolate sauce and cool completely.

To make the frosting, heat the milk, flour, and granulated sugar together over medium heat, whisking constantly. Once it starts to boil, continue whisking and heating it for around 7 minutes or until it’s very thick, like cake batter consistency. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Remove the mixture to a shallow pan and let the mixture cool completely (after a bit, I stuck mine in the fridge to hurry it along). Once the mixture is cool, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until soft and fluffy. Add the completely cooled mixture and beat on high until you have fluffy frosting the consistency of stiff whipped cream. Mix in the coconut. Frost your completely cooled cake with a thick layer. Sprinkle more coconut on top.

October 28, 2013 by Julie Ruble | 30 Comments

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Quick Weeknight Dinner: Iceberg Wedge Salads with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

Iceberg Wedge Salads with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

Our “special occasion” meals at my parents’ house always start with these crisp, cold Iceberg Wedge Salads with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing made by my mom. She chops and preps each salad before hand, placing each serving on its own plate covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. Just before dinner, she uncovers them and spoons on her homemade blue cheese dressing and sprinkles on crumbled bacon and green onions or chives.

Iceberg Wedge Salads with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

I love digging into mine with a fork and a serrated knife, listening for the sharp crunch of the lettuce under my utensils. The salad is perfect as an appetizer for this reason — all the sensory details excite you about the meal to come. But Mike and I recently had these salads as a side dish for heavy, warm Sausage and Thyme Stuffed Mushrooms and they were the perfect balance.

Iceberg Wedge Salads with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

The dressing is my favorite part because unlike recipes that have that tangy, vinegary flavor, this dressing is all cream all the way. It’s thick and indulgent like a steakhouse blue cheese dressing. Next time I’ll whip up a double batch so we can have these salads before our meal all week!

One year ago: “Magic” Chocolate, Coconut, and Pecan Pastry Braid
Two years ago: Naked Vegan Tacos with Corn Relish and Cilantro-Lime Slaw
Three years ago: Handmade Cheese Ravioli in Meaty Red Sauce
Four years ago: French Macarons

Iceberg Wedge Salads with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

Recipe by: Adapted from Southern Living
Yield: 3-4 salads depending on wedge size

These wedges are so crisp, cool, and refreshing as an appetizer or side dish (or even as a main dish with some grilled chicken on top!) It’s important to make this dressing in advance and let the flavors meld in the fridge overnight; it makes a huge difference in the finished product.

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s)
1 cup sour cream
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 head Iceberg lettuce, rinsed, cold, cut 6 wedges
12 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chives or green onions, chopped

Directions:
Mix first 6 ingredients for dressing and chill the day before serving. Put wedge onto plate, top with dressing, sprinkle with mixture of bacon, parmesan and chives (mixed together).