Baking With Tundra

Baking With Tundra

It’s obvious we’re a bit obsessed with food service – we strive to bring you products, service and knowledge that will better serve your restaurant, bakery and café. We thought we might try to inspire your culinary senses with these fun, fresh summer recipes!

Peach Cupcakes w/ Peach Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 24 cupcakes

Peach Cake Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1.75 oz freeze dried peaches, pulverized in a mini food processor
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup pureed fresh peach
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners.

2.    Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large measuring cup or bowl, mix together buttermilk, peach puree and vanilla extract. Set aside until needed.

3.    Using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl until pale, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in pulverized peaches.

4.    Mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of buttermilk mixture. Mix until just combined, scraping down bowl as needed. (I like to mix the last bit by hand using a spatula to make sure I get all the stuff at the bottom.) Scoop batter into cupcake tins.

5.    Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 21 to 24 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool in tins for 10 minutes, and then remove cupcakes and place them on a cooling rack.

Peach Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup of butter, softened
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
1.75 oz freeze dried peaches, pulverized in a mini food processor
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-5 cups of confectioner’s sugar

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, mix butter until it is softened and uniform. Add cream cheese and beat together until it is uniform. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add pulverized peaches and mix. Add 3 cups of sugar to the mixture and mix. Add more sugar if necessary. Mix again until mixture is creamy and spreadable. Add more sugar if necessary, otherwise prepare to frost cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Unique Technique

Makes about 3 dozen, 3-inch cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup packed dark grown sugar, preferably molasses sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Directions:
1.    Position racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.    Sift flour and baking soda into a medium bowl.  Stir in the salt.

3.    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat half the butter (1 stick) on medium speed until fairly smooth.  Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for a few minutes until mixture is light and creamy.  Scrape down sides of the bowl.  Add eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary.  Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine.  Mix in chocolate.

4.    Remove bowl from mixer and fold dough with a spatula to be sure the chocolate is evenly incorporated. The dough or shaped cookies can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 5 days or frozen for 2 weeks.  Freeze shaped cookies on the baking sheets until firm, then transfer to freezer containers.  (Defrost frozen cookies overnight in the refrigerator before baking.)

5.    Using about 2 level tablespoons per cookie, shape dough into balls.  Arrange 8 cookies on each pan, leaving about 2 inches between, because the dough will spread.  Bake for 12 minutes, or until the tops are not longer shiny, switching the position and rotating pans halfway through baking.  (I just baked pans one at a time in the middle of the oven.)

6.    Cool cookies on the pans on cooling racks for about 2 minutes to firm up a bit, and then transfer to the racks to cool completely.  Repeat with second batch of cookies.  (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.)

Chocolate Banana Cake

Makes one 9 X 5 inch loaf or a 9 inch round

Cake Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)|
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:

1.    Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350.  Grease bottom and sides of 9 X 5 inch loaf pan or 9 inch round pan.

2.    Sift together flour, coca powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.  Set aside.

3.    In the bowl of an electric mixer, using paddle attachment beat butter at medium speed until creamy, about 1 minutes.  Gradually beat in the sugar and beat at high until well blended, about 2 minutes.  At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and mix at low speed until blended.  Add the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating it with the sour cream in two additions.  Remove bowl from the mixer stand and stir in the chopped chocolate.  Scrap batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with spatula.

4.    Bake cake for 55 to 65 minutes (loaf pan) or 45 to 50 minutes (round pan), until a cake tester into the center comes out clean (except for any melted chocolate.)

5.    Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

6.    Unmold cake onto the rack, turn right side up and cool completely.