Monthly Cooking Adventure: Gateau chocolat blanc et cerise (White Chocolate and Cherry Cake)

If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy: Pez. Cherry flavored Pez. -- Stand By Me.

Sorry for the extended silence but there have been many changes chez nous. In short ... we moved! Goodbye Lincoln Center and hello Washington Heights! This is a total change of area, apartment, (kitchen!) and commute but, while we now spend a bit longer on our subway rides, the changes are definitely for the best.

So after taking a few days to organize my "perfect" kitchen (using help from various sources), we invited some friends over and turned June's Monthly Cooking Adventure (just a few days late) into a 4th of July Housewarming Party. And how did I break in the new kitchen, you ask? By going off-diet and making a wonderful Gateau chocolat blanc et cerise (White Chocolate and Cherry Cake), Poivrons rouges farcis aux carottes (Red Peppers Stuffed with Carrots) and Corn and Edamame Salad with Mint. (Links are to recipes I adapted.)

**A note about the cake: This was my first time working with white chocolate (and I'm already not much of a baker) so I learned a lot along the way. The biggest issue was that I used too much butter (since white chocolate already has such a high butterfat content) so I ended up pouring off excess oil after the cake was cooked. I've adjusted the ingredient amounts below to reflect what I believe will work but, if you make it, use your best judgment and let us know how it turned out! Also, while my inspirational recipe (from Chocolate & Zucchini) didn't include one, I've added an (optional) crumble topping. This cut the sweetness nicely and also provided a texture contrast. I highly recommend this with vanilla ice cream. Bon appetit!

Gateau chocolat blanc et cerise
inspired by Chocolate & Zucchini

• 1/4 pound unsalted butter (1 stick) + additional to grease pan
• 8 ounces white chocolate
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4/5 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups cherries, pitted and chopped
• 1/3 cup pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon French sea salt
• 1/3 cup nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachio nuts and/or walnuts), toasted

Start your preparations: Preheat oven to 325 F and butter a 10-inch springform pan.

Microwave white chocolate and butter together for 1 minute, then stir until well-combined.

Add sugar and stir with a wooden spoon. Let rest 5 minutes. Add cream a little at a time, stirring after each addition. Mash cherries, then add to the batter. Sift in flour and salt and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into pan and bake 45 minutes. Turn off oven and leave cake in there to rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely, unclasping sides of the pan. Sprinkle top with nuts. Once it's room temperature, transfer to refrigerator and let chill several hours (at least 4). Enjoy!

Edible Inspirations:

• Moelleux chocolat et framboises from Histoire sans faim
• Chocolate-Raspberry Layer Cake from Bon Appetit Magazine
• Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream from Evil Shenanigans
• Mini Black Raspberry & White Chocolate Crepe Cakes from Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free
• Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Ice Cream from Cherry Tea Cakes

Blueberry Oat Muffins

I have a confession to make: I'm on a muffin binge lately. And, since I don't know how to make muffins without bananas in them (they bind the muffins and add natural sweetness -- what's not to like?) I guess I'm on a banana binge too. See, it's a vicious cycle, really -- I buy bananas, then have some left over, so I make muffins but I don't have enough so I buy more bananas and, since I always buy them in bunches, a few days later, I have more brown bananas so I make more muffins ... you get the picture. And, while I could buy single bananas or just eat them raw before they turn brown, that really doesn't interest me as much as making all kinds of muffins.

I must admit, though, that, so far, these are my favorite. I used only one banana so you can't taste it at all. I also used sweet potato puree and that, mixed with various warm and wintry spices (cinnamon, allspice and brown sugar to name a few) and just a bit of butter makes these deliciously reminiscent of sweet potato pie. But with blueberries as well. Really, what's not to like? Enjoy these with some sparkling wine and ginger almonds. Bon appetit!

Blueberry Oat Muffins
inspired by Snack Girl

• 1 banana, mashed
• 1 15-ounce can, sweet potato puree
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (I recommend Grade B)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 cups oat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger, ground
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, mix together mashed banana, sweet potato, maple syrup, vanilla extract and melted butter. In a medium-sized bowl, combine oat flour, allspice, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Add mixture in two stages to the larger bowl, stirring until just-combined (you don't want to overwork the batter; just stir until there are no streaks of flour). Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin pan (use removable liners for easy clean-up) 3/4 way with batter. Bake 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 muffins.

Links to other banana cinnamon delicacies:

• Cinnamon Banana Bread from One Touch Weather
• Cinnamon Pancakes with Nutella, Banana & Pecans from Channel Ten
• Banana Donuts with Cinnamon and Sugar Coating from Whatcha Makin' Now?
• Warm Banana and Maple Syrup Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream from Fabulicious Food
• Banana Cinnamon Bread from Madison Makes

Not Box Muffins

I'm not a baker. See, when I'm cooking, I like allowing myself to just be seized by the moment and, while reaching for the allspice, allow my gaze to travel down to the vanilla and think ... maybe I'll throw that in too! And I can't experiment like that with baking. Oh, sure, I can play around with spices but it's when I start getting really adventurous and swap out eggs or add in buttermilk that things can get dicey. Because, when I'm baking, I have to keep track of the ratios of solids to liquids and acids to bases and, well, I never took chemistry for a reason!

But, somehow, all those insecurities go out the window when I make muffins. For some reason, I can't mess them up. (Oh, look, now I've gone and jinxed myself. Silly omnivore.) Seriously, though, as long as I have a leavening agent(s), I'm good. And whether they rise a lot or a little -- it's fine. As long as they're cooked through and over the top of the muffin pan, I'm happy.

These muffins are very much made from scratch. So much so that, while they were in the oven I kept turning on the light to check and make sure they were ok! The primary impetus was two bananas left over from my frappe that were turning dangerously brown and splotchy. But I didn't want them to taste terribly bananaey (especially since the vegetarian doesn't much care for their taste) and I wanted a little kick so some chile peppers went in as well, along with buttermilk, allspice, vanilla and, to round everything out, Armagnac. They're not quite savory but also not quite sweet. In fact they taste to me like mild banana muffins but with a little unexpected kick at the end. Perfect to wake you up in the morning or the afternoon. Enjoy with ginger almonds and a glass of Armagnac. Or buttermilk, depending on your preference. Bon appetit!

Not-Box Muffins
inspired by Food.com

• 8 tablespoons butter
• seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 4 jalapeno peppers, seeds and white membranes removed, grated
• 3 bananas, the riper the better
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon Armagnac
• 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice, ground
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick oats

Melt butter (easiest in a microwave) and stir in vanilla seeds. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas and jalapeno peppers together with a potato masher until well-combined. Add sugar (microwave briefly if hard and lumpy) and buttermilk. Stir in butter and vanilla seeds and Armagnac. In a medium-sized bowl, combine allspice, baking powder, flour and oats. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just combined. Butter muffin pan or fill with muffin liners. Fill at least 3/4 way (they won't rise much so it's fine if you fill them higher). Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a chopstick inserted into the biggest muffin comes out clean. Let rest 2 minutes, then enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Links to other banana delicacies:

• Bananas Foster Shortcakes from Inspired Taste
• Banana Nutella Pops from The eMeals Blog
• Chocolate Yogurt Puddings with Strawberries, Bananas and Cocoa Nibs from The Teacup Chronicles
• Butterscotch Pudding with Caramelized Bananas and Cream from Joy the Baker
• Banana Blast from Redman Family Favorites