Pear Ginger Raisin Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger powder
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 medium ripe pear (such as Anjou or Bartlett), roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (3/4 stick), at room temperature
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger root
• 1 cup plain yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ground ginger powder in a large mixing bowl. Toss in raisins and diced pear.

3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in eggs and ginger root.

4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until just combined.

5. Carefully fold in yogurt.

6. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins, about 3/4 full.

7. Bake until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8. Allow muffins to cool a few minutes before serving.

Yield: 10 muffins (1 muffin per serving)

(via Apartment Therapy: The Kitchen)

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

• 2 1/4 cups sifted, unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground dried ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, then cooled to room temperature
• 3/4 cup light unsulphured molasses
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• Orange Sauce for Gingerbread (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and cocoa in medium bowl.

3. Beat butter, molasses, sugar, buttermilk, milk, and egg in large bowl of an electric mixer on low speed.

4. Add dry ingredients to liquid; beat on medium speed until batter is smooth and thick, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Do not overmix. (If using the fresh ginger, batter will be lumpy.)

5. Working quickly, pour batter into nonstick 11-by-7-by-1 1/2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and smooth surface. (If you do not have a nonstick baking pan, then use no-stick cooking spray or solid vegetable shortening to grease pan sides and bottom, then dust with flour.)

6. Bake until top springs back when lightly touched, and edges have pulled away from the pan sides, about 35 to 45 minutes.

7. Set pan on wire cake rack and let cool 5 to 10 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. (Gingerbread can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil, and refrigerated up to 5 days.)

For stronger ginger flavor, replace the dried ginger with three tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger root and three tablespoons minced crystallized ginger.

Yield: 8 servings

from Cooks Illustrated

Oven-Baked Salmon With Herbs

• 1 salmon fillet - about a pound
• 2-4 T fresh herbs, chopped (thyme or dill is nice, but anything you like is probably good)
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1/2 t salt (a bit more if kosher, or if fish is skinned)
• 1 teaspoon oil, if that - you just need a very thin film

Drape the filet over something convex like a bowl to pick out any bones- they stick right out when you position this fish this way.

1. Heat the oven to 200 F. (not a typo)

2. Chop up the herb, and mix it with the salt and pepper. I happen to have lemon thyme in my garden, and it is my favorite for fish, but regular thyme or any herb you like works fine - even parsley. If you want to use more, that's fine, and sometimes I mix in a a tablespoon or so of sesame seeds.

2. Smear the oil on an oven-proof serving platter, and put the fish on top. If the filet is skinned, put some salt and pepper on both sides, otherwise just put the fish skin side down and season the top. I usually run my oily hand from the platter-smearing over the fish so the seasoning will stick a bit better.

3. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until salmon flakes.

Nutritional Information: Figuring three servings per pound, each has zero carbs, 30 grams of protein, and 230 calories.

from About.com

Chocolate Gingerbread

This is very rich, very strong: not for children, but perfect for the rest of us.

FOR THE CAKE

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
• 3/4 cup golden syrup or light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup black treacle or molasses
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 6 oz package or 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

FOR THE FROSTING

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 cup ginger ale

Preheat the oven to 325F and tear off a big piece of parchment paper to line the bottom and sides of a roasting pan of approximately 12 x 8 x 2 inches deep.

In a decent-sized saucepan, melt the butter along with the sugars, golden syrup, treacle or molasses, cloves, cinnamon and ground ginger. In a cup dissolve the baking soda in the water. Take the saucepan off the heat and beat in the eggs, milk and soda in its water. Stir in the flour and cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon to mix. Fold in the chocolate chips, pour into the lined pan and bake for about 45 minutes until risen and firm. It will be slightly damp underneath the set top and that's the way you want it.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool in the pan. Once cool, get on with the frosting.

Sift the confectioners' sugar. In a heavy-based saucepan heat the butter, cocoa and ginger ale. Once the butter's melted, whisk in the confectioners' sugar. Lift the chocolate gingerbread out of the pan and unwrap the paper. Pour over the frosting just to cover the top and cut into fat slabs when set.

Makes about 12 slabs.

See the stockists page for suppliers of golden syrup, liquid amber in glorious culinary form that once you've tried, you're hooked on.

from Nigella Lawson

Lemon Pudding Cakes

ACTIVE TIME: 20 MIN

TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 15 MIN

SERVES: 6

The Good News: These pillowy, vitamin C-packed cakelets are adapted from The Greyston Bakery Cookbook. "When you overwhelm dry ingredients with wet ones, an amazing texture separation happens," Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan says. "These cakes are rich without being too heavy."

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup skim milk
• 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Fresh raspberries or blackberries, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray six 6-ounce ramekins with vegetable oil spray. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar with the flour. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the butter until well blended. Whisk in the milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Pour the lemon mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until firm peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins and transfer them to a small roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and pour in enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

3. Bake the pudding cakes for 35 minutes or until they are puffy and golden on top. Using tongs, transfer the ramekins to a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Serve the cakes in the ramekins or run a knife around the edge of each cake and unmold onto plates. Serve warm or at room temperature with the berries.

MAKE AHEAD: The lemon pudding cakes can be refrigerated for 2 days.

One Serving 170 cal, 6 gm fat, 2.9 gm sat fat, 27 gm carb, 0.2 gm fiber.

from Food & Wine

Phyllo Napoleons with Blackberry Sauce and Vanilla Cream

• 12 ounces frozen or fresh blackberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons Kirsch
• 1 recipe Pastry Cream
• 5 sheets phyllo dough
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 cup sugar

Combine the blackberries, sugar, Kirsch and lemon zest and leave in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Puree half the blackberries in a food processor and mix with the whole berries.

Heat the oven to 400ºF and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment. Melt the butter and whisk with the cardamom. Brush a sheet of phyllo dough with the butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Repeat until all sheets are used. Cut the sheets into 12 equal squares. Bake for about 7 minutes or until browned and crispy. Let cool.

To assemble the dessert, spoon pastry cream on a square and drizzle blackberry sauce over top. Put another square on top and layer with pastry cream and sauce. Top with a third square and finish with whole blackberries and cream.

4 servings

from Apartment Therapy: The Kitchen

Shortcakes for Strawberries and Other Fruit

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 mashed hard-cooked large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly butter a baking sheet.

Sift the flour, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and the baking powder into a bowl. Add the butter pieces. Using your fingertips, work the butter quickly and lightly into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of very fine crumbs or sand. Add the cream and egg yolks and stir with a fork until the dough just holds together.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead briefly, just until it forms a smooth dough. Do not overwork. Pat or roll out the dough to a thickness of 3/4 inch. Using a floured 2 1/2- or 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 4 rounds of dough. Gather up dough scraps, reroll, and cut out 2 more rounds.

Put the rounds on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and firm to the touch.

Transfer the biscuits to a rack and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before splitting and serving with berries and fresh whipped cream.

This recipe comes from the An American Place cookbook by Larry Forgione. It is my favorite recipe for biscuits to have with strawberry (or any berry or fruit) shortcake. The biscuits are best day of but are ok the next day too. Day three, not so much. I suppose you could try freezing them, but leaving them out, they just turned too mushy.

from Megnut

Orange and Almond Oatmeal Cookies

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened but still firm
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons minced orange zest
• 1 cup toasted chopped almonds

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Remove orange zest with peeler, being careful to leave behind any white pith. Toast almonds in 350-degree oven for 5 minutes and chop. Stir in oats, almonds, and orange zest.

3. Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper-covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown but the rest of the cookie should still be very light in color. Parchment makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but it's not a necessity. If you don't use parchment, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Makes 16 to 20 large cookies.

Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies

• 5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into quarters
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Fold two 12-inch pieces of foil lengthwise so that they measure 7 inches wide. Fit one sheet in bottom of greased pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; overhang will help in removal of baked brownies. Fit second sheet in pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, melt chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth. Whisk in cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture; then stir in flour with wooden spoon until just combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan, spread into corners, and level surface with rubber spatula; bake until slightly puffed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan using foil handles. Cut into 1-inch squares and serve. (Do not cut brownies until ready to serve; brownies can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated up to 5 days.)

Makes 64 1-inch brownie servings

Apple Upside-Down Gingerbread

• 2 1/4 cups sifted, unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground dried ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, then cooled to room temperature
• 3/4 cup light unsulphured molasses
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 3 tart baking apples (Granny Smith or Jonathan)

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and cocoa in medium bowl.

3. Beat butter, molasses, sugar, buttermilk, milk, and egg in large bowl of an electric mixer on low speed.

4. Add dry ingredients to liquid; beat on medium speed until batter is smooth and thick, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Do not overmix. (If using the fresh ginger, batter will be lumpy.)

5. For the apple topping: Grease sides of 11-by-7-by-1 1/2-inch metal pan. Pour 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter into pan; spread 3/4 cup light brown sugar evenly over pan bottom. Peel, halve, core, and slice thin three tart baking apples (Granny Smith or Jonathan). Arrange slices, overlapping slightly upon brown sugar mixture.

6. Working quickly, pour batter over apples.

7. Bake until top springs back when lightly touched, and edges have pulled away from the pan sides, about 50 to 60 minutes.

7. Set pan on wire cake rack and let cool 5 minutes. Invert onto serving plate, cut into squares, and serve. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. (Gingerbread can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil, and refrigerated up to 5 days.)

For stronger ginger flavor, replace the dried ginger with three tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger root and three tablespoons minced crystallized ginger.

8 servings

Big Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened but still firm
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and optional raisins.

3. Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper-covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown but the rest of the cookie should still be very light in color. Parchment makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but it's not a necessity. If you don't use parchment, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Makes 16 to 20 large cookies.

Golden Northern Cornbread

• 1 cup yellow or white stone-ground or water-ground cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra softened butter for greasing pan

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat to 425 degrees. Grease a 9-by-9-by-2-inch metal pan.

2. Stir cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Push dry ingredients up side of bowl to make a well.

3. Crack eggs into well and stir lightly with wooden spoon, then add buttermilk and milk. Stir wet and dry ingredients quickly until almost combined. Add melted butter; stir until ingredients are just combined.

4. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake until top is golden brown and lightly cracked and edges have pulled away from side of pan, about 25 minutes.

5. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Cut cornbread into squares and serve warm. (Pan can be wrapped in foil up to 1 day. Reheat cornbread in a 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.)

variation: Omit sugar. After adding butter, quickly fold in 1 cup (2 1/2 ounces) shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese.

9 servings