30 Before 30: Stuffed French Toast (#10)

One of my subgoals for this challenge was to try to not modify the recipes. It's something my mom and I do that drove my chef dad crazy. “You've never done it before, how can you change it?” (this from the guy that would cover all of his food in pepper before tasting it. Ha!). Well, as I've noted, doing a recipe perfectly from a cookbook, especially when you're doing many of them in a short period of time, is difficult. You're not always going to have everything you need in the house, but you might be really close. And it's early. And you're hungry. So modify.

This is from my Alice Bay Cookbook and has lots of recipes out of the Skagit Valley in Northern Washington. I had to change some things. Like some big things. There are no walnuts in my version and I subbed in strawberry preserves for the apricot ones. I'm definitely missing the textural contrast of the nuts, but this is a really tasty breakfast regardless.

Stuffed French Toast modified from Walnut French Toast via Alice Bay Cookbook:

Makes 5-6 portions

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

½ c. walnuts, chopped

16-oz. loaf French bread

1 c. whipping cream

½ tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

12-oz. jar apricot preserves

½ c. orange juice

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy. Stir in nuts. Don't feel bad if you don't have them.

Cut bread into 10-12 slices about 1½ inches thick. Cut a pocket in each bread by slicing from the top halfway to the bottom. Fill pockets with cream cheese.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, cream, ½ teaspoon of vanilla, and nutmeg. Use tongs to dip “sandwiches” into egg mixture. Cook on a lightly greased griddle or skillet over medium heat until brown on both sides. Keep warm in oven.

In a small saucepan, heat preserves and orange juice. Drizzle on top of French toast and serve on warmed plates.

I think no matter the fruit you use, this is going to taste fantastically delicious and decadent.

Recipes Complete: 10

Recipes to Go: 20 

(Almost) Perfect Strawberry Jam

Ever have a recipe that doesn’t seem like it’s working out and then it mostly does? This is one of those recipes. By Lucy Baker (of The Boozy Baker that has shown up here and here in the blog), it was cooking strangely and ended up ½ pint short of the yield, causing me to waste a lid. And then it was opened and super delicious and it spreads really well. Yeah. Almost perfect.

(Almost) Perfect Strawberry Jam from Perfect Strawberry Jam via Serious Eats:

Yields 4 ½ pints

1½ c. sugar

2½ tsp. Pomona's Universal Pectin

4 c. coarsely chopped strawberries (from about 2 farm stand quarts)

1 Tb. freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tsp. calcium water (included in the Pomona's packet)

¼ tsp. unsalted butter

1 c. honey

Whisk the sugar and pectin a medium bowl and set aside.

Combine the strawberries, lemon juice, calcium water, and butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the honey and the sugar-pectin mixture and return the fruit mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for one minute. This takes a little longer than you might think, hence by comment about cooking strangely.

Remove pot from heat and skim any foam from surface of jam with cold metal spoon. Ladle jam into hot sterilized jars and process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

It’s great with peanut butter or cream cheese or just on a spoon. Other similar pectin berries can replace the strawberries if you want to check this out right now and you can’t find those late season strawberries anywhere.

Jam Muffins

Wow, I made these a long time ago. And they were messy. And pretty good. But messy. Have extra homemade jam that you have no idea what to do with? Want to make them too? Follow along!

Jam Muffins from Serious Eats:

Makes 12 muffins

¾ c. all purpose flour
¾ c. white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¾ c. milk
¼ c. vegetable oil
1 Tb. vanilla
1 egg
¼ c. honey
½ c. jam

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray 12 standard-sized muffin tins with baking spray, or line them with paper liners. Combine the flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, egg, and honey. Whisk to combine, making sure the honey is fully dissolved.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just enough to combine. It will be lumpy. Add the jam, and fold the mixture a few times to distribute it, but leave the mixture streaky. Portion the mixture evenly into the muffin tins. I topped mine with extra jam, which turned out to be kind of a mistake because the jam leaked a lot and I had to scrub my poor baking stone that was sitting underneath the muffin tray. Sad.

Bake at 375 degrees until the muffins are browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely on a rack.

Like I said, these a pretty good, but very messy. Be careful with your jam mixing. I thought they also tasted a little gritty, so really make sure you get your dry and wet ingredients well mixed. I might fiddle with these some more, but if nothing else, it’s a great way to use jam.

Strawberry Balsamic Smash

Some time ago Adam and Josh came over and we watched Elvira and had these drinks. They were a little weird, but it was a fun experiment. Elvira, of course, was fabulous.

Strawberry Balsamic Smash from Serious Eats:

Serves 1

For the strawberry syrup-

2 c. strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/3 c. sugar

3” piece of lemon peel

For the cocktail:

4 strawberries, hulled

1 round slice of lemon, cut in half

1 oz. strawberry syrup

½ oz. balsamic vinegar

2 oz. bourbon

Garnish: additional strawberry

To make the syrup, combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon rind in a saucepan. Cover and let sit for 1 hour at room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Once the sugar has dissolved and the strawberries have released their liquid, bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring gently, until the berries are tender, about 3 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the strawberries to a pint jar. Continue simmering the syrup until it thickens to a syrupy consistency, about 2 minutes. Discard lemon peel and pour syrup over berries. Let cool to room temperature, then store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

To make the cocktail: muddle 4 strawberries and the lemon in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice, then add the strawberry syrup, balsamic and bourbon.

Shake vigorously. Using both the cocktail strainer and a fine mesh strainer, strain the cocktail into a glass. Garnish with a strawberry.

The strawberry syrup was the winner here. I’ll definitely do that again.

Strawberry Upside-Down Cake with Cardamom

I have been obsessed with strawberries lately. You may have noticed this. So when this recipe popped up in my reader when Kirsten was sitting near me at work, I knew what to make for her super secret birthday dessert. I mean, she made me a super delicious dinner, so I had to kick out the baking jams to make sure my dinner also rocked. It's from Joy the Baker, one of my favorite food bloggers (again, you may have noticed this), so you know it's a winner. Make it now while strawberries are still lingering.

Strawberry Upside-Down Cake with Cardamom from Joy the Baker:

Makes one 9-inch cake

For the topping -

2 Tb. unsalted butter
¼ c. brown sugar
1 c. sliced strawberries (I love you Oregon strawberries)

For the cake -
½ c. unsalted butter, softened
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour (did I sub 1/3 c. whole wheat? You know it!)
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. nutmeg (just for kicks because the crushing the cardamom made me think of nutmeg)
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Use an 8-inch round with 3-inch tall sides. You can also use a 9-inch round with 2-inch sides (which I did!)

Place butter in the cake pan and place in the oven. When butter is melted, remove pan from the oven. Using two pot holders, tilt the pan around and around, coating the sides of the pan with butter. Once sides are coated, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Cream until slightly pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop mixer, scrape down the bowl with a spatula, and add egg and vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute.

Turn the mixer off, scrape the bowl, and add the dry ingredients. Beat on low speed while adding the sour cream. Beat until the batter just comes together. Batter will be pretty thick. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish incorporating ingredients with a spatula.

Sprinkle ¼ cup brown sugar into the melted butter in the cake pan. Sprinkle strawberry slices over the butter and sugar in a single layer. This is harder than it looks. Also, don’t eat all of the strawberries, which is hard, I know. Spoon batter over the strawberries and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cake rest for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the cake and inverting the cake onto a cake plate. Serve warm with sweetened sour or whipped cream. I did whipped cream. It was wonderful, especially after that pizza. It’s got a wonderful aroma and you will want to eat it every day for the next week if you can.

Lindsay's Graduation Cake

So what do you do when you buy too many strawberries? Besides eat a ton of them, I mean. You make a cake. Specifically, you make a cake for your dear friend who is graduating from medical school. Yeah, my friend is a doctor. You don’t have a doctor friend? You actually don’t need an occasion for this cake because it is delicious and awesome and so summer.

The original is here and I made some modifications, some out of necessity and some on accident (like using all the whipped cream on one layer and then have to make more). I weighed everything like they do across the pond. If you don’t have a food scale, there are plenty of web resources for converting ingredients. It all works out, I promise. And your new doctor friend will be so happy.

Lindsay’s Graduation Cake modified from Mega Strawberry Summer Cake from Donal Skehan:

One rad layer cake

For the cake-
3 large eggs
225 g. sugar
50 g butter, melted
100 ml. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
210 g. flour
2 tsp. baking powder

For the filling and the topping-
80 g. strawberry jam
2 Tb. berry liqueur
300 g. strawberries, hulled
500 ml. heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 345 degrees and grease two 9” cake pans (or, in my case, use the same one 9” cake pan you have twice).

In your mixer, beat the sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy.

Mix the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract together in a measuring jug and pour into the sugar and egg. Mix through to combine. Sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl and then using a spatula, gently fold in to the cake mix until completely smooth and combined.

Divide the mix evenly between the two baking tins and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When both cake layers are completely cooled, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Put the jam and liqueur into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Place one layer on a cake stand and dollop with half the cream, spread evenly and then spread on the smooth strawberry jam. Carefully place the second cake layer on top and add the remaining whipped cream and strawberries.

This cake rocks even after a ride from Portland to Seattle and being transported between an apartment to a hotel room. It was a hit after a long day in the sun, celebrating the new doctor. Make this right now!

Knox Co. Whole Strawberry Jam

Aaron loves strawberry jam. When we buy it, that's what he goes for and though he did like my peach lavender and blueberry lime, he requested I make strawberry next time I made jam. There are a lot of strawberry jam recipes out there and the one I ended up doing was because it was the fastest one to make. There are a couple of others I'd like to try - one of which involves having your oven on for 10 hours, but for my first strawberry, I'd say this is the jam (ha!).

I'm getting better at canning, but I'll emphasize a few things - work quickly, but carefully, keep your area clean, and try not to scream when you get hot jam on your hands. It doesn't help anything. What does help is keeping a cool head, following directions, and hearing the ping as your lids seal shut, proving to you that you can can. It's awesome.

Knox Co. Whole Strawberry Jam from Lip Smackin' Jams & Jellies:

Makes 4-5 cups
4 c. strawberries
4 c. sugar
2 Tb. lemon juice

Wash, drain, hull, and measure the strawberries. In a large pot mix together the sugar and berries. Over a low heat, mix the berries until the juices are released. Raise the temperature. Stop stirring. Allow the mixture to boil at this point for 15 minutes. Do not stir; however, be certain that the mixture is not sticking at the bottom of the pan. Take a wooden spoon and drag it through the mixture. After 15 minutes, the mixture should be set. Pour the lemon juice over the top of the berries. Stir in the lemon juice and pour into the jars. Process for 10 minutes.

This jam uses no pectin, but it is thick. In fact, mine is more like a glue than jam. It is tasty, but hard to remove from the jars without some leverage and then it needs to be mixed with a liquid to be useable. So be sure to check when it’s set and don’t boil it too long.

Pink and Green Pie

 For my birthday this year, Jamie got me The Boozy Baker because I like cocktails and baking (pretty awesome gift, right?). I was really excited when she gave it to me and I didn't want to wait long to make something from it. I always do a lot of planning and dreaming when I first get a cookbook, so it was nice to do some actual baking not too long after getting it. I had already decided to buy a bunch of strawberries to make jam, so I needed to find a pie recipe with strawberries - and there it was, the classic combo of strawberries and rhubarb, but just a little different. I brought a slice to my internship and the rest of the pie to Memorial Day brunch (yes, this was awhile ago, but guess what? Strawberry and rhubarb are still available at the market!). A half slice survived to the end of the day. It is very, very good and gave me my first opportunity to create a crust with vodka.

The only change I made was leaving out the pistachios, which I know mostly removes the green part from the pink and green combo, but Aaron is not a nut fan and since it wasn't an integral ingredient, I let it slide. Do yours however you like.

Pink and Green Pie from The Boozy Baker:

Makes one tasty pie

For the crust:
1½ c. all-purpose flour
1 Tb. granulated sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, child and cut into ½” cubes
1 Tb. vodka
2-4 Tb. ice water

For the filling:
1¼ lb. fresh rhubarb, trimmed
1 c. granulated sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ c. berry liqueur
¼ c. cornstarch
½ c. strawberries, hulled and sliced

For the crumb topping:
½ c. all-purpose oats
2/3 c. rolled oats
¼ c. granulated sugar
¼ c. packed brown sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
7 Tb. unsalted butter, diced

To make the crust, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until coarse. Add the vodka and then the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough comes together in large clumps. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll the dough to a 12” circle. Transfer to a 9” pie plate (mine is slightly bigger) and crimp the edges decoratively with a fork. Put in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.

To make the filling, combine the rhubarb, sugar, and cinnamon in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the rhubarb begins to soften and the sugar dissolves, 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the berry liqueur and cornstarch and stir until smooth. It will look like strawberry milk, which is weird. Anyway, once smooth, add to the rhubarb mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to the refrigerator and cool for 30 minutes.

To make the crumb topping, combine the flour, oats, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Remove the crust and rhubarb mixture from the refrigerator. Stir the strawberries into the rhubarb mixture and pour it all into the crust. Sprinkle with the crumb topping and bake for 30-35 minutes (mine was perfect at 30), or until the crust is crisp and golden and the fruit is bubbling.

This is a very tasty pie and though not radically different from the strawberry-rhubarb I’ve made before, it is a fun variation.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

One of the desserts that will always remind me of home is strawberry-rhubarb pie. I have a vague memory of the first one I ever had. I can’t remember where or who I was with or why I was wherever I was, but I do remember the combination of tart rhubarb and ridiculously sweet strawberries. It’s always stuck with me.

When I was at the farmer’s market and saw this ridiculously beautiful rhubarb, I knew I had to get it. I also bought a very large amount of strawberries, which I am surprised made it home because they were just so sweet, I kept snacking on them on the walk back. Anyway, for a pie that reminds me of home, of course I had to use The Fiddlehead Cookbook. Hometown cookbook, hometown pie, happy Becca. I didn’t use the crust recipe they use, instead subbing in the one my mom sent me oh so long ago. Use it. It’s amazing. I had extra rhubarb and strawberries and this is reflected in the recipe below. I also noted the original amounts. Oh yeah, and make sure you get the leaves off of your rhubarb. Those are poisonous.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie from The Fiddlehead Cookbook:

1 9” pie (8 pieces)

1 unbaked double 9” pie crust (see the recipe I use here).
5 c. sliced fresh rhubarb stems (orig. 4 c.)
1½ pint fresh strawberries, washed, patted dry, and stems removed. Large ones cut into quarters. (Orig. 1 pint)
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/3-1½ granulated sugar, depending on the sweetness of your strawberries. Mine were sweet, so I went to the low side.
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tb. butter

Place rhubarb, strawberries, flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a large glass or stainless steel bowl, mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.



Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Pour rhubarb mixtures into unbaked shell, mounding toward center. Dot filling with butter, cut into teaspoons. Use water to dampen lip of pie shell. Loosely fold top crust in half and transfer to pie. Unfold and center on pie. Trim upper crust to match lower. Folding under, pinch two layers of crust together to create a secure and attractive edging to pie. Yeah, I sort of tried to do this. It was pretty enough.

With a fork or a small knife, make a pattern of small holes or slits in top of pie. Lightly dust with a pinch of sugar and place in oven. Put a cookie sheet lined with foil on shelf directly below pie to catch any drips. This is pretty good advice for any pie baking you may do, FYI.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until juices are bubbling out of slits in center of pie. Mine was done at 40.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack for 30 minutes or more before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream. Cover tightly and store at room temperature for 1 day, longer in the refrigerator.

This pie was so good! I loved it! The only oopsie I made was not adding more flour when I added in more fruit. As a result, it was a little more liquidy than I would have liked, but still very tasty and not so soggy as to be an off texture. The crust is very forgiving and a small error like that didn’t ruin the pie. While it is best day of, I loved eating this for the next few days afterward. This is a perfect late spring pie.

Berry Galette

So while my Cheese and Sausage Galette was being consumed, this tasty dish was being baked. Unfortunately, time ran short and my husband and I had to take off for a movie (this one, in case you care. It was really good, btw). So it was cooled and stuck into the fridge. This morning it was gently reheated for about 20 minutes and was fantastic! I cannot wait to try different fruit combinations with this because it is so, so good. You have to try it. Do it now!

Berry Galette from Baking with Julia via my mom:

½ recipe galette dough, chilled
1½ c. mixed berries (I used a mix of frozen strawberries and frozen blackberries. You can also use a variety of cut up fruit instead or in addition.)
1 Tb. plus 1 tsp. sugar, separated
1 Tb. honey, optional (the sugar is enough on its own)
1 Tb. cold unsalted butter, cut into slivers and chilled
A cup of chilled water (for brushing the dough)

Follow prep for dough from the Cheese and Sausage Galette.






Spread the berries (or cut up fruit) over the dough, leaving a 2”-3” border. Sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar over the fruit and drizzle the honey if you are using it (really, though, you don’t need it). Scatter the slivers of butter on top of the fruit. Fold the uncovered border of dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to please as your lift (just like with the cheese and sausage one, but make the border thicker as fruit is runnier than cheese. Dip a pastry brush in the chilled water and give the edge of the crust a light coating and then sprinkle the fruit with the remaining teaspoon of sugar. Or put it on the fruit if you feel like it.

Bake just like the cheese and sausage galette. This is also done at about 35 minutes. Place baking sheet on cooling rack and let cool for about 20 minutes.



Serve warm or at room temperature.

It’s sweet and warm and yummy. And it looks so pretty too. I forgot to take a picture of the final product and my awesome pleating (way better than the savory one was as I followed all the steps correctly this time around), but you can see how nice the edge is on the single piece. It’s all gone now, but I will be making more soon!