Rhubarb-Almond Cake

If you’re looking for a summer dessert this is it. I love rhubarb & have traditionally enjoyed it most in a strawberry rhubarb pie (mmmm). My aunt is allergic to strawberries so when deciding on what to bring for (Easter) dessert at my Grandma’s house I opted for this Rhubarb-Almond Cake. It’s light but moist. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. The rhubarb offers the right amount of tartness to make you want seconds.

3rd Blog Birthday + Raspberry-Ricotta Cake

It’s March 12th again, how can that be? That means HeatherOMade is three!!! Sometimes I can’t imagine my life without this blog & you guys my loyal readers who check in to see what I’m making or posting on the daily (or maybe not so daily). I’m still trying to find the balance between blogging, my full time job, being a wife, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a grand daughter & a friend but thanks for letting me be me & allowing me to focus on whatever it is I choose to be each day.

To celebrate I made this cake I found in the pages of this month’s Bon Appetit. It’s super moist (even if you don’t like that word it is!) & flavorful. The raspberries are the perfect balance of sweet & tart. I even ate a piece for breakfast because why not it’s my blog birthday :) (Yes, sometimes I eat cake for breakfast even though my Instagram feed would make you believe I only eat smoothie bowls)

I think this would be a great cake to make for Easter or just this spring in general, or just breakfast.
Super huge thanks again for reading these past three years! Cheers to you all (especially my biggest fan,  best friend, main taste-tester, oh & best husband, Chris)! xx Heather

Daniel Boulud's Madeleines

I must admit, I’ve never been big on Valentine’s Day. When I was single I never remember feeling any different on Valentine’s Day than I did any other day. It didn’t make me happy or sad, it was just like any other day. I never put a lot of pressure on the meaning of that day or myself or relationships.

Recently I worked on a blog post for work here about what my coworkers (who like Valentine’s Day) like about it & what they do for it. Surprisingly their answers had to do more with making their friends & family feel loved rather than really romanticizing it. I like that version of it better. Feeling inspired I made some valentine treats for my coworkers. Last week I went to a fancy pants work brunch at Daniel (of the Daniel Boulud restaurant group) where I ate the prettiest fruit cup I've ever had. Around the same time I found Daniel Boulud’s recipe for madeleines in Bon Appetit magazine & I took it as a sign that this is what I was meant to make for my valentines.

My first memory of eating madeleines was in Paris with my cousins. We went on an adventure & took a train to see Versailles. Since we had gotten lost (I don’t know how we actually survived that trip) we were starving & opted to hit up the vending machine before we took our journey to Versailles. To my delight they had packages of delicate little madeleines - IN THE VENDING MACHINE. This is when you know you’re in Paris by the way, in case the architecture doesn't do it for you - the vending machines won't disappoint.  I quickly put my money in the machine & punched the button for the madeleines. To my great surprise not one but two packages fell. We got two packages instead of one! (I think God was worried we wouldn’t survive that trip either. ) Needless to say, that was the best thing I’ve ever eaten from a vending machine.

But I digress. If you’ve never had a madeleine, you don’t need to go to Paris or find a vending machine, you can make them yourself. They’re more like mini cakes than cookies but go great with tea & coffee. They’re deceivingly light & fluffy while being moist & you would never know how much butter is in them until you make them! They are worth it. You can make them with basic ingredients in your pantry. The only thing that you might need to go get is a madeleine pan which is a mold for forming these perfect little cakes. I ordered this one off amazon for just under ten bucks.

I wrapped mine up in little cello bags with some festive clothes pins I found at the craft store to make them a little extra special for Valentine’s Day. I hope my coworkers like them. Seems I’m warming up to this Valentine’s Day thing after all.

How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Ingredients (adapted from Daniel Boulud’s recipe for madeleines in Bon Appetit magazine )
Servings: Makes 12 large or 5 dozen mini (I doubled the recipe)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon or orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional - I added this to mine because I wanted a more vanilla flavor)
• 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted, warm
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray (optional if using a non-stick pan)
• Powdered sugar

Make'em!

1. Whisk baking powder, salt, and flour in a small bowl.
2. Whisk eggs, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, honey, vanilla and lemon zest in a medium bowl until smooth. 
3. Whisk in dry ingredients until just incorporated, then whisk in melted butter until smooth. Transfer batter to a pastry bag or resealable plastic bag and chill at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400°. 
5. Lightly coat madeleine pans with nonstick vegetable oil spray and dust with flour, tapping out excess. (You can skip the spray & the extra flour if using a non-stick pan.)
6. Snip end off pastry bag (or 1 corner of resealable bag) and pipe batter into each mold, filling two-thirds full (you may have a little batter left over).
7. Bake madeleines until edges are golden brown and centers are puffed and lightly spring back when gently pressed, about 5 minutes for mini & 8−10 for regular cakes.
8. Tap pan against counter to release madeleines.
9.  Dust with powdered sugar & serve warm.


Notes: Batter can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. I think since my pan is on the darker side the bottoms of my cakes came out a bit dark. I’m going to try a lower oven maybe 375 next time to see if that makes a difference. I’ll post an update if it does!

Shrimp with Fresh Corn Grits

I went to college in South Carolina. In the four years I lived there I really don’t remember ever eating grits. I’ve been back to visit a number of times but I never choose grits off the menu. Why? I really don’t know. Maybe I like everything that much more & I’m afraid of change. I did have grits at the fabulous wedding we attended in Charleston back in April but other than that time I can’t remember the last time before that was. Nevertheless, I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit Magazine & I felt like I had to try to make it.

First up was finding “grits” in my local Hoboken, NJ grocery store. Given that it’s a Southern staple I didn’t think I’d have much luck finding it here. My assumption was true. There wasn’t one package (that I could find) that was labeled “grits” so I found the next best thing (which in my opinion is the same thing) - coarse ground cornmeal. I’ve used it to make polenta before so I took a gamble thinking it would work for grits.

You might be thinking: what’s the difference between grits & polenta? So did I. I really have no idea. Seems to me it’s a matter of semantics, read more about the theory on that here.

Chris doesn’t remember being a huge fan of grits either but I have a feeling we’ll be having this for dinner again very soon - it’s that good. I now love grits or at least these grits!