Three

Early last year my aunt Marcy (from Vermont with the dogs and the spit ), became obsessed with making homemade crackers in the fashion of Raincoast Crisps . Exhaustive online research coupled with extensive kitchen experimentation culminated in a recipe she deemed worthy of disseminating to the family. Before long, the crackers began appearing on cheese boards across the country: at my mother’s house in CT, at my in-laws just a few blocks away, at my sister’s down state.

These crackers are as delicious as pretty, and though the thought of making crackers from scratch may feel like too much trouble— what’s wrong with store-bought?! —I’m here to tell you, they are worth the effort. First off, they’re easy: you mix the batter in one bowl. Second, you can take liberties with the suggested ingredients: I used whole flax seed because I didn’t have ground. I used sliced almonds in place of whole. I didn’t toast the pumpkin seeds. I imagine pistachios and craisins and millet and countless other combinations of dried fruit, seeds, and nuts would work beautifully. Third, one recipe yields 240—TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY—crackers.

These crackers are baked twice, like biscotti, and after their first bake, they have to chill for three hours in the freezer. Again, this may feel like a pain, but it turns out to be a boon: you can stash the mini loaves in the freezer for months, and bake the crackers as needed. If I were really on my game from here on out, I would always have a supply of these loaves tucked away in the freezer ready to be sliced and baked at a moment’s notice for an impromptu get together or to bring as a gift to a host.

Real talk: had I never tasted these crackers, I likely would have little interest in making them—I’ve never thought twice about buying crackers. But having seen how pretty these crackers look on a board, having tasted how delicious they are with countless cheeses, having observed other people’s reactions to them, I couldn’t not give them a go. These crackers steal the show, elevating a cheese board from hum-ho to unforgettable. If you’re up for a little weekend project, I can assure you this one will not disappoint.

Here’s how to make them: Gather your ingredients:

Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda:

Add the dried fruit, nuts, and seeds:

Toss to combine:

Add the buttermilk, maple syrup, and brown sugar:

Mix:

Fill mini loaf pans with batter:

Bake loaves for 25 minutes:

Cool completely, then freeze for at least 3 hours—freezing allows you to slice the crackers thinly:

Cut the loaves as thinly as possible:

You should get about 30 slices per loaf:

Bake until …

golden and crisp.

Break out some cheeses; here’s a selection of cheeses, kindly sent to me by Cypress Grove : Purple Haze, Lamb Chopper, Midnight Moon, and Humboldt Fog. Humboldt Fog, one of my favorites, can be found fairly easily; the others may take some searching. Lamb Chopper is another longtime favorite.

Arrange cheeses on a board with fruit, jam, quince paste ( homemade or otherwise), and candied pepitas . Invite over the neighborhood. Have a great weekend!

Description

Note: You need one of these 8-loaf Pans or something similar.

I have a set of mini loaf pans that I think would also work, and though you would get a different shape, you could probably use muffin tins—your cross sections will be less loaf like, but that’s not important. You also could use disposable mini loaf pans if you don’t feel like investing in one of these other options at the moment.

I took a number of liberties with the recipe: used sliced in place of whole almonds, didn’t toast the pepitas, used whole flax seed because I didn’t have ground and didn’t feel like making the effort to grind the flax seed I had on hand. It all worked out … I think this is a forgiving recipe.

If you feel like assembling a cheese board, these are nice additions: grapes, jams, quince paste, pears, clementines (more for the visual than anything else). Candied pepitas are so nice on a cheese board as well.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup whole unblanched almonds or slice almonds
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 4 tablespoons ground flax seed or whole flax seed
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 4 tablespoons pepita seeds, slightly toasted (or not)
• Maldon salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 8-loaf mini loaves pan or something similar (see notes) with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add almonds, raisins, flax, sesame seeds, and pepitas. Toss with your hands to incorporate.
2. Add buttermilk, maple syrup, and brown sugar. Stir with a spatula or whisk to combine. Divide batter into 8-loaf pan, and bake 25 minutes or until firm.
3. Cool 15 minutes. Remove loaves from pan and allow to rest until totally cool. Transfer loaves to a ziplock bag and freeze for at least three hours and up to a month.
4. Use a very sharp knife, and cut into thin 1/16-inch slices—you should get about 30 crackers per loaf. Sprinkle lightly with Maldon salt.
5. Bake at 300ºF on ungreased cookie sheet 15 minutes and then flip crackers and bake 10 minutes on other side until dark golden. Allow to cool until very crisp before putting in jars.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Category: Crackers
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Early last year my aunt Marcy (from Vermont with the dogs and the spit ), became obsessed with making homemade crackers in the fashion of Raincoast Crisps . Exhaustive online research coupled with extensive kitchen experimentation culminated in a recipe she deemed worthy of disseminating to the family. Before long, the crackers began appearing on cheese boards across the country: at my mother’s house in CT, at my in-laws just a few blocks away, at my sister’s down state.

These crackers are as delicious as pretty, and though the thought of making crackers from scratch may feel like too much trouble— what’s wrong with store-bought?! —I’m here to tell you, they are worth the effort. First off, they’re easy: you mix the batter in one bowl. Second, you can take liberties with the suggested ingredients: I used whole flax seed because I didn’t have ground. I used sliced almonds in place of whole. I didn’t toast the pumpkin seeds. I imagine pistachios and craisins and millet and countless other combinations of dried fruit, seeds, and nuts would work beautifully. Third, one recipe yields 240—TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY—crackers.

These crackers are baked twice, like biscotti, and after their first bake, they have to chill for three hours in the freezer. Again, this may feel like a pain, but it turns out to be a boon: you can stash the mini loaves in the freezer for months, and bake the crackers as needed. If I were really on my game from here on out, I would always have a supply of these loaves tucked away in the freezer ready to be sliced and baked at a moment’s notice for an impromptu get together or to bring as a gift to a host.

Real talk: had I never tasted these crackers, I likely would have little interest in making them—I’ve never thought twice about buying crackers. But having seen how pretty these crackers look on a board, having tasted how delicious they are with countless cheeses, having observed other people’s reactions to them, I couldn’t not give them a go. These crackers steal the show, elevating a cheese board from hum-ho to unforgettable. If you’re up for a little weekend project, I can assure you this one will not disappoint.

Here’s how to make them: Gather your ingredients:

Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda:

Add the dried fruit, nuts, and seeds:

Toss to combine:

Add the buttermilk, maple syrup, and brown sugar:

Mix:

Fill mini loaf pans with batter:

Bake loaves for 25 minutes:

Cool completely, then freeze for at least 3 hours—freezing allows you to slice the crackers thinly:

Cut the loaves as thinly as possible:

You should get about 30 slices per loaf:

Bake until …

golden and crisp.

Break out some cheeses; here’s a selection of cheeses, kindly sent to me by Cypress Grove : Purple Haze, Lamb Chopper, Midnight Moon, and Humboldt Fog. Humboldt Fog, one of my favorites, can be found fairly easily; the others may take some searching. Lamb Chopper is another longtime favorite.

Arrange cheeses on a board with fruit, jam, quince paste ( homemade or otherwise), and candied pepitas . Invite over the neighborhood. Have a great weekend!

Description

Note: You need one of these 8-loaf Pans or something similar.

I have a set of mini loaf pans that I think would also work, and though you would get a different shape, you could probably use muffin tins—your cross sections will be less loaf like, but that’s not important. You also could use disposable mini loaf pans if you don’t feel like investing in one of these other options at the moment.

I took a number of liberties with the recipe: used sliced in place of whole almonds, didn’t toast the pepitas, used whole flax seed because I didn’t have ground and didn’t feel like making the effort to grind the flax seed I had on hand. It all worked out … I think this is a forgiving recipe.

If you feel like assembling a cheese board, these are nice additions: grapes, jams, quince paste, pears, clementines (more for the visual than anything else). Candied pepitas are so nice on a cheese board as well.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup whole unblanched almonds or slice almonds
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 4 tablespoons ground flax seed or whole flax seed
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 4 tablespoons pepita seeds, slightly toasted (or not)
• Maldon salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 8-loaf mini loaves pan or something similar (see notes) with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add almonds, raisins, flax, sesame seeds, and pepitas. Toss with your hands to incorporate.
2. Add buttermilk, maple syrup, and brown sugar. Stir with a spatula or whisk to combine. Divide batter into 8-loaf pan, and bake 25 minutes or until firm.
3. Cool 15 minutes. Remove loaves from pan and allow to rest until totally cool. Transfer loaves to a ziplock bag and freeze for at least three hours and up to a month.
4. Use a very sharp knife, and cut into thin 1/16-inch slices—you should get about 30 crackers per loaf. Sprinkle lightly with Maldon salt.
5. Bake at 300ºF on ungreased cookie sheet 15 minutes and then flip crackers and bake 10 minutes on other side until dark golden. Allow to cool until very crisp before putting in jars.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Category: Crackers
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Description

Note: You need one of these 8-loaf Pans or something similar.

I have a set of mini loaf pans that I think would also work, and though you would get a different shape, you could probably use muffin tins—your cross sections will be less loaf like, but that’s not important. You also could use disposable mini loaf pans if you don’t feel like investing in one of these other options at the moment.

I took a number of liberties with the recipe: used sliced in place of whole almonds, didn’t toast the pepitas, used whole flax seed because I didn’t have ground and didn’t feel like making the effort to grind the flax seed I had on hand. It all worked out … I think this is a forgiving recipe.

If you feel like assembling a cheese board, these are nice additions: grapes, jams, quince paste, pears, clementines (more for the visual than anything else). Candied pepitas are so nice on a cheese board as well.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup whole unblanched almonds or slice almonds
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 4 tablespoons ground flax seed or whole flax seed
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 4 tablespoons pepita seeds, slightly toasted (or not)
• Maldon salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 8-loaf mini loaves pan or something similar (see notes) with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add almonds, raisins, flax, sesame seeds, and pepitas. Toss with your hands to incorporate.
2. Add buttermilk, maple syrup, and brown sugar. Stir with a spatula or whisk to combine. Divide batter into 8-loaf pan, and bake 25 minutes or until firm.
3. Cool 15 minutes. Remove loaves from pan and allow to rest until totally cool. Transfer loaves to a ziplock bag and freeze for at least three hours and up to a month.
4. Use a very sharp knife, and cut into thin 1/16-inch slices—you should get about 30 crackers per loaf. Sprinkle lightly with Maldon salt.
5. Bake at 300ºF on ungreased cookie sheet 15 minutes and then flip crackers and bake 10 minutes on other side until dark golden. Allow to cool until very crisp before putting in jars.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Category: Crackers
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2018/02/09/three-seed-crackers-jans-farmhouse-crisps-raincoast-crisps-copycat-recipe-how-to-assemble-a-cheese-board-video/

Chocolate pot de crème is a heavenly dessert, and when it’s made stovetop, it’s incredibly simple to make — there’s no water bath… hooray! A stovetop custard comes together in no time, and after an hour chill in the fridge, it’s ready to go. Dark chocolate custard + Grand Marnier + sea salt + homemade whipped cream — does dessert get any better?

If you’ve ever made pot de crème , you’re likely comfortable baking with a water bath: setting vessels filled with custard (egg + milk) in a larger pan, filling the pan with hot water, then setting the pan in an oven to bake slowly.

There’s nothing hard about it, but it does require planning: custards typically bake for 45 minutes to an hour, then often chill for about 8 hours before serving.

Last fall, I had hoped to make chocolate pot de crème for a French bistro cooking class I was teaching at the Hillsdale General Store. If I made them the traditional way, it would have been a logistical challenge: making one batch ahead of time, shlepping it to Hillsdale, making a fresh batch, shlepping that one home.

A Faster Way to Pot de Crème

My dilemma made me wonder: is there a faster way to pot de crème? It turns out yes. After a bit of Googling, I found two recipes, one from Fine Cooking , the other from Cook’s Illustrated , each calling for making the custards stovetop.

What I loved about the Fine Cooking recipe was that it was written to serve 2 people, so if it didn’t turn out well, it wouldn’t have been a huge investment in ingredients. I made it immediately, and it worked beautifully — easy to throw together, and after an hour of chilling, it was ready.

For the class at Hillsdale, we made the pot de crème first, and by the end of class, they were ready. Everyone raved, and I’ve since made the recipe for many occasions.

Stovetop Chocolate Pot de Crème

The beauty of making pot de crème on the stovetop is:

• No need to plan ahead : You can make whisk this together just before dinner, and it will be ready to be served by the end — an hour in the fridge is all it needs.
• Scalability: you can make it for 2 or for 20.
• Keeping power: If you have the time to plan ahead, these can be made several days in advance and stored in the fridge until needed.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Lovebirds!

PS: More Desserts here | More Valentine’s Day ideas here

Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients:

Separate the yolks from the whites; you need 8 yolks. (Save the whites for angel food cake. ):

Temper the yolks: slowly whisk the hot cream and milk mixture into the yolks:

Return the custard to the stovetop and cook until it coats the back of a spoon:

Add the chocolate, sugar, and vanilla:

Whisk to combine:

Strain to remove any curdled egg:

Pour into glasses and chill until ready to serve:

Meanwhile, make the whipped cream:

Whip until thick…

then spoon it into the glasses:

Shave chocolate over top if you wish:

If you’ve made the pot de crème ahead of time, bring them to room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.

Description

Adapted from this Fine Cooking recipe . Pot de crème, which translates to “pot of cream,” is pronounced: POH-də-KREM

See notes below if you’d like to make this for only 2 people.

I recently made a double batch of this for a Valentine’s Day dinner at the Vischer Ferry General Store. For a double batch, I added 1/2 cup Grand Marnier, and I thought it turned out especially well. I also use Guittard 72% chocolate wafers, which also attributed to its especially nice flavor.

These are the glasses I used to serve the pot de crème in: 5 oz. Libbey Lexington Juice Glass . You have to buy a case, which has 36 glasses, which is a lot, but they are so handy for water, wine, all sorts of desserts. I’ve split a case with a friend in the past only to buy another full case to have on hand. If you want to buy fewer glasses, these are similar and you can buy fewer (12).

for the pot de crème (see notes below for small-batch version):

• 2 cups ( 475 g ) heavy cream
• 1 cup ( 237 grams ) 2% or whole milk
• 8 large egg yolks
• 12 oz ( 340 grams ) bittersweet chocolate chips or chocolate bars broken into small pieces (Guittard 66-72% cacao chocolate wafers makes for an especially delicious flavor)
• ½ cup ( 100 grams ) granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 to 4 tablespoons Grand Marnier, optional

for the whipped cream:

• 1 cup ( 237 grams ) heavy cream
• 1/4 cup ( 25 grams ) confectioners’ sugar + more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon plus more to taste flaky sea salt such as Maldon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat the cream and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until scalding hot. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. Slowly whisk the hot milk mixture into the eggs.
2. Return the milk mixture to the pan, reduce the heat to low, and whisk until it thickens, about 1 minute, or until it coats the back of a spoon. Note: rely less on time here and more on visual cues: you want the custard to coat the back of a spoon; if you dip a spoon or spatula into the custard and then run your finger through the custard coating the spoon, a clear line should remain. T his is the critical step. It’s important that the milk mixture thickens otherwise the final mixture will never set.
3. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and sugar; whisk until melted. Strain through a medium-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Add the salt and stir to combine. Taste. Season with more sea salt to taste — I always a few more pinches to taste. Add the vanilla and booze, if using. Start with 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, then add more to taste, stirring after each addition—the mixture might look thin, especially if you add 4 tablespoons of booze, but it will thicken in the fridge. Divide the mixture between eight to ten 6-oz. ramekins or serving glasses. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile: make the whipped cream: Beat the cream with a whisk or with the whip of a stand mixer. When it begins to form soft peaks, add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and vanilla. Continue to beat until the peaks get firmer, but are still soft and pillowy. Taste. Add more sugar if it’s not sweet enough; add more salt to taste. I like the whipped cream to not be too sweet because the pot de crème is sweet and rich on its own. I typically add a pinch more salt and a pinch more sugar.
5. To serve, bring the pot de creme to room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving. Spoon whipped cream over chocolate. Shave chocolate over top.

Notes

If you want to just make this for 2 people, use these proportions:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• pinch salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 teaspoons Grand Marnier, optional

For the whipped cream, use these proportions:

• 1/3 cup heavy cream

• 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

• pinch sea salt

• splash vanilla

• Prep Time: 30 minutes

• Category: Dessert

• Method: Stovetop

• Cuisine: American, French