Ribs in Tomato Barbecue Sauce

Summer in Scotland is practically here and while that does mean that I am still wearing my heavy coat to work, haven’t yet given up my boots for the season and still have to dress Holtzmann in her tiny coat/cape at least once a week before we go out, it ALSO means that the days are longer (it’s still light at 9:30pm and we still have 6 more weeks of lengthening days ahead of us!), the sun is brighter and everything is finally green.

This is also the first summer that we’ve had access to the garden behind our flat (not for any good reason except that no one in our building uses it and we didn’t want to be the ones to dislodge Spidertown, the Edinburgh suburb that had built up in front of the doorway), and let me tell you- it’s an awesome garden. I take it for granted because I spend a lot (read: all) of my mornings out there trying to coax an alternately sleepy or rambunctious Holtzmann into doing her- ahem- business, but I stopped to think about it this week and that garden is the stuff dreams are made of. Or, at least, the stuffmy dreams were made of when I was a kid living in the sticky Florida heat and spending all my time reading about faraway European gardens. I mean, seriously, this garden has got it all: a wrought-iron fence, ivy and roses climbing up the crumbling stone wall, daffodils and tulips tangled with brambles and hydrangeas and a single tree, nearly three stories tall, planted in the perfect spot to block the view into the Italian restaurant’s kitchen that also shares a window into the garden with us.

So of course, with new and exciting access to the garden, we’re planning all kinds of cookouts down there in the coming months. It’s the perfect spot to bring a glass of wine and an excited puppy at the end of a long day, and soon we hope to host our first garden dinner party… though we might have to provide blankets for our guests, as Scottish nights still leave a little to be desired.

But if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere warm, where the nights aren’t yet too hot to be outside and the days aren’t yet demanding you stay in the AC, then these are the perfect thing to make outside on a grill (and if, like me, you do live in the frigid north, you can make these just as tasty in your very own kitchen). Not too sweet, not too tangy, this sauce is the perfect middle-of-the-road barbecue sauce sure to please everyone you make it for, even if they’re from Scotland and don’t know the difference between Eastern & Western North Carolina style barbecue sauce. (Just make sure you really like the people you invite over to eat these ribs with you, because you’re all going to be a mess afterward).

Some notes, of course:

I can't get two of the five ingredients of this sauce recipe, so I improvised with what I can get my hands on, and that's what is listed in my notes below. If you're stateside, you can follow the ingredients as listed in the image of the recipe.

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. Still the best barbecue sauce I’ve made from the recipe box, but I have strong barbecue standards, people.

Barbecue Sauces, Previously: Spicy-Sweet Barbecue Sauce and Simple Barbecue Sauce

One year ago: Smoked Haddock Fish Pie
Two years ago: Diva cake

the recipe:

Tomato Barbecue Sauce

the directions:

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Brush oil over foil large enough to completely enclose ribs.
Salt and pepper ribs generously on both sides, then seal foil packet around them and cook until almost done, approximately 15 minutes, depending on your oven.
While ribs are cooking, mix together remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes or until sauce is very sticky and onions are tender.
When ribs are almost done, open foil packets and brush ribs generously with sauce.
Allow to finish cooking, then brush with additional sauce before serving, preferably with corn on the cob and a fresh green salad.

the ingredients:

2 lbs ribs
Vegetable oil for brushing
1/3 c black treacle
1/3 c golden syrup
1/3 c scant brown sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 c tomato passata
¼ c onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt to taste

Spicy Fudge Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I know. I’ve barely re-appeared and am gracing you with another cake recipe. But this one, I tell you, is different. It’s chocolate, and these are cupcakes, and that frosting is to die for, and they’re so adorably tiny and wee you just want to eat a dozen of them at once.

Which brings me to my next point: we got a puppy.

Not recently (hence my prolonged absence), but 2 months ago we adopted a tiny baby French Bulldog who we promptly christened Holtzmann Pombal Cowan (runner-up name and favourite nickname so far: Anchovy). She was named for our favourite Ghostbuster and a town in Portugal where we spent New Year’s Eve this year, and we couldn’t love her more.

Some details about her:

• Loves: peeing at unexpected times, snorting, her toy badger (same size as her), laying in sunbeams, napping on one or both of us, eating flowers, my makeup brushes, the fringe on the edge of our living room rug, making weird noises, the coat we bought her 2 sizes too big so she could grow into it… even though she just ended up looking like a vampire when she wears it.

• Dislikes: being ignored, her bed, baths, the neighbour in the next garden over who yelled at me one time while Holtzmann was doing her business, chasing a tennis ball, full rubbish bags, prams, laundry on the line, this one stump in the park across from our flat.

She’s soft and snuggly and a little bit sassy and the smartest pupper I’ve ever met. She gets really embarrassed if she accidentally barks at us and spends the next ten minutes with her tiny ears back, trying to snuggle us into oblivion. Among her tricks so far are sit, stay, come, shake and ‘go home,’ which sends her directly into her crate (which she loves).

And despite the fact that she still whines when we put her to bed and despite the fact that we’ve gone through an entire bottle of ‘puppy stain’ spray and despite the fact that I haven’t slept in on a Saturday since February, I still love that tiny little baby way more than I ever thought possible. Every milestone with her is a treat to watch, and we’re crazy about her even when she’s causing trouble (approximately half the time).

So in honour of the sweetest pupperoni that ever existed, here’s a recipe for cakes practically the same size as she was when she joined our family. (But obviously don’t feed these to your doggo as they are full of dog enemies like chocolate.)

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. The perfect moist crumb, the softest frosting, and a note of spiciness that permeates all the way through the cupcakes to differentiate it from every other chocolate cupcake you’ve ever had all combine to make these the perfect treat for a lunchbox (or to bribe your coworkers into coming to your department’s monthly meeting… not that I know anything about that).

One year ago: Lemon Pecan Bars
two years ago: Eleanor's Sangria

The recipe:

Spiced Fudge Cupcakes

The directions:
Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 175C/350F.
Grease or line with paper liners 2 12-cupcake pans (or make in batches).
Combine lemon juice and milk and set aside.
Sift together baking soda, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, then set aside.
Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla until fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Add chocolate and blend.
Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with hot water, curdled milk, black treacle and golden syrup.
Beat until smooth, then fill cupcake tins halfway with batter.
Bake 17-20 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in a middle cupcake comes out barely sticky.

 

Frosting:

Cream butter until light and fluffy.
Gradually add powdered sugar in batches, mixing until smooth.
Add salt, vanilla, chocolate and cream and beat until smooth and spreadable.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

The ingredients:
The cupcakes:

½ c minus 1 tsp milk
1 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp baking soda
2 c minus 2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1/3 c shortening or Stork
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted & cooled
½ c hot water
1/3 c black treacle
3 tbsp golden syrup

The frosting:

½ c butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 tbsp heavy cream

Strawberry Cake for Celebrating

As of last month, we’ve been married for five years. It may not be much, but it's an impressive feat for us nonetheless: we’ve survived a transatlantic move, grad school (probably harder on the partner than it was on the attendee), combining apartments and moving houses, trips to more countries than I can count, and one really weird raging fever virus that put me down so hard I missed a week and a half of work. Our five years has included an awful lot of costumes, parties, starting new jobs, applying for visas, eating amazing food, doing dumb things to make the other one laugh, and most of all, some insanely delicious meals.

…And also some pretty rough ones. We can’t be perfect all the time, in the kitchen or in life.

So to celebrate, I did what I always do: I made a cake.

This year's anniversary didn't look quite the same as anniversaries of years past: there was the year we escaped to a cabin in the mountains where it started snowing just as soon as we climbed in the hot tub; the year we visited thousand-year-old churches in Durham, England; the year we hung out poolside on a Spanish island off the coast of Africa... and then there was this year, where our passports were stuck at border patrol because we had to renew them because we both filled ours at the same time. We were stuck in Edinburgh, but we made the best of it with a fancy dinner for two and a giant slab of this cake for each of us.

And honestly, it's been a long time since I've been as proud of a thing I baked as I am of this cake. Not only did I not have access to yellow cake mix, but I also didn't have any Jell-O mix of the appropriate flavour- and I can't find a shop that sells it here, so there was a lot of making do on this recipe. A lot of times during the process when I thought 'Now I've definitely ruined it,' but I kept on going and wouldn't you know it? The cake surprised me after all.

So in honour of the last five years, the good, the bad and the wonderful that came along with it, and the most challenging US-UK baking conversion I've had to date, here's the recipe for the moistest, most delicious strawberry cake I've ever tasted. From Mrs. Coderre to Mary Marx to me and now to you, I recommend you make this ASAP while strawberries are still in season and ready to be picked... even without the icing, this cake is worth it.

Some notes:

If you're stateside, I recommend following the directions as printed in the photo of the recipe, because I have no idea how to compare the 'jelly'* I used to what you can get in the US.** If you're not into frosting, you can totally leave it off and this cake wouldn't suffer for it- yes, it's that good- but feel free to swap the frosting for barely-sweetened fresh whipped cream instead. After you add the strawberries to the batter, the mixture will look thin and curdled, but don't fret- it will all come together in the end!

*Note that 'jelly' in this recipe refers to the UK form of jelly, which in the US would be gelatin or Jell-O.

**Jell-O brand isn't widely available in the UK- at least in my city- so I used the only brand of gelatin dessert carried by my supermarket- Hartley's. This comes as partially-constituted, very firm gelatin cubes which need to be full rehydrated by adding boiling water and cold water. I don't know what the benefit of this is as opposed to the powdered type you can find stateside as they both seem to be full of preservatives, take up the same space on a shelf, and come in similar-sized packages, but it seems to be the only way it's found here, and this is the first time I've worked with it. It's weird, but not any weirder than the powdered version I'm (marginally) used to.

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. This cake is both fresh and satisfying, and it tastes like the kind of thing your grandmother would have made if your grandmother was anything like mine. It's the kind of thing you want to dig into a slice of after a light springtime dinner... or maybe for breakfast, I won't tell.

One year ago: Yum Yum Punch
Two years ago: Magic Bars

the recipe:

Strawberry Cake

Cake recipe adapted from smittenkitchen.com, where I found a reliable, from-scratch yellow cake recipe to use as my jumping point.

the directions:
cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Add boiling water to jelly, stir well and set aside.
Grease 2 cake pans, then line bottoms with parchment paper.
Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then set aside.
Add lemon juice, vinegar or yogurt to milk and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add vanilla and mix to combine.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
At low speed, stir in milk mixture, jelly mixture and muddled berries with their juices until just combined (mixture will look curdled).
Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just Incorporated.
Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.
Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out very slightly sticky, 35 to 45 minutes.
Cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

Cream butter and powdered sugar until light coloured and slightly fluffy.
Mixture will be very thick.
Beat in berries and mix until light and fluffy.
Frost between layers and on top cake, using additional strawberries for garnish as desired.

the ingredients:
the cake:

1 c boiling water
1 pkg strawberry jelly (if in the UK)
4 c flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
1 c milk (scant)
1 tbsp lemon juice, vinegar or yogurt
1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 c strawberries, sliced and muddled

 

 

 

the frosting:

½ c butter, room temperature
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
½ c fresh strawberries, sliced and muddled
Additional strawberries for garnish