Cinnabon at Shabbat lunch? Amazing!
As the religious person’s fairy tale often begins, “Last night I was stranded in Kew Garden Hills” — and I discovered the most amazing pre-made (as in, not from a bakery but from a package) babka ever. (Sidenote, I’m somewhat against the spelling “babka” because I always say “bubkie” but I’m not sure how I would feel about purchasing a snack with said title revision… anyway…) From Stern’s brand, this was “baked by 15th Avenue Food Corp, Brooklyn NY 11219, tel 718-633-5850″ — it’s amazing. Tastes like Cinnabon, for all those treyf-ies out there. (Thus my categorization.) Pareve and moist, so many layers… I need to throw out the rest of it so I don’t eat it! (Plus today is Danny’s wedding, where we’ll all be eating for like ten hours straight… oy…)
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Mini Chocolate Cupcakes
This recipe comes from a recent issue of Gourmet Magazine, and fortunately requires no special footwork to make it pareve. To be honest, I haven’t tested it out yet (maybe for next Shabbos?) but the picture looked so good, and the acclaim so great, I thought I’d share it anyhow.
The added bonus: they’re low fat (3 cupcakes, 4 grams) aided by chopped dates to add moistness. Now, as a veteran of the Atkins Diet, I don’t buy into the low-fat nonsense, especially when the absence of fat is made up with an excess of sugar. However, these aren’t sugar-loaded, either — worth a shot.Mini Chocolate Cupcakes
Total prep/cooking time: 1 1/4 hour
12 cupcakes, serves four
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup pitted dates, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (Droste)
1 oz. fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 teaspoon confectioners sugar for dusting
Mini-muffin pan with 12 (1/8 cup) muffin cups, preferably non-stick
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees Fahrenheit
- Bring water and dates just to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then transfer mixture to a food processor, add cocoa powder and chocolate, pulsing once to combine. Let cool 2 minutes, then add brown sugar, egg vanilla, baking soda, and a pinch of salt, then puree until smooth. Add flour and pulse just until incorporated.
- Spray muffin cups with cooking spray. (If pan is nonstick, line sprayed bottoms with rounds of wax paper, then spray paper.) Spoon batter into cups, dividing it evenly, and bake in middle of oven until a wooden pick of skewer comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack (remove wax paper, if using) and cool completely, right-side-up. Just before serving, sprinkle tops lightly with confectioners sugar.
Cupcakes can be made and cooled (but not dusted with sugar) 1 day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
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