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Pumpkin Maple Muffins

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Adapted from the recipe by Alison Roman, featured in New York Times Cooking

Total time: 50 minutes

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour (or 1 cup all-purpose flour)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1½ cups pumpkin* purée (about 1 15-ounce can)
  • 3 large eggs*
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup maple syrup*

Preparation

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin molds with nonstick spray or line them with paper liners.
  2. Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter has melted, foamed and started to brown, about 5 minutes. Use a whisk to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and nutmeg.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar and maple syrup until totally smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients, followed by browned butter.
  5. Divide among prepared muffin tins and bake until the tops are puffed and spring back slightly when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes.

Simple Bread Pudding

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Adapted from the recipe by Mark Bittman

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Prep & cook time: 1hr 45 min

There aren’t often leftovers from a loaf of locally made bread. However, if you find that you have extra or part of a loaf has gotten stale, we highly recommend bread pudding as a delicious way to enjoy bread to its very end. 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups milk*
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, more for greasing pan
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  •  Pinch salt
  • ½ loaf sweet egg bread (like brioche-style bread*, cinnamon raisin bread*, challah, cinnamon rolls) cut into 2-inch cubes (about 5 to 6 cups)
  • 4 eggs*, beaten

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk, butter, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Continue cooking just until butter melts; cool. Meanwhile, butter a 4-to-6-cup baking dish and fill it with cubed bread.
  2. Add eggs to cooled milk mixture and whisk; pour mixture over bread. Let sit for 1 hour.
  3. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until custard is set but still a little wobbly and edges of bread have browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes: Try adding fresh or dried fruit or a combination of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom.

Raspberry Crumble Bars

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Adapted from the recipe by Steve Cylka

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 30 min

Servings: 24 squares

Raspberry crumble bars are the perfect sweet snack for the Super Bowl or a special treat to enjoy on Valentine’s Day. They are also very easy to make using jam from the farmers’ market.

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

  • 2 cups flour (or substitute with gluten-free flour)
  • 2 cups oats
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • 2 jars (16 oz) raspberry jam* (or jam* of your choice)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, oats, brown sugar, and baking powder. Stir in the melted butter until it forms a wet crumbly consistency.
  3. Take about two-thirds of the crumble mixture and press it into a 9×13 inch pan. 
  4. Spread the jam evenly over the crumble base.
  5. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture evenly over the top. 
  6. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Parchment Connects to Heritage Through Scandinavian-Style Baking

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By Julia Howard

Isabel Burlingham holds her family, Scandinavian heritage, and traditions close to her heart. Her new baking business, parchment, is, in fact, a culmination of all of her passions.

Burlingham worked as an analytical research chemist for the past ten years but became uninspired by her work. When she heard of a business incubator program through the Troy Waterfront Farmers’ Market, she decided to pursue her passion for baking.

Kardemummabullar variations, photo provided by parchment.

Isabel Burlingham delves deep into her Norwegian roots, baking traditional bread, pastries, and cookies using a combination of family and contemporary Norwegian recipes while acknowledging science for making the baking process possible.

“Scandinavian baking is unique because it is less sweet and uses traditional flavors like cardamom, almond, and pecan,” says Burlingham.

At parchment, everything is meaningful – from the selection of breads, pastries, and cookies to their ingredients, packaging, and business name.“The name parchment comes from parchment paper,” explains Burlingham. “parchment was one of the original writing tools used to record stories that we’ve passed down through the ages. And, parchment is also a baking paper used in modern baking.” Burlingham adds.

Julekaker in three sizes, photo provided by parchment.

For bread, Burlingham makes Rugbrød, a dense and tangy Nordic-style rye sourdough, and Julekaker, a yeasted cardamom bread made in a brioche-style with crystalized ginger and raisins.

Her centerpiece pastry is Kardemummabullar, a slightly sweet cardamom flavored roll with a cardamom filling available in various flavors, including traditional, raspberry, chocolate, almond, and orange.

Traditional cookies are a cornerstone at parchment. Burlingham bakes various cookies, including Pepperkaker, a thin, crisp spice cookie, Lavendelflarn, a crisp, buttery lavender shortbread (with seasonal variations), Pekannflarn, a crisp, lacey pecan cookie with a chewy, caramel finish, and Kniplingskager, a buttery crisp Danish lace cookie with a hint of ginger – just to name a few.

Pebernodder kipful treringer smorkuler pekannflarn drommar, photo provided by parchment.

Burlingham relies on local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and she uses organic flour from New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts.

For Isabel Burlingham, her work is inspiring and rewarding. She loves to share the origins of her products and the stories that go with them.

You can find parchment at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, the Troy Farmers’ Market on Saturdays, and the Schenectady Greenmarket on Sundays. You can also find parchment’s products at the Honest Weight Food Co-op.

This week’s recipe: A Smorgasbord of Open-face Sandwiches

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

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Photo by Pattie Garrett

Adapted from the recipe by King Arthur Flour, shared by My Saratoga Kitchen Table
Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

For the cake:
● 3 large eggs*
● heaping ½ cup sugar
● 6 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
● 1 cup small curd cottage cheese (or part-skim ricotta)
● 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
● ¾ cup all-purpose flour
● ½ teaspoon salt
● 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
● 1½ cups fresh blueberries*

For the glaze:
● 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
● zest from 1 lemon
● juice from ½ lemon
● 1 Tablespoon plain Greek yogurt*
● ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan that is at least 2 inches deep.
2. Beat together the eggs and sugar until smooth.
3. Add the butter, cottage (or ricotta cheese), yogurt, and vanilla to the eggs mixture. Beat until well combined.
4. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder, to the egg/cheese mixture stirring to combine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the blueberries evenly over the top.
6. Bake the cake for about 50 minutes, until the tester inserted into the cake comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake from the oven. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to firm.

Glaze:
8. Whip together the confectioner’s sugar, zest, juice, yogurt, and vanilla. Adjust liquid for the desired consistency.
9. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake.

Seasonal ingredients inspire fresher baked goods

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By Madison Jackson

The Chocolate Spoon, photo by Pattie Garrett

If you’re a regular customer at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, you will likely recognize vendor Marcie Place standing behind her tables of neatly packaged white bakery boxes sporting mouthwatering labels like “Vanilla Ricotta Tea Biscuits” and “Pineapple Almond Teacake”.

Place, owner of The Chocolate Spoon and long-time vendor of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, brings her array of fresh baked goods every week to the Wednesday and Saturday markets. The secret to her success in baking? Using fresh, local ingredients from her fellow vendors at the farmers’ market.

“I use eggs from Elihu Farm, jam from Kokinda Farm, herbs from Burger’s Market Garden, vegetables from Owl Wood Farm and Gomez Veggie Ville, berries from Scotch Ridge Berry Farm, apples from Saratoga Apple… Even the backyard herbs of Mister Edge, our knife sharpener, I use in my cocktail cookies!”

The Chocolate Spoon, photo by Pattie Garrett

Place says she finds the quality of local products superior and elevates the taste of her baked goods. She’s even put it to the test in front of a live audience. “I did a demonstration at an elementary school where I baked two sets of butter cookies: one using store-bought eggs versus one using eggs from Elihu Farm,” says Place. She explained that the cookies came out a beautiful golden color when using the fresh eggs from Mary and Bob Pratt of Elihu Farm. “Truly a difference you can both see and taste, and the kids agreed!” Place notes.

When she first started selling at the farmers’ market, Place admits her baked goods were pretty traditional. However, the seasonal products at the market inspired her to start experimenting more with her recipes and incorporate fresh ingredients for unique flavor combinations. She says farmers’ market customers are very helpful in recommending new recipes, and she is always open to suggestions. For example, she recently stumbled upon pineapple sage at the market and decided to pair it with coconut for a new shortbread cookie.

When asked what customers will have to look forward to this month, Place reveals: “Rhubarb and berries are coming back in season right now, so expect lots of strawberry rhubarb pies and blueberry and strawberry muffins!”

This week’s recipe: Kentucky Kiss Cocktail

The Chocolate Spoon, photo by Pattie Garrett