<![CDATA[The Bibliophile's Baking Blog - Home]]>Mon, 21 Jul 2025 20:43:23 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Baked Apples]]>Wed, 22 Jan 2025 02:18:52 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/baked-applesPicture

Grave Expectations by Alice Bell is a contemporary mystery book set primarily in the English countryside. This book follows Claire, a burnt-out Millennial medium, who utilizes her ability to see ghosts and teams up with her ghostly best friend Sophie, ex-policeman Sebastian, and far-too-cool non-binary teen Alex to figure out which members of a posh English family are guilty of murder.
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I had some difficulty connecting with the main character because I thought some of her reactions were inconsistent with someone of her age who is supposedly living on their own and supporting themself. However, I enjoyed the book overall due to the interesting cast of characters.

At one point in the book, Sebastian prepares baked apples for them.
Basher [Sebastian] turned out to be a very enthusiastic cook. It was oddly exhilarating watching him – an intentionally drab person – light up from the inside to the out as he mixed together double cream and raisins and rum, rubbed rich butter into flour, and used twice as much garlic and chili as the recipe suggested to stir-fry green beans to go with the salmon. He put up only a cursory objection to Alex insisting that he plate up a portion of everything for Sophie as well. They pretended to be a fancy maître di, tea towel over their forearm, as they put down the huge stuffed apple, swimming in cream, in front of where Sophie was sitting. She beamed. It was delicious.

-Chapter 11, Grave Expectations by Alice Bell
This comforting dessert is perfect for a chilly autumn or winter evening. I had never made baked apples before but these apples turned out to be a delicious and wholesome dessert.
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Baked Apples

SERVINGS: 4

INGREDIENTS
4 apples  (Note 1)
2½ tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
2/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons chopped nuts, oats, and/or raisins  (optional)
2/3 cups apple cider or juice
2 tablespoons heavy cream  (optional)


INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 375⁰F.
  2. Core apples and slice a thin ribbon of peel from around the top of each apple cavity, which helps keep the peel from splitting while baking. Slice off all fruit remaining on the apple cores and chop it.
  3. Combine softened butter with sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the chopped apple pieces and the chopped nuts, oats and raisins (if using).
  4. Place cored apples in a greased baking dish large enough to hold the apples upright with up to an inch between them.
  5. Spoon about 1-2 tablespoons of the butter mixture into each apple, filling all the way to the top.
  6. Pour cider into baking dish around the apples, drizzling a little over each apple in the process.
  7. Cover the apples with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for about 15-20 minutes, until the apples can be pierced easily with a knife tip but still hold their shape. Remove from oven.
  8. Arrange apples in small bowls. Add 2 tablespoons cream (optional) to pan juices and pour over apples. Serve immediately.

RECIPE NOTES
  1. Choose a crisp, firm apple variety, such as Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Pink Lady, or Honeycrisp. Make sure they stand up straight on their bottom, so they don’t tip over in the oven.
]]><![CDATA[Apple Cider Muffins]]>Sun, 17 Nov 2024 15:55:52 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/apple-cider-muffinsPicture







I've read several autumn/winter-related books over the years that featured mulled apple cider, including There Arose Such A Clatter by C.M. Nascosta.  Since the weather has finally become a bit cooler where I live, I thought it would be fun to turn this festive and warming drink into some delicious muffins.
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To concentrate the apple cider flavor, I reduced the apple cider with some spices before adding it to the muffins.  For another holiday-themed variation, fresh cranberries could be substituted for the diced apple, and the muffins could be topped with a brown sugar streusel or an apple cider glaze (about ½ cup powdered sugar combined with 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider).
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Apple Cider Muffins

SERVINGS: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

APPLE CIDER REDUCTION
1 cup apple cider
1 fresh orange slice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
 
APPLE CIDER MUFFINS
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup milk  (Note 1)
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup reduced apple cider
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
About ½ cup diced apple

INSTRUCTIONS

APPLE CIDER REDUCTION
  1. Combine apple cider, orange slice, spices, and brown sugar in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cider is reduced to about half. Strain and let cool before adding to the muffins.

APPLE CIDER MUFFINS
  1. Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or generously oil the muffin cups.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.
  3. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, stir together the milk, oil, reduced apple cider, egg, and vanilla extract.
  4. Make a well in the flour bowl and pour in the milk mixture.  Whisk to combine until no lumps remain.
  5. Fold in the diced apple.
  6. Divide batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin cups, filling cups about 2/3 full.
  7. Bake for 20-24 minutes, rotating the muffin tin midway through the baking time, until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
  8. Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

RECIPE NOTES
  1. I used 2% milk for this recipe but whole milk or non-dairy milk could be used instead.
]]><![CDATA[Lemon Lavender Cupcakes]]>Fri, 04 Oct 2024 23:20:15 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/lemon-lavender-cupcakesPicture


These Lemon Lavender Cupcakes were inspired by the Cambric Creek Coven series (also called the Wheel of the Year series) by C.M. Nascosta. This series (which currently includes The Mabon Feast and Hexennacht) follows Elizabeth (a.k.a. Ladybug) Brackenbridge as she comes into her own power as a witch and organizes her own coven in the town of Cambric Creek.
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C.M. Nascosta has written several short stories about Ladybug on her Patreon as well.  One of these stories, A Ghost on Four Paws, provided the inspiration for these Lemon Lavender Cupcakes, which was Ladybug’s mother’s favorite birthday cake. This short story ties the present and the past together as Ladybug reminisces about the time she spent with her mother and aunt before they both passed away.
After all, it was not only the long nights and stretching shadows the winds of winter brought that year. Her mother’s birthday had been shortly before the winter solstice, her mother and her aunt Willow alike. That birthday would have been a milestone of sorts, the type of birthday celebration that would have been recognized beyond the tiny circle of their immediate family, an age reached that was acknowledged by friends and coworkers and strangers online who used to be friends — at least, that was what popular media told her. Reaching it, though, was a necessity to the celebration. And both of them are gone….

They had celebrated birthdays when she’d been a child with flowers in their hair and stories around the fire, venturing out to dance beneath the moon, if the weather did not make it an impossibility. Her mother would bake their favorite cake — lemon sponge with lavender-flavored icing, and the night would be filled with laughter.

-A Ghost on Four Paws by C.M. Nascosta
Although Ladybug’s mom and Aunt Willow’s birthday was shortly before the winter solstice, I feel like lemon lavender is a summery flavor combination. So, developing this recipe gave me the perfect excuse to visit Seven Oaks Lavender Farm in Northern Virginia this past summer.
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I greatly enjoyed visiting this beautiful little farm and picking my own lavender, which I used to decorate different versions of these cupcakes. My coworkers, who are my taste testers for this blog, gave these cupcakes great reviews, so I hope you will enjoy these cupcakes as well.
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Lemon Lavender Cupcakes

SERVINGS: About 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

LEMON CUPCAKES

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup milk, room temperature
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 ½ - 2 teaspoons lemon zest

LEMON LAVENDER WHITE CHOCOLATE WHIPPED GANACHE
6oz. white chocolate
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
½ tablespoon lavender
1 teaspoon lemon zest

INSTRUCTIONS
 
LEMON CUPCAKES
  1. Preheat the oven to 325⁰F. Line a 12-cup regular cupcake tin with paper liners or generously oil the cups.
  2. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder, and then add the sugar.
  3. Add the oil, milk, egg, and lemon juice and zest to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
  4. Divide batter evenly into the prepared cupcake tins, filling cups about ¾ full.
  5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, rotating the cupcake tins midway through the baking time, until a cake tester (or toothpick) inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
  6. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and the tins. Let cool completely on the wire racks before frosting the cupcake with the whipped ganache.

LEMON LAVENDER WHITE CHOCOLATE WHIPPED GANACHE
  1. Chop or break the white chocolate into small pieces and place in a small heatproof bowl.
  2. Heat the heavy cream and lavender together over medium heat. (I heated it in the microwave for about 1 minute on medium heat.)
  3. Let the lavender steep in cream for about 5 minutes. Then reheat the cream until it’s hot but not boiling. (I used the microwave again on medium heat for about 1-2 minutes.)
  4. Strain the lavender out of the cream and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate. Let the mixture sit for about 2 minutes.
  5. Add the lemon zest to the chocolate mixture and slowly whisk together until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
  6. Chill chocolate mixture in the refrigerator until completely cool.
  7. Then whip the chocolate mixture on medium speed for about 1-2 minutes until thick. (For better results, place the bowl and whisk into the freezer to chill about 10 minutes before whipping the ganache.)
]]><![CDATA[Triple Chocolate Milkshake]]>Sat, 24 Aug 2024 02:15:05 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/triple-chocolate-milkshakePicture





Impromptu Match by Lily Mayne is the first book in her new series, Goliaths of Wrestling.  This book is a cute, low-angst queer romance between Holt, an empyn who can feel other people’s emotions, and Taylor, a human. The second book in this series, Clean Finish, was just published a couple weeks ago. And the cute, low-angst vibes of this series continue in that romance between Larkin, Holt’s fae assistant, and Seb, Holt’s werewolf bodyguard. I really enjoyed reading both of these books and I can’t wait for the third book in the series to be released.
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In Impromptu Match, Holt and Taylor meet one night after a misunderstanding (involving a lemon birthday cake) that causes Taylor to discover the underground monster wrestling league owned by Holt. Taylor has been stuck in a rut while working at his mundane job as a marketing assistant, so it was fun to see his life become more joyous and exciting while his relationship with Holt developed throughout the book.

I contemplated recreating the infamous lemon birthday cake from the beginning of this book, partly because of Taylor’s hilarious reactions to the cake.  I even took pictures of these quotes and sent them to my sister, who passionately dislikes lemon-flavored desserts.
I accepted a slice of cake on a paper plate from Sharon with a smile and a somewhat enthusiastic, “Thanks,” even though it was a lemon cake, which was the cake choice of evil villain overlords hellbent on sowing chaos and destruction, in my opinion.
           
“It’s really good!” Mindy said cheerfully. “I love lemon cake. I’m glad Sharon chose it.”

Are you Mindy? Are you really glad, or is your eye twitching slightly as you eat it because deep down, you know lemon cake is what the devil would choose to torture all the damned souls in hell with?
Oh god, maybe this was hell. And Sharon from Accounts was the devil.

-Chapter Two, Impromptu Match by Lily Mayne
Instead of recreating the lemon birthday cake though, I decided to recreate a milkshake from one of Holt and Taylor’s dates. While on a cute date around town, Holt and Taylor get milkshakes from Shriek Shakes, a small milkshake shop run by a banshee.  I would love to be able to visit this milkshake shop sometime because it sounds like they have a lot of interesting flavors. Holt got a maple syrup and bacon shake called The Last Breakfast of a Man Marked for Death, while Taylor got a triple chocolate milkshake called The Mud Cleansed from the Clothes of Those About to Meet Their End.

The milkshake flavors/names sounded amusing to me, so I thought it would be fun to recreate them. This also gave me the opportunity to try out more recipes for no-churn ice cream (given my love of ice cream, I’ll likely purchase an ice cream maker eventually). And this triple chocolate milkshake turned out to be a delicious treat for a summer afternoon.
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Triple Chocolate Milkshake
(Or The Mud Cleansed from the Clothes of Those About to Meet Their End)

SERVINGS: 2 large milkshakes

INGREDIENTS

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
5-6oz. sweetened condensed milk (about 1/3 of a 14oz. can)
3 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate  (Note 1)
12 oz. evaporated milk (one can)

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE
4 cups chocolate ice cream, homemade (see recipe below) or store-bought
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup coarsely chopped or partially crushed chocolate cookies  (Note 2)
Chocolate syrup
Whipped cream (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
  1. Chop or break the chocolate into fine pieces. Combine the chocolate with the sweetened condensed milk and heat it until the chocolate is mostly melted. (I used the microwave to melt the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk on medium heat in intervals of 10-15 seconds.)
  2. Stir the chocolate mixture until smooth and all the chocolate has melted. Then set it aside to cool.
  3. Pour the evaporated milk into a large metal bowl. Then add the chocolate mixture to the evaporated milk and whisk until completely combined.
  4. Cover the metal bowl tightly with a well-fitting lid or plastic wrap and freeze for about 2 hours until the mixture is partially frozen.
  5. Then remove the bowl from the freezer and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until the mixture is foamy, about 3-5 minutes.
  6. Pour the mixture into a deep freezer-safe container or bowl, like a 9-inch (23 centimeters) loaf pan, cover tightly with a well-fitting lid or plastic wrap, and freeze for about 2 hours.
  7. Stir the ice cream and continue freezing until firm, about 2-4 hours.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE
  1. Place two drink or milkshake glasses in the refrigerator to chill.
  2. Using a blender, blend together the ice cream, milk, and half of the crushed cookies for about 1-2 minutes until the mixture is fairly smooth and the cookies are mixed in but not pulverized.
  3. Remove the glasses from the refrigerator and drizzle chocolate syrup on the inside of the glasses.
  4. Pour the milkshakes into the glasses and top with the remaining crushed cookies and whipped cream (if using). Serve immediately.

RECIPE NOTES
  1. For this recipe, I would recommend using chocolate bars or chocolate chips that contain about 60% cacao, but you can use between 35 and 70 percent cacao depending on if you prefer a sweeter or darker flavor.
  2. I used chocolate Teddy Grahams, but any type of chocolate cookie would work for this recipe.
]]><![CDATA[Strawberry Sherbet]]>Mon, 08 Jul 2024 01:20:19 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/strawberry-sherbetPicture
This Strawberry Sherbet recipe was inspired by A Blue Ribbon Romance and Milked by C.M. Nascosta. I previously discussed A Blue Ribbon Romance in my post on the Triple Scoop Choco Mocha Parfait, while Milked is a special edition that combines both Morning Glory Milking Farm and A Blue Ribbon into one book.

I’ve been pulling a lot of recipe inspiration lately from the Cambric Creek ice cream truck mentioned in these books because it’s been so hot outside lately and I’m currently trying to avoid using my oven. Fortunately, this Strawberry Sherbet is a light, icy treat that only requires a blender or food processor and a freezer.
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]]><![CDATA[Roasted Strawberry Muffins]]>Sun, 16 Jun 2024 17:21:30 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/roasted-strawberry-muffinsPicture
Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette is a contemporary mystery book set in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. This book follows Callie Padget, a former reporter, as she returns to her hometown after losing her job. This mystery was a great book to read while I was visiting my family in Virginia Beach, which is located relatively close to the Outer Banks. While I was home, my parents and I went strawberry picking so I would have plenty of strawberries to use for these muffins. I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as my mom and I did!
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]]><![CDATA[Crème Fraiche Chicken with Citrus Salad]]>Fri, 07 Jun 2024 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/creme-fraiche-chicken-with-citrus-saladPicture
Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews is the second book in the Innkeeper Chronicles series. This urban fantasy/science fiction series follows Dina DeMille as she manages her magic inn—and an assortment of off-world guests—set in modern-day Texas. As part of her preparations to host a peace summit, Dina hires Orro, a once highly regarded chef. One of the first meals Orro prepares for Dina and others is a simple roast chicken with salad for lunch because he believes simple dishes allow the skills of the chef and the quality of the ingredients to take center-stage.
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]]><![CDATA[Vintage Cookbook Update: Ohio Apples and the Ohio Farm Bureau]]>Sun, 19 May 2024 20:54:57 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/vintage-cookbook-update-ohio-apples-and-the-ohio-farm-bureauPicture
“100 Good Apple Recipes: Use Ohio Apples,” Agricultural College Extension Service, Ohio State University, 1915.

Cookbooks like this one were used to distribute knowledge about the agricultural field. “The Cooperative Extension Service system got its start in 1862 when Congress passed the Morrill Act, which provided for a university in each state to provide education to citizens in the agricultural and mechanical fields. These colleges are known as ‘land-grant universities.’ The Ohio State University is Ohio's 1862 land-grant university” (Ohio State University). For more information on apples in America, I would recommend checking out this article on apples by The Food Timeline and this podcast episode by History Bites.
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“Farm Bureau Cook Book,” Ohio Farm Bureau. No date.

I think this cookbook may have been published sometime in the 1940s because it lists several recipes as “sugarless” or containing the word “victory” in the title. Rationing items like sugar was common in the United States in the 1940s due to World War II. According to the Food Timeline, “Rationing was introduced in the United States by the Office of Price Administration in 1942 as a way to equitably distribute diminishing food supplies.” The regulations on rationing sugar remained in effect from April 1942 to June 1947. A couple interesting articles I found on World War II food rationing were “WW2 Rations + Victory Gardens” from Savor Tooth Tiger and “Here’s How to Make ‘Victory Cake’ With a Recipe From the World War II Home Front” by Lily Rothman for TIME Magazine.
View more vintage cookbooks
]]><![CDATA[Triple Scoop Choco Mocha Parfait]]>Sat, 11 May 2024 21:46:18 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/triple-scoop-choco-mocha-parfaitPicture
A Blue Ribbon Romance by C.M. Nascosta is a short novel featuring a high heat, slow burn romance between Violet, a human woman, and Rourke, a male minotaur. This book follows the same timeline as one of her other books, Morning Glory Milking Farm, but is told from Rourke’s perspective instead of Violet’s.

Rourke loves sweets almost as much as I do, and, at one point in the book, he orders a Triple Scoop Choco Mocha Parfait with extra marshmallows and chocolate sauce from an ice cream truck at the local weekly shopping bazaar. I had to try recreating this parfait because 1) it sounded delicious, 2) ice cream is one of my favorite foods, and 3) there was a recent spring-time heat wave in the D.C. area and I had no desire to turn on my oven and make my apartment feel even warmer than it was.
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]]><![CDATA[Vintage Cookbook Update]]>Sun, 05 May 2024 21:31:33 GMThttps://www.bibliophilebakingblog.com/home/vintage-cookbook-updatePicture
“Secrets of Making Frozen Desserts at Home,” The Peerless Freezer Company.

This undated product cookbook was published by the Peerless Freezer Company likely sometime between 1914 and 1974.  It features 150 recipes for a hand cranked ice cream machine.  Originally, this company was called Dana & Co. but was renamed to the Peerless Freezer Company after it was sold to the Alaska Freezer Company of Winchendon, Massachusetts in July 1914.  The Alaska Freezer Company manufactured ice cream freezers and other freezers from 1902 to 1974.  In 1974, the company was purchased by a group of investors and renamed White Mountain Freezer, Inc., and continued to manufacture freezers and hand cranked ice cream machines until the early 1990s.  In 2019, the town of Winchendon and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began the process of demolishing the abandoned Alaska Freezer plant because the building was literally falling apart and there were concerns about asbestos contaminating the site.

“A Guide to ROYAL SUCCESS in Baking,” Standard Brands Incorporated, 1939.

This product cookbook by the Royal Baking Powder Company has a variety of recipes featuring baking powder and cream of tartar.  The Royal Baking Powder Company was started in 1866 by the brothers Joseph Christoffel Hoagland and Cornelius Nevius Hoagland.  A couple of interesting articles I found on the history of baking powder were “Baking Powder: How Baking Powder Works – Types of Baking Powder – How To Test Baking Powder” by Linda Stradley/What’s Cooking America, and “The Great Uprising: How a Powder Revolutionized Baking” by Ben Panko for Smithsonian Magazine.

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