48 - Cream Cheese Cake

The very first recipe in the notebook I made for Russell was for Grandma Betty's cream cheese cake. This is clear evidence the book was primarily for me. I don't believe he'd ever made or had any intention of making that cake. I have been baking it for over 40 years!!
Years ago, the page separated itself from its spiral binding, but I still have the original, on very browned paper.

Here it is:


Beat 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2-cup sugar until fluffy.
Add 12 oz. softened cream cheese and beat.     To get a smooth, lump free batter, an immersion blender (which didn't exist in this recipe's early days)  speeds up the process and leads to an even more perfect cake!
Pour on crust (1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 stick melted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar).

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes
Cool 30 minutes

Pour on topping:
1/2 pt. sour cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Bake at 475 degrees for 5 minutes

I would remind you to prepare it in advance so you can serve it well chilled. It is extremely easy, and always a crowd pleaser. It was everyone's favorite birthday cake--so was usually made several times a year. In deference to the many sorts of cheesecakes in existence, I now call it a cream cheese cake--but for years we just called it "Cheese Cake."

49 - Butterscotch Brownies

The recipe, a doubling with a bit of variation on the butterscotch brownies in 1975 Joy of Cooking, was a staple for years. As one of the few gringa mothers of Sam's AYSO Culver City Soccer Teams, these brownies were my much praised and always expected contribution for the carne asada fiestas where the mothers with recent roots in Mexico and Central America supplied the meat, tortillas, salads, etc.

They are quick and easy and are made with ingredients I always have in the house. Due to my own lack of scientific precision, primarily having to do with the amount of chocolate chips and the length of cooking time, there were always great variations in texture and tone. Although I now think they might be a bit too sweet (I may have resolved that problem by reducing the chocolate chips in the current version) they were a crowd pleaser for many years.

I no longer feed soccer teams, but the other day I made a batch and  everyone  was very happy.

Pre-heat oven to 350°.  Melt one stick (1/2 cup) butter in heavy saucepan. Stir in 2 cups brown sugar until dissolved. Remove from stove and let cool a bit before adding two eggs beaten slightly with two teaspoons vanilla.

Sift (or not--depending on many factors—mostly the sloth variable) 1 cup flour with 2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder and one teaspoon salt. Stir this into the butter mixture. Put about one cup of walnuts in the blender and smash them until almost a paste, trying to leave some distinct little chunks-and stir that into the mixture. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chocolate chips (better to have the mixture relatively cool--so chips retain their chip nature and don't melt into strips of chocolate--unless of course you prefer molten chocolate strips).

Pour the batter into a 13" by 9" pan. Bake at 350 degrees between twenty minutes and a half hour. Try not to let the edges get too dry. It’s all better slightly undercooked--but always a little tricky. Once again, all mistakes are absolved when served.

50 - Key Lime Pie

The first key lime pie I made was in Los Angeles in the late eighties. I got the recipe from Kit Rachlis, after he’d made it for a dinner party. I later bought a post card in Florida with the same recipe—so I assume it is the classic (or at least one classic version).

I call it key lime pie, but rarely use key limes. Key limes--at least the ones that travel here from the keys or from Mexico--are a complete pain. They are tiny--very tiny--and not particularly juicy--so you have to cut and squeeze a massive number of little fruits to get the required three quarters of a cup of juice. It is possible that they have a much more complex and intriguing flavor-they are supposed to be more acidic-but I would think differences among limes might well be erased by all that condensed milk. Although I was initially elated when Trader Joe's introduced key limes, my enthusiasm for those little fruits didn't last very long. Many of the limes, at least those of the Trader Joe persuasion were almost juiceless and I for one could not detect any superiority of flavor. Now I pass them up for big fat California limes (which are in fact called Persian limes). Perhaps someday I will go to Key West--pluck some limes off a key lime tree and discover that they are in another league altogether. We shall see.

Preheat oven to 375.

In a 10' pie pan mix 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs, ¼ cup finely chopped almonds, and 1/8-1/4 cup sugar--with  6 tablespoons  melted butter. Bake for about 8 minutes.

Take out of oven and lower heat to 350. Beat six egg yolks till light and fluffy. Add one 14 oz can condensed milk --mix in well---then add 3/4 cup fresh squeezed limejuice--key lime or Persian--and two teaspoons grated lime. Pour onto crust and cook for about 20 minutes.

If you'd like you could top it with whipped cream. In diners you always see it topped with meringue--which makes great sense since you have all those egg whites left over, but not being a big meringue fan, and not thinking the cream is really necessary, I usually serve it unadorned.

51 - Almond Macaroons

O.k.--I just got this recipe at Christmas, but only made it for the first time last week for Angela's Oscar party.

These almond cookies taste exactly like a cookie that my mother used to buy at Jon Vie, a French bakery in the village. Jon Vie just closed a few years ago, but despite my memories of those almond macaroons, I never thought to buy them on any trips back to New York. Perhaps I’d forgotten them.

But this winter, as Sarah, Sam and I wended our way towards my sister’s house deep in the Redwood forests of northern California, Stephanie Weisman gave me a small packet of Christmas cookies which included these macaroons and gave me that every-sought-after Proustian cookie jolt. Almond macaroons! Jon Vie! My mother returning from New York City with an assortment of tiny exquisite cookies from Jon Vie bakery—here they were in Bernal Heights, San Francisco (Oh--how lucky I was--I'd just been coveting more of those cookies after sampling them at the home of Ann and Dan next door). The almond ones--ringers as they were to those long ago treats from Jon Vie were my instant favorite--fabulous almond flavor--light--a little chewy---very delicious, indeed. Stephanie Xeroxed a copy of her recipe for me and the next day, in our grand shopping spree before heading to Briceland, I did buy a tube of almond paste, thinking I might whip up a batch any minute.


In fact, two months slipped by before I noted that all the ingredients for the cookies had quietly gathered in my Venice kitchen. The recipe calls for a pound of almond paste--since the tube I purchased was 7 ounces, I more or less cut the following recipe in half. I had many egg whites left over from the key lime pie -- my original contribution to the Oscar party-and since there was also a very stale baguette waiting to be turned into crumbs--those almond cookies were almost screaming to be made. (For an even easier recipe--try the 2nd variation which I made at the last minute Passover, 2011)

Here's the recipe:
Thoroughly mix together:

*1 pound almond paste
2 cups sugar
5 egg whites
14 tablespoons plain white bread crumbs.

Refrigerate one hour.

Roll into balls and place on parchment paper on cookie sheets (the recipe said "walnut size"--I made smaller ones, I think). Flatten slightly with your hand. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes (maybe a bit shorter for smaller cookies).

And that is it.
* Not quite. I have begun to make my own almond paste--much less expensive--and easy--here's the recipe--it can easily be made in advance:

I buy almond meal at Trader Joe's--makes it even easier--but here's the recipe with whole almonds:

1 1/2 cups whole blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon almond etract
1/4 teaspoon salt.

In a food processor, grind half the almonds until very fine.
Repeat with remaining almonds--andd all nuts and other ingredients and process until a paste forms. make into a mall. Store tightly covered in refrigerator

Even quicker and easier variation:

Preheat oven to 325
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper--
Mix together:
3 egg whites
1 and 1/4 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 cups ground almonds--you can ground almonds--or buy tj's almond meal--probably not as good as freshly ground--but good enough
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon amaretto (I didn't use this--but I'm sure it would be excellent)

Let mixture stand for about twenty minutes.

You should be able (with wet hands) to make little balls out of this mixture--if they seem too wet add more almonds--maybe 3/4 inch in diameter--maybe smaller--space widely on parchment paper--Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden--turning pan half-way through or whenever to ensure even cooking. I think i just bake one pan at a time seems to make things go smoother.
Cool completely before removing from paper. Store in air-tight container.

And here's epicurious:

Preheat oven to 350°F. and lightly butter a baking sheet.

In a food processor pulse 1 cup almonds with 2/3 cup granulated sugar until ground fine. Add one egg white, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and a pinch salt and pulse until combined. Roll mixture into 16 balls, about 1 inch in diameter, and arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Slightly flatten balls and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar. Gently press 1 almond into each cookie.

Bake macaroons in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer macaroons to a rack and cool completely. Macaroons keep 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

52 - Apricot Jell-O Mold with Sour Cream

Another winning recipe from Betty Jacoby. My mother never made any kind of Jell-O salad or mold. We did have plain Jell-O, as well as chocolate pudding made straight from the boxes. This recipe from Betty—despite—or perhaps because of its brilliant orange hues—worked its way right into the permanent Thanksgiving repertory.

The original recipe called for two large boxes of Apricot Jell-O. In recent years, I have not been able to find this particular flavor of orange—but have discovered that any orange colored (particularly peach) Jell-O works as well. The apricot flavor comes from the nectar or apricot juice. I used to divide the liquid—half water, half apricot juice—but I think it works even better with all apricot juice, no water. By better, I mean I prefer the texture of the all-nectar version, but it does become ridiculously sweet (we never seem to complain about that) with ever-greater proportions of the juice.

When served as part of the great Thanksgiving feast, most guests don’t venture near it. Hoorah we say—more for us! And anyone who tastes it, of course, becomes an instant convert.

I have always used a circular 12 cup ring mold that I borrowed from a neighbor about 25 years ago. When I attempted to return it after several years, she told me to keep it. It rests quietly most of the year, but is called to service annually for Apricot Jell-O Mold.

Prepare one large box of apricot Jell-O (or another related orange colored fruit flavor) following the instructions, but substituting apricot nectar for water (or you could just substitute the nectar for the cold water—play with it.

When the Jell-O is made (that would be one box worth)—put it in the refrigerator until it’s well set, abiding by the rules on the box.

When Jell-O is set, very gently spread one/half to one pint of sour cream evenly. Put back in refrigerate to toughen up the sour cream a bit.

Prepare second box of Jell-O as you did the first. Let it cool a bit, then gently spoon it atop the sour cream. The goal here is to keep the sour cream intact—and not break it up with the poured Jell-O. I have struggled with this for years, and have been most successful if I have a time to add a very thin layer of Jell-O first, refrigerate, and when that is set, add the rest. Of course, even if the sour cream goes crazy and rises up into the Jell-O, it will still be delicious—but it will not be as beautiful. Again, more for the family, less for the guests.