Nat's Adventures in Baking: honey

Inspiration can strike at any moment.

And when it does you have to be ready to just take it - and run.

Why?

Because if you don't, you can miss out on baking things like Honey Ricotta Stuffed Figs.

Actually, let me raise the stakes a little bit...

If you don't, you can miss out on creating things like Nat's Adventures In Baking.

I don't really remember what inspired me to finally sit down and open a blogger account.

I've always loved to bake.

Instead of waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons, I'd be making muffins and bothering my poor mother while she tried to get her well-deserved eight hours of sleep.

They weren't always good...or ever...for that matter, but I still loved it. And to this day, I blame the recipe, not my ten-year-old lack of skills.

Flash forward to 2010.

I'm pretty sure it was Bestie who finally convinced me to do it.

Chronicle my baking escapades? Alright. Why not?

What I wanted was "Adventures In Baking."

But some over-excited blogger had already scooped up that name.

I say over-excited, because now their site is about...not baking...and goes by a different title. Way to hog the goods there guys, thanks.

But that's besides the point, what's actually important is the fact that I ended up adding my nickname "Nat."

I had never once...until that moment...referred to myself as anything other than my legal name, Natalie.

Not Natty.

Or Noodles.

Or Nanny.

Or, the one that seems to follow me wherever I go...Nat.

But for some reason, at that moment, when blogger asked me a most poignant question:

"what. is. your. blog. name?"

I added "Nat."

At first, it was just my way of saying "nah, nah. nah, nah, nah!" I still get my title! But eventually, I realized that Nat's Adventures In Baking is a whole heck of a lot better than plain ol' boring Adventures In Baking.

There is a real person behind this blog. She likes to get flour and egg caked on her clothes, (Man, I should really wear an apron more often), complain about "other people's" mess ups, and spend hours adjusting the white balance and such in her photos.

What better way to convey that, than to announce it from the rooftops?

Inspiration is a funny fellow.

If it wasn't, then I wouldn't have ended up at an organic creamery, in downtown Santa Cruz, downing a cone full of Fig and Ricotta ice cream, in the pouring rain.

Rain + Ice Cream.
Who does that?!
It was the figs and ricotta. They made me do it. Beckoning me. Luring me in with their siren song.

Although it was not there to cause me harm.

It was good.
Too good.
So good, that it led to this.

Dried figs, stuffed with honey-sweetened ricotta cheese, wrapped in honey-drizzled phyllo dough.

These are good too, but not as good as that ice cream.
So, like, when's summer? Cause I have a two ingredient ice cream to make. a.s.a.p.

Honey Ricotta Stuffed Figs

16 Dried Whole Figs
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
2 Tbsp Honey (more or less to taste)
1 Package Phyllo Dough (found in the freezer section)
1/2 Stick of Butter, Melted

Makes 16 Servings (can easily be adjusted to fit your needs)

Preheat Oven to 325F

1) Unfortunately figs are out of season in January, or I might have tried fresh ones (yum!!) or at least
have been able to pick up a better batch of dried ones. I found these at a local produce store,
although I have also seen some at Costco and Trader Joe's (packaged in a bag, rather than a disk).
The whole point, though, is to have something big enough to cut open and stuff with cheese.

2) Phyllo dough is slightly temperamental, although not as difficult to work with as you may have read.

I came into this post knowing absolutely nothing about this stuff and I survived, so you can do it. I'm

going to create a post just on this sometime in the future. The basics of what you need to know are:

a) It's frozen, so it will need to be thawed overnight in the fridge,

b) It dries out fast, so you need to have everything else ready to go before you start working with it,

c) You need to moisten the layers with butter so they don't crack and fall apart,

d) You can refreeze anything you don't use.

3) Cheese stuffing. To be honest, I didn't really measure this out. It was about 1 Cup of ricotta cheese

to 2 Tbsp of honey. But you may need more or less depending on your taste preferences. If you

start small, you can't mess up. Just add more as needed. Stir to combine and set aside.

4) Fig Time! Arrange each fig so it is full size (in my package they were flattened to save space).

5) You'll notice there are two ends: a "flat" and a "pointy." Take some kitchen scissors (normal,

thoroughly washed, scissors work fine) and snip off just the tip of the pointy end.

6) Now cut the fig down the center leaving the flat end intact. In other words, don't cut all the way

through. We want the fig to remain in one piece.

7) Adjust the fig so you can cut across the opposite center to create a sort of "X" shape (pictured bottom

right corner). Repeat till all figs are prepared.

8) In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter. The next step is the dough, so everything needs to be set

and ready.

9) Unwrap thawed out phyllo dough. (FYI, it still needs to be chilled thaw and store in the fridge).
Grab 4 layers and wrap the rest back in the package. You may need more, but since it dries out you
can only work with one set at a time. Depending on how large your sheets are, you'll want to cut
them into approximately 4"x4" squares. Size doesn't have to be precise, just a reference. Once you
do it a few times you'll see if they need to be bigger or smaller. *Note: You will be working with the
4 layers together on top of each other, so even though there are "layers" you'll technically only be
cutting one piece/sheet.

10) Lift the top two layers off the square piece, and with a pastry/basting brush cover the remaining

layers in butter. Place the top layers diagonally over the bottom half and brush these with butter as

well. (The more butter, the more delicious. I didn't use too much here though. I kept it light).

11) With a teaspoon, spoon as much of the ricotta mixture into a fig as will fit.

12) Place fig on the prepared phyllo dough square.

13) Pinch and lift edges of dough around the fig and apply pressure to the top to close.

14) In a well greased mini-muffin pan (or a flat baking sheet) place figs one by one and the brush tops

with butter.

15) After all of the figs have been stuffed and wrapped, drizzle tops with honey. Again, here it's to

taste. The more you use, the more sweet and moist (less crispy) the dough will be.

16) Optional - dust the tops with a sprinkling of salt to help bring out the flavors.

17) If using a mini muffin tin, fill any empty slots with a small amount of water. This helps the pan to

heat evenly.

18) Cover lightly with foil. I did this so the tops wouldn't brown too quickly or burn in certain areas.

19) Cook at 325F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

20) Serve warm. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge.

What will inspiration think of next?

-----

Well, how about a Facebook page?

Never miss a post again! Plus, get extra "baking tidbits."
Like? Uh, yes please!!

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I love crazy coincidences.

Like that one baby who fell from a high window and was caught by a man who not only saved his life then, but also a year later when he fell out the same window and was caught by the same man.

Like that Edgar Allan Poe book about four survivors of a shipwreck who after many days out at sea decided to eat the cabin boy, Richard Parker - 45 years later there was an actual shipwreck, with four survivors and an unfortunate cabin boy, named Richard Parker.

I'll let you put the pieces together on that one.

...

I've even found a few of these "occurrences" in my own life. Now, granted, no man has saved me twice from falling into the hands of cannibalistic sea men, but they make for good stories nonetheless...

There was that one time when our family bused it across the country and bumped into the same friends in Washington D.C. at the Spy Museum and in line to see the Liberty Bell in Pennsylvania before our purposely planned meeting with them for dinner in New York City.

And

There was that one time I finally sat and had a real conversation with a coworker I had been working with for almost two years and we discovered we had the same taste in shows, same addiction to coffee, we had similar childhood experiences and personalities, we had even dated the same guy.

I've come to the conclusion that some things fit together too perfectly to be merely coincidence.

Like this post.

I know what you're thinking.

Beer bread?
Really?
You're going to claim life-alterting non-coincidences involving cake?
You hittin' the bottle a little hard there?

Um...
1) Yes, to the non-coincidence part. And I'll explain.
2) No, to the snide alcoholism reference. There's only one cup of beer in here and a good chunk of the
alcohol content gets cooked out during baking. No, duh! In your face!

And now, the proof...

Non-coincidence #1: I took a wine class my last semester of college.
Result: I no longer found alcohol disgusting.

Non-coincidence #2: I tasted a beer cupcake at work.
Result: The idea that beer and dessert do not mix was firmly implanted in my mind.

Non-coincident #3: My first baking blog request: beer cupcakes.
Result: First, the obvious: I wondered why the heck people like beer cupcakes so much. Second, my brain started developing strategies as to how to make a tolerable beer dessert.

Non-coincidence #4: While searching for a good recipe that would travel well to my uncle who is the reason this particular post exists, I stumbled upon this recipe that expressed what I was feeling EXACTLY.
-Girl makes cake out of devotion to relative.
-Girl cringes at thought of destroying beautiful cake with football belch juice.
-Girl puts devotion above personal feelings.
-Girl tastes cake before serving as all bakers must.
-Girl realizes cake it good.
-Girl is a baking goddess.
Result: Feelings of excitement and frankly a strong kinship with this girl fueled my resolve. Beer cake, it's on!

Non-coincidence #5: Having absolutely no experience in picking out beer, I went with the one that caught my eye at the supermarket. Gold star + "premium beer" promise = I took home a Sapporo. When my friend came over to help take pictures for this post he mentioned that not only was this his dads favorite beer, BUT his mom was once a hand model for this brand.
Result: Are you kidding me?! This is too good to be true. I bought a brand that my friend's mom was a hand model for?! Love it.

If you take 1 through 5 and add them together you get a pretty legit story.

Enter: The Honey Beer Cake

Honey Beer Cake

adapted from Tastespotting

3/4 Cup butter, room temperature

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 Tbsp milk

7 oz. Sapporo Beer (or beer of choice)

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 Cup honey

2 2/3 Cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

Approximately 10 Servings
Cooking Time: About 45 Minutes
Preheat Oven to 350F

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla together.

2) Add eggs one at a time. Beating well after each addition.

3) Mix in milk, beer, and lemon zest. Add honey.
(I knew there was a reason I started taking step-by-step pictures.) The batter will look almost
curdled. It's from the carbonation. Don't worry, this is normal and will settle after adding dry
ingredients.

4) In a sifter combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sift over wet ingredients, beating
occasionally between additions.

5) After ingredients are well combined, spoon batter into well greased loaf pan. Cook for
approximately 50 minutes. Start with 45 min and work your way up. I left it in for almost an hour
and it was slightly overcooked on the edges.

6) Test for doneness by inserting toothpick two inches from edge of pan. It's done when the pick
comes out clean. Let cake cook on rack for 10 minutes before removing.
Tip: To get the cake out, I ran a knife along the edges and flipped it upside down on a cookie sheet.