The Pound Cake Redemption

Poundcake! What is not to love about this sweet, dense little cake with its soft, chewy texture? It can be served in any number of ways with icing, ice cream, fruit, whipped cream, chocolate, or even just plain. Certainly, it's a very versatile little baked good.

When the Redheads last hung out, we made garlic croutons and worked on our last article (along with general distractedness involving games, cats, and internet). During this procedure, we had the grand epiphany of, "What would sweet croutons be like?"

Dorky genius. Cardigans make you SMART!

Braingasm.

There may have been velociraptor nonsense involved.

So, like the culinary scientists we are, we immediately started concocting possible award winning formulas for our godly treat.

SCIENCE!!!

 Interruption: We have just been informed by our lawyer that it is unethical to lie.We made the recipe in 5 minutes, after stealing general proportions from Caitlin's Garlic Crouton recipe, which we'll be covering in another post at some point in the future. 
      
Addendum: We don't actually have a lawyer. Caitlin's cat told us.

After a bit of discussion, we finally settled on two test batches, one made with cinnamon, and the other one with nutmeg. To both batches, we added a touch of allspice. Cinnamon was chosen because it seemed like a safe bet, and nutmeg was chosen because it generally sounded and smelled awesome in the container. Allspice was chosen because it tends to go well with both, and we wanted an accent flavor.

As a note, we only had one loaf of pound cake to play with, so we cut it in half; our recipe will be reflecting that. We'll also give you the recipe for a whole loaf with each at the end.

So, onto what you'll need utensil and ingredients wise!

Supplies
-Cutting board
-Knife - Any knife will do, pound cake tends to cut very nicely and easily, just try to avoid serrated knives, as they can create lots of crumbs.
-A small pan or pot.
-A fork - Really useful when mixing spices
-A sheet pan
-Tin foil

Ingredients
-Granulated sugar
-Butter or margerine
-A loaf of pound cake
-Allspice
-Nutmeg
-Cinnamon

Pretty simple, right? Exactly! Just what we like and aim for. Why should recipes have to be complicated to be delicious? Now, we were out of butter, so we used margarine, but we like butter more, so feel free to use it!

Recipe Breakdown

Cinnamon Pound cake Croutons
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
3 oz Margarine (or butter)
1/2 of a pound cake loaf.
Pinch of Allspice
Bake 15 minutes at 350 Degrees

Nutmeg Pound cake Croutons
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp Nutmeg
3 oz Margarine (or butter)
1/2 of a Pound cake loaf
Pinch of Allspice
Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees

Order of Operations

1. Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees and line the sheet pan with foil.

2. Cut the 1/2 loaf into cubes. I made my slices about 1 1/4 inches wide.

Then cut each slice into 6 pieces, to get me a decent cube size.

Steady as she goes!

Some cubes were sacrificed to the cause of "Quality Control." Om nom nom 

3. Measure out the sugar and spices for the version you're choosing, and mix them in a small bowl with a fork.

Fancy scale not included previously.

Cinnamon goodness.

The nutmeg was so intense it blurred the photo.
Kidding, Caitlin just owns a potato.

4. Over medium low heat, melt the margarine in a pan; once melted, mix in the spices and sugar.

5. Cook for about five minutes, or until the mixture starts to reduce and look slightly foamy on top.

6. Place pound cake cubes on the sheet pan, and pour the spice mixture carefully over them as this is basically sugar getting ready to boil. Also, try to make sure each piece is evenly coated.

We accidentally in the bowl.

Proper procedure.

7. Place them in the oven, and bake for the amount of time specified for your chosen spice recipe.

Holding pans is thirsty work.

Potato is not heat resistant.

We, especially Saryn, would like to stress the golden rule of cooking now.

Clean As You Go. 

OH GOD IT'S EVERYWHERE

We cannot stress this enough. Not only is it responsible and polite of you as a room mate, child, spouse, partner, pet, or parent, but also helps keep stress down on your part. Trust us, the worst thing in the world is to look at a sink full of dishes, and imagine having to do them. Do 'em as you get them. You and the people you share your kitchen with will thank you.

A tidy kitchen is a happy kitchen. :D

So, since we ARE food nerds, we're going to go over what we thought of our own creation. We actually were anticipating to like the cinnamon croutons a lot more than the nutmeg. When we were mixing the spices, the nutmeg one had a lovely aroma, but not a lot of flavor, so we were anticipating it to be more of an aromatic pound cake, rather than flavorful. We were certainly surprised at our results.

Nutmeg!

Cinnamon!

Right out of the oven, we noticed the difference. The cinnamon croutons had a lovely caramelized cinnamon crust going on, much like a cinnamon roll. They smelled divine. Pretty much just like a cinnamon roll, nothing to really write a letter to Mother about. The nutmeg croutons, however, were a different story. They were golden, and kinda looked like french toast, almost. Since we only baked our nutmeg batch 15 minutes, they were somewhat soggy, but letting them rest in the air for a bit changed the slight sogginess into an amazing crust with a sugary crunch when we first bit in.

 Flavor-wise, we had another surprise coming. The cinnamon one was very good, like a cinnamon roll. Great texture, a bit more crunch than Caitlin's boyfriend liked but still good. Saryn rather liked the texture, which in her opinion exceeded regular cinnamon rolls. The nutmeg was mouthgasmly good. Great spice ratio, great texture. We imagine it going amazingly well with ice cream like coffee or banana, or even pudding. The cinnamon ones would be a great snack by themselves- No, wait. Both are. But we thought of fewer things the cinnamon ones would go amazingly well with. More subtle ice creams like vanilla and banana would be good with the cinnamon, but nothing very potent.

An additional use for the cinnamon croutons: Fresh out of the oven, put them over banana ice cream for a makeshift kind of bananas foster!

So, Saryn and Caitlin personally enjoyed the nutmeg ones more, but Caitlin's boyfriend votes for the cinnamon croutons. We'll leave it up to you to decide which one you prefer.

Whoops.

Tools, Spices, and Miscellany

Good evening everybody, and welcome to the Redhead Kitchen! For our first post, we'd like to share with you guys a list of what you should have in your kitchen if you really, really want to cook. If you're a college kid in a dorm, we've also got a handful of tricks and tips for you to use as well in the event you've got naught but a microwave, a coffee maker, or a tea pot.

... How did that wind up rhyming?

Anyway, this list isn't to imply that you MUST HAVE EVERY ITEM. Some items are not super-necessary, others are practically requirements, and still more are just basics you probably have lying around in your kitchen, your parents' kitchen, or your friends' kitchens. This is hopefully going to be a blog that you can have parties with, who knows!

Note: The Redheads personally do not endorse cooking while drunk,. Leave that to the pros at My Drunk Kitchen, mmk? They also do not endorse cooking without heavy metal playing in the background. They do however endorse all-steel pots and pans due to versatility and oven use. They  dislike unitaskers.

Anyway, let's start with some basic hardware.

• Fire Extinguisher: You can usually buy single-use ones at Wal-Mart, or you can see about getting a proper one in your home. Just a recommendation: Make sure it's an ABC: Meaning it can handle a wide variety of combustibles. (Note: If you have a small grease fire in your pan, well, Caitlin has a story for you later.)
• French Knife: Also known as a chef's knife and is also the knife most commonly seen in slasher horror films, such as Halloween and Psycho. This knife is generally about eight inches long, an inch or two wide at the bolster (the point attached to the handle) and there are two knife styles: German and French. I'm not gonna go into the differences, but you need one of these. It's used for mincing, chopping, slicing, dicing, and turning certain ingredients into fine pastes.
• Paring Knife: The little knife, also comes in a huge variety of shapes, sizes, utilities, and so forth. My favorite one had a curved end (meaning, it was impossible to stab myself), but unfortunately the silicone handle peeled away. Anyway, this knife is usually two to three inches long, and the more common varieties are pointed at the end. This is used for fancy small cuts, peeling, and a fancy thing called a tournee. Tourney. It's a potato thing.
• Boning Knife: A few inches shorter than the French knife, the boning knife is a scary tool because it is super sharp for good reason: Its name. It is meant to easily rend raw meat from  bone, carve chicken breasts into tidbits, and slice ribs apart. It's also quite useful for other things as well. This knife has a variety of appearances, ranging from a simply smaller chef-knife look to an odd curvature leading into the knife blade. Something similar to this is called a 'tomato knife' but... that's just excessive.
• Small Pot: Stainless, ceramic, what have you: This pot usually holds about a box's worth of mac'n'cheese, for some size reference. 
• Medium Pot: Twice the size of aforementioned pot. This one's for soup, or other things, et cetera.
• Medium Pan: Basically, what you'd cook your omelets or scrambled eggs or pancakes in. For size reference, use your face (DO NOT DO THIS WHEN IT'S HOT). If it can cover your face, it's big enough.
• Cast-Iron Frying Pan: You can find one for pretty cheap at a hardware store. YOU NEVER WASH THESE. You rub them down with oil, heat them up, let them cool, then store them with paper towels between them, the shelf, and the next pan up. Washing these rusts them very quickly, so treat them with care.
• Mixing Bowls: Use some of those oversized chip bowls I know you've got hiding in your cupboards. You know the ones. 
• Rubber Spatula: Your basic rubber spatula, for mixing.
• Cooking Spatula: A heat-resistant spatula, a metal one, a plastic one, or a silicone one. 
• Cutting Board: Minimum of two or three; always have one delegated to only meats. Just to be safe.
• Saran Wrap/Plastic Wrap: Need I say more?
• Aluminum Foil
• Whisk: That funny many-armed contraption sitting in your drawer. That thing has a use other than frothing your cocoa.
• Oven Mitts: Please do invest in some good ones. The Ove' Glove is surprisingly good quality.
• Dish Towels: For drying up your messes and also to make your kitchen look lovely when not in use.
• Baking Sheets: Variety of sizes, shapes, and uses. We generally stick to the basic rectangular kind.
• Tupperware/Rubbermaid: Those containers that fall on your head every time you open your cabinet. Believe me, they're for more than cluttering up your shelves!
• Liquid Measuring Cup: Usually says 1/2 cup, 1 cup, something in milliliters. 
• Measuring Cup: Comes in 1 cup, 2/3 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 cup, and so forth.
• Measuring Spoons: Come in 1 tbsp, 1/2 tbsp, 1 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1/3 tsp, just a pinch.
• Tongs: Get a lot of these and make sure they're not flimsy. They should be a little bit heavy, only just so.
• Paper Towels: For draining grease from bacon or other fried items, cleaning up messier spills the dish towels can't.
• Colander/Strainer: A Strainer is that flat dude you hold over the edge of your pot and strain through while keeping the noodles in the pot. A Colander is the Holey Bowl.
• Baking Pan: For cakes, brownies, and other delectables that must RIIIISE. Also for scalloped potatoes and a wide variety of other nonsense. In short, anything and everything. Also useful for heating up food in the oven if you don't own a microwave. Redhead Saryn is one such unfortunate.

Now, onto basic spices and seasonings! 

• Salt: Ranging from iodized table salt to kosher to Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, every salt is different and can be used for different things. Caitlin generally uses table salt, but will be transitioning to kosher soon. Saryn is a fancy pants and prefers sea salt or kosher salt.
• Pepper: Black, red, pink, but we mostly use just straight black ground pepper. Other kinds include white, yellow, green, and so forth. Not all peppercorns are the same!
• Garlic Powder: Please use in small amounts, can be extremely salty and potent.
• Onion Powder: Same as garlic powder.
• Cumin: What exactly is this stuff anyway? Caitlin apologizes for being dumb. Cumin is a spice derived from a flower that's used in a lot of meat dishes, particularly North African, South Asian, and Latin American cuisine. And it's in Tacos. 
• Cinnamon: The stuff that makes Pillsbury rolls taste so gooood. Also great in savory dishes and is good for your heart, allegedly.
• Taco Seasoning: Universally delicious!
• Vanilla: Delicious in icing, in cakes, in cookies, and in hot cocoa!
• Sage
• Basil
• Thyme
• Oregano: Warning, very spicy, use caution! Unless you like having a crematorium in your mouth, please follow the recipes' amounts for this very closely.
• And moooore~

And lastly, food staples. Again, not telling you to run out and grab this whole list right this second, but just see what you've got. Honestly, if you've got eggs, milk, and cheese with flour, baking soda, and baking powder, you can probably make good cheesy biscuits.

• Eggs
• Milk
• Bread
• Flour
• Sugar
• Brown Sugar: Comes in light and dark, we'll let you know if you need one or the other. If it isn't specified, probably light.
• Baking powder
• Baking soda: This is also useful for cleaning!
• Rice
• Noodles
• Shortening
• Butter
• Margarine
• Vinegar: Many varieties, there are, but most common is white vinegar. Any recipes that differ will have notations saying such.
• Tomato Sauce
• Honey
• Cheese
• Onions
• Garlic
• Potatoes
• Lemon Juice
• Vegetable Oil
• Olive Oil

Again, there is no need to rush to the store and buy every ingredient or tool all at once. That's expensive as hell, and our goal is to show you guys quick, simple, and more importantly cheap ways to make delicious food - be it only for a single meal or a powerhouse of a recipe that'll last you for several days!

This is Redhead Caitlin and Redhead Saryn, signing off!