Sweet Pea Patisserie

The Daring Bakers and Cheesecake: Take Two

2009-04-27T10:28:00.001-04:00

It's the end of the month and time for another Daring Bakers Challenge.

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Can I just preface this post with the fact that I love cheesecake. It is the one dessert that I will hoard and eat the entire pan of by myself. I'm not sure that I should admit this but, I made these cheesecakes on Friday and I didn't let my kids have one until last night. Sad, huh?

We were given a basic cheesecake recipe and were given free reign with our creativity. When I announced this months challenge to my husband, he said, "can't you just make a plain cheesecake?". He is a very plain kinda guy, he won't eat anything mixed and doesn't like his foods to even touch on his plate. So, to appease him, I made a batch of plain vanilla bean cheesecake and then made them in my mini muffin tin so that I could change up a few of the flavors. I made some caramel to swirl through a few, added some chocolate chunks and caramel to others, and made a berry coulis to swirl in the rest. Of course I left several plain for the hubby. I also used a ginger and cinnamon cookie for the crust which gave the cookies a little something extra. Not very creative I know but it is cheesecake none-the-less and so I am happy. I really did want to be more creative but I decided that this month I would only use ingredients that I already had a home, no trips to the store just for the challenge. All in all, this was a fun challenge, it's always nice to enjoy what you bake, and this month I did.

Don't forget to check out all of the amazing Daring Bakers with their unlimited creativity, you will see some absolutely amazing cheesecakes. Also, the Daring Bakers have a new home, so check out the new site while you're at it.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

The Daring Bakers go Italian

2009-03-28T02:28:00.001-04:00

It's the end of another month and time once again for another Daring Bakers challenge. This months challenge was definitely out of the ordinary. Never before have the Daring Bakers wandered into the dinner scene, until now. March's challenge was to make super thin sheets of pasta for a homemade lasagne. Not the usual cake, tart or pie but a challenge none the less.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

I have to admit, I had never made homemade pasta until this month, but that's what being a Daring Baker is all about, challenging yourself to try new things and improve your baking skills. After the challenge was issued,I jumped right in and tried a few things. I made delicious fettuccini noodles and strawberry ravioli to try my hand at pasta making and was surprised to find out that it really wasn't that hard at all.

Of course the month got away with me and I found myself rushing to complete this challenge at the last minute. I knew I would have to make a few modifications to the recipe. Firstly, two versions were needed. One for my vegetarian self and one for the rest of the family. I decided for the vegetarian version that I would make a roasted vegetable ragu in place of the meaty one. I used my own sauce recipe for both of the lasagnas because frankly, I love it. I also substituted some whole milk mozzarella for the parmigiano as I only had a little chunk left and really didn't want to run out to the store. Aside from the sauce, I only made one change in the meaty version. My husband prefers only beef in his lasagna so I left out the veal and other meats. The meat version must have been as good as mine or better because the family ate it all up before I could even snap a picture.

This lasagne was one of the best lasagnas that I have ever eaten. The layers were paper thin with just a little sauce and cheese in between. I think that each of the lasagnas had eight delectable layers. The only difficulty I had in making this lasagna was keeping the noodles from tearing after boiling them. they were so thin that I could probably read a book through the layers. I have to admit, I didn't roll the pasta by hand but instead used a pasta roller which made life a whole lot easier.

I look forward to making this again and trying different variations, although this original is absolutely delicious. Don't be put off by the length of the recipe. As long as you make the sauce and pasta ahead, the assembly and cooking is a cinch.

Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna (Lasagne Verdi al Forno)
(Serves 8 to 10 as a first course, 6 to 8 as a main dish)

Preparation Time: 15 minutes to assemble and 40 minutes cooking time

10 quarts (9 litres) salted water
1 recipe Spinach Pasta cut for lasagna (recipe follows)#1
1 recipe Bechamel Sauce (recipe follows)#2
1 recipe Country Style Ragu (recipe follows)#3
1 cup (4 ounces/125g) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Method
Working Ahead:
The ragu and the béchamel sauce can be made up to three days ahead. The ragu can also be frozen for up to one month. The pasta can be rolled out, cut and dried up to 24 hours before cooking. The assembled lasagne can wait at room temperature (20 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit) about 1 hour before baking. Do not refrigerate it before baking, as the topping of béchamel and cheese will overcook by the time the center is hot.

Assembling the Ingredients:
Have all the sauces, rewarmed gently over a medium heat, and the pasta at hand. Have a large perforated skimmer and a large bowl of cold water next to the stove. Spread a double thickness of paper towels over a large counter space. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Oil or butter a 3 quart (approx 3 litre) shallow baking dish.

Cooking the Pasta:
Bring the salted water to a boil. Drop about four pieces of pasta in the water at a time. Cook about 2 minutes. If you are using dried pasta, cook about 4 minutes, taste, and cook longer if necessary. The pasta will continue cooking during baking, so make sure it is only barely tender. Lift the lasagne from the water with a skimmer, drain, and then slip into the bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, lift out and dry on the paper towels. Repeat until all the pasta is cooked.

Assembling the Lasagne:
Spread a thin layer of béchamel over the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange a layer of about four overlapping sheets of pasta over the béchamel. Spread a thin layer of béchamel (about 3 or 4 spoonfuls) over the pasta, and then an equally thin layer of the ragu. Sprinkle with about 1&1/2 tablespoons of the béchamel and about 1/3 cup of the cheese. Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, finishing with béchamel sauce and topping with a generous dusting of cheese.

Baking and Serving the Lasagne:
Cover the baking dish lightly with foil, taking care not to let it touch the top of the lasagne. Bake 40 minutes, or until almost heated through. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until hot in the center (test by inserting a knife – if it comes out very warm, the dish is ready). Take care not to brown the cheese topping. It should be melted, creamy looking and barely tinged with a little gold. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the lasagne rest for about 10 minutes. Then serve. This is not a solid lasagne, but a moist one that slips a bit when it is cut and served.

#1 Spinach Egg Pasta (Pasta Verde)

Preparation: 45 minutes

Makes enough for 6 to 8 first course servings or 4 to 6 main course servings, equivalent to 1 pound (450g) dried boxed pasta.

2 jumbo eggs (2 ounces/60g or more)
10 ounces (300g) fresh spinach, rinsed dry, and finely chopped; or 6 ounces (170g) frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3&1/2 cups (14 ounces/400g) all purpose unbleached (plain) flour (organic stone ground preferred)

Working by Hand:

Equipment

A roomy work surface, 24 to 30 inches deep by 30 to 36 inches (60cm to 77cm deep by 60cm to 92cm). Any smooth surface will do, but marble cools dough slightly, making it less flexible than desired.

A pastry scraper and a small wooden spoon for blending the dough.

A wooden dowel-style rolling pin. In Italy, pasta makers use one about 35 inches long and 2 inches thick (89cm long and 5cm thick). The shorter American-style pin with handles at either end can be used, but the longer it is, the easier it is to roll the pasta.
Note: although it is not traditional, Enza has successfully made pasta with a marble rolling pin, and this can be substituted for the wooden pin, if you have one.

Plastic wrap to wrap the resting dough and to cover rolled-out pasta waiting to be filled. It protects the pasta from drying out too quickly.

A sharp chef’s knife for cutting pasta sheets.

Cloth-covered chair backs, broom handles, or specially designed pasta racks found in cookware shops for draping the pasta.

Mixing the dough:
Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and spinach. Use a wooden spoon to beat together the eggs and spinach. Then gradually start incorporating shallow scrapings of flour from the sides of the well into the liquid. As you work more and more flour into the liquid, the well’s sides may collapse. Use a pastry scraper to keep the liquids from running off and to incorporate the last bits of flour into the dough. Don’t worry if it looks like a hopelessly rough and messy lump.

Kneading:
With the aid of the scraper to scoop up unruly pieces, start kneading the dough. Once it becomes a cohesive mass, use the scraper to remove any bits of hard flour on the work surface – these will make the dough lumpy. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Its consistency should be elastic and a little sticky. If it is too sticky to move easily, knead in a few more tablespoons of flour. Continue kneading about 10 minutes, or until the dough has become satiny, smooth, and very elastic. It will feel alive under your hands. Do not shortcut this step. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let it relax at room temperature 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Stretching and Thinning:
If using an extra-long rolling pin work with half the dough at a time. With a regular-length rolling pin, roll out a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest of the dough wrapped. Lightly sprinkle a large work surface with flour. The idea is to stretch the dough rather than press down and push it. Shape it into a ball and begin rolling out to form a circle, frequently turning the disc of dough a quarter turn. As it thins outs, start rolling the disc back on the pin a quarter of the way toward the center and stretching it gently sideways by running the palms of your hands over the rolled-up dough from the center of the pin outward. Unroll, turn the disc a quarter turn, and repeat. Do twice more.

Stretch and even out the center of the disc by rolling the dough a quarter of the way back on the pin. Then gently push the rolling pin away from you with one hand while holding the sheet in place on the work surface with the other hand. Repeat three more times, turning the dough a quarter turn each time.

Repeat the two processes as the disc becomes larger and thinner. The goal is a sheet of even thickness. For lasagne, the sheet should be so thin that you can clearly see your hand through it and see colours. Cut into rectangles about 4 by 8 inches (10 x 20 cm). Note: Enza says that transparency is a crucial element of lasagne pasta and the dough should be rolled as thinly as possible. She says this is why her housekeeper has such strong arms!

Dry the pasta at room temperature and store in a sealed container or bag.

#2 Bechamel

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

4 tablespoons (2 ounces/60g) unsalted butter
4 tablespoons (2 ounces/60g) all purpose unbleached (plain) flour, organic stone ground preferred
2&2/3 cups (approx 570ml) milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste

Using a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. Sift over the flour, whisk until smooth, and then stir (without stopping) for about 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk a little at a time and keep the mixture smooth. Bring to a slow simmer, and stir 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Season with salt, pepper, and a hint of nutmeg.

#3 Country Style Ragu’ (Ragu alla Contadina)

Preparation Time: Ingredient Preparation Time 30 minutes and Cooking time 2 hours

Makes enough sauce for 1 recipe fresh pasta or 1 pound/450g dried pasta)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (45 mL)
2 ounces/60g pancetta, finely chopped
1 medium onion, minced
1 medium stalk celery with leaves, minced
1 small carrot, minced
4 ounces/125g boneless veal shoulder or round
4 ounces/125g pork loin, trimmed of fat, or 4 ounces/125g mild Italian sausage (made without fennel)
8 ounces/250g beef skirt steak, hanging tender, or boneless chuck blade or chuck center cut (in order of preference)
1 ounce/30g thinly sliced Prosciutto di Parma
2/3 cup (5 ounces/160ml) dry red wine
1 &1/2 cups (12 ounces/375ml) chicken or beef stock (homemade if possible)
2 cups (16 ounces/500ml) milk
3 canned plum tomatoes, drained
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Working Ahead:
The ragu can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. It also freezes well for up to 1 month. Skim the fat from the ragu’ before using it.

Browning the Ragu Base:
Heat the olive oil in a 12 inch (30cm) skillet (frying pan) over medium-high heat. Have a large saucepan handy to use once browning is complete. Add the pancetta and minced vegetables and sauté, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, 10 minutes, or until the onions barely begin to color. Coarsely grind all the meats together, including the prosciutto, in a food processor or meat grinder. Stir into the pan and slowly brown over medium heat. First the meats will give off a liquid and turn dull grey but, as the liquid evaporates, browning will begin. Stir often, scooping under the meats with the wooden spatula. Protect the brown glaze forming on the bottom of the pan by turning the heat down. Cook 15 minutes, or until the meats are a deep brown. Turn the contents of the skillet into a strainer and shake out the fat. Turn them into the saucepan and set over medium heat.

Reducing and Simmering: Add the wine to the skillet, lowering the heat so the sauce bubbles quietly. Stir occasionally until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Scrape up the brown glaze as the wine bubbles. Then pour the reduced wine into the saucepan and set the skillet aside.

Stir ½ cup stock into the saucepan and let it bubble slowly, 10 minutes, or until totally evaporated. Repeat with another ½ cup stock. Stir in the last 1/2 cup stock along with the milk. Adjust heat so the liquid bubbles very slowly. Partially cover the pot, and cook 1 hour. Stir frequently to check for sticking.

Add the tomatoes, crushing them as they go into the pot. Cook uncovered, at a very slow bubble for another 45 minutes, or until the sauce resembles a thick, meaty stew. Season with salt and pepper

Baked Pear and Cinnamon Doughnuts

2009-03-14T22:47:00.001-04:00

I first saw a rendition of this recipe in Martha Stewart Baby several years ago, I mean it was like 6 or so years ago. I remember wanting to try it out but never really getting around to it. It was a delicious looking recipe with apples and cinnamon and supposed to be a healthier alternative to the fried versions . Back then, I really wasn't much of a baker and hadn't really got the knack for all things yeast so I was a little intimidated. I wish I had known back then how easy and unintimidating yeast really was because I would have had that much more time to enjoy this delicious treat.

The original recipe called for an apple, but today I had pears lying around so that is what I used and I went with butter in place of the oil. I mean, if I am going for fat, I would much rather have butter than oil any day. I also used cake flour hoping that the lower amount of gluten would result in a softer, lighter dough. You could use all-purpose flour you'll probably just need a little less. Another measure I took to ensure a soft delicate doughnut was to use buttermilk in place of the milk. I love buttermilk. My fridge would feel bare without the stuff and inevitably when I run out I am scrambling back to the store to get some more.

To top the doughnuts off, I used some leftover caramel that I thinned with some heavy cream and then walnuts. I could not live without walnuts either although the rest of my family would disagree with that one. I left some nut free for them but also dipped half the batch in some melted butter and then into powdered sugar, another favorite.

These doughnuts were delicious and were best eaten hot. I am hoping that they will still be good for breakfast tomorrow, that is if there are any left.

Baked Pear and Cinnamon Doughnuts

1 cup warm buttermilk

1 TBS SAF instant yeast

1/4 cup sugar

3 TBS butter, melted

1 large pear, peeled and grated

1 egg

1 TBS. Cinnamon

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup wheat germ

1 tsp. salt

4 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted

melted butter for dipping

powdered sugar

caramel

walnuts, chopped

1. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the buttermilk, yeast and sugar. Let sit for about 10 or until foamy. Add the butter, pear, egg, cinnamon, vanilla and wheat germ and mix to combine.

2. Add a cup or two of the flour and the salt and mix to combine. Continue adding the flour in batches with the mixer running until the dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl but is still a little sticky. With greased hands, remove dough from mixing bowl and into a clean greased bowl. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled and puffy.

3. Dump the dough onto a well floured surface. Knead a few times to make a little less sticky and to make a smooth dough. Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out into doughnuts and place onto a greased baking sheet.

4. Cover the doughnuts and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the doughnuts raise for about 45 minutes or until puffy and well risen. Bake the doughnuts for 7-9 minutes or until just cooked. You do not want to overbake these.

5. Remove the doughnuts from the oven and either brush or dip into the butter and then into the powdered sugar. Alternatively, dip into the caramel and then into the chopped walnuts (you do not need to dip the caramel ones in butter). Eat while warm!

Almond Joy Bonbons

2009-03-05T11:21:00.001-05:00

I can remember as a kid a commercial for a bite-sized scoop of ice cream covered in chocolate called a bonbon. I remember begging my mom to buy them for me. But of course, they were too unhealthy and way too expensive. If only I would have known how easy they were to make.

These little gems are made with some of the leftover coconut ice cream. I thought of the almond joy candy bars when making these. The creamy coconut ice cream is rolled in chopped toasted almonds and then drizzled in chocolate. I really would have liked to dip them in the chocolate first but after that flourless chocolate cake I was left with very little chocolate. Either way these are delicious bite size morsels.

The recipe is really very simple.

1. Make small scoops of the ice cream and freeze until solid. 2. Roll in chopped toasted almonds and freeze again until firm. 3. Drizzle with the melted chocolate and freeze again until firm.

Super simple and delicious.

The Daring Bakers make Chocolate Valentino Cake

2009-02-28T17:17:00.002-05:00

It's the end of another month and time once again for another Daring Baker's challenge. Being the month of love it was fitting that chocolate be the star of this months challenge.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

We have had so many sweets around here that I chose to halve the recipe for the valentino cake and bake them in my muffin tin. For the ice cream I decided to go my own way and make up my own recipe. I ended up with a deliciously creamy coconut ice cream, which is definitely for coconut lovers only. Since the valentino recipe wasn't all that challenging I also decided to make these little chocolate cups which was a first for me. I was so excited with how they came out. They looked so fancy that I really didn't want to eat them.

I put one of the small valentino cakes in the bottom of the chocolate cup and then topped it with the creamy coconut ice cream and then added another sliver of the cake as an accent and to let you know what was inside. All in all a fun and delicious challenge.

My sentiment on the cake is that it was very similar to my rich chocolate brownies with a little silkier texture, like a mix between an deeply chocolaty brownie and a silky smooth mouse. A little of this cake definitely goes a long way.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.

Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Coconut Ice Cream

1 can coconut milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

5 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. coconut extract

1. Heat the coconut milk, cream and milk until it just begins to from bubbles around the edges.

2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light and pale and the mixture falls back on itself and forms ribbons.

3. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle in a ladle full of the warm milk mixture. Continue adding the milk mixture in ladle-fulls until you've add about 1/2 of the milk mixture. Then pour the egg yolk mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk mixture.

4. Put the mixture back over medium-low to medium heat and heat stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil.

5. Pour the thickened mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl. Stir in the extract and let the mixture sit out to cool. Once cooled, cover and refrigerate until well chilled preferably overnight.

6. Freeze in ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

A Little Hot Apple Love

2009-02-14T00:37:00.001-05:00

The other day my 5 year old came to me and asked me what we you do on Valentines day. She wanted to know if we could go out an buy presents for each other like Christmas. I explained that daddy and I would probably go out but besides that we wouldn't be doing much. She then requested that we make heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then tacos for dinner. She then asked what we would have for dessert. I knew she would love anything that we could make together and so these little heart shaped apple pastries came to be.

These are so easy and the kiddos can help out. All you need is an apple some cinnamon and sugar and some biscuit dough.

Heart Shaped Apple Pastries

1 medium golden delicious or granny smith apple, peeled and diced

2 1/2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 can Grands biscuit dough (I used the flaky layers ones)

1 Tbs cream or milk

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a cookie sheet. Mix together the apples, sugar and cinnamon.

2. Separate the biscuits, roll out and cut with a heart shaped cutter. Place a heaping spoonful of the apples on top the half of the hearts and cover with another heart shaped biscuit. Crimp the edges with a fork.

3. Mix together the remaining sugar and cinnamon. Brush the top of the hearts with the cream or milk and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Poke a few slits in the top with a knife.

4. bake for about 20 minutes or until the biscuits are browned and cooked all the way through. Drizzle with the glaze**.

**To make the powdered sugar glaze, mix together 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 1-2 Tbs cream or milk. Drizzle over hearts with a fork.**

Brownie Truffle Bites

2009-02-10T09:32:00.001-05:00

This is a super easy recipe that would be great for your sweetie this Valentines day. All you need is a pan of brownies, some white chocolate or almond bark and some red or pink candy melts.

I made a pan of my peanut butter brownies for this one but any brownie would work, even a mix. Using a small scoop, make balls out of the brownies. Chill or freeze until firm. Melt some almond bark or white chocolate (almond bark will cover the chocolate better). Dip the brownie balls into the chocolate and lay on a parchment lined tray to set. Drizzle with some melted red or pink candy melts and viola. East peasy lemon squeezy.

You could also roll the ball into powdered sugar, cocoa powder or coconut for an even easier little treat. These are so easy that you've gotta try them.

Mini Chocolate Cream Pies

2009-02-02T18:57:00.001-05:00

Today my kids and I wanted to make a desert for family night but were running low on supplies. No chocolate chips for cookies, very little brown sugar or nuts. What we did find on the other hand was some leftover pie dough in the freezer, a package of chocolate pudding (yes a mix), and some whipping cream.

We could have made regular chocolate cream pie, but I love small treats. I think that's because I don't feel so guilty eating them. These were great because they were so easy that the kids could help out but they look so cute too. After finishing these, my kids were covered with chocolate pudding and whipped cream, it was even in their hair. It was pretty cute!

Mini Chocolate Cream Pie

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbs. Sugar

1/2 cup cold butter, cut in to pieces

1/2 cup shortening

about 1/2 cup ice water

1 large pkg. (2.1 oz) Chocolate pudding

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 cup cold whipping cream

Grated Chocolate for garnish (optional)

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour salt and sugar. Cut in the butter an d shortening until the fat has irregular pieces about the size of peas.

2. Slowly add a tablespoon of water at a time carefully mixing the water into the dough. Add enough water so that the dough forms a ball when pressed together. Do not overmix. Form the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour to let the gluten relax.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a mini muffin tin. Place a tablespoon of dough into each cup. Using a mini tart shaper press the dough to form a mini pie shell. Bake for about 15 minutes or until baked through. Remove baked shells from pan and cool.

4. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Put the whipped cream into another bowl. Empty the pudding mix and milk into the mixing bowl, whip together until thickened and well mixed. Fold in 2/3 of the whipped cream in small batches into the pudding. Be sure to fold and not mix as you don't want to deflate the whipped cream.

4. Place the pudding mixture into a ziploc bag and snip the corner. Pipe the pudding into the premade cooled shells. Place the remaining whipped cream into another ziploc bag and pie the cream on top of the pies. Garnish with some grated chocolate if desired. Store the pies in the fridge to set.

Tuiles with the Daring Bakers

2009-01-31T02:06:00.001-05:00

I was really bummed that I wasn't able to complete last months challenge. December was just a crazy month in more ways than one and the Daring Bakers Challenge was pushed to the back burner. I am back this month, albeit a day late.

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I had never made tuiles, a thin crispy, traditionally almond, cookie that is shaped after baking, and so was very excited to jump right in and try this months challenge. I loved that the list of ingredients wasn't a mile long or weighed down with ingredients that were pricey or over the top. Just simple ingredients that I already had in my kitchen.

The tuiles were also fairly quick and easy, the hardest part being spreading them onto the pan in an even shape. We were asked to pair our tuiles with something light and fruity. I had several ideas but my procrastination shortened that list considerably. I decided to go for a easy but fancy looking (think Valentines Day) dessert that was part cannoli and part blintz.

I made a ricotta, cream cheese and raspberry filling for the tuiles which I shaped into tubes around my whisk. I then drizzled them with dark chocolate and sprinkled them with a few pistachios for crunch and color. These tuiles were putting on heirs as they donned this fancy look but were so simple to make. It was fun to put these together and there are so many more possibilities in my head that I am going to have to make these again.

Tuiles

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe:
Yields: 10 cannoli tuiles

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not over mix.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

Use an off sided spatula to spread batter in circles on greased baking sheet. Leave some room in between your shapes.

Bake tuiles in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Almond Ricotta Muffins

2009-01-23T18:38:00.001-05:00

Last week I received an e-mail from the crew at Desserts Magazine letting me know that I had won the giveaway for a new super awesome kitchen scale, the Escali Pana Scale to be exact. I love my old one but it is jut your average run of the mill kitchen scale but this one has a new amazing feature. You can measure out cups or tablespoons of flour or 98 other ingredients without lifting a spoon, or should I say a measuring spoon. With this scale, you push the volume button, enter in the number of the ingredient on the numeric keypad, watch the display until you get the correct number of cups or tablespoons. No more spooning and leveling, easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I have been dying to bake something since last night when the UPS man delivered my new kitchen scale. So, after I finished some much needed house cleaning, I looked through my fridge and pantry to see what I could put together. I found a large container of ricotta and a partial bag of almonds. I decided to see what I could throw together in muffin form with these ingredients and came up with these muffins.

The ground almonds give the muffins a little chewiness while the buttermilk and ricotta add the tenderness. The muffins aren't really that sweet, which is the way I like things. The almond glaze on top is what gives them most of their sweetness. You could add a few more Tablespoons of sugar if you really wanted a sweeter muffin but I think that combination of the lightly sweet muffins and the super sweet glaze really balance out the whole muffin.

Almond Ricotta Muffins

1 1/4 cups Flour

1/2 cups Almond meal** (See notes below on how to make your own)

1/2 cup Sugar

1 Tbs. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Ricotta

1/2 cup Buttermilk

1 TBS. Milk

1/4 cup (4TBS. , 1/2 stick) Butter, melted

1/2 tsp. Almond extract

1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

Glaze (recipe Follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease muffin pan, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

3. In a separate bowl combine the eggs, ricotta, buttermilk, milk, butter and extracts, stirring to combine.

4. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined. Scoop mixture into the muffin pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden and the tip of a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffin. Remove from pans to a cooling rack and let cool.

Almond Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 Tbs. Milk

1. In a bowl combine all ingredients adding the milk slowly to form a glaze that is thick enough to drizzle. Drizzle over the cooled muffins.

**Making your own almond meal is easy and a lot cheaper than buying it in the store. Just take a small saucepan and fill with water. Heat to boiling. Throw a few handfuls of almonds into the boiling water and boil for a minute or two. Turn the heat off and let sit for another minute. Pour the almonds through a strainer. Take the skins off each almond by lightly squeezing them, the skins should just pop off. Return the almonds to the pan and turn the heat back on for another minute just to dry the almonds off. Stir them and watch them carefully, you don't want burnt almonds! Put the almonds into a food processor or blender with 2 TBS. of powdered sugar and process until it is finely ground. Be careful not to over process, you don't want a paste, the powdered sugar should help to prevent that. Measure and use as needed.**

English Muffin Bread

2009-01-21T13:00:00.001-05:00

This morning as I was surfing the Internet, I checked one of my favorite sites, King Arthur Flour and came across this recipe for English Muffin bread. They have so many recipes and many of them are guaranteed to work (if they don't they will actually send you a $5 gift certificate). I have tried several of them and have been pleased with them all. This recipe was so quick and easy that I decided to make it to make it this morning and had it ready for breakfast. This is a bread for those of you who are just starting out with bread making or are looking for something quick and easy. It is so easy that it requires no kneading. It is a great mix between a yeast bread and a quick bread and only takes about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish.

The bread has a chewy texture with great air pockets and makes a delicious toast especially when covered in jam. It is so good that while I was trying to take pictures this morning, my son kept sneaking slices that I had cut ( I lost count after three).

English Muffin Bread

from King Arthur Flour

3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
cornmeal, to sprinkle in pan

Directions

1) Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.

2) Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. The liquid will feel very hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would scald you. As a reference point, the hottest water from your kitchen tap is probably around 120°F (unless your tap water is so hot that it burns you).

3) Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.

4) Beat at high speed for 1 minute. The dough will be very soft.

5) Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal.

6) Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.

7) Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.

8) Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 20 to 22 minutes, till it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F.

9) Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Monkey Bread

2009-01-15T13:25:00.001-05:00

I'm sure that everyone has their own recipe for monkey bread but my preschool kids made this one with me today and they were so proud of it I thought that I would post the recipe here and show off their cooking skills.

I really love to cook with kids in the kitchen, they love to help out and see the results. The preschoolers eyes were huge when this came out of the oven. My kids are always begging me to cook all of our meals and desserts together. Saturday is our big breakfast day and my 7 year old makes the pancakes while my 5 year old makes the eggs and my 2 1/2 year old flips the sausages. It can be a little crazy and there are times where I just have to ask them to let me cook on my own, but they would be in the kitchen making every meal with me if I let them. I also notice that my kids are a lot more willing to try something new if they have had a hand in making it.

This is such a fun snack to make with your kids and it is so delicious you'll want to make it again and again.

Monkey Bread

Dough

2 cups warm water

4 tsp. yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup oil

2 tsp salt

5-7 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 TBS cinnamon

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the water, yeast, sugar and vanilla. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes or until foamy.

2. Add the oil, salt and 3 cups of the flour. Mix with the dough hook until combined. Slowly add more flour until the dough clears the side of the bowl but still sticks to the bottom. The dough will be a little sticky but will handle well with floured hands. Spray the top of the dough with a little spray oil and cover with a cloth. Allow to rise for about 1/2 an hour or until puffy.

3. Remove dough from bowl onto a floured surface and give it a quick knead. Cut the dough into small pieces. ( I weighed mine at about 30 grams or a little over 1/2 an ounce each.)

4. Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a 12 cup bundt pan. In a small sauce pan combine the butter and brown sugar. heat over low heat stirring until the mixture is melted together.

5. Combine the sugar and cinnamon, roll the dough pieces into little balls and roll into the sugar and cinnamon mixture coating them well with the mixture. Drop them into the greased pan, fillinf 1/4 pan full.

6. Once pan is 1/4 full ( about half of the dough) pour half of teh brown sugar and butter mixture over the coated dough pieces. Repeat with the remainder of the dough and then pour teh rest of the syrup over the top. The pan should be 1/2 to 2/3 full. Do not over fill the pan with dough or the syrup and dough will spill out of the pan as it bakes.

7. Set the pan on top of the warm oven and let rise for about 15 minutes or until puffy. Bake at 350° for about 30 -40 minutes or until the top is golden and the syrup is bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes then cover with a large plate or platter and turn the pan over and let the bread fall from the pan. Eat while warm.

Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake Muffins

2009-01-04T01:29:00.001-05:00

The other day while I was at the store I noticed that they were finally carrying the Hershey's Cinnamon Chips. I have been looking for these for the past year and had previously been unsuccessful in finding them, until now. If you haven't seen these they look like butterscotch chips but have a strong cinnamony (is that even a word?) flavor. If you tasted them alone you might think that they are too strong, but combine them with a cookie or a muffin and they are absolutely delicious.

While trying to come up with this recipe, I instantly thought of the coffee cake that I used to eat every morning in middle school. We had these really amazing bakers and they made these huge pans full of buttery cake that was topped with plenty of brown sugar and cinnamon. They would sell a humongous slice for 35 cents. Ah, those were the days, when I could eat buttery coffee cake everyday without any consequences. Well, now I have these muffins which by the way are lot healthier than that buttery coffee cake but they may have the one-up on flavor. If you can find these cinnamon chips try a bag. They are great in oatmeal cookies and about a billion other things.

Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake Muffins

1 cup cake flour

1 cup minus 2 Tbs. all purpose flour

1 Tbs. Baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream (I used light)

1/2 cup milk

4 Tbs. melted butter,cooled

1 tsp. vanilla

5 oz. cinnamon chips (1/2 a bag)

For topping

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 Tbs. cinnamon

1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 ° and grease muffin pan. In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl combine the eggs, sour cream, milk, butter and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixing until just combined. Stir in the cinnamon chips.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients.

3. Drop heaping Tablespoons into each of the 12 muffin cups. Top with 1/2 Tbs. of the topping. Cover with the rest of the muffin batter. Slightly wet fingers and smooth the tops of the muffins. Top each muffin with a teaspoon of the topping.

4. Bake the muffins at 375° for about 15 minutes.

Caramel, Cashew and Chocolate coated Pretzels

2008-12-31T18:38:00.001-05:00

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas. My husband made it back from his trip on Christmas Eve despite the crazy weather so I was very glad that we were all able to spend Christmas together. I can't believe that it is all over and that we are starting a new year. Where does the time go? Remember when you were a kid and it seemed like time went so slow. It always took so long to get to your birthday and to Christmas. Now you turn around and another year has passed.

Enough of that, I should get on to the food. I have been baking up a storm this season but unfortunately I didn't take pictures of most of it. I know, what was I thinking? A friend of mine paid me to make her holiday treats so I made 150 mint chocolate brownies covered with a mint chocolate ganache. Absolutely delicious, but I only took one measly picture. They were delicious though and it was really nice to have someone pay me to bake.

While I was making the brownies, I got a call from my mother-in-law who asked me to make her 160 cookies for some treat bags that she was putting together. My mother-in-law is an amazing cook and baker so it was an honor for her to ask me to bake for her. She had run out of time and needed them the next day so I had to put together those quickly. Yet again, one measly picture.

After all that baking, I still needed to put together my treats. I decided to make these delicious pretzels that I dipped in chewy caramel, rolled in chopped cashews and then drizzled them with dark and white chocolate. Can I say if these were a drug, I would be an addict. I love the combination of salty and sweet and this one worked perfectly. The sweet, creamy, chewy caramel and the salty nuts and pretzel were amazing. Can you believe that after making these that I took not one picture?! I think that I was just tired or something. But, luckily, I needed to make some more today because I didn't get around to everyone before Christmas. It's never to late for treats though, right?!

Caramel Cashew and Chocolate Covered Pretzels

40 pretzel rods

One batch caramel (recipe follows)

1 ½ pounds chopped cashews

10 oz dark chocolate

10 oz white chocolate

1. Dip the pretzel rods into the slightly cooled caramel and then roll into the cashews. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and allow to set up. After a few minutes, turn the pretzels over and reshape the caramel that has pooled on the bottom. Allow to cool completely.

2. Melt the dark chocolate over a double broiler, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when it is almost all melted. Stir until completely melted. Pour into a Ziploc freezer bag and clip a small hole in the corner. Drizzle the pretzels with the dark chocolate. Repeat with the white chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set up.

Caramel

1-pound box dark brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whipping cream (if necessary)

Combine all ingredients except for the whipping cream in heavy 2 1/2-quart saucepan (about 3 inches deep). Stir with wooden spatula or spoon over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (no crystals are felt when caramel is rubbed between fingers), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 15 minutes.
Attach clip-on candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook caramel at rolling boil until thermometer registers 236°F, stirring constantly but slowly with clean wooden spatula and occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 12 minutes. Pour caramel into glass bowl (do not scrape pan).

If caramel becomes too thick to dip into, add 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream and briefly whisk caramel in bowl over low heat to thin.

Chocolate sugar cookies

2008-12-16T23:52:00.001-05:00

Well, I have kind of given up on the 12 days of cookie thing but I still plan on sharing more treats before the holidays. I guess it wasn't the best idea to start that while I was working every night until midnight. Things around here have been a little crazy. I am so not ready for Christmas. I haven't even been shopping! I have just been so tired from working and trying to get the things around the house done. I don't know how single parents do it?! Anyway, now onto the cookies.

Today, my kids and I went out to lunch with my Grandma. After lunch was over, they were begging me for one of the cookies that was sitting in the display case. Of course I said no but I prefaced that "No" with the promise of going home and making cookies. When I asked them what kind they wanted to make, they all agreed on sugar cookies. I thought that it would be fun to try to make chocolate sugar cookies. To please everyone, I made one batch of chocolate and one batch of regular sugar cookie dough.

When it came to frosting these little cookies, I realized that I was all out cream cheese which is my staple for frosting. So to top these off, we decided to make an almond glaze which went really well with the chocolate cookies and only took a minute to make.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

6 Tbs butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. In a cup combine the heavy cream and the lemon juice and set aside to curdle the milk. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. While it's mixing, combine the dry ingredients into a large bowl stir to combine all the dry ingredients.

2. Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.Add teh vanilla and mix to combine.

3. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just to combine. Add half of the cream mixture and mix to combine then follow that with half of the remaining flour. Repeat with the remaining cream and then flour. Mix only until just combined.

4. Separate the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap. refrigerate for at least one hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°. On a well floured surface, roll out the dough to desired thickness and cut with cookies cutters. Bake for 7-9 minutes cookies are set in the middle. Remove to a cooling rack. Once cooled, frost as desired.

Almond Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2-4 Tbs. heavy cream or milk

1. Mix all of the ingredients adding more milk until the glaze has reached desired consistency. Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and place on cooling wrack to allow the glaze to set.

12 Days of Cookies: Caramels

2008-12-12T13:53:00.001-05:00

Ok, so caramels aren't really cookies, but they are definitely something that I needed to include since I make them for my holiday treat plates. This recipe was actually an extension of last months Daring Bakers Challenge. We had the option of making these caramels along with the caramel cake. I ran out of time last month but still wanted to give them a try. I have used several different recipes for caramel and I wanted to see how this one measured up. They were chewy and creamy with a hint of vanilla. Absolutely delicious!

VANILLA BEAN CARAMELS
from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, Artisan Press, Copyright 2007, ISBN: 978-1579652111

Ingredients

1 cup golden syrup ( I used 1/2 cup light corn syrup and 1/2 cup dark corn syrup)
2 cups sugar
3/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure ground vanilla beans, purchased or ground in a coffee or spice grinders, or 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened

Equipment
A 9-inch square baking pan
Candy thermometer
Procedure

Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil. Combine the golden syrup, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash the sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. (Meanwhile, rinse the spatula or spoon before using it again later.)

Uncover the pan and wash down the sides once more. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan, without letting it touch the bottom of the pan, and cook, uncovered (without stirring) until the mixture reaches 305°F. Meanwhile, combine the cream and ground vanilla beans (not the extract) in a small saucepan and heat until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the cream hot.

When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F, turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Gradually stir in the hot cream; it will bubble up and steam dramatically, so be careful. Turn the burner back on and adjust it so that the mixture boils energetically but not violently. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, to about 245°F. Then cook, stirring constantly, to 260°f for soft, chewy caramels or 265°F; for firmer chewy caramels.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, if using it. Pour the caramel into the lined pan. Let set for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight until firm.
Lift the pan liner from the pan and invert the sheet of caramel onto a sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the liner. Cut the caramels with an oiled knife. Wrap each caramel individually in wax paper or cellophane.

Variations
Fleur de Sel Caramels: Extra salt, in the form of fleur de sel or another coarse flaked salt, brings out the flavor of the caramel and offers a little ying to the yang. Add an extra scant 1/4 teaspoon of coarse sea salt to the recipe. Or, to keep the salt crunchy, let the caramel cool and firm. Then sprinkle with two pinches of flaky salt and press it in. Invert, remove the pan liner, sprinkle with more salt. Then cut and wrap the caramels in wax paper or cellophane.

Nutmeg and Vanilla Bean Caramels: Add 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg to the cream before you heat it.
Cardamom Caramels: Omit the vanilla. Add 1/2 teaspoon slightly crushed cardamom seeds (from about 15 cardamom pods) to the cream before heating it. Strain the cream when you add it to the caramel; discard the seeds.

Caramel Sauce: Stop cooking any caramel recipe or variation when it reaches 225°F or, for a sauce that thickens like hot fudge over ice cream, 228°F. Pour it into a sauceboat to serve or into a heatproof jar for storage. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for ages and reheated gently in the microwave or a saucepan just until hot and flowing before use. You can stir in rum or brandy to taste. If the sauce is too thick or stiff to serve over ice cream, it can always be thinned with a little water or cream. Or, if you like a sauce that thickens more over ice cream, simmer it for a few minutes longer.

12 Days of Cookies: Sables

2008-12-10T11:22:00.001-05:00

There are very few things that are more mouthwatering than crumbly butter cookies. They just about melt in your mouth and have a smooth and sweetly buttery taste. The sugar crystals on the edges give them a slight crunch. These are great dipped in chocolate too or flavored with nuts or lemon zest. You can also substitute some of the flour for cocoa powder to make chocolate sables. These really are a very versatile cookie which are perfect for any holiday cookie plate.

Sables

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar,sifted

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

2 cups flour

for brushing

egg yolk, beaten

course sugar

1. In bowl of a mixer fitted the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugars a and salt and beat just until incorporated. With the mixer on low, add the yolks one at a time and mix to incorporate. Dump the flour in a mix just until the flour disappears. Give the dough one last mix by hand.

2. Divide the dough in half and place on wax paper forming into logs. Refrigerate for several hours. The dough can also be frozen for a few months.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°. Brush one of the logs with a little of the beaten egg yolk and roll into the sugar to coat. Carefully cut the dough using a sawing motion. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes.

12 days of Cookies: Cartwheels

2008-12-08T15:42:00.001-05:00

In hopes of being better prepared for Christmas this year, I have decided to start my holiday baking. I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite cookies/treats that I like to make for the holidays. My hope is to share a new cookie or treat everyday for the next 12 days, which will take us pretty close to Christmas and should hopefully complete my holiday baking.

For my first day I thought I would share my Nana's Cartwheels. She came up with these little gems to use up the extra pie dough from all of those extra holiday pies. Now as a family we make extra pie dough in order to make these. They are flaky, slightly chewy and covered in cinnamon and sugar. The aroma when they bake is heavenly, and really, where where can you go wrong with pie dough, butter, cinnamon and sugar.

Cartwheels

Pie dough:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 heaping cup of shortening
cold water

1. Make the pie dough: Add the flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix to combine. Using two butter knives, cut in the shortening until it is the size of small peas. Move most of the mixture to one side. Sprinkle a Tablespoon or two of water over the small section of dough and mix with a fork to combine. Don’t over mix though. Pull a little more of the flour mixture over to the side; add another Tablespoon or so of water and mix. The dough should just come together but not be too wet or too dry. Continue this until all of the dough has been mixed with water. The amount of water will vary each time that you make it so don’t rely on any specific measure. I usually start out with a cup of cold water and don’t use all of it.
Shape the dough into 2 discs and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

pie dough
About 2 1/2 Tbs. of softened butter per disc of dough
about 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Roll the pie dough out into a thin rectangle. Spread lightly with softened butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and rub it all over the surface of the dough lightly covering the whole surface. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon. Roll up like a jelly roll pinching the ends. Place seam side down onto a lightly greased cookie sheet curving the dough into a semi-circle. Make thin slices in the dough making sure not to cut all the way through the dough. Sprinkle to top with a little white sugar if desired.

2. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the filling is beginning to bubble out the sides. Be careful not to overcook as they will firm up more when they cool. Let cool and slice into pieces using the slits in the dough as a guide.

Caramel Cake with the Daring Bakers

2008-11-29T02:08:00.000-05:00

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I had a great time with all of my family. I was really relaxed this year despite having 40 people over. We had so much food. In fact, we had a whole turkey left over which we didn't even carve. My fridge is stocked with leftovers and several yummy pies which I am eating bite by bite right out of the pie plates. I think this year could be the year that I gain a few extra pounds over the holidays. It's just so hard to resist all of the delicious food.

Of course then there's the Daring Baker's challenge which came right after Thanksgiving. Of course I had to be a procrastinator and was up finishing it tonight after 9 hours of work. I am so tired so if this post doesn't make sense, forgive me.

This months challenge was a recipe form Shuna Fish Lydon for Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting. Our hosts this month were Dolores from Culinary Curiosity, Alex from Brownie of the Blondie and Jenny of Foray into Food. And for those gluten free bakers Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go lent a hand too.

I decided to halve the recipe and make cupcakes instead of one large cake because I really need more dessert around here just like I need a hole in my head. Instead of lining my pan with liners I put in little squares of parchment. I reduced the sugar slightly on the cupcakes and frosting after reading several posts about how sweet they both were. Overall, my favorite part of this challenge was the frosting and let me tell you, I usually don't like frosting. This one has a really caramely flavor from the brown butter and the caramel syrup. It is absolutely delicious. The cake was good too with a nice moist ,tight crumb. I thought that it lacked a little caramel flavor. I think next time I will add a little more of the caramel syrup.

Overall, the challenge was quick easy and delicious. I will be keeping that frosting recipe on hand for future use. I can't wait to see what the Daring Bakers will have in store for us next month!

Caramel Cake With Caramelized Butter Frosting:

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan. Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

Caramel Syrup:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.
Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Caramelized Butter Frosting:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

Overall, I think the frosting is a keeper, I will keep that recipe tucked away for another time. the cake was alright but nothing to jump through hoops for. It was a fun and easy challenge. I can't wait to see what next month will bring!

Individual Apple Pies

2008-11-20T23:22:00.001-05:00

I can't believe that November is just about over and that Thanksgiving is next week. Were does the time go? I love that we have a holiday where we can be gluttons. I am already dreaming about all of the yummy food. We usually have so much food that we are eating Thanksgiving for about a week. I can't wait for the mashed potatoes and roasted veggies and stuffing and pie and...the list could go on and on.

I will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner again this year which means 30+ people will be invading my house. We will cook 2 huge turkeys and a ham, 20 pounds of mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams corn, rolls, squash and probably about 8-10 pies. I love pie. My mom would make me pie every year for my birthday so I have an affinity for good pie. In fact, as I am typing this, I am eating the pie from the pictures and boy is it good.

This pie recipe is great if you are having a small Thanksgiving and would like to treat everyone to their own mini pies. Obviously it won't work for my large gathering unless I was a masochist and wanted to stay up all night baking a million little pies. It would work well for any leftover pie dough that you have and is a great late night snack. All you need are some little pot pie tins or ramekins, I think some mini tart pans would also work great. I used a 6 oz. glass ramekin which worked perfectly. There is nothing fancy about this pie, just the traditional apple pie. If you wanted to change it up a bit you could throw in some chopped up caramels and toss in a few pecans or use some orange blossom honey in place of the sugar with a little added citrus zest. You really can individualize this pie. So, if you have a hankering for some apple pie, give this one a go.

Individual Apple Pies

Pie dough

3 cups flour, spooned and leveled

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbs. sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter cut into small pieces

Ice water

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the shortening and the butter and cut it into the flour using two knives or a pastry cutter. You want the pieces of butter and shortening to be about the size of peas.

2. Once the mixture is combined, move most of it to one side of the bowl. Pour a Tablespoon of water over the small bit of flour mixture and pull the dough together with a fork. Try to work the dough very little as overworking it will cause the gluten to form and will toughen the crust. Move the moistened dough aside and pull aside some more of the dry flour mixture and repeat until the dough is moist enough to be formed into a ball.

3. Separate the dough into 1/2 cup size balls of dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

for each individual pie

2 granny smith apples

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

juice of 1/2 a small lemon

1 tsp butter cut into small pieces

for the glaze

1 egg yolk

2 tsp. heavy cream

sugar for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Peal, core and thinly slice the apples. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss to combine. Add the sugar, cinnamon and flour and toss to combine. Set aside.

2. Grease your ramekins. Roll out one piece of dough at a time, you want the dough to be fairly thin as there is a large ratio of dough to apples. Roll up onto rolling pan and then fit into the ramekin. Trim the edges, leaving a little overhang. Fill with the apples, you ant to mound up the apples as they will shrink down as they cook. Top with the pieces of butter.

3. Roll out a second piece of dough and either fit to the top of the pie or cut into strips for a lattice pattern. If not using the lattice pattern, don't forget to poke holes in the top crust to allow the steam to escape. Tuck the ends under with the bottom crust.

4. Mix together the glaze ingredients and brush lightly onto the top crust. Sprinkle with a little sugar. Place on baking sheet to catch drips and bake for 30 minutes. Cover the tops of the pies with foil and then bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until bubbling and cooked through. Let cool before eating.

Triple Threat Brownies

2008-11-16T20:40:00.001-05:00

Man, things have been so busy. I feel like my life is racing out of control and leaving me behind. All areas of my life seem to be disorganized. It is amazing that I was finally able to get something up on my blog. I apologize for my lack of posts. I hope to make it up very soon. It's not that I haven't made anything, it's just that I haven't had the time or energy to post it. Hopefully that will all change here soon. I would like to get a few great Thanksgiving dishes in here soon, so look for those soon.

Now, onto tonight's treat. I have had this triple layer brownie in my mind for awhile now but have not had all of the ingredients on hand at one time, until last night. These brownies were inspired by a triple layer mouse cake that I saw once on Martha Stewart several years back. I thought it would be great to have 3 different layers in one brownie. I was hoping for more of a distinction between the dark chocolate and the milk chocolate layers but even without that, they were still absolutely delicious!

The bottom layer is a rich dark chocolate brownie with bittersweet chocolate chips. The middle is a creamy milk chocolate brownie with Heath toffee pieces and the top layer is a white chocolate brownie with macadamia nuts. I then drizzled the rich chocolaty layers with more dark chocolate. What more can you ask for in one little brownie, it's got something for everyone. These brownies are definitely a chocolate lovers dream. Don't get overwhelmed by the list of ingredients. As long as you have everything out and measured before hand the brownies will come together in a snap.

Triple Threat Brownies

For the dark chocolate layer

4 Tbs. Butter

4 oz. dark chocolate

½ cup flour

2 Tbs. cocoa powder

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

½ cup dark chocolate chips

For the Milk Chocolate layer

4 Tbs. Butter

4 oz. milk chocolate

½ cup flour

2 Tbs. cocoa powder

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

½ cup toffee bits

For the white chocolate layer

4 Tbs. Butter

4 oz. white chocolate

½ cup flour + 2 Tbs. flour

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg white

½ cup macadamia nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray, set aside. In 3 separate bowls, combine the chocolate and butter for each of the three layers. In another 3 bowls measure out the dry ingredients, excluding the sugar, for each layer.

2. Beginning with the dark chocolate layer, melt the butter and chocolate over a double broiler or in the microwave in 10 second intervals until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, then the eggs until well combined. Give the dry ingredients a quick stir and dump them into the chocolate mixture. Stir until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine. Pour into the bottom of pan and spread out using a slightly damp offset spatula.

3. Continue with the other two layers in the same manner. Be careful when pouring and spreading in the pan so that the layers stay separated.

4. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool in pan for about 1 hour then using the foil as handles, carefully remove the brownies from the pan and continue to cool in the fridge until well chilled, this helps when cutting. Cut into squares and drizzle with more melted dark chocolate if desired.

Homemade Ricotta

2008-11-05T23:48:00.001-05:00

I saw a recipe homemade ricotta a few months ago and it has been in the back of my mind as something to try. Lately I've had this hankering for some lasagna and thought that this would be a great time to try my hand at cheese making. As far as cheese go, ricotta couldn't be simpler. It doesn't require rennet or any special equipment aside from some cheesecloth and can be made in about 15 minutes, from start to finish. It can also be seasoned in a variety of ways from sweet to savory. The ricotta turned out perfect with a soft slightly grainy texture and a very mild flavor that tasted great once salted. I would love to make another batch and mix in some honey and toasted walnuts and spread on a toasted baguette or make a ricotta cake. There are just so many options for this mild and versatile cheese.

For the lasagna, I added a little olive oil and some basil and rosemary to the ricotta for flavor. I loaded the lasagna with roasted eggplant, zucchini, portobello mushrooms and carrots. Topped the noodles with a homemade marinara and smothered the whole thing with a tangy provolone cheese. It may not have been my husbands favorite, due to the veggies, but for me it was heaven and way better than any Italian restaurant. I actually threw this whole thing together, including the cheese making in about an hour. Not bad for a delicious meal that was almost completely made from scratch, next time I'll have to make the pasta too.

Homemade Ricotta

From the NY Times

2 quarts milk, preferably whole

2 cups buttermilk

1. Line a colander with 4 layers of cheesecloth and set in the sink or over a bowl.

2. Heat the milk and buttermilk in a large stockpot over high heat stirring constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan, to prevent scorching. When the milk reaches about 170° the curds will separate form the liquid. the milk will look like a cloudy water with very small curds mixed throughout. Turn off the heat and pour the mixture into the cheesecloth and let drain for about 5 minutes. Then gather the edges of the cheesecloth and gently pull together to remove any excess liquid. Do not squeeze unless you want a drier ricotta. Let drain for a few more minutes and season to taste.

Daring Bakers make Pizza

2008-10-29T11:35:00.001-04:00

It's time for another Daring Bakers challenge. This month, Rosa from Rosa's Yummy Yums chose pizza as our challenge. In all honesty, I make pizza quite often and wasn't really challenged but it sure was fun and absolutely delicious. I love this crust recipe which was from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Bakers Apprentice. It makes a chewy crust that is similar to a ciabatta bread and works so well with a wide variety of ingredients.

I was able to make several pizzas with the one batch of dough. The first was my tasty fall pizza which was inspired by my trip to a local farm and orchard. Just a few miles down the road is a local orchard that has this cute little store in an old barn. They sell all of their own produce which is always so delicious. I was able to pick up some candy onions and a few pumpkins and squashes. Now my pizza began to take shape. I knew that the sweet onions would be great caramelized and the sweet and nutty butternut squash needed to be roasted. I complimented the two ingredients with a creamy, salty fontina and viola my pizza was born. I actually ate it for breakfast and lunch.

I then needed to make pizzas that the rest of my family would eat so I made a fresh batch of marinara and took the traditional route and made a pepperoni and a cheese pizza. The family gobbled them all up and gave them both a big thumbs up.

I still had two more balls of dough left the next day so I brushed the shaped dough with olive oil and some sea salt abd baked them. Once they cooled off I spread them with a mixture of cream cheese and sour cream mixed with some seasonings and then topped them with fresh broccoli, cucumbers, red peppers, tomatoes and grated carrots. It was light and tasty and worked well with the chewy crust.

Overall, this was a very tasty and fun recipe and am glad that I was able to participate in this challenge. If you're looking for a great pizza dough recipe, you must try this one, it is delicious! And, don't forget to check out all of the other Daring Baker's tasty creations.

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.
Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups Unbleached high-gluten bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup Olive oil or vegetable oil
1 3/4 Cups Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tbs. sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE
Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.
NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).
NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.
NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.
NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespoons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO
8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.
Or

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).
NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Chocolate Ganache

2008-10-16T16:58:00.003-04:00

I am going to start by saying that I love cheesecake. It is probably my one major vice out of all desserts. Most others I can put down and not eat after a few bites, but cheesecake is another story. In fact, when I made the cheesecake for a Daring Baker's challenge a few months ago I ate the whole thing , by myself. Now we aren't talking about a small cheesecake, we are talking about a 13x9 pan full of cheesecake. I left it in the fridge with a fork and would just come back throughout the day for a few little bites. Before I knew it, the cheesecake was gone.

I have been wanting to make cheesecake for a few weeks now. And was planning on making a full pan of cheesecake, but over the weeks, I used the cream cheese for other things. So, when I decided to make the these yesterday I only had one package of cream cheese left. I decided that the cheesecake would have to be mini. Now, this could be just as dangerous, the cheesecakes are perfectly bite size and just waiting there in the fridge for me to eat them. I had some pumpkin left over from those cookies and also some chocolate ganache from a cake and so I thought that I'd use those up too.

These little cheesecakes with pumpkin and chocolate turned out so delicious. I really need to get them out of the house before I eat them all! I tell you what, I could not for the life of me get my pumpkin hating husband to try these. So, more for me, he doesn't know what he is missing out on.

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Chocolate Ganache

6 long sheets of graham crackers

1 Tbs. sugar

a pinch of salt

2 Tbs. butter, melted

1 pkg. (8oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla

a pinch of salt

1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/3 canned pumpkin

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Add the graham crackers, sugar and salt to food processor and process until graham crackers are fine crumbs. With the machine running, add the melted butter and mix to combine.

3. Put about 1 Tbs. of the crumb mixture into each mini muffin cup (it will make 16 mini cheesecakes). Press the crumbs into each cup. Bake the crusts for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack while you mix the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°. Bring a pot of water to a boil.

4. Rinse out the food processor. In food processor cream the cream cheese until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the sugar and cream for another minute or two. Add the egg and mix for another minute or two. Scrape down the sides as needed. Add the vanilla, salt, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin and mix for another minute to combine. Scrape down the side and the bottom of the bowl and give it one last quick mix.

5. Pour the mixture into the crusts, filling to the top. Place the muffin pan onto a baking sheet. Place in the oven. Carefully pour the water into the baking pan being sure not to let it get into the muffin tin. you want the water to come about halfway up the muffin pan. Bake the cheesecakes at 325° for about 24 minutes. Carefully remove the muffin pan from the baking sheet and let cool on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Then refrigerate them in the pan for another 30 minutes.

6. Carefully run a small thin knife around the edges of each cheesecake and pop them out the pan. Pour about a teaspoon of ganache (recipe follows) onto each cheesecake and spread if desired. Return to the fridge to let the ganache harden.

Chocolate Ganache

This recipe will make a lot more than you need (about 1 cup) but you can cut the recipe in half or make the entire batch and freeze the leftovers for a cake, truffle or a tart.

6 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt
6 oz. (¾ cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
¾ tsp. vanilla

1. Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

2. Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once boiling, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla. The glaze will thicken, but should still be pourable. If it doesn’t thicken, refrigerate for about 5 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t get too cold!

Pumpkin and Spice Sugar Cookies

2008-10-09T17:19:00.002-04:00

The weather is changing and the cool air has got me thinking pumpkin and spice. I really don't like the cold weather but I do love the warm spices and flavors that come with the season. I love all of the holidays and family get together's. I came from a small family so I love that my husbands family is a bit bigger and has huge family gatherings. I am already thinking of the fall foods like buttered butternut squash and pumpkin spiced cookies.

I was at the store yesterday buying a few ingredients to make cookies when I passed the pumpkin. I couldn't pass it up and knew that I needed to incorporate it somehow into my cookies. I didn't want to make the traditional pumpkin cookies but thought instead that it would be fun to try to incorporate the pumpkin into my buttermilk sugar cookie recipe. It turned out perfectly and in my book, is a total winner. I will be making these cookies again. I was even able to get my picky pumpkin hating husband to try one and actually eat the whole thing. It was pretty funny though, when he got home from work, I kept on asking him to try a cookie and he kept on saying, "I will in a minute" , acting like he was too busy at the moment. After 10 minutes of being too "busy" I stopped him and said, "Knock it off, you just don't want to try them because they have pumpkin in them, just try them!" He reluctantly took a little bite of one, and then another and he actually ate the whole cookie.

The pumpkin is very subtle and I didn't put too much of the pumpkin pie spice in them so that it was only a little hint of the fall flavors. If you're a big spice fan then you could definitely add more of the pumpkin pie spice. I topped the cookies with a tangy cream cheese frosting, if you wanted more of the spice, you could even add a dash of the pumpkin pie spice into the frosting.

Pumpkin and Spice Cookies

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

6 cups flour

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined. In another small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and pumpkin. Set both aside.

3. In the mixer, add the eggs, one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well after each egg. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.

4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mixing until almost combined. Now add 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture and then another third of the flour. Repeat with the last of the buttermilk and then the flour, mixing until just combined.

5. Divide the dough into thirds, shape into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour to firm the dough up.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°, roll out dough on a well floured counter and cut into desired shape. Bake on a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for a minute on the cookie sheet and then remove cookies to a cooling rack. Once cooled frost as desired.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-10-08T09:31:00.002-04:00

My husband has been begging me forever to just make some chocolate chip cookies. So, when he was gone on Saturday night, I rounded up the kids and we threw together a batch of these chewy chocolaty cookies as a surprise for when he got home. I love these because they are chewy due to the ground up oatmeal and the corn syrup (yes corn syrup, but you only use a little). I love to use mini chocolate chips and if my husband isn't looking a handful of finely chopped walnuts.

I usually will make a batch of these and only bake up a dozen. the other 3 dozen I roll into balls, place them on a baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, I move them to a plastic bag. I then have little cookie balls that I can pull out and bake whenever someone drops by or when I need a quick treat to bring somewhere. They can be baked frozen and only take a minute or two longer.

These cookies are pretty flat but they stay soft and chewy. Be sure to remove them from the oven once the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown and when the tops have little cracks on them. They will look a little doughy but will firm up once they cool off.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. corn syrup (I used dark but light would also work)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups of oatmeal, ground into a flour

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

12 oz. chocolate chips, (I like mini)

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 min.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the oatmeal, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix with a whisk to combine all of the ingredients.

3. In the mixer bowl with the butter, add the vanilla and corn syrup and mix to combine. With the mixer still running, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until well combined.

4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture a little at a time, mixing only until combined, do not over mix. Add the chocolate chips and nuts, if using ,and mix just until they are evenly mixed into the dough.

5. Using a scoop, scoop cookie dough into balls and place on baking sheet leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown and the tops have little crack in them. the cookies will look a little doughy but they will set up as they cool off. Let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a cooling rack.

Hot Buttery Pretzels

2008-10-02T12:34:00.002-04:00

This last weekend I had a chance to go out with some friends and we stopped by the mall for a little shopping. I happened to be absolutely starving and of course we passed one of those yummy pretzel shops that adorn malls everywhere. I passed it and really wanted to grab a pretzel but since we were going out to dinner afterwards I decided that I could wait. When I really want something and don't get it than it enters my thoughts until I finally give in. Thus my need to make some of those hot buttery mall pretzels.

I recently got the King Arthur Flour: Bakers Companion Cookbook and have been meaning to make their recipe for the mall-type pretzels. I decided today that my desire for those yummy pretzels could wait no longer and I am so glad that I made them. In fact the batch is already gone. My son kept sneaking them when I wasn't looking. I finally had to hide the last one so that I could eat it later when he was taking a nap.

If you love those yummy mall pretzels then you should try this recipe. It doesn't make the chewy, bagel-type pretzels but the soft, buttery doughy-type. A definite keeper in my book. For toppings I used sea salt for a few, cheddar cheese for a couple more and my favorite buttered and then lightly dusted with ranch powder (the kind you use to make ranch dip or dressing). Of course you could go for the sweet versions like cinnamon-sugar but I personally prefer all of the salty flavors.

Buttery Mall-Type Pretzels

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

7/8 to 1 cup water

Topping

1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

course salt

3 Tbs. salted butter, melted

1. Place all dough ingredients in bowl of mixer and mix until combined. Up the speed and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is soft and smooth. Dust the dough lightly with flour and place in a plastic bag. Close bag and let rest for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 500°. Spray 2 baking pans lightly with cooking spray. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Let the pieces rest for 5 minutes uncovered.

3. Roll each piece of dough into a long thin rope, about 28 inches long. Twist each rope into a pretzel shape. Dip the pretzels into the warm water that has been mixed with 1 tsp. sugar and place them on the baking sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with salt if desired and let them rest for 10 minutes uncovered.

4. Bake pretzels for 8-9 minutes rotating the pans half way through. Remove the pretzels from the oven and brush them generously with the butter. Use all of the butter, it will absorb into the pretzels so keep on brushing them until it's gone. Top them with desired topping.

Cookies in a Jar

2008-09-22T17:39:00.002-04:00

It's the first day of Fall and that means that the holidays are quickly approaching. I really hate saying that already but I know that I need to start getting prepared. Two of my kids have birthdays near the holidays not to mention 6 of their cousins too. I also host Thanksgiving for about 40 people. There is so much for me to get ready. With all of that gift giving, I am usually really strapped for cash but love to give a few gifts to neighbors and teachers. This is a way to give a thoughtful gift without the huge price tag.

There are a ton of recipes for cookies in a jar and this is just another one. I really like this recipe for several reasons. First off, I love oatmeal cookies, and second, it is very versatile, you can change up a few of the components to make different cookies. The results are a chewy chocolaty cookie that in my opinion is better once it has cooled off. ( I really hate hot, gooey chocolate. I know, I am weird!) I have been eating these for the past 3 days and have been rationalizing them as a good breakfast option because they have oatmeal and walnuts; and dark chocolate is full of antioxidants right?!

Cookies in a jar

1 1/3 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, M&M's or a combination of them

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1. Layer the ingredients in the jar in the order listed, packing each layer down tightly.

2. Make a tag with the following instructions: Preheat oven to 350°. Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and cool slightly. Lightly beat together the melted butter with 1 egg and 1tsp vanilla. Add the contents of the jar and mix to combine. The mixture will be really thick. Spoon by heaping tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven while they look a little doughy as they will really firm up after they cool.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Cream Cheese filled Rolls

2008-09-17T11:56:00.002-04:00

Did you think I wasn't going to come back? I have been out of the kitchen for the last 3 weeks, completely and absolutely sick. I couldn't even eat for the first 2 weeks. I am FINALLY feeling better and have returned to the kitchen. For the last week all I have been able to eat are white starchy foods, like bread and potatoes. I am a huge whole wheat girl so this was totally against the grain for me (gotta love that pun). That's not to say that I don't enjoy the white stuff now and again, I just don't make it a habit. So, as my first time back into the kitchen last night, I decided to make some white bread.

When I finally started feeling better and could really only eat the white starchy stuff, I began to think about these rolls that I would buy when I was away at school in Mexico. I had to catch a "combi" (think VW bus turned into a small scale mass transit system) every morning to get to school and right across the street from where I would catch it was a very large panederia (bread store). They had shelves full of freshly made breads and pastries. I always bought these little breads that were filled with cream cheese. As I was getting my appetite back, this is what I was thinking about eating. Now these aren't replicas of that bread ,as I think that nothing could really match the nostalgia and ambiance that went along with those little breads, but they sure are tasty.

I used Ina Garten's Honey white bread recipe because it is rich, soft and delicious. It is slightly like a brioche dough only a little lighter. It makes a wonderful loaf of bread or soft light rolls. It worked perfectly with these rolls. You could really make these either sweet or savory. I add a little bit of powdered sugar to the cream cheese, not enough to make it too sweet, just enough to take the tangy edge off. You could always add more sugar if you wanted to make it a sweeter bread and then just brush the hot rolls with cinnamon-honey butter. I kept these a little more savory and just brushed them with butter when they came out.

Honey Rolls with Cream Cheese

1/2 cup warm water

2 pkg. dry yeast

2 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 cups warm whole milk

6 Tablespoons butter

1 1/2 TBS. honey

2 egg yolks

5 to 6 cups flour

1 TBS. kosher salt

1 egg white, lightly beaten

8 oz. cream cheese

3 Tbs. powdered sugar

1. Heat the milk, butter and honey in a small saucepan until warm and the butter melts. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. Place the water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of mixer and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to foam and dissolve.

3. Add the milk, butter and honey to the yeast mixture and mix to combine. Add 3 cups of the flour, salt and egg yolks and mix for about 5 minutes to combine.

4. Slowly add more flour until the dough cleans the side of the mixer bowl. Knead or mix for about 10 minutes more.

5. Grease a large bowl. Place the dough into the greased bowl turning to coat all sides of the dough. Cover loosely and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

6. Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

7. Punch down the dough and divide into 20 rolls (about 60 grams each) or 10 rolls and 1 loaf of bread. Flatten each piece of dough place about 1 Tbs. of the cream cheese mixture into the middle. Fold the edges together and pinch to seal. Roll each ball on the counter pushing it between the palms of your hands to seal the dough and make the round roll shape. Place on a greased cookie sheet and cover lightly. Allow to rise for 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size.

8. Heat the oven to 350°. Brush the tops of the rolls with the beaten egg white. Bake the rolls for 13-15 minutes or until light brown. (Bake the loaf of bread for 35-45 minutes) Brush the tops with butter.

Eclairs anyone?

2008-08-31T02:01:00.001-04:00

It's the end of the month and time for another Daring Baker's Challenge. I have been a huge procrastinator lately and so of course I didn't even start this challenge until last night. Luckily it was a pretty straight forward and quick one so I wasn't worried about getting it done. This month's recipe was eclairs by Pierre Herme, an amazing french pastry chef.

The recipe called for a basic pate choux dough, a chocolate pastry cream filling and a chocolate glaze. We were allowed to have a little creative leeway. The only rules were that we had to use Pierre Herme's choux dough recipe and we had to use at least one chocolate component. I decided to make the filling a vanilla cream cheese pastry cream and to stick with a chocolate ganache for the glaze. Pretty straight forward and not too creative but that's what you get when you put the challenge off until the last minute. Although not my most creative endeavor, the eclairs were still absolutely delicious, especially as a midnight snack!

Anyone who knows my family knows that they are all huge Simpson's fans. So, when my husband heard that this months challenge was eclairs he had to retrieve this clip from an episode where Homer was a food critic. It's pretty hilarious.

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:
• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.
2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé
• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.
2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.
3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.
4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.
5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes

1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.
3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.
Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1 cup or 300g)
• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature
1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.
2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.
2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar
1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.
2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2008-08-25T20:13:00.002-04:00

Well, school started back up last week and my house has quieted down significantly. I didn't really realize how crazy it had gotten during the summer until now when we are back on a regular schedule. While it's hard to have my kids in school it has also allowed me to get more things done around the house. I actually haven't baked anything for awhile but I have made a few ice creams that I hope to post soon. I plan on having more time to bake now that school is in.

When I was a kid, I always had to go to daycare right after school and then when I finally got old enough I was a latch-key kid. Because of that I always envied the kids whose parents were at home waiting for them with freshly baked cookies or an after school snack. I think because of that, I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with my kids. I also overcompensate by having something freshly baked nearly everyday. I am trying to come up with some healthy recipes so that I don't inadvertently make my kids unhealthy with all of my mothering. There really isn't anything more comforting after a long day at school then a freshly baked treat.

Today's treat, that miraculously came out of the oven just as the kids were getting off the bus, was not really a healthy one but one that I made with what I had on hand (I really need to go to the grocery store!). I had some peanut butter and a little bit of chocolate so I flipped through my favorite baking book (Dorie Greenspan's, Baking From my Home to Yours) and looked through the peanut butter section in the index. I noticed the chocolate peanut butter cookies and thought that they would be a great hit in my house. I was right, they were pretty darn good. Although, I think that they'd be better sandwiched with some of the fresh vanilla ice cream I made a few weeks ago, too bad it was gone in one night!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

about 1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon (if using) and whisk to combine.

2. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add both of the sugars and beat for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. With the mixer running add the eggs, one at a time mixing until each is combined, then add the vanilla.

3. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture a little at a time. Mix until just combined. Add the chopped chocolate and mix to combine.

4. In a shallow bowl add the 1/2 cup flour. Scoop the cookie dough (which will be soft) into heaping tablespoons and roll into a ball. Drop the rolled balls into the sugar and roll to coat all sides. Place on cookie sheets leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie. Dip the tines of a fork into the sugar and make the crisscross pattern into each cookie. Bake the cookies for about 11-12 minutes. the cookies will be soft but will firm up as they sit out. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Gorgonzola Pizza

2008-08-14T00:51:00.002-04:00

I know That usually all of my posts are desserts but I just couldn't resist posting this delicious pizza I made the other night. My husband was gone and so the kids and I had dinner by ourselves. We had been out running errands so it was almost bed time when we got around to eating dinner. I realized that I needed to make them a quick dinner and get them to bed. I got them all fed and into bed and decided that I should make myself a nice dinner. This is what I came up with. I must admit that I really love to eat by myself and actually prefer it to eating with everyone else. There will be many night where I make the family dinner and then I make myself something when the kids are in bed. I like to be able to enjoy making my own food and then be able to eat it in peace. This night was no exception. I took the time to make myself a nice meal and then sat down and enjoyed it in silence.

This pizza is really simple to make it just takes a little time. Caramelizing the onions takes about 30-40 minutes but is well worth the wait. I usually will make some extra and keep them in the fridge. I love how the onions become sweet and soft, almost like a jam. The onions are the sauce to the pizza so don't skimp on the olive oil. You need to olive oil to properly caramelize the onions plus it keeps the crust moist as it bakes. If you think that you don't like blue cheese, you've have got to try it on this pizza. The tanginess of the gorgonzola balances out the sweetness of the onions and they just taste so perfect together.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Gorgonzola Pizza

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

2 Tbs. Olive oil, divided

1/2 tsp kosher salt

about 5 Crimini mushrooms ( button would work too), sliced

1/2 pound pizza dough

1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese

1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese

fresh parsley, chopped, (for garnish)

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 Tbs. of olive oil and heat for a minute. Add the sliced onions and salt and stir to coat with the oil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook stirring occasionally until the onions turn a caramel brown color, about 30-40 minutes.

2. Heat the remaining oil in the pan and quickly saute the mushrooms until cooked and brown. Salt to taste

3. Place a pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven and heat to 450°. Roll out pizza dough to desired shape and place on a pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal. Spread the pizza dough with the caramelized onions. Cover with the mushrooms and then sprinkle with the gorgonzola and parmesan cheeses.

4. Slide the pizza off the peel and onto the baking stone and bake for about 7-10 minutes or until the crust is baked through and the cheese has melted. Sprinkle with parsley, if using.

Peach and Custard Tart with Almonds

2008-08-07T23:32:00.002-04:00

As a kid, my favorite dessert hands down was and probably still is my mom's peach pie. Every Thanksgiving, instead of the traditional pumpkin pie, we would have peach. On my birthday instead of the traditional birthday cake I would always request peach pie. I have a very soft spot in my heart for that delicious dessert and it is darn near impossible for something to take it's place.

I have been eyeing this tart for awhile and was weary of anything peach since it would be up against my Mom's killer peach pie. I finally hunkered down and made this one with some of those delicious fresh peaches that are in season right now. I will admit that it still wasn't as delicious as my Mom's wonderful pie but it was a close second. This tart has a nutty shortbread like crust topped with sweet peaches and then covered in a sweet custard of cream, sugar and eggs. The whole thing is then sprinkled with an almond and brown sugar streusel. It was so rich that I really could settle for just a little slice. If you're intimidated by pies, try the easier tart and enjoy the delicious results.

Peach and Custard Tart

Form Dorie Greenspan's, Baking From My Home to Yours

Pate sable(Sweet tart dough) with nuts

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup ground almonds

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick plus 1 Tbs. (9Tbs.) very cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

1. Put the flour, nuts, sugar and salt in to a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the butter throughout and pulse until mixture resembles small peas. Add a little of the egg and then pule and continue the process until all the yolk is incorporated. Then process in a few long pulses, about 10 seconds each, until the dough forms clumps and starts to come together. Pour the mixture out onto the counter and knead lightly to incorporate all of the dry ingredients.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a 9 inch tart pan. Press the dough evenly on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes.

3. Place the frozen tart pan onto a cookie sheet and cover with butter aluminum foil, pressing it directly onto the surface of the dough. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and press down any dough that has puffed up.

Streusel

2 Tbs. Flour

2 Tbs packed light brown sugar

2 Tbs. Chopped almonds

2 Tbs. cold unsalted butter , cut into pieces

Working with your fingers, blend all the ingredients together in a small bowl until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerated.

Filling

3 large ripe peaches peeled, halved and pitted and thinly sliced

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Arrange sliced peaches decoratively in the tart pan over the partially baked crust. Mix the cream, egg, sugar and extract together and pour over the peaches.

2. Bake the tart for 10 minutes then lower to oven temperature to 375° and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Pull the tart form the oven and sprinkle with the streusel mixture breaking up any big pieces. bake the tart for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and the streusel is golden.

Check This Out

2008-08-07T12:32:00.002-04:00

I know that this isn't food related but I just had to share. My oldest daughter is a huge video gamer just like her dad. She has amazing hand-eye-coordination and can kick my butt at any video game. She loves to play Guitar Hero and is really pretty amazing at it for her age, she's already better than me. My husband made a video of her playing it and put it on YouTube, it is so cute. It is amazing when it gets to the solo and gets pretty tough to see her little fingers hitting all the keys. I really need get her a real musical instrument!

P.S. I'll be back tomorrow with a great peach tart recipe.

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream

2008-07-30T13:39:00.002-04:00

It's the end of the month and time for another Daring Baker's challenge. I have really loved being a part of the Daring Bakers and trying new recipes each month. It is fun to see how all of the other Daring Bakers interpret the same recipe.

This months recipe was a hazelnut cake which was brushed with a simple syrup and layered with praline buttercream and whipped cream. The whole cake was then glazed with a dark chocolate ganache and decorated with more of the praline buttercream. Nothing in this recipe was really difficult, there were just many steps so you had to plan it out and do a few of the steps ahead. The only difficulty I had was in shelling the hazelnuts. I tried everything, toasting, blanching, steaming, toasting again. I ended up enlisting my husbands help and peeling the remaining stubborn hazelnuts one by one. Next time I would shell out the extra money for the pre-shelled hazelnuts. Apart from that little set back, everything went pretty smoothly. I didn't have a 10 inch cake pan so I went for two 9 inch cake pans. The layers turned out pretty thin but all in all it worked out perfectly. I also left out all of the alcohol and replaced it in many places with almond extract.

All in all, this was a fun challenge with delicious results. I loved the cake with it's slightly chewy nutty texture and the praline buttercream was light and smooth with a nutty caramely tang. The bittersweet chocolate just brought the whole thing together with it's velvety rich flavor. I would love to make this again with almonds or pistachios for a change in flavor and texture. Give this a try but don't forget to pace yourself. This isn't something that you can finish in a matter of hours. If you do your prep it comes together as simple as can be.

Check out what all of the other amazing Daring Bakers made. There are so many amazing cakes out there. Thanks to Chris from Mele Cotte for this fun challenge. I can't wait to see what we'll be doing next month!

***If you live near me (you know who you are) and are reading this, leave me a comment and I'll bring you a slice of this cake. ( I just don't want to eat the whole thing myself!)***

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
From Great Cakes by Carol Walter

1 Filbert Genoise
1 recipe sugar syrup, flavored with dark rum
1 recipe Praline Buttercream
½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 recipe Apricot Glaze
1 recipe Ganache Glaze, prepared just before using
3 tablespoons filberts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Filbert Genoise
Because of the amount of nuts in the recipe, this preparation is different from a classic genoise.
1 ½ cups hazelnuts, toasted/skinned
2/3 cup cake flour, unsifted
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar, divided ¼ & ¾ cups
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
5 lg. egg whites
¼ cup warm, clarified butter (100 – 110 degrees)

1. Position rack in the lower 3rd of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10” X 2” inch round cake pan.
Using a food processor, process nuts, cake flour, and cornstarch for about 30 seconds. Then, pulse the mixture about 10 times to get a fine, powdery mixture. You’ll know the nuts are ready when they begin to gather together around the sides of the bowl. While you want to make sure there aren’t any large pieces, don’t over-process. Set aside.

2. Put the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, and beat until thick and light in color, about 3-4 minutes on med-high speed. Slowly, add ¾ cup of sugar. It is best to do so by adding a tablespoon at a time, taking about 3 minutes for this step. When finished, the mixture should be ribbony. Blend in the vanilla and grated lemon rind. Remove and set aside.
Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl of the electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed, until soft peaks. Increase to med-high speed and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, over 15-20 seconds or so. Continue to beat for another ½ minute.

3. Add the yolk mixture to the whites and whisk for 1 minute.
Pour the warm butter in a liquid measure cup (or a spouted container). * It must be a deep bottom bowl and work must be fast.* Put the nut meal in a mesh strainer (or use your hand – working quickly) and sprinkle it in about 2 tablespoons at a time – folding it carefully for about 40 folds. Be sure to exclude any large chunks/pieces of nuts. Again, work quickly and carefully as to not deflate the mixture. When all but about 2 Tbsp. of nut meal remain, quickly and steadily pour the warm butter over the batter. Then, with the remaining nut meal, fold the batter to incorporate, about 13 or so folds.

4. With a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the spatula or back of a spoon.

**If collected butter remains at the bottom of the bowl, do not add it to the batter! It will impede the cake rising while baking.
Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when it is springy to the touch and it separates itself from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack sprayed with nonstick coating, removing the pan. Cool the cake completely.

*If not using the cake right away, wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap, then in a plastic bag, then in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If freezing, wrap in foil, then the bag and use within 2-3 months.

Sugar Syrup
Makes 1 cup, good for one 10-inch cake – split into 3 layers
1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. dark rum or orange flavored liqueur

1. In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the liqueur. Cool slightly before using on the cake. *Can be made in advance.

Praline Buttercream

1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
1/3 cup praline paste
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp. Jamaican rum (optional)
Blend ½ cup buttercream into the paste, then add to the remaining buttercream. Whip briefly on med-low speed to combine. Blend in rum.

Swiss Buttercream
4 lg. egg whites
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 ½ -2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or liqueur of your choice
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Place the egg whites in a lg/ bowl of a elevtric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the whites are foamy and they begin to thicken (just before the soft peak stage). Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Then, whisk in the sugar by adding 1-2 tablespoon of sugar at a time over a minutes time. Continue beating 2-3 minutes or until the whites are warm (about 120 degrees) and the sugar is dissolved. The mixture should look thick and like whipped marshmallows.

2. Remove from pan and with either the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and sugar on med-high until its a thick, cool meringue – about 5-7 minutes. *Do not overbeat*. Set aside.

3. Place the butter in a separate clean mixing bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 40-60 seconds, or until smooth and creamy. *Do not overbeat or the butter will become toooooo soft.*

4. On med-low speed, blend the meringue into the butter, about 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, over 1 minute. Add the liqueur and vanilla and mix for 30-45 seconds longer, until thick and creamy.
Refrigerate 10-15 minutes before using.

Wait! My buttercream won’t come together! Reheat the buttercream briefly over simmering water for about 5 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon. Be careful and do not overbeat. The mixture will look broken with some liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Return the bowl to the mixer and whip on medium speed just until the cream comes back together.

Wait! My buttercream is too soft! Chill the buttercream in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and rewhip. If that doesn’t work, cream an additional 2-4 Tbsp. of butter in a small bowl– making sure the butter is not as soft as the original amount, so make sure is cool and smooth. On low speed, quickly add the creamed butter to the buttercream, 1 Tbsp. at a time.
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to 6 months. If freezing, store in 2 16-oz. plastic containers and thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for several hours.

Praline Paste
1 cup (4 ½ oz.) Hazelnuts, toasted/skinless
2/3 cup Sugar

1. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and lightly butter.
Put the sugar in a heavy 10-inch skillet. Heat on low flame for about 10-20 min until the sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and caramel in color, remove from heat. Stir in the nuts with a wooden spoon and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble. **Remember – extremely hot mixture.** Then onto the parchment lined sheet and spread as evenly as possible. As it cools, it will harden into brittle. Break the candied nuts into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.

Apricot Glaze
Good for one 10-inch cake
2/3 cup thick apricot preserves
1 Tbsp. water
In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add water as needed.
Remove from heat and, using a strainer, press the mixture through the mesh and discard any remnants. With a pastry brush, apply the glaze onto the cake while the cake is still warm. If the glaze is too thick, thin to a preferred consistency with drops of water.

Ganache Glaze
Makes about 1 cup, enough to cover the top and sides of a 9 or 10 inch layer or tube cake
**Ganache can take on many forms. While warm – great fudge sauce. While cool or lukewarm – semisweet glaze. Slightly chilled – can be whipped into a filling/frosting. Cold & solid – the base of candied chocolate truffles.
6 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt
6 oz. (¾ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, Cointreay, or dark Jamaican rum (optional)
¾ tsp. vanilla
½ - 1 tsp. hot water, if needed

1. Blend vanilla and liqueur/rum together and set aside.
Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside.
Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once to the gently boil, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla mixture. If the surface seems oily, add ½ - 1 tsp hot water. The glaze will thicken, but should still be pourable. If it doesn’t thicken, refrigerate for about 5 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t get too cold!

Assembling Cake
Cut a cardboard disk slightly smaller than the cake. Divide the cake into 3 layers and place the first layer top-side down on the disk. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with 3-4 Tbsp. of warm sugar syrup. Measure out 1 cup of praline buttercream and set aside.

Spread the bottom layer with a ¼-inch thickness of the remaining buttercream. Cover with ½ of the whipped cream, leaving ¼-inch border around the edge of the cake. Place the middle layer over the first, brush with sugar syrup, spreading with buttercream. Cover with the remaining whipped cream.
Moisten the cut side of the third layer with additional sugar syrup and place cut side down on the cake. Gently, press the sides of the cake to align the layers. Refrigerate to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Lift the cake by sliding your palm under the cardboard. Holding a serrated or very sharp night with an 8-ich blade held parallel to the sides of the cake, trim the sides so that they are perfectly straight. Cut a slight bevel at the top to help the glaze drip over the edge. Brush the top and sides of the cake with warm apricot glaze, sealing the cut areas completely. Chill while you prepare the ganache.

Place a rack over a large shallow pan to catch the ganache drippings. Remove the gateau from the refrigerator and put it the rack. With a metal spatula in hand, and holding the saucepan about 10 inches above the cake, pour the ganache onto the cake’s center. Move the spatula over the top of the ganache about 4 times to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance. The ganache should cover the top and run down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has been poured and is coating the cake, lift one side of the rack and bang it once on the counter to help spread the ganache evenly and break any air bubbles. (Work fast before setting starts.) Patch any bare spots on the sides with a smaller spatula, but do not touch the top after the “bang”. Let the cake stand at least 15 minutes to set after glazing.

Buttermilk Sugar Cookies

2008-07-25T15:25:00.002-04:00

I bet you all have been wondering where I've been. I don't have any really great answers I have just been so busy. We had a huge family reunion all weekend and there was so much to do before it to get ready. Feeding 40 people all weekend takes a lot of food and a lot of Costco shopping :). Overall it was a great time. We ate way too much and swam all weekend. My mother-in-law even rented one of those huge blow-up water slides which turned out to be taller than her house. I think the adults had as much fun, if not more, than the kids. After all of that fun I was exhausted so I spent this first part of the week resting and the rest trying to recover my neglected house. So needless to say, here I am back with an amazing cookie recipe.

As a kid, one of the local gas stations had a bakery inside. They used to make these giant soft sugar cookies that were almost more like cake. I loved them and for me it was more about the cookie than the huge glob of pink frosting that they used to put on top. I would always scrape off all of the frosting and sprinkles and go right for the cookie. When I first tasted one of these cookies it brought me back to those days of eating those soft sugar cookies. Wether you like your cookies covered in frosting or sprinkled with turbinado sugar (like me), they are easy and delicious.

Buttermilk Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick ) butter softened

1/4 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

6 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter, shortening and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. While the mixture is creaming, in a separate bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients and set aside.

2. To the bowl with the sugar and butter, add the eggs one at a time with the mixer running, mixing well after each addition. Add the extracts and mix until combined.

3. Alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in 3 additions, starting and ending with the flour and mixing until combined after each addition. Separate dough into thirds and transfer to plastic wrap to chill for at least and hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350°. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut to desired shape. If the dough becomes sticky add a little more flour and re-roll. If desired, sprinkle with turbinado sugar before baking. Bake for about 8 minutes or until puffed and cooked but not browned. Let cool and frost with your favorite frosting.

Mango Gelato

2008-07-18T11:20:00.002-04:00

It was my mother-in-law's birthday last week and we had a great time. All of the girls got together and took her out to dinner and then we wandered around down town and picked up some delicious gelato. Since then it has been my obsession. I went to the grocery store to pick up some fresh fruit and saw the sweet ripened mangos and then and there it was decided that mango would be my first attempt.

It turned out delicious, like a creamy sorbet and it is so simple. It also was fairly cheap, costing me only about $4 for an entire batch which is what I paid for my little cup of gelato downtown. I am sure that this won't be the last of my gelato recipes so don't be surprised if you see a few more soon.

Mango Gelato

(adapted from a cooking light recipe)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 ripe mangos peeled and cut into pieces

2 cups mango nectar (look in the Mexican food aisle)

1 1/2 cups half and half

1. Make a simple syrup: In a medium saucepan combine the water and the sugar and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

2. Combine the sugar syrup and the mango pieces in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour through a sieve to remove and pieces of pulp that remain. Add the nectar and the half and half and chill for a few hours. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to your manufacturers instructions.

Caramel Honey Twists

2008-07-14T18:10:00.002-04:00

This last weekend, my family and I went down to the farmer's market. I love the atmosphere and all of the booths there. My husband always jokes and calls me a hippy because I am a vegetarian and love all things home grown. He can call me what he wants but I still love the farmers market. I would be there every Saturday if gas were cheaper. Sometimes I find lots of things that I want to buy and sometimes I just meander through the market sampling all of the wares. This weekend I made only one purchase, honey. Now let me tell you that this honey is no ordinary honey. It is delicious flavored honey. I bought a two pack that had a bottle of cinnamon honey and my favorite, caramel cream honey.

My kids and I have been using this honey all weekend thinking of different uses. We ate it on pancakes like syrup Sunday, on some frozen yogurt, my kids even put it on their breakfast cereal, yes, it's that good. So this morning I used the caramel honey to make some delicious honey-nut twists. They are so easy, you could use some leftover pizza or bread dough or if your in a hurry use the refrigerated breadstick dough and you have delicious twists in about 20 minutes.

Honey-Nut Twists

1/4 cup honey

1 tbs. butter

1/2 cup chopped nuts

bread dough or pkg of refrigerated breadstick dough

1 cup powdered sugar

1/8 tsp. almond extract

2-3 Tbs. milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. In a small saucepan melt the butter and honey together and then pour into a shallow dish. Place the chopped nuts into another shallow dish.

2. If using homemade dough, roll out into a thin rectangle and cut into strips using a pizza cutter. Dip the breadsticks into the butter and honey mixture and then into the nuts. Fold in half and twist together and place on baking sheet.

3. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack. While the breadsticks are baking, make the glaze by mixing together the powdered sugar, almond extract and a few tablespoons of milk. Add milk until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle the glaze over the breadsticks and eat while warm.

Hot Cross Buns

2008-07-07T17:42:00.002-04:00

Nearly every Sunday I make a big batch of bread dough. I use part of it on Sunday for our big meal and the rest gets turned into pizza dough, breadsticks or cheese rolls throughout the week. The recipe is so versatile that it covers all my bases for the week. I just store the leftover dough in the refrigerator and pull it out when I need it.

I received this recipe from a friend years ago when she taught me how to make rolls. It has been such a wonderful recipe that it is still the one I turn to most. It makes a large amount of dough and can be halved. The full recipe makes 36 large rolls (one cookie sheet full) or 4 freeform loaves of french bread. Most often I will use half of the dough on Sunday to make 2 loaves of French bread or 1 1/2 dozen rolls. The rest of the dough is split into 2 and makes a large pizza one night and breadsticks or cheesy bread the other.

I have made the dough with all purpose flour, bread flour and whole wheat flour. Most often I will mix white bread flour and whole wheat bread flour. Sometimes I substitute milk or buttermilk for the water or I'll throw an egg or two in for extra richness. I also sometimes will use honey in place of the sugar. Basically anything goes as long as you follow the basic recipe, like I said, it's very versatile. If your looking for an easy all-purpose recipe than this is a great start.

Rolls, Bread, Etc...

4 cups warm water

1/2 cup sugar

4 TBS. SAF instant yeast

1/4 cup oil

4 tsp. salt

8-10 cups flour

1 egg white, lightly beaten, optional

sea salt or other course salt, optional

1. In the bowl of a mixer combine the water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow to foam up.

2. With the mixer running, add the oil and a cup or two of flour. Then add the salt and another cup of flour. Keep adding the flour until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Let knead in the mixer for 10 minutes.

3. Remove from the bowl onto a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. At this point you can divide the dough up, place the portions that you aren't going to use right away into lightly oiled bowls and refrigerate. Shape the remaining dough into desired shape and place on an oiled cookie sheet and cover with a towel. (If desired you can brush the dough with a lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sea salt before rising)

4. Preheat the oven to 350°. Let the rolls/bread/etc. rise for 15-20 minutes or until doubled in size and puffy. Bake rolls for about 18-22 minutes, bread for about 26-30 minutes or until golden and cooked through. (If making a full cookie sheet of rolls (36), bake for about 24 minutes)

Dark Chocolate Pound Cake

2008-07-05T21:00:00.001-04:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We had a great time eating, swimming lighting off fireworks and of course eating some more. By the time I got home last night I was literally sick from eating so much delicious food. In fact, we had so much food left over we are having another BBQ today to finish it all up. The fireworks were a lot of fun. The husbands I think enjoy it more than the kids. Every year they gather all of the cheap McDonalds happy meal toys and attach fireworks to them with duct tape. I have to say, happy meal toys are extremely flammable. The guys are like kids they are almost giddy when a toy catches fire and melts into a plastic puddle. All in all it was a great night.

I decided to make a delicious dark chocolate pound cake with a sour cream glaze for our potluck BBQ last night. It turned out so delicious despite the smoke filled house that it created. The recipe I used was made for a 12 cup bundt pan, which mine is, but for some reason it spilled over the edges and dripped all over the oven floor. The drippings became burnt puddles of sugar and chocolate. There was so much smoke that I can't believe my fire alarms weren't going off. So, I pulled the cake from the oven, turned the oven off and cleaned it all out. then I put the cake back into the oven, crossed my fingers and hoped that at least it would be edible. The cake of course sunk while it was sitting out and I knew that it wouldn't rise again so imagine my surprise when the cake turned out beautifully and delicious despite the fact that it was a little sunken on the underside. The cake turned out richly chocolately with a chewy exterior and a brownie like texture inside. The glaze was sweet and a little tangy and was a great contrast to the sweet chewy cake on the inside. This was a great recipe despite all of the mishaps that took place while making it. I might just make it again the same way, letting it spill out onto a pan and letting it sink down a little before baking it the rest of the way.

Dark Chocolate Pound Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 cup dark dutch processed cocoa powder

1 Tbs. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 3/4 cup milk or half-and-half

1. Preheat the oven to 325° and grease a 12 cup bundt pan. Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix to combine.

2. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the creamed butter and sugar, mixing well after each addition. Add both of the extracts and mix to combine.

3. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk, starting and ending with flour. Mix until just combined. Pour the mixture into prepared bundt pan filling only 3/4 of the way full. (You may have a little extra batter.) Bake for 90-95 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Sour Cream Glaze

1 lb (16 oz) powdered sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp almond extract

about 2 Tbs. milk or half-and-half

1. Mix all of the ingredients together with a whisk until smooth. Add additional milk to thin to desired consistency. Pour glaze over cake.

The Daring Bakers take on Danish Pastry

2008-06-29T13:26:00.002-04:00

Yep, it's that time of the month again. Time for another Daring Baker's challenge. When I looked at the challenge this month, I was so excited. I had never made a laminate dough before but had been wanting to for awhile. Leave it up to the Daring Baker's to make it happen sooner rather than later. This months challenge was Danish pastry.

The Danish pastry dough is a mix between a yeasty sweet dough and a puff pastry. The sweet yeast dough is rolled out and spread with a mixture of butter and flour. Then it is folded into thirds and refrigerated. The rolling and folding is repeated 3 more times and then the dough must rest in the refrigerator for several hours. This process creates thin layers of butter all throughout the dough which result in that deliciously light and flaky pastry. The dough usually contains cardamom and orange both of which I left out. I substituted extra milk for the orange juice and added some almond extract to the dough for extra flavor.

We were given a choice of fillings and it was so hard to pick. First I made a ring shaped pastry filled with a mixture of homemade almond paste, cream cheese and powdered sugar. I then topped the ring with a lemony powdered sugar glaze. This one was so delicious. The pastry was flaky just as I had hoped it would be and the filling was absolutely delicious. I really liked the tang that the lemon and powdered sugar glaze gave, it really helped to balance all of the other sweet flavors.

For my second pastry I made the traditional braid shape and filled it with a light layer of the almond and cream cheese mixture followed by some cinnamon apples. I then topped the braid with a crumb topping. The smell as it baked was heavenly, you could smell the yeast dough with hints of cinnamon. If the smell was good, the taste was even better. The almond mixture puffed up slightly and mixed with the cinnamon apples and the dough was perfectly flaky and buttery. I can't believe that I've never made this before. It was surprisingly easy and may only be thought as difficult due to the time involved in making it, most of which is the dough resting.

If you want to be daring too, give this on a try, it was delicious. Check out what all of the other Daring Bakers have made. A big thanks to Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben from What's Cookin'? for hosting this wonderful challenge. It was a lot of fun and delicious to boot.

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough
Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.
BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids
Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids
Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)
For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.
Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.
Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Homemade Almond Paste

5 oz. blanched almonds

5 oz. powdered sugar

2 1/2 oz. granulated sugar

2 TBS. corn syrup

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp almond extract

1. In a small sauce pan combine the granulated sugar, the corn syrup, the extract and the water. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for a few minutes to make sure all of the sugar is dissolved. Let cool slightly.

2. In the bowl of a food processor mix together the almonds and the powdered sugar until the mixture is ground into a semi-fine powder. With the machine running, slowly add the syrup and mix until it forms a paste.

3. Almond paste can be kept at room temperature for a day or two but if it will be longer refrigerate or freeze.

Makes about 13 oz. of almond paste

Almond Cream Cheese Filling

7 oz. almond paste

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. In the bowl of mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix all of the ingredients together until well mixed.

Honey and Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

2008-06-28T16:44:00.002-04:00

It has been quite awhile since I have posted but I have been so busy. I just got back from taking 12 girls ages 12-18 camping for 4 days. It was a lot fun and a lot of hormones. They sure kept me busy; I am still so young and I already feel like I don't have the energy I once had. Now that I've showered and washed several loads of clothes and blankets it's time to begin cooking or in this case freezing something

It has finally started to get hot here and it kind of hit us all of a sudden. We were never really able to enjoy the temperate weather that late spring and early summer usually brings. We went right from cold to screaming hot in a matter of days. So jumping into summer with both feet forward, I decided to make some tangy frozen yogurt. It is so easy to make and lends itself well to many flavors. The batch that I made I consider my base, it can be eaten alone or made into a variety of flavors. Make strawberry frozen yogurt by adding pureed strawberries or any other fruit that you'd like.

This recipe is adapted from David Lebowitz's book The Perfect Scoop. If you love ice cream and particularly making your own, then this is the book for you. There are so many pictures of the delicious ice cream that it's hard to decide which to try first. You really won't be disappointed with this recipe. It is so easy and you won't believe how creamy it is even though it's frozen yogurt.

Honey and Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

2 (32 oz) container of plain yogurt, preferably not low fat or nonfat

about 3/4 cup of honey

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Line a colander with a few layer of cheese clothe and place over a bowl. Pour both containers of the yogurt onto the cheesecloth. Pull the edges up to cover. Refrigerate and allow to drain for 8 hours or overnight.

2. Stir together the thickened yogurt and a 1/2 cup of the honey. Check for sweetness and add more until desired sweetness (I like mine a little tart so I only used a little more than 1/2 cup). Stir in the vanilla.

3. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the instructions included with your ice cream maker.

Variations: Add 1 cup of pureed and strained strawberries or other fruits for delicious fruity frozen yogurt.

Brownies 3 Ways

2008-06-17T01:03:00.002-04:00

I hope that everyone had a good Father's Day. I had a great weekend spending time with family and friends. On Saturday we had a big pre-Father's Day BBQ and pool party and then on Sunday we were able to just spend time together as a family. My girls loved making breakfast for their daddy in the morning and taking care of him all day. For dinner we had a big "meaty" meal and when I asked my husband if he had eaten any of the vegetables that I had made he said, "It's Father's Day, I should at least get one day off". I thought that it was so cute that I didn't even say another word. I guess that he can have a day off once a year if he wants. To put the icing on the cake, so to speak, here is a great dessert for that father in your life. Who doesn't love a rich fudgy brownie with a candy bar inside?

When you look at the amounts of the ingredients in this recipe don't freak out. It is enough to bake in a cookie sheet and can accommodate all three kinds into one pan. This is great if you have a big family get together or party to bring them to. The recipe makes about 40 good sized brownies and they are so rich and fudgy that you could probably cut them in half and still be satisfied. If you want to make less, you can halve the recipe and bake it in a 9 x13 or use 1/3 of the recipe for an 8 x 8.

I used three different candy bars, Snickers minis, the miniature Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and the small York Peppermint patties. These were all so good I am not sure that I could pick a favorite but my husbands favorite definitely was the Reeses, which is his favorite candy bar. I am sure that you could make these with any of your favorite candy bars. As a word of advise, these need to cool for a long period of time and it is best if they sit in the refrigerator before cutting. This will help you get that crisp clean cut. I brought some of them to a lunch at the park today and unfortunately they hadn't cooled all the way before I cut them and the hot weather outside didn't help much either so they looked like a mess and were quite melted (sorry ladies!!!). These are best served right out of the refrigerator which consequently is also the best place to store them. So if you have a hankering for a great fudgy snack, whip up a batch of these and you won't be disappointed.

Candy Bar Brownies

(Adapted form a Martha Stewart recipe)

3 sticks of unsalted butter(1 1/2 cups)

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

24 ounces chocolate chips (2 bags, I use the 60% cocoa ones)

1 Tbs. Vanilla

3 3/4 cups sugar

9 large eggs

about 40 each of York peppermint patties, Snickers minis and miniature Reeses Peanut butter cups (have them unwrapped and ready to use)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients and whisk to combine; Set aside.

2. Place the butter and chocolate chips in a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl in not touching the water). Heat stirring occasionally until the butter and the chocolate chips are melted. Remove from heat and add in the sugar and vanilla. Stir until combined. Add in the eggs a few at a time mixing well after each addition. Add the flour mixture 1/3 at a time stirring until just combined. Do not over mix.

3. Spread about half of the batter onto the bottom of the pan using an offset spatula to spread evenly ( it helps to warm the spatula by running it under hot water). Using three different sections make rows of the candy bars. Over lap just the peppermint patties (like shingles on a roof). Leave a little border around the edges of the pan and between the different sections. (I made 3 rows of 12 of each the peppermint patties and the snickers and 4 rows of the Reeses). Carefully spread the remaining batter over the top of the candy bars using the offset spatula. Tap the pan on the counter to help even the batter and remove any air bubbles.

4. Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the brownies are set and the edges are crisp. Cool in the pan for several hours and then move to the fridge to cool and set completely. Slice them with a sharp damp knife, rinsing between cuts. Store in the refrigerator.

Ginger Almond Biscotti

2008-06-13T22:43:00.002-04:00

I know that I have been gone for a little while. I had to have a colonoscopy at the beginning of this week thus inhibiting me to eat for a few days. Why am I telling you this? I am hoping to get a little more awareness out there for colon cancer and colon cancer screenings. My dad was diagnosed at39 with 2 large tumors in his colon. It was so far advanced that he died 2 years later. Colon cancer has a really high survival rate, like 90%, if detected early through regular screenings. I was supposed to have a colonoscopy several years ago but I kept putting it off. You know, it doesn't sound too fun and, after all, I am pretty young. Finally after a little coercion from my doctor I scheduled one. How grateful I am too. The doctor found one precancerous polyp and because of my early screening, I was able to have it removed. In all honesty, the colonoscopy wasn't so bad and the alternative would have been much worse. So, if you are over the age of 50 or know someone who is, urge them to get their colonoscopy. If you have a family history of colon cancer you need to get checked earlier and possibly more frequently. Ok, now that my 2 cents on the matter is through, I will get back to the food!

I was looking through my pantry yesterday trying to come up with something to make. I found a small bag of almond meal that I had left over from the opera cakes and also a large bag of almonds. As soon as I saw the almonds my mind drifted back to my college days when I would grab a hot chocolate and an almond biscotti almost daily from the coffee shop on campus. I loved biting into the crunchy cookie and getting a bite of the toasty almonds inside. Normally I like to use almond extract in my biscotti to bring out the almond flavor but a check in my pantry and I was all out. I searched through my spices thinking maybe about anise, but I was all out of it too. So now it was off to my fridge where I discovered a small piece of ginger leftover from the previous nights dinner. This was it, I love that little hint of flavor that ginger brings to desserts. It's a very subtle taste when used in small amounts and makes others wonder what it is that you put in there. When using ginger in desserts I like to grate it over a microplane to insure that there are no large pieces. As mentioned before, I had some almond meal (ground blanched almonds) leftover that I wanted to use up so I threw that in too for a little change in the texture. If you don't have this you can just substitute an equal amount of flour.

Almond Ginger Biscotti

1 1/4 cups whole unblanched almonds

7 Tbs. cold butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 granulated sugar

1 1/ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 egg white , lightly beaten, for brushing

turbinado sugar

!/2 cup chocolate chips

1 Tbs. heavy cream to thin chocolate if needed

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Spread the almonds onto a baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes, stirring as necessary, until fragrant. Remove from the oven and spread almonds onto a plate to cool. Adjust oven temperature to 350 and line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the remaining ingredients into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix ingredients until a soft dough forms. Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into 3 pieces. Place in the refrigerator for to chill for about 30 minutes or until no longer sticky. Taking one piece at a time, roll the dough into thin ropes. They should be as long as the baking sheet and only about 1/2 inch thick (they will spread considerably). Bake only 2 at a time as they spread. Brush with the egg white and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for about 22-27 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Remove parchment paper from pan and while still warm, slice the biscotti on the diagonal with a serrated knife. Do not use a sawing motion as this will cause the biscotti to crumble, instead cut straight down. The biscotti will harden as they cool but if you would like them crisper lower oven to 300 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes. repeat with the remaining piece of dough, or store in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

4. Melt the chocolate in the microwave stirring every 10 seconds, until melted. Add the cream to thin out if desired. Place the chocolate into a Ziploc bag and snip off the corners. Drizzle over the cooled biscotti and let sit until chocolate is set.

Rice Crispy Treats Meets Smores

2008-06-05T00:19:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been another busy day. I always think that I'll have time to get things done and then all of a sudden the day is over. I had plans to make some mint chocolate brownies that I saw on Martha Stewart this weekend but never made it to the store, so those will have to wait for later this week.

I am in charge of some of the youth at my church and for an activity tonight we went letterboxing. If you have never heard of this you should check it out. Basically people all over the country have hidden boxes and they leave clues online at the above website. Usually the boxes contain a stamp, sometimes homemade, and a little book. When you find the box you stamp their stamp into your journal or book and then stamp your stamp into their little book. It's a fun family activity and it is free.

So I needed a quick treat for the activity with what I had on hand. I have had a lot of camping on my mind as I am also in charge of the camp for the youth in a couple of weeks so I guess that's why I thought of smores. I needed a smore that was portable though and what a better way to eat it than on top of a rice crispy treat! These are so quick and easy, I made them in less than 15 minutes, so if you're short on time and need a dressed up snack, give these a try.

Rice Crispy Treat Smores

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 bags (16 oz. each) miniature marshmallows ( half of a bag reserved for topping)

1 tsp vanilla

about 20 cups of rice crispies ( I never actually measured)

8 oz. chocolate chips ( I used miniature chocolate chips)

4 Graham Crackers, broken into bite size pieces

1. Preheat the broiler. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. Melt butter and marshmallows and vanilla in a large pot over medium heat, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and add enough of the rice crispies to coat them evenly and lightly with the marshmallows. Spread on to the cookies sheet. (If you wet your hands then you can press the rice crispy treat into the pan evenly without them sticking to your hands).

3. Cover the treats evenly with the reserved marshmallows and then sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Place the pan under the broiler for 1-2 minutes or until the marshmallows are nice and toasty. Watch carefully as they go from toasted to burnt in a matter of seconds. Remove from the oven and sprinkle evenly with the graham cracker crumbs. Set aside and let them cool for about 2 hours. This allows the marshmallows to set back up and makes them easier to cut. Cut the rice crispy treats into squares using a slightly damp knife as this will keep the marshmallows from sticking. Dampen slightly between each cut.

Delicious Baked Doughnuts

2008-06-04T00:57:00.002-04:00

I know that I have been gone for awhile; I just haven't had much time in the kitchen lately. I always think that once the kids are out of school for the summer that I'll have more time, on the contrary I have been busier than ever. We had a good weekend and accomplished a lot. On Saturday we planted 25 bushes/plants and 2 trees, I was even sore that night. Then on Sunday I was sicker than a dog. I spent most of the day sleeping. I don't think I have slept that much since I had kids. Luckily enough it was a weekend and my husband was able to take care of the kids so that I could just rest. Then on Monday we had two unplanned on guests for dinner so I was busy preparing that. Today was the first day that I felt like I could do something that I wanted to do.

I actually have a list of things that I want to make and every once in awhile I'll look at it and actually make one of them. Today was one of those days. I have been eyeing this recipe for quite sometime and have kept telling myself that I needed to find a reason to make it. But really, who needs a reason to make doughnuts, and baked ones at that?! These were so simple that I can't wait to make them again. It's just as easy as making rolls but a lot more delicious. Once these little gems came out of the oven and were covered with their sugary coating they were consumed still piping hot. They almost melted in your mouth.

I chose to make three different toppings for the doughnuts; sugar and cinnamon, powdered sugar (my favorite), and chocolate ganache with and without sprinkles. I have to tell you that I found the chocolate ones to be a little dry as I didn't coat them with the butter first. If I was to make those ones again, I would coat them with some butter and let them sit a minute or two for it to absorb and then coat with the chocolate. I'm not sure how well these will keep as we consumed the whole batch while still hot, but I am sure that you could store them in an airtight container and then heat for a few seconds in the microwave.

Baked Doughnuts Recipe

This recipe comes from one of my all time favorite food blogs 101 Cookbooks. Whenever I search Heidi's blog, I am inspired to go and cook and usually it's something delicious and healthy. You have got to go and check her out, she takes gorgeous photos and makes amazing food.

Don't over bake these, if anything, under bake them a bit - they will continue baking outside the oven for a few minutes. You want an interior that is moist and tender - not dry. Also, be sure to cut big enough holes in the center of your doughnuts - too small and they will bake entirely shut. Remember they rise, and they rise even more when they are baking. These really need to be made-to-order, but you can make and shape the dough the night before if you want to serve them for brunch. Instructions: after shaping, place doughnuts on baking sheet, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. Pull them out an hour before baking, and let rise in a warm place before baking.

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated(I used a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice)
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Be sure your milk isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt - just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. This is where you are going to need to make adjustments - if your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place (I turn on the oven at this point and set the bowl on top), and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Most people (like myself) don't have a doughnut cutter, instead I use a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes - start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. Eat immediately if not sooner.

Makes 1 1/2 - 2 dozen medium doughnuts.

The Daring Bakers go to the Opera

2008-05-28T15:50:00.002-04:00

Well, it's the end of the month and time yet again for another Daring Bakers challenge. This months recipe was hosted by four lovely ladies, Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, Lis of La Mia Cucina, Fran from Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shea from Whiskful. The challenge this month was to make Opera Cake. Now, I had never heard of opera cake before this challenge but I learned quickly all about it. Basically it's an almond sponge cake called, joconde ,brushed with a flavored simple syrup. Then it is layered with buttercream and then a chocolate mousse and then a gannache glaze. (Whew, how did I fit that all into one sentence!) Traditionally, Opera cakes are made with dark chocolate or coffee flavors. For this challenge were were asked to use only light colors and white chocolate. I have to tell you that I really don't like white chocolate. It is always way too sweet for me and I just can't stand it. I used it in this recipe as directed and to my dismay, I still didn't like it, it was just too darn sweet. I ended up with 7 miniature Opera Cakes that I couldn't eat and didn't really want to pass out to people. I brought them over to my mother-in-laws where there are always tons of people in hopes that they would get eaten up and luckily they did.

I left the cake the same and brushed it with an almond flavored simple syrup. I flavored the buttercream with a pomegranate reduction. This was by far my favorite part. The pomegranate helped a little with the sweetness and just tasted amazing. In fact, I had some of the pomegranate reduction left so I added it to some softened butter to make a pomegranate butter, let me just say, delicious. I kept searching for more things to put it on. It was great on waffles and toast and I have a few more things I'd like try it on. I also was able to make a pomegranate poppy seed salad dressing which was delicious. Anyhoo, back to the opera cake. I made the mousse just as it was written in the recipe with the white chocolate and the heavy cream. I added a layer of strawberries before adding the mousse. Then on to the glaze. I also made it per the recipe only drizzling it with the pomegranate reduction so that the two could set and firm up together. All in all the cake was a success, but I just wasn't happy with the white chocolate with it's cloyingly sweet taste. I think that I would have liked one made with bittersweet chocolate and maybe a salted caramel buttercream. So, maybe I'll try it again with that combo if I get bored one day...

Check out all over the other Daring Baker's creations to see some amazing Opera Cakes.

For the joconde
(Note: The joconde can be made up to 1 day in advance and kept wrapped at room temperate)
What you’ll need:
•2 12½ x 15½-inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans (Note: If you do not have jelly-roll pans this size, do not fear! You can use different-sized jelly-roll pans like 10 x 15-inches.)
•a few tablespoons of melted butter (in addition to what’s called for in the ingredients’ list) and a brush (to grease the pans)
•parchment paper
•a whisk and a paddle attachment for a stand mixer or for a handheld mixer
•two mixing bowls (you can make do with one but it’s preferable to have two)
Ingredients:
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp. (30 grams) granulated sugar
2 cups (225 grams) ground blanched almonds (Note: If you do not want to use almond meal, you can use another nut meal like hazelnut. You can buy almond meal in bulk food stores or health food stores, or you can make it at home by grinding almonds in the food processor with a tablespoon or two of the flour that you would use in the cake. The reason you need the flour is to prevent the almonds from turning oily or pasty in the processor. You will need about 2 cups of blanched almonds to create enough almond meal for this cake.)
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. (1½ ounces; 45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1.Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.
2.Preheat the oven to 425◦F. (220◦C).
3.Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.
4.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.
5.If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.
6.Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to overmix here!!!).
7.Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.
8.Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.
9.Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.
10.Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.
For the syrup
(Note: The syrup can be made up to 1 week in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator.)
What you’ll need:
•a small saucepan
Ingredients:
½ cup (125 grams) water
⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 to 2 tbsp. of the flavouring of your choice (i.e., vanilla extract, almond extract, cognac, limoncello, coconut cream, honey etc.)
1.Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.
2.Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
For the buttercream
(Note: The buttercream can be made up to 1 month in advance and packed in an airtight container. If made way in advance, you can freeze the buttercream. Alternatively you can refrigerate it for up to 4 days after making it. To use the buttercream simply bring it to room temperature and then beat it briefly to restore its consistency.)
(Update Note: The recipe for the buttercream that is listed below was originally based on the original but we had some typos. It's all very confusing (we're good at confusing ourselves) but here is the short of it: When testing the buttercream, we tested a modified version (we're crazy like that!!!) that had 2 cups sugar, ½ cup water and 1¾ cups butter. Yes. That's right. 1¾ cups of butter. The eggs remained the same. We ended up with a very creamy buttercream. VERY. CREAMY. But we don’t want anyone to be afraid of our modified version so you have the option of using the original version listed below or the quantities we’ve listed here in this note. If you are still confused and want to cry, then please e-mail us and we will comfort you!!! We promise!!!)
What you’ll need:
•a small saucepan
•a candy or instant-read thermometer
•a stand mixer or handheld mixer
•a bowl and a whisk attachment
•rubber spatula
Ingredients:
1 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
¼ cup (60 grams) water
seeds of one vanilla bean (split a vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds) or 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract (Note: If you are flavouring your buttercream and do not want to use the vanilla, you do not have to. Vanilla will often enhance other flavours but if you want an intense, one-flavoured buttercream, then by all means leave it out!)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¾ sticks (7 ounces; 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
flavouring of your choice (a tablespoon of an extract, a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate, citrus zest, etc.)
1.Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.
2.Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225◦F (107◦C) [*Note: Original recipe indicates a temperature of 255◦F (124◦C), however, when testing the recipe I found that this was too high so we heated to 225◦F and it worked fine] on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.
3.While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.
4.When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don’t worry about this and don’t try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden!
5.Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).
6.While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass.
7.With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.
8.At this point add in your flavouring and beat for an additional minute or so.
9.Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it’s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes).
For the white chocolate ganache/mousse

(Note: The mousse can be made ahead and refrigerated until you’re ready to use it.)
What you’ll need:
•a small saucepan
•a mixer or handheld mixer
Ingredients:
7 ounces white chocolate
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. heavy cream (35% cream)
1 tbsp. liquer of your choice (Bailey’s, Amaretto, etc.)
1.Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tbsp. of heavy cream in a small saucepan.
2.Stir to ensure that it’s smooth and that the chocolate is melted. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.
3.In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.
4.Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse.
5.If it’s too thin, refrigerate it for a bit until it’s spreadable.
6.If you’re not going to use it right away, refrigerate until you’re ready to use.
For the glaze
(Note: It’s best to make the glaze right when you’re ready to finish the cake.)
What you’ll need:
•a small saucepan or double boiler
Ingredients:
14 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream (35% cream)
1.Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream. Whisk the mixture gently until smooth.
2.Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. Using a long metal cake spatula, smooth out into an even layer.
3.Place the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
Assembling the Opéra Cake
(Note: The finished cake should be served slightly chilled. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 day).
Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
Working with one sheet of cake at a time, cut and trim each sheet so that you have two pieces (from each cake so you’ll have four pieces in total): one 10-inch (25-cm) square and one 10 x 5-inch (25 x 12½-cm) rectangle.
Step A (if using buttercream only and not making the ganache/mousse):
Place one square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.
Spread about one-third of the buttercream over this layer.
Top with the two rectangular pieces of cake, placing them side by side to form a square. Moisten these pieces with the flavoured syrup.
Spread another third of the buttercream on the cake and then top with the third square of joconde. Use the remaining syrup to wet the joconde. Spread the remaining buttercream on top of the final layer of joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).
Make the glaze and after it has cooled, pour/spread it over the top of the chilled cake. Refrigerate the cake again to set the glaze.
Serve the cake slightly chilled. This recipe will yield approximately 20 servings.
Step B (if making the ganache/mousse):
Place one square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.
Spread about three-quarters of the buttercream over this layer.
Top with the two rectangular pieces of cake, placing them side by side to form a square. Moisten these pieces with the flavoured syrup.
Spread the remaining buttercream on the cake and then top with the third square of joconde. Use the remaining syrup to wet the joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).
Prepare the ganache/mousse (if you haven’t already) and then spread it on the top of the last layer of the joconde. Refrigerate for at least two to three hours to give the ganache/mousse the opportunity to firm up.
Make the glaze and after it has cooled, pour/spread it over the top of the chilled cake. Refrigerate the cake again to set the glaze.
Serve the cake slightly chilled. This recipe will yield approximately 20 servings.

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Lemon Cream Cake

2008-05-19T22:17:00.002-04:00

When Helen of Tartlette announced that she was hosting this months Sugar High Friday and that the theme was citrus, I knew I was in. I love desserts that are light and citrusy but what to make? I have a few lemon standbys that I always go for but this time I wanted to try something a little different. My mother-in-law has been talking about Olive Garden's Lemon Cream Cake a lot lately, so this post is dedicated to her and my attempt to recreate it. I think it turned out pretty darn close and boy was it delicious.

I decided to use the cake form Dorie Greenspan's party cake recipe since it had a nice crumb and was light. The filling I just kind of improvised as I went along, it's kind of a lemon and cream cheese mousse. The topping is just a crumb topping with powdered sugar, flour, butter and vanilla. Altogether delicious!

Lemon Cream Cake

Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites (save the yolks for the lemon curd)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

Filling

1/3 cup simple syrup (you will need more simple syrup to brush on the cake)
1 package unflavored powdered gelatin
1 batch of lemon curd (recipe follows)
1 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup whipping cream

1. Bloom the gelatin in a few Tbs. of water for about 5 minutes. Heat the simple syrup over medium heat and add the gelatin, bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.

2. In a chilled mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. Transfer to another bowl and set aside.

3. In the mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and the lemon curd until it is well mixed. Slowly drizzle in the cooled simple syrup, scraping down sides as needed. Add the whipping cream and beat with the whisk attachment until incorporated.

4. Chill the mixture until slightly thickened.

Lemon Curd

2 large lemons
4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, cold

1. Zest the lemons and set aside. Juice the zested lemons and strain the juice. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Stir in the zest and lemon juice.

2. Pour the mixture into a non-reactive saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and pour through a strainer into a glass bowl. Stir in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Cool to room temperature then press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface and chill in the fridge until completely chilled and set.

Vanilla Crumb Topping

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. powdered sugar

5 Tbs. chilled butter cut into small pieces

1 tsp. vanilla

1. In a bowl mix the flour and powdered sugar. Cut in the chilled butter until small pea sized balls form. Drizzle the vanilla over and mix to combine. Chill the mixture until needed.

Assembling the cake.

When the cake cooled, slice in half horizontally. Brush the cut sides of the cake with the remaining simple syrup. Spread 2/3 of the filling on the bottom half of the cake. Top with the other layer of cake. Frost the top and the outside of the cake with the remaining filling and then press the crumb mixture onto the sides and top of the cake. Dust with powdered sugar. Chill for several hours or freeze to firm up the filling. Dust extra with powdered sugar before serving.

del.icio.us Tags: lemon,mousse,olive garden

Easy Chocolate Oreo Truffles

2008-05-16T11:00:00.002-04:00

I know that I have been gone for awhile but I have a good reason. There are two things that I absolutely love doing one of course being cooking/baking the other is reading. The new Stephenie Meyer book called The Host came out last week and I couldn't put it down. So, as you can see, my cooking/baking passion took the back burner for a week. Now that I am done though, I plan on redeeming myself with several things this week. The first being super easy chocolate Oreo truffles. I can't take credit for this idea as I saw them on Bakearella's blog last year and have had them in my mind ever since. As promised, they were easy and delicious.

The inside is a combination of Oreos and cream cheese, then a coating of white or dark chocolate and an assortment of toppings, yumm...! I used dark chocolate with cocoa powder, white chocolate with coconut and then just plain dark chocolate with a drizzle of white chocolate.

Chocolate Oreo Truffles

1 package of Oreos

1 pkg. (8 0z) cream cheese, softened

dark chocolate

white chocolate

heavy cream (optional)

assorted toppings (nuts, coconut, cocoa powder, etc..)

1. In a food processor, grind the Oreos into crumb.

2. Mix the Oreo crumbs and the softened cream cheese together either by hand or in a food processor.

3. Scoop the mixture into balls and freeze or refrigerate until firm.

4. Melt the chocolate and add a little heavy cream to thin out if desired. Dip the truffles in the chocolate and roll in desired toppings. Chill until the chocolate is set.

del.icio.us Tags: Oreo,truffles

Mini Berry Clafoutis Muffins

2008-05-08T00:45:00.005-04:00

What, you’ve never heard of clafoutis (pronounced kla-foo-TEE)? If only you grew up in France where many a household have their own family recipe for the delicious breakfast and/or dessert. Clafoutis is a custard-like baked French dessert or breakfast that is typically made by baking fresh fruit, (traditionally cherries,) and a sweet batter similar to a crepe or German pancake batter. It is so delicious that I could eat it every day. In fact, I made it twice yesterday and had to forgo eating lunch to make up for all the delicious clafoutis that I ate. As I am writing this I am wondering why I haven’t made any today?! I’ll be right back…

Really, you have to try this, it is so easy and delicious you’ll wonder why you have never had it before. (Curse me and my typical American upbringing of processed boxed foods!) I mean, all we ever had in my house for breakfast growing up was boxed cereal, and not even the sweet sugar kind either. I can’t believe that this passes as a breakfast. I guess it does contain fresh fruit, eggs and milk so it can’t be too bad right? My problem is that I eat the whole thing, I can’t stop at one bite or a few little muffins.

I tried several recipes and I really liked the one that my food blog idol Helen had on her blog. I made a few changes, and baked them in a mini muffin tin for an easy finger food and voilà, they are delicious. I know that the typical clafoutis recipe doesn’t contain cream cheese, but I just love cream cheese and berries so I had to throw some in there. Although I call these muffins, don’t be expecting what you and I would call a muffin, clafoutis has a custard like texture that is creamy and soft but it sets up enough when cool that you can remove them from the muffin tins and they hold their shape. This recipe can also be doubled and baked in several individual gratin dishes or one 8 or 9 inch round pan.

Mini Berry Clafoutis Muffins

1 cup diced fruit, I used a mixture of strawberries and raspberries

1 ½ oz. flour, about 1/3 cup plus 2 tsp.

½ oz cornstarch, about 2 Tbs.

1 oz. brown sugar, about 3 Tbs. packed

1 oz. granulated sugar, about 2 heaping Tbs.

¾ cup milk

1 egg

½ oz. butter melted (1 TBS.)

1 oz cream cheese softened

1 tsp. vanilla

Coconut for the top, I use unsweetened

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a mini muffin pan and divide the fruit between 20-21 of the spaces.

2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch and sugars. Set aside.

3. In a blender, mix together the milk, egg, butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Blend for a few seconds until well mixed. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined and no lumps remain. Do not mix too long.

4. Pour the mixture over the berries and top with the shredded coconut. Bake for about 24 minutes or until puffed and set. The clafoutis will puff up in the oven but will sink back down once cooled.

5. Let them cool in the pan to firm up and make removal easier. They are delicious hot, at room temperature and even cold right out of the fridge. If you remove them too soon form the pans they will fall apart but will still taste delicious. (I always eat a few while they are still piping hot because they are so good and I am so impatient!)

del.icio.us Tags: clafoutis,berries,muffins

Cinco de Mayo at home

2008-05-05T22:56:00.003-04:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo! If you haven’t noticed already, I really love Mexican food, so I had to celebrate this American-played-up holiday. I say this because I really think that it is a bigger deal here in the United States than it is in Mexico. Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day. It is actually a celebration of the victory over the French in the battle of Puebla. So to celebrate I decided to make some guacamole and homemade baked tortilla chips. I also thought that I would try my hand at recreating one of my favorite Mexican-American restaurants dishes. I think that I came so close that if it wasn’t for their fresh tortillas it would be awhile before I went back.

If you live anywhere near a Costa Vida, you must go. I am completely addicted to their food. It is fresh and absolutely mouth watering. I almost always order their taco salads which they serve in a hot homemade tortilla. They fill it up with romaine lettuce, cilantro lime rice, beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, crispy tortilla strips, cotija cheese and here is the kicker, a delicious tomatillo ranch dressing. I was able to come close to their cilantro lime rice and their tomatillo ranch dressing.

The recipes may look like a lot of work for a single meal, but I actually made them yesterday when I had some time and then reheated them and made a quick yummy dinner tonight. To make the ultimate salad layer romaine lettuce, cilantro-lime rice, pinto beans, fresh corn, tomatoes, cotija cheese, and tomatillo ranch dressing. Serve with tortilla chips.

Quick and Easy Guacamole

2 avocados

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

½ white or red onion, chopped

2 Tbs. cilantro

1 jalapeno seeded and finely diced, optional

Juice of 1-2 limes

Salt to taste

Scoop out avocado and mash with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lime juice as needed.

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

6 corn tortillas

Cooking spray

Course salt

Chile powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 2 cooking sheets with cooking spray. Cut tortillas into wedges and arrange in single layer on the baking sheets. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and chile powder. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crispy. They will crisp up a little more once they cool off. Watch them carefully because they will go from crispy to burned very quickly.

Cilantro Lime Rice

2-3 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 ¼ cups jasmine rice

Zest of ½ a lime

Juice of 2-3 limes plus more for serving

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 ¼ cups water

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the rice and sauté stirring occasionally until translucent and fragrant. Add the lime zest and juice, the broth and the water. Stir and bring up to a simmer. Turn heat to low and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and add the cilantro, more lime juice and salt to taste.

* if you are making this ahead and want to refrigerate it, spray a large baking pan with cooking spray and spread the hot rice out on it to cool. This will help it cool faster and prevent it from sticking together as it cools. Once cooled it can be transferred to an airtight container and refrigerated.

Tomatillo Ranch Salad Dressing

2-3 tomatillos, husked and rinsed clean and roughly chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 jalapenos, seeded and roughly chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (about ½ a bunch)

1 cup mayo, (I use the reduced fat)

1 cup buttermilk

Juice of 1-2 limes

1 packet Hidden Valley ranch seasoning

Salt to taste

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Flavors develop more as it sits in the refrigerator.

Easy Homemade Pinto Beans

1 pound of pinto beans

Water to cover

1 Tbs. salt

2 bay leaves

Red pepper flakes, optional

Rinse the beans and sort through them to remove any debris that may have been left behind. Place the beans into a crock pot and cover with water 2 inches above the beans. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover and set to high for 6 hours or low for 8-10. The beans should be soft with a creamy texture when cooked all the way through. To make the beans a little thicker, remove 1-2 cups of the beans with some of the cooking liquid and puree in a blender. Pour the mixture back into the rest of the beans. This will thicken them up, especially when they cool down. Taste and add salt if needed.

del.icio.us Tags: cinco de mayo,costa vida,mexican

Brownies for breakfast?

2008-05-02T09:24:00.002-04:00

Ok, Ok, we really didn't have brownies for breakfast, what kind of mom do you think I am? We did have chocolate chocolate chip waffles though and as I was eating them and receiving praise from all three of my kids I realized that I was feeding my family glorified brownies for breakfast. At least it got me the title of "best cook ever" and "best mom ever". I think that feeding my kids something that probably isn't that nutritious for breakfast once in while so that I can receive such praise is worth it.

It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention and that is what it has felt like in my kitchen lately. Every time I try to make a recipe lately I seem to be out of some key ingredient. I set out to follow a recipe for Chocolate Waffles from Alton Brown and realized that I was an ounce short of cocoa powder, which is kind of an important ingredient in chocolate waffles. I quickly looked through my pantry for a suitable substitution. I found some unsweetened Baker's chocolate and decided that it would be a suitable substitution but that I would need something to counter balance the extra liquid and lack of dry ingredients. I added a little cornstarch and some extra four and the waffles came out perfectly. Now I can't vouch for how close they are to the original but these were definitely delicious. I also served these waffles with a sweetened sour cream. I love to dip my strawberries in sweetened sour cream and so I thought that it would be suitable to put on top of the waffles with the strawberries to balance out the waffles. It was delicious!

Here is the link to Alton's recipe, which I am sure is delicious!

Sweetened Sour Cream

1/4 Cup Sour Cream

1-2 Tbs. powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together, adding more or less sugar to taste. Use to dip strawberries or top the waffles.

del.icio.us Tags: chocolate,waffles

Cheesecake pops with the Daring Bakers

2008-04-27T02:00:00.002-04:00

Here it is, the end of the month already and time for another installment of the Daring Bakers. This months challenge was hosted by Deborah from Taste and Tell and Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms. I have to say that I was so excited when I found out that the challenge was Cheesecake pops. Cheesecake is one of my all time favorite desserts and I knew that I would have no problem making and eating this delectable treat.

The recipe was pretty straight forward. Bake a crustless cheesecake in a water bath, chill and scoop into balls. Freeze the balls with a lollipop stick in them and then dunk in tempered chocolate and coat with various toppings. The only thing that I found wrong with the recipe was the baking time. The recipe called to bake the cheesecake for 35-45 minutes and mine took about 60. That is a pretty huge discrepancy, but it seems that many of the Daring Bakers had the same problem. It makes me wonder if the recipe was written wrong in the cookbook as I have never baked so large a cheesecake in less than 50-60 minutes. Luckily having baked several cheesecakes before, I knew not to take it out so early.

The recipe turned out a silky smooth cheesecake that was extremely delicious. I will admit that I only made half of the recipe into the pops (which still gave me 30-40 pops). The rest I ate bite by bite throughout the day gaining me 5 extra pounds that week, but oh was it worth it! (I just can't resist cheesecake!!!)

I treated the cheesecake pops like caramel apples. I dressed part of the batch in dark chocolate and sprinkles, another part of the batch with dark chocolate, walnuts and chewy caramel. The last part of the batch I dipped directly into the hot chewy caramel and then into walnuts and then drizzled them with dark chocolate. I did have a bit of trouble dipping them into the caramel as it needed to be at a higher temperature to be thin enough to dip. This caused the cheesecake to start to melt a little and 2 or three of the bites fell off of the sticks. No matter they still tasted delicious with their chewy outer shell and their velvety centers. All in all it was a great challenge and one that I am likely to repeat.

Cheesecake Pops

adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor
Makes 30 – 40 Pops (or more if you make them small like I did)

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs (I used 3 eggs when I baked half the recipe without a problem)
2 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, seeded
¼ cup heavy cream
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, chopped or in chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) I also used cut chocolate transfer sheets.
Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.
In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.
Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes. (Mine took 55-60 minutes)
Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 to 2 hours.
When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.
Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.
Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

The Best Ever Caramel

(adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe for caramel apples)

1 1-pound box dark brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whipping cream (if necessary)

Combine all ingredients except for the whipping cream in heavy 2 1/2-quart saucepan (about 3 inches deep). Stir with wooden spatula or spoon over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (no crystals are felt when caramel is rubbed between fingers), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 15 minutes.

Attach clip-on candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook caramel at rolling boil until thermometer registers 236°F, stirring constantly but slowly with clean wooden spatula and occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 12 minutes. Pour caramel into metal bowl (do not scrape pan). Submerge thermometer bulb in caramel; cool, without stirring, to 200°F, about 20 minutes.

If caramel becomes too thick to dip into, add 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream and briefly whisk caramel in bowl over low heat to thin.

del.icio.us Tags: Daring Bakers,Cheesecake

Biscuits, mmm, need I say more?

2008-04-25T17:31:00.003-04:00

I love to read and inevitably something happens every time I read a book. I have found that when a book starts describing the food I then become obsessed with making said food. I remember reading the Harry Potter books where the feasts were always described in great detail, and desiring those delicious foods. I have read books about the pioneers and craved good home-style cooking. That is where I am at right now. I have had a hankering for a good biscuit for quite sometime now and so today was the day that my biscuit craving was finally quelled. I searched for several recipes and then I remembered a conversation that I had with a friend several years ago. She told me that her grandma made the best biscuits but refused to divulge the secret recipe. My friend had been trying to piece together the recipe over the years from the little information that her grandma would give her. One thing that she mentioned was that it wasn't a typical biscuit with butter cut into flour. All that she really knew was that it contained flour and heavy cream. Recently I found a recipe for cream biscuits that sounded like what my friend had described. I changed it up a bit and let me say that the results were delicious. My only concern was that I ate 3 or 4 of them right when they came out of the oven! This could be a dangerous habit of mine, especially for my waistline.

If you're looking for a super easy and delicious biscuit, this is it. There is no cutting in of butter and the mix comes together in about 5 minutes. You can have hot, fresh biscuits in about 20 minutes, yummm!

Cream Biscuits

2 cups flour

2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

melted butter for biscuit tops

1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the middle and add the cream and buttermilk. Stirring with a scraper or wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Dump the dough onto a floured counter and knead for 30 seconds until the dough comes together an is no longer sticky on the outside.

3. Pat the dough out into a round that is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into wedges or cut into rounds using a biscuit cutter. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter and bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove from oven and again brush tops with melted butter.

del.icio.us Tags: biscuits

Honey ginger and lemon almonds

2008-04-22T10:30:00.001-04:00

Whenever I go to games or events at the stadium the smell of roasted sugared almonds fills the entire building. I am almost always tempted to shell out the $3-$4 for the small little bags of candied nuts. Not anymore. Today, I made the best candied almonds. They were so delicious that my husband and I, (ok, it was mostly me), finished off the whole batch. My husband, who is not much of an almond fan couldn't put them down.

Don't be put off by the ginger and lemon, you can leave them out if you want but I found that they gave the nuts that little hint of flavor that you couldn't quite put your finger on. You can also play around with the flavors substituting cinnamon or a little cayenne pepper. These are so delicious, they will be a staple snack and party treat for years to come.

Honey ginger and lemon almonds

2 cups whole almonds

1/4 cup honey

2 Tbs. butter

1/4 tsp. fresh grated ginger

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup turbinado sugar (raw sugar)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes tossing occasionally until toasted and fragrant.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the honey, butter ginger, lemon zest, salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the almonds and simmer for 2 more minutes. Spread almonds onto a cookies sheet that has been lines with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Separate any nuts that are stuck together. Cool slightly (do not cool too long or the sugar won't stick).

3. Place the turbinado sugar into a large bowl and toss with the warm almonds making sure that all of the nuts are evenly coated.

del.icio.us Tags: almonds

Pita and "Thomas"

2008-04-15T16:13:00.003-04:00

The other day my daughter came to me asking for a snack, when I asked her what she wanted, she replied, "pita chips and "Thomas". I couldn't help but smile. I knew that she meant hummus, but I'd much rather call it "Thomas" and laugh. I love the way that kids think and all of the funny things they say. For example, we have a karaoke machine which the same daughter thought was called a teriyoki machine (like teriyaki sauce), hilarious! Anyway, back to the "Thomas". I am very lucky that a few of my "weird" vegetarian quirks have rubbed off onto my three kids, especially with my husband around! One of the things that all of my kids love is hummus. They will eat any flavor of it and love to dip pita, crackers and all assortments of veggies. I don't mind buying it, but it is so easy to make. I decided with the hummus that I would make some fresh pita bread too. If you have never had fresh pita bread, you must try it, it is soft and slightly chewy and just down right delicious. It is also very versatile, and can be filled with anything from hummus to salad or just microwave with some cheese inside. It is also really easy to make, it's just a basic bread dough that is rolled out and cooked on a pizza stone in a very hot oven.

Hummus

1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 TBS tahini (sesame seed paste, recipe to follow)

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

zest of 1 lemon

juice of half of lemon

olive oil

Add all ingredients except for the olive oil into a food processor, blend for a minute. With the food processor running, add the olive oil until the humus is to desired consistency. (you can replace some of the olive oil with warm water if you want to make it lower in fat).

Tahini

1 cup of sesame seeds

1/4 cup peanut or canola oil

1tsp salt

In a dry skillet, add the sesame seeds and toast lightly over medium heat stirring frequently to ensure that the seeds don't burn Toast them only lightly, you do not want them to darken too much. Let the seeds cool slightly. Add the toasted seeds and the salt to a blender. With the blender running stream in the oil until the mixture is the consistency of peanut butter. Tahini can be stored in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Pita bread (from Tyler Florence)

1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
11/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt
31/2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon olive oil

In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir to blend. Let the yeast stand until foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Stir in the salt. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated and the dough gathers into a ball; this should take about 4 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it's smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Place a large pizza stone on the lower oven rack, preheat the oven (and stone) to 500 degrees F.

Punch the dough down, divide it into 8 pieces, and gather each piece into a ball; keeping all of them lightly floured and covered while you work. Allow the balls of dough to rest, covered, for 15 minutes so they will be easier to roll out.

Using a rolling pin, roll each dough ball into a circle that is about 8-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Make sure the circle is totally smooth, with no creases or seams in the dough, which can prevent the pitas from puffing up properly. Cover the disks as you roll them out, but do not stack them up. Put 2 pita rounds at a time on the hot pizza stone and bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bread puffs up like a balloon and is pale golden. Watch closely; they bake fast. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool for 5 minutes; they will naturally deflate, leaving a pocket in the center. Wrap the pitas in a large kitchen towel to keep them soft.

Quick tip of the day...

2008-04-15T14:27:00.002-04:00

Just a quick tip for you today. My kids love rice crispy treats as most kids do so when I need to bring treats to a function for kids I love to bring those sweet sticky treats. I like them to look a little fancier though so I make a double batch of them and spread them on a cookie sheet. I let them cool slightly then cut them out with a big cookie cutter. I then stick a big tongue depressor stick in them and cover them in sprinkles. Let them cool slightly and them place in a clear glassine bag and tie with ribbon. The kids love them and they look good too!

Ooey, gooey, caramel and chocolate

2008-04-11T18:42:00.003-04:00

Sorry that I have been gone for a while, my main computer crashed and it is the one that has my food pictures on it. But here I am with some more goodies for you.

This week while lying in bed, I began to think of ice cream sundaes and yummy, ooey, gooey caramel sauce. So what do I do, I flip through my recipes and find one that I haven't tried before. This caramel sauce comes from one of my favorite chefs, Ina Garten. Her recipe is so easy and basically foolproof and makes the most perfect ice cream topping. It is so easy and quick that it doesn't even make sense to buy it, this is so much better.

Ina Garten's Caramel Sauce

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix the sugar and the water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook without stirring, over low heat for 5-10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees on a candy thermometer), about 5-7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir mixture. Watch the mixture constantly at the end as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Slowly add the cream and vanilla. The cream will bubble up and the caramel will solidify: don't worry. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature for about 4 hours. it will thicken as it sits.

I also made a delicious homemade chocolate sauce that was just as good as the caramel. I looked through several recipes for homemade chocolate sauce but I was unhappy with many of the recipes as they contained corn syrup and other things that I just don't want in my food. So, I decided that my favorite chocolate sauce is ganache. I knew if I just thinned it out with by adding more cream than usual that it would be a perfect chocolate sauce. This is easier than the caramel and it is delicious!

Chocolate Sauce

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

8 oz of bittersweet of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate, add the vanilla. Let sit without stirring for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. The sauce will be thin, but will thicken as it sits. you can cool it quicker in the fridge. If the sauce gets to thick you can heat it up or add more cream.

del.icio.us Tags: caramel,chocolate

Le Macaron

2008-04-05T10:26:00.005-04:00

I know that I have been absent for a little while and I apologize. I have been baking up a storm and let me say, I am a woman possessed. Let me start at the beginning. The internet is a wonderful thing but it can also be dangerous as in my case! I happened to come across a picture of Pierre Herme's famous macarons. For those who are unfamiliar, Pierre Herme is a famous french pastry chef who makes the most beautiful macarons. Now don't get confused when I say macaron, I am not talking about the american "macaroon" made of coconut. I am talking about the french macaron that is made from egg whites, almond flour, powdered sugar and filled with pastry cream, ganach or buttercream. Once I saw them I knew that I needed to make them since it was a sure bet that I'd never make my way to one of his shops in Paris.

Then, I came across a post by the amazing Helen of Tartlette. She makes the most beautiful macarons among other things and for the first time, I found a recipe that wasn't in french. It was metric, but I thought that as long as I converted it it wouldn't be a problem. Here is where I was wrong, and nothing makes me more compulsive then not being able to do something. Now, after many attempts, here is what I have learned about the finicky macaron. It is not about the recipe, it's about the technique. Anyone can make a batch of cookies if they just follow the recipe, but the macaron is different. I like to think of it more like bread. You may have a recipe for bread, but unless you know how the dough should feel, it's pretty hard to make a great loaf of bread. But I must say, I think that the macaron is a little more picky, if you don't mix it enough, the macarons will be tough and dry, if you mix it too much, they will be flat as a pancake. So, how can you tell when you've mixed it just the right amount? This is where my obsession has taken me this week, trial and error until at last, I came up with something that resembles a macaron. I am not happy with the color and wish my almonds were ground finer, but all in all I am pretty pleased with myself. I am not done though, now that I've got the basics down, it's on to the flavor. If only I could read french so I could follow Pierre Herme's recipes!

Here is the basic recipe I used from Helen's site. Like I mentioned before, it is metric and that is how I made it, by weighing all of my ingredients because as Helen said, it is more acurate. I tried several times with conversions but was unable every time to produce a worthy macaron. So, if you'd like to make these, I advise you to use a scale and weigh the ingredients. Oh, and don't skip using the day old egg whites, I know it sounds gross, but it never worked for me with fresh egg whites.

Macarons

3 egg whites (I like to use 2-3 day old egg whites)
50 gr. granulated sugar
200 gr. powdered sugar
110 gr. ground almonds
2 Tb blue powdered food coloring

For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature on a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry and your macarons won't work. Combine the ground almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a quick pulse. It will break the powdered sugar lumps and combine your almonds with it evenly. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold and remove some of the batter that will remain uncolored. Add 2 TB food coloring to the rest and fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon.
Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns. Do the same for the plain batter.s
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper baking sheets. With a toothpick dab dots of the plain batter rand swirl. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.
If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Pipe or spoon some ganache on one shell and sandwich with another one.
If you use fresh whites, zap them up in the microwave on medium high for 20 seconds.

Ganache filling

1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate

Heat the cream in a saucepan until boiling. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let sit to thicken until it is spreadable or you are able to pipe it from a piping bag.

Daring Bakers Challenge #1

2008-03-30T00:43:00.005-04:00

Awhile ago while searching through food blogs, I kept comming across the Daring Baker's logo and wondered what it was. So, I clicked on the link and found a community of food bloggers looking for a challenge. Every month the group is given a recipe that is chosen by a predetermined host. The whole group is to make the recipe as listed only making changes as allowed by the host. Then the group all posts their results on the same day. I had been looking for some way to turn my love of cooking and baking into more of a challenge. I knew that this was the group for me. I quickly e-mailed the group organizers and here I am with my first Daring Baker's challenge.

This months challenge was a "Perfect Party Cake" by Dorie Greenspan. And may I say that it really was a perfect party cake. The cake was light and sweet and the swiss meringue buttercream was smooth and silky. I brought it over to our Easter dinner wondering how it would go over. I knew that there would be one of those death-by-chocolate cakes there and was worried that people would go for the classic. I couldn't have been prouder, my cake was gone in a flash with rave reviews while the chocolate cake sat there with few slices gone. This definately was a delicious challenge. I have even received requests to make this cake again. Thanks Morven for picking this wonderful recipe.

We were allowed to fill our cakes with our choice of filling so I decided to make a bavarian cream using coconut milk and whipping cream. I really wanted to use some fresh berries in the filling but I had to make the cake the night before and was worried that it would make the cake soggy. I skipped the lemon extract in the cake and substituted almond and vanilla extracts since that is what I had on hand. I topped the cake with shavings of bittersweet chocolate and a few fanned strawberries. It looked as good as it tasted.

I can't wait to make this cake again with some other variations. The frosting is a keeper and goes on smooth and light. The cake is sweet and spongy and would lend itself to any flavor willing to be joined with it. It truly is the perfect party cake and will now become a staple in my house.

Here are a few pictures of the process.

Here is one of the completed cakes. They don't rise as much as the typical cake but are light and delicious. I ended up makeing four cakes altogether and using three of them which I torted, giving me six layers.

Here is the beautifully whipped meringue for the swiss meringue buttercream. If you look carefully you can see a face in the meringue on the right hand side of the whisk. :)

Here is a completed slice of the cake. Doesn't it look delicious?!

The Perfect Party Cake
by Dorie Greenspan

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Coconut Bavarian Cream

1 can coconut milk
less than 1/4 cup whipping cream, enough to equal 2 cups when added to the coconut milk
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 pkg. unflavored gelatin (about 1 Tbs.)
3 Tbs. water

1. Put the coconut milk, whipping cream and extracts into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium speed until it thickens and forms a ribbon. Still beating, slowly add the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture. Do not add it too quickly or you will scramble the eggs.

2. Pour the water into a bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Allow the gelatin to "bloom" until needed.

3. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over low to medium-low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens and leaves a trail on the back of the spoon. Do not let the mixture boil. Turn off the heat and add the gelatin mixture whisking to combine until smooth.

4. Move the pan to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and to cool. Pour slightly cooled mixture into a bowl and cover with platic wrap, pressing it onto the surface of the cream. Refrigerate until chilled and thickened.

*to give it a lighter texture, once cooled you can fold in some fresh whipped cream.

What do you get when you cross Alias and Baking...?

2008-03-29T14:20:00.004-04:00

...Really strange dreams.

I have to tell you about the funniest dream I have ever had. I was laughing all day yesterday and decided that I should share. My husband and I have been watching the Alias DVD's at night before we go to bed and I have been baking a lot lately so I guess that is what sparked this crazy dream. I can only remember parts of it but the jist of it is that I was on some secret spy mission where I had to save the world. I needed to recover a secret message that would help me in my efforts. When I was finally able to find this all important secret message, it was written on a cupcake liner. Now here is the funny part, when I was able to decode the secret message it said, "Don't trust the ricotta!"

Aren't dreams hillarious. This one made my day.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

2008-03-25T15:20:00.004-04:00

I have to tell you that I love brownies. Not the cheap from the box kind, but real homemade brownies that are full of bittersweet chocolate. I love to keep them cold in the fridge and break off little pieces throughout the day. (It doesn't count when you don't eat it all at once, right?!) I love to add things to my favorite brownie recipe whether it be oreos, nuts, cream cheese or in this case peanut butter. Whoever thought up the winning combo of peanut butter and chocolate should be awarded a prize. The two just go so well together. I am not sure if you've been able to tell or not, but I have been on a bit of a chocolate and peanut butter kick lately. It seems that most of the desserts that I have made lately contain the combo and they have been delicious. This one is no exception. If you love peanut butter and chocolate, you've gotta try these.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
(adapted from a recipe from Everday Food Magazine)

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of butter cut into pieces
1 1/3 cups of chocolate chips, I prefer bittersweet
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
6 Tbs. creamy peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. In a bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, stir with a fork to combine and set aside. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove from the heat and add the sugar. Once mixed, add the eggs and mix well. Add the flour mixture stirring only until combined. Don't over mix.

2. Heat the peanut butter in a small dish for about 15-30 seconds until slightly melted. Do not overheat. If the peanut butter is too runny it won't swirl well with the brownies. Drop the peanut butter by tablespoon in about 6 seperate spots. Swirl the peanut butter and brownies mixture with a butter knife.

3. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the edges have crisped and the brownies look cooked through. Cool in the pan completely and then refrigerate until cold before cutting (This allows for a nice perfect cut.)

Lasagna Primavera

2008-03-24T21:07:00.006-04:00

I love when I get my cooking magazines in the mail. I can't wait to sit down and browse through them and think of all of the yummy things that I want to make. There are many times that I mark several recipes but never make them. When I received this months copy of Everyday Food, I knew that I needed to make this lasagna. The only question was how I would pass it off to my kids and particularly my husband. As before mentioned, my husband does not eat anything green or that grows in the ground so how does one pass off a dish that contains a healthy dose of the two? By covering it with a bechamel sauce and lots and lots of cheese!

My kids actually loved the dish and ate a good size plate of it. My son even had seconds or maybe even thirds. My husband lovingly ate it without complaining although I did see a pile of the carrots on his plate that he had picked out. It was nice to have a meal that I could eat for a change and it was delicious. I served the lasagna with the Garlic Knots that I also found in the Everyday Food magazine. It was all so good that I hope to be making it again soon.

I did make a few changes to the recipes, but they are printed here as they appear in the magazine. I made the bechamel sauce for the lasagna with 1% milk rather than whole milk but I did add about 2 oz. of regular cream cheese to replace the creaminess lost by the 1% milk. I also replaced one layer of mozzarella with havarti cheese as I had some in my fridge that I needed to use up. I reduced the spinach to only 1 package since I knew that the green stuff was going to be a battle with the family. I am glad that I did though because there was a lot with only one package and I can't imagine the amount if I had used both. With the garlic knots, I replaced half the oil with butter because I prefer the taste of butter to oil. I also topped the knots with some sea salt and some fresh grated parmesan cheese before baking. They were a big hit and were gone before they could even cool off completely.

Lasagna Primavera
(From Everyday Food magazine)

Serves 8.

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for foil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups whole milk
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas
1/2 pound carrots (4 to 5), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta (about 2 cups)
1 large egg
1 package (9 ounces) no-boil lasagna noodles (12 to 16 noodles)
1 pound part-skim mozzarella, shredded
1 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium; add flour and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes (do not let flour mixture darken); whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add spinach, peas, and carrots; season with salt and pepper. Set sauce aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper.
In the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, spread a thin layer of vegetable sauce. Layer noodles, half the remaining vegetable sauce, another noodles, half the ricotta mixture, half the mozzarella, and half the Parmesan; repeat.

3. Cover dish with lightly oiled aluminum foil, and place on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes, uncover, and bake until bubbling and browned, about 20 minutes more. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Garlic Knots

All-purpose flour, for shaping dough
1 pound pizza dough, thawed if frozen
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 16-by-10-inch rectangle; with a knife or pizza cutter, cut crosswise into 16 strips. Tie each strip into a knot, and place on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Brush knots with 1 tablespoon oil. Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to a large bowl.

2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat garlic and remaining 3 tablespoons oil over medium until garlic is fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour garlic oil over bread knots in bowl; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T22:21:00.007-04:00

Happy easter everyone. I hope you had a good day and were able to spend time with your family. My easter every year consists of a family gathering of about 40 people. My mother-in-law buys all 16 grankids matching outfits and then we go to church with her to show them off. Then we all crowd into my mother-in-laws house and have a huge easter egg hunt for the kids and then a nice big buffet style dinner. My kids look forward to it every year and I will admitt, so do I. I grew up in a very small family so I love the huge get togethers that my husbands side of the family has. My mother-in-law is an amzing planner and we always have great food and a wonderful time. I am so glad that we are able to make all of these memories and that we are all able to live so close so that we can have these big events often.

I had big plans full of all of the yummy desserts that I wanted to make for todays dinner, but I found out late yesterday that we already had several so I only made a few things. One of those things were the chocolate dipped strawberries. I'm sure that you don't need a recipe, but I'll give you one anyways as these were delicious and were gone in a flash.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

1 bag(12 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 - 3/4 cup whipping cream
40 large strawberries
white chocolate for drizzling

1. Rinse strawberries to clean and dry thouroughly. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or wax paper and set aside.

2. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and the cream together stirring frequently adding more cream if the mixture is too thick. Once the mixture is melted, turn off the heat, but leave the bowl over the water to keep the chocolate warm and melted.

3. Dip the strawberries in the chocolate and shake gently to remove any excess. Place on prepared baking sheets and let cool slightly. Heat the white chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring after every 30 seconds. When melted, pour into a ziploc bag and snip the corner off. Drizzle the strawberries with the white chocolate. Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Cartwheels

2008-03-22T00:18:00.007-04:00

I hope that everyone has had a great week. I have been baking up a storm, but didn't have a chance to take pictures of much of it. I have so many more things that I need to make for Easter this weekend and hope to take pictures of it if my camera will cooperate.

Today I wanted to share with you something that I have loved eating all of my life. The recipe for these"cartwheels" as my nana would call them, has been passed down for generations. Growing up, I would beg my mom to make them. In fact, I would have her make them every year on my birthday. They were made up I am sure for the sole purpose of using up leftover pie dough. Now though, whenever my family makes a pie they make extra pie dough in order to make cartwheels. So last week when my friend had a "pi" party, I knew that I needed to make a whole batch of extra pie dough in order to make these delightful treats. If you have leftover pie dough, you've gotta try these, they are delicious and disappear right before your eyes.

Sorry there are no particular measurements for the cartwheels. As a family recipe that has been passed down, there have never been any specific measurements and it will vary depending on how much dough you use and how thin you roll it. Nothing needs to be precise, just eyeball it.

Cartwheels

Pie dough:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 heaping cup of shortening
cold water

1. Make the pie dough: Add the flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix to combine. Using two butter knives, cut in the shortening until it is the size of small peas. Move most of the mixture to one side. Sprinkle a Tablespoon or two of water over the small section of dough and mix with a fork to combine. Don’t over mix though. Pull a little more of the flour mixture over to the side; add another Tablespoon or so of water and mix. The dough should just come together but not be too wet or too dry. Continue this until all of the dough has been mixed with water. The amount of water will vary each time that you make it so don’t rely on any specific measure. I usually start out with a cup of cold water and don’t use all of it.
Shape the dough into 2 discs and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

pie dough
Softened butter
brown sugar
cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the pie dough out into a thin rectangle. Spread lightly with softened butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and rub it all over the surface of the dough lightly covering the whole surface. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon. Roll up like a jelly roll pinching the ends. Place seam side down onto a lightly greased cookie sheet curving the dough into a semi-circle. Make thin slices in the dough making sure not to cut all the way through the dough.

2. Bake for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. Be careful not to overcook as they will firm up more when they cool. Let cool and slice into pieces using the slits in teh dough as a guide.

The cake is a BIG deal!!!

2008-03-17T17:10:00.013-04:00

Happy Saint Patrick Day everyone! I hope that you all remembered to wear green today. I have got to tell you that St. Patricks day is special to me because it is also my son's birthday. (I think that he is destined to have green birthday parties for the rest of his life!) But, the cake is why I am writing. Not because it was super delicious,which it was, but because this was my son's first birthday cake.

You see, he was sick for the first year and a half of his life and was unable to eat any food. His first birthday was hard, more so for me than him. You don't really realize how much of a food centered society we are until you have to be removed from it. Every family gathering was hard because there was always a ton of food and thus stuff to tempt my son. How do you explain to a one year old that he can't eat something because it will make him sick, especially when all the other kids are eating it? Our life with food was dramatically altered for that year and a half. No more eating out, many of our meals were eaten when he was asleep and when he was awake we had to keep his highchair away from the table so he couldn't see what we were eating. We would often give him ice chips from a bowl to make him feal like he was eating. Amazingly enough, he is now eating almost everything. I have been lucky enough to see many miracles in my life but for this one I thank my Heavenly Father daily. With his diagnosis, he was not supposed to recover like this and so I am forever grateful that he has recovered and that he can eat with the rest of us and enjoy birthday cake on his birthday. I know several other children with the same diagnosis who have not been so fortunate and it pains me to see the way that they have to go through life without the enjoyment of a birthday cake among other things.

Without further ado, here are some cute pics of my sone enjoying his first birthday cake. (Which was super delicious by the way. Four layers of peanut butter frosting between chocolate pound cake and topped off with a Chocolate swiss meringue buttercream! You can't beat that for a first birthday cake! Yumm!)

Rockwell blowing out his birthday candle. Isn't he cute!

Rockwell on his first birthday, eating a popsicle made from his medical formula. Yummy!

Rockwell on his birthday this year, finally enjoying some birthday cake!!!

**For more information on Eosinophilic Disorders please check out APFED (American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders).

Individual Chocolate Peanut Butter cakes

2008-03-15T01:04:00.006-04:00

I needed to make a sweet treat for some ladies I was going to visit so I searched through my pantry, and this is what I came up with. A jazzed up cupcake with flavors like a Reeses Peanut Butter cup. I baked the cupcakes from the boxed mix since I was in a hurry, but the homemade frosting is what really makes them special. I say, if you're going to use a box mix for the cake, take the time to make the good frosting. It really only takes a few minutes and it tastes great.

I have two great peanut butter forsting recipes for you. The first one is what I used here. I ended up playing around with a basic swiss meringue buttercream and turned it peanut butter. I had to go against the original recipe and add some powdered sugar to get it to the stiffness that I needed to pipe it onto the cupcakes. It has a sweet smooth texture and is perfect for the chocolate cakes.

The second peanut butter frosting is a little quicker and super delicious. Like a lot of my recipes, it is from Ina Garten. If you are short on time, pull this one out and you will be a star. It looks fancy shmancy but is so simple.

Individual Chocolate Peanut Butter Cakes

Make cupcakes according to box mix and remove the liners. Cut each cupcake in half horizontally. Pipe or spread a layer of peanut butter frosting on bottom layer of cupcake and top with the top piece. Pipe or spread the top with the frosting and top with a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. Refrigerate to set the frosting.

Frosting : Peanut Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream
(adapted from a Dorie Greenspan recipe)

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
powdered sugar

1. In a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisk the egg whites and the sugar constantly for about 3 minutes or until you can no longer feel the sugar when a small amount is rubbed between your fingers.

2. Pour into mixer bowl with the whisk attatchment. With the mixer on medium-high, slowly add the butter and peanut butter about a Tablespoon at a time waiting until each is incorporated before adding more. Beat on medium-high speed for about 8-10 minutes until well whipped.

3. Add the extracts and mix well. Add powdered sugar until the frosting is to desired consistency (the frosting will set up when refrigerated).

Ina Garten's Peanut Butter Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 Tbs. butter, at room temperature
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of mixer fitted with the paddle attatchment. Mix on medium-low until creamy, scraping down as necesary. Add the cream and beat on high until mixture is light and smooth.

BBQ Pork Pizza

2008-03-14T00:49:00.005-04:00

You guessed it, it was pizza night at our house again. Tonight I needed something quick and easy since my son had been sick. Luckily my grocery store carries their pizza dough already made. I picked it up and used our leftover BBQ pork to top it off. Super easy and delicious.

BBQ Pork Pizza

1/2 pound of pizza dough (homemade or store bought)

olive oil

1/4 cup pizza sauce

BBQ sauce

shredded cheese

BBQ shredded pork (BBQ chicken would be great too!)

fresh mozzarella cubed

2 TBS flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pizza pan with cooking spray. Roll out dough to fit your pizza pan. Coat the dough lightly with olive oil. Spread with pizza sauce and as much BBq sauce as needed to coat pizza. Cover evenly with shredded cheese. Top with a layer of BBQ pork. Top the por with the cubes of fresh mozzarella. Bake pizza for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly and melted. Top with fresh parlsey if using. Cool slightly before cutting.