The Pastry Flower

Pumpkin-Pie-in-the-Middle Cupcakes

2010-11-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

Please don't tell my mom; I skipped class to make these cupcakes. I was just having a rough day. My roommate in DC this summer, Beth, posted this recipe to my wall. I was so frustrated that I promptly skipped class, drove straight to Kroger, and set to work. It was exactly what I needed to make me feel in control of my life again. How does that always happen? Even better, these cupcakes were absolutely delicious, and obviously unique. Pumpkin pie IN a cupcake!? As my friend Mackey said "They solve the eternal debate over which is better, cake or pie."

Basically, the gist of this cupcake is the following: vanilla cream cheese cupcakes with a tiny pumpkin pie in the middle, topped with vanilla-cinnamon buttercream icing. AND THEY ARE DELICIOUS. The only major flaw with the design is that it's one of the more labor-intensive recipes I've undertaken, specifically because it's like you're making two separate desserts.

Also, I apologize for the really terrible quality of the cupcake picture uptop. I was (literally) running to my exec meeting when I realized I should probably photograph the cupcakes before they got eaten. To make up for it, I will give you a zillion pictures of my friends on APhiO's exec board devouring said cupcakes. You're welcome.

Pumpkin-Pie-in-the-Middle Cupcakes

Adapted from bakeitinacake.com

Ingredients:

For the pumpkin pies:

- 1 box refrigerated pie crust

- 8 oz pumpkin

- 8 oz sweetened condensed milk

- 2 eggs

- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger)

For the cupcakes:

- 1.5 sticks butter, at room temperature

- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

- 1.5 c sugar

- 3 eggs

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 tsp baking powder

- .5 tsp baking soda

- .5 tsp salt

- 1.33 c whole milk

- 2.5 c flour

For the icing:

- 2 sticks of butter, room temperature

- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

- 2 c powdered sugar

- vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste

To Make:

Pumpkin pies:

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

- Combine pumpkin and sweetened condensed milk in a bowl until fully incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, then spices. Mix well.

- Using a juice glass, cut dough into small circles, and use them to line mini muffin cups. Fill each crust about 3/4 of the way full with the pumpkin mixture.

- Bake for 7 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 10 more minutes, until the crusts are golden and the filling is set.

- Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing from mini muffin tins.

Cupcakes:

- Cream butter and cream cheese together for about 90 seconds, then add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

- Add milk and flour, alternating between small amounts of the two until completely combined and smooth.

- Line regular muffin pans with paper liners. In each liner, place a heaping tablespoon of the batter. Place a pumpkin pie in each and gently push down (the pie should NOT touch the bottom of the pan). Place another heaping tablespoon of batter overtop of the pies, so that the top and sides aren't visible.

- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool 10+ minutes in the pans before removing to cool completely before frosting.

Icing:

- Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth.

- Add powdered sugar, incorporating by half cups, then vanilla and cinnamon.

- Chill before frosting.

Some Notes:

That pie filling is annoying. I used a full 16ish oz can of pumpkin because that's the smallest they sold and made it according to the back of the can, and I now have a ridiculous amount of excess filling chilling in my fridge. So, be warned, you will either have to throw out some perfectly good pie filling or do like I plan on, and make personal pumpkin pies in regular muffin tins. Yum!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Fudge

2010-08-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is, by far, the fastest recipe I have ever posted on here. I get out of class at 3:30 pm. There is a 10 minute walk from Irvin to my apartment. This fudge was chilling in the fridge by 4:00 pm, on the dot. The only bad thing about this is that when I go to deliver this fudge to boys, they will know that I did not slave for hours over it. Oh well. They'll get over it. They have homemade fudge, after all.

Oh, speaking of my apartment, I AM BACK IN OXFORD! I am also living in an amazing apartment which has been christened The WeinDen (don't ask... it's not funny to anyone but us), with one of the loveliest girls I have ever met, Maggie. There is so much roomie love going on over here that it's almost nauseating. Almost.

Given my sah-weet digs, I would just like to reiterate my policy on visitors to The WeinDen: Yes, please. If you live in Oxford, you are nearly always welcome, so long as we are home and not napping. If you live outside the greater Ox Vegas area, I have a futon, a couch, and a comfy queen-sized bed. Take your pick. Also, I will make you the baked good of your choosing. So get on it!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:

10 oz peanut butter chips
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
4 tbsp butter
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

To Make:

Line 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper (Thank you to Julie for buying me my first roll as a going away present!)
Melt in a saucepan over medium heat the peanut butter chips, 1 c sweetened condensed milk, and 2 tbsp butter until smooth. Pour into baking pan and spread evenly.
Melt in another saucepan the remaining sweetened condensed milk, butter, and chocolate chips until smooth. Spread over peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Turn out of parchment paper and cut.

Some Notes:

Next time, I am going to vary it up by subbing some real peanut butter for a portion of the chips (and probably taking out the butter as well).

Red Velvet Cupcakes (For Jazz Musicians)

2010-08-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

Holly on the left, Bray on the right, yours truly in the middle.

Tibbs chowing down.

So, I'm back in the A-k-rowdy, at least for the moment. I've been here a week now, but there has been utter pandemonium with my dad moving into his new house, and trying to figure out where I'm stashing all my stuff, as well as catching up with just about everyone I ever knew in high school, and making some new friends along the way.

I've been restless lately, and everyone can see it. I cut and dyed my hair, got a new piercing (or two) and have been making some pretty poor decision-making as of late. I needed some centering, so when Brandy issued her cupcakes-at-Northside ultimatum, I jumped to comply.

Oh, and if you're unfamiliar with what Northside is, please allow me to enlighten you. The Northside, technically, is an almost-hole-in-the-wall bar in downtown Akron. On Wednesday nights, The Northside hosts an open-mic jazz workshop for the University students from 9 pm until midnight. If you're in the Akron area, GO! It's a great time. Afterwards, many of the musicians (with whom I've become friends because of my frequent attendance) go eat at Luigi's, next door.

They work hard, and hard work should be rewarded. Hence, cupcakes.

The actual text message conversation that begat the inception of these cupcakes (yep, big words... get over it):

Bray: Cupcakes, as promised, at Northside tonight?

Auds: Oh, damn. I forgot.

Bray: You have three hours. Make it happen.

Auds: Yes, ma'am.

In Brandy's defense, she did come over and help frost the cupcakes, as well as keep my company as I dyed my hair a color similar to red velvet. Holly Jane and Zoe were there too, ready and willing to steal half-made frosting, incubate my eggs to room temperature, and tell me that my hair looked fabulous. It's really why I keep them around... Kidding, of course.

Oh, and the cupcakes got rave reviews. :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Vanilla Icing

Adapted from More from Magnolia

Ingredients:

For cupcakes-

3 1/2 c cake flour
1 1/2 stick butter (softened)
2 c sugar
3 eggs (at room temperature)
2 1/2 tbsp red food coloring
3 1/2 tbsp water (at room temperature)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

For icing-

6 tbsp flour
2 c milk
2 c butter (softened)
2 tsp vanilla extract

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners. Sift cake flour and set aside.
Cream together butter and sugar for cupcakes on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating in between.
In a separate bowl, whisk together food coloring, water, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Add to the batter.
Stir salt into buttermilk. Add in 3 parts, alternating with the cake flour, to the batter. In a small bowl, combine vinegar and baking soda. Add to batter, and mix well. Divide batter between cupcake tins.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together flour and milk for icing. Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture becomes very thick (about 10 minutes). Cover with waxed paper placed directly on mixture and cool to room temperature (can be refrigerated to speed up the process).
Beat the butter for the icing until it becomes smooth, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla. Beat again (it's a theme!)
Add cooled milk mixture to butter mixture and beat for 5 minutes. Frost cupcakes immediately.

Some Notes:

As with most of the cupcakes I make, the frosting-cupcake ratio should be at LEAST 1-1. If you're going to eat a Pastry Flower dessert, expect to go into a sugar comatose directly after. But really, more is better when it comes to icing on these cupcakes.
And don't be deterred by the complexity of the icing. It was better than ANY store-bought.

"Everything Nice" Muffins

2010-08-03T04:45:00.001-07:00

Om...

... nom...

...nom.

When I started baking, it was out of necessity. It was the winter of 2005, just after Christmas, and I was battling terrible insomnia and slight depression. It was awful. I would spend hours sitting, staring at my computer, updating Facebook, lying on my carpet wishing that I could sleep. One night, I wandered down to the still-set-up Christmas tree and started sifting through the gifts that I'd received. One of those gifts was Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe, still one of my favorite cookbooks today. After everyone else was asleep, I would sneak downstairs and, as quietly as possible, bake the easiest things from the cookbook with whatever happened to be around in the kitchen. Invariably, after each recipe was finished, I would crash immediately upon my bed, or the couch, or the rug in our kitchen... whatever happened to be easiest. A love of baking was born, alongside a coping mechanism.

To this day, I can tell when I'm verging upon emotional instability when I start itching to break out my pans. It's not only something to do to pass the time; it's also one of the few times when I don't let the opinions of others dictate my actions, when I have overwhelming self-confidence and a can-do attitude, and when, even in the midst of emotional quicksand, I can dance around the kitchen, singing into a whisk and everything is right in my life. The process takes as long as it takes; I can't speed it up or slow it down, even if I wanted to. And, best of all, my friends love me for it. When these muffins came out of the oven, my roommate Beth came into the kitchen and said, point blank, "I could kiss you right now. But I think you'd be weirded out."

Sugar and Spice ("Everything Nice") Muffins

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

1 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c butter
1 egg
1/3 c milk
1/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

To Make:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 6 muffin cups with liners.
Sift together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. In another bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients to wet ones and beat until combined. Add milk and stir until just combined.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.
Spoon batter into cups half full. Sprinkle some of the brown sugar and cinnamon on top of batter. Spoon more batter into cups (until 5/6 full) and top with remaining brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Some Notes:

Next time, I will sub brown sugar for the white sugar in the batter.
Also, next time, I'm going to make extra sugar/cinnamon mixture and put more inside the muffins.
These muffins are not overwhelmingly sweet, but I like them that way.

Kevin and Susan's Joint Birthday Cake!

2010-08-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I wish I had my pastry bags...

In honor of the days-of-birth of my super Canadian roommate and my friend Kevin, I decided to make a cake. And yes, I'm aware that this cake is pink. To Kevin, I apologize, but it tastes delicious so I'm pretty sure he didn't mind much. Anyway, a very, very happy birthday to two of my good friends down here!

The birfday boy and girl, respectively.

A short sidenote: I leave DC in 6 days, and all the friends that I have made here will be scattered across the continent. I want to thank you all for making this summer amazing. I will honestly miss you. All of you. Even the ones I complain about. Really. Truf.

So, this cake is the very first undertaking of a significantly difficult recipe since being in DC, mostly because I was getting sick of making cookies. It involved buying several kitchen utensils to add to my arsenal back home, and making up a significant part of this recipe. For being a brand new recipe, mostly made-up using techniques from other recipes I've tried in the past, this cake turned out FABULOUSLY. I felt almost like a real pastry chef... hahahaha... right. I definitely lamented not having my pastry bags and decorating tips down here with me though... The finished product was pretty, no doubt, but being the perfectionist I am, I wish I hadn't just had to use ziplocs. Sigh.

Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Cream Frosting and Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients:

(For cake)

1 c sugar
3/4 c flour
1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c fresh-brewed coffee
1/2 c whole milk
1/3 c vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

(For frosting)

6 oz fresh raspberries
2 tbsp light brown suga
r
1 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 c whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar

(For chocolate sauce)

1/4 c whipping cream
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 4.5 in x 8.5 in loaf pan with nonstick spray and dust with cocoa powder.
In a large bowl, sift together the first 6 ingredients for the cake. In another bowl, combine coffee, milk, oil, eggs and vanilla, and beat to blend. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ones, and stir until just combined. Pour into floured pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto cake tray and cool completely before frosting.
In a small saucepan, mash together brown sugar, raspberries, and lemon juice. Cook on low heat, stirring for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and push raspberry mixture through a sieve to remove seeds (what is left should be raspberry juice, basically). Add cornstarch to the juice, and cook on medium heat in saucepan for 5-7 minutes. Remove and refrigerate until very chilled.
In a refrigerated bowl, combine whipping cream for frosting, powdered sugar, and about 1/3 of the raspberry sauce. Whip until stiffer than you would want whipped cream to be. Fold in another 1/3 of the raspberry sauce.
In a double boiler, combine the whipping cream for chocolate sauce and chocolate chips until melted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, and then spoon into a pastry bag.
Okay, now it's time to assemble the cake! Frost the completely cooled cake with the raspberry cream frosting, and chill for 10 minutes more. Drizzle with the chocolate sauce and the rest of the raspberry sauce. Chill until ready to serve.

I put the 'mess' in 'domestic'.

Raspberry Chocolate Clafoutis

2010-07-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

I love this last photo. It makes me drool.

Clafoutis: the dish so nice, I made it twice... in the span of two weeks. Okay, that was cheesy. I apologize. I'm not going to lie; clafoutis are easy, delicious, versatile, and can sort of pass as breakfast food when I'm running out the door in the morning. Ahem. Also, I just plain love anything chocolatey, and since the HUGE power outage that knocked out the power for something like 300,000 houses in our area, I've been looking to use the defrosted frozen (previously fresh) berries that have been sitting in my fridge.

This is me being industrious and delicious AT THE SAME TIME. Admit it; I'm awesome.

I think my roommates are FINALLY getting used to my style of baking (aka loud music, dancing, godawful singing, and a huge mess everywhere... hey, I never claimed to be the prettiest baker to ever hit the interwebs). Cassie even asked... okay, who the hell am I kidding? Cassie DEMANDED to help me mix the batter, in between screaming at the new episode of Jersey Shore. I live in a mental asylum, but at least it's interesting. :)

Also, for the first time, I let the gods of last.fm decide upon my musical selection while baking. Laaaaazy. I just used the "Play Your Library" function, and it spit out a great mix, which I will now enumerate. Those who care, feel free to add me as a last.fm friend! --> http://www.last.fm/user/alynnhouse

Those who don't, feel free to skip ahead.

1) "The Resistance" - Anberlin

2) "Cuddle Fuddle" - Passion Pit

3) "Are You Sleeping?" - Harry Nilsson

4) "Crush'd" - Say Anything

5) "Tidal" - Imogen Heap

6) "Are You With Me" - Vaux

Primo jumping around the kitchen music. :)

ANYWAY... on to the actual recipe. This recipe, it turns out, is NOTHING like the other clafoutis recipe I posted. This dessert is very much a dessert; it's very rich and sweet and tangy (thanks to the raspberries). The texture is much more like a custard (thanks, I'm sure, to the whole milk and less eggs). Still, this recipe is absolutely a keeper, just for a different purpose. Yum!

Raspberry Chocolate Clafoutis

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

12 oz raspberries
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 c whole milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
6 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

To Make:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray baking dish (I used the infamous casserole dish, but I'm sure any would work) with nonstick spray.
Toss raspberries with sugar and set aside.
Combine all remaining ingredients EXCEPT chocolate, beating until smooth.
Spread raspberry mixture evenly in bottom of baking dish. Pour batter over raspberries.
Bake for 35 minutes (SEE NOTES) until puffed up. Remove and immediately scatter chocolate over the top. Cool for at least 20 minutes.

Some Notes:

Next time I am absolutely going to butter the dish instead of nonstick-spraying it. It created the best crust on my last clafoutis.
I would definitely recommend lengthening the baking time by at least 5 minutes on this dish. It didn't firm up the way I expected it would... nothing like my last clafoutis. I think this was probably because the raspberries I used were much juicier than the cherries. Although this clafoutis was cooked through, it was the most custard-like around the edges.
Next time I might also use bittersweet chocolate, like the original recipe called for, instead of semisweet. The semisweet and the raspberries together were a bit much. It would have been nice to have the bite of bittersweet.

Cookies 'n' Creme Fudge

2010-07-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

If there's anything that I love, love, L-O-V-E, it would have to be fudge. I think I could eat fudge every day for the rest of my life and be completely content with it. So many variations, so much delicious.

It's been hot like Hell in DC this weekend, with temperatures hitting 104. So what did I do all day today? Well, I trekked around the hot and humid streets of DC, hitting museums and searching out food with Jack Licata... in retrospect, not a good decision on our parts. I got sunburnt and dehydrated, and was in no shape to do anything productive this afternoon. I'd been wanting to make fudge for a while, and my roommate Cassie INSISTED on me varying up the flavor. She helped me find a recipe for cookies 'n' creme fudge, and I ran with it.

Cookies 'n' Creme Fudge

Ingredients:

12 oz. white chocolate
12 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/8 tsp. salt
2 c. roughly chopped chocolate cookies

To Make:

In a saucepan, over medium-low heat, combine white chocolate, condensed milk and salt. Stir until smooth.
Fold in the cookies.
Line a baking pan with foil, and spread the mixture into the pans. Chill for at least two hours. Turn the fudge out onto a cutting board, and remove the foil.

Some Notes:

Eliminate crumbs when chopping the cookies. They discolor the fudge.
Be very, very careful to stir the white chocolate constantly while melting, and not to allow it to burn. The mixture can go from beautiful to disaster in seconds.
This is such a basic recipe, and so easy to make, I am definitely going to get creative with flavor combinations in the future! Be ready for some weird fudge flavors coming out of this kitchen.

Now THAT'S a kitchen!

2010-07-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today I visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History, here in DC, for one reason alone... to view the kitchen that Ms. Julia Child used to film her cooking show! Yes, I'm aware that this is incredibly nerdy on my part, but I couldn't care less. I was obsessed. If I'm romantic about anything, it's food, and the Julia Child exhibit definitely capitalized on that. I've posted some of my pictures below!

Pretty phenomenal.

I would KILL for a set of pots and pans like that.

Oh hey, it's me. :)

Ms. Child's diploma from Le Cordon Bleu.

Will do, Julia.

Sunshine Thins

2010-07-22T19:15:00.001-07:00

When I was trying to describe these to Jacob (as I was making them), the only thing I could come up with was "lemon glazed butter things." But after one bite, I knew exactly what they reminded me of... sunshine. Hence, the name, obvi. One bite and I was able to breathe easier, smile, and relax... something I haven't been able to do in weeks. Maybe it was the way that these cookies are airy and light and just melt in your mouth. More likely, it's probably the tangy-sweetness of the lemon glaze, which is by far one of my favorite scent and tastes. Either way, I am impressed with this largely made-up recipe, and suggest you make it straightaway.

Sunshine Thins

Ingredients:

1/2 c (1 stick) of butter at room temperature
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
4 tbsp lemon juice, separated
about 2 c powdered sugar

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover baking sheet with nonstick foil.
In large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and 1 tbsp lemon juice, and mix thoroughly.
Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Form dough into 1" balls (careful... very sticky <-- that's what she said) and roll each ball in powdered sugar, placing on baking sheet. Then roll balls in powdered sugar for a second time. Place about 1.5" apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 8 minutes in the center of the oven. Rotate pan. Bake for another 8 minutes, or until golden around the edges.
Let cool for a few minutes. While they are cooling, mix remaining powdered sugar with lemon juice incrementally until a glaze is formed. Top cookies liberally with glaze.

Some Notes:

If you want to go for presentation, when you rotate the cookies, you can fork-press them a la peanut butter cookies. It makes them pretty!
Next time, I think I'm going to sprinkle turbinado sugar on after the glaze, for presentation and texture.

Fluffernutter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-07-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

First of all, I apologize for the terrible pictures, but you will get over it. I promise.

Some nights, you just don't feel like going out. Some nights, you feel like laying on the floor, even though there is a perfectly good couch, with two of your three roommates, reading good literature, and baking ridiculously easy cookies. Oh, hello, last Friday night...

These cookies are easy-peasy, with 4 ingredients and, like, a grand total of 20 minutes start to finish (baking time included). They require one bowl, one spoon, one baking sheet, and one oven, equipment-wise. So you really can make them, even if you "live in a frat house with no tasty food." No excuses.

Oh, and I apologize for the imprecise measurements, but if it really bugs you, all I can say is: pull the stick outta your butt, and start being more impulsive. Kthanks.

Fluffernutter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 regular jar of creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 regular jar of Jet Puffed marshmallow creme
12 oz chocolate chips

To Make:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine peanut butter and egg thoroughly. Mix in marshmallow creme, but DO NOT mix thoroughly. You should still be able to see white streaks.
Fold in chocolate chips. Be careful not to overmix.
Drop in spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to completely cool on cookie sheet before you try to remove them, or they will crumble.

Some Notes:

Honestly, the cookies were better the day after. This might be one of those recipes that you should probably let sit. And they weren't good hot, but they were DELICIOUSLY rich after they had cooled off a little.

Oh, hey roommates...!

Trainwreck Cookies with Toasted Coconut

2010-07-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

I have so many memories attached to these particular cookies.

The story behind the naming of the Trainwreck Cookies:

It took me a very long time to figure out how to make these delicious cookies look presentable (and even now, they're frustrating as hell, and break easily when you try to get them off the foil... but totally worth it). The first time I ever made them was for Thanksgiving a few years back, when my grandparents, my mother, my brother and I visited my mom's sister and her family in Texas. I must say up front that when I was younger I always adored and idolized my Uncle Mike. As I was wrestling with the tin foil, and subsequently looking like a fool, my uncle came into the kitchen, stopped, looking at me, laughed, and said "Well, this looks like a trainwreck." He ate his words later (and, like, the entire plate of cookies... hah!).

Another (less interesting) memory attached to these cookies is when I would make them and bring them into IB English 12 every couple of weeks. It was one of my first experiences wherein I was liked implicitly by people (aka Brittany and the swimmer boys) who really didn't give a damn about me beforehand. Because I brought in cookies, they not only were nice to me, they also requested my baked goods with increasing frequency. It was nice to be of value, but not too nice. Ultimately, it just solidified my dislike of mean and snobby people.

Anyway, this time, I made them to celebrate my 20th birthday, which was on Monday.

Trainwreck Cookies are chocolate-caramel graham cracker cookies with accentuation. These cookies are tied with my Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies for the most universally well-liked of my cookies. The Trainwreck Cookies have the added benefit of being very versatile, and can be topped with just about anything: chopped and toasted nuts, M&Ms, other kinds of chocolate, or (as in this case) coconut. I have vowed to get this recipe completely perfect, and am well on my way. See my notes, at the end.

Trainwreck Cookies

Ingredients:

nonstick cooking spray
1 1/2 packs graham crackers (they usually come 3 packs/box)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 c brown sugar
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
about 1 1/2-1 c of desired topping

To Make:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking pan with high sides (trust me, it's important) with NONSTICK foil (also important), so that there is a couple inches of overhang on every side. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray. This will make your life so much easier in the long run.
Place graham crackers on baking sheet in a single layer, as tightly packed as possible, so you have a sheet of graham crackers.
In a pot on medium heat, melt the butter, then add brown sugar. Stir until the mixture resembles caramel, for about 5 minutes.
Pour caramel evenly over graham crackers, and spread with spatula. Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the caramel is violently bubbly (and the kitchen smells delicious).
Take pan out of over, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over graham crackers. Bake for another 2 minutes. Using spatula, spread melty chocolate evenly over graham crackers. Top with desired accenting topping(s).
Allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes, then place in freezer for 15. After frozen, allow to thaw for a few minutes, then using a sharp knife, make deep cuts in the sheet of cookies to delineate intended cookie size. Then, pray that the foil comes off.

Some Notes:

My Canadian roommate suggested using parchment paper instead of foil next time. I am absolutely going to do so. If you try it before me, let me know how it works!

Cherry Clafoutis

2010-07-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

Helloooooo! We're going to go ahead and pretend that I have not been completely absent for the last half a year. Let's, instead, accept the fact that I'm coming late to the party, and embrace the fact that I showed up at all!

I've been living in Washington, DC this summer, interning and generally getting lost way more often than I probably should be. The apartment that I'm living in came furnished with dishes, but they wouldn't tell me what dishes before I moved in... so I did the unthinkable. I LEFT ALL MY BAKING EQUIPMENT IN AKRON! And of course, we don't even have a baking pan other than a casserole dish. I've had to scrape, borrow, and sell my firstborn child to get any baking done here. Hence, this lovely breakfast food... Cherry Clafoutis in a casserole dish!

Kat and I FINALLY had time to talk on the phone about a week ago... and oh, boy, did we talk. I miss her, although I'm really excited that she's moving out West in a little more than a week, I also am jealous and want to be able to visit her a lot! P.S. Kat- I am buying a ticket next week. Thanksgiving for the ages!

Anyway, she point-blank told me to make a clafoutis. And because I respect my elders, I did. And it was delicious. If you don't know what a clafoutis is... I really can't help you out. It's french in origin. But I can't figure out how to explain what it tastes like other than the french like butter a lot, and cherries are delicious this time of year. And now that I'm absolutely pro at clafoutis-ing, I have a killer recipe for raspberry-chocolate clafoutis that I could probably pass off as some semblance of a breakfast food...

Glad to be back. :)

Cherry Clafoutis "Casserole"

Adapted from Sunlight Cafe

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 c ripe cherries, pitted and halved
1 1/3 c flour
1 1/2 c milk
4 tbsp sugar
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
whipped cream

To Make:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. While preheating, melt the butter in the bottom of the casserole dish, and allow to spread all over the bottom of the dish. Mix 1 tbsp of flour with the cherries and set aside.
Combine milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt and mix until smooth. Pour batter into the casserole dish, and spoon the cherries into the batter, concentrating them near the center.
Bake the dish for 35 minutes, until browned around the edges.
Top with whipped cream, and serve warm.

Turbinado-Dipped Shortbread Cookies

2010-01-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

I need to get more comfortable with people watching me bake. I don't know if it was the cameras, or having Cory, Emily and John in the kitchen with me while I made these shortbread cookies, but I was extremely self-conscious the entire time. Definitely not nearly as much fun as I usually have while baking (but then again my usual baking experience calls for me dancing around, blasting upbeat music and singing my heart out into whisks). What WAS cool, was being able to see each step of the baking process laid out in picture form, thanks to the wonderful photography of John Fetherston. I learned a lot; for example: I should never wear my new apron (courtesy of John and Etsy) with patterns... It clashes. Also, I need to stand up straighter.

Well, I had been craving shortbread cookies for a couple of days and on my last night in Akron, I decided to grab a movie with my favorite power couple and my favorite Arizonan and get to baking! Results were a success that were gone long before I was...

Turbinado-Dipped Shortbread Cookies

Adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients:

1 1/4 sticks butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. flour
3 tbsp. turbinado sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt until just fluffy. Mix in the flour in 3 batches at a slow speed, until just incorporated.
On a (preferably cold) work surface, form the dough into a 1 1/2 in. thick log, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for one hour.
Brush log with egg yolk using a pastry brush, and roll in the turbinado sugar until coated evenly.
Cut the log into 1/2 in. thick rounds and place 1 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until brown around the edges. Cool completely.

Some Notes:

The original recipe also calls for 3/4 c. toasted and chopped pecans. I didn't include them because my friends aren't huge fans of nuts and I didn't have any on hand. They were delicious without them.
The dough was very hard to come together when forming the log. I believe this was because the butter wasn't perfectly at room temperature when I added it. Be careful!
I use a convection oven, and the original recipe called for baking the cookies for 20 minutes. Honestly, the batch was a little overdone for my tastes at 18 minutes, so watch carefully.

Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

2010-01-09T23:04:00.000-08:00

Ick. I seriously need to stop taking my food shots with my camera phone. It just makes me sad! I got a ridiculously nice point-and-shoot digital camera for Christmas, even, and yet it never seems to be around when I need to take these shots. So, I heartily apologize for the terrible quality and color of this post's pictures, HOWEVER you will not have to deal with my camera phone crapola in the next post! I got to do some baking with my good friend John Fetherston, from Arizona, while he was in town, and he's a brilliant photographer with a pretty awesome photoblog (although he is waaay to humble to admit it) called "Life Through My Lens." I'm super excited to see his shots of me, up to my elbows in flour and butter. I am oh so attractive, after all...

Anyway, on to this post! On Wednesday, I drove to Columbus with Joelle Diane, Caitlin, and Leah for a Repower America rally. The day before, I decided that I wanted to make something pretty simple and basic that would be a good roadtripping snack. I decided to research some chocolate chip cookie recipes to make later that night, and read about 15 recipes online. I had the idea to use cocoa powder to flavor the dough and substitute peanut butter chips for the chocolate ones, and I went out and bought my ingredients. Of course, when I got home late that night and got ready to bake, our internet decided it just didn't want to play along. I, then, had to search my memory for (read: make up completely) the measurements and ingredients for these cookies. Given the circumstances, the results were absolutely jaw dropping.

Straight out of the oven, I had to leave the kitchen while they cooled, so as not to eat them all. The centers were gooey and warm and amaaaaazing, like the best Reese's cup you've ever imagined. The next day, they were a super big hit with my roadtripping sisters-in-arms. After they were all gone, there were multiple times when someone said "I really want one of those cookies!" My mother also made my brother eat all of the ones I left in her kitchen, because she was afraid to have them in the house. The verdict? Entirely too addictive for words, and simple to boot!

Audrey's Mostly Made-Up Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. butter, cut into pieces
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. peanut butter chips

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Add by half cups to the creamed mixture, mixing to just barely combined after each addition. Fold in the peanut butter chips.
Form dough into 1" balls and bake for 11 minutes. Cool on tray for 5 minutes, and then completely on a wire rack (if you can resist them that long).

Some Notes:

I really have nothing that I would change to this recipe. It was that good. Maybe I'll try substituting white chocolate chips next time.
I used Ghiradelli cocoa powder. I wouldn't be willing to compromise for cocoa powder of any poorer quality, because it lends the primary flavour to the cookies.

The Breakfast Bonanza: Jan. 2010!

2010-01-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

So, I am pretty damn sure I have some of the best friends in the history of awesome friends. If I had to describe us as a collective in a single sentence: we are all notorious foodies who don't take ourselves too seriously. Of course, we are all highbrow artsy-type college kids home for winter break, as well, and this morning we felt the need to rub it into our younger siblings' faces that they had to go to school while we got to stay home and play in the snow. So what did we do? Oh, Morgan, Joelle Diane (read her blog here), and I just decided to make the biggest, fanciest, most delicious hot breakfast ever to be eaten on a snowy day (at the crack of noon, of course).

The menu? Joelle made the best egg and potato scramble I've ever eaten. You can see her feverishly sauteeing in the second picture. Inspired by my dear cousin Kat's foray into french toast-dom the other day, I decided to try out a recipe for orange-flavoured french toast, and ended up accidentally leaving out ingredients (in my defense, we were dancing around the kitchen to Andrew Bird), and topping the whole delicious mess off with fresh raspberry syrup and dried cranberries.

The result?

Tutti Fruity French Toast

(very loosely) Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 c. thawed, concentrated orange juice
about half a loaf of italian bread (or other crusty bread)
1/2 c. raspberry syrup
1/4 c. dried cranberries
a little butter for the skillet

To Make:

Whisk together eggs, vanilla, sugar, and orange juice. Dip bread into the mixture and coat well. Place on a pan and allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt a little butter in a skillet. Fry the french toast over medium heat for a little less than 5 minutes on each side.
Top with warm raspberry syrup and cranberries.

Some Notes:

We didn't use powdered sugar, but you should.
We used raspberry syrup because we forgot to buy maple syrup. The toast would be just as good with maple, but less fruity, obviously. If you can't find raspberry syrup, or don't have any on hand, thinning out a little raspberry (or any other berry) jam would most likely work.
I'd love to top this with shredded toasted coconut! Yum!

Avocado and Pistachio Muffins with Lime Glaze

2009-12-30T11:21:00.001-08:00

See!? I told you I was going to be better at updating! Honestly, I was planning on updating yesterday when I made the Black and White Brownies from the Moosewood Dessert Cookbook but... they were terrible. God awful. I was so disappointed! I have never made a dud recipe from Moosewood before, but these brownies were sweet without being rich, and more than a bit chalky. The best part of them was the chocolate glaze: melt 1/3 c. semi sweet chips in a double boiler with 1/4 c. heavy cream... aaaaand there you go.

Anyway, BIG NEWS! I made up a recipe! And it isn't terrible! It needs tweaking, definitely, but I could probably fix the problems without even remaking the recipe to test... Here's the backstory: I love guacamole, but I have been making it so often that it's becoming mundane to me. There was one avocado left over, and about to turn, so I decided to google search "avocado bread" thinking that there might be something useful... no luck. I am not a huge fan of zucchini or banana breads, and that's about all I came up with (aka lots of spices that completely mask the true flavor of the produce). So then I searched avocado cake. Still, not much luck because I didn't have any buttermilk! Apparently, buttermilk is a staple in recipes where you bake with avocados... who knew!? So I decided to make my own recipe. I kid you not when I say that this was one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences of my life... There was a great possibility of my crashing and burning (literally). I decided to make the batter into muffins, because I only had one avocado.

The result? 4 mint-green (thank you camera phone for completely destroying the integrity of my muffin-color), medium-sized muffins that were good with the potential of being great. I have listed the recipe as I made it today, below. To see what I would definitely change about my recipe next time, see the notes section! Remember, this recipe only yields 4 muffins.

Audrey's Avocado and Pistachio Muffins with Lime Glaze

...aka SUPERGREEN MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1/2 c. granulated sugar
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, salted
1 medium sized avocado, mashed
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. salted pistachios, chopped coarsely
juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 c. powdered sugar

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together butter and sugar. Add mashed avocado and beat until smooth. Add egg, then dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Fold in pistachios.
Bake in ungreased and unlined muffin cups, filled 3/4 of the way full, until peaks are browned (about 20 minutes). Let cool on cooling rack.
Meanwhile, beat together lime juice, powdered sugar, and water as needed to make a glaze of medium thickness. Apply using a pastry crush to the cooled muffins.

Some Notes:

Next time, I am going to add 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract to the batter. The muffins lacked dimension, and although the lime and pistachios helped, they were a little bland.
Next time, I will increase the granulated sugar to a full cup. The muffins would have been much better had they been sweeter. As is, they are basically savory muffins.
The muffins came out a little doughy in the center. Next time, I will increase cooking time by 2 or 3 minutes.
Instead of thinning out the glaze with water, next time I will use more lime juice. Today, I only had the one lime half lying around.
I might play around with substituting yogurt, ricotta cheese, or buttermilk for the butter. The muffins are naturally heavy because of the fats in the avocado, and I think they could use some lightness.
I might also try adding lime juice to the actual batter to give it some tang.

Chocolate Creme Pie... sort of.

2009-12-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I cheated. I used (gasp!) a frozen pie crust! Yes! Me! It's bad. Honestly, though, it was because I completely forgot about, and subsequently burned to a crisp, the chocolate-graham cracker crust in the oven not once, but TWICE. After that, I threw in the towel and just used one of the frozen pie crusts my grandmother had lying around. Oops. As a result, this recipe is not for Chocolate Creme Pie. It is more accurately for Chocolate Creme Pie... Filling.

Chocolate Creme Pie... Filling

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks
3 c. whole milk
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 tbsp. softened unsalted butter
whipping cream for garnish

To Make:

In a large saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt and yolks. Then add whole milk gradually, whisking until combined. Boil over moderate heat until the filling thickens. You can choose to sieve the filling or not, at this point (I didn't and it turned out fine).
Mix in chocolates and butter. Chill, stirring occasionally.

Some Notes:

This 'filling' would be incredible as a pudding. It is SO rich and thick. It's my brother's favorite thing that I make!

Banana Creme Pie

2009-12-28T18:19:00.001-08:00

I have made this recipe many, many times. The first was for my maternal grandfather, Bop's, birthday, and so I honestly think of this as Bop's Banana Creme Pie. Since then, I have made the pie several more times, for Thanksgiving, for get-togethers for my fraternity, and any other event when I need an easy pie recipe.

Let me reiterate: I love this pie. It is perfect in every way, ESPECIALLY the crust... because of the bananas used in the crust, the crust turns out chewy and delicious. It's the best part of the pie!

Banana Creme Pie

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For crust

2 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. mashed banana
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted

For filling

1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
1 1/2 c. whole milk
3 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine crumbs, sugar for crust, and bananas for crust. Add the melted butter for the crust, and press mixture onto the sides of a pie pan. Chill for about 30 minutes, or until firm. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and cool completely.
In a saucepan, whisk cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add whipping cream and whole milk gradually, then add egg yolks. Cut vanilla bean in half, and scrape seeds into the saucepan, then add pod. Whisk over medium-high heat until thick and boiling. Remove heat, and whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Transfer to large bowl, and chill, stirring occasionally.
To assemble pie, cut the remaining bananas into thin rounds. Spread layer of custard cream over the crust, then put a layer of banana. Repeat twice more. Top with whipped cream.

Some Notes:

Vanilla beans are expensive, but ENTIRELY WORTH IT. I made the pie several times before using real vanilla beans in it, instead opting to up the vanilla extract. While this works, I was astounded by the difference the real vanilla bean made. And yes, if you look hard enough, you can find them at Giant Eagle AND Kroger. So no excuses.
This is a great base custard recipe, so feel free to use it as a substitute in other recipes. It also doesn't contain gelatin, which is great for us animal-friendly bakers.
Also, this crust is amazing. I don't really taste much banana flavor in it, and I use it as my go-to graham cracker crust with any pie.

Mexican Tea Cakes

2009-12-28T17:17:00.000-08:00

These cookies were my second contribution to ATH 305's cultural fiesta. They were easy to make only hours before the event (although I would suggest planning ahead... see my notes), and went over very well. I can always remember my mother making these as Christmas cookies, so it was interesting to see them in a new light.

Mexican Tea Cakes

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

1 c. softened unsalted butter
3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt

To Make:

Cream together butter and 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla, and add flour, cinnamon, and salt until just combined.
Chill for at least 6 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter 2 baking sheets.
Roll dough into 3/4 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Immediately roll cookies in powdered sugar and let cool completely. After cooled, roll in powdered sugar again.

Some Notes:

In the interest of time, I skipped the chilling in step 2. I would NOT recommend doing this. The cookies turned out slightly flattened (as you can see in the picture) instead of perfectly round.

Profiteroles with Caramel Sauce

2009-12-28T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's criminal, I know. An entire semester has gone by without a post. In my defense, this was a tough semester educationally, emotionally, and socially. BUT I never stopped baking whenever I was given the opportunity!

One of my favorite classes this semester was People and Cultures of Latin America. We had an evening get together at the professor's house one night, potluck style with all sorts of traditional Latin American foods. I was in charge of the dessert, so I ended up bringing profiteroles with caramel sauce and Mexican tea cookies.

The pictures above don't show the profiteroles (a kind of cream puff popular at weddings in South and Central America) with the caramel sauce, because I made it fresh when I got to the professor's house. That was an experience in itself, cooking with everyone watching me... I got some serious nerves. But these went over really well! They take a lot of time to make, and are technically challenging, but I think they're worth it...

Profiteroles with Caramel Sauce

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For puffs

1 c. water
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 eggs

For filling

1 tbsp. water
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 c. whole milk
2/3 c. whipping cream
1 vanilla bean
6 egg yolks
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. all purpose flour
pinch of salt

For caramel sauce

1 1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
2/3 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. butter, cut into cubes

To Make:

Boil water and butter for puffs in sauce pan. Reduce heat to low, and add the flour and salt. Stir until the mixture pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.
Transfer to large bowl, and using a mixer, beat in eggs one at a time. Cover and let stand, 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, and butter two baking sheets. Put coupler (with no tip) into a pastry bag, and spoon dough in. Pipe 1 inch rounds onto the baking sheets, and smooth the tops. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Take out of oven and turn off oven. Using a knife, pierce the sides of each puff and put back into oven for 10 minutes with the door ajar.
Place the water for filling into a bowl, and sprinkle in gelatin. Simmer in a saucepan milk, cream, and vanilla bean (cut in half with the seeds scraped into the pan).
In a large bowl, mix egg yolks, sugar, flour, and salt. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture, then return to saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until thick.
Stir in gelatin mixture. Transfer to bowl, and cover with plastic wrap pressed to the mixture. Chill.
Spoon mixture into pastry bag with a 1/4 inch tip, and pipe into completely cool puffs.
Stir sugar and water for sauce in a saucepan until dissolved, over medium heat. Turn up heat and boil, without stirring until deep amber in color. Take off heat, and stir in cream then butter. Drizzle over puffs.

Some Notes:

In the future, I will definitely replace steps 4-6 with the much easier and less gelatin-y cream from my favorite banana cream pie recipe.

Coconut-Banana Tartlets

2009-08-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Well, bummer... I failed at the challenge. There was just not enough time to use up all those chocolate chips. If my grandmother doesn't use them before the holidays, then you guys will probably see the return of the challenge once I get home from school!

These tartlets I made for a dinner party at my mom's house. They turned out awesomely, and so pretty (especially considering I don't own tartlet pans), but they were heavy. Whipped cream improved the taste a lot, balancing the heavy flavors with the light.

Coconut-Banana Tartlets

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For crust

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sweetened shredded coconut
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. ice water

For filling

1 1/3 c. sweetened shredded coconut
3 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 in. pieces
3/4 c. whipping cream
3/4 c. granulated sugar

To Make:

Blend flour, coconut (for crust), sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in vanilla and water, and knead until doughy. Wrap in tin foil and freeze for 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 6 jumbo muffin tins with non-stick spray.
Divide dough into 6 parts. Keeping other parts in the freezer while you roll each one out into 6 in. rounds on a floured surface. Gently place rounds into muffin tins, folding the extra dough where it creases. Freeze for 15 more minutes.
Bake crusts for 20 minutes, popping any bubbles that form. Cool crusts in muffin tin. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine coconut and banana. In a medium saucepan stir cream and sugar together until the mixture boils. Pour mixture oven bananas and coconut. Stir to combine and spoon into shells, making the tartlets level.
Bake tartlets for 25 minutes. Cool in pan, then remove.

Some Notes:

Definitely use whipped cream in your serving of these tarts.
Next time I will also cut the banana more coarsely to make the tarts easier to eat.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

2009-08-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

My grandfather loved this bread toasted in a toaster oven with some butter on it. It was very rich but a little dry, I thought. There are some changes that could be made to counteract that problem however. See the notes.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. plus 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. wheat flour
2 tbsp. butter

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and lightly flour a loaf pan and set aside.
Separate one egg, putting yolk in a large bowl and white in a medium bowl. Mix the chocolate chips with the eggs white and set aside.
In the large bowl add the second egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat for a minute.
In another medium bowl, sift together WHITE flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon.
In yet another bowl, combine WHEAT flour, butter, 3 tbsp. sugar, and a little more cinnamon until crumbly. Spread 1/3 of this mixture on the bottom of the loaf pan.
Combine wet and dry ingredients until just blended. Add chocolate chips, but do not mix too much. Pour batter into pan and top with the rest of the streusel mixture.
Bake for 1 hour. Cool completely before taking out of pan.

Some Notes:

If I make this bread again, I will probably add about 1/3 c. sour cream to try to make the bread a little less dry.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze

2009-08-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Wow. I completely forgot how stressful moving from one place to another, 200 miles away is. Please forgive me for the lull in posts, but I have a backlog of delicious goodies to post for you guys! First on the agenda... these absolutely luscious peanut butter-chocolate cupcakes with chocolate glaze. Everyone from 10 year-olds to college guys to my grandparents' friends loved them; they're definitely a new go-to recipe for me... the classic pb/chocolate combination is beloved by many so you can't go wrong with these.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. smooth peanut butter
1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. milk
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. hot water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line about 16 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.
In a large bowl cream together peanut butter, butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after additions. Still in vanilla (1 tsp.). Alternately fold in the flour mixture and the milk by thirds. Fold in the chocolate chips (1 c.).
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely.
Combine the last three ingredients in a double boiler and brush onto cupcakes after they have cooled.

Some Notes:

A pastry brush works really well for brushing the glaze over the cupcake.
Serve the cupcakes with milk. :)

Chocolate-Cherry Muffins

2009-08-14T17:17:00.001-07:00

These muffins work with a classic fruit and chocolate combination, to very decadent results. The ricotta cheese in the recipe makes these muffins extremely moist, and almost like cheese cake, but doesn't leave any taste. The only problem with these muffins is that they end up on the smaller side, even when filling the muffin tray 5/6th of the way full. I also got to use more of my chocolate chips... on my way to completing The Challenge! :)

On a related note, thank you to my cousin Kat for mentioning me on her blog The Ginger Cook! Hopefully it will help get people reading about my baking endeavors!

p.s. I can't wait to try her recipe for ginger snaps. It looks delicious!

Chocolate-Cherry Muffins

Adapted from Sunlight Cafe

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. ricotta cheese
1 c buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1.2 tbsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 dried cherries

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray about 12 muffins cups with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine in a large bowl the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and sugar.
In a medium bowl beat together buttermilk and ricotta. Add eggs one at a team and beat well, then beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Add wet mixture, cherries, and butter to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Toss chocolate chips in all-purpose flour to coat. Add to batter and mix to combine. Spoon batter into muffin cups to the top and bake for 20 minutes (until lightly browned on top).

Some Notes:

I think next time I might use fresh pitted cherries for color and enhanced flavor. The cook time, if you use fresh or frozen cherries, is supposed to be between 25-30 minutes.

The Challenge

2009-08-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

My grandmother's friend work for Nestle and when she learned that I love to bake she sent me... well, the biggest bag of chocolate chips I've ever had in my possession. 72 oz. of semi-sweet joy! My challenge is to use the whole bag before I leave for school on August 21st. Wish me luck!

Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins

2009-08-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

Okay so these muffins are the definition of a delicious failure. I decided at the last minute that I wanted to add Hershey's cocoa powder to the dough to try to incorporate chocolate (you'll see why in the next post) and the muffins came out so densely that the lemon curd wouldn't go into them as filling. I abandoned that idea and just decided to run with the chocolate theme. It turned out really well, but I have ideas for next time I make them...

Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins

Adapted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant

Ingredients:

1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. hot, strong chocolate-flavored coffee
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. chocolate chips (for topping)

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line about 2 muffin tins with muffin liners.
Cream together the butter and sugar in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat egg into molasses, then add the creamed mixture.
Sift together all dry ingredients except baking soda, then fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones.
Dissolve the baking soda in the coffee and add it to the batter, beating for several minutes. Place batter in muffin liners, about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 30 minutes.
To make topping, melt 1 c. chocolate chips in a double boiler until melted. Spoon into pastry bag and decorate.

Some Notes:

Next time I make these, I plan on adding 1 c. of chocolate chips, coated in all-purpose flour, to the batter for a more chocolaty taste.
Instead of a pastry bag, you can use a ziplock bag as a decorating tool. Just place all the chocolate into the ziplock bag, cut the tip off and squeeze.

Ginger Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2009-08-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

These are not the prettiest cookies, but they are DELICIOUS! I was a little skeptical at first about the combination of candied ginger and chocolate, but I had some candied ginger to use up that I bought at Jungle Jims forever ago, and I hadn't made cookies in a while. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The cookies can be baked to your exact liking, which is really neat. My first batch came out pretty dark and crispy, the second batch (after reducing cooking time by two minutes) came out snappy and golden, and the third batch (after another minute reduction) turned out chewy... and all three batches tasted great! You don't find many cookie recipes that can do that.

Ginger Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

3 c. old-fashioned oats
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c. (packed) brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped crystallized ginger

To Make:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil.
In a medium bowl, combine oats, both flours, salt and baking soda.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add dry mixture to the mixer bowl and combine. Stir in ginger and chocolate chips.
Drop batter onto baking sheets by tablespoonful. Bake until golden brown (about 10 minutes in my oven).

Some Notes:

Make sure your batter mounds are compact so that the cookies do not crumble when removing from the baking sheet.
The timetable for my oven was like this:

chewy cookies: 9 minutes

golden cookies: 11 minutes

crispy cookies: 13 minutes

These cookies brown a little after they are pulled out of the oven. Plan accordingly.

Old Fashioned Lemon Curd

2009-08-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Although this is primarily a baking blog, I don't see anything wrong with posting this recipe for lemon curd, seeing as I plan to use it in the next few days in some baked good or another (probably as a filling for gingerbread cupcakes... yum!) I doubled this recipe and it filled 3 small mason jars exactly. The other two jars went to a few of my grandparents' friends who have been really supportive and hospitable to me this summer. Thanks to Joanne and Bob as well as Dick and Sheryl!

Lemon curd is delicious and surprisingly easy to make. It's used as a spread on toast, crackers, muffins, scones and the like, and also as a filling in cakes and pies. It's not overly sweet, but also creamy which is an interesting combination. I've had canned lemon curd many times before, and I think fresh is MUCH better tasting.

Lemon Curd

Adapted from Simply Homemade Food Gifts

Ingredients:

1 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
4 tsp. lemon zest
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. butter, cut into pieces
3 eggs, beaten

To Make:

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Add butter and cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Cook for about 3 more minutes, stirring all the while.
Take half the lemon juice mixture and add to beaten eggs. Stir. Add egg mixture to saucepan. Cook and stir for a few more minutes, until the mixture thickens. Do not boil.
Strain the mixture to remove cooked egg bits. Poor mixture directly into jar(s) and chill.

Some Notes:

DON'T use a saucepan made of aluminum. The taste will leach into the lemon curd, and no one wants metallic-tasting toast toppings.
Straining is very important to this process. It makes the presentation much prettier so even though you might be tempted not to, strain your lemon curd!
Use fresh lemon juice, and strain it to remove pulp before use. You can thank me later.

Coconut-Lime Tartlets

2009-08-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

(pictures coming soon)

Admittedly, I've been on a lime kick lately. I don't know what it is about summer that makes me want to gorge myself on citrus fruits, but since lime is generally one of the more versatile of the citrus flavors I've been playing with it a lot in my baking. I made these tartlets for a reunion of many of my high school girlfriends. They've been exposed to lots of my baking (it was routine for me to bring baked goods into my senior year English class at least once a week) and they proclaimed it to be up to snuff with the best of the best that I've made! I, however, was a little less impressed than they were... see the notes section for what I would change next time.

Coconut-Lime Tartlets

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

For crust:

3/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/3 c. sweetened flaked coconut, toasted and cooled
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

For custard:

4 eggs
1 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 5 limes)
1 tbsp. freshly grated lime zest (about 2 limes)
1/3 c. sweetened flaked coconut, toasted and cooled

To Make:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line about 24 mini muffin cups with mini muffin liners.
Make crust by combining all crust ingredients with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Pack about 1/2 tbsp. of mixture into each mini muffin liner. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.
Make custard by whisking together eggs and sugar in a bowl until combined, then stirring in flour, lime juice, and zest. Pour about 1 tbsp. of custard mixture on top of each crust. Reduce oven to 300 degrees F. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until custard is nearly set.
Remove mini muffin pans and top each custard with toasted coconut. Bake 5 more minutes. Chill at least one hour before serving.

Some Notes:

The flavor of the fresh lime juice really shines in this dish. While that is wonderful, I felt that the flavor of the coconut was lost amidst the lime. In the future I would substitute the 2 extra tbsp. of lime juice in the custard for 2 tbsp. coconut milk.

Lime & White Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Bars

2009-08-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

Money has been a little tight lately, but I've been working to ensure that pinching pennies doesn't mean that I have to cut back on my baking! I was looking for a recipe with the following qualifications (set by my boyfriend Joe and our friend Igor): few ingredients, something the equipment-poor kitchen at Joe's apartment could produce, not too much chocolate, and nothing too fancy. These cheesecake bars greatly exceeded expectations! They were gone within an hour of my offering them to the hoard of (five) young men who were currently occupying the apartment.

Lime & White Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Bars

Adapted from Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

7 oz. Lindt (or other high-quality) white chocolate, coarsely chopped
10 oz. of chocolate flavored Teddy Grahams
1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. whipping cream
8 oz. of cream cheese, room temperature
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
optional garnish: white chocolate chips or curls, lime wedges, edible glitter

To Make:

Line 8x8 baking pan with foil so that some can fold over each side.
Use food processor to finely grind Teddy Grahams. Add 2 tbsp. of whipping cream to crumbs and pulse to combine. Firmly press Teddy Graham mixture into the baking pan, and store in freezer while making the filling.
Whip the remaining 1/2 c. whipping cream in medium bowl until it holds stiff peaks.
In large bowl, beat to combine cream cheese, sugar, and lime juice. Add whipped cream in 2 parts and stir until smooth. Fold in white chocolate. Smooth mixture over prepared crust and chill for at least two hours. Garnish before serving.

Some Notes:

I wanted to serve the bars quickly, so I chilled the bars by freezing for one hour before serving. After that hour, I would keep the bars in the refrigerator to keep from ruining the texture of the filling.
Garnishes are a personal choice. Be creative! I used white chocolate chips left over from another recipe and edible glitter (available in cake decorating stores) to make the bars more professional looking and magical!