Sandmuffin

TWD: Translucent Maple Tuiles

2010-12-07T21:59:00.005-06:00

This is going to be short and sweet because I'm in holiday overdrive mode/ I'm now 30weeks pregnant and always exhausted mode. These tuiles are absolutely beautiful and not nearly as fussy as I had anticipated them being! I might have over baked them just a smidge (7 minutes at 400 degrees) but I also had no problems with them being floppy or chewy so I'm not quite sure...

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Hindy of B ubie's Little Baker. Thank you Hindy and Dorie for a lovely addition to any holiday cookie tray!

TWD Rewind: Orange Berry Muffins

2010-11-23T18:35:00.001-06:00

I was very excited to see that Laurie, the creator and leader of Tuesdays with Dorie gave us a rewind week for Thanksgiving! I had wanted to make the Fluted Ricotta and Polenta Cake but unfortunately I couldn't get to the store it time so I decided on Orange Berry Muffins which was the 4th recipe chosen by the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers. The recipe calls for blueberries but I have a giant bag of cranberries in my fridge so I subbed them. The muffins had a good light consistency but I can't say that I was very impressed with the orange flavor. This might have to do with the orange I used- I'll probably try these again with a nicer, more fragrant orange and maybe double the zest. I'm probably going to end up rewinding quite a few other recipes from Baking From My Home to Yours for Thanksgiving Day- my only problem is narrowing it down to two or three favorites!

TWD: Not Just For Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

2010-11-09T20:03:00.005-06:00

This is going to be very short, because my kids are still sick. They just keep getting one thing after another and we are all very sleep deprived! Hopefully this is the end of it!

This cake was delicious! I knew I was going to love it the moment I read the description- basically it is two layers of shortbread sandwiching a homemade orange cranberry jam. The cake is extremely versatile- you can use caramelized apples or any jam as the filling- but I LOVED the cranberry filling. My only complaint was that the bottom layer did bake up as firmly as I had hoped it would. I think that next time I'll bake the cake without a cookie sheet under the spring-form pan to see if the bottom layer of shortbread might get a bit crisper. I seriously cannot wait to make this cake again! Thanks Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe!

I also have to give a shout out to last week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for Peanuttiest Brownies which was selected by Nicole of Bakeologie because they were so incredibly delicious!

TWD: All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie

2010-10-26T00:05:00.003-05:00

"It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought ... it figures"

Remember that mid 90's Alanis Morissette song, "Ironic"? The thing I remember most about it is my Middle School English teacher insisting to us that most of the lyrics were not in fact examples of Irony at all, but that's beside the point. Sadly the lyrics sort of sum up my week, you see today is my pick for Tuesdays with Dorie and I've been so excited about picking for literally two years now and ironically (or is it ironic? my brain has clearly atrophied since I received a B.A. in English three short years ago), my kids have been sick all week and I have had no time to bake! While, normally, a measly cold wouldn't keep me out of the kitchen, Eloise got a stomach virus on Wednesday and of course passed it to Helen. And just when they started to get over it, Eloise's cold turned into an ear infection, which, of course, transformed back into a stomach virus! Anyway, I had been dreaming of making this pie just about every single day since I picked it at the end of September but didn't actually get to round up all of the ingredients and get down to business until Monday afternoon. I ended up making the crust during Helen's nap while Eloise sat whining on my hip and then later assembled the pie during Eloise's nap while trying to keep Helen's little germy hands out of the sugar coated apples! Needless to say, my results were less than stellar. The pie tasted good, but it sure wasn't pretty!

Now, let me rewind a bit and say that, first of all, I LOVE apple pie. I really, really love apple pie, and I would choose it over any other dessert, even those involving chocolate (which is saying a lot!). In fact, when I was little, I often would request apple pie in place of a birthday cake! So, I couldn't wait to try Dorie's version. Now while I've made quite a few apple pies over the years, I've never made a double crusted one. Usually, my mom tops her pies with a lattice crust, and, every Thanksgiving, my Uncle Mark makes his famous Dutch apple pie with a crumb topping, so I've always stuck to either lattice or crumbs because they're the only two I've really felt confident doing. Well my friends, there is a reason that I never tried the double crust. I know that if I'd had a little more time and and a little more energy and, perhaps, if I had had a little less chaos in my kitchen, then I would have had a little more success with this pie. And, let me just say, making a double crust is not what one might call, "easy as pie". Shortly after it entered the oven, my vents caved in and the whole thing just kind of fell apart. The good news is that Dorie's Good for Almost Everything Pie Crust is really just that- with that much butter it would be nearly impossible for the finished product not to be flaky and delicious!

Now I'm still a little on the fence about the filling. You see, I've never used tapioca in a fruit pie before- I've always sprinkled a tablespoon or two of flour in with my apples. While the tapioca did not change the flavor of the filling, it did cause the apple juice to gel more than I'm accustomed to. I can't say that I disliked it, and it certainly wasn't gummy or gloppy like I feared it might be, but I missed that looser, juicer filling. I completely forgot the graham cracker crumbs that were supposed to be on the bottom crust, but my crust still stayed pretty sturdy, so I don't think that was too big of a loss. I really loved how Dorie calls for so many apples to "mound" over the crust. I don't usually use six apples in my pies, but I thought it gave a perfect ratio of fruit to crust. I went with Dorie's suggestion to use a variety of apples (yet another first for me) and ended up using Honeycrisps, Galas, Macintoshes, and Fujis- this was another wonderful improvement because it allows the filling to have so many different textures and flavors.

So, all in all, the pie was a success, and, although it turned out somewhat unattractive (ok, it was ugly), I am determined to try the double crust again... you know when the baby I'm pregnant with now is in Middle School and I have an hour or two to myself! Thanks everyone for baking along with me this week- I hope you have a wonderful new recipe for your Thanksgiving feast this year!!

All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie
from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours

For a 9 inch Double Crust

3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
About ½ cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.

Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).

To Roll Out the Dough: Have a buttered 9 inch pie plate at hand.

You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to life the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.

If you’ve got time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.
For the Pie

4 pounds (about 6 very large) apples
3/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs (or dry bread crumbs)
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

For the Glaze (optional)
Milk or heavy cream
Decorating (coarse) or granulated sugar

Getting Ready: Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate (I use a Pyrex pie plate). If you want to use a standard 9-inch pie plate, just reduce the amount of filling by about one quarter.

Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 1/2-inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8-inch-thick circle and slip it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the crust in the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven and prepare the filling. (If it's more convenient, the crust can be well covered and kept refrigerated overnight.)

Getting Ready to Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, core and slice the apples. You've got a choice for slicing: you can cut each apple in half and then slice each half crosswise or lengthwise into slices about 1/4 inch thick, or you can cut the apples into chunks about 1/4 to 1/2 inch on a side. In either case, put the apples into a large bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Toss everything together really well- I do this with my hands. If you've got a little time, let the mix sit for about 5 minutes, until juice starts to accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.

Remove the pie plate and top crust from the refrigerator and put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the crust-this will help keep it from getting too soggy (some sog is inevitable)- and then turn the apples and their juices into the crust. The apples will heap over the top of the crust. Pat them into an even mound. Dot the apples with the bits of cold butter.

Very lightly moisten the rim of the bottom crust with water, then center the top crust over the apples. (If the crusts-top and bottom- are still very cold and in danger of cracking when you work with them, let them sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes.) Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the crust attractively, or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. If you've pressed and trimmed the crust, use the tines of a fork to press the two crusts together securely.

Use a sharp paring knife to cut about 6 slits int eh top crust. I always use the wide end of a piping tip to cut a circle out of the center of the crust as a steam vent. if you'd like, brush the top crust with a little milk or cream and sprinkle it with sugar.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and bake the pie for another 50 to 60 minutes (total baking time is between 65 and 75 minutes), or until the crust is gorgeously browned and the juices bubble up through the top crust. After about 40 minutes in the oven, if the top crust looks as if it's browning too quickly, cover the pie loosely with a foil tent.

Transfer the pie to a rack and let it rest until it is only just warm or until it reaches room temperature.

TWD: Caramel Pumpkin Pie

2010-10-19T06:42:00.006-05:00

Just like most food bloggers in Fall, I have the pumpkin bug. I tried to tell myself that I'd hold off until the weather felt more like Fall, but let's face it, in New Orleans that might not happen until late November! So I was delighted when I saw that Janell of Mortensen Family Memoirs had chosen Caramel Pumpkin Pie for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe! Of course, when I went to the store to buy the pumpkin puree I had to pick up a few extra cans and even though I didn't snap any pictures I ended up making these delicious Pumpkin Scones from Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles (they are easy to make and amazing, please make them soon) for Eloise's baptism brunch last week:

That's my mom doing the baptism! She's an Episcopal priest which works out nicely because Eloise didn't wiggle around or fuss for her "GiGi" while she poured the water on her head the way many babies do!

Then when I woke up on Saturday morning at 4:30 am with my little early-risers I decided to make this Pumpkin Bread from AllRecipes- I have tried a few other pumpkin bread recipes but this one really is the best, very moist and very spicy.

Anyway, onto the pie! I really like pumpkin pie, but it's never been a family favorite for Thanksgiving: my dad likes it, my Uncle Bobby likes it, and that's about it. So I've made a plain old back of the can Libby's Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving once or twice but it never gets eaten the way that pecan, apple, and cranberry pie do. I was excited to try a different pumpkin pie recipe, especially because Dorie describes the pie as a more sophisticated and unusual pumpkin pie because of the very dark (almost black) caramel that is mixed into the usual pumpkin pie components. I really liked this pie, and so did Eloise, but Helen and Derrick didn't even touch it, so we ended up with quite a bit that didn't get eaten. The pie is still pumpkin-y but it has that smokey, sweet-bitter burnt sugar flavor too. Two things that surprised me about this pie were that 1) the caramel does not taste very sweet on it's own so I was concerned that the pie would be very bitter, but the pie itself has a wonderful flavor- no need to worry! 2) Dorie says that the pie shouldn't jiggle at all and that a knife will come out clean when the pie is done. My pie took about 7 extra minutes to bake and then I went ahead and pulled it out even though it still jiggled and the knife was not completely clean and the consistency of the pie was perfect once it had time to cool.

The thing that impressed me most about this pie was how crisp and flaky my crust stayed! Even with a partially baked crust, I've never really been able to keep the crust on my pumpkin pies from getting soft- but Dorie's Good For Almost Anything Pie Crust did the trick! I would definitely make this again and I'm going to try the almond streusel topping from the playing around section!

FFWD: Gerard's Mustard Tart

2010-10-08T06:33:00.004-05:00

I have always, always loved quiche. I know a lot of people think it's the cliche vegetarian entree, but honestly, if it were on a menu along with three or four other vegetarian options, I'd probably still get the quiche! My mom used to make it from time to time when we were little, but because she always made a homemade crust it was mostly on a weekend when she actually had time for measuring, blending butter, and rolling out her standard Better Homes and Gardens pie dough. If only my mom had known back then that she could have made the dough, rolled it out, fitted it in the tart pan, and frozen the whole thing for up to two months! We could have been eating quiche on Tuesdays!

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe was for Gerard's Mustard Tart and I had a feeling I would love it the moment I read the recipe. A flaky, buttery crust topped with a creamy and intensely mustard-y filling, topped with steamed carrots and leeks and a sprig of rosemary makes for an amazing quiche! This is not your standard vegetarian quiche. It is so flavorful that I can't imagine anyone who eats meat would even think about the fact that it doesn't contain ham or bacon. My only suggestion is that if you are only able to find big fat leeks (like me) instead of the supple, thin ones that Dorie recommends, really slice them very thin and only use the center of the base because mine were just a little tough. Of course the quiche was delicious warm but it was seriously good cold too! I cannot wait to make this in the summer with Dorie's alternative directions for using tomatoes in place of the carrots and leeks!

TWD: Double Apple Bundt Cake

2010-10-05T20:52:00.005-05:00

Another amazing bundt cake from Dorie! This is a perfect cake to bring in the fabulous Fall weather we are finally getting here in New Orleans! The cake contains both grated apples and apple butter so it stays beautifully moist for at least four days (as long as ours lasted!). A few people thought the cake was maybe a little too sweet, but I used an unsweetened apple butter with no spices and I thought the sweetness level was spot on. I did sub 1/4 cup of brown sugar for some of the white and I might even sub more next time- I love the combination of brown sugar and apples! I also upped the spices just a little since my apple butter was so plain. I The cake is studded with pecans and raisins with add a really great textural contrast. Thank you Lynne of Honey Muffin for choosing this week's Tuesdays with Dorie cake!

French Fridays with Dorie!! Gougeres!

2010-10-01T12:14:00.007-05:00

Yay!! The very first French Fridays with Dorie is finally here! This new, wonderful group will be cooking through Dorie Greenspan's brand new book Around my French Table and posting our results each Friday. I am so excited because I really don't know much about French cooking and I know this group is going to do for my cooking what Tuesdays with Dorie did for my baking. Please take a chance to check out the marvelous French Fridays with Dorie website and since there is no participation requirement, feel free to join the group even if you can only cook along from time to time!

The October recipes were chosen by Dorie Greenspan herself and the first one up was gougeres. Gougeres are basically little cheese puffs! I was a little worried because I've never made pate a choux before but it is really simple! Butter, water, and milk are brought to a boil in a saucepan then flour is whisked in for about a minute and a half over medium heat, after a brief cooling time in the mixer bowl, eggs and cheese are beat into the dough and the dough is spooned out onto a sheet and baked up. I used a tablespoon to scoop the dough and it seems to be the ideal size because they puffed to a golden perfection in exactly 24 minutes! My only mistake was that I completely forgot the salt! I used a sharp cheddar for the cheese so the flavor is still relatively strong but I think the salt would have made these absolutely perfect. I baked 9 puffs and froze the rest for later. I can't wait to try these with all types of different cheeses! Very impressive looking for a pretty minimal effort!

TWD: Tarte Fine

2010-09-28T21:05:00.005-05:00

I really, really want to make my own puff pastry. However, it's one of the many things on my baking/cooking to do list that I have to put on hold for awhile- at least until everyone's on the same nap schedule. So when I looked at the recipe for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick I immediately felt a little torn. Don't get me wrong, Dorie actually recommends using store-bought puff pastry...but she is extremely specific about using all butter puff pastry AKA not Pepperidge Farm puff pastry and that is the only brand that I could find in three grocery stores. Although I felt kind of defeated, I went ahead and bought the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry and of course, it was completely fine! I will go back one day and do this with homemade puff pastry and I'm sure it will be amazing but it was fine with store-bought, non-all butter crust.

This is an extremely easy tart to throw together (especially with the store bought puff pastry). I decided to make my tart long and skinny so it would be easier to slice into pieces. Dorie gives alternative instructions for making a sweeter tart and once I sliced up my beautiful Mcintosh apples and tasted how very tart they were I realized that I would have to go that route. The dough is dotted with a bit of butter and sprinkled with sugar and then lined with very thin slices of apple. Before popping it in the oven the apples are brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with a bit of sugar. The tart is baked until the apples brown and the pastry is puffed. I liked the tart- I wouldn't say I loved it, but it was very tasty. Derrick, on the other hand, ate 3/4 of tart within an hour of it coming out of the oven which is actually a good thing because this is not a keeper- it should be eaten quickly because it goes soggy after a few hours.

Thanks Leslie of Lethally Delicious for a lovely segue into Fall!

TWD: Coffee Break Muffins

2010-09-21T07:11:00.005-05:00

I've gotten to the point where I always have just enough energy at the end of the day to cook dinner for my family, feed them, clean the girls up after dinner, entertain them for a few hours after dinner, and get them into bed...but that's it. The bedtime routine stretches from Eloise whose teeth I start brushing at 8:00 and who gets in her crib around 8:30 to Helen who I start reading bedtime stories to at 8:30 and finally (if I'm lucky) get into bed around 9:30. Lately, Helen has been getting out of bed approximately five times before actually falling asleep (don't even ask me about our hour long knock down drag out fight everyday for nap time...which they never ever take at the same time). So guess what, every night I try to drag myself back into the kitchen to wash dishes, scrub pots, sweep, clean the highchair, etc. but that has not happened since this pregnancy started! So then the next morning (is 4:50am considered morning?) I have a horribly dirty kitchen staring me in the face- a kitchen that I must clean prior to starting breakfast and packing Derrick's lunch. So let me tell you about these Coffee Break Muffins. Let me just say they will be a staple for this house for the remainder of this pregnancy!!

First of all, they are extremely simple to throw together. The butter is melted, so no having to remember to put it out to soften on the counter. There is no citrus zesting. No sifting of flour. No chopping of chocolate. No toasting of nuts. You get the picture! If you are plagued with a dish washing epidemic like I am, you can even just use one bowl and dump the liquid ingredients directly into the dry! Oh and although Dorie calls for baking the muffins for 20 minutes, mine were ready in about 13. Now, most importantly, the muffins contain both a strong cup of coffee and a tablespoon of espresso powder so these muffins are actually caffeinated- music to my sleep deprived ears! When you're pregnant you aren't supposed drink much caffeine, most doctors say one cup of coffee a day is the limit, and I have been pretty dedicated to not really drinking more than 1/4 a diet coke every few days so these muffins were like gold! The whole family loved them! Thank you Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie!

TWD: Cranberry Upside-Downer

2010-09-14T20:52:00.004-05:00

Today is my darling husband's 26th birthday! Happy Birthday Derrick! So, being the loving wife that I am I spent a good part of the day baking him a giant cheesecake...and then I kind of forgot about the Cranberry Upside-Downer... until about 5 o'clock. But I had to bake this cake! I have been eying the gorgeous photo since I purchased Dorie Greenspan's amazing book and joined Tuesdays with Dorie so I wasn't about to pass it up when Sabrina of Superfluous finally selected it for this week's recipe!

It's a little early for fresh cranberries but I was lucky enough to get my hands on some frozen ones from Whole Foods and they worked perfectly in this Fall take on the classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake. The cake looks impressive because of the beautiful shiny, ruby-red crown but it's very simple to put together. Butter and sugar are cooked together in a saucepan on the stove and then poured into the cake pan, the cranberries and pecans then go directly on top of the butter mixture and the whole thing is topped with a cinnamony cake batter. The cake bakes into the little nooks and crannies in between the cranberries and nuts and the sugar caramelizes around the fruit making a truly outstanding Fall cake! I'm so glad to have this delicious cake to add to my list of favorite cranberry recipes, I will be making it throughout the cranberry season!
It was hard to keep the little hands away from the cake until it was cool enough to eat- I can promise you they will be begging for a piece for breakfast tomorrow too!

TWD: Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

2010-09-07T20:53:00.005-05:00

I was really excited that Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine picked Peanut Butter Crisscrosses for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe! These are some of my favorite cookies, this is the recipe I usually use when I make them but I thought Dorie's recipe was just as good! Dorie calls for chopped peanuts which I think is a fabulous addition, but unfortunately since my girls are both under the age of four they can't eat big pieces of nuts yet so I decided to leave them out this time. I also found that the cookies reached a perfect soft, chewy consistency at about 10 minutes instead of the recommended 12 minutes. I loved these! Perfect classic cookie!

On another note, Helen has recently become obsessed with taking pictures with my camera. Since she's only 2 and 1/2 I've been a little hesitant to let her use the camera without extremely close supervision. Here's her best shot so far:
Yep, a picture of Eloise's chubby legs hanging out of her highchair. This is her best shot because there is actually recognizable subject matter unlike the majority of her other pictures which ended more like this:I can't really say much about this though because let's face it, these days my pictures don't look much better! I'm usually so impressed with myself for baking and posting on time that I haven't really been able to take much time to make things look as appealing as they actually taste!

TWD: Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

2010-08-31T11:47:00.003-05:00

You know it has been a very, very long time since I've had to say this but I didn't really like this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. Now I'm going to take some credit for it because I was out of confectioner's sugar so I used regular sugar and I'm sure that really changed the consistency. Also, my espresso powder is about 2 years old and I can't help but wonder if maybe the flavor was a little off. So I should probably try these again at some point because every other shortbread/sable recipe in Baking From My Home to Yours are delicious and have an amazing crumbly consistency. Thanks Donna of Life's Too Short Not t o Eat Dessert First for choosing this week's recipe!

TWD: Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart

2010-08-24T12:41:00.004-05:00

Wow! This tart was so good! Honestly, it caught me off guard because I don't like custard and I really don't love peaches that much. The tart crust was supposed to be an almond crust but I had a freezer full of pecans and I decided to do a Southern take on Dorie's French tart. Cream, an egg, sugar, and a little almond extract are poured over fresh peaches and topped with a pecan crumble.

Again, this tart just wasn't what I was expecting! It was so delicious and had such a sophisticated flavor and texture. The tart was wonderful warm, room temperature, an especially chilled! We ate the whole thing in a little over two days- Derrick was eating it straight off the tart pan!

Thanks Rachel of Sweet Tarte for choosing this surprisingly amazing tart for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe!

TWD: Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

2010-08-17T07:18:00.003-05:00

Now that school is back in session I've been making a lot of muffins, breads, biscuits, etc. lately for breakfast. I've been trying to stock my freezer full of things that Derrick can grab on the way out the door, eat on the way in to school, or eat during his planning period...but, my plan is not working. You see, Derrick is about the size of a beanpole with the appetite of an elephant so every time I pull a batch of 12 muffins or 8 biscuits out the oven imagining that we'll have enough for today and the rest of the week they mysteriously disappear before they are cool enough to wrap up and freeze! Of course, the kids aren't really helping out with my plan either...and let's face it, now that I'm in the 2nd trimester and still nursing Eloise, I'm pretty hungry too, so I guess I can't blame it all on the husband!

Anyway, this bread fit nicely into my breakfast baking bonanza. It was soft, incredibly moist, flavorful, and not too unhealthy so it was pretty much finished off before I could really get a good picture of it! Some of the fat is replaced by unsweetened applesauce and I ended up subbing half the white flour for whole wheat flour and fat free plain yogurt for buttermilk just to up the health factor. Dorie says you can use any type of dried fruit but all I had on hand were big, plump raisins so mine wasn't too exciting- I'd love to try cherries or apricots.

I actually ended up making these again as muffins but I did about forty-million substitutions- peach puree for applesauce, prunes for raisins, and a bunch of different spices and they still turned out really delicious! The only problem I found with the muffins was that they were so soft that some of them stuck to the pan- not that that stopped them from being eaten in one day... Seriously, I don't know how to fill the man up!

Thanks Natalie of Oven Love for choosing this versatile and delicious recipe for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick!

TWD: Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

2010-08-10T17:23:00.004-05:00

Oh my gosh, this ice cream was really delicious! In fact, I can't stop eating it. I'm going to blame it partly on Dorie's fabulous recipe and partly on the fact that....I'm pregnant...again! Three under three here we come! I'm finally in the second trimester now and finally wanting to eat again! The ice cream is exactly what it sounds like, creamy, very rich, basically the perfect chocolate ice cream.
The base is a bittersweet ganache and unlike many chocolate ice cream recipes, this one doesn't have any cocoa, so the chocolate comes entirely from actual melted chocolate. And because enough is never enough when it comes to chocolate, I added a fudge ripple from David Lebovitz's amazing book, The Perfect Scoop. The possibilities for mix-ins are pretty much endless here- I also can't wait to try peanut butter cups, marshmallows, and peppermint patties (but not all together...unless the weird pregnancy cravings start kicking in). Thanks Katrina of Baking and Boys for selecting this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. There is nothing like fresh churned, homemade ice cream to beat the insane August heat in New Orleans so I imagine I'll be making this one again soon!

TWD: Chewy , Chunky Blondies

2010-07-27T13:15:00.004-05:00

Wow, I feel really bad that I have not posted in so long. The thing is I have been baking along with Tuesdays with Dorie pretty religiously but have barely posted all summer. It has been a crazy summer so I'll blame it on that...

I made these delicious blondies a few weeks ago and they were quickly devoured. The texture is a perfect combo of chewy and soft in the middle and the flavor is sweet and delicious! The blondies are studded with bittersweet chocolate chunks, sweetened coconut, and butterscotch chips (I subbed white chocolate chips)- I left the nuts out so that my little girls could eat them but I think they would make a fabulous addition. The base of bar is so good that you could really chop any kind of candy bar or chocolate and change the flavor up a little. I will be making these again and again. Thanks Nicole of Cookies on Friday for a wonderful and versatile treat!

TWD: Raisin Swirl Bread

2010-06-15T21:12:00.004-05:00

I'm so tired guys, so this is another very short post. I baked this amazingly perfect bread today. It was easy (as yeast breads go), delicious, and it is almost gone. I will be making this again and again. Thank you Susan of Food.Baby for choosing this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

TWD: Tender Shortcakes

2010-06-08T21:38:00.004-05:00

These shortcakes were everything I could have asked for in a shortcake: a little crunch on the surface, soft and pillowy on the inside, and a delicate sweet biscuit flavor. The recipe makes a ton of shortcakes- I got about 14 large ones (baked half, froze half unbaked for later) and they can be filled with anything. I was hoping to do traditional strawberry shortcakes but our strawberry selection was pretty unappealing so I settled on fresh raspberries and blackberries. The taste was great, but I think I prefer the juiciness that strawberries provide the traditional strawberry shortcake. I think I might serve the ones that I froze with homemade vanilla or cinnamon ice cream and strawberries and blueberries. Thank you Cathy of The Tortefeasor for choosing this week's delightfully summery Tuesdays with Dorie selection!

TWD: Apple Apple Bread Pudding

2010-05-18T14:12:00.009-05:00

Wow, I have been totally slacking with Tuesdays with Dorie! Don't get me wrong, I actually made both the Burnt Sugar Ice Cream and the Quick Classic Berry Tart and I even took pictures (not good pictures...) and then I just could not get a post up in time. I've been so insanely busy- May is always a wild month- but that's really no excuse. So last night after I put the girls to bed and whipped up a four layer chocolate cake for my brother Jordan's 23rd birthday, I decided that I had to make this Apple-Apple Bread Pudding and actually post on it! The thing is, I don't really like bread pudding so I wasn't too excited about this recipe. But you know what? I was pleasantly surprised! I mean, I still don't love the consistency of bread pudding, but the flavor was great. I used some homemade challah for this recipe and I think that really added to the success of this bread pudding.

The pudding is a layer of challah spread with apple butter topped with caramelized apples and another layer of challah spread with apple butter. A mixture of cream, milk, eggs, and egg yolks is then poured over the entire thing and is left to soak for about 30 minutes before being baked in a water bath. I think the chunks of caramelized apples really enhanced the texture of the bread pudding. Thanks Elizabeth of Cake or Death? for picking this very nice recipe.

TWD: Chockablock Cookies

2010-04-27T00:02:00.000-05:00

Honestly, these cookies were OK but not my favorite. I was surprised that I didn't like these because I have really loved all of the cookies Tuesdays With Dorie has baked from Baking From my Home to Yours. There was something about the molasses, oats, chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, coconut combination that just seemed a bit overwhelming. I love all of the components of these cookies but together it was just too many flavors and textures. I can't complain because this was really the first TWD recipe that I haven't loved in a good long while! Thanks Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for choosing this recipe because I have been eying it for a long time!

In other news, Helen has moved from her crib to a toddler bed and Eloise is now in Helen's old crib! I cannot believe how amazing it feels to put both girls to bed in their own bedroom and actually have a few minutes to actually get things done at night. I have been either pregnant and/or breastfeeding a (co-sleeping) baby for almost three years- Eloise is still breastfeeding during the day but I've finally eliminated all night feedings and it is SO liberating. Now if I can get their nap schedules synchronized, I guess we'll move on to potty training!

TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

2010-04-20T11:54:00.004-05:00

I love biscuits. But...I've said it before and I'll say it again: I only love homemade biscuits. I used to actually think those biscuits in a tube were pretty tasty, but now I literally cannot stand them. That sounds so snobby but they taste like straight up chemicals. The funny thing is that biscuits are so easy to make from scratch- no exotic ingredients, no waiting for dough to rise, no refrigeration, no fancy techniques. And if you thought buttermilk biscuits were easy, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for Sweet Cream Biscuits will blow you away. You see these biscuits rely on heavy cream for all of the fat which means no butter, which means no cutting in the butter= even less time to throw together!
I've made these biscuits a few times and I really love them- they are light and fluffy and the flavor is sweeter than a traditional biscuit. This time I baked half of the biscuits and and froze the other half. The frozen biscuits baked up just as perfectly as the ones zqAAaaI baked immediately after mixing. Thanks Melissa of Love at First Bite for choosing this delightful recipe!

TWD: Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake

2010-04-06T20:46:00.004-05:00

First of all, I have no idea what I did to these pictures but they are in some kind of state where they cannot be edited or rotated in any fashion therefore they will be forever sideways....

In short this cake was delicious! Probably my favorite bundt cake of all time! I toasted the walnuts before grinding them up in the food processor and it really helped bring out a nutty flavor in the cake. My marbling didn't reveal the lovely ginko shape that Dorie suggests but the cake itself popped easily out of the pan. The cake was moist with a wonderful crumb. This was Derrick's favorite Tuesday with Dorie recipe to date. Thank you Erin of When in Doubt...Leave it at 350 for choosing a spectacular recipe!

TWD: Dulce de Leche Duos

2010-03-23T13:02:00.006-05:00

Dulce de Leche is one of those things like soba noodles or cocoa nibs that I feel like I know about but then when I step back and actually think about (or have to use it in a recipe) I can't actually pinpoint a time that I've eaten it. But the funny thing is, that I have eaten dulce de leche multiple times- I just didn't know it. You see when this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for Dulce de Leche Duos was selected by Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake the P&Q quickly filled with links to recipes to make your own dulce de leche (even though Dorie says to use store bought). When I clicked on the recipe from David Lebovitz I realized that pouring a can of sweetened condensed milk in a covered pie plate in water bath and baking it for two hours constitutes dulce de leche. Wait a minute, that's what my Aunt Dottie has been doing for years! She pours the cooked condensed milk in a pre-baked tart crust and tops it with unsweetened, freshly whipped cream and calls it Caramel Pie. It's an old family favorite. We're a really chic family, we're up on the new food trends. So, hey, I love dulce de leche! and even though it sounds fancy and gourmet it's really easy and cheap to make at home!

I was worried that the cookies would be cakey and soft (not my favorite cookie texture) but they were crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. The cookies themselves have dulce de leche in them and then are sandwiched between another thin layer of dulce de leche- who could ask for anything more? The one complaint I had was that they keep well before being sandwiched together but once the dulce de leche is in between them the cookies soften a bit so it's best to leave them apart until you are ready to serve or eat them.

TWD: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

2010-03-16T23:24:00.004-05:00

this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Rachelle of Mommy? I'm Hungry! I wasn't sure what to expect with this tart because Dorie describes the chocolate as pudding-like and that's not my favorite texture, but wow! this was delicious! The texture was thicker and silkier than pudding. I made sweet tart dough with toasted pecans (I'd only done it with almonds previously) and I will definitely be using pecans again. I also decided to use all bittersweet chocolate instead of the milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate combination. The flavor was so deep and just a little bitter and perfect with the sweet and tart raspberries. The fresh raspberries are placed in the pre-baked tart shell and then covered with the chocolate mixture before being baked. The raspberries turn kind of jammy but not at all runny and I can't wait to try this tart with other berries! I loved that the tart took so little time to make and yielded such elegant results. Derrick described the flavor as "adult" because of the very dark chocolate but Helen did not agree at all (note the small hand in the picture below).

TWD: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys

2010-03-10T07:46:00.006-06:00

So I finished Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. It actually took me longer than 30 days because around day 10 I started having excruciating spasms in my calves after each workout- think labor pains in your legs. Anyway, I started doing it every other day and that seemed to solve the problem. As far as results go, I think I look a little tiny bit trimmer but honestly I don't know. I definitely, beyond any doubt, am much stronger and have way better endurance now! I was struggling to get through level 1 when I started but ended up barreling through most of level 3 unmodified by the end. I am going to try to keep it up by doing level 1, 2, and 3 in rotation.

The biggest reason that I saw few physical results is probably sweets like this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection! These cookies were so delicious! A simple butter cookie dough with roasted, ground hazelnuts is shaped into a ball with an indentation meant to hold jam- I couldn't resist the hazelnut chocolate combination and filled mine with chocolate kisses. The chocolate melted down into the hot cookies and paired perfectly with the crumbly, buttery cookie. Dorie says that you can substitute other nuts for hazelnuts but I wasn't about to substitute another nut because my mom has been hoarding hazelnuts for about 4 months. "What?" you ask. You see 1) my mom never wastes food 2) my mom loves mixed nuts 3) but not hazelnuts 4) or Brazil nuts. So she buys the industrial sized cans of mixed nuts at Sam's Club and then when she gets to the bottom and the only thing left in the can are the hazelnuts and Brazil nuts she divides them up and puts them in ziploc bags in the freezer in the hopes that I will come across a recipe that requires one or the other. And the day finally came! They roasted up nicely in the oven and I had no trouble rubbing the skins off. Thank you to Mike of Ugly Food Dude for selecting this delicious cookie (and to my mom for making them possible).

TWD: Honey-Wheat Cookies

2010-02-23T15:57:00.002-06:00

I'm a very healthy cook- I try to feed my family meals that are rich in nutrients, low in fat, and full of fresh ingredients. However, when it comes to baking I feel like sugar free cupcakes or fat free brownies are not worth making. These cookies are not fat free or sugar free, but they do have a wholesome quality. They are sweetened with honey, flavored with lemon zest, and contain a good amount of wheat germ (an ingredient I had never used before). But wholesome does not equal bland! These cookies were seriously amazing! Quite honestly, these took me by surprise. I was not expecting to love these- but I really did and so did Helen!

The combination of lemon and honey is so fresh and perfect and the texture is chewy and soft- what more can I say?! I cannot wait to make these again, but I will wait because Helen and I ate the whole batch ourselves and like I said, these are wholesome but I not really "healthy"! Thank you Michelle of Flourchild for choosing this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe!

Oh and P.S. I made the Chocolate Chip Cookies (last week's Tuesdays with Dorie). I thought they were ok, but a little crispy. I did like the chopped chocolate- I will definitely chop my chocolate next time I make chocolate chip cookies. They were a huge hit at the Mardi Gras party I brought them to- I took this picture when I realized that there was literally one left on the plate! Thanks to Kait of Kait's Place for choosing the recipe.

I didn't post last Tuesday because it was Mardi Gras and I was busy hitting the parades with Little Bo Peep and her Sheep:

TWD: Rick Katz's brownies for Julia (and milk chocolate mini bundts)

2010-02-09T09:05:00.003-06:00

Ok, let me be honest with you here, the Saints won the Superbowl so there is pretty much nothing else on my mind! There is an enormous Saints parade tonight which I'm planning to brave with the little girls. So I'm going to make this short and sweet.

These brownies are a recipe from pastry chef Rick Katz by way of Dorie Greenspan. Dorie explains that Rick used to make these brownies for Julia Child while Dorie and Julia were working on Julia's cookbook. The brownies are unusual because half of the sugar and eggs are stirred into the chocolate/butter and the other half are beaten until they are frothy and almost meringue-like and then folded into the chocolate. Finally, a small amount of flour is sprinkled over the top and gently folded into the batter. The result is a very, very dense and fudgy brownie. A few of the Tuesday with Dorie bakers thought they were a little too fudgy (it's pretty much impossible to cut them into neat little squares) but I thought they were perfect. Sorry for the very ugly brownie picture, there was literally one little corner piece left in the pan when I went to take a picture! These are so good I'm trying to hold myself back from baking them again. This delicious recipe was chosen by Tanya of Chocolatechic

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Last week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe was for Milk Chocolate Mini Bundts and was selected by Kristen of I'm Right About Everything. I couldn't pass up these adorable little cakes because I love milk chocolate and it is almost never used in baking! I loved the sweet, delicate chocolate flavor of these cakes. A few of the TWD bakers mentioned that the cakes were a little dry so I used buttermilk in place of the regular milk and made sure to keep a close eye on them as they baked. The cakes popped right out of the pan but ended up looking a little bit shaggy. I skipped the chocolate glaze as it seemed to be causing a bit of difficulty for most of the bakers and served the cakes with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream.

TWD: Cocoa Nana Bread

2010-01-27T09:05:00.003-06:00

This is late-ooops- made the bread over the weekend but had a crazy day yesterday so didn't get this post up! This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Steph of Obsessed with Baking . This was a cross between a chocolate quick bread and banana bread- I thought it was OK but nothing special. However, Derrick and Helen really seemed to enjoy it so who knows?!

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars

2010-01-19T08:06:00.008-06:00

Ok, so here's the deal: the New Orleans Saints won their playoff game on Saturday which means there is one more playoff game separating them from the Superbowl. I can't say that I'm really a football fan because I only understand the basics of the game and I probably couldn't tell you which cities over half of the NFL teams even come from. But...the Saints represent more than football for New Orleans- I think it would be difficult to find a more loyal fan base than New Orleanians. In short, the city has been going crazy for the entire season. You see, the Saints have never made it to the Superbowl. Ever. And they are not a young team, they were founded in 1967- but the fans have never given up! It's the same kind of attitude that made so many people rebuild their homes and businesses after Hurricane Katrina. Anyway, my mom is a larger than life Saints fan. She talks about the players like they are old friends or, in the case of Drew Brees, her son. She reads, listens, and watches everything she can to find out more about her Boys. As you can imagine, every game also turns into a little party so I brought these Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars to my parents' house for Saturday's game.

The bars are made up of a sort of oatmeal cookie bottom layer topped with a fudgy chocolate layer dotted with more oatmeal cookie. The recipe calls for raisins in the chocolate layer and peanuts in the oatmeal one and I omitted both (although I really do want to try it out with both). These were delicious and very simple to make. They pop right out of the pan after cooling for 2 hours and they cut easily after a short stay in the fridge. They are a perfect treat for your Superbowl party.

I made a half batch because I'm trying to stay on top of my Ten in 10 goals but these were such a hit with Derrick (who has been going through sweets withdrawal since I started Ten in 10) that I made another half batch on Monday. In the second batch I substituted peanut butter for half of the butter and they turned out delicious! There are tons of ways you could change these out to suite your tastes! This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Lillian of Confectiona's Realm (you can find the recipe on her blog and in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking From My Home to Yours). WHO DAT?!

Happy 2 year (and 1 week) Birthday TWD!

2010-01-12T09:18:00.010-06:00

Surprise, surprise, I'm late with my Tuesdays with Dorie post! This should have appeared last Tuesday, when the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group was celebrating it's 2nd birthday...but things kept turning up and while I was able to bake on schedule I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures off my new camera and onto my computer.

Because this was TWD's 2nd birthday, our fearless leader, Laurie, of S lush decided to let us bake two treats this week! The first selection is Cocoa Buttermilk Cake, which as you can see I turned into cupcakes. These were truly delicious, they were incredibly moist and the cocoa flavor was really delicate and wonderful. I actually made my own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to one cup of regular milk and it worked perfectly (although I imagine real buttermilk would have yielded even better results). The recipe calls for a chocolate frosting with malt powder and I would actually love to try it out sometime but I was unable to get my hands on it this week so I stole Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventure's idea of topping the cupcakes with peanut butt er frosting. Wow! it that is a recipe that I will use all of the time now- so easy and such perfect flavor and consistency. I brought these to my dear friend Sadiha for her 25th birthday and they were a big hit! I'm thinking about making this as an actual cake for Helen's upcoming 2nd birthday.

The second selection was a traditional French Tarte Tatin or upside down apple tart. You melt a stick of butter and 3/4 cup sugar in a cast iron skillet on the stove and then place peeled, quartered pieces of apple in the pan and let it caramelize before laying the pie dough over the top of the apples and baking it in the oven. My apples took a good 20 minutes to caramelize but I really wanted to make sure that I achieved a nice deep amber color. Dorie says that you can use puff pastry, sweet tart dough, or good for anything pie dough and I decided on the good for anything pie dough. The last time I made Dorie's good for anything pie dough I was a little disapointed with the results, but this time I used a pastry cutter instead of the food processor and the crust was amazing. It puffed up with all kinds of buttery layers almost like puff pastry! The hardest part, of course, was flipping the tart out of the skillet but I did it quickly and only lost a tiny corner! This was by far one of my favorite recipes to date! I shared the tart with my parents, brother, sister, Derrick, and Helen and it disappeared very quickly! If I had left it at home I think I would have eaten the entire thing instead of the one slice I allowed myself (in keeping with Ten in 10!)

So thank you Laurie, and thank you Dorie, and of course thanks to all of the other TWD bakers who make baking through Baking From My Home to Yours so much fun!

Ten in 10: Week 1 Recap

2010-01-11T09:19:00.004-06:00

All kinds of changes are going on here in the Sandmuffin household. Eloise just started eating baby food so I have been busily steaming and pureeing vegetables and she has been sleeping for longer stretches at night (last night she slept from 10-4!). I've been reading about potty training and Helen should be starting next week! Derrick has begun writing a book which is fabulous, but also taking up a lot of free time (and by free I mean when he's not teaching, practicing with the band, or doing grad school stuff!). And lastly, I have been really making a concerted effort to stick to my Ten in 10 goals.

I did really well with cutting down significantly on snacking and have kept the little snacking I have done very healthy. I've also really been working on incorporating more whole grains into my cooking- this week we had vegetable and bean soup with barley, veggie pizza with a whole wheat crust (amazing crust recipe can be found here), and whole wheat pasta with roasted vegetables. Breakfast has been my most dramatic change with my eating- I have been eating plain fat-free yogurt with kashi and a few toasted almonds- a huge improvement from my inclination to eat something super sweet to start the day! I also stuck to my plan of allowing myself a small portion of the sweets I made and giving the rest away.

I also started The 30 Day Shred. Wow! It is just as hard as I thought it would be! Today is day 6 on Level 1 and I can already feel a difference in my endurance. My plan is to do it for 30 days straight because I know that I can find 20 minutes every single day to fit it into my schedule. There are days when I really don't feel like doing it, but luckily I'm doing it along with Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures, Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen, and Pamela of Cookies With Boys and we have been able to keep each other motivated on Twitter! Speaking of Twitter, I have found a lot of support and inspiration in the tweets with the Ten in 10 hashtag: #10in10.

As far as physical results go, I've decided not to weigh myself because I tend to get a little obsessive. Instead I'm just going to base my results on whether or not my clothes seem to fit better and, more importantly, if I'm feeling more energetic and stronger. The clothes seem about the same but I definitely feel better! 2010 is off to a great start!

Ten in 10

2010-01-03T12:20:00.005-06:00

Yay! It's 2010! Happy New Year everyone! I love the beginning of a near year- the last three years have been very exciting for me: in 2007 I turned 22, graduated from college and got married to my dear husband, Derrick, in 2008 I had my adorable and energetic daughter, Helen, and in 2009 I had my lovable, cuddly daughter Eloise- so I'm hoping to keep 2010 a little more low key! I decided to kick off the new year right by joining Lori's challenge Ten in 10, you can read all about the challenge here. In short, over 200 people have pledged to spend the next ten weeks getting healthier- there are no guidelines or requirements- everyone sets their own personal goals.

After back to back pregnancies and two c-sections I am more out of shape than I'd like to be (that's putting it kindly!) and I am still stuck in my fat jeans with a whole closet full of clothes that I haven't worn since college. I really want to get in shape this year- I worked out all the time in college but everything is so much harder to do with little kids so I'm trying to make feasible goals.

1. Exercise everyday with hard workouts 3 times a week- even if I can't do a long work out dvd or run on the treadmill- I want to get moving every single day without exception. I was walking at least 2 miles 5 days a week for awhile but that tapered off as I got busier and busier with the holidays. I love walking and so do the girls so I certainly want to get back into that habit! I'm also going to try to do The 30 Day Shred- but I'm not including that as one of my goals just yet because I really want to try it out for a few days and see if I'm in good enough shape to go for it or if I need to get into a better exercise routine for a few weeks before starting it. I love working out and miss the feeling I used to get after a really hard workout in college.

2. Stop mindless snacking- Ok I'm still breastfeeding so I can't stop eating between meals completely, but I am going to try to limit my snacking to fresh fruit and veggies.

3. No eating after dinner and go to bed earlier- evening is when I am most likely to binge on junk food. I know that the only reason I eat between 6:30 and bedtime is because I'm exhausted and what I really need to do is get in bed.

Now here's what I'm not going to do:

Count calories- I have struggled too much in the past with becoming unhealthily obsessed with calorie counting. Instead I'm going to pay attention to portions and try to always choose fresh, nutrient rich food over empty calories.

Give up anything- I'm not going to stop baking (although I do plan on cutting back) or eating sweets. If I make cookies I will eat a cookie, not five cookies. If I make a pie I will have a slice, etc. When I limit myself I end up craving carbs, or sugar or whatever it is that I had intended on giving up. In fact I'm hoping to try to expand my cooking repertoire significantly this year to include healthy, flavorful ingredients that I've never cooked with before (and hopefully start blogging a lot more about the recipes I try out!).

Give up if I fall off the wagon- Too many times I have skipped a workout or eaten unhealthily and then decided that I messed everything up and that there is no reason to continue. This time around I'm going to be reasonable- if I go to a party I'm probably not going to eat carrot sticks, if I get a horrible cold I might not feel like lifting weights that day- so I'll just have to pick up the next day where I left off.

I feel so excited about Ten in 10 and I'm really loving all of the great support on Twitter and through Lori's blog!

TWD: Cafe Volcano Cookies (and chocolate dipped orange pecan sables)

2009-12-14T22:03:00.008-06:00

Do you ever think about what things were like when you were little? I don't mean when you were seven or eight, I mean back as far as you can think. Do you remember what it was like to see things that were different from the way you were used to them being for the first time? Boy that's vague. Let me see... Ok, I remember sleeping over at my cousin's house for the first time and I was shocked at how different the night time routine was at my aunt's house! Everything was so strange. When we took a bath, she used what she called a "washrag" instead of a "washcloth"- never mind that it was identical to the "washcloth" my mom used at home- she called it something odd and that made it odd. It's very funny when I think back on how freaked out I was about little stuff like that. I see it a little in Helen. When someone reads her a book that I've read to her a thousand times and they don't do the same silly little voices or sound effects etc. that I always add in she looks at them suspiciously. I started thinking about that when these two Tuesdays with Dorie cookie recipes popped up for December.

You see, sables are a lot like shortbread cookies- in fact they look almost exactly the same and they taste pretty darn similar too. The big difference is that the sables have egg yolk in them. Egg yolk? That's the big difference? Not such a big difference, but honestly I was hesitant to try these because I always, always make my great-grandmother's shortbread and they are really perfect. Then I said to myself, come on! Live a little! Besides, Dorie included a bunch of variatons so I decided to make some orange pecan sables and then went all the way and dipped them in dark chocolate. These are really great cookies! Extremely versatile and easy to make- you could also roll them in red or green sugar for Christmas. These were selected (last week-I'm late!) by Barbara of Bungalow Barbara.

Now the Cafe Volcano cookies are another story. Why was I hesitant to make these? Well these were SO different sounding- such an unusual method that I was positive they would not work. Yeah, I'm really thinking outside of the box these days- I blame it on sleep deprivation. Anyway, they did work and although they were not my favorite, I knew immediately when I tasted them that my dad would LOVE them. Boy was I right- he ate the whole batch! These are so easy to make- you stir the egg whites, sugar, espresso powder and nuts together on the stove until the sugar melts into the mixture and then place spoonfulls on the cookie sheet and bake them up. You could use any nut combination- I did pecan and almond. These cookies were selected by Macduff of The Lonely Sidecar

TWD: Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart

2009-12-01T22:25:00.005-06:00

This is going to be short and sweet. I made this lovely tart for Thanksgiving because I thought it would be an interesting addition to the old standbys: apple, pumpkin, pecan, cranberry etc. All in all we ended up with EIGHT kinds of pie...seriously. At least we had about 30 people to eat it all up and there were tons of leftovers for breakfast on Friday morning.

This pie consists of a basic tart shell, pistachio pastry cream, pears poached in red wine with orange and lemon peel, and caramelized pistachios. The tart was very tasty, but I'm not completely sure that I'd make it again because it did end up being pretty labor intensive. I've never poached pears before and I have to say they turned out fantastically! I will definitely be experimenting more with different pear poaching recipes. I also really loved the caramelized pistachios- I could have eaten those by the handful. The pistachio pastry cream was good, but not great. Now part of this is probably because I could not find unsalted pistachios anywhere so I shelled some salted ones and rinsed and dried them. I opted for leaving the ground nuts in the cream and ended up thinning it out with about a 1/2 cup of freshly whipped cream. Honestly, I just don't love pastry cream. I made the wine reduction syrup to top the tart and promptly forgot it in the refrigerator- I'm sure it would have been a wonderful compliment! oops!

The tart is beautiful with the white and red pears and the green nuts and it was well received by my family so I am glad that I went ahead and made it. This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was chosen by Lauren of I'll Eat You (recipe is on her blog and in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours).

TWD: Molasses Spice Cookies

2009-11-24T23:17:00.006-06:00

When I was about nine years old I remember helping my mom clean the kitchen after dinner. I was clearing the table while she swept the floor. At this point, my brother was seven and my sister was three so you can imagine what kind of a mess ended up under the table. Once she had swept the debris into a little neat pile my mom gathered it up into the dustpan and said to me, "you know there are people in the world who will never even see the crumbs that fell off the table during a meal and there are many others who have to eat these crumbs". I don't know why that stuck with me the way it did but I have never forgotten what she said and I almost always think about it when I sweep my own kitchen. It helps me to pause and put things in perspective. Yes, we have to plan carefully so that we can pay all of our bills every month and it will be quite some time before we can purchase a second car but we always have plenty of food and even if for some reason we could not purchase food we have wonderful family who would never ever hesitate to help us in any way we asked. With Thanksgiving around the corner I can't help but be overwhelmingly thankful for how lucky I am for all of the blessings in my life.

I love Thanksgiving because it really does allow for us to remember everything we are thankful for and to celebrate it with all the people we love. Breaking bread is one of the most universal and yet special things a group of people can do together. The Thanksgiving meal is especially wonderful because so much time and love goes into preparing it. This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was selected by Pamela of Cookies with Boys and it would be a fabulous addition to the dessert table for Thanksgiving Day! I don't know if I can easily explain how much I love these spicy, crunchy on the edges and chewy in the middle cookies. Well yes I can: I made a batch of these about a month ago and we ate every last one before I took one solitary picture. I made a half batch again last night so that I could snap a few shots and they have already disappeared again! They are so wonderful and so easy to make. Oh and they are really very pretty too thanks to the sparkly sugar crust. Make these, enjoy them, and be thankful!

TWD: Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake

2009-11-17T09:06:00.004-06:00

My mom always said that the difference between guilt and shame is that guilt is an important tool in effecting positive change while shame halts positive growth. She has a PhD in psychology so we got to hear a ton of smart little tidbits like this as we grew up. I'll be honest with you, I didn't really understand or believe the guilt/shame thing until pretty recently. You see I'm one of those people who feels guilty about pretty much everything- I have to conciously force myself to not feel guilty all the time. It actually used to be much worse when I was little. I think I owe most of my early guilt to Catholic grammar school (thank God, yes really God, that my parents pulled me out in fourth grade and switched me into a far more relaxed and forgiving learning environment). When I was little I used to sit around wondering if I may have had an unkind thought about someone without really realizing it and if I'd better do some penance just in case. Yeah, that kind of guilt. Then when I got older I started feeling guilt about things like not being the smartest, the thinest, the most outgoing, etc. It wasn't a "I want to be the best" thing, seriously, it wasn't and it still isn't, it is seriously a guilt bordering on shame thing.

Anyway, I grew up and out of a lot of these feelings. So I never really saw how guilt could be a good thing- all it had ever done for me was hinder my ability to accept myself. But the other day a parenting moment changed all of that. I'll set the scene for you: I'm doing dishes in the kitchen with Eloise sitting patiently in her bouncy seat, Derrick is grading papers in the living room, and Helen is running back and forth evidentily trying to get either one of our attentions. Somehow Helen decided that the only way I would stop cleaning the kitchen and play with her was if she hit Eloise in the face with The Cat in the Hat. Poor Eloise was inconsolable- screaming at the top of her lungs and unable to catch her breath. In reality, she wasn't hurt badly, but she's only ever been coddled and Helen's violence took her by surprise. At that moment, all I wanted was for Helen to feel guilt- I wanted her to see what she had done and to never, ever do it again. She actually did feel bad- she looked frightened and sorry and asked me to give Eloise some medicine. Guilt. Who'd of thought?

Ok so now cake- an earlier version of myself would have felt horribly guilty, perhaps even ashamed about the way that I mauled the extremely simple chocolate glaze that covers this lucious cake. But guess what? I don't feel guilty at all because the rest of the cake came out perfectly! The ganache sandwiched between the two layers and coating the outside of the cake is made from hot caramel poured over semi sweet chocolate...ummm how have I never thought of doing this before? Divine. The cake has sweetened chestnut puree in the batter. This was my first experience with chestnuts (besides hearing Johnny Mathis sing about them roasting on an open fire). Let me just say this- I thought the chestnut flavor was perfect in this cake, but I tried incorperating the leftover, unsweetened puree into a pumpkin soup and it was a perfect disaster. I actually did feel guilty about the soup because boy did I waste a bunch of pumpkin and cream in creating that pot o garbage. Anyway, I skipped the syrup and the chopped chestnuts (too expensive) that Dorie called for and I don't think the cake suffered from it at all. This is a wonderful cake with thoughtful, complex flavors that would be perfect for any holiday party. The cake calls for over a pound of butter and two cups of cream so if you are proned to feeling guilty about rich desserts, you might want to skip this one...

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was chosen by Katya of Second Dinner recipe can be found on her blog and in Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

TWD: Cran-Apple Crisp

2009-11-10T22:07:00.000-06:00

We were supposed to be hit by a hurricane or tropical storm last night, luckily, the storm changed its course and largely dissipated before it hit shore. The unusual thing about Hurricane Ida is that it came at the bitter, bitter end of hurricane season. Growing up in New Orleans, we learned to always hope for the best and to prepare for the worst when a storm heads our way and in lieu of recent storms (ahem Katrina) the city has been especially cautious when anything begins to brew in the Gulf. Because of all of this, Derrick's school closed yesterday just in case the winds got bad enough for driving to be dangerous. Of course, the teachers still had to go in to "prepare" their classrooms so I decided to pack the babies up and go into school with him. It was really fun for the four of us to spend a Monday together even if we were just unplugging computers and moving filing cabinets away from windows. It's so funny how starved I've become for even the most boring outings!

Because I stay home with the girls, our family of four lives off of Derrick's teacher salary (practically nothing...haha); thus, we share one car. When Derrick leaves at 7:15am we say goodbye to all forms of transportation other than the double stroller until between 5:30-8:00pm depending on the day. We take LOTS and LOTS of walks. Seriously though, the three of us are always ready to get out of the house even for the most mundane of activities.

Besides walks to the park and reading books, one of Helen's new favorite things to do during our days at home is help Mommy bake. Baking, for Helen, means one of two things A) sitting on the counter to watch while I mix, measure, and stir or B) gathering up as many cooking utensils as I will allow her to borrow and "baking" pretend cakes on the kitchen floor. The other day, as I peeled and chopped apples for this week's scrumptious Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Cran-Apple Crisp, Helen was busily stirring her "cake" on the floor when I looked down and discovered that she had gathered up a bunch of pieces of apple peel that had fallen from my cutting board and had mixed them with a stray button, a penny, and a guitar pick in her bowl. To Helen, this is baking, this is what it looks like I'm doing when I bake- pulling out random bags of powders, mashing up sticks of goo, throwing in berries!

This week's recipe was chosen by Pam of Cookies with Boys - it is a mix of apples, fresh cranberries and a bit of sugar topped with a crumb mixture composed of butter, flour, oats, coconut, cinnamon, brown sugar, and ginger. The mix of tart and sweet is just magical! This is such a fantastic Fall dessert- I couldn't recommend it more! Not only is the crisp delicious, it is extraordinarily simple to make, especially if you have a little baking apprentice on the premises.

TWD: All in One Holiday Bundt

2009-11-03T21:31:00.005-06:00

I'm very thankful for many things this Thanksgiving season: good health, a new addition to our family, a comfortable place to live, a loving family, and the fact that this month Tuesdays with Dorie is allowing it's members to post November recipes in any order they wish (as long as the post is on a Tuesday)!! I went to Sam's Club on Friday and stocked up on Fall baking supplies. I got a giant bag of crisp, sweet Gala apples, four pounds of butter, a sack of fresh cranberries, and a three pack of pumpkin puree. In retrospect I might have gone a bit overboard...but isn't that what Sam's is all about? So I just had to make this cake which was chosen by Britin of The Nitty Britty (recipe will appear on her blog later this month and can of course be found in Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan). The All in One Holiday Bundt is just that: pumpkin, Fall spices, diced apple, fresh cranberries, and pecans all rolled into a super-moist, flavorful cake.

I will probably make this cake again later this week- it was just that good...and I have plenty of ingredients on hand.

TWD: Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte

2009-10-27T09:35:00.006-05:00

So, great news. I'm now brave enough to take showers during the day when I'm all alone with both babies! Yeah, Eloise Grace will be four months old on Friday which means that for the last four months I have been averaging between 3 and 4 showers a week and that is simply unacceptable. I had no idea how invigorating and, dare I say, humanizing showering can be. This is how I do it: nurse Eloise until she passes out and quickly pop pacifier into her mouth then very gently transfer her to the swing. Oh yeah, and I HAVE to do this at approximately 9am because that is when Sesame Street comes on. That's right parenting gods, I know I promised to wait until Helen Mae was two before letting her so much as glance at the TV, but guess what, she's 20 months old and she is in love with Elmo. Oh, and I've decided not to feel guilty about it either- I've decided to save up my guilt for better things. Things like having two slices of this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe: cherry-fudge brownie torte in place of doing my pilates DVD last night.

This week's delicious recipe was chosen by April of Short + Rose and can be found on her blog. I decided to skip the mousse (cream cheese, cream, mascarpone cheese, and sugar) that was supposed to adorn the top of this lovely, rich cake. The cake was so good that I didn't want to risk hating the mousse because of the cream cheese- I know, I know, that's kind of babyish, but I really hate it! The texture of the cake is very fudgy (as the name would imply). The cake is full of chocolate- both melted semi-sweet and cocoa powder and studded with dried cherries that have been cooked down in cherry brandy (couldn't find the kirsch that Dorie called for). I really, really loved the combination- it was a very sophisticated take on Black Forrest cake- I might even top it with plain old whipped cream next time I make it.

This cake was so good that I gave a third of it away and put a third of it in the freezer so that we wouldn't scarf the whole thing down!

TWD: Sweet Potato Biscuits

2009-10-20T09:07:00.006-05:00

You know, it's funny that I've never written about biscuits on this blog. You see, during my first year of marriage I spent every Saturday morning searching desprately for the perfect biscuit recipe. Since Derrick was born and raised in the Tennessee mountains I felt like it was my duty as a good Southern wife to be able to produce delicious, fluffy biscuits that didn't come out of a Bisquick box. I made a whole lot of flat, tasteless discs before discovering the joy of buttermilk and what it can do for even the simplest biscuit recipe. Now I was an English and French major so don't quote me on this chemistry, but the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to make light, flaky layers. Since then I've also learned how important it is to hold yourself back from cutting the cold butter too finely and to mix/handle the dough as little as possible. Another great trick is to press the biscuit cutter into the dough without twisting it for optimal rising. But this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is not buttermilk biscuits it's sweet potato biscuits! Erin of Prudence Pennywise (one of my all time favorite blogs!) chose this week's recipe and you can find it on her blog.
These biscuits do not rise as high and my buttermilk ones do- but dear Lord are they delicious! Dorie says that you can use canned sweet potatoes or cooked sweet potatoes. Since Dorie uses the canned ones, I figured it was safe to do the same- and boy did that make this recipe easy to make!

I used 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg which really helped heighten the sweet potato flavor. Even though the biscuits are not high, they do have wonderful dense layers. These are a great accompaniment to breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In fact I threw these together quickly this morning while my two little sous chefs watched patiently.

Cinnamon and Allspice Swirl Yeasted Coffee Cake

2009-10-14T09:46:00.005-05:00

Great news! I decided that there was nothing I could do to hurt my camera worse than Helen Mae had already hurt it so I shoved the lens with all of my might... and the camera magically started working again! In other news, I decided that I was going to force Fall to come to New Orleans by baking Autumnal treats non-stop until the cool, dry weather appeared- and it worked!! Last night I decided to jump on a little project that I've wanted to start for a long time: yeasted coffee cake. I want to make something like this for Christmas morning this year, but I want to make sure I do a few dry runs first.

This Christmas will be the first one that I have not awakened Christmas morning at my parents' house. Unbelievable, huh? Well, I went away to college in Tennessee when I was eighteen but I always came home for Christmas break. Then the first year I was out of college my husband was still in school so we came home again and spent Christmas at my parents' house. Then last year we were living with my parents while we looked for an apartment. Now here we are in our own little townhouse, and I feel like it will be so strange to wake up on Christmas morning without my sister, brother, mom and dad. Never mind the fact that we'll be heading over there for lunch with the rest of the extended family or that my parents live about 4 minutes away from us. It will just feel strange being on the other side of Christmas- Derrick and I will be playing Santa and our girls will be where I was only a couple of years ago! This is especially apparent for Derrick and me because we are both the oldest kids in our families- all of our siblings are still living at home!

Anyway, I thought it might be nice to make a little coffee cake to bring over to my parents' house so that we could have a little family breakfast before the aunts and uncles and cousins etc. start rolling in. This recipe comes from none other than my old, trusty Joy of Cooking book. Whenever I want a good bare-bones, basic recipe I turn to Joy because it usually gives me an easy base to start with. I think this is the right jumping off point, but I'm not positive that this is the exact way I want my coffee cake to end up for Christmas- I mean it's Christmas, it has to be really special! The cake's texture is a lot like cinnamon raisin bread- in fact, I'm definitely going to put some dried fruit and nuts in this cake next time. The major problem I had with this cake was that I tested it with a knife after the timer went off and it was still completely unbaked in the middle- so I gave it a little extra time and then I think I over-baked it! It was a little dry, especially along the edges- so I'll have to pull it out right on time next time and see if the middle sets once it is out of the oven.

Did I mention that Helen loved this cake? I found that the flavor was much more delicious after the cake cooled completely, which is fairly common for yeasty treats like this one. However, also like most yeasted cakes, this one got stale by the next day- it is not much of a keeper!

Yeasted Coffee Cake

pg. 621 of Joy of Cooking
1 loaf
Combine in a large bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes:
1/4 cup warm (105 to 115 F) water
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
Add:
1/2 cup ap flour or bread flour (confession: I ran out of ap and used some cake flour!)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
Mix by hand or on low speed until blended. Gradually stir in:
2 to 2 1/4 cup ap or bread flour
Mix for 1 minute, or until the dough comes together. Knead by hand for about 10 minutes or with the dough hook on low to medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and no longer sticks to your hands or the bowl (mine was still pretty sticky). Add:
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, very soft
Vigorously knead in the butter until completely incorporated and the dough is once again smooth.
Place the dough in a large buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (75-85 F) until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
Punch down the dough, knead briefly, and refrigerate, covered, until doubled again, 4 to 12 hours (I left mine for about 7 hours).
Butter a 9x4 inch loaf pan. Punch down dough and roll out to a 16x9 inch rectangle, about 1/3 inch thick. Brush the surface with
1 1//2 tsp melted butter
Sprinkle evenly with half the streusel topping, nuts, dried fruit, or filling of your choice. Starting from one short side, roll the dough as you would a jelly roll. Place seam side down in a loaf pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume about 1 1/2 hours. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Whisk together and brush over the top of the loaf:
1 egg
a pinch of salt
Sprinkle the remaining streusel topping over the dough. Bake the loaf until golden brown and a knife comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Unmold the loaf onto a rack and let cool.

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffin(mess)

2009-10-13T09:05:00.003-05:00

Ok, you'll have to take my word on these muffins because my lovely and talented daughter, Miss Helen Mae, dropped and broke my camera earlier this week. Just one of the many delights I'm facing now that she can reach up and pull things off of the kitchen counter! I'm trying to decide if it is worth trying to fix it or if the time has come to get a new (and better) camera! I'd love to hear recommendations for an easy to use and not very expensive camera!

Anyway, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table (you can find the recipe on her blog- and her muffins look gorgeous). I'm sorry to say that these muffins were a total disaster for me! I'm actually pretty surprised at how poorly they turned out because I've made most of the muffins in Baking From My Home to Yours and I've only had success with Dorie's muffins.

Apparently I was not the only one who had problems with these. It seems that many of the TWD bakers put these in the oven only to find that the lovely crumbly streusel topping had melted off the top and onto the muffin pan. My streusel also sank to the bottom of the batter creating a strange little swirl of allspice and brown sugar inside the muffin. In fact, I could not pry even one intact muffin out of the tin! I can't really call these a complete disaster though, because the flavor and even the texture was delicious!! Allspice is such a wonderful, complex spice that I really don't use often enough! These were so tasty that Derrick, Helen Mae, and I ate all twelve of them (straight out of the pan) over the course of one day! I don't think that's ever happened before! So, I'm tempted to try them again, maybe with a little less butter in the crumb topping?

Magazine Mondays: Applesauce Cake

2009-10-04T22:14:00.000-05:00

We got a teeny tiny taste of Fall last week- it only lasted about three days- but I made good use of the cool weather and took the babies on plenty of nice long walks. I also felt better about turning on my oven to make this delicious Applesauce Cake (recipe here) from Everyday Food. I love that magazine and I'm finally participating in Magazine Mondays a fun and relatively informal (I need all the flexibility I can get these days!) event hosted by Cream Puffs in Venice, a blog which I have followed for a very long time! . Anyway, this is an old magazine recipe from October 2005 which means that I must have gotten it back when I was in college and my life looked like this:

Don't worry, we didn't burn the whole forest down...I don't think... But seriously, about two months after this picture was taken (at my graduation party) I did this:

Then about nine months later I did this:

Sixteen months after that, I did this:

Now here I am with a three month old and 19 month old baking Applesauce Cakes out of old magazines that I kept telling myself to throw away and snapping hasty, out-of-focus pictures of them to upload to my sometimes interesting, sometimes bare bones blog. This is a delicious cake, easy to make, and perfect for welcoming Fall.

TWD: Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart

2009-09-29T08:34:00.007-05:00

I was telling my Tweetie about this tart the other day when she said, "honey, I don't know how you have the time to bake!" and it got me thinking. You see, I don't have the time to bake. I have to make the time. As cliché as it might sound, baking and cooking keep me sane. I stay at home all day long and care for my darling daughters, I clean the house, I do dozens of loads of laundry, I do all of the grocery (and other) shopping, but baking is something I can always squeeze into my schedule because I can do it any time of day, it's (mostly) inexpensive, and I don't have to leave the house to get it done. I love being in the kitchen and I love feeding people. The time I spend in the kitchen is my creative time. Oh, and of course, I love eating what I've made too!
Well this tart was definitely worth my time! Carla of Chocolate Moosey chose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe (recipe is on Carla's blog). I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I love Dorie's Sweet Tart Dough- I love it, I love it, I love it! The crust always turns out delicious and beautiful and it is made in the food processor! But the crust is not the greatest part of this tart. The really special part of the tart is a thin layer of soft caramel studded with honey-roasted peanuts. The caramel is very easy to make and tasted divine- I could have eaten it with a spoon. Anyway, the caramel is hidden under a thick layer of chocolate ganache. For some reason, my ganache was a little too soft- I think I might have measured out the chocolate incorrectly- but it still tasted great. Dorie says that the tart should set in the refrigerator for no longer than 30 minutes but I actually kept mine in the refrigerator and had no problems with the crust getting soggy or the caramel getting hard. I didn't really think about it at first, but this was kind of like a very dressy snickers pie. I think I'm going to bring this tart to Thanksgiving this year.

TWD: Flaky Apple Turnovers

2009-09-15T11:20:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that I started this blog over a year ago! I have done a lot of baking in the last year and most of it I owe to Tuesdays with Dorie. This group has forced me to really stretch out of my baking comfort zone and learn how to do things I always wanted to know how to do but never made time for. These apple turnovers are a perfect example: I've made tons of apple pies, in fact I LOVE apple pie, but I've never done individual turnovers. First of all there's no pie plate or tart pan to shape the crust, and then there's the fact that you have to make a bunch of tiny individual turnovers instead of one big pie. Basically, I would have never taken the time to make these if Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen had not picked them. Thank goodness she did!

These are terribly labor intensive but also very delicious. The dough consists of three sticks of butter cut into flour and then mixed with sour cream and a little sugar. You wrap the dough in saran wrap, stick it in the fridge for a few hours, roll it out and then fold it like a business letter, stick it back in the fridge for a couple hours, roll it out again and cut it, fill it, and bake the turnovers. I made mine into triangles even though Dorie instructs the baker to make them into little half circles. I think I would do these as crescents next time because I think I'd be able to fit more apple into them. The only change I made to the recipe was increasing the 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to 1/2 tsp and honestly I might even increase that a bit more next time- but I'm sort of a cinnamon freak.
One of the greatest things about this recipe is that it makes around 16 large turnovers and you can freeze the turnovers unbaked for up to two months and take them directly out of the freezer and pop them in the over anytime! I have about 12 in the freezer right now, just waiting for a dessert rainy day!

TWD: Applesauce Spice Bars

2009-08-18T23:25:00.005-05:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Karen of Something Sweet by Karen. I was really excited when I saw that this recipe had finally been selected because the picture in the book looks so delicious! So in actuality these are delicious but not spectacular. I think that I was partially a bit disappointed because they are really more of a thin cake than a bar. Basically, this is an apple cake with applesauce in the batter and bits of apple, raisins, and pecans scattered throughout- the flavor is quite delicious and very autumnal and it makes a good breakfast too! I'm trying to convince myself that I have eaten almost half of it by myself in order to keep my milk supply up for this plump little gal:

I think I will heed the advice of some other TWD bakers and make this in an 8x8 pan instead of a 9x13 next time so that I can get a more substantial "cake". The cake is topped with a tasty brown sugar glaze that sort of sinks into the cake and I think that doing the cake in an 8x8 would also allow for a little thicker layer of glaze. All in all this was a good and very easy recipe that has me looking forward to the Fall and some cool weather!

TWD: Brownie Buttons

2009-08-11T22:06:00.003-05:00

Whoa these brownies were so fabulous! Remember how I said that last week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for Banana Bundt Cake wasn't much of a temptation for me? Well, this week was the total opposite! I could not stop eating these! It certainly doesn't help that the brownies are made in mini-muffin tins and therefore require no cutting... too easy to grab and pop into your mouth! This week's recipe was chosen by Jayma of Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen and I cannot thank her enough for this pick because I honestly thought these would be dry and boring brownies. The picture in Baking From My Home to Yours is really cute but I just assumed that the mini muffin tin would turn out little hard brownie rocks. Instead they ended up being extremely fudgy and intensely flavorful. The recipe calls for orange zest rubbed into a teaspoon of sugar to be added to the batter-now some of the TWD bakers found the orange flavor to be very subtle- but mine was very strong! Wow! I love chocolate and orange together but I've never had orange flavored brownies. The recipe calls for dipping the tops of the brownies in white chocolate but I didn't get around to doing it for this batch but I'm making a quadruple batch for my brother's graduation party this weekend so I'm going to try it with the chocolate this time around.

TWD: Banana Bundt Cake

2009-08-04T21:57:00.002-05:00

I love cake pans so much. It is really hard for me not to buy non-functional or at least slightly functional yet extremely cute baking pans. So you have no idea how lovely it was for me to receive a variety specialty bakeware as wedding presents. One of the nicest pans I got was the NordicWare Fleur de Lis Bundt Pan and I'm embarrassed to say that here I am, more than two years after my wedding and this is the first week that I've whipped the sucker out! But once I saw how beautifully my cake popped out of this wonderful pan I quickly baked up another bundt too- now I think I have the bundt-bug because I'm dying to make another one!

Anyway, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for a Classic Banana Bundt Cake was chosen by Mary of The Food Librarian. This cake was pleasantly easy to put together (a must for me now with two babies under the age of two) and it smelled wonderful as it baked. I am not a huge banana bread fan so I didn't love this cake but I will say that it had a great moist, tight crumb and everyone who tasted it really liked it. I think one of the great parts of this cake is that the bananas were really the star of the show- there are no spices or fancy additions- it is just an old fashioned, basic recipe. This will definitely be my go to banana cake/bread recipe from now on!

TWD: Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream and Low Fat Vanilla Ice Cream

2009-07-28T21:04:00.004-05:00

I scream, you scream, all of the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers scream for ice cream! This week's TWD recipe was chosen by Lynne of Cafe Lynnlu . Who doesn't love vanilla ice cream? I mean its the perfect platform for pretty much any sauce, topping, or mix-in! This is a fabulous and pretty much foolproof recipe. Dorie gives the temperature readings but I did it without a thermometer and it still turned out perfectly. I made the whole quart sized recipe for a party and it was a huge hit- so of course I had to make it again (pint-sized) for us. This time I did it with just whole milk in place of the cream to lighten it up and it still turned out really good. Ok, I'll be honest, of course the regular full-fat version was better- but the lower fat version was really tasty! I will make this recipe over and over again and I can't wait to try out some of the variations that Dorie offers and also make some up on my own!

TWD: Raspberry Blanc Manger

2009-07-21T20:00:00.004-05:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is Raspberry Blanc Manger chosen by Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. You can find the recipe on Susan's blog (one of my personal favorites- she takes great pictures and always has fun and interesting posts). This was a nice, easy little summery dessert to throw together. Before this recipe my only familiarity with blanc manger was the reference to it in the prologue of the Canterbury Tales... but anyway, it's really tasty. It has a nice light and fluffy consistency, similar to mousse, sprinkled with ground almonds and studded with fresh raspberries. The nicest thing about this dessert is how beautifully it unmolds from the cake pan- just make sure to dunk the pan in hot water for a few seconds before turning it upsidedown. I should have saved some raspberries to decorate the top but all and all I thought it ended up very pretty.

TWD: Brioche Tart

2009-07-13T20:47:00.005-05:00

Ok so I'm about to do some big time cheating. This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe was chosen by Denise of Chez Us- and it's actually called a Brioche Plum Tart...but as you can see from my wild picture, I used no plums. In fact, I just used the jam and almonds. I didn't put any fresh fruit on it at all- and that seems like cheating! So I got what all cheaters eventually get: poor results.

As you can see my tart puffed up into a full brioche because it lacked the weight of the fruit. The brioche was good but not great, I think this tart really needed the fruit to make it taste rich enough. That being said, I pretty much ate most of it by myself in two days... so it certainly wasn't bad tasting!

Ok now for some more cheating. I actually made the Katherine Hepburn Brownies that were selected by Lisa of Surviving Oz for last week's TWD. They were really delicious! I think I overbaked mine just a tad because I was so worried about them being underdone but they were still great! This is a thin, soft brownie that reminds me of the kind of brownies little old ladies often bring to church picnics except for the fact that they have a great little coffee and cinnamon undertone but really the chocolate flavor is extremely intense- so good! Anyway, I didn't get a picture of the brownies because they were seriously eaten very quickly! So there's my second cheat.

Now for my third cheat: I made the Perfect Party Cake selected by of two weeks ago! However, I don't have pictures of this one either because I baked the cakes, cooled them, split them, and leveled them and then I was forced to wrap them and freeze them (more on this later) so I have yet to frost this lovely cake! I did however taste the peices that I leveled off and they were delicious! I was really concerned because I haven't had a lot of luck with Dorie's layer cakes in the past but this one is truly wonderful- I can't wait to thaw it and frost it (I'll post pics when I do).

Ok, and finally, I also made the Roasted- Coconut Pinapple Dacquoise selected by Andrea of Andrea In the Kitchen THREE weeks ago... I know... pathetic that it took me this long to post about it- but at least I have pictures of this one. Let me tell you, this thing was phenomenal! It was terribly difficult to make. It took me an entire day to put it together! But wow! this is such a fancy, wonderful dessert- I would make this again for a very, very special occasion when I have a babysitter on hand! Honestly, this was like nothing I've ever made or tasted before!

So lastly, this is my excuse for all of the cheating:

That's right! I had my baby! And if you remember right, today was my scheduled c-section- but instead today my little Eloise Grace turned 2 weeks old! She ended up making her appearance at 37 weeks 1 day! She's a little bundle of joy and Helen Mae is a great big sister:

So, hopefully I'm back on track now!

TWD: Honey- Peach Ice Cream

2009-06-16T21:46:00.004-05:00

This will be a quick post because I'm starting to get sooo tired... I'm scheduled for a repeat c-section exactly four weeks from today! Honestly, I'm still hoping a little bit for a VBAC if I happen to go into labor on my own before July 14, but I'm trying to keep an open mind so that I don't feel too sad if do end up with another c-section! Anyway, onto the ice cream. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Tommi of Brown Interior. I'm sad to say that I didn't really like this ice cream. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. I thought it didn't really taste much like peaches and the honey just gave it an odd after-taste. I will say that the texture was fabulous- so smooth and creamy! Many of the TWD bakers did seem to enjoy the flavor combo though- so don't let my personal tastes dissuade you if it sounds good to you!

TWD: Parisian Apple (and Nectarine) Tarts

2009-06-09T21:40:00.004-05:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Jessica of My Baking Heart. I was really excited when I read the recipe because 1) it looked delicious and 2) it looked sooooo easy! Seriously, the only ingredients are puff pastry, butter, brown sugar, and the fruit. Ok, so even though this was insanely easy to throw together I still managed to make it somewhat complicated... I blame the 15 month old pulling at my pants leg the entire time I was trying to put this together. The first thing I did wrong was coring the apple (I have no idea why but I always screw up when I core fruit)- I ended up with a mauled apple half instead of the perfect little apple blossom featured in the book. I did an even worse job with the nectarine tart- the pit made the fruit look very sloppy. But my really pregnancy-brain related mistake was putting the tarts on waxed paper instead of the parchment paper called for in the recipe- of course I ended up with a kitchen filled with smoke and a lovely smokey odor in my home for the rest of the morning! Believe it or not the tarts still turned out nicely! The brown sugar and butter makes a wonderful caramel glaze on the fruit and the result is simply delicious!

I used Peppridge Farm puff pastry even though Dorie specifically says that the tarts are only good with all butter puff pastry. I'm sure that she's right and that if I had an all butter puff pastry to compare it to that I would be disappointed with the Pepperidge Farm pastry- but honestly, it was all that my grocery store carried and I thought it tasted great! I used the extra little puff pastry scraps to wrap my mauled apple and nectarine pieces that didn't make it into the regular sized tarts. I thought these were a great and easy little treat!

TWD: Cinnamon Chocolate Cake

2009-06-02T17:25:00.005-05:00

This week's amazing Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures. The recipe is actually called Cinnamon Squares but I decided to do it in a round pan and put in on my cake stand because the recipe sounded too delicious to be made into ordinary squares! The combination of a cinnamon batter with a ribbon of cinnamon sugar, espresso powder, and chopped chocolate running through the middle of it and a delicious chocolate frosting is such a beautiful pairing that I cannot believe that I was ambivalent about the cinnamon and chocolate combo! As a matter of fact, many of the TWD bakers weren't impressed with the idea of combining the two potent (but rarely seen together) flavors... then of course they tried a bite and fell in love! Seriously, I am so surprised that I loved this so much!

When I popped my cake out of the pan I was a little nervous because it looked like a fair amount of my chopped chocolate had sunk to the bottom of the cake and the cake itself fell a little in the middle.
It smelled so wonderful though and it still looked presentable so I went ahead and frosted it with the simple chocolate/butter frosting and that dressed it up quite a bit. When I cut into the cake I found that the ribbon actually looked fairly intact (although it was closer to the bottom of the cake than Dorie's picture) once the pieces were sliced up- so I guessed I worried needlessly!

This was such a winner- I honestly think I'm going to make it again tomorrow for my little brother who just graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design last week and will be heading home to NOLA. I just can't stop thinking about that delicious cinnamony chocolaty goodness!

Daring Bakers: Apple Strudel

2009-05-27T20:58:00.007-05:00

This was such a great challenge!! I was so excited when I saw that Courtney of CoCo Cooks and Linda of Make Life Sweeter chose a traditional apple strudel recipe for the May Daring Bakers challenge. I admit that I was very nervous about mixing and rolling the dough because I have never made anything even close to pastry like this before. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the dough was extremely easy to work with! Ok, let me back up, this is not an easy recipe. In fact, it took me about four hours start to finish to do the whole thing, but, the recipe is straightforward and the dough is easy to stretch very thin.

I let my dough rest for about an hour while I made the filling for the strudel and I think this really helped to relax the gluten enough to roll the dough thin enough for me to see the pattern of the tablecloth through it!

I was also very nervous about folding the filling into the dough because it was so delicate but again, I had nothing to worry about, because the instructions were so easy to follow!

My strudel baked up to a nice golden brown color. I let it sit for the prescribed 30 minutes before cutting into it and wow was it tasty! I thought it tasted best right after I made it while the pastry was still very crisp and the filling was still warm but Derrick preferred it the next morning after the pastry had softened a little (he also insisted that the filling tasted sweeter after it sat a bit). Needless to say Derrick, Helen Mae, and I finished the entire thing off in less than three days!
I will say that I did tweak the apple filling a little- I used vanilla instead of rum and I increased the cinnamon from 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp. I think that the rum really would have given the filling a much nicer flavor but I just couldn't bring myself to buy a whole bottle for a measly 2 tablespoons! I thought the filling was good but not great- I am definitely going to experiment with some different fillings (including some savory ones). I really loved the recipe for the pastry and I seriously cannot wait to make it again!! Thanks again Courtney and Linda!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

TWD: Chipster Topped Brownies and Mango Bread

2009-05-26T20:33:00.006-05:00

In the words of Britney Spears: oops... I did it again- two weeks have gone by and although I have been baking right along with Tuesdays with Dorie, I have yet to post about the recipes! The good news is that we are now fully moved into our apartment. Whew, hopefully things will be more regular here at Sandmuffin now that everything is more settled (at least until the baby comes!).

Ok, so this week's TWD recipe was Chipster Topped Brownies chosen by Beth of Supplicious. Basically these are fudgy brownies topped with a layer of chocolate chip cookies... pure genius!! The only problem was that I underbaked mine quite a bit. You see the top layer bakes and browns faster than the brownie layer can firm up so I misjudged when to pull them out. So, I tried to salvage them by putting them back in the oven after they had sat and cooled for well over an hour on the counter. It sort of worked, as in, pretty much the whole giant pan got eaten, but honestly I want to try this one again because I can tell that it is a really decadent, wonderful recipe if baked properly!!
Ok and last week's recipe was Fresh Mango Bread chosen by Kelly of Baking with the Boys. I was really excited about this recipe because it sounded so tropical: fresh mango, lime zest, lots of ginger, raisins, and cinnamon and it did not disapoint! In fact, the bread turned out very differently from how I had imagined it would- it was very moist and the flavor was complex and the outside had a wonderful chewy crust. The thing that struck me as odd about this recipe was the baking time of one and a half hours! That seemed so long- but I went ahead and stuck with it (I tented with foil after one hour) and the bread really needed all of that time to bake properly.

Here is Helen Mae after eating her first ever New Orleans style snowball- obviously she had a lime flavored one:

TWD: Tartest Lemon Tart and Tiramisu Cake

2009-05-12T15:18:00.006-05:00

Ok, bear with me, we are moving into a new apartment, I'm thirty weeks pregnant, and dear little Helen Mae is getting her incisors. I made both this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe (Tartest Lemon Tart- selected by Barb of Babette Feasts) and last week's recipe (Tiramisu Cake selected by Megan of My Baking Adventures) a few weeks ago so that I wouldn't be rushing around like I am now to write them up! So much for that plan!!

Anyway... the lemon tart was really delicious! The almond crust is absolutely foolproof and really tasty- I can't wait to try it with other nuts. The lemon filling contains the ENTIRE lemon- yep, rind and all- blended in the blender with egg, sugar, and cream. Now apparently some TWD bakers found the filling bitter because of the rind- but honestly I used the whole lemon and I didn't have any problem- I really don't know if I was just lucky or what! The filling is poured into the partially baked crust and the whole tart bakes at a pretty low temp for a good long while. The filling is almost like a lemon jelly- and although it is not the prettiest tart in the world the entire thing disappeared in a matter of minutes at the party I brought it to! In fact, I didn't even get a picture of an individual slice! I will definitely make this again.

The Tiramisu Cake was a bit of a different story. I'm still trying to weigh out the results in my head. You see, I didn't really like it very much at all- I found the cake to be dry and I thought the espresso/ kahlua syrup was too tame. I can't really say that it was awful or anything- it just wasn't great. Though the cake is not hard to make, there are quite a few components to it and it does take a good amount of time to make so I can't imagine that I'd make this again. The only thing that would keep me from saying that this was a definite miss is that my brother, my dad, and my aunt really enjoyed it (at least they said did multiple times and ate quite a few pieces each!). Honestly, I was very excited about this cake and sadly, it ended up being a let down for me.

TWD: Chocolate Cream Tart

2009-04-28T10:49:00.004-05:00

This is going to be a short but extremely sweet post. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Kim of Scrumptious Photography (recipe is on her blog). I made this delicious tart for Easter and everyone who tasted it really loved it- not just polite, "thank you, that was delicious" but like really wanted another slice and asked for the recipe loved it!

The crust is a chocolate shortbread that you make in the food processor and press into the tart pan. I always press my dough into the pan and then leave it in the refrigerator overnight before baking it- I find that the unfilled shell doesn't puff up as much that way. This is not a sweet chocolate crust- instead it has an intensely chocolate flavor but maintains the somewhat saltiness of normal pie crust. I was skeptical at first- but it pairs magnificently with the chocolate cream!

The cream is a chocolate pastry cream that you cook on the stove- also very easy! The one strange thing is how quickly it thickens- you feel like you are stirring a liquidy, milky substance for a few minutes and then in 3 seconds it becomes the cream! The flavor of the cream is divine and the texture is so silky!

Finally you top it with whipped cream- I doubled mine because I wanted to do it up big for Easter!

Thanks to my mom who took these pictures for me at the party at my aunt's house since they cut the pie while I was putting Helen Mae down for a nap- she's a really great mom!!

Daring Bakers: Cheesecake!

2009-04-27T22:58:00.007-05:00

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

Ok, I really slipped this one in right in the nick of time- today is the Daring Bakers reveal day and I actually woke up and made this cheesecake this morning and let it chill all day before decorating it, snapping a few pictures of it, and serving it! The recipe was for a very simple, basic cheesecake with a graham cracker crust but we were given instructions to do whatever we wanted to flavor it and make it our very own creation! So, because I am not fancy and or experienced with cheesecakes (I can't stand cream cheese so I NEVER eat or make cheesecake!) I made an Oreo crust, a chocolate cheesecake, a little chocolate sauce, and some good old fashioned whipped cream and called it a night. I think my cake turned out remarkably cute although extremely cliché looking! haha! Sort of like those cakes you see in the refrigerated cases at the bakery section of a grocery store! OH well!

Although I could not bring myself to eat a slice- it got rave reviews from my entire family. Here's a little secret: I used 16 oz of 1/3 fat cream cheese and 8 oz of regular full fat cream cheese and nobody noticed! The recipe is so simple and so versatile that I know I will make it again and again because everyone loves cheesecake (besides me). The cake is baked in a water bath to prevent cracking. There was a lot of debate about how to keep the water out of the spring form pan so that the crust doesn't get water-logged. I followed the advice to place the spring form pan into a larger cake pan and then placed that into the water bath- it worked great! I had no cracks and the crust was very crisp.

I ended up with a lot of extra batter so I put a whole Oreo in the bottom of a muffin liner and filled them with about two spoonfuls of the batter. They baked in about 25 minutes and there was only one crack casualty in the whole dozen:

My husband can't seem to keep his hands off the cheesecaklettes because they are just so easy to pop in your mouth and you don' t even need a knife and plate to eat it.

Thank you Jenny for a very good recipe- and be sure to check out the Daring Kitchen to see the amazing variety and astounding results that the Daring Bakers had with this cake!

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:
adapted by Emily Rose

crust:
2 cups / 180 g Oreo crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted

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
6 oz. chocolate melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

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.

TWD: Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

2009-04-21T09:09:00.006-05:00

Bread pudding...I've always found it to be a strange concept- stale bread, soaked in a cream and egg mixture, then baked in a water bath? Let's face it, it's just odd. I've never been the biggest fan, but I figured that I'd try this one out because it is a chocolate bread pudding after all! This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle (the recipe can be found on her blog). I'll be honest with you, I didn't love this dessert- but I didn't dislike it either. The flavor was delicious- creamy, chocolaty, rich, but I just can't get past the strange texture of bread pudding. It just has that weird almost wet, squishy thing going on and I can't stop thinking about the fact that there are pieces of bread in it. Anyway, that's obviously my issue because the bread pudding lovers in my life really enjoyed it!

I used brioche with raisins from a local bakery for my bread and I think that the buttery-ness of the brioche really added to the richness of the dessert and soaked up the liquid really nicely. I cut the loaf up and let it sit out on the counter for two days so that the pudding wouldn't be soggy and that method seemed to work well. I refrigerated the pudding overnight before cutting into it and it held its shape beautifully. I can't say that I'd make this again for myself but I would definitely make it for anyone who requested it because it was very very easy to make!

So, in other news I'm finally in the third trimester of this pregnancy and July seems closer than ever! Pretty much every random stranger in the grocery store, mall, etc. feels the need to tell me that I look like I'm "about to go any day now"...umm ok how about three months from now?! The only person who seems not to have noticed the watermellon that has sprung up in my mid-section is Helen Mae who has absolutely no concept of her new little sibling's impending arrival. Thank goodness she has mad pouting skills:

TWD: 15 Minute Magic Chocolate Amaretti Torte

2009-04-14T16:13:00.004-05:00

First of all- I did take some great pictures of this cake- but sadly, I took them with my mom's camera and she took it to Memphis this morning- so pictures will be posted later... sorry!

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Holly of Phe/MOM/enon (recipe can be found on her blog). Wow! This torte was amazing! It tasted like a really fancy, expensive dessert but it really did take about 15 minutes to throw together because the entire cake is whipped up in a food processor! The only thing that seemed to throw some of the TWD bakers was trying to locate amaretti, an Italian almond cookie. I was able to find mini amaretti at World Market for a good price and I have to say that I think they make a huge difference in the cake- so this isn't an ingredient to substitute out! In fact the cake relies on the ground amaretti and ground almonds to act as flour because the torte is flourless. It is dense, very chocolaty and almost fudgy with a distinct almond flavor. The outside of the cake takes on a sort of slightly crunchy amaretti shell which makes it even more delightful.

The only thing I found confusing was the chocolate glaze. You see, mine was a chocolate syrup, I'm not completely sure if it was supposed to be so liquidy or if I didn't let the cream boil long enough but I had to add about a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to get it to be slightly thicker (even then it never got thick). Well I put the cake on a plate that would catch the extra glaze, dumped the glaze over the cake, and stuck it in the fridge for a few hours. Ok, forget everything I said about the glaze being too liquidy because it tasted amazing! Oh and I was so glad that I put the cake on a plate that caught the extra glaze because I just drizzled it over the top when I served the individual slices! Dorie also included an optional almond whipped cream- which I of course had to make since I had leftover cream from the glaze- I would highly suggest garnishing the cake with the cream because it just makes the dessert that much fancier! Anyway- I am so greatful to Holly for picking this marvelous recipe because it something I can make in a flash and know that it tastes like something from an upscale bakery!

TWD: Coconut and Lime Butter Thins

2009-03-30T20:39:00.005-05:00

Unlike last week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection, the Blueberry Crumb Cake, these delectable cookies were rather unassuming in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Baking From My Home to Yours. You see, the crumb cake enticed me immediately with its beautiful color pictures and the two pages of instructions- but the cookies took up one page and had no picture at all. This is why I feel so indebted to Jayne of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch for selecting this wonderful recipe! These are really delicious cookies. They are simple to mix together and very easy to roll out (thanks to Dorie's method of rolling the dough out in a ziploc bag and refrigerating it in said ziploc) and easy to cut.

The cookie is very buttery and crisp but not quite as crumbly as a shortbread or as chewy as a lace cookie- it falls somewhere in between the two. It is flavored with lime zest, shredded coconut, and a pinch of coriander. The recipe calls for chopped macadamia nuts too, but alas, I have to cut back on costs somewhere and those fancy little nuts were just not in my budget! I bet they would have been delicious!

There was some debate about how the cookies were supposed to look after being baked. You see, they seem like they will hold their perfect little square shape but they really spread quite a bit and get kind of lacy around the edges. I had to laugh because my husband, Derrick, looked at the recipe that was working with and asked, "how do you know what they're supposed to look like if there isn't a picture?", Ok, so obviously he doesn't look through the book very much because only about 1/2 of the recipes include pictures...but I do have to agree with him that a picture would have been helpful since this not a standard chocolate chip cookie or a blueberry muffin- you don't know what its going to look like in the end! Although I will say that I was a little upset that the cookie didn't hold its shape at first, I pretty much forgot about the shape when I bit into one! The flavors intensify if the cookies are left in an air tight container overnight making the lime zest an even more unexpected and wonderful treat!

Daring Bakers: Emilia-Romagna Lasagna

2009-03-27T11:37:00.009-05:00

Like many of the Daring Bakers I was really surprised at this month's challenge! Lasagna is not typically what I think of when I think about baking- but this recipe was extremely daring! Every component is homemade- including the spinach pasta. I've never made pasta before but I've always wanted to try it out. Although it is a lot of kneading and hand rolling- I have to admit that the end result was worth it. I have always loved eating hand made pasta at restaurants because the taste and more prominently, the texture is so different from the dried store bought variety. The dough consisted only of fresh spinach, eggs, and flour and was not difficult to make but extremely labor intensive!

I really was interested in preserving the integrity of the recipe from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy because it is so different from the lasagna that we are used to eating and making in the United States. The recipe for the ragu sauce was especially different from the usual tomato sauce that we often use here. The problem is that the recipe is VERY meaty- like four or five different kinds of ground meat...and I don't eat meat. So...I knew that I could easily substitute a regular vegetable based marinara or something- but like I said, I wanted to stay true to the Northern Italian flavors. So, I compromised. I used the recipe and changed the meat out for eggplant, baby portabella mushrooms, and kalamata olives. Now this sauce was absolutely delicious... but it took about a million years to make it! Seriously, I stood over the stove for about four hours! The outcome was great- I just don't know if I could commit to making it again anytime soon!

The last component was the bechemel sauce. This was the easiest and most straightforward part of the recipe and it yielded great results. Instead of mounds of stringy mozzarella and a bunch of ricotta (which I actually also love!) this lasagna had only a cup of freshly grated Parmesan layered in with the bechemel.

The end product was really delicious and very different from the lasagna we eat here in the states. I served the dish to my parents, aunt, uncle, sister, husband, and baby and everyone really enjoyed it- there wasn't even one tiny square left over! I'm so glad that the challenge really challenged me but I'm also glad to be finished with it because it was really a two day long affair and I'm starting to feel this pregnancy a little more now that I'm getting close to the third trimester. I think I'll be sticking to recipes that require me to be on my feet for less than 2 hour increments.

Be sure to check out the beautiful, new Daring Kitchen website- it's a lot of fun to browse through!

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.

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 Vegetarian Ragu

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 kalamata olives chopped
1 medium onion, minced
1 medium stalk celery with leaves, minced
1 small carrot, minced

2cloves of garlic, minced
1 large eggplant, peeled and chopped

1 lb of baby portabella mushrooms chopped

2/3 cup (5 ounces/160ml) dry red wine
1 &1/2 cups (12 ounces/375ml) vegetable stock
2 cups (16 ounces/500ml) milk
6 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 minced vegetables and sauté, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, 10 minutes, or until the onions barely begin to color. Add the eggplant and mushrooms and stir into the pan and slowly brown over medium heat. Protect the brown glaze forming on the bottom of the pan by turning the heat down. Cook 15 minutes, or until the eggplant and mushrooms are soft. 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 stew. Season with salt and pepper.

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

2009-03-24T10:32:00.005-05:00

This cake was SO good! Sihan of Befuddlement chose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe (you can find the recipe on Sihan's blog). I love coffee cake- and the thing I love most about it is crumb topping- so sweet and crunchy, mmm! Well this coffee cake does not disappoint- the cake itself is moist and flavorful and the crumbs are the best I've ever made at home. The cake has a really nice thick layer of topping that really got nice and crunchy in the oven. A few people had trouble with the crumb mixture melting into the cake- I think the key to preventing this from happening is keeping the crumbs in the refrigerator until right before the cake goes into the oven.

I went ahead and used the blueberries that the original recipe calls for- but Dorie says that any berries (other than strawberries) and most soft fruits (plums, peaches, etc.) work great in it too. So now I can't stop thinking about making this cake with cherries or raspberries! I also doubled the lemon zest and the cinnamon which turned out great- but I'm not sure if I would do that with other more flavorful berries.
Another great thing about this cake is that the ingredients are more like a quick bread so there is no yeast (the best coffee cakes seem to always have yeast in them) which makes the cake really quick to throw together the morning you plan to serve it. My brother was in from college for Spring Break so I served the cake to my family for a late Saturday morning breakfast (since college kids sleep 'til noon...still hard to believe that was me two years ago!)- and the whole cake was gone in one day!

And just for fun, here's Helen Mae enjoying the Spring day with a wreath of clovers on her head which she dubbed "hat".

TWD: French Yogurt Cake and Delicious Lemon Curd

2009-03-17T09:57:00.010-05:00

I planned way ahead for Tuesdays with Dorie this week and bought all of my ingredients in advance to make sure that I would be able to bake up this delicious French Yogurt Cake selected by Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction (recipe can be found on her blog) . And then I played the waiting game. You see, it has been humid, humid, humid here and when it is not humid... it's raining- in short: horrible baking weather. Then all of a sudden it was a rainy Monday afternoon and I still had not baked up my little TWD treat. So I baked it. In the rain. And this is what happened when I tried to pop it out of the pan:

Yep, the whole bottom remained in the pan. But don't worry! I scraped it out and put it back in place and pretended that the whole thing never happened.

And then it looked like this:

Ok, so back to the actual cake. Dorie explains that this is a mainstay for French home bakers (in fact she says that it's one of the only things the French bake- and why would they with those amazing patisseries on every corner?!). It's similar to a pound cake- but without butter. The fat comes from a half cup of oil and a half cup of yogurt. I actually ended up using low-fat vanilla yogurt (gotta cut the fat where I can!) and it worked very well. Dorie gives the option of using a half a cup ground almonds in place of some of the flour, which I did, and it gave the cake a nice hearty, nutty texture.

Although you could do pretty much anything in the world with this cake, I decided to make Dorie's lemon curd. I have never used her recipe for it and I was really pleased with the results. It was very, very tart which is exactly how I like my curd! I was pretty worried about how thin it looked when I put it in the fridge last night, but this morning it had thickened perfectly and really complemented the faint flavor of lemon zest in the cake.

Because the cake is not overly sweet and because Helen Mae had a really horrible time sleeping last night (note very puffy eyes and mussed hair) I decided that I could feed it to my child for breakfast and not feel like a horribly indulgent parent:

TWD: Lemon Cup Custard

2009-03-10T10:51:00.005-05:00

Apparently custard is something that most people have heard of but not many have actually eaten. I'm basing this on the fact that this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for Lemon Cup Custard chosen by Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles (recipe can be found on her blog- even if you aren't a custard fan you should check out her blog anyway- it's one I read regularly!) was not very well received by the TWD bakers. Lots of people complained about the "eggy" flavor and texture...well my friends, as Dorie herself pointed out, that's pretty much what custard is. Custard is eggy. If you don't like eggy, you don't like custard- and I don't like custard! But see, I knew this going into the recipe, so I thought the recipe was pretty fantastic! I thought custard was going to be really difficult to make with all the steeping the milk, baking in a water bath, etc. but actually it was extremely easy and pretty foolproof. SO...if I ever need to make custard again (for someone else obviously!) I will certainly turn to this recipe!

My poor dad LOVES spoon desserts: custards, flan, puddings, creme brulee- but my mom and I really don't like them at all- and since we are the primary bakers/dessert makers in the family he pretty much never gets these desserts unless he's at a restraunt (don't feel too bad for him though- my mom is an amazing baker- so he gets plenty of delicious non-spoon dessert treats!). Anyway, back to the recipe- I made this custard for my dad and he really loved it. I had read that some of the other bakers found the lemon flavor to be extremely light so I ended up infusing the milk with the zest of one lemon (as the recipe dictates) and then rubbing the zest of another lemon into the sugar. I also added 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract. These additions seemed to amp up the flavor just enough to give the custard a light, but decidedly lemony flavor.

I think the real triumph with this recipe is the texture of the custard. Even though I do not personally like it, I could tell that the consistency was exactly what one would look for in a custard. It is thick and firm, like flan, not creamy like pudding. All in all, I think this recipe was a success and very easy to make (oh and it was sort of nice to make something that didn't tempt me like crazy the minute it came out of the oven: see Chocolate Whisky Cake!).

TWD: Chocolate Whisky Cake (with a secret ingredient)

2009-03-03T22:56:00.006-06:00

Sorry this post is late, my internet has been acting up for days- I'm finally back online now!

Ok so I know this cake looks mysteriously similar to the Daring Bakers cake I posted right before it- but it was actually really quite different. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Lyb of And then I do the Dishes (you can find the recipe on her blog). This cake was AMAZING! Seriously, I am having a very difficult time not eating the entire thing by myself and I cannot wait to make it again. The cake actually calls for Armagnac but as I walked down the liquor aisle of the grocery store at 7:45 AM with my one year old child and burgeoning pregnant belly I didn't immediately see Armagnac or any type of Cognac- instead I just grabbed an inexpensive bottle of whiskey and checked out as quickly as I could! I'm not a huge alcohol drinker when I'm not pregnant (which is starting to feel like never, by the way) and I definitely know almost nothing about liquor so I was not interested in buying a big, expensive bottle of it just to bake a cake. Well, apparently many of the TWD bakers felt the same way because most of them ended up using whiskey as well!

Anyway, back to the actual cake and the secret ingredient- prunes! That's right! Prunes! Dried plums in a chocolate cake! Don't be deterred by the bad reputation that prunes often have- they are delicious in this cake- of course, they are soaked in liquor, so that might help a little. The other really great ingredient in this cake is the ground pecans- it gives a little nuttiness to the chocolate and helps to give the otherwise extremely fudgey, moist cake a little bite.

I have to admit that I used semi-sweet chocolate for both the cake and the icing even though the recipe called for bittersweet but it turned out great anyway. I really loved this cake- I think it is the best chocolate cake I have ever made! Thanks so much to Lyb for picking this gem of a recipe out for us to bake!

Daring Bakers: Chocolate Valentino and Fresh Raspberry Ice Cream

2009-02-27T20:12:00.012-06:00

Yay, I finally got back to baking with the Daring Bakers! Even though I made the recipe on Valentine's Day- I am posting late...ooops! Helen Mae's 1st birthday party was on Saturday so I have been in overdrive getting everything ready. I'm so glad that morning sickness is now a distant memory (ok, not that distant....but it's over none the less!) and that I can finally handle the smell of, well, everything! The February 2009 challenge was hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They chose a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan along with the decadent cake we were required to make ice cream of any flavor. I have eaten flourless chocolate cake before, but I've never actually made one myself so I was excited about this challenge. Immediately I knew that I wanted to make a fresh raspberry ice cream to go with the cake- not only are raspberries and chocolate a wonderful combination- it was also the perfect way to Valentine's Day-up the dessert enough to serve it to my sweetheart on Feb. 14h!

The biggest challenge for me came with choosing the right chocolate for the cake. We were given complete freedom about what brand and type (milk, semi-sweet, bittersweet, etc.) of chocolate we wanted to use but we were also warned that the cake would taste exactly like the chocolate we picked. So I decided to do a little taste test with some good quality chocolates:

I picked up these bars of chocolate and decided to do a blind taste test- well the milk chocolates were decidedly too sweet and creamy for the cake and the bittersweet chocolate, though deliciously rich, was not quite sweet enough (the cake has no added sugar in it)- but the semi-sweet darker chocolates were just right. I narrowed it down to the World Market brand and this really wonderful bar of Bolivian chocolate-which ultimately won out. The chocolate was expensive but it was a fair trade product and I really want to try to support fair trade whenever I can.

The cake was so easy to throw together! I was a little worried about folding in the egg whites because I knew that if I deflated the batter the cake would not turn out- but everything worked out great! We were warned that the cake would fall quite as it cooled- and mine did, but it also held it's shape. The cake's texture was very dense, almost like fudge. I saved the remainder of mine for 3 days in the refrigerator and it became even denser but not dried out. I loved the deep flavor that the dark chocolate imparted but my sister wants me to try it again with a sweeter chocolate next time which I'm definitely going to try out- I actually would love to try it with an even more bitter chocolate too!

For the ice cream I used an extremely easy vanilla ice cream recipe and simply added 2/3 cup fresh raspberry puree (I strained out the seeds). The ice cream was delicious- it was not that overly sweet fake raspberry flavor that most of us think of, instead it was earthy and light.

Everyone enjoyed the cake and ice cream- but I think Helen Mae might have been the biggest fan! Here she is sharing with her Pop Pop:

Chocolate Valentino Cake Recipe, adapted from Chef Wan.

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

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.
While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
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).
With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
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}
Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
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.
Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Raspberry Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup raspberry puree with seeds strained out

mix first four ingredients and pour into ice cream maker. Allow the mixture to churn for 15 minutes then add the raspberry puree. Churn for 10 more minutes. Remove ice cream and eat immediately if you like it soft or put in an air tight container and allow ice cream to set in the freezer (about 2 hours).

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.

TWD: Devil's Food White Out Cake

2009-02-16T22:18:00.006-06:00

Ok let me just say that I was deliriously excited when i saw that Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater picked the cake featured on the cover of Baking From My Home to Yours for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe! And now allow me to say that I was sadly disappointed at the outcome of my cake. It was NOT a bad cake- let me just say that- but I can't honestly say that I thought it was a good cake either.

The cake itself was pretty flat and a little dense for my taste- not exactly what I envision when I think of Devil's Food. Even though the recipe tells you to split both cakes in half so that there are four layers (one is crumbled for the decoration on the exterior of the cake)- I got too nervous about splitting them because they were so flat to begin with. I ended up making it a two layer cake and simply used the crumbs from the domes of the two cakes. The one very delicious aspect of the cake was the bits of chopped chocolate that become solid once the cake cools- a wonderful little treat in the dense crumb. The flavor of the cake was actually pretty good too. It was deeply chocolaty.

Now, the icing. I don't really know what to say about this icing because I think I had such a different idea about how it would turn out that I convinced myself that I did it wrong. Dorie describes it as a fluffy, marshmallow like consistency- and I feel like mine tasted a little too much like whipped egg whites with sugar. It just seemed wrong- and perhaps I am totally niave about this meringue-style icing but I really didn't like it. I actually made it twice because I worried that I hadn't let my sugar syrup get all the way to 242 F- but the second batch turned out nearly identical to the first.

I will say this: the cake looked beautiful once assembled (unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the inside of the cake- so I'll leave you with some pictures of Helen Mae dressed for our summery New Orleans style winter weather). I would consider making a version of this cake again but I will not make the icing again- it ended up being so frothy and I really am more of a sugary, dense, buttercream type of a girl- it would actually be pretty delicious with a thick whipped cream too!

Hello Sunflowers!

2009-02-10T11:39:00.004-06:00

Sorry- no Tuesdays with Dorie post today- but definitely check out the blogroll to see the Floating Islands that the rest of the TWD bakers made! Instead, I finally broke out Hello Cupcake! by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack and made these adorable sunflower cupcakes. My mom gave me this great book for Christmas and I have probably looked at the pictures cover to cover about 10 times- the ideas are just too cute! The centers are mini oreos and regular sized oreos and the rest is just colored buttercream.

I decided to go with the recipes in the book for Perfect Cake-Mix Cupcakes and Almost-Homemade Vanilla Buttercream. I'm not usually a big fan of semi-homemade type recipes, but the cupcakes turned out great (the additions to the box mix really make a difference). The buttercream was good too- but I ended up adding a lot of extra powdered sugar to get it to the right consistency. The buttercream was very easy to work with- it spread really nicely and it was not too difficult to pipe either. I've been pouring over the book trying to decide if I want to do one of the cute designs for Helen Mae's upcoming 1st birthday!

Perfect Cake-Mix Cupcakes

1box (18.25 oz) cake mix (French Vanilla, devil's food, or yellow)
1 cup buttermilk (in place of the water called for on teh box)
Vegetable Oil (in the amount called for on the box)
4 large eggs (in place of the number called for on the box)

Follow box instructions, putting all of the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer. Fill 24 standard paper-lined muffin cups and bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the baking tins, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool completely.

Almost-Homemade Vanilla Buttercream

1 container (16oz) marshmallow fluff
3 sticks of unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus additional sugar if necessary (like I said before, I used WAY more!)

Spoon the marshmallow fluff into a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low. Gradually add the butter pieces, beating well after each addition, until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and the confectioners' sugar. Scrape the bowl well to incorperate.

TWD: World Peace Cookies

2009-02-03T17:46:00.005-06:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Jessica of Cookbookhabit (you can find the recipe for World Peace Cookies on her blog and in Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book, Baking From My Home to Yours). Dorie praises these cookies as some of the best ever- she ranks the recipe to the Toll House Chocolate Chip recipe in importance. So of course I was a little skeptical. I mean Chocolate Chip Cookies are pretty darn important in the world of baked goods. Well, I have to hand it to her- these are really, really exceptional cookies. They are so chocolatey- containing both cocoa and chocolate pieces- and the consistency is truly wonderful. They are similar in some ways to a shortbread or a sandy but they are just a bit chewier and the chunks of chocolate break the texture up wondefully!

Like most of the TWD bakers, I was surprised at the crumbly nature of the dough- but with the use of waxed paper the logs came together easily. I chilled my logs for about eight hours and when I took them out I found them easy to slice. Oh and just as a side note- the dough on it's own is fabulous!! And no eggs- so no need to worry about salmonella so taste away!

The cookies spread more than I thought they would- but I kind of like the little rustic rounds. Anyway, I'm definitely going to be adding this recipe to my Christmas cookie repetoire- they are easy to make, delicious, and really quite different from most chocolate cookies that I've tried!

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

2009-01-27T11:16:00.005-06:00

Ok, let me just say one thing I like is a cake that commits. If you are going to call yourself a chocolate cake, you better be darn chocolaty. If you are a coconut cake... be choc full of coconut. When I was planning my wedding I wanted a traditional almond flavored white wedding cake- not a white cake or a yellow cake- but a truly almond flavored cake. That being said- this cake commits. It is a ginger extravaganza! Three forms of ginger go into it: freshly chopped ginger, candied ginger, and ground ginger, making it the gingeriest cake I have ever tasted.

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Heather of Sherry Trifle (you can find the recipe on her blog and also in Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan). Like I said before- this is one gingery cake! But it's also got melted chocolate and chopped chocolate in it and is topped with a very light ganache-like frosting of chocolate and coffee. The combination is pretty deadly! Like Dorie says in the book- this cake tastes like Christmas.

The first thing that I noticed when I read the recipe was how many ingredients the cake calls for-and I'll admit that part of me didn't want to buy three types of ginger, molasses, and buttermilk (things I rarely keep on hand) but I really like to try to stick to the recipe the first time I make it- so I dutifully went out and bought them all. I'm actually really glad I didn't omit or substitute anything because I think each ingredient was necessary to this cake- it just had such a well rounded flavor and beautiful crumb! So another success with Dorie! Oh and I really am going to make an effort to post more- because once a week is pretty lame, even for a pregnant woman!

TWD: Berry Surprise Cake

2009-01-19T22:30:00.009-06:00

I'm so glad I decided to make this cake! I really love baking with Tuesdays with Dorie, I know I've said this before, but it nudges me (I don't want to say forces because I really love doing it!) to bake things that I really wouldn't consider baking if I were not in the group! This cake was selected by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen and you can find the recipe on her blog and of course in Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Ok let me just say that as anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows- I dislike cream cheese...strongly. So that's the number one reason I might not have tried this cake on my own- another reason is that I'm very childlike in my tendencies toward visual aids and this recipe does not have a beautiful, full page, color picture with it- so it was hard for me to visualize the steps of building the cake. Well, the cream cheese in the filling was a little bit strong for me- but luckily I had my fearless and ever-hungry assistant to aid me in eating my cake:

Seriously- Helen Mae could not get enough of the decadent, creamy filling- and my family concurred- so I have to believe that it was in fact an excellent filling for the non-haters of cream cheese. As for building this "surprise" cake- it really wasn't bad at all. The cake was made up of five components: a genoise cake, a cream cheese/whipped cream filling, fresh berries, a syrup, and a whipped cream covering.

The genoise cake came together really beautifully. My biggest concern was whipping the egg and sugar mixture to the appropriate consistency and then maintaining the fluffiness as I incorperated the dry ingredients and butter- but this was honestly not difficult at all.

The filling, berries, and whipped cream topping were all extremely easy to throw together. The syrup, while extremely easy to make, didn't really seem necessary in my opinion. Now, I feel like I shouldn't say this with any kind of authority, because I must admit that it did nothing to hurt the cake- but I did use it- so I don't know if something might have ended up differently if I did not use it...I guess I'll have to try it sans syrup next time to know for sure.

Anyway, the part that was a little nerve wrecking was hollowing out the cake for the berries and filling. Because the cake was so easy to work with, I had no problems cutting the top off or hollowing out the middle and the cake held up beautifully once it was filled and frosted.

I kept thinking about how this would be such a great dessert for 4th of July- you can fill it with any berries and strawberries and blueberries would look very festive amidst the fluffy white filling.

TWD: French Pear Tart and Why I Have Been MIA...

2009-01-06T00:19:00.004-06:00

I'm back! I feel so bad that I have let myself slip like this- but the important thing is that I'm back now! To be honest, the reason that I have been so absent these last few months is that I'm pregnant again! Yep, baby #2 will be here in July- which means that I have been wracked with fatigue and extreme food aversions- however, I'm happy to report that I am now entering into the 2nd trimester so my energy is coming back and slowly but surely the thought of nearly every single type of food no longer makes me ill. I was especially happy that this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for the French Pear Tart sounded appealing to me because it was chosen by none other than Dorie Greenspan! How exciting is that?! Be sure to check out her blog for the recipe and to see how this thing should really look!!

The tart is really delicious! The crust is buttery and slightly sweet and the filling is comprised mostly of ground almonds, butter, sugar- of course this is all topped off by sliced fresh pears! While the pie baked I felt instantly transported back to my semester abroad in France. The scent of the buttery pastry mixed with the almonds was so reminiscent of the bakeries that stood on every street corner. This is the kind of dessert that tastes really complicated but is actually pretty simple and yields excellent results!

So I'll leave you with this:
Helen Mae... showing off one of her newest tricks: squinting. Note how she is blissfully unaware that in a few short months she'll be sharing the spotlight with baby peanut.

TWD: Grandma's All Occasion Sugar Cookies

2008-12-09T10:38:00.004-06:00

Sorry the posts have been few and far between- I hope I'll be able to pick up speed soon!

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein. I almost didn't get around to baking these, but my sister, Madeline, had to bring a baked good to a party at school today so she gave me the inspiration to press forward with Tuesdays with Dorie. I'm glad I decided to go ahead with these because it is a really good and simple recipe. There are not any real surprises in the ingredients and the method is also very straight forward. In short, they turned out exactly like a good sugar cookie ought to turn out- crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle with a subtle, sweet flavor.

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Since we made these for a Christmas party we rolled them out and did them as cut-out cookies, but I also like Dorie's suggestion of rolling the dough into a log and making slice and bake cookies. After much deliberation we decided not to frost the cookies and instead sprinkled them with colored sugar before putting them in the oven. Madeline wanted the cookies to be softer so we ended up baking them about 8 minutes instead of 9-11. All in all a great simple bake.

TWD: Linzer Sablés

2008-12-02T10:17:00.004-06:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was Linzer Sablés selected by Noskos of Living the Life! I was so excited to see that someone finally picked this recipe because it is one that I have been dying to make since I bought Baking From my Home to Yours. I love Linzer cookies- but the ones that I'm familiar with are more of a tender butter cookie with raspberry jam sandwiched between them- these cookies are different from the delicate little tea cookie that were always such a special treat. Dorie uses a spicey, nutty, and very sturdy cookie to sandwich together the jam. The dough is comprised of ground almonds, flour, sugar, butter, an egg, and the surprise guests: cinnamon and cloves.

Now, this isn't the first time that the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers have encountered Dorie's masterful approach to combining spices with sweet fruit spreads (and even chocolate)- but again, I was a little ambivilant about whether or not the strong aromas of cinnamon and more particularly cloves would overpower the sweet and tart jam. And...again I worried for nought. This is a wonderful cookie for Christmas and it's even fancy enough to present as dessert alongside vanilla ice cream at a dinner party (like I did last night- nothing like combining TWD with real life!). Raspberry jam is my favorite, but sadly my local grocery was out of it so I used a tart blackberry jam and I was very pleased with the results.

I was also really happy with the process of rolling the freshly mixed dough out between two pieces of waxed paper and then chilling the dough. In the past I have always chilled dough as a little disk and then rolled it out once it was cold enough- but I can assure you that I won't do that again! This way, you simply pop the rolled dough out of the fridge and cookie-cut away! As always with Tuesdays with Dorie, you can find this recipe on the blog of th person who selected it and in Dorie's wonderful book!

Daring Bakers: Caramel Cake

2008-11-29T19:51:00.006-06:00

Sorry I'm posting this late in the day but we got back from Thanksgiving in the Tennessee mountains late last night and Helen Mae is really struggling to get back into a good nap schedule. Good thing I had foresight to make this delicious and very rich cake last week before I left for our trip!

November's Daring Bakers challenge was Caramel Cake with Browned Butter Caramel Frosting. The difficult part of the cake was making the caramel syrup which was used in the cake batter as well as the frosting. Like any caramel, you have to let sugar and water boil together until it turns a dark amber color- what made this a little different from other things I've done with caramel is that once the amber color is attained you pour one cup of water into the caramel to stop the cooking. I read a lot of comments about how much it would sputter and pop when the water was added so I used oven mitts and a long sleeved shirt and I didn't have any problems. Right after the water was added it seemed like the sugar became a little solid but I kept whisking it over medium heat and eventually it turned into a really nice syrup.

Honestly, the flavor of the syrup itself was so good that I could have eaten it by the spoonful- but it really added a delicious taste to the cake. Many of the Daring Bakers complained about the extreme sweetness of the cake and the frosting so I used regular salted butter instead of unsalted and mine turned out with a really great flavor.

I have not had much success with browning butter in the past because I'm always so worried that it's going to burn that I take it off the stove before it actually browns. But I was determined this time to get it right- this little tutorial on All Recipes helped me quite a bit. I strained the butter through a sieve like the directions indicated and I think I ended up straining out most of the salt that was in the butter- so that it was too salty or too sweet.

Caramel Cake Recipe Courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon

Recipe published from Bay Area Bites

Hosts/Co-Hosts for this month's challenge:

Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity

Alex of Blondie and Brownie

Jenny of Foray into Food

Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go

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 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.

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.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

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

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

TWD: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

2008-11-22T21:57:00.004-06:00

Vibi from La Casserole Carree chose Thanksgiving Twofer Pie for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. I would have loved to have brought this to Thanksgiving dinner in Tennessee but I didn't have access to a kitchen for a long period of time and the pie would not have lasted from Saturday until Thursday- so alas, I had to make the Thursday before Thanksgiving. I thought of it as a sort of warm up for the big day. This pie is such a great idea that it's kind of crazy that it hasn't become a more popular Thanksgiving dessert. It is a mix of pumpkin pie on the bottom and pecan pie on the top- a perfect pairing!

Now this was also my first time using Dorie's pie crust recipe- and I have to say that I'm a bit undecided as to wether or not I like it yet! The crust came together very easily in the food processor. It uses a mix of (mostly) butter and (a bit of) shortening- so you get the buttery taste with a little more forgiving dough. If you had asked me what I though of the crust at this stage:

I would have undoubtedly said "I love it! I won't go back to my old standard!" but after I pre-baked the crust it had some little rips on the sides which was somewhat disapointing.

Then the even stranger thing was that the recipe called for pre-baking the crust for about 28 minutes and then baking the pie for something like 45 minutes- so that poor crust was in the oven for over an hour! I ended up putting a crust shield on top of it for the last 20 or so minutes but I still found it to be very dark brown. I can't say that it tasted like I'd burned it exactly, it was just very close to edge...

The fillings were fantastic though! I loved the consistency and taste of the creamy pumpkin filling and the delicious crunch and flavor of the pecan topping! I honestly love that combo! I think I'll try prebaking for a shorter period of time when I make this pie again- and I will be baking this again- I don't think I can go back to regular pumpkin pie ever again!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-11-22T21:30:00.003-06:00

This is going to be a short post because we're heading out to Sewanee, TN in the morning to spend Thanksgiving week with the in-laws! I can't wait for them to see how much our little Helen Mae has grown up. I have been seeing a lot of posts about pumpkin cookies on the blogs lately- and I had never tried them before- so since I'm such a big pumpkin fan I decided to make the most popular recipe listed on All Recipes for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These cookies are made with oil instead of butter and the consisentency is much more cake-like than cookie-like. The flavor is very good- the spices and chocolate go well together- but I've never been a huge fan of cakey cookies. So, the veredict: I doubt I'd make these again, but I can't pretend that they weren't all eaten up! So have a happy Thanksgiving everyone- I'm going to have a few posts go up while I'm gone but I won't have any internet access in good ole' rocky top so I'll have to catch up with everyone when I return!

Famous Cake Balls

2008-11-20T09:09:00.008-06:00

Ok, I know everyone and their mother has blogged about these cake balls, cake truffles, cake pops, or whatever you want to call them. Well, there's a reason. They are darn good! I initially saw them a few years ago on someone's blog while I was planning my wedding- I can't remember the woman's name or the blog- but she was going to make these little cake truffles as wedding favors for her wedding. I was intrigued, but with the craziness of wedding planning- I of course forgot about them completely. Then, months after my wedding, I saw them again on Bakerella's Blog. And let me tell you, Bakerella is the absolute queen of the cake balls! Her's are like teeny tiny peices of artwork! Anyway... in August I decided to make the cake balls for my grandfather's birthday party. They came out yummy- but not nearly as beautiful as I had hoped- but all and all I was happy with the results.

But there was one person in my family who loved the cake balls quite intensely. So much so, in fact, that she asked me a few weeks after the party if I'd be making them again soon. This was my cousin, Valerie. Now, Valerie and I have a special relationship because I am the oldest cousin on my mom's side of the family, and Valerie is the youngest. When I was four years old I was the flower girl in Valerie's parents' wedding AND when I got married, everything came full cycle, and Valerie was my flower girl.

Last week was Valerie's 6th birthday. She had a party at the stables in City Park and all of the children got to ride the horses (sadly, Helen Mae, is still a bit too petite for horse rides but she did enjoy being a spectator). Well, I decided that I simply could not arrive at the party sans cake balls- so I whipped some up- this time I had more realistic expectations about how pretty they'd turn out (I am certain that mine will never be smooth and perfect like dear Bakerella's) but I knew they'd be tasty! I made chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and this time I dipped them in melted semi-sweet chocolate instead of the candy melts or chocolate bark that Bakerella recommends- I figured that mine would look imperfect anyway- so I might as well go for the best tasting quality instead!
Wow, the real chocolate makes a huge difference- so if you are like me and can't make a pretty cake ball to save your life, please try these out with real melted chocolate! The coating is a bit thicker than what you get with the candy melts- but who cares? I mean it's a thicker layer of chocolate! So Happy Belated Birthday Valerie, my biggest cake ball fan!

TWD: Black and White Arborio Rice Pudding

2008-11-18T07:47:00.005-06:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Isabelle of Les Gourmandises d'Isa. I have never been a huge pudding fan- but my dad loves it- so I was excited to make rice pudding for him. I have never made pudding of any sort, so I had no idea what to expect. I sort of think something might have been flawed in this recipe because mine turned out disasterously. It wasn' t like it was just a mediocre recipe- it absolutely didn't work- like the measurements were off or something. I blame myself because I have never worked with rice pudding so it was really difficult for me to notice if it was coming together or not.

Dorie Greenspan actually posted on the question and answer section of this week's recipe on the TWD site to say that the cooking time was wrong in the book and that it should be extended from 30 minutes to 55 minutes. Well, first of all, I was pretty star-struck that she posted that for us! Secondly, I read it before I made the pudding, and it still did not turn out at all! Mine sat overnight in the refridgerator and it was like rice soup in the morning. I even tried straining it, but it clearly lacked the creaminess of rice pudding.

I made half vanilla and half chocolate and the flavor was really delicious- if the consistency had been right this would have been a great dessert. Anway- this is my first disapointment with Dorie's book- her recipes always work great for me- so I'm hoping it was just a fluke and a result of my extreme inexperience with rice pudding! Check out the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers because some of them had great success with this recipe!

Holla! for Pumpkin Challah

2008-11-15T07:14:00.005-06:00

Ok sorry for the cheesy title but every time my sister said "challah" she would say "challah!" as in "challah at ya' boy!". Ok, on to bigger and better things. This was my first time making challah- and although this is not a very traditional recipe (because of the pumpkin and spices added to it) I know that I definitely want to make it again! This wonderful recipe comes from the very talented and very creative, Alejandra, of Alway Order Dessert. Her blog is such a pleasure to read! When she mentioned eating pumpkin challah french toast in a post about making the perfect bacon all I could think about was that pumpkin challah- forget bacon! Well, to my delight, she posted about the challah only days later!

So I went out and bought all of the ingredients so that I'd have them on hand when the urge to spend the day watching dough proof hit me. And hit me it did- I don't know how I sensed it- but my little helper, Helen Mae, was in a particularly helpful mood last Tuesday. She took two (2) real (more than 20 minute) naps on Tuesday (I'm not lying)- leaving me with plenty of time to get these glamorous loaves ready to pop out of the oven by 4:00! Just in time for Helen Mae's dinner: She loves pumpkin challah! I mean she really loves it!

Anyway, the bread came out beautifully in texture (my loaves pale in comparison to Alejandra's beautifully braided ones!). Oh, and don't be nervous about the amount of spice in the recipe- it seems like a lot of cinnamon and ginger- but it tastes like the perfect amount. This is not a sweet as in sugary challah- so if that is what you are expecting you can adjust the amount of sugar. I thought it was best the morning after I made it but it was also wonderful the morning after that, toasted with butter.

I took the liberty of detailing (at least part of the) process with pictures, in the case that you, like me, have not made challah before, and were wondering what the stages might look like (a bit of hubris on my part- because for all I know this is exactly how the stages should not look! but, my the bread was delicious- so let's go on that!)

Yeast mixture after it sat for 15 minutes:

After the second rise:

The "sea creature" getting ready to be braided-oh and you should really try this six stranded braid- it isn't any more difficult than a three stranded braid:

braids getting ready to proof:

braids getting ready to be put in the oven:

final product:

So make this challah and "challah at ya' girl" if you do!

TWD: Kugelhopf

2008-11-11T08:08:00.006-06:00

Like most members of Tuesdays with Dorie I took one look at this week's recipe for Kugelhopf, selected by Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl, and wished I had a Kugelhopf pan. I even thought about going out and buying one- but I wanted to be sure that I liked the recipe first- I mean if it was awful then what would I do with the pan? Well, problem solved, I made the Kugelhopf in a bundt pan and it turned out very very ugly and very very delicious! So now I have to buy a Kugelhopf pan because this pastry is too good to be ugly! So if anyone wants to buy me an early Christmas present click here. Nah, actually, I still feel kind of guilty owning a cake pan meant for baking one specific type of item!

A kugelhopf is a cake that comes from the Alsace region of France- it tastes remarkably similar to brioche (probably why I loved it). Now, I think I loved the cake because I was expecting it to taste like brioche (like Dorie mentioned) not a sweet cake with a fine crumb- it is really more like a very buttery tasting bread. It is definitely best straight out of the oven brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar. But if you want to serve it for breakfast, like I did, you'll have to get up at 3:30 am, like I did, to take the dough out of the refridgerator and let it rise in the cake pan for two to three hours. It was easy for me to get up that early, because a special little friend of mine, Miss Helen Mae, is having a smidge of trouble staying asleep during the night these days- so, happily, I was up at 3:30 am.

This morning (even though I had wrapped the leftover half of the cake in tin foil) it was quite dry. But this my friends was no sad discovery. Not at all! It meant Kugelhopf french toast for breakfast!

Peanut Butter Criss-Cross Cookies

2008-11-08T22:42:00.008-06:00

These are such a perfect lunchbox cookie- or a good cookie for an after school snack- something about them just begs to be served to children. The funny thing is that I don't remember my mom ever really making peanut butter cookies when I was little. Don't get me wrong, my mom is a fantastic baker and she always taught us that baking from scratch was the way to go- I never encountered slice and bake cookies until I had them at a friend's house in high school! She just didn't really make peanut butter cookies. I don't know why. She likes them. I like them.

Anyway, I digress. I ate peanut butter pretty much every single solitary day of my pregnancy. Fo' real. I ate it on bagels, on crackers, on apples, straight out of the jar sprinkled with a few chocolate chips (yeah it got that bad). This may have had something to do with a ten-pound-in-one-month-weight-gain that I had in my second trimester. I'm not kidding- ten pounds- one month- not even the last part of the pregnancy: I cried as I waited with Derrick for my OB to arrive after the nurse scolded me. I convinced myself that it was going to be straight up health food and prenatal workout dvds for the next 19 or so weeks- and I really stuck to it- except for the peanut butter. But I convinced myself that peanut butter was just a fattening health food, after all it's packed with protien right? A pregnant woman can convince herself that any craving is related to something the baby needs.

So, after Helen Mae was "from my womb untimely ripped", I decided it was buh-bye to peanut butter for some time- at least until I could squeeze back into my non-elastic maternity waistband jeans. Well, I'm sad to report that that day has not yet come exactly- I mean they fit, errr... button, but they sure look different now. And guess what?! I bought peanut butter anyway! And I made these phenomenal peanut butter criss-cross cookies from Cookie Madness! They were great- and I feel newly liberated about my muffin top! Ok, the last part is not true- but whatever- the cookies were perfect- and who wants to look like a thin young beauty once she reaches the ripe old age of twenty-three anyway?!

In closing, this makes me laugh out loud everytime I hear the phrase muffin top.