30 by 30: the countdown continues

The last post about my failed quiche really motivated me to kick it into gear this week!

Last night (after work, no less) I decided to tackle three things on my list. I made Julia Child's classic Boeuf Bourguignon, German Pretzel Bread, and Dulce de Leche Ice Cream. Being that I started pretty late after a run to the grocery store after work, I wasn't feeling overly confident that all components would work. But, for the sake of keeping my blog promise, I gave it my best...

Wow. It was just all so good. I don't even know what my favorite part was. The Boeuf Borguignon was so savory, and had layer upon layer of flavor. It was so worth the time. The pretzel bread had the most opportunities for disaster because I'm not very experienced with yeast breads. But, then again, that's why it was on my list. The bread was delicious. It had a salty, crunchy exterior, and the exterior was rich and doughy. A perfect compliment to the Boeuf, as it gave us something with which to sop up the extra sauce :)
Finally, the Dulce de Leche Ice Cream. I recently acquired an ice cream maker from a friend. And while it would have made the process easier, I would have had to freeze the barrel in advance. Since it was not fully frozen, the maker would not operate. Instead, I used the old fashioned meathod: Hand churning. This produced two outcomes: a light and irresistable ice cream, and a right arm so sore I could barely brush my teeth this morning. Oh well, all in the name of food!

Rather than typing out all three recipes here, I've included links below, followed by each recipes' picture. I'm very pleased with the first installment of this weeks' cook-a-thon. Stay tuned for tomorrow, I plan to try Beef Wellington and Cuban Pastellitos tonight!

Boeuf Borguignon 

Pretzel Bread

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

Sorry no pic for this one!

Finally

I'm finally getting around to posting!

Here's what my mother and I worked on for Christmas Day dessert:

Huge spread of mini desserts!

Strawberry shortcakes

Apricot Oat Bars

Chocolate Mousse Cups

 For Valentine's Day, I made my hubby and his friend huge filled cupcakes. I actually made them using a mini bundt pan then cut out a hole in the middle. I filled them with Mocha frosting and put the lid back on. The frosting was a yummy suprise!

 I also made mini cupcakes for his office

Aside from baking, most of my cooking has been for Abby. I'm loving making my own baby food! But, I have managed to get a few new meals into our bellies as well :) I guess I've been thinking Asian lately, I have Thai and Indian below!

Red Curry Chicken and Shrimp over Basmati Rice

Vegetable Dal

Catching Up

Here's what I've been working on lately:

Fruit tarts for a friend

Madeleines as a gift

Antipasta Platter for a birthday party

And a special dinner for my hubby: Lobster Ravioli in a Corn Cream Sauce, served with Cheese Toasts and a light salad.

Have a great weekend!!

Want S'more Brownies?

Ham Porter: Hey, Smalls, you wanna s'more?
Smalls: Some more of what?
Ham Porter: No, do you wanna s'more?
Smalls: I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?
Ham Porter: You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Alrite now pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good!

I love The Sandlot. Great movie. One of my favorites. It reminds me of my childhood, when my brother and I would ride our bikes around to meet up with our neighborhood friends. A pickup game of baseball was usually on the agenda. We all watched baseball, we played baseball, we grew up on baseball.

So, naturally, any movie centered around baseball was a must-see. Sure they weren't all great movies (Rookie of the Year?), but I still can't go a week without a few lines from The Sandlot or Major League. (The poor hubby- he's not as much of a baseball guy. So, most of my references go unnoticed) And hello?? Can anyone hear "This Magic Moment" and not think of Squints and his kiss with Wendy Peffercorn??

I've probably seen The Sandlot a few dozen times by now. It was on the other night, and I got to thinking about S'mores. Growing up in South Florida, there weren't many chances to make these delicious treats. Most of the time, they were made over the BBQ after the parents were done making dinner. Since I wasn't going to break out the BBQ just to satisfy my craving, I decided to make a s'more flavored treat.

Now, I will admit that I didn't make these brownies using my regular (cherished) brownie recipe. I used a box. That's right- I used a forbidden boxed mix. I didn't have a lot of time left in the evening after the trip to the grocery store for marshmallows and graham crackers. So, I piced up a box of brownie mix and decided to just jazz it up a bit. Next time, I'll be sure to go back to my recipe. I like homemade brownies so much better!

I broke up the graham crackers into crumbs using my mini food processor (love that thing!) and added 1 c. of the crumbs into the batter. Once the batter was set in the baking dish, I covered the top with marshmallows. The marshmallows browned nicely in the oven.

The brownies tasted good, but not like s'mores. The taste of the graham crackers was not apparent. I think next time, I will make a graham cracker crust to bake the brownie mix on. That way it will be more like a s'more. Without the graham cracker taste, it just tasted like brownies with marshmallows on top. It lacked purpose. They still tasted good, but I will definitely be giving this idea another try.

473...474...475!

I'm back! We are finally settled into our home, new appliances and all. For my first baking project in the new home, I volunteered to bake some goodies for our office holiday dessert party. I was to make 150 miniature cream puffs, 150 caramel pecan squares, and 150 chocolate mousse cups. I ended up with 25 extra mousse cups, making the grand total of 475 desserts. It was a LONG night! Thanks to C, L, and Z for their help!

Cream Puffs

I used this Pate e Choux recipe from Alton Brown. I find it to be the most versatile. I also used the pastry creme recipe used here. Once the puffs come out of the oven, pierce with a knife to release the steam. Once cooled, pipe pastry creme into puffs. Top with chocolate, if desired.

*I had to make this recipe 3 times to make 150 golf ball sized cream puffs.






Chocolate Mousse Cups
After several (failed) attempts at making the chocolate cups using mini muffin, wrappers, I decided to use candy molds. Instead of following directions on the package, I found better luck by melting the chocolate, then painting it into the cups using a pastry brush. I left each mold in the fridge for 5-10 minutes until set. They popped right out! I only had 16 molds, so it took awhile, but it was worth it!

Chocolate Molds:





Chocolate Mousse
10 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 ounces butter
5 egg whites
5 egg yolks
8 ounces heavy cream, whipped
1 ounce water
2 ounces sugar

Prepare a double boiler. First, melt the chocolate and butter over the water. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, 1 ounce sugar, and 1 ounce of water. Whisk together over the hot water for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until cool. In another bowl, combine the egg whites with the remaining sugar. Whisk over hot water for 5 minutes, until the egg whites are fluffy. Remove from head and continue whisking until cool. Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Then, fold in the butter chocolate mixture. Finally, fold in the whipped cream. Put into fridge to cool for at least 15 minutes.The mousse will fluff up a bit after cooling. At that point, pipe it into the prepared chocolate cups.

*I made 2 batches to fill 175 cups.

Caramel Pecan Squares

The idea for these came from a recent episode of Barefoot Contessa. She made her own version, which I used as a base recipe. I changed it to use orange blossom honey and 1/2 lb more pecans. I opted not to dip them in chocolate, as they were very sweet alone!

Crust
1 1/4 pounds unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla
4 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and granulated sugar until light. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients slowly into the batter. Work the dough into a 18 x 12 x 1 inch pan and press down evenly. Bake for 15 minutes, until crust is set. Do not allow it to brown. Remove from oven and prepare topping.

Baked Crust:



Topping
1 pound unsalted butter
1 cup orange blossom honey
3 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 1/2 lbs. chopped pecans

Combine butter, honey, zest, and brown sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat until the butter is melting, stirring often. Once the butter has melted, raise the heat and boil the mixture for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream and pecans. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. I suggest cutting the bars as soon as they come out of the oven. You will have to cut them again after they've cooled, but I found it to be much easier this way.

* I made 3 batches in order to have 150 small squares.

Topping going on Crust:


Fresh out of Oven:

All Marbled Up and Nowhere to Go

Yesterday, a coworker of mine told me about a marble cake that she had recently purchased. When she got home, she found the cake to be stale. Don't you just hate that? You spend all day thinking about something particular and nothing will satisfy that need! Well, later that night, the marble cake was on my mind. I decided to make a marble cake to bring to work.

I made batches of chocolate cake and yellow cake.



I first made a regular 9" round yellow cake with chocolate swirls.



Then, I made a chocolate bundt cake with yellow swirls.



I still had left over batter! So, I decided to make mini yellow cupcakes with chocolate swirls in my new mini muffin pan (thanks RP!).





I made 24 mini cupcakes, although I had a bit of leftover batter, so I could have probably made it to 30. But, it was getting close to midnight, and I was pretty tired. I brought the mini's and half of each cake to work for my co-workers to taste test. Consensus: Light, fluffy, and very tasty.



Chocolate Cake:

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
powder, plus more for dusting pan
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 325°F. Grease the bottom and sides of a cake pan and dust with cocoa powder.

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Pour into a small heatproof bowl and whisk in the 3/4 cup cocoa powder. Let cool to lukewarm.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high, slowly add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat for 30 seconds.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the cocoa mixture and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, stopping the mixture occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Tap the pan gently on a work surface to break up any air pockets. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes.

Vanilla Cake:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla extract


Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease and flour the cake pan.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla until combined. Fit the mixer with the flat beater. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and beat on the lowest speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, 15 to 20 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack and let cool.

Williams Sonoma

Mini Cheesecakes

These mini cheesecakes are quite tasty. The original recipe was good, but I added a little bit of vanilla extract, and liked the taste much better. I added a bit of raspberry glaze to mine, but they were very tasty on their own. I will definately make these again. They are small and easy: good for parties. Enjoy!

Mini Cheesecakes

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbs. plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract


Preheat an oven to 325°F. Lightly butter the wells of a mini cheesecake pan or a mini-muffin tin.

In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter and the 2 Tbs. granulated sugar and stir until blended. Divide the mixture among the prepared wells. Using the bottom of a shot glass or other small glass, press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the wells. Bake the crusts for 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool.

Reduce the oven temperature to 275°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the cream cheese and the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and beat on low speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the cream and vanilla. Beat until blended. Pour the filling into the crusts, dividing it evenly among the wells.

Bake until the filling is set, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to the wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
William-Sonoma Kitchens

Fudge Brownies

I like Martha Stewart's fudge brownie recipe from her book, Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. But, I like a really rich brownie. To her recipe, I add about 1/4 c. of chocolate syrup or fudge sauce (depending on what I have at the moment). I also follow the advice of a friend, who adds a chopped up candy bar on top of a boxed brownie mix to jazz it up a bit. I chop up one Tolberone bar to put on top of each batch of brownies. They really add to the brownies, both visually and texturally. These brownies usually go over very well with any crowd. Just make sure to have a tall glass of milk handy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
8oz bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/4 c. Chocolate syrup/fudge sauce
1 candy bar, coarsely chopped


Preheat the oven to 350. Butter/pam an 8-inch square baking pan or heatproof glass dish.

Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; stir frequently until chocolate and butter are melted, about 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat; let cool to room temperature about 10-15 minutes.

Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour, chocolate sauce, and salt.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Sprinkle candy bar bits evenly over the brownies. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

Elephant Ears

I haven't been able to try many new recipes over the past two weeks. The husband and I have been working on a project, which will hopefully be done soon. I'm trying to get back into the normal swing of things this week. I decided that I'll have a week of pastries, from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. Since I didn't have much time to bake today, I started with something quick and easy, elephant ears. While Martha recommends making your own pastry dough, I happen to have a box of frozen puff pastry ready to be used. I made bite sized pieces, that way I could have one or two with my coffee or tea. Yummy!

Elephant Ears

1 box of puff pastry (or you can be good and make your own)
1/2 c. cinnamon
3/4 c. granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out thawed pastry dough. Mix cinnamon and sugar together and spread over dough. Roll one side of the dough towards the middle, then roll the other side to meet the first. Cut into 1" slices, then dip one side of each pastry into the cinnamon sugar. Place pastries cinnamon sugar side up onto a cookie sheet lined with a silicone sheet or parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Allow pastries to cool on a rack.
Makes 20 regular sized pastries.
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

Pound Cake Panini's

So, I'm in love with Sticky, Gooey, Messy, Chewey by Jill O'Conner. It's pure heaven for chocoholics like myself. I purchased this cookbook last night and had to immediately try the following recipe. It was sooo good! I look forward to trying her other recipies!

1 loaf of pound cake
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp. Butter
Powdered Sugar

Slice the pound cake across the length of the loaf, to make large slices. Make sandwiches using the chocolate for the filling. Melt butter in a frying pan. Add sandwiches one at a time, turning them once, until edges are golden. Top sandwiches with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Note- I used my panini griddle to make mine. Instead of melting butter, I used Pam to coat my griddle.

Baked With Love...

It's my birthday! (real, not blog)

I have been a little down lately. Someone recently broke in and stole my beloved pet turtles. (I know, who steals turtles??) To cheer me up, my AWESOME husband decided to make me a birthday cake. Most of the time, I bake everyone a cake on their birthday. But then I have no cake on mine. So Joe spent all night last night in the kitchen while I watched TV- talk about a role reversal! I was banned from even helping. But, I did make him promise to take pictures of his creation in its various stages, for blogging purposes. So, just to be clear: I had nothing to do with the making or decorating of this cake whatsoever. I didn't even take these pictures. I was allowed to see it this morning, and I'm really looking forward to eating it! Without further ado, allow me to present:

My Birthday Turtle Cake



Ok, so Joe committed the cardinal sin of my kitchen and used boxed cake mixes and prepared frostings. But, as long as I'm not committing the sin, I guess it's ok. He baked 2 cakes, one chocolate and one vanilla. he put chocolate frosting in the middle, and covered it with buttercream frosting.



The first cake was cut down to be the body, while the second cake was shaped to be the shell.




He dyed the fondant green and striped on the shell markings.





Legs and a tail were added.He couldn't add a head because it wouldn't fit on my cake holder, and we would be transporting this cake to my birthday dinner. So, he added some eyes peeking out from underneath the shell, as if the turtle were hiding. This is very realistic, as it is how my turtles always reacted to him!



I can't wait to eat this cake! And, it was SUCH a sweet gesture. Even though I didn't make this cake, it was so nice that I had to post about it.
Thanks Joe!!!