The Little Dancing Baker

Wow, it's been a while...

2011-01-23T01:12:00.000-08:00

So it's been a VERY long time since I last posted but something inspired me to start blogging again. I cant guarantee i'll be doing this everyday, BUT I at least want to try and get back into it.

In the last year and a half i've graduated high school, and I now attend the Culinary Institute of America in St.Helena California. Im studying to be a pastry chef! It's an incredible experience, and i'm learning So much about baking and pastry.

Here's a non baking related recipe my mom and I made for dinner the other night. It;s from Bon Apetit Magazine and it was AMAZINGGG. Takes a little bit of work, but its so worth it! Here you go :

Coriander chicken tostadas with refried beans and grilled fennel

Ingredients
beans
2 15-ounce cans pinto beans (preferably organic), liquid drained and reserved
1/2 cup chopped white onion
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse kosher salt
fennel and chicken
1 large fresh fennel bulb, trimmed, cut through core into 1/3-inch-thick slices (some slices will separate)
6 tablespoons safflower oil, divided
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/3 cup coriander seeds (about 1 ounce), coarsely crushed in plastic bag
assembly
6 purchased corn tostada shells
3 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce
6 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced
6 fresh cilantro sprigs
Lime wedges
ingredient info
Chipotle chiles are often sold in a spicy tomato sauce called adobo. They're available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Latin markets.
Preparation
beans
Place beans and next 5 ingredients in processor; blend to chunky puree.
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add bean mixture and 1/2 cup reserved bean liquid. Stir over medium-low heat until warmed through, adding more bean liquid if dry, about 5 minutes. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Rewarm before using.
fennel and chicken
Brush fennel slices with 11/2 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fennel slices. Sear until lightly browned and crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Cut into strips. Reserve skillet.
Using rolling pin, flatten chicken between sheets of plastic wrap to 1/4- to 1/3-inch-thick cutlets. Spread out coriander seeds on sheet of foil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; coat with coriander seeds.
Heat 41/2 tablespoons oil in reserved skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, if necessary, add chicken to skillet. Sauté until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to work surface. Cool 5 minutes. Cut chicken in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/3-inch-wide strips.
assembly
Top each tostada shell with beans, lettuce, radishes, fennel, chicken, and cilantro sprig. Serve with lime wedges.

ENJOY!!

Long time No...post?

2009-09-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

WOW...it feels like it's been FOREVER since I was last on here! I've just been SO busy

with just, life, i guess. I havnt had much time to just sit and write like this...

but all that time I havn;t stopped baking once! I've been working,

and cooking and baking non-stop!

I started my senior year in high school(draggg),

so i've been focusing a lot on that, and college apps and what not.

SO stressful=[[..but hopefully all the hard work we've done("laughs")

will eventually pay off!

However I do want to get back into the whole blogging thing when i'm

not CRAZY stressed out. Because doing stuff like this really does

help calm down all the stress of life.

ANYWAYS!...the picture up there is from a batch of cupcakes I made

for my best friends birthday the other day. They're "coffee and donut cupcakes"!

How cute is that!? It's really not much of a recipe though.

I just took a good recipe for coffee flavored cupcakes, looked up a coffee

buttercream frosting, then top it all off with store-bought

mini donuts! I dipped the donut tops into the buttercream(hehe)

and this gave me an excuse to go ALL OUT and decorate each one

with tons and tons of sprinkles (or whatever

you happen to have in your pantry!)

Everyone LOVED them. And my best friend couldnt believe

how cute, and fun they were! These would be great to make

for a kids birthday party, or even for sucking up to your boss

or coworkers at work!

Feels good to be back!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Little late on this post, BUT hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

My family and I went to our friends beach house in Malibu to watch some amazing fireworks right on the beach !

How beautiful is that?

Anyways, I brought dessert, and I made Martha Stewart's Fruited Cheesecake Flag, and Patriotic Ice cream Sandwiches(I forgot to take pictures of those).

You can find Martha's recipe here. But this cheesecake was absolutely AMAZING! It was so good, and it made a lot, so everyone kept going up for 2nds and even 3rds! It was a huge hit at the party! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Amazing Carrot Cake

2009-06-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

I made Sherry Yards( Executive pastry chef at Spago, Beverly hills) Carrot Cake for my dad for fathers day! The recipe is from her first baking book, which is absolutely amazing. The recipes in her book have NEVER failed me.

This cake was a HUGE hit with my family, everyone loved it. It was incredibly moist, the right texture and spice that a great carrot cake should have. And the frosting? AH, just amazing!

I have no recipe for you today, seeing as i'm a little too lazy to type it all out, but i highly recommend picking up Sherry's book if you can.

Hope everyone had a good fathers day!

TWD: Normandy Apple Tart

2009-06-08T20:55:00.001-07:00

Soo I know this weeks recipe was supposed to be the Parisian Apple Tartlets, but we were having a huge laker party at my house, and I needed to make something bigger than just the tarts.

When I saw the picture of this tart, I was sold on making it! The picture looked just beyond amazing. And it was not at all hard to do.

The finished tart came out wonderful, and I served it with a little vanilla ice cream. Everyone loved it! I would make this again for sure!

Next time, i'll try to make the tartlets, i'm sure those were amazing as well.

TWD: Chipster-Topped Brownies

2009-05-25T21:35:00.001-07:00

Yet again, this week's TWD recipe was AMAZING. Though, I was not surprised. I mean, how can you honestly go wrong with a layer of chocolate chip cookies baked ON TOP of a goey, chocolate-y BROWIE?! This was HEAVEN. I'd just like to give a HUGE shout out to Beth of Suppilicious for a great pick!

Since I had so many different baking chips I needed to use up, I just threw in handfuls of peanut butter chips, white chocolate chunks, and butterscotch chips along with the chocolate chips.

To say these were DEVOURED when they hit the table was an understatement. People were FIGHTING over them! It was actually quite hilarious to watch my friends and family go at it.

I will of course be making these again!..gonna try topping a square with some ice cream...oooh i'm baaaaad !

Mmmmmm...SO good.

CIA'S Key Lime Pie

2009-05-18T11:32:00.003-07:00

We were entertaining some family friends the other night for dinner. And my mom asked me to make some sort of fruity dessert. "Maybe a Key lime pie? or something?", she said.

I've never made anything out of my "Culinary Institute of America" baking book before, and when I saw how easy their Key lime pie recipe was, I decided on that.

This was absolutely the EASIEST pie ever to put together, and I couldn't believe how good it tasted! The key lime filling was perfect and had that sweet, yet tangy taste of key limes. Everyone loved it, so much so that they were all licking the pie plate after we'd finished it! If you need an easy, go to pie recipe. This is it.

Key Lime Pie

Baking at Home w/ The culinary institute of America

Graham Cracker Crust

10-12 graham crackers

2 tbsp. sugar

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Key Lime filling

4 large eggs

one 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lime juice, preferably from key limes

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. lightly spray a 9inch pie pan with cooking spray.

Crumble crackers in a food processor to a fine crumb. Or in a plastic bag. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. Stir together crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Use bottom of a glass or flat surface to press into a compact layer in pan covering bottom and sides.

Bake crust for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool while preparing filling.

Separate eggs into whites and yolks.

Combine condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks and blend. Pour filling into crust and bake until filling is set, about 15 minutes. Prepare meringue while filling bakes.

Beat egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl just until blended. Heat this mixture over simmering water until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture reaches about 110 degrees on a candy thermometer. remove from heat. whip the warmed egg white mixture until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Remove the baked pie from the oven and increase oven temp. to 450 F. spread meringue over the filling while the filling is still hot. make decorate peaks and swirls over surface.

return pie to the oven just long enough to lightly brown the meringue, about 5 minutes.

Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve chilled.

Happy Mothers day!

2009-05-11T15:47:00.001-07:00

For this years Mothers day, the fam and I went down to my aunts, in Newport beach for the day. And I was asked to provide dessert. So I made this Oreo Pound Cake, with Oreo Mousse.

The pound cake recipe, ill have for you later, but I will post this absolutely AMAZING Oreo Mousse topping that I serve, literally, ontop of EVERYTHING. My favorite use for it is on top of ice cream..but it's fantastic on whatever else you'd like!

Oreo Mousse

1 package oreos

1 8oz. pkg cream cheese- softened

1 lg tub cool whip

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Combine cream cheese and sugar till smooth. Add whipped cream and stir till combined. Crush oreos in plastic bag. They shouldnt be ground into a powder, chunks are best. Add oreos to cream and mix until just combined. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. This will also frost 30 regular cupcakes, or 1 layered cake.

I also made lemon bars, and my smores bars.

Everything came out great! And my whole family devoured everything!

Hope everyone had an amazing Mothers Day!

Me and my adorable little cousin. Yes, she's a crack up =]

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2009-05-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo! We had a spanish FIESTA in my Spanish class today in honor of this famous "Mexican battle"! My teacher brought in her indoor grills, and made us ALL cheese quesadillas, and we had chips and dip, and more great mexican food.

I brought dessert! I made Martha's Mexican Wedding Cookies, as well as her Tres Leches Cake.

Everyone loved them! Even my spanish teacher( who i'm CONVINCED totally does NOT like me) gave me so much praise! Yay for mexican food!!

Mexican Wedding Cookies

from Martha Stewart's Cookie Book

1 cup whole blanched almonds, plus 40 more

for decorating

2 cups plus 2 tblsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup(2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.

2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 large egg white, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread 1 cup almonds on baking sheet, toast until fragrant, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to bowl and set aside to cool.

2. Place almonds, flour, salt, and cinnamon in food processor, process until nuts are finely chopped, about 1 minute.

3. Beat butter and 1 cup confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla and almond extracts; beat until combined. Add chopped-almond mixture; beat on low speed until dough just comes together.

4. Roll dough into 20 1 1/2 inch balls; place on 2 clean baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

5. Place 40 remaining whole almonds and 1 tblsp. beaten egg white in small bowl. toss to coat. press 2 almonds into top of each cookie.

6. bake cookies until lightly browned around edges, about 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. transfer sheets to wire rack; let rest until cookies are cool enough to handle.

7. place remaining 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar in a fine mesh sieve. sift sugar over cookies, reserving any remaining sugar. return cookies to baking sheet. let them cool 15 minutes, and coat with sugar again.

I apologize for the horrible pictures, but i forgot my camera today!

But that's the sliced cake, with one of my cookies.

My plate..haha I like chips =P

Here's the recipe for Martha's Tres Leches Cake.

Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!

Olay!!

TWD: Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie (Tart!)

2009-04-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

It feels like FOREVER since I last updated, but i've just been crazy busy lately. Stressed

doesn't even begin to describe what things have been like for me...

BUTTT on a happier note!! I was able to do this weeks recipe!

Kim of Scrumptious Photography chose this Chocolate Cream Tart recipe, and wow is

all I can honestly say.

When I was reading the recipe, my eyes flickered to the "playing around" section,

and as soon as I saw the variation was "Chocolate COCONUT CREAM PIE", I was

off to my cabinet for the coconut! The variation was not that much different from

the regular tart except for the fact that before you add the chocolate cream,

there's a layer of creamy coconut custard smoothed on before.

It was absolutely amazing! "It's the best recipe you've made out of that book yet"

exclaimed my family as they licked their plates clean.

And I agree, this probably was one of my all time FAVORITE recipes i've made

from her, so far. There's no question in my mind that I'll make this again.

SOO good !

TWD: Banana Cream Pie

2009-04-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

YES! I'm SO happy someone FINALLY chose this recipe! Ever since I got this book, and

saw the picture of this pie, I've been looking for a reason to make this!

So first, i'd like to thank Amy of Sing for your Supper for deciding to make this.

And secondly, it was my dads birthday yesterday and one of his all time favorite

desserts is none other than Banana Cream Pie! So I though, perfect!

I've never made banana cream pie before, so looking at Dorie's recipe, I had to admit,

I was a little intimidated. But once I got the custard, and the pie dough ready, and going,

I started to feel a little more confident about it. And needles to say, it turned out

absolutely MAGNIFICENT in the end!

I loved the different twist on adding cinnamon and nutmeg to the custard.

Such a great and tasty addition! I was SO glad to see my dads face just

LIGHT up as soon as he took his first bite. That made me so extremely

happy that he and the rest of my family enjoyed it!

This was great recipe this week! Hope everyone enjoyed it as much

as I did!

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

2009-03-23T22:02:00.001-07:00

Sadly, I only took 1 picture of this cake. As it was completely devoured

by the rest of family as soon as it was made.

See, here in my house, we LOVE coffee cakes. Not just like, we LOVE them.

So after making, and eating this cake sliced warm with a hot

cup of coffee, I just sat back and watched as my entire family gobbled it all up.

It was quite a site to see.

Anyways, this was a GREAT recipe, super easy to make, and I had all the ingredients on hand already. I think i might just make another one of these babies

in a couple days...?

Hope everyone liked it as well!

"Making Banana Pancakes pretend like its the weekend now..."

2009-03-22T13:16:00.001-07:00

Even though it really is the weekend...hahh. Anywayssss, this is how I started off

my sunday morning today. With Ina Garten's Banana Sour Cream Pancakes.

A bunch of my girlfriends spent the night at my house, so I

decided to treat them with a nice, big breakfast this morning.

These pancakes were SO good. I love banana pancakes, and the banana

flavor in them was just amazing. I also wanted an alternative to regular

maple syrup, so I used Joy the Baker's Vanilla-Brown sugar syrup.

"SOOOOO GOOD", explained my half asleep group of friends.

Sadly, I only got to enjoy one of these, cause i'm such a great friend.

But they were definitely completely gone after I served them.

Go make these now!

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

from Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tblsp. sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup plus 1 tblsp. milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon zest

butter

2 ripe bananas, diced, plus more for serving

Vanilla Brown Sugar Syrup(recipe below)

Sift together dry ingredients in large bowl. In another bowl, wisk together sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add wet ingredients to dry ones, mixing only until combined. Melt 1 tblsp. butter in large skillet over medium-low heat till it bubbles. Ladle pancake batter into pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Put a couple slices of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes, then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out pan w/ paper towel, add more butter(or pam) and continue cooking till batter is done. Top with bananas, and drizzle with syrup!!

Vanilla Brown Sugar Syrup

from Joy the baker

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups water

3 tblsp. butter

1/8 tsp salt

1 tblsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine brown sugar, water, butter and salt in a 2 quart sauce pan and bring to boil, stiring until sugar is dissolved. Boil until syrupy and reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and vanilla, then let cool to warm or room temp.

Enjoy!

TWD: French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze

2009-03-17T17:00:00.001-07:00

It's tuesday. And you know what that means...TWD ! This weeks choice was

picked by Liliana of My cookbook addiction. And after reading the comments

about this cake/pound cake, and seeing all the GREAT reviews about it,

I couldn't wait to make it.

Of course, it was amazing. As is ALL of Dories' recipes!

I read her comments on what to serve this with, and one of her suggestions

was to pair it with Lemon Cream. And seeing ALL the fresh lemons

I'd just picked from our tree, it was a no brainer.

The lemon cream, slathered on top of the cake was fantastic. The cream had a

perfect, tangy, lemony kick, which went SO well with the cake.

I'd definitely make this again.

I'm such a great friend.

2009-03-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

It's one of my good guy friends 17th birthday tomorrow, so when he told me

it was vanilla cupcakes he wanted, I started to brainstorm what recipe to make for him.

I wanted something easy, yet delicious that he'd really like.

So I ended up picking this Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake recipe i've had.

These turned out absolutely AMAZING. What makes these "Cookie Dough"

Cupcakes is the little frozen ball of cookie dough placed in the center

of the cupcake, making it a little surprise when you bite into

the center! Makes eating them fun.

I made some extra,

and gave some to the little brother to have. He said they were

the best cupcakes i've ever made. So these will be going

to my friend for his birthday. Can't wait to see what he thinks!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

1 package yellow cake mix

1 package vanilla instant pudding mix

1 cup whole milk

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 package(1 pound) frozen cookie dough

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

3. blend with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds.

4. Increase the mixer speed to to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping down sides of bowl. Until well blended.

5. scoop heaping 1/4 cup batter into each cupcake cup. Cut the frozen pieces of dough in half to get 24 pieces. Place a piece of cookie dough on top of each cupcake. Place pans in oven.

6. Bake cupcakes until they are golden and spring back when lightly touched, 22-27 min.

Frost with desired frosting**, and DEVOUR.

**For the frosting, I cheated a bit, and used some store bought vanilla frosting, but you can use whatever type of frosting you want for these. Anything will taste great!

Cookies Cookies COOKIES !

2009-02-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

I love cookies. Who doesn't? I don't think i'd trust a person that doesnt like cookies.

My family got invited to a dinner party the other night, and since it was a nice,

casual dinner, i thought i'd go with a casual dessert.

I decided on these Oreo Chunk chocolate chip cookies from Cookie Madness.

And Martha Stewarts Oatmeal Raisin cookies from her cookie book.

BOTH these cookies were amazing, and everyone at the party totally DEVOURED

them. If you're looking for easy cookie recipes, these are them for sure.

Oreo Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Cookie Madness

6 oz butter, softened

1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp granulated sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

6-8 oreos, broken into thirds or fourths

pre-heat oven to 350.

cream butter and both sugars, Beat in the vanilla and egg. Add soda, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, and beat well to ensure the baking powder is well-distributed. Add the flour and stir until it's absorbed. Stir in the chocolate chips and cookies.

Using heaping tablespoon, drop cookies 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

from Martha Stewarts Cookies

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup plus 2 tblsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup(2 sticks) butter, room temp.

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup raisins

1. preheat oven to 350.Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

2. put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 min. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. add oat mixture; mix until just combined. mix in raisins.

3. using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

4. bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes, rotating halfway through. let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 min. let cool completely.

ENJOY!

TWD: Devils Food White-Out Cake

2009-02-16T17:51:00.000-08:00

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater.

I was insanely excited when I saw that we would be making the mouth watering cake that is the cover of the book!

The cake itself was not hard to put together, although, for some reason my layers didn't rise that high? Dorie says after the layers are cool, to cut them horizontally to make 4 layers. If I sliced those 2 cakes, the layers would be almost paper thin!

So I made another batch, and made 2 more layers...making the mistake of NOT slicing them horizontally. So while assembling the cake, the 3 layers were pretty thick. And like the picture, I piled on the frosting.

Well, while frosting the rest of the cake, I sort of ran out of frosting, so my mom suggested pushing the cake down, and using the frosting from the middle of the cake, to frost the rest of it.

...BAD IDEA. Although it worked at the time...when I sliced it, there was barely any frosting left on inside of the cake.

That little incident on the side, it still turned out great! Next time i'll make sure to slice the cakes like the recipe says.

Valentines Treats

2009-02-15T20:15:00.003-08:00

Sadly, I have no valentine. But luckily, my girlfriends and I had a MUCH better night.

I threw a little party at my house including dinner, and I of course supplied the desserts!

I made Dorie Greenspans chocolate cupcakes, and I also made Red velvet cupcakes as well.

Those got DEVOURED quite fast.

I also whipped up a batch of Martha Stewart's Oreo cookies from her Cookie book.

I tinted the creme filling pink in honor of Valentines Day !

These were a BIG hit. Whenever I make them, they always go FAST. And they definitely did.

Cream-filled Chocolate Sandwiches

from Martha Stewarts Cookie book

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for flattening cookies

10 tblsp butter, room temp

1 large egg. room temp

Vanilla creme(recipe follows)

1. preheat oven to 375 F. Into a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Add egg; beat to combine. with mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; continue beating until dough it well combined.

3.using a 1 1/4inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. dip bottom of a glass in sugar; press to flatten cookies about 1/8 inch thick.

4. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are firm, 10-12 minutes. rotating sheets halfway through. transfer baking sheets to wire rack to cool completely.

5. Place cream filling in a pastry bag. Place 1 tblsp filling onto flat side of half the cookies. place remaining cookies on top, and gently press on each to squeeze filling to edges.

Vanilla cream filling

1/2 cup butter, room temp

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, room temp.

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tblsp vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, cream butter and shortening until well combined. on low speed, gradually add confectioners sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 min. add vanilla and beat to combine. set aside at room temp until ready to use.

Hope everyone had a great Valentines day!

Wordless..Friday ?

2009-02-13T08:28:00.003-08:00

Nothing to say really...

Dad took this picture of me the other day...

Makin some Banana Cream Pie.

...Yep, SUPER attractive.

NOT..haha.

Have a wonderful friday!

Peabody's Snickerdoodle Blondies !

2009-02-10T20:25:00.001-08:00

I was looking through some of my favorite food blogs the other day, when I stumbled onto Peabody's wonderful blog.

The first thing I did when I saw this recipe was drop my mouth open in amazement. I've NEVER seen SNICKERDOODLE BLONDIES before. I knew I had to try them, and soon.

It's one of my dance team members birthday tomorrow, so these will be for her.

But you better bet I had my share before packaging them away!

I HIGHLY recommend trying these. Peabody says to serve them warm with ice cream...YUM! I just warmed mine up a little, and ate them that way. But next time, I will for sure be putting ice cream on top!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2 sticks butter, at room temp.

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 ounces Mascarpone cheese

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

3/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

2 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon sugar for coating (about 1/3 cup)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar and move pan around to make sure the bottom and sides are coated. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cream of tartar.

Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars. beat for 3 minutes. scrape down bowl.

Add mascarpone cheese and beat until fully incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.

Add vanilla, beat another 30 seconds.

On low speed add the flour mixture. Mix until fully incorporated.

Spread mixture into pan. Even out with spatula.

Sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven let cool on wire rack. Cut into squares.

ENJOY!

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

2009-01-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

This weeks tuesday with Dorie was chosen by Heather of Sherry Trifle.

I really really love a nice, spicy gingerbread. It makes you think of the holidays all over again.

When I saw this weeks choice was gingerbread, I got excited.

I decided, at the last minute to not put the chocolate icing on top, I think it was probably cause I was just lazy, but i'm sure it would've tasted great.

I had it for dessert, but the rest of my family nibbled on some pieces for breakfast the next morning. This was a great, tasty recipe!

Thanks Heather!

Brioche !

2009-01-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

No TWD this week, way too stressed with finals. =/

But I DID try a different recipe from Dorie's book. This Brioche recipe.

After making those sticky buns, I really got inspired to try and make breads.

So I went through Dories book and found this recipe.

I'm not going to lie, it does take work, and a lonnnng waiting time(hours for rising INCLUDING the overnight fridge chill). But let me tell you...it was SO worth it!

After they're out of the oven, you have the most amazing, mouth watering smell of fresh baked bread. My kitchen smelled like a pastry shop. It was fantastic.

It was really hard to wait until the loaves finished cooling, before my family and I sliced right into them. But that first, warm bite was alllllll worth it. Sweet, flakey, and DELICIOUS!

My parents even said it was one of the best breads they'd ever tasted! And it really was.

I sliced, and toasted these and served them with dinner. But they should really be toasted with jam and butter for breakfast. Mmmm.

I'm not going to post the recipe, cause it's way too long to type, but if you have Dories book(pretty much everyone), I highly recommend trying it.

Pecan Sticky Buns

2009-01-18T12:38:00.001-08:00

EVERYTIME my grandparents come over and i've made some dessert,my grandpa ALWAYS begs me to make him pecan stick buns. He tells me the stories of how when my mom was growing up he'd constantly make all these homemade breads, and rolls, and buns, and that sticky buns were the best thing he's ever made.

Well, i've never made sticky buns before, so I was very excited to start. This recipe is from the Better Homes baking book, and didn't look too hard to do. And to my excitement, wasn't at all!

My grandparents were just arriving as I was inverting them onto a plate, and the house smelled absolutely AMAZING. After dinner, I served them to my grandpa and waited anxiously for his reaction. After a nice big bite, all of a sudden he JUMPS up and gives me the BIGGEST hug ever. He said they were amazing, and one of the best sticky buns he's ever had! I was so happy! Even my dad had 2, and my brother warmed up 2 this morning for breakfast!

If you like sticky buns, I recommend making these for your families. It'll make you feel SO good.

Pecan Sticky Buns

from the Better Homes baking book

2 tsp active dry yeast

1-1/4 cups warm water

3 tblsp butter, softened

3 tblsp sugar

2 tblsp nonfat dry milk powder

1 tsp salt

3 to 3-1/4 cups bread flour

FILLING:

1/3 cup butter softened

1 tblsp sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

SAUCE:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter, sugar, milk powder, salt and 2 cups flour; beat on low speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

2. turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. punch dough down. turn onto a lightly floured surface, roll into a 16in. x 10inch rectangle. spread with butter; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. roll up jelly-roll style, starting from a long side; pinch seam to seal. cut into 12 slices; set aside.

4. in a saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup; cook over medium heat until the sugar is disolved. stir in pecans. pour into a greased 13x9in. baking pan. place rolls cut side down over sauce. cover and let rise until double about 1 hour.

5. bake at 375 for 20-25 min. or until golden brown. cool for 3 min. invert onto a serving platter.

DEVOUR!

Low-Fat Blueberry Bran Muffins

2009-01-11T16:17:00.003-08:00

This sunday afternoon, I somehow got inspired to make some muffins. Then I thought hmm, I havn't made HEALTHY muffins in a while. Esspecially how EVERYONE is trying to keep their new years resolution to eat healthier, why not try and make something a bit healthier for once??

So I went to Allrecipes and searched "Healthy Muffins", and saw these. I also noticed how it was the highest rated healthy muffin recipe with almost 300 ratings. And I knew I had a bunch of blueberries in my fridge...so off I went!

These were extremely easy to put together, and they will be coming with me to school tomorrow morning and will be feeding 30 hungry fellow dance team members of mine...not to mention since these are healthy muffins, each 1 of them are under 100 calories! SCORE!

Low -fat Blueberry Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups wheat bran

1 cup nonfat milk

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce(nonfat frozen yogurt could be used if you don't have the applesauce)

1 egg

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffins cups or use paper liners. Mix together wheat bran and milk, and let stand for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl mix together applesauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat in bran mixture. Sift together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into bran mixture until just blended. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into muffin cups.

3. Bake for 15-20 min. or until tops spring back when lightly touched. ENJOY!

P.S. I know my team will be EXTREMELY surprised when I tell them I baked something healthy!...i'll let you all know what they think =]]

TWD: French Pear Tart

2009-01-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

This weeks TWD was chosen by no other than herself, the women from whom we get all these AMAZING recipes, Dorie Greenspan.

When I looked at who this recipe was picked by, I knew it had to be a pretty good one. So I made it right away, and it served it to my family this weekend.

This tart was absolutely amazing. And i'm glad to say that it was very easy to make as well. I loved the thick, sweet dough, and the almond cream complemented the pears beautifully.

I will definitely make this again soon.

Thanks Dorie!

Banana Banana Bread

2009-01-04T20:24:00.001-08:00

I had 6 insanely ripe bananas sitting on my counter today, and my mom told me I should do something with them or she was going to just throw them away.

Well, you don't just throw away ripe bananas!

So I came across this recipe on the Allrecipes website and it had 3,522 reviews ALL say how absolutely AMAZING this banana bread was. Of course I had to try it out.

I'm happy to say those 3,522 people were so right! This really was the best banana bread recipe.

Although, this really isn't a dessert, but more of a breakfast bread cause of basic and not as sweet it is compared to a banana "cake". I really recommend trying this.

2 cups All purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed bananas (aprox. 5-6 bananas)

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture, stir just to moisten. Pour batter into pan.

Bake in oven for 60-65 min. or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

DEVOUR.

HAPPY "Funfetti" NEW YEAR!!!

2009-01-01T15:13:00.001-08:00

I'm back!!!...after a long and STRESSFUL few weeks, i'm back and will hopefully be posting more often. I've been baking a lot lately, but just havn't had the time to sit down and do a full on write up...but now that the new year's FINALLY started, it's time to turn over a new leaf and get stuff done !

With that said, I am presenting you with this new years 09' FUNFETTI cake!

...So I used a boxed mix..SUE ME.

But where I lacked in using the cake mix(which came out SO good, as it always does), I gained in making my own from scratch vanilla buttercream.

I made the cake 2 layers, then frosted it all with my frosting....

The frosting came out SO good! It complemented the cake very well, and had just the right amount of sweetness to it.

I'm glad to say the cake came out great. All my friends loved it and it's practically all gone.

It took me basically no time at all, and it was a great dessert to end the new year!

Hope everyone had a fantastic night!

Happy new year!!

Happy Day after Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

So, I know it's the day after Thanksgiving, and the last thing on everyones mind is MORE food. BUTTTT, although our stomachs are screaming "no more!", our minds are still hungry to see what everybody else was eating.

Hence, I give you this cheesecake...

When I first got the November issue of Bon Appetit, I was soo intrigued to see the different dishes they featured for Thanksgiving.

Since I was of course in charge of dessert, I wanted to do something big, but different.

Every year we always pick up a HUGE apple, AND pumpkin pie from Urth Cafe, in Beverly Hills, and let me just tell you, their pumpkin pie is one of the most amazing things i've ever had, no joke!

Anyways, we got those...but I still wanted to make something great.

Thats why when I found this Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap crust and a marshmellow sour cream topping, I knew I HAD to make it.

This cheesecake came out SO good. It was so creamy and dense, just the way a good cheesecake should taste.

My whole family said they absolutely loved it, and there's barely any leftover right now!

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!!

You can find the recipe HERE.

No TWD this week...

2008-11-26T10:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys, I know I havn't been the best with keeping up with TWD lately.

I've just A LOT of stuff on my plate right now..no pun intended. Haha.

But I am happy to say that I will be back posting more frequently after thanksgiving, and i'll be sharing ALL my wonderful goodies that I making for the big thanksgiving feast this year!

Cant wait!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Chocolate Chip Toffee Coconut Cookies

2008-11-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

I was craving cookies, but I didnt want to make A LOT. So I started searching for a small batch recipe, when I found this recipe from Cookie Madness.

The original recipe had pecans in it, but since I wasn't really feeling in the whole nut mood, I substituted toffee bits instead.

She also said to make these tablespoon sized, and get 12 large cookies. I scooped mine teaspoonfuls at a time, and got smaller cookies. Soo whatever floats your boat, it's up to you.

These cookies definitely satisfied my cookie craving, and I will be making these again for sure.

Small batch Chocolate chip Toffee Coconut Cookies

Adapted from Cookie Madness

1 cup AP flour

1/4 t plus 1/8 t baking soda

1/4 scant t salt

5 T plus 1 t unsalted butter

6 T brown sugar

6 T granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 t vanilla

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup coconut

2/3 cups toffee bits

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheet w/ parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and both sugars in mixing bowl; add egg and vanilla, beat until well blended.

With a mixing spoon, stir in flour mixture, followed by chocolate, coconut, and toffee.

Drop dough by generously rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheets. Press rounds into circles using your palms.

Bake cookies for 15 minutes or until they appear set and brown around the edges.

**Mine only needed 13-14 minutes cause I like my cookies soft, and chewy.

Enjoy !

Oatmeal Banana Cake

2008-11-12T16:24:00.001-08:00

Every single time I have ripe bananas I always somehow find myself making either banana bread, or banana muffins. Nothing else.

Well today I decided to change some things around...after all, now having a new president who is advertising the whole "change" idea, why not apply that to our every day lives??

That's when this "cake" comes in.

I was looking for something new to make when I found this recipe from a great blog, the pastry studio that has some wonderful recipes.

This cake combines 2 big ingredients that I LOVE to bake with. Bananas, AND oatmeal. YUM!

And it seemed simple enough.

This cake had a great, dense texture with a sweet chewy bite. And it's perfect with a cup of coffee, or tea. Or even just by itself!

Make this cake, you will not regret it!

Oatmeal Banana Cake

8 T butter room temp.

3/4 C brown sugar

2 eggs @ room temp

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

1 t vanilla

zest of 1/2 lemon

3/4 C flour

1 1/4 C oats

heaping 1/4 t salt

1 t baking soda

Topping

3/4 C oats

1/3 C brown sugar

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 t cinnamon

1 T flour

4 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

line a 9" springform cake pan w/ butter and parchment

Wisk together dry ingredients for the topping. Add melted butter and stir with fork till crumbly. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and oats.

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Add mashed banana and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly.

Sprinkle topping over cake batter, press down lightly.

Bake 30-35 min. until toothpick comes out moist but clean. Cool on wire rack. Remove cake pan ring.

Enjoy!!

TWD:Rugelach "Bars"

2008-11-04T15:35:00.000-08:00

So this week's TWD was chosen by Piggy of Piggy's cooking journal and I wanted to thank her for choosing this scrumptious recipe.

As you can probably see from the pictures, I(with help from the lovely Martha Stewart) decided to turn the traditional Rugelach "cresent"s into Rugelach BARS, or "fingers."

I followed Dories recipe ingredients, but slightly adapted them to fit Martha's directions for the bars. They were SO incredibly easy to make! The only long-ish part was that the dough had to be chilled for a little, but besides that, not time-consuming and VERY easy.

Sadly, we didn't have currants in my house, soo I substituted raisins instead, and they still turned out amazingg. I highly recommend trying this recipe, as I do with EVERY other Dorie recipe, if you're looking for great Rugelach.

Be sure to check out all the other TWD bakers for their lovely Rugelach(es)...?!

TWD: Pumpkin Muffins

2008-10-20T21:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry!! I know, I havn't been doing many TWD's lately.

It's just been SO hectic, I havnt had time to do much "planned" baking.

But, i'm back now! And soo happy that I am!

**This weeks TWD was chosen by Kelly of Sounding my Barbaric Gulp

And let me just say, this was the best recipe to come back on.

Pumpkin Muffins are my FAVORITE type of muffin. Sure I love blueberry, and banana and all that jazz, but there's something about the spicy, yumminess of a nice, hot pumpkin muffin, especially in the fall.

This recipe was verrrry good!

Ive never been let down by any of her recipes, and ive tried 5 million different pumpkin muffin recipes!...although, im still on the lookout for that one AMAZINGLY spicy recipe, Dorie's really did NOT dissapoint.

If you want the recipe go check it out on Gretchens blog, and go look at all the other wonderful Dorie bakers!!

**Correction: These were picked by Kelly from Sounding my Barbaric Gulp!!

Sorry guys!

Choco-Nilla Cake!!, For a Sweet New Year.

2008-09-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

The other day was Rosh Hashuna, and being the great jew that I am, I decided to bake this lovely, and hugggge cake and bring it to my aunts house for dinner tonight.

I asked her what sort of cake she wanted me to bake, and she suggested either a carrot cake, vanilla cake, or a chocolate cake. While searching for the perfect one to make, I stumbled upon this recipe from the wonderful Bakers Banter blog.

Perfect!! I could give my family the best of both worlds by combining both a chocolate cake, AND a vanilla cake! I was excited.

This cake looks like a lot of work, but is really not much at all. I was surprised at how easy it was to put together! I seriously do recommend trying this recipe for the next time your on the fence between chocolate or vanilla cake.

My dad eating his slice...as he devoured it, I managed to hear him say he absolutely loved it. So that was a good sign! Go check out the recipe, and I guarantee you, this a great cake to have on hand!!

The Best Lemon Squares!!!

2008-09-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

These really are the BEST lemon squares i've made so far.

Like everyone with the chocolate chip cookie recipe, i've been searching for that one, great lemon square recipe. And I THINK, i may have found it...so far!

They're just the PERFECT texture, and perfect amount of lemon flavor. Soo creamy, and just greattt.

Possibly the best ever Lemon Squares

from Cookie Madness

Crust:

3/4 plus 2 tblsp. all purpose flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar-plus extra for garnishing

2 tblsp. cornstarch

3/8 tblsp. salt(use 1/4 tsp. plus extra pinch)

6 tblsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling:

2 large eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tblsp. all purpose flour

1 tsp. lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

3 tblsp. half and half

1/8 tsp. salt

Don't preheat oven quite yet. Line an 8 inch square pan with foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray.

Pulse flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt in food processor. Add butter and process to blend, 8-10 seconds, then pulse until coarse. Pour what will seem like a very *dry* mixture into the lined pan and press over the pan bottom. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. While it chills, you can make the filling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. When oven is preheated, bake pre-chilled crust for 18-20 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned.

Filling: Lightly beat the eggs, sugar, flour together in a bowl. I used a fork. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, half and half, and salt and mix well.

Reduce oven temp. to 325 degrees. Stir filling again, then pour over **warm** crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until filing no longer appears wet and shaky.

Set on wire rack to cool to room temp. Lift from pan, place on cutting board, dust with powdered sugar and cut into bars.

***I put mine in the fridge, and chilled the bars.

Chilled overnight makes them even better if u ask me!!

ENJOY!!

TWD: Chocolate Chunkers

2008-09-16T08:08:00.001-07:00

It's tuesday, and you know what that means...another fabulous recipe from Dorie.

Claudia of Fool For Food suggested these addicting chocolate cookies this week, and I am SO glad she did.

I kind of have a bad addiction to ANY type of chocolate cookie, I dont know why, but something about that dark, rich, dense, chocolaty flavor just makes my mouth water! And you'll ALWAYS find me first in that cookie jar whenever they're around.

These cookies were absolutely amazing! And they weren't hard to make at all. Just throw in a bunch of chocolate, some nuts, and raisins, and your done!...they're also very versatile so you can basically put any type of mix in, in them.

All in all, I very much enjoyed these cookies, and so did my family, and friends who I shared them with as well!

Dorie's done it once again!

Mmm, chocolaty goodness =]]

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-09-09T16:35:00.001-07:00

Well, happy belated birthday. it was really on Sep. 4th. but I was just WAY too busy to do a post that day.

A bunch of my girlfriends, plus my parents took me to the Hotel Bel Air sunday, for the loveliest brunch i've ever had in my life.

Not only was the food absolutely amazing, but just the whole entire atmosphere was so beautiful and elegant, I could honestly live there.

I, of course took some pictures of just some of the food we had.

Maple-Bourbon creme brulee French Toast

This, we thought, out of ALL the food on the table, was the best BY FAR. Think of the best french toast you've ever had in your life, then times that by 1 million, and that's how amazing this was!

Lobster Ravioli with Spinach and Mushrooms

This is what I ordered, and it was, no surprise, the best ravioli ever!

Strawberry Melba on a belgian waffle with vanilla ice cream

Now dessert, we of course had more food, but I was too busy eating to take pictures :P

This dessert was verrry good. Fresh, but still decadent.

Warm Chocolate cake

Again...yum!

Homemade cookies and chocolates

Mmm...fresh, hot cookies

Then, just when I thought dessert was over, the waiter brings us this beautiful tray of cupcakes! From the picture, i'm sure you can guess that their vanilla cupcakes, with chocolate, and vanilla frosting. And of course, the ones with the carrots on them, are carrot cake!...these were absolutely amazing!...and on the top of the tray, it said "Happy birthday bronte" on a thin, big piece of white chocolate...yummmm.

Andddd, one of the coolest parts about it all, the Hotel Bel Air pastry chef himself!, came out to personally wish me a happy birthday, and I of course bombarded him with questions and what not. He was so nice, he didn't even charge us for those wonderful cupcakes!

All in all, this was really one birthday I will never forget!

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

2008-09-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

I'm back!...after a 2 week vacation to NYC, and another short break, it's finally time to get back to baking.

I was very excited when I saw that this weeks TWD, chosen by Stefany of Proceed with caution, was cookies. A nice, easy way to ease back into things.

These cookies were SO extremely easy, and required a lot of ingredients you'd have on hand.

I really liked the peanut butter combo with the oatmeal, and chocolate chunks, and these made my house smell absolutely delish!

Make sure to check out the other cookies, and see what all the other 200+ bakers did!

I'm back!

2008-08-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Back from NYC!
It was such an amazing trip, and I had a great time.

But i'm SO ready to get back in the kitchen!
I'll be posting new stuff soon!

<3

New York Citayyyy!

2008-08-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

I won't be able to do any TWD posts..even bake for that matter, cause I'm in New York City!!

Vacationnnn baby.

I'm really SO excited to be here though...(it's my first time...i know, crazy, right?!)

Soo i'll be back in a couple weeks, and until then, I wish all you guys Happy Baking!

Blueberry Cream Mini Scones

2008-08-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Another blueberry recipe...I just can't get enough blueberries, there's just SO many different things to bake with them!

I bought a mini scone pan at William Sonoma a little while ago, and wanted to use it. And when I saw this recipe at the pastry studio I of course was already in my kitchen getting it out.

The original recipe is just a plain scone, is not made into mini scones, and of course, I added blueberries to it. They came out very very good. Everything you'd expect in a great quality, bakery-type scone.

The recipe also has other additions you could add to the batter such as raisins, or currants etc., but I chose blueberries!

I highly recommend trying these,(even if you dont have a mini scone pan), if you're a scone lover. A really great way to start off your day!

Blueberry Cream Mini Scones

adapted from Pastry Studio

2 cups flour

1 tblsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tblsp. melted butter for brushing tops

sugar for sprinkling tops

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease mini scone pan.

Sift or whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir in blueberries if using. Add cream, and gently stir with a fork. Stop mixing when it starts to come together and the cream seems fairly absorbed. Be careful not to overmix. The dough will look loose and lumpy and not like a finished dough.

Pour the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Flour your hands a bit, and using a very light touch begin to gather into a 9'' circle. It will come together just enough to look like it might work. Do not handle very much to achieve maximum tenderness!

Carefully place the dough into each scone mold, and gently press down, so it fits evenly.

Brush the tops with a little melted butter, and a light sprinkle of sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes or until they are golden. Serve immediately with your choice of jam, coffee, or whatever you love to eat your scones with!

Enoy!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

2008-08-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

We had bought SO many blueberries from the grocery store, and since it's summer, blueberries of course, are at their ripest.

I was looking for a recipe that would use up all these blueberries, when I found this one on Smitten Kitchen. Maybe it was just the beautiful pictures that caught my eye, but something just popped in my head that said "MAKE THESE NOW!"...So of course, I did!

They turned out very, verrrrry yummy!

The short-bread-like layers, sandwiches that sweet, fruity taste of the blueberries, and after it's all baked up, some of those juices from the blueberries start to bubble up, and the end result is just absolutely DELISHHH!

Sooo...Make these now!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cold butter(2 sticks)

1 egg

1/4 tsp. salt

zest and juice of one lemon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

4 tsp. cornstarch

1. preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup of sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.**

**these are easiest to cut once chilled, so I stuck them in the fridge after they cooled, then cut them. So much easier. They tasted VERY good cold.

TWD: Black and White Banana Loaf

2008-08-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

Coincidentally, I've already made this!

Soo please refer here to see how it came out!!

=]]

Chewy White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

2008-08-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

I LOVE chocolate cookies...something about a chewy, rich, ultra-chocolate-y cookie just makes my mouth waterrrrr.

Another big obsession of mine, is white chocolate.

So when I saw these cookies from Picky Palate I knew I HAD to try them.

They really remind me of an oreo cookie-like flavor, and are a HUGE crowd pleaser, if you ask me.

If you're a chocolate cookie, and white chocolate fan, I strongly recommend trying these out!

Chewy White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

from Picky Palate

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/4 cup cocoa powder( Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa powder)

1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease cookie sheet(I used a silpat liner)

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the salt and vanilla.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes until fluffy, but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!!

Brown Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast

2008-08-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE french toast. When I think of the weekends, one thing is always on my mind...a nice big breakfast of either waffles, pancakes, or french toast. And i'm sure you all agree with me!

My mom used to make(and still does) the BEST french toast, usually out of challah...the perfect bread to use for french toast, if you ask me. But she hasn't made some in a very long time.

I, of course was craving french toast this weekend, and just happened to find this recipe from one of my favorite sites, Baking Bites, for make-ahead, BAKED, french toast. BINGO!

It was perfect, the simplest thing to make...all you have to do is put it together the night before, refrigerate it, then when your ready to eat the next morning, pop it in the oven, and your done!

It came out SO good...the streusel topping adds such a great cinnamon-y flavor, and it smells amazing while it bakes! Another thing, Nicole says, is that it bakes up to be slightly crispy, which was a great contrast to the custardy and soft french toast.

I strongly recommend making this sometime, and it's a great dish to have on hand for breakfast or brunch, if you're having company over.

Brown Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast

From Nicole of Baking Bites

12 Slices White bread (approx)

2 cups milk

4 large eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Streusel

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tblsp. all purpose flour

pinch salt

2 tblsp. butter, melted

Cut crusts off bread, and each piece into triangles. Arrange bread into 3 even layers, (the exact number of slices will vary, depending on the size of bread you start out with) in a lightly greased 8-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Pour over bread, press down to ensure all pieces are thoroughly soaked. Custard should just come to the top of the bread layer. If it covers it more deeply, add additional bread.

In a small bowl, make the streusel. Stir together brown sugar, flour and salt. Pour in butter, and stir with a fork until mixture has the consistency of wet sand. Sprinkle evenly over bread and custard.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

Preheat oven to 350F and bake for about 30-35 minutes, until french toast is a golden brown on top. Let the dish stand for a few minutes. The dish will be very soft and souffle-like, but should not be too runny. The french toast will continue to set and soak up the custard as it cools. Slice and serve warm, with maple syrup.

Serves 6-8

TWD: Summer Fruit Galette

2008-07-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

This weeks TWD couldn't be more perfect for summer.

I've never made a fruit galette before, and from the picture of Dories other Galette, the dough looked pretty hard to do...but I was determined to do it!

Thank you SO much Michelle from Michelle in Colorado , this was such a great pick!

In the recipe, Dorie says you can add any assortment of fruit to this, and since it's summer, there are sooo many great fruits in season, so choosing some was not hard at all.

I chose an assortment of peaches, plums, pears, apricots and blueberries.

All those different flavors turned out great!

We had all my grandparents, plus a bunch of family friends over for dinner, so I was happy I had another excuse to bake this!

What I served this with was a no brainer...VANILLA ICE CREAM!

If you make this, I HIGHLY suggest serving it with ice cream...it really does make it 100 times better!

And now, for the after picture...

...can you guess if they liked it or not?

There was a fight for the last little sliver... ;D

Be sure to head over to the Tuesdays With Dorie site to check out more Galettes!

First Cupcake Hero Entry!

2008-07-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

Sooo this is my very first Cupcake Hero Entry!

I was verrry excited to join just cause I love cupcakes...DUH!

Who doesnt?..Any one who doesn't like cupcakes, is absolutely insane, if you ask me.

When I saw this months "theme" was anything including Red,White, and Blue, I got a little scared. There were SOO many ideas flying through my head..I didnt know what to chose from?!

So I finally decided on a Raspberry Swirl cake, for the base, then topped it off with a little white "fluffy" frosting, and finished it with a blue heart, made out of fondant.

I got the recipes from this book called Cupcakes by Pamela Clark, and tweaked them a bit.

They came out sooo good!...that raspberry swirl added such a great flavor to the cake, and the fluffy frosting tasted EXACTLY like plain, old marshmellow fluff!

I'm going to call these "Sweetheart Cupcakes"...

adapted from "Cupcakes" by Pamela Clark

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup self-rising flour

1/3 cup milk

pink food coloring (i used red)

3 tblsp. raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350F Degrees. Line 6-hole oversize or 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper baking cups.

Beat butter, vanilla, sugar, and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted flour and milk in 2 batches.

Divide mixture evenly between 2 bowls. Tint one mixture pink(red); leave other mixture plain. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the 2 mixtures into baking cups.

Divide jam among cakes, pull skewer backwards and forwards through mixtures for a swirling effect; smooth surface.

Bake large cakes about 30 minutes, small cakes about 20 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

"Fluffy Frosting":

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

Combine sugar and water in a small pot; stir over medium heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved. Boil, uncovered, without stirring about 5 minutes or until syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Syrup should be thick but not colored. Remove from heat, allow bubbles to subside. Beat egg whites in a small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. While mixer is running, add hot syrup in thin stream; beat on high speed about 10 minutes or until mixture is thick and cool.

Spread cakes with frosting, top with fondant heart!

Hope I did it right!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

2008-07-25T10:12:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read that right! CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH BROWNIE.

Just the name screamsssss SIN...well, that's what that wonderful baker over at Genesis of a Cook says.

When I first saw this recipe, I knew I just HAD to make it...I mean, come on, it's a BROWNIE, then on top of that, a nice, thick, chewy layer of a chocolate chip cookie! YUM!!

So far, i've made this recipe I think more than 3 times in one month...i'm constantly bringing them over for pot-lucks, parties, etc. And no matter where I bring them, I have not once got a bad review! These are really the ultimate brownie/cookie delight!

Ohhh, a little tip, these can be verrrrrry rich, so I suggest cutting them into smaller squares.

The recipe also makes a lot, so these are GREAT to bring for parties and what not.

PLEASSSE make these...they are absolutely amazing!

TWD: Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

2008-07-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

This weeks TWD was picked by Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake.

I absolutely LOVE cobblers, that yummmy, delicious fruit filling hidden underneath the ever so flakey topping. Everything about them just screams "YUMMMMMM!"

I've never had rhubarb before, but i've been meaning to taste one, so this gave me an excuse to try some.

In the recipe, it said after you lay out the biscuit dough, to separate it into 20 individual "puffs", and to make 4 rows of 5, of the circles. Now, I must have done something wrong cause as you can see, the circles didn't really spread, and or cover the fruit filling...? That kind of stumped me as I was pulling the cobbler out of the oven...SOOO, there was obviously a mistake there.

(...Hmm?)

Regardless of that minor error, the cobbler turned out verrrrrry good!

Although, I think the ginger in the biscuits gave them sort of a weird-ish flavor...I could definitely taste that spice in it...I was thinking of adding a different type of spice to the dough like cinnamon, or nutmeg, but decided to let it go...Maybe next time i'll change that.

I of course served it with some vanilla ice cream, which personally, is the BEST topping for ANY dessert in my book. And it added that extra deliciousness!

Putting those little set-backs aside, this was a greatt dessert!

(I need to learn how to take better pictures, I think...I have the Nikon D40, which I think is a pretty good camera, but i've got to learn how to do all that confusing lighting stuff and all those "professional" camera thingss...it's a work in progress I guess.)

Giving Krispy Kream a run for their Money

2008-07-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I no longer can drive those quick 5 minutes over to Krispy Kream after dinner, on any random weeknight, and pick up a fresh,piping hot, original doughnut...=/ Mostly cause ALL the krispy kreams near me had to close down, and move ALL the way over to the East Coast!

They freaking have EVERYTHING up there!

Anyway, I havn't had a doughnut in a very long time, I mostly think of doughnuts as an every once in a while decadent treat, that I get to reward myself with sometimes. So you could imagine, when I get a doughnut, it's got to be a pretty good one.

I've been wanting to make my own homemade doughnuts ever since I started to see other bloggers make them...but I was always very skeptical on if I wanted to go through all that trouble frying them.

Then I saw this recipe over at The Sweet Pea Patisserie, for "Baked" doughnuts, and knew I HAD to try it. And let me tell you, I was really surprised at how easy these were to make!

Sure, they do take some time for all that dough to rise(they have active dry yeast) but it is SO extremely worth it at the end. She did 3 different toppings; cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, and chocolate ganche...but since my FAVORITE type of doughnuts are just the plain, regular glazed, I found a recipe on the Food Network website for a simple glaze. I also did cinnamon sugar ones as well.

Also, make sure you eat these RIGHT out of the oven, after you glaze them of course! They really need to be HOT to get that right, doughnut taste!

Delicious Baked Doughnuts

Adapted from The Sweet Pea Patisserie

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95-105 degrees

1 packet active dry yeast(2 1/4 tsp.)

2 tblsp. butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

5 cups all purpose flour

A pinch or 2 of nutmeg, freshly grated( I used a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice)

1 tsp. fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tblsp. cinnamon

Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for 5 min. or so. Be sure your milk isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the milk mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt-just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. This is where you are going to need to make adjustments- if your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth.

Turn it out onto a floured counter top, knead for a few times(the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered(or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place, and let rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2 inch thick on your floured countertop. Most people(like me) dont have a doughnut cutter, instead I used a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth, and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8-10 minutes- start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.( I had pre-made cinnamon sugar, so I used that)

Remove doughnuts from the oven and let cool for literally 1 minute. Dip each one in the melted butter, and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. (Or dip in the glaze)

EAT IMMEDIATELY IF NOT SOONER!

Doughnut glaze

from Alton Brown, The Food Network Website, 2004

1/4 cup whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners sugar

Combine milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat over low heat until warm. Sift confectioners sugar into milk mixture. Whisk slowly, until well combined. Remove the glaze from the heat and set over a bowl of warm water. Dip doughnuts into the glaze, 1 at a time, and set on a draining rack placed in a half sheet pan.

TWD: Black and White Banana Loaf

2008-07-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

"This sh*t is bananas...B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!"

Come on, it's not like you don't use that song to help you remember how to spell the word "BANANA"...or maybe that's just me...

Kay, onto the food.

One of my top 5 FAVORITE quick breads to eat, and bake is banana bread. I think it's also cause i'm a big banana freak. ANYTHING with banana in it, i'll eat. I grew up eating banana breads, mostly cause my grandma had a great banana bread recipe that she gave to my mom, and my mom gave to me...buttt today's recipe isn't from my grandma. It's from, of course, Dorie. This weeks tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Ashlee from A Year in the Kitchen.

I loved how it included both the chocolate and banana flavors together. Such a great pairing if you ask me. Annnnd, it has just a little bit of rum added to the bananas, that just gives it that nice touch.

Black and White Banana Loaf

from Baking from my home to yours

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 ripe bananas, peeled

squirt of fresh lemon juice

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tblsp. dark rum

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 stick plus 2 tblsp. unsalted butter, room temp.(10 tblsp.)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.

Butter an 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-x-2 1/2-inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on 2 regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with the lemon juice and zest, then stir in the rum.

Melt the chocolate and 2 tblsp. of the butter in a microwave oven, or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining stick of butter(8 tblsp.) at medium speed until creamy, about 3 min. Add the sugars and beat for another 2-3 minutes, until light and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. The batter will look curdled, and it will continue to look curdled as you add the ingredients. Reduce the mixer to low and add half the flour mixture, mixing only until it is just incorporated. With the mixer running, pour in the milk, and when it is blended, add the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl and mix in the mashed bananas. The batter will look even lumpier.

Pour a little less than half the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to blend. Drop alternating spoonfuls of both batters into the prepared pan, then, using a table knife, swirl the batters together, taking care not to over do it.

Bake for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check after 30 minutes and if the cake starts to brown too much, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for about 15 min. before unmolding, then cool the cake to room temp. right side up on the rack.

MAKE THIS...you WON'T be disappointed at all.

No TWD this week =/...

2008-07-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm soooo bummed...sadly, I could not do this week's TWD recipe =/

I've been on a short, little vacation in Santa Barbara with my family, coming back on thursday.

But i'll definitely be back in time for next weeks post!

Until then, i'll see ya'll lataa!

=]]

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

2008-07-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

I kid you not, these may have been one of the BEST muffins i've ever made breakfast wise.

And i've made A LOT of muffins.

This is of course, another Dorie recipe, and I just have to say, that not ONE of those recipes in that book has failed me. Literally everything in there has just been absolutely amazing.

Anyways, I was in the mood to bake something, and i've seen other blogs making these, and they seemed to be getting great reviews. And I LOVE lemon poppy seed muffins, so I was excited to see how these turned out.

Like I said, absolutely delicious! They were perfectly light, and fluffy, and would be a great little snack, but even better for breakfast with some jam.

In the book, it includes icing, I however, happened to have no confectioners sugar on hand today, so I had to skip the icing =/...but i'm sure the icing would've been really tasty.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from my home to yours"

For the muffins-

2/3 cup sugar

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 stick(8 tblsp.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 tblsp. poppy seeds

For the icing-

1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted

2-3 tblsp. fresh lemon juice

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough- a few lumps a better than overmixing the batter. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a think knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them.

To make the icing: Put the confectioners sugar in a small bowl and add about 1 1/2 tblsp. of the lemon juice. Stir with a spoon to moisten the sugar, then add enough additional lemon juice, a dribble at a time, to get an icing that is thin enough to drizzle from the tip of the spoon. You can then drizzle lines of icing over the tops of the muffins or coat the tops entirely, the better to get an extra zap of lemon.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcake Bites

2008-07-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

I think just the name of these just makes your mouth want to waterrrr. ANYTHING involving peanut butter and chocolate HAS to be good, in my book.

Anyway, it is one of my very good friends birthday today, and we are all going out to dinner tonight, but knowing that her FAVORITE thing in the world was chocolate and peanut butter together, AND that I was totally in the mood to bake something, I decided to whip up these little devils, and give them to her as sort of a PRE-happy birthday treat...(along with the nice big cake we're going to have for dessert tonight) I know, i'm such a great friend!

I got this recipe from the Life in a Peanut Shell blog, and SHE got it from the lovely Bakerella blog, and they seemed like the perfect, quick treat for me to bake for my PB obsessed friend, Jordan.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcake Bites:

1 box Duncan hines chocolate fudge brownie mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

30 mini reeses cups

1 box mini muffin liners

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. please liners in mini muffin tins

3. mix brownie mix, eggs, water, and oil

4. stir until well blended

5. fill each liner with 2 tbls. of batter

6. bake at 350 for 10 minutes and remove from oven

7. gently push 1 reeses cup into center of each brownie bite until it is even with the surface of the batter

8. put back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes longer

9. cool 5-10 minutes in pan, then move to cooling rack to cool completely.

YUM...these turned out great! I'll definitely be making this again.

TWD: Double Crusted Blueberry Pie

2008-07-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

MMMM...PIE!

So this weeks TWD recipe was for the Double Crusted Blueberry Pie.

I was really excited when I saw this is what had been picked cause i've never made a big pie like this before, so I was anxious to get started.

When I told my mom I was going to be baking a blueberry pie, she got verrrry excited. And said that blueberry pie was her 2nd favorite pie, next to apple to eat. So I got started right away.

The dough was actually not hard at all to put together, and when rolled out, wasn't difficult to handle. I tasted the filling before I put it into the crust, like Dorie said to do in the recipe, and even the filling tasted amazing!...so I had no doubts this was going to be a pretty good pie.

Here's how it turned out!:

YUMMM...it turned out great! It wasn't too gooey, or runny...just perfect! And the crust turned out grrrreat as well...I served it with some vanilla ice cream. A GREAT way to finish a pretty hectic day!

mmmm...MY PIECE.

Now excuse me while I devour this lovely slice of blueberry heaven. =]

Quick Classic Berry Tart

2008-07-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last night we had my mom's sisters family (my aunt, uncle, and cousins), my moms parents, and my dads father over for dinner. My grandparents brought over Pattys Pizza from Santa Monica. It's basically a take and bake type of thing, but you can eat there as well. Probably the BEST pizza you will ever have, if you ask me. It's great.

Anyways, my mom's been on my case for a VERY long time, to make some type of tart, she LOVESSS tarts, so I decided i'd bake one for dessert that night. I've never made a berry tart before, and I thought, well since it's summer, and there's SO many fresh fruits and berries in season, I should try one!

So I did what any baker would probably do, and went to my trusted Dorie Greenspan book. It never fails.

I flipped through the fruit pies, and tarts section, and stumbled upon her recipe called "Quick Classic Berry Tart".

PERFECT!! I thought, I mean it had the word "QUICK" in it, so it's got to be pretty simple, right?

Well I wasnt 100% right about it being simple. But it wasn't hard. The only trouble I had was with the tart shell. It just seemed too crumbly when I was patting it into my tart pan. But after I froze the dough for a half hour, it became less crumbly, and loose.

The recipe also said to make her pastry cream as well. I've also never made a pastry cream like that before, so I was a little worried about the whole boiling on the stove and all that stuff. But I didnt let that stop me! All in all, I didn't have many problems with the cream, all the ingredients were simple, and the only part that took a little time was just chilling and cooling it off. After it was completely cool, I tasted it, and had my mom taste it, and it was AMAZING. Such a great creamy, texture, and exactly how I'd picture it.

I'm not going to post the recipe for the pastry cream, and tart dough, but I will post the recipe for the overall tart.

This turned out SO wonderful! Everything I thought it'd be! And when I told my family it was the first time i'd made a tart, they were in awe. They ALL said it was a winner, and want me to make it again in the future. Even my dad, who doesn't eat desserts a lot, had more than 1 helping! It really was so extremely tasty, I loved it.

I'd for sure recomend making this!

Quick Classic Berry Tart-

1 1/2 cups pastry cream, cooled and chilled

1 9-inch tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough, fully baked, and cooled

2 pints fresh raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or an assortment of berries

1/3 cup red currant jelly mixed with 1 tsp. water, for glazing.

Smooth the pastry cream by giving it a couple of strong turns with a whisk. Spoon enough of the pastry cream into the tart crust to come almost to the rim, then even the surface with a rubber spatula. Carefully lay the berries on the cream, arranging them in any pattern that pleases you. If you are using strawberries, either half them from top to bottom or slice them, depending on the size of the berries and your whim.

Bring jelly and the water to a boil in a microwave oven or stovetop. Working with a pastry brush or pastry feather, dab each berry with a spot of jelly. Or, if you like, you can glaze the entire surface of the tart, including the bit of pastry cream that peeks through the berries.

I just served it as is, and it turned out fine. But the recipe serving suggestion says you can serve it with some tea or an espresso. Whatever your guests, or you, prefer.

My First Tuesdays with Dorie!...

2008-07-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

TWD: Apple Chedder Scones

(fresh out of the oven)

This is my first tuesdays with dorie challenge, and to be completely honest, when I saw what the recipe was, I was a little nervous, to say the least.

I've made scones in the past before, but they were always either plain, or had some type of currant, or raisin in them( cause my dad's not the biggest fan of sweets, when it comes to scones)...but nevertheless, I was still very intrigued to see what putting dried apples, and chedder cheese in a breakfast scone. Pretty savory if you ask me!

...But come on, anything Dorie's got in that little amazing book of hers has to be great anyways.

So starts my great adventure of these Apple Chedder Scones.

These weren't all that hard to bake, surprisingly, although, I do really need to work on my "scone shape",(says my mom)...the recipe said to pat the dough out into a 1/2 inch rectangle shape, and you should get 12 equal parts. Well, I guess I shaped it wrong, cause I got 10 scones, which I just cut in half, and made them a little smaller.

With the shapes being totally off, these really did come out great, I served them with some butter, and apricot jam, and they were GRRRRREAT!

They were soft, light, and chewy, without being TOO dry and crumbly like a regular scone could be. My parents, who LOVE scones for breakfast completely ate these up! And said they really really loved these.

My dad also commented that he'd be taking the rest of them to work with him the next morning for breakfast.

I love when my family enjoys what I bake, it makes me feel a sense of accomplishment, and that's truly a great feeling.

I highly suggest making these. You will not be disappointed I guarantee!

By the way, thanks TWD for letting me be apart of this whole thing!

I really appreciate it!! =]]

The "ultimate" cookie cake...

2008-06-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

YUMMMM, cookie cake. Who doesn't like cookie cake?? I mean come ONNNN. But this is seriously the ULTIMATE, 5 layers, with cream cheese frosting, GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CAKE! "Droooooool."

That was the expression when I brought this out at a little summer kick off, pool party I had the other day. My friends couldn't believe this thing, jaw's dropped while I was cutting slices...trying not to ruin each slice as I cut through all 5 LAYERSS.

This recipe is definitely a keeper, and I'll be making this again.

The recipe's from no other than the Martha Stewart blog, and while I was browsing it, looking for something to make for the party, my eye instantly went straight to it. Who can resist layersss of chewy, chocolate chip cookies, with cream cheese frosting as the glue to hold it all together. Just pure YUMMINESS.

Ingredients

serves 16

*to make an even circle of batter, trace an 8 inch

on the underside of the parchment paper.

4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

6 tbs. unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

40 ounces (5 packages) cream cheese, room temp.

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Put butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugars into mixer bowl; mix on medium until pale and fluffy. Mix in vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with cream. Stir in chocolate chips.

2. For each of the 5 layers, drop one level cup batter onto center of a baking sheet, lined with parchment (keep unbaked dough refrigerated.) Using a small offset spatula, spread into an 8 inch circle.* Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 12 minutes. Use offset spatula to reshape circle. Return to oven, bake until edges are golden brown, 8-10 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack, let cool. Can be stored airtight, up to one day.

3. Mix cream cheese, and confectioners sugar in clean mixer bowl on medium-high, until pale and fluffy. Spread onto 4 cookies. Stack cookies, placing unfrosted cookie on top. Refrigerate until frosting is set, at least 20 minutes, or up to 4 hours. Serve at room temp.

This turned out verrrry good. And it was gone by the end of the day.

Happy Birthday Dadddd....

2008-06-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

So, it was my dad's birthday the other day, and I was sooo thrilled when both he and my mom asked me to bake. His actual birthday was on a sunday, but we made reservations that saturday night for dinner, at his good friends restaurant on Melrose called ComeCa. It's a fairly new restaurant, that has a sort of old, french type of cuisine. Verrrry good.

Any way, I knew his absolute FAVORITE type of cake was carrot cake. So I of course went to my "baking bible", Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours, and decided to make "Bills Big Carrot Cake."

It was actually easier than I thought, and turned out GREAT. But then again, ALL of Dories recipes turn out great. I served it with some vanilla ice cream, and my whole family loved it. I've so far made this cake 3 times in the past, and this is always my go-to recipe for carrot cake.

Bills Big Carrot Cake:

From "Baking from my home to yours"

For the cake-

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. salt

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup shredded coconut(sweetened or unsweetened)

1/2 cup moist, plump raisins(dark or golden)- I used dark

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil or safflower oil( I used regular canola)

4 large eggs

For the Frosting-

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temp.

1 stick(8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, at room temp.

1 pound(3 3/4 cups) confectioners sugar, sifted

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready-

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 325 F. Butter three 9x2 inch round cake pans, flour the insides and tap out the excess. Put two pans on one baking sheet, and one on another.

To make the cake-

Whisk together the flour, baking power, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut and raisins.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with hand mixer in a large bowl, beat sugar and oil together on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix in the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the pans.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean; the cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and un-mold them. Invert, and cool to room temp. right side up.

To make the frosting-

Working with the stand mixer, preferably fitted with a pattle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice.

If you would like coconut in the filling, scoop out about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this portion.

To assemble the cake-

Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or protected by strips of parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer. Use an offset cake spatula, or spoon to spread the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with second layer, this time placing the cake top side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Make sure to serve with a nice BIG scoop of vanilla ice cream =]]

**I wanted to frost the WHOLE cake, cause I know my family loves frosting, so I had to double the recipe for the frosting, and covered the whole cake.

Although, just frosting in between the layers of course works out fine.

Sort of "new" to all this...

2008-06-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hey, so i'm not really sure how to start all this off, but I guess i'll start with saying hii! My name's Bronte. (Like bron-tay). I absolutely LOVE to bake. Havn't really been doing it for a long long time, but in the oh, year and a half I have been baking, i've just completely fallen in love with it. I chose the name, "The little dancing baker", cause one, i'm not very old...and two, i'm a dancer. Have been since I was about 3 years old, and have been doing it ever since. I've been on a competitive dance team for a long time now, and since I was little, I always thought that dancing was ultimately what I wanted to do as a career. But as i've grown up, I have realized that the life of a dancer is extremely hard. It depends what you want to do with dance, but you're basically living your life audition to audition, and that's just something I don't want to do.

Sooo with dancing as just a hobby and good type of exercise, I've picked up baking. And it's been great. Not only is it therapeutic, and takes my mind off of whatever's going on...but I just LOVE how the finished product comes out. It gives you a sense of accomplishment. Plus, having others enjoy what you bake, and thank you for it, is really an added bonus. So that's generally what i'm here for. To bake, and talk about baking, as well as sharing those tasty treats with all you!

I kind of have an idea on how this "blogging" thing works cause before I decided to get my own blog, I have been looking, and reading other peoples blogs, so I guess I get a sense of what to do....I hope. Haha. So I hope you all will read and comment my stuff! I look forward to talking to some of you, and I hope you guy's like my stuff!

(About that picture up there...I tried, hahaha.)