Nostalgia-Inducing Sweets

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been fighting off a cold for almost two weeks now, and any time that has not been taken up by sleep has been taken up by studying and classes. Because of that, I have not made much food and I also haven't had anytime to write. I'm starting to feel a little better though, so I thought I'd write a short post.

For easter, I was given a cookbook that I had recently fallen in love with--Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights. This cookbook is organized by seasons, with breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes for each. The photography is beautiful and the dishes are simple but inspired. This is an extremely easy recipe but it makes for a perfect snack. Sophia Dahl says that these british snacks remind her of her childhood and encourage her to cuddle up to a book, "sticky-fingered", while enjoying these little bites of heaven.

Flapjacks
Adapted from Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights

Makes 12 squares

Ingredients:
Butter for greasing
1/4 Cup honey
1/2 Tablespoon molasses
3/4 Stick butter
3/4 Cups rolled oats
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 pan.
In a saucepan, heat the honey, molasses and butter on low heat, until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and add the oats, and vanilla.
Press the mixture into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Let cool. While it cools, the liquid will stiffen so that the flapjacks become solid. Once they are solid, cut the squares and enjoy them while they're still warm! Store the leftovers in an airtight container.

As a child I could not eat processed sugars, for health reasons, so all of the sweets my mom and I would make used honey and molasses for their sweetener. Smelling the liquid mixture heating up took me back to those childhood days. To me, molasses and honey will always smell sweeter than any sort processed sugar. Dahl was right, I just wanted to curl up in a blanket and read my favorite books while munching on these warm treats.

Happy Birthday, Caitlin!

Last week was Caitlin's Birthday! I wanted to make her a birthday cake that resembled the Hungarian Chocolate Cake that she made me for my birthday (which was delicious!) and that her family makes for all their birthdays, but all I knew about it was that it was a chocolate cake and that it had fresh coffee in it. So I went on a search for recipes and found the perfect one! A chocolate cake, made with fresh coffee (but I used espresso), raspberry filling and chocolate ganache frosting! Perfect.

Double Chocolate Layer Cake with Raspberry Filling
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
For Cake:
3 Ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 Cups hot brewed coffee or espresso
3 Cups sugar
2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Teaspoons baking soda
3/4 Teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 Teaspoons salt
3 Large eggs
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 Cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 Teaspoon vanilla
For Ganache Frosting:
1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 Cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 Stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
For Raspberry Filling:
10-ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoons cornstarch
For an added touch to the filling:
Fresh raspberries

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and grease 2 10x2 inch round pans. Line the bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease the paper.
Finely chop the chocolate and combine with the hot coffee or espresso. Let the mixture stand. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
In a large bowl. Mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until they are thickened slightly (about 3-5 minutes). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and melted chocolate mixture to the eggs, beating until combined. Add the sugar mixture and beat until combined.
Divide the batter between the pans and bake about 1 hour, until a tester can be inserted in the center and come out clean.
Cool the layers completely on a rack. Since I was making this in secret so that Caitlin didn't know, I did not have enough time to let them cool completely and this made frosting very difficult...as you can see from the picture, it does not come out too pretty if you don't let the cake cool. You've been warned! If the layers come out a funny shape at all, you can shape them with a knife.
While the cake is baking, make the frosting and the raspberry filling. To make the frosting, finely chop the chocolate. In a saucepan, bring the cream, sugar and corn syrup to a boil over medium low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate, whisking until the chocolate is melted. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the frosting, still whisking till smooth.
Let the frosting cool in the fridge, stirring occasionally. This will take a while but the cake layers and the frosting should be cool around the same time. If you want to speed up the process, place it in the freezer.
To make the raspberry filling, place the raspberries in a saucepan on medium heat to thaw them. Once they're thawed, mash them with a wooden spoon. Add the sugar and cornstarch and stir until it boils and thickens. Let it cool completely.
To assemble the cake, place the bottom layer on the serving place. Frost the top of the layer with the ganache. Then, spread on a layer of the raspberry filling. Top with the fresh raspberries. Place the second layer on top. Frost the sides and the top and garnish with extra raspberry filling, if desired.

I really wish I had time to make this prettier for Caitlin's birthday, but at least it still tasted good! Hopefully, yours turns out prettier than mine. Remember to let the cakes cool completely! You'll thank me. Otherwise, the frosting will melt and be completely unworkable as you're trying to frost.
I absolutely loved this cake. Caitlin says she's picky about cakes but she claims she loved this one (maybe she's just being nice). If you're looking for a delicious chocolate cake, this is the one to make!

Food Weekend Post #2

After the delicious meal in my last post, we stopped by a cupcake place around the corner--Love At First Bite.

Love At First Bite
1510 Walnut Street, Suite G
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-848-5727

Mmm, I've never had a strawberry cupcake before and it was so good! I prefer my cupcakes to be a bit more cakey--dense and moist--and this was a tad too light, airy and dry for my taste but it was still well made and had a delicious favor. The chunks of real strawberry in the frosting really added something.

This flavor was SO good! Again, it was a little too fluffy and dry for me, but the flavors were outstanding. The cake was so lemony and not too sickeningly sweet while the pistachio balanced the lemon perfectly. I could eat these every day.

Though the cake wasn't the texture that I prefer, I really enjoyed the cupcakes from this shop. It was a really quaint little place and you could see the employees in the kitchen, frosting the cupcakes, while the delicious smell of cake and buttercream wafted out front. A perfect end to a day full of food.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

I really love Saint Patrick's Day. I have so many memories of celebrating it as a kid. I remember all of these movies about leprechauns that I would watch with my family (and I faintly recall being terrified of this one movie that involved a leprechaun and a banshee).

Every Saint Patrick's Eve, my brother and I would construct leprechaun traps in our kitchen. We would prop up bowls and pots and pans with wooden spoons and spatulas, in the hopes of catching a leprechaun. We would lure the leprechaun in with a bits of food and if we caught him, he would grant us a wish, but if we didn't, leprechauns are nice so they'd always leave us chocolate coins. When I moved into my dorm last year, I was shocked to learn that my roommate, Caitlin, also followed this tradition with her family. Needless to say, the two of us still build leprechaun traps.

Every Saint Patrick's Day morning, my brother's, dad's and my milk/soy milk would turn green when it was poured "because we had Irish blood in us", while my mom's would remain white. Our eggs and toast also turned bright green.

This year, I wanted to try and make cupcakes involving classic Irish beverages--Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream. I was so excited when I came across this recipe from one of my favorite blogs. The Guinness in the cupcakes should bake out, but the Bailey's in the Ganache and Buttercream are fresh. If want to leave out the Bailey's, I would just replace it with milk or cream in the Buttercream Frosting.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Chocolate Ganache and Bailey's Buttercream Frosting.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes:
1/2 Cup Guinness
1/2 Cup unsalted butter
3/8 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 Cup sugar
3/4 Teaspoon baking soda
3/8 Teaspoon salt
1 Large egg
1/3 Cup Greek Yogurt (yogurt or sour cream would work as well)
For the Irish Whiskey Ganache Filling:
4 Ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/3 Cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2-1 Tablespoon Irish whiskey (optional)
For the Bailey's Frosting:
2 Cups confections sugar (approximately)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 Tablespoons Bailey's (homemade is best!)
A few drops of food coloring if desired. (I struggled with this because I don't normally like using food coloring and the color of the frosting was already a really nice cream color, but I finally gave in. Hey, it's Saint Patrick's day!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cupcake cup with liners. Melt the butter at medium on the stove and add in the Guinness. Bring to a simmer. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Take off the heat and let cool, slightly.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl. In a large bowl, blend the eggs and sour cream together with an electric mixer. Add the chocolate mixture and beat to combine. Using a spatula, fold in the flour mixture to form a batter. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full with the matter. Bake approximately 17 minutes, until a tester can be inserted and come out clean. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.
Chop the chocolate and place it in a glass or ceramic bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer, on medium-low, and then pour over the chocolate. Let sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and the Irish Whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until it thickens. This process can be sped up in the fridge.
If you have a biskmarck piping attachment, you can fill the cupcakes with the ganache with that. If not, cut out a small, 1//2 inch round whole, halfway down into the cupcake and fill it with the ganache with a piping bag and a wide tip.
Whip the butter for the frosting until fluffy. Blend in the Bailey's and food coloring and then slowly add the powdered sugar until it is thick enough. Ice the cupcakes however you please.

These are so tasty! I love the way that Guinness and chocolate go together so well. The chocolate ganache is very tasty, but if you're rushed for time, this is the part that I'd leave out. It adds something, but it's not necessary and the cupcake would still be delicious without it. The Bailey's Buttercream Frosting was outstanding! Mmm, it was so smooth and had a hint of Irish Whiskey without being too overbearing. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Baking My Nerves Away

I really love eating food and I really love cooking food. Cooking relaxes me and puts me in a peaceful state. Baking on the other hand...oh baking! Baking (anything besides bread) stresses me out. And I mean, really stresses me out! I babble on and on and I look at the recipe over and over again before I do ANYTHING...I become a nervous wreck. I get nervous that my measurements will be wrong or I'll beat the mixture too many times or I'll forget it in the oven...there's so many things that could go wrong! But lately, I've been trying to get more used to baking so that one day, it will be natural and become as relaxing to me as cooking. I've gotten to the point where some of my fears have worn off but the nerves are still there and they've turned into more of an excitement.

For my birthday, I went shopping with my mom to get some new cooking and baking supplies. I got some piping materials and I've been dying to use them, so this weekend, I decided to make cupcakes! It was the perfect way to spend a weekend afternoon. I've been really wanting to try a recipe for pound cake cupcakes. It is a "cold oven pound cake" recipe, so you don't preheat the oven and the cupcakes bake at a very low heat. I thought I'd pair it with a buttercream frosting and I went to the store in search of some sort of jam or preserve to spice it up. When I saw the lemon curd, I couldn't resist! 

Pound Cake Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Buttercream Frosting
Cupcakes, adapted from Cupcake Project

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:
For the Cupcake:
3/4 Cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 Cups sugar
3 Egg
1 1/2 Cups Sifted cake flour or all purpose flour
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 Teaspoon almond extract
For the Frosting:
1/2 Cup butter at room temperature
1/3 Cup lemon curd
Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
Lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Cream together the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in half of the flour, then half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk. Beat in the extracts and continue beating on medium-high speed for a few minutes. Fill each of the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Without preheating, place the cupcakes in the oven and then turn the oven on to 275 degrees and bake for 1 hour. I left mine in a couple minutes too long. I wish they hadn't gotten so golden on top. Make sure you watch them carefully! Let them cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting them.

To make the frosting, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the lemon curd, followed by the lemon juice, zest, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add more sugar if it needs to be stiffer. This should be able to frost all 12 cupcakes.

I had so much fun piping the frosting for my first time! My first few attempts looked really ridiculous, but I started to get the hang of it after a while. It was hard to apply even pressure the whole time, but with practice, I should get better. The cupcake was delicious! I loved the pound cake recipe. It was a little more dense than your average cupcake, but still moist and delicious. I was really happy with the buttercream too. I'm officially using lemon curd in everything I bake!

And You Thought The Cupcake Craze Was Over

Yes, I went back. Are you surprised? My previous post about Let Them Eat Cake was certainly not my last.

Let Them Eat Cake
423 L Street - Suite B
Davis, CA 95616
530-750-CAKE

Amy-Winehouse: "Boozy orange cake with a beehive of dark chocolate-orange buttercream." Chocolate and orange! So delicious. This wasn't the best flavor I've had from there, but it was tasty. Seriously Aggies, go check this place out!

Midterm Therapy

Okay, I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Last week, I had four midterms! One in every class that I’m taking. So needless to say, I needed a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I decided to make this recipe that I’ve been dying to make and it was definitely the perfect reward for a long week. What could be better than homemade Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding when your brain has been reduced to mush?

Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Elizabeth's Edible; originally from Cottage Living

Ingredients:
For the Pudding:
4 Egg yolks
1/2 Cup sugar
1/8 Teaspoon salt
1 Cup milk
1 Cups whipping cream
9 Ounces (2 cups) Chopped Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate
For the Whipped Cream:
1/2 Cup additional whipping cream
2 Teaspoons powdered sugar
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Whisk together the first 3 ingredients until smooth.
Combine the milk and 1 cup of the cream in a pan over medium heat, until hot. Slowly pour this into the egg mixture while whisking continuously.
Return this mixture to the sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and it coasts the spatula.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 10 minutes and then whisk until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Have the plastic wrap directly cover the surface of the mixture. Refrigerate until it has cooled and set. This will take at least 3 hours.
Right before you’re ready to serve the pudding, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Beat at a high speed with an electric mixture until it begins to stiffen. Dollop a spoonful over each serving of pudding.

So smooth! So rich! So simple! I can never eat already-prepared pudding after eating this. I’ve always been on the pudding side of the pudding v. jello debate and I am positive that one taste of this pudding will bring anyone over to my side. I had to control myself to not eat it all by myself—in one sitting!

My Method of Procrastination

My roommate, Caitlin, introduced me to this recipe. It calls for raisins, but why would I do that if I could use chocolate chips instead? Chocolate chips definitely trump raisins. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are my favorite but I’ve never come across such a great recipe. They’re nice and thick and chewy and with good quality chocolate chips, I would devour a dozen in a few minutes…despite my lack of a big sweet tooth. It’s very easy and a great way to procrastinate studying.

My Favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup butter, softened
2/3 Cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 Egg
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Cups rolled oats
10-12 Ounces Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Add the oats and chocolate chips.
Chill the dough in the freezer until it is hard (about 20 minutes). Don’t skip this step! They come out with a much better texture if you freeze the dough first.
Scoop the chilled dough onto a greased cookie sheet, two inches apart from each other.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are Golden on the edges but not the top.
Let them sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

If you like oatmeal cookies, you should definitely try these. The brown sugar, cinnamon and bittersweet chocolate chips really compliment each other. Of course, if you like other toppings like raisins, walnuts, craisins, or white chocolate chips, go for it! You will definitely be pleased.

A Simple Treat

When I saw this recipe, I couldn’t resist! I immediately wrote the ingredients down on my shopping list and even though it’s freezing in Davis this week, I made one for myself on a slow afternoon.

Toasted Marshmallow Milkshakes
Adapted from Noble Pig (my favorite food blog)

Ingredients:
10 Jumbo marshmallows, plus a few for garnish
3 Cups Old Fashioned Vanilla ice cream
2 Cups milk
1 Tablespoon sour cream

Directions:
Place the marshmallows on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Set the oven to broil and place the marshmallows on the top shelf. Watch as the marshmallows toast so that they don’t burn or catch on fire. Take them out once they are golden and let them cool.
Put all of the ingredients in a blender, except the extra marshmallows for garnish. Blend the ingredients until you have the right consistency and the marshmallows are broken up. Pour into glasses, top with marshmallows, and enjoy!

This was so simple, yet insanely tasty! You can taste the toasted marshmallow flavor so clearly. There were little pieces of marshmallow in the milkshake that were still nice and gooey from being toasted! Mmm, so delicious.

Cupcake Craze

A new bakery opened up in Davis this year, called Let Them Eat Cake. Every time I took the bus to or from campus, I would see a sign advertising their shop. One day, there was a write-up about this bakery in The Aggie. It turns out that the shop is owned by two UC Davis students and their mother. The two girls split their time between classes, studying and running the shop. I was a little jealous. Opening up a restaurant/bakery/cafe has always been one of my dreams. Finally, one day last fall, I decided to stop in with some friends. I was completely floored by how delicious their cupcakes were! They have three cupcakes that they serve every day and then they rotate the rest of their flavors. Since I got back to Davis, this quarter, my roommate and I have been saying we wanted to stop back in and today, we finally did.

Let Them Eat Cake
423 L Street - Suite B
Davis, CA 95616
530-750-CAKE

Illegally Blonde: This is a Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Frosting! Sweet and simple and one of their Daily Flavors

Scarlett: This cupcake is one of their Daily Flavors. It is a Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cheeky-Monkey: A Bananas Foster Cupcake with Rum Infused Cream Cheese Frosting!

Doodlebug: Get-a-load of this one! It is a Honey Cupcake with Lavender Infused Cream Cheese Frosting. Do I need to explain how heavenly it is?

Dubliner: This is another Daily Flavor, for good reason! Guinness Stout Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting...perfection.



If you live in Davis, I highly recommend stopping by. It may be a little out of the way, since it's not downtown, but it's highly worth it! Check out their menu so you know what day they will be serving your favorites. And if you don't live in Davis, come visit me and I'll treat you to a cupcake!

Another Successful Adventure in Baking

Every Christmas morning, my family has some sort of baked good for breakfast. Since I’ve been working on my baking skills, I decided to try out Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes. I made them the night before and let them rise over-night so they would be ready to bake and frost in the morning.

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
Adapted from Pink Parsley, from Beantown Baker, originally from La Fuji Mama

Ingredients:
For the Dough:
1 Packet dry active yeast
1/2 Cup granulated sugar, divided
1 Cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees)
2 Eggs, room temperature
1/3 Cup butter, melted
1 Teaspoon salt
4 1/2 Cups bread flour
For the Cinnamon Inside:
1 Cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/3 Cup butter softened and spreadable
For the Frosting:
8 Ounce cream cheese, softened
2/3 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Heat the milk. Dissolve the yeast and 1/4 cup sugar in the warm milk. Let stand for 10 minutes, until foamy.
Mix in the eggs, butter, salt, and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Add the flour and mix well, until it forms a ball of dough. Lightly flour a flat surface and knead the dough 5-10 times. Place the dough into an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place until the dough doubles in size. This will take anywhere from an hour to 2 hours. Be patient.
After the dough has doubled, turn it out of the bowl, onto a lightly floured surface and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners. If you have cooking spray, lightly spray over the top of the liners. My family doesn’t use cooking spray, so I didn't use any and the cupcakes stuck to the cupcake liners a bit but it wasn’t too horrible.
Roll out the dough into a 12x22 inch rectangle. Spread the butter over the dough, making sure it completely covers it. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the entire rectangle. Roll up the dough. Cut the roll into 24 rolls. Do this carefully without smashing the roll.
To put the rolls into the cupcake liners, you may have to unroll them and re-roll them so they fit better. Don’t worry, it doesn’t make a mess because the sugar is already stuck to the butter.
Cover and let rise. The goal is to have them double again, but mine didn’t and they still rose just fine in the oven. I let mine sit in the refrigerator over night and it worked out just fine.
Meanwhile, cream the cream cheese and butter together and then slowly add the powdered sugar. You can add more powdered sugar if you like your frosting sweeter, but I thought that 1 cup was perfect.
When you are ready to bake the rolls, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the rolls until golden brown. This will take 8-12 minutes. Let them cool completely and then frost them.

I was very happy with the outcome of these cupcakes. I’m still very intimidated by baking, but I liked this recipe a lot because the dough was very bread-like and I’m very comfortable with making bread. It was a fairly easy recipe and I definitely recommend it! Enjoy.

Oh There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: cooking is therapy to me, as is writing. After a rough quarter, I’m ready to get back in the swing of things and return to my blog. Sorry for the unexpected hiatus.

I have been longing for winter break for weeks and now that it’s here, there's nothing more I could ask for than to be right where I am, doing exactly what I'm doing! I’ve spent most of my days with my girlfriends, cooking and baking and just being happy to be near them. My friend, Kaelee, stayed with me for a few days and one day we woke up ready to bake! We made a delicious brunch and invited Alyssa over to feast. Later that day, Alyssa, Kaelee, Staecy (and later on, Christina) and I baked from 4PM to 12AM. Kaelee said she wanted something peppermint-y and as Staecy announced, there isn't enough peppermint for other people to use this winter because we took it all to bake 203948 peppermint desserts. Sorry!

Brunch started out with a simple question-"What do you want...eggs or pancakes?"-so then we started brainstorming and things sort of got out of hand...but in a completely delicious sort of way.

Simple Scrambled Eggs

Orange Muffins with an orange glaze (from the back of Trader Joe’s All Purpose Baking mix)

These muffins were so delicious! Way to go Trader Joe's and Kaelee.

Cinnamon-Banana Stuffed French Toast

This was so simple and so tasty. I made French Toast and while I had that going, I melted butter in a skillet and added bananas, cinnamon and sugar. Then I mixed together some cream cheese with sugar until it was smooth. To serve, I topped the French Toast with the cream cheese mixture and the bananas. So delicious! Sorry for the lack of measurements.


Peppermint Crunch Cookies
Recipe From Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup canola oil
4 Ounces 99% unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 Cups granulated sugar
4 Large eggs
2 Teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 Candy canes-crushed up

Directions:
First combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Combine the oil, chocolate and granulated sugar and blend on medium speed with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla as the mixer is running. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Once everything is combined, place the bowl in the freezer for a few hours or over night.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
When the dough has been chilled, roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll each ball into the crushed candy cane pieces, so that all sides are covered. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will set up so even though they don’t look quite ready at 10 minutes, they will stiffen up. If you leave them in longer, the cookies will get too hard.

I tried one of these right after they came out of the oven and I didn’t really like them. The next morning, my friends were eating them and saying how good they were and so I tried another and it was so much better! It’s actually a pretty great recipe for easy holiday cookies. I highly recommend them.

Peppermint Meringues with Chocolate Ganache
Adapted from 17 and Baking

The recipe on this blog really gave us a hard time! We didn’t get the meringue to stiffen until the third try. Here is the very adjusted recipe.

Ingredients:
For the Meringue:
3 Large egg whites
1/4 Teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Teaspoon pure peppermint extract (see extract notes above)
Red gel food coloring
For the Chocolate Ganache:
3/4 Cup heavy cream
4 1/2 Ounce semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:
Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and peppermint extract together until it is frothy and then slowly add 1/4 cup sugar while still beating the mixture at a high speed until the mixture thickens. To test to see if the meringue has stiffened enough, take the beater out of the mixture and if peaks form and remain standing, it has stiffened enough. If the peaks fall back down into the mixture, it's not ready.
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and dollop spoonfuls of the meringue mixture onto the paper. With a clean paintbrush, paint stripes of food coloring onto the dollops.
Bake for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. They will be crispy but not brown at all. Let them cool.
When the meringues go into the oven, begin making the ganache. Bring the cream to a simmer. Place the finely chopped chocolate in a bowl and when the cream starts steaming, pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for five minutes and then stir the mixture to make sure all of the chocolate is melted and mixed with the cream. Let the mixture sit at room temperature. It will start to thicken and should be the perfect consistency once the meringues are out of the oven and cooled.
Once the meringues are cool, spread ganache onto the bottom of a cookie with a knife and then top with another meringue to make little sandwiches.

These came out so delicious! We learned that if you leave the sandwiches with the ganache filling for too long, the meringues will absorb the moisture from the ganache and they will be a gooey mess! Good to know. So only prepare the amount of sandwiches that will be eaten at that time. Save the rest of the meringues and the ganache separately—the meringues in an airtight container at room temperature and the ganache in the refrigerator.


Peppermint Patties
Adapted from Erin Cooks

This was so much fun to make! I’d never made candies before, besides peppermint bark, so it just felt really cool to be making peppermint patties.

Ingredients:
For the Peppermint Dough:
1 Egg white
4 Cups powdered sugar plus 1-2 cups for kneading and rolling
1/3 Cup light corn syrup
1 Teaspoon peppermint extract
Cornstarch for dusting
For the Chocolate Shell:
24 Ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons of shortening (This is optional and I would suggest not using it. All it does is make the chocolate more glossy and considering shortening is ridiculously disgusting, it’s just not worth it.)

Directions:
Beat the egg white with an electric mixer until it is frothy.
Slowly add the powdered sugar while still blending. This will be really, really dry and messy. Think about it-one egg white for 4 cups of powdered sugar! That's a pretty ridiculous wet to dry ratio. The powdered sugar will be everywhere.
Add the corn syrup and 1/2 tsp of the peppermint extract and knead it together until the dough is smooth. Add more powdered sugar until it isn’t sticky.
Dust a flat surface and a rolling pin heavily with cornstarch. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4-1/6 inch thick.
Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into whatever shapes you want. After cutting out the shapes, take the extra dough around the edges and knead it back together and roll it out and cut more shapes. Repeat until there isn’t enough dough left. Place all of the shapes onto a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Let them sit in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes.
Melt the chocolate chips, the other 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract and the shortening, if you want, in a double boiler over medium heat. Once it’s smooth, turn the heat to low.
To coat the dough shapes with chocolate, it works best to place the shapes on a fork-they will be stiff from being refrigerated-and dip the fork and dough into the chocolate until the shape is completely covered. Lift the dough out, still on the fork, and let the excess chocolate drip off and then set of the lined cookie sheet. This makes a complete mess but is still a lot of fun
Chill the patties for at least 30 minutes on the cookie sheets, in the fridge. Store in containers in the freezer-they taste the best when they’re really cold.

Whew! What a day! A lot of love and a lot of baking. It's good to be back home and it's good to be back in the blogging world! Happy holidays everyone.

Making use of Everything.

Caitlin had two peaches that were getting too soft. I had frozen berries…what to do? Fruit crisp of course! Definitely the best thing to make when you have lots of fruit and nothing to do with it.

Peach and Berry Crisp
1/2 Cup oatmeal
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup flour
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Cup butter
2 Peaches peeled and cut in slices
1 1/2 Cup berries (we used raspberry and blackberry)…or however much you want really
Honey to taste

Combine the oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add the butter slowly until the mixture is crumbly. Put the peaches and berries in an 8x8 baking pan and cover with as much honey as you want. Add the mixture on the top and more honey if desired.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until the juices from the berries start to bubble along the edges and the topping looks crispy.

First Roommate Dinner

I moved into my new home last Monday. I absolutely love my apartment. My parents and Alyssa came to help me move in and I couldn’t have done it without them. I am definitely surrounded by a lot of people that I love and care about. I am living with three girls that I lived with last year. We get along really well and living together again only seemed natural. It was so nice unpacking all of the kitchen supplies and organizing the kitchen so that it would flow nicely and knowing that this would be my kitchen.

Tuesday, I went shopping with my roommates to get the staples—flour, rice, spices, honey, sugar, vinegar, etc. It felt so good to have a well stocked cupboard with all of the supplies to make delicious food. Tuesday night we had our first roommate dinner something that we want to make a monthly event. Our menu: Lemon Crème Fraiche Gratin, Autumn Apple Pear and Goat Cheese salad with Pecans, and Chocolate Covered Strawberries. It was so much fun using our new kitchen. It’s small and definitely meant for one person to function normally in it but we’re all comfortable with each other so it was fine maneuvering around each other. Melissa started making her salad while I did dishes and watched. Hillary and Caitlin stepped in once Melissa was done and made their incredible dessert. Once people were out of the kitchen, I took over. The pasta I made is one of my new favorites. Over the summer, Alyssa and I got together to make pasta and I was in the mood for something with Crème Fraiche and Lemon so we adjusted a Capellini Gratin recipe that simply used parmesan and cream and we made it our own.

Lemon Crème Fraiche Individual Gratins

Ingredients:
1 Pound angel hair
1 Container crème fraiche
1 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
Zest of 2 lemons (meyer lemons are especially good)
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 Pinches of nutmeg
3 Tablespoons butter
Reserved pasta water
2 Large leaves of basil
1/2 Cup bread crumbs

Directions:
I start by bringing a large pot of water to boil. Add a little bit of olive oil and salt to the water. Set the oven to 435
While it is coming to a boil, butter two muffin tins.
Cook the pasta al dente.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the crème fraiche, ¾ of the the grated cheese, 3/4 of the zest of the lemon, the lemon juice and the seasonings.
Using a pasta serving spoon, spoon the pasta out of the water and into the cream mixture. Next add the reserved pasta water. I have never paid attention to how much water I add, but I can tell you it’s a good amount. A lot of the water you add will become absorbed into the pasta and you will want extra sauce left at the end to fill up the muffin tins so you’ll want a lot of liquid. I know I use at least 4 cups of reserved water. If you realize when you’re nearing the end that you’re going to need more sauce than you anticipated, just add more at that point. This is why I love cooking—it’s an art to me, not a science.
Take a fork and swirl some pasta onto it. Transfer the swirled pasta into the muffin tins. This takes a couple tries to get it right and it’s a bit messy but the end result is worth it.
Melt the butter and mix it with the bread crumbs. Top each individual gratin with bread crumbs, a little bit of the zest, basil and parmesan. Not add some liquid into each muffin tin till you can see it showing through the pasta.
Put in the oven and bake until the top is golden and bubbly. Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.
Of course, if you don’t have the time to construct the individual servings, you can skip the muffin tin part and simply put it in a large pan and bake it that way.
*The store by my house did not have crème fraiche so instead, I used mascarpone and added a little bit of milk and more reserved water than I normally would. It worked out just fine.

I love the way that these look at the end. It really doesn't take too much work either. The sauce is so easy so it's really just the construction that takes some effort. Usually Alyssa and I tag-team the construction but since she wasn't here this time, Caitlin stepped in and helped me with the toppings.

Melissa's salad was delicious.

What's better than chocolate covered strawberries for dessert?

All of the food was delicious. It was a perfect first meal in my new apartment.