One of my favorite ALL TIME DESSERTS is The Chocolate Mousse. Light, rich, chocolatey goodness. On a recent trip to the international market I came across an entire SECTION devoted to Mexican Sour Cream. What could be so special and unique about this said Mexican Sour Cream to have an entire dairy case devoted to it?
So I bought a small container and went home and tried to use it as dip. UTTER FAILURE. Turns out, Mexican sour cream is hardly like sour cream at all. It's much runnier and has only the slightest big of tang of what you would expect of sour cream. Instead, its more like an ultra thick, ultra rich heavy whipping cream similar to a creme fraiche. Apparently, chefs love this stuff because it holds up for days, rather then collapsing after a few hours, which frequently happens with heavy whipping cream whipped desserts.
I concocted a pretty simple to do Chocolate Mousse using said Mexican Sour Cream. The result: a very light, yet dense mousse. To me, it's almost like a really light ice cream, sans the frozen component. Rich, smooth, its an over all tasty success!
After making this, I would also think that crumbled Oreo Cookies would be a really good addition to it as a topping or layers (remember those chocolate pudding earth cups you got as a kid?)
Chocolate mousse
ingredients
1.33 c mexican sour cream
.5 c heavy whipping cream, divided
2 c semi sweet chocolate chips
3 oz strong coffee or espresso
1 tblspn dark rum
1 tblspn Godiva liquor (optional)
3 tblspn butter
1 tsp granulated gelatin
instructions
1. put your mixing bowl and beaters (or whisk attachment) into the freezer
2. in a double boiler mechanism, bring about 1.5 - 2" of water to just below a simmer
3. in a small heat proof measuring cup, measure out .25c heavy whipping cream. sprinkle on the gelatin into the measuring cup
4. in large, heat proof mixing bowl (that can be comfortable over your pot of just below simmering water), put in the chips, coffee, rum, liquor, and butter
5. with a whisk, mix until just about all the chips have melted, at this point remove from heat and continue on whisking
6. cool by occasional stirring, until just warm to the touch.
7. turn the heat off the double boiler and place your mixing cup (with the gelatin/cream mixture) itself into the water. stir until it is throughly heated, warm to the touch
8. pour the cream/gelatin mixture into chocolate mixture and stir
9. remove bowl and beaters from freezer. put in sour cream and remaining heavy cream. beat until peaks form
10. stir in .25 of the whipped cream mixture into the chocolate mixture. fold in remaining whipped cream in 3rds of what remains (add whipped cream mixture three times)
11. DO NOT OVER MIX OR ELSE YOUR MOUSSE GOES SPLAT! It's okay if there will be white streaks in the chocolate mixture
12. spoon into desired containers: ramekins, martini glasses, one 9x9 baking pan
13. chill for 1 hr, consume with happiness!
makes uh... well, depends on what you use as a container. I ended up pouring into 1 large martini glass and the rest into a 9x9 pan, making a layer of mousse about 1.5" thick.
Showing posts with label desserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label desserts. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ahhh, springtime is wonderful- it marks warmth, sunshine and LOTS OF BIRTHDAYS!
Today is my friend Mimi's birthday. So Red Velvet cake it was. The funny part of red velvet cake though, is that its only red because the massive amount of food coloring in it. This particular recipe, adapted from Paula Deen, doesn't use a lot of cocoa powder, so you can easily make this Purple Velvet (if you were Shena) or Blue Velvet or what ever color velvet you wanted it to be. Really, its nothing more then a glorified vanilla cupcake if you ask me.
But tasty nonetheless. I made pretty much a standard cream cheese frosting, but I also added Madagascar vanilla bean. Adds a slight crunch and a lovely aromatic flavor of vanilla. Yum.
Also fun and optional is a fun sugar crystal rim.
Happy Birthday Mimi!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese
ingredients
2.5 c ap flour
1.5 c granulated white sugar
1 tsp b soda
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp cocoa powder
1.5 c vegetable oil
1 c buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tblspn red food coloring (1 bottle) or 1 big scoop of gel food coloring
1 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
frosting
1 stick butter, RT
1 8oz package cream cheese, RT
.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp milk
2-3 c sifted powder sugar
seeds scrapped out of .5 vanilla bean (optional)
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pan with paper lines
2. in your mixer, mix together all wet ingredients for cake
3. while wet ingredients are mixing, sift together all dry ingredients
4. when all wet ingredients are well incorporated, mix in 1/2 of the dry ingredients at a time until all dry ingredients have been mixed in
5. fill cupcake pans 2/3 of the way, bake for 10-15 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.
6. let cool on wire rack
while your cupcakes are baking..... make the frosting!
7. cream together your butter and cream cheese. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes
8. add the vanilla bean, vanilla extract and milk
8. add powdered sugar until you've reached your desired consistency
9. spread over cooled cupcakes
yield = 18 ish cupcakes, with enough frosting for all 18
Today is my friend Mimi's birthday. So Red Velvet cake it was. The funny part of red velvet cake though, is that its only red because the massive amount of food coloring in it. This particular recipe, adapted from Paula Deen, doesn't use a lot of cocoa powder, so you can easily make this Purple Velvet (if you were Shena) or Blue Velvet or what ever color velvet you wanted it to be. Really, its nothing more then a glorified vanilla cupcake if you ask me.
But tasty nonetheless. I made pretty much a standard cream cheese frosting, but I also added Madagascar vanilla bean. Adds a slight crunch and a lovely aromatic flavor of vanilla. Yum.
Also fun and optional is a fun sugar crystal rim.
Happy Birthday Mimi!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese
ingredients
2.5 c ap flour
1.5 c granulated white sugar
1 tsp b soda
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp cocoa powder
1.5 c vegetable oil
1 c buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tblspn red food coloring (1 bottle) or 1 big scoop of gel food coloring
1 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
frosting
1 stick butter, RT
1 8oz package cream cheese, RT
.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp milk
2-3 c sifted powder sugar
seeds scrapped out of .5 vanilla bean (optional)
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pan with paper lines
2. in your mixer, mix together all wet ingredients for cake
3. while wet ingredients are mixing, sift together all dry ingredients
4. when all wet ingredients are well incorporated, mix in 1/2 of the dry ingredients at a time until all dry ingredients have been mixed in
5. fill cupcake pans 2/3 of the way, bake for 10-15 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.
6. let cool on wire rack
while your cupcakes are baking..... make the frosting!
7. cream together your butter and cream cheese. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes
8. add the vanilla bean, vanilla extract and milk
8. add powdered sugar until you've reached your desired consistency
9. spread over cooled cupcakes
yield = 18 ish cupcakes, with enough frosting for all 18
Friday, February 26, 2010
Banana Chocolate Chip Almond Bread
I swear I haven't been ignoring my blog. Winter quarter has been taking its toll on all that is involved in BTN. Long class days and short hours of sunlight, we are all just ticking off the days left before it is spring break.
Being so busy I haven't really been able to blog it up, although I have been making magic in my kitchen, profiteroles, chicken caccatoire, paneer curries. Current obsession is making indian curry everything. Of course, this blog has nothing to do with Indian anything though.
It appears to be the trend that with being in school soooo much I always have left over fruit (mainly bananas) that turn browner then brown before I get a chance to consume. So what is the best thing to do to over ripe bananas? Banana bread of course!!
Another inspiration for baking bread was last week's adventure to Galena IL with the grad college for a ski trip. The skiing itself, was well... we are in the midwest enough said, the rest of the trip, very good time. Kwang Oh made an amazing sweet cornbread that I ate wayyy too much of and long story short instead of concocting banana cupcakes, I went with banana bread.
So you'll notice that there are NO spices in this recipe what so ever. Instead there is chocolate chips and almonds. Of course, I did want to add about 2 tsp of cinnamon, but somehow ran out!!! (how is that possible I do not know) so, up to you if you want to add nutmeg, cinnamon, or ground clove. I am confident that a little addition of any of those three spices will only add to the deliciousness of this bread.
Also note that I used 2 frozen bananas and 1 overly ripe one. To compensate for the extra moisture provided via frozen bananas, I added more flour. You can adjust as needed depending on your banana moisture content.
This bread, the outside is almost burnt like, crisp even but softens up as the days go by. It is sooo good, subtly sweet and with nice texture from the large amounts of almond slices and chocolate chips, this is borderline cake bread. Consume with your morning cup of coffee or tea, or maybe as an afternoon class when GCC 504 is really dragging on.
Banana Chocolate Chip Almond Bread
ingredients
2 lrg eggs
.5 c light baking olive oil (or any other veg oil)
1 c white sugar
3 bananas, thawed and mashed
1.66 c AP flour
1 tsp b soda
.25 tsp b powder
pinch of salt
1 c almond slices
1 c chocolate chips
.25 tsp vanilla extract
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. in your mixer, mix wet ingredients together (except for vanilla)
3. while wet ingredients are incorporating, in a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (except for almonds and chocolate chips), if you are adding any spices, add now
4. when wet ingredients are well mixed, add dry ingredients and mix well.
5. fold in chocolate chips and almond slices
6. in two 8 x 9 baking dishes, pour in batter mixture
7. bake for 45-60 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.
consume warm, with butter. Freeze other loaf for consumption at another time.
Being so busy I haven't really been able to blog it up, although I have been making magic in my kitchen, profiteroles, chicken caccatoire, paneer curries. Current obsession is making indian curry everything. Of course, this blog has nothing to do with Indian anything though.
It appears to be the trend that with being in school soooo much I always have left over fruit (mainly bananas) that turn browner then brown before I get a chance to consume. So what is the best thing to do to over ripe bananas? Banana bread of course!!
Another inspiration for baking bread was last week's adventure to Galena IL with the grad college for a ski trip. The skiing itself, was well... we are in the midwest enough said, the rest of the trip, very good time. Kwang Oh made an amazing sweet cornbread that I ate wayyy too much of and long story short instead of concocting banana cupcakes, I went with banana bread.
So you'll notice that there are NO spices in this recipe what so ever. Instead there is chocolate chips and almonds. Of course, I did want to add about 2 tsp of cinnamon, but somehow ran out!!! (how is that possible I do not know) so, up to you if you want to add nutmeg, cinnamon, or ground clove. I am confident that a little addition of any of those three spices will only add to the deliciousness of this bread.
Also note that I used 2 frozen bananas and 1 overly ripe one. To compensate for the extra moisture provided via frozen bananas, I added more flour. You can adjust as needed depending on your banana moisture content.
This bread, the outside is almost burnt like, crisp even but softens up as the days go by. It is sooo good, subtly sweet and with nice texture from the large amounts of almond slices and chocolate chips, this is borderline cake bread. Consume with your morning cup of coffee or tea, or maybe as an afternoon class when GCC 504 is really dragging on.
Banana Chocolate Chip Almond Bread
ingredients
2 lrg eggs
.5 c light baking olive oil (or any other veg oil)
1 c white sugar
3 bananas, thawed and mashed
1.66 c AP flour
1 tsp b soda
.25 tsp b powder
pinch of salt
1 c almond slices
1 c chocolate chips
.25 tsp vanilla extract
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. in your mixer, mix wet ingredients together (except for vanilla)
3. while wet ingredients are incorporating, in a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (except for almonds and chocolate chips), if you are adding any spices, add now
4. when wet ingredients are well mixed, add dry ingredients and mix well.
5. fold in chocolate chips and almond slices
6. in two 8 x 9 baking dishes, pour in batter mixture
7. bake for 45-60 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.
consume warm, with butter. Freeze other loaf for consumption at another time.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Orange Carrot Cake
It's the season of citrus! Oranges and the like are coming into full seasonal swing it seems like. I went to Trader's early last week and picked up a 4 lb bag of organic navel oranges. I ate half the bag in like two days. Then on Thursday afternoon, I went over to the Dominics, and there were even more organic navel oranges on sale! I couldn't resist getting another bag.
Then at Whole foods, they had bags of organic carrots on sale. Sure! why not? I like carrots, they are great to snack on.
So with a plethora of oranges and carrots, whats a girl to do with it all??? I woke up Saturday morning, and it was like waking up with the best epiphany ever- duh! Orange Carrot Cake!! I also thought I would be miss fancy pants and infuse in some fresh ginger (does anyone know where my ground ginger went? I have no idea where I put it. It must have gone missing around the time of the gingerbread peoples) into the cake, but there wasn't enough of a kapow! of the ginger for the favor to be noticeable. In this recipe, if you want the ginger zing, you can easily at .33 tsp of ground ginger in there.
The frosting is a basic cream cheese frosting. Yes, I did try infusing a super saturated simple syrup solution with ginger and orange peels. The flavor was in the sugar but did not translate into the frosting. Sad! I did though manage to jazz up the frosting with about 3 tsp of orange zest.
It was a hit with my twin cousins, Cin&Nan. They pretty much ate the whole thing in a day. I think it might fall in more of a "bread" category, quite possibly due to me over mixing and especially when being consumed cold. Not too sweet, a little bit dense, and just a slight citrus flavor, I'd say it's pretty good.
NOTE: I zested the orange, and then squeeze out the juice to be used in the cake.
Orange Carrot Cake
ingredients
1 c butter (2 sticks), softened
2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
.33 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1 tblsp orange zest (about 1 orange)
4 eggs
2 c grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
1 c walnuts, chopped
3 c flour
1.75 tsp b powder
1.25 tsp b soda
.5 tsp salt
.33 c orange juice
instructions
1.preheat oven to 350F, prepare three 9" round cake pans. Line with wax paper.
2. cream together butter and sugar
3. add in the spices and orange zest and mix thoroughly.
4. mix in 1 egg at a time, mixing the egg in well each time
5. mix in the carrots and walnuts
6. in a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
7. in three portions, add flour and OJ, alternating between flour and OJ, ending in flour. Mix well between additions.
8. divide into pans and bake for 30-45 min, until the cake tester comes out clean
Orange Zest Cream Cheese Frosting
ingredients
1 package cream cheese, @RT
2-3 c sifted powdered sugar
3 tsp orange zest
2-3 tblspn milk or yogurt
instructions
1. cream the cream cheese
2. in small portions, add in powdered sugar (I do about .25 c at a time)
3. cream together about 1.75 c powdered sugar and cheese
4. add dairy
5. add more powdered sugar until desired frosting consistency is reached
6. fold in orange zest
7. spread over orange carrot cake
yum!!!
Then at Whole foods, they had bags of organic carrots on sale. Sure! why not? I like carrots, they are great to snack on.
So with a plethora of oranges and carrots, whats a girl to do with it all??? I woke up Saturday morning, and it was like waking up with the best epiphany ever- duh! Orange Carrot Cake!! I also thought I would be miss fancy pants and infuse in some fresh ginger (does anyone know where my ground ginger went? I have no idea where I put it. It must have gone missing around the time of the gingerbread peoples) into the cake, but there wasn't enough of a kapow! of the ginger for the favor to be noticeable. In this recipe, if you want the ginger zing, you can easily at .33 tsp of ground ginger in there.
The frosting is a basic cream cheese frosting. Yes, I did try infusing a super saturated simple syrup solution with ginger and orange peels. The flavor was in the sugar but did not translate into the frosting. Sad! I did though manage to jazz up the frosting with about 3 tsp of orange zest.
It was a hit with my twin cousins, Cin&Nan. They pretty much ate the whole thing in a day. I think it might fall in more of a "bread" category, quite possibly due to me over mixing and especially when being consumed cold. Not too sweet, a little bit dense, and just a slight citrus flavor, I'd say it's pretty good.
NOTE: I zested the orange, and then squeeze out the juice to be used in the cake.
Orange Carrot Cake
ingredients
1 c butter (2 sticks), softened
2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
.33 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1 tblsp orange zest (about 1 orange)
4 eggs
2 c grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
1 c walnuts, chopped
3 c flour
1.75 tsp b powder
1.25 tsp b soda
.5 tsp salt
.33 c orange juice
instructions
1.preheat oven to 350F, prepare three 9" round cake pans. Line with wax paper.
2. cream together butter and sugar
3. add in the spices and orange zest and mix thoroughly.
4. mix in 1 egg at a time, mixing the egg in well each time
5. mix in the carrots and walnuts
6. in a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
7. in three portions, add flour and OJ, alternating between flour and OJ, ending in flour. Mix well between additions.
8. divide into pans and bake for 30-45 min, until the cake tester comes out clean
Orange Zest Cream Cheese Frosting
ingredients
1 package cream cheese, @RT
2-3 c sifted powdered sugar
3 tsp orange zest
2-3 tblspn milk or yogurt
instructions
1. cream the cream cheese
2. in small portions, add in powdered sugar (I do about .25 c at a time)
3. cream together about 1.75 c powdered sugar and cheese
4. add dairy
5. add more powdered sugar until desired frosting consistency is reached
6. fold in orange zest
7. spread over orange carrot cake
yum!!!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Vanilla Coconut Cupcake
Ah, what can I say? I love cupcakes. We all know that.
We had a little pot luck with the graduate council that was themed international. Logic states that I should have made something Vietnamese, but whatever, I like making cupcakes. I haven't had time to concoct red bean, mung bean, whatever bean with coconut cupcakes possibilities, so I did the next best thing: VANILLA COCONUT. YUM.
Jenny made the BEST Glass noodle chicken stir fry something or another. I seriously could NOT stop eating it. oink oink.
This recipe is super simple and isn't composed of anything fancy except for maybe the coconut milk. In a well stocked kitchen, most ingredients I'm sure you'll have handy and if you don't have the coconut milk, you can use regular milk.... you'll just end up with Vanilla Cupcakes.
I'm blogging this mainly because Mimi gave the cupcakes the OK. Its gotta be half decent if Mimi gives the seal of approval right? Feed back seemed especially positive regarding the frosting, which is nothing more then a simple egg white + sugar + cream of tartar frosting. The frosting was almost of a fluff like consistency: sugary, sticky, gooey goodness! If you have ever had royal icing and wish that there was a light and fluffy form of it, well, this would be it!
The cake itself is light-ish, and has a very subtle coconut flavor. It's also super time sensitive. I accidentally stopped paying attention and left them in about 1 or 2 minutes too long and they came out slightly dry, so as soon as that top looks ready and the toothpick comes out clean, take those puppies OUT!
Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes
ingredients
for cake
1 stick (8 tblspn) butter softened
1 c white sugar
3 lrg eggs
2.5c AP flour
1.5 tsp b. powder
.5 tsp b. soda
.5 tsp salt
.5 c coconut milk (or whole milk)
.5 c vegetable oil
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 c coconut shavings, optional
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pans with paper liners
2. in your mixer, beat together butter and sugar, about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy
3. in a separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients
4. in another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients, except for the eggs
4. into the mixer, beat in one egg at a time, beating well after each egg. Don't forget to scrap down the sides between egg addition.
5. in an alternating fashion (and mixing well between additions) add 1/3 dry ingredients, 1/2 wet ingredients, 1/3 dry ingredients, rest of wet ingredients, rest of dry ingredients (starting and ending with dry ingredients).
6. Your batter should be light, fluffy and quite airy at this point. Spoon in to pans until 2/3rds full.
7. Bake 15-18 minutes until slightly golden brown and cake tester (ie toothpick) comes out clean.
8. let cool on wire rack, then proceed to ice with Icing and top off with coconut shavings if desired.
makes about 24 regular sized cupcakes or 12 regular ones and 6 big ones
Vanilla Sugar Icing
ingredients
2 lrg egg whites
1 c white sugar
2 tblspn light corn syrup
2 tblspn water
.25 tsp cream of tartar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
instructions
1. fill a pot with about 1 inch of water and heat until simmering.
2. in a heat tolerant bowl, whisk together all ingredients. (see end note)
3. place bowl over pot (but don't let it touch the water!) and whisk until the mixture temperature reaches 160F, this will ensure all bacteria have been killed off. Using a hand mixer, beat over the simmering water until you get a nice and fluffy frosting, voila! finished!
NOTE If you are like me, and do not have a hand mixer but instead a stand mixer (I know, that is reverse of how it should be), you can heat up your mixture in your mixer bowl and as long as it reaches the 160F for 15-20 seconds, you can remove from the heat and beat your sugar mixture into frosting that way.
yields about 3.5 cups frosting
We had a little pot luck with the graduate council that was themed international. Logic states that I should have made something Vietnamese, but whatever, I like making cupcakes. I haven't had time to concoct red bean, mung bean, whatever bean with coconut cupcakes possibilities, so I did the next best thing: VANILLA COCONUT. YUM.
Jenny made the BEST Glass noodle chicken stir fry something or another. I seriously could NOT stop eating it. oink oink.
This recipe is super simple and isn't composed of anything fancy except for maybe the coconut milk. In a well stocked kitchen, most ingredients I'm sure you'll have handy and if you don't have the coconut milk, you can use regular milk.... you'll just end up with Vanilla Cupcakes.
I'm blogging this mainly because Mimi gave the cupcakes the OK. Its gotta be half decent if Mimi gives the seal of approval right? Feed back seemed especially positive regarding the frosting, which is nothing more then a simple egg white + sugar + cream of tartar frosting. The frosting was almost of a fluff like consistency: sugary, sticky, gooey goodness! If you have ever had royal icing and wish that there was a light and fluffy form of it, well, this would be it!
The cake itself is light-ish, and has a very subtle coconut flavor. It's also super time sensitive. I accidentally stopped paying attention and left them in about 1 or 2 minutes too long and they came out slightly dry, so as soon as that top looks ready and the toothpick comes out clean, take those puppies OUT!
Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes
ingredients
for cake
1 stick (8 tblspn) butter softened
1 c white sugar
3 lrg eggs
2.5c AP flour
1.5 tsp b. powder
.5 tsp b. soda
.5 tsp salt
.5 c coconut milk (or whole milk)
.5 c vegetable oil
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 c coconut shavings, optional
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F, line cupcake pans with paper liners
2. in your mixer, beat together butter and sugar, about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy
3. in a separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients
4. in another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients, except for the eggs
4. into the mixer, beat in one egg at a time, beating well after each egg. Don't forget to scrap down the sides between egg addition.
5. in an alternating fashion (and mixing well between additions) add 1/3 dry ingredients, 1/2 wet ingredients, 1/3 dry ingredients, rest of wet ingredients, rest of dry ingredients (starting and ending with dry ingredients).
6. Your batter should be light, fluffy and quite airy at this point. Spoon in to pans until 2/3rds full.
7. Bake 15-18 minutes until slightly golden brown and cake tester (ie toothpick) comes out clean.
8. let cool on wire rack, then proceed to ice with Icing and top off with coconut shavings if desired.
makes about 24 regular sized cupcakes or 12 regular ones and 6 big ones
Vanilla Sugar Icing
ingredients
2 lrg egg whites
1 c white sugar
2 tblspn light corn syrup
2 tblspn water
.25 tsp cream of tartar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
instructions
1. fill a pot with about 1 inch of water and heat until simmering.
2. in a heat tolerant bowl, whisk together all ingredients. (see end note)
3. place bowl over pot (but don't let it touch the water!) and whisk until the mixture temperature reaches 160F, this will ensure all bacteria have been killed off. Using a hand mixer, beat over the simmering water until you get a nice and fluffy frosting, voila! finished!
NOTE If you are like me, and do not have a hand mixer but instead a stand mixer (I know, that is reverse of how it should be), you can heat up your mixture in your mixer bowl and as long as it reaches the 160F for 15-20 seconds, you can remove from the heat and beat your sugar mixture into frosting that way.
yields about 3.5 cups frosting
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Gingerbread People!
Ahh, November was an ephemeral month. Between constant exams and then Thanksgiving, it was a whirl wind of a month. Gone before I even knew it and now it's almost mid December...
You would have thought that I would have blogged SOMETHING over the holiday break. I hosted Thanksgiving for those that didn't go home along side my friend Christopher. It was an intense experience. Photos of Thanksgiving will eventually be retroposted...
Paul & Conrad, two of my fellow alums from CCSU currently reside in the Wriggly area. Perfect! Paul hosted an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. I ended up with an epic Kelly Green Scottish wool sweater (everyone, be prepared to see me in the following months mozying around the Armour Academic Center in it). I'm not going to lie, I kind of love it! Pictures will be posted via Paul's Flickr, but in the mean while, check out his website: http://www.pauloctavious.com/
Great dishes included a spin/art dip, meatballs in a cream of mushroom/sour cream/heavy cream mix, peppermint mojitos and Rick Bayless inspired Eggnog!
Anyhow, my little dish to bring was some gingerbread men. Gingerbread cookies have always been a little tricky for me, either I bake too long and they are crispy critters or take them out too soon and they don't harden up quite right and fall apart.
This time, I have perfected the timing (I am going to say my recent successes in cookies is due to the fact that I've got a gas stove) and they came out quite tasty. When eaten without the Royal Icing, the sweetness is subtle and the spices' interactions with one another make a perfectly seasoned cookie! With each spice kind of coming out as you chew the cookie- Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger. Yum!!
Add the Royal Icing and well..... that just speaks for itself. Shena got creative with the decoration and put on some suspenders and ties for these little guys.
Now, you are wondering: WHAT IS UP WITH THAT GIANT SIZED COOKIE? Well, all of my cookies came out the same: 4" gingerbread boys (like those three little fellas there). But, I just had to make a giant cookie, so there he is, 9" of towering, giant sized, Gingerbread Man. Hand drawn stencil and cut out with a knife. I'm not going to lie when I say I kind of feel like it was a masterpiece of a gingerbread man.
Once again, I snaggled the gingerbread recipe from SimplyRecipes. Love Elise's Blog. For royal icing, I used the classic "Joy of Cooking" for a perfect icing.
Few notes: Baking time = essential, so pay close attention!
I am to impatient when it comes to making cookies, so I used straight-out-of-the-fridge butter rather then RT. So To soften up the butter faster, I cut up the butter into .25 in cubes and threw it into the mixer (with paddle attachment) to let it whip around while I prepped everything else.
Note that the flour is sifted twice, once BEFORE you mix in your spices, and sifted again to incorporate spices.
Royal Icing- if you've never worked with it before, know that it dries out wicked fast! So when you aren't working with it, cover it up. I put a damp tea towel over the bowl.
Gingerbread Cookies
ingredients
1.5 sticks (or .75 c.) butter (at RT)
.5 c dark brown sugar, packed
.5 c unsulfured molasses
1 egg
3.33 c sifted, AP flour
.75 tsp b.soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
.5 tsp ground cloves
.5 tsp ground nutmeg
.25 tsp ground black pepper
.5 tsp salt
instructions
1. To your mixer bowl (paddle attachment), cream the butter. Add sugar & beat until fluffy
2. While that is creaming and beating, sift together all your dry ingredients.
3. To mixer, add egg and molasses and mix until super fluffy
4. After your wet mixture is really fluffy, slowly add your dry ingredients, a little bit at a time until a nice dough ball forms.
5. Divide into 3rds and wrap in plastic wrap. chill for at least 1 hour or overnight (I did over night).
::one hour or overnight later....::
6. Preheat oven to 350F, take dough out and let warm for 5-10 minutes.
7. Roll out to ~1/8 inches thick. If the dough seems too sticky then a. maybe you are impatient and didn't let the dough chill for 1 hour or b. you just have a wet dough, so as you roll out, sprinkle on some flour.
NOTE: I also found this easiest to do on wax paper, making it easier to flip over and roll in case it got a little sticky.
8. Use your cookie cutter or stencil and cut out your gingerbread people.
9. Place cutouts on to an ungreased cookie sheet, and put in the middle rack of the oven.
10. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until golden ish brown and slightly crisp looking, let cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.
11. Decorate with Royal Icing (recipe as follows).
makes about 18 gingerbread people, and 1 giant sized one
Royal Icing
Royal Icing is made with either meringue powder or egg whites. You can substitute regular egg whites for powdered egg whites. If you are going to use regular egg whites, I suggest to do what I did, use the microwave! Heat up the mixture such that we can zap out the bugs that might be present in the albumen!
ingredients
2 egg whites
2 tsp lemon juice
3 to 4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1. In a GLASS mixing bowl, whip egg whites, lemon juice and 1 c. of powdered sugar together.
2. Place in microwave for 10 seconds
3. Whip mixture again.
4. Microwave for 20 seconds
5. Whip again.
6. Microwave for 20 seconds.
7. Whip again. Do this until you have reached a temperature of 160F (use a candy thermometer!).
8. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, whipping between additions until you have nice stiff peaks form. If they don't form after adding 3 cups, keep adding sugar until they do. I actually did this by hand, wow, I am spoiled with a Kitchen Aid mixer!!
makes ~3 cups icing
You would have thought that I would have blogged SOMETHING over the holiday break. I hosted Thanksgiving for those that didn't go home along side my friend Christopher. It was an intense experience. Photos of Thanksgiving will eventually be retroposted...
Paul & Conrad, two of my fellow alums from CCSU currently reside in the Wriggly area. Perfect! Paul hosted an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. I ended up with an epic Kelly Green Scottish wool sweater (everyone, be prepared to see me in the following months mozying around the Armour Academic Center in it). I'm not going to lie, I kind of love it! Pictures will be posted via Paul's Flickr, but in the mean while, check out his website: http://www.pauloctavious.com/
Great dishes included a spin/art dip, meatballs in a cream of mushroom/sour cream/heavy cream mix, peppermint mojitos and Rick Bayless inspired Eggnog!
Anyhow, my little dish to bring was some gingerbread men. Gingerbread cookies have always been a little tricky for me, either I bake too long and they are crispy critters or take them out too soon and they don't harden up quite right and fall apart.
This time, I have perfected the timing (I am going to say my recent successes in cookies is due to the fact that I've got a gas stove) and they came out quite tasty. When eaten without the Royal Icing, the sweetness is subtle and the spices' interactions with one another make a perfectly seasoned cookie! With each spice kind of coming out as you chew the cookie- Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger. Yum!!
Add the Royal Icing and well..... that just speaks for itself. Shena got creative with the decoration and put on some suspenders and ties for these little guys.
Now, you are wondering: WHAT IS UP WITH THAT GIANT SIZED COOKIE? Well, all of my cookies came out the same: 4" gingerbread boys (like those three little fellas there). But, I just had to make a giant cookie, so there he is, 9" of towering, giant sized, Gingerbread Man. Hand drawn stencil and cut out with a knife. I'm not going to lie when I say I kind of feel like it was a masterpiece of a gingerbread man.
Once again, I snaggled the gingerbread recipe from SimplyRecipes. Love Elise's Blog. For royal icing, I used the classic "Joy of Cooking" for a perfect icing.
Few notes: Baking time = essential, so pay close attention!
I am to impatient when it comes to making cookies, so I used straight-out-of-the-fridge butter rather then RT. So To soften up the butter faster, I cut up the butter into .25 in cubes and threw it into the mixer (with paddle attachment) to let it whip around while I prepped everything else.
Note that the flour is sifted twice, once BEFORE you mix in your spices, and sifted again to incorporate spices.
Royal Icing- if you've never worked with it before, know that it dries out wicked fast! So when you aren't working with it, cover it up. I put a damp tea towel over the bowl.
Gingerbread Cookies
ingredients
1.5 sticks (or .75 c.) butter (at RT)
.5 c dark brown sugar, packed
.5 c unsulfured molasses
1 egg
3.33 c sifted, AP flour
.75 tsp b.soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
.5 tsp ground cloves
.5 tsp ground nutmeg
.25 tsp ground black pepper
.5 tsp salt
instructions
1. To your mixer bowl (paddle attachment), cream the butter. Add sugar & beat until fluffy
2. While that is creaming and beating, sift together all your dry ingredients.
3. To mixer, add egg and molasses and mix until super fluffy
4. After your wet mixture is really fluffy, slowly add your dry ingredients, a little bit at a time until a nice dough ball forms.
5. Divide into 3rds and wrap in plastic wrap. chill for at least 1 hour or overnight (I did over night).
::one hour or overnight later....::
6. Preheat oven to 350F, take dough out and let warm for 5-10 minutes.
7. Roll out to ~1/8 inches thick. If the dough seems too sticky then a. maybe you are impatient and didn't let the dough chill for 1 hour or b. you just have a wet dough, so as you roll out, sprinkle on some flour.
NOTE: I also found this easiest to do on wax paper, making it easier to flip over and roll in case it got a little sticky.
8. Use your cookie cutter or stencil and cut out your gingerbread people.
9. Place cutouts on to an ungreased cookie sheet, and put in the middle rack of the oven.
10. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until golden ish brown and slightly crisp looking, let cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.
11. Decorate with Royal Icing (recipe as follows).
makes about 18 gingerbread people, and 1 giant sized one
Royal Icing
Royal Icing is made with either meringue powder or egg whites. You can substitute regular egg whites for powdered egg whites. If you are going to use regular egg whites, I suggest to do what I did, use the microwave! Heat up the mixture such that we can zap out the bugs that might be present in the albumen!
ingredients
2 egg whites
2 tsp lemon juice
3 to 4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1. In a GLASS mixing bowl, whip egg whites, lemon juice and 1 c. of powdered sugar together.
2. Place in microwave for 10 seconds
3. Whip mixture again.
4. Microwave for 20 seconds
5. Whip again.
6. Microwave for 20 seconds.
7. Whip again. Do this until you have reached a temperature of 160F (use a candy thermometer!).
8. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, whipping between additions until you have nice stiff peaks form. If they don't form after adding 3 cups, keep adding sugar until they do. I actually did this by hand, wow, I am spoiled with a Kitchen Aid mixer!!
makes ~3 cups icing
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich
November has been a very quiet blogging month. I don’t think I can truly say that I live in Chicago. Maybe instead I will tell everyone that I lived at Rush University Medical Center, specifically at either cubby numbers 9 or 11 in the library of the MedCenter during my 12 months here in Chicago.
After weeks of exam after exam, Thanksgiving break is around the corner and thankfully for the BTN students, a mini break from exams too! With an easy, *almost* study free weekend, I broke out the cookie sheets and gave my Kitchen Aid mixer a bit of exercise.
Of course, John Y. is also visiting me during his driving from CA to CT (I seem to be the landing pad for many of these West Coast to East Coast road trippers!). He is an avid cookie eater and ice cream fan, so I concocted pretty much a No-Fail cookie recipe. I know it’s a pretty bold statement to make: No-Fail, but these are pretty yum.
My sister and I seem to always make it a point to go to Diddy Riese, an amazing ice cream cookie shop in Westwood when I am in town. One of those times, earlier this year included John . I was astounded that we had never thought to go there sooner together (see photo caption). No Diddy' Riese's in Chi, so I made my own amazing Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches!
It’s a basic chocolate chocolate chip cookie, but instead of using the regular semi sweet chocolate chips, I used white chocolate chips. Also, I opted not to add chopped nuts this time, but the recipe can easily accommodate the addition of some nuts. My roommate, Dave, isn’t the hugest fan of nuts, so in an attempt to have him eat some cookies, I left them out.
The resulting cookie is soft and chewy, which makes it a perfect candidate for making ice cream sandwiches. I haven’t quite made the dive for the ice cream Kitchen Aid attachment yet, so just popped in some Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I know some of you readers out there are haters of the Ben & Jerry’s (and of course for legitimate reasoning) but lets just say, the B&J’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough blows the Häagen-Dazs’ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough out of the water. :] Usage of the cookie dough ice cream, as John stated “Isn’t that like eating chicken and eggs at the same time?” All I could reply back was “Like a Southwestern Omelet!”
Also, the cookie is perfect to be consumed as is, sans ice cream. Rich, chewy and soft, it is a great solution to any girl in need of a chocolate fix!
Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies
ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened (8 tblspn)
.5 c white sugar
.5 c brown sugar, packed
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbl spn milk
.25 c cocoa powder
1 c flour
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp baking powder
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. cream together butter and sugars
3. in a small bowl, beat eggs, vanilla extract and milk
4. add to creamed butter/sugar mixture and mix well, add cocoa powder
5. in another bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda
6. add to moist ingredients in 3 portions, mixing well between each dry addition
7. aliquot out onto an ungreased cookie sheet: 1 tablespoon sized dollops (it should be a relatively stiff and fluffy cookie dough)
8. bake 10-12 minutes until firm
9. let cookies cool to room temperature
10. make sandwich of cookie, ice cream, cookie
11. consume with utter happiness!
yields 18 cookies or 9 ice cream sandwiches!
After weeks of exam after exam, Thanksgiving break is around the corner and thankfully for the BTN students, a mini break from exams too! With an easy, *almost* study free weekend, I broke out the cookie sheets and gave my Kitchen Aid mixer a bit of exercise.
Of course, John Y. is also visiting me during his driving from CA to CT (I seem to be the landing pad for many of these West Coast to East Coast road trippers!). He is an avid cookie eater and ice cream fan, so I concocted pretty much a No-Fail cookie recipe. I know it’s a pretty bold statement to make: No-Fail, but these are pretty yum.
My sister and I seem to always make it a point to go to Diddy Riese, an amazing ice cream cookie shop in Westwood when I am in town. One of those times, earlier this year included John . I was astounded that we had never thought to go there sooner together (see photo caption). No Diddy' Riese's in Chi, so I made my own amazing Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches!
It’s a basic chocolate chocolate chip cookie, but instead of using the regular semi sweet chocolate chips, I used white chocolate chips. Also, I opted not to add chopped nuts this time, but the recipe can easily accommodate the addition of some nuts. My roommate, Dave, isn’t the hugest fan of nuts, so in an attempt to have him eat some cookies, I left them out.
The resulting cookie is soft and chewy, which makes it a perfect candidate for making ice cream sandwiches. I haven’t quite made the dive for the ice cream Kitchen Aid attachment yet, so just popped in some Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I know some of you readers out there are haters of the Ben & Jerry’s (and of course for legitimate reasoning) but lets just say, the B&J’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough blows the Häagen-Dazs’ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough out of the water. :] Usage of the cookie dough ice cream, as John stated “Isn’t that like eating chicken and eggs at the same time?” All I could reply back was “Like a Southwestern Omelet!”
Also, the cookie is perfect to be consumed as is, sans ice cream. Rich, chewy and soft, it is a great solution to any girl in need of a chocolate fix!
Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies
ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened (8 tblspn)
.5 c white sugar
.5 c brown sugar, packed
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbl spn milk
.25 c cocoa powder
1 c flour
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp baking powder
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. cream together butter and sugars
3. in a small bowl, beat eggs, vanilla extract and milk
4. add to creamed butter/sugar mixture and mix well, add cocoa powder
5. in another bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda
6. add to moist ingredients in 3 portions, mixing well between each dry addition
7. aliquot out onto an ungreased cookie sheet: 1 tablespoon sized dollops (it should be a relatively stiff and fluffy cookie dough)
8. bake 10-12 minutes until firm
9. let cookies cool to room temperature
10. make sandwich of cookie, ice cream, cookie
11. consume with utter happiness!
yields 18 cookies or 9 ice cream sandwiches!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ellen and Jonatha came to visit me this past weekend. Ellen is allergic to nuts but not peanuts and Jonatha's boyfriend is allergic to peanuts but not nuts. Jonatha loves peanuts but never gets to eat them because the boyfriend is allergic to peanuts.
Peanuts- fun fact, they are not a nut! They are actually a legume meaning they are part of the bean family! So that's how Ellen is allergic to nuts but not Peanuts.
These cookies, first out of the oven might seem the slightest bit dry (I thought so, but the girls did not) but the next day, and the day after, and the day after, they are SOOOOO GOOOD. I sent some out to a friend via USPS on Monday AM after baking them up on Sunday night. USPS Priority 3 day mail is not always 3 day priority. I have not yet heard back how they fared through transit.
They also came out in the perfect consistency and density to make into ice cream sandwiches. They were especially tasty with the chocolate ice cream I currently have on stock: Trader Joe's Ultra Chocolate Ice Cream. Yummm!!!
Side note, I used organic peanut butter. If you have ever used all natural or organic peanut butter, it is much runnier in consistency then regular peanut butter, so I adjusted in my recipe for the Organic Peanut Butter. Make sure to stir the jar well before measuring out.
Peanut Butter Cookies
ingredients
1 stick butter, soften
.5 c sugar
.5 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
.75 cup organic, creamy peanut butter
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 c + 2 tblspn all purpose flour (if you are using regular PB, omit the extra 2 tblspn AP Flour)
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla.
3. add egg and mix together well
4. add peanut butter, mix well
5. in a separate bowl, whisk-mix together flour, salt, and baking soda
6. mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in 3 portions
7. make slightly smaller then golf ball sized balls of dough
8. place on ungreased cookie sheet
9. ::smoosh smoosh:: criss cross with forks across the dough ball
10. bake for 10-13 minutes, until it turns slightly golden brown. Also, I like to rotate the sheet halfway through baking time
11. Enjoy with milk and ice cream!
yields approximately 18 cookies, 2.5-3 inches in diameter
Peanuts- fun fact, they are not a nut! They are actually a legume meaning they are part of the bean family! So that's how Ellen is allergic to nuts but not Peanuts.
These cookies, first out of the oven might seem the slightest bit dry (I thought so, but the girls did not) but the next day, and the day after, and the day after, they are SOOOOO GOOOD. I sent some out to a friend via USPS on Monday AM after baking them up on Sunday night. USPS Priority 3 day mail is not always 3 day priority. I have not yet heard back how they fared through transit.
They also came out in the perfect consistency and density to make into ice cream sandwiches. They were especially tasty with the chocolate ice cream I currently have on stock: Trader Joe's Ultra Chocolate Ice Cream. Yummm!!!
Side note, I used organic peanut butter. If you have ever used all natural or organic peanut butter, it is much runnier in consistency then regular peanut butter, so I adjusted in my recipe for the Organic Peanut Butter. Make sure to stir the jar well before measuring out.
Peanut Butter Cookies
ingredients
1 stick butter, soften
.5 c sugar
.5 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
.75 cup organic, creamy peanut butter
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 c + 2 tblspn all purpose flour (if you are using regular PB, omit the extra 2 tblspn AP Flour)
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla.
3. add egg and mix together well
4. add peanut butter, mix well
5. in a separate bowl, whisk-mix together flour, salt, and baking soda
6. mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in 3 portions
7. make slightly smaller then golf ball sized balls of dough
8. place on ungreased cookie sheet
9. ::smoosh smoosh:: criss cross with forks across the dough ball
10. bake for 10-13 minutes, until it turns slightly golden brown. Also, I like to rotate the sheet halfway through baking time
11. Enjoy with milk and ice cream!
yields approximately 18 cookies, 2.5-3 inches in diameter
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts
Once again, I start this blog post of "I haven't posted a recipe in a really long time...."
As most (I think) you know, I have relocated to the Windy City (aka Chicago) doing an accelerated 9 month MS program in Biotechnology at Rush University Medical Center. But enough about all of that, back to the important stuff. I ended up in an amazing apartment that has a kitchen that is awesome to cook and bake in! Gas stove and a giant island? Yeah! Plenty of space to knead dough and roast turkeys!
So while I should be studying for my first big pharmacology exam, I decided to bake some cookies instead. How studious of me! Baking is just an edible form of science, at least that's what I keep telling myself and fuels my neurons!
Adapted from this chocolate chip cookie recipe, I made modifications to fit the ingredients I had on hand. I added some Chai Latte Powder (from Trader Joe's) which adds a nice, very subtle chai spiciness to it and the addition of chopped mixed nuts with some dried cranberries adds great textural elements. The nuts and chai are completely optional. For the nuts, I used Trader Joe's "Simply the best Trek Mix".
Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts
ingredients
1/3 c. organic sugar
1/3 c. light brown organic sugar
1/2 c. earth balance soy garden buttery spread (or just 1 stick of butter will be fine)
1 lrg egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. organic AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1 scoop Trader Joe's Chai Latte mix (optional)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped mixed nuts (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Using a mixer (hand or stand), mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl until "fluffy".
-Mix in the rest of the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips and mixed nuts, until well mixed
- Mix in chocolate chip cookies & nuts until evenly distributed in the batter. NOTE: It won't be super stiff cookie dough.
-Drop tablespoon sized balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
-Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown
-Let cool until firm, remove and finish cooling on wire rack.
Consume with lots of milk!!!
yields about 18 cookies in about 20 minutes
As most (I think) you know, I have relocated to the Windy City (aka Chicago) doing an accelerated 9 month MS program in Biotechnology at Rush University Medical Center. But enough about all of that, back to the important stuff. I ended up in an amazing apartment that has a kitchen that is awesome to cook and bake in! Gas stove and a giant island? Yeah! Plenty of space to knead dough and roast turkeys!
So while I should be studying for my first big pharmacology exam, I decided to bake some cookies instead. How studious of me! Baking is just an edible form of science, at least that's what I keep telling myself and fuels my neurons!
Adapted from this chocolate chip cookie recipe, I made modifications to fit the ingredients I had on hand. I added some Chai Latte Powder (from Trader Joe's) which adds a nice, very subtle chai spiciness to it and the addition of chopped mixed nuts with some dried cranberries adds great textural elements. The nuts and chai are completely optional. For the nuts, I used Trader Joe's "Simply the best Trek Mix".
Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts
ingredients
1/3 c. organic sugar
1/3 c. light brown organic sugar
1/2 c. earth balance soy garden buttery spread (or just 1 stick of butter will be fine)
1 lrg egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. organic AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1 scoop Trader Joe's Chai Latte mix (optional)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped mixed nuts (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Using a mixer (hand or stand), mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl until "fluffy".
-Mix in the rest of the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips and mixed nuts, until well mixed
- Mix in chocolate chip cookies & nuts until evenly distributed in the batter. NOTE: It won't be super stiff cookie dough.
-Drop tablespoon sized balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
-Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown
-Let cool until firm, remove and finish cooling on wire rack.
Consume with lots of milk!!!
yields about 18 cookies in about 20 minutes
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Giant Birthday Cupcake
So I realized I haven't posted in a while in general or really post a recipe at all. So let's remedy that.
June is the month of birthdays. One of my best friends, Kristina, was turning 23 (okay, so its come and gone by now). Anyhow, she is not an avid cake eater by any means unless it is Funfetti.
We both have fond memories of late night all nighters where I would bake us a pan of funfetti cake and we would eat that all night drinking cokes to stay awake to study. So in celebration of her 23rd birthday, I thought to make her the ultimate Funfetti Cupcake.
Here I used 2 boxes of Pilsbury Funfetti cupcake mix, 1 can of funfetti frosting, and topped it off with a homemade whipped cream cheese frosting.
You'll also want to make this delightful Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting first, so that you can let it set in the fridge
Giant Birthday Cupcake
Materials:
3 8 inch, round pans prepped with parchment paper
1 10-11 inch glass bowl (that can be used in the oven), coated with Pam or other non stick spray
Stand or Hand mixer
Aluminum Foil
Parchment paper
Ingredients:
2 boxes of cake mix (flavor of your choice)
ingredients to make the mix (eggs, water, oil)
1 can frosting (flavor of your choice)
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
-1 pint (or 2 cups) of heavy whipping cream
-1/3 cup light agave nectar (if you do not have agave nectar, you can use 1/2 cup regular white sugar)
-1 tbl spoon vanilla extract
-1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1. Into a stainless steel or copper bowl, cream together the agave nectar, vanilla extract and cream cheese until well mixed.
2. Turn your mixer on medium and slowly add the heavy cream. As the cream and sugar cheese mixture whippes together, it should start looking like whipped cream. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. refrigerate for 1-2 hrs until stiff. This is especially important if you are using the agave nectar because the whipped cream is a little looser.
The cake:
1. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions. I make one box at a time to ensure that I do not over mix. It IS possible to over mix with box cake.
2. Fill each of the 8 inch round pan 1/2 of the way with batter. Pour remaining batter into the glass bowl.
3. Bake at 350F until tooth pick comes out clean for the 3 8inche pans. The glass bowl will take a bit longer. Once I take the rounds out, I turn down the temperature to 325F to prevent burning and bake until the toothpick comes out clean (almost 1 hr).
4. Cool on wire rack
5. While the cake is cooling, prepare the "foil wrapper". Roll out strips of parchment ~ 2.5 - 3 inches wide. Fold accordion style about 1/2 inch. Do the same with the aluminum foil
6. Layer the cakes and frost with can frosting. You can skip frosting the top because that is going to be topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting
7. Put a thick layer of canned frosting around the sides of the cake. This will help the parchment wrapper stick to the cake. Slowly wrap the folded parchment around the cake. Repeat with the foil.
8. Take your whipped cream cheese frosting out of the fridge and divide. Using food coloring (I used gel), lightly mix in the color of choice.
9. frost the top with color A, followed by color B. repeat until you have a "stacked" look.
10. Garnish with sprinkles or colored sugar if desired.
Serves 15
June is the month of birthdays. One of my best friends, Kristina, was turning 23 (okay, so its come and gone by now). Anyhow, she is not an avid cake eater by any means unless it is Funfetti.
We both have fond memories of late night all nighters where I would bake us a pan of funfetti cake and we would eat that all night drinking cokes to stay awake to study. So in celebration of her 23rd birthday, I thought to make her the ultimate Funfetti Cupcake.
Here I used 2 boxes of Pilsbury Funfetti cupcake mix, 1 can of funfetti frosting, and topped it off with a homemade whipped cream cheese frosting.
You'll also want to make this delightful Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting first, so that you can let it set in the fridge
Giant Birthday Cupcake
Materials:
3 8 inch, round pans prepped with parchment paper
1 10-11 inch glass bowl (that can be used in the oven), coated with Pam or other non stick spray
Stand or Hand mixer
Aluminum Foil
Parchment paper
Ingredients:
2 boxes of cake mix (flavor of your choice)
ingredients to make the mix (eggs, water, oil)
1 can frosting (flavor of your choice)
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
-1 pint (or 2 cups) of heavy whipping cream
-1/3 cup light agave nectar (if you do not have agave nectar, you can use 1/2 cup regular white sugar)
-1 tbl spoon vanilla extract
-1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1. Into a stainless steel or copper bowl, cream together the agave nectar, vanilla extract and cream cheese until well mixed.
2. Turn your mixer on medium and slowly add the heavy cream. As the cream and sugar cheese mixture whippes together, it should start looking like whipped cream. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. refrigerate for 1-2 hrs until stiff. This is especially important if you are using the agave nectar because the whipped cream is a little looser.
The cake:
1. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions. I make one box at a time to ensure that I do not over mix. It IS possible to over mix with box cake.
2. Fill each of the 8 inch round pan 1/2 of the way with batter. Pour remaining batter into the glass bowl.
3. Bake at 350F until tooth pick comes out clean for the 3 8inche pans. The glass bowl will take a bit longer. Once I take the rounds out, I turn down the temperature to 325F to prevent burning and bake until the toothpick comes out clean (almost 1 hr).
4. Cool on wire rack
5. While the cake is cooling, prepare the "foil wrapper". Roll out strips of parchment ~ 2.5 - 3 inches wide. Fold accordion style about 1/2 inch. Do the same with the aluminum foil
6. Layer the cakes and frost with can frosting. You can skip frosting the top because that is going to be topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting
7. Put a thick layer of canned frosting around the sides of the cake. This will help the parchment wrapper stick to the cake. Slowly wrap the folded parchment around the cake. Repeat with the foil.
8. Take your whipped cream cheese frosting out of the fridge and divide. Using food coloring (I used gel), lightly mix in the color of choice.
9. frost the top with color A, followed by color B. repeat until you have a "stacked" look.
10. Garnish with sprinkles or colored sugar if desired.
Serves 15
Monday, May 4, 2009
Mango Coconut Mint Panna Cotta
Shannon and I were headed to Boston for a weekend with Andrea. Of course there was going to be a dinner party! Andrea made amazing white potato pizza with scallions and caramelized red onion and rosemary and a great feta veggie pizza.
Since I was going to be a nice weekend, I thought I would try my hand at panna cotta, which translates to "cooked cream". Boy oh boy is it ever. I added a splash of peppermint extract to mine. I've gotten mixed reviews about the mint flavor, so it can be something that is up to your digression.
I also opted to leave mine in the ramekins, although they pop out rather easily. Ramekins are not a requirement. In the photo, I poured the panna cotta mixture into a small bowl we use for eating rice (about 1 cup bowl)! Martini glasses also make a great looking panna cotta.
Mango Coconut Mint Panna Cotta
2 medium sized mangos
4 tbl spn OJ
1 1/4 c coconut milk*
1 c. half and half
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 c sugar
1 1/2 packet gelatin
1/4 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
*I left the can of coconut milk unshaken and scooped off the white coconut milk floating in the can
1. peel and chop the mango. Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish (optional) With an emulsifier or blender to make a mango purree. strain through a sieve to get all the stringy bits out
2. In a small bowl, mix the OJ and gelatin
3. in a stainless steel 1 quart pot, whisk together coconut milk, half and half and sugar on medium heat until very hot but not boiling.
4. in a separate bowl, mix together yogurt and mango puree
5. When the milk mixture is very hot, turn off heat and whisk in gelatin until the gelatin is dissolved followed by the mango puree and yogurt mixture.
6. whisk well together. If you have an emulsifier wand, you can even use that to make sure everything is well blended together
7. pour into ramekins.
8. chill for about 1 hour and sprinkle remaining mango. cover and chill over night!
makes about 12 1-cup ramekins 2/3 of the way full.
Since I was going to be a nice weekend, I thought I would try my hand at panna cotta, which translates to "cooked cream". Boy oh boy is it ever. I added a splash of peppermint extract to mine. I've gotten mixed reviews about the mint flavor, so it can be something that is up to your digression.
I also opted to leave mine in the ramekins, although they pop out rather easily. Ramekins are not a requirement. In the photo, I poured the panna cotta mixture into a small bowl we use for eating rice (about 1 cup bowl)! Martini glasses also make a great looking panna cotta.
Mango Coconut Mint Panna Cotta
2 medium sized mangos
4 tbl spn OJ
1 1/4 c coconut milk*
1 c. half and half
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 c sugar
1 1/2 packet gelatin
1/4 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
*I left the can of coconut milk unshaken and scooped off the white coconut milk floating in the can
1. peel and chop the mango. Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish (optional) With an emulsifier or blender to make a mango purree. strain through a sieve to get all the stringy bits out
2. In a small bowl, mix the OJ and gelatin
3. in a stainless steel 1 quart pot, whisk together coconut milk, half and half and sugar on medium heat until very hot but not boiling.
4. in a separate bowl, mix together yogurt and mango puree
5. When the milk mixture is very hot, turn off heat and whisk in gelatin until the gelatin is dissolved followed by the mango puree and yogurt mixture.
6. whisk well together. If you have an emulsifier wand, you can even use that to make sure everything is well blended together
7. pour into ramekins.
8. chill for about 1 hour and sprinkle remaining mango. cover and chill over night!
makes about 12 1-cup ramekins 2/3 of the way full.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Alligator Cake
My friend Lisa Daigle is having her 25th birthday. For the past few years, I have always managed to make her a cake (except for when I went off to California). It all started with a chocolate cake, plastic dinosaurs and a chocolate cupcake volcano... the rest is Lisa/Lisa history.
Anyhow, this year for Lisa's big quarter century she decided the best way to celebrate growing up was of course to go to Midevil times in New Jersey!! What a better way than to go to a prepaid dinner where you get to eat with your hands, watch sword fights and live jousting???
So this year's cake is a Dragon, you know to go with the theme. This is my first cake (I thought I should practice). It ended up looking like an alligator that was poorly frosted. Yes, I ran out of frosting. I was about a cup short of how I would have preferred to frost but with all else considered, I think it came out pretty good.
I'll be posting more dragon/alligator cakes as they come up. When this series is done, I'll post the final recipe and pattern :]
Anyhow, this year for Lisa's big quarter century she decided the best way to celebrate growing up was of course to go to Midevil times in New Jersey!! What a better way than to go to a prepaid dinner where you get to eat with your hands, watch sword fights and live jousting???
So this year's cake is a Dragon, you know to go with the theme. This is my first cake (I thought I should practice). It ended up looking like an alligator that was poorly frosted. Yes, I ran out of frosting. I was about a cup short of how I would have preferred to frost but with all else considered, I think it came out pretty good.
I'll be posting more dragon/alligator cakes as they come up. When this series is done, I'll post the final recipe and pattern :]
Friday, April 17, 2009
Peanut Butter Brownie Drop Cookies
Shannon and I decided to have a girl's night, watch a movie and bake cookies. When Shan and I bake, usually she makes up the batter and I end up actually shaping the cookies, putting them in the oven and... most importantly remembering to take them out in a timely fashion.
If you are a fan of brownies, especially the edges, this is the recipe for you. Each cookie tastes like a brownie edge. These are super rich cookies, so you don't want to make them too big!
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Drop Cookies
1 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniratures
3/4 c. (or 1.5 sticks) of butter
1.5 c. granulated white sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder (dutched procces or not, doesn't matter)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. ap flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
walnut halves for garnish (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with either parchment paper or lightly grease and dust with flour. Remove wrappers from Reese's cups and cut each cup into 4 peices.
2. Melt butter in a large sauce pan on low heat. In a bowl, mix together sugar and cocoa powder. Add a third at a time to the melted butter incorperating well each time. Make sure you sit in well or else your cookies will end up with a grainy texture from the sugar.
3. Remove from the heat and add eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, salt and baking soda, followed by the peanut butter cups and optional walnuts.
4. Drop onto cookie sheet in heaping teaspoons, and top with a piece of walnut (optional). bake 10-12 minutes or until it is set and the edges are firm. You really have to watch these cookies because they can over bake in a second. Cool slightly on the sheet then transfer to wire rack.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
If you are a fan of brownies, especially the edges, this is the recipe for you. Each cookie tastes like a brownie edge. These are super rich cookies, so you don't want to make them too big!
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Drop Cookies
1 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniratures
3/4 c. (or 1.5 sticks) of butter
1.5 c. granulated white sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder (dutched procces or not, doesn't matter)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. ap flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
walnut halves for garnish (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with either parchment paper or lightly grease and dust with flour. Remove wrappers from Reese's cups and cut each cup into 4 peices.
2. Melt butter in a large sauce pan on low heat. In a bowl, mix together sugar and cocoa powder. Add a third at a time to the melted butter incorperating well each time. Make sure you sit in well or else your cookies will end up with a grainy texture from the sugar.
3. Remove from the heat and add eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, salt and baking soda, followed by the peanut butter cups and optional walnuts.
4. Drop onto cookie sheet in heaping teaspoons, and top with a piece of walnut (optional). bake 10-12 minutes or until it is set and the edges are firm. You really have to watch these cookies because they can over bake in a second. Cool slightly on the sheet then transfer to wire rack.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies!
I am going to do a lot of oatmeal recipes considering how my mom bought a plethora of instant oatmeal.... why, I don't know considering how I only make 1/4 cup of oats every morning for breakfast.... with the amount of Quaker Oats she bought in bulk, its going to take me a year! Hence, lots of oatmeal related recipes!
They are cakey and crumbly all at the same time, dense, but not too dense. I think I need to fiddle with the recipe just a bit more, but currently how they stand, my dad enjoys them quite a bit. I added a touch of nutmeg which adds a nice spicy delightful flavor to them.
Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies
1/2 c. butter (soften)
1/2 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 c. granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. oat flour (I just took the oatmeal and food processed it until fine)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 c instant oatmeal
3.4 oz dark chocolate, chopped (one half of a large Hershey Bar) 0r 3/4 c. chocolate chips
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F, prepare your baking sheets with either parchment paper or non stick spray
2. cream butter and sugars, add vanilla extract and egg until well blended together
3. mix in all dry ingredients.
4. drop one oz. balls of dough onto your sheet. I use a small ice cream scoop to make uniform cookie balls.
5. bake for 15-18 minutes until slightly golden brown around the edges
6. cool on wire rack
makes ~2 dozen cookies
They are cakey and crumbly all at the same time, dense, but not too dense. I think I need to fiddle with the recipe just a bit more, but currently how they stand, my dad enjoys them quite a bit. I added a touch of nutmeg which adds a nice spicy delightful flavor to them.
Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies
1/2 c. butter (soften)
1/2 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 c. granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. oat flour (I just took the oatmeal and food processed it until fine)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 c instant oatmeal
3.4 oz dark chocolate, chopped (one half of a large Hershey Bar) 0r 3/4 c. chocolate chips
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F, prepare your baking sheets with either parchment paper or non stick spray
2. cream butter and sugars, add vanilla extract and egg until well blended together
3. mix in all dry ingredients.
4. drop one oz. balls of dough onto your sheet. I use a small ice cream scoop to make uniform cookie balls.
5. bake for 15-18 minutes until slightly golden brown around the edges
6. cool on wire rack
makes ~2 dozen cookies
Monday, April 6, 2009
Vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
I've had a cooking frenzy lately. Maybe its being confused with spring fever.
I adapted this recipe from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World".
I love the extra butteriness of the coconut milk and the nice refreshing quality the peppermint adds. Its like eating a thin mint girl scout cookie!
For the Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1.5 cups chopped up Oreo Cookies
For the Vegan "Butter Cream" Frosting
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine (I used earth balance buttery spread)
3.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup chopped Oreo Cookies
Extra Oreo Cookies to garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Sift together all dry ingredients.
In your mixer, mix together coconut milk, water and vinegar and let sit for 2-3 minutes
Add sugar, extract, and oil and mix until foamy.
In two batches, add dry ingredients and mix. Depending on how thick your coconut milk is to begin with, you may need to add a tablespoon of water at the end. Mix until there are no lumps. Add chopped up Oreo Cookies.
Pour into liners 3/2 of the way full. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN UNTIL THE 15 MINUTE MARK HAS PAST OR ELSE YOUR CUPCAKES WILL DEFLATE.
Cool on a wire rack. Follow by frosting with Vegan "Butter Cream" Frosting
Frosting:
Beat together the shortening and margarine until well mixed together
Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well.
Add extracts and coconut milk. Beat together until mixed well.*
Fold in Oreo pieces.
Dollop onto cooled Vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcakes!
*If the frosting seems thin, add more powdered sugar and refrigerate for 20 minutes before frosting.
I adapted this recipe from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World".
I love the extra butteriness of the coconut milk and the nice refreshing quality the peppermint adds. Its like eating a thin mint girl scout cookie!
For the Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1.5 cups chopped up Oreo Cookies
For the Vegan "Butter Cream" Frosting
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine (I used earth balance buttery spread)
3.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup chopped Oreo Cookies
Extra Oreo Cookies to garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Sift together all dry ingredients.
In your mixer, mix together coconut milk, water and vinegar and let sit for 2-3 minutes
Add sugar, extract, and oil and mix until foamy.
In two batches, add dry ingredients and mix. Depending on how thick your coconut milk is to begin with, you may need to add a tablespoon of water at the end. Mix until there are no lumps. Add chopped up Oreo Cookies.
Pour into liners 3/2 of the way full. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN UNTIL THE 15 MINUTE MARK HAS PAST OR ELSE YOUR CUPCAKES WILL DEFLATE.
Cool on a wire rack. Follow by frosting with Vegan "Butter Cream" Frosting
Frosting:
Beat together the shortening and margarine until well mixed together
Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well.
Add extracts and coconut milk. Beat together until mixed well.*
Fold in Oreo pieces.
Dollop onto cooled Vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcakes!
*If the frosting seems thin, add more powdered sugar and refrigerate for 20 minutes before frosting.
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