Tiramisu for me, Tiramisu for you!

Homemade tiramisu... not as daunting as it might seem.

 I pared down the recipe to serve just two (instead of a whopping 8 people).

Recipe from my CIA book:

Yields 2 4" rounds - used springform pans

1/3C Espresso
2T+2t Kahlua/coffee liquer
1/2C Granulated Sugar- divided into 1/3C and the remainder
2 Egg yolks
1/3 of an Egg (tricky tricky - I divided using weight)
13oz. Mascarpone Cheese
1/3t Vanilla Extract
1 Large Egg White
16 stale Ladyfingers (approximately, I used a whole package of 24)
Cocoa powder for dusting
Powdered sugar for dusting

Combine espresso and Kahlua. Set aside.
Whisk together the 1/3C granulated sugar, egg yolks and the 1/3 of a whole egg. In the stand mixer bowl, set over simmering water, whisk until volume nearly doubles and becomes a light lemon yellow color.
Transfer bowl to mixer with whisk attachment and whip at high speed until mixture is cooled to room temperature.
Add half of the mascarpone cheese and vanilla extract at low speed until very smooth. Scrape bowl as needed. Add remaining mascarpone and mix enough to combine evenly.

In a separate bowl, whip egg white with remaining sugar until forms medium peaks. (This won't be very much). Fold beaten egg white into the mascarpone mixture.

Press 3-4 ladyfingers into the bottom of springform pan. Generously brush with espresso/Kahlua mix. Spread mascarpone filling on top. Top with ladyfingers and brush with espresso/Kahula. Repeat 3-4 times depending on height of your pan. End with mascarpone on top. Dust entire top with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
Wrap and chill overnight in the fridge.

Carefully unmold! And enjoy!

Banoffee/Banoffi Pie a la Paula Deen

So, remember the Banoffee Pie I had back in Scotland? Well... seemed so quick and easy to make, but it has taken me forever to get around to trying it!

And so when an opportunity presents itself i.e. the urban family holiday party, I decide to give it a go.
I think that Banoffee Pie is a very semi-homemade kind of pie; you can kind of just slap all the ingredients together and there you go!
But the recipe I decided to follow (more or less) was Paula Deen's Banoffee Pie:

Here's my step by step "tutorial" (I use that term loosely, of course):
Step 1: Make the toffee. I made per Paula Deen's recipe. But maybe I should have just tried the "boiling can" method that's so talked about online. Not sure if I got the consistency of the toffee right either...

 

Step 2: Pour (half of) toffee into pie crust. So, I bought a ready made pie crust. Don't judge. Again, not sure if the toffee consistency was right. Might have been too runny - does it need to be cooked longer? Or is that as good as it gets?

Step 3: Slice bananers. Top with bananers.

Step 4: Top with (rest of) toffee. In hindsight, regardless of runny toffee or not, probably should have just left the filling at the bananers. This second layer of toffee was just toooo much - doesn't it just LOOK like too much already? Eek.

Step 5: Make fresh whipped cream and slather on pie. YUMMMY!

I didn't cut into the pie right away since it was obvious the "soupy" toffee was coming out from the sides. I put it in the fridge overnight in hopes that it would get firmer... but alas,

Don't get me wrong, it was delish! (Minus some of that extra toffee).
Next time, I'll do MORE whipped cream (can't go wrong with extra fresh whipped cream), LESS toffee - and BETTER toffee.

And maybe I should try the "original" recipe from which the Banoffi Pie originated.

Class II Day 6: Confections

LOTS of stuff. Pretty easy to make too... minus the burning sugar, use of a candy thermometer, and lots of sticky. Sadly, this is the last class for the Pro Bake II. (There is no III.) Oh, sadface. I really haven't had time to practice anything this session. So, I'll be sure to keep on honing those skills!

Chewy Butter Caramels

with a chocolate drizzel (I didn't do.)

With Fleur de Sel (I didn't do, either.)

Pecan Pralines

 

 Peanut Brittle

Caramel Corn

Marshmallows

Chocolate Truffles

Cooked Frosting

Seems like cooked frosting is as old as dirt... but I've only just recently come across it! It came to me on a piece of scratch paper, the "recipe" hastily and vaguely written in pencil. So with some research and guessing, I composited the Cooked Frosting recipe:

1 C Milk
3Tbsp AP Flour
1/2C Butter
1/2C Crisco
1C Sugar
1/4tsp Vanilla

Cook milk in small saucepan. Slowly add flour. Stir until thick, like pudding. (I only got it to "light sour cream consistency")

 Let milk+flour mixture cool completely.
Once cool, beat with room temperature butter and Crisco. (You could use all butter. I think I might next time.)

 Beat in the sugar and vanilla.
Frosting should be fluffy - beat for a while until you get a good consistency.
Chill before icing.

I'm guessing you can use this as a nice base frosting and flavor as you like! I haven't tried anything though. But I do really like the fluffiness and thickness of it!

Caution: Hot!

Today I got up early (super early) and went to the farmer's market! Working on Saturdays for the past 2-ish years has made it nearly impossible to visit... sadly. While I don't always pick up any fresh produce, I still enjoy walking amongst vendors and farmers and seeing their goods.

This time around, even though I had to get to work, I made it a mission to go!
Why? Because... of Blackmarket Bakery.





Amazing Chocolate Almond Bread Pudding. MMMMMMMMM!
The warm melty goodness of the caramel in contrast to the light sweetness of rum, and almond, and of course chocolate. Then there is the crunch of a few slivered almonds.
SOOOO GOOD! (The minor burns from the hot ramekin are absolutely worth it.)
I never really bit onto bread pudding until Ila's sweet potato bread pudding from the holidays (which I am still waiting for a recipe on). And ever since... I have been hooked.
If I see it, I will get it. No lie. (Unless there are raisins, then I will mull it over.)

Also, I love to see the buckets of flowers. I'm not a flower person... but they make pretty gifts! (So sad when they wilt and die...)


Getting up early was so worth it today! Got to grab a latte with a bud, and stroll the market together and look at random food things. AND, it wasn't hot! We went before the clouds had cleared for the afternoon... AWESOME.

And to continue this "active/productive" streak... I finally got my "corkboard" up!
Note to self: have a boy hammer nails into walls next time.

Low(er) Fat Cake

I've been meaning to bake a chocolate matcha cake for a while now, especially after borrowing some matcha powder from Ila.
And since the little missy is planning to borrow one of my cake stands, what better way to say thanks for the matcha than to give her a cake!

Actually, I've made a White Chocolate and Matcha Cake before based off of La Tartine Gourmande's recipe.
But I didn't use matcha powder, instead I found a green tea cake mix from Trader Joe's and kind of smooshed those two recipes together. Essentially, I made three cake mixes (White Chocolate, Matcha, Dark Chocolate) in order to marble two cakes.
Then I stumble across GORGEOUS pictures of Chocolate and Matcha yummies, and I know why I'm so drawn to making it!
Bakerella's Chocolate Matcha Bundt Cake
Mini Matcha Whoopie Pies
Matcha and Chocoalte Swirl Cake

But I decided to go with this recipe, mainly because I had all the ingredients (sorta) and it uses yogurt. I've been meaning to bake with yogurt more too!

Chocolate Matcha Marble Cake from Fresh from the Oven

I didn't have any cake flour, and wasn't about to go buy some. So, I looked up on Baking Bites how to sub out/in AP flour for cake flour.

Pretty pretty batter

A few dollops... then the swirling. (I think I did okay this time!)

I filled these about half full... one had a little more than the other. Obviously. The batter bakes up to about double the volume. I scored these awesome paper bundt "cups" from Daiso where I go to stock up on all these kinds of goodies when I'm back in the San Fran area.

Cupcake Project v1.0

Celebrating my own birthday is never a big to-do... but when it comes to other people's birthdays, mainly for close friends... I go all out (as much as I can) for them. And it also gives me an excuse to express my creativity. Thus, Cupcake Project v1.0:

Multicolored Cupcakes (White Cake + Neon Dye)

Double Chocolate Cupcakes (Devil's Food Cake + Mini Chocolate Chips)


(oopsies... I dropped the pan in the oven while checking, and sunk these poor mini cuppie cakes. And why are the cupcakes coming out all "dimple faced"?? Could be my messy pouring method.)

Cupcakes frosted with Basic Buttercream

And to finish off these yummy treats, I "created" a baroque-y classical style inspired cake/treat stand: