Sunday, January 16, 2011

Gift Bakets Galore (aka holiday baking bonanza part II)

This post is quite overdue... oops!
Just wanted to tie up the holiday season, though its been long gone...
2 baskets from the Holiday Baking Extravaganza
Special Gift Basket a la The Appropriated Muffin
 Included: the usual Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies and...
Homemade Peppermint Marshmallow with Semisweet Chocolate
Holiday shaped Rice Krispy Treats
Dachshund shaped Butter Cookies with Mini Chocolate Chips for eyes (the recipient was a doxie owner)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Homemade Marshmallows

One of the new items for the holiday baking this year was homemade marshmallows. I had made them in class and thought it was super easy to make - not much time needed and so few ingredients. I "jazzed" mine up for winter with some peppermint extract instead of vanilla. But I probably should have gone less than a full tablespoon since the peppermint flavor came out fairly strong - I decided to "counteract" that with some melted semi-sweet chocolate chip spread on one side.

Let's do the mini tutorial thing again yeah? You'll need a kitchenaid mixer - BTW.
Step 1:  Combine 3 envelopes of gelatin (or 2T+3/4t) in mixer bowl and let soften with 3/4C water.
Step 1a: Prepare pan, depending on size and shape of marshmallows you want. I used a half-sheet and got flatter marshmallows vs. thick cubes. I greased with vegetable oil then sifted powdered sugar over. (You probably DON'T need to sift the sugar over).
Step 2: Melt 2 Cups sugar, 3/4C light corn syrup and 3/4C water, boil until 240 degrees (softball stage).
Step 3: Remove from heat then add stir in an additional 1/4C light corn syrup.
Step 4: Start the mixer with the gelatin and carefully pour the hot mixture. Beat on high (approx 10 min) until mixture is triple in volume and thick. Beat in your flavoring (1T of vanilla, or peppermint extract - use caution with the strength of your flavoring)

Step 5: Spread the mixture into prepared pan, smoothing as much as possible. Set aside uncovered for 8 to 10 hours at room temp.

Step 6: Dust your workspace with powdered sugar to cut. Dip cut sides into powdered sugar. Store in airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Optional Step 7: Melt semisweet chocolate and spread on top side. Let set before packaging.
You might want to do a neater job of spreading chocolate than I did.
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.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a fun, festive and safe New Year's Eve/Day!
I'll be at home enjoying my Christmas doughnuts...
 ... in milk!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Holiday baking bonanza! (part I)

The 2nd annual holiday bakefest with my friend and I:

Rich Roll Butter Cookies with Royal Icing (recipe to follow - so easy!)
Brown Rim Sugar Cookies
Rocky Road Bites
Pumpkin Cake loaves and trees
Chunky Chocolate Gob Cookies - recipe from Kathleen at Gonna Want Seconds
Rich Roll Butter Cookies with Royal Icing
8oz. butter, room temp
2/3C Sugar
1 egg
2 1/2C sifted AP flour
1/2t salt
1t vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour until smooth and just combined.
Chill dough for minimum 3 hours before rolling out.
Roll out on lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. (You want to have a pretty decent thickness since the royal icing isn't all that tasty if it overwhelms the cookie.)
Bake at 350 for 7-12 min until lightly browned.

Royal Icing
-used Wilton Meringue Powder and its accompanying recipe
Icing and decorate cookies as desired. Let icing harden/dry completely before packaging or stacking.

With all of these goodies, some people got some overflowing gift baskets!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Holidays are here (again)!

Its been an intense few weeks... and it doesn't help to have a million+ things to do for the holidays. I have yet to do ANY shopping, and there isn't even any time to plan my own party!
I did get a breather this weekend though... and was able to do some baking for a friend's party.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - the usual recipe, just shaped different.
8in round base, with 6 tree shapes. (Recipe yielded a total of 12 trees)

Spicy Country Crackers/ or Flatbread (as it was called that night)
Yep. Busted out the Craigslist appropriated pasta machine.
Chili Oil.
Roll out dough until it is thin enough to see through. (reminds me of latex gloves) Then brush with the Chili Oil.
Before/After: Seasoned with Salt and Pepper, Sprinkled with Thyme and Parmesan
Break into shards and share!
For the dough: (sooo easy!) You just need either a)the willingness to roll it super super thin by hand, or b) have a pasta machine.

3C AP Flour
1t Kosher Salt
1C + 2T Cold Water

Mix together in a bowl so it combines, then turn out onto lightly floured surface to knead a few times to form into a ball. (Will be somewhat crumbly- don't be afraid.)
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then put into fridge for at least 30 min.

Chili Oil:
1/4C EVOO
2t Crushed Dried Chilis
Warm oil in pot.  Take off hear and add the chilies and allow to steep for 1 hour.

Toppings: (actual amounts can be up to you)
2oz grated parmesan or hard pecorino
1/4C Thyme leaves, chopped
coarsely ground black pepper to taste
kosher salt to taste

This is a totally versatile recipe... you can sprinkle whatever herbs and spices you want. Too bad I'm not very creative in that department, so I just follow recipes as I see them. :)

Bake at 350 until browned and crispy, about 15 min.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Euro Trip Foods - Part 5

Last but not least... Paris!

@ Caffee de la Fayette
Croque Monsier
Breakfast time!
Pain au Chocolat, Pain au Amande, Croissant
Lunch Time
sis's Ham, Cheese and Egg crepe
Capo Panini - Capo with Mozz and Tomato

@ Restaurant Chinois, Le Jumbo de Paris
Cashew Chicken, Frogs Legs
Breakfast again!
Apricot Croissant (but it was called "orange" or something - we couldn't figure it out)
"Dropper"? - again, don't know. it was filled with chocolate and a custard, we thinks.
Classic Brioche
Pain au Chocolat et Amandes
@ Le Feu Aux Trousses
Pizza Calzone Souffle - with egg, mozz, mushroom and ham

@ Restaurant Medova
Quiche du Jour - potato, chicken and mushroom
Sweets!
Nutella Banae crepe
Delicious tarts in the window!
Last meal at the trainstation, back in London to catch the flight back home...
@ Benugo, London
Eggs Benugo - English muffin with ham, eggs and hollandaise sauce

The End! ♥