Monday, December 31, 2012

Apple Strudel with Cranberry Sauce

Finally and sadly the holidays have passed.  Tonight is a last hurrah, the grand finale.  We'll celebrate New Years with a beer and a midnight kiss before we crash into bed.  Then the long winter starts and five months later the sunshine begins.  I always have such mixed feelings about the start of the new year, anticipation and restlessness, and a sense of dread of the impending diet restrictions.  It's all fair though, since I have eaten without thought these last few weeks, and most definitely gained a few pounds.  It's time to clean up our diets and focus on getting back to health (and not carrying those pounds into bathing suit season).

This strudel served us well at our last Christmas dinner.  I thought the strudel needed to be baked just before it was eaten to keep it crispy, but the recipe said to let it cool completely before serving, so I baked it several hours before it was served.  Unfortunately I was right and the crust did not stay crisp, the layers were soft and soggy, totally disappointing.  The apples seemed a tad under baked and the phyllo layers a little over baked.  The cranberry sauce however was perfectly awesome.  It had a wonderful fruity light flavour that was both sweet and tart enough.

Baking notes:
-I left out the raisins, and added only 1 Tbsp of kirsch to the apple filling.
-I baked the strudel for 25 minutes total, covering it with tinfoil after 15 minutes.
-As you can see I forgot/didn't cover the dessert with powdered sugar.

The recipe for Apple Strudel with Cranberry Sauce can be found on the epicurious website.

58/569

Friday, December 28, 2012

Chocolate Tart with Candied Cranberries



Merry Christmas! The holiday has come and gone, and I hope yours was every bit as magical as you expected. We're not quite done our celebrating, we've got one more family dinner tomorrow night, and it's my favourite: ham!  This dessert here capped off a delicious turkey dinner, unfortunately not so deliciously.  In fact this was a recipe fail.  First of all, I'm sick of cranberries, I feel like there have been an awful lot of them lately. (This is the fifth cranberry recipe from this book in one year).  Secondly, this method of baking the cranberries left them a little bitter.  But that wasn't my least favourite part.  It might be my own fault that I disliked this recipe so much, because even though the recipe specifically stated that no chocolate with a cocoa content higher than 61% was to be used, I thought I knew better.  I subbed out half the chocolate for an 80% dark chocolate and it left the filling very bitter.  I didn't have the creme de cassis (black currant liqueur) called for either, and used an orange liqueur instead.  It was bitter and overpowering, and not very good.  It got left on a lot of plates.  Fail. Not the way I wanted to end a great Christmas meal.

Baking notes:
-I used the wrong type of chocolate and liqueur in the filling.  Next time, follow the directions!
-I bake the cranberries hours before I put them on top of the filling because I was short on time.  I'm not sure what the difference was, maybe some of the berries weren't as candied as they could be.

57/569

The recipe for Chocolate Tart with Candied Cranberries can be found on the epicurious website.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

I started this cookie post on the right day, Tuesday, exactly one week before Christmas.  As you can tell it's Friday now, and the only reason I even have time to post is because I'm laid up in bed with a terrible cough and a fever of 101.3.  Not perfect timing for being sick if you ask me.  As is my usual, I got sick on my weekend, which is entirely irritating on it's own, since we had mega plans this weekend, Christmas gift deliveries, a birthday party, The Hobbit watching, and a wine and cheese party on Saturday.  Not only that, but I have Christmas gifts to buy and make, and it seems that today I'm not going anywhere at all.  My to-do list is getting compressed, but luckily this is one thing I can do from bed.

Peppermint is so perfect this time of year, I'm making everything with it!  I've done cupcakes, and chocolate bark, hot chocolate and now cookies.  They're crunchy and sweet and very cute to boot.  However, when you bit into them the filling squished out all over your hands, making them tricky to eat.  I liked them enough, but I wouldn't be bothered to make them again.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of cookies, we had about three dozen in the house already.
-The recipe is simple and quick, enjoy.

56/569

The recipe for Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies can be found on the epicurious website.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Cranberry-Glazed Orange Layer Cake

 It was my birthday a few days ago, I turned twenty-two.  I felt/feel old.  Oh how I will hate myself for saying that in eight years when I turn 30, or in ten years when I finish this project and I turn 32.  Thirty-two, can you believe it?!  I can't even imagine 23! My family and friends made my day very special and spoiled me absolutely rotten.  Some people think it is wrong to make your own birthday cake, but I argue it couldn't be more right for me! I love baking, and the only birthday cake I get full control over is my own.  I actually made this cake for my family and chocolate peppermint cupcakes for my friends.  Every last bit got eaten, for realz.

I knew that some of the cakes in this book were going to be harder to make than others, not technically, but convincing the birthday person that I should make them as birthday cakes.  Chocolate, peanut butter, anything with coffee or candy, or vanilla are easy sells, everyone wants those. But the folks I know don't seem to love citrus cakes.  I knew if I wanted to bake these, they'd be on my own time, so I chose a seasonal citrus cake for my own birthday.  It's an adult cake for sure.  It's not very sweet, cranberry and orange are the main flavours and I could not sell my little brother on a slice, but all the adults I shared it with loved it.  LOVED it!  The cake was not very pretty (though I've definitely made worse), but the flavours were spot on.  Light cake, zingy cranberries and a sweet brown sugar frosting.  I would eat a slice of this again!

Baking notes:
-I couldn't find orange extract in my little town, so instead I doubled the orange zest.  The flavour came through brilliantly.
-I baked the cakes in three 8 inch pans, which worked really well and kept the cakes from drying out.  I also didn't bake them for 35 minutes (I forgot to record how long I did bake them), I kept a close eye on them and took them out exactly when they were done.
-Other than that I followed the recipe closely and had great results.

The recipe for Cranberry-Glazed Orange Layer Cake can be found on the epicurious website.

55/569

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Classic Christmas Cutout Cookies

Next week will already mark the last installment of our Christmas cookie series.  I've got to say: I'm totally bummed!  I've loved my weekly timeline for baking (even if it usually gets up late). I'm guessing I'll continue at this pace, but with treats abound, as they are at this time of year, who can really say?  This cookie recipe came at a truly appropriate time, with cookie decorating being the thing to do at this time of year.  We've got plans for next week, but I considered this a trial run.  Unfortunately these cookies aren't as good as my go to recipe.  I find the flavour a bit boring and bland.  There isn't really much else to say.  The texture is nice, the process was easy, but I've had better.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of this recipe, since I knew we weren't going to be decorating.
-To roll out the dough after a night in the fridge I let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes.  Even then it just cracked under my rolling pin (which I hate!) so I kneaded it a few times into a softer ball and rolled it out liberally sprinkled with flour.
-I had to watch the cookies closely as they baked, turning the pan halfway through.  And took them out as soon as there was a hint of brown around the edges.

The recipe for Classic Christmas Cutout Cookies can not be found online.

54/569

Monday, December 10, 2012

Homemade Marshmallows


Homemade marshmallows are a beast.  Not a year goes by where I don't make at least one batch, often multiple, but as much of a pain in the ass as they are, they are totally worth it.  They are supremely sticky and marshmallow ends up everywhere, but the delicate, springy, soft marshmallows with their weird and wacky flavours melt beautifully into a cup of hot chocolate, which is my favourite way to eat them.  In the summer I stick to vanilla (it goes best with smores), but in the winter I hand out individually packaged hot chocolate with little peppermint marshmallows (I've even been known to make eggnog flavoured marshmallows!).  It's the light peppermint that kills me, it's so festive and decadent, and peppermint and chocolate are two of my favourite things, especially when they are together.

Marshmallows are not hard to make by any means, the trickiest bit is having all the tools on hand to make them.  A candy thermometer is a must, and a stand mixer is mandatory as well.  Other than that, follow directions and keep your fingers off the marshmallows, or you'll have long thin strands of marshmallow all over your kitchen.  (Guilty!)

Baking notes:
-The only thing I did differently was add a 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract along with the vanilla.  Subtle, but noticeable.

The recipe for Homemade Marshmallows can be found on the epicurious website.

53/569

Friday, December 7, 2012

Almond Thumbprints

I make thumbprint cookies every year.  I don't have a clue why, they're not Christmas-y at all.  But Christmas has me craving cookies, and so I do.  Every year I'm disappointed by thumbprint cookies that are dry and bland, with  jam filling that bubbles out and around, they always leave much to be desired.  Once again this year I tried a new recipe, this time from my book.  And what do you know? I finally found a great recipe! They're easy, buttery, very sweet and extremely delicious.  I totally loved them, and so did everyone who tried them!  As a bonus I got to use up two languishing jars of jam in my fridge, a cranberry-strawberry and a four-plum.

P.s. You might think this picture looks awfully similar to my last post, but when your Christmas tree takes up two-thirds of your living room...

Baking notes:
-I didn't have enough almonds, so I toasted some walnuts to go with them.  In all I had just short of a cup of nuts, so I added about an extra 1/4 cup of flour.  (You could totally use hazelnuts and fill the centers with nutella, my mouth waters just thinking about it!)
-To make the indentations I used the small end of a wooden spoon and then used my fingers to make the holes bigger while keeping the sides intact.  When I pulled them out halfway through baking I used the spoon again to make another hole.  In the end the cookies held a lot of jam, which my thinking tells me is way better.
-I found the cookies super simple to make.  Yes, there were a few extra steps, but I think they were definitely worth it.

The recipe for Almond Thumbprints can be found on the epicurious website.

52/569

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark

Whoa.  The Christmas train is fast approaching the station and I'm hanging onto my hat as the winds blast by.  The stockings are hung, the tree is aglow, the advent calendar is started and I've made my inaugural batch of Chocolate-Gingerbread Cookies, things are officially on countdown.  One of my favourite things about Christmas is the total unabashed enthusiasm for the kitchen I feel at this time.  Every gift I give is another excuse to spend time in my kitchen, and loading the oven up with cookies makes you normal, not crazy at this time of year.  So while my recipe binder spits out recipes like receipts on boxing day, I'm just (very happily) baking to keep up with demand.

Week ten in the Christmas cookie series brings us this layered peppermint crunch bark.  Now, I knew I'd like this recipe, it's chocolate bark for pity's sake, but I had no idea how over the moon I'd be.  From my first sample to the subsequent ten bites I shoved in my mouth, I just couldn't stop!  This isn't your ordinary chocolate bark, that is for sure.  A base white chocolate layer is sprinkled with finely crushed peppermint candies (candy canes!) and then topped with a soft semi-sweet chocolate layer.  After it cools the final layer of crunchy white chocolate and crushed candies are added and the whole bar chills until hardened.  When you take a bite there is crunch, a soft crunch from the white chocolate and a hard crunch from the candy.  But it's the smooth chocolate layer that oozes in between it all that sets this bar at a gold level.  I promise you won't get away with just one bite, you'll be in love just like the 157 other people who reviewed the recipe.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch, 17 oz of white chocolate costs a lot $$$! (like $8 for me)
-I used 6 candy canes to make 3 oz and bashed them around.  I don't like large chunks of candy canes, so I broke mine down a lot.

The recipe for Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark can be found on the epicurious website.

51/569

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Chewy Ginger Cookies


So I'm off again, week nine already?  I've missed two weeks so far, which isn't such a hot record.  I totally missed last week's cookie recipe, our mouths were otherwise occupied with another recipe and sometimes there is such a thing as too much sugar.  Happily this recipe is totally worth waiting for!  I chose this cookie on a whim.  The recipe I had picked out originally was very similar to a recipe I was already baking that day, so I went with these instead.  They're a perfect hybrid of the seasons, the end of fall and the beginning of Christmas.  They're something akin to gingerbread, with the molasses and ginger, but still in the spice camp that I love so much during fall.  These chewy ginger cookies were super easy to throw together, chill in the fridge and bake up perfectly.  They smelled amazing as I decorated my little house for Christmas, tunes playing softly in the background.  I absolutely loved them!

Baking notes:
-I made a half recipe of these cookies, which made one dozen plump cookies.
- I used blackstrap (very very dark) molasses instead of light molasses because that is all I had on hand.  It made them a little more gingerbread flavoured, but didn't bother me at all.
-I over baked the cookies by a few minutes, totally on accident.  They still turned out delicious, just a little crunchier (and not in a bad way!).

The recipe for Chewy Ginger Cookies is not available online.

50/569

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Caramel-Pecan Black Bottom Pie


This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I was looking for a pecan pie recipes for Thanksgiving dinner.  I was thinking classic pecan pie with a twist, chocolate.  You know, black bottom?  Well this isn't a bad substitute. I love pudding pies, and I love caramel, so basically this is gold.  One failed pie crust, two custard layers and a thick caramel pecan topping equals something very close to perfect.

Chalk one up for the pie gods, Alyssa fails again.  There were tears this time, actual tears.  Shane joked that he couldn't keep up with them, as he tried to mop them off my face.  I hate you pie. I hate you.  There was no crispy-flaky pie crust here, just a thin crunchy bottom.  The custard layers were a perfect consistency and had wonderful flavour.  As a bonus the recipe is one custard recipe divided into two, so less mess (i.e. dishes)!  The bottom later is chocolate, which has a nice balanced flavour and the second layer is whiskey.  Like, boom. Booze.  Gotta love it!  Finally it's topped with a toasted pecan and caramel sauce.  Dark, sweet and toasty, oh and perfectly (not) runny.

So no, not a classic, but something entirely different.

Baking notes:
-I wish I could say the pie crust was a good recipe, but I couldn't manage it.  Maybe you can?  The dough was too processed and the butter chunks non-existent after I followed the direction "process until large moist clumps form".  After that it turned into something more like a tart dough.
-I used a poor quality () semi-sweet chocolate.  The flavour was fine, but could have been better.
-The recipe calls for brandy in the second custard layer, but I don't have that in my liquor cabinet and besides, whiskey and pecans go so well together.  I used Jack Daniels.
-I don't know why it asks for that second measure of cornstarch (1/4 tsp). I just left it out.

The recipe for Caramel-Pecan Black Bottom Pie can be found on the epicurious website.

49/569

Friday, November 16, 2012

Fig and Rum Squares

Week seven: go!  I'm sorry to report this week's Christmas cookies are late.  I was very busy snacking on the most delicious chocolate silk pie from the smitten kitchen cookbook and I seriously had no time for any other form of sugar.  It was that good.  After five days though, I'd had enough.  I threw out the very little remaining and baked up these bars.  It was Christmas in my nostrils while these baked! Christmas spice and shortbread, the combination is simply divine.

The fig and rum place these lightly sweetened cookies firmly in the adult camp.  The flavours are complex and layered, I really enjoyed them.  The crumb cookie underneath was very similar to shortbread. The fig layer, a puree of dried figs, brown sugar, spiced rum, orange and cinnamon was delicious. These flavours are very similar to those little candies I made two weeks ago and loved!  The crumble topping is a little tricky to eat, it tends to crumble all over the plate, and I personally dislike the almond mixed on top, however, the crunch is a welcome addition.  Overall I enjoyed these cookies as the mid afternoon munchies set in with a mug of milky tea.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of these cookies, to finish off a package of figs.
-I cooked the figs in the orange juice for 3 or so minutes to soften them before I pureed it all in the food processor.  This made them much easier to puree.
-The recipe calls for dark rum, but I only had spiced rum, so that is what I used.

The recipe for Fig and Rum Squares can be found on the epicurious website.

48/569

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Semisweet Chocolate Layer Cake with Vanilla Cream Filling

My last shift before the start of my weekend I received a flu shot.  Not one that I wanted, mind you, but one that I got anyway.  Less than 24 hours later I was laid up on the couch with the flu.  It might be part of the reason this cake bombed so bad, because as you can see, bad things happened.  During the making of this cake I went from perfectly healthy to very sick, all in a matter of hours.  We tried the cake a few days later and promptly threw it out.  It sucked that bad.  Reviews on this cake are mixed, some people hated it, others loved it.  I'm firmly in the hate category, but for a few different reasons.  Oddly the cake recipe on the website is not the same as the recipe I used in the book.  If you follow the online recipe, your results might be dramatically better, let me know!

Firstly, is the matter of the actual cake layers.  The cake was so fragile it literally tore apart in my hands. Strangely this is not a problem I usually have, I'm a (fairly) gentle baker.  I believe it had to do with the cake flour called for, it made the cake way too delicate.  Of course, it could have been a creaming method problem as well, we'll never know.  Second, I take issue with the whip cream layers, which never set up as firm as they could have.  When the cake was placed on top of the whip cream they separated into four (or more) pieces, thus moving outwards and leaving giant gaps in the cake. By the time this happened I was feeling very crummy and I threw the cake in the fridge to set. I made the chocolate layer and left it on the counter, both needed to sit for two hours and I collapsed on the couch.  I never got up that afternoon.  Two days later, when I got around to it, I tried to salvage the now rock hard chocolate frosting by whipping it with the mixer.  This resulted in a split frosting.  I piled it on top of the cake and left it.  Enough was enough, was there a point in salvaging a doomed cake?

We tried a slice, but were totally disappointed.  The texture left much to be desired and the flavour wasn't anything but sweet.  There was an absence of true chocolate flavour in the cake layer and a defined vanilla flavour in the whip cream. Everything felt both cloying sweet and strangely mute.  I tossed it in the garbage, as it was taking valuable space in our tiny refrigerator.  Yes, having a small kitchen means that sometimes treats get tossed.  Sorry. (but not.)

Baking notes:
-I made this cake exactly as outlined in the book.  It's not the same recipe as the one online (even though it has the same name).  Unfortunately I wasted a lot of ingredients in this cake, including 18 oz of chocolate.  So sad.
-I stopped following the recipe when the ganache was meant to be poured.  I was to sick too get off the couch, and tried whipping it the following day.
-Fail, total fail.

The recipe for Semisweet Chocolate Layer Cake with Vanilla Cream Filling can be found on the epicurious website.  (Hopefully a better version, give it a shot and let me know.)

47/569

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Lime Snowball Cookies

Okay, so lime snowball cookies for my sixth week of Christmas cookies.  It was a toss up of cookies vs. bars.  Cookies, being more radically different than last week's post, won.  I've made plenty a mexican wedding cookie, or russian tea cake, or whatever you like to call them, for the past few christmases and this was a welcome change.  It's a lot like a shortbread being crumbly and crunchy, but smooth and sweet all together.  Okay, so it might actually be a shortbread cookie with it's 1-2-3 sugar - butter - flour ratio, but they're good.  Then after all that butter and sugar goodness is a tonne of lime.  Lime! It makes this zest and bright with total in-your-face citrus.  I gave them all away and everyone loved them! Grandparent, co-workers, friends.  A few people even asked for the recipe.  Less than 24 hours later, they're all gone.  Great!

Baking notes:
-I did not have the lime oil, nor could I find it at my local store.  Instead I put in two tsp of lime zest and omitted the oil.  Worked fine.
-I weighed the cookies for consistent baking.  The first batch I did at 12 grams per cookie, but they were a little too small. So the next tray had 15 gram cookies on it.  They baked up better
-I baked the 12 gram cookies for 13 minutes, but they were underdone and burning at the same time.  The 15 gram cookies I baked a little lower for 20 minutes and they were perfect.

46/569

The recipe for Lime Snowball Cookies can be found on the epicurious website.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Sweet Almond 'Biscotti'

I did it again, I bought almond paste.  Almost every time I see it I buy it, and almost every time it goes hard before I get around to using it.  Shane called me out this time, while it was still in my basket and I vowed to use it before I had to throw it out.  There are a few recipes in the book that contain almond paste, and this is probably the easiest.  I whipped up the cookie batter in 6 minutes, literally.  It was very, very simple.  While it baked the house quickly filled with the smell of sugar and toasty almonds and after it cooled I sliced it into cute little cookies.  They are absolutely perfect for a morning coffee or an afternoon pick me up.  They're not to sweet, and perfectly nutty.  They're not exactly a biscotti, no, much softer than that.  Crunchy from the crust and the nuts and soft on the inside.  And biscotti actually means twice baked, and these are only baked once. Regardless, they're a simple and sophisticated cookie.  Enjoy.

Baking notes:
-I definitely thought these were going to be flat flavoured without so much as a drop of vanilla.  But I was pleasantly surprised and how good they are.
-I made a 2/3 recipe, because I only had 4 oz of almond paste instead of 6 oz.  The only unpleasant part was the dividing of an egg into 3 parts.
-I baked the biscotti for 32 minutes instead of the 40 called for, it was already a little overdone.

45/469

The recipe for Sweet Almond 'Biscotti' can't be found online.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Chocolate Panforte Candies


I didn't know what to expect when I picked out these candies from a long long list of choices.  Panfor..wha?  I wondered.  I kinda knew, I kinda didn't, but I chose them anyways for my fifth week of Christmas cookies.  So I was surprised to find out how much I loved these dainty Italian candies!  (Panforte aren't candies, they're actually a really old (like 13th century old) Italian bread, but contain the same spices and nuts). Actually my sugar diet might have been temporarily postponed while I popped candy after candy into my mouth.  They've got crunch and chew, lots of spice and complex flavours and at the end of it all, a nice chocolate finish.  Picture it: seed-heavy chewy figs, crunchy toasty hazelnuts, a face full of orange flavour and a load of spices all dropped on top of a creamy, smooth chocolate disk.  Wham! I mean, come on! How can that not make you wanna gobble three...or five of them.  I'm going to be making a huge batch of these come Christmas, to share.  As an added bonus to all this wonderfulness (as if it weren't enough!) they were a cinch to make.  They took all of fifteen minutes from start to finish.  It's like aces in your back pocket when the Christmas invites start rolling in.  Gotta love it!
Baking notes:
-I chopped my figs much finer than quarters.  I was aiming for a more even distribution in the mix.
-It may seem like a lot of spice, but it totally mellows out.  Dump it in!
-I chopped my hazelnuts pretty fine as well.
-I never measure out orange zest.  I just zested the whole orange into the pot.

44/569

The recipe for Chocolate Panforte Candies can be found on the epicurious website.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Halloween Candy Cake


So it's birthday season again, the part of our year when things get crazy.  Crazy in the best way possible of course.  Thanksgiving starts it off every year, then a birthday (that was Thursday), Halloween, three more birthdays, Christmas, New Years and two more birthdays, Valentine's day, another birthday and then things are finally over.  I love it each and every time.  We have something to celebrate every second week from now until March (and then the blues hit hard).  Luckily that means you can count on a lot of cakes and big desserts between now and then.  My pocket book will be crying before the end of all this, and maybe the sugar detox I was talking about the other day makes more sense now.   Get ready, it's celebration time!

Heather, who turned 17 on Thursday, got to pick her cake from a list of 132.  It was simple for her though, she saw the word Halloween and decided immediately.  (The girl loves Halloween, what can I say?)  It's perfect timing of course, little packages of candy are abundant in the stores right now, though with all the varieties of chocolate around you'd wonder why I couldn't find butterfingers for the life of me!  This cake is peanut heavy, which was perfect for us, we all love our peanut butter and could eat it forever.  There are Reese's peanut butter cups, Reese's pieces and Oh Henry's inside the cake.  Sugar overload? I think so.


Baking notes:
-I thought the actual cake was kinda weird.  6 eggs, 2 yolks and ground peanuts?  That's hardly a cake.  But I made it as directed and it worked alright.  You could feel the peanut-y crunch with every bite.  I only baked the cakes for 15 minutes instead of 20, and I still found them a little dry.
-I assembled the cake at home, wrapped it up and refrigerated it.  On the long drive to our destination the cake actually flipped over, but it was oddly unaffected.  I whipped the cream and decorated the cake just before we ate it.
-The layers were like this: peanut cake, peanut butter frosting, chopped peanut butter cups x4.  Then whip cream covering the cake, chopped peanuts on the sides and the reese's pieces and oh henrys for decoration.  Wow!

The recipe for Halloween Candy Cake can not be found online.

43/569

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Brown Butter and Peanut Brittle Ice Cream


Wow! We're burning through the book!  This is the forty-second recipe to come out of the kitchen, and what fun it's been!  It's about to slow down though, to a steady once a week for the 12 weeks of Christmas cookies series (with the exception of three upcoming birthday cakes).  I've decided in an attempt at pre-holiday sanity, that my body needs less sugar for the time being.  So I give you this recipe, the last sweet to come out of the kitchen before the big detox, (that I sent straight to my mother's house, where my brother went ga-ga) which was fan-freakin'-tastic!  With just one bite it was listed under faves, and the recipe tossed into my mental make again pile.  I suggest you get cracking on this recipe, you won't regret it!

Baking notes:
-My only complaint about the recipe is the gritty texture the brown butter leaves on your tongue.  It's a worthwhile compromise, and only the separated butter solids, but not perfect.
-I scrapped out and steeped a vanilla bean instead of the vanilla extract called for.  Bonus flavour points!
-I couldn't find peanut brittle for the life of me, so I made my own.  I adapted this recipe by subbing out sesame seeds and adding chopped peanuts, and leaving out the nutmeg.  It was nice to make the brittle without corn syrup.

The recipe for Brown Butter and Peanut Brittle Ice Cream can be found on the epicurious website.

42/569

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts

Week four, week four! How did that happen?  I left Shane a note on top of the cookie jar before he came home, it read "Eat as many as you want."  He read it as "Eat all of these in one night."  When I came home there were 14 less cookies in the jar. (I counted)  Seriously?  He must have loved them.  I know I did. (I ate one).  I've made rugelach before, but it's never been as great as I hope.  Usually the sugar is overcooked on the bottom and it's too hard for these teeth, or the pastry is too dry.  This time the cottage cheese kept it moist (and simple!).  There is a little crunch when you bite in and then a lot of nutty - caramelized sweetness, nothing remotely dry or over cooked.  Decadent, flaky and sweet.  These will be my new standard rugelach recipe.  Stoked!

Baking notes:
-I did everything exactly as outlined except: I used butter instead of margarine.  That was a given.  Please Bon Appetit, what were you thinking?!
-I baked the cookies for a little less time (about 2-3 minutes) and they came out perfectly.

The recipe for Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts can be found on the epicurious website.

41/569

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Cranberry and Lemon-Ginger Parfaits


I am a hurry up and wait person by nature.  I'm constantly in a rush for absolutely no reason.  Example: throwing pots and bowls around the kitchen in attempt to get everything done as soon as possible.  Why?  Just because I'm in a hurry.  I speed all the way to work and am 20 minutes early, every single day.  Why?  What if there was traffic?  I rush my husband out the door on our way to meetings and appointments, I can't be a minute late.  Instead we sit in the car for ten minutes twiddling our thumbs almost every time.  I don't know why it's ingrained in me to rush to and through everything, (I'm blaming this one on my mother.)  I found myself rushing through this recipe, getting my arms crossed in an attempt to speed through it.  Again, it was for no reason, I had no excuse.  So I slowed down, took my time and enjoyed the process.  In return the recipe worked beautifully and later that night Shane and I slowly savored our dessert.  (Well he ate it slowly, I plowed through mine like someone was going to steal it away.)

The layers in this parfait are mousse.  Parfait is a useless descriptive word in this case, it doesn't tell you very much at all.  They are light and airy, like munching on little clouds.  The dessert is perfectly balanced between lightly sweetened and naturally tart, neither one overbearing.  The ginger wonderfully compliments the lemon and gives a tiny bit of texture to the mousse.  Though the picture shows very little lemon mousse, there is actually a nearly equal amount. (Apparently I need to work on my layering skills!)  The layers are both lightened with whip cream and stabilized with gelatin.  I've found in my experience that though mousse made with gelatin set heavier, they last much longer and give the mousse a more luscious feel.  The results were terrific, I was very pleased.

Baking notes:
-Once again I made a half recipe.  This one was a little trickier due to the splitting of one egg yolk, but it's no matter if you make a full recipe.
-I thought the serving size was much too big!  I would cut down the portion by 1/3 for the dessert to be eaten comfortably.
-I didn't use cranberry liqueur in the recipe (though that sounds great!) and just substituted water instead.

The recipe for Cranberry and Lemon-Ginger Parfaits is not currently available online. (I always hate that.)

40/569

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Cranberry Orange Drop Cookies

The rain is sliding down the south facing window, the one above the white couch with the grey blanket that warms my feet.  The dog lays on the floor blissfully asleep until the heater blows on and his head lifts.  I feel the rain sprinkle onto my cheek through the screen on the open window when the wind gusts.  I reach up to close it and feel a little puddle of water.  It's our first rainstorm in our new place and we've yet to discover the patterns and tricks the weather will play.  A day as blustery and wet as this deserves the comfort of baking and the warmth of an oven, my comfort lies in the recipes I try.

It's only the first rain of fall but I'm dreaming of snow and crackling fires, cinnamon baking and songs to sing, it's week 3 of 12 weeks of Christmas cookies.  Today I make Cranberry Orange Drop Cookies, they're Christmas in a cookie for sure.  There are cranberries, a lot of them, and spices, there is ginger and orange and walnuts and pistachios.  They are comforting and warm, soft and pillowy, they are perfect for this day.

[update: butter ate all of these.  I had one.]

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of this cookie recipe, and I ended with 19 cookies, 5 shorter than the 24 approximated.
-I used water because I didn't have orange juice on hand (I forgot that the orange I zested was full of juice)
-I measured out the cookies into rounded tablespoons but only baked them for 12 minutes instead of 18, which was plenty of time, I imagine they would have otherwise been quite burnt.

The recipe for Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookies can be found on the epicurious website.

39/569

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Cornmeal Pound Cake with Rosemary Syrup, Poached Pears, and Candied Rosemary

It's one of the first recipes you see when you flip through the book, and it's been haunting me ever since the project started.  I'm not sure why it nagged me so much, there doesn't seem to be anything overly special about it.   Maybe it's the candied rosemary?  That, and the fact that it has a picture, and most of the recipes do not.  I wonder if it would have stuck with me so much if there hadn't been a picture?  Anyway, I was looking for a project and my heart was set on this one.  After lunch I set about creating this dessert.

First there were vanilla poached pears.  I took my ripest pears, the ones that were on their way out, and cut them up into quarters.  They were too big to leave whole like the recipe called for, and frankly just weren't nice enough.  The poaching was easy and soon they sat cooling in the fridge.  While that was happening I made the pound cake, a half recipe mind you, in a tiny little loaf pan, the perfect size for two.  It's a cornmeal cake, both simple and easy.  Once the cake was in the oven and the pears were chilling, I candied the rosemary.  It was a much easier process than I anticipated.  I started the syrup and added my sad looking rosemary sprigs.  They cooked in the sugar for five minutes and almost right away took a quick dusting in superfine sugar.  The best part of the whole dish?  The rosemary syrup left behind!  Seriously, the syrup was so good I had it in my chai tea.  I'd make more just to have the syrup again!

It's safe to say I was a bit disappointed with the dessert.  All the opportunity was there, but I think it fell short.  The pears were okay, the pound cake was actually a nice texture. Unfortunately it tasted like nothing and the rosemary was so woody it wasn't actually edible.  The syrup was too reduced and constantly needed to be reheated to maintain a fluid consistency.  There were a few things I'd change to make them really sing.

Baking notes:
-I didn't use wine in my pear poaching liquid, I didn't have any one hand.  Instead I substituted apple juice and a tablespoon of triple sec.  Wine would have added another dimension altogether.  I also forgot to add the rosemary to the pot.
-My vanilla isn't very strong and the pound cake needed the flavour desperately.  Without good vanilla the cake tastes like very little.  I baked the pound cake in a half size loaf pan for 53 minutes.
-The candied rosemary was easier to make than I thought it would be.  Be sure to use young tender rosemary sprigs for the best texture.  The sugar used to coat the rosemary can be saved, with it's faint but delightful flavour, for another purpose.
-Next time around I would add a tablespoon more water to the syrup after I took the rosemary out to make it a little more useable.

The recipe for Cornmeal Pound Cake with Rosemary Syrup, Poached Pears, and Candied Rosemary can be found on the epicurious website.

38/569

Friday, October 12, 2012

Pumpkin Swirl Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Almond Bark and Toffee Sauce


My brother asked me several weeks ago already, "can you pleeeease make me ice cream?"  The kid seriously loves ice cream.  But not with nuts, he won't eat those.  He won't even pick around them.  You add nuts to his ice cream and he's done.  I told him I would.  Something with caramel was what I promised.  And I fully intended to, I swear, but one day led to the next and before you knew it, three weeks had passed.  My brother's other favourite dessert is pumpkin pie.  The kid loves pumpkin pie.  He would eat it year round if I would make it for him.  And he'll gladly eat half a pie himself.  I decided to combine the two for our thanksgiving dinner and this was the result.  Pure deliciousness.

My grandparents dropped by as we were finishing our thanksgiving lunch, just in time for dessert.  This ice cream pie got rave reviews all around.  It's perfectly spiced, precisely sweetened, and oddly enough, wickedly appropriate for the hot thanksgiving day we were given.  The graham crumb crust shrunk, but was still good. The ice cream was marbled nicely with the pumpkin filling and the chocolate bark offered a nice crunch.  The toffee sauce was wicked, like sex on a spoon.  We were all thoroughly impressed.  I'd say the whip cream was optional, and I'm glad we opted not to.

Baking notes:
-As I said, my graham cracker crust shrunk, there was nothing left on the sides of the pan.  I'm not sure what size graham cracker it is referring to because mine (which I thought were a standard size) were clearly not big enough. I ended up adding a few more to the food processor and crossing my fingers.  (which clearly didn't work)
-I found the ice cream difficult to work with.  The recipe asks that you soften the ice cream in the microwave, but I don't have one, so I scooped it out in little scoops and tried to press them flat so they'd soften quickly.  I ended up quickly tossing it all together and pressing it into the dish and tossing it in the freezer hoping for the best.
-I couldn't be bothered to whip up the whip cream before we ate this dessert.  And maybe it's a good thing.  In my experience the whip cream eaten with the frozen ice cream causes the fat to stick to your mouth.  I find it unpleasant, but the contrast in textures would have been interesting.

37/369

The recipe for Pumpkin Swirl Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Almond Bark and Toffee Sauce can be found on the epicurious website.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Mixed-Nut Spiced Toffee


So you've heard of the project 12 weeks of Christmas cookies right?  The idea that you start now to freeze cookies, so at Christmas you can pull them out when you need them, thus eliminating stress during the holidays.  I've done the project before, but like last time I use it as an excuse to make cookies, not as a freezer stocking tactic.  What can I say, I love to bake!  Now you'll notice I'm starting a week late, that's because I wasn't sure I wanted to do this again, it seems waaaay to early to be thinking Christmas already.  But in flipping through the book I've decided there are more than enough recipes fitting for the holiday season that I could use an excuse to make.  And so here we are, Week 2 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies(&Candy)!

I'm going to keep is short and sweet. This recipe rocks!  It's fairly easy, not too technical. It doesn't taste at all like the toffee you buy in tins, it's much, MUCH better.  It tastes unique, like something you've never had before, but all too familiar at the same time.  I really love it, and I know some lucky people will at Christmas time too!

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch, because no matter how good it is, there are still only two of us.  It was a very easy recipe to divide.
-My thermometer hovered around the 220 F mark for a long time, but eventually it did make it to 290 F.  Totally worth the 20 minutes at the stove.
-I used blackstrap molasses for a really dark intense flavour, and it came out amazing.
-I really can't get enough of this!

36/569

The recipe for Mixed-Nut Spiced Toffee is available on the epicurious website.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

We have very little counter space you see, and between the coffee maker and the dishes drying there was just no room for a cooling cake.  I placed the cake on a rack on the TV stand and went about my day.  We leave food out all the time and our dog never sniffs twice.  The cake was fine from it's low perch as we sliced little pieces off here and there, it's glaze dripped to the wood beneath it.

The next morning, thinking nothing of it, I brought Shane to the train station.  It's a six minute round trip journey.  When I came back into the house Butter slunk down onto his mat (the place we put him for discipline) licking his chops.  He knew he was in trouble before I knew what he did.  I looked around for vomit before I spotted the scene.  My pretty cake completely devoid of icing, mashed up against the TV with a picture frame sitting on top (he had pushed the whole thing back into it) and a good third of the cake missing.  I don't know what pushed him to eat the cake, I've never known him to eat my sweets.  (Corn thief he most definitely is.)  But this is his game, once every few months, after we've forgotten about a previous incident he'll strike again.  We'll up our vigilance for a few weeks before letting our guard drop again.  We forget, he attacks.  Needless to say the slobbery cake went straight to the garbage.

Luckily for me I didn't find the cake all that enjoyable anyways.  It thought it was bland and tough.  The only part I really enjoyed was the sugar craving it satiated.  Shane on the other hand liked it a lot, so I'll leave it for you to decide.

Baking notes:
-Even though I lowered the oven temperature to 325 and had the cake in for only an hour (instead of 68 minutes) I found it hard and dry.  I needed less time, but even then I'm not sure the very thick and hard crust on the outer edge would be better.
-I had to tent the cake for the last 25 minutes of baking because it was getting so dark.
-The cake itself had little flavour, it could have used a nice splash of vanilla or something.
-When I combined the icing sugar and sour cream I couldn't figure out how they were going to make something liquid, but I just kept stirring and oddly enough it eventually worked.
-I did love the walnut topping and could have eaten it all off the top (like my dog).

35/569

The recipe for Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake can be found on the epicurious website.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Italian Hazelnut Espresso Shortbread Cookies


You know, you could make almost any recipe in this book if you keep your pantry well stocked with nuts.  I've realized a recurring theme while flipping through the recipes, I've almost never got the appropriate type nut to make each recipe.  I've also noticed a lot of recipes calling for matzo meal and quick cooking tapioca, two things I've never had in my house, but who's absence has become glaringly apparent.  Come next payday my cart will be full with walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, almonds and hazelnuts, then I'll be set.

I had a few hazelnuts languishing in the bottom of my bulk basket and rescued them from a sad unnoticed fate by making these cookies.  Best idea of the week? You bet!  These cookies are so buttery and crisp, toasty and warm, I could gobble them up in no time.  This is the shortbread I dream of, I'd never known just how easy it was!  No chilling or rolling, just slap it all together in the food processor, knead it into a ball and press it into a pan.  Bake for 25 minutes and it's done.  Full of flavour and totally addictive.  It's a new favourite of mine!

Baking notes:
-I made a half recipe, which was very easy to do. (No splitting a single egg this time!)
-Everything went totally smoothly until I came back to the cooled shortbread two hours later.  While putting together the chocolate topping I failed to cut the recipe in half and ended up with an awful lot of chocolate.  I realized my mistake afterwards and covered the top of the cookies with chocolate, rather than drizzling it.
-Because I didn't drizzle the chocolate the cookies had to be cut again, which is why they look a little rough around the edges.  Follow the recipe and yours will look much better.

The recipe for Italian Hazelnut Espresso Shortbread Cookies is available on the epicurious website.

34/569

Monday, September 24, 2012

Pear and Fig Pie with Hazelnut Crust

I must state, with all sincerity, that this recipe was truly disappointing.  I feel like I've had a bad run lately, with subpar recipes and discouraging outcomes.  It doesn't help in this pie's instance that I'm not a great pie maker.  I have one recipe that works and this is clearly not it.  I don't know if it's my warm hands, but it can't be total inexperience since I've made many, many recipes.  Once again this one disappoints, dry and crunchy, not at all flaky and light.  The nuttiness is there, which is pleasant, but the pears don't shine and the figs feel awkward, like the melding of the flavours never happened.  There is a nice pop of lemon, but it isn't enough to save the pie from it's bland and poorly-textured doom.

I realize post recipe that I messed it up.  The recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks of butter (3/4 cup) and I put in 3/4 of a stick (1/3 cup).  This of course, would make a huge difference to the overall recipe.  I also noticed that the recipe online has an added 2 Tbsp of ice water added, to make the dough much more workable and cohesive I'm sure.  Drat.  This could have been so much better!

Baking notes:
-As I said, I messed up the crust recipe, be sure I follow the ingredient list properly and your results will be much better.
-I added only about 1/4 cup of sugar rather than 1/2 cup.
-My pears were a little under ripe, I'm sure the filling would be that much better with very ripe and sweet pears.
-I would also say that a little added spice would go a long way to improving this pie.  A little ginger or maybe some finely chopped rosemary.

The recipe for Pear and Fig Pie with Hazelnut Crust can be found on the epicurious website.

33/569

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Puff Pastry Pinwheel Cookies with Jam

Ack! These cookies, they were not all that great.  I mean, I've definitely had worse, but I'd never go out of my way to make them again, or even snack on one if I saw it.  They're rather bland and boring, and sure a lot of work.
In fact, the first tray burned entirely.  When I didn't follow the instructions they worked out better, but save yourself the trouble and don't make these.  I brought a plate of these to work and came home with most of them.

Baking notes:
-The recipe called for the jam to be added before it was placed in the oven, but the result was cookies that were totally burned to shit.  In the next batch I added the jam immediately after they were out of the oven and it turned out much better.
-Using 1/4 tsp of sugar on each cookie was more than enough.

The recipe for Puff Pastry Pinwheel Cookies with Jam is on the epicurious website.

32/569

Friday, September 21, 2012

Coffee Gelato

The pickings are getting slim in the pantry department.  I haven't gone shopping in nine days! That's gotta be some sort of world record, ha!  The most striking thing about this recipe, coming from someone who make ice cream on a regular basis, is the length of the ingredient list.  It's four items long, which is to say; very short.  Eggs, milk, coffee and sugar.  No cream, cornstarch, cream cheese, nuts or chocolate.  Just a simple custard gelato.  I whipped up the gelato in no time flat, but expected the worst.  Even Shane agreed, we expected it to be icy.  We know, we're pros.

Luckily for us the gelato came out perfectly!  It's smooth and rich and perfectly sweetened.  A successful recipe.  The part I disliked was the use of instant espresso powder.  We've made plenty of coffee ice cream over the years and have always steeped coffee beans in the custard.  This recipe is much more convenient and less wasteful of the coffee beans but tastes like espresso powder, which is not great.  Unless of course you really like instant coffee.  Which would make you an anomaly, and particularly well suited to making this recipe.

Baking notes:
-This recipe cooked up nice and quick.  Remember to be careful when cooking, custard especially with 5 yolks scrambles easily.

The recipe for Coffee Gelato can be found on the epicurious website.

31/569

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Texas Sheet Cake


I've never had to keep the house stocked with food suitable for lunches and now that I do I realize the constant challenge.  By myself I can make and eat pretty much anything I find, my lunches for work are never a problem, but supplying Shane's lunch is an entirely different experience.  I feel as though if I don't have a plan, he won't eat and it's true.  I bake a lot, but there wasn't necessarily a sweet available on every day, now there is.  Homemade granola bars are a constant in the freezer, soups can be found there too.  Buns and homemade bread make quick sandwiches and oatmeal makes a fast breakfast.  Fruit must always be on hand for a healthy snack, and no 12 hour long day can go by without something sweet.  We've been going heavy on the cookies, which is always tasty, but I was in the mood for a snacking cake.  More precisely, a cake recipe we had all the ingredients for, because this time I wasn't going to the store.

Texas sheet cake sounded like a great idea and in fact it easily could have been.  I halved the recipe, because the whole recipe suits a family of five better than a family of two.  Unfortunately I didn't like the cake.  I found it very dry, which I suppose I could have alleviated, but more so I found it bland.  I like a slap-you-in-the-face chocolate cake and this was more of a hint of chocolate kind of cake.  I'd also argue that this cake could be a lot prettier if the frosting had drizzled better or the toppings were sprinkled on top instead of sandwiches between the two chocolate layers.  I might try a texas sheet cake again, but I'd use a different recipe.

Baking notes:
-As mentioned I halved the recipe and baked the cake in an 8x8 inch pan.  I checked on the cake at 20 minutes and it was more than done.  Thus, overbaked.
-I used a nice dark chocolate with a higher cocoa content than called for and I think it was better for it.
-The toppings I used were toasted shredded coconut and toasted walnuts.  Pecans would have been best.
-Next time I would glaze the cake, let it set for 5 minutes and then sprinkle the toppings on top.  If they looked like they would fall off I'd press them in a little with my hand. Easy.

The recipe for Texas Sheet Cake is not available online.

30/569

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Hazelnut Meringue Drops


As you can see, there is clearly nothing meringue-y or drop-y about...well whatever this is.  Instead of light fluffy puffy little clouds with a tiny crisp shell, you get something very different.  I can tell you straight away what went wrong.  One egg white had a little bit of yolk in it.  That's it, that's all it takes, a little (tiny) bit of fat in the swirl of white and your egg whites won't whip.  I had four egg whites sitting in the fridge, sloshing around a bit for my attention every time I opened the fridge.  I decided to use them for this recipe, because frankly I didn't want an egg white omelette.  What do you do with all your leftover whites?  Next time I'm making a frosting, of the swiss buttercream style.  Now that is a good use of whites, do you think?

Baking notes:
-I could tell my whites were not going to whip, but I already had everything ready to go, so I powered on and prayed for a miracle.  Unfortunately it didn't happen, but I'm not that disappointed.
-I followed the recipe exactly, but because the whites didn't whip I just poured it into a pan and places it in the oven.
-I baked the meringue for 35 minutes at 300 F.  When I took it would I could tell it was complete garbage, so I decided to make something crispy and crunchy.  I put the "cookie" back in the oven at 150 F for 1 1/2 hours.  By then it really was crunchy.  We ate part of it broken up and then threw it out.

You can find the recipe for Hazelnut Meringue Drops on the epicurious website.

29/569

Monday, September 10, 2012

Nectarine and Almond Crisp


I realized my absence of baked summer fruits all season long.  In place of the usual pies, crisps and fools was...nothing.  I've been baking less, but I'm sure you noticed that.  I hope it changes again, I hope baking fills our bellies and warms our homes.  It's always such a trip, of guilt and remorse with me.  But I'm weird! Don't mind me! Instead focus on the fleeting summer all around you for it will be gone in two weeks.  Two weeks before the peaches and nectarines don't show up in the markets.  Two weeks before the mornings are too cold to brave without a coat.  Two weeks before the rains begin.  And two weeks before the cinnamon starts to fly.  Goodbye summer, welcome fall.

This crisp bridges the summer-fall gap perfectly with it's soft juicy nectarines freckled with warm cardamom and ginger.  The fruit is luscious and bright, the crumble is nutty and crisp.  It's all a perfect balance, now quick! get to the store before it's to late!

Baking notes:
-I didn't have apricot preserves, so I used a peach jam preserved in the summer.
-I couldn't find almond paste so instead I added two tablespoons of butter and 1 tsp almond extract to the topping. It worked beautifully.
-The cardamom comes through quite strong in this recipe, if you aren't the biggest fan I would recommend reducing the spice by 1/4 tsp.
-I baked the crisp for 30 minutes at 400 F.  When I went to check on it I saw the almonds starting to burn.  I reduced the oven temperature to 350 F and baked for 5 more minutes.

You can find the recipe for Nectarine and Almond Crisp on the epicurious website.

28/569

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Chai Pots de Creme


You can think of these pots de creme as the sequel to the chocolate pudding of the day before.  I needed more cold and creamy treats to soothe my aching mouth so I turned again to the book.  Feeling more alive later that night I yakked to my dear sister on the phone while I steeped milk, strained custard and baked these.  The process is definitely more involved than a simple pudding, but the results are dessert worthy.  I've indulged in two already, and given their richness I feel eating more would be a little too decadent, even for myself.  The pots de creme are smooth as silk and wonderfully rich.  A beautiful blend of spice would elicit a quiet murmur of appreciation from even the most picky.  They are seriously good.  But be sure to share!

Baking notes:
-I used four Earl Grey tea bags in this recipe.
-I didn't have any whole cloves on hand so I used 1/16 tsp of ground cloves instead, which worked very well.
-I didn't have an orange so I substituted lemon zest instead.
-I baked the custard in one cup mason jars.  Filled 3/4 full the recipe made four jars.
-I find cold cream coats my mouth in a layer of fat I find unappetizing.  Both the baked custard and the whipped cream have the cold fatty layer, so that might not appeal to you either.
-My custard baked perfectly in 30 minutes.

The recipe for Chai Pots de Creme can be found on the epicurious website.

27/569

Friday, September 7, 2012

Double Chocolate Pudding


Chocolate pudding is the perfect antidote to tooth extraction, or well anything that requires comfort by the bucketful.  It was the dessert I remember most about my childhood, the treat that most passed my lips.  It was pudding of the box variety of course, what else could it be?  If we are going for pure nostalgia the flavour would be butterscotch instead of chocolate, and had this cookbook had that recipe I most certainly would have used it.  But alas chocolate pudding is a fine prize in any regard and almost made getting all four wisdom teeth pulled worth it.  There was some serious rationing going on yesterday.  And please, given my drug induced haze I would appreciate some leniency with my humble pudding-on-the-lap pictures, any pictures at all seems like a small miracle.

The pudding is velvety and thick, unadorned it coats the tongue just like it should.  It's dark and super flavourful, more so than the boxed type.  You can think of it as an adult's pudding, but I think a non-box initiated child would be as over the moon about it as I am.  I promise you this: my children will know this pudding as well as I knew the little square boxes.  Enjoy a new favourite!

Baking notes:
-I made this recipe exactly as the directed, but on a slow and temperamental stove, so it took a bit longer.
-I specifically used a 70% dark chocolate and it was perfect, though I'm sure nearly any chocolate would be.
-I did not require use of the freezer as stated in the recipe, I left the pudding in the fridge overnight, with saran wrap clinging to the tops of the pudding to avoid the dreaded pudding skin. Belch!

The recipe for Double Chocolate Pudding is available on the epicurious website.

26/569

Friday, August 10, 2012

Lattice-Topped Blueberry Pie


I'm normally the crazy person, the only one in my family willing to stand in summer's hot heat in open fields crouched over berry plants, or drag myself through the thorny bushes of my beloved blackberries and raspberries.  I can stand the occasional surprise stink bug attack or spider scare, for the money saving tactics employed at a u-pick.  I was well intentioned and did my duty during strawberry season, dragging Shane along once and  going by myself, for somewhere close to 25lbs of strawberries.  I hulled, washed and froze them, bagged them and labeled them, by myself.  I did the same with the raspberries, except without any help.  But I hit my limit.  In years past I've seen just how many of my berries get eaten by the people who don't do the work and I decided enough is enough, I won't be doing blueberries.  They're Shane's favourite berry you see, the one he eats frozen all. year. long.  I told him if he wanted them for his freezer stash this year, he better get picking, I wouldn't be going.  Though I did agree to wash and freeze them.  He declined.  He won't have berries.  And I better not see him eat my stash of darling raspberries, or I might have it kick his butt.

So from the store I bought a few pounds of berries to make into our favourite treats.  First on the list was pie, naturally.  There are four blueberry pie recipe in the book, this was the only one for which I had all the ingredients on hand.  And what luck!  It tasted like heaven on earth!  Seriously, beautiful bright flavours, a perfect blueberry pie consistency (not too thick or too runny).  The crust was dynamite, standing up wonderfully to the filling, crispy and light.  It was the best blueberry pie, and I'm not kidding.  I brought most of it to work and at the end of the night one of my residents broke into the kitchen and slathered it all over a chocolate chip cookies (using a ten of hearts playing card as a spoon).  He thought it was delicious too, he told me so himself...sort of.


Baking notes:
-Like the saying 'easy as pie', it really kinda was.  The process was smooth and incident free.  There was no really long cooling periods, and the baking time was perfect.
-The pie crust came together easily, the shortening kept the pie crust very tender.
-The filling is cooked in advance while the pie crust chills in the fridge for twenty minutes.
-The crust rolled out easily, but the lattice crust was hard to layer with the hot filling making the dough very soft.
-I know it's not the most beautiful pie, but for me it's a show stopper, I'm quite bad at them.
-As you can see my lattice crust sort of disappeared, I don't really know what to do about this.

The recipe for Lattice-Topped Blueberry Pie is not available online. (boo!)

25/569

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Vanilla Shortbread Cookies


Have you been watching the Olympics?  I've seen snippets here and there, when its on the tv at work.  It's fun to glance into another reality like this every once and a while, where all the drama in the world comes to a standstill and we just play sport.  I'd get bored though, watching too much of it and I'd eat an awful lot of cookies sitting on the couch.  But I'd like to hand a prize to each an every loser, a sort of consolation prize if you will, a cookie.  Maybe not these cookies, I know I've got better cookies in my repertoire.  Like my chocolate chip cookies, or maybe my chocolate gingerbread cookies for the winter Olympics.  Nothing helps the hurt go down like sugar, or maybe that's just me.

These cookies are okay, though I find them quite tough for a supposedly tender shortbread.  I was very careful not to over mix them, I wanted that butter-y crumbly traditional shortbread.  But alas it was not.  Instead the cookies have a bit of chew to them.  They are very buttery, and if I had used the fancy butter it called for, the results would have been even better.  So in the end, if I wanted shortbread cookies again, I'd find another recipe.

Baking notes:
-The cookies were very easy to put together.  They came together beautifully.
-I used regular (if not crappy) butter and the taste was marvelous, I can only imagine how much better it would be with a fancy european butter.
-I'm sad that I can never keep the wonderful round shape of the log when cutting rolled cookies, they turned into a lumpy circle.

You can find the recipe for vanilla shortbread cookies on the epicurious website.

24/569