The College Bakery

Guess Where I Am?

2011-01-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

Hello there,

So the lack of posting recently has been because of my preparations to study abroad in Rome this coming semester. I left last Tuesday, and so far my time in Rome has been amazing! I love the people, the food, and the sights. I can't wait to see what the rest of the semester has in store.

Because I'll be so busy here and I won't have access to my baking things, I think that The College Bakery is going to go on hold. However, if you'd like to follow my adventures in Rome, I've made a blog for it:
http://annasromeadventures.blogspot.com/

Thanks for coming with my on my foodie blogging adventure thus far, and I promise I'll return when I get back to the States in June!

Sincerely,
Anna

Blog Word Collage

2010-12-22T00:02:00.000-08:00

Guess what? I'm:

-done with finals!!! (!!!!!) - more exclamation points to show just how excited I am about this.

-all moved out of my apartment because next semester my apartment will be in Rome (!!!!)

- planning on doing copious amounts of holiday baking tomorrow...

Life. is. good.

Anyway, I've had this blog for a while now, and I came across this website that compiles collages of the most frequently used words from a blog, so I decided to see what The College Bakery's results would be. It was an interesting exercise, because it helped me remember what I've done so far to expand my baking and cooking knowledge.

All I have to say is: Butter butter butter butter!

Stay tuned for my (belated) post about my Daring Cook's attempt at making poached egg.

Ginger Bars So Good, That I Couldn't Get a Picture in Edgewise

2010-12-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

So in the world of college students, the time has come:

-We begin to drink so much coffee that our blood is replaced with caffeine.
-People move into the library and become dreadfully vicious about guarding their study nooks.
-Laundry is forgone and even the trendiest of students are spotted in sweats and Uggs.
-And yes, the local grocery stores run low on Ramen and Macaroni and cheese while everyone stocks up on quick meals.

Because finals are upon us. (Please insert that screechy violin music from Psycho right here.)

In a few weeks time, the semester will be over and I'll be packing up my belongings to head home for the holidays. But in the meantime my hours will be spent pouring over notes and writing so many essays that my fingers become fatigued.

I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post, because anything non-academic right now just makes me feel guilty (I can hear my mother's voice saying, "Why aren't you studying?" It's pretty haunting, let me tell you.

But until we meet again, here's a lovely recipe for you. These ginger bars were so lovely that my roommate and I scarfed them all down before I could take a decent picture. Just as I was about to bite into the last one, I remembered my camera and quickly shot a picture on my (very messy) desk. Whoops.

(By the way, the Fossil box in the background is from a watch my mom got years ago. It has an astronaut on it. It's awesome. I keep all of my spare change in there. Didn't you know that astronauts are the best security guards for coins?)

Recipe for Ginger Bars:
Adapted from Technicolor Kitchen

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Base:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
2 teaspoons ground ginger, sifted
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons caster sugar
250g cold unsalted butter, chopped

Ginger icing:
150g unsalted butter, chopped
¼ cup corn syrup
1 ½ tablespoons ground ginger, sifted
1 2/3 cups icing sugar, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray/butter an 8x12 pan, set aside.
2. For the base: In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ginger, and sugar. Add the butter and incorporate using a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (very important to not overmix!). Press and pack the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 20-30 minutes until the top is golden and slightly firm. Cool completely.
3. For the icing: Place butter, corn syrup, and ginger in a saucepan and heat over medium. Cook 2-3 minutes until butter is melted. Add icing sugar and whisk to combine. Pour the icing mixture over the cooled base and refrigerate 1 hour until set. Cut bars with a sharp knife and enjoy!

Brown Butter Honey Ice Cream

2010-11-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

I know I know, it's mid November and the temperature of ice cream pretty much equals the temperature of my apartment at 6 in the morning. But there's always going to be a soft spot for ice cream in my heart.

And man oh man, this one will have a permanent room in the hotel of my ice cream loves (right next to Cherry Garcia... yummmm).

Pretty much everything that goes into this ice cream is wonderful (brown butter? Yup. Honey? mhm.), and when you tell people that you made brown butter honey ice cream, trust me when I say that you'll feel super fancy and elegant.

Think I'm making it up? Let me show you a picture of what was left of my ice cream by the time I took a picture of it. Between myself, my room mate, and some friends we had over, only a sad little quantity was left to photograph. Whoops.

But here's the bummer: I did something wrong. The ice cream had a weird, gritty texture (perhaps this was good thing - it made it last a little longer that way!). I don't know what happened - perhaps I didn't temper the eggs correctly and they started to scramble? Maybe my honey was getting old? I'm not sure.

Regardless, I'm definitely planning on making this ice cream again. Move over, Ben & Jerrys - between my brown butter honey ice cream and my Buttermilk Ice Cream, I'd make a mean profit as an ice cream vendor! Well, maybe not yet, but give me a few more flavors- I'll get there!

Recipe for Brown Butter Honey Ice Cream:

Adapted from Chez Us

300ml full fat organic milk
300ml organic heavy cream
4 organic egg yolks
½ cup organic wildflower honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into slices

1. Brown the butter: Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, stir continuously. Butter will begin to foam, and eventually small brown specks will appear and the butter will start to smell slightly nutty. Remove from heat when golden (the butter will continue to cook when removed from heat, so make sure not to leave on the heat too long!). Let cool.
2. Make ice cream: Combine milk, cream, and honey in a saucepan. Bring to a small boil. Remove from heat and temper egg yolks by adding a small amount of the milk mixture to the yolks, stirring constantly. Once tempered, slowly add to milk mixture and whisk together. Return pan to a low heat and simmer slightly for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool. When cool, stir in browned butter and let sit in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then put it in your ice cream machine or look at my Buttermilk Ice Cream post to see how to make ice cream without a mixer.

Pumpkin Pancakes and Biking Across the Golden Gate Bridge

2010-11-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

The College Bakery. The name of this blog definitely points to a baking theme. And yet, there's the whole "college" part of it, too. I have come to find through my posts that even if my long-winded paragraphs about my college experiences don't attract too many comments, they're the ones I most enjoy rereading. This is because my baking life and my college life are inseparable, and what I make (and if I in fact make anything at all) is very reflective of the mood I'm in.

That being said, I did something ridiculously cool yesterday, and I doubt that I've ever had a day quite as amazing as it thus far. What did I do? I biked ten miles through San Francisco, and ended the spectacular ride by biking across one of the most well-known symbols of the West Coast: the Golden Gate Bridge.

Biking in San Francisco is like nothing I've ever experienced, because the paths along the shoreline are a complete juxtaposition to the towering buildings and sensory-overload that occurs within the city. Instead, there are lush marshes and sandy beaches. Fields of knee-high grasses and glades of evergreen trees that constantly smell like it has just rained. It's a side of San Francisco that I've fallen completely in love with.

Biking up the incline of the bridge, my heart was racing. I couldn't believe that I was actually doing it. For a moment, I felt that the world was mine, and that I could do anything I wanted to. My friend and I stopped at the very center of the bridge and looked out at the city's skyline in the distance. It looked so small, and I just started smiling because that's where we started from.

We coasted down the declining side of the bridge and into Sausalito, which is a super cute town right next to the bay. The house are all stacked up on top of each other, so I felt that I had been transported to Greece. It was also the most beautiful day anyone could ask for, given that it's mid-November. There was a light breeze, but not a cloud in sight, and the only thing I could hear over the chatter of people was the bay's waves that were never more than 50 feet away.

After a lunch of cheese tortellini at a cafe, we boarded the ferry back to San Francisco, and were shocked to discover that credit card purchases of tickets could only be bought at the kiosk back on land. We panicked for a few minutes, because it was much too late to have that be an option, and we had only a few dollars in cash in our wallets - nowhere near enough for the boat ride.

Then, my faith in random acts of kindness was restored. A tourist from New York stopped next to us, and handed us enough money to buy our tickets. He said, "Next time you think all New Yorkers are mean, just remember this," then he walked away. It was the single nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, and I was so touched by his kindness that my eyes watered a little bit.

An amazing day ended by the kindness of a stranger was about the best thing I could ever imagine asking for. I woke up this morning ready to take on the world (and my homework), and decided that the best way to express my lingering feelings of happiness would be to bake pumpkin pancakes. It was definitely a good choice. Spiced and only slightly sweet, these pancakes made for an excellent food for reflecting on my adventure and preparing for the next one. I wonder what it will be? Oh college, you just have so many opportunities to offer...

Recipe: Pumpkin Pancakes

Adapted from Joy the Baker

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1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

pinch of ground ginger

pinch of ground cloves

1 cup milk

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, powder, salt, and spices.

2. In another bowl, mix together milk, pumpkin, egg, and oil.

3. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just combined (it's okay if it has a few lumps - overbeating it will make the pancakes tough).

4. Heat skillet to medium heat and let batter sit for 10 minutes. (I found my batter was a little thick, so I added some water to it. If you like thick pancakes, leave batter as is.)

5. When skillet is hot, add 2 tablespoons of batter per pancake. When bubbles start to form, flip.

6. Keep pancakes warm in a 200F oven until all of the pancakes are done. Then eat and enjoy!

Mushroom Lasagna (aka a Way to Decimate a Clean Kitchen)

2010-11-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

When I was shopping for the ingredients for this lasagna, I felt fancy. I went to the market (not the run of the mill Safeway either, mind you), meandered through the aisles with my quaint shopping basket, and browsed the produce section.

I bought portobello mushrooms for the first time in my life. So exciting. I loved seeing all of the exotic types of mushrooms, and sorely resisted the urge to buy some shiitakes (comeon, you know it's fun to say "Shiiiiiit...ake).

While I hadn't intended on buying spinach lasagna noodles, the market was out of the regular kind, so I said to myself, "Hey, why not?" And it turned out to be one of the best substitutions I've ever made, because the the green pigment made the lasagna look beautiful. It was an appearance that was almost equal to its taste, but let me tell you the taste by FAR surpassed any beauty that the green noodles provided.

I'm pretty confident that I used every single dish in my apartment to create this masterpiece, and if you saw a picture of the state of my kitchen after this thing went in the oven, you'd think you were looking at a scene from a horror movie.

But it was worth it. Ohhhh was it worth it. The portobellos had so much flavor, and the combination of earthy mushrooms with a creamy bechamel sauce and slightly spinachy noodles made for the best dinner I've ever eaten outside of a restaurant.

(Also, for a new blog feature! At the end of every post I'll let you know what music I'm listening to while I blog. It's my favorite time to listen to music, and I think it'd be interesting to track my song obsessions through this site.)

Current Song Obsession: YourBiggestFan by Nevershoutnever!

Mushroom Lasagna Recipe:

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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Salt
Olive oil
3/4 pound dried spinach lasagna noodles
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms
1 cup freshly grated parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Bring water to boil in a large, wide pot with a little salt and oil for your lasagna noodles. (You can use this pot to saute your mushrooms later.) Once boiling, add noodles and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. For bechamel sauce: In a saucepan, bring milk and garlic to a simmer. In a separate saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter and add flour. Cook 1 minute over low heat, whisking constantly. In small amounts, begin adding the milk mixture to the butter/flour mixture., stirring until combined. Continue to do this until all of the milk is incorporated. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, the pepper, and the nutmeg. Cook over a medium-low heat, stirring often, until thick (about 3-5 minutes). Set aside.

3. For the shrooms: Lightly wash mushrooms and discard the stems. Slice mushrooms 1/4 inch thick. On medium heat in the same pan you used for the noodles, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter. Add 1/2 of the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes, until tender and release some of their liquid. Repeat with the other half.

4. Lasagna Assembly: In a 8 x 12 pan, spread some of the sauce. Add a layer of noodles. Then 1/4 of remaining sauce. Then 1/3 of mushrooms. Then 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Repeat two times, finishing with a final layer of noodles, sauce, and remaining parmesan.

5. Bake for 45 minutes, until top is browned and bubbly. Let sit 15 minutes. Consume epically delicious food.

Pumpkin Pasties

2010-11-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

If you're not a Harry Potter fan, I'm sorry to say that the majority of this post won't make sense to you. However, I still encourage you to make this recipe, because pumpkin pasties are like pumpkin pie bites with an amazingly satisfying crust-to-filling ratio. So good.

Anyhoo, this Halloween, I spent my evening at Hogwarts:

I dressed up in my S.P.E.W. hat, donned my clunky 3-D glasses frames with the punched out lenses, and drew a lightning bolt on my forehead.

I greeted trick-or-treaters with a faux British accent.

I played the Harry Potter soundtrack loudly.

But the best part? Making butterbeer and pumpkin pasties.

My roommate (who is also a huge Harry Potter fan) and I assembled the pasties, which are an incredibly stress-free dessert to make, and then sat down to watch the first movie while we ate our treats. I literally felt like I was transported into the story, because I could just imagine that I was sitting next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione while they ate their pumpkin pasties at the Halloween feast. It was the best Halloween I can remember having in quite some time!

(PS... If you'd like the recipe for butterbeer, which is quite delicious -and non-alcoholic- , let me know and I'll hunt down the recipe!)

Recipe for Pumpkin Pasties:
Adapted from here

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2 9 inch pie crusts (the store-bought rolled out ones work best)
1 can cooked pumpkin
One egg
2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice (or a combination of ginger, ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg)
One cup of sugar
One beaten egg mixed with 2 tablespoons of milk for eggwash
Extra sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together the pumpkin , egg, spice mix, and sugar in a medium bowl.
2. Using the edge of a glass or a round cookie cutter, cut 3-4 inch circles from the unbaked pie crust. Place a tablespoon of the pumpkin mixture on half of each circle. Fold dough over to form a semicircle and press envelope closed with the tines of a fork.
3. Brush tops of the pasties with eggwash mixture. Sprinkle with sugar.
4. Place in oven and cook for 12 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Oreo Cream Cheese Brownies

2010-10-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

I still remember the first time I decided to share one of my baked goods. I was a junior in high school and my AP Music Theory class was having a party for some reason (only we called it a "Cultural Gathering" because that made it more school appropriate, of course). I baked Peanut Butter Cookies, packed them ever so carefully in my mother's tupperware containers, and sat with them in my lap on the bus all the way to school.

At the beginning of our cultural gathering, I gingerly opened the tupperware and set my cookies on the table surrounded by generic bags of chips and a few odd pieces of candy. I was nervous - what if nobody ate my cookies? What if I had mutant tastebuds and for some reason the cookies that I thought were so delicious were actually really, really gross?

I mentally bit my nails in apprehension, and then the test of all tests: my music teacher took a cookie. She also took a chocolate chip cookie that someone else in the class had made. After a few minutes of chewing and thoughtful deliberation, she said, "Wow, sorry to whoever made these peanut butter cookies, but these chocolate chip cookies OWN them." (Needless to say, she wasn't the most considerate person I've ever met.)

But my heart was crushed. My cookies were lame. I didn't bake for anyone outside of my family for years after that, and on the rare occasion that I did, I would get ridiculously nervous.

Since the start of this blog, however, I've become more confident with my baking skills and I'm almost positive I don't have mutant taste buds (although my preference for peanut butter in my oatmeal might make some question). Because of this, I decided to bring brownies to one of my classes this semester.

This particular class, a 15 person seminar taught by an honest-to-goodness professor, is way WAY out of my comfort zone. I'm used to being taught by grad students. I'm used to being nearly invisible amongst the 300+ students in my lecture halls. I'm used to absorbing information, rather than giving my imput. Basically, this class is scaring the living daylights out of me.

But I've started bringing my baked goods with me, and this small action has helped me chip away at my fears, because it gives me an entrance talking point, rather than having to jump into dense, complicated Chinese politics right off the bat. Now my mind can rest easy knowing that even if my intellectual comments might not be the most insightful in the room, at least I make gosh darn delicious desserts.

If you are thinking of taking something to share with others and you are scared about mutant taste buds, you'll have nothing to fear with these cream cheese oreo brownies. I'm glad I took them to class, because I honestly think my roommate and I would have eaten the entire pan in the course of a day. The chocolate brownie base is crunchy from the cookies, but the cream cheese topping gives the brownie a creamier, more decadent flavoring. My only gripe with this recipe is that I couldn't really taste the oreos. It may have been due to the generic brand I opted for, but my advice is to increase the oreo amount a little bit and definitely stick with the name brand.

Recipe:
Adapted from Annie's eats

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1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch or natural is fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2- 1 3/4 cup coarsely chopped Oreo cookies
6 ounces room tempurature cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking oil.
2. In a small sauce pan, mix butter and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, making sure to whisk frequently. Let boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat to cool slightly.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. In the pan with the cooling butter/sugar mixture, add the eggs. Whisk until well blended. Add milk and whisk until well blended. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Fold in the chopped Oreos and spread batter in the pan.
4. For the cream cheese topping, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix until well blended and smooth. In small dollops, drop the cream cheese mixture on top of the unbaked brownie batter. Using the blade of a knife, drag the blade through the batter to make pretty designs and create a marbled effect.
5. Bake 22-24 minutes (mine took closer to 30). Allow to cool completely before serving. (I found that refrigerating them helped me cut them more neatly. If you don't intend to eat the entire pan at once, you should also consider keeping the leftovers in the fridge due to the cream cheese topping.)

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-10-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

This year was a big birthday number for me. The big two zero. A pair of decades. Something without a "teen" at the end.

I dreaded it all year.

In my mind, turning 20 sucked. It signaled the end of my childhood, because there is almost no way to justify still calling yourself a kid once your age no longer ends in "teen." (All the way through age 19 I refused to allow anyone to call me an adult.)

But on my birthday I got my closure. It was a bittersweet farewell, but my childhood and I gracefully parted ways. I said goodbye and dulled the melancholic end by throwing the best cake party ever.

My one stipulation for my birthday this year was that my friends allow me to bake my own cake. Now, knowing my somewhat tragic caketastrophic past, I was a little worried that I would make myself cry on my birthday from another cake upset. However, partly due to my apartment's culinary restraints (I own no 9-round pans, hand beaters, or candy thermometer...sigh) and partly due to my stress preventative measures (namely choosing and easy recipe), my cake turned out quite well!

I felt warmed from the inside as I sat around my coffee table with several of my good friends. There was laughing and smiling, awkward introductions and people trying to remember names, and many Happy Birthdays wished.

Sitting back for a moment, I reflected upon how great 20 really was. I have amazing friends that care about me, a roommate that is like a sister, an apartment I love, and even a really cool job. Thinking about all of this, I realized that all of these things are cool things about being an adult, not a kid. I'd never have a roommate in high school or be able to say that I rented my own apartment. I realized that I was excited for my adult life.

And then, of course, there was the cake. It was moist and flavorful, slightly dense but in the most delicate way possible, and satisfying in that homemade kind of way. While nervous about the frosting ("after all", I wondered, "how can sour cream make a good cake frosting?"), it turned out to be one of the most flavorful and creamy frostings I've ever encountered. Unlike a lot of frostings, the sweetness of this one was understated and allowed the chocolate (rather than the sugar) to take center stage, complimenting the subtle cake base with a degree of expertise.

All in all, out of the 20 I've had so far, this birthday definitely was the best, and the cake comes highly recommended, too.

For the recipe, please visit Smitten Kitchen. The source of my stress-free cake and countless hours of admiration. Thanks for the great birthday recipes, Deb!

Zucchini Mozzarella Grilled French Toast Sandwiches

2010-10-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Wow. Whadda title, right? If you have one eyebrow raised in confusion, I really don't blame you. So many words thrown together, that it almost doesn't sound like it would be appetizing. But let me tell you: this is by FAR the best easy dinner I've made myself in quite a while.

It combines the great, gooeyness of a fresh mozzarella grilled cheese sandwich and the great heartiness of french toast. How does this sandwich accomplish this? By egg-dipping the sandwich before grilling, of course!

Now, I added the zucchini to make it healthy. If it has vegetables in it, it has to be good for you, right? Hmm... well, at least that's what I keep telling myself. Let's not take into account that I consumed half of a sauteed zucchini whilst waiting for my sandwich to grill.

But I really did tone down the unhealthiness of this recipe a bit (although if I had had the proper ingredients, things might have turned out verrrrry differently). I used whole wheat bread and used considerably less mozzarella than the recipe called for, and it still tasted amazing.

It was as if I had stepped in to a diner - there was the sizzling sound of oil on the stove and I could literally smell my sandwich getting crispy (is it possible to smell crispiness? I say it is).

Of course, the easiness of this recipe is somewhat mitigated by the heap ton of dishes that it accumulates (due to the three plates for dipping), but man oh man is it worth it.

Recipe:

Heavily adapted from "Nigella Bites" recipe for Mozzarella Carrozza

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1/2 of a medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices

2 slices of bread

1 teaspoon fresh basil

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese (1/4 inch slices, preferrably)

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 egg

salt and pepper

olive oil

1. In a frying pan, saute the zucchini slices in olive oil until slightly tender. Remove from heat.

2. Meanwhile, sprinkle basil on one slice of the bread, followed by evenly distributed mozzarella slices. When zucchini has finished, distribute on top of the mozzarella. Put the second bread slice on top, squishing the sandwich down a bit so it all sticks together.

3. Pour milk in one saucer, flour in another, and beat the egg with salt and pepper in another. As quickly as possible, drip sandwich in milk (bread will become too soggy quickly, so speed is crucial), then flour, then egg.

4. Using same pan as zucchini, put a hefty amount of oil in bottom and heat over medium heat. Add sandwich and fry in oil until crisp on each side. Cut in half. Apply to face and smile.
Makes 1

Daring Baker Challenge: Harry Potter Sugar Cookies

2010-10-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

Guess who's always been intimidated by sugar cookies? Yeah, that would be me. It just all seemed so tricky - rolling out potentially sticky dough into shapes that may or may not spread out into unrecognizable shapes in the oven, and then trying to decorate them? Well that's just a whole new can of worms. Because who wants to eat an ugly cookie? Not me, thanks.

So there was definitely a lot of pressure on my shoulders (self inflicted, but still), but I rolled up the sleeves of my sweatshirt, put on my apron, and mentally put on my Daring Baker hat.

The host asked us to make cookies that represented September to us. The first thing that popped into my mind? Harry Potter! You may not know this, but the Harry Potter series and I have a very strong relationship. I've definitely lost track of how many times I've read each book.

But the reason that Harry Potter reminds me of September is because each year, on September 1st, all of the Hogwarts students file onto the hidden Platform 9 3/4's and take the Hogwarts Express to start their term at school.

While I am still avidly waiting for my Acceptance Letter to Hogwarts, September makes me think of all the wonderful things JK Rowling has written about and how someday, yes someday, I'll finally get my letter by owlpost and be off to Hogwarts :)

As far as the edibility of my sugar cookies, they turned out quite well! Granted, they tasted like sugar cookies (not too unique), but eating something so adorable added to their likability quite a bit. Between munching on snitches, lightning bolts, Gryffindor shields, S.P.E.W. Hats, and Platform 9 3/4's signs, the plate of cookies disappeared as quickly as Hermione can answer a question in class.

And there you have it! My nerdiness at its prime, and delicious cookies to boot! Another successful Daring Baker's Challenge :)

Interested in joining Daring Bakers? Check out the recipe for Sugar Cookies and see other people's creations here.

Sometimes I get stressed, but I still have Spicy Quinoa Salad for you

2010-09-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of things I should be doing right now:
- Reading for my classes
- Applying for a scholarship for going abroad
- Studying Italian
- Finding a way to exercise off my Ici ice cream

That list has stayed about the same all weekend. All. Weekend.

And why is that? Because I've been lazy this semester. For some reason, I just can't get into school mode, and it's really taking a toll on my mental health. The reading I'm not doing is going to leap out on Wednesday at 10 saying "SURPRISE! Don't you wish you had read me sooner so you don't panic about having to read 150 pages in 2 hours?"

That's what happened last week, and I told myself I wouldn't put it off for the next week. But here I am on Sunday night, still not done with the week's work. And I start my job this week, so that's 14 hours less time to read that I had last week. It's an endless cycle in my head of the things I need to do, and it's weighing so heavily on me right now.

Frustration is an emotion that's all too prominent in my life at the moment, and I really just need to step back, take a few breaths, and then dive back in head first to meet my tasks head on. Tomorrow is a new day and I will start anew. Wake up, get ready to go, study, go to work, and just make my To Do List shrink exponentially.

So thanks for reading my little vent (or at least pretending to read it - no hard feelings). I really did enjoy this quinoa salad, though. So nice for a warm day - the tomatoes and avocados calm your mouth as the peppers make it spicy in this delicate balance of heat and cool. Also, I thank my roommate, Sowmya for taking this picture. She's not a food photographer by practice, but she sure took a good shot!

Recipe:
Adapted from NYTimes

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1 cup quinoa
3 cups water
Salt to taste
2 cups diced cucumber
1 small red onion, finely minced (optional)
2 cups finely diced tomatoes
1 to 2 serrano peppers (to taste), seeded if desired and finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus several sprigs for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 avocado, sliced, for garnish

1. Place the quinoa in a bowl, and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes. Drain through a strainer, and rinse until the water runs clear. Bring the 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add salt (1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon) and the quinoa. Bring back to a boil, and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and translucent; each grain should have a little thread. Drain off the water in the pan through a strainer, and return the quinoa to the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dishtowel, replace the lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes. If making for the freezer, uncover and allow to cool, then place in plastic bags. Flatten the bags and seal.
2. Meanwhile, place the finely diced cucumber in a colander, and sprinkle with salt. Toss and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Rinse the cucumber with cold water, and drain on paper towels. If using the onion, place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water and drain on paper towels.
3. Combine the tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, vinegar, lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. Add the cucumber and onion, season to taste with salt, and add the quinoa and cilantro. Toss together, and taste and adjust seasonings. Serve garnished with sliced avocado and cilantro sprigs.

Daring Kitchen Challenge: Apple Butter

2010-09-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

I want to thank the host this month for giving us so much useful information about preserving food! It was quite interesting to read through all of the different methods and see how it is possible to store large amounts of homemade food. I can't wait to get the appropriate equipment and try canning someday.

One of the recipes John provided was for Apple Butter, and I don't know about you, but I've always had this stereotype about apple butter. I've always viewed it as being overly an expensive product that you find on the Specialty Jams shelf at Whole Foods. (Or Jonathan's in La Jolla. I visited that grocery store one in 9th grade and have been in awe of it ever since. Hmm, I see a future blog post topic in this... but I digress.)

Seeing that my conclusions about apple butter were being tauntingly thrown back in my face, I was eager to print the recipe and begin the apple butter-making processes in my kitchen so I could turn my fridge into something holding a hoity toity Whole Foods product impersonation*.

The best part of this cooking experience? My roommate decided to help me out. Now, the day we decided to make apple butter had a high of 87F, and it was still about that temperature in our apartment, so the fact that she willingly decided to stand in front of a hot stove for an hour with me shows true friendship.

While standing in the sweltering heat of our medium-high burner and smelling the spicy aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg, we got out The Masher. I have many kitchen-gadget loves, but a piece of my heart definitely belongs to the potato masher because of how much fun it is to use. Since we don't own an electric mixer, we stood mashing away (rather more aggressively than necessary, perhaps) at our apples until they turned into a fine pulp. What a good way to let out some pent up frustration, no?

But uhm... here's where I tell you the truth and try not to make eye-contact.
Apple butter tastes like applesauce. Exactly. Like. Applesauce.
I think the best part was that it was thicker than applesauce so you could spread it on bread (which actually did taste quite nice), but I'm not sure the amount of time spent standing (and sweating) in front of the stove was worth it. At least now I can walk past the Specialty Jams shelf in Whole Foods without an aching longing in my heart for the luxury of jarred apple butter.

*Okay, the truth? I'm actually in love with Whole Foods. Hopelessly and irrevocably in love with it. I love the tangy smell as I walk down the cheese isle and pass the exotic goat cheeses. I love scooping my dry goods from the bins and weighing the exact amount that I need. I most of all I love the organic (albeit very expensive) produce section. I bought a peach from Whole Foods and have been hoarding it for a special occasion, just so you know. But if I pretend to outwardly hate it, it helps me not spend my entire semester-long budget on food that would make me feel like an environmentally conscious princess.

Recipe:
Print Me!
Want to try making Apple Butter? Head on over to The Daring Kitchen

4 lbs of Apples
1 cup apple cider (or juice or water)
1/2 cup sugar or honey
1 Tbsp Cinnmon
1/2 tsp. Allspice
1/4 tsp. Ground Cloves

1. Wash apples. Peel, core, and cut into eights.
2. Combine apples and cider in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are falling apart. Add sugar and spices. Mash apple mixture and simmer over a low heat, stirring frequently. (Leave the lid off, to allow for evaporation)
3. To test for doneness, spoon a small amount onto a plate. When the butter mounds together without seeping liquid around the edges (as would applesauce), then it is done.
4. Preserve the mixture how you'd like to!

Cornmeal Pancakes and Wonderful Sunday Mornings

2010-09-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of the entire week is Sunday morning. Sundays have absolutely no strings attached - no place you need to be, and the entire day ahead of you to take care of things, leaving the morning-time carefree. That's why Sunday mornings are the one time where you can truly appreciate the morning for all that it is meant to be, no matter how you approach it.

Sometimes you feel like lazing in bed, drinking a cup to Irish Breakfast tea, reading a good book. The sun seeps in through your curtains so you can see dust dancing in the air, you can hear your neighbors beginning their days, taking morning walks and letting their toddlers explore the world around them, and best of all your blankets are nice and snuggly warm. You know that your world doesn't have to start until you close your book, finish your tea, stretch out your sleepy muscles, and slowly climb out of your covers.

But other times, you anticipate the early morning, eager to wake up and see the dew-covered grass and grey, cloudy sky, for the sun hasn't made its appearance yet. It's on mornings like this where you have to grab a comfy sweatshirt and slippers because the air inside is still chilly. You can open the curtains to let in the greyish light of dawn and smile because the world feels like it's yours - no one else is up to enjoy the small pleasures of the morning.

And the best part about it? Sundays are perfect days for baking. No matter what time you wake up, you can revel in the fact that there is nowhere you need to be, so you can spend your time creating something wonderful in the kitchen. It's the one time during the week where you can indulge in making a breakfast so involved that by the time you're finished, the sink is piled high with dishes.

While these cornmeal pancakes aren't necessarily complicated, they are so unique and yet quintessentially classic that I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down in front of my window to eat my Sunday pancake breakfast and watch the world go by. These pancakes are so hearty and lightly sweet, that I literally felt like I had traveled back to the days of covered wagons and was sitting at a carved wood table inside of a log cabin. I closed my eyes and savored every bite's complex flavor and wonderful, spongy texture.

So next Sunday morning, whether you choose to spend some extra time snuggled up under the covers or get up early to greet the sun, try these pancakes. I can assure you that they will be a delicious addition to what is sure to be a most wonderful Sunday.

Recipe:

Print Me!

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes 16-20 pancakes

1 large egg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 generous Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1. In a small bowl whisk together egg, buttermilk, honey, vanilla extract and butter. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
4. Add the cornmeal and stir until just mixed. The batter may be a bit lumpy.
5. Drop a large spoonful of batter onto a hot, greased griddle or cast iron skillet.
6. Flip when browned and cook through. Place on an oven proof plate in a 200 degree F oven to keep pancakes warm while you cook the rest of the batter.
7. Serve with maple syrup, molasses or blackberry syrup.

Cocoa Brownies, A Success Story

2010-09-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

So do you remember that ill-fated day when I attempted to make brownies from America's Test Kitchen? It was pretty embarrassing, let me tell you. You want to know something even more embarrassing? That post is the most viewed post on my blog. I think I'll just sink down really low in my desk chair and hope that the embarrassment will pass (a tactic that works wonders in class, by the way).

But I've never been one to submit to defeat. Even though my baking pride was wounded and I felt tragically incompetent, I knew that successful brownies were within my reach. Thousands upon thousands of other bakers have successfully made brownies from scratch, so why not me? I couldn't think of a good answer to that, and I therefore gathered my ingredients, preheated the oven, and tried again.

And guess what? I am proud to say that I succeeded. I . Made. Successful. Brownies.

...

WAHOOOOO!!!

*Ahem*

Sorry for the outburst, I'm just really excited about my delicious brownies. I got my recipe from Smitten Kitchen (wow, that's two in a row on my blog - I guess we all know who I like to go to for inspiration now...), and I admit that I was a little hesitant about making pure cocoa powder brownies without any actual melted chocolate in them, but I just went for it.

Unlike last time, I made sure I took them out even though they didn't look quite done, because I knew that over-baking was my downfall last time. I anxiously waited for them to cool so that I could cut one and figure out whether my second brownie endeavor was a failure or not. When I took my first bite, I knew I had made a winning batch. They had a satisfying chew to them and oh so much chocolaty flavor that a large, large glass of milk is definitely a must for consuming this dessert. In fact, these brownies were so good that my roommate pointed out something to me that I have no qualms about:

She said to me, "Anna, how many brownies did you make?"

She held up the number 10.

Continuing, she said, "How many did I eat?"

She held up the number 1.

"And... how many are left?" Three.

After this conversation took place, I promptly ate two of the remaining three brownies. For dinner. Gosh they were good.

Recipe:

Print Me!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 25 smaller brownies (I halved my recipe, which is why I had 10)

10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
2. Combine butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds at a time until butter is completely melted. Stir the mixture until it is smooth (it will look fairly gritty).
3. Stir in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
4. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Buttermilk Ice Cream

2010-09-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

When I figured out there was a way to make ice cream without the aid of an ice cream machine, I practically sprinted to the nearest supermarket to buy heavy cream. You see, ice cream and I get along well - really well. Its cold, creamy texture combined with an infinite number of flavor combinations makes it so that I eat ice cream quite often. Quite often indeed.

There is an ice cream shop called Ici two blocks away from my apartment, and between the delicious, unique flavors, the homemade cones with heavenly chocolate in the tip, and the boy with the lovely smile who works there, a good part of my spending money goes toward buying gourmet ice cream.

However, seeing that I am needing to save my money for my upcoming semester in Rome (WAHOOOOO I'm going to Rome!!!), my Ici visits need to stop being a ~~weekly~~ biweekly thing. This is why this homemade ice cream making method has me all worked up.

Now my first ice cream experiment was with a flavor that many of you may not appreciate at face value: buttermilk. Buttermilk, the tangy, sour liquid that is oh-so useful in baking, but definitely not for drinking straight out of the carton, isn't something many consider to be delicious in its own right. But when I saw a recipe for buttermilk ice cream on Smitten Kitchen's blog, I knew I had to try it.

And it was delicious.

It was tangy but sweet, delectably creamy, and each spoonful was completely and utterly satisfying. If you have ever tried creme fraiche ice cream (a flavor I get from time to time at Ici), it sort of tasted like that.

So how did I manage to make ice cream without an ice cream machine, you ask? Well, I'm so nice that I'm going to tell you:

How to make ice cream without a machine:
1. First, you make the recipe as you would normally do, but then put it in a shallow, high rimmed baking dish (which makes stirring the mixture easier). Chill the mixture in the fridge until it is thoroughly cold (mine took a few hours).
2. Move the dish to the freezer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the tray and whisk vigorously for 2 minutes, making sure you incorporate the semi-frozen edges, too. Put back in the freeze for 30 more minutes and repeat. Then 30 more minutes, repeat.
3. After you have done this process 3 times (meaning that you've stirred it 3 times), put the tray in the freezer until the mixture has completely frozen, ideally overnight. You can then put your ice cream in a lidded container and enjoy to your heart's content!

Recipe:

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Print Me!

2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cup sugar
8 large egg yolks
2 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Pinch of salt

1. In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the heavy cream and one cup of sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup of sugar.
3. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and drizzle a small amount into the yolks, slowly, and whisking constantly to keep the eggs from curdling. Do this a few more times to warm up the yolks before pouring the yolk mixture back into the cream, whisking constantly.
4. Cook over low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture and whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and salt. Cool completely and freeze. (If you have an ice cream maker, by all means use it. But if you don't, feel free to use the method I tried out - it worked wonderfully!)

Lemon Tassies

2010-09-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

So uh... what the heck is a tassie?

Good question. Luckily I have the answer... and by that, I mean Wikipedia has the answer. Ohhhh Wikipedia, how I adore you. Anyway, Wikipedia says... Tassie: A small tart or miniature pie.

Ah, that makes sense, considering that these Lemon Tassies are like baby pies that haven't grown up yet. I can just picture these tassies saying, "When I grow up, I want to be a big and strong Lemon Meringue pie!"

That being said, these tassies really don't taste anything like lemon meringue. To me, they tasted almost like lemon cheesecake bites, because of the cream cheese used in the filling. And perhaps it's because I didn't use enough zest, but they weren't quite lemony enough for me, either. But it's okay, baby tassies, I don't blame you - you still tasted delicious.

My one issue with this recipe, however, was that I ended up having WAY too much leftover filling. The crust was easy enough that I didn't mind mixing up some more dough, but making 24 more little pie crusts seemed way too tedious for my impatient mood. So instead of making 24 mini pies, I... MADE A PARENT PIE!

Okay okay, yes, I do realize that I'm anthropomorphizing my baked goods. It's been a long week. But you've got to admit that if you saw a regularly sized pie next to 24 mini pies, you'd get some warm fuzzies inside, too. No? Oh... Well, just humor me, then.

Annnnyway... I've got some news for you: I liked the parent pie better. (Shh! Don't tell the tassies!) For some reason, the ratio of crust-to-filling just tasted better to me. You can go ahead and give the tassies a try, but if you want a quicker recipe, I'd just halve the filling recipe and make a large pie crust. Of course, if you want to double the crust recipe and make a tassie family, that sounds like a good option to me.

One more picture of the tassies, for cuteness's sake:

Print this Recipe!

Recipe:

Adapted from marthastewart.com

For the crust:

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Pinch of salt

For the filling (Halve these amounts if just making one batch of crust):

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in upper third. Lightly butter a 24-cup mini-muffin pan (or a pie tin, if using); set aside. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flour and butter. Pulse until mixture is the consistency of fine crumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Process until evenly incorporated and smooth; do not overprocess.

2. If making tassies: divide the dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into 6 pieces. Shape into balls. Place each ball in a muffin cup; press down in the centers so that the dough fits the cups snugly. Set muffin pan on a baking sheet. If making one pie: press dough evenly in pan.

3. Bake until lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer baking sheet with muffin pan to a wire rack to cool.

4. Make the filling: In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until completely smooth. For tassies: using a 1/4-ounce ice cream scoop, fill the cooled crusts. Bake until filling is set and just beginning to color at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer muffin pan to a wire rack. Let cool completely before serving. The tassies may be stored in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Holy stovetops Batman! It's Polenta!

2010-08-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

Remember when being nerdy started being cool? I sure do.

They began putting superheroes on shirts in department stores. Lord of the Rings was made into a movie trilogy that made gajillions. Rubix cubes started becoming a plague. These things all make my heart smile.

And perhaps, just perhaps, my geeky excitement about how awesome polenta will catch on, too. You'll help me make the trend happen, right?

I was literally giddy with excitement when I licked the pot clean while I waited for the polenta to cool in the fridge. It just tasted so good!

And the finished product (meaning chilled then sauteed)? Heavenly. No, scratch that - in honor of our geek-themed blog post, let's say that the finished product was: ZEUSLY (Guess who's on a Greek mythology kick right now?)

I even pretended that I was dining in a fancy restaurant when I ate my dinner, because if I closed my eyes, the food tasted like 5 star material. No joke.

Without further ado, I present to you... POLENTA!

Print this Recipe!

Recipe:

Adapted from Alton Brown's (Good Eats) Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for grilling or sauteing if desired

3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

4 cups (2 cans) vegetable stock or broth

1 cup coarse ground cornmeal

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 ounce Parmesan, grated

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large, oven-safe saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the red onion and salt and sweat until the onions begin to turn translucent, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the garlic, and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, making sure the garlic does not burn.

3. Turn the heat up to high, add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil. Gradually add the cornmeal while continually whisking. Once you have added all of the cornmeal, cover the pot and place it in the oven. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to prevent lumps.

4. Once the mixture is creamy, remove from the oven and add the butter, salt, and pepper. Once they are incorporated, gradually add the Parmesan.

5. Serve as is, or pour the polenta into 9 by 13-inch cake pan lined with parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

6. Once set, turn the polenta out onto a cutting board and cut into squares, rounds, or triangles. Brush each side with olive oil and saute in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, or grill.

Sunday Tea Party (with scones, of course)

2010-08-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been quite some time since I last posted. I wish I could fool you all into thinking that my head is hung in shame and that my feeling of guilt has been plaguing me since I last posted, but guess what? That would be a lie.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy blogging, taking pictures of food, baking, and well let's be honest: I like eating, too. But this summer I was a camp counselor where computer access was limited to 5 minutes here or there on my daily 2 hour break, and this isn't even taking into consideration where on earth I would find time to bake things for this blog anyway. Needless to say, baking blogs weren't one of my priorities.

But let me take this time to tell you all of the things that DID happen this summer that will stay with me for the rest of my life:

- I canoed for the first time ever and made up songs to commemorate my groups extremely leaky canoe
- I made a hat of stegosaurus spikes and wore it all day long. And got many compliments, thank you.
- I made better friends in the course of three months than I thought was possible
- I ate lots of smores. Lots and lots and LOTS of smores (which taste suprisingly good with peanut butter. Give it a try sometime).
- I conquered my fear of horses and spiders (well... sort of)
- I saw a family of racoons
- I stopped being intimidated by my scary co-workers

However, camp is over for the summer, and despite my week of post-camp depression, the time has come to return to school, restart my real-world life, and, of course, begin baking once again.

Today was such a lazy Sunday - I stayed in bed reading until 10 and had absolutely no qualms about it. The rest of the day I lazed about in the same fashion, and it wasn't until around 3 that I started getting restless to do something productive. That's when the brilliant idea hit me: TEA PARTY! (And not the political kind. Let's not even open that can of worms today...)

Now, here's what I envision when I think of tea parties: frilly dresses, bouquets of flowers, dainty teacups, and beautiful platters of delectable pastries.

Well, considering that this tea party was taking place in the teensy apartment of two college students, we had to make a few modifications. Instead of dresses we wore sweats (I suppose we could have worn dresses, but I'm not going to deny that sweats are just like... ten times comfier), we put trimmed flowers from our yard in an old peanut butter jar, we drank teabag-tea from coffee mugs, and had old fortune cookies from last night's takeout. Pretty legit substitutions, I think, right?

Err... Let's just skip to the highlight of the ragtag tea party, shall we?

THE SCONES!!!

I made orange cranberry scones and they were absolutely amazing. The recipe called for buttermilk, and it gave it this slightly tangy flavor that matched so well with the sour-sweetness of the dried cranberries. Flavor aside, the texture of these scones was what I've always expected a scone to have: a nice, crusty, flaky shell and a moist and fluffy inside. Perfection, scone-ified.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed our little tea party. We talked about life while drinking tea and eating scones. I felt very sophisticated (wouldn't you?). After we had drained our cups and finished the last crumbs of our scones, it was time to get back to reality: cleaning up the apartment and dredging through homework. Ah well, such is life; at least until the next time you have a tea party.

Print This Recipe!

Recipe:
Adapted from marthastewart.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons more if necessary

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest.
2. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in dried cranberries.
3. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add buttermilk, and stir until just combined; do not overmix. Use a little more buttermilk if dough is too dry to work with.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; shape into an 8-inch round. Transfer to baking sheet. Cut circle into 8 wedges; space them 1/2 inch apart (to prevent sticking, dust knife with flour). Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

Daring Baker Challenge: Chocolate Mousse Pavlovas

2010-06-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

This was my very first Daring Baker's challenge, and I was nervous and excited to trying something so challenging for my beginning baking level. I admit that I was so geeked up about trying my first challenge, that I waited anxiously at my computer on the recipe release date and kept refreshing until the June Challenge tab popped up. I rushed to print out the recipe, and then read through it thoroughly to see what it would entail.

Then, of course, my giddiness ran into a snag: Mascarpone cheese? Cups upon cups of heavy cream? Those weren't things I could find cheaply at the local market. I mentioned to my mom that I would need a ride to the store to buy these things, and she said she would be willing to do it later. I agonizingly waited for a whole entire week. It was excruciatingly painful, let me tell you, but I finally managed to get the the supermarket and I practically sprinted to the dairy aisle to find my ingredients.

Then I baked. And baked and baked and baked, because this recipe was really involved. There were 3 separate components to make, and each one was outside the realm of my prior baking experience. First off was the chocolate meringue, which went surprisingly well. I was a little worried that my oven wouldn't be able to have a temperature low enough for it (it stops at 250 F), but it was fine. And, of course, piping the pavlova bases out was a lot of fun. I made little meringue kisses, too, because I had a feeling my brothers would like those.

While the meringue was baking, it was time to make the mousse. Never in my life have I eaten mousse, let alone make it, so I was pretty nervous. But the recipe for the mousse started out with the most wonderful ingredient that I could ever ask for: an entire bar of 72% cacao chocolate. Amazing.

I melted the chocolate and added the lemon zest (which, by the way, I would omit next time, because it gave the mousse a gritty texture and didn't add that much notiecable flavor) and Grand Marnier (I always feel so fancy when I say that with a French accent. Give a try, you know you want to).

After whipping the egg whites for the meringue, whipping the mascarpone cheese with the heavy cream didn't seem quite as daunting. As a result, the mousse went off most successfully.

The creme anglais topping also went down without a hitch, and it just so happened to be the most wonderful thing I've ever tasted in my life. Creme Anglais isn't specific to this recipe, so if you haven't ever tried it, please please PLEASE make some. It's so freaking delicious. Unfortunately, I didn't buy quite enough Mascarpone cheese to make the official challenge "Mascarpone Cream Topping", but simply drizzling the creme anglais on top of the finished pavlovas tasted excellent, too.

And that's it! I'm happy to say that my very first Daring Baker's Challenge was a complete and utter success! The one thing I would caution about if anyone out there wants to try it, is that I halved all the recipes, and still ended up with too much of everything! The meringues disappeared quickly enough, but there was so much leftover mousse and creme anglais that despite my best efforts (and believe you me, I definitely tried to eat as much as a could!), I still had to throw some of it away. If I make this again, I would use the original recipe amount for the meringue, but halve the recipes for the mousse and creme anglais.

If you do decide that this recipe looks so delicious that you want to try it out, head on over to The Daring Kitchen, where the recipe will be posted, along with pictures of other Daring Bakers' Chocolate Pavlovas!

Peanut Butter Cookies, Perfected

2010-06-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

In my family, there is one cookie that I make more than anything else in the kitchen. When I'm home, I'd hazard to guess that I make peanut butter cookies at least twice a month. I make these cookies for my stepfather, because they are his absolute favorite cookie. It's sort of nice, because every birthday, Christmas, and Father's Day, I always know at least one of my gifts to him will be: a nice, big batch of peanut butter cookies.

And this Father's Day, I'm proud to say that through many many many batches of peanut butter cookies I've made over the years, I've finally perfected the recipe. Every time I make the cookies, I make some changes to see what will happen (I'm not one who likes repetitiveness in baking, so tinkering with the recipe a little bit keeps me sane).

Before my changes, the cookies often came out hard and crunchy - a texture that I definitely don't approve of for most cookies. But now, ahhh but now... they have a wonderful, crumbly, buttery crunch, and each bite has a peanut buttery richness to it that I just couldn't achieve with the original recipe.

So here is the recipe that has been years in the making. Just... don't tell my stepfather I made changes, because he's a die-hard fan of using the original recipe from Joy of Cooking. We actually keep a dreadfully old, falling apart edition of the book (even though we have a clean, new version), because he says that it's the only recipe worth making. One of these days I'll just cut the recipe out and recycle the rest of the tattered pages, but until then, I'll continue to turn to page 658 (a page known by heart) and make my mental modifications, which I will put into writing here.

Print This Recipe!

Recipe:
Adapted from the Joy of Cooking

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 cup peanut butter (try to get unnatural stuff like Skippy. The added sugar and the homogenized consistency helps it turn into a better cookie!)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to375 F.
2. Sift brown sugar and white sugar. Beat butter in a large bowl until soft. Add sugars until mixture is creamy. Beat in egg, peanut butter, salt, and baking soda. Add sifted flour and vanilla..
3. Roll dough into large balls (about 2 inches). Place on a greased cookie sheet and press balls flat with a fork. (The larger cookie size helps the texture to be softer, so don't make smaller cookies unless you want crunchy cookies. I usually get around 20 large cookies from the 2-inch balls)
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden brown around the edges.

Anna Banana Bread

2010-06-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

So my little brothers can be pretty funny guys. Real comedians, you know? The longstanding joke in the family: "Look under there!" ("Under where?") "Haha you said underwear!"

Hilarious, I know.

My mom is also pretty funny, but more so because of her quirky habits. For example, she insists on storing black bananas in the freezer with the peels in tact ("You can use them to bake us something, Anna!" she says). How she expects me to remove the frozen peels, I'll never know. This time, though, I noticed the browning bananas on the counter before she could freeze them, so I scooped them up, and decided to make banana bread. Operation Freeze-Bananas: Thwarted! (Let's play some heroic music in the background right here).

How on earth do the anecdotal stories about my insane little brothers and my quirky mom fit together, you ask? Well, when your name happens to be Anna, and this rhymes oh so well with the word banana, things sort of run their own course. Upon hearing that I was making banana bread with the rescued bananas, my youngest brother gasped, giggled, and then said, "ANNA BANANA BREAD!!! Mom, let's eat some Anna Banana Bread!" Unsurprisingly, this pun remained popular until the entire loaf was gone.

Being the good big sister that I was, I smiled and laughed every time my brothers made this joke, but when I make something with bananas in the future, I'm definitely not telling them that there's bananas in it.

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Recipe:
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 2)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1. Preheat over to 350 F. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together thoroughly flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar on high speed until lightened in color and texture, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the flour mixture until blended and the consistency of brown sugar. Gradually beat in eggs. Fold in banana and walnuts until just combined.
3. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool on a rack.

Irish Soda Bread and Kittens

2010-06-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Time for a quiz: What is the absolute cutest thing in the world?

Err... not Irish Soda Bread, if that's what you were thinking. That would just be awkward.
The answer to this question that I was looking for is: kittens! But um... there's one thing that a lot of people fail to think of when they say "awwww, how cute!", and that would be how much sleep kittens steal away from you.

My family rescued three kittens from the side of the road a week ago, and while we work on finding homes for all of them, they are living in my room. Two nights ago, they decided that the perfect place to play kitten games would be right next to my face. At three o'clock in the morning. While I was trying to sleep.

Don't get me wrong - these kittens are incredibly adorable, and I'll be sad to see them go, but the lack of sleep is definitely catching up with me. I was such a zombie yesterday that I couldn't even focus enough to figure out how to half a cookie recipe properly. I ended up staring at the ingredient list for five minutes in a sleepy stupor, then giving up the baking endeavor entirely.

This whole experience has made me gain an even larger appreciation for new moms, because they deal with sleepless nights for years. I'm in awe. So props to you, moms, I admire how you can be so sleep deprived but still act fully functional in society.

But even for the bakers out there who are a bit sleep deprived, I think anyone can make this Irish Soda Bread. I made it a few days ago to serve with dinner, and it was so easy! No yeast or extensive kneading required, and the whole project took less than an hour start to finish. It tasted delicious, and looked so rustic and pretty - sort of like a really, really giant biscuit. Yum!

Recipe:
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Print This Recipe!

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted butter , optional

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and adjust a rack to the center position. Place the flours, soda, cream of tartar, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour using your fingers until it is completely incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk. Work the liquid into the flour mixture using a fork until the dough comes together in large clumps. Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead briefly until the loose flour is just moistened. The dough will still be scrappy and uneven.

2. Form the dough into a round about 6 to 7 inches in diameter and place in a cast iron skillet. Score a deep cross on top of the loaf and place in the heated oven. Bake until nicely browned and a tested comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf, about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with a tablespoon of melted butter if desired. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Lemon Poppy seed Cookies

2010-06-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Lemons and poppy seeds are a quintessentially classic combination, but only for muffins, cakes, breads - that sort of thing. The poor cookie category seemed woefully neglected. Why? Why on earth would two such wonderful companions fail to enter into the cookie realm?

But guess what? I found a cookie that brings lemons and poppy seeds into pure, crunchy, cookie bliss.

Usually I'm not a crunchy cookie fan, and I admit that these cookies took me a while to warm up to, because they are very crunchy. Wafer-thin and crispy, these lemony cookies were a far cry from the chewy cookies that I normally prefer, but as I sat munching one, I thought about it: if these cookies were chewy, it would be weird. The delicate crunch works well with the tangy, dainty flavor of these cookies, and a heartier "chew" would just throw all of that off.

When I started this recipe, the first step really intrigued me. It involved reducing 1/4 cup of lemon juice in a pan and then adding 1 stick of butter. This gave the cookies a really intense lemon flavor. Side note: despite two wonderful things (lemons and butter), don't be tempted to taste this. It's really gross. I'll let you guess how I figured this part out...

Aside from the reduction step, the rest of the recipe is a pretty straightforward cookie recipe - cream the remaining butter with the sugar, add egg and lemon butter mixture, add vanilla and zest, and then the dry ingredients and poppy seeds. I found that the dough was really loose, but it made for good cookies still, so don't worry if it looks more like a cross between cookie and cake batter than cookie dough.

The last step of this recipe was to roll spoonfuls of dough in a sugar-lemon zest combination, and this made the outside of the cookie have a beautiful sheen, and a very tangy first bite. The zest sort of infuses with the sugar so everything tastes lemony, and it's awesome. One word of caution: the zest makes the sugar rather moist and clumpy, so rolling out the last few cookies can be difficult (too much sugar wants to stick to the dough).

And tah dah! Beautiful, lemon poppy seed cookies! But can you tell from this picture what I forgot? I was such an eager beaver to get these babies in the oven that I didn't sprinkle poppy seeds on top - doh! I remembered for the last batch, but the rest of the cookies were woefully naked.

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Recipe:

Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 3 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest (2 to 3 lemons)
2 sticks unsalted butter (8 ounces)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Bring lemon juice to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until reduced by half. Add 1 stick of butter; stir until melted.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, cream remaining stick of butter and 1 cup of sugar on medium speed. Mix in egg and lemon butter. Mix until pale, about 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla and 2 teaspoons zest. Mix in flour mixture and poppy seeds.

3. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons zest. Roll spoonfuls of dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; roll them in sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press each with the flat end of a glass dipped in sugar mixture until 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. (I found that 1-inch balls worked better than 1 1/2-inch. The cookies baked more evenly that way)

4. Bake until just browned around bottom edges, 10 to 11 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.

Mission: Homemade Pasta, Status: Complete

2010-06-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

For years I was intimidated by homemade pasta. Sticky dough, stringy noodles, gross textures... all of these potential pasta-making hiccups truly terrified me. But I finally told myself to just pluck up the courage and try it - the worst that could happen was that my family would politely smile through the first few bites and then order a pizza.

Knowing that even though the recipe sounded simple, I would need lots of time (being the novice cook that I am), so I started my pasta at 4, hoping to have it on the table by 6:30.

So... I'm not gonna lie - I was really, REALLY excited to get to mix the pasta dough by hand. When I first heard that this was how pasta dough was made, I was skeptical, but after several confirmations on this fact, I started getting giddy. Playing with my food? Awesome! Starting the process by making a flour-well with eggs inside, I felt confident, because this is how it was supposed to look (no mess-ups yet - go me!).

Swirl, swirl, swirl; mix, mix mix. Gooey hands, messy counter top. So messy, in fact, that I had to ask my mom to take some of my photos for me, because as you can see...

...my tripod wasn't going to work for this situation.

After much mixing, my dough finally started to come together into one, sticky lump. I kept adding flour and kneading the dough, and with some tender-loving care, my dough turned into a ball. I had a lot of the original flour left over, so I strained it in a mesh sieve to get out all the little egg-crumbs and put it in a bowl (you can see it in the above picture) to use for the rest of the pasta process. Yay for being economical!

So far so good, right? Well, technically yes. However, when I rolled out the first quarter of the dough and tried to cut it up, my noodles kept sticking together. Uh oh. It was now past 5:00, and with three more portions to do, I started panicking that there wouldn't be enough time. The result? No pictures of my rolling/cutting process. Sorry guys :(

However, I found a solution: use lots and lots and LOTS of flour. Like, when you think you've used enough flour, use more. Seriously. I figured this out after the first two batches of sticky noodles, and the last two batches went much more smoothly because of it.

Then the moment of truth arrived: boiling the pasta and testing it. My heart was pounding, and my worry-brow was forming (you know that crease you get in your forehead when you're stressed?), but after a few minutes, I tested a noodle and....

It tasted like pasta. Wow! I felt a little silly, because for some reason I didn't think that homemade pasta would taste like normal noodles. They did, in case you're wondering. But they tasted good! Something about the homemadiness made the noodles taste extra delicious, even more so than boxed pasta (a favorite of mine to begin with).

The only bad part of this whole experience was that dinner was late. Because of my battle with the two sticky batches of dough, dinner didn't get on the table until 6:50. Whoops. But I feel like this is the type of dish that can potentially go really quickly once you get the hang of it, so next time I make it I won't have to wrestle with sticky noodles for half an hour.

My family seemed to enjoy dinner, despite it's tardiness, and there was one final surprise for all of us: homemade pasta fills you up really, really quickly. After one moderate portion for all of us, we felt incredibly full. So full, in fact, that despite the pasta's deliciousness, we couldn't make room for seconds or else we'd burst. This meant that even though the noodles were feeding 5 people, we had enough leftovers to feed us all for a second dinner. Homemade pasta leftovers? I definitely didn't complain :)

Recipe:

Adapted from the Joy of Cooking

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil (optional)

1. Mound flour onto a clean counter, make a well in the center. Add eggs and optional ingredients to well. Using your hands, beat eggs, drawing in some flour as you go. Gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs and blend everything into a smooth, not too stiff dough. If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, add water as needed. Knead the dough until satiny and very elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover in plastic wrap and let dough rest for 30 minutes.
2. Generously flour a large surface. Cut dough into 4 pieces. Using only one piece at a time, roll out dough until 1/32 inch thick (you should be able to see magazine words though the dough, but not necessary make out what they say). Cut dough as desired. If making fettuccine, spaghetti, or some other thin noodle, cut strips narrower than you want them to be, as the dough will expand when boiled.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Depending on noodle type, pasta can be done as soon as 2 minutes, so keep testing until noodles are al dente and no longer taste like raw flour.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

2010-06-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Up until about two weeks ago, I had no idea what fondant was. I knew that it was used for decorating cakes, and I also knew that it didn't taste so great, but further than that I was clueless. In order to clear up my ignorance on the subject, I decided that the perfect way to learn about it was to make it!

My conclusion? Fondant is a sticky, gooey mess that tastes way too sweet, but it does indeed make things look really pretty. Because of how sickly-sweet it tastes, I don't think I'll be making it again anytime soon, but it was fun to add cute decorations to cupcakes as well as use it to create the spikes of my Dinosaur Cake.

I used a marshmallow fondant recipe that is pretty popular online. Basically you melt a bag of marshmallows in the microwave or on the stove, and then add tons and tons on powdered sugar until it turns into a manageable dough. Add food coloring and shape it or roll it out flat, and voila! Instant cuteness for baked goods.

Recipe:

Adapted from Wilton's Marshmallow Fondant

16 ounces marshmallows

2-5 tablespoons water

8 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1. To make marshmallow fondant, place marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds on high; stir until mixed well. Continue microwaving 30 seconds more; stir again. Continue until melted (about 2 1/2 minutes).

2. Place 3/4 of the confectioners' sugar on top of the melted marshmallow mixture. Fold sugar into marshmallow mixture. Place solid vegetable shortening in easily accessed bowl so you can reach into it with fingers as you are working. Grease hands and counter generously; turn marshmallow mixture onto counter. Start kneading like you would dough. Continue kneading, adding additional confectioners' sugar and re-greasing hands and counter so the fondant doesn't stick. If the marshmallow fondant is tearing easily, it is too dry; add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time) kneading until fondant forms a firm, smooth elastic ball that will stretch without tearing, about 8 minutes.

3. It's best to allow Marshmallow Fondant to sit, double-wrapped, overnight. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating with a thin layer of solid vegetable shortening, wrap in plastic wrap and then place in resealable bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Marshmallow Fondant will keep well in refrigerator for several weeks.

4. When not working with fondant, make sure to keep it covered with plastic wrap or in a bag to prevent it from drying out. When ready to use, knead fondant until smooth. Roll out fondant 1/8 in. thick.
To color fondant: If you need to tint the entire batch of fondant, add a little icing color to the melted marshmallow mixture before adding confectioners' sugar. For smaller amounts of tinted fondant, add icing color to portions of fondant as needed.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

2010-06-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to try something so badly that it almost pains you when you can't get your way? Well, that's how I felt when decided I wanted to try to make these cookies. My interest in making Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies started a few months ago, but I couldn't find the perfect recipe. I searched and searched, but nothing seemed to be doing it for me. Yesterday, while browsing Martha Stewart's website for the first time in my life (sorry to all the Martha haters out there), I finally found it.

This recipe is sort of like a chocolate snickerdoodle - it requires the balls of dough to be rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture before baking, but there's a twist: add chile powder. I tried half of my cookies without the powder and half with it, because I was worried it would be too spicy for my mom (she's a super spice weenie). My conclusion? The chile powder is totally, TOTALLY worth it. It doesn't add any noticeable spiciness, but it does add a little, almost undefinable, flavor (unless you know the ingredient) that takes this cookie to the next level.

My mother, who is a pretty tough critic, has proclaimed this her new favorite cookie, which should prove to you just how awesome this recipe is.

Recipe:
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chile powder (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined.
2. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, and chile powder (if using). Using heaping tablespoons, form balls of dough and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place, about 3 inches apart, on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are set in center and begin to crack, about 10 minutes.

Cake-tastrophe Part 2

2010-05-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

After my homemade chocolate cake disaster, I thought that the universe was too nice to allow for anymore mishaps in the kitchen for a while. However, I still took extra precautions when I made my store-bought cake mix. I wasn't taking any chances - I oiled my pans really well and double checked everything from measurements to the oven temperature.

Apparently that wasn't enough.

Baking the cakes went fine, but once they were cooled and I tried to take them out of their pans, they wouldn't budge. I started panicking so I shook and shook and shook the pan (looking back, this probably wasn't the best strategy... Scratch that. It definitely wasn't the best strategy). The cake finally gave into my aggressive shakes, but in retaliation, it came out in two pieces: the outside, and the middle. Ughhhhhh.

The other pan wasn't much better, but it was all that I had to work with, given that the birthday party was in T-minus 4 hours. I decided that with the aid of more frosting than was possibly decent, I would try to construct my dinosaur cake.

After the first layer of pink frosting was applied, my mutant dinosaur looked like it had some prehistoric skin disease, because the crumbs from the cake mixed with the frosting. Grrreat, my brother was going to have a cake that looked like a sickly animal.

I hadn't given up hope quite yet, though. I remembered reading in the Joy of Cooking that if you stick the cake in the fridge for a while and then add more frosting, the crumbs will stick to the first layer (the crumb layer), and leave the second one clean. I tried this, and it worked like magic. I was in awe of the power of a crumb layer, and my diseased dino only looked slightly afflicted now - definitely good enough to serve at a 5-year-old's party.

I used the fondant I made from scratch to make the eyes and spikes, and in the end, my brother loved it. It may not have been the cake I was expecting when I first conceptualized it, but I was still pretty gosh darn proud of my effort.

Cake-tastrophe Part 1

2010-05-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my 5-year-old brother's birthday and, being the enthusiastic baker that I am, I volunteered to make the birthday cake. My brother told me he wanted a dinosaur cake, but not just any dinosaur cake - he wanted a pink dinosaur. It made my day when he said that.

I decided to make a chocolate devil's food cake from scratch, and then shape it into a dinosaur and cover it with pink frosting. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, let's just say that the beautiful dinosaur I had envisioned was never quite realized, and it took many, many tears to get the mediocre final result. I never understood why someone would cry over their baking disasters, but I can fully say that now I completely empathize with anyone frustrated to the point of tears.

For my first attempt, I chose a recipe from a cookbook that called for buttermilk and cake flour. Seeing how I had neither, I found substitutions that seemed legit - regular milk plus lemon juice for the buttermilk (so it would curdle), and all-purpose flour minus a few tablespoons for the cake flour. I think that these two things combined are what contributed to the disaster...

*Warning, the following images contain horrific views of mangled cake.*

As you can see, the cake didn't rise. Instead, it caved in halfway through baking, but still decided to spill over the sides. Pieces dripped into the abyss of the oven's depths, burned, and made the whole house smell like burnt chocolate. Lovely.

Even at this point, I had hope (feel free to start laughing at my bright-eyed optimism anytime now). I let the cakes cool in the pans, certain that even though they looked ugly, they could be salvaged and turned into a dinosaur cake with the help of copious amounts of frosting. When I turned them out onto a plate, however...

...they looked like a pile of mud. What should have been the height of a two-layer cake instead resembled a mud-pie that my brother would make in the backyard. Yeah... definitely no way that I would be able to turn that into a dinosaur.

I finally resorted to trudging down to the store and buying a boxed cake mix (the baker inside me died a little), and that turned into a whole other cake disaster (stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow).

The one good thing from all of this is that my flop cake tastes delicious. It's so chocolaty and rich that it's already halfway gone, despite its ugly appearance. This experience definitely showed me that I still have quite a way to go on my baking journey, but it's a lesson I'm glad I learned. I guess I'll just have to try again for the next birthday cake, and hopefully that one will go a little better.

Caramel Pudding

2010-05-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to say it upfront: as I sit writing this post, I am definitely eating the last of the caramel pudding for my lunch. Do I feel guilty about not eating real food for my midday meal? Hmm... no. Is it so delicious that I'm saying "yum" out loud to myself? The answer to that would be a resounding yes.

When I saw this recipe posted on Joy the Baker, I knew I had to try it. Not only did it look delicious and simple, but I also thought that it might make up for the complete Chocolate Blancmange fail I had a few weeks ago. Also, I have an ardent love for melting sugar (it never ceases to excite me when the solid turns into a gooey, syrupy liquid), so I definitely wanted to have an excuse to melt more sugar.

Anyway, the recipe went down without a hitch, and in my opinion, the end result was absolutely delicious. My mom thought that the texture was a little too stiff for her liking, and that the flavoring was more like butterscotch than caramel, but I didn't mind - it meant more for me! (I may not have browned the sugar long enough, too.) In all honesty, though, she had a good point - this recipe sort of reminded me of flan because of the burnt-sugar taste and the texture.

Oh man - isn't melted sugar awesome??! Sorry - you've probably all seen melting sugar before, but I just wanted to include these pictures because it's such an awesome phenomenon. Solid to white syrup to brown syrup - so cool!

I admit that the one time I was concerned during the recipe was when I added the cold milk to my wonderfully brown syrup. It turned into a rock hard blob on the end of my whisk. Dang. But not to fear! Once you begin to heat up the milk, the blob will remelt and stop holding your whisk hostage.

See? Ta dah! Whisk = clean!

Recipe:
From Joy... who got it from Smitten Kitchen. (see how many people think this recipe is awesome enough to post?)

Serves 8

4 cups whole milk

6 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar

coarse sea salt and whipped cream for topping

In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of the milk with the cornstarch, vanilla and salt until smooth. Set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar with 6 tablespoons of water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until a deep amber caramel forms, about 8 minutes. Be sure not to stir the cooking sugar. If anything, feel free to swirl the pan around a bit. Be patient but watch the stove like a hawk as caramel changes color quickly.

Remove from the heat. Very gradually whisk in the remaining 3 1/2 cups of milk. As you begin whisking it in, the caramel will get very dark and begin to seize with the cold milk. Not to worry… everything will work out.
Return the pot to the stove and whisk over moderate heat until the caramel has dissolved again. Once again, watch this closely as the milk will foam up quickly as it comes to a simmer. Simmer over moderately low heat until the mixture thickens just slightly and deepens in color, about 10 minutes.

Gradually whisk the cornstarch mixture into the caramel. Cook again over moderate heat, stirring, until the pudding thickens, about one minute. The pudding may look and feel pretty loose, but will thicken nicely when chilled in the fridge.

Strain the pudding in a fine strainer set over a large measuring cup; if you want, you can skip this and nothing terrible will happen. Scrape the pudding into eight 1/2-cup ramekins and refrigerate until chilled and set, about 2 hours.

To avoid a pudding skin press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of each pudding dish as it chills. Top with a generous sprinkle of coarse sea salt and whipped cream.

Baking with Kids: Tips and Tricks

2010-05-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

My youngest brother was born when I was 14 and my other brother isn't much older - he was born when I was 11. This huge age difference caused me endless strife in high school, because I was constantly asked to babysit them after school and on weekends. While I enjoyed spending time with my little brothers from time to time, this rarely included something as involved as a baking project.

Since I have grown older and a tad bit wiser (although this point is arguable), I have come to realize that it's really fun to do things with my brothers, because they hold the time they spend with me very dear. Because of this, I decided to include them in my baking project the other day: making cornbread for dinner. (That's them in the picture, there. They're standing in front of our cornbread, but there's a terrible glare on the dish so you can't really see it... oops.)

In the past, the few baking projects I did with my brothers during high school were really frustrating for all of us. I'm a control freak who wouldn't let them help enough, they wanted to help TOO much, and then they ended up getting bored and leaving me to finish the project. Fun to an extent, but definitely lacking a good ending, don't you agree? To remedy this, I used several techniques I learned last summer as a camp counselor to help our most recent cooking project be more satisfying to all involved parties.

After a very successful batch of cornbread, I though to myself, "Hey, maybe there are some people out there in the internet world who would appreciate some tips on how to doing baking projects with their kids!" And that is the thought that inspired me to write this post. So the following is a list of things that I have found helpful when working with young children (my brothers are aged 8 and 5, if that gives you a reference point for what ages I'm dealing with).

Tips and Tricks:

If you have a child that can read, have them read the list of ingredients and help to gather everything that is needed. This will help them feel included immediately, and will warm both of you up to each other's presence in the kitchen.
Use a recipe that is pretty simple: not too many ingredients, no finicky steps (such as soft vs stiff peaked egg whites), and preferably something you have made before so you can catch when things are going off-track.
If you have more than one kid working with you, make sure you alternate when each of them helps. This cuts back on sibling rivalry making for frustrated kids - if they feel included, they won't be jealous of their brother/sister.
Do all the dangerous stuff yourself (ie putting things in the oven, cutting with sharp knives, and getting things off of high shelves), but explain why you are doing it. For example, say, "I am going to cut up this apple. Why do you think it's important to be careful when working with this knife?" Even though they won't be doing the cutting, they'll feel included because they are answering a question.
Feel free to teach them things about cooking/baking as you work on your project. By telling them what baking powder does or why it's important to grease the pan, they understand the process better, and it allows for more interaction between yourself and the children.
Let the kids crack the eggs, but make sure you do it in a separate bowl. This way you can fish out the inevitable bits of egg shell that end up mixed in with the egg.

And for all of you that are interested:
Cornbread Recipe:
Adapted from Albers Sweet Corn Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup yellow or white corn meal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan.
2. Combine flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk,eggs, and vegetable oil in small bowl; mix well. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into baking pan.
3. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

2010-05-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Personally, I find that using dessert recipes that claim to be "light" is a bit amusing - it seems like a complete oxymoron. Normally, this just results in an underwhelming product with nearly all the calories of a non-"light" sweet. However, this dessert surpassed any expectations I had for it, given its origins (a Cooking Light cookbook).

I admit that I chose it because I was desperate - the only cookbooks I have available to me are severely lacking in the sweets department, and I was just too lazy to print something out from online. (Yes, the printer is a mere 15 feet away from the computer, but this should clue you in to just how sloth-like I am during summer vacation.)

Anyhow, I picked up the cooking light book and was pleased to find the Brown Sugar Pound Cake recipe: it looked nearly as unhealthy as regular pound cake, and the book's writers claimed it was a staff favorite, so I decided to give it a go.

It was simply delectable.

I can't say I was expecting much, mostly I thought it would taste like a regular pound cake with a slightly darker flavor due to the brown sugar. What I got instead was a cake that was rich and creamy, and tasted like caramelized maple syrup. So. Gosh. Darn. Good.

So please, for the love of all things pound cake, try this recipe. You won't be disappointed.

Recipe:

Adapted from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2001

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 cup fat-free milk

1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Position oven rack to lower third of oven.

2. Coat a 10-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and then flour all sides. (The original recipe uses a 10-inch tube pan, but I found that the loaf pan worked fine if you don't have a tube pan available.)

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl, stir well. Beat butter in a large bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add brown sugar and vanilla, beating until well-blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk, beating at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

4. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes of a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over top of cake. (If using a tube pan, reduce cooking time to 1 hour 5 minutes)

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (aka A Way to Make the Whole House Smell Wonderful)

2010-05-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

To me, one of the best smells in the entire world is cinnamon. No matter what time of year it is, what kind of mood you're in, or what type of sweet you feel like eating, cinnamon is the superhero of the spice world. So when I combined the magical aroma of cinnamon with they heavenly smell of rising yeast to make this cinnamon raisin-swirl bread, the entire house smelled amazing for the whole afternoon.

This bread definitely took quite a bit of time to make: an 1 1/2 to rise, another 1 1/2 rising in the pan after the loaf was formed, and then 45 minute in the oven, but it was worth it. It turned out looking beeeautiful, and it tasted light and sweet, too.

The dough takes a bit of work, but aim to have your dough springy (when you lightly poke it, it will make an indent, but then retake its original form), and not too sticky. I found that I had to use almost the entire amount of recommended flour to make my dough not be sticky.

In order to get the beautiful swirl shape when you cut into the loaf, you treat the dough sort of like a jellyroll: put the cinnamon/sugar mix and raisins on the rolled out dough, and then start at a long end and roll it all up! Make sure you pinch the seam closed, so that it won't fall apart later.

When you have made your jellyroll-ed dough, put it in your bread pan and let it rise again (so much rising!). Once it has risen, brush the top with egg and sprinkle with the leftover cinnamon/sugar mix. The egg on the crust made it a little crunchy, but I thought it gave the crust a nice, varied texture.

Then you put it in the oven and bake it until it looks wonderful and your whole house smells like cinnamon - yum!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe

Adapted from Joy of Cooking

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 tablespoons warm (105 F to 115 F) water

1 cup warm (105 F to 115 F) milk

5 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 to 2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup raisins

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons melted butter

1 egg

Directions:

1. Combine yeast and warm water in a large mixing bowl and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes.

2. Add milk, 5 tablespoons melted butter, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix by hand or on low speed for 1 minute.

3. Gradually stir in bread flour. Gradually add all-purpose flour until the dough is moist but not sticky. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

4. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over once to coat with oil. Cover loosely with a damp towl and let rise in a warm place (75 F to 80 F) until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/5 hours.

5. While dough finishes rising, place raisins in a small saucepan with enough water to cover by 1/2 inch. Bring to a boil, drain well, and let cool. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar and cinnamon.

6. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch (6 cup) loaf pan. Punch the dough down. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into an 8-inch-wide rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Brush the surface of the dough with 1 1/2 teaspoons melted butter.

7. Sprinkle all but 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon mixture over the dough, then spread the raisins evenly over the surface. Starting from one 8-inch side, roll up the dough as you would a jelly roll. Pinch the seam closed. Place seam side down in the pan. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/12 hours.

8. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Whisk 1 egg and brush over the top of the loaf. Sprinkle the top of the dough with the remaining cinnamon mixture.

9. Bake 40-45 minutes until the crust is deep golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove the loaf from the pan to a rack. Let cool completely before slicing.

Liz Lemon Bars

2010-05-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

I've had dreams of meeting Tina Fey. They usually end up with me being so in awe of her that I stand gaping in shock until she says something really witty and funny to break the awkward silence. Then we become best friends. If only that was a true story.

Anyway I happened to stumble upon Tina Fey's birthday online the other day, and it turns out that May 18th is her birthday. It also so happens that I have wanted to make lemon bars for quite some time now (they are pretty much my favorite dessert to ever grace the face of the earth), and here's the crazy part: Tina Fey's character on 30 Rock is named Liz Lemon, so I decided to metaphorically kill two birds with one stone. I'd celebrate her birthday AND make my favorite dessert by baking Liz Lemon Bars. So without further ado, here are the pictures from May 18th of my first attempt at making lemon bars.

For the crust, it's a wonderful, crumbly mixture of sugar, butter and flour. It looks like breadcrumbs when mixed properly, so don't be afraid to dump it in the pan at this point - it's what you're supposed to do!

Then you pat the crust-crumbs down in the pan so that it is more solid-looking. As per the instructions (below), bake this in the oven at 325 F for 20 minutes.

Make sure that you let the bars cool COMPLETELY before putting the powdered sugar on top or try to slice them into squares - it will melt the sugar and make a gooey mess if the bars are still warm.

Alright, so there are my Liz Lemon bars. They are completely delicious (I like my lemon bars pretty tart, so keep in mind that this recipe makes pretty tart bars)!

Recipe:

Adapted from allrecipes.com

3/4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cups softened butter

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons lemon zest (about 4 lemons)

3/4 to 1 cup lemon juice

Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 315 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cups powdered sugar, 3/4 cups softened butter, 2 cups flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Use a pastry cutter to blend everything together until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

2. In a greased 9x13 pan, dump crumb mixture and pat it down until it creates an even layer at the bottom of the pan.

3. Bake for 20 minutes in a 315 F oven until the crust looks slightly golden (if the crust is too dark, you will end up with a really crunchy crust.

Filling:

1. Once the crust is complete, turn the oven temperature up to 350 F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the 4 eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add in the 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 cup flour. Mix until well combined. (The mixture will be pretty runny - don't worry about this.)

3. Pour the filling mixture over the baked crust. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until the filling is set.

4. Cool bars completely and finish by sprinkling the top with powdered sugar. Cut into 24 bars.

Recipe Review: America's Test Kitchen Brownies

2010-05-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

America's Test Kitchen is my new favorite show; it even trumps 30 Rock, which is saying something because I LOVE Tina Fey. Through a two-day marathon of watching episodes online, I think I've learned more about cooking than I would have ever learned by looking things up on Wikipedia (my love for Wikipedia is also very deep - just don't tell my professors that).

After watching a gajillion episodes, I decided it was time to take my new-found inspiration to the kitchen and make something I've never tried to make before, and my sights landed on the ever-decadent chocolate brownie.

The reason that I've never made them before is because my mom always just got the box mixes and discouraged me from trying to make them from scratch. She said the "boxes were better." Well, just because she made this claim didn't mean that I believed her. (Although I'm learning more everyday about how many things my mom is right about: bring a sweater everywhere, take vitamins, get enough sleep... the list is never-ending. But in the case of brownies, I still thought she was terribly wrong.)

So today, I put two and two together: if my mom says that making good brownies from scratch is difficult, and America's Test Kitchen perfects difficult-to-perfect recipes - gasp! - why don't I make America's Test Kitchen Brownies?!

Making the brownies was not too difficult. I made sure I had everything ready to go before I started, because some of the steps were somewhat time-sensitive, but I double-checked everything in the recipe so I'm fairly confident that I got everything correct.

Even with all of my careful recipe-reading and ingredient measuring, these brownies just didn't work for me. When I took them out of the oven, the insides were still really gooey and looked undone. I put them back in the oven for a fairly substantial amount of time, and this gooey appearance did not go away. I ended up putting them in the oven for so much longer that they turned out really, really chewy (and not in a good way) and tough around the edges - I could barely get the knife through them when they cooled completely. Perhaps if I took them out of the oven at the recommended time they wouldn't be so tough, but I'm pretty sure the insides wouldn't have been done if I had followed that course of action.

I'm not going to lie - I was pretty disappointed that the first recipe I tried from my new cooking idols turned out to be a flop. But I'll try more of their recipes before I solidify my opinion about them. In the meantime, I'm still on the search for an excellent brownie recipe so that I can prove to my mom that homemade is better!

In case you want to try it for yourself (maybe you'll have better luck than me), here's the recipe:

Chewy Brownies:
From America's Test Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

1/3	cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 1/2	teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
1/2	cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
2	ounces unsweetened chocolate , finely chopped
4	tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter , melted
1/2	cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2	large eggs
2	large egg yolks
2	teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2	cups (17 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 3/4	cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4	teaspoon table salt
6	ounces bittersweet chocolate , cut into 1/2-inch pieces

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Referring to directions in Making a Foil Sling (related), make sling using the following steps: Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of pan in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.
3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 1½ hours.
4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Celebration Crepes

2010-05-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

What did I do today, you ask? Okay, well you didn't ask, but I bet you're wondering now. And now that you are intensely curious, I shall tell you what I did. Are you ready for this? Today I did... nothing. Absolutely nothing, and it was wonderful.

I finished my last final of Spring semester last night, and when I woke up today I felt oddly light and carefree knowing that I didn't have any homework to work on, essays to write, or tests to study for. I started the day by sleeping in and reading in bed until way too late, and when I finally left the comfort of my covers, I turned my computer on and spent two hours watching archived episodes of America's Test Kitchen online. Be jealous. Be very, very jealous of my day of pure bliss.

But what is the perfect end to such a wonderfully lazy day? By making sweet chocolate crepes for dinner, of course! It was my first time making crepes (I get to check them off my list of recipes I want to make - woo hoo!), and it went surprisingly well. It took a few crepe-sacrifices to finally get the swirling technique down to spread the crepes thin enough, but then it went down without a hitch. I made a chocolate sauce to go along with it because there's nothing else to eat in the apartment, and I was much too comfortable in my pajamas to go to the store for other ingredients.

So enough of me gloating about my excellent kickoff to summer, let's get to pictures and recipes, shall we?

Basic Crepes
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the milk, water, and the eggs; gradually whisk in flour, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

2. Heat a slightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Scoop the batter onto the griddle using a 1/4 cup measurer. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Chocolate Sauce
Adapted from helpwithcooking.com

Makes about 1/2 cup

INGREDIENTS
3 oz chocolate, chopped
3 oz water
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter
dash of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring often.
2. When sauce beings to bubble, continue stirring until it thickens. Once thicker, remove from heat. The mixture won't be really thick, but it should resemble hot Hershey's syrup.

Snickerdoodles

2010-05-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

Story time: I have a dog named Snickers, and all throughout high school I always felt uncomfortable making/eating snickerdoodles because they reminded me of my dog (I never felt weird about eating the Snickers candy bar, though - go figure).

Anyway, I just made a batch of Snickerdoodles to bring to a study group tomorrow, and I must say that I think I was definitely missing out in high school for having a snickerdoodle-phobia. These cookies are spicy-sweet, crunchy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth soft on the inside. It's such a satisfying cookie to bite into!

I used the recipe that was posted on How To Eat A Cupcake, but I decided to post them here mostly because I made my cookies a lot smaller than she did (about 2 inches in diameter rather than 4). This had mixed effects: the outside had a nice crunch to it and the cookies rose magnificently, but there was still a small part in the middle of the cookie that didn't bake all the way through. Despite this little hiccup, I would definitely make this recipe again!

Snickerdoodles
Makes about 40 medium cookies
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls. I found that shaping all of the balls before rolling in the sugar mixture really helped - that way they wouldn't get goopy from my cinnomon-y hands between rolls.
3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. I found I needed a little more than this. Try 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Indian Food: Podimas

2010-05-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

Have you ever encountered a food more wonderful and versatile than the potato? Forget odes to sunshine and flowers - someone should write an ode to the Russet Potato. Mashed, fried, baked, in stews, in hash browns, and every time it's wonderful.

So here I am, giving you fellow potato-lovers a new potato dish to add to your repertoire. I love it because a) it's Indian and I LOVE Indian food b) it's cheap, and cheap is always better for the starving student and c) it's quick, so I don't have to wait eons for a good dinner when I get home late.

This dish is called Podimas, and it is basically mashed potatoes (sans the milk and butter) with Indian spices. When you eat it with Chapati, a type of Indian bread, it's doubly delicious (I just use a tortilla instead).

Podimas

Serves 4

2 large Russet Potatoes

1 teaspoon Turmeric

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/2 small onion, diced
2 Green Chilies, chopped (optional)

1/4 teaspoon Mustard Seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/2 teaspoon Sambar Podi (Powder) (optional)

1. Cube potatoes and put into a large saucepan. Cover with water. Add Turmeric powder and put on stove for 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft.

2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds (they should sound like they are "popping"), diced onions, and green chilies. Sauté until onions are translucent.

3. When potatoes are soft, drain water. Mash potatoes until the have an even consistency (they will appear slightly yellow).

4. Add mashed potatoes to the onion mixture in the frying pan. Add salt and Sambar Podi. Stir until all ingredients are well combined. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes.

How to get rid of all the food in the apartment

2010-05-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

So my roommate and I are leaving our apartment for summer in seven days time. It's going to be great to be home (and have more people to cook for!), but there's one problem: our apartment is full of food that must be consumed before we're gone for three months. What's a baker to do in this situation, you ask? Bake!

We have a box of really, and I mean REALLY, stale raisin bran in our cupboard (because we discovered that we're both more of oatmeal eaters than cereal people), so I decided to make raisin bran muffins. Another cup and a half of raisin bran - GONE!

These muffins are pretty good - they aren't overly sweet, and they aren't excessively bran-y. And I'm rather pleased with myself with this one - I made some daring modifications to the recipe (like adding cinnamon), and it turned out to be a success!

Raisin Bran Muffins
Adapted from Kellogg's Bran Muffin recipe
(Don't tell Kellogg, but I used the store brand rather than theirs-shh! I feel like such a rebel...)

Makes 12

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups raisin bran
1 1/4 milk (Can use fat-free for healthier option)
1 egg (Can use 2 egg whites for healthier option)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (Can use applesauce for healthier option)

1. Measure raisin bran and pour into a large mixing bowl. Crush it with hands so that the flakes are broken into small pieces. Add milk. Stir to combine. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes, until cereal softens.
2. Meanwhile in a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
3. Add egg and vegetable oil to milk mixture. Beat well.
4. Add flour mixture to cereal mixture, stirring only until combined. Spoon batter evenly into twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin pan cups coated with cooking spray. (The batter will be relatively thick)
5. Bake at 400° F for 20-25 minutes until tops are golden brown. Serve warm.

Inspired by Julie and Julia

2010-05-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

So I did not bake today; or cook for that matter. Instead, I spent a good eight hours studying for finals at a coffee shop. When I came home in the evening, all I felt like doing was making instant pancakes (you know, the kind from a box), adding some chocolate chips, and calling it dinner.

It's become somewhat of a tradition for my roommate and I to make pancakes and watch a movie once a month, and tonight we decided that it was the perfect occasion for such an event. In light of my recent plunge into the world of blogging, we picked "Julie and Julia" as our movie of choice, and it inspired me like no other. The movie centers around the life of two women who love food: Julia Child, famous cookbook author, and Julie Powell, the creator of one of the most well known food blog projects ever (I mean hey, they turned it into a movie after all).

Both of these women loved food, and even though there were so many obstacles in their way to achieving their goals, they persisted and it paid off. To be honest, I don't have much experience cooking but I just need to keep plugging away. It's something I enjoy, and I can only get better from here, right?

Who knows if anyone will even read this blog or if it will go anywhere (I'm pretty sure my roommate is my only reader right now), but it's an experiment that's proving quite fun in the meantime. So thanks, Julia and Julia, for keeping me inspired.

And as Julia would say: "Bon appetit!"

Well, let's sum this one up to a "Learning Experience"

2010-05-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's time for finals. And what does that mean in my world? Do anything but study.
I kid, I kid (I swear, Mom, I studied all day). But I did end my evening by trying a new baking recipe.

My options were rather limited, because I used the last of the eggs for a batch of cookies last week; but then I found the perfect candidate: Chocolate Blancmange. This recipe uses corn starch as its thickening agent rather than eggs, and it's made in a mold (like Jello). I had never heard of Blancmange before, but I decided to give it a go because worst case scenario I'd have chocolaty pudding to eat if it didn't turn out correctly. (I'm pretty sure Blancmange is like a thicker, molded pudding.)

So the making of the blancmange went pretty well; it might have turned out a little lumpier than recommended, but I'm still a novice at working with boiling milk. Waiting for it to chill was agonizing though, and I could hardly wait for it to be thick enough to put onto a plate to show all of its Blancmange Glory to the world.

But this is where things went terribly wrong. My spider-sense was tingling and I thought something might go wrong, so luckily I took a before picture. The blancmange was firm enough, but it was sticking to the sides of the bowl, so I decided to run it under some warm water. Apparently my blancmange decided it was ready to come out of the bowl while it was tipped precariously in the sink. Its life flashed before its eyes as half of the bowl's contents slopped into the sink full of dirty dishes. My visions of a beautifully molded dessert were no more.
I was pretty disappointed by the epic-failage of my mold-loosening abilities, but there's good news! It still tasted delicious. My prediction was right -- it pretty much tasted like really thick, rich, chocolaty pudding. But what's not to love about that?

So enough about my pathetic baking fail. Onto the recipe!

Chocolate Blancmange:
Adapted from 500 All-Time Great Recipes
Serves 4

4 tablespoons milk
2 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Rinse a 3 2/3-cup fluted mold with cold water and leave it upside down to drain. Blend the cornstarch to a smooth paste with a little of the milk.
2. Bring the remaining milk to a boil, preferable in a nonstick saucepan, then pour onto the blended mixture, stirring all the time. Otherwise it will get all gross and goopy!
3. Pour all the milk back into the saucepan and bring slowly to a boil over a low heat, stirring all the time until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove the pan from the heat, then add the sugar, chocolate chips and vanilla extract. Stir until the chocolate has melted.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the mold and leave in a cool place for several hours. I took this to mean: Cool until room temperature, then move to the fridge.
5. To unmold the blancmange, place on a large serving plate, then holding the plate and mold firmly together, invert them. Give both plate and mold a gentle but firm shake to loosen the blancmange, then left off the mold. Serve immediately.

So there you have it. Tastes delicious, but I don't know how it actually looks when it's unmolded correctly. Lesson learned, though: Make sure you properly secure your blancmange if you decide to loosen it with warm water from the sink.

Easiest Lasagna in the Whole Entire World

2010-05-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

As a kid, my mom never wanted to make lasagna - she said it took too long. I always felt like I was missing a crucial part of childhood because I never had homemade lasagna. When I moved into my apartment, I decided that I would make lasagna myself, thank you very much. Then I looked at recipes and realized that it was horribly time consuming. But lo' and behold, a recipe that is quick and delicious!!! (It still has to bake for over an hour, but you can busy yourself with many other things in that time: do laundry, study, clean the kitchen, or just talk with your roommate (my preferred option)).

So without further ado, here it is!

Easy-Peasy Veggie Lasagna
My version serves 6 - the perfect amount for my roommate and I to enjoy for dinner and have leftovers, too!
(Adapted from an allrecipes.com entry: Veggie No Boiling Lasagna)

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (i used the powder stuff and it was fine)
1 egg
1 jar (26 ounces) cheap pasta sauce
6 uncooked lasagna noodles

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat olive oil in a a medium skillet over medium-high heat and cook onion and red pepper, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes (or until tender).
2. Meanwhile, combine ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, and egg in a medium bowl. (I left out the egg and it was fine. It was a little harder to spread in the pan because it was thicker,but manageable)
3. Spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce in a 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Layer 2 uncooked noodles, then 1/2 cup sauce, 1/2 of the ricotta mixture and 1/2 of the vegetables; repeat. Top with remaining uncooked noodles and 1 cup of sauce.
4. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 1 hour. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake uncovered 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. (I didn't use foil and it was fine. I think it is just meant to make sure that the noodles don't dry out too much. My top noodles were a bit chewy, but I like them that way!)

And there you have it! Super easy lasagna. So go ahead, quench your never-ceding lasagna desire. Make it, eat it, and then say yummmm.

What a better welcome than Macaroni and Cheese

2010-05-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

As every college student knows, Macaroni and Cheese is a staple food source: in less than 20 minutes, you can have the ooey-gooey goodness of pasta and cheese all rolled into one. What's not to love?

Well, at the end of a semester when everyone is tired of living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal, and macaroni and cheese, the prospects for enjoying cheesy pasta seem dire. But fear not, dear readers, because I made the most DELICIOUS macaroni and cheese ever for dinner tonight. Simply by adding some veggies, garlic powder, and breadcrumbs, I transformed this bland dish into something almost magical.

So without further ado, the method:

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 box of macaroni and cheese
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 Italian bread crumbs

1. Make the mac. If you don't know how to do this by now, well... that's just sad- there are directions on the box.
2. In a bowl, microwave the corn and peas (covered with water) for 2 minutes. Drain water.
3. In a frying pan on medium-high heat, heat oil and add cooked macaroni, peas and corn, and garlic powder. Once hot, add bread crumbs. Stir everything together. Eat (duh).

So there you have it - delicious, nutritious (so many vegetables!), and pretty easy. Say goodbye to dreary old Macaroni and Cheese, and hello to tastiness!