More Cake.

I know. Sorry.  I told you I had some catchin' up to do.

Em and I team-baked a couple weeks ago. The occasion? ...rainy day... yes. That's what we are going with: It was a rainy day cake.   It was also my first attempt to cracking the Jeff's Mom's Chocolate Cake mystery.

There's bad news and good news. The bad news: the cake was nothing like Jeff's Mom's. The good news: our cake was utterly delicious. AND! I get to keep searching for a Jeff's Mom's clone!  win!

Em and I made a devil's food cake.  It was light, fluffy and scrumptious.  It didn't have any melted chocolate in the recipe, just cocoa powder, which is probably why it was so light and fluffy.

We topped it with cream cheese frosting -  Which was an ordeal to say the least. Jenny forgot to pick up powdered sugar - oops.   We called the 7-11 by my house... Yes! They carry powdered sugar! Who would have thought?    So we put our rain boots and jackets on and walk over.   Oh... wait... no powdered sugar... apparently you shouldn't trust the average 7-11 worker to know the difference between granulated and powdered sugar.  Lesson learned. 

Does this stop us? No! What do you do when the going gets tough?? The tough make their own powdered sugar!  Yes, that's right, dear reader! We put regular granulated sugar into a food processor and let 'er rip. And, in about 5 very noisy minutes, we had "almost powdered sugar. " It worked beautifully. I happen to think the frosting tasted that much better because of our effort.

picture does not do it justice.  Anyone want to give me photography lessons?

Em frosted and decorated. She is amazing. It was almost too pretty to eat.... but we got over that pretty quickly.

I'm obsessing.

Cakes are taking over my life. I go to work: I think about cakes. I go to school: I make cakes. I go home: I talk about cakes (poor jay). I go to bed: I dream about cakes.

I'm serious, folks. I've been having dream after dream about cake.  Its so disappointing waking up to realize that there's no real cake to eat.

I even caught myself looking up interesting cake flavors before work today.  (by the way have you ever been to Charm City Cakes' Website?  You know, the Ace of Cakes company?  Its incredible. I had no idea they were just as creative with their flavors! Curry Caramel? Ginger and Green Tea? Pecan Pie? ok... you'll have to just check it out yourself.)

Maybe its because of all the cake I've eaten in class?

rose and lemon verbena pound cake

Nick Malgieri's Chocolate Mousse Cake

Lemon Chiffon

 BTW: Its been awhile since I've posted. (school got crazy, yada yada excuse, excuse) But I've got some catching up to do - prepare yourself!

the best dessert hands down.

Special Occasion Time! Jay and I had an anniversary of sorts to celebrate last week - and how do I celebrate? With Dessert.  No, that was not a typo... Capital 'D' Dessert.

We went to the Duck Club in Bodega Bay. (Some of you may know that I used to work at the hotel attached to this restaurant.) The food is spectacular. If you have some money to burn, and you want a really nice hoity-toity meal in a really cozy spot overlooking the ocean, I highly recommend it. When I worked there, regulars would call weeks in advance to grab a table by the windows so they could see the ocean... Pretty sweet, but I'll tell ya, the best place in the joint is right by the huge fireplace on the back wall. Its really quite special.

Jay and I did not have money to burn for a hoity-toity meal. So we went for Dessert.  Hands down,  best desserts in the area. I could live off this stuff.  Jeff's Mom's Chocolate Cake: Moist, dense, dark chocolate cake with a tangy cream cheese frosting. The kind that makes you want to shove your whole face in the plate and eat it like the kid on A Christmas Story.

don't worry, I refrained.

Man was it good. So, dear reader, as you've probably guessed: I'm on a mission. "Jeff's Mom's Chocolate Cake" will be recreated. Oh yes. It will.


....to be continued....

cake week- part 1

Oh hi!

remember how I said I like cake? Well I do.  Also, I made these:

vanilla cake, mocha mousse, chocolate glaze

Vanilla Cake, vanilla pastry cream, orange buttercream

inside. Scrumptious.

Right now I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I know I'm not booked on Martha Stewart quite yet, but at least they aren't a complete cake wreck, right?

highlights from pie week.

Pie/Tart/Galette Week is over. I survived. I am 2lbs heavier, but no diabetes yet.

I wanted to share some of the little tips I learned over the last week. I'm guessing a lot of people already know most of these, but hey, they're new to me!

1. Gluten strengthens with agitation. In English: The more you work a dough, the tougher it gets.  Instead of rolling out the dough, smack it with a rolling pin until its flat and in a circular shape. I mean really, just pound that sucker. Then, once you have it pretty flat and thin (about 1/2"), roll to desired thickness.  Apparently the smacking doesn't agitate as much as rolling.  Ta Da! Tender flakey pie dough.

2. If you have to pre-bake a crust (like for a quiche or a tart) - cook it until dark golden brown.  It really is a lot darker than you think, and it also takes a lot longer than you think. I have been under-cooking my dough all my life and I didn't even know it.  The dough browns as the sugar caramelizes. So, more cooked = more tasty.

3. Dough comes together a lot easier if you don't use a bowl.  Just throw the ingredients on your counter. I promise, its a lot faster and (if you do it right) its surprisingly clean. I'll elaborate on this in a different post. Soon.

4. And the prize for the most useful information goes to...(drum roll)...Dough can be rolled out and frozen for MONTHS. Like, seriously... months. I never knew this. Want a ton of pies for Thanksgiving? Make the doughs this weekend, roll them out next weekend, and store them in the freezer on parchment paper until November.  Wow.   Think about how much easier your life would be if you already had some rolled out tart dough in the freezer? You could have a fancy schmancy dessert in 30 min! This is life-changing information, Folks!

OK, picture time:

potato leek and bacon tart

strawberry fig pie

 kiwi lemon tartelettes, potato/roasted garlic galettes,
and a blackberry tart (in the foil- it had an accident)

I'm taking requests.

Week one of Intro to Baking and Pastry done! Heyo!

No pictures. Sorry. I totally blew it. But how about I describe them for you?

1. 9 inch Pate Sucree tart shell, cooked to a golden brown, filled with frangipane and poached pears, and drizzled with dark chocolate.

2. 6 inch Pasta Frolla shell filled with vanilla pastry cream and topped with fresh peaches and blueberries and a dollop of rosemary chantilly.

3. 1 inch tartelettes with a honey mascarpone cream and adorned with fresh blackberries.

Yup. I was a busy girl.  I think one of the hardest things about this class is deciding what to make.... and the tasting. It sounds like heaven, but I assure you, tasting all of that plus the 3-5 things all of your teammates make is not a walk in the park. After roughly 20 bites of tarts, I was about ready to pop.  I'm pretty sure I was sweating sugar by the end of class. So, subsequently, I wanted nothing to do with all of the tasty treats I brought home.

Here's where you come in. Do you have something you absolutely want me to make? If you do, and you are available on Friday afternoons for receiving treats (Oh, and you don't mind a piece or two missing), then let me know.  This week is galettes.  Start brainstorming.

Cake!

Cake = delicious.  I don't care who you are.  After a bad day, all I really want is cake. Well, ok, maybe wine and cake. (Kind of a dream team of stress-relief, no?)

More specifically, after a terrible no-good day, I really want to make a cake. There's something about the lengthy process of preparing, mixing, baking, making frosting, cooking syrup, assembling, frosting, and decorating that just erases the previous stresses of an adult life.  Its even more effective if you are drinking the aforementioned wine during the whole process... but, don't expect the decorating to go very well.

So, in honor of a crappy day (and my bestie's birthday, which is not at all crappy) I made a cake. It tasted good. It looked....like I had been drinking wine.

Vanilla genoise, vanilla bean pastry cream filling, burnt sugar frosting. 
Ta Da! Creme Brulee Cake!

And after piece of that, I'm starting to look forward to my next bad day.

...just kidding. That's really corny. But it did sound like a good conclusion sentence. 

summer ratatouille bruschetta

Yes, I know that I'm mixing cultures here. But to be honest, I can't see myself eating a big bowl of straight up ratatouille. Its way way too flavorful. You know what I mean? Or am I crazy?

Meanwhile, I still have a whole box of organic tomatoes, onions, zucchini and eggplant. Just sitting there. Waiting for me to eat them.  The compromise?  Dice up the ingredients smaller and slap the resulting ratatouille on some grilled toast. Now that's an idea I can get behind.

  ingredients!

Summer Ratatouille Bruschetta


2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (if you call it EVOO I will punch you)
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 eggplant, 1/2" diced
1 zucchini, 1/2" diced
1 red bell pepper, 1/2" diced
2 tomatoes, 1/2 " diced
1 can Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes (14oz)
fresh herbs: thyme, oregano, lavender - whatever floats your boat. 
1 french baguette


1. Heat olive oil in large pan over medium high heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly.
2. Add eggplant to pan, cook for 5 minutes. Add zucchini, red bell pepper to pan, cook for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes, canned tomatoes, and herbs. Stir briefly and cover pan. 
3. Let cook, covered for 10 minutes.  Uncover, reduce heat to low, and cook for another 30-40 minutes, or when most of the liquid in the pan has cooked off. 
4. In the meantime, slice up the baguette, brush with olive oil and throw them on the grill. Grill for about 1 minute on each side.  OR! place oiled slices on a baking sheet and toast in a 425 degree oven. (about 5 minutes)

Easy, right? 

End result!

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

drool.

Vanilla pound cake. Peanut butter frosting. Strawberry jam. Yup. It happened.

My first semester of Culinary Arts is essentially over. I have one class left on Monday, but we're just having a potluck...if that's our final, I know I'll pass. I'm good at eating food.   I will now have time to blog about all the yummy things that have come out of my kitchen.  Well, at least for the next week...  because in a week and a half, I start phase two of the culinary arts program, a.k.a. "the fun stuff." 18 hours a week of "Intro to Baking and Pastry." Ohmygod-I-can't-wait.  Although I doubt we will cover anything as sophisticated as the cakewich. ...just sayin'.

If you are looking for a ridiculously fluffy but still insanely peanut-buttery frosting, look no further. I have found it for you. 

From All Recipes (but changed a bit) :

1 stick butter at room temperature
1cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter and peanut butter in a stand mixer (or hand mixer) for about 2 minutes. Add milk and beat until fully incorporated. Add powdered sugar a half cup at a time and mix until fluffy.

It should be noted that I had a ton of frosting left over. The cakewich really didn't need all that much. So, if you're making the frosting for a cakewich, you might want to cut the recipe in half - However, there's nothing really wrong with having leftovers. Who wants cupcakes??

just a picture.

I have officially entered the contest. Here's a picture of the finished product.  Wish me luck!

what I'm excited about.

I get excited pretty easily. Especially for things that only have one use.... I'm not kidding. That wasn't sarcasm.  I absolutely love things like grilled cheese makers and madeleine pans. I mean, really, what can you make in a grilled cheese maker besides the most perfect grilled cheese sandwiches? 

I went to the kitchen store at the Petaluma Outlet Mall a couple of months ago. I walked inside with a single purpose.... One particular gadget that was going to fulfill my wildest dreams of happiness. Finally, I can sleep at night, my life will be complete.  And, after 45 minutes of looking at every other single item in the store (what? A girl can look, can't she?) I walk up to the counter, slap down my item and pull out the ol' debit card.  The cashier could not have taken longer. She picks up my gadget slowly, turning it around a couple of times to analyze the shape.  "What is it?" she asks.  "A cherry pitter," I say, adding stupidly "it pits cherries." 

And after an agonizing 47 seconds, the debit card is processed, the receipt is in my hand, and a little bag containing my cherry pitter is finally handed over.  I almost push an elderly woman to the side on my way out of the door. Don't these people realize I have cherries to pit? Get out of the way! 

I get home. I throw my purse down, and immediately start on the cherries. Oh! So much faster! So easy to do!  My life is complete!   ...I made a cobbler. It was delicious. 

...I have not used the cherry pitter since. But I love my cherry pitter. I love that it lives in my drawer, and if I ever have a whim to make cherry pie, it will be there... waiting.   And it wasn't until 2 months later, when I saw this:  

Fred & Friends Cakewich

that I realized my wildest dreams of happiness could only be fulfilled by a baking pan that makes cakes shaped like a sandwich.   Fear not, Dear Reader. Amazon has shipped it. I'll be waiting by the door when it arrives.

Are you tired of panna cotta yet?

...because I am. I'll spare you the details, but after 3 more attempts, I finally have something to show all y'all. Thank god. I don't think I could have eaten any more botched panna cotta.

Please please please, if you have any extra time in the next week, make this recipe and give me some feedback. Too complicated? Too much cranberry? Not enough cranberry? You get the picture.

Okay. Without further ado....

Cranberry and Green Tea Panna Cotta
serves 8

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup milk (I used whole milk)
4 green tea bags
2 tablespoons water
1 packet unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup sugar
1 can jellied cranberry sauce

Heat cream and milk in a medium saucepan until just simmering. Remove pan from heat and add tea bags. Let steep for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour water into a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Let gelatin soften for 10 minutes.

Remove tea bags from cream, making sure to squeeze out liquid from bags. Put tea infused cream back on low heat and add sugar. Stir until dissolved. Add gelatin, whisk gently (try not to incorporate any air into mixture) until dissolved. Add cranberry sauce and whisk gently until sauce is melted and fully incorporated into cream - about 5 minutes.

Take saucepan off heat and strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining cranberry sauce chunks. Pour liquid into 8 teacups, ramekins, bowls, what have you. Cover with plastic wrap.

Chill for at least 3 hours, up to 1 day.

Green Tea Cranberry Panna Cotta, TAKE TWO!

Still getting used to this new blog posting program...

Anywho!

The deadline to enter the Ocean Spray Cranberry recipe competition is looming. I've only managed to make the Green Tea Panna Cotta twice so far - I think I need to bump up my game.

Here are the results of the second attempt:

The Good- Much creamier texture! I researched gelatin a little bit, and found that for a looser texture, a good ratio is 3 cups liquid to one packet of gelatin. whew. Crazy how much time a little research will save you. I was muddling around in the 2 cups per gelatin packet - what a nerd!

The Bad- Jeez. Bad seems a little harsh. Maybe the "Not-Quite-There-Yet..." would be more appropriate, even if it doesn't have that same ring. The green tea flavor was still over powering. Last time, you may remember, I used the canned jelled cranberry sauce. This time, I used straight up cranberry juice - and apparently, not enough. I have always thought cranberry was kind of an intense flavor... I may have over-estimated its ferocity.

The Ugly- A tip for you: when un-molding panna cotta, DO dip the mold into warm water. DO NOT leave it in the warm water for 3 minutes while you finish up watching a scene from Juno that happens to be playing on TV. It will melt.

Welp! I'm off to try out the third (and hopefully final) version of this recipe. Cheers!

Lime and Limoncello Sherbet

Do any of you out there have an ice cream machine? I've got a recipe for you to try out. I adapted it from a Lemon Sherbet recipe in "The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz.

1/3 cup hot water

2/3 cup sugar

2 cups buttermilk

3 Tbsp lime juice

3 Tbsp Limoncello

Combine the water and sugar, stir or shake until the sugar is completely dissolved. Put syrup in fridge until cool.

In a large mixing bowl, pour in buttermilk, lime juice, and limoncello. Whisk in chilled syrup.

Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer directions.

So there you go. Creamy, tangy, and refreshing. Beware: because of the alcohol in the limoncello, the ice cream won't ever harden - its more like soft serve. OK by me. Please tell me what you think! Brownie points if you can come up with something to serve it with. Fresh raspberries?

UPDATE! Now that the sherbet has been in the freezer for a couple of days, it has hardened to a dreamy frozen lemonade consistency. You know the stuff you get at the ball park or the fair? Yes!

Ocean Spray Cranberry Recipe Competition

This is it folks! I'm going to win $10,000!

Ocean Spray Cranberry is holding their annual "Ultimate Cranberry Contest" recipe competition - and i'm going to enter. Heyo!

Who has two thumbs and is super excited? This girl!



Here's the official website: http://ultimatecranberrycontest.com/ You know, just in case you wanted more information....

But really, what you are super interested in (I hope you are, dear reader) is the mega awesome dessert recipe that I'm going to be developing. Ready for it? Green Tea and Cranberry Panna Cotta. Boom!

I've already made a preliminary attempt. (Sorry, no pictures of this one - forgot the camera)
The flavor was good. Could be more cranberry-y. The tartness didn't quite come through, and I think this is because i used the molded cranberry sauce. Too sweet.

Also, I accidentally used twice as much gelatin in the mix. oops! The result was a very thick panna cotta, not that creamy smooth heaven that it could be. Thats all for now! I'll be making it again this Sunday - and I'll be sure to take some pictures!

Hamburger Cupcakes

OK, not exactly gourmet... And I definitely did not come up with this recipe. But hey - it was Friday night, and I wanted a hamburger cupcake.

I saw this recipe (or creation, rather) from Bakerella (who is utterly amazing). They really are too cute to pass up. Here's the gist: brownie burger patty, sandwiched between a yellow cupcake bun, with frosting ketchup, mustard and lettuce. Um, yes please?

My analysis: Incredibly easy to make. I basically followed Bakerella's recipe exactly. Nothing exciting. Boxed yellow cake with buttermilk instead of water (try it - you'll never go back to water in your cupcakes), boxed brownie mix, and homemade butter-cream frosting. My friend ruth helped assemble them- they were really almost too adorable to eat.

The soft cake of the bun was such an amazing contrast to the fudgy burger patty. And the frosting squishes perfectly, like ketchup/mustard/mayo when you take a giant bite of the cupcake hamburger. Mmmmm!

However, they took for-ev-er to make. From start to finish, including cooling brownies and cake, the process took about 3 hours. I am excited to make this again, but not on a weeknight. This is a Sunday afternoon type of project.

Here's the sitch (aka "Day One")

I like food. I like writing.

wait. more specific: I like ALL food. I like 62% of writing. The thing is, I have a lot of experience with food. I've been eating it all my life. (I know, right?) I cook a lot. I bake a lot. I read recipes for fun and I am going to school to become a pastry chef.

What I don't have experience in: writing. So that, lovely reader, is where you come in. Your job is to read this blog patiently and often - Watching my (hopefully) inevitable growth as a writer, baker, cook, and recipe creator. You are to try out recipes, "ooh" and "ahh" at my accomplishments, and tell me that my hair looks pretty when something turns out terribly.

Got it? Good. See you tomorrow.