Archive for the ‘Bakery’ Category

My Rolls Are Sweet

Posted by Candace on Monday, July 26th, 2010

My husband is a total soccer addict (or as his European peeps calls it… “football”.) He watched pretty much every game during the world cup. Luckily we have our own photography business and tons of flexibility or he might not have a job anymore!  He’s of course cheered for his fatherland of Germany.  We went over to a friend’s house for breakfast and the Italy-New Zealand game and I decided to make some cinnamon rolls.  This made me realize we should have breakfast parties more often.  Or maybe we could do breakfast at dinner parties.  Either way makes me happy!

I found this recipe in a big stack of recipes torn out of magazines… so I’m not sure which one this came from, but it is simple and good.  I made a few adaptions… like cream cheese glaze.  What’s not to like?
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Blueberries galore

Posted by Candace on Friday, July 2nd, 2010

After traveling for the past month and a half or so, we’re back home and I’m back in the kitchen.  I actually missed cooking… weird eh? I have a blog post already written about my travels (with lots of restaurant recs) but still have to go through all the photos we took.  A few of the places we visited in May and June are Chicago, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, New York and Philadelphia.  Will be blogging it soon!

It’s blueberry season! This week we’ve had blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins and many big ole bowls of blueberries. They really are one of the best snacks… healthy AND yummy!  This is a combination of my favorite streusel recipe (from my Turkey day sweet potato casserole) and favorite muffin recipe (from The Joy of Cooking.)  This is NOT one of those healthy muffins, but one that is cake like and addicting.  So what’s not to like? { Read the rest }

Banana Puddin

Posted by Candace on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

A few months ago, Stephan and I were in New York and as usual, we planned our time there around food and photography. We stopped in at the famous Magnolia Bakery for their popular cupcakes. As were were sitting outside in the alley eating our yummy cupcakes, I saw two well dressed older women sharing something out of a paper container. They were positively moaning after each bite. So of course, I had to ask what was causing this reaction. Banana Pudding. Who would have thought? So I finished my cupcake and went back in and bought a banana pudding. I then found myself moaning after each bite.  It was hands down the best banana pudding I’ve ever had.  I don’t know what was in it, but it was decadent, yet light… flavorful, yet light…  creamy, yet light.  However, I’m pretty sure it was no where near light.  But at that moment, I didn’t care.  It was so tasty that I don’t care if it was 100 grams of fat.

So I came home and made my own version of banana pudding.  I really was feeling indulgent and used a combination of half and half and whole milk… It can also be made with only whole milk (or even 2%) and the result will be good but not nearly as rich and creamy.  I justified making the full fat version because I only made half of the recipe.  :P  Makes sense to me!

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Making Whoopie

Posted by Candace on Thursday, December 24th, 2009

It’s that time of year again… birthday season! My husband Stephan and I have a very unusual coincidence when it comes to our birthdays. His is today (Christmas Eve) and mine is tomorrow (Christmas Day.) What are the odds?  It is honestly not fun to have your birthday on or close to Christmas. You get combo presents… you get birthday presents wrapped in paper with Santas on it. Lastly, your birthday is overshadowed by someone else’s birthday. :P However, I do like that we get to celebrate together.  This year I bought Stephan a really big expensive present and made it a……. combo. Yes, it is a faux pas, but Bose makes really expensive man toys!  Sorry honey!  Actually, we both received the best present ever this year, a wedding we photographed this summer was just published in InStyle Weddings!!!

Instead of making a traditional cake, I made Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Filling.  Our photography studio has been very busy this month with last minute photo shoots and holiday cards and there just wasn’t the time to make a real birthday cake.  It’s OK, though.  Stephan really doesn’t like traditional birthday cake.  I only made them in the past because it seemed like the right thing to do.  So this year, I not only combined his birthday and Christmas present, but I combined his birthday cake and a Christmas cookie.  Yeah, I know… not cool.  I’m definitely not winning the wife of the year award!  Thankfully, the whoopie pies are really yummy and made up for the lack of birthday-ness!
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Your Daily Bread

Posted by Candace on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

I’ve noticed every time we return home from our annual visit to Germany, my husband is a little depressed.  At first, I thought it was that he missed his family… then I thought it was the weather… Finally, I realized it was the bread.  Of course, he does miss his family and he hates the heat in South Florida, but the bread is what causes his sadness upon each return.  The bread in Germany is amazing.  His parents go out each morning to a local bakery and bring home a few brochen (small bread rolls) for us to eat for breakfast.  You could say this spoils us… especially when we get home and the bread is awful here.  The only way to get really good bread here is to find a great European bakery close to where you live or make it yourself. I’ve given up on finding a great European Bakery.  They don’t seem to exist in South Florida… :(

So to keep a happy hubby, I set out to make bread more often.  I have tons of bread baking cookbooks, but  most recipes call for a two or sometimes three day process.  Well, that is a little difficult with my busy life.  I came across this book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.  Fabulous bread that takes you only 5 minutes to prepare?  Rrrrrright.  I thought it was a hoax… how can bread that is not kneaded be any good?!?!?  Well… here’s the thing, IT IS GOOD!  AND it really only takes 5 minutes of active time to bake fresh bread.  I’m a believer, and we’ve been eating fresh bread more often (than we should! lol)  I highly suggest everyone who likes bread to go out and buy this book… its totally worth it!

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