100
Today is my 100th post! I know I’ve been slacking for the past few weeks, but its been (as usual) crazy busy for us. We have so many exciting things going on right now with the business that blogging has been on the back burner. I’ll be back on the blogwagon soon, as the South Florida wedding season is almost at an end.
Anyway, this Daring Baker challenge, Cheesecake Pops, was so much fun to make. It was hosted by Deborah from Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms, and you can find the recipe at either of their blogs. It really turned out fabulously… creamy dreamy cheesecake enrobed with chocolate… on a stick! It just doesn’t get any better than that! I had really only one minor issue with the recipe… the cheesecake was very soft. I followed the recipe, and actually baked it about 20-30 minutes longer than it called for. We were supposed to scoop it into balls, but it just didn’t work for me. Then I started to think about enrobing the misshapen balls with chocolate and had an awful image of poop on a stick. :P 
Read more about this entry >>
Hamantaschen
When I moved to South Florida, I discovered my love of Jewish food and pastries. I grew up in north Florida (Tallahassee) where there are really no Jewish delis or restaurants. A few weeks ago, it was Purim, a Jewish holiday where a traditional treat is Hamantaschen. At one of the delis we eat at often, they had an unusually large array of Hamantaschen, from the traditional poppy seed to prunes and apricot to an untraditional cherry. I usually get the apricot but this time had a cherry one, and was quite disappointed when I found the filling was almost definitely PIE FILLING! You all know the kind. Thick transparent cherry paste with those plastic like cherries mixed in. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.
So… I set out to make Hamantaschen. I found many many different recipes. The dough recipes were so different I immediately became confused as to what a traditional Hamantaschen cookie was made of. Some had absolutely no sugar in the dough, others had copious amounts, similar to a sugar cookie. Some had butter, others had oil. The first recipe I made was extremely delicious and buttery, but (darn it!) as flat as a pancake. Not exactly what I was looking for. Then I got my mother in law’s recipe and that held up beautifully, but it had oil, and I usually prefer butter in my cookie recipes. So after a slight adaptation, here is my mother in law’s Hamantaschen Recipe. The filling is unbelievably yummy, almost brownie like… light years better than that pre-made cherry filling! Thanks Mom for such a great recipe!
Read more about this entry >>
Passion Nut?
Its time again for another Daring Baker post! This is an especially fun one, as there was quite a bit of leeway in the flavoring and decorating. So expect to see many many fancy layer cakes in the blogosphere today! The hostess this month was Morven from Food Art and Random Thoughts, and the recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours. You can find the recipe here.
When I saw the crazy amount of egg whites used in the cake and butter cream, I immediately knew I would fill the cake with some sort of curd. What better way to use up those yolks? Instead of the usual lemon, I chose to make passion fruit curd. I haven’t made curd with passion fruit before, so it was a bit of an experiment. Can we say yummy? I basically replaced the lemon juice with passion fruit puree in a basic lemon curd recipe. Easy peasy…
Egg-celent cookies
I just wasn’t feeling Eastery this year. We didn’t even have an Easter dinner… just a little homemade guacamole and Coronas while watching a movie. I know, I’m a bad wife, but we’ve been so busy with Stephan’s business, it just slipped my mind. Its definitely Wedding season in South Florida! Anyway, instead of making Easter Dinner, I woke up on Sunday morning and decided to make my favorite sugar cookies. I used the same recipe from my Halloween cookies, but ommitted the baking soda. I spent some time decorating them with pink, blue and yellow Royal Icing.
Read more about this entry >>
Blueberry Galette
As usual, I had something on the verge of going bad in my fridge (blueberries) and decided to salvage them by baking something. I found this galette recipe in my Essential Baker cookbook. It’s my kind of recipe… very easy, and not labor intensive. I wish I had the time to make complicated, many step recipes, but its just not in the cards for me. To make this even easier, I made the dough the day before I baked it, and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Can’t get any easier than that!
Read more about this entry >>
Rump Cake
Rum Raisin + Pound Cake = Rump Cake? Hey if Bennifer, TomKat and Brangelina are legit, then so is my rump cake! Mmmmkay!
This recipe came from The Essential Baker by Carole Bloom. Stephan’s favorite ice cream is Rum Raisin, and when I came across this recipe, I knew I would have to try it. The flavor is wonderful, but I think could have used a bit more rum and maybe a splash of vanilla. Also, I was pretty bummed when all my raisins sunk to the bottom. However, it was quite tasty, ridiculously easy and will definitely be made again one day. I served it with caramel sauce.
Read more about this entry >>
Great Balls ‘O Dough
This Daring Baker challenge was a wonderful one! I was seriously hoping it wasn’t a sweet one, as I’m still battling the last few holiday pounds. Our lovely hostesses, Breadchick Mary of Sour Dough and Sara of I Like to Cook chose bread… and just happened to pick my most favorite, French Bread. It just so happens to be one of my favorite chefs too, Julia Child. So from the beginning, I was doubly excited about the challenge. I followed the recipe to the letter, and chose to do Petit Pains (or boules?) instead of baguettes, as I just made baguettes a few months ago.
The recipe came along very nicely, but did take about 8 hours to complete in one day. Next time, I would probably try to stretch this to two days, and retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator. I started very early in the morning, and since I’m such a darn good wife, I actually kneaded the bread by had to avoid waking my sleeping husband with my loud mixer. I should be sainted, right? I haven’t made bread by hand in over 8 years, as I always use my Kitchenaid mixer. It was surprisingly calming to stand in my pajamas, kneading the dough while drinking my morning coffee. Quite peaceful. However, next time… I’ll continue using the mixer!
Read more about this entry >>
You Say Potato…
It seems every time I get in the mood to bake bread, I really don’t have the time for all the rising and proofing. So I flipped through one of my favorite baking books, Baking with Julia and came across this potato bread recipe. I did make a minor change by substituting part of the all-purpose flour with wheat flour. It turned out fabulous! Heavy, chewy… everything I love about homemade bread! The best part was it was all done in about 2 hours… you just can’t get better than that!
The second day, I made pressed turkey sandwiches with this bread and it was heavenly!
Read more about this entry >>
Happy New Year!
For those that are confused, today is the first day of the Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
While flipping through the South Florida Sun Sentinel last week, these Yin-Yang cookies caught my eye. In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang represent the two primal cosmic forces in the universe… plus its pretty! I decided not to use recipe in the paper, but used the one from my checkerboard cookies from this past Christmas. Its actually much easier than the checkerboard cookies and takes less time. The result is really cool!
Read more about this entry >>
Ooooh, What a Tart!
My second Daring Baker challenge was Lemon Meringue Pie. Jen from The Canadian Baker was the host this month, and the recipe came from Wanda’s Pie in the Sky by Wanda Beaver. I decided to do individual tartletts, as I much prefer plating desserts with tartletts than pie or tart slices.
-
Find It
-
Previously Cooked
-
Categories
-
Monthly Archives
-
Blogs I love
- 50 Best Restaurants in the World
- Cannelle et Vanille
- Chicken Fried Gourmet
- Chubby Hubby
- Concoctions by Peabody
- Confections of a Foodie Bride
- Cooking with Amy
- David Lebovitz
- Delicious Days
- Delish
- In My Element
- Maloman Photographers (blog)
- Mango & Lime
- Melly can Cook!
- Miami Dish
- Nordljus
- The Xocoatl Express
-
Chef Admin
Don't miss a meal
Vote for my blog!
It only takes a minute to create an account, and I would appreciate it so much.  |