Christmas treats and treats and treats

It's been such a crazy time getting all the baking done for Christmas as well as 2 different college graduation parties for Sydney. We had 5 events over 5 days in a row! I'm just now starting to feel a little rested just in time to get the new year started :)

Cream Puffs

I've almost made it to the end.  Actually this is technically the end of the Alton Brown book - Pate a choux; otherwise known as cream puffs.  I've wanted to try this recipe for a very long time and I was so excited when I first read through this book and found it at the end.  It is the very last recipe.  I don't know why, but cream puffs are so fascinating.  They just seem like a little bit of magic I guess.  I was nervous, not going to lie, when I dove into this.  I didn't want to be the one who couldn't get the dough to "puff up" into the little heavenly pillows they should be.  So I set out on my quest with the utmost care, getting all of my supplies ready to go before I began.  I had it in my head that it was a timing thing and if I didn't have something ready it all might fail.  It didn't work that way, but it's always better to be prepared anyway. 

Making the dough begins a lot like making gravy - except the goal of a good gravy is to be without lumps - this was to get it to all form one big lump!  Goal one, complete.

 

On the cooking shows I've watched where they have made this - I've only seen everyone mix in the eggs by hand with a wooden spoon.  I was very happy to see that Mr. Brown suggested using the stand mixer; whew!

 

 

I mixed them one at a time and came up with a nice, smooth consistency.  Then put it into a pastry bag.  Next time I might try a larger tip, but it all seemed to work ok.

 

 

Ok, so a cream puff is actually a bit bigger and these would technically be considered profiteroles but who's really worried about that.  If I would have piped them out in lines I would have gotten eclairs :)

 

Since it is the steam within the dough that creates the "magic" I knew better than to open the oven door to check on the progress while these little guys baked.  But I wanted to so bad!  I kept looking through the glass but I couldn't tell if they were setting up so they wouldn't all fall once the timer went off and I did open the door.

 

But - yea! it worked!!

 

 

 

I'm so excited!  I have a party coming up and these are definitely going to be showing up on the dessert table!  I didn't have any pastry cream ready to go (and I'll be making some for sure) but I did have some chocolate butter cream and it made for a very nice substitute in a pinch.  The only bad side to any of these little guys is that they are so light and fluffy you can really throw a few back before you realize how many you've had.  Reminds me of the "Happy Days" episode where Ritchie was only drinking those tiny little glasses - 72 of them :)  Good thing I didn't go quite that crazy!

 

As I said in the beginning, this is the last recipe in "I'm just here for more food" but I still have several recipes to go back to because I didn't have the right pans (souffle) or I had a need to make something that was coming up so I just moved along.  So I'll be tying up some of those loose ends, but there aren't too many.  I'm almost done - I can feel the knowlege, it's starting to get a little crowded in the gray matter.  I'm loving it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skittles cake, Sherlock and more

There were skittles baked into the cake too

from the TV series "Sherlock"

little cake is the "smash" cake for the baby

 

Truffles and Fudge

It's funny how sometimes calling something a fun name can make it seem like something so much more fancy.  When I was growing up peanut butter balls made their appearance during the holidays pretty regularly, but now they are called truffles.  Ooh la la.  They do look nice all dressed up with some chocolate drizzles though.  The orange ones are oreo truffles (mmhmm, did it again).  I've tasted them before

Cheesecake - oh yes!

I have to admit, I put this off for a while.  It intimidated me.  I've heard way too many stories of how hard it is to get right, plus, frankly it's not really one of my favorite desserts.  Then add to it that it's also somehow - common.  I know that sounds like an oxymoron - complicated yet common, but it's true.  Every restaurant seems to have a version on their menu, whether good or bad it seems to show up at potlucks, family gatherings and parties all the time. 

But as I was reading through the custard section and Alton Brown stated "(cheesecake is) Significant because if you can consistently make good ones, fame shall be yours and strangers will bow low when you walk by." I must admit that I was a little more inspired to become good at making them. 

It seemed like the process was actually fairly simple but the trick is to do each step perfectly.  A fine challenge.  So I began. . .

Biscoff Puppy Chow

 

This is one of those things that came up over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I'm not sure where it came from exactly, other than Audrey asking me to make it.  I believe she saw it on Pinterest probably.  She read off the ingredient list to me and it was basically just the same as regular puppy chow but changing out the peanut butter for Biscoff spread.  Since the introduction of this wonderful item to our family about a month ago it has definitely made its mark and this just had to be tried! 

 

 

My hands were too messy to take pictures during the "powdering" process

 

For our own health protection we sent the majority of these treasures back to the dorms and just kept the bowl to nibble on.  Remarkably it has been more than a week and there are still some left.  I try to just take one or two pieces each time I walk by - rather than one or two handfuls.  It seems to be working out, until right now when I'm remembering they are just sitting out on the buffet . . . all alone. . . . hmmm. . . . be back later :)

 

 

Yummy Crepes

 

I was kind of surprised to see crepes come up in my Alton Brown journey, but then again strawberry/nutella crepes are some of my daughters' favorite desserts - or breakfasts.  More surprising was how easy they were.  I tend to make a much bigger deal out of things sometimes and let them get more and more daunting in my head before I decide to finally jump in and just do it.  For some reason, crepes ended up on that list in my brain.  While I did have to make each one at a time and that does take a while, it wasn't that bad.

 

Just need this one handy tool

All the liquids mixed up

Then add the flour

Rest in the fridge for at least an hour

I made these in the late afternoon so instead of dessert I decided to make them into yummy ham & cheese dinner crepes.  mmmmm

 

Soccer and Lightning McQueen cakes

 

A couple more cakes that I did for Free Cakes for Kids in November

Biscoff Scones

Quite a while ago I came across some recipes involving an ingredient called Biscoff Spread.  I was very intrigued and picked up a container of the stuff during my regular grocery shopping.  I have to confess that I was a little deceiving to my family when they asked about what it was for a couple of reasons: 1) because I didn't exactly know what it was myself and 2) I had a feeling that once they tasted it I would lose it for my baking project.  According to Audrey after taking just one bite - "this stuff is meant for a spoon right out of the jar!"  She even agreed with me when I said I thought it was better than Nutella - which is huge considering that she seems to think Nutella is as important to one's diet as water!  Craig simply told me not to ever make these again because they are evil.  That's pretty high praise actually :) 

This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour blog (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/09/12/biscoff-scones/) and it was quite simple

Hasty Pudding

It's been busy in my kitchen for quite some time now, but I'm still pushing through my quest to learn new techniques by using Alton Brown's "I'm just here for more food" book.  It's the custard section now (I had to skip the foams because I didn't have some equipment - but I'll be getting back to that soon).  Hasty pudding is an interesting recipe because it's basically banana pudding with just little differences to the recipe you would find on the cookie box.  However, it worked out well because this came up right about the time of my Dad's birthday and he always loves banana cream pie and I thought I could work this in too.  Since I've never made the pudding before, I'm not sure if I had the texture completely right - I forgot to check the temperature before I took it off the stove.  But it was still a little "loose" after a couple of hours in the fridge so I decided not to try to use it in my pie and just go for the traditional cookie trifle.  A little fresh whipped cream on top & yummy!

 

Making pudding from scratch can be a little daunting I think because of the tempering of the eggs into the milk.  But it tastes so good when you get it just right.  I've made vanilla pudding several times to use as a cake filling and I loved the banana variety.  Alton suggested using banana liqueur "if you're feeling frisky" - I was, but I didn't have some and I didn't want to buy any since I didn't think I'd really use it very often.  My solution was

Halloween cakes

It seems like my life has turned into a mix of either having a bit of time on my hands where I can start to feel like I'm making progress on long overdue projects, or so overwhelmingly busy I can barely take a breath!  I know as the holidays approach that will develop into a nice steady stream of crazy busy too.  In the last week and a half I have done 4 birthday cakes, a birthday pie and a bridal shower cake.  Not to mention my weekly baking on behalf of my quest for more knowledge. 

This cake was one that Audrey requested of me for her dorm resident advisers.  She didn't give me too many details - "just make it go with Halloween; maybe some ghosts with party hats or something"  So that's what she got.  The inside was a

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!  I've been doing quite a bit of pumpkin baking lately, mostly because I love it for this time of year.  But this time it was for our good family friend Hanna's birthday.  She turns 19 today. 

She also loves to read so her mom came up with the idea of putting books on the tops.  I need to work on my sculpting skills a little more, but I think they turned out ok. 

In Hanna's family there is her older brother who's in the military and her dad who is a fire fighter -

Hawaiian Bridal Shower cake

It was fun to break out of the birthday cake scene for a bit and make a bridal shower cake.  It was a Hawaiian themed event with pink & orange as the color combinations.  I was shown an inspiration photo but it was of a 3 tiered cake and much more elaborate than was needed so I improvised.  I decided to do a tall stacked cake for dramatic effect and use the hibiscus flower for theme.  I had never made them before but I like the way they turned out.  I find it relaxing

Shirley Temple Cupcakes

Third times a charm, as the saying goes.  Back in June we took Audrey out to dinner after her farewell dance recital and several family members graciously attended.  Our young cousin, Abby, ordered a shirley temple and it reminded me of when my girls used to do that.  As I watched how much she enjoyed it I thought about how it would be a fun flavor for a cupcake.  So I told her I would make some for her.  I finally was able to get to that but came up with some interesting road blocks.  First of all, there is a wide variety of recipes for the drink itself!  I had to decide on what flavor combinations I thought sounded best and went with gingerale and cherry.  The lemon-lime flavors didn't sound as authentic to me.  Then several times I found out that other people had made cupcakes using a cake mix box and a can of soda.  I understand that sounds easy and even a little fun - but I wanted to make it all from scratch.  So then I wondered if I could take just the dry ingredients of a cake recipe and only add the sugar & soda. 

White Chocolate Ice Cream

This is one of my very favorite things!  I love ice cream.  It has been a problem actually and I now I have to really watch when & how much I enjoy my favorite dessert :)  But it is custard time in the Alton Brown book of teachings, so ice cream must be made.  Mr. Brown has a recipe for chocolate ice cream with a little kick of cayenne.  I'm sure it is wonderful, but sometimes chocolate ice cream is a little much for me so I thought I would change things up a little.  I decided to use white chocolate instead, which I supposed is really a sweet form of vanilla.  I used espresso white chocolate sauce and ghiradelli white chips. 

the yummy vanilla & white chocolate sauce

then the white chocolate chips

Pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

I really can't say how many times Craig has asked me if I'm making cookies when he sees me start to pull the Kitchen Aid across the counter.  The answer most of the time is no, however if it is yes - the next predictable question is "chocolate chip?".  After all, that is the whole reason he actually bought the mixer for me in the first place!  Because of a stupid autoimmune issue (that's still not completely diagnosed) I have lost some strength in my hands and couldn't really stir a good sized double batch of chocolate chip cookies anymore.  Thus, I got my gift.  So every now and then I really do need to make chocolate chip cookies.  But I have really been craving some peanut butter oatmeal cookies and then its also fall. . .

Nutella, Lemon & Strawberry Shortcake

It's been an "Odds & Ends" kind of week :) 

My youngest moved into College this week.  I thought that would make life very quiet.  But I've been out to take her some stuff once, she drove home once and will be home this weekend already :)  I'm completely fine with that! 

In order to accommodate all the running around baking was a hodge podge of whatever needed to happen.  The Strawberry Shortcake cake was for a little girl turning 6 years old - she got to celebrate while taking chemotherapy on her birthday. She was a sweet little angel and I feel blessed to have been able to do anything that made her day a little brighter.


It's amazing how much Pinterest helps with motivation on weeks like this too!  Whenever I see Nutella in the title I have to check it out

Pumpkin Marble Muffins

I can't believe how badly time has gotten away from me this summer!  I love summer because it usually means more time with my family doing fun things in warm weather, but it doesn't really help me stay focused and timely very well.  Isn't that what life is supposed to be about though?   Making memories that count instead of always worrying that the day-to-day stuff is taken care of.  I remember someone telling me once that when I was going to make a big decision to always check for whether it would be important 5 years in the future.  I look at the time I spend with my family

Peanut Butter goodness

 

Cookies are always a hit around my house, well, let's face it - all desserts are hit around my house!  But there seems to be a special affection for cookies.  In fact it was the standard chocolate chip cookie that necessitated my KitchenAid stand mixer and started my entire baking career! 

 

While the chocolate chip may hold a special place - there is no better flavor for me than peanut butter.  I really don't care what it's in I'm going to try it!  One of my favorite savory dishes is Thai peanut noodles!  I feel like Dr. Seuss - I could eat it in a boat, I could eat it with a goat. . . . There are so many recipes for peanut butter cookies and it seems like everyone has "the best" one.  I like a cookie that is soft and chewy with intense flavor and these certainly held up to that standard.  They also had

Good plain ol' brownies

Sometimes the classics just can't be beat.  Brownies came up next on the list and I haven't met one yet that I don't like.  These turned out very thick and cake like - in fact my husband said that he'd rather have a birthday cake made from these instead of regular cake next year.  I actually think that I might try a bigger pan and make them a little thinner next time because I thought they were a little too moist still in the center, but that was up for much debate as we tried many just to be sure.

"21" cake pops and cookies

Today is my oldest daughter's birthday!  It has been a big year for us with my youngest turning 18, graduating high school and going to college and now Sydney is 21 and will graduate college before Christmas! 

Because she is clear across the country from us at school I had to mail everything to her and I couldn't make a big celebration cake - so pops had to do.  Of course some sparkles made it onto them.  They were snickerdoodle cake flavored with cinnamon buttercream - mmmmm.

I also made some sugar cookies so there could be some "decorated" items too :)

 

There were a few crumbs leaking from the packages but all in all it looks like everything made it in good shape judging from the video chat.