Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Wow, it's been a while! I wanted to get this one out for all of you participating in holiday cookie swaps. This year I added these chocolate "crackle" cookies to my holiday cookie baking. I can't get into the holiday spirit until I spend a day baking lots and lots of cookies. Each of these cookies has been a part of my daily diet lately :) Might have to do round two this weekend because I'm quickly running out! Wouldn't you much rather spend this last weekend before Christmas giving your home the aroma of cookies instead of standing in long lines at the dreadful mall?  Speaking of, I haven't even begun Christmas shopping...

See Recipe!
See Recipes for other cookies pictured!

Plum Frangipane Tart

As I was looking back at the postings on my blog, I noticed that I gravitate towards tarts, both savory and sweet. I suppose if I ever do anything professionally in the far, far future, tarts might be my niche. I recently made this plum frangipane tart after having tried it at Restaurant Eve. Neil's first question was "what's frangipane?"...and his pronunciation was quite comical. The simple answer is that it's a french almond cream "cake-like" custard most often used in tarts.

As I mentioned, I tried a version of this tart when we celebrated our anniversary at Restaurant Eve.  It was one of our first nights out without our little Jianna and I think we talked about her the ENTIRE time :)  Makes me wonder what we ever talked about before! My sister and cousins gave me a gift certificate there for my baby shower.  How cool is it to get a gift for mommy AND daddy at a baby shower instead of a gazillion bibs and onesies!?! Well, we jumped at the opportunity to use it, and indulged in the 5 course tasting menu.  For the last course, Neil picked the plum frangipane tart, and poor thing only got a bite, b/c I was devouring it.  So, I had to figure out a way to recreate it...for Neil, of course :)  I've made frangipane before, so all I had to do was top it with sliced plums.  The end result was a success, not exact, but a success nonetheless.  The only mistake I made was that I should have gotten the plums VERY ripe.  They were semi-ripe when I made this, and I didn't get as much plum flavor as I would have liked.  Anyways, this recipe is versatile.  Thanksgiving is next month.....maybe I'll make it with apples :)  I don't want to get anyone's hopes up (you know who you are), so don't quote me on this!

I had extra crust for some scrumptious mini-tarts too!

See Plum Frangipane Tart Recipe!

See Pie Crust Recipe!

Berry Buttermilk Cake

I'm nearing the "home stretch" of my pregnancy and as many of you have noticed, my cooking/baking has slowed down quite a bit...although eating hasn't :) Most everything I make now has to be fast and easy. This cake definitely fits the bill. You don't need to have any baking ability whatsoever for this one, yet your guests will see you as quite the expert. This is my go to cake whenever I have a last minute guest or making an elaborate dinner which requires a super quick dessert. And it definitely doesn't look or taste "quick". It's incredibly light and moist with the perfect sweetness and tartness from the berries. Look at how pretty this will look on your kitchen table for the sunny, warm months ahead! And you have the satisfaction of it coming freshly baked from your oven in the same time it would take you to go out and buy one. It's best served as soon as it's cooled to take advantage of the sugary crisp topping. The cake stands on it's own, but serving it with freshly whipped cream or ice cream is how I like it. Make it with whatever berries look good that day. You're really missing out if you don't try this one!

See Recipe!

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

So after all my complaining of seeing no snow in No. Va for the last few years, we get slammed! This most recent snowstorm brought down two trees in my backyard, and Neil measured about 25 inches on our deck! But we got really lucky, because several people we know were out of power for the weekend, which is horrible. Despite our cabin fever, I must admit that the snow was a pleasant experience for us. Our neighborhood looked absolutely gorgeous, and being stuck inside with fully functional power, heat, water, and food was a blessing. That said, I won't run my mouth anymore, and I'm finally ready for an end to winter snow. However, mother nature has other ideas and we have more snow headed our way on Tuesday that could be an additional 10-20 inches!!!

Going back to the wkd storm...Neil even got us out of our neighborhood to make it to our friend's superbowl party on Sunday. The "party" turned out to be only 4 people, but hey, I was just happy to be out and about. We bought groceries early last week, so I had everything I needed to make this decadent cake. My last cake was strawberry, so I wanted to make chocolate this time...ALL chocolate. Hands down, my favorite chocolate cake recipe is an adaptation of Hershey's. This recipe yields the most incredible chocolate flavor with a wonderful moist, fluffy texture. To ice it, I found a luscious chocolate buttercream that has a unique taste due to the secret addition of ovaltine. I know it sounds weird, especially for me, because my memory of ovaltine is my mom forcing it down my throat and me refusing it. I hated anything deemed "healthy" when I was little. But don't knock this creamy, dreamy perfection till you've tried it! It's definitely the only chocolate buttercream recipe I'll use from now on, and the sole reason I have ovaltine in my pantry. I also threw in some homemade chocolate pastry cream and mini chocolate chips to fill/ice the cake. Is that enough chocolate in a cake? I thought it was sinfully perfect :)

At least I have leftovers to dig into as we anticipate the next big snow!

See Recipe!

Pink Lady Cake

Happy New Year! I can't believe the holidays are over and we're back to reality so soon. Jan/Feb/March are the hardest months for me b/c it's frigid cold without the holiday spirit. I'm just counting down the days till Spring! We did have a wonderful holiday season though. Christmas in San Fran was a treat. My sister in law made some delicious Indian food from scratch. I was sure to get all the recipes, so look out for that in 2010.

After ringing in the New Year at Zaytinya, we celebrated my mom's bday on New Years Day. Luckily it was a holiday, and I got to spend the day baking a fabulous cake. I haven't baked a cake in a while, so to ease back into it, I made a simple strawberry cake with none of the fancy, laborious fillers that I normally do. This cake just personifies "fun", and it's made for a lady, having been coined the "Pink Lady" cake. The name of the cake hooked me, and strawberries in the cake batter sealed the deal. This cake makes you want to have a slumber party with your girlfriends, dance to Madonna, and of course stuff your face with cake. No, I did not entertain that, but the daydream was ever present. But, no worries, the boys enjoyed the pink as well. I found the recipe on the Smittenkitchen blog (which is becoming my favorite food blog out there). The recipe originates from the Sky High cook book, and when you look at this cake you'll see that it really is "sky high". In fact I had to take it to my parents without a cover. My cake top was too small, and even my largest cake box couldn't fit it. So, if you plan to travel with this cake, prepare your compartment ahead of time. I did make some alterations to the recipe as noted below. Feel free to follow my changes, or just stick with the original. Happy eating in 2010 :)

- I used 2 cups strawberries (versus 1 1/2 cup).
- I thawed the strawberries before I pureed them. The frozen strawberries will solidify you softened butter.
- I followed the cream cheese frosting recipe but then folded in 1 1/2 cup of freshly whipped heavy cream. Only reason for this, is that my mom likes a "lighter" tasting frosting, although this obviously add more fat :)
- The recipe calls to mix 8 egg whites just to blend. I did this with 4 of the egg whites. With the remaining 4, I whipped them to somewhat stiff peaks, and gently folded them into the batter at the end. I did this for a fluffier cake.
- The cake itself is not very sweet, but the frosting is. If you are eating the cake alone, add about 1/2 cup more sugar.
- I added about 4-5 drops of red food coloring (versus 2) to the batter. It's suppose to be pink!!
- I used frozen strawberries, which is what the recipe calls for. If you use fresh, and they aren't very sweet, do compensate with additional sugar. I recommend sticking with the frozen for consistency.

See Recipe!

Chai Spiced Snowball Cookies

It's that time of year again! Although the frigid temperatures make me feel like hibernating, I welcome the snow :) This past weekend's snowfall was a beautiful tease, and it got me craving these snowball cookies. I started making them last year and they are now a staple in my holiday cookie assortment. What I love about these is the touch of spice that sets it apart from the typical snowball cookie. It's the perfect holiday treat, curled up on your sofa with a hot cup of tea, and not a single care in the world...that is until you finish the cookie :)

See Recipe!

Baklava

I can't believe Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away! I love this holiday because I get to eat the most delicious homemade food made by the fabulous chefs in my fam. Not to mention, there's no stress of gifts. As I posted last year, I typically spend my Thanksgiving in NY. We (the cousins) are actively trying to come up with a Thanksgiving menu, slowly but surely. Since I'm traveling there, I take something small that keeps well. Year after year, my job has been Pecan Pies and Baklava. Not sure how I got stuck with Baklava, considering that it's not really a Thanksgiving staple. I made it one year, and it became a requirement thereafter. I didn't even like baklava all that much in the beginning, but over the years I've developed a taste for it. My previous aversion to baklava can be blamed on the awful baklava at most bakeries/restaurants around here. They tend to be overkill...way too sweet, soggy, and sticky. Homemade is far superior because you have control over those elements. For Thanksgiving, I make pecan/chocolate chip baklava. However, after having delectable pistachio baklava in Turkey (which is nothing like the stuff they call "baklava" here), I made it with pistachios, as pictured. I like both versions, and doing a mixture of nuts also turns out great. I agreed to take up my usual items this year. But, now that I posted the recipe, perhaps someone else will take it over in the future ;)

See Recipe!

Caramel Sauce

This past week/weekend we celebrated my birthday...I use my birthday as an excuse to get Neil to do the things that I like to do :) We started last Thursday in DC. I dragged Neil to the Penn Quarter Farmers Market. Then we, headed over to the happy hour at Vinoteca and after that made it to the happy hour at Oya. Both were a lot of fun, and great options for food and drink. Vinoteca has several glasses of wine priced at only $5. Oya does a great job on eclectic/modern sushi rolls, several of which are offered at happy hour prices. Btw, Oya's happy hour ends at 8 pm which is why we were able to make both. I don't know of many venues that have happy hour that late into the evening.

Friday night, I had a small birthday dinner with friends/family at Blue Duck Tavern and went out dancing at Tattoo Bar. It's literally my once a year outing. The last time I went out dancing in DC was my last birthday. I think Friday night was enough to last me another year :) Saturday turned out to be beautiful and sunny, so we went to some Virgina vineyards with a couple friends. We took some fun picnic food, and just took in the amazing weather. It's a beautiful drive as well this time of year. So, that's that...another year gone!

I didn't know what recipe to post today, since I'm a little drained. We got back from New Orleans recently, and I wanted to post the Muffelettas that Neil made for our winery outing, but I don't have those pictures uploaded yet :( I'll try to get it up soon.

I decided it would be a good time to post this caramel recipe. Ice cream season is here, and caramel is my favorite topping. Caramel is another one of those items that is actually really easy to make, but equally easy to royally screw up. Working with sugar can get tricky. With caramel, just when you think it's ruined, it's actually perfect. You'll understand what I mean when you try making it. This caramel is wonderful to have around to drizzle whenever you get that ice cream craving. For me, the ice cream craving is nightly these days. I try to stick with half a scoop on the weeknights though...I'm getting a tad better with self control. Sundays are double scoop day :) Sorry for the scattered post. It's hard getting back into the swing of things after such a crazy weekend! I'm gettin' old!

See Recipe!

Red Velvet Cake

A while ago, I mentioned that I planned to experiment with red velvet cake. It's one of my favorite cakes as of late. I haven't figured out exactly why I like red velvet so much, but I think it's the sinful red color, mild chocolate flavor, and most importantly, the icing....combined, it's the perfection in a cake. Oh, and the brown sugar cream cheese icing in this recipe is the "icing on the cake".

So, I experimented by making different variations of the cake...one using just butter, one with a combo of oil/butter, and another with shortening. I thought the one with shortening had the best overall texture, so that's the recipe I'll provide. The best flavor was yielded by using all butter, but you are sacrificing some texture. The one with combo oil/butter was a little too fluffy for my taste. Whatever method you choose, as long as you make the cream cheese icing, you're set :) There are some who don't like the cream cheese flavor in icing, but I think it makes this cake.

After I narrowed down the best recipe, I made it for Neil's graduation. He recently got his MBA from GW in December, and got to walk this past weekend (May 15). He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the final graduation cake and all the cupcakes from my "experiments".

See Recipe!

Cookies n Cream Cheesecake

This weekend has been non-stop stuffing my face. My brother and Neil share the same birthday, January 24th. We kicked it off Friday night when Neil and I tried out the new restaurant, Art & Soul in DC . It's a beautiful restaurant with some promising southern inspired dishes. The fried oyster "hoe cake" is awesome! Saturday night, we had an outing with my family for both birthdays at Tandoori Nights...another eye pleasing restaurant with pretty solid Indian cuisine. I made the birthday cake, which was a lemon pound cake with raspberry mousse filling. That's my little brother's favorite combination. Neil wasn't thrilled with that "fruity" combo, and after enough pouting, I made him chocolate mousse. We even stuck a candle on it for him. Tonight (Sunday), we're going out to celebrate yet again with Neil's mom...venue TBD. I'm so incredibly stuffed! This morning I made Belgian waffles, per Neil's birthday request. Seriously, this is just insane! We're off to Bali soon for our next vacation, so I really need to get myself in check.

I'll post those aforementioned recipes eventually. Today's cheesecake recipe is one that I made for the super bowl last year. I hosted since the Steelers weren't playing, of course :) This is the creamiest, most decadent cheesecake I've ever had. It's extremely rich and heavy, so make it for a crowd or you'll end up eating it all on your own! Trust me, all my self control was lost when this hit my tongue. My internal dialogue kept telling me that "another tiny sliver won't hurt". Tiny slivers add up, and it most definitely hurt!!! I'll never learn to follow what I preach :) Anyways, this is for you, Neil...Happy Birthday and Go Steelers!!!!!!!!!!!!

See Recipe!

Bread Pudding w/ White Chocolate Creme Anglaise

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, eating and drinking to your hearts desire :) I know I did! The holidays flew by so fast. We spent Christmas with family in sunny Orlando and then rung in the New Year at Zaytinya in DC. I usually don't like to go out to dinner for New Years, for the obvious reasons, but Zaytinya did it perfectly. They offered their entire menu, and EVERYTHING was unlimited. We got to try so many mezzes that we normally wouldn't have ordered, and the quality of food and service was right on target.

Anyways, I'm nowhere near ending this eating frenzy. Yes, I know that most people go on rigorous diets at the turn of the year, but that's never been my thing. They don't work. Just eat in moderation, people! Plus it's still winter, and I need food to warm and comfort me. So, that brings me to my next recipe. This bread pudding with strawberry preserves and white chocolate creme anglaise will provide pure comfort for the even colder months ahead. Enjoy, and don't give up indulging in 2009!

See Recipe!

Pecan Pie

Happy Holidays and happy eating!! Pecan pie is one of the easiest holiday desserts to make, yet it's also the easiest to ruin. I remember my first pecan pie...the recipe had minimal ingredients that were just mixed together and thrown into a pie crust. I thought there was no way I could ruin it. Well, it was a runny mess of goop. I ended up attempting 3 different pies into the late late night, and none turned out right! I learned from my mistakes and came up with some true tips along the way. Pecan pie requires more care and patience than what you may have read in the majority of recipes out there. I haven't ruined a single pie since, so I hope these tips posted in the recipe work out the same for you.

I made my own crust, but a store bought crust works out fine for this. Also, many swear by certain syrups for making pecan pie. I'm partial to Lyle's golden syrup, but if you can get your hands on some sugar syrup from New Orleans, go for it. If you can't find either, corn syrup is acceptable.

See Pecan Pie Recipe!

See Pie Crust Recipe!

Holiday Sugar Cookies

The holidays are near and that means celebrating and indulging in holiday treats. I love spending a day making loads of festive holiday cookies. I haven't always been a fan of sugar cookies in the past. Some are too buttery, too sweet, too crunchy, or too dense. My aunt, and head chef of my family gave me the recipe that I'm posting. These are hands down, the best I've ever had. They aren't overly sweet, and have a really nice soft texture. The addition of lemon zest also gives them a nice twist. The first time I made these, I didn't have any cutouts, so I used the top of my Pam spray can to cut the cookies. Neil was thoughtful enough to surprise me with some cookie cutters as a stocking stuffer that year :) I use the same base recipe to make raspberry thumbprints as well. You'll feel so warm inside making these on a cold winter day. I hope you try these to kick start your holiday indulging!









See Recipe!

Black & White Birthday Cake

My dad's 60th birthday just passed a few weeks ago! I can't believe how fast time flies. He turned 60 this year and I turned 30...ugh!!!! Anyways, we decided against throwing a party, b/c parties start and end before you know it. I wanted to give him something more memorable. So, my sister and I bought him a trip to Vegas! He'll be going with my mom later in the year. We still had a small celebration for his actual 60th. We went out to eat Turkish at Kazan's in Mclean, and came back to my place for some cake and a movie:) Neil spent a lot of time installing an awesome projector in our basement. Movie nights are the best down there, and it was so nice to be able to share it with my family. We don't have enough time together like that anymore :(

Here's a pic I took of them. From the left, Neil, bro in law, sis, bro, Mom, and Dad. Dad's cheesin' big time!


Back to the cake...I hadn't made a cake in such a long time, so this was the perfect opportunity, and I wanted to find the perfect birthday cake. I ran across this Black & White Cake on the Smitten Kitchen blog. I had so much fun making this, so I think another excuse to bake a cake is right around the corner!



The recipe calls butter cake having a dark chocolate cream filling alternated with white chocolate cream. I had to make some modifications. Half my family likes dark chocolate, and the other half only likes milk. So, I made the dark chocolate cream a little "milkier" than the recipe calls for. The cream is actually just a decadent chocolate pudding, and Neil was definitely eating it as such :) If you don't want to attempt the cake, please at least try the pudding part. We were licking it out of the bowl!! The cake turned out beautiful, and both creams were delicious. However, I wasn't that thrilled with the actual butter cake layers. It was a little dry for my taste. I'll be sticking to my normal, moister butter cake the next time I make this. Btw, I apologize for the lack of quality in the pictures. I'm a terrible photographer, and my camera is super old. The pictures just don't do the cake justice!



See Recipe!

Pumpkin Cookies

It's that time of year, and I'm craving everything pumpkin. My pumpkin obsessions lasts through the winter holidays after which I’m totally pumpkin’d out…I’ll never learn the concept of “moderation”. Lately, I've been popping candy corn at work like it’s popcorn, and go home with the worst stomach ache…moderation! Anyways, since the pumpkin kick is strong for now, I planned to make pumpkin cookies last weekend. Well, to my shock, both Harris Teeter and Safeway were completely out of pumpkin puree. What’s up with that? Every year, grocery stores are completely “in your face” stocked w/ pumpkin cans. Has anyone had this issue? Well, I didn’t get my pumpkin cookie fix, so I went to William Sonoma and bought some pumpkin butter as a temporary fix. I’ll make their pumpkin bars with it. But, I’ll be baking these cookies as soon as I get my hands on some pumpkin. Luckily, I had some pictures of the cookies I made last year. These are delicious! They are very soft and almost scone like in texture, and guaranteed to satisfy the craving. Hopefully you have better luck with pumpkin!

See Recipe!

Apple Tart

It’s gotten considerably colder this last week. The air is very crisp with a different chill. I have no choice but to just start embracing it. The only way I know how is through food…thank god for that! Colder weather makes be crave food like chili, butternut squash, pumpkin, braised meats, casseroles, hearty stews, and of course apple pies! The traditional apple pie can be a little time consuming, so I prefer to make the much easier apple tart. The ingredients are incredibly simple. All you really need are apples, cinnamon, sugar, and a crust. I make my own crust, but store bought dough will work just fine if you don’t have the time. Serve it warm with ice cream…although it’s also great on its own.

See Apple Tart Recipe!
See Pie Crust (Pate Sablee Sucree) Recipe!

Creme Brulee

Crème brulee (French for “burnt sugar”) is one of my favorite desserts. Before I started baking, I thought that this was a dessert only reserved for restaurants and I could never attempt it home. I was completely wrong, as I discovered that it’s so much easier than any cake or mousse that I’ve ever made. In fact, it was so easy that at one point I was making this every weekend. That’s the excited little kid in me, and I’ve settled down now.

This dessert consists of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel. The caramel is created by burning the sugar with a blow torch. The custard is traditionally flavored with vanilla, but you can enhance it with other flavors. Sometimes I add grand marnier and orange zest. Pistachio paste gives a very unique flavor too. Or try infusing it with tea or coffee!

The only tricky part of crème brulee is testing for doneness. You want a perfect creamy and silky consistency without it being runny. The best test for doneness is the “jiggle” test. As the custards cook, reach into the oven and gently shake one with tongs or an oven mitt. It’s perfect when the edges are set but the inner custard jiggles slightly. You want to be careful not to cook them past this point or you will end up with a pasty consistency.

Crème brulee can be made in advance, but you shouldn’t caramelize the sugar until you are ready to serve. I’d say 30 minutes max…any longer and the hardened sugar will start softening. The contrast between the hard, bitter sugar and creamy, sweet custard defines this dessert. Serve it with a glass of moscato for the perfect compliment.

See Recipe!

Fruit Bavarian Cake

Fruit Bavarian was probably my favorite cake growing up, and seems to be a favorite amongst many households. It seemed to be at every party that my parents took me to. Now it’s the cake I make when requested a dessert for a summer party. It’s a very light tasting cake consisting of sponge cake, bavarian cream, fresh fruit, and a whipped topping. Yes, I’m painfully aware that summer is officially over, but I couldn’t help it. My mind is still on summer, and I’m trying to enjoy every last bit of warm weather. Btw, it's still pretty hot out. And I think you can still snag some berries to decorate this cake. I posted a couple pictures of different times I made the cake…just slight variations on the décor.

Traditionally this cake is made with a somewhat labor intensive bavarian cream filling. It requires a crème anglaise base and a lot of patience. Lately I’ve been cheating and just make a pastry cream that I lighten with whipped cream….very close to the original! I’m including the recipe for the lightened pastry cream, as this has been my method in place of bavarian cream. Let me know if you’d like the bavarian cream recipe as well, and I’ll send it your way!

See Recipe!