bonjour baking.

and this pie will probably kill you. literally. three sticks...

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:54:06 -0500

and this pie will probably kill you.

literally.

three sticks of butter and two cups of pecans. the fat content alone is probably in the 200% daily value range.

hopefully the recipe will be coming soon.

apple pie.

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:42:06 -0400

i have made this at least three times this summer, all different ways. regular pie, mini pies, hand pies, pop tarts. it’s all quite versatile.

for the crust. it is fool proof. from america’s test kitchen. the are perfect.

2 1/2 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 12 tablespoons butter cut and chilled, 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (crisco), cut and chilled, 1/4 cup vodka, 1/4 cup ice water.

blend the dry ingredients in a food processor. add the butter and shortening until covered in flour. add the vodka and ice water until it is all incorporated.

the vodka helps keep the dough moist, whereas 1/2 cup of water would dry it and it would be much harder to work with. it has to do with gluten and ethanol. and more science things. fun food fact.

transfer dough to a bowl. create a ball.

divide the dough in half and refrigerate for thirty minutes or so.

apple filling. you will need 5-7 tart apples, 5-7 sweet apples, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

peel, core, and slice apples. 1/4 inch thick.

mix all ingredients together.

place in a dutch oven. or a sauce pan. i just like the color of my dutch oven.

stir frequently at medium heat for about 15-20 minutes.

and then transfer to a colander to drain juices created while in the dutch oven.

preheat oven to 425.

place apples in the pie crust. sprinkle with the apple juice. add the second crust. brush with egg whites and sprinkle with sugar. bake for about 25 minutes until golden.

and i forgot to take pictures of the final result…

adapted from america’s test kitchen family baking book.

any fruit you can think of is in this crisp.

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:21:06 -0400

this crisp involves literally any fruit you can think of. seriously.

for the topping you will need 3/4 cup of toasted almonds, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 5 tablespoons of melted butter.

combine all the ingredients excluding the butter. mix in the food processor for a couple of pulses.

drizzle the melted butter on top of the mixture and pulse again until mealy.
like this.

this is how you peel rhubarb.

rhubarb ribbons.

set your oven to 400.

the fruit filling requires and kind of fruit you like. this crisp was strawberries, apples, rhubarb, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, and that might be all.

in addition to the fruit you will need 4 teaspoons of corn startch, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

mix all the ingredients listed together.

place in a baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.

add the crisp to the top of the fruit. bake for an additional 15 minutes until golden.

delicious.

peach ice cream.

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:26:00 -0400

i just realized the other day that i am approximately an 11th generation (or somewhere around there) southerner.

so i made peach ice cream. really easy peach ice cream.

you will need 14 oz of condensed milk, 5 oz of evaporated milk, 1 1/4 cups whole milk, 4 peaches, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 3/4 cup of peach nectar (i used goya).

you will need to peel the peaches. the best way is to first boil a saucepan of water. cut an ‘x’ at the bottom of each peach. place the peaches in the boiling water for about 30-60 seconds each and then submerge in ice water for 60 seconds. it’ll peel right off!

whisk together the milks and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

blend the peaches (you need to cut them, you won’t want to blend the pits) with the sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

whisk together the peach nectar, milks, and blended peaches.

place in you ice cream maker and it’ll be around 20-40 minutes, depending on the machine’s instructions.

summer is almost over.

adapted from southern living magazine.

chocolate gelato. it might be better than ice cream.

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:34:50 -0400

this is such a delayed baking post. all subsequent posts will most likely be equally delayed. because i am horrible slow. obviously.

but ice cream is probably my favorite thing in the world. well…besides coffee. that will always be number one. i think i love ice cream so much because it runs in my genes. my grandfather and his father had diners in pennsylvania (i swear this state has more ice cream than any other) and made ice cream.

but this is gelato. which is basically ice cream, but less cream.

you will need 1/2 cup dutch process cocoa (i can never find this so i usually use hershey’s special dark), 2 cups of whole milk, 5 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, 3/4 cup of sugar, and

4 egg yolks.

whisk the cocoa and 1 cup of milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. when it boils add the chopped chocolate and whisk until totally incorporated.

and then in another saucepan whisk the remaining milk and sugar together until warmed. and in a regular bowl whisk the yolks. add some of the warmed milk-sugar mixture to the whisked eggs (add it to the egg bowl). whisk constantly. and add it back to the saucepan with the rest of the milk-sugar mixture.

cook over low heat stirring constantly until the egg-milk-sugar mixture thickens. strain the custard into the chocolate mixture (now in a bowl), and combine. set in a ice bath for about 20-30 minutes.

place the gelato in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

and then when the gelato is finished, it should be thick, creamy, and cold. you should probably put it in a freezer-safe storage container.

kind of easy and most definitely delicious.

adapted from david lebovitz’s ready for dessert.

his blog is also quite swell.

whoop whoop. whoopie pies.

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:21:06 -0400

this is what the amish eat. that’s why they are too much fun. pocket sized cakes. and they are actually a lot easier than one would think.

it’s really just like baking a cake. mix the dry ingredients. 1 2/3 cups of flour, 2/3 cup of cocoa powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, and half a teaspoon of salt.

and then in an entirely new bowl mix together (with a beater, unless you enjoy pain) 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 4 tablespoons of vegetable shortening. like crisco. add 1 cup of packed brown sugar slowly until just about combined. and then add one egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

and then you can begin to add everything together. the flour-baking soda-salt-cocoa mixture added to the butter-shortening-sugar-egg-vanilla mixture in three parts alternated by 1 cup of milk. so flour, milk, flour, milk, flour. it should look like the above.

and then you just plop them on baking sheets that are covered in parchment paper with preferably a scoop. or just a spoon. whatever you have. set your oven to 375. and bake for 10 minutes. one at a time.

the photographs in whoopie pies by sarah billingsley and amy treadwell the whoopie pies do not have cracks in them. but i think they look more rustic. you can basically say anything is more rustic when you just kind of mess up a little.

and then there is the filling. this would be a vanilla buttercream. i was able to use one of my fourteen bags of powdered sugar. 3 cups to be exact. and 1 stick of butter. beat them together so it looks crumbly. and then you can slowly add 3-4 tablespoons of heavy cream. and then 1 teaspoon of vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt.

fin.

and then you just assemble it. one side with filling. and sandwich together.

so adorable.

i haven't mastered the art of french cooking.

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:35:47 -0400

as it turns out, i have been making bad quiche for quite some time.

so i turned to my mastering the art of french cooking book and learned how. but i still didn’t do it quite right. first wrong thing. i used a gluten free baking mix to make the crust. bob’s red mill. the recipe is right on the bag. super easy. super cheating.

and then three different quiche recipes were combined. mushroom, cheese, and onion.

and nothing was super measured right.

or super fresh.

but the vegetables were sauteed. but you are kind of supposed to toss them with flour. which didn’t happen. doing this though will prevent the vegetables from sinking to the bottom.

there were, however, two eggs used. along with 2/3 cup of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon of salt, a dash of pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. which were then whipped together. and then the onions and mushrooms were added.

and poured into the prebaked gluten free crust. and then sprinkled with swiss cheese on top.

it was quite good. but not quite french.

the recipe is from julia child, louisette bertholle, and simone beck’s mastering the art of french cooking.

the simplest things are sometimes the best things.

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:20:06 -0400

this is actually weeks old, but my life has been all consumed with work and other various things i’d rather not say on the void that is the internet.

this is my grandmother’s recipe for blueberry muffins. i made two different kinds. blueberry and an altered raspberry muffin.

combine the dry ingredients (2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup of sugar). and then you need to melt vegetable shortening, 1/2 a cup to be exact. this probably needs to go in a large separate bowl. add an egg to the shortening and whisk until combined. add the 1 cup of milk to the egg-shortening mixture and mix. slowly add the dry ingredients. it should be full of lumps.

i always use frozen blueberries. they are smaller i guess. so a little less obtrusive. about 1 cup.

i also don’t use cupcake liners for muffins. it doesn’t feel right. set your oven to 400 and then bake for about 15 minutes.

this is quite a lovely way to let them cool.

done. with blueberries.

for the raspberry muffins. dust an overflowing cup of raspberries with flour, it will prevent them from sinking to the bottom. i used the same ratios and methods as above, but instead of shortening i used butter, as an experiment. so just replace the 1/2 cup of shortening with 1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter. it really did make a difference in textures. the shortening in the blueberries made a more dense muffin, whereas the butter made a lighter cake-ier raspberry muffin. strange. like science.

and finished. don’t you just absolutely adore the cotton?

pretty little cake.

Sun, 15 May 2011 23:56:28 -0400

things aren’t always as they appear.

because this is a mini cake. not a real cake. and it’s not a new recipe. because i’m boring.

and it’s only four layers.

get out of there cat!

see? it’s a mini mini mini cake. even my kitten is larger than it. this isn’t the only thing she stuck her face in today. she also ate a vanilla cupcake.

quite lovely chocolate chip cookies.

Wed, 11 May 2011 23:26:23 -0400

as of today i now have two jobs. one at the sandwich shop and one at the gap. food and retail. hopefully i will still have time to bake and paint. i found this recipe on tasteologie and originates from cook’s illustrated. it claims to be the perfect chocolate chip cookie. which everyone claims to have. but i think this actually is. cook’s illustrated is like food scientists. you can watch them here, which is something i will totally be doing all summer.

today i felt like measuring all the ingredients first. i put them in these adorable glass measuring cups. like on martha stewart. so whisk together 1 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a bowl. then you can measure everything else if you like. 1/2 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar. and then 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. and 1 whole egg and 1 yolk. And then finally 1 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. now everything is neat and tidy.

oh and you also should have 14 tablespoons of unsalted butter. this is one part i failed. take 10 of the 14 tablespoons and melt in a pan on the stove. and then brown the butter until it is golden brown and smells like nuts. obviously, my butter did not turn brown, it is still yellow. and then you pour the brown butter into a bowl and add the remaining 4 tablespoons and stir until melted.

whisk in the salt, sugars, and vanilla. it looks like this. and then whisk in the egg plus yolk. for approximately 30 seconds. and then stop and don’t touch it for three minutes.

repeat the whisk for thirty and stop for three. and then repeat it again. a total of two repetitions. it should look super shiny and glossy. like this.

mix in the flour-baking soda mixture until it is one with the butter-sugars-salt-vanilla-egg plus yolk mixture. add your chocolate chips. and then you will most likely want to scoop them with a scoop on cookie sheets with parchment. only put about 8 per sheet because it lets them bake better.

my cat loves butter.

set the oven to 350 and bake for about 10-15 minutes rotating halfway. my oven took 15. it’s supposed to make 16, but i guess i had a smaller scoop, so mine was about 24.

it’s like crisp and chewy. basically perfect. perfect chocolate chip cookies.

a tragic attempt: french macaroons.

Mon, 09 May 2011 21:05:00 -0400

macaroons are something i have been dreaming about making all year. unfortunately this is my first attempt after work. and trying to stop my cat from eating raw eggs out of the garbage disposal. probably not the best timing, but i guess practice makes perfect.

upon further internet research, it turns out the perfect macaroon has a lot to do with the technique. like this mixture of 1 cup of almond meal/flour and 1 and 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon of confectioner’s sugar is full of error. like i don’t own a sifter so i didn’t sift the sugar, so it’s super lumpy.

measure 1/4 cup of sugar and set aside. crack open three egg whites.

this is the difficult part. well, one of them. place the three egg whites in a bowl. mix with a mixer on medium speed. when they become frothy adjust the speed to high. don’t add anything at this moment. no sugar or food coloring. because then they will never ever become stiff. keep on mixing until the egg whites become almost stiff, but not really, so more just medium. and then add food coloring. i used gel. continue to mix. and then add the 1/4 cup of sugar. continue to mix until stiff peaks form. like this. it took me two tries, but it worked out in the end.

and then you fold the almond-confectioner’s sugar mixture from long long ago into the egg white-sugar-food coloring mixture. but, what i did is wrong. it shouldn’t be lumpy. it should be smooth, but not too smooth. and then transfer this to a pastry bag with a large round tip.

squeeze out one inch discs. i don’t have a large round tip, so i used a flower tip instead. you let them sit for about fifteen minutes. you’re supposed to hit them a few times on the counter, but i didn’t because i didn’t know. also i used the bad pastry bag, so it was mildly messy and a slight disaster.

in a 350 degree oven, bake for 15 minutes with the door open slightly. my door doesn’t open slightly. so i just baked them for 6-8 minutes with the door shut. they still were a little too brown. let them cool completely. i filled them with leftover buttercream, but you can fill them with anything and everything. jam, icing, ganache, prunes, whatever. they tasted alright, just not very pretty. hopefully sometime soon there will be a second installment of less disastrous macaroons, and maybe by installment 500 million they will be perfect and lovely and parisian.

here’s a great reference found on david lebovitz’s blog.

(the recipe used was created by martha)

Ughhhhh. I want to eat it all.

Sun, 08 May 2011 12:40:06 -0400

You could, but it would probably be really difficult. The amount of butter and sugar is super ridiculous. It might cause a number of ailments. It would be really lovely if you baked things and then posted on Peter’s Belly. Like a baked goods belly.

gluten free brownies for mother's day.

Sun, 08 May 2011 00:39:33 -0400

tomorrow is mother’s day. my family is going to the museum. and i made my mom brownies. that are gluten free because she has celiac disease. so there’s no flour, and they are basically chocolate, sugar, and eggs. and pecans. there are a lot of pecans.

these are really easy brownies. which is really a good things because i’ve been so not here today. i messed up maybe six sandwiches at work today and couldn’t stop dropping things. i was very afraid i might just set fire to my house while baking this evening. i didn’t. but you can start by measuring 2 tablespoons of dark cocoa powder and 3 tablespoons of regular cocoa powder. just set it aside.

my cat is super curious. she watches me from the kitchen sink.

in a food processor you are going to blend 2 cups of pecans. they will look like sand. this is a picture of sandy pecans.

and it turns out you make the whole thing in the food processor! add the cocoa powders (2 tablespoons dark and 3 tablespoons regular). add 3/4 cup of sugar. add 1/3 cup of oil. add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. and then add four eggs.

and then you blend it all for approximately 2 minutes. my cat was doing strange things while this was happening. like throwing herself around on the ground…

this is what it will look like.

grease an 8x8 inch pan. set the oven to 350. and bake for 25-30 minutes. during this time i made vanilla buttercream frosting to write a nice mother’s day message. my cat however, loves butter. buttercream is made with butter. she wouldn’t leave me alone. cooking with cats is quite difficult.

and finished. i should probably work on my cursive.

and she doesn’t help clean either.

super easy lovely cobbler.

Thu, 05 May 2011 23:12:48 -0400

i recently (just this monday) got a summer job making sandwiches at a sandwich shop. it’s mildly entertaining and far more exciting than retail. but i spend all afternoon playing with cold cuts and not butter. so i decided to make this super easy lovely cobbler à la my friend val à la pioneer woman.

i halved the recipe, just because i had a feeling my family wouldn’t be a huge fan (this was totally true), but here’s the way with the full recipe. everything is basically one cup of everything. one cup of self rising flour, put it in the bowl. one cup of sugar, put it in the bowl. one cup of milk, put it in the bowl. melt only 1/2 cup (one stick) of butter and put it in the bowl. mix together everything thoroughly.

and then you pour the batter into a baking dish that has been greased. measure out 2 cups of berries (i used frozen blackberries and raspberries, whatever will work) and put in the baking dish with the batter. sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar on top. bake it in the oven at 350 for an hour. and then 10 minutes before the hour ends you can sprinkle more sugar.

it’s really simple, lovely, and pretty. and i suggest you make it.

a very chocolate cake.

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:10:00 -0400

unfortunately i do not have many pictures of this cake or the process. bur this is a fairly epic chocolate cake for a party that turned into my friend’s impromptu birthday party. he invited all of his friends and told them it was his birthday party, but never told the hostesses that our gypsy party became his birthday party.

this cake is five layers of devil’s food cake, dark chocolate ganache filling, and chocolate buttercream frosting. this is a lot more complex than a vanilla cake, mostly because there is a lot of melting chocolate and it’s a two bowl method.

mix together 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. in another bowl cream 1 1/2 sticks of butter (3/4 cup) and 2 cups of light brown sugar. it should be smooth, not chunky.

you will need three large eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. lightly beat the yolks until they’re look like lemons. and the egg yolks to the butter sugar mixture. melt 8 ounces of unsweetened chocolate (or you can take 3 tablespoons of coco powder and 1 tablespoon of oil is one ounce of unsweetened chocolate) and add to the butter-sugar-egg mixture.

measure 2 cups of whole milk and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract. add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar-egg-chocolate mixture and then add the milk-vanilla mixture and then add the flour mixture and then the milk-vanilla mixture and then the flour mixture. so you add the flour mixture in three parts to the butter-sugar-egg-chocolate mixture with milk-vanilla mixture in between. do not over beat. you will have bad cake if you over mix. now take the egg whites you saved from long ago and beat until soft peaks form. fold into the batter.

for the five layers i think i doubled the recipe. but this will make a three layer 8 inch cake. grease and dust pans with flour and then bake the cake at 350 for about 40-45 minutes.

and that is the cake.

and now for the ganache filling. this is made on the stove. so in a saucepan bring 2 cups of heavy cream, 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt to a boil. remove from the heat and add 1 pound of chopped up bittersweet or dark chocolate. don’t mix it for one minute. and then you can mix it until smooth. then refrigerate it for one hour, stirring occasionally. you should really do this because if you don’t and put it in between cake layers it’ll just melt everywhere and the cake will fall. trust me. this has happened before with a 32 layer crepe cake.

chocolate buttercream. this is seriously addicting. you might want to melt 9 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate first. cream 3 sticks of unsalted butter until super creamy. add 2 tablespoons of milk slowly. now it should be smooth. and then add the melted chocolate. and then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. and then add 2 1/4 cups of confectioner’s sugar a little bit at a time. this is for the outside.

and that is the most chocolate cake i have ever made. all 33 ounces of chocolate. so much chocolate. so ridiculous.

(the cake hails from the complete magnolia bakery cookbook)

(the ganache is from martha)

(and the icing comes out of the complete magnolia bakery cookbook)

just cake.

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 14:01:00 -0400

cake is the most versatile and beautiful things you can bake. or at least that’s what i think anyway…

this weekend i made this recipe about five million times, so it is now memorized. this accomplishes on of my life goals to memorize a recipe.

first you need to mix together 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 3/4 cake flour (or just 3 cups of cake flour/all purpose. but cake flour really does make it lovelier), 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

butter is next. i went through maybe 16 sticks of it in two days. lovely.

this takes 2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter cut up into tiny pieces. add them to the flour mixture until just coated with flour. everything will look super chunky, but that’s fine.

now wet. in a separate bowl/measuring cup mix together 1 cup of whole milk, 4 eggs, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. add this to the flour/butter mixture in three parts. it’ll be super chunky and buttery and thick, but that’s fine.

for cupcakes with liners bake at 325 for about 15-19 minutes.

for 8 inch pans bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

the tester should come out clean.

buttercream frosting. but it’s not really technically buttercream. but it’s far easier than swiss buttercream which doesn’t even taste nice (it legitimately tastes like butter) unless you’re my cat and only likes it because of the butter-ness. but this buttercream is so swell and you can make it while your cakes bake.

you start out with 1/2 cup of whole milk or cream (i like using cream, it has a better texture), 2 sticks (1 cup) softened unsalted butter, 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (or no vanilla that’s fine too), and 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar. Mix it all up with a beater and gradually add 3-4 more cups of powdered sugar one cup at a time.

and you’re done.

unless you decide to color the frosting and mix all the colors together.

you can make so many things from cake and buttercream. like color wheel cupcakes. these were for a color party i co-hosted this weekend.

or you can make cake balls. which are also way easier than they look. basically if you take an 8 inch cake, crumble it up, and add about 1/2 cup of frosting and mix it up you made cake balls. but then you should refrigerate it for about 30 minutes to an hour so you can roll it into balls and then refrigerate the balls before you dip them in chocolate.

this was 8 pounds of chocolate. we have so many leftovers from last night. it’s borderline ridiculous. but melt the chocolate (1 pound at a time) in the microwave. let it cool and then dip the cake with a spoon. set on wax paper or foil and refrigerate for about 15 minutes until set. that’s all. everyone makes it seem so much more difficult.

or you can add fruit to it. 1/2 cup of diced kiwi, 1/2 cup blueberries, or 1/2 cup diced grapes. and some food coloring.

this was an almost fail. before this my friend’s sink wouldn’t stop running and the super had to come fix it and we were hoping this wouldn’t be happening all during the party. thankfully everything worked out. including this cake. which has three different kinds of frosting. whipped cream on top, cream cheese (package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, and 1 cup confectioner’s sugar) on sides, and buttercream on the inside.

super colorful. and fruity.

the cake actually had two more layers (strawberry-1/2 cup pureed strawberries and orange-2 tablespoons of orange zest and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest) but the layers collapsed, so it was mashed up into a pan, and decorated the top and it became makeshift cake. so lovely.

(martha shared billy’s cake recipe)

(she also shared billy’s icing recipe)