Little sisters Bday cake.

Sarah turned 8. I made her cake.

It consisted of chocolate cake, raspberry cake, chocolate buttercream, raspberry buttercream, royal icing decorations and all kinds of fresh, pink flowers from Emily and Ben at Mile Creek Farm (CSA providers).

I made the cake and buttercream ahead and assembled it the night before, then did the tiers and decorations before the party. I also made the royal icing decorations (with sparkle powder) the night before so they had time to harden.

The best chocolate chip cookies ever!

Cookies. With chocolate chips in them. Chewy ones. Moist ones. CHEWY ONES!!! I have never been a big fan of cookies myself, but I make a mean cookie (with chocolate chips in it) so why not? I only ate 2 of these... theeeeen I ate 2 more in doughs worth while I was making them. Doh! I eat around the chips. I don't much like chocolate, so the dough is in dangerous territory... while the little chippies can just stroll along without the fear of the Tara-monsters jaws. I have a purpose. You shall see. Lets just dive right in, shall we?

Simplicity itself.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Ingredients

2 1/4 c all purpose flour

1 t salt (i use a little extra b/c salt + choc = yum)

1/2 t baking soda (I use Aluminum free)

1 c butter, melted

3/4 c dark brown sugar

1/4 c white sugar

2 T corn syrup

1 egg

1 egg yolk

seeds from 1 vanilla bean, or 1 t extract

few drops almond extract

1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix melted butter, egg, egg yolk, corn syrup and sugars. Add vanilla and almond extract.

2. Add salt and soda. Add flour in ~1/2 cup increments until well combined.

3. Add chocolate chips.

4. Put dough in refrigerator for at least 2 hours until firm, or overnight.

5. When dough has firmed up, preheat oven to 325F.

6. Spoon dough out onto cookie sheet while dough is cold. You want about 2 tablespoon dollops, spread about 3 inches apart. You can round them out if you like, but I just chucked them onto the pan. I lined my cookie sheet with a silpat, but I would recommend using minimal grease or spray to reduce spreading.

7. Bake for 13-15 mins, or until they look aaaaaalmost done.

8. Let cool for 5 minutes on pan, then slide off onto cooling rack. Be careful with them!

9. Try at least one while still warm and melty.

10. Yum.

Pictures!

Ingredients.

Chocolate and vanilla. Homemade vanilla= 3 beans and some Ciroc vodka to cover. Wait 3 months. Enjoy.
Chippies.
Tower of cookies.
This is what a sunrise should look like.

Look at that. Just look at it!

These chippies survived the Tara-monster's jaws. The first time.

Oh sweet chewy delightfulness.

Cookies an (raw) milk.

There are no words. Well, "om nom nom" might sum it up quite nicely.

Tara-monster's jaws!!! Oh, did I mention I made these for my Orthodontist and his awesome crew? They rock. I'm getting the tooth jewelry off tomorrow so they deserve a treat for dealing with me. They shall get all the cookies I made (minus 2 I ate and 2 the roomie ate).

Go make these. Now! Let me know what you thing of them!

Have a wonderful week.

Review: Tim Tam (Slam)!

If you have not discovered Tim Tams, GO OUT RIGHT NOW TO FIND THEM! They are only available at Target (tar-jay) so hit up your local Target and do yourself a favor. These are now my favorite cookie! Thank you, Australia!

Tim Tam Slam: Also known as the TIM TAM Suck or TIM TAM Bomb. Grab a Tim Tam and a warm drink (coffee, milo or tea). Nibble both ends off the biscuit and use it as a straw for your drink. When its saturated, quickly SLAM it in your gob before it falls apart. It can get kinda messy, but who cares when it tastes that GOOD! <--- True story.

Yours truly performing a Tim Tam Slam, but with milk... yeah I know I look like I have an extra chromosome. I cant help it.

Britny doing the same. Roffles.

Packaging.
Choc on left, caramel on right.
YUMMMM.

So I know I am on the Primal blueprint, but sometimes you just have to eat three cookies when you find out they are on limited release in the USA. I don't stray very often with my food, (though looking at my blog you would think I am heading straight down the diabetes highway) I usually get my carbs through fruit and milk (ah mi gawd I love milk), and maybe once every couple weeks I eat a cookie. Or a small slice of bday cake. Not too bad. Easy to keep going because I don't flip out about it. Now I just need to work out. Hmph. Back to the cookies...

The cookies are super yummy. I thought I would like the caramel ones better but the choc ones were simple and tasty. Plus when you're doing a Tim Tam Slam with something cold (i.e. milk) the caramel in the middle gets all hard. I should have learned my lesson with Hobnobs...

Tim Tam = Yum Num.

February Daring Bakers... Chocolate Valentino!

Back for another Daring Bakers Challenge! This month we are doing a flourless chocolate cake aka chocolate valentino.
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.
What is in a flourless chocolate cake you ask? Well, there is chocolate... butter... and eggs. The end. That's it?! Yes, that's it. Really. Now I am not going to lie... I was totally prepared to HATE this cake. I really don't like chocolate and this is just too much. Buuut upon making the cake I decided it didn't totally suck. I decided I would make a caramel sauce because chocolate and caramel is a nice pairing, no? Then I got a little nuts. I made roasted banana ice cream, thinking caramel and banana= bananas foster= yum. So that's cool. Chocolate cake, roasted banana ice cream and caramel sauce. Simple and tasty. Then I decided I wanted in on this bacon-in-sweet-things action. I made bacon ice cream too. So chocolate cake, bacon ice cream and caramel sauce. well it sound like it should work right? Oh and did I mention I cant eat egg yolks? Read on...

Chocolate Valentino from DB
454 g (1lb) chocolate, roughly chopped
146 g of unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated
1. Put chocolate and butter in a bowl. Nuke in microwave for 1 minute bursts until smooth and melty.
2. While your chocolate and butter mixture is cooling, butter you baking pan (I used 4 oz Apilco ramekins).
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put the whites into a large bowl and the yolks into a small bowl.
4. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. Stir the yolks with a fork until runny and lighter.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter (some white really is okay).
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F for 12 minutes (for the ramekins).
9. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes, then carve around edges with a SHARP knife and unmold.

Roasted Banana Ice Cream
3 bananas, cut into 1 in pieces
1/3 c brown sugar
2 c half and half
1/2 vanilla pod, scraped
2 t lemon juice
1. Heat oven to 400F.
2. Toss bananas and brown sugar together, then spread in a baking dish.
3. Roast for about 25 min, stirring halfway trough.
4. Scrape bananas and all the sugary, sticky goodness into blender. Blend.
5. Add half and half, vanilla seeds and lemon juice and blend until smooth.
6. Freeze according to your ice cream maker.
*If you don't have an ice cream maker you could add some brandy (2-4 Tablespoons-ish) to this and put in a shallow dish. Place the dish in your freezer and pull out every 30 min and beat with a handheld mixer. Tedious, but it works. The -OH keeps huge ice crystals from forming.
7. Put in freezer!

Bacon Brittle Ice cream
1/2 lb bacon (preferably thick cut), diced
2 T brown sugar
1 T butter
1/4 c maple syrup
2 c half and half
1/2 vanilla pod, scraped
2 T brandy
1. Prepare bacon for its ice cream adventure. Fry up the diced bacon until crispy. Drain well. Set aside.
2. Heat brown sugar and butter in microwave (1 min bursts) until it makes a caramely like sauce. 3. Stir in about 2/3 of the bacon and pour mixture into a greased plate or cookie sheet. Let cool.
4. While bacon brittle is cooling, make your ice cream. Mix half and half, maple syrup, vanilla seeds and brandy in a bowl.
5. Freeze according to your ice cream maker.
6. While ice cream is freezing, chop up the cooled bacon brittle.
7. When Ice cream is nearly done freezing add bacon brittle and the 1/3 you saved before (that wasn't added to the brittle).
8. Chuck in freezer in a well-sealed container.

Caramel Sauce
1.5 c sugar
2 T H2O
2 T butter
3/4 c heavy cream
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
1. Heat sugar and water in a pan over medium heat, swirling occasionally. DO NOT STIR (will cause your sugar to eff up... just don't do it).
2. When the sugar melts and turns brown (happens really fast) add the butter and stir a little (okay, NOW you can stir). Remove from heat.
3. Add the heavy cream and stir. It will bubble a lot, so be careful.
4. Add vanilla and salt.
4. Done. Store in fridge and just microwave when youe ready for it to be warm and gooey. Its pretty simple but for a more detailed description go here.

Banana ice cream in foreground, bacon in background.

Mmmmm caramel sauce...
I wanted to represent the ingredients. You all are lucky I didn't throw
a strip of bacon in the background for good measure!
Bacon Brittle Ice Cream

Roasted Banana Ice Cream

Inside of de cake.

CAKE- Now I would like to say that I did have a bite of the cake. I used dark chocolate (not super dark) and did not add any sugar, and surprisingly, I liked it! I still don't think I could eat even one whole little cake, its still A LOT of chocolate. More and more though, I think its the ridiculous amount if sugar in chocolate things that I don't like. I don't have big sweet tooth (salt tooth anyone?) so maybe that's it? Maybe my tastes are changing and I am just beginning to dig the stuff. Who knows? I would much prefer a fruity dessert to a chocolaty one still. Oh and did I mention that I will be making myself a yolk-free one soon? We'll have to see how that affects it. My body refuses to digest yolks, so I cant eat the cake. One little bite is okay though... ;) As far as chocolate desserts go, molten chocolate cakes win, but this wasnt bad... just too much for me.

ICE CREAM- The roasted banana was awesome!!! If you like bananas foster it tastes like that... but ice cream! Seriously Im going to spoon some out of the freezer right now... lol. The bacon ice cream was good too, but it had that hint of salty/sweet and maple flavor as well. More complex than the banana for sure. I would maybe serve it with something less in-your-face like this cake is. Maybe with a simple apple pie it would work? The choc just competes too much with it, flavor wise. But still... its bacon. Bacon ice cream. Insta-love.

My cheap set up...

Summer catch up.

Well, its been a fair bit snce Ive written a blog. I guess Ill do a summertime overhaul to share with you some good summery foods. Since its October now, Ive been eating a lot of Fall-like foods, so I was craving a salad today. One last summer hurrah, Here we go...

A morel mushroom pilaf. I think you all may have a clue that morel hunting season is months-past, but You know, Im doing the summer clean out to catch you all up! My stepmom collected morels and gave me some, and I was happy to geez... HAVE to think of something to use them in! :) I did a couscous with parm and morels, peas and onions, used chicken stock (homemade, der). Yum, I think I will demand manymany more morels next year!

Lavender blossoms and a watermelon cooler. I beleive this was after a mud volleyball tourney! Watermelon + water (more than you'd think) + sugar + lemon sorbet = yumminess! Just add everything into a blender and bleeend.

Strawberry pie. Sorry, camera skills suck! SO easy and SO good! I was eally suprised by this. The flavo is so intense (with those summertime berries), I got way more than I was expecting. I think I made this pie like 4 times, to rave reviews. Recipe from Gourmet via YumSugar: http://www.yumsugar.com/1734253

Stuffed grape leaves (Dolmades). There is a gapevine at the 'rents house, so I collected 75 and went to town! These are obviously a summer dish b/c I HATE using jarred grape leaves. What a watse! Get the tender leaves, and make sure they are pesticide free! Made with lamb, rice, onion, mint, dill (NO cinnamon or allspice), lemon and served with tzaziki. They were very delicious. Took some time to make, but worth it... especially with the fresh grape leaves.

Molten chocolate cakes. Okay, these arent summery per-se, but I made the for my Daddys bday in summer, so they were summery for me! He turned 52 (but looks 40... please let me get that gene!) and after dinner we did what classy people do. Attacked him with water balloons! Ha! Well, these are REAL molten cakes, not the kind with the truffle in the middle. Melt chocolate, add eggs and sugar and salt and a little flour, bake at 425F for 8 mins, until not done (hey, they are molten chocolate cakes, right?) , remove, turn out, add cream and eat! Yummy, and I dont like chocolate!

Water ballon fight. Daddy, Shelley (step parent), Sarah (little sister). Im behind the cam.

And Ill leave you with this:

AAAHHHHHHHH!!! Happy Halloween! GObama!

<3

Second Daring Bakers Challenge... Fruit and Chocolate Danishes!

So this is my second daring bakers challenge, and I have to say... I liked it! I thought MAKING it was the OKAY part... but the eating was way better! This is a yeast danish dough, and having made it, I am pretty sure all the danishes I have had have been made with puff pastry! WTF? I thought the finished danish was a good, homey treat that may not have been entirely worth the trouble. I can think of about 1000 shortcuts and getting the same result. It was good to do though, I have never made a laminated dough before. The apricot one was my fave and I didn't even the chocolate one (yes, a baker with an aversion to chocolate). Whatev... I am in a little time crunch right now, so I cant type a a bunch of clever stuff... but here's my post! I may add more later...

Danish Recipe via Daring Bakers (with my changes made)

DETREMPE (dough)

-- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

-- 1/2 cup 1% milk

-- 1/3 cup sugar

-- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-- 2 large eggs, chilled

-- 1 teaspoon salt

-- 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

-- Bloom yeast in milk. Slowly add sugar, vanilla extract, salt and eggs. Mix well. Add sifted flour in 1/2 cup at a time, until dough forms. Knead dough on floured surface for about 5 mins.

BEURRAGE (butter block)

-- 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter (organic)

-- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

-- Combine butter and flour in a bowl and beat until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

ASSEMBLE DOUGH

--- After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

--- Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

--- Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used.

FILLINGS

Apricot filling: quarter fresh apricots and cook with a little sugar and water until soft and jam-like, cool then spread into braid.

Raspberry-cheese filling: add 2 T sugar to a block of cream cheese and combine. Spread raspberry jam onto braid, then dot with cream cheese mix.

Chocolate: make chocolate pastry cream, with extra sugar, and fill braid with that.

ASSEMBLE BRAID (2 braids)

-- 1 recipe Danish Dough

-- 2 cups filling

-- Egg wash: large egg, plus 1 yolk

--- Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

--- Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

--- Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

--- Proof for 90 mins at 90F. Brush on egg wash. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. I glazed it with a powdered suagr and milk glaze...

Here's the braid after it bakes. The apricot was my fave, hands down!

<3 Tara