Anything au Chocolat

Alfajores... again!

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:55:00 +0000

December is here and many of us have started going through our cookbooks and favorite family recipes as we search for inspiration to let the Holiday baking begin. I personally love this tradition in the U.S. where people bake cookies and other goodies to give as gifts to friends and family. I find it so personal and thoughtful. We don't have this tradition where I am from, but I believe it is one definitely worth starting. There are also people who have a party with friends and family where recipes get exchanged and people spend quality time baking together. That is definitely my idea of a good time. So in the spirit of finding some great recipes, I came across this chocolate covered alfajor recipe here.

I am not sure if you remember, but one of my first posts was about alfajores. My friends know I am crazy about them! I love them so much that I had my in-laws pack about 500 cookies in their bags and take them to Brazil to give away at my wedding. Since we are talking about traditions I thought I would point out that it is a tradition in Brazil to give away a sort of cookie called "Bem Casados" (Happily Married) at weddings for people to take home. So I figured that if we gave alfajores it would be different from most weddings and it would be a way of honoring my hubby's Argentinian roots. Besides, it is a delicious treat and I knew everyone would love it! When they arrived with all the alfajores, I looked at the pile of boxes and agonized over the daunting task of wrapping all those cookies - one by one. Luckily we had a little helper (a.k.a. my adorable nephew Bautis) who was very willing to make our task a lot easier. He made sure there were no cookies left in the boxes and got those bulky boxes out of the way. Literally!

While we managed to keep him entertained playing with the boxes, we wrapped all 500 cookies. I was pretty happy with how they turned out. Here is how we displayed them at the party.

As you can see my love is not for any alfajor. I am an alfajor snob and as such, I had to get the very best! Havanna should probably not get a hold of this post though, because this recipe kicks butt and they just got themselves some serious competition. ;)

I already have a couple of great alfajor recipes but they are more rustic, homemade like alfajores. Needless to say that my quest to find an Havanna like recipe was still on. But I am happy to announce that I have found it. It is so good that it is worth writing about it not too long after my other recipe and running the risk of you thinking I am boring and repetitive. But I am not worried because given its deliciousness I know that you will love me for the rest of your life if you try to make these for a loved one this Holiday season. As for me, of course I'll keep trying alfajores recipes that come my way, but my anxiety has subsided. *sigh* At least for now.

Chocolate Covered Alfajores:

6 1/2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp grated orange zest
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cans dulce de leche
11 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

In a large bowl beat the butter, sugar, honey and egg until well combined. Add the orange zest then sift dry ingredients over it. Mix well until you get a firm dough. It might still be a little sticky. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F. Roll the dough onto a floured surface until about 0.2 inches thick. Cut the cookies using a 2-inch cookie cutter, or smaller if you would like to make mini cookies. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool.

To assemble the alfajores, once the cookies are cooled, spread dulce de leche on the flat side of the cookie and place another cookie on top making a sandwich (again, flat side to the dulce de leche), squeeze them lightly together then I even out the dulce de leche around it with a knife and dip them in the chocolate, tempered. There are easier methods to temper chocolate if you google it, but I find this one to be the most detailed explanation step by step. With a fork, lift the alfajor out of the chocolate, lightly tap the fork against the bowl to get rid of any excess chocolate and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let it cool. It makes about 25 alfajores.

Note: (1.) Photo of wrapped alfafores by Ricardo Sanches. (2.) Photo of Bautis by Carolina Ibarguren.

No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:01:00 +0000

It's been a while since my last post. But that does not mean that I have stopped baking. On the contrary, there has been a lot of baking in this household lately, I just lacked the time to sit down and write. I haven't had a lot of free time for things other than hosting and entertaining a couple of very special guests in the past couple of months. Dad has been visiting for almost two months now and we recently had the pleasure of the company of one of my dearest friends. It's been good busy though. No complaints whatsoever! So my plan to keep myself as busy as one possibly can be in anticipation for the reclusiveness of the winter seems to be working.

To prove to you that I have not stopped baking and that my lack of posts has just been a result of too much fun, I have this cinnamon roll recipe. Let me explain. I baked these to celebrate the Autumnal equinox marking the beginning of the Fall. I love the Fall. If it wasn't for all the leaves we have to pick up, the fall would probably be my favorite season. I find the changing colors of the leaves absolutely beautiful. I could watch the leaves fall off the trees for hours and hours. It's so relaxing! You might be scratching your head right now because today is November 10 and that was on September 22. I know... as I said in the beginning of this post, it's been a while... But the picture is here to prove it. I couldn't have baked these recently because the days are getting shorter and shorter and I don't have that much sunlight early in the morning anymore. I baked these before I went to work. That was my ideal of how to start off the day: a beautiful chilly morning announcing the beginning of the Fall, comfy flannel jammies (I'll take any opportunity to wear those. If I could I would wear them everywhere!), and a nice cup of coffee to warm me up (And wake me up!) paired with cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven.

These are my first cinnamon rolls and because I really like cinnamon rolls, I'll definitely try different recipes in the months to come. These turned out pretty tasty and moist. Not to mention that they are extremely easy to make. I prepared them the night before and left them in the fridge overnight. All I had to do was pop them in the oven and they were done in no time. I already have in mind about four other recipes to experiment with. Stay tuned.

No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls:

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

For the dough:
3/4 cup cottage cheese (4% milk fat)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Process until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and pulse just until the dough clumps together (don’t overprocess). Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it 4 or 5 times until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12x15-inch rectangle.

For the filling:
1-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup chopped walnuts

Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and pat gently into the surface. Sprinkle the nuts over the sugar mixture.Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal, and leave the ends open.

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan; they should fill the pan and touch slightly, but don’t worry if there are small gaps. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 28 minutes.

For the glaze:
scant 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 to 3 tbsp cold milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar, 2 tbsp milk, and vanilla to make a smooth glaze. It should have a thick but pourable consistency. Add up to 1 tbsp more milk, if necessary. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.

(Adapted from Fine Cooking magazine, September 2007)

Decorated Sugar Cookies - September Daring Baker's Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 05:23:00 +0000

It's time for the September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge! This month's challenge was hosted by Mandy of What the Fruitcake?! Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking. The theme was September. At first I thought: piece of cake! But then I remembered that I had never made sugar cookies, nor had I ever decorated sugar cookies. So those pretty detailed and intricate cookie designs I had in mind did not seem so easy anymore. But as I began decorating the cookies, I started to get a feel for the icing, the different piping tips, the food coloring, and I felt better about this project despite my mishaps. Now I feel like I know much more about what I am working with and how the ingredients work together and can adjust accordingly next time. Here are a couple of lessons I've learned.

1.) Liquid food coloring can water down your icing very quickly even if you add only a few drops. You might have noticed, but out of kindness did not want to say anything, that it seems like the eye doctor has just instilled pupil dilating drops on the left eye of the poor yellow Pac-Man Ghost. I was bummed when I saw it! I had so many uses for the black icing. Unfortunately, it got too runny.

2.) If you want pretty cookies, you need to plan ahead. Draw your designs on a piece of paper. I realized that by having a very good idea of what I wanted would have helped me deciding the colors I needed beforehand. That way you have all the bags ready before you get started. Maybe that applies to me because I am a visual person. I need to see things!! Ok.. maybe a little too meticulous. But seriously, if you don't have a good idea of what you want the final product to look like and you don't prepare the bags in advance, it can get messy.

You might be asking yourself what my theme was since I have a few different ... and dorky things going on. Well, when I thought of September, I soon thought of "Fall" and "back to school." But I knew that those would probably be common themes this month, so I tried to think of something different. That's when one of my favorite songs came to mind:

Do you Remember the 21st night of September?

Love was changing the mind of pretenders

While chasing the clouds away

Our hearts were ringing

In the key that our souls were singing.

As we danced in the night,

Remember, how the stars stole the night away, yeah yeah yeah.

Hey hey hey,

Ba de ya - say do you remember

Ba de ya - dancing in September

Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day

Ba duda, ba duda, ba duda, badu

Ba duda, badu, ba duda ...

Do you recognize it? If not, you can listen to September by Earth Wind & Fire here. I love this song! Not to mention their outfits. :) So that's how I decided to go with the 70's theme. Because of this song. So I created a 70's Disco cookie, an LP, some Love & Peace, and bell-bottoms. Then my imagination took me to Atari, Pac-Man, and Star Wars. I also experimented with flowers, but my icing was a little runny and I got an egg sunny side up instead (bottom right). :) I had a lot of fun on this challenge and am sure that beautiful cookies will be part of my repertoire with a little practice.

Basic Sugar Cookies:

1/2 cup + 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups + 3 tbsp flour

1 cup caster sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten (recipe called for 1, I needed 2)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream the butter and sugar until becomes creamy in texture. Beat in egg until well combined. Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms. Knead into a 2 or 3 balls and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes. Cut out shapes and refrigerate for another 30 minutes. It is important to chill so that they don't spread while baking. Bake from 8-15 minutes. I waited until they were golden around the edges and I think I baked them for too long. I would watch closely at the 10-minute mark. Let them cool and decorate as desired. Makes about 36 4-inch cookies. If kept in airtight container in a cool place, undecorated cookies last up to a month.

Royal Icing:

3 cups confectioner's sugar

2 large egg whites

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp almond extract (optional)

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined. Sift the sugar and add it to the egg whites. Beat on low until combined and smooth. Make sure to cover containers while not in use because the icing starts to harden in contact with air. Also, you can add more sugar if you want it thicker for writing. If you need to thin it out, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need. Color as desired, prepare the bags and pipe it away. Have fun decorating!

Here are a couple of helpful videos with very basic decorating tips:

Decorating Cookies - Part One
Decorating Cookies - Part Two

Strawberry Tart

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 04:51:00 +0000

I can't go to Whole Foods thinking it will be a really quick trip to the store when I need to grab an item or two. I simply can't. There is something about that place that makes me lose any sense of purpose and I start wandering completely awestruck by their wonderful product selection. I have tried taking a grocery list thinking that it would make me control myself and not want to buy the entire store. It did not work. I've tried to time myself. That did not work either. I always take much longer than I should and leave with more items than I should. Do you feel that way in certain stores as well? I remember when I took marketing classes in college and we learned about product placement and other tactics stores use to make you buy things that you don't really need. And here I am. Falling in the same trap despite my awareness of what they are doing to their vulnerable shoppers. I admit I'm a total sucker for Whole Foods. And Target. And HomeGoods. And Ann Taylor. And White House Black Market. And Pottery Barn. Hummm... I suppose my weakness goes beyond groceries.

At the Whole Foods store by my house one of the entrances leads you right to the bakery. Why do they have to be so cruel? So every time I visit, I have to stop by, look at all the breads, cookies, and other tasty treats they often have in that section. But most important, I have to stare at their beautiful display of freshly made desserts and cakes. I often eat them with my eyes, drool a bit, then kick myself for the gratuitous torture. I tell myself I am skipping that section next time. But you know how that goes... hahaha. So this last visit they had some beautiful fruit tarts and I decided to make one. I have never made a fruit tart before, but this will for sure become a common dessert at our house. It is a nice summery treat! Pretty easy to make, refreshingly tasty and healthy. Did I just say healthy? I would like to keep believing that. Despite all the butter and sugar, there is a ton of fruit. That's healthy in my books. :)

Strawberry Tart:

Pate Sucre (Tart Dough):
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp iced water, plus more if needed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 375F. In a small bowl, stir the egg yolk, the water and vanilla. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour and salt. Using a pastry blender (I used a fork), cut the butter into the flour mixture until butter pieces are no larger than peas. Add the egg mixture and mix until the dough pulls together. If it is dry, mix in more water, 1 tbsp at a time. If you don't want to use your hands, you can also follow all these steps but use a food processor or stand mixer. Pat dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Refrigerate it for about 1 hour, or until chilled. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick and 2-3 inches wider than the pan's circumference. Transfer dough to the pan and press into the sides of the pan and trim the edges. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper large enough to overhang the sides. Cover with pie weights (I don't have weights so I used raw rice). Bake for 20 minutes, then remove weights and foil and bake for 7-10 minutes longer, until golden.

Cream Filling:
1 cup whole milk
3 egg yolks (room temperature)
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 tbsp orange zest
2 tbsp orange juice (or Grand Marnier). If you don't want to flavor it with orange, add 1 tbsp vanilla extract instead.
1/4 cup heavy (double) cream

Over medium heat, warm the milk until small bubbles appear along the edge of the pan. Remove from heat. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Slowly add to hot milk while whisking. Pour mixture back into pan and place over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Continue to cook, whisking constantly, for 30 more seconds. Pour into a bowl and gently press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto surface to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until cold. Whisk in the orange juice and zest (Grand Marnier, or vanilla) into the chilled pastry cream. Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into pastry cream. Spoon into tart shell and spread it evenly. Arrange the strawberries on top of cream. To make a glaze, combine 1/4 cup of strawberry jelly with 2 tbsp of water. Set pan over low heat and cook, stirring until melted and smooth and brush fruit with glaze.

(Adapted from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book)

Healthy Dog Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:21:00 +0000

I happen to be the lucky owner of the two most loving and entertaining weimaraners: Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. I personally think they are gorgeous dogs with their elegant and athletic appearance. They are also extremely smart. Sometimes too smart for their own good. True hunters, let me tell you. We never went hunting with them. At least not officially. But they often bring prizes from the backyard. Mostly birds. But squirrels, baby ducks and bunnies are also highly desirable. The dogs just haven't been able to catch them. Yet.

They mistakenly think that I appreciate seeing a dead bird hanging out of their mouths. But that is not really my thing. The interesting part is that they are very "delicate" with their preys. No bloodshed involved. Just excessive licking. The truth of the matter is that if we did not take the birds away, they would literally lick them until they disappeared. Poor babies. It always breaks my heart when they proudly bring me a gift, but I guess that's part of the cycle of life. I've actually seen them hunting and I must confess it is pretty amazing. They silently observe the pray, start approaching it very slowly. Then they get close to the ground and crawl toward it in a very slow motion. Wait for the right moment and go for it. It's a gracious and calculated movement.

So because I love my doggies and they are soooo nice to us, I decided to make them some healthy treats. A co-worker got this recipe from his vet and was kind enough to share it. There are a couple of ingredients that you will most likely not have in your pantry. But once you make the trip to the store, it is pretty easy to prepare. My dogs loved the treats! I asked them a few times what their thoughts were, but all they would do was stare at me and give me their paws as a way of demanding some more. Look at them concentrated on the treat.

Weimaraners are pretty stubborn, so they don't ask, they demand. I am not kidding! They are amazing dogs, but you need to train them early, otherwise they will take over the house. Even if you train them, they will never give up trying. Anyway, back to the treats....

Not knowing how reliable their verdict was, I decided to try the cookies myself. Because I knew all the ingredients that went into the bowl, I did not mind trying it. I knew there were no gross ingredients in there. It turns out that it was not bad at all considering we are talking dog food. ;) I'll definitely make these again. Aren't all the shapes cute? I'm sure Titus and Lucius did not care for that level of detail, but I thought they were super cute.

Healthy Dog Treats:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup soy flour
1/5 cup non fat dry milk*
6 tbsp butter**
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup chicken (or beef) broth, or as needed to make soft dough

Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl whisk the flours and the nonfat dry milk. Cut the butter into small cubes and mix it in the flour mix squeezing it between your fingers. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, honey and broth. Blend the wet and dry ingredients with a spoon, or use your hands until combined. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to about .25 inch thick. Flour surface, if needed. Mine did not get very sticky, so I used very little flour. Cut cookies into whatever shape you desire. If you don't want to go through the trouble of using a cookie cutter and having to re-roll the scraps as you go, just cut into strips appropriate to your dog's size. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown and look dry. Unlike human cookies, I think you might want to over bake these and not go for soft, chewy cookies, but hard ones. I hear that helps control tartar. Makes about 40 cookies.

* If you don't have dry milk, nonfat canned milk also works. But the dough will be stickier. Spray your hands with some PAM when rolling it. That helps.

** I used butter, but the original recipe actually called for vegetable shortening. That will make crispier treats. In that case, instead of cutting butter into small cubes, use a fork to cut the shortening until the mixture has a crumbly consistency. Now you can find shortening that is not hydrogenated, so it is supposed to be better for you. I mean, for your dog. I hear anything hydrogenated is bad for the heart. I am no scientist nor a doctor, so if you want to know more about the subject, please do some further research, or ask your vet. Fell free to share your findings with me. Learning is always good. :)

A Lovely Baby Shower

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:07:00 +0000

My dear friend Rekha is having a baby girl in October. So about a month and a half ago, Catherine and I started organizing a baby shower for her. I did not have to think twice about it. I love baby showers, I love hosting parties and this seemed like a great reason for having one. I certainly had a great time and hope everyone else did too!

I know that some people don't care for showers, but I think they are kind of cute. They can be a nice way to pamper a pregnant friend (especially if she is already at the miserable stage of the pregnancy). But most importantly, baby showers celebrate a new life. A life that will make everyone's lives around him or her worth living for. What's not to like about that? :)

We made a bunch of tasty snacks for the shower. We wanted it to be a warm gathering with good friends, good food, and good laughs. Simple but unforgettable for Rekha. It started with an icing emergency. We were still finishing it up, or should I say, we were trying to save it from the trash while guests walked through the door. I was upset because cupcakes were supposed to be the table centerpiece! What happened is that we neglected to take the icing out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before the shower for it to get to room temperature. The idea was to have chocolate cupcakes topped with fresh strawberry icing and decorated with marzipan ladybugs. The icing was hard like a rock! Their primary ingredient is butter, so if you put it in the fridge, what do you think should happen? To get hard!!!!! Pretty basic stuff, one would think? Well... not so much. I guess there were so many things in my head, that it did not even cross my mind. Very amateurish. I know we would find a solution. Worst case scenario, we would graciously ask the hubby to get us some icing at the store. The icing, in its pre-rock stage, was delicious and silky. Therefore, we would try to save it at all costs. I am usually not a big fan of icing, but I thought this one turned out pretty tasty. We had to think quick because the guests were arriving already. That's when we had the brilliant idea of beating it a bit. Disastrous! It became crumbly. To make it even worse, we used fresh strawberries and at this point there was a loooot of juice in the bowl and it had separated. We had crumbs and strawberry juice. Awesome! And I might remind you that the doorbell had not stopped ringing and the guests continued to arrive. So we decided to get rid of most of the liquid and let it sit for a little bit to get as close as possible to room temperature. A little bit of patience went very far that day (as it often does). The icing got beautiful and silky again. I regained my composure and was able to start enjoying the party.

To keep the ladybug theme going, I asked my friend Laura to make one of her adorable blankies using red, black and white. I thought it would be an adorable gift. She adds decorative ribbons to all sides of the blankie making it very visually interesting for the baby. Besides, they love to play with the ribbons! Very cute! And you can personalize them to whatever colors and textures you would like. I have a feeling baby Mehrunisa will have some very sweet dreams snuggling with her blankie. ;) This is how it turned out.

We also made the cutest cookie jars to give away during the shower. I saw it on The Tomkat Studio and loved the idea. The cookie recipe is a winner! Delish and ultra easy to make. Besides, aren't these jars adorable? You only have to add the wet ingredients and voila! I added the recipe to the back of the "Thank you" tag, in case you are wondering how people would know what to do with the ingredients. ;)

We also made rum balls, an absolute favorite! They turned out pretty tasty. I'll definitely make these again.

As for the savory snacks, we had a pretty good selection, including quiche, a refreshing caprese salad, phyllo dough cups filled with chicken salad (super easy and tasty recipe), BBQ meatballs (Kansas City pride!), and Brazilian Pao de Queijo (a sort of cheese balls... a house specialty!). I could keep going on and on, but I should probably get to a few of the recipes.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing:

For the cupcakes:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift dry ingredients in a bowl, add mayo, water and vanilla. Mix with a spoon (how easy is that!) and fill up cupcake baking cups about 1/2 way to 3/4 full. Bake it for about 20 minutes. Let it cool and spread the icing. Makes about 17 cupcakes.

For the Strawberry Meringue Buttercream Icing:

4 large egg whites

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 ounces fresh strawberries (rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped)

Puree strawberries in a food processor. Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (mixture should be smooth when rubbed between fingertips). Using the whisk attachment, beat on low and gradually increase to medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Continue until mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (about 10 minutes). Turn speed to medium-low and add the butter a few tablespoons at a time. Whisk in the vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated (about 2 minutes). Add strawberries and beat until combined. Keep it at room temperature if using the same day (refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze up to a month). Remember to bring it to room temperature before using it and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again (about 5 minutes). Makes about 5 cups.

For the Marzipan Ladybugs:

7 ounces of marzipan

cornstarch (for work surface)

black and red food coloring

Pinch off 1/3 of marzipan and tint it black. Tint the remaining marzipan red. Form a 1/2-inch ball of red marzipan for each ladybug body, and 1/4-inch ball of black marzipan for each head. Flatten the red ball slightly into an oval shape, and press the head onto the body. Make tiny balls using the black marzipan for the spots and press onto the body. I doubled the cupcake recipe and had about 35 cupcakes to frost and decorate. Because I did not double the icing recipe I had to pipe it sparingly. I ended up with one ladybug per cupcake. But if you are not doubling the recipe, you will have plenty of this delicious icing and two ladybugs per cupcake.

(Icing and and ladybug were adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book.)

Rum Balls:

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter

6 ounces semisweet chocolate finely chopped

3 large eggs

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp dark rum (use good rum!)

coarse sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 12 by 17-inch baking sheet. Melt butter and chocolate using a double boiler, stirring occasionally. Whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Stir in chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour. Spread evenly on baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until top is shiny and cake tester comes out with some crumbs attached. Let it cool completely. Break it into small pieces and transfer to a bowl of an mixer with the paddle attachment. Pour in rum and mix on low speed until crumbs start to come together to form a ball. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar. Refrigerate until cold (about 2 hours). Served chilled or at room temperature. I prefer it at room temperature. Can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to a week. Makes 4 dozen.

(Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies book.)

Jar Cookies:

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cooking oats

3/4 cup m&m's

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 slightly beaten egg

1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking sheet. Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix everything until well incorporated. You will probably have to use your hands on this one. Make 1 1/2-inch balls and bake for 10-12 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool. It will continue to bake while it cools. Makes about 25 cookies.

If you are preparing the jars, use a 1 quart smooth Ball jar. Layer the ingredients like this:

First: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

Second: oats

Third: m&m's

Fourth: chocolate chips

Fifth: brown sugar

Sixth: white sugar

Seventh: chopped walnuts

You have to pack it reeeeeeally tight, otherwise, it won't fit. I used a pestle to press the ingredients in. I used the label with the recipe that Bakerella has on her website, from where I got this marvellous recipe.

Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake - July Daring Baker's Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:00:00 +0000

It's time for another challenge and I can say that I have successfully completed the July 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge. This month's challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

My cake turned out pretty satisfying to the palate, but it did not look its best because I did not wait enough for the ice cream to freeze well and some ice cream leaked through the cake. Bummer! But its looks did not stop one of my co-workers and official taste tester (aka, Kevin) and his entourage to line up in the break room for a slice and happily savour it. The fact of the matter is that I can't eat everything I bake, even though I do feel like doing so sometimes. So I share the calories and many times my co-workers are the lucky ones who get to eat the leftovers. I have not heard any complaints yet. On the contrary, when I told them I threw away some experimental cupcakes, because they did not turn out to be edible, at least to my standards, they almost went for my jugular!

As for my verdict, I recommend this recipe. It was not very rich, all the different recipes were very good and they worked very well together. Moreover, this is a very versatile recipe because one can use different flavors of ice cream, of cake, or even a different fudge. No matter what you are in the mood for, or what the occasion is, you can easily modify this recipe. Just keep in mind that even though this is a fun recipe to make and, most importantly, a very tasty one, it does take quite a bit of time. It does not require a lot of hands on time, but it has several steps and there is a lot of cooling and freezing time between layers. So unless you are planning on using store-bought ice cream, plan ahead. ;)

Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake:

Swiss Rolls Cake:

6 medium sized eggs

1 cup caster sugar*

6 tbsp flour

5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to 400F. Brush two 11x9-inch baking pans with a little oil and line with baking paper. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat until very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and add it in three batches to the egg and sugar mixture and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the centre is springy to the touch. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down. Repeat the same for the next cake as well.

Swiss Roll Cake Filling:

2 cups whipping cream

1 vanilla pod cut in half and scrape it with back of knife (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

5 tbsp caster sugar*

Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processor till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat until very thick. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine). Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until needed, seam side down.

Chocolate Ice Cream:

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup caster sugar*

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Grind together the sugar and the cocoa powder in a food processor. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and whisk lightly. Place the pan over heat and keep stirring until it begins to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and cool completely. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction. If you are not using a machine, this website has a good step by step.

Hot Fudge Sauce:

1 cup caster sugar*

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp cornstarch

1½ cup water

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornflour and water. Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, until it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool.

Vanilla Ice Cream:

1 cup whole milk, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

1 vanilla pod cut in half and scrape it with back of knife (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction. If you are not using a machine, this website has a good step by step.

Assembly:

1. Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices (approximately 1.5 inches each).

2. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.

3. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).

4. Soften the vanilla ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until firm (at least 1 hour).

5. Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze until firm (at least an hour).

6. Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours until completely set.

7. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.

8. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water. I waited about 5 minutes and my ice cream started melting. So use your judgement. ;)

* Caster sugar is finely ground granulated sugar. It can also be found as “superfine sugar”, “fruit sugar” or “quick dissolving sugar”. If you can’t find it, you can make your own by whizzing some regular granulated sugar in the food processor or blender.

Chocolate Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:37:00 +0000

After my last post I was so proud of myself. I was managing to bake and post stories weekly. But then came the 4th of July weekend and my assiduity went kaput! I baked these chocolate cupcakes before the holiday weekend, and here we are ... it's July 18, and just now I am getting in front of the computer to write about these beautiful and delicious cupcakes. At least they are tasty, right?! :) I have a good reason for not having posted anything in the past three weekends though. So please don't hold this against me. Summer is here and I am enjoying the outdoors. As much as I love baking, I also enjoy taking advantage of the nice weather. Well... saying there is nice weather in Kansas City in July is a push, as it is starting to get pretty muggy out there. So that's why I escaped to Colorado over the holiday weekend. Regardless of where I am though, I'd rather enjoy the sun outside, even if I can barely breath with all the humidity in the KC air, than stay indoors. I leave that for the winter, my least favorite season, which tends to last way too long!! You see...I am from Rio de Janeiro and grew up on the beach, so I don't think winter is that much fun. But I will say this. Having lived through the seasons made me appreciate all of them and made me realize how perfect and absolutely amazing nature is. So that aspect of it makes me happy.

Back to the holiday weekend... as I mentioned, this 4th of July we went to Colorado to visit our friend Jane and I took some cupcakes with me. I enjoy taking a little something when I visit people, especially if I am staying at their house. In my opinion, it is a nice gesture of appreciation. Anyway.... of all the places I've visited in the U.S., and probably in the world, Colorado is one of my favorite places. It is absolutely gorgeous and there are so many things to do. We go there at least once a year and always find something fun to do. This time we went biking and whitewater rafting. It was wonderful! Here are a few pictures of The Rocky Mountains in Estes Park taken by our friend Fernando during our last trip together to CO. :)

And here is the cupcake recipe. I think cupcakes are one of those desserts that no matter where you go, or what kind of crowd you have, they will always please everybody. I've been working on finding the best chocolate cupcake recipe out there. This one turned out to be pretty good, but honestly I don't think I've found THE recipe yet. These cupcakes turned out moist and fluffy, so I would still recommend this recipe. Besides it is pretty easy to make, so that helps too. Just remember to not overfill the cupcakes, otherwise they will overflow and even though they will still be tasty, they won't look pretty.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp granular coffee (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with baking cups. Sift (or whisk, whichever is easier) the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla (and coffee if you decide to add the coffee) to the milk. Add about half of the dry ingredients mixture and half of the milk and beat until combined. Repeat the process. Remember to just beat enough to combine, but do not over beat it or the cupcakes will be tough. Fill up the baking cups about 1/2 full at most. Don't overfill them, or they will overflow. Bake it for approximately 22 minutes. Let them cool. (Makes 36 cupcakes)

Chocolate Ganache:

6 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
7 ounces semi sweet chocolate morsels
1 tsp vanilla extract

Using a double boiler, cook half of the butter and chocolate until smooth. Add the remaining butter and vanilla, mixing until combined. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes and dip the tops of the cupcakes into ganache, or wait a little longer until thick enough to spread.

Chocolate Pavlova - June Daring Baker's Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:41:00 +0000

Last month I came across The Daring Kitchen's web site and thought it was a pretty interesting concept. So I decided to join and just completed my first challenge. Their kitchen offers a couple of different options. One can become a member of 'The Daring Baker' group, 'The Daring Cook' group, or both. Then each month, one of the members will pose a challenge to all the participants and we all get in the kitchen to create the same exact recipe and then share our experiences by posting to our blogs on a designated date. The Daring Kitchen also has private forums where the members can talk to one another, post stuff, share ideas and tips, ask questions, etc.

The June 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring bakers' to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Pavard.

When I first saw that we would be making pavlovas, I freaked out. I mean, I am open for the challenge, but meringue can be intimidating. It is one of those recipes that always comes with extensive footnotes describing different things that can go wrong. It was the first time I made meringue, so neither the meringue nor the mascarpone mousse turned out perfect when it came to consistency and appearance, but it was very tasty! So I was happy! My meringue cracked a little, what I think was due to too much moisture. Aside from the fact that I made it on a rainy day, I think I could have left it in the oven (with the heat off) for a few hours after baking and that would have helped. My mascarpone mousse was a little grainy too. Despite these two problems, it turned out pretty delicious! It is a chocolate overdose. Very rich! But I served with fresh raspberries, which helped balancing that a bit. Also, when I make this recipe again, I will modify the proportions. In my opinion, there was waaay too much mousse and creme anglaise for the size of the meringue. I would double the meringue recipe, leave the mousse as is, and cut the creme anglaise by a third. One last thing, the recipe was time consuming. I don't know if it is because I am a freshman when it comes to baking; or if it was because I am a cleanliness freak and I have to clean as I go, otherwise I break in hives; or if the recipe isn't really that simple and has several steps to it; but it took me longer than the two hours Dawn listed on the challenge. Maybe 3 hours? Regardless, I enjoyed each and every minute of it and had the chance to laugh at myself a few times... especially when my creme anglaise started looking like scrambled eggs! Oh yeah... I had forgotten about that other "tiny" problem ... but that was actually a breeze to solve. That happened because I overcooked the creme anglaise and it curdled. It all happened in a matter of seconds. The creme anglaise gets done (translated as lightly coating the back of a wooden spoon) super, ultra fast. You've been warned! If it passes that stage, you will get scrambled eggs, just like I did. As you can see, this recipe was definitely a learning experience. And by the way, no need to throw it in the trash (As a freshman baker, I know that stage quite well!), you can pour it into a blender and blend it until smooth. Trust me, it will get smooth really quick. Then you strain it. But I am getting ahead of myself now. Let me start the recipe from the beginning.

Chocolate Pavlova with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse:

Recipe 1: Chocolate Meringue (for the chocolate Pavlova):

3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp white granulated sugar
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar 
1/3 cup cocoa powder

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200F. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)

Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)

Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon. (Class made rounds, hearts, diamonds and an attempt at a clover was made!)

Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe 2: Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

1 ½ cups heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 %) 
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon 
9 ounces 72% chocolate, chopped 
1 2/3 cups mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp Grand Marnier (or orange juice)

Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.

Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Again, you could just free form mousse on top of the pavlova.

Recipe 3: Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling):

1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup mascarpone 
2 tbsp Sambucca (optional)
½ cup heavy cream

Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Recipe 4: Crème Anglaise (a component of the Mascarpone Cream above):

1 cup whole milk 
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks 
6 tbsp sugar

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.

Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.

Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Assembly: Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and fresh fruit if desired.

Experimenting with Blueberry and Cranberry-Orange Scones

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:48:00 +0000

I was having a pretty laid back Sunday and was trying to think of something good, but simple, to bake. I picked up a cookbook from the shelf, flipped through a couple of pages, and came across a scone recipe. As I have already mentioned, I love “tea time” kind of food. So that seemed like a great idea! I would not only have the opportunity to test a new recipe, but also satisfy my taste buds. I was sold. So I started doing some research. I picked a few more books off the shelf, browsed a few websites for inspiration and as I am going through different recipes, I realized that some recipes called for water, others for milk, buttermilk or even heavy cream as the liquid ingredient. At that moment I knew I was on to something! I decided to make a couple of different recipes and compare the end result. I selected three recipes and started baking. However, I finished baking pretty late and did not have time to post it to the blog that night. I was a little frustrated because I had promised myself that I would start posting once a week, and I knew that If I did not get to it over the weekend, most likely I would not be able to do it until the following weekend. Bummer! You see, as much as I would love to bake and post more often than once a week, it is just unrealistic at this point between work and everything else that is going on.

Anyway... back to the scones. Last night it was the birthday party of my husband’s college roommate. So off we went. Throughout the years I became very good friends with his wife. She’s an adorable young lady! We talk about pretty much anything and are brutally honest with each other - what I guess is a good thing to find on a friend, right? Best of all, she's a great listener... or should I say reader? We don't live far, but we have a thing for email, at least I do. We tell each other many stories via email. It can be therapeutic sometimes. I guess I found in writing a good way to express myself. Call me silly, but many times I'll write these looong letters to family members when there is an issue or something I want to tell them. I don't see anything wrong with that, it's just my way of expressing myself. Some people may find it easier to talk in person, I like writing letters. So last night this friend decided to question the legitimacy of my blog. We were talking about this other blog we love - The Pioneer Woman - and naturally transitioned the focus of the conversation to my blog. She confessed she is an avid follower. My heart smiled. Then she asked me when would I post the next recipe and I told her about my busy week and said I had already baked and taken pictures the previous weekend, I just had not had a chance to get my butt in front of the computer to write about it, but she shouldn't worry because I would do so over the weekend. That's when the fatal question came up. So what is it, she inquired. I replied: Scones. And she reacted: Scoooooones???? When are you going to post chocolate recipes? After all you named your blog Anything AU CHOCOLAT!! Hummmmmm, I thought to myself, she’s got a point. A pretty good one, I must admit. So here is the deal, my title is just a title. I had to pick one, so I chose two things that bring back fond memories. I love chocolate, and love the French language. Actually anything related to France. As a matter of fact, I would totally live there! So Anything au Chocolat sounded tasty and French. What's not to like about that?! It's perfect, if you ask me! :)

Here are the scones recipes I tried, what I learned and how they compare. Even though one of the recipes suggested you could use water, I decided to try only with regular milk, buttermilk and heavy cream.

Blueberry Scones with Regular Milk:

3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup nonfat dry milk
¾ tsp salt
1 tbs baking powder
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup milk
1 stick (4 ounces) COLD unsalted butter (cut in chunks)

Preheat oven to 450F.

In a bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, the vanilla, and the milk (I used 2% and it turned out rich and moist, whole would add to it). Then cut the butter into small squares and add it to the mix. Tip #1: It is very important that you use cold butter because it retains its integrity in the dough better than warm butter. The scones get their flaky texture from small bits of fat that separate thin layers of a flour-and-liquid mixture. As the scones bake, the fat holds these dough layers apart. By the time the fat reaches its melting point and disappears into the dough, the scones’ structure has set into many thin layers of dough with thin air pockets where once resided solid fat, hence you get a tender and flaky scone. Another trick is to even freeze the butter and grate it coarsely into the dry ingredients. Don’t over mix it, make sure there are still nicely sized butter pieces to get the flaky effect.

Add the liquid ingredients to the flour-fat mixture. Tip #2: If you mix it too much, you will have tough scones. Add the blueberries and gently fold everything together. It might appear too sticky but trust me, it will work. Mix it only until mostly moistened. It’s OK if a bit of the flour does not look totally combined.

On a lightly floured surface, fold and gather it together until it’s cohesive. Re-emphasizing Tip #2: Don’t overwork it. Divide it in half and place both halves on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Pat each half into a 7-inch circle approximately ½ inch thick, and cut it like a pizza into 8 wedges. Separate them slightly about an inch apart at the outer edge and ½ an inch at the center. Tip #3: A nice trick recommended by my cookbook was to freeze them for 30 minutes (or longer) before baking. According to King Arthur Flour, they will rise slightly better when frozen because it will make what I explained on Tip #1 happen even slower.

Bake for 7 minutes. Turn the oven off, and without opening the door, leave the scones in the oven for 8-10 more minutes, until golden. Let them cool and drizzle the sugar glaze.

If you freeze a batch to bake later, bake for an additional two minutes before you turn the oven off.

The Sugar Glaze:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (or water)
2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Mix the lemon juice (or water) and confectioners sugar stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, drizzle over the scones. Let it set for a bit and it will crystallize. Makes 16 scones.

Verdict: These turned out pretty tasty and fluffy. Of all three I experimented with, this scone had a cake like texture. The sugar glaze complemented it pretty well.

(Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion, The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook)

Blueberry Scones with Heavy Cream:

2 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
5 tbs COLD unsalted butter (cut in chunks)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the butter the same way described above. Tip #4: This recipe actually recommended mixing the butter using a pastry blender (or two forks) to cut in the butter and coat the pieces with the flour. I tried and it worked too. I made sure it looked crumbly with large chunks of butter. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate. Remember Tip #2? Here it is again: do not overwork the dough. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Fold and gather dough and cut wedges just like I described on previous recipe. For this one, instead of the glaze, I brushed them with a mixture of 1 beaten egg and 1 tsp of water and then sprinkled coarse sugar. Yum.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool a bit and serve. Makes 16 scones.

Verdict: This dough seemed more cohesive when I was folding and gathering it, so it was harder to not crush the blueberries on this recipe. I tried to be gentle but the dough did get a bit stained. No big deal in my opinion because they turned out fabulous! The heavy cream is high in butterfat content adding a lot of richness to it. These were the flakiest of all the scones, almost melting in your mouth. It was nicely complemented with the crunchiness of the coarse sugar. Also, these scones withstood time the best, remaining the freshest the next day.

(Adapted from a Tyler Florence Recipe, The Food Network)

Are you sick of my scone experiment yet? Here is the last one with the buttermilk.

Cranberry-Orange Scones with Buttermilk:

3 cups flour
3 tbs sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 generous tsp grated orange zest (1 orange)
10 tbs COLD unsalted butter (cut in chucks)
1 cup cold buttermilk
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Add the butter. Same old, same old. You know the butter drill by now. Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir until sticky dough forms. Stir cranberries until evenly distributed. I know I am becoming repetitive, but remember Tip #2? Here it is one more time: do not overwork the dough. Fold and gather dough and cut wedges just like I described on first recipe. I also brushed them with the 1 beaten egg and 1 tsp of water mixture and then sprinkled coarse sugar. If you decide to go crazy like me and make two or more batches, there is no need to double this recipe of the egg mixture. There is plenty to brush over all these scones.

Bake for 14-18 minutes, until golden brown. Makes 16 scones.

Verdict: Buttermilk is lower in fat than the heavy cream. These turned out to be the most dense of all three. The buttermilk adds a slight tang/sour taste to it, which I thought complemented very well the cranberry and orange zest. Besides being a flavoring agent, its acidity reacts with baking soda giving you a slightly higher-rising scone. Last tip of the day, Tip #5: if you don’t like the tangy taste of buttermilk, you can easily substitute it for milk, but then don’t use baking soda. Substitute the baking soda for baking powder. This was my husband's favorite!

(Adapted from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book)

More on Buttermilk:

You can easily make buttermilk yourself. Add 1 tbs lemon juice or white vinegar, or even 1 ¾ tbs cream of tartar to 1 cup milk. Mix and let the mixture stand for 5 to 10 min. If using cream of tartar, let the mixture stand for about 15 min until milk starts curdling. Voila!

Also, even though I have not tried any of the following, allegedly you can substitute for the exact same quantity of plain yogurt (curd), or sour cream.

One last thing before I close shop today, if a connoisseur reads this post and has anything to add, please do so. I'm sure it will make this learning experience even more interesting. ;)

Oranze-Poppyseed Pound Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:37:00 +0000

I am feeling lucky today because I was able to find the perfect pound cake recipe. And may I say that I managed to do so after just two attempts? What reminds me that I should probably set the record straight right now. I don’t think I have mentioned this before, but I don’t have any culinary training. So it takes a little experimenting sometimes. But don't worry, I have been keeping the failures to myself. Can’t blame me there. ;) And trust me, I have my fair share of kitchen mishaps. I don’t like to fail so I get very frustrated when what I am making does not turn out edible, but I learn a great deal from those experiences and take copious notes. As I have already learned, there is a lot of science to baking. I honestly think that there is more science than art to it. Anyway...

In regards to the sources of my recipes, every recipe I post to this blog comes from friends, family or from one of the many cookbooks I own. Have I also mentioned that I am addicted to buying cookbooks and clipping recipes from magazines? That’s right. I buy new cookbooks ALL the time. I see one recipe that interests me, and I’ll buy the book. I am sure the book writers appreciate my weakness. That’s alright though. I’m openly addicted, so what?! I think I’ll be fine for a while. Maybe when I hit the 100 mark I should rethink this situation but until then I must admit that I am not looking for recovery. :)

Going back to the pound cake. After all, that’s why I decided to write this story. Having found this perfect pound cake recipe makes me happy because I absolutely love anything related to “tea time” and pound cake goes really well with that! This recipe makes a wonderfully rich, moist and buttery cake complemented with a tangy orange glaze to top it off. I have not tried modifying it (yet!), but this one is a keeper and I am sure it could be easily modified depending on whatever you are in the mood for. We could easily substitute the orange zest and orange glaze for lemon, for instance. We could skip the poppyseeds and the glaze and make it a plain vanilla pound cake. We could serve it with fresh fruits, jam, or just by itself. Enjoy!

Orange–Poppyseed Pound Cake (makes 2 loaves):

For the cakes:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup poppyseeds
2 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 tsp finely grated orange zest (about 2 oranges)
1 ½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
6 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks (room temperature)
1 tbs vanilla extract

For the glaze:
2 cups fresh orange juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs orange liqueur, such as Cointreau (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in the poppyseeds. Set aside. With a mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 1 minute). Beat in the whole eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape the bowl after each addition. Beat in the egg yolks and the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture. Scrape the bowl one last time and then beat at medium speed until smooth (about 10 seconds). Pour batter into pans and tap lightly against the counter to eliminate any air pockets. Bake until wooden skewer comes out with only a few moist crumbs (about 50 minutes). Let it cool for 10 minutes.

To make the glaze, strain orange juice into saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Stir in the sugar and continue to cook until it thickens a little bit (about 3-4 minutes). I don't let it caramelize so that it soaks into the cake. Remove from heat and add the liqueur. Pour it over cake with a spoon and brush sides (or just use back of the spoon on sides) while the cakes are still warm.

(Adapted from The Best of Fine Cooking, Sweet Cakes)

Alfajores

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:18:00 +0000

Alfajor is probably one of my favorite cookies. I got totally hooked after I was introduced to this little piece of heaven on my first trip to Argentina to visit my husband's family. Ever since I always find an excuse to make some at home. So I thought of making some yesterday to surprise Iggy (a.k.a., my husband). He has been studying really hard for months now for the CFA exam and yesterday was the exam day. So I thought: why not have a batch of freshly baked alfajores for when he gets back? I know he loves it, so I knew it would be a hit! :)

The Spanish pronunciation varies depending on where you are. My husband is from Salta, in the Northwest of Argentina, and he pronounces it [al'fa'ho'res]. Or at least I hear that way. ;) Alfajores can be traced back to Andalusia, Spain, during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and the word derives from the Arabic word meaning fancy/great filled sweets. Alfajores can be found in several Latin America countries as well as some regions of Spain and can be prepared in many different ways. This recipe is for a buttery chocolate cookie sandwich filled with dulce de leche, but they can be prepared with a plain buttery cookie, a honey cookie, be filled with jam, dipped in chocolate, covered with a thin layer of meringue, be rolled in coconut, dusted with fine sugar, and so on. As you can see the sky is the limit!

Alfajores are very popular in Argentina and one of the country's staples so you can find them literally everywhere and there are many variations to try. My absolute favorite is the chocolate covered alfajor that you can find at the Cafe Havanna. If you ever have to chance to travel to Argentina, make sure you stop by an Havanna store for a treat. You will not regret it. ;) I am still searching for a good alfajor recipe that reminds me of the one sold at Cafe Havanna. I've tried a few but nothing turned out even close to the real one. If I ever find one, I'll definitely post it here. ;) Until then, I'll keep making these chocolate ones that melt in your mouth and are absolutely delicious!

Chocolate Alfajores:

1 cup cornstarch
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick and 3 tbs unsalted butter (room temperature)
3 egg yolks (room temperature)
5 tbs semi-sweet chocolate morsels - melted (70 g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cans Nestle dulce de leche
diced walnuts

In a bowl, sift the cornstarch, the flour and the sugar. Make a hole in the dry ingredient mixture and add the egg yolks, the butter (cut in small pieces), and the vanilla. I mix those ingredients first and once the egg yolks are incorporated, then I add the chocolate. To melt the chocolate, I melt only about 2/3 of it using a double boiler, stirring gently but steadily as the chocolate melts. Once it's melted, I take it off the heat, add the remaining chocolate and stir. The warm chocolate will melt the newly added chocolate, and doing it this way will help bringing down the temperature of the warm chocolate. You want to bring down the chocolate temperature close to room temperature before you add to the dough. Finally add the chocolate. But make sure to not overwork the dough, mixing it just until ingredients are incorporated. Wrap the dough and let it chill for about 30 minutes in the fridge.

Roll the dough about 1/8 of an inch thick and use a 2-inch cookie cutter to make the cookies. I spread very little flour to roll the dough, as it can stick a little bit to the rolling pin and/or surface. But it won't stick much and if you sprinkle too much flour, the cookies will get some white stains. Preheat oven to 350F, place cookies on cookie sheet (no need to grease it) and bake it for 8-10 minutes (with each batch, the baking time will be slightly reduced because of the increased humidity in the oven from the cookies). I keep a very close eye on the cookies towards the end and take them out of the oven just as they're beginning to look done because the residual heat from the cookie sheet will continue to bake the cookies. Don't even let them get brown on the bottom. I like to take them out when I am still not able to transfer them to the cooling rack because they fall apart. Give them a couple of minutes and you will be able to transfer them. Slightly underbaked cookies will make the alfajores melt in your mouth.

Once the cookies are cooled, spread dulce de leche on the flat side of the cookie and place another cookie on top making a sandwich (again, flat side to the dulce de leche), squeeze them lightly together then I even out the dulce de leche around it with a knife and roll it on the diced walnuts. It makes about 30 alfajores.

The Dulce de Leche....

If I lived in Argentina, I would have numerous ready-to-use dulce de leche brands to pick from at the store, but where I live, I have only been able to find the Nestle brand. So I don't have many options, but I honestly think it tastes good. It's not as creamy as the ones I tried in Argentina or if made from scratch, but it does its job well. So for convenience sake, I use the canned one. But if you are up to the challenge and would like to make your own, I have heard of a few different methods, but never tried them. If you do try them, I would love to hear about your experience. Here they are:

1 - You can simmer a can of condensed milk for a couple of hours until it thickens and caramelizes. Using a pressure cooker can cut down the cooking time. But I would check precisely how long it takes and how much water to use before using the pressure cooker.

2 - Using the double-boiler method, fill base pan halfway with water. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium for a steady simmer. Pour 2 cans of condensed milk into a glass or stainless-steel bowl that fits on top of the saucepan and let it simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir it and check the water level. Do that every 30 minutes until milk has caramelized and thickened (2 1/2 - 3 hours) - Fine Cooking magazine, December 2009.

3 - Preheat oven to 425F. Pour 2 cans of condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with foil. Place into a larger pan and pour boiling water in larger pan (level of water should be about halfway up the pie plate). Don’t let any water into the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until the mixture appears to have turned into a nice, thick caramel. Remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth. From Recipegirl.com.

Tres Leches Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Sun, 16 May 2010 17:12:00 +0000

I was feeling a little nostalgic the other day and started going through some old pictures. It is fascinating how easy it is to relive so many memorable moments shared with friends and family by just looking at old pictures. It makes me so happy! All of a sudden, wonderful memories and feelings that I had forgotten all about came back to life. When I got to the album of our trip to Puerto Rico to visit my older brother and sister-in-law, the nostalgia went beyond memory lane and became real - I started salivating. All I could think of was Tres Leches! I liked it so much that on the way to the airport to come back home, I asked my brother to make a quick stop so that I could have my last slice of goodness. That day we said our goodbyes and made plans for our next reunion over coffee and Tres Leches. It was delightful!

Tres Leches Goodness

The Sponge Cake:

3 large whole eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk

Grease and flour a 13 X 9 pirex and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour and baking powder and set aside.

Beat the egg whites. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks and the sugar until creamy and pale yellow. Stop the mixer and add 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix gently. Add the vanilla to the milk, and pour into mixture all at once. Add the rest of the flour and beat slowly only until combined. Fold in the egg whites. Be careful to not beat it too briskly or the eggs will deflate.

Pour into greased pan and bake it for approximately 25 minutes (toothpick should come out clean and cake looks slightly browned). Once done, let the cake cool.

The Tres Leches:

1 can of sweetened condensed milk (may use the fat free variety)
1 can of evaporated milk (may use the fat free variety)
1/2 cup of heavy cream (may substitute for half and half)

Just combine all three milks in a bowl and pour over cake once it is cool. Before pouring the milk mixture, poke the cake with a fork or toothpick to help cake absorb the milk. Keep it refrigerated.

This is such a refreshing cake that I really enjoy serving it covered with fresh berries. But you may serve with any fruits you like such as peaches, bananas, pineapple, or no fruits at all. You may also ice it with whipping cream (beat 1 pint of heavy cream with 3 tbs of sugar until thick) and then spread fruits over it, or skip the fruits. I sometimes follow my husband's request to make the cake borracho, as he calls it, and add some rum (about 1/4 cup) to the milk mixture. In any way, shape or form, this cake is delicious. Enjoy!

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (Marcella) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:02:00 +0000

I've been following several wonderful food blogs for a while now. So recently I decided it was about time I started a blog of my own. Not only will it enable me to compile a few of my favorite recipes in an organized fashion, but it will also be an opportunity to experiment and learn as I prepare each and every recipe I post to the blog. I hope to find some good ones along the way.

My interest in baking flourished when I developed an addiction for cookbooks. I just can't get enough of them! Sometimes I catch myself buying cookbooks because of one mouth-watering recipe. So after I had accumulated a few, I decided to put them to good use and get my hands dirty. I still have a long way to go but because baking makes me really happy I actually look forward to the hours I spend in the kitchen baking away. I have been enjoying it so much that sometimes I even consider leaving my full-time job to go to culinary school and live the dream. But for now, it is just a dream... I'll keep playing in the kitchen and living vicariously through my baker persona at night and over the weekends. Anyway, enough of me for now.

To view my profile, click here.