OK, technically this blog has been in existence since roughly May of 2010, but I officially started hosting this site independently of Blogger in July. Plus, this gives me a great excuse to make cupcakes – namely, these cupcakes:

I have a friend who runs a great cupcake business, the owner and operator of the Land of Cake Believe in the Bronx. Robin’s constantly posting new and more original cupcake concoctions all the time, and inspired me to come up with a few of my own (check out LoCB’s Facebook page, and like her – she’s awesome!).

My challenge then was to come up with some flavor(s) that she hasn’t yet – much harder said then done! Ultimately, I went with locally inspired Boston Cream Cupcakes (recipe from Cook’s Country, flippin awesome!) and a combination of my very own, Peanut Butter Banana cupcakes: a banana cake with a peanut butter buttercream (I dipped the chilled cakes in the leftover ganache from the BC cuppies, but this is totally optional).

Here’s What You Need:

Cake (adapted from the lovely Naomi’s site, Baker’s Royale):

• 8 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 c plus 2 TB brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp really good vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• ½ tsp cake spice, optional (I used Penzey’s)
• 2/3 cups mashed super-ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3 TB milk

Frosting (adapted from Cupcake Muffin)

• 5 oz. raw sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1 1/2 sticks softened butter, cut into cubes
• A splash of good quality vanilla
• 3 heaping T creamy pure peanut butter (try to avoid anything with added sugar or other ingredients, as this is already a VERY sweet frosting!)

Here’s What You Do:

Cupcakes (makes one dozen):

*Note: I used pastry flour in lieu of AP – while this would normally be an acceptable substitution, with the addition of the heavy mashed banana, I’d stick to the higher-protein AP to encourage a better structure. The pastry cakes came out very dense – the result of either poor creaming (my baking-Achilles-heel), or the weaker flour.

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cupcake pan with paper liners (if you prefer not to use liners, rub each cup with a little butter – very thinly – and dust with some flour).
• In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium to medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix to incorporate, scraping down the sides occasionally.
• Sift together the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. With your mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in slowly and mix until JUST combined. A few lumps are ok.
• Whisk well-mashed bananas, sour cream and milk together in a bowl until incorporated, then fold gently into your mix.
• Fill each cupcake cup about 2/3 full.
• Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes.
• Cool completely before topping off with buttercream

Frosting:

**It’s best to wait to make the frosting until your cakes are already cooled and ready to be dressed; this way, you won’t have to worry about storage, or that your frosting will be too warm (if it has to sit around) or too cold (if you make ahead).

• Mix your sugar and egg whites over a double boiler, whisking constantly until the mix becomes hot to the touch (but not to the point of a scramble!); 160 degrees F should suffice. You’re just looking to dissolve the sugar into the egg whites, and add a little volume.  I do this step straight in my stand mixer’s bowl.
• Take this mixture and whisk it to stiff peaks (if you pull out your whisk and flip it over and the egg whites stand straight up without drooping, you have stiff peaks)
• Switch over to your paddle attachment, and on low to medium-low speed, drop in the butter, one cube at a time. Once each cube is fully incorporated, add the next, but not before. Once all the butter is in, turn the speed up and beat until fluffy.
• **At this point, you may notice some separation, not unlike how a Hollandaise looks when getting ready to break. Don’t be alarmed, it WILL come back together! If you’re concerned, put your bowl in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm up the butter, and then continue to whip.
• Once the mixture is light and fluffy, add your peanut butter while mixing on low speed. Make sure to scrape down the sides as you’re mixing.
• Pipe big mounds of frosting on each cupcake. No pastry bag? No problem! Just put your frosting into a gallon-size zipper bag, and snip off the corner of the bag, about 1/2″ from the tip.

Blissfully Unrefined.com is celebrating! Happy First birthday to me with Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes – tune in on Friday for the recipe…

Lobster tours, Plymouth Wharf

The ultimate image of New England- gotta love it!

A few months ago, I posted about how I was searching for a job. Blogging in Germany did nothing to prepare me for the challenge blogging would be once I started working for real.

“What’s that?” you say? “Does that mean she got a job? Is that the reason for her slacking off the last few months?” Why yes, anonymous Internet super-fan, I am now gainfully employed! Unfortunately, this has caused me to veer far off-course from my writing, but at least now I have a paycheck! I entered my company at the peak of busy season, but now I’ve slowed down quite a bit, so hopefully I can get back on track!

I’ve got some plans over the next few weeks, and some great (healthy…ish) recipes in my back pocket to share, so pstay tuned (and thanks to those who inexplicably found this post because I’m on your feed… you rock!). For now, I’ll leave you with a quick photo from a recent work lunch.

That's right - no more blonde! Oh, and yes, that's Desmond Tutu.

For the first time in almost a year of Blissful Unrefin-icity (…?), I need your help.

I don’t generally use my blog as a personal platform. This blog actually started as a way to explore a creative outlet while the hubs and I were abroad, a way to explore old hobbies, and new passions. It was a way to share my knowledge and help others to improve themselves. Soon, though, it became something more than a simple hobby to pass the time. Along with my travels through Germany, working on this blog gave me insight into myself that I had never had the time or ability to discover before. Now that we’re home, and back in MA for the foreseeable future, it’s time to get serious about life, and my career.

So what is the point of this post?

With the country’s job situation, a candidate needs to get pretty creative to find that right position. So today, I’m posting my personal mission statement, as an attempt to take advantage of one more avenue available to me. My hope is to be successful enough in this attempt that I can continue my website’s mission, which is namely to encourage and assist my readers to secure for themselves a happier, healthier life. To do that, I need your help.

Please do me the honor of reading through my mission statement, and pass along the word to anyone you know who may be able to help me. With the network of friends I have made in the past few months’ journey, I’m confident that karma will work its magic, and steer me toward… well, whatever it is I need.

Personal Mission Statement

There are people in this world put here simply for the purpose to support and help build their community and fellow man. People who have been blessed with the skills to assist and inspire their peers. Though the personal journey I’ve taken that past year, I have discovered that I am one of those people. It is therefore my mission to do what I can in life to help people in whatever way I’m needed.

Education

In May of 2007, the University of Massachusetts – Amherst in their infinite wisdom, bestowed upon me a B.S. In Hospitality and Tourism Management. Throughout my college education, I took every elective possible related to cooking and events, ultimately becoming the GM for our annual Career Day Welcome Cocktail party, and working to organize several not-for-profit events outside of my department as well.

Career

A few months before graduation, I agreed to follow my boyfriend (my hubs now) to Durham NC, while he worked on his PhD research. This meant turning down some promising positions in Massachusetts for a safe, secure, and ultimately ill-fitting job in North Carolina. Truth? Working with the public is difficult. Don’t get me wrong, working where I did for those years gave me a lot of invaluable skills that will always come in handy, in life and in work, it just wasn’t the ideal use of my skills and passions.

After a few years in NC, the Hubs was offered a short-term position in Germany to complete his research, before returning to UMass to complete his thesis. Our time in Germany, while not necessarily the best idea for my career path at the time, has given me the perspective to realize what it is that will make me truly happy.

Skills

Please don’t misunderstand me. While my first post-college position wasn’t the best fit for me, it did help me discover what I’m truly good at, what I love, and what I need:

• I love working one-on-one with people.

• I love a fast-paced environment that requires me to have my attention on a thousand things at once. I’ve discovered through much trial and error the systems that work for me to keep me well organized and efficient.

• I love building lasting relationships with my clients.

• I love (and need) to be challenged creatively.

• I need flexibility, and the ability to be self-sufficient.

• I need to learn something new on a daily basis.

• Most importantly, I need to be happy in what I do. When all else fails, you HAVE to be happy, or the stress will, quite literally, eat you alive. And I refuse to allow myself to be unhappy in my career. Does this make me naïve? Perhaps. Am I being stubborn? Probably, but determination to be happy is what drives me.

Looking to the Future

They say that you should find a career you can be passionate about. You should work at a job that’s rewarding. When you spend 8-10 of a 24-hour day at work, and another 8 sleeping, you’re left with only 6-8 hours to spend with your family. It leaves it to reason that if some job is taking away time with family and friends, you should at least enjoy what you do.

What could be more rewarding, then, than assisting people in planning some of the most important events in their lives? Weddings, anniversaries, employee-recognitions and award banquets; these are all key moments in a person’s life. Working with not-for-profits to plan a fundraiser that could be the key to ultimately providing the research to save a life, or improve one that’s been derailed by a disease. I can’t think of any career more rewarding than that. Executing an event well means you’ve touched someone’s life forever. That’s what makes all the time, stress, energy, and time away from loved ones worth it.

Long term, I would love to build my experience in this venue until a point at which I can take my knowledge and turn it to education. Being able to share my knowledge (as I do with my readers on a consistent basis) is also something I am very passionate about.

Fruitcake – a dense, frightful amalgamation of rainbow-colored “fruit” bound within a rock-hard substance that was once intended to be a cake. The most dreaded of all Christmas traditions, fruitcake holds a special place in my family’s heart.

A Story

Back in days of yore, my grandfather made a fateful decision that would shape the future of my family’s Christmas gift-giving forever. He asked my cousin to go to his desk, where she would find his gift to my grandmother, and requested that she wrap it for him.

Christmas morning came, with bright lights and excited children with even brighter eyes. As the morning progressed and the gifts were unwrapped, my grandmother came to the fateful package. Pop-pop watched as she removed the paper to find… a fruitcake.

“Oh, a fruitcake, that’s nice…” my Nan said to her husband in a flat voice.

At this point, my grandfather turned to my cousin, and asked where the real present went. Turns out, the young innocent girl overlooked the intended gift, and saw only the brightly colored cake on the desk, and, doing what young kids do, assumed that was what he meant. Instead of asking about it, she simply did as she was told, and wrapped the “gift.”

Tradition is Born

The same fruitcake was subsequently wrapped up year after year, and circulated around my family for about 10 years before it was sadly lost. My grandmother restarted the tradition back in 1999, and it continued to circulate until it was finally bestowed to my husband and myself for the first time, as a wedding present.

Needless to say, this has always shaped my view of fruitcake – a food-like substance that was really a joke, not something one would ever consider eating.

Once I moved to Durham, I discovered Christstollen, a German version of the infamous holiday cake. At a small bakery on 15-501 called Gugelhupf, I discovered that fruitcake could be something I never imagined: edible. This German bread was much lighter than any Christmas cake I had tried, It was light, but substantial, and filled with raisins, nuts, and citrus zest. I was hooked.

When my husband went to Germany during the Christmas markets last year, he returned with yet another Stollen for us to try. Not as good as our local bakery overall, but this one had a prize inside – a bit of marzipan in the middle for good measure.

The Challenge

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book………and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

I wanted to make this traditional bread for my family as a gift this year, so this challenge was perfect. We were charged with making a double-sized batch, and shaping into a non-traditional wreath shape.

A three day process of mixing, kneading, shaping, baking, finishing, and letting the bread rest resulted in a dozen mini-stollen. A series of unfortunate and unpredictable changes in our normal family morning routines resulted in 3 of the dozen loaves being eaten by my parents’ dogs. After a small meltdown, I started over, ultimately making 2 full-size loaves out of my second batch as Christmas Eve breakfast.

In the end, this was one of the best Stollen I’ve had.

My first batch was completely true to the recipe (with the exception of the flaked almonds… completely forgot to mix those bad boys in).

The second batch was slightly modified (modifications are reflected in my recipe below) and saw the addition of triple sec-soaked dried cranberries added in with the rum-soaked raisins, and the forgotten almonds for good measure. Unfortunately, I had finished off my stores of the candied orange peels that we had brought back from Croatia with my first batch, and I couldn’t find anything even close at my local Whole Foods. Defeated, I had resolved to simply go without when my husband illuminated the proverbial light bulb with one simple question:

“Would orange marmalade work?”

I rolled out the dough, spread a little marmalade on it, folded it into quarters to create some swirls, and shaped the final loaf. I also added a rope of almond paste to the center of the dough, a subtle knob of sweetness to round out the flavor.

Continue on for the recipe (or see the challenge PDF here).

German Weihnachtsstollen

Here’s what you need:

• 1 ½ cup (240 ml) (6 ozs) (170 gms) firmly packed raisins or dried fruit of your choice
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) rum or liqueur of your choice (I used a mix of spiced rum and triple sec in one batch)

• ¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
• 2 packages (4 ½ teaspoons) (22 ml) (14 grams) (½ oz) active dry yeast

• 1 cup (240 ml) milk
• 10 tablespoons (150 ml) (140 grams) unsalted butter

• 5½ cups (1320 ml) (27 ozs) (770 grams) all-purpose (plain) flour
• ½ cup (120 ml) (115 gms) sugar
• ¾ teaspoon (3 ¾ ml) (4 ½ grams) salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 grams) cinnamon
• Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (very good) vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon extract or orange extract

• ¾ cup (180 ml) (4 ¾ ozs) (135 grams) mixed peel (link below to make your own)
  • Optional: if you can’t find/make peel, you can substitute ¼ cup of orange marmalade
• 1 cup (240 ml) (3 ½ ozs) (100 grams) flaked almonds

• Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath – about a stick
• Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting

Note: If you don’t want to use alcohol, double the lemon or orange extract or you could use the juice from the zested orange.

Here’s what you do:

Tip – Make sure to read through the recipe in its entirety before beginning, and have all of your ingredients ready to go before you start mixing your dough.

Making the dough

• Mix your dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries, etc) with your liqueur and set aside for at least an hour (my first attempt, the fruit soaked for almost 3 days, so don’t worry if you have to delay starting).

• Once you’re ready to begin, mix the warm water and yeast, and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.

• Mix your butter and milk in a saucepan or mug and heat until the butter is melted (over the stove or in the microwave – doesn’t really matter which). Allow to cool to lukewarm, about 5 minutes – you don’t want it to be so hot that it kills your yeast.

• Beat your eggs with the extracts in a bowl.

• Sift the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests together in a large mixing bowl. With the paddle attachment on low speed, mix in your yeast (which should be somewhat thick and spongy at this point), the butter-milk mixture, and the eggs. It should come together in a soft, sticky ball in about 2 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

• Once rested, add in your soaked fruits (and any of the liquid still remaining), candied peel, and almonds to the dough, and mix until combined. Switch to a dough hook, and knead for about 6 minutes, until the dough becomes soft and springy. It should no longer be sticky, just a little tacky. You’ll see some raisins coming loose from the ball of dough, indicating it’s been kneaded enough. At this point, I actually kneaded the dough by hand a bit, just to make sure the fruit and nuts are evenly incorporated. It’s a really heavy dough, so it might need a little hands-on TLC anyways. (If you are making this without a stand mixer, it will take around 8 minutes to knead completely by hand).

• Lightly oil a large bowl, and roll the dough in it so it’s oiled on all sides. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic, and place the dough in the fridge overnight to rise.

Making the loaves

• Remove the bowl of dough about 2 hours before you want to bake it to allow it to come to room temp. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Shape into a loaf, or alternatively, channel Martha Stewart and shape into a wreath (see this video from Ms. Martha for instructions).
• Proof the loaf for about 2 hours, until 1 ½ times its original size (you can tell its ready if you poke the loaf and the indent remains).
• Bake for about 20 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees, and continue to bake another 20 minutes. The loaf is done when it’s a dark brown, and a thermometer registers 190 degrees in the center.

Finishing the loaves

• Immediately brush the loaves with melted butter. Allow the butter to soak in for about a minute, then give the loaves a second coat.
• Sift 2 coats of powdered sugar over the hot bread, set in a safe place (away from family pets, sneaky spouses, and curious children with dirty hands). Allow the loaves to cool for at least an hour before serving. Alternatively, you can finish it the traditional German way and allow it to sit overnight uncovered and dry a bit.

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

When I moved to Durham NC, I was delighted to find Brig’s – a local group of restaurants with a unique specialty (unique in my finding anyway): various Benedicts, including (often my “usual”) their Monthly Benedict. For instance, this month they’re offering a smoked salmon Benny with dill Hollandaise.

So you might wonder why I didn’t do my own Benedict. Partly it was due to having just made a Thanksgiving Benedict when the challenge was announced (stuffing in place of an English Muffin, topped with turkey instead of Canadian Bacon, and finally topped with a sage Hollandaise and cranberry sauce). So I already knew how to poach an egg. And, as I had done a past post on Hollandaise Sauce, I decided to challenge myself with an unfamiliar dish: Oeufs en Meurette, a French poached egg dish smothered in a red wine, mushroom, and onion gravy (my recipe has been adapted from the recipe provided on the Daring Cooks forum). I’m getting shivers thinking about that sauce…

First, some important tips on egg poaching:

• Always use the freshest eggs you can get your hands on. Store-bought eggs are generally a month or so old when they hit the shelves, so if you know someone with chickens, or can find a local farmer’s market, you’ll be better off.

• Adding a bit of acid to the poaching water will help the egg white stay tight around the yolk. White vinegar or lemon juice works well.

• Keep your water below a boil. By simmering the water, you do less damage to the white, and ensure a prettier poached egg.

• Crack each egg into a small bowl, as opposed to directly over the water. This allows you to remove any pieces of shell, and to discard any that have gone bad – a rarity with store-bought eggs, but certainly not impossible! Just the other day, I made a half dozen boiled eggs for breakfast for myself, my hubs, and my mom, all from the same carton. What does my husband find when he peels one, but a yellowed “white” and a smell I can’t describe in pleasant terms.

• Drop your egg in as close to the water as possible, keeping the bowl near the surface of your hot poaching liquid. You keep from splashing yourself, and again, treating the egg gently makes for a prettier end product.

So gather your ingredients, and let’s get to some French cooking!

Missing: Onions and bacon... ... sorry

Here’s what you need:

• 4 eggs
• half 750 ml bottle red wine
• 1 cup chicken stock

Aromatics:

• ½ onion, sliced
• ½ carrot, sliced
• ½ celery stalk, sliced
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• Bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay leaf) Dried herbs can be substituted if needed
• ½ tsp. (2 ½ ml/3g) black peppercorns

Sauce:

• 1 Tb. (30 ml/30g) butter
• 2 ounces (appx 60 g) mushrooms, sliced
• 2 ounces (appx 60 g) bacon, diced
• 8 pearl onions, peeled (100g/3.5oz.)
• 1 TB butter, room temp.
• 1 TB flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Toast:

• Olive Oil
• 4 slices of baguette, ¼” (6mm) thick

When I read that this recipe would take an hour or more, I think that was nuts! An hour to poach an egg and make some toast and a reduction sauce? (In the end, it took me nearly and hour and a half.)

I have 3 cartons of eggs in the fridge (don’t ask – we had run out, and remained eggless for about a week, then in the course of 2 days, I buy a dozen, as does my husband, and my parents!). I choose the eggs with the expiration date furthest in the future – after all, fresher eggs poach better. I bring my stock and wine to a simmer, and I gently lowered in 2 eggs.

Didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t be able to see through the poaching liquid… you see, my pans aren’t non-stick, so I often have to coax my eggs around the pan a bit to keep them from sticking and destroying an otherwise pretty egg. Kind of hard to avoid shredding your eggs when you can’t see them:

Yeah, I know,  looks like an octopus that got stuck in a lawnmower.

After 5 failed eggs, I’m about to give up; I don’t know if it’s the eggs themselves or the wine screwing with my eggs, all I know is I’m NOT happy!

Well, in the end, I find success with a different carton of eggs. Not to show preferential treatment to any supermarket chain… who am I kidding, the Whole Food brand cage-free eggs worked better than “newer” eggs from Price Chopper, bottom line.

So,

Here’s what you do:

Poach the eggs:

Bring the wine and stock to a simmer. (Feel free to do what you will with the other half of the wine)

Poach your eggs, 3-4 minutes. Plunge the cooked eggs into some ice water to stop the cooking, and store in cool water until you’re ready to eat. You could even poach the eggs a day in advance. Simply reheat quickly when needed by immersing the eggs in hot water for a minute or so.

Make the Meurette sauce:

Strain any egg out of the poaching liquid, then add your aromatics. Reduce the liquid by half.

In a separate pan, saute your diced bacon until crisp. Remove the crisped bacon, and saute your mushrooms and onions. Once browned, set aside with the bacon.

Strain the reduced sauce. Mix a tablespoon of butter and a TB of flour into a paste, and whisk into the reduction. Add in the reserved bacon, mushrooms, and onions, and bring the sauce to a boil. Boil for one minute to thicken, and keep warm until ready to serve.

Make your toast:

Lightly oil both sides of your baguette slices, and toast under a preheated broiler.

Plate your delicious dinner:

Top your crispy toast with warm eggs, and slather with the sauce. Pour the rest of the wine in a couple of glasses and enjoy a French treat!

Today, I am posting for my first time ever in the Daring Bakers Challenge! I’ve been doing Daring Cooks for awhile now, and being back Stateside, with access to a nice shiny oven, I wanted to throw my hat in the ring for a new set of challenges.

First thing’s first in the kitchen – gotta get into proper wardrobe. For me, that meant this T-shirt:

(You can buy the same shirt here, care of the comic, Questionable Content.  I’m not getting a kickback, nor did I get this shirt for free in exchange for a plug. I simply loved this shirt so much I had to spread the word).

Once properly attired, it’s on to the cooking! The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona from briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Pasta Frolla

I’ve made lots of pastry dough in my time. My mother’s a big pie baker (especially this time of year), and is her mother. Seriously, pie is a big deal in my family. Like, make-a-pie-a-person serious. My grandmother (aka the cutest lady on planet Earth) told me she was making 8 pies for Thanksgiving. There were going to be 8 people total. One diabetic who can’t even eat pie.

The pasta frolla recipe Simona provided was somewhat different from what I’ve made. Pretty straightforward: flour, butter, egg, but with just enough oomph to make it special. In addition to the 8.25 oz (235 grams) of flour and 4 oz (115 grams) of butter, it called for 3 oz (90 grams) of powdered sugar, lemon zest (I used lime), and an extra yolk with the 1 whole egg.

Just zip the dry ingredients together, gently cut in the butter, and bind it with your egg, and you’ve got yourself some sweet, tasty dough.

Filling

I decided the pastry cream filling was my best bet. I had just separated a bunch of eggs to make my first ever macarons, and this recipe balanced out the leftovers nicely – not a speck of egg went to waste. Initially I wanted to do a vanilla pastry cream layered over lemon curd, but given that I had zested a lime already, I ended up continuing the flavor through the crostata. I used a recipe from epicurious as my base, but made several changes to the recipe to fit my needs

Here’s what you need:

• 1 1/2 cups milk

• 1 vanilla bean

• 4 large egg yolks

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest

• 2 tablespoons vodka, or to taste (I think tequila could be nice here)

• Juice of 1 lime

Here’s what you do:

Split your vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds with a small paring knife. Add the seeds and the scraped pod into your milk, and set over low to medium heat, bringing it just to a simmer.

Mix together your yolks, flour, sugar, and zest in a small heat-proof bowl. Remove the vanilla pod from the hot milk and carefully whisk it into your yolk mixture.

Pour your milk and yolk mixture back into the pan and return it to the heat. Bring it to a boil, stirring, for about a minute, until thickened. To test that it’s thick enough, dip in a spoon, and carefully draw a line across the back of the spoon with your finger. The line should remain intact.

Remove the mix from the heat, and add in your lime juice and vodka. Allow it to cool for a few minutes, then press some plastic wrap directly to the surface, and chill fully before use.

Assembly

I didn’t have a tart pan. If you don’t that’s fine. I used a springform cake pan (you could use a regular cake or pie dish even). The pan was about an inch larger than I needed, hence the very thin tart, but I kind of liked it that way. It gave a good ratio of dough to filling (I really love pie dough!)

Simply roll out the dough to fit your pan (reserving about ¼ of your dough for a lattice top, if you like), and fit it gently into the pan. Don’t stretch or pull the dough if you can help it – this will effect the flakiness.

With the pastry cream filling, I didn’t pre-bake the dough. Just roll it out, fill it up, top with an optional lattice, and slide that sucker into the oven.

Finale

If you want, you can do a milk or egg wash over your lattice and/or crust. As you can see, I had some brown spots on my tart; that’s where my milk wash got onto the filling. Yes, it makes your crust shiny and brown, but I would recommend brushing your lattice pieces BEFORE topping the tart, to avoid pushing them into the cream, and getting milk all over your pastry cream, causing an ugly brown spot.

Overall, the challenge was fun, not altogether very challnging though. I know pastry stumps a lot of people (I counted myself in that school for many years). So here are some side notes to make it a little easier for you:

• Keep everything cold while you work

• Don’t overmix. You want to see uneven pieces of butter – that’s what makes it good!

• Be quick, but gentle, when working with your dough. Tears will happen (both rips in the dough, and liquid from your eyes!); just take a breath and try to be patient.

For our first anniversary, my boyfriend at the time (now my hubs) planned the perfect fall day: crunching through the crisp fallen leaves (my absolute favorite fall activity), hiking up Mt. Sugarloaf to see the amazing colors of the Pioneer Valley (at their peak in mid October), complete with a picnic.

Making macarons for the first time, I wanted to make it really count. I went to Mactweets for ideas, where this month’s muse is ‘Falling for Macarons,’ using the season to inspire these delicate treats. The first thing that passed through my brain were all the traditional fall flavors: cinnamon, cloves, spicy apples. I’ve seen others use flavored herbal teas to flavor their macs, so I searched my mother’s substantial tea cabinet for apple cinnamon tea.

Drat. No apple cinnamon. But what is this? Moroccan Orange Spice tea… and oh! it smells like fall! Spice and cinnamon and citrus – all the aromas that flavor a warming German Glühwein (minus the wine!). The moment I pulled open that box, I knew I had my flavor.

The Shells

After some careful consideration (and some advice from Paula of the gorgeous blog bell’alimento ), I decided to try the Italian meringue method for my shells. I found a recipe from Dessert First (sorry Paula, nothing personal, the recipe was smaller). Click here for the recipe I used.

The mac aftermath my kitchen suffered...

While processing the almond meal, I also threw in a bag of the orange spice tea, hoping it would flavor my shells… which it didn’t. I suppose more then one bag was indicated.

The piping was an… interesting experience. The first few I piped to fill the circles. They proceeded to spread beyond the circles. Oops.

Once all of my circles were doled out, I let the shells sit out for 30 minutes, at which point they were no longer tacky. Into the convection oven, and lo:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you’re going to need to send me socks for all the feet there! I can’t describe how excited I was when I saw these little beauties come out. Since I’ve been home, I’ve had a load of baking disasters. Leave it to me to abandon the luxury of ovens for a few months only to forget how to bake. So this success was a big boost to my ego. Inevitably, this means my next few attempts are doomed to failure – beginner’s luck and all that. But, until that happens, I will walk on Cloud Nine with big ol’ mac feet.

The Fillings

Once I tried one of my shells and realized the tea had imparted absolutely zero flavor, I decided to instead try to infuse that flavor into a filling instead. Given that my shells were now fairly unimpressive (I’ve ben spoiled by some of the delectible creations I see in this challenge every month), I opted to try 2 different fillings, both for variety of flavors and colors. Immediately, I decided that in additiona to my white choclate spiced orange ganache, I would do a hot chocolate filling as well – a cayenne-spiced dark chocolate to be precise.

each fills 15-20 macarons

White Chocolate Spiced Orange Ganache

Here’s what you need:

1 teabag of Moroccan Orange Spice tea

2 oz. Heavy cream

4 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped.

Hot Chocolate Ganache

Here’s what you need:

2 oz. Heavy cream

4 oz. Dark chocolate

pinch cayenne

pinch Chinese Cassia cinnamon

Here’s what you do:

I whizzed my tea through my Magic Bullet and mixed it with the cream before heating the cream to just below a boil. My logic was the flavor would be stronger this way, but if I make this flavor again, I think I’ll just infuse the milk in the bag, because the color of the finished ganache (make your ganache by pouring the hot cream over the white chocolate, stirring until melted), well, it’s not nice. I planned to add a touch of food coloring anyway, for a nice fall orange, so it worked out. After essentially dying my hands red, I got a great deep Autumn orange-red for my first ganache.

For the chocolate ganache, add the spices to the cream before you heat it (this allows the spices to bloom and really get groovy). I used the Chinese cinnamon as opposed to the more typical cinnamon you find in the grocery store; this cinnamon has a sharper, hotter quality then the warm cinnamon you normally have in an oatmeal cookie, similar to the flavor of red hots.

Don’t get me wrong, I have worked a long time to learn and practice the intricacies of some of the more difficult kitchen tasks. I read blogs, textbooks, recipes; I watch instructional videos and Food Network. I’ve taken every culinary class available to me (at least when I was in college). So it stands to reason that I understand food.

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

Soufflé. The epitome of high-level culinary prowess. Amazingly, I have never tried to make a soufflé before this. They’re notoriously difficult, riddled with problems, and temperamental to boot. The only other really notorious cooking giant I had ever made before this was Hollandaise Sauce – my first attempt failed miserably, but I got it right the second time (with rich decadent flavor like that, you kind of have to – you SHOULD have to work for a sauce that divine).

Through years of practice and education, I’m pretty confident in the kitchen. So I go in thinking “Soufflé? I know how to whip egg whites, I know how to fold, I can do that, no prob.” I read everything I could about how to avoid common problems. And then, I found Julia.

Oh, Julia Child. I have always loved Julia Child, but until this challenge, I had never seen a single episode of The French Chef (you can trace my love of her back to high school chorus class, when our instructor would advise us to “Sing like Julia,” meaning bringing our lips into tight ovals to achieve a richer sound – even in music, Julia brings the butter!). Well, I figure, if I want to learn about soufflés, why not learn from the woman who taught America how to cook French?

Julia instructs the fearless home cook on the classic cheese soufflé. As much as I wanted to go over the top, with unique and gourmet flavor combinations (my first idea was building upon black garlic as a base flavor), I chose to stick to the classic – this is a first attempt after all. Nothing but eggs and smoked cheddar (ok, so I went a teensy step beyond simple cheese).

I watch the video. Twice. I take notes. I write down her ratios. I prep my cooking vessels as instructed in so many recipes (rubbed with butter, dusted liberally with breadcrumbs, and refrigerated until ready). I whip, stir, fold, and pour the luscious mixture into the prepped containers, 2 with buttered and crumbed collars, 2 without.

prep bowls; separate eggs; cook white sauce and yolks; whip whites, fold together. Easy enough, right?

I put my soufflés into the oven, and do my best to walk away. My best wasn’t really good enough – I checked them every minute or so. What do I see, but a beautiful mound of light, airy egg puffing higher and higher… and spilling over the rim of my not-collared ramekins… oh well, thank goodness I put the ramekins on a sheet pan!

Finally, the timer beeps for my smaller soufflés. Once removed, I notice them starting to deflate. Well, they’re bound to sink a little, like muffins. Wait. Why are they still sinking? Why is there now a huge dent in the middle of my soufflés?!

Fresh from the oven - if only it could have stayed that way...

Sigh. I figure I either had a large air bubble form inside, or I didn’t let it cook long enough. So I make sure with the larger soufflés that I allow it to get nice and brown on top, and take them out when only a slight jiggle remains.

Tripod at the ready and camera set to a delay, I remove the soufflé dishes from the oven and quickly (but gently) remove the collars. They are beautiful – picture perfect. Amazing height, towering at about twice the height of the bowls themselves.

And then it happens. The sinking. Again. Sinking, sinking, sinking, until…

and

I rarely fail in the kitchen. But when I do, I make it count.