Just ask any man and he will (hopefully) say that given the choice between a blow up doll and a real live girlfriend, he chooses the real life girlfriend. That is what the IFBC was for me (no there was no blow up doll in the goodie bag). It was my chance to finally meet people in real life that I had been reading and talking to for so long. That is what I mostly took away from the conference. Well, that and I pay $350 but can’t get a chair (but that’s another rant for another day).
I’ve been reading many bloggers recaps of the IFBC. Some all rosy and happy. Some bitter. Most somewhere in between. Meeting people however seems to be the one thing most people can agree on as the positive.
Many people had epiphanies while there. I am not excluded in this category. But I don’t think mine was the same as others. The one thing I most definitely learned this last weekend is that I am not a food writer. Oh I may be a writer as in the fact that I write words on this blog and some of you actually read them (still not sure why). But food I cannot write about.
This became painfully obvious during the writing with all of your senses portion of the conference. While describing my lemon as a sunshine colored double sided 18 year olds perky breast, the rush of wow, I am not cut out to describe food came over me. Let’s face it, most of my post aren’t actually about food. They are about me (fabulous me, try not to vomit)rambling on about something and then down at the bottom, oh yeah, I made some food.
I let the pictures do the talking, which for most people is fine. And according to much hate mail,  I make recipes that contribute to the obesity of America (and Canada and probably a third world country or two thrown in for good measure). That’s my thing. Writing is not.
The other thing much talked about this weekend was traffic. Lots of bloggers asked me how I got my traffic, what was my secret. Umm, none. Been around a long time. Plain and simple. So since I have no real answer to that maybe you can answer that…Why Do You Read My Little Fattening Food Blog?
Oh wait, almost forgot, I made food. This is my take on Coconut Cream Pie. I hate, as most of you know to make pie crust. This was way better than pie crust anyway. And technically way better than pie crust! So I did something more healthy than the original (did you feel the Earth stop rotating there for a moment?)
I am not a super coconut cream pie fan, but have to say this is full on yummy. I’d describe it but I learned I suck at that. So I’ll just say eat it instead.

Toasted Coconut Meringue Stacks filled with Coconut Cream Pie Filling

 
Coconut Cream Pie Filling (ala Tom Douglas)
2 cups milk
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Place shredded coconut into a food processor and pulse until coconut becomes more meal like and less of a stringy mess.
To make the pastry cream, combine the milk and coconut in a medium saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir occasionally until the mixture almost comes to a boil.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and flour until well combined.
Temper the eggs (to keep them from scrambling) by pouring a small amount (about 1/3 Cup) of the scalded milk into the egg mixture while whisking.
Then add the warmed egg mixture to the saucepan of milk and coconut. Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more.
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts.
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over a bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming and refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it cools. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.
Pastry Cream Recipe adapted from Tom Douglas Seattle Kitchen…and shameless lifted from Cakespy so as not to have to type it all out.  Thanks Jessie.

Toasted Coconut Meringues
4 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 tsp.  cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup toasted unsweetened coconut, finely chopped (use a food processor)

Preheat oven to 250F.
Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed, until soft peaks form.
Gradually (no really or else it will clump)sprinkle in sugar, 1 TBSP at a time, beating until sugar is completely dissolved and stiff glossy peaks have formed.
Fold in coconut until thoroughly combined.
Place into a piping bag, and pipe out round discs to your size liking. I went about the size of a small soup can top.
Bake 1 hour or until dry. Remove to rack to cool.

To assmeble: Take a meringue and pipe some cream pie filling on top. Top that with a meringue and pipe some cream pie filling on top of that. Keep going till you get as high as you want. Keep going till your arm falls off, well maybe not. Top with fresh whipped cream and some extra coconut pieces.

Cookies and Cream Bread Pudding

(AKA…My pants no longer fit after the IFBC Cookies and Cream Bread Pudding)

2 ½ cups heavy cream

5 egg yolks

3/4 cup of sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Roughly 25 Oreo (or other sandwich cookie)…I say roughly as I got to eating a few and lost count (my bad)

One medium sized loaf of brioche bread or French bread (fresh), cut into cubes

Fudge Sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter a 8-x-8-inch pan.

Pour cream into a large bowl. Add Oreos. Let them soak in refrigerator. A good soak. A long day at the office need time in the tub with wine soak. So about 20 minutes…or longer.

Add in egg yolks one at a time, whisk vigorously after each yolk is added. Repeat until all the yolks are gone. Add vanilla extract and sugar and whisk vigorously again. At this point the cookies should be pretty darn good and mushed up and easily mixable. If not, be less wimpy and whisk more vigorously than what you were doing.

Scatter bread pieces into the prepared pan.

Pour the custard over the bread. Press down the bread pieces until the bread is soaked with the custard. You will most likely have extra custard, because some bread is more absorbent that others, don’t feel like you have to use all the custard.

Place pan into another pan that will hold a water bath. Bake the bread pudding for 45 minutes until golden on top. Cool 10 minutes and serve warm and topped with fudge sauce.
Fudge Sauce

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 unsalted butter
1 heaping cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
In a large saucepan, combine the chocolate chips and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until melted and smooth in texture.
Gradually add the powdered sugar and evaporated milk, 1/3 cup at a time.
Increase heat to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 7-8 minutes.
Remove from heat, and then stir in vanilla and salt.

Second, sorry haven’t been around much, life is getting in the way. Apparently it has no idea who I am. If it did, it wouldn’t be messing with me so! I was on CNN darn it all.

I was at a BBQ the other night and a friend of mine introduced me as Peabody, then followed with she makes the most amazing desserts and is like the funniest person ever (I actually get introduced like this a lot). Yikes. Not only should my baked goods better be awesome, I somehow have to make sure I am funny. Now I know it’s a compliment, don’t get me wrong. It just means the pressure is on.

Let me start off by saying that I don’t think I’m funny. I think I say things that other people are thinking and don’t have to guts to say, and that sort of comes off as funny. It also gets you into trouble. :P Oh well.

For the BBQ I experimented with the Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake I had made awhile back. Having a ton of peaches from the Peach-O-Rama event I decided to try and make a peach cobbler-ish kind of version. I was a little nervous as to how it would turn out. Turned out a little too well. I didn’t get any photos of it too well.

So I figured I would make it again. But then I got to thinking that with all the Food Bloggers coming in I should do something a little more Pacific Northwest. Plus, no offense to peaches, but they are kind of unattractive to photograph sometimes. So I went the cherry route. Red definitely pops more in the photos…sorry peaches (don’t hate me, I still love you).

I’m calling this a breakfast treat, because if a Toaster Strudel can be a breakfast treat, so can cake. Probably the same amount of sugar…without dealing with the annoying packet of frosting that never seems to open enough and then ends up bursting and splattering all over my toasted pastry. Or I just lack all coordination. Nah.

This version is just as tasty as the peach so that was a good idea. I originally was going to add some hazelnut flour as well, only to discover I didn’t have any. Typical.

I hope everyone has a great weekend…I know I will (read be jealous). You can follow me on Twitter this weekend as I tweet about it @bakerpeabody or my facebook page for CCbP.

Cherry- Cheese Breakfast Snack Cake

Cherry Cake Batter:

2/3 cup white sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg

½ cup whole milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups sliced and pitted cherries

Cheesecake filling:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar, not packed

1 TBSP vanilla extract

2 TBSP flour

3 eggs

Brown Sugar Filling:

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9-inch Spring-form pan.

Cherry Cake Batter:

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or hand mixer) cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat for another minute. Scrape down bowl.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine the sifted and creamed ingredients together. Mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Fold in cherries.

Spread half of the batter onto the bottom of the Spring- form pan. It will be sticky and thick so spray your hands with baking spray and press down. It will be a thin layer, but trust me it will rise up during baking.

For the Cheesecake Filling:

Using a stand mixer (and a clean bowl) fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugars for 2 minutes on medium-high speed.

Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.

Add the vanilla and flour and beat for another minute.

Pour all of the cheesecake batter on top of the cherry cake batter that is in the prepared pan.

Brown Sugar Filling:

In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Drop spoonfuls of the cinnamon filling over the entire top of the cheesecake.

Take the rest of the base batter and drop spoonfuls over the entire top of cheesecake. Once finished, take a knife to swirl the ingredients together. This is hard to do as the batter is pretty thick, just do what you can. 

Bake for about 50-55 minutes, cake will be puffy and lightly browned. Let chill for 20 minutes at room temperature and then cover and move to fridge for 4 hours. Remove cake and let it warm up to room temperature just a bit.

It’s provided some headaches of course but it has definitely added some amusement. While sitting there the other day with my window down I got to hear a daughter shout to her mom (she was the worker holding the stop sign) from across the street that she was pregnant. Lots of key words were exchanged and it ended with, “be glad there are people around or else I’d come hit you with this sign”. Sadly I don’t know if she ever did as I the sign moved from STOP to SLOW and I had to move on.

The other guy that works there just always looks bored to tears. About a week ago I brought him cookies. I asked if that was against the rules. He told me he didn’t care it if was, those cookies looked good. From that point on, I may or may not have brought him more baked goods in hope of getting preferential traffic treatment. Which I may or may not be getting. Though I think at this point anyone with a bright blue car is getting that treatment, but hey, it’s working for me. I’m getting to go around the special cones. I feel privileged all the same.

Sadly I think my privileges will be going away. The temperatures are warming up around here and the thought of the oven on is a big NO. So I went with what we do in the baking world, I turned to frozen treats. This is Tiramisu that I turned into a sundae. Most of the elements are the same with the exception of the mascarpone layer, which was turned into ice cream form. I also added some crushed toffee bars because I can’t seem to say no to the buy 3 candy bars for a $1 display at the check out.

And a big hello to anyone who came over from CNN.com today. They have a little write up about the blog, you can see it here.

Tira- Me So Hot to Bake Sundaes

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Ice Cream (recipe follows)
Mocha Ganache (recipe follows)
Purchased Iced Mocha (I used the kind from the store by the famous Seattle area maker)
1 package Ladyfingers
Toffee Bars (such as Heath or Skor), crushed up real good

To build your sundae first place your iced mocha in a bowl (if there is actual ice, remove that). Get a bowl however large you like. Dunk lady fingers into ice mocha and layer on bottom. Top with some ganache and then some toffee. Place a scoop of ice cream on top. Then repeat with the ladyfingers, then ganache, then toffee. Then one more scoop of ice cream. Add more ganache and toffee and place a full size ladyfinger for garnish.

Makes two Peabody sized sundaes…or more like 6 normal people sundaes

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
A pinch of salt
¾  cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, then add the bean pod to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.

To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

Remove the vanilla bean. Add mascarpone cheese and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Adapted from the Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Mocha Ganache

½  cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.