These Peas are Hollow

Easy Does It

2013-05-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

There are things in life that just work. The perfect cup of coffee, weekly brunch dates, long bike rides on the first warm day in the spring, pajamas and reruns. Routines, traditions, patterns.

There are also thing in life that you have to work at; friendships from afar, love on opposite schedules, family ties being stretched thin, career in constant adaptation and change. They need effort, they need attention, they just need more of myself than I have been giving them. As my career is taking up so much of my time, sometimes I feel that the other areas of my life suffer. They get neglected, pushed aside. Just until tomorrow, I tell myself.

This concept of 'tomorrow' finally materialized. I was able to fly home for a short 48 hours to try to pack in as much as I could. And pack it in I did, by meeting new babies, spending some girl time with my sister and mom, sharing meals and wine with my dad and soon to be brother-in law. So many sentimental and rather emotional activities in such a short period of time left me kind of a mess, exhausted and a bit emotional myself. But I would do it again in a second, because you know what? It works. I just don't have the time off or the money to travel home that often, so when I get the chance I make it work, no matter how short the visit, or sad the goodbyes.

When I get a bit of time to myself, sometimes I can let my brain overload on all the possibilities of things to do, new recipes to try, and crazy projects in the kitchen. Lately though, I have been focusing on easy, simple, and classic. A disc of leftover pate brisee hanging out in the freezer, some berries on sale at the grocery store, and just enough eggs left in the fridge to make pastry cream, it just came together without much effort. For those few hours alone with my coffee that morning, it was the perfect thing to keep my hands busy and let my mind wander. Its something that doesn't happen as often as it should these days, plus pastry cream with fresh berries is just one of those things that works. Always has, always will.

Pate Brisee Crust

(this is enough for 16-20 3-inch tarts)

400 grams (14 oz) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar

100 grams (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar

2/3 cup water, chilled

665 grams (1 lb 7 1/2 oz) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

Remove butter from fridge 20 minutes before mixing.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, water, and vinegar, stir to aid the dissolving of the sugar. Set aside in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then, stir again to completely dissolve sugar.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse in one second bursts about 3-4 times until butter is cut in and evenly dispersed. You should have visible chunks of butter in your flour mixture, this is where the flakiness comes from.

Pour mixture into a large bowl and make a little well in the middle of the flour. Pour the vinegar water mixture into the well, along with the almond extract, and gently mix liquids into the flour with a fork. When liquid is evenly dispersed, dump dough out onto a clean surface and knead gently a few times, just until dough comes together in one cohesive ball. It may be a bit shaggy or falling apart, but that's okay, while it is resting the moisture will bind everything together.

Cut ball of dough in half and shape each half into a disc about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, or overnight. Take dough out of fridge about 15 minutes before you roll it out. For the 3-inch sized tarts, I cut each disc in half, rolled it out into a square, 1/8 inch thick, then cut the disc into four pieces, placing each one of the four pieces in a tart mold. How you roll the dough out will depend on the size and shape of the tart mold you are using. Always start in the center of the disc and roll outward, turning the disc 30 degrees after each roll to get an even thickness throughout. Carefully move the dough to your tart pan and press evenly into all corners, pinching off the excess.

Dock with a fork (meaning poke a bunch of tiny holes in the bottom of the tart crust with a fork) and freeze for twenty minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Place a piece of tin foil over your tart shell, pressing it down to fit the form of your tart, and fill with beans or rice or pie weights. Blind bake your tart for 15 minutes, flipping the pan front to back halfway through. Remove the pie weights and tin foil and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until the crust is golden brown (the times on this will depend again on the size of your tart pans) . Let cool completely.

Orange Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
(makes enough for 16 3-inch tarts)

1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
2 oz butter, chopped into small pieces
1/2 vanilla bean
zest of 1 orange

In a medium sized sauce pan, heat the milk, 1/2 cup of the cream, and the vanilla bean pod, split and scraped. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let steep for about 20 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh seive, then return to burner. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. While mixture is heating, combine the eggs, yolks, cornstarch, and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.

When the cream/sugar mixture reaches a simmer and the sugar is completely dissolved, temper into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens.

Since it has cornstarch in it, it does technically need to come to a boil for it to thicken properly, so once that first bubble pops, remove from heat and immediately put through a fine sieve to ensure that no scrambled eggs make their way into your pastry cream. Whisk in butter and orange zest and chill about 4 hours or overnight before using.

Tarts - Assembly

Pipe the pastry cream into each of your tart shells, using just enough to cover the bottom. Arrange blackberries on the surface of the pastry cream and top with chopped pistachios, and more orange zest. These are best eaten within a few hours, if you are making them much ahead of time, I would spread a thin layer of apricot jam onto the pastry crust before filling to keep the shell from getting soggy.

Owl Love You Forever

2013-02-11T23:52:00.002-06:00

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Seriously, ANYWHERE. Wallpaper, pillows, coffee mugs, paintings, buildings, even kleenex boxes. Yep, you read that right. A silly painted kleenex box was the inspiration for this wedding cake.

I had been trying to shake what is either a cold or winter allergies and have gone through an absolutely insane amount of kleenex in the past three weeks. There was one box I just couldn't throw away. These owls were mesmerizing. I knew I wanted to do something with them, but couldn't figure out what.

I had been wanting to try watercolor-style painting on fondant for a while now and these cute little owls gave me the perfect subject. As it turns out, it was much easier than I thought it would be. First, I cut my shapes out, let them dry overnight. Then I just mixed some gel food coloring (you only need a very small amount) with a splash of vodka. From there, you can paint just as you would with real paint. The thinner you make the food coloring, the lighter the color will be, just like watercolors. Again, I let my shapes dry overnight, then punched the outline out with some jet black royal icing.

Who says you need a traditional all white wedding cake with flowers and bows? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but in the days of pinterest and zillions of wedding blogs, its never been easier to get a little creative with your wedding day. Plus why would you pass up the opportunity to say owl love you forever all day?

Happy Valentine's day to you and yours.

Tea Time

2013-01-30T21:42:00.001-06:00

The pace is starting to pick up again. After a nice, calm, rather slow January, it's time for the madness to begin once again.

I am not talking about basketball. The group of restaurants that I run the pastry programs for, is set to open their fifth location this March. Not only is it a very large restaurant, it is smack dab in the middle of the tourist strip downtown Chicago. The dessert menu has been set, hiring has begun, and change is coming. I have a feeling there is going to be a bit of shell shock that comes along with this opening. Going from a 200 seat beer-centric gastropub in old town, to a 600-seat restaurant on Michigan Avenue, open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, is going to be a bit of an adjustment.

It's time to buckle down, get organized, and let this tornado do with me what it will. Last year at restaurant opening time, I was completely green, never having working in a restaurant kitchen before. I was basically like a deer in headlights, with an apron and a spatula. Within the span of about two weeks, I went from being hired, to helping design the dessert menu, to cranking out my sweets for the masses. What a whirlwind it was.

Thankfully, this year is a bit different. I have had time to think, and carefully plan the menu. No near-nervous breakdowns, no all-nighters, no second-guessing my decision to accept a job as a pastry chef a few months out of school.

The main difference this time around is that I have experience in my back pocket. It may only be a year, but I have learned so much about production, cost, and more importantly, the clientele. I know a little bit more about what sells, and what kinds of things will make people buy dessert, and what makes them choose one menu item over another. I am so much more confident in the menu this year, and am so excited to get started. I can tell you there is bacon and lots of booze on the dessert list, and that can't be a bad thing.

So, while I am patiently waiting for things to kick up a notch, I am taking some time to just relax a bit. I have to drink in the moments of stillness, that by April, will feel like a distant memory. Here we go again.

Here in the midst of winter, citrus fruits are at their finest, and what better way to preserve their glory than turning them into curds. Forget lemon curd, that's boring, how about blood orange, meyer lemon, or even better, grapefruit? Pair the tangy, tart curd with some delicate almond financiers, and you will have a great excuse to put on a pot of tea, kick back and take a few minutes out of your busy day to just relax.

Almond Financiers with Grapefruit Curd
adapted from Bon Apetit and Ina Garten

Almond cakes:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup almond meal
1 2/3 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup egg whites
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Using the 2 tablespoons of melted butter, lightly grease your financier tins, or miniature bundt cake pan. Place pan in freezer to let butter solidify.

In a large bowl, mix together the almond meal, sugar, flour, and salt. Add the egg whites and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Add the melted butter, and mix to combine. Spoon the batter into molds, filling 3/4 the way full.

Bake the cakes for about 5 minutes (if using a miniature bundt pan, about 7 minutes if using traditional financier molds). Turn oven temperature down to 400, and bake for an additional 5 minutes (7 minutes for financier molds). Turn oven off completely and let the pan sit in the oven for another 5 minutes (7 for finanicers). Remove cakes from oven, and let cool completely before unmolding.

Grapefruit Curd:

zest of 1 grapefruit
zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 oz unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs
6 tbl grapefruit juice
2 tbl lemon juice
pinch of salt

In a medium sized sauce pan, off heat, whisk together the sugar, zest and softened butter until it creates a paste. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then add the juices and salt. Place saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until mixture reaches 170 degrees.

Transfer to a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight to firm up.

To Finish:

Using a apple corer or large pastry tip poke a hole in the bottom of each financier. Remove the 'core', reserving. Remove a bit of cake from each core to make room for more curd. Pipe a small amount of curd into the financier, and replace the core back into the bottom. This process is similar to filling cupcakes, just upside down. Serve immediately, or freeze for future use.

Brussels Sprout Panzanella

2013-01-12T20:13:00.002-06:00

If these pictures are conjuring thoughts of summer, I don't blame you. It was almost 60 degrees today here in Chicago. In the middle of January. 60 degrees. In January. In Chicago. Ugh.

As I stood outside in my t-shirt taking pictures, I almost convinced myself that I was enjoying the warm streak of days we've been having. Unfortunately cold reality hit me as soon as I went back inside and was confronted with the sight of my sad, shriveled up christmas tree. Don't worry I finally took it down today, and at only the 12th of january, I think its a new record. Last year I put it off until almost february. Maybe I shouldn't have admitted that.

I quickly remembered that I have a deep-rooted bitterness that instead of bundling up to go cross country skiing, or cozying up in a dark bar while the snowflakes fall outside, I am outside without a damn coat on (or sleeves for that matter). You can take the girl out of Minnesota...well you know the rest.

While panzanella may be a summer staple for anyone who loves a good tomato, its just not the same in the winter when tomatoes have a tendency to taste like cardboard. With a few twists, a hot pan, and some juicy cherry tomatoes, you can have a bright and healthful panzanella salad even in the dark, mind-numbingly cold month of January. Ha. I wish.

This tomato and bread salad is winterized with roasted brussels sprouts, done Dad's way. If you have never added anchovy (or fish sauce) and red pepper flakes to your veggies before roasting, stop everything you are doing and try it now. It is that good.

Winter Brussels Sprouts Panzanella

serves 6 as a small starter salad, 4 as a larger side or main dish. You can bulk it up for a main meal with some diced chicken, or a fried egg.

4 cups brussels sprouts, trimmed, outer leaves discarded, then quartered (I started with about 4-5 cups, after they were trimmed and roasted, I had a little less than 3 cups, exact measurements in this recipe are not necessary)
20 cherry tomatoes
4 cups crusty bread, cut into bite sized cubes (I used a ciabatta bread, but french bread or sourdough would work just as well)
6 tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 oz (approximately) shaved parmigiano reggiano for garnish

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together 2 tbl olive oil, fish sauce, and red pepper flakes, and toss with brussels sprouts to coat evenly. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet (I line mine with my silpat) and season liberally with salt and fresh ground pepper. Roast in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on how big your sprouts are, until tender in the middle, and crispy on the outside. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat another two tablespoons of olive oil (or enough to just cover the bottom of your pan) over high heat. Add the cubed bread, and toss quickly to coat in the olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat, tossing frequently just until bread begins to brown and gets a bit crispy, about 4-5 minutes. Remove bread from pan and set aside.

Return pan to medium-high heat, and add a few more tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes, just until garlic becomes fragrant. Add the tomatoes and saute for 4-5 minutes, shaking pan frequently to move tomatoes around, until the skin starts to blister and burst. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for another minute, tossing with the tomatoes.

In a large bowl, combine the brussels sprouts, bread, and tomatoes (save any tomato/balsamic juice that is in your skillet to drizzle on top later). Add any more salt and pepper if needed, and divide salad among your plates. Top with shaved cheese, and a few spoonfuls of the leftover pan jus.

Easy as that. Serve room temperature, or with the tomatoes hot, it is delicious either way.

Cake Pop Winter Wonderland

2012-12-16T22:15:00.002-06:00

I am a little lacking in the christmas spirit this year. I have no clue why, but it just doesn't feel christmas-y around here. I have the tree up, the candles burning bright, the oven is churning out goodies, Vince Guaraldi is playing on loop, and yet it is still not sinking in. Perhaps thats how I ended up with pink and silver holly and christmas trees...

Maybe all I need is some snow, but the forecast here in Chicago is not cooperating with me on that front. From the looks of these pictures I took matters into my own hands and made myself a little snowy wonderland filled with cotton candy pink and shiny silver christmas trees. It seems as though I am only a few years away from a little christmas village taking over half of my living room.

Thats not good.

I figured since I was using gingerbread cake, that I should probably make some gingerbread people. I must say I had trouble deciding which would be less vulgar, to put the sticks in their heads or up their butts...heads it is. Now they look like a cross between the Michelin man and a tele-tubbie. Either way, they were tasty little buggars.

Oh I also decided to go the more traditional route and make some green and red ones.

But we can all agree the glittery pink disco trees are way more fun right?

Right.

Gingerbread Cake Pops with Caramel Buttercream

adapted from La Cuisine d'Helene

makes 2 - 9 inch cake layers

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted then brought to room temperature

3/4 cup dark molasses

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup whole milk

Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans and preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and ginger.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the molasses, sugar, and butter until well combined. Add the egg, and beat until combined.

Slowly beat in the milk and buttermilk. It will look like it has curdled, but don't worry, this is supposed to happen. It will fix itself when you add the dry ingredients.

In a few additions, beat in the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Mix until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a baking rack and cool completely.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

4 oz egg whites

8 oz granulated sugar

2 oz water

12 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup caramel sauce, room temperature

Place your egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Heat the sugar and water in a small sauce pan over high heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring the sugar to a boil and continue cooking until it reaches 230 degrees F. When it hits that temperature, turn your stand mixer to medium to begin mixing the egg whites until they are foamy. When the temperature hits 240 F, remove from heat and slowly pour into the egg whites on a medium speed. As soon as all of the sugar is in, turn the mixer to medium high and mix until the meringue is cool to touch. Add the butter a few tablespoons at a time and whip until thick, which may take a few minutes. Pour in the caramel sauce and mix until combined.

Cake Pop Assembly

To make the cake pops, see my original post HERE on their assembly. For the Christmas tree and holly shapes, I pushed the cake dough into a mini cookie cutter and then gently pushed it out. There is enough butter in the frosting to make this quite easy and not sticky at all. Once the shapes are formed, chill them and proceed as you normally would for round cake pops.

Happy holidays, whatever color your trees happen to be this year.

The Art of Impermanance

2012-11-08T07:58:00.000-06:00

For some reason or another, I have been putting off writing this post. Whether it's sheer laziness on my part, or the thought that I really don't want to write about food after working at the restaurant all week, I just couldn't get it started. Maybe it's the fact that I didn't want to just write another superfluous post about a wedding cake that I made for person a, and it contains a,b, and c, flavors, and it was this (insert difficult sounding adjective here) hard to make. Maybe it was the fact that I am feeling guilty that the person I made this cake for is one of my very best friends, and I haven't talk to her in far too long. Maybe it's because this was the last of the wedding cakes for the year, and I am sad to know there won't be any more for the next few months. So, here I am, holding onto the pictures in hopes that they will tide me over until the next one comes along.

But that's the thing about this industry, they are just pictures. There is no cake left (I sincerely hope not) to eat, or gumpaste flowers to swoon over, they are long gone. In my previous life as a product designer my art was permanent. It was sketched, modeled, and produced in various materials, such as plastic, metal, fabric. The sketches were filed, documents backed up, and finished products were sold to eager consumers. It's all still around in one way or another, but my new art is so much different. My new art is the epitome of impermanence and its been quite the adjustment.

I wonder if I will ever get used to watching my cakes be cut and completely disassembled in five minutes flat. Something that I put hours and hours into is destroyed in less time than it took to mix and bake just one of the many layers it contains. The consolation of course is when the client, be it your best friend or someone you've met only once, takes that first bite and an exstatic smile starts spreading across their face. This is when your nerves calm, and the heartbreak you experience from watching the knife stab through the intricate decorations starts to subside, and you remember this is what it's all about. In that one moment, you get to make someone really happy. They are celebrating something big, whether it be a birthday, wedding, baby or engagement, and they just ate something that will stick in their memory for years to come.

The satisfaction of that moment is enough, and it has to be to keep on going in this industry. Unless I start making styrofoam cakes and decorating my apartment with them...just kidding.

There were some new flavors in this cake that I just have to share with you. The groom is from florida and the bride requested that two of the tiers resemble key lime pie in some way. I went through a few variations and quickly found a winner. The cake is a richly flavored vanilla cake with buttermilk and lime zest, filled with key lime curd, and brought over the top with coconut buttercream. It was like florida on a plate, or so I was told, I haven't been to florida in years so I will reserve judgment.

Key Lime Cake
adapted from Bon Apetit
This recipe makes 2 fairly thin 9 inch rounds, I like to double it and make three thicker layers, I pretty much always go for a taller cake.

1 cup ap flour
3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 tbl key lime juice
1 tbl key lime zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line pans with parchment, and lightly butter and flour sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl between each addition. Add the lime juice, zest, and vanilla, and mix to combine. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix just to combine, scrape bowl. Add half the buttermilk, mix to combine, scrape bowl. Add another third of the flour, followed by the remainder of the buttermilk, and the remainder of the flour, scraping well between each addition.

Divide batter between pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top of cake springs back completely when gently pushed with your index finger. Let cool in pans for about 5-10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.

Key Lime Curd
adapted from Ina Garten
Makes about 3 cups, I add a little gelatin to this recipe when I use to to fill cakes. It makes it much more sturdy and you wont have to worry about it running out the sides of the cake (not that I have had that happen, I swear).

Zest of 4 limes
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound butter, room temperature
4 eggs
1/2 cup key lime juice
pinch of salt
1 tsp gelatin
1 tbl water

Place sugar and zest in a food processor and pulse until zest and sugar are finely ground together. Place the sugar into a large, heavy saucepan, but do not place over heat yet. Whisk together the sugar and butter, then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated after each addition. Add the lime juice and salt, then place over medium heat and cook until the temperature reaches 175 degrees F, whisking vigorously constantly. Remove from heat. Bloom gelatin in the water and let stand for about 5 minutes. Heat gelatin in the microwave for 5 second intervals, just until it melts completely. Whisk the hot gelatin into the still warm lime curd. Transfer curd to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours, before using.

Coconut Buttercream

4 oz egg whites
2 oz water
8 oz sugar
12 oz butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 coconut extract

Place egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin whipping the whites on medium-high speed. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and using a candy thermometer, heat the sugar to soft ball stage, or 240 F. The eggs at this point should be voluminous and frothy. Slowly pour the sugar into the egg whites in a steady stream, while the mixer is on high.
Let the mixer run on high (I usually set it to one number below the very highest setting) until the mixture has cooled completely. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing on a medium-low speed. Once all the butter has been added, turn your mixer to high and whip for 3-5 minutes until frosting is light and smooth. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts.

Special shout-out to my mom for helping me with these cakes, and the over 100 cake pops that were made for this wedding, especially for helping me cut out each and every of the hundreds of fondant flowers that cover the sides of this cake. Thank you to Erica for taking all the lovely pictures, so that I didn't have to! Last but not least, congratulations to my best friend Heather, and her best friend Matt, you two are so incredibly lucky to have each other, and I love you both.

Ruffles!

2012-08-21T18:05:00.001-05:00

One more wedding cake under my belt, and just a few days to recover before I start working on the next one. This cake came with a few ups and downs, and many lessons learned. I realized as I was putting the fondant on the bottom tier of this cake, that this was in fact the largest fondant project I had taken on yet. I haven't covered anything larger than a ten inch cake before. A pyramid, yes, but something this huge? Nope, not even close. For some reason it hadn't occurred to me until just that moment.

There is no more hesitation these days when someone hires me to make a cake or dessert table, I say yes of course I can do that. Whether its for better or worse, I rarely consider if I have the necessary time and means to do said project, but deep down, I know that one way or another I will get it done, and I won't stop or finish it until it looks and tastes exactly how I wanted it. If that means ripping two pounds of fondant off of a 15-inch cake tier because it has one too many wrinkles and starting from scratch at 2 am, that's what I will do.

As much as it interferes with my sleep schedule, and the cleanliness of my kitchen at times, it's the attitude I need to have in this industry. Yep, I can do that! Sometimes, the google helps, and sometimes I just jump right in and figure it out for myself. So here's to diving into the deep end, and hoping you make it out alive, and with a beautiful, and even more importantly, delicious, cake in hand.

Sweet Corn Risotto

2012-08-05T19:18:00.000-05:00

Before I say anything else, I have to say one thing. I am sorry, Mom. I know the second you read the title of this post, you cringed a little, but kept reading out of obligation as a mother to read each and every one of her daughter's blog entries in it's entirety.

You see, my mom loves sweet corn, as long as it's not in things. Corn in soups, salsas, salads, creeps her out. We all think she is crazy, and thankfully this is not a genetic trait she passed along to me. I love corn in anything and everything. Sometimes for dinner I will just eat a big bowl of corn with butter, salt and pepper with a fried egg on top. I love the crunch it adds to soup, the bright notes it adds to salads, and how amazing it is when smothered with cheese (trust me on that).

I have been seeing recipes pop up in the last month or so all over the blogosphere for corn risotto, and knew instantly that I needed to jump on the bandwagon. I read a few recipes, but none of them really grabbed me as much as the mere idea of sweet corn risotto, so I decided to wing it.

The extra effort of milking the corn cobs for the pulp and juices really adds a strong fresh corn flavor to the entire rice, rather than just stirring in some corn towards the end of cooking. The additions of garlic, pancetta, and chives didn't hurt either. I made a huge pot and can hardly wait to eat it all week long. There may even be some arancini (fried risotto balls) in my future.

Sweet Corn & Pancetta Risotto
serves 6-8

6-8 cups low sodium chicken stock

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 oz pancetta, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced finely

4 shallots, minced

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 cup white wine

4 ears fresh sweet corn

2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chives, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepare the corn first. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cobs and place in a bowl. Be sure not to cut too close to the cob, you want just the soft crisp nuggets of corn. Then you want to "milk" the corn cobs. This basically means you want to squeeze all the pulp and juice out of the cob. I used my microplane to gently grate the cobs of corn over a bowl. After I went over the entire cob with the microplane, I quickly ran the back of my knife down each cob to squish out the rest of the juice. This can get a bit messy, so use a large bowl and wear an apron.

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a large saucepan or small stockpot, then reduce heat to low and keep warm.

In a large heavy pot, melt two tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil. Add pancetta and cook until most of the fat has rendered and starts to crisp. Add the garlic and saute for another 1-2 minutes, just until fragrant. Remove from heat, and transfer pancetta to a bowl and set aside.

Over medium heat in the same pot, melt two tablespoons of butter with two tablespoons of olive oil. Add the shallots and saute until tender, about 6-8 minutes.

Stir in the rice, and let cook until the rice toasts a bit and becomes slightly translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the wine and cook until it has absorbed, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. When wine is just about all absorbed, add the corn kernels and pulp and stir to combine.

Reduce heat to medium low, and add 1 cup of hot broth, stirring rice very frequently until broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1 cup at a time and stirring, until rice is just al dente. This should take about 30-40 minutes, and you may not need all the broth.

When the rice is at the al dente stage, stir in the pancetta, the rest of the butter, cheese, and chives. Add plenty of black pepper and salt to taste. Serve immediately, and if you have leftovers, its nice to have a bit of chicken broth in the fridge to loosen up the risotto as its reheating. Just a few tablespoons of hot broth can turn a sticky clump of leftover risotto nice and creamy again.

Duo of Fabric Inspired Cakes

2012-07-09T14:35:00.000-05:00

The first wedding cake of the season is complete. It was a great warm up, simple, small, and bold, it got my piping hands geared up for the rest of the summer, that's for sure. I also completed my first ever baby shower cake, which was a total departure for me, tons of color and polka dots, buttons and flowers. While these two cakes are so, so different from each other, they have one thing in common. They are both derived, more or less, from fabric.

The wedding cake was a very specific request. The bride wanted something very simple, no flowers or hearts or any of that mushy stuff, but still wanted the cake to stand out and be bold and modern. She loved a paisley print cake she had seen online and had some fun colors to incorporate. Paisley can be totally overwhelming and busy, (think colorful 70's polyester shirts) but it can also be a striking motif when you restrain it a bit.

I remember saying that I had been wanting to do a gray and yellow cake for a while, and now it seems like grey is the wedding color of the year. Each wedding cake I have slated for this summer has gray on the palette, and I couldn't be happier. I hadn't piped anything in a while, so it was off to a shaky start, but by the end I was a dot-piping machine.

The second cake was for a friend of a friend's baby shower. The design for this cake was a cinch after seeing their baby registry. All of the baby blankets, quilts, and pillows have this multicolored pattern of fabrics around the edges and it was something they wanted to incorporate into the cake and cupcakes.

Having already picked out a name, the initials of the baby were placed front and center. This was such a fun project, though I always forget how difficult horizontal fondant bands are to get straight and even. I will never learn.

Between the color palette, and the patterns, not to mention the yummy lemon cake with raspberry buttercream, I hope this cake made the shower day a little extra special.

Lemon Cupcakes & Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

cake adapted from Bon Apetit Magazine

(This batter would probably be enough for 18-24 cupcakes, I only made 12 and baked the rest of the batter in a cake pan)

Cake:

1 3/4 cup cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (8 oz) butter, softened

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

juice of 1/2 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In your stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition, and mix each one in until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest, mix well, and scrape bowl.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, scrape, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, scrape, and repeat ending with the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated after each addition. Using a ice cream scoop, fill your muffin tins about 2/3 the way full and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick entered into the middle comes out clean and the cake is just turning a light golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then remove from pan and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

4 oz egg whites

2 oz water

8 oz sugar

12 oz butter

3 tablespoons raspberry jam

pink food coloring (if desired)

Place egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin whipping the whites on medium-high speed. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and using a candy thermometer, heat the sugar to soft ball stage, or 240 F. The eggs at this point should be voluminous and frothy. Slowly pour the sugar into the egg whites in a steady stream, while the mixer is on high.

Let the mixer run on high (I usually set it to one number below the very highest setting) until the mixture has cooled completely. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing on a medium-low speed. Once all the butter has been added, turn your mixer to high and whip for 3-5 minutes until frosting is light and smooth. Add the raspberry jam and food coloring and mix to incorporate.

Hummingbirds

2012-06-05T21:58:00.000-05:00

My brain has been been consumed lately with thoughts of Minnesota. Until last weekend, I hadn't been home in almost five months. While I have made a great life in Chicago with my wonderful boyfriend and friends, a great job, and a cozy apartment, I still consider 'home' to be the blue house with the ridiculously steep driveway in Prior Lake, Minnesota. I wonder at what stage in life does your home become where you have settled and not where you grew up? Does it ever make the change? I am nearing my third decade in this life, one of which has been spent living in an entirely different state from all of my family and most of my friends, and my brain hasn't flipped that switch yet. After ten years of living away from many of the people most important to me, I find myself more homesick than ever.

Last weekend I jumped on the opportunity to make the drive to MN for the day, and for good reason. My Grandma turned 88 this month, and if that isn't a reason to eat cake (and eat six different kinds of pasta salad) I don't know what is. I knew it would mean a lot to Grandma B to have all her grandchildren (and many of her great-grandchildren) there for the surprise, and it would good for my heart to have a chance to spend a few hours with my family. It was a short visit, but grandma was successfully surprised, and getting to hug and catch up with my parents and sister was worth the eight hour round trip.

When my mom asked me to make a cake for the party, I was mulling over what kind of cake to make, knowing that I should use this to practice my fondant work a bit. All she had to say was 'grandma likes birds' and I knew instantly how I was going to design the cake. My grandparents on my mother's side ran and lived on a dairy farm until I was in middle school. There were cows and cats and dogs, and lots of birds. As long as I can remember, there has always been a multitude of bird feeders hanging outside my Grandmas windows. She could tell you the name of any bird that happened to stop by to graze, but I have a suspicion that hummingbirds were her favorite. I don't think I will ever forget the time one of my cousins drank the hummingbird juice in the refrigerator thinking it was kool-aid. It may very well be one of my earliest memories as a child.

It was such a good refresher driving through the bluffs of southern Minnesota, spending some time with my family, and celebrating with Grandma. She is a pretty kick-ass grandma, I can only hope to be like her when I turn 88.

This is my favorite chocolate cake recipe, which I have posted on here many times before. I wanted to do something simple with the cupcakes, but give them a little 'oomph' so I went with a italian meringue buttercream but added an entire vanilla bean. It's a simple way to give a ton of flavor and pretty little speckles to your frosting.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

4 oz egg whites

8 oz granulated sugar

2 oz water

12 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed

1 vanilla bean

Place your egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Heat the sugar and water in a small sauce pan over high heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring the sugar to a boil and continue cooking until it reaches 230 degrees F. When it hits that temperature, turn your stand mixer to medium to begin mixing the egg whites until they are foamy. When the temperature hits 240 F, remove from heat and slowly pour into the egg whites on a medium low speed. As soon as all of the sugar is in, turn the mixer to medium high and mix until the meringue is cool to touch.

Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter a few tablespoons at a time. Whip at medium-high speed until thick. Split the vanilla bean in half, and scrape out the seeds using the back of your knife. Add to the buttercream, and mix until evenly dispersed.

Finding Time

2012-05-19T10:27:00.002-05:00

I heard what they said. I didn't believe them.

They said once you make food your profession, you will no longer have the passion/desire/need to cook or bake in your free time. You will lose a hobby. I thought they were crazy. They may have been right...but now I am fighting back.

I forgot for a minute that free time spent in the kitchen behind the stove stirring lemon curd, or at the counter kneading bread dough, is soothing for my soul, and good for my sanity. After long hours in a restaurant kitchen, I thought that curling up on the couch and ordering Thai food was the only cure for my exhaustion and my restlessness. I was so, so wrong.

Wednesdays are one of my days off, and this week I decided I wasn't going to waste it by "relaxing" or cleaning, or sleeping. Instead, I spent the day where I feel most at home (second only to my real home), in my little apartment kitchen, baking up a storm. At the end of the day, when I sat down to enjoy a creamy almond mascarpone tart with tangy apricots and crunchy almond brittle, I felt better than I have in a long while.

So when my mind plays tricks on me and makes me think that the last thing on earth I want to do is bake some more, I will remind myself that it's all lies. My career in the this field is dependent on trying new things, tasting new combinations, testing out new techniques, and if I ever lose the desire to do that, then I am in trouble. I don't like being in trouble.

Honey Mascarpone Tart with Almond Crust, Apricot Compote, and Almond Glass
adapted heavily from bourke street bakery and epicurious
makes 1-9inch round, or 12 inch rectangular tart

Almond Pate Brisee Crust

400 grams (14 oz) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
100 grams (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup water, chilled
665 grams (1 lb 7 1/2 oz) all purpose flour1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract

Remove butter from fridge 20 minutes before mixing.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, water, and vinegar, stir to aid the dissolving of the sugar. Set aside in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then, stir again to completely dissolve sugar.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse in one second bursts about 3-4 times until butter is cut in and evenly dispersed. You should have visible chunks of butter in your flour mixture, this is where the flakiness comes from.

Pour mixture into a large bowl and make a little well in the middle of the flour. Pour the vinegar water mixture into the well, along with the almond extract, and gently mix liquids into the flour with a fork. When liquid is evenly dispersed, dump dough out onto a clean surface and knead gently a few times, just until dough comes together in one cohesive ball. It may be a bit shaggy or falling apart, but that's okay, while it is resting the moisture will bind everything together.

Cut ball of dough in half and shape each half into a disc about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. (use one for this tart, and you can freeze the other half for later use) Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, or overnight. Take dough out of fridge about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Place one of your discs of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to a 1/8 inch flat disc. Always start in the center of the disc and roll outward, turning the disc 30 degrees after each roll to get an even thickness throughout. If you are using a rectangular pan, you will want to roll out your dough into a longer strip instead of a round circle. Carefully move the dough to your tart pan and press evenly into all corners, pinching off the excess.

Dock with a fork (meaning poke a bunch of tiny holes in the bottom of the tart crust with a fork) and freeze for twenty minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Place a piece of tin foil over your tart shell, pressing it down to fit the form of your tart, and fill with beans or rice or pie weights. Blind bake your tart for 20 minutes, flipping the pan front to back halfway through. Remove the pie weights and tin foil and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Let cool completely.

Mascarpone Filling

8 oz mascarpone cheese
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sour cream, the sugar, and the honey and mix until incorporated. Add the mascarpone, lemon zest, and vanilla and whip until smooth. Spread evenly into cooled tart shell and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Apricot Compote

4-5 apricots, pitted and cut into eighths
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons water
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use a vanilla bean if you have one on hand)

Place the apricots, honey, water, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer just until apricots are softened and starting to break down. Let cool for a few minutes then stir in the vanilla, or if you are using a bean scrape the seeds into the compote and stir in. You can use this slightly warm, or chilled.

Almond Glass

sliced almonds
corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place a pile of sliced almonds on a silpat lined baking sheet and spread them out into a single thin layer. drizzle corn syrup over the almonds, making sure to cover them all. This should be a light coating, it will spread and fill in any gaps while it is baking. Place in the oven and bake until the syrup caramelizes to a amber brown color. Let cool completely, then break into shards. Store in an airtight container.

Spring Has Sprung...or Popped?

2012-04-17T21:40:00.000-05:00

A cake pop and a gin and tonic totally counts as dinner right? It may be a Tuesday night, but with a new job comes a new schedule and mid-week has become my weekend. It may have been apparent that I haven't updated here in a while and I have a good reason for that.

A whirlwind of a month and an amazing job offer that materialized out of thin air meant little time for sleep, free time, or even time to catch my sanity. Life is starting to settle into its new groove, but unfortunately my body and mind are lagging a bit behind. So on my Friday, all I want to do is curl up on the couch have a strong cocktail and enjoy a sugar bomb that is the cake pop.

When Easter rolled around this year, I found that I actually needed to think about where to go and what to make. The last two years, I have been out of the country, most likely underwater doing some scuba diving or laying on a beach on a tropical island. Sigh...not this year, I guess that's the price I pay for working in a restaurant kitchen. Instead, I was able to spend a lovely afternoon with my boyfriend's family and found an excuse to make some cute easter-y desserts.

I think I have found my new favorite cake pop flavor, and from the sounds of pure satisfaction coming from all who ate them, I think most are in agreement; banana cake pops are a winner. The banana lends a nice rich flavor without being overly sweet, the candy coating takes care of that. Combined with a buttery and once again, not overly sweet, italian meringue buttercream, the banana cake pops will definitely be making more appearances on my cake pop flavor roll.

Banana Cake
recipe adapted from the Food Librarian
(makes enough for about 40 cake pops)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter (4 oz., room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment and lightly coat with non-stick spray.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then the egg. Scrape the bowl down very well after each addition.

On low speed, mix in the mashed bananas. Add half the dry ingredients, and mix just until incorporated, then add the sour cream, followed by the rest of the dry ingredients, again scraping the bowl in between each addition.

Pour into your prepared cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or a finger pressed gently on the top of the cake springs back fully.

Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then let cool completely on a wire rack.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

4 oz egg whites

8 oz granulated sugar

2 oz water

12 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed

1 tsp vanilla

Place your egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Heat the sugar and water in a small sauce pan over high heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring the sugar to a boil and continue cooking until it reaches 230 degrees F. When it hits that temperature, turn your stand mixer to medium to begin mixing the egg whites until they are foamy. When the temperature hits 240 F, remove from heat and slowly pour into the egg whites on a medium low speed. As soon as all of the sugar is in, turn the mixer to medium high and mix until the meringue is cool to touch. Add the butter a few tablespoons at a time and whip until thick, which may take a few minutes.

To make the cake pops, see this post for detailed instructions! Happy Spring!!

Egyptian Lentil Soup & Chive Flatbreads

2012-02-05T18:10:00.000-06:00

I feel like I should rename this blog 'The Cake and Soup Blog'. It seems as though all I have been working on lately is cake, and now that life is finally calming down, all I want to do is hibernate in my kitchen and cook up a big batch of soup. So this weekend, I had my first Sunday off in what seems like about a year, that is what I did.

I love ordering lentil soups from Mediterranean or Indian take out places, and for some reason I have only ever cooked with lentils once. This is just WRONG. So Sunday morning, with coffee and the latest issue of Food & Wine in hand, I hit up the bulk section at whole foods and set about to make a pureed red lentil soup (I also decided I needed two pounds of quinoa and wheat berries, my checking account shrivels up with fear whenever I even drive past whole foods).

Ingredients in hand, I made my way home and pretended it was actually cold outside. This soup is so comforting, smooth and creamy, with just a hint of heat, it almost made me believe it was winter. (Can you tell I am a little bitter about this sorry excuse for "winter" we are having here in Chicago??) Accompanied by some crunchy roasted chickpeas and some homemade chive flatbread, this meal will definitely be made again and again when I am in need of a little warmth.

Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
adapted from Food & Wine magazine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
2 large carrots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon hot curry powder
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups red lentils (if you can't find red lentils, you can use a different color, you just won't have this beautiful color and it might change the cooking times)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot or dutch oven (as always I used my trusty 14-quart LeCrueset for this task since I made a double batch but an 8-10 quart pot will do) melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and saute until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, chili powder, and curry powder and stir to coat the veggies with the spices. Cook for a few minutes to toast the spices. Add the tomatoes and the stock and bring to a simmer. Season generously with salt and pepper and add the lentils. Simmer for about 30-40 minutes, until lentils and vegetables are very soft.

In a few batches, puree the soup in a food processor until completely smooth. Transfer back to pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you like it a bit more spicy, you can add a little cayenne pepper and more black pepper.

Serve with flatbread wedges and top with a bit of Greek yogurt mixed with lemon juice. I also garnished the soup with some roasted chickpeas and fresh chives. There are millions of recipes out there for roasted chickpeas, but basically just rinse and dry off some canned chickpeas (or my preferred name, garbanzo beans), toss them with a bit of olive oil and whatever seasonings you like, and roast them on a baking sheet in a really hot oven (400 F) until they are crispy. You don't need a recipe for that do you? No, you don't, I have faith in you. I just added all of the spices that I used in the soup along with some garlic powder and they were a perfect compliment to the creamy soup and tangy yogurt.

Chive Flatbreads
adapted from Food Network

2 packages instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water (aim for 90-100 degrees or just around body temperature, it will activate the yeast, don't go too hot or you can risk killing the yeast)
1 teaspoon oil or non-stick cooking spray

In a food processor, combine yeast, sugar, flour, and salt, pulse to combine. Slowly stream in the water while processor is on and mix just until a ball starts to form. Turn dough out onto a clean surface, and knead with the heels of your hands until the dough forms a nice elastic ball. This will probably take at least 10 minutes, so be patient. When the dough is ready you should be able to gather it into a tight ball and when you press your finger in, the imprint should spring back. If the imprint does not spring back at all, keep kneading. When the dough is just about ready, knead in the chives until thoroughly mixed in.

When the dough is fully kneaded, spray a glass or metal bowl with non stick cooking spray or coat lightly with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn over a few times to coat. Cover the bowl with a slightly damp towel and place in a warm area for about an hour to rise. It should double in size. You can tell if the dough has sufficiently rested when you poke your finger into it and the imprint stays and does not spring back at all.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and punch it down to get all the excess air out of it. Cut the dough into about two ounce pieces and gather each piece into a ball. Place each ball under a damp towel while you are working on the rest, this will prevent them from drying out and forming a skin, plus it will give the gluten time to relax and make it easier to roll them out. When all the dough has been portioned and shaped, let rest under the towel for 10-20 minutes. After they have rested, heat a dry grill pan over medium-high heat. Take one or two of the piece (depending on how big your grill pan is) and roll each out to about 1/8 inch thickness (pretty thin). I had two ounce pieces and I rolled them out to be about six inches long by four inches wide. Place each flatbread on the grill pan and grill until it starts to puff up, then flip to cook the other side. It takes about 3-4 minutes total per flatbread if you have your pan hot enough.

Store in an airtight container for just a day or two. If you don't plan on eating them all within a day or so, put the remainder in the freezer as there is no fat in these breads and they get hard a chewy very quickly. I got about 15 flatbreads out of this recipe.

CH-CH-CH-Changes

2012-01-17T18:11:00.015-06:00

I promise that this will be the only post title this year that references a David Bowie song...

Another January has rolled around, and yet again I find myself in a complete state of change. Pastry school is complete, I officially put in two weeks notice at my serving job, and work at the bakery has exploded (in a good way). In about a week I will be working just ONE job for the first time in a few years, no balancing schedules, no classes, no homework, no job searching, I can finally breath a sigh of relief.

More importantly, I will finally have some free time back in my life. Time to spend with the ones I love, time to spend on myself, and time to spend in the kitchen. MY kitchen. My blog posts no longer will be dictated by what I was making that week in class, or what I was able to snag from the community shelves at school (though I will miss that benefit).

With all the craziness of finals and the holidays, somehow I still found a bit of time to make a few cakes for freelance clients and thought I'd share them with you now.

The first one that you see in the post was actually my final project for pastry school. We basically had free range on our cake, it just had to be 3 tiers. I have lusted after the gray and yellow color scheme for quite a while now, and jumped at the chance to finally use it on a cake.

This next cake was made for a dude. I had never made a cake for a guy before, and his mother who bought it for him asked me to make a 'manly' cake. I have a tendency to put flowers on everything so this was a tricky one. I decided to go with a neutral color theme and try out the plaid trend that I keep seeing everywhere. Overall, I think it was a success, he wasn't embarrassed to be photographed with it at dinner, and enjoyed eating it even more.

Lastly, a very special request. This cake was for a golden birthday (dude cake #2). The birthday boy and his wife apparently have some inside joke about hostess cupcakes, I didn't press for information, but so much so that they served the treats at their wedding. I was asked to make a giant golden hostess cupcake. So that's what I did.

Here's kicking off a new year. New goodies, new topics, new experiences, new routine, new directions. Happy 2012 everyone.

Blue Christmas

2011-12-09T13:33:00.001-06:00

Its almost as if I willed it to snow last night by making tons of teeny tiny snowflakes out of gumpaste. Is that possible? I wonder what else I could use this power for....

It FINALLY snowed last night. I have been having a little trouble getting into the Christmas spirit with the warm and/or dreary weather this month. The minnesota girl in me craves snow as soon as mid-november hits, and this year has been a huge disappointment so far. Maybe thats why I made a blue cake last night, I think I need to start making big white fluffy cakes with mounds of snow piled on top. It will be like my own personal voo-doo cake, used for good, not evil. Unless you hate snow I guess. Sorry in advance.

I made this cake in my second to last (yay!!) cake decorating class last night, and this morning, instead of bearing down and finishing my final costing project (booooring) I decided to make some matching cupcakes! Lucky for you, I actually took some step by step pictures so you can see how I made the toppers. No, I did not freehand pipe those snowflakes, you think I am THAT crazy? Here is an easy way to get your template transferred onto your fondant to pipe over so you can get a clean, consistent design.

First, roll out your fondant to your desired thickness, I usually go to about 1/16 inch, pretty thin for these.

Cut out your circle, and make sure to dust a good amount of powdered sugar underneath it so it doesn't stick to your work surface. Peel the excess fondant away.

Take your paper template (that you already had cutout, because you are more prepared than I am) and gently press it into the fondant circle.

Use the pads of your fingers to gently rub all of the edges so you get a nice clean imprint. Don't press too hard or you will distort your circle and you run the risk of the paper sticking to the fondant.

Carefully peel away the paper and you are ready to pipe your design.

I used a 00 tip to pipe, I wouldn't go much bigger than a 0 or 1 if you are doing something this small and intricate. Also, I used buttercream to pipe because it's what I had on hand, but you could also use royal icing, you would probably get better line quality that way.

Don't worry if you mess up a little, just let the frosting dry for a few seconds then gently scrape it off with a gumpaste tool or exacto knife.

You can skip this next step if you want, but I think adding a few small sprinkles, strategically placed, makes for a nice finished clean look. Plus the sprinkles hide the ugly corners. Not that you'd have ugly corners, but if you did, this would help.

If your hands are naturally always sweaty like mine, you should just be able to press your finger into each sprinkle and gently press them into the buttercream. You can also use a tweezers if you are a rockstar like that.

Let these dry for a few hours, then gently press them onto your piped frosting.

Voila! Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial, I think this is my first go at one of these. I can say it is trickier than it looks to take pictures with one hand while piping with the other.

Let it snow, let it snow, and here's hoping yours isn't a blue christmas.

Is that a chartreuse rose?

2011-11-21T14:23:00.000-06:00

There is nothing wrong with a chartreuse rose. Who says you have to make lifelike fondant flowers in lifelike colors? Is there a rule book somewhere that I am not aware of? I will make lime green roses if I want to make lime green roses.

Maybe I am just a little extra feisty after the week that I have had. You know those food network competitions where they build the huge beautiful chocolate sculptures and the clock is ticking down and the chefs are going to put the final touches on and the thing crashes to the ground into a million little pieces in what seems like slow motion? I can officially say I know how that feels. A whole quarter of chocolate work and nothing to show for it. I didn't even get a picture before it was destroyed by a too warm chocolate kitchen. It capped off a already crummy week and drained my resolve to keep a happy face on and work through the all the crap.

I don't think I have ever been more ready for the holidays than this year. Between the stress of classes wrapping up for good, a possibly totaled car, being sick every other week, all I want to do is be home with my family and friends, not worrying about real life for a while. Soon, I will be sitting at the dinner table surrounded by all my favorite people, eating delicious turkey, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and cheesy corn, drinking some beaujolais nouveau, and just taking it all in.

There is just something about sharing a meal with the ones you love to set everything right, if even just for a little while. When I get back from home, its back into cake making and work mode full force until after new years. I am actually very happy that I have quite a few side projects lined up, even though I am incredibly busy. The cakes and desserts that I make for freelance projects are always the most fun, and the ones that I can pour my creativity into. No matter how many hours I put in, or long, late nights I stay up working on a cake, it's pretty much always worth it in the end.

To give someone a original, delicious, and gorgeous cake that you designed and created with your two hands is one amazing feeling. And that feeling can mean a lot when other things in your life aren't going so well.

I hope everyone reading has an absolutely wonderful thanksgiving and has some time to spend with the people in their lives who make them happy. Or at the very least I hope you get to eat a lot of mashed potatoes.

Autumn Cake

2011-11-06T21:28:00.000-06:00

At one point this week, I had four fondant cakes of different shapes and sizes sitting in my kitchen. I can't bring myself to throw them away, but I don't know what to do with them. Maybe I will just let them petrify and make a cake shrine in our second bedroom. That probably won't happen, but it's an option. It's hard to dump something in the trash that you spent such a long time on, but nobody wants to eat two-week old cake (not that they will admit anyway). This cake luckily found a home this weekend for a friend's birthday and wasn't sacrificed to the garbage bin.

I am in my last quarter of pastry school, and one of my classes is a cake decorating class that focuses on fondant cakes. Unfortunately, I am not learning as much as I had hoped from this class, so I had to change my way of thinking about it. I now look forward to class as a chance to play and experiment for five hours a week with unlimited materials and lots of fun tools. This week our only restriction was an autumn themed cake, and since I love fall, I was really looking forward to it. I wanted to make a clean and classy fall cake, one that wasn't covered in pumpkins and marzipan fruit, perhaps something that could even be used as a wedding cake. We got to play with the airbrush machine to make more realistic leaves (Santa, if you are listening, Bria has been a very good girl this year and would like an airbrush machine for Christmas).

One great tip I did pick up this week was that I should start hoarding my egg cartons and always be on the lookout for other containers that can be reused to hold gum paste flowers and figures. Drying petals or leaves in a round cup gives them more dimension and movement than if you were to let them dry flat. You can purchase little round cups made specifically for this purpose, but why spend the money when there are things already in your house that work just as well? I happen to shop as Costco, and when honeycrisp apples came out this year, I bought a huge container of them. As I was reaching for the last one this week, I realized that the plastic clam shell they came in was perfect for flower shaping.

A drawback of using bowls that I had around the apartment to hold flower layers was that most of them had a flat bottom, but these apple cups are perfectly spherical. I cannot wait to test them out. Next time you are at the grocery store, check out the produce section, there are all kinds of egg carton-like packaging in different shapes and sizes that may be very useful in your cake creating endeavors.

Hope you enjoyed your extra hour of sleep/play/work this weekend. Happy fall!

Roasted Rutabaga Beer Cheese Soup

2011-10-30T19:41:00.002-05:00

Naaaa na na SOUP!! Na na, na naaa, na na. Naaaaaa na na SOUP!

So there is a bass-laden jock jam's song stuck in my head with a stadium of screaming fans in the background, and they are yelling SOUP instead of HEY! It must be fall.

This is how excited I get over soup season. I may or may not actually shimmy around the apartment humming this to myself while my 13-quart le crueset is full to the brim with bubbling soup. Those of you who know me probably aren't very shocked by this startling confession.

So let's talk about this soup. It's got beer, it's got cheese, and it's got buttery roasted rutabagas and parsnips. That's enough vegetables to allow you to feel like it's good for you.

Beer Cheese Soup with Roasted Root Vegetables

makes 12-16 servings

you can halve this recipe if you like, it makes a lot of soup, but I almost never make small batches so that I can eat it for lunch for a few days and freeze a bunch.

1 large rutabaga, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
4-5 small-medium parsnips, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large vidalia onions, diced small
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 12 oz bottles of beer, preferable a full flavored lager or ale
6 cups vegetable stock (use the good stuff that comes in the cartons, not the 99 cent cans, you want the full flavor of the vegetable stock)
2 sticks ( 1 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup flour
8 cups whole milk
2 large bay leaves
3.5 lbs cheese, shredded (I used a mixture of Monterrey jack, white cheddar, and extra sharp cheddar)
3-4 tablespoons chipotle-adobo sauce, depending on how spicy you want it
2-3 teaspoons salt, to taste
1-2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
few handfuls of italian parsely, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss the diced rutabagas and parsnips with olive oil to coat and season well with some of the salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a lined baking sheet and roast until browned and cooked through, about 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a large stockpot or dutch oven melt 4 tablespoons of the butter (1/2 stick) over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves and sweat until the onions are very soft and translucent, about 20-30 minutes (if you are doing a half recipe, this probably wont take as long). At this point I opted to remove the onions with a slotted spoon into a bowl and add back into the soup a bit later. I felt that making a good roux would be easier if I didn't have to worry about mashing up the onions.

So, turn off the heat, and using a slotted spoon, remove the onions to a bowl and set aside, leaving whatever liquids are left in the pan. In a small saucepan, gently heat your milk over medium-low heat. You do not need to boil it, you just want it hot to add to your roux. Add the rest of the butter to your stockpot and melt over low heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add the flour and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and continue cooking until it is completely combined and slightly thickened, just a minute or two.

In a few additions, add the cheese to the milk mixture and stir over low heat until cheese has completely melted. Add the beer, vegetable stock, and adobo sauce, and bring to a very gentle simmer. You want to be careful not to scorch your cheese. Add your onions and roasted vegetables to the soup, season with salt and pepper, and cook over low heat about 30-40 minutes until soup is nice and thick.

Make sure to taste the soup a few times while it is simmering, you may need to add more salt and pepper, or perhaps some more adobo sauce. You want to have a little heat at the end, but not have it overwhelmingly taste like chipotle peppers. Also, if the beer you used is bitter (I used an IPA the first time I tried this soup) you can add a few big spoonfuls of sugar to balance it out.

Garnish with fresh parsley, and serve with some n ice crusty bread. To take the soup to another level, grill some bratwursts and serve them sliced on top of the soup. It almost makes you feel like you are in Wisconsin, which is a good thing entirely.

If you have a killer soup recipe, please please please leave it in the comments, I am always on the lookout for new ones! Happy Fall!

Topsy Turvy Mummy Cake

2011-10-18T22:13:00.013-05:00

I don't know what it is about Halloween, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite food holidays. It is not necessarily the meals associated with Halloween that I love, but as an aspiring pastry chef, the treats and sweets that come along with this holiday are just so much fun. Pumpkins, ghosts, witches, mummies, bats, and monsters, with these creatures the possibilities for fun desserts, spooky to silly, are endless.

Since I no longer let myself buy five bags of Halloween candy (I have no trick or treaters and therefore would just eat it all myself) I like to make something from scratch to fill the void left by the lack of bite-sized butterfingers.

After last Halloween's very popular, and delicious, ghost and pumpkin cake pops, I wanted to have a little fun again this October. My cake decoration class's topsy turvy cake assignment was the perfect vehicle for a whimsical Halloween treat.

Topsy turvy cakes aren't as hard as they look, and didn't take very much longer than a regular cake. There is a great tutorial on how to carve and frost a topsy turvy cake over here at My Sweet and Saucy. I cut, frosted, and then covered the tiers in fondant, and then used a gauze patterned rolling pin on strips of fondant and arranged them randomly all over the cake.

The bats are cut from black gum paste with wires put in before they were dry. We used purchased cake, but I would go for a more appropriate cake flavor such as pumpkin, gingerbread, or even a spooky red or black velvet.

Here are some great cake recipes that would be perfect for this type of cake:

Gingerbread Cake
Black Velvet Cake
Red Velvet Cake
Pumpkin Cake

I hope your Halloween is a little spooky, a little silly, and a lot delicious.

Banana Streusel Muffins

2011-10-04T20:07:00.000-05:00

I have a love-hate relationship with bananas. I love the taste of them, love how well they go with peanut butter, and I love that they are a healthy, easy to grab snack. The thing I don't love so much about them is that when I eat them raw, they give me a stomach ache. It's tragic really. Now, despite this, I keep buying them. I must be a glutton for punishment. I keep finding myself with a small bunch of them in my grocery cart, or sitting next to me in the car on my way to work, just willing me to eat them. So I will get about two bananas into my purchase and then tell myself not to eat any more so as to avoid the stomach ache, which results in those poor bananas going bad on my counter.

What to do you ask? I have discovered a solution. If I cook the bananas prior to eating them, no stomach ache. Unfortunately, this will probably negate the health benefits, because all I want to put them in is cake and banana bread and muffins, which all have mucho amounts of butter and sugar, but at least those poor things don't go to waste. I am really just trying to look out for the bananas, you know?

These muffins provided the perfect vessel for my abundance of bananas. They are no ordinary banana muffin though. I topped them with a banana chip walnut streusel to take them up an extra notch. With the hint of cinnamon and slightly crunchy topping, these have provided me with delightful breakfasts this week. They are both filling and easy to grab on the go, but the best part is that they are so incredibly quick to make.

Banana Walnut Muffins with Banana Chip Streusel
makes 12 muffins
adapted from Jenny Steffins

Streusel:

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons banana chips, chopped finely
2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped finely
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt

Muffins:

2 large very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Make the topping. Mix the flour, sugar, walnuts, banana chips, cinnamon, and salt together in a small bowl. Add the melted butter and mix until well combined. Set aside.

Peel the bananas and place them in the bowl of stand mixer fitter with the whisk attachment. Mix at low speed until bananas are mashed. Add the sugar and mix on medium-high speed for a few minutes until a bit frothy and sugar beings to dissolve.

Mix in the butter, egg, and vanilla, and mix until well incorporated, scraping down the sides a few times. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just until incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer and add the walnuts, folding them in with a spatula. Divide between 12 muffin cups and top with 1-2 tablespoons of streusel.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until muffins spring back with pressed gently with your finger and are golden brown.

Let cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container at room temp for a few days, or freeze.

On the mend

2011-09-21T19:19:00.001-05:00

Breathe in.....breathe out. Sometimes I forget these two simple tasks. Taking the time to take it all in has been a lost art as of late. I looked up from my powdered sugar - covered counter top one day, and the summer had ended without my knowledge. My favorite time of year was passing me by without a second to enjoy it. That transition period between the hot humid summer, and the crisp cool fall, that's the best part, and I was missing it.

Not this week. I am taking the time this week to sit on my deck with a big spicy glass of zinfandel, in a big cozy sweater, and read or write, or do nothing at all besides sit, stare, and sip my wine. I just wrapped up another quarter of school, and it all finally caught up to me. The five hours of precious sleep a night, the guilt of not having talked to my parents or friends in weeks, the constant streaming to do list in my head, it can wreak havoc on one's body.

So this week, I am on the mend. Catching up with the emails and the phone calls, catching up on my sleep, taking some time to relax, and putting some good food into my body, that is all that is on my to do list now.

This cake, although I made it over a month ago and am just now getting around to posting it, would be near the top of my list of nourishing foods right now. It is just chocked full of blackberries, so you almost feel like you are eating something healthy (even though we all know it is still a cake). With a little bit of ice cream, and it is perfect for those lingering warm afternoons, and ever so slightly chilly evenings. Here's to the last days of summer, and a big warm welcome to the autumn months.

Blackberry Buttermilk Upside Down Cake
recipe from Bon Apetit Magazine

The original recipe calls for making this cake in a deep spring-form pan, I made it in two 9 inch cake pans for a thinner cake. I actually liked the thinness of my cakes, because there was a higher blackberry to cake ratio that way. If you would like to use both of them, you could sandwich some freshly whipped cream in between the two stacked layers, or just serve a single layer by itself, with some ice cream like I did.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/3 cups cake flour, sifted
2 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/3 cups sugar + 1/4 cup for dusting blackberries
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean
zest of 1 large orange
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment, and then butter and flour pan. Toss berries with the 1/4 cup sugar, and spread them in an even layer on the bottom of each pan.

Split the vanilla bean and with the back of a knife, scrape out the seeds and mix them with the buttermilk. Set aside.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and remaining sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl and mixing well after each addition. Beat in the orange zest.

On low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk, then another 1/3 of the flour, and the other half of the buttermilk, scraping down the bowl and mixing well after each addition. Mix in the last 1/3 of the flour just until incorporated. Split the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the top for even cooking.

Bake cakes on middle rack until golden brown, and the cake springs back when pushed gently with a fingertip, or a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 30-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack with the berries facing up and let cool completely.

Another Brick in the Wall - A 100th Post

2011-08-18T23:46:00.001-05:00

I must be crazy. In a good way, yes, but crazy nonetheless. I thought that working two jobs and going to school three nights a week would be a fine and dandy idea, but let me tell you, it's a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. At one point this week when my alarm went off at 6:00 it took me a good hard minute to figure out if I was getting up in the AM to go to work or if I was waking up from a nap in the PM to go to class. I am also crazy for sketching up this Pink Floyd cake even though I have only worked with fondant oh...twice ever? You can put another tick in the crazypants box for staying up all night sticking little teeny tiny fondant bricks together for 50 pink-floyd themes cupcakes.

But you know what? I revel in the crazy. I am at my best when I am stressed out and way too busy. I feel better about myself when I have stuff to do, it makes me feel more grown up and responsible. Just getting up in the morning with enough time to make breakfast and coffee before work makes me feel like I accomplished something. It's sad, yes, but its the little things in life, am I right? It also helps that I actually LOVE going to class, and now, going to work. I am two weeks into my new job at a specialty cakes bakery, and each day I think to myself, I can't believe someone is actually paying me to do this all day. This is awesome. Those thoughts are what is going to sustain me over the next few months with this insane schedule of mine. Hopefully my body clock will adjust to it's new pattern, and I can make time for relaxation and spending time with the ones I love. Until then, bring on the crazy.

This is my 100th post on this blog. It seems nuts to think that it has been two years since I started writing, and when I look back it makes me laugh when I realize how much has changed over that time. I wouldn't do a thing differently either. Thanks to all my lovely readers, your comments brighten my day, and without them, the motivation to sit down and write a post at 1:30 in the morning just wouldn't be there.

Onto the cake! One of my co-workers approached me a few weeks back and said he was throwing a Pink Floyd themed birthday party for one of his friends and if I could make a cake and some cupcakes. I of course said yes, even though I wasn't sure when I would possibly have time to make all of it, or even how I was going to make the damn thing. Sure I can totally cover a pointy cake with fondant, and have a giant rainbow sticking out if the side unsupported, why not?

This was by far the most difficult thing I have ever made, but it was so worth it to see the grins on peoples faces when I delivered it. 'Thats a cake??' is such a compliment. The cake is black velvet with a white chocolate buttercream frosting. A small departure from the typical cream cheese frosting, but it turns out its another great pairing.

Black Velvet Cupcakes & White Chocolate Swiss Buttercream
frosting adapted from Krissy's Creations
makes 24 cupcakes

Cake:

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 - 1 ounce bottle of black liquid food coloring

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Butter and flour your cake pans and set aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, mix the food coloring and cocoa powder until completely incorporated. Set aside.

In a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer) cream the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until thoroughly combined, being sure to scrape down the sides. Add the vanilla and the red food coloring-cocoa mixture and beat well to combine. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beat on medium speed until combined, then add 1/2 of the buttermilk, and beat until incorporated. Add another 1/3 of the flour, beat well, then the other half of the buttermilk, scraping down the sides after each addition. Finish with the last 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

In a small bowl, mix the vinegar and baking soda, and immediately add to batter. Mix on high speed for just a few seconds until evenly dispersed, and pour right away into lined cupcake pans. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick entered into the center comes out clean.

Frosting:

5 egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 cup butter (4 sticks) room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

8 oz. white chocolate, melted and cooled to room temp

In a medium sized heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine the egg white, sugar, and salt. Whisk constantly until hot to touch and foamy, it should reach about 160 degrees F.

Transfer mixture to stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium-high speed until completely cooled. It should form a shiny meringue with stiff peaks, and it should take about 5-10 minutes. Once mix is completely cool, turn mixer to medium add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each incorporation. Once all of the butter is incorporated, turn speed to high and whip until buttercream comes together into a smooth creamy frosting.

Pipe onto cupcakes, and decorate as you please.

Here's hoping for another 100 fun, satisfying, and delicious posts.

Bacon Marmalade BLT's

2011-08-07T12:57:00.001-05:00

Two words: bacon marmalade. I could just stop this post right there, because if you are anything like me, you will hear those two words and immediately stop what you are doing to make a big batch of it.

In case you are still reading, let me tell you a little bit about these amazing sandwiches. A few weeks ago I was eating at one of my favorite lunch spots and the salad I ordered came with crostini with bacon marmalade. I wasn't sure what was in it exactly, but it was a revelation. I figured out the basic ingredients from the taste, but as soon as I got home I got on google and did some research. None of the recipes I found quite summed up what I was hoping to get out of my bacon marmalade making experience, so I pulled some ingredients from a few recipes and from my memory of lunch that day, and just went for it. It was good. Too good. So good I couldn't stop eating it with a spoon. It was even better the second time I made it, tweaking the recipe ever so slightly.

It's great eaten directly from the jar with a spoon, but it's better served on crusty bread with goat cheese, and even better smeared on toast with heirloom tomatoes, homemade mayonnaise, and butter lettuce. This really takes your average BLT to a new level. It is sticky and sweet and lightly spiced, and is nicely balanced out with the fresh tomatoes and lettuce and slightly tangy mayonnaise. Now I am wishing I hadn't given away my last jar of it to my classmates...guess I will just have to make some more.

Bacon Marmalade

1 1/2 lbs thick cut applewood smoked bacon, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 large vidalia onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup white wine
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup coffee
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
large pinch ground cloves
small pinch ground nutmeg
salt and lots of fresh ground pepper to taste

In a heavy saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat, saute the bacon slowly until just crisp. Don't cook the bacon too fast or it can burn or over cook and become crumbly. Remove the bacon to a paper towel -lined plate and drain all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pan. Add the onion and cook over medium-high heat until soft and starting to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 3-5 minutes until garlic is soft but not yet browning.

Add the white wine and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced a bit, about 3-5 minutes, add the sugar, coffee, molasses, syrup, allspice, paprika, cayenne, nutmeg, cloves, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Add the bacon back to the pot, bring it up to a boil, then reduce heat to low so that the mixture is on a gentle simmer and cook for about an hour to an hour and a half, until the marmalade is thick and sticky. It will thicken more as it cools.

Store in jars or sealed container in fridge for a week or two. It also freezes very well. Before using, you can pop it in the microwave just for about 15 seconds to loosen it up a bit and be spreadable.

Triple Chocolate Ganache Torte

2011-07-16T14:14:00.001-05:00

Actually, if you include the little chocolate jimmies around the bottom, it would be a quadruple chocolate torte, but who's counting anyway?

I am desperately trying to get caught up here on the blog and the other site I write for, Honest Cooking, before things get crazy and I start my pastry job. I have so many pictures of goodies that I want to share with all of you, but I am already having trouble finding time to sit down and get my writing on. I began my third quarter of school this week, and I can't believe how fast it is flying by. I have to say so long to all the tortes and cakes we have been focusing on for the first half of my schooling, and switch gears over to savories (meaning spending 4 hours mincing and julienning vegetables) and plated desserts.

We will get a sneak peek this quarter into the world of restaurant pastry production, and I can't wait. I have been pretty set that I want to be in a bakery and would never want to work on the line, but I am keeping an open mind and trying to soak up as much knowledge as humanly possible.

This chocolate torte was one of my favorites from last quarter, it was chocolate-ly, but not overly rich, and had nice strawberry surprise providing just a hint of fruitiness in the middle layer. The chocolate shavings on the top came from a really really thick hazelnut chocolate bar, but you can substitute smaller ones from any chocolate bar you have on hand. In class we used a 2-stage cake recipe with emulsified shortening, but since the vaseline-like fluid flex kind of squicks me out a little, I am going to give you my favorite devils food chocolate cake recipe instead.

Chocolate Ganache Torte
adapted from Zoe Bakes and Professional Baking

Cake:
3 cups granulated sugar
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/8 cups dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup hot coffee
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur

Butter and flour the sides of two 9" cake pans, and line bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and vegetable oil until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until thoroughly incorporated after each addition. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and wisk to combine.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. Add the hot coffee and amaretto and whisk until incorporated.

Fill each cake pan 2/3 the way full and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and center springs back when pressed gently with your finger, about 35-40 minutes.

Let cakes cool completely before assembling.

Ganache:
1 1/2 lb. heavy cream
1 1/2 lb. dark or bitter sweet chocolate, chopped

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat heavy cream over medium heat until it comes to a simmer, then pour over chocolate. Let sit for a minute or two, then gently whisk until smooth. Let ganache cool until it is a spreadable consistency. You can make this ahead of time and chill until ready to use. Just put the chilled ganache in a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment until it becomes soft and spreadable.

Strawberries:
6-8 strawberries, hulled and sliced thinly
1-2 tablespoons grand marnier
1 tablespoon sugar

Mix strawberries, grand marnier, and sugar in a small bowl and let sit at room temp for 10-15 minutes.

Assembly:
Slice each cake in half so you have four layers of cake. Place the first layer of cake on a flat plate or cake stand and spread a thin layer of chocolate ganache all the way to the edges. Place the second layer of cake on top, and again spread a thin layer of ganache to the edges. Arrange a single layer of strawberries over the ganache, and top with another layer of cake. Fill with ganache, and top the cake with the last layer. With the remaining ganache, cover the outside of the cake, if you find the ganache hard to spread at any point place bowl of ganache over gently simmering water for just a few seconds to help loosen it up.

Decorate as you wish with chocolate sprinkles and/or chocolate shavings. You could also garnish with a little cocoa powder and some strawberries. This would be made even better with a big ol scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Going Pro

2011-06-27T16:08:00.005-05:00

A little over a year ago, I began my journey into the pastry world. I made a few tarts for a bridal shower last spring, which turned into making a few hundred mini desserts for a wedding last summer, which then turned into my first wedding cake in the fall. Now, a year later I am halfway through pastry school and just finished my biggest baking accomplishment yet. A four tiered wedding cake for two of my best friends. Four flavors of cake, 200 macarons, and one amazing wedding weekend later, I have come to the realization of how much life has changed in just a few months.

For a long time, I was insistent that baking and cooking was just purely a hobby, and that no, I would not be pursuing it professionally. As a food blogger, I am sure we all get it in our heads at one point that we would love to make our hobby into a career, but always hearing and believing that it was not realistic. Just because you write about food, and love to bake, that does not make you a professional. This is true, but why should that stop you from turning baking/cooking from something you do in your free time, to a fulfilling and satisfying career? I heard an interview with funny man Conan O'Brien a few weeks ago and he said something along the lines of 'turning the thing you love into a career is like playing with fire'. It's true there is a chance that even though you love it, you may not be good enough at it to turn it into a profession. There is also the chance that if you start doing what was once fun and relaxing as a job day in and day out, it may turn into just that, a job that you no longer look forward to, and then you may have lost a hobby.

Well, I am taking that risk. Life is too short to be trucking along on a career path that you don't love. It's rare that people can find something that they enjoy and can make a living at, and if you happen to stumble across that, I think you have to go for it. This week I was offered a job at an amazing bakery working for an incredibly talented pastry chef, and I didn't even have to think about my answer. The calm and collected energy in that bakery and the attitude of the owner and the other employees there, made me instantly feel ready to jump in. I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life, because if I get to make things like this cake EVERY week, I think I will be one happy camper.

Now, about that cake and those macarons! All of the flavors turned out great, and they all kept their intense moistness even after a twelve hour journey up to northern Minnesota. Here are the recipes I used for the cake:

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Filling

Devil's Food Cake with Amaretto Buttercream Filling

Banana Cake with Banana Pudding Filling

I also made about 200 macarons, in four different flavors. Pistachio macs with white chocolate ganache, yellow macs with lemon curd, orange macs with peach marmalade buttercream, and my favorite, Earl Grey macarons with a orange buttercream.

If you follow this blog at all you know that I have attempted macarons many times, and have been getting pretty close to getting them perfect. Each time I make them they get better, but I made two key changes this time that I think have made all the difference. First, I am using a different recipe that I found at Not So Humble Pie, I found that it works better for me in my kitchen than the one I had been using previously. Secondly, and most importantly, I left my stand mixer in the cupboard and used my hand mixer for the meringue. Previous to this change, my meringue never got that shiny smooth firm peak that you are supposed to achieve when making the macs. It's a wonder they ever turned out at all before this.

Earl Grey Macarons with Orange Scented Buttercream

adapted from Not So Humble Pie

yields about 60-70 shells

120 grams almond meal

200 grams powdered sugar

100 grams egg whites

35 grams granulated sugar

tea from 2 earl grey tea bags

black food coloring

Line 3 baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.

In your food processor, combine the powdered sugar, almond meal and early grey tea, and pulse a few times to combine, until tea is ground finely. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.

In a medium bowl beat the egg whites on medium high speed with your hand mixer until foamy, then gradually add the sugar and beat until a nice glossy meringue forms. This should take a minute or two on a medium high speed. It should look like shaving cream. Add your food coloring, and mix on low speed just until incorporated.

Add half of the powdered sugar/almond mixture. With a large spatula, quickly fold the egg whites over themselves to let some of the air out, combining with the almond mixture. Add the rest of the almond mixture and fold gently until your batter has come together, no more than 50 strokes or so. You want a batter that if you let a clump fall off your spatula, it will spread and meld back into itself within ten seconds. If it stands up and does not spread at all, give the batter a few more folds until it does. My best advice here is to test it frequently when you think you are starting to get close to the end product, this will help you to not over mix your batter.

Spoon batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip (one with a fairly large opening). Pipe 1 1/2 inch rounds, evenly spaced, onto your baking sheet. Once all the macarons have been piped, pick up your baking sheet and drop it from about 6 inches above the counter. This impact will bring any air bubbles to the top of the macarons, and help them spread evenly. Do this a few times, then let the macarons sit at room temperature for about an hour before baking. This will create those nice crispy shells and will help prevent the tops from cracking while baking.

After the shells have rested, preheat oven to 290 degrees F, place one rack on the top shelf, and set an empty baking sheet on the rack. I have found this helps them not get too brown before they are done baking. Bake the macarons one pan at a time in the middle of the oven for about 18-20 minutes, depending on how big you piped them.

Honestly the best way to tell if they are done, is to sacrifice one of your shells, pop it off the parchment and break it open. If it is gooey inside, bake for another few minutes, if it is done, take them out. If they are overdone, not to worry, after filling them and letting them age in the refrigerator for a day or two, they will most likely still be delicious.

Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then using a small offset spatula if needed to assist, gently pop them off the silpat and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.

Orange Italian Meringue Buttercream

4 oz egg whites

8 oz granulated sugar

2 oz water

12 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed

1 tsp vanilla

zest of 1 large orange

Place your egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Heat the sugar and water in a small sauce pan over high heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring the sugar to a boil and continue cooking until it reaches 230 degrees F. When it hits that temperature, turn your stand mixer to medium to begin mixing the egg whites until they are foamy. When the temperature hits 240 F, remove from heat and slowly pour into the egg whites on a medium low speed. As soon as all of the sugar is in, turn the mixer to medium high and mix until the meringue is cool to touch. Add the butter a few tablespoons at a time and whip until thick. Add the orange zest and mix to incorporate.

Pipe about a teaspoon onto half of the macaron shells, and sandwich with another shell. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours before consuming. You can also freeze filled or unfilled macarons for a few weeks, just thaw filled macs in the fridge overnight.

***Thanks to Mad Chicken Studio for the beautiful pictures of the cake and macarons, and to La Petite Fleur for the lovely flowers***