Cherry Tea Cakes

Crepes

2017-02-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

In America, we celebrate the halfway point of winter by pulling a groundhog out of his burrow and asking him if there will be six more weeks of winter. It's a wacky grand old tradition.

In France, they mark the halfway point by eating crepes. They call it La Chandaleur. There are old wives tales for crepe flipping, storing crepes in your wardrobe, and many surrounding coins on crepes. This day can predict death, divorce, love, marriage, anything and everything.

But between eating crepes or watching a groundhog.........I'll always choose crepes.

La Chandeleur is always on February 2. It's 40 days after Christmas. Most importantly, it's delicious. To follow all the superstitions strictly would be difficult. If you want to read up on the many traditions, there are tons of articles to read. Me? I just want an excuse to eat crepes.

For these crepes I made a mixed berry and vanilla compote and shook a little powdered sugar over. It's a staple......and it' what I had in my freezer! Oops. I need to plan ahead next year! Or not. This was delicious as it was.

Without further ado, happy groundhog day! And happy crepe eating!

Crepes with Mixed Berry Vanilla Compote

for the crepes

1 1/3 cups whole milk
1 cup all purpose flour
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

for the compote
3 cups frozen mixed berries

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tablespoon water

Mix everything in a blender just until smooth.

Cover and chill at least 15 minutes.

While the batter is chilling make the compote. Put all the ingredients into a medium saucepan with 1 tbsp water. Stir and simmer gently over a low heat for 15 mins until warm and syrupy. Remove from heat and move on to making crepes.

Butter a nonstick skillet and heat over medium heat. Pour 2 tablespoons batter into pan and swirl to coat bottom. Cook until edge of crepe is light brown, about 1 minute. Loosen edges gently with spatula. Carefully turn crepe over. Cook until bottom begins to brown in spots, about 30 seconds.

Transfer to plate, fill with a few spoonfuls of compote then fold. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Repeat with remaining batter, buttering the pan as needed.

Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate Mug Cake

2016-12-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

Am I bit mug-cake-crazy lately? That's a thing right? If Pinterest is any indication, then yes. Yes, it is.

Can you blame me? I love my desserts that take a week to make, but some days you need cake STAT.

So what is the mug cake du jour? It's hot chocolate mug cake! I found a way to make mug cakes even faster than before! I've cut out a whole ten seconds for measuring cocoa and sugar. You're welcome!

This has everything. It's under five ingredients, less than a minute to make and microwavable. It's the trifecta!

I guess it could be gluten free, sugar free, or....well.... by that point it's pretty taste free. So let's just not, okay?

Part of the beauty here is you can use whatever flavor of hot chocolate mix you like! I've used vanilla, caramel and dark chocolate all with splendid results!

Now the question will come: What if my hot chocolate mix is in a can, not a packet? Well my dears, I'd say that's pretty easy. Whatever your can recommends for one cup of hot chocolate should be the equivalent.

Without further ado:

Hot Chocolate Mug Cake

1 packet hot chocolate mix
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon oil

Mix together and microwave 30 seconds, or until desired consistency.

Mug Cake

2016-08-19T12:44:00.000-04:00

With the Olympics drawing to a close my red, white and blue pride is showing! ....okay. Lame excuse. But any excuse for mug cake, right?

I've tried a many a mug cake. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my mug brownies, but mug cakes never come out like cake.....or food. They always seem to be a gloppy mess. Not so with this recipe! Look at that mug cake! That's a proper cake!

I couldn't help decorating with more sprinkles. Any excuse is a good excuse for mug cakes and sprinkles! I added a little cream cheese frosting for flair.

So. I know what you're thinking. SHUT UP AND GIMME SOME CAKE. Done.

The Mug Cake

3 tablespoons cake mix
2 tablespoons soda pop

Mix together and microwave for up to two minutes until fully cooked!

Want funfetti? Mix in some sprinkles! Be careful not to overmix!

Can be made with any mix and any soda for tons of fun flavors! The ones in this post were made with white cake mix and Sprite!

Enjoy!

Watercolor Cake

2016-08-17T12:15:00.001-04:00

I have a love hate relationship with this cake. I love it. It's lovely. It's also the easiest, fastest cake I've ever decorated. That's the rub. I spend hours, and hours, on other gorgeous cakes and this one takes ten minutes and is just as lovely!

This is the cake for people who think they can't do cakes. If you can blob on frosting and kinda sorta smooth it down, this is your cake!...she said, throwing a wink and a nudge at her sister.

Step One:

Start out with a crumb coated cake. I was using the same buttercream frosting that I use for my old fashioned sugar cookies. There is no need to get particularly smooth on the frosting. When it's covered, set it in the fridge for about half an hour or more.

Step Two:

Color your frosting. I made a light green, light purple, light blue, dark blue, pink, and yellow. For this particular cake you need more of the blues and greens, and very little of the purple, pink and yellow, but you can use any colors you want!

Blob on the frosting. Aren't you glad I'm being so specific? :) Blob away! For this cake I focused the darker colors at the bottom, lighter at the top. I only blobbed on the blues, green and purple to create a background.

Step Three:

Smooth it out. Smooth as much or as little as you like. I preferred a little as it looked more like water that way.

Step Four:

Add some small pink blobs. Directly under them, add a wavy line of green and blob wavy blob of dark blue. This created the impression of a water lily, pad and shadowed water.

I then slightly smoothed the green and blue. I wanted the colors the blend slightly into the background.

And as you'll see in the next picture, I piped on a tiny yellow dot on each flower to mimic the center or a waterlily or lotus.

Voila! A finished waterlily/watercolor cake! If you want to check out some of my other cake tutorials, you can see them all right here!

Not a big fan of waterlilies? Prefer daisies? Do the background in dark green, light green, white, and yellow. Replace pink blobs with white or yellow daisies. Make shadows with dark green, blob on little bits of black for centers. Easy peasy.

If you want a quick photo guide pin the photo collage below! You can skip reading all my "super specific" instructions. :) You don't need them! You can blob with the best of them!

Enjoy!

DIY Sequin Cake

2016-08-15T13:59:00.001-04:00

That there is a lovely cake a friend ordered for her mother's 50th birthday. Lucky mom! The inside is the raspberry lemon upside down cake I posted last week. And the sequins? All hand made sprinkles!

If you are thinking that making your own sprinkles is insane and would take forever, it's not true! But, you can shop online and buy all white quins. But it's not cheap!

I cut out all those sprinkles in an hour. It's worth it to save yourself endless coats of gold paint! All my sprinkles are basic white fondant circles made using a round "plunger" I bought at the craft store. You can also use the end of a piping tip! They airbrush perfectly! I used Wilton's edible spray gold that I bought at a craft store! Surprisingly easy for such a great looking cake!

Step One: Crumb Coat your cake! You can do a proper layer after. And you should. I didn't, but wished I had. Learn from my mistakes!

Step Two: You can stick the sprinkles straight into buttercream frosting without a problem! My frosting was the cream cheese frosting I use for old fashioned sugar cookies.

Step Three: Cover the whole cake with sprinkles! Just keep pressing them on! I occassionally would use a knife to flatten down the sequins. Pro tip: If you want to stick any sequins on individually, corn syrup makes an AMAZING edible glue!

Step Four: Get spraying! I used Wilton edible spray gold! I bought a can at the craft store and it worked perfectly! Wilton makes many nearly ten colors! I've also used their pearly white and it's lovely!

Step Five: Fix any gaps. This is when I'd spin it around and glue on a couple sequins using corn syrup to fill in any gaps I see. Spray again, and repeat as necessary!

Step Six: If you have a second layer you are using, stack em' up! My second layer is a dummy cake covered in marshmallow fondant.

Step Seven: Move your cake to it's serving platter and adorn as you like! I added a small gumpaste rose, but for the party we'll throw a blinged out 50 up top! Easy peasy!

Want to pin just the pictures all in one go? Here they are! Good luck with your own sequin cakes!

Raspberry Lemon Cake

2016-08-11T15:14:00.002-04:00

Upsidedown cakes are among my favorites. They are lazy, but spectacular! What's not to love? Think I'm kidding? Take a peak at the others I've made:

Apple Cider Upside down Cake

Blackberry Upside Down Cake

Red White & Blueberry

That's my kinda cake! The apple one is gorgeous! The blackberry is a personal favorite. And the blueberry upside down cake is just plain adorable!

The raspberry lemon cake is one I've made in the past, but only now realized I never blogged! Whoops!

You can see how easy just from the pictures! That first picture? It's a sugar coated cake pan! If you've never tried this method you MUST. It's amazing!

Right? But it looks so impressive! And it tastes even better! The raspberries cook down into a delicious juicy jam. It's lovely. Although this recipe makes two eight-inch cakes, it can also be done as a sheet cake or cupcakes!

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!

Raspberry Lemon Upside Down Cake

1 lemon cake mix
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 pints raspberries
extra sugar for prepping pans

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare the pans with a sugar coating. Cover with cooking spray, then sprinkling sugar all around the sides and bottom of the pan.

Place half a stick of butter in each pan and place in the warming oven until melted.

Meanwhile, prepare the cake mix by mixing in the oil, water and eggs.

Remove pans from oven and sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar in each.

Spread raspberries across the bottom of the pan.

Divide the cake batter between the two pans.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes before inverting.

Can be served warm or cold. I myself prefer warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy!

Sugar Prepping Cake Pans

2016-08-11T15:12:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you've prepared a few cake pans in your life. I've prepared hundreds. I don't think I've tipped over 1000 but I'm sure my mother did during her years of making wedding cakes.

No matter what, you always start by greasing up your cake pan. I tend toward cooking spray while my mother prefers Crisco on a paper towel manually wiped on. I'm lazier than she is. Youths. Gah. We also tend to cup a piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan to double up the protection from the cake sticking.

Most people would then coat the pan with flour. I was one of those people for years. Guess what? I'm fully converted to the sugar prepped pan.

I haven't used flour on a cake pan for months. I never loved it. Sometimes you end up with a dusty looking cake, or a clump of flour in the corner and it just frustrates me. But not so with sugar!

The sugar melts into the grease, but doesn't stick. It tastes better than flour, and I've never had a cake stick in the slightest. I LOVE this method. I even stopped putting parchment paper liners in the pan. No need!

I've tried this method on cakes of all shapes and sizes over the last few months and I'm convinced it's one of the best baking tips out there. It works for everything from cupcakes to bundt cakes! I love it!

I hope you love it too!

Homemade Sprinkles!

2016-08-05T11:47:00.000-04:00

A few months ago my sister got it in her head to make some sprinkles. I'm pretty sure my response was something like:

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF. BUY THE DARN SPRINKLES.

It has always been in my opinion that since sprinkles come in most every size and color there is very little reason to spend five hours cutting our tiny dots of fondant unless a cat shaped, rhaspberry flavored, purple sprinkle is absolutely integral to the success of a baked good.

The god of sprinkles heard my glib comments. Vengeance is sweet. (Pun fully intended).

On the left you can see many of the quin sprinkles I own. They are storebought. Fun, pretty, but a little lacking in diversity. On the right are the sprinkles I made, flowers, stars, hearts, and a rainbow of colors.

In those store bought sprinkles you might notice a lack of white confetti sprinkles that I need for a cake. That one very specific sprinkle, in that one specific color. I could buy the sprinkle......for $23 plus shipping from England. Uhhhhhh. NOPE. I can make that sprinkle for $3 in one afternoon. DEAL.

Turns out sprinkle making was WAY more fun than I anticipated. Throw on a movie, color up some fondant and you're in business! In just an hour you can have a whole rainbow of fun colored sprinkles!

My pro-tips are: buy plungers and use a pasta maker.

The plungers are much faster. If you look up fondant tools you will find a plethora of fondant tools, including tiny plungers that make perfect little sprinkles. They sell some shapes at local craft stores as well. They make ALL the difference. Some people use large piping tips as cutters. I found that tedious.

The pasta machine lets me roll out small amounts of fondant and ensures that all my sprinkles will be uniform thickness. Since I wanted my sprinkles to look at professional as possible, uniformity was key.

I don't think you can really tell those are homemade, do you? Not too shabby!

While all the colorful sprinkles took me about an hour, the white quins......I needed to cover 150 square inches of cake.....so that was a few hours more. You'll see that post in a few weeks!

Homemade Sprinkles
yield 1.5 pounds of rolled fondant

8 oz mini marshmallows
1 lb bag powdered sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoons clear flavoring (if desired)
food coloring (if desired)

Spray your mixing bowl and a glass bowl (that can be used to melt marshmallows in the microwave) with cooking spray.Place the marshmallows, water and flavoring of your choice (Mine are raspberry!) in the greased glass bowl on high at 30 second intervals. Stir every 30 seconds until marshmallows are completely melted, about 2 minutes.

Sift one half of the powdered sugar in the greased mixing bowl. Pour in the melted marshmallows. Mix using the dough hook until all the melted marshmallows are incorporated in the powdered sugar. Mixture will be thick but still a runny.

Sift the remaining half bag of powdered sugar into the melted marshmallows. Mix on low until it comes together. Fondant will be very thick and have a dough like consistency

Put fondant in a plastic baggie and make sure no air gets to it. Rest fondant for at least an hour before use.

To make colored fondant, add food coloring and kneed the dough again to incorporate. Roll in powdered sugar occasionally to keep dough from sticking.

Roll fondant out using either a pasta roller (up to setting 4) or rolling pin. The dough should be 1-2 mm thick.

Cut out using plungers.

Place the sprinkles on a sheet of wax paper.

Let them dry for 24 hours or until they have completely hardened.

Muddy Buddy Cake

2016-08-02T14:30:00.000-04:00

That beauty right there is eight layers of chocolate peanut butter goodness! There are two layers each of chocolate peanut butter mousse, chocolate cake, peanut butter cake, muddy buddy crunch and it's iced with the chocolate peanut butter mousse and topped with muddy buddies!

Now THAT is a cake!

Look at those layers! INTENSE. The only criticism of the cake I have is that I went too thick on the middle muddy buddy crunch layer. Should have gone as thin as the bottom layer.

I'm particularly fond of the elegance of the top of the cake. A quick swirl and a muddy buddy really make for a good border. Just enough of an accent without going overboard. Once you cut into the cake all the focus goes there and that's just the way it should be!

While you can make this all in one day, it can be done over a few days as well. With so many moving parts split it up! Bake and make muddy buddies one day, stack and ice the next! You'll be happy you did!

Muddy Buddy Cake

1 chocolate cake mix (plus eggs, oil, etc. as the box recommends)

1 butter cake mix (plus eggs, oil, etc. as the box recommends)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup simple syrup

8 cups Muddy Buddies, plus more for garnish

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cup powdered sugar

6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

3/4 cup peanut butter

Bake two 8 inch round chocolate cakes, according to the mix instructions.

Make two 8 inch butter cakes according to the mix instructions. Add in peanut butter when you add the butter.

Allow cakes to cool before leveling.

Line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Put 8 cups of muddy buddies into a food processor and grind into crumbs. Turn out into bowl and add melted butter. stir until the crumbs are well moistened. Pat the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of two 8 inch cake pans. Put in freezer for one hour.

Cream butter in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the sugar with an electric mixer until light colored and well blended. Beat in the thoroughly cooled chocolate, and peanut butter, until you reach a uniform consistency. Be sure to scrape down the sides.

To assemble the cake, place on layer of the muddy buddy crunch down first.

Place a leveled layer of peanut butter cake down next. Brush the top of the cake with simple syrup.

Pipe of layer of the chocolate peanut butter mousse on top, then gently place a layer of the chocolate cake on top. Brush the top of the cake with simple syrup.

Repeat with the remaining layers.

Ice cake with the mousse. To get very smooth frosting, dip your knife in hot water occasionally. The heat will help the icing smooth.

Pipe swirls on cake, placing a muddy buddy in between each swirl.

Pipe a border along the bottom of the cake.

Store in the fridge. Take the cake out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving.

Et voila! You have a lovely cake full of deliciousness!

Muddy Buddies

2016-07-28T15:05:00.000-04:00

Muddy buddies, eh? I know, I know. It's not something you haven't heard of a million times before. So what makes my recipe any different from the hundreds of others?

Firstly, my recipe is scaled to the use the ENTIRE box. I personally hate the fact that the regular recipe uses all but two cups. I want to use it all up! Who wouldn't be happier with two more cups of muddy buddies?!

Secondly, my method skips the two gallon bag. I sift the sugar into the bowl and continue to toss to coat. Less waste and more control of the sugar distribution, and the mix cools faster this way. The bag method has never been my favorite. While it can be fun, I get annoyed at the large clusters created and the unevenness of the sugar coating.

The result, in my opinion, is far superior. It's faster, less measuring, and more muddy buddies!!!

What's not to love?!

Muddy Buddies
adapted from Chex Muddy Buddies

1 whole box Corn Chex cereal (11 cups)
1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup butter
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar, per your preference

Into large bowl, measure cereal and set aside.

In large microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.

Sift half a cup of powdered sugar over the cereal. Stir. Repeat until the cereal is evenly coated in sugar. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Rum Cake

2016-06-11T18:08:00.000-04:00

Recently I posted on Facebook a link to an Epicurious article on crunchy cake crusts. The gist: use sugar to line a cake pan instead of flour. It works!

In general using sugar to line a cake pan is best for only a few types of cakes. Realistically it is best for they cakes you don't frost: upsidedown, bundt, loaf, but especially rum cake.

It gives the cake the BEST crust ever. The crunchy texture pairs especially well with the moist cake.

I also use powdered sugar for all the other cakes. Works the same as flour, but I prefer it. Sometimes flour leaves a grainy texture on the outside of a cake, but powdered sugar never does. It's brilliant!

Today I tried out a new recipe. I liked the simplicity of it and wanted to see how it'd work out. Turns out great!

If you want a rumless rum cake replace the half cup of rum with a cup of water and 2 tablespoons rum flavoring. Enjoy!

Rum Cake
as adapted from King Arthur Flour

for the cake
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups sugar + extra for lining the cake pan
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup instant vanilla pudding mix, dry
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
4 large eggs
1/2 cup golden rum
2 teaspoons vanilla

for the syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup golden rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spritz a 10 to 12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle in some sugar and turn the pan to coat evenly. Set aside.

Place all of the dry cake ingredients into the stand mixer. Mix lightly just to incorporate. Add the liquid ingredients, except the rum and vanilla, in the bowl of your stand mixer and blend on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down one or twice during those two minutes.

Add the rum and vanilla to the batter and blend for another minute. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and spread level with a spatula.

Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes. When done, the cake will test clean on a cake tester. If you don't have one, I have used metal chopsticks and butter knifes in the past. King Arthur also recommends a piece of dry spaghetti.

Leave the cake in the pan to cool slightly while you make the soaking syrup.

In a medium-sized saucepan combine the syrup ingredients, except vanilla. Bring to a rapid boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 to 8 minutes, until the syrup thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Use a long skewer to poke holes all over the cake. Pour about 1/4 of the syrup over the cake (still in the pan). I like to make sure it dribbles around the sides as well. Allow the syrup to soak in, then repeat again and again until all the syrup is used. I typically wait about half an hour in between additions.

Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the cake to sit out overnight to cool completely and soak in the syrup.

When ready to serve, invert on to your serving plate. The crunchy crust will ensure no sticking!

Enjoy!

The "Mug" Brownie

2016-03-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

Okay. You got me. That is NOT a mug brownie. It's a ramekin brownie. If you are truly attached to baking in a mug, no worries. It works just the same.

Fact is I find mug recipes to be flawed. Mugs aren't easy to clean brownie off of and I have to say that that most mug brownie recipes are crazy huge! I cannot finish them. And the worst is that if you do the math that's a nearly six hundred calorie brownie!!!! I do NOT need a six hundred calorie brownie to be easy to make in two minutes. Nope. It's just not for me.... at least not until they invent the six hundred calorie workout that only takes two minutes!

So. Here's my recipe. It's scaled down. It's a good size for one person. Plus it's only 200 calories. Now that I can handle!

So. Confession: I've made at least ten of these in the last two weeks.

Yup. That happened.

And I have a few recommendation from my trip down the mug brownie rabbit hole.

If you like mint brownies, chop up an Andes chocolate mint (or use Andes chips if you have them) and throw it in. It's a personal favorite.
Do not add toffee chips. It ends in a gooey mess.
Adding a tsp. of mini chocolate chips is also very nice.
This may be the only time I do not prefer Dutch process cocoa. Natural cocoa works great!

Happy microwave baking!

Make That Cake: Petal Cake

2016-03-03T14:43:00.000-05:00

Miracles. Do. Happen.

There is a woman out there who has agreed to marry one of my high school best friends! And she wasn't even tricked into saying yes!

I absolutely adore her and all her wedding plans. Garden party wedding with tons of pink and green and gold? Um. It's THE dream. I could geek out about her wedding all day long. Okay. I have. Often. Daily. Fine! I admit it! I created a pinterest board for their wedding! I just love garden parties! So sue me!

Luckily, I get to make their wedding cake! So I have a few months of practice cakes ahead of me! Garden party for one!

And what's a garden party without a petal cake? Lame. That's what.

I'm excited for this post for another reason. I've been wanting to try this for a long time! Introducing my first ever stop motion cake video!

I've been watching it all. day. long. I need help.

Got the idea now?

Good! Need more? No Problem! Here's my super technical list of steps:

Frost a cake and get smooth edges around the sides. (Tip! Dipping your knife in hot water will heat the blade and help your frosting smooth more easily!)
Pipe a bunch of blobs of icing (I used buttercream) all around the edge of the cake.
Using a spoon, spatula, cake decorating thingy-magigger, press down on the blob and pull into the middle of the cake.
Repeat for all blobs.
Make another circle of blobs an inch or two in from the previous row.
Repeat. Over and over again. Once there is no more room, add a few tiny yellow blobs to fill in the middle.
Put tiny blobs all around the bottom.

This is a very simple cake that is very quick to decorate and looks very impressive. It's a perfect beginners cake!

Don't have a piping bag? You can use a gallon size zip lock bag! You don't even need any piping tips. Cut a bit off the corner (just under half an inch) and get to blobbing! For the bottom edging, grab another bag and this time only cut off a tiny bit (less than a quarter of an inch).

Don't have a zip lock bag? You can scoop half tablespoons of buttercream on the cake instead of piping on a blob. It'll take longer, but in a pinch it'll work! Just don't attempt the tiny blobs around the bottom and leave that plain.

Done and done.

Happy decorating!

Christmas Tree Sandwich Cookies

2015-12-18T10:50:00.000-05:00

It's finally here! My LAST day at my day job! ........it doesn't feel real.

It feels like I'll be back here on Monday or come back after my Christmas vacation. My desk is bare, my computer wiped, 401k roll-over paperwork submitted......but on Monday I'll go into auto-pilot and show up at nine!

I've been at this job for seven and a half years! I started this blog at this very desk!

Almost everything I've ever posted.....I posted it while at work. HA!

Luckily my boss is rather a troglodyte and can't seem to figure out how to even send an email! :)

I'm getting oddly nostalgic but it's about everything else I did while I was here!

It's the end of an era!

I planned my wedding, organized trips to twelve or more countries, I remodeled a condo and a rowhouse. I started investing, paid off student loans, found family members I'd lost, and adopted the world's cutest dog!

So many great things happened during these years!

So many baked goods happened.

This is my 286th post as far as I can tell! And it's a cutie!

What's not to love about chocolate shortbread spritz cookies filled with green vanilla buttercream and sprinkles!

I actually put the buttercream IN the cookie press and pressed the buttercream onto the cookies! You can tell on that bottom cookie! It was SO much easier than trying to frost them with knife! I LOVE it. I'll be doing that again!

I can't think of a cuter treat to mark the end of this era! Happy little trees for a happy "retiree!"

Christmas Tree Sandwich Cookies
makes roughly 48 cookies and 24 sandwich cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 tbs. dutch cocoa

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of salt
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
green food coloring
sprinkles

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add dry ingredients and mix well.

Put tree disc and dough into cookie press and press onto the prepared baking sheets. Place baking sheets in refrigerator for half an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool before icing.

Whip butter, salt, vanilla and green food coloring till creamy then whip in powdered sugar in a stand mixer. Beat on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Gently add in the sprinkles and mix a few times.

Fill the cookie press (still with the tree disc) with buttercream frosting. Place one cookie face down. Hover a bit over the cookie when pressing buttercream on the cookie. One press will do.

Gently set another cookie on top.

Allow to set for one hour.

Quiche Lorraine

2015-12-16T12:24:00.001-05:00

I've been getting nostalgic the closer I get to retirement day.

In grad school I planned all my classes so my weekend started on Friday mornings. I celebrated "French Fridays" by waking up to Quiche Lorraine, a drive to La Baguette Parisienne for pastries and coming home to watch French movies while I oil painted.

Best. Life. Ever.

It was amazing. I enjoyed months of French Fridays. On one notable day I'd finished my quiche, arrived at La Baquette Parisienne only to be told in a thick French accent:

"You come in too often. You are getting fat."

Well aren't you a peach! I laughed it off. It made me happy that she cared. I kept up French Fridays, but switched to pastries or quiche, not both. The pastries were too good to walk away from entirely.

I've made this quiche at least a hundred times. It's one of the recipes I repeat on a consistent basis. I'm fairly certain I've made it for everyone I know!

This recipe is, like most quality quiche recipes, rather indulgent in it's use of heavy cream and half and half. It is creamy, smooth and light beyond belief and that is why I love it! It's not as eggy, heavy or thick like many quiches I've had.

I truly hope you love it as much as I do!

Quiche Lorraine
serves 6

1 pie crust, prepared

3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
5 slices cooked bacon

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a 9 inch pie pan with the pie crust. Pat onto the bottom and sides. Line with aluminum foil and fill with weights.

Bake until browned about 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 375.

Cut the bacon into one inch pieces and scatter evenly across the pie crust.

Mix together all remaining ingredients in a bowl.

Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust.

Carefully transfer to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is puffed and lightly golden.

Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to stand for 15 minutes.

Serve warm.

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms

2015-12-14T10:54:00.000-05:00

Like chocolate? Like maraschino cherries? YES! Then there's no way you won't love these Chocolate Cherry Blossoms!

Today is my last Monday at day job! Just four more days to freedom!

I'm sure you just grumbled. Probably cursed me a little in your mind. Or out loud. It's Monday. Why?! Why does she get to retire?!

We call it retirement. It is and it isn't. I'll be doing more baking (I KNOW. STOP HATING) but I'll also be putting in the rest of my time on restoring our 1920s rowhouse. I'll be stripping paint off nearly every surface in the house, sanding, endlessly filling in one hundred year old nail holes in the window molding, priming, painting, installing crown molding. Glamorous, I know.

I'm planning to put in a good 40 hours a week on home repairs. That's my "retirement."

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I'm beyond thrilled by it. I love Nichole Curtis. She is my spirit animal. I watch Rehab Addict and think "Man. That's me! That's what I want to do!"

And now I will. I really truly will. It's the cherry on the sundae!

It'll be exhausting, but rewarding.

But I'm not completely crazy. I will take a month off before I start in. A month of warmth in sunny Arizona. Lots of sleep and recuperation for the holidays!

My mother and I will actually start putting together a new project: our family cookbook!

I've volunteered to cook and photograph all the recipes that are added to it. Can you say DAUNTING?! Do you know how many family members I have?!?

And then my mom says "Oh, and be sure to pick out some of your favorites too!"

Ummmmm....that could be a book by itself!

But until then, I leave you with a new cookies I made over the weekend: Chocolate Cherry Blossoms!

I hope you love them!

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 tbs. dutch cocoa

3 cubes chocolate bark
40 maraschino cherries

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Drain maraschino cherries and set aside to dry.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add dry ingredients and mix well.

Put dough into cookie press and press onto the prepared baking sheets. Place baking sheets in refrigerator for half an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool before icing.

Microwave chocolate bark for 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted.

Dab a small bit of chocolate into the middle of the cookie. Dip a maraschino cherry into the chocolate and then place on the chocolate dab on the cookie.

Repeat for remaining cookies and cherries.

Allow to set for one hour.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Shortbread

2015-12-11T12:43:00.000-05:00

One. More. Week.

That is exactly how long there is until my "retirement." Well......7 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes and 35 seconds........but who's counting? ME. I am. Very much.

Quitting my job is genuinely frightening. As much as I ~~loathe~~ don't like my day job it has this annoying habit of providing a sense of security....and pays bills.

As excited as I am to be moving on to a new adventure, there are two parts of my personality battling it out in the back of my head.

Me: FREEDOM!

Me: OMG, money! I need money!

Me: You'll be so much happier!

Me: I'll be broke! Poor! What if I fail and lose it all?!

Me: But you can sleep in everyday!

Me: Oooooh....sleeeeeep.....

The side that gets the most sleep always wins...big part of why I don't have kids yet, either. Hmmm.

I find my retirement nerves are only truly satisfied with Pinterest and baked goods. Probably why I've already made spritz cookies and cinnamon slowflakes already this week! The closer I get to the big day the more I find myself in the kitchen!...and pouting in bed that I still have to wake up! lol.

The latest batch I made is your basic log, cut and bake shortbread. To jazz it up I through in some mini chocolate chips and toffee chunks. By some I mean a ton. Some people medicate with pills, some with toffee bits! You don't blog this much without a healthy appreciation for eating your feelings! :)

I hope you enjoy!

Toffee & Chocolate Chip Shortbread

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

2/3 cup toffee pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add flours and mix well. Add chocolate chips and toffee pieces and mix again.

Shape dough into a log, wrap in wax paper and allow to rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/8th inch thick slices. Place cookies onto a lined baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator for another half hour.

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Cinnamon Snowflakes

2015-12-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

These adorable snowflakes are going to be my new go to cookie for the holidays! These and my homemade thin mints, chocolate rum strip cookies and lofthouse style sugar cookies round out my cookie plates!

These pretty little cinnamon stars are another variation on my favorite shortbread recipe with some Vietnamese cinnamon added. Simple? Yes, and that's the beauty! It lets the delicious cinnamon shine through! Sometimes it's the simple flavors that come out the best!

I've gone on and on about Vietnamese cinnamon before, and if you haven't heard my spiel yet here it is again: I adore it! I buy Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey's and give it away as gifts! It's that wonderful! I can't recommend it enough. I buy a nice big bag and store it in a jar in my fridge. It preserve the flavor, and this is a flavor worth preserving!

I hope you enjoy these as much as me and my friends have!

Cinnamon Snowflake Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

2 tsp. Vietnamese cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add dry ingredients and mix well.

Shape dough into a disc, wrap in wax paper and allow to rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured surface to roughly an 1/8th inch thick. Cut the dough with a small star cookie cutter, and place cookies onto a lined baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator for another half hour.

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool before icing.

Piping Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon water

Mix ingredients together. Add more sugar or liquid until the consistency you desire is acquired. I used a very thick icing for piping!

Pipe snowflakes over the shape of the star.

Return the iced cookie to the cooling rack and allow icing to set for roughly an hour.

Chocolate Almond Spritz Cookies

2015-12-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year!...unless you are a baker. Then it's the most painful for your feet time of the year! All the hours of baking? Oof. I can't feel my feet at the end of the day! But then again, when I finally kick my feet up there are so many cookies to enjoy!

I took the last week off my day job (only 12 more days of that!) and baked my little heart out. It was glorious. I am so excited for this to be my normal day! Also going to have to start running........and get a stick with a cookie on string......

My all time favorite holiday cookie will ALWAYS be the sprtiz cookie. I love my OXO cookie press. It's easy, it's fast, and looks beautiful. Spritzes are the perfect cookie. I can whip up a beautiful batch start to finish in 20 minutes!

For this new spritz cookie I went for chocolate almond! It tastes like a cherry bonbon! I took my favorite shortbread recipe, added a wee bit of dutch cocoa and a wee bit of almond flavoring. After they were baked, I added a chocolate almond glaze and some sprinkles!

Chocolate Almond Spritz Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

2 tbs. dutch cocoa

2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla and almond extract; add dry ingredients and mix well.

Put dough into cookie press and press onto the prepared baking sheets. Place baking sheets in refrigerator for half an hour.

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool before icing.

Chocolate Almond Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tsp. almond extract

1 tbs. dutch cocoa

Mix ingredients together. Add more sugar or liquid until the consistency you desire is acquired. I used a very runny glaze, but you may prefer something more thick for piping!

Lightly set the cookie top-side-down on the icing. Gently remove and allow excess to drip off.

Return the iced cookie to the cooling rack, sprinkle as desired and allow icing to set for roughly an hour.

Pumpkin Praline Eclairs

2015-11-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving I had a few leftovers I didn't expect: ground pralines and pumpkin spice pastry cream.

I tried out Martha Stewart's pumpkin cream pie recipe. Excellent pastry cream but not great for pies. It tastes very similar to pumpkin chiffon pie, but pumpkin chiffon is far prettier and more stable. The pumpkin cream pie made for a soggy crust and didn't hold it's form very well.

Gosh darnit what to do?! WHAT TO DO?!?!?!?!

Okay. It's not a bid deal, but what's Thanksgiving without a little drama? :)

I took inspiration from the Laduree Sucre cook book and I opted to make a choux pastry with a pumpkin cream filling and a praline poured fondant icing using the extra ground pralines I had from my chocolate praline cake.

Fantastic idea! They came out wonderfully!

If you prefer cream puffs to eclairs, you can follow the recipe, simply changing the shape of the choux as you pipe.

Pumpkin Praline Eclairs

for the pumpkin pastry cream:

2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1/2 cup sugar
Salt
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin (from one 15-ounce can)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

Bring milk, vanilla,cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks with cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl.
Gradually whisk about 1/2 cup milk mixture into yolk mixture. Gradually whisk in remaining milk mixture. Return entire mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until bubbling in center, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately whisk in pumpkin. Whisk in butter.
Turn out into a bowl, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

Continue by making the choux pastry.

for the choux:

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup skim milk
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
Large pinch of kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit. Line two heavy baking sheets with parchment paper. (If you're pans are too light, stack them. This will reduce the chance of scorching on the bottom of the puff).
In a small saucepan, bring the water, milk, butter, and salt to a boil. Add the flour and stir until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and dries out a bit. Roughly two minutes.
Turn the dough out into a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each one.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a half inch tip (or a disposable bag with the tip cut off) and pipe four inch long strips onto the baking sheets at least two inches apart (or tablespoon sized balls for cream puffs).
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
Allow to cool.
Fill a piping bag with pumpkin pastry cream. Poke three small holes in the top of each eclair (one for cream puffs).
Fill with pumpkin pastry cream. Wipe off any excess. Set aside.

Continue by preparing the icing.

for the praline icing:

4 1/2 ounces white pouring fondant

1 tbsp. water

3 tbsp. praline paste (see below)

3 oz. white chocolate

Melt the white chocolate in a a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water or in the microwave at medium power.
In a saucepan, slightly warm the pouring fondant with the water.
Add the praline paste and the melted white chocolate. Stir until smooth.
Dip the tops of the eclairs (or cream puffs) into the glaze.
Allow to set and keep in the refrigerator.

Et voila! You have fifteen pumpkin praline eclairs ready to be eaten up!

**Praline Paste is made by grinding pralines. If you grind the pralines for a bit longer they will form a paste. If you feel impatient, add a few drops off water to speed up the process.

Chocolate Praline Cake

2015-11-16T12:08:00.005-05:00

Saturday, I made pralines... of shame.

You may take away my southern girl card now. I over stirred. I am ashamed. Feel free to clutch your pearls, and bless my heart. It's been so long since I've made a praline and I just got carried away.

Happily, this is going to be a thing of the past. Starting in 2016, this will be my full time gig. No more day job! No more going months without make pralines...or anything for that matter. I will bake with wild abandon... and start running so I can also eat with wild abandon!

The failed pralines started a chain reaction. I didn't want to throw them away, but how to use them?

When in doubt... or moments of insanity... I chuck my failures in the food processor. It's cathartic to grind my failures in dust, and even better when I sprinkle them over ice cream. Say what you will, but I like how I deal with failure. It's tasty.

Fact is, ground pralines are a perfect addition to almost any baked good. Throw half a cup in your next cookie batch and you'll see what I mean! They are excellent decorations as well, as you can see on the cake above!

I winged this cake, big time, and it turned out wonderfully. It feels so good to be getting back to the career I enjoy!

Three cheers to cake, career changes and chocolate praline cake!

Chocolate Praline Cake

1 recipe pralines, ground ***

for the cake:

1 1/2 cups butter

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup milk

2 cups flour

3/4 cup dutch cocoa

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

for the bottom layer

1/2 cup rice krispy cereal

1/2 cup melted chocolate

1/2 cup crisped cake crumbs

1/2 ground praline

for the praline layer

2 cups ground praline

2 tablespoons butter, melted

for the chocolate buttercream

1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch table salt

additional ground pralines for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a jelly roll or sheetcake pan. Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the pralines and set aside.

Cut out two 8 inch rounds from your sheet cake. I used my 8 inch springform pan as a "cookie cutter" for this.

Crumble excess cake and spread out on a baking sheet. Return to oven for 15-20 minutes until crumbs are dried and crisp.

Grind the pralines in a food processor. The end result will look and feel like very soft light brown sugar.

Line the bottom of an 8 inch spring form pan with parchment paper. Mix together all ingredients for the bottom layer of the cake in a large bowl. Press into the bottom of an 8 inch spring form pan.

Top with a layer of cake.

Mix together both ingredients for the praline layer in a large bowl. Pour over top of cake layer and gently press into an even layer.

Top with second layer of cake.

Refrigerate for one hour.

Meanwhile, make the buttercream.

In a the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with whisk attachment whisk butter and sugar on medium-high speed until very pale and fluffy or about five minutes.

With the mixer off, Scrape the bowl, then add in cocoa powder, vanilla and salt. Turn mixer on low and blend for about 30 seconds. Add in heavy cream.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl then turn the mixer onto medium-high and whisk for 3-5 minutes or until mixture is lighter and fluffier.

Remove cake from the refrigerator, out of spring form pan and remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake. Take out a large baking pan and set a can of soup inside.

Proceed to ice the cake with buttercream frosting.

Place cake on top of can of soup and press ground pralines onto the side of the cake, allowing the excess to fall into the baking sheet.

Plate and enjoy!

*** Just note, this recipe doesn't call for stirring at the end, but you should stir just a bit. There will be a moment when you feel the pan get heavier. Stop then and spoon

Chocolate Mint Madeleines

2015-01-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

Quirk Books gave me a lovely opportunity to throw a madeleine themed party to celebrate the release of their new book Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share by Barbara Feldman Morse!

And for some reason I can't leave well enough alone. I saw her Dark Chocolate Espresso Madeleine recipe and instead walked away with Chocolate Mint Madeleines. I'm not much for espresso, but the recipe looked easily adaptable and the results were wonderful!

I replaced the semisweet chocolate with Andes baking chips and the espresso powder with Dutch cocoa. I am ecstatic with the results! Dark, rich, minty, light, fresh and then dipped in mint chocolate and sprinkles. Perfection!

Chocolate Mint Madeleines

adapted from Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share by Barbara Feldman Morse
makes 12 madeleins

6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Andes baking chips
1/2 tbsp. Dutch cocoa
1/3 cup warm water
1 large egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 ounces Andes baking chips

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Put butter, sugar, Andes baking chips, and Dutch cocoa in a microwavable glass bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir until smooth. If butter is not fully melted, microwave for an additional 10 seconds and stir again.

Pour mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer. Add egg and whisk well. Add the flour and cocoa; whisk thoroughly. It will be dark, thick and shiny.

Coat one 12-shell pan with baking spray or additional melted butter.

Using a spoon, fill shells molds with batter until nearly full.

Bake for 10-13 minutes until puffed and no shiny spots remain.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. Carefully remove madeleines after 2-3 minutes and allow to cool completely.

To prepare the glaze, place butter into a small saucepan. On lowest heat setting, allow to melt. Add in chocolate baking pieces. Stir continuously until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

Dunk each madeleine at and angle and immerse nearly 1/3 of the way. At the same angle, dip into sprinkles covering most of the chocolate.

Allow to set.

Enjoy!

Bananas Foster Ice Cream

2014-07-28T12:13:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to be healthy. Well........sure. Healthy. Er. Ish. Adjacent.

At the rate I ~~consume~~ make ice cream, I should switch it up now and then for a less cream laden variety. Enter: the banana.

Yes, I've heard and laughed at this idea of the yo-nanas frozen banana soft serve. Sorry, but as a die hard ice cream addict, I just can't get behind it. That said, I had a brief moment of health consciousness and decided to try it out the only way I enjoy eating bananas....covered in sugar.

Did I say health conscious? Well.......um........it contains no cream. So that's something.

All said and done, I actually rather enjoy it. I'm surprised by the consistency. The addition of 1 tablespoon of rum keeps the banana puree from freezing to a rock solid state, allowing it to remain scoopable after freezing and truly does add to the creamy consistency. In all, it really is rather like ice cream, and a rather delightful one at that.

As for healthy..........well...........er? ish? adjacent?

Bananas Foster Ice Cream
serves 2

2 bananas
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. Vietnamese cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tablespoon rum

Mix all ingredients except bananas in a small sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until all the brown sugar is dissolved.

Peal and chop the bananas.

Put pealed bananas and warm sauce into a food processor. Pulse until completely smooth.

Pour into the bowl of your ice cream make. Follow manufacturers instructions.

Place into suitable freezing container and freeze for 2 hours.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream

2014-06-27T13:39:00.000-04:00

It is HOT in DC, and it is humid. Such is the joy is living in Washington, DC in the summer! Less joyfully, the AC is not exactly working properly. After leaks in the subfloor, many jiggles, emptying a bucket of dripping water twice a day and more than a few temporary patches from my handy husband, today our 45 year old AC unit is being replaced! Huzzah!.....oh wait....no AC until it's actually finished. Huzz.........wait for it...........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. *Sigh of relief*

Today's temporary AC outage calls for ice cream. Chocolate-Peppermint is the ultimate keep-me-cool-and-happy treat. I cannot get over just how soothing the peppermint actually is. Four scoops later and no regrets!

Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream

makes roughly 4 scoops

1 1/2 cup half and half

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint flavoring**

1 tablespoon dutch cocoa powder

In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. Add dutch cocoa. Mix until combined. Gently mix in the half and half and peppermint flavoring.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

**specifically peppermint NOT plain mint which is 99% of the time spearmint. I use Frontier Organic Peppermint Flavoring which can be purchased online and in many natural foods stores.

Vanilla Plum Ice Cream

2014-06-17T12:34:00.000-04:00

Making ice cream in the summer is a favorite of mine. Absolute favorite. Using fresh fruit? Even better!

For this plum and vanilla ice cream I used a beautifully juicy fresh pureed black plum. Yes, that can affect the consistency, and you might get an ice crystal here or there. I don't notice it enough to mind, but if you think you would mind you can add a teaspoon of gelatin and the problem is solved. I was too busy reveling in plum and vanilla and creamy dreamy goodness.

Every time I post an ice cream recipe, someone comments about the use of raw eggs. Yes, it could increase your chance of a food borne illness. If you don't want to take that risk then make a custard. It doesn't bother me and this method is so much creamier. I am taking my life in my hands via ice cream! Oh what a daredevil am I! ...Not really. I did the math and if I ate one raw egg a day since birth, once in 82 years I would come across an egg with a food born illness. But it could happen, and I know that I take that risk. Personally, I am more afraid of spinach and ground beef. If you'd like to read other people's opinions try this forum, meanwhile, I will continue to make and post ice cream with raw eggs.

Vanilla Plum Ice Cream

1 black plum

1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk

1 cup cream

1 tsp. vanilla

In a food processor add the plum and then pulse until smooth.

In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. Gently mix in the cream, milk, vanilla and plum puree.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.