Dear loyal IHFT readers,

I feel like I owe you all an apology. You have no idea how many times I’ve tried to write this blog entry. If I were writing this by pen there would be about 100 sheets of crumpled up paper at my feet by now.

If you would have told me 3 months ago that I had stopped writing in my blog I would have said “No way! No how! Blogging’s my life!” But never say never. Things can and do change. I’m not the person I use to be.

I wish I had a better excuse to give you all (No Janna, I’m not pregnant!) but unfortunately all I can tell you is I’m a private person which I realize is kind of ironic b/c I blog. If I need a break. I take a break. I don’t feel I need to announce to the blogiverse for permission, concern or advice b/c you all want to read happy things, happy thoughts, happy stories right? And right now in my current state of mind, it wouldn’t be cupcakes and rainbows. To be honest, in my current state of mind, I’d probably delete my blog.

I guess the best way to describe how I’m feeling is comparing it to trusting your friend with a rough draft of your manuscript and finding out later that they betrayed your trust and illegally distributed it. (For all the non-twinerds out there, you can read more about my comparison on Stephanie Meyer’s blog.) Ok maybe it’s not THAT dramatic but my trust has been betrayed and that’s always a devastating feeling. Something that takes time to heal.

Thank you for all the emails, tweets, phone calls, text messages, DMs and Facebook wall posts though. Even private ppl like to be missed.

I’m hoping to get out of this self-induced funk soon. Until then…

Cupcakes and love,
CB

What are the “best” pots+pans to buy?

I recently received an email from IHFT reader, Monica L., asking me to write a post on the “best” pots+pans to buy. Who me?? She gives me way too much credit. I have no idea what the “best” would be. Currently I use a Cuisinart non-stick set I got for my wedding. Is it the best? Who knows! But it works for me. I also just bought a couple of cast iron skillets from my local flea market but have yet to have the courage to actually use them. HA! And I am presently trying to build up my Le Creuset collection too. I heart my 6 qt French (Dutch) oven. Of course it’s red.

But I wasn’t satisfied with that as a reply to Monica so I’ll pose the question to my readers.

(1) What do you use?
(2) Do you like them?
(3) Do you covet something else?
(4) What do you recommend? and why?

(Thanks for your question suggestion, Monica!)

This is gonna have to be short and sweet. Kinda like this tart.

Thank you Cristine of Cooking with Cristine for hosting this week. You can find the recipe on her blog.

I love this tart b/c it’s so versatile. You can use practically any berry. Strawberries, blueberries raspberries or all three! In my case I went with strawberries, pistachios and raspberry jam glaze. I also went the mini tart route. FYI the Sweet Tart Dough recipe made 8-4″ mini tarts for me. Oh and a tip from fellow TWD baker, Barbara of Bungalow Barbara – brush a thin layer of white chocolate on the bottom if you wanna assemble these ahead of time. I took her advice and even though the tarts sat out for a few hours before guests arrived, the crust remain crispy and not soggy. w00t! Take my word for it. This one is a keeper.

Sorry no step-by-step pictures. I was in the middle of Mother’s Day Brunch chaos and pictures just weren’t happening. But here’s 2 more pictures since I couldn’t decide which one to use up top.

Husband rating: A/A+
He was a little leery of the strawberry+pistachio combination but he absolutely loved this tart. Score 1 for Wifey!

Wifey rating: A+
Sweet tart dough… good. Gorgeous fresh picked California strawberries… great. Pastry cream… FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC. Put it all together. How could it be bad? Another winner for Dorie!

Other: A+
I served this as part of Mother’s Day Brunch and EVERY.SINGLE.GUEST raved about them. Young, old, picky eaters. The tart won them all over.

Next week: Apple-Apple Bread Pudding pages 408-409

WHAT… THE… FRICK.

Commence panic now.

But I’m happy to say now that everyone’s left, company was awesome, dishes are done, my feet hurt, my voice is hoarse from laughing and all the food is gone. Of course being a foodie I made everyone wait to eat until I got some pictures. HA!

Happy Mother’s Day to all my XX family and friends out there.

Group shot!

Puff pastry baked bried with herb crackers and Granny Smith apples. You can find the recipe (here).

Spinach+Artichoke dip in a bread bowl. You can find the recipe (here).

Asian Noodle Salad in a Wonton Cup. This is one of my FAVORITE salads but no offense to Pioneer Woman, it was missing something. Wontons! I made the wonton cups with 2 wonton wrappers, brushed with vegetable oil, in a jumbo muffin pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 375F until golden and crispy. You can find the recipe for Asian Noodle Salad (here). Just chop up the components a little smaller to make it fit the cups.

It’s not a party without chips and dip! I heart guacamole. Nom nom nom.

Margherita English Muffin pizzas. You can find the basic recipe (here).

Strawberry Pistachio and Pastry Cream Mini Tarts. I’ll post more on Tuesday for my weekly Tuesday With Dorie post. But the short of it… A fan favorite with EVERYONE at the party.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Chambord+Vanilla Buttercream Swirl. You can find recipe for Chambord frosting (here). I also use a vanilla buttercream to make a dual color swirl.

We also had some guests bring wine, deviled eggs, mini quiches, more chips, veggie tray and fruit tray. Needless to say no one went home hungry! Until next year…

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To my Mom, I know we aren’t as close as some mother-daughters but I’m so happy that our relationship has gotten better and better as time goes on. I cherish every moment we spend together. Happy Mother’s Day. I love you. xo, Your ClareBear

Oh don’t even give me that look. You knew that song was coming sooner or later. Actually I’d be really surprised if you don’t see that song oh… about 300x today. Yup! The Tuesday With Dorie Bakers are channeling their inner ice cream (wo)man. Can’t you just hear the ice cream truck music playing? Brings back fun childhood summer memories…

Confession: I’m not really an ice cream person. Most of the time it’s a convenience thing. It’s not much more than taking the pint out of my freezer and grabbing a spoon. Bowl… optional. But I’m a cake girl at heart. Not brownies, not muffins, not cookies, not bars, not ice cream… CAKE. But I’ll make an exception for this ice cream. It’s THAT good. It converted me. You know what that means? You should stop reading my post and go make it. NOW.

Well since you’re obviously still reading… Why does no one listen to me??

This week, our hostess, Becky of Project Domestication chose Burnt Sugar Ice Cream. You can find the recipe on her blog or buy the book. Now there’s something you need to know about Becky. She also has another blog: Utah Loves Cupcakes. Obviously she lives in Utah and she loves cupcakes. I guess I can forgive the Utah part (little smack talk b/c Utah Jazz and LA Lakers are in NBA Playoffs right now) b/c she loves cupcakes. I love cupcakes. Someday I wanna go visit Becky so we can gorge ourselves silly on cupcakes. Now that’s what I call a vacation.

And since we’re kinda sorta on the subject of cupcakes and ice cream… My good friend, Stef of Cupcake Project is co-hosting her yearly Cupcake+Ice Cream event. I had a game plan. I’ve been harassing Stef for months (Right Stef?) b/c I knew exactly what I was gonna create months ago. But after making Dorie’s Burt Sugar Ice Cream, it changed everything. Out with the old plan. In with the NEW AND IMPROVED plan! You’ll have to check out my cupcake blog later to find out more. Isn’t the suspense just killing you? muhahaha… You know how you can get back at me? Join the fun. Enter the competition. Take away my chance of winning the Cuisinart Ice Cream maker prize. Wait! What am I saying?? On second thought. Don’t. HA HA!

What I learned this week:
I need to bust out my ice cream maker more often. It is way easier (and tastier!) than I thought to make home made ice cream. This may or may not be a good thing during bikini season though.

Burnt Sugar Ice Cream page 432

I’ve made caramel a couple times on the stovetop and every time I think it’s magic when the sugar dissolves into the water.

After sugar dissolves, it’s so hard for me to put the whisk down and let it mellow on the stove. I have to fight the urge to stir. Is it just me? At least my idle hands can use a pastry brush to satisfy the meddling craving.

Take my advice. Don’t walk away! It might seem like forever but it always happens to me. As soon as I turn my back, the sugar can go from clear to caramel brown in a matter of seconds. I think overall mine took about 12 minutes.

Dorie warns you to step back from the boiling sugar+water when adding the milk+cream but I’m starting to live dangerously and actually cackled when I added the milk+cream. When the combination started bubbling violently, I felt all “mad scientist”. Don’t worry if the sugar gets chunky. It happens when you add the cold milk+cream. Keep stirring and the chunks will melt.

Temper the eggs by adding the hot liquid slowly. Chunky egg ice cream is no bueno.

Return the ice cream custard base to the saucepan and stir until slightly thickened. Love Dorie’s advice about how the custard will coat the back of your spoon and leave a track if you run your finger through it. It’s always nice to go by the look at the food versus trying to find my instant read thermometer. Don’t forget the vanilla extract!

Chill the custard base in an ice bath and/or in the refrigerator until cool. Then transfer to ice cream maker. I set my KitchenAid to Stir (level 1) for about 25 minutes until it was soft serve yogurt consistency. Then I transferred to a freezer safe container and let chill overnight to set.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He’s a peanut butter+chocolate ice cream man but I think he was really impressed that I could make this from scratch. Actually I think his exact words were… “You can make ice cream in your KitchenAid? If I had known that I would have gotten you one sooner!” HA HA

Wifey rating: A+
Even though I don’t need to change anything about this ice cream recipe b/c it’s so FRIGGIN amazing, I have recently discovered my love of all things strawberry+caramel and I’m thinking that version 2 might have some frozen strawberry chunks mixed in. YUM!

Next week: Quick Classic Berry Tart page 377