Three months of Catch-Up

First up: reporting in on Thanksgiving pies.

The Caramel Apple pie via Four and Twenty Blackbirds was a huge fail. It was unbelievably watery. And it wasn't just because I'm bad at caramel. I tried it a second time using storebought caramel. Still watery and didn't taste at all of caramel. My conclusion: if you want Caramel Apple Pie, make regular Apple Pie and pour some caramel sauce over it.

This Pecan Pie from smitten kitchen however? I'm never using another recipe. It's perfect. A little smoky, not too sweet, not gooey. I'll say it again. PERFECT.

December was busy but I did manage to make a Stump de Noël for our family Christmas party per my mother (The Pie Queen)'s request. Upped my decorating game by making these pine cones (or are they hedgehogs?), some with fudge centers, some with marzipan.

I thought I'd try rolling the cake while it was warm and using kitchen towels (a trick I probably saw on The Great British Baking Show--if you're not watching it, mend your ways!). Obviously, it still cracked like crazy, and, what's more, it stuck to the towels.

 Ah well, it all comes out okay in the end.

January brings my best girl's birthday. She requested a vanilla and chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese icing. I complied and it was delicious. Those balls you see around the bottom of the cake? Those were meant to be candied hazelnuts with tall strings of shattery caramel that could sit on top of the cake and look dramatic and beautiful. As I think I've mentioned, I'm bad at candy. SO BAD. So they ended up being toasted hazelnuts with a soft sugary coating, dusted with cocoa and powdered sugar. They actually tasted good, but looked far less dramatic than I wanted.

When I was looking for a new Pecan Pie recipe around Thanksgiving, a friend recommended I try Kentucky Derby Pie. I finally got around to doing so in January. And I'm so glad I did. Wow. One of the few desserts that has disappeared pretty quickly from my house. My kids call it "cookie pie" because it tastes like chocolate chip cookies with pecans. I used half the amount of bourbon called for, and replaced with vanilla extract. I know, ME? *I* added less bourbon? Yes. And yet, it was the perfect balance of buttery and smoky and sweet and nutty and chocolatey.

February, at last. I was asked by the director of a play I'm doing later this year to make some pies for a read-through. He wanted pies with red fillings (if your stomach isn't weak, look up the plot of Titus Andronicus, know that I'll be playing Titus, and you'll understand). I have never really liked baked berry pies, and when I've made them they've been watery. But I wanted to do something other than cherry, so. I found this recipe for raspberry pie and was completely surprised (and delighted) at how easy it was. Not only that--not watery in the least. And not too sweet. I made this one with only raspberries but used the same recipe with a frozen triple berry mix for another pie. Both were completely delicious and have changed my mind about baked berry pies.

TGIP Ratings--lots of KEEPERS here. The fails I should have seen coming. 

Next up: Spring has sprung and I want something lemony. I'm debating between this, this, and this. Help me decide.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

This cake is easy. And tasty. And moist. But not gummy like pumpkin things can sometimes be. Some of us ate it as breakfast cake. Some of us ate it as dessert cake. Some of us ate it as both. All.

Pretty, too, right?

Take a look at the other side:

Here's what you need to know...Baker's Joy is a superior product to Wilton Cake Release (even when carefully used according to directions). I'll give the Cake Release one more chance (because, frankly, I prefer the idea of brushing pan coating on to spraying it on) to prove itself and if it doesn't play nicely then...never again. No time for cakes not coming out of pans.

TGIP Rating--Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake--KEEPER. I might even try it as muffins. Perfect for breakfast, right?!

Next up: It's Chocolate Adventure Contest time again! This time around it's bars. Time for me to put my thinking/inventing/baking hat on! Ideas are welcome!

Sweet Cherry and Hazelnut Galette

This, for me, was a hot mess. Literally. So much juice. So much leakage. The crust, while delicious, was not very elastic and had a tendency to just crack as I tried to wrap it up around the filling.

Which made for the worst leakage I've had with a galette. Or maybe it's just that cherries in galettes don't work. For me. And, honestly, I didn't particularly like the baked sweet cherries. I love cherries. Apparently in just about any form BUT THIS. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try yourself.


TGIP Rating--Sweet Cherry and Hazelnut Galette--PARTIAL LOSER. The crust is really delicious, but I think I'd like to try it with some other filling. Possibly even use it as a tart dough that can be pressed into a pan and filled with, I don't know, caramel and nutella? Just spitballing over here.

Next up: My friend's sweet Mom is going to teach me how to make frosting roses. I've been wanting to learn FOR YEARS. I used to pore over The Pie Queen's Wilton cake decorating book coveting both the cakes and the skill to decorate cakes like that. I can't wait.

Salted Whiskey Caramels and "Irish" Bread

They look promising, right? Well. Okay. *heavy sigh* I give up. I vow to never make candy again. It will save me the frustration and you the boredom of having to read about it.*another heavy sigh* I'll just say a couple of things about these caramels (just in case you are a braver man than I am, Gunga Din):

• It is not easy to get parchment paper to stay in any form other than flat. I resorted to duct tape. Even that didn't really work.

• These were delicious for about 5 minutes. I think I could have cooked the sugar portion longer to make them darker and they would have been even better. THEN, for reasons I can neither explain nor understand, the sugars re-crystallized. I've never heard of such a thing. But it happened. See?

In fact, more crystallization the longer they sat. It's a thing that could only happen to me, I'm confident. Candy-making is for greater bakers/confectioners than I. A true candy-maker would not have to spend SO MUCH TIME with a thermometer that refused to move.

A true candy-maker would also know how to wrap their candies when finished. 

BUT, I did have success with something else last weekend. What you see below is mr.'s Irish Nana's recipe for Soda Bread (she calls it "Irish Bread"), in her own handwriting. His mother (Nana's youngest, also Lucy) passed away last August and when we were going through papers and photographs at her apartment (like you do) we found this. I knew I had to make it for St. Patrick's Day this year--last March she came to visit and it was the last time we all got to spend with her.

So. Delicious. Simple. Perfect. A little sweet, crispy crust, tender crumb.

 

This recipe will be framed and hung on my kitchen wall. And I will make it every year for St. Patrick's Day with a grateful nod to both of the Lucys who made my husband the man he is.

TGIP Rating--Salted Whiskey Caramels--EPIC FAIL. Never again. No candy. Ever.
--Lucy's Donahue's Irish Bread--KEEPER. Forever.

Next up: Ran across this and it seemed like the perfect way to usher in Spring. Whole Lemon Tart.

Twinkie Cake

SO. This was yucky. Which is doubly bad because I made it for my Mom's birthday party. Bad form to bring a yucky cake to your own mother's birthday celebration. Ah well. I'll make it up to her next year. With something chocolate.

I found the recipe here and, you know, I really trust those BAKED boys. I do. Implicitly. Just so happens Matt's wrong on this one. Yes, I should have made alterations because of my altitude, it was far too dense. But that wouldn't have changed the taste, which was chemical. Why? I can't explain it. The cake, the filling, all of it had a chemical aftertaste. I don't know that it's even worth trying to research and fix potential problems. I'm perfectly happy buying the real (regular-sized) thing at the grocery store (which Jeff Horwich assures me will still happen, even though Hostess is going under--the brand will likely be bought by some other company and production will resume then *phew*).

TGIP Rating--Twinkie Cake--FAIL. Both on my part and the part of the recipe. Completely not worth trying again.

Next up: Starting Christmas baking and, at the same time, baking for Thanksgiving. This weekend I bake Fruitcake. Then on Wednesday, with the assistance of my baby brother (ha! he's been bigger than me since the day he was born, see:)

(Okay, so that wasn't the day he was born, but pretty close to it) I'll be making 4 pies for Thanksgiving: Spiced Pumpkin with Streusel Topping, Pecan, Cherry Chocolate, and Buttermilk. I lobbied for an all-pie Thanksgiving feast but nobody else was on board. Maybe next year!

Cake Pops (or balls) (or blobs)

Yes, sure. These were tasty (I used chocolate cake and frosting). Not really homemade in the least (except in the Sandra Lee way). And they were KINDOF easy. But not completely. The cake/frosting balls were kind of sticky and weird to work with. Dipping them in white chocolate turned out to be disastrous and I ended up going to the store for orange-colored Candy Melts. I don't even know what's in that stuff, I chose NOT to read the ingredients. But it sure worked better for coverage. Although there was still clearly a temperature problem, as I ended up with swirly whitish orange cake blobs. But the "homemade" and the "tasty" weren't really the point of this project. They were just supposed to be cute. So, FAIL. They were supposed to look like little pumpkins with brown stems and twirly brown vines. FAIL (that one above is the most pumpkin-looking one of them all). I even made little indentations around them so they'd have the ridged appearance of pumpkins, like these. OMG such a FAIL. I never claimed to be a candy maker. I hereby vow to stick to baking that tastes good, not baking that looks good.

TGIP Rating--Cake Pops (or balls...or blobs, as the case may be)--NEVER AGAIN. They taste fine, people enjoy them, they're easy enough. The lady who invented them and has published a couple of books with ideas is unbelievably clever with the things she comes up with. So, YOU make them. I'll be in my kitchen making something that is so delicious people don't care what it looks like.

Next up: Prima turns 13 today. Ushering in Facebook, make-up, and slumber parties. Yipes. She also wants cheesecake. A caramel cheesecake, to be precise. So I'm going to try this recipe, except with a graham cracker crust and some of this swirled in. Unless you have a better idea/recipe. BRING IT ON. She also wants Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls for the post-slumber breakfast. I'm going to try smitten kitchen's alterations of the BAKED recipe. Wish me luck (but mostly with the 13 thing, not so much with the baking).

2011 Year in Review

That year went past fast! I feel like 2011 was less impressive in the baking department than I wanted it to be. Maybe if I review I can prove myself wrong. Here are some things I baked (and liked):

Pies/Tarts:

• Sweet Potato Pie
• Rhubarb Pie
• Orange Creamsicle Tart

Cakes:

• Carrot Cake
• Devil's Food Cake with Coffee Buttercream
• Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Hazelnuts

Cookies/Bars:

• Salt-n-Pepper Sandwich Cookies
• Sweet & Salty Brownies

Bread:

• Mostly Whole Wheat Sourdough
• Pain au Levain
• English Muffins

Other (it was the year of the whoopie pie):

• Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
• Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
• Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Most epic failure:

• Hot Cross Buns

Shout-outs/thanks for sharing/inspiring me:

• The BAKED boys--always and forever. Is it too much to say that my life would be empty without you?!
  
• All of my amazing friends who oooh and aaah over even the most minor of my baking successes. And challenge me to try things I haven't considered. Now, please come over more often and eat all of these extra baked goods.

Okay, so not as pathetic of a year as I thought it was. But still, lots to get on to in 2012. Namely:

• Bread. No, really this year. I am armed with a book I trust. I will learn.
  
• Figure out that Sarno's Italian Rum Cake I've been meaning to work on for YEARS. I have all the pieces (I think), I need to put them together. In time for my birthday. I'll make my own cake this year.

First up: Burnt Sugar Bundt Cake. Meant to do it before 2011 ended, but illness prevented me from even thinking about eating, let alone baking. This Sunday is the day.

Grasshopper Pie

Meh. No really. Meh. Taste=strange. Texture=strange. Visuals=nothing special. I have enjoyed Grasshopper Pie when I've had it before. But this. I don't know. The recipe is from the same book as the Irish Cream Pie I made a while back. Same use of gelatin. Which I'm just not sure of. I don't think I like the texture it produces. Is it because I'm using powdered gelatin? Does anyone have any experience using gelatin sheets? I did like the crust made from Thin Mint cookies, but that was pretty much the only part that is a keeper at all. I would say that I'd try to come up with my own version without the gelatin, but I don't know that I like Grasshopper Pie THAT much. And I have other recipes to try...so. Onward and upward.


TGIP Rating--Grasshopper Pie--LOSER. Just really not worth the time/effort/calories.

Next up: I have a passel of zucchini and no household members who like it (except in bread and cake). So that's what I'm doing. Chocolate Zucchini Cake. And probably also some kind of Zucchini Bread. If you have a killer recipe, send it!

2010 Year in Review

Well, another year has passed. A year of experimenting in the kitchen, pretending I know something about cooking science, and generally playing with my food. I didn't do as much baking as I had hoped. I don't even know what that means. Is it possible to EVER do as much baking as you really want to? Unless you're a full-time, professional baker? At any rate, it's probably for the best. My expanding waistline needs to be halted. (And no, I'm not going to start baking "light" desserts, I just don't see the point. I'd rather have something real once a month than something light twice a week. Truly.) I did have some great successes and some equally great failures this year. Here are my favorites:

Pies:

• French Silk Chocolate Pie
• Black Forest Pie
• Cinnamon Chocolate Mousse Pie
  

Cakes:

• Toasted Coconut Cake
• Coffee Shop Cupcakes
  

Cookies/Bars:

• Black Forest Chocolate Cookies
• The BAKED Brownie
• Cherry Brown Butter Bars
  

Bread:


I don't have any idea how I neglected to photograph Hillman's Challah.

• Hillman's Challah
• KAF Rustic Sourdough
  

Other:

• Tiramisu
• Coconut Lime Rickey
• Pumpkin Muffins
  

Most epic failure:

• Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
  

Shout-outs/thanks for sharing/inspiring me:

• The BAKED boys--always and forever. I'm going to tattoo your buttercream recipe on my arm. I love your style. I love your commitment to bringing back classic American desserts that have been lost and/or forgotten/forsaken. I'm looking forward to baking EVERY RECIPE in Explorations.
  
• Priestess/Hillman--when I'm senile and arthritic will you come take over my kitchen?
• Smitten Kitchen--if I'd cooked like you do when I had a young one...I'd be a superhero like you.
• Mir--your food snobbery truly does inspire me. :) And you share awesome recipes.
  
• The folks at allrecipes, King Arthur Flour, Epicurious, and Food Network--simply because you exist.
• Romina at Les Madeleines--not only a great teacher and sharer of recipes, but a reliable source for amazing baked goods when I'm not in the mood to bake them myself.
• My little chefs, Prima and Seconda--for helping me to remember to slow down in the kitchen and let them help. The rewards are well worth the extra time.
  
• Frankie Pistlekahk--for sharing your baby starter. I am trying to tend to it appropriately.
  

Looking back at everything I've baked this year, I realize I've gotten a little more bold. I've been adapting more recipes, and forayed into making up my own recipes. It's hard work, but it's so rewarding to be able to say it's mine. And double bonus when it tastes delicious.

2011? Wow. Lots I want to do:

• Figure out how to make bread. I mean really figure it out. The way I focused on figuring out pies. That's a big goal. It's a lot more difficult than people make it look. I don't know if I'm plagued by altitude issues or climate issues or both, but the unpredictability is getting to me. In addition, a good amount of my bread baking will need to be whole wheat because I accidentally bought a 25-lb. bag of whole wheat when I thought I was buying all-purpose flour. So, now I have 50 lbs. of whole wheat flour. That's a lot of bread!
  
• Take a cake decorating class. For real this year. And now that I've found this place, you'll always know where to find me.
  
• Start in on my ever-growing list of ideas of baked goods to try, not to mention my library of cookbooks that I have only begun to crack.
  
• Do more baking with friends. If nothing else, I can send goodies home with them so I won't have to eat them all. I might even film some of these events and start my own youtube cooking show. MIGHT.
  

So, in short, there's lots more to come.


First up: You're in for a glut of goods from the new BAKED cookbook.


I bought the book when it first came out in October, but thisandthat have kept me from trying any of the recipes. Until now. mr. makes homemade doughnuts for breakfast every Christmas morning, and this year he's decided to try their recipe for Farm Stand Buttermilk Doughnuts. And then, on New Year's morning, I'll be trying the Monkey Bubble Bread recipe. Can't wait!