The last of my dessert series and I am not sure if I am happy or sad. I can't begin to tell you how much I don't want to see another stick of butter, cups of powder sugar, whole eggs, broken eggs, egg whites or egg yolk - all to satisfy my curiosity. Oh and cocoa powder to -I think that I have a fine layer of it throughout my entire kitchen.
So Day 12 was in French a Buche de Noel; in English a Yule log. It consist of a very airy cake that is rolled with cocoa butter cream inside and then covered with the remaining butter cream to "look" like a log. I started with the butter cream....simple enough. Get into the fridge to chill - no worries. On to the "log" or cake. It calls for a jelly roll pan of which I don't have so I decide to substitute for a shallow cookie sheet. In my mind this should be fine and I am pretty impressed with my ability to think on the fly. Cake requires two steps: whipped egg whites and then fold in the other cocoa cake mixture. Yup, I am getting this down to a science and I am cleaning the kitchen as I go with this recipe. It is a well orchestrated ballet of mixing and cleaning!!! So the cake part is mixed and I gently lay the mixture on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Into the oven for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees OR when it lightly springs back.......hhhmmm - ok.
I need to point out - the recipe NEVER indicates that the cake will grow.....and grow some more. This is when it becomes quite clear that the shallow cookie sheet was not a good idea. As I am sitting on the step stool staring into the oven - I keep praying to the dear departed soul of Julia Child......"Please have mercy on me and let me cake stop before it grows out of the cookie sheet and burns onto the bottom of my oven." I threw some salt over my shoulder for good luck - threw in a few Hail Mary's, the Lord's Prayer, and for good measure I turned toward Mecca just in case. THANK-YOU JESUS.....it stopped growing as it reached the end of the parchment paper. Whew....catastrophe averted. Cake appears to "spring back to the touch" so I pull it out of the oven.
Now the recipe states that you have to take a knife and go around the edges of the cake and then turn it out onto a powder sugar dusted towel. Hhhmmm - ok.....I get a knife go around the edges. Lay out a clean towel and dust it with powder sugar. I flip the cake out onto the towel and it was like flipping a 12 egg omelet with a spork. Yup you guessed it...it broke....I quickly piece it back together, but not before I leave a layer stuck to the towel and then notice that the cake IS NOT cooked in the middle. CRAP - I am pretty dang sure this is not right. But I rally on....I get the short end of the cake and begin to roll it. It kinda rolls and I try to shape it as I go. Here is where I get the brilliant idea that once I get it rolled - I will just put in back in the oven for about 5 minutes and it will finish cooking. Not so much - I started to deflate so I pulled it out of the oven because the whole goal was to cool the rolled cake and then unroll it so that you add cover it with butter cream and then re-roll before icing it. So I let it cool for about 45 minutes.
As the cake is cooling and I am lamenting how to get the butter cream into the middle - Mason has a brilliant idea.....use the meat injector. It has a long syringe. EXCELLENT!!! I will inject the butter cream into the cake - it will be perfect. Cake is cooled and I have the meat injector syringe in hand and ready to insert into the butter cream.
I get some butter cream into the syringe and as I inject it into the cake - it blows out the other side of the cake. Must have been a one-time error. So I try again..this time the plunger part of syringe gets too much air into it and it blows out the bottom on to the counter top. Hhhmm - I am sure that the third time will be the charm.....Nope; not so much.....syringe in cake and sure as shit - it blows butter cream through the cake and onto the stove top and this time leaves a nice size hole in the cake. I am now bound and determined to finish this dang cake when Chris walks into the kitchen and promptly says, "It looks like you are trying to decorate a dog turd with diarrhea." I thought that I was going to pee my pants laughing. It did look like a dog turd and where the butter cream had blown out looked like diarrhea.
Even a stupid rat knows when to jump off a sinking ship so I abandoned the butter cream and I decorate my dog turd cake. Add coconut for snow, red and green sprinkles so they look like holly berries and run a fork through the icing to make it look like bark on a tree. Iced and decorated gave the illusion that it was good, but I know underneath the icing it was a bloody mess. I was afraid to eat it - went to my mom's to watch the Cowboys game instead.
So this morning with a cup of coffee in hand - I decide that I would try the buche de noel. I slice into and amazingly..... it has not changed. It still looks, well...bad. I decide that a small bite might be in order and Grayson decides to jump into fray and try it too because "it looks pretty." So on the count of three, we both take bites and before I could count to five - we are both spitting it out. At least Grayson made it to the trash - I spit mine in the sink. It was bad - too much chocolate, too raw, and too horrible. I am confident that I will not be trying this recipe again.
I have to be honest I did have fun over the last 12 days and I hoped you enjoyed it too. And to recap:
Day One - Pineapple Cranberry Upside-down Cake
Day Two - Napoleons
Day Three - Peppermint Meltaways
Day Four - Peanut Brittle
Day Five - Polish Honey Cake
Day Six - Chocolate Biscotti
Day Seven - Buckeyes
Day Eight - Ginger Tea Cakes with Lemon Glaze
Day Nine - Egg Nog Pie
Day Ten - Chocolate Truffles
Day Eleven - Divinity
Day Twelve - Buche de Noel
I know this sounds crazy, but I am taking suggestions as to what I should go for the next twelve days so send me your ideas. For right now, I will try Christmas Cocktails and the first one should be called a "Christmas Colonic." I will take my on the rocks!!!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Day 11: Cirque de Soleil, Meteorologist, and Wine - It Must be Divinity
Clear blue sky this morning and low humidity - it must be THE day to make divinity. Horror stories abound about Divinity and I hope that most of them are exaggerated folklore. My Grandma Duncan said, "Never make Divinity on a cloudy day." My mom told me, "Good luck, I have never been able to make it." Yikes.......I may be in trouble because my mom is a great cook and makes great pastries and candies. I loved Christmas growing up since we had all kinds of neat to eat treats at our house. But just to be sure I ran to the window one more time - yup - still no clouds.....must be good to go.
The deal with this recipe is that there are not many ingredients; however, it requires the same amount of precision timing as the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. Ooorah!!! Sugar, corn syrup, water in a pan on the stove. Stir once to dissolve the sugar and DON'T stir again until the temperature reaches 250 degrees. The recipe was very specific...don't stir - I didn't. While the sugar concoctions were turning into molten lava. I need to beat 3 egg white to stiff peaks. Egg whites beating on the counter.....lava boiling on the stove. I move between the two like a frantic animal trying to gnaw through a trap. 220, 225, 230, 240.....244....holding.........246.....eggs white stiff and I am trying not to breathe on them lest they fall. Finally 250.......pull off the heat and pour slowly into the egg whites while whipping them on high. Does this make sense to anyone - take a chance to fling hot syrup on yourself with a mixer on high?!?!?! It is a point to ponder.
So with the grace of a cirque de soleil performer....I pure a slow steady stream of the syrup into the egg white and this is when panic set in......the recipe clearly did not say that the volume of the egg whites would increase ten fold. The stuff just kept growing and I thought for sure that it was going to overflow, but it stopped short of the tip top. Suppose to whip until the "shine" is gone. Hhhmmmm.....what the hell does that mean......I guess it was shiny, but it wasn't shiny like blinding shiny - I would saw that it was more glistening. The recipe said about 5 minutes. I was not convinced that the shine was gone so I went for 2 more minutes. Add in pecans and the fun begins.
Two spoons are required and I think I should have used teaspoons, but I used tablespoons. Use one spoon to scoop up the mixture and use the other spoon to push the mixture on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. They are suppose to look like a soft swirl of ice cream. At this point I do begin to laugh and as you can tell by the photo that I posted mine look more like either white octopus or white Rorschach blobs. I am convenience the "soft swirl ice cream" look must come from years of practice and should not be tried by a novice like me. I was a sticky, gunky mess when I was done with trays on every flat surface of my kitchen. Hhhmmm - not sure that this will work, but the recipe reads - let them cool completely. After 2 hours, the blobs were only a little less sticky so I decided to put the trays into the fridge. They are on every level of the fridge in the kitchen and in the fridge in the garage. After 2 more hours, I could finally peel one off.
I think it tastes right, but I made the mistake of laying it down on the counter for minute and the dang thing stuck right to the counter.....I mean immediately stuck to the counter. Blob peeled off and in the words of my daughter Gray, "It's like eating really sweet laffy taffy." Mason tried to eat one, but in his words, "I could only get a small piece to lift off the paper." Not really good reviews from the major food consumers at my house. To eat my finished product will probably require spoons which is clearly not listed in the recipe.
When a recipe requires you to know be a meteorologist - it should be a huge red flag. There is an old wives tale for sailors: "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning; Red sky at night, sailors delight."
Here is mine for Divinity; "Clear sky in the morning; divinity makers should be pouring......a red glass of wine while ordering (it online); Red sky at night, still drinking-now that's a delight!!!"
The deal with this recipe is that there are not many ingredients; however, it requires the same amount of precision timing as the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. Ooorah!!! Sugar, corn syrup, water in a pan on the stove. Stir once to dissolve the sugar and DON'T stir again until the temperature reaches 250 degrees. The recipe was very specific...don't stir - I didn't. While the sugar concoctions were turning into molten lava. I need to beat 3 egg white to stiff peaks. Egg whites beating on the counter.....lava boiling on the stove. I move between the two like a frantic animal trying to gnaw through a trap. 220, 225, 230, 240.....244....holding.........246.....eggs white stiff and I am trying not to breathe on them lest they fall. Finally 250.......pull off the heat and pour slowly into the egg whites while whipping them on high. Does this make sense to anyone - take a chance to fling hot syrup on yourself with a mixer on high?!?!?! It is a point to ponder.
So with the grace of a cirque de soleil performer....I pure a slow steady stream of the syrup into the egg white and this is when panic set in......the recipe clearly did not say that the volume of the egg whites would increase ten fold. The stuff just kept growing and I thought for sure that it was going to overflow, but it stopped short of the tip top. Suppose to whip until the "shine" is gone. Hhhmmmm.....what the hell does that mean......I guess it was shiny, but it wasn't shiny like blinding shiny - I would saw that it was more glistening. The recipe said about 5 minutes. I was not convinced that the shine was gone so I went for 2 more minutes. Add in pecans and the fun begins.
Two spoons are required and I think I should have used teaspoons, but I used tablespoons. Use one spoon to scoop up the mixture and use the other spoon to push the mixture on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. They are suppose to look like a soft swirl of ice cream. At this point I do begin to laugh and as you can tell by the photo that I posted mine look more like either white octopus or white Rorschach blobs. I am convenience the "soft swirl ice cream" look must come from years of practice and should not be tried by a novice like me. I was a sticky, gunky mess when I was done with trays on every flat surface of my kitchen. Hhhmmm - not sure that this will work, but the recipe reads - let them cool completely. After 2 hours, the blobs were only a little less sticky so I decided to put the trays into the fridge. They are on every level of the fridge in the kitchen and in the fridge in the garage. After 2 more hours, I could finally peel one off.
I think it tastes right, but I made the mistake of laying it down on the counter for minute and the dang thing stuck right to the counter.....I mean immediately stuck to the counter. Blob peeled off and in the words of my daughter Gray, "It's like eating really sweet laffy taffy." Mason tried to eat one, but in his words, "I could only get a small piece to lift off the paper." Not really good reviews from the major food consumers at my house. To eat my finished product will probably require spoons which is clearly not listed in the recipe.
When a recipe requires you to know be a meteorologist - it should be a huge red flag. There is an old wives tale for sailors: "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning; Red sky at night, sailors delight."
Here is mine for Divinity; "Clear sky in the morning; divinity makers should be pouring......a red glass of wine while ordering (it online); Red sky at night, still drinking-now that's a delight!!!"
Day 10: Gilligan's Island, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Chocolate Truffles
I had a couple of things that I had to do yesterday so I didn't start this recipe until late afternoon and of course not reading the entire recipe ahead of time.....I didn't finish until after 8pm last night. In from running errands and it was little chilly in the house so instead of cooking with an apron - I cooked wearing my fur vest. Image: Lovey Howell from Gilligan's Island cooking.......OK, maybe not :D First, you have to chop 8 ounces of chocolate......I felt like Charlie from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory because each 1 ounce of the chocolate was wrapped in gold foil so as I chopped chocolate, I couldn't help, but sing "I've got a golden ticket...". Chocolate chopped and 1 cup of simmering heavy cream added and you get let it be in the bowl for 10 minutes. Stir until melted and mixture has to set at room temperature for an hour THEN you have to stir and whip the mixture until it thickens. THEN you spread it out on a cookie sheet and let it set-up for 2 hours......hhhhmmmm. (Well, during that time I started watching a movie with the family (Akeelah and the Bee) which I had never seen before. If you have never seen it - great flick.) So I was delayed when I started scooping and rolling the chocolate. The recipe indicated that you should scoop the chocolate with a melon scoop, but alas I don't own a melon scoop so I use a baby spoon. Worked like a champ.
It is a bit messy rolling the chocolate because they start to soften under the heat of your hands. Once rolled - I had chopped some slivered almonds, chocolate sprinkles, and coconut to roll the chocolate in - into the "dusting ingredients" and plop onto parchment paper. The recipe called for rolling them in cocoa powder, but I don't care that taste so I substituted with the above. Back into the fridge for them to re-firm. Done - spit spot.
They are very rich and those rolled in almonds are probably my favorite - the almonds cut a little bit of the chocolate. For those of you who love chocolate - you will love the ones rolled in chocolate sprinkles. Oh Heaven next is Day 11.....
It is a bit messy rolling the chocolate because they start to soften under the heat of your hands. Once rolled - I had chopped some slivered almonds, chocolate sprinkles, and coconut to roll the chocolate in - into the "dusting ingredients" and plop onto parchment paper. The recipe called for rolling them in cocoa powder, but I don't care that taste so I substituted with the above. Back into the fridge for them to re-firm. Done - spit spot.
They are very rich and those rolled in almonds are probably my favorite - the almonds cut a little bit of the chocolate. For those of you who love chocolate - you will love the ones rolled in chocolate sprinkles. Oh Heaven next is Day 11.....
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Day 9: Eggs minus the Nog, a Bain-Marie, and a GPS
I want to give you some insight to me and these recipes - I only scan the recipes to see what I might additionally need from the grocery. I don't read them thoroughly as I don't want to have any pre-conceived notions of how it may or may not turn out. I came as quite a surprise that I was going to make Egg Nog Pie and there was not a drop of egg nog in the whole dang recipe. REALLY?!?!? Because when I was at the grocery over the weekend knowing that I was going to make egg nog pie this week - I bought 3 cartons of egg nog - knowing that I would need at least one to make this recipe. Now I can open up an egg nog stand - I have so much in the fridge. I mean its not like I can pour it over my Frosted Flakes....well I guess I could, but I am not going to. I also didn't realize that I would be making a custard pie or baking it in a bain-marie (translated from French = Mary's bath or in English = water bath). Surprise!!! Well, well, well....won't this be fun.
First a pie crust....needs to be about a 12 inch round for a 9 inch pie pan. Pie crust rolled and fluted. I lightly poked the bottom with a fork and baked the crust for about 5 minutes because I was afraid that if I added custard ingredients to an unbaked pie crust that it might not get cooked so into the oven for 5 minutes at 325 degrees. On to the "guts" of the pie.
Sugar and 4 eggs creamed together. Dry ingredients stayed dry until I needed them - of course the only dry ingredient that I needed for the "guts" was salt. Not too hard to jack that up :D But oops I spoke too soon......now on my way to the grocery.......when I "scanned" the recipe I thought it called for condensed mik.....nope....it calls for evaporated milk. CRAP....and the grocery was busy today. So I get two cans of evaporated milk and out the door headed for home.
Only one problem....can't find my car. I became one of those people who I sit in my car and dog because they can't find their damn car. Where the hell is my car...I say it out loud and a lady loading her truck says to me, "Just click your key fob.....that's what I do." I said, "Honey, I drive a 1998 paid off POS (Piece of Sh*t) that doesn't have a fob." She went back to loading her trunk and I wander over two more rows til I found my car. Imagine that....it was exactly were I left it.
Back home, evaporated milk and water added. I put the pie tin into a large glass casserole dish because remember, I am going to bake this in a bain-marie. Pour the liquid "guts" into my pre-kinda baked pie crust - whew - just fit (it was a deep dish pie tin.) Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon. Now pour about 1/2 inch of water into the bottom of the glass dish. Move it all very, very, very careful to the oven. Liquid guts are sloshing and the water in the bottom of the glass is sloshing, but I get into the oven. Bake for 55 minutes. Insert a knife, if it comes out clean - it is done. It's done. Cool, cut and by golly it tastes like egg nog in a pie crust. If you don't like the texture of custard - this recipe is not for you. Chris said the flavor is good, but he does not like custard so he likes the crust a lot.
To recap today: sweetened condensed milk is not the same as evaporated milk; an egg nog pie doesn't need to have egg nog in it to taste like it; and people who lose their car at the grocery - well....those types are kinda quirky. Tomorrow Day 10.
First a pie crust....needs to be about a 12 inch round for a 9 inch pie pan. Pie crust rolled and fluted. I lightly poked the bottom with a fork and baked the crust for about 5 minutes because I was afraid that if I added custard ingredients to an unbaked pie crust that it might not get cooked so into the oven for 5 minutes at 325 degrees. On to the "guts" of the pie.
Sugar and 4 eggs creamed together. Dry ingredients stayed dry until I needed them - of course the only dry ingredient that I needed for the "guts" was salt. Not too hard to jack that up :D But oops I spoke too soon......now on my way to the grocery.......when I "scanned" the recipe I thought it called for condensed mik.....nope....it calls for evaporated milk. CRAP....and the grocery was busy today. So I get two cans of evaporated milk and out the door headed for home.
Only one problem....can't find my car. I became one of those people who I sit in my car and dog because they can't find their damn car. Where the hell is my car...I say it out loud and a lady loading her truck says to me, "Just click your key fob.....that's what I do." I said, "Honey, I drive a 1998 paid off POS (Piece of Sh*t) that doesn't have a fob." She went back to loading her trunk and I wander over two more rows til I found my car. Imagine that....it was exactly were I left it.
Back home, evaporated milk and water added. I put the pie tin into a large glass casserole dish because remember, I am going to bake this in a bain-marie. Pour the liquid "guts" into my pre-kinda baked pie crust - whew - just fit (it was a deep dish pie tin.) Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon. Now pour about 1/2 inch of water into the bottom of the glass dish. Move it all very, very, very careful to the oven. Liquid guts are sloshing and the water in the bottom of the glass is sloshing, but I get into the oven. Bake for 55 minutes. Insert a knife, if it comes out clean - it is done. It's done. Cool, cut and by golly it tastes like egg nog in a pie crust. If you don't like the texture of custard - this recipe is not for you. Chris said the flavor is good, but he does not like custard so he likes the crust a lot.
To recap today: sweetened condensed milk is not the same as evaporated milk; an egg nog pie doesn't need to have egg nog in it to taste like it; and people who lose their car at the grocery - well....those types are kinda quirky. Tomorrow Day 10.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Day 8: Four Lessons and Ginger Tea Cakes
Today starts out with basic kitchen lessons (which I seemed to have forgotten). When in the kitchen:
1. Remember that metal does NOT go in the microwave. It wasn't like this was the first time that I have used a microwave, but just spaced out this fundamental fact. I needed to soften the butter so I decided to unwrap it and leave it on the wrapper and the next thing I knew - the microwave was sparking and arching and it needed my immediate attention. I am surprised that I didn't blow up the microwave. Sshhheesshh
2. Again - dry ingredients don't get creamed in with butter and sugar (you know that I did this a few days ago). I threw caution to the wind and just left the dry ingredients and moved forward with the recipe.
3. Buttermilk tastes like horrible. I had never tried buttermilk before so I "manned-up" and took a swig. Oh my gosh....it tastes absolutely horrible. I remember Chris' grandma used to like to drink buttermilk over ice. EGADS....how in the world did she drink it?!?!?! I think there is still a film covering my tongue.
4. When taking pictures of your dessert, use both hands. Uh, when you don't, your iPhone ends up landing on top of the desserts. Next thing you know, I am licking the glaze off my phone - smoothing out the dessert tops again and taking a new photo....using both hands. Phone is still sticky, but I am tired of trying to lick off the lemon glaze.
I have to start off by giving kudos to the recipe. It was suppose make 24 tea cakes...mine made 23 tea cakes. YEAH!!!
As noted above, I added the dry ingredients with the sugar. Added the butter; Kitchen-aid locked....mix, scrap down the sides and the bottom (since I have the stuff sorta stuck to the bottom). Suppose to add eggs one at a time - nope that didn't happen either. Add both eggs and the extra egg yolk all at once. Another caution thrown to the wind. Next buttermilk.
[Side bar] I was not going to buy a carton of buttermilk when I only needed a couple of tablespoons. What did I do??? Off to the baking aisle. Did you know you can buy dried buttermilk??? Me either.
Buttermilk "made" and added to the mixture. Kitchen-aid locked and ready to mix for 2 minutes. Done. Mixture - nice and creamy. And I might add - tasty. I have never really been a ginger fan. Who would have thought that ginger would taste so good??? Into the oven for 12-15 minutes at 325 degrees. I went with 14 minutes. Insert toothpick to make sure they were done. Toothpick came out clean. Pull them out of the oven and let them cool completely. Glaze was easy. Powdered sugar, water, and, lemon juice. Gray helped with icing the tea cakes - thanks Gray!!!
Here is the good thing about this dessert: just the right amount of ginger, just the right amount of lemon, just the right size and just a couple of missteps in the kitchen today.
1. Remember that metal does NOT go in the microwave. It wasn't like this was the first time that I have used a microwave, but just spaced out this fundamental fact. I needed to soften the butter so I decided to unwrap it and leave it on the wrapper and the next thing I knew - the microwave was sparking and arching and it needed my immediate attention. I am surprised that I didn't blow up the microwave. Sshhheesshh
2. Again - dry ingredients don't get creamed in with butter and sugar (you know that I did this a few days ago). I threw caution to the wind and just left the dry ingredients and moved forward with the recipe.
3. Buttermilk tastes like horrible. I had never tried buttermilk before so I "manned-up" and took a swig. Oh my gosh....it tastes absolutely horrible. I remember Chris' grandma used to like to drink buttermilk over ice. EGADS....how in the world did she drink it?!?!?! I think there is still a film covering my tongue.
4. When taking pictures of your dessert, use both hands. Uh, when you don't, your iPhone ends up landing on top of the desserts. Next thing you know, I am licking the glaze off my phone - smoothing out the dessert tops again and taking a new photo....using both hands. Phone is still sticky, but I am tired of trying to lick off the lemon glaze.
I have to start off by giving kudos to the recipe. It was suppose make 24 tea cakes...mine made 23 tea cakes. YEAH!!!
As noted above, I added the dry ingredients with the sugar. Added the butter; Kitchen-aid locked....mix, scrap down the sides and the bottom (since I have the stuff sorta stuck to the bottom). Suppose to add eggs one at a time - nope that didn't happen either. Add both eggs and the extra egg yolk all at once. Another caution thrown to the wind. Next buttermilk.
[Side bar] I was not going to buy a carton of buttermilk when I only needed a couple of tablespoons. What did I do??? Off to the baking aisle. Did you know you can buy dried buttermilk??? Me either.
Buttermilk "made" and added to the mixture. Kitchen-aid locked and ready to mix for 2 minutes. Done. Mixture - nice and creamy. And I might add - tasty. I have never really been a ginger fan. Who would have thought that ginger would taste so good??? Into the oven for 12-15 minutes at 325 degrees. I went with 14 minutes. Insert toothpick to make sure they were done. Toothpick came out clean. Pull them out of the oven and let them cool completely. Glaze was easy. Powdered sugar, water, and, lemon juice. Gray helped with icing the tea cakes - thanks Gray!!!
Here is the good thing about this dessert: just the right amount of ginger, just the right amount of lemon, just the right size and just a couple of missteps in the kitchen today.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Day 7: Chilled Balls, Chilled Chocolate, and a History Lesson
So far this has been the easiest recipe and if you are a peanut butter lover then this your day and recipe. Oh I almost forgot to tell you, for the next 6 days I am doing something different. The first six days I mixed everything by hand - the old-fashioned way. Beginning today, I used the kitchen-aid to mix the recipes. A heck of a lot easier and quicker. Thank goodness for modern conveniences and shout out to whoever spent the time and effort to create the modern mixer.
The recipe........a lot powdered sugar; a little bit of salt; a lot of creamy peanut butter; a little bit of butter....cream together and then roll into balls. Now here again, I have a "beef" with the amount the recipe makes - this recipe indicated that it would make 76 balls; when I finished mine made 34. Now I probably could have stretched the recipe, but after rolling about 20 - the balls started getting bigger and bigger because I just wanted to be done. All balls rolled; placed on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and into the fridge for 30-60 minutes for the peanut butter to harden. I checked them at 30 minutes - not that they really looked any different from when I put them in their initially, but I really wanted to do the crossword puzzle so I let them chill for another 30 minutes. Crossword puzzle done - time to check on the chilled peanut butter. They still looked the same...only colder. Okay chilled balls and now onto the chocolate.
Another easy step. One bag of semi-sweet chocolate morsels and 2 tablespoons of oil - pop into the microwave and check about every 30 seconds. Stir, another 30 seconds, stir until completely melted. Cookie sheets pulled out of the fridge and ready to dip. This is where rolling the balls into "small" balls pays off. You have to poke a toothpick into the balls to dip and roll about in the chocolate - about 3/4 of the ball. Let the excess chocolate drip off and place them back on the parchment paper. So I should have made all the balls kinda, sorta small since when rolling and dipping them into the chocolate they become heavier and have a tendencies to start to pop off the toothpick. I had a couple that popped off the toothpick and became completely covered in chocolate. In an effort to have visually, uniform dessert - I ate those.....well, I couldn't feed them to the dog. Everyone knows that chocolate is lethal to dogs. I would like to say that they tasted bad, but I would be lying.
[Insert a little bit of useless information] The finished candy is suppose to resemble a buckeye which is the state tree of Ohio that produces a nut that is poisonous unless heated and leached. Native Americans gave it the name as it resembled the eye of a buck deer. Okay enough with history lesson. Thank you, Mr. Kohlenbrander and Mr. Crawford for my history lessons in high school.
All balls 3/4 covered in chocolate. Then you have to cover up the toothpick holes. Hhhmmm........really?!?!? Can't hold the candy to press closed the toothpick holes as the chocolate is still wet. So I decided to wet my index finger and smoothed out the hole.....that tip wasn't even in the recipe. That was all Donna!!! Into the fridge for the chocolate to harden about an hour. Arrange them on a plate and take a photo.
A bit of an uneventful day in the kitchen except that until about an hour ago - I realized that I had powder sugar down the front of my jeans. I guess from when I was cleaning up. Not to worry.....I called out for Chinese tonight. I have a couple "advanced" recipes coming up so maybe it was a good thing this recipe went off without any major hitches. Of course, this could just be the lull before the storm. Can't wait for Day 8 - how about you???
The recipe........a lot powdered sugar; a little bit of salt; a lot of creamy peanut butter; a little bit of butter....cream together and then roll into balls. Now here again, I have a "beef" with the amount the recipe makes - this recipe indicated that it would make 76 balls; when I finished mine made 34. Now I probably could have stretched the recipe, but after rolling about 20 - the balls started getting bigger and bigger because I just wanted to be done. All balls rolled; placed on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and into the fridge for 30-60 minutes for the peanut butter to harden. I checked them at 30 minutes - not that they really looked any different from when I put them in their initially, but I really wanted to do the crossword puzzle so I let them chill for another 30 minutes. Crossword puzzle done - time to check on the chilled peanut butter. They still looked the same...only colder. Okay chilled balls and now onto the chocolate.
Another easy step. One bag of semi-sweet chocolate morsels and 2 tablespoons of oil - pop into the microwave and check about every 30 seconds. Stir, another 30 seconds, stir until completely melted. Cookie sheets pulled out of the fridge and ready to dip. This is where rolling the balls into "small" balls pays off. You have to poke a toothpick into the balls to dip and roll about in the chocolate - about 3/4 of the ball. Let the excess chocolate drip off and place them back on the parchment paper. So I should have made all the balls kinda, sorta small since when rolling and dipping them into the chocolate they become heavier and have a tendencies to start to pop off the toothpick. I had a couple that popped off the toothpick and became completely covered in chocolate. In an effort to have visually, uniform dessert - I ate those.....well, I couldn't feed them to the dog. Everyone knows that chocolate is lethal to dogs. I would like to say that they tasted bad, but I would be lying.
[Insert a little bit of useless information] The finished candy is suppose to resemble a buckeye which is the state tree of Ohio that produces a nut that is poisonous unless heated and leached. Native Americans gave it the name as it resembled the eye of a buck deer. Okay enough with history lesson. Thank you, Mr. Kohlenbrander and Mr. Crawford for my history lessons in high school.
All balls 3/4 covered in chocolate. Then you have to cover up the toothpick holes. Hhhmmm........really?!?!? Can't hold the candy to press closed the toothpick holes as the chocolate is still wet. So I decided to wet my index finger and smoothed out the hole.....that tip wasn't even in the recipe. That was all Donna!!! Into the fridge for the chocolate to harden about an hour. Arrange them on a plate and take a photo.
A bit of an uneventful day in the kitchen except that until about an hour ago - I realized that I had powder sugar down the front of my jeans. I guess from when I was cleaning up. Not to worry.....I called out for Chinese tonight. I have a couple "advanced" recipes coming up so maybe it was a good thing this recipe went off without any major hitches. Of course, this could just be the lull before the storm. Can't wait for Day 8 - how about you???
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Day 6: Blunders, Baseball Stats, and Biscotti
I had to take a nap after I finished making this recipe..not because it was that difficult, but because I screwed it so many times and ways. They tell a carpenter to measure twice - cut once; Donna should read the recipe twice and have bowls labelled - flour, sugar, chocolate, etc.
I get all of my ingredients out on the counter and this when I learned the ABC's of Biscotti - Always, Be, Careful.........sifted the dry ingredients into a bowl - sit it aside. 2 eggs cracked and lightly beaten in another bowl. Put the sugar in a separate bowl and thought the recipe said to must the cocoa in with the sugar......it did not....CRAP.....I only had enough cocoa to make one batch and I did want to go one day without having to go to the grocery so it stayed in with the sugar. Next needed to softened the butter - no worries - into the microwave. Pull it out and promptly dump into the sifted flour mixture which included salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Just to confirm, you never cream butter with flour.....you cream butter with sugar. CRAP, nothing to do, but to start again. This time I have Gray in the kitchen helping me keep an eye on myself.
Dump this concoction down the drain, wash the bowl.....start singing here, "And start all over again..." Measured flour into the bowl, baking powder, baking soda - going great - only need to add the salt. So I tell Gray, measure out a tablespoon of salt.......but she is smart....she reads the recipe and says, "Mom, it's a teaspoon of sugar." Good lord, good thing I messed up the first batch because I had added a full tablespoon of salt in it and I am sure it would have been inedible. And had it been edible, I am confident that anyone who dared sample it would have blown up like a Macy Thanksgiving Day Float from all the salt. Whew, dodge another bullet.
Butter into the sugar/cocoa combo - cream well, add dry mixture along with almonds incorporating a little at a time. Parchment paper on the cookie sheet. Divide mixture in half; shaping into two logs. Why do I have still have semi-sweet morsels on the counter?!?!?!? Because the were suppose to be added when I added the almonds.......[insert a string of cuss words here followed up with a slightly strained "Are you kidding me?!?!?!?" I was talking and yelling at myself - all at the same time. Gray gets smart and leaves the kitchen at this point....she wants no part of this jacked-up dessert that I INSIST on finishing. So I improvise.....pour the semi-sweet morsels on top of the chocolate logs; lightly flour my hands and gently massage them into the chocolate logs. Into the oven at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. I tell Gray that this will be a miracle if this even makes it through the first round of baking.
25 minutes tick away, pull it out of the oven.....holy crap.....I think it might work. Have to have it cool for 20 minutes. Okay....20 minutes comes and goes. Cut into slices and turn on their sides and bake for another 15 minutes, but at seven minutes, you pull them out and flip them to the other side so that they "dry" out evenly. Note to readers here....baking 101, don't pull out the baking sheet with a damp dish towel......it is as it you pulled it out with your bare hands. I faltered a minute but got it to the stove top without a crumb falling to the floor. Cool at room temperature.
For those you have been following along....yesterday this is where it went south very quickly and a video was made on just how far south it went. But oh no, [Insert finger wagging here] not today my friends......believe it or not it actually turned out. Can you believe it?!?!?! It actually turned out!!!!! Chris has already had 3 pieces of it, Gray thought it was too chocolaty for her; I have had two pieces and Mason who took one for the team yesterday and tried to gnaw through yesterday's dessert for a picture....put his blessing on it. YEAH......if I was a baseball player, I would be batting over 800.....better than the Texas Rangers......sorry, but it was open so I took it.
Just remember, the ABC's of baking.....Always Be Creative!!!!
I get all of my ingredients out on the counter and this when I learned the ABC's of Biscotti - Always, Be, Careful.........sifted the dry ingredients into a bowl - sit it aside. 2 eggs cracked and lightly beaten in another bowl. Put the sugar in a separate bowl and thought the recipe said to must the cocoa in with the sugar......it did not....CRAP.....I only had enough cocoa to make one batch and I did want to go one day without having to go to the grocery so it stayed in with the sugar. Next needed to softened the butter - no worries - into the microwave. Pull it out and promptly dump into the sifted flour mixture which included salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Just to confirm, you never cream butter with flour.....you cream butter with sugar. CRAP, nothing to do, but to start again. This time I have Gray in the kitchen helping me keep an eye on myself.
Dump this concoction down the drain, wash the bowl.....start singing here, "And start all over again..." Measured flour into the bowl, baking powder, baking soda - going great - only need to add the salt. So I tell Gray, measure out a tablespoon of salt.......but she is smart....she reads the recipe and says, "Mom, it's a teaspoon of sugar." Good lord, good thing I messed up the first batch because I had added a full tablespoon of salt in it and I am sure it would have been inedible. And had it been edible, I am confident that anyone who dared sample it would have blown up like a Macy Thanksgiving Day Float from all the salt. Whew, dodge another bullet.
Butter into the sugar/cocoa combo - cream well, add dry mixture along with almonds incorporating a little at a time. Parchment paper on the cookie sheet. Divide mixture in half; shaping into two logs. Why do I have still have semi-sweet morsels on the counter?!?!?!? Because the were suppose to be added when I added the almonds.......[insert a string of cuss words here followed up with a slightly strained "Are you kidding me?!?!?!?" I was talking and yelling at myself - all at the same time. Gray gets smart and leaves the kitchen at this point....she wants no part of this jacked-up dessert that I INSIST on finishing. So I improvise.....pour the semi-sweet morsels on top of the chocolate logs; lightly flour my hands and gently massage them into the chocolate logs. Into the oven at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. I tell Gray that this will be a miracle if this even makes it through the first round of baking.
25 minutes tick away, pull it out of the oven.....holy crap.....I think it might work. Have to have it cool for 20 minutes. Okay....20 minutes comes and goes. Cut into slices and turn on their sides and bake for another 15 minutes, but at seven minutes, you pull them out and flip them to the other side so that they "dry" out evenly. Note to readers here....baking 101, don't pull out the baking sheet with a damp dish towel......it is as it you pulled it out with your bare hands. I faltered a minute but got it to the stove top without a crumb falling to the floor. Cool at room temperature.
For those you have been following along....yesterday this is where it went south very quickly and a video was made on just how far south it went. But oh no, [Insert finger wagging here] not today my friends......believe it or not it actually turned out. Can you believe it?!?!?! It actually turned out!!!!! Chris has already had 3 pieces of it, Gray thought it was too chocolaty for her; I have had two pieces and Mason who took one for the team yesterday and tried to gnaw through yesterday's dessert for a picture....put his blessing on it. YEAH......if I was a baseball player, I would be batting over 800.....better than the Texas Rangers......sorry, but it was open so I took it.
Just remember, the ABC's of baking.....Always Be Creative!!!!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Day 5: Butter, Breadcrumbs, and Building Material
I was excited to make this cake. I had visions of my great-grandmother eating this cake while she was growing up Warsaw and even in Riley, Kansas where she finally settled, married and died. I had the great fortune of growing up with her as she didn't pass until I was a junior in high school. I don't ever remember her making this cake, but I knew that if I made it - it would complete a circle and it would become a new family tradition....Honey Cake for Christmas.
Time to gather the ingredients...light brown sugar; honey; 4 eggs; hazelnuts.....first hitch. I usually don't have hazelnuts hanging around and I did not want to make a special trip to Central Market so I altered the recipe and decided to use chopped nut topping. I am assuming that this should not make a huge difference. Oh yes and white breadcrumbs.......yup....I said white breadcrumbs. Should this be a red flag?!?!?! I paused and thought if it was good enough for Lydia H. Weiss Buseman - it was good enough for me. In retrospect, I might should have contemplated it a bit longer.
Ingredients gathered - now need a baking dish. And wouldn't you know I could not find my 7 1/2 cup fluted brioche tin.......(to confirm - I don't have one), but I did know that I had a bundt pan. Kinda of the same so thought it could work. Now picture this.....I know that I have a bundt pan, but I can not for love of Pete find it. I am crawling all over my kitchen floor - unloading cabinets in search of this dang bundt pan. Ok not in the bottom cabinets; up on the step stool looking in the higher cabinets - nowhere. Looked in the pantry and even looked in the laundry room - no dang bundt pan. Well crap - I was afraid to use a regular cake pan SO off to Wal-Mart I go......I made sure that this time I had no baking remnants smeared across my face before going in. Imagine that - no fluted brioche tins in the entire store. So I bought a bundt pan and a spring form pan. As I ponder which to use: bundt or spingform pan - I settled on the springform pan. Which I prepped with some butter and a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs. Double boiler in place - the honey needs go liquifies and whisk til light and frothy......hhhmmmm.....frothy honey. OK, not really even sure I got it to the frothy stage.....starting to wonder "what the hell am I doing trying to make this".......might as well see it through - I have gotten this far. Mix remaining breadcrumbs with nuts into frothy honey mixture. I need to pause here just a minute and let you know that this recipe didn't call for a few morsels of breadcrumbs - it called for a total of 2 cups of bread crumbs. I am not even sure you use that many breadcrumbs to make Thanksgiving stuffing!!! Last stage of prep - beat 4 egg whites until stiff an gently fold in. Again, enveloped in my nostalgic dream of grandma - I decided to beat the egg whites by hand. This was a bad decision....first - the bowl was too small; two - you have to have biceps and endurance of a tri-athlete to beat egg whites by hand to the stiff stage; and three - you have to have a relief partner. If was like the WWE....lets get ready to rumble......I had to tag team with Chris on these dang egg whites - I tapped out and he took over and then I came back and finished. I folded in the the egg whites and spooned the mixture into the springform pan. Into the oven 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Read an article on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis while the cake baked. The recipe indicated that the cake will rise during cooking and will sink slightly as it cooled. I looked in on my cake.....was it rising.....couldn't tell....opened the door and confirmed....cake not rising. I folded in the stiff egg whites.....did I fold them to much??? Crap, my gut is telling me that I folded too much or I wasn't gently enough with spooning in the mixture OR maybe I should have gone with the bundt pan. Pulled the cake at 42 minutes. It did not have to sink because it never rose.
I knew that I had to be the first one to taste it so I cut into it - no, I lie - I sawed into and took a bite. It is extremely dense (well of course since the dang thing never rose and has 2 cups of breadcrumbs ), it does take like honey, but I am thinking when it cools completely it will be like a brick. Hold-on.....let me go check........Holy Crap - it has turned into what my son calls "Polish Cinder Block Cake". I just took several pictures to show how "stable" cake has become an added them to facebook.
I am guessing that when Lydia H. Weiss Buseman made this -it was a great cake, but to confirm when Donna Jean Duncan Paul made it......the dog even had a hard time eating it and I think I might be able to sell this as a fragrant door stop or better yet - organic building material in third world countries.
Time to gather the ingredients...light brown sugar; honey; 4 eggs; hazelnuts.....first hitch. I usually don't have hazelnuts hanging around and I did not want to make a special trip to Central Market so I altered the recipe and decided to use chopped nut topping. I am assuming that this should not make a huge difference. Oh yes and white breadcrumbs.......yup....I said white breadcrumbs. Should this be a red flag?!?!?! I paused and thought if it was good enough for Lydia H. Weiss Buseman - it was good enough for me. In retrospect, I might should have contemplated it a bit longer.
Ingredients gathered - now need a baking dish. And wouldn't you know I could not find my 7 1/2 cup fluted brioche tin.......(to confirm - I don't have one), but I did know that I had a bundt pan. Kinda of the same so thought it could work. Now picture this.....I know that I have a bundt pan, but I can not for love of Pete find it. I am crawling all over my kitchen floor - unloading cabinets in search of this dang bundt pan. Ok not in the bottom cabinets; up on the step stool looking in the higher cabinets - nowhere. Looked in the pantry and even looked in the laundry room - no dang bundt pan. Well crap - I was afraid to use a regular cake pan SO off to Wal-Mart I go......I made sure that this time I had no baking remnants smeared across my face before going in. Imagine that - no fluted brioche tins in the entire store. So I bought a bundt pan and a spring form pan. As I ponder which to use: bundt or spingform pan - I settled on the springform pan. Which I prepped with some butter and a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs. Double boiler in place - the honey needs go liquifies and whisk til light and frothy......hhhmmmm.....frothy honey. OK, not really even sure I got it to the frothy stage.....starting to wonder "what the hell am I doing trying to make this".......might as well see it through - I have gotten this far. Mix remaining breadcrumbs with nuts into frothy honey mixture. I need to pause here just a minute and let you know that this recipe didn't call for a few morsels of breadcrumbs - it called for a total of 2 cups of bread crumbs. I am not even sure you use that many breadcrumbs to make Thanksgiving stuffing!!! Last stage of prep - beat 4 egg whites until stiff an gently fold in. Again, enveloped in my nostalgic dream of grandma - I decided to beat the egg whites by hand. This was a bad decision....first - the bowl was too small; two - you have to have biceps and endurance of a tri-athlete to beat egg whites by hand to the stiff stage; and three - you have to have a relief partner. If was like the WWE....lets get ready to rumble......I had to tag team with Chris on these dang egg whites - I tapped out and he took over and then I came back and finished. I folded in the the egg whites and spooned the mixture into the springform pan. Into the oven 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Read an article on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis while the cake baked. The recipe indicated that the cake will rise during cooking and will sink slightly as it cooled. I looked in on my cake.....was it rising.....couldn't tell....opened the door and confirmed....cake not rising. I folded in the stiff egg whites.....did I fold them to much??? Crap, my gut is telling me that I folded too much or I wasn't gently enough with spooning in the mixture OR maybe I should have gone with the bundt pan. Pulled the cake at 42 minutes. It did not have to sink because it never rose.
I knew that I had to be the first one to taste it so I cut into it - no, I lie - I sawed into and took a bite. It is extremely dense (well of course since the dang thing never rose and has 2 cups of breadcrumbs ), it does take like honey, but I am thinking when it cools completely it will be like a brick. Hold-on.....let me go check........Holy Crap - it has turned into what my son calls "Polish Cinder Block Cake". I just took several pictures to show how "stable" cake has become an added them to facebook.
I am guessing that when Lydia H. Weiss Buseman made this -it was a great cake, but to confirm when Donna Jean Duncan Paul made it......the dog even had a hard time eating it and I think I might be able to sell this as a fragrant door stop or better yet - organic building material in third world countries.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Day 4: Here a Peanut; There a Peanut; Everywhere Peanuts - oh and a small fire
Yes, I know that I am late in getting my blog posted today, but to confirm, it is not due to recipe difficulties...I have just had a very busy day. I even wrote some this blog while riding in the car on the way to my nephew's indoor soccer game. So......Day 4 -Peanut Brittle. A couple of notes worthy of mentioning about peanut brittle:
1. I now know why peanut brittle costs so much to purchase retail; and
2. This is a candy dessert that you have to be committed to before you begin.
Folks, this is not like slice and bake cookies and read part of the paper while they are baking.....oh no.....this involves a candy thermometer which takes this to a whole new level. One, frankly, that I was not sure that I could handle. There were horror stories of peanut brittle down from generation to generation in my family. The year an aunt got burned by the syrup mixture; the year the peanuts had gone rancid; and the year that the peanut brittle turned green....yes, I said green AND it happened twice. My sister and I witnessed the latter....my sister swears I was responsible for the first batch of green peanut brittle - this I do not recall or maybe I chose to repress it; however, we both agree that mom was responsible for the second green batch. And to this day, none of us can figure out how or why it would have turned green. Oh, I guess if I really wanted to know, I could pose the question to a chemist or a scientist, but some questions are best left unanswered. Besides, the story would lose a little bit of its luster if we had an answer.
My experience with the brittle will probably not make the cut of horror stories of years before, but here it is: First, you have to have a candy thermometer (mine was my grandma's) and you have to make sure that you attach it to the side of the pot, but you have to make sure kit does not touch the bottom of the pot or you do not get an accurate reading. And the last thing that you want is reaching the hard candy stage when you are really at the soft candy stage. Thermometer positioned, sugar, light Karo syrup and water added to the pot - medium heat and then you wait....and wait....and wait...and wait. This is when I pulled the step stool up to the front of the stove and waited some more. Before you can do anything, you have to wait until the temperature of the sugar syrup mixture reaches 234 degrees....not 230 or 235, but 234. Really?!?!?! I panic a bit here, because my thermometer has increments in five, not 4...so I waited until it got to 235. In goes 2 cups of raw Spanish peanuts and salt. And then you stir, and stir, and stir, and stir, and stir. Did I mention that you have to stir?!?!?! You have to keep stirring until the temp reaches 305 and then quickly you have to add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of baking soda...stir, stir, stir and pour out on two greased cookie sheets. Had a little stubble here with the butter and I can confirm, that when you drop the butter between the pot and the butter...it does flame up.....I hesitate to call my incident a fire, but it does flame and of course melts everywhere. I did jump back a little bit, but recovered and got more butter; add the baking soda and stirred and poured it out onto cookie sheets. Let it hardened and break it into pieces.
Recap: can't buy a small amount of raw Spanish peanuts so I have to figure out what the heck I am going to do with about 4 more cups of them; lots of waiting (which coincides with the high retail price) for the syrup to come up to temp; could have used some more salt; lots of stirring (which coincides with the high retail price) for the syrup and peanuts to come to temp; move quickly with the salt and baking powder; and a nice tablespoon of butter slightly seared to the grate, the burner cap, and the drip pan [sigh]. And if anyone has any ideas what you can do with raw Spanish peanuts other than making more peanut brittle - let me know.
1. I now know why peanut brittle costs so much to purchase retail; and
2. This is a candy dessert that you have to be committed to before you begin.
Folks, this is not like slice and bake cookies and read part of the paper while they are baking.....oh no.....this involves a candy thermometer which takes this to a whole new level. One, frankly, that I was not sure that I could handle. There were horror stories of peanut brittle down from generation to generation in my family. The year an aunt got burned by the syrup mixture; the year the peanuts had gone rancid; and the year that the peanut brittle turned green....yes, I said green AND it happened twice. My sister and I witnessed the latter....my sister swears I was responsible for the first batch of green peanut brittle - this I do not recall or maybe I chose to repress it; however, we both agree that mom was responsible for the second green batch. And to this day, none of us can figure out how or why it would have turned green. Oh, I guess if I really wanted to know, I could pose the question to a chemist or a scientist, but some questions are best left unanswered. Besides, the story would lose a little bit of its luster if we had an answer.
My experience with the brittle will probably not make the cut of horror stories of years before, but here it is: First, you have to have a candy thermometer (mine was my grandma's) and you have to make sure that you attach it to the side of the pot, but you have to make sure kit does not touch the bottom of the pot or you do not get an accurate reading. And the last thing that you want is reaching the hard candy stage when you are really at the soft candy stage. Thermometer positioned, sugar, light Karo syrup and water added to the pot - medium heat and then you wait....and wait....and wait...and wait. This is when I pulled the step stool up to the front of the stove and waited some more. Before you can do anything, you have to wait until the temperature of the sugar syrup mixture reaches 234 degrees....not 230 or 235, but 234. Really?!?!?! I panic a bit here, because my thermometer has increments in five, not 4...so I waited until it got to 235. In goes 2 cups of raw Spanish peanuts and salt. And then you stir, and stir, and stir, and stir, and stir. Did I mention that you have to stir?!?!?! You have to keep stirring until the temp reaches 305 and then quickly you have to add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of baking soda...stir, stir, stir and pour out on two greased cookie sheets. Had a little stubble here with the butter and I can confirm, that when you drop the butter between the pot and the butter...it does flame up.....I hesitate to call my incident a fire, but it does flame and of course melts everywhere. I did jump back a little bit, but recovered and got more butter; add the baking soda and stirred and poured it out onto cookie sheets. Let it hardened and break it into pieces.
Recap: can't buy a small amount of raw Spanish peanuts so I have to figure out what the heck I am going to do with about 4 more cups of them; lots of waiting (which coincides with the high retail price) for the syrup to come up to temp; could have used some more salt; lots of stirring (which coincides with the high retail price) for the syrup and peanuts to come to temp; move quickly with the salt and baking powder; and a nice tablespoon of butter slightly seared to the grate, the burner cap, and the drip pan [sigh]. And if anyone has any ideas what you can do with raw Spanish peanuts other than making more peanut brittle - let me know.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Day 3: Peppermint Extract; Peppermint Sticks and Wal-Mart
Today is Day 3 and I have never used so much peppermint at one time in my entire life. Wait, I probably need to clarify - excluding peppermint schnapps that was taken with regularity when in college while I worked at Bushwackers. The recipe today - very easy - the longest wait was letting the dough chill which the recipe indicated would be 30-60 minutes. It was closer to 60, but no worries. I enjoyed a nice cup of hazelnut coffee.
I do have a beef about this recipe...well...in general most recipes. Do you ever notice the recipe never seems to make the amount indicated. For instance, today's recipe indicated it should yield 4 dozen. Now to confirm, I did not roll large or even medium sized balls (no jokes) and my recipe only made 3 dozen. I think for this to make 4 dozen cookies, I would have had to have rolled them about the size of mouse turds...I am just thinking. Does this happen to anyone else????
So the dough was chilled, balls were rolled and into the oven for 15 minutes on 350 until slightly brown on the edges. On to the glaze......powder sugar - check; 2 tablespoons of milk - check; 2 tablespoons of butter - check; 2 drops of red food coloring - check; crushed peppermints - WHAT...no....crap.....and the crushed peppermints have to be added while the glaze is wet......did I mention crap?!?!?! Off to Wal-Mart to purchase candy canes.
1 box of candy canes..88 cents. What a bargain. I head to the check-out and the chick with her little blue bow in her hair asks me, "Have you been cooking?" Had Wal-Mart started hiring clairvoyants???? I nodded and thought - Hhhmmm - is this the Wal-Mart question of the day to its customers? Are there questions of the day???? Didn't really think anymore of if. Paid and back to my car.....I had glaze to make. Car on; seat belt on; visor down to block out the sun and it became apparent to me why the baking question was posed to me. I had powdered sugar smeared across my forehead as if I was on my way to a some tribal ritual that involved dancing around fire and making weird noises. Oh lord......they are probably still talking about me, but what is a girl to do when she is on a mission for peppermint sticks?!?!?!?!
Glaze made; candy canes pounded....let me interject here.....when pounding candy canes - cover the candy canes with a towel before beating the crap put of them with a meat mallet. Because those candy canes shards will fly all over your dang kitchen - a mess to clean up, but your dog will love you. Glaze was drizzled with more finesse today than yesterday and crushed candy canes added to the top.
The cookies turned out great; however, there is only one thing that still has me worried.....since Tim (our dog) ate some of the peppermint shards that went flying through the kitchen.....will his dog farts smell like peppermints????? Just a point ponder.
I do have a beef about this recipe...well...in general most recipes. Do you ever notice the recipe never seems to make the amount indicated. For instance, today's recipe indicated it should yield 4 dozen. Now to confirm, I did not roll large or even medium sized balls (no jokes) and my recipe only made 3 dozen. I think for this to make 4 dozen cookies, I would have had to have rolled them about the size of mouse turds...I am just thinking. Does this happen to anyone else????
So the dough was chilled, balls were rolled and into the oven for 15 minutes on 350 until slightly brown on the edges. On to the glaze......powder sugar - check; 2 tablespoons of milk - check; 2 tablespoons of butter - check; 2 drops of red food coloring - check; crushed peppermints - WHAT...no....crap.....and the crushed peppermints have to be added while the glaze is wet......did I mention crap?!?!?! Off to Wal-Mart to purchase candy canes.
1 box of candy canes..88 cents. What a bargain. I head to the check-out and the chick with her little blue bow in her hair asks me, "Have you been cooking?" Had Wal-Mart started hiring clairvoyants???? I nodded and thought - Hhhmmm - is this the Wal-Mart question of the day to its customers? Are there questions of the day???? Didn't really think anymore of if. Paid and back to my car.....I had glaze to make. Car on; seat belt on; visor down to block out the sun and it became apparent to me why the baking question was posed to me. I had powdered sugar smeared across my forehead as if I was on my way to a some tribal ritual that involved dancing around fire and making weird noises. Oh lord......they are probably still talking about me, but what is a girl to do when she is on a mission for peppermint sticks?!?!?!?!
Glaze made; candy canes pounded....let me interject here.....when pounding candy canes - cover the candy canes with a towel before beating the crap put of them with a meat mallet. Because those candy canes shards will fly all over your dang kitchen - a mess to clean up, but your dog will love you. Glaze was drizzled with more finesse today than yesterday and crushed candy canes added to the top.
The cookies turned out great; however, there is only one thing that still has me worried.....since Tim (our dog) ate some of the peppermint shards that went flying through the kitchen.....will his dog farts smell like peppermints????? Just a point ponder.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Day 2: Puffed Pastry, Pudding, and Powdered Sugar
Today is Day 2 in my quest of 12 desserts in 12 days. And based on the title of this blog - yes, Virgina today was Napoleons. Again another recipe never made before....it looks difficult, but I can tell you that it was really quite simple. I think the thing that took the longest was letting the puff pastry thaw...the package said about 20 minutes; however, mine took about 32 minutes...give or that a minute or so. So while I was waiting - I painted the house. Really?!? No, just seeing if you were paying attention. I actually gathered the rest of my ingredients and had a cup of coffee. With the puff pastry thawed and cut - into the oven it went at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. I actually baked mine for 14 - I was going to go for 15, but they were getting a little too brown so 14 it was. While the pastry cooled - I whipped up the "middle". Chocolate pudding, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of sour cream....it is here that I paused and thought - really?!?!? I prayed that no one used it last night for their baked potato - you know how it goes, baked potato with sour cream is great, but their always seems to be a few shreds of cheese or bacon bits that get lodged into the sour cream when we are done. Nope - not an shred of cheese or bacon bit to be found. So in went the sour cream.....whisk for 2 minutes and chill. Here is where I pulled out a trick that Mrs. Harbour taught me in Foods Class at the old MHS.....when chilling pudding or pudding like products - cover with wax paper and gently press on to the pudding. SHAAZAAM - no film!!! Thank-you, Mrs. Harbour.
Side bar - does anyone from the "Little Apple" know if Mrs. Harbour still lives in Manhattan?
So back to the recipe.....middle made, puff pastry opened and tops sit aside. Generous dollop of "middle" slopped on and tops gently pushed on. On to the glaze and UH-HUH....a problem.....1 cup of powder sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk NOT 1 cup of powder sugar and 1 cup of milk. The latter combo does not make a glaze it just makes really sweet, slightly thick milk. Down the drain and start again. Yup following the recipe works much better. Spread on the glaze.....a little trick....use the back side of the spoon to spread it on as it coats just the right amount that doesn't end up running off the side of the pastry.
Last step - melt some chocolate morsels to drizzle......no issues....drizzled and flung the melted chocolate like I was a master chocolatier. Of course, I had to clean up the flung chocolate from the counter top, the top of the stove and off of my shirt. I am guessing a true master chocolatier would have better control of his fling and possibly worn an apron. Note to self for next time.
Day three....oh what will it be....stay tuned!!!!
Side bar - does anyone from the "Little Apple" know if Mrs. Harbour still lives in Manhattan?
So back to the recipe.....middle made, puff pastry opened and tops sit aside. Generous dollop of "middle" slopped on and tops gently pushed on. On to the glaze and UH-HUH....a problem.....1 cup of powder sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk NOT 1 cup of powder sugar and 1 cup of milk. The latter combo does not make a glaze it just makes really sweet, slightly thick milk. Down the drain and start again. Yup following the recipe works much better. Spread on the glaze.....a little trick....use the back side of the spoon to spread it on as it coats just the right amount that doesn't end up running off the side of the pastry.
Last step - melt some chocolate morsels to drizzle......no issues....drizzled and flung the melted chocolate like I was a master chocolatier. Of course, I had to clean up the flung chocolate from the counter top, the top of the stove and off of my shirt. I am guessing a true master chocolatier would have better control of his fling and possibly worn an apron. Note to self for next time.
Day three....oh what will it be....stay tuned!!!!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Twelve Days of What?!?!?!
Most everyone knows that on the first day of Christmas, your true love will give to you a partridge in a pear tree. Hhhhmmmm - how ordinary. I have decided to embark on something a bit different this year....I am baking desserts for 12 days. I was flipping through the channels and landed on Fine Living Network Sunday night and started watching a program titled "Twelve Days of Christmas Desserts" and in a brief moment of either brilliance or baffling stupidity - I decided that I could do that. So yesterday, armed with a lengthy list, I set off for the grocery and with a cart full of various powders, extracts, and liquids that would amaze Martha Stewart (if she did her own shopping) - I headed for the checkout. When you buy a pound of sugar here and a pound of flour there - you never really realize what it costs to bake. I am already about $100 into this adventure and the oven hasn't even been turned on. What was I thinking?!?!? Maybe I have gone mad!!!
So here we are Tuesday morning and the first recipe is Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake. Really?!?!?! I have never even made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake and after coring and peeling the apples - I believe opening a can of pineapple would have been much easier. So first hitch was that I couldn't find the peeler so I pared the apples the old-fashion way - with a steak knife....yup I said a steak knife....why make it easy..it was the first knife that I grabbed. Apples peeled and drizzled with lemon juice (to prevent browning); off to soaking the cranberries. This was easy as the recipe called for dried cranberries to soak in water. In hindsight, I might have modified the recipe and possibly soaked them in orange juice. On to the cake batter.....eggs, oil, etc......stir, mix - not too much - should still have some lumps. Yup - still have some lumps even after mixing for 2 minutes.....no hand mixer for me.....all by hand today. Now I need the "syrup" - brown sugar and butter melted together. Here is where I now know that I read the recipe wrong......1 cup of brown sugar - not a 1/2 cup AND 4 tablespoons of butter not 2 tablespoons. I did think that it looked sparse as I poured it over the layer of apples and cranberries, but what did I know since I have never made the recipe before......and of course you don't realize this until after you invert and turn over the cake. Hhhmmm....maybe I will spoon some caramel sauce over the slices when I serve it.
Bake for 32 minutes at 325; cool for 5 minutes and invert. Done, Done and Done. Only 1 piece of pineapple stuck to the dish...again...not too bad for the first try. I wonder if Martha ever has her cake stick?!?!?! I am thinking not, but then again I wonder if she really does her own cooking anymore.
I think this will be a great fun - 12 days of desserts; however, stay tuned as it may become 12 days of stressed (desserts spelled backwards).
So here we are Tuesday morning and the first recipe is Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake. Really?!?!?! I have never even made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake and after coring and peeling the apples - I believe opening a can of pineapple would have been much easier. So first hitch was that I couldn't find the peeler so I pared the apples the old-fashion way - with a steak knife....yup I said a steak knife....why make it easy..it was the first knife that I grabbed. Apples peeled and drizzled with lemon juice (to prevent browning); off to soaking the cranberries. This was easy as the recipe called for dried cranberries to soak in water. In hindsight, I might have modified the recipe and possibly soaked them in orange juice. On to the cake batter.....eggs, oil, etc......stir, mix - not too much - should still have some lumps. Yup - still have some lumps even after mixing for 2 minutes.....no hand mixer for me.....all by hand today. Now I need the "syrup" - brown sugar and butter melted together. Here is where I now know that I read the recipe wrong......1 cup of brown sugar - not a 1/2 cup AND 4 tablespoons of butter not 2 tablespoons. I did think that it looked sparse as I poured it over the layer of apples and cranberries, but what did I know since I have never made the recipe before......and of course you don't realize this until after you invert and turn over the cake. Hhhmmm....maybe I will spoon some caramel sauce over the slices when I serve it.
Bake for 32 minutes at 325; cool for 5 minutes and invert. Done, Done and Done. Only 1 piece of pineapple stuck to the dish...again...not too bad for the first try. I wonder if Martha ever has her cake stick?!?!?! I am thinking not, but then again I wonder if she really does her own cooking anymore.
I think this will be a great fun - 12 days of desserts; however, stay tuned as it may become 12 days of stressed (desserts spelled backwards).
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)