The Most Decadent Cookie Ever

I just made these for a work holiday treat exchange: Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies. They are rich chocolate on the outside and sweet peanut butter on the inside and they are as big as my fist.

I don't know what the question was, but the answer is fuck yes.

Fabulous Star Lemon Cake

Modified from a Bon Apetit recipe. This cake has a satisfying texture and surprising flavor.

Cake:
1 cup plus 1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground star anise (about 1 star)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon (zest of one lemon)
2/3 cup buttermilk

Frosting:
1 package cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1-3 cups powdered sugar (to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a round cake pan, placing a round of parchment paper in the bottom and greasing the sides.

Mix together first 9 ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating. Mix until fully combined, scraping down the sides.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake on top rung until top starts to brown and toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

While cake is baking, prepare frosting: Whip cream cheese and butter together, then beat in powdered sugar until frosting is the desired consistency and sweetness. When cake is fully cooled, frost as desired.

Homemade Chai Mmmmmm

I recently became obsessed with making a real masala chai at home. The obsession was worthwhile. I'm home sick right now, enjoying quite a few decaffeinated cups.

Here's the recipe for a batch:

6 cups water
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tea bags
herbs:
6 green cardamom pods
6 cloves
4 peppercorns
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick

In a stovetop pot, bring water to a boil, and dissolve sugar 
completely.  Add tea bags and spices.  Turn off heat, cover 
and steep for ten minutes.  Add milk and enjoy!

If you are unfamiliar with some of these whole spices, here's a picture. They are so pretty and good smelling.



I found the star anise in the ethnic foods aisle. McCormick sells cardamom pods, but they were crazy expensive. I actually found mine for quite a bit cheaper at Whole Foods. Yes, that Whole Foods. They have surprisingly good prices on spices, as they only sell their own label.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple pie is so much work but so worth it. I made an apple pie with Betty Crocker's easy pie crust recipe (just canola oil, water, and flour) and Baking Illustrated's fancy filling (Arkansas black apples with crystallized ginger). I used a leaf cookie cutter to make patterns in the crust top.

It would be prettier if my oven hadn't decided to shut off halfway through, causing me to overcompensate and burn it. But still... pie. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Best Cupcakes EVER

Cupcake cravings come after dinner. Why are do all my favorite cupcake bakeries close at seven? So I was compelled to make these, by powers greater than myself. You must make them also. Right now. Seriously. You won't regret it.

Here's the fabulous, easy, delicious, recipe: Paula Dean's Red Velvet Cupcakes. I subbed 1/2 cup oil for a stick of butter, and I used the cream cheese frosting recipe from Baking Illustrated, and man, these are delicious cupcakes.



And pretty. And maybe a little Canadian.

Kawaii Cupcakes

Martha Stewart hosted a Cutest Cupcake Contest recently. The above is my favorite (it was a finalist but did not win). I like it because it is ingenious, but looks like anyone could make it, and does not contain fondant (guess what I don't like). I'm guessing the "dirt" is crumbled chocolate cookie, and the plant is your standard sprig of mint. Brilliant!

Have been crafting diligently myself, but nothing to post right now. Comic-Con approaches!

I Wish I Had a Penguin Cake

Here is the promised cake. It looks like a penguin because Morgan likes penguins, and it is crooning because her birthday involved karaoke. I am really proud of this, and not just because the frosting is wonderfully not lumpy (unlike the mushroom cake).

The cake is chocolate with vanilla buttercream frosting, from the deceased but still glorious Cupcake Blog (sans coconut), with a chocolate ganache penguin.

It started out as some fun sketches. I had trouble picking my favorite little penguin, so I made Geoff pick. A part of me is sad I didn't go with shy penguin.



I made sure the butter was very soft this time, and that it was mixed very thoroughly with the sugar, and it seems to have worked. Note how smooth! I also used a touch of blue food coloring to make the frosting "whiter" (blue counters the yellowness of the butter and vanilla).



I sketched the design into the buttercream with a knife before attempting it with the ganache. I was eager to get back to my important work Elder Scrolls Oblivion, so this went pretty quickly. I used a snipped ziploc bag to add the ganache, as before.

Don't even think about it, Hamlet.



I kind of love this character.



Morgan approves!



And here's a picture of Geoff singing "People are Strange" by The Doors.

Super Strawberry Cake

This was so much prettier in my head. I thought I had figured out how to get smooth (not lumpy, pictured) frosting, but I thought wrong. I swear I sifted the sugar! Argh. I'm still going to eat it.

Do you want to know how to make a possibly lumpy, but EXTRA delicious, Super Mushroom/Strawberry cake? Read on...

Strawberry Cake



2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup pureed strawberries
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter (or spray) and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans or one 9x13 cake pan. Set aside.

Combine remaining dry ingredients (except sugar) in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl, beat remaining ingredients together. Add to dry, beating with a wire whisk. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes or until done when tested with a toothpick.

This recipe comes from Whole Foods, and I was very happy with it. It was hard to find a strawberry cake recipe that did not use white cake box mix and/or Jello!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting



1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/4 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Beat butter briefly, scrape bowl.
Add the sifted powdered sugar and cream. Beat until smooth.

I was not so happy with this. I'm not sure what went wrong. Maybe I did not beat long enough? Maybe I accidentally put in too much cream?

Assembly

Cut the domed crust off the two cakes, leaving a flat surface.

Frost the bottom layer.

Slice a handful of strawberries into thin pieces and arrange them on top of the bottom layer.



Frost the bottom of the top layer then lay it on top of the bottom layer and frost it.

Put cake in the refrigerator to harden frosting.

Strawberry and Ganache Topping

Dice a handful of strawberries into small pieces and toss with red jam (to maintain color). With a butter knife, carefully sketch out the shape of the Super Mushroom into the frosting, then arrange the strawberries in the appropriate place.

In a(n improvised) double boiler, melt two bars of high quality dark chocolate (I like Callebaut). When fully melted, add cream until ganache is the desired consistency.



Let ganache cool a bit, then transfer to a ziploc bag and cut off the tip of the bag. Draw the outline and the mushroom eyes with the ganache.



That's it! Perfect for birthdays for eight year olds in the eighties (or lazy days for twenty something right now).

Almond and Honey Easter Cupcakes

I found some cooling racks at the dollar store, and was compelled to make cupcakes. Here's the recipe, inspired by Epicurious and chockylit.

Almond Cupcakes

    1 cup all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup natural almond meal (almonds ground very fine)
    1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
    1 pinch salt
    1/3 cup butter
    1/2 cup sugar
    1 egg
    1/2 teaspoon almond extract
    1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°:F
In a bowl whisk together the flour, almonds, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and the sugar, beat in the egg and the almond extract. Then beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beating well after each addition.

Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Turn the cupcakes out onto a rack and let them cool completely.

Honey Frosting

    4 ounces or 1/2 package of light cream cheese
    2 tablespoons butter, softened
    1-2 cups sifted powdered sugar
    2 tablespoons thick local honey

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and honey until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

Frost and garnish with a whole almond.

Fancy Sushi Candy

Inspired by this Brownie Points idea. I wanted mine to be a little easier, though, so no noritake belts or candy molds, or white chocolate for lazy ol' me.

California Rolls

puffed rice cereal
butter
marshmallows
dark chocolate
jelly beans

I thought about rolling the rolls in crushed almonds, to simulate the sesame seeds on the outside of most california rolls. If I were making more, I would do both.

Make rice crispy treats according to the recipe on the side of the package. Try not to burn the butter, as this will mess up the color (see mine...)

When rice crispy treats are cool, use the top of a small jar as a guide to cut out small circles. Remove them and roll them flat. Melt dark chocolate on a stovetop using a double boiler, and dip the rice crispy treat in the chocolate using tongs. Try not to get any chocolate on the top.

When the chocolate is hardened, scrape off a little bit of the top of the treat in the middle, and press a pink jelly bean and a green jelly bean into the depression.

Fish Roe Sushi

tapioca pearls
jell-o
dark chocolate

Inspired by one of the comments on the Brownie Points blog, I was challenged to come up with some tasty candy that looked like ikura.

Bring water to a boil. Pour a full package of tapioca pearls (I need to check the size on this) into the water, then let sit overnight.

Pour out the water. Add 2.5 cups water and bring to a boil again. Add 1 pkg Jell-o and let sit over night. Now you have Jiggler strength Jell-o filled with tapioca balls. The tapioca pearls will continue to expand as the mixture sits.

When fully hardened, dip in melted chocolate as above, with tongs.

Salmon Nigiri

The same as the Brownie Points one, except I used a butter knife to paint a nori belt on this. It looked cool, and was a lot easier than the method described on Brownie Points.

Ginger and Wasabi

butter
powdered sugar
green food coloring
flavoring such as vanilla, almond, or mint extract (optional)
candied ginger


Not wanting to get white chocolate, I used buttercream frosting for the wasabi instead. My recipe for buttercream frosting is from the the cupcake blog. Flavor as desired.

I added some candied ginger as garnish as well, because I luv candied ginger.