recipes

It’s my party!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

If you have never heard of Milk Bar Bakery you need to start your Googling now! I discovered it from watching Netflix – Chef’s Table: Pastry, Episode 1: ‘Christina Tosi’.  Christina is my spirit animal! Feisty, sweet and full of fun! She truly is inspirational.

I decided for my birthday this year to recreate her bakery favorite – Birthday Cake – as a treat to myself. HUGE DISCLAIMER – I have never liked funfetti cake. There is something about it that just isn’t my style, but who could resist the bright colors of sprinkles – and it has a MILK CAKE SOAK and CAKE CRUMBS! So Happy Birthday to me!! I decided to go all in and recreate her colorful, sweet and fabulously fun cake.

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Christina uses clear vanilla extract in her recipe, which she states gives the cake and frosting that boxed mix and canned frosting flavor, but homemade. I do agree with her that it gives that “extra” over-the-top vanilla flavor that is reminiscent of a box mix, however, this is WAY BETTER than a box mix and canned frosting. SO MUCH BETTER!

I looked over the ingredient list and had most items at home, but I did not follow the recipe to the letter. The recipe is a little long in how they have it written, as it includes assembly instructions, but it’s well worth the read to get to the “cake” of the recipe.

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I eventually decided to make this batter into cupcakes so that I could share at work! They got rave reviews! I made a double batch of cake, which made 25 cupcakes, and a double batch of frosting, and I had six cupcakes that didn’t get frosted. I would definitely triple the frosting for cupcakes – as this cake is a “naked” frosted cake, so there isn’t a lot for piping – which is my favorite way to frost cupcakes.

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Making cupcakes is less time intensive as they cool quicker and you don’t need some of the extras – acetate and a cake ring. Since I didn’t have all the ingredients, I made do with what I had, and it didn’t disappoint, so don’t let laking a few ingredients or hardware items stop you from trying something NEW. I didn’t have citric acid, grape seed oil and glucose, so I used light corn syrup instead of glucose and vegetable oil instead of grape seed. I omitted the citric acid.

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I LOVE the crunch that the cake crumbles add to this cupcake, and the cute and simple decoration they provide! This cake and frosting really ticks all the boxes for me! It’s a soft and moist cake, with the sprinkles giving it a slight crunch of texture. The frosting is smooth and slightly tangy, and we’ve already given much love to the cake crumbles.

I highly suggest making this recipe just because – it won’t disappoint! Don’t let the recipe name “Birthday Cake” keep you locked in for baking it just for a party. Make this cake just because you want to smile or put a smile on someone else’s face!

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Cinnamon Ornaments

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

I love decorating my Christmas tree! It is a fun and sometimes bittersweet trip down memory lane as I pull out keepsake ornaments (one from my grammy, my dad and aunt, all whom have passed away; and ones from my girls that are homemade or in the year of their births). IMG-2517

One of my favorite homemade gift are these Cinnamon Ornaments! They are so easy to make and smell amazing. I made some three years ago, and they still smell great on my tree. This is a great activity for kids to help with and gives them the pride of knowing they did most of the work.

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Ingredients:

1 cup ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. white school glue
3/4-1 c. water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with parchment or wax paper. In a large bowl add the cinnamon and glue. Add 3/4 c. water to start with. Mix well until there is no more dry cinnamon. If you need to use the remainder 1/4 c. of water, mix in a little at a time. The mixture will feel spongy … remember FLOAM? That is the consistency your are looking for. Roll mixture out onto a piece of parchment or wax paper and use your favorite cookie cutters to create fun shapes. After placing these on your baking sheets, use a skewer or tooth pick to make a good size hole near the top, being careful not to be too harsh or it can break apart the shape. Bake in the oven for 2 hours. These will start to curl slightly while baking, so I always flip them 1/2 way through. This also gives you a chance to inspect the holes – you may need to use your skewer/toothpick again to help the holes stay open. You want to make sure you bake these for the full two hours so that they don’t break once hung on the tree. Once baked, let them cool before adding ornament hooks, ribbon or string. I have in years past added raisins to the gingerbread cutout for eyes and buttons, and we have used metallic Sharpies to decorate them as well. I even brought some into work to put on my mini tree near my desk. The possibilities are endless! I can’t tell you enough how great these smell – my house currently smells like a giant cinnamon bun, and they will bring a smile to anyone who receives them as a gift.

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Merry Christmas!

Falling into Apples

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

There is a social media post challenging people to post something they hate that everyone else loves, have you seen it?

I think peanut butter and chocolate is one of the worst food combinations. I also think pumpkin spice is extremely over rated. Every time you turn around something that shouldn’t has pumpkin spice on the box!

During the fall months I would much rather a hot apple cider than a pumpkin spice latte. Give me apples and cinnamon over pumpkin any day!

I love salted caramel too – I have loved it for a long time – before it became a “fad” food. I also love it with apples and this Salted Caramel Apple Crumb pie is a winner!

Usually I like a double crust apple pie served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but for this pie I wanted more texture to go with the salted caramel. A crumb topping was the way to go! I also chose to put the caramel on top of the crumb topping after the pie had cooked. I wanted to ensure the flavor would be prominent and to keep the bottom of the pie from being too soggy with extra moisture in the center.

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil (trust me! Pies bubble over.)

Use your favorite pie crust recipe or a store bought crust. Place the pie crust into a deep dish pie plate. Crimp edges with your preferred method. I like using my fingers.

A batch of salted caramel either homemade or store bought. You can even use a jar of dulce de leche and add sea salt to taste. This will be added after the pie is done cooking.

7-8 good size apples of your favorite variety, peeled and sliced. Granny Smiths work really well because the tartness helps balance with the sweetness. Add sliced apples to a large bowl. Coat with 1/4 cup lemon juice. Add 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 AP flour, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice. Mix well and pour into pie shell making sure to level the apple mixture.

In another large bowl add 1 1/2 sticks softened unsalted butter, 1/2 cup quick oats, 1 cup of packed light brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt. Mix until all combined. Use hands to break up the crumble topping and place on top of the apple mixture.

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Bake for roughly one hour until crust and topping have browned and the juices from the pie a bubbling. If you need to cover the crust edges with foil to keep from over cooking and/or burning, do so.

Once cooked remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for about 15-20 minutes before adding the salted caramel. The longer you let the pie cool the more the caramel will stay on top of the crumb topping and will be harder to spread – depending on your caramels consistency.

IMG_2358It smells so amazing when it is done! Salty, Sweet, Gooey, Crunchy goodness. My four favorite food groups covered! This fall favorite will be a great addition to your Thanksgiving desserts or just because!

Enjoy!

Espresso Buttercream!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

13428572_498315767042123_1692144594965911317_nThis recipe frosts 24 regular cupcakes OR 12 extra large cupcakes with a 1:1 ratio of frosting to cupcake! You can half this recipe and probably be just fine.

INGREDIENTS:
2 c. unsalted room temp (slightly soft to the touch) butter
6 c. powered sugar, sifted
3 tsp. good quality vanilla extract
3 tsp. good quality espresso powder (or less if this amount scares you; it does pack a wallop!)

DIRECTIONS:
Place all ingredients into large mixing bowl. Mix together on low while scrapping edges with a spatula. Believe me – unless you want yourself and your entire kitchen to be covered in powdered sugar – start on low! You can alter this recipe by dissolving the espresso powder into the vanilla, which will make the buttercream a tan color, but I quite like the look of the flecks of espresso. This is a softer buttercream so it spreads easily with an offset spatula but still holds its shape when piping.

You will want to lick the bowl, the beaters, the spoon and suck what is left out of the 14731392_557930124414020_7930662054414118044_npiping tip, however, I don’t suggest doing this at 9:30 p.m. (lesson learned!) or you may be up awhile. I don’t drink coffee, but if it tasted as good as this buttercream, I may just start!

This is a perfect pair with a chocolate cake/cupcake or on top of a pan or two of fudge brownies! Accent your dessert with a chocolate drizzle or a chocolate covered espresso bean!

Enjoy!

Biscoff Fudge + Mini Chocolate Chips = Cookie Dough Fudge

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes I get ideas and unintentionally they morph into to something fantabulous. Last night was one of these times. I had a few jars of Biscoff Cookie Spread in my cupboard itching to turn into something tasty. I was sitting a work dreaming of what I could whip up when I got home and it hit me — FUDGE! Why have I not tried making Biscoff fudge before??!! So it started. I love eating a spoonful of Biscoff with a few chocolate chips studded through it so I figured, why not throw in my half bag of mini chocolate chips into the fudge and behold – I made a fudge that tastes EXACTLY like raw cookie dough. EUREKA! This stuff is addicting.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to suit your sweet tooth needs. This would also be a great substitute for a holiday plate instead of peanut butter fudge (even if you chose not to add the chocolate chips!).

INGREDIENTS:
12 oz. white chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 jar Biscoff Cookie Spread
1 cup powder sugar, sifted (this matters!)
3-5 oz. mini chocolate chips (optional)

img_1789DIRECTIONS:
Line a 11 x 7 pan with parchment (this will save you a lot of work). In a large and heavy saucepan combined white the first four ingredients. Melt over medium heat. Make sure to stir constantly and get the bottom of the pan while stirring. It only takes a few minutes for this to burn due to the high sugar content. Once the mixture is melted and smooth, remove from heat and stir in sifted powdered sugar (if you don’t sift it you risk having lumps of pure powdered sugar studding your fudge – no good). After this is fully combined work quickly if you are adding the chocolate chips, which will melt and swirl through the fudge. Pour into prepared pan and cool at room temp until set. Cut and ENJOY!

You can choose to pour the chocolate chips over the top after it has been poured into the pan, or you can used chunky Biscoff spread, or crumbled Biscoff cookies, Heath Toffee Bits … the add-in possibilities are ENDLESS!

Crack is Whack!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

14330005_541525546054478_6368766877253801155_nMost people associate this recipe with the holidays. Actually, I feel that a lot of people associate homemade baked goods with the holidays in general. Whether it be that holidays are special so people make homemade treats to spoil their loved ones or that we take a little more time around the holidays to do special things – like bake from scratch. This recipe is definitely in the top 15 of “What My Grandma Use To Make.”

This is a spin on “Christmas Crack” that uses saltines and sometimes nuts. This version uses honey graham crackers and toffee bits, along with the traditional butter, brown sugar and chocolate chips.

I stumbled across this version when the other half of my baking brain posted it on Twitter,14322483_541525449387821_271727704957805018_n and am I ever glad I did! This is such a quick and easy recipe. Six ingredients for this version – S-I-X! This and the fact that I almost always have these items in the house make it deadly, but I know how addicting it is … so I most likely share it each time I make it.

Speaking of sharing … this would be a perfect item to bring to a cookie swap or to make as part of a goodie platter. DO IT! You won’t regret it … unless you eat most of it, then you might!

Click here for the recipe from the original source.

Saying Thank You With Brownies!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you need a little more than words to say thank you and these brownies are just the way to do it!

I am obsessed with gooey fudgy brownies and the espresso in this recipe gives a nice kick and make the chocolate sing! If you are a cake brownie fan this is not the recipe for you. Did I mention you only need one pot to make these? One pot, a whisk and an 8×8 baking dish!

INGREDIENTS:
1½ sticks unsalted butter
1 c. brown sugar
¾ c. white sugar
3 lg. eggs
1 lg. egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. dark chocolate cocoa powder
⅓ c. AP flour
2 tsp. espresso powder
Pinch of salt
½ c. dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with parchment & grease. In med. sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat & whisk in brown & white sugar until smooth. Add eggs & egg yolk one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add in cocoa powder, flour, espresso powder & salt. Stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. These are decedent dark chocolate goodness and just try not to eat more than one!

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you crave a flavor combination. Sometimes that flavor combination is known for a specific dessert already. Sometimes you want the flavors but not the dessert they were “intended” for. Hence why I decided to make Key Lime Pie Cupcakes for the other half of my brain as her birthday treat!! I love Key Lime Pie, but I didn’t want to make a pie, and as with most birthday treats for each other we like to experiment. So I decided I would make Key Lime curd to fill cinnamon cupcakes and top them with a delicious Fluff buttercream. These are definitely going into my recipe book as they were not only a hit, but a refreshing summertime treat! If you love Key Lime Pie, you will love this spin on a classic.

13537779_505734049633628_3339730287453242550_nFor the Key Lime Curd:
1/2 c. fresh squeezed Key Lime juice at room temp.
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp.
2 ex. lg. eggs at room temp.
1/8 tsp. salt

Remove the zest of your limes with a zester. Put the zest and sugar into a blender and blend until zest is finely minced and mixed with the sugar. Juice limes to make 1/2 cup and set aside. With a mixer, cream the sugar mixture and butter. Add eggs one at a time scrapping the bowl after each one is added. Add lime juice and salt and mix until combined. The mixture will look separated, which is fine. Put mixture into a medium sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it has thickened enough to leave a path when you scrap the back of a coated spoon. Pour into a bowl and press plastic wrap down onto mixture to avoid a skin from forming – place in fridge to cool and store until use.

13516410_505682656305434_3295211559007071609_nFor the Cinnamon Cupcakes:
I debated on using my vanilla cake recipe and adding cinnamon, but I decided to go the the web and try a new recipe out, since I was experiment with flavor. I used a Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcake recipe by LizP (see recipe and instructions here: http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-vanilla-cupcakes-439272) that I found on food.com. This created a dense almost muffin-esque cupcake. This was good for the curd filling, as it held up nicely to the extra moisture. This made 12 cupcakes in large cupcake liners. I also went with 2 tsp. of cinnamon to really give it that flavor.

For the Fluff Buttercream:
2 c. butter, softened
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 13 oz. jar of Fluff
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream butter in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add in powdered sugar. Add in Fluff and vanilla, and mix until combined. Put into pipping bag for later use. I kept it on the table so that it would be room temp. for easier piping onto my cupcakes. This frosting is prettier when piped versus using a knife or small offset spatula due to it’s consistency.

13095975_505734042966962_3414481367897242628_nAfter letting my cupcakes cool, I used a large piping tip to hollow out the center of my cupcakes to make a good size whole for the curd to go into. I then piped a generous amount of frosting on top and sprinkled with gold luster dust for a pop of color and pizazz. These are birthday cupcakes after all!

Summer is approaching!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

It has finally stopped being winter, but I best not say it too loud or it may snow again. It has happened before – that is, it has snowed in the summer before – this is Maine after all.

I was driving to work one morning after dropping my daughter off to school and noticed a homemade stand at the end of a drive way – RHUBARB for sale! I made a note to go back the next day and purchase some from this honor system stand. I love the tartness rhubarb brings to a dish. It is great for pies, jams and my all-time favorite – a church recipe book find – Rhubarb Jiffy Delight (you know the one! Rhubarb, strawberry Jell-O and cake mix dumped into a casserole dish).

My daughters are a huge fan of the old standby Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, so I decided I would treat them, along with my mother and grandmother, to this sweet, yet tart dessert over our long holiday weekend. I didn’t have a lot of time to make this so I opted for a store bought, refrigerated pie dough and I have no shame or apologies for doing so. I thought to make this pie a little more fancy I would do a lattice top instead, that way you can see the gorgeous filling! I also opted to use a non-tapioca recipe. I have used tapioca for many recipes – including my sour cherry bars, but the texture for me is always an issue. The recipe I used didn’t include tapioca, but did use light brown sugar as a sweetener which gave it a nice warm flavor, along with the cinnamon! It is definitely a keeper recipe!

Filling:
3 1/2 c. rough cut rhubarb (around 1/2 in thick)
3 1/2 c. hulled and halved strawberries (if you use frozen strawberries your pie will be juicier)
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

13307268_492807374259629_9106570730030854361_nDirections:
Using a 9 in. deep pie plate,  put in bottom crust leaving around a 1/2 in. over hang. Mix all ingredients into a bowl and toss lightly to combine. Spoon filling into the pie plate. Roll out top crust larger than your pie plate to ensure you have enough strips for the lattice ( 12-14 needed). I rolled mine out on parchment and used a pizza cutter to cut my strips. I gently starting latticing being careful not to get the filling all over the top part of the strips. Once latticed, I gently tucked and rolled the edges of the top and bottom crust together, ever so gently pinching them to keep the rolled edge look. I brushed the top with an egg wash (1 egg and a tbsp. of water) to help it turn golden brown. I set this on a parchment lined baking sheet and cooked at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes and then reduced the heat to 350 degrees F and continued to cook for another 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it is golden brown and bubbling. You will want to let this sit until room temp. before cutting into and as with most pies – a scoop of vanilla ice cream tastes great with it! Enjoy!

Making Whoopie!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

I LOVE WHOOPIE PIES! I love the messy and ooey-gooey goodness they leave behind on your fingers, which I never waste on a napkin. There possibilities are endless! My new favorite filling, which I used for this batch, is Biscoff cookie spread and Heath Toffee bits. ADDICTING is an understatement.

There is some debate about what makes a whoopie pie a whoopie pie … is it the shape? Is it the consistency? Is the filling wedge between to pieces of cake? Is it the filling itself – fluff and Crisco, an egg white cooked frosting or buttercream?

Whenever I make chocolate whoopie pies I make a double batch of devils food cake, but I reduce the water by 1/4 –  1/2 cup and slightly under bake to ensure that stick to your fingers goodness.

Don’t have the ingredients or time to make them from scratch – don’t sweat it! Use a box mix of devils food cake. When you use 2 boxes of your favorite devils food cake mix,  reduce the water by 1/4 – 1/2 cup and slightly under bake. No one will ever know that you didn’t make them from scratch, and honestly, who cares? If they taste good that is all that matters!!

I always bake my whoopie pies on parchment lined baking sheets and use a small cookie scoop to portion them out. This helps them have that great circle, domed shape. Let them cool slightly and then run a spatula underneath each one. This will help the underneath layer get some air, which will help with you put the filling on, as it won’t be so tacky.

For the filling I grabbed two jars of Biscoff smooth spread and one bag of Heath toffee chips. I scrapped out every bit of spread into a mixing bowl, dumped in the entire bag of toffee chips and 1 1/2 of cups of powdered sugar. This amount of powdered sugar does not add too much sweetness or dull the flavor of the Biscoff spread – it merely adds structure to the spread so it doesn’t seep off the sides of the whoopie pie.

When placing the filling on the whoopies pies, I leave them on the parchment paper – I do not hold them or they will stick to your hands and you risk the cake crumpling in your hand. I find it easiest to put your filling into a piping bag and using a large round tip pipe the filling onto one side and then top with the other side. If you don’t have one then just get a heaping amount onto a butter knife and plop it in the center and gently spread the filling outward.

13244867_10103037613125799_4870923169661323086_nAfter I have made all my whoopie pies, I eat one. Someone has to do quality control! It’s a downright dirty job, but I will suck it up every time and eat one! Believe me, with this filling you will too!