Nutella tiramisu

The past week I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. From packing to moving to prepping for the party, I've been pretty exhausted. My brother and Wendy were so kind as to throw me a going away party that I was compelled to contribute. My offerings? Twenty pounds of korean short ribs, ten pounds of pulled pork (for sandwiches), two pitchers of peach sangria, 101 jello shots, chips, and a huge bowl of guacamole made of sixteen avocados. On top of that, we had a keg, tri-tip, rootbeer floats, and tons of other food brought by our guests. To say the least, we know how to party, especially when it comes to food. Of course I couldn't show up to my own party without a dessert, so I quickly threw together a Nutella tiramisu.

I used a basic tiramisu recipe that used marscapone cheese and whipping cream. To the cheese mixture I added about a half cup of Nutella. I garnished it with chopped up Italian chocolate with hazelnuts.

Now all I need is to catch up on some well deserved rest. But after all the eating, maybe a 10 mile run might be more fitting.

White chocolate macadamia and double chocolate chip cookies

As my final weeks are winding down at work, I feel motivated more than ever to bake for my coworkers. I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps to leave a lasting impression? Hopefully they won't go into sugar shock when I leave.

I'm generally not a fan of white chocolate. Some people will argue that white chocolate isn't chocolate, but I won't get into that discussion. Its just generally too sugary sweet for my liking. I figured most of my recipes are a bit heavy on the semi-sweet and dark chocolate side, so I mixed up tonight's baking with some white chocolate macadamia nut cookies to complement the double chocolate chip cookies.

I doubled both recipes and ended up making about twelve dozen cookies. A few dozen will make their way to the going away party this weekend!

Chocolate nutella cupcakes

This week marked the great exodus from my apartment to my parent's house. I'm officially homeless for the next couple of weeks, but more so, I'm kitchen-less. Its difficult baking in a kitchen you're unfamiliar with. You don't know where anything is, how finicky the oven can be, and in a way it puts you out of your baking groove.

Growing up, my parent's kitchen was a danger zone. For the most part I was prohibited from entering and when allowed to help, I was assigned menial tasks like peeling garlic. Yay, another head of garlic to peel. Woo! You see, some people have two left feet. As a child I had two left hands. I have many a memory of breaking dishes, my mother yelling at me to stand frozen where I was while she scurried around me with a broom or dust-buster.

Pecan sanderdoodles and granola krispies

Now, now.. I know what you're thinking, but I haven't lost all of my marbles. There are still a few rattling around in there. But its not as barren as my pantry is becoming. At this point I'm pretty much desperation baking. And what do I mean by that? I mean if I have one egg in the fridge and salted butter, instead of the unsalted variety, I will scour the internet and improvise a recipe to accommodate what I have on hand rather than go to the grocery store.

Old school baking

Its exactly three weeks until I move off to Paris. Most of my belongings are all packed away, and I'm mentally ready to go. I still wanted to make some cupcakes for the knitting group today and dug around my pantry for inspiration.

Snickers and doodles

I have a friend who moved to Fresno a few years back who absolutely adores snickerdoodles. Aptly so as she had a coworker who used to mispronounce her name as cinnamon... or perhaps that's what the coworker thought her name was? Anyhow this friend would make daily trips to Starbucks to satiate her snickerdoodle cravings, and thus this blog post is for her.

Snickerdoodles aren't your run-of-the-mill sugar cookie. Where they got their interesting name is beyond me*. They're light and airy due to the cream of tartar added, yet crispy on the bottom. The best part is that they're rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar lending a slightly crackly spicy crust.

I recently discovered a couple interesting facts about cinnamon. Studies have shown that it can significantly lower your blood sugar level, although I think you have to eat it by the tablespoon-full. And seeing as how much sugar and carbs go into this cookie, I think the cinnamon is rendered useless. Also, I unfortunately discovered through unintentionally giving a friend a cinnamon banana muffin, that some people are actually allergic to cinnamon. Yipes!

Mad for madeleines

I was told a month back that if my madeleines were a little bigger and made in a commercial kitchen, I could sell them at Red Rock. Well, even though they're being compared to the tough ones they probably get from Costco, I'll still take the compliment.

To me madeleines are the quintessential tea cake. I'm not too big a fan of almondy financiers and cupcakes sometimes are too sugary. Madeleines hit the spot when you're looking for that little nibble to accompany your afternoon espresso or cup of tea. For me, madeleines are as versatile as cupcakes. By adding some lavender, chocolate or lemon glaze, nuts, or even chocolate chips, you can tailor the little buttery cakes to whatever strikes your fancy.

On a whim, I decided to throw in some chocolate chips. I imagine they would also be nice if infused with some matcha or jasmine tea. Or even maybe dipped in nutella and rolled in ground hazelnuts. The possibilities are endless and maddening.. or rather madeleine-ing?

More blueberries...

I decided to make some blueberry muffins for the knitting group to finally polish off the flat that was sitting in the fridge. The recipe called for buttermilk, but since I had some plain yogurt on hand, I threw that into the mix as well. They turned out very moist and reminded me of why its always best to use fresh fruit when available.

Oatmeal raisin cookies

I'm slowly working through all the flour and sugar in my pantry. I'm happy to report that its now down to a manageable quantity that a normal person would maybe have in their kitchen... maybe.

Digging through my pantry I came across an unopened box of oatmeal and a bag of raisins. Well that was a no brainer. I quickly baked off about eight dozen cookies. I don't know what I'd do without parchment paper and a disher.

Blueberries

Blueberries are in season and it feels like I'm eating them non-stop! Wendy and I decided to use up some blueberries and made some Blueberry Buckle. I'm not quite sure what a 'buckle' is, other than something on your belt. It seemed like coffee cake. The recipe called for shortening, but I think if I ever use this recipe again, I'll substitute butter for better flavoring.

It sure was tasty though, especially warm out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!

Seeing red....velvet

I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of red velvet cakes/cupcakes. They've always been a mystery to me. Whats with the buttermilk and vinegar? Does cocoa powder really do anything for it? And of course, why red?! Perhaps it really is, or at least used to be, because of the chemical reaction between the cocoa and vinegar? Who knows... better yet, who cares? Red velvet seems like a cake that has multiple personality disorder if you ask me.

I can admit when I'm wrong and even more so, I can admit when a recipe goes horribly wrong. Maybe I just can't wrap my head around red velvet, and thus haven't been able to successfully make it. The color of my cakes is never quite a deep enough red either. Maybe pink or dusty rose velvet?

PB cookies & chocolate yogurt cakes

I've discovered that one of the problems of buying in bulk, is baking through all of it if you're planning to move. I'm the type of girl who will buy chocolate chips in ten pound bags and peanut butter in five pound tubs. A lot of people aren't too keen on the peanut butter and chocolate combo, so I decided to bake two different desserts.

Reading through David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris, I mentally kept note of recipes that I wanted to try. I whipped up four dozen of his Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes. The recipe can be found on Steamy Kitchen. I eyeballed the amount of chocolate, and next time I'll probably need to add more, as the cakes weren't as chocolatey as I had hoped. I guess that's what you get for packing away your kitchen scale. C'est la vie...

Dulce de leche filled cupcakes with chocolate frosting

Yesterday I made some dulce de leche filled cupcakes with chocolate frosting.

Digging around in my fridge I found some dulce de leche I made a while ago. Dulce de leche is a milk based sauce prepared by slowly caramelizing sweetened milk. It has the consistency of condensed milk but with the color and rich flavor of caramel. Dulce de leche is also known as doce de leite in Portuguese and confiture de lait in French.

Baking binge

Some people eat under stress. I bake. Call it culinary therapy if you will. With all the packing, selling off stuff, waiting for my visa, and moving to another country in less than 2 months, the stress is taking its toll on me!

Lemon + lavender = bliss

Lavender always reminds me of France. I can't wait to go to Provence this summer and meander along the long rows of lavender. I guess it shows in my baking. I made some lemon glazed lemon lavender madeleines. The soft fragrance of the lavender cuts through the bright lemony flavor. I think its perfect harmony in the form of a soft buttery tea cake; its bliss.

They turned out quite beautifully too.

Ooey gooey goodness

I've been attending this new morning knitting group at Red Rock. They meet at 9 AM on Saturday mornings. To try and motivate myself to get up, I promised to bake them something. I was trying to think of something good to make for breakfast that didn't require going to the grocery store; cinnamon rolls fit the bill.

Its only a matter of brine

Yesterday Dave and I decided to do an Iron-Chicken cook off. Before I get to that, Wendy and I also made some chocolate Nutella rice krispie treats. I'm not a big rice krispie treat fan, but they're a jazzed up version. I reduced the amount of butter and added in copious amounts of Nutella and Guittard semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. Next time I'll add the chocolate chips when its cooled a bit so they don't end up melting so much.

Cookies and car parts

It was generally a relaxing weekend. Meeting up with out of town relatives, brunch with friends, a movie, and hanging out with my brother. Dave and I... okay who am I kidding... I, baked some chocolate chip cookies. We forgot to pick up brown sugar at the grocery store, so I had to make do with some molasses, maple syrup, and regular sugar. They still were tasty though!

Strawberry tart

Still riding on my fresh fruit kick, and because I had left over egg yolks from the Italian meringue, I decided to make a strawberry tart for a going away/birthday party.

I made the pastry cream a couple a day ahead, and since I was using puff pastry from Trader Joes, it was easy as pie... or er tart. The puff pastry was scored down the side and folded over to create a nice border. After baking it off and cooling, I topped it off with the pastry cream, fresh strawberries, and a simple glaze made out of diluted strawberry jam.

I imagine any variation of this tart, with perhaps peaches, apricots, or any in season fruit would be a refreshing dessert to beat the summer heat.

Lemon curd filled meringue cupcakes

With summer here, I felt like making something fresh and fruity. I adapted my trusted cupcake recipe by adding lemon zest and lemon extract. The cupcakes were filled with lemon curd, topped with Italian meringue, and toasted in the oven.

I didn't have a torch so I had to put the cupcakes under the broiler. A few of them were a bit dark for my liking, but they still tasted great. I was a little worried that the lemon curd would be overbearing, but the tartness of the lemon offset the sweetness of the frosting and cupcake.

Tonight at knitting a coffee shop patron asked me if the cupcakes were homemade. When I replied that they were, he offered to pay me $5 for one! I'm sure that was one happy customer.