TWD: Coconut Butter Thins
I don’t eat cookie dough. I think it’s weird. I think eating raw eggs is weird. But this cookie did not contain eggs and for some reason, I tasted the dough. It was delicious. It was really delicious. In fact, I was slightly disappointed in how it tasted after it was baked. But not much. I love the “lime surprise” of this cookie. I love the macadamia nuts. Mmm…butter and sugar… What I don’t like is the crispity-crunchiness of this cookie. I’m more of a soft and chewy cookie person. I’m happier with the cookies that were rolled out slightly thicker, because they maintained their chewiness longer. Overall, a fun, different kind of treat. Recipe’s here.
BB: Chicken Piccata
So, I’ve heard of Chicken Piccata, but I never really questioned what it is. It’s basically breaded lemon chicken. It’s fairly simple to make and I was really happy with the result. I was afraid I would be overwhelmed by the lemon flavor, but DH and I thought it was the right amount of lemon-y. While it’s not something I would order at a restaurant (a little boring for that, I guess), I would definitely make it at home again–and perhaps for company. I had most of the ingredients on hand: I bought lemons and substituted water for the white wine. Find the recipe here.
Barefoot Bloggers: Tomato & Goat Cheese Tarts
The Barefoot Bloggers is another group, like TWD, where the goal is for everyone participating to make two chosen recipes a month by the Barefoot Contessa a.k.a. Ina Garten. I don’t watch a lot of Food Network (at least I haven’t until recently), so I just started to become familiar with Ina’s cooking. I decided to join the Barefoot Bloggers as another way to add to my go-to recipe collection. I just don’t like eating the same old things all the time and I can’t really think of a much more useful hobby than cooking because hey, I like to eat.
This recipe has some ingredients I just love when combined: tomatoes, basil and cheese. I’m used to using mozzarella for the cheese (my favorite of all the cheeses), but this time it was goat cheese and parmesan. I don’t remember ever having goat cheese before, but I was surprised to learn that it was delicious. And carmelized onions…need I say more? I really enjoyed it. DH approved and I would certainly make these as an appetizer again. Find the recipe here.
Wilton Course 3 – Class 2
Wow. Why would you ever make a buttercream rose when you can make a fondant rose?? I guess it could be the taste, but does anyone ever eat the cake decorations, anyway? Fondant roses are much easier to make than buttercream roses. They take a bit of time, but they look amazing!! In our class today, we covered our cakes with fondant (I again made marshmallow fondant at home, which came out a little too dry but good enough to cover the cake.), finished the rose and made the bow for our “package cake.” Next week, we learn a bunch of new complicated-looking flowers, which I’m excited and nervous about. Here is my cake; I was a little rushed to complete it so it’s not as good as I would have liked, but you get the idea:
TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake
So I signed up during TWD’s open enrollment on St. Patty’s Day, but so far I haven’t heard back. Oh well, I will just keep baking along with them anyway because I love trying something new every week. This week was Blueberry Crumb Cake, but I made mine with blueberries and blackberries because it was cheaper than buying two half-pints of blueberries. (They aren’t exactly in season here.) I don’t really like blackberries because I can’t stand the seeds–I always think I’m going to break my teeth on them–but DH likes them, so I dealt with it.
Overall, I liked this cake. I think I baked it a little too long because the center took a long time to firm up; the outside became a bit dry. It also was bit more salty and less sweet than expected. My favorite part was the crumb topping with the walnuts in it. Yum. You can find the recipe here.
Girls Weekend
My BFF came to visit from Philly this past weekend, while DH was out of town for a tennis tournament. We didn’t do anything too interesting: ate, talked, watched movies and, oddly enough, baked a cake. lol. It wasn’t originally intended to be, but ended up looking very much like a hippie cake. We call it the “Let the Sunshine In” cake or the “Age of Aquarius” cake. We ate two slices and DH took the rest to feed his hungry coworkers. This is like the 10th cake that I’ve made for them. I feel like I should be getting paid for this at this point… ; )
Oh yes, and I give my BFF full credit for this cake, as promised. ; )
Wilton Course 3 – Class 1
I started Course 3 last night. It was a little redundant because it introduces the use of fondant (which I just learned in Fondant & Gum Paste), but we learned some new things with buttercream. I didn’t really miss buttercream during the Fondant & Gum Paste Course. Fondant is a lot less messy and more easily fixed and you don’t really need to worry about consistency like you do with buttercream. We had to bring 3 cups of buttercream with us to class: stiff, medium, medium with piping gel and thin consistency. We learned cornelli lace, sotas, brush embroidery (super cute), the bead border, stringwork, the ruffle border (not as difficult as I thought it would be) and garland. We also made the fondant rose center in preparation for next week.
The only thing I had to purchase was the Course 3 Kit (which I got for 50% off at Michael’s), so that was nice for a change. Next week, we have to bring an iced to cake to class. We are supposed to cover it with fondant in class, but I think I will cover mine at home because I already know what I’m doing and I have a lot more space to work here. We will also learn to complete the rose, some fondant leaves and we will complete the “package cake.” I don’t have a square cake pan, so I guess mine will have to be round. I am excited about the flowers we will learn in this class, although my instructor (who has her own cake business) says she doesn’t get to make a lot of sugar flowers as it is about the same price as getting fresh flowers for your cake so most people just opt for them. Oh well, I think they’re neat.
Tuesdays with Dorie: French Yogurt Cake
So my recent food blogging exploits led me to a nifty group of foodies from this blog here: Tuesdays with Dorie. Dorie Greenspan is a chef and author who has worked with Julia Child and several other famous chefs. She wrote a book called Baking: From My Home to Yours. The goal of the folks on the TWD site is to make one recipe from that book every week until they get through every single one of them. The point is that a whole bunch of people get to test out the same recipe at the same time and share their experiences with it via a blog such as this one. It also encourages one to try out recipes you might not otherwise have bothered with, to learn new skills by making a variety of desserts (cakes, tarts, pies, bars, puddings, etc.) and to get feedback from your fellow baking enthusiasts from various walks of life. I purchased Dorie’s book last week at discount so I could join in the fun. As you may know by know, I <3 desserts. Honestly, if I had the time to bake everyday and enough people to eat what I made so I wouldn’t get fat and the money to purchase all the ingredients, I could bake all day. And as much as I love to try new things, I often find myself relying on old faithfuls again and again. So by baking along with the TWD bakers, I hope to increase my repertoire.
This week I made French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze, but I left out the Marmalade Glaze because I couldn’t find Lemon Marmalade at the grocery store. A lot of the other bakers just used Orange, which would have been smart. Instead, I referred to the Playing Around section of the cookbook and made mine a two-layer cake filled with Lemon Cream and frosted with Sweetened Whipped Cream. The recipe was very simple. I think the only things I needed to purchase were lemons and plain yogurt. The cake came out great and basically looked like yellow cake. The Lemon Cream was amazing! Delicious, as anything made with a stick and a half of butter should be. ; ) Lately, I’ve been really into anything lemon-flavored so this cake was perfect in that respect. Overall, it was a good recipe and I would make it again for anyone who loves lemon like I do.
Parades & Potatoes
St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and this year DH’s very Irish family was invited to walk in Madison’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade down at the Capitol Square. It was a lovely 50-something degrees outside, so there were a lot of people out enjoying the festivities.
DS really seemed to enjoy himself. He clapped along with the audience.
My family is a bit Irish but we’re also a lot of other things, so I guess St. Patty’s Day was never a huge deal for us. However, there is one tradition we have in Philadelphia that they don’t have here and they are called Irish Potatoes. When I moved here, I had no idea that these delicious confections were a “Philly thing.” Then on my first St. Patrick’s Day in Wisconsin some years ago I mentioned them around DH’s family and they all looked at me like I was nuts. Here I was thinking someone in Ireland invented them centuries ago. Hah! The things you learn… Anyway, it turns out they were invented in or near Philly and I don’t think anyone quite knows how or why or by whom. Wikipedia suggests that maybe they were developed as a “commemoration of the Irish Potato Famine.” Apparently, they have not hit it big anywhere but the East Coast, but I think it is my duty to introduce Wisconsin to the Irish Potato. So last night I made a batch.
The cinnamon-coated ones are the original recipe, but I dipped some in chocolate for added deliciousness. ; ) Why don’t you add some Philly to your St. Patrick’s Day and make some of these babies. I think all the recipes are basically the same. Here is the one I used from AllRecipes.
Irish Potato Candy
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth. Using your hands if necessary, mix in the coconut. Roll into balls or potato shapes, and roll in the cinnamon. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color.
Way more delicious than green beer if you ask me…
Wilton Fondant & Gum Paste Course – Class 4
Yes, folks, I made my own fondant. I am officially awesome. Or, at least, I feel pretty awesome. They said I was crazy, but I was super-proud of my completely from-scratch cake…okay, minus the gum paste. I bought the ready-to-use stuff. But I will be making that myself next time around! Making fondant wasn’t all that difficult. I used this recipe and made it in my stand mixer, then let it rest for a few hours, but then when it came to kneading it I quickly became worried. I had read that marshmallow fondant wasn’t quite as elastic as the store-bought, so I wasn’t that surprised when it just broke apart when I started pulling at it and trying to color it. Over time, though, it began to stretch a bit and after about a half hour of kneading, it was fully colored. And I thought my arms were going to fall off. Unfortunately, I still had the task of rolling it out and getting it on the cake. That took three tries. On the third try, I said that’s it–whatever happens happens. I am not rolling this out again! And luckily, it didn’t go so bad. A few bubbles and crinkles, but overall, it was okay. And I knew it would hardly be noticeable after I decorated it. Not perfect by any means, but not bad for my first try with homemade fondant.
In class, my instructor demonstrated inlays and outlays, some borders and the favor box. Then she let us decorate our cakes. I already knew what cake I wanted to do, so I only had to make the favor box, my border and my center strip. I spent the past week making daisies here and there. The good news is my teacher says that gum paste lasts forever, so I can use the daisies again–that is, if I get them back after DH took the cake to work today. I just love my cake.
I am so excited about everything I’ve learned so far in these classes. I can’t believe I can now do a lot of the things I see on professionally-done cakes. I start Course 3 next week, which is Fondant & Tiered Cakes. This course involves decorating with buttercream & fondant together. I am really excited about working with tiers. I can’t wait!
