I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for CAKE, MADELEINES, AND "PIES"!!

Wow, it's actually been a month since the last time I wrote! There's just been so much stuff going on! Moving in to a room I'm renting out for school, actually going to school, and doing homework and what not. My oh my, it's been hectic. And grad school is definitely INTENSE! It's almost kind of ridiculous how much Art History I'm thinking about these days...well IT IS the only thing I'm learning about right now. The first few weeks of school haven't been too bad, I haven't gotten terribly lost and I'm learning to deal with the mass amounts of reading I have to do plus presentations (which I hate btw). The only things I haven't gotten over yet is how much older my peers are and that I feel like a college freshman again!! UGH!

Anywho, let's talk cake! Who doesn't love a gorgeous moist two-layer chocolate cake with fluffs of shiny 7-minute frosting and cute little sprinkles? I dare you to resist! I made this cake as a birthday present for my friend who turned 23 a few weeks back. I've actually known Hasel for about 9 years now and I've never made her a cake! Kind of ridiculous isn't it? I got the recipe from awesome possum Deb at Smitten Kitchen who just had a baby boy! This cake has got the goods! Intense chocolate flavor from the chocolate, cocoa powder, and coffee. However, the only problem I had was with the frosting. It seemed like the recipe was just barely enough to frost the cake and to put some between the layers. Which leads me to the bigger problem, I'm not sure if it was too hot that day or something, but all the frosting I put in between the layers managed to get pushed out to the sides. You can't really tell in this picture, but once the cake was cut it just looked like one big fat piece of chocolate cake with no frosting in between!! I was kind of sad, but the taste made up for it.

I made these mini cupcakes with the same recipe, except subbing honey
for corn syrup in the frosting because I had none left.

Even though I've been busy the past month, I've also been busy baking and trying out random recipes. I tried making some lemon glazed madeleines since I finally got a tray! They didn't come out too great the first time I made them though...recipe via David Lebovitz

I'm pretty sure I over mixed the batter...they were pretty dry :(

I tried making them again with a different recipe from 101 Cookbooks these came out WONDERFUL, so wonderful I don't have any pictures...maybe next time!

Yesterday I tried making Pan Dulce or actually Conchas from a recipe on Joy the Baker. I probably should have waited to have the proper ingredients when I made these, but I couldn't help it, I was craving some sweet bread! I ran out of unsalted butter and shortening when I made these so I substituted with salted butter and margarine...boy was that a big mistake!! The salted butter and margarine went into the topping, to this, flour and powdered sugar are added. I knew salted butter was going to be pretty salty for something that's supposed to have a sweet topping, but I just thought to myself, what the heck? Let's just add more sugar than what the recipe calls for to cut the saltiness away. Really bad move on my part because the bread came out beautifully and tasted wonderful! So let's go with some cute before-they-went-into-the-oven-and-came-out-horribly-shots.

Topped with chocolate and cinnamon sugar paste.

The plain one, and yes, the design is supposed to resemble a shell :)

I should have noticed the signs that they were going to come out wrong when the topping started sliding off as the bread was doing it's last rising. I tried to fix it as much as I could, but they just ended up coming off anyways in the oven. So are you ready for it?


They look a bit sad, but they still tasted great...except for the topping (on the first day). The topping was really crunchy, instead of being soft, probably because of all the extra sugar, no shortening, and maybe because the topping was too thick? I kept these sealed in plastic bags over night and to my surprise this morning, the topping had softened, closer to resembling the kind you get at Vallarta or other Mexican markets.

And last but not least...I know you've heard of Luxirare's lollipop-pies , the first time I saw them I was amazed, and kind of wondering why no one thought about it before. Then I came up with an idea...my mom has been making what I like to call Pineapple Pinwheels for as long as I could remember. They have a fond place in my childhood. These pinwheels are kind of like pies, they're made with a flaky pie crust that enclose a fruity pineapple filling. I know some of you might be wondering if you've ever had a pineapple pie before, if you haven't it's totally A-OK. These pineapple pies are more of a Thai thing. In Thailand you'll find different incarnations of these. Some have the pineapple filling in between two crackers or cookies in varying shapes and sizes.

Aren't they adorable?

The "pie" filling isn't like the traditional apple, cherry, or blueberry. Crushed pineapple is drained of it's juices and then it's gently cooked with plenty of sugar until it gets brown and sticky...almost like a pineapple jam? But it's much more dry. The pie crust is made with shortening to ensure it's flakiness. The dough is rolled out pretty thin, possibly about 1/8 of an inch. 1 3/4 in. squares are cut along the dough along with 4 cuts at the corners of each square so the pinwheel can take shape. The filling is rolled into small balls and placed in the middle of each square. An end from each of the 4 cuts is pulled to the top of the pineapple ball. And then it bakes. I put toothpicks in them after just so they could look more like the pinwheels of our childhood. If anyone is interested in the recipe, just let me know and I could get it from my mom.

Hopefully I'll be able to update more that once a month, but we'll see how much work I'll be buried in. And if you're free tomorrow and you're in L.A., the 17th Annual Thai Cultural Day is going to be held at Barnsdall Park on Hollywood Blvd. Go have some Thai food, check out Thai traditional dress, Thai entertainment, and the Hollyhock House for all you Frank Lloyd Wright fans! Admission is free and starts at 11am til 5pm.

Carbs Galore

Hey there cupcake!

Wow, today has been a really INTERESTING day. I was watching the Kathie Lee & Hoda morning show and they were talking about Michelle Obama's shorts. WTF?! And then my boyfriend shared this article with me about Archie Comics...he proposed to Veronica?! I was so confused!! But then again, just because he proposed to Veronica doesn't mean he's going to marry her right? Archie and Betty are supposed to be together!! Or at least that's what I thought when I was reading these comics years ago. Okay, so enough with my ranting and denial, let's get down to business!

See that cupcake up there, the cute little red one with a swirl of frosting on top? It's a Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting. I got the recipe from Joy the Baker's blog. I made it as a wedding cake sample for my sister, yes, the one I decided to make the wedding cake for. The cake was pretty good, light and tender, but maybe I could have gone without the color. The frosting on the other hand was a little too buttery, most likely because I ran out of powdered sugar. So I'll need to give that another try some time. This cake recipe is definitely going on my list of possible cake recipes for a wedding cake.

So you're reading the title of this post and you're wondering where all the carb is right? Well here it is, I introduce you to Alton Brown's Soft Pretzel's.

I'm not too big of a fan of the salted pretzel.

What is there to say? Alton Brown is a genius. They looked beautifully dark and they tasted pretty good, but maybe a little too baking soda-y, since there was 2/3 cup for 10 cups of water. Would lowering the baking soda not give me that great of a color? Or was the color just all from the egg wash? Anywho...I would definitely recommend this pretzel recipe to anyone who's looking for one. It's pretty simple, but shaping them is another story, I need more practice with that. Ready for the next round of carbs?

Croissants et un pain au chocolat.

I don't know why I decided to make these yesterday. I guess I've been intrigued by them, like the macarons, I just needed to try making it so I can say that I know how. All I have to say is CROISSANTS. Delicate, flaky, fluffy, crisp, buttery, and light. These can't really be made in a hurry, most of the recipes I came across require letting the dough rest from 4 to 18 hours. So please be patient when you make these, you'll be completely satisfied with the effort it took to make them when you taste a fresh, hot, croissant. I got the recipe here, it's quite long I'll copy it here, I read it over about 3 times for it to make sense. I started this yesterday and finished it before noon today.

Classic French Croissants

adapted from Epicurious and the District Domestic

1 1/2 cups whole milk, heated to warm (105°F–110°F)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp plus 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) really cold unsalted butter

This was after I made the dough, wrapped it, and chilled it.
Crazy yeast-y air bubble action going on!

Start by making the dough: Stir together warm milk, brown sugar, and yeast in bowl of standing mixer and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If it doesn’t foam, discard and start over – the yeast was dead.) Add 3 3/4 cups flour and salt and mix with dough hook at low speed until dough is smooth and very soft, about 7-9 minutes.

Transfer dough to a work surface and knead by hand 2 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, a little at a time, to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Form dough into a roughly 1 1/2-inch-thick rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until cold, about 1 hour.

I drew the 8x5 rectangle on the wax paper I used just to make it a little easier.

Prepare and shape butter: After dough has chilled, arrange sticks of butter horizontally, their sides touching, on a work surface. Pound butter with a rolling pin to soften slightly (butter should be malleable but still cold). Scrape butter into a block and put on a kitchen towel (flour sack towels work best), then cover with other towel. Pound and roll out on both sides until butter forms a uniform 8- by 5-inch rectangle. Chill, wrapped in towels, while rolling out dough. (Don’t skimp on the chilling – it’s important to not let the butter “melt”)

Buttery goodness waiting to be transformed.

Roll out dough: Unwrap dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as necessary and lifting and stretching dough (especially in corners), into a 16- by 10-inch rectangle. Arrange dough with a short side nearest you. Put butter in center of dough so that long sides of butter are parallel to short sides of dough. Fold as you would a letter: bottom third of dough over butter, then top third down over dough. Brush off excess flour with pastry brush.

Roll out dough: Turn dough so a short side is nearest you, then flatten dough slightly by pressing down horizontally with rolling pin across dough at regular intervals, making uniform impressions. Roll out dough into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle, rolling just to but not over ends.

Brush off any excess flour. Fold in thirds like a letter, as above, stretching corners to square off dough, forming a 10- by 5-inch rectangle. (You have completed the first “fold.”) Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.

It looks like this for a while, when you're rolling and folding over and over again.

Make remaining “folds”: Make 3 more folds in same manner, chilling dough 1 hour after each fold, for a total of 4 folds. (If any butter oozes out while rolling, sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking.) Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours but no more than 18 (after 18 hours, dough may not rise sufficiently when baked).

Check out those layers of dough and butter. This is for the final rolling out.

Roll out and cut dough: Cut dough in half and chill 1 half, wrapped in plastic wrap. Roll out other half on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as necessary and stretching corners to maintain shape, into a 16- by 12-inch rectangle. Brush off excess flour with pastry brush and trim edges with a pizza wheel or sharp knife.

Arrange dough with a short side nearest you. Cut in half horizontally and chill 1 half. Cut remaining half vertically into thirds, forming 3 rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally in half to make 2 triangles, for a total of 6 triangles.

Shape croissants: Holding short side (side opposite tip) of 1 triangle in one hand, stretch dough, tugging and sliding with other hand toward tip to elongate by about 50 percent.

Return to work surface with short side of triangle nearest you. Beginning with short side, roll up triangle toward tip. (Croissant should overlap 3 times, with tip sticking out from underneath; you may need to stretch dough while rolling.)

Put croissant, tip side down, on a parchment-lined large baking sheet. (Curve ends inward to make a crescent shape if desired.)

Make more croissants with remaining 5 triangles, then with remaining rolled-out dough, arranging them 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Repeat rolling, cutting, and shaping procedures with chilled piece of dough.

Let croissants rise: Slide each baking sheet into a garbage bag, propping up top of bag with inverted glasses to keep it from touching croissants, and tuck open end under baking sheet.

Let croissants rise until slightly puffy and spongy to the touch, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Rising in the oven, instead of a garbage bag with glasses...

Bake croissants: Adjust oven racks to upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 425°F.

Remove baking sheets from bags. Spritz inside oven generously with spray bottle and close door. Put croissants in oven, then spritz again before closing door. Reduce temperature to 400°F and bake 10 minutes without opening door.

Switch position of sheets in oven and rotate sheets 180°, then reduce temperature to 375°F and bake until croissants are deep golden, about 10 minutes more.

My camera sucks...I don't think this captures the glory of fresh croissants.

You know you want some!

I really hope you guys try this sometime! There is no way you would regret it. It might take a few diagrams and lots of waiting, but it is SOOOO worth it! Have fun and enjoy!

I really don't know when I'll be making these again though ;)

Dear Molly Wizenberg,

Don't mind the lemons, they served as my book stand :)

When I discovered the world of food blogging, your site was one of the first ones I started reading. Soon after, I learned that you had a book on the way - I waited quite a while to make the purchase - but I did eventually and I could not be happier. I started reading the book one night, about 50 pages in I put it away and went to sleep. The day after, the stories kept popping up in my head, they entertained me for a while, but I wanted to know more. I finished the book in about 4 hours at the library my boyfriend works at. I don't remember the last thing I read that made me feel so many things all at once. Actually, once I think about it, something does come to mind but it's fictional (The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells). I laughed to myself, I reminisced about my life experiences (so far), and at times I wanted to cry. When a book has the ability to do this to me, there is only one word I can use to describe it, beautiful.

I can only ever dream of writing something so amazing. It has made me think about the food from my childhood and the food that I can only dream of making someday. And of course it has left me with an ever stronger desire to travel to France once more (because when I went the first time I was too young to remember anything) and experience all there is.

Reading the book, I also came to question my life and where I was going. I'm starting a grad program this fall and I find myself questioning if this is what I really want to do. Would I rather spend my days learning about food and cooking? Of course. But I would not know how else to survive in the world. So cooking will remain a hobby.

So far I have made the Cider Glazed Salmon, French Yogurt Cake, Winning Hearts and Minds Cake, and the Chocolate Cupcakes with Bittersweet Glaze. I look forward to trying out all the other recipes.

Thank You Molly for gifting the world with this book.

********************
I'm sure I will write about all the other recipes that I tried, but this one in particular was just delectable to my chocoholic self. I'm talking about the Chocolate Cupcakes with Bittersweet Glaze. The cake was wonderfully tender and light. The bittersweet glaze added the perfect touch to this simple and humble cupcake. (Beware! this recipe is not for you if you love loads and loads of frosting on your cupcakes!!) If you haven't done so already, go out and buy yourself a copy of this book so you can see the recipe!! You will not regret it :)

So one of the ingredients that the recipe calls for is hot coffee. I don't have a coffee maker, so I improvised...and I'm actually quite proud of myself for coming up with this THING! I took a coffee filter filled with some coffee I got from a roommate, I put it in a strainer, and I put the strainer on top of a measuring cup - I poured boiling water over it and I got coffee!! This is what it looked like in case you were wondering.

Add the coffee to some chocolate...

and a few other simple ingredients: flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, oil, yogurt, egg, and vanilla. Mix them all up (no Kitchen Aid required!). Bake them.

Melt some chocolate to top them off and you've got these delicious cupcakes. Simple and Easy!


P.S. Have you guys tried her recipe for Cinnamon Rolls? They're wonderful!! I've made them about 4 or 5 times now, and somehow I think I get better results when I use soy milk even though it calls for whole milk (which I also tried). Another blog on these yummy rolls later!