Baking

Happy Pi Day!

Emerald Thunder

I have to admit, I completely forgot about Pi Day this year. But for a very good reason. My mind has been in such a St. Patrick’s Day mood that I’ve only been thinking about baked goods for that holiday. You would think that if there is a fun occasion for baking I would be on top of all of them, but I guess not. At least not when they’re close to March 17th. 🙂

Even though it’s spring break I have a ton of work to do, but this gorgeous weather is teasing me and I can’t help but stare longingly out my windows at the beautiful clear blue sky. Who could blame me?

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Spring is certainly on its way. I feel like we almost don’t deserve it because of the extremely mild winter we’ve had. It sort of feels like cheating. Oh well, who am I to turn my nose up at what we’ve been given.

Okay, back to celebrating Pi Day!

As soon as I saw what day it was, I scrambled to find something to bake. A fruit pie wasn’t an option because I don’t have enough fruit for one, nor did I want to consume an entire pie myself. Pizza pie, shepherd’s pie, all savory pies were out because the weather right now just doesn’t warrant comfort foods. Ah ha! I can cheat the system! I don’t have to make a pie at all.

And thus my purple Pi-shaped sugar cookies were born!

I’m not even close to the first person to make these, so cheating doesn’t actually seem so bad. It’s in the shape of Pi, so it totally counts!

This is the first time I’ve ever really tried to make sugar cookies with the intention of flooding them. I’m not usually one to even make sugar cookies in the first place, because I can never find a recipe I really like. I’m super picky about them. In this case, I used The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies from Allrecipes.com.  I approve of these ones. Wholeheartedly.

These Pi cookies gave me a chance to break out the tiny piping tips and the couplers I bought back in January and haven’t used yet. I’m a big fan of couplers now, just gonna put that out there.

Not too bad a job, right? I was actually GIDDY when I took these pictures. I am so easily amused by success with baked goods.

This was also the first time I’ve made my own royal icing. I’ve done the gingerbread house thing before, so handling it isn’t new to me, but I’ve never made it from scratch. I used the recipe with egg whites on Joyofbaking.com.

I also got to use the Wilton gel food coloring I got at the same time as the tips. I’m amazed at how little I used and how VIOLET they turned out. The tiny pot is certainly going to last a LONG time. Yay for my wallet!

The only complaint I had about these cookies was that they took FOR. EV. ER. to make. It might have sped the process along if I didn’t have to cut out the cookies with a template, but I can’t complain too much because I love the final product. I ended up cutting/freezing/baking three at a time because that’s how little time it took the dough to come to room temperature and get super sticky.

It was a long process, but I got to learn new things and hone some skills I didn’t know I possessed. In the end it was totally worth it.

Happy Pi Day! I promise I won’t forget next year!

Baking

SUCCESS!!!

Emerald Thunder

Biscoff consumption has begun to decrease in the suite as of late. No, it’s not that we’re getting sick of it. It’s the exact opposite, actually, we still love it and want to take baths in it every day. The reason we haven’t been eating it is far more depressing: I can’t find it at Trader Joe’s! The unthinkable happened so much sooner than I expected. I went to the store a few days ago and went to its supposed location, but it was no where to be found! You have no idea how heartbroken I was at this discovery. There were so many things I hadn’t made yet and so many spoonfuls I hadn’t consumed. Oh TJ’s, why must you break my heart into a million pieces. Looking at prices on Amazon also broke my heart, because even though I love it, I will NOT pay nearly $10 for a jar. No way. I can’t believe my love affair with Biscoff  has ended after only one jar. I’ll look again when I go shopping next week, but I won’t be too optimistic, so that my heart doesn’t break all over again.

Despite the sorrow we have been experiencing, we’ve had to persevere and get our work done. Midterms are over and the final spring break of my life has officially begun. This is my last official school vacation, and I’m having some mixed feelings about it. I still have April vacation when I don’t have to go to work, but this is still the end of an era for me. Seventeen years of schooling is almost over and it’s absolutely terrifying to think that I’m almost a real adult. Almost a real adult who will soon (HOPEFULLY) have a real job and a real apartment . . . and real bills (yuck!).

But I’m not going to dwell on that anymore right now. Instead I want to celebrate my victory over the dreaded kitchen demon yeast. I have a very mixed history with this leavening agent, and I’ve never really had much luck with it, save for when I make cinnamon rolls. I’m happy to report that that all changed with last night’s dinner.

I was checking the usual baking blogs in the morning, and what did I happen to find but the yummiest looking pizza ever! How Sweet It Is never fails to disappoint, and this Garlic Bread Pizza Crust takes the cake! I was a bit wary because of the yeast, so just to be sure it would work and rise well, I went to the store (not Trader Joe’s) and bought a different brand entirely, and after the results I think I’m going to stick with it from now on. I also took the time to meticulously measure the temperature of the water (yay multipurpose candy thermometer!), so that could have been a factor in my favor as well.

The dough was so soft and pliable and easy to manipulate. It came together really quickly, but it was a bit on the sticky side from time to time as the flour worked into it from the kneading surface. It rose amazingly well during the hour and a half wait time, but it was torture to have such a great smell in the kitchen that I couldn’t devour for such a long time. That’s another thing: this dough smells phenomenal! The combination of yeast, olive oil, honey, and basil is heavenly!

After the rising period, I was hesitant to start rolling out the dough. I never have the best luck with getting dough into the shape I want, but once again this dough surprised and pleased me to no end. But silly me disappointed myself. I plopped the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured counter top. It plopped into a PERFECT circle and it was SO easy to press out. But . . . it was too soft to transfer to the baking sheet, so I lost the perfection and had to do it all over again on the sheet itself. It wasn’t as perfect this time, but that doesn’t really matter. It’s more important that I’ve learned from the disappointment this mistake resulted in, and I now know what not to do in the future.

The pizza was already gigantic on the baking sheet, but after rising again and baking it was INSANE! It spanned the width of the pan and was about an inch and a half thick in some places. Now that’s my kind of pizza! All I could do was stare at it for a few moments with my “It’s a mountain!” suitemate. We were in awe!

There are no words for how well the smell translated into taste. The crust was everything I expected: fluffy, tender, flavorful, buttery, GARLICKY, and cheesy. The cheese and sauce were a bit lacking in flavor though, so I sprinkled on some more Parmesan and cracked some garlic pepper. Much better. I think this is definitely a crust that works better with some additional salt and punch, so I’ll have to expand my pizza cheese horizons beyond shredded mozzarella. I also probably shouldn’t use my go-to spaghetti sauce on it either, because it needs a sauce with more depth of flavor. Next time there will also definitely be pepperoni and maybe a drizzling of olive oil in the last few minutes in the oven. Looks like I’ll be experimenting soon!

You also wouldn’t go wrong with just making the dough alone and bathing it in extra butter/garlic/Parmesan instead of making a pizza. I just wanted to keep eating the outer crust, cheese and sauce be darned! It’s so addicting!

Baking

I’ve Created a MONSTER!

Emerald Thunder

Biscoff Spread has been making its rounds in baking blogs over the past few months, and I have been dying to get my hands on a jar. I knew that Trader Joe’s sold a version of it as Speculoos Cookie Spread, but I hadn’t been able to find it because I always seemed to go there at the busiest times possible and preservation of my sanity didn’t allow for browsing.

Everything changed on Thursday, though. It was February vacation for the public schools, which meant no work for me. I used my free morning to go grocery shopping, because I hadn’t gone since my birthday, which was two weeks before. Can I just say, a calm and empty Trader Joe’s is even worse than a jam-packed Trader Joe’s. It was amazing to actually be able to walk calmly down the tiny aisles and actually LOOK at the products. I usually go in with my list and a plan of attack and leave hating everyone and everything because there were so many people inside. Thursday was the exact opposite, and it was heaven. But not for my poor wallet. It was totally worth it, though, because I finally found the coveted Speculoos Cookie Spread.

I came home and almost immediately opened the jar and stuck a spoon in it. Heaven. In. A. Jar. That is all I have to say. My suitemates weren’t much more articulate when I gave them a taste. I’m absolutely going back next week and getting another jar or two because Trader Joe’s is notorious for discontinuing items, and I don’t want to lose my heaven unexpectedly.

After tasting I started looking for all the recipes involving Biscoff that I saw and bookmarked for making once I got my hands on a jar. Unfortunately I didn’t have all the ingredients called for in a lot of them, but I finally found the perfect first recipe. It required no baking at all, but it let the Biscoff flavor SHINE. What could it be, you ask?

BISCOFF FUDGE!

I found the recipe on Sugarcrafter, and it actually wasn’t one the first recipes I had in mind. But it was perfect.

I was slightly skeptical about it at first, because it didn’t call for the normal fudge ingredients, or at least it didn’t call for what I normally think of as being in a fudge recipe. But come on, it had Biscoff, butter, and powdered sugar, so even if it didn’t turn out like fudge it would still be amazing.

The final product didn’t even come close to disappointing. It was amazing. So amazing that my roommate demolished it all by early the next afternoon. I didn’t even get a chance to take pictures. My fault for only making half a batch, though.

Some comments: eyes popping out of heads, silence, “OMG, it’s better than SEX!”, “You’re making more. What do you need for it?!?!”, and frequent trips to the fridge for “breakfast”. I’d say it was a success.

After the fudge, I made another Biscoff recipe. Biscoff Swirl Brownies from Bake at 350. No words.  Except that they definitely get better after sitting for the night. The brownie was slightly undercooked, so it’s a deep dark chocolate batter with Biscoff swirled in. I know I’m comparing this spread to heaven with a bit too much frequency, but that’s really the only way to describe it.

Two of my suitemates just tried them a few minutes ago, and I wish I could have taken a picture of one of their reactions. One is the same one that made the mountain comment about my birthday cake, and she always has the most priceless reactions to my creations. I love her, haha.

I kindly requested that the 9″x13″ pan of brownies last AT LEAST the night so I can take some to my friends in class tomorrow, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it actually happens, especially with three sugar/chocolate/biscoff addicts in the same room.

I’m not counting on it, though. I might have to make more fudge in order to preserve the brownies from their Biscoff-covered fingers. It’s so addicting, so I don’t blame them. Instead, I blame myself for introducing it to them in the first place. I’m SUCH a bad influence.

Baking

Baked’s Sweet and Salty Cake

Emerald Thunder

I love to bake. No surprises there. This topic seems to pop up all the time, no matter who I’m talking with. Well, it doesn’t come up so frequently in class, but it can’t contain itself in more informal settings when just chatting with people. It’s an important part of who I am as a person, and so it just comes up naturally. I may not document everything I make, but that’s mostly because I usually bake at night, and my roommates and I seem to make every crumb disappear by the time morning and the good light rolls around. Nevertheless, I am baking and making things all the time, and my internship supervisors caught on to that fact very quickly last semester. As an early Christmas present, those two lovely ladies gifted me with a  copy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. Needless to say, I was speechless and beyond excited when I opened the box to find the one cookbook I had been coveting beyond all others.

When I got home that night I sat down and went through the book page by page, putting sticky notes on every single recipe I wanted to try. In the end, I think there were more recipes selected than not! However, I found that I have to carefully plan ahead when I want to make something from this book, because chances are a recipe calls for something I don’t have on hand all the time, such as dark brown sugar, dark cocoa powder (but not anymore!), fleur de sel, sour cream, or lemon zest. I only have so much storage space (and money!) to stock everything all the time, so unfortunately this isn’t a spur-of-the-moment-baking type of book.

Because of this little hurdle–and the fact that most of what I want to make can’t be ready immediately–it took me until my birthday to finally break in my gift. I had intended to make the Sweet and Salty Cake at home over winter break, but after rereading through all of the steps and realizing the intensity of the project, I decided it wouldn’t work for an at-home recipe. However, it would be PERFECT as my birthday cake.

In recent years my favorite part of my birthday has been baking my own cake. Last year’s “Chocolate LOVE” was such a rewarding (if filling) experience. I don’t normally choose such time- and labor-intensive recipes, but my birthday is the perfect excuse to do so. It serves as a day that I can take for myself to do something new and exciting. I get a chance to bake something I wouldn’t normally have the time or funds to bake, so it’s like my present to myself. Some people buy bags and shoes, but I buy ingredients!

I didn’t have the entire day this year because I did have to go to work for a few hours, but I got home in the early afternoon and respectfully kicked my roommates out of the kitchen so I could get to business. I taped my printed out recipe to the cabinet doors and turned on my Keith and Damo playlist (sound familiar?). I also turned on every light in the common room, because I’m also a person who loves–no, NEEDS–light go leor (hence why I’m loving my two giant bedroom windows this year).

I have NEVER spent so much time mixing up a batter before. I’m sure if I had a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer this process wouldn’t have been so intense *hint hint nudge nudge*. Unfortunately I only had my dying $5 Wal-mart hand mixer at my disposal. This poor appliance is seriously on it’s last legs; it just doesn’t have a strong enough motor, and it can’t even mix up a buttercream anymore. I don’t know if it ever could, actually.

Despite my lacking appliances, the batter came together, albeit after a very long time. I didn’t time it, but I was already becoming exhausted after just this first phase. But who could blame me. Upon its completion, the batter filled my entire largest bowl. Wow.

I still haven’t even come close to baking without getting flour on every single surface, but the mess wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Something this cake required, though, was cleaning as I went, which definitely helped with keeping the mess in line.

This picture was the only one I took of the process because everything else was so time-sensitive that I didn’t want to juggle both my camera and the boiling caramel sauces. I’m not quite at that level of expertise yet. I also got rather caught up in the excitement that I sort of forgot about my camera for the most part. I legitimately haven’t been this excited about something probably since meeting some of the CT lads a couple of years ago (I was even more excited than when I got my internship or met Cassandra Clare in December). I was *that* excited, and my suitemates definitely noticed and commented.

The caramel sauces were terrifying and HOT. I bought a candy thermometer at the beginning of the semester, and this was my first chance to use it. However, it seems that there was not enough sauce in the pan for the temperature to properly register. Which meant that I had to tip the pan to create a deeper pool of caramel and thus expose myself to the heat of the pan and burner. Yay for oven mitts! During all of this I was terrified of burning the caramel. I had been reading about caramel and how the temperature can jump really high really quickly, and I was worried my improvised way of cooking it wouldn’t allow me too see exactly when it hit the correct temperature. In the end I probably could have let both batches cook for another minute or two, because the final products were lighter in color than they should have been. Oh well. Better to have ever so slightly undercooked (but still delicious) caramel sauce than burnt and ruined caramel sauce.

My mixer literally could not handle the ganache. Thankfully a major disaster was averted because a friend of a friend had another mixer I was able to use. What a difference a working mixer makes. I tell you, I really did not want to give the functioning one back after I used it. Think she would have noticed getting back a dying mixer?

I also encountered an issue when assembling the cake. The caramel and ganache didn’t seem to want to stay between the layers, so a lot of it came out the sides. I ended up just spreading the escaped fillings on as part of the crumb coat, so very little of it was actually lost. After I put on the crumb coat I stuck the cake in the fridge for a while to set up, and my suitemate’s reaction when she opened the fridge and saw it was priceless: “I didn’t know you were making a MOUNTAIN!” This cake was literally a mountain. There’s no other way to describe it, it was a giant mountain of chocolate and caramel deliciousness.

Putting on the final layer of ganache was messy, to say the least. At this point, the ganache was getting really melty because there was no room to keep it in the fridge, and the oven had been on for most of the afternoon so the kitchen was a sauna. I lost a bit of it to the kitchen table, but hey, that’s keeping with birthday cake ganache-ing tradition. Last year’s wasn’t even close to a pristine assembly either.

There was a lot of tasting along the way, and my suitemates and I certainly did a number on the leftover bowls of batter and ganache. At one point my roommate actually asked for a moment alone with the spatula I gave her. Love it.

After many hours of slaving away in a hot kitchen, my cake was finally finished. I would have loved to have taken proper-ish pictures of it, but I don’t think my suitemates and friends would have appreciated waiting until morning to dig in. Pictures without natural lighting it is, then!

To quote my suitemate again, it’s a “MOUNTAIN!”

I was also LOVING my new cake stand/spinner. It made frosting so much fun!

Fast-forward to the next morning when I was able to take more pictures by my window:

Another birthday success, if I may say so.  And this year I didn’t have to pawn of the leftovers on my Irish class! It pays to have dessert-loving suitemates.

One final note. How is it possible to write almost 1500 words in a blog post in an hour or so (WITH distractions), but be incapable of writing a 1250 word paper in less than an entire day? Beats me.

Baking

Classic Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Emerald Thunder

The baking bug really hit me hard in the days before the semester began. I was home from work by 4pm, and I had the rest of the afternoon and evening at my disposal. I also had a roommate who really loves baked goods. Solution: cupcakes! I found this recipe on Annie’s Eats and quartered it for my purposes. It is originally intended as a cake, but I wanted cupcakes instead. But there’s a very important lesson to be learned from this.

You always dream of the perfect recipe that will result in flat-topped cakes without having to slice off the rounded portion. This is ones of those recipes. But that’s a problem, you see, because with cupcakes you want domes, domes, domes! A domed cupcake this is not. Lesson: do not use a scratch CAKE recipe for CUPcakes. It’s not the end of the world though, because the flatness just means you can use the remainder of the wrapper to support a gigantic pile of frosting, beyond what is physically possible to heap onto a beautifully domed cupcake.

Aside from not doming, this yellow cake recipe is a keeper. The flavor combination was delicious, and the frosting was so rich and perfect, and definitely not sickeningly sweet. I’m always on the look-out for a good yellow cake and chocolate frosting combo that doesn’t require nearly a dozen egg yolks, so I’m glad I found this one. It’s such a classic combo and I get cravings for it at the most random times, so it’ll be nice to have a relatively low-maintenance recipe to fall back on. The large quantities of chocolate might pose a problem from time to time, though.

I also used this baking time to practice my frosting technique. I bought myself a small spatula at Michael’s when I was home, and I tried my best to replicate the technique I learned when I baked cupcakes at Butter Lane. It’s been a few months, but am I still “the best froster ever!”?