Patty|Cake

The real secret to macarons - a convection oven. Make the...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 19:38:50 -0800

The real secret to macarons - a convection oven.

Make the investment and it will pay for itself in pride and praise.

Graduation Cupcakes.

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 01:37:07 -0700

Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Yellow Icing)

White Chocolate Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting (Blue Icing)
While the red velvet was good, these white chocolate cupcakes were a show stopper (if i do say so myself). Recipe here.

Cupcake toppers made all with fondant and lets just say I don’t want to tie another fondant diploma…until next year.

Congratulations, Graduates! You deserve a cupcake!

Tangled Cupcakes.

Sun, 20 May 2012 19:22:00 -0700

Behold! My first cupcake gig. Made this for a one year old Tangled themed birthday party. I recruited my sister to help me make the decorations. She was in charge of the pascals and it took her over an hour to make each one!

Chocolate cupcake with an oreo cream filling and swiss buttercream frosting.

idea from: http://iheartkatiecakes.blogspot.com/2011/01/disney-tangled-cupcakes.html

Pie Pops.

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:05:00 -0700

Hardware: Candy popsicle sticks (i get mine from Michaels in the baking aisle)
20 - 6in (15,2 cm)

Ingredients:
1 package pillsbury already made pie crust (found in refrigerator section)
1/2 can pie filling
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 egg
Sugar for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Unroll the pie crust and roll it out to make it thinner. These are small pops so the regular thickness would make for too much crust.
2. With a 2.5 inch round cookie cutter, cut out 28 circles and lay flat on a parchment lined baking sheet. Put in refrigerator.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and 1/2 can of pie filling.
4. Using a tablespoon, spoon this mixture onto 16 cut out circles making sure not to over fill it. The pie filling should spread but you should still be able to see a complete ring of pie crust underneath.
5. Beat an egg in a small bowl and using a brush, apply the egg wash onto the rest of the pie rounds.
6. Place a stick onto the pie filling side almost (but not all the way) to the top of the round.
7. Place the egg washed pie round onto the pie filling side round. Press with your fingers, emphasizing the area around the stick. Using a fork, make indentations all the way around the pie pop.
8. Brush top with more egg wash and sprinkle sugar for a finishing touch.
9. Using a toothpick, poke 3 holes in the pie crust to allow air to escape (so they wont explode!)
10. Bake at 350 F for about 12 minutes until pie crust is golden brown. Do not try to lift it off the pan until they are completely cooled.

I love the already made pie crust for this. Its the perfect consistency - no mess, no fuss.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:51:17 -0700

Ingredients:
1 cup and 1/8 cup All Purpose Flour
2 tbs. almond flour
3 Tbs. white sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 package of vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1/4 tsp. baking soda (1/2 tsp. for a more muffin like cookie)
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. banana extract
1 smashed aged banana
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift flour, baking soda, and almond flour together. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip butter with both white and brown sugar until fluffy.
3. Add vanilla pudding mix, vanilla extract, banana extract, smashed banana, and pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg (these two spices really enhance the banana), and egg. Mix well.
4. Add flour and baking soda. Mix just until combined. Don’t forget to scrape down the bowl.
5. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
6. Scoop by the tablespoons onto parchment lined pans and bake for 10 minutes until light golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

These cookies are a somewhat healthier alternative to normal chocolate chip cookies. Bananas always bring out that muffin like quality in cookies that make for a really nice morning treat on the go. Next time i’ll try adding nuts as well! Enjoy, cookie monsters!

Seems that...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:12:00 -0700

all I bake/make are birthday cakes now.

Butter cake with vanilla swiss buttercream frosting and fresh strawberry filling.

With colored white chocolate shavings.

Photo

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:54:00 -0700

Happy Birthday, Grace!

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:22:16 -0700

Lemon cake with Lemon Custard Filling and Swiss Lemon Buttercream

Lemon Cake:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package lemon instant pudding mix
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon, add to taste)
1 3/4 cups water
3 egg whites

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F
1. Mix yellow cake mix and lemon instant pudding mix
2. Add water, and egg whites. Beat on low for 2 minutes and increase to medium for 3 minutes.
3. Add fresh lemon juice and beat on medium for 2 more minutes, or until all the lumps are out.
4. Pour into two 8 inch circle pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Lemon Custard
1/4 Cup white sugar
1/8 Cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup water
1/6 (or about a fourth lemon, juiced)
2 Tbs. butter

Directions:
1. Prepare a double boiler by adding water to a small saucepan and bringing it to a simmer. In a heatproof bowl, combine, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolk and water. Add to the dry mixture.
3. Cook over double boiler, stirring occasionally until it begins to thicken. When it does begin to thicken, stir constantly.
4. Remove from heat and add fresh lemon juice and butter. Cover with plastic wrap until completely cooled before using.

Lemon Swiss Buttercream Icing:
4 sticks of unsalted butter (2 cups), cubed and at room temperature
5 egg whites, at room temperature
a pinch of Cream of Tartar
1 1/4 cup regular white sugar
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. butter extract
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Prepare a double boiler by adding water to a small saucepan and bringing it to a simmer. In a heatproof bowl of an electric stand mixer, heat sugar and egg whites until the sugar has melted held over the simmering water. Its ready when you rub it between your fingers and cannot feel any granules. This should only take about 4 minutes.
2. Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fixed with the whisk attachement and whisk on high speed until mixture has cooled and stiff peaks have formed, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the butter, cubes at a time, making sure it is incorporated after each addition. If the mixture is beginning to curdle, it is okay! Just keep whipping and it will become smooth. This is, however, a sign that you are not incorporating the butter after each addition well enough. To avoid any curdling at all, make sure your butter is at room temperature and you are incorporating it well after each addition.
4. Switch to the paddle attachment, Add fresh lemon juice and butter extract and vanilla extracts. Mix to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes.

I really like to use a swiss buttercream; especially for a lemon cake because it is lighter and less sweet than a normal buttercream frosting. Since there is no powdered sugar, it is just soft, light, and fresh tasting.
If you are going to be using this buttercream to pipe letters, it is a good idea to set aside a little portion and mix in some sifted powdered sugar. This will make the buttercream a little more stiff - perfect for piping words.

The fresh lemon juice in this cake really makes the cake taste fresh and non-artificial. It is extremely moist due to the pudding mix.

For the flowers on the cake, I used gum paste - demo to come in a separate post! It is extremely easy and extremely impressive (two things I love when they are together!).
I also made macarons to decorate the side of the cake using the same macaron recipe as always but adding some pink food coloring. Tip: keep those old store bought macaron boxes - they are great for storing your own home made (and more impressive) macaron shells!

Oldie but Always a Goodie.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:23:00 -0800

By most perfect, I mean chewy on the inside, slightly crunchy bottom, buttery, delicious, melt in your mouth, always craving chocolate chip cookies. The secret to this recipe is not only the technique, but also the vanilla pudding mix. It makes that perfect consistency even better. This is an oldie but a goodie for sure!

Makes 36 cookies (but you’ll by doubling this batch for the flocking masses).

Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cup All Purpose flour
1 Tsp. baking soda
1 Cup butter (2 sticks), softened at room temperature
3/4 Cup packed brown sugar (YUM!)
1/4 Cup white granulated sugar
1 package (3.4 ounce) vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Cream butter, vanilla extract, and sugars together until fluffy and well combined.
2. Sift in flour band baking soda. Mix just until combined.
3. Add vanilla pudding mix and mix just until combined.

4. Add eggs and mix just until combined.
5. Add chocolate chips and mix just until blended.

6. Let stand for about 5 minutes. This lets the butter and eggs melt a little. I find that putting it into the oven right away makes the cookie too tall and not cookie-like.
7. Using a tablespoon or mini ice cream scooper, spoon onto parchment lined pans* leaving about a 1.5 - 2 inch radius around each cookie.
8. Bake for 13 minutes. The cookies will be extremely soft when you pull them out but they will cool to a soft, chewy, absolutely perfect texture. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

*Using parchment paper seems to create that crunchy bottom that compliments the soft chewy inside so well. Using a butter greased pan tends to create an overall soft cookie.

special guest...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:07:08 -0800

http://bit.ly/xZFukB

please vote for me!!!

ps. most amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe on its way.

Smores Mini Cupcakes.

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:25:36 -0800

I love s’mores - especially on a summer night at a beach bonfire surrounded by old friends. Theres just something about the delectable combination of melted chocolate and marshmallow with a graham cracker. When the opportunity arose to bake something for a holiday party, I immediately thought of s’mores mini cupcakes:

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen mini cupcakes

For the Chocolate - Graham Cracker Cupcake:

Ingredients:
1 cup + 1/8 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
3/8 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
10 squares graham crackers, crumbed
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake liners and set aside.
2. Sift 1 cup sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Fitted with the paddle attachement, mix together.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture on low speed and mix just until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and continue to mix for another 2 minutes. Add boiling water and whisk by hand to avoid any splashing.
4. In a separate bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and remaining 1/8 sugar. Using a tsp., spoon one tsp. into each cupcake liner and push down lightly with the back of the teaspoon.
5. Bake graham cracker lined cupcakes in oven for about 5 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and add chocolate cupcake batter 3/4 full in each cupcake. Sprinkle cupcakes with remaining graham cracker crumbs. Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick tester comes out clean.

For the Marshmallow Frosting:

Ingredients:
2 egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Place egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the heatproof mixing bowl of an electric stand mixer. Hold over a saucepan with simmering water and whisk by hand for about 3 minutes until sugar melts and is no longer grainy between the fingertips.
2. With electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachement, whisk starting at low speed and gradually increase to high. Whisk until stiff peaks form. This will take about 7 minutes. Add vanilla extract and mix just until combined. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star or french tip.

Assembly:
Using a piping bag, ice the marshmallow onto cooled cupcakes. Using a blow torch, torch the top to mimik lightly melted marshmallow. Add a mini marshmallow to garnish and serve!

Don’t be fooled by the seemingly long list of ingredients. This is actually an easy recipe and if you have a large measuring cup, you can mix the wet ingredients all in that measuring cup so this whole recipe is actually like a one bowl cupcake. This is sure to impress.

Snickerdoodle Cookie Cheesecake Bites.

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:06:00 -0800

I love snickerdoodle cookies (especially from Diddy Reise in Westwood, Los Angeles, CA). But thats besides the point. I made these uber easy snickerdoodle cookies with cream cheese filling using just 4 ingredients!

Adapted from HERE!

Hardware: Electric mixer, mini rolling pin or the back of teaspoon, mini cupcake/muffin pan and liners

Ingredients:
1 pacakage of pre made snickerdoodle dough (from the refrigerator section)
4 oz. (1/2 8 oz. package) of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line mini muffin pan with liners.
2. Roll out about a tablespoon of dough into balls and drop in liners.
3. Using a mini rolling pin or the back of a teaspoon dipped in powdered sugar, make an indentation in the dough to create a crater for the cream cheese filling.

4. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.

5. Fill a piping bag with the cream cheese mixture and pipe about a 1 1/2 tsp. of the mixture into each cookie.

6. Bake for about 9 minutes.

The cream cheese filling will sink into the cookie once out of the oven. I like to add more cream cheese on top. Since there is nothing really raw/inedible in the cream cheese filling anyway, its okay to let it set at room temperature.

I Am Thankful For Sugar, Almond Flour, and Eggs.

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 02:00:00 -0800

Heres to trying again…and again.
I have yet to perfect the french macaron (and something tells me that I may not until I learn from a french man at a prestigious pastry school). Still, I try.

Edit to original recipe: (for smoother shell and chewier texture)

Hardware: Electric stand mixer
Will also need parchment paper or silicon mat

Ingredients:
2 Cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 Cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, separated and AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
2 large egg whites, separated and AT ROOM TEMPERATURE > (4 total eggs whites but keep them in separate batches, do not combine all into one bowl)
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/3 Cup water
1/2 Tsp. clear vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 310 F and prepare baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

1. Combine powdered sugar and almond flour in a pan lined with parchment paper. Let air dry for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
2. Transfer almond flour and powdered sugar mixture to a bowl and add 2 large egg whites. Mix until combined. It will be like a thick paste or very sticky dough. At this stage, you can add different flavors (I added 1/4 Tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 Tsp. pumpkin spice for a Pumpkin Spice Macaron).
3. Add the remaining 2 egg whites to a stand mixer fixed with the whisk attachement. Do not start whisking quite yet!
4. Combine granulated sugar and water in a small pot and heat over medium heat. After about 3 minutes, turn on that stand mixer. When the egg whites get to soft/medium stiff peaks, add SLOWLY the boiling sugar syrup to the egg white. Do not stop whisking throughout this process.
5. Add vanilla extract and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.
6. Add the egg white mixture, half at a time, to the almond flour paste mixture.
7. Fold carefully with a flexible spatula until well combined.
8. Transfer mixture to large piping bag and begin to pipe using round (2A wilton) tip, 1 inch circles onto prepared pans. Leave about 1 inch between each macaron. Do not move the tip around and keep it as upright and centered as possible. The batter will spread on its own.
9. Tap the bottom of the pan with your hands or against the table a few times and LET SIT FOR 25 MINUTES. This step is so crucial - you will regret it if you are impatient!
10. Bake at 310 F for 10 minutes, rotating the pan 5 minutes in.

Depending on the flavor of macaron, make appropriate filling. For vanilla macaron, use a basic buttercream or vanilla frosting filling. In this case, I made a Pumpkin Spice Macaron with…
Cream Cheese and Neufchatel Cheese filling as follows:

Ingredients:
3 Tbs. Salted Butter
1/4 (8 ounce) package of Nefchatel Cheese
1/4 (8 ounce) package of Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup powdered sugar

Directions:
1. With the paddle attachement, mix butter and cheeses until smooth and creamy.
2. Add powdered sugar, tablespoons at a time until desired consistency. For me, it was about 1/2 Cup.

Assembly:
Match macarons up by pair according to size. Using a piping bag and round tip, pipe filling onto one side of the macaron. I make a small outline of a circle along the inner edge of the macaron. Carefully place cookies together and you have the french macaron!

Pictures at each stage to come soon. I find that adding the sugar in syrup form creates a more chewy texture that I love so much in macarons. I also find that this technique holds up better. Make sure to let the batter sit - the top needs to dry enough so that it bakes from within and does not explode outwards. If you are finding that you’re macarons are cracking and looking more like mountains than anything, it is because you did not let them sit long enough or you somehow hit the pan before going into the oven and breaking that dried up pre-shell that formed. I find this recipe is better for a smooth, glossy shell but the foot is still not perfect. Perhaps next time I will get the best of both worlds.

Oh and STORE IN REFRIGERATOR!

Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving, Lovelies!

Baklava!

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:44:00 -0800

Baklava just screams out texture - crunchy, chewy, nutty (<- is that even a texture?).

This will surely quench that sweet tooth of yours.

Hardware: Small pot, 9 x 13 inch rimmed baking pan, sharp knife

Ingredients:
1 package (16 ounce) phyllo dough - comes with two rolls, you will only need one.
1 pound chopped walnuts (or about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup butter, melted
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 Tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 Tsp. ground cloves
Pinch of pumpkin spice
1 Cup water
3/4 Cup white sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 Cup honey

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9 x 13 baking pan
2. Chop nuts and put in a pan on the stove. Stir periodically for about 10 minutes or until the smell is just irresistible!
3. Toss nuts with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pumpkin spice.
4. Unroll the phyllo dough and use a slightly damp paper towel to cover.
5. Place one sheet of phyllo dough in the pan at a time, buttering after each layer. Use the back of a spoon or a brush to butter the sheets. Stack 8 layers. On the 8th layer, butter and sprinkle 3 tbs of the nuts mixture. Continue to sprinkle the nut mixture every two layers until there is a total of 16 layers. End with phyllo dough.

6. Using a sharp knife, cut into diamond shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan.
7. Bake for 50 minutes.

8. While thats happening, make the sauce. Boil sugar and water until the sugar is melted. Add vanilla extract and honey. Simmer for the remainder of the time until the baklava is ready.

9. Pour syrup mixture over baklava immediately after removing it from the oven. Let cool and serve in cupcake liners or stacked between parchment squares.

Tip #1: This is a very sweet dessert so use the syrup to your own liking.

Tip #2: Don’t sprinkle so many nuts that it covers all the phyllo dough, each phyllo sheet needs to be touching the bottom phyllo sheet in some way so that the entire thing stays together.

Persimmon Cookies.

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:41:00 -0800

For all of you who have persimmon trees and an overload of persimmons at the moment, this recipe is for you. The consistency of pureed persimmon makes for a deliciously soft, muffin like cookie. The spices in this recipe are perfect for fall - you can’t really go wrong with cinnamon, ground clove, and nutmeg. If thats not Thanksgiving, then I don’t know what is. This recipe also works well with pumpkin!

Hardware: Food processor, electric mixer

Ingredients:
2 ripe persimmons, peeled and pureed in the food processor (for a baby food like consistency)
1 Tsp. baking soda
2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Tsp. ground cloves
1/2 Tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 Cup white sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup butter (1 unsalted stick)
1 Cup raisins (optional)
1 Cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Directions:
1. Put chopped walnuts in a pan and cover with foil. Bake in oven at 250 F for 15 minutes and remove. Set aside to cool. Then, turn oven up and pre heat to 350 F.
2. Add baking soda to pureed persimmon and mix well. Set aside.
3. Sift flour, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

4. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Add persimmon mixture.
5. Stir in dry ingredients and add raisins and baked walnuts.
6. Drop by the teaspoon onto parchement lined baking sheet. Using the back of a spoon or your fingers, flatten the cookie out just a little. This is a very sticky batter. Bake for 15 minutes.

Toasted Pecan Carrot Cake For...

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:19:00 -0700

my mommy! MOIST, FLUFFY, EASY, d-e-a-licous CARROT CAKE:

She bought carrots for carrot cake and although she is the absolute best cook in the entire world (especially the Thai world), she cannot bake because she doesn’t use measurements or follows any sort of recipe. This unfortunately results in (a) a dense block of tasteless cake or (b) a mushy mess of tasteless batter. Fortunately, she has a daughter who loves to bake!

She says “I want healthy, no frosting, and I like brown sugar” So here you have it:

Hardware: 9 x 9 ince baking pan, no electric mixer necessary

Ingredients:
2 Eggs
2/4 Cups vegetable oil
1/2 Cup white sugar
1/2 Cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 Tsp. baking powder
1 Tsp. baking soda
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 Cups grated carrot
1/2 Cup chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 200 F. Lay chopped pecans on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Stab foil with a knife for ventilation and bake in oven for 10 minutes. This will bring out the aroma of the pecans - it really makes a difference.

2. Take out the pecans and turn oven up to 350 F. Prepare the 9 x 9 baking pan by greasing and flouring - get the corners. Dump out excess flour.
3. Grate carrots using a hand grater (be careful!) and set in a bowl aside.

4. In a bowl, mix eggs, vegetable oil, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined. You can do this by hand or by electric mixer (isn’t that nifty?).
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix together by hand and add in two batches to wet mixture (of step 3). Adding in bathes contributes to a fluffier cake!
6. Stir in grated carrot. Fold in pecans with a spatula.

7. Batter should be relatively thin and gooey. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick from the center comes out clean.

Mama didn’t want any frosting because she does not like sweet things. She likes to wake up at 6AM, sip her coffee, and eat a pastry (not as dessert, but as a morning snack). Nevertheless, this recipe will pair well with a good cream cheese frosting.

"[They're] So Fluffly, I'm Going to Die!"

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:57:00 -0700

Homemade Marshmallows?! YES.

I was watching Giada on the food network (my second favorite next to Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa..how I dream of her life…mostly her home), but anyway, Giada made orange marshmallows from scratch. Looked easy enough…so i tried it!

Adapted from Giada at Home:

Hardware: Stand mixer, candy thermometer

Ingredients:

Butter to grease pan

Powdered sugar for dusting

1/2 Cup water + 1/4 Cup water

3 Tbs. unflavored gelatin (3 packets)

2 Cups sugar

1/2 Cup evaporated milk

1 Large orange, zested

1 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

Orange decorating sugar

Directions:

1. Butter a 9 x 9 inch baking pan, dust liberally with powdered sugar. Get those corners! Its ok to have excess left for this one.

2. Pour 1/2 Cup water into bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachement. Sprinkle gelatin over the water and let sit for about 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a 3 quart saucepan, combine sugar, evaporated milk and 1/4 Cup water. Stir over LOW heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally until a candy thermometer inserted reads 240 F. It will bubble and rise. This will take about 15 minutes. Don’t worry that the mixture is turning brown, the marshmallow will still be white at the end!

4. Once the syrup comes to 240 F, carefully pour it over the gelatin in the stand mixer. Mix on low until incorporated, then increase speed to high. Beat until thick, fluffy, and has increased 3x in volume. This should take a good 10 minutes or more. Zest orange over mixture so the juices from zesting also fall into the marshmallow. Add vanilla extract. Beat until combined.

5. Using a spatula, scrape into prepared pan and smooth out the top a bit. Sprinkle the orange decorating sugar evenly over the top and let it set for at least 7 hours.

6. Once set, prepare a surface dusted with powdered sugar. Remove the marshmallow in one full piece. It should pull out of the pan easily since you have powdered the pan before. Using scissors dipped in powdered sugar, cut the marshmallow. Don’t try to use a knife because it will stick. De-pan the marshmallow and use scissors to cut them into desired pieces. Dip the side of the pieces into the powdered the sugar to keep them from sticking to each other.

Viola! Home made marshmallows - who knew?

Tip #1: You can experiment with different tastes; however, I added 1/4 Tsp. of almond extract and felt it was too strong. Next time, I will just make vanilla marshmallows - perhaps dipped in graham cracker pieces and chocolate! This shall be my next baking endeavor! Get excited.

p.s. Pumpkin Spice Macarons with Cream Cheese Filling.

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:39:00 -0700

I went a little french macaron crazy today and made 3 batches of macarons. To ring in the holiday season, I made PUMPKIN SPICE macarons with CREAM CHEESE filling. Yes, those must be in caps. I used the same recipe as my previous “Dear French Macaron“ recipe but added:

1 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon

to the powdered sugar and almond flour.

For the cream cheese frosting:

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter

4 oz. cream cheese (half a regular 8 oz package)

2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth and fluffy.

2. Add powdered sugar and begin beating ON LOW (lets avoid powdering the face), and then gradually increase speed to medium.

This time around I have some more tips (also added to original recipe) for you:

1. After the initial hitting of the pan, DO NOT hit it again after they have rested. This will result in cracks. Carefully move the pan to the oven, carefully place it into the oven. Any hard movement or hit on the macarons will result in cracks. Slow and steady!

2. You MUST bake in batches - if one batch is ruined, most likely a majority of the macarons are ruined and if you split them into different batches, you at least won’t risk the chance of getting all ruined macarons.

White Chocolate Oreo Reece's Pieces Cups.

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:09:00 -0700

Trick or treat? Definitely a TREAT! I made these for a Halloween party and they were a humungo hit.

My infatuation for white chocolate grows. In all honesty, I initially started this using milk chocolate. Then I ran out of milk chocolate and had to use white chocolate. Well low and behold - the white chocolate tasted way better. These are inspired by his top two favorite candies: Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Hershey’s White Chocolate Oreo Bars.

Makes 35 pieces.

Ingredients:

1 Cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 Cup unsalted butter

1/4 Cup golden brown sugar

1 1/4 Cup powdered sugar

~4 cups white chocolate chips (about 2 11.5 oz. bags)

1/4 Cup vegetable shortening

~7 oreo cookies

Directions:

Line mini muffin pan with liners and prepare a parchment or foil lined baking sheet.

1. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, add peanut butter, unsalted butter, and brown sugar. Stir constantly until sugar is melted and everything looks like creamy goodness. (refrain from eating it! warning: this will smell amazingballoons!)

2. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar in increments of 1/4 cups and mix until combined. The mixture will become thick and sticky - this is what you want. Set aside to cool.

3. Melt white chocolate chips on a double boiler with vegetable shortening. (More detail on melting white chocolate here) The shortening will make it melt more evenly and will also thin out the chocolate. You want it to be runny. Remove from heat.

4. “De-oreo” the oreo cookies. As in, remove the cream and put just the cookie part in a zip lock bag. Crush away with a mug or something heavy until fine pieces. Add this to the white chocolate and mix until combined.

5. Use a small spoon to spoon in a small dollop of the white chocolate oreo cookie mixture to the bottom of each mini cupcake. Shake it side to side and rotate until the white chocolate has spread and covered the bottom. The more runny your white chocolate is, the easier this will be. Put in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

4. Once cool to touch (about 20 minutes), use a teaspoon and roll out balls of the peanut butter mixture onto prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes until they stiffen up. Flatten slightly.

5. Take both the muffin pan out and the peanut butter ball pan out of the refrigerator. Lay the peanut butter disk into each cup.

6. Spoon another dollop of the white chocolate oreo melt to cover the peanut butter disk. Shake it side to side to even out the mixture.

7. . Refrigerate until white chocolate has hardened (about 30 minutes).

Helloooo white chocolate oreo reece’s pieces cup! Complete with the side ridges.

Tip #1: If you are doing different batches and don’t have enough pans or room in your fridge (like me) to do all 35 pieces cups, keep the white chocolate silky and runny by placing the bowl over the water you used to melt it. The water should still be emitting enough steam to keep the white chocolate relatively melted. DO NOT leave it on the double boiler with the flame on. White chocolate is moody.

Tip #2: Experiment! Before I made these little candies,

I did: milk chocolate, peanut butter mixture, rice krispy and topped with more milk chocolate.

I also tried: milk chocolate, oreo cookie pieces, the cream from the oreo cookie (literally peeled off the oreo and into the muffin tin), peanut butter, topped with more milk chocolate.

I just found this specific combination the most tasty!

Its like those White chocolate Oreo Hershey bars and Reece’s Peanut Butter cups married each other and produced a spectacularly tasty baby.

White Chocolate Bark.

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:54:00 -0700

I’m always looking to make white chocolate desserts in different ways. In my opinion, its like a blank palette. I wanted to make something super fast today because I was in a crunch on time and I wanted to bring a nice house warming gift to my friends who just moved into their new apartment. Since the food network is always on (literally - ALWAYS), I happen to catch Claire Robinson do a white chocolate orange bark this morning on Five Ingredient Fix and it inspired me to make this very simple, quick treat. As follows:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of white chocolate morsels (or one 12 ounce pack)

1 Tbs. butter flavored shortening

1/2 Cup rice crispy cereal

1/4 Cup golden raisins

Directions:

1. Line a baking pan with wax paper. Prepare 1/3 Cup rice crispy cereal and 1/4 Cup golden raisins. Set aside about a tbs. of white chocolate morsels.

2. Melt the white chocolate with shortening over a double boiler.

3. Once melted, stir in the unmelted white chocolate morsels put aside from earlier. Set aside one or two little spoon fulls of white chocolate.

4. Add the rice crispy and golden raisins and mix until combined.

5. Pour the mixture out onto the lined pan and smooth out with a spatula to about 1/4 inch thick - It doesn’t have to be super precise.

6. (Optional) Add food coloring to the white chocolate you set aside earlier and using a fork, drizzle the white chocolate over the mixture.

This is a great tailgating treat that people can just pick at while watching a game. You can dress it up with team colors. What I love about this recipe is how versatile it is - you can add anything to chocolate bark - nuts, oreo chunks, dried fruits, etc. Its great, dontcha think?!

For detailed instructions on melting white chocolate, see my White Chocolate Cupcakes with Green Tea Frosting recipe.

P.S. Go Bruins!