Dessert

4th of July Treat: Patriotic Mini Pies on Sticks

29.06.2011 10 Comments

Clearly, from my recent posts, I have a soft spot in my heart for childhood treats. When these babies were finished, they tasted like Pop-tarts. Strawberry Pop-tarts, which were always the best ones. I loved these so much that I am even going to give you all the cheater notes. And by this I mean the shortcuts to make them in about 15 minutes. While I am a strong advocate for making everything from scratch, I also realize that most people don’t love to spend all day in the kitchen (whaaaat???). So, you can follow my long direction (highly recommended route) or you can go out on your own with pre-made pie dough, strawberry jam (at least buy the good kind) and a cookie cutter.

Mini Pies on Sticks

Pie Dough:

(adapted from Fool Proof Pie Dough, Cooks illustrated 2007)

3 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbs sugar

10 tbs butter (1 stick plus 2 tbs), cut into cubes

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 cup vodka

1/4 cup cold water

Strawberry Filling:

1 cup of sugar

1 tbs corn starch

3 tbs unsalted butter

2 cups of diced strawberries

Egg Wash:

1 egg white

1 tsp water

plus 2 tbs sugar for sprinkling

Royal Icing:

1 egg white

1 tbs lemon juice

1.5 cups powdered sugar

PLUS:

16, 6 inch wooden skewers

Really, if you have the time, homemade pie dough is the jam. It is so far superior to that store bough nonsense that it could stand on it’s own. You could even make cookies out of it and eat it plain. I have been over this before but there are a few pie dough rules that one must never deviate from:

1. Cold dough will always cook better than warm.

2. The less it is worked with, the more tender it is. Don’t overwork your dough.

3. Using vodka creates a flakier crust because it cooks off completely, unlike water.

First, food processors are great at getting the job done as quickly as possible, and as previously mentioned, the more you mess with dough the tougher it becomes. So break out that food processor and add 2 cups of the flour, salt and sugar and give it a quick pulse until it’s combined.

Add the cubes of butter and the shortening and pulse until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. A mix of shortening and butter gives a good flavor and texture.

Now, if you have a larger food processor that mine, then add the remaining flour and pulse until it gathers around the blade. MINE is tiny and I need a new one. So if you are in the same boat as I am, just transfer it to a bowl and add the remaining flour by hand. (if you have a nice big guy food processor, transfer to a bowl after you add the remaining flour)

Then add the water and the vodka and squish it into the dough until its all combined. Your dough will be very moist, but you can add a bit of flour if it is too moist to hold together. Then split into two evenly sized disks and wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours.

To make the filling, add the sugar and cornstarch to a pot and stir quickly to combine. Add the butter and strawberries and stir over medium heat until the berries are broken down and the sauce is thick and dark. Allow to cool

Once the dough has chilled, roll it out on a floured surface. If it breaks up, which it may since it is a pretty flakey recipe, just smoosh it back together with your fingers. Cut out your desired shape, 3-4 inches seems to be ideal. I used stars because of our upcoming I Heart America holiday, as well as 3 inch circles. Place the bottom circle on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Place the stick more at least halfway up into your shape and top with a spoonful of the sauce.

Now, quickness is key at this point. Place a matching shape on top and smoosh the edges together.

I had some red and white straws left over from Taters party that I bought from Sweet Lulu’s that I used for sticks on a few of the pies. I wasn’t sure it they would bake well so I only did a few. I just pinched the top shut and placed it on the star cutouts. I liked them so much that the ones that had boring ol' 6 inch wooden skewers were covered with those cute striped straws to match. Refrigerate your pies for at least 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white and the water until combined. Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are goldeny brown.

Allow to cool. If the filling leaks out, its OK. Just try and cut around the shapes with a sharp knife before trying to remove from the pan.

In a small bowl, combine the royal icing ingredients and stir until well combined. Top the pies with the icing and then with the sprinkles of your choice.

Junior Mint Cupcakes

28.06.2011 26 Comments

I have a confession to make. I really don’t like mint. I respect mint as a flavor and agree with the idea of it…but I don’t love it. There was on ordeal a few years ago when I was in Middle Atlas, Morocco that will always be refereed to as the Moroccan Mint Experience. Overall, I would classify this episode in the "good experience" category, but either way, I have a hard time eating mint ever since. Mr. Fits, however, is a huge fan. And although I don’t prefer mint, I still really loved these cupcakes.

How cute are those cupcake papers? I got them at Bake it Pretty. I love baking cupcakes in something other than standard cupcake papers, makes them feel special.

Junior Mint Cupcakes

Chocolate cake:

2 2/3 cup flour

1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cup of brewed coffee, cooled

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 sticks of unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups of sugar

1 tsp vanila extract

2 eggs

Mint Buttercream:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup milk
1/4 tsp natural mint extract

Chocolate Sauce:

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

2/3 cup heavy cream

Garnish with Junior Mints if desired.

Preheat the oven to 350. in a large bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sift to combined. in another bowl, add the buttermilk, coffee and oil. In a stand mixer, add the butter and cream until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and while the mixer is on high, slowly add the sugar and cream until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time. With the mixer on medium speed, alternating between the wet and dry ingredients, add each a bit at a time until all three are well combined in the stand mixer. If you are using the cute brown floret baking cups, just place them on a baking sheet, they don’t need to go in a muffin tin. If you are using standard cupcake papers, just line them in the muffin tin as normal. Fill standard cupcake papers 2/3 of the way full and cute floret papers only 1/2 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20-25 minutes.

Mint Buttercream

In a stand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Your butter needs to be softened, cold butter won’t work. With the mixer on a low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar until all combined (you can add less if you prefer a less sweet frosting). Then add the milk and the extract and beat until well combined.

Chocolate sauce

Place the chocolate in a heat safe bowl. Heat the cream until hot and steam, but not boiling (microwave is fine but you can also heat on the stove) and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Stir for about 3 minutes or until well combined. If you have never made ganache or chocolate sauce you may get a bit concerned about half way through. It is completely normal for your sauce to look like chunky chocolate milk for the first few minutes, just keep stirring and it’ll all work out.

Once your cupcakes are cool, pipe the buttercream on, top with a spoon full of the chocolate sauce then a Junior Mint, if you’d like.

Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts

24.06.2011 15 Comments

More lemon. I know, My citrus obsession is reaching a bit of a fevered pitch. Summer, to me, is lemon flavored.

Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts

Shortbread cookie crust:

2 cups of flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 stick plus 6 tbs unsalted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp butter extract

Lemon Curd:

2 tbs lemon zest

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup lemon juice

5 tbs unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Meringue:

4 egg whites

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

In a bowl, add the flour, powdered sugar and the salt, whisk until well combined. In a stand mixer cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the granulated sugar, then the extracts, beating until well combined. Add the flour mixture, about 1/4 a cup at a time, and beat as little as possible until your dough is combined and the butter is mixed through. You can also finish by squishing with your hands to make sure the butter is well incorporated. Your dough will look like course meal. Put 1 tbs of the dough into a muffin tin (grease it with some butter flavored cooking spray first) and pack it into the bottom, about one inch up onto the sides to resemble a mini tart shell.

Place in the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours. Heat the oven to 350 and then bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to turn a golden brown.

Lemon curd:

Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and yolks to a bowl and mix well. Add the lemon mixture to a pan over medium/low heat along with the butter

Whisk until thickened, about 8 minutes. Once the mini tart shells are cooled, spoon in the curd.

Meringue. Add the egg whites (not a hint of yolk or this will never work), cream of tartar and salt to a stand mixer and beat on high until stiff peaks form. While the mixer is still on high, slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until well combined and stiffly peaked.

Top the mini tarts with the meringue.

You can brulee them a touch with the kitchen torch if you’d like

Enjoy!

Homemade Twix

22.06.2011 10 Comments

I’m not a big candy bar eatin' person, but there is something about Twix that I love. It really is pretty simple when you break it down: shortbread, caramel and chocolate. That’s it. I also added chopped pecans and salt to a few. Yum.

Homemade Twix

Ingredients:

SHORTBREAD

1 cup of flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick plus 3 tbs unsalted butter (11 tbs)

2 tbs granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp butter extract

CARAMEL SAUCE

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 tbs light corn syrup

2 tbs room temp water

1/4 cup of heavy cream, warm

2 tbs unsalted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

CHOCOLATE

1 cup chocolate, broken up into chunks (I used 56%)

2 tbs butter

1 tbs heavy cream (plus up to 2 tbs more, if needed)

1 tbs light corn syrup

In a bowl, add the flour, powdered sugar and the salt, whisk until well combined. In a stand mixer cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar slowly, then the extracts, beating until well combined. Add the flour mixture, about 1/4 a cup at a time, and beat as little as possible until your dough is combined and the butter is mixed through. You can also finish by squishing with your hands to make sure the butter is well incorporated. Your dough will look like course meal.

Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a log about 10 inches long. Wrap the plastic wrap around your log and CHILL FOR AT LEAST 3 HOURS.

Super important that your dough is cold before cooking, I’ll talk about this over and over, but it’s so true. Cold dough cooks better.

Once the shortbread is cooled, cut off about 1 inch circles

and mold into little logs, about 3 inches long and the width of a finger,

and then make a well down the length of the shortbread finger.

This recipe should make about 24. Place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 300. Bake for about 8-12 minutes or until the shortbread starts to brown along the very bottom edge.

Caramel sauce. This can be scary if you’ve never made it, but it’s pretty simple. put the sugar, corn syrup and water in a sauce pan and stir over high heat until everything is well combined and the sugar starts to boil (use a wooden spoon of a spatula that is very heat resistant, cheap plastic will melt). Stop stirring completely and allow to boil undisturbed. Watch until the caramel turns amber, then remove from the heat and add the warm cream slowly (you can heat it in the microwave or on the stove) while stirring. Then add the butter and the vanilla and stir until smooth.

Once the cookies are cool, spoon the caramel sauce along the well

and place on a wire rack over parchment paper. In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate, corn syrup, 1 tbs cream, and butter

and microwave for 20 seconds, stir and repeat until smooth and creamy. You can add more cream if the chocolate is not smooth enough to pour. Spoon the chocolate sauce over the cookie and allow to drip over the sides.

Allow the chocolate to cool before serving.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

10.06.2011 5 Comments

I’ve had a thing for citrus lately. I can’t stop thinking of all the yummy food that can be made with lemons and limes. Maybe its my way of sending good vibes to the lime tree that I planted three years ago that has produced all of 2 limes it’s entire life. I admit that even though I grew up on some what of a farm (old tractor from my parents farm as quasi proof)

I have managed to kill nearly everything I have ever planted. Although, I am holding out hope for my little lime tree.

Ingredients:

Cake batter:

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 stick of butter

1/2 cups of sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tbs vanilla extract

4 egg whites

3/4 cup of whole milk

1/4 cup of oil

Crust:

3 1/2 cups of lemon shortbread cookies

1 tbs brown sugar

6 tbs melted butter

Filling:

8 oz of softened cream cheese

1/4 cup of sugar

1 egg

2 1/2 tbs lime zest

1/4 cup of lime juice

Lime Buttercream:

4 sticks of butter

3 cups of powdered sugar

1 tbs lime zest

1/3 cup of lime juice

1/2 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 350.

You’ll need a lot of limes for this recipe, I used about 12, but it all depends on size. Start with the crust. Put the shortbread cookies and the brown sugar in a food processor and process until nothin is left but crumbs.

Add the melted butter and pulse until it looks like wet sand.

line muffin pan (this recipe should make 24) with cupcake papers. Add 1/2 tbs of the crust to the bottom of the papers and pack well. Save the left over crust to sprinkle on top of the finished cupcakes.

Make the cake batter. I have been playing with my vanilla cake recipe for years and this might be the winner. I’ve always used a combo of whites and yolks, but because I wanted it really light I just used whites and it turned out beautifully.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter (softened!) and sugar and cream until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk until well combined. In another bowl, add the milk and oil.

A bit at a time, add the egg whites to the butter and beat on high until well combined and fluffy. With mixer on medium, add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, alternating between the two until everything is just combined (don’t over beat).

Add the batter to the cupcake papers until about 1/2 filled.

Make the cheesecake filling.

In a stand mixer, cream the cream cheese and the sugar until well combined. Add the egg, lime juice, and lime zest and beat until combined. And please, please, please use real limes and not that stuff that comes in a bottle or a plastic squeezey lime.

Back to the batter in the cupcake papers. Using a spoon, make a well in the middle but pushing the batter up onto the sides of the cupcake papers, try not to disturb the crust but if you expose it, its fine.

Fill the well with about 1 tbs of the cream cheese mixture.

Bake the cupcakes for about 35 minutes or until the cake part is springy and slightly golden brown, the filling will still be jiggly.

While that’s baking, make the frosting. I have to say that although these cupcakes turned out amazing (I would even go as far as to say top 5 I’ve ever made) my only complaint was that there wasn’t a huge differentiation between the filling and the frosting. I’ve used this method to fill cupcakes with cheesecake before and I really like it. I always top my cheesecake filled cupcakes with a whipped cream frosting and I’m not sure why I went to butter cream. Next time I make these I’ll make a lime whipped cream (2 cups of heavy cream, 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1 tsp lime zest in a stand mixer on high for 3 minutes). Here is the butter cream steps, feel free to use whichever frosting you like. Both are super yummy.

In a stand mixer (that stand mixer got quite a work out today, unlike myself) add the softened butter and beat to make sure all the lumps are out. You HAVE to use soften, borderline warm, butter or your frosting will have the consistency of ground beef. Add the sugar and cream.

Then add the lime juice, zest and milk then beat until well combined.

My cheater piping bag is just a large ziplock bag with a corner cut off. It makes frosting cupcakes really easy, they look amazing AND I don’t have to dig out my really piping bags or clean them later.

Sprinkle with the left over crust and enjoy.

My floating cupcake shot:

Lemon Creme Brulee

07.06.2011 16 Comments

I had this brilliant idea to serve the lemon creme brulee in a hollowed out lemon. Looks adorable right? Well…don’t try it. It turns out, it’s not a good idea. However, I was smart enough to make this delicious citrusy custard in ramekins as well and that turned out amazing. Next time I make this, and I will make it again, I’ll make it in this tart shell and serve it with this whipped cream.

Don’t be afraid of Creme Brulee. If you’ve never made it, you should try. All home cooks should have a list of five recipes that they want to master. Shoot high. Really. Nothing is off limits and Creme Brulee is a great place to start. It’s a classic recipe, its beautiful, sounds super fancy, and it’s pretty simple. Creme Brulee tarts are also a great dessert to pull out for guests, guaranteed to evoke major OOOOOHHHH’s.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 tbs vanilla extract

2 tsp lemon zest

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar, plus another 1/4 cup for the topping

2 tbs lemon juice

Special equipment needed:

Culinary torch. Don’t be affraid of this either. Easy to use and not expensive. Mr. Fits bought me one at Crate and Barrel. But you can also buy them at Target and Amazon. You’ll also needbutane for it.

Most people cook them in ramekins, but you can use any oven safe, small, shallow dish, a tart or pie shell.

Once you have these three things you can make as much Creme Brulee as much as you want! You’re all set.

Preheat the oven to 300.

Put the cream, vanilla and the zest in a sauce pan over medium heat. cook just until its bubbly around the edges but not boiling. Remove from heat, cover and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar and the lemon juice. Whisk until frothy, about 3 minutes.

While continuing to whisk, slowly add the cream mixture until well combined.

At this point, I cut up about 4 lemons to make the cups. Because the custard has to bake in the cups and then sit for 4 hours until set, the dessert leached too much bitterness from the white rind making it borderline inedible. The cups where really beautiful, so if I ever make a dessert that doesn’t need to be baked and can be served immediately (mousse, curd, pudding) I would make them again. I would coat the inside with lemon juice, then with sugar. I’d serve Lemon Mousse in these.

Using a paring knife and a spoon, I cut out the pulp and juiced it.

But, for this recipe DON’T make these. Use a ramekin or a tart shell (just have to reiterate that. It was a waste of perfectly yummy custard)

Put your ramekins in a baking dish, filling the baking dish with about 1 inch of water (if you are using a tart crust or pie shell, skip this).

Pour your custard through a mesh strainer into your designated Creme Brulee vessel.

Cover the baking dish or tart with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool, at room temp, in the water filled baking dish for 30 minutes. Transfer to a plate and allow to chill and set in the fridge for 4 hours. Right before serving, cover the top of your set custard with an even, thin layer of about of sugar (about 1/2-1 tsp). Then run your culinary torch over your sugar, slowly, until it melts and turns an amber color. Don’t touch it. I know, sounds like it should go without saying, but sometimes you get curious and you really WANT to touch it to see if its set or not, and it burns you and you yell profanities and scare your husband.

Another tip: Don’t brulee the sugar until you are ready to serve. After about an hour of just sitting there, the sugar will start to liquify again.

Chocolate Cherry Pie with CHOCOLATE PIE DOUGH!!!

01.06.2011 25 Comments

It’s pretty clear by my excessive use of capitalization what my favorite part of this pie is. I woke up in the middle of the night (I know, overly dramatic for a food blog post) with the idea of a chocolate pie dough crust. After a quick google search I wasn’t able to find a recipe for inspiration, leading my to wonder if my midnight dessert vision wasn’t even possible. By only modifying my go-to pie dough crust, It turns out that it is VERY possible, and super tasty.

CHOCOLATE PIE DOUGH!!! Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 2/3 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbs sugar

8 tbs butter (1 stick), cut into cubes

1/2 cup shortning

1/4 cup vodka

1/4 cup cold water

Pie Filling ingredients:

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 tbs cornstarch

5 cups of fresh bing cherries

3 tbs lemon juice from a real life lemon, none of that squeeze bottle crap (about 1 large lemon’s worth)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate, broken up into chunks (I used 56%)

3 tbs butter

1 tbs light corn syrup

2 tbs butter (for crust assembly)

plus 2 tbs white sugar to sprinkle on top before cooking

I did some pretty extensive research on pie dough over the past few years and I’ve learned a few things that I’ll pass on to you all. First, food processors are great at getting the job done as quickly as possible, and we all know that the more you mess with dough the tougher it becomes. So break out that food processor and add the cocoa, 2 cups of the flour, salt and sugar and give it a quick pulse until it’s combined.

Add the cubes of butter and the shortening and pulse until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. A mix of shortening and butter gives a good flavor and texture.

Then add the water and the vodka and squish it into the dough until its all combined. Vodka is another tip I picked up during my dough research. It cooks off completely (unlike water) creating a super flakey crust. Your dough will be very moist, but you can add a bit of flour if it is too moist to hold together. Then split into two evenly sized disks and wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for AT LEAST AN HOUR, super important, don’t skip this step.

You can chill it for a few days if you need to, in that case, put the wrapped circles in a zip lock bag.

Before you get to the cherries, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and vanilla in a large bowl and set aside.

Now, get out those beautiful cherries

You’ll have to pit them, so I hope you have a pitter. You can buy them for about $8 and its totally worth it.

To pit 5 cups, it should only take about 10 minutes. Unless, your daughter needs a nap and she won’t sleep and you can hear her jumping in her crib throwing bedtime bunny, sleepy time bug, and her sippy cup across the room and you have to go in and lay her down and tell her that she is a tired lady and she needs to go nigh night….in that case, it may take longer.

Add the pitted cherries to the sugar mixture bowl and stir until the cherries are well coated. Allow to rest for about 30 minutes.

Get your cold dough out of the fridge and place it on a well floured surface. I’m not gonna lie to you, this is not the easiest dough to work with. It’ll need a lot of flour on both sides, flour the top to make sure it doesn’t stick to your rolling pin. roll out into a circle large enough to fit into your pie pan with only a little over hang. If it breaks apart, just smoosh it back together with your fingers.

Transfer to your pie pan, if it breaks, again, just push the cracks back together.

in a microwave safe bowl, add your chocolate chunks, butter and corn syrup.

Microwave for 20 seconds, stir and repeat until all melty. Pour the chocolate into the crust and smooth out to make an even layer.

Then add your beautiful cherries

OK, so by this point I was a little fed up with my crust, so the double crust plan was altered a bit. If you want to roll out circle #2 and make it a double crust, be my guest. I decided to roll out #2 and cut him up with two mini cookie cutters. You can also cut strips to do a lattice top.

I then layered them on the top to create parallel lines, brushing each cutout with melted butter to help them adhere to each other

I then filed in a bit of the blank spaces with randomly placed cutouts and sprinkled the top with sugar

By this point you may be thinking, “Why didn’t she ask me to preheat the oven? Did she forget? should I just set it to my go-to 350?” Nope. This is one of those pearls of pie dough wisdom that I am passing on. Ice cold dough cooks better than room temp dough. SInce we have worked this pie dough over pretty good, it needs to rest and chill before going into the oven. SO now, turn the oven on and set it to 475 and place your pie in the fridge to chill. Wait about 20 minutes and then bake your pie at 475 for about 15 minutes. Then, turn your oven down to 375 and finish baking for about 45 minutes or until the filling is thick and bubbly. If your crust looks like it is browning too much, cover it in foil.

Mini Smores Cheesecakes

30.05.2011 19 Comments

If we asked everyone who grew up in America to write down the dessert that most reminded them of summer, I’d bet some good cash that Smores would end up on top. Since memorial day is the unofficial kick off of the summer season, I wanted to reinvent this iconic treat to welcome in the season.

Ingredients:

Batter:

20 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

3/4 cup of sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup melted chocolate (I used 56%, because that’s what I had)

2 tbs unsweetened cocoa

Crust:

9 graham crackers

1 tbs brown sugar

1/2 stick of butter, melted

Topin:

3 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350

In a stand mixer (this is what I used, if you want to use a hand mixer, it’ll be OK) combine the cream cheese, Greek yogurt and the sugar, beat until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.

Ina food processor, add the graham crackers and the brown sugar and pulse until nothin is left but crumbs

Then add the melted butter and pulse until it looks like wet sand

Add 1 tbs of the crust to each well of a muffin tin and pack well into the bottom (you can use cupcake papers to make it easier to get them out of the pan, if you’d like)

Top the crust with 1/4 cup of the batter, making the batter nearly flush with the top of the muffin pan, slightly below

top with mini marshmallows, about 1-2 tbs, making sure to keep clear of the far edge so that the marshmallows don’t adhere to the pan. Press down slightly on the marshmallows

Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the pan. If you are having a hard time getting these little suckers out of the pan, place the entire pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then run a butter knife under hot water for a few minutes and run it around the edge of the cheesecakes to loosen them up.

To give them that campfire taste, run a kitchen torch over them for a few minutes.

OK, so you don’t actually need to light them on fire, unless you are one of those charred marshmallow types.

Drunken Southern Scones: Bourbon Peach

23.05.2011 14 Comments

I came across these adorable small little white peaches at my local market. Beautiful, firm, fragrant and adorable. I walked around the store muttering to myself, “Peaches, Peaches, what goes with peaches…” Ginger? Too trite. Blueberry? Too expected. Tequila? Hmmm…too “Spring Break Hangover.” Bourbon just seemed to fit the bill. I love cooking with bourbon, the sweetness is a perfect complement to the peaches. The vessel for my bourbon soaked peaches? Scones. Drunken Southern Scones.

If you don’t have the adorable small versions, a regular size peach is fine. I leave the skin on, but feel free to take it off if that’s what you like. While cutting these little guys, the peach seeds broke in half more often than not. Out came the mellon baller, a perfect sollution

Preheat oven to 375.

Dice two cups of peaches

In a pan, over medium heat, add 4 tbs butter, 1 cup sugar and your diced peaches

Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes. You will know that the peaches will be ready once the sauce leaves a track behind when you drag your spoon through it

Then add a 1/4 cup of bourbon (I like Buffalo Trace) and stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens again, about 3 minutes

At some point while the peaches are cooking, start the dry ingredients. 3 cups of flour, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, whisk together in a bowl and form a well in the middle.

After the peaches have cooled, add them to the middle of the well you have created in the dry ingredients,

stir together until well combined with the dry ingredients. It will be flaky and crumbly. Add 1/3 cup Greek yogurt and stir until a soft dough forms.

Mound the dough onto a floured surface and form a log that is about 14 inches long by 1 1/2 inches tall

Cut into 6 to 7 equal sized slices

then cut the slices diagnoaly to form two triangles for each slice

Bake in the oven at 375 for about 12-15 minutes or until goldeny brown.

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbs lemon juice and 1/2 tsp water in bowl

Once the scones have cooled, drizzle glaze on top and allow to set.

Doughnuts With Dark Chocolate Ganche Glaze

19.05.2011 5 Comments

Mr. Fits loves the idea of homemade doughnuts. In fact, one of the first conversations I ever had with him was about how he wanted to own a bar that served high end doughnuts. And it only took us 15 years to make our first attempt at making these ourselves. I do have to pause a second to talk about the deep fryer. Mr. Fits is super excited about this deep fryer, he even did research. He’s more of an impulsive shopper when it comes to…well, just about everything so I was VERY impressed that he spent so much time reading product reviews before hitting the BUY button. I was NOT excited about the fact that he bought it about 3 months after I had Tater and was JUST about to lose that last 3 pounds of baby weight. Due to tempura batter and deep frying everything that wasn’t nailed down, those last three pounds did take me another 3 months. Totally Worth it.

Heat up your deep fryer to 350 or you can heat up oil in a big pot on your stove until it reaches that temp, adjusting the heat to maintain it.

First, proof the yeast. Yeast hates me, I always have trouble with it so I let Mr. Fits do it. Yeast likes him and always proofs for him. in a small bowl add 3 tbs of water that is between 100-110 degrees. sprinkle with 1 package of dry active yeast (.25 ounce) and let it get foamy, about 5 minutes.

Then in a large bowl combine:

your proofed yeast

3/4 cup lukewarm milk

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 eggs

3 tablespoons shortening

1 cups all-purpose flour

Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined

Add another 1 1/2 cups of flour to the dough, about 1/4 a cup at a time, until it is no longer sticky and is able to form a ball

coat the inside of a large glass bowl with oil. knead the dough a bit with your hands until soft and elastic, form into a ball and then place in your greased glass bowl.

Cover it and allow it to rise until doubled in size

Then take your dough ball and roll it out on a lightly floured surface

Mr. Fits really wanted square doughnuts. He just used a knife to cut the dough, but you can use biscuit cutters if you want them in circles. I like the squares, no waste and they turned out pretty darn cute

Cover with a light cloth or paper towels and allow your little doughnuts to rise again until doubled in size, about an hour.

Drop the doughnuts in to the hot oil and allow to cook on each side for about 2 minutes or until puffy and golden. We used chopsticks to turn the doughnuts

Don’t crowd the fryer, just a few at a time.

The glaze!! We used 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) of 60% chocolate,1 tsp instant espresso powder, 2 tbs of butter, and 3/4 cup heavy cream. Put the chocolate chunks in a bowl with the espresso powder. In another bowl, add the cream and the butter and microwave until steamy. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until combine. OK, if you have never made ganche the last step takes longer than you expect. at some point during the stirring your will look at the mess that looks like chunky hot chocolate and think “That girl lies!! This looks terrible, Did I do it wrong??” and then your will keep stirring, and stirring and then at some point you will think, “Oh…wait.. it looks great. I kinda want to lick it and give that Domestic Fits girl and big chocolaty kiss.” At that point, it’s done.

Once your cute doughnuts are out of the fryer and cooled,

dip them in the chocolate and let them set

Really cute, right?

Strawberry Basil Tart with Lime Curd

09.05.2011 2 Comments

Strawberry season comes in fierce here in California. All of the sudden, those red little beauties are everywhere and so cheap, they’re practically free. This week, at my favorite local market, I bought 3 pounds for only $2.50. So let the baking begin!

Preheat oven to 350

The crust. My favorite part of any tart. I used lemon shortbread cookies, about three cups in my food processor

Add five tbs of melted butter and 2 tbs of brown sugar. The brown sugar will give you a nice caramel flavor that you won’t get with white sugar. Pulse away until it looks like wet sand

Spray the inside of your tart pan with butter flavored cooking spray. I like to dump the contents of my food processor into the tart pan (use a tart pan with a removable bottom) and then assemble the sides before packing the bottom, it makes it easier to get even, sturdy sides

Then move on to the bottom and pack it really tight

Cook tart crust for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned, allow to cool.

Then make the curd. It’s really an unappealing term for such a lovely treat. Lime curd is:

2 tbs lime zest

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup lime juice

5 tbs unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Add the first 4 ingredients to a bowl and mix well then add to a pan over medium/low heat along with the butter

Whisk until thickened, about 8 minutes

Pour the curd into the cooled tart crust and chill until set, about 15-20 minutes.

Then I made some whipped cream. Not because this was my original plan but because I felt there was a desperate need, and because I love homemade whipped cream. Now, you can add this to the top, but I didn’t want to hide the beauty of the berries under all of that fluff, so I added it to the middle.

3/4 cup whipping cream, 1/4 cup sugar, blend in a stand mixer on high for about 4 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add this to the top of the cooled and set curd.

Cut the berries. I make two cuts down the center of the strawberry like this

Then chop them to make little triangle pieces, about 1 1/2 cups total

Then stack up about 5 basil leaves and roll them up tight like a cigar and chop them really finely to make skinny tiny ribbons

Then add the berries and the basil (about 1 tbs) to a bowl with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar

Mix away until well combined and then add it to the top of the tart and serve fairly immediately.

If you plan to make the tart ahead of time, it really doesn’t sit well. You can make the tart crust, curd and whipped cream (store curd and whipped cream in Tupperware), cut the strawberries and basil but keep them separate, and assemble it all right before serving.

Caramelized Pineapple Shortcakes with Vermouth Whipped Cream

04.05.2011 7 Comments

Why should strawberries have all the fun? Shortcakes are an amazing vessel for so many different types of fruit. Now that the fruit producing summer is almost upon us, the shortcake options are limitless. Blueberry Balsamic, Spiced Apple, Raspberry Apricot…great, now I just want to stop typing and go bake some more! There is a good chance there will be more bake good posts shortly.

Ingredients:

Shortcakes:

2 cups of flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt (pinch)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 stick unsalted chilled butter, cut into small cubes

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 egg yolks

1/4 tsp butter extract

Pineapples:

I large pineapple, rind and core removed, diced

2 tbs butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tbs vermouth

This is the Pineapple that inspired this dessert. He was delivered to me in my weekly produce delivery from Love Deliveries out of Venice Beach. He just sat on the counter begging to be used (cue Bill Withers “Use Me”)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together. Add the butter cubes and mash it through with your fingers until all the butter cubes are completely mixed.

In a small bowl, add the cream, yolks and butter extract and mix until well combined. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined, don’t over mix of your dough will be tough.

Then put the big dough lump on a floured surface

Just knead the dough three times. Three times? You ask. Yes, that’s my magic Shortcakes dough kneading number. Two isn’t enough and four may just be too many. Roll a rolling pin over Dough Lump, one or two times in each direction, or until the dough is about one inch thick. Then cut out circles with a 3 inch biscuit cutter. This will make about 9.

Place the shortcakes on a greased cookie sheet and bake until they are golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Add all the pineapple ingredients to a large skillet over medium high heat.

Stir constantly until the sugar and butter has reduced so much that it looks like the pan only contains pineapple and frothy bubbles, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat to check the consistency, you want the caramel sauce thick and to leave a large track when you drag your spatula through it.

Whipped cream: In a stand mixer, add all the whipped cream ingredients. Mix on high with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. I love the subtle flavor of vermouth. It really is an over looked liquor with a nice finish and should not just be relegated to martinis. Next time your are looking for a nice smooth drinkin’ liquor, try vermouth on the rocks with a lemon. This is the one I use for baking and stressful days:http://www.melandrose.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=91496&utm_source=Vinquire&utm_medium=WineFeed&utm_content=Dolin+Blanc+Vermouth&utm_campaign=base&v_traceback=c0405_0531_f0501_0253

Once the shortcakes are baked and cooled, cut them in half the long way. I stacked them up in this order, using 3 shortcake halves: Shortcake, pineapples with sauce, whipped cream, repeat. Then top with a final shortcake.