My birthday was earlier this week, and as hinted at in last week’s post, I decided to bake my own cake!
After many recipe page views and checking a handful of different food blogs, I finally settled on one! I ended up going back to a tried and true baking blog, Sally’s Baking Addiction. This website features so many options to chose from, that it took a while to narrow it all down. I eventually decided on German Chocolate Cake!
Continue reading “My Birthday and the Cake!”
Wow!
I can’t believe it! What happened to May? It appears that, to date, May was my least active month on the blog. There was a reason for that: things started to open up, activities began again, and my time became more constrained. However, some of the things I had lined up for this summer have fell through, which is too bad for me, but it’s great for the blog!
I have a personal goal for June: 6 recipes made during the month.
To be honest, doing two will be easy since my birthday is just around the corner. I will, obviously, be making my own cake. I’m also making cupcakes for a work thing next week, as well.
I am going to try to include at least one savory recipe in the mix, but, as you may have noticed, my focus on been on baking.
It actually took me quite a while to find one that appealed to me. I knew I wanted to branch out a bit and make something outside of the Barefoot Contessa and Magnolia Bakery canon (even though the latter has some amazing cake recipes). After some searching online, I decided to stick to a tried and true baking blog: Sally’s Baking Addiction.
After paging through recipe after recipe, and one mouth-watering photo after another, I finally made my decision!
What cake is it?
It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait until next week to find out!
Earlier today, I submitted all the assignments for the Ethnobotany module in the Phytotherapy Program at Heart of Herbs. I now move onto the Microbiology module.
In a few more modules, I will be beginning the Master Clinical Herbalist course portion of the program. That is when I plan to post these Herbal Updates a bit more frequently.
Herbal Blessings!
This recipe can be found in Comfort Food.
Over the weekend, some members of my family got together for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. It was nice to see some of these people after many months of not being able to do so.
With my new interest in baking, it was requested that I make dessert. Of course, I obliged. In fact, I made not only one, but two different desserts for the soiree.
The first dessert is one that caught my eye immediately upon thumbing through Ina’s latest cookbook. I’m not sure if it was the stellar food photography, the head notes, or the dessert itself. But Ina’s Boston Cream Pie was one I knew I had to make — and soon!
In the cookbook, Ina states that it took her almost 9 years to develop and perfect this recipe! And let me tell you: it is amazing! It was also well-received by the party guests. Ina is famous for creating simple recipes and enhancing classic dishes. Her Boston Cream Pie is definitely unlike anything you have tasted before. The additions of brandy and Grand Mariner allow the orange flavors to come alive and throw your taste buds a dance party!
This recipe was a multi-step process, but nothing was too overwhelming. It also allowed me to work on many different skills such as making pastry cream, chocolate ganache, and a sponge cake.
Here’s some photos of the various parts in the whole
And finally….
The finished cake! If you ask me, it looks like an over-sized Boston Cream Pie donut. But I guess that’s the point, right?
Happy baking!
Last weekend was busy for me! Which was great, in a way, since it was the first busy weekend for me in a while. But it also meant that I didn’t get a chance to bake or cook. So, there will not be a recipe update this week.
I do plan to post and herbal update later in the week though, so stayed tuned!
This recipe can be found in Barefoot Contessa At Home
Last week, dinner was a simple chicken dish. And I have to say, I think I like Ina’s recipe for Chicken Piccata better than any I’ve had at a restaurant before! The simplicity of this recipe makes it a stellar recipe for weeknights. But it’s also elegant enough to serve for a special occasion.
Chicken Piccata, in Ina’s version, is simply breaded chicken cutlets in a lemon sauce. I did make a few changes so the recipe would be healthier (and less messy) but I think the general idea still comes through.
Continue reading “Barefoot Contessa Recipe 48 Chicken Piccata”
For a few months now, I have been OBSESSED with a baking blog I stumbled across one afternoon. Sally’s Baking Addiction, is my go-to place to find wonderful recipes that are well-tested and taste just as good as they look!
So far, I’ve made a few of her recipes and they’ve always turned out great. Shortly after signing up to receive her blog’s emails, I learned that she offers a monthly baking challenge. Which I thought would be a great thing for me to do. Usually, the recipes she chooses for the monthly challenge are complex and have special skills or non-standard ingredients. Other times they are just technically involved. Such as macaroons or hand pies.
Continue reading “Weekend Baking May 8, 2021”
Over the weekend, I was in the need for some retail therapy. Naturally, I went to one of my favorite stores: Barnes & Noble. Even though I work in Library, there is nothing like going to a bookstore — for me, at least.
I decided that I would buy a book upon getting there, but the question remained: which one? There are thousands to choose from. But I figured a new cookbook couldn’t hurt and specifically, I wanted one that focused on baking. Sure a regular cookbook would most likely have some baking recipes, but I wanted some all baking.
After doing some browsing I stumbled upon The King Arthur All Purpose Baker’s Companion. This is a book that I have heard only good things about for some time. Plus, I really like King Arthur’s flour, so I knew that this book would be worth the purchase.
Upon getting home, I began to thumb through it and so far I’m very impressed. I can’t wait to start baking from it!
Once I have a few recipes baked from it, I’ll do a proper cookbook review. Be sure to check back often for that!
I did cook last week for the family as I have been doing. But, I opted not to make a recipe from Barefoot Contessa or any chef. Instead, I did my own recipe, which I do plan to publish on the site at some point. I have a cookbook haul to talk about later in the week, so stay tuned for that! I’m very excited about it.
This recipe can be found in Modern Comfort Food.
In addition to the Herb-Marinated Pork that I made last week, I was in the mood to bake. But I wanted a simple recipe that wouldn’t have me spending hours in the kitchen measuring, mixing, baking, and cleaning. After a few minutes of flipping through the Barefoot Contessa Index, I stumbled upon the Chocolate Dipped Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe from Comfort Food.
This seemed to be a somewhat straight-forward shortbread recipe. But it was the first time I made short bread before. In the head notes to this recipe, Ina said that these cookies taste just like Milanos. I mean, anything that tastes or resembles a Milano cookie has to be good, right?
While this recipe is easy and doesn’t cause an over abundance of dishes (which seems to be common with many baking recipes), this recipe does require you to get a little messy. But as Gesine Prado says, “…you have to get messy to get delicious.” After combining the dough, you need to shape pieces of the dough into logs.
I got about halfway through the shaping process when I realized that my logs probably had too much dough and would puff up a bit more than they should have during baking. It also meant I would get less cookies, but I think that was actually better for my family since it would help with controlling the amount we eat.
After baking, my prediction came true. The cookies ended up being a bit fatter than the ones in the photo. But since it wouldn’t impact the taste, I didn’t mind so much. I used a cookie scoop to ensure even sized cookies. I just used the wrong one. I should have used the smaller one, not the medium one. Oh, well. Now I know for next time!
The cookies looked and smelled so good after removing them from the oven that I had to try one even before I was able to dip them in chocolate! But as you can see in the picture above, some of the cookies lost their shape as well. Again, I think this has to do with the amount of dough used or how tightly I shaped them. Some may have been shaped a little more loosely than others, causing them to spread out more.
Once the cookies were cooled, I melted the chocolate and mixed in the melted butter. The addition of melted butter seemed odd to be at first but I did it anyway! It caused the chocolate to become a little thicker and helped it not to spread out too much.
After dipping them all in the chocolate, as directed in the recipe: only the top of the front of the cookies, I let them sit for about 45 minutes before eating one. I opted not to add the chopped nuts as called for in the original BC recipe.
These cookies actually taste better cool! At least for me. Allowing the cookie to cool gives all the flavors time to marry together and taste better. There is a LOT of sugar in these cookies, so if you eat one while still warm you won’t get the right effect since the sugar is still hot from baking.
While the cookies I made came out looking far from perfect, everyone liked them. In fact, some people recommended that they be made around the holiday season. And I think with them dipped in white chocolate and then decorated with chopped up peppermint pieces, they would look festive and taste great!
