Category Archives: Desserts

BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by

Someone is having a Birthday today!

DOG FRIENDLY BIRTHDAY CAKE
(adapted from this blog post)

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup natural peanut butter (Do NOT use a peanut butter with Xylitol, as it is very toxic for dogs)
3/4 cup applesauce go with plain, unsweetened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
FROSTING
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup peanut butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
In a separate bowl mix together vegetable oil, peanut butter, applesauce and pumpkin puree. Once combined, mix in egg and mix well. Mix wet and dry ingredients and stir until no dried bits of flour are visible.

Pour mixture into an 7 inch square pan that has been greased with oil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly.
Allow to cool on a wire rack prior to removing from pan. After cooling, add frosting if desired.

For the frosting: Mix Greek yogurt and peanut butter until well combined. Spread over cake. If not serving immediately, store in refrigerator.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here


Comments: This is a super easy treat to bake, and we actually tried the cake (without the frosting) and it is not bad at all! We cut three circles to offer the pups, and the leftover was cut in cubes and saved for later. Tiny Milk Bones to decorate are optional, but dog-appreciated… Our Birthday girl gave it two paws high up!

Here’s to MANY more years together!

A little video of our party…

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BAKE IT BETTER WITH A FRIEND

Posted in Desserts, great american baking show by

Time flies. No other expression is more accurate. More than four long years passed since I met the contestants of the Great American Baking Show, Season 5, in the lobby of a hotel in London, not too far from Heathrow Airport. We were all exhausted, and not just for the long trip. For several weeks prior, we had been through the toughest baking marathon one could ever imagine, and even though we were aware that a few other people in the US were going through that exact same ordeal, only then we got to meet in person. Most of our group has kept in touch virtually over these years. But only now Tanya and I got to meet again in person. We spent a weekend together, the four of us, bakers and respective husbands. We baked, we talked, we laughed, and we baked some more. I screwed up a sourdough bread that turned out as one of the worst loaves I’ve made in the past couple of years… But Tanya and I were both in a certain tent, so we know too well that things can go wrong when we really hope them not to… Today I share our best adventure of the weekend, the making of a fantastic dessert from Matt Adlard’s book Bake it Better. Chocolate Souffles… To die for!

When Tanya and Jamie came to visit us, she brought her copy of Bake it Better, as I own the Kindle version and it is easier to use in the kitchen a real book, especially if you are cooking with friends. We had settled on the soufflés for our dessert after a meal of grilled salmon, quick tahdig rice and asparagus. The recipe is actually available online, and you can find it here. It makes a little more than 4 individual portions, I would say 6 or 7 using the ramekins he calls for.

We had no issues with the recipe, worked great, gave the exact lift that we expected and that Matt showed in his beautiful pictures in the book, which, by the way I highly recommend you get. Click here for the amazon link.

Main conclusion from the weekend?

BAKING IS BETTER WITH A FRIEND!


And the excitement was definitely shared by the pups, here is their recollection of the weekend….


We had THE BEST WEEKEND EVER! Imagine this, our Kingdom received the visit of two brand new Peasants, and we had a total blast teaching them how to properly play, and how to share their food and shoes. We were certain Zenless (aka our Mom) and The Dad would be proud of our way to make them feel welcome, but then here we are, getting our ears full. Apparently, Star did a big no-no by French kissing the man – repeatedly – and the fact that I got all excited and decided to hump her while she was all affectionate with our guest, only made matters worse. We were told we generated chaos and embarrassment. Squeaking the toy loudly at 5:50am on a Sunday was also a big no-no, and invading the privacy of the bathroom when the nice lady was trying to be there in peace goes into the list of capital doggie sins. Life can be very tricky at times. Can you put a good word for us and tell the New Peasants to come back? We miss them!

ONE YEAR AGO: Bison a la Mode de Bourgogne

TWO YEARS AGO: Masala Mashed Potatoes

THREE YEARS AGO: Lessons from Tanya: Sugar Cookie Silhouettes

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EIGHT YEARS AGO: Two Takes on Raspberries

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ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Chicken Parmigiana, the Thriller

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Wild Mushroom Risotto

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FOURTEEN YEARS AGO:  Pugliese Bread

OREO BALLS, FUN AND EASY

Posted in Chocolate Bonbons, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by

For those who are not into complicated baking recipes but want to impress friends, here is a great idea: Oreo balls. All you need is a food processor, Oreo cookies and cream cheese. The real step that takes them to a higher level is covering them with chocolate, and yes you can use compound chocolate without feeling guilty and inadequate. Nothing wrong with making life a little easier. Decorating them with a fondant bit is optional, you can add sprinkles, or paint with a brush of gold luster mixed with vodka. Or leave them plain. Keep them in the fridge and enjoy them either still pretty cold or after allowing to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so.

OREO BALLS
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

24 Oreo cookies, any flavor
90g cream cheese, at room temperature or slightly cold
200g compound chocolate or regular chocolate with 30g vegetable oil
fondant to decorate (optional)

Coarsely chop the Oreos and place them in a food processor. Add the cream cheese and process it all until a kind of sticky dough forms. Make little balls, each with 20g of the mixture. It they got too warm in the food processor, place in the fridge for a few minutes before forming the balls. Transfer the balls to the freezer for a full hour, that will make the coating set faster.

Melt the compound chocolate and dip each ball using a stick to help it get fully coated. Stick on a base of styrofoam until full set. Make fondant decorations if so desired, paint with gold and stick to the top once the chocolate is set. Keep in the fridge, they stay good for a week or so.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: You need some type of a stick to help coat the balls with melted chocolate and to stand them up to set. I used a little styrofoam board to keep them upright. You can of course re-use the sticks, just clean them up after removing from the little balls.

To glue the fondant I used some royal icing I had hanging around, but you can also use melted chocolate. Consider using white chocolate plain or dyed with different colors, and different kinds of Oreo cookies to make the balls. Really a super fun project that you can definitely do with kids.

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FIESTA BAKES FOR CINCO DE MAYO

Posted in Cake, Cookies, Desserts, macarons by

A small collection of goodies, all inspired by a Mexican fiesta… Cupcakes, Chocolate-Chipotle Cookies, Macarons (filled with Mexican chocolate ganache), and Chocolate-covered Oreos.

FIESTA CUPCAKES

Any vanilla cupcake recipe (or chocolate) will work. Refer to this post for the buttercream, which was divided in two unequal portions: a larger portion dyed pink, and a smaller portion dyed orange. Then, a petal tip like 102 was used to add the icing in layers, as shown below. Any combination of colors will work, this one seemed appropriate for the Cinco de Mayo theme.


CHOCOLATE-CHIPOTLE COOKIES

I am so smitten by these! Not at all complicated to put together, start with your favorite chocolate cookie recipe (mine is definitely this one), paint with Americolor white before baking to get the crackled effect. Then use Royal icing dyed with flesh tone or ivory to pipe a round for the face. Use any colors you want to make the wavy decorations. Once that sets, you can paint the face and hair, add the arms, and you are done. You can see the steps below.

They make for a real fun set, and will please those who prefer a modest amount of icing on their cookies.

Many colors will work, and I also made a batch with sugar cookies instead of chocolate, with a pink and orange skirt.


MEXICAN CHOCOLATE MACARONS

For these macs, I used my default French meringue method (recipe here), divided the batter into three portions, a large pink, a medium size yellow, and a smaller orange. Piped a circle of pink, went with yellow in the center, then orange to form three concentric circles. Baked the shells and decorated with Royal icing. The ganache was made with


4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of cayenne pepper

Once the ganache cooled, I whipped it with a handheld mixer for a minute or so. You cannot go too long or the whole thing will turn grainy. You just want to incorporate some air into the ganache.


FIESTA CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS

These are so much fun to make! I used chocolate transfer sheets cut to fit the inside of the mold, as described in this post. I love this colorful pattern, that would look good also on a white chocolate background.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

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SEVEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate Orange Mini-Cakes

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ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Triple Chocolate Brownies

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Shanghai Soup Dumplings

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Bite-sized Chocolate Pleasure

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE APPLE CARPACCIO

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets, Incredibly simple by

I love to bake but we rarely have dessert at home. Only dinner parties will find us enjoying sweets after a meal. Still, when it is your perfect match’s Birthday, it is nice to close the meal with some sweetness. We wanted something light, no heavy laminated dough, no cake, no pie. I stumbled on this recipe by accident, simplified it quite a bit and we absolutely loved it! At the end of the post, I will give you a suggestion to turn it into a verrine, in case you do not want to go through the trouble of slicing the apples so thin.

APPLE CARPACCIO
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 apple (I used honey crisp)
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted
1/2 cup full-fat yogurt
honey to taste
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
lemon juice

Cut the pistachios in small pieces, mix half with the yogurt, add honey to taste. Reserve the remaining pistachios.

Quarter the apple, core it, but do not peel it. Slice it super thin, ideally using a mandolin. Spread the slices over a plate, squirt lemon juice all over.

Place a dollop of yogurt in the center of the slices, top with pomegranate seeds and reserved pistachios. Drizzle with a little bit of honey and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This was delicious, refreshing and light. I highly recommend it if you want to serve dessert but keep it on the light side. If you don’t own a mandolin and don’t want to go through the effort of cutting the apples by hand, dice the fruit and layer on a little glass. A layer of apple, some lemon juice, yogurt-pistachio layer, more apple, and top with the yogurt mix, finishing with pistachios, pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of honey. It will be a different serving style, but equally delicious.

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