ABC: Caramel Chocolate Pie= Epic Fail

I have these more often than not lately. I don't mind blogging about them- but lately I've had so many epic failures that I haven't even photographed them. I'm blaming the pregnancy. Seriously. I for some reason can't manage to get it together. I'm in my 2nd trimester now, so I'm not as grumpy when I get up and it's still dark out. (I know MANY people do this, I however, think it's rather unnatural) That being said- I must still be in the brain drain that comes along with it all. It's not necessarily that I'm doing a whole lot wrong- it's just a bit of- I dunno, maybe I just can't multitask like I feel I should. I mean, if I can't get the caramel for this pie going AND get the crust rolled into the pan, maybe I shouldn't be doing it at all.

I mean to get the sugar to start to pool on low took, I swear 15 minutes, so I was all - oh I'll roll out my crust and get it in the pan- as I'm crimping the sides of my store bought crust (pretend you didn't just read the 'store bought' part) I smell something- bam! Sugar is already shot to crap. I added the butter and the heavy cream and pulled out the large turd lump of sugar. My husband put the little bit of remaining caramel on his ice cream that night. (I mean we didn't have a pie, so we needed SOMETHING). I went ahead and baked the crust- only to for some odd reason burn it. (because at this time I was just going to use store bought caramel for the pie). When the crust came out over done- I shed a little tear of frustration. Then ate my ice cream.

Today I have banana bread in the oven. I PLAN to make rolls for dinner as well. We'll see.

To my fellow ABC bakers, I can't wait to see the awesomeness your produced! I'll have to try this again in 6 months!

Bakery (or better!) Chocolate Chip Cookies

I did it. I got some oomph and baked for the blog (ok mostly for me and my belly dweller). This is a chocolate chip cookie.
What? You say. Why? You've been there, done that and you liked your results.
And I did and still do. However, sometimes you've just got to branch out, stray a little to see if it's possible to have a new favorite. I think I might. These kinda rocked my world! My husband says he likes my usual chocolate chip cookie vs these, but he eats anything, I'm not sure his opinion counts here. I LOVED the thick, chewy texture that these have. I'm not one to enjoy a warm cookie - I know - but I prefer them room temp dipped in cold milk. These have the taste, texture, and size of the fancy bakery cookies (I'm not talking your local grocery store, but the ones where you look @ the price for a cookie and wonder if the chocolate chips are filled with gold?).

I'm kinda drooling as I type this. These cookies were gone long ago. And I miss them.

Bakery (or better) Chocolate Chip Cookies printable
Found this @ : Sugar and Spice
(Via: Baking Illustrated, page 434)
Makes 16-18 large cookies.

These oversized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra egg yolk to keep their texture soft. These cookies are best served warm from the oven but will retain their texture even when cooled. To ensure the proper texture, cool the cookies on the baking sheet. Oversized baking sheets allow you to get all the dough into the oven at one time. If you’re using smaller baking sheets, put fewer cookies on each sheet and bake them in batches.

Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.
4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.
5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

*Use your kitchen scale and weigh. I really think this makes a big difference here!

I've not fallen off the face of the Earth- it just feels like it.

So, it's so sad. I stink. I haven't been posting. I'm sure someone out there has noticed that. I have a valid excuse though. Seriously it's good.

I'm pregnant. You see, we're thrilled with this unexpected surprise. However, pregnancy isn't always good on me. I constantly throw up- and it's not a little bit- it's the heaving until my eyes are red and my back hurts. This happens majority of the time I'm pregnant. I don't get off easy with the first few weeks- or even the first trimester. I figure I'll just get to remind my children of this when they get older and whine about something.

Anywho- with two boys, and the throwing up, and the extra whining I'm doing. I've been pretty tired. I'm even ashamed to admit how much we've eaten out, or had hot dogs for dinner the past few weeks. My husband can make a mean box of hamburger helper. I will say I did manage to bake up a batch of carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting- however I sent them to work with my husband without photoing them. I plum forgot.

I shall start posting again soon- I'm almost done with my first trimester (weekish left) and I *should start getting some oomph back soon.

Hope everyone had a fantastic New Year!

ABC- Maple Pecan Medjool Date Rugelach

This was my first month baking with Avid Bakers Challenge- it was a nice change! Rugelach is something I'm pretty sure I'd pass up on. Something that wasn't in my a eye's frame, you know- chocolate, caramel, cream cheese. I'm glad that I went ahead and ran with these! I didn't use whole dates and wrap them, I chose to chop up my dates, and blend with the sugar nut mixture. I was out of real maple syrup and only had sugar free in the house (something that I know wouldn't do justice) so I subbed in dark corn syrup. I like what this did- gave it a 'warm' flavor. The dough was a light buttery cream cheese flavor with a flakyness that rocked. All in all, a win here. Be sure to check out (and join) The Avid Bakers Challenge for other posts on this fantastic little treat!

Winner Announced! $35 CSN Gift Card Giveaway!

So, just in time for the holidays!

Congrats to:
Cheryl!



I'll be sending along your info to CSN reps for your win!

Happy Holidays! I'm feeling another giveaway soon!

'Toy Story' Birthday Cake

My oldest (gasp!) son's birthday was November 29th. My little big man has turned four. Going on forty. As usual, I decided to make his birthday cake.

I really try to do that with both the boys, my youngest Nick-kinda got shafted this year. We were in the middle of a move, and I just didn't make him a a cake. He didn't party either (well, we had a little one at my Aunts house with my husband on the webcam) I seem to feel like my little man gets the shaft. I'm going to make a BIG effort to give him at least a rocking cake next year! At 3, I don't know how many other friends he'll have since I'm a SAHM and he won't be starting a sport until after his birthday. (Soccer!- It's adorable when the really little ones play!)

On to the cake. Jackson and Nicholas are HUGE Toy Story fans. I don't know a kid that hasn't been captivated by those movies. I gotta admit they are adorable. I like them too, just like I really like the Shrek movies (by the way, you can pre-order on amazon for $40 for the set of blu-rays!-Christmas present here!) There I go off the topic again.

I made a white wedding cake- moist, slightly dense, solid flavor. With an Oreo creme filling. The filling rocked my world. I was eating it alone. With a spoon. In the basement. It was so good. The top was a butter yellow cake with a chocolate whipped ganache. 8" and 6" respectively. In my dense mind I forgot that I needed 4" cakes (in height- exactly) for my usual stacking system (it's what happens when you haven't made a cake in almost 6 months). So I had beautiful tall layers- which I love, but that required me to go back to the straw stacking system. Since we didn't have to travel. That worked. Both are covered in a buttercream flavored fondant. (fondx) I have made my own fondant- and I like it, but I had this bucket from a while ago and I needed to use it. And I didn't want the extra mess.

The rest of the decor is fondant. With the exception of the silver stars. Those are gumpaste. I free handed the clouds on paper and traced onto the fondant (if you can't tell- they're not quite right) same with the cow "spots". The red pearl border is a first impressions mold that I've recently decided I love. And the rope border was made with a clay extruder (found at local craft stores in the clay section- only used with food though).

Needless to say. He loved the cake. Even without it saying "Toy Story" on it- he knew right away what it was! I had contemplated adding a Buzz and Woody on the top (plastic figurines) but I decided against at the last minute, going for the set-up you see.

If there's any questions you might have, I'd LOVE to try and answer them! But I gotta say Cake Central is a huge part of getting me started in cakes!


Oh- and it's snowing here. Christmas is coming!!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins- and -my FIRST GIVEAWAY!

These are so fantastically awesome, I'm considering buying a case of pumpkin to keep around all year, just for these muffins. I found these on Annie's Eats. She has some really awesome recipes on there, and I often check her site to see what other rockin things she's posted! Fall is here, Thanksgiving is Thursday, it's high time that I broke out the pumpkin. These are so delicious! The ONLY thing I change next time would be to add some finely chopped toasted pecans to the sugar mixture on top. But I just love pecans. A minor plan a head is the cream cheese mixture- I made that the night before and put it in my freezer, got up the next morning and made the muffin batter. Worked wonderfully!



That being said- Muffins are Awesome, Giveaways rock!



CSN has offered me a $35 gift card to one of my most awesome readers!! I LOVE CSN, you can get just about anything there! CSN is comprised of over 200 online stores, where you can find everything from a counter stool for your kitchen to a baby crib or a new pair of shoes! Seriously! The first time I visited I was SHOCKED at the amount of items they carry! Talk about one stop shopping!

* CSN ships to US and Canada only.


To Enter this Giveaway You'll Need to Do This: (leave a comment for each of entry)
1. Follow Me! (via Google on right)
2. Leave a comment on this post.
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Giveaway ends December 1st @ midnight EST. A winner will be randomly selected and I'll contact you via email.



Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins Printable
VIA: Annie’s Eats

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log. Place into the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours, over overnight. It’ll be fine.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use. *Next time I’d add finely chopped toasted pecans to this mixture for some extra oomph.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)

Store in an airtight container. Makes 2dzn.