Well howdy folks! Just a quick post today. Trying to sneak one in for Mother’s Day. Pretty flowers for mom!

This is yes another variation of the butterscotch slice and bake cookies I posted two weeks ago. Have I mentioned my undying love for the slice and bake cookie? Oh man, I’d write sonnets to it if I were a poet.

Once again I used Bake at 350′s recipe for the royal icing. I think it turns out beautifully every time (I omit the corn syrup). I’m getting better at the whole piped frosting thing too, can yah tell? Bonus: it keeps the cookies just soft enough but with a little snap. And I can attest that you can leave these uncovered on the counter for oh….. two weeks and they’re still perfectly fine. Believe.

For these cookies I just piped a border using the smallest tip, in this case a 1, with stiff piping icing. Then I thinned the icing down to flooding consistency (when you drop a ribbon back into the icing it should disappear in 2-5 seconds). After letting the piped border dry for about 20 minutes I flooded the cookies and let them set overnight or at least 4 hours. Once they were dry enough I used a small drop flower tip to pipe the flowers from the same consistency frosting as the piped borders, just tinted a different color, and added a small silver edible dragee to the center. The thing that takes the longest is letting the cookies set up overnight so they’re stackable.

Anywhoodle, check back next week because I have an epic story for you. Oh man. It’s a good one.

*Just a Note: These have a super subtle lemon flavor to them just from lemon extract. You could of course mix some lemon zest with the sugars but you’ll have to increase the flour in the recipe to compensate for the extra oils. If you don’t want to decorate with royal icing you can dust the cooled cookies with powdered sugar, or drizzle with a glaze made from powdered sugar and milk with any flavoring you desired. Alternately you could roll the logs in sanding sugar before slicing and baking. The possibilities are endless.

Lemon Slice and Bake Cookies

Recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated

11 1/4 oz (2 1/4 cups) flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened but still cool

5 1/4 oz (3/4 cup) sugar

2 oz (1/2 cup) powdered sugar

2 egg yolks

1 -2 tsp lemon extract (or grated zest of half a lemon)

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. If using zest cream this with the butter and sugars. Meanwhile whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.

Once the butter has been creamed, add the yolks one at a time until fully incorporated. Then add the extract (if using). With the mixer running on low add the flour slowly and continue beating just until combined. Scrape down the bowl and mix for another 30 seconds. Taste dough to see if the lemon flavor is strong enough for you, adjust accordingly.

Dump the dough on a clean work surface and pat and gently roll into a uniform log. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. Alternately you can wrap and then bag the log and freeze until needed.

When dough has chilled slice into 1/4in thick rounds and place about 1/2 inch apart on a baking sheet. Bake at 350º for 10 – 12 minutes for dough from the fridge, or 15-18 minutes for dough from the freezer, or until the edges are slightly browned. Allow to firm up on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Once cooled completely, decorate as desired.

OH hai Guys! How’s everyone doing? Guess who’s back on the cupcake baking wagon for profit? This gal, right here. I texted my friend who hawks the wallpaper (and now also upholstery!) to see if she wanted any cupcake orders before it became the melty season in NYC and she took me up on the offer. Lord knows why. Her latest batch of coverings have all these uppity sounding British names, like Houndstooth or something (jokes, I kid!), and we decided that cakes of a tea variety were called for.

I instantly thought of lemon tea and/or tea with lemon, or just lemons, or I was feeling in a springy mood so I decided lemons were in order, whatever. Lemons were involved, just accept it. Lemon flavored baked goods make me happy, and really you can’t argue with that. Plus, I decided that I was going to make whatever I damn well please and she was just going to take them. So, harumph!

Anywhozit. Lemon cakes, get on it. I used my trusty white cake recipe from Baking Illustrated and just tweaked it a skoatch for lemon flavored goods. I also upped the flour content just slightly because I was worried about the wrappers peeling off (a malady I have been blessed to encounter on more occasions than I care to recall at the moment.)

And because it’s me, there wouldn’t be a baking deadline without some kind of minor catastrophe and it just so happens that I had to bake two batches of these little lemon bites of goodness. The BF so kindly bought me a monster sleeve of mini cupcake liners for the sole purpose of baking mini cakes for profit when it quickly became apparent that these liners only fit into 1 of my 2 cupcake pans. {major sigh}

But being the crafty little gal that I am I figured as long as I was reeeaaalllly careful and filled and lined up the liners perfectly in the tin we’d have no problems. Except that I didn’t account for the whole putting the tin in the oven bit and that’s where things went horribly awry. Nearly every single liner tiled just enough in the pan that all my cakes baked sideways. Womp.

And that, dear Chitlins, is why I have two tea cups full of unwrapped lemon cakes (that and I ran out of lemon frosting so I just thought it’d be fun to get all “artsy” with my cupcake photography (lack of) skills).

Moving right along. This is a rather unconventional recipe in terms of the steps taken to put the batter together but I can guarantee you that you will always get the same results with this recipe. It’s brilliant. Personally I weigh my ingredients because it makes dividing the recipe into halves or thirds much easier, but the few times I have done this by volume I’ve had nearly as consistent results. Both measurements are listed for your use.

*Just a Note: It’s important to make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before starting. This ensures that they are incorporated easily but also that they bake evenly, thereby producing a more consistent crumb, and tender cake. Trust. It’s science. Plus, you never argue with America’s Test Kitchen.

Lemon “tea cakes”

Recipe adapted slightly from Baking Illustrated, makes roughly 3 dozen mini cupcakes

4 3/4 oz (1 1/4 cups) cake flour

6 1/8 oz (3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp) sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter, softened

zest of half a lemon

1/2 cup whole milk

3 large egg whites

1 tsp lemon extract (or more to taste)

Heat oven to 350ºF and line a mini cupcake tin with liners. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, zest, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter in tablespoon sized chunks and beat on medium until the mixture resembles coarse sand and now powdery streaks remain.

Meanwhile, in a two cup measuring cup combine the milk, extract, and egg whites and beat with a fork to combine.

With the mixer running on low, add just over half the milk mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and beat for 1 1/2 minutes, or until thick and ribbony and smooth. Turn mixer to low and add the remaining milk mixture, beating until combined and uniform. Do not overmix or the batter will start to separate a little. It will bake up alright, but it looks fairly unappetizing. You can test the batter at this point and decide if you want to add more lemon extract.

Fill cupcake liners until 2/3 to 3/4 full. BAke for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back to the touch. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Buttercream

1/3 cup water

1/2 sugar

1/3 cup meringue powder

1 lb confectioner’s sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

zest of 1/2 lemon

lemon extract

milk

Bring 1/3 cup water to a boil. Add sugar and stir to dissolve completely. Let mixture cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk, beat the sugar syrup with the meringue powder until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 8 minutes. Switch to a paddle attachment. Add 1 stick of butter in tablespoon sized chunks and mix on medium until well combined. Add half the powdered sugar, gradually on low. Scrape sides of bowl as necessary. Add the zest and lemon extract then gradually add the remaining stick of butter by the cube until completely mixed. Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar until the desire consistency is reached. If it becomes too thick, thin with milk. Add more extract to achieve desired lemon flavor.

Pipe frosting on completely cooled cupcakes with a large round tip, or with an offset spatula. Top with sprinkles quickly, this is a crusting frosting and there is a small window for getting sprinkles to stick.

I’ve found that cupcakes I leave on the counter uncovered are fine for a few days. Those that are stacked in an airtight container get softer and the frosting doesn’t stiffen/crust the same way. Still tasty, just a different texture. I suppose it’s personal preference.

Hey there kiddos! Remember those adorable little tuxedo cookies I made for my cupcake party last weekend? I made another batch, but ditched the hazelnut frosting for a lightly cinnamon flavored one and may have hit the jackpot with this recipe. Wanna know how I know? Because The BF kept asking me if he could eat another one before I had a chance to photograph them.

Folks: This never happens. Like, ever. Ever, ever.

The hazelnut frosting was good, but it competed with the flavor of the butterscotch which is just ever so subtle. The cinnamon frosting though? Out of this world. I’m amazed I had as many left to photograph as I did.

Now let’s talk for a minute about decorating sugar cookies. As you can clearly see this is not my forte. I am not Bridget from Bake at 350. I’m not Georganne from Lila Lola with mad skillz. Mine are lumpy, misshapen and even a little dull looking. Womp. But what they lack in presentation skills they more than make up for in flavor.

Hands down this is one of my favoritest new cookie recipes. This is how good it is: when I made the dough to chill, I tested aaaaaaabout 4 cookies worth of raw dough. And then I “trimmed” it after it had chilled so I could have an even log, because if my piping skills are that bad you can only imagine how terrible I am at rolling a uniform log. But thats okay, just means there’s more for nomming on.

Oh the noms. So nommable.

Any whozit. Make these. They’re stupid easy. You can make a big batch and chill it (or freeze it) and just slice off how many you want to eat. You don’t even need to pipe fancy frosting on. Just whip up a batch of powdered sugar with milk, a bit of vanilla and whatever else floats your boat, drizzle it on and call it a day. wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.

*Just a Note: I followed this recipe by weight only and have not tried the volume measurements. It’s easy to make only a half batch of this when you’re measuring by weight. I’ve listed both measurements below.

Butterscotch slice ‘n’ bake cookies with cinnamon royal icing

Recipe direct from Baking Illustrated (maybe I added a smidge more vanilla)

11 1/4 oz (2 1/4 cups) flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool (this makes it easier to roll later)

5 1/4 oz (3/4 cup packed) brown sugar (I used light)

2 oz (1/2 cup) powdered sugar

2 large egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla (or a smidge more)

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy – about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour and salt in a separate bowl. When the sugars are creamed add the egg yolks one at time, beating well between each addition. Then add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. With the mixer on low slowly add the flour just until incorporated and no streaks remain, less than a minute.

The dough should be soft but shouldn’t stick to your hands. If it does then chill it slightly before rolling. Dump the dough onto a work surface and get your hands damp, this prevents the dough from sticking too much. Roll into an even log. 1 log about 2-inches in diameter if you want bigger cookies or two logs about 1 inch in diameter if you want smaller ones. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1-2 hours, preferably overnight.

When ready to bake line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Heat oven to 350ºF. Slice the log into 1/4 inch thick disks. These don’t spread much so you can fit about 15 to smaller pan and about 20 to a larger pan. Rewrap and chill the dough you aren’t using yet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or just until the edges are golden. Let harden up slightly on the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

If you want your cookies to have a perfect shape use a round cookie cutter approximately the same size (a little smaller is best) than the log you rolled. When you remove the cookies from the oven to cool immediately cut with the cookie cutter for perfect edges. These cookies are a little crumbly though, so you may find crumbs sticking to the edges. Don’t forget to eat the scraps because those have no calories!

Cinnamon Royal Icing

I use Bridget’s recipe directly but added 1/2 tsp of clear vanilla extract and just a dash of cinnamon extract (also clear). Taste test until you have the flavor you want. Bridget’s Royal Icing 102 post pretty much sums up everything, and I’m clearly no expert on how to pipe and frost cookies so I suggest you just head over there for some tips. Or check out these bloggers who clearly have it figured out.

Sweetopia

LilaLola

Alright chitlins, I didn’t totally lie but I wasn’t totally honest either. I’ve got a post for you today, but it doesn’t have recipes. Because I’m a lazy bum. Sue me.

This past weekend I hosted my 5th annual cupcake extravaganza and for the record I believe this was my most successful year in terms of food. I had a nice array of both sweet and savory, everything turned out beautifully and tasted delicious and I have very few leftovers. Not to mention I wasn’t a complete ball of stress the day of the party because I only had to bake 3 different cupcakes which took me no more than 4 hours. Given past years, this was a major improvement.

This year’s theme, if you can’t tell from the few photos, was black and white. In past years  I focused my theme more on the ingredients, but this year I liked the challenge of a color related theme. All the food and decorations were black and white themed (with the exception of the merlot buttercream, but c’mon!) I tried to keep it fairly classy and for the most party followed recipes exactly that I had found, with only a few minor tweaks.

The Menu:

Riesling cupcakes with a poured honey fondant and chocolate spades

Chocolate chip Merlot cupcakes with Merlot buttercream

Chocolate, Camembert, and Merlot cupcakes with a chocolate ganache

Almond soft sugar cookies with vanilla buttercream

Butterscotch icebox cookies with hazelnut icing

bread with pickled eggplant

Monte Enebro goat cheese

Moon (something?) goat cheese

Chevre with garlic and herbs

It was a brilliant success and I promise to have the recipe for the butterscotch icebox cookies for you next week since I’m baking up another batch this weekend (and have been steadily munching on the dough in my fridge for the last two days, no judgment).

Oh Hai Guys! Did everyone get that surprising burst of Spring that we’re having in the city currently? Oh mah gosh it’s better than Christmas morning I tell yah. Everyone who had two legs and could walk was in the park after work, running, biking, generally being in the way of runners or bikers. It’s amazing.

So perhaps you remember a few weeks ago when I impulse bought a bag of key limes. Can we pause for a second wherein I tell you I only used 5 of those itty-bitty little citrus packets of joy, and then found the remainder mouldering in my fruit basket when I returned from San Diego. Woopsie.

Moving along. If you happen to still have key limes (I haven’t the foggiest what their season is), and even if you don’t but enjoy citrus, make these melt aways. Ok sure, the “glaze” looks a bit questionable but I promise you it’s all delicious. It’s that decidedly awesome pop of citrus that melts in your mouth. The perfect way to jump start spring and shake off those winter blues.

These are a slice and bake cookie. Which means, you make the dough, roll it into a log, which is lumpy and imperfect and frustrating. Stuff it into your fridge, forget about it, rediscover it two days later for an unexpected and delightful surprise of fresh cookies in 10 minutes. I may or may not be speaking from experience. Just embrace it.

(Key) Lime Meltaways

Recipe adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1/3 cup powdered sugar

scant 1 tablespoon lime zest

1 1/2 tablespoon lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add the zests, juice, and vanilla and beat until incorporated and fluffy again.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch and salt. With the mixer on low gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined and no streaks remain.

Divide the dough in half and roll each into a chubby log about 2 inches in diameter or smaller, whatever kind of log you can get it into really. Wrap in wax paper and then in a second layer of plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour and up to 2 days (could go longer, but I haven’t tested it).

When ready to bake, heat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment or silpat. Slice the log into 1/4 inch thick disks reshape slightly if you think they look funny. Place about 1/2 inch apart, these don’t spread much.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or just until the edges are golden. Let sit on pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Glaze:

1 tbsp lime juice

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

milk

In a small bowl mix together the lime juice and powdered sugar until a paste forms. Add the vanilla and stir. Work by the teaspoonful add the milk until the glaze thin enough to drizzle over the cookies. Garnish with some fresh zest. Let glaze harden for 3 hours before stacking.

Hey Chitlins! Y’all like the new makeover? I know it’s not drastic, just a few tweaks here and there (hello can we say, “Loving the rounded picture corners?!” I certainly can). I went on a cookie baking spree this weekend, some to photograph for the new header (which may still get some tweaks) a few because I impulse bought a bag of key limes (OMG they’re so tiny and squee!) and then these cookies.

Moody cookies anyone?

About two weeks ago I found out that my mentor at work had taken a position in Chicago. Still with our company, but just not in our awesome little city anymore. It was sad and exciting all at the same time. She left on Saturday. It felt like the blink of an eye but I just know she is going to have a blast out there and it gives me just one more reason to hop a cheap flight to Chi-Town and visit this summer!

Because Nancy had made my first week at the new job so stress-free and welcoming I thought I would try to do the same for her from afar. Enter these cookies. Here’s the breakdown: dark chocolate chips, “sweet” sea salt, BOURBON. If you’re doing the math this means that you have just amped up your classic (and basic) chocolate chip cookies by a factor of at least 20 (I say 5 for the salt, 5 for the dark chocolate, and 10 for the BOURBON).

Wanna know what else makes these cookies awesome? As long as you keep them in a sealed container they stay chewy for days. Now I still haven’t mastered the giant thick chocolate chip cookies that you can get a bakeries like Levain here in New York. But I’m pretty confident I will figure it out soon enough.

Plus, it turns out that I may have found The BF’s weakness – because he definitely ate four of these in one day. And then lied about how many he ate; and then when I confronted him he said, “Well you had a bit of each of them so it’s more like WE had four cookies.” False. I kept track of my cookie eating, and I had exactly 3 and none of them were the chocolate chip ones.

Can you see that big hunka salt back there. Delish!

*Just a Note: These cookies have a chill time of several hours or overnight to help the bourbon infuse the dough instead of just burning off right away in the oven.

Salte Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies with BOURBON

Yes, BOURBON deserves all caps.

I just tweaked the classic Nestle recipe on the back of the bag. Pretty simple.

1 cup (2 stick) butter softened

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp BOURBON

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

Sea Salt for sprinkling (I had some fancy Italian “sweet” sea salt that I was gifted for Christmas this year)

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar until throughly incorporated but not fluffy, about 1 -2 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.

Once the butter mixtures has been creamed, add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly between each addition. Add the BOURBON and vanilla and beat until incorporated. With the mixer on low add the flour just until no streaks remain. If you overmix the cookies can become a little tough. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Using a mini cupcake scoop or a large spoon, drop heaping tablespoon (or larger) dollops of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart. Generously sprinkle sea salt on top. Don’t skimp, as the cookies spread so you’ll want to make sure every bite get some salt.

Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the middles are set and the edges have browned. Cool on a wire rack. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature.

Guys, can we talk for a second about the Ides of March? Like, seriously. Cuz as I’m writing this, it’s tomorrow and I’ll be honest with yah, I’m a little nervous.

First, let’s pause. Do we all know what the Ides of March are? Let’s break it down.

Around 44B.C. there was this dude Julius Caesar, you may have heard of him. Funny side note, he has the same birthday as me. Or I as him, whatever. Anyway, Caesar was a big wig but I guess the peeps were jealous cuz the senators stabbed him like, a billion times in the senate on the Ides of March. His friend Brutus did also, really brings meaning to the term backstabber, eh?

Fast forward several hundred years to roughly the early 1600s and there’s this guy named Shakespeare, you might have heard of him also. He wrote this play about Caesar and called it…..Julius Caesar. Let’s not get down on him for the name of the play, we all know he was a pretty fancy writer. I like to think he had to be super specific about the title of plays for the layman. Not like contemporary artists with their fancy names like “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.” Yeah, that’s heavy.

Also can we just agree to call that one “Dead Decomposing Shark” cuz that’s what it is.

Anyway, back to Shakespeare. He mostly truthfully tells the story of Caesar, as far as we know, and added this charming little tidbit, “Beware the Ides of March.” Well jokes on you ‘speares. I am being aware of the Ides. I’ve had a mildly disturbing and unfortunate week, just a sucessive string of WTF moments.

So here’s my thought process – I have the same birthday as Mr. Caesar, and I’ve had some pretty strange bad luck this week, much like Caesar before he died, clearly I also need to beware the Ides, no? I think yes. You can think whatever you want I guess.

This really has nothing to do with St. Paddy’s cookies. But they make me happy and distract me from the Ides. If you’re like me and aren’t the biggest fan of all the drunkies on St. Paddy’s, make yourself a batch of these REALLY EASY cookies and you’ll tune them out no problem. If not, I added booze so that should help.

*Just a Note: Most of the recipes I found for this are called Lofthouse cookies and I would agree, they are very similar…but better.

Super Soft Sugar Cookies with Frosting

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats, I ended up getting 4 dozen out this not just 2.

Cookies:

4 1/2 cups flour

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 extra large or 3 large eggs

5 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, another 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time and beat until fully incorporated between each. Add the extracts and beat to incorporate. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.

With the mixer on low, add the flour in three parts mixing just until no streaks remain between each addition. Don’t overwork the dough or your cookies can get tough on you. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Dough will be really soft at first and will spread instead of puff if you bake it now.

Heat oven to 350 F. Line baking pans with parchment or a silpat.

Using a cookie scoop, or a spoon roll just smaller than golfball sized cookies. Make sure you roll them really smooth. Then flatten slightly with the bottom of a floured cup. Any cracks and crags you see in the edges now you will also see in your baked cookie, so fix those now if they bother you.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until puffed and set, the edges won’t change color. Do not over bake! They won’t be soft and pillowy. Let them cool for several minutes on the pan until they’re firm and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

2 sticks butter, softened

Approx. 5-6 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tbsp Bailey’s Irish Cream

1-2 tbsp milk, or more if necessary

green food coloring (optional)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Working by the 1/2 cupful slowly add the confectioner’s sugar and cream until fluffy. When half the sugar has been incorporated add the Bailey’s. Continue to add confectioner’s sugar until you get the taste you’re looking for (with all the butter it may take several cups of sugar to even out the flavor). If it’s too thick to work with or spread add milk until a spreading consistency is reached. This is a thick fluffy icing. Add food coloring if using.

When cookies have cooled completely spreads heaps and gobs of the frosting on the cookies using an offset spatula. The cookies are pretty soft so be careful your frosting ins’t too thick to spread and break the cookies. You may need to add more milk to lighten it up.

Consume immediately. Or save, but I doubt you’ll be able to.

Oh hai guys! Wow, can we just say that February was a terrible month for me? I got the flu, which knocked me down for two weeks; then I took this huge state exam for my job right after, which meant tons of studying (I passed, woo!), and as soon as I passed I got a wicked cold. And well, that’s my February in a nutshell. Womp.

But you know what’s awesome? As soon as I was feeling better from the flu and right before my exam I decided I needed some me time, so I made profiteroles.

It’s a tradition in our house to always make your own cake for your birthday. I don’t remember how old I was, probably just out of college, when I decided that I was going to make profiteroles one year. I’m pretty sure I had seen them in a Bon Appetit or something and thought they were super fancy.

Guys, here’s the thing about profiteroles: they’re stupid easy and they come together so quick, AND they look really fancy so you impress everyone. I was a little bummed when I seized all my white chocolate that I wanted to use on top and had to resort to these yellow candy melts. But c’est la vie!

While I enjoyed these immensely, and so did everyone at work, I think next time I’d rather make a Biscoff pastry cream. The point of profiteroles is to have them bursting at the edges with a creamy luscious filling and unfortunately, while the cream cheese filling was divine, it was a bit thick. Basically it meant my profiteroles were a little flat. Live and learn eh?

And speaking of learning – do you guys follow Willow Bird Baking? You should, her food is divine and her photos are envy-inducing. Just this past week she mentioned a friend of hers who has created a digital magazine all about food photography. It’s called Photographing Food. Each edition is only $5 and it’s packed full of helpful information. My goal for March is to improve my photography skills, especially since my dad so kindly gave me his wonderful camera. Hopefully you guys will notice the difference! (These pictures are before I bought the magazine but I think they turned out alright).

Profiteroles with Biscoff Cream Cheese Filling

Pâte à Choux ingredient list from King Arthur Flour Cookbook; cooking method adapted lightly from Baking Illustrated

1 cup milk (I used whole)

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup flour

4 large eggs

Heat oven to 425º

In a large sauce pan over medium heat combine the milk, salt, sugar and butter. Bring the mixture to a soft boil, stirring occasionally to prevent scalding and to help melt the butter. Once the mixture is boiling remove from heat and dump the flour in all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until a paste is formed. Place back on low heat and cook stirring continually until you have a smooth mass that pulls away easily from the sides and is smoking slightly, about a minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Set up a stand mixture fitted with a paddle attachment (you can also do this by hand, just let your paste mixture cool for longer and use a lot of elbow grease and a wooden spoon). Place the cooled paste mixture in the bowl of the stand mixer and beat until warm to the touch. Add the eggs 1 at a time beating thoroughly between each addition until you have a silky smooth, shiny paste. If your mixture is too hot you’ll cook the eggs before they’re in the oven and your profiteroles won’t rise, so make sure it’s warm but not hot.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. You can either drop large spoonfuls of the mixture leaving 1/2 inches between each, on the pan, or pipe blobs on the baking sheet. You can also brush the tops with an egg wash before baking.

Bake for 10 minutes. Without opening the door drop the oven temperature to 375º and bake for another 20 minutes, or until golden. Carefully pierce the side of each profiterole with a paring knife. Turn the oven off and let the puffs dry out slightly in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Let cool on a wire wrack.

Biscoff Cream Cheese filling

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 – 3/4 cup Biscoff/speculoos/cookie butter spread

1 lb confectioner’s sugar

2 tsp vanilla

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add the Biscoff to taste. Add the confectioner’s sugar 1 cup at a time and beat until desired consistency. Add the vanilla.

Assembly

Carefully slice each profiterole in half with a bread knife. Spoon the filling into the middle and sandwich back together. Drizzle the tops with white chocolate (or candy coating) and sprinkles. Serve stacked in a pyramid to look like a fancy pants.

So this cake was actually the result of several failures on my part. First I wanted to make a simple peanut butter banana bread. But then as I was halfway through putting all the ingredients together I realized that I had accidentally followed the instructions for the banana CAKE and not the banana BREAD. Whoops.

Still turned out lovely.

Then I wanted to make seven minute frosting, a.k.a. fluff, for the filling but the amount of water and meringue for 1 batch didn’t reach my whisk attachment in my monster KitchenAid so I doubled it. Which caused me to make roughly 3 gallons of fluff. I filled every available jar in the kitchen and then some with the leftovers.

Thankfully, for once, extra fluff is something The BF can get behind so we are a fluffernutter kick here in this house.

Anyway, fluffernutters. It’s where it’s at. And this towering behemoth of a cake is the bomb diggity. The perfect example of a perfect pairing. I should warn you though. It’s a monstrosity. You’ll want to cut the cake in half down the middle first before serving. The BF and I couldn’t finish 1 slice. Not because it’s too decadent, it’s just too dang much cake.

Boo was very interested in what was going on.

*Just a Note: I didn’t feel like playing around with regular peanut butter to see how it would affect the consistency of the cake, so I used this nifty powdered peanut butter The BF’s mom got me. I add it by the 1/4 cupful until I had the flavor I wanted and then adjusted the milk as necessary to ensure it was the right consistency. I believe powdered peanut butter can be found in most grocery stores. It’s the “healthier” alternative to regular peanut butter.

Banana Fluffer Nutter Cake

For the cake I adapted Dorie Greenspan’s “Lots of Ways Banana Cake” from Baking: From My Home To Yours

2 2/3 cups flour

3/4 cup powdered peanutbutter

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp dark rum

4 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup peanut butter chips

Heat oven to 350ºF Grease and flour two 9inch cake pans or two 9×5 loaf pans. Set aside

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Then add the vanilla.  Meanwhile, whisk the remaining dry ingredients together.

In  a small bowl whisk together the mashed banas and rum. With the mixer running on low add the bannas to the butter mixture. It will look curdled, but that’s fine. With the mixer still running on low add the dry ingredients in three batches alternating with the milk. Mix well between each addition. Fold in the peanut butter chips.

Spread the batter evenly between the two cake pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and the top springs back to the touch. Cool slightly in pans before removing to cool completely on wire racks.

Homemade Fluff

I used Plays with Food’s recipe to the T, except I double it. Don’t do that. Even with the pro-series 5qt mixer I did not have enough room for a double batch. Just know that ahead of time. It does keep well though as long as it’s in an airtight container.

Assembly

Slice the layers in half length wise. Alternate a cake layer with a mound of fluff. No need to make it look pretty. Adorn with sprinkles on top. Serve with a monster glass of milk to wash it all down. Enjoy!

Chitlins, remember how I said I was drowning in frozen bananas. I really wasn’t kidding. This is the second of four potential banana recipes in the next coming weeks. I’d apologize but this recipe is UH-MAZE-BALLS. Like for reals.

For those that know me I’m kind of a gym rat. Not that you’d know by looking at me (I’m not exactly what you’d call “buff”). I’ve being doing cross-fit since before it was a thing. Jussayin’. Getting a little hipster on you there. Psssh, I did cross-fit before you even knew what cross-fit was.

Anyway…through cross-fit I met some of my best friends today, and we try to get together outside of the gym at least once every few months, and usually more often. This past weekend we had an epic get together that left me with a monster hungovers the next day. The kind that only comes around twice a year. Woof.

The theme for this get together was French stuff. So we had fondue (that’s French right?) and coq au vin and I decided to make a mille-feuille cake, or a thousand layer cake. it’s made of a bunch of individual crepes with a decadent filling and then smothered with some kind of ganache. There’s a bakery here in NYC called Lady M Confections that is fairly well known-for their mille-feuilles.

I couldn’t decide on a flavor until I ran across Smitten Kitchen’s banana bread crepe cake. That basically sealed the deal for me. I only made a few tweaks to her original recipe, I added more banana to the crepe batter for one. And for two I accidentally didn’t buy enough yogurt for the filling so I mixed equal parts butter, yogurt, and cream cheese and honestly I wasn’t disappointed.

My favorite part about this cake? All the awesome layers when you cut. The presentation is really stunning, especially when the edges look all raggedy and it doesn’t stand that tall. And then you cut it and everyone oohs and aahs over it. Totally worth it.

The best part about the filling is that the leftovers double as a fantastic dip for sliced fruit. I used it for apples while I watched the Beyoncé concert on Sunday night. You know the one that had an opening act of sportsball? It was pretty good. Wasn’t a fan of the opening act, and the concert was a little short. But let’s be real, Mrs. Carter killed it.

Go check out Smitten’s reicpe. If you want to make the filling my way (you totally do) cream until fluffy: 8 oz of cream cheese, 1 stick of softened butter, 1 container of Fage yogurt, plus 2 tsp vanilla and 1/3 cup sugar. Make sure you whip the sugar in good at the end so it’s not gritty.