Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
About a month ago I made some oatmeal cookies from a recipe by Paula Deen and I wanted to change it up a bit and add some pumpkin for the season. I was googling around last night and came across a recipe posted on Bless This Food and made it because not only did it sound perfect (and I had all the ingredients), I also loved the name of her blog and how grateful she is. So, I gave it a shot and wow! I did not, however, make the frosting on top because the boxes I had required these to be packaged on top of one another. Instead I made a spiced brown butter icing with powdered sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, a couple tablespoons of water and a 1/2 cup of butter. The house smelled amazing!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Apple and Pumpkin Pocket Pie Molds, Set of 2 | Williams-Sonoma
This is an absolute "must try" and is an inexpensive way to save time and make something home made for the winter holidays. I purchased these about a month ago and forgot about them, so I ran to the store and picked up the following:
Peach canned pie filling
Apple canned pie filling
Pillsbury ready made pie crust dough (two to a package)
What I had at home and needed:
Rolling pin
Flour
Crystalized sugar for decoration
Two eggs for the egg whites to seal the mold
My first two were a disaster. You have to be careful not to overfill them if you fry them, and personally baking seems smarter and healthier anyhow. The slit in the pumpkin can only be used if you bake the pies, and it serves as the vent so no poking is necessary.
Steps:
1) Lay the dough out flat, it is already rolled. Cut out your shapes from the mold itself.
2) Lightly flour the inside of the pie mold or IT WILL STICK. Next, place about a tablespoon and a half of the filling of your choice in the pumpkin.
3) IMPORTANT-STRETCH THE DOUGH ALL THE WAY UNTIL IT COVERS THE MOLD ENTIRELY. If you don't, the pie won't seal and it doesn't tell you this on the package.
4) Take your finger and place the egg white around the seam, close and press down hard, crimp and seal.
5) Brush the top of the pumpkin, slit side up, with egg white. Pour a generous amount of your decorative sugar on top and bake as directed. I believe about 15 minutes worked for me at 350. You will know they are done when they brown slightly and the filling starts to bubble. If you overcook them, they will bubble out and spill over.
Now that I learned from my mistakes, they are so quick and easy and I whipped up some heavy whipping cream with sugar and vanilla for the top. You could always use ice cream, too. Mmm!
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Monday, October 12, 2009
Alana's Peacock Cake
I really must sit down and make time to go back and document the process for some of these baked goods but I was just too eager to post pics before I became backlogged. Funny enough, I was pouting about this cake because for some reason I had some challenges with my fondant. I am unsure if it is the drastic change in weather or it was just an off day for me, but thanks to Herick he encouraged me and we finished it up just in time for Alana's 10th birthday.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Cupcakes and Coffee? French Toast with Maple Buttercream and bacon!
I browsed the net for a while to find a recipe I thought would work best. I saw one made of Bisquick and slightly altered, another for more of a spice cake. Then I came across Bakespace.com (when I figure out to how link the title to her page, I gladly will) and loved the recipe she had posted. I loved her even more when she said she isn't a huge fan of french toast because neither am I so she had me at hello. Here it goes:
- Servings: 12
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted then cooled.
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. maple extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
Note-I ALMOST overfilled the muffin cups. I would suggest filling them just over halfway and they will bake up into a perfect dome. The batter is thicker than most so don't be concerned. It actually makes it easier to scoop up, I use a standard ice cream scoop for each one. Also, I will add that I always sift everything from my flour to my sugar unless you use Baker's Sugar. I truly believe it makes a huge difference, especially in your buttercream so you don't have small clumps.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with baking liners.
Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, and eggs until combined. Then add maple extract.
Alternate between whisking in flour mixture and milk into your liquid mixture. Make three additions of flour and two of milk. Beat until smooth.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched.
Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
**These were dense enough that I pulled them right out of the pan and onto the cooling rack. I know it sounds silly but I am always worried that the extra two minutes will over bake them.
I made a combination of recipes for the Maple buttercream, but still was not "in love" with it so I will try something new. I didn't use Maple extract and I think I will next time, to enhance the flavor but it was still great topped with bacon and cinnamon!
Maple Buttercream
1 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Dash of Allspice
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Pipe onto cakes, sprinkle with cinnamon and add your bacon. I guess you could say he is on everyone's good side today. Happy Friday!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
"Babycakes is Good for You..."
"...And this is why!", Erin McKenna with Babycakes.com
I have yet to discover the world of Gluten-Free Baking, Vegan Baking, or Sugar-Free baking. I just returned from some afternoon gift shopping at a favorite novelty store of mine, http://www.lulamae.com/. As I stated yesterday, cupcakes surround us and sure enough she had a bountiful selection of magnets, keychains, gift boxes and recipe books. I couldn't help but to pick up Babycakes and quickly start thumbing through to see if there was anything I could whip up tonight.
It is now an hour later and I've read it cover to cover and love that the author, Erin McKenna, includes ingredients for drinks such as Agave lemonade, teacakes and muffins, cookies and brownies and provided references and ingredient lists for beginners just like me.
I will be sure to post some photos of my experience, hopefully this will broaden my ability to fill everyone's tummies with homemade goodness!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Kawaii Crafts by Tia - Crochet Delicacies
As I have read and browsed hundreds of blogs I have learned how much the sweet tooth extends past oven baked goods. Cupcakes have become a popular craze that brings the young and old together, bonding families with century old recipes and traditions. They appear on wrapping paper and stickers, apparel and underwear, jewelry and hairclips, bedding and bathrobes. As I logged in to Facebook today a talented friend of mine - Kimberly from Kawaii Crafts by Tia, was "baking" up a special dozen cuppies with nothing other than an imagination, a crochet needle or two and some yarn. Not even hours later I was delighted to see her updated post and couldn't resist sharing her talent with my fellow baking bloggers.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Ebelskivers on a Tuesday Morning
Much to my delight yesterday, I came across a Williams-Sonoma catalog and as I flipped through the pages I was stuck on one page in particular, Ebelskivers, or stuffed pancakes!
Rather than trying out a new cupcake recipe, I thought this would be perfect for the family since we haven't yet gotten the morning routine down and have been lucky to get a granola bar in as we run through the house. Our mornings consist of madness with the two dogs, Mona Lisa and Bruno, and getting everyone up and out on time. Since my car is in the shop I quickly called my husband and asked him to stop by the store here in Pasadena and pick one up on his way home and he did!
I had some blackberries in the fridge and thought this would be recipe number one. I tried their recipe for the pancake mix and it was as follows (courtesy of Williams-Sonoma Kitchen):
For the filled-pancake batter:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
5 egg whites
5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbs. confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Directions:
To make the filled-pancake batter, in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the buttermilk and sour cream. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy. Set aside.
Brush the wells of a filled-pancake pan with melted butter. Heat over medium heat until the butter bubbles. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well and cook for 2 minutes. Spoon 1/2 tsp. filling into the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, about 2 minutes more. Using 2 skewers or toothpicks, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer the pancakes to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.
There are several variations for what you can fill it with, I simply placed a few berries inside and topped them with syrup, powdered sugar and more berries. Take a look at their Jalapeno Cheddar corn cakes and you get the idea!
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipeDetail.cfm?objectid=A8B0884E%2D0945%2D4A79%2D2EF839C50C0B8510
Monday, September 14, 2009
Fashion for Compassion with Pasadena Magazine
One of my favorite shows is CSI Miami, and here we were at the hot off the press party for fashion and philanthropy issue. There was a fashion show by Macy's fall collection hosted by the beautiful Eva La Rue. 10% of ticket sales this night benefited local non profits and I was so excited to meet her I just had to share!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Gratitude
About a month ago, I was asked if I would be interested in baking for a promotion ceremony that was for the Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success Los Angeles program at Citrus College. I was honored! I didn't want to "just bake" anything, I wanted to be able to give each student a positive message with the display. ::Thinking, thinking::
I drove down to Chinatown on my lunch hour and picked up three boxes of fortune cookies and went into another store to pick up multi colored paper lanterns. The theme I was going for was good luck and I knew each student would receive their own fortune which was just what I wanted.
I made Whopper Cupcakes for the flavor, with a Whopper candy placed inside each cupcake before baking. I wish I had photos to show more documentation but this was my "pre-camera" baking month. I do have two pictures sent to me from one of the outreach advocates, Stephanie Lopez. Taken with her camera phone but not bad once I was able to edit the colors a bit. Each fortune cookie was dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with colored non pareils. I learned through the process it is best to dip them and allow them to dry on wax paper overnight before placing them on the Whopper Buttercream. Anyhow, when I arrived home yesterday I received a beautiful thank you card and simply had to share. Sometimes it's the smallest ways someone shows gratitude that make the heart smile. Thank you for the opportunity, Stephanie and Emmy!
For more information on the program, please see here! http://www.foundationccc.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=E10q5niOikM%3D&tabid=538
For recipe information on any posts please email me direct at loriannvalencia@gmail.com
Ah, Framboise!
Sooo, I was so fortunate as to have lunch with a friend yesterday and not only was my Pasta Bolognese to die for at Mi Piace, but she left me with a parting gift: A box full of fresh raspberries from her company business! I was determined not to let these go to waste! When Googling for some recipe suggestions, I came across a brilliantly written blog and decided to try things her way:
http://alaunamakes.blogspot.com/2009/03/lemon-raspberry-cupcakes.html
I will be back to update with some of what I learned, as my first batch was overfilled so the second time around was much neater. Being that I don't care for overly sweet cakes, these were perfectly balanced as Alauna said and tasted great this morning with coffee. Here are some photos of the process now that I graduated from documenting with my cell phone to an actual camera, lol. Enjoy!
http://alaunamakes.blogspot.com/2009/03/lemon-raspberry-cupcakes.html
I will be back to update with some of what I learned, as my first batch was overfilled so the second time around was much neater. Being that I don't care for overly sweet cakes, these were perfectly balanced as Alauna said and tasted great this morning with coffee. Here are some photos of the process now that I graduated from documenting with my cell phone to an actual camera, lol. Enjoy!
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