New Year's Eve Cupcakes

I liked the Christmas cupcakes so I decided to make them for New Year's Eve too! These chocolate cupcakes were decorated with golden yellow fondant stars and white snowflakes. I used a gold glitter dust on the stars and the same silver luster dust as I used for the Christmas cake on the snowflakes.

I think they all came out lovely and festive, although I particularly like the gold ones for New Year's Eve. I think the snowflakes are more generic winter rather than New Year's party--of course we didn't really have a party so much as we stayed home, ate blinis and cupcakes, and watched TiVo. That's my kind of New Year's party!

Cocktail Blinis with Smoked Salmon

These were delicious! We used really good quality Scottish smoked salmon and organic crème fraiche on these silver dollar sized dill blinis. We served them with hard boiled egg white and egg yolk and scallions. Yum!

On a side note, I served these on a new wooden chopping block I got for Christmas. I am only using it to chop fruit, veg, and bread on, so it makes a lovely serving platter. I think these look so nice all lined up with the descending sized glass bowls on one side of the platter. An elegant presentation for an elegant New Year's Eve at home.

Pesto Pizza

I'm not sure this is really pizza. I used homemade pizza dough (left over from the pizzas I made yesterday), but the basil and pine nut pesto and Parmesan cheese topping isn't quite the stuff of pizza. It's more of a garlic bread type creation, but with pesto instead of garlic butter. Regardless of what you call it, it was a delicious afternoon snack!

Homemade Pizza

I love pizza and nothing beats homemade pizza on homemade pizza crusts. The homemade dough really does make a difference; the flavor is better and the dough is more tender and the crust crisps up a bit better. We made four mini pizzas, two each of two flavors. Both types had basil pesto and fresh mozzarella, half had slices of heirloom tomato and the other half had truffle salami and a drizzle of truffle oil. Yummy!

Christmas Cake

I made two Christmas cakes this year: the chocolate clementine cake I brought to Christmas dinner and a second one, just for fun. It's a plain old chocolate cake (well a deliciously rich and moist chocolaty cake with a springy crumb) covered with a light layer of coffee buttercream and a nice sheet of marzipan. I did a much simpler and quicker decoration for this cake, but I think it still looks lovely. Using only circle cutters (icing tips, actually) I cut holly leaves from green marzipan and large holly berries from red marzipan. I made a simple border of small, red circles to hide the slightly sloppy bottom edge. It served its purpose and finished the cake nicely.

Chocolate Clementine Cake

In addition to the mince pies, I made a flourless chocolate clementine cake. It is a simple, moist cake, with a dense crumb but a with a surprising lightness. As it happens, I've been wanting to try making this cake for years, ever since I noticed it in the chocolate cake section of Nigella Feasts (she makes it with oranges, but clementines seem more Christmas-y.) The problem with the cake is you have to purée whole cooked oranges. Nigella gives instructions on how to do this by hand, but it seems like a lot of work for a not as good result (it could be an equally good result, but I'm not confident that I'd have the patience to the patience to chop it as finely as necessary.) Well, now I happen to have a food processor at my disposal, so I had to try this! As I said, it is a delicious cake, but then again I've always been partial to the combination of chocolate and orange.

Look at the inside of that cake--pure chocolaty goodness!

Since I was making this for Christmas dinner, I couldn't just leave it plain as Nigella suggests. So I got some marzipan and went crazy with luster dust. On a related note, I have noticed that in England most marzipan and fondant covered cakes are made with the covering stuck directly to the cake. I did what they taught me at the FCI and spread a layer of buttercream on the cake before covering it with marzipan. That makes for a smooth surface with a thinner layer of marzipan (or fondant) and adds a layer of buttercream which is always a good thing in my book.

A close up of the decorations

I used the natural creamy color of the marzipan as the base and decorated the cake with marzipan snowflake cut outs and silver dragées. I dusted each marzipan cut out with silver luster dust before sticking them on the cake, so they popped nicely but didn't contrast too starkly with the almond-colored base. So pretty!

Mince Pies

Aren't they pretty?

I'm sure I've mentioned that I have a cousin who can't eat gluten. Well I happened to spending Christmas with him and his family (they are my family too, obviously) in London. Apparently the non-celiac part of the family loves mince pies and can never find decent gluten free ones, so my cousin never eats them. They were making dinner, so I promised to bring desserts (including mince pies). I made a traditional apple filling, which is simple enough (and already gluten-free.) The problem was the crust. I wanted to try a shortening based pie crust, but I couldn't find crisco, so that plan went out the window. My next idea was my favorite crust, pâte brisée. Unfortunately I cannot find my favorite gluten free flour here in the UK, so I'm experimenting with other brands while I visit. The brand I happened to be trying is heavy in potato flour and my pâte brisée tasted like potato. Yuck. Third time was the charm, happily. My pâte sucrée didn't come out perfectly but it was good and not strongly potato-y. Plus the filling was the real star. (Get it, star? Because I made little stars on top... Okay, bad joke, I know.)

Anyway, everyone seemed to like them. The whole family thought they yummy even compared to mince pies with gluten in them--and coming from Brits, that's high praise!

Christmas Cupcakes

I really like decorating sugar cookies with royal icing, but I don't have a terribly steady hand with a piping bag and I have a very small oven, so making batches of cookies gets old fast. Still, I'd seen a cute idea about decorating a round cookie to make it look like a Christmas ornament. I decided to pair this with another technique I've been wanting to try: cupcakes decorated with fondant. Since delicious chocolate cupcakes (the same ones I made for July Fourth, by the way) are lovely and round, I just coated with buttercream, topped with circles of white fondant and had some fun with my aspic cutters (don't worry, I have never made and never plan to make aspic--but the cute little cutters are perfect for decorations.)

Plain cupcakes,
 frosted cupcakes (it's sort of like a crumb coat on a cake),
and one cupcake with its fondant on

I opted for classic red and green decorations with little yellow hangers that I dusted with gold luster dust. I think they came out really nicely! By the way, to get different sized circles, just use piping tips as cutters, it works like a charm.

After I made a few of those, I decided I was having far too much fun playing with fondant to keep repeating the same few patterns, so I fiddled around and made some Christmas-y ones with trees, candy canes, Santa hats, etc. I think the ornament ones look more elegant but the others are a ton of fun!

Homemade Viennois

At the FCI we used fresh yeast when we made bread. For the life of me I could not find it anywhere. Well I recently found a store that sells little cubes of it, so I'm getting back to making bread. I'm very happy; I like making bread and I love homemade bread.

By the way, I obviously could use dry active yeast but I like the FCI recipes and I have yet to figure out an exact conversion between the two, so to use dry active yeast (or instant yeast for that matter) I have to use other recipes. If anyone happens to have a good conversion (that definitely works) between the different yeasts let me know--I think that's the one thing I didn't learn in culinary school that I wish I had learned.

I digress. I decided to make Viennois, which is one of my favorite breads (I like it so much I chose to make it for my bread exam). It is sort of a light brioche, less egg and butter but a similar taste. I decided to make rolls, rather than the baguette shaped loaves I made in school. The little rolls made the perfect little sandwiches: cucumber with butter, egg salad, and cheese. The bread holds its own, even with the strong English cheddar, but doesn't distract from the flavors of the filling, even the mild cucumber and butter. It's a nice lunch sandwich bread, a lovely bread for non-traditional finger sandwiches, and even for dipping in the homemade tomato soup my mom made. Yum, yum!

Tomato Soup

I admit I did not make this, my mom did. But I bought her the cookbook (Jamie Oliver's "meals in minutes" or something to that extent) she used, so that counts...right? It is a delicious soup, but not a comfort food type tomato soup. It's onion-y and has an entire red chili pepper in it, but it has no cream at all. This is not to say it's bad--it was excellent! Actually the non-comfort-food-ness of it actually makes it better in a way, because it is a totally different type of soup.

We served it with a sprig of basil, a dollop of crème fraiche, and a piece of the homemade bread I made (I'll write more about that tomorrow). It was delicious!

Gingersnaps

Remember the gingersnaps I made when I was at the FCI (they were on my first exam)? These are the same recipe. I really love these cookies, and I don't ordinarily like ginger so that's really saying so something. They have a delicious taste and a perfect texture. Plus they look beautiful--partly because I'm crazy and actually scale out the dough rather than eyeballing it, so all the cookies are the exact same size. They make a great gift since they transport well and last a reasonably long time at room temp. Of course that assumes you want to give any of them away!

Digestive Biscuit Ice Box Cake

This was fun--and it's simplicity and speed makes it perfect to do during the holiday baking rush when everyone in the house is whining that I'm not making anything for us to have. I digress. It is not at all attractive--it's just layers of whipped cream and dark chocolate covered digestive biscuits--but that's half the fun of this simple, homey cake.  I made the whole thing in a springform pan and stuck it in the freezer. It's important to let the whole thing sit over night (or for a full day) so that the cookies get a bit soft. Take it out of the freezer and leave in the fridge for an hour or so to let soften a bit. It's a terribly easy and unsophisticated dessert but gosh it's yummy!

Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Scones

Remember the oatmeal and peanut butter scones? These are the same recipe, but vastly improved with chocolate. (Let's face it, chocolate improves nearly everything.) Actually, that's a lie (chocolate does improve nearly everything, the lie is that these were vastly improved by it). The plain ones very nearly as good. In this case, the chocolate did improve it by they did so by changing it into something quite different. The plain scones were delicious, simple, and almost bread like (almost, but certainly denser and more delicious). These were indulgent and richly chocolaty. The peanut butter and oatmeal added dimensions to the deliciousness. I like both, differently. Of course if I do make these again, I'll probably go for the chocolate version--I just love chocolate too much not to choose it.

Chocolate Crumb Muffins

I've made this before as crumb cake and it was very good. I wanted muffins this time around so I gave it a shot and it was almost as good as the cake. I found that the crumb ratio was off (there wasn't nearly enough cinnamony, buttery goodness) and they weren't quite as moist (that could have been because I used fat free Greek yogurt instead of the full fat sour cream the recipe calls for) but they were still delicious. And don't they look lovely?

Cocktail Party Snacks

I may have mentioned that we are entertaining quite a bit lately. We've made some lovely hors d'oeuvres lately and I thought I'd share them.

At the top we have endive with English Stilton and a pecan. This is so simple to make and absolutely delicious. It's also very nice to serve--and clean up--since there are no utensils (or even toothpick) required. If you want to get a bit fancier, you could use a candied pecan--it's delicious but you lose the ability to pretend that you've made the cheese healthy by paring it with endive and a nut (they have omega-3 fatty acids).

Another simple one is radishes with salted butter. I make my own salted butter by mixing softened butter with good sea salt, but you could obviously use some nice store-bought salted butter. I'm not a huge fan of radishes myself, but this French staple is delicious if you do happen to like radishes.

This platter of saucisson sec and cucumber is also absurdly simple. All you have to do is slice the salami and the cucumber to the same thickness and spread them out on a platter. Just don't forget to provide toothpicks if you are having a standing shindig.

This last one is one of my personal favorites. It's not quite a high brow as the other three, but it is still lovely to serve at slightly less formal occasion. It's a very fresh, simple avocado and heirloom tomato salsa with scallions. Delicious served with blue corn tortilla chips!

All of these are fresh, simple, and delicious for a cocktail party, an appetizer, or even an afternoon snack.

Thanksgiving

As you may have noticed from past years, we are very into Thanksgiving. This year was no exception. In fact we really went above and beyond the usual because we invited our English family for their first Thanksgiving. It was really lovely!

We made the usual turkey with all the trimmings, including mom's incredible stuffing, cranberry sauce (the jelly kind that holds the shape of the can, of course--is there any other?), and gravy. We. Also had two kinds of potatoes: mashed potatoes with a hint of sour cream and sweet potato and yam casserole with mini marshmallows. We also had Brussels sprouts and green beans with lardons and homemade buttermilk biscuits.

For dessert I made, as per usual, a trifle. This year, since my kitchen aid is on the fritz (long story) I decided not to go with my usual pound cake recipe and instead modified the lemon loaf cake we made at the FCI to be a vanilla loaf cake. It wasn't as dense and delicious as a pound cake, but it was pretty darn good (and it was for the inside of a trifle, so it actually may have been better a little lighter.) I layered the cake with my usual chocolate mousse, a vanilla whipped cream/crème fraiche mixture, and sliced strawberries. Delicious!

One of my cousins can't eat gluten, so I also made individual gluten free trifles with gluten free, lemon cornmeal loaf cake, the whipped cream/ crème fraiche mixture, and fresh blueberries. The chocolate mousse was gluten free, but it didn't seem to work with the lemon cornmeal loaf. I didn't taste the whole thing, but the elements were good and it was a hit. By the way, I made the individual portions in martini glasses--a cute trick to make a trifle (gluten free or not) a bit more elegant.

I also made apple tart with a gluten free, walnut shortbread crust and pumpkin seed toffee brittle. The tart came out wonderfully. The toffee came out delicious, but not quite right. I think I mixed it a bit too much so it started to cool and turn opaque before I poured it out. It was absolutely incredible taste wise, so I didn't really mind that it looked slightly wrong.

Overall, all the food was a great success, the night was a ton of fun, and I think we may just have a new family tradition!

Simple Pita Chips

In my endeavor to make non-desserts for guests, I decided to make pita chips to complement the hummus (with toasted pine nuts, yum) that my mom made. They are really very simple. Just cut a pita into wedges--the pita I was working with was on the larger side so I did eighths, but sixths or even quarters may work better if the pita is small to start. You can split the pita wedges in half or leave them like pockets, it's up to you. I left the pockets this time but splitting them would be good too. Then spread them on a parchment paper lined, lightly oiled baking sheet. Then lightly drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake until lightly browned and crispy, flipping them half way through and drizzling with a bit more olive oil. Serve warm or room temp. It's that easy!
 

Caprese Salad Two Ways

Top: family style plating
Bottom: cocktail party/buffet plating

Recently we decided to make a nice fresh Caprese salad. We wanted a more classic look than the tomato and mozzarella plate I made a few months ago. We also wanted it to be easy to eat at the family style meal we were planning--just grab a stack and put it on your plate. We came up with two platings. One is better for a family style meal and one is better for a cocktail party or buffet plating, though either plating could work for either use.

Almond Joy Fudge~With Recipe

I love fudge but I don't always feel like dealing with the typical candy making exceed sizes like making cooked sugar, so I really love "fake" fudge made with a condensed milk base. I know it isn't fudge in the strictest sense, but it is close enough. I have made this fake fudge before, but this is my own recipe (based very loosely on a Nigella Lawson fudge recipe from Nigella Express, I believe.)

Ingredients:

• 14 oz good dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 14oz can condensed milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
• Pinch salt

Procedure:

1. Line a 9x9in pan with foil and lightly butter the foil.
2. Combine the condensed milk, butter, salt, and chopped chocolate in a saucepan. Put over low heat and warm until the chocolate and butter is melted, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula.
3. Promptly but not too vigorously, stir in the coconut and almonds.
4. Pour into the pan and even out the top.
5. Allow to set on the counter for at least 30-60 min and then transfer to the refrigerator to chill for another 2 hours or overnight.
6. Slice into one inch squares with a sharp knife and store in one layer or in multiple layers with wax paper between them in an airtight container in the fridge.

This fudge should be stored cold but it can be left out for hours, which is convenient if you want to give it as a gift. And fudge makes an excellent gift!

Brownies

Baking brownies is a great group activity. I was planning on having dessert ready when our family friends came over, but I got busy with other things and didn't have a chance to throw anything together. So their daughters and I decided to make dessert. I suggested brownies. Obviously brownies are always popular. But the real motivation was that there are different simple tasks--chunking up chocolate bars, melting chocolate and butter, sifting flour, etc--that are perfect for little helpers to do (well the melting chocolate was for a slightly less little helper (she'd probably be annoyed that I think of her as little, but that's how it goes with people you knew when they were babies). I digress. Plus there's no need for an electric mixer for brownies, so its nice to take turns mixing.

On a related note, the brownies we made were very good. They are from Nigella Lawson's new (well not new, but newest) cookbook Nigella Kitchen. They really are good and simple. Unfortunately I'm still not used to having a convection oven and I can't figure out if there is a way to use it without the fan, so these got slightly over baked. Happily they were still delicious, just not as gooey as I like my brownies. And most importantly we all had fun!

Pinterest

By the way, I'm on pinterest now! I'm still figuring it out, but I actually think I like it. It's a good repository for ideas. So visit my pinterest page and follow me @PastryPlace to see not only things I've made but things I plan to make and the occasional random thing that I like or draw inspiration from in some way.

Hazelnut Chocolate Tiramisu

This is a twist on a classic Italian tiramisu. I used Frangelico instead of Marsala and added layers of grated bittersweet chocolate on top of every layer of sabayon. The Frangelico sabayon was a bit sweeter than the the classic Marsala so I didn't sweeten the espresso for the lady fingers as much as normal and I ended up grating bittersweet chocolate between the layers. The chocolate helped cut the sweetness a bit and upped the chocolaty-ness of the tiramisu, so it was aces in my book!

Since I figured I'd give some of the tiramisu away, I decided to use small, clear, plastic cups to make portable individual servings rather than making one large thing that I'd have to slice or scoop up. I think I may have to try this again in mini chocolate cups--it'll be delicious and cute!

Another photo!

Apple Chamomile Bread Pudding~with recipe!

The great thing about bread pudding is that it is the perfect vehicle for whatever's you have lying around. You can use any stale bread you want: white bread, rye bread, brown bread (although probably not the grainy kind), pecan bread, croissants, etc. The custard is versatile as well. Want a coffee bread pudding? Stir in some brewed coffee or even instant espresso granules. How about vanilla or orange or cinnamon? Use extracts or scald the milk, steep with vanilla beans, orange peel, cinnamon sticks, you name it, and allow to cool before stirring in the eggs. Then you can add any number of things, from coconut to cocoa powder from raisins to fresh apple.

In this case I had a half a loaf of stale sourdough bread and a new box of chamomile, honey, vanilla tea that smells delicious but is a bit odd to drink plain. I thought it needed something to cut the sweetness of the tea and sugar so I sliced up a Granny Smith apple to mix in. Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf stale crusty white or sourdough bread
• 2 large eggs
• 1 firm, tart apple (such as Granny Smith)
• 1 cup milk (skim is fine)
• 2 camomile, vanilla, honey tea bags (or camomile tea bags, plus 1 tsp honey and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1/4 cup sugar

Method:

1. Lightly butter a loaf pan or spray lightly with cooking spray
2. Scald milk, take off heat, put in tea bags (or tea, honey, and extract), cover with plastic wrap and allow to steep for 15 min)
3. In the meantime cut bread into approx 3/4 inch cubes and place in medium bowl
4. Beat eggs lightly to break yokes and whites
5. Put bread and eggs into a bowl and mix to coat
6. Add milk and toss to coat every piece, making sure to add enough to have a bit left over in the bottom of the bowl (you may have left over flavored milk or you may need to add a bit extra milk depending on the staleness of the bread)
7. Let sit for 30 min on counter (or if you are squeamish about leaving raw egg mixture at room temperature, in the fridge for 60 min)
8. Slice the apple into very thin (approx 1/8 inch) slices, just before you are ready to use the bread/egg mixture
9. Add 1/2 the sugar and the sliced apple, toss
10. Stuff into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with the rest of the sugar
11. Bake at 350 until browned and crisp on top and cooked throughout, about 25-35 min

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Loaf

The color of this photo is oddly yellowed and I can't seem to fix it,
so you will have to imagine the rich warmth of the
orange cake studded with deep brown chocolate chips.

I like pumpkin, but I'm a bit picky about it. I don't like pumpkin pie or other overly sweet applications. In fact I tend to only eat pumpkin in savory dishes, such as pumpkin soup or pumpkin risotto--yum! I digress. I happened to have a few cans of pumpkin purée in the back of the cupboard and I decided it was high time I used them--plus I always like making pumpkin recipes for Halloween and I'll be traveling on the day so I figured I'd do it early. I found a recipe for chocolate chip laden pumpkin loaves in the original Baked cookbook and decided that chocolate was bound to improve on the pumpkin. I was right! (I suppose it was their idea first, so they were right...but I take credit for choosing to make the recipe!)

The loaves were delicious! The pumpkin wasn't overwhelming, nor were the spices (I find many pumpkin dishes tend to use far too much cinnamon and nutmeg). The bittersweet chocolate cut the sweetness of the loaves and actually enhanced the pumpkin flavor. The were dense and moist but still tender and the chips added some texture. Definitely my favorite pumpkin dessert recipe!

Blackberry Muffins

These are pretty straight forward. They a a simple recipe from Williams-Sonoma's Muffins cookbook that produces the expected delicious result. They are a moist (but not damp) muffin with a tender crumb. The blackberries I used were tart, but not overly so and balanced the sweetness of the muffin nicely. My only complaint is that the streusel on top was a bit on the light side, I'd add extra next time. Nothing terribly exciting here, but generally I think muffins (especially fruit ones) shouldn't be too exciting; if you make them flashy they cease to be the simple, homey, comfort food I think of them to be. That said, you don't want to be stuck in the doldrums either. Happily, the muffin, which was relatively plain and could have been a bit blah, was spruced up by the sizable pieces of fresh blackberries--in contrast to the usual small dots of blueberries--which certainly kept the muffins from being boring.

 

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

I love lemon poppy seed muffins and I love scones, so when I found a recipe for lemon poppy seed scones in Alice's cookbook I was very happy. These aren't quite as perfect as I would have hoped--the texture was a little off. They weren't as light and flakey as I like scones to be; in fact they were slightly dense. The flavor was very nice though, with a delicate lemon flavor. They were quick enough to make and certainly went fast!

Sweet Constructions

All the competitors, the guest judges,
and the chefs who helped the team and organized the event
(photo credit to ?)

Quite a while ago the FCI held a pastry showpiece competition. Teams of four had to create a multi-media showpiece and petit four/bonbon, all the proposals were judged and our teams advanced to the finals. For the finals each team created the showpiece and 24 pieces of their petit four. I was on one of the teams!

Our showpiece!

My team, Team Composition, created a cello out of chocolate, held up on a piece of pastillage painted to look like composition paper, perched on a poured sugar base, with pulled sugar roses. Our petit four was a very delicate lemon curd tart with blueberries.

Our petits fours (photo credit?)

Our competition was a team made up of our classmates, a team from a Level 2 class, and a team of just graduated students. All of the teams made beautiful showpieces and delicious petits fours.

We came in second (according to one of the judges, a very close second) to our classmates. If we were going to lose, I'm glad it was to them!

The winning showpiece: congrats Erin, Emma, Rozette, and Dayana!

Anyway, now that you know what happened let me tell you a bit about our showpiece. With help from Chef Michael we designed a 3-D, hollow body cello--I will take credit for the many drafts of to scale sketches and the eventual diagrams and templates.

The sketch we submitted.
As you can see we made some changes to the design,
but the fundamentals remained the same.

The body is made of chocolate sprayed with chocolate spray to give it some texture (impressive work, Sam). The stylized neck and end pin are made of unsweetened chocolate that was rubbed with a bit of oil to give it shine. The strings are made of spaghetti brushed with gold luster dust. It is supported by a beautifully thin pastillage stand and embellished with pastillage music notes (great job, Kedby). The base is made of 3 graduated poured sugar tear drops died with just a tiny drop of green to give it the appearance of glass. The roses are expertly pulled sugar (beautiful, Caitlyn). The petits fours were made by yours truly and were delicious if I do say so myself. In the end the judges thought we should have made a bonbon--we almost did but decided to show off different skills since we figured the showpiece demonstrated our chocolate work well enough. Ah well, you never know what judges will think. Even though we did lose, I'm really proud of our showpiece and petit four. We did great work under significant restraints. And it's a bit of a blessing in disguise because the prize is to make a giant version, which seems like a bit more work than prize. Regardless, I competed in probably my only pastry competition ever (I can't imagine when I'd do another one) and am proud of the result--I think that's a win!

Another picture of our showpiece